Newly found seamount reveals spaghetti monster and other rare ocean creatures CNN
What Was the First Recreational Drug? Gizmodo
Climate/Environment
Who Owns Power in the Energy Transition? Climate + Community Project
Environment: The climate crisis is a health crisis Pearls and Irritations
Pandemics
An even more contagious COVID strain is ‘just getting started’ amid California wave Los Angeles Times
Kansas COVID-19 spike coincides with unexplained tuberculosis infections Kansas Reflector. Commentary:
Here it comes. We are in so much trouble.
“Unexplained tuberculosis infections,” except multi-drug resistant tuberculosis was circulating in Kansas last year. Since 2020, we’ve known SARS-CoV-2 reactivates TB.
TB increased 26% among US children under age 5 last year. It’s… https://t.co/smTm6FF02r pic.twitter.com/FiJQPhXDyx
— Laura Miers (@LauraMiers) August 31, 2024
Japan
US Bandwagoners and Hawks: Who are Potential Japan PM Candidates? Sputnik
China enters Japan waters days after air violation protested Kyodo News
As Japan seeks record defense budget for fiscal 2025, experts warn of militarism resurgence Global Times
China?
China’s factory activity remains in contraction amid weak economic momentum South China Morning Post
WHAT IS AN ITALIAN CARRIER STRIKE GROUP DOING IN THE INDO-PACIFIC? War on the Rocks
European Disunion
French left seek backing for Macron impeachment Le Monde
Who’s afraid of Sahra Wagenknecht? Thomas Fazi, Unherd
Putin, cash and guns prompt ‘explosive’ rethink of Swiss neutrality Politico
Poorer countries that receive more from the budget than they put into it “need to understand that the world where they get an envelope of cohesion funding with no conditions [attached] . . . is gone,” said one EU official briefed on initial work for the 2028-34 budget
— Henry Foy (@HenryJFoy) September 1, 2024
Syraqistan
Renowned Surgeon and Lead Author of New Lancet Study Tortured by Israeli Military Drop Site News
“Yes, it is possible to achieve total victory… There’s a finite amount of people in Gaza”
Aired two weeks ago on Channel 13 news. The speaker is panelist Abir Kara – a politician, businessman and a thug, who previously served as a Member of Knesset as part of Bennett’s party. pic.twitter.com/mnPj5qjwbM
— B.M. 🇵🇸🗝️ ↩️ (@ireallyhateyou) August 31, 2024
Israel recovers bodies of six captives held in Gaza Al Jazeera
‘Israelis are frustrated, but do they want to stop the war? Not exactly’ +972 Magazine
***
‘There was no mercy, even on children’: trauma in the West Bank after Israeli raids The Guardian
***
Hezbollah’s Beirut Airport Powder Keg Foundation for Defense of Democracies
Inside The Telegraph’s ‘discredited’ Beirut airport Hezbollah weapons allegations The New Arab. From July 4, still germane.
“We told Israel, ‘Look, if you guys have to go, we’re behind you all the way’” Alastair Crooke
***
US soldiers injured in raid during ‘non-combat’ mission in Iraq Responsible Statecraft. The deck: More evidence that America is at war without saying it’s at war, in the Middle East.
***
Turkey ready to discuss pulling troop from Syria, but terms not yet agreed — Lavrov News.az
Why Turkey is accelerating towards normalisation with Syria The New Arab
New Not-So-Cold War
Ukraine’s collapse in Donetsk accelerating even further, so rapidly compared to past 2 years that some pro-Ru milbloggers think it may be an AFU ruse. If Ukraine doesn’t have another trick up their sleeve, we’re seeing the consequences of the Kursk invasion that so many predicted https://t.co/tIz6A8HbSL
— Mark Ames (@MarkAmesExiled) August 31, 2024
Россия не белая и пушистая: Russia is not white and furry Gilbert Doctorow
White House rejects plan to send F-16 maintenance personnel to Ukraine, WSJ reports Kyiv Independent. “…the Biden administration is hoping European countries will take partial or even full responsibility for maintaining Ukraine’s recently-delivered F-16s.”
***
Exclusive: Russia payment hurdles with China partners intensified in August Reuters. Interesting timing.
Turkmenistan Surpasses Russia in Gas Exports to China The Times of Central Asia
Closing the backdoor: The new TurkStream is here. Can the West stop it? Politico. See NC here.
Old Blighty
Britain on the Brink Wrong Side of History
South of the Border
Brazil bans X RT. Commentary:
Another elected official in Brazil — a Congressman — telling Moraes to go fuck himself, proclaiming that he’s using a VPN to access and post on X, and that he will continue to do so.
Congratulations to Brazilians engaging in collective civil disobedience for their freedom:🇧🇷 https://t.co/5pbtrwShAB
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) August 31, 2024
Or maybe Brazil saw Musk and X interfering in Venezuela’s elections alongside the NED and CIA and decided US hegemony dressed up as “free speech” won’t be tolerated…
A nation’s information space must be protected as carefully as its physical domains – its borders, shores and… https://t.co/pMoBkbN28f
— Brian Berletic (@BrianJBerletic) August 30, 2024
Spook Country
Macron denies inviting Telegram founder Durov to France Anadolu Agency
How US union leaders worked with the CIA to undermine democracy Red Flag
Biden Administration
Palestinians Seek US Appeals Court Review of Biden Genocide Complicity Case Common Dreams
Trump
Crypto is the new Trump family business. Ethics watchdogs have concerns. Politico
Kamala
RFK Jr.
RFK Jr. sues North Carolina elections board over ballot The Hill. To get off the ballot.
Democrats en déshabillé
I got Covid at the DNC. Why’s the next pandemic absent from this campaign? Too Close To Call
The COVID Wave at the DNC Was Not a ‘Surprise’ Discourse Blog
GOP Clown Car
The think tank behind Project 2025 is also behind some of Florida’s most extreme laws Seeking Rents
Imperial Collapse Watch
BRICS’ New Development Bank Authorizes Algeria’s Incorporation to the Economic Block Telesur
Why does Algeria want to join BRICS? The New Arab
Our Famously Free Press
A co-ordinated attack across the western former democracies.
Danny Shaw was arrested returning from speaking alongside me on a panel at the Free Palestine International Film Festival.
Richard Medhurst was arrested en route to speak alongside me on a panel at the Beautiful Days… https://t.co/XDd79156rJ— Craig Murray (@CraigMurrayOrg) August 31, 2024
Big Brother is Watching You Watch
Growing backlash from law enforcement as NFL asks officers to submit to face scans The Record
AI
Was an AI Image Generator Taken Down for Making Child Porn? IEEE Spectrum
OpenAI searches for an answer to its copyright problems The Verge
How AI Copyright Law Is Being Guided By Spirits From Atlantis Defector
***
AI firms are SF’s most desired tenants. Here’s how much office space they’re gobbling up The San Francisco Standard
Sure is nice of Oprah to host this extended sales pitch for the generative AI industry at a moment when its fortunes are flagging and the AI bubble is threatening to burst https://t.co/XeQNlZG9YV
— Brian Merchant (@bcmerchant) August 31, 2024
Class Warfare
The job market needs workers. The newest ones are over age 75. Christian Science Monitor
Uber drivers in Kenya are ignoring the app and charging their own rates Rest of World
Montreal’s model for resisting culture vulture capitalism The Breach
Antidote du jour (via):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
