The surprising connection between drug trafficking and bird conservation sequencer
Study challenges popular belief that Easter Islanders committed ‘ecocide’ Physics.org
Why Mount Rainier is the US volcano that keeps scientists up at night CNN
Climate and Environment
California wildfires have already burned 90,000 acres, and summer has only just begun Los Angeles Times
Pandemic
Why is the New York Times now pushing an anti-science agenda? Science-Based Medicine
Summer wave of COVID-19 spreads especially in the West, with new LB.1 variant on the rise CBS News
UK COVID-19 hospitalizations rise as new variant emerges Independent
Years into the pandemic, we’ve been in a long period of denial OK Doomer
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USDA discovers unusual development: Bird flu spreads from dairy cows to poultry in Michigan Toledo Blade
Beautiful France
New unrest erupts in New Caledonia after independence activists sent to France for detention Parents
Old Brittany
What’s really going on in Blackburn? Craig Murray
India
A lonely fight for life in Delhi’s fever ward Migrant Narratives. “Migrant workers are the biggest victims of India’s worst heatwave.”
Korean Peninsula
If Russia provides precision weapons to North Korea, South Korea’s aid to Ukraine will end: official Yonhap News
South Korea announces parasites found in garbage balloons from North Korea Yonhap News
China?
Why Washington’s plan to turn the Taiwan Strait into a “hellscape” is fundamentally flawed A New Oriental Outlook
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China’s fiscal revenue falls at fastest pace in more than a year Bloomberg
China faces lottery ticket shortage as young people try their luck amid economic uncertainty South China Morning Post
China’s ByteDance teams up with Broadcom to develop advanced AI chips – Reuters Yahoo!Finance
Nvidia to sell advanced AI processors to Middle Eastern countries despite sanctions Tom’s Hardware
Shiraksta
Hezbollah stores missiles and explosives at Lebanon’s main airport, whistleblower claims The Telegraph. Explanation:
Israeli War Propaganda @TheTelegraph__ The counterattack began #HezbollahThey are sending drones to try to scare the Lebanese. #Israel They fear what would happen if war broke out and are trying in vain to turn some hostile Lebanese against the resistance. pic.twitter.com/XD6EvvaQI2
— Elijah J. Magnier 🇪🇺 (@ejmalrai) June 23, 2024
June 12: Israel must target Lebanon’s civilian infrastructure
June 23: Pretext to target Lebanese civilian infrastructure pic.twitter.com/fsTeuPJfVY
— Assal Rad (@AssalRad) June 23, 2024
Thousands of Iranian-backed fighters have offered to join Hezbollah in the fight against Israel AP
Israeli attack on Lebanon could raise risk of wider war, US general says Middle East Eye
US Air Force general: US won’t back Israel in war against Hezbollah like it did against Iran Jerusalem Post
Netanyahu says ‘escalating war with Hamas is nearing end’, focus shifts to Lebanon border CNN
Missing Children in Gaza: Over 20,000 Children Estimated to be Missing, Unaccounted for, Detained, Buried Under Rubble or in Mass Graves Save the Children (press release)
European Separation
New far-right group “Sovereignists” set to be announced soon Euractiv. An initiative of the Alternative for Germany.
EU finds legal loophole to get around Hungary’s veto on arms purchases for Ukraine – Report Sputnik
A new cold war
SITREP 6/23/24: Coordinated terrorist attacks by Ukraine and its allies aimed at destabilizing Simplicius the Thinker
Terrorists attack multiple facilities in Russia’s Dagestan republic, killing six police officers and a priest Anadolu Agency
Moscow blames Washington for deadly attack on Crimea RT
The US has crossed a red line, and Russia is preparing to respond with force. Larry Johnson, Son of the New American Revolution
We see now Kiselyov commenting on the ATACMS attack on Vesti Nedeli. He promises a Russian response, but one that is “asymmetrical, of course,” and “on the front lines” (explicitly including Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and “decision-making centers” as “next steps”), and “providing more missiles”…
— Tarik Cyril Amar (@TarikCyrilAmar) June 23, 2024
🇺🇦🇷🇺🚨‼️ Russia raided the warehouse of the Tavria-V hypermarket in Odessa.
Judging by the secondary explosion in Video 1, it appears that an ammunition storehouse exploded.
According to Russian intelligence sources, there was a NATO missile depot there.
Ukrainian sources said the suspect was a “civilian.” pic.twitter.com/sgiqN14ojV
— Lord Bebo (@MyLordBebo) June 24, 2024
Ukrainian forces expect deeper strikes as US-supplied weapons prove effective inside Russia AP
Jake Sullivan and “Operation Softening” Gilbert Doctorow
The US has said aid is now available to Ukraine’s far-right militias, and pictures show training already underway. Intercept. The neo-Nazi Azov Brigade.
South of the Border
A dream come true: economic reconstruction of a Venezuelan commune Venezuela Analysis
Caribbean
Kenyan police leave for UN-backed mission in Haiti on Tuesday France 24
Kenya’s President Ruto ignores his country’s constitution and Supreme Court and invades Haiti Black Agenda Report, from May 29th, still relevant.
Spook Country
Since when has everything become “fake information”? Ken Klippenstein
Biden
BREAKING: The White House is now posting on its channels a ton of video footage that every human rights organization in the world, including Israel, and the UN, claim was extracted through torture. Again, the White House is laundering torture on their public media channels. pic.twitter.com/E0YxdOof3G
— ☀️👀 (@zei_squirrel) June 23, 2024
Trump
Former Trump national security adviser backs off proposal to send all Marines to Asia Parents
The “Israel Model” of U.S. China Policy is a Foolish Move Responsible national governance
Former Trump national security adviser Robert O’Brien has finally detailed how President Trump will end the Ukraine war. Trump will impose “major sanctions” on Russia’s central bank and try to block Russian oil sales. No more “half measures” for the Biden administration. pic.twitter.com/JJ09kBrbMm
— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) June 23, 2024
The Democratic Party is broken
Ro Khanna says progressives ‘must drag Biden across the finish line and then organize’ A common dream
GOP Clown Car
Louisiana kicks off national fight to make Ten Commandments mandatory The Hill
2024
Disappointed and ‘depressing’: Biden’s biggest fundraisers see advantage evaporate POLITICO
Markets: France’s bond vigilantes teach the US a lesson Reuters
Empire Collapse Watch
Pentagon raises price cap for B-21 stealth bomber procurement Military Watches
Boeing
Federal prosecutors urge Justice Department to bring criminal charges against Boeing CBS News
Antitrust
Monopoly Roundup: Are Conservatives Moving Away from Robert Bork? “BIG” by Matt Stoller
artificial intelligence
Arch rivals Apple and Meta are reportedly in talks about AI partnership for iOS 18 9to5 Mac
The human brain can distinguish deepfake voices from real ones University of Zurich
Academy Forest
The TikTokification of Campus Mental Health Crazy in America
A well-known free press
Corporate Media in a Fascist Era: Firewalls of Ignorance and Disappearance LA Progressive
Class struggle
Tech companies exploit the poor under the guise of expanding access to financial services Truth Out
NLRB lawyers claim Amazon retaliated against employees in strike over return-to-office policy The Verge
NLRB tests new tool to stop union busting Jacobins
High expectations Baffler. “Blooming Labor Friction in the Cannabis Industry.”
Sports Desk
‘Blue screens’ at the ballpark: How the Mariners touched a tech nerve with a viral rally video Geekwire
Today’s antidote (via):
See yesterday’s link and Antidote du Jour here.