The ancestors of modern birds probably had iridescent feathers Science Daily (Kevin W)
Sports in which women outnumber men BBC (Dr Kevin)
Has pop music become less melodic? What we learned from digging into 70 years of hits The Guardian (Kevin W.)
112-year-old New York celebrity’s secret to living forever is actually simple Vice
#COVID-19 (Novel Coronavirus Disease)
Vanishing seating, rebellious eateries and the end of an era: Deadline arrives for outdoor dining City. COVID-19 “diners” were often partially or completely enclosed, which did nothing to reduce the risk of COVID-19.
Climate and Environment
U.S. to invest $2.2 billion to upgrade domestic power grid Reuters (Kevin W.): First, the amount is like lint on a couch. Second, how much will utilities end up paying for something they would have done anyway?
Cheaper, faster, cleaner: Scientists develop world’s first anode-free sodium battery Psytech Daily (Chuck L)
Cancer incidence among young people on the rise; investigation into environmental factors urgently needed Financial Times
EPA takes emergency action to stop use of dangerous pesticides The Washington Post
China?
South China Sea: Chinese military conducts joint patrols around Scarborough Shoal South China Morning Post
Giorgia Meloni and Europe’s Contradictions Regarding China Asia Times (Kevin W)
US and China race to find water on the moon: and why it’s important for future missions Des Moines Register. Robin K.: “China’s lunar water breakthrough comes as NASA ends VIPER program.”
Korean Peninsula
Read the official statement that North Korea will forward deploy 1,000 maneuverable solid-fuel precision-guided missiles. Military Watches
Thailand’s Constitutional Court dissolves progressive Forward Party Al Jazeera
Africa
How PMC Wagner Got Smoke in Africa Historical Legends, YouTube
Bangladesh
noOber Prize winner Muhammad Yunus to lead transitional government of Bangladesh Guardian. Wow. Look. Abolishing microcredit.
Old Brittany
UK issues travel warning to the world Asia Today
Top prosecutor considers terrorism charges in riots case as more suspects face trial BBC. The BBC made this article very difficult to access. The site first takes you to bbc.co.uk, a bookmarked page, so you can see a small selection of UK headlines, then quickly switches to another landing page, bbc.com. Searching for “prosecutor terror riots” on bbc.com did not bring up this article. I had to load bbc.co.uk six times and click on a headline. Still, I finally got to the article, even though it usually switches to the bbc.com landing page first.
Anglo-Italian arms company Leonardo embroiled in Indonesia corruption scandal Declassified
Gaza
Hamas elects Yahya Sinwar as new leader following Haniya’s murder Middle East Eye. Remember, Haniyeh was a moderate… so it seems the intended result was that Hamas hardliners would emerge in a stronger position.
Israeli bunkers are last line of defense as Iranian attack looms The Wall Street Journal
Hezbollah drone attacks Israel, 12 killed in Israeli West Bank raid Al Jazeera
‘The martyrs were chopped up and burned’: Survivor of recent tent massacre in Gaza describes horror Mondoweiss
Hiroshima Memorial Ceremony and Massacre in Gaza: Discussion on Iran’s Press TV Gilbert Doctorow
Gaza is the West’s new (?) tool for waging war Moon Over Alabama (Kevin W)
Shiraksta
Yemen deal: Riyadh capitulates, Washington loses influence Cradle (Chuck L)
A new cold war
What the Ukraine War and the Vietnam War have in common Responsible national governance
800,000 Ukrainians in “hiding” to avoid conscription – MP RT. A few months ago we reported (mainly in one of the few detailed discussions of Ukraine’s current economic situation) that the Ukrainian government had put up a tight cordon on the border. In other words, hide, not run.
President Zelensky extends mobilization and martial law in Ukraine for another 90 days Anadolu Agency
US warns of ‘retaliation’ against Turkey over military exports to Russia Financial Times
🚨🇺🇦An uprising against President Zelensky has broken out in the Polish-populated city of Kovel in western Ukraine. Is this an opportunity for Poland to annex former territories?
The riots and sabotage in Kovel, the partisan activities such as setting fire to military recruitment vehicles, etc. would seem to suggest that… pic.twitter.com/L96woKEPfi
— Aussie Cossack (@aussiecossack) August 4, 2024
Big Brother is Watching You
Israeli study finds smartwatches can warn of impending COVID-19 infection and migraines Haaretz (ma). In my opinion, the real usefulness is for Mossad to get hold of your data.
Empire Collapse Watch
The United States faces multiple crises: Who is running the government? Glenn Greenwald
With Labour now in power, does the left have a chance? Richard Murphy. Colonel Smithers gives a big cheer to Aurélien.
Kamala
Kamala Harris introduces VP candidate Tim Walz at raucous Philadelphia rally Guardian
“Republicans for Harris” brings together Republicans to campaign for Democratic candidates Iowa Capital Dispatch (Robin K.)
This is important in my opinion as it speaks to the poor quality of work done by the staff.
Remember when Kamala Harris realized electricity had no smell and grabbed the plug as if she was putting gas in her car?
Today feels like a good day to reshare one of the great moments in political history.pic.twitter.com/7DHykmdFfo
— Mark Harris (@itismarkharris) July 3, 2024
Republican talking points against Waltz:
Welcome to the race, Tim Waltz!
Let America know who you are.
You helped spark the George Floyd riots, the worst riots this country has seen in decades. While Minneapolis burned, you held off on deploying the National Guard for an entire day, allowing the city to…
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) August 6, 2024
Tim Waltz was arrested for driving 96 mph in a 55 mph speed zone and had an alcohol content of .128. That’s terrible, but what’s just as bad is that he’s been lying about it ever since. He has repeatedly claimed he wasn’t drunk and instead blamed it all on his deafness. But court records show… pic.twitter.com/D1CL13mWMA
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) August 6, 2024
Lee asked, “Did they test this guy?”
𝐄𝐗𝐂 – 𝐕𝐏 𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐓𝐢𝐦 𝐖𝐚𝐥𝐳 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐂𝐡 𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩’𝐬 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟗 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.
He spoke alongside the chairman of the China People’s Friendship Association. pic.twitter.com/IRqlV1Qb7o
— Natalie Winters (@nataliegwinters) August 6, 2024
Democratic Party Dropped out
‘Squad’ Rep. Cori Bush loses Democratic primary Politico
Governor Newsom has effectively placed Oakland’s law enforcement under state control, using the California Highway Patrol to do the work of local forces that are unable to perform basic police duties and using National Guard lawyers to prosecute cases that the county district attorney refuses to bring. https://t.co/KWQBhmNV6e
— Leighton Woodhouse (@lwoodhouse) August 6, 2024
Postmortem investigation into President Trump’s assassination
breaking news: Holy MO To tell @secret Service The whistleblower said the lead agent working on the Trump Butler case didn’t follow normal security procedures or check IDs that day, which he described as disorganized, saying: “As we speak, the lead agent…” pic.twitter.com/g0bR55KPas
— Jesse Watters (@JesseBWatters) August 6, 2024
The press is no longer free
GARMs Race: House to move forward with investigation into blacklisted companies Jonathan Turley. The NewGuard targeted the wrong people.
Breaking News: Axios lays off 50 employees across the company; CEO Jim VandeHei This memo was just sent out, citing “changing conditions in the media industry” as the reason for the layoffs. pic.twitter.com/lLVemNFh0N
— Katie Robertson (@katie_robertson) August 6, 2024
Elon Musk’s X sues advertiser coalition over boycott The Hill (Kevin W.). Of course, freedom of speech only exists in governmental relationships, where government agencies do not suppress speech. But the antitrust angle here is tricky. If he can make a strong enough argument, he could avoid summary judgment and thoroughly investigate the advertiser’s communications. He might not only find a lot of salacious and ugly stuff, but also evidence of government collusion.
Mr. Market is sad
Tokyo stock market braces for more volatility after biggest one-day gain Nikkei
A tale of two bubbles Asia Times
Antitrust
Mozilla and Firefox may be the biggest losers in Google search ruling luck
Apple thinks Bing is pretty bad The Verge. From Google’s antitrust ruling.
A crashing Boeing… and more!
Boeing’s abandoned Starliner can’t fly without a crew member Futurism (BC)
NASA’s Starliner issues could significantly delay Crew 9 launch Ars Technica (BC)
Basil
Intel: Balance sheet is on the brink of collapse, but they think their new chips will work Registry
Class struggle
U.S. household credit card debt hits record high, Fed report says Yahoo! Finance (Kevin W)
Today’s antidote. Tracy H: “While visiting the San Diego Botanical Gardens, I spotted a future prince peeking out from a pond strewn with tiny yellow petals, waiting for a kiss.”
See yesterday’s link and the Antidote du Jour here.
