Link August 10, 2024 | Naked Capitalism

Tick threats come in bite-sized pieces Your local epidemiologist (Dr. Kevin)

#COVID-19 (Novel Coronavirus Disease)

BREAKING! COVID-19 resurgence in parts of China caused by new recombinant delta and omicron variants. XDV.1 Thai Medical News (IM Doc)

Climate and Environment

Zhidan County, Shaanxi Province, China, was hit by a sudden flood. From the night of August 8 to the morning of the 9th, heavy rainfall of up to 179.1 mm occurred, breaking the all-time record.pic.twitter.com/XHCglntuM3

— Volcaholic 🌋 (@volcaholic1) August 9, 2024

‘Cruisezilla’ ships have doubled in size since 2000, environmental groups warn CNN (Kevin W)

The EU’s new initiative to solve plastic waste is stupid, does nothing, and may be counterproductive, and anyway a lot of people think it’s totally cool Eugipius (Michael T.)

Avocado gold rush links US companies to Mexico’s deforestation disaster Reuters (Robin K)

The world’s forests will no longer function as carbon sinks in 2023 REDD Monitor (Michael T)

China?

This is a fascinating read, written by a former GM executive, examining the phenomenal growth of China’s domestic automakers and the resulting decline in sales of foreign car brands. https://t.co/ltSqhu2xqo

The main driver, of course, was the rise of EVs. “EVs accounted for 10% of total car sales…

— Arnaud Bertrand (@RnaudBertrand) August 7, 2024

Many airlines are cancelling flights to China again Street

TSMC Arizona struggles to overcome stark differences in work culture between Taiwan and the U.S. Tom’s Hardware. Michael T: “So this US Talwan vs China nonsense is about bringing new management techniques to the US?” Moi: Some of you may remember that Toyota did a joint venture with GM and took over GM’s worst factory, which was characterized by regular employee absenteeism, alcohol abuse, and of course high defect rates. Toyota raised the performance of the factory to above average for a Toyota factory, much higher than GM’s level.

Bangladesh

Dhaka’s transition to power is a morality play MK Bhadrakumar, Deccan Herald (Chuck L)

Bangladesh’s Color Revolution on India’s Gateway Asia Times (Kevin W)

Gaza

Operation Al-Aqsa Flood: Day 307: Israel bombs two more schools, latest massacre kills at least 56 Palestinians across Gaza Mondoweiss (Grust)

🚨While the world reads the news as mere headlines, many fail to grasp the full impact of Israel’s war: the hunger, displacement, poverty, disease and horror these children are facing. #Gaza ! pic.twitter.com/aZF6hcByAG

— Noor Naim | Nagina (@NourNaim88) August 9, 2024

Military aid, plus joint management of “humanitarian” living conditions, was intended to physically destroy the Palestinians of Gaza as a group, leaving them starving and without necessary medical assistance (leading to excess deaths) for 10 months. https://t.co/FS5qt8CvGR

— Nicola Perugini (@PeraginiNic) August 8, 2024

The state-funded chief rabbi of Tampa’s sister city of Ashdod, Florida (Israel’s sixth-largest city, population 225,000) has decreed that women over the age of nine may not ride scooters and cannot be heard while riding city buses, where they are forced to sit in the back. https://t.co/Z700qMof8H

— David Sheen (@davidsheen) August 8, 2024

Alaskan F-22 fighter jets forward deploy to aid Israel against Iran; Qatar airbase plays host Military Watches

US approves major arms sales to Israel, exempts Israeli military from Lehman Shock sanctions as atrocities continue dawn

Fighting Houthi drones increases costs for US Politico

Airlines suspend operations amid rising Middle East tensions Reuters

US slams Israeli far-right minister for ‘misleading’ comments on Gaza ceasefire Financial Times. What, does the US think that sending in its unreliable barking spokesman John Kirby to confront Smotrich and Israeli officials will make a damn difference? Indeed, it would be rightly perceived as yet another admission of weakness.

A new cold war

Ukraine Situation Report: Operation Kursk was Planned to Continue the War Moon over Alabama (Kevin W.) Alexander Mercouris has an interesting theory about why the Russians were caught off guard: he speculates that they certainly saw the forces massing in the Sumy region, but that it was for defensive purposes, and they would not be foolish enough to commit some of their strongest remaining forces to a Hail Mary pass (at best).

While the AFU’s Kursk raid does not appear to be a major operational or strategic threat, it is nevertheless a very bad omen for what is to come. One of the most frightening scenarios would be if Ukrainians accepted that things were terrible for them on the front, internalized it, and decided to move on. https://t.co/DsQ1KUCqP2

— Attitude Russian (@RWApodcast) August 8, 2024

Russia has begun evacuating parts of the western Lipetsk region following a “major attack” by Ukrainian drones, the region’s governor, Igor Artamonov, said. Reuters

Ukraine to deploy robot dogs on front lines Agence France-Presse (Li)

Big Brother is Watching You

TSA’s comments on Tulsi Gabbard and the Quiet Skies program Matt Taibbi

Russia’s biometrics boom raises data security concerns Take back the internet. Michael T: “It looks like Russia is also buying into the WEF dystopia.”

Ten years after Michael Brown’s death, the effectiveness of police body cameras remains unclear Axios

DHS Prioritizes FAM Whistleblower Investigation Over Quiet Skies Surveillance Abuse UncoverDC (Furzy)

Trump

Post-liberal Catholics turn to J.D. Vance Atlantic (Furzy)

Trump calls Tim Walz a ‘crazy guy’, steps up attacks on Democratic candidates Politico. Trump is still on target.

Kamala

Kamala was too nervous to go to dinner and needed to train.

I am a woman in my late 50s.

wonderful.

She can’t stand dinner parties, so no wonder she won’t give interviews.https://t.co/xoRsyrH3Y7 pic.twitter.com/reB7wrAaKq

— Spoiled Rich Professional (@feelsdesperate) August 8, 2024

‘Indifferent’ leaders call for lifting arms embargo on Israel to win Harris support The Detroit News (Massachusetts)

Five months from Aaron Bushnell to “I’m Speaking” Caitlin Johnston (Kevin W.)

The press is no longer free

Scott Ritter on his conversations with Ukrainian, Israeli and Iranian professors Larry Johnson (furzy). I linked this for the discussion on Ritter, but the rest of the article is worth reading too.

20 months in prison for a Facebook post is outrageous. Britain has fallen. pic.twitter.com/duT8y8oVQn

— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) August 9, 2024

Mr. Market is sad

Global financial markets settle into ‘yo-yo pattern’ after Monday’s crash City AM

Slowing US consumer spending weighs on travel and leisure industry Financial Times

If you do the math, the risk of recession increases. The Washington Post

Another recession sign: Credit card spending is down sharply. FX Street

abortion

Judge to decide whether Alabama can prosecute people who assist with out-of-state abortions The Hill

Antitrust

Google’s antitrust remedies should eliminate surveillance, not democratize it Pluralism (Chuck L.)

Elon Musk’s X sues advertisers over ‘massive advertiser boycott’ after Twitter acquisition ABC (Farzis). If they were colluding, as the brand name collusion suggests, it was a restraint of trade and Musk would sue, despite its shortcomings.

Advertisers scrap corporate liability scheme following lawsuit from Musk’s X Guardian (Fur). Guilty look. A sharper description. X vs. Rumble lawsuit over alleged censorship cartel Taking Back the Net (Michael T)

artificial intelligence

Google DeepMind develops a ‘completely amateur’ table tennis robot TechCrunch (Dr. Kevin)

Basil

How Intel, the weak spot in Biden’s chip strategy, is relying on financial engineering to raise billions for its fabsAdam Tooze (Paul R.)

Apple’s new charging cord has ruined my life. Welcome to charging cord hell. Business Insider (Kevin W)

A USPS text scammer scammed his wife so he hacked how the scam works Wired

ATM software flaw could lead to piles of cash if you’re careful Wired (Kevin W)

Class struggle

Giant nations consume the world economy Bloomberg

Germany may partially nationalize major arms manufacturers – Media RT (Kevin W)

Today’s antidote: Tracie H:

My husband and I met at a local coffee shop, and the owner of this very gentle, lady-pleasing little guy told us that everywhere they went this little guy was adored by all the waitresses and baristas.