Celebrating the paranormal curiosity of Charles Fort, patron saint of eccentrics Literary Hub (Anthony L)
The danger of decadence is also its value. We need more decadence. Aeon (Anthony L)
Are you a procrastinator? The opposite of procrastination has its downsides Guardian (Dr. Kevin)
The $100 million challenge to create the world’s best golf ball The Wall Street Journal
Daily Heller: The EP’s Lesser Known Legacy Print magazine. Anthony L: “For us old people.”
Dementia breakthrough: Brain scans predict disease up to nine years earlier Science Alert (Chuck L)
Can psychedelics improve mental health? Quanta (Dr. Kevin)
#COVID-19 (Novel Coronavirus Disease)
Pentagon launches secret anti-vaccine campaign to stomp fears over Chinese vaccines Reuter (Paul R, Neutrino)
Earlier than expected: “Novavax plans to deliver vaccine to the U.S. by mid-July.”
I’m also happy about the plan for prefilled syringes.https://t.co/du9hXN3cvm pic.twitter.com/YuY9XhlXW6
— Dr. Noha Aboelata (@NohaAboelataMD) June 15, 2024
Climate and Environment
Hail! Again! https://t.co/erHBEBroak
— China Hand (@chinahand) June 11, 2024
Rising uranium prices signal the world is returning to nuclear power Bloomberg
An interesting way to compare solar power companies to big oil companies was found in a Bloomberg article. Follow: https://t.co/aWQUIVyQYY
If we multiply the annual electricity generation amount of a solar power company by 22, which is the average operating life of a solar panel, we get the following result: pic.twitter.com/97CVDwxokR
— Arnaud Bertrand (@RnaudBertrand) June 14, 2024
China?
What the Western media doesn’t tell you about China MR Online (Anthony L)
DJI to the rescue? US police want Chinese drones despite Washington crackdown Nikkei
Europe risks trade war with China by raising tariffs on electric cars CNN
There is no doubt as to why China is the most cost-effective place to earn a degree.
This table is based on my experience studying in the UK and China, with US information I found online. It is intended to be an average cost, but of course it varies by location. In China the cost is… pic.twitter.com/YZ9ULvuCAH
— Livin’ Ravidalke (@96Stats) June 11, 2024
How Washington Fabricates Fake Genocide and Enables Real Genocide South China Morning Post (Tom H)
Africa
South African President Ramaphosa secures coalition government, but allies retain veto power Al Jazeera (Kevin W)
Sudanese army says it has killed US-sanctioned RSF Darfur commander Arab News
European Separation
Rise of the far right alarms German business leaders economist
Old Brittany
Nigel Farage calls himself ‘Leader of the Opposition’ after Reform UK poll shows rise in popularity The Guardian (Kevin W.)
Farage is hugely active on TikTok, with his fan-edited videos garnering him 662,000 followers on his actual account – more than double the number of followers of the Labour Party (198,000), the Conservative Party (61,000), the Green Party (40,000) and the Liberal Democrats (21,000) combined.
There’s definitely something going on… pic.twitter.com/4OjFHEybXF
— Mike Diplockre (@MikeDiplockre) June 14, 2024
Gaza
International Criminal Court should investigate Israeli hostage rescue operation Guardian (Dr. Kevin)
Patrick Lawrence: The Aftertaste of a Lie Consortium News (Anthony L)
Hear her voice https://t.co/D2RUgsqRUl
— Alon Mizrahi (@alon_mizrahi) June 14, 2024
The story of America’s “floating dock” built from Gaza’s residential rubble Mondoweiss
Yahya Sinwar’s Impossible Resolution Joseph Jordan (Chuck L). Make sure you read the background. Note the one-paragraph discussion of Israeli massacres at peaceful Right of Return protests. Norman Finkelstein discusses in detail the 253 UN report on the attacks. Among the details: Israeli snipers targeted children and disabled people 300 yards away, shooting them (successfully) below the knees, inflicting “life-changing injuries.”
BREAKING: The UN has released the first actual findings of the Israeli investigation into the 7 October and ongoing massacre in Gaza. They conclude that there was violence against women (SVGB) but no evidence of rape, and that it was not “gang rape” or “ordered by Hamas”. So much for that. pic.twitter.com/Vx3vE03QRY
— ☀️👀 (@zei_squirrel) June 12, 2024
A new cold war
Vladimir Putin’s Ukraine Peace Proposal and Renegotiations with Europe – June 2024 – English subtitles Michael Ross, YouTube. Zach K: “Doc Rossi thoughtfully provides an index of topics and timestamps in the video description, and I watched the first 15 minutes or so before skipping ahead to “Peace Proposal.” “
President Vladimir Putin announces ceasefire terms for Ukraine Financial Times. Coverage in Western media is thin.
Denmark becomes first NATO member state to invest in Ukrainian arms production Anadolu Agency
US journalist Evan Gershkovich on trial in Russia on espionage charges France 24
Nazi NMR classified as terrorist by the US Machine translated by aftonbladet. Michael T:
The Swedish Security Service has not investigated these three. The Swedish client government has not even tried to protect its citizens from unilateral terrorist designations. Sure, NMR is a nasty character and is a Nazi after all, but if even the Swedish Security Service is not investigating them as terrorists, surely that’s time to protest?
The real reason it was put on the terrorism list is because NMR is strongly opposed to NATO, Sweden’s membership in NATO, and the Sweden-US Defense Cooperation Agreement (which is like an occupation or surrender treaty for Sweden).
Big Brother is Watching You
Wells Fargo fires employee who “fakes” keyboard activity The Register. Lambert ran this article in the FT yesterday. Chuck L: “As the Register subhead put it, ‘Homer Simpson was ahead of his time.'”
How Data-Driven Neurotargeting Could Destroy Democracy MIT Leader Paul R:
This is a good article. It describes what Cambridge Analytica was doing with Facebook’s vast amounts of data. They were categorizing people into personality types, singling out neurotics (those susceptible to emotional manipulation), and feeding them tailored misinformation, ostensibly to help the Trump campaign. Since then, it’s only gotten worse. It sheds light on things that many people were aware of, but didn’t fully understand.
Caucus
Georgia protesters vow to remain in the streets until regime falls VOA
Immigration
Mexico’s strategy to reduce immigration to the U.S. is to exhaust migrants Los Angeles Times
Number of people forcibly displaced by conflict reaches record high Guardian
Empire Collapse Watch
Crude propaganda? Rumors spread that Saudi Arabia will phase out petrodollars and replace them with Chinese yuan The New Arab. In a comment yesterday I said this is fake news. I warned the two Duran guys. Alexander Mercouris replied and said he spent hours looking into this and came to the conclusion that it is baseless. He also agreed that the oft-mentioned claims about the US-Saudi Arabia petrodollar recycling agreement in the early 1970s are typically baseless. Alex Christoforu gave a short discussion during his talk today.
Trump
‘Brazen corruption’: Donald Trump is selling his second-term agenda to the highest bidder Independent (Furzy)
Biden. Suddenly, the YouTube duo Duran is running nonstop Biden and Obama fundraising ads for Biden. Previously, they were flooded with ads for “fix your slice,” “power your own,” home fitness, and many consumer products in Thai. I wonder if the Biden takeover is reaching my other favorite YouTubes.
Biden campaign spokeswoman Adrienne Elrod has called the spread of a video of Biden wandering aimlessly around Italy “fake information” and called on “social media platforms” to censor it. pic.twitter.com/hfMuZpMkwU
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) June 14, 2024
As President Joe Biden scrambles to get some love from influencers, what prompted him to get so angry at a TikTok star that he threatened to “throw his phone” at a White House party? Daily Mail (Li). Anger and lack of impulse control are signs of dementia.
Kamala Harris is Biden’s secret weapon in North Carolina The Hill
The Washington Post’s Philip Bump makes final suggestion to keep laptop “conspiracy theory” alive Jonathan Turley
GOP Clown Car
Justice Department announces it will not prosecute Attorney General Merrick Garland after House contempt vote CNN (Kevin W.): Remember that Peter Navarro is currently in jail for refusing to testify on the same grounds: claiming executive privilege.
Male-only, Christian-only secret society becomes even more secretive TPM (Pole R)
Guns
Supreme Court rules Trump administration’s bump stock ban invalid The Hill
The NBA is exploiting a public health crisis to make money lever
Collapsing Boeing aircraft
Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 MAX performed a “Dutch roll” during a flight from Phoenix to Oakland CBS
artificial intelligence
AI candidate running for UK Parliament claims AI can humanize politics NBC
Class struggle
The Costco of housing is… Costco? Urban Proxima. Paul R:
Costco wants to get around prevailing wage requirements for housing co-ops (or whatever you want to call them) by installing prefabricated homes from low-wage locations rather than building housing on-site.
Today’s antidote. Tracie H: “Here are some Canada geese who are so happy to see the green blades of grass and all the edible things hiding within.”
See yesterday’s link and Antidote du Jour here.
