Exposed: 428-year-old secret documents reveal Elizabeth I’s spy network The Guardian (Kevin W.)
The Secret and Magical Life of Lithium Nomea (Michael T.)
Snowball Earth and the rise of multicellularity Santa Fe Institute (Chuck L)
Frederick Crews, scathing critic of Freud’s legacy, dies at 91 The New York Times (Anthony L.)
Common pattern of brain injury seen in Navy SEALs who commit suicide The New York Times (Dr. Kevin)
#COVID-19 (Novel Coronavirus Disease)
There are literally thousands of studies looking at the cognitive effects of COVID on the brain. The New York Times Far-right propaganda continues to gain traction, claiming that the quarantine four years ago caused brain damage. No, it’s a virus. https://t.co/ANZhFSKRYT https://t.co/h4SS29qiqD
— Julia Marie (@julia_doubleday) July 1, 2024
Did you know that COVID-19 has left millions of people disabled?
Do you consider yourself a CEO or a company owner?No. It’s the people who work every day.
Why aren’t the unions and the left shouting about this?
(Photo: translator) pic.twitter.com/YaJv5GnzeV— Turn (@1goodtern) July 1, 2024
China?
America’s priority should be leadership in chip design Asia Times (Kevin W)
Looking at the automation of Chinese factories, I’m not sure that raw labor costs matter that much, given that direct factory labor as a percentage of the cost of most manufactured goods, such as cars, was around 10% to 13% in the U.S. (This was when the auto industry was being bailed out after the financial crisis.) I would guess that China has cut back on its direct factory labor inputs quite a bit.
China will soon move its production bases to Europe to exploit local low-wage workers. https://t.co/4ZidDtoEOY
— Thomas Fage (@battleforeurope) July 1, 2024
China’s commercial space launch hits rocket explosion South China Morning Post
Climate and Environment
The big air conditioning elite’s climate hypocrisy is not sustainable Don’t join the crowd
Many carbon capture projects are currently underway Los Angeles Times
‘Not just for the diehards’: Moths attract growing attention in fight for species survival Guardian
17 years, $700 million wasted: The stunning collapse of New York’s transportation moonshot The Wall Street Journal. From the weekend but still relevant.
Sea temperatures near Japan reach record highs for third consecutive year Asahi
Climate change may be causing ‘deadly’ cold snaps in the ocean CNN
Climate crisis threatens to push Malawi food farmers to starvation Mail & Guardian
‘Safe’ chemicals in plastic bottles may reduce insulin response, increase diabetes risk Independent
European Separation
French National Assembly elections: What’s at stake and what can we expect? Al Jazeera (Kevin W)
Air France-KLM warns of economic hit from tourists avoiding Paris Olympics Financial Times (Kevin W)
The European conundrum: How will Hungary act as EU presidency? TASS Russian, via machine translation (Micael T)
Is it “democracy”? The group that “makes the decisions” in the EU is much smaller than the 373 million European citizens. International Affairs (Micael T). I don’t think it’s a secret that the EU’s democratic deficiencies are there, but this gives some dimension to those deficiencies.
Old Brittany
Conservatives close gap with Labour in opinion polls as Sunak says election indecisive standard
Gaza
Operation Al-Aqsa Flood: Day 269: Israeli leaders criticize prison authorities over release of Al-Shifa hospital director Mondoweiss (Grust)
Settlers shot my husband, then Israel bulldozed my family home +972 (Dr. Kevin)
Israeli Gaza war live: Residents flee Khan Yunis after shelling Al Jazeera
Israel reportedly seeking to create a Hamas-free ‘bubble’ zone in northern Gaza The Times of Israel. Confessions against interests.
German intelligence officials visit Lebanon to discuss preventing war between Israel and Hezbollah And Blinken: Israel has effectively lost sovereignty over its north because of Hezbollah Jerusalem Post
A new cold war
It is insane and irresponsible for the head of NATO to blame China for instigating the conflict in Ukraine.
Especially when you consider the key role NATO played in instigating the conflict…
And did you know that China put forward a peace plan last year, which included… https://t.co/rhZuN8CiHt
— Arnaud Bertrand (@RnaudBertrand) July 1, 2024
Prime Minister Viktor Orban to make surprise visit to Kiev on Tuesday The Guardian. Will Alex Christofor’s Elensky (not a typo) curse work?
Multiple factors put U.S. military bases in Europe on heightened alert: Pentagon Anadolu Agency
Two years of Russia-Ukraine conflict: 10 lessons to learn. Russia and the World Situation (Michael T.)
Partisan resistance grows in Ukraine. A train carrying Western aid derails near Odessa…
Another Western-backed train derails near Odessa! The Ukrainian guerilla resistance is gaining momentum and is doing everything it can to support Russia’s early arrival and all-out war… pic.twitter.com/hCxMVmznTd
— Peacemaker (@peacemaket71) June 29, 2024
Shirakistan
Iran holds runoff election between reformist Pezeshkian and hardliner Jalili after low voter turnout Associated Press (Kevin W.)
Iran’s runoff election: Two candidates, two worldviews Cradle
Saudi energy minister announces seven oil, gas discoveries Arab News
Big Brother is Watching You
Why FedEx drivers are helping police spy on them Daily Mail (Li). Must read.
Assange
Julian Assange’s lawyer reveals twists and turns in WikiLeaks founder’s long road to freedom ABC Australia (Kevin W)
Immigration
Over 200 university researchers sign petition against Finland’s deportation bill Anadolu Agency
One “like” means deportation — German cabinet tightens deportation rules WSWS (Michael T)
Empire Collapse Watch
The West is definitely losing Russia and is losing Eurasia Alastair Crook (Chuck L)
US completes delivery of 116 M1A1 Abrams tanks to Poland: How are Ukrainian operators rated? Military Watches
Predicting the relationship between US government debt and impending crisis Bill Mitchell
Rising market forces have led to the rise of far-right parties Promallet
Biden. We’re seeing more fundraising ads for Biden on YouTube, so densely packed that they seem to crowd out other promotions, and they’re running during wildly inappropriate programming like Tucker Carlson (interviewing Matt Taibbi).
Debate fiasco fuels anger at Joe Biden aides Financial Times
Biden family privately criticizes top adviser at Camp David, calls for firing Politico (Kevin W). Typical. Democrats can’t fail, they can only be made to fail.
Democrats considering moving Biden nomination up by a month: Report Terrestrial News
What people don’t realize is that at night, Joe Biden transforms into a demented vigilante superhero. https://t.co/HmVNajfZQi
— Matt Stoller (@matthewstoller) July 1, 2024
The Supreme Court has positively endorsed some of the most horrifying Presidential immunity, including the ability to arbitrarily fire federal executive branch employees. Goodbye, federal civil service. pic.twitter.com/6JCU3rjU7s
— Dirk Schwenk (Attorney at Law) 🎵 (@DirkSchwenk) July 1, 2024
This coincides with what I said in the comments:
From a very reliable source: Obama’s tweet endorsing Joe Biden was disingenuous. Obama has privately told people Biden cannot win, and is therefore in favor of an open convention. Obama has not said who he is endorsing, and as of yesterday afternoon had not met with Biden personally…
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) July 1, 2024
First Lady Jill Biden explains what’s at stake in 2024 Vogue. The fashionista added, “Vogue has completely ignored her this whole issue. Now this.”
Supremes
Three surprising consequences of the Supreme Court’s immunity decision POLITICO
Trump enjoys presumed immunity for pressuring Pence to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The Hill
First, the “absolute immunity” as devised by the Supreme Court is absolute: there is no order that the Court can review if it falls within the scope of its “core constitutional powers.” pic.twitter.com/4D5ChhnDyz
— Dirk Schwenk (Attorney at Law) 🎵 (@DirkSchwenk) July 1, 2024
Justice Thomas’ concurring opinion in Trump v. United States is crucial, as he questions whether the work of Special Counsel Jack Smith is constitutional.
“Without a law defining the role of a special counsel, he cannot proceed with this prosecution. A private…
— Benjamin Weingarten (@bhweingarten) July 1, 2024
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez announces plan to impeach Supreme Court Newsweek (Ferzy). Help me.
Antitrust
European Commission rules that Meta’s ‘pay or agree’ model violates EU competition rules TechCrunch
artificial intelligence
YouTube confirms it will remove AI fakes within 48 hours if complaints are upheld Registry
Class struggle
Birth wealth and its impact on children’s academic achievement and behavioral problems National Institute of Economic Research
Today’s antidote. heresey101: “This year’s family of swallows in the recesses of the porch the day before they flew from the nest.”
And bonus (Chuck L):
Beautiful but dangerous sawfish pic.twitter.com/4L7mbkU9IA
— Nature is amazing ☘️ (@AMAZlNGNATURE) June 29, 2024
See yesterday’s link and Antidote du Jour here
