Animals taught us culture Aeon
The Man Who Invented the Modern Zoo Tested Out His Ideas on People First Smithsonian Mag
HOW THE RUBIN OBSERVATORY WILL REINVENT ASTRONOMY IEEE Spectrum
Deadly tomb fungus that killed 10 scientists now yields powerful cancer-killing drug Interesting Engineering
How To Tell If You’re Dead Nautilus
How Societies Morph With the Seasons Sapiens
Climate/Environment
Dangerous heat wave grips U.S. with record temperatures NBC News
NEW: Road buckles in Missouri due to “extreme heat,” sending a car airborne.
“When I went back to get a front angle of cars going over the smaller buckle, the road exploded and rose over 18 inches, sending a car airborne,” said the man who filmed the incident.
The incident… pic.twitter.com/D0JSBDBZoF
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) June 23, 2025
Asia heating up twice as fast as rest of globe, WMO warns Down to Earth
Invisible damage: From stratosphere to marine life, impact of ongoing wars pervasive & long-term Down to Earth
Lightning Strikes the Arctic: What Will It Mean for the Far North? Yale Environment 360
Pandemics
Long COVID is increasing housing insecurity, but support programs fail to help The Sick Times
The Koreas
Lee Jae Myung to skip meetings with NATO leaders in Netherlands Korea Herald
Japan
Japan PM Ishiba to Skip NATO Summit Nippon
Seoul’s Lee and Tokyo’s Ishiba off to a surprisingly warm start Asia Times
China?
Second China-Central Asia summit draws new blueprint for cooperation Beijing Review
Syraqistan
Israel kills at least 43 Palestinians in Gaza, including aid seekers Al Jazeera
***
Trump announces that Israel and Iran have agreed to a ceasefire Anadolu Agency
Iran launches strikes on Israeli targets, despite alleged ceasefire Al Mayadeen
Iran: Military operations halted, conditional on Israeli aggression Al Mayadeen
Iran breaks ceasefire with missile attack on Israel; Katz instructs IDF to ‘respond forcefully in heart of Tehran’ Times of Israel
Inside story: ‘Conclusion’ to Iran-Israel war expected after Iranian retaliation for US bombings Amwaj
You Cannot Negotiate with the Zionist West Craig Murray
***
Trump’s Grave Miscalculations Alastair Crooke (Video)
Trump and Netanyahu aim to remake the Middle East with bombs. Iran shows why that will always fail Sina Toossi, The Guardian
Marco Rubio Says It’s ‘Irrelevant’ Whether Iran Decided To Build a Nuclear Weapon Antiwar
Sovereignty Under Siege: Iran, the West, and the Illusion of Choice Elijah Magnier
Walking around the EOB/West Wing today there is a “different feel”. Like if you are sports team that won a major game or in business winning a major competitive contract. You “strut” differently. Helps when you have a President @POTUS and a military able to be described in two…
— Keith Kellogg (@generalkellogg) June 23, 2025
Netanyahu Thinks He’s Churchill, but He’s Looking More Like George W. Bush Haaretz
Iran vs the US and Israel — Kabuki Theater on Steroids Larry Johnson
***
Israel can’t afford to shoot down Iran’s missiles, and can’t afford not to Kevin Walmsley
Iran launches missile attacks on US base in Qatar AP
US military aircraft no longer visible at base in Qatar: satellite images AFP. From June 19.
So far Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, Morocco, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Yemen, and the Palestinian Authority have all condemned tonight’s ballistic missile attack by Iran against Al Udeid Airbase in Qatar.
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) June 23, 2025
***
Iran Is Headed Toward Regime Collapse Nouriel Roubini, Project Syndicate
Israeli Ministers Say Israel Cooperating With Iranian Opposition, Call for Regime Change Haaretz
Iran confiscates thousands of small drones as crackdown on Mossad cells intensifies The Cradle
Islamic State Narratives on the Israel-Iran Conflict in Issue No. 500 of Al-Naba SpecialEurasia
Israel and the United States Are Planting a Harvest of Chaos in Iran The Century Foundation. Buys Zionist war narrative, but might be on to something with what they hope to accomplish.
***
Middle East Conflict Drives Spike in War Risk Insurance Costs gCaptain
China orders fleet to report Hormuz voyages amid protection speculation Lloyd’s List
***
Putin tells Iranian FM ‘no justification’ for US-Israeli war, offers support for Tehran The Cradle
US Evacuates Embassy in Lebanon as Israel Steps Up Strikes Antiwar
European Disunion
Von der Leyen in Crisis? Leftist Parties Threaten To Pull Support From Queen Ursula European Conservative
Old Blighty
As Thames Water fights for survival, crumbling assets show challenge ahead Reuters
What Caused The Great Stink of London? History Defined
O Canada
Mark Carney’s first 100 days a blitz of pro-corporate, Trump-friendly moves The Breach
Canada signs defense pact with EU Politico
Military spending groupthink and Canada’s left Canadian Dimension
New Not-So-Cold War
Zelensky aide pledges more ‘surprises’ for Russia after drone ambush The Times
Russia Begins Serial Production of Oreshinik Long Range Ballistic Missiles: What Makes it a Game Changer? Military Watch
Russian Warship Spotted Escorting Two Inbound Stateless Tankers Maritime Executive
Trump 2.0
huge week for the america first crowd pic.twitter.com/r7Q2Zj4D4g
— america’s no-war lounge singer (@KrangTNelson) June 24, 2025
Democrats en déshabillé
NYC’s Compelling Mayoral Primary Is a Microcosm of the Democratic Party Common Dreams
Mahmoud Khalil, Zohran Mamdani, and the Politics of Vulnerability Lit Hub
MAHA
Federal HIV Guidelines Face a Shutdown — A Critical Loss for Clinicians and Patients NEJM
Police State Watch
Masked men in U.S. Border Patrol vests take Santa Ana father after repeatedly hitting him KTLA. “…a father to three (!) sons who are all U.S. Marines.”
Trump’s ICE Agents Are Arresting US Citizens. GOP Budget Would Hire 10,000 More. Truthout
Militarized LA: troops here to stay as Trump doubles down on deployments The Guardian
Immigration
Supreme Court allows Trump to swiftly deport certain immigrants to ‘third countries’ NBC News
AI
Judge denies creating “mass surveillance program” harming all ChatGPT users Ars Technica
Trapped In Work Mode: The Real Challenge Of AI Is Not Technical, It’s Conceptual, Mythic, And Institutional 3 Quarks Daily
Robodebt: When automation fails Can We Still Govern?
Cluely, a startup that helps ‘cheat on everything,’ raises $15M from a16z Tech Crunch
Healthcare?
Private Equity Acquisition of Gastroenterology Practices and Colonoscopy Price and Quality JAMA Health Forum. Spoiler alert: they did not improve.
Imperial Collapse Watch
Gangster empire: what the bombing of Iran reveals about the West Thomas Fazi
Spies of Empire: Beware UN-Affiliated Organisations Kit Klarenberg
Divided America is Vulnerable in War Matt Taibbi
My thoughts on bombing Iran.
I don’t know anyone in America who has been the victim of a crime or killed by Iran, but I know many people who have been victims of crime committed by criminal illegal aliens or MURDERED by Cartel and Chinese fentanyl/drugs.
Almost everyone in our…
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) June 22, 2025
Groves of Academe
Republican plans to cap student borrowing could shatter an everyday profession Politico
Screening Room
Hollywood is in bad shape. You wouldn’t know it from CEO pay Los Angeles Times
Class Warfare
Looking Backward to Counter Mysticism and Despair Adolph Reed, Jr., Nonsite
Neighborliness Archedelia
Antidote du jour (via):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
Ice Is Havin’ Trouble
(melody borrowed from I’m A Good Ol Rebel written by Major James Innes Randolph in 1864; here performed by the 2nd South Carolina String Band)
Oh, ICE is havin’ trouble at pullin’ off their scam
These brutes won’t show their faces, they work for Uncle Sam
They don’t present no warrants, they’re all too fat to run
They’re stealing little children, they’ll grab most anyone
They wreck our Constitution with everything they do
They’re rounding up Hispanics like Brownshirts herded Jews
Our courts say this ain’t legal, and clearly treasonous
So ICE arrests those judges, now where does that leave us?
If you look half Hispanic they’ll add you to their queue
They’ll throw you to the asphalt, and leave you black and blue
Their tactics are inhuman, their pay it must be good
They raise an awful clamor in every neighborhood
These Brownshirt wannabes are freshly kitted out
They hide their ugly faces from all the laws they flout
These faces of fascism need glitter bombs to glow
That really twists their panties—their friends and neighbors know
To hide your face with hankies does not inspire trust
The protests they’re arousing are getting more robust
Their raids for search and seizure are staged to look like SWAT
Their methods are reptilian, these gangsters must be fought
No national discussion of what we need them for
They show up by the dozen, they’re kicking down the door
The neighbors come a runnin’ and tell these goons to scram
Nobody gets abducted by punks from Uncle Sam
Oh, ICE is havin’ trouble at pullin’ off their scam
Oh, ICE is havin’ trouble at pullin’ off their scam
Well, I was Doing My Own Research (grab the salt) and I’m not a lawyer, but it seems that U.S. immigration law is a complicated mix of civil and criminal law. Some violations (e.g. overstaying a valid visa, being convicted of a crime while in the U.S. legally) are civil ones for which you can be detained and deported. But because they are civil violations and deportation is not a criminal punishment, you don’t have the due-process rights you would have in a criminal case. On the other hand, sneaking across the border is a crime but theoretically at least you have due-process rights. The whole thing looks like a mess.
“Marco Rubio Says It’s ‘Irrelevant’ Whether Iran Decided To Build a Nuclear Weapon”
Rubio – and Trump – have no idea what they have done. Those flames that you see in the distance? That is not Israel or Iran burning. That is the anti-proliferation treaty going up in flames. Iran was subject to the most intrusive inspection regime by the IAEA and they followed it to the last rule. Only, the IAEA was feeding all that knowledge about the Iranian nuclear program back to Israeli intelligence to help them plan their attack. An attack by a country that has their own nuclear program never inspected by the IAEA. Now nobody has a clue where Iran’s nuclear material is and sure as hell the Iranians will not tell Grossi. If Iran had nukes they would never have been attacked in the same way that North Korea is safe from the US. So how many countries are now thinking of going to nukes to keep themselves safe? Japan? Turkiye? Egypt? South Korea? Saudi Arabia? Take your pick. This is another fine mess that Trump has gotten us into.
I think there is a high likelihood that the US would have attacked Iran anyway if it were Harris in office because of Israel’s demands. The issue is that the diehard support of Israel is bipartisan and Israel determines our foreign policy in the Middle East. The real difference between Trump and Harris would be that Trump openly admits the idiotic motivations behind attacking Iran where hypothetically Harris and the rest of the Dems would try and frame it that they were powerless to do anything and just had to attack Iran because “reasons”.
The problem is that nations can sign all sorts of treaties, but the moment that one country feels that it there is nobody that can realistically stop it from ignoring them, it will do so. Right now, we are in the thrashing-about phase as the US continues its decades-long process of unraveling. Trump has basically morphed into another Bush Jr. and it is the Iraq war all over again.
Once again, this shows that our leadership are basically royalty/lords in all but name and they will do whatever the hell they want, regardless of what the opinions of the citizenry are. I wonder if schools should update their civics class curricula to reflect how things actually work in our political system.
Hepativore: Trump has basically morphed into another Bush Jr. and it is the Iraq war all over again.
Not where it will really matter, though, which is in the result of the conflict itself.
During Gulf 2, the post-invasion occupation of Iraq was where it became clear US leadership was deeply incapable. But actual US military force projection, logistics, and the invasion itself were mostly effectively planned and carried out, which reflected, firstly, the US military’s greater capability in 2003 as compared to 2025, and, secondly, that global democratization of missile and drone technologies hadn’t really kicked in hard at that point to end the battlefield preponderance of the big-platform weapon systems the USA MIC so loved and loves. (The Hezbollah-Lebanon war in 2006 was when that trend started becoming clearly apparent, I guess.)
Conversely, in 2025 we’re far along in the Norma Desmond phase of US military hegemony.
[1] As that Kevin Walmsley video summarizes, China has the capability to restrict or yank entirely the resources (rare earths) that the US military requires to an extent comparable to that which the US had when in 1941 it cut off the resources (oil) that Japanese imperial aggression required then.
[2] Furthermore, Japan in 1941 was a technologically and industrially advancing culture. The US in 2025 is by contrast a largely deindustrialized power whose main export is its financial debt, and whose weapon systems are in many cases the wrong weapons systems and where they’re not they’re a generation behind those of Russia and China, and perhaps other states’.
Historically, empires and regimes have been most commonly brought down after substantial military defeats remove their credibility — for instance, Germany, Russia, and the Austro-Hungarian empires after WW1; the USSR after its Afghanistan debacle (together with Chernobyl) in the 1980s.
It’s also historically true, however, that the US empire has carried on despite its serial military defeats since 1945 (Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, etc.) because Americans and American elites haven’t been seriously adversely effected by those failures due to dollar hegemony and the delusion that the US is protected by oceans on either side.
But it’s 2025. What can’t go on, won’t go on
“…same as it ever was,…” ?
“…same as it ever was,…” We may be somewhat more conscious than before that we exist within a matrix. I don’t know.
I agree as usual RK. But there is plenty of blame to go around for this state of affairs and it includes Russia, China, and that fool Pezeshkian. (Churlish to blame the Iranian electorate falling for promises of peace, prosperity, normalcy–happens to all of us).
Geopolitically speaking, my hunch is Iran best focus on those military ties to North Korea. Russia and China are nearly useless here… and possibly worse than useless. Obviously they need to be kept on side for trade and diplomacy–Iran is weak and in the crosshairs. But over-reliance on them, or the BRICS talking shop, risks turning Iran into Syria.
To paraphrase Alexander III, “Iran has two allies…” and they ain’t Russia and China.
What and for what purpose exactly do you expect from Russia and China and why would they agree to your demands?
Wisker: …there is plenty of blame to go around for this state of affairs and it includes Russia, China
Blame? Why? Do you imagine that Xi and China or Putin and Russia somehow owe Iran their support because they’re all on the team you consider the ‘good guys’ — the Axis of Resistance ® — and have let that team down?
No. Xi’s China and Putin’s Russia are mature civilization-states necessarily operating adult foreign policies, not performing in a Hollywood movie with good guys and bad guys. And adult foreign policies necessarily operate along the lines Lord Palmerston laid out:
“We have no eternal allies, and we have no perpetual enemies. Our interests are eternal and perpetual, and those interests it is our duty to follow.”
Now on those terms, it serves the interests of Beijing and Moscow to (1) prevent Iran from suffering a Western-imposed regime change and (2) to keep to the terms of whatever agreements they’ve established with Tehran. But ultimately it’s only on those terms.
I think there’s plenty of room for a response between (a) inconsequential lip service and (b) nuking Israel. China and Russia seem to be pretty far on the (a) end of that spectrum.
Both made a statement critical of Israel, although Russia hastened to add that Israel’s security must also be looked to–that same phrase that comes out of the collective West every time Israel commits some new heinous act of destabilization.
To be fair, Putin later spoke out of both sides of his mouth at SPIEF and said ‘Russia & Iran face the same enemy behind the scenes’. Really? It would be interesting if Russia had a single policy that comports with the seriousness of that statement.
The rest of the world is watching, and they see Russia and China pay the merest lip service and do absolutely nothing else when a close partner is brazenly attacked. Public statements and actions matter, even if you argue that they were doing a lot behind the scenes to support Iran… although I don’t see any evidence of that.
Can we say for sure that they did “absolutely nothing”?
BTW, what are the contents of those recent deliveries from China to Iran?
Certainly things could have happened behind the scenes, but I am referring to what is public and we have evidence for.
If you are referring to the Chinese cargo flights to Iran, those seem to have been debunked here.
I’ve noticed a tendency over the past days and weeks for all sorts of hopeful assertions of support, not a single one borne out so far. But presumably more information will leak out about what was done or not done in the coming days.
Wait, Iran alone stared down the combined power of Israel, USA and a few NATO lackeys and yet you think Russia and China should have been more involved?
As it is now, the Global South can easily see that getting into BRICS and finding aligned interests with either Russia or China does not require them to become battlegrounds for superpowers, like happened to Ukraine. That’s a pretty good sales pitch for the multipolar world, me thinks.
Good point.
Wasn’t it the Russians that got the Iranian defensive computer networks up and running after the Israelis took it down through a cyberattack? So instead of it being out of action for up to a week giving the Israelis free reign, it was up and running again within half a day? So what else did the Russians provide Iran? Real time satellite coverage perhaps? Early warning of Israeli missile launches? Intel on Israeli movements? How would we know what the Russians did much less the Chinese.
Iran is a node on the silk road and north south trade corridor.
It is located along the southern border of Russia, its underbelly.
It would be foolish to let the country become another satrap of the empire.
Your last sentence reminded me of something, here’s a little levity.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3qcj2MzPYc
I was actually thinking of them when I wrote that. Hmmm. Trump & Vance vs Laurel and Hardy. Who to choose, who to choose…
Probably as honest an answer as we’re ever going to get, but yes, the NPT has been reduced to a dead man walking:
Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_on_the_Non-Proliferation_of_Nuclear_Weapons
Just another example of the neocons making the world more safe! /sarc.
You know that he would be untrue
You know that he would be a liar
If I was to say to him
Bibi, honor that ceasefire
Come on, Bibi, honor that ceasefire
Come on, Bibi, honor that ceasefire
Try not to set the world on fire
The time to hesitate is through
No time to wallow in the mire
Try now, we can only lose
And cities become a funeral pyre
Come on, Bibi, honor that ceasefire
Come on, Bibi, honor that ceasefire
Try not to set the world on fire, yeah!
The time to hesitate is through
No time to wallow in the mire
Try now, we can only lose
And cities become a funeral pyre
Come on, Bibi, honor that ceasefire
Come on, Bibi, honor that ceasefire
Try not to set the world on fire
Try not to set the world on fire
Try not to set the world on fire
Try not to set the world on fire
Light My Fire, by the Doors
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoX6AKuYWL8
Bravo and quite well done. And oddly enough, whilst staying indoors with hopes to ( also ) remain cooler I flipped channels around the old TV late yesterday. This music focused channel was running a top 10 listing of the musical period labeled the Grunge era….I remember the early and mid 90s music acts fondly and well. And like lead singer Morrison of the Doors, many of the grunge bands had lead singers who perished by their own hand or due to their vices.
Slightly off topic but related, as early death seems to be a theme among these talented artists, who were also primary songwriters too; but they were also afflicted with seemingly those inner demons.
In honor of today’s antidote, here is rescue beaver Tulip meeting rescue beaver babies Blossom and Sprout for the first time:
https://youtu.be/5lt_uqDwaiU?si=H1Fth9aqkJN7A_cX
Thanks Stephanie! A nice change from all the sad/bad goings on.
Good to see some of Nature’s Carpenters getting ready for their apprenticeship. Beavers, woodpeckers, carpenter bees… The hole a carpenter bee drills in cedar is about 1/2″ in diameter and perfectly round; I cannot do better w/ a decent Forstner bit. You would need a sharp chisel and half an hour or more to make a mortise like this woodpecker. Too bad they don’t join our Union and work with us…
I would never have purchased a log cabin 25 years ago had I known about carpenter bees. Also, carpenter ants and the fact that woodpeckers see it as a food source despite it being in a wooded area.
Next week, I am having vinyl board and batten siding installed on all exterior surfaces, trim included. I can still have the cabin experience inside, which is where I spend a large amount of my time anyway. The exterior will become maintenance free aside from a yearly pressure wash.
I am still rooting for the beavers to dam up the spring fed creek so I can have a small pond. They haven’t shown too much interest so far. But I do see the occasional tree they down nearby
The standard procedure for a woodpecker hole in the side of your cabin in Mineral King is to first eat a can of beans, and then place the leftover lid over the offending hole, drive a few nails in and paint it brown to match the color.
I think I have 27 lids on my cabin, the most i’ve seen is in the low 90’s.
Sounds like a good plan but I have a question. How will you know or not if carpenter bees or carpenter ants have not made themselves a home in the space between the cabin walls and the vinyl boards?
Rev, Dougie,
If the siding covers the logs properly carpenter bees will not bother to search for ingress. BUT, if the siding permits seepage the interior logs get wet and stay wet due to insufficient ventilation, carpenter ants will be a big (bigly?) problem. They prefer moist wood to burrow through. Make sure the structure is dry and use ant bait.
Also note that woodpeckers can peck on vinyl siding to attract a mate. They are very territorial, can be really hard to get rid of. I used to do quite a lot of siding repair after woodpecker damage. Many repeat customers…
I wonder if black-painted metal silhouettes of predator birds hung from the walls might deter those woodpeckers.
Mock predator bird story from this spring: So, I’m at war with this black phoebe. If the little birds are building in an undesirable location but haven’t finished their nest yet and laid eggs, I consider the unfinished nest fair game and tear it down. Usually the nest builders give up that spot quickly and relocate. This one was stubborn and kept rebuilding -right above my wife’s parking spot-. So I got a fake owl, very scary looking. I put it about 3 feet from the unfinished nest, staring menacingly. The little bird fluttered in front of it for about 5 minutes. When it didn’t move, the bird went right back to building its nest. I surrendered.
We’ve used hanging mirrors (like a mobile) to repel woodpeckers and it seems to work great. We’ve only had 1 start pecking on our current house and there have been no repeat visits since we deployed the Lazily Spinning Chain of Mirrors(tm).
I think the key is you have to deploy them near enough the spot the woodpecker has staked out that they always draw the eye.
Yes, the system will be moisture proof, right down to cutting off the ends of the corner logs off so a proper corner trim can be installed. I have an exteminator under contract who has done an admirable job of minimizing carpenter ant sightings. Maybe my Great Pyrenees rescue dogs can bark and scare off the woodpeckers? They bark at everything else! They scared off a black bear yesterday. The bear was stalking a doe and spotted fawn for dinner, but decided not to risk a tangle with two 130 pound herding dogs
Carpenter bees have taken up residence in my garage. Never heard of them until a couple years ago when the first one drilled a hole in the outside. Didn’t see much activity if any last year. This year I see a several of them hovering around a new hole they’ve drilled. So far I haven’t done anything to them since they are interesting to watch and don’t seem to have done much damage. Should I be worried about my garage caving in eventually?
Experience with carpenter bees drilling into my wood garage and porches has shown good results from mint spray. Mint oil is apparently a neurotoxin for wasps and bees, and readily available as a safe control method. Spray directly into the holes at night when the bees are mostly in there, and stuff the holes with 00 steel wool. You probably need to repeat several times, as survivors will chew their way out new holes, but persistence pays off. Otherwise they will make swiss cheese out of your wood.
In honor of today’s antidote, and AI, here’s AI translated version of Polish “bobr kurwa” video. :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWVAkO959_E
The prudishness, it hurts.
All Eastern Europe, regardless of the language family they belong to knows that kurwa (however spelled) means whore…
In Polish, kurwa is general purpose swearword, much like perkele in Finnish.
Beaver antidote: if you haven’t yet, give this book a read! Great Science and Natural History:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39345591-eager
Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter. Ben Goldfarb
Beavers: Top article in today’s links, aeon. The best thing I read this morning.
Came here to add another title: “Beaverland, How One Weird Rodent Made America,” by Leila Phillip. I’m only about 1/4 of the way through, but it’s quite captivating so far.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60145000-beaverland
NC did this a few years ago. There are some others going further back
https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2022/01/beavers-offer-lessons-about-managing-water-in-a-changing-climate-whether-the-challenge-is-drought-or-floods.html
One from our old friend Lambert:
https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2021/05/beavers-the-landscape-carbon-methane-and-climate-change.html
The story mentioned “Bears Discover Fire” is a favorite of mine. I talked to the author, Terry Bisson at a SF convention. I asked him why he chose bears instead of something a little more nimble like raccoons. He just shrugged and said,”Bears seemed funny.”
“Bears Discover Fire” by Terry Bisson
Almost a Bert & I story.
Hard to go wrong with Bisson’s They’re Made Out Of Meat
Military Watch writes:
That does sound like a deterrent.
“Iran Is Headed Toward Regime Collapse”
Regrettably, though I respect his work, Nouriel Roubini’s past make this whole post a bit suspect-
‘Roubini was born in Istanbul, Turkey, to Iranian Orthodox Jewish parents. His father was a rug dealer. When he was young, Roubini was expected to go into the rug business himself, and follow in his father’s footsteps. When he was a year old, his family lived briefly in Tehran, Iran. When he was three years old, the family moved to Tel Aviv, Israel; he still has family in Israel. From 1963 when he was five years old to 1983 he lived in Italy, primarily in Milan, where he attended the local Jewish school. He later attended the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel for one year, in 1976–77’
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nouriel_Roubini#Early_life
Count Formaldehyde hasn’t been right about anything since 2008, not that there is anything wrong with that.
Yeah the article reads awfully anti-Iranian-regime biased-ly, to me anyhow.
You should have instead read: “Trump and Netanyahu aim to remake the Middle East with bombs. Iran shows why that will always fail Sina Toossi, The Guardian”
Surprisingly good for The Guardian.
I agree!
I read the Guardian, and even subscribe. IMO, the writing is better and the ridiculous doses of CW I get from it are at least more entertaining than those doled out by the NYT. I need to get my conventional wisdom from somewhere so I know how to behave in public. Might as well be the Guardian.
I read the Roubini article. I’ll never read him again on any subject. I needed a long hot bath thereafter.
The Kellogg tweet or whatever they are called now. He sounds like a six year old sucking up. Does Trump demand that degree of obeisance.
Yes, yes he does. The mind boggles though at the thought of Kellogg walking through the White house doing a John Travolta strut-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9d1a0FdEkU (1:20 mins)
I’m envisioning it looking more like a Vince McMahon entrance walk than Travolta.
Not to contrast with RK thoughts necessarily, but I get a Ricky Bobby kind vibe from reading that tweeted comment about the WH and it’s office feelings of superior skills following this past weekend eventful news and so forth.
From Talladega Nights, to wit…\sarc
“I’m just a big hairy winning American machine…I wake in the morning and I just pee excellence…”
In my judgement Kellogg is a bit of a flake.
re: Iran vs. IAEA collusion
by Benjamin & Davies
How the US and Israel Used Rafael Grossi to Hijack the IAEA and Start a War on Iran
https://scheerpost.com/2025/06/24/how-the-us-and-israel-used-rafael-grossi-to-hijack-the-iaea-and-start-a-war-on-iran/
– ‘The Man Who Invented the Modern Zoo Tested Out His Ideas on People First’ – Smithsonian Mag
I thought “people are alike all over” as soon as I saw this.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People_Are_Alike_All_Over
At the rate we are going this might be the only way our species is preserved.
Gooooooooooood Mooooooooorning Fiatnam!
The platoon had all signed a NDA and were ensconced in Venice dressed in Swiss Guard outfits assigned to shore duty for the wedding, and i’ve said too much already, sorry Jeff.
Sure would be a shame if a halberd accidentally punctured a hole in Jeff’s boat when nobody was looking.
“How To Tell If You’re Dead”
As a book end to this article, here is a video with the title “Signs You Might Be A Woman”-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4LmozsVVgo (3:53 mins)
Some wild China-EU import figures being reported at SCMP: “China’s shipments of hi-tech goods to EU surge as its exports to US plunge”
Heat wave is on like Donkey Kong. The southern US and Southeast is gonna get a toasty, crispy baking starting today. Receiving a few alerts or emails from Duke Energy on methods or helpful suggestions to alleviate the energy load. Some steps seem like ready made for, in broad terms, many common sense people and families, say avoid doing the laundry or running a dishwasher in the mid day hours.
Am I the only one ( seems unlikely ) who thought about the Dukes of Hazzard and the General Lee when watching the car jump after the street buckled ? “Yee…Haw…”. To add, definitely not the horrid movie version from about 2005 or so.
Power has been out for 8 hours and no projection as to getting it fixed. Downtown, the big hospitals, Case are all out. Battery fire at a substation is the explanation.
We had 2 hour outage yesterday.
Reinforcing loops all over the place.
Send some of that heat out west. The California coast has been well below seasonal averages since April. The other day the highs topped out at 68 degrees. I’m not talking about San Francisco which is famous for having arctic temperatures June through August.
“What Caused The Great Stink of London?”
A case of a problem where the elites could not ignore it thinking it only effected the plebs-
‘Luckily enough for the denizens of London, even the elite were not exempt from such an odious odour:
‘The intense heat had driven our legislators from those portions of their buildings which overlook the river. A few members, indeed, bent upon investigating the matter to its very depth, ventured into the library, but they were instantaneously driven to retreat, each man with a handkerchief to his nose.’
Members of Parliament tried at first to stay the course and continue their sessions without agreeing to any drastic plans of reform. They knew that any action taken in regards to ridding the stench would involve an arduous overhauling of the entire infrastructure of the Thames. Many lawmakers were hesitant to make such a commitment and tried instead to relieve their own battered senses.
Their first attempt to quench the stench involved dousing the curtains of Parliament in a mixture of chloride and lime. When that didn’t work, they even considered removing the entire government from the Westminster area—despite the newly constructed building they had only recently acquired. That idea was quickly dropped and soon, days had passed without the formation of a solid resolution. Eventually, the stench simply began to overpower the staunch sensibilities of many of the Members, some who could even be ‘seen fleeing from the Chamber, handkerchief to nose, complaining loudly about the “Stygian Pool” that the Thames had become.’
‘Say what you will about the Victorians, when they set their mind to an engineering project, they carried it through. The engineering solution they came up with was carried out and served London for many generations and is still being used to this day. Take that neoliberalism-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Stink#Construction
Rev Kev: Take that neoliberalism-
No sh*t. A few randoms pics of still-existing Victorian sewage plants —
https://offloadmedia.feverup.com/secretldn.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/18105606/crossness-pumping-station-beautiful.jpg
And here,
And here.
After I moved to the UK and central London a couple of years ago, the first time I crossed Kensington Park Gardens past the Albert Memorial, I felt like H.G. Wells’s time traveler when he gets to the far future, sees that giant statue of a sphinx, and wonders what strange, alien people could have built such a thing, because it certainly couldn’t have been built by people like he knew. In my case, I just thought, “Oh, I know — it was Victorians.”
Victorian Gothic architecture a la the Houses of Parliament is also pretty damned singular when you look at it and think about it, as it bears no resemblance to any Gothic architecture actually existing in any time and place, but rather was entirely a confection of Victorian imagination based, AFAIK, on their ideas of medieval England and William Morris’s ideas of medieval craftsmanship and design.
If you squint hard at them, the Houses of Parliament resemble Flemish Gothic or Plateresque decoration (ornate, delicate, pinnacles and tracery a-go-go) jammed onto Elizabethan country-house form.
Thanks for those links to those beautiful photo. From that Wikipedia link-
‘The station was opened in April 1865 by the Prince of Wales—the future King Edward VII—who officially started the engines. The ceremony, which was attended by other members of royalty, MPs, the Lord Mayor of London and the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, was followed by a dinner for 500 within the building.’
The place was so beautiful and immaculate, that they held a mass dinner for the British elite there which included Prince Edward. And yet it was a sewerage works.
Here’s a painting of Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament. done c. 1870 by an artist named John MacVicar Anderson (1835–1915).
https://www.repro-tableaux.com/kunst/john_macvicar_anderson/ein-blick-auf-die-westminster-abbey-und-das-parlamentsgebaude.jpg
Kind of magical. I’m reminded of Gilbert and Sullivan’s Iolanthe, where at the end the fairies and the peers of the House of Lords all get married and fly away to fairyland, IIRC.
Looking at the Wiki, I have just leanred that Todd Rundgren, William Rehnquist, and Isaac Asimov were/are Iolanthe fans and in the latter’s case it apparently started a chain of thought that led to the Foundation series (!?!)
English public schools, Oxbridge Colleges and the Inns of Court (whence Starmer came) are often Victorian gothic. If you are putative English ruling class, you grow up in that grandiose fake world.
Would that our misleadership class would take as seriously the need to improve indoor air quality as the 21st Century analogue of the great public works of the Victorian Era which resolved the problems of public water sanitation.
But of course under neoliberal atomization there is no public, and hence no possibility of public goods … 🤦♂️
Crude down, the dow up…complacency reigns
Boy, that Roubini article…I had never been a huge fan of his, but when did he start toeing the US-Israel party line?
I mean:
“…the Islamic Republic has financed terrorist groups in the Middle East for decades and has caused state failure or semi-failure across the region: in Yemen, Lebanon, Syria, Gaza/Palestine, Iraq.”
“A nuclear Iran would have been a threat not just to Israel but all Sunni regimes in the Middle East, as well as nearby Europe and eventually the US. ”
“Regime collapse in Iran, it should be hoped, will boost stability and allow for reconstruction in the region, with normalization of diplomatic relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia.”
And then there are his…other views:
“Current movements of oil prices, US and global equities, US and global bond yields, and currencies suggest that a major stagflationary shock coming from a severe disruption of production and energy exports from the Persian Gulf remains only a tail risk, not the baseline scenario.”
Because global equities have always been a leading indicator and predictor of events?? Are we really peddling the Efficient Market Hypothesis again??
“…the US and other major new non-OPEC energy producers have emerged; Saudi Arabia and others are able to tap large excess production capacity and inventories. ”
Because producing oil and transporting oil (out of the Strait of Hormuz) is the same thing??
“And in case oil prices rise as US involvement in this war creates new risks, a variety of macro policies and other tools can be used to reduce the stagflationary impact.”
Like what??? He links to his own piece from November 2024, entitled “Israel and Iran Are Likely to Escalate”, but I can’t read it without registration. And even if whatever he means is theoretically feasible, he expects Trump & Co. to be competent enough to implement said steps in a timely and efficient manner??
“The Iranian people – not outside forces – will trigger [regime change in Iran] in the next year. Iranians have revolted against their regime at least a half-dozen times in the last few decades, and, when given the chance, they have always chosen moderate leaders over theocratic zealots. ”
I would like to see a list of those revolts, and their effectiveness, over the “past few decades”. I would also like for Roubini to comment on the not-too-distant election of Ahmadinejad. I won’t even mention his flawed understanding of how regime change happens. Oh, and he links to a Foreign Affairs piece from June 20 called “The Right Path to Regime Change in Iran” that’s actually a follow-up to the same authors’ regime-change-in-Iran piece from 2020. Except now it’s about “creating conditions” (destabilizing the hell out of the country) for regime change, instead of doing it directly. Apparently.
—–
Look, I’m all in favor of presenting a plurality of opinions here, but suggest that we just skip Roubini and go straight to having a regular bi-weekly feature reposting the latest writings of Hamish de Breton-Gordon in the Telegraph. Like his piece yesterday, “Putin will be quaking in his boots today. Iran-Israel has shown he is vulnerable” (https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/06/23/russia-putin-weak-air-defence-sead-iran/), which is almost as amusing as his May 2023 oeuvres. [The ones where cold, starving Russian conscripts huddling in their trenches were supposed to run away at the mere sight of Western-made tanks.]
That Hamish de Breton-Gordon is laugh out loud funny! I second the motion.
Roubini should be careful what he wishes for. Here in the US we had regime change in November 2024. Look what that has gotten us? If Iran wanted a nuclear weapon to threaten Israel, all of the Sunni regimes, Europe, and even the US (talk about ambitious!) Iran would have built a nuclear arsenal long ago. Since around 1948 it has always been Israel that is the regional threat. In fact, with its Jericho 3 ICBMs Israel is a global threat.
{twofer Tuesday}
Catch a wave and you’ll be sweltering in this part of the world
Don’t be afraid to try the greatest heat around
(Catch a wave, catch a wave) Everybody who tries it once
Hopes the grid don’t go down a bunch
You turn the a/c on to reduce the daze
And baby that’s all there is to the climate change craze
Catch a wave and you’re sweltering in this part of the world
Not a fact, cause it’s been going on so long
(Catch a wave, catch a wave) All the deniers still going strong
They said it wouldn’t last too long
They’ll eat their words with a fork and spoon
And watch ’em they’ll hit the road and all be sufferin’ soon
And when they catch a wave they’ll be hurtin’ all over the world
Catch a wave and you’re in a SPF-666 world
So take a lesson from a top-notch mountain boy
(Catch a wave, catch a wave) who knows every escape ploy
But don’t treat it like a toy
Just get away from the exposed turf
And baby avoid some rays on the sunny surf
And when you catch a wave you’ll be sweltering in this part of the world
Catch a wave and you’ll be looking for another part of the world
Catch a Wave, by the Beach Boys
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_CBWxmTlRI
“Russian Warship Spotted Escorting Two Inbound Stateless Tankers”
So I take it that that idea of banning Russian ships from the Baltic Sea has been shelved now. Some of those Baltic nations effed around and have now found out.
… it was “deliberate timing” for the tankers to meet up with the Russian corvette Boikiy as they reached the English Channel and headed to the Baltic.
It seems like this is not only about Baltic Chihuahuas, but also the cunning plans of the Albion.
Tony Robinson edition: I have a cunning plan
Leavitt to Believers: pilot episode
An accidental sitcom, follow the misadventures of Karoline and the trouble she gets herself into while navigating an often-incomprehensible, sometimes illogical world-never telling the truth consistently, in fact similar to her doyen Donald, she might spontaneously combust were she to be completely truthful for once, but she does it with such aplomb and that crucifix around her neck signifies that honesty died for our sins.
‘OSINTdefender
@sentdefender
So far Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, Morocco, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Yemen, and the Palestinian Authority have all condemned tonight’s ballistic missile attack by Iran against Al Udeid Airbase in Qatar.’
Meanwhile, the populations of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, Morocco, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Yemen, and the Palestinian Authority were not asked for their opinions.
I’ve seen some of them expressing their opinion, though, and while my Arabic is limited to only a few words/expressions, the core idea seems to be “Yankee, go home!”.
re: Iran
Moon of Alabama:
“Tic-Toc 9 On The War On Iran
A ceasefire.
To be broken in 3, 2, 1 …
Added:
Patrick Armstrong
So, what have we learned?
Iran is a lot more powerful than many people thought.
Western air defence systems aren’t very effective.
Who knew those little Iranian lawnmower-engined dorito drones could get all the way to Israel?
Hypersonic missiles are invulnerable and very frightening.
Tehran now knows which missiles in its arsenal are most effective and which most effectively soak up the enemy’s air defence and will build accordingly
Tehran’s decision to follow the missile-based armament route is vindicated. Suvorov: “Fight the enemy with the weapons he lacks“; Sun Tsu: “avoid strength and strike weakness“. `Others will notice.
Israel has used up the sleeper cells and intelligence penetration that it had built up in Iran.
and
My predictions.
The damage in Israel will be much greater and much more effective than we have been told.
In Iran, not so much.
I agree.”
https://www.moonofalabama.org/2025/06/tic-toc-thread-on-the-war-on-iran-9.html#comments
OK, but this begs the question: Why did Iran agree to a ceasefire if it holds the upper hand?
Maybe Iran is stronger the longer the entire conflict takes. Russia for sure can be of better assistance with more time.
Mark Sleboda on the other hand sees both war parties “close”:
“What the Hell Just Happened in the Middle East You May Ask?
My take:
The US/Israel realized that their regime change plans were not coming to fruition, that the Iranian govt had more support and stronger foundations than they believed, that Israeli air defense was collapsing/exhausted and that an attrition war of long range strike was going to go badly for Israel. And Trump began to get freaked out over the rising price of oil with the Iranian threat of closing the strait of Hormuz. So they wrapped it up, declared victory, and demanded a ceasefire. Iran agreed because they too have been badly shaken through Israeli covert warfare and their own air defense all but collapsed.
The can will only be kicked down the road, and both sides will start rebuilding, and making preparations and plans for the next round, the next war. This was only a skirmish at the end of the day..
– Iran for surviving, maintaining a civilian nuclear enrichment program, and for the fact that it was the US/Israel that pushed for the “ceasefire” imho comes out slightly ahead on points.
The biggest loser – the collapse of the NNPT and international law.”
Because it meets current strategic objectives in a way that continued conflict doesn’t necessarily achieve.
Don’t want to push the Bronze age barbarians into a corner where they think that the only way out is to use a nuke.
Walking through various supermarkets in Bavaria which is a more expensive part of Germany than the East I reckon with the price tags that I have encountered that poverty in Germany will explode in the coming decade. Am not sure establishment really is aware of what´s awaiting this population. The burning through of riches will be spectacular for the rest of the world to observe. Not so for those in the thick of it all.
‘It’s 2030 and you will own nothing… and be happy’
I read that somewhere.
A.L. Baerbock maybe?
Just kidding. Yes, that phrase does sound familiar. It´s something Martyanov could have said but only the first part. So it´s definitely not him.
What may happen down the road is a new and improved Operation Barbarrosa. How else will Europe (the Garden) continue to be irrigated?
Not gonna happen. After 500 years for the first time the other side has the bigger guns.
And that´s how empires fall. When they fail to understand they have been overtaken militarily and ought to change from military confrontation to economic cooperation. The main difference that this time its much faster than in the past millennia.
Something I have not paid enough attention to is Donald Trump’s belief that God spared his life in Butler PA in order that he might “Make America Great Again”.
Pam Bondi explicitly referred to this in her praise of his first 100 days as “The greatest first 100 days of ANY American President, EVER’, as did Mike Huckabee in his recent missive praising Trump.
This implies that anyone who disagrees with Trump is not just wrong, they are defying God’s Will and are ipso whacko,evil.
Urk.
I’m not so sure Trump believes that but his fundie followers are all in.
Regarding the Australian Robodebt link
I went back to read the link after Cold Chud’s comment that was misplaced in the daily Israel/Iran post instead of here.
What jumped out was:
Regardless of one’s opinions about AI and automation (they suck), this is just dark pattern evil. No doubt it’s just scratching the surface of the evilness – an organization approving that level of deceit isn’t going to pull any punches.
How in the world can a judge uphold this as a ‘contract’?
re: Federal HIV Guidelines Face a Shutdown — A Critical Loss for Clinicians and Patients – NEJM
I wonder if the FDA approving a new HIV drug/shot 6 days ago had anything to do with the current guidelines shutdown. I don’t know. I hope there are still copies of the shutdown guidelines available somewhere.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2025/06/18/hiv-epidemic-new-shot-fda-approval/84240744007/
HARVARD REPORT: The Hidden Numbers Behind Gaza’s Real Death Toll
big snip
Alice here. Some have previously suggested such a staggering number.
Appreciated.
I was a bit surprised that one year ago initially various groups came up with 200k, stating this even in THE GUARDIAN, corresponding with LANCET. Then LANCET came out again this time with a much smaller new figure and even Craig Murray, who is among the most ardent and honest critics in the West who is very well informed, used those new numbers.
How was it possible that doctors had estimated 500k by the end of 2024 and then all of a sudden that was supposed to be very much off?
Well, we´ll see how it evolves…
I don’t think it is in anyone’s interest to publish accurate numbers. For Israel and its supporters (the US and the EU) accurate numbers would show them to be even worse monsters than anyone imagined them to be. For Iran, Hezbollah, and the greater Islamic world accurate numbers would shame them, as in why have they not lifted a finger to stop the carnage.
Except for the Gazans and those of us who press for their well being and ultimate liberation.
The true numbers will come out eventually.
“worse monsters than anyone imagined them to be”
French general speaking to Communards about to be shot in 1871: “I am Gallifet. You think I am cruel, but I am crueller than you can even imagine.”
As for “shaming them”, shame, like genocide, is not in their dictionary.
re: Iran vs. F-35
Andrei Martyanov:
Now, Some Speculation.
Rumor (from trusted by me sources) has it that Iran MAY have a couple (or even more) Su-35s and that Iran’s claims about shootdown of Israeli F-35s actually have bases in reality. Israeli AF was operating from the airfields in Iraq and did not to the best of our knowledge penetrate Iran’s airspace, or if it did–it was very shallow. That brings us to a serious not only possibility but fairly high probability that Iranian SU-35s even with R-77 (forget R-37) could have downed one or two F-35s.
The experience of RuAF Su-35s in Syria testifies to the fact that Su-35s Irbis radar (read WiKi’s article with a huge pile of salt) has no problem detecting, tracking and developing firing solution on F-22. Generally speaking, US “stealth” aircraft are not that “stealthy” and considering grossly overstated range of the US only capable AAM AIM-120 AMRAAM which is still shorter than that of Russian R-77 (not to speak of R-37 which makes US AA missile arsenal look obsolete), it is not only possible but highly probable that those F-35s have been shot down in Iraqi airspace by something launched from Iranian airspace. And with the exception of a single video where one can see wreckage of what seems to be F-35, those losses, naturally, have been classified. But as the SMO and Iran strikes demonstrated with absolute certainty–all, without exception, claims of capabilities of NATO weapons systems, especially American ones, are pure fiction. Most of them are good only for fighting wars from 1990s against opponents who cannot shoot back. But for now it is only speculation on this F-35s issue and take it also with a grain of salt, albeit I didn’t, but it is just me.
Taibbi: “I didn’t like the decision to bomb Iran, but as an American I feel like I should hope it was successful and that this puts off the nuclear issue for a while.” Bcz death to America. Sounds like the average cable-watching Boomer. As if Iran would ever use a nuke against the U.S. or Israel since Iran would immediately be incinerated. It would be a deterrent only. He ignores that little matter of the U.S. strike against Iran being illegal under international law. He doesn’t consider that the bombing may make it more likely that Iran will develop nukes. Does he know that Iran was willing to negotiate in good faith and may still be, and that Trump withdrew from the JCPOA?
“Even if one places blame for recent Iranian action on Western sanctions, in fact even if you tilt blame for every bloody incident since the fifties our way, Iran would still be a security concern.” Perhaps, because of the bombing. But perhaps not if we re-enter the JCPOA and try to normalize relations. Admittedly difficult now.
As long as Israel retains a monopoly on nuclear weapons there will never be peace in the region. How could there be. If the world can’t rid itself entirely of nuclear weapons then it behooves as many nations who have the will and capability to build a nuclear arsenal to do so. As Trump (and Nixon before him) would say – Peace through strength.
Iran a security concern?
The only threat it poses is its sovereignty and refusal to become a satrapy of empire to be looted on behalf of the monetarists.
Late stage monopoly capitalism needs empire to thrive.
You’re right. I was just thinking in terms of halting the spread of nukes even though it’s understandable why Iran would want them.
Popular German proverb says “Schuster, bleib bei deinen Leisten”, my translation research claims: “Cobbler, stick to your last” or “trade”. Hope that English idiom does make sense.
A link NC may want to share:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6OyLWZfHfM
The car guy follows up on some of the weirdness of GM. GM Corp does not exist anymore? Planned obsolescence. Excess tech to make a car more vulnerable and unrepairable. Crappification.
Ahh, another Uncle Tony enjoyer :) The link to the full 1hr14m interview with GM engineer “Chello”. What stood out to me most was one of his GM managers telling him at some point that “GM is here to sell cars. We don’t care about fixing them”, which tells you everything you want to know about GM vehicles. That and cost cutting out the wazoo, it’s like the only bloody thing these idiots care about. Even cost cutting the third party ZF transmissions that GM ordered for a time, to the point that even the ZF engineers were going “what the hell are you guys doing?”.
To contrast, I recently watched a video on GM’s Hydra Matic-transmission division, and the presenter Bob Elton recalls his time working there as a co-op student in the early 1960s, and how the overall culture there was one of “we want to make the best transmissions we know how to make”. Modern GM, priority 1, 2, and 3 seems to be “can you make it cheaper???”.
Thank you for that correction, yes, it is actually an Uncle Tony program talking about the revelations in that longer video.
The Adolph Reed article is quite good. He labels democratic neoliberalism to date as neoliberalism 1.0, and suggests that phase is nearing its end having looted all it can, so now Trumpist authoritarianism will be version 2.0. He expresses hope that the version 1.0 Democrats will make a good showing in 2026 and 2028 to buy time to build back an anticapitalist left. I’m not sure I agree with that part, but the continuity from Clintonism to Trumpism is important to recognize.
Adolph Reed is a reliably good head — as his son Touré — not least in the cold, clear eye he casts on the identity profiteers.
Reed on neoliberalism:
I’ve followed Reed for quite some time, he never disappoints.
Yes, the whole article is worth a read.
Another formulation for neoliberalism would be from Karatani Kojin:
Hilarious “The Economist” article headline – ‘Israel’s dazzling, daunting, dangerous victory’
And no, couldn’t be bothered reading it.
Tells you all you need to know about economists in 2025.
Democracy is going great
https://x.com/allenanalysis/status/1937642213657161984?s=46
Mamdani is leading Cuomo 43.9% to 35.8% with 77% counted. Ranked voting numbers by next Tuesday if necessary.
With 92% counted Mamdani still holds +7.1% over Cuomo, very close to an impossibility for Cuomo to overtake him. Mamdani with a strong cross endorsement from Brad Lander’s ballots at 11.3% could put Mamdani over 50%.
D’rats heads explode. But Cuomo has vowed to run as an independent in the general, whatever the primary results (I heard and read, I can’t correlate that presently), though one can presume he would run as D’rat if he takes the primary outright. Either way there will be big money following him, well maybe it gets to generally cringe worthy before.
Maybe Cuomo can do a Romania and have the election results cancelled due to Russian influencers with the election re-scheduled in several months time – but with Mamdani forbidden to stand for office by then.Time to make those EU values American values. :)
We do it with legal bribery, which must, will come in the form of manufacturing consent. The question will be: the Benjamins vs the foot soldiers, and a rising of principles, which a charismatic leader can encourage.
Cuomo lacks in a charisma of principles, maybe big money can turn it in his favor.
I’ll keep my vomit bucket tuned.
Ok, as I was writing, per the NYT:
My hopes of being the King of Kaweah and fracking the Sierra foothills for all they are worth have come to naught thanks to a Senate Parliamentarian putting the kibosh to selling off public lands, and to be honest I didn’t even know such a position existed, sheltered life I know.
Ref: Russia Begins Serial Production of Oreshinik Long Range Ballistic Missiles: What Makes it a Game Changer? Military Watch
Interesting that Russia would expend this sort of Capital on a ballistic missile system that puts on a pretty light show and would only be effective if armed with nukes. /s
Not too mention Iran’s use of say the Shahab-3, range 1,300 km, cluster payload 1,400 kg, CEP of ~3 km. Now with that CEP the deal is it explodes 2/5 km above the target and saturates it with cluster munitions, plus makes it hard on anti missile battery’s. Cost effectiveness is night and day as well.
Multipolarity cometh ….