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Links 7/15/2025

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Animals react to secret sounds from plants, say scientists BBC

2.35-billion-year-old Moon rock found in Africa rewrites lunar history ScienceDaily (Kevin W)

Lecture 19 – Weber on Charismatic Authority Open Yale Courses (resilc)

How GLP-1s Are Breaking Life Insurance Ashwin Sharma, MD (Paul R)

The fascinating science of pain – and why everyone feels it differently Guardian (Kevin W)

The Death of Partying in the U.S.A.—and Why It Matters Derek Thompson (resilc). Important.

#COVID-19/Pandemics

From Barry Ritholtz (resilc):

Running this for an informed reader sanity check. I can’t believe Remdesivir was this dangerous since so many top pols like Kamala took it. Was the dosing higher in the Ebola trials? “The dose makes the poison….”

Climate/Environment

Living Earth Multipolar (Micael T). On promoting health soil.

East Asian aerosol cleanup has likely contributed to the recent acceleration in global warming Nature (Paul R)

Global warming may create a “permanent El Nino”, changing the world’s weather patterns BNE

Tibetan glacial lake drainage triggered deadly flood in Nepal, climate body says Reuters

‘It can’t withstand the heat’: fears ‘stable’ Patagonia glacier in irreversible decline Guardian

Lithuania to save Baltic seals as ice sheets recede due to climate change Aljazeera

Climate change poses growing threat to UK economy, says BoE official Financial Times

“THE RIVER HOUSE BROKE. WE RUSHED IN THE RIVER.” Texas Monthly (Anthony L).

China?

America asks its allies the tough questions Asia Times (Kevin W)

* * *

The Power Gap – How China Outpowered the U.S. Doug Casey (Micael T)

Zombie fabs plague China’s chipmaking ambitions, failures burning tens of billions of dollars Tom’s Hardware (Paul R)

European Disusion

Europe’s quiet power blocs: The new relevance of Visegrád and the Baltic Triangle Euractiv. “Baltic triangle” sounds an awful lot like “Bermuda triangle”. Do arms go there and disappear?

Sweden eyes extending military officers’ conscription age to 70 Reuters (resilc)

The Netherlands explores turning rail wagons into hospitals for wounded soldiers Politico

Old Blighty

Selling England by the pound Richard Murphy (Colonel Smithers)

Rachel Reeves has nowhere to go Unherd (Colonel Smithers)

Israel v. The Resistance

In Act of ‘Brutal Sadism,’ Israel Bans Gazans From Entering Sea Under Pain of Death CommonDreams (Kevin W)

Be sure to click through to read the entire tweet. When you think Zionists can’t get any more vile, there always seems to be counter-evidence.

Hamas Says It Won’t Sign a “Surrender” Agreement, As War of Attrition Intensifies Jeremy Scahill

Iran seeks at least three cloud providers to power its government The Register (Chuck L)

New Not-So-Cold War

Trump’s Weapons Magic Show is Smoke & Mirrors Masterclass Simplicius

The MSM version: Trump does deal with Nato allies to arm Ukraine and warns Russia of severe sanctions Guardian (Kevin W)

I’m ‘disappointed but not done’ with Putin, Trump tells BBC. So Putin is supposed to care about Trump’s feelers?

* * *,/center>

Russia rejects France’s call for western ‘peacekeepers’ in Ukraine The Cradle (Kevin W)

Putin: The West’s Conflict With Russia Is Not About Ideology Moon of Alabama

Russian stock market accelerates growth after Trump’s statements Vzglyad via machine translation (Micael T)

US offers to lease Zangezur Corridor for 100 years to ‘resolve’ Armenian–Azeri tensions The Cradle (Kevin W)

Lasha Kasradze: Azerbaijan as the Next Frontline Against Russia & Iran? Glenn Diesen

Imperial Collapse Watch

Is America Breaking the Global Economy? Foreign Affairs

The Problem of the Strategic Defender Policy Tensor (Chuck L). Important even if it does go off the rails at the end about China.

Colby’s Misguided Pressure on U.S. Allies Daniel Larison

South Korea not in talks with US on downsizing American forces in country: Foreign minister nominee Anadolu Agency

Collective Defense? Mark Wauck

Though this be Madness Julian Macfarlane

L’affaire Epstein

Trump goes into meltdown because the Epstein files could bring the US government down Council Estate (resilc). Too hopeful but the repeated Trump meltdowns on this topic encourage this line of thinking.

Trump presidency at risk of unraveling w/ Robert Barnes The Duran. Barnes often needs to be taken with some salt, but his detail early in the talk about Epstein is very good.

Trump’s effort to quell MAGA revolt over Epstein files seems to add fuel to the fire ABC (Kevin W)

Jeffrey Epstein’s accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell is ready to reveal ‘truth’ of the pedophile client list, say insiders. So, why are Republicans blocking her? Daily Mail (resilc)

Our No Longer Free Press

On Tucker v. the IDF:

Case closed after ‘Russian disinfo’ claims led to persecution of NZ journalist GrayZone (Kevin W)

New York’s Stale Speech Suppression Playbook American Conservative (Li)

Police State Watch

I Triggered Another Federal Investigation Ken Klippenstein (Chuck L)

US manufacturers are stuck in a rut despite subsidies from Biden and protection from Trump Associated Press (Kevin W). Quelle surprise!

AI

Restaurant Uses AI for Menu, Accidentally Describes Appetizer in Way So Disgusting That We May Never Recover Futurism. Paul R: “No wait, it’s worse. It was a Doordash-like service that used the AI….”

How o3 and Grok 4 Accidentally Vindicated Neurosymbolic AI Gary Marcus

Defense Department to begin using Grok, Musk’s controversial AI model Washington Post (Kevin W). So we’ll lose wars faster.

How Google Killed OpenAI’s $3 Billion Deal Without an Acquisition Gizmodo (Kevin W)

The Bezzle

Elon Musk looms over jury selection in Tesla Autopilot fatality trial CNBC (Kevin W)

‘Come meet us in Dubai’: the new offshoring of grand corruption The Conversation (Kevin W)

Class Warfare

Musk’s Perfect World: How would it work? Steve Keen (Chuck L). Today’s must read.

Five Companies Now Control Over 90% of the Global Food Delivery Market Ramnz (Paul R). Where is the world’s smallest violin? Food delivery is a luxury. The people for whom you should feel sorry are the deliveristas. And why do restaurants play ball when they get exploited?

Retirement Then, Now, and Next The New School

Antidote du jour (via):

And a bonus (Chuck L):

A second bonus:

And a different sort of bonus (hat tip Li):

See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.

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77 comments

  1. The Rev Kev

    ‘Defense Intelligence
    @DI313_
    🇨🇳🇺🇸China’s Hypersonic Jumbo Aircraft Hits Mach 6 In Test Flight; Can Travel From Beijing To New York In 2 Hours.’

    Assuming that this becomes feasible, I doubt that the US would ever allow it to land in the US. The excuse will be that as it is still ‘experimental’, that it would not be safe to allow it to fly over the US. You get the same Mickey Mouse treatment of the Chinese Comac C919 airliner.

    Reply ↓
    1. mrsyk

      I swore off air travel years ago, but I am curious here. What do you suppose it’s like, accelerating to Mach 6? And the view, for that matter.

      Reply ↓
      2. cfraenkel

        On the ‘aircraft’ mentioned in the tweet, it would be something like laying under a 1000 kg sack of potatoes, since it was actually a scale model lofted on an ICBM for aerodynamic testing. You would enjoy the 10g+ before you blacked out and perished from lack of oxygen to the brain.

        One more example of the limitation of relying on twitter for ‘news’. The make believe image in the tweet didn’t even look like the also make believe image from the previous time this made the rounds in 2018. (now that such a radical design can fly is actually news, but none of that makes it into our ‘news’ anymore)
        https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/2134134/beijing-new-york-2-hours-chinese-team-reveal-hypersonic-plane-ambition

        Reply ↓
        1. The Rev Kev

          When trains were first invented, wasn’t there a worry that passengers would be asphyxiated if the trains went over 20 miles per hour?

          Reply ↓
        2. PlutoniumKun

          Yes, these stories are either investor scams or just fanciful doodlings.

          The image above seems to indicate some sort of hypersonic glide vehicle, which would require a very large boost rocket to get it to sufficient altitude and speed. In other words, its a low flying space shuttle. The one in SCMP from a few years ago is for something more like an actual hypersonic aircraft, but would be wildly impractical for any commercial use due to the huge amount of energy required, even if it could be built.

          Reply ↓
      3. ACPAL

        I studied ramjets (as opposed to scramjets) a many years ago, though not an expert. The fastest US ramjet powered vehicle I know of was the ASALM which unintentionally reached Mach 5.5 in 1979 when the fuel control stuck open. It may have gone faster but the inlet duct burned through.
        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASALM

        According to Wikipedia ramjets can achieve Mach 6, though with tweaking the fuel system my research indicated Mach 7 or possibly 9 is achievable with a subsonic combustion ramjet.
        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramjet

        The US has been testing supersonic combustion ramjets (scramjets) which can reach Mach 10 but I haven’t followed that work for some years now. I have no idea what type foreign missiles like the Brahmos use.

        Specific to your question it would probably have a jet engine for takeoff, much as a commercial jet. As I understand them acceleration under ramjet power is fairly low compared to the takeoff because of design tradeoffs. Maximum acceleration may be highest around Mach 2.5-3.5 where efficiency is highest. Because of the altitude, probably 60,000 to 80,000 ft, you should see the curvature of the Earth and atmosphere layer but too high to see much detail on the ground.

        A good read is “The Evolution of the Cruise Missile” https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/tr/pdf/ADA162646.pdf

        Reply ↓
    2. Mike

      The US will not let it land because enemy spies will be aboard, ya know… but, aside from that, China still has much to do to mend fences with its neighbors in Asia, with India, Japan, and the Phillipines being key. Once that is done, Asia unified will have it all over the West to the point of being able to ignore it. Where will the Anglos go then?

      Reply ↓
  2. Wukchumni

    Trump goes into meltdown because the Epstein files could bring the US government down Council Estate (resilc). Too hopeful but the repeated Trump meltdowns on this topic encourage this line of thinking.
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~

    Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.

    Current odds on revelations:

    Underage girl: 1-1
    Live boy: 3-1
    Dead girl: 4-1
    Trans: 7-1
    Dominatrix: 12-1

    Reply ↓
    1. MicaT

      I have a question about Epstein files.
      Did the Dems ignore it because it will hurt their leader class?

      Reply ↓
      1. Mike

        Both parties strove to ignore the black cat in the room- Epsteins ties to spy agencies and the info he gathered during those “chats” with various women. Yeah, sex trafficking with a purpose, with nary any paperwork trail to be had.

        Reply ↓
        1. Yves Smith Post author

          John Kirakou, who is former CIA, said Epstein was an access agent for Israel. Anyone who can get close to powerful people, particularly at the level of Bill Clinton, is worth a fortune. It would be worth it for Israel to finance Epstein’s lifestyle to support that aime.

          Reply ↓
          1. PlutoniumKun

            I’m surprised people don’t look more closely at the career of Robert Maxwell, Ghislanes crook of a father – he was widely assumed to be a Mossad agent and probable conduit for money for various intelligence agency doings – Seymour Hersh wrote about his possible role in getting Mordecai Vanunu arrested.

            A simple explanation for Epsteins role would be that Ghislane introduced him to key people who wanted someone to carry on Maxwells work.

            Reply ↓
      2. gf

        Because most of this is flat out projection on the part of republicans.
        Fundamentalists have problems with sex in general. So when say you are
        gay and and have that type of upbringing things can go sideways badly.
        We are now governed by people like this.

        A lot like the Zionist’s. Always the victim. Mostly projection.

        Reply ↓
    2. Neutrino

      If there are revelations to be made, why wouldn’t those have been made during prior campaigns?

      For example, to prevent the 2024 election result?

      Reply ↓
      2. jsn

        It’s much more profitable to blackmail those with power than to embarrass them to keep them from getting power.

        The former is a long term gravy train, the latter a one time, self extinguishing opportunity.

        Reply ↓
      1. The Rev Kev

        Maybe because Biden never promised to release it whereas Trump made a big deal about doing so. I think that it was part of his campaign last year. But now he is trying to gaslight people and say that there is no such list and it is all a plot by the Democrats like Russiagate was. Whole chunks of his base are deserting him at what they rightly see as a betrayal. He wouldn’t even release the JFK files and they are over sixty years old. So how many people that voted for Trump six months ago will continue to support the Repubs going into the midterms next year, especially as economic blowback hits because of his policies?

        Reply ↓
    4. Carolinian

      The latest Hedges is already openly talking about the first on your list but with no solid proof. What seems indisputably true is that Trump and Epstein were buds and not mere acquaintances and that Trump was once an enthusiastic participant in NYC sex club culture.

      And of course the real question is whether Trump too “belongs to [foreign] intelligence.” Maybe Gishlaine can clear things up.

      Reply ↓
      1. mrsyk

        Ghishlaine seems like a candidate for “suicide”, lest she perform too much clearing up.
        As for the list, seems like a handy reference of extortion friendly middle and upper management types. I won’t be surprised if the list is “re-discovered”.

        Reply ↓
        1. The Rev Kev

          Alex Christoforou was suggesting that when Ghishlaine gets to court, that she could argue that as there is no list like Trump said, then shouldn’t she be released?

          Reply ↓
      2. Aurelien

        This kind of thing has happened before in other contexts, and the basic question is always, how many lives do you want to destroy?

        There may well have been a “list” of those who were involved in Epstein’s business dealings and could be considered “clients” in that sense. It may have been nothing more than an address book. It seems unbelievable that he would have a list of those he had supplied under-age children to. Such transactions would be disguised behind layers of euphemism, or simply never written down. Our ruling class may be dumb, but not, I think, dumb enough to give Epstein money for such services described in any way that was clearly illegal.
        The result is that anyone who ever had any dealings with Epstein at all, including those who did property management or accountancy for him, are probably on a “list,” and the publication of such a “list” would destroy the lives of everyone on it, their spouses, ex-spouses children, brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles. And publication of the “files” would no doubt reveal the real names of the trafficked girls. (“Hello Mrs Patel this is CNN in America: how did you feel when you learned that your daughter had been trafficked?”)

        The only answer that might work would be a proper, confidential criminal investigation to see what in fact Epstein was up to, and make sure that only those who might plausibly be guilty are targeted. But I suspect that’s far too much to expect in the current overheated environment.

        Reply ↓
        1. The Rev Kev

          I think that we can look with suspicion on all those who boarded a plane nicknamed the “Lolita Express” to go to Epstein’s island. And the authorities took care and still do to protect the identity of all those people. If I remember correctly, it took the FBI about a month to make a trip to Epstein’s island to see what was there. Being trained in the techniques of observation, they immediately noticed a part of the complex that now lay under several feet of concrete. What is under all that concrete? Who knows? I’m sorry but not going after these kiddie fiddlers – and those young girls were just kids – in order to protect the identity of the girls themselves is not going to cut it. That is why they have things like closed courts. Should we give those Pakistani grooming gangs in the UK a free pass on the same grounds?

          Reply ↓
    5. griffen

      I’m leaning towards the list just seems to include, far far too many of American and international leaders and Very Serious Thinking Persons….my tinfoil hat may be a bit tight lately ! \sarc

      Was Epstein really a Mossad agent and suspected to allegedly trade or traffic in weapons and arms? Inquiring minds just may never know the answers. The series on Netflix was out several years back, and apparently young Jeffrey was a wunderkind of a sort in the 80s at Bear Stearns.

      Reply ↓
  3. OnceWere

    “Remdesivir Declared Too Deadly Because It Had A 53% Kill Rate.”

    “At day 28, mortality rates were : remdesivir (53.1%), ZMapp (49.7%), MAb114 (35.1%), and REGN-EB3 (33.5%). For remdesivir, 85 and 29% of patients with high- and low-viral loads at baseline died, respectively.”

    ZMapp, MAb114, and REGN-EB3 were monoclonal antibody treatments. While remdesivir was not a particular effective treatment it should still be obvious that it was the Ebola (case fatality rate of 67% in that outbreak) that killed the patients not the drug.

    Reply ↓
    1. Bugs

      The true believers in her replies are seemingly oblivious to the math. I’d think anyone treating Ebola would gladly welcome that 13.9% improved mortality rate if there were nothing else for it.

      Compliments to the management here on the improved layout on the home page. Much cleaner.

      Reply ↓
    3. Daveb

      This is one of those examples where they halt studies because it would be unethical not to switch everyone over to a much more effective experimental/investigational treatment.

      The paper even notes that they may try remdesivir again as part of a combo treatment (not solo).

      I did find it a bit strange that the control group was zmapp which was made to sound as thought it was an investigational medication as well. I can appreciate that a control group with no treatment would probably die too much but I’m confused on the investigational tag on zmapp. Is it not ‘formally’ approved in some way?

      Reply ↓
  4. The Rev Kev

    ‘Propaganda & co
    @propandco
    What happened this past weekend with turning point USA was HUGE.
    It may not seem like it but the event marks an actual turning point in history.
    If you were paying attention, it should be abundantly clear that Charlie Kirk and turning cannot contain the moods and opinions of conservative youth and have no choice but to adapt to it.’

    I think that they have a point here. Maybe it is time for some long time conservatives to step aside and make way for the new generation. Take Fox News’ Laura Ingraham for example. She appeared at the Turning Point USA Student Action Summit and said-

    ‘I’m going to ask a few questions to all of you. How many of you are satisfied, you can clap, with the results of the Epstein investigation? Clap.’

    Those kids started to boo and when she tried to retrieve the situation, it just got worse for her-

    https://www.yahoo.com/news/fox-news-host-booed-asking-191208818.html

    You have to be really out of contact to start with such a question.

    Reply ↓
  5. Trees&Trunks

    Notes from the anti-Russian maritime insurance front Sweden regarding (non-)partying youngsters

    This is why Karlskrona’s last nightclub has closed: “People are so restless”

    ” People in their 20s are so restless these days. They come here, check out the dance floor and then they leave immediately if they think it looks dead. They don’t even listen to what kind of music it is or anything”
    – Nirvana’s demand ”here we are now entertain us” in action?

    Reply ↓
    1. Wukchumni

      Full Disclosure: I couldn’t dance to save myself and probably had some acne on my face as an added bonus rendering me socially awkward, when John Travolta was tearing up the dance floor in Saturday Night Fever, giving yours truly even more reason to despise disco.

      I’ve noticed that people don’t do a lot of physical things anymore, dancing being a good example. There is a reason the dance floor looked dead, its because it was.

      It isn’t just dancing, its whistling as you’re walking, or skipping or any of dozens of things we used to do, but really don’t do all that much since everybody got fitted for a handheld rectangular ball and chain~

      Reply ↓
      1. The Rev Kev

        Maybe the key here is that dancing, whistling while you walk, skipping, etc. are things that cannot be monetized for the financial gain of some corporation.

        Reply ↓
  6. DJG, Reality Czar

    BBC. Animals react to secret sounds, made by plants.

    BBC, currently in a controversy over publishing Israeli propaganda.

    The BBC story makes a connection (“reacts”) that the underlying story at Tel Aviv U doesn’t.

    https://english.tau.ac.il/plants_emit_sounds

    The underlying story and its video are weak. I got the impression I was watching a skit written by Mel Brooks. Plants aren’t sentient but they make sounds. Humans can’t hear the sounds. There may be some information. Animals may hear something.

    Oh.

    The information that I am getting, from the long history of Israeli use of archeology as propaganda about settlement, is that Tel Aviv U wanted a World’s First Discovery (!).

    Now, for Tel Aviv U to discover that the olive trees torn up by the illegal settlers in the West Bank were making distressed sounds. As were the Palestinians.

    Reply ↓
    1. Neutrino

      Siren songs of olive trees, calling out to those with extra-keen sensory and perceptive systems far beyond the mere unanointed and unwashed? /s

      Reply ↓
    2. mrsyk

      Lol, It was discovered that those olive trees were making “anti-Semitic” calls for peace in Gaza. Can’t have that.

      Reply ↓
    3. Judith

      So plants makes sounds that other plants can perceive and respond behaviorally to. Seems like “sentience” to me. Plant sentience.

      Reply ↓
  7. eg

    Re “Sweden eyes extending military officers’ conscription age to 70”

    Didn’t Sweden give up on The Great Northern War after an, um, misadventure in Ukraine? Wasn’t part of the reason the Swedes gave up their imperial ambitions due to a census which revealed that their population wasn’t nearly large enough and that they ought to cut their coat to suit their cloth?

    That was 300 years ago — have they just gotten that much dumber since then?

    Reply ↓
    1. The Rev Kev

      Hey, this is a really good idea. For guys in their late 60s it will be just like a camping trip – well, except for the guns and explosions and blood and screams. I mean look how many elderly people there are in the US political system and how well it is working out there. Both Trump and Biden are pioneers in the way of elderly politicians and it is going great. I’m sure that those 70 year olds will love to be yanked out of their retirement homes and sent to the Polish border in the middle of winter to await Ivan. Not often I say something like this but perhaps the people that came up with this idea should be sent to take part in a bar fight and then spend the rest of the night in a brothel. Maybe they can get whatever ails them out of their system that way.

      Reply ↓
    2. ilsm

      I am retired USAF reserve commissioned officer, well over 70 now.

      I was subject to recall until 60 yoa. I stopped reserve training at 52. I may have been useful at 60….

      Might have some use at 70, but 75, no!

      Reply ↓
  8. ChrisFromGA

    So, has Lindsay Graham figured out that he got played, yet?

    Or is he drooling in a corner with an old VCR tape of Operation Desert Storm?

    Reply ↓
    2. nippersdad

      So Gina Haspel didn’t destroy the Abu Ghraib tapes, she just passed them on to another fan? Sad to say, I could easily believe that.

      Reply ↓
  9. DJG, Reality Czar

    Yves Smith on the Baltic Triangle: ‘“Baltic triangle” sounds an awful lot like “Bermuda triangle”. Do arms go there and disappear?’

    All kinds of things seem to disappear. Like the population. Author Angelo Valerio Toma fails to note that the (declining) population of the Baltic Three is about 6.5 million, less than the population of the region of Lombardy in Italy.

    The Rail Baltica project hasn’t been built and hardly functions — much like the Latvian government.

    https://www.intellinews.com/rail-baltica-could-require-an-extra-19bn-in-funding-say-audit-offices-329491

    https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_Baltica

    Or as Toma writes, in a mode more like a whimper than a bang: “Rail Baltica, the high-speed corridor linking Tallinn to Warsaw, is more than a transport project; it’s a geopolitical spine binding the eastern flank to the EU core. It has received major EU funding, yet still faces cost overruns and strategic urgency.”

    And this Threesome, which represents 1.5 percent of the population of the EU, can’t even run a high-speed train to Poland, yet their endless resentment makes them want to take on the Russian Federation.

    As someone living in the “center” that Toma finds so obsolete, I found that article to be enlightening indeed.

    Somebody has been eating the Amanita muscaria mushrooms again. And the Estonians should stick to peaceable practices like smoking herring.

    Reply ↓
    1. upstater

      You left out the hopium of the 80km Helsinki–Tallinn rail Tunnel! And the conversion of the Finnish rail system from 1520mm (interoperable with Russian 1524 mm) to standard 1435mm.

      I saw a completed stub of Rail Baltica running from the Polish Border to Kaunas in 2018.

      Maybe Kaja Kallas can bring home the bacon.

      Reply ↓
  10. Neutrino

    They stopped fighting for their right to party?
    Gone are the days of what younger ones called ragersm, replaced by smaller meet-ups. One reported influence I’ve heard was the number of overdoses. Fentanyl increased that and scared off many.

    Reply ↓
    1. The Rev Kev

      Maybe too was the appearance of date rape drugs which would make a lot of girls very wary about party scenes. You go to parties to relax and socialize, not to have to be on guard over your drinks.

      Reply ↓
      1. Kurtismayfield

        Don’t forget that the majority of college students are now female. They don’t want the same scene as in the past.

        Reply ↓
  11. AG

    Thanks for the Robert Barnes.
    I am very curious to see how/if he has altered his cheerleading of T since I last saw him before election day.

    Reply ↓
  12. Mikerw0

    RE: “Selling England by the Pound”

    I really hope that’s a Genesis reference from the Peter Gabriel days.

    Reply ↓
  13. eg

    Re Though This Be Madness

    How much of this is simply a function (a dysfunction?) of a mismatch between our biology and anthropology (mostly set thousands of years ago) and our modern environment? We aren’t really “designed” (by evolution) for the kinds of numbers (of people), proximity and perceptual inputs that so many of us are now forced to endure. I propose that our cultures (the collection of social technologies we manage to pass from one generation to the next) have emerged as a way to manage the contradictions — and those cultures along with their attendant social technologies themselves are now under evolutionary pressure from both how the new environments they create for us interact with nature (of which we are also a part), AND how the competition between cultures to best propagate themselves under these constantly emerging conditions is going.

    In this framework what we call propaganda is sort of indistinguishable from religion — competing myths in the ongoing struggle to engage sufficient numbers to willingly behave in ways that either promote group (the struggle to define who is inside the group and who isn’t, of course, being itself eternal) fitness, or don’t.

    So it goes …

    Reply ↓
  15. Henry Moon Pie

    Acceleration in global warming–

    Yesterday, Nate Hagens posted an interview with Stefan Rahmstorf, Co-Head of the Research Department on Earth System Analysis of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and Professor of Ocean Physics at the University of Potsdam. His research focuses on paleoclimate, ocean circulation, sea level, extreme weather events and Earth System modeling.

    The first 20 minutes is a “lightning round” during which Nate throws some of the typical denialist “arguments” at Rahmstorf, who answers them calmly and with lots of facts. Hagens himself recommends it as viewing for people who’ve been immersed in the propaganda of the paid liars. The next section covers Rahmstorf’s latest article about a world with 3 degrees C of post-industrial warming. This is a world a lot of our grandchildren will experience if Business As Usual continues, and it’s not pretty. Rahmstorf is no alarmist. He dispels misconceptions like the idea that warming would continue even if we magically cut emissions to zero. If you’d like a sober picture of what lies ahead without a lot of sensationalist content, this is a good one.

    Reply ↓
  16. chris_gee

    The problem might be less that some are paedophiles and more are less discriminating sexually leaving themselves open to blackmail and control. The honeytrap being an established means of recruitment. I can understand Israel and quite possibly the CIA being reluctant to have their involvement exposed.

    Reply ↓
  17. Steve H.

    > The Problem of the Strategic Defender Policy Tensor (Chuck L). Important even if it does go off the rails at the end about China.

    >> The highest possible development of war potential is time-table war. This means the preparation of war to be launched suddenly on a day previously decided on.

    See Operation Spiderweb. John Robb published ‘Zero-Day Wars’ in February 2024.

    Given what China’s been doing with its Type 815 surveillance ships, I’d be surprised if there wasn’t a shipping container sucking up transmissions somewhere in the States. But the notion that this type of attack being waged between states will lead directly to Victory, particularly for the great-states, is imo outdated. Diffusion of power given drones, IEDs, etc, means occupying forces carry the stress of localized high attrition, and the attacker opens themselves up to retaliation in-kind on critical infrastructure.

    Reply ↓
    1. eg

      I see the logic of Policy Tensor’s essay, but China can also afford to wait. Why roll the dice on military engagement when slow absorption is also an available strategy? Even in military terms, doesn’t more time also simply play to China’s advantage?

      And the way the US is behaving these days (erratic is a charitable characterization) who’s to say it isn’t itself “the revisionist power”?

      Reply ↓
  18. eg

    Re Is America Breaking the Global Economy?

    El-Arian writes, “Finally, decision-makers must avoid falling into behavioral traps. In times of uncertainty, people are more prone than usual to cognitive biases that lead to poor decisions. This tendency goes beyond denying that change is happening. Often, it entails what behavioral scientists call “active inertia”: when actors recognize that they need to behave differently but end up sticking to familiar patterns and approaches regardless.”

    Physician, heal thyself! The entire article is full of nothing if not yet more neoliberal bromides recommending the tired IMF structural adjustment playbook.

    Meh … 😒

    Reply ↓
  19. Wukchumni

    Fantasy Island

    Starring Jeffrey as Mr. Roarke

    De Plane!, De Plane!… Ghislaine!

    Men of note in the highest places get to live out their fantasies, all under the watchful eyes of Hasbara gathering incriminating evidence all the while.

    …compromise is the art of negotiation

    Reply ↓
    1. The Rev Kev

      Russians were past masters of honey pot operations to entrap important people with incriminating photos. It did not always work so well in Japan due to a different culture. One Japanese government official was presented with several photos by a KGB agent showing said official doing the dance with no pants with a young lady in a classic honey pot operation. After examining the photos he politely asked the KGB agent if it was possible to get eight by ten glossy copies please.

      Reply ↓
  20. ChrisFromGA

    Some Trump Stooge

    (Sing to the tune of, “Song, Sung Blue” by Neil Diamond)

    Melody

    Dedicated to Pam Bondi

    Some Trump stooge, everybody knows one
    Some Trump stooge, every cabinet grows one

    Me and you are subject to
    Their groveling and their lies
    But when their own supporters they betray
    They’re just the devil in disguise

    Some Trump stooge, flipping like a waffle
    Some Trump stooge, future’s lookin’ awful

    Funny thing, you can sing it with a cry in your voice
    And before you know it, you’re voting Dem
    Cause you ain’t got no choice

    Some dumb stooge, she loves war and Epstein
    Some dumb stooge, MAGA is a pipe dream!

    Funny thing, you can sing it with a cry in your voice
    And before you know it, you’re voting Dem
    Cause you ain’t got no choice

    Some Trump stooge, everybody knows one …
    Some Trump stooge, every cabinet grows one!

    Reply ↓
  21. The Rev Kev

    “Colby’s Misguided Pressure on U.S. Allies”

    Elbridge Colby, US under-secretary of defence for policy, has got a beef with Oz and it is all about those nukes boats. Let’s forget that it may take ten or twenty years before Oz sees their first nuke boat – if ever – and assume we are just about to get them. What is driving him nuts is the thought that the US might get into a shooting war with China but that it does not mean that the Aussie nuke boats would jump right in, mostly because we are a different country. There was a suggestion to counter this where we would never get those nuke boats but that we would “lease” a few from the US Navy and we might be allowed to slap a picture of a RAN kangaroo on the sides of them. Of course if one of those “leased” boats took a pot shot at a Chinese ship, did the US launch that attack or was it the Oz? So that idea was dropped. But it has not been forgotten this whole question. That is why just after our PM landed in China, “reporters” asked him if he and Japan would help attack China in case a war broke out. Yeah, that went down like a lead balloon but Xi met with the PM so it didn’t blow up the trade mission. As for Colby, he is probably re-reading his favourite book – ‘How to Lose Friends And Alienate People’

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elbridge_Colby#Tenure

    Reply ↓
  22. Colonel Smithers

    Thank you, Yves, for the links.

    @ Readers: At the risk of blowing’s one trumpet, please do read the pair that I sent. Where Blighty goes, your own countries may follow.

    Reply ↓
  23. AG

    re: Palestine Action / UK

    The 2-part article by CRAIG MURRAY via CONSORTIUMNEWS

    part 1
    UK Attempt to Name Non-Violent, Anti-Genocide Group as ‘Terrorist’ Is Challenged in Court
    Palestine Action’s request for temporary relief from the government’s high-profile terrorist designation drew the author to an all-too familiar London court earlier this month.
    July 14
    https://consortiumnews.com/2025/07/14/craig-murray-uk-attempt-to-name-non-violent-anti-genocide-group-as-terrorist-is-challenged-in-court/

    part 2
    A ‘Draconian’ UK Government
    “We accept of course that it is draconian and deliberately so”— those chilling words were spoken during the second part of a proceeding that took a further step into authoritarianism.
    July 15
    https://consortiumnews.com/2025/07/15/craig-murray-a-draconian-uk-government/

    Reply ↓
  24. lyman alpha blob

    RE: today’s antidotes

    I went on a whale watch off Cape Cod a couple years ago and got to see that feeding maneuver up close. it was just one whale at a time that would come up from underneath a school of fish, and it lingered for longer than those in the video before shutting its jaws and submerging again, only to repeat it a couple minutes later. The guide said it was very rare and they almost never saw that behavior. Pretty breathtaking.

    Regarding the cows with guns video, for accuracy’s sake I feel it’s important to note that male “cows” do not piss with their udders, or even have one. ;)

    Reply ↓
    1. Glen

      It’s burned down before, and was re-built:

      Grand Canyon Lodge
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Canyon_Lodge

      But we’re still waiting up here in the PNW to get one of our favorite places re-built too:

      Hurricane Ridge Day Lodge rebuild is at an impasse 2 years after fire
      https://www.seattletimes.com/life/outdoors/hurricane-ridge-day-lodge-rebuild-at-an-impasse-two-years-after-fire/

      We were up there last week, and it still feels strange to just see a hole in the ground.

      Reply ↓
  26. KidDoc

    Re: retirement. I wonder how much purchasing power retirees might gain if given the freedom to directly purchase medications (prescription or non) from any developed or middle income country, grow their own balcony/backyard food (despite HOA/rental red tape), and pay lower rent (secondary to antitrust enforcement plus more lenient real estate occupancy rules).

    Reply ↓
  27. The Rev Kev

    “Rachel Reeves has nowhere to go Austerity created an assetocracy”

    The author made quite a few sensible suggestions at the end of this article but missed an obvious one. Stopping the outflow of five billion pounds to the Ukraine on an annual basis and seeing to it that all those Ukrainians in the UK are treated the same way that British are and not get all the extra goodies that Colonel Smithers has talked about.

    Reply ↓
  29. griffen

    The prevalence of potential nefarious dealings with insurance companies whilst taking various forms of GLP-1 to treat individual obesity and or diabetes….do I need the tiny violin? I’m sorry to tell it this way…are insurers really losing or do they just reset their underwriting criteria to account for this latest development in possibly changing life expectancy….release the actuarial Krakens.

    By the way on a sidebar I managed to catch this zinger recently from the Bee..( sarc ). As I reach into my early 50s, I’ve heard from various friends from high school days needing to navigate these waters specifically pertaining to diabetes or pre diabetic conditions.

    https://babylonbee.com/news/150-pound-jabba-the-hut-denies-using-ozempic

    Reply ↓
    1. jsn

      Seems like there was something other than GLP-1 around 2020 that affected the cardiovascular system and endothelial cells in particular, along with any number of other organs in the body, something affecting life expectancy in general…

      But since we’re pretending that’s over, no need to actuarial-ize it!

      Or maybe its mass anosognosia…

      Reply ↓

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