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Links 7/9/2025

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Blood in the Water, Blood on the Beach: History of Naval Warfare, Part 11 Big Serge

How SpaceX is blocking astronomers’ view of space Musk Watch

Why don’t we trust technology in sport? BBC. resilc: “You can’t spell shIT without IT.”

Hundreds of thousands of children have type 1 diabetes. Now, there’s a Barbie who has it, too CNN (Micael T)

Weedkiller ingredient widely used in US can damage organs and gut bacteria, research shows Guardian

#COVID-19/Pandemics

Experts call new Canadian Long COVID guidelines “contradictory” and “deeply concerning” Sick Times

Climate/Environment

The science behind Texas’ catastrophic floods Grist

Conspiracy Theories About the Texas Floods Lead to Death Threats Wired (resilc)

A third of global chip supply threatened by climate change and drought by 2035: PwC South China Morning Post

Melting glaciers and ice caps could unleash wave of volcanic eruptions, study says Guardian

China?

China producer price deflation deepens as US trade war bites Financial Times

China’s CPI edges up 0.1% in June, bolstered by the government’s pro-growth stimulus package: NBS Global Times. More proof of deflationary pressures. Here in Southeast Asia, I see close to nada in the way of price increases (eggs are an interesting exception) and even some declines (markedly for ride-hail fares, which suggests a very weak labor market). So China looks to be exporting deflation in the region.

China Cements Leadership in Wind and Solar OilPrice

Dependence on China’s minerals blocks Indian ‘strategic autonomy’ Asia Times (Kevin W)

China is boycotting American farms. So why are farmers so optimistic? Kevin Walmsley

From last week, still germane:

Africa

Death toll in Kenya from anti-government protests rises to 31 Anadolu Agency

Creative Ethiopian Diplomacy Might Deter An Egyptian-Backed Eritrean-TPLF Offensive Andrew Korybko

O Canada

Canada Shipping Natural Gas to Asia as It Looks Beyond the US for Trade New York Times (resilc)

South of the Border

Mexico opens investigation against former President Peña Nieto for alleged bribery from Israeli software company Aurora Israel

European Disunion

The European Green Deal Has Failed Thomas Fazi, Compact

Old Blighty

Millions of tonnes of toxic sewage sludge spread on UK farmland every year Guardian (Kevin W)

British Government: “We Accept Of Course That It Is Draconian: And Deliberately So” Sam Husseini

To fight ban on Palestine Action, we must learn from university protesters openDemocracy

In England, Parents Are Moving Their Children Into a Doomsday Cult—With a Man Calling Himself ‘the New Pope’ Vice (resilc)

Israel v. The Resistance

* * *

Spain probes Netanyahu over Gaza ship Madleen attack BAHA

* * *

The National Education Association just voted to cut all ties to the Anti-Defamation League Mondoweiss. Wow.

* * *

U.S. Spent 8 Years’ Worth of THAAD Interceptors in Under Two Weeks Haaretz (Robin K)

Saudi crown prince meets Iranian foreign minister amid regional diplomacy push Arab News

The meeting above looks to be more than a courtesy: Riyadh realigns: Tehran over Tel Aviv The Cradle

New Not-So-Cold War

Ukraine – Drone Mass Production Lets Russia Gain Upper Hand Moon of Alabama

IN BRIEF: Drone attacks kill three on Kursk beach, leave civilians injured in Rylsk and Western-supplied weapons used for killing children — diplomat about attack on Kursk beach TASS

Russia attacks Ukraine’s draft offices in effort to undermine armed forces Financial Times. Get a load of the subhead.

Conman: The Story of William Browder Lucy Komisar

Imperial Collapse Watch

Martin Wolf on the Coming Fall of the U.S. Economy Yascha Mounk

Trump’s Schizophrenia Cannot Hide the US Lack of Strategic Depth Larry Johnson

Trump 2.0

Military operation in Los Angeles signals escalation of fascist methods WSWS

* * *


BRICS Are No Threat to US Dollar Dominance, But Trump Is Michael Shedlock

* * *

Inside the staff exodus and tanking morale that threaten Makary’s FDA STAT

FDA Cuts Will Limit Scrutiny of Troubled Foreign Drug Factories, Inspectors Say ProPublica (Robin K)

Inside the Collapse of the F.D.A. New York Times (Kevin W). Radithor futures.

How We Made Trump Back Down Offensive with Kris Goldsmith (Tom H)

* * *

The “Big Beautiful Bill” & Law-School Student Loan Debt Credit Slips

Tariffs

Trump says August 1 tariff deadline is firm, hours after saying it wasn’t Axios

Trump delays tariffs as the rest of the world plays hardball BBC

US copper price hits record high after Donald Trump threatens 50% tariff; more trade letters expected today – business live Guardian

Supremes

Supreme Court clears the way for Trump’s plans to downsize the federal workforce Associated Press (Kevin W)

Mamdani

What I Learned Working for Zohran Mamdani Harper O’Connor, YouTube. Timotheus: “I canvassed for Mamdani and found this young guy’s take on the campaign pretty much spot on, including his comments on cold-calling voters. As a grandpa among the 20-something’s, it was an encouraging and inspiring experience.”

Why I stopped reading the NYT Angry Bear

AI

Imposter used AI to pose as Marco Rubio and contact foreign ministers BBC. Perhaps this will lead to laws against faking voices?

Massive study detects AI fingerprints in millions of scientific papers PhysOrg

Microsoft, OpenAI, and a US Teachers’ Union Are Hatching a Plan to ‘Bring AI Into the Classroom’ Wired (Kevin W). So union leaders are throwing their members into a wood chipper. What sexual favors were exchanged for this to happen?

Elon Musk’s AI chatbot is suddenly posting antisemitic tropes CNN (Kevin W)

Georgia Court Throws Out Earlier Ruling That Relied on Fake Cases Made Up By AI The Register

Class Warfare

This July 4, Where is America’s Land of Opportunity? Washington Monthly (resilc)

Where is the Resistance? Jonah Faulkner (guurst)

Antidote du jour (via):

And a bonus:

A second bonus:

And a third:

See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.

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72 comments

  1. Antifa

    The Grand Trump Name
    (melody borrowed from Take Me Out To The Ball Game written by Albert Von Tilzer and Jack Norworth, as performed by Edward Meeker in 1908)

    Trump was ruined by his own Dad
    Little boys are not armor clad
    Pleasing Dad was his daily due
    Too much to—live up to!

    Growing up was a horror show
    Both his parents would call him slow
    Our Donnie had nowhere else to go
    So he grew—like those two!

    Trump’s a person with no shame
    He’s abusive and loud
    Dementia tariffs and lowered tax
    He’s an unhinged old insomniac
    He will loot, loot, loot with his mad schemes
    Wealth is his claim to fame
    For it’s Me, Me, Me it’s about
    And the grand Trump name!

    As our nation dissolves in flames
    Trump keeps making his crazy claims
    Now our empire scrapes along
    Trump’s been wrong—all along

    What in Hell will this madman do?
    Launch more wars for NetanYahoo?
    Failure sticks to this man like glue
    A Loser his whole life long

    Trump’s a person with no shame
    He’s abusive and loud
    Dementia tariffs and lowered tax
    He’s an unhinged old insomniac
    He will loot, loot, loot with his mad schemes
    Wealth is his claim to fame
    For it’s Me, Me, Me it’s about
    And the grand Trump name!

    Reply ↓
  2. The Rev Kev

    ‘William Huo
    @wmhuo168
    🚨🇩🇪🇨🇳 BREAKING: Germany demands Apple & Google remove China’s DeepSeek AI from their app stores.’

    Well that’s it then. As Germany has jurisdiction over American corporations, they are just going to have to do what Merz tells them to do. Worth reading the full tweet thread here-

    https://xcancel.com/wmhuo168/status/1942737845963350316

    Reply ↓
  3. JohnA

    Re Trump’s letters to Japan and others. This surely simply reflects the Donald’s German heritage, where all nouns are capitalised no matter where in a sentence they appear.

    Reply ↓
    1. The Rev Kev

      Either that or they got lazy and had an AI write up the whole thing. And as American elite education is not what it once was, those White House staffers only, like myself, have a nodding acquaintance with proper grammar and didn’t recognize anything wrong with the outlay of that letter. Maybe what they need is an old-fashioned school teacher on staff. They could send a copy of a letter to her, she would go through it with her red marker and return it to the White House for correction and re-wording. This process would be repeated until they got it right and only then could it be sent off to a foreign government.

      Reply ↓
        1. The Rev Kev

          Somebody should tell him that using so many capitals might lead him to being accused of being a Marxist and being inspired by Das Kapital

          Reply ↓
    2. RookieEMT

      I’m impressed. There’s no panic at 11:50 PM moment. There’s no desperate googling. No last second searches for formats.

      Just ‘send’.

      Reply ↓
      1. Bsn

        Reminds me of MAD magazine’s use of random capitols. It’s been going on for a long time as if it’s cool or a “style”. Then again, some commenters in NC write using zero capitols. It’s too bad we’ve gotten so sloppy or lazy, and it’s difficult to read.

        Reply ↓
    3. Mikel

      I can already see a title for a future book about this Trump administration:
      “Thank You For Your Attention To This Matter”

      FFS…it’s also all over those ransom note posts to social media.

      Reply ↓
    4. Jason Boxman

      I thought it was gonna be a tweet bemoaning an inability to competently use grammar and spelling; and it sort of is.The style is an unhinged as Trump speaking.

      It’s like we’ve all been pranked and then you realize this really is the World that You live in.

      Reply ↓
  4. Wukchumni

    When he was young
    He often wondered
    What would he be?

    He certainly wont be pretty
    He certainly will be grouchy
    Vermont is more his tea

    Que sera, sera
    Yo! Semite
    Anti-Semite Semite
    You see
    A traitor to Zionist tendencies
    As if his say has any sway anyway
    Que sera, sera

    Que sera, sera
    Whatever will be, will be
    The future’s not ours to see
    Que sera, sera
    What will be, will be

    Reply ↓
    1. Terry Flynn

      Re English cults: I attended (At great risk to my health since I had to drink something – plastic straw I’d kept to drink diet cola LOL) in person meeting to discuss “the Swiss Referendum based model”.

      Turns out it was a recruitment meeting for a certain political party.

      I got immense and personal abuse online for asking an innocent question. I’ve been around long enough so that I didn’t rise to the bait. UNTIL a woman said she was profoundly worried when it became knowledge (via the pile-on to me) that the whole thing was videoed and circulated publicly without consent – a violation of UK Law. I was not going to raise a complaint about “trolling” since these are ignored but I KNOW they act upon violations of UK law re media etc VERY promptly. Will be interesting to see how this plays out. Needless to say I screenshotted all the incriminating evidence before they banned me.

      Reply ↓
      1. The Rev Kev

        ‘Turns out it was a recruitment meeting for a certain political party.’

        So, was it partly about them trying to reform the British political system?

        Reply ↓
        1. Terry Flynn

          Yep! Well done for reading between the lines.

          It’s not that I think all Reform voters are awful…….it’s just that it attracts certain types of people disproportionately. I told my mum if they are the government in 2029 I’m using my Aussie citizenship to move back to Aus……and I WILL NOT have enough money to come back and visit so it’s bye-bye (neither parent would do trans-continental flights). That did NOT go down well since mum intends to vote Reform. Dad is a businessman and knows full well to steer well clear of them.

          Reply ↓
  5. JohnA

    Re Why don’t we trust technology in sport?

    Technology is fine in sports with natural breaks that are part of the game, such as cricket and American Football. But not with soccer and tennis where an action that is disputable, such as offside or a line call, can happen seconds or even minutes before the next natural break in play occurs. The VAR used in soccer causes as many problems as it solves, is often subjective, and can take minutes to reach a decision, and still be controversial. Hence regular calls to get rid of it.

    Reply ↓
    1. AG

      >”The VAR used in soccer causes as many problems as it solves”
      Sorry, but that´s nonsense to me knowledge.

      When I was still following the professional soccer analytics by German Spielverlagerung blog staff et.al. (Martin Rafelt, Rene Maric, Tobias Escher and many others) many of whom work on top level in the professional soccer world by now/or are working as soccer commentators for MSM, the question was never whether VAR or not. The question were details of how to implement.

      And this is true for any major soccer country´s tactical knowledge base.

      The above statement lacks serious basis. Which is one reason why there is zero internal discussion among soccer professionals.

      I haven´t had time in recent years which is why I added “to my knowledge”. But that doesn´t change the greater scheme. It is true that 2 days ago during the Womens Soccer European Championship they needed several minutes to decide whether it was off or not (eventually the goal was annulled). I haven´t researched the cause but even then you saw no complaint at all. And that was one of thousands of decisions going through the VAR system constantly.

      It´s frankly odd that soccer is such a huge thing and still these ancient views are so pervasive.

      While the level of professionalism within the soccer community is extremely high. So parts of the audience seem to be very far off what the creators and designers of their favourite sport in fact think and do.

      One of the very rare exceptions of popular level think of the use of analytics in popular sports was the movie “Moneyball”. But it´s an entirely different beast since.

      This paper/text on the subject is from 2019, i.e. very old by the technology´s standards, but it does what I suggest, it isn´t questioning the idea and implementation as such but what it means for the game and how coaching could benefit.


      Potential Strategic Consequences of Introducing Video Assistant Referees (VAR) in Top Level Professional Football Coaching
      10.07.2019
      https://spielverlagerung.com/2019/07/10/potential-strategic-consequences-of-var/

      “(…)
      Conclusion

      Regardless of one’s personal positions on having video aid match officiating, the implementation of VAR appears to be inevitable throughout the world’s top leagues (provided they have the resources) because of its high success rate in getting calls correct. Due to this shift in the match environment, there are bound to be consequences on how coaches make decisions and players perform on the pitch. From a coaching perspective, those who are prepared can use the breaks in the game as a de facto “timeout”, allowing their team to more efficiently implement changes that the coaches see fit since everyone can be addressed at once. Players can take more risks relative to the timing of their actions and have the “play on” policy make the final verdict rather than the refereeing trio.

      In either case, these latest changes in football rules and officiating are ways to solve a problem that has encountered over many games. Consequently, behavior from both players and coaches will change as well, until the next set of problems arises.
      (…).

      Reply ↓
      1. JohnA

        ”The VAR used in soccer causes as many problems as it solves”
        Sorry, but that´s nonsense to me knowledge.

        Please then explain why it remains extremely controversial and has already been banned in Norway.

        As it is, many VAR interventions take several minutes to resolve, and then the VAR official actually asks the referee to go to a pitchside TV monitor to have another look. The referee is then required to make his own subjective assessment of whether or not a goal should be allowed/ruled out, penalty awarded/rescinded, red card issued/rescinded etc. If the technology were that good, why is the referee asked to make a decision? The VAR panel (more than one person) should simply tell the referee what the technology has revealed and he must abide by that.

        PS I am personally on the fence about VAR. However, technology is a big help in cricket, that has natural breaks that allow time to check.

        Reply ↓
      2. JMH

        I much prefer fallible humans with no machine backup. The games survived the inevitable errors. Those who could claim “we wuz robbed” dined out on their tales of outrage, lived to fight another day. But the machines are here to stay. Would it be too much to ask that the final adjudication of a line call in tennis and soccer be the umpire and that in sports such as baseball and football there be a strict time limit on re-plays after which the call on the field stands.

        I remember a photograph of a first base umpire signaling out and the ball some distance from the first baseman’s mitt. Baseball survived as did the umpire. I think that was during the 1946 world series, which is the first one of which I have any memory.

        Reply ↓
  6. Wukchumni

    Conspiracy Theories About the Texas Floods Lead to Death Threats Wired (resilc)
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Daniel Swain is a weather wunderkind, and his blog is mostly pertaining to Cali, but he’s hep to elsewhere, and there’s a nearly 2 hour video in the link pertaining to what happened in Texas and responses.

    https://weatherwest.com/archives/43444

    Reply ↓
    1. Carolinian

      Cloud seeding kills campers versus Putin uses Facebook to elect Trump in 2016. There’s CT and then there’s CT about the CT.

      My own theory is that Texas has more than its share of wackos but perhaps size alone can account. Dems will have to find their own excuse.

      Reply ↓
  8. flora

    re: really can’t stand the anti-science trend in the united states right now pic.twitter.com/c1IJFHPuaD

    — ian bremmer (@ianbremmer) July 8, 2025

    The FDA and CDC have a lot of work to do to restore trust, imo.

    Jimmy Dore, utube, ~11+ minutes.

    FDA FINALLY Drops The Hammer on COVID Vaccine! – w/ Mary Holland

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJfaPxyVw_c

    The current narrative gets better (or worse), changing the story. Dore, utube, ~16+ minutes.

    Sanjay Gupta Calls Out HIS OWN COVID Lies!

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYJ8OAmOnmU

    The MSM is in full cya mode.

    Reply ↓
    1. Yves Smith Post author

      I normally appreciate your comments. However, I approved one only to reprimand you.

      Please be advised I am not approving any more links to Jimmy Dore on Covid vaccines. He’s dishonest and a crank. And you don’t have to spend much time on a search engine to find that out:

      Reply ↓
      1. Bsn

        I think it’s important to take any position or story, case by case. With Trump for example, he’s often lost and downright wrong, but on occasion – correct. It’s the message not the messenger. Same with Dore. On certain subjects he is lost, on others spot on. An argument should be based on its merits, not the merits of the proponent. Seldom is a position or answer black or white.

        Reply ↓
        1. Yves Smith Post author

          This remark is really misplaced.

          Did you not read what I wrote? We expect adequate reading comprehension here.

          My criticism of him was on his take on the Covid vaccines, and to add, on ivermectin too. I take it but I put it in the same category as daily aspirin as a colon cancer preventive….low cost, good safety profile, maybe helpful, so why not? But depicting it as a cure, as he has, is misleading.

          Reply ↓
      2. JohnM_inMN

        Unless Dore is telling the same lies he told in ‘21 and ‘22, I’d love to see a more recent takedown. A search yielded little, save a Sam Seder clip from ‘23. Interestingly, a majority of the comments I saw at the top supported Dore.

        Reply ↓
        1. Yves Smith Post author

          He has not changed his position. Had you bothered listening to the video I posted, he had already had one video removed for violating YouTube policies on medical advice. It was not clear if he removed it or if YouTube removed it, but if YouTube, it takes very few strikes to get you permanently banned, which may explain his limited recent commentary on this topic.

          And the fact that there are Great Barrington Declaration fans and anti-vaxxers to pile on is no proof of the merit of his views. Twitter is a cesspool on this topic. You need to deal with the evidence in the video.

          Reply ↓
          1. Terry Flynn

            YouTube is indeed getting “strike happy”. Many obviously legit channels I watch are getting strikes on spurious grounds.

            It is symptomatic of something said repeatedly on here: if you don’t own the platform you don’t own your content. I put the most important stuff on my website, not someone else’s, unless I’m confident it’s “strike proof” (quoting maths etc).

            Reply ↓
  9. MicaT

    Some corrections to oil price.
    PV surpassed 1TW in may 2025, and not just some 690GW as the article states. Not sure what the for year 2025, best estimates around 400GW more installs. That’s 10x what the us did in 2024.
    That’s not including wind and nuclear.

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_power_in_China

    As to coal, it seems to be that yes they are building new plants, most experts agree they are replacing older less efficient ones. They are also keeping some in reserve. As to coal use, some experts point to early 2025 as peak coal. Time will tell.

    Reply ↓
  10. farmboy

    Kevin Walmsley identifies the stupid tariff threats and the dumb and dumber approach are having very damaging effects on US farm exports. Grain farmers are getting hit hardest with sub 5$ corn coming at harvest lows. Indonesia did agree to buy $250 million of wheat every year for 5 years. It is likely this deal is window dressing with Australian wheat right next door. Farmers optimism is 100% self dealing, confirmation bias, they’ve all slurped down the koolaid. In the senate version of the budget bill an increase in reference prices for grains were added since a new farm bill won’t help this years crop revenue, but it won’t move the income needle at all.

    Reply ↓
    2. The Rev Kev

      An easy prediction here. Farming in the US is going to be chaotic over the next three and a half years. And think about this. When was the last time that Trump walked down a supermarket aisle checking out the price of fruit and vegetables while pushing a trolley? Has he ever? So what would he know about food production and prices. Sure he would be given reports, if he even reads them, but would he appreciate what would be behind those figures and what it means for farmers?

      Reply ↓
  11. The Rev Kev

    “Russia attacks Ukraine’s draft offices in effort to undermine armed forces”

    Yeah, ordinary Ukrainians will be crying into their beers about this happening. Those offices would be housing the Ukrainian snatch squads that have been kidnapping, beating up and then sending Ukrainian men the off to the front. Usually these are big beefy guys who you would think would make great material to be sent to the eastern front instead. There would be a lot of girls, wives, mothers, grandmothers and sisters in the Ukraine having a small celebration about this tonight. Just a day or so ago a mother indirectly died tying to stop those snatch squads take away her son in one of those vans-

    https://www.rt.com/russia/621201-report-woman-dies-trying-to-save-son-draft-officers-ukraine/

    Reply ↓
  12. Wukchumni

    Military operation in Los Angeles signals escalation of fascist methods WSWS
    ~~~~~~~~~~~

    Carmen Miranda warning:

    ‘You have the right to remain looking Hispanic. Anything you say can and will be used against you.’

    Reply ↓
    1. The Rev Kev

      How about the British version’?

      ‘Anything that you say will be taken down and held against you’

      ‘Knickers!’

      Reply ↓
    2. ambrit

      “Anything you say, and anything you see will be used against you.”
      “Hello Officer! Is that a drone in your pocket or are you happy to see me?”

      Reply ↓
  13. GramSci

    Re: Bill Browder and Magnitsky (op cit)

    Thanks for this. The clincher for me was Browder saying on camera, apparently testifying before Congress, that their lucrative company in backwoods Kalmykia employed over 50% handicapped employees.

    The most depressing part is that Congress bought this BS.

    Reply ↓
  14. Tom67

    About the Texas floods: I can readily imagine that cloud seeding was the cause of the disaster.1976 I was part of a Sierra Club kids hiking group in Kings Canyon California when they seeded the clouds. We had catastrophic rains and some of us barely survived.

    Reply ↓
    2. Yves Smith Post author

      *Sigh*

      Please read the stories rather than Making Shit Up. Conspiracy theory speculation discredits the site.

      The humidity was off the charts high and that was a big contributing factor.

      Reply ↓
  15. The Rev Kev

    “Dependence on China’s minerals blocks Indian ‘strategic autonomy’ ”

    ‘India imports 100% of its lithium, cobalt, nickel, vanadium, niobium, germanium, rhenium, beryllium, tantalum and strontium’

    And this I do not understand. This being the case here, you would think that India would play it straight as they are so dependent on China and would jealously protect the supply chains here. That it would be a strategic imperative not to screw that relationship up but be open with China. And yet a day or so ago we had a story of about 20 Indian companies that were busted trying to buy rare earths from China using some dodgy licenses and then wanting to ship that stuff to the US and the rest of the west without the Chinese knowing about it. How stupid and short-sighted was that?

    Reply ↓
    1. The Rev Kev

      I’m afraid that that link of yours no longer works. I don’t know about Brennan but I don’t think that old Joe gave Comey a pardon at all

      Reply ↓
      2. pjay

        Here’s one that does:

        https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/fbi-launches-criminal-investigations-of-john-brennan-james-comey-doj-sources/ar-AA1IdFe9?ocid=BingNewsSerp

        There is no reason to believe anything will come of this though. It never does – ever. At most it would just result in partisan limited hangout name-calling, Benghazi style, framing Russiagate as simply a political dirty tricks campaign by the “Democrats” against Trump. The minor scapegoats have already been “punished” – with wrist-slaps. Brennan and Comey will never face any real scrutiny for their real crimes, let alone Hillary or Obama. They never do – ever.

        I’m sure the Trump DOJ will soon reveal the truth about the Epstein files though … oh wait.

        Reply ↓
    2. nycTerrierist

      Aaron Mate is finishing a book on Russiagate — as readers here may know –

      promises to be explosive, and hard to dismiss his first-rate work

      Reply ↓
        1. pjay

          I posted my comment above before I saw yours. Thanks for the link to this excellent summary by Aaron Mate, which makes my point much better than I could myself. Despite the current DOJ “investigation” of Comey and Brennan (which Aaron notes in an update), I stand by my assertion that nothing beyond the usual partisan kayfabe will come of it.

          Reply ↓
  17. Kurtismayfield

    RE: AI and the teachers union

    Yes, they want us to instruct students on “responsible AI usage” in our classroom. This is just a way to legitimize AI in our students eyes, and they will then continue to use it as a shortcut. The only responsible thing I can teach my students is to not trust AI and to think and argue for themselves.

    Reply ↓
    1. Bsn

      So ol’ school, but I love it. When I taught public school, I was strict about no cell phones in class. Admin was on my case about it but nothing in the contract said I MUST allow them. Now, California s tempting to band them in the classroom. The classroom is intended for learning and sharing, not video games and porn.

      Reply ↓
      1. Kurtismayfield

        All of the states are going to ban them, but what matters is enforcement. If the enforcement is as weak as attendance policies, then it doesn’t matter.

        Reply ↓
  18. The Rev Kev

    “Riyadh realigns: Tehran over Tel Aviv”

    So what changed? Iran won, that’s what. They hammered Israel so bad that they had to run to the Don to make them stop. The aerial defenses of the US, Israel Jordan, the UK and god knows how many other countries could not stop Iranian ballistic missiles from hitting their targets with impressive accuracy. More important, Iran stood united and did not do a Syria. Even Iran’s internal political critics sided with the government. And in doing so demonstrated how vulnerable Israel is.

    And the role of Grossi’s inspectors would have been noticed in Saudi Arabia too. They are trying to get a deal with Trump for nuclear power plants. But doing so would involve the AIEA and not it is hard to see that that group works for the Mossad, CIA and MI6 who would do the same for Saudi Arabia that they had for Iran. In any case, the Saudis and the Gulf States know that they can do commercial business with Iran but with Israel & the US, all those countries can do is run around and set countries on fire or try to cripple them with tariffs.

    Reply ↓
    1. Revenant

      There’s something else going on here that The Cradle misses. Turkey.

      Turkey claims to be the heir to Ottoman hegemony and a pan-Turkic role. In Ottoman times, Saudi Arabia was a mere fiefdom. Mecca and Mediba and the Nejaz were under the protection of the Hashemite Kingdom within the Ottoman Empire.

      Post WW2, Saudi Arabia has used IRS wealth to.spread its version of Islam and play a major role in the Islamic world.

      Israel is enabling Turkish ambitions, to suit its own agenda (see Syria, Azerbaijan, war on Iran, disruption of BRICS, possible disruption of Jordan).

      So, KSA has Turkey and Israel undermining its role of leadership and destabilising its neighbourhood. Against this, Iran looks reliable and an opportunity for a stable duopoly to rule the Gulf and Caucuses and disrupt Turkish ambition. Plus Iranian and Yemeni targeting of Israeli shipping makes Israel a dead letter for KSA pipeline exports (and using Turkey as a transit hub is unthinkable, too much leverage conceded). So KSA needs peace in the Gulf and the Caspian for its oil exports.

      The war in the Ukraine may be WW1 with modern weapons, tactically, but it is the Crimean war and Great Game strategically….

      Reply ↓
  19. Wukchumni

    Hades & the Hades not… dept:

    Jesus H. Christ on a cracker~ those are some cray cray temps & photos of K-2, go tell it on the mountain climate change is here.

    Our melting out world displayed on our screens as we look on in dismay, nobody really making any effort to get ready for the new weather normal, we only react after the fact.

    Reply ↓
  22. The Rev Kev

    ’Muhammad Shehada
    @muhammadshehad2
    10 soldiers took turns to rape their victim on camera until they exploded his intestines & raptured his rectum. Gov leaders, MPs, religious leaders… all praised the rapists. National TVs hosted the rapists. The public overwhelmingly supported the rapists.’

    And while this is all going on in Israel, they are reviving the sexual assaults stories from October 7th-

    “New Israeli report says Hamas used sexual violence as a ‘weapon of war’ in Oct. 7 attack”

    https://www.nbcnews.com/world/israel/hamas-israel-sexual-violence-rape-war-oct-7-rcna217401

    Saw this group of Israeli women on the news tonight pushing this story, even though it was disproved long ago. But as been said, ‘It’s OK when we do it.’

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  23. Carolinian

    That Martin Wolf interview is full of interesting talking points. Example:

    First, this is not the first time a country has had a stock market value wildly out of line with its share of global GDP. The last major case was Japan in the 1980s. There was a period—I’m quite sure of this, though I can’t recall the exact years—when the Japanese stock market was more valuable than the American stock market. I remember noting that at the time. There was a lot of discussion about how this couldn’t possibly be sustainable. That was also the period of the famous claim that the land under the Imperial Palace in Tokyo was worth more than all of California. And if you calculated it based on land prices in central Tokyo, that was true. It was the most famous bubble statistic in my lifetime. As economists, we said, this is nuts. This is the biggest bubble in human history—something has to give. And we know what gave: the stock market collapsed, land prices collapsed, and Japan entered essentially a 20-year deflation. I’m not saying that will happen here, but it’s a reminder that the relative value of stock markets can become completely unmoored during huge bull markets.

    The more economically inclined will have to comment on the specifics of their analysis but for those of us who think this country’s elites are living in a dream world there’s plenty of ammo. In all the talk about TINA and the uniparty and our bought and paid for politics there’s one class war weapon against the wealthy that stands out: take away their money. If they do it to themselves then what happens next?

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  24. tegnost

    mounk…
    Democrats have this coalition of very wealthy, well-to-do people but still feel, in some way, like the natural thing to do—within limits —is to actually serve the interests of working-class voters who no longer really vote for them.

    We’ll give you an increment… but only one!
    We have two right wing republican parties.

    Reply ↓
  25. Muncahusen

    Imposter used AI to pose as Marco Rubio and contact foreign ministers BBC. Perhaps this will lead to laws against faking voices?

    Vovan and Lexus don’t need to fake voices. Everyone believes that they are Poroshenko, including those that have met Poroshenko in person.

    Reply ↓
  26. The Rev Kev

    “Trump’s Schizophrenia Cannot Hide the US Lack of Strategic Depth”

    The Great God of Logistics has spoken here and mighty will be his wrath against the west. And when he lets his displeasure be known with America’s efforts in industrial military production, he will force them to utter the word of surrender – ‘Bingo!’

    I think that Larry Johnson admitted in a video to voting for Trump and if so, he regrets it for all the chaos being sewn across the board. A lot of people with a conservative bent like the guys at The Duran are saying that Trump is just nuts and his opinions vary from day to day with no consistency. And there is still three and a half more years to go.

    Reply ↓
  27. jsn

    “Imposter used AI to pose as Marco Rubio and contact foreign ministers BBC. Perhaps this will lead to laws against faking voices?”

    Perhaps improving US foreign policy?

    Reply ↓
  28. mahna

    dog’s cry for help
    — Enezator (@Enezator) July 7, 2025

    That looks like very low-effort setup, in spite of the “steadicam” operator trying way too hard.

    Reply ↓
  29. ThirtyOne

    Japan now taking apart this idiotic, disrespectful 極道っぽいWhite House letter to Tokyo

    from a Japanese Xweet: (google translation)
    Dance Zance
    @rosymatildance
    16h
    Idiotic, disrespectful. What a list of yakuza-like adjectives. Thank you for the red ink.

    Reply ↓

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