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Links 8/22/2025

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When “Creep” Learned to Sway: Haley Reinhart and Postmodern Jukebox Reimagine Radiohead World Defined

Climate/Environment

Rising Sea Ice Loss in Antarctica Signals Climate Tipping Point, Scientists Warn of Irreversible Global Impacts Outlook Climate

Trump admin strips ocean and air pollution monitoring from next-gen weather satellites CNN

Water

How Does the US Use Water? Construction Physics

Pandemics

India

Govt plans factory clusters, big reforms to boost economy amid US tariff jolt Mint

Apple Expands iPhone Production in India for US-Bound New Models Bloomberg

China?

Analysis: Record solar growth keeps China’s CO2 falling in first half of 2025 Carbon Brief

Chinese semiconductor shares surge after DeepSeek gives boost to homegrown chips FT

Nvidia looking to halt H20 chip production after China cracks down on purchases, reports say CNBC

Africa

How to get the International Monetary Fund to think Peoples Dispatch

Old Blighty

UK declines to share stance on Britons fighting for Israeli army Middle East Eye

Syraqistan

‘All Eyes On Gaza City’ as Israel Ramps Up Campaign of Conquest and Ethnic Cleansing Common Dreams

Exclusive: Hamas Offered Major Concessions in New Gaza Ceasefire Proposal Dropsite

Israeli army database suggests at least 83% of Gaza dead were civilians +972 Magazine

State Dept. fires official after internal debates over Israel WaPo

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Trump Boasted of an Oil Deal with Pakistan. Is it a Pipe Dream? Inkstick

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US imposes new sanctions on Iran’s oil trade Anadolu Agency

In Iran, Reformist call for broad policy U-turn sparks fierce backlash Amwaj

Iran stages missile drills, warns of stronger response in any new war with Israel Iran International

European Disunion

EU, US release long-awaited trade statement setting 15% all-inclusive tariff on EU goods Euronews

EU reported to curb AI chip flows to China as part of US trade deal; China previously warned against hurting its interests in deals Global Times

German economy shrank 0.3% in second quarter as US tariffs slowed exports Reuters

Germany pushes radical loosening of crisis-era rules for smaller banks Politico

EU speeds up plans for digital euro after US passes stablecoin law FT

New Not-So-Cold War

SITREP 8/22/25: Peace Talks Unravel and the March Goes On Simplicius

Trump says Ukraine-Russia peace prospects to be known ‘within two weeks’ Anadolu Agency. Two weeks!

Exclusive: Putin’s demand to Ukraine: give up Donbas, no NATO and no Western troops, sources say Reuters

Zelensky Says He Wants Security Guarantees Before Meeting With Putin Moscow Times

Kiev Regime’s Counter Attacks & Failed Provocations/Western Bedlam & Continued Denial of Reality. Mark Sleboda (Video)

Ukraine Aims To Build Thousands Of Flamingo Long-Range Cruise Missiles A Year The War Zone

Ukraine’s Future – A ‘Steppe Corridor’ – A Neutral, Transit-oriented State Moon of Alabama

Ukrainian held in Italy over Nord Stream gas pipelines blast mystery BBC

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US reaffirms Turkey cannot rejoin F-35 program without giving up S-400s Turkish Minute

Caucasus

Azerbaijan demolishes 25 Soviet-era monuments in Nagorno-Karabakh Harici

Russia Again Strikes SOCAR Facility in Odessa; Bilateral Cooperation Between Kyiv and Baku Strengthened After Attack Caucasus Watch

South of the Border

Pentagon Confirms My Story on Mexico Attacks Ken Klippenstein

US Threatens Venezuela With Southern Caribbean Sea Troop Deployment; Maduro Mobilizes People’s Militia Venezuelanalysis

Venezuela: US Empire’s Accusations Against President Maduro a Sign of Desperation Orinoco Tribune

 

“Liberation Day”

Consumer Resilience to Be Tested as Tariff-Fueled Price Increases Brew Bloomberg

ICEing the U.S. Economy Paul Krugman

Trump 2.0

Trump Reportedly Spares TSMC, Micron from Equity Grabs after Chipmakers Ramp U.S. Investment TrendForce

President Trump says he will patrol DC streets with police, military on Thursday USA Today. Perhaps some DC readers spotted him last night.

Police State Watch

Military lawyers to handle civilian crimes in DC The Hill

Pentagon Asks Its Civilian Employees If They Want to Work for ICE 404 Media

Trump administration to begin continuous police-state surveillance of 55 million US visa holders WSWS

Democrats en déshabillé

Gavin Newsom’s redistricting plan is on its way to voters. What you need to know Cal Matters

The Democratic Party Faces a Voter Registration Crisis New York Times

Dem strategist expects Brown’s U.S. Senate campaign to focus on Ohio workers Ohio Capital Journal

Kamala Harris announces international book tour for ‘107 Days’ NBC News

Eric Adams Advisor Winnie Greco Handed a CITY Reporter Cash Stuffed in a Bag of Potato Chips The City

Eric Adams’ Close Advisor and Associates Indicted in Wide-Ranging Influence Schemes The City

Monthly evictions in New York City reach highest rate since 2018 Gothamist

The Uniparty

MAHA

How Deeply Trump Has Cut Federal Health Agencies ProPublica

Healthcare?

Junk Plans Are Bad. Sadly, POTUS is Bringing Them Back. HEALTH CARE un-covered

Nonprofit hospital CEO, employee pay gap widens: Study Beckers Hospital Review. “The researchers also found a trend toward the “financialization” of nonprofit health systems, in which they adopt business practices and governance philosophies resembling those of publicly traded corporations and financial firms.”

1,000 UPMC Magee Nurses Voting on Union This Week Despite Trump Delays Payday Report

AI

Your Face Tomorrow Harper’s

Imperial Collapse Watch

US military seeks to stockpile cobalt for first time in decades Mining.com

It Took Many Years And Billions Of Dollars, But Microsoft Finally Invented A Calculator That Is Wrong Sometimes Defector

Accelerationists

Sorry to disappoint but already sold out:

Palantir is Colorado’s highest-valued company — and at center of controversy — five years after move to Denver Denver Post

Big Brother Is Watching You Watch

SFPD surveillance unit’s close ties to crypto billionaire 48 Hills

Class Warfare

Ring of Fire The Baffler

Antidote du jour (via):

See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.

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27 comments

  1. Mikerw0

    Re: Microsft’s Copilot article

    This would almost be farcically funny, but it really tells us that what is being called AI is snake oil.

    Reply ↓
    1. The Rev Kev

      Agreed. It’s like something out of “Idiocracy.” How do they even sell it?

      ‘Hey, we’ve jammed Copilot into Microsoft Excel because we figured you would ask for it soon or later. Just don’t use it for important stuff like business or accounting, OK? It tends to make stuff up and maybe don’t even us it for simple maths either. You’re welcome!’

      Reply ↓
  2. The Rev Kev

    “Trump admin strips ocean and air pollution monitoring from next-gen weather satellites ”

    Must be Trump’s idea if that you don’t do the measurements, then you will find no problems. Gah! It looks like that if you want accurate weather and climate satellite data, that you will have to look to the Chinese or any other country that is not stripping capabilities from their satellites. Maybe Trump should keep those capabilities in US satellites. That way, if you want access to the stuff the plebs won’t be allowed to see, corporations can just take out a special subscription or something.

    Reply ↓
  3. Deb Schultz

    This dictum that it is impossible to beat an opponent unless you invade the invader seems a bit ahistorical. Did Vietnam invade us? Did the colonies invade England?

    So here we are. Trump is invading DC and LA. Because black and brown are the enemy horde. And he’s going to vet all the visa holders and get rid of any of them that aren’t Melanias. What a mess of a mind. And there are so many sycophants and willing enablers.

    Reply ↓
    1. bertl

      Or he is just picking up new skills from his Zionazi masters and using them on the rightful inhabitants of DC, the new Gaza, so he can build a few more f*cking hotels.

      Reply ↓
  4. bertl

    At first I thught I heard Jesus weeping over this: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/aug/22/fears-grow-over-impact-of-ons-data-reliability-on-rachel-reeves-budget

    I now believe the tears are falling to earth because Netanyahu’s feelings, like all good Zionazis, are hurt because normal people might be upset by seeing the babies the Zionazis are murdering by the famine conditions the Zionazis have created to ensure no future generations of people with right to the land stolen from them with Canadian settlers taking their place – the very definition of genocide and the cause of the new Blood libel.

    Reply ↓
    1. Wukchumni

      I heard that one of the murdered journalists in Gaza had a hangnail, so it wasn’t as if he didn’t have one foot in the grave already.

      Reply ↓
  5. Terry Flynn

    Well, I now know for sure. Newest variant COVID is here in Nottingham. Someone close to me diagnosed this morning (and I knew it was in Manchester area over 2 weeks ago). I am back from a trip to acquire 70+% alcohol hand sanitiser (yes, of course I was wearing FFP2 mask, have been for weeks now since NC alerted us to it cropping up in USA).

    Can’t get it anywhere round here because, didn’t you know, the pandemic is long over! /s
    One of my less liked online retailers will be the next port of call, and for a new batch of masks.

    When out in local suburb the coughing among 40% of people I came near was ridiculous. Plus so many didn’t even try to cover their mouth. Yep it’s gone exponential round here. Yesterday someone told me in a meeting that swathes of NHS and social support workers are currently off work with a mystery virus. Sometimes I think “yep, the human race absolutely deserves to go”. Now I’m gonna see if the next episode of South Park has dropped on UK version of Paramount Plus. Dark humour suits me at the moment.

    Reply ↓
  6. The Heretic

    Peter thiel doing a seminar on thr Anti-Christ… how quaint. I suppose he just has to look in the mirror and read any of his diaries to gain insight. Or , more accurately, he should lecture on ‘The Beast’, who shall demand that all men shall carry the number of the beast on their forehead or their hands (chip implant)…

    Reply ↓
    1. Trees&Trunks

      I guess it is more of a show-and-tell than a lecture. All he needs to do is to stand there himself and say – here you have one of the Anti-Christs. Maybe he could ding-a-dang dang his dang-a-long-ling-long for entertainment and humiliation value for the schmucks who pay to listen to him.

      Reply ↓
    2. griffen

      My initial reaction, I thought it was a satirical post by the Onion ( which I’m never sure if they publish satire anymore, but possibly not ). That it’s a real lecture series just speaks volumes about culture in 2025.

      Yeah, Thiel checks the boxes as a prototype executive straight from the pages of an Orwell or a Huxley novel; so he will opine on the varied visions by the prophet Daniel or from the Book of Revelation. You could say Peter Thiel is more akin to the Alien parasite “perfect organism” than a real human. Ellen Ripley to corporate sleaze Burke, ” … you don’t see them fu*king each other for a GD percentage…”

      Added, I want some money upfront by a state or national government before just forking over all of my financial and biometric information…

      Reply ↓
  7. The Rev Kev

    “US reaffirms Turkey cannot rejoin F-35 program without giving up S-400s’

    Ooh, that’s a toughie for Turkiye to solve. Let’s see. They can get rid of those S-400s, which is probably the only thing protecting them from the Israelis, in exchange for F-35 fighters which the US can shut down remotely if they get into a scrap with Israel. Or they can keep those S-400s and supplement them with Chinese or Russian fighters that will help keep their skies secure. And it’s not like there aren’t already people talking in Israel how Turkiye has to be brought down in order for them to “feel safe.” What will the Turks do, whatever will they do.

    Reply ↓
    1. ChrisFromGA

      Well, if I were Erdogan, I’d stick with the S-400s and tell Uncle Sam to go pound sand. The question though, is what’s next.

      The empire always strikes back. Maybe the Kurdish SDF that controls the oil in E. Syria suddenly gets an influx of weapons and ISR, and starts pounding that joke of a “government” that Erdogan set up (HTS.)

      Or maybe Don makes a phone call to Bibi, and Israel resumes bombing Damascus.

      But then there are counter moves for Erdogan, too. Like triangulating back to Russia, stopping the flow of Turkish weapons to Ukraine, etc., or bombing the Kurds, always a go-to move for Turkey.

      What a tangled web …

      Reply ↓
  8. Wukchumni

    Netanyahu, why don’t you come to your senses?
    You’ve been out killin’ Gazans for so long now
    Oh, you’re a hard one
    I know that you got your reasons
    These things that are pleasin’ you
    Can hurt you somehow

    Don’t you draw the wrath of hubris, boy
    It’ll beat you if it’s able
    You know that genocide is always your best bet
    Now it seems to me, some fine things
    Have been laid upon your table
    But you only want the ones that you can’t get

    Netanyahu, oh, you ain’t gettin’ no younger
    Palestinians pain and your hunger, you want to take their home
    And freedom, oh freedom well, that’s just some people talkin’
    Your prison is walking through this world all alone

    Don’t your conscience worry you over time?
    The world wants you where the sun won’t shine
    It’s hard to tell the night time to go on your way
    You’re losin’ all respect on this orb
    Ain’t it funny how the feeling goes away?

    Netanyahu, why don’t you come to your senses?
    Come down from your high horse, await your fate
    It may be rainin’ Iranian missiles, but there’s an Iron Dome above you
    You better let somebody replace you
    (Let somebody replace you)
    You better let somebody replace you before it’s too late

    Desperado, by the Eagles

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-q93wc3-deU&list=RD-q93wc3-deU

    Reply ↓
  9. Terry Flynn

    Re testosterone and COVID. I said nothing as just anecdote but now we have harder data (I swear I wrote that without intentional pun) I’ll chime in with “big fat yep”. I saw sequelae that were often associated with testosterone issues (direct and indirect) from 6 weeks after first infection in Q1 2020.

    I won’t get to TMI but I wondered “WTAF?” and thanks to my specialist psychiatrist and the little blue pill, I at least established that things “can” work properly, even after netting out the confounding factor of my antidepressant……they just have zero desire to without me consciously “doing a test”. The Long COVID service hasn’t set up MS Teams Calls to help people with this issue (yet)…..I await their introduction with amusement to see how their specialist nurses deal with this and what “homework” they’ll give. Sorry, today I very much have the mind of an 8 year old boy.

    Reply ↓
  10. The Rev Kev

    ‘Middle East Eye
    @MiddleEastEye
    In this one on one with Jeremy Corbyn, the independent MP responds to criticism from his colleague Zarah Sultana, who said Labour under his leadership was wrong to have adopted the controversial IHRA definition of antisemitism.’

    The guy continues to disappoint and keeps folding like a cheap lawn-deck chair while his political positions seem to wobble like the coffee cup he is holding here. Give him a teaching position somewhere but leadership has to come from somewhere else and not from him. Sad that but true.

    Reply ↓
    1. The Rev Kev

      Thanks for that. I got a good chuckle out of it and startled the dog. I see that CNN used a seven year-old image of Bolton in that article. Saw him in an interview recently and he has aged rapidly since then.

      Reply ↓
      1. ChrisFromGA

        The “two weeks” Trump referred to could mean that we see arrests of Bolton, Clapper, and others related to Russiagate over the coming weeks. Then Congress comes back, and all Hell breaks loose.

        Reply ↓
        1. The Rev Kev

          No worries. I plan of stocking up on popcorn this weekend to be ready. Couldn’t happen to a nicer group of people.

          Reply ↓
          1. ChrisFromGA

            I will celebrate by visualizing Lindsay Graham frantically calling his lawyer. And suddenly forgetting all about “bone crushing sanctions” as he has more important things to focus on, like how people of his type don’t do well in prison.

            Oh and I made an error, I think it is Brennan not Clapper who should be really worried right now. Obama has executive immunity. So the Wizard of Kalorama should be OK. And then, there is Hillary …

            Reply ↓
  12. DJG, Reality Czar

    Peter Thiel, America’s undesirable alien, or the immigrant who thinks that the United States of America exists so he can be successful in cultivating his delusions. See: Zbigniew Brzezinski.

    First, it seems that he has already delivered this lecture series at three universities, Harvard, Oxford, and the University of Austin.

    So ole Peter is traveling the world delivering a so-so-so deep TedTalk. (And have I mentioned that any person in his position with skin as bad as his is has to be eating a truly lousy diet? Lay off the Red Bull, Peter! Meow.)

    Earnest writers at UnHerd, that famous voice of dissidence, can’t even figure out what Thiel’s ideas are about.

    Is it eschaton, that is, the revealed end point and ending of history?
    https://stage.unherd.com/2025/05/peter-thiels-visions-of-apocalypse/?edition=us

    To wit:
    While the past displays a seemingly endless cycle of civilisational rises and falls, Thiel believes that modern science and technology have turned history into a linear progression, as the Bible teaches, with a beginning and a final, irreversible end.

    A dubious claim indeed. Yes, I’ll admit there’s that redemption business. Yet history in the Mediterranean world was not perceived of as linear.

    Or just the fun of a good apocalypso:
    Whatever role Trump plays — katechon or Antichrist or both — Thiel’s main concern is in revitalising apocalyptic thinking, something late modernity has largely rejected. But not entirely. “I think many people, including within the Catholic world, are thinking in apocalyptic terms, but admitting it remains taboo,” he said, explaining his almost mystical fascination with Benedict XVI.

    https://unherd.com/2025/07/who-is-peter-thiels-antichrist/?us=1

    I find myself somehow resisting the temptation to have a mystical fascination with Benedict “Ratsy” XVI, although he did wear snazzy vestments.

    Not to keep you in suspense, but this TedTalk philosophizing is crap. Yes, many institutions and movements have lost all moral authority since the triumph of neoliberalism and dismantling of the social state, beginning in the 1980s. Filling the gap in ethics with the book of the bible that nobody can figure out isn’t going to help matters.

    David Sirota dispatches these pretenses in his wonderful essay on Ayn Rand:
    To wit:
    Since I first met Objectivists (read: libertarians) in college, my Unified Theory of Rand Groupies posited that they all probably fit into at least one of three groups: those who 1) never grew out of the usual “the world is persecuting me and doesn’t see my true genius” phase that momentarily afflicts the typical high schooler 2) think saying “Ayn Rand” in any context makes them sound intelligent, even though they’ve never actually read her work or 3) have read Rand’s work, don’t genuinely believe in her ideology as evidenced by their lifestyle/politics, but still say they love her because it serves to make them feel good about their own avarice.

    The bold is mine. So we now see people trying to cover their insatiable greed with the figleaf of libertarianism and René (I think, therefore I might have been wrong about a lotta things) Descartes.

    Ayn Rand Is for Children:
    https://www.salon.com/2013/01/19/ayn_rand_is_for_children/

    Reply ↓
  13. Wukchumni

    Ring of Fire The Baffler
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    I went to NYC for a coin show every year from 1978 until the mid 80’s, and I remember being shocked by the maggoty Big Apple I saw at the time, with many buildings burnt out and abandoned.

    It bore no resemblance to LA, it had the feel of a fallen city, but in dribs and drabs. I remember walking around the perimeter of Central Park, and about half of the properties were derelict and vacant, if memory serves.

    It wasn’t uncommon to see carcasses of cars parked on streets, stripped of anything of value, quite illuminating for a not quite adult to glimpse.

    Reply ↓
    1. Milton

      Stationed in Governors Island in ’79. Yes, it was everything you stated but that’s why I loved it (it was the anti-California) and glad I was able to experience NY before it became Disney’d.

      Reply ↓
  14. MicaT

    Solar and China. It’s great to see the progress they are making and showing the world how it is done. Top on my list is that more solar was installed in the first 1/2 of 25 than the US has in total.
    These articles still have this odd hit piece mentality about China which is unfortunate. Yes they are installing new coal plants but as only an aside the article almost as an afterthought says total coal powered energy is declining. As many have said the new plants are much higher in efficiency and lower in emissions.
    And yes they will miss their emissions targets by a small margin but when you think they are expanding their energy production yearly by a huge degree and are still lowering emissions, it’s a huge success story. The US is so behind.

    CATL the big battery maker announced a week or so ago that they are selling sodium batteries at $10 per kWh. Which is between 5 and 10 X lower than any other chemistry. A true game changer. At least some good news amongst all the terrible stuff.

    Reply ↓
  16. The Rev Kev

    “Ukrainian held in Italy over Nord Stream gas pipelines blast mystery”

    ‘The man, identified only as Serhii K, was arrested in the province of Rimini and was part of a group who planted explosives under the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines from Russia to Germany, federal prosecutors say.’

    The guy’s name is actually Sergey Kuznetsov – code name “The Skipper” – and here is his image-

    https://xcancel.com/LaStampa/status/1958668070651929037

    To believe that that pipeline was blown up by a bunch of people on a yacht is the same as believing Netanyahu’s claim that all those demolished buildings that you see in Gaza were caused by Hamas booby traps. They are not even bothered by the bs claims that they make up anymore.

    Reply ↓

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