Links 8/5/2025

Scientists just recreated the Universe’s first molecule and solved a 13-billion-year-old puzzle ScienceDaily (Kevin W)

Helsinki went a full year without a traffic death. How did they do it? ZMEScience (Dr. Kevin)

In the Future All Food Will Be Cooked in a Microwave, and if You Can’t Deal With That Then You Need to Get Out of the Kitchen Colin Cornaby

#COVID-19/Pandemics

Climate/Environment

Climate disasters are killing small businesses Grist

One of the Biggest Sources of Microplastics Will Make You Mad as Hell Futurism (resilc)

The Green Hydrogen Hype Is Fading OilPrice. Quelle surprise!

China?

China Does Not Want To Be Hit By Missiles Produced With Its Parts Moon of Alabama (Kevin W)

Japan

Japan Yields Slip, Casting Doubts on 10-Year Bond Auction Demand Bloomberg

India

India Buys US, Canada and Middle East Oil After Halting Russian Imports Kyiv Post versus PM Modi defiant as Trump steps up pressure on India’s Russia oil purchases Economic Times

Thailand-Cambodia

Cambodian and Thai officials meet in Malaysia to iron out ceasefire details Associated Press

Thai government warns Cambodians against spying, citing death penalty The National

Africa

Deadly Attack Highlights Growing Instability in Burkina Faso & the Sahel FirstPost

Senegal said Saturday that it is positioning new gendarmerie units in the east of the country as it faces growing security threats along its border with Mali The Defense Post

European Disunion

Fire at Romanian arms plant destroys over 100,000 cartridges, sabotage not ruled out Caliber

Poland braces for clashes with new nationalist president Times of Malta

The break with Russia has broken Finnish society Vzglyad (Micael T)

Greece condemns Turkey’s marine parks as ‘unacceptable, unilateral and illegal’ ekathimerini

Old Blighty

Sky-high bond yields are crushing Reeves’s dreams of a building boom Telegraph

Israel v. The Resistance

Dire water shortages compound hunger and displacement in Gaza France24

Click through for more evidence:

* * *

Israeli channel exposes secret protocols showing Netanyahu blocked Gaza ceasefire, hostage swap deal Anadolu Agency

Israel’s Netanyahu has decided on full occupation of Gaza, reports say Al Jazeera (Kevin W)

Israel is losing the US front Unherd

The Dam Breaks Peter Beinart

Hundreds of Israeli ex-officials appeal to Trump to help end Gaza war BBC

Sydney sees historic turnout for Gaza protest as 300,000 join rally YouTube (resilc)

How MTG became MAGA’s moral compass on Gaza Responsible Statescraft (Kevin W)

Dutch Intel Flags Israel As ‘State Threat’ Kit Klarenberg

New Not-So-Cold War

Russia ‘no longer considers itself bound’ by nuclear treaty with US RT (Kevin W). Hoo boy.

GOP congresswoman claims aiding Kiev is ‘betrayal to majority of Americans’ Menafn

July drone war I Events in Ukraine

Russian Special Ops Forces Capture Three British “Soldiers” Larry Johnson. Readers dismissed this story due to some social media accounts including fake videos. Johnson says he has some corroboration from an intel source.

Imperial Collapse Watch

Navy’s chronic repair delays leave submarines stuck in dock for years: WSJ Seeking Alpha (Kevin W)

Trump 2.0

Brazil’s Supreme Court Places Bolsonaro Under House Arrest New York Times

Trump and the Dictatorship of the Upper Middle-Class Urbanites eugyppius (Micael T)

US backtracks after conditioning disaster funds on Israel boycott refusal Anadolu Agency

We said the only way to make sense of what Trump was doing was to create 1990s Russia conditions to facilitate plutocratic looting. Developments like this are a by product:

Tariffs

Trump has made the world cross the economic rubicon, an act we will all regret Observer

Latest Trump tariffs unlikely to budge, top negotiator says Reuters

Trump tariffs, tiffs tied to NYC tourism drop are ‘catastrophically’ affecting business Gothamist

Russiagate

DOJ to launch grand jury probe over Russia allegations against Obama officials The Hill. Yours truly had said the Team Trump whinging was unserious unless prosecutions started.

GOP Clown Car

Marjorie Taylor Greene threatens dramatic breakup with Trump over a core base frustration that could upend entire Republican Party Daily Mail Online (resilc)

Abbott threatens to remove Texas Democrats over walkout and Pritzker says Texas Democrats who fled state will be protected amid arrest threats The Hill

Scoop: DNC joins Texas gerrymandering fight with Chicago press conference Axios

These states could redraw their House maps before the 2026 elections Roll Call. resilc: “My experience in Guatemala has prepared me for living in USA USA.”

Partisan Gerrymandering After Rucho Steve Vladeck. More on Texas.

L’affaire Epstein

Our No Longer Free Press

The New York Times Does Not Fear Trump… But Bret Stephens Is Another Matter Counterpunch (resilc)

Open Letter to the Columbia Journalism Review, on the Atrocious New York Times Matt Taibbi

Economy

Women Not Dyeing Their Hair, Hot People Working Minimum Wage Jobs, And 13 Other Recession Indicators Yahoo! (Kevin W)

The U.S. Economy Is Stumbling Badly Washington Monthly (resilc)

The Limits of Macro Balances Warwick Powell. “What Brazilian coffee teaches us about system dynamics”

AI

The AI job cuts are accelerating Financial Times

ChatGPT users shocked to find private therapy sessions exposed in Google searches BoingBoing

Slopocalypse Now Gary Marcus

The Bezzle

Tesla withheld data, lied, and misdirected police and plaintiffs to avoid blame in Autopilot crash Electrek (rataj r). No wonder the damages were so large. Judges and juries do not like this sort of thing.

Class Warfare

Earning More but in Worse Shape: Hardship Overwhelms Many American Families Wall Street Journal

Map Shows States Where Bankruptcies Are Surging Newsweek (resilc)

US manufacturing extends slump; factory employment lowest in 5 years Reuters

‘A Black Hole’: America’s New Graduates Discover a Dismal Job Market NBC

Antidote du jour (via):

A bonus:

A second bonus:

And a third:

See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.

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154 comments

  1. Terry Flynn

    Texas not alone. Supreme example of look over here whilst what’s going on is over there. Starmer’s stupid online access bill is diverting attention from the HUGE gerrymandering operation going on in local government.

    I’m trying to alert everyone locally online and leaflet dropping on my “good” days what this means for Nottinghamshire

    Reply
    1. Colonel Smithers

      Thank you, Terry.

      What does it mean for Nottinghamshire?

      The reason that I ask is my beloved Yorkshire Rose lives in Nottingham.

      Reply
      1. Terry Flynn

        Apologies my brain fog has got really bad as I’ve just traipsed across the city for an appt. If Yves doesn’t object, I will direct you to my Substack and me as drt1605 on YouTube where I flesh out the three potential plans….. all of which are demonstrably awful and so obviously written by the politicians to carve up Nottm and Notts to serve them not us.

        Reply
          1. Terry Flynn

            Thx saw it on mobile but can’t work out how to mutual follow on Pc – grrr.

            Maybe if I’m less fogged tmw I can spot it.

            Reply
            1. Jonathan Holland Becnel

              I don’t really post videos so please follow Class Unity on YouTube! We post economic talks about class with famous economists and leftists.

              Still hoping to get Yves to do a talk with us!

              Reply
      2. Terry Flynn

        This is largely to continue an experiment I’m conducting. Certain other members of my household seem to keep being lax on Internet security. Thus “skynet” holds comments and I’ve noticed longer delays compared to ones like this (using phone mobile data so not linked to same ISP and IP addresses).

        Comments like this seem to be “okayed” and go to NC moderators far more promptly. So this is NOT an NC issue and Yves kindly explained things to me – twice actually in last 15 years.

        Anyway I’ve written full account to answer you on substack etc. The original reply may appear in due course.

        Reply
          1. Terry Flynn

            You’re welcome. My YouTube is angry but I’d done the substack already so knew the stats.

            If I may say…. one of my better videos. Beats my “lambda stuff” hehe.

            Reply
        1. Terry Flynn

          If UK soldiers are found interfering in this conflict then let them face the music.

          Less chance there’ll be enough soldiers to go against the populace when we decide enough is enough.

          BSG fans: remember the conversation Adama had with Roslin. Very apt today.

          Reply
    2. Revenant

      Hi Terry, can you explain the gerrymandering more? I know there is a local government reorganisation but I don’t see how it is going to help any one party. I had assumed the merging of district and county councils will not change the district council wards, too. Are you saying the wards will be redrawn to benefit parties?

      That level of detail seems unlikely given here in Devon each district council has a different preferred merger plan and Reform is #2 party in pretty much every ward. For the mainstream parties, this is not so much gerrymandering as rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic.

      Reply
      1. Terry Flynn

        Both my replies above now OKed. My substack is more academic, referring to census figures etc. The YouTube video is much more err “angry” – Labour are attempting to solidify in certain areas and box in Reform elsewhere.

        Reply
  2. The Rev Kev

    ‘Olga Bazova
    @OlgaBazova
    The US might start experiencing what Russia has gone through in the 90s, something that was coined as “the great brain drain”, but for completely different reasons – “failing to promote a research environment free of anti-Semitism and bias” – for instance.’

    Come 2028 there is going to have to be a damage assessment for the American scientific establishment and the damage by then will be EPIC. In the past, Republican hostility to government scientific experts testifying before panels was noted. It seems that this hostility to science experts is now playing out as the Republicans punish those experts by defunding their work and maybe it is on ideological grounds or maybe just personal petty dislikes. This whole bizzo about “antisemitism” is just a convenient excuse and nothing more. By 2028 they will not be able to hide all this damage and they will own it lock, stock and barrel. Will they try to present it as more “winning”?

    Reply
    1. Acacia

      This. It will take a couple of years to get the numbers but it’s safe to predict they will look pretty bad. Scientists and academics who can leave the US will give serious consideration to doing so, and there will be opportunities, e.g.:

      French university courts American researchers seeking “scientific asylum” amid Trump’s academic cuts
      https://www.cbsnews.com/news/france-trump-white-house-college-cuts-harvard-aixmarseille/

      And Japan is making a similar offering:

      Ishiba aims to gain researchers in the U.S. fleeing Trump’s policies
      https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15822553

      And it’s not just for faculty:

      Regarding international students, the education ministry has asked Japanese universities to accept those affected by the Trump administration’s attack against Harvard University and other U.S. schools.

      Why study in the US when your visa could be nixed or you might even be grabbed by ICE agents?

      Reply
    2. vao

      Contra this, the past few years have seen so much gaslighting and dissembling regarding Covid, so much sustained FDU (fear, doubt, uncertainty) actions against climatology, so much goofups at NASA, so many scandals of plagiarism, fabricated data, and spectacular retractions (see all the trouble in the domain of Alzheimer research), that the reputation of science and scentists has been durably damaged — not necessarily through their fault, but they are all stained.

      Therefore, in 2028 it is also conceivable that after the on-going rampaging by Trump, neo-liberals, libertarians, DOGE & co, most people will have so many more problems to deal with, will be so much more economically devastated, that the fate of fancy mathematicians and other scientists in their universities and research labs, and the damage done to basic science will just elicit shrugs in the populace.

      Reply
      1. Terry Flynn

        2028? More like now. Plus I find it hard to criticise people given how atrociously my former colleagues let us down.

        Reply
        1. Peter Steckel

          This, the PMC (and any scientist at a lettered agency or researching at a university [where you don’t have a position unless you can bring in funding] is in fact a PMC member) seems to be overplaying their hand. Who cares about health care advances when you can’t even afford the co-pays? Or can’t get a quality doctor to diagnose you? Or can’t even afford health care? The same applies across the board.

          Talk to some of the bottom 50% in flyover states – you’ll get shrugs at best to downright outright hostility and anger. Some I know would gladly crack a beer while the whole world went Road Warrior 2 just knowing that these folks would be suffering, too (if not more). The fact of the matter is we’ll go on a lot longer losing the entire research scientist class than we would if we lost the functioning industrial electricians and nuclear techs in this world.

          Reply
          1. kriptid

            As a trained scientist who moved to the Eaat Coast but was born into a blue collar Midwestern family, I approve this comment.

            Reply
  3. Terry Flynn

    First person close to me who clearly has Nimbus variant. I knew it was coming to Midlands. Nasty variant. It’s been largely circulating in north West till now.

    Reply
    1. ilsm

      Tip of a closely guarded iceberg.

      There are thousands of US, UK, German etc “technicians” in Kiev operating and servicing billions of US $ in high tech weapons, rushed to Kiev to use to attrit Russia……

      Level of training to support the west’s donation wunder-waffen far exceeds any capacity in Kiev, would require years of schooling!

      Reply
    2. The Rev Kev

      I’ve heard it said that the British military/spooks were raised on heroic commando films like “The Heroes of Telemark”, “The Cockleshell Heroes”, “Operation Crossbow”, “Force 10 from Navarone”, “The Guns of Navarone”, etc. and we see this in the Ukraine with British inspired ops like the attack on the civilian Kersh bridge for example. Turns out that Russian special ops are no slackers either which I hope those two British offices and spook will ponder in their captivity. Those are three pretty big cards that the Russians now have and claims that they were just “war tourists” have already fallen flat. I don’t expect them to be released before this war ends.

      Reply
        1. The Rev Kev

          ‘British planned & ordered ops’

          Exactly. They grew up on this stuff and are having the Ukraine fulfill their fantasies for them. As for the Russians, do we even know what they are doing? Unlike for example the former members of Seal Team Six, they don’t seem to be the type to run out and cash in with books about what they are doing or getting films made about their actions.

          Reply
          1. Terry Flynn

            If UK soldiers are found interfering in this conflict then let them face the music.

            Less chance there’ll be enough soldiers to go against the populace when we decide enough is enough.

            BSG fans: remember the conversation Adama had with Roslin. Very apt today.

            Reply
    3. hk

      Assuming this is in fact true, I’m curious what the precedents are like. On one hand, sjeepdipped soldiers have been common, but…

      There haven’t been many (any?) acting in the open, in uniform, operating in acts of terrorism as the receiving side defines it, and caught openly. (Made even more complicated, I guess, there is no “legal” state of war. Thoughts?

      Reply
    4. Aurelien

      It seems to be a cut and paste of the story that appeared a few days ago, and it’s all described as “rumours” so I wouldn’t pay it any attention unless something more convincing emerges.
      It’s quite common for foreign military personnel to be on the ground during a conflict (recall the Russians in Syria) and they aren’t normally considered “combatants” under the GC rules, so not entitled to GC PoW status. But they do benefit from the general GC protections, which are actually not all that different.

      Reply
    5. Christopher Mann

      Come on folks, the names sound like what a non-English speaker thinks are typical English names.

      Reply
  4. Wukchumni

    The exodus at night
    Politicians not of the right
    Depart the heart of Texas

    Denying quorum
    Heinz 57 swarm
    Depart the heart of Texas

    Abbott wails
    He’s on their trail
    Depart the heart of Texas

    The rabid right
    Coming up light
    Depart the heart of Texas

    The chickenhawks
    Are full of squawks
    Depart the heart of Texas

    The Pachyderms bawl
    And say “eff you all”
    Depart the heart of Texas

    The Donkey Show cries
    “Ka-yippie aye!” (Woo-hoo!)
    Depart the heart of Texas

    That’s why perhaps
    They take no chance
    Depart the heart of Texas

    Reply
  5. The Rev Kev

    “Bolsonaro Placed Under House Arrest by Brazil’s Supreme Court”

    Understandable when you think about it. Trump might get it into his mind to send in Delta Force to rescue his buddy and I would not put it past him. It worked for Mussolini. But even worse would be if Bolsanaro ducked into the US Embassy or one of the EU Embassies asking for sanctuary. That would turn Bolsanaro into a cause célèbre for Trump and there would be one threat after another against Brazil forever and a day. Better to lock this jerk up at home to close down those options.

    Reply
  6. Wukchumni

    Trump tariffs, tiffs tied to NYC tourism drop are ‘catastrophically’ affecting business Gothamist
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    The same thing is happening in Pavlovegas (voted #1 city in Reinforcement Times) for foreigners are staying away in droves and not dribs nor drabs.

    When your country makes it official through words* and actions that foreigners aren’t really welcomed here-guess what?

    ..they got the message

    * simulated US Customs official rifling through your smartphone upon entry to the USA and finds a gem:

    ‘I see you made a post on Facebook on June 11, 2014 that you really detest Jerusalem Artichokes. i’m afraid you are refused entry in the country and have a nice flight back home, goodbye.’

    Reply
    1. The Rev Kev

      I’ve read a coupla articles how Las Vegas has really been hit hard by people, well, not turning up. I do not know if this is true or not but one article was saying that the past coupla years, Las Vegas has been downgrading low-spenders in order to concentrate of high-spenders instead. I suppose one way would be to raise prices overall to discourage the plebs in favour of the big-spenders but I don’t know how accurate that article was-

      ‘Hey, big spender
      Spend a little time with me’

      Nope!

      Reply
      1. Wukchumni

        I think its a number of factors hitting all at once…

        Sports betting online has more draw than hanging out with strangers awaiting the turn of a card or the roll of dice, there’s relatively instant gratification punting that the next pitch will be a curve (3-1 odds) and you’ve covered the action, winner winner-chicken dinner.

        Vegas suffers in a way similar to Hollywood making films, where once upon a time both had rather exclusive turf in both regards, but along came Atlantic City and Native American casinos sicced onto Sin City, and a digital spider did away with the silver screen’s tight grip on the end product.

        Reply
      2. Pat

        Was wandering through Reddit for other reasons and there are multiple threads on how bad it is in Vegas. As an old Broadway veteran I might put a lot of their current woes on tourism, but apparently the locals and frequent visitors think there are a few other prominent reasons than just tariffs and ICE for the decline of tourists.
        The number one reason listed is the ready availability of Native American casinos and online gambling. Why fly hours when you can get to a casino in about an hour or bet in the comfort of your own home.
        The rising costs of visiting Vegas is the next. And it is also big. Nothing is free or cheap anymore. Hotels charge for parking. The buffets are no bargain and the casinos have eliminated the nickel slots and the dollar and five dollar tables.
        Entertainment is limited, expensive and almost exclusively adult. There is little in the current Vegas for kids. No more family friendly casino/hotels.
        Sure almost all of this is largely domestic tourism, but also from those threads that was the majority of Vegas’ business previously.

        I am sure there have been other effects of Trump policies there, but from this it appears that it was self inflicted private equity style wounds after a disruption in the market.

        Reply
        1. juno mas

          Las Vegas is more than gambling, although the Indian Casino’s and online sports betting are likely having an impact. The fancy Shows and show-girls, top-line musical talent, and increasing professional sporting event opportunities are a big draw. McCarran Int. airport, near the Strip, is one of the busiest in the US and bring in visitors from near and far. The ‘what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas’ attitude is important to many.

          That said, the drop-off in tourism is but 10% annual. If this continues you’ll know the US is in recession.

          Reply
    2. ilsm

      We took a “Sunday drive” north of the Boston, Ma area. Maybe 100 miles on interstates.

      Remarkable was the scarcity of Canadian license plates!

      Reply
      1. The Rev Kev

        Turns out that Canada is 3,855,100 sq miles/9,984,670 km2 in size while the United States is actually a bit smaller at 3,796,742 sq miles/9,833,520 km2. So for Trump to demand that they just become just another itty-bitty State to be also plundered by Wall Street may have been an insult too much. Canadians are voting with their wallets and purses and this may get more and more entrenched over the next three and a half years. Heckuva job, Donnie.

        Reply
      2. Roland

        Not many US plates along the highway that runs through my city in central British Columbia. This highway is one of the routes that goes to Alaska. In summer, we usually see a lot of RV traffic from all parts of the USA. This year, distinctly less, despite the drop in fuel prices.

        Also, there were motel and RV park vacancies here during August long weekend, which is very unusual. In this city, hotel business is half tourist, half industrial (mining/forestry.) There are lots of drilling contractors’ trucks parked at the motels, and the airport’s long-term parking is full of commercial vehicles (crews flying out to remote sites). So it looks like mineral exploration is doing okay (gold.) The motel vacancies must be due to a drop in tourism.

        Reply
      3. Steven A

        I’ll be sure to keep an eye out this autumn for a drop in the number of Ontario plates that are usually common along I-75 through SW Ohio. It’s a common route for Canadian snowbirds heading for the Florida Gulf Coast. Folks along I-95 may want to watch for Québec plates headed for the the Atlantic Coast.

        Reply
  7. Henry Moon Pie

    Somebody is getting ready. I ran across this local TV news investigation of a Christian Dominionist group buying land in central Tennessee. The reporter finds ties with Andreeson (as investor) and Vance (as buddy). The idea is to import enough fellow believers to take over the county–first. At least some of the locals are not pleased.

    This is the same basic line of development projected (prophesied?) by Octavia Butler in the Parable series.

    Reply
    1. lyman alpha blob

      Vigilance is always prudent, but I wouldn’t worry too much yet. These projects have a tendency of petering out.

      There was this libertarian scheme in New Hampshire – https://www.vermontpublic.org/vpr-news/2020-12-04/upper-valley-author-looks-at-what-happens-when-a-libertarian-walks-into-a-bear

      There was also this Mormon project in VT which didn’t go anywhere – https://www.sevendaysvt.com/news/wealthy-mormon-buys-up-vermont-land-for-massive-settlement-3276118

      And over the years there have been various attempts to create Galt’s Gulch for real that always end in wailing and gnashing of teeth – https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Galt%27s_Gulch,_Chile

      Reply
        1. Kilgore Trout

          The verdict on NH’s “Free State Project” has not yet been delivered. The FSP was the brainchild of one Jason Sorens, then a graduate student at Dartmouth (IIRC), and whose “research” was underwritten by the Koch-sponsored Mercatus Institute. Roughly a quarter of NH’s massive (400+) state legislature is now Libertarian or Lib-adjacent. Among other things, they’ve succeeded in incrementally gutting significantly state aid to public schools via a voucher program. This year they succeeded in removing the income cap on the program; now the only limit is numbers, capping the program this year at 10,000.

          Reply
  8. Joseph Samms

    I’ve been a supported of NC since 2010. Today I thought I was getting my regular Nakedcapitalism fix, but somehow seem to have redirected to X/Twitter. What’s going on?

    Reply
        1. Jason Boxman

          Sadly Twitter is the world’s microphone. I wish it were blogs, sigh, with robust search engine discoverability. So, like the early 2000s.

          Reply
          1. converger

            How about converting the all of the links to xcancel.com? As an extra bonus, people who have abandoned twitter/X get full thread functionality back.

            Reply
            1. cfraenkel

              That’s an extra, error prone, step for every link. And some people are still logged into twitter. (scary, but it takes all kinds…)

              or, per Barry Ritholtz: gyob.

              Reply
        1. Terry Flynn

          Their demand for me to prove age made me decide the cesspit of Xtwitter is actually better. What a world or timeline we live in.

          Reply
  9. The Rev Kev

    ‘Li Zexin 李泽欣
    @XH_Lee23
    Hidden genius from the masses! A talented Chinese DIY maker has 3D-printed an incredible all-terrain robot that conquers land, water, and air with ease.’

    In wartime this would be the stuff of nightmare fuel. They would be like scuttling, black, killer spiders that can suddenly start flying at you. And I bet that they can hide in bushes and trees as well if need be.

    Reply
    1. Ben Joseph

      I cannot fathom how anybody would NOT have their dystopia alarm going nuts. ‘Genius…conquers with ease’! Come pillage me my future oppressors!

      Reply
      1. The Rev Kev

        Remember how deadly airplanes were before 1914? Oh wait, they were just fragile kites with their only armament being the pilot waving around a revolver. But then the technology matured. The same is true of drone warfare and the drones in use in combat now are far superior to what was fielded three years ago.

        Reply
          1. JMH

            There are many Swiss Army Knives with many degrees of complexity. Divide and conquer. This prototype looks as if it were inexpensive. Why not a suite of such things that have two functions. Or consider this, six legged critters climb walls. Might this be modified to do that? Make is small.It crawls up the wall, squeezes through a crack and listens. Too James Bondish? Seems worth playing around with it to see what results. Pure research with nop specified goal.

            Reply
  10. Munchausen

    Russian Special Ops Forces Capture Three British “Soldiers” Larry Johnson. Readers dismissed this story due to some social media accounts including fake videos. Johnson says he has some corroboration from an intel source.

    Larry features an obvious AI generated image (jusl look at that Kalashnikov on the left). He references BORZZIKMAN’s Youtube channel (which is clickbait crap, to put it politely), and the Eurasia Daily. The Eurasia Daily references the Norwegian publication Steigan.
    https://steigan.no/2025/08/storbritannias-hemmelige-krig-ulovlig-utplassering-av-britiske-offiserer-i-ukraina/
    Machine translation of it says:

    We reported on British officers in uniform, Colonels Edward Blake and Richard Carroll, who were allegedly captured by Russian special forces while participating in the war against Russia in Ukraine.
    Our fact-checking was inadequate, so we have decided to delete the article.

    “A source from French intelligence” sounds more like “a rumor is on the street” than “from the horses mouth”.

    Larry says that this could be circular reporting, but to me it seems more like human centipede reporting, pardon my French.

    Reply
    1. The Rev Kev

      Could be. But when you think about it, unless the Russians parade them on TV, how would you get confirmation about this? This would be one of those shoot-self-after-reading secrets.

      Reply
    2. Aurelien

      As I recall, Johnson made his career in counter-terrorism analysis some time ago. Given the famous compartmentalisation of intelligence services, it’s unlikely that he ever had any contact with Russia specialists, and sell more unlikely that he does now. It’s quite possible that “the source from French intelligence” was his opposite number in Paris, because the US and France have cooperated on counterterrorism issues in Africa for a long time. So it amounts to saying “this guy I used to know tells me that there’s gossip among the people he used to work with that this story is true.” Given historic French paranoia about the British and the fact that they still haven’t forgiven us for Joan of Arc, I wouldn’t take the story too seriously.

      If any one of the hundreds of similar stories that have appeared were actually true, the Russians would have found a way of using it for political purposes. Ergo ….

      Reply
      1. Kilgore Trout

        While I like his blog and generally agree with his take on things, he did go whole-hog on the “Madame Macron is a guy” thing. So there’s that. A high degree of skepticism is warranted on everything these days, and multiple sources of corroboration are essential. My take anyway.

        Reply
    3. Socal Rhino

      The photo is not claimed to be evidence of captivity, just to show who the possible captives are. Like showing yearbook photos when someone is the victim of crime vs. a crime scene photo.

      If this happened we are not likely to see confirmation until/unless they appear in a legal setting, after being interrogated, and if true the UK is likely working behind the scenes to try to keep this quiet. If confirmed, it would be evidence of UK direct involvement in combat.

      Reply
      1. Munchausen

        It is not a photo. It’s not like someone found photos of officers with those names on the Internet, and posted them. It’s AI generated imagery. And not very good one. There’s the full image on sonar21.
        https://sonar21.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Captured-Brits.jpg
        It even has passports hovering in the bottom. :)

        P.S. The other day there was a link to an article about some big Chinese bridge with AI generated imagery as an illustration. The image looked nothing like the actual bridge.

        Reply
        1. Socal Rhino

          My point is I don’t think the photo is intended as evidence. In any case, this will fade away or not, time will tell.

          Reply
  11. Mass Driver

    China is preparing to neutralize Starlink, and the toolkit they’re studying reads like a defense contractor fever dream.🧵
    — Thomas Keith (@iwasnevrhere_) August 3, 2025

    • Submarines equipped with orbital-range lasers, proposed as stealth sea-based ASAT nodes

    LOL, what a load of bollocks. Not a surface ship, but a submarine, because it sounds more badass. You can’t get more stealth than a surfaced submarine shining a mega-laser at the skies. Sounds like something Trump would order so that Russians would see that the two submarines have arrived at the designated location. :)

    Reply
  12. DJG, Reality Czar

    Colin Cornaby writes A Modest Proposal.

    With this gem: “Listen. First – you need to calm down. This is the sort of emotional response I’m talking about. You’re clearly irrationally anti microwave. And that sounds like a next quarter problem – and we don’t talk about next quarter problems.”

    Worth a read, just for his ability to take a joke all the way out the door and then some.

    Yet the point remains: How many times in U.S. culture has a twisted, burdensome solution been offered to a problem? That everyone then felt obliged to dance around as the latest shiny idol: The Great Awakening (I and II). Prohibition. Shopping on the Internet. Branding, branding yourself. Twitter. Salvation by faith alone. Hula hoops. Hydration. Selfies.

    Till people began to suspect that salvation by faith alone is just one more blue hula hoop.

    Reply
    1. Mirjonray

      First they came for our gas ranges, then they came for our electric stoves…..

      The only reason I cook more with the microwave these days as opposed to my electric stove is because our electric rates are higher during the time I cook dinner. i just flat out don’t use my electric oven in the summer anymore. Microwaves cook some foods “just good enough”, but it’s not like I use it much when non-family guests come over.

      I’ve owned microwaves for close to 40 years now and i still haven’t come close to mastering them. There’s too much variability in how something will cook from one time to the next, as in, cook a chicken breast for x minutes one time, and the next time the same-weight chicken breast might take x-1 minutes to cook.

      Reply
      1. cfraenkel

        whoosh…. the sound of the point flying past….

        that article had nothing to do with microwaves, if that wasn’t immediately obvious

        Reply
    2. flora

      From the article:

      “We all need to transition to this way of cooking, because clearly this is where the future is going. I expect in a few short years kitchens will be much smaller. Gone will be stoves and ovens and flat tops. Restaurant kitchens will only be a small closet with a microwave. I predict this will happen by 1955 at the latest.”

      1955 has come and gone and I still don’t have a flying car. / ;)

      Reply
  13. pjay

    – ‘DOJ to launch grand jury probe over Russia allegations against Obama officials’ – The Hill.

    I thought the most telling passage in this article was the following:

    “The documents Gabbard has released do little to suggest wrongdoing by the intelligence community in seeking to investigate Russia’s efforts to influence the 2016 contest.”

    This is stated as simple fact, inserted in the middle of a story depicting a “he said/she said” partisan wrangle. The “objective, non-partisan, responsible” media framing will be that there is nothing to see here; that this is just Trump seeking revenge (true) and distraction (also true), and that the Obama administration and its allies in the intelligence community were doing simply doing their job in following what they believed to be credible evidence of serious Russian manipulation (false; in fact a Big Lie – one of the most dangerous sort).

    Nothing will ever come of these “revelations,” because nothing ever does. As usual, Patrick Lawrence provides an excellent overall summation:

    https://consortiumnews.com/2025/08/04/patrick-lawrence-how-to-read-the-durham-appendix/

    As Lawrence rightly observes, the Durham Report itself was a limited hangout. We get a hint at possible “crimes committed,” but no specific criminals and no indictments. Then several years later we get the “Appendix,” which does name some names – but who cares, right? Sort of like the admission by Crowdstrike head Shawn Henry in closed House testimony that they really had no evidence of Russian hacking – which was only revealed to the public three years later. It is part of the usual process by which information gradually trickles out over years or decades that eventually substantiates the claims of all those wild-eyed “conspiracy theorists” once it is safe to ignore them.

    Reply
    1. Screwball

      I was curious so I looked at the CNN web page. I don’t see anything about this. Going by my PMC friends, they have not said a word other than Trump is yapping about that election again a few days ago. I’m guessing Russiagate is alive and well as we speak. Too many are too invested in the scam and will never admit they were wrong.

      What I would like to see is handcuffs, and lots of them. Hahahahahahaha! I know. I would pay to see them, and I’ll bet a bunch of other people would too. Maybe we can start a fundraiser, yea, that’s the ticket…

      I know, delusional, nothing will happen as usual. Laws don’t apply to those people, only us serfs.

      Reply
      1. Martin Oline

        According to Nicolle Wallace of CNN:

        “These are unsubstantiated and largely debunked allegations. . .”

        The clip I saw was from an X (gasp, clutches pearls) account.
        Unsubstantiated. Where have I heard that phrase before? Kennedy assassination? Gulf of Tonkin? The October 1968 surprise? Watergate? Pentagon papers? The Nixon pardon? MKUltra? The October 1980 surprise? Iranian hostage release? Iran-Contra? Whitewater? WMD? Hope and Change?
        It Can’t Happen Here!

        Reply
  14. Lazar

    Fire at Romanian arms plant destroys over 100,000 cartridges, sabotage not ruled out Caliber

    14.5 mm is used by Soviet KPV heavy machine gun, and some anti-materiel rifles. Not really a NATO standard, and probably Cold War leftover destined for Ukraine or some other democracy spreading effort.

    Reply
  15. The Rev Kev

    ‘Volcaholic 🌋
    @volcaholic1
    Rare snow in Australia….
    “I’ve never seen anything like this before in my entire life!’

    Seen lots of images of snow in rural eastern Oz and a cousin says that she is getting snow in Armidale. Even got some snow in southern Queensland along the Granite belt from what I hear. I bet our ski resorts are laughing all the way to the bank. Damn, I miss the snow.

    Reply
  16. Vicky Cookies

    “Trump and the Disctatorship of the Upper Middle Class”

    A fine observation, that “this class self-identifies with democracy”, and so it follows that attacks on its privileges are attacks on democracy itself, whatever the prevailing state, democratic or otherwise, for the rest of the population.

    I was annoyed when, in 2016, I became aware of MSNBC liberals beginning to talk about “Our democracy”, which, to me was telling: the “our” part indictated ownership. I wish I’d been as articulate as the author of this piece, or the part of it available without a trial.

    Reply
    1. deez

      Seems like a good analysis, especially if we replace the meaningless term “upper middle class” with what the author appears to mean, i.e., “petite bourgeoisie”

      Reply
  17. jaysun

    “In the Future All Food Will Be Cooked in a Microwave, and if You Can’t Deal With That Then You Need to Get Out of the Kitchen”

    I can’t figure out if this article is parodying crypto or AI.

    Maybe both.

    Reply
    1. cfraenkel

      Doing everything with ____; Buying 1000 ____ for every ‘chef’; “You need to learn now because when everything is cooked in a ______ you’ll be out of a job. When _______ are everywhere you’ll be so far behind you’ll never learn how to use a _____. Chefs who use tools besides _____ are luddites.

      AI, not even close. The only note missing is “Microwaves will make better microwaves, and we’ll have a golden age”

      Crypto is either ‘line go up’, or ‘get the g’vmint out of my bank account’. (ha!)

      Reply
  18. Hastalavictoria

    Not sure that Argentina deserves the top award for misrule and corruption.

    I often thought that America – How to f***Up a pristine continent in less than 400 years – was far more deserving of the award!

    Reply
      1. JMH

        We USians have certainly FA-ed and FO-ed. I remember: clouds of starlings when I was a boy, a great variety and number of birds, butterflies, I’ve seen nothing but the occasional white moth this summer. Night flying moths, even mosquitoes are few. Cold and snowy winters are rare. And those are casual observations.Where only a few years ago there were regiments of robins patrolling the fields and lawns in spring, they are reduced to platoons. Will the Hudson river freeze again? It did ten or twelve years ago
        I acquiesce to what is because I must, but I mourn what is lost and will not be seen ever again. When the madness of this era is past, the earth will abide and it may be in a greatly changed manner, beautiful, but generations and generations of humans come and go until our remote descendants see it. If we have remote descendants.

        Reply
        1. amfortas

          maybe ten years ago, we had a grasshopper plague…lasted 5 1/2 years…billions of them.
          a half year in, i noticed(being out and about all the time on the place) that there were no birds.
          This freaked me out, bigly…and i was surprised and ashamed that i had been so busy trying to mitigate the locust plague that i hadnt noticed(i went as far as pyrethrin, in a sprayer, during the hot part of the day, as is the MO with such things, whn the birds arent feeding(might why i didnt notice their absence)).
          so i inquired at the feed store…and yep…the county extension guy had been promoting some new pesticide(cant remember the name), that was soon recalled by the old timer feedstore owner…and a bit of research showed it was nasty and persistent.
          likely killed off the bug eaters who habitually migrate to here in spring and summer(swallows, various flycatchers)…i, of course, forbid such things here(worst mom gets away with is horrible weed killers, bc she can do a pump sprayer without me). so that stuff was unavailable locally any more…and next year, an apparent new crop of those bug eaters showed up to fill the gap…and more the next year.
          they are rather abundant today.
          i builkd birdhouses for everybody…from gourds and scrap wood and hollow logs and old boots…and hang em up all over the place(generally where mom wont notice, bc im function over form as a general rule,lol)
          i also provide a lick tub water trough at every leaky faucet on my side of the place…which also serves as habitat for dragonflies and such…and inverted boots on t-posts for the wasps the live in(keeps them out of the bar environs….we have a truce)

          so dont give up hope, JMH…there might be some local…and hopefully temporary…factor at work, there.

          after all this mess, i called A&M and bitched and moaned to the extension public liason chick about the Extension Agent acting as a salesman for Dowpont…as well as the ongoing crisis for organic tomatoes that is Persistent Herbicides.
          that guy moved on(called me a dirty hippie,lol), and the chick that took his place seems much more amenable to my POV.
          and i maintain goodwill and good relations with the new feedstore owner, and everybody that works there(they all got cold fresh and washed purple grapes last week for a snack,lol)…so that when i find a similar issue in the future, i can make them aware of the unintended consequences of whatever newfangled and unpronounceable wonderchemical theyve been encouraged to provide.
          the attitude towards such environmental concerns has shifted remarkably in the 30 years ive been here….some of that is due to my thorn-in-side-ism, im sure(i come loaded with facts and figures)…buit most of it is due to the zeitgeist changing with generational overturn.

          Reply
          1. Martin Oline

            That’s great that you are being sensitive to the causes of the bird die off and proactive in trying for a solution. It isn’t easy to be receptive enough to see what is going on around you, cause and effect.
            I live in Florida (for now) and my tomatoes I planted very early this year grew very well but after weeks they weren’t setting any fruit. I finally realized that there seem to be very few pollinators. My solution was to rip them out and plant a ton of basil. That problem made me more sensitive to the ordeal of bees. There are a couple of old apple trees I was going to cut down on some property I own in Iowa. Part of the reason is revenge, as I fell off a ladder and broke my back pruning them several years ago. Now I think I might prune them back but let them live. Even if the old trees may be a vector for introducing mites or disease to the bees, they provide a food source for those li’l critters.

            Reply
            1. Kilgore Trout

              As one who prunes heirloom apple trees each winter: spare those trees! Do you know the variety? Apple trees can still be viable and productive at 100+ years old, and yours may well be some heirloom like Dutchess of Oldenberg that is well worth preserving, if only as a symbol of endurance.

              Reply
              1. Martin Oline

                Thanks for the advice. They are both different dwarf varieties, two survivors of three I planted for my mother in about 1992. One has had some rotten wood I have tried to cut out and both have bad leaf problems. (Fungus among us?) I have considered cutting them down and waiting several years for the disease to go away, then planting new ones in a different area. It’s likely I won’t last that long.
                I bought a honey crisp a decade ago and planted it on the other side of the house in a double lot. The disease spread to the new tree but deer finished it off anyway that winter.

                Reply
            2. amfortas

              tomatoes are wind/gravity polinated….just give em a light shake.
              in the greenhouse, i use a qtip.
              and lack of fruitset might be due to lack of magnesium. epsom salts(unscented) dissolved in water and either sprayed on leaves or drench th rootzone.

              Reply
  19. The Rev Kev

    ‘Fiona
    @FiMelb99
    “My scrub nurse that I was working with every single day was followed home by a quad copter drone, and it didn’t kill him on the way home… it waiting until he was home, in his tent, and greeted his three children and killed them all”’

    During the Vietnam war, some anti-war protests took to insulting returning troops by calling them “baby-killers.” Turns out that for Israel that this will just be recorded fact. That “Daddy’s Home” op was pretty vile in itself but for christsake, this was just a scrub nurse.

    Reply
    1. Henry Moon Pie

      That was a myth, Rev. Researchers found that the trope didn’t even appear until a decade or more after the war was over.

      The most extensive and comprehensive study of this phenomenon, The Spitting Image: Myth, Memory, and the Legacy of Vietnam, written by sociology professor and Vietnam veteran Jerry Lembcke, situates the origins in “Nixon’s haranguing of war protesters for their disloyalty to the troops.”[1]: p.8  Lembcke shows how the Bush administration and American media used support for the soldiers as a primary motivator to rally the country to support the Gulf War in 1990–91. A prominent part of this was the yellow ribbon campaigns and the image of the “spat-upon Vietnam veteran”, with newspapers like the New York Times quoting a soldier saying “if I go back home like the Vietnam vets did and somebody spits on me, I swear to God I’ll kill them.”[12] According to Lembcke, “it was the image of the spat-upon Vietnam veteran that figured most prominently in the rhetoric of those supporting the Gulf War.[1]: p.20 
      Ron Kovic and Vietnam veteran protestors at the 1972 Republican National Convention in Miami. Kovic says he was spit on by a pro-war Nixon supporter.

      He also points out that during the Vietnam War years there were several newspaper accounts of pro-war demonstrators spitting on anti-war demonstrators, and suggests that these oral accounts could easily have been reinterpreted and inverted and made into stories about activists spitting on veterans.[13] Perhaps one of the most well known of these spitting incidents was directed at antiwar activist and ex-Marine, Ron Kovic, who was wounded and paralyzed in the Vietnam War. At the 1972 Republican National Convention he and two other wounded vets shouted “Stop the bombing!” as Nixon accepted the nomination for president, and were promptly spat on by a man wearing a Four More Years button.

      Reply
      1. Kilgore Trout

        Agreed. As an active participant in anti-war activities then, I can attest that vets were always welcomed, and even those returning who supported the war were treated with respect in my experience. I attended college classes with half a dozen Vietnam vets, and none were harassed by fellow students. Quite the opposite, all were deferential towards them. I’d say at least 3 of them, as of ’69-70, still supported the war after they came home. The hostility was directed at the anti-war crowd then, whether veteran or peace-nik.

        Reply
  20. Carolinian

    Re DHS tying FEMA money to support for Israel–good that this outrageous proviso has been withdrawn. Now do state laws like the one in SC that seek to limit free speech on Israel.

    The first to adopt such a measure was Tennessee in 2015, followed that year by South Carolina and Illinois. Alaska is the last state to have taken action against BDS when Gov. Mike Dunleavy issued an executive order in 2024 directing state departments to halt all business with entities supporting BDS.

    The laws and executive actions have come under intense scrutiny over whether they are in compliance with the US Constitution.

    Requiring a loyalty oath to the US is bad enough. Requiring one to a foreign country shows just how bribed or blackmailed our politicians are, even on a local level. It’s doubtful that the public at large realizes how much of this is going on. And that’s why the current Israeli urge to move genocide itself within the Overton Window is so foolish. The entire unbribed world will soon be asking “at long last have you no decency?”

    Reply
    1. The Rev Kev

      It wasn’t long ago that FEMA was caught denying relief after a disaster to those homes that looked like they supported Republicans which made them flip oit. So now the Republicans wanted to deny relief to those who don’t support Israel? Seriously? These are American Republicans, aren’t they and not Israeli Republicans – or do I repeat myself.

      Reply
      1. Carolinian

        Nikki Haley was governor when that law was passed and she may have preceded Trump in her devotion to the Adelsons. She thought they would help her ambition for higher office and in fact one wonders how a Haley presidency would be any different from Trump now. She wanted to bomb Iran. Trump bombed Iran. She hated Russia. Trump is going all wobbly on this one too. Trump nicknamed Haley “Birdbrain.” Look in a mirror Bub.

        Plus at least Haley presumably had no Epstein connection although she was accused of being quite the randy one when first running for governor.

        Bottom line: if SC pre Civil War was “too large for an insane asylum” then the US definitely is, and yet here we are. With over 300 million people are these politicians the best we can come up with?

        Reply
        1. cfraenkel

          When the political parties, from local to national, filter for candidates who are ‘amenable’, “best” would not be an expected outcome….

          Reply
  21. leaf

    Donor Organs Are Too Rare. We Need a New Definition of Death. NYT Opinion Piece
    https://archive.ph/udIKV#selection-523.0-523.61

    You know, after that article from like 3-4 weeks ago from NYT detailing the coordinators pressuring hospitals to donate organs from patients who could recover, I thought it couldn’t get worse and then we got this one.

    What’s the next step in this progression? Hopefully another commentator can provide us with more insight on the organ transplant industry these days…

    Reply
    1. Martin Oline

      Well, making my comment after adjusting my tin foil hat, I’d say the retreating Ukrainian army has now lost the ability (and the skilled doctors?) to harvest the organs of their fallen heroes. This has led to a shortage of young, high-quality organs that the aging residents of American raisin farms retirement homes can not provide. Alternatives are badly needed for the 1%. It’s our patriotic duty to serve even after death.

      Reply
  22. lyman alpha blob

    Three Marjorie Taylor Green links today. For years she reminded me of Frances McDormand’s character from Burn After Reading – a gym instructor who got involved with international politics because she wanted someone to pay for her boob job.

    Now she is apparently the conscience of the Western world.

    Jesus wept.

    Reply
    1. Socal Rhino

      In my opinion Green has always been someone who makes some valid points and also says some stupid things, not being a polished political pro/hack. Some news outlets have reported on the latter exclusively for obvious reasons. Both hues of the MSM drive outrage by posting a steady stream of “look at what AOC or MTG just said!”

      More importantly she’s a counter example to Trump’s claim that “I am Maga.”

      Reply
        1. amfortas

          yeah…when she started saying stuff like that, i went and read her X feed…advocating against medicaid cuts, etc,lol.
          so i “followed” her…even sent her a DM thanking her for far exceeding my expectations.
          felt pretty weird, to say the least.
          OTOH, I followed Massie almost as soon as i signed up for X…because of his farmer stuff.
          he’s prolly the best small farmer advocate we have up there, right now.
          and I’d probably get along with him(and maybe even MTG)…but thats because of where ive lived all this time…I’m used to disagreeing on most things with people, but still working together on things we DO agree on.
          this is becoming a lost art, it seems.

          Reply
          1. lyman alpha blob

            My first recollection of Massie was his Xmas card from several years ago where he and his entire family posed with some serious firepower in their hands. Who would Jesus gun down and all – I was not a fan. Since then, he has exceeded expectations.

            I’m really furious that this is the best Congress can do.

            Reply
            1. anahuna

              I found that card appalling at the time, too.

              Since then, though, I’ve listened to Massie often enough to realize that he’s a contrarían with a lively sense of humor.

              Could be he,was just ‘trolling the Libs”?

              Reply
            2. Jonathan Holland Becnel

              Thanks for bringing this up!

              I forgot I also dismissed Massie as a fn gun but loon when I saw that picture.

              Needless to say, Massie should have had more guns and protection for his family. 🪦 Mrs Massie.

              Him and MTG are running circles around the establishment!

              They need to recruit us to help them in all our states!

              Reply
          2. Socal Rhino

            That’s why I continue to consume some news from RNC and DNC affiliated media. Some of the bias is of the “look at that idiot” variety but a lot is in what actually gets covered as news on any given day. Most days I’d think they were reporting on two different countries there is so little overlap in news stories.

            Reply
  23. The Rev Kev

    “GOP congresswoman claims aiding Kiev is ‘betrayal to majority of Americans’”

    Who would ever have expected Marjorie Taylor Greene to be the voice of decency and common sense? And yet here we are. She is going to hit the roof if that bill to get over $50 billion to the Ukraine hits the floor. Biden’s money is about shot so this would be Trump’s money going to Zelensky. Trump may claim that he is the King of MAGA but I am now thinking that the true leaders of MAGA are now people like Thomas Massie and Marjorie Taylor Greene, Trump is already trying to get rid of Massie in the next elections and I wonder if he will also do the same for MTG.

    Reply
    1. ChrisFromGA

      She is on a roll. You have to give her credit, but she’ll need to build some allies or else she and Massie will be isolated.

      Ultimately, if she’s a serious player, she’s going to have to kill the King (Swamp Stooge Mike Johnson.) Watch him pass that $50B in October with mostly Dem votes. The only way to stop it is a motion to vacate, which she threatened last year. It will throw the House into chaos and stop all legislation dead in its’ tracks.

      Reply
      1. Jonathan Holland Becnel

        If she goes that route, then she allies here in Louisiana that would love to shine a spotlight on Mike Johnson’s duplicity!

        Reply
  24. Jason Boxman

    So based on the Walgreens Limitations on their dashboard, these are PCR tests of positive samples; but you yourself seeming cannot get a PCR test at Walgreens anymore, or at least, I couldn’t see a way to do this; The public gets RAT tests which aren’t reliable at catching asymptomatic infection. The very low cost and quick turnaround (30 minutes) is indicative of a RAT test, but Walgreens doesn’t seem to even say what you get for your $25.

    Sigh.

    America is a joke.

    Reply
  25. Jason Boxman

    An observation I’ve often made about the plight of Americans finally making more money, for all the bleating about cutting taxes from Republicans and from Democrats about caring about middle class families,

    Even today, in 2025, the tax code deeply punishes you when earn your $47,151st dollar, where every subsequent dollar is taxed at 22%, rather than 12%, as an individual earner. Meanwhile, every dollar from $100,526 and beyond is taxed in the 24% tax bracket!

    So you finally make it to “middle class”, and your taxes go up 10% on every next marginal dollar, but as you approach upper-middle class, well, your taxes pop only 2% on next marginal dollars.

    I can’t think of a bigger f*ck you to working people than this.

    Never been fixed, never heard a mono-party politician ever bleat about this.

    Interesting, no?

    And then there’s Lambert’s oft mentioned happyville and paincity distinction depending on where you fall out on the poverty scale, in regards to Obamacare or state Medicaid expansion. And you can’t really know until you file your taxes if you made the cut; good luck budgeting for that!

    America is going great!

    Reply
    1. scott s.

      OK, but when discussing taxes there are four different definitions of “income”: gross, adjusted gross, modified adjusted gross, and taxable. The published tax “rate” is applied to the taxable income definition. But even that doesn’t take into account various taxes applied outside of taxable income such as: alternative minimum tax, net investment income tax, income related medicare adjustment amount, self employment tax, etc.

      Reply
    1. GF

      Great AI photo of Trump demonstrating the appropriate posture for taking a dump. Does the term MAGA turd fit?

      Reply
  26. Jason Boxman

    I’m always looking for under-the-surface evidence of the Pandemic; Indirectly, I found a compilation of reports on the national teacher shortage, by way of the NBC News story about college grads. Here’s Colorado’s teacher shortage situation. Something very curious happened starting in the 2021-2022 school year; what could it be?

    https://www.cde.state.co.us/code/educatorshortage-surveyresults

    Granted, this is compared to ~88,000 total FTE positions. And ~85,600 FTE positions were filled by “regular” mechanisms. Nonetheless, the shortage amount is notably different from before the Pandemic, and clearly “something” is happening.

    And wowzers check out NC’s cratering of ACT schools under 2015-24 College Ready section:

    https://ncreports.ondemand.sas.com/src/state?year=2023

    And as with other states, 2015-24 School Environment shows chronic absenteeism is higher than pre-Pandemic. It was ~ 15% in 2019, and is still 25% now. I guess kids learned school is optional, despite having summers off since forever?

    Reply
  27. John Beech

    A rich Italian customer once observed how his driving a Jeep Cherokee was a practical impossibility for any but the rich because of taxes and regulations. The regulations, he explained, were what especially made driving one very rare. So it seems it’s not just the size of our vehicles, but the policy of the European governments that create difficulty for our companies to sell product into Europe.

    Same holds with a similarly rich Japanese customer, who coincidentally lusted for a jeep Cherokee. Said his country taxes vehicles based on their width and thus, this was the means by which they kept American vehicles out of their automotive markets.

    Month or so later shared a photo of one he purchased anyway (I consistently drove Jeep’s Grand Wagoneer for nearly 30 years before switching to another brand about 10 years ago). Point being, beyond our products, it was this shared enjoyment of Jeep products that forged a stronger bond between us. Important when popping a cold one at the 19th hole isn’t a viable strategy for developing rapport due to a there being many thousands of miles between us.

    Me? I’m thinking all the yap-yap about tariffs-bad, and how the world was a bastion of free trade before Trump rocked the boat, overlooks these inconvenient truths. Facts are, incompatible regulations are used to block the sales of American products. Hardly seems fair. But we do the same, witness the virtual lack of Chinese cars in America.

    Where I wish the President would next turn focus is on getting our regulations in tune with each other with the goal being to reduce not just duties to 0% both ways, but free of us of incompatible regulations.

    Reply
    1. Wukchumni

      One vehicle I never see on the road is the Ford F-150 Lightning, and I read that Ford lost a little over $50k on each EV truck sold, which is amazing when you contrast it against that video the other day of Americans driving Chinese EV and hybrid cars in Alaska, with prices around half or less of what something comparable sells for in the USA.

      China would eat what’s left of the ‘Big 3’ were they let loose on our roads.

      Reply
      1. MicaT

        It seems as though those Chinese vehicles were being tested in AK.
        No Chinese cars can be sold in the US.
        But if they could they would be a lot less expensive.

        Reply
        1. The Rev Kev

          Less than twenty grand for a modern, quality EV with all the bells and whistles? It would kill Tesla and then go on to eat the big 3.

          Reply
    2. lyman alpha blob

      “…incompatible regulations are used to block the sales of American products…”

      Are we sure that’s the case based on your example? Or is it maybe that the rest of the world didn’t want to reconfigure all of its roads to accommodate gargantuan USian gas guzzlers, some of which roads existed long before the internal combustion engine or the US of A?

      USian exceptionalism and the wish for a libertarian free-for-all clearly dies hard.

      Reply
    3. Revenant

      To my knowledge there is no limit to the size of a passenger vehicle in the UK other than the highways limits of width, height and weight applicable to all road vehicles travelling unescorted. These limits are almost certainly retained EU legislation so this applies to the rest of the EU.

      There are secondary thresholds for being an LGV or HGV or passenger vehicle etc by weight and length, which affect where you can drive it and who can drive it and how it is taxed but even a Lincoln Navigator won’t breach these, it would still be a private motor car.

      We don’t buy American cars because:
      – we have better engineered motorways whereas US cars have soft wallowy handling for coarse roads. Gravel surfaced roads are almost unheard of outside of remote islands and Scandinavia.
      – we have narrower local roads (Devon has more miles of road than London but most of it is single track between six foot hedgebanks and grass growing up the middle!).
      – we have smaller infrastructure: houses, garages, parking spaces.

      Driving a large car is a big inconvenience in both town and country in the UK. And US small cars have terrible quality, handling and design compared with Eurasian ones.

      Ironically the French are mad for US cars in certain echelons. The first Jeep Grand Cherokee I ever saw had been driven by some terribly snooty Parisians holidaying with our friends in common in Majorca in the late 80’s. I was mesmerised by it! In comparison, the rest of our party were five people squashed into the rustbucket VW Polo our friends kept on the island.

      Reply
      1. The Rev Kev

        I happen to know that the Tesla Cyber truck is illegal to run on the roads in the UK. Some twit imported one and had it confiscated as it broke UK regs for safety such as it’s sharp edges being bad if it hit pedestrians. I suppose the guy could use it as a garden ornament – so long as he watched for rust.

        Reply
        1. Revenant

          Good point. There are other restrictions such as Eurocap that might prevent it from being roadworthy and thus failing its MOT test of road worthiness or failing to qualify for insurance because it cannot pass inspection.

          But I assume US vehicles in general do pass these regulations, even if as goods vehicles (huge SUV’s) rather than cars. We don’t buy them because they bring no benefits on crowded urban roads.

          Reply
  28. Tom Stone

    Marjorie Taylor Greene as a “Moral Compass”…that tells me clearly just how FUBAR the State of the Nation has become.
    I am often surprised about how cheap it is to buy a congresscritter, the rewards they get for enabling the horrors occurring in Gaza.
    Headwaiters know their name, they make a bit more money and they get great healthcare for the rest of their lives.
    If a Congresscritter doesn’t enable the Zionists to committ truly horrific crimes, violating US and International Law while doing so, they pay a price.
    They won’t get reelected in most cases and they usually have to move back “Home”.
    Their kids and grandkids might have trouble getting into Harvard and some might lose their jobs because Senatress X demonstrated a small amount of moral courage.
    And some people would call them bad names.
    Compared to those consequences Genocide is clearly the lesser Evil to our Political ‘Leadership”.
    Perspective matters…

    Reply
  29. ChrisFromGA

    Sung to “Birthday” by the Beatles

    Melody

    They say its your birthday
    It’s my birthday too, yeah
    They say its your birthday
    We’re gonna have a good time
    I’m glad it’s your birthday
    Happy birthday, Jeffrey

    Yes we’re going to an Epstein party
    Yes we’re going to an Epstein party
    Yes we’re flying to an Epstein party!

    These girls would like you to dance (Birthday)
    Take a ch-ch-ch-ch-chance! (Birthday)
    The Mossad might take a glance (Birthday)

    [Musical break]

    These girls would like you to dance (Birthday)
    Take a ch-ch-ch-ch-chance! (Birthday)
    Bill might take off his pants (Birthday)

    They say its your birthday
    It’s my birthday too, yeah
    They say its your birthday
    We’re gonna have a good time
    I’m glad it’s your birthday
    Happy birthday, Jeffrey!

    Reply
  30. Ann

    Experimental History:

    https://www.experimental-history.com/p/bag-of-words-have-mercy-on-us

    “This is why the past three years have been so confusing—the little guy inside the AI keeps dumbfounding us by doing things that a human wouldn’t do. Why does he make up citations when he does my social studies homework? How come he can beat me at Go but he can’t tell me how many “r”s are in the word “strawberry”? Why is he telling me to put glue on my pizza?

    Trying to understand LLMs by using the rules of human psychology is like trying to understand a game of Scrabble by using the rules of Pictionary. These things don’t act like people because they aren’t people. I don’t mean that in the deflationary way that the AI naysayers mean it. They think denying humanity to the machines is a well-deserved insult; I think it’s just an accurate description. As long we try to apply our person perception to artificial intelligence, we’ll keep being surprised and befuddled….”

    Reply
  31. Jason Boxman

    Through China demonization, the NY Times fights against effective mosquito control to limit the spread of mosquito-borne disease. As the Climate warms, you can expect this to manifest here as resistance to any efforts at control. This timeline is so stupid.

    China’s Mosquito Crackdown Tests a City’s Post-Covid Patience (NY Times via archive.ph)

    In the southern Chinese city of Foshan, officials are engaged in an all-out battle against chikungunya, a painful, mosquito-borne viral disease that could spread across the country.

    Soldiers wearing masks are fogging parks and streets with insecticide. Drones have been deployed to identify mosquito breeding sites. Researchers have introduced giant “elephant mosquitoes,” whose larvae prey on the virus-carrying mosquitoes, and thousands of mosquito-eating fish have been released into city ponds.

    What are the horrors inflicted upon Chinese?

    To fight the outbreak, the authorities are also drawing on a familiar playbook honed during the Covid pandemic — mobilizing the city of 10 million in a “patriotic public health campaign.” For some, that is evoking unhappy memories.

    When Covid-19 spread in China, the country imposed some of the world’s strictest measures — the much-hated zero Covid policy that involved mass testing, citywide lockdowns, mandatory quarantines and the constant tracking of people’s movements.

    (links to a NY Times propaganda piece about Chinese hating zero-COVID, which is certainly slanted even if there is some truth to it)

    More horrors

    Two residents who were reached by message on RedNote and did not want to be named out of fear of retaliation told The New York Times that workers entered their homes without their consent to search for stagnant water. Two others said their plants had been taken away or destroyed in front of them. Faxes to the Foshan City government’s line could not go through Tuesday, and emails were not returned.

    In Foshan and other cities in Guangdong Province, just north of Hong Kong, infected residents are being sent to “quarantine wards” where they stay behind mosquito nets and screens. Some who had been infected said they were given no choice but to go to the hospital at their own expense. (During an outbreak, mosquitoes can quickly spread the virus, picking it up from a sick person and infecting healthy others.)

    Hardly unreasonable

    After an imported case of chikungunya was detected in Foshan on July 8, infections quickly spread. Now, citizens have been urged to spend at least three minutes every morning cleaning out all sources of standing water. Employees at government agencies should not go home until they have thoroughly checked plant holders, tea trays, unfinished drinks and roof awnings for water.

    To breed, mosquitoes “don’t actually need a lot of water, or even a lake. They can spread and reproduce in even the smallest pool of water, like a Coke bottle cap,” said Ren Chao, a professor at the University of Hong Kong researching the impact of climate change on the spread of mosquito-borne diseases in urban areas.

    So we must raise the specter of Maoist terror

    “It’s fundamentally no different from the Maoist-style public health campaigns,” Dr. Huang said. “It involves the mass mobilization of the people. It’s targeting a particular threat to public health and potentially could lead to unintentional consequences.”

    What’s more, China is literally doing what the WHO suggested

    Cases spreading from Indian Ocean islands to Europe and other regions prompted the World Health Organization in July to call on countries to act to prevent a large-scale outbreak. According to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, there have been approximately 240,000 cases of chikungunya and 90 deaths related to the virus globally this year; South American countries are hardest hit.

    Hardly seems unreasonable

    Pharmacies in Foshan have started tracking who buys medications for fever, rash or joint pain, prompting concern online that the data would be used to identify potential infections. Skyscrapers in Foshan light up at night with messages reminding residents to burn mosquito coils and to empty out standing water. One community worker, surnamed Chen, said in an interview that she spends about 10 hours a day inspecting public places and homes, walking up and down flights of stairs.

    But leave it to the NY Times to stir up two favorite hobby horses: COVID Pandemic lockdowns and scary Chinese authoritarian Communism, a yellow menace!

    This new era of letting disease rip is seriously just getting underway in the United States!

    Reply
  32. Ben Panga

    The Militarization of Silicon Valley (NYT via archive.ph)

    Palantir became a model for other tech companies. With contracts across the U.S. government and military for software that organizes and analyzes data, the company’s market value ballooned to more than $375 billion this month, more than the combined market capitalization of traditional defense contractors like Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and General Dynamics.

    In a shareholder letter in May, Mr. Karp said critics once dismissed Palantir’s interest in “arming the United States of America” but that “some within the Valley have now turned a corner and begun following our lead.”….

    …One beneficiary of the shift is Anduril, which was founded in 2017 by Palmer Luckey, a tech entrepreneur who developed the Oculus virtual reality headset. Anduril, which designs A.I.-backed weapons, signed a $642 million contract for anti-drone technology with the Marine Corps in March, and a $250 million contract to advance air defense technology for the Department of Defence in October.

    In June, Anduril announced it had raised $2.5 billion in new funding at a $30.5 billion valuation. The company declined to comment….

    …Silicon Valley’s closer relationship with the defense establishment was evident in March, when hundreds gathered in Washington for a summit hosted by Andreessen Horowitz. The venture capital firm highlighted its “American Dynamism” program, which includes investing in defense companies.
    “Investing in defense technology is both necessary and urgent,” David Ulevitch, a general partner at Andreessen Horowitz, said in a statement. “Technological superiority is a requirement for a strong democracy.”
    The featured speaker was Vice President JD Vance, a former venture capitalist who once invested in Anduril.

    BP: The VCs new-tech defence gravy train is go. Lots of start-ups, overwhelming owned by the same few VCs (particularly Andreessen-Horowitz and Founder’s Fund).

    Billionaires are “doing their part” in the coming Great China War and getting richer at the same time. Noble!

    Reply
  33. AG

    OT: Anyone had experience with treating dental cavities with silver diammine fluoride at home?
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_diammine_fluoride

    The substance is of course off hands for non-medics in the entire EU. Fittingly there is no German Wiki entry.

    Am still trying to find some online shop here but it´s very rare and embarrassingly expensive.

    So I might have to turn to odd online offers from India, US, Brazil, Japan, Thailand e.g.
    Since it would most likely take 4 weeks to ship first I was wondering if anyone has tried it…

    Reply
  34. Jason Boxman

    Just not true for COVID. Novavax is based on a better platform.

    Defunding vaccines: Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. canceled nearly $500 million in grants and contracts to develop mRNA vaccines. The vaccines, first used for Covid-19, can be developed quickly and altered as a virus changes. Mr. Kennedy has been sharply critical of the technology. The cancellations dismayed scientists who believe mRNA shots offer the best protection for Americans in a pandemic.

    Biden really did discredit modified RNA though.

    https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/08/05/us/trump-news

    Reply
  35. Robert Gray

    re: ‘A Black Hole’: America’s New Graduates Discover a Dismal Job Market NBC

    Something from this report struck me as very odd indeed. One of the new graduates they profile is 22-year-old Oliver Dolabany, who has a bachelor’s degree but is unemployed. The story says

    > While at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Dolabany worked as
    > a teaching assistant, overseeing 500 students a semester…

    Isn’t UMass-Amherst considered to be a prestigious school? And they have undergrads as TAs???

    Reply

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