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Links 6/23/2026

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Overfed Orange Cat Who Looks Like a Pumpkin Finds a Loving Home With SPCA Cincinnati’s CEO LaughingSquid (resilc). My mother’s cat Michael was 27 pounds but he was small pony sized.

Alan Greenspan dies aged 100 Financial Times. I am posting on Greenspan, since here it is required to speak ill of the dead.

Ebola

#COVID-19/Pandemics

Climate/Environment

Seal pups and seabird chicks are suffering in extreme weather. How can we protect them? The Conversation

Climate change may soon cause a catastrophic loss of global biodiversity Nature

A Missing Piece in Climate Models: Nature’s Own Emission Yale 360

Out-of-Control Icebergs Are Wreaking Havoc on the Oceans Futurism

Britain facing ‘tropical night’ temperatures as extreme heat warning issued Sky

‘Termination shock’: trust our expert warnings on geoengineering’s planetary risks Guardian

China?

China imposes trade curbs on dozens of U.S. firms in retaliation for Pentagon blacklist CNBC

DARPA needs new powerful batteries for the Department of War. But China just built them Kevin Walmsley

Transmission Dominance with Chinese Characteristics China Talk

Japan

Japan’s FX messaging keeps markets on edge over yen intervention risk Reuters

Koreas

South Korea slams North Korea’s ‘intensified’ border fencing Anadolu Agency

Korean won hits weakest June level since 1998 crisis AJP

India-Pakistan

Pak Minister Threatens War Against India Over Water Security Amid Crisis NDTV

At least seven killed in twin roadside bombings in northwest Pakistan Independent

Southeast Asia

Thailand rejects Cambodia’s border claims, urges joint fact-finding to avoid escalation Nation Thailand

Africa

10,000 infected in major cholera outbreak in northern Nigeria Yahoo

Red Flags in the Red Sea Corridor as Sudan’s War Goes Beyond Borders BISI

South Africa’s second-biggest medical aid at risk of financial collapse Daily Investor

Ebola closure cuts off a lifeline between DRC’s Goma and Rwanda Aljazeera

Nigerian troops kill 18 terrorists in northeast operations, military says TRT

Not just a hideout: Sahel forests provide base for jihadists Agence France-Presse

As climate shifts, malaria gains ground in southern Africa Malaysian Reserve

Israel deployed troops to Somaliland after recognition, source says Middle East Eye

South of the Border

US strike on an alleged drug boat kills 2, leaves 6 survivors, in the eastern Pacific Ocean Independent

Trinidad’s Continuous State of Emergency BISI

Colombia’s escalating, brutal internal conflict is defining its presidential election BBC

Bolivian president declares state of emergency and deploys military to quell anti-government protests Guardian

European Disunion

ECB’s Chief Economist Sees Prolonged Period Of High Inflation Wall Street Journal

German farmers warn of liquidity crisis as prices fall and costs rise Yahoo

Zelensky’s Interview Poured Fuel On The Flames Of His Spiraling UPA Dispute With Poland Andrew Korybko

Thousands of staff at Czech public broadcasters strike over funding plans Guardian

Balkans

‘We want a new Albania’: protests against Jared Kushner-backed resort turn anger on government Guardian

Old Blighty

Burnham set for coronation Telegraph

Starmer says new PM to take over mid July if Burnham unopposed, or by end of August if there’s election Guardian

Bank of England unveils Armageddon stress test scenario ‘more severe than the financial crisis’ City AM

Israel v. The Resistance

Report: Netanyahu ‘in panic’ over new US-Iran Lebanon oversight mechanism; US official denies Israel excluded Times of Israel

Israel sets ‘conditions’ for ending occupation of south Lebanon: Report The Cradle (Kevin W)

‘JD Vance put lipstick on a pig: Iranians have the upper hand ‘ in peace negotiations FRANCE 24

US lifts sanctions on Iranian oil RT (Kevin W). Note too often misreported. Only a 60 day waiver

US eases oil sanctions as Iran denies Vance claim on nuclear inspectors BBC. BBC for a change is accurate in its headline.

A vessel sailing off Yemen’s coast came under attack, the second such incident in less than two weeks, the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) reported on Sunday Shafaq

The Iran War Dead-Enders Daniel Larison

New Not-So-Cold War

Russian attacks could cut Ukraine grain exports by a third Reuters

Sabotage at the bottom of the sea The Times. Micael T: “So now it is a porn star who blew up Nord Stream. This is just getting more and more silly.”

For those with strong stomachs: Anne Applebaum and Fiona Hill: Are the Autocrats Winning?” YouTube. Robin K: “In case you’re wondering about the state of the US neocon narrative on Russia-US-EU-Ukraine. Remember: this pair are two of our “best minds” on international affairs.”

Dispute over second world war army unit threatens to divide Poland and Ukraine Guardian

Imperial Collapse Watch

When Military Fellows Replace Hill Staff Antiwar.com (Kevin W)

Breaking Back into Reality Postliberal Order

Trump 2.0

‘Blatantly unlawful’: Judge blocks DOJ subpoenas aimed at Tim Walz Politico

Staggering amounts of fentanyl hit streets as the DEA watched and took no action, records show Associated Press (resilc)

Economy

‘Running off the cliff’: An explosion of household debt has put the US economy in a tough spot Yahoo

AI

GOP embraces speculation about China’s role in data center backlash The Hill

AI risks triggering ‘catastrophic’ phone network blackouts Telegraph

Trump’s Iran peace deal is suddenly wobbling. The AI bubble is, too Australian Financial Review

Have we officially entered an AI bubble? Just look at San Francisco’s bonkers housing market Independent

Guillotine Watch

Apocalypse Early Warning System Kyle McDonald

Antidote du jour. Tracie H: “Saw this lovely Swallowtail hanging out between a Magnolia tree and this Lily of the Nile on this morning’s walk.”

A bonus (Chuck L):

A second bonus:

A third:

And a different sort of bonus:

See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.

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78 comments

  1. The Rev Kev

    ‘David Roth-Lindberg
    @RothLindberg
    ‼️🇮🇱 BREAKING: The Ebola disease has started to spread in the “israeli” settler entity. The second case has been recently recorded. Haaretz reported the first case yesterday.’

    And there in lay the problem of disease spread. You can have an evil brew of a virus developing in the middle of Africa and then one plane trip away it can be on the streets of New York – or Israel in this case. It can arrive in many countries that are not even thinking of Ebola. I hope that it does not spread like Covid did back in 2020 but it could happen.

    Reply ↓
    1. jefemt

      Laurie Garrett: The Coming Plague. Must-read. https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/906825

      Hemorrhagic fevers… bleed-out of every orifice. Like a gross scary Hollywood B Movie. But in real life!

      Mother Earth bats last… humans may be long over-due for a population crash.
      No species can “suffer” as can a human… communication, the monkey mind, all of the contrived institutions and belief systems, the capacity to ‘act’, and technologies. Heady elixir!

      Good Luck, everybody! Or, as the Epstein Class says, “Go Die!!”

      Reply ↓
      1. ddt

        DR Congo is in the World Cup so their supporters are there. Hope it didn’t slip through due to inappropriate screening.

        Reply ↓
      2. Ann

        “The Coming Plague” is one of my favorite books of all time. Garrett did a masterful job compiling all that material and making into a thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat. The ending made my jaw drop. 1994, but more relevant today than it was then.

        Reply ↓
    2. motorslug

      That would be a fitting end to the zionazi settlers, I hope it doesn’t spread to the Palestinian population.

      Reply ↓
    1. earthling

      Thanks for running that down. It did cross my mind that some zealous prosecutor might and should find those remarks to be a trigger to examine all of Bezos’ activities very very closely in case there are any illegal trade practices, etc. Maybe he/she should anyway.

      Reply ↓
  3. DJG, Reality Czar

    Drop Site Xitter about House Dems Attacking Trump over Sanctions Relief. Or, to translate, engaging in moral triple axels to get political credit while still maintaining the Empire:

    To wit,

    Government officials had vowed relief would be tied to Iran curbing its nuclear program and “terrorist proxies,” they said, yet “neither has been addressed, but the regime has been gifted sweeping sanctions relief it has dreamed of for decades.”

    Let’s see. There’s Russiagate. There’s this business about 72,000 dead in Gaza, a number first reported several years ago and never updated because (1) behold! the Israelis haven’t killed *enough* Palestinians to consider it a genocide and (2) the Madeleine Albright Rule, as in, Just what are a couple hundred thousand dead Arabs anyway? After the imaginary weapons in Iraq (never found), there are the imaginary nuclear bombs in Iran (never planned for by the Iranians and, consequently, never found). Both the addled Dems and the resentful Trump are still looking for magical pink nuclear dust.

    I don’t know about you, brethren and sistren, but I’m getting a whiff of some truly vile people. Should I ask Michelle Obama for one of her special hallucinogenic Altoids? Or should I just go out and order fugu?

    Reply ↓
    1. ambrit

      I personally am spinning my Prayer Wheel backwards and wishing for the Ebola to hit the District of Colombia hard. Best guess is that some AIPAC flunkies bring it back from the Full of Holes land.

      Reply ↓
    2. jsn

      This is the next stage of Iran’s regime change operation: team Red has screwed the pooch; get team Blue to double down on screwing it.

      Then, when the curtain is drawn back (by the oil cliff) on the banquette of consequences, everyone is to blame! Go DSA!!

      Lebanon to bring down Nuttin’yahoo and the oil cliff for the duopoly: TPTB are in Zugzwang on multiple chess boards, of course that’s to be expected when they think they’re playing bingo!

      Reply ↓
    3. ChrisFromGA

      Of all the things House Dems could focus on … they pick this?

      What do they think the message is that voters will rally towards?

      “We’re blood-thirstier, better warmongers?”

      “If you thought $6 gas was bad, just wait until we take back the House!”

      I’m beginning to fear that Mike Johnson won’t have to take that job running a Stuckeys on I-65 after November. Perhaps the GOP hangs on; with opposition this incompetent, they can hardly lose.

      Reply ↓
    1. The Rev Kev

      That tweet told quite a remarkable story. I read how in earlier times farmers planted Clover after their crops came in as the Clover would help fix Nitrogen into the soil. Having been raised when lawns resemble golf greens, you forget that things may have been different in earlier times. The comments on that tweet are worth reading too-

      https://xcancel.com/IV_Musketeer/status/2068096061395132847

      Reply ↓
      1. Jabura Basadai

        reading through the comments of the tweet dandelions are mentioned – back before fencing in the orchard used to watch a groundhog waddle around and eat all the dandelions that were still yellow – now the apple trees are self-pruning and dropping excess baby apples and no groundhog to eat them – gather them up and put outside the fence – when apples ripened before the fence the groundhog would even climb the tree to get to the apples –

        Reply ↓
        1. Henry Moon Pie

          We have a lot of white clover on the side lot we acquired for $100 ofter the two-decker standing on it was demolished. The backfill soil was sludge mixed with bits of shale. Clover managed to cover the bare soil and grass is now coming in.

          Re: ground hogs–

          They like clover. But we had a three-week drought until last weekend, the clover was scarce, and our resident mama got up on her hind legs to eat a couple of heads of lettuce and cabbage from two-foot high beds. I already put hog wire under the beds to foreclose the subterranean approach. Now I’ll have to add some chicken wire around the top of the bed frame.

          Reply ↓
      2. marieann

        A little girl was visiting with her Mum and playing on my lawn and was stung on the foot by a bumblebee that was feeding on the clover. I removed all the clover as I had young kids of my own who played on the lawn.

        Reply ↓
        1. Old Jake

          As a child I was stung on the foot more than once, on the clover filled lawn around our suburban home. My parents told me to be more careful.

          Reply ↓
    2. Jabura Basadai

      thanks for link – clover has always been part of “contractor’s mix” as far as i know – we do get bull thistle weeds that i need welder’s gloves to pull and was told all the tap root must be removed to stop propagation – was going to weed and feed but reading that it also took out the clover too figured that wasn’t going to work – so after rain go with shovel and heavy gloves

      Reply ↓
      1. jefemt

        Weed and Feed: my dad used to use that. Like faer, like sun… we bought some, and thought for a second… what about our six laying hens…. what happens with eggs, how long for things to ‘settle’. Called the Ortho 800 number.
        They had no immediate answer, had to call us back. First flashing amber light.
        Call back:
        Keep chickens off the yard for 8 weeks (hoo boy!)
        Don’t eat eggs for 18 months. Whaaaaat?

        No wonder our dogs, that walk on grasses and parks that get sprayed, are dying of cancers.
        Thank GOD we aren’t willy-nilly applying herbicides and pesticides broad-scale in “our” agricultural operations! And tis a blessing indeed that most of the ‘cides are petroleum-derivatives.

        The black -brown devils brew from the bowels of the earth. We literally- for ill and no good–eat oil.

        The Sixth Extinction and Anthropocene… what on earth — after?

        Reply ↓
        1. Jabura Basadai

          YIKES!!!!! – at least Ortho responded and gave you necessary advice – and you are correct about concern for our pets and any other critters, domesticated or not – the level of poisoning of our environment after WWII is extensive –

          Reply ↓
      2. amfortas

        those thistles are a b&&ch.
        take off most of the stalk and leaves, leaving 2-3 big leaves at bottom.
        come back next day with full strength vinegar and soak the rest of the plant.
        this will kill any grass/clover/etc in that spot, but so will a shovel.
        i only worry about those thistles if theyre right here in my yard/garden.
        in the pastures, they eventually migrate northwards…ten years and theyre over in my neighbor’s field.
        (southerly wind makes this happen)
        the sap from the flowers can be used as a rennet substitute.

        Reply ↓
        1. Jabura Basadai

          thanks for the tip – when you say ‘full strength’ imagine you mean 30% vinegar – doing it this way will disrupt the lawn much less than dig&pull – the dogs start to tap dance when they step on one of the fresh and emerging thistle weed – also we are also getting warnings from DNR about spotted laternflies and their affinity with ‘tree-of-heaven’ which is an invasive – the tree spreads by suckers and was thinking that using an auger to create largest hole possible as deep as possible and filling with 30% vinegar would kill the roots and suckers – have a few to get rid of and fortunately no sighting of and laternflies –

          Reply ↓
        2. Laughingsong

          Yes indeed! A bull thistle hidden in the tall grass once completely destroyed our weed wicker.

          At the time, a friend of mine suggested something similar to your method: take down the stalk to about half a foot, then take a brush or dropper with herbicide and treat the top of the stalk (I wish she had known about vinegar!).

          White clover: we do like it but it did take over our entire front yard at one point, and grew 3 feet tall!

          Reply ↓
      1. Jabura Basadai

        nice site – will share with my daughter, she’s the permaculturist and landscape designer – have taken a backseat after a couple of decades of trying to tame the little patch –

        Reply ↓
    1. PlutoniumKun

      The main article itself is reasonably good on the technical issues, especially on the regulatory problems with HVDC, but the first section is just annoying – making crude comparisons between the US and China based on the provision of HVDC is just silly. They are very different grids, with very different histories and engineering constraints (as the article itself makes clear, albeit far further down than most people read). What she doesn’t mention is that China is actually late to the HVDC game – the reason for the extreme speed of its roll out was necessity – the huge uncoordinated investment in power generation in the 1990’s and 2000’s led to a highly unstructured grid – the HVDC lines are an extremely expensive band aid on a problem caused by poor grid and general infrastructure planning. To a degree the US has avoided the main problem by instead having an energy infrastructure focused on rail transported coal and on gas pipelines.

      The other oversight is, as usual, ignoring that there are other countries out there than the US and China. Brazil in particular has long been a leader in HVDC, with some very advanced lines connecting inland hydro plants with coastal cities built decades ago. In Europe and Japan the focus has largely been on submarine DC connections. In many respects, both the US and China are the main laggards in this technology, albeit for differing reasons.

      Reply ↓
    2. ISL

      As inside China business has mentioned the buildout comes from China, and lead times are growing, to 7 years for transformers, etc., from China, which understandably prioritizes domestic buildout over a country (The US) that continues to claim it wants to go to war with China.

      I also love: “Here is the core irony: the US has sophisticated market mechanisms that should, in theory, optimally allocate generation and transmission investment, but the institutional fragmentation and lack of incentive for cooperation amongst the necessary parties combine to prevent those signals from translating into coordinated action.”

      sounds like a cult religion to me (that massively profits a few at the expense of everyone) or the supposed efficiency of sophisticated derivatives markets.

      Reply ↓
  6. The Rev Kev

    “Out-of-Control Icebergs Are Wreaking Havoc on the Oceans”

    Reading this article I was reminded of the International Ice Patrol. In the 19th century you had dozens of vessels sunk or damaged by icebergs. But it was only after the Titanic went down that nations were forced to come together to institute a standing patrol to try to ensure that this would never happen again-

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Ice_Patrol

    And now the number of icebergs is increasing. So now would be a good time for Trump to announce that he was pulling the US out of the International Ice Patrol and let those other loser nations form their own. Probably the only reason that he has not done this is because he has never even heard of the International Ice Patrol.

    Reply ↓
    1. ambrit

      I’ll bet someone told him it was the International ICE Patrol. He’ll go for that. Mission statement is for the ICE Goons to visit foreign lands and proactively catch and jail future Illegal Immigrants.
      Pre Crime just got a whole new look!

      Reply ↓
      2. converger

        Oh! Oh! New, unclaimed surfaces for ICE to deport all of those pesky brown people to, without having to pay any obscure totalitarian governments to take them! Genius!

        Reply ↓
  7. ChrisFromGA

    Well, what have we here?

    https://seekingalpha.com/news/4605897-judge-says-workday-to-face-lawsuit-over-ai-bias-in-job-screening-tools

    A federal judge ruled on Monday that Workday (WDAY) must face claims that its AI-driven human resources software omitted job applicants at other companies in ways that violated California law and a federal ​ban on discrimination against workers with disabilities, Reuters reported.

    U.S. District Judge ‌Rita Lin in San Francisco rejected California-based Workday’s claim that the state’s anti-discrimination laws did not apply when it screens people based outside California who are applying for jobs in other states and countries, the report added.

    The proposed class action was filed in 2023 and is the first ​of its kind to broadly target the AI screening software that has become ​common among large employers.

    Who wants to bet Workday starts begging for a settlement? They don’t want to go to discovery. Software developers could be called to the stand and forced to testify, and I bet some of them are willing to spill the beans, especially if they were forced to train AI to do their jobs.

    Reply ↓
  8. The Rev Kev

    “Zelensky’s Interview Poured Fuel On The Flames Of His Spiraling UPA Dispute With Poland”

    It’s amazing this. Poland has been supporting a Nazi state for the past four years and thousands of Poles have died fighting for the Ukraine. Now Poland is surprised that this Nazi state chooses to honour past Nazi heroes that slaughtered thousands of Poles. Will Zelensky soon start threatening Poland like he has done to Belarus? Will some Poles wonder if they are on the wrong side? Zelensky has never been a stable personality and as the pressure increases on him, he will act more and more irrational like he is doing with Poland here. There is no real reason to insult Poland and get into a fight with them but that is exactly what he is doing here. If you had fighting break out between Poland and the Ukraine in the next ten or twenty years, I would not be surprised at all.

    Reply ↓
    1. Acacia

      Yeah, this just sounds nuts, but more in the Polish leadership seem to be coming to their senses.

      Relatedly, from DD Geopolitics:

      A Polish nationalist weekly called Myśl Polska, around since 1941, just ran a piece arguing Poland should be arming against Ukraine, not Russia. The author is Przemysław Piasta, a historian who heads the Roman Dmowski National Foundation, a nationalist think tank. […]

      His conclusion: when the SMO ends in Ukrainian defeat, Kiev will be left with a massive, battle hardened, demoralized army and a corrupt oligarchic government hunting for a new target. Poland is the obvious one. So drop the fantasy war with Russia and prepare for the real one with Ukraine. Buy air defense, drones and EW kit instead of jets and tanks. Bring back conscription. Purge the “fifth column” he says has burrowed into Polish politics, academia and security services. Put the Union of Ukrainians in Poland under counterintelligence watch. Deport any Ukrainian who can’t show legitimate income or who breaks the law, no matter how small.

      Piasta also wants Warsaw to normalize relations with Moscow as basic survival, since it can’t fight Ukraine and Russia at once. He claims 75 percent of Poles already see Kiev’s government negatively.

      https://t.me/DDGeopolitics/187338

      Reply ↓
  9. none

    Overfed Orange Cat Who Looks Like a Pumpkin Finds a Loving Home With SPCA Cincinnati’s CEO LaughingSquid (resilc)

    Do they have Wegovy or personal trainers for cats?

    Reply ↓
  10. david lamy

    I did not have the stomach for more than five minutes of the Applebaum/Hill disinformation fest.
    My first post on Mastodon Social was a mild rebuttal to Anne’s enthusiastic review of a Lloyd Austin speech predicting the imminent Ukrainian occupation of Red Square.
    Anne blocked me from any further comments on her posts. In fact I think that Mastodon Social prevents me from viewing any of her posts.
    Mastodon Social sanctioned me for spreading disinformation and warned me that two more such incidents would result in a permanent ban from the platform. I appealed. (Do you think my opinion on Austin’s speech might have had merit?) This was years ago. Last month I discovered that my appeal was denied. So two strikes to go, but I don’t have it in me to get banned for truthful comments, so Mastodon will just have to do without me. No big loss for either me or Mastodon.
    Social media really is a sewer. My heartfelt thanks to.those that ferret out the gloss from the grotesque.

    Reply ↓
    1. Acacia

      It sounds so frustrating. But thank you for recounting this experience.

      It’s important to know that Mastodon isn’t any sort of refuge from libtard goodthink.

      Reply ↓
  11. timotheus

    House Democrats Attack Trump Over Iran Sanctions Relief

    Just listened to Jon Stewart on that topic, which edges close to the same posture, i.e., why are we “giving away” all this stuff to Iran? It’s a fine line between pointing out how bad the deal is (compared to what was available without going to war) and criticizing Trump for being too soft on the baddies.

    Reply ↓
  12. Christian B

    On COVID-19 and neurological syndromes…I have a serious mood disorder (schizoaffective bipolar type, OCD, etc…) and in the past I have had minor bouts of paranoid psychosis. Both time, before I even had symptoms from getting COVID I spiraled into the worst psychosis of my life. Literally taking pictures of people in the street and sending them to my friends and telling them they were government agents stalking me. Luckily some Klonopin snapped me out of both episodes but not without some damage.

    I told this to my doctors and they did not care at all. No one cared or even found it interesting.

    Then about six month ago I was staying with a friend who went to a concert and came back with covid. While I did not have any symptoms, I have developed a worsening on my non-celiac gluten sensitivity. It primarily affects my tendons but also affects my mood so drastically that I now need to be 100% gluten free. COVID 19 can also trigger new onset celiac disease.

    COVID for sure is making us all senstiove, and I feel like a canary in the coal mine.

    Reply ↓
    1. Vicky Cookies

      Hi Christian, stress has been found to impair immune response. It could be that during these periods, a viral exposure your body might typically fight off encountered less resistance. Sorry your doctor was so typical of doctors in being dismissive!

      Reply ↓
  13. Ram

    El nino is shaping up to be disaster for Indian monsoon. Massive deficit so far. Only deluges will save the monsoon numbers but they bring there own problem . Next few weeks are vital . High fertilizer price, poor monsoon, inflation picking up. Nasty cocktail brewing for indian farmers

    Reply ↓
    1. ISL

      El Nino also is highly likely to take large amounts of oil off the market at various times this summer – some perhaps permanently if the storms are intense enough.

      Reply ↓
  14. Jason Boxman

    Ransom note claims Nancy Guthrie died after abduction (BBC)

    I haven’t followed this at all, other than to note that it quickly disappeared from the news for ages. Now we know why.

    A ransom note sent days after the 84-year-old mother of US presenter Savannah Guthrie was abducted from her home claimed she had died, according to investigators.

    The note was one of two addressed to Nancy Guthrie’s family and sent to news media in the days after her January kidnapping.

    The first demanded millions in bitcoin for her release, but the second stated that she had died, according to sources cited by US media.

    The note from the possible kidnappers reportedly stated they did not mean for her to die and included an apology to the family. The Pima County Sheriff’s Department declined to comment on the contents of the notes, but said the investigation “remains active and ongoing”.

    …

    Nancy Guthrie vanished after being dropped off at her home by relatives on 31 January. Concern grew when she did not go to a friend’s house to watch a virtual Sunday church service the next morning.

    (bold mine)

    Reply ↓
  15. Laughingsong

    The second antidote with the bumblebee:

    Himself and I sometimes find early (spring) bumblebees. These are queens. Sometimes you’ll see them in the “wrong” place where they’re exposed and in danger of being eaten or squished. This is usually because their “honey stomach”, where they store food to sustain themselves through hibernation and the initial hunt for food, is depleted and they’re dangerously weak.

    We’ve most often found these tired queens in early spring and when we have, there’s often been a dearth of blooms for them, so we take them home. We usually have at least a few borage plants blooming, but if not then we usually have unfiltered honey or hummingbird food and we feed them with a drop or two.

    Apparently the hummingbird food is the better option for the bee.

    Reply ↓
    1. ambrit

      I have read that the hummingbird food is basic sugar water.
      Honey can be toxic to hummingbirds.
      See: https://thebirdscape.com/why-is-honey-bad-for-hummingbirds/
      I find that it can also be toxic to bumblebees!
      See: https://knowanimals.com/is-honey-bad-for-bumblebees-2/
      Firesign Theatre is right! Everything we know IS wrong!
      Good for you that your compassionate side prompted you. All we have around here in the North American Deep South, Urban Division, lately in the nature of pollinators are bumblebees and mosquitos.
      Stay safe. Keep hydrated.

      Reply ↓
      1. Laughingsong

        Yup, one doesn’t feed honey to hummingbirds, and we certainly don’t feed them with it. The sugar water is made by boiling which kills impurities. We keep feeders out during times of no flowers and insects (late fall to early or mid-spring). We have a feeder with an addition which allows us to clip a 10-watt light bulb to the bottom when the temperature drops below the freezing level of sugar water (lower than plain water).

        And it’s best for bees too. We have only used a small drop of honey once for a bumblebee when we had nothing else. She did eat a little of it, hopefully not enough to hurt her. She did fly away afterwards.

        I was thinking of making a bee feeder in case of early emergence in the garden.

        Reply ↓
  16. Tom Stone

    I was looking at a pic of Trump yesterday and went back to look at the pics taken of him at the G7 conference.
    At the G7, after he signed the MOU Trump looked haggard, drained, defeated, his face sagged dramatically.
    Two days later he’s back to his old form, bushy tailed and bright eyed.
    Is this an example of “Better living through chemistry”?

    Reply ↓
    1. jefemt

      Cultivating relationships with the Bay Area Brilliants, like Musk.

      I want Iran’s nuke dust, and Elons Magic Dust!

      Reply ↓
      1. ambrit

        Speaking of the Bay Area, I prefer Owsley 25. Double filtered for your tripping pleasure.
        However, Trump and any version of ‘cultivated’ is questionable. Except maybe in terms of cognitive vegetation. This leads us to a golfing reference. Trump’s lost in the weeds. Though some remark that he is really bogged down in the sand traps of the Middle East.
        If the situation wasn’t so dangerous, it would be downright comical.
        Stay safe.

        Reply ↓
  17. Alphonse

    I just encountered the Storm video. I’m linking to the part that shows the incredible choreography (is all the creative energy on the right?). The first part is violent. One bit shows them dismantling a cell tower, melting part of it down and smoking it like a drug. Toby Rogers post calls it fascist:

    Historian and political scientist Roger Griffin (1991) argues that the ideological core of fascism is palingenetic ultranationalism — palingenesis meaning rebirth. Fascism is animated by an organizing myth: the nation was great, it has fallen into decadence and humiliation, and only a violent, cleansing rebirth, led by a strong man and a mobilized people, can restore its glory. Authoritarianism merely wants order. Fascism wants resurrection.

    (A quibble: the fetishization of nation. It is only one possible locus for collective identity. Religion and ideologies are others, including progressive globalism.)

    I had not seen this when I posted on NC the other day:

    Less reasoning, less knowing, more dancing. Moving together makes us one. For better or worse: Rene Girard talks about the link between dancing and the exclusion of the other. . . . Fascism and togetherness tread the same path. Every regime is founded on violence concealed by myth . . . Destroying the myth we destroyed the regime. There we will be a new founding, a new myth. Can we dance without violence?

    In Lineages of Modernity Immanuel Todd describes a historical sequence: literacy, secularization, fall in fertility, revolution (e.g. French, English, Russian, WWII:

    Like a seismograph, the birth rate indicator allows us to follow the pace of mental evolution. When it dips below two children per woman, we can be certain that, in its mass, the population has left behind the old religious system . . . The spread of literacy always produces a moment in history during which the sons, then the daughters, can read but their parents cannot. A stage in which the authority of the family and then of society is loosened

    Mary Harrington argues that print literacy is ending. Yes, but on the flip side many older people have no knowledge of how to step outside the legacy media. From the point of view of the old, the young are illiterate. From the point of view of the young, the old are illiterate. What matters most may not be literacy per se but the disjuncture. Continuity is broken at the same time that faith fails.

    The technology is not “just a tool.” As McLuhan says, the medium is what matters regardless of the message. Heidegger argues that living in a world of modern technology is so fundamentally different than living in a world without it that neither can be understood from the standpoint of the other. Freya India says that young women perform on social media so much that they stop living life from the inside and start to live it from the outside, seeing themselves as products. Chase Hughes describes social media as fractionation, alternating “up” content with “down” content until we become hypnotized. Mattias Desmet describes totalitarianism as mass hypnosis following conditions of alienation, meaninglessness, free-floating anxiety, and free-floating aggression.

    More and more I see mass spiritual restlessness as the old faith in progress dies. The dancers surrounding the lone youth in the white shirt channels the experience of social media, alienation, free-floating aggression, rebirth.

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  18. motorslug

    re: DARPA needs new batteries

    From the linked article: “While it’s true that the Chinese battery industry has received high levels of government support, it’s actually lower than other G8 countries. Over a four-year period, China government support was $3 billion, for buying incentives; in the United States, it was $44 billion total for EV incentives, charging, and batteries”

    Just a thought: perhaps if the US had direct G agency, like the old NASA, maybe things would work out better? Instead, $40b goes to crony capitalists like Musk; executive salaries, stock buybacks and dividends, graft, bribery (lobbying) and outsourcing freebies to izzys.

    Reply ↓
    1. ambrit

      If only the UK could embrace AI in the Court. Get rid of those pesky imperfect Royals and replace them with AI Simulacra. They could play Polo riding robodogs.
      O Brave New World!

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  21. The Heretic

    I am puzzled; how is this variant Ebola spreading so quickly compared to previous variants? We know how Ebola spreads via contact with the patient’s infected fluids which transmits the disease orally or via a cut in the skin, so how are people not taking precautions against it? Are there many people who are still ignorant of this disease? Is this more variant much more hardy, in that it can survive longer outside the human body, or has it evolved a new means of transmission? Does anyone have any insights?

    Reply ↓
    1. GF

      Not sure about the spreading either.

      Yves quoted: “‼️🇮🇱 BREAKING: The Ebola disease has started to spread in the “israeli” settler entity. The second case has been recently recorded.”

      Maybe there is a way to increase the rate of spreading?

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    3. Procopius

      According to what I read several years ago, during an earlier outbreak, the custom is to embrace the deceased family member. It’s very difficult for medical personnel to prevent people from doing this. Since the recently deceased is covered with bodily fluids any touch is likely to produce infection. Ebola is incredibly infective, and all medical personnel have to wear complete hazmat suits, which are not available in poorer places. It sounds like the medical personnel in the current outbreak haven’t been successful in restraining next of kin. I wonder if some people are being treated at home, too.

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    1. jefemt

      Don’t tell Congress… they believe people are living LONGER in the post-Covid petrochemical age.

      …and we sign their paychecks…

      Reply ↓
  23. flora

    re: NY Primaries. If the 3 candidates Mamdani endorsed win in the NY primaries will the Dem estab go nuts? Mamdani-endorsed Lander has a big lead over incumbent estab Dem Dan Goldman. ( It’s still early in evening. )

    Live updates from NY Post:
    https://nypost.com/2026/06/23/us-news/nyc-ny-primary-election-day-2026-live-updates-results-reactions/

    “A slew [3] of far-lefties backed by NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani are surging and defeating moderate incumbents in several high-profile races Tuesday.

    “Former comptroller Brad Lander won speedily, the race was called by the AP just 7 minutes after polls close. On CNN after the news broke, Lander called for a complete reevaluation of the US-Israel relationship.

    “Zohran Mamdani’s mentee Claire Valdez was set to best the Democratic establishment’s lefty favorite Antonio Reynoso in a big win for the mayor’s socialist staying power.”

    So that’s 2 out of 3 of the candidates declared the likely winners. Looks like Mamdani has coattails in NYC.

    Chevalier is the 3rd candidate. Her race against Espaillat is still too close to call.

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  24. flora

    Today was NY’s primary elections day.
    In the NYC areas Mamdani endorsed 3 Dem candidates running against 3 Dem estab incumbants. Mamdani’s endorsed candidates swept the primaries. 3 for 3. wow!
    Looks like Mamdani has coattails in NYC politics.
    Wonder how the MSM will spin this tomorrow.

    This is why primaries are so important. Primaries are where change really can happen.

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    1. Jeff W

      I just mentioned this clean sweep of the Mayor Mamdani-endorsed candidates in this brief comment on Nat’s post dealing with the endorsements, referencing Kyle Kulinski’s video on YouTube. Kyle seems pretty pleased.

      Reply ↓

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