Links 6/25/2026

Subscribe to Post Comments

89 comments

1. The Rev Kev June 25, 2026 at 7:09 am

   “Trump signals Turkey could rejoin F-35 programme ahead of NATO summit”

   Would that be wise for Turkiye? Israeli politicians have already come out and said that they want to go after Turkiye. So lets assume that Turkiye has equipped itslef with F-35s when Israel finally attacks. How do the Turks know that Washington, supporting Israel as always, will not activate the kill switches on all those Turkish F-35s rendering them as just expensive paperweights?

   Reply ↓
   1. Skip Intro June 25, 2026 at 9:28 am

      The kill switches don’t reduce F-35 flight readiness significantly, they only undermine revenue from the maintenance contracts. I don’t see that happening.

      Reply ↓
   2. dearieme June 28, 2026 at 7:51 am

      If Israel is inclined to recognise the Armenian Holocaust that suggests that it has its eyes on war with Turkey.

      But if it blames the Armenian Holocaust on the Kurds then maybe it has them in view as enemies.

      I suspect the first is likelier.

      Reply ↓
2. Carolinian June 25, 2026 at 7:18 am

   Re children killed in Gaza

   https://scheerpost.com/2026/06/25/hezbollah-hunts-down-hind-rajabs-killers-crushes-israeli-offensive/

   Now the 401st Armoured Brigade — the unit identified as being behind Hind’s killing — is being hunted down in Lebanon by Hezbollah. The Hind Rajab Foundation, a non-for-profit seeking justice for Palestinians killed in Israel’s genocide, filed a 120-page complaint with the International Criminal Court (ICC) that named 24 Israeli soldiers and commanders responsible. Among those names was that of Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Ella, a commander of the 52nd Armoured Battalion, who was targeted and seriously injured back in 2024 by Hezbollah and whose replacement commander was also critically wounded.

   Accountability in The Hague moves notoriously slowly. But accountability on the battlefield is much swifter as Hezbollah has continued to pursue the leadership structure implicated in Hind Rajab’s brutal killing. In May of 2026, Hezbollah seriously wounded Colonel Meir Biderman of the 401st Brigade. Then, on June 19, another commander of the 52nd Battalion was killed when his tank was destroyed in southern Lebanon by an FPV drone strike, eliminating him along with three other soldiers attempting to advance upon the Ali al-Taher Hills area.

   The Israelis like to talk about their “price tag” attacks on their enemies. Backtoya.

   Reply ↓
   1. AG June 25, 2026 at 11:18 am

      A bit off as hint but this would be the screenplay for the fiction feature that was nominated for Best Foreign Feature at the Oscars 2026, THE VOICE OF HIND RAJAB:

      click on “The Voice of Hind Rajab” in the title list for download:

      https://www.simplyscripts.com/2026/01/12/the-voice-of-hind-rajab-screenplay-for-your-consideration/

      trailer:
      2 min.
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXTNzdSR2jg

      (Haven´t seen it yet and thus cannot claim it´s a good movie although it could be).

      Reply ↓
3. AG June 25, 2026 at 7:49 am

   re: SMO / McGovern / Sleboda

   Yesterday I posted a link to Russian audio-only Q&As by audience to a member of Russian Special Forces.
   Martyanov was kind enough to transcribe in English at least a few of the audience questions which I alread found very helpful:

   https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/96f37fb811c2d2904be7f0b41f57caf3498e51acbe0fd9c276ed6993dfa7dab1.jpg

   p.s. Am not through yet but Ray McGovern at least in essence rejected the core of the current NATO PR of “RU WWIII or losing war” in Glenn Diesen´s podcast.

   Considering the in the West ubiquitous military nonsense this is important.

   It´s shocking how quickly even altern. media have forgotten those fragments of truth about the Ukraine War which seeped through.

   Like we never heard of those 2M AFU casualties, the Hundreds of Thousands of deserters, Western mercenaries reporting war crimes by Ukraine and the rising brutality not only at the front by fascist units against their “own” but also with forced conscription.

   Someone recently on fb commented, UKR is essentially a concentration camp for men.

   Ray McGovern: Putin Under Pressure to Retaliate Against NATO
   50 min.
   https://glenndiesen.substack.com/p/ray-mcgovern-putin-under-pressure

   Also:
   Mark Sleboda with Jamarl Thomas Video #2
   15 min.
   https://marksleboda.substack.com/p/diplomatic-posturing-and-dancing

   Reply ↓
4. DJG, Reality Czar June 25, 2026 at 7:56 am

   The use of Italy as a air bridge for the war in Iran (and, presumably, I’d venture, for the genocide in Palestine).

   The scandal was bubbling along low-key here in Italy. I had read reports in Fatto Quotidiano by the excellent journalist Stefania Maurizi (who is an ally of Julien Assange). But even in FQ, it was hard to put the details together and get the story in front of a wider public.

   Now, Mark Rutte has blabbered. Just a comment on our over-mediated society: Imagine what would have happened in WWII if someone had blabbed something like that on a newsreel — a meeting with a projectile would follow. Yet in this time of too many media all the time — plus selfies — there is no end to people willing to do anything on camera. Or in an ultra-long logorrheic post on Substack. What may be what is doing in Taibbi. Let’s hope that Rutte’s blabbering does him in, too.

   To wit:

   Italy’s Defense Ministry immediately rebuked the statement, saying Rutte’s comments were “totally misleading.”
   They insist they only authorized logistical and technical flights, not direct combat support, and that Rutte had no role in the operation.

   Crosetto is seeing how many missiles he can get to dance on the head of a pin. Logistical, as if they were picking up loads of arancine at Sigonella to feed the U.S. troops in the Gulf.

   A bigger scandal has now broken out. I note, though, that there is still almost not reporting surfacing on YuToob.

   My solution: The Italian government should simply close all of the bases. They exist so that an occupying power can occupy a loser from WWII. They are a source of interference in Italian politics. Some commentators here have started essays by asserting that Italy has no enemies. Which isn’t exactly true. Yet an invasion by Slovenia, Albania, or Greece is unlikely.

   A moment of caution: And yet the Germans now have loads of guns and a dolt like Merz of banking fame in charge. But the U S of A isn’t going to protect Italy from the Germans. Al contrario.

   Reply ↓
   1. The Rev Kev June 25, 2026 at 8:23 am

      There may be a short term solution. Military planes just don’t land and take off on military bases at will. There would have to be a record by the Italian military of every US aircraft that landed & took off, what type they were, what their tail number was, the cargo that they were carrying, etc. If what Meloni says is true, she could threaten to publish that list if Rutte does not back down from his claim. The US may be unhappy if Italy actually published that info but I am betting that Trump was behind Rutte’s attack on Italy.

      Reply ↓
5. DJG, Reality Czar June 25, 2026 at 8:06 am

   Olga Bazova has generally been reliable. I recommend looking over the whole Xitter, although I wasn’t able to get into the spreadsheets.

   Noting:

   Mash reports that Ukraine has lost 2.4 million soldiers in the four years of the SMO, more than 400,000 of them in 2026. These figures were obtained by our hackers from the databases of the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, TCC centers, Ukrainian medical organizations and morgues.

   This is the highest estimate that I have seen. It is also an argument for a war-crimes trial — because Zelensky and NATO could have stopped the slaughter by now. As if Stoltenberg and Boris Johnson weren’t already morally compromised.

   Horrifyingly, it also explains that “slow Russian advance” that has mystified so many on-line warriors and warriorresses: The Russians have simply be shooting down wave after wave of recruits sent to the new Verdun as cannon fodder so that Porsches can drive safely in Kiev. We are seeing a glimpse of the trench warfare and waste of lives that went on in northeastern France during WWI. And they still dig up the occasional bomb from that triumph of death.

   Reply ↓
   1. ChrisFromGA June 25, 2026 at 8:12 am

      In reading lots of law cases one pattern emerged to me (among others) – the state has an interest in protecting its citizens. Certainly, no one would argue that children are not a special case worth protecting, but even among adults, the state has a duty to protect us from harms. Why bother raising an army if not to protect the homeland from invasion?

      I’d argue that what the West has done to Ukraine is certainly a war crime, because they’ve treated the average Ukrainian citizen as disposable meat to be slaughtered, rather than a precious resource.

      Ukraine now has no future …its arguably genocide as well.

      Reply ↓
   2. vao June 25, 2026 at 8:31 am

      “And they still dig up the occasional bomb from that triumph of death.”

      I am certain you are being sarcastic, but the dimensions are mind-boggling: each year, 450-500 tonnes of ammunition left from WWI and WWII are cleared up in France, and 200-250 tonnes in Belgium (150 from WWI). And this is not just the odd unexploded shell found in a forest: interventions usually deal with stashes of 8 to 25 tonnes of rusty, ready to be fired ammunitions of all kinds.

      As an example, 6 months ago a small French village had to be evacuated to dig up and eliminate 585 German artillery shells that had been laying buried in a field since WWI — and at 4 tonnes ammunition, this was considered to be a relatively “small” find.

      Reply ↓
      1. The Rev Kev June 25, 2026 at 8:45 am

         A century from now, they will still be digging up unexploded shells in the Ukraine and the newer Oblasts of the Russian Federation.

         Reply ↓
      2. DJG, Reality Czar June 25, 2026 at 9:13 am

         vao: Not sarcasm. In Italy, such discoveries are sporadic. So I wrote from my perspective, not recalling the sheer tonnage of ordinance found up north each year.

         As mentioned, even though the northeast was the site of major battles (Caporetto) in WWI and even though the industrial triangle (Milano, Torino, Genova) was heavily bombed in WWII, discovery of unexploded weapons and of bodies is sporadic. I’m not sure why. (Although I wouldn’t rule out Italians and their tidiness.)

         This event caught my eye not so long ago. The bodies of two soldiers lost in the Trentino, finally found:

         https://storiearcheostorie.com/2024/08/27/grande-guerra-recuperati-sul-monte-civerone-in-valsugana-i-resti-di-due-caduti-austro-ungarici/

         Reply ↓
         1. vao June 25, 2026 at 10:06 am

            I vaguely remember mentions of the fact that passes, trails, and practicable areas in the mountainous regions of central Italy had been mined by retreating Germans during WWII, and that it took a while before they could be travelled on safely.

            Similarly, modern Russian literature sometimes incidentally mentions that mushroom picking was too dangerous in some forests because they had not yet been cleared from all the ordnance expended during WWII battles.

            Of course, the whole of Indochina as well as several African countries are plagued by unexploded bombs and mines, decades after fighting ceased.

            Reply ↓
   3. ChrisFromGA June 25, 2026 at 8:36 am

      The other pattern here is states being captured by foreign entities, and sending their citizens to their deaths in service of that foreign entity.

      Or as Lambert used to say, “Because markets, Go die!”

      Reply ↓
   4. PlutoniumKun June 25, 2026 at 11:05 am

      I don’t find those figures in any way credible. Population figures vary, but from what I’ve seen there were at most 10 million men at most of military age available at the start of the war. And we know that between men leaving the country and the nature of the draft, only a small proportion of that are on the front lines. The highest estimate I’ve seen is under 1 million in service at any one time. The army would have disintegrated years ago if there was anything close to those levels of deaths.

      I’ve seen no evidence that Ukraine has been sending men into mass wave attacks for 2 years at least, and active trench attacks seem minimal now. It has largely become a remote war of drones and this is keeping the soldiers of both sides under cover separated by a very wide death zone. This is why there has been largely a stalemate since last year.

      Reply ↓
      1. Gretzn June 26, 2026 at 3:06 am

         According to Simplicius the Thinker and the (ukrainian, mostly) sources he aggregated the big differences between the two sides is the ever increasing number of glidebombs that are in reasingly effective at killing Ukrainians in their dugouts and general much more devastating and numerous russian strikes on ukrainian troops in what was once the rear.

         Reply ↓
   5. Nudo e Crudo June 25, 2026 at 2:01 pm

      The truth is that leak is a lowball figure and UAF losses are likely to be close to double that.

      Russian force losses are also widely massively overcounted, the real KIA ratios will be found to have been 20+-1 in Russia’s favor once the Banderite regime is removed and the Ukraine region is repatriated as Russian.

      Reply ↓
      1. Aurelien June 25, 2026 at 4:03 pm

         So almost five million dead? That would be comparable with the figures for all German deaths in battle between 1939-45. And of course if you assume conservatively two wounded for every death, that would mean that pretty much the whole military-age male population of Ukraine has been killed or wounded. Is that credible? Where are the mass graveyards? Where are the overflowing hospitals? Which sources are you citing?

         Reply ↓
         1. vao June 25, 2026 at 4:18 pm

            I presume there is utter confusion about “fatalities” vs “casualties”. Ukraine may well have suffered 2.4 million casualties, but I assume a substantial number of them are wounded soldiers who have been patched up and re-sent to the front (i.e. a large portion of the losses was temporary).

            Reply ↓
            1. AG June 25, 2026 at 6:41 pm

               The new leak suggests 2.4M.
               RU MoD´s conservative estimate 1.7M combines KIA/WIA not counting casualties in vehicles.

               2 years ago medical emergency care for AFU was dismal. It can only have gotten worse.
               Daily losses 1000-1500 at average.

               The frontline must be a goddam nightmare.
               Made even worse by the toal blackout of media reporting.
               The hopelessness defying description.

               With fanatical fascist troops in the back enforcing lines not to collapse entirely. A literal slaughterhouse.

               MOON OF ALABAMA today…
               https://www.moonofalabama.org/2026/06/ukraine-isnt-winning.html

               …had linked to a Ukrainian investigative report about torture in one Ukrainian army training camp:
               https://babel.ua/texts/127938-shturmoviy-polk-skelya-maye-boyovi-zaslugi-i-dobre-zabezpechennya-a-shche-kazhut-ochevidci-tam-katuyut-i-zabivayut-lyudey-na-smert-rozsliduvannya-babelya

               Reply ↓
            2. AG June 25, 2026 at 6:52 pm

               And this special one:

               Great appearance by Ray McGovern with Glenn Diesen on June 23rd.
               Recommended.
               https://glenndiesen.substack.com/p/ray-mcgovern-putin-under-pressure

               Ray says it: “I AM NOT IMPRESSED BY KARAGANOV” stating that Mearsheimer with his questions to Karaganov in Diesen´s earlier show had “EXPOSED THE LOOPHOLES” in Karaganov´s argument.

               TC 24:00-26:00
               https://glenndiesen.substack.com/p/ray-mcgovern-putin-under-pressure

               Eventually Ray cites the poem “IN WAR” by Nikolai Nekrasov
               which he first recited in Russia 2016 when invited to the 75th anniversary of June 22nd 1941, to Crimea:

               TC 33:20-36:00

               McGovern has put the poem on his Substack today including his public appearance 10 years ago + the excerpt with Diesen:
               https://raymcgovern.substack.com/p/paying-attention-to-the-horrors-of

               Reply ↓
6. The Rev Kev June 25, 2026 at 8:07 am

   “While We Were Sleeping.”

   An excellent post this worth while reading. I would make one minor point and that is to sharpen what the word ‘surprise’ means when compared with the word ‘unexpected.’ So to use a military example, you might be facing an enemy and are unsure whether they will be attacking your left or right flank. When they finally hit your left flank, it was unexpected but only in the specifics. Being surprised is like the IDF in Lebanon who found themselves under attack by FPV drones which they never expected or trained for. You can prepare for the unexpected but that is not the case with being surprised.

   Reply ↓
7. Carolinian June 25, 2026 at 8:19 am

   Interesting about how “hydration breaks” in the World Cup are lining Murdoch pockets. My brother likes baseball and has complained that the cable broadcasts are finding ever more ways to insert brief ads during the game. There’s a newish rule that umpire strike calls can be challenged. Another excuse for breaks? Meanwhile the game itself has to be speeded up via the pitching clock–perhaps to make more room for ads on a TV show that subscribers are already paying for.

   Reply ↓
   1. JMH June 25, 2026 at 9:25 am

      However, as a regular watcher of NY Mets games, I could not tell you anything that is advertised. I watch with the sound muted most of the time and always during the half inning and inning breaks. I always have a book handy.

      Reply ↓
      1. The Rev Kev June 25, 2026 at 9:31 am

         Years ago my brother had a good idea. He would put the cricket on the TV but mute the sound. Then he would tune in the radio broadcasting this game live. It was the best of both worlds.

         Reply ↓
         1. The Joker June 25, 2026 at 1:29 pm

            Exactly what I used to do. You couldn’t beat Johnners, CMJ, and the Bearded Wonder on TMS, Alas, too young for listening to the incomparable John Arlott live.

            Reply ↓
         2. GF June 25, 2026 at 2:42 pm

            I used to do the same for my college’s games. I really enjoyed the local radio announcers to the network mouthpieces who rarely actually talked about the game itself as it was happening. Now it is even worse, in my opinion, with the network announcers – especially basketball.

            Reply ↓
8. AG June 25, 2026 at 8:19 am

   re: German automobile crisis

   BERLINER ZEITUNG

   machine-translation

   another piece on the alarming reports about fears within:

   Internal alarm at VW and Audi: Fears of a major collapse are growing.

   VW and Audi are suddenly sounding the alarm internally, with the VDA warning of 225,000 job losses. Experts explain why the crisis runs deeper than many believe.

   https://archive.is/LUsY6

   The more about alarm leaks through the louder the demands for rearmament in public.

   After me the deluge.

   German elites have no clue, no plan, no conscience.

   Reply ↓
9. DJG, Reality Czar June 25, 2026 at 8:25 am

   Lanmaoa asiatica and the little people. Science Alert.

   Note the word undercooked: When eaten undercooked, the mushroom can produce vivid visions of miniature people – not unlike Gulliver on his travels to Lilliput.

   Years ago, I read a book by the excellent mycologist from Maine, Greg Marley. Marley advises never to eat any mushroom raw. Even white button mushrooms so common in U.S. stores aren’t completely benign.

   Here in the Undisclosed Region, I have been reading about foodways and cookery. The Piedmontese have a saying:

   Tuti ij bolé a l’han na part ëd tóssi.
   Every mushroom has a part that is toxic.

   Nevertheless, at sites that cater to English-speakers, I have seen recipes that urge people to eat shiitake and morels raw. Ill advised. Italian sites tend to be more cautious, but then there is a long Italian tradition of drying or putting up mushrooms.

   Conversely, the famous dancing mushrooms of Disney, Amanita muscaria, with their red caps, can be eaten, according to some. But the process involves long cooking and may still result in hallucinations.

   So the article is interesting, but many books on cookery with a good chapter on mushrooms delve into the problem of mushrooms in more detail. And who doesn’t enjoy finferli?

   Reply ↓
   1. jefemt June 25, 2026 at 9:27 am

      I recall that Amanita were imbibed by the Berzerkers to do berzerkin’?

      Reply ↓
   2. Henry Moon Pie June 25, 2026 at 9:29 am

      Hunting morels was a big thing where I grew up in NW Missouri. After I reached around 12, my young eyes accompanied my grandfather on morel hunts since the little boogers camouflage themselves pretty well, even if you know from experience where to find them.

      Preparation included a thorough washing, soaking in salt water, breading and frying. That may not be the most Epicurean means of preparation, but they were delicious–and well-cooked.

      Reply ↓
      1. diptherio June 25, 2026 at 9:34 am

         You still gotta watch out for the False Morels though. We’ve had issues with that here in Montana. https://www.mushroom-appreciation.com/false-morel.html

         Reply ↓
         1. vao June 25, 2026 at 10:13 am

            Finns do consider false morels a delicacy. IIRC, you must boil them 3 times for 5 minutes in plenty of water — and in a well-ventilated room — each time thoroughly rinsing them in running water. Then, and only then, are the mushrooms ready to be cooked to your taste.

            Reply ↓
            1. JP June 25, 2026 at 2:22 pm

               The false morels contain nitrazine, which is rocket fuel and also very toxic. So possibly boiling would drive off the nitrazine. We also have false morels as well as authentic morels here in the california sierra. If viewed alongside each other they are significantly different.

               Reply ↓
               1. vao June 25, 2026 at 4:10 pm

                  You mean hydrazine. Nitrazine is a dye for PH-tests.

                  In any case, it seems that those repeated sequences of boiling and washing in a well-ventilated environment do eliminate 99% of the toxic substances — but that the minute remnants accumulate and, assuming repeated consumption of false morels over time, may end up causing severe long-term physiological damages.

                  Reply ↓
         2. Laughingsong June 25, 2026 at 11:00 am

            It isn’t difficult to tell them apart if you are willing to cut them in half; inside a real morel is hollow, and the false ones have white-ish fibers. Also the real ones’ hoods are closed at the bottom.

            I only just found out this year how to tell. Two years ago we had our front yard, which is very small, bark mulched and planted with flowering shrubs to make it more easy-care. Last fall we added more bark mulch from a different mixture which apparently contained apple trees. We had morels come up all over the yard! We shared with friends. Free morels right there! 🥰

            Reply ↓
   3. Jonathan King June 25, 2026 at 6:18 pm

      The ‘long cooking’ required to detoxify Amanita muscaria isn’t all that long: standard procedure nowadays is to slice them fairly thinly and boil them in copious amounts of water in two rounds of 15-20 minutes each. The water from the first boil is discarded and the process repeated with a fresh pot of water. The slices are then ready for further cooking. After doing this many times I can report that the mushroom slices are leached of any potential flavor as well as their toxins and intoxicants (two different chemicals btw) … I’m a good cook but have yet to find a way to make them palatable. Yet it’s a ritual I undertake each fall. :

      Reply ↓
   4. LeMon3 June 25, 2026 at 6:31 pm

      All mushrooms are edible. Some only once…

      Reply ↓
10. .Tom June 25, 2026 at 8:38 am

    Did that dog melt into a puddle in the Euro heat wave?

    Reply ↓
11. The Rev Kev June 25, 2026 at 8:42 am

    “Starmer’s exit exposes dirty secret: UK can’t afford Ukraine War”

    Last year I recall hearing the guys at The Duran say how there was a £5 billion hole in the UK budget. But at the same time, Starmer had signed an agreement to send £5 billion to the Ukraine each and every year for the next 100 years. Who signs an agreement like that? Keir Starmer, that’s who. And that was not including billions spent on their support to the Ukraine as well. If Andy Burnham was half smart, he would shut that down immediately upon becoming PM to stop the UK budget from bleeding out though to be honest, I suspect that he will continue that financial support. It’s what the UK’s ruling elite want.

    Reply ↓
    1. JohnA June 25, 2026 at 9:43 am

       The staff Burnham is already appointing suggest it will very definitely be meet the new boss, same as the old boss. Zionists, Labour Friends of Israel, Blairists. Nothing will fundamentally change. Nor would change be allowed in any case.

       Reply ↓
       1. eg June 26, 2026 at 2:48 am

          Yeah, I see zero evidence of any appetite for change where foreign policy is concerned.

          Reply ↓
12. ChrisFromGA June 25, 2026 at 8:42 am

    On the big heat wave in Europe, how much is due to the Super El Nino effect? A 74 degree dew point in London is not something I thought I’d ever hear about in my lifetime.

    Meanwhile, back in north Georgia, we’re having a surprisingly pleasant late June. Yesterday the humidity felt quite low, I would guess the dew point was in the 60’s, which is positively Canadian for us.

    The hype machine is cranking into gear about a heat wave here next week, but when I checked the numbers, it is simply looking like a normal July. Mid to upper nineties here after Memorial Day are par for the course.

    Reply ↓
    1. Jason Boxman June 25, 2026 at 11:19 am

       Europe News
       France suffers major power outage as Europe sizzles in record-breaking heat

       Data from French utility EDF, meanwhile, showed that the country’s nuclear output nationwide was reduced by 4.1 gigawatts on Wednesday as high temperatures reduced access to cooling water, according to Reuters. CNBC has contacted EDF and is awaiting a response.

       And we can’t nuclear energy our way out of it, as has been pointed out here occasionally over the past 15 years.

       Electric cars aren’t working out so well either in the US

       How Honda’s Pledge to Go All-Electric Unraveled (NY Times)

       In the United States, Honda’s largest automobile market, the Trump administration’s elimination of federal tax credits for electric vehicles has sapped demand, contributing to the automaker’s first annual net loss in its seven-decade history as a public company. It has since abandoned its goal of going all-electric by 2040.

       …

       Mr. Mibe has a turnaround plan centered on cost-cutting, a renewed emphasis on hybrids and governance changes intended to strengthen accountability. An annual shareholder meeting on Friday, where investors will vote on the appointment of board members, will serve as an important test of confidence in management.

       Honda’s troubles reflect a broader reckoning across the automotive industry. In some ways, the company has become a poster child for legacy carmakers, from Volkswagen to Ford Motor, that wagered billions on a rapid shift to an electric future, only to be caught flat-footed when consumer demand cooled.

       Honda’s decision to go electric wasn’t wrong, and the industry as a whole has been buffeted by the E.V. slowdown, said Takaki Nakanishi, chief executive of the Nakanishi Research Institute, an automotive consultancy.

       Reply ↓
       1. Laughingsong June 25, 2026 at 12:25 pm

          They could maybe, uh kinda, you know. . . Make them cost LESS than $50,000? Then we wouldn’t need no stinking subsidy?

          Reply ↓
          1. GC54 June 25, 2026 at 7:59 pm

             Plenty of low mileage used EVs available in US for less than $25k.

             Reply ↓
       2. Observer June 25, 2026 at 12:42 pm

          Please there is no EV slowdown, globally. Globally, every year EVs make up a greater percentage of new cars sold. Quoting Honda and the Japanese is a bad idea as they are desperately trying to stop the EV transition, as they bet on the wrong horse, hydrogen.

          If you are a Chinese EV maker you are selling EVs like hotcakes in China and globally ex-the USA and Japan.

          Is it possible that USA is no longer the center of the automobile world?

          Reply ↓
          1. bertl June 25, 2026 at 11:54 pm

             Or any world other than that inhabited by paper traders, AI fantasists, and used trailer salesmen?

             Reply ↓
       3. Darthbobber June 25, 2026 at 5:11 pm

          I didn’t see any at all in Peru, perhaps due to the lack of a support network.

          In the United States the problem is largely the artificially high price for the available EVs, largely stemming from the decision to keep the Chinese models out.

          And the majority of the US population is priced out of the new car market in any case.

          (An aside on my mention of Peru: there, and every where else I’ve been in Latin America cars are a minority of the vehicles on the road. Oodles of mororcycles, and lots of mini cars and enclosed trikes that aren’t street legal in the US.

          Reply ↓
13. Henry Moon Pie June 25, 2026 at 9:01 am

    Aeon: No one is self-made–

    It’s piece about Taoist Zhuangzi’s critique of Confucian meritocracy. Before Zhuangzi, the Tao te Ching critiqued the Confucian formulation on three grounds:

    1) Confucian meritocracy relies on there being a clear distinction between right and wrong, good and bad, something the TtC denies:

    Everybody on earth knowing
    that beauty is beautiful
    makes ugliness.

    Everybody knowing
    that goodness is good
    makes wickedness.

    For being and nonbeing
    arise together;
    hard and easy
    complete each other;
    long and short
    shape each other;
    high and low
    depend on each other;

    Tao te Ching #2 (Le Guin rendition)

    2) The virtue that Confucius seeks is a mere second best to following the Way:

    In the degradation of the great way
    come benevolence and righteousness.
    With the exaltation of learning and prudence
    comes immense hypocrisy.
    The disordered family
    is full of dutiful children and parents.
    The disordered society
    is full of loyal patriots.

    Tao te Ching #18 (Le Guin rendition)

    3) All those virtuous Confucian bureaucrats are doing more harm than good:

    The more restrictions and prohibitions in the world, the poorer people get.
    The more experts the country has
    the more of a mess it’s in.
    The more ingenious the skillful are,
    the more monstrous their inventions.
    The louder the call for law and order,
    the more the thieves and con men multiply.

    So a wise leader might say:
    I practice inaction, and the people look after themselves.
    I love to be quiet, and the people themselves find justice.
    I don’t do business, and the people prosper on their own.
    I don’t have wants, and the people themselves are uncut wood.

    Tao te Ching #57 (Le Guin rendition)

    The Aeon essay brings in Zhuangzi’s views about the human will, views that reminded me of the very interesting discussion yesterday prompted by the Counterpunch piece on human origins:

    For him [Zhuangzi], action does not originate in an isolated will. It arises through circumstances. Character forms through relationships, habits, language, institutions, needs, fears and opportunities. What might look like individual agency is always co-produced. Zhuangzi’s concept for this is ziran (自然). It is often translated as ‘naturalness’, but better understood as the ‘so-of-itself’. Events and actions arise from the situation, and not from a sovereign self who imposes their will on the world. The self does not stand outside its conditions, but is a node within them. To act is to be moved as much as to move.

    The ideas of Lao-Tzu and Zhuangzi are shocking to the Western mind trained on a human exceptionalism directed at bending the cosmos toward human preferences. In our circumstances, it’s becoming clearer and clearer that humans are indeed capable of making a big splash, whether by means of thermonuclear war or the slower heating of the planet caused by our prodigious excretions of CO2 and methane. All that “virtuous” effort of all those mandarins in the governments, the banks, the universities, the churches have produced a polycrisis rather than something meritorious. An emphasis on harmony with the biosphere is exactly what’s needed.

    (Note: AI found an online version of Le Guin’s rendition of the Tao te Ching. What’s especially nice about that is that you can do a word search to find a passage you remember even though you don’t recall in which chapter it appears.) For example, using the “Find” function in your browser, you can locate every instance of “content*” in the TtC.)

    Reply ↓
    1. jefemt June 25, 2026 at 9:37 am

       HMP— have you heard of or tucked in to David James Duncan’s , “Sun House” ? Might be a good one for your summertime chaise-longue-side table…

       https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/64000510-sun-house

       I was pondering the paradoxical, ironic, duality facet of the Le Guin AI search, and the implied carbon generation / water suck of such acts, or those of me typing this, or having the gizmo fired up to read N C every morning.

       Apart from nature, a part of nature, a complicated dithering ephemeral geological blip, and dim sum?

       Lost in space right here at home, I yam…

       Reply ↓
       1. Tom Stone June 25, 2026 at 11:36 am

          HMP, you might enjoy Lois Bujold’s fantasy series set in the “Land of the Five Gods”.
          Adventure stories, romances and an exploration of the relationship between Man and God, they are a a lot of fun.

          Reply ↓
    2. diptherio June 25, 2026 at 9:57 am

       AI found an online version of Le Guin’s rendition of the Tao te Ching.

       You didn’t need to use “AI” to find that. I found the same thing from a different place in approx. 3 seconds with a standard web search: https://wesleyac.com/dao/refs/leguin1998.pdf

       Reply ↓
       1. t June 25, 2026 at 10:43 am

          I suppose there are still people who have it on a shelf!

          What did the AI do, exactly? Determine the shopping results weren’t worth the trouble and then spit out stand search reaults?

          Reply ↓
    3. AG June 25, 2026 at 11:09 am

       thanks!

       Reply ↓
    4. JP June 25, 2026 at 2:30 pm

       A bit of the Diamond Sutra in these.

       Reply ↓
    5. Late Introvert June 25, 2026 at 10:55 pm

       Thank you Mr. Moon Pie. I make a point of giving your posts extra time these days, as they are always worth it. It may be your constant referencing of the Le Guin Tao te Chink that made me finally get a copy.

       Reply ↓
       1. Late Introvert June 26, 2026 at 12:17 am

          Oh man, that typo is so embarrassing.

          Reply ↓
14. The Rev Kev June 25, 2026 at 9:23 am

    “Why China Is Rushing To Help Rebuild Iran After The War With US”

    It could be that during the Iran war, that China put pressure on Iran to sign off on some sort of agreement with the US to stop the war which subsequently became the MoU. But to sweeten the deal, China promised to ship in medical aid and other relief materials if they did. There may even be a further understanding with Iran that as soon as a negotiated agreement is made, that China will go in and aid with reconstruction as well but we will have to wait and see what happens.

    Reply ↓
    1. jefemt June 25, 2026 at 9:44 am

       My first thought was, Oil? I admit, it’s my reflexive first reaction. Cynics follow the money, the worst of us follow the oil.

       In the long game, the US arch-nemeses— if ‘they’, the other, are to be properly used to rationalize action, a war in Iran and disrupting oil supply makes perfect sense.
       All the add-ons, making more arms, boosting the MI complex budgets, Israel, Lebanon, Venezuela, the Donroe Doctrine… its beyond a trifecta. Its the yummiest Self-licking summertime ice cream cone on offer!

       …and don’t forget to keep front-running and trading the news …. egg money for the Epstein class…

       Reply ↓
       1. eremy June 25, 2026 at 1:57 pm

          Iraq is stuck in a horrible Britney Spears-style conservatorship with the US, and China may not want that to happen to Iran.

          Sure, foreign oil companies were developing Iraq’s oil fields, but those companies could only reap about 1% of the oil revenue – hardly enough to cover the costs of rebuilding the country’s industry. Foreign companies are starting to drop out of Iraq’s redevelopment because the Treasury Department is sitting on top of Iraq’s wealth like Smaug.

          Reply ↓
15. none June 25, 2026 at 10:04 am

    CNN: House Democrats’ anxiety rises after wins by Mamdani-backed candidates: ‘Are we going to let them take over the party?’

    Muhaha.

    Reply ↓
    1. flora June 25, 2026 at 10:57 am

       I hope all the DSA winners will read today’s Stoller article.
       Good article.

       Reply ↓
       1. Hepativore June 25, 2026 at 3:26 pm

          I just hope that none of these victorious Mamdani-backed candidates are going to be subverted and consumed by the Democratic Party machine to be turned into establishment apologists or spineless careerists like we have seen happen with AOC and the rest of the (Fraud) Squad.

          Reply ↓
16. The Rev Kev June 25, 2026 at 10:23 am

    “Military services again requiring recruits to get flu shots as Air Force outbreak grows”

    This is a typical story for the Trump regime. Hegseth makes the flu shot optional because of ideological reasons more than anything else. Of course lots of troops give that shot a miss as who likes needles? And as the article notes, the flu shot had been mandatory since 1945. But then there is a major flu outbreak in a base in San Antonio and going towards three hundred people fall sick. So then Hegseth has to reverse himself after training and readiness had become problematical. A typical fiasco.

    Reply ↓
    1. jefemt June 25, 2026 at 10:37 am

       War Department indeed. At war with itself as much as any ‘foe’…

       Although even Pete seems to agree war needs mo’ moneh mo’ moneh!

       Reply ↓
    2. ambrit June 25, 2026 at 10:52 am

       Not to forget that the 1918 Flu pandemic is now thought to have begun on an American military base in the MidWest. At the least, it was first noticed in the American military.
       See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_flu
       Stay safe. Keep those masks handy.

       Reply ↓
    3. Jason Boxman June 25, 2026 at 11:07 am

       In response to the outbreak, some U.S. officials including Rep. Joaquin Castro — whose district covers about half of San Antonio, including Lackland Air Force Base — criticized Hegseth’s policy ending mandatory vaccination.

       “After Secretary Hegseth scrapped the military’s flu vaccine mandate, it was only a matter of time before an outbreak occurred,” he wrote in a post on X last week. “It was a reckless decision that put troops in harm’s way and undermined our military readiness.”

       In another post on X, Castro confirmed that the Air Force told his office there were 222 cases of flu at the base. “We need answers,” he added.

       No one is pointing out that “flu outbreaks” basically do not happen in the dead of summer?

       I hate this timeline.

       And here’s from Texas itself.

       Texas Respiratory Virus Surveillance Report 2025-2026 Season 2026 MMWR Week 23 (PDF)

       I don’t see any flu here. Curious. It’s literally flatlined. Of course, they don’t test for COVID. LOL. Why would you?

       I can’t tell if the military did either.

       Reply ↓
17. flora June 25, 2026 at 10:51 am

    From yesterday morning, Breaking Points.
    (Krystal looks kinda happy… / ;)

    MAMDANI TSUNAMI! Establishment SHOOK, DSA VICTORIOUS

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mjDPa2-KF0

    Reply ↓
    1. flora June 25, 2026 at 11:40 am

       One more with Krystal and Ryan. Breaking Points.

       ‘F*** AIPAC’ Pro Israel Dems Destroyed In Major Reckoning

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

       Reply ↓
18. Jason Boxman June 25, 2026 at 11:33 am

    Welcome to hell

    Bayer wins Supreme Court case making it harder to sue over glyphosate in Monsanto’s Roundup (CNBC)

    The Supreme Court in a 7-2 decision on Thursday said Bayer cannot be sued over state-level claims that the company failed to warn of cancer risks from its weedkiller Roundup and its chemical glyphosate.

    The decision is a major win for Bayer, which bought Roundup maker Monsanto in 2018, and the Trump administration, which argued that failure-to-warn claims were preempted by a separate federal law that governs pesticides.

    It’s also a major blow to the Make America Healthy Again movement, which backed Trump in the 2024 election but has felt betrayed by the administration’s embrace of glyphosate.

    Poisoning of Americans continues apace.

    Reply ↓
    1. ChrisFromGA June 25, 2026 at 3:45 pm

       Ridiculous robed rotters reveal their Robespierrean radicalism.

       Film at Eleven.

       Reply ↓
19. Tom Stone June 25, 2026 at 11:54 am

    I’ve been thinking about which Trump Appointee it would be the most embarassing to work for and I settled on Kash Patel.
    The Military is inured to Secretaries of War who are corrupt, incompetent or loony tunes, sometimes all three.
    The FBI is Schizoid, on the one hand they have been America’s Political Police since 1917, blackmail, forgery, many thousands of “Black Bag Jobs”, entrapment and the occasional murder…and at the same time they promote themselves as “America’s Premier Law Enforcement Agency” all about ” Fidelity, Bravery, Integrity” despite denying the existence of the Mafia until 1958.
    And here we have Ka$h Patel signing autographs in the lobby of the Hoover building while wearing custom “Punisher” Nike’s and refusing to leave his plane until he was provided with an FBI Raid jacket ( They had trouble finding one small enough that he wouldn’t look like s kid wearing Daddy’s suit).
    Hoover must be rolling in his grave, wearing his favorite Peignoir…
    Some days the humor exceeds the horror, most days not.
    Stay safe and enjoy the show.

    Reply ↓
20. GF June 25, 2026 at 2:32 pm

    Today is the 150 year anniversary of Custer’s Last Stand (The Battle of Greasy Grass):

    https://ictnews.org/news/mountain-bureau/we-werent-wiped-out-and-we-continue-to-persevere-reflecting-on-greasy-grass/

    This a good update. The battle kind of ruined the 100 anniversary of the USA as the news didn’t reach the east coast until right near the 4th of July.

    Reply ↓
21. Rabbit June 25, 2026 at 2:42 pm

    Everyone should check out Black Agenda Report. Started by the late Glen Ford who was a great guy, it continues it’s reporting on human rights in the same bold manner as it did when Ford was alive.

    Reply ↓
22. Rabbit June 25, 2026 at 2:54 pm

    OT but pertinent. Can we call Trump the Orange Cancer? This came to me because it’s the best description of Trump that I could think of at the moment.

    Reply ↓
    1. ChrisFromGA June 25, 2026 at 3:08 pm

       I say the more derogatory names, the merrier. Creativity is always appreciated.

       Orange Julius, Orange Cancer, Orangutan-face, Taco, mashed potato head. We have a wealth of ways to express our derision!

       Reply ↓
       1. vao June 25, 2026 at 4:22 pm

          Please, do not sully the reputation of orangutans.

          Reply ↓
          1. ChrisFromGA June 25, 2026 at 8:04 pm

             Orange Julius is sullying the reputation not only of orangutans but also of the entire order of primates.

             Reply ↓
23. flora June 25, 2026 at 3:08 pm

    From Redacted:

    Trump’s Oil Panic Just Exposed Everything

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

    Reply ↓
    1. flora June 25, 2026 at 3:25 pm

       Yes, almost everyone is appalled by what’s happening in Gaze.
       But this pointless war with Iran at Isr’s instigation was the last straw for the US public’s opinion of ‘our greatest ally’, imo.

       Reply ↓
       1. .Tom June 25, 2026 at 4:28 pm

          You may be right, flora, but I suspect there will be more last straws to come. It feels like we’re at a turning point, where revulsion at the behavior of Israel grows hyperbolically. Iran will use SoH to make Trump lean on Israel which will increasingly lose its mind. Stuff I thought I’d never see is happening now. A US president taunting Israel, comparing it as less useful than its neighboring proxy ISIS. A vice warning Israel that it has only one ally left without which it cannot even supply and operate its own AD.

          Under these conditions I do not think Israel will do a 180 and set itself on the path towards peaceful relations with neighboring countries and equitable relations with its non-Jew population. I think it will do the opposite. And it will double down and be more brazen and extreme in its efforts to control American public opinion, US military, politics and policy. It may expand its covert ops, assassinations, false flags, terrorism etc. In other words, I think we can expect many more last straws.

          Reply ↓
          1. flora June 25, 2026 at 5:27 pm

             You’re probably right.

             Judge Napolitano and Max Bluementhal.

             Israel lobby crashout – Max on Judging Freedom

             https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2av2nde8nM

             Reply ↓
       2. .Tom June 25, 2026 at 4:46 pm

          And I only partly agree on Gaza. Until the Iran war started most of the world, certainly most Americans and the Arabian monarchs, seemed eager to go back to ignoring Gaza after the Board of Peace “cease fire”. Now that Israel is doing another Gaza in Lebanon it’s back on the agenda.

          Reply ↓
24. nothing but the truth June 25, 2026 at 4:55 pm

    “Trump 2.0’s Escalation Strategy Against Russia Is Starting To Take Shape ”

    So Putin fell for western “diplomacy” ruse for the seventeenth time.

    Wonder who he’s working for.

    Reply ↓
25. amfortas June 25, 2026 at 5:33 pm

    Cory Doctorow(sp-2) really kicked ass w Ryan and Krystal. regarding AI
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJmUbkRqXeE&list=PLboXVv17hl9s&index=6

    the latter 2 seem to really “Want To Believe!”, as the old X-Files Trope goes, especially Krystal.
    and Cory just keeps knocking them down.
    he’s funny as hell, too. talks so fast its easy to miss his rather arid witticisms.

    Reply ↓
26. none June 25, 2026 at 6:34 pm

    Oh noes! Our lone trillionaire has slipped through the cracks!

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/elon-musk-loses-trillionaire-status-as-global-tech-rout-hits-spacex/ar-AA26rL1w

    Reply ↓
27. Tom Stone June 25, 2026 at 10:42 pm

    I wondered how long it would take for Leon to lose his Trilionaire status, it’s not a surprise that some people are beginning to ask themselves what they bought…where’s the MONEY?
    They bought ELON!, not shares in a business and when Elon dies their stock prices will crater.
    TESLA is a car company FFS and should be valued as such, when Elon croaks it will likely take a few days to sink in that there ain’t no there, there.
    A nice opportunity to make a buck.
    It’s going to be a lively Summer.

    Reply ↓