Links 7/7/2026

Subscribe to Post Comments

92 comments

1. LeMon3 July 7, 2026 at 7:17 am

   Happy 250th from Straya, mate.
   https://michaelwest.com.au/red-card-a-birthday-message-from-australia-to-america/

   Reply ↓
   1. ArvidMartensen July 7, 2026 at 6:49 pm

      Best article today!!

      Reply ↓
2. Trees&Trunks July 7, 2026 at 7:39 am

   By the way, are the EU-tards still staying in Kiev?
   They refused to leave when Russia told civilians and diplomatic staff to leave.

   Reply ↓
3. vao July 7, 2026 at 7:48 am

   The article:
   
   The extreme heat and drought have brought this year’s harvest forward by weeks, while causing dramatic crop failures in several regions

   is reported as being from “Hungry Today”. It is actually from “Hungary Today”, but given the topic, I find the typo quite fitting.

   Reply ↓
4. The Rev Kev July 7, 2026 at 7:52 am

   “China tests long-range missile in South Pacific in move Australia condemns as ‘destabilising to region’”

   I would have said that Oz and the US signing up South Pacific nations like Fiji into “defense” agreements would have been destabilizing but that is just me. With that missile not only did China demonstrate that they can reach out and touch someone in the South Pacific and those US bases in Oz but that they show that that US base in Diego Garcia is now also in their gun-sights.

   But why, oh why, do politicians have to come out with this sort of drek-

   ‘The Pacific is an Ocean of Peace and we are deeply concerned by China’s testing of nuclear-capable weapons into the South Pacific.’

   Reply ↓
5. timotheus July 7, 2026 at 8:17 am

   Re: tactics against Turkiye

   What on earth is a minister from Rwanda FFS doing calmly sitting next to a genocidaire?

   Reply ↓
   1. Aurelien July 7, 2026 at 11:53 am

      Oh, murderers hang together, as it were. The most ruthless regime in Africa meets the most ruthless regime in the Middle East. They can exchange torture tips, and ideas for manipulating western public opinion.

      Reply ↓
6. The Rev Kev July 7, 2026 at 8:24 am

   “I Thought This Was a Literary Myth Until I Checked”

   ‘How one of the most famous poems in Victorian literature ended up inside a coffin’

   That’s a helluva story that and was only possible during the Victorian Era. The only thing missing was a link to the poem itself-

   https://englishverse.com/poems/the_blessed_damozel

   Reply ↓
   1. Chet G July 7, 2026 at 10:01 am

      The overall story would be familiar to those who saw Ken Russell’s television film Dante’s Inferno from the late sixties. Of course, anything Russell made played with facts, but I thought the overall biography was very good.

      Reply ↓
7. ChrisFromGA July 7, 2026 at 9:27 am

   More info on Mitch McConnell’s health situation:

   https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5955865-mitch-mcconnell-senate-health-status/

   Conservative activist Laura Loomer, citing a “high level source close to the White House,” posted Monday on the social platform X that McConnell’s health condition is much worse than expected and that he is “not coming back” to the Senate.

   I am inclined to believe that witch Loomer, as she has Taco’s ear and probably has the skinny on the latest gossip.

   Even if old Glitch somehow makes it out of the hospital, he probably is facing a long recovery and won’t be able to make any votes for several months, until after Labor Day. Making the GOP even more paralyzed and unable to pass anything. Including that stinking weasel Mike Johnson’s reconciliation bill. Such a shame!

   #SummerOfRage

   Reply ↓
   1. Victor Sciamarelli July 7, 2026 at 9:55 am

      I wouldn’t assume anything just yet. When Diane Feinstein was an obvious basket case she was largely under the constant watch of her daughter and Nancy Corinne Prowda, the daughter of Nancy Pelosi.
      The NYT said, “The California Democrat is surrounded by a large retinue of aides at all times, who tell her how and when to vote, explain what is going on when she is confused, and shield her from the press and public.”

      Reply ↓
      1. ChrisFromGA July 7, 2026 at 11:42 am

         My memory isn’t precise, but it is possible that when DiFi was convalescing, it was during the pandemic circa 2020-2023. During that time the Senate allowed absentee voting, but I believe that is no longer the case.

         So unless they change the rules to make another exception for the Mitchster, I don’t see how he is going to vote on anything other than what channel to watch on the big TV mounted in his hospital room.

         Reply ↓
      2. ChrisFromGA July 7, 2026 at 3:00 pm

         Update from the Hill:

         https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5957438-mcconnell-thune-barrasso-health/

         It sounds like desperation time for the GOP, they’re talking like they’re gonna prop him up “weekend at Bernie’s” style to try and get his votes.

         Reply ↓
         1. Dr. John Carpenter July 7, 2026 at 4:00 pm

            You mean they haven’t been doing this for months already?

            Reply ↓
            1. ChrisFromGA July 7, 2026 at 4:05 pm

               Touche’

               Perhaps we will be treated to the spectacle of McConnell being wheeled onto the Senate floor on a gurney, hooked up to a respirator. As long as his motor skills are good enough to push a voting button … or have a staffer push the button for him.

               Reply ↓
   2. WobblyTelomeres July 7, 2026 at 10:38 am

      Apparently when he was found, rigor tortoise had already set in.

      Reply ↓
      1. ChrisFromGA July 7, 2026 at 11:38 am

         [Drum fill]

         Good one!

         Reply ↓
   3. Frank Lee July 7, 2026 at 11:01 am

      Speaking of Carlyn Beccia’s piece, The Asshole Threshold…

      Reply ↓
8. TomDority July 7, 2026 at 9:36 am

   “Cuban farmers rush to sell land as Trump’s fuel blockade hits harvests” Financial Times
   The financial engineer’s plan all along – same thing everywhere you look.
   My slant on a previously misattributed quote –
   -If people ever allow corporations and banks to control the economy, the banks and corporations will deprive the people of all property until they wake up homeless in the country they were born-
   to the neoliberal; Workers = sheep to be sheered whence their fleece is grown…. if their fleece is not good enough…..

   Reply ↓
   1. The Rev Kev July 7, 2026 at 9:46 am

      Even the ruthless Roman Emperor Tiberius knew that ‘It is the duty of a good shepherd to shear his sheep, not to skin them.’ This is something that Neoliberals have forgotten – or ignored.

      Reply ↓
   2. EMC July 7, 2026 at 10:54 am

      Cubans don’t own their land and can’t sell it. Land is owned by the government and farmers have it in usufruct as long as they are able to use it. Note the quote about selling is anonymous. The other quotes are from an identified individual on an identified farm. Distribution and access has always been an issue, undoubtedly critical now. During the Obama “opening” of Cuba, US agribusiness was salivating. Evidently they are slobbering now.

      Reply ↓
      1. TomDority July 7, 2026 at 1:13 pm

         Yes
         And US agribusiness is reaping/raping US farmers of land and children with the aid of that soybean farmer Scott Bessent and pedophile Trump

         Reply ↓
9. The Rev Kev July 7, 2026 at 9:43 am

   ‘Peter Girnus 🦅
   @gothburz
   I am the one who stayed. I am the analyst who survived the third layoff round in a year, still at my desk, and I have learned to read the silence.’

   Quite a read. The only thing missing from this fictional piece is where he remembers how he lost his job after leaving school when the local industry was shipped to China so he took the Government’s advice to ‘learn to code’ – and here he is.

   Reply ↓
   1. In Cold Chud July 7, 2026 at 11:34 am

      Even if I knew with complete certainty that everyone in this story was real, I would not feel any empathy for them. Perhaps the crop of PMCs I was exposed to over a decade or so was especially vicious; perhaps not. But this is the game they were so enthusiastic about.

      Reply ↓
      1. JohnnySacks July 7, 2026 at 1:21 pm

         Having spent some time earning to pay bills in a few petri dishes for the growth of sociopathic personalities, I tend to agree if not for the despair unleashed on families.

         Reply ↓
         1. In Cold Chud July 7, 2026 at 1:50 pm

            Yeah, there could still be some hope for the kid. Hopefully that dentist doesn’t scam the family into unnecessarily putting them in braces.

            Reply ↓
10. Adam July 7, 2026 at 10:02 am

    In the AI section, the Hacker News article instead links to the Eric Schwitzgebel article.

    Reply ↓
    1. The Rev Kev July 7, 2026 at 10:14 am

       Working link for that “Chinese resellers are offering Claude tokens at 70-90% below official Anthropic API prices” article at-

       https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48667495

       Damn those Chinese Capitalists! Quick. Somebody give Anthropic a bailout. /sarc

       Reply ↓
11. DJG, Reality Czar July 7, 2026 at 10:07 am

    Carlyn Breccia on Thresholds and Not Crossing Them.

    Definitely worth your while if you live in the U S of A.

    This is why you
    —have to go to demonstrations even if you think that they aren’t effective. (Hint: They are.)
    —attend neighborhood meetings that drone on. (Hint: At least in Chicago, the politicos were forced to listen.)
    —observe jury duty and serve. (Hint: Enlightening to listen to once’s fellow jurors. Although I was lucky enough once to be elected foreman of a Cook Country jury, so I’m prejudiced.)
    —vote (Hint: It is a civic ritual, no matter how degraded.)

    Here in Italy, where the civic organizations are in constant ferment, I am reminded of this at demonstrations, where each union shows up with its many flags, especially the CGIL and UIL, where the political parties show up with their flags, and where I get a chance to march with a flag on May Day with the Torino chapter of ARCI.

    But read Breccia’s historical arguments, which are well marshaled and well written.

    Reply ↓
    1. pjay July 7, 2026 at 12:08 pm

       Yes, I strongly second this recommendation. I almost skipped this because the title – ‘Has America Crossed the Asshole Threshold?’ – suggested to me that it was shallow, if perhaps accurate, satire. It was not, for the reasons you mention here. She is correct about the importance of both public information and political/civic organization by society’s “cooperators” if we are to avoid ultimate destruction by the “parasites.” However, there is another important element in her history lesson that she does not emphasize but it is there between the lines. There does need to be a push from below by a critical mass of the people. But also required is the presence of non-parasitic elites at crucial periods in positions from which they can influence social and political outcomes. These may include elite-adjacent writers or academics (Sinclair, Tarbell) or activist-oriented government officials (Perkins), but also *actual* elites in positions of real power that enable such a societal change-of-course because they recognize the outcome otherwise (both Roosevelts, for example, though many of us on the left are loath to acknowledge this).

       Well-worth the read.

       Reply ↓
    2. motorslug July 7, 2026 at 3:04 pm

       Minneapolis in particular and MN in general showed the rest of US how to put Breccia’s plan into action.

       Reply ↓
    3. LifelongLib July 7, 2026 at 3:14 pm

       I have more sympathy for Tammany Hall than she does, since for a long time they were the only social welfare game in town. As IIRC Lambert said, something always beats nothing. I suggest you read a book on Tammany Hall that he recommended, “Machine Made” by Terry Golway. It goes into the history of Tammany, its connections (and conflicts) with the larger New York political establishment, and its variable relations with the “real” left (sometimes they cooperated, sometimes they didn’t).

       Reply ↓
    4. none July 7, 2026 at 3:15 pm

       I found this article to be frustratingly verbose. It finally got to the point near the end, but then stopped without discussing internet surveillance and LLM troll bot invasions aiming to stop any opposition from coalescing. The topic itself was very important but I’d like to see some more concise and current-day discourse since we’re really, despite what the article says, not in ancient Greece any more.

       Added: I tried to make a post earlier but it didn’t appear. Maybe it triggered a keyword filter. Hmm, the keyword may have been a**h**** taken from the article title.

       Reply ↓
12. The Rev Kev July 7, 2026 at 10:10 am

    “Ukrainian Authorities Panic as Patriots Run Out Amidst Russian Ballistic Frenzy”

    ‘Major weapons production facilities were said to be hit, and some claim even stored Pac-3 interceptors for the Patriot system were amongst the targets, though this is unverified. The secondary explosions certainly pointed to some sort of munitions being struck’

    I wonder about the origin of those Pac-3 interceptors and where they came from. Why? A huge scandal has blown up in Poland-

    ‘The parliamentary opposition in Poland has demanded answers from the government of Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk after reports of a secret delivery of in-demand Patriot air defense missiles to Ukraine.

    On Saturday, several Polish social media accounts, including prominent blogger Pawel Sokala, claimed that the authorities in Warsaw had handed over a batch of US-made PAC3 interceptors to Kiev in March without announcing it publicly or consulting with parliament.’

    https://www.rt.com/news/642592-poland-ukraine-patriot-us/

    And now the Polish military has been stripped of these vital missiles and replacements from the US may be years away. Bonus points because the Poles are having very bitter relations with the Ukrainians right now.

    Reply ↓
    1. ChrisFromGA July 7, 2026 at 10:27 am

       I was reading on MoA that Poland also gave away their last 14 MiG fighters to the green T-shirt, in exchange for some vague promises to share drone tech.

       The Poles probably think they’re just cleaning out the boneyard of those older generation fighters, relying on an illusory promise from Taco to replace them with shiny new F-16s or F-35s. But I would be careful if I were a Polish air force general, those newer US jets may never come. They might want to consider my trademarked description of the Trump administration:

       The Lying Liars who lie, lie, lie! ™

       Reply ↓
       1. vao July 7, 2026 at 11:04 am

          This is perhaps why the Poles ordered 48 airplanes model FA-50 from South Korea.

          Reply ↓
          1. PlutoniumKun July 7, 2026 at 12:36 pm

             The stated reason for the FA-50 purchase is that Korea can deliver much faster than any other provider of combat aircraft. Polands Su-22 trainer/light ground attack fleet was basically unusable – the last one was withdrawn from service last year. The Mig-29’s are probably too expensive to keep in the air now due to lack of parts supply. The Poles left buying their replacement way too late, so they had a choice of either paying pilots to sit around for 10 years waiting for a new aircraft, or go Korean.

             The ‘unstated’ reason for buying Korean is that it gives the Poles future leverage in either purchasing American or getting involved in one of the surviving Gen 6 European projects. They could go for the Korean Boromae, or keep purchasing F-35’s, or try something different. There is also increasing interest in any two seater aircraft now as they have more potential than single seaters for adoption for one of any number of new loyal wingmen projects. Either way, Lockheed wins, as it has a significant role in the Korea designs.

             Reply ↓
             1. AG July 7, 2026 at 2:25 pm

                How independent from the US is SK arms industry anyway?
                Isn´t it just a different “branch” of US MIC?

                I´m also thinking of those 500 tanks Poland ordered from “SK”.
                Considering geography – do SK tanks make sense in European /RU theatres?

                Reply ↓
                1. vao July 7, 2026 at 2:43 pm

                   500 tanks? More like 180 tanks model K2 imported from South Korea plus 820 or so to be manufactured under license in Poland.

                   Poland also ordered 364 self-propelled howitzers model K9 from South Korea — and already received 212 of them.

                   I do not know what the Poles are thinking, but they sure want to beef up their army with lots of traditional heavy equipment fast — something the USA and other European countries are just incapable of.

                   Reply ↓
                   1. AG July 7, 2026 at 3:56 pm

                      Yes, I think it was as you say. I did remember a large figure…

                      This was one of those news items: DER SPIEGEL´s PR piece from almost exactly 4 years ago, stating 1000 tanks altogether (Gosh, I just love the EU):

                      Fear of Russia

                      Poland orders a thousand tanks and dozens of fighter jets from South Korea
                      Poland is to receive around a thousand battle tanks, around 650 howitzers and 48 combat aircraft from South Korea. The country is preparing for the worst-case scenario.

                      July 27, 2022

                      “(…)Against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine, Poland is continuing to build up its military. On Wednesday, Defense Minister Mariusz Błaszczak signed framework agreements for the large-scale delivery and production of heavy military equipment from South Korea. The agreements provide for Poland to receive around 1,000 main battle tanks, approximately 650 howitzers, and 48 fighter jets. Neither side disclosed the total value of the arms deal.(…)”

                      https://www.spiegel.de/ausland/polen-bestellt-tausend-panzer-und-dutzende-kampfflugzeuge-in-suedkorea-a-a7b19a7d-ed38-4d2b-a45f-f3cfa349894f

                      machine-transl.
                      https://archive.is/c3eKV

                      Reply ↓
       2. dearieme July 7, 2026 at 1:05 pm

          I read that the US armed forces have recently accepted delivery of F35s without radars.

          This is Britain’s chance to sell the F-35Bs we bought for our absurd aircraft carriers – which were built solely to provide jobs in Gordon Brown’s parliamentary constituency. Then we should sell the carriers if anyone is interested. India, maybe? Or, thinking more creatively, Russia?

          Reply ↓
13. AG July 7, 2026 at 10:20 am

    re: Jerusalem vs. Palestinians – letter

    This comment from fb-feed.

    Hope it´s ok to post it. It seemed short enough.

    Below an older letter to the NYT by Palestinian historian Mike Hanini Odetalla.

    His old Web 1.0 site
    https://hanini.org/

    “(…)
    A few years before his death in 2016, Elie Wiesel took out a full page ad in the NY Times to publish his “musings” on Jerusalem in opposition of Palestinians…Below was my response which was sent to him and the Times:

    Dear Elie Wiesel: My Response to Your “Musings” on Jerusalem

    By Mike Odetalla

    Dear Elie,

    After reading your “musings” on Jerusalem, published in a costly full-page advertisement in The New York Times and elsewhere, I felt compelled to respond—not as an abstraction, not as a political slogan, but as a son of Jerusalem.
    Jerusalem, Al-Quds—“The Holy”—is not a mythical place to me. It is the city of my birth and the city of my forefathers. My connection to it is not built on legend, propaganda, or selective memory. It is rooted in lived truth.
    While your mother may have sung you lullabies about Jerusalem, I took my first steps as a child within its sacred walls, near the grounds of Al-Aqsa. For me, returning to Jerusalem is not symbolism. It is homecoming—though Israel has made even that simple act painfully difficult.
    You wrote that Jerusalem is not about real estate, but about memory. But for Palestinians, it has always been about both. It is about homes taken, families expelled, neighborhoods erased, villages emptied, graves made unreachable, and keys still held by refugees who were never allowed to return.
    When my children visit Jerusalem and Palestine, they are not visiting a myth. They are walking the land of their ancestors. They can see it in the graves of their forefathers, in the olive trees planted generations ago, in the stones, hills, soil, and memories that no political power can erase.
    You claimed that Jews, Christians, and Muslims may freely worship at their shrines, and that all may build homes anywhere in the city. That statement is not merely misleading—it is painfully false.
    Millions of Palestinian Christians and Muslims have been cut off from Jerusalem by walls, checkpoints, permits, closures, and a system designed to restrict their movement. Many Palestinians can see Jerusalem from their homes yet cannot reach it. Palestinian families are routinely denied building permits, while homes are demolished and entire communities are pressured, displaced, or erased.
    You also wrote as though violence for Jerusalem was alien to Zionism. But Palestinian history tells another story: Deir Yassin, Lifta, and countless other villages bear witness to what was done to create and expand the state that now claims exclusive moral ownership over the land.
    My grandmother’s village of Lifta still overlooks Jerusalem, its emptied homes standing as testimony. My grandmother’s grave lies near Damascus Gate, within sight of the Old City walls and the Dome of the Rock, yet many of her descendants cannot freely visit and pray there.
    So no, Mr. Wiesel, Jerusalem is not merely about memory. It is about land, power, dispossession, access, and justice. It is about who is allowed to live, build, pray, return, and belong.
    Instead of dwelling only in ancient claims, look at what is being done in the present. An entire people is being denied dignity, freedom, and home while myths are used to excuse realities that should shame every person of conscience.
    Jerusalem does not belong to propaganda. It does not belong to empire. It does not belong to those who erase others in order to claim it.
    It belongs to its people—all of them.
    And Palestinians are not ghosts in someone else’s story. We are the living sons and daughters of that land.

    Mike Odetalla

    A proud true son of Jerusalem
    (…)”

    Reply ↓
14. AG July 7, 2026 at 10:35 am

    re: 4th of July
    
    Eugene Debs: Excerpts from his 4th of 1901 July Speech in Chicago:
    
    via a Eugene Debs Foundation Site

    https://debsfoundation.org/

    “(…)
    “I like the 4th of July. It breathes a spirit of revolution. On this day we reaffirm the ultimate triumph of socialism. It is coming as certain as I stand in your presence.”
    “A little over a century ago the inhabitants of this country were not citizens. They were ruled by a foreign king. They petitioned for relief. Their petitions were disregarded. They objected to taxation without representation. Their protests were scorned. Finally they revolted. They issued the Declaration of Independence and enunciated the proposition that men are created equal. But the founders of this republic had only vague conceptions of democracy. The working class as we understand it today were not represented in the Constitutional Convention. The founders of the republic in declaring that men were created equal evidently meant themselves alone. They did not include the negro, who had been brought here against his will and had been reduced to a state of abject slavery. The institution of chattel slavery was already securely established at that time. It was founded in iniquity, yet it did not seemingly disturb the consciences of the founders of the republic. This institution was in conflict with the spirit of the Declaration, with the genius of free institutions, and yet it was incorporated in them. It steadily grew in power, and in course of time it controlled the country and the courts and the life of the people.”
    “On this day, commemorating the 4th of July, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was issued. Thousands of orators all over this broad land will glorify the institutions under which we live. In pride they will point toward Old Glory and declare that it is a flag that waves over a free country. In these modern days we hear very much about that flag and about the institutions over which it waves. I am not of those who worship the flag. I have no respect for the stars and stripes, or for any other flag that symbolizes slavery. It does not matter to me what others may think, say, or do. I propose to preserve the integrity of my soul. I will give you a transcript of my mind and tell you precisely what I think. Not very long ago the President of the country [William McKinley], in the attitude of mock heroics, asked who would haul down the flag. I will tell him. Triumphant socialism will haul down that flag and every other that symbolizes capitalist class rule and wage slavery. I am a patriot, but in the sense that I love all countries. I love the sentiment of William L. Garrison: “All the world is my country and all mankind are my countrymen.” Thomas Jefferson once said: “Where liberty is, is my country.” That is good. Thomas Paine said: “Where liberty is honored, that is my country.” That is better. Where liberty is not, socialism has a mission, and, therefore, the mission of socialism is as wide as the world.”
    (…)”

    p.s. A rather dumbed down entertainment take of a critical view of July 4th is this odd animation feature for kids I assume as an anachronistic biopic-spoof of Washington, mixing in all kinds of movie quotes above all, sigh, Star Wars with King James as an “Emperor” and Benedict Arnold as a “Darth Vader” with the ability to turn into a werewolf, (yes…).

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America%3A_The_Motion_Picture

    “(…)Netflix released America: The Motion Picture in streaming on June 30, 2021.[3][4] It received generally negative reviews from film critics, who criticized it as being unfunny.(…)”

    Since it´s 250 years annivers. and it´s so overly strange I thought I call attention to it.

    It does have the merit of not taking anything part of the memory culture all too seriously…or tea for that matter…

    Reply ↓
    1. ddt July 7, 2026 at 3:21 pm

       Thanks for this and the previous post AG

       Reply ↓
15. Camelotkidd July 7, 2026 at 10:56 am

    “The “Middle Class” was a 50-year fluke designed to prevent a communist revolution during the Cold War. Now that the threat is gone, the elites are systematically dismantling it. You aren’t “falling behind”; you’re being pushed back into the peasantry.”
    The owners of the US hated the New Deal and set out to overturn it. The end of the USSR gave them the opportunity
    “There is no alternative”

    Reply ↓
    1. Mikel July 7, 2026 at 11:32 am

       And the USA refuses to see that the USSR especially jumped the shark when they tried to automate the administration of their economy.

       Reply ↓
    2. Henry Moon Pie July 7, 2026 at 11:59 am

       Agreed, and even the “fluke” itself was a strategy to defang the militant, self-reliant labor movement of the pre-Wagner Act 1930s. As Doug Rushkoff (spot cut) argued in his book, Life, Inc., the suburbs and “the American Dream” were an anti-Communist strategy. As one of the Leavitt brothers, builders of the Leavittowns, said,

       No man who owns his own house and lot can be a Communist. He has too much to do.

       Now, I’ll quote myself:

       So those who blame the New Left or the 60s counterculture for the demise of the Left, and they are many, have it wrong. The Left they think they remember died years before there was an SDS. It died not because of sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll, but because of the bowl of porridge offered by the Levitts with the complicity (VA loans, FHA, etc.) of the late New Deal.

       Reply ↓
       1. Mikel July 7, 2026 at 1:08 pm

          I don’t know why this song popped into my head after reading your comment.
          It’s a pop song (with R&B groove) from the mid 2010s and even if not a pop music fan, I thought the lyrics were fun.

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y–K1_isHY0&list=RDy–K1_isHY0&start_radio=1/
          Dance Miserable

          Reply ↓
16. Christian B July 7, 2026 at 11:24 am

    BREAKING: President Trump says Walmart, $WMT, has informed him that they will be lowering prices “by a lot” at his request to celebrate the 250th birthday of the United States.

    Finally! A socialist President!

    Reply ↓
    1. In Cold Chud July 7, 2026 at 12:21 pm

       He periodically does these things to look like he’s strong-arming (you know, because he’s STRONG) business on behalf of The American People. He gets some minor concessions he can wave around (or just lie about), that change very little. Remember this?

       https://www.wfyi.org/public-affairs/2020-11-01/four-years-later-trump-carrier-deal-doesnt-slow-offshoring-as-some-had-hoped

       Still, an example is an example–

       I would argue that this is a small but important part of why liberals hate him. Mostly it’s because he just gleefully exposes the underlying ugliness of everything, but occasionally he provides a momentary, accidental glimpse of what might be possible. It doesn’t take a prodigious imagination to say, “Hey, wait a minute, what if someone acting in good faith, with something like a functional adult attention span, and a competent bureaucracy behind them, tried something like this?”

       Of course that is the kind of thing that is simply not done.

       Reply ↓
       1. dearieme July 7, 2026 at 1:09 pm

          “and a competent bureaucracy behind them” Such satire!

          Reply ↓
       2. Dr. John Carpenter July 7, 2026 at 4:10 pm

          Bingo. It really blows the whole idea that the Dems hands are tied when the literal-cheeto-putin-puppet-moronic-self-centered-lazy (am I forgetting anything?) Trump does something that looks useful, no matter how small. (And, yes, yes, I’ll believe it when I see it, and I doubt I will. But the Dems can’t even be bothered to give empty promises anymore, let alone material results.)

          Reply ↓
    2. motorslug July 7, 2026 at 5:20 pm

       It might have carried a bit more socialist weight if he had forced the Walton family to give 10% of their combined wealth and matching 10% from Malwart profits to food pantries across the US.

       Reply ↓
17. Craig H. July 7, 2026 at 11:37 am

    OpenAI Is Starting To Crack YouTube. resilc: ” OpenAI wants a government bailout – NATIONAL SECURITY

    One thing I have not seen broadcasted. The pentagon generals appear convinced AI is mission critical. Once they got over that hump OpenAI and Anthropic were too big to fail. There might be a lot of people you would never have thought living on beans and rice and oatmeal before this all blows over.

    Reply ↓
    1. ChrisFromGA July 7, 2026 at 11:47 am

       IIRC OpenAI has a governance structure that is quite problematic for operating as a public company. I don’t know what they’ve done to address that; and rumors of an IPO seem to be just that, merely rumors to keep the CNBC crowd herded into other AI names.

       All that is to say that I can see them deciding to forgo the IPO route and let the company become some sort of nationalized defense entity. Perhaps the bailout will take the form of an appropriations rider in the DoD funding bill, essentially sucking them into the defense budget. Passed on a voice vote 2 days before the Christmas holiday, of course.

       Reply ↓
18. Hickory July 7, 2026 at 11:48 am

    Thank you for the daily links.

    fYI, the story about chinese discounting claude tokens does not link to the right article.

    Reply ↓
    1. Henry Moon Pie July 7, 2026 at 6:05 pm

       Give us this day our Daily Links.

       And for Prof Hudson’s sake, forgive debts, not sins. ;)

       Reply ↓
       1. Jonathan Holland Becnel July 7, 2026 at 6:49 pm

          PLAY BALL

          🇺🇸 🫡

          Reply ↓
19. Es s Ce Tera July 7, 2026 at 12:31 pm

    Re: A University Degree is No Longer Worth It Global Geopolitics

    Once upon a time people like myself went to university not for the employment or salary prospects but for genuine love of learning and for the subjects we studied. And for myself, studying philosophy was never ever going to increase my employment prospects HOWEVER, it did give me skills which have served me in good stead, given me an edge throughout my entire career in the corporate world. But in any case, for the vast majority of disciplines a university degree was never supposed to be practical or tied to occupation, that was what college was for. That was once upon a time.

    Reply ↓
    1. lyman alpha blob July 7, 2026 at 12:51 pm

       Indeed. The former CFO of a company I’m familiar with happened to attend the same college I did and remarked to me a dozen or so years ago that people like us went to college to learn things for their own sake, not as a springboard to a job.

       Not long after that, our local superintendent made the risible statement that our high school would henceforth be preparing kids for the jobs of the future, jobs that didn’t even exist yet. Preparing kids for vague, inchoate, undetermined future jobs seemed a tall order to me, but as NC readers are aware, the PMC types are often not the sharpest tools in the box. That same superintendent did implement a completely b*llsh*t digital grading system which went over with students, parents and teachers like a lead balloon, and shortly after foisting that Edsel of a software system on the schools, she left her position to go work for the grading software company directly.

       Capitalism is so far past its sell by date. Can we try something different yet?

       Reply ↓
       1. ambrit July 7, 2026 at 1:03 pm

          Alas, getting rid of Capitalism will require the “getting rid of” the top tier capitalists.
          The Class War is getting increasingly ‘kinetic.’
          “Saint Luigi, defend us in class war. Be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the Capitalists. May the People rebuke them we humbly pray, and do thou, o Prince of the Righteous hosts by the power of the People thrust into H— the Capitalists and all the evil PMCs, who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of the People. Amen.”

          Reply ↓
          1. Milton July 7, 2026 at 7:13 pm

             Well Forbes puts out a nice list of those that need to be escorted off this earthly plane. We can start with them.

             Reply ↓
       2. LifelongLib July 7, 2026 at 3:54 pm

          The only way to “prepar[e] kids for the jobs of the future” is to give the kids the best general education possible now so they’ll have the basis to acquire the specific (and entirely unpredictable) skills they’ll need then. Otherwise it’s a crapshoot that most will lose. That, and have, you know, actual jobs…

          Reply ↓
          1. Henry Moon Pie July 7, 2026 at 6:42 pm

             I’m thinking hunting, fishing, plant ID (without the app) and jujitsu for good measure.

             Reply ↓
20. Es s Ce Tera July 7, 2026 at 12:39 pm

    Re: “The cost of heat: Why Europe’s economy is melting
    From damaged roads to soaring power prices, scorching summer weather is exacting a heavy economic toll on the EU“

    I hope someone over there steps onto one of those aforementioned roads, experiences the radiant heat reflection, and lo, comes to the realization that perhaps roads are precisely part of the problem, a reason for climate change, one of the causes of the heatwave.

    Reply ↓
    1. In Cold Chud July 7, 2026 at 3:54 pm

       I see a possible solution to the natural gas import shortfall mentioned in today’s Iran war discussion. They could retool all the arms production they’re supposedly ramping up (to prevent/ensure nukage by Bad Vlad), and instead make a giant paper bag to hold all of the hot air until next winter!

       Reply ↓
21. ambrit July 7, 2026 at 12:53 pm

    Concerning the Big Brother is Watching tweet.
    Do the EU rules concerning access to the internet in Europe affect the rest of the world?
    The mentioned ‘Digital ID’ is the Panopticon. It will be the tool that ushers in “Total Information Control.”
    When a right falls in the Digital Forest and no one has access to that information…..

    Reply ↓
    1. Dornbirn Panther July 7, 2026 at 1:22 pm

       The Davos crowd certainly intends for it to eventually be that way. UK and Australia already have mandatory ID for social media, an ID for general internet use is the next logical step.

       The EU is a great vehicle for this initiative since it’s immune to popular will. Once this becomes standard across Europe and other assorted nations the calls to make it a universal standard will be deafening. I hope the Americans will fight it hard, as one of the few nations who could resist and even push against it, but I’m not confident the general populace will understand what’s at stake.

       Reply ↓
22. Tony Wikrent July 7, 2026 at 1:42 pm

    Saw this last night – would dearly love for it to be true, but I have not yet found any corroborating reports online. Anyone else seen anything about this?

    Pope Leo XIV Just Took On the World’s Richest Men — And They’re Furious (YouTube Video)

    What happens when Pope Leo XIV openly challenges the influence of the world’s wealthiest elites? In this powerful story, we explore the bold statements, growing tensions, and the global reaction that has everyone talking.

    Why are billionaires furious? What message is Pope Leo XIV sending to the powerful? And how could this reshape the future of faith, economics, and moral leadership in the modern world?

    Reply ↓
    1. Henry Moon Pie July 7, 2026 at 9:00 pm

       From Fortune.

       I hope the Pope sees 2027. And I hope the 4 excommunicated bishops of the Latin Mass wing don’t help the Pentagon carry out its Avignon threat.

       Reply ↓
       1. The Rev Kev July 7, 2026 at 9:22 pm

          It would make a great Tom Clancy-like thriller. The Pentagon has a rival Catholic Church base setup on the Potomac when the present American pope refuses to play ball. Local American Catholic Bishops are forced to go along with it – or else. The President crowns the new American rival Pope. There is a precedent for this in what the US did in the Ukraine. A special forces raid into the Vatican to kidnap the Pope goes wrong when they encounter Swiss Guards who not only know how to use halberds but also sub-machine guns. Hilarity ensues. You could call this new thriller “Vatican on the Potomac.” It’s got a ring to it.

          Reply ↓
23. Jason Boxman July 7, 2026 at 4:07 pm

    Abandoned by Allies, Platner Faces Pressure to End Senate Campaign

    What’s most interesting is democrat consultants and politicians do not care about rape. Period. Clinton. Biden. It’s totally ok.

    What matters is how you regard the donor class and their favored policies. All other transgressions are okay.

    Reply ↓
    1. MH July 7, 2026 at 4:33 pm

       There is a bit more there there with Clinton if for no other reason than he was such a ridiculous horndog that could make a rockstar blush. The Biden accusation always seemed suspect to me because there wasn’t any other smoke surrounding Biden except for a single accuser. SA is a lot like drunk driving, the first accusation of wrong doing is rarely the first time. This Platner accusation is even more suspect because the accuser was interviewed just a few months ago on the topic of Platner and said nothing about SA. The article didn’t produce any other women stepping forward to accuse Platner of wrongdoing, which I would expect if Platner had a history of mistreating women. Instead we get a woman we already heard from changing her story. If Platner was truly as vile as the stenographers for the Epstein class are saying there should’ve been at least a few woman who stepped forward after the first article.

       Reply ↓
       1. amfortas July 7, 2026 at 7:31 pm

          i rescued a young woman(17, when i was 18) from a pay phone, because she had nowhere to go…crazy abusive mother, and the latters crazy abusive and powerful ex husband, the girls dad.
          i took her from the side of the road, and brought her to my friends place, and kept her safe.
          her daddy was thereby dissed, and “called the dogs” upon me, and i spent the next 2 years being chased by cops, accused of kidnapping and rape and white slavery…and i had zero recourse…and then i spent the next 8 years on the road, running from that.
          kissed her once, years before all this.
          and yes, she jumped my bones years later,lol.

          but this experience, and how it essentially ruined my life, for a time….and my psyche for much longer,lol…is why these sorts of accusations should be tried in fucking COURT!
          as flawed as all that is.
          i mean, it was a mere accusation by the girls father that sent my life into a tailspin.
          no evidence was required, at all.
          and i had been the perfect knight errant in that case.
          damsel in distress, etc.
          perfect gentleman.
          doing what i thought my civilisation required of me in that situation.
          but i dissed a powerful local lord, and all that was out the window.
          (this was almost 40 years ago)

          Reply ↓
          1. Henry Moon Pie July 7, 2026 at 8:35 pm

             Your behavior in that circumstance cannot be tolerated. People are not allowed to show empathy, much less act on it. What you do in the feed store is rebuilding a sense of camaraderie that the push for individualism and consumerism has been gnawing at since I was watching “Howdy Doody.” That’s not quick or easy work. Maybe dire circumstances will improve the ground for sowing some solidarity.

             I’ve brought it up before, but you seem to have gotten “Tangled Up in Blue.”

             Reply ↓
       2. Jason Boxman July 7, 2026 at 9:46 pm

          Biden denies sexual assault allegation: ‘This never happened’ (Fox station)

          Who knows

          Pressure has mounted on Biden to release his papers from his Senate days, which some say could shed light on the allegation. Those papers are at the University of Delaware and will not be made publicly available until two years after Biden leaves public life.

          The university said this week it is still curating the collection of documents, a process expected to last into the spring of 2021. Therefore, a university spokesperson said Thursday, it cannot identify what documents and files can be found in the collection.

          Biden says his papers at the university do not contain personnel files. But, he said, personnel files from the Senate during those days would be kept at the National Archives.

          “I am requesting that the Secretary of the Senate ask the Archives to identify any record of the complaint she alleges she filed and make available to the press any such document. If there was ever any such complaint, the record will be there,” Biden said.

          Biden also said on MSNBC that the his papers at the University of Delaware will remain sealed because they could become political “fodder” during his presidential campaign.

          I suppose we ought to look forward to their release in the upcoming future.

          Reply ↓
          1. MH July 8, 2026 at 2:49 am

             Most likely there is nothing in his Senate papers to show anything one way or the other, no matter what some say.

             Reply ↓
    2. chuck roast July 7, 2026 at 7:08 pm

       As an ex-Maineiac this is very painful to see. I escaped my bad-boy phase with nary a scratch, not so Platner. I’m reminded of the Clash lines, “Daddy was a bank robber, he never hurt nobody…” The boy crossed the line, and he has to do the right thing. Onward.

       Reply ↓
24. flora July 7, 2026 at 4:23 pm

    re:
    “WE HERE KEEP SAYING IT: THE SOVIET UNION WAS THE BEST FRIEND PEOPLE IN THE US EVER HAD. WITH IT GONE, SO ARE YOUR LIVING STANDARDS. ”

    Old joke:

    Communism didn’t catch on in the US because the US is (was) already a worker’s paradise.

    (Old joke, very old joke.)

    Reply ↓
25. flora July 7, 2026 at 4:34 pm

    A little heat wave history. From the 1930’s.

    The 1936 North American Heat Wave

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1936_North_American_heat_wave

    The temps recorded were thermometer temps, not heat-index temps which would have been higher with the summer humidity.

    Reply ↓
    1. Henry Moon Pie July 7, 2026 at 6:38 pm

       That’s the year my grandparents talked about. More heat, more dust, more drought like the preceding two summers, but in their minds, the worst was ’36.

       And the causes of this continent-wide catastrophe included the thoughtless, Mammon-loving system that distributed what had been Native lands of prairie grasses, whose deep roots retained the scarce moisture of the semi-arid land, preventing dust storms, to farmers who unknowingly–but they didn’t really ask–destroyed a vast ecosystem with spinoff effects across North America. At the time, the Roosevelt Administration did not call dust storms a “hoax,” nor did they counsel caution for the sake of the economy or “freedom.” FDR listened to respected experts, not paid liars, and instituted a wide range of policies to create a huge Shelterbelt the length of the Plains from north to south, and that stopped the dust storms, the Sahara-like heat and bought back some rain, though it as still semi-arid–unless irrigated by water from some aquifer, but that’s another story about the stupidity and greed of the Capitalist system.

       Reply ↓
       1. Henry Moon Pie July 7, 2026 at 6:45 pm

          Forgot the link to Shelterbelt.

          Reply ↓
          1. amfortas July 7, 2026 at 7:38 pm

             ive got a couple of trees from all that, still here on the place…dont know what they are, but thats what the oldtimers told me they were…shit trees given to them by the gubmit during the dust bowl.
             relatively easy to keep in their place…ie: not real invasive.(so far)

             Reply ↓
    2. amfortas July 7, 2026 at 7:34 pm

       wheres Wuk? he usually posts stuff like this.
       (and will y’all notice when i am gone?…ducks and bar cats dont have an opinion, apparently)

       Reply ↓
       1. tegnost July 7, 2026 at 7:42 pm

          yeah,wuks been missing for a few weeks, we can only hope it’s for a good reason…

          Reply ↓
          1. jonboinAR July 7, 2026 at 8:36 pm

             Yes, that has disturbed me slightly for a long time regarding our connections to each other on these forums. Through commenting, style, content, interactions, We feel like we get to know each other a bit. We develop likes, expectations, have surprises, disagreements, just like in other human interactions, especially over time. But the general internet format, the way we use “handles” to keep our personal distance, our wide ranging geographical separation (world wide) ensures that we never know each other at all beyond the little bit we share on the forum. That indicates to others here a speck of our personality, character and political views, but that’s it. We know basically nothing of each other’s lives. We know more about Amfortas, more about Wuk than we do of most, because they share a little bit, but still so very little.

             So when a NC character like Craazyman (very funny guy) goes away , as he did several years ago, who knows where he went, what happened to him. One doesn’t even notice, probably, for a few weeks. He may get mentioned, or publicly here wondered about, or not. Basically, he’s just gone.

             Speaking of various commenters now not commenting, what about someone who’s handle I can’t even recall, somehow I think she was of Polish descent (by her handle?). She seemed to be in Texas, also seemed to be indigent or have an unstable situation. She was very erudite. When she disappeared from here, it may have been months before I noticed. Did anyone else? In any case, I wonder about her, too.

             I know Yves used to have meet-ups when she lived here in the states and was able to organize something like that. I wish I could have made one, but didn’t. Maybe someone else could organize that. I don’t want to suggest that really, because, because of my particular circumstances, I probably wouldn’t be able to go.

             Anyway, check in Wuk! We require some patented Wuk puns and song-parodies, but mainly to know you’re okay!

             Reply ↓
    3. Milton July 7, 2026 at 7:59 pm

       Because of severe drought conditions prevalent throughout the entire Midwest, heat indices were at the recorded temperature or below it. Dewpoints were on the dry side; rarely reaching above 60°. In fact, modern heatwaves like 1995, 2011, and the recent one just occurring had heat indices much higher than what occurred in ’36 (temps of 115-130 degrees were recorded). 1936 was an anomaly, exasperated by damaging farming practices. Our modern climate is the new, ever-changing normal that will get increasing moist and hot.

       Reply ↓
26. AG July 7, 2026 at 4:42 pm

    re: EU vs. privacy

    This Thursday the EU Parliament can well agree to surveillance of online/mobile communication – in bad EU-lingo: “chat control”.

    The first hearing today went through.
    Most MEPs are already on vacation and don´t care at all.

    Insane.

    German MEPs Martin Sonneborn and Sybille Berg are trying their best to call attentiont to it and stop the madness.

    German TWEET:
    https://x.com/MartinSonneborn/status/2074446479335260570

    Reply ↓
27. Mikel July 7, 2026 at 6:18 pm

    A follow up that points to an official announcement:

    https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/7/6/hamas-announces-dissolution-of-gaza-governing-body/
    The Palestinian group Hamas has announced the dissolution of the body that has governed Gaza for nearly two decades, paving the way for a technocratic committee to implement civilian rule in the war-ravaged, besieged territory.

    The move on Monday marks a significant political shift by Hamas, which has governed Gaza since its fighters seized control from rival Palestinian movement Fatah in 2007 after Hamas won legislative elections the previous year.

    Reply ↓
28. chuck roast July 7, 2026 at 7:12 pm

    The next financial crisis may start in your shopping cart

    Nicely done. Of course! Private equity mates with buy now-pay later. A marriage made in hell. Can’t wait to see the spawn. Oh, wait…PE does its own valuation. Nothing can possible go sideways.

    Reply ↓
29. Jason Boxman July 7, 2026 at 9:41 pm

    In the market for new distance glasses; the cost of my previous titanium frames doubled from two years ago.

    America is going great!

    Reply ↓
30. AG July 7, 2026 at 11:30 pm

    re: Kiev attacks

    Mark Sleboda in his latest with Jamarl Thomas quotes so far pure rumours from Ukrainian sources that one missile hit a facility apparently containing enriched uranium which now could contaminate that part of the city.

    Video #1
    TC 10:00-13:00
    https://marksleboda.substack.com/p/the-liberation-of-konstantinovkakiev

    Reply ↓