Dorm Life Forever? The Problem with Micro-Living JSTOR (Micael T)
This spray-on powder can stop life-threatening bleeding in 1 second Science Daily (Kevin W)
Climate/Environment
Record sea temperatures in June push world into ‘uncharted’ waters Financial Times
Scientists fear seabird die-off as El Niño looms: ‘We don’t know how bad this will get’ Guardian
Plankton Decline Across the North East Atlantic Signals Failing Ocean Health Eco Magazine
In India’s Mountains, Climate Change Is Rewriting the Map of Disease Health Policy Watch
‘We are screwed’: People near data centers dread heat wave pollution Politico
Extreme weather is affecting AI: global AI data centers face threats from extreme heat Gelonghui Finance
China?
China’s housing market free-falls as buyers wait for floor prices Asia Times
Why the West Still Can’t Decode China’s Rise Arnaud Bertrand, Beijing Review (Chuck L)
China Second-Half Outlook: AI Supercycle Cuts Into the K-Shaped Economy Citigroup
Exclusive-Inside Taiwan’s nightmare scenario: Chinese blockade, earthquake, sabotage and invasion Global Banking and Finance
Japan
Traders Plot Worst-Case Scenario for Yen If Crisis Hits Japan Times
Africa
Record number of people displaced into neighbouring countries as Sudan conflict marks three years Oxfam
Expanding conflict drives record hunger in northern Nigeria Arab News
South of the Border
Cubans face endless blackouts, collapsing salaries and empty shops – but they’re refusing to give up Sky
Israel makes another move on the westrrn hemishere Venezualanalysis (Robin K)
‘It was a massacre’: Haiti gangs carry out mass killings across the country Guardian
European Disunion
EU Court of Justice allows criminal prosecution for reposting RT videos — judgement TASS. Micael T: “We must go to war with Putler to defend our freedom to criminal prosecution for listening to other news!”
German workers banned from taking sick leave without a medical note in tough reforms. Independent
Not everyone can act like sick ministers Aftonbladet via machine translation. Micael T: “About sickness benefit day. If you fall ill you deduct a certain percentage from you salary for 1-many days. Not ministers though. The rules of neoliberalism in action.”
Old Blighty
Keir Starmer suggests Andy Burnham borrow billions for defence Guardian (Kevin W)
Bank of England to push ahead with plan to limit hedge fund leverage Financial Times
Bankers and unions set for clash over possible Burnham tax raid on UK banks Guardian
Exclusive: British Museum made false claims about its removal of ‘Palestine’ from displays Middle East Eye
Balkans
Flamingos, Jared Kushner, and Albania’s fight against Trump’s Resorts openDemocracy (Robin K)
Israel v. The Resistance
🔴The IDF's Yellow Line in Gaza has shifted again, despite the so-called "ceasefire." Since it came into effect, the IDF's effective control has expanded from 53% to up to 70% of the Gaza Strip. Almost all of Gaza’s population is forced into less than a third of its territory🧵 pic.twitter.com/iOUCvHYpvQ
— Breaking the Silence (@BtSIsrael) July 2, 2026
Explaining the Numbers in Gaza Karen Kwaitkowski. Important. A well-supported analysis that concludes that “well over a million” Gazans have died in Israel’s genocide.
Jewish-American orthopedic surgeon Dr. Mark Perlmutter, says he witnessed the aftermath of Israeli soldiers tying two Palestinian children’s hands behind their backs and burying them alive at Nasser Hospital, their cries silenced beneath the dirt. pic.twitter.com/UZbl4IXzzc
— Ramy Abdu| رامي عبده (@RamAbdu) July 1, 2026
Israel Exposed War Crimes Archive (guurst)
CENTCOM states that this air defense coordination cell was established in January, but it's worth noting that by January of 2025 (not 2026), this regional construct was already having meetings at Fort Campbell. In fact, this coordination cell with Arab nations began forming back… https://t.co/2ZiM63p4S9 pic.twitter.com/LaiQFlKC9s
— barry with the NED (@bonzerbarry) July 1, 2026
Palestinian goalkeeper killed by Israel in Gaza as Fifa faces fresh calls to act Middle East Eye (resilc)
* * * ⚓️ Something Stupid This Way Comes
The USS Boxer has finally arrived, carrying another Marine Expeditionary Unit to augment the MEU attached to the USS Tripoli.
Including US Army units in the region, the US now has maybe 10k combat effectives with which to do something stupid. https://t.co/VzdXUjiuwO
— Will Schryver (@imetatronink) July 1, 2026
* * * The Grand Bargain Is Ending Brandon Weichert
How Florida’s Cuban Diaspora and the Israeli Lobby Came Together — and Are Coming Apart Intercept (resilc)
Huckabee: Israel ‘the 436th congressional district’ of US Responsible Statecraft (Kevin W)
Russia and China were quietly taking over helium markets. Then Iran blew them up for everyone else Kevin Walmsley (guurst)
From Mohamed A-Bukhai @kwnn_yemen on Twitter (hat tip Chuck L). Twitter not allowing embedding “Visibility limited: this Post may violate X’s rules against Violent Speech”. Click through for full tweet.
Translated from ArabicFinal Warning Message to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia:
This is the last chance, and it cannot tolerate any delay or hesitation. Our people’s patience has run out, and there is no longer room for the situation to continue as it is….
Saudi Arabia is evading the obligations of peace in Yemen and is blaming Washington, claiming that our support and stance on Gaza is the reason for the obstruction
We say clearly: Our options are open, and we will not stand idly by if Washington and Riyadh continue this maneuvering
To everyone who takes measures to restrict our people in their livelihood, the equation of bank for bank, airport for airport, and port for port has not been canceled, and this game will not continue, and our people will not submit to economic blackmail and will confront and thwart all conspiracies
We will impose the equation of an eye for an eye and a siege for a siege
And airport for airportWe warn you: Saudi airspace is approaching complete closure 🔥
New Not-So-Cold War
John Mearsheimer: The End of Russian Restraint & New U.S. Grand Strategy Glenn Diesen, YouTube
John Helmer: Ukraine Is Becoming a FIRING PLATFORM WITHOUT Any People Dialogue Works, YouTube
The NY Times Lies About Russian and Ukrainian Casualties Sonar 21 (Kevin W)
Imperial Collapse Watch
Text – S.4367 – 119th Congress (2025-2026): Hot Rotisserie Chicken Act Library of Congress (resilc)
TRUMP’S $1BN CRYPTO FORTUNE, VANCE-TRUMP RIFT & TUCKER TO MAKE OWN PARTY — w/ Robert Barnes YouTube. Barnes: “Most corrupt in American history.” Vikas S: “Plugged-in people know this, but the details are damning.”
New Poll: Nearly Half of Americans Don’t Know What America’s 250th Is Celebrating Cato. resilc: “Isn’t it Amazon Prime week??”
We became the late 18th Century British. What now? Responsible Statecraft (resilc)
How Many People Have Ever Lived in the United States? Davis Fetz (resilc)
The Pitfalls of a ‘Middle Ground’ Strategy Daniel Larison
Trump 2.0
Trump refuses to renew US-Canada-Mexico trade pact he once championed Guardian
Air Force major arrested after calling for Trump impeachment outside Capitol The Hill (resilc)
U.S. Olympic canoeist David Hearn charged with damaging Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool NBC (Kevin W)
Federal nuclear agency moves to relax radiation exposure rules Washington Post
Our No Longer Free Press
Public Opinion: Cornered by the Many, Controlled by the Few Finn Andreen (Micael T)
Economy
Global monetary tightening and the fragility behind it ODI Global
U.S. adds just 57,000 jobs in June, a worrying sign as wage growth remains slow NBC
Mr. Market Needs a Therapist
Yet another ‘quant tremor’ strikes systematic investors Financial Times
AI Bubble Fears Grow as Michael Burry, Top Economists Sound Alarm FirstPost
AI Debt Deluge Makes Credit Market Look Safer While Masking Risk Bloomberg
AI hopes and fears dominate global central bank meet Reuters
Retail dip-buying is reaching historic extremes:
Average daily equity purchases by retail investors during S&P 500 down days are running at nearly 3.5 times the daily average seen since 2020, the highest on record.
This is +56% higher than during the meme stock mania in 2021.… pic.twitter.com/4Mj6406C6F
— The Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter) July 2, 2026
AI
The AI Race Nobody Can Win Foreign Affairs. Robin K: “Toward the end when the discussion turns to corporate governance, bubbles, inflation, and central banks, things seem to go wobbly.”
Watching this full 18-minute interview with Palantir CEO, Alex Karp is enough to teach you more about Ai than any institution would ever teach you: pic.twitter.com/DuaI1yYSXI
— ₕₐₘₚₜₒₙ (@hamptonism) July 1, 2026
Programmer “Productivity”: CHART OF THE DAY Brad DeLong. Important tidbit at the top of how the “The brand-new VW ElectricMicroBus that replaces the 22-year-old Subaru” makes driving more difficult.
Claude Helped a Hacker Find a Way to Issue Tickets to Almost Every US Music Festival Wired (resilc)
Ambani-Trump Jr. investigation encountered a Google AI surprise ProPublica. “Google, the proprietor of the world’s primary research tool, has rolled out AI Overviews that can indiscriminately take in fake material and authoritatively spit it back out as real.” (Kevin W).
The Bezzle
SpaceX Is Junk. That’s What the Bond Market Says Bloomberg
S2 Capital dissolves $400M first fund with “no return of capital” TheRealDeal (albrt)
Private Credit Keeps $14 Billion Trapped in Bid to Outlast Storm Bloomberg
What Private Credit Is, and Why Investors Are So Worried About It New York Times (resilc)
Guillotine Watch
Police hunt Ukrainian woman over Monaco bombing Agence France-Presse
Musk demanded proof people died from USAID cuts. He got it — and lost it. Judd Legum
Class Warfare
Inside the Luddite Festival Harnessing Gen Z’s Rage Against Big Tech Wired (resilc)
The Fun Shortage Is Real, and It’s Making America Miserable Bloomberg
We Crunched the Data: There’s a Grocery Price Emergency in America New York Times (resilc)
Average New Car Prices Hit Record High Of $51,974, But People Are Still Rushing To Buy Them Jalopnik (resilc)
This Is RUINING the Trades… YouTube (resilc)
Antidote du jour (Tracie H):
And a bonus (Chuck L):
Dude is rock climbing when a mountain goat casually pulls up beside him. Honestly insane that these animals just live like this. pic.twitter.com/UBblWGGhLi
— Dudes Posting Their W’s (@DudespostingWs) June 30, 2026
A second bonus:
He was so fancy for no reason 😂 pic.twitter.com/pMRAp6zmuO
— Nature Unedited (@NatureUnedited) June 30, 2026
And a third:
❤️🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/nsf8YKJEhc
— The Figen (@TheFigen_) July 1, 2026
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here
‘Dudes Posting Their W’s
Pubity
@DudespostingWs
Dude is rock climbing when a mountain goat casually pulls up beside him. Honestly insane that these animals just live like this.’
Wait. Did that Mountain Goat just use that guy as a salt lick?
Yup, wouldn’t be surpised if it happens regularly on that rock wall.
Wait a minute, there are ladder rungs in that rock wall.
It’s a via ferrata. The goats aren’t using it though!
I’d have to tell that goat, “f### you, man!”
Oh that last antidote has so much. The dogs wagging in concert, the pittie sad face, little dog with the immediate ‘I object!’ In fairness, Shakira is the best tail-wagger (nsfw).
“We became the late 18th Century British.”
Come now; your monarch has always had far more power than ever George III had – just read your own Constitution.
As for Congress, could it be more corrupt than the old, unreformed Houses of Parliament? It’s certainly a possibility though I don’t know of a metric for such things. AIPAC money and its power perhaps?
Navy: the Royal Navy was not an obsolete fleet that needed to cower hundreds of miles off enemy shores.
Army: The USA copied the British tradition of disapproving of large standing armies but the British lived up to that tradition rather than building an army that was outrageously expensive but still too small for the duties the politicians wished to assign to it.
I was thinking earlier today the irony in that America started off as a collection of States which were fighting the superpower of the day which had troops and bases all around the world. Now 250 years later, it is America that is the superpower that has troops and bases all around the world. I think that those Revolutionary-era soldiers& militia would be horrified at how their revolution was betrayed. More so when they could have seen how their Constitution with its Bill of Rights has been shredded. This was not what they fought for.
The soldiers might be disappointed. The Alexander Hamiltons of that era got exactly what they wanted.
Death by duel?
“the superpower of the day which had troops and bases all around the world”
What on earth makes you think so? The expression British Empire wasn’t much used until the second half of the 19th century but insofar as there was one in 1776 is was the thirteen colonies, plus the cold areas to their north and a few sugar island to their south.
Nothing in Europe or Africa or East Asia or the Pacific. Even if you cheat and add in territory run by the East India Company, the stuff outside America added up to precious little. The nearest thing to a superpower of the day, in terms of territory, was Spain.
I can see why Americans like to rant about “superpower” and whatnot, but their grasp of history and geography has always tended towards the comically inept. Why on earth are you joining in?
Think about the sheer volume of resources brought to the table by possession of the eastern North America. Also the wealth generated by those Caribbean Islands with sugar alone. And you can add in those parts of India as they were as good as run by the British at home in a joint venture. Then chuck in for good measure about half of modern day Canada and they had a huge base to generate wealth from. Even with the loss of the American colonies they had the resources to fight a generational war against France and its allies only a few years after. So yeah, I would rate them as a superpower.
The old British Parliament may have been corrupt, but it wasn’t openly treasonous. That’s the problem with USA today.
US republic did not survive the war of northern aggression.
Post 1863 (conditions for emancipation) US is a bought by fiat banking loose federation none dare challenge in any meaningful way.
Today I hold a requiem for the scam that brought together slavers and former indentureds to buy in to a united scam in America.
Pray this gang does not opt for armeggedon.
Somewhat related to the prohibition of reposting RT videos and information, and definitely in line with the EU as a repressive censorship regime:
Germany has its own FOIA, called Informationsfreiheitsgesetz (IFG). It is being reformed by the ruling CDU/CSU/SPD coalition. The main highlights of the proposed revision are as follows:
1) In the future, only individuals may present requests for documents and information from the government or governmental agencies. Associations and other legal entities will be entirely barred from doing so.
2) Individuals presenting a request will have to demonstrate a personal, justified interest in the information thus seeked.
3) The fee for fulfilling the request will no longer be capped at €500, but must cover the costs of the search to an unlimited amount.
4) The current IFG lists 30 exceptions to the freedom of obtaining information; these may be extended by excluding entire domains such as energy, health, culture, media.
5) It is being pondered to limit the possibility to present requests to German and other EU citizens residing in Germany.
The revision is partly inspired by the reform of a similar law valid for the Land of Berlin, carried out by a regional CDU/SPD coalition (again), and that severely restricts the circumstances and areas about which official information can be handed out.
It has been noted that in the past at least one minister and some other officials pushing for the revision had the spotlight thrown on them for various scandals which were uncovered precisely thanks to the recourse to the IFG…
“China’s housing market free-falls as buyers wait for floor prices”
Much of this “housing” was built for financial speculation. You cannot actually live there because many of them are empty hulls without any fittings. It would need significant investment to make it liveable. In the mean time, the concrete is rotting away.
Apart from that, the prices also don’t make sense relative to income. I had a Chinese friend in Shanghai that unfortunately I lost contact with a few years ago. But she told me what apartments were selling for and it just didn’t make any economic sense. Even if renting them out, rental yields were <1%. All buying was based on speculation on price rises. Plus, to become eligible as a marriage partner you needed to own at least a couple of houses…
I can’t recall the exact figures, but the median price to median income ratio for property in China during the boom was completely off the scale – orders of magnitude beyond other booms, including Japan in the 1980’s. Even with the lower prices now, it’s still grotesquely out of proportion to income levels. And, as you say, they were investment vehicles, not built to last. The level of waste involved is staggering in scale. And active intervention in the market isn’t helping, it’s just creating a situation where nobody knows the real price and there are all sorts of scams. I doubt if anyone has a grasp on just how much hidden debt there is in the property system.
Sadly, Vietnam has modelled its land/housing policies on China, and a similar thing is happening there, although that bubble probably has a long way to go.
To my understanding there is indeed a lot of hidden debt. I’ve heard that banks demand a decent deposit for a mortgage, but that deposit is then itself borrowed in the informal circuit (friends, family, loan sharks, etc). That debt is often hidden, but will cause problems if not paid back while needed by the lender (could be peoples pension savings etc).
Almost every Chinese person I know will tell you stories of loans being used as collateral for further loans. As one friend put it ‘everyone in my village has borrowed from everyone else’. It’s a problem thats been rampant for years. Most of these, at some level, are based on a property asset which is now shrinking inexorably.
As the mainland China has four economic regions, 5 Special Economic Zones, 23 Free Trade Zones and 168 National High-Tech Development Zones, it would be appropriate to specify which ones of these one is referring to.
China is not a monolith – heck, even Ireland isn’t one even if it’s 1/137 of China (or 1/260 population wise).
I’m referring to the residential housing market – as specified in the article linked. The market collapse was nationwide with relatively few regional variations, except that it has maintained a little more dynamism in the Tier ! cities for obvious reasons.
The issues with commercial property in the various special zones are a different matter, their funding is significantly more opaque and complex – precise costs and debt loads are generally hidden within complex funding vehicles and public subsidies.
I am so old I can remember when Donald Trump was the “Peace President”.
It seems like only a decade ago.
He remains little less openly blood thirsty than Obama type liberal war mongers.
Measured how?
As they say, “No matter who you vote for, you get John McCain.”
I would say Millard Fillmore. Not because of his policies (don’t know them), just the name.
The article about the Cuba makes a good point about the people not willing to surrender to the USA. However, what this and nearly all the other recent stories about Cuba fail to report is what the Cuban people are doing to improve their situation. I’ll bet there is a huge effort underway to produce more food. I’ll bet there is more breeding of oxen and horses for agriculture and transportation. Hopefully a capable reporter will soon visit Cuba and tell us what the people are doing to counter the US blockade. It would be great if Naked Capitalism would send Conor Gallagher down there for a couple of weeks.
When I travelled in Cuba some years ago, people recalled the famine that followed the loss of the Soviet Union as sponsor and trade partner in the 1990s. A terrible time.
Many anecdotes about families evading one or another restriction to raise food — raising chickens for example, which would require evading the necessary permits and stealing the feed. Life can get very complicated in a society under stress.
I’m still waiting for Cuba to start mass production of hemp fields for oil and fiber.
In addition to old beefs and greed, the USA has been involved in too much mess in other Gulfs. There is probably more paranoia about the Gulf of Mexico than ever. The blockade and additional military presence won’t be leaving.
One of the first things last year was the renaming the Gulf controversy.
I think you are wildly overestimating the size of the NC budget (re: sending Conor to Cuba).
The link for “AI Bubble Fears Grow as Michael Burry, Top Economists Sound Alarm” seems to have a typo, or rather it looks like an autocorrect has changed a — double dash to an em dash, resulting in a 404 for that link.
This works:
https://www.firstpost.com/vantage/ai-bubble-fears-grow-as-michael-burry-top-economists-sound-alarm-vantage-on-firstpost–vd1989408/
re: Venezuela and the IDF.
I left this link on yesterday’s links.
Leaving it here again. It’s relevant to this morning’s link.
Jimmy Dore and Anya Parampil.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THUbXrixht8
Re how the “The brand-new VW ElectricMicroBus that replaces the 22-year-old Subaru” makes driving more difficult.
Hmm automatic following distance; automatic lane-keeping, speed-control settings that respond to speed-limit traffic signs, anticipatory pre-curve and pre-intersection braking
I often take my car back and forward between England and France. Not only does one drive on the left in England, as opposed to the right in most of Europe, but speed limits in Britain are in miles per hour as opposed to km per hour. I wonder how sophisticated the VW software would be to be able to safely factor in all the differences. Perhaps it would make driving impossible as opposed to simply more difficult.
I’m the late 80s we took the four kids for the road trip of a lifetime – England, Scotland and Europe. We rented a camper van in London and headed south.
In those days French regulations required headlights to be tinted yellow, and aimed down and to the right*. The rental company gave us plastic yellow tinted fresnel lenses to stick on the headlights once we’d crossed the channel. We dutifully stuck them on, but they fell off. Repeatedly. After the fourth try, we left them off. Nobody seemed to mind, and we got through France twice without getting a ticket.
*as distinct from back and to the left.
Headlights down and to the right. What a quaint notion. Now the rule is to get the brightest lights possible to blind all on-coming drivers.
You don’t think the GPS knows which country you’re in?
“Dorm Life Forever? The Problem with Micro-Living”
I can see which way this is going. They will eventually use the model of those Japanese hotel capsules as the basis for what people will be forced to use-
https://bokksu.com/blogs/news/everything-you-need-to-know-about-capsule-hotels-in-japan
Probably there will be a common room, bathroom/toilets and maybe even a kitchen. But that will be it. Since most people will not be able to afford a home and maybe not even a rental unless you have a lot of money, this will be it for a huge chunk of the population. Either that or one of those Hong Kong cage homes-
https://www.nbcnews.com/business/economy/poor-cages-show-dark-side-hong-kong-boom-flna1b8287394
I would agree, except the population is going to decrease significantly rather than increase. So this might happen in “innovation hubs,” but everywhere else people will be squatting in derelict buildings.
https://www.counterpunch.org/2026/07/03/more-than-a-human-can-bear-on-israels-systematic-sexualized-violence-and-the-silence-that-enables-it/
“The Palestinian Feminist Collective has issued a 200-page report on the sexualized and gendered violence perpetrated against the Palestinian people. Five months of research. Testimony after testimony: women, men, children, elders, all saying the same things in different voices, from different prisons, across eight decades. The report concludes, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Israel has perpetrated systematic sexualized and gendered violence against the Palestinian people, constituting the crime of genocide.”
No surprises there. It was only last year that Parliamentarians in the Israeli Knesset were arguing about the right for Israelis to rape Palestinian prisoners. This is not a sign of a normal country. You don’t get that in the American Congress nor the British Parliament but Israel? They are showing you who they are.
Rev, the World consists of “True Humans” who are the Zionists, “Goy Cattle” like Trump who are rewarded for furthering their interests, and Amalek, who need to be eliminated.
Raping Palestinians is no worse than raping pigs, regrettable, but boys will be boys.
Yes, so can someone tell me…why does the Iranian desire to avoid casualties matter when these vermin are involved?
Every izzy is guilty just by being an izzy so they are all legitimate military targets.
Thanks
here is the complete report by the Collective
https://drive.google.com/file/d/15VSwqk6O4sX9ZzLskiggZTqiXOoEA7_C/view
How soon will Trump outlive his usefulness and how violently will he be removed?
He has done a heckuva job destroying the Rule of Law at home and abroad and destroying what was left of Civil Society, Total Information Awareness and the hammer of the CBP/ICE are well armed, have lots of potential auxiliaries among white supremacists and have “Total Immunity” including immunity from committing murder on camera.
However, he is becoming increasingly erratic and the various bubbles, including AI, are showing clear signs of collapse.
Vance is next in line, is he considered pliable enough to serve the interests of those who matter?
And who will be chosen to succeed him if he isn’t?
It’s going to be a lively summer, very lively if the AI bubble collapses before the Mid Terms.
Stay safe and enjoy the show.
Man, let’s go with the times and go out with a bang. That being the case, I nominate Laura Loomer as the first Madame President. No doubt Trump will go into retirement with dirt files on anybody that might come after him so that he does not have to worry about going to prison. But he won’t take a vow of silence but will still be posting to his Truth Social account on his death bed. Speaking of which, I came across this on his account-
‘I am thrilled to announce the opening of SPIRIT OF ’76 at FREEDOM PLAZA, a new Exhibition in Washington, D.C., honoring the Heroes and Martyrs of the American Revolution. This Exhibition includes a series of statues, including an equestrian statue of Founding Father Caesar Rodney, 12 Soldiers of the Revolution, and a set of reliefs honoring the Prison Ship Martyrs — The nearly 12,000 Americans who lost their lives aboard British ships in conditions of unimaginable deprivation, squalor, and disease. More Americans died on these prison ships than in all of the War’s battles combined — Many of whom willingly endured suffering and death rather than renounce the Patriot cause.’
So is the word ‘Martyrs’ now a word in common usage in America now?
“So is the word ‘Martyrs’ now a word in common usage in America now?”
I share your concern, Rev, but I’m hopeful that this is an isolated use of the word. The memorial to the prison ship dead in Fort Greene, Brooklyn is called The Prison Ship Martyrs’ Monument.
Martyrs are people who choose death rather than renounce their principles. The vast majority of those who died in the prison ships were privateers who were captured at sea. They were given a choice: join the British Navy or go to prison.
They chose prison and death, making them martyrs. Whether the choice was based on principle or a desire to avoid the hardships of British naval life is open to debate.
“Martyrs are people who choose death rather than renounce their principles.”
Historically (i.e. Christian and other martyrologies), they chose exceedingly painful death rather than renounce their principles.
Well, oh boy it’s becoming a thing here…
For some ‘folks’…
July 5th
Pinch me
https://martyrsday.us/
“How soon will Trump outlive his usefulness and how violently will he be removed?”
It is best to keep him in place so that he becomes the scapegoat for all the crises that will shortly strike the USA: the final defeat in the Persian Gulf, with attendant economic hardship; the implosion of the AI bubble, with attendant financial collapse; the incontrovertible climate change scorching crops, torching forests, felling vulnerable people.
Once he has been thoroughly disparaged for all the problems occurring on his watch, he will be let go and replaced by a new team — but the members of that new team must make sure the tsunami of problems starts and develops under Trump, not under their purview. Hence, I do not see any attempt to push him out any time soon, except of course if he becomes completely and uncontrollably demented in public.
Better he is removed then die in office.He needs to be dragged out kicking and screaming with his corruption exposed., If he dies in office or just finishes his term the repudiation will be much weaker.
I was perhaps not clear in indicating that the strategy I described is the one I surmise republicans and democrats are envisioning.
For the good of the country and the world, it would be obviously better if Trump were evicted as soon as possible.
Legit question – what do you think will change or improve with either Vance or the democrats in charge? Trump’s vulgarity and shamelessness will be gone but every other problem in the US will remain and let’s face it, Trump created very few of them. His corruption is off the charts and open but many others, presidents, congress critters and senators, both D and R, have profited mightily from their time in office. Sure, he’s made some things worse, but again, other than not having to endure his boorishness, what will be fixed by him dying for being removed from office or voted out?
The only way to fix human nature is to extinguish it. If humans weren’t naturally corrupt governments would not be necessary.
So It’s the scale of the thing. I would rather go to hell in fits and starts with some ability to resist than in a hand basket on a sled.
‘except of course if he becomes completely and uncontrollably demented in public.’
Joe Biden went that way but they had him stay his full term anyway – and thus blowing up any chance of an orderly succession. Vane should take note.
Biden was haggard, and thus by and large pretty much controllable; this is why he was kept in place.
That is incorrect. The chance of an orderly succession was thwarted by Biden’s commitment to a second term, not staying in his full term.
I’m not sure if it’s a question of pliability; Vance is purely a creature of Peter Thiel, and so he’ll do as he’s told (which is part of what makes him such a loathsome figure). I think the questions are whether Thiel and the interests that have coalesced around him want/need Vance to be president (“Hey, J.D., time to retire for your family. It’s been a good run, buddy.”), and the extent to which intra-elite conflict would allow him or his faction to choose.
From Air Force Major Jason Watson’s statements on the steps of the Capitol,
Well, he’s not wrong.
No…he’s not. Unfortunately, under the UCMJ definition of insubordination, there is a clause that states “The truth is no defense”
A former Marine went through this topic on his podcast yesterday. It sounds like the UCMJ is inapplicable to this case, and they got him on charges of demonstrating in a restricted area…then he points out the problems with that as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDbXw0fyTpM
I think that this is one of those things that will very quietly go away once the public memory holes it.
RE: Public Opinion: Cornered by the Many, Controlled by the Few
Finn Andreen offers his “theoretical” insight: “. . . the political philosophy that theoretically is best placed to solve this dilemma of modern society is arguably libertarianism. It clearly argues for a significant and definitive reduction of political power, both nationally and internationally.”
Libertarians and their puerile arguments in ignorance of experience just make me tired. It is always the same: look at how liberal and anti-authoritarian my problem statement is, please take no notice of how my prescription is sure to produce an unconstrained authoritarianism of nominally “private” power.
Like a huge Media conglomerate controlled by a billionaire is somehow not a concentration of “political” power. Reducing the state to the functions of a night watchman will be countervailing to corrupting concentration of the ability to generate propaganda founded on the claims of property, how exactly?
Oversimplification in the face of historical experience really shouldn’t be an acceptable form of argument. Power isn’t a zero-sum game unless someone unwisely makes it one.
– Mom, when I grow up I’m gonna be a libertarian.
– Well, son, which is it? You can’t do both.
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qr4v54Ej5t8/Vj0aaM455qI/AAAAAAAAp9A/C9AzF9Ik_iY/s1600/growinguplibertarian.jpg
There have been several atttempts tp build libertarian communities and they always break down due to waste management. Always Some dude using his right to property to refuse transportation through their property.
Communism in Soviet did work for some 40 years giving free housing, education, healthcare, affirdable food, vacation etc. Libertarianism not so much.
Murray Bookchin called them Propertarians. The Propertarians stole “libertarian” from anarchists because it disguised the fact that Propertarians could care less about human liberty. It’s property rights that are supreme to them.
– ‘How Florida’s Cuban Diaspora and the Israeli Lobby Came Together — and Are Coming Apart’ – Intercept (resilc)
This is an excellent and important article. We all know about AIPAC, but the Cuba Lobby (and its current expansion as discussed here) is perhaps just as important historically. Thanks for posting. I disagree that they are “coming apart” – certainly not fast enough at any rate – but very good overall.
The more The Intercept publishes articles from Greg Grandin and Nick Turse, the more likely I’ll start taking it seriously again.
Mamdani gave an elegant speech yesterday:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JztQx56c2nA
You have to listen to the speech. The pushback against it is hysterical and I don’t mean funny
Awesome, thanks JP. All should listen, Mamdani is inspiring.
Forgive me, but partially to me as non-American it´s a bit like involuntary satire.
(I am aware of the rules and minutes of anniversaries in daily politics.)
fwiw MoA linked to this Substack
That Settler-Extremist Rebellion of 1776
… and what it can tell us about America, Israel, and the world today
by Helena Cobban
Jul 01, 2026
https://helenacobban.substack.com/p/that-settler-extremist-rebellion
“(…)
Here are two key items from the sharply worded list of accusations that the American settler extremists laid out against King George III in their “Declaration of Independence” of July 4, 1776:
He has endeavoured to prevent the [colonial settler] population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has… endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
Hmmm.
Today’s Washington Post contains an excellent article in which a very smart Native American journalist there, Dana Hedgpeth, explores the impact that the second of those items— especially its reference to “merciless Indian Savages”— has had over the years on young (and not so young) Native Americans. Her whole article is worth reading. One thing she writes is that some scholars have judged that Thomas Jefferson, the chief drafter of the Declaration, was actually “very sympathetic” to Native people— but that in the Declaration, he was eager to “paint the worst possible picture” of them, in order to bolster the case for the settler extremists’ rebellion.
(…)”
To my knowledge on military level the American War of Independence was a French victory with much help by native Americans and Washington as an allied but really bad military leader. A lot of huff´n puff this “war”.
that was rather inspiring. i sent it to the boys and me cousin.
thanks.
its what i needed, today
“Musk demanded proof people died from USAID cuts. He got it — and lost it.”
Musk has very thin skin and goes ballistic when called out on his bs. Maybe Bessent did that when Musk was working out of the White House and Musk tried to punch Bessent out – until Bessent hung a mouse on Musk. And if Musk loses a bet, he will refuse to pay up. I don’t think that Musk would deal well if on a stand in a court of law and the pressure was ramping up.
Taibbi disclosed a little on how his relationship with Musk soured during teh Twitter files exposés…
There was also that bizarre episode where Musk attempted to show he was a top level path of exile 2 player when it turned out he had paid someone else to grind out everything for him (https://www.reddit.com/r/PathOfExile2/comments/1hwxc17/documenting_the_saga_of_elon_musks_account/)
So to dispel everyone’s doubts, he tried a live stream of himself playing but showed unfamiliarity with the game and also was not able to handle any amount of trolling from viewers which led him to rage quit and attempt such a thing again. I’m not sure why he thought it was a good idea to try pass himself off as some hardcore player and then show such thin skin when confronted. If he had said something like he plays the game when he has time and is still learning things, this would have been infinitely more relatable than this pro gamer persona
FirstPost Burry link 404’d, but this YT link seems relevant and works for me:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zA8hwdmmVos
why the oil shorts are winning!
Jack Prandelli
@jackprandelli
Iran ha a big oil problem 🛢️
🔸Over 58 million barrels of Iranian crude are floating at sea, more than 90% without a confirmed buyer
🔸China, Iran’s largest customer, is running refiners at the lowest utilization in 9 years, Iranian imports have more than halved
🔸India is locked into Russian barrels, Europe won’t touch it over insurance risk and fears US sanctions snap back
Iran rushed millions of barrels onto the market the moment access reopened.
The demand side never showed up.
Iran got its market access back. It didn’t get its market back.
Honestly, I don’t know who Jack Prandelli is or what his credibility level is, but that reads like it was AI-generated.
And it is rebuttable from sources that are saying China has resumed exports of finished gasoline to Asia, and the teapot refineries are running full blast now.
I have never heard of the guy either, and would add that just because buyers haven’t been confirmed to Mr. Prandelli, that doesn’t mean there are not or won’t be any. Having the oil available for sale would seem to be a more opportune position than it being locked into the strait.
China’s lack of recent demand seems to be a big mystery. I find it quite possible that China is simply going about its business without advertising it to Western speculators.
the unsold oil in shipment is the reason for the outsized, lingering, and dedicated short positions. Selling any commodity that isn’t priced is hedging, and entirely understandable and misunderstood by everyone. At July expiration, shorts rolled over into further out expiry. when will deliveries be booked, oil sales made, crack spreads have a chance to even out?
Is it?
I’ve seen no good evidence provided for this, and considering how much chaos, disinformation, and overall horrible signal-to-noise issues at play right now I feel anyone making statements like this is over their skis on the matter.
it’s in the cftc reports. the fact that the huge, outsized recorded short positions did not result in a huge price spike at expiry and last settlement is telling. rolling those postions to the next month or later allowed for an orderly close out, transferring short positions as a way to close them out. Actual product delivery to fullfill postion is possible but didn’t happen.
I realize I’m being simplistic here and you clearly understand how the markets work better than me. But what I’m getting at here is what happens if some Iranian oil finds its way to China and at some point a few loads of Chinese missiles make their way to Iran, and the two governments call it even with Mr. Market none the wiser. Is this a possibility?
I’d say that at least it HAS been true at some point. Other sources were also pointing to a cluster of Iranian crude tankers near Singapore, with no immediate takers.
However the situation is obviously ultra-fluid, and today the ever-indispensable HFI Research has a note that mentions the Chinese “coming back”.
https://substack.com/@hfir/note/c-287724424
As usual a few days will clarify the picture. Big if true.
I said accusations of AI writing are absolutely not on. Do this again and I will rip the comment out. This is ad hom, which is a violation, plus the accusations are nearly always completely off base. AI writing is bland like the Wall Street Journal. Readers are bizarrely depicting writers that have a style as being AI.
I have cited Jack Prandelli before, he is very good.
And there are a lot of reports of Iran oil not being bought. From July 2:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-02/iran-s-floating-oil-stockpile-swells-as-major-buyers-stay-away
As I have said repeatedly before, it is also disturbing to see readers reject information because they are on Team Anti-globalist and they behave as if they have an emotional investment in Team Anti-globalist doing well.
BettBeat called this tendency out too: The Triumphalism Trap: How Anti-Imperialist Media Manufactures Its Own Consent
At the end, it has a video embedded from Dimitri Lascaris that takes up the same cognitive bias and why it is counter-productive.
Familyblogging Sen. Warner, sponsor of the censorship bill known as the RESTRICT Act, now trying to normalize AI agents on large social media sites…
https://cyberscoop.com/ai-agent-act-senate-draft-bill-mark-warner/
That survey from the Cato Institute (“nearly half of Americans don’t know what America’s 250th is celebrating”) seems a bit fishy to me, but methodology is not something I know a lot about. I was wondering–how does one even get a representative sample these days? Anyone calling or texting me would go to spam. and if it did not, it is highly unlikely I would be willing to talk to them and answer a bunch of questions, cuz fraudsters and all.
So all it says for the methodology (that I could find) is:
“Methodology:
This poll was conducted between June 25-June 26, 2026 among a sample of 2253 Adults. The interviews were conducted online and the data were weighted to approximate a target sample of Adults
based on gender, age, race, educational attainment, region, gender by age, and race by educational
attainment. Results from the full survey have a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.”
It doesn’t say anything about how they found these people they surveyed. And what does it mean to “weight data to approximate a target sample”?
(my initial suspicion came up because the survey results struck me as being a bit sunny).
I stopped responding to polls some time ago. They do not solicit opinion. They ask a series of black and white questions without any possible nuance. Many questions are structured to illicit a specific slant. The questionaire often will not divulge who is paying for the poll.
“Many questions are structured to illicit a specific slant.”
It happens enough that there is a name for that: push poll
“Old British fridges ‘cannot cope with the heat'”
The UK had better hope that this heat wave is not the new norm. There are about 29 million households in the UK so figure a minimum of 25 million fridges. Then you have all the commercial fridges as well in shops and supermarkets and I have no idea how many millions there are there. Point is you are talking billions of pounds/dollars to replace all those with fridges that can withstand the higher temperatures.
29 million households means >29 million fridges
The real question is how many British fridges are ‘old’. Probably not many.
Why would you assume that? My parents had 3 fridges that were >25 years old, all were fine. My fridge in my NYC condo was easily 40 years old (it was used when I moved in, I lived there 27 years and my stove was from 1962, so the fridge could have been installed at the same time). Worked like a champ.
Wisdoms include seeing what’s not there. Terrible zeitgeist observation:
The Saturday morning pastry ride, taking Puppygena to sing to as we drove through the older well-off neighborhood, I was mostly home before I realized I’d seen not one flag, nada, amongst the most experienced virtue signallers in the city. I’ve seen bunting there before. This is the Quarter-Millenium! So we took a scouting trip downtown and back, including the main street, three flags at government buildings and one faded at a house that never takes it down.
The last couple blocks take us by our outrageous display neighbors, every holiday, Halloween, Easter (with bunnies and eggs), freaking St Paddies day, and they had nothing displayed. Our emotions went from confirmation glow to eerie to sad to wtf. Guys, there was nuthin, not one business had a flag out. I’ve never seen anything so, lacking.
Thanks for that report. It’s not been a good year but yeah, wtf. I wonder if an article will come out comparing the celebrations now to those held in 1976.
Happy 250th to my American friends and neighbours. My birthday wish for you is that the empire may die so that your republic may live and prosper.
250 years since the counter-revolution. Woe to global harmony.
“250 years since the counter-revolution.”
Prof. Gerald Horne…is that you?
(BTW: he’s a good professor).
re: Nazi Germany
Henry Moon Pie had a comment up yesterday re: US labour vs. capital.
https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2026/07/links-7-3-2026.html#comment-4438914
On this note here a German-language lecture with Engl. subs about how the NSDAP managed to create majority approval via economic incentives that would satisfy many socialdemocratic demands.
Germany 1933-1945
80 min. + Q&A
https://www.youtube.com/live/k1xibiYGDv8
The historian giving the lecture who was born 1947 used to be a 1968er ie radical left activist of the 1970s and eventually rejected the “student movement” and an overly left agenda.
Which means in this lecture the resistance of labour – something Henry Moon Pie addressed for the US – and how it was destroyed with brute force by Nazis is not mentioned at all. I assume not least because:
1) That process was mostly complete by 1933
2) The historian has become an anti-leftist and would argue German majority was not leftist and that the role of the left in pre-1933 Germany is overstated – a position wich has been criticized in Germany and which obstructed his career and attempt of gaining tenure. He instead worked for newspapers for many years.
Re: The Fun Shortage — Bloomberg — another fun shortage they don’t mention is that the archived versions of Bloomberg stories now only give you the first two paragraphs of the article, if that.
Let me mention something really fun — and free — all sorts of classical music recitals and concerts at local conservatories and university music departments. We regularly hear phenomenal performances in beautiful venues this way. Sometimes you have to register for free tickets, but often you can just walk in. Each music department publishes their offerings online.
Our local uni’s concert and lecture series has gotten way woke. I had planned to go to more classical music concerts but those performances became less and less frequent. Years ago I went to two nights of Beethoven with period instruments, Sir John Eliot Gardner conducting. Sometimes Rach II is dusted off for the white hairs (I am bald) who arrive en masse in retirement home buses. Gotta fund all the PMC-approved programming. Rant over.
re: German militarism
German retired Bundeswehr general demands 800k troops.
What he does not mention is the “2+4” Treaty limiting German active troops to 370k.
machine-translation
General (ret.) Mais: 800,000 soldiers for Germany?
Does the “strongest conventional army in Europe ” need up to 800,000 soldiers? Retired Lieutenant General Alfons Mais claims : Yes. In yesterday’s episode of the podcast “Friedensreiter ” (Peace Rider), he explained how he arrived at this figure. Could the former Inspector of the Army be reigniting a debate that seemed to have just been settled?
https://archive.is/NRFei
Philip Pilkington again at Mario Nawfal.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uf6eJmIVOcM
the gist of Phillip(whom i like, at around 26 min in) is that the Market(holy, holy) treats crude oil as fungible, while in reality it aint.
ie: theres all these different kinds of oil, depending on the geology that a given barrel comes from.
Canadian Tar Sands and Venezuelan oil need a whole bunch of pre-processing, for instance…before they can be fed into a given refinery as a substitute for what used to come out of Hormuz(or Russia, notably). that costs money to do…and lowers the energy return on energy invested of the whole lot(EROEI(; which is, btw, why Ethanol is stupid,lol)
what phillip appears to be saying is that refineries are starting to feel the pinch on the input side.
which is what we’ve been expecting, here in Cassandraland.
idk when the next EIA report is due, but i would expect this to show forth.
and then it’ll hit the price at the pump.
Empire of Chaos pollutes Price Discovery, thus making the eventual Cliff so much worse,lol.
par for the course, i suppose.
EIA has a weekly print:
https://www.eia.gov/petroleum/supply/weekly/pdf/highlights.pdf
Next one should be up on July 8th (Weds) at 10:30 a.m. EST.
How can this possibly work? If you are too sick to work, aren’t you too sick to go (in person!) to a doctor’s office to get a note and then take it to work? Will your doctor even see you the very moment you need to see him or her? In the US it can take 2 weeks to get in to see your doctor, if you’re lucky. Minor illnesses will resolve before then, and major illnesses will kill you before then.
In countries like the US there is also substantial expense in going in to see your doctor and/or missing a day of work. The upshot will be that people will work sick, infecting customers and coworkers and (hopefully) their bosses.
Any manager with half a brain wants their employees stay home when they are sick instead of spreading their disease around, doing a horrible job at work, delaying their recovery, and generally creating chaos.
No one has accused German politicians of having a half a brain, though.
It’s not about the doctor’s note, it’s about punishment for labor disobedience.
They tried that in Sweden and in Finland, turned out that the number of sick days skyrocketed. Because – and it should have been obvious – when people are sick and can take a day or two off, they recover and get back to work, but if they need to get a sick leave, it’s usually for at least 5 days.
It’s my understanding that in most parts of EU you can get to see a doctor for a sick note within 24 to 48 hours. And the note will be backdated. In the Nordics it’s usually the (mandatory) occupational health care provider (so no charge).
And then, of course, your co-workers and/or boss will tell you to stay the heck away and not be around with your germs, bugs and subpar performance. Because it would be stupid to work when you’re sick.
Re: Karen Kwiatkowski piece
Given the Israeli passion for historical reenactment, perhaps they’ll say that those Gazans were relocated, maybe somewhere east.
Of course, that would only be necessary if someone asked.
re: EU Court of Justice allows criminal prosecution for reposting RT videos — judgement
Here is the original preliminary ruling of the EU Court:
Judgment of the Court (Fourth Chamber) of 2 July 2026.
Staatsanwaltschaft Saarbrücken v R and Others.
Reference for a preliminary ruling – Common foreign and security policy – Restrictive measures in view of the Russian Federation’s actions destabilising the situation in Ukraine – Regulation (EU) No 833/2014 – Article 2f(1) – Concept of ‘operator’ – Prohibition on broadcasting content by the legal persons, entities or bodies listed in Annex XV to Regulation No 833/2014 – Broadcasting of that content by natural persons on a website generating revenue solely in the form of voluntary contributions.
Case C-67/25.
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A62025CJ0067
Re: U.S. Olympic canoeist David Hearn charged with damaging Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool NBC (Kevin W)
What exactly were two parks employees doing such that they were on hand and nearby to tell him to stop? Was David Hearns perhaps already in conversation with them when the alleged act happened? Was he, perhaps, saying “This is the new liner that we spent millions of tax dollars to fix? But it isn’t even properly attached, look at this section here…” In other words, he’s the true patriot here, worried about tax dollars being wasted even in the draining of the swamp? But how dare he question anything at all. In Trump’s America you only do what you’re told.
Aside from the comical and horrifying issues illuminated by this article, this passage sort of sneaks by:
AFIK there is no way to “improve” or “fix’ AI systems in response to incidents like this so they will somehow stop happening, or even happen less.
Both training an AI system and using it occur without the involvement of anything that can be “fixed” by human beings. They are the ultimate Black Box, and while we (think) we understand them in a broad conceptual sense, we definitely have no idea how they do what they do in detail, since the scope of their operations involves an amount of information and a level of complex interaction that is completely beyond humans ability to grasp or understand. All we can do in reality is just watch these things from a distance and hope for the best.
(IMO it’s one of the fundamental flaws of AI. Unlike most other human creations, AI engines cannot be improved over time since the people who created them don’t know how they work in any useful way. It’s the ultimate cargo cult.)
It’s common to hear people who have no idea what they’re talking about proclaim they are improving, fixing, adding guardrails, or whatever to their AI contraptions. These kinds of statements should be recognized for what they are, mindless happy talk meant to reassure their trusting customers.
Totally off thread, but to Jabura Basadai, Retired Carpenter and Amfortas who showed concern (a few days ago) when I said I was trying to muster the resolve to get up on my roof to trim my tree(s) (they said don’t do it). Well, girl +1, trees +1. I did it! It was a bit more scary coming back down, but lopping the branches was easy enough. I took a small saw but didn’t have the nerve to do more. I walked up to the pinnacle, but scooched down. :-)
Back to the regularly scheduled program.
good for you, hon,lol.
i am crazyafraid of hights…so ladders and scaffolds…these past 30 years.
did it anyways, when needed.
you have balls
(a compliment, btw)
If I am sober, I respect heights, if not, my chair height may even be a problem.
Carrying the 12 foot wood ladder was a very heavy problem today.
I’m glad I did it. Now I can get back to our depressing state of the world.
Congrats on your success, and glad to hear you are safe. Were I in your city, I would send over one of my crew to do it for you, I will not climb roofs any longer.
BTW, It is for keeps when gravity wins.
Be safe
Ahso; Einstein curved space, gravity and the higgs field. They dominates us all.
i’m a scoocher too when on the roof and close to the edge otherwise i stand, always with good shoes to give traction – the roof is 4/12 pitch so not too radical – keeping trees away from roof/house is good for many reasons – trimming tree branches, whether on a roof or a ladder, can be challenging – you don’t really know which way a branch will fall, have some scars to prove that, and they can throw you off balance – wearing a pair of safety glasses is good too – have found a blower is good to get leaves out of gutters – thanks for getting back to us about your success – were you up there in this heat we’ve had?
Cue the circus music as we say in my work.
A few pro tips – ladder set up is at a ratio of 4 to 1 in height to footing on the ground ie rungs should be level under the feet. Ground should be level and solid, understand even if it is as one moves up the ladder the feet of it can walk or move around. One should move steadily with vertical motion and not side to side. Ladder should raise about one meter above the roof to facilitate getting on it and off it. Depending on the material the roof is sheet-ed with makes a huge difference, Bitumen, Tile, Metal, and how clean it is. Shoes are big thing, roofers don’t ware big boots or running shoes, soft flat sole shoes with lots of feeling in them so you have good balance and information about where your feet are at.
Now when cutting things like branches one needs to consider the load of the branch = after cut where does it go and once the load on the tree is released how it moves. I would just add that now days there are very cheap battery powered limb cutters with long extensions on them. That way you can do stuff from the ground or at a safe distance from the edge of the roof.
Oops the old school way was you always needed a person at the bottom of the ladder to hold it and put one foot on the bottom rung to stabilize it as you went up and and down.
re: Larry Ellison & Trump
conversation about their friendship and the WarnerMount merger
How Larry Ellison’s Trump Bromance Is Helping WarnerMount
Matt is joined by WSJ reporter Emily Glazer to discuss her fascinating new piece highlighting Larry Ellison’s private friendship with Donald Trump and the impact it had on the Paramount M&A saga. Emily explains why Larry and Donald seem to get along so well, why Larry is bankrolling the WarnerMount deal, and how we got here in the first place
35 min.
https://podcasts.apple.com/is/podcast/how-larry-ellisons-trump-bromance-is-helping-warnermount/id1612131897?i=1000774303344
p.s. It´s not uninteresting but I hate this mythmaking about such crooks as Ellison which decorates the criticism with all this implicit awe. As for the merger, WSJ uncovered a $45M donation from Ellison to Trump which probably greased the oh-so silent agreement to the merger by the DoJ.
Thank you! I might not get to it, but maybe, I certainly comport with with the sentiments in the p.s.
I want to thank you again for the link to How China Actually Works found in your comment below. I watched almost the entirety, much fit within my understanding, some was novel and some theoretical.
Much worthwhile.
https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2026/06/links-6-26-2026.html#comment-4436262
I have started to look into China to a big part only because of NC and the commentariat. So what I find I try to feed back to the source where it started for me.
In Germany those people who are familiar with China receive very little attention considering its actual significance. While much of the Russia idiocy is embarrassing and insulting the behaviour towards China is different, less aggressive (yet) but extremely self-defeating.
Having said that, those personal acquaintances who did live in China so that they actually learned the tongue and who all have a background in arts one way or the other wish to not go back. For them China is the old China and that will never come back, from their POV.
Indeed, creative people have a heightened aversion to imposition.