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Links 7/7/2026

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Through the Eyes of Shop Cats Sixth Tone (guurst)

I Thought This Was a Literary Myth Until I Checked Classical Literature (Micael T)

Sciencing With a Primate Brain: Reflections on the Nature of Scientific Thought Adam Neiblum (Micael T)

Shift Happens Oldster (Micael T). I dunno…

Scientists discover why exercise reverses muscle aging Science Daily (Kevin W)

Climate/Environment

UN warns likelihood of ‘extreme weather events’ as El Nino set to intensify Aljazeera

China warming faster than global average as extreme weather intensifies, report says Asia News

The summer heat intensifies, making Arab capitals among the hottest places on earth Arabia Weather

Shipowners turn to dirty fossil fuels and nuclear power as green hopes sail away Financial Times

From last week, still germane:

China?

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

China’s sea patrols and lawfare tighten ‘all fronts’ squeeze on Taiwan Nikkei

As tech rallies and consumer shares lag, China’s stock market forms microcosm for economy South China Morning Post

Why are China’s doctors moonlighting as delivery drivers? The Times

The Robots Are Here China Talk

Koreas

North Korean leader Kim observes weapons tests from new naval destroyer Independent

India

Typhoid, intestinal infections surge in Pune as water scarcity bites, doctors say cases likely far higher Times of India

Southeast Asia

Renewed Myanmar violence fuels fears of refugee movement into Bangladesh Business Standard

Aid Cuts Could Turn Rohingya Crisis Into Regional Security Risk Impact Policies

Cambodia Accuses Thai Military of Installing Barbed Wire at Mom Bei Area KiriPost

Africa

Ethiopia: Tigray Authorities Forcibly Recruiting Civilians Human Rights Watch

How conflict minerals fuel war in eastern DR Congo amid US sanctions Aljazeera

More impending horrors in Sudan Economist

Mali hit by new wave of coordinated rebel attacks France24

South of the Border

Not yet verified but this account is generally reliable:

Cuban farmers rush to sell land as Trump’s fuel blockade hits harvests Financial Times .

US Provides $300 Million in Earthquake Recovery Money to Venezuela While Sitting on $8 Billion in Stolen Oil Wealth Common Dreams (Kevin W)

The Amazon is not just under environmental assault. It’s also increasingly under criminal control Globe and Mail

European Disunion

Calling themselves communists – making the big city a success Aftonbladet via machine translation. Micael T; “This must be Russia disinformation. European politicians that make life better for the people? Ridiculous! And on top of that receiving votes as a thank you for the improvement? In Europe the norm is to have fridge-level approval rates and immiserate people.”

The cost of heat: Why Europe’s economy is melting RT (Kevin W)

Dip in U.S. LNG Imports to EU Spells Trouble for Trade Deal OilPrice

Germany sees mass demonstrations as far-right AfD eyes power Daily Sabah

The Purpose of the Anti-AfD System Is What It Does eugyppius (Micael T)

Early heatwaves are devastating French agriculture and leaving farmers helpless Le Monde

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

Thousands more evacuated as wildfires spread across southern France Connexion France

The goal is to have 200 return to Afghanistan – zero has been achieved Aftonbladet via machine translation (Micael T)

Old Blighty

Britain to lead European drive to build long-range Nato missiles Telegraph

The Wuhan lab of British politics Ed West

Amber heat-health alerts issued as UK could see 10 consecutive days of temperatures over 30C BBC (Kevin W)

UK farmers embrace regenerative methods after heatwave shock Financial Times

Israel v. The Resistance

Sanaa tests the blockade as Riyadh weighs its next move The Cradle

Lebanese Christians Reject Netanyahu’s Claim They Requested Annexation Into Israel Antiwar.com (Kevin W)

“In the West Bank, it’s a showdown now.” Cara Mariana

Syraqistan

New Not-So-Cold War

Russia says Ukrainian drones targeted Siberian oil refinery, Kursk II Nuclear Plant Anadolu Agency

Ukrainian Authorities Panic as Patriots Run Out Amidst Russian Ballistic Frenzy Simplicius. Amazing factoid courtesy the Wall Street Journal:

Shockingly, the article states that each single Pac-3MSE missile takes over two years to build.

Granted, there are many being built at the same time, but the total lead time for the manufacture of all the different parts, and then final assembly—which itself takes six weeks—apparently totals over the two year mark. The main reason is that there are over 400 different companies supplying parts to this single missile type, which all manufacture their various components at different rates and scales. The components themselves then all have to be individually tested before final delivery. This entire complex process explains why expanding the supply chains all at once is nearly impossible, and why the ambitious goal of 2,000 per year will likely never be even remotely approached.

Poor Prospects for Peace in Ankara Olivier Boyd-Barrett. Here, “Ankara” = NATO meeting.

Stubb named the reason for NATO countries’ support for strikes deep into Russia. Vzglayd via machine translation (guurst)

“Why Doesn’t Putin Just Finish It?….” Mark Sleboda

Russia’s “Systematic Strikes” Are Reshaping The Ukrainian Conflict’s Strategic Dynamics Andrew Korkybko

Yes, Virginia, Russia Helped USA Become Independent Jeff Rich

Big Brother is Watching You Watch

Footage Shows Cop Stalking Woman He Met on a TV Set After Surveilling Her With a License Plate Reader 404 Media

Imperial Collapse Watch

Has America Crossed the Asshole Threshold? Carlyn Beccia

The Reload War Shankana Anaselm Perera

Trump 2.0

The Atlantic republishes JD Vance’s anti-Trump essay from 10 years ago Guardian (resilc)

Amid Mounting War Casualties, Pete Hegseth “Defunded and Impeded” Efforts to Protect Civilians, Lawmakers Say ProPublica (Robin K)

Marine One helipad to be built on White House lawn, Trump says Military Times (Kevin W)

Donald Trump, Arsonist in Chief, The President from Hell Tom Engelhardt

Supremes

Last Week’s Other News Steve Vladeck

Economy

Trump’s War Means Higher Global Interest Rates for Years to Come Yahoo

America’s sea of debt is fuelling the need for a rate rise The Times

Mr. Market Needs a Therapist

The next financial crisis may start in your shopping cart YNET. ZOMG, the parallels to subprime lending are stronger than this indicates. First, “forward flow” is very much like the warehouse lines of credit subprime loan buyers like Bear Sterns extended to originators like IndyMac. There was skin in the game of sorts, in that the loan buyers had “putbacks” whereby they could reject loans or loan pools that did not meet their standards.

AI bubble fears, the endless K-shaped economy, and insane hyperscaler capex spending Yahoo

AI

Please click through and read in full. This is fiction but written so as to be essentially true:

Inside CAA’s Secret AI “Vault,” Where Actors Can Live Forever—If They Want Vanity Fair (Dr. Kevin)

The AI Boom Runs on Debt. Global Regulators Want to Shut Off the Tap 24/7 Wall Street

This Is Not An Earnings Bubble, It Is A Leverage Bubble Seeking Alpha

>Chinese resellers are offering Claude tokens at 70-90% below official Anthropic API prices Hacker News Micael T: ” am not condoning criminal activities but I am indulging in Schadenfreude.”

Bipartisan bill fails to protect US consumers from datacenters’ true costs, critics warn Guardian

Bare Functionalism Versus Digital Computational Functionalism Eric Schwitzgebel (Micael T)

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

The Bezzle

Bitcoin falls as Michael Saylor’s Strategy sold 3,588 Bitcoin between June 29 and July 5 InvestingLive

Class Warfare

A University Degree is No Longer Worth It Global Geopolitics

Privatisation of gas, education driving total inflation over 20 years, new research finds News.com.au

Cost-of-living crisis drives new wave of families to Tauranga foodbanks New Zealand Herald

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

And a bonus:

A second bonus:

And a third:

See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here

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4 comments

  2. Trees&Trunks

    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

    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

    “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 ↓

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