Links 6/27/2025

Scientists find Earth’s mantle beating like a heart, slowly tearing Africa apart Interesting Engineering

Fire-Eyes Of The Underworld Noema

Stunning amber fossil reveals ‘Last of Us’-type fungus likely lived alongside dinosaurs CNN

Climate/Environment

Philly and other places have been setting records this week before sunup The Philadelphia Inquirer

Nearly a Third of Tuvalu Residents Seek Climate Visas to Australia as Sea Engulfs Their Home Common Dreams

On solid ice: the plan to refreeze the Arctic The Narwhal

Malaysia will stop accepting U.S. plastic waste, creating a dilemma for California Los Angeles Times

Pandemics

China?

China Is Still Choking Exports of Rare Earths Despite Pact With U.S. WSJ

Harvard Academic Who Met Top Chinese Diplomat Sees US Trade Breakthrough Soon Bloomberg

Trump says US signed agreement with China, offering no details South China Morning Post

Lutnick Says US-China Trade Truce Signed, 10 Deals Imminent Bloomberg

***

China’s Structural Advantage in Open Source AI Interconnected

Cutting Through Narratives on Chinese Arctic Investments Harvard Kennedy School Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs

Old Blighty

Uncovered: How UK police are hiding their Palantir work Democracy for Sale

Syraqistan

Israeli attacks kill 62 Palestinians in Gaza, including three near aid site Al Jazeera

Netanyahu Halts North Gaza Aid After Smotrich Threatens to Quit Coalition Over Alleged Hamas Access Haaretz

Iran Aftermath, Trump’s Schizophrenia, Iran-Russia-China Tripartite Regroup, more… The Real Politick with Mark Sleboda (Video)

Exclusive: Details emerge of secret diplomatic efforts to restart Iran talks CNN

Khamenei’s Speech to Iran Karl Sanchez

Seyed M. Marandi: Iran vs Declining West in a Multipolar World Glenn Diesen (Video)

The day a nuclear Iran was born Amwaj

***

No intel that Iran moved highly enriched uranium before US strikes: Pentagon chief Anadolu Agency

Early intelligence suggests Iran’s uranium largely intact, European officials say FT

Meanwhile more details emerge about Iranian strikes on Israel:

Israel Suffered Extensive Damage Larry Johnson

***

EU leaders deplore Gaza humanitarian crisis, call on Israel to fully lift blockade Anadolu Agency

***

Pakistan developing nuclear-capable ICBM that could reach US after India’s Operation Sindoor: Report Hindustan Times

Turkey backs NATO’s 5% defence spending goal, plans nationwide air shield, source says Reuters

European Disunion

How to save Europe Thomas Fazi

MEPs seek Commission President von der Leyen’s resignation with censure motion Euronews

Trump’s European revolution European Council on Foreign Relations

Germany’s ‘Speechcrime’ Raids Are a Chilling Sign of Things To Come European Conservative

New Not-So-Cold War

EU leaders agree to extend all sanctions against Russia, but not 18th package Ukrainska Pravda

Go West: Russia’s LNG workaround and tapping into the West’s leverage Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air

Russia Seizes Ukrainian Village Near Lithium Deposits: Implications for Critical Minerals Agreements and Investors Energy News Beat

Ukrainian intelligence drones destroy Russian air defence systems in Crimea – video Ukrainska Pravda

***

Nato members agree to 5% GDP spending hike, but will they pay? Intellinews

Hike in defence spending could mean cuts in other areas, Mark Carney warns Toronto Star

Rearmament, it will be a disaster for public accounts: 700 billion in 10 years Il Fatto Quotidiano (machine translation)

That’s The Plan, Alright? Andrei Martyanov

NATO spending hike won’t affect Russia’s security – Lavrov RT

The Great Game

COMMENT: Competing Trans-Afghan transport routes could split Central Asia Intellinews (Lambert)

Trump 2.0

“Revenge tax” being yanked from “big, beautiful bill,” Bessent says Axios

The Senate’s Reconciliation Bill Runs Into the Parliamentarian and Some Harsh Political Realities NOTUS

Congress Is Pushing for a Medicaid Work Requirement. Here’s What Happened When Georgia Tried It. ProPublica

Trump now wields sweeping veto power over U.S. Steel. Here’s how the ‘golden share’ works CNBC

Democrats en déshabillé

WAR POWERS RESOLUTION FROM HOUSE DEMOCRATIC LEADERS MAY NOT LIMIT TRUMP’S WAR POWERS The Intercept

Mamdani

MAHA

RFK Jr’s new vaccine panel votes against preservative in flu shots in shock move The Guardian

The Supremes

Supreme Court’s conservatives give “defund” Planned Parenthood efforts a win Law Dork

Antitrust

Has Trump’s FTC Abandoned Fair Markets? Washington Monthly

Police State Watch

US citizen arrested during Ice raid in what family describes as ‘kidnapping’ The Guardian

ICE Plans to Send Abrego Garcia to an Unnamed Nation That Isn’t El Salvador NOTUS

ICE arrests 100+ Iranian nationals across US amid sleeper cell concerns Fox News

‘No Secret Police Act’: Democratic Bill Would Ban Trump’s Masked Federal Agents Common Dreams. Would ban the masks, not the kidnappings and the gulags.

TRUMP’S GLOBAL GULAG SEARCH EXPANDS TO 53 NATIONS The Intercept

AI

Rick Perry’s AI plan: A colossal nuclear campus in Trump’s image WaPo

No active ingredients whatsoever Internal Exile

Tales of Agentic Misalignment Zvi Mowshowitz

Our Famously Free Press

Bill Moyers, the former White House press secretary turned acclaimed TV journalist, dead at 91 AP

BRICS

Iran, BRICS, and the Dangers of Strategic Patience Tarik Cyril Amar

The Bezzle

NY Judge Slaps Down SEC, Ripple’s Second Request for an Indicative Ruling on Proposed $50M Settlement Coin Desk

Guillotine Watch

Billionaires’ wealth surged $6.5tn over past decade, Oxfam reports The Guardian

Bezos Wedding Guests Given Monogrammed Plastic Bottles To Urinate In During Ceremony The Onion

Class Warfare

Amazon Workers Defy Dictates of Automation Labor Notes

UPS Drivers Are Battling Deadly Heat—Without A.C. in Their Trucks The New Republic

Pay Equity at Kroger Phenomenal World

Under neoliberal fire, the right to strike is waning, globally, after years of premeditated attacks to limit it Equal Times

Antidote du jour (via):

See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.

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117 comments

  1. Antifa

    No Kings!

    We’re gathered here to say we’ll have ‘No Kings!’
    No royal rich who purchase their own laws
    It’s time we all stand up against such things
    And foreign wars that go on without pause

    The price of gas, the groceries, the rent
    The stress of having nothing ever saved
    Two working people living in a tent
    A Golden Dome while potholes go unpaved

    Each straw the rich lay on us could be last
    Our toil goes up to rich men wanting more
    Like every Empire of the ancient past
    Our own falls down as we travail the poor

    These immigrants ICE seizes from their job
    Directed by some Presidential text
    The tear gas that the cops and soldiers lob
    It’s very clear we citizens are next

    Free people are not big on mobs or cults
    On Brownshirt bastards bullying the crowd
    The whole world knows that fascism results
    From governments who shout their creed this loud

    Democracy means everyone partakes
    And that requires that people hear the truth
    With Congress full of cosplay, clowns, and fakes
    We’re ill informed inside the voting booth

    Trump promised he would put our country first
    A big change from what we have seen for years
    He’s turned out to be worst among the worst
    It’s time to lay our bodies on the gears

    Reply
  2. The Rev Kev

    ‘DD Geopolitics
    @DD_Geopolitics
    🇩🇪🇮🇱 While the world talks ceasefire, Western arms shipments to Israel are surging.
    This Israeli 747 cargo flight stopped in Cologne for just 2 hours—loading 128 tons of military equipment—then flew straight to Nevatim Air Base.
    Nevatim has become the central hub for offloading and distributing new Western weapons to replenish stockpiles after Iran’s strikes.
    Behind the scenes, Europe and the U.S. are quietly rearming Israel for the next phase of war.’

    Not only Germany but Serbia as well. The other day the Russians busted the Serbians shipping weapons kits to NATO nations where they were assembled and shipped to the Ukraine. President Vucic was forced to stop all ammunition exports and utilize the manufactured ammo to replenish Serbian stocks instead. But now it looks like Vucic has now found a new market for all that ammo-

    https://www.rt.com/news/620369-serbia-stops-ammo-exports/

    Reply
    1. Vandemonian

      More about MIC profiteering in Craig Murray’s latest:

      June 25, 2025: If you thought RAF jets were owned by the RAF, think again. The RAF squadron targeted for a repaint by Palestine Action due to its involvement in supplying Israel’s genocide, does not in fact belong to the RAF at all. It belongs ultimately to Polygon Global Partners LLP, a Hedge Fund

      https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2025/06/dystopia-uk-genocidal-raf-squadron-targeted-by-palestine-action-is-owned-by-a-hedge-fund-and-leased-by-the-raf/

      Reply
      1. cfraenkel

        Amazing. What happens when one of them is shot down? Does their insurance cover the loss? Inquiring minds want to know.

        I’m almost surprised the US Navy hasn’t latched onto this scheme to ‘lease’ the support ships it can’t be bothered to build themselves.

        Reply
        1. The Rev Kev

          Doesn’t the US Navy already use the US Merchant Marine to man a lot of the support ships that they use? And that a lot of problems are arising because they have a recruiting and retention crisis?

          https://gcaptain.com/op-ed-u-s-merchant-mariner-shortage-demands-action-now/

          And don’t expect much help from the US Coast Guard as they have their own problems-

          https://maritime-executive.com/article/gao-cites-uscg-s-deferred-maintenance-obsolete-cutters-and-staff-shortage

          Reply
        2. scott s.

          The USN uses a mix of government-owned/government operated (GOGO) ships and contractor owned/contractor operated (COCO) leased ships under the Military Sealift Command (MSC). The GOGO ships have the blue/gold stack ring colors and are manned by government employees and at least the officers are USCG licensed.

          In addition to the MSC fleet, there are various contingency ships under control of the Maritime Administration (MARAD). Most significant is the Ready Reserve Force (RRF) ships that have the red/white/blue stack ring colors.

          You may recall the USAF was going to lease 100 767 aircraft as refuelers in the early 2000s but that came undone in a corruption scandal. Subsequently USAF contract to buy outright the KC-46 from Boeing.

          UK uses a similar system, with a mix of government (Royal Fleet Auxiliary-RFA) ships and leased ships.

          Reply
      2. vao

        Astounding.

        We already knew about the outsourcing of so many military tasks to “contractors”; that even the equipment is leased from a labyrinthic network of private firms at mailbox addresses is something completely new to me.

        The evisceration of the regalian domain has advanced much further than I could imagine.

        Reply
    2. GramSci

      Anduril’s drones are being developed not as an autonomous technology, but as an adjunct to manned aircraft??

      Is this to veil some top-secret military drone strategy? Or is it a manifestation of Kevin Xu’s “China’s Structural Advantage” (op cit): how Anduril’s ‘technological innovation’ is being ‘mediated’ by capitalism?

      Reply
  3. AG

    NATO has removed the paragraph from last year that had guaranteed Ukraine membership and called it “irreversible”. There was also apparently no particular meeting on the Ukraine War.

    Reply
  4. Balan Aroxdale

    “There were a lot of missile hits in IDF bases, in strategic sites that we still don’t report about…It created a situation where people don’t realize how precise the Iranians were and how much damage they caused”pic.twitter.com/sYVBM8hdOp

    — Suppressed News. (@SuppressedNws) June 26, 2025

    Israel Suffered Extensive Damage Larry Johnson

    Trump’s breakneck pivots from “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER” to all roaring at Israel to call off their ongoing air attacks is being explained as due to pressure from Trump’s base or his political capriciousness. How more likely is the explanation of a frank DoD assessment that Israel and soon to be the entire US presence in the ME were in imminent danger of collapse in the face of a better prepared and better equipped Iranian military response?
    Do we need to wait 2 years before the inevitable leaks about “spooked” generals and “underestimating Iran’s forces”? One often unmentioned factor is reports of missile interceptor failures or spoofing during some of the later Iranian missile attacks.

    Reminder to everyone. Western armies don’t have hypersonic missiles. Iran and Russia do. What else doesn’t the Pentagon have that it has found out about?

    Reply
    1. XXYY

      What else doesn’t the Pentagon have that it has found out about?

      Western anti-missile systems have always been a generation or two behind what Russia seems to be deploying. I don’t know if that has changed recently, but the s-300 and s-400 systems from Russia seem to be far better than the Patriot/THAAD systems provided by the US.

      Western systems had been failing their testing for several decades, and I was not even sure if things would work at all when deployed in Ukraine. I’m not sure what the actual verdict is now, it’s obviously in the media’s interest to cover up any problems. Certainly us systems are nowhere near they needed scale of manufacturing to be useful in a real war, even if they work.

      I think the jury is still kind of out on the f-35 and the m1 Abrams tank. These we’re talked about as best in class weapons for a long time, but that’s an easy claim to make if they have never been shot at.

      Reply
      1. Mass Driver

        Abramses have been shoot at, in the vast Russian steppes. They did not do well. It turns out that anti-tank weaponry do not care much if someone declares his own junk to be the best in class, the greatest in niche, or the most exquisite in the world.

        As far as F-35 is concerned, western sources say that they have almost been shoot at by some Yemenian guys in sandals, and they had to get out of dodge. There is also a rumor that one of them dared to fly over an Iranian coastal town for a second or two.

        Reply
        1. XXYY

          I suspect it takes several generations of real, battle tested equipment before something is finally produced that is worthwhile and effective (I remember reading about a Russian towed howitzer which could be entirely disassembled into pieces using only one wrench. Evidently some feedback they got was that most artillery crews don’t carry around a huge tool kit. This is the kind of knowledge you don’t find in any book.) So, you develop generation one of your fighter or tank, send it into battle, it gets blown to shit in various ways, you use those lessons to develop version two of your fighter or tank, send those into battle, they do slightly better, rinse and repeat.

          Because of this process, you not only ultimately wind up with workable products, but you also develop an engineering staff that knows what is valuable and what is stupid. This has tremendous value since you can go much faster on your next generation of products. US weapons developers seem stuck at the phase of not knowing what is stupid.

          I suspect various Russian weapons labs have been engaged in this loop since the 1980s in Afghanistan, and they can now develop pretty good products and fairly short order without much drama. I also suspect that Chinese weapons now being introduced are going to initially be pretty crappy unless and until they get a lot of battle testing under their belts and a lot of experience in their staffs.

          Reply
  5. The Rev Kev

    “Exclusive: Details emerge of secret diplomatic efforts to restart Iran talks”

    Hello CNN. The Onion is calling and want their article back. So let me get this straight. The Trump regime may be offering Iran up to $30 billion to build a civilian-energy-producing nuclear program. Only they won’t be using American money but will expect Arab countries to cough up all that dough. Assuming that that money flows, who will be building it? The US? In that case it will never be more than a blueprint. In any case, the Russians are building nuclear plants in Iran already. But let’s let our imagination fly and assume good faith by Trump and the place gets built. Who sells the nuclear fuel to Iran? It would have to be the US which means that the US would be able to throttle Iranian energy production at whim. In any case Trump has reneged and done ‘headfakes’ (his words) on the Iranians since getting into office accumulating with his attack on the their country. And Iran is supposed to trust him why? And ‘potentially removing some sanctions on Iran?’ Like letting Iran exports some carpets or something? Trump stated that he did not care about any deal but it does not matter. Trump has permanently queered the pitch and there will be no deal as Iran will believe nothing that he says. Who knew that actions had consequences?

    Reply
    1. MicaT

      One small issue is that the US gets a lot/most of our processed uranium fuel from Russia. So unlikely we would could supply them.

      I kinda think the Iran working with the west is over

      Reply
  6. Wukchumni

    Under Malaysian waste guidelines announced last month, the country will no longer accept plastic waste and hazardous waste from nations that didn’t ratify the Basel Convention, the international treaty designed to reduce the international movement of hazardous and other waste. The U.S. is one of just a handful of countries, including Fiji and Haiti, that hasn’t signed the pact.

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    The Fresh Port-au-Prince of Bel-Air, episode 1

    A ‘shitcom’ where a neat-smart Haitian trash talks his way into American hearts via the shared interest in despoiling the planet, despite their lifestyles often clashing with one another.

    Reply
    1. The Rev Kev

      Looks like California had the same sort of “recycling” program that Oz had. Grab all that garbage, pack it into a bunch of shipping containers and then send it off to a developing nation to deal with. It’s a variation of the Summers memo-

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

      And until it broke in the news, we in Oz had no idea this was happening. Did California?

      Reply
      1. Wukchumni

        I’ve known about it for awhile, we’ve been trash stalking countries since China outlawed take-aways.

        Since Covid, the trashman cometh on Tuesday and picks up the brown, blue and green bins, and it all goes to the landfill.

        No pretense about it, and I’m guilty of taking advantage of the situation, in particular now when after weed whacking you end up with ‘hay’ and I like to get rid of it and those extra bins help out.

        Reply
        1. Jabura Basadai

          i remember back in the 80’s when a barge of NYC trash couldn’t find a home and became the Flying Dutchman of trash barges –
          https://retroreport.org/video/a-barge-full-of-garbage-helped-to-fuel-a-recycling-movement/
          also had the unfortunate pleasure of visiting a huge landfill in the Philippines almost two decades ago to try and sell our biodigester – an impossible task for what we saw –
          at the same time a Brazilian associate informed us about the largest landfill in the world at the time – the friend knew Vik Muniz – when in Brazil visited that landfill as well and the catadores from the favelas that picked through the garbage –
          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jardim_Gramacho
          there was a compelling and sad movie about the place –
          https://www.wastelandmovie.com/

          Reply
          1. Wukchumni

            Used to have the best dump ever in Visalia, for $7 or $15 bring in anything* you’d like and drive up onto 24 large parking spots where you backed up and 6 feet below was a large metal bin you tossed everything in, so tidy, I could be done in under 10 minutes flat.

            And then somebody fell in and sued the dump, so you had to drive all over tarnation to get to the old school part where you piled your goodly stuff on the ground, and eventually a giant smashing rig comes and compacts it into other piles, where does all this garbage go-this dump in biz for nearly a century…

            …you can’t help but wonder?

            *tires, mattresses, tvs and computers cost more

            Reply
      2. Nikkikat

        I found out several years ago that all the plastic was being shipped off someplace and nothing was recycled. Despite having to separate all of our plastics. It was just a big ruse to keep us thinking we were doing something good, and to help the producers of said plastics, so that no one demanded that they stop producing tons of this crap. Wrapping everything possible in it and chocking the oceans. I don’t bother anymore.
        Most of it does not have any possible way to be recycled. It’s all just a big lie. The jokes on us.

        Reply
    2. LawnDart

      Just an FYI: conforming high-grade plastic scrap from production or industrial purposes is in high-demand and can readily be reprocessed and resold, but the mixed crap tossed out by consumers is actually hazardous waste that is always willing to go to whoever is paid off to take it and give the process a green rubber-stamp– it’s actually kinda an interesting game as far as corruption and smuggling goes. I watched as China bailed from that about a decade ago.

      Watch for more “accidental” fires and “lightning strikes” in a neighborhood near you (oh Columbus, OH…).

      Reply
    1. Jason Boxman

      Ed Dowd thinks that, apparently, all the disability from repeat COVID infections is just vaccine injury. I’d be skeptical of the thoughts of anyone that has such trouble with cause and effect. He’s an author of

      “Cause Unknown”: The Epidemic of Sudden Deaths in 2021 & 2022 & 2023 (Children’s Health Defense)

      Claiming

      2020 saw a spike in deaths in America, smaller than you might imagine during a pandemic, some of which could be attributed to COVID and to initial treatment strategies that were not effective. But then, in 2021, the stats people expected went off the rails. The CEO of the OneAmerica insurance company publicly disclosed that during the third and fourth quarters of 2021, death in people of working age (18–64) was 40 percent higher than it was before the pandemic. Significantly, the majority of the deaths were not attributed to COVID.

      This happens to be dangerous nonsense.

      Literally here is the NIH:

      Table 4Five leading causes of death, by age group, based on age-adjusted deaths per 100,000 population, 2021

      And it includes data from 2018-2020 as well:

      Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, National Vital Statistics System – Mortality, 2018–2021, Single Race. Accessed on CDC WONDER Online Database, released in 2023.

      And surprise, it’s COVID

      25-44, the 2nd leading cause of death is, yes, COVID

      Heart disease is number 3, and we know COVID is a vascular disease.

      The only good thing about COVID is Dowd and people like him are going to get what’s coming to them; SARS-CoV-2 doesn’t care if you believe in it or not.

      Reply
      1. Hickory

        There was a massive amount of political pressure on doctors to label vaccine-related deaths as deaths from covid. Recall that doctors could literally have their licenses suspended (ie careers ended) for not recommending the covid vaccine – so how many do you think deeply investigated the vaccine and alternative treatments, including the history and present-day vast evidence of corruption in the medical/pharma industry and gov’t regulators, and then gave a well-researched, unbiased opinion to the patients? A vanishingly small number. IM Doc had described these intense political pressures in essays on this website.

        There was and is a massive amount of corruption surrounding the covid vaccines, so any superficial review of stats becomes suspect. Vaccine side effects don’t care if you believe in them or not.

        Reply
  7. Jesper

    BBC has a story with a surprisingly honest comment from an employer about why immigration is needed:
    https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cpd4gp78j06o

    He said if those workers are forced out, it will drive up demand for his own staff – forcing him to pay more, and ultimately raise his rates.

    But economists still claim that immigration does not affect wages…. Maybe those economists should go on to lecture those employers and tell them that immigration actually increase wages so as an employer he/she should argue for closed borders if he/she want to keep wages down? Who would those employers believe, economists with models and assumptions or their own eyes and experience?

    & the article goes on to write about disruption. As far as I can tell it seems then disruption is good if it benefits employers and the upper middle classes (quite a few stories about the great disruptors and more disruption needed) but bad if it benefits workers.

    I suppose it follows the economist-logic that if wages go up by 2% then inflation will automatically go up by 3% (or more) so therefore workers are better off not getting wage-increases.

    Reply
  8. NotThePilot

    China’s Structural Advantage in Open Source AI

    Good article, and while I understand it’s limited in scope to AI, I think this bit at the end gets at something much bigger about what “open” vs. “closed” society even means:

    But it does make one wonder. When an otherwise very closed society, like China, prefers the transparency of open source, while an otherwise quite open society, like the United States, chooses the secrecy of closed source, what does this mean for AI….

    Reply
    1. thoughtfulperson

      Or, perhaps, what does it mean about the US?
      Possibly the US is not quite so transparent as we’ve been taught?

      Reply
  9. t

    No active ingredients whatsoever

    Placebos are only interesting when they are not instead of necessary treatment.

    The tale of placebos and AI as a placebo neglects to mention how the man who thought he has a nail in his foot felt when he learned the truth, or the numerous cases of people being damaged by jumping up and running around under the placebo effect of faith healing, and irreparably damaging their bones in the process. And the graveyard of cancer patients who were convinced goat urine or black salve was curing their cancer, until well past the point where a breast cancer with a decent survival rate was treatable.

    How does it play out? Isn’t the solace of an AI chatbot – assuming it doesn’t go weird – as mentally healthy as being spoiled and surrounded by enablers? What happens when someone who thinks they understand intimacy because of an AI finds themselves desperate to connect with a messy and imperfect person who has their own needs?

    Reply
    1. cfraenkel

      Funny. I think I read a different article. In the one I read, the author was painting a picture that AI wouldn’t work *as a placebo*, because it’s intended usage would be missing all the social trappings of real care. (with a side note at the end that reports of AI seeming to generate meaningful experiences likely only happen to people who were expecting to find them in the first place)
      Maybe we take from articles like this the meaning we bring into them?

      Reply
  10. Wukchumni

    Hasbara, shake it loose together
    The spotlight’s hittin’ something
    That’s been known to change the political weather
    We’ll kill the fade accompli tonight
    So stick around
    You’re gonna hear Zionist distortion
    Solid Jericho walls of sound
    Say, Israeli aircraft in Iran, have you seen them yet, woo
    But they’re so spaced out, Be-Be-Bibi and the Jets
    Oh but they’re out there and they’re wonderful
    Oh Bibi he’s really keen
    He’s got Patriot Dome, that will atone
    You know I read it online, ooh ho
    Be-Be-Bibi and the Jets

    Hey kids, plug into the AEGIS
    Maybe the Iranians are blinded
    But Bibi makes the struggle ageless
    We shall survive, let us take ourselves along
    Where we fight our parents out in the streets
    To find who’s right and who’s wrong
    Say, Israeli aircraft in Iran, have you seen them yet, woo
    But they’re so spaced out, Be-Be-Bibi and the Jets
    Oh but they’re out there and they’re wonderful
    Oh Bibi he’s really keen
    He’s got Patriot Dome, that will atone
    You know I read it online, ooh ho
    Be-Be-Bibi and the Jets

    Bibi, Bibi and the Jets
    Bibi, Bibi, Bibi, Bibi and the Jets
    Bibi, Bibi, Bibi, Bibi, Bibi and the Jets

    Benny and the Jets, by Elton John

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBbsyLdFtEU&list=RDEBbsyLdFtEU

    Reply
  11. ilsm

    Why the ceasefire?

    Trump has Israel an ally that started preparing some nukes for the “shoot…. ”

    Text one morning, “unload those bombs….”

    Reply
  12. AG

    re: Germany economic decline

    JUNGE WELT daily

    Real wage development in the EU
    Poorer than five years ago
    Real wages lower across the EU than in 2020. Unions are becoming more likely to strike
    https://archive.is/bEHwN

    “(…)
    Real wages on average in the euro zone in 2024 were around five percent below the 2020 level, the Economic and Social Science Institute (WSI) of the union-affiliated Hans Böckler Foundation announced in its “Wage Report” on Wednesday. In Germany, the gap was 4.7 percent. If the methods of the Federal Statistical Office were applied and special payments were excluded, the figure would be a full ten percent. However, 2023 and 2024 were “extremely strike-prone” years across Europe, which is why real wage increases of around two percent were recorded in 2024 compared to 2023. The verdict is: “There is still room to catch up.”
    (…)”

    Reply
    1. Michaelmas

      The UK picture and why the British working classes fought to leave the EU —

      Analysis of wage and price increases, UK: 2011 to 2023

      https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/articles/analysisofwageandpriceincreasesuk/2011to2023

      Wages Before Brexit (pre-2016)
      From 2010 to 2016, real wage growth was sluggish, largely due to austerity and the aftermath of the 2008 GFC. Median monthly earnings in June 2016 were around £1,655, according to HMRC data.

      Wages Since Brexit (2016–2023)

      By December 2023, median monthly pay had risen to approximately £2,332, a 41% increase since the referendum. But real wage growth adjusted for inflation was more modest and inflation, especially post-COVID and during the energy crisis, eroded much of the nominal gains.

      In May–July 2023, private sector regular pay grew by 8.1% year-on-year, reflecting tight labour markets and inflationary wage pressures.

      Employment Trends
      The number of payrolled employees increased by 2.3 million between June 2016 and December 2023.
      Labour shortages in sectors like hospitality and agriculture—partly due to reduced EU migration—have contributed to upward wage pressure in low-wage sectors.

      Reply
      1. AG

        And it´s gonna get worse.

        p.s. past WE I had a discussion with a decent friend. But even his reaction was initial bewilderment when I suggested Germany join BRICS or EU as a whole change course and align with BRICS.
        The incompetence of that very class that shapes public opinion has grown into a serious threat. As soon as something is in the paper, or someone gets to stand in front of a camera people turn off their brains.

        Reply
  13. mzza

    What makes that clip with Joy Reid so remarkable is not that she confirms getting fired for humanizing Palestinians — because of course — but that in her list of contrary examples she includes debunked stories about the Ukraine / Russia war, like the ‘kidnapped children’ narrative.

    Obviously no one should get fired for speaking out in support of Palestines, or for the end of the horrific genocide, but I’d *hope* that when one *is* fired for going off-script, that one will start to question the integrity of the many, many scripts already acted from previous seasons.

    (For that matter while I’m heartened by the more general swelling ranks of those calling for the end to the genocidal policies, I’d be more heartened if the newly converted got past the idea that the genocide ‘started’ as retaliation for the October 7 attacks. Pollyanna that I am.)

    Reply
    1. vao

      There are two points that came to my mind after reading his Wikipedia page:

      1) He joins a long list of politicians (many European ones) having lied about their academic achievements — variously claiming to have gotten degrees at Universities instead of having just studied there, of having been trained in a specific field instead of another, of having a degree of a certain type instead of a certification of a lower category, or having written a PhD which proved to be plagiarism, etc, etc. That kind of lying, fraud, exaggeration is so prevalent…

      2) He seems to be a crass mediocrity — but he has made a career. How does he succeeds in getting support? What kind of network can he count on to get paid jobs when not elected, and accumulate funds to run in elections? A couple of people are mentioned (such as the auto dealership owner), but that does not explain everything. The Wikipedia entry is also unclear about his family background; did he inherit a fortune from wealthy parents?

      Reply
    1. Pookah Harvey

      From Politico article titled:
      Senate Republicans explore tweaks to pension plan after parliamentarian ruling

      Lawmakers are looking to hike federal employees’ retirement contributions to 15.6 percent of their salary — compared with the 9.4 percent required in the initial version of the bill — while carving out an exemption for members of Congress and their staff, according to draft reconciliation text from the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee that was obtained by POLITICO.

      Federal law enforcement, including Capitol Police officers and border personnel, would also be exempt from the contribution requirements. Employees hired after 2014 are currently only required to contribute 4.4 percent of their salary to their retirement.

      You have to give Repubs points on being persistent.

      Reply
        1. ChrisFromGA

          I’d say they did so much carving that they left only the carcass.

          My best guess on the fate of the BBPoS is that it will have to go back to the drawing board. Elizabeth McDonough busted out her AK-47 and put so many holes in it that it looks like Wile E. Coyote leaking water like a sprinkler from his belly.

          Beware the “Democrats get their ice cream, and Republicans their cake” scenario where it gets born again as a bloated monstrosity of spending for all.

          Reply
  14. Wukchumni

    You’re my femme fatales, you’re my apparatchicks (ra-da-da)
    You’re the girls of my dreams
    I’d like to thank you (ra-da-da)
    For waitin’ patiently
    Daddy’s home, Daddy’s home to stay
    Hm-mm-mm, mm-mm

    How I’ve waited for this moment (ra-da-da)
    To be by your side
    Your best friend texted and told me (ra-da-da)
    Karoline had teardrops in her eyes
    Daddy’s home, Daddy’s home to stay (ay-ay-ay)

    It was never on a Sunday
    Monday and Tuesday went by
    It wasn’t on a Tuesday afternoon
    All I could do was try
    But I made a promise that you treasured (do-do-ah)
    I made it back (do-do-ah)
    Home to you (la-la, la-la-la, la-la-la, la-la-la)

    How I’d waited for this moment to be by your side
    Your best friend texted and told me (ra-da-da)
    Kristi had teardrops in her eyes
    Daddy’s home, Daddy’s home to stay (ay-ay-ay)

    Daddy’s home to stay
    I am not three thousand miles away

    Daddy’s Home, by Shep and the Limelites

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIGla91-qmk&list=RDAIGla91-qmk

    Reply
  15. Acacia

    Re: Armchair Warlord’s hypothesis that no bunker busters were used against Iran

    It really sounds like neither Israel nor the US sent airplanes very far into Iranian airspace, if at all, and that the putative bunker buster attack was in fact carried out with cruise missiles. The wrinkle that Israel “double tapped” one of the sites also hints at a weaker than anticipated attack.

    This is speculation, but I wonder if this is about an unacknowledged worry that Iranian AD would have downed several planes, including the vaunted B-2, and the USian decision was that the risk would be too great.

    Reply
    1. The Rev Kev

      I think that you are right. The thought of one or two B-2 bombers shot down over Iran would have been seen as an unacceptable price to pay and which would be seen to undermine part of the US’s vaunted nuclear triad. When asked about this attack, Hegseth flipped out and said that any criticism was ‘unpatriotic and disrespectful to the “brave men and women” in the US military.’ Personally I would have said sending men and women into combat on a mission with no chance of success would be pretty disrespectful and unpatriotic but that is just me-

      https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c20rd30l7l3o

      Reply
    2. GramSci

      Agreed. On this note I was surprised by Martyanov’s report (op cit) that Iran was now buying Chinese J-10s when it seems that nowadays almost any missile is capable of taking down almost any manned aircraft. I suppose that lacking a space program, Iran might find the J-10s useful for surveilling its borders and its hinterlands, but I would think drones would be more effective for this.

      Reply
      1. AG

        While I cannot offer indpendet views of my own Martyanov has held the position that fighter planes with pilots will remain, albeit accompanied by drone swarms. He in general damps expectations re: AI warfare a la Terminator. That also his take on drones remaining to be second to classic means such as artillery.

        p.s. The J-10 being cheaper than SUs and the fact that according to him Iran-China had been dealing over its development for over a decade now.

        Reply
        1. AG

          Martyanov today:

          “… and in continuation of this Su-35 and J-10 “story”. Iran DOES have Su-35s, the only question is whether Iranians managed to “shake down” the force of Su-35s to be ready to take part in recent events. Possible, but we don’t know it for sure yet. Russia IS ready to supply Iran with more Su-35s (up to two squadrons–12 x 2 =24). The number of existing Su-35 in Iran is way more than two;)) And as was already stated, this in no way limits or interferes with Iran’s possible purchase of J-10s–two very different combat aircraft, with different capabilities. So, we have to wait and see.”

          Reply
          1. Mass Driver

            Iran needs to modernize their whole fleet (they fly F-4s, F-5s, F-14s, etc.), and you can’t buy a hundred of 4++ fighter jets on the local farmers market. You get what you can, when you can. Buying both Russian and Chinese planes sounds like common sense to me.

            Reply
        2. ilsm

          I watcha stream about an AI simulated dog fight…… The AI had the two friendly aircraft engage a single fighter using a “weave” tactic devised by the US Navy to engage Imperial Japanese Navy Zeroes.

          AI may improve the mission planning/updating and make the pilot less stressed, but it will not come up with tactics its LLM has not “studied”…… Not yet anyway.

          Reply
        3. hk

          Iran being involved in the development of J-10 is a bit of news to me. It has been claimed (this has been much disputed) that J-10 owes at least some aspects of its design to Israel: a lot of people have claimed (and disputed) that Israel sold China the US technology transferred to Israel for their development of the Lavi fighter (a development of F-16 which has been cancelled for a while). (at least according to Wiki, the sources of this information seem to have been in Russia–it did appear in reputable publications–Jane’s–however. PLAAF has insisted that it has not been directly influenced by foreign technology.)

          Reply
      2. Michaelmas

        GramSci: I was surprised by Martyanov’s report (op cit) that Iran was now buying Chinese J-10s

        Nothing surprising about it. As demonstrated in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, manned military aircraft are flying, highly mobile platforms for launching JDAMs and missiles — of all kinds, including missiles with nuclear warheads, as with the F35, but also air-to-air AD missiles as seen in the Israel-Iran conflict– from a range of standoff distances, depending on the ordnance and the mission profile.

        Roughly, JDAMs have an average range of 15 miles when dropped from high altitude, and extended range JDAMs/glide bombs of 50-100-plus miles.

        Air-to-Surface missiles have significantly greater standoff distances of up to 575 miles.

        So military fighter jets aren’t going away yet, though — as demonstrated by the recent Pakistan-India air combat — the days when their pilots made visual contact with their opponents and fought at a few miles’ distance from each other are history, almost certainly.

        Acacia: It really sounds like neither Israel nor the US sent airplanes very far into Iranian airspace, if at all…

        And that’s theimmediate future of air warfare, probably. It also means that for a state that wants long-distance power projection, aircraft carriers still have a use, which is why the Chinese’s PLA already has two active carriers, the Liaoning and Shandong, with the third, Fujian, currently undergoing sea trials and a fourth carrier, with nuclear propulsion, that’s been under construction since 2024

        Yes. Aircraft carriers have to be kept at standoff distance. But everyone has understood that since the UK-Falklands war when the British had to keep their capital ships out of range of the Exocet missiles that the Argentines had.

        Reply
        1. Polar Socialist

          A modern fighter with an AESA radar is also quite good at hunting drones and cruise missiles. Or, to put it in “non-Western” terms of thinking, in Iran’s case the J-10 would be for defense, while Su-35 would be for attack – having twice the engines, the size and bigger range, speed and payload.

          For months there has been rumors that Iran wants to buy 100 J-10 from China – a delegation visited China last year. And there were news in last January that the first 2 of 50 ordered Su-35S (disassembled) were finally delivered to Iran for assembly.

          Reply
          1. michaelmas

            Heh.

            There’s that and its targeting specificity.

            That’s the next revolution in military affairs: targeting specificity.

            Reply
      3. chuck roast

        Maybe they have to do something with all those renminbi they pile up from selling China oil. Similarly, Russia is sitting on a boatload of rupees and appear to be kind enough not to acknowledge the worthlessness of the things because they can’t recycle them.

        Reply
    3. ilsm

      If you read the hype of the B-2 missions, at one point 14 B-2’s were in the air thousands of miles from Whiteman AFB Mo. There are 20 B-2 bombers left, one was lost to fire accident some years ago.

      The aircraft is a shelter hugging reliability problem going on 35 years old.

      I think something is rotten in the pentagon. It may be the very special new chairman who reads scripts and believes what he reads!

      Of course, John “Daniel” (Raizin’) Caine is the 22nd Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs. He wears a nice uniform and reads the script, faithfully!

      He is a national guard officer, not a regular officer. He flew F-16’s in NY Air Guard, later for a long time in Maryland Air Guard. He was full time air guard and was officially in retirement when Trump fired regular USAF General Charlie Brown, who had been on active duty regular USAF officer for decades.

      Out of military retirement, Caine was promoted to full General by Trump; ratified by US Senate to be CJCS over all (one hundred or two) regular commission 4 star generals.

      This represents a rare talent amount US officers: he owes his job solely to Trump.

      Not a good situation for the military leadership of a supposed democracy!

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

      Reply
      1. The Rev Kev

        Wow. Thanks for that link. So the guy is just a political appointee that seems to be more active in the business world than military affairs and professionalism. No wonder Trump likes him so much.

        Reply
  16. GramSci

    Three great reads on ‘AI’ today. Thank you, Conor!

    As a recovering linguist, albeit not a sociolinguist like Deborah Tannen, I found it amusing how “Agentic Misalignment” (op cit) reads like a Dear Abby column for those afflicted with AI Derangement Syndrome. “Chatbots resort to blackmail!” The horrors! I feel compelled to remind the reader that “blackmail” is the B in MBA.

    It is horrible, however, how Rick Perry is inviting AI researchers to build their own nuclear powered SimCity (op cit) deep in the heart of taxless.

    But LLMs needn’t be only a wasteful masturbatory plaything for geeks and governors. “China’s Structural Advantage in Open Source AI” (op cit) makes a lot of solid, socialist sense until the very end, where the author starts talking like a PMC chatbot and closes with the canard that “The US is a more open society than China”.

    Reply
  17. Vandemonian

    I feel compelled to remind the reader that “blackmail” is the B in MBA.

    Are you sure? I’d always thought it stood for “means bugger-all”.

    Reply
  18. The Rev Kev

    “China Is Still Choking Exports of Rare Earths Despite Pact With U.S.”

    Quick story. We had a well know politician here in Oz many decades ago called Bob Menzies who served two long stints as Prime Minister. When he was Attorney General he got into a fight with wharfies who wanted to stop a shipment of pig iron going to Japan not only because of the Japanese massacre in Nanjing but because they saw that one day that pig iron would return to Oz – in the form of warships and bombers. He got his way in the end but picked up the nickname “pig iron bob” for his efforts and four years later those wharfies were proven right-

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1938_Dalfram_dispute

    The point of this story is that I do not think that the Chinese want to make the same mistake. They know that so long as they stop the shipments of rare earths to the US militarily for building new weapons, that a military attack on China becomes impossible over time. Even better, the US military will be more and more restricted in its attacks on other countries. Sure the west has access to rare earths but they do not have access to the facilities or technologies to refine them. That was all outsourced years ago to China who has greatly refined the technology since. Trump and his Cabinet may fume but this time the Chinese have them in a barrel. They don’t have the cards, see. They have no cards.

    Reply
    1. Michaelmas

      Rev Kev: …the west … do not have access to the facilities or technologies to refine them.That was all outsourced years ago to China

      Not entirely. France has 90 percent of the rare earths refining capability that exists outside China, and I know the UK has at least one operating plant, though I’m sure it’s tiny.

      For China, the trick will probably be to meter out trickles of rare earth exports so the US and its military are restricted and as near to strangulated as possible, but not to cut off the West so totally that it starts
      strategically investing to be free of China’s rare earths industry. (As if the West could, you may argue.)

      In other words, the Chinese probably need to not do what the US did to China by cutting off all advanced chips, which just made China go into overdrive to advance its own advanced. chip industry

      Reply
    2. neutrino23

      Rare Earth Elements are not all that rare, about as abundant as nickel, but refining the ores produces lots of nasty byproducts. I know that there have been efforts to open a mine in Nevada. My guess is that China doesn’t care that much about dumping the leftovers after extracting REEs.

      This is an interesting example of how capitalism works. The capitalists simply find the lowest cost resources. Why invest in your own country’s safety or welfare when you can buy the resources elsewhere cheaper?

      Maybe the US should buy REEs from US mines and sell them to the defense industry. The Pentagon budget could easily support this. We have a strategic oil reserve, why not a strategic REE reserve?

      Reply
      1. Glen

        Yes, refining REE ore is nasty, and one of the elements that makes it nasty is thorium:

        Bayan Obo Rare Earth Mine https://www.nsenergybusiness.com/projects/bayan-obo-rare-earth-mine/?cf-view

        The Bayan Obo mine located in the Inner Mongolia region of China is the world’s biggest rare earth element (REE) mine both by recoverable reserves and production. It accounts for more than 40% of the total known REE reserves in the world and nearly half of the global rare earth production.

        China Discovers Rare Element Called Thorium That “Can Power” The Country For “60,000 Years”
        https://www.legit.ng/people/1643462-china-discovers-rare-element-called-thorium-power-country-60000-years/

        China said it found thorium in large deposits in the Bayan Obo mining complex in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region of northern China
        The mine is said to contain thorium capable of supplying China’s household energy demands ‘almost forever’

        China’s Thorium Nuclear Reactor: A Game-Changing Energy Breakthrough! https://engineerine.com/chinas-thorium-nuclear-reactor-energy-breakthrough/

        It should be noted that the reactors are based on American research conducted at Oak Ridge NL back in the 1960’s, declassified after fifty years.

        Funny you should mention the Pentagon and US REE mines, that’s exactly what’s happen at the largest REE mine in America – the Mountain Pass mine (which was the largest REE mine in the world until about 1995):

        DoD Awards $35 Million to MP Materials to Build U.S. Heavy Rare Earth Separation Capacity
        https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/2941793/dod-awards-35-million-to-mp-materials-to-build-us-heavy-rare-earth-separation-c/

        And guess what else is to be found at MP mine? Thorium:

        Case Study — A thorium source in the Mountain Pass rare earth elements deposit, California
        https://unece.org/sites/default/files/datastore/fileadmin/DAM/energy/se/pp/unfc_egrm/egrc6_apr2015/30_April/6b_VanGosen_US_Thorium.pdf

        Reply
        1. Michaelmas

          The thorium molten salt reactor design was developed at Oak Ridge, it’s true.

          Slightly ironically–

          [1] It was originally developed to power Curtis Lemay and SAC’s manned nuclear bomber program.

          [2] The designer was Alvin Weinberg who held the patent on the BWR (boiling water reactor) design which is the standard civilian nuclear reactor and Weinberg preferred the molten salt reactor design for civilian use.

          Reply
    1. ambrit

      I am still waiting for the release of Moyers’ unredacted memoirs about the Johnson years in the White House. Moyers knew where “the bodies were buried” and kept schtum about it. Now that he is gone….

      Reply
  19. Antifaxer

    I cannot believe the call to deport Zorhan has not hit the larger mainstream press.

    Could it be…..the blob that is the democrat establishment is actively suppressing that story because it would provide positive/sympathetic coverage for him?!

    Reply
  20. Wukchumni

    Riddle me this Batman…

    Is the US Military ‘zackly where the British and French were post haste Suez Crisis, has beens?

    Reply
    1. ambrit

      Given the financialized nature of our Ship of State, I would not at all be surprised to learn that the “human bean counters” infesting the Pentagon have been plundering the national treasury for all they were worth, and to H— with the military readiness. And yes, I do realize that Britain and France were suckered into a war against Egypt in 1956 by, horrors!, Israel. History certainly does rhyme a catchy tune in the Middle East.

      Reply
  21. thoughtfulperson

    On the vaccine issue,

    1) the amount of mercury in a flu vaccination is about what you’d get from a tablespoon of tuna.

    2) 95% of vaccine used in the US does not have it, the main impact will be in more remote places, with limited refrigeration I suspect.

    3) “I know ACIP is focused on the US, but recommendations that the ACIP makes are followed among many countries around the world,” said Meissner.

    Message to the world: Obviously time to stop using US Gov’t sources for information if you’ve failed to thus far!

    Reply
    1. Martin Oline

      RE
      1) the amount of mercury in a flu vaccination is about what you’d get from a tablespoon of tuna.

      Are you suggesting that injecting a vaccine into a muscle is the same as eating tuna? I have never met anyone who injects tuna, not that there’s anything wrong with it.

      Reply
  22. Jason Boxman

    In other Supreme Court news:

    The essence of the court’s holding today is that Congress, in creating the lower federal courts in the Judiciary Act of 1789, did not give district court judges the power to to issue nationwide or universal injunctions that prohibit the enforcement of a (likely illegal) government policy against anyone. Rather district court judges may only grant relief to specific plaintiffs. But in a concurring opinion, Justice Kavanaugh notes that broader orders will still be permissible when there is a class action lawsuit, or if a plaintiff is asking a judge to set aside a new agency rule under the Administrative Procedures Act.

    And

    The majority opinion in the case was written by Justice Amy Coney Barrett. She concludes:

    “Some say that the universal injunction “give[s] the Judiciary a powerful tool to check the Executive Branch.” … But federal courts do not exercise general oversight of the Executive Branch; they resolve cases and controversies consistent with the authority Congress has given them. When a court concludes that the Executive Branch has acted unlawfully, the answer is not for the court to exceed its power, too.”

    Reply
    1. AG

      I have an idea, but translate that for me please.
      What is she (not) telling me?
      p.s. Did not Thatcher already end citizenship and birthright in the UK?
      p.p.s. the fact that this again was 6-3 majority mocks any serious statement the judiciary and the law have nothing to do with politics. There is no such thing as non-political judiciary if executive power questions even the most fundamental rights everything is political allegiance. Which is why Carl Schmitt is still of relevance. Even if only in a non-desireable way…

      Reply
    2. Norton

      KBJ dissent gets mocked in Opinion.

      “We will not dwell on Justice Jackson’s argument, which is at odds with more than two centuries’ worth of precedent, it to mention the Constitution itself. We observe only this: Justice Jackson decries an imperial Executive while embracing an imperial Judiciary.”

      Thanks, Joe

      Reply
    3. ChrisFromGA

      If you think about it, nationwide injunctions don’t seem equitable or compatible with the concept of jurisdiction.

      Congress created something like 13 district courts. Each are subject to jurisdictional limits. A court in Massachusetts can issue a ruling on a dispute between a citizen of New Hampshire, and say, a corporation headquartered in or using Massachusetts as its principal place of business. But that ruling is not binding on similar disputes in other jurisdictions, say the 9th Circuit Court which is West Coast based.

      When differences on questions of law arise between district courts, those are supposed to eventually get resolved by the SCOTUS. However, by issuing nationwide injunctions, what these judges are really doing is short-circuiting that process and binding other circuits without any jurisdictional authority.

      I’m sort of surprised that it took this long for the SCOTUS to end this abuse. I suspect that both sides were abusing it to the point where they finally had to do something. There is still the avenue of a class action lawsuit if individual plaintiffs want to band together and get relief on behalf of a class.

      Note that in the future, a Democratic President may get to enjoy the benefit of this ruling, too. If say the GOP sues them in a district court, any favorable ruling won’t extend beyond the limits of that geographical district, and those plaintiffs. So, using the courts to achieve policy wins is probably going to be less effective for both parties, with the exception of class actions I noted above.

      It is important to remember that today’s decision limiting injunctions didn’t say anything about the merits of the case (removing birth right citizenship.)

      Reply
      1. Pat

        But isn’t the point of these injunctions to halt action until the cases can be heard by the Supreme Court?

        Reply
        1. ChrisFromGA

          No – an injunction is an equitable remedy which is meant to give relief to the plaintiff(s) until the matter can be fully heard in a hearing or trial. It is not meant to deliver broad relief to an entire class of plaintiffs. Class actions are for that.

          Besides, having a judge from a federal circuit court that only has jurisdiction over a specific geographic area enter a nationwide injunction exceeds the court’s authority.

          At most, a judge could enjoin defendants from acting or failing to act against any plaintiff within the geographic confines of their territory, for reasons of judicial efficiency. The dissents seem to be saying that forcing every plaintiff to litigate is burdensome but that is the way the system works.

          Reply
  23. Es s Ce Tera

    re: Germany’s ‘Speechcrime’ Raids Are a Chilling Sign of Things To Come

    “In the UK, you don’t even need to actually commit a crime in order to be treated like a criminal. The baffling existence of ‘non-crime hate incidents’ (NCHIs) mean that anything vaguely upsetting, offensive or controversial—said online or otherwise—can see your name end up on a police database, without you even knowing about it. Potential ‘offences’ have included a nine-year-old child calling a classmate a “retard,” beeping your horn too loudly, a dog pooping on someone’s lawn in a ‘racist’ way, or being given a bad haircut. “

    Seems like where China’s so-called social credit system is a work in progress, and the concern is that it MIGHT be used for thought crime and bad behaviour, in the UK and Germany this is already a well advanced reality.

    Reply
    1. ChrisFromGA

      If getting a bad haircut is a crime, I need to check out the statute of limitations. I may have a case back around 2015. They took way too much off and my kids said I looked like a bum.

      Reply
    2. AG

      See, that´s why we always got those bald chancellors.
      Having no hair in the first place is the safest way to not get into trouble in Germany.

      (Which would make for a great joke about skinheads, German democracy and German freedom of speech…….a la Monty Python and that sketch about Hell´s Grannies.)

      Reply
  24. Jason Boxman

    From UPS Drivers Are Battling Deadly Heat—Without A.C. in Their Trucks

    Surprise, the deal negotiated with UPS isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on. This seemed clear at the time.

    And if you’ve not done serious humidity before, this won’t really hit home

    On a day when temperatures are in the upper 90s, Mike—a UPS delivery driver outside of Orlando, Florida—says that by the early evening he can start to feel confused and disoriented. That makes it harder to find packages, meaning more time in the oven-like back cab. “I have times where I have to pull over and take a break just to try to cool down, and fan off and go to the gas station and get in the coolers,” he told me. “I can’t remember how many times I’ve had to be taken off the road because I wasn’t with-it, mentally.” In the summer, he says, it’s common for temperatures in the back of his truck to reach 130 degrees.

    During the summer, which with Climate is most of the year in Orlando, you’re surrounded by a wet heat blanket that you can’t shake; it feels like opening your oven with vegetables roasting, a damp, burning wet heat. A summer breeze is simply hot air blowing past you, like the exhaust fan from your overworked A/C running 24/7. You’re not gonna be doing that for too long while engaging in strenuous activity without getting dead.

    UPS is an excellent example of, because markets, go die.

    Reply
  25. XXYY

    Mamdani

    Interesting that the national press is writing obituaries for Cuomo one day after his defeat.  It amuses me that the establishment can be passionately touting the virtues of some dude on Monday, and then on Wednesday cheerfully concede he was an empty suit and a buffoon.

    This is good (from Politico):

    Over the private objections of some people on his campaign, the former governor spent considerable time on the trail hammering Mamdani’s anti-Israel positions, which include support for the boycott, divest and sanction movement.

    It was a miscalculation.

    We are talking about New York City here, where World trade Center buildings went down and the Jewish capital of the United States. If “hammering anti-israel positions” is going to work anywhere, it’s going to work here. And yet the US population seems to have moved on from divide and conquer strategies based on Israel and terrorists, and is looking for leadership that will improve their own lives. 

    Also wild that you can (now!) support the BDS movement and win elections in the US.  AIPAC has spent the last couple of decades furiously pulling every trick in the book to discredit and dismantle the boycott, in cooperation with much US leadership. College students were kicked out of school and country, stewardesses lost their jobs for wearing BDS pins, and BDS speakers were blocked at campuses all over the country.  At least one US state passed a law making it illegal to support the boycott, as I remember.  Recall how starry-eyed and misguided the early BDS supporters seemed, at least as they were portrayed in the press.  This has been a very good case study of how to run and win a major boycott (hopefully someone will write it up as a how-to manual). I imagine it’s trajectory was pretty much the same as the South Africa boycotts back in the day: initially hopeless seeming, ultimately victorious.  A vital and important lesson for anyone seeking political change.

    Reply
  26. Tom Stone

    It strikes me that Trump must expend a tremendous amount of energy to preserve his cognitive dissonance, his facade, if you will.
    His need for constant, undeserved praise to help shore up a self image that is so obviously false seems to me to be a sign that it is increasingly fragile, and that his reaction to whatever threatens to expose that falsity is likely to become less rational and more extreme as time passes.
    Which is not a comforting conclusion.

    Reply
    1. moog

      His brand is all that he has. It’s like Coca-Cola. Toxic junk with the shiny sticker on it. In a way, he is a perfect fit for the job of the ruler of the Empire of Lies.

      Speaking of Trump-Cola, and non-comforting conclusions, those that don’t like him enthusiastically vote for Pepsi. I could never tell the difference.

      Reply
  27. ThirtyOne

    One of America’s great national pastimes is bombing Iran
    Bombing Iran, bombing Iran
    One of America’s compulsive obsessions is bombing Iran
    Bombing Iran, bombing Iran

    Ah, but the great taste of Coke has refreshed Players
    The Hegseth the Vance, the Bessent and Bondi
    The great taste of Coke has refreshed Players
    The Lutnick and Noem, the Rubio and Zeldin

    One of America’s great national pastimes is push come to shove
    Carryin’ a grudge, bribin’ a judge

    One of America’s great national pastimes is bombing again
    Acting insane, inflicting pain

    Ah, but the great taste of Coke has refreshed Players
    The Hegseth the Vance, the Bessent and Bondi
    The great taste of Coke has refreshed Players
    The Lutnick and Noem, the Rubio and Zeldin

    One of America’s great national pastimes is let’s you and him fight
    Saying I’m right, turning up the gaslight
    One of America’s great national pastimes is coup de’ grass
    Grabbin’ your ass, talking too fast

    Ah, but the great taste of Coke has refreshed Players
    The Hegseth the Vance, the Bessent and Bondi
    The great taste of Coke has refreshed Players
    The Lutnick and Noem, the Rubio and Zeldin

    THE BYRDS – America’s Great National Pastime
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQQAPsitTac

    Reply
  28. bertl

    Germany’s ‘Speechcrime’ Raids Are a Chilling Sign of Things To Come European Conservative

    The political classes of the Collective West, ie, the NATO/EU complex, has rapidly descended from their usual stance of liberal totalitarianism with its complete disregard of electoral signals to change its costly economic and foreign policies. They encourage the genocidal Zionazis with weapons, logistics support and lies whilst imposing silence and a permanent state of exception on their own populations in order to maintain their control of our lives down to our speech and our very thoughts.

    We are heading towards a state of permanent war with every other civilisation on the planet on which our shabby “leaders” wish to impose their values of a meritless meritocracy and their vision of an anarchic “international rules based order” which can be made up as they go along, accepting any useful proxy wars, calculated genocidal campaigns and bombing nuclear sites and power stations as essential to the survival of their twisted model of governance.

    For weeks now these two verses from Brecht have been looping through my mind:

    Truly, I live in dark times!
    The guileless word is folly. A smooth forehead
    Suggests insensitivity. The man who laughs
    Has simply not yet had
    The terrible news.
     
    What kind of times are they, when
    A talk about trees is almost a crime
    Because it implies silence about so many horrors?
    That man there calmly crossing the street
    Is already perhaps beyond the reach of his friends
    Who are in need?

    Reply
    1. AG

      Ha!
      I am just reading his Kriegsfibel.
      As they say his poems are possibly the best among his huge work.
      Where do you get the English translation?

      Reply
  29. AG

    re: Iran / Israel

    1) Doug Henwood podcast

    Two perspectives on Israel’s war on Iran:
    Mouin Rabbani on the regional/global context
    Joel Schalit on Israeli society and politics

    53 min.
    June 19, 2025
    https://shout.lbo-talk.org/lbo/RadioArchive/2025/25_06_19.mp3

    p.s. Henwood at least briefly remembers German pianist Alfred Brendel who died June 17th, age 94, chosing wisely a Schubert piece as his show intermezzo. Unfortunately I don´t have time to follow Classical music as I did in my youth. Brendel was not necessarily my favourite a bit too calm for my taste. Among some more superficial critiques he was often called the intellectual and historian of the famed soloists. I however never liked that label since it actually avoided a serious verdict. Did NC cover Brendel, I wonder? A have the impression that with the demise of old-fashioned legacy press the coverage and expertise of those elitist circles of culture critiques is gone once that generation has died. The fact that Brendel´s death has hardly registered with the broad public in Germany is a definite sign.

    2) JACOBIN

    The Biden Hawk Behind Trump’s Iran War
    Outgoing CENTCOM commander Michael Kurilla has had Iran in his crosshairs for years as part of a larger vision for keeping China out of the Middle East and squeezing it in an eventual conflict.
    By Branko Marcetic

    06.27.2025
    https://jacobin.com/2025/06/kurilla-trump-iran-war-china

    Reply

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