Dear patient readers,
Because things on the Iran war front, at least as of this writing, seem to be at the simmer rather than full boil level, you are getting a supersized Links with a generous Iran War section rather than an Iran war post.
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The (super)natural history of haloes Sacred Images Project (Micael T)
How To Be a Little Less of an Idiot AporiaLab (Micael T). Um, as I understand it, Theravada Buddhism is not compassionate. Beggars on the street should not be helped because they must be there to work off their bad karma.
Should We Be Well-Rounded… or Hyper-Focused? Anya Leonard
What’s the point of academic freedom? Unsafe Science (Micael T)
Sales Are So Low, California Wineries Are Burning Their Vineyards New York Times (resilc)
Lab-Grown Meat: Separating the Science From the “Yuck” Skeptic (Micael T)
Climate/Environment
New Mexico’s clean energy success story Yale Climate Connections
How El Niño could be the next big supply chain nightmare Weather Channel
Gironde wildfires: what the logistical challenges behind the mass evacuations tell us The Conversation
China?
China’s factory activity unexpectedly contracts in July on demand slump, typhoons CNBC
AI boomtowns worsen divide in China’s split-screen economy Japan Times
China expresses ‘serious concern’ over latest US trade restrictions Jakarta Post
In most countries, earning a PhD means writing a dissertation.
Hundreds of pages of theory, research, and citations that very few people will ever read.
China decided to try something different.
Under a law passed in 2024, select universities can now award engineering… pic.twitter.com/JAyQh65hE6
— Mike Netter (@nettermike) July 26, 2026
Japan
Bessent and the Fed help Japan reverse months of yen losses Japan Times
Japan quake death toll hits 35 as auto and chip factories suspend productions Channel News Asia
Koreas
AI reckoning makes South Korean economy run for cover Asia Times
North Korea says NATO fuel plan shows alliance preparing for war Reuters
India
Graham sanctions bill has bite. Trump will use it to terrorise India Indian Punchline
Africa
Child soldiers recount horrors of Sudan’s war and presence of Colombian mercenaries Associated Press
Nigeria’s Banditry Crisis Worsens Eurasia Review
Fastest growing Ebola outbreak is worsening hunger in eastern Congo, UN agency chief warns PBS
Ghana hit by nationwide blackout as power plants fail BBC
Libya electricity blackout protests expose country’s failing grid Aljazeera
Cannibalism as a Policy Challenge Small Wars Journal
O Canada
Trump has singled out us Canadians for special treatment in his tariff war – there is no choice but to get nasty Guardian
South of the Border
‘To play God’: How US pressure has shattered Cuba’s healthcare Aljazeera
Vultures Circling the Rubble: US Troops and Businesses Descend on Venezuela Venezuelanalysis (Robin K)
European Disunion
Europe makes trillion-euro bet to revive its battered industry Reuters
About 60,000 migrants arrive in Ceuta in 24 hours, Spanish territory’s leader says BBC
I’m sure this is nothing. Just a coincidence. https://t.co/apQXBOsr4v
— Ana Kasparian (@AnaKasparian) July 31, 2026
Holy shlit. This is real. He literally said it aloud for the whole world to hear.
And still the disgusting bought and paid for shills will pretend like this is an “organic invasion” and not a literal Zionist military operation against a country unwilling to submit. https://t.co/4pVYg1C2MZ pic.twitter.com/RVRWdawZpD
— Mel (@Villgecrazylady) July 31, 2026
Absolutely – this is the most dispiriting thing about the whole episode. https://t.co/bJ8i8KY0aO
— John O’Brennan (@JohnOBrennan2) July 31, 2026
Spain’s migrant crisis triggers Italian call for EU travel restrictions Financial Times
BREAKING: 🚨 Italy suspends Schengen Agreement, closes air and sea borders with Spain. https://t.co/8P0OS0oQyn
— TRENDING ➞ 911 (@911NewsBreaks) July 31, 2026
Old Blighty
Rajiv Menon KC: Contempt of Court Proceedings Garden Court Chambers. Important, actually appalling.
Burnham promises ‘pragmatic’ approach to North Sea oil and gas Guardian
Israel v. The Resistance
Prof Marandi SLAYS the Dershowitz creature. Worth watching and learning… https://t.co/2yxjZZ0RXn
— HealthRanger (@HealthRanger) July 31, 2026
Ben Gvir’s crocodiles are the latest weapon in Israel’s animal warfare on Palestinians Middle East Eye
Why Are the Turkic States Drawing Closer to Israel? MultiPolar Press (Micael T)
Turkey urges Iran to halt attacks on Kurdish groups Middle East Eye
Iran War
US Iran War Briefing: Joseph Goebbels (Sen Tom Cotton) Daniel Davis, YouTube. Good for Davis. And a companion talk: IRAN WARHAWKS: THEIR FATAL LOSING STRATEGY
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Trump forced to pause military strikes even as Iran pounds American targets | Janta Ka Reporter YouTube. A good short recap at the top of the latest on US v. Iran attacks.
⭕️ President Donald Trump offered no clear path back to the memorandum of understanding with Iran, saying, “We just want to win,” while signaling the renewed war could continue.
His remarks on the war on Iran cabinet meeting this morning:
➤ “We’re trying to be as nice as you… https://t.co/1xHb8ENpVh
— Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) July 31, 2026
BREAKING: CENTCOM PLANS MASSIVE 2-WEEK BOMBING CAMPAIGN – w/ Col. Larry Wilkerson Mario Nawfal, YouTube
Trump Mulls Strikes on Iran’s Oil and Power Infrastructure Larry Johnson. We pointed out that Iran’s doctrine, as revised in January 2026, now allows for pre-emptive attacks. Note Iran has already been doing this with its strikes on Iraqi Kurdistan.
The underlying article: U.S., Israel preparing to bombard energy-related targets in Iran, sources say CBS
pic.twitter.com/MIGlFrzDxa
— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) July 31, 2026
Pentagon Seeks $18.2 Billion in Iran War Funds for Interceptors Bloomberg
The Trump Administration has utterly lost its mind:
BREAKING: The US and Israel are discussing a full +5900km land blockade of Iran, with the plan requiring cooperation from Iran’s 7 neighboring countries Iraq, Turkey, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan to close border crossings, per Telegraph.
This confirms…
— The Hormuz Letter (@HormuzLetter) July 31, 2026
President Trump continues to buy into the pipe dream of “maximum pressure”. First with sanctioning as much as humanly possible with Iran. Then bombing their steel, petrochemical, pharmaceutical, and manufacturing plants. Then by imposing and blockade… oops, we removed it, sike,…
— Brett Erickson (@BrettErickson28) July 31, 2026
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War On Iran: – U.S. (Again) Blocks Strait Traffic Moon of Alabama
Iran attacked another oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz last night as it was passing through the southern route near Oman.
The tanker was struck by a projectile that hit the engine room, causing it to lose control. pic.twitter.com/Bt25C3yybD
— 𝕊𝕡𝕣𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕻𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕤 (@SprinterPress) August 1, 2026
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Iran Appears to Be Blasting Amazon Data Centers Off the Map Futurism
Exactly why they would not have done it. Ergo, it was an Israeli false flag operation, as the Iranian FM said. https://t.co/BNi1iDMaBu
— Policy Tensor (@policytensor) July 30, 2026
Al-Monitor reports that the last remaining US forces in Iraq began pulling out of Erbil last week. They have already removed the Patriot batteries and taken them to an “undisclosed” location.
— barry with the NED (@bonzerbarry) July 31, 2026
Saudi economy shrinks as Middle East conflict takes heavy toll Financial Times
North Yemen civil war Wikipedia. resilc: “Rule #1 yemenis are tough mofos.”
Syraqistan
Clashes in Pakistan-administered Kashmir leave dozens dead. NHK
Deadly attack on police checkpoint in Pakistan leaves 15 dead France24
New Not-So-Cold War
An Agent of Influence Scott Ritter. Quite the kneecapping. Ritter is generally very good when he puts pen to paper, in contrast to his unevenness on YouTube.
9 killed, 28 injured in Russian attack on Ukraine’s capital Anadolu Agency
British imperialism mounts escalations against Russian shipping The Communists (Robin K)
‘I killed a thousand of my men in a week!’ Events in Ukraine
Russian missile destroys US firm’s Kyiv drone factory Guardian
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Brief Frontline Report – July 30th, 2026 Marat Khairullin and Mikhail Popov
Desperate for Fuel, Russia Looks to Kazakhstan for Refining Capacity OilPrice
Oil Loading Again Suspended from Caspian Pipeline After Tankers Are Struck Maritime Executive
Big Brother is Watching You Watch
Flock Cameras Are Being Destroyed Across the US CNN
X Warns Australia’s Censor Wants Reach Beyond Australia Reclaim the Net. When X has a point, you know it’s bad…
Imperial Collapse Watch
⚡️ $109 MILLION F-35 CRASHES in CALIFORNIA — burned-out wreckage SMOLDERS pic.twitter.com/pZnII9a2Nm
— RT (@RT_com) July 31, 2026
World War Three: The War to End Hegemony & Exceptionalism Karl Sanchez
Understanding Section 219 American Conservative (resilc)
Deep in Washington, politicians splice US and Israeli war machines into one sovereign hybrid Turkiye Today (resilc)
Morocco Speeds Past California Issues & Insights. In fairness, pray tell where do you put the terminal in Los Angles? And what neighborhoods get the Robert Moses treatment for the tracks in and out?
Trump 2.0
Let them eat SUVs: Trump White House orders fleet of luxury cars as Americans struggle Guardian
FIFA president scraps plans to sell stake in World Cup Anadolu Agency
How Pres. Trump Just Hung 25 Million Seniors Out to Dry MS Now
Immigration
Airports, nursing homes and schools brace for disruption without Haitian workers Washington Post
NY migrant children face having to go it alone in immigration court Gothamist
Democrats Suck
How Left Will Democrats Go In 2028? That Depends on 2026 Washington Monthly. It is certain the Dems will not get as far “left” as middle of the road, Reagan era.
Democrats Mobilize Over Fears Trump Will Deploy Troops to Polls NOTUS. resilc: “I guess i have to carry my shotgun?”
In Michigan, AIPAC Is Playing With Fire Zeteo
Our No Longer Free Press
A federal judge has stated that my rights were violated with the seizure of my phones, and placed the repression I experienced in the wider context of Trump’s assault on press freedom
Our case is moving forward thanks to the valiant work of @JeninYounesEsq and @adc https://t.co/CydZq7bYWF
— Max Blumenthal (@MaxBlumenthal) July 31, 2026
ABC Accuses FCC of ‘Attempted Censorship’ Politico
The Real Reason that Substack is Collapsing Scott Carney (Micael T)
Meta is censoring Palestinian content. Here’s proof +972
He made the Washington Post editorial page uninteresting and unreadable. His job was done. https://t.co/PFT2YmmHfv
— Bruce Bartlett (@BruceBartlett) July 31, 2026
Economy
These satellite onshore crude oil inventory data providers can’t even get US data right, what hope will they have in getting global data right?
Just because the data is available doesn’t mean it’s right.
Kpler had PADD 3 show a build of 4.1 million bbls last week. EIA reported…
— HFI Research (@HFI_Research) July 31, 2026
US oil inventories fall to ‘precariously low’ level as Iran war disrupts supply Financial Times
Economies worldwide are bracing for another energy shock Aljazeera
Oil Prices Ignore the Warnings of the Physical Markets. Refinery Crack Spreads Grow Energy News Beat
US economic growth sees surprise slowdown in second quarter BBC
Mr. Market Should Be More Worried
Trying to make sense of Warsh FT Alphaville
AI
Anthropic’s Claude AI escapes to hack into three organisations BBC
A fundamental flaw leaves LLMs strikingly vulnerable to attack MIT Technology Review
The seven most shambolic things that happened in AI today Gary Marcus
Guillotine Watch
Musk’s plan to buy the midterms for the GOP Caleb Ecarma
Class Warfare
Social care: the fight for economic thinking Chris Dillow
American workers and youth are turning towards socialism WSWS
Antidote du jour (via):
A bonus:
This man brushes a crow and stopped, but the bird gives the brush back as it wanted more pic.twitter.com/zAjmdtMcS2
— Nature Unedited (@NatureUnedited) July 30, 2026
A second bonus:
I definitely wasn’t expecting this when he offered his fish to the Bird. pic.twitter.com/AkCjNrqb07
— Johnny Midnight ⚡️ (@its_The_Dr) July 31, 2026
A third bonus:
A honey badger steps in to free a leopard trapped by a poacher. pic.twitter.com/6UOzcXAZFM
— Gabriele Corno (@Gabriele_Corno) July 31, 2026
And a fourth:
This is Fenrir. He has not yet been successful in cuddling with the cat. But thinks if he goes slow enough she might not notice. 13/10 pic.twitter.com/seqPvOT4pA
— WeRateDogs (@dog_rates) July 30, 2026
And a different sort of bonus:
This man surprises his blind girlfriend with a braille marriage proposal. pic.twitter.com/OBVometlNP
— The Best (@TheBestqueenx) July 31, 2026
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
