The Painful Truth About ‘Healing’ Crystals Wall Street Journal (Li)
The Case for Not Sanitizing Fairy Tales The Plough (Anthony L)
The falling birthrate threatens a disaster so costly no politician dares think about it Guardian (Kevin W). Shows a lack of a sense of proportion. The climate crisis is vastly more destructive, intractable, and costly were anyone to get serious enough.
#COVID-19
Exclusive: The Government has incinerated or written off £1.4 BILLION worth of Covid PPE, provided by one supplier in the summer of 2020 – it is the single most wasteful public contract of the whole pandemic. Thread 1/ pic.twitter.com/Wl06kNowHf
— Jon Ironmonger (@JonIronmonger) June 25, 2024
Climate/Environment
51.7C also at Swiehan in the Emirates.Dozens of stations in Middle East are currently above 50C,while Northern China is touching 47C.Thousands of records are being brutalized from China to Algeria. World climatic history is being rewritten.Nothing like this has ever happened. pic.twitter.com/JcmoYetAFd
— Extreme Temperatures Around The World (@extremetemps) June 23, 2024
Ending growth won’t save the planet… Curtailing economic growth will not save the planet from catastrophic climate change. Washington Post. The only reason that argument is accurate is we are past the point of being able to stop catastrophic change.
Bulk of UK renewables projects fail to get beyond planning stage Financial Times
Widespread protests erupt in Iraq over power outages as temperatures hit 50°C and above New Arab
Global tax truce frays over fears of US Senate deadlock Financial Times
China?
South China Sea: Philippines’ anti-ship missile base puts Scarborough Shoal in cross hairs South China Morning Post
Beijing: new Treasury rules amount to ‘decoupling’ Asia Times (Kevin W)
Our China policy is a disaster for US security & prosperity Responsible Statecraft
In Rare Rebuke, U.S. Ambassador Accuses China of Undermining Diplomacy Wall Street Jouranl
The Koreas
US aircraft carrier arrives in South Korea amid tensions with North Korea Aljazeera
India
India shuns China’s calls to resume passenger flights after 4 years, officials say Reuters
JPMorgan Ignites $40 Billion Rush Into Indian Bonds Bloomberg
South of the Border
July 7 & 14 Webinars: ‘Venezuela Chooses: What is at Stake in the Coming Elections?’ Orinoco Tribute (Robin K)
Africa
Another Crescent: Iran’s Brewing Influence in the Sahel Region The Geopolitics
European Disunion
France could trigger the next euro crisis Financial Times
The greatest destruction of wealth in the history of the Federal Republic Nachdenkseiten via machine translation (Akos G)
Survey: France’s far-right National Party to lead first round of election TRT World
France, the new Popular Front, hopes and contradictions Defend Democracy
The EU liberals are ready for a financial struggle with Le Pen’s party International Affairs (Micael T)
Old Blighty
‘A paedophile’s playground’: Inside the scandal at King Charles’s old school Telegraph
Gaza
🚨 Israel has intensified its starvation war on the Gaza Strip by targeting service and aid distribution centers. Within 24 hours, they bombed the United Nations headquarters, killing aid workers. They also bombed a medical clinic where the director of emergency services was… pic.twitter.com/cVBvvENbXg
— Ramy Abdu| رامي عبده (@RamAbdu) June 24, 2024
Hello Mohammed, my friend, how are you?Here I am at home, I buried them all inside the house and I’m sleeping next to them.My wife, my children, dad, mom, my brothers and my sisters. I’m the only one left, all alone.
One of the thousands untold stories in Gaza.… pic.twitter.com/5DiP2SakLm
— Mohammed Omer ALMOGHAYER ✊🏽 د. محمد المغير (@Mogaza) June 24, 2024
Listen Deeply Caitlin Johnstone, YouTube (Dr. Kevin)
What role for revenge in Jewish life, literature and culture? aeon (Dr. Kevin)
Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile batteries risk being overwhelmed in the opening strikes of any significantly escalated conflict with Hezbollah Guardian
Israeli electricity chief faces removal after warning against war with Lebanon The Cradle (Kevin W)
Yemen’s Houthis claim joint raid on Israeli ships with Iraqi militia Aljazeera
Supply Chain Under Strain as Houthis Intensify Red Sea Strikes New York Times (Kevin W)
Netanyahu will only agree to ‘partial’ ceasefire, but not end to Gaza war Arab News
Israeli war criminals: can the ICC lock them up? The Cradle
Netanyahu says he won’t agree to a deal that ends the war in Gaza, testing the latest truce proposal Associated Press (Kevin W)
New Not-So-Cold War
Ukraine updates: Russia summons US envoy over Crimea strike DW
How are the US-made ATACMS missiles being used by Ukrainian forces? Gilbert Doctorow
The Ticking Time Bomb of Ukrainian Debt (That the West Will Have To Pay) Antiwar.com (Kevin W)
Yeah, That Didn’t Age Well. Andrei Martyanov. Debunking a Sy Hersh account
EU foreign ministers approve decision to transfer profits from Russian assets to Ukraine TASS (guurst)
Poland mulls closing border with Belarus, minister says Euractiv
Assange
JULIAN ASSANGE IS FREE
Julian Assange is free. He left Belmarsh maximum security prison on the morning of 24 June, after having spent 1901 days there. He was granted bail by the High Court in London and was released at Stansted airport during the afternoon, where he boarded a…
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) June 24, 2024
Julian Assange agrees plea deal, leaves UK prison and heads to US territory BBC
VIDEO: State Dept. Won’t Give Specifics on How Assange Hurt “National Security”. Or How “Russiagate” — Used to Demonize WikiLeaks — May Have Actually Been Israelgate. Sam Husseini. Husseini is not comfortable with some of the implications of the plea deal and linked bak to this post to show why.
Imperial Collapse Watch
‘Draft Notice’ from the Shop of Horrors Dennis Kuchinch (Robin K)
I’ve got a fever and the only prescription is more Peter Turchin. albrt
Trump
Trump promised green cards to all migrants who graduated in US. Then his campaign walked it back Independent. Dan K also flagged this report, which featured more pushback: Campaign walks back Trump’s green card promise Fox
“She’s distancing herself”: Melania Trump unlikely to ever move back to the White House Salon. The press really picked on her even though I understand she did great state dinners. They attacked her Christmas decorations and I could not see why. And the White House as a building is apparently a dump.
Biden
Exasperated Democrats try to stamp out talk of replacing Biden The Hill. Beware Streisand effect!
U.S. judges block parts of Biden’s student loan relief plan CNBC
The Land that Law Forgot: The Supreme Court and the New York Legal Wasteland Jonathan Turley
Our No Longer Free Press
Turns out Australia is the most secretive democracy in the world…oh and we don’t really have a free press, we don’t have freedom of speech and our whistleblower protection laws don’t do anything. Albo could fix but hasn’t found the time for some reason #australia #auspol pic.twitter.com/NWKpEt0xTy
— Punter’s Politics (@punterspolitix) June 24, 2024
AI
Situational Awareness Leopold Aschenbrenner (Steve S)
Nvidia’s 13% Stock Rout Has Traders Scouring Charts for Support Bloomberg
The Hidden Environmental Impact of AI Jacobin (Robin K)
Apple’s App Store Policies Charged Under New E.U. Competition Law New York Times (BC)
Soaring Costs Put New U.S. LNG Export Projects at Risk of Delays OilPrice
Largest Auto Dealers Begin to Warn about Impact of Ransomware Attack Crippling Dealer Software Provider CDK Wolf Richter. We linked to this story a few days ago. Still not resolved…
Class Warfare
I live rent-free in NYC. Moving into a van has allowed me to save, avoid taking out loans, and live a life of adventure. Business Insider. Not The Onion
Amazon Labor Union, Airplane Hub Workers Ally with Teamsters Organizing Workers Nationwide New York Times
Blood on the Wine Dark Sea: History of Naval Warfare, Part 1 Big Serge
Antidote du jour. Ann M:
The third generation of the exotic escapee goose family in Roger Williams Park is doing well. They are cousins, I think. The slightly larger one is about 2 and a half weeks older than its 3 younger relatives. The other adults were nearby – a total of 10. One missing. Hopefully still around.
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here
