Plains viscacha: A rodent that builds vast underground cities and ovulates more than any other mammal Live Science
Scientists Catch Two Wild Orcas “French Kissing” And It Might Mean More Than You Think ZME Science
Can cheese turn your dreams into nightmares? NBC News
Gut microbes could protect us from toxic ‘forever chemicals’ Cambridge University
Scientists discovered microplastics in human semen and follicular fluid CNN
Climate/Environment
Extreme weather event attribution predicts climate policy support across the world Nature
Record heat in parts of Europe and Asia Balanced Weather
‘Completely unexpected’: Antarctic sea ice may be in terminal decline due to rising Southern Ocean salinity The Conversation
Pandemics
Doctors Blame Long Covid, Stress & Hidden Heart Issues As Young Adults Report Sudden Blackouts CNN-News18 (Video)
Cambodia Reports 4th H5N1 Infection In Siem Reap Province In Last 7 Days Avian Flu Diary
From coop to cave: Inside the high-tech hunt for H5N1 and Disease X The Telegraph
China?
China’s top leaders vow crackdown on price wars as deflation risks mount Reuters
China’s Consumption Is Not Nearly as Low as It Appears: CF40 Policy Brief Pekingnology
Yang Tao: China should develop a yuan-backed stablecoin ASAP The East is Read
Africa
Aggressors Unnamed in Rwanda-DRC “Peace Agreement” Black Agenda Report
Donald Trump’s Congo Venture: A Scramble for Minerals Under the Guise of Peace Black Agenda Report
Syraqistan
Israel assassinated a doctor and his entire family in Gaza today, targeting the apartment where they lived. Is there anyone left still crying “self-defense” to crimes like this? https://t.co/aftI7H6wcJ
— Sarah Leah Whitson (@sarahleah1) July 2, 2025
State Department approves $510m weapons sale to Israel JNS
Israeli military used 500lb bomb in strike on Gaza cafe, fragments reveal The Guardian. Made in the USA.
US ‘stands with Israel’ after calls by Israeli ministers to annex occupied West Bank Anadolu Agency
***
Iran made preparations to mine the Strait of Hormuz, US officials say Jerusalem Post
US says its strikes degraded Iran’s nuclear programme by one to two years Al Jazeera
New Bill Would Give Israel Access to B-2s, Massive Bombs to Strike Iran Libertarian Institute (Kevin W)
Amazing headline (completed by points from the story in parantheses):
“(Israeli) fighter pilots busy intercepting drones and projectiles en route to Israel from Iran, found their jets still full of armaments after they were done. (They contacted mission commanders in Israel and… pic.twitter.com/GtSy3mQZXm— Ori Goldberg (@ori_goldberg) July 2, 2025
Douglas Macgregor: America’s New Long War Glenn Diesen (Video)
***
UN Expert Exposes Companies Aiding Israel’s Genocide, Occupation in Palestine Truthout
As the son of a Holocaust survivor who has lectured on genocide prevention at Auschwitz where my mother lost dozens of her family; as an MP under Mandela who introduced the 1st motion on the Holocaust in the history of the SA Parliament I can state unequivocally that… https://t.co/lLgVWlMgJd
— Andrew Feinstein (@andrewfeinstein) July 2, 2025
So now the IDF has been conflated to Jews? What a hustle. Zionist propagandists are getting a big laugh. The fascist IDF is murdering unarmed, starving Palestinians everyday & European hypocrites pretend that the people speaking out are the criminals. https://t.co/vaSlwl6dbd
— Ajamu Baraka (@ajamubaraka) July 2, 2025
Police arrest Jewish Voice for Peace protestors at Philly arms manufacturer All-Source Intelligence
‘Like a kidnapping’: How UK police are hunting pro-Palestine activists Middle East Eye (Kevin W)
The Best-Selling Apps Made By Israeli Spies Do Not Panic!
“Death to the genocide machine.” The Floutist
Old Blighty
Heathrow considering legal action against National Grid over fire BBC
Rachel Reeves probably cried because she can’t cut benefits but still has a proxy war to fund Ian Proud
New Not-So-Cold War
Trump allies caught off guard by Pentagon’s Ukraine weapons freeze Politico
Returning Tank Production to Soviet Era Levels: Russia Will Soon Be Building Over 3000 T-80s and T-90s Per Year Military Watch
Attacks On Russia Related Ships Smell Of British / Ukrainian Cooperation Moon of Alabama
Germany and Sweden Launch Joint Initiative to Monitor Shadow Fleet in Baltic Sea gCaptain
Trump lifts sanctions on Russia’s Rosoboronexport and banks amid Syria decision RBC Ukraine
Russia’s War Economy Is Heading To Recession. It Probably Won’t Slow Down The War. RFE/RL
One form of schizophrenia is claiming that Russia is (almost!) finished, its economy is in tatters, its war effort unsustainable and then – in the same breath – drawing apocalyptic pictures of an unstoppable Russian horde pouring into the Baltics, Germany and all the way to…
— Leonid Ragozin (@leonidragozin) July 2, 2025
The Caucasus
Baku blocking consular access to jailed Russians – Moscow RT
B-a-a-a-a-d Banks
Welcome Back, Wells Fargo! Racket News
“Liberation Day”
Trump announces Vietnam trade deal with 20% import tariff Business Times
Vietnam mostly important electronic components for reexport. That is an area where the US export sector is weak (and there are some technical issues re: Intel’s chips). Low exports aren’t really a function of Vietnam’s trade barriers (China does just fine exporting to VN)
— Brad Setser (@Brad_Setser) July 2, 2025
Trump 2.0
House GOP advances Trump megabill after dramatic overnight vote The Hill
Federal Mortgage Regulator Bill Pulte Calls on Congress To Investigate Fed Chair Powell Realtor.com
Trump tells Powell to leave The Hill
INSIDE DOGE’S DANGEROUSLY HASTY IRS MODERNIZATION PLAN Notes on the Crises
***
THE WHIFF OF CORRUPTION: TRUMP’S NEW PERFUME HAS STRONG NOTES OF GRAFT The Intercept
I Don’t Know How to Explain to You That You Shouldn’t Buy Concentration Camp Merch Discourse Blog
Democrats en déshabillé
Maybe Team Blue can promise the “good billionaires” they’ll deliver it?
👇Abundance funder and so-called good Democrat mourning the fact that AI companies will not get ten years free of regulation https://t.co/rj8ZYQ7NBw
— Henry Burke (@burkehenryt) July 2, 2025
Hakeem Jeffries posts pic of him holding a baseball bat with the caption: “House Democrats will keep the pressure on Trump’s One Big Ugly Bill 💪” pic.twitter.com/RaXfA6Ow7Z
— Ken Klippenstein (@kenklippenstein) July 2, 2025
Hakeem Jeffries met privately with Silicon Valley donors in bid to ‘mend fences.’ Politico. From February, still germane.
***
On Zohran Mamdani and Taxi Drivers Zephyr Teachout
Former Obama Treasury secretary: Mamdani policies not ‘good for New York’ The Hill
RussiaGate
Obama’s Trump-Russia collusion report was corrupt from start: CIA review New York Post
MAHA
Insurers Aren’t Saying Whether They’ll Cover Vaccines for Kids if Government Stops Recommending Them Wired
RFK launching big pro-wearables HHS campaign, specifically mentions glucose tracking
RFK recommended Casey Means as Surgeon General
Means is co-founder of Levels tracking app startup, which includes CGM sales and integration
Levels funded with $67M, major investor is a16z https://t.co/UcreW7Px5i— Deva Hazarika (@devahaz) July 2, 2025
Police State Watch
Welcome to the Age of Disappearance Hamilton Nolan
Kilmar Abrego Garcia describes ‘severe beatings’ and ‘psychological torture’ in Salvadoran prison Politico
honestly the most likely outcome here is a renaissance for prison labor
good thing we don’t have anyone in this admin trying to start “wellness farms” where farm labor is the “cure” for health problems so common, they probably affect most Americans. haha that would be crazy
— Sarah Taber (@SarahTaber_bww) July 2, 2025
AI
what is very clear with even a cursory glance of instagram AI bikini girls:
there is an endless well of not-even-that-old horny guys who either dont know or dont care that their jigglevision accounts are computer generated
that’s meta forward looking revenues 4 life https://t.co/xJ4Z8JUx2w
— rat king 🐀 (@MikeIsaac) July 2, 2025
Freedom Cities
Tech Bro Wants to Use Federal Land at Alameda Point for ‘AI City,’ Drafts Sample Executive Order SFist
Starbase Texas Officials Silent Following Construction Equipment Accident at SpaceX Facility Technology.org
Inside Elon Musk’s Stellar Year at the Texas Capitol ProPublica
Brave New World
Elephant Trunk-Like Arm Turns Ordinary Drones Into Powerful, All-Purpose Flying Robots ZME Science
Swarms of tiny robots could go up your nose, melt the mucus and clean your sinuses ZME Science
Our Famously Free Press
‘Spineless Capitulation to Extortion’: Paramount Caves to Trump With $16 Million Settlement Common Dreams
The following is a statement from the Writers Guild of America East regarding Paramount’s settlement with Donald Trump over a “60 Minutes” segment: pic.twitter.com/g7RgviiHJN
— Writers Guild of America East (@WGAEast) July 2, 2025
The Bezzle
A Nebraska crypto company wants to get bigger. Landowners decry NPPD’s use of eminent domain that will help it grow. Flatwater Free Press
AI Training Load Fluctuations at Gigawatt-scale – Risk of Power Grid Blackout? Semi-Analysis
Van Gogh the Translator Liberties Journal
Antidote du jour (via):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
