Evacuations in Japan and US as major earthquake off Russia triggers widespread tsunami warnings BBC. Live blog.
Tsunami warning issued for Japan’s Pacific coast, high waves observed NHK
Whales have started to wash ashore in Japan as a result of the MASSIVE Tsunami. 🤯🤯🤯
This is NOT GOOD.
It’s not a common thing to see at all, and it’s indicative that this quake was absolutely DEVASTATING to the marine life.
What is really eye opening about this, is that in… pic.twitter.com/HzxMW93mwL
— The Patriot Voice (@TPV_John) July 30, 2025
On X, Masaki Nobushiro posts a recurring (and useful) drawing about how people wrongly think a 1m tsunami is a cresting wave when it’s actually a wall of water filled with dangerous and deadly debris that’s strong enough to sweep up a car. pic.twitter.com/4qESQzI7EJ
— Unseen Japan (@UnseenJapanSite) July 30, 2025
July 2025 Mega Tsunami Predicted In Japanese Manga: What To Know Newsweek
400-million-year-old fish exposes big mistake in how we understood evolution ScienceDaily (Kevin W)
Protecting the Developing Mind in a Digital Age: A Global Policy Imperative TandonOnline (resilc). That horse has left the barn and is in the next county.
Children to be banned from having YouTube accounts as Albanese government backflips on exemption Guardian (Kevin W). One upside of being not a first world country is parents can’t afford to dedicate a device to a kid to serve as baby-sitter. Wonder if we’ll see payoffs as they become adults.
New Guideline Backs Some Blood Tests for Alzheimer’s Disease Diagnosis MedPage. I have asked the members fo the Covid brain trust if the science/testing is as far advanced as this change would have you believe.
#COVID-19
HIV killed NOBODY immediately after infection. Nobody got really sick either, initially.
It was only after 8 to 10 years that the damage became evident, and people began to drop dead.
COVID has already killed tens of millions. Hundreds of millions are already chronically ill.
— Arturo Portnoy (@portna) July 29, 2025
Illinois reports 10 measles cases as the contagious disease surges across US https://t.co/v9B5KaQCaL
— BND.com (@bellevillenewsd) July 30, 2025
Climate/Environment
Abrupt collapse of Arctic sea ice may come with little warning Earth
Severe Drought Threatens 25% of Crops in Russia’s Agricultural Heartland Moscow Times. Note a neocon publication, but that does not make it wrong on this topic.
EXCEPTIONAL SUMMER COLD IN CENTRAL EUROPE
Daytime temperatures in the teens for hundreds of stationsspecially in Italy,those are the lowest daytime temperatures in late July on record.
Record heat continues in North/Eastern Europe.
The exceptional cool might last 2/3 weeks ! pic.twitter.com/OOmWElrseq
— Extreme Temperatures Around The World (@extremetemps) July 28, 2025
Trains halted by shrinking peat affecting tracks BBC
Israel faces unprecedented drought crisis as water shortages loom Ynet
Water scarcity in Pakistan — a geopolitical ticking time bomb Dawn
Heavy rain causes flooding, evacuations and at least 38 deaths around Beijing region Independent
China?
Donald Trump blocks Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te from New York stopover Financial Times
I drove the cheap Chinese cars that are illegal in the USA. Now I know why YouTube. From a few months back, still germane.
India
Apple Shift Turns India Into World’s Top Maker of US Smartphones Bloomberg
Trump says US intends to impose 25% tariffs on goods from India TASS
European Disunion
Sundown on the Potemkin Empire: Trump’s Trouncing of Ursula Makes For Great Theater, But Little Else? Simplicius. The fact that the EU is going to be buying weapons largely from the US to continue its US-created conflict with Russia (and where US propaganda has succeeded enormously in depicting Putin as a monster) is the vassalage here. This piece also underplays the tariffs. Eve at 15%, they are damaging particularly for EU agriculture, which was sold out to get a better rate for German automakers and unlike China, the EU lacked the leverage to punch back. However, it is correct to point out that the $750 billion in LNG buys and the $600 billion in investment are empty promises. Shades of Trump’s Ukraine “raw earths” deal.
What remains to be negotiated and decided after the EU-US trade deal Le Monde
Israel v. The Resistance
Reminder: In a UN vote on making food a human right, only 2 countries voted no…
1. The United States🇺🇸
2. Israel pic.twitter.com/nZ02wWWnJh— Palestine American Press (@ExpressDOrient2) July 29, 2025
Israel has now banned aerial filming over Gaza. Sky News journalists on an aid drop were warned: record from above, and your flight gets pulled.
You don’t blacklist airspace unless the view exposes a crime. And you don’t hide genocide unless you’re neck-deep in it. pic.twitter.com/zqiKdq7SLg
— Thomas Keith (@iwasnevrhere_) July 29, 2025
Israeli settler kills West Bank activist who worked on Oscar-winning film Aljazeera (resilc)
A Jewish settler murdered a Palestinian. Than the IDF came to disrupt the community’s mourning and grief.
Israel cannot be fixed. It must be dismantled https://t.co/bKU3qHvnmt
— Alon Mizrahi (@alon_mizrahi) July 29, 2025
Netanyahu’s Forever War in Gaza Is Crushing Israel’s Soldiers and Their Families Haaretz
The Genocidal Partnership of Israel and the United States Juan Cole (resilc)
UK to recognise Palestinian state unless Israel meets conditions BBC (Kevin W). The virtue signaling, it burns.
Is Europe pushing for Palestinian statehood or Palestinian surrender? The Cradle
West Bank: Would Annexation Include Citizenship For The Annexed? Antiwar.com (resilc). HuH? They need to ask?
Israeli tourists face growing anger in Greece while Athens pledges crackdown on protests Politico (Kevin W)
* * * Trump Threatens ‘Stupid’ Iran Newsweek (resilc)
New Not-So-Cold War
Why is US Intelligence Providing Bogus Numbers of Dead Russian Soldiers? Larry Johnson. Terrific takedown, be sure to read.
Three Dead, 18 Wounded in Russian Missile Strike on AFU Training Site Kyiv Post
No nationwide local elections to be held in Ukraine in 2025 – Central Elections Commission Interfax
Not to an account, but to a volunteer bank. Ukrainians have come up with a new scheme to bypass restrictions on bank transfers Strana via machine translation
Imperial Collapse Watch
World’s Largest Cruise Missile Launched By Russian Nuclear Attack Submarine with Ground and Surface Support Military Watch
Western Pressure On India Over Russia Already Backfired Even If It Partially Complies Andrew Korybko
Trump 2.0
US placed on rights watchlist over health of its civil society under Trump Guardian (resilc)
Exclusive: Inside the Preparations for Trump’s Next Supreme Court Nominee Time (resilc)
Controversial FDA official Dr. Vinay Prasad departs agency CNN (Jason Boxman)
EPA moves to end climate regulation under Clean Air Act Washington Post
‘Open Cruelty’: Transgender Troops Describe Indignities as They’re Kicked Out of the Military Military.com. Lead story. When you’ve lost Military.com….
The Trump Era and The Psychology of Moral Courage Washington Monthly (resilc)
L’affaire Epstein
Trump Says Epstein ‘Stole’ Young Women Working at Mar-a-Lago Spa Time (Kevin W). Trump seems to have lost sight of the rule, “When you are explaining, you are losing.”
Russiagate
Details Buried In Recently Declassified Docs Further Implicate Obama In Russia Hoax The Federalist (Kevin W). This is just whining and diversion unless/until the DoJ indicts some Obama officials.
GOP Clown Car
Paul Dans, Project 2025 Architect, Will Challenge Lindsey Graham for Senate New York Times (resilc)
Democrat Death Wish
Democratic coalition has a crack that is getting bigger The Hill
Democrats turn routine Trump nominees into pitched partisan battles The Hill. So why has this taken so long? But true to form: Senate confirms Emil Bove to appeals court despite whistleblower complaints, controversy The Hill
Mamdani
Poll: New York Dems side with Mamdani on Israel, Netanyahu Semafor (resilc)
Mass shooting becomes Mamdani’s first test as mayoral nominee Politico
When socialists win Democratic primaries: Will Zohran Mamdani be haunted by the Upton Sinclair effect? The Conversation
Groves of Academe
Harvard Is Said to Be Open to Spending Up to $500 Million to Resolve Trump Dispute New York Times (resilc)
Mr. Market is Moody
IMF upgrades global growth forecast as weaker dollar aids world economy Financial Times. Note forecast still lower than before Trump started his tariff threats.
As Trump has pulled back from the highest tariffs, this chart shows the economic shock has eased The Conversation (Kevin W)
AI
Meta Is Going to Let Job Candidates Use AI During Coding Tests Wired (resilc). Remember the scene from the movie version of Edward Snowden, where he beats the other candidates by hours in completing his NSA test? That level of skill is going to rapidly become a thing of the past.
In a bit of synchronicity, just in from reader fjallstrom: AI coders think they’re 20% faster — but they’re actually 19% slower Pivot to AI
Antitrust
Into the Abyss: Trump’s Bizarro New Deal Matt Stoller. Today’s must read. Goes beyond antitrust.
‘Deeply Concerning’: Alarm as Trump DOJ Ousts Top Antitrust Officials Common Dreams
The Bezzle
The General Theory of Enshittification Paul Krugman (Anthony L)
Dog-Walking Startup ‘Wag’ Files For Bankruptcy SFGate
PayPal Expands Crypto Payments For US Merchants To Lower Cross-Border Fees Silicon Angle. So what, 2 FX crosses, from foreign real currency to the crypto back to a different real currency (for most business uses like paying rent and staffers, you need government money), with not just fees but also bid-ask spreads?
Guillotine Watch
URGENT: People in Maui, Hawaii are trying to escape the tsunami and are BEGGING Oprah to open the private road on her property.
She’s reportedly still refusing.
In a crisis, blocking an escape route is inhumane.#Tsunami #Maui #Oprah #LetThemOut pic.twitter.com/JeqeVwDcyS— Baatein Stock Ki (@BaateinStockKi) July 30, 2025
Class Warfare
What Is Driving Inflation? Barry Ritholtz. resilc: “The only thing i bought in the last year that wasn’t up massively is a 40″ tv for $118 at WalMuerto.”
Economists Are Struggling to Find Jobs. It’s an Ominous Sign for The Economy. New York Times (resilc)
Antidote du jour (via):
A bonus:
Stray dog’s reaction to being petted..🐕🐾🥺❤️ pic.twitter.com/I35RO2J9Yc
— 𝕐o̴g̴ (@Yoda4ever) July 27, 2025
A second bonus:
Sheep gets stuck in tire swing pic.twitter.com/ezlwbuylJ0
— Nature is Amazing ☘️ (@AMAZlNGNATURE) July 29, 2025
And a third:
This baby chimp was found alone and with pneumonia, he was raised by this couple, who gave him to experts when he grew up
Watch the reaction when they are reunited
pic.twitter.com/XInCPAwPOW— Science girl (@gunsnrosesgirl3) July 30, 2025
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here
