Little joys of big people My Weekend via machine translation (Micael T). Trust me, this is delicious. Also makes me feel deficient by not possessing mildly eccentric amusements.
Puppy fat jabs: are our pets next in line for weight-loss drugs? Guardian. resilc: “Are you kidding? $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ to be made.”
Countrywide natural experiment links built environment to physical activity Nature (Chuck L)
#COVID-19/Pandemics
Covid and Our Arteries Eric Topol (Robin K)
The covid positive subreddit is a complete shit show, total public health train wreck. You’ve got people in their 20s up to their ninth or tenth infection and now riddled with chronic health issues. It’s outrageous how covid was normalised pic.twitter.com/L82PaSR5W7
— Nate Bear (@NateB_Panic) August 18, 2025
Climate/Environment
Is climate change turning India’s Himalayas into a disaster zone? South China Morning Post
Invasive species thrive as Mediterranean Sea temperature hits record high France24
Türkiye’s reservoirs drop to 42% as major cities face critical water shortages Türkiye Today
Pray for rain’: wildfires in Canada are now burning where they never used to Guardian (resilc)
China?
China’s Cement Slump Signals End of 21st-Century Building Boom Financial Post
Hong Kong property sector clouded by rising debt repayment risks Reuters
A quiet path to peace in the South China Sea Asia Times
How Germany and Japan Tried to Derail China’s High-Speed Rail Rise Felix Abt (Micael T)
India
Perfidious America Daniel Larison
Antipodes
As the economy slows and productivity flatlines, is Australia having another banana republic moment? Guardian
NZ debt nears $1 trillion as growth moderates, savings fall NZ Herald
European Disunion
Weak production data pours cold water on eurozone’s hope for industrial recovery Think.ing
The Inverted Nibelungen Test: How Germany Pre-Edits Its Democracy Filip Gašpar. (Chuck L). Important.
Old Blighty
Britain remains cursed by bipolar diplomacy Ian Proud
Protester arrested over ‘Plasticine Action’ T-shirt: ‘How ridiculous is this?’ Guardian (Kevin W)
Can anyone help explain what was going on here.
Today I was driving near High Wycombe. A Thames Valley police car was behind me for a minute or so. As I came to a complicated set of mini-roundabouts, it turned on its blue lights and set off its siren, forcing me to pull over in…
— Jonathan Cook (@Jonathan_K_Cook) August 18, 2025
‘It is apocalyptic’: Scotland’s entire care service faces collapse Herald Scotland
Israel v. The Resistance
Hamas agrees to new Gaza ceasefire proposal: Hamas source Arab News
Amid Protests and Talk of Invading Gaza, Netanyahu Flip-flops Over Partial Cease-fire Deal Haaretz
* * * Will America abandon Israel? Unherd
Far-right Israeli politician barred from Australia ahead of speaking tour Guardian (Dave in Sydney)
There is no universe in which this statement would qualify as true, aligned with US interests, or America First.
None. pic.twitter.com/xnSavuxLmt
— Trita Parsi (@tparsi) August 10, 2025
* * * 100% of Thai women working in Israeli agriculture report being sexually assaulted in Israel — 654 of 654 surveyed. A report by immigration experts Dr. Yahel Kurlander and Dr. Shahar Shoham said “the State of Israel has abandoned these women” and that filing a complaint can mean… pic.twitter.com/62BYVCVRmk
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) August 18, 2025
* * * Iranians Blame Secret Cryptocurrency Farms for Power Outages Iran Focus
New Not-So-Cold War
Zelensky leaves White House unscathed as he buys more time BBC. Kevin W: “Key sentence ‘Zelensky also mentioned how he showed his US counterpart a map of Ukraine, stressing that Russia has managed to occupy less than 1% of the Ukrainian territory in the last 1,000 days.’”
Putin’s psych after Trump’s message: “Let’s see if he dares” Aftonbladet via machine translation. Soi disant world leaders acting as if channelling high school mean girls is a winner.
NATO chief says 30 countries working on security guarantees for Ukraine Anadolu Agency. A new gambit for putting carts before horses.
Europe Demands ‘Security Guarantees’ For Ukraine … Russia Can Give Those Moon of Alabama (Kevin W)
How the talks between Trump, Zelensky and EU leaders ended. Main points Kommersant via machine translation (Micael T). Zelensky has retreated on “ceasefire first”.
Is Trump Making a Bad Bet by Counting on Europe to Keep Ukraine Afloat? Larry Johnson
* * * 🇷🇺Crimean Bridge: 11
🇺🇦Ukraine: 0“An attempt to blow up the Crimean Bridge was prevented. A Chevrolet Volt car carrying 130 kg of explosives entered Russia through the Russian-Georgian border at the Verkhny Lars checkpoint. The car was heading to the Krasnodar region, with the… pic.twitter.com/szY9KeHNn2
— SIMPLICIUS Ѱ (@simpatico771) August 18, 2025
According to information transmitted by Telegram channel INSIDER BLACK, citing a source from the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Berlin received a direct warning from Moscow.
The warning states that funding Ukraine’s Sapsan missile program could be interpreted by Russia as… pic.twitter.com/tPowl3a8Bc
— Djole 🇷🇸 (@onlydjole) August 18, 2025
EU state hints at cutting off power supply to Ukraine RT (Kevin W)
Europe Reveals Itself as Ridiculous in Ukraine Antiwar.com. (resilc). This is not news…
Steppe sicarios, 9/11 now Events in Ukraine. If true and indicative, this shift greatly increases the prospects of Russia being able to manage a post-war Ukraine, assuming it still wind up having to take a lot more terrain:
As someone subscribed to a great deal of Kyivan hipster nationalists, let me tell you – ever since about 2023, the chief enemy of their hateful Instagram stories has transformed away from the degenerate Russian and into the lazy, pacifist westerner.
Putin presents Alaskan resident with Ural motorcycle Artsakh (Anthony L). Putin loves being a pothole president.
Still wondering where that missing $100 billion went?
Zelensky now owns a bank in France and French President Macron used to work there.
Macron worked at Milleis Banque from 2008 to 2012 and now Zelensky owns it!
The deal took place through offshore structures associated… pic.twitter.com/vlNxpjQnFg
— Truth_teller 🇷🇺 (@Truthtellerftm) August 16, 2025
Brief Update Re Azerbaijan Mark Wauck
Imperial Collapse Watch
Empire Can No Longer Dictate Terms indi.ca (resilc)
Over decades, I worked with and was friends with many, many Republicans, including moderates, liberals, conservatives. Some very conservative. But all were institutionalists, believers in Constitution and law, fundamental decency, Not just that they are all gone. 1
— Norman Ornstein (@NormOrnstein) August 18, 2025
China just published its annual Report on Human Rights Violations in the United States.
The U.S. constantly tells China what to do and how to do it, so it’s only fair China gives some advice back!
A short 🧵 of the human rights low-lights in the Land of the Free last year… pic.twitter.com/fj8ap2NFkr
— Andy Boreham 安柏然 (@AndyBxxx) August 18, 2025
Trump 2.0
New data shows No Kings was One of the largest Days of Protest in US history Juan Cole (resilc). Good to know but wrong model. Only a general strike might move this needle.
The Lies Behind Trump’s D.C. Troop Surge Washington Monthly
Watch What Federal Agents Are Really Getting Up to Around D.C. New Republic (resilc)
Trump’s Municipal Takeover? Huey Long Did It First Washington Monthly (resilc)
Trump Rolls Back Rules Protecting Mental Health Coverage ProPublica (Robin K)
Tariffs
Tariffs wiping out American farmers on all sides, and farm equipment manufacturers are laying off From last week, still germane.
Farmers in US midwest squeezed by Trump tariffs and climate crisis Guardian
GE ABANDONS China — $3 Billion Bombshell Partially Politics
Immigration
Democrats Support the New Slavery American Conservative. Berries are a staple for health fetishists A right-wing friend is willing to pay $10 a pint for raspberries to have them picked by US workers, but when she raises that issue with her (at least as affluent) liberal friends, they recoil.
The 18-Year-Old Vigilante ICE Agent Is Coming The Bulwark (resilc)
Democrats en déshabillé
Texas Democrats return to Austin, ending redistricting standoff The Hill
Our No Longer Free Press
Judge issues injunction preventing Trump’s FTC from investigating watchdog Media Matters Associated Press
Economy
Global Economy Took Tariff Hike in Its Stride, But Stronger Headwinds Are Ahead Wall Street Journal
Electricity prices are climbing more than twice as fast as inflation NPR (resilc). So if AI makes electricity costly, will EVs be still be cheaper than ICE to operate?
AI
AI Is Power-Hungry Paul Krugman (resilc)
A new worst coder has entered the chat: vibe coding without code knowledge StackOverflow (Acacia)
A Robotic Tattoo Machine Core77. Resilc: “More “high skilled” jobzzz gone?”
Class Warfare
Anti-Establishment Sentiment Prevails In Jurors. What Does That Mean For Corporate Defendants? Law.com (Democrita). Underlying study here.
How Spain put up wealth taxes – without chasing away the billionaires Guardian (Paul R). I suspect this is not generalizable to either the US or UK, whose top wealthy are properly seen as international elite. It will also absolutely not work in the US additionally due to the difficulty of valuing private assets. The IRS has not won a large estate valuation case, which involves exactly the same issues, since 1991.
Outside our normal programming, but I concur with resilc on this being Links-worthy:
Death rate for US children surges 25 percent in 10 years WSWS (Alan S)
Antidote du jour (via):
A bonus (Chuck L):
Still wondering where that missing $100 billion went?
Zelensky now owns a bank in France and French President Macron used to work there.
Macron worked at Milleis Banque from 2008 to 2012 and now Zelensky owns it!
The deal took place through offshore structures associated… pic.twitter.com/vlNxpjQnFg
— Truth_teller 🇷🇺 (@Truthtellerftm) August 16, 2025
A second bonus (Chuck L):
A hedgehog approached a passerby so that he could remove the tape from its paw. pic.twitter.com/aKrQz0fSDv
— The Figen (@TheFigen_) August 14, 2025
And a third (Chuck L):
A spectacular sight 1225m (4019 ft) beneath the waves off Baja California as EVNautilus encounter the amazing Halitrephes maasi jelly. pic.twitter.com/wthI685CBa
— Wonder of Science (@wonderofscience) August 16, 2025
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
