Links 7/2/2026

Remote-controlled cockroach swarm can now breathe underwater New Scientist 2 people arrested after hanging a banner about ‘the power of love’ on Empire State Building antenna AP Supersonic Flights Over Land Closer to Reality Under US Plan Bloomberg. Too much flyover country between Wall Street and Silicon Valley. Climate/Environment Copernicus Marine and Copernicus Climate Change: Daily global sea surface temperatures break records for the time of year The Copernicus Climate Change Service “Heat dome” has become established across eastern United States Balanced Weather As Heat Wave Spreads Across the US, Data Centers Strain Electrical Grids Truthout 6 things to know about heat illness Your Local Epidemiologist Death toll exceeds 20,000 across Europe in June 2026 heat wave Christopher W. Callahan Banks are financing the fossil fuel industry’s next growth strategy Grist Pandemics One Health: Mapping reported modes of transmission of HPAI A (H5N1) to humans: A scoping review Avian Flu Diary Japan Export Controls as Strategy: Beijing Raises Pressure on Tokyo Amid Rising Security Frictions George Chen China? US House committee opens investigation into Merck, AbbVie China drug trials Reuters China’s 15th Five-Year Energy Plan: Security Shifts From Fossil Imports to New-Energy Tech Inside China Taiwan’s War on Renewables ChinaTalk Syraqistan Board of Peace prepares gated Gaza camps under expanding Israeli occupation: Report The Cradle TL;DR: Concentration camps. The US is going to help Israel build and run concentration camps in Gaza. https://t.co/FP95LxyFGt pic.twitter.com/3O5gVglIz5 — Mel (@Villgecrazylady) July 1, 2026 Genuinely insane stuff. The law will require the pentagon to make itself dependent on Israel. Israeli tech, Israeli AI systems etc will be integrated into all the highest classification functions of the US military. They lost the public opinion war so now they’re going to set it… https://t.co/PKG2yB8ZHR — Sean Padraig McCarthy (@SeanMcCarthyCom) July 1, 2026 Washington is subsidizing Israel’s booming global arms trade Responsible Statecraft Babies were ‘special targets’ of Israeli killings – UN probe panel chief RT The Secret History of Polymarket – Part 1 Unlimited Hangout Israel, U.S. Move Forward With Embassy on Jerusalem Land Said to Be Expropriated From Palestinians Haaretz US Navy chopper goes down in Arabian Sea, one service member goes missing Firstpost Old Blighty Starmer Lied: Britain Is Cutting £11 Billion from Frontline Defence Ian Proud Nurseries, vets and shops: the sectors where private equity plays a big role The Guardian Britain suffers biggest fall in wealth in the rich world The Telegraph Russian spies considered Mandelson a ‘privileged contact’ The Telegraph. Based on a leaked report from our old friend, Christopher Steele. European Disunion Berlin makes bid to build more US weaponry in Germany AFP From Sanctions to Martial Law and a State of Emergency Patrick Baab, Forum Geopolitica New Not-So-Cold War More than 50 missiles flew into Kiev overnight, using hypersonic Zircons, Iskanders, cruise missiles X-101 and dozens of Geraniums. The Ukrainian PePeO caused multiple destruction to the civilian infrastructure. A lot of anti-missiles were delivered to Kiev for the Patriot. But… pic.twitter.com/B8qtMYBCpW — Victor vicktop55 commentary (@vick55top) July 2, 2026 🇷🇺🇫🇮🇪🇪🇱🇻 By executing sudden logistical shutdowns along its western borders, Moscow is intentionally cutting transportation ties with neighboring NATO states while rapidly reinforcing military positioning in the region. Today, Russia banned any movement of people, vehicles,… pic.twitter.com/pEf6hkCRQ9 — NSTRIKE (@NSTRIKE1231) July 1, 2026 Why Russia Never Stops Negotiating: A Millennium of Strategic Statecraft Kautilya the Contemplator Manhunt after bomb injures Ukrainian oligarch in Monaco BBC Bombed Ukrainian oligarch could expose Kiev’s corruption – former French spy RT The Golden Billion, Russian Style Marat Khairullin Imperial Collapse Watch The New Fed Chair’s Plan to Cancel $39T Debt Crisis: Top Economist Steve Keen Why is it so expensive to replace lead pipes in Chicago? WBEZ L’affaire Epstein South of the Border Venezuela Earthquakes, Deadly Sanctions And Media Deception Nate Bear First presence since Chavez showed them the door in 2009 over killing Palestinians: 🇮🇱 ISRAELI AID TEAM ARRIVES IN VENEZUELA An Israeli humanitarian delegation has landed in Venezuela after the devastating earthquakes. The team, led by Israel’s Foreign Ministry and the IDF Home Front Command, is coordinating with local authorities and emergency officials to… pic.twitter.com/oK6ouIdA86— Mossad Commentary (@MOSSADil) July 2, 2026 Nicolás Maduro sued in US court over alleged extrajudicial killings in Venezuela Euronews Does the Pentagon even know who its boat strikes are killing? Responsible Statecraft Trump 2.0 Trump must pay E. Jean Carroll $5m after Supreme Court denies sex abuse verdict appeal USA Today Trump takes first flight on Qatar-gifted Air Force One jet DPA International Tucker Carlson Says Trump Is ‘Not A Man In Charge Of His Own Life’—Wants To Build New Third Party Forbes *** Trump declines to renew major trade deal with Canada, Mexico The Hill Missing Links Phenomenal World *** Trump administration puts religious freedom at heart of US health policy The Guardian GOP Funhouse Tom Kean Jr. Sought Help for Depression. He Hasn’t Made It Easy for Others to Do the Same. Mother Jones The under-covered story of last night’s CO primaries is the cliffhanger GOP gubernatorial primary, where a 2 decade county commissioner who raised $600K is 1300 votes ahead of a pentecostal karate pastor arms dealer backed by Erika Kirk & Lauren Boebert who raised $3 million pic.twitter.com/ydQHB1yH1n — moe tkacik (@moetkacik) July 1, 2026 The Uniparty Without Causes New Left Review. A response to Hillary’s recent FT argument, “The world may not like Trump’s Gaza plan — but there is no alternative.” Democrats Suck Dinosaur Democrats Meet Asteroid Ken Klippenstein The Accelerationists Marco Rubio and Elon Musk claim that no one died from shutting down USAID. Yet the best estimates are between 8–20 million by 2030. We can debate the exact number—but it’s clearly in the millions. When confronted by actual names by @NickKristof, who has gone to the villages and… pic.twitter.com/P01j3wWi8M — Ty Beal (@TyBealPhD) June 30, 2026 Agriculture Texas: Screwworm Detections (n=29) Spread to 12 Counties Avian Flu Diary Supply Chain The Anti-Amazon Phenomenal World Sports Desk Former NFL Star Chris Johnson Reveals ALS Diagnosis at 39, Uses a Computer to Speak People Police State Watch ICE Finds a New Way to Dodge Congress About a Secret Protester Database Mother Jones “MAHA” ‘This Is the PFAS Presidency’: Trump EPA Approves Another Forever Chemical Pesticide Common Dreams Guillotine Watch Time for the big meteor? A repulsive Brazilian influencer with 32 million Instagram followers named Viih Tube, and her reality TV husband, created a “reality show” competition for their 11 domestic servants (nannies, cooks, drivers, cleaners, etc). Each episode, the employees… https://t.co/v1b8kve5ar pic.twitter.com/y3XsEnn7KN — Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) July 1, 2026 The Bezzle An Explosion Knocked Out Anduril’s Rocket Motor Test Site in Mississippi Wired SpaceX IPO sparks race for luxury housing in Southern California Los Angeles Times AI Judge refuses to dismiss state AGs’ Meta child addiction lawsuit Quartz Class Warfare Crime Pays: The Egg Bandits Made A Thousand Times the Fine They Just Paid for Price Fixing Matt Stoller Dismissals of Unfair Labor Practice Charges Have Surged Under Trump Truthout Donald Trump didn’t make his first billion in crypto until age 80 Relax, you still have time — Chase Passive Income (@chasedownleads) July 1, 2026 Antidote du jour (via): See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here. ‘Chase Passive Income @chasedownleads Donald Trump didn’t make his first billion in crypto until age 80 Relax, you still have time’ And yet he once called crypto a scam. Guess his attitude changed when he figured that he could get in on the scam. File under AI: Data Centers chapter. From Breaking Points. Kevin O’Leary Data Center Fuels Utah Political SHOCKER https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWVzlsr_kl8 From Sanctions to Martial Law and a State of Emergency. “In January 2026, the German Bundestag transposed EU Directive 2024/1226 into national law and tightened its provisions. The governing parties—the CDU/CSU and the SPD—voted in favor. The Greens (B 90/Grüne) and The Left abstained.” – Die Linke fighting as hard as they can for the Germans. EU is really proving why we must to war with Russia to defend our freedom Now, if you repost RT you will be prosecuted. https://tass.com/world/2154415 A fistful of EU-Values for you! I have a twitter account from which I have never posted anything, just using it to follow accounts for news and creating lists for filtering feeds. Yesterday I got a pop up saying I needed to download the twitter app and upload some biometric data, pictures of my hand, to continue using my account. Has this happened to anyone else? According to this business human rights organization, the verification company AU10TIX is based in Israel and staffed by former Shin Bet agents, which is not a good sign. I think I will walk away from my twitter account. https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/latest-news/x-corps-biometric-data-sharing-with-israeli-firm-raises-privacy-concerns/ I do not have a Xitter account, but I have recently canceled my paypal and gmail accounts due to similar demands mostly revolving around giving them access to my phone. I am probably going to have to sue paypal because they refuse to give me back the money in the account unless I comply with their demands for biometric info and access to my phone. PayPal has a long history of finding reasons not to give back small amounts when the account is rarely used. I just make bookmarks using xcancel(dot)com of people I find interesting. It is a little slower but it takes money away from Elon and it stops the algorithm from affecting my brain. I put the bookmarks in folder groups in Firefox and can open them all at once. That sounds like a good workaround, I will definitely try it out Besides xcancel I think another mirror is nitter(dot)poast(dot)org which has worked for me when xcancel is down for whatever reason Did find some reports of others being affected https://www.reddit.com/r/Twitter/comments/1uk6a98/lets_confirm_you_are_a_human/ https://www.reddit.com/r/privacy/comments/1ukil0b/twitter_x_requesting_to_verify_im_human_by/ Been using Twitter/X for years. Daily. Have never been asked for any verification like that. “Climber couple arrested after scaling Empire State Building antenna for apparent marriage proposal” I got squeamish when I realized how high they were and without any support. But this AP News clip missed the most important part of this story -the guy proposing to her- https://www.youtube.com/shorts/kXmnDRgx_Wg I could be wrong but I don’t think that she knew that it was coming judging by her reaction. Brings to mind the World Trade Center wire walk. There are movies. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Walk_(2015_film) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_on_Wire In that instance the daredevil even strung a wire between the two not yet finished buildings then walked back and forth on it. I remember that! I was of an impressionable age at the time.. I imagine most readers here know this, but it’s worth mentioning that the top of the Empire State Building was designed as a dirigible docking station. King Kong. 1933. / ;) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qkahQVFzMI IIRC, wasn’t it the “beauty” of modern NYC that killed Kong? We live to survive our paradoxes., (Canadian grunge rock alert.) “‘Twas beauty killed the beast.” Meaning Fay Wray. At one point stop motion Kong tries to take off her frock. Yes, thank you. I had forgotten that wee bit of risqué fun. `Ed Koch decided not to prosecute if Petit would put on a show for newYorkers, Imagine how the legacy press would react if Mamdani did something similar. Rev Kev: I am enjoying all the shocked, shocked, shocked reactions. The ultraconformist quotes are more telling than the climb. https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/empire-state-building-climbers-banner-nyc/ The joy of disobedience. Evviva! Nice to see a spark of life in a news report. Re: TL:DR The US is going to help Israel build concentration camps in Gaza In case it’s not obvious, the image is AI generated. Also, note the UN vehicle at the gates. I noted the same thing too. I guess that it is to give this concept a veneer of respectability. But there won’t be any huts at all but they will just be tents and overcrowded ones at that. The Israelis will control any water, food, medicine and electricity going in and it will be precious little at that. In the end they will be a sort of slow motion extermination camps as diseases run rife through them. Another DSA win. From Breaking Points. Corporate Dems COOKED In MASSIVE DSA CO Win https://youtu.be/bV7POHrqH-c?t=270 Yes. I was a bit surprised that there was no mention of this yesterday, though the Klippenstein post above covers it today. His post is appropriately titled ‘Dinosaur Democrats Meet Asteroid’ – the Establishment-backed Democrat was a *30 year* incumbent! Expect more loud fear-mongering from Trump about “godless communists” trying to take over the US – and during our 250th birthday! Yep. The fear-mongering won’t be coming only from T / ;) File under Democrats Suck. (watch to the end to see why….) / ;) From Breaking Points. Congress EXPLODES: MKULTRA, Charles Manson, CIA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qkahQVFzMI A very important hearing and the estab congressional Dem reps punt. Here is the letter that got Milat Kiros fired in 2023 from her law firm… https://medium.com/@melatakiros/dear-us-law-firms-77ec63e838af Thanks. “Britain suffers biggest fall in wealth in the rich world” Wealth, as measured by the value of assets such as property and stocks, has been rapidly eroded after inflation soared following the pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Britain suffered a worse inflation shock than other developed nations as energy costs leapt. A slowdown in the housing market has also fuelled the wealth slump. First, the article gets it right: inflation makes us poorer. But then suddenly inflation makes us richer?! Rising house prices is also inflation! It is still the same house, the same basic need, but you are now paying more for it! This fetish with house price inflation needs to stop. Even the BBC calls it “house price growth“, as if something is actually growing. It is one of the main reasons for the cost of living crisis, because real estate prices eventually work their way into all other prices and costs. re: Judge refuses to dismiss state AGs’ Meta child addiction lawsuit – Quartz Thanks for the link. Important story, imo. adding: From Cedars Sinai. Los Angeles, Aug 28, 2025 Back to School: How Screen Time Affects Children’s Developing Brains https://www.cedars-sinai.org/newsroom/back-to-school-how-screen-time-affects-childrens-developing-brains/ adding for those unfamiliar: The Cedars Sinai hospital system is one of the most highly regarded hospital/medical systems in the US. On par with the Mayo system. It sounds like Meta’s legal problems are really starting to mount. I am sure that Zuck has billions to defend these suits with, but state AG’s also have deep pockets. Once there is judgment, the class action lawyers will smell blood and start circling. Such a shame, I tell ya! Not to worry: john roberts will curry favor with zukerberg and have his court, in time, dismiss any and all charges against that most personable of all corporations. After all, isn’t that’s what american jurisprudence is all about? Maybe not in this case. I image Roberts and others on the Court have grandchildren. “”Heat dome” has become established across eastern United States” Looks like Trump was right. America is the hottest country. /sarc And his energy policies will ensure that America gets even hotter. I think Europe beats you… They should try living in the hotter regions of Oz in the high summer then. What the Europeans were experiencing they would be calling Tuesday down here. There is a reason why the people of Coober Pedy in South Australia moved underground- https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20230803-the-town-where-people-live-underground Re heat dome–my friend in AZ reports that the Grand Canyon North Rim is on fire again after the historic lodge already burned up in a previous year. Meanwhile we Southrons are used to it in the summer if less so the vicious thunderstorms. The way that the climate is shifting, those vicious thunderstorms may become part of the new normal. Don’t know if that means that window shutters will become standard on homes but whole-house surge protectors will be. I went for a walk yesterday (SE Michigan) in the cool of the evening, the temp was 98°F. As long as I wasn’t in the sun, it wasn’t so bad. At least until I got back to my 76°F hovel when found out how hot I was. Oh boy, can’t wait for the energy bill, sarc/. Just going out now and it’s already 92°F, but we’ve seen worse. NW Ohio here so we are in the same region. It was 98 here yesterday too. My air conditioning has barely stopped the last few days. More tomorrow as it will be in the high 90s and then a break to only 91 on Saturday the 4th. Energy bill…I just got mine yesterday and it was elevated over the prior month. Not to the extent the next one will be. Hoo boy! In AZ right now they go out to walk at 5 am. The famous trails like Camelback have been closed because tourists keep getting heat stroke. So even for the desert this weather is considered extreme. This week in Phoenix is not too bad, but heating up again next week. The Merger of the US “Defense” industry and that of the US “Intelligence” services with those of Israel, with Israel in charge reveals an astounding degree of corruption in the US Congress. And it’s not just astoundingly corrupt, it is astoundingly stupid. Merging these two is going to make the Times/Warner- AOL deal look like a brilliant success. I bet that means that the Five Eyes will now become the Six Eyes and Israel will want a peek at the intelligence of the other members. One Eye to Rule Them All I don’t know how much it would matter, but I’m guessing a very large part of or population doesn’t even know about this. Most don’t have a clue what’s going on in the middle east or the Ukraine/Russia war either. We have no news, only propaganda. Or if you choose to believe any of the elected people who lie all the time, which many do. FUBAR I think it bears repeating; you went to sleep in america, brother, and you woke up in israel. ‘Glenn Greenwald @ggreenwald Time for the big meteor? A repulsive Brazilian influencer with 32 million Instagram followers named Viih Tube, and her reality TV husband, created a “reality show” competition for their 11 domestic servants (nannies, cooks, drivers, cleaners, etc).’ When the revolution comes, it will be people like this that will be first up against a wall. “Dinosaur Democrats Meet Asteroid” Some of these elderly Democrat politicians remind me of what the French said of their own elderly politicians a century or more a go. They said that it was not enough to know that one had died but that it was necessary to push them over to make sure. The Democrat ones only want to leave Capital Hill in a pine box and it was not long ago that one Congresswoman was found to be living in an aged care facility but was still a member of Congress. So maybe it is time to talk about the third rail of politicians – an age limit of about 70 to weed out the worse cases. That one measure alone would have eliminated people like Biden, Trump and Pelosi. When was the last appearance of Turtle Mitch? I was just reading yesterday that recently he had been found unconscious so not looking good for him. And in his eventual passing, he will make the world a bit more better. “I was just reading yesterday that recently he had been found unconscious…” How could they tell? No reaction when rustling banknotes near his ear? https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5951357-mitch-mcconnell-health-hospitalization/ I don’t think hasn’t been seen in public since June 14 .. sounds like we need a proof of life. PS – this is another headache for the GOP majority, without Freeze Frame, there is one less vote for anything that they want to pass the Senate. I could see Thomas Massie running for McConnell’s senate seat when he leaves. Calling Jonathan Silver and Andrew McCarthy. But they’ll have to pull it off for far longer than a weekend. The term of Democratic Governor, Andy Beshear, runs until January, 2027. If the current national mood holds, Beshear’s characterizing the genocide as a ‘litmus test’ is a non-starter. I foresee many more talkings-to. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8_00JqPlOQ AOC is a good little girl. / ;) Anti-Amazon: Welcome to Costco. We love you. Re: Climate From the Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2539 for Friday, June 26th, 2026 https://www.arnewsline.org/news/2026/6/25/amateur-radio-newsline-report-2539-for-friday-june-26th-2026 : This summer, three new satellites are expected to be launched to serve as the equivalent of fire towers in the sky, Three FireSat satellites are being readied by the nonprofit Earth Fire Alliance and its wildfire-detection program, which is satellite-based. The three FireSats have received support from a $26 million grant from the Bezos Earth Fund. The initiative also has the support of Google. The FireSats are expected to monitor for wildfires in critical and sensitive areas at least twice a day, with a special emphasis on the Amazon Basin, which is known to be particularly vulnerable. The Earth Fire Alliance released a statement saying that it hopes to have more satellites in place to assist with such monitoring so that every point on the planet will be seen every 20 minutes. This is Daniel Garcia W2DIY. RE: Russian spies considered Mandelson a ‘privileged contact’ That one could have also been posted under “L’affaire Epstein” since it seems a rather transparent attempt to paint a well known Epstein associate as a Russian spy instead. Trump “livid” over crummy crowds at his 250th National Mall Fair: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-crowd-size-state-fair-national-mall-250-b3006937.html My goodness. T wants to do ‘Americana’ for the 250th with a national State Fair without knowing the first thing about state fairs? What could go wrong? / ‘Americana’ per wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americana I’ve just re read the Declaration. It seems to me there is, at the start, a worthwhile conceptual basis for a new overthrow of our present tyranny. The second part based on grievances, concluding with the slur of the indigenous* not so much. My 2¢ *The colonials wanted the NW (North and West of the Ohio river, to the Mississippi River) territories (King George had promised it to their indigenous allies against the French). https://www.dw.com/en/nord-stream-blast-ordered-by-ukraine-say-german-prosecutors/a-77798230 Nord Stream blast ordered by Ukraine, say German prosecutors ‘Irlandarra @martinez_j7902 The bodyguards killed Charlie Kirk; in this video, we can see how they get rid of the evidence of the crime. None of them covered for another shot or looked for the shooter because they blew Charlie up with a bomb in his mic.’ https://xcancel.com/martinez_j7902/status/2072371661844709493#m (1:11 min video) Can’t say how true it is as the videos I have seen of Charlie Kirk getting shot stop just after he was hit.