Through the Eyes of Shop Cats Sixth Tone (Ghast)
I thought this was a literary myth until I looked into classical literature (Michael T.)
Science through the primate brain: Reflections on the nature of scientific thinking Adam Neibulum (Michael T.)
Shift Haps Old Star (Michael T.). i dunno…
Scientists discover why exercise reverses muscle aging Science Daily (Kevin W)
Climate/Environment
United Nations warns of possibility of ‘abnormal weather’ as El Niño phenomenon intensifies Al Jazeera
China’s global warming is faster than the global average as abnormal weather intensifies, report says Asia News
Summer heat intensifies, Arab capital emerges as hottest place on earth Arabian Weather
As green hopes recede, shipowners turn to dirty fossil fuels and nuclear power Financial Times
Continuing from last week, we have a close relationship:
⚠️ NEW: Study finds current US heat wave ‘shattered’ all time records for ‘moist heat’!! ️
The magenta dots in the graph below indicate this week’s hot and humid weather. This is far greater than anything previously observed in the northeastern United States.
This event turned out to be “impossible” in pre-industrial times… pic.twitter.com/QtWgXOV81b
— Jeff Berardelli (@WeatherProf) July 3, 2026
China?
China’s long-range missile test in South Pacific, Australia slams as ‘regional destabilization’ Guardian
China tightens its grip on Taiwanese Japanese-Americans on all fronts through maritime security and legal development
China’s stock market forms a microcosm of the economy as tech stocks rally and consumer stocks lag South China Morning Post
Why are Chinese doctors working as delivery drivers? Times
Robots are here: China’s story
South Korea
North Korean leader Kim inspects weapons tests on new destroyer “Independent”
India
Typhoid fever, intestinal infections emerge in Pune due to water shortage, doctors say number of cases could be much higher, Times of India
Southeast Asia
Resurgent violence in Myanmar raises concerns about refugee inflow to Bangladesh Business Standard
Aid cuts could turn Rohingya crisis into regional security risk impact policy
Cambodia accuses Thai military of installing barbed wire in Mong Bay area
Africa
Ethiopia: Tigray authorities forcibly kidnap civilians Human Rights Watch
How conflict minerals fuel war in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo as US sanctions Al Jazeera
More pressing fears in Sudan Economist
Mali hit by new wave of organized rebel attacks France24
south of the border
Although not yet verified, this account is generally reliable.
Cuba’s power grid collapsed, plunging much of the island into darkness.
— WarMonitor🇺🇦🇬🇧 (@WarMonitor3) July 6, 2026
Cuban farmers rush to sell land as President Trump’s fuel blockade hurts crops, Financial Times.
US Gives $300 Million in Earthquake Recovery Funds to Venezuela While Keeping $8 Billion in Stolen Oil Wealth A Common Dream (Kevin W)
The Amazon is not only under environmental attack. According to the Globe and Mail, criminal regulations have also been strengthened.
discord in europe
We Call Ourselves Communists – Making a Big City Success Machine Translated by Aftonbladet. Michael T.: “This must be Russian disinformation. European politicians improve the lives of their people? Ridiculous! And on top of that, they receive votes as a thank you for improving their lives? In Europe, it’s the norm to have refrigerator-level approval ratings and squeeze the people.”
The cost of heat: why Europe’s economy is collapsing RT (Kevin W)
Oil prices as drop in LNG imports from US to EU negatively impacts trade deal
Far-right AfD sees mass demonstrations in Germany as eyes of power on Daily Saba newspaper
The purpose of the anti-AfD system is what it does eugyppius (Micael T)
Early heatwave decimates French agriculture, leaving farmers helpless Le Monde
Extreme heat and drought have pushed this year’s harvest forward by several weeks, causing dramatic crop failures in some regions.
Thousands more evacuated as wildfires spread across southern France Connection France
The goal is to return 200 people to Afghanistan – machine translation helped Aftonbladet achieve zero (Micael T)
old blighty
UK to lead European production of NATO long-range missiles
Wuhan Institute of British Politics Ed West
Amber heat health warning issued for Britain as temperatures above 30C are expected for 10 consecutive days BBC (Kevin W)
British farmers adopt regenerative techniques after heat wave shock Financial Times
israel vs resistance
The Financial Times reported that 12 million to 15 million people are expected to attend the funeral of Iran’s late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei over the next few days, potentially rivaling the largest funeral in modern history.
Current benchmark… https://t.co/BGLwkWuRnp
— DropSite (@DropSiteNews) July 6, 2026
Riyadh considers next move as Sanaa tests lockdown
Lebanese Christians reject Netanyahu’s call for annexation of Israel Antiwar.com (Kevin W)
“The decisive battle is now beginning in the West Bank.” Mariana Kara
syrakistan
BREAKING: Multiple explosives were detonated near a Damascus hotel where French President Emmanuel Macron is staying, a security source told Reuters. https://t.co/0YO7vBSb2y
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) July 7, 2026
They are doing everything they were doing with Iran before convincing the US to attack.
The same tactics are currently being used against Türkiye https://t.co/MrPfryMvRw
— ًً (@kelevitch) July 6, 2026
A new war that’s not so cold war
Russia says Ukrainian drones targeted Siberian oil refinery and Kursk 2 nuclear power plant Anadolu Agency
Patriots flee amid Russia’s ballistic frenzy, and Ukrainian authorities panic. Surprising facts provided by the Wall Street Journal:
Surprisingly, the article states that it takes more than two years to manufacture one Pac-3MSE missile.
Granted, there are many parts being manufactured at the same time, but the total lead time from manufacturing to final assembly for all the various parts is six weeks, clearly over two years. The main reason for this is that there are over 400 companies supplying parts for this one type of missile, each manufacturing different parts at different speeds and scales. All components themselves must be tested individually before final delivery. This complex process in its entirety explains why it’s nearly impossible to scale the supply chain all at once, and why we’ll never come close to our ambitious goal of 2,000 per year.
Prospects for peace in Ankara are low Olivier Boyd-Barrette. This is “Ankara” = NATO meeting.
Mr. Stubb cited reasons why NATO countries support an attack deep into Russia. Machine translation of Vzglayd (guurst)
“Why doesn’t Putin end it now?…” Mark Sleboda
🇺🇦Kyiv requests advance request for Patriot missiles
Ukraine’s Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov suggested that Western countries immediately remove the Patriot missiles from their stockpiles and then replenish them with contract supplies for next year.
According to him, “Simple…
— Dana (@dana916) July 6, 2026
Russia’s ‘coordinated aggression’ is reshaping the strategic dynamics of the Ukraine conflict Andrew Korkivko
Yes, Virginia and Russia helped America become independent Jeff Rich
big brother is watching over you
🚨🇪🇺BREAKING: The EU has announced that all citizens will soon require a digital passport to access the internet.
They make it clear that “the new authentication system cannot be circumvented via a VPN.”
They have complete control over everything you do online
— Basil the Great (@BasilTheGreat) July 6, 2026
Video shows a police officer stalking a woman he met on TV after monitoring her with a license plate reader 404 Media
imperial collapse watch
Has America crossed the asshole threshold? Karlin Beshear
Reload War Shankana Anaserum Perera
Trump 2.0
The Atlantic republishes J.D. Vance’s anti-Trump essay from the Guardian from 10 years ago (resilc)
Pete Hegseth has been “defunded and thwarted” in his efforts to protect civilians as war casualties mount, lawmakers tell ProPublica (Robin K.)
Marine One helipad to be built on White House lawn, President Trump tells Military Times (Kevin W)
Donald Trump, Arsonist in Chief, President from Hell Tom Engelhart
supremes
More news from last week Steve Vladeck
economy
BREAKING: President Trump says Walmart ($WMT) has notified him that it will reduce prices “significantly” in response to President Trump’s request to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the United States.
According to President Trump, this includes cutting the price of ground meat by almost 15%. pic.twitter.com/8YwiQPObTS
— Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter) July 6, 2026
President Trump’s war means higher global interest rates for years to come Yahoo!
America’s ocean of debt is fueling the need for interest rate hikes The Times
Mr. Market needs a therapist
The next financial crisis may start with your YNET shopping cart. The similarities with ZOMG and subprime lending are stronger than this suggests. First, “forward flow” is a lot like the warehousing lines of credit subprime loan purchasers like Bear Stearns extended to originators like IndyMac. It was a game of sorts in which loan buyers had a “putback” that allowed them to reject loans or pools of loans that didn’t meet their criteria.
Fears of an AI bubble, the never-ending K-shaped economy, and hyperscalers’ abnormal capital spending Yahoo
A.I.
Click to read the full article. Although this is fiction, it is written to be essentially true.
I am the only one left. I was an analyst who survived my third round of layoffs in a year and was still sitting at my desk, but I learned to read silence.
This time I did not receive an email. The email will be sent at 6:14 in the morning. What if I woke up at 6:20am and my badge was still ringing?
— Peter Gilnas 🦅 (@gothburz) July 6, 2026
Inside CAA’s Secret AI “Vault” – Where Actors Can Live Forever – If You Want Vanity Fair (Dr. Kevin)
The AI boom is built on debt. Global regulators want to turn off the faucet on Wall Street 24/7
This is not a profit bubble, this is a leverage bubble seeking alpha
>Chinese resellers are offering Claude tokens at prices 70-90% cheaper than Anthropic API’s official price. Hacker News Michael T: “We are not condoning criminal activity, but we are indulging in schadenfreude.”
Bipartisan bill fails to protect US consumers from the true cost of data centers, critics warn Guardian
Naked Functionalism and Digital Computational Functionalism Eric Schwitzgebel (Micael T)
OpenAI is starting to crack YouTube. resilc: “OpenAI wants government bailout – National Security YYYYYYYYYYYYYYY”
basil
Bitcoin falls as Michael Saylor’s strategy sold 3,588 Bitcoin from June 29 to July 5 InvestingLive
class war
We keep saying it here: The Soviet Union was the best friend the American people ever had. When that goes away, your standard of living changes too. https://t.co/TpfgjVoYjv
— Yashalevine (@yashalevine) July 6, 2026
University degrees no longer have value World Geopolitics
Gas privatization, education drove 20 years of gross inflation, new study finds News.com.au
Cost of living crisis brings new wave of families to Tauranga food banks New Zealand Herald
An immediate antidote. Tracy H: “On my walk this morning, I saw this adorable swallowtail hanging between a magnolia tree and this Lily of the Nile.”
And bonus:
The dogs refused to go inside, so the kitten had to use another method. pic.twitter.com/K82rTu3Ads
— Positive aspects of X 🌞 (@positivityofx) July 6, 2026
Second bonus:
Mama duck takes the ducklings to a cozy place in the house – the cat’s bed. 🦆🐈🦆😍 pic.twitter.com/yPnxo2V4TD
— 𝕐o̴g̴ (@Yoda4ever) July 6, 2026
And third:
Each cat’s body shape is different😹😹 pic.twitter.com/eU8pXZI5JQ
— Antidepressant Content (@depressionlesss) July 6, 2026
See yesterday’s link and antidote here
