Father and daughter dance on their journey
pic.twitter.com/3VGiv1m79q– Science Girl (@gunsnrosesgirl3) August 20, 2024
The 500-Year-Old Atlantic Mystery (Anthony L)
Freshman Builds His Own Nuclear Fusion Reactor In Fascinating Engineering College
M&Ms on the test board trick your brain ZMEScience (Kevin W)
Some old books have a poisonous secret: they are bad for your health ZMEScience (Dr. Kevin)
People age dramatically at two critical points in their lives, study finds CNN (Kevin W)
Mpox is ‘not the new COVID’ – WHO DW
What We Know About Mpox … flight transmission OKDoomer (Dr. Kevin)
covid has actually broken the concept of public health I fear this is the covid response being used on lice pic.twitter.com/M6ErVbFjGf
— maui @ mfa ✍🏾 (they/them) (@lesbianoir) August 19, 2024
Climate/Environment
The Era of Runaway Heat Records Is Here at Bloomberg
Climate Change Makes a Moderate Foreign Policy Unsustainable
Vienna partially under water after record rainfall TravelNews
The Atlantic is cooling at a record pace and no one knows why New Scientist
New Zealand’s sheep and cattle decline as carbon sinks, drought and low prices affect sector New Zealand Herald
China?
Biden Endorses Secret Nuclear Strategy To Refocus China Threat The New York Times
China’s $70 billion bailout plan collapses Financial Times front row
China Unveils Rapid Drop in New Home Prices With Freer Curbs Bloomberg
China warns of countermeasures as EU reviews EV Nikkei probe
Apple’s Thai gaffe shows brands should tread carefully in Asia’s South China Morning Post
India
Indian schoolgirls are leading a quiet cycling revolution BBC (Dr. Kevin)
Global trade needs an alternative to China; India needs better ports Economic Times
The breakup of Europe
German Terror Attacks Are Excuses for Persecuting Political Enemies, Says Opposition Leader Michael Shellenberger (Robin K)
The Anti-Constitutional: Producing Political Consent Wolfgang Streeck, London Review of Books. Anthony L: “Germany is fighting fascism.”
Old Blighty
25% of Brits Considering Turning Off Heating With Winter OilPrice
Gaza
Hezbollah targets Israeli targets after eight wounded in regime attack in Bekaa PressTV
Israel Conducts F-35 and F-15 Long Range Air Assault as Show of Force on Iran’s Military Watch
Hamas accuses US of ‘buying Israel time’ in Gaza ceasefire talks Aljazeera (Kevin W)
Israel Wants to Build a Wall Between Egypt, Gaza to Prevent Hamas Tunnels-Digging – Sputnik Reports (Robin K)
Iran says revenge on Israel for Haniyeh killing could take ‘long time’ Al-Arabya
The New Cold War
Moscow denies ‘one of the biggest’ drone attacks by Ukrainian RTE. Props to RTE for an early and detailed account.
Russia’s Unrelenting Offensive Stings Hard on Ukraine’s Battered Donbas The Kyiv Post
Surrounded by… Andrei Martyanov. Toretsk and New York.
Return to Bloodlands: Operation Krepost Big Serge. On the Kursk offensive. You have to disagree with his taking the Kursk nuclear power plant as a target. The Kiev regime is all about PR and stunts, to an important extent to maintain the support of its alliance partners. Did Big Serge forget Snake Island? A great waste of good troops in trying to defend and hold a position at Krinky on the east side of the Dnieper in Kherson? Obsessed with the military-insignificant Kerch Bridge? Admittedly, he allows the spectacle as a goal later. But he seems to forget that the Collective West convinced itself that the underpowered and air-supported Great Summer Counteroffensive would actually cut the Crimean land bridge. Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, the US (which openly supported the operation) has yet to get over its deep conviction that the Russian military is weak and incompetent and that its troops will flee if faced with sufficient force. But be sure to read, towards the end of the episode, his ORBAT interview. And lots of great details throughout.
In Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, underground soldiers burned warehouses and columns with Kyiv Aftershock weapons. Story refers to the primary source that presents the visual. It seems absurd because it’s the kind of thing the KGB should be doing, with the cut/cover of the Russian state behind it. And Russia may have decided to be aggressive about this kind of thing after Kursk.
Letter: West must scrutinize Putin’s claims about Russia’s economy Financial Times. Michael T: “
Imperial Collapse Watch
Suspicion of US Lawsuits in Pakistan and Bangladesh Warrants UN Attention Jeffrey Sachs, Common Dreams
Azerbaijan is applying to join BRICS – Foreign Ministry Interfax
De-Dollarization? Not so fast Stabroek News. Robin K: “Continued thinking about the dollar’s place in Guyana.”
Trump
Republicans are worried that Trump will open up their chances in the Senate with a majority on The Hill
Nicole Shanahan, Vice President of the Robert Kennedy ticket, says the RFK campaign is currently debating whether to stay in the race or resign to endorse President Trump. He does not want Kamala to win.pic.twitter.com/iLsSuLEyQ5
– Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePress) August 20, 2024
Secret Service Mistakes That Enabled Trump’s Assassination Attempt ProPublica (Robin K)
Kamala
Harris’ Special Election Effort Raises Nearly $500 Million a Month, Sources Tell Reuters
Trump says Kamala Harris will not participate in the Fox News interview on September 4 Fox. But so far he has only agreed to the Sept. 10 debate on ABC.
Kamala Harris Suffers Triple Poll Hit Before DNC Kicks Off Newsweek
Presidential Debate: Donald Trump vs Kamala Harris | Shawn Farash and Estee Palti, Alec Lace, YouTube. Farash is very nice. The worst part is that his face is wrong.
The Democratic Convention
The protest carnival generates a little heat at the Chicago Semafor
Democratic National Convention Draws in $20 Million on First Night, Beats RNC Viewing Deadline
Joe Biden, Trump Casualty American Conservative. A student who watched the rally pointed out that Biden’s rally speech was at midnight, and there was an incredible amount of dead time and third stage presenters to make sure he didn’t speak on time.
Democrats Unveil Weird Foreign Policy Platform Daniel Larison
Abortion
Voters in Arizona and Montana may decide on constitutional right to abortion The Associated Press
Women ‘Afraid to Tell Their Doctors They’re Miscarrying,’ Louisiana Woman Tells DNC Jezebel (crazy)
Ours is No Longer Free
The EU Just Declared War on Free Speech in America. Time to Fight for Jonathan Turley
University of California bans camping and face masks Guardian (Carla R)
All Watch
Harley-Davidson hits the brakes on DEI The Hill (Kevin W)
Supply Chain
Potential train stoppage in Canada has US businesses worried The Hill (Kevin W)
Mr. Market v. the Fed
The Fed faces up to a million US job losses in Bloomberg’s review. Lambert reported yesterday at the Water Cooler but it’s important not to miss it.
Canada, Hungary, US Make Top 3 for Highest Public Debt Increases Per Capita Sputnik (Robin K)
How the Pentagon is Building Silicon Valley Responsible Statescraft (Kevin W). This was written years ago in Marianna Mazzucato’s book, The Entrepreneurial State.
Class War
Have CEOs changed? The NBER
US judge strikes down Biden administration’s ban on workers’ ‘non-performance’ agreements Reuters (Kevin W)
Iowa man fired after death at Iowa Capital Dispatch ‘happy hour’ event (Robin K)
Antidote du jour (Julia M via Bob H):
And a bonus:
If you stop watching one thing today, let it be this. pic.twitter.com/LTb6bhlJMT
— Nature is Amazing ☘️ (@AMAZlNGNATURE) August 20, 2024
And the second bonus (guurst):
Так, что тут у нас? 👀 pic.twitter.com/nkzShL0IOU
— Etna (@Etnaetoya) August 20, 2024
See yesterday’s links and the Antidote du Jour here.