Links 7/5/2025 | naked capitalism

Dear patient readers,

Forgive me for this odd appeal, but I am so sick of fake products. I just had my cell phone ring when in a fully-closed supposed Faraday bag (I had forgotten to turn it off). Can readers recommend ones that actually function?!?! This was the no-good one: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09MLMNJX2?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1

Why Does the Bible Forbid Tattoos? JSTOR Daily (Micael T)

You Can Now Rent a Flesh Computer Grown In a British Lab ScienceAlert

Sterilized Flies To Be Released In Order To Stop Flesh-Eating Maggot Infestation CBS

Scientists discovered how a scent can change your mind ScienceDaily (Kevin W)

Against Self-Optimization Plough (Micael T)

COVID-19/Pandemics

You know, I think the reason people aren’t freaking out about this report in Nature detailing the physical brain damage caused by covid infection is the physical brain damage caused by covid infection.https://t.co/haLrfJmVjx pic.twitter.com/9vfDfoVDcI

— tern (@1goodtern) July 4, 2025

Yours truly has pointed out more than once that in Eastern Asia, masks either are not an issue (due among other to things being a health necessity on high PM2.5 days) or seen as polite (as keeping you from spreading your cooties to others):

An article on the history of how masks have been stigmatized — ironically making it worse for people who still mask by referring to Covid in the past tense multiple times & saying N95s were reasonable “during COVID” for the elderly.

No. They are reasonable for everyone now pic.twitter.com/sLdIGdVUwR

— chantzy (@chantz_y) July 4, 2025

Bird flu surges in Cambodia BBC

Climate/Environment

Warming depletes Arctic soil’s nitrogen stores, irreversibly increasing CO₂ emissions PhysOrg

Droughts worldwide pushing tens of millions towards starvation, says report Guardian

Record rainfall in central China leads to flooding and evacuations NBC

France and Switzerland shut down nuclear power plants amid scorching heatwave EuroNews

More than 80% of UK farmers worried about climate crisis harming livelihood, study finds Guardian

Climate change could bring tropical diseases to UK Independent

Erm, what about places that will suffer such bad flooding that mass migration is expected? Nevertheless:

London is the Worst Place to Be When Civilization Collapses? Steve Keen … https://t.co/eGJSKhfBCn via @YouTube

— Dr. Steve Keen (@ProfSteveKeen) July 4, 2025

Texas floods death toll rises to 24, with up to 25 children missing BBC. From IM Doc: “if you have ever been to the Texas Hill Country, well it is nice (a lot less nice than it once was – Best Buy’s and Home Depot’s everywhere) – but one can easily deduce the death trap a lot of the terrain would be in a flash flood”

California Triptych: Whatever a sustainable world looks like, Los Angeles won’t be in it Boston Review

China?

BRICS Without China? Xi’s No-Show at Summit in Brazil Is No Coincidence YouTube. This video does not consider the thesis that another well-substantiated video argued: that Xi had not made a single appearance outside his residence after a sudden absence during a major party event. The thesis is he had a health crisis, which kicked off a power struggle, and he is now under house arrest. Even if this is false, BRICS is playing out as we predicted: all hat and no cattle (ex facilitating bilateral trade financial plumbing, which is very important). Even Mohammed Marandi, when Nima brought up BRICS in the past week, almost sighed when Nima mentioned BRICS and said what mattered was not BRICS but the idea ofBRICS and organizations like the SCO which were advancing the BRICS philosophy. That correction said to me was Marandi signaling that BRICS has been overhyped and the focus needs to be on the paramount BRICS aim of multipolarity, and not the supposed organization, which as of today, does not even have a budget.

US OKs chip design software for China after a key minerals deal Asia Times (Kevin W)

“Chongqing, global and invisible.” Floutist

Prices of Both Housing And Rent Are Decreasing In China Ian Welsh (Micael T). This = deflation. It may seem beneficial in cost of living terms, but deflation if it settles in is worse than inflation. For instance, it destroys the value of productive investment. The best assets to hold are cash and very very very high quality bonds.

Africa

Ethiopian PM Declares Grand Renaissance Dam “Complete” Amid Renewed Tensions with Egypt and Sudan Watan

Aid groups warn of attacks on Sudan’s hospitals as disease outbreaks and atrocities mount Associated Press

Bordering on Crisis: The Future of Algeria-Mali Relations ME Council

Disaster Looms As French Uranium Mine in Niger Faces Bankruptcy OilPrice

From the Congo to Kenya, timber trafficking is flourishing Global Voices

European Disunion

The world’s poor must pay for the West’s armaments Aftonbladet via machine translation. Micael T:

Diversion maneuvre. Rutte has told us that it is our poor that must die through destroying the pension system and the welfare state. Mobody cares about the poor in Africa so by pointing out that they will die they are only partially speaking the truth but lying by omission of the true target of this social killing project: EU citizens

European airlines go ballistic over French air traffic controller strike Politico (Kevin W)

Mounting unrest in Romania over austerity measures Euractiv

Dutch energy imports hit record high after gas field closure Montel News

Austria becomes first EU country to resume deportations of refugees to Syria LeMonde

Old Blighty

What will happen now that Palestine Action is banned? Ana Winstanley

Israel v. the Resistance

Secret Trump letter would let Israel resume war despite ceasefire: Report Middle East Eye (Kevin W)

Israeli pilots dumped ‘unused bombs’ over Gaza during Iran strikes: Report The Cradle (Micael T)

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Hezbollah rejects calls to disarm before end of Israeli ‘aggression’ against Lebanon Anadolu Agency

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Iran wants to buy a new air force from China Kevin Walmsley

US imposes fresh sanctions targeting Iran oil trade, Hezbollah Reuters

New Not-So-Cold War

KYIV DEVASTATED by Russian Drones & Missiles /Lt Col Daniel Davis YouTube

Can Ukraine Survive Russia’s Summer Offensive? HistoryLegends, YouTube

Trump says he made no progress on Ukraine in his call with Putin Axios. A bit more detail.

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How Azerbaijan-Russia relations came to a breaking point Middle East Eye

Azerbaijan has decided to finally turn its back on Russia and face Turkey Top War. Micael T: “Is Turkey a winning country? What does Azerbaijan know that we don‘t or are they just paid to not understand?”

How Turkiye’s eastward ambitions serve the Atlanticist order The Cradle

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Russia Recognizes Taliban: Game-Changer in Central Asia Horizon Geopolitics

Moldova on the Brink of a Bloodbath: Maia Sandu Legalizes the Killing of Citizens by Officials Uncensored Foreign Policy (Harry A)

Big Brother is Watching You Watch

Surveillance Used by a Drug Cartel Bruce Schneier. Yours truly just said CISA was unduly concerned about state actors and not sufficiently worried about cartels.

Imperial Collapse Watch

Donald Trump Continues to Send Mixed Messages on Israel and Russia Larry Johnson

Trump 2.0

7 little-known items in Trump’s big agenda bill CNN (Kevin W)

After-school special: Latest Trump funding freeze hits summer classes midswing The Hill. More punishing the poors.

Trumpism holds all Men are Created Unequal and most should be Denied Life, Liberty or the Pursuit of Happiness Juan Cole

Justice Dept. Explores Using Criminal Charges Against Election Officials New York Times

Tariffs

Global economy braces for Trump’s trade war and its consequences LeMonde

Trump’s Vietnam Deal Shows China Tariffs Won’t Fall Much Further Bloomberg

US Shale to Slow Drilling as Trump’s Tariffs Rattle Executives Bloomberg

Buying July 4th BBQ stuff? A lot that iconic “American” food is imported now. 🤯We had a food trade deficit of almost $60 billion in 2024. My @RethinkTrade colleague @katie_hettinga has a new report out today explaining the rising US food trade deficit, its causes and fixes. 1/ pic.twitter.com/BoK9mqVf1X

— Lori Wallach (@WallachLori) July 3, 2025

Democrat Death Wish

The war on America’s radicals: Mamdani is only the latest victim Unherd. Today’s must read.

Zohran Mamdani Is Artist-Approved. The Collector Class Has Its Reservations Vanity Fair (Micael T)

Our No Longer Free Press

CIA: Our Trump-Russiagate Claims Were Corrupt, Our Claims On Iran Are … Moon of Alabama (Kevin W)

Groves of Academe

Professional Distancing in Academia Rajiv Sethi

Mr. Market is Moody

The trades that will shape a new financial crisis Satyajit Das, Financial Times

Is US dollar flirting with a ‘Liz Truss moment’ amid tariff chaos? Asia Times (Kevin W)

At Sintra getaway, central bankers mull threats to their domain Reuters

Congress just pushed the U.S. toward a debt crisis. The Fed can’t save us. Washington Post

Kiss Goodbye to the Chance of a Fed Interest Rate Cut in July Michael Shedlock

Botshit Gone Wild Gary Marcus. Important.

AI models just don’t understand what they’re talking about The Register

The Parrot in the Machine New York Review of Books (Robin K)

Hitachi Energy warns AI power spikes threaten to destabilise global supply Financial Times

Guillotine Watch

Prince William and Kate Face Backlash for Puppy Litter Amid Shelter Crisis Animal Rescue

Class Warfare

Let’s stop calling it “health care” spending

That would imply it is improving health

Or keeping it from worsening

Neither of which is happening, statistics confirm

Any ideas on a better name?

“Medical spending” is at least neutral https://t.co/fsAYxkzwqu

— Walter Kirn (@walterkirn) July 3, 2025

Financial capitalism is more dangerous than ever Jacobin

Why Hasn’t the American Proletariat Overthrown the Dictatorship of Capital? Future Dude (Micael T)

Wells Fargo scandal pushed customers toward fintech says UC Davis study Nerds.xyz. From the frying pan into the fire