Octopuses Fall for the Rubber Hand Illusion, Just Like Humans, Pointing to a Sense of Body Ownership Smithsonian Mag
Stick Nation – A Community Featuring User Submitted Reviews of Unique Sticks Found in the Wild Laughing Squid
Moths Can Hear When Plants Are in Trouble and It Changes How They Lay Their Eggs ZME Science
Were Stonehenge’s Bluestones Transported by Humans Or Ice? 100-Year-Old Discovery Sparks Debate IFL Science
After $380M hack, Clorox sues its “service desk” vendor for simply giving out passwords Ars Technica
Climate/Environment
Will Climate Change Really Take Away Our Breakfast? The Ecomodernist
Mapped: 16 times extreme weather drove higher food prices since 2022 Carbon Brief
‘I barely sleep for four hours’: Are pesticides robbing farmers worldwide of sleep? Chemistry World
Feds cancel $4.9 billion loan for Grain Belt Express transmission line project Missouri Independent
Insurance claims from LA fires could ‘fully exhaust’ $21bn state fund The Guardian
Pandemics
The Pandemic Has Been a Portal (for a few of us) The Gauntlet
China?
Big Pharma is increasingly reliant on Chinese biotech advances FT. Commentary:
Big Pharma is collapsing and no one’s telling you why. The real reason isn’t politics or profits. It’s China. And the game is already over.
Big Pharma is increasingly reliant on Chinese biotech advances https://t.co/blM9wHOnWG
— William Huo (@wmhuo168) July 23, 2025
Here’s conclusion:
Exhibit Q18, filed.Big Pharma is finished. Not because China cheated. But because America abandoned the idea of building for the public good.
Now the reckoning is here. (11/11)
— William Huo (@wmhuo168) July 23, 2025
BRI GENERATES RECORD INVESTMENTS IN EARLY 2025, AS FOREIGN MEDIA PUSH CONTINUES China Digital Times
Espionage and Pentagon takeovers of mines as China’s Rare Earth Metals ban slams weapons makers Kevin Walmsley
Africa
Despite Billions in Aid, Somalia’s Army Crumbles as Al-Shabaab Resurgence Gains Ground, Donors Losing Faith AFP
The architecture of military IP imperialism: the UAE, intellectual property theft, and secrecy jurisdictions as legal black boxes Review of African Political Economy
Old Blighty
‘Work until we die?’ Independent readers outraged over retirement age review The Independent
Syraqistan
Ten More Palestinians Starve to Death in Gaza Under Israeli Blockade as Over 100 Aid Groups Sound Alarm Antiwar
UN Secretary General’s Office in response to the new absurd Israeli-US suggestion that UN is responsible for preventing aid from reaching Gaza today:
“Israel must enable safe and unimpeded aid delivery, allow the entry of critical equipment and fuel, must open all crossings and… https://t.co/SZiS2cThmI pic.twitter.com/Itd9hbfI2p
— Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) July 23, 2025
It’s worse than “Gaza is being starved and destroyed and no one cares.” It’s that hundreds of millions *do* care and are powerless to stop it. We need a world where that can never happen, where the masses actually have political power.
— Eman Abdelhadi (@emanabdelhadi) July 22, 2025
***
Just now: The Knesset approved 71-13 a resolution backing the unilateral annexation of Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Netanyahu voted in favor. Centrist Yesh Atid party did not participate in vote.
Motion is non-binding and will not impact the legal status of West Bank. pic.twitter.com/Ino54jogAN
— Jacob N. Kornbluh (@jacobkornbluh) July 23, 2025
***
Drone attacks cut oil production in Iraqi Kurdistan by more than 70 percent The New Arab
Syria requests military support from Turkiye to ‘counter ISIS’ The Cradle
UK, Germany clear path for Turkey to acquire Eurofighter jets Turkish Minute
Iran, Russia, China agree to expand nuclear coordination in Tehran meeting The Cradle
Why China cannot sway Saudi Arabia to shift away from US weapons Amwaj
European Disunion
“It’s Military Keynesianism” German Foreign Policy
Esad Širbegović – Genocide Triumphalism in Srebrenica by Germany’s Christian Schmidt Brave New Europe
France’s first couple sue right-wing influencer Candace Owens over claims Brigitte Macron is a man Euronews
New Not-So-Cold War
Maidan Part 2 Julian MacFarlane
Kyiv sees first anti-government wartime protests as Zelenskiy attempts to gut anti-corruption bodies Intellinews
>Zelensky regime kidnaps thousands of men off the streets, beats them to a pulp, and sends them to die at the front
I sleep
>Zelensky reduces authority of US-installed anti-corruption agency
REAL SHIT pic.twitter.com/731WE9ywMx
— Russians With Attitude (@RWApodcast) July 23, 2025
Rinse & Repeat 🙃 https://t.co/GPJ2up7orn pic.twitter.com/Zx00TTx6U1
— Anatomy of Truth 🇨🇦 (@e_l_g_c_a) July 23, 2025
Zelenskyy promises to submit bill to guarantee “independence of anti-corruption institutions” Ukrainska Pravda
Ukraine proposes holding meeting between Putin, Zelenskyy by late August Anadolu Agency
There’ll be no Ukraine peace breakthroughs today — or this year Ian Proud
US Approves $322 Mn In Arms Sales To Ukraine AFP
Caucasus
The US is about to drive a massive stake into the South Caucasus RT
Is Trump’s Armenia-Azeri peace plan yet another road to nowhere? Responsible Statecraft
L’affaire Epstein
US judge rejects Trump administration’s bid to unseal Epstein grand jury transcripts The Guardian
Justice Department Told Trump in May That His Name Is Among Many in the Epstein Files WSJ
It’s amazing that we have video of Epstein pleading the fifth on him and Trump socializing “in the presence of females under the age of 18” and it was never used during the 2016, 2020, or 2024 elections https://t.co/kUxr1eSOME
— Robert Skvarla (@RobertSkvarla) July 24, 2025
Trump’s Epstein Fiasco Takes Darker Turn as Dem Senator Drops New Bomb The New Republic
GOP dysfunction over Epstein leaves Senate Republicans angry with House The Hill
Pam Bondi abruptly cancels her appearance at the CPAC “Summit on Human Trafficking” due to a ‘torn cornea.’ pic.twitter.com/FhVIwXdGgB
— FactPost (@factpostnews) July 23, 2025
Imperial Collapse Watch
Why Oil Sanctions No Longer Work Foreign Policy
Effects of international sanctions on age-specific mortality: a cross-national panel data analysis The Lancet. From the findings: “We estimated that unilateral sanctions were associated with an annual toll of 564 258 deaths (95% CI 367 838–760 677), similar to the global mortality burden associated with armed conflict.”
Apology for Decadence: Pleasures of Empire at World’s End Liberties Journal
Layer Upon Layer. Aurelien
“Liberation Day”
US agrees trade deals with Indonesia, Philippines – but Chinese firms a step ahead: analysts South China Morning Post
Trump-Japan deal cheers markets, but may be ephemeral Asia Times
EU to merge US retaliation packages into single €93 billion counterpunch Euractiv
Trump 2.0
Trump EPA will propose repealing finding that climate change endangers public health The Hill
Trump’s AI Action Plan Includes ‘Zombie’ Moratorium on State Regulations Common Dreams
Five Interesting Things about the White House AI Action Plan Interconnected
Trump Launched Nearly as Many Airstrikes in Five Months as Biden Did in Four Years Antiwar
Trump just lost the QAnon Shaman guy from 1/6. pic.twitter.com/SGGmPFcCZJ
— Politics & Poll Tracker 📡 (@PollTracker2024) July 23, 2025
MAHA
FDA’s artificial intelligence is supposed to revolutionize drug approvals. It’s making up studies CNN. Perhaps this is one way for Big Pharma to compete with China.
Immigration
Perpetrator of triple homicide in Madrid included in group of political prisoners repatriated by US from Venezuela El Pais
RussiaGate
In Brutal Document Release, the Russia Hoax is Finally Exposed Matt Taibbi
Russia sat on intel of Hillary Clinton’s alleged ‘heavy tranquilizers’ use, new docs claim Fox News
AI
Google’s AI Is Destroying Search, the Internet, and Your Brain 404 media
Alphabet’s Revenue Skyrockets, And AI Overviews Gobble More Of The Search Pie Ad Exchanger
Why Are We Pretending AI Is Going to Take All the Jobs? BIG by Matt Stoller
Surveillance Pricing
Delta Air Lines Tests AI-Powered Personalized Pricing PYMNTS
Police State Watch
ICE budget set to triple in 2026 Stephen Semler
Accelerationists
This Silicon Valley Stuff’ll Get You Killed Edward Ongweso Jr. Well worth a read.
Elon Musk Has Somehow Created a Bad Diner Discourse Blog
Our Famously Free Press
Harvard Journal Abruptly Cancels Issue on Palestine, Sparking Accusations of Censorship The Harvard Crimson
The Bezzle
Krispy Kreme, GoPro both soar as the next darlings of this summer’s meme stock resurgence Yahoo! Finance
Is today’s AI boom bigger than the dotcom bubble? Reuters
Class Warfare
Hunger Threatens to Plague “Golden Years” of Older Americans Due to Trump’s Cuts Truthout
“This is a thing where you build.” Working Class Storytelling
Antidote du jour (via):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
