Dear patient readers,
You are getting a big serving of Links with an Iran War section in lieu of an Iran War post.
Fish Bad, Sugar Good… And Other Medieval Ideas About Food Literary Hub (Micael T)
The View From Beyond Time Bentham’s Bulldog (Micael T)
The looting of science fiction aeon (Micael T)
Giant waves are sweeping Mars’ atmosphere into space Science Daily (Kevin W)
Climate/Environment
Why are so many dead bumblebees appearing on sidewalks? Science Daily
Invasive species are forcing people from their homes, scientists warn Earth
Climate Change Is Moving Mountains Atlantic
What’s Behind the Heat Wave Scorching Huge Parts of the World? Wired
Insurers Are ‘Actively Evaluating’ New Catastrophe Risks as Europe Burns Bloomberg
ECB official warns climate crisis poses growing threat to ‘core financial stability’ Guardian
This heat wave in Eastern China,Koreas and Japan is rewriting world climatic history with thousands of records no-stop for weeks.
Today 35.9C Changsin Island (near Dalian) all time record
plus 9 August Tmax records , 27 High Tmin records of which 13 all time High Min records.👇 https://t.co/sQ8pr4uA7s— Extreme Temperatures Around The World (@extremetemps) August 3, 2026
Blazes burning with the intensity of ‘atomic bombs’: Europe enters a new era of mega fires CNN
Death toll from floods in India’s Assam state rises to 82 Anadolu Agency
China?
China’s Car Market Stalls Even as Global Demand Keeps Growing OilPrice
China’s factory gauges show more signs of slowdown on weak demand Nikkei
Chinese carries out military exercises near reef disputed with Philippines Brussels Times
Philippines eyes Ukraine’s drone know-how for South China Sea South China Morning Post
Southeast Asia
How Israeli presence in Forest City exposes the Zionist-aligned underbelly of Malaysia Middle East Eye
Thai justice system under fire after freed criminal confesses to killing 5 South China Morning Post. These killings have gotten huge coverage in Thailand; I wondered when they would hit international press. Story omits that the Prime Minister very quickly came to the site of the murders and talked to the local police. Also omits that the area is semi-rural and that it appears that the first set of killings, of a Thai family, started with the perp gaining access to the house by impersonating a police officer. A lot of upset regarding the failure to find the apparent killers after the first set of crimes (initially a missing persons case), but these were stranger murders, which are natively hard to solve. The crime show rule of thumb is that if you don’t get a lead in 72 hours, the trail is likely to go cold.
Africa
Sudan army drone attack on Darfur kills 35, rights group says Aljazeera
Boko Haram ambush kills 10 soldiers in southeastern Niger Arab News
The Antipodes
Housing Slump Deepens Across Australia and New Zealand Bloomberg
O Canada
As Trump’s Tariff War With Canada Drags On, This Border Community Suffers Without a Voice ProPublica
South of the Border
Cuba plunges into darkness as state energy firm reports new nationwide blackout France24
European Disunion
Europe facing winter gas squeeze due to Iran conflict Irish Time
a href=”https://overton–magazin-de.translate.goog/hintergrund/politik/europas-zukunft-in-einer-welt-die-nicht-mehr-auf-europa-wartet/?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=de&_x_tr_pto=wapp” rel=”nofollow”>Europe’s future in a world that no longer waits for Europe Overton via machine translation (Micael T)
Ceuta Migration Crisis Exposes Despair Among Morocco’s Young People New York Times. resilc: “All borders face this question, but now also with climate as a kicker.”
Scandal, Reshuffle Disaster. Germany’s Merz Faces Calls to Resign The Duran
Mercedes-Benz Faces Potential Ban in the U.S. Due to Senate Moves Car and Driver (resilc)
EU calls emergency meeting to discuss Ceuta migrant surge ABC
Old Blighty
Almost £200,000 of fuel stolen from UK forecourts every day since Iran war began BBC
Britain could face food shortages as drought continues, farmers warn Guardian
Israel v. The Resistance
Reuters is doing its best to frame the Israeli bombardment of one of the few remaining Palestinian medicine warehouses as something legally ambiguous. Obviously the argument they parrot is the Israeli military’s: that in Gaza, healthcare is a human shield for military activities. pic.twitter.com/Yhinn7pGWU
— Nicola Perugini (@PeruginiNic) August 2, 2026
This post is filled with lies about what Hamas agreed to & it’s part of a longstanding pattern: When Palestinian negotiators make agreements, the Israelis then demand new terms and the US and its lackeys pretend like these new edicts are part of the deal and then blame Hamas. https://t.co/OjerGx6nu9
— jeremy scahill (@jeremyscahill) August 3, 2026
Religious Jews attack Christian monastery in Jerusalem (VIDEO) RT (Kevin W)
Israeli strikes kill 18 in Gaza as truce talks remain deadlocked CGTN
Iran War
⚡️⭕️ Trump says US will not allow Iran to impose fees on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and that freedom of navigation must return. Trump also stated the US intended to strike Iran but is now in talks with Tehran. (Trump statements via multiple sources)
— Middle East Observer (@ME_Observer_) August 3, 2026
Traffic in Bab al-Mandeb and Hormuz remains low Aljazeera (live feed entry)
> Trump: Iran is begging for a deal
> Bessent’s minions crush the crude oil price 5$
> Iran: we are not having any conversation with the US
> Crickets
> Iran hits another ship in the Strait of Hormuz
> Crickets https://t.co/yjduYU8cEF— JustDario (@DarioCpx) August 4, 2026
Why Arbaeen – the Shiite Muslim pilgrimage of mourning – has a deep significance that brings millions to Iraq each year The Conversation (resilc). See also Millions of Muslims mark Arba’een to reaffirm allegiance to Imam Hussein PressTV. The observation is Tuesday. Alastair Crooke suggested that Iraq was holding back on retaliation until the date had passed. Might Iran pile on? Their new posture is to keep the US on the back foot.
Assembly of Experts Mandates Adherence to Supreme Leader’s Stance on Talks Iran Wire. If you read this carefully, you can see the Assembly of Experts quickly slapped down President Pezehskian. IMHO this is not as much a sign of a split but Pezehskian having gone off the reservation yet still trying to seem relevant (as in more personal than an indicator of factionalism). The President is responsible only for domestic policy. He has no business sticking his nose in foreign policy. However, he has had to get involved in war matters, if nothing else because protocol has sometimes required that he be the party to face off against Western officials. His views are also unpopular, as shown by the fact that he was the only official booed at the Supreme Leader’s funeral.
Alleged generally earlier; I have not seen the trade dates posted before:
BREAKING: A source close to Iranian officials says Tehran has documented a pattern of oil market manipulation tied to Axios reporting and Trump administration insiders, including evidence of a $9 billion insider trading operation linked to Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff.
The…
— The Hormuz Letter (@HormuzLetter) August 3, 2026
Here’s a statistic that should make every air force sit up and take notice. During recent operations over the Persian Gulf and the Levant, French Rafales fired around 100 MICA AAMs against Iranian one-way attack drones. That’s close to half of the French Air & Space Force’s… pic.twitter.com/d8nyNOaTe1
— Air Power (@RealAirPower1) July 31, 2026
Iraq’s oil lifeline snaps as Hormuz crisis threatens economic collapse Middle East Online
Syraqistan
Pakistan eroded India’s faith bit by bit’: Indian envoy defends putting Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance WION
‘My only son was shot standing up for justice’ – inside city gripped by deadly protests in Pakistan-administered Kashmir BBC
New Not-So-Cold War
Russia says seven killed and 40 injured by Ukrainian drone hitting busy beach BBC
NEW: 🇷🇺🇺🇦 Russian troops are now less than 5km from Slavyansk and Kramatorsk
This are the last “Fortess cities” in Donbas
— Megatron (@Megatron_ron) August 2, 2026
Disastrous End to Zelensky’s 40-Day Operation Exposes a Dwindling Ukraine Simplicius
The Protests In Support Of Ukraine’s Recently Dismissed Defense Minister Aren’t Organic Andrew Korybko. Quelle surprise!
Italian Navy boards tanker from Russian shadow fleet Euronews
‘Winter is coming’: Ukraine fears its toughest test since Russia’s full-scale invasion CNBC
Russia imported 30,000 metric tonnes of gasoline from Morocco to compensate for refinery disruptions caused by Ukrainian attacks Business Insider
Kyiv’s forces hit Wildberries again amid deadly trade of strikes with Russia Guardian
Sergey Lavrov: “What really sets us apart as a nation is something that the West does not have. Our civilisation respects those who created it, built cities and defeated enemies” International Affairs (Micael T)
“Europe Is the Biggest Risk” Russia in Global Affairs (Micael T)
“Healthy anger is perfectly appropriate.” Top War (Micael T)
Imperial Collapse Watch
The West’s Achilles Heel John Robb
The Galling Gallium Chokehold: Why the US Cannot Produce Precision Missiles and Fully-Functional F-35s Larry Johnson
China and Russia are the world’s sole nuclear superpowers YouTube. resilc: “Slow data center build shows inability to do civil engineering as a country. USA USA.”
Party elites so blind they can’t see their base turning against the war Responsible Statecraft
Trump 2.0
US Poll: Democrats Lead Republicans on Economy, Trump Approval Dips Ratopati. Underlying Reuters story well paywalled.
Capital One says it closed Trump Organization accounts over money-laundering concerns NPR (resilc)
Park Service Delivers Brutal Verdict on Trump’s “Triumphal Arch” New Republic
Trump is determined to pursue his trade war – and he may be difficult to stop Guardian
Hegseth struggles to sell Senate on Iran war funding The Hill
Police State Watch
ICE Collected Nearly 1 Million People’s DNA Last Year—Including Young Children Wired (resilc)
Economy
The Global Oil Cushion Isn’t Really Hitting ‘Tank Bottoms’ Bloomberg
Saudi Oil Reroutes Hit Capacity and Security Limits OilPrice (resilc)
Mr. Market Should Be More Worried
Stock market turmoil sheds stark light on the opaque AI economy Guardian
AI
The Number of Regular People Being Arrested for Protesting Data Centers Is Astounding Futurism (resilc)
The Feds Just Opened Public Lands to AI Data Centers—Starting Near Lake Mead Outside Online
Monopoly Round-Up: Are Big AI Firms Cooking the Books? Matt Stoller
OpenAI Lowers Pricing for New AI Models – OpenAI is DEAD YouTube (resilc)
The 1990s Web vs. today’s AI Arnold Kling (Micael T)
OpenAI’s amazing — but vastly oversold — new model Astra Gary Marcus
The Bezzle
Ohio State and Notre Dame added jersey patches — and your favorite school will, too The Athletic (resilc)
Larry Ellison Bet It All on the A.I. Boom. Will He Be the Face of the A.I. Bubble? New York Times
Walter insurers paid millions of dollars to credit rating provider Egan-Jones Financial Times
Class Warfare
Carpenter Ivan, 25, has to work until he is 70 – “Older colleagues are already in pain” Arbetet via machine translation (Micael T)
Youth as the vanguard of a pacifist cultural revolution Overton via machine translation (Micael T)
Vietnam is LITERALLY Communist. pic.twitter.com/2cnjiIJ6Eu
— Alan MacLeod (@AlanRMacLeod) August 3, 2026
Antidote du jour (via):
A bonus:
A hiker unexpectedly comes across one of the UK’s rarest animals pic.twitter.com/kdUveAQ1Kk
— Antidepressant Content (@depressionlesss) July 25, 2026
A second:
A man was recording the depth of a hole in Arctic ice when a seal unexpectedly surfaced for air right in front of his camera pic.twitter.com/GwZuTyumvj
— Nature Unedited (@NatureUnedited) July 25, 2026
A third:
Animals never forget those who are kind and loving to them. pic.twitter.com/MRkuiu2ru9
— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) August 2, 2026
And a different sort of bonus:
Somebody raised their son right 🙂 pic.twitter.com/jGohiGTEH0
— Brian4new (@GustBrian) July 31, 2026
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
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