Dear patient readers.
You are getting super-sized Links, with an Iran War section, in lieu of an Iran War post proper.
Ancient Princesses Were Weapon-Wielding Badasses, Scientists Discover 404 Media
Manure piling up Cedar Rapids Gaxette (Robin K)
The Book of Jargon NO1 (Micael T). Not a complete list of finance dazzle-speak, but a good start.
Archaeologists found Homer’s Iliad inside a 1,600-year-old Egyptian mummy Science Daily (Kevin W)
“Silly sprinklers” help scientists finally solve Feynman’s famous sprinkler mystery Science Daily (Kevin W)
How Schools Can Counter “The End of Reading” Natalie Wexler (Micael T)
#COVID-19/Pandemics
A Deadly Ebola-Like Virus Is Spreading. Are We Ready? SciTech Daily (Chuck L)
Climate/Environment
Breaking News!
Code UFB!!!As of July 13th, the global ocean sea-surface temperature has set a daily record for the 42nd day in a row.
Yesterday’s global sea-surface temperatures is 0.10°C hotter than any previous July 13th on record.
Here’s the breakdown, by decade: pic.twitter.com/zjEgqdosiZ
— Prof. Eliot Jacobson (@EliotJacobson) July 14, 2026
France grapples with ‘very worrying’ drought after successive heatwaves France24
Risk of serious water shortages as river levels fall Dutch News
More Greek Regions Face Water Emergency as Drought Worsens Tovima
How global heating supercharged floods in West Africa, displacing thousands Guardian
In US West, drought pits farms against towns, industry in scramble for water Reuters
China?
Trump’s fiery China allegations may threaten superpower truce CNBC
China’s record consumer defaults undermine Beijing’s push to boost spending Reuters
What China’s sub-launched missile test really signaled Asia Times (Kevin W)
The New Third Front: China Quietly Revamps Country for War Simplicius (Kevin W)
China’s desert mock-up rehearses a US warship’s death at sea Asia Times (Kevin W)
China lauds Papua New Guinea over decision to shut Taiwan office Japan Times
Japan
Japan’s ‘Decisive Action’ Threat Does Little to Scare Yen Bears Bloomberg
Southeast Asia
Why Indonesia’s economy is under pressure DW
More than 500 feared dead after boats carrying Rohingya refugees capsize off Myanmar NBC
Africa
Africa’s Greater Horn region is facing a looming polycrisis, fueled by conflict, prices, climate and disease The Conversation
Sudanese minister says war has ‘profoundly reshaped’ nation’s demographics Aljazeera
How armed conflict shapes food insecurity in the Sahel and Lake Chad Region Nature
South of the Border
Brazil vows to retaliate if US imposes 25% tariffs on some of its products Guardian
Venezuelan Gov’t, Opposition to Launch US-Supported Dialogue for Electoral Reforms Venezuelanalysis (Robin K)
Neo-Colonial Coverage of Venezuela Earthquakes Adds Insult to Injury Venezuelanalysis (Robin K)
Blockades, marches and human shields: Bolivia’s farmers resist as land opened up to industry Guardian
O Canada
Trump threatens Canada over wildfire smoke choking U.S. cities Politico (Kevin W)
Carney says Canada won’t share bridge tolls with US until debt repaid CBC
European Disunion
EU readies crisis team for China rare earths stand-off Financial Times
China hits out at British Steel nationalisation BBC
Washington pushes EU to announce import rules rollback Financial Times
Europe’s next energy shock is drying up in plain sight Reuters
Rule-of-law push loses momentum in the EU Euractiv
French wheat prices hit record high amid Sea of Azov disruptions, EU heat wave S&P Global
Old Blighty
UK nationalizes Chinese-owned British Steel to protect nation’s steelmaking capacity Associated Press
Britons urged to take ‘small steps’ to prepare for potential national crises Guardian
Record heat linked to unprecedented fall in UK milk deliveries Farming UK
Israel v. The Resistance
Wheat fields become battleground as occupied West Bank farmers race to save land, crops TRT World
US approves nearly $2bn in weapons sale to Saudi Arabia Aljazeera
Houthis threaten to attack oil facilities in Saudi Arabia amid Yemen tensions Anadolu Agency
Iran War
BREAKING: IRGC CLAIMS AMERICANS KILLED AT AL-TANF SYRIA – w/ Col. Larry Wilkerson YouTube. Important. We had a debate in comments yesterday as to why Iran had not yet attacked US navy ships (save when they briefly entered the Strait of Hormuz on the Iran side early in the war). I had said the decision would be based on strategic aims, not merely to inflict damage, and Iran’s priority was to get the US out of the Middle East, and destroying the naval bases would make it so hard to operate as to considerably advance that goal.
Live: Iran warns of ‘full-scale offensive’ if strikes continue Middle East Eye
Iran war live: 10,000 without water after US hit; fire at Kuwait water site Aljazeera
Wilkerson and Nawfal mention that a mass casualty event would force a US escalation, which likely explains why Iran has not yet inflicted one. But Iran may now judge Trump is committed to a path that will lead them to go all in regardless. It appears Iran is now seeking to inflict military deaths, having seen among other things that the US and Trump are casualty averse. This may be a “gloves are really off now” move. Iran is now also explicitly threatening to attack navy vessels, which it had not done before. Having said that, I am not sure Iran will target them until they make themselves targets, as in enter Iran/Strait of Hormuz waters or attack Iran. Even though a blockade is an act of war, I am not sure they will attack the ships just “because blockade”. We’ll see in due course.
We had the same info in our Iran war post yesterday, but Axios makes it official:
‼️ Imperial mouthpiece Axios reports that the US is sending «dozens» more refueling tankers to the Persian Gulf war zone.
I suspect this means two things:
🔹 Iran has destroyed several on the ground
🔹 Israel is about to enter the battle again
Major escalation forthcoming … pic.twitter.com/kvxvH50eOM
— Will Schryver (@imetatronink) July 17, 2026
* * * Iran says IRGC navy intercepted 4 ‘violating’ ships in Strait of Hormuz Anadolu Agency
Two oil tankers catch fire after passing through minefields in Strait of Hormuz, Tasnim reports Aljazeera
Strait of Hormuz over the last 24 hours: too deep into the escalation trap or the cycle of stupid.
The events over the past week should start to dissuade anyone from contemplating that the Strait of Hormuz is going back to normal anytime soon. The video from @MarineTraffic… pic.twitter.com/BZjzcSnW81
— HFI Research (@HFI_Research) July 18, 2026
JUST IN: Despite two U.S. aircraft carriers, AWACS, fighter jets, and drones overhead, the Strait of Hormuz recorded just eight crossings on July 16 — the lowest in three weeks. The U.S.-backed Omani corridor? Zero. For the second day straight, per @MarineTraffic.
All seven… pic.twitter.com/RUKSJwkdU0
— The Hormuz Report (@HormuzReport) July 18, 2026
Report: Shipping Companies Refusing US-Guided Transit Scheme Through Hormuz Strait After Iranian Attacks Antiwar.com (Kevin W)
Iran’s Tasnim news agency cited an informed source as saying that a Thai-flagged ship was targeted in the Strait of Hormuz on Friday after it allegedly ignored warnings and attempted to pass without permission from Iran’s Revolutionary Guards navy.
The source said the vessel was…
— Giovanni Staunovo🛢 (@staunovo) July 17, 2026
BREAKING: Iran announces the «every port against a port» doctrine in response to the US Chabahar port strike, saying it will strike five specific commercial ports hosting US military infrastructure as retaliation targets, per Fars:
1. Jebel Ali Port UAE, the busiest foreign US…
— The Hormuz Letter (@HormuzLetter) July 17, 2026
* * * My take on the regional diplomatic landscape.
– One of the most striking features of the current phase of the Iran-US confrontation is not only the daily exchange of strikes, but also the relative absence of the regional diplomacy that proved so important only a few weeks ago.…
— Babak Vahdad (@BabakVahdad) July 17, 2026
🇪🇺 BERLIN-PARIS — The two powers with no leverage just volunteered to lead diplomacy.
📌 LOOK CLOSER: Qatar lost neutrality, Beijing’s channel is poisoned, Pakistan is out of road. Berlin and Paris step into the vacuum — but bring no back-channel Tehran trusts, no economic… pic.twitter.com/AjaMPEkG5L
— perceptiondaily (@perceptiondaily) July 17, 2026
Syraqistan
Relations With Taliban Will Remain Frozen, Says Pakistan Afghanistan Today
How Water Is Becoming Pakistan’s Nuclear Threshold The Diplomat
New Not-So-Cold War
Political Crisis in Kiev as Shrinking Zelensky Ousts Popular Defense Minister Simplicius (Chuck L)
Brief Frontline Report – July 17th, 2026 Marat Khairullin
Russia KNOCKED OUT Ukraine From Kostiantynivka History Legends, YouTube
Imperial Collapse Watch
The once and never America Julian Macfarlane (Micael T)
The U.S. Is Trampling Allies in the Global Hunt for Rare Earths Wall Street Journal
More than 30 states have reported cases of the gastrointestinal illness. Many more cases linked to lettuce are expected. https://t.co/6fwJZT34t6
— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) July 17, 2026
Trump 2.0
This alarms me and it should alarm every American, Republican, democrat or independent.
The fact that President Trump has recently chosen to rebrand Mamdani’s political party — Democratic Socialists — as a “communist“ and now this declaration to go after “radical left terrorism“… https://t.co/kzqvjh6LbK
— Daniel Davis Deep Dive (@DanielLDavis1) July 16, 2026
Firing of top prosecutor in Seattle tests limits of Trump’s power The Hill
Do declassified files support Trump’s election security claims? BBC (Kevin W)
‘Brazen corruption’: critics denounce Trump media plan to sell priority access to Truth Social posts Guardian (Kevin W)
Immigration
DHS Plans “All-Out War” on Immigration Scammers and Fraud ProPublica (Robin K). Fixed it for you: “DHS Plans ‘“All-Out War’ on Immigration”
Democrats Suck
Fetterman warns he would leave Democratic Party if it turns its back on Israel The Hill (Kevin W)
Our No Longer Free Press
The new National Security Act is already law. Now the government is expected to use it this week to proscribe the IRGC, creating powers that go beyond ordinary terrorism legislation.
￭ Journalists risk prosecution simply for receiving information from the «wrong» source, while… pic.twitter.com/tXhZS5SZtR
— VPol (@VocalPolitics1) July 16, 2026
More cowardice:
US blocks issuance of SSL security certificates for Iranian media outlet
——
The US has escalated its campaign against Iranian media by effectively blocking the issuance of SSL security certificates for the Fars News Agency website. This technical blockade prevents the outlet from… pic.twitter.com/AlLKkx1mVf— The Cradle (@TheCradleMedia) July 17, 2026
Our top AI firms are holding back innovation, not promoting it. If we had broken up Google and forced open sourcing we would have far fewer data centers and much better AI.
Basically Lina Khan is correct. https://t.co/Va7e3BtlSy
— Matt Stoller (@matthewstoller) July 17, 2026
Antitrust
Apple in Early Settlement Talks With DOJ Over Antitrust Case Bloomberg
Economy
Why US investors are preparing for Third World War The Times
How Government Bond Sales Work Steve Keen (Micael T)
Mr. Market Is in a Tizzy
US Stocks End Week Lower on Fears of Another ‘DeepSeek Moment’ Bloomberg
🔴Foreign investors are fleeing South Korean stocks faster than EVER:
Global investors have dumped nearly -$10 billion in Korean stocks so far in July.
This follows -$30 billion in outflows in June, the largest monthly outflow on record.Year-to-date, foreign outflows have… pic.twitter.com/VkJ9mpBGOC
— Global Markets Investor (@GlobalMktObserv) July 17, 2026
AI
I am the Chief AI Officer at a company you would recognize, and I want to be precise, almost violently precise, because precision is the last luxury good.
I worked out this year that I am being robbed. Not by a thief, by an invoice. The labs are levying a wealth tax, I am paying…
— Peter Girnus 🦅 (@gothburz) July 17, 2026
⬇️ Watch this movie. Odds are AI is going to turn into another EV type story. https://t.co/N30n0kjFtb
— Chamberlain’s Ghost (@RSA_Observer) July 17, 2026
Oracle’s credit rating drops to one level above junk | Ed Zitron YouTube. A big step closer to AI valuation reset.
Americans are angry about data centers. Politicians are feeling the pressure Reuters
Thousands of Google workers demand layoff protections amid AI boom in petition to CEO Guardian
Our top AI firms are holding back innovation, not promoting it. If we had broken up Google and forced open sourcing we would have far fewer data centers and much better AI.
Basically Lina Khan is correct. https://t.co/Va7e3BtlSy
— Matt Stoller (@matthewstoller) July 17, 2026
Class Warfare
My wife and I got into it last night about the grocery bill.
I pulled up an old Target order from February 2020.
28 items. $64.50.
Added every single one back to the cart just to see.
$158.30.
Same 28 items. Same store. Same cart.
$93.80 more.In five years.
We didn’t buy…— Jeremy (@jeremyct) July 16, 2026
Three new surveys show rising housing, healthcare and other everyday costs are forcing many workers to delay retirement savings or stop contributing altogether https://t.co/LiY1Vt1y5A
— Bloomberg (@business) July 17, 2026
Man snuck into Anthropic office to warn exec ‘was going to be killed’ as violent threats mount: report New York Post (Micael T)
What Was Sewer Socialism? JSTOR (Micael T)
Meta accused of using AI to target workers on medical leave in bloodbath layoffs: lawsuit New York Post (Micael T)
Antidote du jour. mgl: “Snowy & great egrets in tree at Oceanside, CA.”
And a bonus (Robin K):
The Pakistani Steve Irwin is bloody good! 👏 pic.twitter.com/eUzKaro6pU
— Matt Casey 🏴 🇬🇧 (@MattCas04807118) July 15, 2026
A second bonus (Robin K):
Spa day for baby monkey
[📹 monkeylover. club] pic.twitter.com/EOGpiaO929
— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) July 15, 2026
And a third:
Look at how this blind cat feels the sunlight coming through the window on its face. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/WCi7Ng67bQ
— The Figen (@TheFigen_) July 16, 2026
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
