2025-07-31

etc

• Tsunami warning issued for California coast after Russian earthquake

  • Tsunami alerts after powerful earthquake sparks warnings across Pacific

  • Tsunami watch upgraded to advisory after major earthquake near Russia

  • Central and South American authorities order evacuations; volcano in Russia starts erupting after earthquake off Russian coast

Horseshit

• The Search for the Next Perfect Peanut

• Share of people worldwide 'thriving' hits new high, survey says

• The Escobar Phone scam saga has come to an end

  In a plea agreement, United States attorneys detail how Olof Kyros Gustafsson and Escobar, Inc. took orders for the phones and other products branded with the likeness of the drug lord Pablo Escobar, seeded products with tech reviewers and social media influencers “in order to attempt to increase demand,” did not deliver the products to customers, and transferred and laundered customer money to “use the funds for their own personal use.”

• Visual training, including juggling, can be a secret weapon in elite sports

• The "Careless People" Who Make Up Elite Institutions

  Wynn-Williams is less of a hero than she paints herself to be. She directly oversaw many of Facebook’s misdeeds, and even after deciding that the company cannot be trusted, she couldn’t bring herself to leave. She is the epitome of a class of people making millions of dollars at America’s cushiest jobs—corporate lawyers, consultants, and tech workers—who often empower unspeakable harms across the globe.

  How does she decide to change the world? By attending a top New Zealand college, then a top law school, then working for one of Australia’s famed “Big Six” corporate law firms, then the United Nations. But her career path is less guided by a vision of the kind of change she wants to make than a desire to be the person making changes. She joined New Zealand’s foreign service because “it seemed like a way to change the world.” She then worked for the UN because she “genuinely believed it was the seat of global power.” After realizing the powers that be couldn’t care less about the UN, she turned her attention to Facebook. “Like an evangelist, I saw Facebook’s power confirmed in every part of everyday life… I decide[d] I will stop at nothing to be part of it.”

• The only thing worse than sweatshops is no sweatshops

  On one hand, yes, I think it’s good to divert attention away from endless, pointless social media race wars, and toward real material conditions for the global poor. Whether garment workers in Bangladesh or Tanzania or Vietnam can put food on the table is far more important than whether some attention-seeking TikTokers call Sydney Sweeney a Nazi. But at the same time, I think that while Derek is right about poor working conditions in many garment factories around the world, he completely ignored the benefits that those garment factories bring to poor countries — benefits that, in terms of human welfare, far exceed the slightly cheaper clothes that rich people get to enjoy.

• Flag football to make prime-time Olympic debut in Los Angeles

• Is Roman concrete more sustainable? It's complicated

  • Only when it includes the blood of slaves.

• Does Marriage Have a Future?

• Blink and You’ll Miss the NHRA’s New Fastest-Ever Run

  It beat Austin Prock’s previous record of 341.68 mph at Pomona Dragstrip, putting Force ahead by .17 mph.

Obit

• German Olympic star Laura Dahlmeier confirmed dead in Pakistan

Rank Propaganda / Thought Policing / World Disordering

• Online Hate Speech Resembles Mental Health Disorder Language

• MTA banned alcohol ads citing health concerns. Now it wants the money

• TikTok Asks Users to Help Police Misinformation

Musk

• SpaceX to assist Uzbekistan in developing national space program

• Elon Musk’s Boring Company to build Tesla tunnels under Nashville.

• Tesla founder is disappointed canceled $25K EV and made 'dumpster-looking' truck

• Tesla stops taking Model S/X orders in Europe

• Liberals are less willing to buy Teslas than other electric vehicles

Electric / Self Driving cars

• GM EVs Still Have Apple CarPlay–You Just Have to Live Outside the U.S. to Get It

• '70 MPH e-bikes' prompt one US state to change its laws

• Union-Backed Boston Ordinance Would Require Drivers in Driverless Waymos

Edumacationalizing / Acedemia Nuts

• Survey shows nearly one in four Gen Z workers regret college, with men most likely to question its value.

• Frontiers to retract 122 articles, links thousands in other publishers’ journals to “unethical” network.

  The publisher’s research integrity team has identified more than 4,000 articles linked to the network in journals owned by seven other companies, according to a company statement. The team said it is willing to share details and the methodology of their investigation with other publishers upon request. “As the investigation proceeded, it became clear that a broad and sophisticated network of about 35 authors were potentially colluding over a very large number of journals and published papers, a fraction of which were published by Frontiers,” according to the statement.

• Apple opens manufacturing academy in Detroit as U.S. ramps up pressure to invest

Info Rental / ShowBiz / Advertising

• The chaos and confusion of itch.io and Steam's abrupt adult game ban

• Agntcy project donated to Linux Foundation with major industry backing

• Windows 11's new Android integration lets you control PC, transfer files

• Power Outage at Newark Data Center Disrupts Linode, Took LWN Offline

• Acquisition sends Whistle pet trackers to IoT graveyard

• A Signal Update Fends Off a Phishing Technique Used in Russian Espionage

• Two Michigan Men Hated Comcast. So They Built Their Own Broadband Alternative

• Opera filed a complaint against Microsoft for tricking customers into using Edge

• Photoshop just made it easy to add objects into photos

• Amazon to Pay New York Times at Least $20M a Year in AI Deal

• Nvidia-backed startup invents Ethernet memory pool – up to 18TB of DDR5

• The case for memes as a new form of comics

• YouTube will identify and restrict minors' accounts with AI

• Microsoft Has a Surface Laptop 'Smurface Edition' for Smurfs Fans

• Spotify Is Forcing Users to Undergo Face Scanning to Access Explicit Content

• Sketchers lets parents hide an AirTag in kids shoes

TechSuck / Geek Bait

• Two Birds with One Tone: I/Q Signals and Fourier Transform

AI Will (Save | Destroy) The World

• Seriously, Why Do Some AI Chatbot Subscriptions Cost More Than $200?

• Meta brought AI to rural Colombia. Now students are failing exams

• Cheyenne AI data center to use more electricity than all Wyoming homes combined

• Meta's Vision for Superintelligence

  • Zuckerberg: 'superintelligence is now in sight'. Meta spends billions on AI

  • Zuckerberg signals Meta won't open source all its 'superintelligence' AI models

• AI Trading Bots Learn to Collude Without Human Input

• The Bots Will Work Together

• Anthropic in talks to raise fresh capital at $170B valuation

• Google says it will sign EU's AI code of practice

• AI will bring back old boys' clubs

• Reuters used Gemini Pro to collect and analyze prison temperature data

• Google DeepMind, "new AI can map the entire planet with unprecedented accuracy"

• Voice actors push back as AI threatens dubbing industry

Space / Boomy Zoomers / UFO

• Australia's attempt to join the space race lasts just 14 seconds

  • Australian-made rocket crashes after attempted north Queensland launch

  • Australia's first orbital-class rocket stalled seconds after liftoff

• India safely launches a $1.5B satellite for NASA

Crypto con games

• New SEC rule lets investors redeem Bitcoin, Ethereum directly from ETFs

• The road map to making America a crypto superpower

• At 10 years old, Ethereum's future is brighter than ever despite recent setbacks

Economicon / Business / Finance

• JPMorgan spooks fintechs with plans to charge for access to customer data

• A fresh retail-trading frenzy is reshaping financial markets

• Palo Alto Networks to buy CyberArk for $25B

• In Brooklyn, a Palatial House on the Market for $25M

• The Gen Xers Who Waited Their Turn to Be CEO Are Getting Passed Over

• Federal Reserve issues FOMC statement

  Although swings in net exports continue to affect the data, recent indicators suggest that growth of economic activity moderated in the first half of the year. The unemployment rate remains low, and labor market conditions remain solid. Inflation remains somewhat elevated. The Committee seeks to achieve maximum employment and inflation at the rate of 2 percent over the longer run. Uncertainty about the economic outlook remains elevated. The Committee is attentive to the risks to both sides of its dual mandate. In support of its goals, the Committee decided to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 4-1/4 to 4-1/2 percent.

  • 'Most Divided' Fed In 32 Years Refuses To Cut Rates (Again) | ZeroHedge

  • Fed Holds Rates Steady, but Two Officials Back a Cut

• Robinhood Just Reported a Blowout Quarter

• Ford Takes $800M Tariff Hit, Posts First Loss Since 2023

• Meta beats Q2 expectations, stock jumps on better-than-anticipated Q3 outlook

  • Meta shares jump on strong results as Zuckerberg sets out SI goals

• Figma Announces IPO

Gubmint / Poilitcks / Law Making

• Vinay Prasad Out as FDA CBER Head

• Trump appointees head for the exits at multiple agencies

• Supreme Court Urged to Halt Mississippi's Online Digital ID Law

• U.S. intelligence intervened with DOJ to push HPE-Juniper merger

• The fringe movement punishing officials with fake debt claims

  • Imagine the problems of real people caught up in such scams.

• Study Reveals Real Reason Behind Surge in Homelessness.

  we estimate that asylum seekers accounted for about 60 percent of the two year rise in sheltered homelessness during this period

• NTSB finds Army chopper in fatal midair crash was above altitude limit

• Social Media Posts by DHS Have a Copyright Problem

Trump

• Patel found thousands of sensitive Trump–Russia probe docs inside ‘burn bags’ in secret room at FBI

• Trump announces 25% tariff on India plus 'penalty' for trade with Russia

• Trump ends de minimis exemption for global low-cost goods

Democrats

• How the Monoculture Made Zohran Mamdani - by Ted Balaker

• Mamdani and the New Phase of Wokeness - First Things

  The chilly reception Mamdani has received from many institutions makes it clear that we are no longer in the Summer of Love. Several years ago, the mainstream media were declaring Black Lives Matter riots “mostly peaceful,” running “defenses of looting” and appeals to “defund the police,” and firing those who got on the wrong side of the cultural left. This summer, the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, and Washington Post all expressed grave concern about Mamdani. In contrast to 2020, when leaders of the Democratic party fell all over themselves to embrace the symbols of the Great Awokening and run cover for the disorder BLM brought in its train, the response of Democratic leadership to Mamdani has been decidedly tepid. Their caginess is illustrated by the unwillingness of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries to endorse his party’s primary victor.

• Kamala Harris will not run for California governor in 2026

Left Angst

• An LV Festival Promised Ways to Cheat Death. Two Left Fighting for Their Lives

  Authorities are investigating why two women fell ill at the Revolution Against Aging and Death Festival. They both received peptide injections, an alternative therapy promoted by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as a way to fight aging and chronic disease.

• Trump admin pushes to reverse scientific ruling behind climate regulations

  • Buckle Up, America: EPA Axes Obama-Era Climate Rule, Paving Way For Cheaper Cars

  The 2009 Endangerment Finding has been the legal bedrock for a cascade of costly greenhouse gas emission regulations, including the controversial Biden-Harris Administration’s electric vehicle (EV) mandate. Critics have long argued these regulations burdened auto manufacturers and consumers with immense costs and limited choices.

  • EPA plans to stop regulating greenhouse gases

• Tech bros and trad wives are fuelling America's pronatalist movement

• The FBI's Leaders 'Have No Idea What They're Doing'

• Doge Pilled: Why Luke Farritor Followed Elon Musk to Washington

• Trump gets tariffs; Americans get price hikes

• US placed on rights watchlist over health of its civil society under Trump

• Microsoft admits it would have to let Trump spy on EU data if demanded

• Trump Administration Releases New Plans to Enforce Birthright Citizenship Order

• Trump administration launching new private health tracking system

  • recall the "healthcare.gov" debacles and coverage?

• No One Is Defying Trump Like Brazil's President

Law Breaking / Police / Internal Security

• St. Paul, Minnesota Hobbled by Cyberattack, Prompting National Guard Response

  • Minnesota activates National Guard after St. Paul cyberattack

  • Gov Walz Activates Minnesota National Guard Following Saint Paul Cyberattack

  • St. Paul, MN was hacked so badly that the National Guard has been deployed

• Blackstone exec among those killed in Manhattan shooting

• Virginia Politician Doused In Gasoline Then Set On Fire

  Danville City Councilman Lee Vogler, 38, was set on fire Wednesday in what police say was a targeted personal attack at his place of work, Showcase Magazine. According to a press release from the Danville Police Department, officers responded around 11:30 a.m. to the Main Street office after a man, later identified as Vogler, was doused with a flammable liquid and ignited outside his workplace. He was airlifted to a regional hospital, and the extent of his injuries is unknown. The suspect, Shotsie Michael Buck Hayes, 29, of Danville, fled the scene but was arrested without incident nearby. Police said the assault stemmed from a personal matter and was not politically motivated. Charges are pending.

  According to a video posted by the publication on Facebook, the suspect entered the building and doused Vogler with a five-gallon bucket of gasoline before chasing him to the front of the office and igniting the fuel. Andrew Brooks, the publisher and owner of the magazine, said in the Facebook video that Vogler is conscious and able to communicate. Brooks said he was being treated at the burn center in Lynchburg, Virginia.

External Security / Militaria / Diplomania

• U.S. Imposes Sanctions on Brazilian Judge Overseeing Bolsonaro Coup Case

• US Navy won't torpedo hurricane forecast satellite feed after all

World

• Ofcom Pressured Rumble and Reddit to Enforce UK Laws Beyond Borders

• OfCom gives Kiwifarms an ultimatum to block its UK users

• YouTube to be included in Australia's teen social media ban

  • YouTube to be included in Australia's social media ban for children under 16

  • Australia widens teen social media ban to YouTube, scraps exemption

• Mexico's Molar City Could Transform My Smile. Did I Want It To?

• Meta faces Italian competition investigation over WhatsApp AI chatbot

• UK flights hit by air traffic control 'technical issue'

• No traffic deaths in Helsinki for a year

• India overtakes China as biggest smartphone exporter to the United States

• Radar problem caused mayhem in UK skies on Wednesday

• I've stopped life-saving medication says man exhausted by fight for NHS care

Israel

• Oscar-Winning 'No Other Land' Awdah Hathaleen Killed by Israeli Settler

• Israeli rights groups break taboo with accusations of genocide

• New York Times rolls back claims about viral photo of starving Gaza boy

  • NYT Commits Blood Libel and Gets Caught.

• European Commission proposes suspending Israel from Horizon research programme

• Datacenter lobby blows a fuse over EU efficiency proposals

• Entire Arab League condemns Oct 7, urges Hamas to disarm, at 2-state confab

• 60k Gazans have been killed. 18,500 were children. These are their names

Russia Bad / Ukraine War

• Questions Swirl Around Status of Russian Nuclear Submarine Base After Earthquake

China

• China Prepares to Unseat US in Fight for $4.8T AI Market

• China struggles to break its addiction to manufacturing

• 'Pervasive sense of fear': China steps up exit bans as US tensions flare

Health / Medicine

• Cannabis use disorder linked to increase in oral cancer risk over five years

• Sleep all comes down to the mitochondria

• One diet soda a day increases type 2 diabetes risk by 38%

• New technology promises to accelerate healing and manage pain in dentistry

• New Technique Could Increase Infant Heart Transplant by 20%

• Raw milk outbreak from 2023 reported

  According to the final data, of the 171 people, 120 (70 percent) were children and teens, including 67 (39 percent) who were under the age of 5. At least 22 people were hospitalized, nearly all of them (82 percent) were children and teens. Fortunately, there were no deaths. "I was just candidly shocked that there was an outbreak of 170 plus people because it had not been reported—at all," Bill Marler, a personal injury lawyer specializing in food poisoning outbreaks, told Ars Technica in an interview. With the large number of cases, the high percentage of kids, and cases in multiple states, "it's shocking that they never publicized it," he said. "I mean, what's the point?" Ars Technica reached out to CDPH seeking answers about why there wasn't more messaging and information about the outbreak during and soon after the investigation. At the time this story was published, several business days had passed and the department had told Ars in a follow-up email that it was still working on a response.

  • Seems especially odd given the widespread media efforts at the time to link "raw milk" with Trumpism. I'd expect the media to have a festival of "Trump killed kids with raw milk!" stories there just before the election.

• One-and-done HIV protection in infants

• High Noon Recalls Vodka Seltzers Mislabeled as Celsius

Pox / COVID / BioTerror AgitProp

• 14.8 million life-years added by Covid vaccinations

• Canada's Measles Cases Surpass US, Alberta Officials Push for State of Emergency

Environment / Climate / Green Propaganda

• Proximity to an urban center has benefits for critically endangered monkeys

• Finland's Short, Precious Summers Are Plagued by Goose Poop

• Less rain, more wheat: How Australian farmers defied climate doom

• Why plane turbulence is becoming more frequent – and more severe

• 'Climate Delusion' or Vital Solution? Carbon Capture's Uphill Battle

• Climate change could force FIFA to rethink the World Cup calendar

• Thousands Apply to Relocate as Island of Tuvalu Races Against Rising Seas

• Troubling scenes from an Arctic in full-tilt crisis

• Radioactive wasp nest found at site where US once made nuclear bombs

  • Radioactive wasp nest found at site where US once made nuclear bombs

  • what's worse than killer bees, or murder hornets? Plutonium wasps!

• Japan Records Highest Temperature