As Bright as a Feather Public Domain Review
The Gut-Brain Axis Takes Center Stage Ground Truths
Onion Domes of the Anthracite Belt Magazine
Climate/Environment
A Canadian company is first in line as Trump vows to fast-track deep-sea mining The Narwhal
Pandemics
I hate them all, Worst case pandemic scenarios, Criminalizing masks is wrong, and more The Covid-Is-Not-Over Newsletter
New Research: Childhood Vaccination Rates Drop Across 1,600 U.S. Counties The 74
China?
Chinese factories rush to reduce reliance on Donald Trump’s US FT
Chartbook 393: Whither China? – World Economy Now, June 2025 Edition Adam Tooze
You were told battery swapping failed. China proved everyone wrong. The Battery Chronicle
US urges Asian allies to spend 5% of GDP on defense NHK
India
India says it will ‘never’ restore Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan Al Jazeera
Africa
Old Blighty
Syraqistan
Israeli attacks on Gaza kill dozens near aid centers and shelters Al Mayadeen
‘The Hunger Games’: Inside Israel’s aid death traps for starving Gazans +972 Magazine
***
Shayrat Redux? Trump’s ‘Invisible’ Fleet Leaves Mirage of ‘Devastation’ in Iran Simplicius
Now that imagery has emerged, I think my take from last night is vindicated – the damage seen thus far is not consistent with extremely large “bunker-buster” bombs but with lighter standoff weapons that caused only surface damage.
The Iranians also clearly had ample warning.⬇️… pic.twitter.com/wknYTVYIi6
— Armchair Warlord (@ArmchairW) June 22, 2025
Israel vs Iran: GBU-57A/B MOP Bunker Buster or Bunker Busted Black Mountain Analysis
At Trump’s request, Israel cleared way for U.S. bombers in Iran Axios
Exclusive: Iran given advance notice as US insisted attack on nuclear sites is ‘one-off’ Amwaj
***
Vance says U.S. ‘not at war with Iran, we’re at war with Iran’s nuclear program’ NBC News
US Willing To Negotiate On Iran Nuclear Energy: Rubio AFP. These guys really are something.
Netanyahu: “We won’t get dragged into a war of attrition with Iran. When we achieve our objectives, the fighting will stop”
— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) June 22, 2025
No Letup in Attacks on Israel: IRGC Chief Tasnim
Iran debuts multi-warhead Kheibar Shekan 3 in latest strikes on Israel The Cradle. Lots of images of the damage.
IAF bombs Evin Prison as Iranian missile barrage damages ‘strategic infrastructure’ in southern Israel Jewish Insider
According to IRIB:
An Israeli mini drone attacked an ambulance on duty in Najafabad, Isfahan. pic.twitter.com/l6EtvWLfoA
— Clash Report (@clashreport) June 22, 2025
🇮🇷 NEW: Israeli strikes on Iran have killed at least 950 people and wounded 3,450 others, according to the Washington-based group Human Rights Activists.
Of those killed, the group identified 380 civilians and 253 security force personnel. Iran has not provided regular… pic.twitter.com/jVsamL3KzS
— Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) June 23, 2025
Yemen says it will officially enter war with the US, Israel Mehr
Trump’s reckless adventurism against Iran turns US bases in West Asia into sitting targets Press TV
US base in Syria comes under attack Mehr
‘Surprises will come’: Leader’s advisor says Iran’s nuclear program far from over Press TV
Oh look! A ‘think tank’ manufacturing consent to bomb Iran with tactical nukes Vanessa Beeley
***
China and Russia Reaffirm Support for Iran as Iran Weighs Response Options Larry Johnson
US urges China to dissuade Iran from closing Strait of Hormuz Channel News Asia
Israeli Attack on Iran Affects China’s Oil Supply Asia Sentinel
Iran denies oilfields in border region targeted in Israeli aggression Press TV
FM Araghchi lands in Moscow for high-level talks Al Mayadeen
Trump official to The Grayzone: CIA’s Ratcliffe acts as ‘Mossad stenographer’ on Iran The Grayzone
Iran Executes Mossad Spy Tasnim
Syria says IS behind church attack, at least 20 dead New Arab
False Flag Watch
What are sleeper cells and why are the FBI on alert for them after Trump’s strikes on Iran? The Independent
Iran used drug traffickers to stoke trouble in France, says minister Reuters. Evidence-free, of course.
America so deindustrialized we don’t even manufacture our own consent
— ABNDESIGNS (@abndesigns) June 22, 2025
European Disunion
Spain strikes deal with NATO to be exempt from 5 percent defence spending target France24
The Graves on the Hillsides Still Speak: What Kaja Kallas Gets Wrong About Irish History Brian McDonald
Finance and the Far Right Post-Neoliberalism
New Not-So-Cold War
Russia launches missile attack on Ukrainian military training ground: several killed and injured Ukrainska Pravda
A confidential brief urges the ICC to investigate Wagner’s promotion of atrocities in West Africa AP
Belarus opposition leader Tikhanovsky freed after US-brokered pardon Intellinews
Trump 2.0
Scoop: Trump launches MAGA PAC in effort to oust Rep. Massie from Congress Axios
MAGA influencer pivot
– Trump was not involved with Israel bombing Iran!
– He was involved, but that’s good!
– He’s pursuing diplomacy and peace!
– The diplomacy was fake, but that’s good!
– He’s bombing Iran, but no Regime Change!
– He’s doing Regime Change, but that’s good! pic.twitter.com/hAxwpHtL00— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) June 22, 2025
Both parties prep for mega-bill marathon in U.S. Senate vote-a-rama Ohio Capital Journal
Senate parliamentarian greenlights state AI law freeze in GOP megabill Politico
Immigration
Exclusive: Leaked ICE Data Ken Klippenstein
Imperial Collapse Watch
Western democracies are actually pretty good at war Noah Smith, Asia Times
Michael Brenner: Over the Brink Consortium News
Is Iran War discourse as stupid as Iraq War discourse? Read Max
The Key Nuclear Allegation that started the Iran-Israeli War was Coaxed from a Palantir Counter-Intelligence Algorithm Alastair Crooke. From a few days ago but not to be missed.
AI
Green Berets are now using Clearview AI’s facial recognition All-Source Intelligence
Reddit in talks to embrace Sam Altman’s iris-scanning Orb to verify users Semafor
US patent office wants an AI to scan for prior art, but doesn’t want to pay for it The Register
A moral crusade against AI takes shape Blood in the Machine
Healthcare?
How artificial intelligence controls your health insurance coverage The Conversation
Police State Watch
Judge orders Abrego Garcia’s release, but government expected to detain him The Hill
Mahmoud Khalil renews devotion to Palestinian freedom at New York rally The Guardian
Mr. Market Shrugs
Oil Rises 3% After U.S. Bombs Iranian Nuclear Sites Oil Price
Ordinary Investors Are Souring on Big Tech WSJ
Chinese Stocks and American Exchanges Head for a Breakup WSJ
The Bezzle
Tesla set to unveil self-driving car service in Austin The Guardian
Vietnam’s legalisation of crypto assets sparks hopes but tough draft rules trigger industry backlash Business Times
Class Warfare
‘Housing Unaffordability Is the Primary Cause of Homelessness’ FAIR
Waiting Game Corey Robin, New Left Review
A Wild Calling Earth Island Journal
Antidote du jour (via):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
Askin’ Folks I Meet In Public
(melody borrowed from Battle Hymn Of The Republic written during the American Civil War by Julia Ward Howe, here performed by the incomparable Odetta)
Mine ears have heard these stories from the mighty MAGA horde
They are heaping filthy language on the man they once adored
Donald used to be their Captain, now they’ve thrown him overboard
They can’t keep keepin’ on!
‘I got snookered, what’s it to ya?’
‘Trump was always gonna screw ya!’
‘He’s just in it for the moolah!’
‘And now he bombs Iran!’
‘Trump is stashing lotsa money in the biggest Wall Street banks’
‘Sending orders ‘cross the country to buy missiles, bombs, and tanks’
‘He still says it’s for the workers waiting hungry in the ranks’
‘It all sounds like a con!’
‘I got snookered, what’s it to ya?’
‘Trump was always gonna screw ya!’
‘He’s just in it for the moolah!’
‘And now he bombs Iran!’
‘Trump is schmoozing with his owners in his Oval Office suite’
‘With his mouth and tiny fingers on the Deep State’s swollen teat’
‘While I’m workin’ two jobs just to buy my kids a slice of meat’
‘Impeachment? Bring it on!’
‘I got snookered, what’s it to ya?’
‘Trump was always gonna screw ya!’
‘He’s just in it for the moolah!’
‘And now he bombs Iran!’
‘Trump ignores the daily grind that is our grim reality’
‘He has got us in a new war ’bout the river to the sea’
‘Then he wants a war with China that will start up World War Three’
‘Who cares about Taiwan?’
‘I got snookered, what’s it to ya?’
‘Trump was always gonna screw ya!’
‘He’s just in it for the moolah!’
‘And now he bombs Iran!’
‘Trump thinks China pays the tariffs that get laid on you and me’
‘I can’t buy a freakin’ omelette ’cause my medicine ain’t free’
‘He belongs inside a prison, they can throw away the key’
‘And now he bombs Iran!’
‘I got snookered, what’s it to ya?’
‘Trump was always gonna screw ya!’
Mine ears have heard these stories from the mighty MAGA horde
They are heaping filthy language on the man they once adored
Donald used to be their Captain, now they’ve thrown him overboard
They can’t keep keepin’ on!
‘Barak Ravid
@BarakRavid
Netanyahu: “We won’t get dragged into a war of attrition with Iran. When we achieve our objectives, the fighting will stop”‘
Newsflash, Bibi. You’re already in a war of attrition. You’re running out of missiles and your cities are being slowly razed. But since your objective is regime change in Iran and for the whole country to be broken up, it does not sound like you want to quit anytime soon. I guess you have to keep this war going as else you have that prison cell awaiting you. Guess normalizing the sodomy of prisoners was not such a good idea after all, sweet cheeks.
Oh, the political agenda is frightful
But the Trump ire is so inciteful
And since we’ve no place to go
Let it snowball! Let it snowball! Let it snowball!
Man, it doesn’t show signs of stopping
And I brought me some corn for popping
Peace expectations are turned way down low
Let it snowball! Let it snowball! Let it snowball!
When we finally kiss Hormuz goodbye
How I hate going around the horn
But if you’ll really put up a fight
All the way home it’ll be the new norm
And the 2nd Trump term is slowly dying
And, my dear, he’s still lying
But as long as you love Israel so
Let it snowball! Let it snowball! Let it snowball!
How I hate going around the horn
(But if oil gets real tight)
Well, all the way home it’ll be the new norm
And the 2nd Trump term is slowly dying
And, my dear, he’s still lying
But as long as you love Israel so
Let it snowball! Let it snowball! Let it snowball!
RE homelessness.
Everyone knows that more housing is needed, but can we please think of the housing values? What will happen to the prices of homes if we build more and artifical scarcity disappears? Can someone think of the investors?
No seriously if every community built out like Austin TX has, there would be no need to discuss housing costs. If you build housing, the artifical scarcity disappears.
On the other hand, Austin built-out over the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone. This means that the aquifer is not recharging as fast while at the same time all that development is draining the water faster and faster. Housing capacity should not shoot past carrying capacity, which Austin has done. Of course by the time the Aquifer is empty and the river is dry, the developers will be long gone with the money.
. . . if every community built out like Austin TX has . . ..”
Maybe I’m missing your point. The house in Austin I bought in 1975–a modest three-bedroom affair–and sold for $130,000 in ’80, is nowvassessed at $1.5M. I could not afford annual taxes on the place, not to mention mortgage, insurance, and utilities. Austin is become a neoliberal (housing) nightmare.
I’m not sure I agree with your proposition that more housing is needed.
We’ve been on a tremendous building tear for a while now. Based on the analysis of people like Wolf Richter over on Wolfstreet, we have far more housing now than we need compared to demand. What we don’t have now, and haven’t had since before the original 2000s housing bubble is Affordable Housing. Also, housing in places where people want to live.
For example, several cities in Ohio are maintaining vacant housing registries (example). Cities like Cleveland are enacting measures to tax vacant properties at higher rates too, as a way to manage the AirBNB and speculator issues (example).
But no matter how you advertise it, few people are itching to move to The North Coast of Cleveland. Or Ohio in general. Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, also aren’t seeing influxes of people to the regions where they have cheap housing and vacancies. But we’ve got a lot of housing we could move currently unhoused people into in those states if we wanted to arrange legislation to support it. Even then, I’m not sure people on either end of that deal would accept it. The receiving states don’t want a number of homeless people moving in. The homeless people probably don’t want to be frog marched to the Midwest.
Austin’s situation was, and remains, completely different. They had no where near enough housing to support the demand from people moving in to the area. That area was also relatively low cost for most of the people moving to region.
People need money and a job to move. Most people like to live around their families and friends. None of this neoliberal model works, except for the rentier class.
I don’t know about a job being the impetus either here. People are leaving Michigan, NY state, Ohio, etc. even though there are jobs and the cost of living is low. They would just much rather be other places.
I agree that none of this works without regulation. Or Jubilees. Something to occasionally reset the game. It doesn’t surprise me that the same people who can’t think of negative outcomes for repeatedly invading middle eastern countries also don’t have an answer for what happens if we make so that everyone but the very rich can’t afford to live.
“US urges China to dissuade Iran from closing Strait of Hormuz”
The gall of these people. They tried to wreck China recently and now they are asking China for a solid? Seriously? Maybe the Chinese should talk to the Iranians and then come back to Rubio-
China: ‘Hey Rubio. We have some good news for you and some bad news for you.’
Rubio: ‘Well? Well? What did they say?’
China: ‘Good news is that they will keep the Strait of Hormuz open.’
Rubio: ‘That’s great news that. But what’s the bad news?’
China: ‘Yeah, that only applies to oil tankers heading to China. Anything else is toast.’
It’s comical. It’s hard to believe it’s even real.
It was Trump who suggested that Iran ought not retaliate for the nuclear site bombings. And when it came to his “Liberation Day” tariffs he warned other nations not to impose retaliatory tariffs of their own. This is gangster speak. Trump is a gangster who leads a gangster government. Where is Joe Pesci when we need him?
Since some things like, oh directly involving US armed forces and this weekend developments in foreign entanglements on various fronts now, yet again, this all has a feel of circa 2002 and the global war on terror redoubt. Anyone feeling like a good old reminder from the “OG” Secretary at DHS….Tom Ridge and his Code Orange or Whichever color shade was being used for high alert instances ? And to add…Somewhere in a bunker likely based in Wyoming, I can reliably guess that perhaps now, Dick Cheney approves of this Trump administration.
I can admit that I don’t necessarily miss those days much. Here I’d thought we might get peace of some sort and flavor, alas so it goes. Make War Great Again ? \sarc
Dispatches from the War On Cash®
It has been a month since war was locally declared on greenbacks, almighty bucks, dead presidents, long green, Benjamins, semollians, fins and double sawbucks @ Sequoia National Park, with skirmishes from the other side including somebody who attempted to pay their $35 entrance fee in Lincoln Cents and was detained on his own recognizance just outside the park entrance.
Credit cards are good for possibly getting into a locked motel room, but make for awful ad hoc mortar shells compared to a Kennedy half $, is the opposition thinking.
>Visitors will need to use mobile payments, credit cards, or debit cards to pay entrance fees.
Gotta keep those swipe fees and 3% +/- credit card fees rolling in…
Blazing Saddles….when the marauders and loyal adherents to Hedley Lamar encounter the latest tollway booth…”we’re gonna need a sh*tload of dimes! What will that A*hole think of next…”
Firsthand knowledge, though, that cash is the undisputed king when electronic systems go dark however and power goes out for several days. So I’ll keep clinging to my habits and visit locations that advise you upfront accordingly, “dear customer, should you choose to pay this establishment via your preferred card of choice, that activity incurs a fee for me so it then turns into a fee for thee…”. It’s really a card and merchant fee duopoly and yes it’s “Everywhere you want to be…”
Exactly…when it was explained to me by a vendor I switched to cash
Well, if enough staffers were fired at both Parks to where there are not even enough people to take cash anymore, then cashless is all that is left.
“Western democracies are actually pretty good at war”
It’s an admittedly guilty pleasure, but watching Noah Smith embarrass himself with his rambling, ahistorical, category error ridden justifications of the status quo never gets old.
They sure are better at war than at democracy.
And diplomacy …
You wonder how can he be so bad at facts. Oh, that’s right. He graduated from Stanford and is into economics-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noah_Smith_(writer)
Smith is a very rare individual.
It has been asserted that some economists have “physics envy” of the deterministic nature of physics compared to economics.
Smith got a physics undergrad degree THEN he went the economics route.
Perhaps he is a rare case of a physicist with “economics envy”.
Seen one dismal scientologist, seen ’em all.
Shilling for the status quo pays better than any Physics gig.
Strangely, he decided to keep his current position and blog rather than be Paul Krugman’s replacement at the NYT. Allegedly, “he works better without an editor.” Which explains both a lot about Mr. Smith and what he publishes on his blog.
Ask Sabine Hofenssedler about that…
A lot, even most, of academic economists began as physics undergrads. Most econ undergrads don’t have the necessary background. (Speaking from firsthand experience–I went to grad school in 1990s.)
This might be a case of a term meaning different things in different disciplines so apologies in advance if I’ve misunderstood. Neither “mainstream” (for want of a better term) Economics nor Physics is deterministic: both are probabilistic, it’s just that physics uses much stricter conventions (6 sigma etc).
The trouble arises because although economists use probabilistic models in empirical work, the “errors” are not from individuals being inconsistent but we get into the weeds of philosophy regarding them sticking to stupid stuff like perfect information whilst errors in regressions are attributable to unobservable other factors. Thus economists painted themselves into a corner which dictated deterministic things like if A>B, B>C, then A>C. Always. Transitivity. At individual level. It’s part of how they constructed the (stupid) concept of homo economicus.
Fields who “put their money where their mouth was” like offshoots of math psych (choice modelling, academic marketing, parts of healthcare) intrinsically rejected determinism in favour of probabilistic nature of human decision-making. Violations of transitivity are no longer a huge headache because we have well-tested theories with plenty of empirical examples showing people are probabilistic in many types of choice: A>B, B>C but sometimes C>A – no biggie. Rock, paper, scissors does in fact happen in the real world!
The level of bloviation in the article, it hurts.
The guy is so high, an entire district of opium dens would think they have nothing against the inside of Noah’s head…
Noah Smith can be pretty bad but he is coming off a low base. James Howard Kunstler has no such excuse and he has really dropped down the rabbit hole-
https://www.kunstler.com/p/boom
For those not familiar with the region, India’s refusal to keep to the Indus River treaty means no less than the death of Pakistan as a nation. We can hope that this refusal is intended to force a complete renegotiation of that Treaty, but then ANY reduction of water flowing into Pakistan from India means Pakistan goes without crops. They cannot go without food and survive as a nation state.
Pakistan has no ‘no first use’ policy for its 180 atom bombs. If India starts building dams to restrict water, Pakistan can remove them. This region is by far the most likely place to see nuclear war in the future.
“The Graves on the Hillsides Still Speak: What Kaja Kallas Gets Wrong About Irish History”
‘Addressing a debate on NATO and security, she turned her gaze west and declared that while her native Estonia had endured “atrocities, mass deportations, and cultural suppression” behind the Iron Curtain, Ireland had simply “built up its prosperity.” The implication was plain: the Irish don’t understand what real suffering looks like.’
And with that my jaw literally dropped. Kaja Kallas isn’t wrong about Irish history. She is profoundly ignorant about it. She is just a child – a 48 year-old child. Bad news for the EU is that they have already realized that she is incompetent in her job as the EU’s chief diplomat but they are stuck with her for years to come creating all sorts of messes in her job. Can you see her meeting Putin face to face? She better not put in an appearance in Ireland any time soon as her reception will be frostier than Estonia in wintertime.
Perhaps stop with Kaja Kallas is profoundly ignorant, which seems to be a badge of office these days.
You mean like with Ursula von der Leyen as well who continuously failed her way up?
I think it is an even deeper learned ignorance which requires a highly special kind of mind cloned from many other commonplace minds which enables her, without conscious thought, to create the realities that enable her to behave and think precisely like the most mediocre, and therefore most agreeable, member of any group that will allow her to reach the next foothold on the escalatory ladder of acceptable misperception that fonda Lying and Der Stärmer have managed to achieve without even trying purely on the merits of their own personalities and their natural ability to emote the banal lie with gripping vapidity.
Reminds me of Zelensky saying that Berlusconi does not know what it’s like to be under bombing.
She has now moved on to antagonizing her Chinese counterparts ahead of the EU-China leaders’ summit next month celebrating the 50th anniversary of EU-China diplomatic ties.
EU foreign policy chief calls for ‘dose of realism’ in China relations
Kallas is so egregious that her pronouncements don’t even rise to the status of error … 🤦♂️
The article on ostrich feathers was a fine distraction and much appreciated. Then the picture! More appreciation….
And the ostrich Easter egg in the “Waiting Fame” by Corey Robin!
” […] Max Weber plaintively wonders how long the iron cage of capitalism will hold. The only hope of release lies in the finitude of fossil fuels: capitalism will dominate its denizens ‘until the last ton of fossilized coal is burnt’. This, according to Sombart, was a line Weber liked to repeat in private conversation. Sombart was unimpressed. Not only was there hydraulic and tidal power; THERE WAS ALSO SOLAR POWER, WHICH HAD BEEN USED, AS EARLY AS 1902, ON AN OSTRICH FARM NEAR LOS ANGELES. […]” (my emphasis)
So not only did Ostrich feathers drive innovations in husbandry and dyeing but the new ostrich farmers were the first adopters of solar power!
Today NC was brought to you by Big Ostrich. Remember kids, the Right Way is the Ratite Way!
I havent seen this talked about. China held a massive African trade agreement and also one for Central Asia.
Here is a discussion about it.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KU6zfyoSlLo&pp=0gcJCfwAo7VqN5tD
To acknowledge it would represent admission against interest, eh?
… their children, each one an opposition leader.
In Belarus, everyone gets to be an opposition leader.
“Oh look! A ‘think tank’ manufacturing consent to bomb Iran with tactical nukes”
Saw an example of this on the TV news earlier today. I was passing by the TV when this presenter brought on some muppet from a local think tank. The guy proceeded to say that Iran was near a nuclear threshold so something had to be done. But of course the TV presenter never asked him how is it that the IAEA found zip as did all the US intel agencies. However that was not her job. Her job was to deliberately misinform and manufacture consent. WMD 2.0.
As we all know, the key to making an algo work is understanding how to set up queries. (And managing data sets.)
Wonder how many runs were required to get Palantir’s desired outcome.
It was probably more efficient to just put in a patch modifying the outputs. It’s not like anyone can audit the codebase. Call it a ‘security update’.
Re Tracy tweet:
MAGA will snap back to full warmongering and cheering for all of United States’ foreign adventures, because their opposition to war is not based on moral principles.
Their enduring moral principle is, while being force-fed excrement, and to ask for more.
Their enduring moral principle is to worship the solid gold toilet their God-Emperor “goes to the bathroom” on.
Apparently MAGA has morphed into doing pretty much what neoliberals/neocons have been doing for over the last forty years.
Except faster.
It’s not just Trump’s MAGA base. The majority of American people support wars or at the very least tolerate them. Since at least kindergarten Americans have been thoroughly indoctrinated and conditioned to accept war as a normal state of affairs.
No Making Shit Up. Over 60% are opposed to a war with Iran and only 16% support it.
Most Americans oppose how the super rich pay low effective taxes as they engineer the gutting of Social Security and Medicare and other social safety nets. Think most Americans have any influence there either? The US is a plutocracy and what the masses think does not matter.
thank you –
Seconded … seems some never got their Citi investor plutocracy memo back in the day …
And none of them got their “Wobbly Merit Badge” back in Scouts either.
We “poor folk” have been living in “interesting times” for a few decades now. It’s long past the time to “share the wealth” of hardship with our “betters.”
Stay safe in the Antipodes.
“You were told battery swapping failed. China proved everyone wrong.”
I saw and linked to a video showing this about a year or two ago. Pretty neat how they do it. However. Anybody else get the impression that the Chinese are living in the future – and we are going backwards?
As a card carrying member of the Pyrite Billion, I must admit to being fooled by capable countries.
I very much like the locution, “the Pyrite Billion” …
When electric vehicles were starting to be talked about, I wondered why there wouldn’t be battery swapping stations — once a few standard battery form factors were agreed to by the industry (just like we have standard smaller batteries, and various standardized plugs), you’d pull into a swap station and people (or a machine) would swap out your discharged battery for a fully charged one, and you’d be on your way in a couple of minutes. We do this (in the US at least) with propane tanks, and it seems like the swap would get people over the ‘oh I have to stop to charge for 30 minutes that I don’t have’ fear.
But, we love ownership, rental not so much. If we open the US auto market to the Chinese makers, it will have the delightful effect of immediately vaporizing Tesla’s market value, but unfortunately, also that of all the US makers (except for the ones who go into partnership early on).
With CATL creating batteries that need only a five minute charge, the economics if swapping versus charging are going to be finely balanced.
To have a pool of batteries necessarily require F*V where V is the number of vehicles and F is a number greater than 1. This is because there is no guarantee that the collecting vehicle will deposit the battery to the same station. Like the public hire bikes in London that require daily collection and return to the centre from the suburbs or vice versa because of ride imbalances. So a battery pool system requires more batteries than a 1:1 battery-fixed-in-car system. Even if you assume finance perfectly equalises the capital cost of the battery pool versus selling the batteries with the car, the pool system costs more. You have to assume volume pricing discounts etc. to compensate.
I don’t believe the arm-waving that shorter waiting for commercial vehicles makes up for the capital tied up in running a fleet of batteries. Maybe for lorries.
I also don’t believe the “battery storage” upside. Again, this assumes that users all swap empty batteries in at the end of the day for the overnight charge window AND swap nearly full ones back in for day time peak! Whereas charging a car takes place at home overnight and, if plugged in at work and not empty, potentially provides a reserve of vehicle to grid power for daytime peaks. [The argument also works against pool batteries for storage if solar over generation in summer daytime].
TL; DR swapping batteries feels like a workaround for better batteries, like VHS rental versus streaming.
I think in this context, what we hate in the US is being responsible for mistakes. The battery swap concept would have been amazing for Nissan Leaf owners over the past decade. But I think Nissan and others just want to sell people the same thing over and over again and realize the profits from each unnecessary transaction, rather than have something efficient and helpful like a battery swap option.
Don’t knock it. China just goes with the flow, but backwards time travel is the greatest invention of Western tech and finance capitalism.
“US Willing To Negotiate On Iran Nuclear Energy: Rubio”
I got an idea. How about if Iran offers the US an unconditional 30-day ceasefire. I’m sure that Israel would honour it – just like the one for Lebanon. Sucks to get into a shooting war with someone that can shoot back – and has more bullets than you.
Very interesting article on Chinese EV battery swapping. You buy the car cheaply and then lease the battery. Even though Trump is trying to roll America back to the 1950s, electric cars make a lot of sense if the battery problem can be solved. ICE cars with their many pollution and mileage controls are super conplex but also a very mature and, thanks to computers, reliable technology (maybe less so in soggy or wintry climates). The article says swapping in China is especially popular for taxis and commercial vehicles that need to be used continuously.
How many other technologies will pass us by as our business elite focus on green pieces of paper?
Thank you, C.
A battery that uses heat (recovery) generated by the wheel spins will soon be commercialised in China. This is to propel the car, not warm it up.
This war is John McCain’s fondest dream come true. It’s too bad he up and died before seeing it. I thought there needs to be a tribute to all his years of hard work so I twisted up the old song Cocaine Blues in his memory. I call it McCain Blues:
Early one mornin’ after phoning the bank
Took a shot of horse and a line of crank
Went right home and into the bed I fall
I stuck that pic of Johnny up upon my wall
Got up next mornin’ and I grabbed that pic
Took a shot of cocaine and I run real quick
Made a good run, but ran too slow
They got me in Isreali town of Jericho
Stayed in that hotel doin’ what I please
Getting my pleasure on my hands and knees
In walked the sheriff from the ICC
Said “You’re the southern belle that started World War III.”
Said, “Yes, sir, yes, my name is Lindsey
If you’ve got a warrant, just read it to me
Started that war ‘cause it pays real good
It pays a whole lot better than brotherhood”
When I was arrested, I was called a hack
They put me on a plane and it took me back
Money did me no good ‘cause there weren’t no bail
They slapped my dried up carcass in that Belgium jail
Got up every mornin’ kissed ny picture of John
Heard the newspapers called me Devils’ spawn
The marshall swore and points his finger at me
Said, “Come on you dirty hop into the ICC”
Into the courtroom, my trial began
Where I was handled by 12 wigged men
Wearing black robes they sat up so high
I felt that John McCain was standing by my side
In about five minutes they decided my fate
Hearing that verdict was a terrible weight
The verdict read in the first degree
I hollered, “Lordy, Johnny, have mercy on me”
The judge he smiled as he picked up his pen
99 years in the Tehran pen’
99 years will drive me insane
I never should have listened to that John McCain
Come on you pols and listen unto me
Lay off those kick backs and let that cocaine be
‘Michael Tracey
@mtracey
MAGA influencer pivot
– Trump was not involved with Israel bombing Iran!
– He was involved, but that’s good!
– He’s pursuing diplomacy and peace!
– The diplomacy was fake, but that’s good!
– He’s bombing Iran, but no Regime Change!
– He’s doing Regime Change, but that’s good!’
There was a bit of humour here. After the bombing, you had Vance and Hegseth and I think even Rubio giving interviews saying how this attack was not about regime change. But then Trump went on Truthsocial and said that it was totally about regime change and Make Iran Great Again thus leaving Vance, Hegseth & Rubio twisting in the wind.
Vance, Hegseth & Rubio will learn for themselves that every person who steps in the dogtrump gets dogtrump on their shoes.
New York is looking to get on the bleeding edge of new nukes. Hochul thinks new nukes will give us “affordability’. I think bankruptcy is more likely.
New York to Build One of First U.S. Nuclear-Power Plants in Generation wsj archive
Uh… New York State doesn’t have the politcal, managerial, engineering or skilled trades that built our huge public power infrastructure 60 years ago. Or China and Russia today.
… We walk a lonely avenue
I never thought I’d meet an adversary like you
Meet an adversary like you
With orange hair and liars eyes
The kind of eyes that hypnotize a country through
Hypnotize us through
… And Iran, Iran so far away
He just rants, Iran all night and day
I couldn’t get away
… A dark cloud appears above his head
A beam of more lies comes shining down on you
Shining down on you
The dark cloud is moving nearer still
World War 3 comes in view
World War 3 comes in view
… And Iran, Iran so far away
He just rants, Iran all night and day
I couldn’t get away
… Reached out to determine your fate
You’re slowly disappearing from my view
‘Pearing from my view
Reached out to play a bad hand again
I’m floating in a bad light with you
A bad light with you
… And Iran, Iran so far away
He just rants, Iran all night and day
And Iran, Iran so far away
He just rants, I couldn’t get away
I Ran (So Far Away), by Flock of Seagulls
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIpfWORQWhU
Giant Pro-Palestine demo happening in Berlin:
https://x.com/sahouraxo/status/1936526829482869158
The German establishment must be freaking out. How dare they.
The coments, oh the comments. The copium is as thick as the smog in London in the early 1950s…
Thank you, Conor.
Last week, Revenant and I exchanged comments about the new head of MI6.
Yesterday, new details emerged in Russia about the chief spook’s grandfather, a Red Army captain called Metreveli turned collaborator after capture by the Wehrmacht. Last week, the name used was Dobrovolski.
Yesterday evening, I again chatted to dad who recalls the chief spook’s father guest lecturing in KSA. Dad’s colleagues recall the father being employed as a radiologist under a different name, Borkovski, not the name he used when guest lecturing, Metreveli. As an employee, dad added the father would have to provide a birth and even marriage certificates. These can be faked as a British doctor did when moving in with a partner, soon employed as a vet by the KSA royals.
It seems the chief spook and her dad have something to hide. Her appointment appears to have upset some more senior colleagues and due to foreign influence on the selection.
Thank you, Colonel. I don’t suppose that that spook’s father also goes by the name Joseph Mifsud as well, does he?
Thank you!
It is interesting that wikispooks still has no article on her.
Wonder if someone like Sheila Fitzpatrick ran across material about the family in her decades of archive research, just no one seems to care and ask her.
The other titbit from the Lordbebo post was that the family travelled on Nansen passports (League of Nations documents for the stateless).
If Bebo is being precise and not referring to subsequent UN-issued certificates of identity, refugee travel papers etc. passports after 1948, these ceased to be issue after 1938 so must have been the grandfather’s (or just possibly the father’s).
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nansen_passport
First, it implies the family were stateless before WW2, most like Russians in exile but possibly also Armenians, Bulgarians and Turks. So does this mean Mrs Metreweli nurses three generations of anti-Russian grievance…?
Second, look at that list of Nansen passport holders! A who’s who of the 20th century, including one of its most eminent mathematicians, Grothendieck.
Serious attack or performance? I vote for performance and blather, strong points in the DC Bubble and Echo Chamber.
Bibi wants out of the war of attrition that he started? Isn’t that special. Looks like he had his answer with the latest missile barrage.
Kaja Kallas??? I already posted about her.
Congressional Vote-orama? What’s a vote-orama? Is that when you cobble together every thing you can think of, tuck in your master’s dearest and most destructive wish, may a few bucks for yourself, waft an osculation toward Donny’s posterior and call it a BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL? Something like that. Maybe they can get their collective thumbs out, but I doubt it.
Maybe it means vote after vote after vote . . . after vote . . . after vote . . .
” No recess for you! “
“Scoop: Trump launches MAGA PAC in effort to oust Rep. Massie from Congress”
I sometimes think that Trump wants to turn the Republican party into his own personal cult that must demonstrate total loyalty to him and him alone. I wonder what the good people of Kentucky will do. Vote for the Trumpist who will put Israel’s interests first or vote for Massie. There seems to be a fight about this in the Republican party. I heard that at the last big Republican party convention, that they had a huge Israeli flag hung up with the words ‘Israel First’ below it. Some guy tried to rouse the rabble to back this whole idea but since most people there wanted to put America first, it did not do so well. I don’t think that most of those same people would be happy with Trump trying to push America into a bloody war with Iran for the sake of Israel either. Below is a link to another take on the Massie fight-
https://news.antiwar.com/2025/06/22/trump-attacks-rep-massie-for-opposing-his-illegal-bombing-of-iran/
The Gilead Republic Christian Fascists would be okay with it. They would be pleased with it. Speaker Johnson would be pleased with it.
re: Germany – Iran/Israel
A longer excerpt from DER SPIEGEL´s interview with the new German SoS Wadephul who in the NC commentariat has fittingly been name-spoofed “what-a-fool”.
To document the level of criminal energy, pathologic dishonesty, incompetence and shameful prejudice. This guy essentially is a war criminal of the second order (I am not yet sure how many hard fact war crimes he has committed and how he would have been treated by the Nuremberg judges. But he is enabling them verbally and as “diplomat” – hahaha – 24/7.)
The entire German version:
https://archive.is/4rhab
June 20th 2025
SPIEGEL: Can Germany influence the dangerous situation in the Middle East?
Wadephul: I think so. I already know many foreign ministers in the Arab world from my time in the opposition. Everyone understands that Germany has a responsibility for Israel’s security, yet we are valued as a fair, reliable negotiating partner.
SPIEGEL: Unlike the US, the German government was not informed in advance by the Israelis about the major attack on Iran. You were surprised by the news during a stopover in Cairo. Were you annoyed by this approach?
Wadephul: The element of surprise is part of such military operations. My Israeli counterpart, Gideon Sa’ar, then briefed me comprehensively and at short notice.
SPIEGEL: What is the much-vaunted friendship with Israel worth if you are only informed about such important events after the fact?
Wadephul: What is crucial is that we maintain a close and ongoing exchange of information about the strategic situation. It was known that Iran was pursuing a nuclear enrichment program that could no longer be justified by peaceful, civilian use. It was also no secret that the regime in Tehran was pursuing a long-range missile program that threatened Israel and Europe. Israel and Germany both assessed the threat posed by Iran.
SPIEGEL: After the military operation against Iran began, you expressed understanding for the Israeli government’s decision, but also called for de-escalation. What now applies: Is it permissible under international law for Israel to have attacked, or not?
Wadephul: I cannot make a conclusive assessment under international law. For that, we would need information that we do not have.
SPIEGEL: Are you having the Foreign Office investigate this?
Wadephul: For that, we would need all the facts that formed the basis for the Israelis’ decision. What is certain is that Israel is entitled to protect its existence and the lives of its citizens.
SPIEGEL: Do you consider the Israeli military operations against Iran to be morally right?
Wadephul: I don’t believe that it is our primary responsibility as Germans to make moral judgments about the State of Israel. Iran poses a threat to Israel. The Iranian regime’s declared state ideology is to destroy Israel. The Netanyahu government felt compelled to act. I see no reason to criticize this decision.
SPIEGEL: At the G7 summit in Canada, the Chancellor declared that Israel was doing our “dirty work” in Iran. Do you share this assessment?
Wadephul: As I said, Germany and Israel have a similar assessment of the danger Iran poses to the people in the region and far beyond. I completely agree with the Chancellor on this.
SPIEGEL: Protecting Israel has been part of German policy since Angela Merkel became Chancellor; in 2008, she justified this with Tehran’s nuclear buildup. Will the German government help Israel if the Iranian attacks continue and the number of victims rises?
Wadephul: I’m trying to prevent an escalation. I’m warning Tehran against terminating international agreements and escalating the conflict. But that can’t be ruled out. Israel will always be able to rely on Germany.
SPIEGEL: Last October, after Israel’s strikes against the Lebanese Hezbollah, your predecessor, Annalena Baerbock of the Green Party, warned of a destabilization of Lebanon and thus the entire region. At the time, you criticized this and defended Israel, but today you sound similar to Baerbock. Have you learned anything?
Wadephul: The situation today is not comparable to that of last year. Israel took action against Hezbollah because it was under daily attacks from Lebanon and a large part of northern Israel was uninhabitable. Therefore, at the time, I considered Israel’s military action to be the right thing to do. But we’re now in a different, more complex dimension.
SPIEGEL: You recently sharply criticized Israel for its actions in the Gaza Strip. You said that the German government would not allow itself to be “forced into a position where we are forced into forced solidarity.” This outraged many in the CDU/CSU. Why did you speak of forced solidarity?
Wadephul: I understand that my choice of words was criticized by some CDU/CSU colleagues; my colleague Sa’ar also addressed this. For the German government, Israel’s security is a matter of state policy. At the same time, international humanitarian law applies. The situation in the Gaza Strip is dramatic; Germany must point this out and respond with demands.
SPIEGEL: Has the new, more critical tone that you and the Chancellor are adopting toward Israel facilitated your talks in the Gulf region?
Wadephul: I’m convinced of that. But that wasn’t the reason we were clear. We’re concerned about the issue. Germany will not remain silent about the suffering in Gaza.
SPIEGEL: In the Arab world, many accuse Germany of applying double standards. Berlin is particularly critical of Russia’s war in Ukraine, while remaining reserved when it comes to Israel.
Wadephul: In Arab countries, there’s sometimes the impression that we’re blind in one eye. We aren’t. We uphold the rules of international law in all regions; our standards remain the same. We insist that Russia adhere to international law. But we also demand the same of states in other parts of the world, including those in the Middle East.
SPIEGEL: In pro-Israel circles, including your party, some scoff that, given your criticism of Israel, it wouldn’t have made a difference if Baerbock had remained foreign minister. How do you respond to your critics?
Wadephul: I’m very pleased with how I’ve settled into the position and the support I’ve received from many of my colleagues. My numerous contacts in Europe, but especially in the Middle East, show me that Germany is valued as a partner.
I’ve been thinking about the proper way to memorialize the magnificence of Donald Trump, Mt Rushmore is not good enough, only a Million or so Americans can afford a special trip to S Dakota and the winters are so harsh no one is able to admire it for several Months a year.
I want it to be something ALL Americans can admire, especially our Hispanic Citizens, it should be “Green” and it should be in a place where Millions of Citizens can see it at all times of the year.
There’s a man made Mountain visible from Miami that would be perfect, Mt Trashmore.
A 10 story tall inflatable bust of Trump made of Gold colored plastic, inflated with hot air using burners powered by the methane Mt Trashmore produces naturally…
I’d bet a Dollar it could be crowdfunded in a week!
Plastic and full of hot air provided by rotting garbage, perfectly symbolizing Trump’s reign.
This reminds me of when San Francisco considered naming its waste treatment plant after George W Bush. Trump is an odd fellow and so he might like having a sewage treatment plant emblazoned with a giant gold “TRUMP”.
The EU Observer leaked a confidential report by the Council of the EU on Israeli war crimes in Gaza. Kaja Kallas and the rest of the Eurocrats pretend to be blind, of course.
“How artificial intelligence controls your health insurance coverage”. It should have been noted in the article that only Medicare Advantage plans require prior authorization. Citation below.
From https://medicareadvocacy.org/prior-authorization/
“Traditional Medicare, historically, has rarely required prior authorization. Originally, the Social Security Act did not authorize any form of “prior authorization” for Medicare services, but the law has subsequently been changed to allow prior authorization for limited items of Durable Medical Equipment and physicians’ services. Despite this change, there are still very few services requiring Prior Authorization in traditional Medicare.* Enrollees in traditional Medicare Parts A and B can generally see specialists, visit hospitals, get care out of state, and so on, without having to ask Medicare’s permission”.
Unfortunately, in February of 2016, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published a notice in the Federal Register announcing its effort to seek approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to “collect information” pursuant to a demonstration project to identify, investigate and prosecute fraud among Medicare home health agencies by requiring prior authorization before processing claims for home health services in several states. CMS is now referring to this proposed process as “Pre-Claim Review.”
So perhaps in the future…
https://migrantinsider.com/p/ice-has-deported-at-least-70-us-citizens
ICE is a terrorist organization, it has routinely violated both black letter law and the US Constitution while ignoring the orders of various Courts, explicitly in order to instill fear in a large segment of the US population.
Primarily Hispanics but generally anyone with a dark skin.
Noem’s thugs drive around in unmarked vans and kidnap people off the street while wearing masks and refusing to identify themselves.
Not to mention roughing up one US Senator and refusing access to their detention facilities to other congresscritters who are legally entitled to inspect those facilities at any time without notice.
Per NYT, Iran has attacked the US base in Qatar.
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/06/23/world/iran-trump-israel-news
As we keep seeing on CNN graphics of US permanent and temporary(!) bases in the Middle East, I can’t help but point out people are homeless and starving in America. Nothing from Team Blue about this. There’s abundance for some, that’s for sure.
Juan Cole´s assessment
The Current Iran War Will Likely End Soon, But the Arms Race Will Heat Up
6/23/25
https://scheerpost.com/2025/06/23/the-current-iran-war-will-likely-end-soon-but-the-arms-race-will-heat-up/
last bit
“The most likely outcome of the current struggle is that Iran will reply in some symbolic way to Trump’s attack, but will attempt to avoid drawing the US into a wider war. Of course, calibrating these things is difficult and either or both sides could overshoot, leading to a big war. I assess that as possible but unlikely.
Iran will engage in tit for tat missile and drone attacks with Israel until Israel runs out of missile interceptors and has to stand down.
Russia, China and Iran’s own factories will gradually replace Iran’s expended missiles and drones, though as covertly as possible to avoid further Israeli strikes. Iranian counter-intelligence will have to up its game considerably if the government is to survive, since it seems clear that the officer corps is penetrated.
If Russia or China wanted to begin giving Iran a security umbrella, which seems to me unlikely despite an apparent recent offer by Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman of the Security Council of Russia, I think Tehran might be interested. Tehran would be crazy not to purchase as many s-400 Russian anti-aircraft batteries as Moscow would sell them, and given the successes of Chinese fighter jets in the recent Pakistan-India fighting, it must be interested in those, as well. The Iranian leadership was overly confident in its asymmetrical deterrence (Hezbollah rockets) and its own missiles, which, while good for offense, have not helped with defense.
The hot war will end, but the Middle East arms race is with us for the foreseeable future, and the opportunities for Russia and China, should they want them, to play a bigger role in the region have expanded.
America’s credibility as a negotiator and mediator is completely ruined, since Trump hit Iran in the midst of negotiations, which a reader reminded me is a violation of the Hague Regulations of 1907 and was held against Japan in the attack on Pearl Harbor.
It is still not clear to me that the ayatollahs’ longstanding opposition to nuclear weapons will change. Many countries throughout the world, however, may now be tempted to go for a nuclear weapon, since the difference between North Korea on the one hand and Iraq and Iran on the other is glaringly clear.”
+
William Hartung on Democracy Now
Another Iraq? Military Expert Warns U.S. Has No Real Plan If It joins Israel’s War on Iran
https://www.democracynow.org/2025/6/20/william_hartung
So it turned out Benedict Donald thought a fortnight was a night spent at a fort, er the White House.
Mr Market sez: It’s all bullshite. All our stock indexes went up almost a point immediately after the ‘strike’ in Qatar that the Iranians politely notified us of, so we could move all our planes out of harm’s way and caffeinate our boys at missile defense. And American crude oil is down 4 percent despite all this Hormuz talk, when war fever/terror should have done the opposite to each. Gold down too. What kind of a war is this, anyway? I get that Trump is playing 11-dimensional checkers but what’s so obvious to money? Maybe it’s performative, Jake.
Wealth, War and Wisdom, by Barton Biggs is an interesting look at worldwide stock markets during WW2 and how they fared.
Very intriguing book~
Trump made it crystal clear that he has no integrity, that a “solemn promise” from the USA and $5 will get you a small latte and nothing more.
Trump and his family won’t pay a price for his stupid lies, 99% of Americans will.
And it won’t be a small price.
My, what pretty evangs you’ve got…
https://boingboing.net/2025/06/23/creepy-prayer-circle-speaks-in-tongues-at-white-house-caught-on-video-by-hidden-camera.html
Trump was just saying on social media that a cease fire has been agreed on-
‘ “It has been fully agreed by and between Israel and Iran that there will be a Complete and Total CEASEFIRE (in approximately 6 hours from now, when Israel and Iran have wound down and completed their in progress, final missions!), for 12 hours, at which point the War will be considered, ENDED!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
“Officially, Iran will start the CEASEFIRE and, upon the 12th Hour, Israel will start the CEASEFIRE and, upon the 24th Hour, an Official END to THE 12 DAY WAR will be saluted by the World. During each CEASEFIRE, the other side will remain PEACEFUL and RESPECTFUL,” he added.
“On the assumption that everything works as it should, which it will, I would like to congratulate both Countries, Israel and Iran, on having the Stamina, Courage, and Intelligence to end, what should be called, “THE 12 DAY WAR,” Trump wrote.’
https://www.rt.com/news/620375-trump-israel-iran-ceasfire/
And now he wants to name this war, probably to hide the US’s part through a name that reflects the six day war. But what happens when Israel opens up its airports again?
Does anyone have info on what’s happening in Iraq? I have family friends in Baghdad and they’ve had warnings all day. Seeing there are radars being taken out north of Baghdad now at Camp Taji
China is significantly increasing the monitoring of its ships in the region:
Beijing tells China ships in Strait of Hormuz to phone home, flags ‘shipping safety’
I would like to thank Mr. Gallagher for including the linked article the “Onion Domes of the Anthracite.” It was a nice piece with great photographs and happens to be about a fairly esoteric topic I already know something about!
Just as the article notes, these churches are found all over Pennsylvania in towns large and small (some exist in Ohio, too) and I will add that each has a unique and quite interesting history. I happen to have had relatives that built several of them, and a very close friend who was a priest at an Orthodox one for many years. Hence, my familiarity and interest in the topic.
Two quick additions to the author’s content: First, Alexis Toth was canonized by the Orthodox Church for his evangelism and bringing the Orthodox Faith to the people of Pennsylvania among other places. He is among only a handful of Orthodox Saints in North America, and revered in these churches for his works.
Second, many of these tiny Orthodox churches received some financial and other support in their beginnings by the Russian Czar himself. He had a missionary fund specifically for these fledgling parishes, and the fund paid for and sent many items over from Russia including but not limited to icons, lighting, decorative and many other types of functional and Orthodox Liturgical items used in the church. Further, in several cases, monks were sent from Russia to live in the community and help with both church construction as well as in its functioning. These little churches often still have the items gifted by the czar, and are among the most treasured items in their respective parishes. One church I am familiar with has a spectacular chandelier…another, two icons of exquisite beauty rivaling those of the great cathedrals in Russia and other Orthodox churches in Europe.
It really was a nice article, and I so appreciated seeing it of all places, on Naked Capitalism!