Daily News 08/09

China Delivers Second 5,000‑Solar‑System Donation to Cuba Amid Energy Crisis China delivered a second donation of 5,000 photovoltaic systems to Cuba on Friday in a ceremony in Havana, with both sides reaffirming cooperation to advance the island’s energy transition and secure electricity for rural households and essential public services.

Future of Denial: The Ideologies of Climate ChangeExxon knew as early as the 1970s, but the fundamental physics of carbon dioxide warming the Earth was already understood before the American Civil War. Will capitalists ever voluntarily walk away from hundreds of trillions of dollars in fossil fuels unless they are forced to do so? And, if not, who will apply the necessary pressure?

Climate Change? The Oil Industry Knew! For Over 50 Years, the OiIndustry Knew the Connection Between Burning Fossil Fuels and Climate Change.: Defense, Denial, and Disinformation: Uncovering the Oil Industry’s Early Knowledge of Climate Change As early as 1959, oil industry executives understood the connection between burning fossil fuels and climate change. Soon thereafter, industry scientists confirmed beyond a reasonable doubt that the burning of fossil fuels contributed to anthropogenic climate change. In response, oil companies scrambled to promulgate climate change denial and disinformation in order to avoid government regulation. It was not until the late 1990s and early 2000s that oil companies began publicly acknowledging the scientific consensus on climate change and responded by promoting market-based solutions to mitigating emissions. Did they inform the public about the danger! As the World Warmed, rhey just went on producing their hazardous product! To them profits were more important than life! Their ecocidal decision is a criminal act against humanity and all life on the planet! ‘Law and Order’ capitalism protects them! A Sane Society World Hold the Oil Companies Accountable for Their Crimes!

On June 10, 2025, Tulsi Gabbard, who was then U.S. Director of National Intelligence, released a brief but poignant video that began with devastating scenes of atomic-bombed Hiroshima. She stressed, however, that the bombs used in Hiroshima and Nagasaki were primitive compared to the weapons we have today. She then warned that we were “closer to the brink of nuclear annihilation than ever before.” Sadly, we are even closer to nuclear annihilation now than we were when she made that chilling statement a year ago — much closer. Two days after she issued that warning, Israel began bombing Iran. She must have known that was coming as she decried the “political elites and warmongers” who had put us in that position. Soon the U.S. would also join the attack on Iran in a futile attempt to destroy its nuclear sites. Hiroshima 81: The Looming Risk Of Nuclear Disaster

According to Doctors Without Borders’ “The Practical Guide to Humanitarian Law,” a blockade is an act of war that seeks to isolate an adversary, disrupt economic activity, and prevent the movement of vital supplies. Under an embargo, a country prohibits its own companies or subsidiaries from engaging in business with another country, rather than interfering with third parties. Through what is essentially a broader economic blockade, the United States has intermittently prevented Cuba from commerce with other nations. As President Donald Trump has become even more strident, the United Nations has criticized his administration’s policy of imposing tariffs on any country that sends oil to Cuba as a serious violation of international law. Earlier this year, a military blockade was evident as “the U.S. Coast Guard intercepted a tanker full of Colombian fuel oil en route to Cuba within 70 miles of the island,” according to the New York Times. The U.S. government knows that a blockade is an act of war, according to Connecticut —The Costs of the US Blockade on Cuba

In the midst of the authoritarian chaos of the Trump regime, the public needs to know who’s doing what. When is Trump giving orders to his lackeys? When are they making decisions on their own? What’s legally binding, and on whom? Who’s responsible for what? My friends, there will be a reckoning. And when that reckoning occurs, the individuals who have enabled this dictator, or who have conspired and collaborated with him, will be identified and held to account for what they did or failed to do. That’s why the current record of responsibility is so important. Rather than report that “the White House” or the “Justice Department” or the “Interior Department” or some other building or agency did something, we need to know exactly who did what. Buildings and departments are not destroying the rule of law and undermining American democracy. Individuals are. The media must tell us whom to hold responsible. — Who’s Responsible for This Mess?

Video: How the Epstein Network is Privatizing the Government & Building Out the Surveillance State (w/Whitney Webb) | TCHRWhitney Webb explains how Leslie Wexner privatized Ohio’s state government, and is using his position between the markets and the state to help the Thielverse build out the ‘Silicon Heartland.’

Video: Mostly Economics Podcast #46: Tariffs, Trade Deficits, and Vibes with Josh BivensIs AI spending the only thing keeping US growth alive? Dean Baker and EPI chief economist Josh Bivens dig into that question. They also explain how a financial transactions tax mainly eliminates wasteful Wall Street trading, plus tariff chaos and manufacturing’s decline

Nobody Repealed Voting Rights. They Just Stopped Enforcing It.

Faith Leaders Collectively Raise Alarm as AI and Nuclear Weapons Systems Merge

‘Trump Is Tanking the US Economy’: Dismal Report Shows 23,000 Jobs Lost, Slowing Wage Growth

U.S. wildfire season exceeds 10-year average … Why it matters: The blazes are among 99 active large fires burning across the U.S. as this year’s wildfire season exceeds the 10-year average for both the number of fires and the acres burned, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. So far this year, 45,835 fires have burned more than 5.2 million acres across the U.S., the NIFC says.

After Massive Cuts to Forest Service, US Enters Fire Season Woefully Unprepared The results could be catastrophic, especially in states that have experienced unprecedented fires in recent years.

The U.S. Is Now At Its Worst Level of Wildfire Preparedness. What Does That Mean? At level 5, national resources are already committed to fighting fires around the country. “The fire hazard is at its greatest, and the resources are at their most strained level,” says Peter Sunderland, professor of fire protection engineering at the University of Maryland.

US Senate panel votes to hold Fauci in contempt of Congress over Covid hearing Anthony Fauci’s lawyer condemned the vote from the Republican-controlled committee as a ‘crude political stunt’

What Causes Pandemics? — Factory Farms Cause Pandemics: From National Library of Health As a library, NLM provides access to scientific literature. Inclusion in an NLM database does not imply endorsement of, or agreement with, the contents by NLM or the National Institutes of Health.Learn more: PMC Disclaimer | PMC Copyright Notice Primary Pandemic Prevention Abstract Over the last few decades, hundreds of human pathogens have emerged at a rate unprecedented in human history. Emerged from where? Mostly from animals. The AIDS virus is blamed on the butchering of primates in the African bushmeat trade, we created mad cow disease when we turned cows into carnivores and cannibals, and SARS and COVID-19 have been traced back to the exotic wild animal trade. Our last pandemic, swine flu in 2009, arose not from some backwater wet market in Asia, however. It was largely made-in-the-USA on pig production operations in the United States. In this new Age of Emerging Diseases, there are now billions of animals overcrowded and intensively confined in filthy factory farms for viruses to incubate and mutate within. Today’s industrial farming practices have given viruses billions more spins at pandemic roulette. How can we stop the emergence of pandemic viruses in the first place? Whenever possible, treat the cause. The largest and oldest association of public health professionals in the world, the American Public Health Association, has called for a moratorium on factory farming for nearly two decades. Indeed, factory farms are a public health menace. In addition to discontinuing the intensive confinement practices of animal agriculture, we should continue to research, develop, and invest in innovative plant-based and cultivated meat technologies to move away from raising billions of feathered and curly-tailed test tubes for viruses with pandemic potential to mutate within.