[A monthly link list of recommended articles, videos, podcasts, photos, toots … you name it]
[Videos]
An Incomplete History of Music – Part One | Presented by Charlotte Ritchie [.youtube]
[Music]
Boards of Canada "Inferno" first listen and analysis [.youtube]
[Podcasts]
Jules Boykoff on Sportswashing and the 2026 FIFA World Cup | The Final Straw Radio Podcast – "As the 2026 FIFA World Cup looms across Turtle Island, we’re pre-sharing an interview with Jules Boykoff about one of his latest books about international sports spectacles, the upward money flow and authoritarian political power they facilitate but also a bit about the folks that are fighting back entitled Red Card: The 2026 World Cup, Sportswashing, and the FIFA Greed Machine (O/R Books, 2026)." More on the rotten world cup 2026 bellow.
[Toot Threads]
[Pandemic Roundup]
Pandemic Roundup: June 25, 2026
Ebola – Hantavirus – Covid: June 18, 2026
Pandemic Roundup: June 11, 2026
Ebola – Hantavirus – Covid: June 4, 2026
Fuck FIFA
Fuck FIFA [sub media] – A video.
The Struggle for the Soul of Argentine Football [dissent mag] – "Messi nodded along and smiled as Trump complimented Rodrigo De Paul, his teammate at both Inter Miami and the Argentine national team, for his good looks. Condemnation came within minutes of the publicized photos of the team with Trump, including one of Messi shaking his hand. Fans lamented that Messi could have instead used his platform for any number of good causes—or just stayed away. “The talent of your legs,” Argentine journalist Fernando Borroni said following the meeting, “has not and cannot cure the insensitivity of your hands.” This is quite disappointing, i always kinda liked Messi.
From Hitler's Olympics to Trump's World Cup [znetwork] – "The difference from what happened before and during the Berlin Olympics is striking. In contrast to the resignation prevailing in 2026, movements to boycott the 1936 Olympics—which brought thousands of demonstrators into the streets—had emerged in the United States, France, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Czechoslovakia. These movements were unable to prevent the Berlin Olympics from taking place, but they effectively articulated their anti-fascist cause, alerting the public and mobilizing anti-racist vanguards by fighting on a class-based line against supporters of the Olympics and other admirers of Hitler." So let me repeat that, the main difference is the lack of protest and boycott against the world cup 2026 in fascist USA. Let *that* sink in.
The FIFA World Cup: Caught on the Visa Snag [counterpunch] – "Analysis of US State Department data conducted by the BBC reveals a visa rejection rate greater than 40% for 11 of the 48 countries that have qualified. (The 11 in question comprise Ecuador, Egypt, Haiti, Algeria, Uzbekistan, Cape Verde, Jordan, Iran, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana and Senegal.)" There just might be a pattern who gets excluded and harassed, don’t you agree?
The Most Racist World Cup In History | do not panic [substack] – “Yet despite all this, compare the media focus on US crimes in the context of hosting the World Cup with the attention given to Qatar, Russia or Brazil. Where is the reporting about US human rights abuses? Where are the televised news specials about US repression and policies of mass murder? Where are the anguished op-eds about inner city gun violence? Where are the protests by national teams against the politics of the host nation?” Them double standards in play.
America Brings the World Cup to a New Low [jacobin] – "Travel bans and racist, restrictive border policies will make visiting what ought to be a global celebration next to impossible for countless fans. Commitments to inclusivity and human rights, which were central to the pan–North American hosting bid, have failed to materialize." Infantino is such an atrocious piece of shit.
[Articles English]
AI Writes Like a Depressed Person If a Depressed Person Could Write | Penny Red [substack] – “Depression is not the opposite of happiness. It is the opposite of agency, of curiosity, and of the semi-delusional forward momentum that has allowed this species to survive self-awareness – a capacity which is sometimes called hope. […] A depressed population is tractable. It is predictable. It is well suited to the precarious labour and alienated consumption that the market demands from most of us in this low, dishonest decade. The ideal is desire without agency, selfishness without self. But most people who have been that comprehensively purged of purpose are too unwell to actually work.” So glad that Laurie unlocked this article in its entirety. What starts out as a generic AI think piece, becomes very relevant towards the end.
Prosfygika Claims Victory: Hunger Strike Suspended Amid Ongoing Struggle Over Development [unicorn riot] – "Athens, Greece – A victory has been declared in Athens after two activists suspended their hunger strike following a resolution to halt the plans to evict portions of the long-standing squatted community of Prosfygika. The activists put their lives on the line to defend a collective way of life and protect 400-plus vulnerable residents from displacement." Finally some good news from Athens.
Chris Hedges: The Joke Is On Us [consortium news] – "Antonio Gramsci warned that elitist satire is counterproductive. He called for a “passionate sarcasm,” which targets the machinery of power. Satire, he wrote, must excoriate the dominant myths and ideologies which buttress capitalism and fascism. It must expose not only the moral and intellectual bankruptcy of fascism, but acknowledge the legitimate grievances of those under its spell. It must focus on the institutions that perpetuate injustice and social inequality." I would love some suggestions on comedians who speak with “passionate sarcasm”. And how about passionate, compassionate & inclusive sarcasm?
‘This is injustice’: how leftist zines were used to sentence anti-ICE protesters to decades in prison [guardian] – "Legal experts say the precedent set by the Prairieland convictions will have myriad consequences for organizing and protest, including the platforms organizers rely on to safely do that work, like the secure messaging app Signal. After the justice department used the app to gather evidence against the Prairieland defendants, Apple has since responded by patching a security bug that had allowed the government to view previously deleted messages." More jail sentences are about to be announced. More bellow.
Eight Federal Prairieland Defendants Sentenced Today to Prison Terms Ranging From 30-100 Years for Common Protest Activity [support the prairieland defendants] – "Eight Prairieland defendants were sentenced in federal court today, three months after their convictions on a variety of federal charges, including riot, material support for terrorists, attempted murder, possession and conspiracy to use explosives, and conspiracy to conceal documents. Family members and supporters, who sat stunned as US District Judges Mark Pittman and Reed O’Connor delivered sentences ranging from 30-100 years in prison, called the punishment cruel, callous and starkly disproportionate to the defendants’ actions." This is pure madness. When they openly fight “antifa”, it also means that they openly admit to being fa.
Israel continues to commit genocide and other atrocity crimes by deliberately targeting Palestinian children [ohchr] – "Israeli authorities and security forces have deliberately targeted Palestinian children resulting in genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in the Gaza Strip and war crimes in the West Bank, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel said in a new report today." How much more official do some people need to hear it, before they stop denying the genocide? Looking at you Germany.
Texas anti-ICE protesters convicted of terrorism charges sentenced to at least 50 years in prison [guardian] – "The punishment for the protesters exceeds the lengthiest prison sentences given out for the attack on the Capitol on January 6. Enrique Tarrio, the leader of the Proud Boys who was convicted of seditious conspiracy, was sentenced to 22 years in prison. Stewart Rhodes, the leader of the far-right group the Oath Keepers, was sentenced to 18 years in prison." I can’t stand this.
Statement by Benjamin "Champagne" Song [support the prairieland defendants] – "On June 9th of this year, the President of the Southern Poverty Law Center testified that “Hate has migrated into the government.” Into the government. The Hate is Right Here. The government, in their secret motion to give me a life sentence, calls me “The Embodiment of Antifa.” Because what they really want to Bury is an Idea. What They Hate is the very Idea of Being Against Racism. The Hate is Right Here." Powerful statement by the main defendant.
Global Climate Report | May 2026 [ncei] – "The May 2026 global surface temperature was the second-highest in the 177-year record, at 1.07°C (1.93°F) above the 20th-century average. The month trailed only May 2024, which holds the record at 1.15°C (2.07°F). All 10 of the warmest Mays on record (1850–2026) have occurred since 2016. Notably, this month marked the 50th consecutive May with a global temperature departure above the 20th-century average. The last below-average May occurred half a century ago in 1976 (-0.17°C / -0.31°F)." The heat was so bad this month that last months data deserves a second mention (to be honest i didn’t even notice i had already bookmarked it).
The Strip Club is a Haunted House | Alison Rose Reed [substack] – "Tech billionaires want to be more than human by making us less. AI is their wet dream of fully automating gendered labor. To make a mockery of emotional intimacy with little yes-men. To render us redundant so they don’t have to face their creator. Or their fear of dying, also of living, by which I mean loving. They want the human experience of fragmentation to disguise our wholeness and create more suffering. They don’t want us to respect the extraordinary capacity of the human body to feel and so to know, its intelligence imbued with the power to hold the whole of us. They want us to anesthetize the parts they broke and recognize them, not the brokenness itself, as what makes us holy." Slam dunked it, Alison.
Andrew Tate’s Empire of Abuse [newyorker] – Look, i will link to this, because of course this is great journalism. But before reading it, please ask yourself, do you really want to fill your brain space with 20000 words about this monster of a sad man? Tate pretends to be a role model, when in fact he is exactly the kind of man that makes me and many others sick to our core of being associated with that identity. I would rather read 20000 words on Klee Benally.
Revisiting the Painful Truth of Long COVID [substack] – "People trying to live with Long COVID are not inactive because they are irrational. They are inactive because activity makes them worse. Activity avoidance, in this context, is not maladaptive. Abstaining from exercise is not the risky proposition that less-experienced investigators assert. It is self-protection." It’s so obvious, but apparently we need to keep repeating the obvious.
Assessing the Global Temperature and Precipitation Analysis in May 2026 [ncei] – "May 2026 ranked as the second-warmest May on record, trailing only 2024, with a global surface temperature 1.93°F (1.07°C) above the 20th-century average. Notably, all 10 of the warmest Mays in the 1850–2026 record have occurred since 2016. This month also marked the 50th-consecutive May with a global temperature departure above the 20th-century average; the most recent below-average May occurred in 1976. Globally, ocean temperatures ranked second warmest for the month, while land temperatures came in at fifth warmest." We’re fine now, melting that is. Once all humans will have melted away maybe the planet can recover.
‘This is not a hippy thing’: the startup recycling urine to make natural fertiliser [guardian] – "As recent conflicts expose vulnerability of fertiliser markets and its effect on food security, VunaNexus offers an alternative" Fertilizing with urine might well be the future.
Long COVID Changed Everything [personal blog] – Long COVID did not simply introduce a new chronic illness. It exposed the limits of a healthcare system built around the assumption that illnesses are only fully real once they become visible through testing. And once that assumption began to fail, something unsettling became visible: many patients with Long COVID were encountering patterns of disbelief that chronically ill people had been describing for decades." I was chronically ill before Long COVID, but in a less debilitating way. To my great shame i only discovered the extent of the stigma alongside my own debilitation. Please listen to us.
Hallucinate – Rave-Website
Beans use an immune receptor to call in airstrikes on caterpillars [arstechnica] – "Over millions of years, plants like the common bean have evolved a specialized cell-surface receptor called the inceptin receptor just to detect In11. When this receptor interacts with In11, it sets off a signaling cascade in the plant’s cells, initiating immune responses. Proving that this specific receptor is responsible for releasing predator-summoning signals, though, was extremely tricky." Fascinating how much we continue to learn about plants immune responses.
No New Beds [inthesetimes] – "How one coalition is challenging the construction of mega-jails in Georgia." Full solidarity with this struggle. I absolutely love these illustrations as well.
Social Permaculture: Five Principles |Starhawk [substack] – "My practice of permaculture informs my approach to group social design and conflict, and my understanding of group dynamics informs my practice of permaculture. Permaculture principles can be translated into guidelines and approaches that will help us to work together more effectively and joyfully as we strive to change the world." Well, sure. But they are also quite similar to anarchist/mutual aid/communal care principles.
Paris 'football riots': Macron's laboratory of repression [freedom news] – "After weeks of planning and a day of waiting, thousands of police were finally unleashed upon the crowds celebrating Paris Saint-Germain’s victory in the Champions League final. Like an endless tide they charge, draw back, and charge again, dragging with them a couple unfortunate souls each time. In most places the crowd has no stones or fireworks with which to respond to the tear-gas. As crowds flee or become trapped against walls, police formations break apart, truncheons ready, beating the people sheltering helplessly beneath their own arms." In France the police has a habit of escalating riots. It justifies their budgets.
Long COVID affects twice as many Americans as official counts show, new AI study finds [wsws] – "Essential workers, low-wage earners, people in the most economically precarious communities, those who have borne the greatest share of this disease, have the most at stake in demanding that tools of this kind are built, funded and controlled in the public interest rather than managed for administrative convenience or private profit. Scientific visibility is not the same as political action, and the distance between the two is not an oversight, but a deliberate policy." Is AI suddenly acceptable if it finds something we agree with or confirms something we suspected all along?
[Articles German/French]
«Trotz allem müssen wir hoffnungsvoll bleiben – wir haben keine andere Wahl» [das lamm] – "Es sind die vielen Suizide der Betroffenen von ME, die Nicole Spillmann besonders beunruhigen. Als Präsidentin des Vereins ME/CFS Schweiz setzt sie sich seit 17 Jahren für Betroffene und deren Angehörige ein. Tatsächlich ist das Risiko für Suizid bei ME im Vergleich zur Allgemeinbevölkerung um ein Siebenfaches höher. «Die Betroffenen sind schon so lange unterversorgt und haben von der Politik so wenig Hoffnung vermittelt bekommen. Das ist katastrophal», sagt sie im Gespräch nach der Aktion auf dem Europaplatz. «Trotz allem müssen wir hoffnungsvoll bleiben – wir haben keine andere Wahl»." We must remain hopeful?! How!?
Essay: Das Schweigen dazwischen [woz] – "Die Kunst dieses (post)dokumentarischen Theaters läge vielleicht gerade darin, das Archiv doppelt lesen zu lernen. Es könnte dabei jenen Aspekt aufgreifen, der mit der Metapher vom schwarzen und weissen Feuer beschrieben wurde, jenes Schweigen also, das zwischen den Dingen liegt: all jene Aufstände auf den Sklav:innenbooten, von denen wir nichts wissen, weil niemand mehr davon berichten konnte oder weil die Berichte in kein Archiv Eingang fanden." Max Czollek with a nuanced article on the rise in antisemitism.
Warum ich mich aus der Welt ausgeklinkt habe [knack] – "Es ist ein mieses Gefühl, wenn man merkt, wie kaputt die Welt ist, während man selbst versucht, irgendwie klarzukommen. Das Diazepam macht die Welt zwar für einen Moment leiser, aber die Scheiße draußen bleibt leider laut. […] Dass ich niemanden mehr hab, mit dem ich darüber reden kann, außer einem dummen Bot, ist ein Armutszeugnis für die Welt da draußen, nicht für mich." I would love to check out of the world. But how and where and with what money?
In der Content-Fabrik der Rechtsextremen [republik] – "Die extreme Rechte inszeniert sich an einem Treffen in Portugal – den Auftritt orchestriert die «Junge Tat» aus der Schweiz. Kritische Medien sind unerwünscht. Ein Besuch." On the nazi meeting in Lisbon organized by Sellner and attended by Bovino. Without paywall https://archive.ph/Y7kAT#selection-157.0-157.171
Antifaschismus in Frankreich: Eine Stadt kämpft um ihren Ruf [woz] – "Am 12. März deckt das Investigativmedium «Mediapart» Quentin Deranques Onlineaktivitäten auf: Unter Pseudonymen hatte der Student Tausende negationistische, rassistische, antisemitische, islamo- und homophobe Posts verfasst. Das Bild eines frommen Katholiken, das Deranques Freunde nach dessen Tod gezeichnet hatten, bekommt Risse." Look, we’re not saying he deserved to die. Or are we?
Bern will «die Antifa» verbieten – und scheitert dabei schon an der Logik [daslamm] – "Unter dem Begriff «Antifaschistische Aktion» operieren in der Schweiz beispielsweise Organisationen, die wichtige Recherchearbeit zu Rechtsextremismus leisten. Ein Verbot träfe nicht nur Steinewerfer*innen, sondern auch diejenigen, die dokumentieren, wer in diesem Land Hakenkreuze malt – was in der Schweiz übrigens noch immer nicht grundsätzlich verboten ist." This happening in the canton where i have to endure life is fucking scary as fuck. Fuck!
[Older articles, still great]
À nouveau, l’anarchisme [à bas bruit] – "Dans des paysages anarchiques, des alliances peuvent avoir lieu sans condition d’identité. Les différences communiquent avec les autres par des différences de différences, disait Deleuze. « Les anarchies couronnées se substituent aux hiérarchies de la représentation ; les distributions nomades, aux distributions sédentaires de la représentation ». Cultiver des rapports à l’altérité c’est apprendre que les autres ont toujours leurs autres. Que notre ici aura toujours des ailleurs avec leurs propres ailleurs." Quote Deleuze: check.
R.I.P.
I only have a few R.I.H (rot in hell), so i keep those to myself.
Too many in Iran, Lebanon, Gaza, West Bank, Ukraine and Venezuela.
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Header Photo: This photo is a plea for some clouds to dampen the heat. No really. Gief clouds.