Although they look like cotton candy, you cannot eat these clouds!
Taken in Cádiz, Spain, today's image features the Rho Ophiuchi complex, a rich tapestry of young and old astronomical phenomena.
This colorful cloud complex is a nearby star-forming region containing hundreds of young stellar objects, including protostars and T Tauri stars.
Light from the triple star system at its center reflects off of small dust grains to create the blue reflection nebula. Ultraviolet light from hot stars ionizes the surrounding hydrogen gas, creating the red emission nebula.
Antares, a red supergiant big enough to engulf the Solar System’s asteroid belt, lights up the yellow region.
Dark interstellar dust blocks some of the complex’s color. Recent JWST observations exhibit shadows cast by hidden circumstellar disks, the beginning stages of planet formation.
Messier 4, a globular cluster almost as old as the universe, sits in the bottom right and witnesses yet another chaotic burst of youth in the Milky Way.
Image Credit & Copyright: Ángel Molina
Text: Keighley Rockcliffe (NASA GSFC, UMBC CSST, CRESST II)
🚨 Israeli Plan to Herd Palestinians Into Controlled “Shelters” to Begin “Within A Matter of Weeks”
🔸Israel is preparing to channel Palestinians into fenced “humanitarian shelters” in areas outside Hamas’s control, policed by a foreign force, while its military deepens its occupation of the rest of Gaza, according to the pro-Netanyahu paper Israel Hayom, which reported the plan approvingly.
🔸Under the plan, unarmed civilians would be directed to a first zone in Tel al-Sultan, near Rafah, an area Drop Site has documented Israel systematically razing.
🔸A “multinational force” - the ISF - operating under the Trump administration’s “Board of Peace” would deploy there from a newly built base, equipped to police the zones, while the Israeli military “continues to maintain and deepen its hold” beyond the Yellow Line.
🔸 The camp/base for the force “has already been built,” and the Board of Peace has “begun identifying sites” for logistics warehouses, with the groundwork underway now, and deployment in the coming weeks.
🔸The paper described the effort as a “pincer movement”: the military seizing more territory as the population is siphoned into the controlled zones, in the hope that Hamas is left “without a population, territory or resources.”
🔸Officials said the areas would receive caravans and aid, but not the concrete needed to actually rebuild Gaza.
◽️The plan matches what Drop Site has previously exposed through leaked documents: a surveilled, checkpoint-controlled “planned community” in Rafah designed to force Palestinians into what amounts to an Israeli panopticon, tracked and screened as a condition of receiving aid.
🔸An Israeli political source told the paper the military would keep up “the pace of targeted killings while remaining below the threshold of international criticism… as long as Hamas is unwilling to disarm.”
📸 The buildup is already visible: the “Board of Peace” itself posted images of tactical vehicles arriving at a logistics base on June 30, matching the article’s account of preparations underway.
They Fearmonger About “Communism” Because They Can’t Oppose Real Problems
As self-styled “democratic socialists” make some advancements in blue states, Republicans have launched a renewed fearmongering campaign about the urgent threat of “communism” — an ideology with no meaningful political existence in the United States.
At a speech on Wednesday, President Trump said that “communism is the greatest threat to our country” and would lead to “the ultimate annihilation of civilization.” This is just the latest in a string of rhetoric from the president as he tries to drum up fear about progressive Democrats to prevent massive losses in the midterms.
Democratic socialist politicians are still a small minority in US politics, and conflating them with communists is absurd. Communism seeks the complete dismantling of capitalism and the imperialist world order it holds in place at gunpoint, while western “democratic socialists” typically just seek a gentler, more photogenic capitalist empire where things like healthcare and public transportation are funded by taxes.
The west in general and the US in particular have spent generations stomping out communism, and, at least within the confines of the western world, they have been remarkably successful at it. In 2026 the United States is so very, very, very, very, VERY far from communism that viewing it as a threat is just a sign of weak-minded cowardice and jumping-at-shadows paranoia. It’s kind of like reading about a brush fire in Nigeria and worrying that it’s going to burn its way across the world to show up on your doorstep.
But I suppose if I were in Trump’s position I might be fearmongering about communism, too. He just lost the war in Iran, everyone hates his support for Israel, people are critical of his astonishing levels of corruption and his known Epstein associations, and it’s not like he disagrees with Democrats on enough issues to take a real position of substance. What else does he have in his arsenal besides vapid fearmongering about an imaginary boogie man?
The leader of the most murderous and tyrannical power structure on earth can’t take a stand against the real problems in our world, because the power structure is the source of those problems. So instead he has to invent fictional monsters to fight.
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House lawmakers have blocked a congressional debate to remove Section 219 (formerly Section 224) from the national defense spending bill, which means the US and Israel will be intimately merging their military technology to a significantly greater extent than they already were.
And hell, why not. Why keep pretending the US and Israeli war machines are two separate entities. Why keep pretending Israel’s war crimes are separate from America’s war crimes.
If you’re already living together, you might as well get married.
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US human rights expert and antiwar activist Dan Kovalik was recently detained at Liverpool’s John Lennon Airport by UK counterterrorism police, where they reportedly confiscated his devices, interrogated him, took his fingerprints, and even took a DNA sample.
The empire’s war on dissent continues.
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Also in the UK, The Canary has been de-banked by Lloyds, placing the anti-Zionist outlet under immediate financial crisis. As of this writing Lloyds has refused to justify the move, but this new development is definitely something to keep an eye on. If banks start dropping dissident media because of their content, we’re all in a whole lot of trouble.
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You always see liberal Zionists claiming that it’s possible to love Israel and hate Benjamin Netanyahu. This is an absurd position to hold, because there’s nothing you can hate about Netanyahu that isn’t also innately true of the apartheid state of Israel.
Hate Netanyahu because he’s racist? Israel has always been racist.
Hate Netanyahu because he’s a war criminal? Israel has always committed war crimes.
Hate Netanyahu because he abuses and oppresses Palestinians? Israel has always abused and oppressed Palestinians.
Hate Netanyahu because he starts wars with Israel’s neighbors? Israel has always started wars with its neighbors.
Liberal Zionists act like Netanyahu has all these bad qualities that the genocidal apartheid state of Israel does not also have, but that’s just plain false. Israel was built on the premise of nonstop violence and abuse, and nonstop violence and abuse is all it has ever delivered, from its very inception.
Israel was built on a political ideology that is inherently racist and violent, and it is that racism and violence that elevated Benjamin Netanyahu to power.
Netanyahu didn’t create Israel’s violence and racism. Israel’s violence and racism created Netanyahu.
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Two five-star hotels got whacked in Kiev on opposite sides of the street. Speculation suggests mercenaries / foreign military specialists / representatives of decision-makers were housed there.
Or perhaps air defenses just decided to give them one-star ratings?
July 1st - Israel War on South Lebanon updates:
Israeli occupation army escalated its sabotaging and demolition operations in areas occupied by its ground forces in South Lebanon, which forms about 7% of Lebanese official territories.
Demolitions and fires were reported in the last 24 hours in Markaba, Beit Yahoun, Tiri and Haddatha.
I don’t know whether the world is truly aware or is deliberately turning a blind eye to what is happening right now in Gaza.
But this is exactly how they are planning the so called “New Gaza” they keep talking about.
They want to impose oppressive camps inside the city, disguised as fake natural reserves, surrounded by harsh barbed wire that prevents anyone from leaving as if they are caging an entire population inside iron enclosures under the sky.
This is the “future” they are planning: tightly sealed prisons, all under the name of reconstruction.
🧵 A single hugely powerful "technology company" has secured a massive foothold across key parts of the US federal government. Its software now "supports operations" ranging from military battlefied decision making to agricultural data management and immigration enforcement.
I hold out hope because people aren't buying the propaganda like they used to.
I hold out hope because trust in the imperial media is at an all-time low while our ability to attack and discredit the official narrative is at an all-time high.
I hold out hope because more and more people are realizing that capitalism simply does not work.
I hold out hope because empires don't last forever.
I hold out hope because Iran just kicked the shit out of the US and Israel.
I hold out hope because China is showing the world that a nation can use its wealth and resources to improve human quality of life, harness renewable energy and expand scientific innovation instead of using the wealth and resources to wage wars and turn billionaires into trillionaires.
I hold out hope because Gen Z proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that it is morally superior to any generation which came before it with its forceful and uncompromising opposition to the genocide in Gaza.
I hold out hope because even as Israel keeps increasing its propaganda budget and Zionists keep expanding their influence over news outlets and social media, Israel's worldwide approval rating keeps plummeting anyway.
I hold out hope because I've seen too many miraculous and inexplicable things in this life to believe revolutionary change is impossible.
I hold out hope because I know from my own personal experience that humans have vast untapped potential within themselves just waiting to be unlocked.
I hold out hope because I've seen so many longtime teachers of spiritual enlightenment say they're getting more and more people coming to them after having spontaneous radical awakenings without any prior spiritual seeking.
I hold out hope because I'm seeing more and more chatter online about a strange phenomenon I've been experiencing in which people discharge deep psychological conditioning and energetic fixation points from their bodies using burps and dry heaves.
I hold out hope because a huge number of our problems are caused by doing way too many stupid things for stupid reasons we made up in our heads, so all that’s required is to stop doing them.
I hold out hope because fuck 'em, that's why.
I hold out hope because the bastards who are destroying our world don't want me to hold out hope.
I hold out hope because the most obnoxious propagandists are always telling us that revolutionary change is unrealistic, that environmental catastrophe is just a reality we all need to get used to, that AI is inevitable, that socialism is a silly pipe dream, that capitalism is the only system that could ever work, and that a better world is not possible.
I hold out hope because I refuse to give them the satisfaction of bending my will toward hopelessness.
I hold out hope because all our problems are ours to solve, and we can solve both our inner and our outer problems in the same way: by getting real with ourselves about what is true and what is fear.
I hold out hope because we live in wildly unprecedented times, and in unprecedented times, hopelessness is an irrational position — because nobody knows what's going to happen.
I hold out hope because, from where I'm sitting, it truly looks like the only sensible way to be.
WHO GIVES WHAT TO THE WORLD?
China exports about $3.6 trillion worth of goods a year, with billions of dollars in tech hardware (phones, computers, broadcast equipment) being the top sector.
The U.S.’s biggest export is war and conflict. The price is beyond calculation, with so many eye-wateringly large secondary costs.
A Visual Capitalist report based on data from the IEP Global Peace Index 2025 was headlined: "$19 Trillion Global Cost of Conflict" -- that includes US-related wars, other wars, and the resultant refugee crises.
The military has long been the US’s biggest employer.
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OFFICIAL ANSWER
Now if you ask the US administration about this, they’ll tell you that their official biggest export is petroleum products.
Sure. But that’s a telling distraction: global control of that very resource is the foundation of the country’s appetite for war.
Creation of conflict overseas has been a mainstay since the end of the second world war. The number of US regime change operations in the modern era is at least 72 according to US scholars (O’Rourke, 2018).
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OIL WARS
But most of these operations (Italy, Guatemala, Congo, Brazil, Beijing, Hong Kong, Iran) are covert. Only the overt ones, which turn into hot wars, are acknowledged by the media. These involve oil.
Gulf War 1990
The U.S. launched Operation Desert Storm to reverse Iraq's control of Kuwait's vast oil reserves and to prevent the people of Iraq dominating the global oil supply.
Iraq War 2003
The official reason (“Iraq has nukes”) was an obvious lie, so the spotlight fell on the US’s other goal, to secure Middle Eastern oil fields.
Europe, 2022
US-led expansionism in Ukraine violated agreements, triggering a war in which the western side halted and/ or destroyed fuel pipeline supplies from Russia. This crippled industry, especially in Germany, and Europeans had to boost purchases of oil and gas from the US.
Venezuela 2026
After crippling the country through years of sanctions, the US abducted its leader. Donald Trump made no secret of the US goal, which was to “take their oil”.
Iran 2026
The US and Israel launched an illegal war on Iran, stopping the Iranians getting oil to China, a country the US is targeting for rising from poverty.
Russia, Venezuela, Iran – ongoing
The US and its allies have placed illegal unilateral sanctions on oil-bearing ships with links to Venezuela, Iran and Russia.
The ships are dubbed “shadow fleet tankers” to make them sound illegal (although they are not). The US then grabs the ships and takes their cargoes.
The UK and France have also snatched ships under the same extremely dubious pretext.
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TARGET: EXPORTING WAR TO ASIA
Can the US appetite for exporting wars be curbed? It appears not.
- The US is currently running RIMPAC, a war games rehearsal operation in the Pacific, with 31 countries involved.
- The US has called for the re-animation of the Japanese army, infamous for its astonishing levels of aggression and cruelty to its neighbors during the second World War.
- The US wants to exploit Australia as a giant military base—and make Australian taxpayers cover the costs.
- US-aligned leaders in the EU and UK are pushing an unprecedented rearmament push, with analysts last week projecting a cumulative $1 trillion or more in spending on new weapons and related expenses between 2025 and 2035 (WSJ).
The long-term plan is for Europe to go to war on Russia while the US launches a war on China. The US Dept of War calls this "division of labor".
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OPPOSITE OF DEMOCRACY
But there’s one more number we must consider.
The west is just 13 per cent of humanity. Their historical contribution to the world in terms of music, science, literature and so on is beyond doubt.
Yet the west’s current leadership, scrambling to retain global dominance through mass investment in weapons and war, is clearly bad for everyone, west and east.
It's hard to imagine anything less democratic than a 13 per cent minority using military "overmatch" to retain dominance over the other 87 per cent.
Only a revolution in the west can make the world a safer, fairer place for all of us.
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Alastair Crooke explains why Donald Trump has been so subservient to Israel on Going Underground:
‘Sheldon Adelson saved Trump. In the 80s and 90s the whole Trump empire was collapsing because the Atlantic Trump Casino was in financial difficulties, but the structure of his company meant that he would lose all his properties.
And it was Sheldon Adelson who put together some like-minded pro-Israeli billionaires that saved him.
So he owed everything, if you like, to that group of Israeli billionaires. They saved him, and he’s been repaying them in kind ever since.’
Here we see the IDF blowing up a kindergarten in southern Gaza, once again invoking the worn out claim that it was being used by Hamas.
Israel has already destroyed more than 92% of Palestinian schools, leaving more than 600,000 Palestinian children without access to education.
Iran is rapidly preparing for more US aggression, as the Zionists push Trump toward confrontation. Tehran will not cede the Strait of Hormuz - nor tolerate Zionist occupation and genocide in Lebanon.
https://t.co/WynVlsD6pk
Meet Liav Goldstein, the man who oversees starvation and torture in Israeli concentration camps, according to a recent Haaretz exposé.
Make him famous.
That shilling moment when an Israeli soldier decided it still would be a good idea to shoot an elderly woman in Gaza while she was holding her grandson’s hand,while both of them were waiving a white flag, after the IDF had promised them a safe passage.....
Continued confrontation in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz will lead to the swift depletion of Trump's oil reserves. He knows it, and Iran knows it.
https://t.co/dswoalRWby
🚨 ZELENSKY @ZelenskyyUa GO OUT OF FRANCE ‼️‼️‼️
🚨Prominent French Politician Philippe de Villiers:
"This little Nazi (ZELENSKY) who's going to show up on the Champs-Élysées, it doesn't bode well for me. Because the French army represents resistance to Nazism. If France still exists, it's because it resisted Nazism. So all these collaborators with Nazism, who are also corrupt, I don't want to see them in Paris."