These birds carry a toxin deadlier than cyanide National Geographic
Climate/Environment
US oil firms pumping secret chemicals into ground and not fully reporting it The Guardian
The Critical Minerals Fueling Green Tech Are Also Fueling Conflict World Politics Review
***
Tornado outbreak likely costliest US severe weather event of 2025 Reinsurance News
‘It’s a gamble’: Homeowners, experts testify on soaring property insurance InsuranceNewsNet
Prescient Warnings About Helene Didn’t Reach People in Harm’s Way. Here Are 5 Lessons for the Next Hurricane. ProPublica
Signs of human error grow in failure to evacuate Altadena during fire. But who is to blame? Los Angeles Times
Pandemics
Fevers in city hospitals, previously caused mainly by influenza A and B, are now increasingly linked to Covid-19. As a result, surgeons have canceled critical procedures such as transplants, bypass surgeries, and heart valve replacements, doctors said. #news pic.twitter.com/EA5FhinFsB
— Chennai Live Digital 104.8 (@chennailive1048) May 20, 2025
XEC variant of Covid-19 ‘spreading 7 times faster than the flu’ Bangkok Post
Health experts warn of increase in flu deaths among New York’s children Spectrum News 1
China?
United States Appears Set to Skip World Health Assembly while China Sends Over 180 Delegates to Geneva Health Policy Watch
China to donate $500 million to WHO, stepping into gap left by U.S. WaPo
***
Exclusive: Tech race with China is top intel priority, deputy CIA director says Axios
“Just Count the Server Racks”… ChinaTalk
Nvidia says U.S. export controls on AI chips to China were ‘a failure’ Reuters
China Threatens Enforcers of US’s Huawei Curbs With Legal Action Bloomberg
BYD is outselling Ford in Mexico in the first four months of 2025. https://t.co/9771d4aQP1
— Nat Bullard (@NatBullard) May 20, 2025
Old Blighty
The troubling case of Lucy Connolly Wrong Side of History
Third man charged over fires at homes linked to PM BBC. Another Ukrainian.
European Disunion
Ukrainian lawyer Andrii Portnov shot dead outside American School in Madrid El Pais. Former adviser to ex-president Viktor Yanukovych rumored to possess sensitive information on Zelensky.
EU countries greenlight €150 billion loan plan for joint defence procurement Euractiv
Europe’s Eclipse of Intelligence – Intro Finn Andreen’s Substack
Syraqistan
Netanyahu sets displacement of Palestinians from Gaza as ‘condition’ to end genocide The Cradle
It’s Hard to Raise Good Children in a Country That Normalizes Killing Children Haaretz
***
Israel Fires “Warning Shots” at EU Diplomats — Day After UK Suspends Trade Talks Truthout
British media are pivoting HARD against Israel. She’s talking to this Israeli like he’s a Russian. https://t.co/CwJsbi6Mz2
— Caitlin Johnstone (@caitoz) May 21, 2025
David Lammy has explicitly ruled out stopping the UK export of F-35 parts to Israel, knowing these warplanes are being used in Gaza.#DCUKparliament pic.twitter.com/glpqT1Uczj
— Declassified UK (@declassifiedUK) May 21, 2025
All the genociders must go Anti-Empire Project. “By presenting fake divisions inside of this elite, they give the people false hopes that the genocide can be stopped while they remain in charge, if they could be asked in just the right way.”
***
2 Israeli Embassy staff members killed outside Jewish museum in Washington, DC CNN
The Israel Embassy Shooter Manifesto Ken Klippenstein
***
Rubio warns Syria could be weeks away from ‘full-scale civil war’ BBC
Iranian diplomats suspect Trump using talks as instrument of sabotage The Grayzone
New Not-So-Cold War
Russia Has Started Losing the War in Ukraine Foreign Policy. Michael Kimmage, director of the Kennan Institute at the Wilson Center in Washington, not giving up.
SITREP 5/21/25: Trump ‘Distances’ US from Ukraine as Russia Smashes AFU’s Defenses on Donetsk Front Simplicius
Dozens Killed in Iskander Missile Strike on Ukrainian Training Camp: New Tactics Increase Lethality Military Watch
Trump Tells European Leaders in Private That Putin Isn’t Ready to End War WSJ
Europe considers the perils of flying fighters in Ukraine’s airspace Al Jazeera
Time for Europe to Take the Lead on Sanctioning Russiahttps://t.co/47bQUID9eh
— Michael McFaul (@McFaul) May 21, 2025
L’affaire Epstein
Jeffrey Epstein’s Dark Legacy Still Clouds the Virgin Islands Lee Fang
Spook Country
Phone companies failed to warn senators about surveillance, Wyden says Politico
“Golden Dome”
SpaceX Poised to Profit From Trump’s Golden Dome Fantasy Gizmodo
Unusually strong words by China about Trump’s “Golden Dome” which they say they’re “gravely concerned” by.
As they explain Trump “intends to create an unconstrained, global, multi-layer and multi-domain missile defense system”, with “plans to expand the US arsenal of means for… https://t.co/W3544O0xdR
— Arnaud Bertrand (@RnaudBertrand) May 21, 2025
“Liberation Day”
The high tariffs are up blowing up supply contactors. Here’s how to protect your company. Inside China / Business
China-US Trade Soars as Exporters Race to Hit Trade Truce Window Bloomberg
Tariffs, inflation and leery customers are hitting retailers in different ways AP
This Woolworths budget friendly meal consists of frozen vegetables, half price noodles, and a discounted can of spam.
This is so fucking depressing. pic.twitter.com/6lfEi6tKnu
— Damien🐰🐱 (@RabidLagomorph) May 20, 2025
Trump 2.0
Pentagon officially accepts Qatari jet for Trump’s use The Hill
Notes on the Trump-Ramaphosa White Riot Rootless Cosmopolitan
***
House GOP releases changes to megabill Politico
CBO Report Shows Trump-GOP Bill Would Spur Unparalleled Wealth Transfer From Poor to Rich Common Dreams
GOP bill raises fears of major reduction in home care for seniors, disabled The Hill
The GOP plan to cut the EITC via administrative burdens Can We Still Govern?. EITC=Earned Income Tax Credit
GOP Funhouse
Nancy Mace shows nude photo of herself in House hearing as she says she was recorded without consent The Independent
Democrats en déshabillé
Democrats Throw Money at a Problem: Countering G.O.P. Clout Online New York Times
Justice Dept. investigating former New York Gov. Cuomo over pandemic testimony, AP source says AP
A huge Democratic victory in Omaha offers a lesson for the party The Guardian
Boeing
Boeing Increases 737 Production Pace as Quality, Safety Culture Improves Reuters
FAA Plans 787 Inspections For Non-Compliant Titanium Aviation Week
Imperial Collapse Watch
The Era Of The Business Idiot Where’s Your Ed At?
FAA implements ground delay at Austin airport due to staffing issues at control tower CBS Austin
Groves of Academe
California school enrollment continues to drop as poor and homeless student numbers rise Los Angeles Times
AI
When AI runs a company, who is the beneficial owner? Tax Justice Network
Provision in Spending Bill Could Protect Health Insurers From AI-Accountability HEALTH CARE un-covered
Microsoft’s Head of AI Security Accidentally Reveals Walmart’s Private AI Plans After Pro-Palestine Protest Gizmodo
Google I/O Day Don’t Worry About the Vase
Maybe my best example of the speciousness of Google’s proposed remedies for its lawbreaking…Google just posted that requiring it allow publishers to selectively opt their content out of Google’s AI models has no bearing on its search monopoly (and abuses). Seriously. pic.twitter.com/sJEe9mTxNw
— Jason Kint (@jason_kint) May 22, 2025
Mr. Market
New GOP bill, projected to balloon the deficit, spooks the bond market Marketplace
Bitcoin price hit a new all-time high and data shows BTC bulls aren’t done yet Coin Telegraph
Healthcare?
Revealed: UnitedHealth secretly paid nursing homes to reduce hospital transfers The Guardian
And the Guardian tracked him down for an investigation of Medicare Advantage greed driven nursing home de facto death panels. Most of its revelations were referenced in Maxwell Ollivant’s 2020 whistleblower complaint, but the story paints a richer picture https://t.co/Nk4O3Yr5YQ
— moe tkacik (@moetkacik) May 21, 2025
Antitrust
Conservative Antitrust is Soulless Law and Power
Tech
THE PARENT TEST Protean Magazine
Antidote du jour (via):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
