Billionaire investor Ray Dalio warns U.S. is ‘on the brink’ and estimates a more than 1 in 3 chance of civil war Fortune
Civil War taught how to influence news media. It nearly cost Lincoln re-election FOX. Worth a read.
How Government Helped Birth the Advertising Industry JSTOR Daily
Climate
Weather Like the Deadly Houston Windstorm Is Being Fueled in Part by Climate Change Bloomberg. Heard about Houston?
JUST IN: Apocalyptic scenes out of Houston, Texas as severe thunderstorms sweep through the city, demolishing buildings in the downtown area.
80 mph winds blew out windows in downtown Houston and knocked out power for 1 million residents.
Four people have reportedly been… pic.twitter.com/pwkemOcnKf
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) May 17, 2024
Oopsie:
It was windy in Houston last night. pic.twitter.com/OAyj5yJLsq
— @amuse (@amuse) May 18, 2024
World’s Largest Forestry Offsets Project Has License Revoked Bloomberg. Wowsers. Could this whole carbon offsets thing be a scam?!
Menace on the Menu: The Financialisation of Farmland and the War on Food and Farming Countercurrents
Meet The Sámi Land Defenders of Scandinavia Atmos
Water
Water firm ‘fallen short’ on parasite outbreak BBC
Pandemics
Prevalence and co-occurrence of cognitive impairment in children and young people up to 12-months post infection with SARS-CoV-2 (Omicron variant) Brain, Behavior, and Immunity. The Abstract: “12 months after SARS-CoV-2 infection, around 7 % of children and young people report ‘brain fog’ i.e., cognitive impairment.” On the bright side, they’ll probably grow up to be libertarians….
Ambient carbon dioxide concentration correlates with SARS-CoV-2 aerostability and infection risk Nature. From the Abstract: “We show here that a significant increase in SARS-CoV-2 aerostability results from a moderate increase in the atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration (e.g. 800 ppm), an effect that is more marked than that observed for changes in relative humidity. We model the likelihood of COVID-19 transmission on the ambient concentration of CO2, concluding that even this moderate increase in CO2 concentration results in a significant increase in overall risk. These observations confirm the critical importance of ventilation and maintaining low CO2 concentrations in indoor environments for mitigating disease transmission.” So, CO2 is not merely a proxy for the presence of the virus in shared air, but an actual risk factor.
* * *
H5N1 doesn’t have to be a repeat of Covid-19’s ‘public health versus the economy’ STAT
Highly Pathogenic Bird Flu Detected in Birds in New York City Science Alert. By citizen science!
China?
China new home prices fall at fastest pace in over 9 years Channel News Asia
China’s ‘AI-in-a-box’ products threaten Big Tech’s cloud growth strategies FT
Great Green Wall Polycrisis
Vietnam nominates public security minister as new president Channel News Asia
The Koreas
‘My heart still hurts’: The personal sacrifice of revealing a K-pop scandal BBC
European Disunion
How Entanglement with China Erodes Germany’s Strategic Autonomy RUSI. Sheesh, China blew up the Nord Stream pipeline. What is Germany thinking?
* * *
Slovakia’s Fico ‘further stabilised’ after assassination attempt, judge rules suspect to stay in custody France24
The Drive for War Craig Murray. “Can you imagine the outrage and emotion that would have been expressed by Western powers if not Fico but a pro-Ukraine, anti-Russian leader within the EU had been attacked?”
Crosshairs New Left Review. On Robert Fico.
Russian Disinfo Campaign Blames Ukraine for Shooting of Slovakia’s Prime Minister Wired but Zelenskyy comments on Slovakian PM’s scorn for Slovaks who raised money for shells for Ukraine Ukrainska Pravda. Personally, since Ukraine says Russia did it, I assume Ukraine did it.
Syraqistan
Pro-Israeli billionaires fuel NYC Mayor crackdown on Columbia students Al Mayadeen. “[S]ome members expressed willingness to fund private [Israeli?] investigators to aid the New York police in managing the protests, as indicated in the chat log.” Important.
Israel’s Gantz demands Gaza post-war plan, threatens to quit gov’t Al Jazeera
Israel on losing end in Gaza war: Former Mossad deputy chief Anadolu Agency
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Aid trucks roll across US military-built pier to Gaza for first time France24. Photo:
The trucks are half-empty (or, depending on your perspective, half-full). Why?
* * *
Yemen’s Houthis will target all ships heading to Israel, group says Reuters
How Tiny Djibouti Said ‘No’ to the U.S. Over Houthi Red Sea Attacks Bloomberg
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15 Witnesses, Three Confessions, a Pattern of Naked Dead Bodies. All the Evidence of Hamas Rape on October 7 Haaretz:
However, at Shura Base, to which most of the bodies were taken for purposes of identification, there were five forensic pathologists at work. In that capacity, they also examined bodies that arrived completely or partially naked in order to examine the possibility of rape. According to a source knowledgeable about the details, there were no signs on any of those bodies attesting to sexual relations having taken place or of mutilation of genitalia.
At the same time, because there were only five forensic pathologists at work, they managed to oversee the examination of a quarter of the bodies at most. In other words, about 75 percent of the bodies were buried without having undergone a professional examination.
Israel troops continue posting abuse footage despite pledge to act BBC
New Not-So-Cold War
Ukraine’s mobilization law comes into force as new Russian push strains troops ABC
Old men belong here. How Ukrainian Armed Forces have become 40+ age army and whether lowering mobilisation age will affect combat capability Ukrainska Pravda
The War in Ukraine is Over as Russia Has Destroyed Ukraine’s Army (interview) Jacques Baud, Dialogue Works
* * *
Zelenskyy sees prospects for new Ukrainian counteroffensive Ukrainska Pravda
Key points from Zelensky’s interview to AFP Agence France Presse. Zelensky: “As for the aircraft, I say this openly, so that Russia does not have air superiority, our fleet should have 120 to 130 modern aircraft.” And a pony!
Ukraine Asks for U.S. Help in Striking Targets Inside Russia WSJ
* * *
Russian court seizes millions of euros worth of German bank assets France24. Only millions?
To Run the World — Moscow’s quest for power and parity with the US FT
Global Elections
Controversy erupts over India’s electoral bonds, opposition calls it ‘world’s biggest scam’ Channel News Asia
2024
Here’s how Robert F. Kennedy Jr. could make the first debate stage under stringent Biden-Trump rules Boston Globe
Trump demands Biden ‘drug test,’ rips ‘radical’ RFK Jr. in bid to ‘rebellious bunch’ at NRA FOX
Antitrust
The education of Lina Khan, whose superpower is busting monopolies WaPo
The Supremes
Consumers, Financial Services Win With CFPB Making Rules of Road Adam Levitin, Bloomberg
At Justice Alito’s House, a ‘Stop the Steal’ Symbol on Display NYT
Spook Country
‘I’m the new Oppenheimer!’: my soul-destroying day at Palantir’s first-ever AI warfare conference Guardian
Here’s How the CIA Plans To Use Your Ad Tracking Data Reason
Assange
WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange faces U.S. extradition judgment day Reuters. Let’s hope for a positive outcome.
Digital Watch
EU warns Microsoft it could be fined billions over missing GenAI risk info TechCrunch
Reddit goes AI agnostic, signs data training deal with OpenAI The Register. How long before Autocoprophagy takes over completely, and AI training sets -> bot Reddit posts -> AI training sets?
Groves of Academe
Priorities:
It’s finals week at UCSF medical school and the library is closed to students bc admin turned it into a police headquarters pic.twitter.com/66Np5fvNyG
— Jersey Noah 🔻 (@JerseyNoahx) May 18, 2024
Police Tactics at Some Pro-Palestine Protests Ignore Past Lessons The Marshall Project
MMT
Magic Monetary Theory Goes Primetime (excerpt) Matt Taibbi, Racket News. Taibbi does great work, but this ain’t it: “I spent nearly ten years listening to people who in previous eras would have been wandering pantless in asylums insist the solution to all of earth’s problems could be graphed on a napkin” (i.e., the Laffer Curve). Fair as far as it goes, but the media critique isn’t the right tool for the job when evaluating scholarly work, which Kelton’s is and Laffer’s wasn’t. Taibbi should either study up or stay in his lane.
Sports Desk
Pickleball Courts in a Legal Pickle (press release) Acoustical Society of America
Zeitgeist Watch
Vatican revamps norms to evaluate visions of Mary; aims to combat hoax Business Standard
Feral Hog Watch
New Study: Canada’s “Super Pig” Invasion Likely to Spread into Northern U.S. Field and Stream
Imperial Collapse Watch
As American global hegemony ends, multi-alignment rises The Hill. Interesting to see in this venue.
It hurts, but it’s holy London Review of Books. Interpreting British imperialism.
Class Warfare
The End of Southern Anti-Union Politics Compact. But not so fast–
Mercedes workers in Alabama vote against joining UAW The Hill. Commentary:
How to find Your Local Wobbly History The Anarchist Library. Something to be said for paper storage. Anybody want to rewrite Ozymandias, but for post-collapse data centers?
Antidote du jour (via fveronesi1):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
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