Nature’s oldest mandolin: The poetic science of cicada calls marginalian
Rare outbreak of billions of cicadas will rewire our ecosystem for years to come vox
Judge-holder issues in resolving sovereign debt issues credit slip
climate
Market-based systems do not reduce deforestation and poverty: report Phys.org
Climate change: The world’s oceans are experiencing record heat BBC. Now that we know that whales can talk… Whale 1: “It was hot today!” Whale 2: “how hot was it? ”
Big donors in collusion with OPEC Outlook. The FTC is working hard. Donors on both sides….
Mycocycle uses mushrooms to upcycle old tires and construction waste tech crunch
pandemic
Does the public understand that “mutant” means “vaccine resistant”? gauntlet
FDA postpones advisory committee meeting on upcoming coronavirus vaccine Infectious Disease Research Policy Center
* * * Future of the “Ruby Princess” incident and new coronavirus lawsuits Peter Vogel Law. “Plague Ship”
The battle over airborne viruses is finally over.Now it’s time for some healthy ventilation scientific american
Long-term COVID-19 infections in the workplace: A guide for managers Harvard Business Review. I’m not kidding, the “diversity and inclusion” rubric.
* * * Could bird flu become the next coronavirus? How worried should we be? boston globe
* * * Meet Dr. Sammy, a Colorado researcher trying to prevent the next bee pandemic Colorado Sun
water
China?
Xi skips bombed embassy visit after vowing to ‘never forget’ bloomberg
Departing on a golden journey of China-Hungary relations Magyar Nemzet
* * * China’s exports recover in April, providing economic stimulus bloomberg
China just sent a secret small rover to the far side of the moon with its Chang’e 6 sample return probe space dot com
How eating and chopstick skills are helping ease tensions between the US and China Al Jazeera
India
brand new india Phenomenal World
syrakistan
Biden: Will not give Israel offensive weapons to attack population centers in Rafah era of Israel. Deck: “The unprecedented and blatant threat marks a stunning shift from a president who has long refused conditional support to Israel. Officials said the United States remains committed to releasing the hostages. Commentary:
Yes, that’s what Biden officials said shortly after quietly acknowledging that Israel already has all the American weapons needed to invade Rafah. https://t.co/HzCnqUYky7 https://t.co/92o6EujOMa pic.twitter.com/LVurjteHC1
— Aaron Mate (@aaronjmate) May 8, 2024
Israel promises to limit Operation Rafah, allows US private company to manage crossings with Egypt Haaretz. The name of the security company was not disclosed.
* * * Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s dilemma: hostages or save the government? F.T.
* * * What went wrong in Yemen: Q&A with Alexandra Stark land
US politician’s letter to ICC undermines international law South China Morning Post (Furzy Mouse).
discord in europe
Eurovision Song Contest opens in Sweden amid Gaza protests france 24
A new war that’s not so cold war
Ukraine warns of power outages following ‘massive’ attack on power plant NDTV
After the Russian attack, electricity imports cannot fully cover the deficit ukrainska pravda
* * * Ukraine’s parliament passes military service bill for prisoners of war Al Jazeera. Barrel sharpening.
Ukraine SitRep: Eating corn seeds – intervention threat and response alabama moon
EU agrees to use profits from Russian state assets to weaponize Ukraine Fox
* * * Ukrainian satellite systems could be used by the Russian military – Slidstvo.info investigation Ukraineska Pravda. “These systems are manufactured in Uzhgorod, Ukraine, by a factory owned by the American outsourcing company Jabir Circuits for the Israeli company Gilat Satellite Networks.” So, a backdoor?
Russia’s stealth tanker fleet refuels in European waters as EU considers new regulations S&P Global
* * * No one could have predicted:
One evening in the bitter cold of winter 2014, I went to the Maidan with my Ukrainian translator and her mother. It was packed and had a festival-like atmosphere. “What do you think about this?” her interpreter asked me as her mother waved a large Ukrainian flag above her head.
“That probably won’t happen… pic.twitter.com/7HnPHoolh3
— Johnny Miller (@johnnyjmils) May 7, 2024
caribbean
Haiti’s transitional council embraces new changes as gang violence grips country AP
global elections
“My vote was stolen”: How to win Indian elections without casting a single vote Al Jazeera
“Funk money”: the end of empires, the expansion of tax havens, and decolonization as an economic and financial event past and present. From 2020 it is still in German.
BRICS: Gold rush takes control of the Union Infoblix. Please tell me how it works.
Biden administration
U.S. chip production capacity could triple by 2032, industry group says business standard
Globe of Academy
UCLA encampment:
under the jumbotron london book reviews
A Year of Palestine Exception at Columbia University nation
* * * Ghost of 68 years sidecar. It’s a must read.
No one knows what university is for atlantic
* * * Sullivan & Cromwell plans careful hiring checks after protests Bloomberg. Extremely mean.
The suppression of campus protests has gone too far. Perry Bacon, Wapo
Editorial: Amid campus chaos, frat brothers stand up for American values boston herald
police state surveillance
NYPD union sues Adams administration over new ‘zero tolerance’ policy on steroid use among police officers new york daily news
Florida lawmaker burst into the wrong apartment and shot and killed a U.S. airman, lawyer says orlando sentinel
digital watch
Stack Overflow bans users en masse for rebelling against OpenAI partnership – Bans users who deleted answers to prevent them from being used for ChatGPT training Tom’s Hardware. Open theft. As usual. Like Reddit. Training set = Loot.
Singapore authors and publishers reject government plan to train AI on their works Rest of the world
Slop is the new name for AI-generated unwanted content Simon Willison’s Weblog
* * * Big brains split over training AI with more AI: Is model collapse inevitable? Register. This deck: “Oh, now we think recursion is a problem solved.”
AI, reducing internalities and externalities Cass Sunstein, SSRN. “AI-powered choice engines may also consider externalities, and may encourage or require consumers to do so. Different consumers may, of course, care about different things. This is why we insist on a high degree of freedom of choice, even if there are internalities and (to some extent) externalities. It is important to emphasize that this is a phishing equation, so it can be used by others to exploit insufficient information or behavioral biases to reduce consumer welfare. Rather than “it will happen,” in fact, “it is already happening.”
OpenAI lets you peek behind the curtain of AI’s secret commands tech crunch
boeing
Boeing whistleblower says he was pressured to cover up flaws The Hill. New player Santiago Paredes. “He said he would see hundreds of defects on parts on a regular basis, and was even given the nickname ‘Shower’ by upper management because he would frequently delay production for inspection.” Ta.
class war
Our lives in portfolios: Why asset managers own the world — Brett Christophers (Book review) Marx and philosophy
When an employer violates the NLRA, the harm is always irreparable About labor
new sundown towns new republic
The lost mystery of multicellular prokaryotes Quanta
The immediate antidote (via:
See yesterday’s link and antidote. here.
