World’s oldest sloth turns 54 at German zoo UPI
Review of “Catland” by Katherine Hughes – Footprints for Thought The Guardian. Much more interesting than a stupid headline.
climate
What you need to know about the record heat in the Atlantic Yale’s Climate Connection
The world is ignoring other deadly carbons Wired
* * * British weirdness indy
Researchers discover Colorado chickadees may lose memory to adapt to climate change Colorado Sun
* * * The War on the Commons: A Critical New History of the Bloody Rise of Capitalism, by Ian Angus. fire brand
Syndemics
HHS advances production plan for 4.8 million doses of H5N1 vaccine Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy. Obviously, we would probably have to vaccinate selectively near “hot spots.” But given that apparently untouched dairy farms have resisted testing and the CDC has screwed up our wastewater detection capabilities, it’s unclear on what basis the selection would be made. How about a lottery?
Michigan reports human case of bird flu, second in the country linked to H5N1 outbreak in dairy cows immediately. “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that a nasal swab taken from a Michigan farm worker tested negative for influenza. However, the person’s eye swab was sent to the CDC and tested positive for the H5 influenza virus. However, final confirmation that it is the H5N1 subtype is pending analysis of the genetic sequence.”Unlike in the respiratory system, I believe there are receptors found in birds. That’s probably the reason.
* * * North Carolina House votes against bill to reinstate mask-wearing restrictions CBS17. But:
…Once the language is changed, it goes to a committee in the first chamber (in this case, the House of Representatives). The committee decides whether to immediately “agree” with the changes. If not, a “consultative committee” of Senators and Representatives is formed to thoroughly study the language. There…
— Dr. J. Ophir (@dontwantadothis) May 22, 2024
So amended jubilation, despite the horrible Senate bill did it It’s over. So keep calling.
New COVID-19 FLiRT variants have FDA considering vaccine updates Bloomberg
The science behind the nose: Correlating volatile organic compound characterization and live detection of COVID-19 in dogs European Respiratory Society.From the abstract: “This study provides analytical confirmation that dog training aids can be manufactured safely and reliably with good discrimination between positive samples and negative controls.” Dog training requires 19 It took a week, but actually be interested With some investment, the time needed to detect the new coronavirus could be shortened.
* * * Regardless of your opinion on the origins of COVID-19, the NIH and CDC are institutionally like two rotten peas in the same pod.
There are currently hearings underway regarding allegations that top NIH/NIAID advisors tried to redact and circumvent the Federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Such documents concern both Republicans and Democrats. https://t.co/lx3Go0YFld pic.twitter.com/SbS6JXtqsc
— Alison Young (@alisonannyoung) May 22, 2024
‘Denial, blame, delay’: The battle over the risks of ultra-processed foods FT
China?
China creates master’s degree program in law trained to discuss Xi Jinping’s philosophy Registry
India
‘Everyone is totally terrified’: Inside the secret war by US allies against US critics vox
Shirakistan
Norway, Ireland and Spain recognize Palestinian state, Israel summons special envoy Channel News Asia
Janet Yellen warns Israel not to rescind exemption for Palestinian banks FT
* * * China wants ICC to be ‘objective’ after seeking arrest warrants for Israeli and Hamas leaders channel news asia
US senator supports ICC arrest warrant against Israeli leader Anadolu Agency. Sanders.
* * * Iranian media suggests ‘foul play’ and ‘conspiracy’ over Raisi’s death BNE Intellinews. “Naturally, the official report from the investigative team will be authoritative and reliable.” Of course! The theorizing and background is worth a read, though link-free.
* * * Israeli forces advance deeper into Rafah, continue offensive in the north france 24
New evidence on 9/11 points to deep Saudi complicity The Atlantic. Strange timing?
Dear Old Blighty
Rishi Sunak shocks Westminster with snap election FT
Long-Covid teachers join forces to sue ministers School week. Sounds good. Please do more of this. Please include not only the litigation part, but also the “working together” part.
Government advises households to prepare ’emergency kit’ for national crisis Telegraph. “You’re alone, boy!”
A new cold war
Read the transcript of Volodymyr Zelensky’s interview with The Times The New York Times. “Q. What do you say to people who argue that, because of the risk of escalation, that it’s too risky to allow Ukraine to use these weapons inside Russia? (BIG Z:) There is no risk of escalation. The escalation has already happened: Russian escalation against Ukraine…. In the first year of the war, when (Putin) couldn’t get us, he didn’t use (nuclear weapons), because he may be irrational, but he loves his life very much and he understands that the door will be closed completely. If he uses nuclear weapons, completely. Because the use of nuclear weapons is not a red line that should not be crossed. It’s on a different level, isn’t it? That’s the end of it. This is World War III. So, tell me, what could be an even bigger escalation than mass murder in Ukraine?”
US does not support attacking Russia with Western weapons, but it is up to Ukraine – Blinken Congress Ukraineska Pravda
Victoria Nuland: Ukraine ‘can turn this around’, bases in Russia ‘should be fair targets’ (Transcript) RealClearPolitics
Pentagon says Russia “likely” launched space weapon into orbit of U.S. satellite France 24. I hope that no trouble arises for Mr. Biden. along with everything else.
* * * NATO’s Phantom Army Aurelian, trying to understand the world
Advice led me to hell anarchist library
* * * Chechen leader meets with Russian President Putin, offers to send troops to Ukraine Reuters
Global Elections
Remote Himalayan family gets their own polling station for Indian elections channel news asia
Indian Lok Sabha elections: Analysis of rising voter turnout in Kashmir business standard
Biden Administration
CFPB Bitter Enderism Adam Levitin, credit slip
antitrust
US Department of Justice Seeks to Break Up Live Nation – Ticketmaster bloomberg
Why does the Biden White House hate its own policies? Matt Stoller, BIG. I can only see this whole endeavor as a long-term scam. When the time comes, Democrats will throw Lina Khan overboard and make a deal with Silicon Valley to extort big bucks and, more importantly, gain more control over the platform.
Digital Watches
AI Stupidity (1):
A Google AI overview suggests adding glue to stick cheese to pizza, but the source of that information turns out to be a comment by Reddit user F*cksmith from 11 years ago 😂 pic.twitter.com/uDPAbsAKeO
— Peter Gyang (@petergyang) May 23, 2024
AI Folly (2):
On the other hand, Google search
I didn’t know Andrew Johnson was that successful. pic.twitter.com/IV2zCmI6Zv— MMitchell (@mmitchell_ai) May 22, 2024
I stumbled upon LLM Kryptonite by accident – and no one wants to fix the bug that breaks this model The Register. Deck: “Faulty models can be harmless, but they are also dangerous. So why are reports of problems being completely ignored?” First, under financialization, stupid money has become too There are too many high-tech guys who fall in love with science fiction at the age of 15 and can’t get over it even when they grow up, and there’s a lot of corruption.
* * * Lawmakers advance bill to tighten White House export controls on AI models Register. It is clear that if we want to remain “on top” in the rules-based international order, we should export as many AI models as possible and encourage people to use them.
MetaAI chief says large-scale language models will never reach human intelligence FT
Inside NASA’s deliberations on ChatGPT Fed Scoop
Exclusive: OpenAI pledged 20% of its computing power to fight the most dangerous types of AI, but it didn’t materialize, sources say Fortune. Did OpenAI lie? That should not be.
* * * Spyware found on US hotel check-in computers tech crunch
basil
unit ecosystem UNIT Foundation. Brochureware. “UNIT (the token) is the unit of account in the UNIT ecosystem and represents a proportional share of the underlying UNIT basket, which contains 40% gold and local currencies and is freely convertible into gold. Each UNIT token is a fully fungible unit of currency. The intrinsic value of UNIT is derived from the current value of the underlying basket measured in gold.” Wow.
the last frontier
artemis madness Idle Words. I love this site’s motto: “Brevity is for the weak.”
Assange
Turning the tide Craig Murray. Murray reports on Assange’s hearing. Rule of Law > A rules-based international order, at least in some jurisdictions and some judges?
Boeing
Revealed: 300 Boeing planes used by United Airlines and American Airlines have a potential flaw that could cause the jet to explode mid-air Daily Mail. The headline is a bit clickbait-y, since it’s about the 777’s airworthiness directive. However, Reham Quoted in the Daily Mail…
guillotine watch
How financiers destroyed the homes and lives of thousands of people Cory Doctorow, Pluralism
Humphrey Davy’s notebooks reveal nitrous oxide, a love of poetry, and a dark side world of chemistry
What is human energy? Lapham’s Quarterly Magazine
An immediate antidote (Luc Viateur:
See yesterday’s link and antidote. here.
