“Aposiopesis”: 12-year-old girl wins US spelling bee BBC
How the Guinness Brewery Invented Science’s Most Important Statistical Method Scientific American
JPMorgan Launches Fractional Share Trading for Self-Directed Investors Finance Feed. “The latest feature announces that investors can buy a portion of a stock or exchange-traded fund for just $5.” Great. Taxi drivers, hairdressers, etc.
climate
We are all roadkill now salon
Angry homeowners in wealthy California city demand swift action on insurance crisis San Francisco Chronicle
Coevolution is the driving force behind biodiversity on Earth (Press Release) Australian National University
Global tourism is booming. People wish it wasn’t. BBC
Syndemics
Third US farm worker infected with bird flu becomes first to show respiratory symptoms status
We know how to eradicate TB, we just need the will. Governance
Dengue fever, once confined to the tropics, now threatens the U.S..NBC
* * * Acute and post-acute respiratory complications of SARS-CoV-2 infection: a population-based cohort study in Korea and Japan Nature. N = nationwide, claims-based cohort. From the abstract: “Persons with SARS-CoV-2 infection have a markedly increased risk of acute respiratory complications or post-acute respiratory sequelae compared with the general population. … The excess post-acute risk decreased over time after SARS-CoV-2 infection but persisted beyond 6 months after infection.”
Three-year outcomes of acute sequelae of COVID-19 Nature. From the abstract: “Here we constructed a cohort of 135,161 SARS-CoV-2-infected patients and 5,206,835 controls from the US Department of Veterans Affairs, followed for 3 years to estimate the risk of death and PASC.” And the discussion: “Overall, our findings indicate a persistently increased risk of major adverse outcomes in hospitalized patients, although there was a reduction in risk over 3 years of follow-up.” Commentary:
The big finding here is that even three years after mild infection, risk persists for three years in some organ systems (e.g., gastrointestinal tract and nervous system).
Healthcare professionals are taught that acute infections are short-term events with long-term health effects…
— Dr. Ziyad Al Ali (@zalaly) May 30, 2024
Further explanation:
Given that, on average, Americans are infected with COVID about every 12.5 months, would it be possible for a study to have a three-year “SARS-CoV-2-free control group”?
That’s not possible, not without historical controls. Here are some alternative ways to view the new Nature at a summary level. pic.twitter.com/rSRu41HvyZ
— Mike Hoerger, PhD, MSCR MBA (@michael_hoerger) May 30, 2024
The high-risk/low-risk myth: Part 1 Pandemic Accountability Index (AK). part 2. Word of the day: Vindicology.
China?
Diversion to China, a long thread from an expert:
First sneaker designer to be convicted on 34 felony charges pic.twitter.com/W7pBn7pKTM
— Derek Guy (@dieworkwear) May 30, 2024
China’s volunteer programmers work behind the scenes to free the internet Al Jazeera
Report on Human Rights Violations in the United States in 2023 Information Office of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China. The formatting is terrible, but the “next page” style links work. “Long-standing inequality in income distribution between workers and capitalists has led to the most severe wealth gap since the Great Depression of 1929.” Where’s the lie?
A Century of British Opium Trafficking and Chinese Humiliation (1839-1949) MR Online
Why dollarization is the solution to Laos’ economic woes Diplomat
Africa
Zimbabwe to be invited to join BRICS Info BRICS
Africa’s wealth centre BNE Intellectual News
Shiraksta
Joe Biden’s terrible Israel policy is actually an attempt to align with Saudi Arabia Intercept
Israel will not end war for deal to release all hostages, PM’s aide tells families The Israel Times
Israeli forces ‘definitely’ ignore court orders, kill people, charity says Anadolu Agency. Save the Children, damn it.
How Israeli security officials dismissed Haaretz’s report on Mossad blackmail allegations against the International Court of Justice prosecutor “They were told that if they published the story they would face the consequences and that it would give them an inside look into the interrogation rooms of Israeli security services,” Haaretz reported.
Anything goes in Netanyahu’s mafia state of Israel Haaretz.Who’s the naive one, Kay?“
Haaretz article questions health of Israeli “democracy” Al Jazeera
A new cold war
Why the US is allowing Ukraine to attack Russia Atlantic Council
US allows Ukrainian ballistic missiles to be launched deep into Russia: could missile early warning radar be first target? Military Watches
Germany says Ukraine could attack Russia using weapons supplied by Western countries Bloomberg
* * * * * * US offers security pact to Ukraine amid rising tensions between allies FT
“Ukraine Has Been Through Bad Times”: Q&A with Frederick and Kimberly Kagan NYT. If the Kagan family ever emerges from their nest of vipers into the light, we’re in big trouble.
* * * Russia’s Finance Ministry introduces first increase in corporate and personal taxes in 20 years BNE Intellectual News
South of the Border
Border Traffic Amazing World. Ecuador.
Caribbean
Haiti’s new prime minister vows to seek unity after being elected by transitional council AP
Global Elections
As world’s biggest and longest running election comes to an end, Prime Minister Narendra Modi aims for India’s ‘hat trick’ and South African election disappointment leaves President Cyril Ramaphosa’s future uncertain FT
Indian National Elections: New Elements land
Democracy was a decolonization project. Boston Review
2024
Guilty on all counts Politico. The headline is misleading. Trump was convicted of a misdemeanor business records charge. But Marchan framed the jury instructions this way: do not have We don’t know which of the three “covered crimes” Trump was convicted of – campaign finance violations, bribing his mistress, or tax violations for which the government benefited. These are crimes that elevated the business records violation charge to a felony, but we don’t know which of these crimes Trump was convicted of. Voters would and should want to know what the covered crimes were, and it seems to me that giving voters that information is paramount to a functioning democracy, but Marchant concealed that information. “Our Law” “Our Democracy!”
Trump was supposed to lose the hush money trial. Why did he lose? BBC
Prosecutors used meticulous documentation to prove falsified business records, but Professor Randall Eliason of George Washington University Law School told the BBC:
Trump’s defense team didn’t focus on exploiting this weakness — Branche presented jurors with a list of reasons for reasonable doubt in her closing argument — but instead argued that central events in the case didn’t actually happen or that witnesses lied.
Based on the reporting, this is correct: there is harsh criticism of Cohen but nothing that attacks the structure of the case, although the reporting has been damning and the relevant records have yet to be made public.
* * * Everyone should win and everyone should get a prize. –Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
Best Liberalgasm: Trump convicted of fraud to conceal sex with sex workers Empty car
Runner-up, Liberalgasm:
Every time. Shit. Charge. #TrumpGuilty pic.twitter.com/XXQvrgh6NP
— The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) May 30, 2024
Best historical perspective:
Having followed Silvio Berlusconi’s political career for 30 years, I can confidently predict that Trump will survive this and likely benefit.
— Jonathan Hopkin (@jrhopkin) May 30, 2024
Best dry humor:
First sneaker designer to be convicted on 34 felony charges pic.twitter.com/W7pBn7pKTM
— Derek Guy (@dieworkwear) May 30, 2024
Runner-up, dry humor:
Just because someone has been convicted doesn’t mean we have to return donations. Many of our donors have felonies for falsifying business records. And those who haven’t, simply haven’t been caught.
— Associate Dean (@ass_deans) May 30, 2024
* * * DJT shares fall 8% after Trump found guilty in hush money trial Yahoo Finance
All Quiet on the Western Front Spy Talk. Strange article. “[Hayden]also took for granted that the Secret Service was the only true measure of the nation’s political health, the only true expression of the nation’s subconscious.” – John le Carré, Artisan, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
The Supremes
Supreme Court ruling on National Bank Act Adam Levitin, Credit Slip
Digital Watches
AI is a false god Walrus
* * * The ugly truth behind ChatGPT: AI is consuming resources at a rate that could eat up the planet Guardian
Computational laws and epistemological intrusions (PDF) Journal of Interdisciplinary Research in Computational Law. “Legal professionals have a responsibility not to blindly follow the arguments of engineers.”
OpenAI Head of Content: It’s our duty to support small publishers, not just big ones Press-Gazette. “Tom Rubin also revealed a common misconception about the partnerships signed between OpenAI and news publishers: that their purpose is “primarily” not training, but displaying news content and using their tools and techniques.” In other words, it’s all about the training set, and smaller publishers will be destroyed (if possible).
* * * Google’s AI search and “web” view Michael Tsai
A well-known free press
Academy Forest
“Universities are following corporate agendas to gain donor support.” fair
health care
Boeing
Boeing Sets Its Own Quality Goals Under Agreement with FAA WSJ: It’s a good time for the FAA to get soft!
Boeing outlines FAA plan (adds FAA comment) Reham News and Analysis
Empire Collapse Watch
John Mearsheimer on Ukraine, Gaza, and the Advantages of Escalation (Video) SpectatorTV, YouTube
Class struggle
Mercedes’ hire of union buster in Alabama highlights need for disclosure reform Regarding labor
Stop looking for approval Conor Law Southard, “The Lonely Impulse of Joy” part 2About the publishing industry (and about publishing).
Federalist No. 1: Annotated JSTOR Daily
Today’s antidote (Patricio Mena Bascones):
See yesterday’s link and the Antidote du Jour here.
