The world’s first edible robot Bangkok Post (Farsi)
Scientists have discovered a 50,000-year-old herpes virus — and revealed how modern humans came to dominate the world. The Guardian (Kevin W.)
Is Christianity based on psychedelic trips? Nautilus (Michael T)
Misinformation identified as the biggest global health threat over the next few years Your local epidemiologist (Kevin W.). Kill me now.
> Seriously?
Whooping cough cases in England
— Turn (@1goodtern) May 30, 2024
#COVID-19 (Novel Coronavirus Disease)
Long Corona 3rd year Eric Topol (Robin K)
UMD Study: N95 masks block nearly all airborne COVID-19 Mirage News (J.S.)
Climate and Environment
Reduction in shipping pollution causes spike in global warming Guardian
White House supports new U.S. nuclear power plants CNBC (Kevin W)
China?
TikTok is preparing a US version of its app’s core algorithm Reuters
Myanmar
A new Cold War proxy war erupts in Myanmar Asia Times
European Separation
The European Parliament remains a mere formality Machine translated background (Micael T)
Farmers in southwestern France have called for a “historic” blockade along the border with Spain to demand new support for the sector. Connection France
France’s credit rating downgrade deals blow to Macron government Financial Times
German inflation rises in May thought
Old Brittany
Gaza
Biden says Hamas no longer a major threat to Israel Politico (Kevin W). So why is the US still providing weapons, especially super-heavy bombs?
Exclusive: Inside America’s secret efforts to free American hostages Vanity Fair (Dr. Kevin)
Egypt remains silent on Israeli occupation of Gaza The Guardian (Kevin W.) The US as well.
Israeli embassy in Mexico set on fire (VIDEO) RT (Kevin W)
There is no turning back time for the genocide. “Easily 200,000 people died in Gaza.” Counter Punch
A new cold war
NATO chief seeks 40 billion euros per year in military aid to Ukraine, sources say Reuters
Biden partially lifts ban on Ukraine using U.S. weapons in attacks on Russian territory, U.S. officials say Associated Press. This article, more clearly than the others (presumably in response to reporters’ questions), states that Ukraine’s policy of not using long-range missiles to “offensively” attack Russia has not changed. But what does that mean in practice?
US offers security pact to Ukraine amid rising tensions between allies Financial Times: Alexander Mercouris interprets this as an empty gesture.
Ukraine: Russia will not escalate, but the US will Indian Punchline (Kevin W)
Le Pen sees Macron’s support for Russia’s attack on Ukraine as a step towards world war Sputnik
Orban: Europe is preparing for war with Russia (Michael T.) Machine-translated anti-Spiegel
Dutch invader Mark Rutte sinks into Hungarian goulash John Helmer
G7 targets banks helping Russia evade Ukraine war sanctions Bloomberg
Russian grain will find new buyers in place of Europe Machine translated by Vzglyad (Micael T)
Shiraksta
‘Profitable’ Trap: Egypt lured by multi-billion dollar IMF deal RT (Robin K)
Exclusive: US to boycott UN memorial for Iranian leader killed in helicopter crash US News (Kevin W)
Empire Collapse Watch
BRICS: $260 Billion in Trade Without Spending a Single Dollar InfoBRICS. I support multipolarity, but it annoys me how often its fans over-exaggerate their claims. Russia was trading oil with China in non-dollars in 2015. This hyped $260 billion (no time period specified) equates to $24.9 trillion in exports in 2022. So, if we assume that $260 billion was made in one year, that’s 1% of total trade. Oh, and what’s worse, this is “implementing the plan”!!! It hasn’t been implemented yet!
The British Army’s strength fell below 73,000 for the first time since Napoleon. Telegraph. But they are the number one bear poker players, or want to be.
Trump
McConnell defends Trump after conviction The Hill: As most of you know, McConnell and Trump often disagree.
Ding Dong the Witch still tops the polls Matt Taibbi
Wall Street billionaires are lining up to support Trump, not minding the ruling Bloomberg. Banner headline, full width.
Trump’s biggest Republican donors downplay conviction CNBC
Chart Book 287: After the Verdict: American Money and Donald Trump Adam Tooze (Randy K)
Antitrust
Apple News+ subscription growth dwarfs major media sites CultofMac. Calling Lina Khan
artificial intelligence
Google imposes further restrictions on AI profiles Engadget
Generative AI could cause civil unrest quickly Fast Company
Boeing plane crashing
Boeing’s new legal nightmare: Potential $235M damages in trade secrets suit Forbes (Kevin W.) While these numbers aren’t too bad, they come on top of a lot of other setbacks.
Basil
Science has a nasty Photoshop problem The New York Times (Dr. Kevin)
Why policymakers are more likely to risk higher inflation during times of economic uncertainty Guardian
The decline of economics PhD control over the Federal Reserve Financial Times (Kevin W)
Commercial real estate collapse will devastate pension funds The Wall Street Journal (Robin K)
America’s shopping boom is losing steam CNN (Kevin W.)
Class struggle
Private equity is to blame for huge health care costs The Wall Street Journal. Part 1 of a 3-part series. What’s going on in the world? I was going to write this as a media story (it’s already been covered here), but Friday was a horribly busy day in the news.
Breaking News: Inequality in Neoliberal America CADTM (Michael T)
Amazon, Walmart, and Target are finally realizing they made huge pricing mistakes and are cutting costs to win back customers. Good Luck (Ma)
Cash-strapped shoppers push discount chains into bankruptcy Bloomberg
Why are people so depressed about the economy? There are many theories. The New York Times (Kevin W.) The big problem is that voters are still suffering from much higher prices than in years past, and the current drop in inflation will not reverse that.
Right to Repair is now law in Colorado The Verge (Kevin W.)
US files lawsuit against Hyundai and others over child labor at Alabama parts plant Reuter (Kevin W.)
Capitalism, with friends like these, you don’t need enemies Steve Keene (Michael T)
Today’s Antidote (Mike M):
See yesterday’s link and the Antidote du Jour here.
