Man who transformed into a dog says he wants to become another animal Scripps (phage mouse)
This Week in Doom – #19: Chicken in a China Shop (Transcript) Grant Williams (PI).
climate
Combating desertification and land degradation in Mongolia Diplomat
IKEA is to blame for deforestation in Romania Mongabay
Climate activist arrested for attacking Monet painting at Paris’ Musée d’Orsay France 24
Saving Art from Revolution, for Revolution JSTOR Daily
water
A closer look at America’s water crisis progressive
Syndemics
South Australian public hospitals suspend internal emergency and elective surgeries ABC Australia
Measles case confirmed in traveler at Seattle International Airport as infections rise in the US Fox
COVID-19 increases risk of erectile dysfunction News Medical Life Sciences
Cork crash that claimed the lives of an elderly couple linked to COVID-19-induced brain confusion in driver Irish Examiner
Myanmar
Myanmar junta orders all security personnel to frontline as losses mount in hard-hit district headquarters Irrawaddy River
Shiraksta
Blinken discusses Gaza ceasefire plan with foreign ministers of Türkiye, Jordan and Saudi Arabia Anadolu Agency
Israel’s far-right ministers warn they will disband government if Netanyahu agrees to Biden’s Gaza proposal Anadolu Agency
Cross-party leaders formally invite Netanyahu to address parliament The Hill. Who is the Monarch?
European Separation
EU member states plan to punish Hungary for weak portfolios in next Commission term, reports say BNE Intellectual News
A new cold war
On Friday, Ukraine received permission to fire American rockets at targets inside Russia. A few hours later, HIMARS fired. Forbes. Belgorod is 20 miles from the border (there are no shell factories across the Urals). I have no idea where Biden’s red lines are, but it’s clear that all the lines he drew have faded over time. For Big Serge, see hereplease read to the end.
US should allow Ukraine to use US-supplied weapons against Russian military targets – ISW Ukrainska Pravda
The Biden administration isn’t entirely convinced Ukraine can prevail, even with new aid. POLITICO
Biden’s secrecy about authorizing Ukraine to attack Russia is dangerous Ken Klippenstein
* * * Russia is beginning to gain an advantage in Ukraine RUSI. From mid-May, still relevant: “Ukraine has been fortifying Kharkov for months, but storming the city is not Russia’s way of fighting. Russia’s target this summer is the Ukrainian army, against which it is beginning to strengthen its advantage. … Russia’s aim is not to achieve a breakthrough, but rather to convince Ukraine that it can continue to advance relentlessly along the front line, kilometer by kilometer.”
SITREP 6/1/24: Ukraine’s latest turmoil gets off to a shaky start Simplicius the Thinker. Simplicius printed a revised version under this heading.
Change heading pic.twitter.com/8DvpRFWhhg
—Edited by TheGrayLady (@nyt_diff) May 30, 2024
Ukraine withdraws from villages on Eastern Front awaiting U.S. aid The New York Times
* * * The EU in the South Caucasus: Can Brussels become a geopolitical player? JAM News. Vassals are not players.
Ukraine war creates ‘arc of instability’ from the Balkans to the Caucasus BNE Intellinews. Just like Libya, Syria, Iraq….
How Globalization Rised and Fell with the Nord Stream Foreign Policy
* * * Russian forces have again attacked the Ukrainian military’s Yavorovsky training ground, where foreign instructors were stationed. Top War. Russian military blogger site. For your reference: “Confirmed: Russian Kinzhal missiles overturn NATO officers’ bunker in Ukraine!” ThreadReader (ctlieee). Worth checking out.
Dear Old England
Starmer has now made it clear that he intends to govern on behalf of the wealthy. Funding the future
Starmer promises to cut net immigration under Labour government BBC
Global Elections
India Election Results 2024: How will the votes be counted? Al Jazeera
Mexico’s elections overshadowed by violent attacks BBC
South Africa’s ANC loses parliamentary majority after 30 years in election Al Jazeera
Trump’s historic conviction pushes US presidential election into uncharted territory France 24
* * * If voters adopt ranked choice voting statewide, Colorado could block it. Colorado Sun
Kansas Constitution Does Not Include the Right to Vote: State Supreme Court Majority Fox
Biden Administration
President Biden vetoes cryptocurrency custody bill TechCrunch
Antitrust
2024
Plot twist: Washington state has a law that bars felons from running for office. The Seattle Times. I wonder how many there are in other states.
Digital Watches
Google acknowledges there is room for improvement in its AI overview, but we are all helping out in the beta test. TechCrunch. Awesome. Where do I send the invoice?
AI and Finance: Expert Insights alts.co. One of the use cases is “summarizing a company’s earnings call as a buy or sell based on the language used by the executives.” Completely revolutionary and a giant step for humanity, exactly like replacing call center slaves with bots.
AI court cases: Legal models hallucinate in 1 out of 6 (or more) benchmark queries (Press Release) Stanford University
* * * The Google API leak is set to change the way marketers and publishers do SEO Spark Tro
We found more dark patterns in Meta. It’s surprising.
1. I am truly amazed by the design @MetaThe new notification on Twitter tells us that they want to use content we post to train AI models. It is intentionally designed to be very unnatural in order to minimize the number of users who object. Let me explain in more detail. pic.twitter.com/rhKNFt7CEu
— Tantacrul (@Tantacrul) May 26, 2024
* * * Self-driving cars are underrated Matt Iglesias, Slow Bowling
My God! SQL has been around for half a century already? Register. Standards matter. SQL has a solid mathematical foundation and is implemented declaratively. Listen and learn, LLM fools.
A well-known free press
Twitch attracts pro-Palestinian influencers as rival sites back away from politics Taylor Lorenz, The Washington Post
Stanford, Silicon Valley, and the Rise of the Censorship-Industrial Complex Real Clear Politics
Zeitgeist Watch
One in three Americans report losing someone to a drug overdose: survey Leech. Rule 2.
Boeing
Boeing Starliner’s first manned test flight postponed at last minute Channel News Asia. Door loose?
Empire Collapse Watch
Jeffrey Sachs: The Untold History of the Cold War, CIA Coups Around the World, and the Origins of COVID (Video) Tucker Carlson, YouTube
Off Leash: Inside the far-right’s secret global group chat The New Republic. Erik Prince, etc.
Class struggle
$150,000 a year housekeeper: wage inflation enters second phase Charles Hugh Smith
A dream come true: economic reconstruction of a Venezuelan commune Monthly Review
Legal Theory Reader: “Interwar Constitution” by Lacroix Legal Theory Blog
Today’s antidote (Alice Liyanto):
See yesterday’s link and the Antidote du Jour here.
