Schrödinger’s neighbor says the thought experiment is very interesting, but he really just wants a direct answer as to where his cat is. Babylon Bee (Li)
The kind of spirit that good people smuggle in their suitcases BBC (Robin K)
What can we learn from menstrual blood? The New Yorker (Dr. Kevin)
Having trouble unlocking your phone? You may have lost your fingerprint WIRED (Dr. Kevin). *sigh*. It seems to me as though the “lost” fingerprints are temporary or due to age. I myself have had no legible fingerprints since my early 20s and have remained that way ever since (and I never did strenuous physical labor or worked with harsh chemicals). Goldman tried three times to meet the NASD requirements but had to put a note in my file instead. Having fingerprints that are too shallow to be legible makes contact lenses very difficult to wear; the lenses seal tightly on your finger and don’t come off on your eyeball.
23&Me collapses: all your precious DNA data turns out to be worthlessSasha Latipova (Michael T.)
#COVID-19 (Novel Coronavirus Disease)
US faces new surge in COVID-19 cases Hill. And school starts.
University of Kentucky researchers find Alzheimer’s-like brain changes in long COVID patients University of Kentucky (Paul R)
Michigan Supreme Court rejects coronavirus lawsuit and income tax cut The Detroit News (Massachusetts)
Climate and Environment
U.S. government opens 31 million acres of federal land for solar power Electrek
Largest dam removal in U.S. history frees up Klamath River Los Angeles Times (Chuck L)
China?
UBS cuts outlook as China’s 5% growth target raises doubts Bloomberg
China’s manufacturing activity continues to decline in August Reuters
China’s leverage nears new record Financial Times
U.S. Trade Representative Tai applauds Canada’s new high tariffs on Chinese EVs, metals South China Morning Post
Sullivan assures Chinese leaders that Kamala Harris will “responsibly manage” U.S.-China relations if in office FirstPost. Since when does a government start talking about the possibility of a future government?
South of the Border
Venezuela’s diaspora shows its strength Al Jazeera
Bolivia’s dollar shortage impacts: international freight costs increase by 50% American Economy
Africa
Smallpox epidemic in Africa: looming economic crisis Africa News
Sudan war’s ripple effects are felt across three continents economist
European Separation
German politician hit with paint ahead of state elections DW. Sarah Wagenknecht.
Putin’s next coup: Pro-Russian parties likely to emerge in elections in three East German states POLITICO
France: What happened to you? Matt Taibbi
Old Brittany
Suicide rates in England and Wales reach highest level since 1999 Guardian
Keir Starmer says the far-right is a real threat BBC (Kevin W)
UK Rail Minister fires engineer who raised safety concerns Politico (Kevin W.)
Gaza
UN food agency suspends operations in Gaza after car shot at Israeli checkpoint Guardian
Gaza War: Aid Worker Killed in Israeli Attack on Humanitarian Convoy Middle East Eye (Kevin W)
How Israel’s elite intelligence units target queer Palestinians in the West Bank DropSite (Dr. Kevin)
West Bank attack: No red line for Western leaders when it comes to Israeli carnage Middle East Eye (Michael T.) A major escalation that has received little attention in the English-speaking media.
Jimmy Williams Jr., president of the Painters and Allied Workers Union, said his union was directing huge international pension funds to ensure their investments were not supporting “genocide in Gaza.” pic.twitter.com/KVVKKGMzS2
— Ryan Grimm (@ryangrim) August 29, 2024
Israel is not an outpost of the West Asia Times (Kevin W)
A new cold war
The last Wunderwaffen? F-16 shot down from the sky on its first mission Simplicius. Ukrainian lawmakers say the Patriot jet was shot down by friendly fire. Some experts say it was shot down on the ground by an Iskander jet, with the pilots nearby.
EU to move ahead with Russia assets plan despite U.S. wishes Bloomberg
Diplomatic Watch: F-16 crashes, President Zelensky says more needs to be done Responsible national governance. At the end of Friday’s program, Alexander Markosis disagreed with the subhead’s argument.Kiev seems “eager to negotiate.” Merkoushis, who is, in my opinion, more optimistic than I am about the likelihood of a negotiated outcome, concludes that Kiev (at least under the current administration) will never negotiate (my words, not his) and that all they will do is fool the various parties involved.
How drone attacks are changing the rules and costs of the Ukraine war The Conversation (Dr. Kevin), which contains questionable claims and useful observations.
ICC orders Asian country to arrest Putin RT (Kevin W)
Kremlin launches campaign to justify Putin’s declining popularity over Kursk incident – ISW Ukrainska Pravda
Bloomberg: Ukraine war destroys Alaska’s fishing industry International Affairs (Michael T)
Empire Collapse Watch
How many Americans will die in the collapse of civilization? Ian Welsh (Michael T)
Trump
slump American Conservatives
After decades of anti-vaccine rhetoric, RFK Jr. shifts focus to chronic illness and boycott Trumpd Status
Trump tries to redirect IVF debate with pricey proposal The Hill. Oddly, Ozempic’s cost has never been cited as high. As far as I can recall, concerns have only been raised about less effective and more expensive Alzheimer’s drugs.
Kamala
Kamala’s first interview goes awry, spirals out of control Devore Dawkins. Holy crap, CNN asked some serious questions. Even in the edited interview, she doesn’t look all that appealing.
Harris rejects arms embargo on Israel: ‘Israel has the right to defend itself’ Anadolu Agency. Chas Freeman made some scathing comments about her remarks: Nima’s new talk.
2024
WSJ poll shows Harris narrowly ahead of Trump The Wall Street Journal
Texas T-Zone Old-fashioned man (Michael T)
Gaza cables leaked. US troops in 74 countries. Election hysteria. Ken Klipperstein. See opening section on election interference claims.
The press is no longer free
News about the arrest of Telegram CEO Pavel Durov The Verge
Geopolitical ramifications of Telegram founder Pavel Durov’s arrest Foreign Policy
Musk’s X banned in Brazil amid misinformation scare BBC
Major publisher sues Florida over ‘unconstitutional’ textbook ban Guardian
Mr. Market gets what he wants
U.S. economic growth last quarter was revised up to a robust 3% annual rate. Associated Press. (Robin K.) Shameless.
Intel considers options, including splitting up foundry, to curb losses; stock price soars Bloomberg
artificial intelligence
Digital twins increase company efficiency Economist (Dr. Kevin)
OpenAI and Anthropic share AI models with U.S. government TechXplore (Doctor K)
This new AI Ping could be the personal transcriptionist I’ve been waiting for – if it works ZDNET (Dr. Kevin). Awesome. Will be added to the AI training set.
LLM produces racist output when prompted in African American English Nature (Paul R.)
Antitrust
Judge rules Big Tech’s free ride to Section 230 is over Matt Stoller. Important
Class struggle
Book review: “Land Plenty, Cash Scarce” shows how technology and confusing government programs are ruining family farms Associated Press (Robin K.)
Today’s Antidote (Cheryl K):
Bonus (Chuck L):
That Jaguar is awesome!! pic.twitter.com/hBMoja5T8q
— Nature is amazing ☘️ (@AMAZlNGNATURE) August 29, 2024
Second bonus:
This is what happiness looks like. pic.twitter.com/Gw0ibXyljZ
— 𝕐o̴g̴ (@Yoda4ever) August 29, 2024
Third bonus: Having cared for Abyssinians (and our model, Laddie), this is just who they are: Abyssinians care about what their owners think, at least more than most cats.
— Cats that heal depression (@Catshealdeprsn) August 29, 2024
See yesterday’s link and the Antidote du Jour here.
