Teen rapper accidentally kills himself on social media video after pointing gun at his head and pulling trigger New York Post. Unusually visible Darwin Award winner.
Farmers Are Breeding Hybrid Dairy Cattle to Sell for Meat Bloomberg (ma). Hhhm.
NIH study shows chronic wasting disease unlikely to move from animals to people Nature (Paul R)
#COVID-19
Update: May 19, 2024: New Covid-19 Wave In Singapore, Minister Advises Wearing Of Masks After 25,900 Cases Recorded In A Week https://t.co/e0FLixsVE7
— Yaneer Bar-Yam (@yaneerbaryam) May 19, 2024
Does COVID-19 Persist? MedPage
Oh my, I learn something new every day. CD8 cell mediated immunothrombosis!🙀Adaptive immunity-driven immunothrombosis is a highly novel paradigm (it is normally considered an inherent feature of innate immunity). https://t.co/fxmG9vsMSh
— Dr Satoshi Akima FRACP 『秋間聰』 (@ToshiAkima) May 19, 2024
Climate/Environment
Giant Hail Is the Weather Threat Keeping Insurers Up at Night Bloomberg
Satellites Reveal ‘Surprising’ Antarctic Ice Loss, Sea Level Rise Newsweek
HHS’s proposed rule pays lip service to addressing the climate crisis, the greatest threat to human health STAT
Microplastics found in every human testicle in study Guardian (Kevin W). Small sample but still…
‘Copper is the new oil,’ and prices could soar 50% as AI, green energy, and military spending boost demand, top commodities analyst says Fortune (Kevin W).
China?
Why von der Leyen doesn’t want to join the US in a trade war with China Financial Times
China Uses Giant Rail Gun to Shoot a Smart Bomb Nine Miles Into the Sky Futurism
2 words explain China export ‘surge’: Global South Asia Times (Kevin W)
European Disunion
A United States of Europe aeon
Old Blighty
Water investors have withdrawn billions, says research BBC (Kevin W)
Education’s deepest crisis is being ignored by Westminster – and even harsher cuts are on the way Guardian
Africa
Three reported killed as DR Congo military averts ‘attempted coup’ AlJazeera. A friend with extensive diplomatic contacts in Africa says the word is Mossad was behind the planned coup.
Gaza
Statement of ICC Prosecutor Karim A.A. Khan KC: Applications for arrest warrants in the situation in the State of Palestine International Criminal Court. Discussed in comments yesterday, but for your convenience.
There is one thing we should all be able to agree with Netanyahu on: Any comparison between Israel’s war crimes and those of Hamas is, as the Israeli prime minister put it, “absurd and false” and a “distortion of reality”.
Here’s why:
* Israeli war crimes have been ongoing for…
— Jonathan Cook (@Jonathan_K_Cook) May 20, 2024
This is incredible, but sadly unsurprising.
When he received threats not to go after Israel, @KarimKhanQC reveals “a senior leader” told him the ICC “is built for Africa and for thugs like Putin”, and not for the West and its allies.pic.twitter.com/TgVyhknUEI
— Arnaud Bertrand (@RnaudBertrand) May 21, 2024
ICC warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant may be the first of many aimed at Israeli officials Mondoweiss
NEW: 🇮🇱 Israeli ministers in panic mode, after the ICC requested an arrest warrant for war criminals Netanyahu and Galant.
The Minister of the War Cabinet called this decision a “historic crime.”
National Security Minister Ben-Gvir referred to the ICC as an “anti-Semitic… pic.twitter.com/lyhBSQEoBT
— Megatron (@Megatron_ron) May 20, 2024
Netanyahu vows to continue onslaught against Gaza despite ICC arrest warrant bid Anadolu Agency
US Congress threatens ICC with sanctions RT (Kevin W). More accurately, starting to act on previous threats.
US Navy warships in the Red Sea are fighting off missiles new to combat that are ‘way faster’ than anything else, destroyer captain says Business Insider
* * *
UN aid chief warns of ‘apocalyptic’ consequences of Gaza shortages Al-Monitor
More than 900,000 displaced in Gaza in two weeks amid surge in fighting: UN Aljazeera
The writing was on the wall for Israel’s torture of prisoners 972 Magazine (Dr. Kevin). 972 keeps breaking important stories.
Biden: What’s happening in Gaza ‘is not genocide’ Politico (Kevin W)
* * *
How Extremist Settlers Took Over Israel New York Times (Dr. Kevin)
* * *
No healthcare for the average American, but full military benefits if you go fight for Israel. https://t.co/VV71c9v9O5
— Briahna Joy Gray (@briebriejoy) May 21, 2024
Gaza Protests
The Intelligence Community Is Spying on Student Protesters Ken Klipperstein
University of California academic workers launch strike at UC Santa Cruz, as demands grow for system-wide walkout WSWS
Move to extend police protest powers ruled unlawful BBC
New Not-So-Cold War
Russian economic growth hits 5.4% RT
F.B.I. Shed Informants Linked to Russian Influence Operations New York Times. Mark G: “NYTimes story but buried. Reading this it sounds like they’re purging themselves of any informants who might actually know what’s going on in Russia.”
Conveniently ignores that it was the US and UK that broke up a peace deal in March 2022:
Congress has given us the power to seize Russian assets in the U.S., and we intend to use it.
We are working with @G7 partners to see that Russia’s immobilized sovereign assets are used to remedy the damage Putin continues to cause in Ukraine. – @SecBlinken pic.twitter.com/QxJl1cwQYO
— Department of State (@StateDept) May 19, 2024
She looks pissy. Before she faked being a cheery yet steely voice of truth:
“Queen of Darkness” Victoria Nuland is back, demanding that the US openly facilitate strikes by Ukraine on targets inside Russia — something the Biden Administration had previously insisted would never happen. A once-unfathomable escalation, which now barely raises an eyebrow pic.twitter.com/11BF95xO7C
— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) May 19, 2024
Syraqistan
Who is Mohammad Mokhber, Iran’s interim president? Al Jazeera
How sanctions played havoc with Iran’s ageing helicopters Financial Times
Why Will Bombing Iranian Proxies Work This Time? American Conservative
Assange
BREAKING NEWS: Julian Assange has won the right to a full appeal https://t.co/TVXvsKDVqC
— Free Assange – #FreeAssange (@FreeAssangeNews) May 20, 2024
Big Brother is Watching You Watch
Police Found Ways to Use Facial Recognition Tech After Their Cities Banned It Washington Post
Imperial Collapse Watch
The ‘inside track’ of Putin-Xi Jinping talks Indian Punchline
Biden
Alarmed Democrats flee Biden’s ailing brand in battleground states The Hill. Wowsers in terms of this development making it so clearly into print. This looks to be the way overdue second leg of the too-late-to-start effort to get Biden off the ballot (the first was a David Ignatius Washington Post op-ed telling Biden to step aside).
Biden’s presidential motorcade drives through deep blue Atlanta neighborhood – but draws only sparse crowd Daily Mail
Trump
A Trump Conviction Depends on Proving More Than a Hush-Money Coverup Wall Street Journal
RFK, Jr.
RFK Jr. lists voting address at Westchester home — that’s in foreclosure and where neighbors have never seen him New York Post (furzy)
FDIC Chairman Martin Gruenberg to Resign Following Report Detailing Sexual Harassment at Agency Wall Street Journal (BC)
Falling Down Bridges
Almost 2 months after it destroyed Baltimore’s Key Bridge, the Dali cargo ship has been moved and docked. Here’s what’s next CNN
AI
Why “Hallucination”? Examining the History, and Stakes, of How We Label AI’s Undesirable Output Los Angeles Review of Books (Anthony L)
The Bezzle
Some People Who Rented a Tesla from Hertz Were Still Charged for Gas TheDrive
Details from Red Lobster’s bankruptcy filing are wild and so much mismanagement:
▫️$1B in debt, $30m in cash ▫️Previous PE owner sold land and leased it back to Red Lobster at “above market rates”▫️$20 Endless Shrimp cost it $11m but the interesting part is that one of the… pic.twitter.com/kRzGt2wbQf
— Trung Phan (@TrungTPhan) May 20, 2024
Guillotine Watch
Why tech billionaires are trying to create a new California city CBS (Kevin W). Far from the first report on this scheme, but it’s getting more notice.
Class Warfare
Average real wages rise for 12 straight months as prices decelerate faster than nominal wage growth Angry Bear. Voter perceptions of inflation diverge from these stats. We are featuring a post later today on this topic.
From Aftershock News via machine translation. Note I can’t find an English language version so this must be only on TASS in Russian:
The largest mining companies will deposit up to 34% of their profits in the National Welfare Fund
ULAN BATOR, April 19. /TASS/. The State Great Khural (Parliament) of Mongolia has finally approved the law on the National Welfare Fund (NWF), which will ensure equal income from the country’s natural resources for every citizen. Speaker of Parliament Gombozhavyn Zandanshatar announced this after voting at the general meeting.
I slept in my car and showered in the factory to work 12-hour shifts at Tesla. I still got laid off after 5 years. Yahoo
How to be a good follower Economist (Dr Kevin). Gah. “Follower” has religious overtones. “Team member” is hackneyed. How about “subordinate”? It describes the power relationship without extra baggage.
Antidote du jour (via):
And a bonus (Chuck L):
Yoga lover 😂
pic.twitter.com/ctKCSRjdb0
— The Best (@ThebestFigen) May 20, 2024
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
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