‘Catnomics’: how Japan’s feline fixation has become an industry worth billions The Guardian
Where Are the Economies of Scale in Homebuilding? Construction Physics
Blue Origin rocket explodes during launch pad test in Florida France24
Perfect randomness realized for the first time Phys.org
Climate/Environment
Multidecadal Atlantic “Warming Hole” Heat Content Variations Are Caused by Ocean Heat Transport, Not by Surface Fluxes GeoPhysical Research Letters
‘King of Mangoes’ faces the heat: Weather devastates Maharashtra’s Alphonso belt Business Today
Rising global hail damage potential in a warming world Nature
Outdoor lights may be making mosquito season longer Science
Discontinuity is the Job The Snap Forward
Airborne Toxic Events
Company Behind California Chemical Leak Was Building F-35 Parts Amid Rush of Orders From U.S. and Israel The Intercept
Pandemics
Long COVID Persistence and Surveillance Gaps Across 58 US Hospitals JAMA Network. “…persistently increasing cumulative prevalence through mid-2024, revealing an accumulating burden rather than a resolving syndrome.” That can’t be right; the pandemic was declared over in May of 2023.
Ebola
Kenyan high court suspends plan for US Ebola quarantine facility in Kenya Reuters
China?
The Expiration Date of Neutrality-China’s Middle East Dilemma Haokai Li
Of Root Causes and Wrong-Think About China Un-Diplomatic
China’s Industrial Transition Warwick Powell
China’s private funds see assets soar by over US$400 billion amid tech boom South China Morning Post
China’s grip on lithium to hit 39% by 2030: WoodMac Mining.com
MIT researchers develop a low-cost technique to get lithium out of rocks MIT News
Syraqistan
In first since Oslo, Israel seizing land for army base inside West Bank city +972 Magazine
Israel Is Arming ISIS Linked Gangs With Military Drones To Help Carry Out Further Ethnic Cleansing In Gaza. The Dissident
Netanyahu directs army to occupy 70 percent of Gaza The Cradle
Hungry Palestinians in Gaza Protest World Central Kitchen Scaling Back Amid Rising Food Costs and Israeli Blockade Drop Site
New reporting from Reuters indicates that Israel has issued evacuation orders covering 20% of Lebanon, far beyond the “buffer zone” it previously announced to the Litani River.
More than half of the evacuation orders were *north* of Litani.
Gaza tactics in Lebanon. pic.twitter.com/R7zLp8xHhk
— Rosemary Kelanic (@RKelanic) May 28, 2026
***
Scoop: U.S. and Iran reach deal but need Trump’s final approval, officials say Axios
Iranian official to Jeremy: “We cannot regard President Trump’s decision as definitively finalized until the financial markets close at the end of this week.” https://t.co/KJfNq013NT
— Ryan Grim (@ryangrim) May 28, 2026
EXCLUSIVE: Israel Privately Pressing U.S. to Kill Iran’s Lead Negotiator and Launch New Strikes Capital & Empire
European Disunion
Von der Leyen gears up for fight over China trade ties Politico
China Sends EU a Direct Warning Over the Overcapacity Tool Inside China
An Open Letter to Chancellor Friedrich Merz Jeffrey Sachs
Europe told to cool its datacenter boom before water and power run short The Register
Microsoft accused of leaking data of Dutch civil servants working on tech laws to US government Cyber News
Africa
Sudan: RSF Defections Raise Troubling Questions Sawahil
New Not-So-Cold War
Live: NATO condemns ‘Russia’s recklessness’ after drone hit apartment building in Romania France24
One step away from the brink: NATO’s march towards all-out war with Russia Thomas Fazi
In Latvia’s pine forests, NATO’s drone future takes shape Euractiv
A new Meduza analysis finds Ukraine’s long-range strikes are reaching twice as deep but not surging in 2026. Russia’s refineries, meanwhile, keep bouncing back. Meduza
South of the Border
Guatemala Agrees To Allow US Airstrikes on Its Territory as US Escalates Military Interventions in Latin America Antiwar
How a DEA Sting Sparked a Colombian Insurgency Drop Site
Trump 2.0
Trump pal funneled millions of Israeli gov’t cash into US media Responsible Statecraft
The White House Intervened to Get a $620 Million Deal for a Company Tied to Donald Trump Jr. ProPublica
Company led by Republican fundraiser pardoned by Trump wins $106m federal contract The Guardian
National Park Entrance Fees Are Funding Trump’s D.C. Projects New York Times
Treasury Secretary Bessent confirms limited steps toward a $250 bill featuring Donald Trump AP
WHAT DO WEAPONS GRADE PLUTONIUM, PRIVATE COMPANIES, AND THE DEAD/MISSING NUCLEAR SCIENTISTS HAVE IN COMMON? Leah
Democrats Suck
Pentagon’s Wall Street push draws Democrats’ ire Semafor
Imperial Collapse Watch
The Pentagon Knew Enemies Could Track Troops’ Phones for Years. Now They Are Wired
Our Famously Free Press
Wow, the student journalist who won the Mike Wallace Memorial Scholarship at the News Emmys just called out CBS News.
“While I want to thank CBS News for funding this generous gift toward my education, I want to also acknowledge how the recent direction of the outlet stains the… pic.twitter.com/zjPVjDrDij
— Jeremy Barr (@jeremymbarr) May 28, 2026
AI
🚨 The AI ROI numbers are starting to look very ugly.
Even under “best case” assumptions — assuming zero costs, just revenue against capex — the Financial Times calculated the implied return on hyperscaler AI investment from 2025 to 2030.
Only one of them clears positive.… pic.twitter.com/JAlvMUL6K1
— Thierry from arvy 🇨🇭 (@ThierryBorgeat) May 28, 2026
Company accidentally spent $500 million on Claude AI in one month after forgetting usage limits Tech Startups
Toward Slop Materialism Heavy Machinery
Police State Watch
Exclusive: New Intel Bureau Eyes AI Data Center Critics Dan Boguslaw and Ken Klippenstein
Big Brother Is Watching You Watch
Headway Therapy Patients Forced to Scan Their Faces to Keep Getting Care 404 Media. As of 2024 Headway was operating in all 50 states and had 34,000 in-network mental health care providers affiliated with more than 40 insurance plans and was handling 600,000+ therapy appointments per month.
Economy
‘Debt And Money Insecurity Have Become Mental And Physical Issues’: Study Finds Over 30% Of Americans Can’t Meet Monthly Debt Obligations Benzinga
More workers are raiding their 401(k)s as average balances fall, Fidelity says CNBC
Exxon, Chevron execs: Oil prices just a few weeks from spiking Oil & Gas Journal
We are ~9 million bbls away from hitting a storage level that’s the equivalent of living paycheck to paycheck for gasoline and distillate.
Once we get there, even a minor disruption (any sort of outage) will result in gasoline lines at gas stations.
I guess we are really doing… pic.twitter.com/63XG5L9b73
— HFI Research (@HFI_Research) May 28, 2026
The real surprise today was the downward revision to first-quarter real GDP growth to a +1.6% annual rate from the initial estimate of +2.0%. If you recall, there was a time in the middle of the quarter when the ballyhooed Atlanta Fed Nowcast model was predicting a number well…
— David Rosenberg (@EconguyRosie) May 28, 2026
White House rejects ‘doomer view’ of economy Semafor
The Accelerationists
Why Peter Thiel Is Decamping to the End of the World New York Times
The Bezzle
Breaking: bad news for three of the biggest IPOs in history Gary Marcus
Antitrust
Splenda owner to buy Equal sweeteners maker Food Dive
Class Warfare
More people in the U.S. are going hungry now than did during the pandemic 6 years ago NPR
OSHA has just 6 inspectors to keep 60,000 West Virginia workplaces safe. Here’s what that means for workers Mountain State Spotlight
Antidote du jour (via):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
