Meet world”s first edible robot Bangkok Post (furzy)
Scientists have discovered a 50,000-year-old herpes virus – and perhaps how modern humans came to rule the world Guardian (Kevin W)
Is Christianity Based on Psychedelic Trips? Nautilus (Micael T)
Misinformation was named the top global health threat in the coming years Your Local Epidemiologist (Kevin W). Kill me now.
>Holy Shit<
Whooping Cough cases in England
— tern (@1goodtern) May 30, 2024
#COVID-19
Long Covid at 3 Years Eric Topol (Robin K)
UMD Study: N95 Masks Block Almost All Airborne COVID-19 Mirage News(Jay Ess)
Climate/Environment
Cut In Ship Pollution Sparked Global Heating Spurt Guardian
White House to support new nuclear power plants in the U.S. CNBC (Kevin W)
China?
TikTok Preparing a US Copy of the App’s Core Algorithm Reuters
Myanmar
European Disunion
European Parliament Still just a sham parliament Hintergrund via machine translation (Micael T)
Downgrade to French credit rating stings Macron government Financial Times
German inflation increases in May Think.ing
Old Blighty
Gaza
Hamas no longer poses major threat to Israel, Biden says Politico (Kevin W). So why is the US still providing arms, particularly those super heavy bombs?
Exclusive: Inside America’s Secret Efforts to Free US Hostages Vanity Fair (Dr. Kevin_
Egypt tight-lipped over Israeli takeover of Gaza buffer zone Guardian (Kevin W). As has been the US.
Israeli embassy in Mexico set on fire (VIDEOS) RT (Kevin W)
You Can’t Turn Back the Clock on Genocide: “Easily 200,000 Deaths in Gaza.” Counterpunch
New-Not-So-Cold War
NATO boss seeks 40 bln euros per year for Ukraine military aid, source say Reuters
Biden partially lifts ban on Ukraine using US arms in strikes on Russian territory, US officials say Associated Press. This account says more clearly than other did (perhaps in response to press questions) that the policy for Ukraine not to use long-range missiles to strike “offensively” in Russia has not changed. But WTF does that mean in practice?
US to offer Ukraine security pact as tensions rise between allies Financial Times. Alexander Mercouris reads this as an empty gesture.
Ukraine: Russia won’t escalate, US will Indian Punchline (Kevin W)
Le Pen Sees Macron’s Backing of Ukraine’s Strikes Inside Russia as Step Toward World War Sputnik
Orban: Europe has entered the phase of preparing for war with Russia (Micael T). Anti-Spiegel via machine translation
MARK RUTTE, THE DUTCH INVADER, IS SINKING IN THE HUNGARIAN GOULASH John Helmer
G-7 to Target Banks Helping Russia Evade Ukraine War Sanctions Bloomberg
Russian grain will find new buyers instead of Europe Vzglyad via machine translation (Micael T)
Syraqistan
‘Lucrative’ trap: Egypt lured by billion-dollar IMF deals RT (Robin K)
Exclusive-US to Boycott UN Tribute to Iran Leader Killed in Helicopter Crash US News (Kevin W)
Imperial Collapse Watch
BRICS: $260 Billion in Trade Without a Single Dollar InfoBRICS. Yours truly favors mulitpolarity, but the frequency with which fans grossly overhype their case is frustrating. Russia was trading oil with China outside the dollar in 2015. This hyped $260 billion (no time frame specified) compares to $24.9 trillion dollars in exports in 2022. So if we assume the $260 billion took place over a year, it’s 1% of total trade. Oh, and even worse: this is “plan to conduct”!!! It hasn’t even happened!
The number British Army troops has fallen below 73,000 for the first time since the Napoleonic era Telegraph. Yet they are, or wanna be, the #1 bear-pokers.
Trump
McConnell comes to Trump’s defense after guilty verdict The Hill. As most of you know, McConnell and Trump have often not seen eye to eye.
Ding, Dong, the Witch Still Leads the Polls Matt Taibbi
Wall Street Billionaires Are Rushing to Back Trump, Verdict Be Damned Bloomberg. Banner headline, full width of screen.
Trump’s Republican megadonors shrug off his guilty verdict CNBC
Chartbook 287: After the verdict: American money and Donald Trump Adam Tooze (Randy K)
Antitrust
Apple News+ Subscription Growth Blows Away Major Media Sites CultofMac. Paging Lina Khan
AI
Google is Putting More Restrictions On AI Overviews engadget
Civil unrest can spread fast through generative AI Fast Company
Falling Down Boeing Airplanes
Boeing’s New Legal Nightmare: Potential Damages Of $235 Million In Trade Secrets Suit Forbes (Kevin W). That number is not all that bad but it does come on top of lots of other setbacks
The Bezzle
Science Has a Nasty Photoshopping Problem New York Times (Dr. Kevin)
Why policymakers are more likely to risk high inflation during periods of economic uncertainty Guardian
The fading Fed reign of economics PhDs Financial Times (Kevin W)
Commercial Property Meltdown Clobbers Pension Funds Wall Street Journal (Robin K)
The American shopping spree is losing steam CNN (Kevin W)
Class Warfare
You Can Thank Private Equity for That Enormous Doctor’s Bill Wall Street Journal. First in a three part series. What is the world coming to? Would have written this up as a media story (substance already covered here) but Friday was an awfully busy news day.
Newsflash: Inequality in Neoliberal America CADTM (Micael T)
Cash-Strapped Shoppers Are Sending Budget Chains Into Bankruptcy Bloomberg
Why Are People So Down About the Economy? Theories Abound. New York Times (Kevin W). The big one is that voters are still suffering from the big increase in prices over earlier years, which lower inflation now does not reverse.
Right to repair is now the law in Colorado The Verge (Kevin W)
US sues Hyundai, others over child labor at Alabama parts plant Reuters (Kevin W)
Capitalism, with friends like these, you don’t need enemies Steve Keen (Micael T)
Antidote du jour (Mike M):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
