Adorable Baby Giraffe Without Spots Might Be One of a Kind ScienceAlert (Chuck L)
What can archaeology tell us about the Druids’ dark arts? aeon (Anthony L)
Barnacles may help reveal location of lost Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 ScienceBlog (Dr. Kevin)
Is Hercule Poirot autistic? Here are seven clues that he might be SciToday
At What Tipping Point Does an Embryo Model Become an Embryo? Univadis (Dr, Kevin)
Lyme Disease Has No Cure But a New Vaccine Is Coming Bloomberg (Dr. Kevin)
The Question of Geophagy: Why Eat Dirt? JSTOR (Micael T)
A sex educator explains orgasms Big Think. Micael T: “NSFW or not, the weekend is here.”
#COVID-19
US School Districts Halt In-Person Classes Amid COVID, Strep, Flu Outbreaks Breaking911 (Kevin W)
No one could have foreseen this. https://t.co/LDoAjO9nsZ
— T. Ryan Gregory (@TRyanGregory) August 26, 2023
Alert:
UMass Memorial reinstates staff mask mandate after ‘dramatic increase’ in COVID caseshttps://t.co/a5KsdnFqDl
— Yaneer Bar-Yam (@yaneerbaryam) August 25, 2023
Why BA.2.86 covid variant cases have scientists worried Washington Post (Dr. Kevin)
Climate/Environment
Aramco Targeted in UN Human Rights Probe Tied to Climate Change Bloomberg
Hawaii names 388 people who are still unaccounted for after wildfires Washington Post (Kevin W)
Louisiana residents told to ‘get out now’ in face of sweeping wildfire Guardian (furzy)
Climate change is coming for your olive oil, too Grist
Fukushima water release: why China’s ban on Japanese seafood could backfire South China Morning Post. China does not have great grounds for caviling. I would never eat tilapia (70% from China) or shrimp unless sure of its provenance because China’s waters are so polluted.
China?
Computation power as industrial policy
Something to think about. At china’s recent computation conference, they reported to have 197 eflops of computation + 7.6m mainframes. Of which, 25%+ used for ai
Computation power seeing 30% cagr which means China will probably be #1 here… pic.twitter.com/Mj362TFRIL
— tphuang (@tphuang) August 22, 2023
The development of China will shatter all bad-mouthing voices: Global Times editorial Global Times. Even though the Chinese tend to come off as overly sensitive to Western criticism, this reads as if the lady doth protest too much. Having said that, stories like today’s lead piece in the New York Times, A Crisis of Confidence Is Gripping China’s Economy, must be annoying.
India
India’s Reported Pushback Against US Meddling In Bangladesh Is Driven By Security Concerns Andrew Korybko
The Electoral Battle for 2024 Merits a Deeper Reflection on the State of India’s Economy The Wire
Old Blighty
Starmer has taken more freebies than all Labour leaders since 1997 openDemocracy
Canada backs US in GMO corn trade row with Mexico PhysOrg
New Not-So-Cold War
So Much Winning … And More … Moon of Alabama (Kevin W)
All the Evidence Points To Kyiv Spiegel (Kevin W). Odd that this is appearing now.
Dutch brewer Heineken sells its Russian operations for 1 euro, taking a 300-million-euro hit Associated Press (Kevin W)
Who’s afraid of Prigozhin and Wagner? Indian Punchline. Note: “Prigozhin was a dead man walking for staging such an idiotic act, after his security cover was withdrawn by the state.”
Experts See Signs of Sabotage in Crash Footage Wall Street Journal. Lead story.
Rus Officials Say Major Rus Offensive Coming; Ukr Tries Fails Capture Rabotino; Zaluzhny Warns US Alexander Mercouris, YouTube. Nice shout out, plus useful updates on Robotino and Putin’s full remarks on Prigozhin.
Akhmetov Allocates 165M EUR Over 18 Months to Support the Ukrainian Armed Forces and Civilians Modern Diplomacy. Micael T: “What do they say? Beware billionaires bearing gifts?”
No other option can be alternative to Black Sea Grain Initiative: Turkish foreign minister Anadolu Agency
Syraqistan
Israeli activist Shikma Bressler: ‘People feel they cannot serve a dictatorship’ Financial Times (David L)
Big Brother is Watching You Watch
Helicopter Footage From Mass Arrest Reveals State Trooper Surveillance Capabilities, Tactics, and Communications Unicorn Riot (Randy K)
NSA Orders Employees to Spy on the World “With Dignity and Respect” Intercept
Imperial Collapse Watch
BRICS looking for ways to make settlements independent of West — Lavrov TASS. Key section:
“No one is talking about a single currency now. Anyway, all attention is now focused on finding ways to ensure our mutual trade, mutual economic projects and investments in such a way so as not to depend on the system controlled by the United States and its Western allies,” he said.
Perhaps the most boring chart in the world
The shares of the major currencies in global reserves, as reported to the IMF.
1/ pic.twitter.com/hObWwPleRw
— Brad Setser (@Brad_Setser) August 25, 2023
“Reshuffling World Order” on Press TV (Iran) Gilbert Doctorow. Note:
I emphasize that the mission of BRICS, as set out in its Declaration, is not to overthrow the institutions of global governance that were set up following WWII, namely the United Nations and the Bretton Woods institutions (World Bank and IMF) but to reform these institutions by making them more representative of today’s global distribution of economic and political power.
The error of NATO’s ways in Asia Asia Times (Kevin W)
The Fleeting Mirage of Imagined Supremacy William Schreyer
THE INSPECTOR OF ABU GHRAIB Seymour Hersh (Randy K)
Biden
Biden admin’s latest home appliance crackdown: ceiling fans Fox (Kevin W)
This went live at 5:00 AM EDT on a Saturday. Will be interesting to see if it gets traction:
A death rattle of any democracy is when a sitting president uses the state security apparatus to go after political opponents and cover up lies and crimes committed by himself or his family. Biden is doing that now. His actions make it clear he believes himself to be not the… pic.twitter.com/I4rwbNg0i6
— Tulsi Gabbard ???? (@TulsiGabbard) August 26, 2023
Ditto this:
The entire Biden Ukraine cover story is collapsing. It turns out the Obama administration didn’t want to fire the prosecutor investigating Burisma, but Biden went rogue. He fired Shokin, because Hunter asked him to and now the fired prosecutor is speaking out. He says he believes… pic.twitter.com/luZe7z2JTg
— Jesse Watters (@JesseBWatters) August 26, 2023
Attorney Sues Trump, Claims He is Constitutionally Ineligible for Presidency The Messenger (David L). ZOMG, this is silly. Lacks standing plus how pray tell is Trump the party to be sued when it is state officials who are providing him with ballot access?
GOP Clown Car
Ramaswamy moves to capitalize on his big night at debate The Hill
“Rich Men North of Richmond” Singer Says It’s Ironic His Song Was Played at GOP Debate New Republic (furzy)
Our No Longer Free Press
Another Day, Another CIA Press Release Disguised As News Caitlin Johnstone (furzy). Too funny! Those Natashas are everywhere! It must be Russian propaganda that explains why more and more people are not buying the “Ukraine is winning” story. Seriously, all my years in the US I met ONE Russian, although NYC is lousy with Russian “models”.
Elon Musk says he’s being sued for ‘political purposes’ RT
AI
ChatGPT’s cancer treatment advice ‘potentially dangerous,’ study shows New York Post (Kevin W)
The Future of Medicine? ChatGPT Shows “Impressive” Accuracy in Clinical Decision Making ScieTechDaily (Kevin W)
The Price of Fragmentation: Why the Global Economy Isn’t Ready for the Shocks Ahead Foreign Affairs (Kevin C)
Inflation: Progress and the Path Ahead Jerome H. Powell, Federal Reserve
Powell warns inflation ‘too high’ in Jackson Hole speech Financial Times
Despite What Powell Says, the Fed Is Likely Done Wall Street Journal
With central banks chasing shadows, many nations are now plunging towards or into recession Bill Mitchell
Initial Jobless Claims Continue to Suggest Slow Weakening Angry Bear
Class Warfare
A mystery company backed by Silicon Valley billionaires has purchased tens of thousands of acres of land for more than $800 million to build a new city near San Francisco Business Insider
Antidote du jour. An old picture of Bob H’s Betsy and Tippy. This is SO coastal Maine!
And a bonus:
Shampoo hat, I thought you liked it… ???? pic.twitter.com/zMsp9YE1fA
— why you should have an animal (@shouldhaveanima) August 25, 2023
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
