Cat becomes Polish city’s top-rated tourist attraction Notes from Poland
The World’s Deadliest Mushroom Has Adapted to Invade the U.S. Field and Stream. Because there’s so much bullshit? And they keep us in the dark?
Falling in Love With Investments The Rational Walk
Climate
A realistic ‘energy transition’ is to get better at using less of it Resilience
China provinces top list of world’s most climate-vulnerable regions: Data Channel News Asia
In Argentina’s drought-hit fields, billion dollar losses and farmers going under Reuters
Iron shortage threatens microbes key to food chain in Southern Ocean Science. Fascinating story that again shows how little we know.
After uproar, society backpedals from actions against scientists who staged climate protest at meeting Science
China?
With end of zero-COVID in China come chaos, challenges, recovery Channel News Asia
Dragons Awake Oliver Boyd-Barrett, Empire, Communication and NATO Wars
China’s wealthy struggle to find private jets as travel rebounds FT
India
Adani issue: Supreme Court says won’t issue injunction to media Indian Express
The Adani Crisis Is Exactly What India Needs Foreign Policy
European Disunion
Hungarian parliament faces dispute over Sweden, Finland’s NATO membership Andalou Agency
How a Covert Firm Spreads Lies and Chaos Around the World Der Spiegel. “Team Jorge says it charges up $15 million to manipulate an election. Hanan, alias Jorge, says he counts around a half dozen intelligence agencies among his clients.” That’s not very much money!
Dear Old Blighty
UK nurses’ union suspends strikes after government agrees to talks over pay Andalou Agency
You must be having a laugh! Yes Minister and The Thick of It were among the satire programmes flagged by beleaguered counter-terror Prevent scheme for ‘encouraging far-right sympathies’ Daily Mail
The digital pound: A new form of money for households and businesses Bank of England. More at NC here.
Return of private equity suggests revival of London’s salad days FT
New Not-So-Cold War
China calls for Russia-Ukraine cease-fire, peace talks AP
What They Didn’t Talk About in Munich The American Conservative
Here’s How Ukraine Could Retake Crimea Politico
‘Absolute victory over Russia isn’t possible’ Fiona Hill, Unherd
A Fight for Survival: What Victory Looks Like to Putin Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
One Year After Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine: Experts React RAND
A Report Card on the War in Ukraine Foreign Policy
Russian Air Power “Mystery” Explained The Dreizen Report
Briefing to the UN Security Council on the Nord Stream pipeline (video) Jeffrey D. Sachs. Transcript.
The corruption of massive industry ‘sweeteners’ in foreign arm sales Responsible Statecraft (Re Silc).
Biden Administration
Biden nominates former Mastercard CEO Ajay Banga to head World Bank Reuters (Re Silc). Re Silc: “Why not paypal CEO?”
After Alaska Airlines planes bump runway while taking off from Seattle, a scramble to ‘pull the plug’ Anchorage Daily News (PR).
Supply Chain
Dealing with the Shipping Container Crisis Hellenic Shipping News
‘Colossal’ tidal wave of new container ships about to strike Freight Waves
Healthcare
Doctors Are Disappearing From Emergency Rooms as Hospitals Look to Cut Costs KHN. The words “private equity” should be in the headline.
The FDA Wants to Interfere in the Practice of Medicine WSJ. The deck: “A little-noticed provision of the omnibus spending bill could give the agency power to ban off-label use of approved therapies.” From January, still germane.
The Bezzle
Sam Bankman-Fried Hit With Additional Bank Fraud Charges in New Indictment CoinDesk
He watched the Koons ‘balloon dog’ fall and shatter … and wants to buy the remains NPR
L’Affaire Joffrey Epstein
Documents from JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon sought in Jeffrey Epstein lawsuits FT
Zeitgeist Watch
American paranoia Times Literary Supplement. Starting with World War I.
Small Penises and Fast Cars: Evidence for a Psychological Link (preprint) PsyRvix. The Abstract: “In this experiment, we manipulated what men believed about their own penis size, relative to others. We gave them false information, stating that the average penis size was larger than it in fact is, reasoning that, on average, these males will feel that relatively and subjectively their own penis was smaller; compared to those told that the average penis size was smaller than true average. We then asked them to rate how much they would like to own a sports car. These facts and questions were buried amongst other items giving information and asking for product ratings, so that our hypothesis was masked from participants. We found that males, and males over 30 in particular, rated sports cars as more desirable when they were made to feel that they had a small penis.” Hmm. I wonder if this technique could be more widely exploited.
This Wooden Phallus Might Be a Rare 2,000-Year-Old Dildo Science Alert. Who says there’s no such thing as progress?
Realignment and Legitimacy
Marjorie Taylor Greene calls for a ‘national divorce’ between liberal and conservative states NBC and Never Mind Marjorie Taylor Greene’s ‘National Divorce’ The Atlantic
Seattle bans caste-based discrimination, becoming first U.S. city to do so Seattle Times
There’s a War Going on in Your Local Buy Nothing Group New York Magazine
Class Warfare
Norfolk Southern toxic train bomb:
Ohio train derailment tied to overheated wheel bearing, report finds Axios. Yep. The train also may have split in two during braking, which could be a function of having been incorrectly “blocked” (heavy cars in the rear), as a function of Precision Scheduled Railroading, which forgoes such niceties. See also Freight Waves for more detail, including on roller bearings.
“Superfund for Workers”: East Palestine Raises Questions of Worker Displacement Payday Report
One Reason Why Victims of the Norfolk Southern Derailment Should Be Wary of Trusting the U.S. Government (The BP Oil Well Blowout of 2010: A Case Study) Brian J. Donovan, Journal of Accountability
5 unanswered questions on East Palestine derailment after preliminary NTSB report The Hill
Tax Breaks Threaten Remote Work If Cities Start Enforcing Them Bloomberg
Can Our Brains Be Taken Over? Quanta
Antidote du jour (via):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
