Powell: Fed made ‘mistakes’ in regulation and supervision on his watch American Banker
Pushback Against Powell’s Prognosis Comes Almost Immediately Bloomberg
How the Fed Became Everything (and Everything Became the Fed) Foreign Policy
Climate
Here Are Five Ways Finance Is Trying to De-Risk Heat Waves Bloomberg
Water
Microplastics in Lake Erie highlight growing concern over potential health effects ABC
#COVID19
Evaluation of Waning of SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine–Induced Immunity JAMA. The Abstract: “This systematic review and meta-analysis of secondary data from 40 studies found that the estimated vaccine effectiveness against both laboratory-confirmed Omicron infection and symptomatic disease was lower than 20% at 6 months from the administration of the primary vaccination cycle and less than 30% at 9 months from the administration of a booster dose. Compared with the Delta variant, a more prominent and quicker waning of protection was found. These findings suggest that the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines against Omicron rapidly wanes over time.” Remember “You are protected?” Good times. Liberal Democrats should pay a terrible price for its vax-only strategy. Sadly, there’s no evidence they will pay any price at all, unless President Wakefield’s candidacy catches fire.
Virological characteristics of the SARS-CoV-2 omicron XBB.1.16 variant (correspondence) The Lancet. “Altogether, our data suggest that XBB.1.16 has a greater growth advantage in the human population compared with XBB.1 and XBB.1.5, whereas the ability of XBB.1.16 to exhibit profound immune evasion is similar to XBB.1 and XBB.1.5. Since the spike proteins of XBB.1.16 and XBB.1.5 exhibit similar characteristics in terms of infectivity and escape ability from humoral immunity, the increased fitness of XBB.1.16 might be attributed to the mutations in non-spike proteins.” Orgels’ First Rule: “Whenever a spontaneous process is too slow or too inefficient a protein will evolve to speed it up or make it more efficient.”
New COVID Drug Guards Against All Variants in People With Weak Immune Systems St Louis Post-Dispatch. “‘In vitro studies demonstrated that AZD3152 neutralizes all COVID-19 variants, including Arcturus, the latest variant of concern,’ Mene Pangalos, executive vice president of biopharmaceuticals at AstraZeneca, told investors on an earnings call this week. Results of the SUPERNOVA trial on the drug could be out by September, and that may lead to an emergency use authorization by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, CBS News reported.” Of course, I remember when mRNA vaccines were going to be updated, like software. Whatever happened to that? So take this with a truckload of salts.
WHO experts weigh up whether world ready to end COVID emergency Reuters
Long covid patients crying out for local data Medical Republic. By “local” is meant “national,” in a global context.
China?
China’s factory activity dipped in April on weak demand as bumpy post-Covid economic recovery continues South China Morning Post
Small farmers in limbo as Cambodia wavers on Tonle Sap conservation rules Monga Bay
The Koreas
On South Korean President’s Yoon’s performance at the White House:
I’m still trying to find the right words to describe what a humiliating moment this was. Americans yukking up at this clip just have no idea the depth of insult many Koreans felt from this moment. https://t.co/fmyTVQJYYB
— T.K. of AAK! (@AskAKorean) April 28, 2023
And:
1. In any situation, having a person entertain you is a power move. Yoon is not a paid, professional performer, nor is this a friendly gathering where equal entertainment was exchanged. (Biden didn’t sing.) In Korea, having someone sing a song is a light form of hazing.
— T.K. of AAK! (@AskAKorean) April 29, 2023
The ignorance. If indeed it is ignorance. Once the CDC is demolished, the rubble plowed under, and the earth salted, we can move on to the State Department and The Blob generally.
European Disunion
French Want More Protests Against Pension Reform, Poll Shows Bloomberg. May Day:
FRANCE – Lyon May Day Protests.
In response to the hundreds of police drones that Macron ordered to fly, the people bought black umbrellas to cover themselves, so they can’t be identified as individuals.
Today they are one people!
pic.twitter.com/YKObVXeA4n
— Bernie’s Tweets (@BernieSpofforth) May 1, 2023
Umbrella tactics (a la Hong Kong?).
Protester’s hand blown off by grenade during France’s largest May Day protests in 30 years The Telegraph
Protest and Power in France Project Syndicate
Teacher strikes: More schools than ever unable to fully open in England BBC
The Wheels of the Strike. An Interview on the Truck Drivers’ Struggle between Poland and Germany Transnational Social Strike
New Not-So-Cold War
Ukraine denies Kremlin assault as Russia launches drone attacks FT. Terrible news, terrible:
The Ukrainian postal service was part of a Russian “false flag” operation!
The Counteroffensive By Anne Applebaum and Jeffrey Goldberg, The Atlantic. Wheeling out the big guns, I see. The deck: “The future of the democratic world will be determined by whether the Ukrainian military can break a stalemate with Russia and drive the country backwards—perhaps even out of Crimea for good.” Let me know how that works out.
Mad Max in Bakhmut:
New TikTok clip from the Bakhmut front…
90% sure this was filmed by someone driving east along the T0504 highway in #Ivanivske. The burning skyline of Bakhmut on the horizion is apocalyptic. Burnt vehicles everywhere. pic.twitter.com/uqynjWd5Ub
— The Intel Crab (@IntelCrab) May 1, 2023
More ammo for Ukraine in new $400m US aid package Straits Times
The U.S. Military Relies on One Louisiana Factory. It Blew Up. WSJ. Our factories do keep doing that.
The unknown Indian company shipping millions of barrels of Russian oil FT
South of the Border
Mexico’s Exports Hit Record in Sign Nearshoring Is Booming Bloomberg
Biden Administration
FTC proposes ban on Meta profiting from minors’ data Reuters
Kroger-Albertsons merger will harm grocery store worker wages Economic Policy Institute
Four ways Biden is boosting fossil fuels — and drawing heat for it The Hill
Senate sends bipartisan rebuke of solar tariff policy to Biden’s desk Politico
Biden administration under pressure to address press freedoms Axios. They could start with Snowden, who goes unmentioned in the current spate of “press freedom” discourse. For some reason.
The Supremes
Supreme Crooks Eschaton. “We’re learning ‘the real work’ is hardly as it has been portrayed over the years.” That goes for a lot.
Senate panel explores ethics standards for US Supreme Court as questions swirl Reuters
Supreme Court: ‘We Wear Gold Crowns Now’ The Onion
B-a-a-a-a-d Banks
PacWest explores potential sale after shares plummet 50% FT
First Republic’s pain had a lot to do with its reliance on wealthy clientele CNN
Why the First Republic drama isn’t over yet Axios
2024
CNN’s Trump town hall reignites debate over media coverage The Hill. True, “debate” and “dogpile” both begin with the letter d, but it shouldn’t be this easy to confuse them.
Why Arsenal’s struggles show you shouldn’t count out Donald Trump FT
ABC News and CNN Manage to Demonstrate Exactly What Not To Do with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Vice
Gunz
Tennessee shooting update:
This makes no sense. Dozens of Tennessee citizens sought the release of the Nashville shooter’s manifesto under the public records act. All were denied.
Litigation happened because the PD wouldn’t release it voluntarily. Now they’re using the lawsuit as an excuse to conceal it: https://t.co/o8HmOxzNeb
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) May 3, 2023
I have always assumed Christianist political clout from the Covenant School was the issue, but what the Covenant School is worried about is a very, very open question.
Digital Watch
‘No! You stay!’ Cops, firefighters bewildered as driverless cars behave badly Mission Local
Researchers Use A.I. to Decode Words From Brain Scans Smithsonian. “After you get done culling Legal, loop in Marketing….”
Dished up by 3D printers, a new kind of fish to fry Reuters
Inside the Battle Between Big Ag and Lab-Grown Meat The New Republic
Healthcare
Associations between illness-related absences and ventilation and indoor PM2.5 in elementary schools of the Midwestern United States Environment International. From the Abstract: “This study monitored indoor environmental data in 144 classrooms in 31 schools in the Midwestern United States for two consecutive days every fall, winter, and spring during a two-year period; 3,105 pupils attended classrooms where the measurements were conducted. All classrooms were ventilated with mechanical systems that had recirculation; there were no operable exterior windows or doors…. Present results agree with the previously demonstrated benefits of reduced absence rates when classroom ventilation is improved and provide additional evidence on the potential benefits of reducing indoor inhalable particles. Overall, reduced absence rates are expected to provide socioeconomic benefits and benefits for academic achievements, while higher ventilation rates and reduced particle levels will also contribute to reduced health risks, including those related to airborne respiratory pathogens.” Who knew?!
Groves of Academe
I hope we can leave Lord of the Flies on school library shelves:
2. First mover businesses made the most money. But then intellectual thievery ensued. Kids would steal an idea/knowledge & resell at lower price (eg, steal origami flower & reverse engineer).
3. Kids paid businesses to do their homework. (Yup, a 10yo figured to sell service)
— Covid Canada (@CovidCanada1) May 3, 2023
The whole thread is worth a read.
The Fight for the American Public Library Bloomberg
Realignment and Legitimacy
Americans take a dim view of the nation’s future, look more positively at the past Pew Research Center
The F-35 Lightning II Fighter, In Europe, Wins Fans While Watching Russia Forbes
Imperial Collapse Warch
Chairman Milley on avoiding war with China: U.S. must strengthen military Washington Times. Milley: “It is not in the U.S. interest to see Russia and China form a strategic military alliance, and we should do what we can to make sure that that doesn’t happen.” The brain geniuses in The Blob, however, want to fight a two-front war.
Class Warfare
Not a bad idea:
And then the workers could own the executive AIs collectively (after wiring an electromagnetic shotgun to the forehead of every one of ’em).
Generative AI at Work NBER. At the end, not mentioned in the abstract: “[O]ur findings raise questions about whether and how workers should be compensated for the data that they provide to AI systems. High-skill workers, in particular, play an important role in model development but see smaller direct benefits in terms of improving their own productivity.”
TV’s Streaming Bubble Has Burst, a Writers Strike Looms, and “Everybody Is Freaking Out” Vanity Fair
Cord cutting, streaming losses and the ‘terrifying math’ driving the writers strike CNN. The “terrible math” is the hundreds of millions sucked out of streaming by parasitic executives, before the industry collapsed, ffs.
At a McDonald’s in Kentucky, 10-year-olds worked past midnight, Department of Labor finds NC Newsline
Physicists See ‘Strange Matter’ Form inside Atomic Nuclei Scientific American
Antidote du jour (via):
Bonus antidote:
Armadillos collect leaf litter they use to build nests in their burrows. Because of the specific armadillo’s body shape, the animal opts for bunching a pile of leaves up against their abdomens and hopping backwards toward their nestpic.twitter.com/oRZkPHlB27
— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) April 28, 2023
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
