A New Idea for How to Assemble Life Wired. Assembly theory. See NC on May 23 for link (Anthony L) and discussion.
Why Florence Nightingale was so much more than the ‘Lady with the Lamp’ History Extra
Climate
Lahaina used to be a wetland Heated
How Biden’s Regional Carbon Cleanup Hubs Could Spur Innovation Bloomberg. Yes, that’s how we built The Bomb and put a man on the moon; public-private partnerships, and startups [bangs head on desk].
Mishmash of how US heat deaths are counted complicates efforts to keep people safe as Earth warms AP
#COVID19
Core mitochondrial genes are down-regulated during SARS-CoV-2 infection of rodent and human hosts Science. From the Abstract: “Even when the virus was cleared and lung mitochondrial function had recovered, mitochondrial function in the heart, kidney, liver, and lymph nodes remained impaired, potentially leading to severe COVID-19 pathology.” Topol gives a fine exposition of this article, with charts, here–
Long Covid: Mitochondria, the Big Miss, and Hope Eric Topol, Ground Truths. Also excoriates NIH, rightly, for its “billions for research but not one cent for treatment” RECOVER study on long covid, a story broken by STAT.
Long COVID is devastating and far from rare. As infections rise again, why are we still ignoring it? Salon. Readers, can somebody check the math?
Got a cold, runny nose, the sniffles? No worries! Come to school, LAUSD says LA Times. Should somebody check in on LA? History does repeat:
A cloud no bigger than a man’s hand:
Way too early to say what impact this new variant will have. It could be similar to BS.1.1, a hugely divergent variant from 2022 that had little impact globally. Or it could be a much bigger deal than that. We should know pretty soon. 2/2 https://t.co/r96RhWfnnX
— Ryan Hisner (@LongDesertTrain) August 14, 2023
(1 Kings 18:44-45). Brain Truster GM: “If this one turns out to have real legs, it will make the XBB booster obsolete before it’s even rolled out…” Fortunately, we have implemented a strategy of multiple layers of mitigation, so hopefully non-pharmaceutical interventions will stave off the onrush. Oh, wait….
COVID victims’ families sue NYC-based EcoHealth for ‘funding, releasing’ virus NY Post
Indonesians mask-up as Jakarta tops world’s most polluted city list WION
China?
China stocks hit after developer Country Garden suspends some bond trading FT
U.S. Building Up To 20 New Air Defence Sites on Guam: Creating the World’s Most Heavily Protected Airspace to Face Chinese and Korean Strikes Military Watch
India
The Massacre In Manipur Madras Courier
Africa
Burkina Faso & Mali Reps Arrive in Niger: We Won’t Accept Repeat of NATO’s Libya Adventure Internationalist 360°
Syraqistan
Saudi Arabia’s 1st ambassador to Palestine presents letter of credentials Anadolu Agency
‘Choose Democracy!’ Ex-IDF General Calls on Army Chief to Back Rule of Law in Looming Conflict With ‘Gov’t of Criminals’ Haaretz
Former Israeli general accuses Israel of ‘war crimes’ reminiscent of Nazi Germany in West Bank The New Arab
European Disunion
Germany considers ban on far-Right AfD Telegraph
Polish government plans referendum asking if voters want ‘thousands of illegal immigrants’ AP
Railway Poetry London Review of Books. From 2017, still germane.
Dear Old Blighty
How the Tories plan to take the fight to Labour on the NHS The Spectator
New Not-So-Cold War
SITREP 8/13/23: AFU Struggles For Symbolic Meaning In Late Summer Doldrums Simplicius the Thinker(s)
Ukraine Situation Report: Russians Board Ukraine-Bound Ship The War Zone
Ukraine’s counteroffensive may be successful without F-16s – NYT Ukrainska Pravda
CISA boss says US alliance with Ukraine over past year is closer than Five Eyes The Register
Russia, Donbass and the Reality of Conflict in Ukraine Covert Action Magazine
Rouble hits 16-month low as military spending rises and exports fall FT
South of the Border
Blood and Treasure The American Conservative. From June, still germane.
2024
Previously Secret Memo Laid Out Strategy for Trump to Overturn Biden’s Win NYT. Memo from Chesebro. Good title for a film.
Anatomy of a Fraud: Kenneth Chesebro’s Misrepresentation of My Scholarship in His Efforts to Overturn the 2020 Presidential Election Lawrence Tribe, Just Security
Georgia Is Ground Zero for Trump Exhaustion as Another Indictment Looms WSJ
Exclusive: Georgia prosecutors have messages showing Trump’s team is behind voting system breach CNN (Furzy Mouse).
Was Trump Using Twitter Direct Messages? (Please Let the Answer Be Yes.) Daring Fireball
Pence says he ‘doesn’t recall’ if he was told about false elector scheme leading up to Jan. 6 The Hill
Democrats en Déshabillé
Feinstein fall gives Democrats a scare The Hill. Did she fall, or was she pushed?
Supply Chain
War and Soggy Fields Leave World Short of Top-Quality Wheat Bloomberg
Global rice prices could surge higher as flood risks loom over China CNBC
Airlines rush to avoid cancellations after engine recall FT
The Bezzle
Deception, exploited workers, and cash handouts: How Worldcoin recruited its first half a million test users MIT Technology Review
An impossibility theorem on truth-telling in fully decentralized systems (PDF) Bank of International Settlements
Digital Watch
Ruthless Endangerment E.W. Neidermeyer. Liability and robot cars. Optimizing the legal environment rather than making software that works.
Tutoring firm settles US agency’s first bias lawsuit involving AI software Reuters
Sure AI is hot, but is it an actual market or a platform piece? Tech Crunch
Groves of Academe
More than 300 professors from across the West blast CU Boulder administrators, dean over firing of Patty Limerick Colorado Sun
Top Texas A&M officials were involved in botched recruiting of journalism professor, who will receive $1 million settlement Texas Tribune
How many college closures are on the horizon? Higher Ed Dive
Zeitgeist Watch
You Must Understand That Taylor Swift Knows Me Better Than Anyone Else On Earth Defector. On parasocial relationships.
Imperial Collapse Watch
Rome fell. Will the modern-day West follow suit? The Economist
Class Warfare
Utah Farm Bureau President arrested for assault, investigated for human trafficking KSL
Reddit users decry hospitals’ bonus systems Becker’s Hospital Review
The Economic Losers in the New World Order WSJ
The Dream Was Universal Access to Knowledge. The Result Was a Fiasco. NYT
How the World Discovered – and Got the Taste for – Scotch Whiskey The Wire
Antidote du jour (via):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
