Alligator Mating Season is Underway in Florida—and Is Causing Havoc Field and Stream
Exploring a Middle Ordovician Burgess Shale-type fauna Ecology & Evolution (Sub-Boreal). Citizen science!
Warehouses Outperform in Cloudy Commercial Real Estate Environment Chief Investment Officer
Climate
Half of the western U.S. is out of drought, but not fully recovered Colorado Sun
Extreme rainfall is taking a toll on China’s rice crops, and it could get much worse Channel News Asia
Devastating wildfires engulf southern Russia, claiming lives and property The Watchers
Fine young cannibals: locust study could lead to better pest control Guardian
#COVID19
COVID-19 Is No Longer an Official Emergency. Is That the Right Call? The Brink, Boston University (MR).
COVID-19 Surveillance After Expiration of the Public Health Emergency Declaration ― United States, May 11, 2023 CDC. “COVID-19 is an ongoing public health problem that will be monitored with sustainable data sources to guide prevention efforts.” “Sustainable”? What does that even mean?
As public health emergency ends, pandemic-era support programs have already been fading away AP
As COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates End, a Slim Majority of Americans Still Supports Most of Them Morning Consult. Handy chart:
A Novel Bat Coronavirus with a Polybasic Furin-like Cleavage Site Virologica Sinica. N = 112. From the Abstract: “Bats are recognized as one of the most potential natural hosts of SARS-CoV-2… Here, we performed a degenerate primer screening and next-generation sequencing analysis of 112 bats, collected from Hainan Province, China. Three coronaviruses, namely bat betacoronavirus (Bat CoV) CD35, Bat CoV CD36 and bat alphacoronavirus CD30 were identified…. Notably, Bat CoV CD35 harbored a canonical furin-like S1/S2 cleavage site that resembles the corresponding sites of SARS-CoV-2. The furin cleavage sites between CD35 and CD36 are identical…. In conclusion, this study deepens our understanding of the diversity of coronaviruses and provides clues about the natural origin of the furin cleavage site of SARS-CoV-2.” Big if true.
The Epidemiology of Long Coronavirus Disease in US Adults Clinical Infectious Diseases. From the Abstract: “We conducted a population-representative survey, 30 June–2 July 2022, of a random sample of 3042 US adults aged 18 years or older and weighted to the 2020 US population. Using questions developed by the UK’s Office of National Statistics, we estimated the prevalence of long COVID, by sociodemographics, adjusting for gender and age…. An estimated 7.3% (95% confidence interval: 6.1–8.5%) of all respondents reported long COVID, corresponding to approximately 18 828 696 adults. One-quarter (25.3% [18.2–32.4%]) of respondents with long COVID reported their day-to-day activities were impacted “a lot” and 28.9% had severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection more than 12 months ago. …
China?
How China’s farmland-reclamation campaign is driving aggressive crop expansions and land-use crackdowns South China Morning Post
China deepens ties in Latin America with Ecuador free trade agreement FT
Capitalism with Chinese characteristics:
1/14
A scholar at the Global China Initiative says that the developing world can use the example of China’s AMC’s to resolve its bad debt with “market-based” solutions.I think there is a lot of confusion about how that actually happened.https://t.co/TkUqTPajVz
— Michael Pettis (@michaelxpettis) May 6, 2023
The whole thread is worth reading in full. AMC = Asset management company.
In Depth: Local Governments Struggle to Get On Top of Their Hidden Debt Caixin
China’s CPI up 0.1 pct in April Xinhua
Myanmar
ASEAN will not give up on Myanmar peace despite no progress – minister Reuters. The barrier to “peace” and “progress” is the very existence of the junta; which neither ASEAN not the “humanitarian” NGOs will or can admit. Cf. Jer 6:14-15.
Myanmar’s Military Is No Longer in Effective Control of the Country The Diplomat
India
Gautam Adani retreats after short-seller attack FT
Why India Should Be Worried About Chinese Army’s Plans to Recruit Nepali Gorkhas The Wire
Syraqistan
Protesters are turning on Pakistan’s military after Imran Khan’s arrest. Here’s what you need to know CNN . Hmm:
Supporters of Imran Khan are now attacking Pakistan Army,stopping army vehicles and looting weapons,in last 24 hours Lahore governor’s house was burnt,radio pakistan building was burnt,army headquarters was broken,Air force base was broken,more than 50 army vehicles were burnt pic.twitter.com/9AUZFuNuC4
— उस्ताद घरछोड़ दास (@UstaadGharchhor) May 11, 2023
And the nukes?
Syria’s Assad receives Saudi invitation to Arab summit Agence France Presse
European Disunion
French gastronomy facing logistical challenge for 2024 Paris Olympics France24
Dear Old Blighty
School-leavers could join NHS via apprenticeships in plan to fix staff shortages Guardian. Nurses and doctors. Why go to college? Why go to night school?
New Not-So-Cold War
Putin tells WWII event West is waging a ‘real war’ on Russia AP
Rebuilding Ukraine depends on luring private money Reuters
Ukraine’s Big Mistake Consortium News
South of the Border
News from Mexico Harpers
Biden Administration
Pondering Armageddon: What Happens If The US Defaults? Heisenberg Report. This is the stupidest timeline….
Here are the 13 counts New York Rep. George Santos faces AP
U.S. Senators Revive Bid to Form Covid-19 Commission WSJ. “President Biden’s administration didn’t support the national task force, people familiar with the matter said.” I’ll bet.
B-a-a-a-a-d Banks
Banks Are Blowing Up While the Economy is Strong. Time to Worry? The Overshoot. The deck: “There is a fundamental difference between failures attributable to credit losses and failures attributable to interest rate mismatches.” As Yves has been saying!
First Citizens makes huge gain on Silicon Valley Bank deal FT
Digital Watch
How Saudi money returned to Silicon Valley Vox
SoftBank Vision funds post record $39bn annual loss FT
Everything Google Announced About AI, Bard, and PaLM 2 at I/O 2023 Gizmodo. The future of search:
So now “search results” means a paragraph of bullshit, instead of something I can check? This really is taking putative PMC authority to new heights! Of course, the beauty part of all this is that Google hoovered up the Intertubes for its training sets — theft of intellectual property on a breathtaking scale — and gives nothing back to those who created the content it stole. No more links! (And don’t try to tell me about the little images at right; that looks like existing Google machinery, which is also crap, besides being an inefficient use of space put beside a simple list of links.) Whatever this is, it’s not search. Except for profits, of course.
ChatGPT in medical literature – a concise review and SWOT analysis (preprint) medRxiv. From the Abstract: “Strengths of ChatGPT include well-formulated expression as well as the ability to formulate general contexts flawlessly and comprehensibly [i.e., bullshit], whereas the time-limited scope as well as the need for correction by experts [e.g., fabricated citations] were identified as weaknesses and threats. Opportunities include assistance in formulating medical issues for non-native speakers as well as the chance to be involved in the development of such AI in a timely manner [ka-ching*].” NOTE * Rarely does one see, even in a pre-print, material as openly careerist and craven as this, good job.
Artist sues AI generators for allegedly using work to train image bots: ‘industrial-level identity theft’ FOX. More like this, please. Plenty of deep pockets in Silicon Valley.
The Computer Scientist Peering Inside AI’s Black Boxes Quanta. At some point, I need to put on my yellow waders and look at the Biden Administration’s AI policies, but I would bet there’s nothing anywhere close to making proprietary algorithms transparent, let alone data.
The Bezzle
This should make Yves happy:
Our Famously Free Press
Facebook Censoring the Racket Report on Censorship? Matt Taibbi, Racket News. On grounds of hate speech. For a rather… capacious definition of hate incidents, and how to report them, see here.
Father-Son Duo in Alabama Wins Pulitzer, Bucking Headwinds in Local News NYT (Furzy Mouse).
Healthcare
Health Insurance Claim Denied? See What Insurers Said Behind the Scenes Pro Publica. “Learn how to request your health insurance claim file, which can include details about what your insurer is saying about you and your case.” News you can use!
Small vulnerable newborns (series) The Lancet. “The fact that every fourth baby in the world is born too soon or born too small is a concern for human rights, public health, the national economy, and development. By not addressing this priority, we are jeopardising our collective future. We can reverse this trajectory, if national leaders, with global partners, prioritise action, and invest and hold themselves accountable.”
Feral Hog Watch
In Graphic Detail: Pigs in the City Hakai
Zeitgeist Watch
The Case Against (Most) Books Richard Hanania’s Newsletter
Realignment and Legitimacy
Chi Alpha Campus Ministries in Texas Platformed Convicted Sex Offender for Decades Roys Report. This keeps happening, regardless of denomination.
Guillotine Watch
Manhattanites bring their private school blood sport to Miami FT
Class Warfare
ALEC’s State Ratings Favor Corporate Policy Wish-List Over Quality of Life Center for Media and Democracy
Soap application alters mosquito-host interactions Cell. N = 4. From the Discussion: “[B]enzyl benzoate (an organic compound found in the scent of flowers and commonly used to treat scabies and lice), γ-nonalactone (a component of watermelon’s scent and identified as a key compound of the aroma of American Bourbon), and benzaldehyde (an aromatic aldehyde commonly found in plants with a characteristic almond-like odor) were the most abundant compounds and most strongly associated with the Native [brand] soap (i.e., soap that induced the lowest [mosquito] preference indices.” So I guess we can look at the labels? The Gizmodo popularization of the Cell article says it’s a “a coconut-scented chemical” that repels the mosquitos, but I can’t find that in the text. Readers?
Antidote du jour (via):
Bonus antidote:
Look for the helpers!
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
