Yacht sinks after being rammed by orcas in Strait of Gibraltar BBC. “Scientists are unsure about the exact causes of the behaviour, but believe the highly intelligent mammals could be displaying ‘copycat’ or ‘playful’ behaviour.” And heaven knows we need more playfulness!
Debt — and delinquencies — are on the rise for Americans CNN
Climate
Canada fire smoke evacuates thousands Wildfire Today. Mask up!
4 Takeaways From Our Homeowners Insurance Investigation NYT. The deck: “Across the country, more intense heat, storms and fires are causing the home insurance market to start to buckle.”
Beverly Hills 90210 Mansions Lose Fire Coverage as Insurers Flee Bloomberg
Recent study finds ‘garbage lasagnas’ forming in open landfills across US release staggering amount of air pollution: ‘Decades of trash that’s sitting under the landfill’ The Cool Down
Siberia’s ‘gateway to the underworld’ is growing a staggering amount each year Live Science
The USDA’s gardening zones shifted. This map shows you what’s changed in vivid detail NPR. Swipe-friendly nteractive but still useful.
Witnessing and Professing Climate Professionals JSTOR Daily
We Don’t Need a “Plethora of Tactics”, We Need a Climate Strategy The Anarchist Library
Secrets from the rainforest’s past uncovered in Amazonian backyards Monga Bay
Scientists solve mystery of ancient ‘tree of life’ BBC
Water
Where did Earth’s water come from? This ancient asteroid family may help us find out Space.com
Kānāwai From Ahi: Revitalizing The Hawai‘i Water Code in the Wake of the Maui Wildfires Harvard Law Review. Interesting!
Pandemics
My rendezvous with the raw milk black market: quick, easy, and unchecked by the FDA STAT
Oldest Known Human Viruses Discovered In 50,000-Year-Old Neanderthal Bones IFL Science
China?
China’s biggest banks launch first sales of special loss-absorbing debt FT
Putin and Xi sign declaration on reinforcing strategic partnership France24
China Builds World’s First Dedicated Drone Carrier Naval News
It’s called “industrial policy”:
For years, the Chinese government has cheated by pouring money into Chinese companies which then dump cheap products onto the market, hurting competitors who play by the rules.
I’m announcing tariffs that will ensure American workers are not held back by unfair trade practices. pic.twitter.com/JHdJ6EcXWr
— President Biden (@POTUS) May 14, 2024
Try it sometime!
France deploys troops in New Caledonia as riots leave four dead Al Mayadeen
Myanmar
Patrick Winn on the Narco-Economy of Myanmar’s Wa State The Diplomat
Myanmar workers among fastest-growing group of foreign workers in Japan as society ages Channel News Asia
Syraqistan
Biden Advances $1.2B Transfer of Ground-Based Weapons to Israel Amid Rafah Raid TruthOut
US military says Gaza Strip pier project is completed, aid to soon flow as Israel-Hamas war rages on AP. Gonna be hard to do this on the pier, but they’ll find a way:
Israeli settlers attacked and vandalised humanitarian aid convoys travelling to the Gaza Strip, where people are desperately in need of aid from Jordan through the occupied West Bank. pic.twitter.com/zfcVyObhZJ
— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) May 14, 2024
Israel’s defence minister lambasts Benjamin Netanyahu over lack of postwar plan FT
Taleb on hasbara:
A system that requires continuous, pervasive, and unremitting misrepresentation and propaganda (via AIPAC, Hasbara, and manipulation of Western minds) to hide its attributes will eventually collapse. https://t.co/61xUskA0Jq
— Nassim Nicholas Taleb (@nntaleb) May 15, 2024
Taleb’s example can, I think, be generalized.
Erdoğan says Israel will ‘set sights’ on Turkey if Hamas defeated Turkish Minute
House Democrats Fume Over Unprecedented Israeli Rebuke Of Lawmakers HuffPo
Shameless Craig Murray. I have often wondered why United States elites — college presidents, say, on up through funders — identify so disproportionately with Israel. It may be that our elites see themselves as beseiged and outnumbered, understandably so. It may also be that they are ideologically compatible, ranging as so many of them do from Social Darwinist to outright genocidal, with stochastic eugenicism as the moderate position (“live your life”).
European Disunion
Slovakia’s prime minister no longer in life-threatening condition after surgery Anadolu Agency
Slovak PM shooting suspect named as 71-year-old writer Agence France Presse
Dutch far right to form coalition government FT. Geert Wilders.
Dear Old Blighty
Brexit border system outage puts perishable goods transport in peril The Register
The woman who built up Edinburgh’s army of street stitchers BBC
New Not-So-Cold War
US Secretary of State and Ukraine’s Foreign Minister have working dinner in Kyiv – photo Ukrainska Pravda. The photos the press didn’t include:
what do these two mean that it seems as if they changed out specifically for the Blinken picture? Also notice the Wolfsangel out of frame
[Veterano Pizza if you want to look it up btw, top result on google maps for Kiev Pizza, as it happens] pic.twitter.com/NT673R9ogP
— Brad Pearce (@WaywardRabbler) May 15, 2024
Yes, the photo is indeed of the Odessa Trades Union fire; the Wolfsangel (top right, partly hidden by lamp in first photo; top right, cropped in second).
Zelensky cancels overseas visits as Ukraine withdraws from parts of Kharkiv region France24
Authorities state fortification works planned for 2023 in Kharkiv Oblast are 100% completed Ukrainska Pravda. Good to know!
Was There a Failed Coup Against Zelensky? The American Conservative
Former top U.S. diplomat Victoria Nuland talks to Meduza about winning in Ukraine by remaining tough on Putin and getting real about Chinese ‘neutrality’ Meduza
50 countries and organisations agreed to take part in Ukraine’s Peace Summit in Switzerland Ukrainska Pravda
Georgia’s PM on the ‘foreign agents’ bill, sanctions, and the ‘global party of war’ JAM News
Global Elections
Why are Kashmiris voting in Indian election they’ve long boycotted? Al Jazeera
AI and deepfakes blur reality in India elections BBC
Biden Administration
Another Biden administration staffer resigns over US stance on Gaza war Al Jazeera. The resignation letter:
Today, I became the first Jewish-American political appointee to resign from the Biden-Harris administration over its policies in Gaza. Here is my resignation letter: pic.twitter.com/oqzit7leVD
— Lily Greenberg Call (@LGreenbergCall) May 15, 2024
Groves of Academe
Unions:
Harvard’s Crackdown on Gaza Protest Violated US Labor Law, Union Claims Bloomberg
‘Maximize chaos.’ UC academic workers authorize strike, alleging rights violated during protests LA Times. Statement:
MIT:
Four suspensions have already been shown to have no merit and thrown out, more are awaiting appeal. These suspensions are visiting disproportionate and long-term harm to our students, their families, and our institution, and they must be revoked immediately. For example…
— Nancy Kanwisher @NancyKanwisher@mas.to (@Nancy_Kanwisher) May 15, 2024
Digital Watch
Generative AI Is Totally Shameless. I Want to Be It Wired. The deck: “The best thing about brain-melting software like ChatGPT? It doesn’t feel remorse.” New hires:
When AI helps you code, who owns the finished product? The Register
How Big Tech and Silicon Valley are Transforming the Military-Industrial Complex (PDF) Roberto J. González, Watson Institute of International and Public Affairs
Boeing
Boeing’s safety, labor battles heat up while CEO will walk with $34m payout Leeham News and Analysis
Supply Chain
Canada’s oil producers face potential headwinds from wildfires, railroad strike S&P Global
Collapsing Infrastructure
Pelican Island Bridge in Galveston struck by barge, causing portion to collapse: officials FOX. Commentary:
BRIDGE CLOSURE | A barge struck the Pelican Island Causeway, shutting it down in both directions this morning. The bridge connects the north side of Galveston Island just west of the Port of Galveston with the south side of Pelican Island.
Full story: https://t.co/Y0rXOcGs1n pic.twitter.com/3FD6o3DGuh
— KHOU 11 News Houston (@KHOU) May 15, 2024
Crew trapped on Baltimore ship, seven weeks after bridge collapse BBC. This is systemic; see NC here.
Gunz
How a Maine Businessman Made the AR-15 Into America’s Best-Selling Rifle ProPublica
Class Warfare
Harry Glasbeek on how the law keeps workers’ aspirations firmly in check Canadian Dimension
Huge, solar flare-launching sunspot has rotated away from Earth. But will it return? Space.com
Antidote du jour (via Ken Billington):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
