Physicists uncover how geometric frustration shapes the rose’s iconic blossom Phys.org
Fed holds rates steady, warns of higher inflation and unemployment Reuters
Black smoke: Cardinals fail to elect new pope on first try Business Times
Climate/Environment
There’s a $1 Trillion Time Bomb Ticking in Muni Finances Bloomberg
Could climate change trigger the next subprime mortgage crisis? Fast Company
NSIDC announce a downgrading of service level for their sea ice index dataset which may mean no further updates.
These are globally important datasets for monitoring the ongoing changes to the climate. This is horribly damaging for global science.https://t.co/jcGzlJzU2Y pic.twitter.com/NsVWS86i0T
— Ed Hawkins (@ed_hawkins) May 6, 2025
Pandemics
Partnership formed to confront rise in illness, premature death in young Americans Insurance Newsnet. Some tidbits:
Insurance companies always know about population health. Their profits depend on it.
So the population should be interested in their reports.
Here’s one, linked in tweet below; and here are some screen-grabs from the report… pic.twitter.com/cwVtYftkmt
— Alan Barnard (@alanbarnard1) May 7, 2025
Scientists estimate higher rate of new-onset diabetes after COVID than in general population CIDRAP
Vinay Prasad insisted this was fake news. Now he’s regulating vaccines at the FDA after years of simping for repeatedly infecting unvaccinated kids with SARS-CoV-2 for money. Imagine slutting it up for viruses – truly pathetic! https://t.co/hpBOQsL42S pic.twitter.com/OE7HsITQJO
— Pandemic A. Index (@pan_accindex) May 6, 2025
You know how they say the 3rd generation to inherit wealth squanders it? That is what we are doing with public health right now. People living with all the benefits of it are dismantling it because they think it’s just natural to not have constant disease and death… about to…
— The Lone Masker (@wonderartsy) May 7, 2025
India-Pakistan War
Pakistan warns it will ‘avenge’ deaths from Indian strikes Straits Times
Did Pakistan just use most advanced Chinese missile to shoot down Indian jets? TRT Global
Did Western Intelligence Play a Role in the Latest Terrorist Attack in Kashmir? Larry Johnson
Trump offers to mediate Pakistan-India crisis The Express Tribune
Islamabad left with 35 days of water as Khanpur Dam levels plunge; irrigation, drinking water may be curtailed Free Press Kashmir
The Koreas
N. Korea fires unidentified ballistic missile toward East Sea: JCS Yonhap
China?
China Signals India Levy Is a Warning on Cutting Deals With US Bloomberg
China’s new growth playbook could go out the window with Trump’s tariffs Business Times
Syraqistan
U.S. and Israel discuss possible U.S.-led administration for Gaza, sources say Reuters
Israel Launches PR Initiative to Boost Global ‘Legitimization’ of West Bank Settlements Haaretz
***
Iranian terror suspects ‘targeted Israeli embassy in London’ The Times
We are seeing stories in the media that Iranian nationals are allegedly involved in a supposed plot to target the Israeli embassy in London.
Iran in no uncertain terms categorically rejects any involvement in such actions and confirms that we have not been informed of any…
— Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) May 7, 2025
***
Yemen – U.S. Concedes Maritime Defeat Moon of Alabama
Trump to rename Persian Gulf ‘Arabian Gulf’ during Saudi visit The Cradle
***
Syria’s interim leader Ahmad al-Sharaa visits Paris in first official trip to Europe Euronews. Commentary:
What a beautiful romance …
A decade after the horrific Bataclan attack in Paris, attributed to ISIS, @EmmanuelMacron welcomes “former” senior ISIS leader al-Jolani to France. pic.twitter.com/CZzj1FxC0v
— Ali Abunimah (@AliAbunimah) May 7, 2025
Türkiye, Israel to hold direct talks in Baku on May 8: Israeli media Turkiye Today
European Disunion
New Merz government orders the pushback of all illegal migrants at the German borders, effectively abolishes asylum as a path into Germany eugyppius: a plague chronicle
German leftist EU lawmakers to travel to Moscow for Victory Day DPA
New Not-So-Cold War
SITREP 5/7/25: Ukraine Launches New Kursk Attempt to Spoil May 9th ‘Victory Day’ Simplicius
Ukraine considers shift from dollar to euro amid geopolitical realignments Reuters
Vance says Russia ‘asking for too much’ to end war with Ukraine Politico
Russia’s unilateral ceasefire comes into effect Anadolu Agency
Baltics close airspace to world leaders traveling to Russia for May 9 ERR
Trump Team Urged Ukraine to Take U.S. Deportees Amid War, Documents Show WaPo
Ukrainian women wounded in war take part in Playboy photoshoot – photos Ukrainska Pravda
South of the Border
“Liberation Day”
Tariffs begin to batter Long Beach Port; expect ripple effects across the U.S. soon, officials say Long Beach Post
U.S. pushes nations facing tariffs to approve Musk’s Starlink, cables show WaPo
Trump now wants everyone to stop asking when the trade deals are coming NBC News
NEW: Donald Trump’s chaotic tariff fiasco angered everyone from Democrats to Trump’s billionaire friends.
Now some people are suggesting that we go back to free trade.
They’re all wrong. Tariffs can help build a more fair and just economy — but not the way Trump is using them. pic.twitter.com/j4vX7wqp37
— More Perfect Union (@MorePerfectUS) May 6, 2025
Trump 2.0
‘The Fix Is In’: GOP Wants Poor People to Pay More for Medicaid to Fund Tax Cuts for Wealthy Common Dreams
ELON MUSK SET TO WIN BIG WITH TRUMP’S TRILLION-DOLLAR PENTAGON BUDGET Nick Turse, The Intercept
As Trump Pushes Privatization of USPS, Amazon May Be Preparing to Take Over Truthout
Trump to Rescind Global Chip Curbs, Prep New AI Restrictions Bloomberg
Top Trump Crypto Buyers Vying for Dinner Seats Are Likely Foreign, Data Shows Bloomberg
Democrats en Déshabillé
Democrats Cave, Prepare to Rubber-Stamp Trump Crypto Corruption The American Prospect. Amid all the global turmoil, some things remain the same.
The Genius Act would allow Meta or Google to coin their own money. Why is that a problem? Well Mark Zuckerberg has already discussed charging businesses more after locking them into a payment platform. pic.twitter.com/BoTjJSFNPf
— Matt Stoller (@matthewstoller) May 7, 2025
DOGE
DOGE Aide Who Helped Gut CFPB Was Warned About Potential Conflicts of Interest ProPublica. Was it sternly worded?
Data reveals Musk has delivered 0.25% of promised federal spending cuts Musk Watch
MAHA
OpenAI and the FDA Are Holding Talks About Using AI In Drug Evaluation Wired. What could go wrong?
RFK Jr. Unveils Autism Patient Database Project MedPage Today
Trump nominates Dr. Casey Means, wellness influencer close to RFK Jr., for surgeon general AP
With boost from RFK Jr. and Tucker Carlson, two chronic disease entrepreneurs vault into Trump’s orbit STAT. From October. A lot of good background on Casey and her brother Calley.
Trump Policies at Odds With ‘Make America Healthy Again’ Push MedPage Today
Police State Watch
Private Prison Company GEO Group “Excited” About Mass Deportation The Appeal
Immigration
“THEY ACTUALLY HAD A LIST”: ICE ARRESTS WORKERS INVOLVED IN LANDMARK LABOR RIGHTS CASE The Intercept
Federal judge temporarily blocks deportations to Libya Axios
AI
Family uses AI to create video for deadly Chandler road rage victim’s own impact statement ABC15 Arizona
OpenAI Claims Nonprofit Will Retain Nominal Control Zvi Mowshowitz
Healthcare?
Medicare Scramble: Wall Street Wants Insurers to Dump Costly Seniors HEALTH CARE un-covered
Groves of Academe
Shipman authorizes NYPD sweep of pro-Palestinian protest in Butler Library, police in riot gear arrest dozens Columbia Spectator
Columbia to lay off nearly 180 researchers funded by federal grants Columbia Spectator
***
Everyone Is Cheating Their Way Through College New York Magazine. Commentary:
Makes it a lot easier to hide the cognitive dysfunction that way (aka Covid-induced 🧠 damage). https://t.co/7R9RIbSBWr
— Dr. Sean Mullen (@drseanmullen) May 7, 2025
Imperial Collapse Watch
Report: Pentagon will likely fail audits through 2028 Responsible Statecraft
American tourist climbs over fence at Colosseum, impales himself on spike Los Angeles Times
Sports Desk
Sources: President Trump planning to create commission on college sports to address issues ailing industry Yahoo! Sports. “…the group is expected to feature college sports stakeholders, prominent businesspeople with deep connections to college football and, perhaps, even a former coach and administrator.” Unclear if athletes are considered “stakeholders.”
The Bezzle
New Hampshire Becomes First State to Pass Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Bill Into Law Bitcoin Magazine
Antitrust
Instagram’s Algorithm Recommended Minors to Putative Pedophiles Big Tech on Trial
Wall Street Tells Google to Break Itself Up Big by Matt Stoller
FTC loses appeal to stop Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard deal that already happened The Verge
Class Warfare
US companies plot $500bn share buyback spree FT
Student loan payments are back. It’s a problem for the mortgage market Housing Wire
Tax Evasion or Student Debt? The US Chose the Wrong Crackdown Bloomberg
Any “Halfway Decent Person” Can Join And Own Ireland’s Oldest Gym Defector
Antidote du jour (via):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jours here and here.
Bondi Girl
(melody borrowed from Modern Girl written by Frank John Musker and Dominic Roy King in 1981, and recorded by Sheena Easton)
That Mar-a-Lago glow looks trashy cheap you know
These kamikaze dames keep Trump in power
Pam does what Daddy said, worships his balding head
She’ll do whatever works to keep Trump in his tower
She shreds Epstein’s file and we wonder what for
She’s that Bondi Girl who’s working that revolving door
How she twists and twirls ’bout that Epstein man!
Tells the public lies though we make demands
Why not on TeeVee for us all to see?
But she cops a plea—she’s that Bondi Girl
Na na na na na, na na na na na, na na na na na—Donald’s zombie girl
She’s like a mannequin straight from a loony bin
She’s Donald’s secret twin her nose is brown
She swears he’s squeaky clean, calls him her cash machine
She’s always tryin’ his fevered schemes till they turn around
She’s wild and incautious but can’t help herself
The things she does are shady and crooked as hell
How she twists and twirls ’bout that Epstein man!
Tells the public lies though we make demands
Why not on TeeVee for us all to see?
But she cops a plea—she’s that Bondi Girl
Na na na na na, na na na na na, na na na na na—Donald’s zombie girl
(musical interlude)
Without Donald she’d be woebegone
She’s Donald’s little gnome—her feelings for him are known
A liar and spinner, a Trump franchisee
Nothin’ rages her hormones like him on TeeVee
How she twists and twirls ’bout that Epstein man!
Tells the public lies though we make demands
Why not on TeeVee for us all to see?
But she cops a plea—she’s that Bondi Girl
Na na na na na, na na na na na, na na na na na—Donald’s zombie girl
Na na na na na, na na na na na, na na na na na—Donald’s zombie girl
Na na na na na, na na na na na, na na na na na—Donald’s zombie girl
Na na na na na, na na na na na, na na na na na—Donald’s zombie girl
I like to call her “Pammy Bondage.”
Nice work, as usual!
“Trump to rename Persian Gulf ‘Arabian Gulf’ during Saudi visit”
Not just Trump as the US has been doing this for many years to wind up Iran. But the disputes for this name has been ongoing for a long time-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persian_Gulf_naming_dispute
In other news today, the Government of Iran has stated that all correspondence to the United States government will now be changed officially to the government of South Canada.
I guess the sad part is that after having had their ass handed to them by Yemen, USA can only exert power on the level of the “Baltic superpowers” to try and annoy states they consider adversaries.
Baja Canada
Re: cheating on everything
Not the ‘end of education’ but a vigorous weeding out of the weak-willed and stupid I think.
Cheating in this way will simply make you an outgrowth of the statistical engine, indistinguishable from any other. “You” will disappear. Techno Buddhism?
Better question, what are these entities doing with all the time they have saved?
Correct, I think. Anyone who relies on AI to cheat to their own detriment will become part of the faceless, nameless body of AI slop. You’ll be replaced by a very short shell script.
Critical thinking skills will become an “edge” for anyone who dares to retain them. Surrendering to fraudulent, greased AI will be the path to oblivion.
The article provides an excellent argument for paying janitors and nurses more than college graduates.
I prefer not to click on “X.” For others also interested in “Rampant AI Cheating,” here’s a link to the original New York Magazine story:
https://archive.ph/ofxzl
Thanks! That story is truly horrifying.
I think these schools, like Columbia, that take money from OpenAI are going to have to realize they’ve gotten in bed with the devil.
There is probably only one way out – get rid of all digital assignments. No online exams, take home work submitted through the Internet. Go back to pen and paper. Proctored in-person exams, all handwritten. You’re going to have to put the students in a monitored room with a Faraday cage around it. Any glasses will need to be inspected.
Georgia just banned cellphones for school kids in grades K-8. It’s a small step. This whole AI thing is going to be the biggest disaster, ever.
Oral exams, or have the students write papers that other students then evaluate the writer defends in the class room – so even if it was written by an AI, the students have to know the contents and the context anyway.
Just the way it used to be back before the 90’s in my alma mater…
“Trump offers to mediate Pakistan-India crisis”
Ooohh, no, no, no, no, no. No way. Absolutely not. Instead of trying to establish peace between those two nations, he would try to come up with a deal where the US would get something from both countries as a reward for all his hard work. Maybe he would threaten them with the tariffs from hell unless they did what he told them to do because the whole thing would be all about him. It would be better if they sent Witkoff and Lavrov instead instead with a blank check each. Nobody would win if both countries went for their nukes but Trump is too erratic and too much of a loose cannon to be trusted here.
He would rename Kashmir to Kushnemir (or maybe Cashmir), and build a resort there, with blackjack and hookers.
MoA has an article up indicating that the Ukranian legislative body forced an amendment into the “minerals deal” that effectively kills the limited partnership agreement:
https://www.moonofalabama.org/2025/05/ukraine-rada-blocks-detail-agreements-of-mineral-deal.html
This restricts the agreement to the “four corners” of the main document signed by Zelensky making any attempts to sneak in secondary documents null and void.
Looks like Trump got snookered.
“Ukrainian women wounded in war take part in Playboy photoshoot – photos”
Appalling. It’s something out of JG Ballard. I suppose the Nazi tattoos will be photoshopped out of the spread.
Chips Act project, Central NYS edition. Massive scale, massive subsidies of $20B:
Exclusive: Micron report details lasting impacts to Central NY: jobs, traffic, population, pollution syracuse.com archive
An economic collapse might be good for some things.
Gaza: a Tory MP, Mark Pritchard, stood up a couple of days ago and said in the Commons that:
– they had always supported Israel, come what may
– they had got it wrong
– they condemn Israel!
Watch it here. Powerful stuff!
https://nitter.poast.org/joebrolly1993
And there has been total silence in the mainstream media. Nothing on the BBC, Guardian, Telegraph, Times etc. There is one mention in the Independent (which valiantly bothers to publish but does anybody read it?!) and one on politics.co.uk. Shameful!
[Yves, perhaps this is worth a link, despite being a couple of days old?]
Thank you.
A group of senior Tories, led by Kent MP Kit Malthouse, has written to No 10, urging immediate recognition of Palestine and emergency aid. Soon after, Zionist attack dogs mobilised.
It says something when the only place to get news of what should be an epochal statement by a Tory MP is from the twitter feed of … the barrister acting for “Tory MP killers” Kneecap. :-) :-(
Two sources, plain spoken, insightful.
And they are correct in their analyses. I’ll take common sense from anywhere I can find common sense.
First,
The Lone Masker: “You know how they say the 3rd generation to inherit wealth squanders it? That is what we are doing with public health right now. People living with all the benefits of it are dismantling it because they think it’s just natural to not have constant disease and death… about to FIND OUT aren’t we?”
In my not-so-humble opinion, this is what underlies the use-and-throw-away mentality of many USonions. Public health? Heck, little Tiffany won’t get diphtheria. We don’t seem to know why. So let’s get rid of treatment of drinking water. Measles? A mystical, mythical rite of passage in Donna Reed movies.
What? The train system in the U S of A doesn’t work. Who needs it when there is Federal Express. (The late, excellent Tony Judt noted that train systems are a signal of a country’s commitment to making material progress, or not.)
Education? Heck, who needs to go to college? We already destroyed the trade schools, and we’re better off importing plumbers from Mexico.
Second,
the More Perfect Union video is worth your while. I have checked out who is behind More Perfect Union, and much of the staff is too-true-blue. But the on-air talent is talented. Their reports do synthesis well.
In short, though, the message of the video is that the U.S. of A. has to have an industrial policy, wage & hours policy (including control over executive compensation and corporate stock buybacks), and support for unions and unionization. The industrial policy would include selective tariffs. And the wage policy means repealing Taft-Hartley and so-called right-to-work laws.
I’ll wait…
From Democrats Cave, Prepare to Rubber-Stamp Trump Crypto Corruption
I’m not so sure. The Founders are a deified, morally pure bunch. But it just ain’t so. Washington, for example, was a prolific land speculator. The populist The Democracy would have surely objected to this, however, and both the early federalists and the state sovereignists fought equality among classes in the early Founding days, with ultimate success.
I’m sure that the present day Democrats will have their fingers on the pulse of the nation-
https://xcancel.com/evanwch/status/1919600524946551032#m
After Hunter and 10% for the Big Guy it’s hard for me to see why the Dems wouldn’t cave on a new grift. / ;)
Numisaddicts is the study of funny money and/or people.
What was not so long ago an ongoing joke you watched from afar, is now official policy.
Correct link for “With boost from RFK Jr. and Tucker Carlson, two chronic disease entrepreneurs vault into Trump’s orbit”
https://www.statnews.com/2024/10/07/calley-means-casey-means-conservative-voices-of-chronic-disease-crisis/#selection-1111.0-1111.102
Nepobaby grifters, their pop was a founder of PWC. This part is fantastic:
You gotta hand it to ’em, it’s a good one.
“Instagram’s Algorithm Recommended Minors to Putative Pedophiles”
I’m sure that it was all completely innocent on the part of Instagram. Accidents do happen. I mean, some kids really do like the actor Marlon Brando’s work for example and so seek to get in contact with the North American Marlon Brando Look-Alikes organization. It’s not Instagram’s fault they they put them in contact with that other group instead-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64NK1ftMCg8 (43 secs)
“American tourist climbs over fence at Colosseum, impales himself on spike”
From his hospital bed in Rome, he vows that one day he will have that Darwin Award and will not be denied it again.
Next stop, Pamplona.
“AI”, as machine learning is dubbed, is not the answer to actually doing police work or passing courses in university or being you best friend. I suppose it has its uses but it is not a substitute for human intelligence or effort. It looks to me that much of what is being touted as the virtues of “AI” is that it allows people to hand off jobs they do not want to do, jobs that require thought and sweat and effort, to machines. I am writing this comment using a computer that, among other things, makes it easier for me to correct the errors inherent in my less than stellar typing skills. It is a great boon. The computer can beat me at chess, but I can, at least theoretically, improve my game. The computer’s is fixed by its program. But, I do not delude myself that the computer is thinking any more than “AI” is intelligent. The ability to follow a program and juggle information at great speed exist because human intelligence set it up that way and it is limited by what it was designed to do. So, “AI” is just another human designed machine, a machine that is barely out of its infancy, and you want to trust it decide who may commit a crime? drive an auto? write your exam? be your best friend? I have been reading science fiction all my life and it is replete with cautionary tales about the machine, the mechanical brain, the robot that goes haywire. How is this different? Yeah, the money to be made. I see the wide eyes and smell the greed and just as in the stories there will be those who say, “Damn the torpedoes. Full speed ahead.” They will also be the first to bail out when or if their grand schemes create a disaster. Maybe I am wrong. Maybe I am just an old man who can’t see the glorious future. I hope that is true, but I doubt it.
Inside the Peeps Conclave. / ;)
https://mediaproxy.salon.com/width/1200/https://media.salon.com/2013/03/smoke-small.png
a closeup view:
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/a7/51/5a/a7515a8408cbbdfee17e7efbfbc19835.png
Gooooooood Moooooorning Fiatnam!
The platoon had taken R & R during Sede Vacante, and was now rested in anticipation of perhaps an orange plume of smoke emanating from a papal chimney…
Taibbi’s latest, public excerpt:
My Education Solution
Stop lying, blow it up, and start over
https://www.racket.news/p/my-education-solution
“Did Western Intelligence Play a Role in the Latest Terrorist Attack in Kashmir?”
‘While the initial conflict allegedly was rooted in Chechen nationalism and separatism, I have no doubts that Western intelligence agencies were involved in providing covert aid to the Chechens.’
Larry Johnson should know the answer to that. The CIA had their own ratlines into Chechnya feeding them all sorts of arms. The Russians complained about this but the US denied it so the Russians sent in a team to get proof which they did. They even gave the hot-shot officer in charge a gong for his efforts. And when the Russians went to Washington and showed them the proof of the US supplying military gear to the Chechnyans, the US officials simply shrugged.
So now, American “contractors” working inside the Ukraine are regularly re-Kalibr-ated, out of existence.
Can those Western “contractors” really say to the heirs and assigns of their prospective hires; “They knew the job was dangerous when they took it?”
“Squaaaawk! for super chicken-hawk!”
That “Women Wounded…” Playboy ‘spread’ is a sign of the times. It is the commodification of both sex and death; the perfect advertisers wet dream. Bernays has become the Evil Genius lurking behind our societal zeitgeist.
When will we see Playboy do “Women of Gaza?” (How many photographers will Playboy lose to Israeli snipers? They do qualify as “press,” thus, fair game to the IDF.)
You wonder how many of them have the hots for Bandera. That sort would not be so much wounded women as broken women.
Muni Finances
Some 15 years ago I was doing repair / replacement electronics work for Fortune 500 companies.
One day I entered the office of an investment banker to work as he left grumbling, “what a mess they had made.” He had left on his desk the muni’s pension fund tax schedule. A file abiout an inch thick.
“American tourist climbs over fence at Colosseum, impales himself on spike… the man … was left dangling and screaming in pain, while other visitors looked on in horror…” But then there arose from the stones surrounding, a ghostly cheer, as if old Roman spectacle had been renewed, and the barbarian might be left to die, his blood slaking the thirst of the dust in the hot sunshine.