Dear patient readers,

We appear to have cured what had become a serious problem with the mod queue over the last couple of weeks. Nearly all comments were going straight into moderation. I had an idea as to what had caused it but merely undoing that didn’t change things. But then Lambert decided to clear caches and viola! things are much better. Hopefully regulars will see the difference. Thank Lambert for his intervention.

Total solar eclipse April 8, 2024: The longest and most visible for the US in 100 years Space (furzy)

How cells from other family members live in you and protect your health New Scientist (Dr. Kevin)

#COVID-19

SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19: From Crisis to Solution WHN Science Communications (guurst)

Climate/Environment

The Rooftop Solar Industry Could Be On the Verge of Collapse TIME (BC). !!!!

New satellite images catch world’s worst polluters red-handed: ‘Now we really know exactly where it’s coming from’ TC (furzy)

China?

China containment becomes a lose-lose strategy for everyone South China Morning Post (furzy)

The UN China Review Finds Unprecedented Support for Tibetan Rights by Member States, While Beijing Shuts Down Criticism Central Tibetan Administration (furzy)

The politics of physiocracy Branko Milanovic (Micael T)

European Disunion

View from London: Five European ‘tribes’ for five European crises International Affairs (Micael T)

Europe’s Trump challenge: Is it ready to fight Vladimir Putin alone? Politico

EU commission chief hopes for ‘consensus’ with protesting farmers RT

Study: Record sickness rates are pushing Germany into recession Business Panorama via machine translatio. Micael T: “Oh, of course, the employees being sick is the reason. Nothing to do with gaspipelines, companies moving production abroad, greedflation and everything else.”

Venezuela Activates Plan to Neutralize Coup Attempts TeleSUR. Micael T: EU would need this too in order to chase out the US occupants.”

Gaza

Gaza’s economy has been erased. Famine and black markets are all that remain. Mondoweiss. From a couple of days ago, still germane.

Houthi Red Sea crisis rages on as US admits its impotence and begs China to help InfoBRICS

‘Thank God for the Houthis’: why Arab world is backing Yemen rebels Financial Times (furzy)

Oil tanker on fire after Houthi missile attack, firm says BBC (furzy, Kevin W)

Fuel tanker’s crew struggle to contain fire after Houthi missile attack Financial Times. New story as of Links launch time.

Hhhm:

Emirates’ U.S. Assassins in Yemen Tell All Forever Wars (Micael T)

ICJ Provisional Measures Against Israel on Genocide

How long before Israel withdraws from the International Criminal Court? From Section 1 of Article 127 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, 17 July 1998:

A State Party may, by written notification addressed to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, withdraw from this Statute. The withdrawal shall take effect one year after the date of receipt of the notification, unless the notification specifies a later date.

Note that at the Times of Israel, the stories on the ICJ ruling are way below the fold. And the first piece is a hostile editorial, not a news story: Hamas came for everyone it could kill in Israel on Oct 7. Today, The Hague encouraged it.

El Al Suspends South African Flights TPS (BC)

UNRWA Is Investigating Charges of Workers’ Involvement in Oct. 7 Attacks New York Times (furzy)

So is this sort of thing going to stop?

Chris Hedges: It May be Genocide, But it Won’t Be Stopped ScheerPost

New Not-So-Cold War

Volodymyr Zelensky’s theatre of nightmares New Statesman (furzy)

Ukraine’s richest man to lose assets in Russia RT (Micael T)

Why is NATO preparing for World War III? International Affairs (Micael T)

Big Brother is Watching You Watch

iPhone Apps Secretly Harvest Data When They Send You Notifications, Researchers Find Gizmodo (Micael T). Yours truly has long been suspicious of apps along with devices engaging in non-user-initiated activity. I really really hate how my iPhone constantly asking me to log in to my iPhone account. Why the hell should I do that unless I plan to make a transaction? The high frequency of this demand suggests that this is yet another Apple spying scheme.

Americans hit with 78 BILLION robocall scams each year, new report reveals after AI-cloned voice of Joe Biden urged New Hampshire Democrats not to vote in primary Daily Mail. BC:

Wondering how much 78 billion calls generates in telecom industry revenue? Many scams even include toll free numbers to make your scamming experience more convenient. No wonder Congress and telecoms are like “We’ll get right on that”. Ironic too that the supposed best solution is being put on yet another list.

Imperial Collapse Watch

Four minutes of convulsions: Kenneth Smith executed with nitrogen gas Montgomery Advertiser (furzy)

China rallies G77 countries for major reform of WTO and Bretton Woods at Kampala summit South China Morning Post. From a few days ago, still germane. It is a bit ironic, since despite obvious problem with the WTO and Bretton Woods, China’s admission to the WTO when it did not qualify was a major spur to its growth.

Trump

Donald Trump ordered to pay $83.3mn in defamation trial Financial Times (furzy)

Colorado voter brief asks Supreme Court to keep Trump off ballot Washington Post (furzy)

Georgia Senate passes a panel with subpoena power to investigate District Attorney Fani Willis Associated Press (furzy) News

2024

Democratic concerns grow amid RFK Jr. ballot push in battleground states The Hill

GOP Clown Car

Senate deal on border and Ukraine at risk of collapse as Trump calls it ‘meaningless’ Washington Post

GOP looks for Plan B on Ukraine with border bill looking DOA The Hill

Immigration/Border Dispute

Border Crisis Heats Up as Biden Admin Loses Grip Simplicius the Thinker

Abbott Tells Tucker Carlson Texas Will Use ‘Every Tool in Our Arsenal to Defend Our State’ The Texan

Texas border: Greg Abbott joined by GOP governors, invoking confederacy Slate (furzy)

Protest Convoy Headed to Southern Border Is Calling Itself an ‘Army of God’ Vice (furzy)

God, Save Me From Your Followers Heading to the Border Calling Themselves ‘Patriots’ Charles Pearce (furzy). Memo to Pearce: Pearl clutching does not strengthen your case.

The Texas migrant drama is a distraction: US elites will keep the border wide open RT

Abortion

Nearly 65,000 US rape victims could not get an abortion in their state, analysis shows Guardian. From a couple of days ago, still germane.

GOP Lawmaker Thinks He’s an Abortion Expert Because He’s a Veterinarian New Republic

Health Care

Bill encouraging patients to shop for medical care advances Gazette-Lee Des Moines Bureau (Robin K)

Senate to examine walkaway deaths in assisted-living facilities Washington Post (furzy)

AI

Two-faced AI language models learn to hide deception Nature (Dr. Kevin)

Why Taylor Swift AI-Generated Deepfake Images Raise Wider Worries Bloomberg (Dr. Kevin)

How AI can undermine financial stability CEPR

Falling Apart Boeing Airplanes

Boeing Whistleblower: Production Line Has “Enormous Volume Of Defects” Bolts On MAX 9 Weren’t Installed View from the Wing (Paul R)

The Bezzle

Google Cuts Thousands of Workers Improving Search After Search Results Scientifically Shown to Suck Vice (Paul R)

Guillotine Watch

Why the oligarchs LOVE democracy Alex Krainer (Micael T)

Class Warfare

When corporate profits force 53% of inflation the rats are fleeing Western-style democracy Ramin Mazaheri (Micael T)

Rich People Don’t Talk to Robots Josh Brown (Paul R)

What Happened to David Graeber? Los Angeles Review of Books (Micael T)

Antidote du jour (via):

See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.

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