KKR Founders Sued for Allegedly Getting Giant Payday for No Work WSJ
Private equity’s interest in audit raises red flags FT
Climate
No Buzz, Just an Anxious Hum: Insect Decline and 2024’s Wet and Silent Spring The Quietus. Commentary:
Wandering around the old family farm in rural Satakunta, Finland and I feel in awe of the sheer numbers of insects. The air is full of them, there are tonnes of butterflies and lizards, this one small spot is simply packed with life. pic.twitter.com/pH4hoqi2Dq
— Thomas Gibson (@GibsonTomgibo) August 5, 2024
* * * Circular battery self-sufficiency Cory Doctorow, Pluralistic
Huge Fire Sparked by a Mercedes-Benz EV Adds to Safety Concerns Dogging Industry WSJ
Lack of Worker Input Creates Bumps in the Road for EV Buses Labor Notes
* * * Florida’s Biggest Insurer Says It Needs to Increase Rates by 93 Percent Newsweek
Offsets on fire Politico
Syndemics
The dreaded COVID summer surge has arrived. Here’s the latest on symptoms and treatment Fortune
COVID data quietly disappears while cases rise Prism
* * * Kyoto Univ. professor-led team develops immune cells that attack COVID-infected cells The Mainichi (SocalJimObjects).
* * * Colorado: First Bulk-Milk Testing Results adds 9 More Infected Dairy Herds to Their List Avian Flu Diary
Overdose Deaths Are Finally Starting to Decline. Here’s Why. Scientific American
Water
How French Drains Work Practical Engineering
China?
Guangzhou Shows Why China Is So Attractive to the Global South The Diplomat
China’s youth seek work in sectors traditionally considered as blue-collar as mindsets shift Channel News Asia
China’s Housing Market May Gain Support as Rental Yields Pull Ahead of Deposit Rates, Economist Says Yicai Global. Commentary:
5/5
government bonds rather than property, and use the interest earned to pay rent, but at least it is no longer the case that the only justification for buying rather than renting is an expected infinite surge in property prices.— Michael Pettis (@michaelxpettis) August 7, 2024
China confirms the discovery of a major natural gas field in the South China Sea South China Morning Post
Is a high-profile critic of the Chinese Communist Party a con man? NPR
India
To Which Asia Does India Belong – and to Which Is it Headed? The Wire
Can India truly be a global manufacturing powerhouse? Channel News Asia
Big challenges ahead for Muhammad Yunus, Bangladesh’s new interim leader Al Jazeera. Yunus.
Protesters force four Bangladeshi central bank’s deputies to resign Business Standard
Bangladesh garment factories reopen with hopes after PM Hasina’s flight Business Standard
The Great Game
“Talk of stopping projects” — Lugar lab in Georgia might lose U.S. support JAM News
Syraqistan
Muslim bloc meeting holds Israel responsible for assassination of Hamas’ Haniyeh Anadolu Agency
Iran will respond at ‘right time’ to killing of Hamas leader BBC
Fearing ‘Catastrophic War,’ Biden Warns Iran Against Attack and Pushes Netanyahu to Make Deal Haaretz
Israel would trigger regional war with preemptive strike, require help from US: Israeli general Anadolu Agency
* * * Israel vows to kill new Hamas chief Sinwar as US warns against escalation France24
* * * UK’s biggest private pension fund dumps £80mn of Israeli assets FT
Western ambassadors to skip Nagasaki memorial after Israel snub Channel News Asia
‘We’ve lost everything, for what?’: Gazan anger at Hamas grows as war drags on 972 Magazine
European Disunion
US Decision to Tear Up INF Treaty Has Left Nuclear ‘Sword of Damocles’ Hanging Over Europeans’ Heads Defend Democracy Press
New Not-So-Cold War
Why has Ukraine launched a cross-border attack on Russia? BBC. Commentary:
Afternoon Ukraine update!
The Ukrainian Hail-Mary offensive into Kursk is still dominating the headlines – I’ve attached a Sofa General Staff* map showing the current situation. Last night the Ukrainians reportedly advanced somewhat to the west of their initial stab through… pic.twitter.com/GVUJvxHYQJ— Armchair Warlord (@ArmchairW) August 8, 2024
What is Ukraine’s goal in the Battle for Kursk? BNE Intellinews
Trump’s vice-presidential nominee refused to take calls from Ukraine’s intelligence chief and Air Force chief – WP Ukrainska Pravda
Something Is Rotten in the State of Russian Arms Industry RAND
Transit of Russian gas through Ukraine continues Ukrainska Pravda
South of the Border
An Attempted Coup By Any Other Name… Orinoco Tribune
Venezuela army rejects opposition appeals, vows ‘absolute loyalty’ to Maduro France24
2024
DOJ contends Hunter Biden was hired by Romanian oligarch to ‘influence US policy:’ docs FOX
Spook Country
FBI raids New York home of former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter: ‘Ongoing federal investigation’ FOX. Commentary:
Scott Ritter, a vocal critic of the US proxy war in Ukraine and of the Israeli government, says that the FBI raided his home over a suspected Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) violation.
On top of the free speech implications here, it’s noteworthy that this happens just as… https://t.co/XDavnjyoO0
— Aaron Maté (@aaronjmate) August 7, 2024
American Stasi: Tulsi Gabbard Confirms “Quiet Skies” Nightmare (no paywall) Matt Taibbi, Racket News
Big Brother Is Watching You Watch
A booming industry of AI age scanners, aimed at children’s faces WaPo
Digital Watch
Burst Damage Ed Zitron, Where’s Your Ed At?
This is the beginning of the end of the generative AI boom Blood in the Machine
* * * New Research: So Far, AI is Not Disrupting Search or Making a Dent in Google SparkToro
The Olympics
Tom Cruise to perform death-defying stunt at ‘dystopian’ Olympics closing ceremony France24
Healthcare
After private equity takes over hospitals, they are less able to care for patients, top medical researchers say Gretchen Morgenson, NBC
The Clamp Incident: On Therapy In Modern Medicine 3 Quarks Daily
Class Warfare
What’s Happening in Louisville Could Solve a Housing Crisis Tressie McMillan Cottom, NYT
The Absurdity of Human Sentience George Tsakraklides
The Wisdom of Fish Schools Nautilus
The medieval world’s Baltic connection Engelsberg Ideas
Antidote du jour (Alan Manson):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
