Was an extinct fox once man’s best friend? BBC
Watch zoo animals react as totality passes over Texas during eclipse CNN (Furzy Mouse)
Do solar panels work during an eclipse? Colorado researchers were watching. Colorado Sun
Climate
European court rules human rights violated by climate inaction BBC
Case of Verein Klimaseniorinnen Schweiz and Others v. Switzerland European Court of Human Rights
* * * Biggest North Sea oil find in decades to be drilled for first time The Telegraph
Maori king declares ‘whales are people’ and push for legal rights WION
Activists protest in trees, file lawsuit to block old growth logging on BLM land Oregon Capital Chronicle
Did the climate experience a Regime Change in 2023? Arctic News
Water
Bogota restricts water as reservoirs hit ‘critical’ lows Agence France Presse
Morocco drought: Satellite images show vital Al Massira reservoir is shrinking BBC
Pandemics
Ground-up chicken waste fed to cattle may be behind bird flu outbreak in US cows The Telegraph. Good reporting; I’d seen a source to the effect this was technically possible; but the Telegraph has the sourcing that says its legal and widespread.
* * * Important Program For Covid Patients Closes, Leaving Many Stranded Judy Stone, Forbes
Blood donor study finds 21% incidence of long-term symptoms attributed to COVID-19 Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy
Study identifies inflammation and symptom patterns in long COVID Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy
China?
President Xi Jinping meets Taiwan’s Ma Ying-jeou in historic first, 9 years after landmark Singapore handshake South China Morning Post
Fitch downgrades China sovereign credit outlook on debt fears Channel News Asia
China hits back after Fitch Ratings downgrades credit outlook, Beijing says local debt risks are controllable South China Morning Post
The rusting Philippine ship forcing Joe Biden and his Asia allies to focus on China FT
India
Apple’s India iPhone Output Hits $14 Billion in Pivot From China Bloomberg
Myanmar
Myanmar Opposition Seizes Myanmar’s Largest Military Base in Myawaddy Near Tak TPN National News (Furzy Mouse).
‘Business is back’: BGF adapts under pressure Frontier Myanmar. Wait ’til these guys get going on LLM.
Syraqistan
Red Heifer, Amalek, and Reactions of Nations Jerusalem Post. Wowsers. I hate to say it, but this is a must-read (the venue).
What do Texan red heifers have to do with Al-Aqsa and a Jewish temple? Al Jazeera
Letter from Jerusalem: what future do Palestinians have in the ancient city? New Statesman
* * * Austin: U.S. doesn’t have “any evidence” of Israel committing genocide in Gaza Axios. Oh.
* * * Biden says Netanyahu is making ‘a mistake’ with his approach to war on Gaza Anadolu Agency
California Democrats, Biden pressure Israel for Gaza ceasefire after aid worker killings Sacramento Bee
Biden’s Increasingly Contradictory Israel Policy The New Yorker
* * * Ben-Gvir, Smotrich threaten Netanyahu over Gaza, demand Rafah operation The New Arab
Blinken says Israel has not told US about Rafah invasion start date Anadolu Agency. The deck: “‘What we have is an ongoing conversation with Israel about any Rafah operation,’ Secretary of State Antony Blinken says amid long-elusive talks with Israel.” “What we have here” except not….
* * * Israeli economy has lost strength since start of onslaught against Gaza Anadolu Agency
Gaza: Gas Rich but in Ruins (video) Al Jazeera
European Disunion
EU court rules in favour of Russian oligarchs Fridman and Aven in blow to sanctions regime FT
Big investors buy European bonds over US Treasuries as economies diverge FT
New Not-So-Cold War
Ukraine war briefing: Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant targeted by drones for third day Guardian. Note lack of agency.
US worried its drones failed to turn tide in Ukraine – WSJ Pravda Ukrainska
Battling Under a Canopy of Drones The New Yorker
US arms Ukraine with thousands of seized Iranian guns, rifles and munitions Al Jazeera
* * * Trump has expressed interest in visiting Ukraine, Zelensky says NY Post
Zelensky says he doesn’t need ‘primitive’ ideas from Trump on Ukraine The Hill
* * * Russia, China to Work on ‘Double Counteracting’ US-Led Alliance Bloomberg
Is NATO Necessary? John R. MacArthur, Harpers
South of the Border
US condemns Mexican Embassy raid, says Ecuador ‘disregarded its obligations’ Anadolu Agency. Took ’em long enough.
Biden Administration
Student Loan Forgiveness Student Loan Forgiveness Credit Slips
Antitrust
Google’s Chrome Antitrust Paradox (PDF) Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law. The first few pages show how Google grew by acquisition. And about Chrome:
In this Article, we show that Chrome is the key to Google’s dominance as an advertiser and publisher. First, Google leverages its dominance as a publisher to reinforce Chrome’s dominance using (a) subtle coercion, such as by employing dark patterns and (b) undermining web standards. Second, Google leverages Chrome’s dominance to reinforce Google’s dominance as a publisher and advertiser using the same techniques and additionally (c) self-preferencing and (d) “privacy controls.” These strategies employed by Google demonstrate that Chrome is not merely a neutral gateway to the web and is instead an instrument for Google to gain and maintain an unfair advantage over its competitors. Finally, Google employs (e) “pay-to-play”—using income generated from its dominating advertising business for strategic acquisitions of more publishing and advertising services and paying competitors to give prominence to Google Search. This results in a vicious cycle of crossmarket abuse in one market, be it browser, advertising, or publishing, to cement position in the other market.
Digital Watch
The Person Who Was in Charge of OpenAI’S $175 Million Fund Appears to Be Fake Futurism. “For a period of time in 2023, the person in charge of OpenAI’s $175 million startup fund appears to have been completely fake — and OpenAI says the documents filed with the California Secretary of State to put the fake person in charge were ‘completely fabricated.’”
OpenAI and Meta ready new AI models capable of ‘reasoning’ FT. AI can’t drive a car. But it can “reasom”?
The Real Battle for Data Privacy Begins When You Die Bloomberg
The Internet Archive Just Backed Up an Entire Caribbean Island Wired. The headline is deceptive. The pointing finger (data) not the moon (island).
Boeing
US officials probe new whistleblower claims against Boeing Al Jazeera
Police State Watch
New Florida laws add penalties for fentanyl ‘exposure,’ create ‘revive awareness day’ Talahassee Democrat. Commentary:
Police & the public deserve better than to have lawmakers pander to them with a law that reinforces a proven myth about fentanyl exposure, one that will lead to more stress and panic, deliberately writing it so only a perception is needed for the charge. https://t.co/Q7l6PLyrUz
— Brandon del Pozo, PhD, MPA, MA (@BrandondelPozo) April 9, 2024
The Town That Kept Its Nuclear Bunker a Secret for Three Decades Smithsonian
Class Warfare
From Layoffs to Lawsuits, Billionaires Are Striking Back to Crush Worker Power (video) The Real News
Annual industrial robots installed, 2021 Our World in Data
The Macrofoundations of Macroeconomics Steve Keen
Antidote du jour (via):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
