Word of the day: Son Richard Murphy
4,000-year-old tablet reveals magic spells, what kings feared, and beer receipts Science Daily (Kevin W)
New study in Nature Medicine: Suboptimal diets continue to cause a significant burden of ischemic heart disease (IHD) worldwide.
Key findings (2023 data):
• 4.06 million IHD deaths (95% UI 0.74-6.22 million) are attributable to poor diet.
• 96.84 million DALYs were lost.
• Standardize age worldwide…
— The world of statistics (@stats_feed) May 3, 2026
🇺🇸 An astonishing demographic shift: For the first time in modern U.S. history, women over 40 have more births per capita than teenagers.
This line will be crossed in 2022, and the gap continues to widen.
The number of teenage births has fallen by up to 80% in 30 years. An elderly mother normalized by a delayed family +…
— The world of statistics (@stats_feed) May 5, 2026
Get them off the ship! | M/V Hondius in Cape Verde where hantavirus infection was prevalent Sal Mercogliano, YouTube
Breaking news: Suspected human-to-human transmission
Take your cue from the classic lines: “It’s rare,” “It’s mild,” and my personal favorite, “Have you considered pretending it’s not happening?”
I’ve seen this movie before. https://t.co/DygWAbP1ub
— Jess (@MeetJess) May 5, 2026
New coronavirus infection/pandemic
How many people develop organ damage after SARS-CoV-2 infection depends on who you ask and how much testing you do.
If you ask me, you get 100% permanent and progressive damage.
A well-performed dissection shows 100%
But you can’t tell people 100%. Let’s set that as 10% and move on.
Covid is long Covid https://t.co/Gac6NDr6dF pic.twitter.com/N31AWHU5yj
— 🎒Joanna Teglund✊😷🍉Human life is sacred (@JoannaTeglund) May 2, 2026
COVID-19 upregulates osteoclasts over osteoblasts…resulting in increased bone turnover.
Juvenile osteoporosis is not your friend
Start here: https://t.co/JLcODpKKDK https://t.co/ZCQOIsd8sE
— David Joffe MB BS (Hons), PhD, FRACP 🇦🇺 (@DavidJoffe64) May 3, 2026
We saw last time that Kapsosi sarcoma causes this, but is the HIV/AIDS crisis correct? There is no increase in HIV.
But is it true that airborne SARS2 behaves “eerily like HIV” according to HIV researchers? The criminal airborne SARS2 has so far failed to contain billions of people, but does this include all young people? Isn’t it safe? pic.twitter.com/v5ceGWznda
—Sass (@sasswashere) May 3, 2026
Climate/Environment
The likelihood of dangerous heavy rain events is increasing, with far-reaching implications for Yale’s climate. Although focused on the United States, the findings are broadly applicable.
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a plastic waste nightmare. It could also be part of a larger hidden problem CNN
The world’s largest marine ecosystem is suffering from a rapid rise in ocean temperatures.
The strongest El Niño in the past 150 years? Yes, it’s legally possible. It’s not hype. In fact, the “median” December prediction of all computer models combined is slightly “exceeding” the largest event we know of going back to 1877. (+2.9 vs. +2.7 using ONI), this peak intensity is… pic.twitter.com/ejsYpSawF2
— Jeff Berardelli (@WeatherProf) May 4, 2026
Cities are preparing for intense heat. Will it be useful when disaster strikes? grist
Amsterdam begins enforcing warning ban on meat and fossil fuels: ‘The climate crisis is very urgent’ Independent
Climate change increases risk of spread of rodent-borne arenaviruses EurekaAlert
Hazen Fire near Buckeye still 0% contained, nearly 1,000 acres burned Arizona Republic
China?
At best, the Trump-Xi summit could codify new rules for U.S.-China coexistence Asia Times (Kevin W)
Stealing the Farm: China continues to attack U.S. agriculture through theft and agricultural terrorism AgWeb. Please note that this is a genuine American agricultural pub and is not a spokesperson for the Security/Intel nation.
India
India burns more coal as heatwave and Iran war strain energy supplies CNBC
India and Russia seek cooperation in critical minerals, industrial infrastructure InfoBRICS
Africa
Mali falls into the hands of jihadists: what happened? legend of history
Egypt and Saudi Arabia are fighting over Sudan and Ethiopia Andrew Koribko
80% of Africa’s fertilizer is imported: How can food systems adapt to the Iran shock? The Conversation
Strange changes in US policy in Africa Daniel Larison
discord in europe
The “big three” are responsible for Europe’s decline Finn Andrin (Michael T.)
Berlin faces missile shortage after Trump US military cuts Politico
A multipolar future economy: Ireland and the case of a multipolar news organization (Micael T)
old blighty
Craig Murray: Quagmire of Injustice Consortium News (Joker)
UK long-term borrowing costs hit highest since 1998, posing new threat to Labor spending plans The Guardian (Kevin W)
Food prices expected to rise 50% compared to the beginning of the cost of living crisis Citi AM
Scotland’s wild salmon catch falls to record low
Salmon ‘wiped out’ and other wildlife killed in ‘tragic’ Spey River chemical spill Daily Record
israel vs resistance
‘Complete victory’: How Iran defeated Israel’s Kit Clarenberg. Today’s must-read.
Israeli settler violence continues under American neglect. American conservatives. It’s more like a “tacit approval,” but even with such a gentle reprimand, you need to reprimand more often.
Israeli Finance Minister Smotrich says son asked him to leave part of Lebanon to destroy Antiwar.com (Kevin W)
When Israeli soldiers illegally intercepted the Gaza flotilla Zeteo, I was beaten and kidnapped by them.
Prominent Christian Zionist group lobbying US lawmakers on Israel without disclosing that it receives funding from Israel’s DropSite
White House conveyed private message to Iran ahead of new Hormuz operation ‘Axios’
More than 22,000 people on more than 1,550 commercial ships trapped in the bay – Department of Defense Sputnik (Robin K)
The Internet has a Strait of Hormuz problem Asia Times
Former spy Jonathan Pollard announces entry into politics, slams Netanyahu and Israel’s Bennett Times (Kevin W)
A new war that’s not so cold war
How Russia Won the New World War World Geopolitics
Oleshnik Days Olivier Boyd-Barrette. important.
Zelensky threatens Moscow parade. President Putin authorizes strike in central Kiev. Oleshnik. Visit the head office. US Holmes Alexander Mercouris, YouTube. Discussion on Russia issues starts at 34:00
Brief Frontline Report – May 5, 2026 Marat Khairullin and Mikhail Popov
The problem with Ukraine’s 25,000 combat robots is not the hardware, but keeping them connected on the battlefield Euromaidan (Robin K.)
Colombian mercenary “died in vain” in Ukraine – President RT (Robin K.)
The idea that Ukraine could attack Russian tankers off the coast of Senegal or in the Arctic is absurd. Who gave them the knowledge, tools, and intelligence to do this?
These are US attacks. And the other half of the campaign, Operation Arctic Sentry…
— Richard Medhurst (@richimedhurst) May 5, 2026
Lavrov and Rubio ‘build their foundation’ on international situation and current state of U.S.-Russia relations TASS
imperial collapse watch
Equilibrium model of anti-base warfare in the Western Pacific policy tensor (Vikas S). Although the model contains many assumptions to make it tractable, a lot of effort is put into making them realistic. Conclusion: “Given these observations and our results, deterrence in Asia is no longer a viable foreign policy objective for the United States.”
A temporary enemy of a temporary enemy…Aurelian
Army seeks ‘alternative proteins’ for soldiers in the field Mission and Objectives
Trump 2.0
Trump’s retaliation? What to watch in Tuesday’s elections in Indiana, Ohio and Michigan The Associated Press
More Americans are concerned about prices and the performance of the Secret Service than the Voting Rights Act You.Gov
Democrats are the worst
>Graham Platner wonders if Democrats need an outsider to win the White House on the Hill. help me. Examine the bodies of numerous deceased billionaires.
Democrats want President Trump to take the lid off Israel’s nuclear weapons RT (Robin K)
Our press is no longer free
Even though we paid the full amount for Premium+, X removed the blue check from the Iranian MFA spokesperson’s account after stripping him of the verified badges of the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministers.
This arbitrary non-verification fits the pattern of X’s selective censorship and American digital piracy, which aims to…
— Esmail Bakaei (@IRIMFA_SPOX) May 5, 2026
economy
Forget oil, lack of fertilizer will cause the most suffering.
Is there a possibility of famine in 2027? Ian Welsh. He forgets the lube. Not only are these of petrochemical origin, but Iran’s massive and successful attack on Saudi Arabia’s Jubail petrochemical facility further reduced production. Lubricating oil is required to operate a forklift. A forklift is required to deliver food. In other words, the United States is more at risk than many people realize.
Why water scarcity is emerging as a major energy constraint Forbes
British airlines give green light to cancel or consolidate flights to save jet fuel Guardian
U.S. gasoline inventories are at their lowest seasonal levels in more than a decade – FT pic.twitter.com/L5lHVnirPu
— Energy Headline News (@OilHeadlineNews) May 5, 2026
Manufacturing has the largest net loss of jobs in five quarters combined Michael Shedlock
The US economy is currently on a precarious knife edge Bill Mitchell
Mr. Market is dizzy.
Bond Bubble Calculation FX Street
A.I.
The United States and China have a common enemy. Hint: It’s not the Soviet Union’s Thomas Friedman, New York Times (Dr. Kevin). Zomg! ! ! As you might imagine, this is not an effort to sell the China vs. Iran case.
Breaking news: Autonomous Agents is a shit show Gary Marcus
Pennsylvania sues AI company over chatbot illegally impersonating medical qualifications Associated Press (Kevin W)
Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s Massive Copyright Infringement to Train AI Systems, ‘Personally Authorized and Actively Encouraged’ in Publisher and Scott Turow Lawsuit (Kevin W)
basil
How Microsoft Vaporized $1 Trillion, Axel Lietchin. important. It shows how humans can become dangerously stupid if they come in too much contact with AI. Also: “If you run production workloads on Azure or rely on Azure for mission-critical systems, this story matters more than you think.” Dave, our technology guru: “I’m pretty cynical about the state of software, but this six-part series was an eye-opener.”
Private credit could cause psychological contagion, Barr warns Bloomberg
An Alberta man sells tractors without any computers. It’s not software. There are no sensors. If it’s a diesel engine, you can fix it with a wrench.
400 American farmers attempted to purchase after one interview.
In some cases, the moat is no more than that.
There aren’t many.
— Russell Brunson (@russellbrunson) May 1, 2026
guillotine watch
Can private jet tracking predict an impending apocalypse? One site thinks so Gizmodo (Dr. Kevin)
Don’t cry for Jeff Bezos’ yacht Paul Krugman
class war
A new generation of fake leftists: from Zoran Mamdani to political economist Zac Polanski (Michael T.)
Palantir and the New Order: Neoliberalism is dead. Greetings to Techlordism – The Point Yanis Varoufakis
An immediate antidote. Tracy H: “This is a Costa’s hummingbird. It’s the first hummingbird I’ve seen, but I’ve seen it several times. He visits the same branch of our tree, so I don’t think it’s the same species and we see him regularly. I don’t think the Allen’s hummingbird we saw in Orange County (California) is seen in the desert where we moved.”
And bonus:
Build a small bridge in the aquarium so that the fish do not get bored. pic.twitter.com/PEhuqRVLgl
— The Figen (@TheFigen_) May 3, 2026
Second bonus:
This is Mendo. He’s a rescued Vizsla hobbit who’s been stealing hearts all over IG with his insane balance skills. We love him because he does the best job ❤️ pic.twitter.com/8rFR5PQmYq
— Puppies🐶 (@Puppieslover) May 2, 2026
And third:
My daughter always said she liked dogs better. They adopted a cat and this happenedpic.twitter.com/ZdTznsaFHd
— WolfofX (@WolfofX) May 3, 2026
Click here for yesterday’s link and Antidote du Jour.
