Links 5/29/2023 | naked capitalism

Without Fear Atmos

No A/C? No problem, if buildings copy networked tunnels of termite mounds Ars Technica

Inside the world’s longest-running mermaid gathering: ‘The first place I’ve truly belonged’ The Guardian

Climate/Environment

American investors are challenging Canadian climate policy through an old NAFTA system The Narwhal
Frustrated by outdated grids, consumers are lobbying for control of their electricity Grist

Water

Colorado River water deal: a bandaid or real progress? Liberation News

#COVID-19

Long COVID is Disability Roulette @GlobeOpinion ✍🏻👇
✔️ This Op-Ed is to raise #LongCOVID public awareness
✔️I hope it helps
✔️It will never be enough
✔️The millions suffering deserve more
On Tuesday 5/30 I’ll unpack it & >20 references in a teaching🧵https://t.co/no8OyoiSib https://t.co/BKeBPER9QX pic.twitter.com/e0wxzhCPCI
— WesElyMD (@WesElyMD) May 26, 2023

65 million infections per week coming again in China, not very long after their first wave infected a billion people. But at least no “Draconian” measures this time, so all is well. https://t.co/OQgteVrGpF
— T. Ryan Gregory (@TRyanGregory) May 28, 2023

Old Blighty

Supermarkets price caps for bread and milk could be introduced by Rishi Sunak as stubborn inflation sends the price of groceries soaring in cost-of-living crisis Daily Mail

The Lucky Country

REDACTED: Your right to know Crikey. On how Australia’s broken FOI system sets secrecy as the default.

La belle France

France Just Got Another Warning Over Its Credit Rating Bloomberg

India

Indian official suspended for draining dam to retrieve smartphone Al Jazeera
India’s first census of waterbodies is a much awaited one but experts question the methodology; here is why Down To Earth

China?

‘Wang hong’ culture booms in China as more young people dream of becoming influencers Straits Times
Doctor-influencers are going viral in China, provoking authorities Rest of World
Beijing to cooperate with Brussels in investigating sanction-circumventing companies if provided with evidence Pekingology

South Korea caved in… A story in 3 acts:
1) US: “Don’t take over Micron’s market share in China”
2) SK: “You can’t tell us what to do!”
A few days later:
3) SK: “We won’t take over Micron’s market share in China” pic.twitter.com/TzVQ0G7Bco
— Arnaud Bertrand (@RnaudBertrand) May 29, 2023

European Disunion

Germany launches police-state crackdown on climate protesters WSWS
Poll shows increased support for Germany’s AfD Al Mayadeen

New Not-So-Cold War

Lindsey Graham: “The Russians are dying… it’s the best money we’ve ever spent.” pic.twitter.com/Vn1THUjHmO
— COMBATE |🇵🇷 (@upholdreality) May 27, 2023

Russia MFA Spokeswoman ZAKHAROVA: ““The Russians are dying… it’s the best money we’ve ever spent,” US Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said with a pleased smirk during his meeting with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky.
During the Nuremberg trials, Reichsminister… pic.twitter.com/b8VqBDuSJS
— COMBATE |🇵🇷 (@upholdreality) May 28, 2023

***

Post-Bakhmut scenario in Ukraine war Indian Punchline
Russian Ambassador to UK: ‘We Haven’t Yet Started to Act Seriously’ in Ukraine Sputnik
What really happened to Russia’s reconnaissance ship in the Black Sea? Intellinews

GUR: “Hackers ransack the bank accounts of Russian pensioners who are then blackmailed into firebombing draft offices. Russian teenagers … are hired through social media to set light to railway junction boxes for money.” https://t.co/A8fgZKB5Cv
— Shashank Joshi (@shashj) May 28, 2023

***

Wow, just a straight up “fuck you I’m not gonna answer that” from the State Department on Ukraine jailing a US citizen for speech crimes. https://t.co/Me5ThQUmhF
— Caitlin Johnstone (@caitoz) May 28, 2023

Polish parliament passes bill to create commission investigating Russian influence Notes from Poland
Western states still buying Russian oil and gas – minister RT
The Race To Dominate The LNG Sector Is Creating A Buyer’s Market OilPrice

Pro- and anti-government protesters defy storms to rally in Belgrade Intellinews

Turkiye

Recep Tayyip Erdogan is re-elected as Turkey’s president The Economist. The deck: “The best chance in a decade to repair its democracy is lost.” Yves notes that “they concede this is a democratic outcome because the dumb rural voters favored Erdogan. So Economist makes clear only what elites want = democracy.”
Either @Reuters needs to learn about #Turkey‘s local cultural tradition (here is a symbolic gift to children) or is showing a reality with malign intentions to allow other interpretations.
The victory of Erdogan was painful to mainstream media & the west.https://t.co/hHybMcEg6p
— Elijah J. Magnier 🇪🇺 (@ejmalrai) May 29, 2023
World leaders congratulate Turkey’s Erdogan on election win Al Jazeera. Interesting contrasts.

South of the Border

THE U.S. IS UNHAPPY THAT MEXICO IS SPENDING MONEY ON ITS OWN CITIZENS The Intercept
Between the US and Mexico, a Forgotten ‘Desert of the Chinese’ New Lines Magazine

Syraqistan

Saudi Arabia in talks to join China-based ‘Brics bank’ Financial Times
The Middle East Stabilises, Against the Backdrop of a Great Unravelling Al Mayadeen

2024

Many GOP insiders fear that Teflon Don is back Politico
Ron DeSantis Thinks There’s a Fashion Magazine Political Bias Against Wife Casey Because She’s a ‘Conservative’ Yahoo!

Debt Ceiling

Debt ceiling agreement locks in Biden’s proposed defense budget Defense News. $886 billion, a 3.3 percent increase.
Biden Agrees To Strict Work Requirements, Cuts To Avoid Default HuffPost

Occasionally, you’ll see a conservative American commentator saying “oh they have this in W. Europe too” and it’s certainly true that conservatives play around with this stuff over there when they are in power but their “benefit sanctions” are not the same as zeroing out income.
— Matt Bruenig (@MattBruenig) May 29, 2023

Biden says he’ll explore 14th Amendment for future debt limit debates The Hill

A reminder that Dems coulda raised the debt ceiling in the lame duck, but then Senate Democratic Whip @DickDurbin said he just didn’t feel like making time on the calendar for it. pic.twitter.com/41pvpAArD8
— David Sirota (@davidsirota) May 29, 2023

GOP Clown Car

Graham blasts defense spending in debt ceiling deal as ‘a joke’ The Hill

Woke Watch

Is Your Favorite Brand Too Gay? Is It Gay Enough? The Deep Dive

Healthcare

‘Enormous Policy Failure’: States Throw Hundreds of Thousands—Including Many Children—Off Medicaid Common Dreams

Big Brother Is Watching You Watch

US bill to protect reproductive health data is dead. Here’s why you should care anyway The Register

‘They’re afraid their AIs will come for them’: Doug Rushkoff on why tech billionaires are in escape mode The Guardian
Autonomous F-16 fighter jets being tested by the U.S. military CBS News (Video)

Class Warfare