Wretchard.com

By its fruits shall you know the screwup.

The Israelis are using ultra-precision warheads that can approximate the effect of controlled demolitions. What additional options does it give them?

Israel strikes Gaza home of Hamas leader, destroys AP office

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel slammed the Gaza Strip with airstrikes on Saturday, in a dramatic escalation that included bombing the home of a senior Hamas leader, killing a family of 10 in a refugee camp — most of them children — and pulverizing a high-rise that housed The Associated Press a…

Why would it be OK to demand proof of your health record on entering a store but not of identity when voting? What’s the governing principle?

A group of 18 scientists stated Thursday in a letter published in the journal Science that there is not enough evidence to decide whether a natural origin or an accidental laboratory leak caused the Covid-19 pandemic.

NYT

Another Group of Scientists Calls for Further Inquiry Into Origins of the Coronavirus

Researchers urge an open mind, saying lack of evidence leaves theories of natural spillover and laboratory leak both viable.

The real price of Biden’s policy in the Middle East, which has resulted in new war in an area recently gone quiet, is that it complicates a strategic withdrawal from the region in order to pivot towards China. Facing a near peer rival, as the British empire discovered, requires ditching imperial baggage to focus on the main foe.

The coronavirus creates gun violence in New York City. Experts search for answers.

The Spike in Shootings During the Pandemic May Outlast the Virus

About 505 people were shot in New York City through May 9, the highest year-to-date number in a decade.

Colonial pipeline ransom payment gives Biden instant relief but long term headaches.

Colonial Pipeline Paid Roughly $5 Million in Ransom to Hackers

The payment clears the way for gas to begin flowing again, but it risks emboldening other criminal groups to take American companies hostage by seizing control of their computers.

Light volume of fire for now but watch this space.

Three rockets launched from Syria toward Israel

Three rockets were launched from Syria toward Israel Friday, expanding the battlefield as Israel faces off against militants in the Gaza Strip.

New at the Belmont Club. If problems come at you fast is it bad luck?

Waking Up in the Wrong Movie

Something is wrong with my bloody ships today.

Our dire dietary prospects.

Maggots must be mass-farmed to combat malnutrition, study says

Traditionally-eaten plant and animal-based foods, like meat and barely, are ‘innately exposed to various acute and chronic stresses’, experts at the University of Cambridge reveal in a new report.

Covid didn’t spread where it was expected to. Public health needs better tracking data to hit a moving virus.

Where COVID-19 has and hasn’t spread since states reopened: Analysis

A look at public health data in several states by ABC News revealed the locations of the most COVID-19 outbreaks following their reopenings.

The system on the left has more information.

But yeah. Rand Paul cites Wuhan admission of NIH funding

No one is exactly covered in glory. Yet it is somehow fitting tidings for a shabby, blustering time.

Colonial Pipeline Co. paid nearly $5 million to Eastern European hackers on Friday, contradicting reports earlier this week that the company had no intention of paying an extortion fee to help restore the country’s largest fuel pipeline, according to two people familiar with the transaction.

The protests took place as new MSPs were sworn in to what has been described as Holyrood’s most diverse parliament, taking their oaths is British Sign Language, Arabic, Urdu, Punjabi, Doric, Scots, Gaelic, Welsh and Orcadian, and after an election in which refugees had voting rights for the first time in Scotland.

Guardian

Protesters block immigration van from leaving after Glasgow raid

Standoff unfolds after detentions during Eid al-Fitr in apparent escalation of hostile environment policy