To Dye For: “The shutdown of the facility in Shanghai in April halted production of contrast media, an iodine solution that medical staff inject into blood vessels to allow a device such as a CT scanner or fluoroscope to see inside the body. Contrast media, also known as dye, is used virtually every hour in hospitals across the country to help measure arterial blockages around the heart, guide placement of stents in catheter labs, diagnose and treat strokes, and more.” WaPo with a story that hammers home just how connected we all are. Covid shutdowns in China are delaying medical scans in the U.S.

+ More Time, Horrible Timing: “A Russian court has extended the pretrial detention of US basketball star Brittney Griner — held since February on accusations of drug smuggling — by another month.”

+ The Whole Nine: “The Nasdaq is down 30 percent. Growth stocks and pandemic darlings such as Peloton and Zoom have crashed more than twice that amount. Hedge funds that backed these growth stocks, including Ark and Tiger Global, have been crushed. If you look at your 401(k), you’ll see that … no, scratch that, you should under no circumstances look at your 401(k).” Derek Thompson with Nine Worrying Signs About the Economy. (Bursting into tears every time I look at my portfolio is all the sign I need…)

+ Pablo Cruise: “The glimpse of a possible Picasso in the home of Imelda Marcos seen during a visit by her son, Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr, after his election win has set off a flurry of speculation in the Philippines, where the family that once plundered billions is set to return to power.” Speculation? Come on. If the 2,700 pairs of shoes fit…

+ Dead End: “Israeli police on Friday moved in on a crowd of mourners at the funeral of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, beating demonstrators with batons and causing pallbearers to briefly drop the casket.” Israeli police beat mourners at a slain Al Jazeera journalist’s funeral.

+ Elon Makes Me Yawn: “If Musk really needs details supporting that calculation, then why not privately ask the management team with which he’s barely had any contact? Or the board? And then, if the numbers don’t check out, walk away. Maybe he’d even have been able to get out of his $1 billion breakup fee, arguing that Twitter misrepresented user metrics. He also could have conducted due diligence before agreeing to buy the company, which sources say is something acquirers sometimes do.” Axios: Elon Musk’s Twitter clown car. (Let’s hope it’s at least an electric clown car.)

+ Acid Reflex: “First, I took an acid trip. Then I asked scientists about the power of altered states.” Matthew Hutson in The New Yorker: How I Started to See Trees as Smart. (This is not that far from how I came to view headline puns as high art.)