Lambert and I, and many readers, agree that Ukraine has prompted the worst informational environment ever. We hope readers will collaborate in mitigating the fog of war — both real fog and stage fog — in comments. None of us need more cheerleading and link-free repetition of memes; there are platforms for that. Low-value, link-free pom pom-wavers will be summarily whacked.
And for those who are new here, this is not a mere polite request. We have written site Policies and those who comment have accepted those terms. To prevent having to resort to the nuclear option of shutting comments down entirely until more sanity prevails, as we did during the 2015 Greek bailout negotiations and shortly after the 2020 election, we are going to be ruthless about moderating and blacklisting offenders.
–Yves
P.S. Also, before further stressing our already stressed moderators, read our site policies:
Please do not write us to ask why a comment has not appeared. We do not have the bandwidth to investigate and reply. Using the comments section to complain about moderation decisions/tripwires earns that commenter troll points. Please don’t do it. Those comments will also be removed if we encounter them.
Man Grows Out His London Backyard to Make it Welcoming to a Family of Foxes and Other Wildlife Laughing Squid
On Inflation: It’s the Monopoly Profits, Stupid Matt Stoller, BIG
The big mistakes of the anti-globalisers Martin Wolf, FT
EXCLUSIVE Inside the hangar at the centre of $1 bln Airbus-Qatar jet dispute Reuters. Whoops.
How to Beat the Chip Shortage and Buy a Car Without Getting Cheated Popular Mechanics
How to Buy a New Mattress Without a Ph.D. in Chemistry The New Yorker
Climate
The Coming Green Hydrogen Revolution Project Syndicate
‘Disaster Land Grabs’ Worldwide and in British Columbia The Tyee
#COVID19
Neutralization Escape by SARS-CoV-2 Omicron Subvariants BA.2.12.1, BA.4, and BA.5 (letter) New England Journal of Medicine
These data show that the BA.2.12.1, BA.4, and BA.5 subvariants substantially escape neutralizing antibodies induced by both vaccination and infection. Moreover, neutralizing antibody titers against the BA.4 or BA.5 subvariant and (to a lesser extent) against the BA.2.12.1 subvariant were lower than titers against the BA.1 and BA.2 subvariants, which suggests that the SARS-CoV-2 omicron variant has continued to evolve with increasing neutralization escape. These findings provide immunologic context for the current surges caused by the BA.2.12.1, BA.4, and BA.5 subvariants in populations with high frequencies of vaccination and BA.1 or BA.2 infection.
Good thing we have a robust, multilayered system of non-pharmaceutical interventions in place. Oh, wait….
China?
China’s Xi warns of ‘alarm for humanity’ in Ukraine as BRICS leaders meet for virtual summit ABC Australia
Beijing Eyes Pacific Islands, Exploiting U.S. Strategic Vacuum Foreign Policy
China officials who abused health codes to stop bank protests punished South China Morning Post
Myanmar
Is Myanmar’s Military on Its Last Legs? Center for International and Strategic Studies. Worth a read.
Scam City: How the coup brought Shwe Kokko back to life Frontier Myanmar
US–ASEAN summitry signals step up in relations East Asia Forum
Sri Lanka Sued by Bondholder in US After Historic Default Bloomberg
The Koreas
Privatized Healthcare Fears Rise Following a Court Ruling on For-Profit Hospitals The Blue Roof. ““This enemy you cannot kill. You can only drive it back damaged into the depths and teach your children to watch the waves for its return.” Richard Morgan, Woken Furies.
Syraqistan
With an eye on re-election, Turkey’s Erdogan risks the ire of Western partners France24
UK/EU
Shadow ministers rail against Starmer’s picket-line ban The New Statesman. I’m just a simple American. Maybe the “u” in “Labour” makes it mean something other than what I thought it would mean?
Biggest railway strike in 30 years strands commuters in UK Al Jazeera. Commentary (MT):
Polio Virus Found in London Sewage Puts U.K. on High Alert WSJ
* * * Live Blog: European Council summit Politico
Spain demands EU leave energy treaty over climate concerns Politico
Bulgaria faces fresh political turmoil as government loses confidence vote Euronews
Russia
New Not-So-Cold War
It’s time to talk about peace in Ukraine Nonzero. Explicitly throws the power of The Blob onto the win-lose scales. Good.
Southern Ukraine is the priority in NATO’s planning Indian Punchline (upstater). Well worth a read.
Russia Gains in the East, Threatening to Overrun Luhansk NYT. Change in tone.
* * * Kaliningrad row: ‘It’s nothing to do with a blockade’ says Lithuania’s former foreign ministers Euronews. See today’s post on Kaliningrad.
Estonia’s PM says country would be ‘wiped from map’ under existing Nato plans FT
Let’s Fight WW3 Over Lithuania Caitlin Johnstone, Notes From The Edge Of The Narrative
* * * Exclusive: G7 likely to discuss Russian turbine, but may not find solution – Canada minister Reuters. Hilarity ensues.
Asia imports more seaborne Russian oil than Europe, with India taking the lion’s share of Urals Hellenic Shipping News
* * * Columbia Law School to advise Ukrainian president on war reparations Reuters. Lawyering up, eh?
Revealed: Secretive British Anti-Crime Agency Spent Millions Training Colombia’s Repressive Police Declassified UK
Biden Administration
FDA Investigates Death of Another Infant Given Abbott Formula Bloomberg. Shades of China’s 2008 infant milk powder scandal.
Court strikes down Maine’s ban on using public funds at religious schools SCOTUSblog. Give no public money to any private school. Problem solved.
Shortages
Volkswagen CEO Diess Warns Car Plants Are at Risk From Energy Supply Halt Bloomberg
Health Care
Universal Health Care Could Have Saved More Than 330,000 U.S. Lives during COVID Scientific American
Police State Watch
‘Try out this simulator’: My advice to defund-the-police crowd after trying out NYPD’s active shooter training NY Post (dk). Commentary:
United States cops watch in amazement while other country’s police do their jobs without taking any lives. pic.twitter.com/iGh71VugTN
— 🥀_Imposter_🕸️ (@Imposter_Edits) June 20, 2022
Our Famously Free Press
Networks covered the war in Ukraine more than the US invasion of Iraq Responsible Statecraft
‘They Should Be In Jail’: How The Guardian and New York Times ‘Set Up’ Julian Assange Kit Klarenberg, Kit’s Newsletter
Class Warfare
Ep 5: What’s Ahead for Labor? (podcast) Class Matters. “Adolph Reed Jr. talks with Sara Nelson, President of the Association of Flight Attendants/CWA and APWU President Mark Dimondstein about what’s ahead for Labor in this moment that holds out both promise and peril.” Generalizing:
If you want to understand how powerful we really are, railroad workers in England are striking and shutting down rail lines, airline workers in Belgium are striking and shutting down airports, and in Ecuador a national strike is shutting down the whole nation.
— Read Wobblies and Zapatistas (@JoshuaPotash) June 22, 2022
Sara? Sean? Harold? Christian?
The Quants in the Room Jason Furman, Foreign Affairs
There but for the grace of God….
I met an unhoused woman who has two years of disability payments sitting in a bank account she cannot access because she does not have an ID. After months we finally got her birth certificate and then she woke up to a sweep where all of her paperwork was thrown away.
— Housing 4 All is Hot (@ahouse4all) June 22, 2022
Unconditional cash transfers and maternal substance use: fndings from a randomized control trial of low-income mothers with infants in the U.S. (PDF)( BMC Public Health. “Uur randomized control trial of monthly cash gifts to mothers with newborn infants fnds that a cash gift diference of $313 per month did not signifcantly change maternal use of alcohol, cigarettes, or opioids or household expenditures on alcohol or cigarettes.”
Where Did the Long Tail Go? The Honest Broker
If aliens are calling, let it go to voicemail Vox
Antidote du jour (via):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
