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.
How do you move 250 elephants to their new home? Very carefully NPR
Polar bears scavenge on garbage to cope with climate change Reuters
Meet the Giant Sequoia, the ‘Super Tree’ Built to Withstand Fire Scientific American
The investment drought of the past two decades is catching up with us FT
Comparing the US, Russian, and Chinese real economies, previously undertaken by Andrei Martyanov. Charts:
Lets start fresh, a new methodology of economic weight, strength and importance. Use economic metrics that are in essence, timeless. Things that would make sense to a Soviet central planner, or an American industrialist in the 1930’s.
Production of real tangible goods
10/20 pic.twitter.com/Hm0vhBy2Kg
— Winston Smith 🇸🇾 (@crim_thought) July 20, 2022
One result:
We see China crushing everyone, in almost every category of primary industrial goods and manufacturing. 7-8X more coal and iron than USA, 12X more steel than USA. 2X more cars than USA!
Italy, Japan and France show up with 0 production in 2 categories !!😬
12/20 pic.twitter.com/rRYfRuqBmU
— Winston Smith 🇸🇾 (@crim_thought) July 20, 2022
Pay attention, Europe:
Recommendations:
Italy, UK and France needs to get serious. These rankings reveal how embarrassing and shallow many European economies really are. In the world to come, running hotels and tax arbitrage firms is not going to cut it….
ps 4/4 pic.twitter.com/6r7AvGnPGT
— Winston Smith 🇸🇾 (@crim_thought) July 20, 2022
The category I would think about including is (arable) soil.
What to do about the present inflation Joseph Stiglitz, Lars. P Syll and Millions in California to Get up to $1,050 in ‘Inflation Relief’ Bloomberg
Calpers Logs Decade-Worst 6.1% Loss as Stocks and Bonds Dive Bloomberg
Climate
The amount of Greenland ice that melted last weekend could cover West Virginia in a foot of water CNN (Furzy Mouse).
What To Know About The European Heat Wave The Onion (MT).
Shot, chaser:
And if someone could build some working railways while they’re at it… https://t.co/hI0aYRCRTp
— Jerome Taylor (@JeromeTaylor) July 20, 2022
Let’s Just Talk About The Weather From the Forests of Arduinna
The City’s Inflatable-Dam Handout Is Essentially Useless Curbed. I guess we’ll have to factor that into our personal risk assessments.
John Phipps: Why Can’t the U.S. Figure Out a Way to Move Water From the Great Lakes to the West? AgWeb
The Great Reset Starts with Farms The American Conservative. One solution. The powers-that-be are pushing this hard, too:
Join @NovaPBS as they takes a tasty look at insect foods that could benefit our health and our warming planet.
“Edible Insects” premieres tonight at 7.35pm pic.twitter.com/EZFkPYkxAy
— PBS America (@PBSAmerica) July 18, 2022
#COVID19
COVID-19 pandemic fuels largest continued backslide in vaccinations in three decades UNICEF
Front-Runners in the Race for Variant-Proof and All-Coronavirus Vaccines Hilda Bastian, Absolutely Maybe
A vax-only approach leaves the most vulnerable behind Source New Mexico. Critique of this study.
Vaccine effectiveness of one, two, and three doses of BNT162b2 and CoronaVac against COVID-19 in Hong Kong: a population-based observational study The Lancet. BNT162b2 = Pfizer. From the results: “Two doses of either vaccine protected against severe disease and death within 28 days of a positive test, with higher effectiveness among adults aged 60 years or older with BNT162b2 (vaccine effectiveness 89·3% [95% CI 86·6–91·6]) compared with CoronaVac (69·9% [64·4–74·6]). Three doses of either vaccine offered very high levels of protection against severe or fatal outcomes (97·9% [97·3–98·4]).”
The radical plan for vaccine equity Nature
* * * * * * Adapt or die: how the pandemic made the shift from EBM to EBM+ more urgent (PDF) BMJ. “From the Abstract: “Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM) and Randomized Controlled Trials (RCT) have significant limitations when extended to complex questions about a novel pathogen causing chaos across multiple sectors in a fast-changing global context. Non-pharmaceutical interventions which combine material artefacts, human behaviour, organisational directives, occupational health and safety, and the built environment are a case in point: EBM’s experimental, interventionfocused, checklist-driven, effect-size-oriented and deductive approach has sometimes confused rather than informed debate.” See also “The Illusion of Evidence-Based Medicine” at NC.
China?
China’s SMIC Is Shipping 7nm Foundry ASICs SemiAnalysis. “To be abundantly clear, China’s SMIC is shipping a foundry process with commercially available chips in the open market which are more advanced than any American or European company.”
China’s Shenzhen vows to ‘mobilise all resources’ to curb COVID spread Reuters
Xi Faces Surprise Revolt From Chinese Homebuyers on Mortgage Boycott Bloomberg
Rich Chinese Worth $48 Billion Want to Leave — But Will Xi Let Them? Bloomberg
Australia’s COVID hospitalisations at record levels as Labor government rejects safety measures WSWS. I had thought Albanese would inprove on Morrison, but apparently bot.
Why Sri Lanka Imploded Project Syndicate
UK/EU
Liz Truss, comeback kid and ‘Red Rishi’: Is a Brexit-backing Thatcherite too left-wing for the UK Conservatives? Politico. I can’t even.
Mario Draghi resigns after Italian coalition unravels FT
Blessing or Curse? The Rise of Tourism-Led Growth in Europe’s Southern Periphery Journal of Common Market Studies
New Not-So-Cold War
Key Gas Pipeline From Russia to Europe Restarts After 10-Day Break Time. Nordstream 1.
Ukraine Faces Difficulties Getting Western Weapons to Front Lines WSJ
CIA director estimates 15,000 Russians killed in Ukraine war South China Morning Post
A short ethnic history of Ukraine… Yasha Levine. Locked, but the unlocked opener is worth a read.
Vladimir Putin ‘entirely too healthy’ says CIA chief Euronews. Well, er….
Biden Administration
Federal Health Unit Gets New Powers for Pandemic Response Bloomberg. “The Atlanta-based CDC is on the brink of announcing findings from an internal review.”
Biden: Military thinks potential Pelosi trip to Taiwan is ‘not a good idea’ The Hill. Maybe Pelosi needs more ice cream for her freezer?
Why is Biden joining the warpath against Iran? Responsible Statecraft
Democrats en Déshabillé
Congresswoman Karen Bass and the Will to Intervene Black Agenda Report
Democrats’ fears grow about GOP majority’s handling of Ukraine, Russia The Hill
Supply Chain
Maritime Meeting Reveals a New Phenomenon: Alleged Russian Grain Laundering Hellenic Shipping News
Healthcare
Police State Watch
Overtime:
Not a fun graphic to make, but it tells the story. @HoustonChron #UvaldeMassacre pic.twitter.com/VqrATm1HgK
— Ken Ellis (@kenduque) July 20, 2022
Kill it with fire:
All the people who laughed off the “worrywarts” years ago for freaking out about the Funny Dancing Robot Dogs ™ should be forced to watch this video once a day for the remainder of the year. pic.twitter.com/WBIrlGah3w
— Sean Chiplock (@sonicmega) July 20, 2022
Realignment and Legitimacy
Going Beyond the Law The Baffler
Imperial Collapse Watch
Europe Warns of Russian Pressure From Africa Voice of America. From NATO’s updated strategic concept: “NATO’s southern neighborhood, particularly the ‘ East, North Africa and Sahel regions….” It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhoods! See 00:37:
U.S. SOUTHCOM Commander:”This region is so rich in resources.. it’s off the charts rich.”
“60% of the world’s lithium is in the region; you have heavy crude, you have light sweet crude, you have rare earth elements, you have the Amazon..” pic.twitter.com/33dQ6EXKAo
— Kawsachun News (@KawsachunNews) July 20, 2022
The Great American Military Rebrand Matt Taibbi, TK News
How does the brain decide what memories are good and bad? A new mouse study offers clues STAT
The Finders: A Social Experiment Failed State Update
Antidote du jour (via):
Bonus antidote:
A program aiming to repopulate a Galapagos island in Ecuador with giant tortoises has been successful, according to the officials in charge pic.twitter.com/WbdX9OcSbJ
— Reuters (@Reuters) July 14, 2022
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
