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.
The Great Naturalist John Burroughs on the Art of Noticing and What Artists Can Learn from Naturalists The Marginalian
A Fed-induced recession is a medicine worse than the disease Claudia Sahm, FT
The Great Resignation Is Long Over Barry Ritholtz, The Big Picture
Faceblocked Matt Stoller, BIG
Sunset of the social network Axios (PR).
Listerine Royalties: The Origin Story and Valuation of a Uniquely Enduring Asset Invariant
Climate
Climate policy support as a tool to control others’ (but not own) environmental behavior? PLOS One
Back to the Future Doomberg. Wood-burning.
Shell Posts Back-to-Back Record Profit, Accelerates Buybacks Bloomberg
A Seaweed Farming Boom Is Preparing Maine for Life After Lobsters Reasons to be Cheerful
#COVID19
Simplicity:
Sucking the snot out of stranger’s noses because you have NyQuil if you get sick.
Vs
Not sucking the snot out of stranger’s noses, if you get sick anyway you can still take NyQuil.
The latter is what we mean by prioritizing infection control before pharmaceutical intervention.
— Naomi Wu 机械妖姬 (@RealSexyCyborg) July 27, 2022
* * * Why an Up-Your-Nose Covid Spray Will Be Costly Bloomberg. No, they very won’t, because we’ll give them away, just like Trump did. FFS. And if investors are
yellow-bellied pigeon-livered sapsucking gutless wondersuneasy, we know what to do: Operation Warp Speed II, just like Trump did. FFS.A Virologist Talks Vaccine Research & Thailand’s Scientific Street Cred (podcast) Bangkok Podcast (Furzy Mouse). Nasal vaccine developer Samaporn Teeravechyan. See the show notes; obvious opportunities here for a great power that had some concept of diplomacy.
* * * The molecular epidemiology of multiple zoonotic origins of SARS-CoV-2 Science (Furzy Mouse). From the Abstract: “We show that SARS-CoV-2 genomic diversity before February 2020 likely comprised only two distinct viral lineages, denoted A and B. Phylodynamic rooting methods, coupled with epidemic simulations, reveal that these lineages were the result of at least two separate cross-species transmission events into humans. The first zoonotic transmission likely involved lineage B viruses around 18 November 2019 (23 October–8 December), while the separate introduction of lineage A likely occurred within weeks of this event. These findings indicate that it is unlikely that SARS-CoV-2 circulated widely in humans prior to November 2019 and define the narrow window between when SARS-CoV-2 first jumped into humans and when the first cases of COVID-19 were reported.”
Transient and durable T cell reactivity after COVID-19 PNAS. n = 56. From the Abstract: “Multimeric peptides spanning the entire nucleocapsid protein triggered strikingly synchronous formation of interleukin (IL)-4, IL-12, IL-13, and IL-17 ex vivo until after confirmed infection….. The observed durability of IL-2 and IFN-γ responses imply the existence of long-lasting T cell memory following COVID-19….”
Smoking is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular events, disease severity, and mortality among patients hospitalized for SARS-CoV-2 infections PLOS One. n = 31,545. “The major finding of this study is that in a well-characterized national registry from many different hospitals across the U.S., COVID-19 patients who were identified as current smokers were more likely to die or receive mechanical ventilation than those who were identified as non-smokers. These analyses provide the most extensive and robust evidence to date that smokers have a higher risk of developing severe COVID-19 and dying as a result of SARS-CoV-2 infection.”
* * * The Fögen Effect Masks a Big Methodological Issue Office for Science and Society, McGill University. I shouldn’t amplify this, but in case anybody’s run into it…
Why Monkeypox Is a Threat to All of Us Bloomberg
China?
US aircraft carrier group heads towards Taiwan as tension over Nancy Pelosi’s possible visit continues to grow South China Morning Post
What to expect when Biden talks to Xi Asia Times. When, or if?
China’s central bank seeks to mobilise $148bn bailout for real estate projects FT
Inflating China’s Threat Risks Disaster for the United States The National Interest
UK/EU
Fraudpocalypse London Review of Books. “[I]n the last ten years, two companies in the DAX, the stock-market index of Germany’s thirty (now forty) biggest corporations, have experienced colossal implosions, caused by fraud.”
BASF readies more ammonia production cuts in gas supply crunch Reuters (guurst).
* * * Starmer’s mess Tax Research UK
Sunak vs Truss: a battle between two failed economic policies Mainly Macro
University of Roehampton pushing ahead with mass fire & rehire in arts and the humanities University and College Union
The NHS is not living with covid, it’s dying from it BMJ
* * * Populists at the Gates Foreign Policy. In Italy.
New Not-So-Cold War
First Ukraine grain exports likely this week under deal -Turkish official Hellenic Shipping News
What Does the Black Sea Grain Agreement Mean for Africa? Maritime Executive
* * * Kremlin spokesman hails resolution of Kaliningrad transit issue as positive development TASS
Russia’s Vostok 2022 has big messages Indian Punchline
* * * Is Escalation in Ukraine Inevitable? The National Interest
Germany and east European allies struggle to seal deals over Ukraine-bound weapons FT
The Return of History: Cold War Lessons for Current International Crises Valdai Discussion Club
AMLO’s way Africa is a Country
Biden Adminstration
‘Holy s–t’: Surprise Senate deal sets stage for record climate change package Politico
The Congressional-Staffer Rebellion The New Yorker
Biden does COVID victory lap; praises vaccines in comparing his case to Trump’s The Hill
Sanders says Democrats’ prescription drug reform bill is ‘weak’ The Hill
FBI, DOJ accused of burying Hunter Biden dirt: Sen. Chuck Grassley New York Post
My Latest Theory About The SCOTUS Leaker Original Jurisdiction
Guillotine Watch
Suburbanites Fight Over New Dinner Services in Mercedes Vans WSJ
Class Warfare
You Can’t Shame the Shameless Black Misleadership Class Glen Ford, Black Agenda Report. From 2020, reprinted by BAR as we approach the first anniversay of Ford’s death.
* * * Britain’s rail network hit by new strike action over pay dispute International Business Times
Mick Lynch: ‘It’s No Good Being Pissed Off – We Need Organisation’ Tribune
Bicycle graveyards: why do so many bikes end up underwater? Guardian
Penn Station Expansion is Based on Fraud Pedestrian Observations
Antidote du jour (via):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
