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.
Adventurous Couple Travels the World With Their Three Cats MyModernMet (David L)
Dolphins use signature whistles to represent other dolphins – similarly to how humans use names The Conversation
A tiny town in regional Queensland is being overrun by aggressive kangaroos news.com.au (resilc). First orcas, now ‘roos….
NASA’s James Webb telescope has taken new photos of Jupiter’s auroras, rings NPR
Researchers invent self-charging, ultra-thin device that generates electricity from air moisture ScienceDaily (Chuck L)
We are building a “species-level brain” with big data and ubiquitous sensors BigThink (David L)
New book co-written by philosopher claims AI will ‘never’ rule the world TechXplore (David L)
It’s Alive! It’s With the Band! A Computer Soloist Holds Its Own New York Times
The Math Proves It—Network Congestion Is Inevitable And sometimes “solving” traffic problems can just make things worse SpectrumIEEE (David L)
Nazi-tainted Pernkopf’s Atlas: A case for acknowledgement, not removal STAT (Dr. Kevin)
#COVID-19
Science/Medicine
Shorter and shorter incubation periods with each new variant. This means controlling outbreaks is getting harder because individuals become infectious earlier. https://t.co/Y5ItUUKbr1 pic.twitter.com/yAcF0vpLeI
— Diego Bassani, PhD (@DGBassani) August 23, 2022
US
Pfizer seeks authorization for new Covid booster, without fresh clinical data STAT (Dr. Kevin)
Monkeypox
U.S. plan to stretch monkeypox vaccine supply already hitting hurdles STAT
First trial of antiviral monkeypox drug that could speed recovery begins in UK Guardian (Kevin W)
Climate/Environment
Is There Enough Metal to Replace Oil? CounterPunch (Alex C)
Flash Floods: What to Know and How to Stay Safe Wall Street Journal (David L)
Risk of volcano catastrophe ‘a roll of the dice’ ScienceDaily (Chuck L)
China?
China tears down tower blocks in effort to boost stalling economy The Telegraph
China’s heatwave/drought is not fully appreciated, esp re: macro and ag implications. Here’s a thread on the latter, taken from analysis by the brilliant @Even_Pay. Hope she doesn’t mind; everyone should follow her.
Bottom line: A big test for China’s food security push 1/17
— andrew polk (@andrewpolk81) August 23, 2022
With electricity cut in Chengdu, many EV owners getting stranded pic.twitter.com/7m4WEgIhVP
— Carl Zha (@CarlZha) August 23, 2022
With Abe gone, Japan-Russia in a new deep freeze Asia Times (Kevin W)
Scott Morrison throws Australia into a ‘mini constitutional crisis’ Financial Times
Thai court suspends PM Prayuth pending term limit review Reuters (furzy)
Europe
In Europe: Recession, 500-Year Drought Heisenberg Report. Resilc: “Winter inflation and heat riots ahead.”
Europe’s Corn Crop Will Plummet By Almost a Fifth as Drought Bites Bloomberg (resilc). I’m surprised it’s not worse.
Old Blighty
Britain Is Rewriting the Rules of Social Collapse umair haque (resilc). Important.
More than 70% of pubs do not expect to survive winter as energy costs soar Guardian
Cost of living crisis pushing more women into sex work – and unable to refuse dangerous clients Sky
How Prince Charles Sought Revenge Against Princess Diana and the Palace Vanity Fair (furzy)
New Not-So-Cold War
Ukraine marks tense Independence Day hoping for more US help against Russia The Hill
Reinforcing Failure in Ukraine Douglas MacGregor, American Conservative. Important.
Finland Braces For Rolling Blackouts This Winter OilPrice. Resilc” “Party time is ovah.”
Russia and Turkey’s Deepening Ties Prompt Concern in West Over Sanctions Compliance Wall Street Journal
How Much Is Power in Europe? It’s Now Equal to Oil at $1,000 a Barrel Bloomberg
Azoty of Poland Halts Fertilizer Production on Record Gas Prices Bloomberg
Finland was dismayed by Norway’s planned electricity regulation, which would raise prices even more – “A selfish act from Norway, which has become rich with peak prices” YLE via machine translation. Original: Suomessa tyrmistyttiin Norjan kaavailemasta sähkösäännöstelystä, nostaisi hintoja entisestään – “Huippuhinnoilla rikastuneelta Norjalta itsekäs teko”
Sending Canadian LNG to Germany is ‘doable,’ Trudeau says Politico (Kevin W) versus CBC the same day: Trudeau, Germany’s Scholz cool to the idea of exporting Canadian natural gas to Europe: Trudeau said there isn’t a clear business case yet for the development of a natural gas export terminal
Europe’s Natural-Gas Crunch Sparks Global Battle for Tankers Wall Street Journal
Kyiv vows to restore Ukrainian rule over Crimea to re-establish ‘world law and order’ ABC Australia (Kevin W)
Syraqistan
Erdogan repairs Syria ties with eye on Eurasianism Indian Punchline
Beirut: Further part of grain silos collapses 2 years after blast BBC (furzy)
Big Brother Is Watching You Watch
Amazon’s Dangerous New Acquisition Atlantic (David L)
Imperial Collapse Watch
The west’s false narrative about Russia and China Jeffrey Sachs (Charles S)
Trump Raid
Trump defiance of DOJ on classified docs comes into sharper focus The Hill
Other Trump
The Idea That Letting Trump Walk Will Heal America Is Ridiculous New York Times. Um, Trump’s presidency came out of the fact that bank executives walked after two bailouts: the highly visible one in 2008-9, and the less widely acknowledged chain of title/foreclosure crisis, accompanied by 10 million foreclosures, most of which should have been prevented.
GOP Clown Car
Does Dr. Oz’s Team Hate Him or Are They Just Bad at Their Jobs? Daily Beast (resilc)
Democrats en déshabillé’
Nadler ousts Maloney in contentious New York House primary The Hill
Daniel Goldman, Ex-Trump Prosecutor, Tops Crowded Field in N.Y. Primary New York Times (furzy). bob from Syracuse is disgusted: “NY dems for the nat sec state….Conole, 44, an Iraq War veteran from Syracuse, had been the frontrunner…”
Black Injustice Tipping Point
Ex-Louisville detective admits to providing false information for Breonna Taylor search warrant Business Insider (Kevin W). Hoo boy.
Supply Chain/Inflation
‘So, We Raised Interest Rates’ Heisenberger Report. Resilc:
We have high inflation because:
Covid
endless wars
climate change
over population
not enough skilled labor
etc
how is the Fed going to fix this with rate rises?????
Congress is looking into Twitter whistleblower’s claims of lax security engadget
The 30-Year-Old Spending $1 Billion to Save Crypto Wall Street Journal
Class Warfare
Investors Bought a Quarter of Homes Sold Last Year, Driving Up Rents Pew Charitable Trusts (Randy K)
The technology that makes you sound more American and whiter Guardian
Here’s How Much Student Debt Forgiveness Will Cost Heisenberger Report. Resilc: “DoD pisses that away in 4 mo.”
Columbus, Ohio Teachers’ Strike Mike Elk, TikTok
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
Antidote du jour. Tracie H: “This handsome Billy Goat lives at the Orange County Zoo in the Irvine Regional Park (Irvine, California).”
And a bonus (guurst):
🔥An armadillo girdled lizard (Ouroborus cataphractus) pic.twitter.com/hsKNo6XK4a
— Nature Is Lit (@NatureIs_Lit) August 23, 2022
