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.
Alaska’s snow crabs have disappeared. Where they went is a mystery. WaPo
Climate
Methane hunters: what explains the surge in the potent greenhouse gas? FT. Important.
Climate Change Is Making Pathogens Worse MedPage Today
Estimating the environmental impacts of 57,000 food products PNAS. Not just food; food-like substances.
Why keeping girls in school is a good strategy to cope with climate change NPR
Spare a thought for air-conditioning repair people. As the planet warms, they’re really up against it The Conversation
#COVID19
The imminent BA.5 vaccine booster Eric Topol, Ground Truths. Just in time for BA2.75. The table at the beginning of the article is a real dash of cold water on any triumphalism.
A new paper shows spike toxicity in Zebrafish Unacceptable Jessica. Here is the original (Elsevier; peer-reviewed). Big if true. Readers?
Incubation Period of COVID-19 Caused by Unique SARS-CoV-2 Strains JAMA. Systematic review and meta-analysis. “The incubation periods of COVID-19 caused by the Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omicron variants were 5.00, 4.50, 4.41, and 3.42 days, respectively.”
Could tiny blood clots cause long COVID’s puzzling symptoms? Nature
Tracking viruses can be tricky. NYT. The deck: “Here’s how a scrappy team of scientists, public health experts and plumbers is embracing wastewater surveillance as the future of disease tracking.” A “scrappy team” is another way of saying there has been no OWS-style public investment in a key data gathering system to prevent transmission, because preventing transmission is not a priority.
The Hidden Crisis in the Times of COVID-19: Critical Shortages of Medical Laboratory Professionals in Clinical Microbiology Journal of Clinical Microbiology. “80% of microbiology laboratories have vacant positions and that filling these positions is challenging for a number of reasons, including a lack of qualified applicants.” Given the givens, it would be nice if the American Society for Microbiology didn’t follow the lead of The International Society for Microbial Ecology, and turn its conferences into superspreader events.
Polio Is Back in the US and UK. Here’s How That Happened Wired (Re Silc).
Treating Monkeypox: Q&A with the CDC’s John T. Brooks, MD (interview) MedPage
FluTracking Australia Winter Update (charts) FluTracking Australia (Vandemonian).
China?
Heatwave in China is the most severe ever recorded in the world New Scientist
Xi Jinping looks to take China beyond Deng Xiaoping’s ‘get rich’ era with historic third term South China Morning Post
China Stayed 24 Nautical Miles From Taiwan During Drills Bloomberg
I’m not over the moon about mooncakes – in my reality, everybody hates them. So why are we still eating these Mid-Autumn Festival gifts? South China Morning Post. Useful for paperweights!
Myanmar
Myanmar Mid-Year Update ACLED
Rohingya refugees still desperate, five years after a genocide Globe_. The world as NGOs see it.
The Koreas
US media ignored major anti-US military protest in South Korea Responsible Statecraft
Australia to hold wide-ranging inquiry into automated debt recovery scheme Reuters. As opposed to….
UK/EU
Macron warns ‘sacrifices’ ahead after ‘end of abundance’ France24. But Ukraine is worth it, totally. (To be fair, Europe has been the sick man of Europe since the Great Financial Crash, but how in the name of all that is holy did it produce such an unimpressive political class? Scholz, Macron, BoJo (Truss),
Draghi[insert Italian word here for whoever 🤷]…. James Buchanan would be head boy, here. Ditto Vichy.)Hedge funds build biggest bet against Italian debt since 2008 FT
Fast, cheap, deadly: the budget drone changing global warfare FT
New Not-So-Cold Cold War
Turkey’s Erdogan says return of Crimea to Ukraine is a requirement of international law CNN.
Why is Pink Floyd’s bassist on a Ukrainian website’s ‘kill list’? Daily Dot. Myrotvorets. Interestingly, recently whacked Darya Dugina was on the Myrotvorets list:
Darya Dugina was on the #Myrotvorets hit list since 06.07.2022. Now it says “liquidated” on her face.
The terrorist Myrotvorets center claims to be based in Langley, Virginia and Warsaw, Poland. (See upper right corner.)
Was NATO a party to this terrorist attack, not just SBU? pic.twitter.com/betJUHJkGU
— René (@thisisnotarose) August 21, 2022
(Along with Waters, John Mearshimer, Tulsi Gabbard, and other luminaries). On its site, Myrotvorets claims an address in Langley, VA. I don’t know what that might mean, but what is clear is that Myrotvorets’ logo is served by NATO:
(natocdn.net is owned by NATO; see also here.) It’s not clear to me why NATO would put its infrastructure at the service of a hit list including American academics. Perhaps somebody could ask the State Department about this.
Media Once Called Azov Neo-Nazis. Now They Hide That Fact Passage
Five predictions for the next six months in the war in Ukraine Guardian. The conventional wisdom seems to be congealing around the twin ideas that the front is in stalemate and winter will not be a fighting season; including, interestingly, certainly not Russia-unfriendly Military Summary. If I were counter-suggestible, I’d turn conventional wisdom 180° on both counts.
Mexico’s president sounds increasingly radical. Is a clash with Washington imminent? Miami Herald
Biden Administration
Biden administration moves to formalize DACA and shield it from legal challenges CBS
A ‘Drop in the Bucket’ for Many: Let’s Put Biden’s Student Loan Relief in Perspective Jezebel. Various commentary. Biden callls it “breathing room”:
In keeping with my campaign promise, my Administration is announcing a plan to give working and middle class families breathing room as they prepare to resume federal student loan payments in January 2023.
I’ll have more details this afternoon. pic.twitter.com/kuZNqoMe4I
— President Biden (@POTUS) August 24, 2022
“Breathing room,” like when somebody’s got their boot on my windpipe and eases off a little?
Thanks, Obama:
If the government wanted 34 year olds to pay their student loans back, they shouldn’t have let the labor market be fucked from 2008-2015
— Jason Dean (@_Jason_Dean_) August 23, 2022
Unfoamed runway:
The takeaway from the news stories about the PPP forgiveness & the student loan plan is that we should have taken out PPP loans & paid our student loans with that money.
— Mikki Kendall (@Karnythia) August 24, 2022
“The first thing we do….”
Good news for thousands of my former students. I’m grateful on their behalf, Mr. President. https://t.co/FzmvcQNkli
— Laurence Tribe (@tribelaw) August 24, 2022
Clinton Legacy
The Hillary and Chelsea Clinton docu-series of your wildest dreams The Spectator. I can’t even.
Groves of Academe
University can’t scan students’ rooms during remote tests, judge rules The Verge
University Title Generator FiatFlux (github). “Deputy Coordinator of the Committee on Strategic Community Planning.” $86,096 seems low.
Imperial Collapse Watch
Is America Overextending Itself? Foreign Policy. Author is editor of FP.
Ailing Empire Blues The Baffler
Class Warfare
“To inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup, and one neighborhood at a time.” —Starbucks Mission Statement
Starbucks illegally withheld raises from union workers, labor board says WaPo
Starbucks union claims company closed two cafes in retaliation Reuters
Starbucks asks labor board to halt mail-in union ballots CNN
* * * Biggest Influx of Union Workers Isn’t From Starbucks Bloomberg
Real Estate Ceo: Recession Could Be “Good” If “Unemployment … Puts Employers Back in the Driver Seat” The Intercept
Barriers to Multi-Generational Organizing Payday Report. Third of a series. Parts one and two.
What is the Relationship between Class and the Left? Class Unity (AL). Well worth a read.
How a Hacked Tractor Added Fuel to the Right-to-Repair Movement (transcript) Wired. Interesting!
Antidote du jour (via):
Donkey nannies are donkeys used to carry newborn lambs down the mountains for seasonal grazing.
Bonus antidote:
Mother: This is the last time I show you how to go down..
Son: pic.twitter.com/KJFaqJXq8M
— Buitengebieden (@buitengebieden) August 17, 2022
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
