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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.
‘Fur shortage’: San Francisco costume shop does big Burning Man business SFGate. Resilc: “I was there in 2007. The art is something, but not worth it overall. Like living in the dust bowl.”
Enormous Solar Storm May Create Auroras Across Northern U.S. States Newsweek (Dr. Kevin)
The Sheep human Contest in France. This is the festival I need right now.
pic.twitter.com/lSUCt9vGXn— Emi 🌠 (@emikusano) August 21, 2022
Meanwhile, inside the box, Schrödinger’s cat plans its revenge. pic.twitter.com/am4Sf1uRU7
— Prof. Feynman (@ProfFeynman) August 13, 2022
Education and Indoctrination Point Magazine (Anthony L)
#COVID-19
Science/Medicine
Ok, now everyone think for 2 seconds about whether it’s a good idea to have many, many, many people infected with a virus that may persist in the body and damage immune system function. https://t.co/agwYhh8ddf
— T. Ryan Gregory (@TRyanGregory) September 1, 2022
No Clear Evidence That COVID-19 Was Transmitted From Bats Eurasia Review. Note it took over a decade to establish pretty firmly that SARS-Cov-1 went through an intermediary species.
This nanoparticle could be the key to a universal covid vaccine MIT Technology
Asia
Brawls break out and shelves stripped bare as Chinese city heads for ‘strictest lockdown’ Daily Star (resilc)
Monkeypox
Smallpox vaccine proves to be dead end in monkeypox fight Bankgkok Post (furzy)
Climate/Environment
The Amazon rainforest has already reached a crucial tipping point New Scientist (David L)
As the Fish Move Away, the New Zealand Māori Face an Uncertain Future The Wire (J-LS)
The energy historian who says rapid decarbonization is a fantasy Los Angeles Times (guurst)
California Ratchets Up Grid Emergency as Blackouts Loom Bloomberg (Kevin W)
Excessive heat warning extended as Bay Area swelters under heat wave CBS (Kevin W)
How to Green Our Parched Farmlands and Finance Critical Infrastructure CounterPunch. Resilc: “Who will build all this?”
Want To Win the Climate Fight? Tackle Inequality, Among Others. The Wire (J-LS)
3D-printed living soil walls by University of Virginia can grow plants YankoDesign (David L)
China?
China slams US over alleged Trojan horse attack on university servers South China Morning Post
US-China in a war for tech standard supremacy Asia Times (Kevin W)
China’s Foreign Investment Data Distorted by Hong Kong Flows Bloomberg (furzy)
Old Blighty
How Liz Truss, Britain’s next prime minister, went from anti-monarchist rebel to the next Margaret Thatcher ABC Australia (Kevin W)
When S Jaishankar had tutored UK PM-elect Liz Truss FirstPost (J-LS)
Diplomacy Watch: Did Boris Johnson help stop a peace deal in Ukraine? Responsible Statecraft (resilc). Pretty well known but now officially confirmed.
Chile votes overwhelmingly to reject new, progressive constitution Guardian (Kevin W)
New Not-So-Cold War
OPEC+ agrees on oil output cut Indian Punchline (Kevin W)
As Russia Chokes Europe’s Gas, France Enters Era of Energy ‘Sobriety’ New York Times (Kevin W)
End of an era Eurointelligence. Resilc: “We have no doubt that France and Germany will be among the first to seek normalisation with Russia.”
With EDF’s announcement today, French power prices for 2023 are trading €900/MWH with winter prices above €1.500/MWH (or an eye-popping 30X the 5-yr average price). I’m surprised this isn’t front-page news all over the west. #France @SullyCNBC @SquawkCNBC pic.twitter.com/hwSyOSRcDB
— 🇺🇸Kyle Bass🇺🇦 (@Jkylebass) August 25, 2022
In Prague, It Begins American Conservative (resilc)
Around 70,000 People Protest Against Czech Government, NATO in Prague Antiwar
Slovak government loses majority as ministers quit Reuters. Kevin W: “Another EU/NATO friendly government falls.” Moi: Sort of falls. Article notes no easy path to snap elections.
World’s largest particle collider at risk over EU energy crunch RT (Chuck L)
For the love of mustard: Hoarding and cheating as French grapple with nationwide shortage France24
Why Europe’s Dependence On U.S. LNG Is Risky OilPrice (resilc)
According to NYT, Russia lies when it says U.S. “trained birds to carry pathogens into Russia.” Can’t speak to recently, but back in 1950, US biowar program dusted birds w/ bioagents & released them to test their use against Russiahttps://t.co/lLvgjLrw8ghttps://t.co/S3eYvmEDyh pic.twitter.com/1UxRSOiRAf
— Jeffrey Kaye (@jeff_kaye) September 4, 2022
Meta Platforms Exempted Russian War Crimes From Graphic Content Takedowns Intercept. Resilc: ” How about merikin war crimes????”
Why Gorbachev Was One of the Greatest Failures in History CounterPunch
Syraqistan
US Sets Up Third Base in NE Syria Antiwar (resilc)
Big Brother is Watching You Watch
Tech tool offers police ‘mass surveillance on a budget’ Associated Press (resilc)
Google’s Project Nimbus is the future of evil Android Central (David L, Paul R)
Imperial Collapse Watch
‘These Kids Are Dying’ — Inside the Overdose Crisis Sweeping Fort Bragg Rolling Stone (J-LS)
And this is why I only go to the fair for funnel cakes & vibes. No rides. pic.twitter.com/itTJaYIj7D
— DeMoe 😤 (@DeMoeRoberson) September 4, 2022
Trump Raid
Federal judge grants Trump’s request for a special master to look through docs seized in the FBI’s search of Mar-a-Lago Business Insider (Kevin W)
Democrats en déshabillé
The Rise of the Liberal Hawks Atlantic (resilc)
Can you drown government in an empty bathtub? The Berkshire Eagle
Thread.
1/
What happened to CNN?
I worked there for 18 years.
This is what happened.
Everyone wants to know why CNN is shifting.
Let me explain why.
What Fox News gets that MSNBC and CNN don’t get…
Each quarter, the Cable Operators release their subscriber base.
— YS (@ReallyActivist) September 3, 2022
Amazon Closes, Abandons Plans for Dozens of Warehouses Across the US Bloomberg (furzy)
Comedian Sandy Honig Decided to Barf Outside Of Insurance Company After Treatment Was Denied Vice (resilc)
El Salvador Had a Bitcoin Revolution. Hardly Anybody Showed Up Bloomberg
Class Warfare
Labor Day Was Established After a Deadly Railroad Strike Jalopnik (resilc)
One of the biggest strikes in US history is brewing at UPS CNN (Kevin W)
We’re ready to strike’: UPS workers and Teamsters prepare for contract fight Guardian (resilc)
Mississippi’s Dry Run for Eco-Apartheid New Republic (resilc). Longstanding issue and conveniently not noticed. See this Sanders campaign video from Lowndes County, Alabama of a woman living next to a septic field. She has since died of Covid. BTW Lowndes County also has had the highest Covid case and death rate in Alabama.
Antidote du jour (Tracie H):
And a bonus (guurst):
الفهود عندها قدرة رائعة و مبهرة على التسلق، و غالبا بيستخدموه علشان يعرفوا محيطهم بشكل أحسن و يصنعوا خطط للقبض على فريستهم.
الصورة بقى تم التقاطها في تانزانيا لفهدة بتتسلق شجرة ضخمة pic.twitter.com/JZtTCYnEw1
— The Supreme Frank (@FrankGamal) September 1, 2022
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
