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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.
Watch a husky react to smelling durian BoingBoing (resilc). Huskies are such drama queens 🙂
Chimps show off their ‘signature’ drum beats BBC
It Was War. Then, a Rancher’s Truce With Some Pesky Beavers Paid Off. New York Times (furzy)
Discovery suggests red supergiant Betelgeuse was actually yellow 2,000 years ago Space (Kevin W)
Pioneering mathematical formula paves way for exciting advances in health, energy, and food industry PhysOrg (David L)
A deeper dive into World Wide Wind’s colossal, contra-rotating turbines New Atlas (furzy)
The Fall of ‘Nature’ Quilette (Dr. Kevin). While KLG says Quilette could be on to something, the reliance on David Geary and Charles Murray to make the case is a big red flag.
Our brains exist in a state of “controlled hallucination” MIT Technology Review (David L). So is reality real?
#COVID-19
Science/Medicine
How nasal-spray vaccines could change the pandemic Nature (Dr. Kevin)
Asia
Coronavirus: Hong Kong leader John Lee says no decision made on any further easing of hotel quarantine rules South China Morning Post (resilc)
Climate/Environment
As Colorado River Dries Up, the U.S. Teeters on the Brink of Larger Water Crisis Juan Cole (resilc)
Track Wildfires in the West New York Times (David L) 🙁
Historic heat dome sets yet another climate record in Western US Popular Science (David L)
Tomorrow will feature just about every fire weather threat the atmosphere can offer: dry thunderstorms with strong outflows, hot/dry/windy, hot/dry/unstable, wind shifts, and pyroCb potential in the northwestern US #wildfires (thread) pic.twitter.com/d7dR3pWPlP
— Nick Nauslar (@NickyNaus) September 7, 2022
Mysterious mass fish kill in Oder River expands downstream DW (resilc)
The Oilfield That Made the Ocean Burn Last Year Is Now Spewing Methane Gizmodo (David L)
The Sonoran Desert Is Burning. Can the Saguaro Cactus Be Saved? Atlantic
China?
US chip-export ban throws wrench into China AI works Asia Times (Kevin W)
DMZ comedy ‘6/45’ a cause to cry for Korea Asia Times. Kevin W: “Trailer for this film – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0js4-6s0juM (1:42 mins)”
Old Blighty
Liz Truss’s first cabinet: Who’s in and who’s out BBC (Kevin W)
Boris Johnson’s Terrible Parting Gift Atlantic
New British PM Truss brings tougher UK stance on China Reuters
It’s a paywall article but let me post it.
“..there have been about 22,500 more deaths between April and August than would normally be expected, but there is little agreement so far on the cause..”https://t.co/lxx0pH4pMx
— Hiroshi Yasuda (保田浩志) (@Yash25571056) September 7, 2022
Police fear hard winter of surging crime and civil unrest The Times (Li)
New Not-So-Cold War
Russia: Vladimir Putin slams sanctions in pitch for new global order DW. Text embedded at the end of this post. Note this section:
Europe is about to throw its achievements in building up its manufacturing capability, the quality of life of its people and socioeconomic stability into the sanctions furnace, depleting its potential, as directed by Washington for the sake of the infamous Euro-Atlantic unity. In fact, this amounts to sacrifices in the name of preserving the dominance of the United States in global affairs.
Thailand hopes Putin will attend 2022 APEC summit in November TASS
* * * UN calls for demilitarised zone around Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant Guardian (Kevin W). Note your humble blogger has not looked at the IAEA report. However, as recounted here, the IAEA seems to treat the shelling as a risk but presents the state of the staff as primary. Keep in mind that implementing a DMZ would be a very favorable outcome for Ukraine (it would significantly freeze the conflict; it would be hard for Russia to campaign around it). The beef per the Guardian that the Ukrainian staff are basically being held hostage by Russian soldiers to keep the plant running. However, as MoA reads the report, it effectively says the plant staff is working normal shifts…so are the political officials making that up, or is the Guardian still parroting Ukraine propaganda? Regardless, if this were a major issue, a solution would seem to be to replace the Ukraine staff with Russians. However…who wants to move to Ukraine and work in a war zone? How much combat pay or other goodies would it take? Are there idiosyncrasies with this plant that would make it hard to transition staff?
Oh, and separately there is the wee problem of needing to stop the shelling. How long before Russia can get around to clearing an area of say 300 km around the plant? And are those areas ones Russia would have eventually wanted to “liberate” or not?
Ukraine – A Second ‘Counteroffensive’ Contrary To U.S. Advice – IAEA Report Moon of Alabama
* * * EU plans windfall taxes to counter ‘astronomic’ energy bills Financial Times
Is Russia′s economy really hurting? DW (resilc)
* * * Russia makes a U-turn on reciprocity policies Gilbert Doctorow
🇪🇺🇷🇺Lavrov – about Josep Borrel, who called Russia a “fascist country”: If what has been reported in all the world’s media is confirmed, then, of course, we will have very big questions about how to continue doing business with these people. pic.twitter.com/NuzEcKaxeJ
— AZ 🛰🌏🌍🌎 (@AZmilitary1) September 6, 2022
Lance Gooden wants to make privateering great again Texas Signal (resilc)
US: Russia to buy rockets, artillery shells from North Korea Associated Press (resilc)
Somalia is on the verge of famine while the world looks away Washington Post (furzy)
Big Brother is Watching You Watch
Social media is a privacy risk even if you’re not signed up ZMEScience (Dr. Kevin)
Imperial Collapse Watch
California Blackouts Possible as It Raises Grid Emergency to Highest Level Bloomberg
FERC Gaslights America American Conservative (Li)
Pentagon Africa Research Contradicts Optimism of Austin Intercept. Resilc: “No terrorism=no budget= so lotzzzzzzzz of terror ahead”
Mastermind of Navy bribery scheme escapes house arrest just weeks ahead of sentencing CNN (Kevin W)
Roundtable #19: Pepe Escobar, Andrei Martyanov YouTube. Chuck L: “Good discussion but over 2 hours.”/blockquote>Trump Raid
Five things to watch as a special master looks at FBI’s seized Trump documents The Hill
Other Trump
Donald Trump May Destroy the GOP Before He Can Wreck Democracy New Republic (resilc)
Politico’s New Owner Asked His Top Executives to ‘Pray’ For Trump to Be Re-Elected: Report NCRM (furzy)
Politico Owner Asked Execs to Pray for Trump’s Reelection: Report Rolling Stone (Paul R)
EXCLUSIVE Deal partner for Trump’s Truth Social fails to get backing for SPAC extension -sources Reuters (furzy)
Biden
What Was the Point of Joe Biden’s MAGA Speech? Jacobin (resilc)
This is why I regard the Hunter Biden scandal as uniquely alarming. The media didn’t just “bury” the archive.
CIA concocted a lie about it (it’s “Russian disinformation”); media outlets spread that lie; Big Tech censured it — because lying and repression to them is justified! pic.twitter.com/2ywVxAj7rR
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) September 6, 2022
GOP Clown Car
Deja vu: Republicans fracturing over Ukraine, just like Korea Responsible Statecraft (resilc)
More Than 1 In 2 Americans Will Have An Election Denier On The Ballot This Fall FiveThirtyEight (resilc)
Steve Bannon faces state indictment in N.Y., will surrender Thursday Star Tribune (furzy)
How a Billionaire’s “Attack Philanthropy” Secretly Funded Climate Denialism and Right-Wing Causes ProPublica
Why Are Conservatives Happier Than Liberals? RealClearScience (Dr. Kevin)
Woke Watch
Teacher who refused to use student’s gender-neutral pronouns is JAILED in Ireland Daily Mail. Resilc: “Always go with ‘ya’ll’.”
Cannabis legalization in US projected to cost big pharma billions New Atlas
The US Dollar’s Strength Is Rippling Across the World Bloomberg
Volkswagen triggers landmark Porsche IPO plan, defying market doubts CNBC
Plug-in hybrids can drive us to our fully electric future Axios. Resilc: “We had a Prius for 8 years. Nice car, but too complex to fix unless you go to a ripoff dealer.”
Class Warfare
NLRB Demands Starbucks’ Anti-Union CEO Record Video, Send Apologies to Workers Vice (resilc)
With Housing Tight, New Vermont Teachers Crash at an Inn Seven Days (resilc)
American workers need lots and lots of robots Noah Smith (resilc)
Antidote du jour (Tracie H):
And a bonus (dk). This dog is a genius:
Solving a traffic jam pic.twitter.com/qYRrwm89St
— Heckin Good Dogs (@HeckinGoodDogs) September 5, 2022
So as not to create a separate post, putting the embed here:
00 Putin Eastern Economic Forum plenary session • President of Russia
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
