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 Contentious History of Official State Foods Smithsonian Magazine
Super Long-Distance NASA Fix Restores Voyager 1, Roughly 15 Billion Miles Away Science Alert (Furzy)
Researchers help reveal a ‘blueprint’ for photosynthesis Phys.org
Floating Artificial Leaf Turns CO2 Into Fuel IEEE (ctlee)
This Homebuilt Wood-Powered Turbojet is Real and Incredibly Dangerous The Drive
#COVID-19
Anthony Fauci Should Have Resigned a Long Time Ago Jacobin
No need to isolate for 5 days if COVID-positive as long as symptoms improve: Ontario top doc Global News. Lambert will claw his eyeballs out if he sees this.
Chengdu locks down 21.2 million people as Chinese cities battle Covid-19 CNBC
Monkeypox
The CDC added 476 new confirmed monkeypox cases in the USA 🇺🇸 in the last 24 hours increasing its total case count to 19,465.
— Monkeypoxtally (@Monkeypoxtally) September 1, 2022
Climate/Environment
First came the heatwaves, then the floods: Why Pakistan is on the frontline of the climate crisis France24
Oil industry condemns first US fee on greenhouse gases FT
Wildfires erupt across California as sweltering heatwave engulfs state Guardian
Mississippi Crisis Highlights Climate Threat to Drinking Water Nationwide The New York Times. Resilc: “More troops in Syria and Somalia can help, along with another war with Iran and China…”
America’s Water Supply: The Corrosion of a Proud Tradition Scientific American
California to fight drought with canal-top solar panels The Register (Chuck L)
Texas’ cotton industry is facing its worst harvest in years — costing the state more than $2 billion Texas Tribune
China?
China’s life expectancy is now higher than that of the US Quartz
Nvidia and AMD Stock Tumble as U.S. Limits Exports to China Barron’s
The China-ASEAN rail map takes shape Asia Media Centre. In contrast: After a decade of hype, Dallas-Houston bullet train developer faces a leadership exodus as land acquisition slows. Texas Tribune
India
100 years of Russian gas for India Indian Punchline (Jerri-Lynn)
Syraqistan
UN raises alarm on Red Sea oil tanker ‘time-bomb’ Al Arabiya
Coast Guard cutter seizes $20 million in illicit drugs in Gulf of Oman Military Times
Half of Americans Say Sending Troops to Afghanistan Was ‘A Mistake’ Defense One
What do US forces want to achieve in Syria? Deutsch Welle
Iraqi Kurdistan says economy at risk of collapse, asks for US help The Cradle
Libyans have lost faith in political class, US diplomat says after Tripoli clashes. Guardian (Resilc)
Old Blighty
Liz Truss may trigger article 16 days after becoming PM, amid Brexit row The Guardian
Liz Truss planning ‘charm offensive’ with US administration to ease concerns over Northern Ireland Protocol Belfast Telegraph
NHS vacancies in England at ‘staggering’ new high as almost 10% of posts empty Guardian
Croydon cemetery: People seen taking water meant for graveside flowers BBC
New Not-So-Cold Cold War
Head of UN mission to #Zaporozhye thanks the Russian Federation for keeping his team safe from attacks from Zelensky regime forces, who tried to stop the inspection team from reaching the plant.
“I’m glad the Russian military did what they had to do to keep our inspectors safe,” pic.twitter.com/TUtsbupSAg
— Citizen Journalists (@citizenjournos_) September 1, 2022
UKRAINE’S WESTERN BACKED GAMBLE TO CAPTURE ZAPORIZHZHIA NUCLEAR POWER PLANT BACKFIRES Larry Johnson. Lambert adds:
No tweets on the commando raid in English that I saw. So I include (a) that it did in fact happen and (b) it was a debacle. a debacle so bad that spin has yet to emerge. (See Johnson on the setup frpm Ignatius.)
If True… Andrei Martyanov
Putin has pulled off a shock win that could destroy the free world Telegraph
Putin Brings China and India to Russia for War Games Defying US Bloomberg
Head of Russian oil giant that criticized Ukraine war dies after reportedly falling from hospital window NBC News. (Furzy) With a list of oil execs who met the same fate.
Zelensky Lets Out His Italian Luxury Villa to Russians For 50,000 Euros While Urging EU to Curb Visas for Russians IBT. Not confirmed but Captain Renault would be shocked
***
Some 120,000 service enterprises, 370,000 jobs in peril. ANSA. Italy because of soaring energy prices.
German FM: I will put Ukraine first “no matter what my German voters think” or how hard their life gets. pic.twitter.com/GwAqIZ2jL7
— Ignorance, the root and stem of all evil (@ivan_8848) August 31, 2022
Poland puts its World War II losses at $1.3 trillion, demands German reparations CNN. Yves: “After everyone wrote off Germany’s WWII debt, this is pretty cheeky. And how about Polish reparations to all the Jews they killed?”
Brussels prepares diplomatic offensive to stop the advance of China and Russia in Latin America El Pais
* * * U.S. gets warrant to seize $45 mln airplane owned by Russian energy firm Lukoil Reuters
>Can the Quincy Institute Survive Putin’s War? New Republic. (Rewilc)
* * * MIKHAIL GORBACHEV Patrick Armstrong (guurst)
Imperial Collapse Watch
Reported sexual assaults across US military increase by 13% Military Times
Restored Venezuela-Colombia Ties a Blow to US TeleSur
Video Of Mysterious Drone Swarm Over Navy’s Most Advanced Destroyer Released The Drive
Biden Administration
“It is a lunatic conspiracy theory to believe we are controlled by a secret cabal of child snuffing globalist snake human hybrids bent on microchipping all of us into slavery and then liquifying us into a tasty stew”
Joe Biden: pic.twitter.com/O3jbE85pku
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) September 2, 2022
Abortion
New Mexico to build $10 mln clinic to meet expected abortion demand Reuters
Volunteer networks in Mexico aid at-home abortions without involving doctors or clinics. They’re coming to Texas. Texas Tribune
2024
Judge withholds ruling on special master in Trump, DOJ battle The Hill
Another sign Trump special master hearing didn’t go too well for DOJ: Bratt at one point argued that judge would have to impose an injunction on DOJ to keep it from reviewing further the docs https://t.co/rrxdmdsdBY
— Josh Gerstein (@joshgerstein) September 1, 2022
Jan. 6 panel alleges Gingrich involvement with Trump, seeks interview The Hill
Democrats en déshabillé
BREAKING
On July 27th, Nancy & Paul Pelosi sold all 25,000 of their shares of Nvidia, $NVDA.
Today $NVDA was told to restrict chip sales in China & Russia by the US Government on August 26. $NVDA is down 20% since their initial sale, -5% in after hours today.
Unusual.
— unusual_whales (@unusual_whales) August 31, 2022
Don’t Mention The Fiscal Stagflation Paper Heisenberg Report (Resilc)
Sports Desk
MLBPA: Minor league players returning union cards in volume Sports Business Journal
Guillotine Watch
Would love to see some polling on if Americans prefer living or GDP https://t.co/A5jipG83F4
— Prean Deston 📒🛠️🪙 (@SteierMisha) August 31, 2022
Class Warfare
Support for labor unions is the highest it’s been in over 50 years.
Unions are winning more than 75% of elections — they’ve won more elections this year than they have in nearly 20 years.
AND 3x as many workers went on strike this year as in 2021.
Worker power is on the rise. pic.twitter.com/81heWWySns
— More Perfect Union (@MorePerfectUS) August 31, 2022
Starbucks and Amazon accused of dragging their feet on union contracts Guardian
US labor dispute: Dock workers say ‘no’ to port automation Deutsch Welle
America’s Affordable Housing Problem: How America got to be so unaffordable, and what we can do to make it more affordable; an analysis of good-in-theory v. outcome based policies Our Built Environment
RECORD-BREAKING RENT GROWTH IN MARKETS IN THE SOUTH AND WEST Join Center for Housing Studies
LA plans to end COVID-19 protections against evictions, rent hikes LA Times
Gov. Newsom’s court-ordered treatment plan for homeless Californians passes final test Union-Bulletin
Excavator operators at their best🏗 pic.twitter.com/JR4rdbATH5
— Tansu YEĞEN (@TansuYegen) September 1, 2022
Join Us In Celebrating 25 Years Of Techdirt! Techdirt
An Anti-Aging Supplement Might Actually Work Buzz About Medicine
Twitter made an edit button, but you’ll have to pay to use it engadget
Antidote du jour. Tracie H:
I sent a photo of this rabbit that’s been frolicking around our neighborhood before. I had never been able to get this close to it. Hubby had tossed a carrot into the neighbor’s yard where it was munching weeds, and I decided the neighbors mightn’t like us encouraging it to stay in their yard.
I circumnavigated the rabbit to avoid frightening it, and as I bent down to retrieve the carrot, two things became apparent.
1st, judging by the many pellets, it was probably silly to worry about encouraging the rabbit to be in this yard. Clearly he’s spent a lot of time here.
2nd, the rabbit seemed to have followed me to the carrot, being just a couple of feet away as I picked it up.
I extended the carrot and was pleased that he took me up on the offer.
So, now, I MUST get a picture, thinks I.
My cellphone was in my left hand as I’d taken a couple from a distance, so the camera app was still active. I learned, then, that Apple IPhones don’t require a finger to touch the little white circle that activates the shutter. When desperate, a tongue will suffice.
And a bonus 🙁via):
Sometimes dreams come true, and it’s okay to cry! (I cried all the way while processing this bird)
🦚: Royal flycatcher
📍: Peruvian Amazon
📷: @ChrisKetola pic.twitter.com/bve2F02qDP— Aurora Gonzalo Tarodo #LicensedBirdRinger (@Au_Erithacus) August 31, 2022
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
