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.
A Prole’s Guide to Drinking: What Beer to Quaff on Labor Day Slate
Telescope searching for space treasure unearths giant planet The Times
A New Study Confirms That Gravity has Remained Constant for the Entire age of the Universe Universe Today Universe Today (Furzy)
Leak ruins NASA moon rocket launch bid; next try weeks away AP. Resilc: “F-35 quality control comes to NASA”
The Epidemic Facing Ash Trees McGill (Resilc)
Climate/Environment
Help from kelp: how Maine lobstermen are holding back the tide of warming oceans The National
Zimbabwe moves 2,500 wild animals because of climate change NBC News
Radioactive Waste ‘Everywhere’ at Ohio Oilfield Facility, Says Former Worker DeSmog (Furzy)
Water
Urgent aid appeal launched as satellite images show a third of Pakistan underwater The Guardian
Rising heat and drought fuel unequal access to safe drinking water LA Times
#COVID-19
The benefits of an Omicron specific COVID-19 booster, explained by an epidemiologist CBC
Cutting COVID isolation and mask mandates will mean more damage to business and health in the long run The Conversation
The growing evidence that Covid-19 is leaving people sicker FT (Anthony L)
Information Note – Cases of pneumonia due to unknown cause under investigation in Tucuman, Argentina Pan American Health Organization
⚠️UNKNOWN PNEUMONIA—Very worrisome—3 people have died, 9 people infected, of which 8 medical workers, are in hospital after developing a “pneumonia of unknown origin”—Argentinian authorities announced. Not COVID or flu. #ArgentinaPneumonia
By @sneweyy https://t.co/UVBnbrbOZA pic.twitter.com/tYH10wTcs0
— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) September 1, 2022
Monkeypox
WHO: Declining monkeypox cases prove outbreak can be stopped or even eliminated The Hill
As of August 16, 2022 the monkeypox outbreak doubling time is approximately 25 days up from 8 days in July. The black line in this log scale graph shows an exponential growth model fit to the adjusted case data, with a single rate changepoint and weekend effect adjustment. pic.twitter.com/GZN9aUMQJ8
— Roland Baker 2.0 (@RolandBakerIII) September 2, 2022
Peru identified the first South American lineage of Monkeypox called B.1.6.
The impact of the new mutation is still under study. https://t.co/ecD5AzBfZ4
— Monkeypoxtally (@Monkeypoxtally) September 1, 2022
Map of Monkeypox Cases by US State Data Herald. Based on CDC data.
China?
Myanmar
‘Friendly ties’: Myanmar’s top general to visit Russia Al Jazeera
Blinken Denounces New 3-Year Prison Term for Myanmar’s Suu Kyi VOA
India
To Be a Vulture in India Is Still To Be Constantly Threatened The Wire Science (Jerri-Lynn)
Syraqistan
Karish gas field: Are Lebanon and Israel preparing for war? Middle East Eye
To Renew or Not to Renew the 2015 Iran Nuclear Agreement, That is the Question Counterpunch
Iran equips its cities with civil defense systems amid Israel, US tensions Jerusalem Post
Cost-of-living crisis in Middle East likely to mean further ‘repression’ Middle East Eye
Old Blighty
#BREAKING Ethnic tensions rise in reclusive, oil-rich, tribally-divided, flavour-starved island kingdom of Britain as whitewing ruling party members elect country’s next authoritarian ruler, with nearly 200,000 voting since August to defenestrate current strongman Boris Johnson.
— gathara (@gathara) September 3, 2022
Fresh round of strikes in the UK affects freight RailFreight
New Not-So-Cold War
Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant loses main powerline again, UN nuclear watchdog says ABC Australia
Proxy war: “This partisan campaign… is a product of U.S. planning and training of Ukrainian forces. Since 2014, U.S. Special Operations forces have been teaching the Ukrainians how to fight an occupying army — using special units…” #Ukraine 1/ https://t.co/uLW4AGe0tz
— Ivan Katchanovski (@I_Katchanovski) September 2, 2022
ACURA Viewpoint: David C. Speedie: Book Review: ‘How the West Brought War to Ukraine’ American Committee for US-Russia Accord (Resilc)
Death of Russian oil exec highlights suspicious ends met by those who crossed the Kremlin NBC News (Furzy)
* * * Dead of Winter Doomberg
European Commission Calls For Price Cap On Russian Natural Gas OilPrice.com
Russia says it will stop selling oil to countries that set price caps Reuters
Europe’s Energy Crisis Deepens After Russia Keeps Pipeline Shut Bloomberg
New Fertilizer Production Cuts Heighten Concerns for Global Food Supplies GRO Intelligence
United States and Europe Shoot Themselves In the Head and Blame Russia Larry Johnson
* * * BREAKING: President Biden is asking Congress for $13.7 billion for Ukraine as U.S. aid to the war-torn country is running out. It’s part of a $47.1 billion emergency spending request that includes money for the COVID-19 response and the monkeypox outbreak. https://t.co/1lSyQkFx2K
— The Associated Press (@AP) September 2, 2022
On top of the $44.5 billion already sent this year and billions more since the 2014 US-backed coup
Biden Administration
Biden’s goal to end hunger by 2030 and his new food conference, explained NPR. $2.5 million. To host a conference.
Biden speech denouncing Trump, ‘MAGA ideology’ sparks threats, calls for violence Yahoo News
GOP Clown Car
Republicans Have Only Themselves to Blame for Their Alaskan Defeat Atlantic (Furzy)
Democrats en déshabillé
John Podesta to Oversee $370 Billion in U.S. Climate Spending New York Times.
Obama Legacy
Why Obama-Era Economists Are So Mad About Student Debt Relief The American Prospect
Groves of Academe
I feel like the bio of almost every university founder in the early 1800s reads like:
Pastor. Philanthropist. Patent medicine salesman. Publisher of influential pamphlets advocating for throwing Irish children into factory furnaces as fuel. State Representative.
— Matt Brown (@MattBrownEP) September 3, 2022
Guillotine Watch
Class Warfare
Labor Day is May 1 Jacobin
The US has a ruling class – and Americans must stand up to it Bernie Sanders. The Guardian (Furzy)
Why do we have so many homeless people? Why is there a housing crisis?
🤔🤔🤔 pic.twitter.com/VdxjPXFRgc— Gwen Calavera🏴 (@GwenCalavera) August 31, 2022
Zeitgeist Watch
Hun Sen challenged by ‘doomsday cult’ Bangkok Post. Furzy: “Too weird!”
‘Honor Her Memory… by Fighting Like Hell’: Barbara Ehrenreich Dies at 81 Common Dreams
Antidote du jour (via):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
