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.
Kitten Survives 60 Miles Under the Hood of a Car Animal Rescue
Olive trees were first domesticated 7,000 years ago, study finds ScienceDaily (Kevin W)
Galactic Belly Flop: Mysterious “Blue Blobs” Reveal a New Kind of Star System SciTech Daily (Chuck L)
Physicists Say They’ve Built an Atom Laser That Can Run ‘Forever’ ScienceAlert
What are PFAS, and why is the EPA warning about them in drinking water? An environmental health scientist explains The Conversation
#COVID-19
Science/Medicine
Proving GM’s longstanding position, that each Covid infection has a health cost and they accumulate:
Outcomes of SARS-CoV-2 Reinfection Research Square. The underlying paper, courtesy Tom H. Important. Key section:
Compared to non-infected controls, assessment of the cumulative risks of repeated infection showed that the risk and burden increased in a graded fashion according to the number of infections. The constellation of findings show that reinfection adds non-trivial risks of all-cause mortality, hospitalization, and adverse health outcomes in the acute and post-acute phase of the reinfection.
A reinfection red flag: Why a new report is so troubling Eric Topol (Dr. Kevin). On the study above.
The very idea that there is some benefit from getting infected, i.e. gaining immunity from future infections, has now been shown to be incorrect.
The opposite: an infection makes the next infection worse, not better.
15/
— Yaneer Bar-Yam (@yaneerbaryam) June 21, 2022
🔴 The world is entering a new wave.#COVID19
– The number of Covid cases is increasing in many countries such as Israel, Germany, France, India and Italy.
– Cases and hospital admissions began to increase rapidly in the UK. pic.twitter.com/PeVbfF3hQC
— Abdulkadir YILMAZ ☣🦠 (@a__virologist) June 21, 2022
I don’t think so & neither should we with SARS-CoV-2. The more we learn about long COVID, the more it seems that SARS-CoV-2 isn’t just an acute infection, but a persisting virus in a significant proportion of people. And not one that one should take lightly. It’s not the flu.
— Dr. Deepti Gurdasani (@dgurdasani1) June 21, 2022
Covid is misandrist lol https://t.co/3BLW80zbON
— Anthony J Leonardi, PhD, MS (@fitterhappierAJ) June 22, 2022
Despite Another Covid Surge, Deaths Stay Near Lows New York Times. Resilc: “Nooooooooooooooooooo problem, we have full confidence in the cee/deecee and byedone based on past performance.”
Asia
The End of Pragmatic China Atlantic (resilc). Yet more proof that the US is determined to drag everyone down to our level of horrid performance on Covid. The (predictable, as shown by GM predicting it from the get go) health care cost of repeated Covid infection, plus long Covid, shows that China has the better idea. It wouldn’t matter except we made China our manufacturing base. And whose fault is that? Not China’s.
US
Broadway Will Drop Mask Mandate Beginning July 1 New York Times Resilc: “Covid righhhhhhhhhhht here in River City……..”
Climate/Environment
Ben & Jerry’s Is Putting Their Cows on a Low Methane Emissions Diet EcoWatch (furzy). Lead cow in the picture looks sorta skinny! Making milk is apparently hard work.
‘We worry about it disappearing’: alarm grows over Italy’s drought-hit Po River Guardian. From last week, still germane.
Gather them now: the documents you’d need to file a FEMA claim Yale Climate Connection
Forest Service Details Errors That Led to New Mexico’s Largest Wildfire Wall Street Journal (David L)
China?
US-China détente on the horizon Indian Punchline (Kevin W)
29 Chinese military aircraft enter Taiwan’s ADIZ Focus Taiwan
US ‘forced labour’ law bans goods from China’s Xinjiang region AlJazeera
Old Blighty
Labour Front Benchers Banned From Joining Picket Lines Amid Rail Strikes Politics Home
No 10 to set out sweeping plans to override power of Europe’s human rights court Guardian (Kevin W)
From Politico’s morning European newsletter:
THE WESTERN BALKANS ARE BALKING at the idea of attending tomorrow’s EU-Western Balkans summit, with the leaders of Serbia, Albania and North Macedonia threatening not to come to Brussels, four officials told Playbook. With Bulgaria vetoing the next step in North Macedonia’s accession path to the EU, Serbia and Albania are considering expressing solidarity by boycotting the meeting.
Confirmation at noon: Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vučić appeared to confirm the threat on Tuesday, tweeting that he had consulted with Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama and the Prime Minister of North Macedonia Dimitar Kovačevski about whether to attend the summit. “We have decided to announce our decision tomorrow at noon on whether or not we will attend this meeting,” Vučić said Tuesday.
“Latin America’s turning tide.” Patrick Lawrence
New Not-So-Cold War
Ukraine Russia War Update – Col Douglas Macgregor YouTube (guurst)
Western Military Analysts, Including the CIA, Dazed and Confused Larry Johnson
* * * IEA chief warns Europe to prepare for total shutdown of Russian gas exports Financial Times
Explainer: Why Germany is reviving dirty coal to counter Russian gas cut DW. Resilc: “Because the wind blows toward Russia?”
Germany may call next stage in gas emergency plan in next 5-10 days – Die Welt Reuters
Poland tells citizens to gather firewood as energy prices increase Anadolu Agency
* * * Lithuania limits truck transit between Kaliningrad region, rest of Russia – regional authorities Interfax
* * * London sent note to Moscow over captured mercenaries in DPR, Russian envoy says: “They sent a note, which was written in an arrogant and lecturing manner,” Andrey Kelin noted TASS. Aside from the point that this is a DPR matter, not a Russian Federation matter (and no one wants to talk to the DPR because not recognized), I’m surprised that if these mercenaries actually were part of Ukrainian armed forces (as in legitimate POWs and therefore entitled to proper care and feeding), why has Ukraine been silent?
Attorney General Merrick B. Garland Visits Ukraine, Reaffirms U.S. Commitment to Help Identify, Apprehend, and Prosecute Individuals Involved in War Crimes and Atrocities Department of Justice
Networks covered the war in Ukraine more than the US invasion of Iraq Responsible Statecraft (alex f). From April, still germane. Because blond Europeans?
Putin: S-500 already sent, Sarmat to be delivered soon Sputnik
Big Brother Is Watching You Watch
Smart jacuzzis hacked Boing Boing (resilc)
Hidden Anti-Cryptography Provisions in Internet Anti-Trust Bills Bruce Schneier (David L)
The Open Secret of Google Search Atlantic (David L)
1/6
‘What the F-ck Is This?’: Team Trump Blindsided by Jan. 6 Committee Getting Doc Footage Rolling Stone (David L)
EXCLUSIVE: Police Report Proves Plainclothes Electronic Surveillance Unit Members Were Embedded Among Jan. 6 Protesters Epoch Times (resilc). Just because it’s Epoch Times does not mean it can’t read a police report and summarize it.
Biden
Current state of affairs … in a single word.
Sound ON pic.twitter.com/OTH2RjdNGP
— Wall Street Silver (@WallStreetSilv) June 21, 2022
GOP Clown Car
FOX News host reminds Dr. Oz that he is losing to a candidate who isn’t campaigning Boing Boing
Challengers against pro-impeachment Republicans smell blood in the water The Hill
FDA Targets Removal of Most Nicotine From Cigarettes
Wall Street Journal
Connecticut Put A Probably Innocent Guy Behind Bars For 70 Years Cracked (Bill F). 🙁
Gunz
Senators reach final bipartisan agreement on a gun safety bill NPR
Our No Longer Free Press
The Local News Hung Up On Me For Asking If They Asked a Doctor Whether You Can Die From Touching Fentanyl Alex Pareene (Randy K)
Thread🧵
Twitter is hiring a TON of FBI agents. Searching employment websites, it is clear Twitter has been extensively recruiting from the FBI, employing a dozen former feds.
My new @mintpressnews investigation explores why and what this means for us.https://t.co/15hZwFz8X8
— Alan MacLeod (@AlanRMacLeod) June 21, 2022
WAPO DEMOTES Taylor Lorenz After Lies Breaking Points with Krystal and Saagar, YouTube. I don’t understand why she has a job, although I assume the Post is trying to get her quit. Why is it so unacceptable to fire lousy white collar employees?
Supply Chain/Inflation
“Timber prices going up daily” in Europe due to Ukraine war Dezeen (resilc)
UK inflation hits 9.1% as food prices jump Financial Times
German producer prices rise at record speed in May Politico. From start of the week, still germane.
Old Is Gold: Sky-High Cost of Ageing Ships Sounds Inflation SOS qCaptain (guurst)
Bayer: US Supreme Court rejects chemical maker’s weedkiller appeal BBC
Blockchains Vulnerable to Centralized Control, DARPA Report Finds Gizmodo (dk)
The World’s Bubbliest Housing Markets Are Flashing Warning Signs Bloomberg
Class Warfare
Airbnb Rentals Turn Into Real Estate Goldmines With Easy-Money Mortgages Bloomberg (resilc)
Tesla broke US law by not providing 60-day notice before mass layoff ars technica (Kevin W)
Antidote du jour. Timotheus send a pride kitty:
And a bonus (Chuck L):
This husky is a comfort-dog assistant who makes other dogs feel comfortable when they are undergoing treatment 😭 … pic.twitter.com/kVcdAoDIgi
— Puppies 🐶 (@PuppiesIover) June 21, 2022
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
