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.
His job is to actually really stare at octopus, seahorse, jellyfish NPR
Modern phoenix: The bird brought back from extinction in Japan France24 (HK).
Wild solar weather is causing satellites to plummet from orbit. It’s only going to get worse. Space
Will the bullwhip do the Fed’s job on inflation? Freight Waves. Important.
The Fed’s fav inflation gauge: The good, the bad and the cloudy Politico
Climate
Climate change targets achievable by keeping global emissions to COVID levels, scientists say ABC Australia
Greenhouse Emissions Rise to Record, Erasing Drop During Pandemic International Monetary Fund
Newsom signs nation’s most sweeping law to phase out single-use plastics and packaging waste Los Angeles Times
#COVID19
FDA says COVID boosters for the fall must target newer omicron types NPR. BA.4/BA.5. Seems a little late.
US places $3.2 billion order for updated COVID-19 vaccines for fall The Hill
* * * How the Public’s Views on the Coronavirus Have Shifted Since the Pandemic Began Morning Consult. Many charts, including this one:
* * * High neutralizing antibody levels against SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.1 and BA.2 after UB-612 vaccine booster (accepted manuscript) The Journal of Infectious Diseases. From the Abstract: “Here, we demonstrate that a booster dose of UB-612 vaccine candidate delivered 7-9 months after primary vaccination increased neutralizing antibody levels by 131-, 61- and 49-fold against ancestral SARS-CoV-2, Omicron BA.1, and BA.2 variants, respectively. Based on the RBD protein-binding antibody responses, the UB-612 third dose booster may lead to an estimated ∼95% efficacy against symptomatic COVID-19 caused by the ancestral strain. Our results support UB-612 as a potential potent booster against current and emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants.” UB-612 is peptide-based.
The disease after tomorrow Grist
Different virus, same mistakes: Why (re-) emerging viruses are one step ahead of us Cell
Monkeypox
Monkeypox soars in Europe, with more than 4,000 cases Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy
China?
China’s seaborne import of Russian crude jumps 51.4% in May Hellenic Shipping News
China’s Marxism majors prosper amid labour market woes FT
Thread on third-tier Chinese cities:
Subtracting the population of the 1st & 2nd tiers, that’s ~600M people living in these 3rd-6th tier cities, (plus about 500M more in the REAL countryside).
So the “median Chinese citizen” across 1.4 billion people should actually be a resident of a small, mostly-unknown city.
— David Fishman (@pretentiouswhat) June 28, 2022
Mrs. Xu is from a small city:
She answers with a big smile “That’s because children eat well now!”
Continuing with the same smile, oblivious to its unsettling contrast with the words she’s speaking:
“When I was young, it wasn’t that we ate poorly…it was that there was nothing to eat at all”
— David Fishman (@pretentiouswhat) June 30, 2022
The whole thread is rich in detail, and well worth a read (even if it doesn’t discuss Covid or politics. No masking in the photo at the mall, though).
China says it has photographed all of Mars from orbit The Register
Myanmar
A More United, Better-Armed Opposition Can Bring Democracy to Myanmar War on the Rocks
Bankrupt Sri Lanka’s inflation jumps beyond 50% Channel News Asia
India
Plunging Rupee Pushes India to Raise Taxes on Gold, Oil Bloomberg
Jokowi Says Russia Agrees to Permit Vital Exports From Ukraine The Diplomat
Syraqistan
EU says it may not be possible to cross finish line on Iran nuclear deal Reuters
Houthi delegation in Jordan to resume UN-sponsored Yemeni truce talks: report Xinihua
UK/EU
Boris Johnson having sex in the office: a case of misconduct in public office? Yorkshire Bylines. With Private Eye extract that ignited what has turned out not to be a controversy. True, the incident took place in 2018, which I assume means everybody knew about it, but nobody talked about it. And meanwhile–
“If Putin was a woman he would not have invaded Ukraine”: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called the Russian invasion of Ukraine “a perfect example of toxic masculinity.” pic.twitter.com/x8z858FL1n
— CBS News (@CBSNews) June 29, 2022
I suppose the Bullingdon Club, of which BoJo was a member, instills a complete inability to self-reflect; there are many such elite clubs.
New Not-So-Cold War
What did the G7 and Nato summits really mean for Ukraine? Guardian. Putin: “Everything is going according to plan.”
GT Voice: G7 is in no position to dictate nations’ oil trade with Russia Global Times
Russia hauls in ambassador over ‘offensive’ UK comments on nuclear weapons International Business Times (Furzy Mouse).
Erdogan warns Turkey may still block Nordic NATO drive Agence France Presse
* * * A New Ambition for the European Union: ‘Power’ NYT vs. ‘Roman empire’ alliance would strengthen European unity, says Boris Johnson FT
Putin: Not worried about Sweden and Finland joining NATO, the goal of Russia’s special military operation has not changed What China Reads
Germany commits tens of thousands of soldiers, combat aircraft and ships in the deployment against Russia WSWS. And China. The brain geniuses in The Blob have somehow managed to commit us to a two-front war.
Biden Administration
Biden Warns Americans Gas Prices Will Remain High ‘As Long as it Takes’ Jalopnik. Gasoline is for closers only.
Biden intends to nominate a conservative, anti-abortion lawyer to federal judgeship, Kentucky Democrats say CNN. “There are 118 current or expected lower court vacancies. The Biden administration has named a nominee for 34 of those vacancies so far.” Molasses for brains.
What FDR and Two Former Fed Chairs Understood About Social Security Stephanie Kelton, The Lens
The Supremes
Roberts Started A Revolution, Dems Enabled It David Sirota, Lever News
It’s Hard to Overstate the Danger of the Voting Case the Supreme Court Just Agreed to Hear Slate. “Moore v. Harper, an ‘independent state legislature’ theory case from North Carolina.”
The ‘Independent State Legislature Theory,’ Explained Brennan Center
Supply Chain
US baby formula crisis spurs debate over lack of competition FT
Our Famously Free Press
The left should lead the case for higher defence spending Paul Mason, The New Statesman. Ka-ching.
How Spooks and Establishment Journalists Are Circling The Wagons Mint Press News
The Bezzle
Can crypto contagion infect mainstream finance? FT
Crypto Crash Widens a Divide: ‘Those With Money Will End Up Being Fine’ NYT. Thoughts and prayers. I just hope the insiders got out in time.
Cryptocurrency Titan Coinbase Providing “Geo Tracking Data” to ICE The Intercept. Oh.
Class Warfare
Sonny Barger, famous Hells Angel and bestselling author, dead at 83 of cancer Oakland Daily Democrat
The Animal Crisis Is a Human Crisis Boston Review
Antidote du jour (via):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
