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 Dandelion and the Meaning of Life: G.K. Chesterton on How to Dig for the “Submerged Sunrise of Wonder” The Marginalian
Private equity chiefs fear waking up with ‘a terrible hangover’ FT
This European airline just ordered a fleet of airships CNN
Climate
La Niña heads for rare “triple dip,” dampening global temperatures Axios
Pollution from California’s 2020 wildfires likely offset decades of air quality gains Los Angeles Times
As Po dries up, Italy’s food and energy supplies are at risk Associated Press
Yellowstone flooding rebuild could take years, cost billions Associated Press. Let’s privatize it, starting with the naming rights!
#COVID19
Persistent circulating SARS-CoV-2 spike is associated with post-acute COVID-19 sequelae (preprint) medRxiv. n = 63. The Abstract: “The diagnosis and management of post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC) [“Long Covid”] poses an ongoing medical challenge. Identifying biomarkers associated with PASC would immensely improve the classification of PASC patients and provide the means to evaluate treatment strategies. We analyzed plasma samples collected from a cohort of PASC and COVID-19 patients (n = 63) to quantify circulating viral antigens and inflammatory markers. Strikingly, we detect SARS-CoV-2 spike antigen in a majority of PASC patients up to 12 months post-diagnosis, . Furthermore, temporal antigen profiles for many patients show the presence of spike at multiple time points over several months, highlighting the potential utility of the SARS-CoV-2 full spike protein as a biomarker for PASC.” Important; a “viral reservoir” is certainly a plausible mechanism for Long Covid. And it would sure be nice to have a biomarker instead of having to rely on symptom checklists. Covid mavens please weigh in.
* * * COVID-19: Bharat Biotech Completes Phase III Trials Of Nasal Vaccine; DCGI To Review Data Republic World. Finally!
US opens COVID vaccine to little kids, shots begin next week AP. Walensky signs off.
* * * “We Have to Get Out of This Phase”: Ashish Jha on the Future of the Pandemic (interview) The New Yorker. Only the most glancing mention of ventilation, nothing on masking, or indeed any non-pharmaceutical interventions. Making Jha’s role as America’s Chief Pharmaceutical Salesman™ pretty clear (in this case, Evusheld for the immuno-compromised).
Monkeypox Testing Shows the U.S. Learned Little from the COVID-19 Pandemic Time. That depends on who you talk to:
I just told my husband that Monkeypox is a dealbreaker. It kills people, it’s incredibly painful, fomite transmission, droplet and airborne transmission, sexual transmission. The powers that be are ignoring this disease, and I am getting OUT of the nursing profession.
— NurseShark (@NurseShark4) June 18, 2022
Monkeypox: Avoiding the Mistakes of Past Infectious Disease Epidemics Annals of Internal Medicine
China?
China’s property troubles have pushed one debt indicator above levels seen in the financial crisis CNBC
The Tiny Loophole That Understates the Trade Deficit With China WSJ
Myanmar
‘I had to cut off the head, bro’: Myanmar soldiers swap slaughter stories Radio Free Asia. Horrid source, plausible story,.
Fuel crisis: Sri Lankan government announces shut-down of offices and schools from next week The Tribune
The Koreas
I’m not surprised BTS split The Sunday Times
Picasso’s “Massacre in Korea” Visits Seoul The Blue Roof
UK/EU
Syraqistan
Biden says he is not meeting Saudi Arabia’s crown prince; they will just be at same event Middle East Eye (Furzy Mouse).
New Not-So-Cold War
With scant options in Ukraine, U.S. and allies prepare for long war WaPo. “[O]fficials have described the stakes of ensuring Russia cannot swallow up Ukraine — an outcome officials believe could embolden Putin to invade other neighbors or even strike out at NATO members — as so high that the administration is willing to countenance even a global recession and mounting hunger.” Madeleine Albright: “We think the price is worth it.” Meanwhile, a report from the front:
An incredibly sobering account of the battle of Severodonetsk from an American volunteer with the Ukrainian army. pic.twitter.com/usxUIYfQR6
— Seth Harp (@sethharpesq) June 18, 2022
Perhaps all Ukraine’s NATO-trained units are depleted by this point? In that case, the war might not be that long.
Kaliningrad sanctions to take effect, Lithuania says Reuters Reactions from Larry Johnson (ctlieee) and Gonzalo Lira. Read this piece inside out to see one path toward the escalation The Blob would like to engineer. However, as its governor points out, Kaliningrad can be supplied by sea.
* * * The causes and consequences of the Ukraine war (video) John Mearsheimer, The Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies. Long, but fast-moving.
There Is A Reason I Don’t Take Mearsheimer’s “Realism” Seriously. Andrei Martyanov, Reminiscence of the Future…
* * * Ukraine turns to EU as Russian invasion cuts off regular fuel supplies FT. Yves: “I found an English language UKRAINE business site over 6 weeks ago saying only one gas station in three open.”
Biden Administration
Washington Just Failed the Nation on Covid Funding Bloomberg. But we can shovel billions out the door for Ukraine in days, no problem.
Corporate Bribery Just Became Illegal Again Matt Stoller, BIG
Bipartisan ‘Fighting Foreign Influence Act’ targets think tank funding Responsible Statecraft
Gappy shelves:
Was inside HEB yesterday, & it’s weird to me how normal it is now to see gaps in the shelves everywhere. I think this has gotta be a thing that weighs on sentiment & keeps people feeling nervous.
— jonstokes.(eth|com) (@jonst0kes) June 18, 2022
(HEB is a supermarket chain with stores in Texas and Mexico.)
Republican Funhouse
Texas Republican Convention calls Biden win illegitimate and rebukes Cornyn over gun talks Texas Tribune
UPDATES: Dan Crenshaw & Staff Assaulted by Right Wingers Shouting ‘Eyepatch McCain’ and Saying He Should be ‘Hung for Treason’ Mediaite. Eating their own….
Gunz
So we’ll be seeing gun control pretty soon now?
BIG VIDEO THREAD: On Jan 24, FedEx driver D’Monterrio Gibson was shot at while working in Brookhaven, Mississippi.
On Saturday, he returned to the scene of the shooting to tell his story with the armed protection of Black Panther groups and the Elmer “Geronimo” Pratt Gun Club. pic.twitter.com/CD2qdnaFfk
— Ford Fischer (@FordFischer) June 18, 2022
Assange
Federal government lobbying behind the scenes for Assange’s freedom Sydney Morning Herald. Oh.
MTG and not AOC:
If we really care about the 1st Amendment then we should care about Julian Assange.
Freedom of Press is the protection of the ability to expose the truth and publish it.
This should always be protected and this freedom should always be handled with the most respect.
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) June 17, 2022
Police State Watch
Source: Police never tried to open door to classrooms where Uvalde gunman had kids trapped San Antonio Express-News. More:
When a custodian brought a large key ring, Arredondo said he tried dozens of the keys but none worked.
But Arredondo was not trying those keys in the door to classrooms 111 and 112, where Ramos was holed up, according to the law enforcement source. Rather, he was trying to locate a master key by using the various keys on doors to other classrooms nearby, the source and the Texas Tribune article said.
I’ve been a custodian, with a couple of dozen keys at least. First, the keys should be labeled. Second, the keys tend to be recognizable, from wear, replacement, etc.
Uvalde Hires Private Law Firm to Argue It Doesn’t Have to Release School Shooting Public Records Vice
Juneteenth
A Brief History: The Significance of Juneteenth Stanford Law School
The Problem with Juneteenth Black Agenda Report
What Are Other Names for Juneteenth? The U.S. Is Betraying the Spirit of ‘Jubilee Day’ Teen Vogue
Imperial Collapse Watch
The Navy has fired a dozen leaders but won’t explain why NBC
Guillotine Watch
From the Department of Schadenfreude:
Elon Musk’s net worth has dropped from $340B to $200B in the last six months, and most billionaires have had roughly similar declines. There is literally nothing that produces more equality than a stock market crash. https://t.co/TNdpG1HcWC
— Matt Stoller (@matthewstoller) June 18, 2022
Tax excess margins Interfluidity
Class Warfare
The Fed Can’t Fix What’s Driving Inflation. But It Can Start a Recession. J.W. Mason, Barron’s. “If wages aren’t what’s driving inflation, why are we addressing inflation with tools that act mainly on wages?”
This Is Going to Hurt NYT (Re Silc). “Policymakers are engineering this slowdown. Then, the problem was a global pandemic; now, it’s stubbornly high inflation, and the main way the government knows to solve that is by inflicting some economic pain.” Remember the pandemic? Good times.
Apple workers vote to unionize at Maryland store Associated Press
Labor Notes Headliner Covered Up Sexual Assault & Retaliated Against Chicago Union Democracy Activists Payday Report. Yikes.
Amazon builds property empire, quietly buying land across the U.S. Seattle Times (Furzy Mouse).
Facebook Says Apple is Too Powerful. They’re Right. Cory Doctorow, Electronic Frontier Foundation
Antidote du jour (via):
“The Creation of Adam,” except for cats.
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
