Links 8/1/2022 | naked capitalism

Dear Readers,

Because Yves went over well with Gonzalo Lira’s regulars, he’s asked her to join in another roundtable, Tuesday morning August 2, 9AM Eastern, with Alexander Mercouris of The Duran and Brian Berletic of New Atlas. The topic is China and perhaps some other hot spots. This may be an extremely live discussion, since as you can see below, Pelosi is rumored to be visiting Taiwan on August 2, which would be just before this chat. You can view it live or at your leisure on YouTube.

Watch the Data Before Falling Too Hard for This Rally Bloomberg

Deutsche Bank broke its own rules in enabling tax fraud, internal probe finds FT

Can Elites Start the Climate Revolution? Adam Tooze, Foreign Policy

When elites are too effective for their own good FT

Climate

Smoke forecast and Red Flag Warnings, July 31, 2022 Wildfire Today. West of the Mississippi. A regular feature of WT. Handy tip:

Wildfire evacuation tip for those impacted by the #McKinneyFire :
grab the full dirty laundry basket. It’s clothes you actually wear and will have all of the components you need.

— Femme Fatale (@FemmeBossB) July 31, 2022

California not counting methane leaks from idle wells AP

The Trash Mountains of South Asia That Threaten the Climate Bloomberg

Act now on water or face emergency queues on the streets, UK warned Guardian

#COVID19

Evolution of SARS-CoV-2 Shedding in Exhaled Breath Aerosols medRxiv (preprint). From the Abstract: “Here, we demonstrate that viral shedding (measured as RNA copies) into exhaled breath aerosol was significantly greater during infections with Alpha, Delta, and Omicron than with ancestral strains and variants not associated with increased transmissibility. The three highly transmissible variants independently evolved a high viral aerosol shedding phenotype, demonstrating convergent evolution.”

Habitual mask-wearing is likely helping Japan, Singapore and South Korea bring daily Omicron deaths down, epidemiologists say ABC Australia

Tracking SARS-CoV-2 in rivers as a tool for epidemiological surveillance Science of The Total Environment. From the Abstract: “The experimental and normalized viral concentrations strongly correlated with reported COVID-19 cases; thus, Arenales River at [sampling point] AR-2 reflected the epidemiological situation of the city. This is the first study showing the dynamic of SARS-CoV-2 concentration in an urban river highly impacted by wastewater and proved that can be used for SARS-CoV-2 surveillance to support health authorities.”

Energy and Cost Associated with Ventilating Office Buildings in a Tropical Climate PLOS One. From the Abstract: “Overall, even in a thermally demanding tropical climate, the energy cost associated with increasing ventilation rate up to 25 L/s per person is less than 1% of the wages of an office worker in an advanced economy like Singapore’s. This result implies that the benefits of increasing outdoor air ventilation rate up to 25 L/s per person — which is suggested to provide for productivity increases, lower sick building syndrome symptom prevalence, and reduced sick leave — can be much larger than the incremental cost of ventilation.”

China?

“The Washington Post”: Pelosi will come to Taiwan as soon as tomorrow night to meet with Taiwan’s top leaders Apple Daily Taiwan (not Apple Daily Hong Kong, which no longer exists). Lots of speculation about the ways Pelosi could make an “unofficial visit.” Google translate does a poor rendering; here is the original.

Pelosi’s special plane to visit Asia has arrived in Singapore China Times. Original. “Pelosi and others are expected to visit Singapore on the 1st and 2nd, and French media reported that she may transfer from the Philippines to Taiwan on the 4th.” I don’t know which French media; not France24; not Agence France Presse; not Le Monde (at least as far as I can get before I hit the paywall). Perhaps readers can run this down?

Pelosi’s plane may land in Taiwan due to aircraft failure or refueling — newspaper TASS. The “newspaper” is the Global Times.

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China warns its military will ‘not sit idly by’ if Pelosi visits Taiwan Reuters

As Pelosi Taiwan visit looms, Menendez bill would ‘gut’ One China policy Responsible Statecraft

How Yukong Moved the Mountains Letterboxd

Supercharged biotech rice yields 40% more grain Science

Editorial: Japan gov’t bears heavy responsibility for COVID-19 inaction The Mainichi

Myanmar

Myanmar junta extends emergency rule, cites need for stability Reuters

In a World of Crises, Don’t Forget Myanmar The Diplomat. Meanwhile, impressive:

VIDEO – Yangon youths successfully held a “People’s Oath-Taking Ceremony” on a public bus this afternoon (Jul 31) despite attempts by Myanmar’s military regime to block the event and threatening the arrests of participants. https://t.co/qXLlSrVFrG #WhatsHappeningInMyanmar

— Myanmar Now (@Myanmar_Now_Eng) July 31, 2022

Syraqistan

Tighter Bank Rules Give Dubai’s Crypto Shops a New Allure Bloomberg

2 years later, hope for justice in Beirut explosion fades AP and Part of Beirut port silos, damaged in 2020 blast, collapses The New Arab

UK/EU

Prince Charles accepted £1m from Osama Bin Laden’s family – report BBC

How Labour abandoned the unions Unherd

How the German Economic Machine Broke Down WSJ

European Parliament Secretary-General appointment shows it’s “one rule for them and one rule for us” Transparency International

Monkeypox

Monkeypox Is About to Become the Next Public Health Failure Scott Gottlieb, NYT. For some definition of “failure.”

New York City declares monkeypox a public health emergency AP

Monkeypox is Spreading Fast. Now Kids Are Getting It, Too Bloomberg. Presumably not through MSM sex.

‘Not enough shots’: U.S. faces ‘vaccine cliff’ on monkeypox WaPo

Efforts to curb UK monkeypox outbreak inadequate, warn experts Guardian

In Africa, at least. monkeypox is airborne:

@LauraMiers @CZEdwards @danaparish @laurieallee I’m incensed bc the CDC has collab’d in DR Congo for years & generated what is known abt prevention. CDC puts airborne transmission *first* https://t.co/fQgOU3AZ5I

— Victoria Cochran, M.Div. – #Nicethings2 (@lavika) July 31, 2022

New Not-So-Cold War

Donetsk being cleared of Ukrainian mines banned by Geneva Convention Al Mayadeen. PFM-1s (“petal” mines). Retweeted by Patrick Lancaster:

This is a popular pedestrian area in the heart of Donetsk. It is usually quite busy, has many playgrounds & cafes.

Ukraine’s dropping “petal” mines on these civilian areas of the DPR is a war crime.https://t.co/oDYrSJFtnH pic.twitter.com/ANX5PaaJ4W

— Eva Karene Bartlett (@EvaKBartlett) July 31, 2022

War With Russia Enters New Phase as Ukraine Readies Southern Counterblow WSJ. Maybe. Seeding the area one intends to conquer with landmines is an interesting approach.

“These are animals, not people”: Zelensky frees convicted child rapists, torturers to reinforce depleted military The Grayzone. More signs of impending victory for Ukraine, along with evacuating Donbas.

* * *

1st ship carrying Ukrainian grain leaves the port of Odesa AP

West eases efforts to restrict Russian oil trading as inflation and energy risks mount FT

Who Lost Ukraine? Larry Kotlikoff, Economics Matters

Biden Administration

Biden experiences a Covid rebound after treatment with one course of Paxlovid Politico. We have the tools!

Police State Watch

Atlanta group implicated in Russian influence scheme Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Imperial Collapse Watch

United States Army vs. People’s Liberation Army:

Speaking of China, I don’t know what their biggest and most important army base is, but I can guarantee you it’s not riddled with drug-distribution networks. Chinese soldiers are not dropping dead right and left from fentanyl overdoses. Wish I could say the same about Fort Bragg.

— Seth Harp (@sethharpesq) July 30, 2022

Guillotine Watch

Investing in Real Estate as Self-Care NYT. The deck: “Many women seeking independence after a breakup or divorce have discovered emotional empowerment and even healing in real estate investment.” Most New York Times headline EVAH. Heck, most liberal headline.

There Are Conga Lines and Huge Crowds on K2 Now Outside. A second Into Thin Air waiting to happen.

Class Warfare

‘Sending drivers out to die’: UPS workers demand heat safety amid record temps NBC

Booming US cannabis industry seen as fertile ground for union expansion Guardian (Re Silc).

Bill Russell, 11-time NBA champion, Boston Celtics legend and all-time defensive great, dies NBC. Commentary:

Bill Russell’s Lifelong Fight Against Racism Bill Russell, SLAM. From 2020, still germane.

Star Trek’s Nichelle Nichols dies at age 89 The Verge. Commentary:

Antidote du jour (via):

See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.