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.
Oldest DNA from domesticated American horse lends credence to shipwreck folklore ScienceDaily (Kevin W). Misty of Chincoteague lives!
Geometric Analysis Reveals How Birds Mastered Flight (David L)
Why So Many Cars Have Rats in Them Now New York Times
Influential music executive Mo Ostin has died at 95 NPR (David L)
#COVID-19
The unintended consequences of COVID-19 vaccine policy: why mandates, passports and restrictions may cause more harm than good and Evaluating potential unintended consequences of COVID-19 vaccine mandates and passports BMJ Global Health
Memory problems after covid-19 more common in people with smell loss New Scientist
Ancestral SARS-CoV-2, but not omicron, replicates less efficiently in primary pediatric nasal epithelial cells PLOS Biology
You’re Traveling Abroad. You Test Positive for COVID. You Board Your Flight Anyway. Slate (resilc)
Eli Lilly’s Covid-19 Antibody Treatment to Be Sold Commercially WSJ
Monkeypox
How is monkeypox spread? Your Local Epidemiologist (Dr. Kevin)
U.S. Could Have Had Many More Doses of Monkeypox Vaccine This Year New York Times (Kevin W)
From Politico’s morning European newsletter:
Monkey see, monkey doesn’t do: While in the U.S., Canada and Britain, tens of thousands of people have already been vaccinated, in the EU, doctors are having to turn patients away because there are no doses available.
Why this matters: As we learned from COVID, doctors see vaccination as the most effective way to stymy a broader spread of the disease and prevent new mutations.
Take Madrid, which last month hosted Europe’s biggest LGBTQ+ pride parade, which doctors identified as a hotspot for transmissions. The city has to date only been able to administer 790 vaccine doses — meanwhile, around 2,000 people have already tested positive for monkeypox in Madrid, and two people have died of monkeypox in Spain.
Or Brussels: The city is registering a rapid increase in cases, but is lacking doses. (Belgium received 3,000 for the entire country via the EU.) “The vaccine is not available in Belgium at the moment, despite the public announcements,” said Dr. Jean-Christophe Goffard of the Erasme Hospital.
“These past two weeks, we’ve had a growing demand for tests … and close to 90 percent of the cases prove to be positive. We don’t have the impression that we are currently able to control the epidemic well.”
Climate/Environment
Troubling new research shows warm waters rushing towards the world’s biggest ice sheet in Antarctica PhysOrg (Kevin W)
How Siestas Might Help Europe Survive Deadly Heat Waves Wired (resilc)
A race to save fish as Rio Grande dries, even in Albuquerque Associated Press (David L)
Japan Is Getting So Hot That Dogs Have Their Own Mobile Fans Vice (resilc)
China?
China’s Solution John Robb (Chuck L)
China’s C919 poised to challenge Boeing, Airbus Asia Times (resilc)
US, Indonesia Hold Joint Military Drills Amid China Concerns The Diplomat
Pelosi Aftermath
PLA drills around Taiwan continue to ‘rehearse reunification operation’ after Pelosi’s visit, ‘exercises blockading island to become routine‘ Global Times. Important.
China Says US ‘Responsible’ for Taiwan Crisis After Pelosi Visit; Chinese Military ‘Rehearses’ Alexander Mercouris. A discussion of official and quasi official statements from China. Also shout out to NC at 44:10.
China set to begin effective Taiwan blockade hours after Nancy Pelosi concludes visit South China Morning Post
China Signals Plan to Launch Missiles Over Taiwan in a Dramatic, Troubling Escalation US News (David L)
Nancy Pelosi, China and the Slow Decline of the U.S. Military Matt Stoller. Important. And no wonder we suck in Ukraine. This looks to apply to Russia too: “’In purchasing power parity,’ he [military bureaucrat Cameron Hold] said, ‘they spend about one dollar to our 20 dollars to get to the same capability.’”
20 Percent Of The USAF’s B-2 Force Is Deployed ‘Down Under’ The Drive. Kevin W: “Great. In case of war, China’s primary nuclear attack target will only be about 20 kilometers away.”
A Democrat more dangerous than Nancy Pelosi Alex Lo, South China Morning Post (resilc)
How a missile in Kabul connects to a Speaker in Taipei Pepe Escobar, The Cradle (Chuck L)
‘Take down Pelosi’s plane’: Chinese react online to Taiwan visit FT
The xenophobic rhetoric about and over all racist caricatures I’m seeing of Chinese people on Twitter right now is wild and disgusting. Liberals and conservatives have fully unified into a mass behaving exactly like their racist counter parts from the 1920s-1940s.
— ComradeBB (@Sanctumhaze) August 3, 2022
‘Hoopla and yellow journalism’: Taiwanese Americans bemoan media fearmongering over Pelosi visit The Guardian (resilc)
‘Very serious interest’: Indonesia wants AUKUS submarines monitored by UN watchdog Sydney Morning Herald
The People in Hiroshima Didn’t Expect it Either CounterPunch (resilc)
Old Blighty
Banned Russian oligarchs exploited UK secrecy loophole BBC
Dover disruption – is this the new normal for Britain’s border? UK in a Changing Europe
UK inflation will soar to ‘astronomical’ levels over next year, thinktank warns Guardian
The Lives and Deaths of Tory England The American Conservative
New Not-So-Cold War
Ukraine: Ukrainian fighting tactics endanger civilians Amnesty International. Confirms long-standing charge that Ukraine is using civilians as human shields. Paul J-H points out:
The good thing here is that Amnesty for years has been a vocal critic of Putin’s regime, so it has moral credibility as well.
I hope EU/NATO draw conclusions from this or at least drop their blinders.
Senate votes 95-1 to add Sweden, Finland to NATO The Hill
* * * Months into war, Ukraine refugees slow to join EU workforce Washington Post
European gas storage facilities more than 70% full; Gazprom gas transit request via Ukraine 41.9 mcm Interfax
* * * Volodymyr Zelensky seeking ‘direct talks’ with China’s Xi Jinping to help end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine South China Morning Post
Ukraine SitRep – On The Ground Report – Ukrainian Frontline Collapses Moon of Alabama
Ukraine war: IAEA says Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant out of control BBC (Kevin W)
AFU is shelling the center of Donetsk again, at least four people have been killed so far, many wounded – like I said on the last episode, this is a reaction to the successful offensive near Donetsk, the Ukrainians are baiting Russian forces into moving faster than they should https://t.co/R82WCJJIeD
— Russians With Attitude (@RWApodcast) August 4, 2022
* * * UK Labour Party expels Audrey White after confrontation with Sir Keir Starmer BBC
Taoiseach says ‘time to move on’ from Sabina Higgins controversy, defending right to free speech The Irish Times
Syraqistan
Iraq is a ‘Jenga Tower’ That Will Soon Collapse The Wire
The Taliban’s black gold: militants seize on coal to reboot economy FT
Senate Republicans threatened to burn a bill that would have helped veterans. Here’s why. Vox (resilc)
Imperial Collapse Watch
Why It Is Critical to Understand What the Other “guy” Thinks Larry Johnson
UH Task Force Detects Fuel In Navy Water After It Was Deemed Safe Civil Beat
Biden Administration
The Democrats’ Weak Bench The American Conservative (resilc)
Abortion
After Kansas defeat, what’s next for abortion bans? BBC (Kevin W)
The moment Alex Jones finds out his incompetent lawyers sent Sandy Hook parents’ lawyers all his emails and texts is incredible pic.twitter.com/PtKoYOHdxJ
— Wu-Tang Is For The Children (@WUTangKids) August 3, 2022
Calpers Transfers $600 Million Of State Workers’ Wealth To Wall Street Forbes (Kevin W). A more pointed headline for our report of a month ago: CalPERS Cooks the Books While Taking an Unnecessary Loss to Exit $6 Billion of Private Equity Positions.
Walmart Lays Off Hundreds of Corporate Workers Wall Street Journal
Lollipops Hustle on Amazon Costs Family Candy Business Millions Bloomberg (ma)
The Bezzle
Michael Saylor Bet Billions on Bitcoin and Lost Wall Street Journal
Class Warfare
A WeWork for the .01% is Coming to New York Bloomberg
‘American Cartel’ authors go inside the opioid industry NPR (David L)
Antidote du jour (via):
And a bonus (Chuck L):
Respect to whoever filmed this. 🦈 pic.twitter.com/elgPScOzUr
— James Melville 🚜 (@JamesMelville) August 3, 2022
More animal athleticism (Chuck L):
Natural born goalie! 😂🐱⚽️🐾 pic.twitter.com/H6ome7Whex
— Fred Schultz (@FredSchultz35) August 2, 2022
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
