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.
Excuse you! Pet owners share hilarious images of cats and dogs who won’t give them any privacy in the bathroom Daily Mail. I bet many will seem familiar. One of my former cats would do the shower rail drape as shown, plus walk on shower rail. Other cat liked getting inside shower when it was on (this was a tub-shower setup) on the far end of the tub. I think he liked the steam room effect.
The World’s Biggest Fungus Will Outlast Us All Atlantic (resilc)
Scientists Discover ‘Uncontaminated Extraterrestrial Materials’ In Ancient Asteroid Sample Vice (furzy). Horror movie music! Andromeda Strain warning! Of course, more likely just comet rock.
A Machine Can Now Do College-Level Math Inside Higher Ed (David L)
Robot Dog With RPG Strapped to Its Back Demoed at Russian Arms Fair Vice (furzy)
Yours truly has harvested broccoli. My father grew it in his backyard. Fresh cut broccoli is SO much better than what you get in stores.
Ever wonder where broccoli in your cruidité comes from? This is how it’s harvested. #WeFeedYou pic.twitter.com/hBnghjWNUe
— United Farm Workers (@UFWupdates) August 16, 2022
#COVID-19
Science/Medicine
fatal SARSCOV2 induced bone marrow aplasia complicated with invasive fungal infection & severe neutropenic enterocolitis: Varying degrees of⬇️in absolute T lymphocytes count (CD3 + T, CD4 + T, CD8 + T cells) in mild-moderate COVID19 phenotype,⬆️in severe, https://t.co/qfzRjh71Pu
— Prof. Dr. Sanjeev Bagai (@BagaiDr) August 13, 2022
Infections cut in half in Boston schools that kept mask mandates compared to schools that did not. Even though the schools that kept masks were higher risk than the comparison group. Lifting mask mandantes led to 28,690 additional missed school days. https://t.co/mbVAJJAILH pic.twitter.com/4tLzDl0fPx
— Diego Bassani, PhD (@DGBassani) August 15, 2022
Asia
Shanghai Covid: Ikea shoppers flee attempt to lock down store BBC
US
Headlines out of Canada, while the US continues to sleepwalk into disaster. pic.twitter.com/k3nTLvqWQf
— Laura Miers (@LauraMiers) August 16, 2022
Climate/Environment
What Comes After the Coming Climate Anarchy? Time. Resilc: “More anarchy.”
The IRA and the four horsemen of the climate apocalypse CADTM (Micael T)
Forty metres above the forest, searching for smoke BBC
Colorado River cuts expected for Arizona, Nevada and Mexico Associated Press (David L)
LNG Exporter Downplays Emissions to Justify Expansion DeSmogBlog
China?
China Surprise Data Could Spell R-e-c-e-s-s-i-o-n John Authers, Bloomberg
Why Beijing’s war games risk pushing Asean neighbours into the arms of the US South China Morning Post (furzy)
China Threatens The US Empire, Not The US Itself: Notes From The Edge Of The Narrative Matrix Caitlin Johnstone (Kevin W)
Hacker Leaks Mountain of Files From Inside Xinjiang Camps Vice (furzy). I’ve always been skeptical of defenses of the centers in Xinjiang.
In case you haven’t heard yet, Elon Musk penned an article for the official magazine of China’s cyberspace regulator, the CAC. If you don’t know why this is the most hilarious thing on the internet today, some context… https://t.co/TXNelFzi33 1/x
— Kendra Schaefer 凯娜 (@kendraschaefer) August 15, 2022
In the grip of overlapping crises, Europe faces a leadership vacuum New Statesman (resilc)
Old Blighty
Number of EU citizens moving to UK plunges post-Brexit – report Guardian (Kevin W)
New Not-So-Cold War
Another huge blast rocks Crimea: Fireball erupts at ammunition depot days after explosions destroyed at least seven of Putin’s warplanes at military airport Daily Mail. As bad as this looks, this is a tactical loss. Not hard to see (assuming Ukraine sponsorship) this as in lieu of the promised-for-months August counteroffensive.
Explosions Hit Russian Ammunition Depot in Crimea Wall Street Journal. See also Ammunition detonation in northern Crimea continues — region’s head TASS. Notice lack of agency:
On August 16, near the village of Mayskoye, a fire broke out on the territory of the banked site for temporary storage of ammunition of one of the military units
Hard to see this second incident as an accident. Which means Russia needs to retaliate as promised..
Ukraine failed to mount counteroffensive – ex-Pentagon adviser RT
France supplies mines banned by Geneva Convention to Ukraine News Front
Ukraine. Military Summary And Analysis 15.08.2022 YouTube. Note starting at 9:50 the discussion of the successful shelling by Ukraine of a Wagner Group center in Popasna. Bad bad look. CEO visited, allowed press pix, one had location-identifying info. This is rank amateurism. But interesting speculation re role of UK intel services. But Alexander Mercouris points out how Ukraine is weakening further and “Russia is advancing on every possible front” in Donbass (starting at 14:30)
* * * Various Points On Ukraine And Media Moon of Alabama. Nice shout out to Lambert and NC!
‘Floundering, not drowning’: Russia’s economy is withstanding sanctions onslaught — for now CNBC
Details of EU Ban on Russian Coal and Fertilizers Jolts Ship Insurers Bloomberg
German Power Prices Hit Fresh Record as Gas Continues to Surge Bloomberg
Turkey is openly boasting that vehicle trade with Russia has surged as its exports to Russia hit an 8-year high Business Insider
* * * Vladimir Putin’s ‘panic-stricken’ officials in secret bid to end bloody war in Ukraine Mirror. Lambert: “From the wording in the body of the story, I don’t think even the Mirror believes this.”
Irony alert–The American Thinker Forgets How to Think Larry Johnson
Syraqistan
Iran at the crossroads of history Indian Punchline (Kevin W)
This morning brought with it the confiscation of solar panels in a village of cave dwellers in the south of Mount Hebron and eight families will have to face the heat of August without water pumps, without fans, without cooling devices and without the possibility to charge >> pic.twitter.com/JCJNtnjxCg
— Michael Sfard מיכאל ספרד (@sfardm) August 14, 2022
Big Brother Is Watching You Watch
Police Used a Baby’s DNA To Investigate Its Father For a Crime Wired
Pompeo Sued Over Surveillance of Assange Visitors Consortium News (furzy)
Imperial Collapse Watch
Chris Hedges: The Final Collapse Consortium News (furzy)
The real reason for U.S. blockade of Cuba, admitted by a declassified U.S. memo: “There is no effective political opposition [in Cuba]” pic.twitter.com/NL5caFJfIh
— The Socialist Program with Brian Becker (@TheSocProgram) August 14, 2022
Trump Raid
JOHN KIRIAKOU: J Edgar Hoover’s Evil Brainchild Consortium News
Why the Case Against Donald Trump Remains Incomplete Jonathan Turley
US justice department opposes release of Donald Trump search affidavit Financial Times. Predictable and sadly not unreasonable.
The horror of people willing to die for Donald Trump Washington Post (furzy). Pearl clutching in a headline! Well done!
Trump now claims FBI agents seized three of his PASSPORTS during the Mar-a-Lago raid Daily Mail. Resilc: “Red is “official” not dip. Normally you have 2. Blue normal and black dip for travel in and out of assigned post.” DoJ says they don’t have them. I could see an FBI agent having moved them by accident or design within Mar a Lago. But (from Li, yes I know Breitbart):
Taylor Budowich, the former president’s communications director, shared an email from Jay Bratt, the top counterintelligence official in the Justice Department’s national security division, confirming that three passports were seized in the raid and that they would be returned to the former president soon.
“We have learned that the filter agents seized three passports belonging to President Trump, two expired and one being his active diplomatic passport. We are returning them, and they will be ready for pick up at WFO at 2 PM today,” the email to Trump’s attorneys read.
Justice Department Accused of Taking Attorney-Client Material at Mar-a-Lago Jonathan Turley (Li)
Trump Should Be Prosecuted. So Should Other Elites Who Have Flagrantly Broken the Law Jacobin. Aside from this being wishful thinking for anyone but Trump, there are also statute of limitation issues. But still:
Last week, an ad featuring Dick Cheney slamming Trump for his January 6 antics went viral, despite the fact that Cheney is best known for two things: being part of the Republican ticket that, unlike Trump, actually successfully stole an election, and lying the country into an illegal war that killed at minimum 4,598 Americans and 185,000 Iraqis.
Antisemitism Once More Dan Rather and Elliot Kirschner (furzy)
Other Trump
Ex-Trump Org. official Allen Weisselberg expected to plead guilty in tax case NBC. Is he falling on his sword rather than flipping? Article notes no criminal charges v. Trump.
The Trump Convert Who Looks Like She’s About to Unseat Liz Cheney Vanity Fair (furzy)
Our No Longer Free Press
Criminalizing Holocaust Denial Sets a Dangerous Precedent Plebity (Mark W)
US Bans Export of Tech Used In 3nm Chip Production On Security Grounds The Register
Right to Repair
Harley Threatened to Void Warranties Over Aftermarket Parts Jalopnik (resilc)
A New Jailbreak for John Deere Tractors Rides the Right-to-Repair Wave Wired. Kevin W: “Related article at https://www.kotaku.com.au/2022/08/someone-got-doom-running-on-a-farm-tractor/”
Money Won’t Solve America’s Power Grid Problems OilPrice (resilc)
#MMT has gone mainstream. US Congressman John Yarmuth, Budget Cttee Chair eloquently smashing Thatcherite lies of the state as a household budget. Why is #Starmer & (ex-BoE) economist Rachel Reeves not saying this? 🤔 They don’t want you to know how macro economics really works pic.twitter.com/4YCPEuvQIE
— Hazel *wanted 🌹got🥀* (@DebateHazel) August 15, 2022
Guillotine Watch
NIMBY Marc Andreessen Gives WeWork’s Adam Neumann $350 Million to, Uhh, Solve the Housing Crisis Vice. Resilc: “All involved should become shark food ASAP.”
Class Warfare
DeSantis says teaching requirements are ‘too rigid’ as Florida moves to let veterans without degrees teach Yahoo. Resilc: “How to kill other students 101.”
AT&T Workers Fight Return To Office Push: ‘We Can Do the Same Job From Home’ Guardian
Labour Staging a Comeback Valdai Club (Micael T)
Antidote du jour (Alan T):
And a bonus (Ignacio):
The beautiful opalescent nudibranch (Hermissenda opalescens), one of the most colorful species of sea slug, filmed off the coast of California by Aron Sanchez-Baranda. pic.twitter.com/HRWXXGyDjk
— Wonder of Science (@wonderofscience) July 12, 2022
And a second bonus (guurst):
Bitta biffo in Marangaroo today (Brendan) pic.twitter.com/YSEM0uYbFJ
— The Bell Tower Times (@BellTowerTimes) August 7, 2022
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
