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.
Semiotics of dogs Aeon
Climate
Climate activists fill golf holes with cement after water ban exemption BBC
Drought sows doubts over future of traditional English gardens Agence France Presse
#COVID19
Operational Guidance for K-12 Schools and Early Care and Education Programs to Support Safe In-Person Learning CDC. Another masterpiece of scientific communication from CDC. Commentary:
It says something that IMO is completely backwards “Schools and ECE programs should consider flexible, non-punitive policies and practices to support individuals who choose to wear masks regardless of the COVID-19 Community Level.”
— Patrick Hickey, MD (@pwhickey) August 12, 2022
Correction, weak form: “Schools and ECE programs should consider flexible, non-punitive policies and practices to support individuals who choose to wear masks.” Correction, strong form: “Schools and ECE programs should consider
flexible, non-punitive policies and practices to support individuals who choose to wear masks.” And:
We can have “more normal” lives but pretending the virus isn’t there is called wish fulfillment, pandering and acceptance of a level of death, sickness, disability and disruption that we would have considered unacceptable once. 3/
— Gregg Gonsalves (@gregggonsalves) August 13, 2022
The C.D.C. Continues to Lead From Behind Ross Douthat, NYT (Re Silc).
Return to Normalcy Makes Pittsfield COVID Rates Rise iBerkshires (Re Silc). Everything’s going according to plan.
“Stochastic eugenics”:
Japan in yellow, along with the other nations that try to limit Covid.
The other group is essentially doing eugenics without a mandate. pic.twitter.com/RJF9GIOpQL
— Jeff G. Brown, BEng, MBA, PhD’23 (@GutsBerserk23) August 14, 2022
* * * Cardiovascular Effects of the BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 Vaccine in Adolescents (preprint) Preprints.org. n = 301. Pfizer. From the Abstract: “Cardiovascular effects were found in 29.24% of patients, ranging from tachycardia, palpitation, and myopericarditis…. The clinical presentation of myopericarditis after vaccination was usually mild, with all cases fully recovering within 14 days. Hence, adolescents receiving mRNA vaccines should be monitored for side effects.”Considering Race and Ethnicity in Covid Risk Assessments — Legal Concerns and Possible Solutions Timothy Jost, NEJM (KS). “The question of how data about racial and ethnic disparities in the risk of severe Covid-19 should be translated into prevention and treatment policy is likely to persist.”
The Normalization of Covid: Another example of how America is perversely pro-risk Up@Night
China?
Fifty million empty flats threaten to plunge China’s troubled property market further into crisis, warns think tank South China Morning Post
China has encroached on Canada’s critical minerals industry, with almost no obstruction from Ottawa Globe and Mail
Myanmar
‘The Sacrifice Zone’: Myanmar bears cost of green energy ABC
NGOs gotta NGO:
There should be no excuses for such betrayal to the people of Myanmar. These INGOs have lost their integrity. This is a revolution for the people of Myanmar but not your project. We wouldn’t know if this letter didn’t leak out. pic.twitter.com/g5U9seOQgY
— Kyaw Win (@kyawwin78) August 12, 2022
India
India needs China for critical medicine ingredients, but an ambitious initiative aims to correct that South China Morning Post
Syraqistan
Man suspected of attacking Salman Rushdie charged with attempted murder, assault Reuters. Useful thread on “the Satanic Verses”:
The Satanic Verses controversy has a long and recent past. The incident reached global fame after the 1988 publication of Salman Rushdie’s novel. Long before, however, the topic was fiercely debate in medieval Muslim scholarship. A general 🧵 for non-specialists. 1/ pic.twitter.com/DkdwhJNEXy
— Ahab Bdaiwi איהאבּ ܐܝܗܐܒ (@abhistoria) August 13, 2022
UK/EU
British minister accused of trying to hide reports on impact of Tory welfare reforms Guardian (Rev Kev).
Top European Airlines Have Spent £4bn on Russian Jet Fuel Since Crimea Invasion DeSmog
New Not-So-Cold War
Russia Buys 1,000 Drones From Iran and Expands the Level of Strategic Cooperation Elijah J. Magnier. Moon of Alabama has a good discussion (EM). Shorter: It’s not because Russia is “running out”; it’s because Iran has good tech.
On the Kherson front lines, little sign of a Ukrainian offensive WaPo. The deck: “Waiting on weapons deliveries, Ukrainian gains on the ground have stalled.”
Russia reiterates demand for Nord Stream gas turbine sanctions assurances S&P Global
U.S. tells India that Indian ship was used to reroute Russian-linked fuel to New York Reuters
2024
The Espionage Act Gets An Instant Makeover Matt Taibbi, TK News. The deck: “A law reviled by liberalism ten minutes ago is now Savior to All.” Excellent.
‘Sounds about Right’: Ex-CIA Chief Michael Hayden Implies Trump Should Be Executed for Taking Classified Docs National Review
Exclusive: Trump Raid Documents Could Reveal Informants on U.S. Payroll Newsweek. A new theory from “two federal government sources.”
Trump Lawyer Told Justice Dept. That Classified Material Had Been Returned NYT. Sources: “Four people.” Reading all the way to the end: “No one has been charged in the case, and the search warrant on its own does not mean anyone will be.” I don’t understand the material realities of the box handling. The only precedents I have are moving (boxes labeled, with contents and location listed on the outside by the customer, plus a packing list from the mover) and estate inventories (a list from a third party) The key point is that all parties involved have good reason to have at least gestured toward a mutual agreement about what’s in each box. Neither process seems to have been followed in this case. Did Justice really say “Oh, OK” when told what was in the boxes? Is that normal? Lawyers in the readership please weigh in.
Mar-a-Lago search warrant’s clues Axios
Trump pushes back on report FBI sought nuclear weapons documents The Hill
* * * Tucker Carlson’s summer replacement:
Tulsi: It’s never been about morality. It’s not about the people of Ukraine or protecting democracy. This is about regime change in Russia and exploiting this war to expand NATO.. pic.twitter.com/iIve3QROuD
— Acyn (@Acyn) August 13, 2022
Democrats en déshabillé
Sinema took Wall Street money while killing tax on investors AP. Because of course she did. Perhaps she wants to buy a new, or larger, ice cream freezer, as who among us does not.
Cartel threatens weekend of mass violence in all of Northern Baja Border Report
Police State Watch
The DARE Program Is Back in Some School Districts — Here’s What to Know Teen Vogue. And speaking of the schools:
My daughter’s school released a new cell phone policy that includes, “School officials can read any text messages between students, even if the texts occurred outside of school hours.”
Nopity nope nope.
— Rachael French (@DrRachaelF) August 13, 2022
The teen daughter is right:
My teen daughter was asked by her doctor when was her last menstrual period. She said “it’s regular, no need for dates”. When I asked her why the reply, she told me that doctors can no longer be trusted and they should become accustomed to not knowing. Welcome to the new America.
— MommaT (@tweetmommybop) August 13, 2022
New documents reveal ‘huge’ scale of US government’s cell phone location data tracking TechCrunch
FBI Attack on the Uhuru Movement is a Warning Black Agenda Report (RK).
Zeitgeist Watch
Imperial Collapse Watch
Modern US Warmongering Is Scaring Henry Kissinger Caitlin Johnstone
The Bezzle
Does Crypto Have Any Good Use Cases? Nat’s Crypto Newsletter. Case for the defense.
Amazon is getting into mental health care with a Ginger partnership The Verge (Rev Kev).
Abortion
Kansas to recount abortion vote by hand, despite big margin The Hill
Guillotine Watch
How effective altruism went from a niche movement to a billion-dollar force Vox. More squillionaires with bright ideas. Please make it stop.
Class Warfare
How Marxism solves today’s greatest mystery in the WWE Carl Beijer. Kayfabe!
The organized labor movement has a new ally: venture capitalists LA Times
Paranoia and Pastels at Bama Rush NYT (Re Silc). Predatory precarity.
Canonical grain weights as a key to ancient systems of weights and measures Jon Bosak. From 2014, but interesting for historians and standards mavens (who should grab a cup of coffee).
Antidote du jour (via):
Bonus antidote (Re Silc):
Re Silc writes: “My herd.”
Anti-antidote:
Fascinating drone footage looking down into a volcanic eruption from above.
Credit: Bjorn Steinbekkpic.twitter.com/u6MGtONNax
— Wonder of Science (@wonderofscience) August 1, 2022
Seems a propos, somehow.
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
