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.
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#INDIGENOUS #TAIRP pic.twitter.com/8Fo1dbcAZD
— Indigenous (@AmericanIndian8) October 16, 2022
Half the World Has a Clitoris. Why Don’t Doctors Study It? New York Times (Dr. Kevin)
The reduction in living organisms in urban environments (concrete jungles) is thought to lead to homogeneity in our personal microbes, which increases the risk of immune disorders. Hygiene, antibiotics, processed foods and pollution are also thought to contribute to dysbiosis.
— Dr. Lisa Iannattone (@lisa_iannattone) October 15, 2022
Ultra-Processed Meals Are Unhealthier Than You Think Guardian
#COVID-19
Science/Medicine
Long COVID symptoms in SARS-CoV-2-positive children aged 0–14 years and matched controls in Denmark (LongCOVIDKidsDK): a national, cross-sectional study Lancet Child & Adolescent Health
Well, Omicron variant evolution is officially off the chart in terms of number of mutations. pic.twitter.com/8bVXX1n2jN
— T. Ryan Gregory (@TRyanGregory) October 16, 2022
Omicron boosters could arm you against variants that don’t yet exist Nature (Dr. Kevin)
Unique study links specific gene variant to COVID vaccine efficacy New Atlas (furzy)
US
American Inquisition James Howard Kunstler. The evidence of malice is important. In defamation cases, the plaintiff has to prove “actual malice.”
US scientists create new lethal Covid variant RT (Kevin W)
“[T]he research team did not clear the work with..NIAID, which was one of the funders of the project. Late Monday afternoon, the agency indicated it is going to be looking for some answers as to why it first learned of the work through media reports.”https://t.co/8hGwDYDdON
— Richard H. Ebright (@R_H_Ebright) October 18, 2022
“I’m..tired of people suggesting..virologists and NIAID are reckless or don’t care about biosafety.”
People will stop suggesting virologists and NIAID are reckless or don’t care about biosafety only when virologists and NIAID stop being reckless and start caring about biosafety.
— Richard H. Ebright (@R_H_Ebright) October 18, 2022
My nightmare scenario since 2014—during Ebola outbreak in West Africa when travel was not restricted—is someone throwing up in the subway system of a major metropolitan area
CDC informed us to prepare for Ebola in the US. Honestly not sure what that means https://t.co/c6OGsprGQo
— Yaneer Bar-Yam (@yaneerbaryam) October 16, 2022
Climate/Environment
Let us not forget the US and EU export C02 via having China as their factory:
China is 19% of world population and responsible for 26% of yearly CO2 emissions (1.4x). The US 4% of world pop. and 17% of yearly CO2 (4.2x). China 14% of cumulative CO2 emissions over past centuries (0.7x), US 25% (6.3x). China invests 2% of GDP in energy transition vs US 0.5%. https://t.co/clAmmH2MBr
— Gerard (@GerardDalbon) October 17, 2022
All that plastic in the ocean is a climate change problem, too Grist
20 Nations At High Risk From Global Warming Might Halt Debt Payments New York Times
Florida Coastal Living Reshaped by Hurricane Housing Codes Wall Street Journal
Tomorrow’s corals aeon
China?
How Xi Jinping is reshaping China, in five charts Christian Science Monitor. Note selection of countries in last series.
Blinken Says China Wants to Seize Taiwan on ‘Much Faster Timeline’ Bloomberg
Xi’s Call To Win Tech Race Points To New Wave of Chinese State-led Spending Reuters
Apple Bows To Pressure, Drops Plan To Buy Chinese Memory Chips AppleInsider
Japan plan to raise taxes to fund defence budget ‘dead on arrival’: analysts South China Morning Post
Old Blighty
I’ll lead Tories into next election, says embattled Liz Truss BBC (Kevin W). This kind of statement usually closely precedes a defenestration.
Six great ways the Tories can get out of this f**king mess Daily Mash
The UK government has admitted it does NOT have the money to subsidize energy consumption for everyone beyond 6 months. From April 2023 onward, many voters will feel the pain of high gas / electricity prices.
It may be local politics, but it has implications for Ukraine.
— Javier Blas (@JavierBlas) October 17, 2022
Anti-Bird flu measures in place across Great Britain BBC. Kevin W: “Remember Emmanuel the Emu who was featured on NC recently? https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/tiktok-star-emmanuel-emu-sick-avian-influenza-caretaker-says-rcna52464
La belle France
France faces massive national strike on Tuesday Anadolu Agency (Kevin W)
The Threat of Civil War in Europe American Conservative. Wish I had worked this out first. See the passing mention of cell phone outages as a consequence of power cuts. Frankly, this is likely to be done pro-actively with energy as the pretext to inhibit organizing if/when the citizenry gets too uppity.
New Not-So-Cold War
A war Russia set to win MK Bhadrakumar Tribune India. Brutal. For instance:
Plainly put, the Europeans have been nicely played by the Americans. India should take note of the US’ sense of entitlement. Basically, the Biden administration created a contrived energy crisis whose real aim is war profiteering….
India should expect the defeat of the US and NATO, which completes the transition to a multipolar world order.
Forget M.A.D., Can Russia Defeat The United States In A Nuclear War? Larry Johnson
Russian strikes prompt power cuts across Ukraine BBC. Moar strikes as of 10/18.
Note that Andrei Martyanov contends that the current attributed-to-Iran drones are actually Russian but are very similar due to parallel development to meet same military objectives, but this sounds like a separate deal. However, per BBC story below, the West is claiming they have collected Iranian drone wreckage.
1/2 Iranian reports of likely transfer to Russia of Tehran’s super secret Arash-2 strategic kamikaze drones with range of 2000 kms designed specifically to attack Haifa & Tel Aviv. Arash-2 can be equipped with optical & thermal scanners,detect radar radiation & bypass air defence
— M. K. Bhadrakumar (@BhadraPunchline) October 16, 2022
French police violently repress demonstrations against NATO and the Ukraine war in Paris. pic.twitter.com/PDSEVzZH6z
— MintPress News (@MintPressNews) October 16, 2022
The US is already very upset with Turkey over economic cooperation with Russia. What punishment will they try to inflict over this?
PUTIN’S TURKISH GAS HUB PROPOSAL IS THE MOST REVOLUTIONARY PLAN FOR EUROPE SINCE THE TURKS DEFEATED THE VENETIANS 305 YEARS AGO. IT’S A MUCH BIGGER DEFEAT FOR GERMANY THAN BERLIN HAS YET REALIZED & FOR THE GREEKS AND CYPRIOTS. https://t.co/WoCsyAoGZ2 pic.twitter.com/6iP2JtdId2
— Dances_with_Bears (@bears_with) October 18, 2022
Dozens of LNG Carriers Back Up Off European Ports Waiting to Unload
Reuters (guurst)China To Stop Reselling LNG To Europe OilPrice. Ouch.
Russia: Military plane crashes into residential building near Azov Sea coast DW. TASS says a training accident.
Secretary Antony J. Blinken Interview With 60 Minutes on CBS With Scott Pelley US Embassy in Georgia. guurst: “On selling stale donuts.”
Elon Musk’s pro-Russian peace deal is ‘classic Putin,’ and there’s a clue of the Russian leader’s role, Fiona Hill argues Business Insider. Fierce enforcement of warmongering narrative.
Big Brother is Watching You Watch
New EU border fingerprint checks could ruin British families’ summer getaway next year – with Dover especially-badly hit, the port’s boss has warned Daily Mail. Wellie, no more EU visits for me. Not that my actions matter.
Former WSJ Reporter Says Law Firm Used Indian Hackers To Sabotage His Career Reuters
Li: “Today in psyops:”
More backstory: The Truth Behind ‘Birds Aren’t Real’ Vice
Imperial Collapse Watch
Biden’s National Security Strategy Is a Defense of US Domination, Not Democracy Truthout
Other Countries Have Reduced Stillbirth Rates. Why Not the U.S.? Undark
In this category as an indicator of where the US is:
I have one of the neighbor kids over at my house at present, working on his college essay. I’ve been doing this a lot lately (we have a gaggle of kids on the block who are all the same age, all grew up together, and are now all seniors) and every time it’s the same:
— Kelly Barnhill is Now a Dragon (@kellybarnhill) October 16, 2022
1/6
The Trump Subpoena: Why the Jan 6 Committee’s Timing is both Terrible and Telling Jonathan Turley
What Republicans Really Thought on January 6 Atlantic (David L)
Biden
Jill Biden booed by crowd in Joe Biden’s home state (VIDEOS) RT (Kevin W)
2022
Democrats focused on abortion rights worry they’re losing independent women The Hill
Democrats’ midterm hopes fade: ‘We peaked a little early’ Politico
GOP seizes momentum in battle for Congress The Hill
Groups mobilize to help voters confronting new election laws Associated Press (furzy)
Nancy Pelosi’s husband bought at least $1 million in Alphabet stock days before House leadership proposed a congressional stock trading ban Business Insider
Fake “anti-war” fraud @TulsiGabbard endorsed pro-Trump neocon Don Bolduc, a Republican Senate candidate who wants US troops in Ukraine
Bolduc says: “Putin is a global threat. He is an enemy to the world… We can’t take any pressure off China either. We’ve got to go after China” https://t.co/8j1kF8mjke
— Ben Norton (@BenjaminNorton) October 17, 2022
Supremes
Supreme Court won’t take case raising past rulings denounced as racist Washington Post
The Bezzle
Bitcoin Fails To Produce 1 Block For Over An Hour Coindesk
Regulating DAOs Bruce Schneier (David L)
Facebook’s Metaverse Is Apparently Filled With Mostly Empty ‘Sad’ Worlds Kotaku (Kevin W)
Forecast for US Recession Within Year Hits 100% in Blow to Biden Bloomberg
Class Warfare
Hardship and heartbreak as Devon families lose homes to Airbnb lets Guardian (Paul R)
FedEx abandons its last-mile delivery robot program ars technica
Oakland Cops Hope to Arm Robots With Lethal Shotguns Intercept
Larry Summers actually tweeting “quiet quitting” means he’s now just your angry loser grandfather who watches Fox all day while your grandmother regrets not leaving 50 years ago when she had the chance, ignore his whole resume https://t.co/lDApScocS2
— attorneybot! (@attorneybot2021) October 18, 2022
Antidote du jour (CV):
And a bonus (guurst):
🔥 The Little owl using a mushroom as an umbrella pic.twitter.com/Js3fkOaei5
— Nature Is Lit (@NatureIs_Lit) October 13, 2022
Another from guurst:
Don’t touch it..🐈🐾🌀😅 pic.twitter.com/YeyKVo2swg
— 𝕐o̴g̴ (@Yoda4ever) October 15, 2022
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
