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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Watch: Monkey family exchanges love with human-like hugs, internet finds endearment ‘unconditional’ FirstPost (J-LS)
Australian scientists discover ‘biggest plant on Earth’ off WA coast Guardian (Kevin W)
Astronomers Unexpectedly Capture ‘Great Dimming’ of Supergiant Star Betelgeuse CNET
World’s first raspberry picking robot cracks the toughest nut: soft fruit Guardian (David L)
How to Make the Universe Think for Us Quanta (David L)
The Characteristics of the First Women to Become Army Rangers RealClearScience (Dr. Kevin)
Want to know whether that journal is scamming you? Introducing the Retraction Watch Hijacked Journal Checker Retraction Watch (Kevin W)
A Major Science Journal Publisher Adds A Weird Notice To Every Paper. What’s Behind This? Forbes (Dr. Kevin)
#COVID-19
Science/Medicine
In case anyone still thinks #COVID19 is getting milder as time goes on… ➡️no, it’s getting worse and worse for children. These are deaths. And it’s not ‘just the flu’ either… Flu isn’t deadlier over time, but COVID somehow is for kids. And kids shouldn’t die! #CovidIsNotOver https://t.co/Kp6fSgiGGU
— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) June 1, 2022
There’s a common myth being passed around that longCOVID is rare, that it only affects medically infirm people, that it can’t happen to me. Here’s a short thread on the famous people that are dealing with #longCOVID 1/ pic.twitter.com/uocJe9ThzR
— 𝙹𝚘𝚎 𝚅𝚒𝚙𝚘𝚗𝚍 (@jvipondmd) May 31, 2022
Asia
Normal. With Chinese Characteristics Heisenberg Report (resilc)
Celebrations at midnight as Shanghai reopens after draconian two-month COVID-19 lockdown ABC Australia. Kevin W: “There Is An Alternative.”
Shanghai just finished a 2 month lockdown. They went all out and stopped the pandemic using a dynamic zero covid strategy, including both lockdown and mass testing. People are out in the street celebrating. They can do so without risk of infection or long covid. 1/
— Yaneer Bar-Yam (@yaneerbaryam) May 31, 2022
US
During the Omicron Wave, Death Rates Soared for Older People New York Times. Resilc: “Plan for a solvent Social Security system.”
China?
US senator’s trip to Taiwan ‘very dangerous’; PLA sent warplanes Global Times
Beijing’s air and sea patrols near Taiwan a ‘necessary action against collusion’ with US, PLA says South China Morning Post
Brexit
UK food and drink exports to the European Union are down 17% in the first quarter compared to pre-pandemic levels as Brexit trade rules and supply chain snarl-ups continue to dent demand https://t.co/eAPZ0NhSB5
— Bloomberg UK (@BloombergUK) June 1, 2022
Brexit Impact Tracker – 25 May 2022 – The Rise of ‘Egocracy’ and Northern Ireland Gerhard Schnyder (guurst)
A lot of discussion of staff shortages (air travel, GPs) on @BBCRadio4 PM but, unless I missed it, not a single mention of Brexit as a (that’s “a”, not “the”) reason. There can’t be an honest conversation about the UK economy, including staffing, whilst Brexit is a taboo topic.
— Chris Grey 🇺🇦 (@chrisgreybrexit) May 31, 2022
Canada to temporarily decriminalize some drug possession to tackle abuse problem National Post (resilc)
New Not-So-Cold War
Ukraine. Military Summary And Analysis 31.05.2022 YouTube. May be too much detail for readers on a daily basis. But very good on the Kharkiv and Kershon “offensives,” as well as the Russian efforts to cut up the cauldrons in Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk versus the Ukraine retreats.
Turkey cancels NATO drills in Black Sea on basis of Montreux Convention, says top diplomat Tass
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Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s interview with French TV channel TF1, Moscow, May 29, 2022 The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation (guurst)
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Shell, Orsted to lose Russian gas from June 1 over refusal to pay under new system Interfax
Germany Slashes Summer Train Fares More Than 90 Percent To Curb Driving, Save Fuel Yale
Polish inflation at 13.9% in May: flash estimate Radio Poland
EU partially bans Russian oil, Jaishankar bound for East Europe Hindustan Times. J-LS: “Interesting details re Jaishankar.”
Poland’s prime minister called for a ban on third countries buying oil from Russia Political Lore
UK and EU hit Russian oil cargoes with insurance ban Financial Times. This theoretically could have real teeth, but Greek shipping magnates (whose ships are never flagged as Greek for tax and other reasons) have gotten carveouts to past sanctions, so I’d watch for the fine print here.
The EU should forget about sanctions – they’re doing more harm than good Guardian (Kevin W)
Europe’s Far-Flung Energy Woes American Conservative (resilc)
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Ukraine’s parliament just fired human rights ombudsman Lyudmila Denisova. MPs claimed her work focusing on the rape of Ukrainians by Russian troops which “couldn’t be confirmed with evidence […] only harmed Ukraine and distracted the global media from Ukraine’s real needs.”
— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) May 31, 2022
Ukrainian Official Behind Western Media Reports Of Russian Atrocities Fired By Ukrainian Parliament Caitlin Johnstone (KLG)
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Cracks Show in Western Front Against Russia’s War in Ukraine Wall Street Journal
Egypt signs €8 billion deal with Siemens for high-speed rail system DW. “Nice cars, rode them in Russia. Egypt will have high speed trains before USA USA.”
Syraqistan
The Afghanistan Collapse: Inspector General Finds US Spent 20 Years Building a Dependent Potemkin Nation AntiWar (resilc)
Will Someone Finally Say Israel Has Lost It? Haaretz (guurst)
Imperial Collapse Watch
Suicide takes more military lives than combat, especially among women Yahoo (Kevin)
Biden
Baby formula shortages reach more than 80 percent in some states amid US government inaction WSWS
Midterm elections 2022: The issues that matter to Americans Axois
Abortion
Anti-abortion activists are collecting the data they’ll need for prosecutions post-Roe MIT Technology Review (furzy)
Gunz
Taking Cues From Texas, California Proposes Its Own Bounty Law—Against Guns New Republic. Resilc: “We’ll have tv shows soon, how to rat on your neighbors for ca$h…..” He flags: Watching Neighbors: The Cuban Model of Social Control JSTOR
Biden on Second Amendment: When It Was Passed, ‘You Couldn’t Buy a Cannon’ Newsweek (furzy)
How New Zealand gun laws changed after the Christchurch massacre Grid (Dr. Kevin)
Trudy Busch Valentine’s Missouri Estate to Host NRA Fundraiser Intercept (resilc)
The Main Mental Health Issue in This Country Is in the Republican Party New Republic. Resilc: “I would say Fox News and MSNBC.”
Supply Chain/Inflation
Where Does the Supply Chain Crisis Stand Now? Morningstar (resilc)
Five takeaways from Biden’s inflation plan The Hill
The Physical Capacity Shortage View of Inflation Employ America (dk). From the executive summary:
Debates about the origin of inflation have so far focused on supply chain disruptions, excessive fiscal stimulus, and an unwillingness to work among the labor force at large. None of these accounts adequately capture the actual constraints fettering economic production and growth today, nor do they adequately explain where price inflation has most substantially materialized. Rather than inflation due to a shortage of labor, what we are seeing today is inflation mostly due to an acute shortage of physical capacity. US consumption and inflation are tightly linked to the constraints stemming from plant and equipment, which are often primarily located or manufactured overseas and subject to their own logistics constraints. If either of these become impaired, there is little ability to meet demand by redirecting production to domestic capacity.
Eurozone Inflation Hits Highest Level Since Creation of the Euro New York Times (Kevin W)
Supreme Court Gives Tech Industry Reprieve From Texas Social-Media Law Wall Street Journal
Facebook Copies TikTok App to Make Instagram Cool to Teens Bloomberg (resilc)
This Is Where Dirty Old Cars Go to Die Wired. Resilc: “My local Vermont shade tree mechanic was telling me about a town guy with a Chevy Bolt EV. Ranges goes down in heat and cold, now has range anxiety.”
Farmer Says Dealer Wouldn’t Repair His Tractor Until He Filed FTC Complaint Vice
An Electric Bus Caught Fire After Battery Explosion in Paris YouTube (Kevin W)
People saw stablecoins as a safe haven. They lost everything when Terra crashed Rest of World (resilc)
Class Warfare
Fascinating what De Gaulle had to say on the profile of those who joined the resistance during WW2.
When asked whether there was a link between wealth and collaboration, he wholeheartedly agreed: “there were so few ‘free French’ was because so many French were landlords”
— Arnaud Bertrand (@RnaudBertrand) May 30, 2022
Top-Paid LA Lifeguards Earned Up To $510,283 In 2021 Open the Books. Resilc: “Closed shop like crane operator at Long Beach.”
Antidote du jour (furzy):
And a bonus (dk):
The photographer took the perfect picture of a diving kingfisher after six years and 720,000 shots to get it right. Photo by Mario Cea Sanchez pic.twitter.com/v0cz780xog
— Curiosity (@Sciencenature14) May 31, 2022
And a second bonus (guurst):
— cats being weird little guys (@weirdlilguys) May 26, 2022
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
