Links 10/15/2022 | naked capitalism

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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Neanderthals and modern humans may have copied each other’s tools Guardian (Kevin W)

Bullet trains in Japan used to make a loud boom sound when they traveled through tunnels. A bird-watching engineer was able to fix the problem after he was inspired by a kingfisher. pic.twitter.com/Hg1k86htLm

— Interesting Engineering (@IntEngineering) October 13, 2022

FDA Officially Declares a Shortage of Adderall NPR

In gold-standard trial, colonoscopy fails to cut rate of cancer deaths. STAT (fk). Yours truly has long been skeptical of colonoscopies as medical industry grifting. No other country recommends colonoscopies for everyone over 50. Canada, for instance, limits colonoscopies to high risk populations. They believe an annual fecal occult blood exam (a $2 test even in the US) does at least as good a job of detecting colon cancer. And mind you, this study was v. no colonoscopy, as opposed to v. a less costly type of test.

#COVID-19

CDC data are only updated 1x/week, and they’ve been lumping BQs in with BA.5. Very good reason to follow variant trackers like @CorneliusRoemer, @RajlabN, @Asinickle1, @TWenseleers, @jbloom_lab, @JPWeiland, @SolidEvidence, @LongDesertTrain, @DGBassani, @yunlong_cao https://t.co/XGSVh5v1Vh

— T. Ryan Gregory (@TRyanGregory) October 14, 2022

When doctors become long Covid patients – and still aren’t believed Guardian (Kevin W)

Covid cases rise as one in 37 has virus in UK BBC. Kevin W: “So much for herd immunity. /sarc.”

Climate/Environment

Australian wheat yields plummet after decades of global heating, study finds Guardian

Abandoned Texas oil wells are blowing out. The state won’t fix them. Grist

Animal Populations Shrunk an Average of 69% Over the Last Half-Century, Report Says NPR

Maine lawmakers snap over lobster fishing’s impact on whales PhysOrg

China?

Biden Is Now All-In on Taking Out China Foreign Policy (Kevin W)

U.S. Suppliers Halt Operations at Top Chinese Memory Chip Maker Wall Street Journal

Every American executive and engineer working in China’s semiconductor manufacturing industry resigned yesterday, paralyzing Chinese manufacturing overnight.

One round of sanctions from Biden did more damage than all four years of performative sanctioning under Trump.

— Jordan Schneider (@jordanschnyc) October 14, 2022

China imports $400 billion annually in chips. (!)

Cutting off access to chips turns that buying power inward as Chinese firms are forced to turn to second-tier domestic suppliers. But over time, those resources will help boost Chinese domestic chip firms. 7/

— Paul Scharre (@paul_scharre) October 3, 2022

But isn’t AI important? Isn’t it worth holding China back?

AI is somewhat important now, but the most exciting breakthroughs are currently in basic research. Applied AI is valuable, but likely pales in comparison to the applications we’ll see in ~5-10 years.
9/

— Paul Scharre (@paul_scharre) October 3, 2022

Anti-CCP protest and lockdown fears fuel China tensions before congress Guardian (furzy)

China is late to improve its messaging re lockdowns: Long COVID exposes long-term, irreversible challenges of ‘lying flat’ approach, may lead to innovation and economic decline Global Times

Old Blighty

UK money funds draw ‘gigantic’ inflows as pension schemes build up war chests Financial Times

How Britain’s pension scheme hedge became a trillion pound gamble Reuters

Líz Truss Continues To Be The Bad Prime Minister Everyone Had Expected Her To Be Moon of Alabama

If Kwarteng should go, then so should Bailey. ConservativeHome

Inside the Thatcher Larp London Review of Books

Unbelievable, the Daily Star have a live feed, seeing whether Truss will outlive a lettuce. pic.twitter.com/AfcOIEcJy9

— Jaimie (@JaimieAlexKay) October 14, 2022

La belle France

French strikes spread as government orders fuel depot staff back to work France24 (Kevin W)

Credit Suisse prepares Swiss business sales to raise capital Financial Times

Two men sentenced to 40 years jail for Malta reporter Daphne Caruana Galizia’s car-bomb murder abc.net.au (Anthony L)

New Not-So-Cold War

Ukraine Latest: Russia Strikes Energy Targets in Kyiv Region Bloomberg. As of 10/15 PM time in Kyiv.

Ukraine. Military Summary And Analysis 14.10.2022 Military Summary v. Russia Evacuates Kherson Civilians, Ukraine Evacuates Bakhmut Forces; Putin Erdogan Meet Partnership Alexander Mercouris. Dima of Military Summary claims that there are 60,000 Ukraine soldiers preparing to storm Kherson city, while Mercouris says he looked very hard as to whether there was much apparent reason for the Kherson mayor to have offered (not ordered) evacuation, when his #2 then largely walked it back, and Mercouris didn’t find any. Mercouris remarked that if anything Russian defense lines had hardened. Separately, even if Dima is directionally correct or even spot on, the Ukraine approach looks to be in the same open steppe area that made the last big Kherson offensive a pigeon shoot for Russian artillery. However, one basis for concern is Ukraine troops would not have to advance insanely far on one avenue to get within HIMARS shelling distance of Kherson, which would be reason enough to want to get civilians out of of the way. We’ll see soon enough who had the better reading.

Col Doug Macgregor – Ukraine Russia War Latest Judge Napolitano

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Top EU diplomat calls most of the world ‘jungle’ RT (Kevin W)

Finnish Guys ‘Annex’ Russia Diplomat’s Parking Spot With Ukraine Flag Business Insider (furzy)

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Erdogan backs Putin’s gas hub proposal RT. Kevin W: “Erdogan would have been all over this like Michael Jackson at a boy scout jamboree. So if the EU wants energy, they will have to come knocking at his door and beg for it. Can you imagine?” Moi: Biden and the State Department will be losing their minds….and looking for ways to punish Erdogan and Türkiye

Russia courts Muslim countries as strategic Eurasian partners Pepe Escobar, Press TV

Russia Suggests A Price Cap On U.S. LNG OilPrice. Kevin W: “This is just the Russians trolling the EU.”

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Crimea bridge: Russia ‘to repair blast damage by July 2023’ Azərbaycan24

Putin reveals fresh threat to Istanbul grain deal RT. Putin mentions the Odessa connection recounted at length by John Helmer via Russian press sources. However, Putin depict evidence as not firmed up enough (yet) to bank on it.

Ukraine War Day #232: Why Russia Needs To Take Odessa Awful Avalanche (guurst)

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EU’s weapons kitty runs dry as Ukraine seeks more arms Politico

Tucker, sadly, seems to be the only person with the viewership to be to get away with this sort of thing:

🫰💰🇺🇦Tucker Carlson Responding To Zelensky Demanding More Money

“Some uppity foreigner in a t-shirt demanding money for his ‘critical economic needs.’ We have critical economic needs too, buddy. Who are you troll? Go away.” pic.twitter.com/xXaxEfJPVv

— AZ 🛰🌏🌍🌎 (@AZgeopolitics) October 14, 2022

From “Steadfast noon” To One Minute To Midnight-Is NATO Going Nuclear? Larry Johnson (Chuck L)

Big Brother Is Watching You Watch

Meta’s New Headset Will Track Your Eyes for Targeted Ads Gizmodo

Consumer privacy tension increases with voice and face biometrics cases across the US Biometric Update

Digital License Plates Bruce Schneier

Imperial Collapse Watch

It may not say so, but US sees Africa as a growing military competition with China and Russia South China Morning Post

1/6

Secret Service response to Jan. 6 investigation has been ’cause for concern’: Lofgren MSNBC (furzy)

Trump ‘loves the idea of testifying’ before Jan. 6 committee: source close to the former president Fox

“All Hell Is Going to Break Loose”: How Trump’s Inner Circle Prepared for Violence Ahead of Jan. 6 Democracy Now (furzy)

Trump

Trump Organization assets should be frozen, New York attorney general asks court Politico

Biden

Five ways Biden can ‘re-evaluate’ the Saudi relationship now Responsible Statescraft (Kevin W)

Saudi Arabia calls out US bluster Indian Punchline

Senate Races That Could Tip The Balance Intercept

Atlanta Fed chief’s violation of trading rules reignites ethics scandal Financial Times

Tesla Shares Get Halved Wolf Richter

Bernanke v. Kindleberger: Which Credit Channel? Institute for New Economic Thinking

Charting the Global Economy: IMF Warns of Deteriorating Outlook Bloomberg

Class Warfare

Elites realize they need blue-collar workers they derided New York Post (BC)

The Republican assault on social insurance continues apace Angry Bear

Workers Say Amazon Is Punishing Them for Observing Union Vote Vice

Antidote du jour. Cheryl K: “I humbly submit Lucy (front, a Briard) and Garbo (German shepherd mix); 2 herding dogs that would always rather slack off on the Oregon coast.”

And a bonus (Chuck L):