Links 12/10/2022 | naked capitalism

Kelvin-Helmholtz: Rare wave clouds amaze sky-watchers in Wyoming BBC (resilc)

Hubble Detects Ghostly Glow Surrounding Our Solar System PhysOg

Mars May Have Active Volcanoes, Adding New Promise To Search for Extraterrestrial Life Time

Researchers Link Aspartame Sweetener To Anxiety Science (furzy)

#COVID-19

Key Partner in Covax Will End Support for Middle-Income Nations New York Times

Science/Medicine

Study: COVID-19 rapid home tests not highly sensitive for Omicron CIDRAP

So far, not bothered by those “informing me” that only vaccinated folks develop long covid. FALSE

In fact, here’s a massive study that found vaccination decreases chances of long covid. But unfortunately not by much. It seems we are all susceptiblehttps://t.co/tUd5O1VHEV pic.twitter.com/yHyJVi27QY

— Dianna Cowern (@thephysicsgirl) December 10, 2022

Asia

China preparing for bad outcomes:

Major development in China’s covid policy

The quarantine facilities will be transformed into medical facilities to treat people with severe covid symptoms

With at least 10% of its capacity turned into ICU beds
🧵 pic.twitter.com/XBD9AEctxL

— Zhao DaShuai 无条件爱国🇨🇳 (@zhao_dashuai) December 9, 2022

US

We’re living in virus hell Washington Post. Lambert: “They brought this entirely on themselves…”

Climate/Environment

Crews race to contain biggest oil spill in Keystone pipeline history: Mystery breach sends 14,000 barrels of crude gushing over Kansas countryside Daily Mail

What US Leadership Can Do for Nature Project Syndicate (David L)

Nature-based solutions can generate 20 million new jobs with right policies: UN report Anadolu Agency

Colgate’s 9 Billion Toothpaste Tubes Defy Effort To Recycle Them Bloomberg

An Indian spiritual leader is urging the world to ‘save soil.’ Experts say he’s not helping. Grist

China?

The semiconductor industry and the China challenge Asia Times. Kevin W: “Part 2 at https://asiatimes.com/2022/12/the-chip-industry-and-national-security/”

China banks throw $460bn credit lifeline to real estate sector Nikkei

China to Cooperate With Gulf Nations on Nuclear Energy and Space, Xi Says New York Times

China to use Shanghai exchange for yuan energy deals with Gulf nations – Xi Reuters

For all the talk about inequality in China, the numbers do not lie: China is leading its people to prosperity, while Europe leads its people toward ruin. pic.twitter.com/GtZ8FRUADZ

— Paweł Wargan (@pawelwargan) December 9, 2022

Old Blighty

A crisis in a crisis: How charity workers are struggling to make ends meet openDemocracy

There’s a better Brexit strategy available to Labour Chris Grey

German Government Deficit to Hit 4.5% in 2023 – Spiegel Reuters

THE NIGHT OF THE PEN KNIVES – THE OLAF SCHOLZ PLOT EXPOSED AS PUTZ, NOT PUTSCH John Helmer

Greece’s Varoufakis brings his anti-establishment party to Italy Politico

Napoleon’s Art of Warfare Big Serge

New Not-So-Cold War

L’affaire Merkel nails the coffin in any hope for a peace deal (not that we had any, we thought expectations were wildly out of line). Alexander Mercouris argued yesterday, and I agree, that Merkel was not playing Putin from the outset. But she came to appreciate the fierce opposition of the US and fell in line.

‘Minsk II Was Agreed On To Arm Ukraine’ – Did Merkel Really Say That? Moon of Alabama. Even if the Mercouris/Moon takes are correct, they don’t exculpate Merkel and Germany. She refused to uphold a signed deal when the wind blew the other way.

That Sends Shockwaves… Andrei Martyanov. Important.

🇩🇪🇺🇦🇷🇺Putin – about Merkel’s words about cheating with the Minsk agreements:”To be honest, it was absolutely unexpected for me. It’s disappointing. Trust almost dropped to 0. How to negotiate? About what? And is it possible to negotiate with them? Where are the guarantees? ” pic.twitter.com/sQ8ti1xRUH

— AZ 🛰🌏🌍🌎 (@AZgeopolitics) December 9, 2022

Paul Whelan: US and Russia to explore more prisoner swaps BBC

The Americans Started the US War with Russia CounterPunch (resilc)

In Ukraine, they announced damage to about half of critical infrastructure Teller Report

Modi to Skip Annual Putin Summit Over Ukraine Nuke Threats Bloomberg. Note Putin has made no such treat. That was Liz Truss. The West kept accusing Russia when Russia had not changed doctrine, which was that the use of nukes was defensive. However, this shows the dangers of trying to debunk something, that it often winds up reinforcing the disputed proposition. For instance, studies found that press attempts to disprove the claim that Saddam Hussein worked with Osama bin Laden in 9/11 wound up reinforcing the idea, merely by putting their names in same paragraph. The visual proximity supported the idea that they were connected.

Russia offers India cooperation on lease and construction of heavy-tonnage vessels TASS

Iran, Russia, China Hold Joint Naval Drill Amid Growing Ties Radio Free Europe

Syraqistan

The Other Giant Crisis Hanging Over the Islamic Republic of Iran Intercept

Big Brother is Watching You Watch

Guess which Fortune 500 brands and govt agencies share data with Twitter? The Register

The Legal System Is Completely Unprepared for Apple AirTag Stalking Vice

Imperial Collapse Watch

New spending bill squanders billions on dysfunctional weapons programs Responsible Statecraft

Trump

Judge declines to hold Trump and his legal team in contempt of court over classified documents: reports Business Insider

Kyrsten Sinema Switches to Independent, but Stays Close to Democrats Charles Pierce, Esquire (furzy)

“She is scared about her reelection”: Kyrsten Sinema ditches Democrats and registers as independent Salon

Our No Longer Free Press

This tweeet may sound like an exaggeration but consider: on YouTube, the Duran boys make a point of not using the words Nazi or Hitler or Bucha apparently because they risk being demonetized.

What the US has is not freedom of speech, it is freedom of censorship. They lecture Russia, Iran, China, etc., about suppressing free speech, but they themselves are the worst. The level of censorship in the US is second to none.

— Hassan Mafi ‏ (@thatdayin1992) December 9, 2022

To quote famed short seller David Einhorn: “No matter how bad you think it is, it’s worse”:

1. @elonmusk , Your new company @Twitter has many ex FBI/CIA agents in high ranks. Should probably do a little housecleaning.

Thread 🧵

— Name Redacted (@NameRedacted247) December 7, 2022

3. We’ll show you what hasn’t been revealed: the erosion of standards within the company in months before J6, decisions by high-ranking executives to violate their own policies, and more, against the backdrop of ongoing, documented interaction with federal agencies.

— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 9, 2022

Supply Chain/Inflation

China’s PPI is a decent gauge of global deflation/inflation, and a decent fit with the yield curve and US rates. If the Chinese economy is reopening, PPI is likely to rise, driving the yield curve steeper/rates higher pic.twitter.com/PJCGKCxdzf

— Global_Macro (@Marcomadness2) December 9, 2022

The Bezzle

1/2🚨Exclusive: Crypto news site @TheBlock__ has been secretly funded for over a year w money funneled to its CEO LLCs from #SBF’s @AlamedaResearch
—3 loans total:
—$12M & $15M loans went to The Block
—$16M used by CEO to buy real estate in Bahamashttps://t.co/Kr4cRMtS9Q@axios

— Sara Fischer (@sarafischer) December 9, 2022

SBF just suggested creating another Ponzi token scheme to payoff the earlier victims of his first Ponzi scheme. 🔥

Ht @alifarhat79 pic.twitter.com/XpRvGOy7Nb

— Wall Street Silver (@WallStreetSilv) December 9, 2022

Sam Bankman-Fried Agrees to Testify Before House Committee New York Times (Kevin W)

I Accidentally Got SBF To Admit to Fraud Coffeezilla, YouTube. In case you missed it, good and not overlong weekend fare.

Want to own Twitter’s kitchen equipment or office chairs? Here’s your chance MarketWatch

FCC Orders Telecoms To Block Scammers Targeting Student Loan Forgiveness Seekers Gizmodo

Understanding Absolute Vs. Comparative Advantage & Why It Matters Ian Welsh

Class Warfare

UK government mounts state offensive against striking workers Defend Democracy

A third of New Zealand’s Navy ships are docked over lack of crew Defense News

Tackling inequality from the demand side Steve Waldman

Antidote du jour (William B):

And a bonus (guurst):