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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.
Eagle-eyed Delaware hunter chances upon ‘holy grail’ of tree lovers — full-grown American chestnut WHYY
Meet the women hunting giant pythons ‘eating everything’ in the Everglades Los Angeles Times
Another Private Equity–Style Hospital Raid Kills a Busy Urban Hospital Mo Tkacik, The American Prospect. Tkacik is always worth a read.
Debt monsters in the downturn FT
The power of folk ideas in economic policy and the central bank–commercial bank analogy New Political Economy. “My findings suggest that although Europe’s central bankers are cognisant of the irrelevance of balance sheet capital in theory, they nevertheless attach weight to it in practice, in order not to contradict the public’s assumed common sense that persistent losses and negative capital are undesirable.”
Climate
How to stop cities and companies causing planetary harm Nature
Watching the world burn Agence France Presse. The Melting North:
Inuvik Region, Northwest Territories, Canada (77.0°N 112.8°W), 29 Aug 2022 pic.twitter.com/lOIeiT5zcR
— Sentinel 2 Bot (@Sentinel2Bot) September 14, 2022
The Gulf of Maine is simmering, but its lobsters seem fine — for now WaPo
Water
Fodder dries up for Pakistan’s cattle as floodwaters stay high Reuters
#COVID19
Rapid initiation of nasal saline irrigation to reduce severity in high-risk COVID+ outpatients Ear, Nose & Throat Journal. From the Abstract: “SARS-CoV-2+ participants initiating nasal irrigation were over 8 times less likely to be hospitalized than the national rate.”
The Flu Is Coming: Too bad we are ignoring the lessons learned from Covid Up@Night. Australia:
[T]here is a good reason to compare the flu to Covid. How so? Strategies and tactics that were used to reduce the transmission of Covid virtually stopped the flu in its tracks in 2020-2021. Unbelievably, only about 700 Americans died of the flu in the 2020-2021 season, when typically we lose tens of thousands.
An ethically healthy society would look at the number of lives saved and the suffering avoided during this time and say: “Wow! It looks like anti-Covid measures can help us against the flu and other viruses in the future. Wonderful! We need to make it happen.”
But we are not an ethically healthy society.
The Long Haul Chicago Magazine. “Long COVID is now the country’s third leading neurological disorder, the American Academy of Neurology declared in July.”
China?
Europe needs China’s diesel if it does cut off Russia imports Hellenic Shipping News. Hilarity ensues.
China’s top weapons scientist says nuclear fusion power is 6 years away South China Morning Post
* * * China keeps West guessing about economic pressure on Russia AP
U.S. considers China sanctions to deter Taiwan action as Taipei presses EU Japan Times
The Defence Strategic Review and the received wisdom about the China threat and US support Pearls and Irritations. From Australia.
AUKUS, one year on Lowy Interpreter. Also from Australia
Myanmar
Important from the NUG:
U Kyaw Zaw, Spokesperson of the office of the Acting President
Personal Statement related to his statement in Canadian senate in 2021 on RohingyaSeptember 14, 2022 pic.twitter.com/GxzpJVHjs2
— Aung Kyaw Moe (@akmoe2) September 14, 2022
Notably, Rohingya massacres took place on Aung San Suu Kyi’s watch. So I wonder if she will sign on to something similar….
The Koreas
South Korea issues arrest warrant for Do Kwon, Luna drop nearly 50% TechCrunch
Book Review: a Nuanced Look at North Korean Defectors The Blue Roof
[Kim Seong-kon] Missing the great America I used to know Korea Herald. The author encounters crapified customer service.
Syraqistan
Erdogan Vows Half-Million New Homes in $50 Billion Vote Push Bloomberg
Is Afghanistan’s Long Civil War Really Over? Foreign Affairs
Saudi King marks 9/11 anniversary: ‘We lost many good pilots’ DuffelBlog
UK/EU
How to judge fiscal policy in the time of Truss mainly macro
Sweden’s election: The astonishing rise of the right-wing Sweden Democrats Deutsche Welle
Queen Elizabeth
King Charles’s staff given redundancy notice during church service for Queen Guardian. Oh.
Republican protesters arrested at King Charles proclamations Guardian. That is, advocates of a republican form of government.
The cradle of free speech (1):
Touching message to the Queen left by grieving royal fan who says ‘pain is unbearable’ leaves social media users in tears https://t.co/1oQstE9Aqc
— Daily Mail Online (@MailOnline) September 14, 2022
The cradle of free speech (2):
‘Why not write something on the sign and express what you mean?’
‘I suppose we didn’t want to get arrested.’
Video of the blank sheet protest in Edinburgh: pic.twitter.com/6fvyrb6vjd
— Ciaran Jenkins (@C4Ciaran) September 13, 2022
Thousands of patients face cancelled NHS appointments or operations due to Queen’s funeral Independent. Contrast Diana’s funeral:
It was for these very reasons that Diana’s funeral was held on a Saturday, so that as many folk as possible could either go to London or watch it at home if they wished without the disruption that the Queens funeral is causing and I am sure she would not have wanted
— Jan Jones 🥨 #🤷🏻♀️📖🐛 🌻 (@BaffledBookworm) September 14, 2022
Other cancellations:
The 4 month delay before the next sitting is a substantial length of time, which will only add to anxiety.
We are extremely disappointed that in this case, UK based trainees have been disadvantaged compared to international candidates with this postponement.
— Junior Doctors (@BMA_JuniorDocs) September 13, 2022
Never let a crisis go to waste:
Under cover of the Queen’s death, Liz Truss lifted the fracking ban two days ago. A swathe of fracking licences across the country is the result. pic.twitter.com/PeZzhHzI96
— CrispinHolloway (@CTRH) September 12, 2022
The Fight for a New Chile Goes On Tribune
New Not-So-Cold Cold War
Kremlin TV Airs Call for Russia to Admit ‘Serious Defeat’ Daily Beast (Re Silc).
Predictions of Putin’s Demise Are Greatly Exaggerated Foreign Policy
Military briefing: Ukraine offensive ‘dooms’ Russia’s aims for Donbas and but Ukraine faces ‘tough fight’ even as Russian forces retreat, says US FT. We’ll soon know.
German economy to contract as energy crisis hits consumers, warn analysts FT. Economic time > military time > political time….
Biden Administration
A constitutional challenge to the F.T.C.’s very existence NYT. Stoller comments:
Dealbook reports on what we all know. The goal of the libertarian movement is to eliminate the FTC and antitrust enforcement. According to @FTCPhillips, the Trump antitrust suit against Facebook is unconstitutional. https://t.co/dJyZlvaLBd pic.twitter.com/UEMGxxBUCm
— Matt Stoller (@matthewstoller) September 13, 2022
US officially added to WHO’s list of poliovirus outbreak countries Ars Technica. Joe, Rochelle, good job.
Supply Chain
Nigeria seizes donkey penises to be smuggled to Hong Kong AP
Police State Watch
Rifles, Tasers and Jails: How Cities and States Spent Billions of COVID-19 Relief The Marshall Project
Intelligence Community
Former NSA Chief Keith Alexander Accused of Pump-And-Dump Investment Scheme The Intercept. You just have to scan for the keywords: “SPAC,” “Wells Fargo”, “Amazon”….
The Death of Ronald W. Pelton Jacob Silverman’s Miscellany
What Does the Weaponization of Global Finance Mean For U.S. Dollar Dominance? War on the Rocks
Imperial Collapse Watch
Measuring Americans’ Views on Isolationism, Multilateralism and the Country’s Most Pressing Foreign Policy Challenges Morning Consult. Handy chart:
Repeal the Iraq War Authorization The American Conservative
Our ‘Forgotten’ and Invisible Wars Daniel Larison, Eunomia
Class Warfare
Nebraska railroad workers prepare for Friday strike causing supply chain worries: ‘Might just finally break’ KMTV. Idea: The workers don’t want to use vacation days for medical appointments. So stop requiring that, like a civilized society would do.
“Players Realize Now: They’re Workers”: Why Baseball Minor Leaguers Voted to Unionize In These Times
What is a paleo-left agenda? Branko Milanovic, Global Inequality and More 3.0
Appendix 2- The Ancien Regime (podcast) Mike Duncan, Revolutions. Duncan sums up lessons learned for historiography, history, and podcasting. The podcast is a must-listen, although (or because) it begins in 1625 with the English Revolution, back in 2013 (!). There’s really nothing else like it.
Antidote du jour (via):
Bonus anti-antidote (via):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
