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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The Asteroid that Killed the Dinosaurs Spawned a Monster Tsunami Gizmodo
Developing Developments James Howard Kuntsler (Lee)
The Stagflationary Debt Crisis Is Here Nouriel Roubini Project Syndicate
How a New ‘Great War of Africa’ Is Raging Under the Cover of a Media BlackoutThe Telegraph
Climate/Environment
La Niña’s Shock Return Suggests Important Details Are Missing in Climate Models Science Alert
Water
Wall Street is Behind Jackson’s Water Crisis The Lever
What’s protected under the Clean Water Act? The Supreme Court is about to decide Grist
#COVID-19
Neurogenesis is disrupted in human hippocampal progenitor cells upon exposure to serum samples from hospitalized COVID-19 patients with neurological symptoms Molecular Psychiatry
Syraqistan
Turkish Government Moves to Lift Main Opposition Leader’s Immunity Balkan Insight
Netanyahu attacks US over Israel-Lebanon maritime border deal Al-Monitor
Iraq: Sadrists attack rival factions in Basra to choke off their funds Middle East Eye
European Disunion
Energy crisis feared by Europe long a reality in Iraq AFP
Pressure on Germany as energy crunch revives EU divisions over joint debt Reuters
Patrick Lawrence: The West—Technocrats, Incompetents, Ideologues Scheerpost
Old Blighty
Liz Truss’s speech: PM to say disruption will be worth it for growth BBC (Kevin W)
Hysteria Has Derailed Kwasi Karteng Unherd
China?
Can ‘Peanuts’ Save Shanghai’s Covid-ravaged Retail Sales and Economy? SCMP
China on course to elude US chip-making equipment bans Asia Times
New Not-So-Cold War
Saudi Arabia and Russia plan deep oil cuts in defiance of US FT
Could Russia Use Nukes in Ukraine? Mark Sleboda vs. Could the US Use Nukes in Ukraine?
Our Nuclear Options National Review
US Denies Ukraine’s Request for Long-Range Missiles in Latest Arms Gift Defense One
How the War in Ukraine Ends Benjamin Studebaker
Ukraine’s ambassador to Germany is not having it. pic.twitter.com/JA1Cq2nr0m
— Vera Bergengruen (@VeraMBergen) October 3, 2022
This is not a joke. American think-tankers are *seriously* claiming that Musk is Putin’s envoy.
And that Elon just delivered Putin’s peace proposal over Twitter.
We. are. not. a. serious. country. https://t.co/rFfjCgavrT
— Clint Ehrlich (@ClintEhrlich) October 4, 2022
Hours after being blasted for parroting Putin’s propaganda, Elon Musk says he is ‘obviously’ pro-Ukraine and says SpaceX has spent $80 million on Starlink in the country Business Insider
It’s Only a Conspiracy Theory when It Accuses the US Government Caitlin Johnstone (Kevin W)
South Korea’s Famed Chiron Missile Systems Will Soon Guard Ukrainian Airspace – Reports Military Watch Magazine
North Korea conducts longest-range missile test yet over Japan Reuters
US Warns Burkina Faso Coup Leaders on Russia AFP
Russia-India corridor now goes east, middle and west RailFreight
Biden Administration
Trump asks Supreme Court to intervene in Mar-a-Lago documents case Politico
Donald J. Trump v. United States of America The full application before the USSC.
Realignment and Legitimacy
Nearly Half the Country Now Has Serious Doubts about the FBI The Hill “Approval of the FBI is highest among voters with annual incomes above $200,000”
It was never a real “fear” grounded in policy critique, it was just a partisan attack on Trump. Hillary played up “TRUMP WILL START WORLD WAR III” in 2016 even as she called for a No Fly Zone in Syria. They’ve always supported pro-WWIII policy under the right political conditions https://t.co/qBV7pgQgyv
— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) October 4, 2022
Imperial Collapse Watch
Judge Finds Sailor Not Guilty in Fire That Destroyed $1.2B Warship Defense One
F-35A fighters operationally unready 234 times over 18-month period: lawmaker Yonhap
Democrats en déshabillé
The Democracy: How the Nation’s Oldest Political Party Learned to Think Small The Baffler
What the fuck are you writing a book for? You didn’t accomplish shit yet
— Revolutionary Blackout Network🥋 (@SocialistMMA) October 4, 2022
Police State Watch
LAPD Officer Killed in Training ‘Accident’ Was Investigating Gang Rape by 4 Other Officers Jezebel
New Yorkers can now look up the records of police they encounter Gothamist
If You Cannot Afford a Lawyer, One Will Be Appointed for You. Or Maybe Not. Medium
Our Famously Free Press
So @thehill’s new owners are just openly banning all content critical of Israeli government policies. And it all began with firing @kthalps.
Where are the “cancel culture” warriors? 🦗🦗🦗 pic.twitter.com/5reB2kpZzj
— rafael shimunov (@rafaelshimunov) October 4, 2022
Class Warfare
Why We Should All Be Worried About ‘Chokepoint Capitalism’ Time
Housing Market in Chaos on 2008 Crash Anniversary (video) Breaking Points (Flora)
Our Health and Safety Are Not a Priority Here: Why Refresco Workers Unionized Real News Network
The past three(-ish) weeks in US unions, September 10th-October 2nd, 2022 Who Gets the Bird?
Groves of Academe
A Pandemic-Era Cut With a Hidden Price Tag: Private colleges slashed retirement contributions to their employees by $729 million in 2020 Chronicle of Higher Education
The Bezzle
Elon Flips the Script Platformer
In 1978, Mark Gubin painted this on his roof. His building is next to the airport in Milwaukee. It is still confusing passengers to this day. pic.twitter.com/xXiDwjclzO
— jim rose circus (@jimrosecircus1) October 4, 2022
Antidote du jour (via):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
