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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.
Fed Inflation Battle to Spur Greater Economic Harm Than Realized Bloomberg
Climate
Drifting Toward Disaster: The (Second) Rio Grande Texas Monthly
It Was War. Then, a Rancher’s Truce With Some Pesky Beavers Paid Off. NYT. For beavers, a keystone species, as “ecological engineers,” see NC here, here, and here.
#COVID19
Ending Free Covid Tests, US Policy Is Now “You Do You” The Nation
A Q&A with WHO’s Maria Van Kerkhove on Covid — and fatigue over the pandemic STAT!
China?
Chinese Banks Lose a Mortgage Safety Net as Developers Slide Into Distress WSJ. Commentary:
6/6
This isn’t bad luck or unfortunate timing. It is a systemic process exactly as Hyman Minsky described. The very conditions of a rising market create the behavior that ultimately undermines stability.https://t.co/WaZMnYsvsS— Michael Pettis (@michaelxpettis) September 9, 2022
Chinese president may enshrine his views on ‘one country, two systems’ principle for Hong Kong in Communist Party’s charter South China Morning Post
Not So Fast: Insights From a 1944 War Plan Help Explain Why Invading Taiwan Is a Costly Gamble War on the Rocks
Cambodia and the Curse of Forced Labor Cambodianess
Bangkok street vendors fear new governor’s relocation plan Nikkei Asia
9/11
On 9/11 Anniversary, End the Self-Delusion About America’s Enemies Foreign Policy
The “War on Terror” at 20+ Years: A Retrospective Counterpunch. With 9/11, Queen Elizabeth, and Ukraine, it’s all a bit much.
What the 20 Years Since 9/11 Have Been Like For a Survivor Teen Vogue
Queen Elizabeth
King Charles III in his own words FT
EXCLUSIVE: Royal beekeeper has informed the Queen’s bees that the Queen has died and King Charles is their new boss in bizarre tradition dating back centuries Daily Mail. And about the corgis:
their watch is done pic.twitter.com/OtuMO187ol
— JacobSilverman.shill (@SilvermanJacob) September 10, 2022
How Queen Elizabeth shepherded England out of Empire Responsible Statecraft. Commentary:
— Warren B. Mosler (@wbmosler) September 10, 2022
Queen Elizabeth II Dies at 96 After a Series of Health Issues HealthLine. Including Covid. Commentary:
Has anyone seen any reference to what the Queen died from? None of the stories I’ve seen/heard/read have referred to a cause of death or even said: “No cause of death was revealed.” It’s kind of unusual.
— Helen Branswell 🇺🇦 (@HelenBranswell) September 10, 2022
UK/EU
Truss is putting the monarchy at risk by joining Charles on tour Tax Research UK
New Not-So-Cold War
Ukraine’s lightning advance near Kharkiv leaves Russian forces in disarray FT. Article more balanced than the headline.
Russia Reportedly Withdraws From Izyum, Deploys Troops to Ukraine in Response to Kharkov Offensive (video) Alexander Mercouris, YouTube. Kudos to Mercouris for his Izyum call in his previous video, linked to yesterday.
Larry Fires A Salvo. Andrei Martyanov, Reminiscence of the Future, endorsing Larry Johnson here. The flower of Ukraine’s army exposed on the steppes, no longer behind fortifications….
Success on the battlefield whilst the pressure mounts on Ukraine’s home front. Adam Tooze, Chartbook. Economic time is moving faster than military time.
Ukraine’s southern offensive ‘was designed to trick Russia’ Guardian. According to “Ukraine’s special forces.” If so, the special forces fed a lot of pig farmers and other poor schlubs into the meatgrinder at Kherson as part of their sleight of hand. Slava Ukraini.
Last reactor at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant stopped AP. I wish they could find out who’s shelling the plant. ‘Tis a mystery!
Some Thoughts on Ukraine John Ganz vs. Brief response to John Ganz on Ukraine Carl Beijer. I would have thought that the establishment of a US/NATO-backed fascist state in Europe, on Russia’s western border no less, would be a cause for alarm on the left, even in the United States. (Readers will know I don’t use the word “fascist” lightly; see here.) Ah well, nevertheless….
Biden Administration
The White House has a plan for Big Tech Cory Doctorow, Pluralistic
Vice President Kamala Harris visits NASA Johnson Space Center to discuss the regulation of future space activity NPR
Chief Justice John Roberts defends legitimacy of court AP. Oh.
2024
DOJ and Trump each propose 2 special masters for Mar-a-Lago probe CNN
Healthcare
Scientists discover how air pollution causes lung cancer FT. “An estimated 300,000 lung cancer deaths per year worldwide are caused by very fine pollutant particles with a diameter below 2.5 microns, known as PM2.5, which are emitted in vehicle exhaust and fossil fuel combustion.” So on masking, come for the Covid, stay for the cancer!
New York declares state of emergency over polio to boost low vaccination rates CNBC. That’s bad news. Now for good news:
Monkeypox cases are going down in USA and EU. Test positivity rates declining. No signs of spread in schools or day care centers. https://t.co/dPdDnigRXK pic.twitter.com/kgMsYQR2LQ
— Jeremy Kamil (@macroliter) September 10, 2022
Wastewater surveillance of pathogens can inform public health responses Nature
Our Famously Free Press
Column: How the decline of local news exposes the public to lies and corruption Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times. Google doesn’t help either. If a local paper breaks a story and the Guardian does a rewrite, Google will throw the link to the Guardian.
Eric Feigl-Ding, the Epidemiologist Who Moves Fast and Breaks Things Office for Science and Society, McGill
The Groves of Academe
Will Bunch’s “After The Ivory Tower Falls” John’s Newletter
Realignment and Legitimacy
Our Ancestors Thought We’d Build an Economic Paradise. Instead We Got 2022 Brad DeLong, Time. Interesting!
Governance for a Healthy Economy Dani Rodrik, Project Syndicate
An interesting talk:
Join the UTMB Bioethics and Health Humanities community for a talk by Dr. Justin Feldman (@jfeldman_epi) on 9/22 at noon CDT on “How to Hide a Plague: How Elite Capture and Individualism Made Covid Normal.”
This will be an all-virtual event.
Info/RSVP: https://t.co/SXM00klSfk pic.twitter.com/r9tD994n2K
— Institute for Bioethics & Health Humanities (@IBHH_UTMB) September 8, 2022
Legitimacy crises in embedded democracies Benjamin Studebaker, Contemporary Political Theory
‘A new way of life’: the Marxist, post-capitalist, green manifesto captivating Japan Guardian (Re Silc).
Guillotine Watch
Yachts and Watches? The Real CEO Flex Is Washboard Abs. WSJ
Working Women Who Stay Single And Childless Are Richer Than Other Groups Essence
Class Warfare
How a railroad strike could send food prices soaring The Hill (Re Silc).
Why addressing inequality must be central to pandemic preparedness (editorial) BMJ.
From steelworkers to baristas: the new face of Pittsburgh’s evolving labor movement Pennsylvania Capital-Star
On Barbara Ehrenreich n+1
Remembering the Diggers Tribune
The Everlasting Wonder of Being: How a Cold Cosmos Kindles the Glow of Consciousness The Marginalian
Antidote du jour (via):
Bonus antidote:
Puppy vs mirror.. 😅 pic.twitter.com/Jd5ZmBTeRF
— Buitengebieden (@buitengebieden) September 10, 2022
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
