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.
Opium Traces Found in 3,500-Year-Old Pottery Suggests the Ancient Canaanites Were the First Humans to Use Psychoactive Drugs Artnet
Fossil egg analysis in China adds to debate of what may have caused dinosaurs’ demise CNN
You’re not good at this. The Reformed Broker. Of the Fed.
The Great Bond Bubble Is ‘Poof, Gone’ in Worst Year Since 1949 Bloomberg
Investors pile into insurance against further market sell-offs FT
SPAC King Palihapitiya Shutters Two SPACs as Deal Hunt Fails Bloomberg
They Were Entitled to Free Care. Hospitals Hounded Them to Pay. NYT. The extremely wussy deck: “With the help of a consulting firm, the Providence hospital system trained staff to wring money out of patients, even those eligible for free care.” The “consulting firm” was — hold onto your hats, here, folks — McKinsey. Commentary:
this story is an enraging collection of horrors, but from a professional standpoint, i write/design training for a living, and if you have my skill set, working on this kind of a project is a choice that tells me what kind of person you are. https://t.co/rSWd8UtiZ9 pic.twitter.com/nGxyXU3vRj
— GONELIKEHELLMACHINE (@golikehellmachi) September 24, 2022
This goes for a lot of projects. For example, this one–
The MiDAS Touch: Atuahene’s “Stategraft” and the Implications of Unregulated Artificial Intelligence UNM School of Law Research Paper No. 2022-21. From the Abstract:
[W]hen state agents have engaged in practices of transferring property from persons to the state in violation of the state’s own laws or basic human rights, it sits at the intersection of illegal behavior that generates public profit. Although these measures can be quantified in many other examples of state corruption, the criminality of state practice goes undetected and is compounded when the state uses artificial intelligence to illegally extract resources from people. This essay will apply stategraft to an algorithm implemented in Michigan that falsely accused unemployment benefit recipients of fraud and illegally took their resources.
The software, the Michigan Integrated Data Automated System (“MiDAS”), was supposed to detect unemployment fraud and automatically charge people with misrepresentation. The agency erroneously charged over 37,000 people, taking their tax refunds and garnishing wages. It would take years for the state to repay the people and it was often after disastrous fallout had happened due to the years of trying to clear their record and reclaim their money.
Climate
Limited climate change mitigation potential through forestation of the vast dryland regions Science
US installs record solar capacity as prices keep falling Ars Technica
The US wants to become a hydrogen production powerhouse The Verge (Re Silc).
Small communities could be buying, selling and saving money on electric power right now – here’s how The Conversation
Ancient Indian Caves Hold a Record of Historical Droughts across Asia The Swaddle
#COVID19
Pfizer’s chief executive tests positive for COVID-19 for second time in two months Sky News. The damage is cumulative…
Covid Still Kills, but the Demographics of Its Victims Are Shifting KHN
WHO warns ability to identify new Covid variants is diminishing as testing declines CNBC
China?
Former adviser sees influence by Chinese President Xi Jinping in Putin’s recent decisions Deutsche Welle
Syraqistan
The Most Stinging Resignation Letter Ever Written The Atlantic
Mahsa Amini’s Death Spurs Iranian Women to Cut Their Hair, Burn Hijabs in Protest Teen Vogue. Thinly sourced, except for influencers.
Dear Old Blighty
Investors warn Kwarteng that fiscal plan threatens markets’ confidence in UK FT. But:
Liz Truss’ supporters running hedge funds have used the response to Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini budget as an opportunity to profit from #ShortingThePound. Disaster capitalism in action. https://t.co/HplIr8dZv1
— Snigdha (@snigskitchen) September 25, 2022
How an obscure intellligence-linked party fixed a second Brexit referendum and torpedoed Corbyn The Gray Zone
New Not-So-Cold War
Holding Ground, Losing War Douglas Macgregor, The American Conservative (RS). Six-day forecast for European weather:
No snow yet, if that matters.
Prospects for guaranteeing the military campaign of 2023: the Ukrainian view (translation) Events in Ukraine. Original. Authors: Valery Zaluzhnyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, General, member of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, Mykhailo Zabrodsky, First Deputy Chairman of the the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security, Defense and Intelligence.
Peace in Ukraine or U.S. Hegemony? America Must Decide The National Interest
* * * Historic Context Of The Referenda In Ukraine Moon of Alabama
Why Ukraine referendum is a big deal Indian Punchline
* * * Putin’s Energy War Is Crushing Europe Foreign Policy
How war in Ukraine resembles past conflict in Yugoslavia Asia Times
Biden Administration
The Antitrust Shooting War Has Started Matt Stoller, BIG. Important.
We don’t have a hundred biases, we have the wrong model Works in Progress. Behavioral economics.
2024
The seven Democrats most likely to run for president — if Biden bows out The Hill. Harris, Buttigieg, Whitmer, Newsom, Warren, Sanders, AOC. Yes, Pharoah Sanders should run, but sadly it’s too late.
The Memo: Unease about Trump’s legal woes spreads through GOP The Hill
2020 Post Mortem
Georgia voting equipment breach at center of tangled tale AP
‘Kraken’ Trump lawyer Sidney Powell was a no-show for Georgia special purpose grand jury: report Alternet
How soon we forget:
220,000 deaths.
If you hear nothing else I say tonight, hear this: Anyone who is responsible for that many deaths should not remain President of the United States.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) October 23, 2020
RussiaGate
Durham insists Danchenko lies about ‘pee tape’ sourcing be evidence at trial Washington Examiner
Healthcare
State employees gear up for fight over cost-cutting Medicare Advantage plans VT Digger (MR). By “cost-cutting” we mean “privatized.” From the article: “Clarke Collins, deputy director of benefits and wellness for the state’s Department of Human Resources, said that … he believed that these particular plans would receive the same level of oversight from the state’s Department of Financial Regulation as is provided with retirees’ current plans” [nods vigorously].
Our Famously FreePress
Legal Journalism Is Broken Balls and Strikes
Supply Chain
Shipowner to blame, claims industry plaintiffs in latest Ever Given court case The Loadstar
Zeitgeist Watch
Guardians, eh?
Conditions in Cleveland’s Cuyahoga County Jail are so horrific that at one point a judge refused to send people there, releasing everyone charged with crimes without bail.
Wardens and guards have been criminally prosecuted for beating and killing people. Hard to see the humor. https://t.co/YwYxE7xomt
— Rebecca Kavanagh (@DrRJKavanagh) September 24, 2022
There’s plenty of people I’d like to see in orange jumpsuits, no baseball players among them.
Realignment and Legitimacy
The rise and fall of the Oath Keepers, born in Las Vegas Las Vegas Review-Journal
Experts See Downside for Democracy in Patagonia Sale The Energy Mix
Imperial Collapse Watch
Grover Cleveland: One of the great anti-imperialist presidents Responsible Statecraft (Re Silc).
Class Warfare
Class Warfare Grinds On Counterpunch
Buckle up, America: The Fed plans to sharply boost unemployment CBS
What Canada’s Largest Art Heist Reveals about the Art World’s Shady Side The Walrus
This artist is dominating AI-generated art. And he’s not happy about it. MIT Technology Review
Did Neanderthals Make Art? Sapiens
In Memoriam: Pharoah Sanders, 1940-2022 Downbeat. Musical interlude:
Antidote du jour (via):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
