Dear patient readers,
A malicious reader yesterday posted a comment falsely stating that I had been hospitalized for Covid (and having dealt with this troll before, the point apparently is to depict me as a poor source of information as to how to avoid Covid). I do not and have never had Covid.
Moreover, if I were to make a statement regarding a serious health issue, I would do that in a post proper, and never as a comment. So please disregard any comments like that in the future, in the highly unlikely event they do get through.
I do appreciate all the expressions of concern, but they were extracted under false pretenses. That confirms the lack of consideration the poster had for the impact on others, which is what got them blacklisted in the first place.
Separately, I am mystified at the fragile egos of those who try to make Naked Capitalism a personal project after having been banned. It says they have no higher and better use for their time than posting petty commentary at a small website, don’t have other outlets (as in have a history of having been blacklisted elsewhere) and/or think they are entitled to a platform but lack the self-discipline and ability to generate the interesting content needed to develop their own audience. As Barry Ritholtz often said, GYOFB.
With the ingestible perfume, toilets will now smell good Turkish Economy (Dr. Kevin)
Societies of perpetual movement aeon
Setback For Hopes of Life As NASA Says Less Oxygen On Jupiter Moon Than Thought Guardian. We have an awfully narrow conception of what life could look like.
Screen Time Robs Average Toddler of Hearing 1,000 Words Spoken By Adult a Day, Study Finds Guardian. They are losing not just language training but also development of interpersonal skills.
#COVID-19
Hypervaccinated Man’s Immune System Remains Fully Functional ScienceBlog (Dr. Kevin)
I challenge you to find anyone who likes vaccines more than HIM
Vaxxman
Vinay Prasad’s nemesis. Impervious to myocarditis https://t.co/HcYNY2fB6E
— AJ Leonardi, MBBS, PhD (@fitterhappierAJ) March 6, 2024
Climate/Environment
Cities are vulnerable to heatwaves. But green spaces can help more than we thought ZMEScience (Dr. Kevin)
Waiter, There’s a Fly in My Soup! Sustainable Food: Insect Farming Leads to Eating More Meat Bloomberg (Dr. Kevin)
The Arctic Ocean Could Be ‘Ice-Free’ Within the Decade, Researchers Warn Los Angeles Times
Satellite to ‘name and shame’ worst oil and gas methane polluters Guardian (Kevin W)
E-bikes caused a year’s worth of fires in two months, New York fire chief warns RT (Kevin W)
China?
China and the US are wrestling over a web of cables we never see, but rely on everyday ABC Australia (Kevin W)
VACC: Rifles for civilians to boost defense vs China Philippine Star (furzy)
Philippine and Chinese vessels collide in disputed South China Sea, four sailors injured 9News (Kevin W)
Old Blighty
And remember the UK’s population is less than half that of Russia’s:
🇷🇺: 400 people arrested for social media posts
🇬🇧: 3300 people arrested for social media posts
But Russia is more oppressive? pic.twitter.com/KkM8xoo4b5
— What the media hides. (@narrative_hole) March 5, 2024
European Disunion
Fron Politico’s European morning newsletter:
WHO KILLED THE EU ARMY? For years, Paris, Berlin and even Budapest have called for an EU army. But over the past few months, as European leaders have held intense discussions on the Union’s defense ambitions, the voices calling for an EU army have largely fallen silent.
What happened? “Defense is a member state competence. The point is not about having an EU army but rather to work better together among the 27 armies,” Josep Borrell, the EU’s top diplomat, told Playbook.
Really? But German MEP Hannah Neumann, an expert in defense, has a different explanation: “It doesn’t make sense to call for a European army at a time where you can’t even produce enough ammunition to defend yourself or support your closest partners.”
German defense ministry uses ‘1234’ as password RT (Kevin W)
France’s budget deficit will be ‘significantly’ above target, says finance minister Financial Times
Gaza
Operation Al-Aqsa Flood: The Defeat of the Vanquisher Jacques Baud, The Postil (guurst)
Houthis blow open murky world of ship nationality Financial Times
Time Is Running Out to Stop a Major Famine in Gaza Daniel Larison
Redemption through genocide Mondoweiss (sst)
‘We will die and not enlist’: Extremist Haredim block major highway for hours Times of Israel
Claims of Mass Rape by Hamas Unravel Upon Investigation Yes! Throughly stomps on what little is left of the defenses of these claims.
Why Netanyahu is laughing all the way to the bank Responsible Statecraft
On Palestine And The Worthlessness Of The Western Liberal Caitlin Johnstone (Kevin W)
New Not-So-Cold War
Cookie Monster is out! But she’s not visible enough with the general public to be an adequate scapegoat for Project Ukraine…even though she was its grand architect.
That bizarre speech she gave in Kiev at night in a puffy coat with no crowd and lousy lighting was a sign her power was greatly diminished. But this was way sooner than I expected. https://t.co/u9nYSSTpgw
— Yves Smith (@yvessmith) March 5, 2024
Putin’s nuclear warning is direct and explicit Indian Punchline (Kevin W)
Western Values
Worthy vs. Unworthy Victims: Study Reveals Media’s Selective Coverage of Navalny and Lira MintPress (Kevin W)
Big Brother is Watching You Watch
US and Europe try to tame surveillance capitalism The Register
UnitedHealth Group: vulnerable and ill-equipped to defend against modern threats like cyberattacks Wendell Potter (antidlc)
Imperial Collapse Watch
Very interesting interview with Russo-Ukrainian political scientist Rostislav Ishchenko on why the collapse of the West is a big problem for Russia as well:
“Our enemies’ problems are growing. The Western system is no longer able to stabilise itself. It is self-destructing… pic.twitter.com/faWTWELe4G
— Thomas Fazi (@battleforeurope) March 6, 2024
Coast Guard Poised To Buy Badly Needed Private Icebreaker The Warzone (Kevin W)
2024
Trump, Biden Ride Super Tuesday Wins to 2024 Rematch Few Want Bloomberg
Handy chart from the pink paper:
Raskin and the Agents of Chaos: Democrats Prepare to Resume Disqualification Efforts in Congress Jonathan Turley. Trying to weaponize petulance. They know they don’t have the votes.
Budget Brinksmanship
Earmark battle emerges as late threat to spending bill The Hill
GOP Clown Car
Nikki Haley Reverses Pledge to Endorse Trump if He Becomes the GOP Nominee Rolling Stone (Kevin W)
Democrats en déshabillé
Kyrsten Sinema announces she is retiring from the Senate CNN (Kevin W)
Adam Schiff’s Super PAC gave millions to Steve Garvey’s GOP campaign.
Down ballot races that would stay blue if Porter or Lee were the other nominee, are now up for grabs.
ANY seat that flips Red in CA in Nov, you can thank Adam Schiff.
Another reason why Any Blue Won’t Do. pic.twitter.com/c1nRYnslK0
— Jen Perelman (@JenChangeFL) March 6, 2024
Immigration
Krugman vs. Krugman Tablet (Anthony L)
Abortion
France becomes the only country to explicitly guarantee abortion as a constitutional right Associated Press (Kevin W)
As France makes abortion a constitutional right, UK women see sharp rise in abortion convictions France24 (Kevin W)
Our No Longer Free Press
Amanpour Confronts CNN Brass About “Double Standards” on Israel Coverage The Intercept (Dr. Kevin)
How a lack of local reporting affects the Supreme Court Eugene Linden, Columbia Journalism Review
Hello 143 Million US TikTok Users, Congress Is Working to Ban the App Michael Shedlock
We’re opposing crackdown on free speech Babylon Bee. Somehow I missed this new New York “hateful conduct” law. Via e-mail:
New York has announced a new censorship law that would coerce social media networks, including the satirical website The Babylon Bee, to monitor and crack down on what the state deems as “hateful conduct.”
But what will be deemed as “hateful conduct” is left up to humorless state officials to decide. And the Bee would need to adopt and endorse the state’s definition….
Alliance Defending Freedom is representing the Bee and urging a federal court to uphold a lower court’s decision halting this blatant censorship law—but we need your help.
Internet depends on unpaid labor of a small pool of hobbyists Guardian (Dr. Kevin)
Falling Apart Boeing Airplanes
Boeing Must Now Address Multiple Safety Issues With Its Planes Forbes (Kevin W)
‘I’m Not Trying to Cause a Scene. I Just Want to Get Off This Plane.’ Politico (Userfriendly)
Calpers Looks to Outsiders, Compiles Short List for New CIO Bloomberg (non-paywalled here)
AI
Microsoft Accuses the New York Times of Doom-Mongering in OpenAI Lawsuit engadget. A hard sell given the pervasiveness of that in the popular press and even labor market impact guesstimates by the likes of the IMF>
The rise of the job-search bots Business Insider (Kevin W)
The Bezzle
Class Warfare
Investors gobbling up homes in one of Calif.’s last affordable regions SFGate. Paul R: “Tax them into the ground.”
Biden to form ‘strike force’ to go after price-gouging The Hill. The Ford “Whip Inflation Now” program had more teeth, and they were not enough.
Antidote du jour (via):
And a bonus:
— Why you should have a cat (@ShouldHaveCat) March 6, 2024
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
