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.
Researcher discovers another astronomy book written by Galileo Galilei Medievalists.net
Fed fearful of doing ‘too little’ to stamp out soaring inflation FT. Barber-surgeons fearful of doing “too little” with leeches.
A far greater pain beyond our borders Claudia Sahm, Stay-At-Home Macro
Think About Minsky for a Moment Stephanie Kelton, The Lens
How Wi-Fi spy drones snooped on financial firm The Register
#COVID19
CDC recommends Covid omicron booster shots for kids as young as 5 years old CNBC (MR).
More Harm Reduction, Less Abstinence-Only in COVID Messaging, Experts Say MedPage Today. “Public health agencies, including the CDC, should be somewhat separate from government because ‘there just needs to be some insulation so that it’s not sucked into the vortex of the day-to-day getting a ‘one up’ on your political opponent,’ [Amesh Adalja, MD, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security] said.” The difficulty here is that public health agencies — CDC, WHO — engineered enormous, population-level debacles on testing, masking, and transmission while the political situation was still fluid. Crimes against humanity for which they have never yet been held accountable. (WHO”s tweet labeling #CovidIsAirborne as disinformation is still up.) I’m not sure what the solution is, but I know that doubling down on PMC class power via independent agencies isn’t the way forward, because the individuals who exercise power on behalf of that class have shown themselves incapable of acting in any interest but their own (see How Ashish Jha and Rochelle Walensky of Newton, MA Protect Their Children from Covid (But not Yours)).
China?
There is no ‘brake’ to apply if we let go: top health expert on need to stick with dynamic-zero COVID approach Global Times. China’s unwillingness to slaughter millions of elders to keep the West’s supply chains full of trinkets is incomprehensible, and a sign of poor governance. Commentary:
Because let’s get serious- if the people who are screeching for us to drop Zero-COVID to validate their failure, can’t buy the latest phone or laptop when they want because my classmate is gasping for air on her dormitory bed- they’ll be screeching about economic warfare instead.
— Naomi Wu 机械妖姬 (@RealSexyCyborg) October 12, 2022
China’s Xi Jinping problem FT
Tech war: China’s top chip equipment maker removes US employees from product development after Washington imposes restrictions South China Morning Post
What does the 20th Party Congress mean for shipping? Splash 247
Myanmar
The international community must get real about Myanmar The Hill. No, it really doesn’t. We are, naturally, sending weapons where they will do nothing but support fascists (Ukraine), and not sending guns that would be used to oppose fascists (Myanmar). What we don’t need is a gaggle of NGOs yammering for the return of (the well-known brand,) Aung San Suu Kyi. Or some sort of brokered settlement….
Myanmar’s Pivot to Russia: Friend in Need or Faulty Strategy? Fulcrum
Young, Underground Reporters ‘Fight a Gun With a Pen’ in Myanmar New York Times
India
Exclusive: India’s RBI asks banks to stop building positions in offshore market Reuters
Jamnagar’s ‘swimming camels’ in deep waters People’s Archive of Rural India
Dear Old Blighty
King Charles III Greets Truss With ‘Dear Oh Dear’ Amid Turmoil Bloomberg. Commentary:
A member of Truss’s own cabinet tells me Truss’s and Kwarteng’s governance is so dire that some Tory MPs would vote against her in a confidence vote, preferring even a general election that cost them their seats to the current economic chaos
— Robert Peston (@Peston) October 12, 2022
Channel 4 buys painting by Hitler – and may let Jimmy Carr destroy it Guardian. We shall not flag nor fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight on the memes. We shall fight on the television. We shall fight on the Op-Ed pages. We shall never surrender.
European Disunion
Farmers join civilians in mass demonstrations, Germany The Watchers
EU’s Unity Over Russia at Risk From Political Limbo in Bulgaria Bloomberg
Syraqistan
EXPLAINER: Who is leading the crackdown on Iran’s protests? AP
Japan keeps up verbal warnings against yen sell-off to halt slide Reuters
New Not-So-Cold war
Russia Detains Eight Suspects in Crimea Bridge Explosion WSJ
EXPOSED: Before Ukraine blew up Kerch Bridge, British spies plotted it The Grayzone. Interesting, although it seems the actual perpetrators used a different “plot.” (We see email where the UK hooks up the planners with a former Lithuanian Minister of Defense. One might wonder whether the PowerPoints for blowing up Nordstream 1 and 2 were shared round the Baltic in a similarly promiscuous fashion.)
Appraisal of The Recent Performance of Russian Intelligence in the Ukraine John Helmer, Dances with Bears. Well worth a read. And, readers, whatever you can read between the lines, please leave in comments.
‘Teilmobilisierung’ und Demokratie Gilbert Doctorow. Scroll down for the English version.
‘All It Takes is One’: Iran Gives Russia Help From the Air Foreign Policy
Two potentates meet up at St. Petersburg Indian Punchline
‘They are stealing Russia’: Adam Curtis on how hyper-capitalism wrecked a nation – and why Liz Truss must take heed Guardian (DC).
All moralizing aside:
Absolutely heart-wrenching pics of deplorable Russian aggression in Ukraine.
Only joking, they are pics of NATO bombing Serbia, Libya and Afghanistan. pic.twitter.com/mvMur1s0Up
— Alan MacLeod (@AlanRMacLeod) October 11, 2022
The Caribbean
Haiti wants U.S., Canada to lead anti-gang strike force, diplomat says Reuters
Biden Administration
Anthony Blinken Raises the Pucker Factor on Dissent Matt Taibbi (TK News) who recommends Violent Crime is Fun! Matt Bivens, The 100 Days
Biden finalizes plan to open up Obamacare subsidies to more families CNN
The surprisingly high stakes in a Supreme Court case about bacon Vox
RussiaGate
FBI offered Christopher Steele $1 million to prove dossier claims, senior FBI analyst testifies CNN (!!).
2024
The Jan. 6 committee readies its grand finale Politico. Awesome. Indictments?
Our Famously Free Press
Suicidal thoughts, resilience in a small-town Iowa newspaper’s fierce last stand The Iowa Mercury
Health Care
Health Insurers Get Government Cash, Then Jack Up Prices Lever News. Which is the cause of inflation: Firms increasing prices (q.v. Richard Wolff). But paying firms to cause inflation… That takes the biscuit.
Class Warfare
First rejection of Biden’s deal brings strike clouds on the US horizon again Rail Freight
Black October is here: Transport delays, labor shortages slow supply chain as holiday shopping begins USA Today
Rail strike talks have yet to tackle pay, RMT’s Mick Lynch says Guardian. The UK.
Unions threaten to intensify rail and port strike after rejecting Transnet 5.3% wage offer MiningMX. South Africa.
Starbucks ex-manager testifies he was told to punish pro-union workers Seattle Times
Teens as young as 13 worked at Kia, Hyundai parts manufacturer in Alabama, feds say Miami Herald
Home care workers file federal complaint against New York over ‘discriminatory’ 24-hour shifts Gothamist (MR).
Marx and Engels and Russia’s Peasant Communes Monthly Review
Can God Be Proved Mathematically? Scientific America
How Stoicism influenced music from the French Renaissance to Pink Floyd The Conversation. Today’s must read. Musical interlude.
Antidote du jour (via):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
