‘Spectacular’ and bizarre ocean creatures (like stilt-walking fish) found living near deep-sea volcanoes LiveScience
Thought To Be Extinct for 80 Years – Scientists Rediscover a Unique Insect SciTech Daily
The Importance of Whiskers to an Animal Laughing Squid. Original paper from Mammal Review.
Climate
Strong words:
“Using bogus net zero pledges to cover up massive fossil fuel expansion is reprehensible. It is rank deception. This toxic cover-up could push our world over the climate cliff. The sham must end.”
Really important intervention from UN Secretary-General @antonioguterres at #COP27 pic.twitter.com/52bqyZuGdP
— Australia Institute (@TheAusInstitute) November 11, 2022
Plight of dissidents such as Alaa Abdel Fattah overshadows COP27 FT. Good job.
Sea levels might rise much faster than thought, data from Greenland suggest Space
COP27: Fossil fuel carbon emissions to hit all-time high Deutsche Welle
Drewry urges shippers to start planning for decarbonisation in shipping, warns of up to $14 billion in extra costs Hellenic Shipping News
COP 27 leaders urged to kick-start restoration of soil ecosystems Forest News
#COVID19
Totally committed to the bit:
We have a choice to make.
Repeat what happened in past winters with more loved ones getting sick from COVID.
Or we can have a much better winter, using all the tools we have available to us now.
Get the updated vaccine. https://t.co/jlrmakyfLU.
— President Biden (@POTUS) November 10, 2022
Vax-only!
U.S. set to face third Covid winter, this time without key tools and treatments STAT
How to Hide a Plague (video) Justin Feldmand, Institute for Bioethics & Health Humanities. This lecture:
Viable SARS-CoV-2 detected in the air of hospital rooms of COVID-19 patients with early infection International Journal of Infectious Diseases. From the Abstract: “These results suggest that the detection of viable SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV-2 RNA in air samples is also associated with a multitude of factors other than patient’s viral load. These include patient’s behaviors such as coughing, sneezing, talking, and mask wearing, and environmental circumstances.” This is a very big deal. I recall (too lazy to find the link) that one of the earliest studies to show the likelihood of aerosol transmission showed SARS-CoV-2 RNA on a hospital windowsill. But this is not RNA; it’s live virus. CDC hospital infection control guidance is already demonstrably miserably inadequate, since it takes no account of the fact that #CovidIsAirborne, but this study should be the fire bell in the night for CDC to wake up and fix them. If they care about patients’ lives, of course — an open question.
Acute and postacute sequelae associated with SARS-CoV-2 reinfection Nature. From the Discussion: “In this study of 5,819,264 people, including 443,588 people with a first infection, 40,947 people who had reinfection and 5,334,729 noninfected controls, we showed that…. [c]ompared to noninfected controls, assessment of the cumulative risks of repeat infection showed that the risk and burden of all-cause mortality and the prespecified health outcomes increased in a graded fashion according to the number of infections (that is, risks were lowest in people with one infection, increased in people with two infections and were highest in people with three or more infections).” Ulp.
Universal Masking in School Works. New Data Shows How Well Time. Round-up on the NEJM study linked to yesterday.
Meissa posts early clinical data on nasal COVID-19 vaccine, providing support for role in breaking transmission chains Fierce Pharma. MV-014-212. n = 49. From Abstract of earlier Meissa study on non-human primates: “Intranasally delivered, live attenuated vaccines such as MV-014-212 entail low-cost manufacturing suitable for global deployment.”
The End of Evusheld The Atlantic
China?
China shortens COVID quarantine times, eases flight curbs Reuters Commentary:
Basically anytime you see someone in full PPE spraying bleach on the ground in front of a crowd of people, waiting chest to back in surgical masks for PCR tests, you see a broken system which is not being guided by science- and that scene is everywhere all over China.
— Naomi Wu 机械妖姬 (@RealSexyCyborg) November 11, 2022
I’m open to the possibility that China knows something about fomites that we don’t, or that fomite transmission is more likely under Chinese conditions. That said, ignoring airborne transmission entirely…. is hardly a strategy of layered protection.”
Hong Kong gives arrivals freer rein to move around in latest relaxation of Covid travel curbs South China Morning Post. So awesome:
It’s now 7+3 in most places, so basically 7, and it’s not working- at all. Another concession to the convenience of foreigners and the rich that regular Chinese have to pay for with lockdowns.
— Naomi Wu 机械妖姬 (@RealSexyCyborg) November 11, 2022
Magnet Maker Arrested for Sending DOD Drawings to China Manufacturing.net
Myanmar
As the ASEAN Summit 2022 begins, analysts say regional leaders must do more to solve the Myanmar crisis Globe_
The Myanmar military’s deadliest airstrikes Myanmar Now
The Koreas
US to buy S Korea artillery shells for Ukraine, adds $400m in aid Al Jazeera. Stripping the Asian cupboard bare for Ukraine, go Atlanticists!
New Not-So-Cold War
Ukraine Moves Forward in South, With Little Resistance From Russia NYT. It’s quiet. Too quiet. More than fog-of-war quiet. Where is the enormous Blob-induced liberalgasm at a Russian withdrawal? Why hasn’t Zelensky green-screened his triumphant entry into Kherson at the head of a column of tanks? Where are the aerial photos of trapped Russian soldiers milling about at the Dnieper river crossings? It will be interesting to see what emerges by 5:00 today so the Sunday shouting heads have something to shout about.
Ukraine war: Russia pulling out of key city of Kherson – what it means for the conflict The Conversation
Russia Withdraws from Kherson, Surovikin Steadies Nerves, Promises Offensive (video) Alexander Mercouris, YouTube. Good on reaction to the Kherson withdrawal inside Russia (i.e., the reaction that matters to Putin).
On “orderly withdrawals.” A thread from October, still germane:
2/ Somewhere in the headquarters of a Russian Combined Army Army in south Ukraine, a staff officer is pulling out his doctrinal publication to plan an orderly withdrawal of Russian forces back across the Dnipro. Why are withdrawals conducted and what are some considerations? pic.twitter.com/4KinUEt8pL
— Mick Ryan, AM (@WarintheFuture) October 23, 2022
I don’t like the source much, or the source’s sourcing, but there’s still some good information here.
Top U.S. General Urges Diplomacy in Ukraine While Biden Advisers Resist NYT. Mothra (The Blob) vs. Godzilla (the Pentagon)? Commentary:
The news that the top US military officer is advocating diplomacy with Russia is a teachable moment for @USProgressives and their allies, who couldn’t handle a neocon meltdown over their pro-diplomacy letter. Try a little courage next time.
— Aaron Maté (@aaronjmate) November 11, 2022
Russia’s Return to Grain Deal Is a Sign of Turkey’s Growing Influence Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
South America
From right to left:
A Clash Over a Census Reflects a Bolivia in Flux Americas Quarterly
Bolivian strike over census delay paralyzes agriculture export hub Reuters. “Lawmakers called for calm.”
Bolivia: The Insurrection of the Oligarchy Step by Step Internationalist 360°
Biden Administration
Texas Judge Strikes Down Biden’s Student Debt Cancellation NYT. From the opinion (PDF), footnote page 1:
Unless the mere machine is thrown off kilter by a “zealous law clerk,” of course — from the Federalist Society.
FTC Restores Rigorous Enforcement of Law Banning Unfair Methods of Competition (press release) FTC
How the FCC Shields Cellphone Companies From Safety Concerns ProPublica
2022
Notable uncalled House races include Boebert, Katie Porter KXAN (Re Silc).
Trump Lost the Midterms. DeSantis Won. David Frum, The Atlantic. Opinion-havers are an important part of the DeSantis coalition (though I must say I’ve never seen “public opinion” congeal quite so rapidly, and around a short-bodied vulgarian like DeSantis, too, who has all the charisma and all the certainties of a chiseling exurban used car dealer).
More MAGA Than Ever The Atlantic (Re Silc). “It’s hard to overstate how radicalized and anarchic the base of the Republican Party remains.” Very much unlike the base of the Democrat Party, one might add.
The Bezzle
FTX assets frozen by Bahamas regulator as crypto exchange fights to survive FT. Hoo boy.
Crypto’s FTX Moment Shows Danger of Centralized Finance With No Central Bank WSJ
Untangling the knotty empire of Bankman-Fried and FTX FT. One of two attempts to create an org chart:
Obfuscatory much?
The Twitter
Elon Musk is putting Twitter at risk of billions in fines, warns company lawyer The Verge
Musk warns of Twitter bankruptcy as more senior executives quit Reuters
Why Twitter should be a public utility:
I was thinking about all the regional NWS offices, that are prolific on twitter, especially in weather emergencies. Also, the regional SBA offices can only use Twitter. They’re all trapped in a huge mess.
— Jeremy Peppas (@jeremypeppas) November 10, 2022
It’s not enough for Twitter to be unprofitable. It shouldn’t have profit as part of its mission; no public square could or should!
Healthcare
CDC Says ‘Do Not Eat Meat or Cheese From Any Deli Counter’ Unless It’s ‘Steaming Hot’ Barron’s. Comment: “Fascinating that @CDCgov @CDCDirector has much stronger/ more appropriate recs for a listeria outbreak that’s sickened less than 20 people than they do for a virus that’s killed & maimed millions.” Yes, “steaming hot” is indeed the word for CDC’s Covid communications.
California expected to partner with nonprofit Civica Rx to produce its own low-cost insulin, sources say NBC
Police State Watch
The FBI’s Transformation, from National Police to Domestic Spy Agency. Part One: “Disruption” Matt Taibbi, TK News. “Domestic spying without predicate.”
Dear Old Blighty
Too Poor for War Project Syndicate
Zeitgeist Watch
Separation Is The Largest Religion In The World Caitlin’s Newsletter
It’s Not Just You: NYC Has a Serious Dungeon Master Shortage Hellgate
Class Warfare
Prices rise because firms raise them:
Maybe, just maybe, business saw all of that accumulated savings, and put prices up to tap into the increased spending power. It did what it always does, charged people the maximum it thinks it can get away with. It maximised profits. /5 pic.twitter.com/evshSP1o1U
— Henry Madison (@RageSheen) November 11, 2022
TikTok’s Subcontractor in Colombia Under Investigation for Traumatic Work Time
Antivirals The Convivial Society. Interesting. Reminds me of one of Games People Play author Eric Berne’s “good games”: “They’ll be glad they knew me.”
Antidote du jour (via):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
