Florida scientist resurfaces after breaking record of living underwater Anadolu Agency
Developing countries have hit the financial rocks FT
Climate
WTF is Happening? An Overview Watching the World Go Bye
Ocean temperatures are off the charts, and El Niño is only partly to blame LA Times
The new reality of a country on fire Editorial Board, Globe and Mail
Scoop: Western lawmakers spot opening in smoke crisis Axios
#COVID19
First People Sickened By COVID-19 Were Chinese Scientists At Wuhan Institute Of Virology, Say US Government Sources Michael Shellenberger, Matt Taibbi, and Alex Gutentag Public. “US-funded” ought to appear in the headline. It doesn’t.
On Today’s Explosive Coronavirus Story Matt Taibbi, Racket News
An interview with Arijit Chakravarty on ending of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency: Part 2 WSWS. The deck: “The unilateral declaration of an end of war is called surrender.” Part 1.
Efficacy of mRNA-1273 and Novavax ancestral or BA.1 spike booster vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 BA.5 infection in non-human primates Science. From the Abstract: “[B]oth Novavax vaccines blunted viral replication in nasopharynx at day 2. The protection against SARS-CoV-2 BA.5 infection in the upper respiratory airways correlated with binding, neutralizing, and ADNP activities of the serum antibody. These data have important implications for COVID-19 vaccine development, as vaccines that lower nasopharyngeal virus may help to reduce transmission.” One can only wonder why Novavax encounters so much resistance….
Smell and Taste Loss Associated with COVID-19 Infection (accepted manuscript) The Laryngoscope. From the Abstract: “The majority of adults infected with COVID-19 in 2021 experienced olfactory or gustatory dysfunction with a non-negligible population reporting incomplete or no near-term sensory recovery. Our results are useful for providers counseling patients and suggest that interventions lessening overall COVID-19 symptom burden may prevent prolonged sensory dysfunction.”
Quantitatively assessing early detection strategies for mitigating COVID-19 and future pandemics (preprint) medRxi. From the Abstact: “We developed, empirically validated, and mathematically characterized a quantitative model that simulates disease spread and detection time for any given disease and detection system..,. We find that hospital monitoring could have detected COVID-19 in Wuhan 0.4 weeks earlier than it was actually discovered, at 2,300 cases compared to 3,400. Wastewater monitoring would not have accelerated COVID-19 detection in Wuhan, but provides benefit in smaller catchments and for asymptomatic or long-incubation diseases like polio or HIV/AIDS. Monitoring of air travel provides little benefit in most scenarios we evaluated. In sum, early detection systems can substantially mitigate some future pandemics, but would not have changed the course of COVID-19.” Hmmm.
From Bad to Worse Science. From April, still germane. The deck: “How the avian flu must change before it can trigger a human pandemic.”
China?
Xi Prepares China for ‘Extreme’ Scenarios, Including Conflict with the West WSJ
How China’s Xi Jinping promotes mix of Marxism and traditional culture to further Communist Party and ‘Chinese dream’ South China Morning Post
The Global Movement Against China’s Economic Coercion Is Accelerating RAND
Marriages in China slump to historic low Channel News Asia
Myanmar
UN: Junta’s blocking of aid access after Cyclone Mocha ‘unfathomable’ Frontier Myanmar
India
Commentary: India’s new map ruffles regional feathers Channel News Asia
Jack Dorsey’s Revelations Expose Serious Threats to Democracy and Free Speech in India The Wire
New Not-So-Cold War
Ukraine SitRep: Destruction Of Its Third Army – Issues To Negotiate Moon of Alabama. One simple-minded litmus test: If you see “dragon’s teeth” in aerial photos or videos, you know that Ukraine has reached a Russian defensive “echelon.” Otherwise, very possibly not.
Armor Expert Breaks Down Ukraine’s Loss Of Bradleys During Breaching Operation The Drive
Zaluzhnyi tells US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Ukraine is executing its counteroffensive plans Ukrainska Pravda. Not Zaluzhnyi’s digital avatar?
Background and elements of the war in Ukraine (interview) Jacques Baud, Swiss Standpoint
Ukraine’s Winnable War Foreign Affairs
Is the US military more intent on ending Ukraine war than US diplomats? Responsible Statecraft
Putin’s quick way to end war: ‘Stop weapons supplies’ to Ukraine. Live updates USA Today
The Western Media Is Whitewashing the Azov Battalion The Nation. Hard for me to understand why liberal Democrats would get into bed with fascists….
C.I.A. Told Ukraine Last Summer It Should Not Attack Nord Stream Pipelines NYT. “Dude, that diving chamber. You’re gonna need a bigger boat.”
The tributary to the cooling pond of the ZNPP has become significantly shallow – satellite images Ukrainska Pravda. At the end: “According to Energoatom, there is still enough water in the ZNPP pond, because almost all power units have been put into a “cold shutdown” state, Schemas [journalists] add.”
Unseen Threat: Russia Adds Unusual Defenses To Secretive Navy Base Naval News
How the war in Ukraine transformed Finnair The Air Current (PI).
South of the Border
Turmoil risks financial stability Peru long took for granted Associated Press
Biden Administration
U.S. decides to rejoin UNESCO and pay back dues to counter Chinese influence NBC. Wouldn’t it be more effective to stay on the sidelines and moralize?
Trapped Under Trucks Pro Publica
The Supremes
Jack Daniel’s wins big in challenge to spoofing “Bad Spaniels” dog toy SCOTUSblog
2024
Donald Trump blasts ‘evil and heinous abuse of power’ after second indictment FT
‘Not a Flight Risk’: Trump Released but Barred from Discussing Secret Documents Case with Aide News18
Trump-Milley feud played key role in classified documents case The Hill
Spook Country
U.S. Spy Agencies Buy Vast Quantities of Americans’ Personal Data, U.S. Says WSJ
Digital Watch
Twelve Brutal Truths about AI Music The Honest Broker
Loneliness, insomnia linked to work with AI systems (press release) American Psychological Association
Healthcare
Medical “Conservatives” Are Medical Radicals Science-Based Medicine
Sports Desk
This whole Everest thing needs a rethink:
Everest climber accused in online spat of snubbing Sherpa who saved his life NZ Herald
Chinese woman saved after falling unconscious on Mount Everest refuses to pay Sherpa guide US$10,000 rescue fee, angering mainland public South China Morning Post
Guns
Virginia teacher shot by 6-year-old student not returning to her job at the school NBC. Unsurprisingly!
Book Nook
Cormac McCarthy, Whose Sentences and Cynicism Reshaped American Letters, Dies at 89 Publishers Weekly
Digital dollar ‘complex’ situation, US treasury head says Anadalu Agency
Imperial Collapse Watch
Modern supply-side economics and the New Washington Consensus The Next Recession
Longing for Crusades New Left Review
Class Warfare
First It Was Quiet Quitting, Now Workers Are Facing Off With Their Bosses WSJ
What’s Killing Productivity? Some Think It’s the Banks WSJ
Neoliberal Keywords: Creative, Passionate, Confident Public Books
US Has 12 Or More Alien Spacecraft, Say Military And Intelligence Contractors Public
Antidote du jour (via):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
