The Stoned Ape Theory: the wild idea that psychedelics shaped the evolution of humans ZME Science (Furzy Mouse). Original from Agricicultural Economics.
Toothed whales catch food in the deep using vocal fry NPR
Why the Recession Is Always Six Months Away WSJ. Because they put Thomas Friedman in charge of the rubber thumbscrews?
Silicon Valley Confronts the End of Growth. It’s a New Era for Tech Stocks. Barron’s
Climate
Oil companies line up for billions of dollars in subsidies under US climate law FT
Powerful winter storm hits U.S., leaving at least 13 people dead and over 3 million without power, U.S. The Watchers
Kentucky Residents Angered by U.S. Forest Service Logging Plan That Targets Mature Trees Inside Climate News (GF).
#COVID19
Annals of Scientific Communication:
Guidance for Certifying Deaths Due to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): Expanded in February 2023 to Include Guidance for Certifying Deaths Due to Post-acute Sequelae of COVID-19 (PDF) CDC. Clarifying passage on Long Covid (or in CDC-ese, PASC (Post-acute sequelae of COVID-19)):
Emerging evidence suggests that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes COVID-19, can have lasting effects on nearly every organ and organ system of the body weeks, months, and potentially years after infection (11,12). Documented serious post-COVID-19 conditions include cardiovascular, pulmonary, neurological, renal, endocrine, hematological, and gastrointestinal complications (8), as well as death (13).
An entertaining spectacle. In the document above, CDC’s definitive views on Long Covid emerge in updated guidance for filling out death certificates. The document itself exists only in PDF form. Here is the announcement of the “expanded” “guidance,” COVID-19 Alert No. 10 from the National Vital Statistics System, part of the National Center for Health Statistics, part of CDC. A search at CDC does not disclose the guidance:
Nor does a search at Google:
Presumably, this is the long-awaited yet oddly undiscoverable guidance through which CDC will jigger the death count, but I can’t be sure ’til I study the document carefully.
Parental Nonadherence to Health Policy Recommendations for Prevention of COVID-19 Transmission Among Children JAMA. From the Abstract: “One hundred fifty participants (25.9%) reported misrepresentation and/or nonadherence in at least 1 of 7 behaviors; the most common behaviors were not telling someone who was with their child that they thought or knew their child had COVID-19 (63 of 263 [24.0%]) and allowing their child to break quarantine rules (67 of 318 [21.1%]))…. The most common reason was wanting to exercise personal freedom as a parent.” So, and unsurprisingly, living with Covid involves a lot of lying. Really, can you imagine not telling the parents of a child playing with your child that your child was infected? As I’ve said for some time: “‘Freedom’ is how a libertarian says ‘f*ck you.’”
What Comes After COVID Asterisk Magazine. Interesting approach. Though I dunno about just bumping percentages up or down as a method, the buckets into which the percentages go are interesting (or example, I think the author over-estimates engineering, and under-estimates social connectivity, which goes far beyond air travel).
What I Learned from Emily Post’s ‘Etiquette’ (1922) The Honest Broker
China?
Xi Focus: Xi stresses healthy, high-quality development of private sector Xinhua v. China’s Xi Jinping Takes Rare Direct Aim at U.S. in Speech WSJ
China’s ‘two sessions’: US$24 billion to be spent on coronavirus control despite end of zero Covid policy South China Morning Post
Commentary: As China’s politicians gather at ‘two sessions’, the ghosts of zero-COVID live on Channel News Asia. Hilariously, the CCP’s National People’s Congress looks #DavosSafe, though the journo makes light of it.
China’s lowest growth target in decades signals new era of caution FT
India
What Does the Adani Crisis Mean for India’s Growth Story? Foreign Policy
European Disunion
France braces for strikes that could bring the country ‘to a standstill’ for days on end France24
Portugal will no longer issue ‘golden’ EU visas Deutsche Welle
Dear Old Blighty
Meet the British intelligence-linked firm that warped MH17 news coverage The Greyzone
New Not-So-Cold War
Russia’s Wagner Troops Exhaust Ukrainian Forces in Bakhmut WSJ
Zelenskyy: Ukraine sees some of the most significant results in Bakhmut since start of war Ukrayinska Pravda. You don’t want all those sixteen-year-old reservists at the zero line scampering West over the open fields, now do you?
Ukraine Claims a Drone Strike on a Military Target Inside Russia NYT. Bryansk again.
The Law Professor Flying Surveillance Drones in Ukraine The New Yorker. The most New Yorker headline ever.
Russia’s Halfway to Hell Strategy Foreign Affairs. Who needs a “big arrow” when Ukraine will throw itself into the meatgrinder again all on its own? “Never interfere with your enemy when he is making a mistake.” –Napoleon (apocryphal).
What will it take to end the war in Ukraine? Al Jazeera. Opinions differ:
3. If Russia agrees to a cease-fire, the Kiev regime will be rearmed and resupplied by US/NATO — so in 3 to 5 years, Russia will have to fight in Ukraine AGAIN.
4. Public sentiment in Russia would be outraged by a cease-fire, hurting Putin and the Kremlin leadership badly.
2/
— Gonzalo Lira (@GonzaloLira1968) March 7, 2023
A coming wider war with Crimea in US sights Asia Times. Interesting detail on Ukrainian troops in Bakhmut. Not sure about the Nuland part.
Ukraine says diplomatic talks with Russia on Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant at ‘dead end’ Andalu Agency. This feels like a signal, but of what?
How Quickly The West Forgot It Was Their 2020 Regime-Change Project That Drove Belarus Into Russia’s Arms – OpEd Mark Ames, Asia Review. Ames, so well worth a read.
Why Ukraine is wary of the Russian opposition Al Jazeera. It would be amusing if regime change in Russia didn’t help Ukraine at all.
Zelenskyy makes series of dismissals in Security Service of Ukraine top management Ukrainska Pravda
Ukraine Hawk Who Heads European Commission Has a Nazi Pedigree She Does Not Want You to Know About Covert Action Magazine (GF). From February, still germane.
Lebanon leans on US dollar to cope as currency, economy tank AP
Nigeria’s top court rules old currency notes still legal tender amid cash shortage Andalu Agency
Biden Administration
Biden set to appoint mass foreclosure cheerleader to the Fed Cory Doctorow, Pluralistic
Capitol Seizure
Tucker Carlson releases exclusive Jan. 6 footage, says politicians, media lied about Sicknick, ‘QAnon Shaman’ FOX. Here’s the QAnon shaman, standing at the Senate rostrum, surrounded by camo-clad cosplayers drinking in the spectacle and taking selfies:
It’s hard to believe that anybody organizing a coup would organize this. Leading to the question of whether a “coup” was being organized at all, surely?
Chris Hedges: Lynching the Deplorables Chris Hedges, Scheer Post. Well worth a read.
Big Brother Is Watching You Watch
Inside the Suspicion Machine Wired. Wired got hold of a social credit algo from Rotterdam. A sample: “The comment field in the Rotterdam system, for example, where caseworkers are asked to make general observations, is binary. Any comment is converted to a “1,” while a blank field is converted to a “0.” This means negative and positive comments affect the score in the same way.” And much else like that.
The Algorithm Society and Its Discontents Brad DeLong, Project Syndicate
Your Face Is Your Ticket: A Creepy Convenience WSJ
Police State Watch
Legal Observer Hit with Terrorism Charges After Mass ‘Cop City’ Arrests Daily Beast
Our Famously Free Press
Capsule Summaries of all Twitter Files Threads to Date, With Links and a Glossary Matt Taibbi, The Racket
John Kiriakou: The Threat to Journalism ScheerPost
U.S. Special Forces Want to Use Deepfakes for Psy-Ops The Intercept. What could go wrong?
The Bezzle
The Octopus Test for Large Language Model AIs Kottke.org
Machine magic or art menace? Japan’s first AI manga Channel News Asia
Is there a place for ChatGPT-like tech in banks? American Banker
Questions That ChatGPT Is Not Allowed To Answer The Onion
Class Warfare
Does more money correlate with greater happiness? (press release) NewsWise
Wittgenstein: science can’t tell us about God IAI News
Christ in Purple Silk London Review of Books. On medieval self-hood and the doctrine of coinherence.
Antidote du jour (via):
Bonus antidote. Good kitty:
4/ The rise of cats in Istanbul dates back to the people who settled in the city, the Ottomans. As a result of their long history with cats, felines have become an essential part of Turkish culture and the city of Istanbul #Caturday pic.twitter.com/AcNY8BsNwS
— Bayt Al Fann (@BaytAlFann) March 4, 2023
Double bonus antidote. Bad kitty:
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See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
