Florida Man Finds Clam Believed to Be 214 Years Old Field and Stream
All of Humanity Weighs Six Times as Much as All Wild Mammals Scientific American
Earth’s mysterious innermost core is a 400-mile-wide metallic ball Space.com
Political Risks for Railroads Rational Walk
Railroaded Doomberg. From February, still germane.
Climate
UN forges historic deal to protect ocean life: what researchers think Nature
Ecosystem-based management outperforms species-focused stocking for enhancing fish populations Science. Unsurprisingly.
Health Concerns Grow as Oklahoma Farmers Fertilize Cropland with Treated Sewage Civil Eats. I once composted a brilliantly producing cantaloupe patch with biosolids from the landfill, because it was the only compost available (local sources having been driven out of business by the landfill’s monopoly). Production fell to zero. Don’t use that stuff.
Seasonality in the Anthropocene: Understanding Transboundary Haze in Southeast Asia London School of Economics. Handy map:
Bangkok residents told to mask up, avoid outdoor activities as air pollution worsens Straits Times. Amusingly, anti-maskers not only want people to die from Covid, they want them to die from PM2.5-caused cancer as well.
#COVID19
Lab-Leak Theory To Take Center Stage On First Day Of House Covid Hearings (roundup) KHN
There is no lab leak theory Jonathan Katz, Racket News
A break from Covid waves and a breakthrough for preventing Long Covid Eric Topol, Ground Truths. To be fair, Topol does mention the high baseline of infections and deaths.
Can We Still Contain, and Possibly Eliminate, COVID-19? Yes, and Here Is How Inside Precision Medicine. Interesting, but non-pharmaceutical interventions go unmentioned.
Pathways to altered virulence of SARS-CoV-2 (preprint) OSF Preprints. From the Abstract: ” In this review, we address the question of whether the virus can evolve to become more virulent, despite prior infection. We describe the intrinsic characteristics of the virus and their relationship to altered virulence. We show that it is likely that viral evolution is subject to evolutionary drift, and it cannot be assumed that the virus will necessarily evolve to be less virulent, or that prior immunity will offer durable protection against severe disease. This has strong implications for public health strategies to confront the ongoing challenges presented by SARS-CoV-2 and implies that there are significant risks to a strategy based on the assumption of waning virulence.” Sorry, what was that? “Public health strategy”?
China?
China’s National People’s Congress convenes amid mounting crises WSWS
China’s ‘two sessions’ 2023: how debt-saddled local governments underscore Beijing’s moderate GDP target South China Morning Post
How Can The World Prevent China From Taking Over Taiwan? Look To India – Analysis Eurasia Review (Furzy Mouse).
US intelligence head says China seeks to avoid escalation with US, wants stability Andalu Agency
China’s Coal Use Is Rising, but Emissions Might Not Follow WSJ
Chinese cities see temperatures hit record high for early March Channel News Asia
Australian PM Albanese to meet Biden in US after India trip, submarine deal expected Channel News Asia. Journamalism:
India
The Alarming Rise of India’s Pay-to-Breathe Industry Wired
Syraqistan
Should Biden’s new arms transfer policy apply to Israel? Reponsible Statecraft (Re Silc).
European Disunion
It’s Ursula von der Leyen’s Europe—for Now Foreign Policy
Wall Street Consensus a la Française Phenomenal World
Dear Old Blighty
Oddly, plurality opinion in the UK is not amplified:
Interesting and quite different from the impression you might get from (social) media. Around twice as many say handling of covid was “not strict enough” versus “too strict”. https://t.co/pxwxhYgYbK
— stuart mcdonald (@ActuaryByDay) March 5, 2023
New Not-So-Cold War
A global mystery: What’s known about Nord Stream explosions AP. Maybe not so much. The cat that did not mewl in the night:
The Nord Stream pipeline bombing was a major terrorist attack in heart of Europe.
If it had been blown up by Russia, Bellingcat would have launched a huge investigation.
When Bellingcat don’t look, it’s a strong signal that it was a US, UK, NATO, or allied operation. pic.twitter.com/mO8ukOKPnM
— Matt Kennard (@kennardmatt) March 8, 2023
The lapdogs that did not whine in the night:
If there is a rogue “pro-Ukrainian” group that is not controlled by Zelensky out there blowing up pipelines (and maybe doing other stuff too) then shouldn’t the USA and NATO try to bring it under control? It could easily escalate war out of control.
— Jeet Heer (@HeerJeet) March 8, 2023
The weasels that did not take questions during the day:
If you needed more confirmation that Biden bombed Nord Stream, look no further than him refusing to take any questions alongside the German chancellor.
— Aaron Maté (@aaronjmate) March 6, 2023
Nord Stream Attack – ‘Officials’ Throw More Chaff To Hide The Real Perpetrators Moon of Alabama. “On the table in the cabin, the investigators were able to detect traces of explosives.” Amateurs, then. Amateurs whose passports were subsquently found — how? — to be forged. Five amateurs in a tiny yacht (plus their funder to make six) who somehow blew up an enormous pipeline with high explosives. Smell test, laugh test, I expect higher quality deception operations from our organs of state security, even German ones. This whole episode reminds of me of Nobby and Sergeant Colon doing some “patient detectoring” in Terry Pratchett’s Jingo. They find a Clue, although not on a table:
‘Why would the Klatchians give him money to shoot a Klatchian?’ said Nobby. Colon tapped the side of his nose. ‘Politics,’ he said. ‘Ah, politics,’ said Nobby. ‘Ah, well, politics. I see. Politics. Right. So why?’
‘Ah, but that’s ‘cos you don’t know about politics,’ said Colon. ‘You can’t do that stuff any more. Mark my words, this case has got politics written all over it….’
[Nobby] looked up at the bare walls and down at the rough floorboards. ‘There’s a bit of sand on the floor,’ he said. ‘Another Clue, then,’ said Colon happily. ‘A Klatchian has been here. Bugger all else but sand in Klatch. Still got some in his sandals.’
On NYT Nord Stream theory, German official raises specter of ‘false flag’ Responsible Statecraft. Machiavellistisch:
Scholtz’s trip was last week—and now coordinated stories come out. Hmm!
It is inconceivable that the Times, the Post, FT and Zeit would have simultaneously published essentially the same long article giving such a laughably fantastical story.
3/
— Gonzalo Lira (@GonzaloLira1968) March 8, 2023
As Bakhmut Falls, US May Turn From Ukraine, Starting With Pipeline Story Consortium News. Commentary:
“Fine maybe it wasn’t Russia. Maybe it was an amateur team of world-class divers with sophisticated weapons who were not trained or equipped or supported by the United States in any way”
This is the BARGAINING phase.
— Alice who told you so but did you listen? (@AliceFromQueens) March 8, 2023
Military briefing: Ukraine’s battle of diminishing returns for Bakhmut FT. Moving toward the ACCEPTANCE phase?
Russia Captures East Bakhmut, Zelensky Admits Importance: Intel: Nord Stream Attack 6 Guys & A Boat (video) Alexander Mercouris, YouTube. Yves writes:
Early in the video, Mercouris points out how Zelensky himself has debunked the Western spin that Bakhmut is not strategically important. Mercouris also explains how a Ukraine rescue of the troops in Bakhmut seems impossible, given muddy conditions forcing them to use only roads now under Russian fire control. Mercouris also gives us a very nice shout out close to the end, starting at 1:01:00
Russia’s foreign minister got laughter, cheers and shrugs in India. Outrage over the war isn’t universal The Conversation
Concept of Operations for USVs: Every Warship a Surface Action Group Maritime Executive
Biden Administration
Biden’s Budget Proposal for 2024: What to Know WSJ
Whistleblowers
My Fifty Years with Dan Ellsberg Seymour Hersh
Why did this cop turn up dead? CNN. The deck: “A heroic police officer rescued at least three people after the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. A year later, he was found shot in the head.”
Our Famously Free Press
America This Week: “The Informational Fed” (transcript) Racket News. Walter Kim: “The privilege of being the first to receive fiat information is being protected by those who issue it.” Hmm. Perhaps a real Fed maven can work out whether this metaphor is on point. However, fiat money works because there’s “a man with a gun” demanding fiat as payment for taxes. Where is the equivalent power structure in “fiat information” to be sought? Perhaps in the process by which symbolic capital is accumulated?
Separating Fact From Fiction on Fox News/Dominion Lawsuit. PLUS: 50th Episode Reflections on Rumble & Our Show Glenn Greenwald
Big Brother is Watching You Watch
ACLU Obtains Docs Detailing FBI, Pentagon Development of Facial Recognition Tech Common Dreams
Democrats Band Together to Try Yet Another Federal Facial Recognition Ban Gizmodo
How Comrades Revealed the Existence of COINTELPRO Black Agenda Report
The Bezzle
PwC fined for Babcock audit failings including creating false record Guardian. Hand the audit over to AI. At least it will be cheaper!
EY split paused amid partner infighting over fate of tax experts FT
Tech
Silicon Valley Is Destroying the World (transcript) The New Republic. The deck: “How Stanford University turned optimization into the global capitalist credo.”
‘Dehumanization Is Taking Place With AI’: Italian Dubbers Go on Strike to Demand ‘Human’ Working Conditions Amid Digital Disruption Variety
In AI, is bigger always better? Nature
I have, without exception, hated AI-generated artwork. Here’s why:
Now that the DALL-E has been successfully midjourneyfied, it is becoming apparent that instead of simulating all possible ›styles‹, AI is fostering the emergence of a distinct visual style, born out of popular aesthetic preferences dominating platforms like DeviantArt
1/6 pic.twitter.com/tZd9Hrz27s— Roland Meyer (@bildoperationen) March 7, 2023
Imperial Collapse Watch
Army at 250: Beyond a Slogan, the Army Needs a New Narrative Strategy War on the Rocks
Drone videos include unskippable 15-second ads Duffel Blog
Realignment and Legitimacy
Let’s Be Enemies Aurelian, Trying to Understand the World. Carl Schmitt.
Antidote du jour (via):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
