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.

Can wolves bond with people like dogs do? Science

Fed Chair Powell: There isn’t a painless way to do this Sam Ro

The Fed Raises Rates by 0.75 Point, Flags Higher Peak Than Expected Barron’s

FIRST: The Natural Rate of Inflation Brad DeLong, Grasping Reality

Dollar’s Rise Spells Trouble for Global Economies WSJ

How Wall Street stormed the music business FT. Commentary:

For those who came in late:

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Climate

Duke Energy is one of the top leakers of a gas that is 25,000 times more polluting than carbon dioxide, EPA records show NBC. Sulfur hexafluoride.

Water

Chicago’s Tap Water Contaminated With Lead, Analysis Finds Gizmodo

#COViD19

What Long COVID Is Like For These 14 People Teen Vogue

The Koreas

The Floods in Seoul London Review of Books

The Seeds of Ignorance — Consequences of a Booming Betel-Nut Economy NEJM. Read all the way to the end.

Old Blighty

The wrecking crew:

European Disunion

How Bad Will the German Recession Be? Der Spiegel

Energy crisis: Germany’s Robert Habeck under pressure Deutsche Welle

Germany’s biggest gas importer Uniper is nationalised after huge losses Sky News

Hungarian premier says EU should scrap Russia sanctions to avoid recession – report Independent

Winter Forecast 2022/2023 – September Update: Seasonal cooling now begins across the ENSO regions, predicted to continue as we head closer to Winter Severe Weather Europe (DG). “Europe is expected to have warmer than average temperatures over most of the northern and east-central parts of the continent.” We’ll see.

New Not-So-Cold War

From ‘special military operation’ to open war Gilbert Doctorow. Today’s must-read.

Zelensky rules out peace talks with Russia TASS but Ukraine’s Zelenskiy Sees Dwindling Chance of Peace Talks With Putin Reuters and Ukraine war: Zelensky calls for ‘just punishment’ for Russia BBC

What does Putin’s ‘partial’ mobilisation mean for Russia? South China Morning Post

NATO prolongs the Ukraine proxy war, and global havoc Aaron Maté

Tick-tock: Putin escalation begins countdown of diplomacy clock Responsible Statecraft. Sorry, that word again?

Could the War in Ukraine Have Been Stopped? The National Interest

Americans put Europe at top of global security concerns, support NATO commitment Stars and Stripes. The Atlanticists have won, haven’t they?

Lula maintains large lead over Bolsonaro ahead of Brazil election -poll Reuters

PBS and BBC Team Up to Misinform About Brazil’s Bolsonaro FAIR

Biden Administration

Remarks by President Biden Before the 77th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (transcript) Whitehouse.gov

Biden Supports Germany, Japan, India As Permanent Members Of Reformed UNSC: White House Official Outlook

Biden: Russia’s Ukraine abuses ‘make your blood run cold’ AP

Senate Ratifies Pact to Curb a Broad Category of Potent Greenhouse Gases NYT

2024

Appeals court allows DOJ to resume review of classified records in Trump case The Hill. “The appellate judges in their opinion also allowed a review by a special master appointed by a federal judge in Florida to continue simultaneously.”

Our Famously Free Press

The Narrative Matrix Hides The Truth About The World, And About Ourselves Caitlin Johnstone. Rather like this:

Book Review: ‘Dinners With Ruth’ and Without Any Semblance of Journalistic Standards, By Nina Totenberg Balls and Strikes. “Do remember to bring an insulin shot for the treacle.” Good clean fun!

No one is actually boiling chicken in NyQuil Garbage Day. So there’s good news! Also, 4chan v. TikTok.

Big Brother Is Watching You Watch

The U.S. Government’s Vast New Privatized Censorship Regime The Tablet

Revealed: US Military Bought Mass Monitoring Tool That Includes Internet Browsing, Email Data Vice

Healthcare

How Hospital Monopolies Drive Up the Cost of Care Washington Monthly

Zeitgeist Watch

An Ode to the QR Code Raheem Kassam’s Substack. I hate QR codes because I hate standing in line while the cashier and the customer huddle over pairing phone and register, and then the customer has to punch in some digits (slowly and then all over again, naturally), and then claim a phone coupon. Takes four or five times longer than cash. This matters, because lines tend to be in closed spaces, crowded, and close-contact, and while these digital morons fiddle with their tech I’m sharing their air and risking infection.

Imperial Collapse Watch

‘Please help us’: As the Vermont Guard seeks to reform its ‘toxic’ culture, a star soldier faces allegations of sexual misconduct VT Digger

U.S. fugitive known as ‘Fat Leonard’ apprehended in Venezuela after weeks on the run NBC

Amazon Closes, Abandons Plans for Dozens of US Warehouses Bloomberg

Class Warfare

What it’s like working at Amazon during a Southern California heat wave Los Angeles Times

Workers Upset After Ingredion Brought 6 Armed Guards To Negotiation Iowa Starting Line

Prop 22 Depresses Wages and Deepens Inequities for California Workers National Equity Atlas. “California rideshare drivers’ net earnings are just $6.20 per hour.”

The ideology of innovation: philanthropy and racial capitalism in global food governance The Journal of Peasant Studies

Trouble in paradise Times Literary Supplement. The deck: “Why is economic progress so little cause for celebration?” Review of DeLong’s book.

Reading Betty Friedan After the Fall of Roe Men Yell at Me

Algorithms and the Future of Work NIOSH Science Blog, CDC

The Easiest Ways to Open a Can Without a Can Opener LifeHacker

Antidote du Jour (via):

Bonus Antidote:

See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.

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This entry was posted in Guest Post, Links on by Lambert Strether.

About Lambert Strether

Readers, I have had a correspondent characterize my views as realistic cynical. Let me briefly explain them. I believe in universal programs that provide concrete material benefits, especially to the working class. Medicare for All is the prime example, but tuition-free college and a Post Office Bank also fall under this heading. So do a Jobs Guarantee and a Debt Jubilee. Clearly, neither liberal Democrats nor conservative Republicans can deliver on such programs, because the two are different flavors of neoliberalism (“Because markets”). I don’t much care about the “ism” that delivers the benefits, although whichever one does have to put common humanity first, as opposed to markets. Could be a second FDR saving capitalism, democratic socialism leashing and collaring it, or communism razing it. I don’t much care, as long as the benefits are delivered. To me, the key issue — and this is why Medicare for All is always first with me — is the tens of thousands of excess “deaths from despair,” as described by the Case-Deaton study, and other recent studies. That enormous body count makes Medicare for All, at the very least, a moral and strategic imperative. And that level of suffering and organic damage makes the concerns of identity politics — even the worthy fight to help the refugees Bush, Obama, and Clinton’s wars created — bright shiny objects by comparison. Hence my frustration with the news flow — currently in my view the swirling intersection of two, separate Shock Doctrine campaigns, one by the Administration, and the other by out-of-power liberals and their allies in the State and in the press — a news flow that constantly forces me to focus on matters that I regard as of secondary importance to the excess deaths. What kind of political economy is it that halts or even reverses the increases in life expectancy that civilized societies have achieved? I am also very hopeful that the continuing destruction of both party establishments will open the space for voices supporting programs similar to those I have listed; let’s call such voices “the left.” Volatility creates opportunity, especially if the Democrat establishment, which puts markets first and opposes all such programs, isn’t allowed to get back into the saddle. Eyes on the prize! I love the tactical level, and secretly love even the horse race, since I’ve been blogging about it daily for fourteen years, but everything I write has this perspective at the back of it.