Links 3/4/2023 | naked capitalism

I’ve Optimized My Health to Make My Life as Long and Unpleasant as Possible McSweeney’s Internet Tendencies

Florence and her cubs give hope that west African lion can come roaring back Guardian (resilc)

Pablo Escobar’s ‘cocaine hippos’: Colombia proposes new solution Washington Post (furzy)

At least 3,500 sea lions in Peru have recently died of H5N1 bird flu, nearly 5 times as many as previously reported, the government says pic.twitter.com/ig1H3QsmjE

— BNO News (@BNOFeed) March 3, 2023

Recreational marijuana bill worries Minnesota employers Star Tribune (Mark G)

How Not to Tell the History of Science Boston Review (Anthony L)

Don’t Blame Social Media, Covid for US Teen Mental Health Crisis Bloomberg (resilc)

How 20th-century synthetics altered the very fabric of us all aeon (resilc)

#COVID-19

Many people claim endemic SARS Cov 2 will be pathophysiologically equivalent to other endemic HCovs

Those people are wrong

The Sarbecovirus subgenus has special ORF genes that suppress key components of the immune system

A tiger is not a cathttps://t.co/2ichR0Z1y2

— Anthony J Leonardi, PhD, MS (@fitterhappierAJ) March 2, 2023

The misplaced arrogance of Western countries continues, despite having handled COVID-19 far more poorly than Asian countries. Asia learned a lot from SARS and did much better during COVID. The West, it seems, is determined to continue repeating its mistakes. pic.twitter.com/fJuqBB6YrD

— Dr. Lucky Tran (@luckytran) March 3, 2023

Climate/Environment

EU countries delay vote on landmark law to end sales of CO2-emitting cars Guardian (Kevin W)

Firewood theft: The forests where trees are going missing BBC (resilc)

‘It’s too late’ for environment, says Green Party founder Michael Benfield Independent

Feds ‘Cave to PG&E,’ Allowing California Nuclear Plant to Keep Operating Sans Safety Review Common Dreams (furzy)

In the once-cool forests of the Pacific Northwest, heat poses a new threat High Country News (resilc)

Feds fail to disclose Coastal GasLink data on salmon eggs The Narwhal (Chuck L)

China?

Open season on China in Taiwan-focused US House Asia Times (Chuck L)

Powerless and ridiculous for US to cry for its recognition as regional leader Global Times

Chinese spacecraft has been eyeing US satellites high above Earth Space (furzy). As if we aren’t?

OLd Blighty

Has Britain’s Brexit fever finally broken? Chris Grey (guurst)

Theresa May is the true villain in this latest Tory Brexit war The Spectator

Danger alert: Mexico spring break destinations to avoid, according to the State Department Raw Story. Furzy: “Becoming another El Salvador…”

New Not-So-Cold War

The Fall of Bakhmut, A Prelude to the Fall of Ukraine? Larry Johnson. Ukraine was blowing up bridges in Bakhmut on Thursday. Friday Russia was less than half a kilometer from the last road Ukraine could use, meaning it was under close fire control and just about to be under physical control. Yet this is the second headline on the New York Times front page today: As Ukraine Clings to Bakhmut, What’s Its Strategy and What’s at Stake?

Ukraine asks EU for 250,000 artillery shells a month Financial Times. And I’d like a pony. Note Russian routine use is ~20,000 shells a day, meaning 600,000 a month.

Ukraine war: high cost of replacing military hardware will change the nature of the conflict The Conversation (Kevin W). Duh.

* * *

Merrick Garland of all people just did yet another secret visit to Ukraine. Who knew all these domestic US law enforcement officials were also such committed practitioners of foreign policy. Which country is the one looking to annex Ukraine again…..? pic.twitter.com/CyocC143j7

— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) March 4, 2023

🇷🇺🇩🇪🇮🇳Differences in how German and Russian Foreign Ministers Annalena Baerbock and Sergey Lavrov were met in India. pic.twitter.com/b9x24fH7FM

— AZ 🛰🌏🌍🌎 (@AZgeopolitics) March 4, 2023

* * *

Moscow is forced to state grain deal isn’t working, West is to blame — Russian MFA TASS (guurst)

Exclusive: Russia set to mothball damaged Nord Stream gas pipelines – sources Reuters. Robin K: “Reuters is still reporting the destruction of Nordstream pipelines as ‘unexplained.’ No mention of Sy Hersh’s piece.”

Syraqistan

Iran discovers world’s second largest lithium reserve The Cradle (Chuck L)

How Iraq caused a currency crisis by paying Iran in dinars Middle East Eye

You’re all Palestinians Now: How Harsh Apartheid Policing is being Turned on Israeli Protesters Juan Cole (resilc)

In 2021, American immigrants again moved to settlements far more than other arrivals Times of Israel (resilc)

Big Brother is Watching You Watch

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD: A digital star witness brought down lying, family-killing father Alex Murdaugh… and it was his murdered son’s cellphone. The electronic spies lurking in our pockets are now justice’s greatest tools Daily Mail. BC: “And now, a word from our electronic overwatch sponsor…”

Secret Service, ICE break the law over and over with fake cell tower spying The Register

Biden Administration Announces Plan To Stop Water Plant Hacks Reuters

Imperial Collapse Watch

Correction: it is Norbert Lammert who is in the video, former President of the German Parliament.

— In Context (@incontextmedia) March 3, 2023

Multipolarity: Episode 8 YouTube. Philip Pilkington and Andrew Collingwood.

GOP Clown Car

The Trump world-Fox News war gets nasty Politico

Oh my God that audience shot is just cruel. (h/t @acyn)pic.twitter.com/0Bmy8w3TkC

— Brian Tyler Cohen (@briantylercohen) March 3, 2023

Judiciary Democrats go after GOP ‘whistleblowers’ in FBI probes The Hill

US senators reintroduce bill to make daylight saving time permanent Reuters (resilc)

The neo-Nazi movement behind foiled Baltimore plot Baltimore Banner (furzy)

Abortion

Almost 200 Rights Groups Call on UN to Intervene Over US Abortion Access Washington Post (furzy). US gets well-deserved developing country treatment.

Adoption is not a simple or easy alternative to abortion STAT (Dr. Kevin)

Norfolk Southern Chemical Bomb

Angry residents confront EPA and railroad officials at East Palestine, Ohio town hall WSWS

Elevated level of ‘chemical of concern’ is found in air near East Palestine: Clear, colorless gas causes skin and respiratory inflammation and excess fluid in the lungs Daily Mail

Our No Longer Free Press

Reality Based People Can Fact Check The ‘Fact-Checkers’ Moon of Alabama (Kevin W, Chuck L)

The Center Cannot Hold American Scholar (Anthony L)

Woke Watch

Florida courts could take ’emergency’ custody of kids with trans parents or siblings — even if they live in another state Business Insider. Odds favor some version of this becoming law. When that happens, expect to see similar laws passed in red states. And then you will see amendments that provide for what amounts to reciprocity: if a kid is removed from a pro-trans state based on alleged imminent “treatment,” other states will provide protection until he gets to the state where the protesting parent lives. Having said that, I wonder how often these situations occur.

Today’s Psychology Can’t Help American Men American Conservative. I think this exaggerates the biological argument. Men and women get very strong gender role indoctrination.

THE MORAL CASE AGAINST EQUITY LANGUAGE Atlantic (ChiGal)

Let Kids Read Roald Dahl’s Books the Way He Wrote Them The Nation (Anthony L)

Supply Chain

Albuterol shortage is about to get worse, especially in hospitals CNN (resilc)

Hackers Can Turn Bing’s AI Chatbot Into a Convincing Scammer, Researchers Say Vice (furzy)

Florida workers got sick after Deepwater Horizon. They want BP to pay. Tampa Bay News (resilc)

The Bezzle

Beware of Book Blurbs The Millions (Anthony L)

Crypto Companies Behind Tether Used Falsified Documents and Shell Companies To Get Bank Accounts Wall Street Journal

The SPAC Fad Is Ending in a Pile of Bankruptcies and Fire Sales Bloomberg (Paul R)

Amazon Pauses Construction On 2nd Headquarters In Virginia Associated Press

If the Housing *Is* the Business Cycle, What Does this Picture Mean? Menzie Chinn

Class Warfare

Ga. Woman Crashes SUV into Popeyes After Order Didn’t Include Biscuits People (resilc). Not that I want to defend this sort of thing, but service rage now on top of road rage may be displacement. I spent two weeks out of the US and noted I was not angry once. I am now angry pretty much every day due to having to fight hard with my health insurer, my incompetent local bank, Delta (who made it well nigh impossible to redeem an eCredit for being stranded in the Atlanta airport) and prospectively with the local lube/minor repair shop, which repeatedly billed for services it didn’t provide, resulting in bricked engine. So it’s not hard to see people taking inappropriate action against available, as opposed to the deserving but unreachable targets.

Edward J. Kane: A Short Tribute Institute for New Economic Thinking. He wrote many excellent and insightful pieces about banking.

Antidote du jour (David C):

And a bonus (guurst):