Happy Australia Day!!! Please kiss a ‘roo or drink some Down Under shiraz for me. I still miss Sydney. How modern pet dogs originated from wolves in Ice Age Siberia Independent (Kevin W) The mystery of the blue flower: Nature’s rare color owes its existence to bee vision PhysOrg (Robert M) Sahara Desert Is Covered in Glittery Ice Crystals in the Aftermath of Rare Ice DustingMy Modern Met (David L) Litter provides habitat for diverse animal communities in rivers, study finds PhysOrg (Robert M) Global ice loss accelerating at record rate, study finds Guardian (Kevin W) Sun-Loving Bacteria May Be Accelerating Glacial Melting Wired (resilc): How this chemical engineer is hacking plastic production to promote sustainability PBS (Kevin W) Vietnam War: French court to hear landmark Agent Orange
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Lambert Strether writes Links 2/28/2021
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Yves Smith writes Links 2/27/2021
Barry Ritholtz writes 10 Weekend Reads
Happy Australia Day!!! Please kiss a ‘roo or drink some Down Under shiraz for me. I still miss Sydney.
How modern pet dogs originated from wolves in Ice Age Siberia Independent (Kevin W)
The mystery of the blue flower: Nature’s rare color owes its existence to bee vision PhysOrg (Robert M)
Sahara Desert Is Covered in Glittery Ice Crystals in the Aftermath of Rare Ice Dusting
My Modern Met (David L)
Litter provides habitat for diverse animal communities in rivers, study finds PhysOrg (Robert M)
Global ice loss accelerating at record rate, study finds Guardian (Kevin W)
Sun-Loving Bacteria May Be Accelerating Glacial Melting Wired (resilc):
How this chemical engineer is hacking plastic production to promote sustainability PBS (Kevin W)
Vietnam War: French court to hear landmark Agent Orange case BBC (resilc)
#COVID-19
Violence erupts in Israel’s ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods over covid restrictions Washington Post
Science/Medicine
Prospective mapping of viral mutations that escape antibodies used to treat COVID-19 Science
International team of scientists identifies new treatment for COVID-19 that appears to be far more effective than drugs in use now Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Great to see more work on treatments, but wish that had been a serious focus of official effort.
Eli Lilly’s antibody combination reduces risk of death from COVID-19: study Reuters
Oh, and finally some confirmation of our repeatedly stated views about Magic Covid Vaccines: Vaccines have been oversold as the pandemic exit strategy Financial Times
Moderna vaccine appears to work against variants BBC (furzy). Not at ALL consistent with the actual state of play, which is studies in real humans have yet to be done:
6) “Second, the Company is advancing an emerging variant booster candidate (mRNA-1273.351) against the B.1.351 variant first identified in the Republic of South Africa. The Company is advancing mRNA-1273.351 into preclinical studies and a Phase 1 study in the U.S.”
— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) January 25, 2021
Note in this tweet from a few days back that Bloomberg takes care not to go all in”
Pfizer and BioNTech build the case that their Covid-19 vaccine will protect against the new variant of the coronavirus that emerged in the U.K. https://t.co/EyLovouHlt
— Bloomberg (@business) January 23, 2021
Gorilla Gets Monoclonal Antibody Therapy For COVID-19 NPR (David L)
UK/Europe
Covid: Dutch curfew riots rage for third night BBC (furzy)
From Politico’s morning Europe newsletter:
Top officials and politicians have all but accused U.K.-based vaccine manufacturer AstraZeneca of cutting off supplies intended for EU countries in order to sell doses to other nations at higher prices. It all started to go downhill over the weekend, when the company’s non-answers to legitimate questions posed by EU officials took it from being a game changer in the bloc’s vaccination strategy to the brink of pariah status.
Trust ‘severely shaken’: One EU official suggested the company’s lobbyists in EU capitals may just take “some months” off. Another said “a company like AstraZeneca would normally strive for good cooperation with authorities at many levels,” from local and regional to national and EU levels, on everything from research and patents to construction permits. Note the “normally”: The current vaccine issue “really concerns every single customer in the EU,” said the official. “Trust has been severely shaken.”
EU threatens to block Covid vaccine exports amid AstraZeneca shortfall Guardian (Kevin W)
Coronavirus: EU to tighten vaccine exports amid row with AstraZeneca BBC
US
Undercounting of Covid-19 deaths is greatest in pro-Trump areas, analysis shows STAT
Oh, I LIKE supermarkets! And I had regarded them as OK. But I have been making a point of going only in the evening when they are very sparsely populated. And we have been discouraging the aides from going more often than absolutely necessary. Still….:-(
Supermarkets Identified as Most Frequent Place People Had Visited Before Positive COVID-19 Test: Study https://t.co/QNvozyhJUE
— Gabriela Cora, MD, MBA 🇺🇸 (@DrGabyCora) January 26, 2021
Vaccine tourism on the rise as wealthy international tourists eye an opportunity in the U.S. NBC (furzy)
Biden’s Vaccine Challenge Project Syndicate (David L).We’ve been harping on the lack of US operational capability. We’re apparently not the only parties worried about that.
Dr. Anthony Fauci: The Highest Paid Employee In The Entire U.S. Federal Government Forbes (resilc)
Finance/Economy
This is so pathetic. Biden’s clear demand for $2k checks immediately has become “I’ll meekly accept whatever you’ll give me whenever you get to it.” https://t.co/89GQrQHUYj
— Krystal Ball (@krystalball) January 26, 2021
!! Study finds that uniform moratoria on evictions and utility shutoffs through November of last year could have saved *164,000* lives lost to COVID-19: https://t.co/zdoBS7We33
If real, that would make reducing housing precarity easily the best public health measure we’ve got. pic.twitter.com/DZXxUe8VEC— Lydia DePillis (@lydiadepillis) January 25, 2021
China?
Biden and Xi fire hot first salvos over Taiwan Asia Times (Kevin W)
Biden administration enlists unions in anti-China drive, reopening policy WSWS
Merkel’s ‘Germany First’ ignores Biden’s wishes Asia Times (Kevin W)
Italian PM Conte to resign Politico
Brexit
51% of people in NI want referendum on United Ireland in next five years – poll Irish Examiner (resilc)
New Cold War
I hate to sound like my usual contrarian self, but this doesn’t look like a threat to authority:
Navalny protesters pelting police with snowballs in Moscow.#Russia pic.twitter.com/gY6rceXuO5
— Patrick Reevell (@Reevellp) January 23, 2021
Syraqistan
Iraqi group claiming to be new militia says it was behind attack on Riyadh The National
Canadians Against War on Yemen Block Shipment of Armoured Vehicles Headed to Saudi Arabia Common Dreams
Indirect Deaths: The Massive and Unseen Costs of America’s Post-9/11 Wars CounterPunch (resilc)
Imperial Collapse Watch
The Blob is Addicted to Overseas Interventions American Conservative (resilc)
Big Brother is Watching You Watch
Capitol Seizure
Tennessee man with zip ties at Capitol could face charges of sedition, other felonies after riot, prosecutors say Washington Post (furzy)
Trump Transition
QAnon Thinks Trump Will Become President Again on March 4 Vice. Resilc: “Is this before or after Bigfoot hunting season opens in Oklahoma?” A topical question: Major New Legislation Calls for Bigfoot Hunting Season Popular Mechanics
Impeachment
House formally sends impeachment to Senate, putting Trump on trial for Capitol riot and House formally sends impeachment to Senate, putting Trump on trial for Capitol riot and Trump, allies raise pressure on Senate GOP ahead of impeachment The Hill
John Roberts Weaseling Out Of Donald Trump Impeachment Trial Warrants His Own Impeachment Above the Law (David L)
Hawley files ethics counter-complaint against seven Dem senators Politico
Biden
PATRICK LAWRENCE: Biden is Already Breaking Promises ConsortiumNews
Biden Urged to Fire Entire Postal Service Board for Complicity in ‘Devastating Arson’ by Trump and DeJoy Common Dreams
If We Don’t Pass H.R. 1, ‘We Are F*cked as a Nation’ Esquire (resilc). Someone has not been paying attention.
Senate Filibuster Debate Roils Chamber New York Times (furzy)
Our Famously Free Press
Josh Hawley Believes Disliking Josh Hawley Is Censorship New York Magazine
‘Hall monitors’ for social media? Twitter launches new ‘Birdwatch’ program, enlisting users to help hunt down ‘misleading’ speech RT (Kevin W). Furzy on the BBC version of this story: “Twitter will be overwhelmed by this…..imagine what this would have looked like if Trumpy were still tweeting…..”
The Mephistopheles Media Ilargi (Chuck L). An extreme scenario, but impossible. However, the MSM does not drive foreign policy. Most reporters can barely find Yemen on a map. The object of our Two Minute Hates are determined by the folks in the military-intel state, who feed story lines to the press.
Shariah-Compliant Crypto Exchange Wins License From Bahrain Central Bank CoinDesk (resilc)
Boeing 737 Max cleared to fly again ‘too early‘ BBC
Companies raise $400bn over three weeks in blistering start to 2021 Financial Times
Class Warfare
Forgiving Student Debt Alone Won’t Fix the Crisis Matt Taibbi, Rolling Stone (UserFriendly)
The Political Immortality of Billionaires Consortiumnews
The Nature of Money Current Affairs (UserFriendly)
Antidote du jour (Tracie H):
And a bonus video (furzy):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.