Readers, I hope you are all having an excellent Thanksgiving. Purely for due diligence, I remind you to encourage kindness and helpfulness wherever you are. –lambert
Welcome to the Tiny Town Where Half Your Neighbors Are Polar Bears WSJ
Why Wild Turkeys Hate the Wild The Atlantic
Global Economy Slows, but Seems to Be Faring Better Than Feared WSJ
Climate
In Sharm El-Sheikh London Review of Books
COP27 Failed. Here Are 5 Ways We Can Still Help Save the Planet. Donzinger on Justice
Alan Kohler: It’s national suicide by politics, it’s death by degrees The New Daily. Australia.
#COVID19
WHO’s departing chief scientist regrets errors in debate over whether SARS-CoV-2 spreads through air Science. But then again, too few to mention. This tweet is still up, still doing damage:
FACT: #COVID19 is NOT airborne.
The #coronavirus is mainly transmitted through droplets generated when an infected person coughs, sneezes or speaks.
To protect yourself:
-keep 1m distance from others
-disinfect surfaces frequently
-wash/rub your 👐
-avoid touching your 👀👃👄 pic.twitter.com/fpkcpHAJx7— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) March 28, 2020
Shame!
The World Is Still Failing at Pandemic Preparedness and Response Project Syndicate
* * * Study shows reinfection protection for COVID-19 vaccines Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy
Vaccinated people now make up a majority of COVID deaths Stars and Stripes
Visualising SARS-CoV-2 transmission routes and mitigations BMJ
China?
Foxconn offers $1,400 payout to quell protests at China iPhone plant FT. Not clear to me whether wages and working conditions, lockdown, or both. Commentary:
I’m not going to get too far into it, but you should all be on the side of the Zhengzhou Foxconn workers and leaning on @Apple to smack some sense into their suppliers. You can have closed-loop management without abusing your workers.
— Naomi Wu 机械妖姬 (@RealSexyCyborg) November 24, 2022
China has ordered six million people into lockdown in a city Agence France Presse
China GDP: avoiding ‘middle-income trap’ is key in 2023, and 5 per cent economic growth possible, Beijing adviser says South China Morning Post
Sustainable Peatland Management and Transboundary Haze in Southeast Asia (podcast) New Books Network. See NC on peat here, here, and here.
Myanmar
Electricity boycott buckles in Yangon but powers on in the Dry Zone Frontier Myanmar
Anwar Ibrahim is Malaysia’s 10th prime minister Channel News Asia
European Disunion
First nationwide map of Italy’s fascist monuments goes online Channel News Asia
Hungary’s EU cash at risk after European Commission concludes reforms fell short Politico
Sweden’s parliament votes through controversial espionage law The Local. “Under Sweden’s current espionage legislation, secret information obtained, disclosed or passed to another state must directly harm Sweden’s security. Under the new law, it is enough for it to damage relations with another country.”
Cutting-edge tech made this tiny country a major exporter of food WaPo
Yandex seeks Putin approval for restructuring plan FT
New Not-So-Cold War
Ukraine – Lights Out, No Water And Soon No Heat Moon of Alabama. Meanwhile, if you think high Ukrainian vs. low Russian casualties are in any way implausible, Moon dug up this video (NSFW):
How not to attack a prepared defensive position … https://t.co/2vIk8rjGdP
— Moon of Alabama (@MoonofA) November 23, 2022
Where the front is on the map doesn’t matter all that much, does it? The meatgrinder does its work regardless.
Ukraine works to restore power after devastating strikes AP
The Russian Winter Offensive Gordon Hahn, Russian and Eurasian Politics
It’s War, Josep, But Not As We Know It Trying to Understand the World
* * * Weapons shortages spark tough choices for Ukraine’s allies Defense News
Poorly equipped German army awaits financial reinforcement from Berlin FT
Defense Primer: Conventional Ammunition Production Industrial Base (PDF) Congressional Research Service. A subhead, “Mitigating potential ammunition shortfalls,” is as far as CRS goes on capacity issues. From the final paragraph: “A 2022 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report found that complex organizational relationships and outdated policy documents ‘can hinder effective coordination [and] lead to poor or delayed decision-making’ among the multiple Army organizations responsible for the ammunition production base.” Oh.
* * * Proposed G7 oil price cap to have little immediate impact on Russian revenue Reuters
Russian oil moving to Asia on older vessels elevates shipping risks: Trafigura CEO Hellenic Shipping News and How Greek Companies and Ghost Ships Are Helping Russia Foreign Policy
* * * Olena Semenyaka, The “First Lady” of Ukrainian Nationalism Illiberalism Studies Program, George Washington University. Know your Azovs!
Biden Administration
Biden administration extends payment pause on student loan debt CNBC
Shortages
Alert reader JC sends the following field report from Texas:
I went to HEB yesterday. Very, very crowded before Thanksgiving. No one, but me wearing a mask.
I walked by pharmacy. The cold and flu (or any othr respiratory symtoms) meds were like a post Apocalype smash and grab. Everything else was in stock. I did not need anything myself.
Note to self: consenus does not equal wisdom.
“I’ve got this cold I just can’t shake.” The shelves:
Readers, what’s happening where you are?
The Bezzle
Crypto: Everyone Was Just That Stupid Heisenberg Report. “The cryptocurrency craze taught us that if enough people believe, the myth can become strong enough to supplant common sense, and the resultant mania can perpetuate the delirium such that skeptics begin to question themselves, on the way to becoming converts.”
How Sam Bankman-Fried Sold The Bahamas An Empty Crypto Dream Forbes. Amazing details.
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried plans to speak during New York Times DealBook summit FOX. If SBF is not indicted by summit-time! Commentary:
Sorkin: Sam, so glad you could join us. How have you been?
Sammy: Glad to be here Andy. Been busy, you know, looking forward to the holidays.
Sorkin: On that note let’s get right to the tough questions. Did your parents like the condo you got them?
Sammy: Yes, they love it. https://t.co/JdS4kFtAvE
— John Gavin (@JohnPGavin) November 24, 2022
Tech
Elon Musk Hires PlayStation 3 Hacker To Fix Twitter Kotaku. As an intern?!
Mercedes locks faster acceleration behind a $1,200 annual paywall The Verge
Groves of Academe
Healthcare
Medicare 2.0—A Vision for the Future of America’s Health Insurance Plan JAMA Network. “Medicare is one of the great successes in American social policy.” But heaven forfend we should make it universal!
World Cup?
Looking for this World Cup’s ‘Group of Death’? It doesn’t exist anymore. Here’s why… The Athletic
Our Famously Free Press
Media Misled on Issues Important to Midterm Voters FAIR. As well as determining which issues they were going to be misleading about, and which they would suppress entirely (Covid; Ukraine).
Thanksgiving Day
The End of American Thanksgivings: A Cause for Universal Rejoicing Black Agenda Report. To my mind, most of the history has been leached away. America is good at that. What remains is a lot of good food and conviviality, at a table with family (original or adopitive). America needs more of that.
Guillotine Watch
Class Warfare
Former employee sues United Furniture Industries over mass firing Freight Waves
Building Fast and Slow: The Empire State Building and the World Trade Center (Part I) Construction Physics
Antidote du jour (via):
Bonus antidote (AM):
AM writes: “Some dogs like hunting jackets and some cats like napkins!! Emmett lay down on one, and then my son and husband put the others under his head and across his body. Surprised he tolerated it.”
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
