The Problem with Problem Sharks Nautilus (Micael T)
Lost cities of the Amazon: how science is revealing ancient garden towns hidden in the rainforest Guardian (Kevin W)
The birth of naturalism aeon (Anthony L)
Alt Lit Sam Kriss (Anthony L)
A very American fear aeon (Micael T). How about it can create unrealistic expectations about bodies and sex acts and make it difficult to get aroused by normal stimuli? Why, for instance, have boob jobs become pervasive among actresses (if you know the telltale signs, it’s evident) and plenty of “not paid to be looked at” women with the money also buying them?
Why Doctors Test Too Much Nautilus (Micael T). Patients need to say no.
#COVID/Pandemics
Worked hard on this, and I hope it will be a useful resource for many.
A beginner’s guide to Long COVID, with a discussion of mechanisms: https://t.co/1BI5PqSKuH
— Julia Marie (@julia_doubleday) February 7, 2025
Every time you catch Covid, it increases your risk of your immune system getting confused and attacking the processes that handle sugar in your body.
Which is called diabetes.
So it should be no surprise that diabetes growth has accelerated. pic.twitter.com/qyxFxN0Pfa
— tern (@1goodtern) February 6, 2025
IMHO one year of immunity is not much immunity, particularly given the many long-term costs of getting even one case of Covid. The “natural immunity” folks never factor that in:
New study in Nature finds no such thing as natural immunity to covid after the arrival of omicron. Pre-omicron, infection provided 80% protection against re-infection one year later. This falls to under 5% at one year with omicron pic.twitter.com/GGLcb0SzJV
— Nate Bear (@NateB_Panic) February 7, 2025
Measles Outbreak Mounts Among Children in One of Texas’ Least Vaccinated Counties KFF Health News
Very unwelcome news! H5N1 genotype D1.1 6 identified in 6 Nevada dairy herds. This is NOT the strain that’s been circulating on farms so far. It’s the strain that sent a 13yo girl in Canada to ICU, and that killed a man in Louisiana. Bad time for a public health comms blackout. pic.twitter.com/HY6S1Sl2Wy
— Noha Aboelata, MD (@NohaAboelataMD) February 6, 2025
Climate/Environment
‘Back to plastic!’ – Trump RT (Kevin W)
Indoor Marijuana Ops Are Consuming a Staggering Amount of Energy OilPrice
China?
Big companies see no China recovery soon, adding to trade tensions gloom Reuters
Pharmaceuticals become a battlefield in the Sino-US trade war Asia Times (Kevin W). We predicted this as a key leverage point for China a decade ago. Bizarre that Trump didn’t carve them out. Pharmaceuticals are routinely exempted from sanctions for humanitarian reasons. But Trump does not care about humans.
Donald Trump pauses tariffs on low-cost parcels in US-China trade reprieve Financial Times. More “Fire, aim, ready.”
South of the Border
Venezuela: “Superfluous people”? Multipolar via machine translation
Mexican border cities are in limbo as tariff threats spark fears of a recession Independent
O Canada
All bets are off Luke Savage (Chuck L). A Trump own goal.
Canadians Overwhelmingly Support Retaliatory Oil Tariffs In Trump Trade War OilPrice
European Disunion
NATO Secretary General: “We must prepare for war” – No, we don’t have to do anything! Nachdenkseitsen (Michael T)
Italy’s budget watchdog cuts growth estimates as problems mount Reuters
Union vice-chairman reported to police and warned: “Identified as a spy” Expressen (Sweden) via machine translation. Micael T: “Everyday life in vassal country.”
Old Blighty
Britain’s ‘grooming gangs’ under renewed scrutiny and investigations Le Monde
Starmer goes nuclear in hunt for long-term growth BBC (Kevin W)
UK food security in ‘precarious state’, warns National Preparedness Commission NFUOnline
Scotland in midst of ‘massive energy debt crisis’, charities warn News.STV
Israel v. The Resistance
‘Existence is resistance’: Palestinians tell Trump they won’t leave Gaza Defend Democracy
Bomb the area, gas the tunnels: Israel’s unbridled war on Gaza’s underground +972 (guurst). We said early on that Israel would resort to gas.
Did You Notice? They Admitted Possibly Killing Almost a Million Palestinians BettBeat (Dr. Kevin)
🚨Press Conference Statement by Gaza’s Government Media Office on the Israel’s Violations of the Humanitarian Protocol and Delays in Delivering Humanitarian Aid to Gaza
••••••In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
Despite 20 days having passed since the…
— Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) February 8, 2025
🚨 DROP SITE NEWS REPORT | Israel’s Restrictive & Arbitrary Medical Evacuation System Is Dooming Thousands of Wounded Palestinians in Gaza To Death or Lifelong Disability
Dr. Feroze Sidhwa spoke to Drop Site about Israel’s medical evacuation procedures in Gaza, which he… pic.twitter.com/KksGvQKVi2
— Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) February 6, 2025
“All the gloves come off in Gaza.” Patrick Lawrence
Israel considers sending Gazans to Puntland – and the tiny breakaway statelet is keen Telegraph (Kevin W)
Whoever ends up rebuilding Gaza, this is the enormous scale of the task Sydney Morning Herald (Kevin W)
The Window for Diplomacy with Iran Is Closing Daniel Larison
Why Did Trump Threaten To Modify Or Rescind India’s Sanctions Waiver For Iran’s Chabahar Port? Andrew Korybko
New Not-So-Cold War
Ukraine Inches Closer to Final Call-Up Simplicius
Europe’s Ukraine Delusion Thomas Fazi, Compact
Big Brother is Watching You Watch
Who Else Wants Access To Apple Users’ Encrypted Data? Moon of Alabama (Chuck L). This is why I do not use “the cloud”. Yet even after having disabled every Apple cloud service, the phone nags me constantly to sign in with my Apple ID. They really want to know too much about you.
Imperial Collapse Watch
F-35 Fails to Improve on Delays and Performance Issues: Key Software Deficiencies Persist Military Watch
Rubio to boycott G20 meeting RT (Kevin W)
Over 70 countries warn sanctions on ICC heighten ‘risk of impunity’ for grave crimes Anadolu Agency
Trump 2.0
Trump says he’s revoking Biden’s security clearance, ending intelligence briefings in payback move Associated Press (Kevin W)
Trump Signs Order to Fight ‘Anti-Christian Bias’ New York Times
People are feeling galvanized’: Anti-Trump protesters rally in cities across US USAToday. Anything less than a general strike or strikes that hit essential services is performative.
US farmers ‘prepare for the worst’ in new Trump trade war Financial Times
DOGE
Musk’s Treasury Incursion Puts Entire Financial System at Risk Bloomberg
Meet Elon Musk’s ‘baby-faced assassins’ leading Doge takeover The Times
DOGE targets Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as Musk tweets ‘RIP’ Washington Post. The CFPB is funded by the Fed, not Congress, although it was set up by Congress. The Fed has not been bowing to Trump.
Judge blocks Trump from placing thousands of USAID workers on leave and giving them 30-day deadline Associated Press. Also halts evacuations from foreign countries.
Red states pursue their own DOGE-style reforms The Hill
🚨JASON CALACANIS: “How USAID got to the top of the DOGE list is that Trump decided to pause Foreign Aid for 90 days — reasonable enough. A couple days later the White House said this USAID leadership was trying to circumvent this Executive Order. That alerted the DOGE team and… pic.twitter.com/r6ZnaYkQ4D
— Autism Capital 🧩 (@AutismCapital) February 8, 2025
Exclusive: ACLU asks Congress to investigate plans to fire ‘probationary’ federal employees The Hill. An investigation = wet noodle lashing.
Immigration
MUST WATCH: New Jersey’s Democrat Governor Phil Murphy seems to admit to harboring an illegal alien in his home:
“We said, you know what, let’s have her live at our house above our garage, and good luck to the feds coming in to try to get her.” pic.twitter.com/mMfP0BelUF
— Conservative War Machine (@WarMachineRR) February 3, 2025
Our No Longer Free Press
Austrian Police Detain Richard Medhurst; Accuse Him of Being Hamas Member; UK Extends Probe Against Him ConsortiumNews
Police State Watch
Watch: Senators and Witnesses Expose Biden Admin’s Debanking Scandal as New Operation Choke Point Evidence Emerges Reclaim the Net (Micael T)
The Bezzle
The US Needs a Sovereign Wealth Fund Like a Fish Needs a Bicycle Stephanie Kelton (Chuck L)
Class Warfare
The Race-Blind College-Admissions Era Is Off to a Weird Start Atlantic (Chuck L)
County workers wanted a raise, but got a 4-day workweek instead CBS (David in Friday Harbor)
Antidote du jour (via):
And a bonus (Chuck L):
Elephant brought to hospital to say goodbye to his terminally ill caretaker. 🥲😞 pic.twitter.com/TKSNS6vy88
— Nature is Amazing ☘️ (@AMAZlNGNATURE) February 6, 2025
A second bonus (Chuck L):
A penguin jumped on a boat to escape a Seal… so they took him to the iceberg where his friends were waiting pic.twitter.com/21NOyJeU8v
— Pubity (@pubity) February 1, 2025
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
