2022-02-28

Horseshit

• Musk vows to save ISS after Russia threatened to let it fall from orbit

• Is it time to sell the moon?

• Mopping can create air pollution that rivals city streets

• Self-Driving Trucks Start to Propel Land Rush Near Major Cities

• This 200-Foot-Long Railway to Nowhere Is Actually a Brilliant Shipping Loophole

Rank Propaganda / Thought Policing

• Russian Trolls Used Meme Warfare to Divide America

Trucker Convoy

• Fed Forces Gather – Splendid Isolation

• US Trucker Convoy Swells As It Moves Across Country To DC | ZeroHedge

COVID / VaxCult

• The Definitive Guide to Covid and Covid Vaccine Deaths

• SNL to Liberals: It’s OK To Question Nonsensical Mask Mandates.

• With mask-mandates expiring, Businesses bet on their Own Policies

• CDC Drops guidance for universal indoor-masking

• In some Scenarios, non-mRNA Vaccines 'can be'(sic) as good as Pfizer and Moderna

• Omicron’s lasting mysteries: four questions scientists are racing to answer

• CDC Quietly Revises Booster Recommendations for Young Men.

• New York City says it will end the school mask mandate and indoor vaccination requirements.

• Five months post-covid, Nicole Murphy’s heart rate is still doing strange things

  “‘We are expecting a tidal wave of cardiovascular events in the coming years from direct and indirect causes of covid,’ said Donald M. Lloyd-Jones, president of the American Heart Association.

• Strange Evolutionary Pace of SARS-CoV-2 Mutations Is Revealed in New Study

• Pfizer Shot Is Far Less Effective in 5-11 Year-Olds Than in Older Kids

• Derek Lowe The Origins of the Pandemic

  let's revisit the origin-of-Covid controversy, what do you say? The two main contenders have been the original "zoonotic crossover in a market that slaughtered animals" and the "leaked out of the Wuhan Institute of Virology" one. I have been agnostic about this, but I have to clarify that when I give the latter possibility thought it does not imply that I think that this was in any way an engineered virus. I have seen no convincing evidence of that, and a lot of evidence to the contrary. No, for me, it's always come down to "random jump into humans, in an environment that certainly favors it" versus "bad lab technique, which can and does happen all the time".

  No, the Chinese authorities have not been transparent at all, but it appears that they have been reflexively covering up every possible hypothesis and line of evidence rather than trying to run cover for the Wuhan Institute of Virology in particular (for example).

Culture War / Tribal / Re segregation

• Ukraine: Concerns mount as black people report racism while fleeing war zone

• 1619 founder Nikole Hannah-Jones blasts media for ‘insidious racism’ and claims they only care about ‘Europeans with blond hair and blue eyes’ after heavy coverage of Ukraine compared to other conflicts

Edumacationalizing / Acedemia Nuts

• Covid-19 and education: The lingering effects of unfinished learning

Media / ShowBiz / Advertising

• Meta removed two disinformation campaigns targeting Ukraine

• Twitter to Limit Circulation of Articles from Russian Affiliated News Sources

• Applebee's “Disappointed” with CNN after ad placement during Ukraine coverage

TechSuck

• Cairo Graphics Library Drops Many Old Backends - Phoronix

• Satellite firm Viasat probes suspected cyberattack

Crypto con games

• Canadian, or Russian sanctions? "We're subject to government and laws when we want" aint gonna fly: Crypto Exchange Binance Says It Is Taking Steps Against Sanction Targets

• As Russia invaded Ukraine, Bitcoin plunged – here's what crypto experts said

• Bitcoin jumps 8% after Treasury imposes sanctions against Russian central bank

Economicon / Business / Finance

• The invasion of Ukraine changed everything for Wall Street

• Toyota to halt operations at all Japan plants due to cyberattack Asia

• Drewry: Container Port Throughput Index Hits Lowest Point Since February

• From Russian Pipelines With Love - BIG by Matt Stoller

Gubmint / Poilitcks / Law Making

• Stealth Hunter: Biden’s tangled business dealings are becoming hard to ignore

• Boston Michelle Wu seeks to ban protesters from demonstrating at her home in the early morning.

• Democratic Socialists blame US imperialism for Russian invasion of Ukraine

External Security / Militaria / Diplomania

• U.S. banks prepare for cyber attacks after latest Russia sanctions

• U.S. embassy urges Americans in Russia to consider leaving “immediately”

• “I’m pro-Ukraine, but I get nervous when the establishment agrees with me.”

• Kosovo asks U.S. for permanent military base, speedier NATO membership

Ukraine

• Russia-Ukraine Warning Update: Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment February 27

• Ukraine Conflict Update 10 (Feb 27)

• Ukrainian president signs formal request to join the European Union

• ESA Statement Regarding Cooperation with Russia Following a Meeting with Member States

  Regarding the ExoMars programme continuation, the sanctions and the wider context make a launch in 2022 very unlikely.

• EU to link its power grid with Ukraine within weeks

• The Road Out of Kyiv

• Greenwald: War Propaganda About Ukraine Becoming More Militaristic, Authoritarian, & Reckless | ZeroHedge

• Russia's strategy to destroy Ukraine army going to plan - Asia Times

• The U.S. and NATO must fight

• Belarus Hackers Allegedly Disrupted Trains to Thwart Russia

• Russia orders block on foreign clients' bids to sell Russian securities

• Government of Canada pledges to match donations for Ukraine

• The unique AN-225 has been destroyed by the Russian army

• Ukraine is one of us and we want them in EU, Ursula von der Leyen tells Euronews

• Likely that Swiss will freeze Russian assets

• Videos show Ukrainian forces repel Russian advance towards strategic airfield

• Russia mistakenly posted post-war article about Ukraine joining Russia | Hacker News

• Ask HN: Is anyone else genuinely scared that this is the start of WW3? | Hacker News

• UN votes to hold emergency General Assembly session on Ukraine

• Congressional Research Service: Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine: NATO Response

• Russian forces have yet to capture a city in Ukraine, U.S. defense official says.

• Danish PM says volunteers can join Ukraine fight.

• Russia’s Ukraine attack forces Beijing into diplomatic dance.

• Ups and FedEx halting shipments to Russia and Ukraine

• States want to boycott Russian vodka. That won't work

• US can't absolve itself of responsibility for Putin's Ukraine invasion

• After another wave of sanctions, many Putin associates remain untouched

• Pozsar Warns Of Another "Lehman Weekend" As Russia Sanctions May Trigger Central Bank Liquidity Flood | ZeroHedge

• Americans Can Sign Up to Fight in Ukraine Against the Russians

• MacGregor: U.S. Should "Stop Shipping Weapons And Stop Encouraging Ukrainians To Die In A Hopeless Endeavor"

• Russia sharply increases rates as sanctions send rouble plunging

  • Russia’s Central Bank More Than Doubles Interest Rates in Response to Sanctions

• Russia Sanctions over Ukraine Largely Spare Energy Sector, Vital to Europe

• Russia plans to seize all Citizens Deposits to finance the War with Ukraine

• Russian central bank confirms block on foreign bids to sell Russian securities

• Belarus referendum approves proposal to renounce non-nuclear status

• The Ukraine crisis is now a nuclear crisis

• Russia Sanctions List

• A pandemic spent in isolation may have driven Putin mad

• Ukraine belongs in EU, Commission chief von der Leyen says

• Belarus prepares to join the invasion of Ukraine

• Google Suspends Maps Features in Ukraine That Showed Russia's Invasion

• Millions in Bitcoin pouring into Ukraine from donors

• Belarus to Host Russian Nukes in Major Reversal of Post-Soviet Order

• Ukraine invasion: Russia restricts social media access

• Patreon suspends donation page for nonprofit giving body armor to Ukrainian army

• Bank of China's Singapore operation stops financing Russian oil trades

• Britain widens Russian 'dirty money' crackdown with new law

• Putin’s baffling war strategy: The invasion isn’t going as planned. Here’s why

  Russian media is simply not portraying the war. To date, they’re claiming that the only fighting that’s happening is around the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics, the proxies that Russia recognized, and they’re not showing fighting across the country, they’re not showing any Russian casualties, and rather than showing Russian footage, they’re trying to take Ukrainian footage out of context and use that to portray the war.

• War via TikTok: Russia’s new tool for propaganda machine

• Russia, Ukraine Start First Talks Since Moscow Attacked: 10 Points

• How the U.S. helped Ukraine prepare for a Russian invasion

• Putin Warned Us

• Facebook uncovers disinformation and hacking campaigns targeting Ukraine

• Would Putin press the nuclear button?

• World’s Biggest Plane Destroyed in Russian Attack on Airfield

• Ukraine misinformation spreads as users share videos out of context

• It’s okay if our citizens want to volunteer to fight for Ukraine.

• Facebook: Updates on Our Security Work in Ukraine

• Russian state media article deleted after suggesting Russia victory achieved

• Ukraine: Foreign ministry advises Italians to leave Russia

• US cutting off Russia's central bank from US dollar transactions

• Ukraine Frustrated At 'Low Level' Russian Delegation As Ceasefire Talks Kick Off In Belarus | ZeroHedge

• US, Germany Continue To Allow Gas Transactions With Russia Despite SWIFT Ban | ZeroHedge

• In Historic Breach With Neutrality, Switzerland Joins EU In Sanctions On Russia | ZeroHedge

• Putin's move to put nuclear forces on 'high alert' adds even more tension

• Belarus Issues Dire World War III Warning as It Gets Ready to Send Troops to Ukraine

• Ukraine's second-largest city comes under intense rocket fire as peace talks begin

• Refugee crisis: More than 500,000 refugees have fled Ukraine amid Russia's ongoing invasion, UN agency says

• Russian oligarch Abramovich helping Ukraine negotiate for peace

• Switzerland says it will freeze Russian assets

• Russian Ruble Is Now Worth Less Than 1 U.S. Cent After Swift Bank Sanctions

• Russia hikes key rate to 20% in emergency move, tells companies to sell FX

• Bulgaria evacuates consular staff from Ukraine’s Odessa

• Putin's invasion may set precedent for superpowers to attack wherever they want

• Europe welcomes Ukrainian refugees – others, less so

• ‘They're fooled by Putin’: Chinese historians speak out against Russian invasion

• Would Vladimir Putin use nuclear weapons in Ukraine?

• Putin’s Ban on Foreign Debt Service Raises $478B Question

• Historic sanctions on Russia had roots in emotional appeal from Zelensky

• Denounce Putin or lose your job: Russian conductor Gergiev given an ultimatum

• Russia's financial meltdown and the global dollar system

• The Moscow stock exchange will stay closed on Monday

• The future is a very weird place. Ukrainians are uploading videos on TikTok about how to drive abandoned or captured Russian military vehicles.

• Nigeria condemns treatment of Africans trying to flee Ukraine

• "Fuck it!" Russia's Final Break With the West

• Attack on Ukrainian Government Websites Linked to GRU Hackers

• Zelensky urges Biden, NATO to impose “no-fly zone” over Ukraine

• OnlyFans Says It Has Restored Russian Creators’ Accounts

• Russia 'Likely' to Default on Debts

• Navalny's supporters call for civil disobedience against Ukraine war

• The Russian invasion touches outer space

• Russia's Money Is Gone?

• ‘The damage is done’: Russians face economic point of no return

World

• Germany announces vast defense spending increase

• Abe: Taiwan security is Japan's affair and US should opt for 'strategic clarity'

• Nuclear, coal, LNG: ‘no taboos’ in Germany’s energy about-face

• Shetland spaceport gains planning approval

• Meta says it's shut down a pro-Russian disinformation network

Health / Medicine

• Clinical Trials Are Ailing

• Dr. Bronner's, the Soap Company, Dips into Psychedelics

• Meat-eating extends human life expectancy worldwide

• Low-meat and meat-free diets associated with lower overall cancer risk

• The surprising links between what you eat and how well you sleep

Environment / Climate / Green Propaganda

• Supreme Court to hear case that could limit EPA's power to fight climate change

• Should we kill every mosquito on Earth?

• Climate change: IPCC report warns of ‘irreversible’ impacts of global warming

• The Youth Movement Trying to Revolutionize Climate Politics

• US fossil fuel industry leaps on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to argue for more drilling

• ‘Green’ Energy Has Left the West Increasingly Dependent on Russian Energy

• Climate Change Is Harming the Planet Faster Than We Can Adapt, U.N. Warns