2022-03-08

Worthy

• Tech and War – Stratechery by Ben Thompson

  his Article is not about those public sanctions, by which I mean sanctions coming from governments (Noah Smith has a useful overview of their impact here); what is interesting to me is the extent to which these public sanctions have been accompanied by private sanctions by companies, including: (long list)

  The key thing to note, though, is few if any of these actions were required by law; they were decisions made by individual companies.

• On Attention, Addiction and Algorithms - by Thomas J Bevan

etc

• (2019) Estimating Flight Characteristics of Anomalous Unidentified Aerial Vehicles - PMC

  The main incident occurred on 14 November 2004, but several days earlier, radar operators on the USS Princeton were detecting UAPs appearing on radar at about 80,000+ feet altitude to the north of CSG11 in the vicinity of Santa Catalina and San Clemente Islands. Senior Chief Kevin Day informed us that the Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) radar systems had detected the UAPs in low Earth orbit before they dropped down to 80,000 feet. The objects would arrive in groups of 10 to 20 and subsequently drop down to 28,000 feet with a several hundred foot variation, and track south at a speed of about 100 knots.

  • HN thread

• An Asteroid Predicted to Hit Earth in 2023 Has Turned Out to Be Safe.

• Overcoming Bias : Unblinding Our Admin Futures

• Controversial rock art in Amazon rainforest may depict extinct giants of the ice age - CNN

• Stop Venting It Doesn’t Work

Horseshit

• Bare-Naked Ski Day: Bluebird Backcountry Hosts ‘Boot-Tan Fest’ | GearJunkie

• City of Tacoma to Accept Window Replacement Grant Applications March 7 – 28

  As part of efforts to alleviate ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on Tacoma’s small business community, Mayor Victoria Woodards recently announced the availability of $300,000 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding, establishing a Window Replacement Grant Program to offset costs incurred replacing windows broken at their business location. Program details, informed by input from the City Council’s Economic Development Committee, were developed by the City of Tacoma’s Community and Economic Development Department. Eligible small businesses based in Tacoma, with no more than 15 full-time equivalent employees, may submit an application starting March 7, 2022 at 8 AM for a Window Replacement Grant. The deadline for submitting a grant application is March 28, 2022 at 11:59 PM. Grant recipients will be selected via random lottery and notified on April 6, 2022.

  • "to alleviate ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic" ... "offset costs incurred replacing windows broken at their business location"

celebrity gossip

• Steve Wozniak: Steve Jobs wasn’t a natural-born leader

Rank Propaganda / Thought Policing

• Fighting Disinformation Isn’t a Lost Cause

COVID / VaxCult

• 4th Dose Covid mRNA Vaccines’ Immunogenicity and Efficacy Against Omicron VOC

• Strong evidence for brain-related abnormalities in Covid-19

• Coronapod: What people get wrong about endemic Covid

• Scary Adverse Reactions to COVID Vaccines I Have Come Across

  Typically when a drug has between 10-100 critical injuries reported to the FDA, they strongly look at pulling it from the market or giving it a blackbox warning. I thus feel these vaccines are not being held to the adverse reporting standard we expect. I would like to again emphasize part of the reason I put this list together was because I was reading a lot of reports on the internet of adverse events, and to some extent you don’t actually know if they are real or people posting them, but I know every single one described here happened.

• Mask mandates go away in schools, but parent worries persist

• China seeing new surge in cases despite ‘zero tolerance.’

• Scans reveal how Covid may change the brain

Culture War / Tribal / Re segregation

• "An entire summer camp devoted to Sex Education for 10-12 year olds."

• Adolescent Liberation - Parrhesia’s Newsletter

Edumacationalizing / Acedemia Nuts

• Yes, IQ Matters

• "An entire summer camp devoted to Sex Education for 10-12 year olds."

• It's 'Alarming': Children Are Severely Behind in Reading

• Intellectuals are proving bad for America.

Media / ShowBiz / Advertising

• Twitter Wants to Reinvent Itself, by Merging the Old with the New

• The Spirited Away stage show looks transcendent

• The new silent majority: People who don't tweet

• How can we know if paid search advertising works?

TechSuck

• TSMC Executive Says Chip Shortage to Last Several More Years

Crypto con games

• Coinbase: Using Crypto Tech to Promote Sanctions Compliance

  • Coinbase Blocks 25K Russia-Linked Addresses Allegedly Tied to Illicit Activity

  • Coinbase blocks 25k Russian crypto accounts

• How the Ukraine conflict became a turning point for cryptocurrency

• Cryptocurrencies: The Power of Memes

• Ormeus Coin Founder Charged with Cryptocurrency Securities Fraud

Economicon / Business / Finance

• Three Theories for Why Gas Prices Are So High

• Oil Surges 10% to $130 a Barrel on Intensifying Fears of Supply Crunch

• LME suspends nickel trading after contract soars to $100k a tonne

  • China Construction Bank Unit Gets Extension on LME Metal Margin Calls

  • Nickel Passes $100k as Big Short Tests 145-Year-Old Exchange

  • London Metal Exchange cancels nickel trades after price doubles

• How War in Ukraine Drives Up Inflation at U.S. Farms, Supermarkets, Retailers

• Dow sinks and enters 'Correction Territory'

• JPMorgan Cuts Russia Bonds

• Should in-office workers be paid more?

• Rising Gas Prices Have Drivers Asking, ‘Is This for Real?’

• Visa and MasterCard Set to Increase Fees

• America Produces Enough Oil to Meet Its Needs, So Why Do We Import Crude?

• As inflation heats up, 64% of Americans are now living paycheck to paycheck

Gubmint / Poilitcks / Law Making

• U.S. Supreme Court rebuffs Republicans in electoral map disputes

• Congress to legislate to suspend trade-relations, Ban energy Imports from Russia

• Biden to sign order clearing way for crypto oversight

• Congress Is Poised to Bail Out the Post Office. What That Will and Won’t Mean for Mail Delays

• Russia's invasion puts a new light on Trump's Ukraine pressure campaign

• The People's Convoy Makes its Mark Despite Media Blackout – PJ Media

Law Breaking / Police / Internal Security

• US scientist falsely accused of hiding ties to China speaks out

• Assessing a Claim: Is San Francisco's Shoplifting Problem Fake?

  If you like diversion programs or think they are helpful, that’s fine. But handwaving accusations Boudin is soft on by ignoring most of how he actually handles shoplifting charges is disrespectful of your audience; it’s telling them hand-picked facts to make sure they don’t end up getting unapproved-of ideas.

• Government Is Leaving Nothing to Chance in Michigan Whitmer Kidnapping Trial

External Security / Militaria / Diplomania

• Iran plotting assassination of John Bolton, others, even while Biden negotiates

• U.S. may act alone to ban Russian oil imports

• The Sheriff of Transnistria

  • Is Moldova next?

• A Russian Cyber War may not boost security stocks much further

• Washington resurrects talk of two-war doctrine in nod to China

• US to ban Russian oil imports over Ukraine invasion

World

• Japan has declared today that the southern Kurils is their sovereign territory

• European Union to slash Russian gas imports by 66% this year

• Turkish drone success in Ukraine sets stage for Asia roadshow

Health / Medicine

• Explosion in microbiome research opens door to a new age of medicine

Environment / Climate / Green Propaganda

• The loss of insects is an apocalypse worth worrying about

• Ask HN: How do you deal with Climate Change induced depression?

• How badly will Russia's war torpedo hopes for global climate cooperation?

Ukraine War

• Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, March 7 | Institute for the Study of War

• Russia threatens to stop gas supply by Nord Stream 1

  • Russia Threatens to Cut Off Flow of Nordstream 1 Pipeline

• A Russian Armored Train Has Joined the Invasion of Ukraine

• Russia-Ukraine War: What Happened March 7

• An update on the threat landscape

• Shell announces intent to withdraw from Russian oil and gas

• Russia calls for return to 'peaceful co-existence'with U.S. like during Cold War

• The Invasion of Ukraine Is Causing Crisis at Sea

• American Longshoremen Refuse To Work Russian Cargo Effective Immediately

• Is Putin's end game the roll out of a domestic CBDC? - The Blind Spot

  Putin probably does not need to win any war in Ukraine. He seems to be preserving his defence capabilities rather than needlessly wasting them. He is doing the invasion of Ukraine on the cheap because the invasion does not really have to succeed. He has now achieved what may have been his objective all along – which is the financial and media isolation of Russia.

• Russia proposes nationalising foreign-owned factories that shut operations

• Russia says it may cut gas supplies if oil ban goes ahead

• UK says it will back Poland if decides to send jets to Ukraine

• Ukraine says it has RE-TAKEN Chuhuiv city and killed two high-ranking Russian commanders during the battle.

• Here Are All The Latest News And Developments From The Ukraine War: March 8 | ZeroHedge

• War in Ukraine: US, EU and UK target Russia oil and gas sector

• Can Ukraine Actually Win? « Lawrence Person's BattleSwarm Blog

• Russia Turns to Chinese Currency

• US banning all imports of Russian oil and gas

  • President Biden Bans Imports of Russian Oil Because of Moscow's War on Ukraine

  • U.S. will ban Russian oil imports

  • Biden Ban On Russia Energy Applies To 'All New Purchases' -- Will Allow 45-Day Winddown On Existing

• Statement from Poland on providing airplanes to Ukraine

• BBC News journalists resume broadcasts from Russia

• What Russian Officials Think of the Invasion of Ukraine

• Poland’s government ready to hand over all its MIG-29s to US air base in Germany

• Zelensky: “No Longer Pursuing NATO Membership, Open to Compromise on DNR/LNR”

• IAEA loses contact with safeguards monitoring systems at Chernobyl

• Poland ready to place all its MIG-29 jets at the disposal of the US

etc

• LET’S DISCUSS WHAT’S HAPPENING IN RUSSIA

• Two B-52s circling over Romania

• A Russia bond default looks increasingly likely

• Fast-food chains and food producers stay open in Russia

• UN Says Ukrainian Refugees Surpass 2M

• Beijing is re-writing the Ukraine narrative

• EV revolution made Ukraine’s mineral deposits too valuable for Putin to ignore

• Russian military communications intercepted after they destroyed 4G towers

• EU Aims to Cut Dependence on Russian Gas by Almost 80% This Year

• Second Russian general killed in war, Ukraine says

  • Vitaly Gerasimov: second Russian general killed, Ukraine defence ministry claims

• McDonald's and Coca-Cola boycott calls grow over Russia

• Putin may be planning to pummel Kyiv into submission

  • HN thread

• As Russia's Military Stumbles, Its Adversaries Take Note

• Russia's Ukraine invasion may have been preventable

• Ukrainian Women Will Suffer

• Wall Street Is Pouncing on Russia’s Cheap Corporate Debt

• Russian Military’s Corruption Quagmire

• Russia Restricting Social-Media – Removing the Free-Flow of Information Online

• Russia surpasses Iran to become most sanctioned country

• Russia Arrests almost 5k anti-War Protesters in 65 Cities this past Weekend

• Intelligence Disclosures in the Ukraine Criss and Beyond

• Ukraine invasion: False claims the war is a hoax go viral

• Russia Is Trying to Recruit Foreign-Fighters (Syrians) to Fight in Ukraine

• Acting U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine – “We're Trying Everything to Avoid WW-III”

• Russia is shelling a damaged nuclear research facility, says Ukraine.

  Ukraine of course says this will doom us all, even though it's just a neutron source for research and too small to have any sort of meltdown. The Russian spin on this is even wilder, claiming that the Azov Battalion fighting Russian-backed separatists has seized the reactor and is threatening to blow it up and cause an environmental disaster big enough to draw NATO into the war... Even though it's just a neutron source for research and too small to have any sort of meltdown.

• Beijing is re-writing the Ukraine narrative

• What the Syria war tells about Russia's use of humanitarian corridors

• After years of living in Moscow: No one should expect Russians to rise up now

• Over 200 Companies Have Withdrawn from Russia – But Some Remain

• Visa/MasterCard suspensions leave fleeing Russians without access to their money

• Russia’s onslaught is brutal, but it is not ‘shock and awe

• What The Air Campaign in Ukraine Tells Us About The Current State Of The Russian Air Force

• Wheat continues surge toward all-time high as Russian invasion of Ukraine shuts down exports

• For foreign fighters, Ukraine offers purpose, camaraderie and a cause

• 'It's not Call of Duty out here, this is real'

• The Future Turns Dark for Russia’s Oil Industry

• Latvian member of parliament joins foreign fighters in Ukraine

• Russia-Ukraine War Possible Trajectories

• I Was Wrong About Putin

• Senators look to lock down Russia's gold reserves

• Red Hat is discontinuing sales and services in Russia and Belarus

• Prediction that Kyiv falls to Russian forces by April 2022 goes from 90% to 26% | Hacker News

• Facebook Reverses Ban on Praise for Ukraine's Azov Battalion

• McDonald’s to Shutter 850 Russia Stores After Rising Backlash

• Putin signs decree banning or restricting exports from Russia

• CIA Director – Putin 'Angry and Frustrated,' likely to 'double-down'

• The Next Few Weeks Of Fighting In Ukraine Will Be "Ugly" CIA Director Warns

• Trans People Stranded and Alone in Ukraine Following Russia’s Invasion