Links 11/6/2022 | naked capitalism

Pictured: Gimp Man ‘is spotted flopping to the floor, writhing and grunting by stunned 19-year-old’ as police arrest man in his 30s in hunt for bodysuited figure who has terrified Somerset villages Daily Mail. There’ll always be an England!

Travelers have a lot to say about shrinking airplane seats CNN

Climate

Report: 90% of all U.S. coal plants are contaminating groundwater Grist

Migratory birds in North America are shrinking as their wings get bigger. Climate change is to blame. Live Science

This West Texas Farm Grows the Most Expensive Spice in the World Texas Monthly

#COVID19

I spent 10 days in a secret Chinese Covid detention centre FT. Interesting personal experience, but in my view buries the story: “Early in the morning, we awoke to a lawnmower-like noise, which was in fact an industrial-grade disinfectant machine spraying our windows and front steps” and “The window was barred, though you could still lean out.” Apparently, China believes in fomites, but not in airborne (confirming tweets by Naomi Wu). Without an adequate theory of transmission, I don’t see a successful exit from Zero Covid anytime soon.

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France masks up:

⚠️HUGE—Facing increased risk—🇫🇷French Academy of Medicine urgently recommends wearing FFP2 (N95) masks in enclosed public spaces for all: elderly, folks with co-morbidities, family & health workers in contact w/ vulnerable, & pregnant women ➡️even if vaccinated!🧵#BringBackMasks pic.twitter.com/OGwUNhoo1l

— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) November 5, 2022

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“Immunity debt” (1):

So it shouldn’t be surprising that a satisfying narrative emerges, using this same mental model, while simultaneously vilifying lock-downs and masks, which nobody liked anyway.

But here’s the thing. The immune system isn’t anything like a muscle. It’s a photo collection.

2/19

— Colin Furness MISt PhD MPH MEd(cand) (@FurnessColin) November 6, 2022

See especially tweet 6–8….

“Immunity debt” (2):

Yes. This whole “immunity debt” nonsense is very “spare the rod, spoil the child”. It feeds into atavistic notions that children require to be “toughened up” through harsh experiences. Thus, their immunological resilience must be strengthened through beatings. https://t.co/AobIaMvcB0

— Dr David Berger, aBsuRdiSTe cROnickLeR (@YouAreLobbyLud) November 6, 2022

CDC warns of tough winter as flu, RSV and covid collide WaPo. Walensky endorses “immunity debt” without using the phrase:

“All of that regular exposure that usually happens that bolsters immunity year after year didn’t happen,” Walensky said Tuesday during an appearance . “If you go two years without getting that infection, without getting that protection from infection and then all of a sudden, boom, everybody from zero to three years gets RSV, you see the impact on health care.”

Now we can be sure “immunity debt” is wrong. Walensky has form. (“I let my children drink just a little sewage. It toughens ’em up!”) From the same article, but a different meeting:

Lynn Goldman, dean of the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University who serves on a committee that advises CDC Director Rochelle Walensky, asked at a meeting Thursday why agency officials were not recommending masking given the strain on hospitals.

“,” Brendan Jackson, the CDC’s incident manager on covid-19, replied..

José Romero, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, mentioned well-fitted masks at the end of a list of recommended precautionary measures during the agency’s press briefing Friday..

“,” Romero said.

Complete abrogration of any responsibility for public health. Please, please, won’t somebody burn the CDC to the ground?

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Pittsfield Saw Two Mini-COVID Surges This Fall iBerkshires (Re Silc). “‘Our wastewater is completely different than what we saw in our case counts,’ [Director of Public Health Andy] Cambi said. ‘This is a true reflection of what we’re seeing as far as the virus concentration in our population.’”

Forget about a single strain: The new COVID calculus is all about viral families Fortune

China?

How to Take Down A Big Nation in Just 7 Steps All Things Chinese. From October, still germane.

Hong Kong’s Cultural Icons Vanish as Covid Hastens Gentrification Bloomberg

Myanmar

Understanding the People’s Defense Forces in Myanmar United States Institute of Peace. I checked the (bipartisan) board; Stephen Hadley (of Iraq yellowcake uranium fame) seems to have been stashed there….

Fuelled by meth addiction, Vietnam’s drug-treatment centres are rife with abuse Globe_

The Koreas

Moktancha, wood gasifier truck, North Korea’s Retro Invention (video) Inside North Korea, YouTube (Re Silc). Re Silc: “On to the EU!”

India

Several Journalists’ Bodies, Others Speak Out on Searches at ‘The Wire’, Its Editors’ Homes The Wire

European Disunion

Who Will Be NATO’s Next Chief? The Race Is On. NYT. “One prime candidate has surfaced in Washington: Chrystia Freeland, 54, the Canadian-Ukrainian deputy prime minister and finance minister of Canada.”

New Not-So-Cold War

U.S. privately asks Ukraine to show it’s open to negotiate with Russia WaPo. Immortal deck: “The encouragement is aimed not at pushing Ukraine to the negotiating table, but ensuring it maintains a moral high ground in the eyes of its international backers.” Since the Kherson counter-offensive is off?

A Biden-Putin meeting in Bali cannot be ruled out Indian Punchline

Ukraine Support Tracker Kiel Institute for the World Economy. “A Database of Military, Financial and Humanitarian Aid to Ukraine.”

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US oil producers reap $200bn windfall from Ukraine war price surge FT

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Russia Occupies American Land, Too WSJ. The deck: “The U.S. should reclaim Wrangel Island, which Lenin’s gunboat Red October seized in 1924.”

After independence, Ukraine turned into a ‘sick man of Europe’ as democracy faltered CourtHouse News. Part one. Good background.

El Panal Commune (Part III): Food, Science and Dignity Venezuealanalysis

Biden Administration

Strategic Scarcity: Allocating Arms and Attention in Washington The National Interest

2022

Kelly or Masters, Lake or Hobbs: 12 Arizona Voters Discuss NYT. The Times files polls under News, and panels like this under Opinion. That’s 180° wrong. On the issues, looking back [turns head] I see 800,000+ Covid deaths…

Its pretty amazing that the US has added over 830,000 covid deaths since the November 2020 election, including over 300,000 covid deaths in the last 12 months, and somehow covid is almost a nonissue in the current campaigns pic.twitter.com/9LQuQjAV8A

— wsbgnl (@wsbgnl) November 6, 2022

… and looking forward [turns head] the prospect of war with nuclear powers. Neither issue is part of the midterms campaign, although both might be thought important to evaluation the performance of Biden’s Democrats. On “our democracy”:

If the electorate isn’t buying what you’re selling, then Democracy actually says you need to rethink your sales pitch- not that you tell them Democracy has died. Argue people and issues- not the death of our society in the (highly likely according to polls) event you don’t win.🤦🏽‍♂️

— Jerome Adams (@JeromeAdamsMD) November 5, 2022

Why Republican Insiders Think the G.O.P. Is Poised for a Blowout The New Yorker

‘What Idiots’: Biden Rips into Protesters for Calling Democrats ‘Socialists’ National Review

Don’t Look Now But Progressives Are About to Expand Their Ranks in Congress In These Times

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Obama says Fetterman’s stroke did not change ‘his values, his heart, his fight’ The Hill. If the Democrats could have gotten Conor Lamb in there, they would have….

Why Is the Fetterman-Oz Race So Freaking Close? New York Magazine

Realignment and Legitimacy

Here are the 10 biggest donors in the midterm elections The Hill

Investing in Influence Sparkline Capital

King Oil Reigns Over American Politics NYT

The Bezzle

Bitcoin mining in the crypto crash — the mining companies’ creative accounting Amy Castor

Healthcare

Why Does Chronic Pain Hurt So Much? The Atlantic

CDC Just Changed Its Opioid Prescribing Guidelines. Here’s What to Know. MedPage Today

Police State Watch

Why So Many Jails Are in a ‘State of Complete Meltdown’ The Marshall Project

In San Francisco, “No Intention to Seek Justice” Bolts

Florida Cases of Havana Syndrome, FBI agents lawyering up CBS12

Big Brother Is Watching You

Exclusive: State Dept. gives law enforcement, intelligence agencies unrestricted access to Americans’ personal data Yahoo News (guurst). Did I miss this one? Has this story been buried at the scrappy by decidedly underdog Yahoo News?

According to documents posted on a Department of Homeland Security website, data collected on U.S. citizens include: names, addresses, birth dates, biometric data like fingerprints and facial images, email addresses, phone numbers, gender, race, Social Security numbers and other types of personal information.

Sports Desk

Astros Credit World Series Win To Subject Of Future MLB Investigation The Onion because Mattress Mack Wins $75 Million, Biggest Win in Sports Betting History Action Network

Black Injustice Tipping Point

Alabama’s Confederate mansions get state funding, distort our history AL.com

Guillotine Watch

The Private Equity Guys Trying to Shoplift a Supermarket Chain Before They Sell It Slate. “Our ruling class spent $882 billion on stock buybacks in 2021—but couldn’t be bothered to fix the leaky roof of the plant that produces a quarter of the nation’s infant formula.”

Class Warfare

Labor Secretary says Congress needs to block rail strikes without new deals CNN

‘I’m selling my blood’: millions in US can’t make ends meet with two jobs Guardian

Home Depot Workers Reject Union Effort In Philadelphia HuffPo

Older, White and Wealthy Home Buyers Are Pushing Others Out of the Market NYT

Military history:

Why Do Batteries Lose Charge When You Aren’t Using Them? How-To Desk

Daylight saving: Americans want to stop changing the clock but can’t agree how The Hill

Antidote du jour (via):

Bonus Antidote:

See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.