Dear patient reader,

Lambert and I, along with many readers, agree that Ukraine has sparked the worst information environment ever. We hope readers will collaborate in the comments to reduce the fog of war – real fog and stage fog. None of us need more cheerleaders and linkless repeat memes; there are platforms. Low-value, unlinked pom pom-waves will be hit immediately.

It’s not just a polite request to someone new here. We have written a site policy, and those who commented have accepted these terms.To avoid having to resort to the nuclear option of shutting down comments altogether until more sanity prevails, as we did in the 2015 Greek bailout talks and Immediately after the 2020 electionwe will ruthlessly mediate and blacklist violators.

– Yves

PS Also, before further emphasizing the moderators we’ve already highlighted, please read Our website policy:

Please don’t write to ask why a comment doesn’t appear. We do not have enough bandwidth to investigate and respond. Complaining about moderation decisions/stumbling blocks using the comments section earns troll points for reviewers. Please don’t do this. If we come across these comments, they will also be deleted.

PPS One of our mods is on holiday until the end of the month, so comment liberation may take longer than usual. we are very sorry! Please wait.

Britain’s loudest bird is back!How a once-extinct brine thrived Guardian (Furry)

CRISPR: US bio firm plans to genetically edit cats so they don’t trigger allergies New Scientist (Dr. Kevin). Forget the cat! Rex with allergies, though sadly they look like a cheesy sci-fi movie.

World’s largest wildlife overpass will be built on 101 freeways near Los Angeles MyModernMet (David L)

Is the Salton Sea hiding enough lithium to power America? Freethink (Dr. Kevin)

Scientists think they can use chaos theory to control the weather next site (David L)

A doctor hasn’t showered for 5 years. This is what he found. Freethink (Dr. Kevin). Although I’m sure he’s right, I can’t imagine…

Evaluation of evidence of mental functioning Professor Jessica Utts (Dr. Kevin), University of California, Davis

#Coronavirus disease

Coronavirus-positive passengers on cruise ship are said to be ‘fully vaccinated’ USA Today (Furry). Not surprising to the average reader.

Science/Medicine

‘First-of-its-kind’ nasal spray to prevent COVID-19 could hit the market this year Research Findings (J-LS)

Asia

Xinhua puts Xi Jinping’s stamp on China’s zero-coronavirus strategy South China Morning Post (J-LS)

Shanghai market faces shortage of goods after two days of lockdown Deutsche Welle

US

New waves and new boosters? Eric Topol (Dr. Kevin). Scientist GM reaction:

P.1 and B.1.351 were easily reinfected with three new RBD mutations (relative to wild type) and 4-6 months from initial infection

Delta is doing the same thing, with two RBD mutations combined with greatly enhanced replication

BA.2 differs from BA.1 by 6-7 RBDs, while BA.1 induces very weak antibodies

But yes, BA.2 is causing another wave, which is “very surprising.” And it definitely shouldn’t get its own letter, it’s the same Omicron as BA.1 [/sarc understood]

For red and blue U.S., stark gap in COVID-19 mortality remains 2 years later ABC (Dr. Kevin)

CDC recommends fourth dose of Pfizer and Moderna Covid vaccines for those 50 and older CNBC (Furry)

climate/environment

hydrogen bomb Protocol (David L)

Rajasthan: Sariska Tiger Reserve ravaged by forest fires, Air Force called in Wire (J-LS)

To meet its clean energy goals, the U.S. may mine the rainforest Blaze (Kevin W)

Climate change: Wind and solar hit milestones as demand surges BBC (David L)

Invading ants hit Texas – and now a killer fungus is hitting them Yahoo (J-LS)

Climate change is eroding Karnataka’s coast.The fight against it is more political than scientific Roll (J-LS)

China?

Huawei: Chinese tech giant Trump cannot be killed Axios (elasticity). I don’t think that was his intention, but at best he was naive to think that even if he gave Western companies a chance, Huawei was so ingrained that a lot of things wouldn’t happen.

India

From ‘avoidable’ to ‘necessary’: How the BJP’s narrative on fuel price hikes has changed Wire (J-LS)

new less cold war

RAND report lays out U.S. provocation against Russia, predicts possible Russian retaliation in Ukraine Antiwar.com (Dr. Kevin)

Volodymyr Zelensky on why Ukraine must beat Putin economist. more personal. Subtitle: “At his headquarters in Kyiv, Ukraine’s president tells The Economist about his country’s battles and struggles of light and darkness.”

Madeleine Albright would be proud of Biden’s regime change ‘gaffe’ Responsible Statecraft (resilc)

Results of Istanbul talks: Ukraine’s proposal, Russia’s de-escalation steps TASS

US general confirms Russia fired ‘multiple’ hypersonic missiles at Ukraine defense one

Please read the whole thread:

2/ Mobile warfare is a good place to start. Learn that Russia began its “special military operations” with a severe manpower deficit – 200,000 attackers against roughly 600,000 defenders (or more). The classic attrition conflict was never an option. Victory in Russia requires maneuvering.

— Scott Ritter (@RealScottRitter) March 29, 2022

* * *

Russian crude continues to flow despite tough sanctions Oil price (resilc)

Reliance on Russian Fossil Fuel Data Browser International Energy Agency (Denmark)

The true cost of fracking America’s ‘free gas’ DW (Flexibility)

You will pay in rubles! Do not? Carl Denninger

Aeroflot defies sanctions and detains foreign planes Vedomosti translated by Yandex.original here. Subtitle: “Now the lessor can start looking for the air carrier’s property.” The lessee can hide a little, “Come and get your plane”, which can’t happen, but the owner can go and confiscate other assets.

Russia launches Eurobond ruble repurchase offer amid imminent $2 billion bond payment Reuters (Kevin W.). An exception to U.S. sanctions allows banks to pay Russian sovereign bonds until the end of May. The Central Bank of Russia issued payment instructions for the first payment due, in the order of $2 billion, and the receiving bank executed these instructions. However, the process has been very chaotic, and some of the many participants in the process feared they might be sanctioned to back off. Please note this section:

Analysts and investors said the move could be to help Russian holders who now face restrictions on accepting dollar payments.

“This is a tender offer, not a final decision that these bonds will be paid in rubles. Perhaps, Russian authorities want to gauge the willingness of investors to accept ruble payments?” said Himanshu Porwal, credit analyst at Seaport Global.

* * *

Russian Gas Currency Conversion Press TV. Interview with Gilbert Doctorow. It’s actually blocked in the US because at least your humble blogger can access the site, but the video (remember it’s a TV network) doesn’t play, suggesting that someone is blocking the bandwidth.

Speaking of censorship, or worse, Gonzalo Lira, who has been posting videos in Kharkiv, has been off the web for about two days. He had warned that if his activities were more than 12 hours apart, it meant he had been captured by Ukrainian security forces. The lira seems pretty plausible on Ukraine (although there are occasional self-defeating claims, such as feminists). It’s not hard to see when he exaggerates for effect, and he usually points out when he reports rumors and how often he hears them. The Daily Beast calls the Ukrainian government to put his target on his back (as in confirming that he has some followers). His lost YouTube gets 175,000 views on Victoria Nuland.

Syria

Yemen’s Arab Coalition Command Announces Suspension of Military Operations – State Media artificial satellite. Kevin W: “So maybe the attack on that refinery while F1 is going on is what we need.”

America is dismantling the pillars of its own empire – Saudi Post editor jerusalem post

Chinese diplomacy shines in Kabul Indian Punch (Kevin W)

Former Obama and Biden executive envoys to Israel quit Iran team Foreign Affairs Desk (RobertC)

New Documentary From Frontline and ProPublica Reveals Origin of Stolen Election Myth ProPublica (David L)

Biden

Psaki reminds reporter Biden not to speak for US president Babylonian Bee (BC)

Biden signs bill to make lynching a federal crime The New York Times (Kevin W)

Former Ronald Reagan speechwriter Aram Bakshian writes that Joe Biden considers himself a great communicator, but his uncontrollable verbal ejaculation shows his mouth is dangerously beyond his Thought. Daily Mail (Lee). Ouch.

More ouch. Someone hates Tucker Carlson saying the quiet part out loud: Tucker: Biden can’t regulate his emotions. Tucker is wrong, Gilbert Doctorow warns: If Putin is eliminated, his possible successor will be more relaxed about the use of nuclear weapons, even before you factor in the supposed assassination of the nation’s leader.

Soaring prices are changing the way people eat Bloomberg (J-LS). Yours has really been hoarding…

Red Wedding at the Rural Drugstore Matt Stoller (Chuck L.). Write to your congressman. Even if you are not affected now, if this precedent holds up, you will. This is PBM’s refusal to accept any cuts to its appalling fraud.

Winnebago RV and boat maker has $4.4 billion backlog Business Insider (resilc)

Satellite finds grounded container ship Ever Forward, a year after Ever Given incident in Suez space (furry)

Hackers steal over $600 million from Axie Infinity maker NBC. Furzy: “Gosh…can’t they track the hacker through the Ethereum wallet because it’s part of the blockchain?”

Daily life of the world’s most dangerous ransomware gang Wired (David L)

How your shadow credit score can decide if you get an apartment ProPublica (J-LS)

U.S. yield curve inverts amid possible recession signal Financial Times (Kevin W)

guillotine watch

Figure: Huge carbon footprint of one percent Statista (Dr. Kevin)

Class struggle

Cancer patients at high risk for depression and suicide, study finds New York Times. Resilc highlights this part:

The study found that suicide rates among cancer patients in the United States were significantly higher than in Europe, Asia or Australia. The authors speculate that high U.S. health care costs may lead some patients to forgo treatment to avoid family bankruptcy. They also wondered whether greater access to guns in the U.S. could lead to higher suicide rates compared with countries in other parts of the world.

Daily Antidote (CV):

Check out yesterday’s link and antidote du Jour here.