Where did Omicron come from? Three key theories Nature

Persistent SARS-CoV-2 Infection with Accumulation of Mutations in a Patient with Poorly Controlled HIV Infection (preprint) SSRN. The Abstract: “A 22-year-old female with uncontrolled advanced HIV infection was persistently infected with SARS-CoV-2 beta variant for 9 months, the virus accumulating >20 additional mutations. Antiretroviral therapy suppressed HIV and cleared SARS-CoV-2 within 6-9 weeks. Increased vigilance is warranted to benefit affected individuals and prevent the emergence of novel SARS-CoV-2 variants.” If I were writing a science fiction novel about the war between viral and human collective intelligence , I’d see HIV as the beachhead, and SARS-CoV-* as the opening offensive….

New Triumphs & Struggles for Non-Profit Covid Vaxes Hilda Bastian, Absolutely Maybe. Note that the first non-profit vaccine to be strangled in the cradle was a nasal spray, presumably (therefore) sterilizing.

Thank goodness we did all the work Virology Down Under. Savage irony and well worth a read. That’s Australia. Now, about Canada:

Examples could be multiplied…

Study to look at reducing disease spread in Singapore buildings Straits Times. A civilized country, where “living with Covid” isn’t a euphemism for dying from it.

Why Churches Should Drop Their Online Services Tish Harrison Warren, NYT. I had not hitherto been aware that John 20:22 included aerosol transmission as a desideratum Church services take place in closed, crowded, close contact spacesand often include congregational and choral singing, known to transmit. Building idolatry aside — Warren makes no mention of ventilation — the op-ed throws the house-bound and disabled under the bus too, permanently, good job.

Omicron Pushes Health Authorities Toward Learning to Live With Covid-19 WSJ. Not only does our ruling class have its story, they’re sticking to it, and they want the entire world to stick to their story, too. It’s understandable. I would, too, if I had done what they have done.

China?

China’s zero-COVID strategy: what happens next? Nature. “Throughout the pandemic, China’s international borders have effectively been closed, preventing almost anyone from getting in or out. That has kept daily cases in the country in the hundreds or fewer, rather than the hundreds of thousands of daily cases recently seen in countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States.” Clearly, China needs to create some sacrifice zones among the populace, like liberal democracies do.

China punishes cold-chain managers for ‘obstructing’ COVID prevention Reuters. China is said to have cases (although the possiblity was mooted in New Zealand, and ruled out).

China bans Australian meatworks at centre of Covid outbreak Business Times

Myanmar

Myanmar’s National Unity Government: A Radical Arrangement to Counteract the Coup ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute. Worth a read. “Arrangements” like a constitution from NUG:

HISTORIC MILESTONE! National Unity Consultative Council, NUCC, convened the first People’s Assembly 27-29 Jan. 388 delegates incl. elected MPs, political parties, CSOs, strike organisations ao to ratify a new federal constitution!#WhatsHappeninglnMyanmar #NUCC #NUG pic.twitter.com/kbKQTQOccz

— Dr Kerstin Duell (@KerstinDuell) January 30, 2022

At a three-day conference; amazing they lived to tell the tale. A new Constitution is far beyond anything the now-irrelevant Aung San Suu Kyi’s NLD proposed.

Myanmar Junta Arrests and Threatens Shop Owners Over Planned Silent Strike The Irrawaddy

Myanmar has approved $3.8 billion in foreign investment since a coup a year ago, its military government said on Thursday Reuters. Gas, mostly.

Sri Lanka ‘trying all options’ to avoid default, says finance minister FT

Syraqistan

Sensing Opportunity in Syria, UAE Leads Arab Efforts to Do Business With Assad WSJ

UK/EU

The Man Trying to Take Down Boris Johnson New York Magazine

António Costa wins big in Portugal’s general election Politico

New Cold War

Will Ukrainians Fight? Awful Avalanche. Commentary:

One of the reasons i didn’t do any “reporting” while in Kyiv is, I really find ambulance chasing icky. The clear excitement of the western media, about another conflict they get to report on (with zero risk to themselves) with drama , seriousness, & fiend empathy, is simply gross

— Chris Arnade ? (@Chris_arnade) January 30, 2022

Russia’s ‘asymmetrical’ war over Ukraine MK Bhadrakumar, Indian Punchline

The West Leaves Mummy’s Basement Patrick Armstrong. Link-heavy round-up.

Putin’s next move Unherd

US and UK escalate Russia war fever, but NATO splits over Ukraine emerge (podcast) Richard Sakwa, Pushback with Aaron Mate. Interesting backstory on the Trump administration.

Biden Administration

US finalising sanctions against Russia over Ukraine aggression FT

Scoop: Inside Biden aides’ China fight Axios

Homeland Security Adviser Shaped Cyber ??Strategy Despite Financial Interests The Intercept

The Battle for the World’s Most Powerful Cyberweapon NYT

Supply Chain

Outdated Laws Governing Undersea Cables Need Modernizing gCaptain

The Bezzle

The Inevitability of Trusted Third Parties Cory Doctorow. “if: problem + blockchain = problem – blockchain then: blockchain = 0.” A must-read, and read all the way to the end.

More Than 80% of NFTs Created for Free on OpenSea Are Fraud or Spam, Company Says Vice. Film at 11.

The NFT Art World Wouldn’t Be the Same Without This Woman’s ‘Wide-Awake Hallucinations’ Rolling Stone. Commentary:

Bored Ape Yacht Club is built on the work of a WOC illustrator who has gotten no royalties, negligible credit, and didn’t know about the phenomenon until she started seeing celebrities using her drawings as profile pics. Wow NFTs are so good for artists!https://t.co/yhzl39VLh8

— Audra Williams (@audrawilliams) January 29, 2022

Crypto Kings Are the Real-Estate Industry’s Newest Whales WSJ

Healthcare

Senators push for Medicare to reimburse at-home COVID-19 tests like commercial insurers Healthcare Finance. ZOMG it doesn’t already? This Becerra dude is such a no-show.

While UnitedHealth reports $24 Billion in profits, Americans faced 200% increases in out-of-pockets over last decade Wendell Potter, NOW

Groves of Academe

That’s a lot of administrators:

Truly weird times when there are like 8 phone numbers for you to call if you as an adult encounter an idea you dislike https://t.co/B3zzzoJG1S pic.twitter.com/Yo3hLZ93Bi

— Zaid Jilani (@ZaidJilani) January 30, 2022

Priorities:

We removed the phones and ethernet connections in our offices so our department could save money. https://t.co/u4keX8BmT1

— Dave Wiltse (@DaveWiltse) January 29, 2022

Different universities, I grant. But still.

Realignment and Legitimacy

Florida trucker in Canada convoy: ‘We’re here to join a movement‘ Freight Waves. Not sure why a proof-of-concept that the supply chain is an enormous chokepoint comes with right-wing ideological markers, and in the midst of a unionizing upsurge, too, but here we are. DItto the Capitol seizure, if it comes to that. As I keep saying, conservatives are serious about their politics…..

Guillotine Watch

The moral calculations of a billionaire WaPo

Class Warfare

You Don’t Use Google, Google Uses You! (With Prof. Shoshana Zuboff) (podcast) Russel Brand, Under the Skin

Child care workers are vanishing and it’s hurting the entire economy CNN. Hence the PMC’s desire to park their children in schools.

Op-Ed: What can Houston teach Los Angeles about solving homelessness? Los Angeles Times

XXX-Files: Who Torched the Pornhub Palace? Vanity Fair

Antidote du jour (via):

Bonus antidote:

Double bonus antidote:

See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.