Lambert and I, and many readers, agree that Ukraine has sparked the worst information environment ever. We hope readers will cooperate in the comments to reduce the fog of war – real fog and stage fog. We all don’t need more cheerleading and linkless meme repetition; there are platforms. Low-value, unlinked pom pom-wavers 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.

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The secret life of fungi is stranger and wilder than you think Financial Times (David L). More about fungi.

First Light says it achieves fusion breakthrough without fancy lasers and magnets Register (David L)

Newly measured particles appear to be heavy enough to break known physics Quanta Magazine (David L)

World’s largest international dark sky reserve built PhysOrg (Chuck L)

#Coronavirus disease

People have a false sense of security #Coronavirus disease Risk among friends.People mistakenly believe they are less likely to catch the virus from friends and family than strangers, study shows @NicolaKSDavis https://t.co/kLPQ4MBFCv pass @guardian

— Andrea Picard (@picardonhealth) April 7, 2022

Science/Medicine

Antibody resistance of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.1, BA.1.1, BA.2 and BA.3 sublineages ?

_
Association:https://t.co/vjq5Y2EPBT pic.twitter.com/gDhNSji8e9

– Gabriel Hébert-Mild™ ? (@Gab_H_R) April 7, 2022

The protective effect of the fourth dose of BNT162b2 on Israeli Omicron New England Journal of Medicine

XE and why we might want Omicron to mutate Your local epidemiologist (Dr. Kevin)

UK/Europe

Coronavirus infections remain near record levels in much of the UK, figures show Guardian (Kevin W)

Asia

In pictures: Shanghai and its 26 million people locked down to curb the spread of Covid-19 France24 (resilc)

Shanghai, Guangzhou plan more mass testing as Covid-19 cases rise Bloomberg

climate/environment

Methane emissions soar to highest level on record cereals

Brilliant Planet is running an algae farm to extract carbon from the air TechCrunch (David L)

China?

Aerial photos capture mesmerizing giant solar farms around the world MyModernMet (David L)

NATO engages in Asia-Pacific to counter China New Taiwan Dollars. Kevin W:

They said on the news that NATO had to do this because China refused to attack Russia. I guess the idea of ??the Indo-Pacific Treaty Organization (IPTO) doesn’t work.

Israel extends a helping hand to China again Indian Punch (Kevin W). It is often forgotten that prior to 1967, the Soviet Union was Israel’s patron, while the United States was trying to be a fair broker in the region.

White House terrified Putin’s next big victory could be in Paris politics. As if French citizens have no power of proxy, and indeed may rationally vote for Le Pen or not for Macron (expected lower turnout in both rounds) because they see no reason for ordinary citizens to suffer for Ukraine. I’m not keen on Le Pen, but the idea that the US thinks its interests should take precedence over what citizens of EU countries want is very anti-democratic.

new less cold war

The end of the European era Ecosophia (Chuck L). Must read.

Waiting for Europe to commit suicide Pepe Escobar, Cradle (Lee). Scroll down to the discussion of LNG.

Call for ‘urgent’ four-nation talks on impact of Ukraine war on food security Bloomberg

Report urges ban on European flights and cars in cities to hurt Putin guardian. B.C:

Would a crisis still have occurred if the shock doctrine brigades hadn’t rushed to the scene to unravel their prefab agenda? Why oppose war when public support for grand plans can be so useful? One meme kept echoing in my head: “Every war is a proxy war”.

notes U.S. oil imports from Russia report zero This comes after Russia and others tweeted a 43% increase in the past week. Possibly the real given self along with harsh sanctions:

Why the US is angry about India buying Russian oil Asia Times. Kevin W:

The gist – “Thus, while the United States finds it difficult to convince its coalition partners to stop funding Russian military operations with petrodollars, it finds it convenient to try to deter New Delhi.”

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dog that doesn’t bark in ukraine larry johnson (guurst)

I asked Douglas McGregor, a former U.S. Army colonel and Trump’s top Pentagon adviser, what he thinks about Russia’s war crimes charges in Butha, Ukraine. Here’s what he had to say: pic.twitter.com/ufmZgQQa3J

— Jackson Hinklle ?? (@jacksonhinklle) April 5, 2022

Russia and the U.S. miscalculated in this war Gonzalo Lira, YouTube. Lira made some calls and explained how the SBU took out some Ukrainian officials who could have stood aside or helped Russia. He expects one or two big fights after taking out the cauldron, one in Nikolayev and the second if it happens in Kharkiv, not because the Russians want it, but because of Azov and the right-wing type About 10% of the army, and they will kill anyone around who wants to surrender. He’s too chatty, but he’s stuck in Kharkiv now. Ukraine didn’t let anyone in the city leave and even planted mines on the roads.

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Remarks by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin to the State Duma, 07.04.20 Gilbert Doctorow. Sounds very optimistic, but be aware of the multi-tiered credit system, mortgages and many other priority areas get credit below the official 20%, now 17%.

A less positive view of the Russian economic response: Principles for Revising Russia’s Anti-Sanctions Policy club verde

Russia cuts policy rates – what does it mean? Meng Qiqin

Chinese yuan is replacing dollars and euros in Russian bank accounts amid Western sanctions, report says Market Watch (Kevin W)

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asshole Consortium News (Chuck L). important. Another sane voice was silent.

We need to deport all non-immigrant Russians living in places like Miami, Los Angeles, and New York. If they have an anchor baby, they should be deported, and if they claim their citizenship, the child should be given up for adoption. Drive these monsters out of our country. @SecBlinken @mfa_russia

— Tim Hogan (@TimInHonolulu) April 5, 2022

Anger over Azov Nazi speech in Greek parliament Consortium News (Furry)

Fleeing Ukrainians wait in Mexico to enter U.S. Reuters. Resilc: “It will be interesting to see how it turns out.”

Syria

Turkey suspends Khashoggi’s trial, hands him over to Saudi Arabia Al Jazeera (Kevin W)

Pakistan eyes uncertain future as Imran Khan’s fate hangs on thread of distrust first article

Why are African governments blocking citizens’ phone lines? Al Jazeera (Kevin W)

big brother is watching you

U.S. is trying to address major cybersecurity concerns for medical devices Edge (David L)

Empire Crash Watch

The Navy hopes to retire the $440 million USS Detroit aircraft carrier in just five years.that’s why Detroit News

trump card

Trump’s two-month primary Wall Street Journal (Furry)

Canada considers illegal donations to Trump super PAC New York Times (Furry)

GOP vote against Russia measures sparks pro-Putin accusations hill

‘real? ‘ Pete Buttigieg shocked by claims of Charlamagne Tha God Daily Mail.Strangely, the clip was blocked on the Daily Mail; you can find the segment here.

Whitmer kidnapping plot: 2 men acquitted, 2 others pending jury Associated Press (Kevin W)

Idaho Supreme Court temporarily blocks state’s new 6-week abortion ban CNN (Kevin W)

‘Unbearable’: More than 800,000 customers in Puerto Rico without power for second day in a row NBC

Our famous free news

Leaked memo: NY Times tweets ‘reset’ urging journalists to ‘meaningfully reduce’ the time they spend on the platform Business Insider (Lee)

supply chain

Walgreens begins RATIONING infant formula as supply chain crunch hits new parents: 29% of top-selling formula is out of stock in stores across U.S. Daily Mail (Kevin W)

World food prices soar to record highs amid Russia-Ukraine conflict Xinhua

Do you know what will lower the price of food, fertilizer and fuel overnight?

End the U.S. Ethanol Program.

Here’s what the U.S. wastes on corn ethanol each year:

-5 billion tons of nitrogen fertilizer.

-68 trillion British thermal units of natural gas.

-57,000 square miles of prime farmland. Not acres, square miles.

– Dr. Sarah Taber (@SarahTaber_bww) April 5, 2022

It’s not your dad’s inflation Steve Keane (Chuck L)

For context, this is a massive shareholder lawsuit by pension funds, including the second-largest shareholder lawsuit in existence. Funding successfully sued to see Facebook’s board-level filings and news of a $5 billion settlement after a cover-up. /2 pic.twitter.com/acX0NumWP0

– Jason Kint (@jason_kint) April 9, 2022

Four-week average of jobless claims hits lowest in 55 years angry bear

CalPERS sells ‘hole in the ground’ in downtown Sacramento. What will happen now? Sacramento Bees. Maybe there will be more on this soon. It was clearly a politically motivated investment that never made any economic sense.

Class struggle

Amazon appeals historic union vote at NYC warehouse CNN (Kevin W)

Amazon completes merger with Washington David Sirota

Children’s Guide to Fighting Socialism Gift Pack (elasticity)

Antidote for the day (Tracie H):

There is one more benefit:

Research covid tests. pic.twitter.com/vOnH09zQ7e

— Feather of Life ?? (@caterpillar_fur_fur) April 7, 2022

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