He counts monarch butterflies every day in Los Angeles and he needs your help los angeles times

A couple dressed as bees use a seasoner to spread native wildflower seeds in San Francisco laughing squid

John C Williams: Decoding the Recovery Bank for International Settlements

climate

How to prepare for the most immediate impacts of climate change wired

What if democracy and climate mitigation are incompatible? foreign policy

#Coronavirus disease

Walensky faces CDC burnout as pandemic enters third year politics

Parachutes for preventing gravity-challenge-related death and major trauma: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials British Medical Journal. From 2016, still closely related. Comment:

Zero Randomized Trials of Apollo Moon Landings
Zero Randomized Trials of Parachutes
Seat belt zero random test
Zero randomized trial of salt on roads after a snowstorm

I hope these people realize that science is much bigger than RCT and that there are more ways…

— Prof. Jose-Luis Jimenez (@jljcolorado) January 18, 2022

Honesty and humility will help fight COVID pseudoscience european news

* * *

Coronavirus digest: Fourth booster ‘not enough’ to fight omicron, study says German wave. Israel (hence Pfizer).

What does it take to vaccinate the world? Bloomberg

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Time to upgrade from cloth and surgical masks to respirators?your questions answered dialogue

Past local government health spending unrelated to COVID-19 control in U.S. counties SSM Population Health. “County-level non-hospital health spending before the pandemic was not associated with early COVID-19 control. In some model specifications, state-level public health spending on hazard preparedness and response was associated with early COVID-19 control. Results are not Support putting money into the public health system to prepare for future outbreaks.” “Pour money.” Rarely find an agenda-driven straw man in the abstract.Maybe – listen to me – how much they cost exist affect the result? To take a contrived example, a county that spends a lot of money on plexiglass shields is doing worse than a county that spends a little money on a Corsi box and opens its windows for free.

Screening Persistence of SARS-CoV-2 in Long-Term COVID Patients Using Smell Dog and Armpit Sweat Samples (preprint) med??Rxiv. The results showed: “Forty-five long-term COVID patients were tested, with a mean age of 45 years (6-71 years), 73.3% were women, and the duration of symptoms was prolonged by an average of 15.2 months (5-22 months). Positive ways discriminated 23/45 (51.1%). Long COVID patients versus 0/188 (0%) control individuals (p<.0001 so="" no="" false="" negatives="" not="" all="" positives.="" yet="" another="" testing="" avenue="" we="" are="" exploring="" because="" the="" united="" states="" is="" a="" serious="" country.=""/>

Poorest countries face surge in $11bn debt repayments foot

China?

Fitch Solutions says China will limit purchases of U.S. farm products Bloomberg

Inside story of Hu Huaibang’s dismissal: Wang Sanyun acted as a broker and illegally issued US$4.8 billion in loans to the “Huaxin Department” What to read in China. $4.8 billion. That’s real money.

Indonesia releases 48 coal export ships: trade ministry official Channel News Asia

Myanmar

Pay your electricity bill, say Burmese soldier, or pay it with your life New York Times. But you can’t force people to shop:

Myanmar boycotted Burma Square on a large scale, and after 50 days it was still a stable boycott. On November 25 last year, a guerrilla protester was beaten and kidnapped by security guards. It looks like an abandoned cemetery even at Christmas time.#2022Jan14 Coup pic.twitter.com/xv9IKWYEgJ

— Sahaphap Chanapai (????_union) ???III (@chanapai247) January 14, 2022

How rebels are using 3D printed weapons to fight Myanmar’s military junta France 24. It’s hard to believe that the required thermoplastic or metal powder is readily available in Myanmar, so I think it’s for western consumption. Interesting details, though.

Will Myanmar’s Min Aung Hlaing spiral out of control? Asia Times. The facts on the ground will tell us. Meanwhile, Min Aung Hlaing is obsessed with fortune-telling and astrology, neither of which can be proven. So did his predecessors (our own leaders believed in, oh, loanable funds theory, just like Clay Clay).

Tarnished gold: Illegal mining sparks Indigenous divisions Associated Press

Canada terminates contract with Malaysia’s Supermax over labor allegations Channel News Asia. Supermax manufactures gloves.

India

India mourns loss of ‘super mom’ tigress, emotional farewell Al Jazeera

BJP furious over ‘mocking PM’ children satire show, demands Zee Tamil remove it News minutes. My feeling is that the BJP is often angry.

Financial markets under capitalism Mr. Online. “State ownership of banks is good not only for the expansion of institutional credit coverage, but also for the stability of the capitalist financial system itself.” Hmm.

Employers may find it difficult to take care of maids’ happiness and safety if they live outside: mum The Straits Times. MOM = Ministry of Manpower.

Pacific neighbors rally near Tonga after volcano eruption Bloomberg

Korean

American elites like to think they are cosmopolitan. they are not:

An enduring problem I have with DC blob’s analysis of South Korea’s security posture is that they don’t take into account the leadership styles of politicians, staff selection, etc. This is a stark example. Has anyone considered the possibility of shaman driven decision making in Korea?

— AAK’s TK! (@AskAKorean) January 17, 2022

We don’t have a shaman here; Nancy Reagan’s astrologer is just a flash in the pan. However, we do have Larry Summers. So that’s it.

UK/EU

Boris Johnson launches Operation Red Meat in a desperate attempt to turn the tide of the war… RICHARD LITTLEJOHN SEEING IN THE PM’S WHITEHALL BUNGER daily mail

French parliament approves law to exclude all restaurants, sports areas, tourist attractions and even trains daily mail

new cold war

Bipartisan senators meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as Russian troops build up at border ABC

boy from belarus Yasha Levine. Such a huge excerpt, it could be a post too!

Biden administration

How is he?Americans weigh Biden’s performance Associated Press

Why has Biden’s approval rating collapsed? Peter Daou, straight left

supply chain

3D printing and ‘reflow’ offer limited protection to supply chains foot

Shipping efficiency targets may lead to slower speeds and lower capacity: market source Greek Shipping News

America’s Most Automated Port Has ‘Most Productive Year’ in 2021 national review

Our famous free news

Chevron is hiring journalists for its ‘newsroom’ gizmo

Assange

Procedural Punishment: The Torture of Julian Assange (PDF) SOAS ICOP Policy Brief

big brother is watching you

What a radical chiropractor got rid of on Facebook slate. Interesting, but not on the surface. Check out the User Journey Map. They look very much like intelligence files compiled by the Stasi.

health care

Ginnie Graham: Medical debt nonprofit ends campaign after unable to get more overdue bills Tulsa World.Hospitals prefer debt relief broken leg pants collection agency.

black injustice tipping point

“Why did it become like this?” Reformed Broker

Empire Crash Watch

know when to stop American conservative

Class struggle

Mask costs and testing deepen pandemic wedge between haves and have-nots NECN. I can’t imagine why neither is free.

The entire ruling class must go forum

The strange impact of private equity on workplace inequality foot. Some definitions of “inequalities”.

Even NASA seems surprised with its new space telescope atlantic organization

born in the light London Review of Books. James Webb Telescope.

The antidote of the day (pass through):

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