Link 26 Jan 2021 | Naked Capitalism

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It’s time to get serious about breeding in space Axios (J-LS). Kill me now. You lose bone density and muscle mass in space, and we recently learned that your blood starts to eat itself. But we still think space is a reasonable option without huge improvements that might not be feasible in spacecraft?

Science/Medicine

COVID-19: Endemic does not mean harmless nature (tourist)

Reduced frequency of memory B cells in COVID-19 delta variant vaccine breakthrough infection EMBO Molecular Medicine

Omicron survives longer on plastic, skin than other COVID variants Medical PhD

Remember our chatter about T cells, especially the increased risk of cancer? For Wikipedia: “D8 (Cluster of Differentiation 8) is a transmembrane glycoprotein that acts as a co-receptor for T cell receptors”:

The tweet below is important, but the data does not support the claims made. Even assuming the onset of cancer is very rapid, it predates the widespread deployment of a vaccine in the military. Suggestions that could lead to Covid cases in 2020/early 2021, including those notoriously asymptomatic, far outweigh any possible vaccine effects. We have repeatedly emphasized that SARS-CoV-2 is expected to cause T cell disorder and exhaustion, which will lead to an increase in cancer.

Reader DS noted: “The only alternative hypothesis I can speculate is that there is some large-scale exposure to carcinogens through other routes, such as training camp water pollution.”

So the pattern is a Covid effect that is better at debunking the “Covid is no more dangerous than the flu” argument than linking harm to vaccines.

Having said that, one possible channel through which vaccines can work is when vaccinations come too close to Covid cases (such as overtaxing the immune system; European health regulators now warn against frequent booster immunizations for this reason). But at least according to the video below, that’s not what they’re arguing about.

Update from guurst: Confirmation of our paper:

Ivermectin for COVID-19: Addressing Potential Bias and Healthcare Fraud Open Forum Infectious Diseases. The problem here is that many of the studies were done by MDs and thus were severely underpowered. And this analysis disallows/corrects for the fact that many of the studies that appear to be more rigorous have been performed on hospitalized patients, which are too late for treatment to be of any use. So it’s annoying because it’s technically accurate but doesn’t take into account “possible fraud,” including studying protocols that are doomed to fail ivermectin, either by accident or by design.

Trial of ivermectin to treat COVID nears completion Star Tribune (Chuck L)

UK/Europe

Omicron: Quantitative PCR testing implemented in Germany DW (Flexibility)

we

U.S. Covid-19 death toll tops 2,100 a day, highest in nearly a year Wall Street Journal

US daily deaths from Covid now match Delta BBC

Legislature moves to limit governor’s powers after pandemic hill. “Rear”?

Biden administration to roll back Covid-19 vaccination and testing regulations for large businesses CNN (J-LS)

Man Can’t Get Heart Transplant Because He Didn’t Get the COVID Vaccination CBS Local

China?

Chinese yuan overtakes Japanese yen in global trading volume Asia Times (Kevin W)

China-EU conflict escalates over Hong Kong Asia Times (Kevin W)

Brexit

new cold war

Scholz, Macron say diplomacy can resolve Ukraine-Russia standoff Dulwich. Translation: Europe is trying to lower the temperature.

Russia has been warning Ukraine for decades.the west should listen Time (Colonel Smithers)

Ukraine’s ruthless lobbyists take part in Congress American Conservative Party (resilc). I think political donations from non-citizens/non-residents are illegal…so why is there such a thing as a “Ukrainian Lobby” other than Hunter Biden? Last I checked Ukraine didn’t have any meaningful businesses in the US either.

EU unveils multibillion-dollar ‘aid and investment’ plan for Ukraine Reverse Transcription. Kevin W: “Bribery them not to start a war?”

Cracks in Ukrainian society run through Kharkiv: city on the fringe mirror (resilc)

Good quote with some caveats. Andrei Martyanov (Chuck L)

Why is the Ukrainian economy such a failure? Noah Smith

Russia may decide to deploy nuclear weapons in Latin America within a week Pravda (resilc)

Syria

Fighting continues in northeastern Syria prison, hundreds of children trapped Anti-war (resilc)

Empire Crash Watch

We only have dreams and kindness Steve Waldman

Can the US Navy’s new $13 billion aircraft carrier defend itself? Bloomberg (guest)

US F-35 fighter jet crashes into aircraft carrier during exercise in South China Sea Anti-war

Denmark, New Zealand and Finland top the list of least corrupt countries, South Sudan the worst Daily Mail. Resilc: “Since we’ve been in Citizens United mode since 1492, we really should be below Sudan IMO.”

big brother is watching you

Google sued in US for ‘deceptive’ location tracking BBC (David L). Go dumbbells!

1/6

Crick told the Jan. 6 panel that the ex-Army colonel came up with the idea to capture the voting machines politician (hairy)

trump card

Is Trump losing his base? New polls suggest otherwise. New York Magazine (resilc). Wellie, I was fooled by the horrible turnout at his rally. It appears that the continued media obsession with Trump is freer PR. I wonder if the 1/6 investigation and various lawsuits (news leaks are still way ahead of filings) have a Streisand effect.

Pelosi says she will run for re-election in 2022 – Hill. Kevin W: “The only way for Nancy to leave Congress is to keep her feet on the ground.”

School shooting generation grows up Vox (Dr. Kevin)

Jeffrey Epstein case

Prince Andrew starts selling Swiss chalet as sexual assault lawsuit unfolds Washington Post (J-LS)

Bezzle

IMF urges El Salvador to remove Bitcoin as legal tender France24 (resilc). Of course, the IMF has such a reputation among small countries that this warning could well backfire.

But then again…El Salvador President Posts Meme Wearing McDonald’s Uniform After Crypto Plunge New York Post (Kevin W)

Slovakia proves flying car is airworthy DW (Flexibility). Hmm, so now Slovakia is to aviation security what the Isle of Man was to banking transparency? Don’t tell Boeing!

The real flaw in self-driving cars isn’t the technology Financial Times (David L)

Self-driving cars ‘users are not legally responsible’ call for BBC

Chip shortages keep U.S. companies dangerously low on semiconductors, report says Wall Street Journal

Class struggle

Starbucks employees unionize in Starbucks hometown Vice (resilc)

Profit from prison labor Berkeley Business Review. The article is from 2020, but Paul R explains why it’s a current issue:

“Factory with Fences” and “Made in America” ??boast unicorn. Better known as the Federal Prison Industry Program, UNICOR generates nearly $1 billion in net sales annually using prison labor, Pay prisoners 23 cents to $1.15 an hour. Despite already earning one-sixth of the federal minimum wage, Prisoners with ultimate obligations must contribute half of their income to cover these costs. In addition to other state-owned enterprises and private prisons, UNICOR has made millions of dollars using almost free prison labor…

say the quiet part out loud antwork/reddit (Paul R)

World War II, inequality and England’s social contract NBER (resilc)

Antidote. Willie M: “The White Rabbit in Covington, WA.”

And bonuses. Timothy: “Chile’s new president is at his desk.” Moi: Omg, the ultimate air-gapped computer!

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

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