Links 3/5/2023 | naked capitalism
Desperate Crestline residents help one another while awaiting assistance from San Bernardino County San Bernardino Sun. Southern California mountains residents snowed in for more than a week.
Climate/Environment
Carbon dioxide emissions reached a record high in 2022 AP
A miserable walk on the beach: This is what red tide carnage looks like in Southwest Florida Fort Myers News Press
Toxic ‘forever chemicals’ about to get their first US limits AP
Norfolk Southern Chemical Bomb
Residents told to shelter in place after Norfolk Southern train derails in Springfield WDTN
“Clearly those placards are incredibly important for emergency responders who are on scene and need to know what’s in tank cars.”
2. Ohio & community officials WOULD have gotten notification about the train and its toxic cargo under 2014 NTSB recommendation that was ignored— Darrel Rowland (@darreldrowland) March 3, 2023
The Checkered Past of the Contractor Monitoring the Air in East Palestine The American Prospect
The railroad industry’s hold over Washington goes beyond Norfolk Southern Open Secrets
Water
#COVID-19
The Heart Foundation has asked the federal government for heart health checks to be made available to everyone who has had a COVID-19 infection or is living with long COVID.#COVID19Aus #hearthealthcheck
Source: https://t.co/vMIWJcRohB pic.twitter.com/LQiySeoSsE
— Denis – The COVID info guy – (@BigBadDenis) March 4, 2023
One-Year Adverse Outcomes Among US Adults With Post–COVID-19 Condition vs Those Without COVID-19 in a Large Commercial Insurance Database JAMA Network. From the findings: “In this case-control study of 13 435 US adults with post–COVID-19 condition (PCC) and 26 870 matched adults without COVID-19, the adults with PCC experienced increased risks for a number of cardiovascular outcomes, such as ischemic stroke.”
Covid-19’s Enormous Death Toll: Worldwide Life Expectancy Has Experienced A Steep Decline Forbes
Syraqistan
IAEA chief says agreement struck with Iran to restore cameras, increase inspections at Fordo Diplomatic, by Laura Rozen
Iraq issues arrest warrants in $2.5bn ‘heist of century’ case The Cradle
Top US general Mark Milley makes surprise visit to Syria Al Monitor
House overwhelmingly approves resolution to maintain Syria sanctions after earthquake The Grayzone
After the earthquake, every House Democrat, including @JamaalBowmanNY @IlhanMN @PramilaJayapal @RoKhanna @AOC, voted to reject “the lifting of [US] sanctions” on Syria. (https://t.co/ia2J4iJ2cK)
A top UN expert says these sanctions are “suffocating.” (https://t.co/qphOS1XGok) pic.twitter.com/JyTz8SmgMA
— Aaron Maté (@aaronjmate) March 4, 2023
India
102% rise in average cost of electricity purchased from Adani Power between 2021 & 2022: Gujarat govt The Indian Express
Adani shares soar as US investor steps in CNN
India’s Beef with Beef The Baffler
The Koreas
North Korea says UN should demand end to S.Korea-US military drills Reuters
China?
A declining working-age population generally portends slower economic growth, as observed in Japan and Europe over the past decade.
But while demographic headwinds will eventually catch-up with China, internal migration should push the day of reckoning far into the future. 2/
— Elbridge Colby (@ElbridgeColby) March 4, 2023
Senate Seeks Covid Origins Information Declassification Bloomberg Law
New Not-So-Cold War
Nuclear Armageddon Games in Ukraine CounterPunch
An overabundance of Nazi and Nazi-derived flags in cemetery visited by Latvian & Ukrainian presidents…
Includes black/red OUN flags, Azov’s whitewashed wolfsangel, & the 1st Galician SS lion used for the 103rd Lviv Defense Brigade flag… pic.twitter.com/r7DgSP6Dsd
— Brian Berletic (@BrianJBerletic) March 4, 2023
Two Ukrainian pilots are in the U.S. for training assessment on attack aircraft, including F-16s NBC News
Development for whom? The case of USAID in Ukraine’s Donbas Review of International Political Economy. From the abstract: “I focus on the USAID Economic Resilience Activity (ERA) to demonstrate that donor programs serve as mechanisms of capitalist accumulation (for development contractors) and neoliberal responsibilization (for conflict-affected citizens). The analysis points to uneven development and the (neo)liberal peace fallacy in Ukraine’s Donbas. At the same time, it corroborates a wider trend in global political economy to obfuscate the interests of development capital with liberal discourses of vulnerability, resilience, and women’s empowerment.”
Biden, Scholz vow to punish Russia for war in Ukraine Euractiv
Japanese TV crew in Moscow shopping malls to see effect of sanction:
Chinese businesses replacing Western brands.
English, Japanese, Chinese subtitles. h/t @ricwe123 and @rusukr22pic.twitter.com/ZAzc6SlaXw
— Carl Zha (@CarlZha) March 5, 2023
***
UK navy intercepts ‘Iran missiles’ likely headed for Yemen Al Jazeera
Suspected Iranian Weapons Seized by U.S. Navy May Go to Ukraine WSJ. From Feb. 14.
Saab’s Submarines Looking For New Hunting Grounds Naval News
***
Work in progress on something under-remarked in US energy:
The single biggest driver of nat gas demand is…exports. The increase in exports to Mexico, and via LNG, is more than the increase in demand from power generation in the past decade. pic.twitter.com/LarPZH3ur9
— Nat Bullard (@NatBullard) March 4, 2023
THE DEAFENING SILENCE OF INTELLECTUALS IN THE FACE OF GROWING GLOBAL CONFLICTS The Real News Network
Lavrov, in Baku, tries to shore up shaky Russia-Azerbaijan “alliance” eurasianet
Wall Street Consensus a la Française Phenomenal World
South of the Border
Bill Barr likens Mexican drug cartels to ISIS, demands Biden send military NY Post
Mexico’s president under attack from neoliberals at home and in U.S. People’s World
President of Mexico calmly savages Anthony Blinken, the US State Department, and “newspapers in the US that protect the mafias of economic power in the world”
“There is more democracy in Mexico than in the US. Here, the people rule. There, the oligarchy rules.” pic.twitter.com/pmzwpGZKtu
— COMBATE |🇵🇷 (@upholdreality) March 4, 2023
Biden Administration
2024
Biden enlists potential rivals as advisers ahead of 2024 WaPo
The Excellence of Kamala Harris Is Hiding in Plain Sight NYT
Eric Adams’s ‘Worst of the Worst’ Report Violated State Law and a Court Injunction Hell Gate NYC
Poll: Most Trump voters say U.S. has given ‘too much’ aid to Ukraine Yahoo News
Trump vows to end Ukraine conflict in 24 hours RT
61% Believe Feds Helped Incite Capitol Riot Rasmussen Reports
Imperial Collapse Watch
Some shocking polls from the gardens of freedom and democracy.
“I trust my government”
China 🇨🇳: 89%
India 🇮🇳: 76%
USA 🇺🇸: 42%
UK 🇬🇧: 37%“My family and I will be better off in five years”
India 🇮🇳: 73%
China 🇨🇳: 65%
USA 🇺🇸: 36%
Germany 🇩🇪: 15%Edelman 2023 Barometer.… https://t.co/TRfO6xsw0O pic.twitter.com/5vcoz6FXZo
— S.L. Kanthan (@Kanthan2030) March 5, 2023
Democrats en déshabillé
Dems want to cut Fox off after lawsuit revelations Politico
California bullet train project faces more cost increases, possible delays KCRA
The corruption of California Unherd
Police State Watch
Paterson violence intervention activist killed in police shooting; AG investigating Paterson Press
We’ve criminalized the poor.
We’ve criminalized the unhoused.
We’ve criminalized the hungry.And now we’re criminalizing humanitarians.
When you spend over 65% of your county budget on law enforcement, everyone begins to look like a criminal.
https://t.co/sQjRgn1Vkb— Krish Gundu (@kinsngops) March 4, 2023
Supply Chain
USDA Ag Outlook: Changes Coming to Global Fertilizer Industry, Markets Progressive Farmer
Health Concerns Grow as Oklahoma Farmers Fertilize Cropland with Treated Sewage Civil Eats
Our Famously Free Press
SILENT COLLABORATOR Declassified Australia. Australia’s official neglect of jailed WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, is revealed in Federal Government files obtained under FOI legislation.
1. This NPR segment deriding the idea that egg & fuel companies are price-gouging consumers is what happens when reporters think they’re being clever & contrarian, but they’re actually just parroting corporate talking points laundered thru an economist. https://t.co/QotONKJHGj
— Basel Musharbash (@musharbash_b) March 4, 2023
Class Warfare
Sellers’ Inflation, Profits and Conflict: Why can Large Firms Hike Prices in an Emergency? UMass Amherst Political Economy Research Institute. From the abstract: “We argue that the US COVID-19 inflation is predominantly a sellers’ inflation that derives from microeconomic origins, namely the ability of firms with market power to hike prices. Such firms are price makers, but they only engage in price hikes if they expect their competitors to do the same. This requires an implicit agreement which can be coordinated by sector-wide cost shocks and supply bottlenecks.”
West Island health authority is willing to hire 16-year-olds Montreal Gazette
10 Body Parts You Can (Legally) Sell MedPage Today
The Bezzle
Who was Oliver Harvey? Scalawag
Antidote du jour (via):
And a bonus:
We’ve seen alligators climbing fences, but going through them?! This gator did just that in Placida, FL! 😳 🐊 Credit: @MattDevittWINK #gator #alligator #wildlife #reptile #florida #floridalife #evergladesholidaypark #ehp #winknews pic.twitter.com/eFboimOEno
— Everglades (@everglades) March 3, 2023
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
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