Links 2/27/2023 | naked capitalism

Practice yoga with butterflies at the Butterfly Pavilion Axios (Denver). Axios having local bureaus is a very interesting development.

Alligator pulled from NYC lake had swallowed bathtub stopper, authorities say CNN

Private equity-backed insurers under US scrutiny over risky loans FT

A History Of Market Panics Investor Amnesia

Private debt, monetary policy tightening and aggregate demand Bank of International Settlements

More on the Interest-Income Channel Stephanie Kelton, The Lens

Survey: Business economists push back US recession forecasts AP

Climate

CO2 from direct air capture is stored in concrete in first-of-its-kind demonstration Gas World. Roman-style concrete?

Electric vehicle drivers get candid about charging: ‘Logistical nightmare’ ABC (Re Silc).

And You Thought Feral Hogs Were Bad. Fire Ants Have Unleashed Chaos in Texas for Decades Texas Monthly

Epic winter storm turns Southern California snow white; more rain and snow on the way LA Times

#COVID19

Lab Leak Most Likely Origin of Covid-19 Pandemic, Energy Department Now Says WSJ. “The Energy Department made its judgment with ‘low confidence,’ according to people who have read the classified report.” On the bright side, fomites were a non-starter, so at least we can rule out transmission by balloon.

No definitive answers for whether COVID-19 originated in lab, says US national security adviser Andalou Agency

China?

Commentary: Beijing’s peace plan for Ukraine offers glimpse of how China plans to win the war Channel News Asia. Meanwhile, wolf warrior diplomacy:

Ten reasons why China won’t become the US pic.twitter.com/5jJTUU3Jcg

— Chinese Embassy in Kenya (@ChineseEmbKenya) February 22, 2023

Some hits, some misses. Ignore the “potentially sensitive content” warning. There aren’t any pictures of Abu Ghraib or Gitmo!

Can a Million Chinese People Die and Nobody Know? The Atlantic. A million died in the US, and nobody noticed, so why not?

China aims to launch nearly 13,000 satellites to ‘suppress’ Elon Musk’s Starlink, researchers say South China Morning Post. So long, night sky! Nice to have known you!

How Singapore stacks up against Hong Kong in battle of Asia hubs FT

European Disunion

Pd primaries, Elly Schlein is the first female secretary: she wins with 53%. “A revolution, clear mandate for change” (Google translation) Il Fatto Quotidiano (DJG). Pd = “Partito Democratico.” Secretary = “Party leader.” DJG: “As Italy starts to move out of terminal Atlanticism, if it ever was there…. Schlein is to the left of Bonaccini, who was a tad too close to Renzi, who is the Hillary / Tony Blair of Italian politics. So Renzi’s influence over the Partito Democratico will be minimized. Schlein has temporized about sending arms to Ukraine. The base doesn’t want arms or Italian soldiers in Ukraine, so we’ll see if she figures that out. ”

Hopes grow for deal on N. Ireland protocol as EU’s Von der Leyen to meet Sunak France24. UPDATE:

Hell of a thing in London: the King is meeting with Ursula von der Leyen in an attempt to finalize the new Northern Ireland protocol.

— Richard M. Nixon (@dick_nixon) February 27, 2023

Talks on Kosovo in Brussels will be difficult: Serbian president Andalou Agency

New Not-So-Cold War

Ukraine’s Endgame James W. Carden, The American Conservative. Author bio: “James W. Carden served as advisor on U.S.-Russian affairs at the State Department during the Obama administration.” Interesting Carden had to go to TAC to get this piece published; it’s well worth a read.

How the war in Ukraine has challenged left-wing restrainers Responsible Statecraft

Ukraine Is the West’s War Now WSJ

Sullivan won’t say whether US will back Ukraine in retaking Crimea FOX. Perhaps they need a security guarantee:

Random Guy At Your Gym Offers Ukraine Security Guarantees pic.twitter.com/7UNiRXVmLD

— Le Chou News (@LeChouNews) February 27, 2023

War in Ukraine Drives New Surge of U.S. Oil Exports to Europe WSJ. Ka-ching.

* * *

War in Ukraine ‘stems from the Orange Revolution, a humiliating ordeal for Putin’ France24. Why must everything be personal? Are we all teenagers now? Wait, don’t answer that:

🗣️ Ukraine is hosting one of the great epics of this century

❝We are Harry Potter and William Wallace, the Na’vi and Han Solo. We’re escaping from Shawshank and blowing up the Death Star. We are fighting with the Harkonnens and challenging Thanos.❞

[9/10] pic.twitter.com/HBji5RoWws

— NATO (@NATO) February 23, 2023

The Maidan Massacre in Ukraine: Revelations from Trials and Investigation (PDF) Ivan Katchanovski, 10th World Congress of the International Council for Central and East European Studies. From 2021, still germane.

* * *

Zelensky fires a top Ukrainian military commander, no reason given Reuters

Belarusian partisans sabotaged in Machulishchy Ukrainska Pravda. Looks like we’re spinning up some Belorusian Bellingcats.

Ukraine war: Designing outfits for Beyoncé and Sam Smith from Kyiv BBC

Biden Administration

Transcript: CIA director William Burns on “Face the Nation,” Feb. 26, 2023 CBS

Casinos and consulting? Pandemic spurs tribes to diversify AP. If only the sovereign tribes would go into the passport business (if they can), we could bootstrap a version of Mr.Lee’s Greater Hong Kong, which many would appreciate. Ha ha only serious?

Democrats en Déshabillé

Democrats explore blue-collar struggles as brand is ‘damaged’ NYT

The Supremes

Transcript: Gonzalez v. Google Oral Argument Tech Policy Press. Section 230.

Four quadrants of Section 230ishnes Interfluidity (their new site).

Police State Watch

Bristling Under Progressive Mayor, St. Louis Police Seek State Takeover The Intercept. Wowsers, I always thought cops were civil servants, not independent political actors.

Assange

Der Spiegel asks: “Is the CIA hunting Assange’s supporters?” WSWS

Supply Chain

Insurers count the cost of ships snagged in Ukraine crisis Hellenic Shipping News

Tech

Tech’s hottest new job: AI whisperer. No coding required. WaPo. So that’s where the grift value-add is (and not the data set). Humanities majors, take note!

Dish Network’s internal systems are so broken some employees haven’t worked in over a day The Verge

Our Famously Free Press

Watching Tucker Carlson for Work The New Yorker (Furzy Mouse).

Realignment and Legitimacy

Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Civil War The Atlantic. Such talk has been going on for some time, including from liberal Democrat factions: The Nation (2021); The New Republic (2017). The trope that Blue State taxes support Red State spending has been around since forever. What goes around….

Imperial Collapse Watch

US Dollar Primacy in an Age of Economic Warfare Michael St-Pierre and Michael Kao, Kaoboy Musings. Part one of four. Parts two, three, and four. Commentary:

11/12
While USD primacy clearly benefits the defense and foreign affairs establishments, Wall Street, and the global financial elite, in other words, it comes at the expense of American workers, producers, farmers, middle-class households and the US manufacturing sector.

— Michael Pettis (@michaelxpettis) February 27, 2023

Army secretary shoots high for recruiting goals despite crisis in finding enlistees: reports FOX

Tim Peake: ‘I do not see us having a problem getting to Mars’ FT. British astronaut. What do the Martians think?

Guillotine Watch

Boston property magnate worth $220m is accused of hiding $130m from movie director wife he’s divorced twice, after she caught him spending $532,000 on WOODEN DUCKS (but he says she’s so lazy she spent $80,000 on staffer to brush dogs’ teeth!) Daily Mail (Petal).

Class Warfare

How a small-town train derailment erupted into a culture battle WaPo. Of course…

A viral high school tour underscores the haves and have-nots in America’s schools NBC

Alone and Exploited, Migrant Children Work Brutal Jobs Across the U.S. NYT

I’ve spent years studying happiness. Here’s what actually makes for a happier life Fast Company

How to take better care of your aging brain National Geographic

Antidote du jour (via):

Bonus antidote:

Double bonus antidote. We may have published this in the past, but it’s worth hoisting again even so:

See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.