How to heal animals themselves ? and get high Deutsche Welle

4-story rogue wave that randomly appeared in the Pacific Ocean is the ‘most extreme’ ever detected Live Science

The looming threat of long financial Covid FT

Global Cooperation on Digital Governance and the Geoeconomics of New Technologies in a Multi-polar World Centre for International Governance Innovation. Keynote address: Kevin Rudd.

#COVID19

The Country That Decided the Pandemic Is Over (with Kristian Andersen) Andy Slavitt, In The Bubble. WSWS quotes the podcast:

Andersen authored the critical “Proximal Origins of SARS-CoV-2,” which carefully reviewed the scientific evidence against the notion that the virus was constructed in a laboratory or purposefully manipulated. On this week’s podcast, he said of Denmark’s action:

The problem is again that we need to be realistic about what that means, and probably what that means is that–in a country like Denmark, for example, it probably means that we should expect if we go back to 2019 that everybody should expect to get infected probably at least twice a year… If we are looking at the number of deaths resulting as a result of this, we have to be realistic too that this is not going to be no common cold or flu.

Slavitt followed with this chilling observation:

Look, .

Both Andersen and Slavitt agreed that such a scale of death could continue for 10 years, if not longer.

So, yes, “They Really Are Trying to Kill Us.” But there is a bright side if you’re worried about “the debt”:

Population changes provide UK with unexpected boost to public finances https://t.co/Xgf8GOcNtU pic.twitter.com/l3c6ZeSsox

— FT for Schools (@ft4s) February 15, 2022

Every citizen has their part to play, and all things work together for good!

* * *

Moderna CEO Sells Shares, Deletes Social Media: What You Need To Know Benzinga

‘I trust my drug dealer more than I trust this vaccine’ STAT (MR). Well worth a read.

EU investigates reports of menstrual disorders after mRNA COVID shots Reuters

Omicron-targeted vaccines do no better than original jabs in early tests Nature

* * *

CDC expected to update mask guidance as early as next week NBC. “Senior administration officials have asked Walensky to provide an update on masks before President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address on March 1, one of the people said.”

What Do Masks Do to Kids? The New Republic

* * *

Multiple spillovers from humans and onward transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in white-tailed deer PNAS. From the Discussion, possible mechanisms: “While the precise routes of transmission of SARS-Cov-2 from humans to deer are unknown, there are several ways in which deer may be exposed to the virus from humans, including through feeding in backyards or even when a susceptible deer may come in contact with potentially infectious material (such as saliva, urine, etc.) from an infected human in forested areas or exurban environments. Deer may also become exposed to SARS-CoV-2 through contact with wastewater Regardless of the route of transmission from humans, our results suggest that deer have the potential to emerge as a major reservoir host for SARS-CoV-2, a finding that has important implications for the future trajectory of the pandemic.”

Model-Estimated Association Between Simulated US Elementary School–Related SARS-CoV-2 Transmission, Mitigation Interventions, and Vaccine Coverage Across Local Incidence Levels JAMA. From the Discussion: “Second, these on-ramps and off-ramps are highly dependent on the effectiveness of each type of mitigation, which can vary across contexts and individual school settings. We evaluated a wide range of effectiveness: 20% to 40% risk reduction for simple ventilation and handwashing, 60% to 80% for ventilation and handwashing plus universal indoor masking, and 90% to 100% for the full multilayered mitigation packages often used in 2020 to 2021.” This could be just me, but when I see sloppy tropes like “on-ramps and off-ramps,” I give consideration to the possibility that I’m seeing symbol manipulation and not science. (“Focused protection” is another one such.) Reinforcing the tell, why in the name of all that is holy would a serious “decision analytic model” confound handwashing and ventilation?=

* * *

The Omicron Wave Is Receding But the Pandemic Is Far From Over Time

China?

Virus Cases in China’s Olympic Bubble Fall Amid Covid Zero Curbs Bloomberg. Disappointing many, many thought leaders here in the United States, no doubt.

China courts freeze $157 mln of Evergrande assets over missed construction payments Reuters

In Depth: Will Subsidized Housing Stabilize the Real Estate Industry? Caixin Global. Commentary:

5/6
I figure this overvaluation exceeds 100-150% of GDP compared to the US and Europe, and a lot more compared to other developing countries. Eventually this overvaluation has to be wrung out of the economy, and this means a direct hit to banks and households savings.

— Michael Pettis (@michaelxpettis) February 15, 2022

Myanmar

China-Backed Pipeline Facility Damaged in Myanmar Resistance Attack The Irrawaddy. RPGs. Interesting. I can’t lay my hand on a quote, but I recall reporters who follow small wars thought that rocket-propelled grenades would be of more use than, say, Stingers, but that the “resistance” lacked them. Now, apparently, they don’t.

Japan’s Kirin brewery to withdraw from Myanmar Channel News Asia and Doing Business in Myanmar Is Tough, but Norway’s Telenor Finds That Leaving Isn’t Much Easier WSJ

‘Court Cluster’ of Felons Seeks to Destabilize Malaysia Asia Sentinel

Syraqistan

Saudi Arabia Rejects Biden Plea to Increase Oil Production as Midterms Loom The Intercept

Ukrainian ripples: Turkey and Israel eye extended cooperation in Central Asia The Turbulent Woerld of Middle East Soccer

UK/EU

Sod’s law says Boris Johnson will be gone by now Guardian. Sod’s Law is the British equivalent of Murphy’s Law. Obviously, it’s time for pictures of cute cats from the Internet:

11 years ago today I arrived at Downing Street to start my job as Chief Mouser. In truth I didn’t know the scale of the challenges I’d face, but I’ve been overwhelmed with the love and support I’ve been given x pic.twitter.com/AjQrPEsE4g

— Larry the Cat (@Number10cat) February 15, 2022

New Cold War

US hasn’t verified Russian pullback of troops near Ukraine AP

Ukraine crisis: ‘We don’t want war in Europe’ Putin says in talks with Scholz Deutsche Welle

Massive cyberattack takes Ukraine military, big bank websites offline The Register

Russian parliament to discuss draft bills on Donbass recognition Reuters

Sources: Germany, France ask Zelensky to comply with Russia’s spin of Minsk Agreements Kyiv Independent

Is Vladimir Putin Right? Der Spiegel and I was there: NATO and the origins of the Ukraine crisis Responsible Statecraft (Re Silc). On NATO’s eastward expansion.

The Nazis Globalist Liberals Prefer To Ignore The American Conservative

Canada

Saunas, haircuts, hot meals: Ottawa protesters set up for the long haul Guardian. Ottawa byline. Multiple camps (map; article) are interesting, suggestive of a sustained presence.

How the ‘Battle of Billings Bridge’ attracted hundreds of volunteers, trapped convoy for hours Ottawa Citizen. I wish I know more about the neighborhood.

Ottawa police chief Peter Sloly resigns amid trucker protests CTV

Biden Administration

Biden’s Multi-Billion Afghan Theft Gets Scant Mention on TV News FAIR

Biden Can Find Middle Ground in Heated Nuclear Debate Foreign Policy

Supply Chain

16 Billion Gigabytes of Flash Storage Were Just Ruined at Major Chip Makers’ Plants Popular Mechanics (Re Silc).

The Bezzle

UN reports that millions of dollars in stolen crypto have gone towards funding North Korean missile program Web3 is Going Just Great

NFTs are just the beginning of the Crypto Wealth Splash (excerpt) Noah Smith, Noahpinion. Really quite something.

Coinbase launches remittances programme to take on Western Union with cryptocurrencies South China Morning Post. Let me know how that works out.

Their Bionic Eyes Are Now Obsolete and Unsupported IEEE Spectrum

Health Care

How Medicare is quietly being privatized PNHP. Letter from PNHP to HHS Secretary Becerra.

Our Famously Free Press

US accuses financial website of spreading Russian propaganda AP. “Anonymous intelligence officials” are the “US” now. Good to know. I hold no brief for Zero Hedge, but this is garbage. Olddecomposing, whiffy garbage.

Context warnings (dk):

Instagram is putting a context warning label on memes that connect inflation to corporate greed (HT: @IolaElla) pic.twitter.com/X2cQr6GFOI

— Joe Weisenthal (@TheStalwart) February 15, 2022

What next? Nuance warnings?

Trump Legacy

Court documents: Mazars, Donald Trump’s accounting firm, cuts ties to Trump Organization USA Today

The Prince Andrew Trial That Wasn’t Vanity Fair

Class Warfare

The coming backlash against growth and jobs The Week

What the left can learn from the trucker protest Ryan Grim, Bad News. Based on Ipsos polling: “The people in Canada most likely to sympathize with the truckers are young and working class. And most of those people also support Black Lives Matter. This is a frustrated group of people who are up for grabs politically. If progressives simply write them off as right wing reactionaries, the right wing is all too happy to tell them that yes, that’s exactly what they are, and welcome them in.”

Antidote du jour (via):

See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.