HMM: Nanobody-drug conjugates hijack the human vitamin B12 uptake route. “A major challenge in cancer therapy is selectively targeting cancer cells over healthy ones. A recent study by the Locher group (IMBB) describes the development of camelid single-domain antibodies (nanobodies) that selectively deliver cargo to cells by hijacking the cellular vitamin B12 uptake pathway, which is in high demand in cancer cells.”
Archive for 2022
March 1, 2022
UKRAINE WAR: Three big military decisions the Ukrainians will have to make soon.
We are approaching a critical phase in the Russian conquest of Ukraine. There have been multiple commitments of Western lethal and non-lethal aid in the past 72 hours. Concurrently, the Russians continue to commit more combat forces. According to background briefings at the Pentagon, Russia now has committed about 75 per cent of its combat power initially arrayed at the Ukrainian border.
After an initial lack of progress, it is likely that the Russian military leadership has rethought its strategy and will change its operational approach in the Ukraine. This will result in an increase in the use of artillery, rockets, thermobaric weapons, and air-delivered munitions as they turn to their more traditional approaches to war to secure their version of “victory”.
The impact of this is that the Ukrainian government and military have some big decisions ahead. There are three they may have to make in the coming days that could have a significant impact on the outcome of the war.
Regardless of whether Putin takes none, some, or all of Ukraine, his failure to secure a quick win has “accidentally revitalized the West’s liberal order.”
That would be more meaningful if the West’s leadership weren’t almost entirely useless, stupid, corrupt, or all three — but leaders can be replaced.
HOPE IT’S TRUE: Report: Some Russian troops surrendering without a fight. We’ll see.
ENDORSED. CARBON DIOXIDE ISN’T A POLLUTANT. Republican states ask Supreme Court to take carbon-restricting powers from EPA.
THAT’S NICE. HOW ABOUT SOME ARRESTS? Jim Jordan: House GOP Will Prioritize These 3 Investigations Next Year.
MEDICAL SEXISM: Clinical trials often overlook eating disorders in men.
JOANNE JACOBS: College skippers may be the smart ones. “Only 62.2 percent of students complete a degree or certificate within six years. The completion rate is much lower for community colleges, which are seeing the biggest drops in enrollment.”
Remember that their coverage is always politically motivated, and always in the same direction, and it all makes sense.
QUESTION: The West has struck surprisingly hard at Putin. Short of nuclear war (which I think unlikely) how might Putin strike back to inflict pain on the West in response? A war in which Russia suffers all the downsides and the West (outside of Ukraine) suffers little or none is unlikely, and in Putin’s mind at least I suspect he’s at war with the West. Cyber attacks? Promotion of terrorism? Something else? Bear in mind that some tactics may face resistance from underlings and oligarchs, especially as things in Ukraine go south and Putin looks weaker and less popular.
UPDATE: Linked in the comments: You want a Cyber World War? This is How You Get One.
VODKAPUNDIT PRESENTS YOUR WEEKLY INSANITY WRAP: Eliminate Science With California’s 1 Weird Trick.
Plus:
- Bad taste is a gender now, apparently
- The (Masked) Kids Are (Not) Alright
- See what patriotism looks like when the price is high
So much more at the link, you’d have to be crazy to miss it.
TOO LATE: Joe Biden Has Only Days To Avoid Becoming Jimmy Carter.
It is worth recalling how Carter reacted to these events. In the case of Iran, he infamously ordered a rescue mission — Operation Eagle Claw — that ended in humiliating failure on April 24, 1980, when one of the U.S. helicopters intended to evacuate the hostages crashed into a transport aircraft, killing eight American servicemen. But he also imposed economic sanctions, freezing about $8.1 billion in Iranian assets and imposing a trade embargo.
In the case of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Carter again opted for sanctions. He placed an embargo on shipments of commodities such as grain to the Soviet Union and suspended high-technology exports. He also boycotted the 1980 Olympics in Moscow and withdrew the SALT II treaty from consideration by the Senate.
Carter’s approval rating had touched an all-time low of 28% in June 1979 and, despite rallying briefly in early 1980, never got back above 40% as the election campaign unfolded. Inflation, which had stood at 5.2% in the month of Carter’s inauguration, hit an all-time high of 14.6% in April 1980, driven skyward by the surge in oil prices that followed the Iranian Revolution.
In January 1979, the spot crude price for a barrel of West Texas Intermediate had been $14.85. By July 1980 it had more than doubled to $39.50. Carter tried to counter inflation by nominating Paul Volcker to be Fed chair in July 1979. But, as Milton Friedman long ago taught us, monetary policy operates with long and variable lags. Inflationary expectations were not truly broken until 1982.
If all of this sounds strangely familiar, it is because we are living through our own version of these events. Karl Marx memorably observed that history repeats itself “the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce.” But sometimes you just get two tragedies in succession.
Although this time around, the first tragedy was getting Joe Biden foisted on us by people who knew better but didn’t give a damn.
UPDATE (FROM GLENN): Flashback: The ‘cabal’ that bragged of foisting Joe Biden on us must answer for his failed presidency.
NOTHING TO SEE HERE, MOVE ALONG: Inflation Raises Expenses for Pension Funds: Cost-of-living increases are rising significantly for the first time in years, adding to retirement system liabilities.
ising inflation is driving up expenses for many large U.S. pension funds that have promised retirees cost-of-living raises.
About half of states link pension benefits for some or all of their retired workers to changes in the consumer-price index, according to the National Association of State Retirement Administrators. With inflation reaching 7% in December, some retirement funds are now looking at increasing pension checks by 3% or more for the first time in a decade. At others, board members or state officials are approving one-time cost-of-living raises.
“It’s a hot topic,” said Keith Brainard, the association’s research director. “A cost-of-living adjustment can be an expensive plan provision.”
Pension funds are confronting a challenge shared by institutions and household savers alike: Just as expectations for public market investment returns are dimming, everyday costs are going up. This year, many retirement systems will book a loss on cost-of-living adjustments, rather than the annual windfall they have been seeing for years when those inflation-linked increases came in below expectations.
It’s called “stagflation.”
ROBERT SPENCER: Biden Says Don’t Worry About Nuclear War, So Start Worrying.
SAVE MONEY: Cooking on a Bootstrap: Over 100 Simple, Budget Recipes. #CommissionEarned
EVERYTHING IS GOING SWIMMINGLY: Yes, Russia could use nuclear weapons.
In wargame simulations I have participated in for several years now, we always assume that Russia would use tactical nuclear weapons against NATO if a war ever did break out.
But such thinking leaves a lot of ground uncovered. NATO is not exactly itching for a fight with Moscow or to attack its territory, even with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine still unfolding.
Back in 2012, I pressed my Russian colleague, asking in what other situations Russia would use nuclear weapons, if any. He explained that “if anything threatens our ability to exist as a nation and prosper, it is my view that we would use nuclear weapons.”
I didn’t believe him then, but I do now.
With Russian President Vladimir Putin now putting his nation’s nuclear forces on alert status, Moscow is signaling to us that recent arms shipments, sanctions, lashings in the media, and pressure placed on the Putin government are rattling nerves.
Putin is trying to tell us in no uncertain terms that we are coming close to his geopolitical redlines and, like a caged animal, he will strike back if we apply too much pressure. That could even mean using nuclear weapons.
The Russian military regularly includes mock tactical nuclear weapons in its training exercises, indicating that the troops are supposed to be well-rehearsed in their battlefield use.
IT’S COME TO THIS: Democratic congressmen float deportation of Russian students. “Congressman Eric Swalwell said that the deportation of Russian students should be “on the table” when it comes to retaliation against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. A fellow House Democrat agreed.”
Well, Eric Swalwell.
OUT: ANYONE WHO QUESTIONS ELECTIONS IS AN INSURRECTIONIST AND PROBABLY A PUTIN STOOGE.
IN: Stacey Abrams: Americans Should ‘Legitimately Question’ the Election System.
This just means they expect to lose.
WELL, IF BIDEN’S NOT WORRIED THEN I’M READY FOR MY PUDDING CUP: Biden: No reason to worry about Russia’s nukes.
THE WOKE AND USELESS ABA SHOULD BE EXCLUDED FROM ANY ACCREDITATION ROLE: ABA Revises Diversity And Inclusion Accreditation Standard A Third Time. “The ABA said multiple comments expressed concern that the proposal creates a two-tiered DEI system that gives priority to racial and ethnic diversity at the expense of LGBTQ+ and disability diversity.”
TO BE FAIR, NOWADAYS EVERYONE IS A WHITE SUPREMACIST FOR 15 MINUTES: SCOTUS nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson’s speech riddled with White supremacist ideas, according to academics.
By praising America and reflecting on her hard work and accomplishments, the woman who may become the first Black female Supreme Court justice engaged in ideas and language that campus leftists have deemed offensive, racist, or examples of White supremacy.
Campus Reform obtained a transcript of Jackson’s speech. Here are the most problematic excerpts, according to woke and “anti-racist” figures in higher education.
Heh.
GETTING THE SQUAD ELECTED WAS ROGER STONE’S LAST, BEST POLITICAL DIRTY TRICK:
Centrist House Democrats are unloading on Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) for her plan to give a response to President Biden’s State of the Union address on Tuesday.
“It’s like keying your own car and slashing your own tires,” Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) told Axios.
To be fair, that’s left politics — and governance — in a nutshell, really.
END NORD STREAM, BRING BACK KEYSTONE: Exclusive: Nord Stream 2 owner considers insolvency after sanctions.