By Lambert Strether of Corrente.
Hen Tune of the Day
Night Grosbeak (kind 3), Bourgo Residence, Bayfield, Wisconsin, United States.
Politics
“So most of the social reactions that strike us as psychological are in reality a rational administration of symbolic capital.” –Pierre Bourdieu, Classification Struggles
The Constitutional Order (Rebellion)
“Gaetz, Stefanik supply decision declaring Trump ‘didn’t interact in riot’” [The Hill]. “Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) unveiled a decision Tuesday that declares former President Trump ‘didn’t interact in riot or revolt in opposition to america.’ The decision — which spans one web page and has greater than 60 GOP co-sponsors — comes as teams throughout the nation attempt to disqualify Trump from showing on their 2024 presidential election ballots on claims that he engaged in an riot in the course of the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol…. ‘If we’re the purported sufferer, in Congress, and we’re saying this was not an riot, I feel that can maintain an excessive amount of weight,’ [Gaetz] added.”
“Sen. J.D. Vance: Congress “Ought to Have Fought” Over A number of Slates Of Electors In 2020″ [RealClearPolitics]. Vance: “Do I feel there have been issues in 2020? Sure, I do. Do I feel it was an issue that huge know-how firms, working with the intelligence companies, censored the presidential marketing campaign of Donald Trump? Sure. Do I feel it’s an issue that Pennsylvania modified its balloting guidelines in the course of the election season in a manner that even some courts in Pennsylvania have mentioned was unlawful? Sure, I feel these have been issues, George, and I feel there’s a political answer to these issues. So, litigating which slate of electors have been authentic I feel is basically the political answer to the issues that existed in 2020. It’s an affordable debate to have. … [musical interlude] . That’s the authentic method to cope with an election that a number of of us, together with me, assume had a number of issues in 2020. I feel that’s what we should always have accomplished.” • I do have a imprecise feeling that PA may have been just a little whiffy; IIRC, the foundations for poll field drop-offs have been modified below circumstances that gave rise to controversy.
“Meet the GOP insider main the push to disqualify Trump in Colorado” [Ivana Saric, Axios]. “The lead plaintiff within the lawsuit filed to maintain Donald Trump off of Colorado’s 2024 poll is a 91-year-old fixture of the Colorado GOP…. A staunch Republican, Anderson had a 19-year profession as a Colorado legislator and was the primary lady to function majority chief in each the state Home and state Senate…. Anderson informed the Colorado Solar that she’ll be watching the Supreme Courtroom arguments intently and is hopeful a choice shall be reached shortly. ‘I’m very joyful I’ve accomplished it,’ she mentioned. ‘It does take braveness.’” • I’m feeling just a little queasy about this narrative, which takes the main target off the NGOs driving the instances collectively, as lawfare. And Saric appears a curious selection for this beat. Additionally, though when “majority chief in each the state Home and state Senate” I’m certain she was an insider, not now, not if she’s a average who voted for third-party candidates in 2016 and 2020.
Capitol Seizure
“FBI charged with Jan. 6 ‘cover-up’ in Ashli Babbitt capturing case” [Washington Examiner]. “In its new FOIA swimsuit, Judicial Watch mentioned that not solely has the FBI refused its two calls for for recordsdata however that the regulation enforcement company has additionally stiff-armed the Justice Division workplace that advocates FOIA compliance, the Workplace of Info Coverage…. Within the wrongful dying swimsuit [brought by Aaron Babbitt and Judicial Watch] a brand new digicam angle of the capturing was offered. The time-stamped video confirmed an unarmed Babbitt being pushed into the Home Speaker’s Foyer as Byrd raises his gun. After he shot, she fell again, bleeding from the shoulder and neck.”
Biden Administration
“Behind the border mess: Open GOP revolt in opposition to McConnell” [Politico]. “Trump and Speaker Mike Johnson helped squash the border invoice’s prospects within the Home whereas Ron Johnson, Lee, Cruz, Scott and Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) pummeled it on TV and social media. The depth of that assault turned many GOP senators bitter on a border safety deal that might have amounted to essentially the most conservative immigration invoice backed by a Democratic president in a era — a invoice they as soon as mentioned was the important thing to unlocking Ukraine assist. Although McConnell touted the work of Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) and the invoice’s endorsement by the Border Patrol union, he conceded what was apparent by Monday evening: This laws is lifeless. ‘The rationale we ended up the place we’re is the members determined, because it was by no means going to turn out to be regulation, they didn’t need to cope with it,’ McConnell mentioned within the interview. ‘I don’t know who’s at fault right here, when it comes to making an attempt to solid public blame.’ At Tuesday’s social gathering assembly, Cruz informed McConnell that the border deal was indefensible, whereas Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) questioned why the GOP would stroll away from it, in line with two folks accustomed to the assembly. That adopted a Monday night non-public assembly the place Johnson received right into a near-shouting match with Sen. Todd Younger (R-Ind.), one in every of a number of senators who has tried to rebut Trump’s affect on the social gathering.” • It wouldn’t have helped Biden anyhow; why wouldn’t voters vote for an actual Republican?
For these interested by how conservatives see the failure of the deal… https://t.co/0yTE9PwclH
— Matt Stoller (@matthewstoller) February 7, 2024
2024
Lower than a yr to go!
* * * Trump (R): “Trump’s authorized battles are at a vital second with main implications for the 2024 election” [CNN]. “The collision between November’s presidential election and Trump’s extraordinary tangle of authorized liabilities, trials, court docket appeals and exams of the rule of regulation is deepening as he tightens his grip on the Republican nomination. A number of civil instances are transferring towards their conclusions, with painful monetary penalties for the ex-president. However there are rising indicators that his delaying technique, designed to postpone full accountability till after the election, could possibly be engaged on a number of felony fronts. And the nation’s prime judges and justices at the moment are wrestling with the results of Trump’s makes an attempt to pressure the guardrails of the political system to their limits. The ensuing precedents will echo for so long as America stays a republic.” • A superb round-up, if you happen to filter for the aghastitude.
Trump (R): “Trump plans to avoid Supreme Courtroom arguments after turning previous court docket appearances into marketing campaign stops” [CNN]. “On Tuesday and Wednesday, legal professionals and advisers for Trump are holding their first mock arguments to arrange to face the justices. The so-called “moot court docket arguments,” a staple of Supreme Courtroom advocacy, are only one facet of Trump’s extra conventional strategy to Thursday’s case…. Former Texas Solicitor Normal Jonathan Mitchell will argue the case for Trump. This shall be his sixth time arguing a case earlier than the justices. He’s additionally an completed authorized scholar who has revealed quite a few works of scholarship in regulation journals and written on points on the coronary heart of the case, together with the 14th Modification. In contrast to many Trump legal professionals, he has largely labored in authorities and academia earlier than opening his personal agency in 2018. Longtime Trump lawyer David Warrington additionally has performed a big behind-the-scenes position to arrange for Thursday. Warrington doesn’t have Supreme Courtroom expertise however has labored with the previous president for years and “understands find out how to get issues accomplished in Trump world,” in line with a supply accustomed to the matter. And John Sauer, the lawyer who argued Trump’s immunity case earlier than the DC Circuit, is predicted to attend and take part within the moot courts this week in Washington, together with a few of Trump’s felony protection legal professionals and his shut authorized adviser Boris Epshteyn. The caliber of legal professionals and their methodical strategy to this case are a stark distinction to that of Trump’s authorized crew within the current trial in New York to find out damages owed to former journal columnist E. Jean Carroll for defamation.”
Trump (R): “What Occurs, Precisely, If Trump Is Sentenced to Jail?” [Ankush Khardori, New York Magazine]. The lead: “Within the moments after the decision, Donald Trump wouldn’t be hauled off to jail instantly. White-collar defendants are usually allowed to stay out on bail pending sentencing, which suggests, within the case of our former and possibly future commander-in-chief, that he may proceed to marketing campaign for president within the meantime. However let’s recreation it out: If Trump is discovered responsible, how lengthy until he has to placed on an orange (or, as we’ll study, olive-green) jumpsuit?” • The sheer thirst on this piece is overwhelming. It’s like very high-class jail pornography.
* * * Haley (R): “Nikki Haley loses to ‘none of those candidates’ choice in Nevada main” [Washington Examiner]. “With 86% of the ballots tallied, “none of those candidates” had 63% of the vote, whereas Haley had 31%, and former Vice President Mike Pence, who dropped out of the race final yr, netted 4% of the vote.”
* * * Biden (D): The silly! It b-u-u-r-r-r-r-n-n-n-n-n-s-s-s!
You bought it. https://t.co/GOea1AC2oy
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) February 6, 2024
Mutually reinforcing hysteria about brown working class folks on the Rio Grande, nothing about H1B’s in Seattle and Palo Alto (“They’re identical to us!”), and nothing, nothing in any respect, ever, about an asymptomatic, airborne Degree Three Biohazard unfastened within the inhabitants, that’s already killed 1,000,000 folks and appears prone to kill a number of hundred thousand extra. (Sure, I do know the inhabitants on the border is extra, er, numerous as of late. However the clichés are clichés as a result of they categorical sure truths.)
Biden (D): “Counterpoint: Bidenomics’ rosy information vs. the worth of Snickers bars” [Bruce Yandle, Orlando Sentinel]. “By many indicators that matter to a number of good economists, industrialists, monetary analysts and Democratic Occasion politicians, “Bidenomics” is delivering the products. However for rank-and-file voters, one thing is lacking. Public sentiment in regards to the economic system has been rising currently, nevertheless it stays nicely under the pre-COVID years in revered measures just like the College of Michigan Shopper Sentiment Index. The temper, it seems, fails to match the newest 2023 actual GDP development estimates, which got here in at 2.5%. Clearly, there’s a disconnect, and we shouldn’t brush off the understanding of shoppers who’re extra bothered by their job prospects or the costs of Snickers sweet bars, floor beef or a tank of fuel than they’re impressed by Shopper Worth Index developments. The truth is, a better take a look at the information reveals an image extra murky than rosy…. Writing not too long ago on the disconnect in financial perceptions, economist Paul Donovan argued that we’d like a “Snickers bar index.” If politicians need to understand how shoppers actually really feel, they should store recurrently at a typical grocery retailer, keeping track of the altering costs of Snickers (sweet went up about 13% final yr), floor beef and a pound of espresso. Folks purchase and eat these items often; few scan and even care about Division of Commerce reviews.” • I omitted the half about Carl Jung on information v. understanding. A Mercatus Heart dude quoting Carl Jung; that’s a turn-up for the books!
Biden (D): “Why Is Joe Biden So Unpopular?” [Sean Trende, RealCalerPolitics]. “Progress is over 3%, unemployment is below 4%, and inflation has fallen from its peak. So why the seeming paradox of an unpopular president in a time of robust financial development, particularly when the energy of the economic system is itself a standard predictor of presidential job approval? There are two causes. First, we ought not fall into the entice that many commentators – particularly political scientists – fall into of financial reductionism. Sure, it’s ‘the economic system silly,’ as the enduring signal hanging inside Invoice Clinton’s marketing campaign headquarters famously reminded his employees in 1992. Much less well-remembered, nevertheless, the signal additionally listed ‘Change vs. extra of the identical’ as the primary precept of the marketing campaign, with ‘Don’t neglect healthcare’ as an extra merchandise. So folks do care in regards to the economic system, however additionally they care about issues starting from the conflict raging within the Center East to their general notion of the president….. Extra importantly, commentators misunderstand the character of inflation…. First, inflation is rarely “transitory.” Even after it’s over, value ranges hardly ever fall appreciably (certainly, deflation has its personal issues). Customers don’t routinely reset their baseline. So even when costs are degree (and there’s nonetheless inflation within the U.S.; it’s simply the speed that has slowed), persons are nonetheless shocked once they pay $2 per pound for rooster, evaluating it to when rooster was $1.44 for a pound in 2021. Second, inflation is consistently in our face. Each time a shopper goes to the shop and makes a purchase order, they’re reminded of the influence. That is true for gasoline, meals, clothes – each commodity a person consumes. That’s to not say different indicators don’t harm; it’s simply to say they aren’t felt as typically. It isn’t simply items and companies both. The principle instrument the Fed has to struggle inflation – elevating rates of interest – has secondary and tertiary penalties…. [F]or a society accustomed to utilizing their homes as ATMs when rates of interest have been low, it’s an unsettling change. For individuals who need to get into the housing marketplace for the primary time, it’s a good larger downside. Lastly, and most insidiously, inflation impacts everybody…. Inflation hits you it doesn’t matter what you’re buying. In case your concept of an evening out is dinner at McDonald’s, your additional worth meals value extra. In case your concept of an evening out is Outback Steakhouse, costs have been up by 5% in 2022 alone (although the beloved franchise has vowed to rein in value will increase transferring ahead.) As for positive eating, my spouse and I celebrated an important day at a elaborate steakhouse in Ohio not too long ago and shelled out round $80 per steak.” • $80 for a steak? Yikes! Does this match reader expertise?!
* * * Biden (D): “Biden and the Democrats have a big money benefit” [MSNBC]. “Biden’s primary marketing campaign committee began 2024 with about $46 million in money readily available, considerably greater than Trump’s $33 million, in line with Federal Election Fee filings. To be clear, Biden’s lead over Trump isn’t huge, and across the identical level within the 2020 election cycle then-President Trump had a whopping $102.7 million in money readily available. However there are a selection of causes that Biden’s monetary benefit could also be significantly sturdy. Whereas Biden isn’t going through a big challenger within the primaries, Trump must spend cash within the GOP primaries to defeat former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley — who has a good amount of money readily available herself and will theoretically stick with it for some time even when she continues to lose nominating contests. The larger drain on Trump’s conflict chest, although, is his huge array of authorized entanglements. The Trump marketing campaign and affiliated political motion committees reportedly spent round $50 million on authorized payments for Trump and his inside circle. These efforts will proceed to be a drain on Trump’s pockets, siphoning funds that might in any other case be spent on messaging, turnout and different marketing campaign operations.” Lawfare working as supposed, then? Extra: “Some — together with my colleague Hayes Brown — would argue that Trump recoups a few of his authorized spending as a result of his court docket appearances and his broadly mentioned authorized arguments perform as a type of promoting for his presidential marketing campaign and a method to increase his coffers. There’s some fact to that. However Trump’s means to capitalize on his authorized woes is waning: A brand new Reuters report reveals that whereas his primary fundraising group was as soon as capable of elevate as much as $4 million in a day round court docket appearances, by the top of final yr these fundraising hauls sank to shut to Trump’s general each day fundraising common of $300,000.” • That ought to change when the instances start; it’s fascinating to assume that Trump’s technique of delay on the court docket instances may lead to an enormous infusion of money later within the election.
* * * “Why A Second Trump-Biden Matchup Gained’t Be A Rerun Of The 2020 Election” [HuffPo]. “It’s straightforward to miss the methods by which Biden-Trump 2.0 can be dramatically completely different from the primary time round…. Again in 2020, the marketing campaign befell proper as COVID-19 was first spreading, making a[n ongoing] once-in-a-lifetime [we hope] public well being disaster. This election is unfolding amid a pair of violent worldwide crises, the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza. The principle financial problem in 2020 was to prop up the economic system because the pandemic threatened to close it down. Right this moment, the principle problem with the economic system is to maintain it operating with out letting it overheat. Violent crime is now taking place as a substitute of up. Unlawful border crossings are going up as a substitute of down. And naturally, in 2020, abortion was nonetheless a proper all through the U.S., albeit with restrictions. Now it exists solely in some states, and is below risk in others. However there’s one other, much less apparent distinction between 2020 and 2024, and it would matter much more. Right this moment, we all know a terrific deal extra in regards to the two males who’re prone to seem on the poll.”
* * * “Democratic and Republican elites worry RFK Jr.’s rising path to victory” [The Hill]. “34. Which will very nicely turn out to be the symbolic magic quantity within the November presidential election. In what’s shaping as much as be a three-person contest between President Joe Biden, former President Donald Trump, and unbiased candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the query turns into: Which candidate can garner 34 % of the favored vote or larger?… [B]y turning into the standard-bearer for the Libertarian Occasion, Kennedy can be considerably extra prone to get on state ballots, together with key battleground states… All of that hints at a really fascinating political and electoral chance. What if Kennedy — who “has no probability” and is barely going to function a “spoiler” — not solely runs on the Libertarian Occasion ticket and will get on key swing state ballots however continues to peel off increasingly younger and unbiased voters with a smattering of dissatisfied Democrats and Republicans? Some polls have already proven Kennedy at about 21 % of the favored vote. With simply over 9 months to go earlier than the election, what if he grows his assist at simply over 1 % per 30 days? Unattainable?” • Gotta brush up on what occurs if an election is thrown to the Home.
“Third-party candidates may win Trump the White Home once more” [Unherd]. “Biden is six factors forward of Trump in a two-way nationwide race, however the addition of RFK Jr., Stein and West reduces his result in simply two factors in a separate Quinnipiac ballot. Kennedy takes the lion’s share of third-party votes, 21%, in comparison with West and Stein’s 3% and a couple of%. December polling signifies {that a} three-way race involving RFK boosts Trump by 5 factors, and it could safely be assumed that Stein and West primarily win votes from would-be Biden supporters. … Any influence of third-party candidates in closely blue or purple states wouldn’t bridge the huge margins that Joe Biden or Trump are projected to win in these states — solely affect in swing states meaningfully impacts the election. ” • Useful chart:
That “three-way” locution is extraordinarily unlucky….
Spook Nation
Democrats en Déshabillé
Considered one of my favourite accounts, from Black Twitter days:
Why ought to anybody reelect a political loser? If a daily particular person received employed to drive a selected bus route, however they by no means did it due to their lack of ability to regulate to site visitors they’d be fired and rightfully so. However someway we gotta hold voting for ineffective politicians? 🥴
— AshleyStevens (@The_Acumen) February 5, 2024
“Did Philadelphia Sheriff Rochelle Bilal’s marketing campaign make up dozens of false information tales?” [Philadelphia Inquirer]. “Rochelle Bilal ran for Philadelphia sheriff as a reformer in 2019, pledging to wash up an workplace lengthy stricken by corruption, controversy, and monetary irregularities so in depth that they gave accountants precise nightmares. Her first time period in workplace has been bumpy, to place it mildly, as she has handled every little thing from whistle-blower lawsuits to a damaged tax-sale system. However Bilal has been telling a distinct story on her marketing campaign web site. It options dozens of favorable headlines attributed to native information organizations resembling NBC10, CBS3, WHYY, and The Inquirer, all itemizing the dates of publication. ‘This web page,’ the positioning proclaims, ‘highlights Sheriff Bilal’s file of accomplishment throughout her time in workplace.’ One snag: Nobody can appear to search out any of the supposed information tales…. By Friday morning, the hyperlink to the 31 phantom information headlines had been faraway from Bilal’s primary marketing campaign web site…. Response from communications ethicists and media research consultants ranged from ‘nutty’ and ‘actually odd’ to ‘brazen’ and ‘outrageous.’ One principle: Perhaps a marketing campaign staffer used an AI chatbot to generate headlines in regards to the sheriff.” • Oops. Makes me marvel what else we’ve missed….
#COVID19
“I’m in earnest — I cannot equivocate — I cannot excuse — I cannot retreat a single inch — AND I WILL BE HEARD.” –William Lloyd Garrison
Assets, United States (Nationwide): Transmission (CDC); Wastewater (CDC, Biobot; contains many counties; Wastewater Scan, contains drilldown by zip); Variants (CDC; Walgreens); “Iowa COVID-19 Tracker” (in IA, however nationwide information). “An infection Management, Emergency Administration, Security, and Normal Ideas” (particularly on hospitalization by metropolis).
Lambert right here: Readers, thanks for the collective effort. To replace any entry, do be at liberty to contact me on the tackle given with the crops. Please put “COVID” within the topic line. Thanks!
Assets, United States (Native): AK (dashboard); AL (dashboard); AR (dashboard); AZ (dashboard); CA (dashboard; Marin, dashboard; Stanford, wastewater; Oakland, wastewater); CO (dashboard; wastewater); CT (dashboard); DE (dashboard); FL (wastewater); GA (wastewater); HI (dashboard); IA (wastewater reviews); ID (dashboard, Boise; dashboard, wastewater, Central Idaho; wastewater, Coeur d’Alene; dashboard, Spokane County); IL (wastewater); IN (dashboard); KS (dashboard; wastewater, Lawrence); KY (dashboard, Louisville); LA (dashboard); MA (wastewater); MD (dashboard); ME (dashboard); MI (wastewater; wastewater); MN (dashboard); MO (wastewater); MS (dashboard); MT (dashboard); NC (dashboard); ND (dashboard; wastewater); NE (dashboard); NH (wastewater); NJ (dashboard); NM (dashboard); NV (dashboard; wastewater, Southern NV); NY (dashboard); OH (dashboard); OK (dashboard); OR (dashboard); PA (dashboard); RI (dashboard); SC (dashboard); SD (dashboard); TN (dashboard); TX (dashboard); UT (wastewater); VA (dashboard); VT (dashboard); WA (dashboard; dashboard); WI (wastewater); WV (wastewater); WY (wastewater).
Assets, Canada (Nationwide): Wastewater (Authorities of Canada).
Assets, Canada (Provincial): ON (wastewater); QC (les eaux usées); BC (wastewater); BC, Vancouver (wastewater).
Hat tricks to useful readers: Alexis, anon (2), Art_DogCT, B24S, CanCyn, ChiGal, Chuck L, Festoonic, FM, FreeMarketApologist (4), Gumbo, hop2it, JB, JEHR, JF, JL Joe, John, JM (10), JustAnotherVolunteer, JW, KatieBird, LL, Michael King, KF, LaRuse, mrsyk, MT, MT_Wild, otisyves, Petal (6), RK (2), RL, RM, Rod, sq. coats (11), tennesseewaltzer, Tom B., Utah, Bob White (3).
Keep protected on the market!
Maskstravaganza
“Not sporting a masks throughout COVID-19 well being emergency isn’t a free speech proper, appeals court docket says” [Associated Press]. “‘A query shadowing fits resembling these is whether or not there’s a First Modification proper to refuse to put on a protecting masks as required by legitimate well being and security orders put in place throughout a acknowledged public well being emergency. Like all courts to deal with this difficulty, we conclude there’s not,’ the court docket mentioned.” • What a disgrace. “The proper to contaminate others shall not be infringed.”
* * * “Phil Hellmuth Desires Ike Haxton to Take Off the Facemask: ‘This Isn’t On-line Poker’” [Poker News]. “‘Nobody ought to be capable to cowl their face, except you utilize your individual arms to do it. This isn’t on-line poker. ‘Tells’ matter in dwell poker: it’s a ability to cover your tells and one other ability to learn your opponent’s tells,’ Hellmuth wrote…. ‘When there’s six folks left in a match, you don’t have any actual issues of COVID,’ Hellmuth continued.” Pricey Lord. No, #CovidIsAirborne, and strikes like smoke via the complete facility. Anyhow, the plain answer is to mandate common masking.
“Opinion: Hellmuth Ought to Stroll Again His Feedback About Ike Haxton’s Masks-Sporting” [Vegas Slots Online]. “Taking a weird shot in opposition to gamers who select to put on a masks on the desk, Hellmuth proclaimed that ‘nobody ought to be capable to cowl their face’ on the poker desk. He singled out Haxton as somebody who he claims positive aspects a bonus over his opponents by sporting a masks. It was a puerile take backed up by weak arguments in regards to the significance of dwell tells. Haxton doesn’t put on a balaclava. He wears N95 Respirators and comparable high quality medical masks that present respiratory safety to the wearer by very successfully filtering airborne particles. Hellmuth questioning his motivation is asinine and as Haxton rightly factors out, poker writers that ‘either side’ this story must be ashamed of themselves.” • Masks don’t “cowl the face,” since our eyes — the home windows of the soul — aren’t coated (no less than by a respirator; we’re not going all Darth Vader right here). Is Hellmuth actually saying that eyes give no tells? And the way come “no person ought to be capable to infect anybody else with an asymptomatic, airborne Degree Three Biohazard” a part of the dialogue?
Vaccines
A superb query:
They tweeted about it https://t.co/hUElxEIslU
— Nate Bear (@NateB_Panic) February 7, 2024
Get rid of the “sterilizing” half, and capitalism will swing into motion. A subscription-based nasal vaccine enterprise mannequin can be a surefire winner!
Sequelae
The labor market would love a phrase:
After the delta & 1st omicron surge within the US, my lab needed to abandon cognitive screenings (reminiscence) to evaluate research eligibility as a result of duties like subtracting 7 from 100 (93…86…79) was a barrier for COLLEGE college students to enter. Of those that handed, most couldn’t carry out the nBack. https://t.co/uBTZ0g0fqX
— Dr. Sean Mullen (@drseanmullen) February 7, 2024
“Dang. I do know I put these bolts somethe place!”
Elite Maleficence
I suppose I’ve to observe US Proper to Know extra intently, as a result of right here they’re doing the Lord’s Work on airborne transmission:
https://t.co/4e8wH3goWW
— Jim Haslam (@jhas5) February 7, 2024
Shorter: They knew. (Munster claims precedence on #CovidIsAirborne as of February 20, 2020 — how way back however Xi informed Trump the identical factor on February 7, in line with Woodward.)
“Measles has exploded in Europe. Clinicians say it’s solely a matter of time earlier than outbreaks hit Canada” [CBC]. It’s virtually as if there’s a standard thread right here, all these contagious illnesses so instantly. Anyhow: “However measles is exceptionally contagious. ‘Usually we expect that, so long as someone doesn’t cough in our face … or shake our hand with their, , snotty hand, we shall be OK, proper? ‘ [Dr. Jeffrey Pernica, division head of infectious diseases at McMaster Children’s Hospital] mentioned. ‘That’s form of the rule for many respiratory viruses.’” • What is it with hospital infectioon management?
Another reason to keep away from air journey:
What is going to they do? Eject passengers who care them?
“Lengthy COVID analysis goes non-public” [National Public Radio]. “Proal doesn’t work for the federal government or a college. She runs a nonprofit known as PolyBio Analysis Basis. It’s funding a lot of this cutting-edge work because of $30 million donated by a Russian Canadian billionaire from the world of crypto.” • [bangs head on desk].
TABLE 1: Each day Covid Charts
LEGEND
1) ★ for charts new right this moment; all others are usually not up to date.
2) For a full-size/full-resolution picture, Command-click (MacOS) or right-click (Home windows) on the chart thumbnail and “open picture in new tab.”
NOTES
[1] Sure, up, however we’ll need to wait till subsequent week to see if there are backward revisions. I’d be extra comfy if some positivity figures have been up, too, or the ER (UPDATE: It’s not). Verily information, FWIW, additionally suggests a rise:
[2] Biobot information suggests an increase within the Northeast. MRWA information doesn’t counsel that:
I additionally tried Verily’s regional information and CDC’s mapm however I wasn’t assured I used to be seeing a sign in both.
[3] “As of Might 11, genomic surveillance information shall be reported biweekly, primarily based on the supply of optimistic take a look at specimens.” “Biweeekly: 1. occurring each two weeks. 2. occurring twice every week; semiweekly.” Seems like CDC has chosen sense #1. In essence, they’re telling us variants are nothing to fret about. Time will inform.
[4] Doesn’t assist Biobot information. “Charts and information offered by CDC, updates Wednesday by 8am. For the previous yr, utilizing a rolling 52-week interval.” So not the complete pandemic, FFS (the implicit message right here being that Covid is “identical to the flu,” which is why the seasonal “rolling 52-week interval” is suitable for eachMR SUBLIMINAL I hate these folks a lot. Discover additionally that this chart reveals, no less than for its time interval, that Covid is not seasonal, although CDC is making an attempt to get us to imagine that it’s, presumably to allow them to piggyback on the present institutional equipment for injections. And naturally, we’re not even moving into the standard of the wastewater websites that we’ve as a proxy for Covid an infection general.
[5] Lower for town not aligns with wastewater information (if certainly Biobot’s spike is actual).
[6] Nonetheless down “Maps, charts, and information offered by CDC, updates weekly for the earlier MMWR week (Sunday-Saturday) on Thursdays (Deaths, Emergency Division Visits, Take a look at Positivity) and weekly the next Mondays (Hospitalizations) by 8 pm ET†”.
[7] It might be fascinating to survey this inhabitants usually; these are individuals who, regardless of a tsunami of official propaganda and massive peer stress, went and received examined anyhow.
[8] Lambert right here: Proportion and absolute numbers down.
[9] Up, albeit within the rear view mirror.
Stats Watch
Provide Chain: “United States LMI Logistics Managers Index Present” [Trading Economics]. “The Logistics Supervisor’s Index within the US elevated to 55.6 in January 2024, the best in three months, from 50.6 in December. For the primary time since September 2019, each metric is in growth territory, led by a rise within the restocking of inventories (52.8 vs 44.3), particularly for retailers, after a busy vacation season.”
Tech: “”Wherever you get your podcasts” is a radical assertion” [Anil Dash]. Late to the social gathering, however a welcome visitor. “[B]eing capable of say, “wherever you get your podcasts” is a radical assertion. As a result of what it represents is the triumph of precisely the type of know-how that’s presupposed to be not possible: open, empowering tech that’s not owned by anyone firm, that may’t be managed by anyone firm, and that permits folks to have possession over their work and their relationship with their viewers. See, podcasting as a know-how grew out of the early period of the social internet, when the norms of know-how creators have been that they have been anticipated to create open programs, which interoperated with instruments by different creators and even different firms. This was primarily based on the successes of earlier generations of the web, like e-mail and even the online itself. Podcasting was principally the final such invention to turn out to be mainstream, with thousands and thousands of individuals listening day by day, and numerous folks capable of create within the medium. And naturally, it creates tons of oppportunities for companies too, whether or not it’s folks making superb podcasts like Roman Mars does, or giants like Apple or Spotify constructing companies across the medium. Distinction this to different media codecs on-line, like YouTube or Tiktok or Twitch, which don’t depend on open programs, and are wholly owned by particular person tech firms. On these platforms, creators are consistently chasing the newest algorithmic shifts, and are topic to the whims of promoting algorithms which might be fully opaque. If a creator will get fed up sufficient to need to go away a platform, they’re caught — these viewers or listeners are tied to the corporate that hosts the content material. However within the podcasting world, creators can (assuming they work out the enterprise offers obligatory to take action) really take their ball and go house, as a result of the underlying ‘feed’ — the particular file that podcasting apps take a look at to know when there’s a brand new episode — is one thing they will really transfer over to a brand new system or a brand new host, with out dropping all their subscribers or followers. Certainly, this concept of getting a ‘moveable’ viewers is so interesting that it’s even been revived within the new wave of open format-based social networks which have arisen.” • What the blogosphere was once earlier than the Robber Barons of Silicon Valley took over. Ought to be “social [inter]media[tion].” That manner the rental extraction half — the flip aspect of which is the censorship half, that being the social media aspect hustle — will get neatly erased.
Right this moment’s Concern & Greed Index: 74 Greed (earlier shut: 73 Greed) [CNN]. One week in the past: 65 (Excessive Greed). (0 is Excessive Concern; 100 is Excessive Greed). Final up to date Feb 6 at 2:26:21 PM ET.
The Gallery
“13 Methods of Taking a look at Artwork” [William Deresiewicz, Salmagundi]. “Artwork is for growing life. That, I imagine, in spite of everything the opposite functions obtain their due, is actually what it’s for—why we revere it, why we give our hearts to it. What do I imply by growing life? How can we dwell extra, on condition that we will’t dwell longer? Via consideration and depth. Being absolutely current to the world, and feeling with out reservation: the 2 issues that making artwork requires and that experiencing it includes. “Being in love,” Tim Kreider writes, “is likely one of the solely instances when life is something like artwork,” however the reverse can also be true. Artwork is likely one of the solely instances when life is something like being in love. Consideration, depth. It’s also one of many solely instances when waking life is something like dreaming. I awaken from a dream, from its saturation of that means and feeling, its world of shade and full success, its crowd of presences, of distant pals, previous lovers, lifeless mother and father, to the drabness of quotidian life, to the narrowness of my existence, to my standard dismal self. Oh yeah, it’s me once more. How can I regain that paradise, which was right here only a second in the past? Solely via artwork: via music, via story, via the alchemy of verse. I used to be listening to Abbey Street the opposite day. Someplace between “You By no means Give Me Your Cash” and “Golden Slumbers,” I lastly understood Nabokov’s definition of aesthetic bliss: “a way of being someway, someplace, linked with different states of being the place artwork (curiosity, tenderness, kindness, ecstasy) is the norm.” It’s on this respect, and this one solely, that artwork is utopian….” • “Artwork is for” used as anaphora…. (Supply of the “13 Methods” trope.)
Contact data for crops: Readers, be at liberty to contact me at lambert [UNDERSCORE] strether [DOT] corrente [AT] yahoo [DOT] com, to (a) learn the way to ship me a test if you’re allergic to PayPal and (b) to learn the way to ship me photographs of crops. Greens are positive! Fungi, lichen, and coral are deemed to be honorary crops! If you’d like your deal with to seem as a credit score, please place it firstly of your mail in parentheses: (thus). In any other case, I’ll anonymize by utilizing your initials. See the earlier Water Cooler (with plant) right here. From BB:
BB writes: “This dahlia plant was seeded indoors in mid-April then transplanted outdoor; the place it survived the munching rabbits. Then, after surviving a number of mild frosts, the dahlia plant lastly bloomed late within the season.” Too all late bloomers in every single place….
Readers: Water Cooler is a standalone entity not coated by the annual NC fundraiser. So if you happen to see a hyperlink you particularly like, or an merchandise you wouldn’t see anyplace else, please don’t hesitate to specific your appreciation in tangible type. Bear in mind, a tip jar is for tipping! Common optimistic suggestions each makes me really feel good and lets me know I’m heading in the right direction with protection. After I get no donations for 5 or ten days I get anxious. Extra tangibly, a continuing trickle of donations helps me with bills, and I consider that trickle when setting fundraising objectives:
Right here is the display that can seem, which I’ve helpfully annotated:
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