2:00PM Water Cooler 3/14/2024 | bare capitalism

By Lambert Strether of Corrente.

Beneficiant readers, we at the moment are at 307 231 204 177 donors, or 76% 57%51%44% of our purpose of 400 donors (25 greater than final yr). I’ll have the ultimate 2024 Fundraiser submit up in a short time, however yuou have moved the needle out of the “Catastrophically Unhealthy” zone into the “Let’s Make This a Success!” zone [lambert sighs in relief], for which I’m very grateful. You probably have not already completed so, please assist Water Cooler (or donate to supply the assist that the unfortunate can’t). And now to seek out some hen songs. –lambert

Chicken Tune of the Day

Kashmir Nuthatch, Yousmarg Forest Space, Budgam, Jammu and Kashmir, India.

In Case You Would possibly Miss…

(1) Cooperation Jackson.

(2) Turmoil within the Biden advance staff…..

(3) The unusual dying of John Barnett within the midst of his Boeing deposition.

(4) Proper to Restore in Oregon.

(5) Ibogaine (and Hunter Thompson).

Search for the Helpers

“Actually, Actually Free Market” [Cooperation Jackson (judy2shoes)]. Saturday, March 23, 2024, 9:00 AM-2:00 PM, 939 W Capitol St., Jackson, MS 39203. “Be a part of Cooperation Jackson and native allies and companions on Saturday, March 23, 2024 for this mutual support trade to fulfill the fabric wants of our households and neighborhood.” judy2shoes writes:

I’ve been following this group for a variety of years now, and regardless of the top winds they’ve encountered, they’ve persevered. My coronary heart is with them, and I hope they achieve what they’re attempting to perform.

Lambert right here: I hope readers will ship in additional examples just like the above (“brighten the nook the place you’re“). The helper(s) don’t have to be heroic, not to mention dramatic, or ego-driven, and definitely not institutional. To quote, of all individuals, the American Enterprise Institute, writing on Occupy, and citing to David Graeber:

Along with trucking, bartering, and knocking one another over the top, Graeber argues that human beings additionally have interaction in a completely totally different sort of financial exercise: We frequently share issues now we have with others. When Graeber says that we’re already communists, he’s referring to these fairly acquainted conditions during which we actually do function by the maxim “From every in response to his capability, to every in response to his want.”

Folks of all cultures, together with our personal, invariably apply the communism of on a regular basis life when coping with their household and shut mates. A mom doesn’t anticipate her baby to pay her for her baby-sitting providers. A brother doesn’t hire out his baseball glove to his brother on an hourly foundation. If a good friend is sick and wishes one thing from the shop, we decide it up for her and would by no means consider asking for gasoline cash in return.

As Graeber factors out, this sort of conduct comes out most conspicuously throughout a disaster, comparable to a pure catastrophe. At such occasions, individuals will voluntarily, even cheerfully, prolong a serving to hand to those that are most in want of 1. Much less dramatically, the identical precept is at work every time we’re at a retailer that has a field on the counter that claims “Depart a penny, take a penny,” supposed to assist out those that don’t have the precise change. In all these instances we’re witnessing the spontaneous software of the communist maxim, “From every in response to his capability, to every in response to his want.”

In our more and more determined and fragile neoliberal society, on a regular basis regular incidents and tales of “the communism of on a regular basis life” are what I’m on the lookout for (and never, say, the Purple Cross in Hawaii, and even the UNWRA in Gaza). My e mail handle is down by the plant; please ship examples of “Helpers” there. (Sure, that is the sort of standing component I purged within the editorial redesign, however I’m going to go away it up for a bit to let the concepts sink in.)

Politics

“So most of the social reactions that strike us as psychological are the truth is a rational administration of symbolic capital.” –Pierre Bourdieu, Classification Struggles

Biden Administration

“Former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is placing collectively an investor group to purchase TikTok” [NBC]. “The Home of Representatives on Wednesday handed a bipartisan invoice that if signed into regulation would pressure ByteDance to both divest its flagship world app or face an efficient ban on TikTok throughout the U.S. ‘I believe the laws ought to cross and I believe it needs to be bought,’ Mnuchin instructed CNBC’s ‘Squawk Field’ on Thursday. ‘It’s an excellent enterprise and I’m going to place collectively a bunch to purchase TikTok.’” • In order that’s one motivation: A compelled sale. Commentary:

The TikTok ban shouldn’t be about nationwide safety. It’s about closing a channel that the Deep State can’t management as a result of it isn’t owned by considered one of their huge tech puppets. You discover reality on TikTok that has lengthy been banned on Fb and Google. That’s why it has to go and X is subsequent.

— Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) March 13, 2024

2024

Lower than a yr to go!

I suppose I kinda need to:

Attention-grabbing for the swing (toss-up) states, however I don’t assume value all that a lot. A map of the 5-way race can be much more helpful, provided that Kennedy isn’t doing badly in any respect.

* * *

Trump (R): “Cell information contradicts Fani Willis’ testimony, court docket paperwork recommend” [Scripps News]. “A court docket submitting in Atlanta raised new questions on Fulton County District Legal professional Fani Willis’ relationship with the particular prosecutor she employed to supervise the election interference case towards former President Donald Trump. Cellphone information obtained by Trump’s authorized staff reveals Nathan Wade, the particular prosecutor, visited Willis’ neighborhood no less than 35 occasions within the 11 months earlier than Willis employed him in late 2021. Twice, Wade arrived late at night time and left early the next morning. The info reveals about 2,000 calls and 12,000 textual content messages between Wade and Willis from January 2021 to November 2021. The info appears to contradict testimony by Wade and Willis in regards to the timeline of their relationship. They’re beneath scrutiny by protection legal professionals who say a battle of curiosity ought to disqualify Willis’ workplace from the election case. Willis and Wade mentioned their romantic relationship started in 2022 after a grand jury indicted Trump and 18 different individuals for attempting to overturn Georgia’s election leads to 2020.” • Whoops. I’m wondering if their case is put collectively as sloppily as their timeline?

Trump (R): “Kemp indicators Georgia regulation reviving prosecutor sanctions panel. Democrats worry it’s aimed toward Fani Willis” [Associated Press]. “Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed a regulation Wednesday that lets a state fee start working with powers to self-discipline and take away prosecutors, doubtlessly disrupting Fulton County District Legal professional Fani Willis’ prosecution of former President Donald Trump. ;This laws will assist us guarantee rogue and incompetent prosecutors are held accountable in the event that they refuse to uphold the regulation,’ Kemp mentioned earlier than signing the invoice, flanked by Republican legislative leaders. ‘As we all know all too nicely, crime has been on the rise throughout the nation, and is particularly prevalent in cities the place prosecutors are giving criminals a free cross or failing to place them behind bars resulting from lack {of professional} conduct.’ Although Kemp signed laws final yr creating the Prosecuting Attorneys {Qualifications} Fee, it was unable to start working after the state Supreme Court docket in November refused to approve guidelines governing its conduct. The justices mentioned they’d ‘grave doubts’ about their capability to control the duties of district attorneys past the apply of regulation. Tuesday’s measure removes the requirement for Supreme Court docket approval. The measure is more likely to face renewed authorized challenges. 4 district attorneys dropped their earlier lawsuit difficult the fee after the Supreme Court docket set it apart.” • Georgia politics…

Trump (R): “Fulton County ethics board drops Fani Willis complaints from listening to” [The Hill]. “The Fulton County Board of Ethics was anticipated to listen to two complaints towards Willis after her romance with a particular prosecutor on the election interference case involving former President Trump raised considerations of a battle of curiosity. The board decided it doesn’t have jurisdiction over Willis, who’s a state constitutional officer in her function.”

* * *

Trump (R): “Trump “floods the zone” as basic election assessments desensitized voters” [Axios]. “For eight years, the hurricane of stories conjured by Trump’s unprecedented conduct and rhetoric has enraged, exhilarated and finally numbed a lot of the American public…. Many citizens have tuned out — or priced in — Trump’s baggage and authorized points… Monetary Occasions columnist Ed Luce calls this phenomenon ‘the banality of chaos.’ Trump’s candidacy is ‘to date off the charts it’s virtually paranormal,’ Luce writes, however many of the former president’s controversies now not break via to the general public.” • To be truthful, simply because Democrats are experiencing aghastitude over one thing Trump mentioned doesn’t essentially imply you or I ought to not be aghast…. But it surely’s definitely exhausting to type.

Trump (R): “Unique: Trump launched CIA covert affect operation towards China” [Reuters]. • “ instructed Reuters that the CIA created a small staff of operatives who used bogus web identities to unfold unfavourable narratives about Xi Jinping’s authorities whereas leaking disparaging intelligence to abroad information retailers. The trouble, which started in 2019, has not been beforehand reported.” • And I guess it was simply as efficient as RussiaGate. How do you say “we’ll beat it collectively” in Mandarin?

Trump (R): “CNBC Transcript: Former President of the US Donald Trump Speaks with CNBC’s “Squawk Field” Right now” [CNBC]. As a result of I do know from lengthy expertise that the press by no means, ever quotes Trump precisely, the transcript:

Have you ever modified your, your outlook on deal with Social Safety, Medicare, Medicaid, Mr. President? .

[TRUMP:] So initially, there’s a lot you are able to do by way of entitlements by way of chopping and by way of additionally the theft and the dangerous administration of entitlements, great dangerous administration of entitlements [B]. There’s great quantities of issues and numbers of issues you are able to do. [A] So I don’t essentially agree with the assertion. [C] I do know that they’re going to finish up weakening social safety as a result of the nation is weak.

So, [A] Trump disagrees with the softball query on entitlements and debt, and [B] emits the usual Republican trope on waste and fraud, [C] as a result of that weakens the applications. The proof of the pudding is that after eight years of the Obama administration searching for a Grand Cut price that actually would have minimize Social Safety and Medicare, Trump didn’t attempt to do this in his first time. (In fact, the Democrats could have thought they have been denying Trump a political winner, who is aware of.)

* * *

Biden (D): “Biden’s advance staff is rife with turmoil and toxicity, workers allege” [Politico]. “throughout the tight-knit advance neighborhood, there’s severe concern in regards to the present route of the workplace, in response to interviews with 18 present and former White Home staffers and individuals who have labored immediately with it. The tradition throughout the workplace has gotten so dangerous that the White Home Counsel’s Workplace opened an investigation, in response to three individuals who have been contacted final fall by the workplace for interviews. Particularly, they mentioned, investigators seemed into complaints of verbal harassment by Ian Mellul, the previous affiliate director of presidential advance. Mellul resigned March 1 after a monthslong investigation, in response to a number of individuals acquainted with the scenario. Brie Moore, the previous director of press advance, additionally resigned throughout the previous few weeks following complaints from the press corps to the White Home about her conduct, a number of individuals acquainted with the workplace mentioned… The Biden workplace has earned such a foul status that some seasoned vets have declined to pitch in when requested, in response to 4 former White Home staffers. These acquainted with the Biden operation mentioned that meant extra room for error, particularly because the president travels extra continuously forward of the final election.” Importantly: “[S]ome upset with the tradition on the advance staff place blame on the one who oversaw it: Ryan Montoya…. [Some of the current and former Biden staffers] imagine that as a result of Montoya was trusted by Anthony Bernal, adviser to first girl Jill Biden and one of the highly effective figures throughout the Biden White Home, in addition to deputy chief of workers Annie Tomasini, he was shielded from self-discipline.” • Two issues: The advance staff is essential to the success of any marketing campaign, however moreso with for Biden; the advance staff organizes the sandbags so Biden doesn’t fall off the stage, for instance. Extra importantly, that is the second story I’ve seen that takes a shot at “Physician” Jill Biden. Hmm.

Biden (D): “The Fruits of the American Rescue Plan” [Democracy Journal]. Case for the protection: “Working-class adults and their youngsters every acquired $2,000 $1,400 stabilization checks. The unemployed bought $300 in enhanced weekly advantages, which purchased them extra time and monetary flexibility to discover a good job as companies reopened. An expanded baby tax credit score offered mother and father with younger youngsters with as a lot as $1,600 extra per baby. Billions of {dollars} for lower-income owners and renters helped hold individuals of their houses whilst foreclosures and eviction moratoria expired.”

Biden (R): “Biden’s Greatest Shot In opposition to Trump Lies in ‘Blue Wall’ States” [Bloomberg]. “In Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, his marketing campaign sees indicators for optimism, whilst current polling reveals Biden trailing presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump in these key battlegrounds…. The Biden marketing campaign says it ranks no swing state above one other — and is specializing in all of them to maintain open a number of paths to get to 270 Electoral School votes. It has ramped up sharply, doubling its battleground state staffing this month. However distinctive components in these one-time Blue Wall bastions – from demographics to the presence of well-placed allies – place them as his finest shot at holding the White Home. Biden can clinch a victory with their electoral votes even when he loses 4 different essential swing states – Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina. are dotted with the sorts of small cities and manufacturing facilities that Biden has lengthy begged his get together to not overlook. Michigan and Pennsylvania specifically are additionally organized labor strongholds the place the president – who appeared on an autoworker picket line final yr – can hammer his oft-repeated message that unions constructed the center class.”

Biden (D): “How unpopular is Joe Biden?” [FiveThirtyEight]. Helpful chart:

No pop from the SOTU.

* * *

“Democrats put together to go to struggle towards third-party candidates” [NBC]. “The Democratic Nationwide Committee is constructing its first staff to counter third-party and unbiased presidential candidates, individuals concerned instructed NBC Information, because the get together and its allies put together for a possible all-out struggle on candidates they view as spoilers. The DNC has employed veteran Democratic operative Lis Smith, finest recognized for her work guiding the 2020 presidential marketing campaign of Pete Buttigieg, to assist oversee an aggressive communications element of its technique, which additionally consists of opposition analysis and authorized challenges. Underscoring how necessary Democrats view the hassle, it’s being overseen by Mary Beth Cahill and Ramsey Reid, two veteran DNC insiders, who’ve already began issuing uncommon public statements rebuking Robert F. Kennedy Jr.” • Smith is sweet; she truly parleyed that homunculus into excessive workplace as Secretary of Transportation. It’s not her fault that after that, Buttigieg vanished mysteriously.

Democrats en Déshabillé

“Have Democrats lastly stopped wimping out?” [Los Angeles Times]. “‘One in all us is taking part in with a rolling pin, and the opposite is preventing with a gun,’ an aide to Senate leaders as soon as instructed me, annoyed that Democrats have been adhering to Marquess of Queensberry guidelines as Republicans busted norms to pack the federal courts. ‘We all the time convey a butter knife to a gunfight,’ longtime Democratic strategist Brian Fallon equally groused not way back.’” • Holy Lord! Ask a Sanders supporter if Democrats play by “Marquess of Queensberry guidelines.” And RussiaGate? Having the spooks plant an operative within the Trump marketing campaign? Lawfare scheme like Part Three?

“Why Are Democrats Turning Their Backs On Folks In States With GOP Senators?” [Balls and Strikes]. “When avowed segregationist James Eastland chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee from 1956 to 1978, he enforced a coverage to maintain would-be judges who supported integration off the bench: Nominees wouldn’t obtain affirmation hearings with out sign-off from each house state senators. This tradition, generally known as “blue slips” after the items of paper senators return to sign their approval of a nominee, persists in the present day. And regardless of Joe Biden’s presence within the White Home, it permits lone legislators to train veto energy over presidential appointments… in lower than 4 years, Biden has put extra former public defenders, civil rights attorneys, and different nonprofit legal professionals on the bench than another president. However these appointments are largely restricted to states with two Democratic senators…. Proponents of blue slips, comparable to Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin, a Democrat, argue that they encourage “bipartisan cooperation” since, in principle, requiring the buy-in of home-state senators can foster compromise with the White Home. In apply, that compromise appears to increase solely in a single route. Throughout President Donald Trump’s administration, .” • And session after session, that’s how Republicans remade the court docket system.

“The Excessive Worth of Democrats’ Anti-Trump Lawfare” [Wall Street Journal]. “The argument on behalf of this actually fairly unprecedented authorized offensive boils down to at least one concept: Nobody is above the regulation. True. That view is typically generally known as making certain respect for the regulation. My single-sentence reply is that the Democrats’ use of lawfare on this scale makes it doubtless that respect for the regulation will decline, and dangerously so, amongst a lot of the American public…. That the lawsuits have backfired politically, boosting Mr. Trump into a straightforward victory within the primaries, is incontestable. The media these days has been writing that the Trump authorized staff’s technique of ‘delay’ is working, implying that Mr. Trump was imagined to take all of it passively within the neck.”

“Don’t” order me round:

Realignment and Legitimacy

“Our Democracy”:

As I’ve identified many occasions, Brazil’s inhabitants is 215 million individuals: not a lot smaller than the US’s.

Voting is necessary for everybody above 16. It occurs on Sunday. The complete vote tally is launched inside hours of ballot closing.

The entire mess within the US is a alternative: https://t.co/cYiydfZvZS

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) March 14, 2024

The US shouldn’t be a severe nation.

“Anti-Israel protesters swarm The Submit, NY Occasions printing plant, accuse Occasions of producing ‘consent for genocide’” [NY Post]. • Attention-grabbing tactic. It could be nice if the unions contained in the constructing have been in solidarity with the protesters outdoors (most likely potential, with a stage of effort).

#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; consists of many counties; Wastewater Scan, consists of 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 handle 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 secure on the market!

Covid is Airborne

“COVID-19 outbreak at a residential house constructing in Northern Ontario, Canada” [Epidemiology & Infection (SES)]. “A case-control examine examined building-specific exposures and resident behaviours that will have elevated the chances of being a case. Knowledgeable engineer assessed the constructing’s heating, air flow, and air con methods. Entire genome sequencing and an in-depth genomic evaluation have been carried out. Forty-five outbreak confirmed instances have been recognized. From the case-control examine, being on the higher flooring (OR: 10.4; 95% CI: 1.63-66.9) or inside three adjoining vertical strains (OR: 28.3; 3.57-225) have been each considerably related to being a case of COVID-19, after adjusting for age. There have been no important variations in reported behaviours, use of shared areas, or precautions taken between instances and controls. Evaluation of the constructing’s air flow discovered uncontrolled air leakage between house items. A single genomic cluster was recognized, the place most sequences have been similar to at least one one other. Findings from the a number of elements of this investigation are suggestive of aerosol transmission between items.” • Amoy Gardens once more!

The US shouldn’t be a severe nation:

Right now I filmed a video to current the AirFant 3Pro crbox which could be very common in China. Test it out. It will likely be accessible by finish of March on Amazon US and Canada. pic.twitter.com/4Yvr7KUgBs

— Adam Wong (@Engineer_Wong) March 14, 2024

Why aren’t we manufacturing crboxes like these? (Granted, the Xi authorities might have used the time purchased by Zero Covid to ramp up manufacturing of crboxes en masse, so they’re about as severe as we’re, no less than about defending their working class; I might think about The Nice Corridor of the Folks is nicely ventilated. However, kudos to those engineers.)

Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions

“Estimating The Affect of Public Well being Interventions on COVID Mortality in The US Utilizing Reductions in Influenza Mortality as an Indicator Of Non-Pharmaceutical An infection Management” (preprint). From the Summary: “Non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) for management of COVID embody a spread of strategies from masks to closures of faculties and companies with the efficacy of any particular person technique contingent on which different NPIs are employed and the extent of compliance with these methods. Within the case of a public well being intervention, one sometimes appears to be like at historic information for comparability, however, as a result of COVID is a brand new illness, now we have no such information. Nonetheless, we do have in depth historic information for influenza, a respiratory illness with related modes of transmission. Influenza incidence and mortality dropped dramatically in the course of the COVID pandemic, virtually definitely due to these NPIs. The extent of that drop gives an oblique measure of the efficacy of COVID NPIs in stopping the transmission of respiratory infections.” Ingenious! Extra: “These outcomes present sturdy proof that [influenza mortality reduction (IMR)] is an correct indicator of the efficacy of NPIs in controlling transmission of respiratory infections, together with COVID….. The ensuing mannequin means that NPIs prevented 831,000 COVID associated deaths in the US over the course of the pandemic.” • So the GBD goons (exhausting eugenicists) and the general public well being institution (mushy eugenicists), each of whom fought NPIs tooth and nail, each have loads of blood on their fingers. And a second instance–

“The Covid-19 pandemic killed off one pressure of the flu, and that can change the subsequent vaccines” [CNN]. “For 10 years, People have had entry to flu photographs that shield towards 4 strains of the virus: two A strains and two B strains. Beginning this fall, nonetheless, all of the flu photographs distributed in the US will include solely three strains, and the change occurred partially due to Covid-19. On Tuesday, a panel of specialists who advise the US Meals and Drug Administration on vaccines voted unanimously to suggest three-strain flu vaccines that can exclude any viruses from B strains which might be a part of department of the flu’s household tree known as Yamagata. Yamagata viruses have been in decline earlier than the pandemic, and all of the precautions that helped individuals keep away from Covid-19 – together with masking, staying at house and higher air flow – seem to have completed them off. They haven’t been detected in testing since March 2020.” • However hopefully Mandy can convey them again!

Superstar Watch

“Affect of COVID-19 on soccer attacking gamers’ match technical efficiency: a longitudinal examine” [Nature]. “This examine examined the impression of COVID-19 on 28 indicators of match technical efficiency (MTP) for soccer attacking gamers upon their return to play. Analyzing information from 100 gamers within the Huge 5 European soccer leagues, overlaying 1500 matches every earlier than and after COVID-19 over 3 years (2020–2023), revealed important variations in 76% of gamers’ MTP indicators. Notably, 14 indicators, significantly the 5 indicators linked to scoring, considerably decreased post-COVID-19. On common, gamers wanted 3.09 matches to regain pre-infection MTP ranges.” • The elite gamers recovered their soccer abilities extra quickly.

TABLE 1: Each day Covid Charts

LEGEND

1) ★ for charts new in the present day; all others usually are 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] (Biobot) A bit “modified rapture” (“could possibly be worse”) however we our falling curve has now reached the extent of earlier Trump peaks. Not an excellent victory. Word additionally the world “beneath the curve,” apart from taking a look at peaks. That space is bigger beneath Biden than beneath Trump, and it appears to be rising steadily if inconsistently.

[2] (Biobot) Regional separation re-emerges.

[3] (CDC Variants) As of Might 11, genomic surveillance information shall be reported biweekly, based mostly on the supply of constructive 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] (ER) “Charts and information offered by CDC, updates Wednesday by 8am. For the previous yr, utilizing a rolling 52-week interval.”

[5] (Hospitalization: NY) Not flattening. (Date for information corrected; it was a glitch.)

[6] (Hospitalization: CDC) Nonetheless down. “Maps, charts, and information offered by CDC, updates weekly for the earlier MMWR week (Sunday-Saturday) on Thursdays (Deaths, Emergency Division Visits, Check Positivity) and weekly the next Mondays (Hospitalizations) by 8 pm ET†”.

[7] (Walgreens) Leveling out.

Employment Scenario: “United States Preliminary Jobless Claims” [Trading Economics]. “The variety of individuals claiming unemployment advantages within the US fell by 1,000 to 209,000 within the week ended March 8, 2024, under market expectations of 218,000.”

Inflation: “United States Producer Worth Inflation MoM” [Trading Economics]. “The Producer Worth Index for last demand in the US rose by 0.6% month-over-month in February 2024, marking the most important improve since final August and surpassing market expectations of a 0.3% advance. Items costs rose by 1.2%, essentially the most in six months, primarily pushed by a 4.4% surge in vitality prices and a 1.0% uptick in meals costs.”

Retail Gross sales: “United States Retail Gross sales YoY” [Trading Economics]. “Retail Gross sales in the US elevated 1.50 p.c year-on-year in February of 2024, following a flat studying in January.”

Manufacturing: “The Unusual Loss of life of a Boeing Whistleblower” [Maureen Tkacik, The American Prospect]. And the deck: “There’s no means America’s final nice producer murdered a outstanding critic … is there?” Tkacik is superb on Boeing institutionally, and that’s what this text covers (or rehashes). However the ellipses within the deck are doing a variety of work that, frankly, I might anticipate a reporter of Tkacik’s caliber to be doing. For instance, Barnet, discovered useless in his automobile, was nonetheless holding the (a?) gun. That appeared odd — wouldn’t the recoil kick the gun out of his hand? — and yesterday IM Doc wrote:

I hearken again to my medical faculty courses……Classes on forensic pathology. In that day, it was much more doubtless that any doctor particularly in rural communities can be known as upon for coroner duties. That is actually now not the case in our world in the present day.

I remembered one thing – and I went again to my notes in the present day simply now and I quote from the lecture notes from the pathology/coroner professor –

“If the suicidal deceased is gripping or holding the gun, one should all the time search for different indicators of foul play. Suicide victims are merely unlikely to be gripping a firearm in any means, form or type. Each suicide by gun I’ve ever seen causes the firearm to be inches or ft from the physique.”

From the Nineteen Eighties and my distant previous and definitely not knowledgeable opinion – however nonetheless most likely very germane.

Now, different readers level out that it’s not common {that a} suicide sufferer wouldn’t be holding onto the gun. But it surely’s nonetheless an unaddressed oddity. Tkacik additionally writes:

In contrast to would-be whistleblower purchasers who discover themselves “perp walked” out of the plant with out entry to their telephones or e mail accounts, Turkewitz instructed the Prospect, “John had meticulously documented the whole lot, he had 1000’s of pages saved on his laptop.”

The apparent query: The place’s the pc? Within the automobile? Within the resort room? On the lawyer’s? With the cops? The place? And nothing new on the Submit and Courier. I suppose they have to be ready for the police report to write down their story [snort].

Manufacturing: “Investigator says she requested Boeing’s CEO who dealt with panel that blew off a jet. He couldn’t assist her” [Associated Press]. “The nation’s chief accident investigator mentioned Wednesday that her company nonetheless doesn’t know who labored on the panel that blew off a jetliner in January and that Boeing’s CEO instructed her that he couldn’t present the knowledge as a result of the corporate has no data in regards to the job…. Homendy’s newest letter to the Senate Commerce Committee was a follow-up to her look earlier than the panel final week. Shortly after her testimony ended, Boeing offered names of 25 workers who work on doorways on the firm’s 737 manufacturing unit close to Seattle…. She mentioned, nonetheless, the corporate nonetheless hasn’t mentioned which of the employees eliminated the panel, which plugs a gap left when further emergency doorways usually are not required on a aircraft. She mentioned she even known as Boeing CEO David Calhoun. ‘He acknowledged he was unable to supply that data and maintained that Boeing has no data of the work being carried out,” Homendy wrote. Boeing didn’t touch upon the telephone name.’” • Odd.

Tech: “Oregon Passes Proper To Restore Legislation Apple Lobbied To Kill” [TechDirt]. “Oregon has formally change into the seventh state (behind New York, California, Massachusetts, Colorado, Maine, and Minnesota) to cross “proper to restore” laws, making it simpler and extra inexpensive for shoppers to independently restore their very own electronics. The invoice, which handed the Oregon Senate final month 25-5 and the Home on Monday 42-13, is a little more sturdy than the variations handed in earlier states. Amongst different issues, the invoice requires that gadget producers make components, instruments and restore manuals accessible to shoppers and third-party restore retailers on ‘truthful and affordable phrases.’ But it surely additionally takes purpose at ‘components pairing,’ or the apply of stopping you from changing gadget components with out the approval of an organization or its restrictive software program. Apple, which routinely makes use of this apply to attempt to monopolize restore, lobbied extensively towards the Oregon invoice. As typical, beneath the (false) declare that eliminating components pairing would put public security and safety in danger… In actuality, Apple is anxious that the crackdown on ‘components pairing’ will additional erode the corporate’s profitable efforts to monopolize restore and decelerate the speed of shiny new telephone gross sales. Apple has usually tried to faux than its completed a whole 180 on proper to restore, when it’s usually been extra of a 40 diploma flip towards barely extra affordable insurance policies.”

Right now’s Worry & Greed Index: 73 Greed (earlier shut: 73 Greed) [CNN]. One week in the past: 74 (Greed). (0 is Excessive Worry; 100 is Excessive Greed). Final up to date Mar 14 at 12:27:54 PM ET.

Zeitgeist Watch

“I At all times Knew I Was Totally different. I Simply Didn’t Know I Was a Sociopath” [Wall Street Journal]. “It’s a tragic false impression that every one sociopaths are doomed to hopeless, loveless lives. The reality is that I share a persona kind with hundreds of thousands of others, lots of whom have good jobs, close-knit households and actual mates. We symbolize a reality that’s exhausting to imagine: There’s nothing inherently immoral about having restricted entry to emotion. I provide my story as a result of I do know I’m not alone.” • Hmm.

The 420

“Psychedelic drug ibogaine hailed as therapeutic. U.S. sufferers ask why it’s unlawful” [WaPo]. “[A] Stanford College examine printed in January exhibiting that ibogaine dramatically improved signs of hysteria, despair and post-traumatic stress dysfunction in 30 Particular Operations veterans recognized with traumatic mind accidents. For advocates, that examine gives the newest proof that sufferers ought to have entry to the drug in the US, the place it stays unlawful regardless of many years of encouraging findings, principally to be used treating habit. At the same time as momentum could possibly be shifting in ibogaine’s favor, considerations persist in regards to the menace the drug poses to the guts, reflecting a risk-reward calculation that frames research of different psychedelic brokers. The elevated curiosity in ibogaine arrives amid pressing efforts to ease the nation’s lethal habit disaster and comes as firms race to develop psychedelics to deal with psychological well being illnesses.” • That, plus a population-wide of cognitive operate, for some extraordinarily unknown motive? (I’m so previous I keep in mind when Hunter Thompson wrote that ibogaine was the supply of Ed Muskie’s mind paralysis.)

Class Warfare

PMCs gotta PMC:

I discovered to eat in Montreal, which partakes of the Parisian notion that the server is an expert, so sheesh, thoughts video games? That will get in the best way of my enjoyment of fantastic eating. However maybe individuals feed on issues apart from meals….

Information of the Wired

“Voyager 1 begins making sense once more after months of babble” [The Register]. The flight staff despatched a poke, bought a reminiscence dump (!!), in response. “The time lag is an issue. A command from Earth takes 22.5 hours to succeed in the probe, and the identical interval is required once more for a response. This implies a 45-hour wait to see what a given command might need completed. The provision of abilities can also be a difficulty. Most of the engineers who labored on the challenge – Voyager 1 launched in 1977 – are now not round, and the staff that is still is confronted with trawling via reams of decades-old paperwork to take care of unanticipated points arising in the present day.” • Like a lot else? Actually and metaphorically?

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 verify if you’re allergic to PayPal and (b) to learn the way to ship me pictures of crops. Greens are fantastic! Fungi, lichen, and coral are deemed to be honorary crops! If you would like your deal with to look as a credit score, please place it in the beginning 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 No Spam:

No Spam writes: “Up the peninsula us cleaner water, these guys hanging out. Apparently the are a leaning indicator for polluted water, and given one sees ‘bazillions of cargo carriers and tankers each time you have a look at the ocean, in a couple of minutes I rely greater than a dozen. Twenty-four hrs a day so the consumers can transform.”

Readers: Water Cooler is a standalone entity not lined by the annual NC fundraiser. So if you happen to see a hyperlink you particularly like, or an merchandise you wouldn’t see wherever else, please don’t hesitate to specific your appreciation in tangible type. Bear in mind, a tip jar is for tipping! Common constructive 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 nervous. Extra tangibly, a continuing trickle of donations helps me with bills, and I consider that trickle when setting fundraising targets: