By Lambert Strether of Corrente.

Extra quickly! –lambert

Fowl Music of the Day

Brown Thrasher, Washburn College Neighborhood, Shawnee, Kansas, United States. Busy, busy.

* * *

In Case You Would possibly Miss…

  1. New Covid charts drop, with Christmas hospitalization up in New York.
  2. Mike Benz: X censorship and deplatforming.
  3. Mangione: homicide and social homicide.
  4. Nasal sprays: state of the market in the present day.
  5. Teen Vogue on “salting.”

* * *

Politics

“So lots of the social reactions that strike us as psychological are in actual fact a rational administration of symbolic capital.” –Pierre Bourdieu, Classification Struggles

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Spook Nation

“FBI shares new particulars of suspect in D.C. pipe bombs plant on Jan. 6 eve” [Axios]. “Almost 4 years after pipe bombs had been planted outdoors the Democratic and Republican events’ headquarters in Washington, D.C., the FBI on Thursday launched new data and pictures on the suspect…. The Committee on Home Administration’s oversight panel stated in its report the FBI initially ‘yielded a promising array of knowledge and revealed quite a few individuals of curiosity.’ Then sources had been later diverted and ‘there was little significant progress towards the apprehension of the suspect,’ in keeping with the report.”

Biden Administration

“Eyeing Potential Fowl Flu Outbreak, Biden Administration Ramps Up Preparedness” [New York Times]. “The Biden administration, in a last push to shore up the nation’s pandemic preparedness earlier than President-elect Donald J. Trump takes workplace, introduced on Thursday that it might practically double the amount of cash it was committing to push back a possible outbreak of chicken flu in people. Federal well being officers have been maintaining an in depth eye on H5N1, a pressure of avian influenza that’s extremely contagious and deadly to chickens, and has unfold to cattle. The virus has not but demonstrated that it could actually unfold effectively amongst individuals.” And if it does… We are able to solely hope that gained’t be too late. And right here we go: “It has additionally awarded $176 million to Moderna, a serious maker of coronavirus vaccines, to develop the same vaccine utilizing mRNA know-how in opposition to H5N1.” • Oh, swell. Realized nothing, forgotten nothing.

Trump Transition

“Mike Johnson reclaims speakership” [Politico]. • Too unhealthy. MAGA misses a possibility to throw a punch.

* * *

Fort Bragg nexus?

Sure, that Fort Bragg:

If I had been a spook, I wouldn’t see Fort Bragg as a hellscape of abuse, however a target-rich atmosphere, rife with opprtunities for blackmail, honeytraps, and so forth. It will be irresponsible to not speculate! After which after all–

“U.S. Navy Service Is the Strongest Predictor of Carrying Out Extremist Violence” [The Intercept]. “From 1990 to 2010, about seven individuals per 12 months with U.S. army backgrounds dedicated extremist crimes. Since 2011, that quantity has jumped to virtually 45 per 12 months, in keeping with knowledge from a brand new, unreleased report shared with The Intercept by Michael Jensen, the analysis director on the Nationwide Consortium for the Examine of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism, or START, on the College of Maryland. Navy service can be the only strongest particular person predictor of changing into a ‘mass casualty offender,’ far outpacing psychological well being points, in keeping with a separate examine of extremist mass casualty violence by the researchers.” • Oh.

“Questions stay about soldier’s motive in Cybertruck explosion outdoors Trump’s Las Vegas lodge” [Associated Press]. “Investigators have recognized the Tesla driver — who was burned past recognition [oh?] — as Matthew Livelsberger, a 37-year-old Inexperienced Beret from Colorado Springs, Colorado. The Clark County coroner’s workplace stated his demise was a suicide brought on by the gunshot wound.” • The query I’ve is how he blew up the truck after capturing himself within the head. Timer? And why. Musical interlude (surprisingly topical lyrics):

* * *

UPDATE here’s a cui bono buried on this assertion:

Cui bono being the assertion one ought to at all times ask, even when the reply is just not at all times clear. UPDATE: Or, upon rereading this in the present day, a veiled accusation (“You and I each know why you gained’t examine this”).

* * *

“RFK Jr. Is Attempting to Write Himself Out of 2019 Samoan Measles Epidemic” [Snopes]. “In 2019, Samoa skilled a measles outbreak brought on by low vaccination protection. Following Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination to be President-elect Donald Trump’s well being and human companies secretary, the speaking level that Kennedy induced this outbreak by way of his activism re-emerged. The measles outbreak in Samoa was not “induced” by Kennedy. A tragic accident in 2018, by which two infants died from incorrectly combined vaccines, and the controversial pause in vaccination that adopted, bear major accountability for creating these situations. This doesn’t exclude the likelihood that Kennedy exacerbated these present situations. Kennedy’s assertion that he ‘had nothing to do with individuals not vaccinating in Samoa’ is just not credible. It’s undermined by his direct engagement with the Samoan authorities on the subject of vaccines, his direct engagement with the Samoan anti-vaccine motion earlier than, throughout, and after the epidemic, and his platforming of the 2 major influencers advocating in opposition to vaccination in Samoa.”

Our Famously Free Press

Starter video that may turn out to be extraordinarily vital from Mike Benz on X deplatforming and censorship:

Price a hear, although I’ll await the presentation with the slides. (Benz appears shocked that Musk enshittified his personal platform by censoring individuals who bugged him and taking their subscribers and accounts away. However all platforms enshittify; it’s their life-cycle underneath captialism.) The event of this Tweet is the Las Vegas bombing, nevertheless it looks like there’s sample right here:

Democrats en déshabillé

“Democrats paid the value for abandoning reasonable Clinton-era insurance policies” [Mark Penn, FOX]. • The Democrats paid the value for letting mind genius Obama, The Wizard of Kalorama™, heave Sanders over the facet, and change him with a cognitively challenged thousand-year-old man. “Those that made Bernie not possible made Trump inevitable.”

Realignment and Legitimacy

“Luigi Mangione’s Apologists Are Undermining the Pursuit of Social Justice” [Xavier Symons, The Public Discourse]. The journal of the Witherspoon Institute. Fascinating lead: “I’m an ethics professor, and in my ethical philosophy lessons, I typically enchantment to the common perception within the immorality of homicide to indicate why ethical relativism—the view that morality is contextual and subjective—is mistaken. My expectation till now has been that college students will agree with me. After witnessing the general public response to the homicide of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, allegedly by Luigi Mangione, I’m not that assured.” • Given the kind of pupil who self-selects into Witherspoon, that’s fairly superb. Symons, not less than on this put up, doesn’t appear to suppose that social homicide, not like homicide, will be categorized inside any system of ethics. Feels kinda like mainstream macro….

“Your letters: Mangione household, spiritual freedom and an offended Introduction” [Dr. Therese Craione Bertsch, National Catholic Reporter]. “In studying the story of Luigi’s life and household we’re reminded of the important vulnerability all of us have. Luigi perceived that he may act on behalf of the oppressed by capturing somebody who represented untold struggling. What sparked the darkish flip from group social motion to particular person violence we might but uncover. Regardless of the case, nobody is invulnerable to the darkness. This occasion reveals the hopelessness Individuals really feel because the wealth produced from their labor travels to the millionaires and well being companies are held captive by insurers. It’s scandalous usury, and it oppresses us in a lot the identical method as rates of interest and faculty tuition. This text supplied an area to recall we owe Luigi’s household a terrific deal, and we really feel the profound grief for the lack of a younger government’s life who was socialized in a capitalist system that directs all efforts to revenue and transaction, objectifies human beings and is on the coronary heart of all of violence.”

“‘New York Publish Presents: Luigi Mangione Monster or Martyr?’ offers inside look into surprising UnitedHealthcare homicide” [New York Post]. • The film actually appears to be in regards to the Publish newsroom, which is fairly full of life place. That is good, as a result of we want extra newsrooms; particular person contributors usually are not sufficient.

“Mangione Tragedy: Ache, Isolation, and the Survival Response” [Psychology Today]. “Feeling trapped, particularly by ache, causes a physiological risk response resulting in anger. In an offended state the upper ranges of perform within the neocortex are downregulated. Luigi Mangione was not solely struggling however not proven a method out. Breaking free from power ache is just not troublesome and is what makes his story particularly tragic.” • Not so certain about that final declare, although.

This argument appears affordable to me:

The New York State prices are primarily based on the gadgets in Mangione’s possession in Pennsylvania. How can we ensure they had been the gadgets truly used within the alleged crime?

Syndemics

“I’m in earnest — I can’t equivocate — I can’t excuse — I can’t retreat a single inch — AND I WILL BE HEARD.” –William Lloyd Garrison

* * *

Covid 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 knowledge). “An infection Management, Emergency Administration, Security, and Basic 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 studies); 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 (wastewater); 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, KF, KidDoc, LL, Michael King, KF, LaRuse, mrsyk, MT, MT_Wild, otisyves, Petal (6), RK (2), RL, RM, Rod, sq. coats (11), tennesseewaltzer, thump, Tom B., Utah, Bob White (3).

Keep secure on the market!

Search for the Helpers

I don’t like Hoerger’s mannequin, however this is excellent suggestion:

Transmission: Nasal Sprays

Makes you surprise why the USA stays so primitive:

Dr. Leshan doesn’t say, however the spray is Covitrap (examine right here). It doesn’t appear to be out there outdoors Thailand, although worldwide advertising was tried in 2022 (simply one other mark of madness within the West’s method to Covid).

Extra on “barrier” nasal sprays:

The thought of Iota-carrageenan nasal sprays is that the carrageenan “gums up the works” by making a barrier that viruses don’t penetrate. Betadine, which we’ve lengthy advisable, was first, however there are others. (Betadine oral spray is iodine, additionally efficient, however not carrageenan, there’s just a little model confusion right here). This beneficial thread reveals that Betadine is in bother — “Properly, there’s your downside. It really works!” — however there are retail alternate options.

* * *

TABLE 1: Day by day Covid Charts

Lambert right here: Slightly extra orange and crimson round Ohio; no rise at JFK, EWR, ORD, LAX. A post-Christmas leap in New York hospitalization, proper on time. I’m guessing it’s not the results of LB.1 from worldwide flights as a result of JFK and EWR wastewater is static. So I feel it’s Christmas journey from upstate, the place they’ve been having just a little surge of their very own:

Wastewater
★ This week[1] CDC December 30 Last week[2] CDC (until next week):

Variants [3] CDC December 21 ★ Emergency Room Visits[4] CDC December 28

Hospitalization
★ New York[5] New York State, data December 31: ★ National [6] CDC Janurary 2, 2005:

Positivity
★ National[7] Walgreens December 30: ★ Ohio[8] Cleveland Clinic December 28:

Travelers Data
★ Positivity[9] CDC December 16: ★ Variants[10] CDC December 16

Deaths
Weekly Deaths vs. % Positivity [11] CDC November 20: Weekly Deaths vs. ED Visits [12] CDC November 20:

LEGEND

1) ★ for charts new today; all others are not updated.

2) For a full-size/full-resolution image, Command-click (MacOS) or right-click (Windows) on the chart thumbnail and “open image in new tab.”

NOTES

[1] (CDC) Seeing more red and more orange, but nothing new at major hubs.

[2] (CDC) Last week’s wastewater map.

[3] (CDC Variants) XEC takes over. That WHO label, “Ommicron,” has done a great job normalizing successive waves of infection.

[4] (ED) A little uptick.

[5] (Hospitalization: NY) Slow and small but steady increase.

[6] (Hospitalization: CDC). Leveling out.

[7] (Walgreens) Leveling out.

[8] (Cleveland) Continued upward trend since, well, Thanksgiving.

[9] (Travelers: Positivity) Leveling out.

[10] (Travelers: Variants). Positivity is new, but variants have not yet been released.

[11] Deaths low, positivity leveling out.

[12] Deaths low, ED leveling out.

Stats Watch

Employment Situation: “United States ISM Manufacturing PMI” [Trading Economics]. “The ISM Manufacturing PMI rose by 0.9 points from the previous month to 49.3 in December of 2024, ahead of market expectations of 48.4. The result reflected the softest pace of contraction in the US manufacturing sector since the 50.3 recorded in March, which was the sole period of expansion in the industry since September of 2022.”

* * *

Manufacturing: “Boeing is making yet another promise to do better. Can the prodigal child finally return?” [FirstPost]. “In its latest announcement, Boeing highlighted investments in workforce training, including enhanced programs for mechanics and quality inspectors. It also pointed to efforts to simplify production processes and reduce defects, particularly in the assembly of its 737 aircraft, a model that has been at the center of many controversies. The timing of Boeing’s statement is notable. Sunday (January 5) marks the anniversary of the near catastrophe aboard Alaska Airlines Flight 1282, a stark reminder of the company’s struggles. While Boeing has acknowledged its shortcomings and pledged reforms, it remains to be seen if these efforts will restore confidence in the once-dominant aerospace giant.” • Boeing’s efforts seem, in large part, to “inspect quality into the product.” But Deming argues that can’t be done. We’ll see–

Manufacturing: “Boeing Adds More Surprise Quality Checks in Its Factories” [Wall Street Journal]. “Among the new procedures are another layer of random quality checks where plane parts are commonly removed and then put back. In the case of the MAX involved in last January’s incident, workers failed to replace bolts needed to hold a door-plug in place. The plug had been opened to repair faulty rivets. Other measures include inspecting fuselages made by supplier Spirit AeroSystems before they leave Spirit’s factory, additional worker training, confidentiality safeguards for employees who report problems and simplified instructions for building 737s.” • Surely “removed and then put back” raises the possibility of introducing new errors? Reading Deming, above, it seems that Boeing’s approach to quality has been wrong for decades; like a bumblebee that should not be able to fly, but does, Boeing’s quality assurance was performant. Perhaps it was Boeing’s workforce that made the impossible, possible? A workforce that Boeing managerment systematically assaulted, degraded, and decimated? Just asking questions….

Manufacturing: “Outgoing FAA Chief Says Boeing’s Safety Turnaround ‘Not a One-Year Project’” [Investopedia]. “Approaching one year since the Alaska Airlines (ALK) incident that saw a door panel detach from a Boeing (BA) plane in midair, outgoing Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) head Mike Whitaker said the plane maker’s safety turnaround plan is “not a one-year project.’ Whitaker wrote in a Thursday blog post that the agency’s ‘enhanced oversight is here to stay’ ahead of his departure from the FAA when U.S. president-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated later this month. ‘But this is not a one-year project,’ Whitaker wrote. ‘. That will require sustained effort and commitment from Boeing, and unwavering scrutiny on our part.’” • Hmm.

Manufacturing: “This Is What Whales Are Betting On Boeing” [Benzinga]. “Whales with a lot of money to spend have taken a noticeably bearish stance on Boeing. Looking at options history for Boeing we detected 34 trades. If we consider the specifics of each trade, it is accurate to state that 35% of the investors opened trades with bullish expectations and 52% with bearish.” • Hmm.

Manufacturing: Maybe Tesla’s stupid touch screen is dangerous, besides being stupid:


* * *

As we speak’s Concern & Greed Index: 26 Concern (earlier shut: 27 Concern) [CNN]. One week in the past: 33 (Concern). (0 is Excessive Concern; 100 is Excessive Greed). Final up to date Jan 2 at 1:24:36 PM ET.

Zeitgeist Watch

That is a terrific thread on the account’s Russian studies course, but it’s long. Excerpting from it:

Narrowing the focus to Covid:

Here is W.H. Auden’s “The Fall of Rome.” Not sure about those reindeer, I gotta admit. (I could have filed this under Elite Maleficence, in the Syndemics section, but the implications seem to be (even) broader.

Gallery

It takes a moment to spot the subject:

As we speak, the Punch and Judy present could be monumental, and loom over the tiny assembled figures.

Class Warfare

“What Is Salting, the Organizing Tactic Spicing Up the Labor Motion?” [Kim Kelly, Teen Vogue]. “The resurgence of the American labor movement is being led in no small part by a cohort of young, diverse, fired-up workers around the country. Union density remains embarrassingly low overall, but last month the National Labor Relations Board, or NLRB, released some genuinely inspiring numbers that suggest the perceived upswing in union activity is more than just a vibe. During the 2024 fiscal year, which ended in September, the number of union petitions filed jumped 27% compared with 2023 — and was more than double what the agency received in 2021. Why does this matter? Basically, filing these petitions is a concrete sign that more people are trying to unionize their workplaces… This new generation of organizers is embracing all sorts of strategies, including one of the oldest tactics in the pro-union handbook: salting. Salting is an organizing tactic in which a person gets a job at a specific workplace with the goal of unionizing their coworkers. This kind of shop-floor organizing has a long history within the labor movement, and was once so common it was thoroughly unremarkable; if you were a young worker with socialist or progressive ideas in, say, the early 1900s, it was the most normal thing in the world to start talking to your coworkers about unionizing as soon as you’d learned their names.” • It’s great that Teen Vogue has a labor beat, but why only Teen Vogue?

News of the Wired

“Why does modern life often feel like the seven circles of digital hell?” [Margaret Sullivan, Guardian]. Dante’s Hell has nine circles, not seven, so what is she on about?

* * *

Contact information for plants: Readers, feel free to contact me at lambert [UNDERSCORE] strether [DOT] corrente [AT] yahoo [DOT] com, to (a) find out how to send me a check if you are allergic to PayPal and (b) to find out how to send me images of plants. Vegetables are fine! Fungi, lichen, and coral are deemed to be honorary plants! If you want your handle to appear as a credit, please place it at the start of your mail in parentheses: (thus). Otherwise, I will anonymize by using your initials. See the previous Water Cooler (with plant) here. From KM:

KM writes: “My morning run at the local park offered me this striking view yesterday. We had our first, much needed rainfall since back in late September overnight and it felt like all the colors had been washed away with the rain- but this golden hued maple tree is hanging on and from my view from the trail, it looked like a golden arched portal into Narnia.” Wow. I wish I could do landscapes (like this one).

* * *

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This entry was posted in Guest Post, Water Cooler on by Lambert Strether.

About Lambert Strether

Readers, I have had a correspondent characterize my views as realistic cynical. Let me briefly explain them. I believe in universal programs that provide concrete material benefits, especially to the working class. Medicare for All is the prime example, but tuition-free college and a Post Office Bank also fall under this heading. So do a Jobs Guarantee and a Debt Jubilee. Clearly, neither liberal Democrats nor conservative Republicans can deliver on such programs, because the two are different flavors of neoliberalism (“Because markets”). I don’t much care about the “ism” that delivers the benefits, although whichever one does have to put common humanity first, as opposed to markets. Could be a second FDR saving capitalism, democratic socialism leashing and collaring it, or communism razing it. I don’t much care, as long as the benefits are delivered.

To me, the key issue — and this is why Medicare for All is always first with me — is the tens of thousands of excess “deaths from despair,” as described by the Case-Deaton study, and other recent studies. That enormous body count makes Medicare for All, at the very least, a moral and strategic imperative. And that level of suffering and organic damage makes the concerns of identity politics — even the worthy fight to help the refugees Bush, Obama, and Clinton’s wars created — bright shiny objects by comparison. Hence my frustration with the news flow — currently in my view the swirling intersection of two, separate Shock Doctrine campaigns, one by the Administration, and the other by out-of-power liberals and their allies in the State and in the press — a news flow that constantly forces me to focus on matters that I regard as of secondary importance to the excess deaths. What kind of political economy is it that halts or even reverses the increases in life expectancy that civilized societies have achieved? I am also very hopeful that the continuing destruction of both party establishments will open the space for voices supporting programs similar to those I have listed; let’s call such voices “the left.” Volatility creates opportunity, especially if the Democrat establishment, which puts markets first and opposes all such programs, isn’t allowed to get back into the saddle. Eyes on the prize! I love the tactical level, and secretly love even the horse race, since I’ve been blogging about it daily for fourteen years, but everything I write has this perspective at the back of it.













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