By Lambert Strether of Corrente.

Blue-and-white Mockingbird, Montaña de Izopo–Sector Las Moras, Francisco Morazán, Honduras. “Longer minimize of quiet music of clipped low phrases with sudden louder bursts interspersed, together with mechanical-sounding vocalizations. Additionally heard are Painted Redstart, Dusky-capped Flycatcher, Wilson’s Warbler, Orange-billed Nightingale-Thrush, and Bushy Woodpecker.”

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

Lower than thirty days to go!

Friday’s RCP Poll Averages:

If you ignore the entire concept of margin of error and go with the narrative, another good week for Trump, especially in MI and PA, tbough not, oddly, in the two hurricane swing states, GA and NC. Of course, we on the outside might as well be examining the entrails of birds when we try to predict what will happen to a subset of voters (undecided; irregular) in a subset of states (swing), and the irregulars especially might as well be quantum foam, but presumably the campaign professionals have better data, and have the situation as under control as it can be MR SUBLIMINAL Fooled ya. Kidding!.

* * *

“Trump is in a better polling spot now than he was against Clinton or Biden” [USA Today]. “If polls are any guide – and there are many questions about them – Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is in better shape now than he was at this time in 2020 and in his winning White House campaign of 2016. Yes, Trump trails Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris in most polls. But the all-important caveat is that he’s down against the incumbent vice president by smaller margins than he faced in his first two general elections – both of which saw him score higher with actual voters than the ones who responded to pollsters.” • Handy chart:

* * *

Kamala (D): “Tensions rise between Harris and Biden teams as election nears” [Axios]. “Biden gave an impromptu press conference in the White House briefing room Friday just as Harris was about to do an event in Michigan, ensuring that her event would get less TV coverage than it otherwise would have. Earlier in the week, Harris criticized Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) for not taking her call about the recent hurricanes, only for Biden to praise DeSantis soon after for being ‘gracious’ and ‘cooperative.’ (A person familiar with the situation told Axios that Biden hadn’t been briefed on Harris’ comments.) Biden has been eager to boast about a robust jobs report, helping to end the strike by the longshoremen’s union and other perceived victories recently. Harris has been trying to focus on voters’ pocketbook concerns, including inflation. One person involved with Harris’ campaign told Axios: ‘The White House is lacking someone in the room thinking first and foremost about how things would affect the campaign.’” • I’m starting to think “room” needs to be one of those words. Once you notice it, it’s everywhere. Started witb “adults in the room,” I think. Remember them?

Kamala (D): “Kamala Harris’ press tour was a missed opportunity” [MSNBC]. “And that is the problem: The Harris campaign conducted this tour not because it had something new to say, but because it needed to redirect the media narrative about its candidate. ‘There is at times an impression that her campaign consists almost entirely of pivots,’ Alex Shephard smartly observed in The New Republic earlier this week, while a New York Times headline said she ‘Continues to Bob and Weave’ in interviews. It all adds to the very mood the press tour was supposed to dispel.” And: “As the media tour came to a close with a Univision town hall on Thursday night, I was left with the same vague impression I had before the press tour — which makes that tour a massive missed opportunity. There was no moment akin to Bill Clinton blowing the horn on ‘The Arsenio Hall Show’ in 1992, nothing surprising or unexpected. Running out the clock may [???] not be an option. ‘Polls coming in show Harris peaked and interviews not helping. Swing states trending away from Harris,’ veteran pollster Mark Penn wrote in a social media post. ‘It’s not over until it’s over and this is still on a razor’s edge so it can flip back but that’s a fair read of newest polling.’ And in The New York Times, the former Obama communications director Daniel Pfeiffer pointed out that Trump is making critical inroads with younger men by appearing on nontraditional podcasts and streaming shows. Pfeiffer observed that 13 million people watched Trump’s interview with comedian Theo Von, ‘about twice the viewership of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz’s much ballyhooed interview with Dana Bash of CNN.’”

Kamala (D): “Inside the media blitz: three days on the campaign trail with Kamala Harris” [Guardian]. “She was comfortable in her skin.” • I haven’t heard that one deployed in years.

Kamala (D): So much for Black Insurrectionist? He of the Tim Walz oppo?

Observe the followers on the left hand display screen shot, who disappeared on the proper hand display screen shot. And once you’ve misplaced Megyn Kelly:


* * *

Kamala (D): “Democratic voter registration raises purple flags for Harris” [The Hill]. “Democrats’ voter registration benefit has dropped in three key battleground states — Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Nevada — elevating a purple flag for Vice President Harris as specialists cite an absence of enthusiasm for the Biden administration model and the Democratic Social gathering, usually, as issues.” And: “David Paleologos, the director of the Political Analysis Heart at Suffolk College in Boston, stated Democrats had a few 666,000-person voter registration benefit over Republicans in Pennsylvania in 2020, which has shrunk to a 354,000-person benefit in 2024. He stated the Democrats’ voter registration benefit in North Carolina has shrunk from 393,000 voters in 2020 to roughly 130,000 voters in 2024. ‘The overall shift has been away from being registered as a Democrat during the last 4 years,’ Paleologos informed The Hill.’ It’s been extra of a lower of registered Democrats’ than a surge in Republican voter registrations, he defined. ‘I don’t suppose lots of people have actually put their arms round the truth that when Trump gained North Carolina in 2020, there have been like 390,000 extra registered Democrats and he nonetheless gained, and at the moment the benefit of Democrats over Republicans is simply like 130,000. It’s been minimize by two-thirds of a bonus,” he stated.” And: “In Nevada, Paleologos stated Democrats have seen their voter registration benefit fall away. He stated Democrats’ had a internet registration benefit of practically 79,000 in 2020. It has since fallen to a internet benefit of 29,000 registered voters. ‘It may very well be sufficient to maintain it shut, or it may go to Trump, simply because they’ve misplaced 50,000 internet registered Democrats,’ he stated.” •

Kamala (D): “CNN’s Enten: GOP Has Made Huge Features In Social gathering Registration, Identification Since 2020” [RealClearPolitics]. “CNN’s Harry Enten checked out occasion registration information within the swing states and nationally forward of the 2024 election, which he says in comparison with previous elections, suggests Republicans are on observe to win…. The query is: The place are they choosing up floor? This, to me, says all of it. Should you take a look at Pennsylvania counties the place the GOP has gained in registration, in counties the place lower than 50% of the inhabitants is non-college white voters, Republicans have gained only a level. However in areas the place over 50% are non-college whites, take a look at this—Republicans have gained six factors on common. They’re choosing up floor within the areas you’d anticipate: non-college white-dominated areas, coal nation within the northeast, southwest exterior of Pittsburgh. The underside line is, the registration tendencies we’ve been seeing over the previous couple of cycles — with Republicans dominating amongst non-college white voters — are very a lot displaying up in occasion registration.” And: “Social gathering registration is once you’re really registered with a celebration. Social gathering ID is once you say, ‘I really feel like a Democrat at the moment’ or ‘I really feel like a Republican.’ They’re correlated, however they’re not precisely the identical. The GOP leads by some extent in occasion identification proper now. The typical when the Republican Social gathering loses is the Democrats forward by eight. When the Republican Social gathering wins, the common occasion ID benefit for Democrats is at three. Republicans proper now, are doing even higher than the common after they win. If there’s one little nugget that I believe Republicans are actually useful for this occasion ID and this occasion registration information, it actually factors in a superb route for them and for Donald Trump.”

“Harris rallies in a Pennsylvania bellwether county, calling Trump too ‘unstable and unhinged’ to be president” [NBC]. “To make up for any losses in rural areas, Harris’ marketing campaign has sought to court docket Nikki Haley voters from the GOP primaries, who’re concentrated largely in well-educated suburbs and will assist Harris develop her coalition and enhance on Biden’s 2020 margins.” • Therefore, Dick Cheney’s spawn.

* * *

Kamala (D): “Harris Fights to Counter Trump’s Attraction With Black Males” [Wall Street Journal]. On Obama’s intervention: “”‘Whereas I perceive the sentiment of getting a want to see elevated engagement, chastising voters has by no means labored, and it gained’t work this time both,’ stated [Quentin James, founder and president of the Collective PAC, a pro-Harris group], who gave the Harris marketing campaign suggestions on the brand new set of insurance policies rolled out on Monday geared toward bettering the financial place of Black males. Requested if it could be useful for Obama to reiterate these feedback at future marketing campaign stops, James stated: ‘If the purpose is to extend Black male engagement, hell no.’” Extra: “The brand new insurance policies and soccer meetup [stereotype] are a part of Harris’s newest efforts to achieve out to Black males, a core constituency for the occasion. Polling exhibits a possible lack of enthusiasm amongst these voters with early voting already underneath method in some states. Securing the assist of Black males may show decisive in key battleground races, significantly as Harris makes an attempt to drive up turnout in locations like Detroit, Philadelphia and Atlanta. The vice chairman desires to supply a million forgivable enterprise loans for Black entrepreneurs to make use of to begin companies, create extra coaching and apprenticeship packages and research ailments, resembling diabetes and sickle cell anemia, that predominantly have an effect on Black males…. The Harris marketing campaign’s self-described ‘alternative agenda for Black males’ would regulate cryptocurrency and digital currencies to guard Black buyers, promote extra Black males into the educating career and reiterate the vice chairman’s assist for legalizing marijuana.” • Perhaps I didn’t get the memo, however I don’t see how crypto matches in right here. Additionally, talking of an “alternative financial system,” how about an amnesty for the marijuana growers and sellers who constructed a enterprise sector now value billions? Legalization will not be sufficient.

Kamala (D): Perhaps the the “Manly Man” advert wasn’t geared toward males in any respect? Hat tip Nippersdad:

Perhaps I’m assuming the Harris hive thoughts is extra Machiavellian than it truly is, however perhaps the advert — hear me out — was geared toward suburban ladies? (“We promise males can be as males are on this advert”). Form of a really gentle contact model of Lysistratic Non-Motion. Only a thought! And on white ladies:


* * *

Trump (R): “Trump’s Pennsylvania city corridor, interrupted by medical emergencies in crowd, become an impromptu live performance” [ABC]. “Former President Donald Trump’s town hall in Oaks, Pennsylvania, on Monday evening was interrupted twice by medical emergencies in a very warm Greater Philadelphia Expo Center and Fairgrounds before he pivoted — turning the concert into an impromptu concert where he stood on stage swaying to music for nearly 45 minutes. There was a medical emergency that required an attendee to be placed on a stretcher about 30 minutes into the event. As the crowd started singing ‘God Bless America,’ Trump requested that ‘Ave Maria’ be played on the loudspeakers as medics tended to the man. Moments later, there was a second medical emergency…. Following the medical emergencies, Trump requested that the doors be opened but he was advised that for security reasons that wasn’t possible. Both Trump and moderator South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem commented on the heat in the room…. He continued, “Let’s not do any more questions. Let’s just listen to music. Let’s make it into a music fest. Who the hell wants to hear questions right? Isn’t that beautiful?” The former president, adamant about playing his music, stood on stage for nearly 45 minutes swaying to several songs on his playlist as the crowd sang and danced along. The crowd slowly dispersed, but many stayed for the entirety of the campaign event.” ¨• There’s a lot of dogpiling over this on the Twitter, but if the crowd was singing and dancing along, and they didn’t leave, I think that’s great, and great word-of-mouth for Trump (reminds me of a Grateful Dead concert when the sound system failed). Hard to imagine Kamala doing this (no experience with show business, no similar connection to the crowd, I’m guessing, and no capacity to improvise as Trump did. I imagine the staff would have shut the rally down entirely, which would have been a debacle).

* * *

PA: “Harris rallies in a Pennsylvania bellwether county, calling Trump too ‘unstable and unhinged’ to be president” [NBC]. “ERIE, Pa. — Vice President Kamala Harris rallied a packed crowd Monday night in Erie County, a bellwether that has a knack for predicting who carries Pennsylvania, having mirrored the outcome of this crucial battleground state in the last four elections. Harris sharpened her attacks on Donald Trump, using a big screen to play clips of the former president calling for outlawing dissent and criticisms among ‘the enemy within.’” The big screen is new, I think. More: “[Erie’s] median income is lower than the national average, as is its share of college-educated people…. Fetterman won the state by maximizing votes in the metropolitan areas and limiting his margins of defeat in the red-trending rural areas. Now, he’s trying to help Harris do the same. While Obama and Gov. Josh Shapiro rallied Thursday in Pittsburgh, Fetterman toured the red counties to make the case for her…. ‘Sometimes it’s not about turning these counties blue. You’re not going to change the culture of rural-county Pennsylvania. It’s about reaching out to reachable people,’ he said. ‘I would be surprised if she wins by 3 points. She will win Pennsylvania, but I would expect it might be closer than that.’”

PA: “How Pittsburgh’s Suburbs Could Flip Pennsylvania to Trump” [RealClearPennsylvania]. ” Instead, the focus lies on subdivision-spawned places like Cranberry Township to the north, the bedroom communities of southern Butler County, and the once-solid Rust Belt Democrat precincts of Washington County to the south. These areas, many of which have been reliable parts of the Democratic coalition since the time of the New Deal, are trending Republican in ways that should alarm party strategists. This oversight is partly understandable – the Philadelphia metro area is significantly larger (6.3 million people as opposed to Pittsburgh’s 2.37 million), richer, and several hours closer to major media markets. But it’s a mistake that could lead to how-could-it-happen-here headlines on election night if the GOP secures a win on the back of southwestern Pennsylvania’s suburban voters. The numbers paint a stark picture of this evolution. In 2000, Democrats carried Allegheny County, home to Pittsburgh, plus the seven surrounding counties by nearly 86,000 votes. By 2020, despite massive Democratic gains within Pittsburgh city limits, this same region swung to the Republicans by 38,000 votes. In a state decided by razor-thin margins in recent presidential contests, this 124,000-vote swing is seismic. Cranberry Township exemplifies this change. Once a sleepy rural community, it’s now a booming strip mall and chain eatery-lined suburb of over 30,000 people, more than 90% of whom are white, with a decidedly Republican lean. In 2020, Donald Trump carried Cranberry with over 60% of the vote, a margin unthinkable just a few decades ago when union-affiliated Democratic voters dominated the region. The transformation is even more pronounced in Washington County, once the very definition of a union stronghold. Trump won the county by a staggering 22-point margin in 2020.”

PA: “A week in a swing state taught me a lot about the Maga cult, and gave me hope for Kamala Harris” [Guardian]. Worth a read, but holy moley. This editorial note sums it up: “This article was amended on 13 October 2024 because an earlier version said that Hurricane Helene “ripped through the south-west”. In fact the hurricane affected the south-east region.” Here is a writer who really knows America!

“I am in earnest — I will not equivocate — I will not excuse — I will not retreat a single inch — AND I WILL BE HEARD.” –William Lloyd Garrison

Lambert here: Readers, thanks for the collective effort. To update any entry, do feel free to contact me at the address given with the plants. Please put “COVID” in the subject line. Thank you!

Hat tips to helpful 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, square coats (11), tennesseewaltzer, Tom B., Utah, Bob White (3).

Transmission: H5N1

Ulp (1):

Ulp (2):

If we had been planning for a second pandemic — on high of Covid already weakened immunue techniques at a inhabitants degree — it’s to see how we may very well be doing a greater job. And wastewater:

Vaccines

“New Nasal Vaccines Supply Higher Safety from COVID and Flu—No Needle Wanted” [Scientific American]. “Vaccines delivered by means of the nostril are actually being examined for a number of ailments. Within the U.S., early scientific trials are displaying success. Two of those vaccines have generated a number of immune system responses in opposition to the COVID-causing virus in individuals who acquired them by means of a puff up the nostril; earlier this 12 months their makers acquired practically $20 million from Challenge NextGen, the Biden-Harris administration’s COVID medical initiative. Researchers are optimistic {that a} nasal spray delivering a COVID vaccine may very well be prepared for the U.S. as quickly as 2027. Though current efforts have targeted on inoculations in opposition to SARS-CoV-2, nasal vaccines may additionally shield us in opposition to the flu, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and extra.” • 2027 [bangs head on desk].

Sequelae: Covid

“COVID-19 raises the stakes for coronary heart assaults, strokes, and even loss of life lengthy after an infection, new research finds” [Fortune]. “Virtually from the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers and medical specialists feared–and sometimes loudly warned–that the virus wasn’t like different infections that folks may encounter throughout, say, flu season. SARS-CoV-2 was totally different. It was worse. And the potential long-term results, as we reported two years in the past, had been much more worrisome. A brand new large-scale research places these longer-range considerations into daring reduction. The outcomes are as unforgiving as many specialists had hypothesized. The research, involving practically a quarter-million adults, discovered that these with any kind of COVID-19 an infection in 2020 had twice the danger of struggling a serious cardiac occasion—a coronary heart assault, stroke, and even loss of life—within the three years after a prognosis than those that weren’t contaminated. Individuals whose infections had been extreme sufficient to warrant hospitalization confronted practically a 4 instances larger threat of a serious cardiac occasion or loss of life than the uninfected group. ‘These findings are plain and very troubling,’ says David Putrino, the director of the Cohen Heart for Restoration from Complicated Continual Sickness at Mount Sinai College of Drugs. ‘The importance of this work is that our present public well being coverage surrounding COVID-19 is insufficient. Individuals must be knowledgeable of the dangers they’re incurring to their long-term well being by being repeatedly contaminated with SARS-CoV-2.’” • Oh, yeah, private threat evaluation, that’s been working nice. Why not clear the air?

“Lengthy COVID Charges in Youngsters Revised Upward: What to Know” [MedScape]. “In essentially the most expansive research of its type, researchers have for the primary time proven critical and prevalent signs of lengthy COVID in children and youths. The August research, printed within the Journal of the American Medical Affiliation, is among the many first giant complete research of the dysfunction on this age group. The research, which adopted 5367 kids, discovered that 20% of children (ages 6-11) and 14% of teenagers met researchers’ threshold for lengthy COVID. Till now, analysis has been missing as a result of kids had been regarded as much less inclined to each acute COVID-19 and lengthy COVID, specialists say. However by some estimates, as much as 5.8 million children and youths have the dysfunction. Research creator Rachel Gross, MD, an affiliate professor within the departments of pediatrics and inhabitants well being at NYU Langone, is consistent with the share of adults recognized with lengthy COVID.” • Keep in mind to start with, when the minimizers informed us kids didn’t even get Covid? Good instances. Useful chart:

Social Norming

Another excuse for denial:

Rule #2 is common in scope:

* * *

TABLE 1: Day by day Covid Charts

Wastewater
This week[1] CDC October 5 Last Week[2] CDC (until next week):

Variants [3] CDC October 12 Emergency Room Visits[4] CDC October 5

Hospitalization
New York[5] New York State, data October 10: National [6] CDC September 21:

Positivity
National[7] Walgreens October 7: Ohio[8] Cleveland Clinic October 5:

Travelers Data
Positivity[9] CDC September 16: Variants[10] CDC September 16:

Deaths
Weekly Deaths vs. % Positivity [11]CDC September 28: Weekly Deaths vs. ED Visits [12]CDC September 28:

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) Still some hot spots, but I can’t draw circles around entire regions this week. Good news!

[2] (CDC) Last week’s wastewater map.

[3] (CDC Variants) KP.* very popular. XEC has entered the chat.

[4] (ED) Down, but worth noting that Emergency Department use is now on a par with the first wave, in 2020.

[5] (Hospitalization: NY) Definitely down.

[6] (Hospitalization: CDC). I see the “everything in greenish pastels” crowd has gotten to this chart.

[7] (Walgreens) Big drop continues!

[8] (Cleveland) Dropping.

[9] (Travelers: Positivity) Up, though lagged.

[10] (Travelers: Variants).

[11] Deaths low, positivity down.

[12] Deaths low, ED down.

Stats Watch

Manufacturing: “United States NY Empire State Manufacturing Index” [Trading Economics]. “The NY Empire State Manufacturing Index plummeted to -11.9 in October 2024, down from 11.5 in September and surprising analysts who expected it at 3.8. This marks the worst reading since May, pointing to a renewed contraction in the New York State and at a solid pace.”

* * *

Manufacturing: “Boeing’s crisis is getting worse. Now it’s borrowing tens of billions of dollars” [CNN]. “In a regulatory filing early Tuesday, the company announced plans to borrow $10 billion from a consortium of banks. It also separately announced plans to raise $25 billion by selling stock and debt. The $10 billion borrowing plans would be included in the $25 billion that Boeing filed to raise…. Boeing’s credit rating has plunged to the lowest investment-grade level – just above “junk bond” status – and major credit rating agencies have warned Boeing is in danger of being downgraded to junk. That would raise its cost of borrowing.”

Manufacturing: “Official: Boeing 777X delivery delayed until at least 2026” [Mile Lion]. “Up till recently, Boeing was still making optimistic noises about a late 2025 debut for the aircraft, with Emirates CEO Tim Clark stating at the 2023 Dubai Airshow that he hoped to get his first B777-9 by October 2025. But that was always going to be a tall order, and now we have official confirmation of what’s perhaps the worst-kept secret in aviation: the Boeing 777X is officially delayed till at least 2026. Keep in mind, it’s not just the work stoppage that’s the problem. The B777X has had a torrid time with its certification, with the FAA chiding the airline at one point that its proposed certification schedule was ‘outdated and no longer reflect the programme activities.’ While the all-important Type Inspection Authorisation (TIA) was granted in July 2024, enabling the company to begin the certification process, it’s not all been smooth sailing. Just a couple of months ago, the test fleet was grounded after a routine post-flight inspection revealed the failure of a thrust link that mounts the engine to the aircraft.” • Yikes.

Manufacturing: “Emirates’ Clark raises ‘looming’ specter of Boeing bankruptcy protection” [The Air Current]. “In an email to The Air Current following the announced Oct. 11 delay to the certification of Boeing’s 777-9 flagship jetliner, [Emirates president Sir Tim Clark, Boeing’s largest twin-aisle jet customer,] said, ‘Unless the company is able to raise funds through a Rights Issue, I see an imminent investment downgrade with Chapter 11 looming on the horizon.’” • Or nationalization.

Manufacturing: “Boeing Is Flexing the Financial Muscle It Has Left” [Bloomberg]. The deck: “Investors are betting that a backlog of almost 5,500 aircraft will eventually unlock a mountain of cash.” More: “Well, the company has about 5,500 aircraft that it has already sold and only needs to assemble and deliver. Investors see a mountain of cash locked up in that backlog. All the company has to do is settle a nasty strike of 33,000 machinists, revamp its work culture to put quality above all, stabilize its supply chain, finish work on the new 777X aircraft and crank out planes. In fewer words, Boeing needs to execute. This is a daunting task, and most investors believe the company has finally chosen the right person to pull off this historic turnaround after Kelly Ortberg was hired as chief executive officer in August. The thermometer for investor sentiment around Boeing’s ability to right the ship will be reflected in the price of the new shares, which could raise $10 billion or more to help shore up its finances.” • So I guess that’s why Ortberg is busting the machinist’s chops? For “investor sentiment”?

Manufacturing: “Boeing layoff plan suggests deep white-collar job cuts” [Seattle Times]. “The exclusion for now of 33,000 Machinists from the planned cuts means that Boeing can reach the 10% target stated in the slides for the Commercial Airplanes unit only through deep cuts among the white-collar staff, including engineers and nonunion salaried employees…. Perhaps the thinking is that laying off Machinists now might inflame passions and make the strike more difficult to settle. If that’s so, blue-collar layoffs could come later. Still, the need for the layoffs has little to do with the Machinists’ strike. It’s a restructuring by new CEO Kelly Ortberg designed to address the broader and deeper problems Boeing faces….The only way forward for Boeing is to start building planes again and to ramp up production back to the rates planned before the January blowout. To achieve those rates, it had been hiring machinists at a rapid clip. Whenever the strike ends, it will need most of those machinists ready to swing into action.”

* * *

Today’s Fear & Greed Index: 74 Greed (previous close: 76 Extreme Greed) [CNN]. One week ago: 70 (Greed). (0 is Extreme Fear; 100 is Extreme Greed). Last updated Oct 15 at 1:03:44 PM ET.

TheCurrent Cinema

The production process for silent films:

Picture E-book

By way of alert reader Wukchumi:

“Time is what you make of it.” I want!

Class Warfare

Slaves (implicit):

In fact, the purpose is by no means to “liberate human labor.” Who can be foolish sufficient to think about that?

Slaves (express). ANC = African Nationwide Congress:

“You solely must pay for it as soon as.” Certainly. Now if we will simply get them to breed…

Information of the Wired
I’m not feeling wired at the moment.

* * *

Contact data for crops: Readers, be happy to contact me at lambert [UNDERSCORE] strether [DOT] corrente [AT] yahoo [DOT] com, to (a) learn how to ship me a test in case you are allergic to PayPal and (b) to learn how to ship me photographs of crops. Greens are fantastic! Fungi, lichen, and coral are deemed to be honorary crops! If you need 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) here. From TH:

TH writes: “Here in Westminster, California, a rose society lives at the Civic center, so, due to their many gardens of roses, I have an abundant supply of rose photos. Sorry if the border is a bit much. Feel free to crop.”

* * *

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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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