By Lambert Strether of Corrente.

Blissful Friday the Thirteenth to those that have a good time! –lambert

Fowl Track of the Day

Northern Mockingbird, Siboney; BIOECO Estacion Ecologica Siboney-Jutici, Santiago de Cuba, Cuba. “That is all one steady reduce even by way of my announcement.” Seize a cup of espresso. Eighteen minutes (although the final two minutes or so are the “announcement.”

* * *

In Case You May Miss…

  1. RFK, Trump, and vax.
  2. Covid “viral reservoir” idea recieves assist.
  3. The place oil earnings went.
  4. New Covid charts: Excellent news, however positivity uptick.

* * *

Politics

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

* * *

Capitol Seizure

“Watchdog finds FBI intelligence missteps earlier than Jan. 6 riot, however no undercover brokers have been current” [Associated Press]. “The report from the Justice Division inspector common’s workplace knocks down a fringe conspiracy idea superior by some Republicans in Congress that the FBI performed a job in instigating the occasions that day, when rioters decided to overturn Republican Donald Trump’s 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden stormed the constructing in a violent conflict with police. The evaluate, launched almost 4 years after a darkish chapter in historical past that shook the bedrock of American democracy, was slim in scope, however aimed to make clear gnawing questions which have dominated public discourse, together with whether or not main intelligence failures preceded the riot and whether or not the FBI indirectly provoked the violence.” • I’d be quite a bit happier if I may cross two oddities off my listing for the day: No person is aware of who constructed the gallows or took them away; and no person is aware of who left the pipe bombs on the DNC (when Kamala was there). For these two tales, take the Justice Division story as learn: It wasn’t the FBI. So, who was it?

“DOJ IG reveals 26 FBI informants have been current on Jan. 6” [FOX]. “Justice Division Inspector Normal Michael Horowitz mentioned there have been greater than two dozen confidential human sources (CHSs) within the crowd exterior the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, however solely three have been assigned by the FBI to be current for the occasion, whereas stressing that not one of the sources was licensed or directed by the bureau to ‘break the legislation’ or ‘encourage others to commit unlawful acts,’ Fox Information has discovered.” • “We have been simply informanting. We weren’t agent provocateuring in any respect, completely.” OK, tremendous.

Trump Transition

“RFK Jr key adviser petitioned regulators to revoke approval of polio vaccine” [Ed Pilkington, Guardian]. “A key legal adviser to Robert Kennedy Jr, Donald Trump’s pick for health secretary, is at the center of efforts to push federal drug regulators to revoke approval for the polio and hepatitis B vaccines and block distribution of 13 other critical vaccines. Aaron Siri, a lawyer who has been helping Kennedy select top health administrators as part of the Trump transition process, is deeply embedded in longstanding efforts to force the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to withdraw a raft of vaccines that have saved the lives and health of millions of Americans.” • I don’t mind having a good faith discussion about rolling back the childhood vaccination schedule; heck, it looks like a spreadsheet. But my concern has always been that the anti-vaxxers want to roll back all vaccines, including the original Measles, Mumps, and Rubella (MMR), i.e., the ones I was given as a child, and a good thing, too. And now a RFK’s legal running buddy wants to roll back polio vaccines, so my “lack of good faith” priors are heavily reinforced. A bridge too far, for me. Maybe focus on MAHA? Unless getting rid of polio vaccines is MAHA, of course.

“Trump to discuss ending childhood vaccination programs with RFK Jr.” [Reuters]. “He (Kennedy) does not disagree with vaccinations, all vaccinations. He disagrees probably with some,” Trump said.” • “Probably” is doing a lot of work there. And if Kennedy wanted to preseve polio vaccines, then his mimion wouldn’t be trying to revoke their approval. And if you want to get rid of the polio vaccines, then you might as well “disagree” with “all vaccinations.” Trump should put RFK back in his box on this one.

* * *

“Trump Transition Team Wants To End Crash Report Requirement Opposed By Tesla, Report Says” [Forbes]. “President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team wants to scrap a regulatory order requiring automakers to report crashes involving vehicles with automated driving systems, Reuters reported Friday, aligning with opposition to the rule by Elon Musk’s Tesla, which accounts for most crashes reported under the requirement so far.” • Oh.

* * *

“SEC charges Cantor Fitzgerald, led by Trump’s Commerce pick, with breaking securities laws” [CNBC]. • If we hadn’t just had four years of Democrat lawfare, I’d be aghast.

The #Resistance

“Democratic governors quietly prep extensive plans to counter Trump” [CNN]. “Diplomatic and depressed as they have been in public, a small group of Democratic governors are deep into behind-the-scenes preparations and deliberations over how to balance the politics of pushing back on what they are expecting from President-elect Donald Trump’s next turn in the White House. Since long before the election, they’ve been poring through Project 2025 — it’s helpful, several Democratic governors told CNN, to have a blueprint in public. They’ve been studying their own executive powers and state laws…. They’ve been stockpiling the abortion medication mifepristone [(!!)] in secret warehouses and rehearsing their answers for if and when the incoming White House tries to nationalize their state police or National Guard units for use in deportation raids; some are planning to flat out refuse, while others intend to argue that the officers are busy with other work keeping the people in their states safe. (None have fully wrapped their heads around how it would work if units from other states are sent in and set themselves up for showdowns on the state borders.)” And: “Several have been running tabletop exercises behind closed doors for months, often with state attorneys general and other relevant officials involved. Officials in multiple governors’ offices told CNN the circles have been tight to keep the incoming White House from being able to prepare for their own responses, or for the proactive innovations they’re looking into.” • Worth reading in full for the detail. And what is it with Democrats and these “tabletop exercises”? They keep running them, and they don’t seem to be doing much good.

Democrats en déshabillé

“Democrats’ problem with working-class voters is bigger than free trade” [Eric Levitz, Vox]. “In light of deindustrialization’s most pernicious effects, Democrats should make American workers’ access to remunerative employment and collective bargaining rights less contingent on the market’s whims, while rebuilding the party’s reputation for sound economic management.” • Daring! The problem is simple, from a 30,000-foot level (where indeed most things are simple). The Democrats are the party of the PMC. As the governing class, they are in the business of operating the many and varied rental extraction schemes that dominate our financialized economy, and which enrich the (propertied) ruling class at the expense of the (enwaged) working class (health insurance being one such). Therefore, the class interests of the Democrats and the working class are diametrically opposed. The Democrat Party founders on this contradiction. “A house divided against itself cannot stand…. I do not expect the house to fall — but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing, or all the other.” –Abraham Lincoln.

Republican Funhouse

“House Republicans launch investigation into CVS Caremark for potential antitrust violations” [The Hill]. “House Republicans want to know whether pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) CVS Caremark violated federal antitrust laws by threatening independent pharmacies to keep them from using money-saving tools outside the PBM’s network. In a letter to CVS obtained by The Hill, House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) asked the company for documents and communications about pharmaceutical hubs, a type of digital pharmacy service that can streamline the process of accessing and managing complex, high-cost specialty medications for patients. Jordan expressed concern that CVS prevents independent pharmacies from participating in hub arrangements, because the company wants to head off potential competition. If an independent pharmacy works with a hub outside the PBM, it could be excluded from the PBMs network.” • Good.

Syndemics

“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

* * *

Covid Resources, United States (National): Transmission (CDC); Wastewater (CDC, Biobot; includes many counties; Wastewater Scan, includes drilldown by zip); Variants (CDC; Walgreens); “Iowa COVID-19 Tracker” (in IA, but national data). “Infection Control, Emergency Management, Safety, and General Thoughts” (especially on hospitalization by city).

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!

Resources, United States (Local): 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 reports); 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).

Resources, Canada (National): Wastewater (Government of Canada).

Resources, Canada (Provincial): ON (wastewater); QC (les eaux usées); BC (wastewater); BC, Vancouver (wastewater).

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).

Stay safe out there!

Airborne Transmission

Word of the day (or the decade):

Maskstravaganza

“Days after Period Tour ends, Taylor Swift spreads vacation cheer at Youngsters’s Mercy Hospital in KC” [Knox News]. • And that’s not all she’s spreading, is it?

Vaccines: Covid

“COVID-19 vaccination and short-term mortality risk: a nationwide self-controlled case series study in The Netherlands” (preprint) [medRxiv]. From the Abstract: “We conducted a retrospective data-linkage study including all Dutch inhabitants to investigate the impact of COVID-19 vaccination on excess mortality using a modified self-controlled case series method. We found a 44% lower relative incidence of all-cause deaths in the first three weeks after the primary vaccination compared to more than three weeks after vaccination (IRR 0.56, 95%CI 0.54-0.57). This lower incidence was consistent across vaccine types, doses, genders, age groups, and individuals with or without prior SARS-CoV-2 infection or comorbidities, and for non-COVID-19 related deaths. For booster vaccinations, the relative incidence was similar (IRR 0.49, 95%CI 0.49-0.50). In comparison, we observed a 16-fold higher incidence of all-cause deaths in the three weeks following a registered positive SARS-CoV-2 infection compared to more than three weeks after infection (IRR 16.19, 95%CI 15.78-16.60). A lower relative incidence of short-term deaths following COVID-19 vaccination support that COVID-19 vaccination is not associated with the observed excess mortality.” • “Not associated” for that (relatively short) time-frame, as they indeed say.

Variants: H5N1

“Novel human-type receptor-binding H5N1 virus in live poultry markets, China” [The Lancet]. “In January, 2024, findings from a surveillance study near Poyang Lake in southern China revealed a high prevalence of novel H5N1 viruses that showed enhanced binding affinity for human-type sialic acid receptors…. Given the established role of [Live poultry markets (LPMs)] as a major source of human H5N1 infections, we highlight the urgent need for enhanced surveillance and public health interventions to mitigate the widespread transmission potential of these novel human-type receptor-binding H5N1 viruses in these markets.” • “Novel” in the headline and repeated in the text doesn’t sound good. Perhaps a kind reader can translate the entire abstract.

Sequelae: Covid

“Multi-Organ Spread and Intra-Host Diversity of SARS-CoV-2 Support Viral Persistence, Adaptation, and a Mechanism That Increases Evolvability” [Journal of Medical Virology (Jason Boxman). The Abstract:

Intra-host diversity is an intricate phenomenon related to immune evasion, antiviral resistance, and evolutionary leaps along transmission chains. SARS-CoV-2 intra-host variation has been well-evidenced from respiratory samples. However, data on systemic dissemination and diversification are relatively scarce and come from immunologically impaired patients. Here, the presence and variability of SARS-CoV-2 were assessed among 71 tissue samples obtained from multiple organs including lung, intestine, heart, kidney, and liver from 15 autopsies with positive swabs and no records of immunocompromise. . All organs presented intra-host single nucleotide variants (iSNVs) with low, moderate, and high abundances. The iSNV abundances observed within different organs indicate that . In agreement with previous data from respiratory samples, our lung samples presented no more than 10 iSNVs each. But interestingly, when analyzing different organs we were able to detect between 11 and 45 iSNVs per case. . We elaborate on how compartmentalized evolution in multiple organs may contribute to SARS-CoV-2 evolving so rapidly despite the virus having a proofreading mechanism.

Yikes.

* * *

TABLE 1: Daily Covid Charts

Lambert: After repeated attempts, this is what I get for CDC’s wastewater page:

I conclude that CDC doesn’t know how to run a server, along with everything else they don’t know how to do.

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

Variants [3] CDC December 7 ★Emergency Room Visits[4] CDC December 7

Hospitalization
★New York[5] New York State, data December 12: ★ National [6] CDC December 12:

Positivity
National[7] Walgreens December 9: ★ Ohio[8] Cleveland Clinic December 7:

Travelers Data
★Positivity[9] CDC November 25: ★Variants[10] CDC November 25:

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) Good news!

[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) Leveled out.

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

[7] (Walgreens) Leveling out.

[8] (Cleveland) Up!

[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

There are no official statistics of interest today.

* * *

Manufacturing: “Boeing Plans $1 Billion Expansion in South Carolina” [Industrial Equipment News]. “Boeing yesterday announced plans to invest $1 billion in infrastructure upgrades at its Charleston County, South Carolina site. The expansion will create 500 new jobs over the next five years. The announcement was made by the South Carolina Department of Commerce (SCDC). Boeing South Carolina is home to the entire 787 Dreamliner production cycle and fabricates, assembles, and delivers the 787-8, 787-9 and 787-10. The factory has been in operation for more than ten years.” • That’s non-unionized South Carolina.

Manufacturing: “Boeing, Airbus still struggle with supply chains and personnel shortages” [Leeham News & Analysis]. “Michael Haidinger, president of Boeing’s European and Middle Eastern regions, and Juergen Westermeier, chief procurement officer for Airbus, agree challenges remain in the near future. ‘There is always a shortage of skilled aerospace talent intensified by the pandemic,’ Haidinger said this month at the annual Aviation Forum (2024) in Munich, Germany. ‘As all the professionals retired, fewer new employees entered the field. Our industry needs more people who not only bring expertise but also embrace the mission of advancing aerospace.’ Haidinger added, ‘The deficit of skilled engineers, technicians, and other aerospace workers has made ramping up production more challenging. Attracting and retaining talent has become a top priority for us. [We are] with many companies investing in workforce development, partnerships with universities, training programs, and apprenticeship programs.’”

* * *

Today’s Fear & Greed Index: 50 Neutral (previous close: 48 Neutral) [CNN]. One week ago: 52 (Neutral). (0 is Extreme Fear; 100 is Extreme Greed). Last updated Dec 13 at 2:43:33 PM ET.

Musical Interlude

Toe-tapping goodness:

Groves of Academe

“Comparative lit class will be first in Humanities Division to use UCLA-developed AI system” (press release) [Newsroom, UCLA]. “The textbook: AI-generated. Class assignments: AI-generated. Teaching assistants’ resources: AI-generated.” When I ran a Literary Hub post on this story, alert reader and critical thinker PJay asked a great question: “Are we sure this isn’t a Sokal-type hoax?” So I went and dug up this press release; the odds of hoaxdom are vanishingly small. Here again, for your reference. is the AI art for the textbook. Put down your coffee:

The course is Comp Lit 2BW in the UCLA College Division of Humanities [sic]. Would some kind soul with a UCLA connection be able to throw copies of the teaching material over the transom? I’m sure the readership would enjoy them. My email address is down by the plants.

Annals of Religion

“How a Tale of Demonic Possession Predicted the Decline of an Early Medieval Empire” [Smithsonian]. “Historians can look back and see the tensions that resulted in the coup of 830, and how its lack of resolution led to another coup attempt in 833 and ultimately to a brutal civil war in the 840s. But throughout all the murder, treason and plotting, most historical sources, from the Annals of Fulda to the Annals of St. Bertin, remain committed to the myth of stability, inevitability and God’s blessing.” • Plus ça change….

Healthcare

“UnitedHealth Group C.E.O.: The Health Care System Is Flawed. Let’s Fix It.” [Andrew Witty, New York Times]. Witty is the chief executive officer of UnitedHealth Group, the parent company of UnitedHealthcare. “He believed decisions about health care should start with the individual and championed plans in which consumers could see costs and coverage options upfront, so they could decide what’s best for themselves and their families.” • Oh.

“Brian Thompson, Not Luigi Mangione, Is the Real Working-Class Hero” [Bret Stephens, New York Times]. “Thompson’s life may have been cut brutally short, but it will remain a model for how a talented and determined man from humble roots can still rise to the top of corporate life without the benefit of rich parents and an Ivy League degree.”

“The Crisis of Elite Indifference to Corporate Mass Murder” [Nathan Newman, Left Future]. The deck: “And a Modest Proposal to License No More than 10 CEO Murders Each Year to Improve Corporate Accountability” NOTE: Satire. Sort of like Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery. As the author mentions!

* * *

UPDATE A typically brilliant thread by Moe Tkacik:

It’s actually making an attempt to be a weblog submit, and it’s too lengthy to display screen seize, however right here is the whistleblower (“skilled witness”) half:

Price a clickthrough, although I assume the total article will seem shortly.

* * *

“Luigi Mangione’s Mom Spent Months Trying to find a Son Who Didn’t Need to Be Discovered” [Wall Street Journal]. “Over the previous 12 months, the household was at a loss for the place Luigi was or what he was doing, in line with the folks near the Mangiones. Within the fall, his relations emailed a lot of his pals to hunt their assist. One pal posted to Luigi on X, ‘Hey, are you okay? No person has heard from you in months, and apparently your loved ones is in search of you.’ In November, his mom reportedly known as the San Francisco Police Division to report her son lacking. ‘She would have finished all the pieces to search out her son and couldn’t,’ mentioned a type of near the Mangiones.” • Hmm.

* * *

“Lakeland girl threatens insurance coverage firm, says ‘Delay, Deny, Depose’: police” [WFLA]. “A Lakeland girl was charged Tuesday after police mentioned she ended a name to an insurance coverage firm with the phrases, ‘Delay, Deny, Depose.’ In an arrest affidavit, the Lakeland Police Division mentioned officers have been contacted by the FBI on Tuesday, Dec. 10 relating to an alleged risk remodeled the cellphone. Briana Boston, 42, had reportedly positioned a name to BlueCross BlueShield relating to latest medical insurance coverage claims she was denied. The whole cellphone name was recorded, in line with the affidavit…. Police made contact with Boston at her dwelling in Lakeland, the place she reportedly admitted to utilizing these phrases through the name, telling detectives that ‘healthcare corporations performed video games and deserved karma from the world as a result of they’re evil.’ ‘My consumer is 42, married mom of three. By no means had any felony fees or convictions. Might you launch her on her personal recognizance,’ her legal professional Jim Headley mentioned to a decide throughout her first look in court docket. Nonetheless, the decide set her bond at $100,000, stating, ‘I do discover that the bond of $100,000 is suitable .’ Boston was charged with threats to conduct a mass capturing or an act of terrorism, in line with the affidavit.” • Hoo boy.

“Lady threatens BlueCross BlueShield, saying ‘delay, deny, depose’, then will get arrested” [WHAM]. “Boston is charged with one depend “Written Risk to Kill or Injure- Conduct a mass capturing or an act of terrorism.” • This seems to be just like the related Florida statute;

However cellphone calls are exempt, and Boston made the alleged risk over the cellphone. Maybe a authorized skilled from Florida can weigh in?

Guillotine Watch

“BioLab units deadline for claims over Conyers chemical plant hearth” [FOX5]. “Time is running out to file reimbursement claims in connection to the BioLab chemical plant fire in Conyers. The fires in September sent chemical-filled smoke into the air for days, leading to complaints about a strong chemical smell and haze and forcing thousands to shelter in place. The company is already facing multiple lawsuits, including one filed by Rockdale County commissioners. The commission chair says that the lawsuit is currently in process. As cleanup began, BioLab opened a website for residents to file a claim for expenses incurred as a result of the fire. The company says it has responded to more than 29,000 calls and 9,000 emails, and helped 4,000 people through its Community Assistance Center since Oct. 8. With the high volume of claims steadily decreasing, BioLab has set a deadline for New Year’s Eve for any new submissions. After that, the company will no longer accept new claims.”• The post gives directions on filing a claim, which is useful. Still, what about long term effects?

Class Warfare

“Musk’s Charitable Foundation Sent Most of Its Millions to His Own Entities” [Bloomberg]. “Elon Musk’s charitable foundation ballooned to $9.5 billion in assets last year while handing out $237 million in gifts, most of which went to other entities controlled by the world’s richest person. The figures are part of the Musk Foundation’s latest tax filing, obtained Thursday by Bloomberg News…. The nonprofits Musk controls are part of his vast and growing empire, which counts a carmaker, rocket company, social media platform and, now, a major political apparatus…. Though Musk has widened his lead as the richest person ever, his philanthropy remains muted…. The IRS mandates that foundations deploy, on average, 5% of assets a year. Musk has repeatedly missed that bar. Over the years, even as the foundation has grown in wealth, he has kept the team small. Its latest filing lists the same handful of people, including himself and his fixer, Jared Birchall.” • Lol, “muted.” “Fixer” is also quite a strong word to use, especially for Bloomberg. I mean, “fixer” is a Third World concept, no?

“Distributional implications and share ownership of record oil and gas profits” (PDF) [University of Massachusetts, Amherst]. “We estimate that globally, net income in publicly listed oil and gas companies reached US$916 billion in 2022. The United States was the biggest beneficiary receiving US$301 billion in fossil fuel profits both from domestic extraction and through global shareholding, more than U.S. investments of US$267 billion in the low carbon economy that year. Analyzing the U.S. distribution including privately held US companies, 51% of profits went to the wealthiest 1%, predominantly through direct shareholdings and private company ownership. In contrast the bottom 50% only received 1%. The incremental fossil-fuel profits in 2022 over those in 2021 were enough to increase the disposable income of the wealthiest Americans several percent and compensate a substantial part of their purchasing power loss from inflation that year, thereby exacerbating inflation inequality. Record fossil-fuel profits also reinforce existing racial and ethnic inequalities and inequalities between groups with different educational attainments. Our results also show that only a small share of overall profits benefits institutions that serve the wider public such as pension funds.” • Handy chart:

“Man alleges Sean Combs drugged and raped him throughout a gathering at a New York lodge” [NBC]. • Been awhile since we heard from Diddy!

Information of the Wired

“People who find themselves good at studying have completely different brains” [The Conversation]. “Clearly, brain structure can tell us a lot about reading skills. Importantly, though, the brain is malleable — it changes when we learn a new skill or practice an already acquired one. For instance, young adults who studied language intensively increased their cortical thickness in language areas. Similarly, reading is likely to shape the structure of the left Heschl’s gyrus and temporal pole. So, if you want to keep your Heschl’s thick and thriving, pick up a good book and start reading. Finally, it’s worth considering what might happen to us as a species if skills like reading become less prioritised. Our capacity to interpret the world around us and understand the minds of others would surely diminish. In other words, that cosy moment with a book in your armchair isn’t just personal – it’s a service to humanity.”

* * *

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 timotheus:

Timotheus writes: “I took this photo of a monarch on a bee blossom bush in early September in the park in front of my building and only just now realized (by blowing it up) that it was tagged. I reported the number to MonarchWatch.org, which was easy. They said thanks.”

* * *

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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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