2:00PM Water Cooler 8/9/2023 | bare capitalism

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By Lambert Strether of Corrente.

Hen Tune of the Day

Japanese Meadowlark, Massive Rock Forest Protect, Kane, Illinois, United States. “Calls given whereas perched on the prime of a useless tree, roughly 18m above floor.”

* * *

Search for the Helpers

We’d like extra medical doctors like this:

Final Friday, I wrote:

I don’t need Water Cooler to be an train in doomscrolling. That’s why there are birds on the prime, within the sky, and crops on the backside, for the earth. That stated, the world isn’t in the most effective form, and we do should report that clearly, particularly within the face of denial, minimization, layers of impacted PMC bullshit. That stated, “”if it bleeds, it leads,”” which means that our famously free press has little incentive to report excellent news past clickbait-y heartwarming anecdotes. That’s one motive I invented, quoting Mr. Rogers, “”Search for the helpers”” within the Covid part; to alleviate the bleakness. Let’s increase the precept!

Hyperlinks to tales about helpers are additionally good:

If readers want to ship me extra hyperlinks or images of helpers in motion, you possibly can mail me with “”Helpers”” within the topic line. Might be Covid, might be any scenario. Even useful animals!

Politics

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

Biden Administration

“Why Did Biden Elevate CIA Director William Burns to His Cupboard?” [Tablet]. “Transferring Burns into the cupboard ought to subsequently be understood not as giving the CIA ‘a credibility enhance,’ as The New York Occasions put it, however as an additional normalization of the company’s emergent position as a coverage actor. Sanctioning and highlighting the company’s political position poses a hazard to its longtime mission of offering the president with clear, unbiased data and evaluation. It is usually harmful for the American public, which faces an elevated threat from a strong international intelligence paperwork that’s being positioned as an actor throughout the home sphere. Earlier than 9/11, the CIA director might plausibly serve within the cupboard—as a consultant from an out of doors company offering knowledge to the White Home—with out additionally assuming the extra political position of serving on the president’s group. However whereas the formal ban on CIA involvement in home affairs stays, it has develop into all however empty of significance. The post-9/11 doctrine of interagency “”intelligence sharing”” and the formation of the now 18-member intelligence neighborhood means the CIA can and does hand off home intelligence it gathers and formulates to the FBI. The CIA-led intelligence neighborhood stays wounded and publicly compromised, furthermore, by the insistence of so many eminent former intelligence chiefs within the days earlier than the 2020 election that the story of Hunter Biden’s laptop computer was a Russian data operation, and thus a professional trigger for each social media censorship and a journalistic blackout. Burns was not complicit on this now-infamous episode, however neither has he tried (or been allowed) to acknowledge or apologize for it. If President Biden is actually involved with restoring the CIA’s credibility, he would do higher to maintain it exterior his cupboard relatively than overtly welcoming it in.”

2024

Time for the Countdown Clock!

* * *

“US choose units listening to on proof in Trump’s 2020 election case” [Reuters]. “Friday’s listening to comes after Trump’s protection group on Monday opposed a request from prosecutors for Chutkan to impose a protecting order to make sure confidential proof isn’t shared publicly by Trump, suggesting he might use the data to intimidate witnesses. Trump has pleaded not responsible and referred to as the costs politically motivated. Trump’s attorneys stated limits would infringe on his proper to free speech, protected by the First Modification of the U.S. Structure. Trump isn’t anticipated to be current within the courtroom on Friday, after Chutkan waived his look. Sometimes, protection attorneys don’t oppose such protecting orders as a result of doing so can delay the federal government from producing the proof it intends to make use of at trial in a course of often known as discovery.” • It’s a pleasant level. If Trump’s Presidential run would have became a operating commentary on the courtroom proceedings, and a gag order prevented that, what are the First Modification implications, particularly given the presumption of innocence?

“Trump needs his election case moved out of D.C., pronto. That gained’t be straightforward” [Reuters]. “Two main obstacles stand within the former president’s method. The primary is 1976 appellate precedent from the U.S. Circuit Courtroom of Appeals for the District of Columbia, rejecting arguments by Watergate defendants H.R. Haldeman, John Ehrlichman and John Mitchell that their jury was tainted by bias and pre-trial publicity. The second is a heap of latest rulings by trial judges in federal courtroom in Washington who’ve utilized precedent from the Watergate case to disclaim venue switch motions by defendants in prison circumstances arising from the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol…. In case after case involving accused Jan. 6 individuals, together with high-profile Oath Keeper defendants, trial judges have cited the appellate courtroom’s directive within the Watergate case that their circuit’s ‘well-established process’ is to disclaim switch motions till potential jurors are questioned about their impartiality. Not a single Washington federal choose has agreed to switch a Jan. 6 case out of the district earlier than voir dire.”

“Numb to Trump: Information reveals drop in scandal curiosity” [Axios]. “The general public’s consideration to former President Trump’s authorized drama has declined with every subsequent indictment, based on new knowledge pulled throughout tv, social media and search exercise… ‘The bombast and howling accusations after every cost, the lurid threats and infinite victimologies, the thoughts numbing repetition of all of it… is meant to do exactly that: numb the thoughts in order that sense making feels inconceivable and paying consideration appears pointless,’ New York College’s Jay Rosen informed Axios in an e mail.

‘There’s a reputation for it: . It’s purported to exhaust no matter curiosity we as soon as had in following the information,’ Rosen added.” • Jay Rosen stated that?

“Why wouldn’t folks see politics in Trump indictments?” [Washington Examiner]. “A new ballotfrom CBS Information and YouGov… requested this query: “Which issues you extra proper now: 1) That Donald Trump tried to overturn a presidential election, [or] 2) That the costs and indictment towards Donald Trump are politically motivated, [or] 3) Each.” Thirty-eight p.c stated they had been extra involved that Trump tried to overturn an election. After which a exactly equal quantity, 38%, stated they had been extra involved that the costs and indictment towards Trump are politically motivated. After which 24% stated they had been equally involved by each…. The underside line is that many, many individuals see the Trump prosecutions as politically motivated. That doesn’t imply they deny any Trump culpability. They only additionally see the plain undeniable fact that the prosecutions have a big political part. They then imagine, or suspect, that an motion so clearly political might need a political motive behind it.”

“Opinion: Why Georgia may beat the feds at holding Trump accountable” [Los Angeles Times]. “You is likely to be tempted to see these prison proceedings in state courts as a superfluous sideshow to Trump’s federal indictment on costs associated to overthrowing the 2020 election. Actually, these parallel circumstances are important to defending American democracy in 3 ways. [First,] even a newly inaugurated President Trump couldn’t fireplace Fani Willis, the Georgia district lawyer investigating his crimes in that state — or another state official [and] state crimes will not be topic to pardon by the president…. Second, Trump isn’t the one one who allegedly engaged in election subversion in 2020 and 2021, and the states are prone to be probably the most promising path for holding the others accountable too…. Lastly, the state prosecutions remind us that American elections are decentralized and that the safeguarding of our democracy can not simply be the accountability of the federal authorities.” • Each time I hear a Democrat say “our democracy” my again tooth itch. Nonetheless, good arguments.

“Beforehand Secret Memo Laid Out Technique for Trump to Overturn Biden’s Win” [DNYUZ]. “The false electors’ scheme was maybe probably the most sprawling of Mr. Trump’s varied efforts to overturn the outcomes of the 2020 election. It concerned attorneys engaged on his marketing campaign’s behalf throughout seven states, dozens of electors prepared to assert that Mr. Trump — not Mr. Biden — had gained their states, and open resistance from a few of these potential electors that the plan might be unlawful or even ‘seem treasonous.’ Ultimately, it grew to become the cornerstone of the indictment towards Mr. Trump. Whereas one other lawyer — John Eastman, described as Co-Conspirator 2 within the indictment — grew to become a key determine who championed the plan and labored extra immediately with Mr. Trump on it, Mr. Chesebro was an architect of it. He was first enlisted by the Trump marketing campaign in Wisconsin to assist with a authorized problem to the outcomes there.’” • Chesebro is “Co-Conspirator 5.”

“For Washington Put up’s Feared ‘Pinocchio’ Truth Checker, Forthrightness Dies in ‘Updates’ to Biden-Burisma Story” [RealClearPolitics]. “All informed, the Put up has run six corrections throughout its unique and revised Kessler tales concerning the laptop computer emails and the Biden-Burisma dinner…. Regardless of the rolling disclosures reaching a crucial mass, the Put up has not revealed a separate information story inspecting its personal errors, which misinformed voters forward of the November 2020 presidential election and continued to mislead the general public deep into the Biden presidency.”

* * *

“Ramaswamy first GOP presidential candidate to qualify for debate with pledge to assist eventual occasion nominee” [FOX]. “The signing of a Republican Occasion pledge that each one candidates will ultimately assist the occasion’s presidential nominee is underway, with White Home hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy turning into the primary to conform to the language drawn up by the Republican Nationwide Committee (RNC)…. In keeping with the pledge, candidates should affirm they may solely seem in debates sanctioned by the RNC, and, ought to they fail to signal the pledge or take part in a non-RNC sanctioned debate, they will be unable to take part in any additional occasion sanctioned debates. ‘Moreover, I affirm that if I don’t win the 2024 Republican nomination for President of the US, I’ll honor the desire of the first voters and assist the 2024 Republican presidential nominee with a purpose to save our nation and beat Joe Biden,’ the pledge goes on to say. ‘I additional pledge that I can’t search to run as an unbiased or write-in candidate nor will I search or settle for the nomination for president of another occasion,’ it provides.”

“Doug Burgum tremendous PAC drops nearly $4 million advert marketing campaign in early voting states” [Washington Examiner]. “The Better of America PAC introduced a $3.9 million tv advert marketing campaign in New Hampshire and Iowa on Wednesday, which can pay for the airtime of a 30-second spot that beforehand aired final month. ‘Governor Burgum is the conservative governor and enterprise chief our nation must unlock the most effective of America,’ stated Emily Benavides, Better of America PAC spokeswoman, in a press release. ‘As we stay up for Governor Burgum’s debut on the controversy stage later this month, we’re ensuring New Hampshire and Iowa know that he’ll flip round our economic system, unleash American vitality, and rebuild our army so we are able to win the Chilly Warfare with China.’” • Woo hoo!

* * *

“Biden incorrectly claims he has declared a nationwide emergency on local weather” [CNN]. “President Joe Biden incorrectly claimed in an interview with The Climate Channel that he has already declared a nationwide emergency on the local weather disaster. ‘I’ve already accomplished that,’ Biden stated when requested whether or not he intends to do declare a local weather emergency. ‘We’ve conserved extra land, we’ve rejoined the Paris Local weather Accords, we’ve handed the $368 billion local weather management facility. We’re shifting. It’s the existential risk to humanity.’ When pressed once more on whether or not he had really declared a nationwide emergency, Biden stated: ‘Virtually talking, sure.’” • After a cue like that, Biden senses hazard, and pivots to “virtually talking.”

“Biden’s well being care wins are being undone — and on the worst potential time” [Politico]. “States throughout the nation, each blue and crimson, are purging their Medicaid packages of tens of millions of low-income enrollees for the primary time in three years, after a pandemic coverage meant to forestall susceptible folks from instantly dropping well being protection expired earlier this spring.” Evidently, this coverage was put in place underneath the Trump Administration; IIRC, the CARES Act. Extra: “Practically 4 million People have been reduce from Medicaid within the final three months, most of whom misplaced their insurance coverage over paperwork points. The quantity is projected to balloon to fifteen million by this time subsequent yr, based on official estimates, although some now worry the ultimate toll shall be even greater.” PMC gatekeepers at work. Extra: “The mass terminations, which collectively symbolize the largest reshuffling of the medical health insurance panorama since Obamacare, come as Covid circumstances rise once more and Biden embarks on a reelection marketing campaign constructed round convincing working-class voters they’re higher off than earlier than.” • Thought: Let’s remove common concrete materials advantages:

The “European-Type Welfare State,” once more, was constructed by the CARES Act underneath the Trump Administration. And all we get from Democrats about dismantling it’s hand-wringing and that outdated standby, “no political will.”

“Comer Releases Third Financial institution Memo Detailing Funds to the Bidens from Russia, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine” (press launch) [House Committee on Oversight and Accountability] (full memo). Loads of element about Burisma, however this merchandise stands out:

In April 2014, a Kazakhstani Oligarch Wired the Precise Worth of Biden’s Sportscar to a Financial institution Account Utilized by Archer and Biden: In February 2014, Hunter Biden met with Kenes Rakishev at a Washington, D.C. resort. Rakishev labored intently with the prime minister of Kazakhstan, Karim Massimov. In April, Rakishev, a Kazakhstani oligarch, wired $142,300 to Rosemont Seneca Bohai. The following day, a fee was comprised of Rosemont Seneca Bohai for a sportscar for Hunter Biden within the quantity of $142,300.  Archer and Biden then organized for Burisma executives to go to Kazakhstan in June 2014 to judge a three-way deal amongst Burisma, a Chinese language state-owned firm, and the federal government of Kazakhstan.

“Impeaching a Trump Impeachment” [Wall Street Journal]. “Of Hunter’s a number of windfalls, his Burisma earnings most immediately leveraged his father’s position, most immediately hyperlink to a particular act by his father (the Shokin firing), and supply probably the most direct credence to Mr. Trump’s first impeachment protection, regarding his cellphone name to President Zelensky fishing for details about Biden dealings in Ukraine…. There’s some new information right here. Mr. Trump might effectively have been knowledgeable by Legal professional Normal William Barr concerning the Burisma insider who spoke to the FBI—which suggests Mr. Trump each can maintain a secret and had a stronger basis for his request to Mr. Zelensky, whose cooperation he sought in an FBI investigation that we now know was underneath method in response to the confidential informant’s testimony. Hmmm. The White Home’s newest protection implicitly permits that Joe might have mentioned enterprise with Hunter however he wasn’t “”in enterprise”” with Hunter. Loads of room to maneuver is permitted if the details present Joe did all the pieces and something to facilitate Hunter’s “”phantasm of entry”” in need of promoting an official act or becoming a member of Hunter’s payroll.” • “[M]ay effectively have been knowledgeable.” It will be irresponsible to not speculate. Commentary on Burisma:

“Kamala Harris Coming to Winery for Marketing campaign Fundraiser” [Vineyard Gazette]. “The precise time and site of the [August 12] fundraiser, titled ‘,’ weren’t disclosed within the invitation…. Ms. Leeds, one of many hosts, is a presidential appointee on the President’s Advisory Committee on the Arts and the CEO of Profitable Methods, LLC, a public affairs and political consulting agency primarily based in Washington, D.C. Ms. Fulp is the founding father of Fulp Variety and was the U.S. consultant to the United Nations normal meeting underneath President Barack Obama. Tickets for the occasion ranged from $50 to $10,000.” • Grassroots, completely. The summer season staff should purchase the $50 tickets, and summer season guests the $10,000 ones. I’m wondering who’ll be doing the catering? Obama’s cook dinner?

* * *

Cornel West in good type:

RFK on pandemics:

Ivermection and hydrochloroquine have entered the chat.

* * *

“The 2024 Election Will Break New Floor” [Wall Street Journal]. “We live in an unprecedented period of shut presidential elections. Within the 17 races between 1920 and 1984, the winner prevailed within the common vote by 10 factors or extra on 10 events, and by 20 factors or extra 5 occasions. Within the 9 elections since, no winner has come near a 10-point margin of victory, and on two events the candidate with a plurality of the favored vote misplaced the Electoral Faculty. Throughout this era, the variety of really contested swing states declined sharply, to solely eight by 2020. A shift of 43,000 votes in Wisconsin, Georgia and Arizona, states Mr. Biden carried by wafer-thin margins, would have yielded a tie within the Electoral Faculty, throwing the election to the Home for the primary time because the 1824 election. Public opinion surveys so far are pointing to one more shut contest whose final result shall be decided by slim margins in the identical states that grew to become the websites of postelection authorized struggles 4 years in the past. Till the American folks determine to award one occasion a majority that extends past a single presidency, in the present day’s challenges to efficient governance and nationwide unity are all however sure to persist.” 

“Home GOP 2024 technique memo: Now we have to win in blue states” [Politico]. “Congressional Management Fund, a PAC aligned with Home Speaker Kevin McCarthy, has recognized that about one-third of swing seats are in historically blue states. Republicans maintain only a four-seat majority in Congress and should defend 13 seats in deep blue New York and California for the most effective probability to carry on to energy in 2024. To help in that effort, CLF is launching a ‘Blue State Challenge’ to compete in historically blue states…. Republicans in blue states could have a drawback in relation to occasion infrastructure. CLF stated it should create its personal infrastructure targeted on reaching ticket-splitting voters, constructing area packages to achieve voters and investing in early voting, which Republicans have suggested towards in previous cycles. The memo additionally informed donors that CLF will want early funding to order tv time in these comparably dearer markets in the course of the presidential yr, which will even drive up charges. Along with defending GOP positive aspects in deep blue states, the Congressional Management Fund additionally recognized offensive alternatives that it plans to spend money on, beginning with the open seats at the moment held by Democrats Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, and Abigail Spanberger of Virginia. It additionally stated it plans to assist challengers within the 5 seats held by Democrats that Donald Trump gained in 2020.” • Curiously, each Slotkin and Spanberger are CIA Democrats looking for greater workplace.

Obama Legacy

Question for the readership: Would Obama have invaded Ukraine, if he had been elected for a 3rd time period?

Democrats en Déshabillé

Affected person readers, evidently individuals are really studying the back-dated put up! However I’ve not up to date it, and there are a lot of updates. So I should try this. –lambert

I’ve moved my standing remarks on the Democrat Occasion (“the Democrat Occasion is a rotting corpse that may’t bury itself”) to a separate, back-dated put up, to which I’ll periodically add materials, summarizing the addition right here in a “dwell” Water Cooler. (Hopefully, some Bourdieu.) It seems that defining the Democrat Occasion is, actually, a tough downside. I do assume the paragraph that follows is on level all the way in which again to 2016, if not earlier than:

The Democrat Occasion is the political expression of the category energy of PMC, their base (lucidly defined by Thomas Frank in Pay attention, Liberal!). ; if the Democrat Occasion didn’t exist, the PMC must invent it. . (“PMC” modulo “class expatriates,” in fact.) Second, all of the working elements of the Occasion reinforce one another. Go away apart characterizing the relationships between parts of the Occasion (ka-ching, however not totally) these parts comprise a community — a Flex Web? An iron octagon? — of funders, distributors, apparatchiks, electeds, NGOs, and miscellaneous mercenaries, with property within the press and the intelligence neighborhood.

Be aware, in fact, that the category energy of the PMC each expresses and is restricted by different lessons; oligarchs and American gentry (see ‘industrial mannequin’ of Ferguson, Jorgensen, and Jie) and the working class spring to thoughts. Suck up, kick down.

* * *

“The New York Metropolis mayor is having his Aaron Choose yr in any case. And it’s not good.” [Politico]. “Adams — not not like the Yankees captain, who was sidelined by a toe damage in June and July — has struggled all summer season. There’s a legislation enforcement investigation right into a former member of his administration. There’s a looming federal takeover of metropolis jails. The Metropolis Council overrode his veto of reasonably priced housing payments. And now migrants are sleeping on sidewalks in Manhattan as a disaster over their arrivals grows worse. The nonstop hits name into query Adams’ depiction of himself as a robust govt who’s operating the nation’s largest metropolis competently after years of mismanagement. And if the issues proceed to spiral, Adams might have what each New York Metropolis chief fears most — a one-term mayoralty. ‘It has been a tough couple of months,’ Basil Smikle, the previous govt director of the New York State Democratic Occasion, stated in a cellphone interview. ‘He wants some victories. He actually wants some methods to alter the dialog.’ A high-ranking Adams administration official put it extra bluntly. ‘Horrible,’ stated the official concerning the mayor’s latest troubles. The official was granted anonymity to talk candidly concerning the boss.” • What a waste. The cop with the million-watt smile implodes…. 

Realignment and Legitimacy

#COVID19

“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

Sources, United States (Nationwide): Transmission (CDC); Wastewater (CDC, Biobot; contains many counties; Wastewater Scan, contains drilldown by zip); Variants (CDC; Walgreens); “Iowa COVID-19 Tracker” (in IA, however nationwide knowledge). “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 happy to contact me on the handle given with the crops. Please put “COVID” within the topic line. Thanks!

Sources, 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 experiences); 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).

Sources, Canada (Nationwide): Wastewater (Authorities of Canada).

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

Hat tricks to useful readers: 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, Utah, Bob White (3). 

Keep protected on the market!

* * *

Censorship and Propaganda

“It’s simply the summer season flu.” 

OK, so how come flu positivity is flat, and Covid’s is up (see Walgreen’s):

And the way come outpatient visits are down, and Covid circumstances are up (Biobot wasterwater knowledge):

An infection

“World’s largest cruise ship prepares to sail as COVID-hit business rebounds” [Al Jazeera]. • We’re gonna want an even bigger Petri dish.

The wheels of commerce flip:

“Intra-host variation within the spike S1/S2 area of a feline coronavirus type-1 in a cat with persistent an infection” [bioRxiv]. I do know this isn’t Covid! For NC on feline Coronavirus, see right here. From the Summary: “Our research point out that FCoV-1 can independently persist within the gastrointestinal tract and coronary heart of a cat over a protracted time period with out proof of typical FIP indicators, with intermittent viral shedding from the gastrointestinal and respiratory tracts.” • I’m reminded of alert reader Roger Blakely’s remark yesterday.

Sequelae

“A Systematic Evaluate of Persistent Scientific Options After SARS-CoV-2 within the Pediatric Inhabitants” [Pediatrics]. Meta-study. “Twenty seven cohorts and 4 cross-sectional research met the inclusion standards and concerned over 15 000 pediatric individuals. A complete of greater than 20 persistent signs and scientific options had been reported amongst kids and adolescents. 16.2% (95% confidence interval 8.5% to twenty-eight.6%) of the pediatric individuals skilled 1 or extra persistent symptom(s) no less than 3 months put up COVID-19. Feminine gender is likely to be related to growing sure lengthy COVID signs.”

Remedy

“The effectiveness of antimicrobial mouthwashes in lowering viral load in saliva of COVID-19 sufferers” [News Medical Life Sciences]. We reviewed the examine coated by this text yesterday, however it makes some extent I ought to have made: “Though mouthwashes cut back viral load within the saliva of SARS-CoV-2 contaminated people, the virus continues to copy within the higher respiratory epithelia, thereby restoring viral masses within the saliva.” • Mouthwash, subsequently, enhances nasal sprays and washes, however doesn’t change them.

“One thing Terrible”

Lambert right here: I’m getting the sensation that the “One thing Terrible” is likely to be a sawtooth sample — variant after variant — that averages out to a completely excessive plateau. A number of exceptionally nasty sequelae, most probably deriving from immune dysregulation (says this layperson). To which we would add mind harm, together with character modifications therefrom.

* * *

“Vascular Dysfunctions Contribute to the Lengthy-Time period Cognitive Deficits Following COVID-19” [Biology]. A literature assessment. From the Conclusion: “In abstract, the SARS-CoV-2 virus can invade the mind and exert its neurological manifestation by binding to ACE2 on nerve cells and endothelial cells. A sound physique of proof reveals that SARS-CoV-2 impairs vascular integrity by direct or oblique viral an infection, resulting in endothelium harm and augmenting vascular penetrability in peripheral vessels, disrupting the [Blood Brain Barrier (BBB)] integrity and the CNS perform. Given the proof, the SARS-CoV-2 pathogen can induce cognitive impairment through vascular dysfunction, disruption of the BBB, interruption of oxygen provide, dissemination of intravascular coagulation, and neuro-inflammation. Taken collectively, the long-term cognitive penalties of SARS-CoV-2 an infection, to some extent, could also be because of throughout COVID-19 sickness and within the restoration phases. Along with the current proof, future research are wanted to find the precise long-term cognitive deficits in sufferers with COVID-19 and their possible mediator mechanisms.”

 

Elite Maleficence

The smile of a predator:

Handwashing. In 2023:

What an absolute shame. Disgrace LA Public Well being, who perceive neither airborne nor asymptomatic transmission. And in a metropolis of 4 million! The good contact web page appears designed to keep away from contact tranmission — there’s no cellphone — however right here’s an e mail handle: [email protected]. And talking of Los Angeles–

“COVID-19 is ‘heating up throughout’ this summer season. Ought to we be sporting masks once more?” [Los Angeles Times]. “‘Although the declared emergency is over, COVID remains to be circulating — and it in all probability shall be for fairly a while. And so should you actually don’t wish to get sick, you possibly can shield your self by sporting a masks whenever you’re indoors,’ stated Dr. Sara Cody, the Santa Clara County public well being director and well being officer. ‘But it surely’s, at this level, a person resolution.’ Sporting masks, even solely every now and then within the highest-risk environments, can assist ‘as a result of the extra individuals are collectively, the higher the possibility that a type of folks goes to be infectious and unfold COVID to others,’ Cody stated. That recommendation hasn’t modified, even with the tip of the pandemic emergency. Cody fell unwell with COVID-19 in February after consuming in an indoor eating corridor at her daughter’s school throughout a household weekend. Cody remembered pondering the chance on the time. ‘I simply stood on the market and thought, like, if I’m going in and dine at this occasion, I’m in danger. However, if I’m going in with my masks, and don’t dine, that’s not going to be actually beautiful for my daughter,”” she stated. ‘And so I simply considered it, and I decided, you realize: I simply thought, for her, I’ll simply take off my masks and go have lunch. After which I received COVID. I understood the chance. And I made a decision that for this explicit occasion that was very significant to my daughter, that I dined like each different guardian, I made a decision it was definitely worth the threat. Cody stated that after that have, she usually retains her masks on in indoor public venues, however ‘if there’s a social occasion the place I feel it’s actually, actually necessary to me, and if it’s not too crowded, and the air flow appears OK, I’d make an exception.’” • A tragic story, as a result of Cody was early and proper at first of the pandemic. The “perceive the chance” argument is improper. What Cody means — and that is the entire “private threat evaluation” paradigm — is the chance to herself, personally. However what concerning the threat to others? What about those that Cody contaminated whereas she was pre- or asymptomatic? What if Cody herself was a superspreader?

* * *

Case Information

NOT UPDATED From BioBot wastewater knowledge, August 7:

Lambert right here: Now we have now surpassed the second peak (#2), of the earlier Covid pandemic an infection peaks. I want to congratulate the Biden administration and the general public well being institution, the CDC particularly, for this huge and unprecedented achievement. And a tip of the ol’ Water Cooler hat to the Nice Barrington goons, whose insurance policies have been adopted so assiduously! I’m wondering which of the earlier peaks (#1, #3, or #4) we’ll surpass subsequent. A curious truth: All of Biden’s peaks are all greater than Trump’s peaks. Reveals you what public well being can do when it’s firing on all eight cylinders! Musical interlude.

Regional knowledge:

Curiously, the upswing begins earlier than July 4, which neither accelerates nor retards it.

Regional variant knowledge:

EG.5 (the orange pie slice) nonetheless appears evenly distributed.

Variants

NOT UPDATED From CDC, August 5:

From CDC, July 22:

Lambert right here: Undecided what to make of this. I’m used to seeing a brand new variant take down the beforehand dominant variant. Right here it appears like we now have a “tag group,” all working collectively to chop XBB.1.5 right down to dimension. I positive hope the volunteers doing Pangolin, on which this chart relies upon, don’t all transfer on the inexperienced fields and pastures new (or have their entry to amenities reduce by directors of unwell intent).

CDC: “As of Might 11, genomic surveillance knowledge shall be reported biweekly, primarily based on the supply of optimistic take a look at specimens.” “Biweeekly: 1. occurring each two weeks. 2. occurring twice every week; semiweekly.” Appears like CDC has chosen sense #1. In essence, they’re telling us variants are nothing to fret about. Time will inform.

Covid Emergency Room Visits

From CDC NCIRD Surveillance, August 5:

Lambert right here: Improve is much more distinct. (The black line is “mixed”, however it’s straightforward to see that Covid, the crimson line, is driving all the pieces.)

NOTE “Charts and knowledge offered by CDC, updates Wednesday by 8am. For the previous yr, utilizing a rolling 52-week interval.” So not your complete pandemic, FFS (the implicit message right here being that Covid is “identical to the flu,” which is why the seasonal “rolling 52-week interval” is acceptable for eachMR SUBLIMINAL I hate these folks a lot. Discover additionally that this chart reveals, no less than for its time interval, that Covid is not seasonal, although CDC is making an attempt to get us to imagine that it’s, presumably to allow them to piggyback on the present institutional equipment for injections.

Positivity

NOT UPDATED From Walgreens, August 7:

3.4%. Curiously, individuals are citing to this, too, in addition to Biobot. Vertical-ish, although absolutely the numbers are nonetheless very small relative to June 2022, say. Curiously, these don’t correlate with the regional figures for wastewater. (It will be fascinating to survey this inhabitants usually; these are individuals who, regardless of a tsunami of official propaganda and massive peer strain, went and received examined anyhow.)

NOT UPDATED From CDC, July 17:

Lambert right here: That is the CDC’s “Traveler-Based mostly Genomic Surveillance” knowledge. They are saying “maps,” however I don’t see one…. 

Deaths

NOT UPDATED Iowa COVID-19 Tracker, August 2:

Lambert right here: The WHO knowledge is nugatory, so I changed it with the Iowa Covid Information Tracker. Their technique: “These knowledge have been sourced, through the API from the CDC: https://knowledge.cdc.gov/NCHS/Circumstances-Contributing-to-COVID-19-Deaths-by-Stat/hk9y-quqm. This visualization updates on Wednesday evenings. Information are provisional and are adjusted weekly by the CDC.” I can’t appear to get a pop-up that reveals a complete of the three causes (prime proper). Readers?

Complete: 1,170,792 – 1,170,784 = 8 (8 * 365 = 2920 deaths per yr, in the present day’s YouGenicist™ quantity for “dwelling with” Covid (fairly a bit greater than the minimizers would really like, although they’ll discuss themselves into something. If the YouGenicist™ metric retains chugging alongside like this, I could should determine that is what the powers-that-be think about “mission completed” for this explicit tranche of dying and illness). 

Extra Deaths

NOT UPDATED The Economist, August 6:

Lambert right here:  Not up to date every day, for 3 days. Nonetheless odd. Based mostly on a machine-learning mannequin. (The CDC has an extra estimate too, however because it ran ceaselessly with an enormous typo within the Legend, I figured no person was actually taking a look at it, so I received rid it. )

Stats Watch

There aren’t any official statistics of curiosity in the present day.

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The Bezzle: “What’s the Deal With Sensor Tower?” [Daring Fireball]. “I wrote earlier this week concerning the onslaught of “”seems Threads is a bust”” information tales following within the wake of ‘Threads launches as a sensational hit’ tales. One factor that’s struck me whereas following that is simply what number of of those tales cite Sensor Tower knowledge. However how a lot ought to we take Sensor Tower’s utilization knowledge at face worth?” Many motive now given why the Sensor Tower knowledge isn’t an excellent proxy for Threads customers. Extra: “We will choose the accuracy of, say, political pollsters by evaluating their knowledge to the precise outcomes of elections. There’s no such reckoning for the utilization knowledge revealed by Sensor Tower and their ilk. It’s all unverifiable, however by no means reported as such. The information media so badly needs to know utilization knowledge that they simply settle for Sensor Tower and different such corporations’ pronouncements at face worth, with out ever describing — not to mention questioning — how they ostensibly know what they declare to learn about very personal knowledge.”

Tech: “3 web sites go dwell each second” [Anadolu Agency]. “With over 1 billion energetic web sites worldwide, three new web sites are launched each second, with Google, YouTube, Fb, Instagram, and Twitter that includes as probably the most visited websites on the web. In keeping with knowledge from the webpage constructing web site Siteefy, 10,500 web sites are launched each hour worldwide, 175 websites each minute, and three websites each second. Among the many web sites the world over, 18% (almost 202 million) of them are used actively. Every day, 252,000 new web sites are created, equaling 10,500 websites per hour, 175 websites per minute, and three websites per second going dwell Based mostly on knowledge from similarweb.com, ‘google.com’ is the most-visited web site globally, adopted by ‘youtube.com,’ ‘fb.com,’ ‘instagram.com,’ and ‘twitter.com.’ Relating to common go to durations, customers spend roughly 10 minutes and 38 seconds on Google, 20 minutes and 25 seconds on YouTube, 10 minutes and 43 seconds on Fb, 8 minutes and 22 seconds on Instagram, and 10 minutes and 47 seconds on Twitter.” • Fascinating that Twitter ranks so excessive.

Provide Chain: A twister struck a Pfizer warehouse, and also you’ll by no means guess what occurred subsequent:

Provide Chain: “How Yellow’s Downfall Is Rippling By the Financial system” [Wall Street Journal]. “Yellow was a $5.2 billion enterprise as not too long ago as final yr when it moved round 50,000 shipments a day in a trucking community that made it a elementary a part of the availability chains of a whole lot of U.S. firms.” Effectively value a learn. Right here’s the true property angle: “These and different trucking firms might also choose up a few of Yellow’s sprawling actual property holdings, together with the handfuls of truck terminals the provider has collected across the U.S. to maneuver freight. A lot of them are in prime areas close to inhabitants facilities and can hit the market at a time when constructing new trucking amenities faces pushback in communities.”

* * *

In the present day’s Concern & Greed Index: 66 Greed (earlier shut: 69 Greed) [CNN]. One week in the past: 74 (Greed). (0 is Excessive Concern; 100 is Excessive Greed). Final up to date Aug 9 at 1:13 PM ET.

Zeitgeist Watch

“Florida college district to solely educate excerpts from Shakespeare underneath new laws” [Sky News]. • In the meantime, kids must be uncovered to deadly pathogens to toughen up their immune methods. It’s a humorous outdated world.

The Gallery

Class Warfare

“Why are actors making motion pictures in the course of the strike? What to learn about SAG-AFTRA waivers” [Associated Press]. • As a result of they’re scabs.

Information of the Wired

“Might strolling prolong your lifespan? – examine” [Jerusalem Post]. “Public well being and sports activities medication specialists have advisable that individuals stroll 10,000 steps a day to advertise good well being. However that quantity doesn’t appear to be holy. The variety of steps you must stroll day by day to begin seeing advantages to your well being is decrease than beforehand thought, based on the most important evaluation ever to research this. The examine, simply revealed within the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology discovered that strolling a median of no less than 3,967 steps a day began to cut back the chance of dying from any trigger, and a pair of,337 steps a day diminished the chance of dying from cardiovascular illnesses. The brand new evaluation of 226,889 folks from 17 totally different research world wide has proven that the extra you stroll, the higher the well being advantages. The chance of dying from any trigger or from heart problems decreases considerably with each 500 to 1000 additional steps you stroll. A rise of 1,000 steps a day was related to a 15% discount within the threat of dying from any trigger, whereas a rise of 500 steps a day was related to a 7% discount in dying from coronary heart illness and stroke.” • Meta-analysis. Nonetheless! Remember to search for on the sky, not down at your ft!

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Contact data for crops: Readers, be happy to contact me at lambert [UNDERSCORE] strether [DOT] corrente [AT] yahoo [DOT] com, to (a) learn the way to ship me a examine if you’re allergic to PayPal and (b) to learn the way to ship me photographs of crops. Greens are effective! Fungi and coral are deemed to be honorary crops! In order for you your deal with to seem as a credit score, please place it at first of your mail in parentheses: (thus). In any other case, I’ll anonymize through the use of your initials. See the earlier Water Cooler (with plant) right here. From EM:

EM writes: “How we doing? From Eire.”

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