By Lambert Strether of Corrente.
Chook Music of the Day
Northern Mockingbird, Quitman Farm, Brooks, Georgia, United States.
In Case You Would possibly Miss…
- DOGE.
- Kamala’s future. If any.
- The state of tech: like industrial chemical accident.
- Covid wastewater: Excellent news.
I suppose that is serving to:
Man warms up chook’s toes to unfreeze! pic.twitter.com/ngz9uposfi
— Nature is Wonderful ☘️ (@AMAZlNGNATURE) December 16, 2024
Will the opposite birds reject this chook, because it’s been held by a human?
My e-mail handle is down by the plant; please ship examples of there (“Helpers” within the topic line). In our more and more determined and fragile neoliberal society, on a regular basis regular incidents and tales of “the communism of on a regular basis life” are what I’m searching for (and never, say, the Crimson Cross in Hawaii, and even the UNWRA in Gaza).
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
Good ol’ Scranton Joe:
Michael Conahan took $2,800,000 in bribes from a non-public jail in change for locking up 2300 youngsters, one in every of whom dedicated suicide.
Biden commuted his sentence.
Steven Donziger gained a $9 bn lawsuit towards Chevron & received locked up for 3.5 in retaliation.
He was not pardoned. pic.twitter.com/jR1G9Br0gx
— Local weather Defiance (@ClimateDefiance) December 16, 2024
Trump Transition
“Bernie Sanders Warns U.S. Is Changing into an Oligarchy” [Rolling Stone]. “Changing into?” “‘We’re shifting quickly into an oligarchic type of society. By no means earlier than in American historical past have so few billionaires, so few folks, have a lot wealth and a lot energy,’ the senator mentioned. ‘By no means earlier than has there been a lot focus of possession, sector after sector, energy of Wall Avenue,’ he continued. ‘And by no means earlier than in American historical past — and we higher discuss this — have the folks on prime had a lot political energy. We are able to’t go all over the world saying, ‘Oh, properly, you realize, in Russia Putin has an oligarchy.’ Properly, we received our oligarchy right here too.’ … In a video launched Friday, Sanders mentioned, ‘In 2024, simply 150 billionaire households spent practically $2 billion to buy candidates.’” • If solely Sanders weren’t the loine voice saying this. If solely he had performed himself such that he wasn’t the one voice saying this. It’s tragic.
* * * “Dr. Oz Uncovered for Colossal, Multimillion-Greenback Battle of Curiosity” [The New Republic]. “Dr. Mehmet Oz, the daytime tv host Donald Trump has picked to run the Facilities for Medicare and Medicaid Providers, or CMS, could have a direct monetary stake in three firms that will do enterprise with the company he intends to run. A evaluation of Oz’s 2022 tax disclosure by Accountable.US revealed that the Trump ally owned as much as $26 million stake in Sharecare, a digital well being firm co-founded by Oz that operates CareLinx, the “unique in-home care supplemental profit program” utilized by 1.5 million Medicare Benefit enrollees. The corporate went personal in 2024, so it’s unknown whether or not Oz nonetheless owns a stake within the firm. Novo Nordisk, which produces Ozempic and Wegovy amongst different medicine, can be a shopper of Sharecare. As head of CMS, Oz has appreciable impression on the pharmaceutical business—however with enterprise ties like these, it’s equally probably that these drug firms may have a profound impression on him.” • $26 million? Oz is a patzer. Certainly the identical logic applies to each single billionaire in Trump’s cupboard? In any case, what’s an oligarchy however battle of curiosity on the grand scale?
“Trump’s CDC choose wouldn’t let go of false concept vaccines trigger autism” [WaPo]. “A Washington Put up evaluation of Weldon’s public feedback, media appearances and congressional letters together with accounts of those that labored with him reveal a portrait of a politician and doctor who emphasised the experiences of people whereas dismissing dozens of research primarily based on knowledge from a whole lot of hundreds of sufferers that confirmed no hyperlink between vaccines and autism…. And but, Weldon has additionally expressed assist for coronavirus and flu vaccines in media interviews and personal conversations — providing each photographs to sufferers who need them. His combined stances on vaccines point out a willingness to agree with some mainstream public well being steerage, some political opponents say…. ‘I give photographs, I consider in vaccination,’ Weldon informed the New York Occasions in a current interview. He mentioned each his grownup youngsters are absolutely immunized however declined to say whether or not he nonetheless believes a hyperlink exists between autism and vaccines.” • Hmm. Headline a bit misleading then.
* * * “How Quick Can Trump Enact His 2025 Agenda?” [Ed Kilgore, New York Magazine]. “The important thing to implementing Trump’s legislative agenda would be the budget-reconciliation course of that allows Congress to bypass the Senate filibuster and enact a giant bundle of latest legal guidelines on an up-or-down party-line vote. That is how Trump received his tax cuts in 2017 and the way he tried to repeal Obamacare. Gadgets in a budget-reconciliation invoice have to be targeted on fiscal issues, nevertheless it’s nonetheless an enormous asset to a celebration that controls the White Home and each chambers of Congress. It’s starting to seem like Workforce Trump desires two budget-reconciliation payments, one targeted on authorizing the massive buildup in border-security sources crucial for Trump’s mass deportation of undocumented immigrants and one other geared toward extending the 2017 Trump tax cuts. There’s rising discuss of a really fast begin on the primary invoice. Because the 119th Congress shall be sworn in on January 3, Congress may get shifting on a funds decision establishing this invoice even earlier than Trump takes workplace.” • This publish gives a helpful timeline for Trump’s first yr.
“Behind the Curtain: Creators & destroyers” [Axios]. “Consider President-elect Trump’s prime Cupboard and West Wing officers in two huge buckets: The Creators are charged with stoking a booming, AI-enabled financial system, together with a low jobless fee — the ‘golden age of America’ that Trump promised after he gained. The Destroyers are the extra controversial picks — wired to disrupt present establishments, and performing on smoldering grievances towards the organizations they’ve been picked to guide. This creators-plus-destroyers dynamic dominates the behind-the-scenes jockeying for jobs and affect. Anticipate jarring swings between common, pro-growth strikes and ruthless authorities gutting and payback. It’s the Trump Means.” Fascinating binary. Extra: “The Creators are focused on Trump’s financial staff, together with Treasury nominee Scott Bessent, a hedge-fund veteran with Wall Avenue cred.” And: “The Destroyers are out for revenge — typically for Trump, typically for themselves, typically born of ideology. Then they’ll rebuild in MAGA’s picture. These are picks the place Trump has gone with this intestine. Trump is hellbent on retribution towards the FBI for investigating him. Thus the aggressive choose of hardliner Kash Patel for FBI director. Trump can be joyful to return the Pentagon, the largest paperwork of all of them, to its roots — heart it across the wants of warfighters, and tear down and rebuild a damaged procurement system. A transition supply says Trump informed Pete Hegseth, his alternative for SecDef: ‘I count on you to do extra with much less. They’re spending an excessive amount of cash, and we’re not getting something for all that cash.’” The place’s the lie? Extra: “So Trump fought again when Hegseth’s affirmation possibilities regarded shaky after a sequence of damaging articles final month. However a ferocious operation by Trump’s interior circle now has Hegseth on monitor for affirmation, barring damaging new data. You possibly can see Trump’s deep distrust of the intelligence group in his number of former Democratic congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard for director of nationwide intelligence. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. would deliver radically new instincts and priorities to HHS — and, some public-health critics contend, undermine the mission.” • Properly value a learn.
* * * “Bringing Elon to a knife struggle” [Jennifer Pahlka, Eating Policy]. “A variety of the federal government tech group is skipping the hand wringing; they’ve mainly simply grabbed a bag of popcorn and are watching in actual time as Elon and Vivek be taught all of the issues they’ve identified, lived, and completely hated for his or her total time in public service. They don’t see DOGE as their savior, however they’re feeling vindicated after years of shouting into the void. I’m struck by how totally different the tone of the DOGE dialog is between political leaders on the left and the individuals who’ve been preventing within the implementation trenches. One group is terrified they’ll succeed. The opposite is beginning to ask a shocking query (or not less than I’m): What if even billionaires can’t disrupt the system we’ve constructed?” • Up to now, DOGE is a only a volunteer group. I may volunteer to reform authorities too, and even get pals to affix the “effort.” So what? However DOGE is loads like what Hyman Minksy mentioned about cash: “Everybody can create cash; the issue is to get it accepted.” How does DOGE get “accepted?” How, precisely, is DOGE going to transition from handwaving potential to kinetic power inside (or not less than affecting authorities? No person appears to ask. Jawboning? Government orders?
“Industrial and enterprise teams ship Trump a deregulatory want listing” [Los Angeles Times]. “Greater than 100 industrial commerce teams and chambers of commerce are urging President-elect Donald Trump to weaken or get rid of quite a few Biden administration rules on vitality, air air pollution, recycling, employee warmth protections, shopper safeguards and company financing, claiming that the principles are ‘strangling’ the nation’s financial system. In a 21-page letter addressed to Trump and his presumptive Cupboard, the teams requested adjustments to dozens of ‘burdensome rules which can be stifling funding, making us much less aggressive on the earth, limiting innovation and threatening the very jobs we’re all working to create proper right here in America.’ Amongst different actions, the Dec. 5 letter urges Trump to renew exports of liquefied pure gasoline, assist laws boosting using nuclear vitality, repeal new emission requirements for coal- and gas-fired energy crops, calm down newly proposed requirements for soot and PFAS ‘eternally’ chemical substances, pause implementation of employee warmth requirements, restrict the Meals and Drug Administration’s meals traceability necessities and struggle efforts to impose ‘right-to-repair’ guidelines, which offer customers with instruments and directions to repair their broken electronics as an alternative of throwing them away.” • What a bizarre image of themselves these folks should have. Does any CEO sit down and ask themselves, very first thing, “What number of jobs can I create?”
* * * “Clashes Are Coming for Trump Officers Eating Out in DC” [Washingtonian]. “This time round, with a full Republican sweep of presidency, a fair bigger solid of divisive characters, and no Trump Lodge during which to congregate, the MAGA crowd is prone to really feel much more omnipresent [(?)] once they swagger into DC. Inevitably, that can result in clashes in a fiercely blue, politically engaged metropolis the place Residence Rule is beneath menace, numerous jobs are in danger, and fewer than 7 p.c of voters picked Trump within the first place. ‘The shift in politics shall be visceral throughout a number of facets of each day life. You count on the plenty to simply ignore RFK consuming at Le Diplomate on a Sunday morning after a number of mimosas and to not throw a drink in his face?,’ says Zac Hoffman, a DC restaurant veteran who’s now a supervisor on the Nationwide Democratic Membership (however has by no means labored at Le Diplomate). Hoffman is worried that it gained’t simply be a security threat or disruption for the officers focused, but additionally for restaurant workers and fellow diners. ‘Should you’re simply going out for a pleasant dinner or it’s your anniversary or birthday and, God forbid, RFK Jr. is sitting subsequent to you, now you’re going to be coping with no matter repercussions occur from that.’ Eating decorum and ‘civility’ have been already sizzling button points over the past Trump administration. In 2018, when information about household separations on the border had reached a fever pitch, Democratic congresswoman Maxine Waters known as on the general public to ‘push again’ on Trump Cupboard members they encountered in eating places, department shops, or gasoline stations and inform them ‘they’re not welcome anymore, anyplace.’ Extra lately, liberal activists tried to enlist hospitality employees in aiding with public disruptions. Within the wake of the Supreme Court docket overturning Roe v. Wade, a liberal advocacy group known as ShutDownDC—which interrupted Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s dinner at Morton’s steakhouse—supplied $250 to DC service employees who shared real-time sightings of different justices concerned within the abortion resolution.” • Democrats can’t arrange DC into right now’s equal of Parisian sans culottes, oh no no. However they will get some poor waitstaff in bother in order that they will harass some demon determine or different. Pathetic.
2024 Put up Mortem
“Kamala Harris grapples along with her future in a wounded Democratic Celebration” [WaPo]. “Within the wake of her personal 2024 loss, Vice President Kamala Harris and her allies are grappling with what her political future holds and debating whether or not the unofficial rule nonetheless applies — particularly, whether or not her first shot on the White Home because the Democratic nominee must also be her just one, given the extraordinary circumstances of Harris’s 107-day dash to Election Day.” And: “A few of her donors and supporters, notably these in her residence state, hope she is going to run for governor of California in 2026. However in 2015, when she was state lawyer common and a rising star deciding on her subsequent transfer, Harris determined to not search that job after intensive discussions with advisers. She listed the professionals and cons of operating for governor versus senator on a authorized pad, aides mentioned, concluding that the Senate was a greater match for her pursuits and her strengths as a former prosecutor. However as quickly as she misplaced to Trump on Nov. 5, some Harris supporters seized on the thought of a gubernatorial run, together with rich donors wanting to see her take a management function in such a robust publish. ‘,’ one Harris confidante mentioned.”• Lol. Musical interlude.
Democrats en déshabillé
“Progressives ought to defend Biden’s legacy to guard their future” [E.J. Dionne, WaPo]. “He modified the paradigm of financial coverage from a view that prosperity stems from rewarding ‘job creators’ on the prime to what he known as a ‘middle-out’ and ‘bottom-up’ technique. It wasn’t only a slogan. In recent times, wage development amongst low- and middle-income employees has outpaced that of higher-income teams.” However: “[T]he administration’s [failed] to advertise the president’s achievements whereas responding successfully to discontent.” • Appears to be a full court docket press:
We predict that this detailed take a look at what the president did and why shall be of curiosity as we head into the long run. We’re happy to deliver it to you.https://t.co/ZAr6IdDPT7
— David Dayen (@ddayen) December 16, 2024
I’d definitely quite see Biden at The Prospect than with these weasels over on the Heart for American Progress. That mentioned, I’m with James Galbraith:
On the similar time, jobs have been starting to return again—however what jobs? In financial mythology, American life facilities on work—on character-building, strength-testing, skill-demanding engagement with the bodily world, on the farm, the vary, the manufacturing facility, the development web site or the open street. However most jobs right now aren’t like that; virtually all new jobs in America for the previous 60 years have been in companies—in outlets, workplaces, eating places; in accounting, bookkeeping, upkeep, and different minor professions. Most such jobs are neither safe nor well-paid, and it typically takes two or extra to maintain a middle-class family. Prices of commuting and little one care make many secondary jobs barely worthwhile to carry. Covid aid and enforced unemployment gave many Individuals a break, which they used to reassess their relationship to work. Many determined to not return, which is why the jobless fee fell and remained low, though the employment-to-population ratio by no means absolutely recovered.
Because the financial system started to open up once more, employers wanted employees. Vacancies rose. What to do? The choice of elevating wages (and enhancing working circumstances) isn’t enticing, for the reason that beneficial properties have to be given to all employees, not merely these newly employed or rehired. The choice is to place a squeeze on those that have left the labor power till they really feel the pinch and are available again, hat in hand, in search of a job. And this might be executed, with the complicity of the Biden staff, by letting Covid advantages expire, and by climbing rates of interest. Value will increase, instantly boosting income, additionally added to the stress on the not-employed. Is it a shock that individuals don’t like being pressured to take “bullshit jobs”?
Or as Quartz summarizes:
Galbraith comes from the left to counsel the issue with Bidenomics just isn’t what it achieved, however what it didn’t do: It didn’t generate a lot better pay for low-wage service jobs, it didn’t put to relaxation the worry many Individuals have that their jobs will not be safe, and it didn’t reverse the decline in actual buying energy.
Regardless of all of the stimulus cash, regardless of all of the funding in infrastructure and building jobs, and all of the assist — now ended — to provide folks healthcare and housing help — the wealthy have been merely getting richer whereas the typical Joe or Jane was nonetheless only one paycheck away from catastrophe.
Syndemics
“I’m in earnest — I can’t equivocate — I can’t excuse — I can’t retreat a single inch — AND I WILL BE HEARD.” –William Lloyd Garrison
Covid Assets, United States (Nationwide): Transmission (CDC); Wastewater (CDC, Biobot; consists of many counties; Wastewater Scan, consists of drilldown by zip); Variants (CDC; Walgreens); “Iowa COVID-19 Tracker” (in IA, however nationwide knowledge). “An infection Management, Emergency Administration, Security, and Basic Ideas” (particularly on hospitalization by metropolis).
Lambert right here: Readers, thanks for the collective effort. To replace any entry, do be at liberty to contact me on the handle given with the crops. Please put “COVID” within the topic line. Thanks!
Assets, United States (Native): AK (dashboard); AL (dashboard); AR (dashboard); AZ (dashboard); CA (dashboard; Marin, dashboard; Stanford, wastewater; Oakland, wastewater); CO (dashboard; wastewater); CT (dashboard); DE (dashboard); FL (wastewater); GA (wastewater); HI (dashboard); IA (wastewater studies); ID (dashboard, Boise; dashboard, wastewater, Central Idaho; wastewater, Coeur d’Alene; dashboard, Spokane County); IL (wastewater); IN (dashboard); KS (dashboard; wastewater, Lawrence); KY (dashboard, Louisville); LA (dashboard); MA (wastewater); MD (dashboard); ME (dashboard); MI (wastewater; wastewater); MN (dashboard); MO (wastewater); MS (dashboard); MT (dashboard); NC (dashboard); ND (dashboard; wastewater); NE (dashboard); NH (wastewater); NJ (dashboard); NM (dashboard); NV (dashboard; wastewater, Southern NV); NY (dashboard); OH (dashboard); OK (dashboard); OR (dashboard); PA (dashboard); RI (dashboard); SC (dashboard); SD (dashboard); TN (dashboard); TX (dashboard); UT (wastewater); VA (wastewater); VT (dashboard); WA (dashboard; dashboard); WI (wastewater); WV (wastewater); WY (wastewater).
Assets, Canada (Nationwide): Wastewater (Authorities of Canada).
Assets, Canada (Provincial): ON (wastewater); QC (les eaux usées); BC (wastewater); BC, Vancouver (wastewater).
Hat tricks to useful readers: Alexis, anon (2), Art_DogCT, B24S, CanCyn, ChiGal, Chuck L, Festoonic, FM, FreeMarketApologist (4), Gumbo, hop2it, JB, JEHR, JF, JL Joe, John, JM (10), JustAnotherVolunteer, JW, KatieBird, KF, KidDoc, LL, Michael King, KF, LaRuse, mrsyk, MT, MT_Wild, otisyves, Petal (6), RK (2), RL, RM, Rod, sq. coats (11), tennesseewaltzer, Tom B., Utah, Bob White (3).
Keep protected on the market!
Symbols aren’t instruments?
Masks / Respirators are *instruments* to drastically scale back the danger of an infection from airborne pathogens. Their transformation into political and sociological *symbols* has been an enormous hindrance to addressing threat. Demonising *people* who do or don’t masks simply makes this worse.
— Conor Browne (@brownecfm) December 13, 2024
Image manipulators absolutely consider symbols are instruments.
TABLE 1: Day by day Covid Charts
| Wastewater | |
| ★This week[1] CDC December 9 | Final week[2] CDC (till subsequent week): |
|
|
|
| Variants [3] CDC December 7 | Emergency Room Visits[4] CDC December 7 |
|
|
|
| Hospitalization | |
| ★New York[5] New York State, knowledge December 13: | Nationwide [6] CDC December 12: |
|
|
|
| Positivity | |
| Nationwide[7] Walgreens December 9: | Ohio[8] Cleveland Clinic December 7: |
|
|
|
| Vacationers Knowledge | |
| 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 right now; all others will not be up to date.
2) For a full-size/full-resolution picture, Command-click (MacOS) or right-click (Home windows) on the chart thumbnail and “open picture in new tab.”
NOTES
[1] (CDC) Up typically, seeing a little bit extra pink, however nothing new on the main worldwide hubs. Curiously, Calculated Threat is watching wastewater too.
[2] (CDC) Final week’s wastewater map.
[3] (CDC Variants) XEC takes over. That WHO label, “Ommicron,” has executed an important job normalizing successive waves of an infection.
[4] (ED) Slightly uptick.
[5] (Hospitalization: NY) Leveled out.
[6] (Hospitalization: CDC). Leveling out.
[7] (Walgreens) Leveling out.
[8] (Cleveland) Up!
[9] (Vacationers: Positivity) Leveling out.
[10] (Vacationers: Variants). Positivity is new, however variants haven’t but been launched.
[11] Deaths low, positivity leveling out.
[12] Deaths low, ED leveling out.
Stats Watch
Manufacturing: “United States NY Empire State Manufacturing Index” [Trading Economics]. “The NY Empire State Manufacturing Index fell to 0.20 in December 2024 from 31.2 in November which was the very best studying since December 2021, and properly beneath forecasts of 12. The studying confirmed enterprise exercise within the NY state held regular, following a giant rise within the earlier month.”
Manufacturing: “Boeing’s 12 months of Disaster Leaves Traders Cautious of Overwhelmed-Up Inventory” [Bloomberg]. ” What was purported to be a comeback yr for Boeing Co. has was its worst stock-market plunge since 2008, and if Wall Avenue is true, the plane-maker’s shares could have solely a modest restoration in retailer in 2025…. The inventory is down 35% this yr, inserting it among the many 20 greatest decliners within the S&P 500 Index. The shares have stabilized over the previous month, however buyers stay cautious. They level to the string of crises in 2024 that shook their confidence in Boeing’s prospects and the danger that it’s going to undergo ought to commerce friction construct anew beneath President-elect Donald Trump. ‘Simply staying out of the information can be a win for Boeing at this level,’ mentioned Eric Clark, portfolio supervisor of the Rational Dynamic Manufacturers Fund.” • And talking of public relations–
Manufacturing: “Pig Stench Causes KLM Boeing 787-9 To Divert To Bermuda” [Simple Flying]. “KLM Flight 685 was diverted to Bermuda after the scent of a herd of swine from beneath decks wafted by the cabin…. The crew reported an “obnoxious scent from cargo coming from pigs in all probability, which can have one thing to do with the oxygen surroundings within the cockpit.’…. The diversion was not an emergency. There was no Mayday name, no PAN name, and no emergency companies have been required. The pigs have been unloaded and brought to a “safe location on the island throughout their impromptu vacation stayover.” • Clearly not Boeing’s fault, however they will’t catch a break, can they?
Manufacturing: “Boeing Delays Imply Trump Received’t Fly on a New Air Drive One” [Wall Street Journal]. “President-elect Donald Trump didn’t get to fly on a brand new Air Drive One throughout his first time period. He probably gained’t get to fly on a brand new presidential airplane in his second time period, both. The long-delayed undertaking has fallen to this point not on time that Boeing has informed the Air Drive that it expects to ship the brand new jets after Trump leaves the White Home, in response to folks aware of the matter. Meaning the airplanes wouldn’t be prepared till 2029 or later. Pissed off with the delays, Trump raised the undertaking with Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg when the 2 males had a telephone dialog in November. As he prepares to return to the White Home, Trump has repeatedly requested advisers in regards to the standing of Boeing’s work.Boeing was an important American firm, he has informed aides, in response to folks briefed on the discussions. What occurred to them? Trump has requested.”
The Bezzle: Why don’t we’ve a Strategic Baseball Card Reserve?
Charles Schwab says Bitcoin may hit $500,000 – $1 million if Trump establishes a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. pic.twitter.com/BLKN2STIqb
— unusual_whales (@unusual_whales) December 15, 2024
Can anyone clarify to me what’s “Strategic” a couple of “Strategic Bitcorn Reserve,” and why it’s not merely an outright subsidy to those crooks and fraudsters?
Immediately’s Concern & Greed Index: 56 Greed (earlier shut: 50 Impartial) [CNN]. One week in the past: 48 (Impartial). (0 is Excessive Concern; 100 is Excessive Greed). Final up to date Dec 16 at 1:19:55 PM ET.
Rapture Index: Closes down one on Plagues. “The shortage of exercise has downgraded this class” [Rapture Ready]. Document Excessive, October 10, 2016: 189. Present: 182. (Do not forget that bringing on the Rapture is sweet.) • Laborious to consider the Rapture Index goes down. Doesn’t the collapse of Syria deliver the Third Temple nearer? Do these folks know one thing we don’t?
Gallery
David with the top of Goliath:
Caravaggio pic.twitter.com/vA3No66R05
— Artwork Gallery (@X_ArtGallery) December 15, 2024
Chairoscuro!
Healthcare
“The suitable believes the healthcare CEO capturing suspect is a ‘liberal wacko’. The reality is sophisticated” [Guardian]. “Trump, along with his simple knack for tapping into the anger and considerations of his supporters, has noticeably been silent on Thompson’s killing…. It’s revealing that Trump, the arch-populist, has stayed silent. The incoming president, so good at driving the waves of public opinion, has at instances been a fierce critic of healthcare firms himself…. ‘For years, sufferers have been shocked to obtain sudden payments for hundreds of {dollars} in medical companies they by no means agreed to. The primary America First Healthcare Plan bans this deeply unfair follow. We’ll finish shock medical billing. The times of ripping off American sufferers are over,’ Trump mentioned in North Carolina in 2020, saying an finally doomed effort to rein within the likes of UnitedHealthcare…. ‘President Donald J Trump may be very shrewd, and he understands what is occurring right here. He understands that it’s his base too. So he’s going to be very calculated,’ [Nina] Turner mentioned.”
“By no means Forgive Them” [Ed Zitron, Where’s Your Ed At?] A powerful rant, value studying in full. This caught my eye: “I’m not scripting this to complain, however as a result of I consider — as I hinted at a number of weeks in the past — that we’re within the midst of the largest-scale ecological catastrophe of our time, as a result of virtually each single interplay with expertise, which is required to stay in trendy society, has develop into actively adversarial to the person. These points hit every little thing we do, on a regular basis, a continuing onslaught of interference, and I consider it’s a lot larger than simply social media and algorithms — although they’re a giant a part of it, after all. In plain phrases, everyone is being fucked with always in tiny little methods by most apps and companies, and I consider that billions of individuals being fucked with without delay in all of those methods has profound psychological and social penalties that we’re not meaningfully discussing. The typical individual’s expertise with expertise is one so aggressive and violative that I consider it leaves billions of individuals with a constant low-grade trauma. We appear, as a society, able to understanding that social media can harm us, unsettle us, or make us really feel crazed and offended, however I believe it’s time to just accept that the remainder of the tech ecosystem undermines our wellbeing in an equally-insidious manner. And most of the people don’t understand it’s occurring, as a result of everyone has accepted deeply shitty circumstances for the final ten years.” And: “Why wouldn’t folks really feel insane? Why wouldn’t the web, the place we’re largely pressured to stay, drive most individuals loopy? How are we not discussing the truth that a lot of the web is riddled with poison? How are we not treating the present state of the tech business like an industrial chemical accident? Is it as a result of there are too many individuals at fault? Is it as a result of fixing it will require us to really interrogate the material of a capitalist dying cult?”• He’s not fallacious, is he?
“How Silicon Valley is disrupting democracy” [MIT Technology Review]. “One factor [Rob Lalka’s The Venture Alchemists] is especially efficient at is deflating the parable that these entrepreneurs have been someway gifted seers of (and buyers in) a future the remainder of us merely couldn’t comprehend or predict. Positive, somebody like Thiel made what turned out to be a savvy funding in Fb early on, however he additionally made some very expensive errors with that stake. As Lalka factors out, Thiel’s Founders Fund dumped tens of tens of millions of shares shortly after Fb went public, and Thiel himself went from proudly owning 2.5% of the corporate in 2012 to 0.000004% lower than a decade later (across the similar time Fb hit its trillion-dollar valuation). Throw in his objectively horrible wagers in 2008, 2009, and past, when he successfully shorted what turned out to be one of many longest bull markets in world historical past, and also you get the impression he’s much less oracle and extra ideologue who occurred to take some huge dangers that paid off.” • And that’s earlier than we get to Marc Andreessen.
“A Blind Beetle Named Hitler?” [JSTOR]. “Naming species isn’t any easy job: a scientist doesn’t simply assign a reputation and name it a day. Taxonomy is a rigorously structured course of ruled by strict worldwide guidelines such because the Worldwide Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi and crops.” Dang. Algae must be honorary crops, too. Extra: “One instance is Anophthalmus hitleri, a blind beetle. The species was named by beginner Austrian entomologist Oskar Scheibel as a tribute to Adolf Hitler… Immediately the beetle is critically endangered, partly due to its attraction to those that accumulate Nazi memorabilia. The enduring legacy of racist, offensive phrases in scientific nomenclature raises vital questions on ethics in naming and the ability of language in sustaining or dismantling colonial legacies.” • Depart the identify. It’s karma.
Contact data for crops: Readers, be at liberty to contact me at lambert [UNDERSCORE] strether [DOT] corrente [AT] yahoo [DOT] com, to (a) learn the way to ship me a examine if you’re allergic to PayPal and (b) to learn the way to ship me photographs of crops. Greens are wonderful! 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 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 WB:
WB writes: “Our garlic chives are preparing for winter.”
Readers: Water Cooler is a standalone entity not lined by the annual NC fundraiser. Materials right here is Lambert’s, and doesn’t categorical the views of the Bare Capitalism web site. Should you see a hyperlink you particularly like, or an merchandise you wouldn’t see anyplace else, please don’t hesitate to specific your appreciation in tangible kind. Bear in mind, a tip jar is for tipping! Common optimistic suggestions each makes me really feel good and lets me know I’m heading in the right direction with protection. After I get no donations for 3 or 4 days I get apprehensive. Extra tangibly, a continuing trickle of donations helps me with bills, and I consider that trickle when setting fundraising targets:
Right here is the display that can seem, which I’ve helpfully annotated:
Should you hate PayPal, you may e-mail me at lambert [UNDERSCORE] strether [DOT] corrente [AT] yahoo [DOT] com, and I gives you instructions on how you can ship a examine. Thanks!
