By Lambert Strether of Corrente.
Patient readers, as you can see, I have revised to Covid chart section so that it is less dominating and easier to scan. I have other improvements I wish to make, so this is a first cut. Comments welcome! –lambert NOTE They are meant to be small — but you can Command/CTRL-click on the image to see a larger version.
Politics
“So many of the social reactions that strike us as psychological are in fact a rational management of symbolic capital.” –Pierre Bourdieu, Classification Struggles
The Constitutional Order
Alert reader GH went through the amici briefs for Anderson and throws some links over the transom (and has his own interpretations, which he is qualified to have. But I will give my own views in any case, extracting nuggets and commenting on them, since it would really take at least one post to explicate all this material. All interesting and high-powered!)
“BRIEF AMICUS CURIAE OF EDWARD B. FOLEY, BENJAMIN L. GINSBERG, AND RICHARD L. HASEN IN SUPPORT OF NEITHER PARTY” (PDF) [In the Supreme Court of the United States]. I quarrel with this nugget: “Similarly, the Twenty-Second Amendment bars anyone from being ‘elected to the office of the President more than twice.’ Again, state election officials and state scourts need no congressional direction on what it means to have been ‘elected to the office’ to bar a candidate from a third term.” • This is the “determining if a candidate is over the age of 35 is really just the same as determining if he is an insurrectionist”-argument. I don’t buy it. If it’s a trivial, administrative matter to determine of Trump is an insurrectionist, why was he never charged with the crime? Occam’s razor says prosecutors couldn’t make the case. But if it’s not trivial, then the analogy collapses, exactly as the analogy to age-based disqualification collapses.
“AMICUS CURIAE BRIEF OF AKHIL REED AMAR AND VIKRAM DAVID AMAR IN SUPPORT OF NEITHER PARTY” (PDF) [In the Supreme Court of the United States]. “Thanks to this Court’s sound decision in Moore v. Harper, a ruling upholding the Colorado court will not create chaos, contrary to the fevered imaginations of some commentators.” • This is silly. In Colorado and Maine we have disqualification performed by two different branches of government with two different burdens of proof (both by Democrats, I might add). Imagine the election was decided by the electoral votes of either of those two states. How would that not be chaos?
“BRIEF OF PROFESSOR DEREK T. MULLER AS AMICUS CURIAE IN SUPPORT OF NEITHER PARTY” (PDF) [In the Supreme Court of the United States]. “Any decision that purports to leave to Congress some decision-making authority over this area must be precise. Open-ended deference to Congress risks statements used out of context to manufacture an election crisis in the months to come.” • Hmm. “Purports”? What the heck is Section 5 in there for, then?
* * * “The 14point3 Campaign” [Free Speech For People]. A useful aggregation, though not exactly neural. Ben Binswanger, the Director, used to be on the board of Demos, the thinktank that famously fired blogger Matt Bruenig “after he called the Center for American Progress’s president Neera Tanden a scumbag.”
2024
Less than a year to go!
* * * DeSantis (R): “Ron DeSantis Ends Campaign: “A Majority Of Republican Primary Voters Want To Give Donald Trump Another Chance” (video) [RealClearPolitics]. “I am today suspending my campaign.” • That video. Why did he ever run? Why did anyone think he should?
DeSantis (R): “‘A total failure to launch’: Why Ron DeSantis was doomed from the start” [NBC]. “[I]n the week before the all-important caucuses, Scott Wagner, the recently installed head of the super PAC, was doing something that aides found puzzling: He was literally doing a puzzle. In the headquarters of Never Back Down in West Des Moines, Iowa, Wagner was, according to some of his staff, spending a significant amount of time in the precious final few days constructing a peaceful 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle of a landscape. In a photo taken on Jan. 9, shared with NBC News by a Never Back Down team member, others in the room were hunched over their laptops.” • Photo:
Wagner, a Yale man, was a college buddy of DeSantis…
Haley (R): “The fall of Nikki Haley’s comet” [Ben Domenech, The Spectator]. “Tn the waning days of 2023, the last weeks of the before-time — the moments before the Republican Party would inevitably crown the once and future king who rules upon high from Mar-a-Lago — the billionaire donor class of the Republican Party decided en masse that it would endorse a candidate in a final desperate attempt to block Donald Trump. They settled on Nikki Haley, the erstwhile South Carolina governor turned United Nations ambassador, whose star had risen oh-so-very slightly in early state polling, if you squinted hard enough…. Is this just another example of very rich people throwing money at very dumb projects in a vain attempt to block right-wing populism? Or is it just a signal about where they want the party to go, a performative “we tried to tell you” last-ditch attempt to revise the history of the 2024 cycle in anticipation of a Trump defeat and a post-election party reset?” • Interestingly, the Daily Mail’s affidavit-supported story of Haley’s extra-marital shenanigains sank like a stone…
Haley (R): “And then there were 2 — media coverage of Ron DeSantis dropping out of the presidential race” [Poynter Institute]. “The New Hampshire Union Leader endorsed Haley in the primary. The editorial board wrote, ‘She is catching fire for good reason. She is a smart, thoughtful, experienced candidate who is ready to be the next president of these great United States. She is easily the most qualified candidate on either ballot.'” • The Union-Leader endorses a RINO. O tempora, o mores…..
Haley (R): “Haley fires at Trump attacks before New Hampshire primary” [NBC]. “‘If you have someone that’s 80 in office, their mental stability is going to continue to decline. That’s just human nature,’ Haley said Sunday on CBS’s ‘Face the Nation.'” • I think Haley means “acuity” and not “stability” but whatever.
* * * Trump (R): “‘Our System Needs to Be Broken, and He Is the Man to Do It'” [Politico]. How one NH voter moved from Burgum to Haley to Trump: “‘They’re afraid as hell, because this time around he’s going to take the DOJ, he’s going to take the bureaucracy of the FBI, the CIA, all the stupid intel agencies that don’t do shit, and he’s going to upset the apple cart,’ he said. I referred to the argument Trump is now making over and over that he’s going to go after them because he says they’re going after him but really they’re going after you — his supporters. ‘That’s exactly the way I feel,’ Johnson said. ‘Did you feel like that before he said that,’ I said, ‘or did he say that and you said yes?’ ‘He said that, and I said yes,’ he said. ‘And trust me, the guy’s a pig, he’s a womanizer — arrogant a—–e,’ Johnson said of Trump. ‘But I need somebody that’s going to go in and lead, and I need somebody that’s going to take care of the average guy.’ ‘But is taking care of the average guy and breaking the system the same thing?’ I said. ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘Because they’re all in it for themselves.’ ‘And if you break the system, what does that look like?’ ‘Accountability,’ he said.”
Trump (R): “Trump’s Grip on GOP Is Clear in New Hampshire: ‘I Love That Man'” [Wall Street Journal]. One voter: “‘As Trump constantly says, ‘They’re not going after me; they’re going after you’ … And he’s absolutely right.'” • Same talking point, two separate articles. Interesting!
* * * Trump (R): “Polls Show Trump Could Be Doomed If He’s Convicted. Will a Trial Happen in Time?” [Politico]. On the January 6 case: “Smith’s team indicated that its overarching objective is to have the Supreme Court hear the case and issue an opinion during its current term. The current term is likely to end in late June or early July, which means two things. First, the justices would have to be willing to meet this timeline. And second, there would likely need to be some expedited briefing and argument before the court — all of which is entirely feasible given the nature of the issue and its constitutional and political significance…. The setting of trial dates in federal courts is governed by a statute called the Speedy Trial Act, which requires judges to determine whether any pretrial delay would serve ‘the ends of justice’ and ‘outweigh the best interest of the public and the defendant in a speedy trial.’ This is the highly unusual case in which the public has itself expressed a strong interest in a speedy trial…. There are four full months between the end of June, when the Supreme Court finishes its term, and Election Day on Nov. 5. On paper, that is more than enough time for the trial to take place…. A trial in Washington during that summer or fall period would also require confronting some issues that will emerge from the overlapping political calendar. For instance, the Republican Party’s convention is scheduled for July 15-18 in Milwaukee. Trump could argue that he is entitled to be present for all of the convention proceedings in order to secure his nomination…. After the conventions, Trump might also argue that a trial before the general election would interfere with his ability to campaign against Biden…. But it is far from clear that Chutkan will care, and there is no reason she has to…. The department has an unwritten, ’60-day rule’ where prosecutors traditionally avoid taking major steps in criminal cases that could affect an election — like charging a candidate — in the two-month period leading up to Election Day…. This may not save Trump for two reasons, however. First, the written and unwritten policies do not on their face prevent the Justice Department from continuing to trial in a case that was charged well in advance of an election. That is particularly the case where, as here, the department has a compelling argument that people are actually entitled to know the outcome of the trial before they head to the polls and potentially reelect the defendant. Second, the Justice Department’s policies do not constrain Chutkan.”
* * * Trump (R): “Top Fani Willis ally calls for lead prosecutor Nathan Wade to step aside” [WaPo]. “A key ally of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) said Saturday that the lead prosecutor of the election interference case against former president Donald Trump should step aside amid allegations that Willis hired him while the two were in a personal relationship. Norm Eisen, who served as special counsel to the House of Representatives’ first impeachment of Trump, told reporters Saturday that there is no legal basis to disqualify Nathan Wade, an Atlanta-area lawyer whom Willis hired on contract as a special prosecutor to lead the case. But the controversy is not going away and threatens to delay the case against the former president, which must be avoided, Eisen said. He said Willis should not step aside because of the importance of the case and because the voters of Fulton County elected her to the job…. Eisen said that if Wade were to ask his ethics advice, he would say: ‘No matter the law, discretion is the better course of valor.’ Eisen’s remarks represent one of the first instances of a Willis ally acknowledging the potential damage that the allegations have brought to her and the case.”
Trump (R): “How Allegations of an Office Romance Came to Complicate the Case Against Trump” [New York Times]. “A review of Mr. Wade’s more than two decades as a lawyer by The New York Times also raises the issue of his qualifications, and whether they were sufficient to justify his appointment to a job that has made him more than $650,000 in taxpayer dollars and catapulted him to the top of one of the highest-profile criminal cases in the country.” • Oh.
* * * Biden (D): “The many faces of Kevin Morris, Hunter Biden’s financial patron” [The Hill]. “Morris was largely unknown to most people until he emerged as the Democratic donor who reportedly paid Hunter Biden millions to handle his unpaid taxes and maintain his lavish lifestyle. The Hollywood lawyer and producer portrayed himself as a good Samaritan on a biblical scale — a good man who simply found a desperate stranger on the road and gave him more than $5 million…. Despite news reports of buyers flocking to buy the art, it turns out it was largely Morris who bought the art. Notably, however, Morris only reportedly paid Bergès’ 40 percent commission on the $875,000 purchases. It is not clear whether Morris used the sales to wipe out part of the loan debt. That would be a clever way to treat the money as a loan, if it were used for that purpose. You simply have Hunter crank out dubious pieces of art and arrange for an ally to throw art shows in New York. You then have media allies write how buyers were ‘floored’ by Hunter’s talent. Finally, you pay the commission on the excessive prices for the art while writing off the value of the art as a type of in-kind payment of the loan. While many mocked at the Pablo Picasso-level pricing of Hunter’s art pieces (some works approached half a million dollars), those inflated prices would be useful to count as direct or indirect payments for the loans. We still do not know how these purchases or the loans were treated, and whether Morris was acting as a donor, friend, or lawyer. Now, Morris is adding a new role to this pile of identities, reportedly supporting a new movie on Hunter Biden. ”
* * * RFK Jr. (D): “The un-American disenfranchisement of RFK Jr. voters” [The Hill]. “To circumvent the obstacles being deliberately put in their way, this week the Kennedy campaign announced that it had created the ‘We the People’ party. Paperwork for the party is being filed in California, Delaware, Hawaii, Mississippi and North Carolina. In Texas, the campaign filed paperwork for the ‘Texas Independent Party.’ Why? Because it makes it somewhat easier to get around the obstacles that disenfranchise voters. As the Kennedy campaign outlined in a press release, ‘with these political party filings, the number of signatures needed to get Kennedy on the ballot in every state has been reduced by about 330,000, a third of the total needed nationwide.’ That is progress, but the campaign should still not have to waste precious time and resources fighting partisan provisions enacted to deny American citizens the right to vote for the candidate of their choice. By any measure, RFK Jr. is beyond a legitimate candidate who is not only growing his popularity in the face of media censorship, but outraising ‘major’ Republican candidates.”
* * * * * * * * * “America Stares Down a Trump-Biden Repeat in Disbelief and Denial” [New York Times]. “Even as both men stroll toward likely summer coronations and a fall rematch, an undercurrent of disbelief is coursing through the country. Many Republicans view Mr. Biden as so politically and physically weak that they think his party will replace him. Many Democrats can’t fathom that Mr. Trump could win another nomination while he is facing 91 felony counts and four criminal trials.” • The paper that more than any other drove RussiaGate — not to mention David Leonhardt’s hack job on Covid minimization — clutches its pearls and heads for the fainting couch over CT and “baseless theories” (like Michelle Obama at the top the ticket. (“[A] Hill-HarrisX poll conducted from November 18 to 19 showed that Michelle Obama would be a leading contender for the Democratic presidential nomination if President Joe Biden does not seek reelection.)
“Trump vs. Biden? No thanks. As 2024 election ramps up, many wish it were over” [USA Today]. “In conversations with voters across the country this week, many echoed that sense of fatigue and distaste for another Trump-Biden face-off. Election season is barely five days old, and many are already ready for it to end. And, with the country nearly evenly split in the polls, it’s precisely these disaffected and frustrated voters who will be pivotal in the Nov. 5 election. ‘What these voters are saying is: ‘I’m done.’ In two words: ‘I’m done,” said David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center. Paleologos says his polls suggest voters are sick of watching politicians trash one another. Instead, they’re saying: ‘I want to live. I want to have my enjoyment. I want my simple pleasures of life. I don’t like politicians. I hate politics. I don’t want to watch it,’ he said.” • The “urgency of normal” transposed to the political realm…
Realignment and Legitimacy
“Your vagabond shoes, they are longing to stray….”
Many thousands of #nyc commuters use these turnstiles correctly every day. But these white nationalist demonstrators who marched here on Saturday seemed to struggle with it. pic.twitter.com/xAq1OykYXV
— Ben Von Klemperer (@BVKImages) January 21, 2024
I wonder how many of those dudes are cops….
“Revealed: far-right figures try to create Christian nationalist ‘haven’ in Kentucky” [Guardian]. “The move is the latest effort by the far-right to establish geographical enclaves, following in the footsteps of movements like the so-called ‘American Redoubt‘, which encourages rightwingers to engage in “political migration” to areas in the interior of the Pacific north-west. But the underlying finances of land offerings associated with the ‘Highland Rim Project’ (HRP) in Kentucky suggest that buyers will pay a steep premium for living in a remote ideological enclave, while the scheme’s promoters are set to collect tidy profits after making few apparent improvements to the land…. [Joshua] Abbotoy offered few details on how the community would be run beyond saying: ‘Most of the leadership is going to be led by Protestant christians.'”
#COVID19
“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
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 (dashboard); 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, 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!
Look for the Helpers
Filing this here since I’m amazed to see a major media figure saying something sensible on Covid:
Don't underestimate "covid fatigue" – people are sick if being sick and taking precautions and want "normal" even if it leads to more sickness. That is why covid was easily politicized and weaponized with messaging abt it being a hoax and just a cold and that masks and caution… https://t.co/CidHLKa5Gi
— Christopher C. Cuomo (@ChrisCuomo) January 22, 2024
A second example:
As Physician and Scientist Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly told me tonight, we must initiate the conversation to solve the problem of long covid despite pandemic fatigue. I’m going to stay on this as long as it takes until we get answers. pic.twitter.com/0pl4PHiiKj
— Christopher C. Cuomo (@ChrisCuomo) January 20, 2024
Maskstravaganza
This looks like interesting technology, like an elastomeric but way cheaper (presumably). From this thread, well worth a read:
I should do a little research and find some (legitimate) vendors. Meanwhile, in the United States–
It’s like pulling teeth:
Can confirm: 3M is aware of the demand for a black Aura. It is being discussed internally. There is no timetable for a decision and my contact has no idea how long it would take from a decision to actual production.
Keep mentioning it. They are listening.
— Covid Safe Network (@covidsafenetwrk) January 17, 2024
Immune Dysregulation
“The Checkup With Dr. Wen: Why it seems everyone is getting sick this winter” [WaPo]. But there are two groups of people who should keep testing early and often. The first are those who are eligible for antiviral treatments… The second are those planning to see vulnerable individuals in person. These people should refrain from visiting while ill and take a rapid coronavirus test just before the visit.” • No point breaking the chains of transmission for everyone!
Transmission
“Outpatient treatment of COVID-19 and incidence of post-COVID-19 condition over 10 months (COVID-OUT): a multicentre, randomised, quadruple-blind, parallel-group, phase 3 trial” [The Lancet]. From the Abstract: “Outpatient treatment with metformin reduced long COVID incidence by about 41%, with an absolute reduction of 4·1%, compared with placebo. Metformin has clinical benefits when used as outpatient treatment for COVID-19 and is globally available, low-cost, and safe.”
| Cases | |
| National[1] Biobot January 16: | Regional[2] Biobot January 16: |
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| Variants[3] CDC January 20 | Emergency Room Visits[4] CDC January 13 |
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| Hospitalization | |
| New York[5] New York State, data January 19: | National [6] CDC January 13: |
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| Positivity | |
| National[7] Walgreens January 15: | Ohio[8] Cleveland Clinic January 13: |
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| Travelers Data | |
| Positivity[8] CDC January 1: | Variants[9] CDC January 1: |
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| Deaths | |
| Weekly deaths New York Times January 6: | Percent of deaths due to Covid-19 New York Times January 6: |
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(If you want the full-size image, Command/CTRL-click on the thumbnail.)
NOTES
[1] Half the cases under the curve take place after the peak…
[2] Big decline in the Northeast!
[3] “As of May 11, genomic surveillance data will be reported biweekly, based on the availability of positive test specimens.” “Biweeekly: 1. occurring every two weeks. 2. occurring twice a week; semiweekly.” Looks like CDC has chosen sense #1. In essence, they’re telling us variants are nothing to worry about. Time will tell.
[4] “Charts and data provided by CDC, updates Wednesday by 8am. For the past year, using a rolling 52-week period.” So not the entire pandemic, FFS (the implicit message here being that Covid is “just like the flu,” which is why the seasonal “rolling 52-week period” is appropriate for bothMR SUBLIMINAL I hate these people so much. Notice also that this chart shows, at least for its time period, that Covid is not seasonal, even though CDC is trying to get us to believe that it is, presumably so they can piggyback on the existing institutional apparatus for injections. And of course, we’re not even getting into the quality of the wastewater sites that we have as a proxy for Covid infection overall.
[5] Decrease for the state, decrease then increase for New York City. (This has been updating daily for a long-time, suddenly it’s intermittent [snarl].
[6] “Maps, charts, and data provided by CDC, updates weekly for the previous MMWR week (Sunday-Saturday) on Thursdays (Deaths, Emergency Department Visits, Test Positivity) and weekly the following Mondays (Hospitalizations) by 8 pm ET†”. So where the heck is the update, CDC?
[7] -0.7%. (It would be interesting to survey this population generally; these are people who, despite a tsunami of official propaganda and enormous peer pressure, went and got tested anyhow.)
[8] Lambert here: Percentage and absolute numbers down.
[9] Up, albeit in the rear view mirror.
Stats Watch
There are no statistics of interest today.
Manufacturing: “Boeing scrutiny spreads as FAA seeks checks on another 737 model” [Bangkok Post (Furzy Mouse)]. “Scrutiny of Boeing’s manufacturing quality expanded after federal regulators told airlines to check the door plugs on a second 737 model, where operators have also found issues with fasteners. The US Federal Aviation Administration recommended that airlines inspect 737-900ER models that use mid-aft plugs of the same type that failed on an Alaska Airlines flight this month. The 737-900ER is an earlier model than the Max 9 used on Flight 1282 on Jan 5. According to Boeing data, 505 of the 737-900ER type of planes have been delivered to airlines globally. Not all utilize the door plugs, as their use is dependent on airlines’ seat configurations.”
Today’s Fear & Greed Index: 73 Greed (previous close: 71 Greed) [CNN]. One week ago: 71 (Greed). (0 is Extreme Fear; 100 is Extreme Greed). Last updated Jan 22 at 12:09:33 PM ET.
Rapture Index: Closes unchanged [Rapture Ready]. Record High, October 10, 2016: 189. Current: 188. (Remember that bringing on the Rapture is good.) NOTE on #42 Plagues: “The coronavirus pandemic has maxed out this category.” More honest than most! • What are they waiting for? A red heifer?
The 420
“When America First Dropped Acid” [The New Yorker]. “One evening in September of 1957, viewers across America could turn on their television sets and tune in to a CBS broadcast during which a young woman dropped acid. She sat next to a man in a suit: Sidney Cohen, the researcher who had given her the LSD. The woman wore lipstick and nail polish, and her eyes were shining. ‘I wish I could talk in Technicolor,’ she said. And, at another point, ‘I can see the molecules. I . . . I’m part of it. Can’t you see it?’ ‘I’m trying,’ Cohen replied. Were some families maybe—oh, I don’t know—eating meat loaf on TV trays as they watched this nice lady undergo her mind-bending, molecule-revealing journey through inner space? Did they switch to ‘Father Knows Best’ or ‘The Perry Como Show’ afterward?” • I missed it….
Class Warfare
Social capital not fungible?
News of the Wired
“What happens when an astronaut in orbit says he’s not coming back?” [Ars Technica]. Counter-measures: “‘When we got on orbit, I went down to the hatch on the side of the orbiter, and I padlocked the hatch control so that you could not open the hatch,’ [Brewster] Shaw said. ‘I mean, on the orbiter on orbit you can go down there and you just flip this little thing and you crank that handle once, the hatch opens and all the air goes out and everybody goes out with it, just like that. And I thought to myself, ‘Jeez, I don’t know this guy very well. He might flip out or something.’ So I padlocked the hatch shut right after we got on orbit, and I didn’t take the padlock off until we were in de-orbit prep.'” • And Spaceship Earth?
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84 comments
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Angie’s photo reminds me of peas and sauce by Jeff Wall…
On the white nationalist demonstrators marching on NYC, it reminded me of the scene from “Blazing Saddles”. Oh the Ironies!
It reminded me of the KKK scene in Django Unchained…
Q.T. nailed it.
Yup!! – Slim Picken’s -” OK… somebody go back and get a S**tload of dimes”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbWg-mozGsU
Another example of what some observers call “glowies.”
By which they mean: certain things — such as police letting a group get away with driving around with blank license plates — mark an outfit as so obviously being a government psy-op, they may as well have “FEDS” written all over them in glowing letters.
https://twitter.com/stillgray/status/1748815671860052451
Too funny – I was just scanning the comments to see if I was the only one who thought that… I don’t recall the scene in Django, but will have to go back and watch. Blazing Saddles was a movie I watched about ten thousand times growing up and I still love it to this day.
They can’t see well in the masks.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkO72i7mPTU/
I always ask other humans, when they’re telling me about a great comedy; is it ‘blazing saddles funny’ or ‘richard curtis funny’.
Comedy litmus for me.
They can’t be working stiffs as they would have known how to use those turnstiles so they use their own cars and trucks instead. caucus99percenter shows them driving around with blank license plates because that is a thing that you can totally do these days. Seems that it is only people like the MAGAs who are keen to find out who these people are by ripping off their ski masks and filming their faces which they definitely do not like.
Unintentional comedy is the best kind!
CTRL+click did not work for me on Firefox on Windows, but right-click and “open image in new tab” worked.
“Open image in new tab” works for Brave running off Android.
I really like the new charts, but would like to see a little higher-resolution (not sure if that’s possible) as the images are kinda fuzzy when enlarging them.
Same here.
Pinch to zoom works fine on Ipad, maybe slight resolution loss but the text is still quite legible. I appreciate the format change for this slowly changing data section – scrolling through many pages was getting tiresome. Thanks.
DeSantis bowing out now is very sharp and clever politics.
On the one hand, should Trump be nominated, he can claim to have bowed out and endorsed Trump. MAGA is appeased and DeSantis is positioned for an appointment in a future Trump administration.
On the other hand, Trump is the second choice of precisely nobody. Team R is all-in for Trump or are never-Trumpers. At most, they are the Team R equivalent of “vote blue, no matter who!”
So, very few people were going to vote DeSantis but are now going to vote Trump. By leaving the race before New Hampshire, the principal immediate beneficiary is Haley, who will pick up any never-Trump voters that were otherwise going to vote for DeSantis.
This can be contrasted with 2016, where one of the salient reasons Trump got the nomination in the first place was because the never-Trumpers could not unite behind a single candidate. Was it Cruz? Rubio? Jeb!? Kasich? Some other muppet?
Presumably, the RNC learned its lesson, here.
re: the turnstyles, when I did resume writing, the ONLY occupation I worked with that had next to no experience with “paying to get in” was law enforcement.
I have never once seen a crowd of Americans in which there wasn’t one single person overweight. Not unless they were currently serving in uniform in some capacity.
So, there’s a better tell than shoes, at least collectively!
DEFCON, the hacker convention held in Las Vegas, has a “spot the fed” contest. while many may go for the “lifter physique” as a tell, supposedly one is more likely to get it right by going after the “runner” look. This based on the logic that they often need to chase someone on foot.
I recall that back in Haley’s gubenatorial days I read that the words that came out of her mouth were so often false, and so often contradictory, as to render her inscrutable to her staff. “Komi Can’t Communicate” if Komi were evil.
Psychopathy is, imo, highly disabling, with psychopaths requiring either high intelligence or extremely good luck to avoid becoming embroiled in catastrophes. I’m thinking we’re seeing an amazing run of good luck in this case.
Is it just me, or is the Plantidote missing? I tried on Chrome and Explorer.
No, pasting in my new table threw me off. Fixed.
Ahh, much better. Thank you!
I added orts and scraps, including important material on a new mask design (from China, naturally).
Re Dr Wen – she and her ilk just become more and more unbelievable. I have a PMC friend whose 89 MIL just died. Story was related thusly: “Previously very healthy, living on her own. She got COVID just before Xmas, ended up in the hospital, ‘cleared’ COVID*, but she was so ill, she never recovered.” First of all, I’ve never heard the expression ‘cleared COVID’ I didn’t ask but I assume it means she was no longer testing positive. but guess that the message here is that COVID didn’t kill her. The depth of our denial is staggering.
It appears the COVID designers aimed to reduce life expectancy at the far end plus create profitable chronic conditions for the pharmaceutical cartel.
That said, 89 is rather old. Any severe dose of something could push an 89 yr old over the edge.
Agreed but note the ´previously healthy.´ And really it is the effort to imply that it wasn’t COVID that caused her death that perturbed me so. Of course it was. We all have to die but a healthy 89 year old and so many other elders did not have to die from COVID and their ages should not cause us to shrug our shoulders.
The Vancouver BC wastewater link has changed again. Updated link:
https://metrovancouver.org/services/liquid-waste/testing-for-viruses-in-wastewater
“Metformin has clinical benefits when used as outpatient treatment for COVID-19 and is globally available, low-cost, and safe.”” …Hmm, sounds a lot like another drug (starts with an I). I wonder if it used by veterinarians? If yes, public health officials will have a much easier time dissuading us of its usefulness
Is metformin still on patent?
No, it is available in generic form
I love the new COVID layout. Big improvement.
I agree!
>”[Joshua] Abbotoy offered few details on how the community would be run beyond saying: ‘Most of the leadership is going to be led by Protestant christians.’”
Ah, yes, I see how this will be much different than America!
Love the new format for COVID charts and notes! Thank you!
Same here…I rate it a major improvement. Thanks Lambert!
I did a one semester exchange student program at an elite Northeast private school, and I definitely felt the jealously and envy as a relatively poor boy from Texas.
My bathroom-mate asked me what I did over the summer. I worked at my neighbor’s company, balancing air conditioners in San Antonio–definitely a sweaty experience most days. He said he worked at his father’s law firm, doing filing and getting high in the basement every day. Dang, was I jealous!
My best friend while at the school asked me what my parents did for a living. I said my mother worked at an insurance company. He told me his parents “managed their money”. I gave him an odd, puzzled look. Eventually, I figured out they were trust fund babies, but let’s just say I hadn’t encountered that before.
When I got back to my little Texas private school, I could only say, “We poor, we poor!”
Poverty stricken [it’s all relative]
You are poor if your floating gin-palace only has one helicopter pad.
Pip-pip
Shades of the excellent comedy film “Trading Places” now appear in my mind…when the Duke brothers are left broke at the end of the movie, and one brother suffers a heart attack…
“Turn the machines back on!”
Not that one wants to dispute the solons at Politico–/s–but the notion that Biden could try his Republican opponent during the campaign next fall is ridiculous. They have to get him convicted before the convention and given appeals of a dubious theory of crime even that is unlikely to work.
Either beat him fair and square with 33 percent Joe or get rid of Joe. The choice is obvious.
If the only way that the establishment can keep Trump out of office is by banning him from the ballot, imprisoning him, or substituting Haley, then that is what they’ll do.
And yes, they’ll still piously preach Muh Democracy (at countries we don’t like), even though the only way they could get the desired result was banana republic style election rigging. And yes, they’ll proclaim without a hint of irony that Muh Democracy Is Saved!
And yes, our various puppets, vassals, flunkies, lackeys, buttbois, etc. will hide their sniggers and dutifully play along with the farce.
While I was waiting to cross the street(see my post below) while the sign holders were there, I overheard “democracy” a few times. So yes on them piously preaching Muh Democracy.
Yes they might. And if they do I think they will find that they have opened floodgates that they do not control, and face events they have not foreseen. Oh, and that isn’t talking about the infighting that is inevitable. See despite their agreement on Trump, they have their own agendas, and none of the interested parties will hesitate to use these tactics again. They may find themselves looking back on the days when avoiding small planes was a top safety measure with nostalgia.
So the Bidenistas with 33 percent approval and the major media with 12 percent approval are going to openly cut off one wing of the bird of prey via lawfare and a dc kangaroo court and expect to get away with it? I don’t think so. And if they do try Trump may win by a landslide. And Turley says he can still take office, conviction or no and then–a bit more controversial but there’s that landslide–pardon himself.
The Dems are being cute by waiting three years to bring all these charges and then crying “speedy justice” but they may have waited too long–assuming any of this was going to work anyway.
Chomsky has said that even dictatorships need the “consent of the governed” which is why the Nazis made such a big thing out of propaganda and kept guns and butter going until they couldn’t. If Trump unambiguously wins the next election then it is the Dems who are going to have to suck it up.
The new masks, I would consider wearing one in my office. I’d would have to shave. I’m allergic to dog saliva and we rescue/foster dogs so I maintain a beard. As of now, I avoid the office unless I am called in by one of my bosses.
Approximately 18 sign holders spread over the 4 corners of the intersection in front of my house all holding “write in Joe Biden” signs. I chuckled and said I can’t wait to vote for Trump and one woman said bitterly “You’ll be the only one in Hanover who is.” Lovely people. Of course now I am going to have to put up with car honking until they disperse. Gotta love the PMC of Hanover.
Shoulda told them that why write in Joe Biden when he dumped New Hampshire in favour of South Carolina and that is why he is not actually on the ballot. But if they want to stand out in the freezing cold for a man that does not give a rat’s *** about them, then good luck to them
I should’ve done that instead but was too enticed by the quick Trump comment as I needed to get home, and I have a strong sh-tstirring gene likely from a long ago, troublesome Dutch colonial ancestor-couldn’t resist. They were quite arrogant and hostile. You could feel it. They were very angry, judgmental people and not interested in a discussion. You’d have seen me on the news for getting jumped by a bunch of older NPR totebag-carrying yuppies. Maybe if they are back tomorrow I’ll give it a go.
>They were quite arrogant and hostile. You could feel it. They were very angry, judgmental people and not interested in a discussion.
Accurately describing the dividend check of the month suburb of Hanover to the north, Lyme as well. Quite shocking coming from the crowd that claims to celibrate “Diversity” and “Hate has no home here” LOL!
Sarcasm off now.
If I was going to take my life in my hands I would also remind them that it was a dictatorial decision as it disenfranchised and punished New Hampshire’s voters while thumbing its nose at the fact that New Hampshire’s primary timing is a rule of law and legally cannot be changed to his whim.
How do you even talk about affluenza without coming off like a jealous poor person? If that thread is even about that, anyway — it may also include the extreme and almost childlike indifference of the upper class and their supporters to the simple fact that 90% of people can never and will never benefit from the same environment the PMC and their betters have access to.
>>>How do you even talk about affluenza without coming off like a jealous poor person?
I don’t know, but this comment in Holly@girlziplocked: “I relate so much! I was just talking about this with my daughter, telling of the college co-worker laughing about turning on the taps in the house just to see how long it took the housekeeper to turn them off. That mentality baffled and infuriated me.” It gave me a wtf moment even stronger than the comment about avoiding the housekeeper as a disease carrier.
Maybe they want a return of the servants corridors that were usually hidden behind the walls of the main public corridors or the often camouflaged or very discrete servants areas. It also puts the modern homeless clearances in a better context.
The only place I ever see affluenza is in certain ski resorts (not all of them, some I frequent have state of the art 1959 lodges and rooms) and today was affluenza on steroids @ Deer Valley ski* resort in Utah. I’d imagine that its possible a billionaire was skiing right next to me, not that you’d ever know-as frankly with a helmet & lots of warm clothes on, everybody looks the same.
To give you an idea of the excess, a season pass for just Deer Valley is $3525, whereas on an Ikon pass that enables you to ski 5 days per season @ Deer Valley and 50 other ski resorts, it was $750.
* one of just a few ski resorts that don’t allow snowboarders, it’s as if you are back in 1979 before snowboards came along.
This place charges $4000 a night for a room…
St. Regis Deer Valley Mess: Three Rooms In Two Days OMAAT
It ain’t easy spending all those hard-earned, million of credit card points! Read it and weep or laugh. Plenty of entitled comments, too.
However the broad points of enshittification of customer service and quality in the travel industry are valid.
I had a crush on Stein Erikson. Beautiful skiing.
Affluenza – if the subject comes up I just say, ‘Billionaires are a sign of a failed state.’
That Spectator article bashes the billionaires while being way too easy on Haley herself. Yes Haley took down the Confederate flag after defending it for years to pander to her base. And that same pandering was indeed leaking out in her slavery answer. As for the affair allegations, true or not her financial dealings are anything but squeaky clean including serving on the Boeing board.
But above all else she is simply a terrible national candidate with all the wrong instincts.
Guess we’ll see what happens tomorrow.
Maybe, just maybe from what you say, Neocon Nikki is actually from – wait for it – the Panderverse.
Lambert: “and spaceship Earth?”
Dear friend, I pray that some sane person is there to put that padlock on the airlock. Because I keep having nightmares that there won’t be.
Re: Far-right figures (Guardian)
FWIW, the person mentioned in the snippet that Lambert quoted did offer a rebuttal on his Twitter (X?) page here:
Rebuttal
re: face seals for masks. I like the Moldex 2200 N95, as it has a more rigid shape that stays away from my face and is quite breathable. Not that I’ve sampled very many, but it makes the best seal for me that I’ve found, better than the 3M Aura.
RE: The Kentucky Xtian nationalist haven
I bet you dollars to donuts it goes over something like a similar attempt in Chile did – with the founders walking off with all the cash that wannabe residents put down. They should have called it Gullible’s Gulch –
https://steemit.com/galtsgulch-chile/@ggcrecovery/galt-s-gulch-chile-an-overview-of-ken-johnson-s-libertarian-affinity-fraud
“Venture fund and real estate startup linked to far-right groups promote residential development as community for rightwingers”
Bezzles gonna bezzle … the rug pull is gonna be epic.
Reading about poor kids in rich colleges reminds me of the time I lived with a well-to-do friend near Bryn Mawr on Philly’s Main Line. She was into the party circuit and had great fun sneaking in poor friends. It was an education, on how the other half lives. I recall a fellow saying how much he ‘enjoyed driving, and thinking he meant cars, I said ‘oh, I think I’ve had enough’. He replied, ‘Well, this year I’m driving a ‘four-in-hand’ at Devon. I just love it!’
It’s worth clicking through that first Chris Cuomo tweet because there’s a fascinating sub-thread by a clinical health psychologist named Mike Hoerger describing seven common defense mechanisms people use to minimize the severity of COVID. It’s a great thread with images of pages from what appears to be a textbook that describe the defense mechanisms in a way that this layman found very readable.
P.S. Great redesign on the COVID section!
Ian Welsh today on Why Every Society Failed The Covid Test.
Excerpt:
Now, this is a collective action problem. It requires a correct diagnosis of a problem, a correct prescription of the cure, then taking unified social action. In other words, Covid is:
1. Airborne
2. Therefore we need to clean the air
3. So let’s mass produce the necessary filters, ventilation, sensors and UV and then install them.
Every society failed this.
Now if we can’t do that, what are the odds of us tackling climate change or environmental collapse? Those problems require us to reduce our consumption significantly (possible to do without large hits to standards of living, but that’s another article), which will require us to revamp our economies away from capitalist consumption and figure out how to keep everything running without an economy of planned obsolesence and everyone running on hampster wheels working, buying, selling and dying.
Yes, and I am waiting to see when Smallpox, The Resurrection, This Time It’s Worse, happens.
Our collective failure with Covid suggest that we will face a lot of collective dying in the near future. The whole planet, every single civilization and every single country had many more infectious, usually airborne, diseases killing people in truly massive numbers, far more than any disease does today. There is a reason why consumption, aka the White Death, aka tuberculosis, is featured in all those deaths in books, plays, and movies set in the nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth century or that all those famous people you read about dies after becoming sick from “a fever.” It was normal. It was also a reason why people of all classes had so many children if they wanted to have any children to survive to adulthood. You can read about than in history and fiction as well.
I am a broken record as I keep posting similar comments, but there is a reason why I keep posting them. Covid is/was a disease that is straightforward in fighting it, and we, as a planetary civilization beat many horrible diseases, and greatly reduced many others, while having fewer resources including knowledge in the doing. Increased consumption is not required to deal with all this, and risk of not dealing means that the levels of death and of who dies is beyond our collective control, including the idiot elites who will be dying as well. And the suicidal craziness in all this is driving me crazy.
An interesting fact. It was a right off passage for non natives of Louisia coming down to make their mark to not be taken seriously until surviving a summer and getting whatever tropical disease that might spell death. So it’s not completely out of national character for the elite option on this.
The “collective action problem” is one of the best concepts I’ve learned about in the last few months.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collective_action_problem
I think it’s easy to instinctively understand that this is a problem, but it’s good to know that it has a name and that it’s studied by academics. Unfortunately with no good solutions that I recall (haven’t read the wikipedia article for it in a while).
Regarding the chances of climate change / environmental collapse, exactly. Because of the collective action problem, I have no hope that it will be resolved before a large chunk of humanity is wiped out, and perhaps not until we’re completely wiped out, considering that emissions take decades to have an impact.
We know neoliberal Democrats aren’t serious about this because electric cars are a pillar of electrification, no one wants them, and these people aren’t even on TV 24/7 explaining why we should buy these for selfish reasons, be they cheaper to operate or a national pride matter, whatever, something! But no lol
So in an unrelated project, I have keyword search data. So I came across COVID testing searches by accident, and thought I’d share.
Whatever happened with testing in Lambert’s chart, it happened in search data too. Searches for “COVID testing near me” fell to basically zero in 2022. The peak was 11 million searches in Jan 2022. It fell off a precipitous cliff. A million in May, June, July. August 650k, September 400k, and downward.
The chart deviates before people gave up searching, but people continued to search for awhile after whatever “the event” was, but I’d say it was categorically not the lack of intent on the part of the populace to stop testing, per Google Search data.
The top traffic recipients for this were Walgreens, CVS, and then CDC testing locator.
For what that’s worth.
“America Stares Down a Trump-Biden Repeat in Disbelief and Denial”
That should be that the New York Times is in disbelief and denial. Old Joe got in and virtually the very first thing he did in office was cheated Americans of $600 each. His actions have helped drag the economy down that the main stream media is trying to still lie about and he keeps on finding new wars to get America involved in. He has alienated many of America’s allies and oversaw the deindustrialization of Europe by blowing up the NS2 pipelines. He is rolling on his back for Israel who won’t even give him a belly rub for his troubles has just left him looking both very weak and genocidal at the very same time. And yet the Democrats are once more clearing the path for him and are eliminating rivals so that There Is No Alternative is just nuts. At the very least they should have chosen some young whipper-snapper in their sixties to go after Trump. Will there be even debates between the two this year?
Had to share
https://www.wmur.com/article/nikki-haley-beauty-pageant-story/45853372
That age 5 beauty pageant is like her Moby Dick. Some of us can barely remember anything that happened at age 5.
Sorry. Have to get in my digs while I still can.
President Obama similarly repeatedly bombed Libya with no discussion in Congress. Even the New York Times became critical of the president, but to no avail:
https://twitter.com/mtracey/status/1749574975491572163
Michael Tracey @mtracey
This is the 8th round of US strikes on Yemen without Biden even pretending to seek Congressional authorization, and barely a handful of members of Congress have objected. How many rounds of strikes before this constitutes a bonafide “war”? 16? 32? 64?
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GEe9KnTWIAAdPNS?format=jpg&name=900×900
6:29 PM · Jan 22, 2024
I didn’t realize insurrection per se was a crime. E.g. Johnny Reb who was an enlisted soldier in the Confederate Army was an insurrectionist but not a criminal, and nothing happened to him after the war. That all said, I mostly agree with you. Just about anything can be spun into insurrection.
One can make the argument that openly wearing a uniform, bearing arms, while under an organized military reduces the case for an insurrection at least at the individual level. Most soldiers on both sides were serving units organized by their states being use by the respective central government. It is why you see units such as the 54th Massachusetts Infantry, the 20th Maine Infantry, and the 15th Alabama Infantry Regiments. Before the American Civil War, it was grammatically correct to
say “these United States are united” with many people more loyal to their individual states. After the American Civil War, it became correct to say that the United States is united or indivisible. This being so, and with many people fighting for their respective states, it becomes harder to argue for a rebellion.
For that matter, the United States was created from what the British government called an insurrection or more often a rebellion. You know, the American War of Independence or the American Revolution.
However, treason is usually done covertly, while not openly wearing the uniform of the other side, isn’t? Of course, this also brings up the actions of one’s country such as slavery and genocide. At
what point, does it stops being moral or even patriotic to actively support one’s country? What level(s) of your country are you the most loyal to? The nation or people, the country, the government, or its foundational ideology?
When people whine about insurrection or disloyalty, I have to ask about loyalty to what and for what reason besides naked, unthinking jingoism? From what I remember of my family in the 20th century, I do not see any of them being particularly loyal to the current government if they were still alive. Patriotic and loyal to the country and the nation, sure. But it looking our current ruling class and its PMC apparatchiks are conflating obedience to their desires and diktats with being non insurrectionists. Restated, being inconvenient is being insurrectionist. I do not see them as being loyal to, responsible for, or respectful of anyone, but themselves, which is why they are losing their support by the nation.
John C. Breckenridge (former VPOTUS who bugged out of the US Senate to join the Confederacy) was charged with treason. His Wikipedia biography is amazing. But unlike Johnny Reb, Breckenridge was a US Senator when this happened. I wonder if the statute Lambert and LifelongLib cited would apply to Johnny Reb (IANAL) who arguably wasn’t even a US citizen when he joined/got conscripted to the CSA army, and never left his home state in his whole lifetime.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_C._Breckinridge
I’m not a lawyer but here’s a link:
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/2383
Note that Trump hasn’t been tried or convicted of this. I’ve seen arguments that he doesn’t need to be to be kept from holding office, but it seems weird to leave it to ~50 different state people to decide. My personal and very uninformed opinion is that some national decision has to be made (by the U.S. Congress or Supreme Court or whoever) that Trump did (or did not) participate in an insurrection and therefore should not (or should) be able to hold office. And I expect a big mess no matter how all that plays out.
Insurrection is a crime: 18 U.S. Code § 2383 – Rebellion or insurrection, as I have pointed out and Lifelong Lib links above,
Perhaps 3M could market to the New Age crowd with a line of fluorescent/glowing Auras.
I see that Elon Musk has just made a pilgrimage to Auschwitz. I wonder if that it was part of the deal that he made with Netanyahu when he went to Israel? While in Poland he said-
‘Musk said that he was “frankly naive” about the alleged rise of anti-Semitism in the West. He added that the “pro-Hamas rallies in vast numbers that took place in almost every major city in the West blew my mind, including on the elite college campuses,” referring to all pro-Palestinian protests as supporting the militant group.
The billionaire then claimed that he was “aspirationally Jewish,” and apologized for sharing a “dumb” post on X in November, which claimed that Jewish organizations push “dialectical hatred against whites.” The post triggered an outcry from the Anti-Defamation League, which accused him of anti-Semitism and threatened to tank X’s stock price by organizing an advertiser boycott.
Musk denied allegations that X was enabling or tolerating anti-Semitism, pointing out that he had already banned advocacy of the “genocide of any group” and clarifying that phrases such as “decolonization” and “from the river to the sea” – often used by pro-Palestinian activists – “imply genocide” and can get users banned.
Boy, he really bent over for them here. Maybe they told him that unless he gets in line, they will do to him what they did to Jeremy Corbyn
https://www.rt.com/news/591111-elon-musk-visit-auschwitz/
Maybe Arbeit macht frei will be inscribed over the gate at SpaceX’s Starbase, with the prize of frei-dom being a golden ticket to a Martian lava tube.
Just a heads up to the NC community. I think it was part of a deal passed through congress during COVID a couple of years ago – it was called the “Affordable Connectivey Program.” Many of us retired people saved $30 a month on our internet bill. Thank you!
I read a few weeks ago this was going expire unless congress extends it. Today I received an e-mail from my provider telling me my bill will change in April unless congress… I expected this.
We can afford bombs. Look how we treat our homeless, veterans, and elderly (in no particular order). Carlin was right in 1991 – they don’t give a F about us.
*spit*
“I wonder how many of those dudes are cops….”
I wonder if any aren’t cops.
Haley wins Dixville Notch, NH.
4 R, 2 I.
5-0 Biden 2020.