By Lambert Strether of Corrente
Bird Song of the Day
Great Horned Owl, East Loma Alta Drive, Altadena. ”
The first bird in the recording was perched atop a utility pole about 10 meters from me. While recording it, a female flew in and vocalized loudly, and then the the first bird flew east about 50 meters and continued to vocalize. This may have been a family group because they were moving around the neighborhood together and were very vocal the whole time. Three birds persistently followed one male. There were three males and one female, which I determined based on the vocalizations. One of the males made some juvenile sounds an adult calls. Audio recordings. It’s also possible that the female was chasing off the first bird in the recording below because it sounds like there was bill snapping by the female. Although there was an interaction between the two birds at the top of the utility pole, I didn’t see it well because I wasn’t looking through binoculars nor was I using a light.”
The owl of Minerva calling “Who? Who?”
In Case You Might Miss…
(1) New Covid charts (except for CDC’s national wastewater map, which naturally has not been updated for data later than June 22.
(2) Biden on Morning Joe/
(3) Replacing Biden: open processes.
(4) The Enneagram .
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
2024
Less than a half a year to go!
First post-debate polling: Trump jumps a full point in the 5-way national race, which a Biden supporter might find concerning. OTOH, the Swing States seem relatively unaffected. Swing States (more here) still Brownian-motioning around. Of course, it goes without saying that these are all state polls, therefore bad, and most of the results are within the margin of error. It would be hilarious if the Biden Debate debacle had exactly the same effect as Trump’s 34 bazillion felony convictions, i.e., none, both parties are so dug in.
* * * Lambert here: My picture: A pursuing pack of jackals (the funders) and weasels (the press) is taking down an aging, wounded hyena (Biden). Looking on, a troop of apes (the press and their sources) chatters, gesticulates, and occasionally throws feces. High in the air, vultures circle (the spooks). It’s not an edifying spectacle. I don’t have a rooting interest. In the theatre, we have narratives and expectations that work for individuals, families, and small groups. I don’t think we have anything that scales beyond that. Imagine King Lear that looked more like the Beltway; hundreds of Gonerils and Regans, all scheming for advantage; hundreds of Edmunds (“Fine word, legitimate!”) , plotting and betraying; and any Cordelias or Edgars lost in the muck. Not the play we know.
* * * Biden (D): “Biden firmly denounces calls to step aside from fellow Democrats: ‘The voters have spoken” [NBC]. “Phoning into MSNBC’s ‘Morning Joe’ on Monday, the president said the voters have chosen him and dared his Democratic critics who want him out to challenge him at the party’s August convention. ‘I’m getting so frustrated by the elites in the party. … They know so much more,’ Biden said, mockingly. ‘If any of these guys don’t think I should run, run against me. Go ahead. Announce for president — challenge me at the convention!'” • Which is what Clyburn says will happen during the virtual convention. I looked for a transcript, and couln’t find a complete one. This is the best I can do, a big slab of material not quoted elsewhere:
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: So you have repeatedly said that all of these people and entities are wrong, and let me go through them. The New York Times editorial board, The Economist, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Boston Globe. Jerry Nadler. Seth Moulton. Let me go to Julian Castro, Tim Ryan, David Axelrod–
PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: WHOA. You’re kidding.
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: David Remnick, haha– Richard Haass. Yeah, I know which one you’re responding to there — Zeke Emanuel, but they are saying that you should step aside. So what is your plan of attack moving forward? These are pretty big names.
PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: I understand there’s lot of [inaudible]. But I’m not, I don’t care what those big names think. They were WRONG in 2020[1]. They were wrong in 2022 about the red wave[2]. They’re wrong in 2024[3]. And go with– to come out with the watch and watch people react. You make a judgment. You make a judgment. And by the way I’m going to be have all these foreign leaders here. I’ve been in contact with a new British prime minister, which is– anyway. Look the country the rest of the world. Look at our allies looking for U.S. leadership. Who else do you think can step in here and do this? I expanded NATO, I solidified NATO, ask your brother about it in Poland. I made sure that we’re in a position where we have a coalition of people, of the nations around the world to deal with China, with Russia, when everything is going on in the world. We’re making real progress. The Biden plan, which Gaz– in Israel to, for the Gaza Strip. It is something that was adopted by the U.N. Security Council. Whether it comes to fruition, it’s awful close. We’ll see. G7–. But look, I’m not going to explain anymore about what I should or shouldn’t do. I am running. I am running.
NOTES [1] Correct. [2] Correct. [3] 2024 is not 2020 or 2022.
Biden (D): “Biden turns to MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough as calls to step down continue” [NPR]. “Well, you know, Joe Biden has made ‘Morning Joe’ his morning ritual. This morning, he called in. And, you know, he’s feisty. He was animated. He was impassioned, and he was kind of defiant. And it was sort of an intense defense saying, you know, I’m the guy, and people should stick with me.” • That word “defiant” is always one to watch for; generally what is being defied is a consensus of the general will, as represented by the press (“Biden pushes defiant message“).
* * * Biden (D): “Scoop: Biden rebels in Congress see their revolt crumbling” [Axios]. “Just before House Democrats’ Tuesday morning ‘come-to-Jesus’ meeting on President Biden’s path forward, a smaller group of swing-district Democrats held what sources described as a despondent gathering with ‘actual tears.'” Lol. More: “The bloc of battleground House Democrats is one of the last firm pockets of a rapidly disintegrating movement on Capitol Hill to get Biden off the ticket. One shell-shocked lawmaker who was present at the meeting would offer only one word to characterize it: ‘Intense.’ Another described the mood as ‘pretty much unanimous’ that Biden has ‘got to step down,’ adding, ‘There were actual tears from people, and not for Biden.’ Democrats’ full caucus meeting was far less unanimous, with lawmakers both defending Biden and airing concerns about his ability to take on former President Trump, attendees told Axios. One House Democrat who was in both meetings said: ‘Most of our caucus is still with him … meaning he’ll stay in. Which sucks for our country.’ Going in and out of the meeting, several House Democrats who have previously raised concerns about Biden said they are now with him: ‘Whether or not I have concerns is besides the point. He is going to be our nominee, and we all have to support him,’ said Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.). Biden enjoyed his first sustained show of support on Capitol Hill on Monday, with dozens of House and Senate Democrats saying publicly they support him staying on the ticket.” • The party decides…. Commentary:
"Dem insiders" are buckling at record speed. All it took was a sternly-worded letter and a Morning Joe tirade. Jerry Nadler "explicitly" said on a private call Sunday that Biden should withdraw — now he's hemming and hawing. This is why you can't just blithely refer to some… https://t.co/USWFFuidca
— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) July 9, 2024
Maybe yes, maybe no. It’s volatile! The Biden team moved to crush “Never Biden” types early in the week. I’m not sure that’s time for timorous electeds either to process what they heard back in the district or to digest any polling (and I trust Data for Progress about as far as I can throw a grand piano). But by this Thursday it will have been two weeks since Biden slipped a cog in debate. That should be sufficient time for a dogplle like this one to die down. The signal to watch for is when the date of the Democrat “virtual roll call” — expected to be in mid-July, but as yet unknown — is announced, because Biden would never allow the date to be announced unless the outcome was sewed up. Who knows, they could even fake some open-ness! I can see three counter-forces: (1) a demand for Biden to reveal the results of a neurological exam builds up a head of steam; (2) Biden slips another cog at NATO (but I bet they prefer Biden to either Trump or Kamala); or (3) the spooks drop or instigate something extremely nasty, like a tape of some sort — at one remove, of course. On the exam:
Utterly brutal interview with a neurologist on Biden: "He has parkinsonisms, that is a fact. He has degeneration of the brain. Show me the MRI, show me he doesn't. Put your money where your mouth is. He definitely has it."
And this aired on NBC!https://t.co/ba9tv7LoGe
— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) July 9, 2024
Biden (D): “House Dems desperately seek consensus on Biden’s future in ‘sad’ venting session” [Politico]. “In a closed-door caucus meeting hosted at Democrats’ campaign headquarters, increasingly distressed Democrats spoke candidly to each other for the first time since Biden’s unnerving debate performance. Several lawmakers who have already called for Biden to step aside made their case, provoking a larger block of the caucus that believes Democrats need to stay united behind the president, according to about a half-dozen members in the room…. Democrats who tried to argue that Biden should step down from the ticket included Reps. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) and Mike Quigley (D-Ill.), who later told reporters he is concerned about Biden ‘dragging the ticket down.’ All three have already publicly called on Biden to drop out of the race. Still, most of the voices at the meeting were in support of the president. But the internal divide was on full display — and many more are still harboring private doubts. Senate Democrats will have their own family meeting Tuesday afternoon, though it’s doubtful they’ll have any more luck on charting a path forward. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer will steer that discussion of his caucus, several of whom have voiced their own concerns about Biden’s electability. No Democratic senators have called on Biden to step aside.”
* * * Biden (D): “Parkinson’s Expert Visited the White House Eight Times in Eight Months” [New York Times]. “The expert, Dr. Kevin Cannard, is a neurologist who specializes in movement disorders and recently published a paper on Parkinson’s. The logs, released by the White House, document visits from July 2023 through March of this year. More recent visits, if there have been any, would not be released until later under the White House’s voluntary disclosure policy. It was unclear whether Dr. Cannard was at the White House to consult specifically about the president or was there for unrelated meetings.” • Oddly, potential effects of Covid are never, ever mentioned:
At the risk of stating the obvious, it’s very possible that we’re watching Biden experience COVID-related dementia brought on by his own policy decisions and his desire to pretend that he “ended the pandemic.”
— brittaney (@BeeeCee) July 9, 2024
Biden (D): “White House doctor offers explanation for Parkinson’s expert’s visits” [ABC]. “Cannard’s visits to the White House don’t represent examinations of the president, according to O’Connor’s letter. Cannard is involved in a range of care for others beyond the president at the White House, O’Connor said in his note. ‘Prior to the pandemic, and following its end [lol], [Cannard] has held regular Neurology clinics at the White House Medical Clinic in support of the thousands of active-duty members assigned in support of White House operations,’ his letter reads. ‘Many military personnel experience neurological issues related to their service, and Dr. Cannard regularly visits the WHMU as part of this General Neurology Practice.’ On the subject of Biden’s physical, O’Connor noted that ‘President Biden has not seen a neurologist outside of his annual physical.’ O’Connor also stressed that Biden’s last physical found no signs of Parkinson’s, which he detailed in a Feb. 28 letter. While the White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre refused to confirm these details earlier Monday, citing privacy concerns, O’Connor said he ‘obtained permission from the President and Dr. Cannard to confirm the details I am sharing.’ O’Connor offered in his letter a full-throated endorsement of Dr. Cannard and his work as the neurology consultant to the White House since 2012.”
* * * Biden (D): Clyburn’s base:
The problem in a sense is very simple. Black older primary voting women want Biden to be the candidate, and no one opposing Biden will even acknowledge the preferences of that voting bloc.
— Matt Stoller (@matthewstoller) July 9, 2024
(And they don’t want Kamala, apparently.) Since this is the voting bloc that gave us BIden, Clinton, and Obama — in other words, made the Democrat Party, at least the electeds, what it is today — I’d be perfectly happy to throw them under the bus. But then, I’m not a Democrat. Commentary:
Whoopi: "I don't care if [Biden] pooped his pants. I don't care if he can't put a sentence together. Show me he can't do the job, and then I'll say, okay, maybe it's time to go…I have poopy day all the time. All the time." pic.twitter.com/QlMHzH8LF9
— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) July 8, 2024
* * * Lambert here: How a great nation, the world’s oldest democracy, and the oldest political party in the world select a Presidential candidate:
Biden (D): “Clyburn says he would support ‘mini-primary’ ahead of DNC if Biden steps aside” [Politico]. “Democratic Rep. Jim Clyburn [(84)], a top ally of Joe Biden, said Wednesday that if the president steps aside from the election, he would expect to see a ‘mini-primary’ ahead of the Democratic National Convention with Kamala Harris and Democratic governors vying for the top two spots on the party’s ticket. Responding to a question on CNN about whether Harris should be the party’s automatic nominee if the president were to step aside or if there should be a ‘mini-primary’ between several candidates, Clyburn (D-S.C.) said: ‘Well, I think we’re going to have a mini-primary leading into the convention,’ describing the virtual roll call needed to appear on the Ohio ballot. He added, ‘You can actually fashion the process that’s already in place to make it a mini-primary, and I would support that absolutely. We can’t close that down, and we should open up everything for the general election.’… When pressed by CNN’s Erica Hill as to if there will be an expanded field during the virtual roll call vote ahead of the DNC, Clyburn said ‘there will definitely be other candidates.’ ‘My understanding is there are 700 uncommitted delegates and of course there are delegates who are pledged,’ Clyburn said. ‘It would seem to me that any one of these people who aspire to be president, who would like to see a contest taking place — look at those 700 delegates who are now uncommitted and get into the action.'” • Hmm.
Biden (D): “Jim Clyburn Is Right About What Democrats Should Do Next” [Ezra Klein, New York Times]. “If Democrats need to choose another candidate, they need to make the process as competitive and open as possible. Harris would be the front-runner, and there’s a good case to be made that she’s underrated. But she needs to prove her mettle. To anoint her because it would minimize conflict would be madness. Imagine the intraparty battling if Democrats, after unwisely closing ranks around Biden, close ranks around Harris and lose to Trump…. In an interview with Politico, a Democratic National Convention delegate from South Carolina said aloud what many Democrats have told me privately. ‘I think it would be fantastic for the party. I mean, think about it: People would watch it. It would get the ratings: It has the drama that people would pay attention to. And if multiple candidates were seeking our nomination, you would have wall-to-wall, weeklong, prime-time coverage of all of our best rising stars, delivering the party message that, frankly, Joe Biden couldn’t against Donald Trump.'”
Biden (D): “James Carville: Biden Won’t Win. Democrats Need a Plan. Here’s One” [James Carville, New York Times]. “I want to see the Democratic Party hold four historic town halls between now and the Democratic National Convention in August — one each in the South, the Northeast, the Midwest and the West. We can recruit the two most obvious and qualified people in the world to facilitate substantive discussions: Barack Obama and Bill Clinton. They may not represent every faction under our party’s big tent. But they care as much about our democracy as our nation’s first president, they understand what it takes to be president, and they know how to win. Town halls — high-stakes job interviews for the toughest job in the world — would surely attract television and cable partners and generate record numbers of viewers. Think the Super Bowl with Taylor Swift in the stands. The young, the old and everyone in between will tune in to see history being made in real time. How will potential nominees be chosen to participate in the town halls? There is no answer here that will satisfy everyone, but hard choices must be made, given the tight timetable, and I think leaning on the input of former presidents makes good sense. So I would advise Presidents 42 and 44 to select eight leading contenders out of the pool of those who choose to run, with Ms. Harris most definitely getting a well-earned invite. I believe the vice president would be a formidable opponent for Mr. Trump.”
* * * Biden (D): “The Foreign Policy Biden Is Putting on the Ballot” [Seymour Hersh]. “Despite some early losses, Russia, with its advantage in air and ground forces, is now dominating the war and, despite scant interest in Washington, there are serious peace talks going on. A senior American official told me that Putin ‘has what he wants’ in Ukraine and delayed an all-out assault on Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, while a possible settlement is being negotiated, with no known direct involvement of the crisis-ridden White House.” • Hmm. Somehow I don’t think the parties to the negotiations, whoever they may be, will have election 2024 as their uppermost concern, so the timing of the talks — if successful — should prove interesting.
* * * Trump (R): “RNC poised in draft text to drop national limits on abortion from party platform” [Politico]. “The Republican Party is poised to abandon its current position explicitly advocating for federal abortion limits, according to a draft text of its new proposed platform obtained by POLITICO. The platform represents a major change for the GOP — and one that anti-abortion advocates had spent months rallying against. The new language describing abortion as an issue to be decided by the states is in line with the position held by former President Donald Trump. Still, some anti-abortion leaders are lauding the inclusion of language pointing to 14th Amendment protections that conservatives have long argued protects life beginning at conception.” • And in line with the gift handed to Trump by the Supreme Court overturning Roe (hat tip, Democrats, for never codifying it).
Our Famously Free Press
Cope:
Change in Headline pic.twitter.com/CrR3GvoDit
— Editing TheGrayLady (@nyt_diff) July 9, 2024
Syndemics
“I am in earnest — I will not equivocate — I will not excuse — I will not retreat a single inch — AND I WILL BE HEARD.” –William Lloyd Garrison
Covid Resources, United States (National): Transmission (CDC); Wastewater (CDC, Biobot; includes many counties; Wastewater Scan, includes drilldown by zip); Variants (CDC; Walgreens); “Iowa COVID-19 Tracker” (in IA, but national data). “Infection Control, Emergency Management, Safety, and General Thoughts” (especially on hospitalization by city).
Lambert here: Readers, thanks for the collective effort. To update any entry, do feel free to contact me at the address given with the plants. Please put “COVID” in the subject line. Thank you!
Resources, United States (Local): AK (dashboard); AL (dashboard); AR (dashboard); AZ (dashboard); CA (dashboard; Marin, dashboard; Stanford, wastewater; Oakland, wastewater); CO (dashboard; wastewater); CT (dashboard); DE (dashboard); FL (wastewater); GA (wastewater); HI (dashboard); IA (wastewater reports); ID (dashboard, Boise; dashboard, wastewater, Central Idaho; wastewater, Coeur d’Alene; dashboard, Spokane County); IL (wastewater); IN (dashboard); KS (dashboard; wastewater, Lawrence); KY (dashboard, Louisville); LA (dashboard); MA (wastewater); MD (dashboard); ME (dashboard); MI (wastewater; wastewater); MN (dashboard); MO (wastewater); MS (dashboard); MT (dashboard); NC (dashboard); ND (dashboard; wastewater); NE (dashboard); NH (wastewater); NJ (dashboard); NM (dashboard); NV (dashboard; wastewater, Southern NV); NY (dashboard); OH (dashboard); OK (dashboard); OR (dashboard); PA (dashboard); RI (dashboard); SC (dashboard); SD (dashboard); TN (dashboard); TX (dashboard); UT (wastewater); VA (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, KF, 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!
Maskstravaganza
Handy chart of masks for more purposes than Covid prevention (e.g., wildfire smoke):
Since most people don’t know to consider anything besides an N95 for wildfire smoke events, I’ve designed a chart that helps people learn about more advanced options & simplifies how to choose the right protection for the different hazards found in the smoke.
Please help share… https://t.co/rX1Jrer0TU pic.twitter.com/J00BqruIhQ
— Nicolas Smit (@PPEtoheros) July 6, 2024
Censorship and Propaganda
Infection
“Why You Should Always Choose a Window Seat on a Plane During Flu Season” [Travel and Leisure]. “Commercial planes are cramped, with hundreds of travelers all sharing the same recycled air for several hours. They are, unsurprisingly, breeding grounds for infectious illnesses. But some seats are deemed safer than others because they’re further away from the zone with the highest risk….. It all has to do with your contact with other people. The researchers found that the closer passengers are to the aisle, the more likely they are to get up to visit the lavatory or move around. And the more they move, the higher their chances of coming into contact with germs. While about 80 percent of passengers in aisle seats ended up leaving their seats at least once during the flights in this study, only about half that number moved from their seat while sitting next to a window. Passengers in aisle seats had an average of 64 “contacts” with other passengers during a flight, making it the greatest contact space. Passengers in middle seats had 58 contacts, and those in window seats had just 12.” And: “[S]tting in the last couple rows of the cabin prevents you from being breathed on from behind, because airflow generally moves forward and not backward — therefore, your chances of catching a contagious illness will be lower.'” • So, choose a window seat in the back of the plane. Wish I’d seen this before the July 4 holiday; sorry!
Origins Debate
“Serologic Testing of US Blood Donations to Identify Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 and other Coronaviruses, December 2019-July 2020” [Open Forum Infectious Diseases]. N = 46,120. From the Abstract: “The first COVID-19 case in the United States was recognized on January 19, 2020, but the time of introduction of the virus into the US is unknown. An existing sample cohort was examined for serologic evidence of early SARS-CoV-2 infections…. Nine (0.07%) confirmed-positives were identified among the 13,364 donations collected between December 13, 2019 and January 22, 2020.” From the Discussion: “In Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, the first cluster of clinical cases later attributed to SARS-CoV-2 was identified on January 7, 2020.”
Policy
“Commission finds COVID pandemic caused $18 trillion in economic damage to US” [FOX]. “A new report by the Heritage Foundation’s Nonpartisan Commission on China and COVID-19 found that the COVID pandemic caused $18 trillion in economic losses to the U.S. and placed blame for the outbreak on the Chinese government.
FOX Business exclusively viewed an advance copy of the report, which estimated that as of December 2023, the pandemic’s total economic cost in the U.S. topped $18 trillion after taking into account several ways in which the pandemic affected the economy. That figure includes more than $8.6 trillion caused by excess deaths; more than $1.825 trillion in lost income; $6 trillion due to chronic conditions such as ‘long COVID’; and mental health losses of $1 trillion and educational losses of $435 billion pushed the total above $18 trillion.” • “Nonpartisan” is in caps because it’s part of the name of the Commission (!).
Elite Maleficence
“Pandemic Revisionism: Doctors Who Defend Dr. Scott Atlas Are Afraid to Accurately Quote Dr. Scott Atlas. I’m Not” [Science-Based Medicine]. “Dr. Atlas was one of several Stanford doctors (Dr. John Ioannidis, Drs. Eran Bendavid and Jay Bhattacharya) who predicted that COVID’s 2020 death toll would be 10,000-40,000 people and that the mass infection of unvaccinated youth would lead to herd immunity. Like Dr. Atlas, these doctors- none of whom treated COVID patients- now insist they were basically right about everything. Imagine predicting that the flu was going to be worse than COVID, and 1.1 million COVID deaths later, having the audacity to claim that the passage of time has validated your initial pandemic pronouncements. In fact, advocates of mass infection are aggrieved. Although they became pandemic celebrities, they claim to have been silenced, and they feel they are owed an apology. Since they can’t admit error, they claim there’s a conspiracy to hide the truth- COVID wasn’t that bad after all.”
Readers, there is no good news here at all, and this data does not include the Fourth of July weekend. It would sure be handy to have Biobot still in operation, so we could have a single indicator for infection, but of course that was not to be.
TABLE 1: Daily Covid Charts
| Wastewater | ||
| This week[1] CDC June 24: | Last Week[2] CDC June 17 (until next week): | |
|
| |
| Variants★ [3] CDC July 6 | Emergency Room Visits[4] ★CDC June 29 | |
 |
 |
|
| Hospitalization | ||
| ★ New York[5] New York State, data July 15: | National [6] CDC June 8: | |
|
|
|
| Positivity | ||
| ★ National[7] Walgreens July 8: | ★ Ohio[8] Cleveland Clinic July 6: | |
 |
 |
|
| Travelers Data | ||
| ★ Positivity[9] CDC June 17: | ★ Variants[10] CDC June 17: | |
|
 |
|
| Deaths | ||
| ★ Weekly Deaths vs. % Positivity [11]CDC June 29: | ★ Weekly Deaths vs. ED Visits [12]CDC June 29: | |
 |
” alt=”” width=”310″ class=”alignleft size-full wp-image-273838″ /> |
LEGEND
1) ★ for charts new today; all others are not updated.
2) For a full-size/full-resolution image, Command-click (MacOS) or right-click (Windows) on the chart thumbnail and “open image in new tab.”
NOTES
[1] (CDC) This week’s wastewater map, with hot spots annotated. Worse than two weeks ago. New York is a hot again, and Covid is spreading up the Maine Coast just in time for the Fourth of July weekend, in another triumph for Administration policy. On that Bay area hotspot:
Examples —
Marin: https://t.co/pMS1d89ZQ2
Santa Clara County: https://t.co/m1Sjbfmork
— Violet Blue® (@violetblue) June 27, 2024
[2] (CDC) Last week’s wastewater map.
[3] (CDC Variants) LB.1 coming up on the outside.
[4] (ER) This is the best I can do for now. At least data for the entire pandemic is presented.
[5] (Hospitalization: NY) Now acceleration, which is compatible with a wastewater decrease, but still not a good feeling .(The New York city area has form; in 2020, as the home of two international airports (JFK and EWR) it was an important entry point for the virus into the country (and from thence up the Hudson River valley, as the rich sought to escape, and then around the country through air travel.)
[6] (Hospitalization: CDC). This is the best I can do for now. Note the assumption that Covid is seasonal is built into the presentation, which in fact shows that Covid is not seasonal. At least data for the entire pandemic is presented.
[7] (Walgreens) Still going up! (Because there is data in “current view” tab, I think white states here have experienced “no change,” as opposed to have no data.)
[8] (Cleveland) Still going up!
[9] (Travelers: Positivity) Up. Those sh*theads at CDC have changed the chart so that it doesn’t even run back to 1/21/23, as it used to, but now starts 1/1/24. There’s also no way to adjust the time rasnge. CDC really doesn’t want you to be able to take a historical view of the pandemic, or compare one surge to another. In an any case, that’s why the shape of the curve has changed.
[10] (Travelers: Variants) Same deal. Those sh*theads. I’m leaving this here for another week because I loathe them so much:
[11] Deaths low, but positivity up.
[12] Deaths low, ED up.
Stats Watch
Small Business Optimism: “United States Nfib Business Optimism Index” [Trading Economics]. “The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index in the US rose to 91.5 in June of 2024 from 90.5 in the previous month, the highest since the start of the year, and contrasting with expectations that the index would slow to 89.5. Still, the reading remained below the long-term average of 98. ‘Main Street remains pessimistic about the economy for the balance of the year,’ said NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg. ‘Increasing compensation costs has led to higher prices all around.'”
Retail: “United States Used Car Prices YoY” [Trading Economics]. “The Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index for the US decreased 8.9% year-on-year in June 2024, following a 12.1% drop in May.” • Seems like a leading indicator of some kind, but I don’t know what. Readers?
Tech: “Gen AI: Too Much Spend, Too Little Benefit?” (PDF) [Goldman Sachs]. The conclusion: “So, what does this all mean for markets? Although Covello believes AI’s fundamental story is unlikely to hold up, he cautions that the AI bubble could take a long time to burst, with the “picks and shovels” AI infrastructure providers continuing to benefit in the meantime. GS senior US equity strategist Ryan Hammond also sees more room for the AI theme to run and expects AI beneficiaries to broaden out beyond just Nvidia, and particularly to what looks set to be the next big winner: Utilities. That said, looking at the bigger picture, GS senior multi-asset strategist Christian Mueller-Glissmann finds that only the most favorable AI scenario, in which AI significantly boosts trend growth and corporate profitability without raising inflation, would result in above-average long-term S&P 500 returns, making AI’s ability to deliver on its oft-touted potential even more crucial.” • Pop? Commentary:
Sachs' Covello estimates that a trillion dollars is being invested in propping up generative AI, yet it doesn't solve a one-trillion-dollar problem. It isn't making money, it costs too much, it doesn't create new jobs and doesn't make workers smarter.https://t.co/YULEkHYBFP pic.twitter.com/PrUXlKqqHQ
— Ed Zitron (@edzitron) July 8, 2024
Today’s Fear & Greed Index: 52 Neutral (previous close: 52 Neutral) [CNN]. One week ago: 48 (Neutral). (0 is Extreme Fear; 100 is Extreme Greed). Last updated Jul 9 at 2:01:04 PM ET
Rapture Index: Closes unchanged [Rapture Ready]. Record High, October 10, 2016: 189. Current: 186. (Remember that bringing on the Rapture is good.) • Not what the climate coverage implies.
The Gallery
Inventor of the eponymous cheese, so no wonder:
Édouard Manet, Rochefort's Escape pic.twitter.com/SjssoWpqP1
— Impressions (@impression_ists) July 4, 2024
Zeitgeist Watch
“Vending machines selling bullets at grocery stores” [Cleveland.com]. “Grocery stores in Alabama and Oklahoma have vending machines that allow users to purchase ammo for guns. The vending machine supplier, American Rounds, markets ‘ammo sales like you’ve never seen before’ on its website. The company is looking to revolutionize how ammunition for handguns, rifles and shotguns is sold. The automated ammunition dispenser uses artificial intelligence technology to verify a buyer’s identification and age through card scanning and facial recognition software. The buyer inserts their photo ID, and the machine conducts a scan to match it to the ID card. In a promotional video, American Rounds CEO Grant Magers said the stores were looking for an innovative way to bring ammo sales to their stores.” • Wowsers
News of the Wired
“The Nine Ways: On the Enneagram” [The Paris Review]. “Ichazo’s core theory is that people, on the deepest level, wish to avoid a very bad feeling, an experience so awful it is what we imagine death is like. There are nine ways this terror can be imagined reaching us, and nine correspondent ways it can be avoided. The nine techniques of avoiding this universal fear are figured as points on the enneagram and exist in a complex and dynamic interplay with one another. In any individual personality, one of the nine is predominant. The nine ways are often referred to using a kind of shorthand: 1 is the Reformer; 2, the Helper; 3, the Achiever; 4, the Individualist; 5, the Investigator; 6, the Loyalist; 7, the Enthusiast; 8, the Challenger; and 9, the Peacemaker. It can be hard to pinpoint the right metaphor for the role these numbers are thought to play in a person’s psyche. The nine can be conceived of as parts, dimensions, or styles. I sometimes picture each number as being a corner in a very large room. Imagine the plane of this room’s floor is uneven, and the walls, as a result, are of irregular shapes and sizes. We may find something close to a natural comfort in one corner or in some nook nearby. The light from a window might amiably rhyme with that of a spot across the room. Some parts of the room might have high ceilings with bare white walls. Others, though narrow, might overlook a courtyard. If this place is big enough, its far corners might seem beyond reach or even nonexistent. We might hesitate to emerge from our favorite hideaways. I offer this extended image to illustrate that while, as a numerical typology, the enneagram may seem like a tacky attempt to reduce human complexity, it is intended do the opposite.” • 10, Analyst.
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94 comments
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Re polls–there’s also that poll where over 70 percent of the public say Biden should not be a candidate. Call that one the common sense poll. The Dems are perfectly entitled to hate and fear Trump but that being true they now need to find a better candidate. Biden doesn’t own the party or the office he holds. They can’t force him to quit short of the 25th or impeachment but they can take him off the ballot. His people have been concealing his true condition. If he disagrees let him take an unbiased cognitive test.
“The Dems are perfectly entitled to hate and fear Trump but that being true they now need to find a better candidate.”
Beware what you wish for:
“The poll also tested other potential Democratic tickets — and found one headed up by Clinton, with Harris staying on as her vice presidential nominee, in the strongest position. Clinton-Harris is beating Trump 43 percent to 40 percent, a four-point advantage over Biden-Harris.”*
I really wouldn’t put it past her to Novichuck Biden out of the race and then blame the Russians. It would certainly make for good ratings.
* https://www.politico.com/news/2024/07/09/biden-clinton-harris-democrat-poll-00166937
The only thing other than a third party win that might give me joy about this election from hell would be Clinton losing again. Best version Stein wins with neither major party candidate pulling even twenty percent, and Clinton third among them at least five points behind Trump.
That will never happen, but I absolutely believe if it stopped being a fantasy Hillary and Kamala will alienate enough voters during the campaign to lose the election. (If experience teaches us nothing about her campaign failures, it is she will correct one thing she did wrong but some part of her tricky solution will be a massive mistake.)
Think of the youthful vigor Hillary could bring to the campaign!
If we are going to have a shitshow, let’s have the biggest and best shitshow EVER, and Clinton/Harris could deliver that without half trying.
She brings her own parachute. Sorry.
If so, it’s all about name recognition. The dems I know with tds would hate it, granted they’d vote for them. Hard to believe the indies would support, lose them it’s curtains.
PLEASE let the DNC brain geniuses choose Clinton-Harris, so we can watch them both get annihilated.
And maybe enjoy a few “she got tossed into the van like a sack of potatoes” highlights en route.
I have already posted about my delight on Kamala getting landslid (landslided?) – HRC would be too much to ask for.
In either case, JRB has sh1t the bed in public and will never recover. The PR blitz will be increasingly painful to watch, whatever crazy thing happens next.
Personally, I want Nicolas Cage to throw in his hat for the Democrat nomination. Hell, I would even volunteer for a Cage-Harris campaign. Think of the debates between Cage and Trump. They would be EPIC. Not to mention the White House renovations under a Nick Cage presidency. If you think Trump’s gold toalett was extravigant; imagine the White House covered in leopard skin and yellow diamonds. That’s how Cage rolls. We know we’ll never get any bread from our rulers, so we might as well get a good circus.
> Clinton-Harris
The stupidest timeline… I have a hard time believing that the Democrats would… do this. But it would be amusing if they did.
> Biden doesn’t own the party or the office he holds.
Me thinks it would be a deeply just (at least with respect to JRB himself) outcome if JRB, having been catapulted to the 2020 nomination by behind-the-scenes maneuvering and arm-twisting by Party powers, were denied the 2024 nomination by similar means.
I hope that one of the fruits of this year’s disorders is a clearer public understanding of what “the Democratic Party” actually is. I confess to being quite fuzzy-headed about this, except that it’s a private corporation that basically can do whatever it wants in terms of who is on the ballot on the D line.
That the D primaries are substantially, if not almost entirely, performative is something that D voters ought to clearly understand. Perhaps that could help to clear the way for a genuine mass movement toward a left-of-centrist 3rd party (that, admittedly, would have to fight tooth and nail, against the duopoly power structures in each State, for ballot access).
Donald Trump was sent by the gods to destroy America’s two, awful political parties. Not saying what he’ll substitute for them, but he’s doing a good job of ridding us of the Bush Republican and Clinton/Obama Democrat parties.
You can see why some of the snake-handlers call him Cyrus.
> a clearer public understanding of what “the Democratic Party” actually is. I confess to being quite fuzzy-headed about this
That’s because it is fuzzy.
The Carville plan. Interesting, but I’ll pass. Sounds to me like a way to make TV money, which should make some of the donors happy, but would it work? I suppose people would tune in to see St. O and Slick Willy audition people for the great auction, but at this point, how do we know it isn’t all rigged like everything else? Hard pass, they all suck.
Speaking of TV, Whoopie and the View. If that isn’t the stupidest show on television I don’t know what is. How anyone can watch that insanity is beyond my comprehension.
We don’t live in a serious world.
When I first saw a description of this plan, I thought I was reading The Onion .
Half-serious question:: how much $$ do you think JB will charge to walk away? Trying to be real here. And bonus query:will the payment be characterized as a Campaign Contribution (cf. Trump’s lawyers) OR um, a Loan (dear Hunter’s attorneys)?
Dang it. Yves’ piece says a cool $200 mil should do it.
I find this number incomprehensible. The Bidens need this much to continue their lifestyle, even if supporting Hunter and owning mansions?
It surprising candor from Carville. Clinton and Obama choose all the nominees anyway. Might as well have them do it out in the open.
NAFTA Dem ex-pres selecting more NAFTA Dem candidates. While the Dem base voters have been trying to oust the NAFTA Dems for almost 30 years; they run on New Deal sounding slogans for the cameras and turn 180 degrees if elected. Now B is complaining about ‘the elites’. It is to laugh.
Screwball, I too wonder about the sort of people that might be entertained by these morons. My brother and his stupid wife might fit the bill, they watch CNN and believe they report the truth. They think the democrats are hard at work figuring out what to do about Biden. They think Jimmy Fallon is a Great comedian and have Trump derangement syndrome. Bill maher is another person who speaks truth to power. They believed even after getting Covid that the shots have kept them safe. The pandemic is over because it was announced. The country is full of idiots just like them. Liberal democrats that think all the stuff Biden has done is good. And that Donald Trump will destroy this great country. Oh, and Ukraine is good as well as poor little Israel
Surrounded by enemies. These two people are far more dangerous than my uncle the Trump supporter who flies his trump flag. According to them he is a felon. I can’t even write anything more, these two are the people I fear the most.
>Lambert here: My picture: A pursuing pack of jackals (the funders) and weasels (the press) is taking down an aging, wounded hyena (Biden). Looking on, a troop of apes (the press and their sources) chatters, gesticulates, and occasionally throws feces
I have to say that you are being pretty unfair comparing the “Press” to weasels and apes.
First, what did they do to deserve that, and second, the so called MSM press really has done nothing but feed us feces while eating it from the White House and whoever is really running the show.
I take it you mean it is unfair to weasels and apes.
Yes I was.
This seems like a step in the wrong direction for the humans…good for the virus though! Go virus, go virus……that’s our approach in the US. I have still not heard of the bird flu virus in cows anywhere in the world except the US, which makes me suspect it is spreading by our (and apparently only our) practice of feeding cows with chicken excrement. We are exceptional.
Pathogenicity and transmissibility of bovine H5N1 influenza virus
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07766-6
“Importantly, bovine HPAI H5N1 virus bound to sialic acids expressed in human upper airways and inefficiently transmitted to exposed ferrets (one of four exposed ferrets seroconverted without virus detection).”
Consequence bird sighting:
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/08/business/japan-yen-defense-spending.html
Oops. I guess Japan’s Central Bank is finding out that you can turn your currency into toilet paper, but you have to produce stuff in order to get away with it. All those Western “wunder waffen” are priced in dollars now 2x as expensive.
A setback for the pivot to Asia. And possibly the first windshield to hit the bug known as the Japanese Central Bank. Paging Kyle Bass …
Mrs. Watanabe probably got carried away…
[Drum fill]
Good one.
As no one pays any attention to us deplorables, I think we should pay no attention to “them.” Choose your definition of “them.” I don’t know that even the “Donor Class” … the words need be pronounced with a fanfare. Ta rah! Ta rah! (That was a fanfare.) … can defenestrate Biden quickly enough to retool the campaign and most importantly come up with the means to transfer those campaign funds. There has to be a kinda sorta quasi-legal, maybe even straight up legal way, to do that. If Joe can find ways to shovel money and weapons out the door with both hands to arm Zelensky and Bibi, surely these masters of the universe can wave their wands and con the suckers, sorry, I meant calm the voters fears that Orange Man will return. Do you find this absurd? Look, the world,life itself, is absurd. Nothing much changed when Orange Man was defeated. “Our Democracy”, that’s the United States of America, a republic according to tons of old founding father type documents. “Our Democracy” is the possession of the democratic elites, well, the elites anyway. (How exactly are they elite except that they have scooped up the largest share of the fruits of the neo-liberal heist. (It looks like a heist to me, but what do I know. I’m a deplorable. Perhaps my expression is hyperbole.) Finally bottom line. If nothing much is going to change no matter who wants to be president, if the elites, the donor class, the deep state are going to have it their way no matter what, why pay attention to “them?” For me I’m reverting to my candidate of 1956. “I go Pogo!”
> Ta rah! Ta rah!
Musical interlude:
“Bow, bow you lower middle classes….”
Thought it said the “Dolly Parton Opera Co.” at first…but so…upbeat !
Thanks for that good laugh of the day. / :D
Lambert, I’m always delighted when Iolanthe shows up on NC. It was my first G&S and my first professional gig. I was a peer and this song, heck, the whole score is transcendent live. The 26 minute finale of the first act is absolutely remarkable while still being cheeky.
Thank you for everything!
> Thank you for everything!
[lambert blushes modestly]
Culinary notes from all over, even New Caledonia.
Inventor of the eponymous cheese, so no wonder:
Au contraire, mon frère. The cheese is roquefort.
Now, Rochefort (ceci n’est pas un fromage) was quite the scrappy fellow, escaping from France more than once. The painting you show is (lifting from Wikipedia):
And also in the entry:
A highly topical image. New Caledonia. Memory. I wonder if Biden remembers meeting the marquis de Rochefort. Or, at least, meeting Edouard Manet at a White House awards dinner.
> roquefort
Oh, yeah [slaps forehead].
I’m sure that Biden “remembers” awarding Manet the ‘Legion d’Hunteur.’
Are Bearded Iris also known as Siberian Iris?
No, Siberians are their own species, and resemble Japanese iris more than German Bearded.
Too bad Lambert did not include a subsequent line in the passage, “Fine word, legitimate,” he quoted from King Lear: “Now gods, stand up for bastards.” Seems they are doing so these days….
I posted that paragraph from Lambert as part of my link to the Water Cooler on my Facebook page. In less than a minute it was removed for being spam. I have requested a review. I can’t imagine why that was considered spam.
Thank you! I will be interested to hear Facebook’s no doubt idiotic response.
Because Lambert, like Spam, is very spicy?
I once was offered ‘low-salt’ Spam at a BBQ. It was the saltiest thing I ever tasted, except for Roquefort.
Because the narrative management is out in full force right now. I’ve tried to share a number of domestic items that have been posted on NC and each time they were struck down as community violations. Even the one where the artist made the clay sculpture of Tim Cook’s head and put it in the press.
From what I’ve had blocked and comparing notes with others, if the topic is domestic, or refers to anti Ukraine ideas, or refers to anti Israel ideas, or can be taken as anti-Democrat party, there is a better than 75% chance of it being flagged in 10 minutes after posting. If it is pro Trump or anti Biden, there is a 100% chance of it being flagged in a day.
I have added orts and scraps, with a heart-breaking amount left on the cutting room floor. I will have to do the flu updates tomorrow…..
It is paywalled but thought this might interest you
Covid Hospitalizations Increase in NY, High Levels in Multiple Counties from Syracuse.com
It is getting noticed in NY.
Thanks. I just sent the archived version to a relative who’s spending the summer in upstate NY:
https://archive.ph/oZSbc/again?url=https://www.syracuse.com/coronavirus/2024/07/covid-cases-hospitalizations-increase-in-ny-high-levels-in-multiple-counties.html
The most consistent signal for many weeks* has been steadily rising hospitalization rates in New York City**. This started from a low baseline, but is now approaching significance in terms of prior peaks. (I try to include only consistent signals, but NY seems the most remarkable to me in its steadiness.)
“Think the Super Bowl with Taylor Swift in the stands.”
And Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce on the field. ;)
That Whoopi quote is possibly the stupidest thing I have ever heard from the View. And just think of the gems from Starr Jones, Joy Behar and Debbie Matenopolus it had to beat.
I sort of hope that someone responded that clearly she was having a “poopy day” when she said something this full of it.
“I don’t care if Jean-Luc pooped his pants…” — Guinan
Brain worms? Is there a social media stagg at The View telling them this will playing Peoria?
Puck’s picture: “Lord, what fools these mortals be.”
The longer the Dems stay in hair on fire mode over Biden, the more I realize that I have given these people too much credit, even with as little as I have given them. They have no “Plan B” but Biden. How in the world do you get so drunk on your own Kool-Ade that you don’t have a back up plan when your candidate is Joe Biden circa 2024? At first I didn’t, but I’m really starting to believe these people honestly and truly had no idea Biden was as gone as he is until that debate. I know, I know, there’s been a massive reality distortion field around his condition, but c’mon jack! We deplorables have been able to recognize something isn’t right in Biden’s head since the 2019 primaries. It’s just astonishing to see this panic as the debate finally caused these people to see that the emperor is buck naked!
I also think the longer they drag this out, the harder it’s going to be to get Biden out unless “nature calls” (and I don’t mean in the Whoopi Goldberg way.) I also think every day they let the bleeding go on, they take votes from whomever the candidate is. The Blue MAGA vote is a given. But those oh so precious uncommitted and swing voters have to be seeing this. How are they supposed to have confidence in a party that can’t get it together when their leader is unfit to lead? Not to mention, these people kept insisting nothing was wrong, until it became painfully obvious something was. Hell, some of them still are saying everything is fine.
It’s just fascinating to watch this. The Dems don’t need a plan now, James Carvel. They needed a plan ages ago. At this point, it’s obvious they don’t care about protecting “our Democracy ™”, but they don’t even have the sense to save “their party”. They got themselves into this mess by shoving Biden through two primaries and all but tarring and feathering anyone who dared point out he was not the Biden he was even in 2008.
I’m still amused at the panic and scrambling — lack of executive function — to find an alternative. This ship sailed. People should be in it to win it with Biden. That’s the game at this point. These people are pretty useless, really. As a party they look hapless, incompent, and listless.
Sanders was the Chairman of the Budget Committee, a position of real power. This is all you need to know about the Democratic Party. When they recruit candidates, they don’t recruit Democrats but local archons who don’t really have political values. Combined with nepotism and geezers, the party electeds are amoral types who like fancy parties.
As far as the Team Sports fanatics, they are no different than someone who bought a jersey of a QB bust. Everyone will be at fault except the name on the jersey.
That was the payoff for Sanders. The lead or the gold. Naturally he did little with it.
Remember, the only value of the Dem’s is to keep the left at bay. Once that purpose is fulfilled there is nothing else for them to do.
Biden didn’t earn the SleepyJoe moniker years ago from the Donald for nothing, so clearly he was aware of Biden’s decline and mocked it. Could be the Democrats are sticking with Biden so as not to admit Trump’s assessment was correct. They do seem to be that stupid and petty. Trump could say the sky was blue and they’d still try to claim he was lying.
I wonder how many ” Very Important” people riding around in newer cars take into account that they are rolling surveillance platforms with interior microphones, and in many cases interior cameras?
I have no doubt that the information they constantly broadcast is as secure as the rest of the “Internet of Things”…and that no one is listening or looking at that information that shouldn’t be, because reasons.
If spooks really don’t want Biden he won’t win in the fall… constraint might be they don’t want trump, either. Maybe we don’t want the same?!? Maybe they’re better at removing pres than elevating somebody. Anyway, if they’re gonna produce some damning evidence on Biden they’d better get on with it, convention’s coming.
It is odd the press seems as shocked as my friends. Maybe the trump hatred blinds them as much as my buddies, who all supported him right up to the debate and all think he’s gotta go right after. Course, they’ll probably vote for him if there’s no change.
I think we’ve reached the stage where events will determine what happens next. Not to say that any of the players won’t take an opportunity to knife an opponent. Just that anyone thinking they can control what comes next is kidding themselves.
It may also be as Yves and Lambert have surmised. Despite the horror show we’ve been provided, those who are going to vote are so dug in Biden could poop his pants on stage and none of them would care. Just like Trump supporters could be shown videos of him shooting the Pope and none of them would care. But those of us who have some expectations of integrity in the process will just stay home.
Fellow Chris – I am sensing a new South Park episode in there. For the next debate, every time Joe poops his pants, Trump offs someone in the audience.
That episode almost writes itself!
I think they’ve got plenty of damning evidence they’ve spent years hushing up. Coming out with it now will compound the public disgust over them hushing up his clear declining state. The Politburo is in a box, imo.
It could be that Biden has gotten a lot worse in the last few months. All presidents seem to age while in office. Guilty consciences?
Et tu NBC?
https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/parkinson-s-doctor-tells-nbc-biden-has-classic-features-of-disease-i-could-have-diagnosed-him-from-across-the-mall/ar-BB1pGv1i
> Anyway, if they’re gonna produce some damning evidence on Biden they’d better get on with it, convention’s coming.
Not seeing any letters in support of Biden signed by 51 intelligence officials. Musical interlude.
It wasn’t that long ago where Lambert’s Politics Updates were dominated by Trump posts with one or two Biden posts. Now Biden has sucked the oxygen out of the Water Cooler leaving poor Trump with only one post. Good job Dark Brandon!!
Nine Muses (the daughters of Memory) accompany Apollo: Clio–history; Calliope–epic poetry, Polyhymnia–sacred verse, Terpsicore–dance, Euterpe–music, Thalia–comedy, Melpomene–tragedy, Urania–astronomy, and Erato–lyric poetry.
Conversing on a lazy summer afternoon with Phaedrus, Socrates said he wanted to stay busy philosophizing because the song of cicadas–the departed souls of men–report on the doings of mortals to Clio, erstwhile muse of philosophy. And he wanted them to make a good report on him.
Did not know that about Socrates discussing cicadas. Despite earlier reports I have made here, they are officially up and running in eastern Iowa right now. Now that I know they are the departed souls of men (not women?) I will listen better.
The fireflies – called lightning bugs in these parts – are still few and far between.
I’d like to add some nuance to the (surprising to see) Enneagram Paris Review post (btw, Wikipedia has decent pieces on both Ichazo and the Enneagram, despite the woo-factor)
But wiki gives a bare mention to the Arica School which still exists as a shadow of its 1970’s self. IMNSHO, thousands of peeps in big Cities around the U.S. did their trainings from 1971 – 1978 when IIRC, things fell apart presumably due to over rapid expansion. I also remember a lawsuit between Werner Erhard’s EST and Arica over the intellectual property involved with the Enneagram of personality. For obvious historical reasons, I don’t think Ichazo prevailed on that one.
I was a member of the Arica school. Entry level was the 40-day training (imagine similar today? No way.) How I scraped together the $600 bucks I’ll never know. But on day one they sit you in a chair for a flash photograph (Now you’re enlightened they joked!) and this photo is used by the trainers to place you in one of 3 Groups: Being, Living, and Doing which is the cruder predecessor to the 9 Types. At an “Advanced Training” one is categorized as 1 of 9 and is taught how to analyze the face to determine this: easier said than done. But in the studies that wiki cites (leaving aside cries of “pseudo-science!”) I believe this latter part is left out in favor of (cleverly designed) questionnaires. Making the whole thing one step up from a parlor game, it seems to me.
> Making the whole thing one step up from a parlor game
Not that there’s anything wrong with that!
Another Bidenonics sighting
Metal Thieves are Stripping America’s Cities
Thanks for this. Belongs under “Class Warfare” I think.
They just blame the deplorables for finding the money where they can, when the neolibs locked up all the rest of it. They never ask why people might feel the need to do such things, or how the idea of the Common Weal is now so, so quaint to the Ivy Leaguers writing this shite.
> Metal Thieves are Stripping America’s Cities
I seem to remember that metal theft is a leading indicator for economic troubles ahead. Or is it just normal now? Reader?
What we have around me for years now is a continuing degradation and lowering of the bottom, I guess I might call it. Went through a rash of catalytic converter thefts; anything unattended for a time could be at risk. More along the lines of locked display cabinets in stores than indicative of the economy. My take, FWIW.
Most metal is worth about bupkis, a little something-but not what it was 15 or 20 years ago when the Chinese were hot to trot. It’s copper where the money is with the barely precious metal crowd.
It so happens that copper being so valuable, is used mostly in piping-and take piping out of a building and its a lost cause.
One thing i’ve noticed is that historical markers throughout the state in their original metal form have disappeared-leaving a big nothing to read when you stop by, or its replacement is now in stone form-no value there aside from perhaps an art student from the Krylon School, using it as a place to test their skills?
Calls to mind for me the Limits to Growth- resources dropping through this timeline. I’ve interpreted the line on the chart as increasing scarcity, which means that the stripping of metals is predictable in the absence of social investments. We went the other way on that one. Here is a link to the Donella Meadows project page- https://donellameadows.org/archives/a-synopsis-limits-to-growth-the-30-year-update/
“THE FOREIGN POLICY BIDEN IS PUTTING ON THE BALLOT”
‘His presidency has been a disaster for the world—would another Democratic candidate do better?’
If another Democratic candidate could not do better, then perhaps it is time to do some strategic voting to get rid of the worse of them. A party that finds itself in the position of having Kamala Harris as contender for the Presidency is not a serious party. And for the past week or so they have shown their voters that it is the donors that choose who can stand as President and nothing to do with voters. As for their foreign policy, it is mostly about war and confrontation against their rivals such as China and Russia while giving cover for the massive war crimes of their allies meaning Israel.
And when Hersh says that ‘A senior American official told me that Putin “has what he wants” in Ukraine and delayed an all-out assault on Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, while a possible settlement is being negotiated’, he should really take that with a truck load of salt. Why would Putin do a settlement now when his war aims have not been fulfilled. And why would he assault Kharkiv when sooner or later that city will fall anyway which also just happens to be a Russian city.
> they have shown their voters that it is the donors
That has yet to be determined. And if it does happen, and is highly visible — as it would be, because these rich fools, fools who knew less about Biden’s mental state than the average NC reader — then the picture of a Democrat party openly owned and operated by oligarchs would be ineradicable. Catnip for populist Republicans, and corrosive to whatever remaining good will Democrats have on their balance sheet.
“Vending machines selling bullets at grocery stores” [Cleveland.com]
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It’s just funny. I just shake my head now when these clowns say ads are enhancing my experience.
Unbelievable BS.
Since this election is going to be a shitshow I want the best shitshow possible!
Let the drama Queens have their time in the Spotlight, especially HILLARY!!!.
Gretchen ( The FBI loves her) Whitmer, Gavin Newsome and Cackling Kamala showing off their best moves with Bezos, Soros and Bloomberg as the Judges.
It’s going to be more fun than watching the hogs eat grandma, if less elegant.
Tom
What a beautiful image!
My bet is that they pick Kamala with someone really sinister, probably a Pritzker, as VP —
that way, as with Reagan and George “Agents for Bush” HW Bush, we will be in for the bumpiest of rides.
How in the world did you leave Dick Cheney out of that post??
> more fun than watching the hogs eat grandma
Thanks for this.
Edifice Wrecks update:
SF office vacancy hits new high, 34.5%
https://nypost.com/2024/07/09/business/san-francisco-office-vacancies-hit-all-time-high-despite-silicon-valley-ai-boom/
(There is an obvious solution with all those homeless, but Gruesome Newsome probably won’t go there as the CRE bagholders who pay him not to understand would rather that those vacant offices gather dust and mark them to fantasy on their books.)
There’s a flutter about a “Big Boy” presser coming up after the nato meetngreet.
If true I expect a “You people are too soft and you don’t know how good you have it!” with a whole lot more of “get off my lawn” and “you clouds are blocking my sunshine!”
Time will tell…
Re RCP Poll averages: There is a second screen under “Battlegrounds” box (that you can see by clicking the second circle next to the word).
This has got polls for another 7 states, including NH which is now swing-adjacent I believe.
Data as of today:
State Trump Biden Spread
—— ——– ——– ———-
Minnesota 42.7 45 Biden +3.0
Ohio 47.7 39.0 Trump +8.7
New Hampshire 45.7 48.7 Biden +3.0
North Carolina 47.8 42.0 Trump +5.8
Florida 50.4 42.8 Trump +7.6
Texas 50.3 41.0 Trump +9.3
Colorado 37.5 44.0 Biden +6.5
> There is a second screen
Yes. If you watch closely enough, you can see that the poll figures sometimes update!
I guess that would be a good indicator that Republicans were broadeng the number of states in play… Maybe I should chop up the RCP post to show both screens?
It seems clear that the Ds have decided to turn their “primary” into a TV mini-series they expect everyone to binge watch. Call it Saving Democracy, of course. Maybe Nancy Pelosi’s daughter can produce it? – no, make that Aaron Sorkin of The West Wing! That’ll get Hollywood into the mix.
The only hard part to believe is that they are trying to sell the show as live and unscripted, when we all know that Obama’s team are the writers, and key donors have script approval.
> It seems clear that the Ds have decided to turn their “primary” into a TV mini-series
It’s not clear at all. One fraction is pushing that, along with allies in the press, but it’s not at all clear that the party has decided to. There’s not a lot of runway. The virtual convention is as yet unscheduled, though rumor has it that mid-July was the time-frame. That might as well be tomorrow. The physical convention in Chicago is August 29-22.
The Republican National Convention is July 15-18. It would be amusing if Democrats counter-programmed their mini-primary/town hall/whatever in that time frame, but I question whether that’s logistically feasible. There’s a lot of “Let’s put on a show!” to all these alternatives to the regular order of Democrat primaries (which the Democrat leadership shamefully gamed, I agree, but that’s all in the past…).
Last week saw that the DNC convention rules committee was meeting 17 July. As I understand it, the DNC rules committee passed out a resolution, since approved in a DNC special meeting, to allow convention credentials and rules committees to write and approve their own reports. Normally, these reports would be passed as first order of business in the actual convention.
I take it the plan is for credentials report to approve delegate slates and for rules to allow the pre-convention vote using that credentials report.