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2:00PM Water Cooler 2/28/2025

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By Lambert Strether.

Readers, the fundraiser for my very nearly gold retirement watch + all my Water Cooler work done in 2024 is complete!

The goal was 400 donors; we now have 132 232 324, 402 or 33% 58% 81% 101% of goal. Thank you all so much. It means a lot, and it’s very, very helpful. –lambert

Bird Song of the Day

Lambert here: Readers, I really enjoyed starting each Water Cooler by finding a bird song. I enjoyed it even more when some readers suggested mimidae like catbirds, thrashers, and mockingbirds!

American Robin, Hammond Hill SF, Tompkins, New York, United States. “Mobbing a Barred Owl.” From 1992!

* * *

In Case You Might Miss…

  1. Goddamned Democrats.
  2. Big Z at the White House (transcript).
  3. Economy already worrisome.
  4. Epigenetics: Violence alters human genes for generations.

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

* * *

Trump Administration

Wowsers:

Democrats en déshabillé

Readers, I’ve been compiling a solid list of Democrat maleficence for my last Water Cooler. Please check back in an hour or so, when I’ve worked up a good head of spleen.

(1) Generally I avoid this trope, because who wants copycats, but please kill me now:

Slotkin is, of course, a “CIA Democrat” (first listed by WSWS in 2018). I don’t know whether this is the intelligence community, given Tulsi, yanking Schumer’s chokechain, or Schumer signaling fealty, or both. “They have learned nothing and forgotten nothing.” –Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, of the Bourbons.

(2) You will only pry “fighting for” from their cold, dead hands:

So wait a minute. The health care “our 9/11 heroes deserve” but not the rest of us?

(3) True leadership:

(4) “God is still on the throne.” –Hakeem Jeffries

(5) James Carville is still alive:

What I want to know about Democrats playing dead: How can we tell? For example–

(6) A centrist snoozefest:

(7) A hoodie too far:

(8) If you hold a primary, you don’t have to improvise a firing squad:

(9) Learn to code:

(10) Every so often I have hope for the labor movement but not now:

(11) Bernie, Bernie….

(12) No:

And there’s more, so much more….

Syndemics

Lambert here: Many readers have commented on how helpful they found the Covid section. Let my repeat my belief: Assume for now that airborne disease will be a constant going forward, by Rule #2. (Covid, measles, maybe bird flu, the usual suspects like TB, RSV, etc.) Devise your airborne protection protocol according to the Swiss Cheese Model and stick to it. Don’t be thinking all the time and adjusting your behavior, not least because there will be at least a two week lag time between the next pandemic getting rolling and you hearing about it in the news. The K.I.S.S. principle applies.

Covid coverage at Naked Capitalism will continue, but neither the list of Covid resources nor the Daily Covid charts will continue; they are too complex to maintain. (For a good weekly Covid wrapup, check out the Threat Model blog with Violet Blue.) I was especially pleased and proud of the collective responsibility readers took on for each other by aggregating and then maintaining the Covid Resources listings, immediately below. If some kind reader with a blog wants me to send them the HTML code, so they can carry on the work, send me mail.

Finally, I was not “HEARD” as Garrison was, very sadly. I feel that I did help out readers, and I did inspire part of a lawsuit against HICPAC’s Inspector General. Five years of charts, and the only conclusion is that anybody who tells you that Covid has gone away is deluded or shamelessly lying….

“I am in earnest — I will not equivocate — I will not excuse — I will not retreat a single inch — AND I WILL BE HEARD.” –William Lloyd Garrison

* * *

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

Lambert here: Readers, thanks for the collective effort. To update any entry, do feel free to contact me at the address given with the plants. Please put “COVID” in the subject line. Thank you!

Resources, United States (Local): AK (dashboard); AL (dashboard); AR (dashboard); AZ (dashboard); CA (dashboard; Marin, dashboard; Stanford, wastewater; Oakland, wastewater); CO (dashboard; wastewater); CT (dashboard); DE (dashboard); FL (wastewater); GA (wastewater); HI (dashboard); IA (wastewater reports); ID (dashboard, Boise; dashboard, wastewater, Central Idaho; wastewater, Coeur d’Alene; dashboard, Spokane County); IL (wastewater); IN (dashboard); KS (dashboard; wastewater, Lawrence); KY (dashboard, Louisville); LA (dashboard); MA (wastewater); MD (dashboard); ME (dashboard); MI (wastewater; wastewater); MN (dashboard); MO (wastewater); MS (dashboard); MT (dashboard); NC (dashboard); ND (dashboard; wastewater); NE (dashboard); NH (wastewater); NJ (dashboard); NM (dashboard); NV (dashboard; wastewater, Southern NV); NY (dashboard); OH (dashboard); OK (dashboard); OR (dashboard); PA (dashboard); RI (dashboard); SC (dashboard); SD (dashboard); TN (dashboard); TX (dashboard); UT (wastewater); VA (wastewater); VT (dashboard); WA (dashboard; dashboard); WI (wastewater); WV (wastewater); WY (wastewater).

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

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

Hat tips to helpful readers: Alexis, anon (2), Art_DogCT, B24S, CanCyn, ChiGal, Chuck L, Festoonic, FM, FreeMarketApologist (4), Gumbo, hop2it, JB, JEHR, JF, JL Joe, John, JM (10), JustAnotherVolunteer, JW, KatieBird, KF, KidDoc, LL, Michael King, KF, LaRuse, mrsyk, MT, MT_Wild, otisyves, Petal (6), RK (2), RL, RM, Rod, square coats (11), tennesseewaltzer, thump, Tom B., Utah, Bob White (3).

Stay safe out there!

* * *

TABLE 1: Daily Covid Charts

Wastewater
★ This week[1] CDC February 17 Last week[2] CDC (until next week):

★ Variants [3] CDC March 1 ★ Emergency Room Visits[4] CDC February 22

Hospitalization
★ New York[5] New York State, data February 27: ★ National [6] CDC February 27:

Positivity
National[7] Walgreens February 24: ★ Ohio[8] Cleveland Clinic February 22:

Travelers Data
★ Positivity[9] CDC February 10: ★ Variants[10] CDC February 10

Deaths
Weekly Deaths vs. % Positivity [11] CDC January 25: Weekly Deaths vs. ED Visits [12] CDC January 25:

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) Down, nothing new at major hubs.

[2] (CDC) Last week’s wastewater map.

[3] (CDC Variants) XEC takes over. That WHO label, “Ommicron,” has done a great job normalizing successive waves of infection.

[4] (ED) A little uptick.

[5] (Hospitalization: NY) Weird plateau without exponential growrht

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

[7] (Walgreens) Leveling out.

[8] (Cleveland)

[9] (Travelers: Positivity) Uptick.

[10] (Travelers: Variants). Don’t know what the dominance of XEC is all about,

[11] Deaths low, positivity leveling out.

[12] Deaths low, ED leveling out.

Stats Watch

Manufacturing: “United States Chicago PMI” [Trading Economics]. “The Chicago Business Barometer, or Chicago PMI, surged 6.0 points to 45.5 in February 2025, up from 39.5 in January and exceeding market expectations of 40.6.”

* * *

Manufacturing: “FAA Proposes Airworthiness Directive for Boeing 787 Due to VHF Frequency Anomalies” [Aviacionline]. ‘The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) for a new Airworthiness Directive (AD) affecting specific Boeing 787-8, 787-9, and 787-10 models. This action follows reports of uncommanded changes in VHF frequencies on the Tuning Control Panel (TCP), which could lead to communication failures with Air Traffic Control (ATC) and pose an operational safety risk….

The Economy: Git along little DOGEbags:

Federal workers have a multiplier of two or three contractors, so DOGE is well on its way to a million unemployed in a very short time. That’s a lot.

* * *

Today’s Fear & Greed Index: 16 Extreme Fear (previous close: 18 Extreme Fear) [CNN]. One week ago: 36 (Fear). (0 is Extreme Fear; 100 is Extreme Greed). Last updated Feb 28 at 1:31:01 PM ET.

Rapture Index: Closes unchanged [Rapture Ready]. Record High, October 10, 2016: 189. Current: 181. (Remember that bringing on the Rapture is good.) • This is a tough crowd. Surely Trump’s second month brought the Rapture closer?

Zeitgeist Watch

“What conservative women know − and liberals don’t − about happiness” [USA Today]. “One of the weirdest reactions I saw after President Donald Trump was reelected in November involved videos on social media of young liberal women in hysterics over the results of our democratic process. Some even vowed to shave their heads and swear off having sex with men. I don’t remember losing my mind when Joe Biden was elected president in 2020. I was disappointed, but angry and depressed? No. Turns out, there’s data behind this phenomenon. New research shows that young conservative women are much happier than liberal women. The findings are about far more than political ideology. They demonstrate fundamental differences between Republicans and Democrats. According to the 2024 American Family Survey, liberal women ages 18-40 are far less likely than conservative women to say they are happy. Only 12% of liberal women said they are “completely satisfied” with life compared with 37% of conservative women. Self-described moderates also are happier than liberals, with 28% agreeing that they are fully satisfied with life. Grant Bailey, a research associate of the Institute for Family Studies, and Brad Wilcox, a senior fellow at the institute, investigated “how marriage, churchgoing, and loneliness help to account for the happiness gap between liberal and conservative women.” Bailey and Wilcox make a strong case that conservative women are happier because they make different life choices. They are more likely to get married, have babies and embrace a strong faith − all things that make them feel less lonely. And people who don’t feel lonely are more likely to be happy.” • Hmm.

“A History of Violence” [BookForum]. The deck: “On Gisèle Pelicot, Virginie Despentes, and post-#MeToo narratives” And: “It goes without saying that victims of sexual violence experience victimization individually. But the abiding cultural formulations of rape as unspeakable—a private and singular tragedy for which words will not suffice—serve mainly to shore up stigma and secrecy surrounding these violations, leaving rape a kind of insoluble fog saturating life under patriarchy. As a physical trauma, at least, rape is a delineable event: it happens in a particular time and place; specific, divisible bodies are involved; and presumably, at some point, the incident concludes. Either you live or you die. Your rapists are held to account or they are not. (Mostly they are not.) While the psychic aftershocks of rape are murkier, it’s nonetheless experientially intelligible; trauma does not categorically defy utterance, as is frequently insinuated or proclaimed. If narrative is at times an ill-fitting container for grief, the alternative—silence—is unthinkable.”

The Screening Room

Clip suggested by a reader (take a bow in comments):

“Good. Great!”

Political Ecomedy

Clarke and Dawe, suggested by a reader:

Musical Interlude

Heavy beats–

Apparently the first reggae song, c. 1965 (though perhaps not the first version):

And another bassline. I can take or leave the whoever the front man is, prancing about, but the under-rated Bill Wyman is my favorite bassist after Phil Lesh:

(This one is good too, and for once Wyman is in the shot most of the time, but I feel his playing is even better in the clip above.)

News of the Wired

“Violence alters human genes for generations, researchers discover” (press release) [University of Florida]. “In 1982, the Syrian government besieged the city of Hama, killing tens of thousands of its own citizens in sectarian violence. Four decades later, rebels used the memory of the massacre to help inspire the toppling of the Assad family that had overseen the operation. But there is another lasting effect of the attack, hidden deep in the genes of Syrian families. The grandchildren of women who were pregnant during the siege — grandchildren who never experienced such violence themselves — nonetheless bear marks of it in their genomes. Passed down through their mothers, this genetic imprint offers the first human evidence of a phenomenon previously documented only in animals: The genetic transmission of stress across multiple generations. ‘The idea that trauma and violence can have repercussions into future generations should help people be more empathetic, help policymakers pay more attention to the problem of violence,’ said Connie Mulligan, Ph.D., a professor of Anthropology and the Genetics Institute at the University of Florida and senior author of the new study. ‘It could even help explain some of the seemingly unbreakable intergenerational cycles of abuse and poverty and trauma that we see around the world, including in the U.S.’ While our genes are not changed by life experiences, they can be tuned through a system known as epigenetics. In response to stress or other events, our cells can add small chemical flags to genes that may quiet them down or alter their behavior. These changes may help us adapt to stressful environments, although the effects aren’t well understood. It is these tell-tale chemical flags that Mulligan and her team were looking for in the genes of Syrian families. While lab experiments have shown that animals can pass along epigenetic signatures of stress to future generations, proving the same in people has been nearly impossible.” • Will Jean-Baptiste Lamarck please pick up the white courtesy phone? (I should really file this under class warfare….)

* * *

Contact information for plants: Readers, feel free to contact me at lambert [UNDERSCORE] strether [DOT] corrente [AT] yahoo [DOT] com, to (a) find out how to send me a check if you are allergic to PayPal and (b) to find out how to send me images of plants. Vegetables are fine! Fungi, lichen, and coral are deemed to be honorary plants! If you want your handle to appear as a credit, please place it at the start of your mail in parentheses: (thus). Otherwise, I will anonymize by using your initials. See the previous Water Cooler (with plant) here. From Desert Dog:

Desert Dog writes: “I found a photo of the frost on the tree.” Desert Dog periodically sent in photos of the same tree as the seasons changed. Here’s another:

And: “Some days are much better for my tree…”

* * *

Readers: Water Cooler is a standalone entity not covered by the annual NC fundraiser. Material here is Lambert’s, and does not express the views of the Naked Capitalism site. If you see a link you especially like, or an item you wouldn’t see anywhere else, please do not hesitate to express your appreciation in tangible form. Remember, a tip jar is for tipping! Regular positive feedback both makes me feel good and lets me know I’m on the right track with coverage. When I get no donations for three or four days I get worried. More tangibly, a constant trickle of donations helps me with expenses, and I factor in that trickle when setting fundraising goals:

Here is the screen that will appear, which I have helpfully annotated:

If you hate PayPal, you can email me at lambert [UNDERSCORE] strether [DOT] corrente [AT] yahoo [DOT] com, and I will give you directions on how to send a check. Thank you!

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About Lambert Strether

Readers, I have had a correspondent characterize my views as realistic cynical. Let me briefly explain them. I believe in universal programs that provide concrete material benefits, especially to the working class. Medicare for All is the prime example, but tuition-free college and a Post Office Bank also fall under this heading. So do a Jobs Guarantee and a Debt Jubilee. Clearly, neither liberal Democrats nor conservative Republicans can deliver on such programs, because the two are different flavors of neoliberalism (“Because markets”). I don’t much care about the “ism” that delivers the benefits, although whichever one does have to put common humanity first, as opposed to markets. Could be a second FDR saving capitalism, democratic socialism leashing and collaring it, or communism razing it. I don’t much care, as long as the benefits are delivered. To me, the key issue — and this is why Medicare for All is always first with me — is the tens of thousands of excess “deaths from despair,” as described by the Case-Deaton study, and other recent studies. That enormous body count makes Medicare for All, at the very least, a moral and strategic imperative. And that level of suffering and organic damage makes the concerns of identity politics — even the worthy fight to help the refugees Bush, Obama, and Clinton’s wars created — bright shiny objects by comparison. Hence my frustration with the news flow — currently in my view the swirling intersection of two, separate Shock Doctrine campaigns, one by the Administration, and the other by out-of-power liberals and their allies in the State and in the press — a news flow that constantly forces me to focus on matters that I regard as of secondary importance to the excess deaths. What kind of political economy is it that halts or even reverses the increases in life expectancy that civilized societies have achieved? I am also very hopeful that the continuing destruction of both party establishments will open the space for voices supporting programs similar to those I have listed; let’s call such voices “the left.” Volatility creates opportunity, especially if the Democrat establishment, which puts markets first and opposes all such programs, isn’t allowed to get back into the saddle. Eyes on the prize! I love the tactical level, and secretly love even the horse race, since I’ve been blogging about it daily for fourteen years, but everything I write has this perspective at the back of it.

Subscribe to Post Comments
81 comments

  1. timotheus

    I feel like that English personage who delighted in a leisurely read through the entire Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire and then asked, “Is there no more Gibbon?”

    Reply ↓
  3. sardonia

    402…nope, make that 403.
    Best wishes on your new endeavors.
    I’d hoped to have time to write a farewell song parody for the Water Cooler, but nope. Maybe later
    For now, as Douglas Adams wrote, so long and thanks for all the fish. :)

    Reply ↓
  4. Carolinian

    Lambert we who are reading our last Water Cooler salute you and say thanks for being such a great host over the years. Maybe you can come back to visit sometimes. In any case

    Best wishes.

    Reply ↓
  5. ChrisFromGA

    Sent you an email, Lambert. Me no likey Paypal, but put me down for a donation.

    (Email send this AM hopefully before the fundraiser closed.)

    Reply ↓
      1. Randall Flagg

        Another will be coming via snail mail. With apologies for lateness but well deserved and wish it could be more.

        And great picture of the tree to go out with!

        Reply ↓
      2. lyman alpha blob

        I have a late one to send you! I’m sure you are very busy with a number of things, but I did email you as requested and just need a confirmation in order to send my donation.

        Reply ↓
  6. Steve H.

    lambert A former unit of *luminance equal to the luminance of a uniformly diffusing surface that emits or reflects one lumen per square centimeter.

    [Oxford Concise Science Dictionary]

    Reply ↓
    1. chris

      I just posted this below too.

      My initial thoughts are Zelensky was high on something, his own supply and maybe coke too. I can’t imagine walking into a meeting like that and arguing in that venue unless your senses were clouded by drugs.

      This may be the best gift for Trump though. He has a good excuse to back out of any future agreements with Ukraine. I guess we’ll see if he takes that opportunity or not.

      Reply ↓
      1. Louis Fyne

        Cocaine is a helluva drug! see Z’s fidgeting, nose tweaking, agitation….Z was tweaking.

        Citation: and having partaked (a bit) and being around it in my early 20’s, lol

        And I bet (tea-totalling) Trump’s been around tweakers a lot too over the decades, and knows the signs from across the room. And likely doubly offended at Z’s imbibing.

        Reply ↓
      2. griffen

        Zelensky has gotten accustomed to many of his pleas and convincing appeals to US government leadership ( Biden, Blinken, Sullivan, etc…) that the new bosses are for real, and just not in the BAU mode of operations…

        No longer is it Business as Usual, or standard procedure to have your refill of countless millions and billions. Reminding me of a hard tack in foreign policy approach, not necessarily a bad shift. We got problems closer to home, fighting a never ending overseas conflict or even just merely playing the role of Big Daddy War money I believe has, or had already, begun to grate on American citizens.

        Trump can be a blunt tool in such affairs and in his negotiating tactics.

        Reply ↓
        2. sardonia

          “Ding ding ding ding ding ding”

          Actually the Dems are probably very happy about this – now they can say “Ukraine would have won the war if WE were in power! Trump lost the war!!” And the fully propagandized public will buy it.

          Reply ↓
    4. hazelbee

      wow. just wow. I’ve not seen anything like it.
      watching the “Rest is politics” live stream on it now.

      Alastair campbell reminding us that Trump is a not serious reality tv person. Interested in just two things, ratings and conflict.

      more evidence of the clown show in the oval office.

      Reply ↓
      1. chris

        Does the video of that encounter make you think Trump isn’t a serious person? He looks like Churchill next to Zelensky in that affair.

        Reply ↓
    5. Skip Intro

      Consistent with earlier theory that Trump will take the minerals deal, reportedly inked by the Rada already, and work it with the Russians, Zelensky is boxed out and his authority hasn’t been reinforced or made significant. I have to wonder if this isn’t still kayfabe, because Zelensky’s defiance and expulsion will buy him some credibility with the Banderites who have guns to his head. Maybe he will make it to France.

      Reply ↓
  10. CanCyn

    From the bottom of my heart, I thank you Lambert. I have learned from and been entertained by you for many years now. I will miss your posts and all the wit, intelligence, insight, critical commentary, snark and plain good writing they have encompassed. It does not surprise me at all that so many writers are required to fill those yellow waders of yours. I wish you all the best in retirement and your new endeavours. Farewell, may you live in peace.

    Reply ↓
    1. Cassandra

      We shall miss your sharp eyes at the masthead, Lambert. May we all steer clear of th’ impervious horrors of a lee shore.

      Reply ↓
  15. froggy

    What conservative women know − and liberals don’t − about happiness | Opinion

    The pursuit of happiness − a right outlined in the Declaration of Independence − can mean a lot of things. In 1776, the right to follow one’s own path toward happiness was foundational to liberty. Now, happiness is all that Americans want to pursue. And much of our culture is geared toward individual happiness in the moment

    Happiness is not meaning. The pursuit of happiness can make people perpetually miserable, because happiness depends on external circumstances – things you can’t control. Pursue contentment and meaning, which you can control, and accept happiness whenever it finds you.

    Reply ↓
    1. amfortas the hippie

      yeah,
      Nietzsche’s “define yer own good” is a hard row.
      i built a village, and now theres nobody here but me and
      my lunatic mom.
      so i had to modify the Good that i am still moving towards…
      now…well…
      my boys will need a refugia….
      in the coming darkness.
      so this infrastructure remains important.

      Reply ↓
        1. amfortas the hippie

          i hung a 12′ sign on the side of my shop, right after we moved back out here: all i want for christmas is the means of production.
          one of many aphorisms and statements i sequestered on walls and among bushes so that my kids and their friends would notice them, and ask questions…leading to discussion and discourse.

          Reply ↓
      2. Lee

        For years I hung on to a house much too big for me, occasionally renting rooms. Then my long gone son moved back in, worked locally, got married and had two kids that now all live with me. Yeah, based on my good fortune, I’d say keep the infrastructure both within and without in good working order.

        Reply ↓
  16. mrsyk

    The oft quoted part of Robert Frost’s Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening won’t quit my mind. In it’s entirety:

    Whose woods these are I think I know.
    His house is in the village though;
    He will not see me stopping here
    To watch his woods fill up with snow.

    My little horse must think it queer
    To stop without a farmhouse near
    Between the woods and frozen lake
    The darkest evening of the year.

    He gives his harness bells a shake
    To ask if there is some mistake.
    The only other sound’s the sweep
    Of easy wind and downy flake.

    The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
    But I have promises to keep,
    And miles to go before I sleep,
    And miles to go before I sleep.

    Perhaps one snowy evening we all will meet again. Bon voyage.

    Reply ↓
  17. Jason Boxman

    Thanks for the past decade plus that I’ve been reading these!

    Also, it’s been 3 years (Jan 2022) since I last asked, so as we enter Pandemic year 6 I’m again looking for TV show recommendations; I’m currently rewatching all of Stargate SG1 (I never watched the last 2 seasons) and Stargate Atlantis (never saw the last 3 seasons). That might keep me busy until Oct-Nov, but then I’m out of ideas again.

    Thanks!

    Reply ↓
    1. amfortas the hippie

      Stargate Universe is prolly my favorite scifi show of all time.
      and do check out the Expanse, on amazon….they still have sounds in space(lol), but get a whole lot of the other stuff right(Flip and Burn, for one)
      and if you havent enjoyed frelling Farscape..get thee there!…and suspend all disbelief, because its worth it.

      Reply ↓
      1. amfortas the hippie

        and i recently enjoyed a big chunk of star wars…Andor to the end.
        andor and rogue one are pretty gritty by disney standards.
        ive read about a treatment of Asimov’s Foundation…with Lee Pace, but didnt want yet another subscription,lol.
        and the recent Dune movies…as well as the Sisterhood series on whichever network that was…were pretty good.
        lots better, save for fandom weirdos like me…than the David Lynch, etc versions of pretty much the same material(Herbert is hard to translate to film)
        and if you like procedural crime show that aint law and order svu…look to scandinavia, and daneland, and germania…
        from the latter, Dark was excellent.
        on netflix, last i looked.

        Reply ↓
    2. ambrit

      Your library could probably get you copies of the Inspector Morse, and later Inspector Lewis series. I sometimes find them up on Youtube.

      Reply ↓
  18. lcm

    Thank you, Lambert, for everything, and thanks to everyone who sent the many plantidotes over the years. We have enjoyed them every day and saved many to continue to enjoy in the future. It’s lovely to have Desert Dog’s tree as the final installment.

    Reply ↓
    1. Lambert Strether Post author

      From the transcript

      1) Nobody mentions Maidan, how odd.

      2) No, Trump is not strong on detail but he has a firm grasp of the essentials.

      3) The end, where Trump clearly visualizes Putin as, with him, a victim of Democrat calumnies — could Trump actually be showing empathy here???? — is awkward

      4) Was Vance playing “Let’s you and him fight”?

      Reply ↓
      1. mrsyk

        Obama was mentioned by Trump a few times at one point, but I couldn’t figure out the context. Was this a roundabout reference to Maiden?
        As for Vance, I bet he was hoping for an excuse to raise it to fisticuffs. There is nothing but upside to kicking VZ’s butt on tv.

        Reply ↓
        1. judy2shoes

          “As for Vance, I bet he was hoping for an excuse to raise it to fisticuffs. There is nothing but upside to kicking VZ’s butt on tv.”

          Fight, fight, fight!!!! (would have been so funny – and god, I’m disgusting)

          Reply ↓
      2. Mikel

        Z left without signing a critical minerals deal.
        So maybe it turns out to be a way to ease out of that after all the hoopla.

        Reply ↓
      3. ambrit

        Is Z’s doctor a CIA “asset,” and running a similar game to what Dr. Theodor Morell was doing for the Brown Hair Satan of years gone bye?
        See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodor_Morell
        Z is just learning the lesson that all of America’s “Strategic Partners” learn eventually; with friends like the US, who needs enemies?
        This is also the perfect set up for a “Stabbed in the Back” myth for the Kiev regime.
        After the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia of the Nineteen Teens, Paris was flooded with “displaced” Russian ‘nobility’ and middle classes. Will Paris soon be seeing the birth of a vibrant Ukraine Exile culture and community?

        Reply ↓
        1. amfortas the hippie

          shit.
          i knew i should have jumped on that boat to Paris, mite near forty years ago,lol.
          would have still been Paris, back then…smoking assholes yammering philosophical gibberish on little streetside tables.

          Reply ↓
      5. clarky90

        https://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/14/world/asia/14minerals.html

        US identifies vast riches of minerals in afghanistan
        June 14, 2010, Fifteen years ago.

        “The United States has discovered nearly $1 trillion in untapped mineral deposits in Afghanistan, far beyond any previously known reserves and enough to fundamentally alter the Afghan economy and perhaps the Afghan war itself, according to senior American government officials. (!!, OMG!)

        The previously unknown deposits — including huge veins of iron, copper, cobalt, gold and critical industrial metals like lithium — are so big and include so many minerals that are essential to modern industry that Afghanistan could eventually be transformed into one of the most important mining centers in the world, the United States officials believe.

        An internal Pentagon memo, for example, states that Afghanistan could become the “Saudi Arabia of lithium,” a key raw material in the manufacture of batteries for laptops and BlackBerrys.”

        Reply ↓
    2. judy2shoes

      I think both Trump and Vance appropriated finger wagging from the Dems.

      Also, this was hysterically funny to watch! Reminded me of Trump’s having an on-camera meeting with Schumer and Pelosi during his first term. They were terrified and it was my pleasure to watch.

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  21. Retired Carpenter

    Lambert,
    Fare thee well wherever you may fare. May your chisels remain sharp and saw lines true.
    Ave atque vale.
    Retired Carpenter

    Reply ↓
  22. Stephen v

    In grief, I often resort to poetry:
    spoken by Prospero.

    Now my charms are all o’erthrown,
    And what strength I have ’s mine own,
    Which is most faint. Now ’tis true
    I must be here confined by you,
    Or sent to Naples. Let me not,
    Since I have my dukedom got
    And pardoned the deceiver, dwell
    In this bare island by your spell,
    But release me from my bands
    With the help of your good hands.
    Gentle breath of yours my sails
    Must fill, or else my project fails,
    Which was to please. Now I want
    Spirits to enforce, art to enchant,
    And my ending is despair,
    Unless I be relieved by prayer,
    Which pierces so that it assaults
    Mercy itself, and frees all faults.
    As you from crimes would pardoned be,
    Let your indulgence set me free.

    MAY YOU WEATHER ANY UPCOMING STORMS WITH GRACE AND INSIGHT. You leave a big hole hehind Lambert !

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  23. Bill B

    Lambert, goodbye. I’ll especially miss your DOGEbag commentary. Enjoy your retirement or whatever comes next for you.

    Reply ↓
  24. judy2shoes

    Lambert, there’s nothing I can add to the very eloquent encomia expressed by my fellow commentators other than I share their feelings and well wishes for you.

    Thank you, thank you, thank you. I will miss you.

    Reply ↓
  25. Lambert Strether Post author

    I have added orts and scraps (for the final time; thanks for all the kind words). It’s fitting that “the goddamed Democrat Party” is the topic. That, and an amazing session at the White House with Big Z, Vance, and Trump.

    I have a couple of weekend posts to go, and then… I’ll see you on the other side.

    Reply ↓
    1. Mikel

      Z: Everybody has problems even you. You have a nice ocean and don’t feel. But you will feel it in the future.

      Whooboy…that made Trump pipe up,didn’t it?

      Code for blowback is a bitch?

      You take care, Lambert.

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  26. The Beeman

    Lambert – thank you for your insights and your wit – I will miss reading your column – good luck – happy trails. Brian

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  27. Rick

    Appreciate the promotion of bassists. I saw Jaco Pastorius with Joni Mitchel in 1979 and the solo he did was a highlight of the concert. It was the first time I’d experienced looping in a live performance, mind expanding.

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  28. JM

    Thank you Lambert for all the insight, and (“dry, very dry” :D ) wit over the years, you will be missed! I wish you only the best. This felt like a fitting Irish well-wish for the occasion: “May misfortune follow you the rest of your life, and never catch up.”

    Reply ↓
  30. anon in so cal

    Thank you, Lambert, for all of your wonderful Water Coolers, articles, and analyses. Every one of them was a masterpiece. I am especially grateful for your unrivaled Covid coverage and for honoring the avian world with the beautiful Bird Song of the Day. Much happiness and success with all of your future endeavors!

    Reply ↓
  31. mrsyk

    “Andrew Cuomo to receive labor endorsement in mayor’s race he’s yet to enter”, because government is organized crime, lol, it’s like putting it on a billboard.

    Reply ↓
  32. urdsama

    Thank you, Lambert, for all the years of Water Cooler posts, as well as the countless yellow wader sessions!

    An amazing body of work.

    Reply ↓
  34. Pat Morrison

    Thank you, Lambert. The Covid coverage has been vital, and the general insight and snark have been greatly appreciated. Wishing you the best for the future.

    Reply ↓
  35. ambrit

    Stay safe, wherever you are, whatever you do.
    Thank you for all the hard work.
    Take a well deserved rest.
    You have more friends and colleagues than you will ever know.

    Reply ↓
  36. sardonia

    Lambert – a suggestion?

    I think you mentioned one of your next projects is writing a book? If so please let us know when and where it is – cuz nothing helps a book get traction like the 500 glowing reviews that I’m sure everyone here would participate in providing. :)

    Reply ↓
  38. Leftover

    Lambert….will send a check……I cannot BELIEVE you are leaving. NC is an absolute fave and your “dry” wit has grown on me as the years pass. BEST……..and take care.

    Reply ↓
  39. Bugs

    What a last Water Cooler! It’s like the Hollywood exit where the explosion is right behind you as you walk off the stage.

    Lol enjoy your cool new world my guy. Lambert 4 evah!

    Reply ↓
  41. Zephyrum

    So long, Lambert. And thanks for all the wit and wisdom. For man who rarely laughs out loud, you certainly inspired a number of guffaws for me over the years. Best wishes!

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  42. t

    Some of the conservatives I know seem generally happy – although they are all convinced that many woke forces are out to get them, personally and specifically. That doesn’t sound pleasant, no matter how they describe themselves.

    The MAGA heads I know for other reasons would, I believe, tell you they are happy. And they probably are because they love drama and being angry all the time. Imagined slights – they know I don’t like this many pickles! – crazy paranoia about the knock-out game and seed oils and not going to parts of town where they would be sex trafficked (even thought they have guns in their purses.) It’s like their social skills were learned from bots.

    Reply ↓

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