By Lambert Strether of Corrente.<\/p>\n
Bird Song of the Day<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Red-winged Blackbird (California Bicolored) Moonglow Dairy (Fri-Sun only; closed Mon-Thur), Monterey, California, United States. \u201cChorus from some of a group of at least 20 birds in a small hedgerow adjacent to a feedlot.\u201d Love the \u201cMoonglow Dairy\u201d (with hours). Have any readers visited?<\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
Politics<\/p>\n
\u201cSo many of the social reactions that strike us as psychological are in fact a rational management of symbolic capital.\u201d \u2013Pierre Bourdieu, Classification Struggles<\/p>\n
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2024<\/p>\n
Less than a year to go!<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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Trump (R) \u201cBillionaires sought to help fund Trump bond in civil fraud case, sources say\u201d [Reuters]. \u201cBillionaire hedge fund founder John Paulson was involved in the behind-the-scenes effort by donors concerned about Trump\u2019s legal woes and looking to help provide money toward the bond, two of the sources told Reuters. Oil and gas magnate Harold Hamm was also involved, one of those sources said\u2026 A fourth source, a Trump ally, said he had direct knowledge of one donor who offered more than $10 million toward the bond over the weekend, before being told it was not necessary. After Monday\u2019s court decision allowing a smaller bond, Trump said he would now be able to pay\u2026. Surety companies would have likely required Trump to post about $558 million in collateral for the original bond, or 120% of the judgment, according to Trump\u2019s lawyers. Full details of the billionaires\u2019 efforts to raise funds, such as how much each donor had potentially pledged, were not immediately available. One source said the group had pooled the full amount originally due Monday. It was not clear whether the mega-donors would offer to help fund the new bond.\u201d \u2022 Musical interlude.<\/p>\n
Trump (R): \u201cTrump\u2019s media company valued at almost $8 bln in strong Wall St debut\u201d [Reuters]. \u201cShares of Donald Trump\u2019s Trump Media & Technology Group surged as much as 59% on Tuesday in their Nasdaq debut, lifted by the former U.S. president\u2019s supporters and providing him a potential windfall as he grapples with the costs of several legal cases.\u201d \u2022 Handy chart:<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/truth_social.png\")
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Hard to see how that holds up.<\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
Trump (R): \u201cForensic psychiatrist on physical signs of Trump\u2019s mental decline: \u201cChanges in movement and gait\u201d [Salon]. \u201cDr. John Gartner, a prominent psychologist and contributor to the bestselling book \u2018The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump: 27 Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts Assess a President,\u2019 has repeatedly warned in a series of conversations about Trump\u2019s apparent challenges in cognition and communication that something seems to be very wrong with the ex-president\u2026 Dr. Gartner\u2019s attempts to sound the alarm about Trump\u2019s behavior have been joined by the hundreds of medical professionals who have signed his Change.org petition, \u2018We diagnose Trump with probable dementia: A petition for licensed professionals only.\u2019 To deny the obvious about Donald Trump\u2019s evidently diseased mind is to deny reality and to ignore the real possibility that a man who is already morally and ethically corrupt and now appears to be experiencing problems with his thinking could be back in the White House with the awesome responsibility and power of the presidency \u2013 including the sole authority to order the use of America\u2019s nuclear weapons. Trump\u2019s mind and overall behavior and character are not just a national emergency but a global crisis as well. Because of a commitment to horserace journalism, fake objectivity and balance, self-interest and fear, the mainstream American news media \u2013 especially the elite agenda-setting news media \u2013 has largely ignored Donald Trump\u2019s obvious struggles with communication and cognition.\u201d \u2022 Two can play the armchair diagnosis game. I\u2019m only surprised that the Democrats havnen\u2019t done it for Kennedy already. This guy\u2019s really churning it out\u2013<\/p>\n
Trump (R): \u201c\u2018Hastening his deterioration\u2019: Dr. John Gartner on impact of court trials on \u2018Trump\u2019s fragile brain’\u201d [Salon]. \u2022 Note that if this is an explicit rationale for lawfare, it\u2019s even more cynical than I would have imagined, and I do try.<\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
Biden (D): \u201cFighting for\u201d:<\/p>\n
Kamala and I aren’t done lowering health care and prescription drug costs and improving health care for the American people.<\/p>\n
Here’s our plan to build on that progress: pic.twitter.com\/al3XY65rB8<\/p>\n
\u2014 President Biden (@POTUS) March 26, 2024<\/p>\n
I can\u2019t be the only person who sees how dumb that trope is. But I guess it\u2019s focus-grouped, so, oh well. (Meanwhile, why on earth isn\u2019t Medicaid estate recovery on that list?)<\/p>\n
Biden (D): \u201cThe Biden Campaign Is Quietly Preparing a Trump Ambush\u201d [The Daily Beast] \u201c\u2018It\u2019s aggressive,\u2019 a source within the Biden campaign said, requesting anonymity to speak candidly of the mood inside the re-election team. \u2018There\u2019s a lot of travel, there\u2019s a lot of work. It\u2019s all exciting. We\u2019re heading into this final fundraiser of the month with the former presidents [Obama and Clinton], but it\u2019s aggressive.\u2019 Taking advantage of a substantial fundraising lead, the Biden campaign is focusing on two key areas: travel and organizing. Since his State of the Union, Biden has visited every major battleground state\u2026 Trump, on the other hand, has only done a rally in Ohio and another in the battleground state of Georgia since Super Tuesday\u2026 Second, the Biden campaign is going full steam ahead on hiring in the battleground states, approaching 100 field offices with more than 130 staffers spread across eight major battleground states: Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia, Arizona, and Nevada, as well as North Carolina and New Hampshire\u2026 Chris LaCivita\u2014a top Trump campaign adviser who is also the chief operating officer of the Republican National Committee\u2014rejected the idea that the former president\u2019s team should disclose its organizing plans. \u2018By combining forces and operations, The Trump campaign and RNC are deploying operations that are fueled by passionate volunteers who care about saving America and firing Joe Biden. We do not feel obligated however to discuss the specifics of our strategy, timing and tactics with members of the News Media,\u2019 LaCivita told The Daily Beast.\u201d \u2022 LaCivita\u2019s onto something there\u2026. <\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
Kennedy (I): <\/p>\n
Get to know my running mate, Nicole Shanahan: pic.twitter.com\/fZM3HZKexQ<\/p>\n
\u2014 Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) March 26, 2024<\/p>\n
She certainly looks confident at the podium (I always look at people\u2019s feet; she has a strong stance). And compare her to the competition. Harris? Shanahan looks pretty good. Whoever Trump\u2019s considering these days, like Rubio? I must admit I was hoping for a real populist\u2026 But who\u2019s on that short list?. We\u2019ll have to see how she does on the trail. Quite the career change for a former patent attorney.<\/p>\n
Kennedy (I): \u201cBiden and Trump know Kennedy\u2019s VP choice is a game changer\u201d [The Hill]. \u201cThe 38-year-old Shanahan has a remarkable life story. She grew up on welfare, is Asian-American, a lawyer, the California-based founder and president of Bia-Echo Foundation \u2014 a nonprofit that issues grants for issues including reproductive rights, equality, criminal justice reform and the environment \u2014 is a single mother to a daughter with autism and is the former wife of Google cofounder Sergey Brin. Aside from her entrepreneurial background, high energy and intelligence, Shanahan immediately amplifies or outright fills multiple needs of the Kennedy campaign. She can speak directly to female voters, the high-tech community, young voters, minority voters, the working poor, the disenfranchised \u2014 and dissatisfied Democrats. Shanahan also immediately checks another critical box for Kennedy: Multiple states require an announced vice-presidential running mate to get on the ballot. With Shanahan now on the ticket, it will create both media attention and increased momentum within those states.\u201d <\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
I\u2019m here for it:<\/p>\n
A North Texas school teacher and U.S. Army veteran has legally changed his name to Literally Anybody Else and announced he is running for U.S. president. <\/p>\n
\u2014 NBC DFW (@NBCDFW) March 26, 2024<\/p>\n
Finally, somebody asks for my vote (hat tip Martin Oline). Suggestions for Vice President? \u201cMeteor Strike\u201d?<\/p>\n
Spook Country<\/p>\n
The organs of state security speak:<\/p>\n
Mike Rogers defends unconstitutional, warrantless surveillance of Americans\u2014telling the House Intelligence Committee that \u201csomebody must be doing something exactly right\u201d at the NSA. \u201cYou can\u2019t have your privacy violated if you don\u2019t know your privacy is violated, right?\u201d pic.twitter.com\/MIx9PHII5G<\/p>\n
\u2014 Justin Amash (@justinamash) March 26, 2024<\/p>\n
Said every voyeur, hidden camera AirBnB host, and upskirt photographer ever. And every spook, of course.<\/p>\n
Realignment and Legitimacy<\/p>\n
Republican realignment:<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/cass_republicans-government.png\")
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Interesting. Readers, thoughts?<\/p>\n
A tragedy:<\/p>\n
One thing I’ve noticed so far in this 2024 election. Not one candidate from any party nor independents has been able to host a rally that comes even remotely close to drawing in tens of thousands of people like #Bernie2016 and #Bernie2020 did. Those were some incredible times. pic.twitter.com\/tKjDd0MJWt<\/p>\n
\u2014 The Bern Identity (@bern_identity) March 26, 2024<\/p>\n
And I don\u2019t mean \u201ctragedy\u201d ironically or lightly. \u201cThere remains, then, the character between these two extremes\u2014 that of a man who is not eminently good and just, yet whose misfortune is brought about not by vice or depravity, but by some error or frailty. He must be one who is highly renowned and prosperous\u2014a personage like Oedipus, Thyestes, or other illustrious men of such families.\u201d<\/p>\n
#COVID19<\/p>\n
\u201cI am in earnest \u2014 I will not equivocate \u2014 I will not excuse \u2014 I will not retreat a single inch \u2014 AND I WILL BE HEARD.\u201d \u2013William Lloyd Garrison<\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
Resources, United States (National): Transmission (CDC); Wastewater (CDC, Biobot; includes many counties; Wastewater Scan, includes drilldown by zip); Variants (CDC; Walgreens); \u201cIowa COVID-19 Tracker\u201d (in IA, but national data). \u201cInfection Control, Emergency Management, Safety, and General Thoughts\u201d (especially on hospitalization by city).<\/p>\n
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 \u201cCOVID\u201d in the subject line. Thank you!<\/p>\n
ake effect by summer. The move by the Democratic administration angered board members, who called it a \u2018last-minute stunt\u2019 that undermines their regulatory process. It also sparked a protest by warehouse workers, who temporarily shut down the meeting as they waved signs declaring that \u2018Heat Kills!\u2019 and loudly chanted, \u2018What do we want? Heat protection! When do we want it? Now!’\u201d \u2022 Gavin Newsom, the worker\u2019s friend.<\/p>\n
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\u2019Alene; 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).<\/p>\n
Resources, Canada (National): Wastewater (Government of Canada).<\/p>\n
Resources, Canada (Provincial): ON (wastewater); QC (les eaux us\u00e9es); BC (wastewater); BC, Vancouver (wastewater).<\/p>\n
Hat tips to helpful readers: Alexis, anon (2), Art_DogCT, B24S, CanCyn, ChiGal, Chuck L, Festoonic, FM, FreeMarketApologist (4), Gumbo, hop2it, JB, JEHR, JF, JL Joe, John, JM (10), JustAnotherVolunteer, JW, KatieBird, LL, Michael King, KF, LaRuse, mrsyk, MT, MT_Wild, otisyves, Petal (6), RK (2), RL, RM, Rod, square coats (11), tennesseewaltzer, Tom B., Utah, Bob White (3). <\/p>\n
Stay safe out there!<\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
Infection<\/p>\n
\u201cIs It Dangerous to Keep Getting COVID-19?\u201d [Time]. From January 2024: \u201cDr. Ziyad Al-Aly, clinical epidemiologist at Washington University in St. Louis, studies Long COVID: a condition marked by health effects that linger after infection. \u2018Reinfection remains consequential,\u2019 he says. In a paper published in Nature Medicine in 2022, he found that people who had gotten COVID-19 at least twice experienced higher rates of short- and long-term health effects, including heart, lung, and brain issues, compared to those who were only infected once.\u201d \u2022 Al-Aly was also prominent at the recent Senate Long Covid hearings. I am made somewhat more optimistic than readers might expect by seeing the press diverge from the conventional wisdom of denial and minimization so encouraged by the public health establishment. Note also the link to the complete, free article in Nature; the much maligned medical publishing industry deserves a lot of credit for open-sourcing so much of their Covid material; and here is Al-Aly\u2019s article, doing the good work is was intended to do.<\/p>\n
Sequelae<\/p>\n
\u201cBioTRUST Nutrition launches Eternal Mind for cognitive support\u201d [Nutraceutical Business Review]. \u201cThe novel product features PLT\u2019s Nutricog Cognitive Performance Complex, an ingredient that has been clinically demonstrated to provide significant improvements across multiple cognitive domains, including learning, memory, attention, focus and executive function.\u201d \u2022\u00a0I am not endorsing this product [shudder]. I am wondering whether there is an upsurge in products like this, since it seems that would be a good proxy for people\u2019s self-perceived loss of cognitive function, due to Covid infection. Can readers suggest a research strategy here?<\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
TABLE 1: Daily Covid Charts<\/p>\n
LEGEND<\/p>\n
1) \u2605 for charts new today; all others are not updated.<\/p>\n
2) For a full-size\/full-resolution image, Command-click (MacOS) or right-click (Windows) on the chart thumbnail and \u201copen image in new tab.\u201d<\/p>\n
NOTES<\/p>\n
[1] (Biobot) Our curve has now flattened out at the level of previous Trump peaks. Not a great victory. Note also the area \u201cunder the curve,\u201d besides looking at peaks. That area is larger under Biden than under Trump, and it seems to be rising steadily if unevenly.<\/p>\n
[2] (Biobot) Backward revisions, I hate them.<\/p>\n
[3] (CDC Variants) As of May 11, genomic surveillance data will be reported biweekly, based on the availability of positive test specimens.\u201d \u201cBiweeekly: 1. occurring every two weeks. 2. occurring twice a week; semiweekly.\u201d Looks like CDC has chosen sense #1. In essence, they\u2019re telling us variants are nothing to worry about. Time will tell.<\/p>\n
[4] (ER) \u201cCharts and data provided by CDC, updates Wednesday by 8am. For the past year, using a rolling 52-week period.\u201d<\/p>\n
[5] (Hospitalization: NY) Looks like a very gradual leveling off to a non-zero baseline, to me.<\/p>\n
[6] (Hospitalization: CDC) Still down. \u201cMaps, charts, and data provided by CDC, updates weekly for the previous MMWR week (Sunday-Saturday) on Thursdays (Deaths, Emergency Department Visits, Test Positivity) and weekly the following Mondays (Hospitalizations) by 8 pm ET\u2020\u201d. <\/p>\n
[7] (Walgreens) Leveling out.<\/p>\n
[8] (Cleveland) Flattening.<\/p>\n
[9] (Travelers: Posivitity) Now up, albeit in the rear view mirror.<\/p>\n
[10] (Travelers: Variants) JN.1 dominates utterly.<\/p>\n
Stats Watch<\/p>\n
There are no official statistics of interest today.<\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
Manufacturing: \u201cNext Boeing CEO needs to be \u20181,000%\u2019 on top of safety and culture: Buttigieg\u201d [Washington Examiner]. \u201cWhite House officials stated on March 15 that the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board were \u2018taking the action\u2019 to ensure that Boeing airplanes are safe to fly on in the future. However, they did not clarify if President Joe Biden believes that Boeing planes are safe for consumers right now.\u201d \u2022 Oh. Nice to see Petey taking point on the issue, though.<\/p>\n
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\n* * *<\/p>\n
Today\u2019s Fear & Greed Index: 68 Greed (previous close: 67 Greed) [CNN]. One week ago: 74 (Greed). (0 is Extreme Fear; 100 is Extreme Greed). Last updated Mar 27 at 1:55:00 PM ET.<\/p>\n
News of the Wired<\/p>\n
\u201cTwo nights of broken sleep can make people feel years older, finds study\u201d [Guardian]. \u201cThe researchers ran two studies. In the first, 429 people aged 18 to 70 answered questions about how old they felt and on how many nights, if any, they had slept badly in the past month. Their sleepiness was also rated according to a standard scale used in psychology research. For each day of poor sleep the volunteers felt on average three months older, the scientists found, while those who reported no bad nights in the preceding month felt on average nearly six years younger than their true age. It was unclear, however, whether bad sleep made people feel older or vice versa. In the second study, the researchers quizzed 186 volunteers aged 18 to 46 on how old they felt after two nights of plentiful sleep, in which they stayed in bed for nine hours each night, and two nights when they slept for only four hours a night. After two nights of restricted sleep, the participants felt on average 4.44 years older than when they had ample sleep. Feeling older was linked, unsurprisingly, to feeling sleepier. \u2018If you want to feel young, the most important thing is to protect your sleep,\u2019 Balter said. Writing in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, the psychologists describe differences in people\u2019s responses to sleep loss depending on whether they were a morning person, who woke and went to bed early, or an evening person who rose late and retired late. Evening types typically felt older than their true age even after plenty of sleep, but morning types were hit harder in how old they felt when their sleep was disrupted.\u201d \u2022 Totally evening person here. And it is true that when I worked the night shift (\u201cthe lobster shift,\u201d why?) it was a lot tougher. I\u2019d walk home from the mill, stop for breakfast, and then go to sleep. It wasn\u2019t easy.<\/p>\n
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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 lcm:<\/p>\n
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lcm writes: \u201cSeed heads of goldenrod.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Readers: Water Cooler is a standalone entity not covered by the annual NC fundraiser. So if you see a link you especially like, or an item you wouldn\u2019t 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\u2019m on the right track with coverage. When I get no donations for five or ten 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:<\/p>\n
Here is the screen that will appear, which I have helpfully annotated:<\/p>\n
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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!<\/p>\n
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