By Lambert Strether of Corrente.<\/p>\n
Bird Song of the Day<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Killdeer, Marmon fields, Williams, North Dakota, United States.<\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
In Case You Might Miss\u2026 <\/p>\n
(1) Trump, Trump, Trump\u2026..<\/p>\n
(2) A lot of new Covid numbers. I admit that some of my notes are a little irritated.<\/p>\n
(3) Taylor Swift, superspreader.<\/p>\n
(4) Vivian Maier: first exhibition<\/p>\n
(5) Steroids: is everybody really taking them?<\/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
* * *<\/p>\n
2024<\/p>\n
Less than a half a year to go!<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
RCP Poll Averages, May 24:<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/rcp_2024-06-07.png\")
<\/p>\n
No discernible effect from Trump\u2019s conviction yet (though Democrats have only just begun to exploit it). 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. If will be interesting to see whether the verdict in Judge Merchan\u2019s court affects the polling, and if so, how.<\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
Trump (R) (People vs. Trump): \u201cVermont GOP rules bar it from promoting any candidate who is a \u2018convicted felon’\u201d [NBC]. So change the party rules. But more seriously\u2013<\/p>\n
Trump (R) (People vs. Trump): \u201cPlot twist: WA has a law against felons running for office\u201d [Seattle Times]. \u201c\u2018I have clients lined up who are going to be all over pursuing a ballot challenge in this case,\u2019 says David Vogel, a Seattle attorney and former deputy prosecutor for King County who was briefly involved in an earlier ballot challenge against Trump before the presidential primary.\u201d \u2022 It would be interesting to know if there other states with such laws. Readers? NOTE: Trump is now subject to the criminal justice system in the State of New York. It will be interesting to see how that plays out. <\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
Trump (R): \u201cBehind the Curtain: MAGA\u2019s jail plan\u201d [Axios]. \u201cAnother Trump insider pointed to a federal civil rights statute, \u2018Conspiracy Against Rights’\u201d \u2022\u00a018 U.S. Code \u00a7 241 \u2013 Conspiracy against rights\u201d<\/p>\n
If two or more persons conspire to injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate any person in any State, Territory, Commonwealth, Possession, or District in the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured to him by the Constitution or laws of the United States, or because of his having so exercised the same; or<\/p>\n
If two or more persons go in disguise on the highway, or on the premises of another, with intent to prevent or hinder his free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege so secured\u2014<\/p>\n
They shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both; <\/p>\n
(I assume the \u201chighway part\u201d is for night riders in the Civil Rights era.) The Sixth Amendment in Bragg\u2019s case, I would say (since the architecture of Paul, Weis Bragg\u2019s case didn\u2019t give the Defendant time to prepare a proper defense; though I grant the Trump team isn\u2019t making that argument, and since IANAL, perhaps I\u2019ve gotten that wrong).<\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
Trump (R): \u201cTrump\u2019s doc requests reveal VP short list\u201d [Axios]. \u201cFormer President Trump has requested financial and other documents from eight potential VP picks as he formalizes his vetting, an official tells Axios. Some candidates got more extensive paperwork requests than others \u2014 a possible clue to how hotly they\u2019re being considered. The contenders, in no particular order: Sen. J.D. Vance (Ohio); North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum; Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.); Sen. Tim Scott (S.C.); Ben Carson, former HUD Secretary; Rep. Elise Stefanik (N.Y.); Rep. Byron Donalds (Fla.); and Sen. Tom Cotton (Ark.). We\u2019re told the list, reported earlier by Politico and others, is very much subject to change.\u201d \u2022 Time Scott would make some heads explode. Stefanik, too, for that matter.<\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
Trump (R): \u201cWhy Trump\u2019s Second Victory Would Be Worse\u201d [Robert Borosage, The Nation]. Here, for a change, is a Democrat yarn diagram (better than the usual, because the relationships are typed; far worse, since the relationships are often free-floating, not connecting any of the players):<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/BRODNER-Borosage-Project2024-ILLO.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
One such relationship, from Stephen Miller to\u2026 nothing, is \u201cInsurrection Act used to pursue political enemies\u201d (whoever would have come up with such an idea). In any case, what that does show is that Project 2025 is \u201cexistential\u201d for Democrats, personally. Borosage writes: \u201cOf course, there will be resistance [whatever did happen to Neera]\u2014in Congress, the bureaucracy, and the press.\u201d \u2022 Well, given that election 2024 is indeed existential for our democracy Democrats \u2014 and it\u2019s not just this diagram that\u2019s saying that \u2014 it follows that Trump must be prevented from taking office \u201cby any means necessary,\u201d as Malcolm X said, ironically enough. So it\u2019s odd that Borosage, now that events in Paul, Weis Judge Merchan\u2019s court seem to have been the high tide of lawfare, doesn\u2019t mention, besides \u201cCongress, the bureaucracy, and the press,\u201d the spooks. Or not so odd. Everybody knows it (\u201csix ways from Sunday\u201c), so why say it? NOTE I should take a look at what Project 2025 has to say about the spooks. Perhaps thoughtful people have anticipated the relevant scenarios.<\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
Realignment and Legitimacy<\/p>\n
That DEI thing is working out great:<\/p>\n
Here are the Chiefs of Harvard, NYU, USC & Yale police: three Black men & one Black woman \u2013 100% Black head cops. The %of Black students at these four campuses is, respectively, 6.3%, 6.1%, 6.3% & 6.%. <\/p>\n
% Black faculty? 5% (HU), 3.8 (NYU), 3 (USC), 1.3% (YU) #OverseerAwards pic.twitter.com\/9lO1wusbqN<\/p>\n
\u2014 \ud83c\udf49Prof. Thrasher\ud83d\udd3b (@thrasherxy) June 4, 2024<\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
\u201cConservative family who relocated from California to Idaho to escape liberal politics reveal why they\u2019ve now moved back\u201d [Daily Mail]. \u201c\u2018We decided after 3 years in Idaho, we are going back home.\u2019 \u2018We wanted to move to a Conservative state, but we realized what it would mean to fit in,\u2019 [the TikTok] continued. \u2018It would mean we would need to be judgmental. We would need to gossip about others. Have our kids forget how to say please and thank you. Talk bad about new people moving here for a better life. \u2018We left California because of politics[,] but forgot there are other kinds of politics to consider\u2026’\u201d \u2022 Hmmm\u2026.. <\/p>\n
\u201cFlorida is so last year \u2014 here is the new affordable hotspot people are moving to in 2024\u201d [New York Post]. \u201cIn 2023, Florida practically owned the list of most moved-to cities, with six in the Top 20 and five in the Top 10. This year, South Florida is the third most fled, right behind much-maligned Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area, [Zillow\u2019s] numbers showed.\u201d \u2022 Housing, insurance costs, cost of living. Pretty mundane! Anyhow, now it\u2019s the Carolinas and Nashville.<\/p>\n
Syndemics<\/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
Covid 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
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
Look for the Helpers<\/p>\n
Please consider taking the time to sign this petition to the the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services:<\/p>\n
COVID CONSCIOUS PEOPLE \u203c\ufe0f We only have until June 10th to submit! PLEASE take 2 minutes out of your day to fill out a comment at this link. Select \u2018healthcare industry\u2019 in \u2018what is your comment about\u2019. This is to make hospitals report COVID infections \u203c\ufe0f<\/p>\n
\u2014 L \ud83d\udc96 (@hutchleah) June 6, 2024<\/p>\n
Transmission: H5N1<\/p>\n
Euphonious:<\/p>\n
If it’s endemic in the birds it’s endemic in the herds. I don’t see the FDA getting a handle on this one, sorry. <\/p>\n
\u2014 AJ Leonardi, MBBS, PhD (@fitterhappierAJ) June 7, 2024<\/p>\n
I can only hope that this time Leonardi is wrong.<\/p>\n
A long, informative thread from Fiegl-Ding on the H5N2 case in Mexico:<\/p>\n
NEW\u2014The WHO & Mexico reports world\u2019s first-ever human case & death from H5N2 bird flu (another bird flu type, not the H5N1 that\u2019s more active lately). 59-year-old died in Mexico City and had **ZERO** exposure contact with any poultry or other animals. Close contacts negative too. pic.twitter.com\/zIQuEa8vDz<\/p>\n
\u2014 Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) June 5, 2024<\/p>\n
Vaccines<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t know if, at this point, we can ever have a rational discussion of vaccines, but if we manage to achieve this, the historical record on morbidity should be taken into account:<\/p>\n
I just listened to someone insist that all vaccines cause more harm than good. Here is the impact of 9 vaccines. To suggest we reintroduce these diseases by avoiding vaccines is societal amnesia and medical lunacy. pic.twitter.com\/E5qcQxjYjH<\/p>\n
\u2014 Bob Morris, MD, PhD (@rdmorris) June 7, 2024<\/p>\n
Censorship and Propaganda<\/p>\n
Cases? What cases?<\/p>\n
This image showing the increasing disconnect between counted cases and wastewater data is a reminder that when someone says ‘post-pandemic’ it is not a factual or scientific statement, but rather an admittance of adoption of a cultural delusion propagated by capitalism. pic.twitter.com\/efNTi8b8ID<\/p>\n
\u2014 COVID NEWS NETWORK (@COVIDnewsfast) June 6, 2024<\/p>\n
(I discuss the how case data and wastewater data diverged, after tracking in unison, here in April 2023.) AFAIK, so-called public health always focused on reducing transmission, never on hospitalization and deaths, which is what CDC focused on (although now even that data is going dark). Of course, even \u201cmild\u201d infection can cause vascular and neurological damage, as well as Long Covid, as readers know, but which cannot be too often stated.<\/p>\n
A good list of blame-worthy thought leaders:<\/p>\n
We’re going to need a bigger graph.<\/p>\n
Whooping Cough in England.<\/p>\n
This is the fault of the people who think sickness makes you well.
Anti-vaxxers. Natural immunityers. Pro-infectioners. Anti-mitigationers. Immunity Debtors. Most Peoplers. Anti-Maskers. We-Have-The-Toolers. pic.twitter.com\/DKm5GpYmbJ<\/p>\n
\u2014 tern (@1goodtern) June 7, 2024<\/p>\n
But even more to blame are the people who funded the thought leaders, betrayers who should be sunk in the ice of the Ninth Circle of Hell. (Also, has anyone checked in on the UK? Seems to be rather a lot of illness about.)<\/p>\n
Celebrity Watch<\/p>\n
\u201cTaylor Swift spreads Covid: thousand of fans fall ill after Madrid and Paris concerts\u201d [El Nacional]. \u201cTaylor Swift certainly does not leave her fans indifferent. A week after the US singer performed in Madrid as part of her Eras Tour, the 130,000 people who saw her at the two concerts held in the Spanish capital still remember an unforgettable night. What many don\u2019t know is that they left the Santiago Bernab\u00e9u Stadium with more than just souvenirs and outrageously-priced merchandising. Many also picked up an unexpected souvenir: a dose of Covid-19. Over the past few days, thousands of fans have commented on social media that they fell ill after attending the concerts on May 29th and 30th. A situation that is not surprising, considering the large crowd packed into the stadium, all of them singing their favourite tunes at the top of their lungs. And despite the fact that the severity of the pandemic situation is now much reduced, the virus itself persists\u2026 To give an idea, the leading Spanish fan Twitter\/X account dedicated to Taylor Swift held a poll asking followers if they had come down sick after going to one of the singer\u2019s concerts in Madrid. A full 35% of people who took part \u2013 the equivalent of 3,780 \u2013 responded positively\u2026. On June 9th and 10th, Paris hosted two concerts by Taylor Swift \u2013 three weeks before the Madrid shows \u2013 and a similar situation was experienced there, in which thousands of French fans reported feeling unwell, with symptoms compatible with Covid.\u201d \u2022 See here at NC on Taylor Swift, who makes every effort to protect herself and her entourage from Covid, but does nothing to protect here fans Notice the difference between indoors and outdoors:<\/p>\n
Swifties kindly share their CO2 measures at @taylorswift13 shows. This allows us to make comparisons on the quality of indoor air renewal in several venues: Paris and Las Vegas (indoor arenas), Madrid (retractable roof stadium) and Sydney (open-air stadium). More venues to come. pic.twitter.com\/8qF9si7Y9o<\/p>\n
\u2014 LET’S AIR \/ NOUS A\u00c9RONS (@nousaerons) June 4, 2024<\/p>\n
Would it really be so difficult for squillionaire Swift to confine herself to outdoor venues? Assuming that not giving her devoted fans heart and brain damage is a priority for her?<\/p>\n
\u201cThe latest concert must-have? Stylish earplugs\u201d [Financial Times]. \u2022 Not, of course, N95s as branded merch, heaven forfend.<\/p>\n
Elite Maleficence<\/p>\n
You\u2019d think the Republicans could blame mass infections on Biden (and they\u2019d be right):<\/p>\n
The House Committee on COVID isn\u2019t talking about long covid because they\u2019ll have to admit that repeat infections increases the risk of long covid, which is its own pandemic, all while admitting that repeat infections is the de facto policy of the U.S., and it\u2019s an election year. <\/p>\n
\u2014 \ud83c\uddf5\ud83c\uddf8 EYES ON RAFAH \ud83c\uddf5\ud83c\uddf8 (@joaquinlife) June 6, 2024<\/p>\n
\u201cCollective issue\u201d? Is Cuomo some kinda Communist?<\/p>\n
Long covid is real and more significant than many thought. And while we all would like to turn away from this collective issue, it\u2019s now the time to face the problem so that we create awareness and find treatment. Dir. of Rehabilitation Innovation at Mt Sinai Health System, Dr.\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/ZR3bh8ekgy<\/p>\n
\u2014 Christopher C. Cuomo (@ChrisCuomo) June 7, 2024<\/p>\n
No but seriously, Cuomo has commendably been plugging away at Long Covid coverage.<\/p>\n
WHO recommends handwashing, but not PPE or masks, against bird flu:<\/p>\n
Learn about Avian Influenza. Who is at risk?
How can you protect yourself, and which foods are safe to eat during an outbreak ? Dr Wenqing Zhang explains in Science in 5pic.twitter.com\/lBXJtNgaNv<\/p>\n
\u2014 World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) June 6, 2024<\/p>\n
European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control: \u201cThe virus spreads directly from bird to bird via airborne transmission or indirectly, through faecal contamination of material, feathers or feed.\u201d CDC: \u201cHowever, human infections with avian influenza A viruses can happen when enough virus gets into a person\u2019s eyes, nose or mouth, or is inhaled. This can happen when virus is in the air (in droplets or possibly dust) and a person breathes it in, or when a person touches something that has virus on it and then touches their mouth, eyes or nose.\u201d \u2022 We learn nothing. <\/p>\n
#DavosSafe:<\/p>\n
World Economic Forum meeting this week \u2013 you can only attend with a negative Covid PCR.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile at chemo clinic today waiting room packed with maskless patients, no testing, no staff tested or masked.<\/p>\n
Covid on both main wards & no staff tested, no masks.<\/p>\n
Who cares right? pic.twitter.com\/nsalcWQ7pF<\/p>\n
\u2014 Prognostic Chats (@PrognosticChats) June 5, 2024<\/p>\n
They know. They just don\u2019t want you to know.<\/p>\n
The Bullingdon Club at play:<\/p>\n
On that very day, my mother, with hospital-acquired Covid, told the doctors \u201cgive the ventilator to someone younger\u201d. She died less than a week later, along with over 1000 other victims of government\u2019s failure to take the pandemic seriously. <\/p>\n
\u2014 Trisha Greenhalgh (@trishgreenhalgh) June 6, 2024<\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
Lambert here: Patient readers, I\u2019m going to have to rethink this beautifully formatted table. Biobot data is gone, CDC variant data functions, ER visits are dead, CDC stopped mandatory hospital data collection, New York Times death data has stopped. (Note that the two metrics the hospital-centric CDC cared about, hospitalization and deaths, have both gone dark). Ideally I would replace hospitalization and death data, but I\u2019m not sure how. I might also expand the wastewater section to include (yech) Verily data, H5N1 if I can get it. Suggestions and sources welcome. UPDATE I replaced the Times death data with CDC data. Amusingly, the URL doesn\u2019t include parameters to construct the tables; one must reconstruct then manually each time. Caltrops abound.<\/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) Dead.<\/p>\n
[2] (Biobot) Dead.<\/p>\n
[3] (CDC Variants) FWIW, given that last week KP.2 was all over everything like kudzu, and now it\u2019s KP.3. If the \u201cNowcast\u201d can\u2019t even forecast two weeks out, why are we doing it at all?<\/p>\n
[4] (ER) This is the best I can do for now. At least data for the entire pandemic is presented.<\/p>\n
[5] (Hospitalization: NY) Slight leveling out? (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.)<\/p>\n
[6] (Hospitalization: CDC). This is the best I can do for now. Note the assumption that Covid is seasonal is built into the presentation. At least data for the entire pandemic is presented.<\/p>\n
[7] (Walgreens) 4.3%; big jump. (Because there is data in \u201ccurrent view\u201d tab, I think white states here have experienced \u201cno change,\u201d as opposed to have no data.)<\/p>\n
[8] (Cleveland) Going up.<\/p>\n
[9] (Travelers: Positivity) Up. Those sh*theads at CDC have changed the chart so that it doesn\u2019t even run back to 1\/21\/23, as it used to, but now starts 1\/1\/24. There\u2019s also no way to adjust the time rasnge. CDC really doesn\u2019t want you to be able to take a historical view of the pandemic, or compare one surge to another. In an any case, that\u2019s why the shape of the curve has changed.<\/p>\n
[10] (Travelers: Variants) Same deal. Those sh*theads:<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/last_week.png\")
<\/p>\n
[11] Deaths low, but positivity up.<\/p>\n
[12] Deaths low, ED not up.<\/p>\n
Stats Watch<\/p>\n
Employment Situation: \u201cUnited States Unemployment Rate\u201d [Trading Economics]. \u201cThe unemployment rate in the United States rose to 4% in May 2024, the highest since January 2022, up from 3.9% in the previous month and surprising market expectations, which had forecasted the rate to remain unchanged\u2026. Meanwhile, the labor force participation rate dropped to 62.5% from 62.7%, and the employment-population ratio decreased to 60.1% from 60.2%.\u201d<\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
CNBC: \u201cUnited Airlines starts serving passengers personalized ads on seat-back screens\u201d [CNBC]. \u201cNow playing on United Airlines\u2019 seat-back screens: personalized ads. The carrier on Friday said it launched a media platform to serve travelers personalized advertisements on seat-back screens and in its app, among other platforms, as it seeks to leverage customer data. Customers can opt out of seeing targeted ads through a United web page [oh, right], and United says advertisers can\u2019t access customers\u2019 personally identifiable information, the airline said.\u2019 There is the potential for 3.5 hours of attention per traveler, based on average flight time,\u2019 United said.\u201d \u2022 It\u2019s a gold mine, I\u2019m tellin\u2019 ya! (Also, \u201cpersonalized\u201d without being \u201cpersonally identifiable\u201d is a neat trick.)<\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
Today\u2019s Fear & Greed Index: 44 Fear (previous close: 45 Neutral) [CNN]. One week ago: 43 (Fear). (0 is Extreme Fear; 100 is Extreme Greed). Last updated Jun 6 at 1:53:46 PM ET.<\/p>\n
Photo Book<\/p>\n
\u201cIn ‘Unseen Work,’ Vivian Maier’s Incredible Photographs Go On Display for Her First U.S. Retrospective \u2014 [Colossal]. \u201cIn 2007, Chicago resident John Maloof landed on the discovery of a lifetime at a thrift auction house on the city\u2019s Northwest Side. A stunning archive of more than 100,000 negatives by photographer Vivian Maier (1926-2009) went under the hammer, marking a new chapter in the prolific documentarian\u2019s story. Maier\u2019s incredible images focus on people she passed on the street around her hometown in France, then New York and Chicago, illustrating her deep love for the medium and innate ability to capture moving portraits and candid, natural interactions. Over the decades, her dedication amounted to one of the most remarkable photographic collections of the century Maier (previously) never exhibited her work during her lifetime, and she rarely made prints from her negatives. Having worked as a nanny for many years, she faced financial instability later in life, and her photographs ended up in storage along with other belongings, which were ultimately sold off when the rent went unpaid.\u201d \u2022 I can\u2019t believe this is the firsr Maier exhibition:<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/maier-5.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Zeitgeist Watch<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy Is Everyone on Steroids Now?\u201d [GQ]. \u201cSomeone in your life is using performance-enhancing drugs. I feel comfortable making that bet because I recently discovered how many people in my life are using performance-enhancing drugs [(PEDs].\u201d Well\u2026 \u201cMultiple guys said they were bothered by the persistent stereotypes of PED users as meatheads, as aggro dudes prone to so-called roid rage\u2014it just didn\u2019t square with the people they had befriended. \u2018There are doctors, engineers, government officials, nurses, software engineers, attorneys, small-business owners, accountants,\u2019 a 32-year-old named J.R. told me. He lives in North Carolina and serves as an administrator in one of the forums. \u2018There are devoted husbands and committed fathers. There are men more well-versed in organic chemistry and scientific literature than most of the people I went to college with.’\u201d \u2022 In other words, PMC men are on steroids (with the possible exception of nurses). There may certainly be a PED culture in the working class, but if so, this genuinely creepy article doesn\u2019t show it.<\/p>\n
\u201cStudy Says That People Who Like Loud Exhaust Are Psychotic\u201d [Car and Driver]. Works for me. \u201cA new study by Western University in Ontario says that if you\u2019ve got a car with a modified exhaust system, odds are you\u2019re a guy and probably also psychotic and sadistic\u2026. The study group comprised 529 undergrad business students who were asked whether they thought loud cars are cool, whether they viewed their cars as an extension of themselves, and if they\u2019d modify their own cars to make the exhaust louder. Further, each participant took a Short Dark Tetrad personality survey to assess predilection toward general malice and belligerence\u2014psychopathy, narcissism, manipulativeness. Somewhat surprisingly, the straight-pipe crowd didn\u2019t score high on narcissism, indicating that the appreciation of stridently broadcast internal combustion isn\u2019t motivated by, \u2018Hey, look at me!\u2019 It\u2019s more like, \u2018Hey, listen to my Nissan VQ, whether you like it or not.’\u201d That\u2019s reassuring. More: \u201cIf you\u2019re wondering what sort of other affinities might be predicted by high scores in sadism and psychopathy, the study says that those sorts of traits have also shown up in responses asking if the participant had intentionally started an illegal fire.\u201d \u2022 Now do people who use cellphones like walkie-talkies.<\/p>\n
Class Warfare<\/p>\n
\u201cVinod Khosla, Marc Andreessen And The Billionaire Battle For AI\u2019s Future\u201d [Forbes]. \u201cAndreessen and his allies envision a best-case-scenario future in which AI prevents disease and early mortality, and all artists and businesspeople work with an AI assistant to enhance their jobs. Warfare, without bloody human blunders, will have fewer human casualties. AI-augmented art and films will appear everywhere. In a manifesto detailing his position last year, Andreessen, who declined an interview request for this story, dreams of open-source paradise, with no regulatory barriers to slow AI\u2019s development or red-tape moats that protect big companies at the expense of startups. All three billionaire investors appear on this year\u2019s Midas List of the world\u2019s top tech investors for investments that reach beyond AI\u2014with Hoffman at No. 8, Khosla at No. 9 and Andreessen at No. 36\u2014but it\u2019s in the emerging category where their influence is most acutely felt. These prominent leaders of the last tech revolution are now pushing their views on the key topics of the next.\u201d \u2022 AI = BS. None of this will ever happen. AI will not \u201caugment\u201d humans; that\u2019s not how capital accumulation works. AI art will be horrid and no human artists will have any work, because AI art is \u201cgood enough,\u201d and all those who could show what the difference is will be too impoverished to create, let alone educate. It\u2019s really telling that the first big AI \u201cinnovation\u201d to hit the labor market was eliminating call center employees (which, artists, is what you are to capital as well).<\/p>\n
News of the Wired<\/p>\n
\u201cWe Are Made of Waves\u201d [Nautilus]. \u201cAs Strassler writes, we are all \u2018wavicle-creatures,\u2019 and \u2018the universe sings everywhere, in every thing.’\u201d \u2022 Maybe. I looked hard for something to excerpt. This was it!<\/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 Mark Kinnucan:<\/p>\n
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Mark Kinnucan writes: \u201cA stone hoisted into the air by the roots of a fallen hemlock, Mohican State Park, Ohio.\u201d Great metaphor\u2026.<\/p>\n
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