By Lambert Strether of Corrente.<\/p>\n
Bird Song of the Day<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Sedge Warbler, Frodsham Marsh, Cheshire, England, United Kingdom. \u201cSong.\u201d I\u2019ll say!<\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
In Case You Might Miss\u2026 <\/p>\n
(1) Many new Covid charts today, including wastewater. Stay safe out there!<\/p>\n
(2) Kamala. Get used to it.<\/p>\n
(3) Sleep and memory.<\/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
Biden Administration<\/p>\n
\u201cWorld losers gather at G7 summit\u201d [Axios]. Nice headline! \u201cItalian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is the odd one out among the leaders at this year\u2019s G7 \u2014 not because of her hard-right politics, but because her approval rating is above 40%\u2026. Biden\u2019s 37% approval rating positively sparkles next to Canadian PM Justin Trudeau (30%), German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (25%), U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak (25%), French President Emmanuel Macron (21%) and Japanese PM Fumio Kishida (13%), per Morning Consult\u2019s tracker. Sunak looks almost certain to lose his job in elections on July 4. In the European Parliament elections, Scholz\u2019s party finished a distant third behind the far-right, while Macron\u2019s performed so badly that he called a shock snap election.\u201d<\/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_2024-06-14.png\")
<\/p>\n
Still waiting for some discernible effect from Trump\u2019s conviction (aside from, I suppose, his national numbers rising). 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): \u201cAP-NORC poll: About half of US adults approve of Trump\u2019s conviction, but views of him remain stable\u201d [Associated Press]. \u201cAbout half of U.S. adults approve of Donald Trump\u2019s recent felony conviction, according to a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. The survey shows some potential vulnerabilities, along with some signs of resilience in his support, as Trump tries to become the first American with a felony record to win the presidency. Less than five months before Election Day, the poll paints a picture of a nation with firmly entrenched opinions of the divisive former Republican president. Overall views of Trump and Democratic President Joe Biden remain unchanged since before the guilty verdict in Trump\u2019s New York hush money trial. But the findings also suggest that Trump\u2019s conviction is one more weakness among disaffected Republicans. While most people in the United States have heard about the conviction, political independents are less likely to be paying attention and more likely to have a neutral opinion of Trump\u2019s conviction, indicating that there may still be room for the campaigns to sway them.<\/p>\n
Trump (R): \u201cTwo weeks since Trump\u2019s New York guilty verdict: What have we learned?\u201d [Al Jazeera]. \u2022\u00a0\u201cWhat do we learn, Palmer?\u201d<\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
Trump (R): \u201cDonald Trump calls Milwaukee \u2018a horrible city\u2019 weeks before RNC comes to town\u201d [Journal-Sentinel]. \u2022 I\u2019d have to see the transcript; here\u2019s the reporting. That said, Trump won\u2019t get a lot of votes in Milwaukee. The suburbs, on the other hand\u2026. <\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
Biden (D): \u201cA tale of two families: Trumps hide and Bidens unite in face of criminal trials\u201d [Independent]. \u201cPresident Biden\u2019s youngest son was surrounded by family members each day of his trial until the very end\u2026. The symbolic show of loyalty has drawn particular scrutiny for the fact that it was preceded by another headline-grabbing criminal trial: the hush money case brought against Donald Trump. For much of the former president\u2019s six-week trial in New York, he attended the Manhattan criminal courthouse without family, surrounded only by lawyers and a rotating cast of political allies.\u201d \u2022 then again, maybe that\u2019s because the Trump family isn\u2019t a tangled mass of interest-free, undocumented personal loans? As for the famous Biden empathy:<\/p>\n
Joe Biden spent his whoe life spewing contempt for drug addicts. He boasted of how he and Strom Thurmond united to legally *mandate* a minimum of 5 years in prison for addicts with tiny amounts of crack.<\/p>\n
This PR “empathy” bullshit the media is doing for him is sickening: <\/p>\n
\u2014 Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) June 12, 2024<\/p>\n
\u201cHow Hunter Biden\u2019s next trial could hurt Joe Biden\u2019s re-election chances\u201d [FOX]. \u201d Hunter Biden\u2019s conviction for illegal firearm possession signals no greater corruption, aside from the Justice Department\u2019s inexplicable delay in bringing the charges and the earlier, flawed plea bargain that would have given him only a slap on the wrist. Instead, the firearm case distracts from the real scandal: whether Hunter took money from foreign companies and even governments to peddle influence through his father, now the sitting president of the United States. That will form the basis of a second federal trial of Hunter Biden in Los Angeles in September for tax evasion, just in time to influence the November elections.\u201d \u2022 And speaking of, er, influencing elections, here\u2019s a fine summary showing how the Democrats, the spooks, and the press conspired to suppress the story of Hunter Biden\u2019s laptop:<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/hunter_biden.png\")
<\/p>\n
Make you wonder if there were any business records involved in the state of New York.<\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
Biden (D): \u201cBiden\u2019s senior momentum: Why he\u2019s courting older voters\u201d [Axios]. \u201cPresident Biden appears to be making serious inroads with America\u2019s oldest voters \u2014 and could become the first Democrat to win the demographic in over two decades\u2026. The Biden campaign is attempting to seal the support of a group that consistently votes at higher rates than any other demographic. Former President Trump, as Axios reported yesterday, appears to be making stunning gains of his own among young voters. The polls could still be wrong. But unlike young voters, older Americans still (sometimes) answer their phones, making them easier to reliably poll. Older Americans \u2014 perhaps driven by old-school respect for institutions and distaste for Trump\u2019s unorthodox style \u2014 are flocking to Biden, according to a series of recent polls\u2026. The most recent New York Times\/Siena poll shows that Biden has a 9-point lead in a head-to-head matchup against Trump among likely voters aged 65 or older.\u201d \u2022 Importantly, people make their party choice young, and tend to stick with them, so Trump\u2019s candidacy will yield benefits to the Republican Party for decades to come (under various optimistic assumptions).<\/p>\n
Biden (D): \u201cAre Black voters deserting Biden?\u201d [Brookings Institution]. \u201cDespite current worries among Democrats about parts of their coalition\u2019s less than enthusiastic support for President Biden\u2019s re-election, history suggests those concerns may not be warranted. A recent in-depth Pew survey shows that about one in five African American men say they plan on voting for Donald Trump. Among Democrats, this has led to fears that Black voters in key cities in key states like Detroit, Philadelphia, and Milwaukee will cost Biden those critical states. So how dangerous is this to Biden\u2019s prospects? First, much of the polling that purports to show Black voters moving toward Trump is based on small sample sizes. The samples from subsegments in those polls are often so small that they have a very large margin of error. Second, they aren\u2019t as recent as survey data, from Pew, that analyze the Black vote in greater depth. During this month\u2019s discussion of young Black voters hosted by Brookings as part of their Race, Prosperity and Inclusion Initiative, Howard University political science professor Marcus Board, Jr. said that the normal Republican Black vote in presidential contests ranges from eight percent to 15%. Surveys back up his numbers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Biden (D): \u201cJames Carville sounds off on Dems hemorrhaging support of Latino male voters: \u2018We\u2019re gonna f\u2014in lose \u2019em!’\u201d [FOX]. \u201cDemocratic political strategist James Carville shared his concern about Democrats losing minority voters, namely Latino Americans, ahead of the 2024 election cycle, pointing fingers at \u2018preachy females\u2019 in the party. Carville\u2019s commentary came during an appearance on Donny Deutsch\u2019s \u2018On Brand\u2019 podcast, shedding light on the Democrats\u2019 \u2018huge male problem\u2019 among \u2018communities of color.\u2019 \u2018We have a huge male problem all across the board, but particularly, I hate this term, but I\u2019ll use it, \u2018communities of color,\u2019 as if all people that are not white are the same. It\u2019s stupid,\u201d Carville said.\u201d \u2022 I\u2019m assuming Carville doesn\u2019t mean \u201ca problem with huge males\u201d here\u2026 <\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
\u201cTrump, Biden Prep for Debate Where Any Misstep Threatens Hopes\u201d [Bloomberg]. \u201cThe candidates are already at work, conferring with close advisers before the first face-to-face showdown of 2024 on June 27 in Atlanta. That forum offers a high-stakes opportunity to break through the deadlock, but with clear perils on a stage where one-liners or zingers may prove ineffective but where any gaffe or misstep threatens to be politically fatal\u2026. Biden will also be joined by trusted political aides, including Anita Dunn, Mike Donilon, Cedric Richmond, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, Steve Ricchetti and deputy chief of staff Bruce Reed\u2026.. It\u2019s unclear if the team will hold mock debates, as they did in 2020 when Biden\u2019s personal lawyer, Bob Bauer, played the role of Trump and relentlessly went after the nominee to prepare him for an expected onslaught of personal attacks\u2026 Trump\u2019s prep is similarly being run by a tiny circle of aides, including Susie Wiles, Chris LaCivita and Jason Miller as well as policy aides and speechwriters Vince Haley and Russ Worthington. Kellyanne Conway, a former top White House official, is also helping Trump. The former president has always disdained formal preparation and mock debates, allies say, preferring to informally workshop answers and retorts with aides.\u201d And: \u201cMiller said Trump\u2019s debate prep comes naturally from his many media appearances and rallies. \u2018President Trump takes on numerous tough interviews every single week and delivers lengthy rally speeches while standing, demonstrating elite stamina,\u201d [Jason] Miller said in a statement. \u201cHe does not need to be programmed by staff.\u201d\u201d \u2022 Ouch! And not untrue. <\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Joe Biden Isn\u2019t the Democrats\u2019 2024 Candidate, Kamala Harris Will Be\u201d [Ed Kilgore, New York Magazine]. \u201cObviously, anyone willing to overlook Biden\u2019s clear determination to stick it out this year can imagine Harris \u201cstepping aside\u201d \u2014 or being shoved aside \u2014 as well. But there\u2019s really no evidence that the Democrats who would make this decision (the Biden-Harris loyalists who serve as convention delegates or on the Democratic National Committee) feel this way at all. And now there\u2019s evidence that rank-and-file Democrats have the veep\u2019s back. While a new Politico\u2013Morning Consult poll with data about Harris shows that she shares her boss\u2019s general election vulnerability, Democrats remain bullish on her. Seventy-four percent think she\u2019d make a good president. By a 59 percent to 31 percent margin, they think she could win a 2024 general election. She\u2019s stronger than Biden among the Black and Latino voters that have been stressing Democrats in recent years. And in terms of early 2028 preferences among Democrats, she\u2019s far ahead of the competition (Harris is at 41 percent; Pete Buttigieg is at 15 percent; Newsom is at 14 percent; Whitmer is at 5 percent). Harris is already the principal voice of her administration and her party on the GOP threat to abortion rights, which will very likely become a more prominent issue as November approaches. She\u2019s not going anywhere\u2026. The idea that Democrats are ready to abandon her or Biden simply has no basis in verifiable fact. If, for some unforeseeable reason, Biden is incapacitated or decides to pack it in before November, Kamala Harris, for better or for worse, will be the Democratic candidate, period, full stop. Barring any clear evidence to the contrary, it\u2019s time to forget about the fantasy tickets.\u201d \u2022 Please fire me into the sun. Here is the only possible scenario I can think of where electing Harris President would make any sense. From C. Northcote Parkinson\u2019s Parkinson\u2019s Law. The situation: The leader is incompetent and therefore, at best, second rate. They are also jealous, so they will be careful not to hire anyone who is better than third rate. The organization dies from the top down. So:<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is as if the whole institution [in this case the Democrat Party] had been sprayed with a DDT solution guaranteed to eliminate all ability found in its way. For a period of years this practice achieves the desired result. Eventually, however, individuals develop an immunity. They conceal their ability under a mask of imbecile good humor. The result is that the operatives assigned to the task of ability-elimination fail (through stupidity) to recognize ability when they see it. An individual of merit penetrates the outer defenses and begins to make his way toward the top. He wanders on, babbling about golf and giggling feebly, losing documents and forgetting names, and looking just like everyone else. Only when he has reached high rank [in this case, President] does [s]he suddenly throw off the mask and appear like the demon king among a crowd of pantomime fairies. With shrill screams of dismay the high executives find ability right there in the midst of them. It is too late by then to do anything about it. The damage has been done, the disease is in retreat, and full recovery is possible over the next ten years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nothing in Harris\u2019s career prepares me for this scenario.<\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
\u201cAmerica Could See Surge in People Not Voting\u201d [Newsweek]. \u201cThe 2024 presidential election could see an uptick in Americans not voting from the 2020 election, according to results from a recent survey. Political observers view the 2024 election as one of the most important races in modern history, as President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Democratic and Republican presidential nominees, are set to face off in a rematch of 2020. The two have sparred over issues ranging from the economy, abortion rights, the Israel-Hamas war and democracy as election season continues to heat up. However, more Americans are considering sitting out of the election than they were at this point in 2020, according to a new CBS News\/YouGov poll. The poll, conducted among 1,615 registered voters between June 5 to 7, found that only 80 percent of respondents said they will definitely vote in November. This is down from the same time in 2020, when a CBS News\/YouGov poll found that 83 percent of Americans were definitely going to vote. That poll was conducted among 2,200 adults from April 28 to May 1, 2020. A July 21 to 24, 2020 poll, among 2,008 adults, found that 89 percent of Americans would definitely vote.\u201d \u2022 How odd.<\/p>\n
Republican Funhouse<\/p>\n
\u201cThe cloudy future of the Federalist Society\u201d [Politico]. \u201cLate last week, the Federalist Society\u2019s leader Eugene Meyer announced his plans to step down as president and CEO, kicking off a high-profile national search for the group\u2019s next boss. His legacy is far-reaching: Meyer transformed the organization from a small \u2018debating society\u2019 for right-leaning law students into a legal and political powerhouse that has been involved in almost every high-profile conservative judicial appointment of recent decades, including those to the Supreme Court\u2026. Meyer has not announced a formal date for his retirement or named a successor, though the organization is expected to begin considering candidates to replace him later this summer. With Meyer\u2019s successor likely to be named just months before the 2024 election, the decision is expected to signal how closely the society\u2019s leaders plan to align themselves with the MAGA movement \u2014 or whether they will lean into the organization\u2019s traditional posture as a big-tent for the legal right. Meyer, who helped found the society in the 1980s and has served as its leader for over 40 years, has long served as a sort of elder statesman within the conservative movement, acting as a bridge between its founding generation and its current, more Trump-ified leadership. His father, Frank Meyer, was a longtime senior editor at William F. Buckley\u2019s National Review who became best known as the philosophical proprietor of \u2018fusionism\u2019 \u2014 the idea, central to the creation of the modern conservative movement in the post-World War II era, that traditionalist social conservatism and free-libertarianism could serve as mutually reinforcing programs. The younger Meyer made his father\u2019s fusionist creed a cornerstone of the conservative legal movement from its creation, positioning the Federalist Society as an open forum where conservative and libertarian legal thinkers could come together to forge a shared philosophy and legal strategy.\u201d \u2022 So if I tend to think, I have thought unfairly, that libertarianism vs. conservatism is a distinction without a difference, that\u2019s because \u201cfusionism\u201d succeeded?<\/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
Maskstravaganza<\/p>\n
Thanks, liberal Democrats:<\/p>\n
“There’s legitimate reasons why people wear face coverings. Covid or the flu, religious reasons, delivery drivers protecting themselves from the elements and festivities. I assure everyone we understand how complex this issue is.” @GovKathyHochulpic.twitter.com\/7S3s1PMz84<\/p>\n
\u2014 Dr. Lucky Tran (@luckytran) June 13, 2024<\/p>\n
And just to inject some rationality\u2013<\/p>\n
\u201cFace masks are less effective than sunglasses in masking face identity\u201d [Nature]. \u201cHere, we investigated how face identification performance was affected by two types of face disguise: sunglasses and face masks. Observers studied a series of faces; then judged whether a series of test faces, comprising studied and novel faces, had been studied before or not. Face stimuli were presented either without coverings (full faces), wearing sunglasses covering the upper region (eyes, eyebrows), or wearing surgical masks covering the lower region (nose, mouth, chin). We found that sunglasses led to larger reductions in sensitivity (d\u2019) to face identity than face masks did\u2026 These findings implied that the upper region of the face, including the eye-region features, is more diagnostic for holistic face-identity processing than the lower face region.\u201d \u2022 The eyes, in words, which N95s do not conceal. <\/p>\n
Celebrity Watch<\/p>\n
\u201cSwifties Set Off Another \u2018Swift Quake\u2019 During Taylor Swift\u2019s Shows in Edinburgh\u201d [Billboard]. \u201cThe British Geological Survey reported this week that seismometers around Edinburgh were triggered after mega-hyped fans at Taylor Swift\u2018s three Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium shows (June 7-9) last weekend registered earthquake readings up to four miles from the venue.\u201d \u2022\u00a0Nothing on Swift\u2019s superspreading event in Madrid. Naturally.<\/p>\n
\u201cTaylor Swift seemingly wipes snot on outfit during chilly Eras tour performance\u201d [Metro UK]. \u201cIn a clip captured by a fan, the 34-year-old American singer wipes her nose while striding forward on stage during an Edinburgh performance. As her hand returns to her side, there appears to be some kind of fluid hanging off her finger. Ever the professional, she then light touches her green skirt with the same hand, potentially in a bid to get rid of whatever it was.\u201d \u2022 One hopes not Covid (and Scotland does seem to have been unseasonably cold in June) so perhaps the press has finally moved into pulling the wings off flies mode.<\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
Lambert here: There are many new charts today. Positivity is up whereever you look. And I\u2019m concerned with the contrast between last week\u2019s wastewater chart and this week\u2019s: Note the addition of New York (an airline hub, needless to say, as San Francisco, also hub). I would say that if you plan to travel over the Fourth of July weekend, take some precautions. Start planning (and stocking up) now.<\/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] (CDC) This week\u2019s wastewater map, with hot spots annotated. The numbers in the right hand column are identical. The dots on the map are not.<\/p>\n
[2] (CDC) Last week\u2019s wastewater map.<\/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) A slight decrease followed by a return to a slight, steady increase. (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. I\u2019m leaving this here for another week because I loathe them so much:<\/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 up.<\/p>\n
Stats Watch<\/p>\n
There are no official statistics of interest today.<\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
Manufacturing: \u201cF.A.A. Investigating How Counterfeit Titanium Got Into Boeing and Airbus Jets\u201d [New York Times]. \u201cSome recently manufactured Boeing and Airbus jets have components made from titanium that was sold using fake documentation verifying the material\u2019s authenticity, according to a supplier for the plane makers, raising concerns about the structural integrity of those airliners.<\/p>\n
The falsified documents are being investigated by Spirit AeroSystems, which supplies fuselages for Boeing and wings for Airbus, as well as the Federal Aviation Administration. The investigation comes after a parts supplier found small holes in the material from corrosion. In a statement, the F.A.A. said it was investigating the scope of the problem and trying to determine the short- and long-term safety implications to planes that were made using the parts. It is unclear how many planes have parts made with the questionable material\u2026. Spirit is trying to determine where the titanium came from, whether it meets proper standards despite its phony documentation, and whether the parts made from the material are structurally sound enough to hold up through the projected life spans of the jets, company officials said. Spirit said it was trying to determine the most efficient way to remove and replace the affected parts if that ended up being necessary.\u201d \u2022 An industry problem: 2023, 1989, 1985.<\/p>\n
Manufacturing: \u201cWhy America Is Running Low on Zyn Nicotine Pouches\u201d [Wall Street Journal]. \u201cAmerica\u2019s favorite nicotine pouch has become so popular that its factory can\u2019t churn out the product fast enough. Zyn\u2019s U.S. sales growth has slowed and its market share has slipped in recent weeks as a nationwide shortage of the product has led to out-of-stocks in some stores. Many products on the brand\u2019s website this week were listed as back-ordered. On social media, users who can\u2019t find the pouches have jokingly labeled the shortage the \u201cZyndemic\u201d or \u201cThe Great Zynpression,\u201d and have posted photos of signs in stores saying they are out of Zyn. Zyn has been available in the U.S. since 2014 but its sales have skyrocketed over the past year and a half, propelled by a wave of unofficial \u201cZynfluencers\u201d promoting the brand on social media.\u201d \u2022 This is the purest of pure speculation, but since I am ever in search of proxies for the data sources that the public health establishment has systematically destroyed:<\/p>\n
Treating several individuals suffering from post-COVID-19 syndrome with a nicotine patch application, we witnessed improvements ranging from immediate and substantial to complete remission in a matter of days. pic.twitter.com\/PgELrh4VLa<\/p>\n
\u2014 UAE Exotic Falconry & Finance\ud80c\udd43 (@FalconryFinance) December 16, 2023<\/p>\n
Missed this at the time. Readers? <\/p>\n
Tech: \u201cApple to \u2018Pay\u2019 OpenAI for ChatGPT Through Distribution, Not Cash\u201d [Bloomberg]. \u201cWhen Apple Inc. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook and his top deputies this week unveiled a landmark arrangement with OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT into the iPhone, iPad and Mac, they were mum on the financial terms\u2026. Apple isn\u2019t paying OpenAI as part of the partnership, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the deal terms are private. Instead, Apple believes pushing OpenAI\u2019s brand and technology to hundreds of millions of its devices is of equal or greater value than monetary payments, these people said.\u201d \u2022 Hmm. So one feudal lord rents a bunch of peasants to another feudal lord?<\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
Today\u2019s Fear & Greed Index: 38 Fear (previous close: 43 Fear) [CNN]. One week ago: 45 (Neutral). (0 is Extreme Fear; 100 is Extreme Greed). Last updated Jun 14 at 1:51:36 PM ET.<\/p>\n
The Gallery<\/p>\n
Lovely:<\/p>\n
The Youth of Moses pic.twitter.com\/UQjSpY8HII<\/p>\n
\u2014 Sandro Botticelli (@artbotticelli) June 9, 2024<\/p>\n
But the trees, top center. Anybody else think the workshop painted the trees, and then Botticellia painted in the man taking off his shoes? Looks a little too composed\u2026.<\/p>\n
News of the Wired<\/p>\n
\u201cSleep deprivation disrupts memory: here\u2019s why\u201d [Nature]. \u201cA crucial brain signal linked to long-term memory falters in rats when they are deprived of sleep \u2014 which might help to explain why poor sleep disrupts memory formation1. Even a night of normal slumber after a poor night\u2019s sleep isn\u2019t enough to fix the brain signal. These results, published today in Nature, suggest that there is a \u2018critical window for memory processing,\u2019 says Loren Frank, a neuroscientist at the University of California, San Francisco, who was not involved with the study. \u2018Once you\u2019ve lost it, you\u2019ve lost it.’\u201d \u2022 On the bright side, if you want to forget, now we know how!<\/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 Teton Time:<\/p>\n
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Teton Time writes: \u201cOur lettuce supply this year.\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 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:<\/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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