By Lambert Strether of Corrente<\/p>\n
Patient readers, what you see is what you get, today; I must hustle along and finish up a post on Trump. \u2013lambert<\/p>\n
Bird Song of the Day<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Mishmi Wren-Babbler, Mishmi Hills\u2013Coffee House (52 km), Lower Dibang Valley, Arunachal Pradesh, India. Did you mishmi?<\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
In Case You Might Miss\u2026 <\/p>\n
(1) Democrat plotting. <\/p>\n
(2) RFK doens\u2019t make the cut for the debates.<\/p>\n
(3) How a serious country (Finland) handled bird flu.<\/p>\n
(4) The physics of knitting.<\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
Look for the Helpers<\/p>\n
Mail from Bruce F:<\/p>\n
Hi,<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve found a couple of sites that let \u201cnormal\u201d people help each other learn languages. Sites where ordinary people can help and be helped.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The idea is that you create a profile (free) saying what language you already know as well as your target language. You can then contact others on the sites and connect directly with them via Skype. It\u2019s an excellent way to teach, and in turn, be taught. Perfect for autodidacts.<\/p>\n
This is a terrific tool for those of us who are following the \u201cComprehensible Input\u201d method. (<\/p>\n
Thanks for all the excellent work over the years.<\/p>\n
There seem to be more submissions for this category lately. Thank you!<\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
My email address is down by the plant; please send examples of there (\u201cHelpers\u201d in the subject line). In our increasingly desperate and fragile neoliberal society, everyday normal incidents and stories of \u201cthe communism of everyday life\u201d are what I am looking for (and not, say, the Red Cross in Hawaii, or even the UNWRA in Gaza). <\/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_2024-06-14-e1718641688460.png\")
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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
BIden (D): \u201cBiden\u2019s Secret Weapon Against Trump: Older Voters\u201d [Wall Street Journal]. \u201cSenior citizens, long a reliable voting bloc for Republicans, are showing signs of turning into an election-year swing group, potentially giving President Biden an unlikely boost in his tough rematch against Donald Trump. Americans ages 65 and older turn out at significantly higher rates than younger voters do, giving them outsize clout as they choose this year between the Democrat Biden, 81, and the Republican Trump, who turned 78 on Friday\u2026. Biden has notched about 48% of seniors in The Wall Street Journal\u2019s national and swing-state polls this year, a number that puts him in line with his 2020 performance. The polls have shown Trump getting about 46% of that age group, down from 51% in 2020. Biden\u2019s standing among older voters has a few possible explanations: The president has been performing well among Americans who are closely monitoring the election, giving him an advantage with seniors who actively consume cable television and news coverage in their retirement. Some polling has shown seniors with more favorable views of Biden\u2019s handling of the economy, possibly because they feel more insulated from the impacts of higher interest rates and inflation. But Matt Grossmann, director of the Institute for Public Policy and Social Research at Michigan State University, said any feeling of dramatic movement among older voters toward Biden may be overstated. The bigger change, he said, may be that older voters don\u2019t seem to be moving toward Trump while other groups are. Beyond that point, he said, there is the broader question of the composition of the 65-and-older voting bloc in 2024.\u201d<\/p>\n
Biden (D): \u201cThe Biden Campaign\u2019s Losing Battle\u201d [The Atlantic]. \u201cThe Biden campaign seems to believe that journalists should stop reporting on polls, rallies, and other tentpoles of traditional presidential races, and instead devote their resources to telling Americans that Trump wants to be a dictator, over and over again. If that means ignoring Biden\u2019s missteps and weaknesses, well, the Biden campaign can accept that.\u201d<\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
BIden (D): We get letters:<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/obama_brochure.png\")
<\/p>\n
A *.gif in the subject line is new for Mothership Strategies, AFAIK. (Actually, I don\u2019t know who the vendor is, but the old school, direct mail style is Mothership\u2019s.) But on that *gif: We al know about Obama\u2019s big ears, but what\u2019s with his expression?<\/p>\n
Biden (D): \u201cBiden targets Trump\u2019s conviction as tensions ramp up ahead of debate\u201d [CNN]. \u201cBiden\u2019s new ad zeroes in directly on the guilty verdict in Trump\u2019s hush money trial and his huge loss in a civil fraud case to strike a sharp contrast with Biden\u2019s character. As the ex-president\u2019s mug shot flashes on screen, a narrator says: \u2018This election is between a convicted criminal who\u2019s only out for himself and a president who is fighting for your family.\u2019 The ad marks the Biden campaign\u2019s most explicit strategic use so far of Trump\u2019s legal woes in a campaign message.\u201d \u2022 We\u2019re gonna have to pry \u201cfighting for\u201d out of their cold, dead hands. They deeply believe in that phrase!<\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
Secret Democrat plot to replace Biden revealed: How Clinton, Obama, Pelosi and Schumer would topple the aging President\u2026 and when they\u2019d do it\u201d {Daily Mail]. This did run in Links a couple days ago, but I had to leave it on the cutting room floor. Given a debate stumble by Biden: \u201cThe only people who could force [Biden] out would be Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer,\u2019 one Democratic strategist told DailyMail.com. \u2018It would have to be the four of them collectively.\u2019\u2026 But other party insiders concede that the candidate swap could work if everything was carefully planned and executed\u2026 However, there\u2019s another potential complication. As the recognized leader of the Democratic Party, a stubborn Biden could refuse to step down and fight on to Election Day, even as the party grows more exasperated with his performance\u2026. The Democratic party machine has now elected to hold an online nomination, complete with a \u2018virtual roll call,\u2019 to formally select Biden as their nominee ahead of the DNC convention in Chicago in mid-August. Part of the reason to go \u2018virtual\u2019 is to ensure a more controlled process should the party decide to select a replacement candidate. In that case, top Democratic leaders would quietly draft the substitute nominee in advance. That person would not be Vice President Kamala Harris, according to sources, who observed that Harris has already had to fend off a push to replace her on the ticket\u2026 But if not Harris, then who? Democratic leaders would quietly draft the substitute nominee in advance\u2026. Strategists theorize that Democrats would have to hold a public event to symbolically transfer power to the new candidate. Biden, Obama, Clinton, Schumer, and Pelosi would publicly introduce and endorse the anointed nominee. They would also have to convince Harris to throw her support behind the substitute, which would be a painful experience for someone so fiercely protective of their political future.\u201d \u2022 The headline (\u201crevealed\u201d) isn\u2019t supported by the story, which is either speculation, not sourced, or single-sourced (with the single exception of sources plural saying, unremarkably, that Harris ain\u2019t it). Note the use of the subjunctive throughout. I just can\u2019t see a scenario where Biden and the Big Four \u2014 Bill? And not Hillary? \u2014 collectively say \u201cWhoops!\u201d and Biden steps down voluntarily. The insiders might think there\u2019s no problem \u2014 after all, they\u2019ve been gaming this out for months \u2014 but I think the country at large would think it laughable. Unless Biden\u2019s replacement has absolute starpower \u2014 very much unlike any Democrat politician on offer \u2014 something would have to\u2026 happen to Biden. Something physical and incapacitating. Maybe somebody could stretch some fishing line across one of the steps down from Air Force one. After all, \u201cour democracy\u201d is at stake.<\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
Kennedy (I): \u201cRFK Jr. won\u2019t qualify for June Trump-Biden presidential debate: report\u201d [New York Post]. \u201cIndependent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will fall short of meeting the ballot access requirements needed to qualify for next week\u2019s debate between President Biden and former President Donald Trump, according to a report. \u2026. However, the independent candidate is not on the ballot in several states where he has claimed he is, and he won\u2019t meet the threshold needed to qualify for the June 27 CNN debate by the Thursday deadline, a Washington Post survey of state election officials found.\u201d <\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
\u201cExclusive: Leading chatbots are spreading Russian propaganda\u201d [Axios]. \u201cThe leading AI chatbots are regurgitating Russian misinformation, according to a NewsGuard report shared first with Axios. Users turning to chatbots for reliable information and quick answers to all their questions are finding that AI can also offer disinformation, satire and fiction as fact. To conduct the study, NewsGuard entered prompts asking about narratives known to have been created by John Mark Dougan, an American fugitive who, per the New York Times, is creating and spreading misinformation from Moscow. Entering 57 prompts into 10 leading chatbots, NewsGuard found they spread Russian disinformation narratives 32% of the time, often citing Dougan\u2019s fake local news sites as a reliable source.\u201d \u2022 It does seem as if having the Censorship Industrial Complex \u2014 i.e., the spooks \u2014 somehow certifiy the election results is becoming an inevitability. \u201cOur democracy\u201d in operational terms, I suppose.<\/p>\n
Democrats en D\u00e9shabill\u00e9<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Resistance to a New Trump Administration Has Already Started\u201d [New York Times]. \u201cA sprawling network of Democratic officials, progressive activists, watchdog groups and ex-Republicans has been taking extraordinary steps to prepare for a potential second Trump presidency, drawn together by the fear that Mr. Trump\u2019s return to power would pose a grave threat not just to their agenda but to American democracy itself\u2026. But the early timing, volume and scale of the planning underway to push back against a potential second Trump administration are without precedent. The loose-knit coalition is determined not to be caught flat-footed, as many were [although not the spooks!] after his unexpected victory in 2016\u2026. Interviews with more than 30 officials and leaders of organizations about their plans revealed a combination of acute exhaustion and acute anxiety. Activist groups that spent the four years of Mr. Trump\u2019s presidency organizing mass protests and pursuing legal challenges, ultimately helping channel that energy into persuading voters to oust him from power in 2020, are now realizing with great dread they may have to resist him all over again.<\/p>\n
The group leaders say they learned a lot from 2017 to 2021 about how to run an effective resistance campaign\u2026. The group hired the journalist Barton Gellman [hmm] from The Atlantic to help with scenario planning and tabletop exercises focused on what could unfurl during a Trump presidency, with a report likely to be made public this summer. Other work has included a focus on the Insurrection Act and the Emergency Powers Act.\u201d \u2022 War games, just like 2020, as I\u2019ve been saying. <\/p>\n
\u201cHow a Network of Nonprofits Enriches Fundraisers While Spending Almost Nothing on Its Stated Causes\u201d [ProPublica]. \u2022 Penny ante 527 stuff.<\/p>\n
\u201cState Department hit with subpoena over \u2018censorship-by-proxy’\u201d [Washinton Examiner]. The Censorship Industrial Complex at State. Here is the Republican framing: \u201c\u2018All Americans deserve a fair shot to compete in the marketplace, and the government should not be tipping the scales against any business for their legal speech on the internet,\u2019 [Rep. Roger Williams (R-TX)] told the Washington Examiner. \u2018The refusal to comply with repeated document requests is unacceptable, especially when the livelihoods of many small businesses are on the line.’\u201d \u2022 It would be interesting to know if WIlliams would apply that rationale to, say, the World Socialist Web Site. One would hope so.<\/p>\n
Realignment and Legitimacy<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2018I Live in Hell\u2019: Anti-Growth Fervor Grips US South After Pandemic Boom\u201d [Bloomberg]. \u201cIn Gallatin, Tennessee, house prices have jumped by two-thirds since the pandemic, and one local commissioner incensed at nearby homebuilding said she \u2018lives in hell.\u2019 So many Californians have moved to the booming state that locals fear their lefty politics migrated with them, and lawn signs target the \u201cgreedy developers\u201d they say are swallowing up farmland. Tennessee and several of its neighbors in the US South are facing an anti-growth backlash, after turbocharged migration helped boost the region\u2019s population by 2.7 million people \u2014 the size of Chicago. As traffic snarls in once-sleepy downtowns, apartment complexes replace meadows and municipal water systems strain under new demand, passions are running high in a way that goes beyond regular nimbyism. In Sumner County, where the Cumberland River snakes through the verdant hills northeast of Nashville, the economy grew by 8.5% a year from 2020 to 2022, putting it in the top 7% of all US counties for growth. The number of apartments in the county seat of Gallatin almost doubled in the four years through 2022, according to property marketplace RentCafe. The boom \u2014 driven by transplants from blue states like New York and California \u2014 has spurred a right-wing group that marries conservative religious beliefs with restrictive policies on growth into control of the local legislative body. At a planning board meeting in May, the pressing agenda item was whether to boost minimum lot sizes in rural areas to at least 2.3 acres; big enough to ward off housing developers who need more density.\u201d <\/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
Hospitals have regressed:<\/p>\n
This is what happens when you allow health care systems to be controlled by sociopaths who care more about covering up their own failures than protecting the lives of little kids with cancer. <\/p>\n
Those responsible are evil. There’s no other word for it.<\/p>\n
Accountability now! <\/p>\n
\u2014 Mark Ungrin (@Mark_Ungrin) June 18, 2024<\/p>\n
Testing and Tracking: Wastewater<\/p>\n
I should really file this under Maleficence:<\/p>\n
Note that CDC puts no units on the Y-axis.
So there is no way to compare one sewershed’s levels with another’s.
CDC seems to be aiming its displays at kindergartners\u2014their model of the public?<\/p>\n
To view the actual data\u2014w\/ Y-axes of SARS2 quantities, go to <\/p>\n
\u2014 Lee Altenberg, Ph.D. (@AltenbergLee) June 18, 2024<\/p>\n
For my purposes, I use CDC\u2019s wasterwater maps, not their charts (though presumably the same data drives both, and a chart comes up for a wastewater treatment plant \u201cdot\u201d when you click on it). The difficulty with Wastewater Scan is that I\u2019ve never found a way to easily aggregate the data; they want you to type in a particular location, so you can never get an overall view. If any readers have made Wastewater Scan work for them, please say so in comments.<\/p>\n
Elite Maleficence<\/p>\n
\u201cWe aren\u2019t doing enough about the risk of bird flu but we can\u201d [CNN]. \u201cWe\u2019ve seen H5N1 coming for more than 20 years. Although the challenge was smaller because of it size, Finland stopped H5N1 in animals before it spread to humans last summer. This story, among a half dozen outbreaks that never made headlines, is featured in our new Epidemics That Didn\u2019t Happen report. \u201cRapid response. Within 24 hours of the first cases being reported on a mink farm, Finland confirmed that the animals tested positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1\u2026. In the United States, H5N1 has been spreading among cattle since at least late last year. Even today, the United States doesn\u2019t know the extent of spread among animals or humans due to insufficient testing and tracking\u2026. Trust. Farmers already had a high level of trust in the Finnish Food Authority after years of successful programs, and had launched a surveillance program that resulted in rapid notification of unusual symptoms among their animals\u2026. Trust toward the United States government is low, especially among rural Americans who are on the front line of these outbreaks\u2026. Coordinated government response. Human health and agriculture officials in Finland coordinated closely, paving the way for a rapid, effective response\u2026. In the United States, government agencies have had rocky relationships given varying priorities, legal authorities, agility and politics. There are multiple agencies involved: USDA monitors cattle health, US Food and Drug Administration monitors milk safety and the CDC monitors diseases in humans, including from animal exposure. Coordination seems to be improving, but any directives from the government should be crafted to the specific needs of each community; national mandates will likely not be practical given our country\u2019s size and diversity.\u201d \u2022 What a mess. And we\u2019ve known for years \u2014 decades? \u2014 that bird flu was something to watch for. And here we are, with a government and public health response that\u2019s worse, if that were possble, than our response to Covid-19.<\/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] (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 offical statistics of interest today.<\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
Today\u2019s Fear & Greed Index: 42 Fear (previous close: 42 Fear) [CNN]. One week ago: 45 (Neutral). (0 is Extreme Fear; 100 is Extreme Greed). Last updated Jun 18 at 8:59:52 PM ET.<\/p>\n
News of the Wired<\/p>\n
\u201cUnraveling the Physics of Knitting\u201d (press release) [Georgia Tech]. \u201cPhysicists from the Georgia Institute of Technology have taken the technical know-how of knitting and added mathematical backing to it. In a study led by Elisabetta Matsumoto, associate professor in the School of Physics, and Krishma Singal, a graduate researcher in Matsumoto\u2019s lab, the team used experiments and simulations to quantify and predict how knit fabric response can be programmed. By establishing a mathematical theory of knitted materials, the researchers hope that knitting \u2014 and textiles in general \u2014 can be incorporated into more engineering applications. Their research paper, \u2018Programming Mechanics in Knitted Materials, Stitch by Stitch,\u2019 was published in the journal Nature Communications. \u2018For centuries, hand knitters have used different types of stitches and stitch combinations to specify the geometry and \u2018stretchiness\u2019 of garments, and much of the technical knowledge surrounding knitting has been handed down by word of mouth,\u2019 said Matsumoto. But while knitting has often been dismissed as unskilled, poorly paid \u2018women\u2019s work,\u2019 the properties of knits can be more complex than traditional engineering materials like rubbers or metals. For this project, the team wanted to decode the underlying principles that direct the elastic behavior of knitted fabrics. These principles are governed by the nuanced interplay of stitch patterns, geometry, and yarn topology \u2014 the undercrossings or overcrossings in a knot or stitch. \u2018A lot of yarn isn\u2019t very stretchy, yet once knit into a fabric, the fabric exhibits emergent elastic behavior,\u2019 Singal said.\u201d \u2022 I\u2019m picturing an Ursula LeGuin story of an Ekumen planet where the matriarchy won out, and (say) high school physics isn\u2019t based on the movement of planets and Newtonian principles, but on\u2026. \u201cemergent elastic behavior\u201d based on yarn topology. Would that world not be very different from our own?<\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
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 TH:<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/catmint.jpeg\")
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TH writes: This is my freshly potted (about a month ago) catmint plant. I\u2019m pretty thrilled with it. I never knew there was such a thing. I\u2019d heard of catnip, but no catmint. I read that it attracts cats but doesn\u2019t have the intoxicating effect that catnip tends to have. I brought some of the flowers in and put them in a little cup. The cats, who chewed on every plant we\u2019ve ever brought in the house, have not noticed it, so just how strong the attraction is, is under suspicion.\u201d Very nice depth of field.<\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
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
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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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