By Lambert Strether of Corrente<\/p>\n
Bird Song of the Day<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Blue Mockingbird, Yecora, Km 261, Sonora, Mexico. I thought I would try another species of mockingbird.<\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
In Case You Might Miss\u2026 <\/p>\n
(1) Kamala\u2019s VP search (Walz; Raimondo a dark horse).<\/p>\n
(2) Kamala on crypto.<\/p>\n
(3) Trump on crypto .<\/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 four months to go!<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Friday\u2019s RCP Poll Averages:<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/rcp_2024-07-26.png\")
<\/p>\n
First poll with Harris at the top of the Democrat ticket; Trump\u2019s position deteriorates (and any advantage he gained from the assassination attempt has been wiped away. Nevertheless, he still leads, albeit within the margin of error. NOTE RCP used to have two pages of swing states; I always used the first one. Now there is only one, which I take as an indicator that Harris v. Trump polling is not all that widespread.<\/p>\n
Vibe shift:<\/p>\n
Unbelievable vibe shift in the US with Kamala Harris pic.twitter.com\/rrMisGHLbu<\/p>\n
\u2014 Albert Pinto (@70sBachchan) July 26, 2024<\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
The Campaign Trail:<\/p>\n
The VP search:<\/p>\n
Kamala (D): \u201cCould Josh Shapiro win Kamala Harris the Electoral College?\u201d [Nate Silver, Silver Bulletin]. About his model: \u201c[W]e\u2019ve found out three things, all of which cut against the hypothesis that a veep choice makes all that much difference: Home-state effects are only about one-quarter as large for the VP pick than for the presidential nominee. Home-state effects are roughly inversely proportional to the number of electoral votes in a state. In other words, a VP choice can make a small difference in a large state or a relatively large difference in a small state (say, Sarah Palin in Alaska or Biden in Delaware). I think this makes sense intuitively; in a smaller state, a politician is more likely to feel as though he\u2019s from your proverbial backyard. And home-state effects have probably diminished over time as partisanship dominates all other considerations.\u201d \u2022 So, probably not.<\/p>\n
Kamala (D): \u201cWhy Kamala Harris should pick Tim Walz as her running mate\u201d [Guardian]. \u201cI\u2019ll be honest: last month, I would have struggled to pick Walz out of a lineup. This month? I\u2019m Walz-pilled. I have watched dozens of his interviews and clips. And I\u2019m far from alone. He has an army of new fans across the liberal-left: from former Bernie Sanders 2020 campaign co-chair Nina Turner, to one-time Democratic congressman Beto O\u2019Rourke, to gun-control activist David Hogg. \u2018In less than 6 days, I went from not knowing who Tim Walz is,\u2019 joked writer Travis Helwig on X, \u2018to deep down believing that if he doesn\u2019t get the VP nod I will storm the capitol.\u2019 According to Bloomberg, the Harris campaign has narrowed down its \u201ctop tier\u201d of potential running mates to three \u201cwhite guy\u201d candidates: Walz (hurrah!), plus the Arizona senator Mark Kelly and Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro. Both Kelly and Shapiro have their strengths \u2013 and both represent must-win states for the Dems. Allow me, however, to make the clear case for Walz.\u201d \u2022 Or just watch this video:<\/p>\n
My daughter, Hope, tricked me into doing the most extreme ride at the Minnesota State Fair. pic.twitter.com\/YeMEocwJRv<\/p>\n
\u2014 Governor Tim Walz (@GovTimWalz) September 4, 2023<\/p>\n
Report from the field:<\/p>\n
Dads at my parents’ (affluent) suburban VA swimming pool overheard discussing Tim Walz: “i’d never heard of him either, but man, he’s a straight shooter & could destroy JD Vance!” “Yeah even though the VP is not supposed to matter I hope they pick him.”<\/p>\n
\u2014 moe tkacik (@moetkacik) July 27, 2024<\/p>\n
The coveted Derek Guy endorsment:<\/p>\n
pretty good casual outfit on walz. the coat is an LL Bean barn coat, which you can find on eBay for about $50. good with jeans, sneakers, and work boots. some bipartisanship since a similar, but not exact, coat was once seen on romney (who also looks pretty good here) pic.twitter.com\/JEJvjlsj0V<\/p>\n
\u2014 derek guy (@dieworkwear) July 28, 2024<\/p>\n
Minnesota readers will of course clarify his track record and correct any sunny optimism:<\/p>\n
Tim Walz is \u2013 by far \u2013 the most based Democrat governor in the country. With a 1 seat majority in Minnesota he did:<\/p>\n
\u2013 universal free school meals
\u2013 legal weed
\u2013 carbon free electricity by 2040
\u2013 tax rebates for the working class up to $1,300 (making under $150k per year)
\u2013 12\u2026 <\/p>\n
\u2014 Secular Talk\ud83c\udf99 (@KyleKulinski) July 23, 2024<\/p>\n
Why the heck isn\u2019t this guy at the topic of the ticket? One reason the Democrats never held anything resembling an open primary, I suppose\u2026.<\/p>\n
Then again, there\u2019s two-and-twenty Gina:<\/p>\n
Harris is vetting Gina Raimondo for VP. She\u2019s the dark horse. Total disaster if she\u2019s the pick.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Matt Stoller (@matthewstoller) July 29, 2024<\/p>\n
Still, the liberalgasm if there were two women on the ticket would be a sight to behold\u2026 <\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
Kamala (D): \u201cKamala Harris campaign seeks \u2018reset\u2019 with crypto companies\u201d [Financial Times]. \u201cKamala Harris\u2019s advisers have approached top crypto companies to \u201creset\u201d relations between her Democratic party and a sector that has come out as an important backer of Donald Trump, her rival for the US presidency.\u201d And: \u201cPeople advising the Harris campaign on business matters said the decision to reconnect with the crypto industry had little to do with attracting new electoral contributions. They said the objective was instead to build a constructive relationship that would ultimately set a smart regulatory framework that would help the growth of the entire asset class.\u201d BWA-HA-HA-HA-HA! Totes, a party needs to retain its self-respect. More: \u201cOne person said her campaign was using the change of leadership on the Democratic ticket as an opportunity to reset relations with the tech industry, which had felt targeted by the Biden administration, particularly on antitrust matters.\u201d So, measuring Lina Khan for the drop? More: \u201cThe underlying message Harris wants to strike is that the Democrats are \u2018pro-business, responsible business\u2019, said one person close to her campaign. Harris is aiming to win back those in the tech community, many of them in her home state of California, who have turned away from the party in protest at the threat of new taxes or regulation of their industry.\u201d \u2022 So backing crypto billionaires is the way to signal \u201cresponsible business.\u201d If Kamala does pick Raimondo, that will be wonderfully clarifying.<\/p>\n
Kamala (D): \u201cHarris scrambles Trump\u2019s crypto play\u201d [Politico]. \u201cRon Conway, a venture capitalist and top Democratic donor whose firm has invested in crypto companies, posted on X this week that he has \u2018known Kamala for decades, and she\u2019s been a fighter, a leader, and an advocate for the tech ecosystem since the day we met.\u2019 Harris is broadly expected to run on the Biden administration\u2019s record, and speculation about her position on crypto could be a projection. But before Biden dropped out of the race, his camp appeared to be taking a more open-minded approach to crypto concerns, with senior adviser Anita Dunn meeting with industry leaders in Washington.\u201d \u2022 \u201cBroadly\u201d is doing a lot of work,there.<\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
Trump (R): \u201cTrump proposes strategic national crypto stockpile: \u2018Never sell your bitcoin’\u201d [CNBC]. \u201cDonald Trump headlined the biggest bitcoin conference of the year in Nashville on Saturday afternoon. It\u2019s quite the 180-turn after he very publicly dismissed bitcoin when he was in the White House. The Republican presidential nominee also held an accompanying fundraiser in Nashville, with tickets topping out at $844,600. Bitcoin 2024 conference organizers say they were briefly in talks to have Vice President Kamala Harris appear at the conference, though she ultimately declined.\u201d \u2022 No.<\/p>\n
Trump (R): \u201cTrump Became Crypto Believer After Falling in Love With NFTs of Himself\u201d [Bloomberg]. \u201c\u201dI pledge to the Bitcoin community that the day I take the oath of office, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris\u2019s anti-crypto crusade, it will end,\u201d Trump told the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville on Saturday, comparing crypto to the steel industry a century ago. \u201cIf Bitcoin is going to the moon,\u201d he added, \u2018I want America to be the nation that leads the way.\u2019\u2026. Conventional wisdom has it that this gambit is simply a classic Trumpian transactional relationship. He needs votes and money in a presidential horse race that now looks like it\u2019ll be a photo finish, and he\u2019s exploiting an opening created when President Joe Biden\u2019s administration alienated the crypto crowd by pursuing a crackdown on the industry. If so, it\u2019s working. Crypto is an ecosystem whose public face is dominated by online warriors with a lot of money to throw around, fertile ground for Trump to reap tens of millions of dollars in campaign funds \u2014 and a burgeoning army of vocal fans. His newfound role as cheerleader for the industry helped land him support from the likes of Dogecoin aficionado Elon Musk and billionaire twins Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss as well as venture-capitalists Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz\u2026. Yet despite all the newfound support he is enjoying, there is something else that played an important role in Trump\u2019s conversion to crypto believer: flattering images of himself. Simply put, he fell in love with Trump-themed nonfungible-tokens \u2014 and the supporters who bought them \u2014 and that passion has turned into a broader appreciation for the industry, according to insiders who have watched Trump\u2019s crypto evolution. Trump\u2019s lingering questions about valuations of digital assets haven\u2019t slowed his NFT sales pitch, which was clear in May as he riffed off-script to a Mar-a-Lago gathering of supporters who had purchased at least 47 of the digital trading cards \u2014 pop-art renderings of the former president, including images of him dressed up like a cowboy, a superhero and other figures of fantasy. They sold for $99 a pop, but Trump wondered aloud if he could\u2019ve gotten more.\u201d \u2022\u00a0Whatever crypto is, it\u2019s not like the steel industry. I see a lot of Carnegie libraries. I don\u2019t see any Winkelvoss libraries.<\/p>\n
Trump (R): \u201cThe Strategic Bitcoin Reserve\u201d [Eschatonblog]. \u201cThere is something almost too perfect about the demand from The Bitcoin Community for the federal government to buy up hundreds of billions of their libertarian fake money. Gimmetarianism every time.\u201d \u2022 \u201cGimmetarianism\u201d is an excellent example of snark. I bow before the master.<\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
\u201cReport shows 73% of crypto owners\u2019 vote for US president to be affected by candidate\u2019s stance\u201d [Anadolu Agency]. \u201cAlmost three in four cryptocurrency owners say their vote for US president in November will be affected by a candidate\u2019s crypto stance, according to a report that was released Friday. \u2018For the first time in United States history, crypto has become a significant campaign issue in a presidential election,\u2019 US-based crypto exchange and custodian bank firm Gemini said in its 2024 State of Crypto survey. It showed that more than one in five Americans, or 21%, currently own cryptocurrency, and among those who own, the vast majority, or 73%, plan to consider a candidate\u2019s stance on cryptocurrencies when they vote for the next president. More than one-third, or 37%, said a candidate\u2019s position on cryptocurrencies would have \u2018a significant impact\u2019 on their vote for president.\u201d \u2022 Unless Gemini is talking its book, of course.<\/p>\n
Fraud all the way down:<\/p>\n
it doesn\u2019t even rank in the top 15 issues pic.twitter.com\/WIGRGZiFcW<\/p>\n
\u2014 Talia Jane \u2764\ufe0f\u200d\ud83d\udd25 (@taliaotg) July 28, 2024<\/p>\n
Democrats en D\u00e9shabill\u00e9<\/p>\n
Centrist freaks:<\/p>\n
Well we know who the pro-money laundering and corruption faction is. <\/p>\n
\u2014 Matt Stoller (@matthewstoller) July 28, 2024<\/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, KF, 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
* * *<\/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. Keeps spreading.<\/p>\n
[2] (CDC) Last week\u2019s wastewater map.<\/p>\n
[3] (CDC Variants) KP.* very popular.<\/p>\n
[4] (ER) Worth noting Emergency Department use is now on a par with the first wave, in 2020.<\/p>\n
[5] (Hospitalization: NY) Leveling off. Doesn\u2019t need to be a permanent thing, of course. (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). The visualization suppresses what is, in percentage terms, a significant increase.<\/p>\n
[7] (Walgreens) An optimist would see a peak.<\/p>\n
[8] (Cleveland) Slowing<\/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
[11] Deaths low, but positivity up.<\/p>\n
[12] Deaths low, ED up.<\/p>\n
Stats Watch<\/p>\n
Manufacturing: \u201cUnited States Dallas Fed Manufacturing Index\u201d [Trading Economics]. \u201cThe Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas\u2019 general business activity index for manufacturing in Texas fell to -17.5 in July of 2024 from -15.1 in the previous month. It extended the negative momentum in Southern manufacturing with over two consecutive years of contractionary monthly readings.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\n* * *<\/p>\n
Today\u2019s Fear & Greed Index: 47 Neutral (previous close: 45 Fear) [CNN]. One week ago: 56 (Greed). (0 is Extreme Fear; 100 is Extreme Greed). Last updated Jul 29 at 1:45:57 PM ET.<\/p>\n
Rapture Index: Closes down one on Earthquakes. \u201cThe lack of activity has downgraded this category\u201d [Rapture Ready]. Record High, October 10, 2016: 189. Current: 183. (Remember that bringing on the Rapture is good.) \u2022 Hard to believe the Rapture Index is going down. Where are there people getting their news?!<\/p>\n
The Gallery<\/p>\n
Fashion week?<\/p>\n
=\u201den\u201d dir=\u201dltr\u201d>Ready-to-Wear <\/p>\n
\u2014 Stuart Davis (@StuartDavisArt) July 16, 2024<\/p>\n
Zeitgeist Watch<\/p>\n
\u201cBeyond authenticity\u201d [Aeon]. The deck: \u201cIn her final unfinished work, Hannah Arendt mounted an incisive critique of the idea that we are in search of our true selves.\u201d \u201cIf the inauthentic self is the everyday self, the one among the many, the authentic self is the self that has broken away from the herd; it is the self that exists for the self alone. To step out of the flow of everyday life is an exceptional occurrence. Common wisdom stipulates that \u2018We are what we do\u2019 or \u2018We are the sum total of our actions.\u2019 Each choice shapes the future path we find ourselves on, and occasionally we step back and can see the whole picture of ourselves, how we got to where we are. But for [Nazi philosopher Martin] Heidegger we are most fully ourselves only in those moments of exception, in that clearing of Being when we\u2019ve left the well-worn path carved out by everyday routine altogether. The German word he uses for authenticity is Eigentlichkeit, which is defined as \u2018really\u2019 or \u2018truly\u2019. Eigen means \u2018peculiar\u2019, and \u2018own\u2019 or \u2018of one\u2019s own\u2019. Literally, it might be translated as possessing the quality of being truly for oneself. \u2026 By arguing that thinking was a function of Being, Heidegger had tried to divorce thinking from the will in order to argue that it was one\u2019s true inner Being that determined ultimately who they became in the world. But for Arendt, this was an abdication of personal responsibility and choice. It was a way of handing over one\u2019s decision-making power\u2026 [F]or Arendt, the will was the means to our freedom, it was the promise that we can always be other than we are, and so to the world. The will is a space of tension inside the self where one actively feels the difference between where they are and where they would like to be. The will is the only intervention we have against the conditioning of worldly existence. Willing is the mental activity that goes on between thinking and judgment. It has the power to shape us by drawing us into conflict with ourselves. Without inner conflict, there is no forward movement. These are the basic principles of willing.\u201d \u2022\u00a0Hmm. Not sure I excerpted this properly at all.<\/p>\n
\u201cStaying human\u201d [When we are Real]. \u201c[W]hat started as an adult male sexual fetish morphed into the construction of synthetic sex identities from manipulated body parts, and is leading to a transhumanist dystopia where reproduction is artificial, life is extended, and humans become melded with machines. This, [Bilek] shows, is not an organic development, but the deliberate outcome of an industry that requires acceptance of dissociation from our bodies as normal. \u201d<\/p>\n
News of the Wired<\/p>\n
On \u201cintelligent design\u201d:<\/p>\n
We have a “shove food down this” tube dangerously close to our “food must never block this airway” tube and they are behind identical unmarked doors in our throat <\/p>\n
\u2014 Jennifer Lee Rossman #SaveLowerDecks (@JenLRossman) July 26, 2024<\/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 DG:<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/weeds_stump.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
DG writes: \u201cWeeds and an old stump encroaching on the ruins of an old DC aqueduct.\u201d As readers know, I am a fan of stumps, particularly rotted ones.<\/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!\n<\/p>\n
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