By Lambert Strether of Corrente<\/p>\n
Readers, more on Politics to come shortly. I thought if I waited, we\u2019d have word on Kamala\u2019s VP selection. I also have to give some thought to Democrats and (dread word) race, or rather racial classification. \u2013lambert<\/p>\n
Bird Song of the Day<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Blue Mockingbird, Zona Arqueol\u00f3gica Monte Alb\u00e1n\u2013Camino Ecol\u00f3gico, Centro, Oaxaca, Mexico.<\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
In Case You Might Miss\u2026 <\/p>\n
(1) Kamala\u2019s VP search.<\/p>\n
(2) Trish Greenhalgh on Long Covid.<\/p>\n
(3) Covid and class.<\/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 one hundred days 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
We\u2019ll see what the averages say Friday, but:<\/p>\n
Harris has wiped out Trump’s lead across seven swing states in the latest round of the Bloomberg News \/ Morning Consult poll. The poll found a big Dem lead in Michigan, a more modest Trump lead in Pennsylvania and close contests everywhere else. Dead heat. pic.twitter.com\/xxJN94TFec<\/p>\n
\u2014 Josh Wingrove (@josh_wingrove) July 30, 2024<\/p>\n
Lots of Brownian motion here, still. More noteworthy is that Trump got no visible bounce from the assassination.<\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
The Campaign Trail:<\/p>\n
The VP search: <\/p>\n
Kamala (D): \u201cHarris\u2019 high-stakes veepstakes: Fundraising powerhouses vie for VP slot\u201d [Open Secrets]. Handy chart:<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/nejmsb2408466_f1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve highlighted the conventional wisdom of those in the running.<\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
Kamala (D): \u201cThe DNC virtual roll call to nominate Kamala Harris is underway. This is how it will work\u201d [WHYY]. \u201cDelegates to the Democratic National Convention began officially selecting their nominee for president in a process that kicked off Thursday. But unlike in past years, they are not doing so in the raucous party atmosphere of the convention floor or even during the convention itself. Instead, they are filling out electronic ballots at their homes, offices or vacation spots more than two weeks before the first delegate steps foot inside Chicago\u2019s United Center. Vice President Kamala Harris is the only candidate eligible to receive votes after no other candidate qualified by a Tuesday night deadline. The \u2018virtual roll call,\u2019 the term used by Democratic National Committee officials, will allow Harris to claim the nomination by Monday evening. That\u2019s just 15 days after President Joe Biden announced he would not seek a second term following widespread concerns within the party over his ability to defeat Republican nominee Donald Trump in November.\u201d \u2022 The byte-filled room\u2026.<\/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
Airborne Transmission<\/p>\n
Corsi-Rosenthal Box still going strong:<\/p>\n
The Corsi-Rosenthal box is the best air purifier we’ve tested out of 26 \u2014and it’s one we built ourselves! How can it the BEST air purifier when we’ve got sleek Dysons, portable Levoits, and much cooler boxes of filters? Our newest R&D Video answers that! pic.twitter.com\/aAyUALqVpH<\/p>\n
\u2014 RTINGS.com (@rtingsdotcom) June 27, 2024<\/p>\n
NOTE More modern designs use big honkin\u2019 computer fans suitable for gaming machines. These are quieter, and also can be assembled in areas that don\u2019t use box fans (Southeast Asia). However, the same engineering principles apply.<\/p>\n
Maskstravaganza<\/p>\n
\u201cMasking Policies at National Cancer Institute\u2013Designated Cancer Centers During Winter 2023 to 2024 COVID-19 Surge\u201d [JAMA]. \u201cCancer centers were more likely to require universal masking in at least some areas if they were located in the Northeast (11 [78.6%]), had longer NCI designation duration (first quintile: 10 [83.3%]), had more program funding (first quintile: 11 [84.6%]), or had a higher care ranking (first quintile: 11 [84.6%])\u201d \u2022 And no wonder!<\/p>\n
Sequelae: Covid<\/p>\n
Long COVID: a clinical update\u201d (preview) [Trish Greenhalgh et al., The Lancet]. \u201cLong COVID currently has no definitive cure, so prevention is of the utmost importance. The best way to prevent long COVID is to prevent COVID-19 through well established public health measures such as paying attention to indoor air quality (eg, ventilation or filtration); wearing well fitting, high-filtration masks or respirators when appropriate; and supporting infectious individuals to quarantine. People with acute COVID-19 should ensure they rest.\u201d \u2022 Handy chart of the multiple pathways to Long Covid (the \u201cpinball machine\u201d below):<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/greenhalgh_pinball.jpg\")
r<\/p>\n
The following is Greenhalgh\u2019s \u201clay summary\u201d of the Lancet piece:<\/p>\n
\u201cLong COVID \u2013 a dystopian game of pinball\u201d [Trish Greenhalgh, Independent Sage]. The deck: \u201cProf Trish Greenhalgh explains the findings of her recent comprehensive Lancet review of Long Covid.\u201d Brilliant extended metaphor: \u201cLong COVID is a real condition whose complex biological basis is beginning to be understood. The sequence of events that makes COVID-19 into a protracted (and quite possibly, lifelong) illness in some but not all people is a bit like a dystopian game of pinball. An unlucky ball hits a series of key buffers, buzzers and bells, triggering a cascade of further events\u2026 [T[hese changes flip off additional cascades of biochemical messengers (\u2018supplementary pathological mechanisms\u2019), which, in health, contribute to keeping the body in balance\u2026. [T[hese microscopic changes in genes, molecules, proteins, cells and micro-organisms produce various kinds of organ damage\u2026. [T]hese organ-level changes lead to the well-known symptoms of Long COVID described in the second paragraph above. Different people will experience different combinations of symptoms just as the various lights, buzzers and bells on a pinball machine react differently depending on the precise trajectory and force of the initial ball. But the process is always a whole-body phenomenon which begins with specific virological and immunological triggers and then cascades to affect multiple organs. You didn\u2019t get that when you had COVID-19? Lucky you. The ball of your initial infection missed a few vital targets. But that doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019re immune from Long COVID for life. Your next infection could light up the whole machine.\u201d \u2022 Yep. <\/p>\n
\u201cLong Covid Defined\u201d (\u201cSounding Board\u201d) [NEJM]. Interesting to read on conjunction with Greenhalgh. Here is their definition, which does come in the form of a Figure:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Elite Maleficence<\/p>\n
\u201cUpcoming Meeting\u201d [HICPAC]. \u201cThe next HICPAC meeting is scheduled for August 22-23, 2024. This will be a virtual meeting.\u201d I wonder why? More: \u201c. See agenda for time dedicated to public comments\u2026. Public engagement and input are vital to HICPAC\u2019s work.\u201d \u2022 No agenda is posted. Of course. Here is the roster, which lists seven members. That\u2019s odd: HICPAC\u2019s charter: \u201cThe Committee shall consist of 14 non-Federal members, including the Chair or Co-Chairs.\u201d Does the current make-up even have a quorum?<\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
Lambert here: New York hospitalization leveling out, and now WalGreens positivity down for two weeks, are the first positive signs I\u2019ve seen in a long time. Wastewater still going strong, though!<\/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. Comment on the Cleveland Clinic:<\/p>\n
Why is the Cleveland Clinic building a new facility for a professional basketball team? These hospitals are not ‘nonprofits’ they are ridiculously profitable monopolies with an endless cash gusher to point at whatever they want. <\/p>\n
\u2014 Matt Stoller (@matthewstoller) July 29, 2024<\/p>\n
Ka-ching.<\/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
Employment Situation: \u201cUnited States Initial Jobless Claims\u201d [Trading Economics]. \u201cThe number of people claiming unemployment benefits in the US rose by 14,000 to 249,000 on the period ending July 27th, reaching an almost new yearly high, surpassing market expectations of 236,000. This increase, along with other key indicators, indicates that the US labor market continued to weaken during this period, bolstering expectations that the Federal Reserve may lower benchmark borrowing costs by September.\u201d<\/p>\n
Employment Situation: \u201cUnited States Challenger Job Cuts\u201d [Trading Economics]. \u201cUS employers announced 25,855 job cuts in July 2024, the lowest level in a year, and down 46.9% from June\u2019s 48,786. Still, it is the highest total for the month since 2020, above July 2023\u2019s 23,697.:<\/p>\n
Manufacturing: \u201cUnited States ISM Manufacturing PMI\u201d [Trading Economics]. \u201cThe ISM Manufacturing PMI fell to 46.6 in July of 2024 from 48.5 in the previous month, firmly below market expectations of 48.8, reflecting the sharpest contraction in US factory activity since November 2023.\u201d<\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
The Economy:<\/p>\n
This video comparing the same dress across different price points is also very good.<\/p>\n
My point is not to tell you how much to spend on something (buy what suits your budget). Only saying that two things that look alike online are not necessarily the same<\/p>\n
\u2014 derek guy (@dieworkwear) July 31, 2024<\/p>\n
Apparel:<\/p>\n
This video comparing the same dress across different price points is also very good.<\/p>\n
My point is not to tell you how much to spend on something (buy what suits your budget). Only saying that two things that look alike online are not necessarily the same<\/p>\n
\u2014 derek guy (@dieworkwear) July 31, 2024<\/p>\n
The video on Tik Tok scammers and fast fashion is well worth a watch.<\/p>\n
Tech: \u201cHacker Shows How to Get Free Laundry For Life\u201d [404 Media]. \u201cOrlitzky then tried a bunch of stuff that did not work for unlocking free laundry\u2026 What did work was short circuiting the red and black wires on the coin-drop mechanism. He found this out after discovering a photo of the same coin-drop part on Amazon, he said. With the dryers, Orlitzky writes he had to use a voltage tester to make sure he didn\u2019t get electrocuted, and then expose the wires with a pocket knife. That\u2019s it. \u2018The main hurdle is that you have to be pissed off enough to try,\u2019 Orlitzky said. \u2018But armed with enough outrage, the actual bypass is fairly accessible.\u2019 Once the prep work is done, shorting both the dryers and washers can be done in seconds or a minute. \u2018I do it in the middle of the day. The bypasses don\u2019t harm the machines, and the machines don\u2019t belong to the people who own the buildings\/cameras. Your neighbors (who are most likely to catch you in the act) aren\u2019t invested either way. What are they gonna do?\u2019 he added.\u201d<\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
Today\u2019s Fear & Greed Index: 55 Neutral (previous close: 42 Fear) [CNN]. One week ago: 40 (Fear). (0 is Extreme Fear; 100 is Extreme Greed). Last updated Jul 31 at 2:15:54 PM ET.<\/p>\n
Zeitgeist Watch<\/p>\n
The world might be a different place if we taught grade school kids about power curves instead of averages:<\/p>\n
The top 10% of alcohol drinkers in the US consume 74 drinks per week. pic.twitter.com\/18QUFhyLuk<\/p>\n
\u2014 Mike Beckham (@mikebeckhamsm) July 31, 2024<\/p>\n
Class Warfare<\/p>\n
Yes, of course Long Covid hits the working class disprotionately. From Greenhalgh\u2019s Lancet paper (above):<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/lc_class.png\")
<\/p>\n
News of the Wired<\/p>\n
\u201cParasites Are Everywhere. Why Do So Few Researchers Study Them?\u201d [Smithsonian]. \u201cBut parasites are also diverse and understudied creatures that have evolved to flourish in nearly every animal and ecosystem on Earth. They keep ecosystems in balance, providing a natural control on host species while stimulating their co-evolution over many generations. \u2026. Parasites also change host species\u2019 behavior, leading to oddities like the pop-culture-worthy zombie ants that mysteriously climb ten inches up plants, permanently lock their jaws into the plant, and allow their parasitic fungus (Ophiocordyceps unilateralis) to grow out of their body and rain spores onto unsuspecting ants below. And parasites keep food webs miraculously complex, forming hundreds of connections among themselves, other parasites and host species. Often, in an effort to travel between host animals, parasites will expose their hosts to new predators, like the tapeworm Ligula intestinalis, which grows so large it changes the buoyancy of the fish it inhabits, causing the fish to swim closer to the surface and get eaten by birds. Parasitism, a relationship between two species where one benefits at the other\u2019s expense, has evolved independently over 220 times in animals\u2014more than any other animal lifestyle. Nearly half of all animals are parasites, with conservative estimates at 3.5 million species. Like the mammals, birds, insects and fish all around us, each parasite serves important functions in its environment\u2014ones that, without the parasite, could spell widespread ecological change, if not disaster. For example, a widely supported idea called the \u2018enemy release hypothesis\u2018 suggests that as parasites of invasive plants and animals decrease, the spread and abundance of the invasive species increase.\u201d \u2022 Maybe I should have filed this under The Bezzle. Or Class Warfare.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2018Sensational breakthrough\u2019 marks step toward revealing hidden structure of prime numbers\u201d [Science]. \u201cLooking back, Guth recalls a quote from the Austrian poet Rainer Maria Rilke, who instructs an aspiring poet to \u201clive the questions\u201d rather than seeking answers. For Guth, this strategy of being comfortably uncomfortable with intractable problems resonates with his experience as a mathematician.\u201d \u2022 One of my intractable problems is reading this thing, which I\u2019m sure is dumbed down for a lay audience. Perhaps a reader will help.<\/p>\n
Look at all those PDP-11s!<\/p>\n
The top 10% of alcohol drinkers in the US consume 74 drinks per week. pic.twitter.com\/18QUFhyLuk<\/p>\n
\u2014 Mike Beckham (@mikebeckhamsm) July 31, 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:<\/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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