Celebrity Watch<\/p>\n
\u201cOlympics silver medalist Malaika Mihambo collapses and breaks down in tears before being taken away in wheelchair\u201d [The Sun]. The deck: \u201cThe long jumper is not the only athlete to have suffered from Covid.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAmerican sprinter Noah Lyles says he tested positive for Covid-19, ran 200-meter race anyway\u201d [CNN]. \u201cThe news of Lyles\u2019 positive test came not long after he suffered a stunning defeat in the men\u2019s 200-meter race, his signature event. Lyles finished in third, unable to overcome Botswana\u2019s Letsile Tebogo and his Team USA compatriot Kenneth Bednarek, who finished in first and second place, respectively. However, the result of the race was quickly bumped from the headlines when Lyles laid down on the track immediately following his crossing the finish line. He was helped off the track by medical personnel in a wheelchair and taken to the medical holding area.\u201d \u2022 The iconic photo:<\/p>\n
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Commentary:<\/p>\n
These athletes worked so hard to be on the world stage only to be robbed by a myth. <\/p>\n
They could have mandated masks, they could have taken precautions, but no \u2013 they wanted to pretend everything was back to normal. <\/p>\n
Clearly, It’s not. pic.twitter.com\/XoKTNATVUl<\/p>\n
\u2014 DDave (@D_Bone) August 8, 2024<\/p>\n
If the message was not \u201cThings are back to normal,\u201d the back-up message was \u201cPower through!\u201d For whatever reason, I don\u2019t think either message took. <\/p>\n
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TABLE 1: Daily Covid Charts<\/p>\n
Lambert here: Worth noting that national Emergency Room admissions are as high as they were in the first wave, in 2020.<\/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 range. 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) It\u2019s rumored that there\u2019s a new variant in China, XDV.1, but it\u2019s not showing up here.<\/p>\n
[11] Deaths low, but positivity up.<\/p>\n
[12] Deaths low, ED up.<\/p>\n
Stats Watch<\/p>\n
Inflation: \u201cUnited States Consumer Inflation Expectations\u201d [Trading Economics]. \u201cUS consumer inflation expectations for the year ahead were unchanged at 3% in July 2024, the same as in June\u2026. Meanwhile, median three-year-ahead inflation expectations declined sharply by 0.6 percentage point to 2.3%, hitting a series low.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Mr. Market: \u201cWall Street\u2019s \u2018fear gauge\u2019 might be lying to you about last week\u2019s market turmoil\u201d [Financial Times]. \u201cIn a note titled \u201cDid VIX Really Hit 65 on Monday?\u201d, published last week, Academy Securities strategist Peter Tchir unpicked some of the odd dynamics underpinning movement in the volatility measure often labelled Wall Street\u2019s Fear Gauge.\u201d Since I don\u2019t play the ponies, this is where I got lost. This seems relevant: \u201cPart of the evidence for something being off in the VIX is the spread versus VIX futures, says Tchir (who asks \u2018So, I\u2019m supposed to trust a calculation rather than a traded price?\u2019)\u2026. These distortions, Tchir reckons, show there \u2018was fear\u2019 but no \u2018panic\u2019 last Monday \u2014 despite what the VIX highs might indicate.\u201d \u2022 Maybe a reader who does play the ponies can explain.<\/p>\n
Real Estate: \u201cSan Francisco Is Sinking in Bad Hotel Debt\u201d [Wall Street Journal]. \u201cIn the city\u2019s metropolitan area, the delinquency rate among commercial mortgage-backed security loans for the lodging sector skyrocketed to 41.6% in June from 5.7% in June 2023, according to data from real-estate analytics firm Trepp. It is the largest increase across the country\u2019s 25 largest metro areas. \u201d<\/p>\n
Tech: \u201cApple\u2019s requirements are about to hit creators and fans on Patreon. Here\u2019s what you need to know\u201d [Patreon]. \u201cApple is requiring us to switch over to their in-app purchase system for all iOS transactions or else risk being kicked out of the App Store altogether \u2013 and their in-app purchase system is not built with our same level of creator-first flexibility\u2026. Apple will be applying their 30% App Store fee to all new memberships purchased in the Patreon iOS app, in addition to anything bought in your Patreon shop\u2026. Patreon is home to an incredible range of creators, all with unique circumstances and billing needs. Apple\u2019s in-app purchase system, on the other hand, only supports Patreon\u2019s subscription billing model. Apple has also made clear that if creators on Patreon continue to use unsupported billing models or disable transactions in the iOS app, we will be at risk of having the entire app removed from their App Store.\u201d \u2022 I\u2019m not a Patreon user or subscriber, but this is ridiculous. Apple taking a 30% cut from all creator\u2019s fees, because it can? Sounds like a job for Lina Khan.<\/p>\n
Tech: \u201cThe US government wants to make it easier for you to click the \u2018unsubscribe\u2019 button\u201d [Associated Press]. \u201cIn the name of consumer protection, a slew of U.S. federal agencies are working to make it easier for Americans to click the unsubscribe button for unwanted memberships and recurring payment services. A broad new government initiative, dubbed \u2018Time Is Money,\u2019 includes a rollout of new regulations and the promise of more for industries spanning from healthcare and fitness memberships to media subscriptions. \u2018The administration is cracking down on all the ways that companies, through paperwork, hold times and general aggravation waste people\u2019s money and waste people\u2019s time and really hold onto their money,\u2019 Neera Tanden, White House domestic policy adviser, told reporters Friday in advance of the announcement.\u201d \u2022 Fine, now abolish the health insurance \u201cindustry\u201d in favor of single payer. (Also, first mention of Neera in awhile; will she slither into Kamala\u2019s good graces?)<\/p>\n
Manufacturing: \u201cNASA says lack of trained New Orleans workers led to issues with Boeing Artemis rocket program\u201d [Times-Picayune (Upstatee)]. \u201cIn a scathing report issued Thursday, NASA\u2019s Office of Inspector General cited rocket maker Boeing, which employs more than 1,000 people at Michoud, for dozens of problems on its Space Launch System rockets that are being assembled there.<\/p>\n
An upgraded version of the SLS rocket is more than seven years behind schedule and $1 billion over budget, and federal monitors found 71 problems on the Michoud-based project ranging from minor to potentially serious. \u2018This is a high number\u2026for a space flight system at this stage in development and reflects a recurring and degraded state of product quality control,\u2019 said the report, which covered a two-year period from 2021 through 2023\u2026. e report said the problems at Michoud are largely due to a \u2018lack of a sufficient number of trained and experienced aerospace workers at Boeing,\u2019 which it said was \u2018in part due to Michoud\u2019s geographical location in New Orleans and lower employee compensation relative to other aerospace competitors.’\u201d \u2022 Those union-busting MBAs in Chicago sure showed \u2019em!<\/p>\n
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Today\u2019s Fear & Greed Index: 24 Exreme Fear (previous close: 23 Extreme Fear) [CNN]. One week ago: 25 (Extreme Fear). (0 is Extreme Fear; 100 is Extreme Greed). Last updated Aug 12 at 12:55:23 PM ET.<\/p>\n
Rapture Index: Closes unchanged [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
Zeitgeist Watch<\/p>\n
\u201cRepair and Remain\u201d [Comment]. \u201cfor twelve years now I\u2019ve had a hybrid operation, juggling a one-man autodidact home-repair business and part-time lay ministry at a little Anglican church in Winnipeg. My basic MO in both roles is simple: repair and remain. I don\u2019t have the know-how to build you a brand-new house, but I can help fix pretty much anything in your old one. If you do, in fact, need a new house, I\u2019ll send you to Francesco or Myron, or James and Fiona, all of them trustworthy builders and fine people. Odds are the house you\u2019re in right now needs a few updates and minor upgrades, and I\u2019d be happy to help with whatever you need done: add some new windows, open up some walls, replace the old basement stairs, tile the backsplash. Repair and remain. Same with pastoring: no point thinking you need a brand-new life, but, well, let\u2019s not kid around\u2014you could use some serious updates and upgrades yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n
News of the Wired<\/p>\n
\u201cKnitScape\u201d [University of Washington]. \u201cWe present KnitScape, a browser-based tool for design and simulation of stitch patterns for knitting. KnitScape provides a design interface to specify 1) operation repeats, 2) color changes, and 3) needle positions. These inputs are used to build a graph of yarn topology and run a yarn-level spring simulation. This enables visualization of the deformation that arises from slip and tuck operations. Through its design tool and simulation, KnitScape enables rapid exploration of a complex colorwork design space. We demonstrate KnitScape with a series of example swatches.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA UX designer walks into a Tesla Bar\u201d [Scott Jensen]. From 2021. \u201cMost importantly, in 99% of cars on the road today, I don\u2019t need to RTFM to turn steer, accelerate, brake, use the turn signals, or turn on the damn defroster. That\u2019s why these things are standardized. There are lots of things I will likely need the manual for but not these basics. The v11 design broke this.\u201d \u2022 How the Mac used to work under the Human Interface Guidlines; everything standardized and ultimately visible. Phones aren\u2019t standardized and hide things. People seem to like it\u2026. <\/p>\n
\u201cCoffee\u2019s Epic Journey\u201d [Archeology Magazine]. \u201caround 30,000 years ago, the C. arabica populations on the eastern and western sides of the Great Rift Valley split. The descendants of the plants on the eastern side were eventually brought to and cultivated at the future site of the Yemeni city of Mocha, while those on the western side remained wild. Little is recorded of coffee\u2019s trajectory for thousands of years after this, says Saloj\u00e4rvi. \u201cThere are old folklore stories of people eating red berries from bushes in around A.D. 600 or 700 because of their invigorating properties,\u201d he says. It is clear that, by the fifteenth or sixteenth century, coffee was being cultivated in Yemen. Oral histories say that, around the turn of the seventeenth century, Baba Budan, an Indian monk with a passion for coffee, smuggled seven C. arabica seeds from Yemen to his homeland, from which it spread around the world. A century later, Dutch colonists cultivating C. arabica on the Indonesian island of Java produced a variety known as Typica. And, on the Indian Ocean island of Bourbon (now R\u00e9union), the descendants of a single C. arabica plant propagated by French colonists in 1720 spawned the Bourbon variety. The Typica and Bourbon varieties largely gave rise to present-day C. arabica, which is cultivated worldwide and makes up some 60 percent of coffee consumed today. \u2018Most modern coffee can be traced back to two individual plants cultivated three hundred years ago,\u2019 says Saloj\u00e4rvi. Today\u2019s coffee drinkers have C. arabica\u2019s adaptability to thank for their daily cup of joe.\u201d \u2022 Fast work!<\/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 Carla:<\/p>\n
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Carla writes: \u201cSunset on Lake Erie, Cleveland, Ohio, featuring branch of an unknown (to me) tree.\u201d Like a Japanese print!<\/p>\n
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