By Lambert Strether of Corrente<\/p>\n
Bird Song of the Day<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
California Thrasher, Mori Pt., San Mateo, California, United States. Short and sweet!<\/p>\n
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In Case You Might Miss\u2026 <\/p>\n
Democrat National Convention vignettes .
\nBoeing 777X and 787 debacles.
\nCovid, anosmia, and loss of executive function.<\/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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Democrats en D\u00e9shabill\u00e9<\/p>\n
2024<\/p>\n
Less than one hundred days to go!<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Friday\u2019s RCP Poll Averages:<\/p>\n
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There is no good news here for Trump. The deterioration in both Pennsylvania and Georgia is especially marked. Remember, however, that all the fluctuations \u2014 in fact, all the leads \u2014 are within the margin of error. So the \u201cjoy\u201d is based on, well, vibes.<\/p>\n
Biden Defenestration: <\/p>\n
\u201cJoe Biden, Trump Casualty\u201d [The American Conservative]. \u201cThe Joe Biden who addressed the convention last night was already a ghost, one fated to haunt the White House until January 20. He\u2019s an angry, impotent spirit. Heedless of his naked hypocrisy, he linked Trump to neo-Nazis in one breath and insisted in the next that he had been a president for all Americans, \u201cdemonizing no one.\u201d On the contrary, he demonized Republicans relentlessly, not just last night but throughout his administration. \u201cDemocracy has prevailed, democracy has delivered, and now democracy must be preserved!\u201d he shouted\u2014after he, the democratically chosen nominee of the Democratic Party\u2019s voters, handed the nomination over to a replacement who had never won so much as a single presidential primary. \u2022 Haunt and \u2014 presumably \u2014 run the executive branch?<\/p>\n
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Democrat National Convention Vignettes: <\/p>\n
Walz:<\/p>\n
Tim Walz\u2019s kids doing bunny ears behind him while he\u2019s on national TV at the DNC is the most relatable, Minnesota content. pic.twitter.com\/w0VDEehdeM<\/p>\n
\u2014 Nate Morris \ud83e\udd65\ud83c\udf34 (@_natemorris) August 20, 2024<\/p>\n
Democrat National Convention: <\/p>\n
\u201cThe Democrats\u2019 Old Guard Passes The Torch At The DNC\u201d [HuffPo]. \u201cOf the 25 elected officials who were scheduled to speak, 13 were under 50 years old. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, 34, brought the house down and seemingly leveled her career up with her speech. Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, 37, slammed \u2015 literally \u2015 the conservative blueprint called Project 2025 after bringing it out as a large printed book. Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear, 48, and a trio of young women delivered the party\u2019s most important message, promising to protect abortion rights. Other young leaders, including Whitmer, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, were seemingly held in reserve, with the speaking schedule for the next three nights not yet fully revealed. The youth push also helps the party sell the idea of Harris as a fresh start, a way to move past the chaotic politics of eras defined by former President Donald Trump and the coronavirus pandemic.\u201d \u2022\u00a0As if the coronavirus pandemic didn\u2019t happen mostly under Biden, with results that we know. (Man-oh-man, do I loathe the phrase \u201cyoung leader.\u201d It\u2019s as if every leader in very field is following\u2026 Now what\u2019s the English word I\u2019m looking for\u2026. Principle, that\u2019s it. It also presuppposes an institutional binary between young and old, and implies a sort of nurtuing process where the young are brought along, presumably by mentors. Wrong and unrealistic respectively.)<\/p>\n
\u201cAt Democratic Convention, UAW head threatens strike against Stellantis over delayed plant reopening\u201d [ABC News]. \u201d A high-profile spat between the United Auto Workers and Stellantis over reopening an Illinois factory complex has made its way into the race for U.S. president and could elicit a strike against the automaker. In a speech at the Democratic National Convention Monday night, union President Shawn Fain accused the company of reneging on promises to restart a now-closed assembly plant in Belvidere, Illinois, just over an hour northwest of Chicago\u2026. After the contracts were approved, Biden visited Belvidere with Fain to celebrate the plant reopening\u2026. Fain, wearing a red T-shirt that said \u2018Trump is a scab. Vote Harris,\u2019 told the convention that the union won strong contracts and the plant reopening with the support of Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden.\u201d \u2022 Well, he did get a T-shirt\u2026.<\/p>\n
Realignment and Legitimacy<\/p>\n
\u201cA Rancher Who Leads a Paramilitary-Style Group Sues Biden Over Border Policies\u201d [Texas Observer]. Just some detail: \u201cThe lead plaintiff is Michael Vickers, a veterinarian who also owns a 1,000-acre ranch in Brooks County. Brooks County, which does not border Mexico, has a population of 7,000 and a long history of recorded deaths of migrants, who die in remote areas while trying to bypass its Border Patrol checkpoint. For nearly two decades, Vickers has led a paramilitary-style, civilian patrol group called the Texas Border Volunteers. Vickers and his wife, Linda, were once affiliated with the Minutemen, an organization that former President George W. Bush called a \u2018vigilante\u2019 group. In the suit, Vickers alleges that undocumented immigrants have damaged his property as a result of Biden\u2019s policies. He has incurred more than $50,000 in fence and gate damages since 2021 and the value of his property has decreased, according to the lawsuit. At times, Vickers and other Texas Border Volunteers have offered emergency help or assisted with body recoveries. But the group sees its main mission as finding and detaining migrants, and has a history of allegations against it, including members tying migrants\u2019 hands together with shoelaces or zip ties and taking their belongings, and members pulling weapons on migrants, as the Observer reported in 2014. The group was incorporated in Texas in 2006, state business filings show, and has been tax exempt since 2008, according to Internal Revenue Service records.\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, 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
Maskstravaganza<\/p>\n
\u201cMask bans disenfranchise millions of Americans with disabilities\u201d [STAT]. \u201cIf masks are banned where I live, I will have to make the choice between endangering my transplant and my health every time I leave the house, or to remain on permanent lockdown in my home. As disability oracle and activist Alice Wong reminds us, mask bans are an extension of \u2018ugly laws,\u2019 historical laws and ordinances that prevented disabled people from being in public. We deserve to be seen and to be included in public life. Mask bans are a threat not just to disabled people, but to all of us. It\u2019s never too late to start masking again\u2014to protect not just your health and the health of people around you, but also to protect our fundamental human rights.\u201d \u2022 As well as millions of dull normals who just don\u2019t want to be infected because they were breathing.<\/p>\n
Mask bans (1):<\/p>\n
NEW: Zero tolerance at @UofCalifornia for encampments, blocking pathways, masking to shield identities. President Drake directs chancellors to strictly enforce campus rules after huge protests over the Israel-Hamas war this past spring. <\/p>\n
\u2014 Teresa Watanabe (@TeresaWatanabe) August 19, 2024<\/p>\n
Mask bans (2):<\/p>\n
Nassau County, NY just passed a mask ban and now residents say they are going to take pictures of anyone wearing a mask and send them to police.<\/p>\n
This is why we need to stop any kind of mask ban legislation. They empower vigilantes to harass and surveil people wearing masks. pic.twitter.com\/80NJgWndpJ<\/p>\n
\u2014 Dr. Lucky Tran (@luckytran) August 20, 2024<\/p>\n
From a Letter to the Editor in Newsday.) On mask bans, I wrote: \u201cThe thought occurs, then, that many normal citizens want mask bans not to assist law enforcement, but for acts of vigilantism and private retribution.\u201d This is not vigilantism, but if Perlmutter had thought to introduce the concept of citizens arrests, it would be.<\/p>\n
Vaccines: Covid<\/p>\n
\u201cCOVID vaccine efficacy against severe illness just under 50%, per early estimates from 2023\u201d [Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy]. \u201cTwo European observational studies estimate the vaccine effectiveness (VE) of the COVID-19 XBB.1.5 vaccine approved in fall 2023 against hospitalization, the first one finding 49% overall VE in adults, and one showing good protection\u2014but uneven uptake\u2014among pregnant women.\u201d \u2022 For XBB.1.5, not the currently dominant KP* variants.<\/p>\n
Transmission: Covid<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2018A much more infectious\u2019 COVID variant fueling California\u2019s relentless surge\u201d [Los Angeles Times]. \u201c\u2018It\u2019s so surprising to me that it hasn\u2019t gone down yet,\u2019 said Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious diseases specialist at UC San Francisco. \u2018It\u2019s a little bit more of a prolonged season for California.’\u201d Ah, UCSF. Maybe we should ask Bob Wachter. More: \u201c\u2018It\u2019s this confluence of a much more infectious variant on top of folks\u2019 overall immunity having waned \u2014 either from natural or vaccine-induced immunity,\u2019 [Dr. Elizabeth Hudson, regional chief of infectious diseases at Kaiser Permanente Southern California] said. \u2018It\u2019s just kind of come [as] a perfect storm.’\u201d With non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) only being considered far too late, as usual. More: \u201cAn open question is whether COVID will continue to rise as kids go back to school. Doctors are urging people to stay home if they\u2019re sick and asking parents to keep their ill kids from attending school, to limit spread of disease.\u201d NPIs erased again! Funny thing, Kamala\u2019s from California. So is Pelosi. And yet they never mention Covid at all.<\/p>\n
Sequelae: Covid<\/p>\n
Morbidity and Mortality<\/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. First showing of the new variant from China, XDV.1 (though it didn\u2019t appear in traveler\u2019s data).<\/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) Going down. 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) Fiddling and diddling.<\/p>\n
[8] (Cleveland) Jumping.<\/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) The new variant in China, XDV.1, is 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
There are no official statistics of interest today.<\/p>\n
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Tech: \u201cAI initiatives would get $40M annually in draft California journalism bill agreements\u201d [Politico]. \u201cArtificial intelligence initiatives would receive tens of millions of dollars in a draft settlement on a closely watched state legislative effort to make large platforms like Google and Meta fund California newsrooms. The draft proposal, dated Saturday afternoon, would see California form a public-private partnership with Google and news publishers to fund in-state newsrooms and AI over five years. The partnership would provide over $300 million across five years, including at least $40 million annually for an unspecified \u2018AI Innovation Accelerator\u2019 program managed by a \u2018yet-to-be finalized\u2019 nonprofit\u2026. A summary of the draft proposal says it aims to \u2018strengthen democracy and the future of work in an Artificial Intelligence future\u2019 \u2014 a remarkable shift from the original purpose of Assemblymember Buffy Wicks\u2019 bill, which aimed to make platforms share advertising profits from news-link sharing back to California newsrooms.\u201d \u2022\u00a0Ah, Buffy Wicks.<\/p>\n
Manufacturing: \u201cBoeing Finds Cracks in Structure of 777X Test Jets\u201d [Wall Street Journal]. \u201cShares of Boeing fell about 5% Tuesday after the plane maker found cracks in the structure of its 777X jetliner in initial test flights, the latest setback for the long-delayed airplane. The company said it would ground its four-plane test fleet while it replaces the faulty component and sorts out what went wrong. Boeing has orders for about 500 of the new aircraft that it plans to start delivering in 2025. It is unclear what impact the issue could have on the plane\u2019s launch date. The 777X, designed for airlines wanting to connect the globe\u2019s major cities and to carry some 400 passengers more, is already years behind. Boeing unveiled the plane in 2013 and said it would start delivering the model in 2020. \u2026. The company is also facing scrutiny of another of its jets, the 787 Dreamliner. The Federal Aviation Administration said it would require inspections of Dreamliners after an incident with a cockpit seat led to a LatAm flight plunging midflight in March.\u201d \u2022 That new CEO sure must have his hands full.<\/p>\n
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Today\u2019s Fear & Greed Index: 50 Neutral (previous close: 44 Fear) [CNN]. One week ago: 27 (Fear). (0 is Extreme Fear; 100 is Extreme Greed). Last updated Aug 21 at 1:10:16 PM ET.<\/p>\n
Gallery<\/p>\n
Topical:<\/p>\n
As Far back as his Grandfather, 1799
Get more Goya \ud83c\udf52 pic.twitter.com\/NkXC8PXo0t<\/p>\n
\u2014 Francisco Goya (@artistgoya) August 19, 2024<\/p>\n
News of the Wired<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy People Procrastinate, and How to Overcome It\u201d [Scientific American]. \u201cPutting it all together, our research sheds light on the processes that lead to procrastination. When faced with a deadline, people seem to ask themselves, \u201cDo I want to do this now?\u201d That leads them to weigh the pros and cons involved\u2014and their biases then come into play. Although additional rigorous testing is required, the training procedure used in our last study shows promise as an avenue to assist people who struggle with procrastination. Cognitive training based on this approach\u2014for example, through an app\u2014could help people who struggle with delaying tasks. But there are more immediate implications of our work as well. Our research indicates that valence weighting has the biggest impact among people who lack the motivation and cognitive resources to pause and deliberate beyond their initial quick appraisals on whether or not to tackle a task. In other words, just pushing yourself to think a little bit more before acting may help you generate more positive reasons to get started and to ensure you don\u2019t put off to tomorrow what you might best tackle today.\u201d \u2022 I don\u2019t think rumination helps\u2026 <\/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 ET:<\/p>\n
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ET writes: \u201cCaught this guy on my snapdragons one morning. Eastern Pondhawk.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Readers: Water Cooler is a standalone entity not covered by the annual NC fundraiser. Material here is Lambert\u2019s, and does not express the views of the Naked Capitalism site. 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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