By Lambert Strether of Corrente.<\/p>\n
Bird Song of the Day<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Blue-and-white Mockingbird, Location, PN Ca\u00f1\u00f3n del Sumidero, Tuxtla Guti\u00e9rrez, Chiapas, Mexico.<\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
In Case You Might Miss\u2026 <\/p>\n
Friday Charts: RCP chart; shows Big Mo shifting toward Trump; Covid charts show nothing but good news.
\nWalz fabricator vanishes.
\nTrump cancellations.
\nBoeing waits on SEC approval for stock and bond offering; FAA opens new safety review.<\/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 three weeks to go!<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Friday\u2019s RCP Poll Averages:<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/rcp_2024-10-18.png\")
<\/p>\n
Big Mo shifts toward Trump, this week, even in WI (that is, if you ignore the entire concept of margin of error). Of course, we on the outside might as well be examining the entrails of birds when we try to predict what will happen to the subset of voters (undecided; irregular) in a subset of states (swing), and the irregulars, especially, who will determine the outcome of the election but might as well be quantum foam, but presumably the campaign professionals have better data, and have the situation as under control as it can be MR SUBLIMINAL Fooled ya. Kidding!.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost say they are worse off than four years ago: Gallup\u201d [The Hill]. \u201cThe Gallup poll, released Friday, found that 52 percent of Americans said they and their family are worse off today than they were four years ago. Another 39 percent said that they were better off while 9 percent said they felt the same now as they did back then. The responses varied based on the person\u2019s party affiliation. Around 72 percent of Democrats say they were better off in 2024 than 2020, according to the survey. The numbers were much lower for independents, 35 percent, and Republicans, 7 percent. Gallup\u2019s monthly Economic Confidence Index (ECI), which ranges from -100 to +100, was currently at -26 with 39 percent saying they were better off financially four years ago. For comparison, in 2020, around 55 percent said the economy was better \u2014 and the ECI was -4\u2026. Approximately 46 percent of Americans say their current economic conditions are \u201cpoor,\u201d some 29 percent described them as \u2018only fair,\u2019 while 25 percent said they were \u2018good\u2019 or \u2018excellent.\u2019 Additionally, 62 percent said the economy is \u2018getting worse,\u2019 a higher figure than 32 percent who said it is \u2018getting better,\u2019 according to the survey.\u201d \u2022 Yikes! Somehow I don\u2019t think more media appearances will solve this problem.<\/p>\n
\u201cA Mystery $30 Million Wave of Pro-Trump Bets Has Moved a Popular Prediction Market\u201d [Wall Street Journal]. \u201cVice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are neck and neck in the polls. But in one popular betting market, the odds have skewed heavily in Trump\u2019s favor, raising questions about a recent flurry of wagers and who is behind them. Over the past two weeks, the chances of a Trump victory in the November election have surged on Polymarket, a crypto-based prediction market. Its bettors were giving Trump a 62% chance of winning on Thursday, while Harris\u2019s chances were 38%. The candidates were in a dead heat at the start of October. Trump\u2019s gains on Polymarket have cheered his supporters, and they have been followed by the odds shifting in Trump\u2019s favor in other betting markets. Elon Musk flagged Trump\u2019s growing lead on Polymarket to his 200 million X followers on Oct. 6, praising the concept of betting markets. \u2018More accurate than polls, as actual money is on the line,\u2019 Musk posted. But the surge might be a mirage manufactured by a group of four Polymarket accounts that have collectively pumped about $30 million of crypto into bets that Trump will win. \u2018There\u2019s strong reason to believe they are the same entity,\u2019 said Miguel Morel, chief executive of Arkham Intelligence, a blockchain analysis firm that examined the accounts. The big bets on Trump aren\u2019t necessarily nefarious. Some observers have suggested that they were simply placed by a large bettor convinced that Trump will win and looking for a big payday. Others, however, see the bets as an influence campaign designed to fuel social-media buzz for the former president.\u201d \u2022 This would be reflexive?<\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
Kamala (D): \u201cThe Person Promoting a Lurid Claim About Tim Walz Vanishes, Leaving the Lie Behind\u201d [Mother Jones]. \u201cThe \u2018Black Insurrectionist\u2019 profile began claiming last week that he\u2019d been in touch with a former student of Walz who baselessly alleged the Minnesota governor sexually abused him years ago when he was a teacher and football coach. The @Docnetyoutube account seems to have been deleted sometime on the evening of Thursday, October 17. It\u2019s unclear if the user deleted the account or the company did: under Elon Musk\u2019s ownership, X no longer responds to journalists and could not be reached for comment.\u201d I remember, back in the 2008, Larry Johnson peddling the story that he had a tape of Michelle Obama saying \u201cwhitey,\u201d but it never materialized. But Larry Johnson persisted, as we say. @Docnetyoutube did not, lending a bit of credence to my paranoid theory that the account was a sort of honey trap, designed to get Trump to, er, trumpet the accusation. Then would come the rugpull. But Trump didn\u2019t take the bait. And so the account \u2014 despite its big follower count \u2014 disappeared, its job done. More: \u201cEarlier this week, a video began circulating on the platform claiming to depict Walz\u2019s alleged victim. One of the most widely-seen tweets promoting the video was also recently deleted. It came from an X user calling himself @TheWakeninq, who uses variations of the name \u201cQAnon76\u2033 on other websites. But the video, as BBC journalist Shayan Sardarizadeh noted, had obvious hallmarks of being a deepfake, with distorted facial features and a foreign-accented voice that was out of sync with the speaker\u2019s movements. While the alleged victim is a real person who, according to his social media presence, did graduate from the school where Walz once taught and coached, other videos on his Facebook account capture someone who looks different and speaks with an American accent. According to his Facebook account, the now-adult former student\u2014who did not immediately respond to a request for comment\u2014has previously experienced homelessness; a Gofundme from 2021 said that he was living in Hawaii and trying to \u2018get off the streets.\u2019 The video is still up on @TheWakeninq\u2019s Rumble page, where it has been viewed by at least 6,000 people. A local Texas Republican official named Sarah Fields, who also describes herself as a journalist, shared the video on Wednesday, claiming the student had come forward and \u2018officially\u2019 accused Walz of abuse. She claimed to have filed public record requests with Walz\u2019s old school, before adding that \u2018Reportedly, a lawsuit is soon to be filed. I will keep you all updated. I\u2019m watching this very closely.\u2019 \u2018I was able to confirm with multiple sources within the Trump campaign that THEY believe there is truth to these allegations, and have begun their own investigation,\u2019 she wrote.\u201d \u2022 I follow plenty of right wing sources, but NONE of them are promoting @TheWakeninq\u2019s video, so I\u2019n guessing the Texas Republican can be dismissed (although the public records report might turn up other stuff, for example on the DUI). Anyhow, from the breathtaking chutzpah and \u201cbearing false witness\u201d standpoints, the \u201cBlack Insurrectionist\u201d fabrication (Republican) and the \u201cVance had carnal relations with a couch\u201d (Democrat) stories weigh in the balance more or less equality, although an accusation of ped0philia is obviously an order of magnitude more vicious. Anyhow, you saw it unfold here!<\/p>\n
Kamala (D): \u201cBiden tells Obama \u2018she\u2019s not as strong as me\u2019 \u2014 and ex-prez agrees \u2018that\u2019s true\u2019 at Ethel Kennedy service\u201d [New York Post]. Off-mike incident: \u201c\u2018She\u2019s not as strong as me,\u2019 said Biden, 81, according to the translation, which was produced by [by a professional lip reader] analyzing the on-video lip movements during the discussion. \u201cI know \u2026 that\u2019s true,\u201d the popular former president agreed, adding, \u2018We have time.\u2019 \u2018Yeah, we\u2019ll get it in time,\u2019 said Biden. Moments earlier, Obama said, \u2018it\u2019s important that we have some time together\u2019 in a possible reference to campaigning alongside Harris. \u2022 I dunno. \u201cTime\u201d to do what?<\/p>\n
Kamala (D): \u201cOpinion: Obama reminds voters Harris is the candidate of hope and joy this election\u201d [USA Today]. \u201cObama\u2019s support for Harris signals a commitment to continuity, reassuring voters that the vice president embodies the same values of hope, progress and bipartisanship that defined his presidency.\u201d \u2022 The columnist\u2019s bio: \u201cMarla Bautista is a military fellow columnist at USA TODAY Opinion.\u201d Oh.<\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
Kamala (D): \u201cFull interview: Vice President Kamala Harris sits down with Bret Baier in \u2018Special Report\u2019 exclusive\u201d (video) [FOX]. Here\u2019s a transcript. This caught my eye:<\/p>\n
Kamala Harris (26:07): I invite everyone to go to KamalaHarris.com and you will see that I have 80 pages of policies that are quite comprehensive and should be accessible to anyone who would like to read them. And it includes what I intend to do about affordable housing, what I intend to do about small businesses, what I intend to do to-<\/p>\n
Bret Baier (26:27):<\/p>\n
And that\u2019s why we invited you here.<\/p>\n
Kamala Harris (26:28):\u2026 strengthen our economy.<\/p>\n
On Kamala\u2019s website there is a downloadable PDF, \u201cA New Way Forward For The Middle Class,\u201d which is in fact 82 pages long, so Kamala\u2019s staff briefed her properly. (I don\u2019t miuch like \u201cyou will see,\u201d because I\u2019m still holding a grudge from 2008, when every Obot said \u201ccheck the website\u201d when asked about policy. No. It\u2019s the candidate\u2019s job to put the policies across to voters, not simply gesture vaguely at marketing collateral. Anyhow, from page 6 (not like the New York Post Page Six, except maybe the bold-faced names:<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/kamala_page_six.png\")
<\/p>\n
(Weirdly, the spot color is red, and not blue. Who did that?) Who exactly does this persuade? It\u2019s all of the piece with \u201c100 Generals Endorse Harris!\u201d (or a million spooks). If I wanted serious analysis done, mainstream economists are the last people I would go to. Or ratings agencies.<\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
Trump (R) (Smith\/Chutkan): \u201cChutkan unseals much-redacted Jack Smith evidence used to build Trump\u2019s Jan. 6 case\u201d [The Hill]. \u201cA judge on Friday unsealed nearly 1,900 pages of evidence [np]special counsel Jack Smith assembled in building the election interference case against former President Trump, publicly posting the highly redacted trove. Though the bulk of the documents are redacted, with many pages fully unviewable, the documents still provide a window into the breadth of Smith\u2019s case \u2014 and of Trump\u2019s conduct still unknown to the public.\u201d And: \u201cU.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who oversees the trial proceedings, released the information against objections from Trump, suggesting his desire to shield the information due to the election amounted to its own form of interference. \u2018If the court withheld information that the public otherwise had a right to access solely because of the potential political consequences of releasing it, that withholding could itself constitute\u2014or appear to be\u2014 election interference,\u2019 she wrote in a Thursday night order requiring the documents\u2019 release.\u201d I think that\u2019s a debater\u2019s point. The putative evidence hasn\u2019t been tested by the defense. This is a document dump \u2014 on a Friday, no less \u2014 and unbecoming to the Court. More: \u201cProsecutors argue Trump\u2019s effort to thwart the transfer of power was almost entirely carried out as a private citizen. Trump\u2019s attorneys are due to respond in the days following November\u2019s presidential election.\u201d <\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
Trump (R): \u201cTrump cancels a streak of events with only days until election\u201d [Axios]. \u201cFormer President Trump\u2019s planned appearance at a National Rifle Association event next week was cancelled Thursday, the latest in a slew of scuttled public appearances and interviews by the former president in recent weeks. With only 17 days to go until Election Day, the spate of cancellations gives voters fewer chances to hear from Trump before heading to the polls in a coin toss race.\u201d \u2022 Hmm. <\/p>\n
Trump (R): \u201cTrump\u2019s closing argument: It doesn\u2019t have to be this way\u201d [The Hill]. \u201cVoters rate crime as one of their top concerns. During the debate a month ago between the two presidential candidates, the ABC anchor who co-moderated the face-off memorably weighed in to fact-check Donald Trump on the subject. The former president had said that crime in the U.S. under the Biden-Harris administration was \u201cthrough the roof.\u201d David Muir stepped in to correct the record, saying \u2018President Trump, as you know, the FBI says that overall violent crime is actually coming down in this country.\u2019\u202fThe GOP candidate called the FBI data \u2018defrauding statements,\u2019 meaning \u2018false.\u2019 And now it turns out Trump was right. Although the FBI stats initially showed that crime had gone down 2.1 percent in 2022, the agency has revised the data to show the number of violent misdeeds has actually increased by 80,029, or 4.5 percent. The FBI added to the tally an additional 1,699 murders,\u202f7,780 rapes, 33,459 robberies and 37,091 aggravated assaults that year. That was awkward for the Biden-Harris White House, which had taken a premature victory lap for driving crime to a \u2018near 50-year low.’\u201d \u2022\u00a0Oopsie. (I hate that \u201cclosing argument\u201d trope. An election is not a trial or a debate. Even if the last action or statement by a candidate is dispostive for any given voter, that doesn\u2019t imply it\u2019s the final link in a chain of logic.)<\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
\u201cKamala Harris continues to underperform in critical states\u201d [The Hill]. \u201cPick any average from the multitude of polling views \u2014 two-way, multicandidate, battleground states, and even individual battleground states \u2014 and Harris is running consistently below where Joe Biden was in 2020 and Hillary Clinton in 2016. So it\u2019s no surprise Democrats are growing nervous\u2026. Democrats have only two hopes. One is that today\u2019s polls are more accurately gauging the electorate, and that Harris is therefore at least close to where she needs to be. The other is that by suddenly coming out of hiding to take friendly interviews, she can convince an electorate that seems unconvinced. Neither should be a source of comfort for Democrats. But hope is not a strategy. That\u2019s why Harris\u2019s campaign managers are changing theirs. They know she is losing now, and absent significant improvement, she will lose in November.\u201d<\/p>\n
Realignment and Legitimacy<\/p>\n
Hmm:<\/p>\n
Thank you for finally being honest that this dispute is personal for you. In all sincerity, your idealism, and that’s where I think you’re coming from, is laudable. You genuinely want a better world, and you sincerely think my ideas make things worse. I respect that, even if I\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/0MTgjA73qq<\/p>\n
\u2014 Matt Stoller (@matthewstoller) October 18, 2024<\/p>\n
Stoller\u2019s essay is worth a clickthrough. See at least the material on Kamala.<\/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 (wastewater); 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, KidDoc, 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
Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions<\/p>\n
\u201cThe flu shot is different this year, thanks to COVID\u201d [NPR]. \u201cThis year\u2019s flu shot will be missing a strain of influenza it\u2019s protected against for more than a decade. That\u2019s because there have been no confirmed flu cases caused by the Influenza B\/Yamagata lineage since spring 2020. And the Food and Drug Administration decided this year that the strain now poses little to no threat to human health. Scientists have concluded that widespread physical distancing and masking practiced during the early days of COVID-19 appear to have pushed B\/Yamagata into oblivion.\u201d \u2022 No, not \u201cthanks to Covid,\u201d you morons. Thanks to non-pharmaceutical interventions!<\/p>\n
Elite Maleficence<\/p>\n
\u201cColumn: Can Stanford tell the difference between scientific fact and fiction? Its pandemic conference raises doubts\u201d [Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times]. One pearl of many: \u201cDuring the opening panel, moderator Wilk Wilkinson, a blogger on the concept of \u2018personal accountability,\u2019 offered the astonishing criticism that public health leaders \u2018focused very narrowly on deaths from COVID, and often it came at the expense of other social values\u2019 such as \u2018being able to visit people, \u2026 or putting children in school as they normally would go to school, or attend funerals.’\u201d \u2022\u00a0Like Jesus said: Infect thy neighbor as thyself.<\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
TABLE 1: Daily Covid Charts<\/p>\n
Wastewater<\/p>\n
This week[1] CDC October 5<\/p>\n
Last Week[2] CDC (until next week):<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/covid-cdc-www-natl.png\")
<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/covid-cdc-ww-natl-3.png\")
<\/p>\n
Variants [3] CDC October 12<\/p>\n
\u2605 Emergency Room Visits[4] CDC October 12<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/covid-cdc-variants-natl.png\")
<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/covid-cd-ed-natl.png\")
<\/p>\n
Hospitalization<\/p>\n
\u2605 New York[5] New York State, data October 17:<\/p>\n
\u2605 National [6] CDC September 28:<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/covid-ny-hospitalization-nyc-7.png\")
<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/covid-cdc-hospitalization-natl-2.png\")
<\/p>\n
Positivity<\/p>\n
National[7] Walgreens October 14:<\/p>\n
Ohio[8] Cleveland Clinic October 5:<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/covid-walgreens-positivity-states-1.png\")
<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/covid-cleveland-positivity-oh-1.png\")
<\/p>\n
Travelers Data<\/p>\n
\u2605 Positivity[9] CDC September 30:
\n\u2605 Variants[10] CDC September 30:<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/covid-cdc-positivity-travelers-2.png\")
<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/covid-cdc-variants-travelers-2.png\")
<\/p>\n
Deaths<\/p>\n
Weekly Deaths vs. % Positivity [11] CDC October 12:<\/p>\n
Weekly Deaths vs. ED Visits [12] CDC October 12:<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/covid-cdc-death-positivity-natl.png\")
<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/covid-cdc-death-ed-natl-1.png\")
<\/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) Still some hot spots, but I can\u2019t draw circles around entire regions this week. Good news!<\/p>\n
[2] (CDC) Last week\u2019s wastewater map.<\/p>\n
[3] (CDC Variants) KP.* very popular. XEC has entered the chat.<\/p>\n
[4] (ED) Down, but worth noting that Emergency Department use is now on a par with the first wave, in 2020.<\/p>\n
[5] (Hospitalization: NY) Definitely down.<\/p>\n
[6] (Hospitalization: CDC). I see the \u201ceverything in greenish pastels\u201d crowd has gotten to this chart.<\/p>\n
[7] (Walgreens) Big drop continues!<\/p>\n
[8] (Cleveland) Dropping.<\/p>\n
[9] (Travelers: Positivity) Up, though lagged.<\/p>\n
[10] (Travelers: Variants).<\/p>\n
[11] Deaths low, positivity down.<\/p>\n
[12] Deaths low, ED down.<\/p>\n
Stats Watch<\/p>\n
\u201cUnited States Housing Starts\u201d [Trading Economics]. \u201cHousing starts in the United States eased by 0.5% from the previous month to an annualized rate of 1.354 million units in September of 2024, in line with market expectations, trimming the downwardly revised 7.8% increase in August.\u201d<\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
Manufacturing: \u201cBoeing\u2019s Multi-Billion Dollar Offering Waiting on SEC Nod\u201d [Bloomberg]. \u201cThe company\u2019s shelf registration on Tuesday, a filing to pre-register the securities, had not been deemed effective by the US Securities and Exchange Commission, according to the document. While that clearance is typically automatic for companies as big as Boeing, regulatory issues surrounding its disclosures about aircraft safety may prevent it from getting speedy approval, securities lawyers said. Without the SEC\u2019s green light, Boeing cannot launch its hotly-anticipated sale that stands to shore up depleted funds and help it maintain a credit rating that is now hovering just above junk. The SEC can take 5 to 10 business days to let a company know if its registration will need a more formal review, the lawyers said. The review, in turn, could take days or weeks depending on the depth of the inquiry.\u201d<\/p>\n
Manufacturing: \u201cDon\u2019t bow down to striking workers, Ryanair boss urges Boeing\u201d [Telegraph]. \u201c[Ryanair boss Michael O\u2019Leary] said: \u201cThey have to see out this strike and if that means all of our deliveries get delayed by a couple of months, frankly we would support that.\u201d And: \u201cThe Ryanair chief said: \u2018The timing of the existing contract running out was unfortunate given the state that Boeing is in, and that\u2019s being exploited by the unions. Even if they do offer more, the unions won\u2019t agree to a deal at the moment.\u2019 He also claimed that the IAM had also been \u2018incompetent\u2019 in negotiating a 25pc settlement that it agreed to put to workers, only for it to be rejected in a formal vote.\u201d The union leadership, yes indeed. More: \u201cBoeing also faces a tough political background to the dispute. Mr O\u2019Leary said: \u2018It\u2019s very difficult to resolve that strike when there\u2019s a presidential election in three weeks\u2019 time. The political situation is difficult over there.’\u201d<\/p>\n
Manufacturing: \u201cThe FAA is opening a new review of safety at Boeing\u201d [Associated Press]. \u201cThe Federal Aviation Administration said Friday it will open a three-month review of Boeing\u2019s compliance with safety regulations\u2026 The auditor said FAA has failed to ensure that Boeing and its suppliers make parts that meet engineering and design requirements and to investigate claims that Boeing puts improper pressure on employees who are authorized to conduct safety inspections. The FAA has closed only 14 of 34 reports of undue pressure, with the others remaining open for more than a year on average, according to the report.\u201d \u2022 It\u2019s a shame those reports are still open. Good hitmen are so hard to find these days!<\/p>\n
Manufacturing: \u201cNASA further delays first operational Starliner flight\u201d [Space News]. \u201cNASA will use SpaceX\u2019s Crew Dragon for its two crew rotation missions to the International Space Station in 2025 as it continues to evaluate if it will require Boeing to perform another test flight of its Starliner spacecraft\u2026. \u2018The timing and configuration of Starliner\u2019s next flight will be determined once a better understanding of Boeing\u2019s path to system certification is established,\u2019 NASA said in its statement about the 2025 missions. \u2018NASA is keeping options on the table for how best to achieve system certification, including windows of opportunity for a potential Starliner flight in 2025.’\u201d \u2022 Oh.<\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
Today\u2019s Fear & Greed Index: 74 Greed (previous close: 71 Greed) [CNN]. One week ago: 74 (Greed). (0 is Extreme Fear; 100 is Extreme Greed). Last updated Oct 18 at 1:18:07 PM ET.<\/p>\n
Gallery<\/p>\n
The poor kid doesn\u2019t have matching socks:<\/p>\n
Family Group pic.twitter.com\/ye7BlyTDV5<\/p>\n
\u2014 L. S. Lowry (@lowryartist) October 18, 2024<\/p>\n
The painting is dated 1958, but I don\u2019t know if it represents England in that time, or Lowry\u2019s memory. <\/p>\n
Zeitgeist Watch<\/p>\n
Runways, first on my timeline:<\/p>\n
Chicago O\u2019Hare International Airport has 8 runways, more than any other civilian airport in the world. #Aircraft #Aviation pic.twitter.com\/wnD1MU8S5E<\/p>\n
\u2014 Aviation Facts (@AirplaneCentral) October 17, 2024<\/p>\n
Events on runways, later on my timeline:<\/p>\n
At approx. 3 this afternoon, @AmericanAir Flight 47 was on Taxiway Bravo, heading to its gate at T5 when it ingested a cargo container into its #2 (right) engine destroying the can and severely damaging the aircraft. There are no reported injuries #ChicagoScanner #avgeek #AA47 pic.twitter.com\/bMahnpu7S8<\/p>\n
\u2014 Windy City Wheelman (@WindyCityDriver) October 17, 2024<\/p>\n
Algo doing its job, I guess!<\/p>\n
News of the Wired<\/p>\n
\u201cOwn and control the next Bandcamp\u201d [Subvert]. From the FAQ: \u201cBandcamp\u2019s back-to-back acquisitions\u2014first by Epic Games in 2022, then by Songtradr in 2023\u2014have its community feeling betrayed and concerned about the platform they once relied on. Bandcamp\u2019s trajectory illustrates a depressing reality of the contemporary internet: platforms position themselves as artist-friendly alternatives, only to seemingly abandon their core values and community. It\u2019s time for a new model \u2013 one we collectively own and control. A cooperative, or co-op, is a business owned and democratically controlled by its members. Subvert is owned by its membership base of artists, labels, supporters, and workers.\u201d \u2022 Should launch in 2025. Interesting fundraising model: A physical newspaper.<\/p>\n
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\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 Wukchumni:<\/p>\n
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Wukchumi writes: \u201cMineral King fall colors.\u201d Indeed!<\/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
Here is the screen that will appear, which I have helpfully annotated:<\/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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<\/div>\nThis entry was posted in Guest Post, Water Cooler on October 18, 2024 by Lambert Strether. <\/p>\n