By Lambert Strether of Corrente.
Extra quickly! –lambert
Fowl Music of the Day
Brown Thrasher, Washburn College Neighborhood, Shawnee, Kansas, United States. Busy, busy.
In Case You May Miss…
- New Covid charts drop, with Christmas hospitalization up in New York.
- Mangione: homicide and social homicide.
- Teen Vogue on “salting.”
Politics
“So most of the social reactions that strike us as psychological are in reality a rational administration of symbolic capital.” –Pierre Bourdieu, Classification Struggles
Trump Transition
* * * There’s a cui bono buried on this assertion:
🚨 BREAKING: Donald Trump releases new assertion pic.twitter.com/r7rpOV9FrB
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) January 2, 2025
Cui bono being the assertion one ought to all the time ask, even when the reply will not be all the time clear. UPDATE: Or, upon rereading this as we speak, a veiled accusation (“You and I each know why you received’t examine this”)/
Realignment and Legitimacy
“Luigi Mangione’s Apologists Are Undermining the Pursuit of Social Justice” [Xavier Symons, The Public Discourse]. The journal of the Witherspoon Institute. Fascinating lead: “I’m an ethics professor, and in my ethical philosophy lessons, I usually enchantment to the common perception within the immorality of homicide to point out why ethical relativism—the view that morality is contextual and subjective—is mistaken. My expectation till now has been that college students will agree with me. After witnessing the general public response to the homicide of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, allegedly by Luigi Mangione, I’m not that assured.” • Given the kind of pupil who self-selects into Witherspoon, that’s fairly superb. Symons, no less than on this put up, doesn’t appear to suppose that social homicide, in contrast to homicide, might be categorized inside any system of ethics. Feels kinda like mainstream macro….
“Your letters: Mangione household, spiritual freedom and an indignant Creation” [Dr. Therese Craione Bertsch, National Catholic Reporter]. “In studying the story of Luigi’s life and household we’re reminded of the important vulnerability all of us have. Luigi perceived that he might act on behalf of the oppressed by capturing somebody who represented untold struggling. What sparked the darkish flip from group social motion to particular person violence we could but uncover. Regardless of the case, nobody is invulnerable to the darkness. This occasion reveals the hopelessness People really feel because the wealth produced from their labor travels to the millionaires and well being providers are held captive by insurers. It’s scandalous usury, and it oppresses us in a lot the identical method as rates of interest and faculty tuition. This text offered an area to recall we owe Luigi’s household an excellent deal, and we really feel the profound grief for the lack of a younger govt’s life who was socialized in a capitalist system that directs all efforts to revenue and transaction, objectifies human beings and is on the coronary heart of all of violence.”
“‘New York Put up Presents: Luigi Mangione Monster or Martyr?’ offers inside look into stunning UnitedHealthcare homicide” [New York Post]. • The film actually appears to be concerning the Put up newsroom, which is fairly vigorous place. That is good, as a result of we want extra newsrooms; particular person contributors aren’t sufficient.
“Mangione Tragedy: Ache, Isolation, and the Survival Response” [Psychology Today]. “Feeling trapped, particularly by ache, causes a physiological menace response resulting in anger. In an indignant state the upper ranges of perform within the neocortex are downregulated. Luigi Mangione was not solely struggling however not proven a method out. Breaking free from continual ache will not be tough and is what makes his story particularly tragic.” • Not so positive about that final declare, although.
Syndemics
“I’m in earnest — I cannot equivocate — I cannot excuse — I cannot retreat a single inch — AND I WILL BE HEARD.” –William Lloyd Garrison
Covid Assets, United States (Nationwide): Transmission (CDC); Wastewater (CDC, Biobot; consists of many counties; Wastewater Scan, consists of drilldown by zip); Variants (CDC; Walgreens); “Iowa COVID-19 Tracker” (in IA, however nationwide knowledge). “An infection Management, Emergency Administration, Security, and Basic Ideas” (particularly on hospitalization by metropolis).
Lambert right here: Readers, thanks for the collective effort. To replace any entry, do be at liberty to contact me on the deal with given with the crops. Please put “COVID” within the topic line. Thanks!
Assets, United States (Native): 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 stories); ID (dashboard, Boise; dashboard, wastewater, Central Idaho; wastewater, Coeur d’Alene; 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).
Assets, Canada (Nationwide): Wastewater (Authorities of Canada).
Assets, Canada (Provincial): ON (wastewater); QC (les eaux usées); BC (wastewater); BC, Vancouver (wastewater).
Hat tricks to useful 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, sq. coats (11), tennesseewaltzer, thump, Tom B., Utah, Bob White (3).
Keep protected on the market!
Search for the Helpers
I don’t like Hoerger’s mannequin, however this is excellent suggestion:
Since HEPA filters assist enhance house well being, they could be a increased precedence than different home equipment. Apparently, it is common to supply low cost codes, however this 100% low cost was uncommon & standard.
I’d recommend that organizers attain out to their regional power corporations.
4/— Mike Hoerger, PhD MSCR MBA (@michael_hoerger) January 3, 2025
Transmission: Nasal Sprays
Makes you surprise why the USA stays so primitive:
Dr. Leshan doesn’t say, however the spray is Covitrap (research right here). It doesn’t appear to be obtainable exterior Thailand, although worldwide advertising and marketing was tried in 2022 (simply one other mark of madness within the West’s method to Covid).
TABLE 1: Every day Covid Charts
Lambert right here: A bit extra orange and crimson round Ohio; no rise at JFK, EWR, ORD, LAX. A post-Christmas soar in New York hospitalization. I’m guessing it’s not the results of LB.1 from vacationers as a result of JFK and EWR wastewater is static. So I feel it’s journey from upstate, the place they’ve been having a little bit surge of their very own:
| Wastewater | |
| ★ This week[1] CDC December 30 | Final week[2] CDC (till subsequent week): |
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| Variants [3] CDC December 21 | ★ Emergency Room Visits[4] CDC December 28 |
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| Hospitalization | |
| ★ New York[5] New York State, knowledge December 31: | ★ Nationwide [6] CDC Janurary 2, 2005: |
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| Positivity | |
| ★ Nationwide[7] Walgreens December 30: | ★ Ohio[8] Cleveland Clinic December 28: |
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| Vacationers Knowledge | |
| ★ Positivity[9] CDC December 16: | ★ Variants[10] CDC December 16 |
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| Deaths | |
| Weekly Deaths vs. % Positivity [11] CDC November 20: | Weekly Deaths vs. ED Visits [12] CDC November 20: |
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LEGEND
1) ★ for charts new as we speak; all others aren’t up to date.
2) For a full-size/full-resolution picture, Command-click (MacOS) or right-click (Home windows) on the chart thumbnail and “open picture in new tab.”
NOTES
[1] (CDC) Seeing extra crimson and extra orange, however nothing new at main hubs.
[2] (CDC) Final week’s wastewater map.
[3] (CDC Variants) XEC takes over. That WHO label, “Ommicron,” has carried out an excellent job normalizing successive waves of an infection.
[4] (ED) A bit uptick.
[5] (Hospitalization: NY) Sluggish and small however regular improve.
[6] (Hospitalization: CDC). Leveling out.
[7] (Walgreens) Leveling out.
[8] (Cleveland) Continued upward pattern since, nicely, Thanksgiving.
[9] (Vacationers: Positivity) Leveling out.
[10] (Vacationers: Variants). Positivity is new, however variants haven’t but been launched.
[11] Deaths low, positivity leveling out.
[12] Deaths low, ED leveling out.
Stats Watch
Employment State of affairs: “United States ISM Manufacturing PMI” [Trading Economics]. “The ISM Manufacturing PMI rose by 0.9 factors from the earlier month to 49.3 in December of 2024, forward of market expectations of 48.4. The end result mirrored the softest tempo of contraction within the US manufacturing sector because the 50.3 recorded in March, which was the only interval of enlargement within the business since September of 2022.”
Manufacturing: “Boeing is making yet one more promise to do higher. Can the prodigal youngster lastly return?” [FirstPost]. “In its newest announcement, Boeing highlighted investments in workforce coaching, together with enhanced applications for mechanics and high quality inspectors. It additionally pointed to efforts to simplify manufacturing processes and cut back defects, notably within the meeting of its 737 plane, a mannequin that has been on the middle of many controversies. The timing of Boeing’s assertion is notable. Sunday (January 5) marks the anniversary of the close to disaster aboard Alaska Airways Flight 1282, a stark reminder of the corporate’s struggles. Whereas Boeing has acknowledged its shortcomings and pledged reforms, it stays to be seen if these efforts will restore confidence within the once-dominant aerospace big.” • Boeing’s efforts appear, largely, to “examine high quality into the product.” However Deming argues that may’t be carried out.
Manufacturing: “Outgoing FAA Chief Says Boeing’s Security Turnaround ‘Not a One-12 months Undertaking’” [Investopedia]. “Approaching one 12 months because the Alaska Airways (ALK) incident that noticed a door panel detach from a Boeing (BA) airplane in midair, outgoing Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) head Mike Whitaker stated the airplane maker’s security turnaround plan is “not a one-year venture.’ Whitaker wrote in a Thursday weblog put up that the company’s ‘enhanced oversight is right here to remain’ forward of his departure from the FAA when U.S. president-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated later this month. ‘However this isn’t a one-year venture,’ Whitaker wrote. ‘. That can require sustained effort and dedication from Boeing, and unwavering scrutiny on our half.’” • Hmm.
Manufacturing: “This Is What Whales Are Betting On Boeing” [Benzinga]. “Whales with some huge cash to spend have taken a noticeably bearish stance on Boeing. choices historical past for Boeing we detected 34 trades. If we contemplate the specifics of every commerce, it’s correct to state that 35% of the traders opened trades with bullish expectations and 52% with bearish.” • Hmm.
Manufacturing: Perhaps Tesla’s silly contact display is harmful, apart from being silly:
Why the stunning variety of collisions involving Teslas is perhaps an issue with its design (supply: Declan Hackett, Quora): pic.twitter.com/jdgRvIABaV
— Alan Baxter ♛ (@AlanBixter) January 2, 2025
Right this moment’s Worry & Greed Index: 26 Worry (earlier shut: 27 Worry) [CNN]. One week in the past: 33 (Worry). (0 is Excessive Worry; 100 is Excessive Greed). Final up to date Jan 2 at 1:24:36 PM ET.
That is a terrific thread on the account’s Russian research course, nevertheless it’s lengthy. Excerpting from it:
Narrowing the main target to Covid:
Right here is W.H. Auden’s “The Fall of Rome.” Unsure about these reindeer, I gotta admit. (I might have filed this beneath Elite Maleficence, within the Syndemics part, however the implications appear to be (even) broader.
“What Is Salting, the Organizing Tactic Spicing Up the Labor Motion?” [Kim Kelly, Teen Vogue]. “The resurgence of the American labor motion is being led in no small half by a cohort of younger, various, fired-up staff across the nation. Union density stays embarrassingly low general, however final month the Nationwide Labor Relations Board, or NLRB, launched some genuinely inspiring numbers that recommend the perceived upswing in union exercise is greater than only a vibe. Through the 2024 fiscal 12 months, which led to September, the variety of union petitions filed jumped 27% in contrast with 2023 — and was greater than double what the company obtained in 2021. Why does this matter? Principally, submitting these petitions is a concrete signal that extra individuals are making an attempt to unionize their workplaces… This new technology of organizers is embracing all types of methods, together with one of many oldest ways within the pro-union handbook: salting. Salting is an organizing tactic through which an individual will get a job at a particular office with the objective of unionizing their coworkers. This type of shop-floor organizing has a protracted historical past throughout the labor motion, and was as soon as so frequent it was totally unremarkable; should you have been a younger employee with socialist or progressive concepts in, say, the early 1900s, it was probably the most regular factor on the earth to start out speaking to your coworkers about unionizing as quickly as you’d discovered their names.” • It’s nice that Teen Vogue has a labor beat, however why solely Teen Vogue?
I’m not feeling wired as we speak.
Contact info for crops: Readers, be at liberty to contact me at lambert [UNDERSCORE] strether [DOT] corrente [AT] yahoo [DOT] com, to (a) learn how to ship me a verify if you’re allergic to PayPal and (b) to learn how to ship me photographs of crops. Greens are fantastic! Fungi, lichen, and coral are deemed to be honorary crops! If you’d like your deal with to look as a credit score, please place it in the beginning of your mail in parentheses: (thus). In any other case, I’ll anonymize by utilizing your initials. See the earlier Water Cooler (with plant) right here. From KM:
KM writes: “My morning run on the native park provided me this putting view yesterday. We had our first, a lot wanted rainfall since again in late September in a single day and it felt like all the colours had been washed away with the rain- however this golden hued maple tree is hanging on and from my view from the path, it appeared like a golden arched portal into Narnia.” Wow. I want I might do landscapes (like this one).
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