By Lambert Strether of Corrente.
Chook Music of the Day
American Robin, Voice of America Recreation Land, Beaufort, North Carolina, United States.
In Case You May Miss…
(1) Bragg’s concept of the case:: part 17-152.
(2) Sodium batteries.
(3) Google rating huge media websites utilizing AI-generated content material, destroying small websites.
Politics
“So lots of the social reactions that strike us as psychological are in truth a rational administration of symbolic capital.” –Pierre Bourdieu, Classification Struggles
Biden Administration
“IRS says its variety of audits is about to surge. Right here’s who the company is focusing on” [CBS]. “The IRS has been bolstered by $80 billion in new funding directed by the Inflation Discount Act (IRA), which was signed into regulation in 2022 by President Joe Biden. The thought behind the brand new funding was to assist revive an company whose ranks have been depleted over time, resulting in customer support snarls, processing delays and a falloff in audit charges…. Werfel famous that the IRS’ strategic plan over the subsequent three tax years embody a pointy improve in audits, though the company reiterated it received’t enhance its enforcement for individuals who earn lower than $400,000 yearly — which covers the majority of U.S. taxpayers. ‘There isn’t any new wave of audits coming from middle- and low-income [individuals], coming from mother and pops. That’s not in our plans,’ Werfel mentioned. However by specializing in huge companies, sophisticated partnerships and rich individuals who earn over $10 million 12 months, the IRS desires to ship a sign, he famous. ‘It units an necessary tone and message for advanced filers, high-wealth filers, that that is our focus space,’ he mentioned.”
2024
Lower than a 12 months to go!
★ RCP Ballot Averages, Could 3:
Nationwide outcomes now shifting Trump’s means. However a few of the Swing States (extra right here) are actually shifting Biden’s means, together with Michigan and Wisconsin, which is little doubt why Trump visited them on his day without work. Pennsylvania, OTOH, simply leaned to Trump. After all, it goes with out saying that these are all state polls, due to this fact unhealthy. Now, if both candidate begins breaking in factors, as an alternative of tenths of some extent….
* * * Trump (R): (Bragg/Merchan): “Previous, unused, and ‘twisty’ — meet the obscure NY election-conspiracy regulation that simply may get Trump convicted” [Business Insider]. Crucial. “At Donald Trump’s hush cash trial on Tuesday, a Manhattan prosecutor stunned regulation nerds within the viewers by revealing that ‘the complete case’ rests on a single part of New York’s election regulation.” That is (allegedly) the “different regulation” Trump broke that converts the enterprise data misdemeanors into felonies. Right here it’s:
Extra: “Enterprise Insider requested two veteran New York election-law attorneys — one a Republican, the opposite a Democrat — in regards to the regulation, also called ‘Conspiracy to advertise or stop election.’ Neither one may recall a single time when it had been prosecuted. Two extremely revered regulation professors specializing in New York election regulation mentioned the identical…. Nonetheless, whereas the 2 attorneys had been extremely skeptical of the DA’s newly centered technique, the 2 election regulation professors informed BI they had been assured it will result in a conviction. Positive, 17-152 has by no means been used earlier than, they mentioned. However that doesn’t imply it received’t work now that the mud has been blown off…. [Jeffrey M. Wice, who teaches state election law at New York Law School] famous that two judges — Merchan and Choose Alvin Okay. Hellerstein, a Manhattan federal choose who rejected Trump’s try to maneuver the hush-money case to federal courtroom — upheld using 17-152 on this case.” However wait! There’s extra! “[W]hat if that underlying crime is part 17-152 — conspiring to mess with an election by means of ‘illegal means?’ Issues will get “twisty,” [Brooklyn attorney and former Democratic NY state Sen. Martin Connor] mentioned, when prosecutors attempt to present that Trump’s falsified enterprise data are felonies due to an underlying crime — 17-152 — that itself wants proof of a conspiracy to do one thing ‘illegal.’ ‘You’re having an underlying crime inside an underlying crime to get to that felony,’ Connor informed BI. ‘It’s novel,” he mentioned with fun. ‘It’s novel,” he repeated. Part 17-152 wants its personal underlying prison conspiracy, he mentioned. ‘Two or extra conspiring to elect or defeat a candidate — that’s the definition of each political marketing campaign,’ he joked. ‘It’s solely if you conspire to do it by illegal implies that you violate this regulation.’ Having an election-conspiracy statute like 17-152 on the state election-law books makes little sense, he mentioned. ‘It will seem to cowl one thing like three individuals getting collectively and saying, ‘Let’s break into our opponent’s headquarters and destroy all his tools,’ Connor mentioned.” • Appears sophisticated. So, if the enterprise data a part of the case is a conspiracy, and part 17-152 requires a conspiracy — the identical one? a unique one? — why not simply cost Trump with 17-152 alone? To transform misdemeanors into felonies, that’s why. No different purpose. That’s fairly seamy, when you ask me, regardless of a gaggle of New York State Democrats nodding their heads vigorously in unison about how necessary it’s to serve the pursuits of justice, and so on.
Trump (R) (Bragg/Merchan): “How Hope Hicks went from Trump confidante to key prosecution witness” [Politico]. “Whereas Trump cycled by means of numerous high advisers, who rose and fell in his favor, Hicks was a close to fixed. Her title was senior communications adviser, however that belied her significance. Her actual job, those that labored together with her say, was to handle Trump. Her workplace was proper exterior the Oval Workplace, a mirrored image of her significance to the previous president.”
Trump (R) (Bragg/Merchan): “‘This was a disaster’: Hope Hicks testifies about Trump marketing campaign response to Entry Hollywood tape – dwell” [Guardian]. “Hope Hicks testifies that she reached out to Michael Cohen and Nationwide Enquirer writer David Pecker after receiving the Wall Avenue Journal e mail requesting remark a few story it deliberate to publish about American Media shopping for the rights to a narrative of Karen McDougal of an affair she had with Donald Trump when he was married to Melania. Hicks says Cohen ‘feigned that he didn’t know what I used to be speaking about’ and that ‘there was a purpose why I referred to as David [Pecker] subsequent.’ She says Pecker defined that McDougal was paid for journal articles and health columns and that it was all very legit and that was what the contract for.’ The prosecution requested Hope Hicks in regards to the days following the Entry Hollywood tape’s launch. Hicks defined, on direct, that he was requested in regards to the feedback a couple of days later, in the course of the second presidential debate. He reiterated that this was locked room discuss – simply discuss – phrases, not actions. The words-not-actions mantra is extremely necessary for prosecutors. If Trump thought his finest possibilities for surviving the Entry Hollywood scandal was to assert that it was simply discuss – and that he wasn’t an precise boor – then he needed to cowl up allegations of misconduct. And, after the controversy, when studies of Trump’s alleged misconduct floor, the marketing campaign was in panic-mode – offering a motive for Cohen’s buy of Daniels’ story.” • To (a) win the election, (b) shield Melania, and/or (c) shield the Trump model (necessary to Trump’s picture). I suppose we’ll must see which motive predominated. CNN has a second play-by-play.
Trump (R) (Bragg/Merchan): “The Secret Tape That Will Roil the Trump Trial” [New York Magazine]. “[T}apes are the prosecutor’s best friend — usually. But when Michael Cohen secretly recorded a phone call with his own client Donald trump in September 2016, he created a piece of evidence that could become a key part of Trump’s defense in his ongoing criminal trial in Manhattan. It’s not all bad news for the prosecutors, of course. The tape confirms an important pillar of the district attorney’s case: Trump plainly knew about and approved of hush money payments to women with whom he had allegedly had sexual dalliances years before. But that was never seriously in dispute. Trump’s lawyer conceded as much during his opening statement. Remember that the crime here is not payment of hush money — it’s falsification of business records around those payments to evade campaign-finance laws. The crime, in other words, lies in the accounting behind the hush-money payments. And Cohen’s tape casts doubt on a central element that the prosecution must prove to the jury beyond a reasonable doubt: that Trump was involved in the fraudulent scheme to structure reimbursements to Cohen to make the hush-money payments look like legal expenses.” • Oh.
Trump (R) (Bragg/Merchan): “Week 3 of Trump’s Hush-Money Trial Reaches Its Explosive Finale’ [Daily Beast]. “Cohen’s voice was heard in courtroom with the enjoying of a tape that Cohen himself secretly made. The September 2016 recording captured Cohen speaking with Trump a few plan to purchase McDougal’s story from the Enquirer with the intention to bury it for good. Cohen may very well be heard saying on the recording that he’d spoken to Allen Weisselberg, the then-CFO of the Trump Group, about ‘learn how to set the entire thing up with funding,’ based on the Related Press. ‘What will we obtained to pay for this?’ Trump mentioned in response. ‘One-fifty?’ The tape was performed after Douglas Daus, a forensic analyst within the Manhattan district legal professional’s workplace, was referred to as to the stand. Daus testified about information he helped to extract from Cohen’s telephones that had been handed to authorities in the course of the investigation.” • However that doesn’t communicate to the enterprise data half (“set the entire thing up” is fairly imprecise).
* * * Trump (R): “SEC expenses Trump Media auditor with ‘huge fraud’ on a whole bunch of corporations, imposes lifetime ban” [CNBC]. “The auditing agency for Trump Media
and the auditor’s proprietor had been charged Friday with ‘huge fraud’ by the Securities and Trade Fee for accounting work that affected greater than 1,500 SEC filings, the federal regulator introduced. The auditor, BF Borgers CPA and its proprietor Benjamin Borgers have agreed to be completely suspended from working towards as accountants earlier than the SEC, and likewise agreed to pay a mixed $14 million in civil penalties, with out admitting or denying the allegations, the SEC mentioned. The company, calling BF Borgers a ‘sham audit mill,’ mentioned the corporate and its proprietor ‘intentionally systematically did not conduct’ in accordance with Public Firm Accounting Oversight Board requirements audits and quarterly evaluations included in additional than 1,500 SEC filings from January 2021 by means of June 2023. The SEC mentioned the Lakewood, Colorado-based auditor lied to purchasers by saying its work complied with PCAOB requirements, fabricated audit paperwork to make it appear that the work did adjust to these requirements, and falsely claims in audit studies included in additional than 500 public firm SEC filings that the agency’s audits complied with such requirements.”
* * * Biden (D): “Biden says ‘order should prevail’ throughout campus protests over the conflict in Gaza” [Associated Press]. “‘Dissent is crucial for democracy,’ Biden mentioned on the White Home. ‘However dissent mustn’t ever result in dysfunction.’… Biden’s crew has expressed confidence that his stance appeals to the widest array of voters. It additionally echoes his strategy to nationwide unrest after the homicide of George Floyd by a police officer 4 years in the past, a politically unstable state of affairs in the midst of his marketing campaign in opposition to then-President Donald Trump. ‘I wish to make it completely clear rioting shouldn’t be protesting, looting shouldn’t be protesting,’ Biden mentioned then in remarks that his crew changed into an commercial. ‘It’s lawlessness, plain and easy, and people who do it needs to be prosecuted.’” • So possibly Biden could make a marketing campaign advert out of this, too!
Biden (D): “Sanders: Protests ‘could also be Biden’s Vietnam’” [The Hill]. “‘[Former President] Lyndon Johnson in lots of respects was a really, excellent president. Domestically he introduced forth some main items of laws. He selected to not run in ’68 due to opposition to his views on Vietnam, and I fear very a lot that President Biden is placing himself able the place he has alienated, not simply younger individuals, however lots of the Democratic base, by way of his views on Israel and this conflict,’ Sanders mentioned.” • Biden is betting on “restoring regulation and order” higher than Trump (or Kennedy) can do.
Biden (D): “Younger Democrats warn Biden he should shortly change course” [The Hill]. “”He’ll lose the election if he decides to roll the cube and assumes that Gaza isn’t on the high of minds proper now,” mentioned Elise Joshi, the chief director of Gen-Z for Change —which was as soon as run below the title TikTok for Biden. Joshi added that the final six months have seen ‘an rising tempo of concern’ in regards to the president. The disaster in Gaza has been a tipping level for a lot of younger voters, and a few polls have proven help dissolving for Biden. Final month, a Harvard Youth Ballot confirmed Biden’s help from voters ages 18-29 had slipped from about 60 % in 2020 all the way down to 45 %. A CNN ballot final weekend additionally revealed that Biden was 11 share factors behind Trump in a head-to-head match-up amongst younger voters.” • I doubt very a lot the youth vote going to maneuver from BIden to Trump over Gaza. Biden’s play right here is “They’ve obtained no place to go” (“Oh, you’re keen on Trump?”).
* * * PA: “Biden’s pure fuel pause may complicate Pennsylvania technique” [The Hill]. “The Biden administration’s pause on pure fuel exports is placing the president in a difficult political spot in Pennsylvania, one of many key swing states in November. Pennsylvania has been one of many greatest beneficiaries of the final decade’s pure fuel growth within the U.S. … The administration earlier this 12 months halted new export permits for liquefied pure fuel (LNG) whereas it analyzes their affect on local weather change, one thing that Republicans are positive to pounce on in a state the place Biden shouldn’t be solely working neck and neck with former President Trump, but additionally the place Democrats wish to maintain onto a important Senate seat…. ‘If I’m President Biden or his marketing campaign crew, I’m not terribly involved — pure fuel is necessary in Pennsylvania, however this problem — there have been political fights going again 15 years over this problem,’ [Mike Mikus, a Pittsburgh-based Democratic strategist] mentioned. ‘I feel individuals who really feel strongly a technique or one other have already picked a aspect.’”
Realignment and Legitimacy
“Greater than 2,100 individuals have been arrested throughout pro-Palestinian protests on US school campuses” [Associated Press]. “Police have arrested greater than 2,100 individuals throughout pro-Palestinian protests in school campuses throughout america in current weeks, typically utilizing riot gear, tactical automobiles and flash-bang units to clear tent encampments and occupied buildings. One officer by chance discharged his gun inside a Columbia College administration constructing whereas clearing out protesters camped inside, authorities disclosed Thursday.” And on UCLA: “The confrontations at UCLA additionally performed out over a number of days this week. UCLA Chancellor Gene Block informed alumni on a name Thursday afternoon that the difficulty began after a permitted pro-Israel rally was held on campus Sunday and fights broke out and ‘dwell mice’ had been tossed [by Zionists] into the pro-Palestinian encampment later that day. Within the following days, directors tried to discover a peaceable resolution with members of the encampment and anticipated issues to stay secure, Block mentioned. That modified late Tuesday, he mentioned, when [Zionist] counterdemonstrators attacked the pro-Palestinian encampment. Campus directors and police didn’t intervene or name for backup for hours. Nobody was arrested that evening, however a minimum of 15 protesters had been injured. The delayed response drew criticism from political leaders, together with California Gov. Gavin Newsom, and officers pledged an impartial evaluate. ‘We actually weren’t considering that we’d find yourself with a lot of violent individuals [i.e., the Zionists], that hadn’t occurred earlier than,’ Block mentioned on the decision. By Wednesday, the encampment had grow to be ‘rather more of a bunker’ and there was no different resolution however to have police dismantle it, he mentioned.” • I added some notes to clarifiy company points. The counter-demonstrators at UCLA strike me as uniquely nasty (fortuitously).
Pandemics
“I’m in earnest — I can’t equivocate — I can’t excuse — I can’t retreat a single inch — AND I WILL BE HEARD.” –William Lloyd Garrison
Covid Assets, United States (Nationwide): Transmission (CDC); Wastewater (CDC, Biobot; contains many counties; Wastewater Scan, contains drilldown by zip); Variants (CDC; Walgreens); “Iowa COVID-19 Tracker” (in IA, however nationwide information). “An infection Management, Emergency Administration, Security, and Normal 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 tackle given with the vegetation. 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 studies); 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 (dashboard); 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, LL, Michael King, KF, LaRuse, mrsyk, MT, MT_Wild, otisyves, Petal (6), RK (2), RL, RM, Rod, sq. coats (11), tennesseewaltzer, Tom B., Utah, Bob White (3).
Keep protected on the market!
Search for the Helpers
“SoCal’s COVID-cautious: Combating isolation together with the virus” [KCRW]. “‘We’re going to make an enormous circle,’ Mahler explains. ‘We’re going to go as much as the San Fernando Valley over to Eagle Rock, after which again down by means of Mid-Metropolis to the place we are actually.’… Mahler makes these Odyssian treks throughout Southern California each month. It’s a part of her work with Masks Bloc LA, a volunteer group devoted to getting COVID exams and masks into the fingers of Angelenos — all freed from cost….. The grassroots group is considered one of a number of which have popped up in LA and Southern California, united round one objective: to mitigate the unfold of COVID. They’re extensions of a worldwide neighborhood of cautious of us persevering with to take proactive steps to forestall an infection in a post-pandemic world the place others appear to now not care in regards to the virus… Being COVID-cautious is totally different for everybody, from how a lot protecting gear they put on to what dangers they’re prepared to take. Some of us stay vigilant as a result of they’ve already caught the virus and know the injury it causes. Others, nonetheless, are among the many practically 1 in 4 U.S. adults and older teenagers who the CDC estimates have by no means had COVID — they usually need or must preserve it that means.” • 1 in 4 is a fairly wonderful statistic, when you consider all of the obstacles (and when you think about that you may rule out mind injury and lack of govt perform as a consequence of Covid for [allow me to break out my calculator] 333,000,000 * 25% = 83,250,000 individuals. That’s loads).
Testing and Monitoring
“Blood transcriptomic analyses reveal persistent SARS-CoV-2 RNA and candidate biomarkers in post-COVID-19 situation” [The Lancet]. N = 48. “With an estimated 65 million people affected by post-COVID-19 situation (also called lengthy COVID),1 non-invasive biomarkers are direly wanted to information medical administration. To handle this urgent want, we used blood transcriptomics in a basic practice-based case-control research. …. 212 genes had been recognized to be differentially expressed between people with lengthy COVID and controls (determine A), of which 70 remained important after adjustment for false discovery charge correction…. Upon summarising transcriptomic outcomes into organic pathways, we discovered considerably decreased immunometabolism in people with lengthy COVID, which was negatively correlated with the blood viral load… In conclusion, the associations amongst persistent viral RNA, immunometabolism, and patient-reported outcomes present mechanistic insights for addressing the challenges posed by lengthy COVID.” • If true, excellent information. (Recall that NIH blew a billion {dollars} on Lengthy Covid with out on the lookout for biomarkers in any respect.)
“Influenza and RSV Wastewater Monitoring within the U.S. | Week of April 29, 2024” [Biobot]. “We wish to share the knowledge that we’ve in the mean time on the quickly evolving H5N1 influenza virus state of affairs. Biobot’s influenza A assay detects the H5N1 influenza subtype, which is an influenza A virus, however doesn’t distinguish between the totally different subtypes of influenza A (e.g., H5N1 vs. H1N1). Whereas we’re not seeing a widespread improve throughout the nation in influenza A virus within the current week, we’re seeing a slight uptick in influenza A concentrations within the South.” • So Verily is forward. That’s miserable.
Sequelae: Covid
“What will we find out about covid-19’s results on the intestine?” [BMJ]. “[Sheena Cruickshank, immunologist at the University of Manchester] says, ‘One of many causes for the intestine signs could also be that the ACE2 receptors that the virus makes use of to enter and hijack cells are discovered on our intestine epithelial cells. We all know that viral RNA has been remoted from stool samples, though this is probably not infectious.’ This proof was gathered early within the pandemic from research in China, which discovered SARS-CoV-2 RNA in stool samples from sufferers in hospital. More moderen research5 has confirmed that faecal shedding of viral RNA occurs in round half of covid sufferers and that that is related to GI signs. Stephen Griffin, virologist on the College of Leeds, explains why we shouldn’t be stunned that so many individuals expertise GI signs. He says, ‘The receptor for SARS-CoV-2, ACE2, is broadly expressed inside the blood vessels and lining of the intestine, and we all know that the virus could be detected, recovered from, and sequenced each in stool samples and in wastewater from the setting—which is a wonderful, actual time approach to monitor infections and genetic variability.’ As soon as the virus is within the intestine it interacts with ACE2, rising the manufacturing of inflammatory cytokines and damaging the mucous membrane barrier. In extreme instances this irritation may end up in ulceration of the oesophagus, abdomen, and duodenum, however extra generally it causes nausea, vomiting, belly discomfort, and diarrhoea.” • The extra you realize….
“Persistence of SARS-CoV-2 in platelets and megakaryocyte in Put up-acute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 (Lengthy COVID)” (poster) [Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections]. “In Lengthy COVID, SARS-CoV-2 persists and replicates in [megakaryocytes (MKs)] that in flip produce platelets containing virus. Circulating spike may be a further signal of viral persistence that would function a Lengthy COVID biomarker. The persistence of the virus may result in irregular platelet activation and formation of microclots, contributing to the varied signs noticed in Lengthy COVID and to deregulation of serotonin uptake, favoring bneurocognitive signs present in lengthy COVID.” • Over my paygrade. Maybe readers will remark. (NOTE There appears to be an issue over whether or not, in Lengthy Covid, the virus persists, or whether or not solely viral fragments persists.)
Therapy: Covid
“Favorable Antiviral Impact of Metformin on Extreme Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Viral Load in a Randomized, Placebo-Managed Medical Trial of Coronavirus Illness” (summary solely) [Clinical Infectious Diseases]. “On this randomized, placebo-controlled trial of outpatient remedy of SARS-CoV-2, metformin considerably decreased SARS-CoV-2 viral load, which can clarify the medical advantages on this trial. Metformin is pleiotropic with different actions which might be related to COVID-19 pathophysiology.” • Pleiotropic = producing a couple of impact. Sadly, the article is paywalled, so I can’t monitor down a utilization instance.
Elite Maleficence
Maskless Mandy does a contented dance:
Honored to be featured by #TIME100HEALTH together with so many unbelievable leaders + innovators! @CDCGov is working every single day to guard well being & enhance lives by means of stronger information, clear & quick communications, and breaking down silos to work as one crew. https://t.co/klVxZJV2Z2
— Mandy Okay. Cohen, MD, MPH (@CDCDirector) Could 2, 2024
It actually takes chutzpah to pat your self on the again for “stronger information” at some point after you shut down necessary reporting of Covid instances in hospitals.
“Covid classes stay unlearned as avian flu infects cattle, hospitals say” [Politico]. “Nonetheless, hospital officers informed POLITICO they’re dismayed that they don’t really feel higher ready, simply 4 years after Covid-19 caught them unawares. They’re not assured that the well being care system — together with the federal government businesses which have wound down Covid responses — can keep away from the missteps round exams, mattress house and communication that plagued the final public well being emergency, ought to this pressure of flu, H5N1, grow to be extra of a menace… Belief in well being methods additionally stays battered from the Covid wars over lockdowns, masks and vaccines. ‘One huge limiting issue’ in vaccinating the general public, had been it to grow to be vital, ‘could be whether or not or not individuals truly take it,’ [Dr. George Diaz, an infectious disease specialist at Providence health in Washington state] mentioned. ‘The Covid pandemic taught us lots of classes, but additionally harmed us.’ And if a lockdown had been wanted once more? ‘Society proper now — It’s not a consideration,’ [Dr. Bruce Farber, chief public health and epidemiology officer at Northwell Health, New York’s largest hospital system,] mentioned. ‘The politics are such that it’ll by no means occur.’” • After all, one Covid lesson could be necessary common masking all through healthcare services. That appears to be a lesson hospitals haven’t realized.
TABLE 1: Each day Covid Charts
LEGEND
1) ★ for charts new immediately; all others are usually not 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] (Biobot) Our curve has now flattened out at a degree far above valleys below Trump. Not an ideal victory. Notice additionally the world “below the curve,” moreover peaks. That space is bigger below Biden than below Trump, and it appears to be rising steadily if inconsistently.
[2] (Biobot) No backward revisons….
[3] (CDC Variants) KP.2 has entered the chat, a minimum of within the mannequin. As of Could 11, genomic surveillance information will likely be reported biweekly, based mostly on the supply of optimistic take a look at specimens.” “Biweeekly: 1. occurring each two weeks. 2. occurring twice every week; semiweekly.” Appears like CDC has chosen sense #1. In essence, they’re telling us variants are nothing to fret about. Time will inform.
[4] (ER) CDC appears to have killed this off, because the hyperlink is damaged, I feel in favor of this factor. I’ll attempt to affirm. UPDATE Sure, depart it to CDC to kill a web page, after which announce it was archived a day later. And heaven forfend CDC ought to clarify the place to go to get equal information, if any. I preferred the ER information, as a result of it appeared actually exhausting to sport.
[5] (Hospitalization: NY) Flattening out to a non-zero baseline. I suppose to a tame epidemiologist it appears to be like like “endemicity,” however to me it appears to be like like one other tranche of lethality.
[6] (Hospitalization: CDC) Nonetheless down. “Maps, charts, and information offered by CDC, updates weekly for the earlier MMWR week (Sunday-Saturday) on Thursdays (Deaths, Emergency Division Visits, Take a look at Positivity) and weekly the next Mondays (Hospitalizations) by 8 pm ET†”.
[7] (Walgreens) Leveling out.
[8] (Cleveland) Slight uptrend.
[9] (Vacationers: Posivitity) Flattens.
[10] (Vacationers: Variants) JN.1 dominates totally. Nonetheless no point out of KP.2
[11] Appears just like the Occasions isn’t reporting demise information any extra? Possibly I would like to return to The Economist….
Stats Watch
Employment Scenario: “United States Unemployment Fee” [Trading Economics]. “The unemployment charge in america edged as much as 3.9% in April 2024 from 3.8% within the earlier month and stunning market expectations, which had forecasted the speed to stay unchanged.”
Tech: “HouseFresh has nearly disappeared from Google Search outcomes. Now what?” [HouseFresh]. • An excessive amount of element for me to summarize, but it surely actually frosts me that Google has competely crapified air air purifier evaluations with AI-generated bullshit, on condition that air purifiers play helpful irole throughout airborne pandemics.
Tech: “Google, DOJ return for closing arguments” [The Hill]. “Google’s major protection is that its search engine is healthier.” • Lol. Dude, come on.
Manufacturing: “Whistleblower Joshua Dean, who raised considerations about Boeing jets, dies at 45” [NPR]. “”This was his first time ever in a hospital,” [his mother, Virginia Green] mentioned. ‘He didn’t actually have a physician as a result of he by no means was sick.’ However inside days, Dean’s kidneys gave out and he was counting on anECMO life help machine to do the work of his coronary heart and lungs. The evening earlier than Dean died, Inexperienced mentioned, the medical workers in Oklahoma did a bronchoscopy on his lungs. ‘The physician mentioned he’d by no means seen something prefer it earlier than in his life. His lungs had been simply completely … gummed up, and like a mesh over them.’ Inexperienced says she has requested for an post-mortem to find out precisely what killed her son. Outcomes will doubtless take months, she mentioned. ‘We’re undecided what he died of,’ she mentioned. ‘We all know that he had a bunch of viruses. However you realize, we don’t know if any person did one thing to him, or did he simply get actual sick.’” • So the autopy outcomes. One thing to observe for.
Manufacturing: “Boeing Promotes Mysterious Worker Recognized Solely As ‘The Panther’” [The Onion]. “‘All the Boeing household wish to lengthen an enormous congratulations to The Panther, who has not too long ago confirmed that his loyalty to this firm actually is aware of no bounds,’ mentioned Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun, who described The Panther’s function as ‘a bit bit operations, a bit bit company safety, a bit bit human sources.’”
Taxes: As an indicator. Attention-grabbing:
In the present day’s Worry & Greed Index: 40 Worry (earlier shut: 36 Worry) [CNN]. One week in the past: 42 (Worry). (0 is Excessive Worry; 100 is Excessive Greed). Final up to date Could 3 at 1:31:16 PM ET.
Class Warfare
“Past The Binary Of Race And Class” [Historical Materialism]. A extremely fascinating evaluate of this matter, properly price learning. “There have been many efforts to create ‘a brand new socialist mode of manufacturing’ by reworking or abolishing the ‘free market’, however it will be exhausting to argue that they put an finish to racial discrimination. Neither the Social Democratic welfare states, which sought to restrain the free market, nor ‘revolutionary’ regimes in the united states, China or Cuba which removed it, can declare to have abrogated discrimination based mostly on race and gender. The historical past of the previous 100 years signifies that there isn’t a assurance that focusing on the ills of a market financial system based mostly on non-public possession of the technique of manufacturing interprets into overcoming racialised methods of seeing and referring to others – particularly since those that imbibe the norms of a racist society typically contains progressive whites.” I’ve to seize a cup of espresso and return to this. However word this wonderful assertion: “Marx restructured Capital on the idea of the affect of the occasions throughout within the U.S. in the course of the Civil Struggle” (and as readers know, Marx reported on the Civil Struggle, I consider for the New York Herald.
Information of the Wired
“Welcome to theunderground” [The Underground]. “theunderground.weblog is an experimental weblog that’s solely obtainable to learn by means of a feed reader.” • Attention-grabbing thought. An identical strategy–
“Neglect WhatsApp and Messenger, contact me by way of my web site” [Dissociated]. “I’m a Blogger now. I keep on my web site. That’s one thing that needs to be printed on t-shirts. Once I meet up with mates, they ask me: ‘how’s disassociated going?’ Then a couple of minutes later, ‘oh, and are you on Whatsapp by any probability?’ Typically I’d like to reply by saying, ‘properly, I don’t want a messaging app, as a result of you realize you may attain me by means of my web site. You already know, the identical one which predates Fb, a lot of the social networks, and messaging apps.’ However I don’t. I simply shake my head. And it may’t be all that unhealthy in any case. A few of my mates dwell interstate and abroad, and we nonetheless handle to satisfy in particular person when in one another’s respective locations of residence, trouble free. All with out the necessity to contain messaging apps, other than some texts. If you happen to’re an avid consumer of messaging apps — go for it — don’t let me dissuade you.” • Two straws within the wind; I don’t know if this approaches zeitgeist standing, although.
Contact info for vegetation: Readers, be at liberty to contact me at lambert [UNDERSCORE] strether [DOT] corrente [AT] yahoo [DOT] com, to (a) learn the way to ship me a examine in case you are allergic to PayPal and (b) to learn the way to ship me photos of vegetation. Greens are high-quality! Fungi, lichen, and coral are deemed to be honorary vegetation! If you would like your deal with to seem as a credit score, please place it at 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 TH:
TH writes: “Desert wildflower: Browneyes or brown-eyed primrose; Chylisma claviforms. This is without doubt one of the wildflowers in entrance of our home within the Mojave Desert.” Painterly!
Readers: Water Cooler is a standalone entity not lined by the annual NC fundraiser. So when you see a hyperlink you particularly like, or an merchandise you wouldn’t see anyplace else, please don’t hesitate to precise your appreciation in tangible kind. Keep in mind, a tip jar is for tipping! Common optimistic suggestions each makes me really feel good and lets me know I’m heading in the right direction with protection. Once I get no donations for 3 or 4 days I get fearful. Extra tangibly, a relentless trickle of donations helps me with bills, and I think about that trickle when setting fundraising targets:
Right here is the display that can seem, which I’ve helpfully annotated:
If you happen to hate PayPal, you may e mail me at lambert [UNDERSCORE] strether [DOT] corrente [AT] yahoo [DOT] com, and I offers you instructions on learn how to ship a examine. Thanks!
