2:00PM Water Cooler 5/10/2022 | bare capitalism

By Lambert Strether of Corrente

Fowl Tune of the Day

That is Hermit Thrush Week at Bare Capitalism (hat tip Noone from Nowheresville). Daybreak track.

Politics

“However what’s authorities itself, however the biggest of all reflections on human nature?” –James Madison, Federalist 51

“That they had discovered nothing, and forgotten nothing.” –Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord

“When the going will get bizarre, the bizarre flip professional.” –Hunter Thompson

Biden Adminstration

“Biden Can Combat Inflation by Repealing Trump’s Tariffs. Why Hasn’t He?” [Jonathan Chait, New York Magazine]. “Inflation is, by far, President Biden’s gravest drawback.” One million useless in a pandemic? Conflict with a nuclear energy? Transfer alongside individuals, transfer alongside. There’s no story right here. Extra: “One current examine finds that rescinding the Trump tariffs would scale back costs 1.3 %. With inflation at the moment working over 8 %, that may hardly resolve the disaster, however it might do extra to alleviate it than every other step Biden might tackle his personal.” • No matter’s going to forestall a midterms debacle for the Democrats, that is clearly not it.

“COVID-19 circumstances climb after White Home media dinner” [The Hill]. “COVID-19 circumstances amongst attendees on the White Home correspondents’ dinner final weekend are mounting, highlighting the continued menace of the virus as circumstances rise nationally…. There isn’t a precise rely, and it’s not clear which dinner attendees contracted the virus on the dinner itself or at one of many many events final weekend surrounding it. However the string of reported circumstances does emphasize the purpose that even because the nation seeks to maneuver on from the virus, massive indoor gatherings do carry some danger. ‘I’m yet one more [White House Correspondents’ Association] weekend casualty,’ tweeted Julia Ioffe, a correspondent at Puck Information. ‘!’” • Ioffe lights up a cigarette, blows the smoke in your face. “I knew I used to be taking a danger.” Yeah, for each of us! Can’t these individuals follow their dying cult rituals within the privateness of their very own houses?

“Biden disinformation chCief Nina Jankowicz pushed Trump-Russia collusion claims” [Washington Examiner]. • Sure, that’s the purpose.

Right:

That is bearish. https://t.co/l43pEo5NpN

— Yakov Feygin 🏗🌹🧦🇺🇦 (@BuddyYakov) May 9, 2022

2022

* * *

GA: “Democratic megadonor Soros places $1 million into Abrams’ marketing campaign” [Atlanta Journal Constitution]. • That’s good.

PA: “‘Extremely-MAGA’ longshot roars into competition in key Senate race” [Politico]. “Kathy Barnette has been outspent 358-to-1 on TV in Pennsylvania’s GOP major for the Senate. She hasn’t run for statewide workplace earlier than. She doesn’t have former President Donald Trump’s endorsement. However the ultra-MAGA commentator is surging within the polls anyway within the last weeks of probably the most costly and carefully watched races within the nation. Barnette’s unlikely — and, to some, unbelievable — rise has turned heads in political circles throughout the state as a result of it defies political logic. Simply two years in the past, she misplaced a Home bid within the Philadelphia suburbs by a large margin…. Barnette has a purist’s zeal, a compelling life story, and the power to inform it to Republican grassroots voters. And, based on Republican strategists and officers throughout the state, Barnette is probably going benefiting from a smashmouth major that options Oz and McCormick going nuclear on one another on TV… Barnette has used boards and debates to speak about her putting biography: She has described herself as a “product of a rape,” whose mom was solely 11 years previous when she was conceived. As a baby, she lived on a pig farm with out insulation. She went on to develop into a veteran, adjunct professor of company finance, and creator of “Nothing to Lose, The whole lot to Acquire: Being Black and Conservative in America.’” • Hearken to Black ladies! (Her bio jogs my memory a bit of of J.D. Vance.)

PA: “Professional-Israel Foyer Spends Large to Defeat Progressive Summer time Lee” [ReadSludge]. “Democratic Majority for Israel (DMFI), recent off its victory in serving to defeat progressive Democratic challenger Nina Turner in Ohio, has begun throwing cash behind company lawyer and former Republican congressional staffer Steve Irwin in Pennsylvania. Irwin is going through progressive State Home Rep. Summer time Lee within the Democratic major for the state’s twelfth Congressional District, a solidly Democratic seat that’s being vacated by retiring Democratic Rep. Mike Doyle. The group’s tremendous PAC just lately put $305,000 behind TV adverts and $95,000 behind web adverts backing Irwin, based on new FEC filings. DMFI is carefully tied to the pro-Israel lobbying group American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). It was based in 2019 by Mark Mellman, a Democratic pollster and former AIPAC guide, and a number of other of its board members have just lately held positions with AIPAC and its affiliated teams. A lot of its donors have additionally been affiliated to AIPAC. For instance, Stacy Schusterman, the chairman of oil and gasoline firm Samson Vitality who’s DMFI PAC’s high donor this 12 months with $2.5 million given, is a former AIPAC board member. Irwin co-leads the federal government relations and securities teams as a accomplice with the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based Leech Tishman Fuscaldo & Lampl legislation agency.”

Democrats en Déshabillé

I’ve moved my standing remarks on the Democrat Celebration (“the Democrat Celebration is a rotting corpse that may’t bury itself”) to a separate, back-dated submit, to which I’ll periodically add materials, summarizing the addition right here in a “reside” Water Cooler. (Hopefully, some Bourdieu.) It seems that defining the Democrat Celebration is, in reality, a tough drawback. I do assume the paragraph that follows is on level all the way in which again to 2016, if not earlier than:

The Democrat Celebration is the political expression of the category energy of PMC, their base (lucidly defined by Thomas Frank in Hear, Liberal!). ; if the Democrat Celebration didn’t exist, the PMC must invent it. . (“PMC” modulo “class expatriates,” in fact.) Second, all of the working elements of the Celebration reinforce one another. Go away apart characterizing the relationships between parts of the Celebration (ka-ching, however not solely) these parts comprise a community — a Flex Web? An iron octagon? — of funders, distributors, apparatchiks, electeds, NGOs, and miscellaneous mercenaries, with property within the press and the intelligence neighborhood.

Notice, in fact, that the category energy of the PMC each expresses and is restricted by different courses; oligarchs and American gentry (see ‘industrial mannequin’ of Ferguson, Jorgensen, and Jie) and the working class spring to thoughts. Suck up, kick down.

* * *

“The Scourge of Sentimentality Politics” [John Ganz, Gawker]. “For 50 years, conservatives have labored tirelessly in direction of the repeal of Roe v. Wade. Whereas calling for ‘strict constructivism,’ ‘judicial restraint,’ and denouncing ‘judicial activism,’ they educated and deployed cadres of legal professionals as right-wing activists. They step by step took over establishments after which the important thing establishment: the Supreme Courtroom. This required them to undertake Machiavellian means: many of the justices in query swore up and down at their affirmation hearings that that they had no designs on Roe, that it was the settled precedent. They have been mendacity. In a sure approach it’s an excellent feat of political will and group that must be studied. However whereas the conservative motion has pumped out loyal foot troopers who understood that the trigger was the principle factor, liberals have gotten caught up within the hagiography of their main functionaries, making everybody concerned neglect that they’re half of a bigger motion and never the ends in themselves. An ideal instance of that is the pathetic and embarrassing cult of Ruth Bader Ginsberg — the “Infamous RBG” T-shirts, the inane curiosity within the particulars of her exercise routine, the literal votive candles — a part of that political tribe’s tendency to worship bureaucrats and officers as saviors, a course of replicated in Comeyism (his trashing of Clinton’s electoral possibilities was rapidly forgotten after he grew to become a vocal Trump critic), Muellerism, and Faucism…. . They’re no respecters of individuals. Once they received the sense that they have been being cheated by their institution who would simply acquire checks, pal round in Washington D.C., and never ship something, they unleashed Trump to menace them. Their whole equipment is a form of grotesque imaginative and prescient of ideally suited democracy: an unruly mob terrifying and disciplining the elite. ‘Don’t get out of line, we are going to come for you.’”

Republican Funhouse

“Professional-abortion chalk message seems on Susan Collins’ Bangor sidewalk” [Bangor Daily News]. “Sen. Susan Collins was confronted with a pro-abortion rights message Saturday night time when an unknown particular person or individuals wrote in chalk on the sidewalk outdoors her West Broadway residence in Bangor, prompting a police response. ‘Susie, please, Mainers need WHPA —–> vote sure, clear up your mess,’ the message learn, based on a Bangor police report. WHPA refers back to the Ladies’s Well being Safety Act, which might codify the precise to abortion into legislation and ban restrictions on abortion entry. Bangor police responded to West Broadway at 9:20 p.m. Saturday to analyze a message written in chalk on a sidewalk, Bangor police spokesperson Wade Betters mentioned.”

RussiaGate

“Three Buddies Chatting: How the Steele File Was Created” [Wall Street Journal]. In Hyperlinks, however value rehoisting for the yarn diagrams: “[A] Wall Avenue Journal assessment discovered [that] lots of the file’s key particulars originated with just a few individuals gossiping after that they had been introduced collectively over a minor company publicity contract.” And right here is how the contract got here to be: “Mr. Danchenko [Steele’s “source”] had spent most of his skilled life within the U.S., together with a number of years as a researcher for the . By 2016 he was doing analysis for Mr. Steele. When Ms. Galkina requested him to recommend a publicist for her employer, Mr. Danchenko emailed his former boss at Brookings, . ‘I’ve an URGENT small favour to ask you,’ Mr. Danchenko wrote, relaying {that a} ‘superb previous buddy of 25 years’ was searching for assist from a public relations agency with Russia expertise and could be in Washington the next week. Ms. Hill, who later grew to become a high Nationwide Safety Council Russia knowledgeable—and later nonetheless a witness at Mr. Trump’s first impeachment hearings—forwarded the e-mail to Mr. Dolan, the PR government. After Ms. Galkina arrived in Washington, Mr. Danchenko took her purchasing and to a restaurant, say FBI notes of a later interview with the researcher.” • As I skilled Trump’s second impeachment, it was The Blob, within the particular person of Fiona Hill, whipping Trump into line (to, as we now could assume, transfer a proxy battle in Ukraine with Russia ahead).

Realignment and Legitimacy

Smiles (1):

Principal of our faculty went on about how nice it was going to be to see maskless faces, to see the children’ smiles (I pleaded along with her to no avail to maintain masks on, then stored my child residence), weeks later she was pleading with mother and father to masks their children as covid circumstances exploded.

— Pickle & Son (@PickleVermont) April 24, 2022

Smiles (2):

I can not categorical how a lot happier the world is with out masks mandates. My children bounce off the bed, excited for college. Strangers greet one another kindly. Smiles and laughter in all places.

We are able to by no means return.

— Sarah Beth Burwick (@sarahbeth345) April 25, 2022

Smiles (3):

Flew home 10 days in the past. Wore KN95 masks onboard. A couple of coughed non cease. Aircraft was filled with frail aged and infants. I’m 2xboosted (4shots). And to that man who mentioned to me “lastly no want for masks let’s see your face and your smile,” pfffffttttt.

— Julie A (@julieander68) May 9, 2022

Smiles (4):

WOW! First flight with NO MASK! So comfortable to see the grins 🥰 #nomask #MondayMorning pic.twitter.com/JUznh9JbxL

— Sharon Kay Dobbins McCray (@skmccray272) May 2, 2022

“Eyes Are Home windows to the Chinese language Soul: Proof from the Detection of Actual and Pretend Smiles” [PLoS One]. “In Western cultures, the mouth is essential in figuring out and decoding facial expressions, particularly with regard to happiness and smiles. A wealthy physique of literature helps this concept…. Nonetheless, decoding the which means of a smile additionally is dependent upon the knowledge conveyed by the eyes, particularly for distinguishing between actual and pretend smiles…. Williams, Senior, Loughland, and Gordon [15] additional proposed that the excellence between actual and pretend smiles is so vital that, when a smiling face is detected, consideration is mechanically directed in direction of eyes and eye corners to judge the authenticity of the smile. In help of this speculation, they demonstrated that observers make extra fixations to eye corners (crow’s-feet wrinkles) for smiling in comparison with impartial or unhappy faces.” • So, it’s not simply that the anti-maskers wish to optimize for smiles. It’s that they wish to optimize for pretend smiles (i.e., for individuals who will be conned as a result of they give the impression of being solely on the mouth, not the eyes). I suppose, in at present’s America, that isn’t unsurprising.

* * *

There’s science, after which there’s “science” after which there are scientists:

Excessive polarization on “belief in science” is a current and really troubling development. pic.twitter.com/jgtYbiqVo7

— Alec Stapp (@AlecStapp) May 8, 2022

I ponder what number of of these pro-science Democrats have confused science with scientist-celebrities, like Fauci; or with the work of demonstrably democidal establishments, like CDC. I woiuld guess many.

#COVID19

Simply in case these individuals assume no person’s paying consideration:

(Sure, I’ve received to get round to Leana Wen, however McBride is Wen’s mini-me.) I felt McBride deserved a spot within the pantheon once I learn this:

“The subsequent COVID mandate? Focus much less on masks and extra on these behind them” [Lucy McBridge, The Hill]. “In different phrases, . It’s time to graduate [!!] from a one-size-fits-all [for masks, and indeed mask-wearing, this is literally untrue] to a extra nuanced method to danger mitigation. The issue? Not everybody has entry to data and correct medical steering to take action. In reality, roughly 80 million People don’t have entry to a major care supplier. As we face this subsequent chapter of the pandemic, it’s time to arm individuals with and the instruments they should defend themselves in opposition to COVID — plus the myriad non-COVID well being threats throughout us. This begins with giving individuals unfettered entry to a trusted information. ” An expert, in different phrases. Extra: “The widespread thread between international locations who efficiently navigated the pandemic was surprisingly not GDP, smoking, most cancers charges, inhabitants density and even medical insurance protection; it was belief. A Lancet examine concluded that increased ranges of belief in public well being measures have been essentially the most predictive components of decrease COVID an infection charges. Sixty-three % of People belief their medical suppliers, lots of whom are members of their very own communities…. As we transition to the “that’s as much as them” section of COVID, we should meet the second and put money into the unmet wants of thousands and thousands of People. Main care medical suppliers, if well-funded and scaled up, are the very best line of protection in opposition to our most insidious well being issues and the vacuum of belief.” • McBride appears to consider that population-level public well being measures are finest delivered on the affected person stage; in different phrases, she confused public well being with drugs. I’m all for scaling up major care medical suppliers, however McBride’s cause for doing so is dangerous. (Think about Snow leaving the pump deal with on, after which asking the individuals in his cholera-infested district to speak to their major medical care supplier about whether or not they need to hold going to the pump, or boil water, and what “assessing their private danger” meant.)

And we welcome a earlier winner, Ashish Jha:

“Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jen Psaki and White Home COVID-⁠19 Response Coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha” [White House]. “So I wish to take a minute to speak about the place we’re with the pandemic. We’re — I consider we’re at an inflection level.” • Wait, what? I assumed Covid was over. We don’t want no steekin’ inflection factors! Jha then goes on to promote Paxlovid. Arduous.

Lambert right here: I’m however a humble tape-watcher, however if some trusting, non-realist soul tells you that “Covid is over,” you may inform them that circumstances are up, transmission is up, check positivity is up, hospitalization is up, speedy riser counties are up, and wastewater is up, too. And that is all from information designed to help the narrative that “Covid is over,” and gamed inside an inch of its life. So, if indicators like which might be flashing pink, contemplate what the actual sign have to be like. (Notice additionally that is all with BA.2 solely, and with what the institution considers an “immune wall” created from vaccination and prior an infection. Since semper aliquid novi Africam adferre, and we’ve let ‘er rip on the airports…. Effectively, I simply hope we get fortunate with BA.4 and BA.5. “God has a particular windfall for fools, drunkards, and the US of America.” –Otto von Bismarck.

For those who missed it, right here’s a submit on my queasiness with CDC numbers, particularly case rely, which I (nonetheless) contemplate most vital, regardless of what Walensky’s psychos at CDC who invented “neighborhood ranges” assume. However these are the numbers we’ve got.

Case rely by United States areas:

Seems to be just like the practice is rolling, now. Bear in mind these information factors are weekly averages, so day by day fluctuations are smoothed out. Additionally bear in mind, it’s 100% sure the circumstances numbers are considerably understated. They’ve all the time been gamed, nevertheless it’s worse than earlier than. One supply mentioned they although circumstances may be undercounted by an element of six. Gottlieb thinks we solely decide up one in seven or eight. The black “Fauci Line” is a counter to triumphalism, because it compares present ranges to previous crises. The blue “Biden Line” exhibits what the case rely could be if it have been 73,000 * 6 = 438,000, i.e. not gamed. (I modified the Biden Line from dotted to stable as a result of the dotted line was too laborious to attract correctly in my crude instrument.)

Listed below are circumstances for the final 4 weeks:

Price noting that circumstances have practically doubled in 4 weeks.

NOTE I shall most actually not be utilizing the CDC’s new “Community Level” metric. Because CDC has combined a leading indicator (cases) with a lagging one (hospitalization) their new metric is a poor warning sign of a surge, and a poor way to assess personal risk. In addition, Covid is a disease you don’t want to get. Even if you are not hospitalized, you can suffer from Long Covid, vascular issues, and neurological issues. For these reasons, case counts — known to be underestimated, due to home test kits — deserve to stand alone as a number to be tracked, no matter how much the political operatives in CDC leadership would like to obfuscate it.

Do we’ve got any SQL experts in the home who want to replicate this work?

From the Walgreen’s check positivity tracker:

I’m leaving the company brand on as a slap to the goons at CDC.

MWRA wastewater information:

The Massachusetts Water Assets Authority (MWRA) service space consists of 43 municipalities in and round Boston, together with not solely a number of college techniques however a number of massive universities. Since Boston is so very education-heavy, then, I feel it might be a great main indicator for Covid unfold in colleges usually.

From Biobot Analytics:

Northeast unflattened, and — hat tip to readers for pointing to this — it seems to be like previous aggregation was adjusted up. However that drop within the West seems to be like an adjustment, too. Do we’ve got any readers who monitor non-biobot wastewater within the West?

“U.S. Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention Selects Biobot Analytics to Increase Nationwide Wastewater Monitoring” [PR Newswire]. ” The U.S. Facilities for Illness Management (CDC) has chosen Biobot Analytics to broaden the company’s Nationwide Wastewater Surveillance System (NWSS), an integral a part of President Biden’s plan to combat Covid-19 and put together the nation for future pandemics. NWSS works with public well being departments throughout the nation to trace SARS-CoV-2 ranges in wastewater so communities can act rapidly to forestall the unfold of Covid-19. The Biden Administration acknowledges wastewater monitoring as a predictive indicator of latest circumstances in addition to an inclusive public well being instrument. Dr. Ashish Jha, the White Home Covid-19 Response Coordinator, wrote that wastewater monitoring ‘can provide us early insights into rising case charges and assist us monitor infections locally.’ ‘This program will permit tons of of native communities to profit from this novel expertise.’ Over the following 12 months, the CDC will work with Biobot to gather and analyze wastewater samples from 500 communities throughout the nation to assemble SARS-CoV-2 information.” • 500? That’s all? Appears unlikely to assist me do my private danger evaluation homework.

Instances lag wastewater information.

From CDC Neighborhood Profile Stories (PDFs), “Speedy Riser” counties:

Main enhancements on the West Coast. Pennsylvania improves within the Northeast. (Do not forget that these are speedy riser counties. A county that strikes from pink to inexperienced will not be covid-free; the case rely simply isnt, properly, rising quickly.) It could be good if the falling wastewater measures in California presaged a drop in circumstances. (OTOH, the Biobot information is just nearly as good because the non-representative pattern it makes use of, so…).

The earlier launch:

Right here is CDC’s interactive map by county set to neighborhood transmission. That is the map CDC wants only hospitals to look at, not you:

The Northeast stays stubbornly and solidly pink. Now California is pink as properly. The Higher Midwest is transferring that approach, too. (The Unorganized Territories in Maine are again to pink, good job.)

Hospitalization (CDC Neighborhood Profile):

This map could be very dynamic! Now the orangization has moved from the Northeast to the Midwest and the Mountain states. (Notice development, whether or not up or down, is marked by the arrow, at high. Admissions are offered within the graph, on the backside. So it’s attainable to have an upward development, however from a really low baseline.)

Dying charge (Our World in Information):

Whole: 1,024,752 1,024,546. Now even the dying charge is up. By lots. Did CDC uncover a bunch of dying certificates stuffed in a drawer? I’ve added an anti-triumphalist Fauci Line.

“Spring Breakers Prepare Scattered Corpses To Spell Out YOLO” [Babylon Bee]. • Onion-class, however I feel the Bee thinks they’re proudly owning me. Theyr’e not.

Covid circumstances in high us journey locations (Statista):

Broadly down. (Notice the standard of those numbers varies wildly. For instance, the UK is slicing again on testing information.

Stats Watch

Inflation: “United States Inflation Price” [Trading Economics]. “The annual inflation charge within the US accelerated to eight.5% in March of 2022, the best since December of 1981 from 7.9% in February and in contrast with market forecasts of 8.4%. Vitality costs elevated 32%, particularly gasoline (48%) and gasoline oil (70.1%) as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine pushed crude oil costs increased. Additionally, meals costs jumped 8.8%, essentially the most since Could 1981.”

Small Enterprise Optimism: “United States Nfib Enterprise Optimism Index” [Trading Economics]. “The NFIB Small Enterprise Optimism Index in the US was unchanged at 93.2 in April of 2022, the identical as in March, and remaining at ranges not seen in two years. Extra enterprise house owners anticipate enterprise situations to worsen over the following six months however the share of these elevating promoting costs eased from a report excessive in March and extra anticipate actual gross sales to be increased within the short-term.”

Transport: “Contract talks as a result of begin this week between West Coast dockworkers and cargo-handling firms carry excessive stakes for U.S. provide chains. The negotiations protecting 29 ports have confirmed extremely contentious and disruptive in years previous….” [Wall Street Journal]. “The dangers are even larger this 12 months with freight networks nonetheless backed up and the American financial system wanting more and more fragile. Leaders of the Worldwide Longshore and Warehouse Union and the Pacific Maritime Affiliation each are expressing optimism they’ll attain an settlement. The early begin to talks to interchange a contract expiring this summer season suggests there may be some urgency backing up the general public statements, partly as a result of importers are already on the lookout for alternate options to the congested Southern California ports. Automation on the docks is shaping up as the largest concern, with large questions that have been pushed again in earlier contracts now rising extra urgent.

The Bezzle: “Crypto’s Audacious Algorithmic Stablecoin Experiment Crumbles” [Bloomberg]. “Algorithmic stablecoins, like their extra ‘conventional’ counterparts, are supposed to offer calm within the chaos of crypto. As a substitute, as traders in a single such token are quickly discovering out, they’ll function lightning rods for volatility. Somewhat than buying and selling at $1, as designed, the TerraUSD coin, or UST, slipped over the weekend to round 99 cents. By Monday night in New York, it had plunged to 60 cents, obliterating its earlier low of 92 cents in Could 2021. It clawed again losses on Tuesday and is fluctuating between round 90 cents and $1 — an indication of bother. What prompted Terra’s coin to develop into untethered is a subject of intense web debate. The disconnect occurred alongside a pointy selloff in cryptoassets — together with a plunge in Bitcoin to beneath $30,000 — and a broader retreat from danger property together with shares. Regardless of the catalyst, it’s no small factor: There are round 18.5 billion of UST in circulation, based on CoinMarketCap, a large enough presence that its swings might have systemic implications for different cash and protocols. And Do Kwon, the crypto upstart behind UST, has beforehand dedicated to purchasing as a lot as $10 billion value of Bitcoin as a part of his help of the coin, additional entwining the mission with the core of the digital-asset market. ‘It’s pretty clear that there’s a disaster of confidence,’ mentioned Kyle Samani of Multicoin Capital. He added that it was not sure whether or not UST would survive. That raises the prospect of the present turbulence snowballing into one of many greatest crypto blowups in current reminiscence.”

The Bezzle: “The Tech Business’s Epic Two-12 months Run Sputters” [Wall Street Journal]. “The expertise trade, which powered the U.S. financial system through the pandemic and grew at super scale throughout a decade of ultralow rates of interest, is confronting probably the most punishing stretches in years. World powerhouses and fledgling startups are feeling ache from a wide range of financial, trade and market components, spawning postpandemic turbulence in e-commerce, digital promoting, electrical automobiles, ride-hailing and different segments. Firms that emerged as job-creating juggernauts up to now two years—collectively including tons of of hundreds of employees to their payrolls in engineering, warehouse and supply jobs—have begun to freeze hiring and even lay off workers.”

Tech: “REVEALED: Elon Musk plans to FIRE 1,000 Twitter employees, quintuple income, get 69 million customers paying $3 a month and reduce reliance on promoting earnings, presentation to traders exhibits” [Daily Mail]. “Musk is claimed to favor a subscription-based mannequin over advertiser funding, as it might make Twitter much less beholden to advertiser stress. He has even recommended customers might pay with cryptocurrency, together with joke foreign money Dogecoin which Musk has lengthy had an affection for…. Amongst his different objectives, Musk expects the social media firm to usher in $15 million from a funds enterprise in 2023 that can develop to about $1.3 billion by 2028. As one of many founders of PayPal, Musk is aware of the world of digital funds. Twitter’s funds enterprise at present, which incorporates tipping and purchasing, is negligible. It’s believed Musk might also wish to introduce cost skills to Twitter.” • That might be fascinating….

As we speak’s Worry & Greed Index: 21 Excessive Worry (earlier shut: 22 Excessive Worry) [CNN]. One week in the past: 32 (Worry). (0 is Excessive Worry; 100 is Excessive Greed). Final up to date Could 10 at 1:12 PM EDT.

Video games

Undecided fairly the place to file this:

The Avengers universe (R.I.P. George Pérez).

Sports activities Desk

In all probability a bit of late, however for many who missed it, this from the Kentucky Derby is extraordinary:

The Gallery

Elites have gone cray cray* earlier than:

However not all the time with a great consequence:

NOTE * I imply, they’re actually holding superspreading occasions and infecting one another.

Zeitgeist Watch

“Uncovered By A Strava Kom: The Many Lives Of A Pretend Professional Bicycle owner” [Cycling Tips]. “On the quiet Leigh Mill climb section, not removed from Falls Church, the highway rises from Tough Run River and punches upwards for half a mile (~800 m). When Clark logged his journey to Strava at day’s finish, his pace up the climb – an obvious 33 mph (53 km/h) on a climb that peaks at 8.5% – recommended an absurdly robust set of legs, or a digital glitch. Perhaps each; stranger issues have occurred, each in biking and on the web. However amongst some observers – one in all whom thought a Strava KOM may’ve been sniped through motor-doping, digital-doping, or simply plain previous ‘doping’ – it stretched plausibility only a bit an excessive amount of. So, some individuals began digging.” • And dig they did…..

Black Injustice Tipping Level

All superb, if true:

Information of the Wired

Not a foul thought:

This image jogs my memory that I consider I forgot to concern my seasonal warning: Once you exit for a stroll, be sure you lookup up up into the sunshine. Not down at your ft:

Contact data 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 test in case you are allergic to PayPal and (b) to learn the way to ship me photos of vegetation. Greens are high quality! Fungi and coral are deemed to be honorary vegetation! If you need your deal with to seem as a credit score, please place it initially 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 AM:

AM writes: “Fuzzy inexperienced fern-like vegetation juxtaposed with the basic shiny leaved model of Florida plant – close to Naples FL. Not an enormous fan of FL however the vegetation is a visit.”

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