2:00PM Water Cooler 10/1/2024 | naked capitalism

By Lambert Strether of Corrente.

Readers, we will have a Live Blog of tonight’s Vice-Presidential debate. Doors open at 8:30pm ET; the debate proper starts at 9:00pm.

I also had a scheduling debacle, so I’ll be playing catchup for a bit, here. –lambert

Bird Song of the Day

Return to the mimidae!

Blue Mockingbird, Yecora, Km 261, Sonora, Mexico.

In Case You Might Miss…

1. Vance-Walz debate.
2. Kamala’s October Surprise?
3. Effects of Helene on North Carolina election.
4. Boeing and Longshoremen strikes..

Politics

“So many of the social reactions that strike us as psychological are in fact a rational management of symbolic capital.” –Pierre Bourdieu, Classification Struggles

Biden Administration

“US officials quietly backed Israel’s military push against Hezbollah” [Politico]. “Senior White House figures privately told Israel that the U.S. would support its decision to ramp up military pressure against Hezbollah — even as the Biden administration publicly urged the Israeli government in recent weeks to curtail its strikes, according to American and Israeli officials…. Behind the scenes, Hochstein, McGurk and other top U.S. national security officials are describing Israel’s Lebanon operations as a history-defining moment — one that will reshape the Middle East for the better for years to come. The thinking goes: Israel has obliterated Hezbollah’s top command structure in Lebanon, severely undercutting the group’s capabilities and weakened Iran, which used Hezbollah as a proxy and power projector. The Israelis had planned to launch a significantly bigger ground incursion into Lebanon this week, but Biden officials have urged against it, asking Israel to be more targeted in how it conducted its operations.” • Commentary:

The Biden White House has October Surprised their own candidate. A historical first, I think.

— Jeet Heer (@HeerJeet) October 1, 2024

For all I know, these people think war with Iran is an election-winning strategy. More:

This is either a complete and total failure to contain the conflict by the Biden administration — or this is what the White House wanted and it’s the most egregious lie told to the public since WMD.

Either incompetence or duplicity–no 3rd option.
Malevolent in either case.

— Ryan Grim (@ryangrim) October 1, 2024

Tbe eternal question: Stupid or evil? Could be both! Meanwhile:

An Iranian missile exploded near the Mossad headquarters, located on the northern outskirts of Tel Aviv.https://t.co/8L5e2KsIeC pic.twitter.com/m9YCPHEjx3

— Aric Toler (@AricToler) October 1, 2024

“Near,” eh? So much for all that Epstein material….

“Viewers ‘very nervous’ as Joe Biden’s Hurricane Helene address sparks concern” [Irish Star]. “During his address, Biden was noticeably fighting back coughs while speaking about the storm’s tragic consequences… ‘We’re keeping all our prayers on all the lives lost…’ he managed between coughs…. “There’s nothing like wondering, ‘is my husband, wife, son, daughter, mother, father alive? Many more who remain without electricity, water, food, and communications,’ he continued, coughing again, before affirming to those affected by the disaster, ‘we are not leaving until the job is done.’” • So, Biden’s third bout with Covid?

2024

Less than forty days to go!

Friday’s RCP Poll Averages:

This week’s crop of flag-of-convenience Democrat celebrities and generals didn’t turn the tide either. Despite the micturition and lamentation (very much including my own) about the Trump campaign dogging it when the election is theirs to win (see Gallup, “2024 Election Environment Favorable to GOP” on the issues) do note the steady deterioration in Kamala’s position in the (aggregated) top battlegrounds. (Of course, we on the outside might as well be examining the entrails of birds when we try to predict what will happen to a subset of voters (undecided; irregular) in a subset of states (swing), and the irregulars especially 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!}.

* * *

Vance-Walz debate:

Once again, doors open for the Live Blog at 8:30pm! Personally, I expect this debate to be more interesting than the Presidential debate, given the logorrhea of the previous combatants. But Vance has written a book, and Walz’s wife, also a teacher, had 40 students on their high school debate team, so maybe something rubbed off.

“JD Vance doesn’t think he needs debate prep to defeat Tim Walz” [Politico]. “‘We have well developed views on public policy so we don’t have to prepare that much,’ Vance said in a Teamsters press call on Wednesday morning. ‘We feel a lot more confident and frankly, you don’t have to prepare if you don’t have to hide what you say.’ His statement was in many ways exactly why Republicans — and especially Trump — continue to support him: He’s pithy, plainspoken and gets spirited with the media. And unlike Trump, he stays relentlessly on message and is known as an agile debater.”

“Want to Check That Fact? For V.P. Debate Viewers, Just Scan the Code” [New York Times]. “CBS News, host of Tuesday’s vice-presidential matchup between Senator JD Vance and Gov. Tim Walz, is using technology to try something new. A QR code — the checkerboard-like, black-and-white box that can be scanned by a smartphone — will appear onscreen for long stretches of the CBS telecast. Viewers who scan the code will be directed to the CBS News website, where a squad of about 20 CBS journalists will post fact-checks of the candidates’ remarks in real time. The code will appear only on CBS; viewers who tune in on a different channel will not see it. (Nearly every major network will simulcast the debate, starting at 9 p.m. Eastern.) But it is a novel approach to guide viewers, already accustomed to watching TV while hovering over a smartphone or laptop, to supplemental journalistic material elsewhere.” • Would be nice if users could select from a menu of QR codes, but whatever.

* * *

Kamala (D): “Kamala Harris Is an Artless Dodger” [Peggy Noonan]. “The race is deadlocked with six weeks to go and if you’re an undecided, unsure or wavering voter it looks like Awful vs. Empty. [I]n terms of policy [Harris] is coming across as wholly without substance…. This week she couldn’t or wouldn’t answer a single question straight, and people could see it. She is an artless dodger…. Only when speaking of her personal biography does she seem authoritative. Otherwise she is airy, evasive, nonresponsive…. She owes us these answers. It is wrong that she can’t or won’t address them. It is disrespectful to the electorate. If voters don’t get a sense of her deeper beliefs they will think of her as a construct, something other people built so they can run the country as she does photo-ops. Half of America wonders who’s really running things as the Biden years ebb. They won’t want to wonder for another four years. Which gets us back to Awful vs. Empty. When Americans feel that’s the choice and neither side gives them reason to believe otherwise, they’ll likely start to think in ways they believe practical. Empty means trouble, a blur when we need a rudder, a national gamble based on insufficient information. It means a policy regime that would be unpredictable, perhaps extreme. You don’t want that. Awful is—well, awful. But was president for four years, we didn’t all explode, institutions held, the threatened Constitution maintained. So—maybe that’s their vote. ‘Close your eyes and think of England.’ Unless of course in the next six weeks somebody surprises them, and impresses them.” • Fascinating that Nooners uses “he” without actually introducing Trump. We all know who “he” is…..

Kamala (D): “JD Vance allegedly banned from entering Primanti Brothers during campaign stop; restaurant calls it ‘momentary confusion’” [WTRF]. “A popular Pittsburgh restaurant is under fire after Trump supporters claim that staff allegedly banned Vice Presidential candidate JD Vance from entering the establishment. Approximately 100 residents of Allegheny County were waiting at the restaurants for Vance’s arrival. Washington County GOP Chair Sean Logue shared his account on social media and is now calling for a boycott of Primanti Brothers. Logue reported [sic] to KDKA that the manager told patrons that Vance was not allowed to make a campaign stop at Primanti Brothers, but pushback came when supporters reminded management that Kamala Harris was granted a photo op at the restaurant last month…. According to reports, Vance stayed outside of the restaurant while a staffer tried to negotiate with Primanti’s manager, going as far as calling corporate. Many of the Trump supporters walked out of the restaurant to take pictures with Vance. A Primanti’s spokesperson told KDKA that Vance and his guest were then welcomed into the restaurant where they were able to talk to different guests. Primanti Brothers released the following statement, ‘Primanti’s prides itself on being a staple of the Pittsburgh community and a proud American business that has hosted sitting presidents, politicians, and political candidates from across the spectrum for over 90 years. Our doors are open to all patrons who wish to dine with us. Without any advance notice, today’s campaign stop caused some momentary confusion for our staff. However, Senator Vance and his team were welcomed into our restaurant shortly after and engaged with our guests inside and on the property. Senator Vance’s supportive comments that our manager got a little nervous given the secret service, police and crowd accurately reflect the nature of what occurred, but we are glad that it was resolved quickly.” It is reported that while in the restaurant, Vance paid the bill for all of the supporters and walked out two minutes later.” • Hmm. Could be a staff screwup, but reads like a set-up to me, sort of a reverse Penzeys Spices move. And oops:

This is a boss move by Kamala and Walz.
Primanti Bros allowed Kamala and their camera’s into their restaurant today, after telling JD Vance NO yesterday. https://t.co/a0Ie2ej2oD

— Liberal Lisa in Oklahoma (@lisa_liberal) September 29, 2024

Not sure how “boss moves” like this jibe with being a President of “all the people.”

* * *

Trump (R): “Trump’s ageing is as real as Biden’s” [Edward Luce, Financial Times]. “The only way to understand his state of mind is to watch every rally to the end or . Ninety-nine per cent of voters do not have the time. Which means that Trump is treated as the same old Trump, eliciting familiar shrugs with the latest childish insult or outrageous vow. You could smuggle a sharp cognitive decline into Trump’s persona and few would notice. In politics, this offers a rare form of hurricane insurance. Nobody who rewatches Trump in 2016 and compares him with today could deny that his memory is patchier and his vocabulary smaller. Even when he avoids familiar tangents about Hannibal Lecter and death by electrocution or sharks, his repetition is notable. ‘Kamala is mentally impaired,’ Trump said at the weekend. ‘Joe Biden became mentally impaired. It’s sad. But lying Kamala Harris, honestly, I believe she was born that way.’” • I believe that I am one of the very few analysts — perhaps the only analyst — to review Trump’s transcripts, which I have done since 2016, when I saw him speak. When I compared Trump in 2016 to Trump in 2024 — using transcripts, as Lucse suggests should be done, but does not seem to have done — I concluded:

However, I think we can conclude that Trump’s mental acuity is undiminished, that his populism could be seen to have veered off in a Schmittian “friend and enemy” direction, but that his populism can also be said to include on “kitchen table” issues, like tips, real wages, and unions, the first two certainly distinguishing him from Biden. (At this point we remember that under the CARES ACT, poverty actually diminished.) Trump, for good or ill, remains unique…

However, to be fair to Luce, I compared rhetorical constructs and sentence structure; I did not consider vocabulary. Perhaps I should look at that.

* * *

“Battleground states see waves of new voters sign up who could sway 2024 race” [USA Today]. “In the majority of the seven key battleground states where Republican nominee Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris are particularly close in the polls, the current number of registered voters is up compared with the 2020 presidential contest that coincided with the COVID-19 global pandemic. North Carolina, as one example, boasts nearly a half million more registered people in 2024 compared with 2020, when Trump eked out a win over Joe Biden in the Tar Heel State by about 74,000 votes. Over in Michigan, the total count of registered voters has grown by more than 350,000 since October of 2020. Biden’s margin of victory that year over Trump in the midwestern battleground state: a little more than 150,000 votes. Similar voter registration trends are also playing out in Arizona, where Biden bested Trump in 2020 by about 10,500 votes, and Nevada, where the current Democratic president beat his predecessor by nearly 33,600 votes. Between August 2020 and the end of July this year, the Arizona electorate grew by nearly 125,000 voters. In Nevada − the least populated of this year’s swing states − more than 260,000 additional registered voters have signed up compared with this time four years ago. There’s an important caveat to this data: Registered voters are not the same thing as actual voters….”

* * *

GA: “Trump turns Hurricane Helene aftermath political” [Politico]. Oh my stars and garters! More: “Standing before piles of bricks blown off a furniture store in Valdosta, Georgia, Trump repeated his false claim that President Joe Biden wouldn’t get on the phone with the state’s Republican governor — despite Gov. Brian Kemp saying he had spoken to the president a day earlier and appreciated the federal help his state has received. And addressing reporters who assembled in Georgia ahead of his Monday afternoon stop, Trump predicted that Biden was ‘sleeping,’ criticized Harris for having been ‘out somewhere campaigning, looking for money’ a day earlier — when Trump himself was rallying in Pennsylvania — and referred to her running mate as ‘Tampon Tim.’ Even Trump seemed to acknowledge — at least when reading from prewritten remarks — that it wasn’t the time or place. ‘As you know, our country is in the final weeks of a hard-fought national election. At a time like this when a crisis hits, when our fellow citizens cry out in need, none of that matters,’ Trump said as he read from sheets of notes. ‘We’re not talking about politics now. We have to all get together and get this solved.’ But he refused to stick to that statesman’s tone on Monday. And for all the political benefits Trump has seemed to reap for being the first to show up at disaster sites — such as his visit to East Palestine, Ohio, early last year, when Biden had failed to go — his penchant for using any opportunity to smear his rivals was also on full display. Indirectly, so, too, in the aftermath of a hurricane affecting the swing states of North Carolina and Georgia, was the more measured persona Harris is seeking to project in a neck-and-neck race.”

MI: “‘A false sense of comfort’: Michigan Dems fight to keep voters’ attention on abortion” [Politico]. “Democrats swept Michigan in 2022 by campaigning on abortion rights, winning control of all branches of government in Lansing for the first time in nearly 40 years and making the state the first to override a ban on the procedure after the fall of Roe v. Wade. But this year, despite leaning even more heavily into the issue, Democrats remain virtually tied in federal races that could determine the presidency and majorities in Congress. That’s fueling anxiety that abortion slipped off many voters’ radars after Michiganders approved the ballot initiative two years ago. ‘There’s a false sense of comfort that somehow we’re okay because it’s in the Michigan Constitution,’ outgoing Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow told POLITICO recently… Democrats’ fight for Michigan is testing the potency and staying power of their national message that Republicans will wipe out access to abortion everywhere if given the chance.’” •

NC: “Helene adds stress to election in North Carolina” [Axios (SlayTheSmaugs)]. “North Carolina, one of the most important battlegrounds in the race for president, is at the center of the destruction from Hurricane Helene. Beyond the physical and emotional toll of the storm, Helene suddenly has created massive hurdles for voters and election officials just 35 days before the Nov. 5 election. ‘Voting won’t be a priority for a lot of people,’ said Seth Morris, an election law expert and associate at Parker Poe in North Carolina…. Early in-person voting begins in North Carolina on Oct. 17, a deadline that may be difficult for officials in some parts of the state to meet, especially if any of their polling locations were damaged or destroyed. ‘There are small staffs in a lot of these places whose attention is obviously going to be elsewhere,’ [Seth Morris, an election law expert and associate at Parker Poe in North Carolina] said ‘[Many] won’t be able to go to work this week and prepare for early voting and to handle the mail-ballots that are coming in.’” • Confirming, or at least supporting, my views expressed here yesterday. This too–

NC: “How Helene’s destruction could affect voting in North Carolina’s election” [News & Observer]. “In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene’s destruction in Western North Carolina, concerns have emerged about whether residents affected by the storm will be able to cast their ballots in the November election. Disruptions to the postal service, destruction of polling places, missing or damaged IDs and more could all pose challenges to voters with only 36 days left until the election. ‘This is all a cascading series of disasters,’ Gerry Cohen, a member of the Wake County Board of Elections, said.” • I should have added that mail-in ballots would be disrupted; fifty lashes with a wet noodle for Lambert. NOTE: Blue Buncombe County, home of Asheville, is the only county named.

NC: “Harris interrupts campaign schedule to visit Georgia, North Carolina in hurricane aftermath” [The Hill]. The headline is deceptive: “Harris will travel to Georgia on Wednesday and then to North Carolina ‘in the coming days,’ according to a White House official.”

PA: “Poll shows a tight race in Pennsylvania, with warning signs for Harris among older voters” [Politico]. “Harris is winning 49 percent of likely voters, compared with 47 percent for Trump and 2 percent for other candidates, the poll done by a bipartisan team for AARP found. Three percent are undecided…. Biden was down 5 percentage points overall in that April survey. Among voters aged 18 to 49, he was behind by 1 point; she is now ahead by 14. He was losing independents by 6 points; she is winning them by 9. With Democrats, women, suburban voters, rural voters and even voters without a college degree, she is outperforming Biden. There is a major voting bloc, though, among which she has slipped: seniors. Harris is losing voters aged 65 and older by 7 points, compared with 1 point for Biden. ‘Harris’ biggest weakness is older voters. It is the biggest share of the electorate, and she is behind,’ said Republican pollster Bob Ward, whose firm, Fabrizio Ward, helped conduct the AARP survey and also polls for the Trump campaign. The economy appears to be a big reason why older voters prefer Trump to Harris. For voters aged 50 and up who ranked inflation and high prices as a top issue, Trump has a 54-point lead.” • Older voters are the most reliable, too.

Clinton Legacy

“Clinton warns of October surprise that will ‘distort and pervert’ Harris” [The Hill]. “Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned of an October surprise that will ‘distort and pervert’ Vice President Harris. ‘There will be concerted efforts to distort and pervert Kamala Harris, who she is, what she stands for, what she’s done,’ Clinton said during an interview with ‘Firing Line’ host Margaret Hoover. She pointed to the 2016 ‘pizzagate’ conspiracy theory that surrounded the end of her presidential campaign against Donald Trump.” • “Surrounded” is going a lot of work, there. I followed election 2016 closely, and I cannot say that Pizzagate figured largely in the coverage, or that it affected the outcome (and did Clinton really not mention Russia?). So I take this as projection, and I presume the Democrats have a pre-emptive strike ready. We’ll see!

Realignment and Legitimacy

“It’s The Crisis of Masculinity, Stupid” [Sasha Stone, Free Thinking]. “I don’t want to insult Tim Walz or Doug Emhoff. I would never want to make them feel bad about things they can’t help, like masculinity, but BRUH. They would be what one might call sensitive men. No one out there is buying that Tim Walz is the masculine male role model that will bring back male voters. He’s just not that guy. They’re trying to sell him as Chief Brody, but really, he’s Matt Hooper from the Oceanographic Institute.” • Hooper is, I think, a character from Jaws. Not sure what’s going on in this post, but “irritable mental gestures” seems to cover it.

Syndemics

“I am in earnest — I will not equivocate — I will not excuse — I will not retreat a single inch — AND I WILL BE HEARD.” –William Lloyd Garrison

Covid Resources, United States (National): Transmission (CDC); Wastewater (CDC, Biobot; includes many counties; Wastewater Scan, includes drilldown by zip); Variants (CDC; Walgreens); “Iowa COVID-19 Tracker” (in IA, but national data). “Infection Control, Emergency Management, Safety, and General Thoughts” (especially on hospitalization by city).

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 “COVID” in the subject line. Thank you!

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’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).

Resources, Canada (National): Wastewater (Government of Canada).

Resources, Canada (Provincial): ON (wastewater); QC (les eaux usées); BC (wastewater); BC, Vancouver (wastewater).

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).

Stay safe out there!

Social Norming

It seems to me that a broadening neurological spectrum is important and, more to the point, adaptive:

Maybe it’s because I came to to CC twitter from autism twitter but it’s just so glaringly obvious to me that the #1 barrier to mass adoption of masking isn’t misinformation, it’s social cues and popularity contests. https://t.co/ioXx4OaZ2h

— 🧂Mask 4 Tinu & Fiqah (@DestinySugarB) September 30, 2024

TABLE 1: Daily Covid Charts

Employment Situation: “United States Job Openings” [Trading Economics]. “The number of job openings rose by 329,000 to 8.040 million in August 2024 from an upwardly revised 7.711 million in July and above market expectations of 7.655 million.”

Employment Situation: “United States Job Quits” [Trading Economics]. “The number of job quits in the US fell to 3.084 million in August of 2024 from the downwardly revised 3.243 million in the previous month, the lowest since August of 2020.”

Supply Chain: “United States LMI Logistics Managers Index” [Trading Economics]. “The Logistics Manager’s Index in the US jumped to 58.6 in September 2024 from 56.4 in August, pointing to the highest growth rate in the logistics sector in two years. The overall index has now increased for ten consecutive months, providing strong evidence that the logistics industry is back on solid footing.” • Effect of ILA strike not mentioned.

Manufacturing: “United States Manufacturing PMI” [Trading Economics]. “The S&P Global US Manufacturing PMI was revised higher to 47.3 in September 2024 from a preliminary of 47, but remained the lowest since June 2023. It marked the third consecutive month of contraction, with both output and new orders falling sharply due to weakened demand and political uncertainty.”

Supply Chain: “East and Gulf coast ports strike, with ILA longshoremen walking off job from New England to Texas, stranding billions in trade” [CNBC]. “Approximately 50,000 ILA union longshoremen were walking off the job at East Coast and Gulf Coast ports from New England to Texas starting at 12:01 a.m. ET on Tuesday after failing to reach an agreement with ports ownership on a new contract, the union’s first strike since 1977. Between 43%-49% of all U.S. imports and billions of dollars in trade monthly move through the U.S. East Coast and Gulf ports. The International Longshoremen’s Association, the largest maritime union in North America, rejected an offer from the port management group USMX on Monday that included a wage hike over six years near 50%.” • Commentary:

Supply Chain: “‘I will cripple you’: Dockworkers union vows to shut down U.S. economy with strike” [MarketWatch]. “In a video posted by the union last month, the ILA chief negotiator warned a dockworkers strike had the power to ‘cripple’ the U.S. economy, by blocking the import of everything from cars and clothes to construction materials. ‘These people today don’t know what a strike is,’ [ the International Longshoremen’s Association’s chief negotiator, Harold Daggett] said. ‘When my men hit the streets, from Maine to Texas, every single port will lock down. … Everything in the United States comes on a ship.’” • Presumably the contract will end, as should Boeings, on May 1, 2028? Speaking of not knowing “what a strike is.”

Supply Chain: “White House left with few good options as dockworkers walk out” [CNN]. “For weeks, Cabinet-level officials across an array of agencies have been keeping close tabs on the negotiations between the International Longshoremen’s Association and a consortium of companies managing ports along the East and Gulf coasts. White House officials on Friday met with representatives from the consortium, the US Maritime Corporation, to encourage the association to stay at the negotiating table. When it comes to brokering a potential deal, labor experts say the White House has just two tools: Using the bully pulpit and invoking the Taft-Hartley Act, which would force the longshore workers to get back on the job. President Joe Biden has sent a clear message that he has no plans to do the latter. ‘No,’ Biden told reporters Sunday when asked whether he would intervene in a potential strike. ‘Because it’s collective bargaining, and I don’t believe in Taft-Hartley.’ Breaking the strike would be a politically dangerous move for Biden as his vice president, Kamala Harris, runs to succeed him in the Oval Office. Without taking that move, there’s not much else the White House can do.” • Too bad about the railroad workers, but it wasn’t an election year.

Manufacturing: “Boeing Mulls $10B Stock Sale To Shore Up Finances” [Investopedia]. “Boeing is reportedly considering selling up to $10 billion in stock to boost its revenue as it deals with a strike by its machinists. However, Boeing likely won’t raise equity for at least a month, … as the company looks to end the strike by reaching a deal with the union and get a clearer estimate of its financial impact. The plane maker was already in a difficult financial position before the strike, after burning through billions to address a variety of issues, including mechanical problems with its planes and a legal settlement with the government related to two deadly crashes…. Shares of Boeing were 2% higher at $154.98 in early trading Tuesday, though even with Tuesday’s gains, they’ve lost over 40% of their value since the start of the year.” • Seems going to a lot of trouble just to bust the unions.

Manufacturing: “Boeing Needs to Take a Cue From UPS and Pay Its Strikers” [Bloomberg]. “Boeing Co.’s labor negotiators should have paid more attention to how Carol Tomé, the chief executive officer of United Parcel Service Inc., handled talks with its union last year. UPS workers were itching to strike, and the company was inevitably going to have to give hefty raises. Instead of digging in over a couple of percentage points on the salary increases, risking a strike and creating more animosity with its workforce, Tomé relented to the union’s demands. The higher labor costs have squeezed margins, and investors registered their dismay with a 27% drop in the share price since the tentative deal was announced in July last year. UPS customers, though, were grateful that Tomé avoided the disruption a strike would have caused. Tomé’s calculation was that even if she pushed the negotiations to the point of a strike, the company would have ended up in the same place — a big payout and costly changes such as adding air conditioning to new delivery vehicles. The only difference would have been the worker ill will and angry customers that a strike would have provoked. Automakers, on the other hand, let labor talks break down, and they ended up agreeing to record pay increases after a costly six-week strike. Boeing has dug in its heels with striking machinists who have shut down factories for more than a week, and it’s not working. The planemaker will more than likely have to meet workers’ demands to end this damaging and costly strike. Customers are upset that the delays in plane deliveries will worsen. Suppliers are left in the dark about how much they should cut back on production, which hurts their workers and finances. Repairing the culture of quality and safety on the factory floor is in jeopardy. The strike is only accelerating Boeing’s cash burn, spurring Moody’s Ratings to consider cutting the company’s debt rating.” •

Manufacturing: “Over 40 Airlines Could Be Flying Boeing Jets With Risky Rudder Parts” [Jalopnik]. “The National Transportation Safety Board warned over 40 foreign airlines on Tuesday that their Boeing 737 planes may be fitted with potentially dangerous rudder components. The agency identified 271 parts that could fail and jam the rudder control system. The NTSB discovered the issue while investigating a February landing incident involving a United Airlines flight arriving at Newark Liberty International Airport.” • Whoops.

Manufacturing: “Boeing can recover from its Starliner troubles, but it can’t afford any other misfires” [The Conversation]. “The partial failure of Starliner’s mission doesn’t help Boeing’s effort to bounce back from its problems. The company’s reputation has not been irreparably damaged, however. Boeing can recover and is taking the right initiatives to re-emphasise a safety culture – something that’s crucial to its business going forward. But recovering trust while upholding financial performance can take years.” • Obviously, the first step to buildng a safety culture is busting the unions.

Tech: So much for backup:

I had always assumed unpowered SSDs were stable indefinitely. Since I vehemently oppose the cloud, I suppose I’ll have to get a CD burner or some such. Time consuming!

Today’s Fear & Greed Index: 68 Greed (previous close: 75 Extreme Greed) [CNN]. One week ago: 66 (Hreed). (0 is Extreme Fear; 100 is Extreme Greed). Last updated Oct 1 at 1:46:30 PM ET.

Gallery

For Alma-Tadema stans:

Class Warfare

“Explicit Tape Showing Diddy and A-List Celeb Being ‘Shopped Around,’ Attorney Says” [Hollywood Reporter]. “”There already have been [Diddy] tapes leaking around Hollywood, being shopped around to individuals in Hollywood, but one particular person contacted me to shop a particular video they were in possession of, and to contact the person who was in the video to see if they were interested in purchasing the video before it became public knowledge,” [Attorney Ariel Mitchell-Kidd] said. The attorney declined to disclose the identity of the person in the video, but said they are even more famous than Combs. ‘Mr. Combs was in the tape and this other person is, I would venture to say, more high-profile than Mr. Combs,’ Mitchell-Kidd explained. The attorney said she’s seen screengrabs from the video, which was recorded at Diddy’s home in Atlanta. ‘The other person in the video is very visible. It’s no question if it’s that person in the video, and I can tell that the video is pornographic in nature,’ the attorney said, adding that the unnamed celeb did not appear to know they were being recorded. ‘The person isn’t looking into the camera, so to me, it doesn’t seem like that person knows they’re being videotaped,’ she noted, ‘like they’re being surreptitiously recorded.’”• I don’t care about celebrities. How about people with actual power? Executives? Investors? Regulators? Electeds?

News of the Wired

“Do All Problems Have Technical Fixes?” [Communications of the ACM]. “The unspoken foundational claim is not that computing technology confers certain benefits, a pragmatic claim, and a matter of fact, but that it carries normative value, that it’s good; in particular, our tech is good, and therefore should be out there in the world. This is tricky.” • By Betteridge’s Law….

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 CC:

CC writes: “Noticed this on the post at the bottom of the steps at my daughter’s house. Momma Spider on the post and her bunch(? Highly technical description), just below her above the handrail.”

Readers: Water Cooler is a standalone entity not covered by the annual NC fundraiser. Material here is Lambert’s, and does not express the views of the Naked Capitalism site. If you see a link you especially like, or an item you wouldn’t 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’m 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: