By Lambert Strether of Corrente.
Bird Song of the Day
Northern Mockingbird, Miller Drive Roost (Brewer Park), Miami-Dade, Florida, United States. Very pretty!
In Case You Might Miss…
- H1B controversy rolls along.
- Trump’s AI czar helping H1Bers with fraudulent remittances.
- Norovirus surge.
- Amazon attacks third-party sellers again.
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
Trump Assassination Attempts (Plural)
“Trial of man accused in Trump assassination attempt in Florida pushed back to September” [Associated Press]. “Ryan Routh’s trial will begin Sept. 8 instead of the previously scheduled Feb. 10, 2025 start date, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon said in an order released on Monday…. Routh’s attorneys had asked the judge to delay the trial until no earlier than next December, saying they needed more time to review the evidence against him and decide whether to mount an insanity defense. Routh owned 17 cellphones and numerous other electronic devices, and there are hundreds of hours of police body camera and surveillance videos that have been provided to the defense, Routh’s attorneys argued during a hearing two weeks ago in Fort Pierce, Florida. In her order, Cannon said she wanted to err on the side of providing more time given the seriousness of the allegations, but that starting the trial no earlier than December would be an excessive amount. A September trial date didn’t amount to an ‘unreasonable delay,’ she said…. The judge said that any insanity defense or any request related to Routh’s mental competency must be made by early February. Any visit to the scene of the assassination attempt must be made by the end of February.”
Trump Transition
“The Great Fake H1-B Controversy” [Roger Simon, American Refugees]. “This fits the internal MAGA dispute over H1-B visas to the proverbial T. The only ones who profit from this kerfuffle, or whatever it is, are the left and their fading media allies, desperate for something to latch onto about MAGA and .” It’s so funny to see party regulars, of whichever party, coming up with the same talking points.
“Steve Bannon Slams ‘Toddler’ Elon Musk After Tesla Owner Tells Critics To ‘F**k Yourself In the Face’ As MAGA Civil War Rages On” [Mediaite]. “Someone please notify ‘Child Protective Services’— need to do a ‘wellness check’ on this toddler,’ Bannon wrote on Gettr on Friday night in response to Musk telling his critics to ‘fuck yourself in the face.’… In followup posts on Gettr, Bannon argued that H-1B visas are used as a ‘tool’ of the tech industry to drive wages down [correct] and he told Musk to ‘bring it.’… On his War Room podcast on Friday, Bannon referred to tech leaders like Musk as ‘on the spectrum’ and incapable of taking criticism. ‘The nerds don’t take criticism,’ he said. ‘They’re kind of, you know, they’re a little bit all on the spectrum, right? They don’t know– they’re not deep in social skills.’” • Not sure Bannon is all that strong on social skills either. Or the political class generally, lacking empathy as they seem to do. Commentary:
Who the fuck tells millions of Americans to go fuck themselves in the face and then tells them a day later to post more positivity?
— Donhammed Trumpistan (@TheRealDon85) December 29, 2024
Can confirm I saw both of President Musk’s tweets go by.
Democrats en déshabillé
That’s the stuff to give the troops:
The Green Party spoiled another major race for us (PA SEN), just the latest on a very long list.
As @DNC Chair, I’ll go on permanent offense, not just taking up the legal fight during ballot access. We’ll dismantle these Republican-enablers’ infrastructure. The gloves come off.
— James Skoufis (@JamesSkoufis) December 27, 2024
“As DNC chair, I’ll keep Greens off the ballot!”
“Is the Democratic brand toxic? A growing number of Dems wonder if going ‘independent’ will help them win” [Politico]. “A group of operatives at major Democratic media firms are in talks about creating a company that would help elect left-leaning independents, according to a person familiar with the discussions who was granted anonymity to talk about internal planning. The business would also back populist Democrats.” • Oh, swell.
Realignment and Legitimacy
“Luigi Mangione’s indictment is another example of the dangers of terror charges” [TruthOut]. “Tacking terrorism onto the indictment allows the district attorney to upgrade the murder charges from the second to the first degree; under New York law, first-degree murder charges are normally reserved for crimes like serial or mass killings or the murder of police officers…. It’s hard not to see the bloated charges in the context of Mangione’s recent ascent to quasi-folk hero status…. This outpouring of public resentment has unnerved health care executives. Corporations scrambled to scrub information about their C-suites from the internet and called up private security details. Bragg made a broad reference to this fear in a press conference. ‘This was a killing that was intended to evoke terror and we’ve seen that reaction,’ he told reporters on December 17. ‘This was not an ordinary killing.’” • With a good review of other “terrorism” charges, including camping at Cop City.
“UnitedHealthcare taught us ways to deny claims: Former employee” [NewsNation]. ” A former UnitedHealthcare claims representative says employees were systematically trained to deny medical claims and rush distressed customers off phone lines, revealing internal practices at the nation’s largest health insurer amid growing scrutiny of the industry. Natalie Collins, who worked for UnitedHealthcare for nine months, said Saturday on ‘NewsNation Prime’ that staff received ‘so many different ways to deny’ claims during their two to three months of training, with supervisors often standing behind representatives instructing them on denial methods. ‘We weren’t given proper instruction to actually pay the claim, and there wasn’t enough monies in certain files in certain companies to pay medical claims,’ Collins said. ‘We would have to just get the client off the phone as fast as we could.’”
* * * “Kansas once required voters to prove citizenship. That didn’t work out so well” [Associated Press]. “Kansas imposed a proof-of-citizenship requirement over a decade ago that grew into one of the biggest political fiascos in the state in recent memory. The law, passed by the state Legislature in 2011 and implemented two years later, ended up blocking the voter registrations of more than 31,000 U.S. citizens who were otherwise eligible to vote. That was 12% of everyone seeking to register in Kansas for the first time. Federal courts ultimately declared the law an unconstitutional burden on voting rights, and it hasn’t been enforced since 2018. Kansas provides a cautionary tale about how pursuing an election concern that in fact is extremely rare risks disenfranchising a far greater number of people who are legally entitled to vote. The state’s top elections official, Secretary of State Scott Schwab, championed the idea as a legislator and now says states and the federal government shouldn’t touch it. ‘Kansas did that 10 years ago,’ said Schwab, a Republican. ‘It didn’t work out so well.’”
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, thump, Tom B., Utah, Bob White (3).
Stay safe out there!
“Norovirus cases are rising in the U.S., CDC data shows” [Axios]. Cases of a highly contagious stomach bug are rising across the U.S., according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Norovirus can cause ghastly bouts of vomiting and diarrhea as a result of inflammation of the of the stomach and intestines, per the CDC. It’s also the number one cause of foodborne illness in the U.S., according to the health agency…. The virus often spreads in ‘confined spaces’ like cruise ships, day care centers, and college dorms, the journal added.” • Tranmission is said to be droplet-based: Vomit, feces… So I had to check, “confined spaces” being a red flag–
“Aerosol Transmission of Norovirus” [Viruses]. “Norovirus (NoV) is a major cause of acute gastroenteritis outbreaks worldwide. A comprehensive understanding of the transmission mode is of great significance for the prevention and control of the NoV infection. Currently, the transmission modes of NoV include contact, food-borne, water-borne and aerosol transmission. The first three modes are more common, while aerosol transmission is seldom reported…. NoV aerosol transmission often occurs simultaneously with person-to-person transmission, including the contact with infected individuals and contaminated environments. Therefore, a rigorous investigation and analysis are required when determining the transmission mode. There is also a lack of standard sampling equipment and procedures for viral aerosols, which hinders a better understanding of the source, concentration, particle size, residence time, movement and distribution of viral aerosols. In addition, we need to establish an effective in vitro culture system to evaluate the infectivity of NoV aerosols, which is another challenge that that is currently exists. At present, most cases of NoV aerosols are related to vomiting, and diarrhea-related ones are less common. Further research is needed to investigate the role of diarrhea and toilet flushing in the transmission of NoV aerosols, including the concentration of aerosols in toilets and their infectivity. Recent reports have indicated salivary transmission as a new mode of transmission [74]. Therefore, it is essential to explore whether activities such as coughing, talking, sneezing and other behaviors of infected individuals contribute to the aerosol transmission of NoV. It is necessary to further explore the aerosol transmission mechanism of NoV to provide a theoretical basis for formulating prevention and control policies.” • We don’t know because we’re not checking. Can’t we at least rule aerosol transmission out?
Lambert here: A little more orange and red around Ohio; no rise at JFK, EWR, ORD, LAX.
| Wastewater | |
| This week[1] CDC December 16 | Last week[2] CDC (until next week): |
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| Variants [3] CDC December 21 | Emergency Room Visits[4] CDC December 21 |
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| Hospitalization | |
| ★New York[5] New York State, data December 27: | National [6] CDC December 26: |
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| Positivity | |
| National[7] Walgreens December 23: | Ohio[8] Cleveland Clinic December 14: |
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| Travelers Data | |
| Positivity[9] CDC December 9: | Variants[10] CDC December 9 |
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| Deaths | |
| Weekly Deaths vs. % Positivity [11] CDC November 20: | Weekly Deaths vs. ED Visits [12] CDC November 20: |
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LEGEND
1) ★ for charts new today; all others are not updated.
2) For a full-size/full-resolution image, Command-click (MacOS) or right-click (Windows) on the chart thumbnail and “open image in new tab.”
NOTES
[1] (CDC) Seeing more red and more orange, but nothing new at major hubs.
[2] (CDC) Last week’s wastewater map.
[3] (CDC Variants) XEC takes over. That WHO label, “Ommicron,” has done a great job normalizing successive waves of infection.
[4] (ED) A little uptick.
[5] (Hospitalization: NY) Slow and small but steady increase.
[6] (Hospitalization: CDC). Leveling out.
[7] (Walgreens) Leveling out.
[8] (Cleveland) Continued upward trend since, well, Thanksgiving.
[9] (Travelers: Positivity) Leveling out.
[10] (Travelers: Variants). Positivity is new, but variants have not yet been released.
[11] Deaths low, positivity leveling out.
[12] Deaths low, ED leveling out.
Stats Watch
Manufacturing: “United States Chicago PMI” [Trading Economics]. “The Chicago Business Barometer, also known as the Chicago PMI, dropped further to 36.9 in December 2024, compared to November’s 40.2 and missing market forecasts of 42.5. The latest data indicated that Chicago’s economic activity contracted for the 13th consecutive month, recording its steepest decline since May.”
Manufacturing: “United States Dallas Fed Manufacturing Index” [Trading Economics]. “The Dallas Fed’s Texas manufacturing activity index moved up six points to 3.4 in December 2024, its first positive reading since April 2022.”
Retail: “Amazon sellers are in revolt over a new policy they say hurts profits and gives up guarded business data” [Modern Retail]. ” Starting March 10, 2025, Amazon will only pay back sellers for the product manufacturing cost, not the full retail cost, which is how the e-tailer currently reimburses sellers for lost or damaged items. … What’s more, in order to calculate the payouts, sellers have one of two options. They can let Amazon determine the manufacturing cost. In the announcement, Amazon said such estimates would be ‘based on a comprehensive evaluation of comparable products sold by Amazon, by other sellers and through wholesale channel.’ Still, sellers who spoke to Modern Retail said they’re worried that this could lead to inaccurate or low-ball estimates. Alternatively, sellers can provide their manufacturing costs, such as proof of cost of sourcing, directly to Amazon. For sellers, this raises serious privacy concerns over how exactly their private manufacturing cost data will be used.” Indeed! More: “A Wall Street Journal investigation from 2020 found that Amazon has allegedly used data from third-party sellers to help develop its private-label goods. Brands have claimed that Amazon copies their products and undercuts them with prices that make it difficult to compete. Amazon has since pulled back on its private-label business to alleviate regulatory scrutiny. … To AmpliSell’s [Joshua] Rawe, Amazon sellers have two ‘closely guarded secrets’: one, their manufacturing cost data. And two, who their manufacturer is. ‘With Amazon saying, ‘Hey, give us your cost,’ that’s like giving up your competitive advantage to these sellers,’ Rawe said. ‘They’re like, ‘Well if I give you my cost, you’re going to go out and figure out how to source it cheaper and create an Amazon brand of my product.’ That’s every seller’s worst fear.’” • In the midst of being sued by FTC as a monopoly, too.
Manufacturing: “South Korea to inspect Boeing aircraft as it struggles to find cause of plane crash that killed 179” [Associated Press]. “The Boeing 737-800 plane operated by South Korean budget airline Jeju Air aborted its first landing attempt for reasons that aren’t immediately clear. Then, during its second landing attempt, it received a bird strike warning from the ground control center before its pilot issued a distress signal. The plane landed without its front landing gear deployed, overshot the runway, slammed into a concrete fence and burst into a fireball. Alan Price, a former chief pilot at Delta Air Lines and now a consultant, said the Boeing 737-800 is a ‘proven airplane’ that belongs to a different class of aircraft than the Boeing 737 Max jetliner that was linked to fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019.” Oh. More: “Video of the crash indicated that the pilots did not deploy flaps or slats to slow the aircraft, suggesting a possible hydraulic failure, and did not manually lower the landing gear, suggesting they did not have time, said John Cox, a retired airline pilot and CEO of Safety Operating Systems in St. Petersburg, Florida.” And: “Other observers said the videos showed the plane was suffering from suspected engine trouble but the landing gear malfunction was likely a direct reason for the crash. They said there wouldn’t likely be a link between the landing gear problem and the suspected engine issue. Earlier Monday, another Boeing 737-800 plane operated by Jeju Air returned to Seoul’s Gimpo International Airport shortly after takeoff when the pilot detected a landing gear issue.” And: “Joo said officials were reviewing whether there might have been communication problems between air traffic controllers and the pilot.” • Hmm.
Manufacturing: “South Korea tragedy is ninth incident with Boeing this YEAR including 6,000ft drop, in-flight fire, Vilnius airport crash…as well as mysterious death of safety whistleblower” [Daily Mail]. • A good, and sadly lengthy, roundup.
Tech: “Elon Musk’s xAI Secures Funding of $6B as Grok Transforms X” [NASDAQ]. “Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence venture, xAI, has secured a staggering $6 billion in its latest funding round, according to a TechCrunch report, citing a Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Thursday. This brings the company’s total capital raised to $12 billion in just one year, signaling its rise in the competitive AI landscape….. According to a Financial Times report, only existing xAI investors were eligible to participate in this round, with up to 25% of shares reserved for those who had supported Musk’s acquisition of the social media platform Twitter, now called X. This exclusive approach indicates Musk’s strategy of rewarding loyal stakeholders while aiming for xAI’s rumored valuation of $50 billion.”
Tech: “Elon Musk’s xAI lands $6B in new cash to fuel AI ambitions” [TechCrunch]. “X recently got a ‘Grok button’ designed to help users discover ‘relevant context’ and dive deeper into trending discussions and real-time events.” • If I were Elon, I’d be feeding the X firehouse right into Groks’s training sets (autocoprophagy in near-real time), because the potential for manipulation is obvious.
Today’s Fear & Greed Index: 30 Fear (previous close: 34 Fear) [CNN]. One week ago: 29 (Fear). (0 is Extreme Fear; 100 is Extreme Greed).Last updated Dec 30 at 2:36:02 PM ET.
Rapture Index: Closes down one on drought. “Rain chips away at general drought conditions” [Rapture Ready]. Record High, October 10, 2016: 189. Current: 181. (Remember that bringing on the Rapture is good.) • Hard to believe the Rapture Index isn’t at an all-time high. Doesn’t the collapse of Syria bring the Third Temple closer? Do these people know something we don’t?
Gallery
Luigi?
Caravaggio pic.twitter.com/vA3No66R05
— Art Gallery (@X_ArtGallery) December 15, 2024
Healthcare
“Long COVID Lawsuits Coming, but Not Likely to Succeed” [MedScape]. ” just when COVID lawsuits appear to be dwindling out, legal experts see a new lawsuit risk on the horizon — long COVID claims. While some say it’s doubtful the claims will succeed, the lawsuits could still create legal headaches for doctors in the form of time and money. Long COVID claims are defined as complaints that allege that a diagnosis of long COVID was missed or delayed and that caused harm or injury. Lawsuits may also include claims in which patients allege that they were misdiagnosed as having long COVID when they were really suffering from another condition. The risk of long COVID lawsuits underscores the importance of physicians taking proactive steps to protect themselves from liability when treating patients who might have the condition, say legal experts. ‘There are legal standards that say new, unestablished scientific principles shouldn’t be first tested by a jury, they should be recognized and established within their [professional] area,” Kolbert said. ‘While we are seeing lawsuits related to long COVID, I think it is truly putting the cart before the horse, because there needs to be societal recognition that we’re still learning how to define and treat long COVID.’” • Maybe, but when we leave the horse in front of the cart, nothing happens either….
“By default, capital will matter more than ever after AGI” [Effective Altruism Forum]. “First: labour means human mental and physical effort that produces something of value. Capital goods are things like factories, data centres, and software—things humans have built that are used in the production of goods and services. I’ll use ‘capital’ to refer to both the stock of capital goods and to the money that can pay for them. I’ll say “money” when I want to exclude capital goods. The key economic effect of AI is that it makes capital a more and more general substitute for labour. There’s less need to pay humans for their time to perform work, because you can replace that with capital (e.g. data centres running software replaces a human doing mental labour).” • “Always was.” Commentary:
Interestingly parallel to Wilhoit: “Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition …There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect.”
“Here Come The Anti-Woke Venture Capitalists” [Forbes]. “Earlier this year, a little-known company called New Founding made headlines when it announced plans to build a Christian enclave in Kentucky — an ‘aligned community” where owners could ‘disappear from the cultural insanity of the broader country.’ But building a village was just the beginning. Now, New Founding has launched a venture capital fund to invest in what it calls ‘aligned companies,’ startups that oppose progressive ideologies and are intent on both ‘cultural and economic disruption.’ It’s one of a small but growing number of VCs vocally rejecting ‘wokeism’ and building their investment thesis on core conservative values… New Founding CEO Nate Fischer told Forbes these investments are the beginnings of a ‘parallel economy’ offering conservative versions of mainstream services it views as too liberal, like Google’s ad-tech products. ‘There’s a large share of people who feel that their views are almost entirely absent from the institutions that are shaping the future,’ Fischer explained. ‘And there’s a real acute need and hunger for alternatives.”… At least one Silicon Valley leader is on board. Marc Andreessen — a cofounder of the venture giant Andreessen Horowitz, or A16z, who has also railed against ‘wokeism’ — is among those backing New Founding’s venture fund.” • Why have we put the people who enshittified Google, social media, and every platform they’ve touched in charged of society-wide capital allocation?
Neoliberalism’s inflection point in the real economy?
Why is 1971 such an inflection point in so many data sets? pic.twitter.com/S5c6SQxlU3
— 0x146.gfy (@The0xReport) December 28, 2024
Did we not discuss this topic at some point? I used to collect charts like this. Like when real wages flattened.
