\n<\/p>\n
By Lambert Strether of Corrente.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\nBird Song of the Day<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>American Robin, Libertytown, Frederick, Maryland, United States. \u201cVery quiet vocalization at close range. Dawn song.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center><\/p>\n<p><strong>In Case You Might Miss\u2026 <\/strong> <\/p>\n<p>(1) <a href=\"#beekeeping\">Beekeeper helpers<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>(3) <a href=\"#williamson\">Williamson quotes LOTR<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>(2) Barnett\u2019s lawyers <a href=\"#boeing\">release the (redacted) text of his complaint<\/a>, making Boeing\u2019s Charleston plant look like a hellhole.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Look for the Helpers<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a name=\"beekeeping\"\/>\u201cKeeping Beekeeping in the Family\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tabletmag.com\/sections\/holidays\/articles\/beekeeping-family-honey-rosh-hashanah\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">The Tablet<\/a>]. \u201cAfter watching his son create buzzing colonies of honeybees on Staten Island, [Jonathan] Landes was hooked. Upon his return to Melbourne a few weeks later, Landes gathered up four of his lifelong friends and founded a small urban beekeeping company called Chevra Honey, named for the Hebrew and Yiddish word for a society or close-knit group\u2026. The idea was simple: In a city like Melbourne, where most people tend to live in houses with ample space and backyards, the chevra would help to set up beehives to encourage urban beekeeping. The hives Landes sets up are made of good quality wood. Successful placement in the urban environment requires significant considerations. \u2018You say hello and go meet the person [who wants to host the hive]. You do an evaluation of the garden and neighborhood. You have to ask questions, such as if there is anyone who is allergic to bees. You ask who the usual visitors to the house are, or if they have pets,\u2019 he said, listing the checklist he runs through with prospective hosts. \u2018It\u2019s not like a cat or another pet. People can get stressed about bees. You must be able to manage the colony.\u2019\u2026 Today, a decade on, Chevra Honey manages around 40 hives around Melbourne\u2026 \u2018Beekeeping suits me,\u201d said Landes. \u201cI really enjoy it. People are so nice. They are very engaged in making the urban environment healthy with bees. It\u2019s a really good gig.’\u201d <\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center><\/p>\n<p>My email address is down by the plant; please send examples of \u201cHelpers\u201d there. In our increasingly desperate and fragile neoliberal society, everyday <em>normal<\/em> incidents and stories of \u201cthe communism of everyday life\u201d are what I am looking for (and not, say, the Red Cross in Hawaii, or even the UNWRA in Gaza). <\/p>\n<p><strong>Politics<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo many of the social reactions that strike us as psychological are in fact a rational management of symbolic capital.\u201d \u2013Pierre Bourdieu, Classification Struggles<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center><\/p>\n<p>The Constitutional Order (Insurrection)<\/p>\n<blockquote><\/blockquote>\n<p>2024<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Less than a year to go!<\/p>\n<p><iframe src=\"https:\/\/free.timeanddate.com\/countdown\/i8ubjj5e\/n179\/cf100\/cm0\/cu1\/ct0\/cs1\/ca0\/cr0\/ss0\/cac000\/cpc000\/pcfff\/tcfff\/fs100\/szw320\/szh135\/tatTime%20left%20to%20Election%20Day%2C%202024\/tac000\/tptTime%20since%20Event%20started%20in\/tpc000\/mac000\/mpc000\/iso2024-11-05T00:00:00\/bo2\/pd2\" allowtransparency=\"true\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"322\" height=\"137\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center><\/p>\n<p>Trump (R): \u201cGOP primaries flash warning signs for Trump\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/homenews\/campaign\/4545479-gop-primaries-flash-warning-signs-for-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">The Hill<\/a>]. \u201cIn primary elections in Ohio and other states, a sizable number of GOP voters still cast ballots for former rivals to the ex-president. That\u2019s potentially a big problem for Trump, because it suggests not all GOP primary voters are warming to him\u2026 A handful of states cast ballots Tuesday in the presidential primaries, including Ohio, Florida and Arizona. Trump won Ohio and Florida by roughly fourth-fifths of the vote, but former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley notched around 14 percent in each.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Trump (R): \u201cTrump has an early lead on Biden. But problems are piling up around him\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2024\/03\/21\/trump-biden-polling-lead-problems-00148131\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Politico<\/a>]. \u201c\u2018The only person who can beat Donald Trump is Donald Trump,\u2019 said David Urban, a former senior Trump campaign adviser. \u2018I don\u2019t think we\u2019re there yet.\u2019 Despite it all, Trump remains in an enviable position, leading Biden in early polls as the incumbent president clocks in with historically bad approval ratings. But Trump\u2019s advantage is also less than 2 percentage points \u2014 hardly a commanding lead \u2014 and he is still sitting below 50 percent. In the earliest days of the general election campaign, Trump\u2019s often improvised remarks contrast with his opponent\u2019s more carefully scripted campaign outings \u2014 and that approach brings some downsides, as evidenced in recent days.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Trump (R): \u201cThus Far, Trump Has Huge Coattails. The Best Coattails.\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theamericanconservative.com\/thus-far-trump-has-huge-coattails-the-best-coattails\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">The American Conservative<\/a>]. \u201cPresident Donald Trump\u2019s victories in last night\u2019s primaries in Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, and Ohio were foregone conclusions. All of Trump\u2019s challengers have already exited the race and, for the third straight presidential cycle, Trump has secured the Republican nomination. This alone suggests Trump\u2019s takeover of the GOP is near total, but there\u2019s even more evidence down ballot. On Tuesday, Trump\u2019s chosen candidates beat expectations. Nowhere was that clearer than in Ohio\u2019s senate primary. The businessman Bernie Moreno bested state Sen. Matt Dolan by nearly twenty points. Moreno received more than 50 percent of the vote and carried every county in the Buckeye state\u2026.For now, however, Trump is still king and, for smaller realms all around the country, kingmaker. Trump has made 88 endorsements in the primaries thus far. Not a single candidate for federal office has lost their primary with Trump\u2019s backing. Only three Trump-endorsed state legislative candidates have lost. Across state and federal primaries, Trump is 58 for 61 thus far. When November rolls around, the 58 winners will have the added benefit of Trump on the top of the ticket once again.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center><\/p>\n<p><a name=\"williamson\"\/>Williamson (I):<\/p>\n<p><center><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\u201cAll that is gold does not glitter,<br \/>Not all those who wander are lost;<br \/>The old that is strong does not wither,<br \/>Deep roots are not reached by the frost.<br \/>From the ashes a fire shall be woken,<br \/>A light from the shadows shall spring;<br \/>Renewed shall be blade that was broken,<br \/>The\u2026<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Marianne Williamson (@marwilliamson) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/marwilliamson\/status\/1770392265380516316\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">March 20, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><\/center><br \/>\n<center>* * *<\/center>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Republican Funhouse<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cAs Medicare Advantage\u2019s shortcomings echo in the press, key legislators still push to privatize traditional Medicare\u201d [Trudy Lieberman, <a href=\"https:\/\/wendellpotter.substack.com\/p\/as-medicare-advantages-shortcomings\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">HEALTH CARE un-covered<\/a>]. \u201c[Rolling Stone\u2019s Andrew] Perez points out that one item buried in the 887-page Heritage Foundation blueprint written to inform a potential new Trump administration has attracted little attention so far. It is a scheme to \u2018make Medicare Advantage the default enrollment option\u2019 for people who are newly eligible for Medicare, he wrote. David Lipschutz, associate director of the Center for Medicare Advocacy, says the Heritage plan would hasten privatization. \u2018Upon becoming eligible for Medicare now everyone starts with traditional Medicare as the default but can opt out of that program and later choose an Advantage plan,\u2019 Lipschutz says. The Heritage proposal, however, would have people start with Medicare Advantage plans, apparently with the opportunity to opt-out. With this arrangement, you can see how easy it would be for Medicare, as we know it, to \u2018wither on the vine\u2019 since many people new to Medicare are not well versed in the difference between the two options and instead are swayed by the TV advertising beckoning them to Medicare Advantage plans.\u201d \u2022 Project 2025 taking a cue from nudge theory. Swell.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Democrats <em>en D\u00e9shabill\u00e9<\/em><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cWorking class Dems who campaign on economics beat Trumpists in elections\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/pluralistic.net\/2024\/03\/20\/actual-material-conditions\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Pluralistic<\/a>]. \u201cThe Democratic Party Pizzaburger Theory of Electioneering is: half the electorate wants a pizza, the other half wants a burger, so we\u2019ll give them all a pizzaburger and make them all equally dissatisfied, thus winning the election\u2026 But no one wants a pizzaburger. The Biden administration\u2019s approach of letting the Warren\/Sanders wing pick the antitrust enforcers while keeping judicial appointments in the Manchin-Synematic universe is a catastrophe in which progressive Dem regulators (who serve one term) are thwarted by corporatist Dem judges (who serve for life)\u2026 Jacobin teamed up with the Center for Working-Class Politics, Yougov and the Center for Work and Democracy at ASU and <a href=\"https:\/\/images.jacobinmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/11134429\/CWCP-Report-2024.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">analyzed [the 2022 midterms]<\/a>: Their conclusion: candidates from working-class backgrounds who campaigned on economic policies like high-quality jobs, higher minimum wages, a jobs guarantee, ending offshoring and outsourcing, building infrastructure and bringing manufacturing back to the US won with a 50% share of the vote in rural and working-class districts. Dems who didn\u2019t lost with a 35% share of the vote.\u201d \u2022 Well, now the liberals have another target for decapitation, just like the 50-state strategy, or the Sanders campaign(s)\u2026 <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>#COVID19<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am in earnest \u2014 I will not equivocate \u2014 I will not excuse \u2014 I will not retreat a single inch \u2014 AND I WILL BE HEARD.\u201d \u2013William Lloyd Garrison<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center><\/p>\n<p>Resources, United States (National): Transmission (<a href=\"https:\/\/covid.cdc.gov\/covid-data-tracker\/#county-view?list_select_state=all_states&list_select_county=all_counties&data-type=Risk&null=Risk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CDC<\/a>); Wastewater (<a href=\"https:\/\/covid.cdc.gov\/covid-data-tracker\/#wastewater-surveillance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CDC<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/biobot.io\/data\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Biobot<\/a>; includes many counties; <a href=\"https:\/\/data.wastewaterscan.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Wastewater Scan<\/a>, includes drilldown by zip); Variants (<a href=\"https:\/\/covid.cdc.gov\/covid-data-tracker\/#variant-proportions\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CDC<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.walgreens.com\/businesssolutions\/covid-19-index.jsp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Walgreens<\/a>); \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/iowacovid19tracker.org\/hospitals\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Iowa COVID-19 Tracker<\/a>\u201d (in IA, but national data). \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/icemsg.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Infection Control, Emergency Management, Safety, and General Thoughts<\/a>\u201d (especially on hospitalization by city).<\/p>\n<p>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 \u201cCOVID\u201d in the subject line. Thank you!<\/p>\n<p>Resources, United States (Local): AK (<a href=\"https:\/\/experience.arcgis.com\/experience\/af2efc8bffbf4cdc83c2d1a134354074\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); AL (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.arcgis.com\/apps\/dashboards\/6d2771faa9da4a2786a509d82c8cf0f7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); AR (<a href=\"https:\/\/experience.arcgis.com\/experience\/633006d0782b4544bd5113a314f6268a\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); AZ (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.azdhs.gov\/covid19\/data\/index.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); CA (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdph.ca.gov\/Programs\/CID\/DCDC\/Pages\/COVID-19\/CalSuWers-Dashboard.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/coronavirus.marinhhs.org\/surveillance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Marin, dashboard<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/healthalerts.stanford.edu\/covid-19\/wastewater-dashboard\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Stanford, wastewater<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/publichealth.verily.com\/?v=SC2_N&l=Oakland%2C+CA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Oakland, wastewater<\/a>); CO (<a href=\"https:\/\/covid19.colorado.gov\/data\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/cdphe.maps.arcgis.com\/apps\/dashboards\/d79cf93c3938470ca4bcc4823328946b#utility=\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>); CT (<a href=\"https:\/\/data.ct.gov\/stories\/s\/COVID-19-data\/wa3g-tfvc\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); DE (<a href=\"https:\/\/coronavirus.delaware.gov\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); FL (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.arcgis.com\/apps\/dashboards\/5b9d75ba683849928dc1a49c39ab0b1c\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>); GA (<a href=\"https:\/\/dph.georgia.gov\/ga-nwss-wastewater-surveillance-reports\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>); HI (<a href=\"https:\/\/health.hawaii.gov\/coronavirusdisease2019\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); IA (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dmmwra.org\/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=57\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater reports<\/a>); ID (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.idahopublichealth.com\/district-2\/novel-coronavirus\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>, Boise; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.idahopublichealth.com\/district-2\/novel-coronavirus\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/data.wastewaterscan.org\/?plantId=1056f05c-0e46-4e3d-b007-c0453ba7dc0d\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>, Central Idaho; <a href=\"https:\/\/publichealth.verily.com\/#:SARS-CoV-2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>, Coeur d\u2019Alene; dashboard, <a href=\"https:\/\/covid.srhd.org\/topics\/spokane-county-case-data\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Spokane County<\/a>); IL (<a href=\"https:\/\/iwss.uillinois.edu\/wastewater-treatment-plants\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>); IN (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.coronavirus.in.gov\/indiana-covid-19-dashboard-and-map\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); KS (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.coronavirus.kdheks.gov\/160\/COVID-19-in-Kansas\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/experience.arcgis.com\/experience\/4456bae8a38f4b6180e008477382fff9\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>, Lawrence); KY (<a href=\"https:\/\/louisville.edu\/envirome\/thecoimmunityproject\/dashboard\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>, Louisville); LA (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ldh.la.gov\/coronavirus\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); MA (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mass.gov\/info-details\/covid-19-wastewater-report\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>); MD (<a href=\"https:\/\/coronavirus.maryland.gov\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); ME (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.maine.gov\/dhhs\/mecdc\/infectious-disease\/epi\/airborne\/coronavirus\/data.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); MI (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigan.gov\/coronavirus\/stats\/wastewater-surveillance\/dashboard\/sentinel-wastewater-epidemiology-evaluation-project-sweep\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/gisportal.state.mi.us\/portal\/apps\/insights\/index.html#\/view\/52bbb104ed574887918f990af9f3debe\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>); MN (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.health.state.mn.us\/diseases\/coronavirus\/stats\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); MO (<a href=\"https:\/\/storymaps.arcgis.com\/stories\/f7f5492486114da6b5d6fdc07f81aacf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>); MS (<a href=\"https:\/\/msdh.ms.gov\/page\/14,0,420.html#Mississippi\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); <del>MT (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.arcgis.com\/apps\/MapSeries\/index.html?appid=7c34f3412536439491adcc2103421d4b\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>)<\/del>; NC (<a href=\"https:\/\/covid19.ncdhhs.gov\/dashboard\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard)<\/a>; ND (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hhs.nd.gov\/health\/coronavirus\/cases\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hhs.nd.gov\/health\/coronavirus\/cases\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>); NE (<a href=\"https:\/\/atlas-dhhs.ne.gov\/Atlas\/Respiratory_Illness\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); NH (<a href=\"https:\/\/wisdom.dhhs.nh.gov\/wisdom\/dashboard.html?topic=covid-19&subtopic=recurring-updates&indicator=covid-19-wastewater#tabnavbarid\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>); NJ (<a href=\"https:\/\/covid19.nj.gov\/forms\/datadashboard\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); NM (<a href=\"https:\/\/cvprovider.nmhealth.org\/public-dashboard.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); NV (<a href=\"https:\/\/nvhealthresponse.nv.gov\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/empower.unlv.edu\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>, Southern NV); NY (<a href=\"https:\/\/mbcolli.shinyapps.io\/SARS2EWSP\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); OH (<a href=\"https:\/\/coronavirus.ohio.gov\/dashboards\/other-resources\/wastewater\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); OK (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.arcgis.com\/apps\/dashboards\/51657c21386d4f1a962b1853c76ec589\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); <del>OR (<a href=\"https:\/\/public.tableau.com\/app\/profile\/oregon.health.authority.covid.19\/viz\/OregonsCOVID-19DataDashboards-TableofContents\/TableofContentsStatewide\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>)<\/del>; PA (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.health.pa.gov\/topics\/disease\/coronavirus\/pages\/Cases.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); RI (<a href=\"https:\/\/ri-department-of-health-covid-19-data-rihealth.hub.arcgis.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); SC (<a href=\"https:\/\/scdhec.gov\/index.php\/covid19\/covid-19-data\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); SD (<a href=\"https:\/\/doh.sd.gov\/COVID\/Dashboard.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); TN (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tn.gov\/health\/cedep\/ncov\/data.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); TX (<a href=\"https:\/\/txdshsea.maps.arcgis.com\/apps\/dashboards\/4ae43eefd0f641d59d35c3df82ee59cc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); UT (<a href=\"https:\/\/udwq.shinyapps.io\/sarscov2_surv\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>); VA (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/coronavirus\/see-the-numbers\/covid-19-in-virginia\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); VT (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.healthvermont.gov\/disease-control\/covid-19\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); WA (<a href=\"https:\/\/doh.wa.gov\/emergencies\/covid-19\/data-dashboard\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/covid19.bfhd.wa.gov\/cases-and-roadmap-to-recovery\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); WI (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dhs.wisconsin.gov\/covid-19\/wastewater.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>); WV (<del><a href=\"https:\/\/oehs.wvdhhr.org\/news\/oehs-coivd-19-information\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a><\/del>); WY (<del><a href=\"https:\/\/covidwastewatermonitor.wyo.gov\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a><\/del>).<\/p>\n<p>Resources, Canada (National): Wastewater (<a href=\"https:\/\/health-infobase.canada.ca\/covid-19\/wastewater\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Government of Canada<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p>Resources, Canada (Provincial): ON (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.publichealthontario.ca\/en\/Data-and-Analysis\/Infectious-Disease\/COVID-19-Data-Surveillance\/Wastewater\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>); QC (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.inspq.qc.ca\/covid-19\/donnees\/eaux-usees\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><em>les eaux us\u00e9es<\/em><\/a>); BC (<a href=\"https:\/\/bccdc.shinyapps.io\/respiratory_wastewater\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>); BC, Vancouver (<a href=\"https:\/\/metrovancouver.org\/services\/liquid-waste\/testing-for-the-covid-19-virus-in-wastewater\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p>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, 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). <\/p>\n<p>Stay safe out there!<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center><\/p>\n<p>Covid is Airborne<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Maybe engineering has bad vibes?<\/p>\n<p><center><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Did you know? It’s entirely possible to control airborne respiratory viruses. ASHRAE has a standard that spells out for HVAC engineers the requirements for controlling infectious aerosols.<\/p>\n<p>Anyone who is telling you mass sickness isn’t preventable is lying <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/LongCovidAwarenessDay?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">#LongCovidAwarenessDay<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/o8XhL6Q7sD\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">pic.twitter.com\/o8XhL6Q7sD<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Nick #AirborneCovidExhaustsTCells\ud83d\ude37 Anderegg (@NickAnderegg) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NickAnderegg\/status\/1768661778681012443\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">March 15, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><\/center>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Infection<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>About those personalk risk assessments:<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/personal_risk-e1711043563481.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"403\" height=\"806\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-268803\"\/><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Sequelae<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>About brain damage:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/brain_damage-e1711043870905.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"403\" height=\"621\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-268804\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Here is a link to \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JamesThrot\/status\/1768304236746469398\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">this thread<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center><\/p>\n<p><strong>TABLE 1: Daily Covid Charts<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>LEGEND<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>1) <span style=\"font-size: 10pt; color: gold;\">\u2605<\/span> for charts new today; all others are not updated.<\/p>\n<p>2) For a full-size\/full-resolution image, Command-click (MacOS) or right-click (Windows) on the chart thumbnail and \u201copen image in new tab.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>NOTES<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>[1] (Biobot) Our curve has now flattened out at the level of previous Trump peaks. Not a great victory. Note also the area \u201cunder the curve,\u201d besides looking at peaks. That area is larger under Biden than under Trump, and it seems to be rising steadily if unevenly.<\/p>\n<p>[2] (Biobot) Midwest ticks up.<\/p>\n<p>[3] (CDC Variants) As of May 11, genomic surveillance data will be reported biweekly, based on the availability of positive test specimens.\u201d \u201cBiweeekly: 1. occurring every two weeks. 2. occurring twice a week; semiweekly.\u201d Looks like CDC has chosen sense #1. In essence, they\u2019re telling us variants are nothing to worry about. Time will tell.<\/p>\n<p>[4] (ER) \u201cCharts and data provided by CDC, updates Wednesday by 8am. For the past year, using a rolling 52-week period.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>[5] (Hospitalization: NY) Looks like a very gradual leveling off to a non-zero baseline, to me.<\/p>\n<p>[6] (Hospitalization: CDC) Still down. \u201cMaps, charts, and data provided by CDC, updates weekly for the previous MMWR week (Sunday-Saturday) on Thursdays (Deaths, Emergency Department Visits, Test Positivity) and weekly the following Mondays (Hospitalizations) by 8 pm ET\u2020\u201d. <\/p>\n<p>[7] (Walgreens) Leveling out.<\/p>\n<p>[8] (Cleveland) Flattening.<\/p>\n<p>[9] (Travelers: Posivitity) Now up, albeit in the rear view mirror.<\/p>\n<p>[10] (Travelers: Variants) JN.1 dominates utterly.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Stats Watch<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Employment Situation: \u201cUnited States Initial Jobless Claims\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/tradingeconomics.com\/united-states\/jobless-claims\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Trading Economics<\/a>]. \u201cThe number of people claiming unemployment benefits in the US fell by 2,000 to 210,000 on the week ending March 16th, 2024, below market expectations of 215,000. At the same time, continuing unemployment claims were relatively unchanged at 1,807,000 for the earlier week. The data continued to show that the US labor market remains tight, aligned with the Federal Reserve\u2019s latest assessment and adding leeway for the central bank to delay the start of rate cuts.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Manufacturing: \u201cUnited States Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/tradingeconomics.com\/united-states\/philadelphia-fed-manufacturing-index\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Trading Economics<\/a>]. \u201cThe Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index in the US decreased to 3.2 in March 2024 from 5.2 in February but came above market estimates of -2.3. It was the second consecutive expansionary reading since the index for shipments ticked up 1 point to 11.4, and the index for new orders turned positive for the first time since October.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center><\/p>\n<p>Antitrust: \u201cU.S. Sues Apple, Accusing It of Maintaining an iPhone Monopoly\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/03\/21\/technology\/apple-doj-lawsuit-antitrust.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">New York Times<\/a>]. \u201cThe Justice Department joined 16 states and the District of Columbia to file an antitrust lawsuit against Apple on Thursday, the federal government\u2019s most significant challenge to the reach and influence of the company that has put iPhones in the hands of more than a billion people. In an 88-page lawsuit, the government argued that Apple had violated antitrust laws with practices that were intended to keep customers reliant on their iPhones and less likely to switch to a competing device. The tech giant prevented other companies from offering applications that compete with Apple products like its digital wallet, which could diminish the value of the iPhone, the government said. Apple\u2019s policies hurt consumers and smaller companies that compete with some of Apple\u2019s services, in the form of \u201chigher prices and less innovation,\u201d the lawsuit said. \u2018Each step in Apple\u2019s course of conduct built and reinforced the moat around its smartphone monopoly,\u2019 the government said in the lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center><\/p>\n<p><a name=\"boeing\"\/>Manufacturing: \u201cAirline CEOs Seek Meeting With Boeing Directors to Address Production Problems\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/archive.ph\/cgMyF\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Wall Street Journal<\/a>]. \u201cA group of airline chiefs recently requested a meeting with Boeing\u2019s board to express concern over the Alaska Airlines accident and production problems that have upended the industry\u2019s plans, people familiar with the matter said\u2026. The request to meet with Boeing\u2019s directors is an unusual sign of frustration with the manufacturer\u2019s problems and its leader, David Calhoun. The Boeing CEO isn\u2019t expected to attend the planned meetings.\u201d And this: \u201cBoeing was taking more measures to reduce so-called traveled work, where problems with parts or aircraft are moved along its production lines and addressed later. That effort will also slow production, which West said would increase later in the year.\u201d I don\u2019t think Edward Deming woudl approve of \u201ctravelled work\u201d at all. Who decided on that? And a straw in the wind: \u201cKayak allows users searching for flights to exclude specific aircraft. Usage of that option has increased recently. A spokeswoman said Kayak plans to introduce a new badge that will display the aircraft model in flight results in response to recent customer requests.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Manufacturing: \u201cBoeing whistleblower\u2019s lawsuit against aerospace giant continues despite death\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.live5news.com\/2024\/03\/20\/boeing-whistleblowers-lawsuit-against-aerospace-giant-continues-despite-death\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">WCSC<\/a>]. \u201cThe Charleston County Coroner reports Barnett died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, but has not formally ruled on a cause of death.\u201d Meanwhile, the suit continues, and Barnett\u2019s lawyers have released \u201ca redacted copy of the Amended Complaint (filed May 4, 2021) and the Court\u2019s May 31, 2022 decision denying Boeing\u2019s Partial Motion to Dismiss.\u201d And:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>These complaints in the suit include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Boeing maintained an \u201cillegal\u201d program not approved by the FAA \u201cthat allowed mechanics to inspect and approve their own work\u201d known as \u201cMulti-function Process Performer\u201d to meet deadlines; Barnett\u2019s performance rating later went from a 40 to 16.<\/li>\n<li>Managers \u201cpushing Barnett to work outside of the proper procedures\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Parts were \u201cstolen\u201d from one airplane and installed in another without any documentation; all corrective action was \u201ccanceled\u201d without an investigation<\/li>\n<li>In August 2014, the company failed to clean up titanium slivers from fasteners used to hold down floorboards that littered wire bundles and electrical components despite potential electrical shorting. Barnett was later removed from the project after complaining.<\/li>\n<li>In September 2014, Barnett learned he was issued a corrective action plan for documenting process violations in writing one month later against company rules to immediately notify employees claiming it was a \u201csurprise attack.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>In July 2016, Barnett was ordered to \u201clet it go\u201d after objecting to close out more than 400 nonconforming Shop Order Instance parts without investigation while discovering 200 that had been \u201cpencil whipped\u201d or fabricated.<\/li>\n<li>In August 2016, Barnett was criticized and removed from an investigation into emergency passenger oxygen tanks where it\u2019s estimated approximately 25% in 787s are not functional, after he pushed for leadership to investigate.<\/li>\n<li>In September 2016, Barnett was removed as a team leader after discovering that all previously delivered airplanes and missing\/incomplete\/incorrect serial number data after urging corrections and notifications to customers were needed<\/li>\n<li>That same month, Barnett\u2019s manager reportedly \u201ctook a defective part\u201d from the scrap bin and had it installed on another airplane without any documentation or rework against FAA requirements and the company\u2019s procedures. Barnett claimed he was blocked from a 737 Propulsion Quality Manager position after filing an HR complaint, which Boeing found was \u201cunsubstantiated\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>WCSC is a local South Carolina TV station. Meanwhile, the only story on Boeing from the prize-winning Post and Courier is a reprinted transcript from The Street: \u201cB<a href=\"https:\/\/www.postandcourier.com\/arena\/finance\/boeing-expects-major-financial-impact-from-recent-incidents\/article_ef2485ee-06a7-58a3-a70a-516003eda588.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">oeing expects major financial impact from recent incident<\/a>s.\u201d Priorities! Meanwhile, from a <em>second<\/em> TV station\u2013<\/p>\n<p>Manufacturing: \u201cLawyers for Boeing whistleblower release full complaint against the company\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.counton2.com\/news\/lawyers-for-boeing-whistleblower-release-full-complaint-against-the-company\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">WCBD<\/a>]. A more detailed and prosy version of the complaint. On the \u201cMulti-function Process Performer\u201d: \u201cDuring this time, Barnett claims that Boeing upper management pushed for quality to deviate from the rules so that production would meet deadlines. One way, in particular, is through the Multi-function Process Performer (MFPP) program. The MFPP program allowed Boeing mechanics to inspect and approve their own work, Barnett claimed. This program was allegedly implemented without FAA approval and was in direct violation of Boeing\u2019s Production Certificate from the FAA pursuant. The Senior Quality Control Manager objected to the MFPP program and pushed for Boeing to follow the rules. Barnett claims that in response to the Senior Quality Control Manager\u2019s objections, he was threatened with termination by superiors. The complaint says that this Senior Quality Control Manager then reached out to contacts in Seattle and was transferred with a downgrade in 2012 back to the state of Washington. In 2012, Barnett also protested against the MFPP program, saying it was illegal; however, no investigation was conducted.\u201d \u2022 Once agaim, nothing from the Post and Courier. Really, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.postandcourier.com\/site\/contact.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">somebody should contact management<\/a>\u2026 And from <em>another local TV station\u2013<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Manufacturing: \u201cBoeing whistleblower\u2019s retaliation complaint revealed after mysterious death in Charleston\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/abcnews4.com\/news\/local\/whistleblowers-complaint-against-boeing-revealed-after-mysterious-death-in-charleston-wciv-abc-news-4-boeing-south-carolina-wciv-abc-news-4-boeing-south-carolina-retaliation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">ABC4<\/a>]. \u201cThe next month, Barnett filed an ethics complaint against leadership for retaliation, a hostile work environment, and being blacklisted from acquiring other positions, according to the lawsuit documents. It also says he requested his complaint be investigated by someone outside of BSC. He was told it would be handled outside of BSC, but was . The complaint says that same month, he sent an email to Boeing Corporate Ethics in Washington, D.C. and voiced his concerns about the handling of his complaint. After being assured Barnett\u2019s concerns would be properly investigated, it was once again in South Carolina, according to the complaint.\u201d \u2022 Obvious pressure from the head office. And Is the head of HR in Charleston the Post and Courier\u2019s editor\u2019s brother-in-law, or what?<\/p>\n<p>Manufacturing: \u201cWhistleblower John Barnett claimed Boeing managers spied on him before his alleged suicide\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2024\/03\/20\/us-news\/whistleblower-john-barnett-claimed-boeing-managers-spied-on-him\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">New York Post<\/a>]. \u201cBoeing whistleblower John Barnett claimed the company\u2019s management had been spying on him in the bombshell court case he was working on when he was <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2024\/03\/15\/us-news\/boeing-whistleblower-john-barnett-made-a-grim-prediction-before-his-death\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">mysteriously found dead<\/a>\u2026. Another section of the lawsuit stated: \u2018In June 2014, Barnett submitted a complaint to Corporate Ethics against [redacted] for violating procedures, ignoring process violations, pushing Barnett to \u2018work in the grey areas,\u2019 and \u2026. \u2018That\u2019s the way it\u2019s done there. There were always moles who would throw you under the bus to look good to the big bosses. They weren\u2019t about team unity; you never know who you could trust,\u2019 a Boeing mid-level manager, who asked to remain anonymous over fear of losing their job, told The Post Wednesday.\u201d And: \u201c\u2018It is a criminal felony offense to not properly document the build record of an aircraft. By pressuring Barnett to not follow processes \u2026 Boeing was ordering Barnett to commit a felony offense.’\u201d \u2022 Sounds like a hellhole. No wonder <a href=\"https:\/\/www.seattletimes.com\/opinion\/editorials\/dont-let-boeings-787-line-fly-to-charleston\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Qatar Airways refused to buy 787s made in Charleston<\/a> (preferring Everett, WA).<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center><\/p>\n<p>Manufacturing: \u201cAllegations of staggering criminality by Boeing spelled out in complaint by whistleblower John Barnett, released by lawyers after his death\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsws.org\/en\/articles\/2024\/03\/21\/dbis-m21.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">WSWS<\/a>]. \u201cPolice, so far, have also from the Holiday Inn where Barnett was staying. In the original police report, the cops acknowledged that the hotel had security cameras installed and facing the parking lot where Barnett\u2019s vehicle and body were located.\u201d \u2022 Haven\u2019t seen this on the cameras elsewhere, however.<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center><\/p>\n<p>Tech: AI enshittification (1):<\/p>\n<p><center><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">New: multiple published scientific papers include language that appears to have been generated by AI-tools like ChatGPT. Search for “as of my last knowledge update” on Google Scholar, you get 115 results. It’s a phrase used by OpenAI’s ChatGPT <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/5OimGqTziW\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">https:\/\/t.co\/5OimGqTziW<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/VdX1Vl3tUN\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">pic.twitter.com\/VdX1Vl3tUN<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Joseph Cox (@josephfcox) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/josephfcox\/status\/1769762024290939322\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">March 18, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><\/center><\/p>\n<p>Tech: AI enshittification (2):<\/p>\n<p><center><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Large language models are architecturally incapable of forming new abstractions.<\/p>\n<p>Which is one reason why their value as programming assistants is vanishingly small.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Grady Booch (@Grady_Booch) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Grady_Booch\/status\/1770033342005887139\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">March 19, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><\/center><\/p>\n<p>Tech: AI enshittification (3):<\/p>\n<p><center><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I think this is one of the best examples illustrating how LLM Al is a purely statistical model and is not doing any kind of actual “thinking” or “logic” and cannot be trusted for tasks that require even a modicum of reasoning, a short \ud83e\uddf5: <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Fy4PNtecWj\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">https:\/\/t.co\/Fy4PNtecWj<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Chris Alvino (@ChrisAlvino) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ChrisAlvino\/status\/1768728342067351801\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">March 15, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><\/center><\/p>\n<p>Tech: AI enshittification (4):<\/p>\n<p><center><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Large language models are architecturally incapable of forming new abstractions.<\/p>\n<p>Which is one reason why their value as programming assistants is vanishingly small.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Grady Booch (@Grady_Booch) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Grady_Booch\/status\/1770033342005887139\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">March 19, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><\/center><\/p>\n<p>Tech: \u201cPluralistic: The Coprophagic AI crisis\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/pluralistic.net\/2024\/03\/14\/inhuman-centipede\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Pluralistic<\/a>]. \u201cThe question is, why the fuck would anyone write the web if the only \u201cperson\u201d who can find what they write is an AI\u2019s crawler, which ingests the writing for its own training, but has no interest in steering readers to see what you\u2019ve written? If AI search ever becomes a thing, the open web will become an AI CAFO and search crawlers will increasingly end up imbibing the contents of its manure lagoon\u2026. There\u2019s a certain intuitive case for this being a bad idea, akin to feeding cows a slurry made of the diseased brains of other cows\u2026. But \u201cThe Curse of Recursion: Training on Generated Data Makes Models Forget,\u201d a recent paper, goes beyond the ick factor of AI that is fed on botshit and <a href=\"https:\/\/arxiv.org\/abs\/2305.17493\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">delves into the mathematical consequences of AI coprophagia<\/a>: Co-author Ross Anderson summarizes the finding neatly: \u2018using model-generated content in training causes irreversible defects.’\u201d \u2022 I\u2019ve been muttering about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/search?q=autocoprophag+site%3Awww.nakedcapitalism.com&client=opera&hs=RTl&sca_esv=913d894b4ad63b06&ei=jXD8ZaS_Acrz4-EPk5C1yAM&ved=0ahUKEwjkuY_j8oWFAxXK-TgGHRNIDTkQ4dUDCBA&uact=5&oq=autocoprophag+site%3Awww.nakedcapitalism.com&gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAiKmF1dG9jb3Byb3BoYWcgc2l0ZTp3d3cubmFrZWRjYXBpdGFsaXNtLmNvbUjsC1DlA1i6BXABeACQAQCYAXmgAdwBqgEDMS4xuAEDyAEA-AEBmAIAoAIAmAMA4gMFEgExIECIBgGSBwCgB1o&sclient=gws-wiz-serp\">AI autocoprophagia<\/a> for some time, and if it\u2019s finally propagated, I\u2019m a happy camper.<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center><\/p>\n<p>Today\u2019s Fear & Greed Index: 76 Extreme Greed (previous close: 72 Greed) [<a href=\"https:\/\/money.cnn.com\/data\/fear-and-greed\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CNN<\/a>]. One week ago: 72 (Greed). (0 is Extreme Fear; 100 is Extreme Greed). Last updated Mar 21 at 12:23:14 PM ET.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Holier than Thou<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Cf. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Matthew+23%3A1-7&version=RSV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Matthew 23:1-7<\/a>:<\/p>\n<p><center><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">March 19, 2024<\/p>\n<p>A. Liberty U. \u2013 Super King Air<br \/>B. Samaritan’s Purse \u2013 Boeing 757<br \/>C. Spirit of America Foundation (Dean Sikes) \u2013 Cessna 550<br \/>D. Word of Life Christian Center (Leroy Thompson) \u2013 Falcon 900<br \/>E. Jerry Savelle Ministries \u2013 Falcon 50 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/NRHgU6w6ek\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">pic.twitter.com\/NRHgU6w6ek<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 pastorplanes (@pastorplanes) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/pastorplanes\/status\/1770458409726321046\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">March 20, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><\/center><\/p>\n<p><strong>Zeitgeist Watch<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe joys of divorce\u201d (poem) [Michael Smith, <a href=\"https:\/\/anacharsis.substack.com\/p\/the-joys-of-divorce\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Crying in the Wilderness<\/a>]. \u201cNothing like money, makes you hate someone\u2013\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Class Warfare<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Keys to a Long Life Are Sleep and a Better Diet\u2014and Money\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/why-we-die-venki-ramakrishnan\/#intcid=_wired-right-rail_d8accb89-f43e-461e-afa2-124a2430c31d_popular4-1-reranked-by-vidi\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Wired<\/a>]. \u201cThe top 10 percent in both the UK and the US live over a decade more than the bottom 10 percent. It\u2019s not even that they live more, they live more healthy lives. Why is that? Well the poor often don\u2019t have the chance to exercise, their diets are often poor, and they work multiple jobs and have problems with sleep. All these things we think we can do, they\u2019re harder if you\u2019re poor and have to juggle jobs, child care, et cetera. One worry I have is that if we discover sophisticated interventions\u2014like turning on stem cells and so on, or having to give transcription factors to people intravenously\u2014depending on the sophistication of the intervention only the rich might be able to afford them. That would make the disparity even worse. Not only are the rich living longer, they\u2019re going to live even longer and healthier.\u201d \u2022 Yep.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRecord numbers of wealthy Americans are looking for ways to live overseas\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.msn.com\/en-us\/money\/markets\/ar-BB1k9uFy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Business Insider<\/a>]. \u201c\u2018With political divisions and societal tensions at an all-time high, American investors, entrepreneurs, and wealthy families are increasingly hedging their bets and pursuing backup citizenship or residence abroad, signaling declining faith in the domestic outlook,\u2019 [Mehdi Kadiri, the head of North America at Henley & Partners] said in the report. \u2018We anticipate similar strong demand in 2024,\u2019 Kadiri added, \u2018as more high-net-worth individuals across the political spectrum seek to hedge uncertainty.’\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>News of the Wired<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cFlying Is Weird Right Now\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/archive.ph\/IH0eH\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">The Atlantic<\/a>]. The URL is more pointed: \u201cboeing-737-safety-air-travel.\u201d \u201cFlying has, in a historical sense at least, never been safer\u2026. So what\u2019s really going on? I suspect it\u2019s a confluence of two distinct factors. The first is that although air safety is getting markedly better over time, the experience of flying is arguably worse than ever\u2026. All of that is now coupled with an increase in passenger volume: In 2023, flight demand crept back up to near pre-pandemic levels, and staffing has not caught up. It is also an especially expensive time to fly. Pile on unruly passengers, system outages, baggage fees, carry-on restrictions, meager drink and snack offerings, and the trials and tribulations of merely coexisting with other travelers who insist on lining up at the gate 72 hours before their zone boards and you have a perfectly combustible situation.\u201d \u2022\u00a0And then there\u2019s all that damn coughing. Really kills the vibe.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFrustrated visitors sue National Park Service over cashless policies\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfgate.com\/california-parks\/article\/cashless-national-park-service-lawsuit-19265876.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">SFGate<\/a>]. \u201cThree people sued the National Park Service earlier this month for its policy not to accept cash payments at a growing number of locations\u2026. The park service instituted cashless policies at approximately 29 locations, according to the lawsuit. The plaintiffs said cash payments were refused at sites in Arizona, New York and Georgia.\u201d \u2022\u00a0Good. More like this please. Is cash legal tender, or not?<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center><\/p>\n<p><strong>Contact information for plants<\/strong>: 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) <a href=\"hhttps:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/2024\/03\/200pm-water-cooler-3-20-2024.html>here<\/a>. From EM:<\/p> <p><img loading=\" lazy=\"\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/trees_shannon.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"450\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-268800\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/trees_shannon.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/trees_shannon-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/p>\n<p>EM writes: \u201cTrees on The River Shannon (Ireland).\u201d<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center><\/p>\n<p><a name=\"donate\"\/><strong>Readers<\/strong>: Water Cooler is a standalone entity <em>not<\/em> covered by the annual NC fundraiser. So if you see a link you especially like, or an item you wouldn\u2019t see anywhere else, please do not hesitate to express your appreciation in tangible form. Remember, a tip jar is for tipping! <em>Regular positive feedback both makes me feel good and lets me know I\u2019m on the right track with coverage<\/em>. When I get no donations for five or ten 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:<\/p>\n<p>Here is the screen that will appear, which I have helpfully annotated:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-226891\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/contribution.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"606\" height=\"384\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/contribution.png 606w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/contribution-300x190.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 606px) 100vw, 606px\"\/><\/p>\n<p>If you hate PayPal, you can email me at lambert [UNDERSCORE] strether [DOT] corrente [AT] yahoo [DOT] com, and I will give you directions on how to send a check. Thank you!<\/p>\n<div class=\"printfriendly pf-alignleft\"><a href=\"#\" rel=\"nofollow\" onclick=\"window.print(); return false;\" title=\"Printer Friendly, PDF & Email\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"border:none;-webkit-box-shadow:none; -moz-box-shadow: none; box-shadow:none; padding:0; margin:0\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.printfriendly.com\/buttons\/print-button-gray.png\" alt=\"Print Friendly, PDF & Email\"\/><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/2024\/03\/200pm-water-cooler-3-21-2024.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Lambert Strether of Corrente. Bird Song of the Day American Robin, Libertytown, Frederick, Maryland, United States. \u201cVery quiet vocalization at close range. Dawn song.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":78658,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[153,183],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-78657","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-spotlight"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78657","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78657"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78657\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Bird Song of the Day<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>American Robin, Libertytown, Frederick, Maryland, United States. \u201cVery quiet vocalization at close range. Dawn song.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center><\/p>\n<p><strong>In Case You Might Miss\u2026 <\/strong> <\/p>\n<p>(1) <a href=\"#beekeeping\">Beekeeper helpers<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>(3) <a href=\"#williamson\">Williamson quotes LOTR<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>(2) Barnett\u2019s lawyers <a href=\"#boeing\">release the (redacted) text of his complaint<\/a>, making Boeing\u2019s Charleston plant look like a hellhole.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Look for the Helpers<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a name=\"beekeeping\"\/>\u201cKeeping Beekeeping in the Family\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tabletmag.com\/sections\/holidays\/articles\/beekeeping-family-honey-rosh-hashanah\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">The Tablet<\/a>]. \u201cAfter watching his son create buzzing colonies of honeybees on Staten Island, [Jonathan] Landes was hooked. Upon his return to Melbourne a few weeks later, Landes gathered up four of his lifelong friends and founded a small urban beekeeping company called Chevra Honey, named for the Hebrew and Yiddish word for a society or close-knit group\u2026. The idea was simple: In a city like Melbourne, where most people tend to live in houses with ample space and backyards, the chevra would help to set up beehives to encourage urban beekeeping. The hives Landes sets up are made of good quality wood. Successful placement in the urban environment requires significant considerations. \u2018You say hello and go meet the person [who wants to host the hive]. You do an evaluation of the garden and neighborhood. You have to ask questions, such as if there is anyone who is allergic to bees. You ask who the usual visitors to the house are, or if they have pets,\u2019 he said, listing the checklist he runs through with prospective hosts. \u2018It\u2019s not like a cat or another pet. People can get stressed about bees. You must be able to manage the colony.\u2019\u2026 Today, a decade on, Chevra Honey manages around 40 hives around Melbourne\u2026 \u2018Beekeeping suits me,\u201d said Landes. \u201cI really enjoy it. People are so nice. They are very engaged in making the urban environment healthy with bees. It\u2019s a really good gig.’\u201d <\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center><\/p>\n<p>My email address is down by the plant; please send examples of \u201cHelpers\u201d there. In our increasingly desperate and fragile neoliberal society, everyday <em>normal<\/em> incidents and stories of \u201cthe communism of everyday life\u201d are what I am looking for (and not, say, the Red Cross in Hawaii, or even the UNWRA in Gaza). <\/p>\n<p><strong>Politics<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo many of the social reactions that strike us as psychological are in fact a rational management of symbolic capital.\u201d \u2013Pierre Bourdieu, Classification Struggles<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center><\/p>\n<p>The Constitutional Order (Insurrection)<\/p>\n<blockquote><\/blockquote>\n<p>2024<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Less than a year to go!<\/p>\n<p><iframe src=\"https:\/\/free.timeanddate.com\/countdown\/i8ubjj5e\/n179\/cf100\/cm0\/cu1\/ct0\/cs1\/ca0\/cr0\/ss0\/cac000\/cpc000\/pcfff\/tcfff\/fs100\/szw320\/szh135\/tatTime%20left%20to%20Election%20Day%2C%202024\/tac000\/tptTime%20since%20Event%20started%20in\/tpc000\/mac000\/mpc000\/iso2024-11-05T00:00:00\/bo2\/pd2\" allowtransparency=\"true\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"322\" height=\"137\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center><\/p>\n<p>Trump (R): \u201cGOP primaries flash warning signs for Trump\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/homenews\/campaign\/4545479-gop-primaries-flash-warning-signs-for-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">The Hill<\/a>]. \u201cIn primary elections in Ohio and other states, a sizable number of GOP voters still cast ballots for former rivals to the ex-president. That\u2019s potentially a big problem for Trump, because it suggests not all GOP primary voters are warming to him\u2026 A handful of states cast ballots Tuesday in the presidential primaries, including Ohio, Florida and Arizona. Trump won Ohio and Florida by roughly fourth-fifths of the vote, but former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley notched around 14 percent in each.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Trump (R): \u201cTrump has an early lead on Biden. But problems are piling up around him\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2024\/03\/21\/trump-biden-polling-lead-problems-00148131\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Politico<\/a>]. \u201c\u2018The only person who can beat Donald Trump is Donald Trump,\u2019 said David Urban, a former senior Trump campaign adviser. \u2018I don\u2019t think we\u2019re there yet.\u2019 Despite it all, Trump remains in an enviable position, leading Biden in early polls as the incumbent president clocks in with historically bad approval ratings. But Trump\u2019s advantage is also less than 2 percentage points \u2014 hardly a commanding lead \u2014 and he is still sitting below 50 percent. In the earliest days of the general election campaign, Trump\u2019s often improvised remarks contrast with his opponent\u2019s more carefully scripted campaign outings \u2014 and that approach brings some downsides, as evidenced in recent days.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Trump (R): \u201cThus Far, Trump Has Huge Coattails. The Best Coattails.\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theamericanconservative.com\/thus-far-trump-has-huge-coattails-the-best-coattails\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">The American Conservative<\/a>]. \u201cPresident Donald Trump\u2019s victories in last night\u2019s primaries in Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, and Ohio were foregone conclusions. All of Trump\u2019s challengers have already exited the race and, for the third straight presidential cycle, Trump has secured the Republican nomination. This alone suggests Trump\u2019s takeover of the GOP is near total, but there\u2019s even more evidence down ballot. On Tuesday, Trump\u2019s chosen candidates beat expectations. Nowhere was that clearer than in Ohio\u2019s senate primary. The businessman Bernie Moreno bested state Sen. Matt Dolan by nearly twenty points. Moreno received more than 50 percent of the vote and carried every county in the Buckeye state\u2026.For now, however, Trump is still king and, for smaller realms all around the country, kingmaker. Trump has made 88 endorsements in the primaries thus far. Not a single candidate for federal office has lost their primary with Trump\u2019s backing. Only three Trump-endorsed state legislative candidates have lost. Across state and federal primaries, Trump is 58 for 61 thus far. When November rolls around, the 58 winners will have the added benefit of Trump on the top of the ticket once again.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center><\/p>\n<p><a name=\"williamson\"\/>Williamson (I):<\/p>\n<p><center><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\u201cAll that is gold does not glitter,<br \/>Not all those who wander are lost;<br \/>The old that is strong does not wither,<br \/>Deep roots are not reached by the frost.<br \/>From the ashes a fire shall be woken,<br \/>A light from the shadows shall spring;<br \/>Renewed shall be blade that was broken,<br \/>The\u2026<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Marianne Williamson (@marwilliamson) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/marwilliamson\/status\/1770392265380516316\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">March 20, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><\/center><br \/>\n<center>* * *<\/center>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Republican Funhouse<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cAs Medicare Advantage\u2019s shortcomings echo in the press, key legislators still push to privatize traditional Medicare\u201d [Trudy Lieberman, <a href=\"https:\/\/wendellpotter.substack.com\/p\/as-medicare-advantages-shortcomings\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">HEALTH CARE un-covered<\/a>]. \u201c[Rolling Stone\u2019s Andrew] Perez points out that one item buried in the 887-page Heritage Foundation blueprint written to inform a potential new Trump administration has attracted little attention so far. It is a scheme to \u2018make Medicare Advantage the default enrollment option\u2019 for people who are newly eligible for Medicare, he wrote. David Lipschutz, associate director of the Center for Medicare Advocacy, says the Heritage plan would hasten privatization. \u2018Upon becoming eligible for Medicare now everyone starts with traditional Medicare as the default but can opt out of that program and later choose an Advantage plan,\u2019 Lipschutz says. The Heritage proposal, however, would have people start with Medicare Advantage plans, apparently with the opportunity to opt-out. With this arrangement, you can see how easy it would be for Medicare, as we know it, to \u2018wither on the vine\u2019 since many people new to Medicare are not well versed in the difference between the two options and instead are swayed by the TV advertising beckoning them to Medicare Advantage plans.\u201d \u2022 Project 2025 taking a cue from nudge theory. Swell.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Democrats <em>en D\u00e9shabill\u00e9<\/em><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cWorking class Dems who campaign on economics beat Trumpists in elections\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/pluralistic.net\/2024\/03\/20\/actual-material-conditions\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Pluralistic<\/a>]. \u201cThe Democratic Party Pizzaburger Theory of Electioneering is: half the electorate wants a pizza, the other half wants a burger, so we\u2019ll give them all a pizzaburger and make them all equally dissatisfied, thus winning the election\u2026 But no one wants a pizzaburger. The Biden administration\u2019s approach of letting the Warren\/Sanders wing pick the antitrust enforcers while keeping judicial appointments in the Manchin-Synematic universe is a catastrophe in which progressive Dem regulators (who serve one term) are thwarted by corporatist Dem judges (who serve for life)\u2026 Jacobin teamed up with the Center for Working-Class Politics, Yougov and the Center for Work and Democracy at ASU and <a href=\"https:\/\/images.jacobinmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/11134429\/CWCP-Report-2024.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">analyzed [the 2022 midterms]<\/a>: Their conclusion: candidates from working-class backgrounds who campaigned on economic policies like high-quality jobs, higher minimum wages, a jobs guarantee, ending offshoring and outsourcing, building infrastructure and bringing manufacturing back to the US won with a 50% share of the vote in rural and working-class districts. Dems who didn\u2019t lost with a 35% share of the vote.\u201d \u2022 Well, now the liberals have another target for decapitation, just like the 50-state strategy, or the Sanders campaign(s)\u2026 <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>#COVID19<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am in earnest \u2014 I will not equivocate \u2014 I will not excuse \u2014 I will not retreat a single inch \u2014 AND I WILL BE HEARD.\u201d \u2013William Lloyd Garrison<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center><\/p>\n<p>Resources, United States (National): Transmission (<a href=\"https:\/\/covid.cdc.gov\/covid-data-tracker\/#county-view?list_select_state=all_states&list_select_county=all_counties&data-type=Risk&null=Risk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CDC<\/a>); Wastewater (<a href=\"https:\/\/covid.cdc.gov\/covid-data-tracker\/#wastewater-surveillance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CDC<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/biobot.io\/data\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Biobot<\/a>; includes many counties; <a href=\"https:\/\/data.wastewaterscan.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Wastewater Scan<\/a>, includes drilldown by zip); Variants (<a href=\"https:\/\/covid.cdc.gov\/covid-data-tracker\/#variant-proportions\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CDC<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.walgreens.com\/businesssolutions\/covid-19-index.jsp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Walgreens<\/a>); \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/iowacovid19tracker.org\/hospitals\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Iowa COVID-19 Tracker<\/a>\u201d (in IA, but national data). \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/icemsg.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Infection Control, Emergency Management, Safety, and General Thoughts<\/a>\u201d (especially on hospitalization by city).<\/p>\n<p>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 \u201cCOVID\u201d in the subject line. Thank you!<\/p>\n<p>Resources, United States (Local): AK (<a href=\"https:\/\/experience.arcgis.com\/experience\/af2efc8bffbf4cdc83c2d1a134354074\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); AL (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.arcgis.com\/apps\/dashboards\/6d2771faa9da4a2786a509d82c8cf0f7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); AR (<a href=\"https:\/\/experience.arcgis.com\/experience\/633006d0782b4544bd5113a314f6268a\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); AZ (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.azdhs.gov\/covid19\/data\/index.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); CA (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdph.ca.gov\/Programs\/CID\/DCDC\/Pages\/COVID-19\/CalSuWers-Dashboard.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/coronavirus.marinhhs.org\/surveillance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Marin, dashboard<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/healthalerts.stanford.edu\/covid-19\/wastewater-dashboard\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Stanford, wastewater<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/publichealth.verily.com\/?v=SC2_N&l=Oakland%2C+CA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Oakland, wastewater<\/a>); CO (<a href=\"https:\/\/covid19.colorado.gov\/data\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/cdphe.maps.arcgis.com\/apps\/dashboards\/d79cf93c3938470ca4bcc4823328946b#utility=\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>); CT (<a href=\"https:\/\/data.ct.gov\/stories\/s\/COVID-19-data\/wa3g-tfvc\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); DE (<a href=\"https:\/\/coronavirus.delaware.gov\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); FL (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.arcgis.com\/apps\/dashboards\/5b9d75ba683849928dc1a49c39ab0b1c\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>); GA (<a href=\"https:\/\/dph.georgia.gov\/ga-nwss-wastewater-surveillance-reports\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>); HI (<a href=\"https:\/\/health.hawaii.gov\/coronavirusdisease2019\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); IA (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dmmwra.org\/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=57\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater reports<\/a>); ID (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.idahopublichealth.com\/district-2\/novel-coronavirus\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>, Boise; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.idahopublichealth.com\/district-2\/novel-coronavirus\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/data.wastewaterscan.org\/?plantId=1056f05c-0e46-4e3d-b007-c0453ba7dc0d\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>, Central Idaho; <a href=\"https:\/\/publichealth.verily.com\/#:SARS-CoV-2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>, Coeur d\u2019Alene; dashboard, <a href=\"https:\/\/covid.srhd.org\/topics\/spokane-county-case-data\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Spokane County<\/a>); IL (<a href=\"https:\/\/iwss.uillinois.edu\/wastewater-treatment-plants\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>); IN (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.coronavirus.in.gov\/indiana-covid-19-dashboard-and-map\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); KS (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.coronavirus.kdheks.gov\/160\/COVID-19-in-Kansas\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/experience.arcgis.com\/experience\/4456bae8a38f4b6180e008477382fff9\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>, Lawrence); KY (<a href=\"https:\/\/louisville.edu\/envirome\/thecoimmunityproject\/dashboard\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>, Louisville); LA (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ldh.la.gov\/coronavirus\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); MA (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mass.gov\/info-details\/covid-19-wastewater-report\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>); MD (<a href=\"https:\/\/coronavirus.maryland.gov\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); ME (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.maine.gov\/dhhs\/mecdc\/infectious-disease\/epi\/airborne\/coronavirus\/data.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); MI (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigan.gov\/coronavirus\/stats\/wastewater-surveillance\/dashboard\/sentinel-wastewater-epidemiology-evaluation-project-sweep\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/gisportal.state.mi.us\/portal\/apps\/insights\/index.html#\/view\/52bbb104ed574887918f990af9f3debe\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>); MN (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.health.state.mn.us\/diseases\/coronavirus\/stats\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); MO (<a href=\"https:\/\/storymaps.arcgis.com\/stories\/f7f5492486114da6b5d6fdc07f81aacf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>); MS (<a href=\"https:\/\/msdh.ms.gov\/page\/14,0,420.html#Mississippi\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); <del>MT (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.arcgis.com\/apps\/MapSeries\/index.html?appid=7c34f3412536439491adcc2103421d4b\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>)<\/del>; NC (<a href=\"https:\/\/covid19.ncdhhs.gov\/dashboard\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard)<\/a>; ND (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hhs.nd.gov\/health\/coronavirus\/cases\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hhs.nd.gov\/health\/coronavirus\/cases\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>); NE (<a href=\"https:\/\/atlas-dhhs.ne.gov\/Atlas\/Respiratory_Illness\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); NH (<a href=\"https:\/\/wisdom.dhhs.nh.gov\/wisdom\/dashboard.html?topic=covid-19&subtopic=recurring-updates&indicator=covid-19-wastewater#tabnavbarid\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>); NJ (<a href=\"https:\/\/covid19.nj.gov\/forms\/datadashboard\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); NM (<a href=\"https:\/\/cvprovider.nmhealth.org\/public-dashboard.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); NV (<a href=\"https:\/\/nvhealthresponse.nv.gov\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/empower.unlv.edu\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>, Southern NV); NY (<a href=\"https:\/\/mbcolli.shinyapps.io\/SARS2EWSP\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); OH (<a href=\"https:\/\/coronavirus.ohio.gov\/dashboards\/other-resources\/wastewater\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); OK (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.arcgis.com\/apps\/dashboards\/51657c21386d4f1a962b1853c76ec589\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); <del>OR (<a href=\"https:\/\/public.tableau.com\/app\/profile\/oregon.health.authority.covid.19\/viz\/OregonsCOVID-19DataDashboards-TableofContents\/TableofContentsStatewide\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>)<\/del>; PA (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.health.pa.gov\/topics\/disease\/coronavirus\/pages\/Cases.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); RI (<a href=\"https:\/\/ri-department-of-health-covid-19-data-rihealth.hub.arcgis.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); SC (<a href=\"https:\/\/scdhec.gov\/index.php\/covid19\/covid-19-data\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); SD (<a href=\"https:\/\/doh.sd.gov\/COVID\/Dashboard.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); TN (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tn.gov\/health\/cedep\/ncov\/data.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); TX (<a href=\"https:\/\/txdshsea.maps.arcgis.com\/apps\/dashboards\/4ae43eefd0f641d59d35c3df82ee59cc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); UT (<a href=\"https:\/\/udwq.shinyapps.io\/sarscov2_surv\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>); VA (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/coronavirus\/see-the-numbers\/covid-19-in-virginia\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); VT (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.healthvermont.gov\/disease-control\/covid-19\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); WA (<a href=\"https:\/\/doh.wa.gov\/emergencies\/covid-19\/data-dashboard\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/covid19.bfhd.wa.gov\/cases-and-roadmap-to-recovery\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); WI (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dhs.wisconsin.gov\/covid-19\/wastewater.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>); WV (<del><a href=\"https:\/\/oehs.wvdhhr.org\/news\/oehs-coivd-19-information\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a><\/del>); WY (<del><a href=\"https:\/\/covidwastewatermonitor.wyo.gov\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a><\/del>).<\/p>\n<p>Resources, Canada (National): Wastewater (<a href=\"https:\/\/health-infobase.canada.ca\/covid-19\/wastewater\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Government of Canada<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p>Resources, Canada (Provincial): ON (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.publichealthontario.ca\/en\/Data-and-Analysis\/Infectious-Disease\/COVID-19-Data-Surveillance\/Wastewater\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>); QC (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.inspq.qc.ca\/covid-19\/donnees\/eaux-usees\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><em>les eaux us\u00e9es<\/em><\/a>); BC (<a href=\"https:\/\/bccdc.shinyapps.io\/respiratory_wastewater\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>); BC, Vancouver (<a href=\"https:\/\/metrovancouver.org\/services\/liquid-waste\/testing-for-the-covid-19-virus-in-wastewater\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p>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, 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). <\/p>\n<p>Stay safe out there!<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center><\/p>\n<p>Covid is Airborne<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Maybe engineering has bad vibes?<\/p>\n<p><center><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Did you know? It’s entirely possible to control airborne respiratory viruses. ASHRAE has a standard that spells out for HVAC engineers the requirements for controlling infectious aerosols.<\/p>\n<p>Anyone who is telling you mass sickness isn’t preventable is lying <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/LongCovidAwarenessDay?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">#LongCovidAwarenessDay<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/o8XhL6Q7sD\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">pic.twitter.com\/o8XhL6Q7sD<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Nick #AirborneCovidExhaustsTCells\ud83d\ude37 Anderegg (@NickAnderegg) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NickAnderegg\/status\/1768661778681012443\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">March 15, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><\/center>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Infection<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>About those personalk risk assessments:<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/personal_risk-e1711043563481.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"403\" height=\"806\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-268803\"\/><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Sequelae<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>About brain damage:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/brain_damage-e1711043870905.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"403\" height=\"621\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-268804\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Here is a link to \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JamesThrot\/status\/1768304236746469398\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">this thread<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center><\/p>\n<p><strong>TABLE 1: Daily Covid Charts<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>LEGEND<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>1) <span style=\"font-size: 10pt; color: gold;\">\u2605<\/span> for charts new today; all others are not updated.<\/p>\n<p>2) For a full-size\/full-resolution image, Command-click (MacOS) or right-click (Windows) on the chart thumbnail and \u201copen image in new tab.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>NOTES<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>[1] (Biobot) Our curve has now flattened out at the level of previous Trump peaks. Not a great victory. Note also the area \u201cunder the curve,\u201d besides looking at peaks. That area is larger under Biden than under Trump, and it seems to be rising steadily if unevenly.<\/p>\n<p>[2] (Biobot) Midwest ticks up.<\/p>\n<p>[3] (CDC Variants) As of May 11, genomic surveillance data will be reported biweekly, based on the availability of positive test specimens.\u201d \u201cBiweeekly: 1. occurring every two weeks. 2. occurring twice a week; semiweekly.\u201d Looks like CDC has chosen sense #1. In essence, they\u2019re telling us variants are nothing to worry about. Time will tell.<\/p>\n<p>[4] (ER) \u201cCharts and data provided by CDC, updates Wednesday by 8am. For the past year, using a rolling 52-week period.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>[5] (Hospitalization: NY) Looks like a very gradual leveling off to a non-zero baseline, to me.<\/p>\n<p>[6] (Hospitalization: CDC) Still down. \u201cMaps, charts, and data provided by CDC, updates weekly for the previous MMWR week (Sunday-Saturday) on Thursdays (Deaths, Emergency Department Visits, Test Positivity) and weekly the following Mondays (Hospitalizations) by 8 pm ET\u2020\u201d. <\/p>\n<p>[7] (Walgreens) Leveling out.<\/p>\n<p>[8] (Cleveland) Flattening.<\/p>\n<p>[9] (Travelers: Posivitity) Now up, albeit in the rear view mirror.<\/p>\n<p>[10] (Travelers: Variants) JN.1 dominates utterly.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Stats Watch<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Employment Situation: \u201cUnited States Initial Jobless Claims\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/tradingeconomics.com\/united-states\/jobless-claims\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Trading Economics<\/a>]. \u201cThe number of people claiming unemployment benefits in the US fell by 2,000 to 210,000 on the week ending March 16th, 2024, below market expectations of 215,000. At the same time, continuing unemployment claims were relatively unchanged at 1,807,000 for the earlier week. The data continued to show that the US labor market remains tight, aligned with the Federal Reserve\u2019s latest assessment and adding leeway for the central bank to delay the start of rate cuts.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Manufacturing: \u201cUnited States Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/tradingeconomics.com\/united-states\/philadelphia-fed-manufacturing-index\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Trading Economics<\/a>]. \u201cThe Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index in the US decreased to 3.2 in March 2024 from 5.2 in February but came above market estimates of -2.3. It was the second consecutive expansionary reading since the index for shipments ticked up 1 point to 11.4, and the index for new orders turned positive for the first time since October.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center><\/p>\n<p>Antitrust: \u201cU.S. Sues Apple, Accusing It of Maintaining an iPhone Monopoly\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/03\/21\/technology\/apple-doj-lawsuit-antitrust.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">New York Times<\/a>]. \u201cThe Justice Department joined 16 states and the District of Columbia to file an antitrust lawsuit against Apple on Thursday, the federal government\u2019s most significant challenge to the reach and influence of the company that has put iPhones in the hands of more than a billion people. In an 88-page lawsuit, the government argued that Apple had violated antitrust laws with practices that were intended to keep customers reliant on their iPhones and less likely to switch to a competing device. The tech giant prevented other companies from offering applications that compete with Apple products like its digital wallet, which could diminish the value of the iPhone, the government said. Apple\u2019s policies hurt consumers and smaller companies that compete with some of Apple\u2019s services, in the form of \u201chigher prices and less innovation,\u201d the lawsuit said. \u2018Each step in Apple\u2019s course of conduct built and reinforced the moat around its smartphone monopoly,\u2019 the government said in the lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center><\/p>\n<p><a name=\"boeing\"\/>Manufacturing: \u201cAirline CEOs Seek Meeting With Boeing Directors to Address Production Problems\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/archive.ph\/cgMyF\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Wall Street Journal<\/a>]. \u201cA group of airline chiefs recently requested a meeting with Boeing\u2019s board to express concern over the Alaska Airlines accident and production problems that have upended the industry\u2019s plans, people familiar with the matter said\u2026. The request to meet with Boeing\u2019s directors is an unusual sign of frustration with the manufacturer\u2019s problems and its leader, David Calhoun. The Boeing CEO isn\u2019t expected to attend the planned meetings.\u201d And this: \u201cBoeing was taking more measures to reduce so-called traveled work, where problems with parts or aircraft are moved along its production lines and addressed later. That effort will also slow production, which West said would increase later in the year.\u201d I don\u2019t think Edward Deming woudl approve of \u201ctravelled work\u201d at all. Who decided on that? And a straw in the wind: \u201cKayak allows users searching for flights to exclude specific aircraft. Usage of that option has increased recently. A spokeswoman said Kayak plans to introduce a new badge that will display the aircraft model in flight results in response to recent customer requests.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Manufacturing: \u201cBoeing whistleblower\u2019s lawsuit against aerospace giant continues despite death\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.live5news.com\/2024\/03\/20\/boeing-whistleblowers-lawsuit-against-aerospace-giant-continues-despite-death\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">WCSC<\/a>]. \u201cThe Charleston County Coroner reports Barnett died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, but has not formally ruled on a cause of death.\u201d Meanwhile, the suit continues, and Barnett\u2019s lawyers have released \u201ca redacted copy of the Amended Complaint (filed May 4, 2021) and the Court\u2019s May 31, 2022 decision denying Boeing\u2019s Partial Motion to Dismiss.\u201d And:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>These complaints in the suit include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Boeing maintained an \u201cillegal\u201d program not approved by the FAA \u201cthat allowed mechanics to inspect and approve their own work\u201d known as \u201cMulti-function Process Performer\u201d to meet deadlines; Barnett\u2019s performance rating later went from a 40 to 16.<\/li>\n<li>Managers \u201cpushing Barnett to work outside of the proper procedures\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Parts were \u201cstolen\u201d from one airplane and installed in another without any documentation; all corrective action was \u201ccanceled\u201d without an investigation<\/li>\n<li>In August 2014, the company failed to clean up titanium slivers from fasteners used to hold down floorboards that littered wire bundles and electrical components despite potential electrical shorting. Barnett was later removed from the project after complaining.<\/li>\n<li>In September 2014, Barnett learned he was issued a corrective action plan for documenting process violations in writing one month later against company rules to immediately notify employees claiming it was a \u201csurprise attack.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>In July 2016, Barnett was ordered to \u201clet it go\u201d after objecting to close out more than 400 nonconforming Shop Order Instance parts without investigation while discovering 200 that had been \u201cpencil whipped\u201d or fabricated.<\/li>\n<li>In August 2016, Barnett was criticized and removed from an investigation into emergency passenger oxygen tanks where it\u2019s estimated approximately 25% in 787s are not functional, after he pushed for leadership to investigate.<\/li>\n<li>In September 2016, Barnett was removed as a team leader after discovering that all previously delivered airplanes and missing\/incomplete\/incorrect serial number data after urging corrections and notifications to customers were needed<\/li>\n<li>That same month, Barnett\u2019s manager reportedly \u201ctook a defective part\u201d from the scrap bin and had it installed on another airplane without any documentation or rework against FAA requirements and the company\u2019s procedures. Barnett claimed he was blocked from a 737 Propulsion Quality Manager position after filing an HR complaint, which Boeing found was \u201cunsubstantiated\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>WCSC is a local South Carolina TV station. Meanwhile, the only story on Boeing from the prize-winning Post and Courier is a reprinted transcript from The Street: \u201cB<a href=\"https:\/\/www.postandcourier.com\/arena\/finance\/boeing-expects-major-financial-impact-from-recent-incidents\/article_ef2485ee-06a7-58a3-a70a-516003eda588.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">oeing expects major financial impact from recent incident<\/a>s.\u201d Priorities! Meanwhile, from a <em>second<\/em> TV station\u2013<\/p>\n<p>Manufacturing: \u201cLawyers for Boeing whistleblower release full complaint against the company\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.counton2.com\/news\/lawyers-for-boeing-whistleblower-release-full-complaint-against-the-company\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">WCBD<\/a>]. A more detailed and prosy version of the complaint. On the \u201cMulti-function Process Performer\u201d: \u201cDuring this time, Barnett claims that Boeing upper management pushed for quality to deviate from the rules so that production would meet deadlines. One way, in particular, is through the Multi-function Process Performer (MFPP) program. The MFPP program allowed Boeing mechanics to inspect and approve their own work, Barnett claimed. This program was allegedly implemented without FAA approval and was in direct violation of Boeing\u2019s Production Certificate from the FAA pursuant. The Senior Quality Control Manager objected to the MFPP program and pushed for Boeing to follow the rules. Barnett claims that in response to the Senior Quality Control Manager\u2019s objections, he was threatened with termination by superiors. The complaint says that this Senior Quality Control Manager then reached out to contacts in Seattle and was transferred with a downgrade in 2012 back to the state of Washington. In 2012, Barnett also protested against the MFPP program, saying it was illegal; however, no investigation was conducted.\u201d \u2022 Once agaim, nothing from the Post and Courier. Really, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.postandcourier.com\/site\/contact.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">somebody should contact management<\/a>\u2026 And from <em>another local TV station\u2013<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Manufacturing: \u201cBoeing whistleblower\u2019s retaliation complaint revealed after mysterious death in Charleston\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/abcnews4.com\/news\/local\/whistleblowers-complaint-against-boeing-revealed-after-mysterious-death-in-charleston-wciv-abc-news-4-boeing-south-carolina-wciv-abc-news-4-boeing-south-carolina-retaliation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">ABC4<\/a>]. \u201cThe next month, Barnett filed an ethics complaint against leadership for retaliation, a hostile work environment, and being blacklisted from acquiring other positions, according to the lawsuit documents. It also says he requested his complaint be investigated by someone outside of BSC. He was told it would be handled outside of BSC, but was . The complaint says that same month, he sent an email to Boeing Corporate Ethics in Washington, D.C. and voiced his concerns about the handling of his complaint. After being assured Barnett\u2019s concerns would be properly investigated, it was once again in South Carolina, according to the complaint.\u201d \u2022 Obvious pressure from the head office. And Is the head of HR in Charleston the Post and Courier\u2019s editor\u2019s brother-in-law, or what?<\/p>\n<p>Manufacturing: \u201cWhistleblower John Barnett claimed Boeing managers spied on him before his alleged suicide\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2024\/03\/20\/us-news\/whistleblower-john-barnett-claimed-boeing-managers-spied-on-him\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">New York Post<\/a>]. \u201cBoeing whistleblower John Barnett claimed the company\u2019s management had been spying on him in the bombshell court case he was working on when he was <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2024\/03\/15\/us-news\/boeing-whistleblower-john-barnett-made-a-grim-prediction-before-his-death\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">mysteriously found dead<\/a>\u2026. Another section of the lawsuit stated: \u2018In June 2014, Barnett submitted a complaint to Corporate Ethics against [redacted] for violating procedures, ignoring process violations, pushing Barnett to \u2018work in the grey areas,\u2019 and \u2026. \u2018That\u2019s the way it\u2019s done there. There were always moles who would throw you under the bus to look good to the big bosses. They weren\u2019t about team unity; you never know who you could trust,\u2019 a Boeing mid-level manager, who asked to remain anonymous over fear of losing their job, told The Post Wednesday.\u201d And: \u201c\u2018It is a criminal felony offense to not properly document the build record of an aircraft. By pressuring Barnett to not follow processes \u2026 Boeing was ordering Barnett to commit a felony offense.’\u201d \u2022 Sounds like a hellhole. No wonder <a href=\"https:\/\/www.seattletimes.com\/opinion\/editorials\/dont-let-boeings-787-line-fly-to-charleston\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Qatar Airways refused to buy 787s made in Charleston<\/a> (preferring Everett, WA).<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center><\/p>\n<p>Manufacturing: \u201cAllegations of staggering criminality by Boeing spelled out in complaint by whistleblower John Barnett, released by lawyers after his death\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsws.org\/en\/articles\/2024\/03\/21\/dbis-m21.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">WSWS<\/a>]. \u201cPolice, so far, have also from the Holiday Inn where Barnett was staying. In the original police report, the cops acknowledged that the hotel had security cameras installed and facing the parking lot where Barnett\u2019s vehicle and body were located.\u201d \u2022 Haven\u2019t seen this on the cameras elsewhere, however.<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center><\/p>\n<p>Tech: AI enshittification (1):<\/p>\n<p><center><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">New: multiple published scientific papers include language that appears to have been generated by AI-tools like ChatGPT. Search for “as of my last knowledge update” on Google Scholar, you get 115 results. It’s a phrase used by OpenAI’s ChatGPT <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/5OimGqTziW\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">https:\/\/t.co\/5OimGqTziW<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/VdX1Vl3tUN\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">pic.twitter.com\/VdX1Vl3tUN<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Joseph Cox (@josephfcox) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/josephfcox\/status\/1769762024290939322\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">March 18, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><\/center><\/p>\n<p>Tech: AI enshittification (2):<\/p>\n<p><center><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Large language models are architecturally incapable of forming new abstractions.<\/p>\n<p>Which is one reason why their value as programming assistants is vanishingly small.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Grady Booch (@Grady_Booch) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Grady_Booch\/status\/1770033342005887139\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">March 19, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><\/center><\/p>\n<p>Tech: AI enshittification (3):<\/p>\n<p><center><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I think this is one of the best examples illustrating how LLM Al is a purely statistical model and is not doing any kind of actual “thinking” or “logic” and cannot be trusted for tasks that require even a modicum of reasoning, a short \ud83e\uddf5: <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Fy4PNtecWj\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">https:\/\/t.co\/Fy4PNtecWj<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Chris Alvino (@ChrisAlvino) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ChrisAlvino\/status\/1768728342067351801\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">March 15, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><\/center><\/p>\n<p>Tech: AI enshittification (4):<\/p>\n<p><center><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Large language models are architecturally incapable of forming new abstractions.<\/p>\n<p>Which is one reason why their value as programming assistants is vanishingly small.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Grady Booch (@Grady_Booch) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Grady_Booch\/status\/1770033342005887139\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">March 19, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><\/center><\/p>\n<p>Tech: \u201cPluralistic: The Coprophagic AI crisis\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/pluralistic.net\/2024\/03\/14\/inhuman-centipede\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Pluralistic<\/a>]. \u201cThe question is, why the fuck would anyone write the web if the only \u201cperson\u201d who can find what they write is an AI\u2019s crawler, which ingests the writing for its own training, but has no interest in steering readers to see what you\u2019ve written? If AI search ever becomes a thing, the open web will become an AI CAFO and search crawlers will increasingly end up imbibing the contents of its manure lagoon\u2026. There\u2019s a certain intuitive case for this being a bad idea, akin to feeding cows a slurry made of the diseased brains of other cows\u2026. But \u201cThe Curse of Recursion: Training on Generated Data Makes Models Forget,\u201d a recent paper, goes beyond the ick factor of AI that is fed on botshit and <a href=\"https:\/\/arxiv.org\/abs\/2305.17493\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">delves into the mathematical consequences of AI coprophagia<\/a>: Co-author Ross Anderson summarizes the finding neatly: \u2018using model-generated content in training causes irreversible defects.’\u201d \u2022 I\u2019ve been muttering about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/search?q=autocoprophag+site%3Awww.nakedcapitalism.com&client=opera&hs=RTl&sca_esv=913d894b4ad63b06&ei=jXD8ZaS_Acrz4-EPk5C1yAM&ved=0ahUKEwjkuY_j8oWFAxXK-TgGHRNIDTkQ4dUDCBA&uact=5&oq=autocoprophag+site%3Awww.nakedcapitalism.com&gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAiKmF1dG9jb3Byb3BoYWcgc2l0ZTp3d3cubmFrZWRjYXBpdGFsaXNtLmNvbUjsC1DlA1i6BXABeACQAQCYAXmgAdwBqgEDMS4xuAEDyAEA-AEBmAIAoAIAmAMA4gMFEgExIECIBgGSBwCgB1o&sclient=gws-wiz-serp\">AI autocoprophagia<\/a> for some time, and if it\u2019s finally propagated, I\u2019m a happy camper.<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center><\/p>\n<p>Today\u2019s Fear & Greed Index: 76 Extreme Greed (previous close: 72 Greed) [<a href=\"https:\/\/money.cnn.com\/data\/fear-and-greed\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CNN<\/a>]. One week ago: 72 (Greed). (0 is Extreme Fear; 100 is Extreme Greed). Last updated Mar 21 at 12:23:14 PM ET.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Holier than Thou<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Cf. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Matthew+23%3A1-7&version=RSV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Matthew 23:1-7<\/a>:<\/p>\n<p><center><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">March 19, 2024<\/p>\n<p>A. Liberty U. \u2013 Super King Air<br \/>B. Samaritan’s Purse \u2013 Boeing 757<br \/>C. Spirit of America Foundation (Dean Sikes) \u2013 Cessna 550<br \/>D. Word of Life Christian Center (Leroy Thompson) \u2013 Falcon 900<br \/>E. Jerry Savelle Ministries \u2013 Falcon 50 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/NRHgU6w6ek\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">pic.twitter.com\/NRHgU6w6ek<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 pastorplanes (@pastorplanes) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/pastorplanes\/status\/1770458409726321046\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">March 20, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><\/center><\/p>\n<p><strong>Zeitgeist Watch<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe joys of divorce\u201d (poem) [Michael Smith, <a href=\"https:\/\/anacharsis.substack.com\/p\/the-joys-of-divorce\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Crying in the Wilderness<\/a>]. \u201cNothing like money, makes you hate someone\u2013\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Class Warfare<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Keys to a Long Life Are Sleep and a Better Diet\u2014and Money\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/why-we-die-venki-ramakrishnan\/#intcid=_wired-right-rail_d8accb89-f43e-461e-afa2-124a2430c31d_popular4-1-reranked-by-vidi\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Wired<\/a>]. \u201cThe top 10 percent in both the UK and the US live over a decade more than the bottom 10 percent. It\u2019s not even that they live more, they live more healthy lives. Why is that? Well the poor often don\u2019t have the chance to exercise, their diets are often poor, and they work multiple jobs and have problems with sleep. All these things we think we can do, they\u2019re harder if you\u2019re poor and have to juggle jobs, child care, et cetera. One worry I have is that if we discover sophisticated interventions\u2014like turning on stem cells and so on, or having to give transcription factors to people intravenously\u2014depending on the sophistication of the intervention only the rich might be able to afford them. That would make the disparity even worse. Not only are the rich living longer, they\u2019re going to live even longer and healthier.\u201d \u2022 Yep.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRecord numbers of wealthy Americans are looking for ways to live overseas\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.msn.com\/en-us\/money\/markets\/ar-BB1k9uFy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Business Insider<\/a>]. \u201c\u2018With political divisions and societal tensions at an all-time high, American investors, entrepreneurs, and wealthy families are increasingly hedging their bets and pursuing backup citizenship or residence abroad, signaling declining faith in the domestic outlook,\u2019 [Mehdi Kadiri, the head of North America at Henley & Partners] said in the report. \u2018We anticipate similar strong demand in 2024,\u2019 Kadiri added, \u2018as more high-net-worth individuals across the political spectrum seek to hedge uncertainty.’\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>News of the Wired<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cFlying Is Weird Right Now\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/archive.ph\/IH0eH\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">The Atlantic<\/a>]. The URL is more pointed: \u201cboeing-737-safety-air-travel.\u201d \u201cFlying has, in a historical sense at least, never been safer\u2026. So what\u2019s really going on? I suspect it\u2019s a confluence of two distinct factors. The first is that although air safety is getting markedly better over time, the experience of flying is arguably worse than ever\u2026. All of that is now coupled with an increase in passenger volume: In 2023, flight demand crept back up to near pre-pandemic levels, and staffing has not caught up. It is also an especially expensive time to fly. Pile on unruly passengers, system outages, baggage fees, carry-on restrictions, meager drink and snack offerings, and the trials and tribulations of merely coexisting with other travelers who insist on lining up at the gate 72 hours before their zone boards and you have a perfectly combustible situation.\u201d \u2022\u00a0And then there\u2019s all that damn coughing. Really kills the vibe.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFrustrated visitors sue National Park Service over cashless policies\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfgate.com\/california-parks\/article\/cashless-national-park-service-lawsuit-19265876.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">SFGate<\/a>]. \u201cThree people sued the National Park Service earlier this month for its policy not to accept cash payments at a growing number of locations\u2026. The park service instituted cashless policies at approximately 29 locations, according to the lawsuit. The plaintiffs said cash payments were refused at sites in Arizona, New York and Georgia.\u201d \u2022\u00a0Good. More like this please. Is cash legal tender, or not?<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center><\/p>\n<p><strong>Contact information for plants<\/strong>: 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) <a href=\"hhttps:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/2024\/03\/200pm-water-cooler-3-20-2024.html>here<\/a>. From EM:<\/p> <p><img loading=\" lazy=\"\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/trees_shannon.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"450\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-268800\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/trees_shannon.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/trees_shannon-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/p>\n<p>EM writes: \u201cTrees on The River Shannon (Ireland).\u201d<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center><\/p>\n<p><a name=\"donate\"\/><strong>Readers<\/strong>: Water Cooler is a standalone entity <em>not<\/em> covered by the annual NC fundraiser. So if you see a link you especially like, or an item you wouldn\u2019t see anywhere else, please do not hesitate to express your appreciation in tangible form. Remember, a tip jar is for tipping! <em>Regular positive feedback both makes me feel good and lets me know I\u2019m on the right track with coverage<\/em>. When I get no donations for five or ten 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:<\/p>\n<p>Here is the screen that will appear, which I have helpfully annotated:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-226891\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/contribution.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"606\" height=\"384\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/contribution.png 606w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/contribution-300x190.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 606px) 100vw, 606px\"\/><\/p>\n<p>If you hate PayPal, you can email me at lambert [UNDERSCORE] strether [DOT] corrente [AT] yahoo [DOT] com, and I will give you directions on how to send a check. Thank you!<\/p>\n<div class=\"printfriendly pf-alignleft\"><a href=\"#\" rel=\"nofollow\" onclick=\"window.print(); return false;\" title=\"Printer Friendly, PDF & Email\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"border:none;-webkit-box-shadow:none; -moz-box-shadow: none; box-shadow:none; padding:0; margin:0\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.printfriendly.com\/buttons\/print-button-gray.png\" alt=\"Print Friendly, PDF & Email\"\/><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/2024\/03\/200pm-water-cooler-3-21-2024.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Lambert Strether of Corrente. Bird Song of the Day American Robin, Libertytown, Frederick, Maryland, United States. \u201cVery quiet vocalization at close range. Dawn song.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":78658,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[153,183],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-78657","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-spotlight"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78657","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78657"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78657\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>American Robin, Libertytown, Frederick, Maryland, United States. \u201cVery quiet vocalization at close range. Dawn song.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center><\/p>\n<p><strong>In Case You Might Miss\u2026 <\/strong> <\/p>\n<p>(1) <a href=\"#beekeeping\">Beekeeper helpers<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>(3) <a href=\"#williamson\">Williamson quotes LOTR<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>(2) Barnett\u2019s lawyers <a href=\"#boeing\">release the (redacted) text of his complaint<\/a>, making Boeing\u2019s Charleston plant look like a hellhole.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Look for the Helpers<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a name=\"beekeeping\"\/>\u201cKeeping Beekeeping in the Family\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tabletmag.com\/sections\/holidays\/articles\/beekeeping-family-honey-rosh-hashanah\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">The Tablet<\/a>]. \u201cAfter watching his son create buzzing colonies of honeybees on Staten Island, [Jonathan] Landes was hooked. Upon his return to Melbourne a few weeks later, Landes gathered up four of his lifelong friends and founded a small urban beekeeping company called Chevra Honey, named for the Hebrew and Yiddish word for a society or close-knit group\u2026. The idea was simple: In a city like Melbourne, where most people tend to live in houses with ample space and backyards, the chevra would help to set up beehives to encourage urban beekeeping. The hives Landes sets up are made of good quality wood. Successful placement in the urban environment requires significant considerations. \u2018You say hello and go meet the person [who wants to host the hive]. You do an evaluation of the garden and neighborhood. You have to ask questions, such as if there is anyone who is allergic to bees. You ask who the usual visitors to the house are, or if they have pets,\u2019 he said, listing the checklist he runs through with prospective hosts. \u2018It\u2019s not like a cat or another pet. People can get stressed about bees. You must be able to manage the colony.\u2019\u2026 Today, a decade on, Chevra Honey manages around 40 hives around Melbourne\u2026 \u2018Beekeeping suits me,\u201d said Landes. \u201cI really enjoy it. People are so nice. They are very engaged in making the urban environment healthy with bees. It\u2019s a really good gig.’\u201d <\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center><\/p>\n<p>My email address is down by the plant; please send examples of \u201cHelpers\u201d there. In our increasingly desperate and fragile neoliberal society, everyday <em>normal<\/em> incidents and stories of \u201cthe communism of everyday life\u201d are what I am looking for (and not, say, the Red Cross in Hawaii, or even the UNWRA in Gaza). <\/p>\n<p><strong>Politics<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo many of the social reactions that strike us as psychological are in fact a rational management of symbolic capital.\u201d \u2013Pierre Bourdieu, Classification Struggles<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center><\/p>\n<p>The Constitutional Order (Insurrection)<\/p>\n<blockquote><\/blockquote>\n<p>2024<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Less than a year to go!<\/p>\n<p><iframe src=\"https:\/\/free.timeanddate.com\/countdown\/i8ubjj5e\/n179\/cf100\/cm0\/cu1\/ct0\/cs1\/ca0\/cr0\/ss0\/cac000\/cpc000\/pcfff\/tcfff\/fs100\/szw320\/szh135\/tatTime%20left%20to%20Election%20Day%2C%202024\/tac000\/tptTime%20since%20Event%20started%20in\/tpc000\/mac000\/mpc000\/iso2024-11-05T00:00:00\/bo2\/pd2\" allowtransparency=\"true\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"322\" height=\"137\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center><\/p>\n<p>Trump (R): \u201cGOP primaries flash warning signs for Trump\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/homenews\/campaign\/4545479-gop-primaries-flash-warning-signs-for-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">The Hill<\/a>]. \u201cIn primary elections in Ohio and other states, a sizable number of GOP voters still cast ballots for former rivals to the ex-president. That\u2019s potentially a big problem for Trump, because it suggests not all GOP primary voters are warming to him\u2026 A handful of states cast ballots Tuesday in the presidential primaries, including Ohio, Florida and Arizona. Trump won Ohio and Florida by roughly fourth-fifths of the vote, but former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley notched around 14 percent in each.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Trump (R): \u201cTrump has an early lead on Biden. But problems are piling up around him\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2024\/03\/21\/trump-biden-polling-lead-problems-00148131\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Politico<\/a>]. \u201c\u2018The only person who can beat Donald Trump is Donald Trump,\u2019 said David Urban, a former senior Trump campaign adviser. \u2018I don\u2019t think we\u2019re there yet.\u2019 Despite it all, Trump remains in an enviable position, leading Biden in early polls as the incumbent president clocks in with historically bad approval ratings. But Trump\u2019s advantage is also less than 2 percentage points \u2014 hardly a commanding lead \u2014 and he is still sitting below 50 percent. In the earliest days of the general election campaign, Trump\u2019s often improvised remarks contrast with his opponent\u2019s more carefully scripted campaign outings \u2014 and that approach brings some downsides, as evidenced in recent days.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Trump (R): \u201cThus Far, Trump Has Huge Coattails. The Best Coattails.\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theamericanconservative.com\/thus-far-trump-has-huge-coattails-the-best-coattails\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">The American Conservative<\/a>]. \u201cPresident Donald Trump\u2019s victories in last night\u2019s primaries in Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, and Ohio were foregone conclusions. All of Trump\u2019s challengers have already exited the race and, for the third straight presidential cycle, Trump has secured the Republican nomination. This alone suggests Trump\u2019s takeover of the GOP is near total, but there\u2019s even more evidence down ballot. On Tuesday, Trump\u2019s chosen candidates beat expectations. Nowhere was that clearer than in Ohio\u2019s senate primary. The businessman Bernie Moreno bested state Sen. Matt Dolan by nearly twenty points. Moreno received more than 50 percent of the vote and carried every county in the Buckeye state\u2026.For now, however, Trump is still king and, for smaller realms all around the country, kingmaker. Trump has made 88 endorsements in the primaries thus far. Not a single candidate for federal office has lost their primary with Trump\u2019s backing. Only three Trump-endorsed state legislative candidates have lost. Across state and federal primaries, Trump is 58 for 61 thus far. When November rolls around, the 58 winners will have the added benefit of Trump on the top of the ticket once again.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center><\/p>\n<p><a name=\"williamson\"\/>Williamson (I):<\/p>\n<p><center><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\u201cAll that is gold does not glitter,<br \/>Not all those who wander are lost;<br \/>The old that is strong does not wither,<br \/>Deep roots are not reached by the frost.<br \/>From the ashes a fire shall be woken,<br \/>A light from the shadows shall spring;<br \/>Renewed shall be blade that was broken,<br \/>The\u2026<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Marianne Williamson (@marwilliamson) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/marwilliamson\/status\/1770392265380516316\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">March 20, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><\/center><br \/>\n<center>* * *<\/center>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Republican Funhouse<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cAs Medicare Advantage\u2019s shortcomings echo in the press, key legislators still push to privatize traditional Medicare\u201d [Trudy Lieberman, <a href=\"https:\/\/wendellpotter.substack.com\/p\/as-medicare-advantages-shortcomings\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">HEALTH CARE un-covered<\/a>]. \u201c[Rolling Stone\u2019s Andrew] Perez points out that one item buried in the 887-page Heritage Foundation blueprint written to inform a potential new Trump administration has attracted little attention so far. It is a scheme to \u2018make Medicare Advantage the default enrollment option\u2019 for people who are newly eligible for Medicare, he wrote. David Lipschutz, associate director of the Center for Medicare Advocacy, says the Heritage plan would hasten privatization. \u2018Upon becoming eligible for Medicare now everyone starts with traditional Medicare as the default but can opt out of that program and later choose an Advantage plan,\u2019 Lipschutz says. The Heritage proposal, however, would have people start with Medicare Advantage plans, apparently with the opportunity to opt-out. With this arrangement, you can see how easy it would be for Medicare, as we know it, to \u2018wither on the vine\u2019 since many people new to Medicare are not well versed in the difference between the two options and instead are swayed by the TV advertising beckoning them to Medicare Advantage plans.\u201d \u2022 Project 2025 taking a cue from nudge theory. Swell.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Democrats <em>en D\u00e9shabill\u00e9<\/em><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cWorking class Dems who campaign on economics beat Trumpists in elections\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/pluralistic.net\/2024\/03\/20\/actual-material-conditions\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Pluralistic<\/a>]. \u201cThe Democratic Party Pizzaburger Theory of Electioneering is: half the electorate wants a pizza, the other half wants a burger, so we\u2019ll give them all a pizzaburger and make them all equally dissatisfied, thus winning the election\u2026 But no one wants a pizzaburger. The Biden administration\u2019s approach of letting the Warren\/Sanders wing pick the antitrust enforcers while keeping judicial appointments in the Manchin-Synematic universe is a catastrophe in which progressive Dem regulators (who serve one term) are thwarted by corporatist Dem judges (who serve for life)\u2026 Jacobin teamed up with the Center for Working-Class Politics, Yougov and the Center for Work and Democracy at ASU and <a href=\"https:\/\/images.jacobinmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/11134429\/CWCP-Report-2024.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">analyzed [the 2022 midterms]<\/a>: Their conclusion: candidates from working-class backgrounds who campaigned on economic policies like high-quality jobs, higher minimum wages, a jobs guarantee, ending offshoring and outsourcing, building infrastructure and bringing manufacturing back to the US won with a 50% share of the vote in rural and working-class districts. Dems who didn\u2019t lost with a 35% share of the vote.\u201d \u2022 Well, now the liberals have another target for decapitation, just like the 50-state strategy, or the Sanders campaign(s)\u2026 <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>#COVID19<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am in earnest \u2014 I will not equivocate \u2014 I will not excuse \u2014 I will not retreat a single inch \u2014 AND I WILL BE HEARD.\u201d \u2013William Lloyd Garrison<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center><\/p>\n<p>Resources, United States (National): Transmission (<a href=\"https:\/\/covid.cdc.gov\/covid-data-tracker\/#county-view?list_select_state=all_states&list_select_county=all_counties&data-type=Risk&null=Risk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CDC<\/a>); Wastewater (<a href=\"https:\/\/covid.cdc.gov\/covid-data-tracker\/#wastewater-surveillance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CDC<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/biobot.io\/data\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Biobot<\/a>; includes many counties; <a href=\"https:\/\/data.wastewaterscan.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Wastewater Scan<\/a>, includes drilldown by zip); Variants (<a href=\"https:\/\/covid.cdc.gov\/covid-data-tracker\/#variant-proportions\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CDC<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.walgreens.com\/businesssolutions\/covid-19-index.jsp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Walgreens<\/a>); \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/iowacovid19tracker.org\/hospitals\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Iowa COVID-19 Tracker<\/a>\u201d (in IA, but national data). \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/icemsg.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Infection Control, Emergency Management, Safety, and General Thoughts<\/a>\u201d (especially on hospitalization by city).<\/p>\n<p>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 \u201cCOVID\u201d in the subject line. Thank you!<\/p>\n<p>Resources, United States (Local): AK (<a href=\"https:\/\/experience.arcgis.com\/experience\/af2efc8bffbf4cdc83c2d1a134354074\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); AL (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.arcgis.com\/apps\/dashboards\/6d2771faa9da4a2786a509d82c8cf0f7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); AR (<a href=\"https:\/\/experience.arcgis.com\/experience\/633006d0782b4544bd5113a314f6268a\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); AZ (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.azdhs.gov\/covid19\/data\/index.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); CA (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdph.ca.gov\/Programs\/CID\/DCDC\/Pages\/COVID-19\/CalSuWers-Dashboard.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/coronavirus.marinhhs.org\/surveillance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Marin, dashboard<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/healthalerts.stanford.edu\/covid-19\/wastewater-dashboard\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Stanford, wastewater<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/publichealth.verily.com\/?v=SC2_N&l=Oakland%2C+CA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Oakland, wastewater<\/a>); CO (<a href=\"https:\/\/covid19.colorado.gov\/data\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/cdphe.maps.arcgis.com\/apps\/dashboards\/d79cf93c3938470ca4bcc4823328946b#utility=\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>); CT (<a href=\"https:\/\/data.ct.gov\/stories\/s\/COVID-19-data\/wa3g-tfvc\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); DE (<a href=\"https:\/\/coronavirus.delaware.gov\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); FL (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.arcgis.com\/apps\/dashboards\/5b9d75ba683849928dc1a49c39ab0b1c\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>); GA (<a href=\"https:\/\/dph.georgia.gov\/ga-nwss-wastewater-surveillance-reports\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>); HI (<a href=\"https:\/\/health.hawaii.gov\/coronavirusdisease2019\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); IA (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dmmwra.org\/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=57\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater reports<\/a>); ID (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.idahopublichealth.com\/district-2\/novel-coronavirus\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>, Boise; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.idahopublichealth.com\/district-2\/novel-coronavirus\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/data.wastewaterscan.org\/?plantId=1056f05c-0e46-4e3d-b007-c0453ba7dc0d\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>, Central Idaho; <a href=\"https:\/\/publichealth.verily.com\/#:SARS-CoV-2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>, Coeur d\u2019Alene; dashboard, <a href=\"https:\/\/covid.srhd.org\/topics\/spokane-county-case-data\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Spokane County<\/a>); IL (<a href=\"https:\/\/iwss.uillinois.edu\/wastewater-treatment-plants\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>); IN (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.coronavirus.in.gov\/indiana-covid-19-dashboard-and-map\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); KS (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.coronavirus.kdheks.gov\/160\/COVID-19-in-Kansas\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/experience.arcgis.com\/experience\/4456bae8a38f4b6180e008477382fff9\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>, Lawrence); KY (<a href=\"https:\/\/louisville.edu\/envirome\/thecoimmunityproject\/dashboard\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>, Louisville); LA (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ldh.la.gov\/coronavirus\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); MA (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mass.gov\/info-details\/covid-19-wastewater-report\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>); MD (<a href=\"https:\/\/coronavirus.maryland.gov\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); ME (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.maine.gov\/dhhs\/mecdc\/infectious-disease\/epi\/airborne\/coronavirus\/data.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); MI (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigan.gov\/coronavirus\/stats\/wastewater-surveillance\/dashboard\/sentinel-wastewater-epidemiology-evaluation-project-sweep\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/gisportal.state.mi.us\/portal\/apps\/insights\/index.html#\/view\/52bbb104ed574887918f990af9f3debe\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>); MN (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.health.state.mn.us\/diseases\/coronavirus\/stats\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); MO (<a href=\"https:\/\/storymaps.arcgis.com\/stories\/f7f5492486114da6b5d6fdc07f81aacf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>); MS (<a href=\"https:\/\/msdh.ms.gov\/page\/14,0,420.html#Mississippi\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); <del>MT (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.arcgis.com\/apps\/MapSeries\/index.html?appid=7c34f3412536439491adcc2103421d4b\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>)<\/del>; NC (<a href=\"https:\/\/covid19.ncdhhs.gov\/dashboard\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard)<\/a>; ND (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hhs.nd.gov\/health\/coronavirus\/cases\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hhs.nd.gov\/health\/coronavirus\/cases\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>); NE (<a href=\"https:\/\/atlas-dhhs.ne.gov\/Atlas\/Respiratory_Illness\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); NH (<a href=\"https:\/\/wisdom.dhhs.nh.gov\/wisdom\/dashboard.html?topic=covid-19&subtopic=recurring-updates&indicator=covid-19-wastewater#tabnavbarid\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>); NJ (<a href=\"https:\/\/covid19.nj.gov\/forms\/datadashboard\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); NM (<a href=\"https:\/\/cvprovider.nmhealth.org\/public-dashboard.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); NV (<a href=\"https:\/\/nvhealthresponse.nv.gov\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/empower.unlv.edu\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>, Southern NV); NY (<a href=\"https:\/\/mbcolli.shinyapps.io\/SARS2EWSP\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); OH (<a href=\"https:\/\/coronavirus.ohio.gov\/dashboards\/other-resources\/wastewater\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); OK (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.arcgis.com\/apps\/dashboards\/51657c21386d4f1a962b1853c76ec589\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); <del>OR (<a href=\"https:\/\/public.tableau.com\/app\/profile\/oregon.health.authority.covid.19\/viz\/OregonsCOVID-19DataDashboards-TableofContents\/TableofContentsStatewide\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>)<\/del>; PA (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.health.pa.gov\/topics\/disease\/coronavirus\/pages\/Cases.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); RI (<a href=\"https:\/\/ri-department-of-health-covid-19-data-rihealth.hub.arcgis.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); SC (<a href=\"https:\/\/scdhec.gov\/index.php\/covid19\/covid-19-data\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); SD (<a href=\"https:\/\/doh.sd.gov\/COVID\/Dashboard.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); TN (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tn.gov\/health\/cedep\/ncov\/data.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); TX (<a href=\"https:\/\/txdshsea.maps.arcgis.com\/apps\/dashboards\/4ae43eefd0f641d59d35c3df82ee59cc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); UT (<a href=\"https:\/\/udwq.shinyapps.io\/sarscov2_surv\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>); VA (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/coronavirus\/see-the-numbers\/covid-19-in-virginia\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); VT (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.healthvermont.gov\/disease-control\/covid-19\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); WA (<a href=\"https:\/\/doh.wa.gov\/emergencies\/covid-19\/data-dashboard\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/covid19.bfhd.wa.gov\/cases-and-roadmap-to-recovery\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); WI (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dhs.wisconsin.gov\/covid-19\/wastewater.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>); WV (<del><a href=\"https:\/\/oehs.wvdhhr.org\/news\/oehs-coivd-19-information\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a><\/del>); WY (<del><a href=\"https:\/\/covidwastewatermonitor.wyo.gov\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a><\/del>).<\/p>\n<p>Resources, Canada (National): Wastewater (<a href=\"https:\/\/health-infobase.canada.ca\/covid-19\/wastewater\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Government of Canada<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p>Resources, Canada (Provincial): ON (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.publichealthontario.ca\/en\/Data-and-Analysis\/Infectious-Disease\/COVID-19-Data-Surveillance\/Wastewater\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>); QC (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.inspq.qc.ca\/covid-19\/donnees\/eaux-usees\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><em>les eaux us\u00e9es<\/em><\/a>); BC (<a href=\"https:\/\/bccdc.shinyapps.io\/respiratory_wastewater\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>); BC, Vancouver (<a href=\"https:\/\/metrovancouver.org\/services\/liquid-waste\/testing-for-the-covid-19-virus-in-wastewater\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p>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, 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). <\/p>\n<p>Stay safe out there!<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center><\/p>\n<p>Covid is Airborne<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Maybe engineering has bad vibes?<\/p>\n<p><center><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Did you know? It’s entirely possible to control airborne respiratory viruses. ASHRAE has a standard that spells out for HVAC engineers the requirements for controlling infectious aerosols.<\/p>\n<p>Anyone who is telling you mass sickness isn’t preventable is lying <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/LongCovidAwarenessDay?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">#LongCovidAwarenessDay<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/o8XhL6Q7sD\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">pic.twitter.com\/o8XhL6Q7sD<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Nick #AirborneCovidExhaustsTCells\ud83d\ude37 Anderegg (@NickAnderegg) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NickAnderegg\/status\/1768661778681012443\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">March 15, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><\/center>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Infection<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>About those personalk risk assessments:<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/personal_risk-e1711043563481.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"403\" height=\"806\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-268803\"\/><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Sequelae<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>About brain damage:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/brain_damage-e1711043870905.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"403\" height=\"621\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-268804\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Here is a link to \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JamesThrot\/status\/1768304236746469398\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">this thread<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center><\/p>\n<p><strong>TABLE 1: Daily Covid Charts<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>LEGEND<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>1) <span style=\"font-size: 10pt; color: gold;\">\u2605<\/span> for charts new today; all others are not updated.<\/p>\n<p>2) For a full-size\/full-resolution image, Command-click (MacOS) or right-click (Windows) on the chart thumbnail and \u201copen image in new tab.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>NOTES<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>[1] (Biobot) Our curve has now flattened out at the level of previous Trump peaks. Not a great victory. Note also the area \u201cunder the curve,\u201d besides looking at peaks. That area is larger under Biden than under Trump, and it seems to be rising steadily if unevenly.<\/p>\n<p>[2] (Biobot) Midwest ticks up.<\/p>\n<p>[3] (CDC Variants) As of May 11, genomic surveillance data will be reported biweekly, based on the availability of positive test specimens.\u201d \u201cBiweeekly: 1. occurring every two weeks. 2. occurring twice a week; semiweekly.\u201d Looks like CDC has chosen sense #1. In essence, they\u2019re telling us variants are nothing to worry about. Time will tell.<\/p>\n<p>[4] (ER) \u201cCharts and data provided by CDC, updates Wednesday by 8am. For the past year, using a rolling 52-week period.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>[5] (Hospitalization: NY) Looks like a very gradual leveling off to a non-zero baseline, to me.<\/p>\n<p>[6] (Hospitalization: CDC) Still down. \u201cMaps, charts, and data provided by CDC, updates weekly for the previous MMWR week (Sunday-Saturday) on Thursdays (Deaths, Emergency Department Visits, Test Positivity) and weekly the following Mondays (Hospitalizations) by 8 pm ET\u2020\u201d. <\/p>\n<p>[7] (Walgreens) Leveling out.<\/p>\n<p>[8] (Cleveland) Flattening.<\/p>\n<p>[9] (Travelers: Posivitity) Now up, albeit in the rear view mirror.<\/p>\n<p>[10] (Travelers: Variants) JN.1 dominates utterly.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Stats Watch<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Employment Situation: \u201cUnited States Initial Jobless Claims\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/tradingeconomics.com\/united-states\/jobless-claims\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Trading Economics<\/a>]. \u201cThe number of people claiming unemployment benefits in the US fell by 2,000 to 210,000 on the week ending March 16th, 2024, below market expectations of 215,000. At the same time, continuing unemployment claims were relatively unchanged at 1,807,000 for the earlier week. The data continued to show that the US labor market remains tight, aligned with the Federal Reserve\u2019s latest assessment and adding leeway for the central bank to delay the start of rate cuts.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Manufacturing: \u201cUnited States Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/tradingeconomics.com\/united-states\/philadelphia-fed-manufacturing-index\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Trading Economics<\/a>]. \u201cThe Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index in the US decreased to 3.2 in March 2024 from 5.2 in February but came above market estimates of -2.3. It was the second consecutive expansionary reading since the index for shipments ticked up 1 point to 11.4, and the index for new orders turned positive for the first time since October.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center><\/p>\n<p>Antitrust: \u201cU.S. Sues Apple, Accusing It of Maintaining an iPhone Monopoly\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/03\/21\/technology\/apple-doj-lawsuit-antitrust.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">New York Times<\/a>]. \u201cThe Justice Department joined 16 states and the District of Columbia to file an antitrust lawsuit against Apple on Thursday, the federal government\u2019s most significant challenge to the reach and influence of the company that has put iPhones in the hands of more than a billion people. In an 88-page lawsuit, the government argued that Apple had violated antitrust laws with practices that were intended to keep customers reliant on their iPhones and less likely to switch to a competing device. The tech giant prevented other companies from offering applications that compete with Apple products like its digital wallet, which could diminish the value of the iPhone, the government said. Apple\u2019s policies hurt consumers and smaller companies that compete with some of Apple\u2019s services, in the form of \u201chigher prices and less innovation,\u201d the lawsuit said. \u2018Each step in Apple\u2019s course of conduct built and reinforced the moat around its smartphone monopoly,\u2019 the government said in the lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center><\/p>\n<p><a name=\"boeing\"\/>Manufacturing: \u201cAirline CEOs Seek Meeting With Boeing Directors to Address Production Problems\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/archive.ph\/cgMyF\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Wall Street Journal<\/a>]. \u201cA group of airline chiefs recently requested a meeting with Boeing\u2019s board to express concern over the Alaska Airlines accident and production problems that have upended the industry\u2019s plans, people familiar with the matter said\u2026. The request to meet with Boeing\u2019s directors is an unusual sign of frustration with the manufacturer\u2019s problems and its leader, David Calhoun. The Boeing CEO isn\u2019t expected to attend the planned meetings.\u201d And this: \u201cBoeing was taking more measures to reduce so-called traveled work, where problems with parts or aircraft are moved along its production lines and addressed later. That effort will also slow production, which West said would increase later in the year.\u201d I don\u2019t think Edward Deming woudl approve of \u201ctravelled work\u201d at all. Who decided on that? And a straw in the wind: \u201cKayak allows users searching for flights to exclude specific aircraft. Usage of that option has increased recently. A spokeswoman said Kayak plans to introduce a new badge that will display the aircraft model in flight results in response to recent customer requests.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Manufacturing: \u201cBoeing whistleblower\u2019s lawsuit against aerospace giant continues despite death\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.live5news.com\/2024\/03\/20\/boeing-whistleblowers-lawsuit-against-aerospace-giant-continues-despite-death\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">WCSC<\/a>]. \u201cThe Charleston County Coroner reports Barnett died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, but has not formally ruled on a cause of death.\u201d Meanwhile, the suit continues, and Barnett\u2019s lawyers have released \u201ca redacted copy of the Amended Complaint (filed May 4, 2021) and the Court\u2019s May 31, 2022 decision denying Boeing\u2019s Partial Motion to Dismiss.\u201d And:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>These complaints in the suit include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Boeing maintained an \u201cillegal\u201d program not approved by the FAA \u201cthat allowed mechanics to inspect and approve their own work\u201d known as \u201cMulti-function Process Performer\u201d to meet deadlines; Barnett\u2019s performance rating later went from a 40 to 16.<\/li>\n<li>Managers \u201cpushing Barnett to work outside of the proper procedures\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Parts were \u201cstolen\u201d from one airplane and installed in another without any documentation; all corrective action was \u201ccanceled\u201d without an investigation<\/li>\n<li>In August 2014, the company failed to clean up titanium slivers from fasteners used to hold down floorboards that littered wire bundles and electrical components despite potential electrical shorting. Barnett was later removed from the project after complaining.<\/li>\n<li>In September 2014, Barnett learned he was issued a corrective action plan for documenting process violations in writing one month later against company rules to immediately notify employees claiming it was a \u201csurprise attack.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>In July 2016, Barnett was ordered to \u201clet it go\u201d after objecting to close out more than 400 nonconforming Shop Order Instance parts without investigation while discovering 200 that had been \u201cpencil whipped\u201d or fabricated.<\/li>\n<li>In August 2016, Barnett was criticized and removed from an investigation into emergency passenger oxygen tanks where it\u2019s estimated approximately 25% in 787s are not functional, after he pushed for leadership to investigate.<\/li>\n<li>In September 2016, Barnett was removed as a team leader after discovering that all previously delivered airplanes and missing\/incomplete\/incorrect serial number data after urging corrections and notifications to customers were needed<\/li>\n<li>That same month, Barnett\u2019s manager reportedly \u201ctook a defective part\u201d from the scrap bin and had it installed on another airplane without any documentation or rework against FAA requirements and the company\u2019s procedures. Barnett claimed he was blocked from a 737 Propulsion Quality Manager position after filing an HR complaint, which Boeing found was \u201cunsubstantiated\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>WCSC is a local South Carolina TV station. Meanwhile, the only story on Boeing from the prize-winning Post and Courier is a reprinted transcript from The Street: \u201cB<a href=\"https:\/\/www.postandcourier.com\/arena\/finance\/boeing-expects-major-financial-impact-from-recent-incidents\/article_ef2485ee-06a7-58a3-a70a-516003eda588.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">oeing expects major financial impact from recent incident<\/a>s.\u201d Priorities! Meanwhile, from a <em>second<\/em> TV station\u2013<\/p>\n<p>Manufacturing: \u201cLawyers for Boeing whistleblower release full complaint against the company\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.counton2.com\/news\/lawyers-for-boeing-whistleblower-release-full-complaint-against-the-company\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">WCBD<\/a>]. A more detailed and prosy version of the complaint. On the \u201cMulti-function Process Performer\u201d: \u201cDuring this time, Barnett claims that Boeing upper management pushed for quality to deviate from the rules so that production would meet deadlines. One way, in particular, is through the Multi-function Process Performer (MFPP) program. The MFPP program allowed Boeing mechanics to inspect and approve their own work, Barnett claimed. This program was allegedly implemented without FAA approval and was in direct violation of Boeing\u2019s Production Certificate from the FAA pursuant. The Senior Quality Control Manager objected to the MFPP program and pushed for Boeing to follow the rules. Barnett claims that in response to the Senior Quality Control Manager\u2019s objections, he was threatened with termination by superiors. The complaint says that this Senior Quality Control Manager then reached out to contacts in Seattle and was transferred with a downgrade in 2012 back to the state of Washington. In 2012, Barnett also protested against the MFPP program, saying it was illegal; however, no investigation was conducted.\u201d \u2022 Once agaim, nothing from the Post and Courier. Really, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.postandcourier.com\/site\/contact.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">somebody should contact management<\/a>\u2026 And from <em>another local TV station\u2013<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Manufacturing: \u201cBoeing whistleblower\u2019s retaliation complaint revealed after mysterious death in Charleston\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/abcnews4.com\/news\/local\/whistleblowers-complaint-against-boeing-revealed-after-mysterious-death-in-charleston-wciv-abc-news-4-boeing-south-carolina-wciv-abc-news-4-boeing-south-carolina-retaliation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">ABC4<\/a>]. \u201cThe next month, Barnett filed an ethics complaint against leadership for retaliation, a hostile work environment, and being blacklisted from acquiring other positions, according to the lawsuit documents. It also says he requested his complaint be investigated by someone outside of BSC. He was told it would be handled outside of BSC, but was . The complaint says that same month, he sent an email to Boeing Corporate Ethics in Washington, D.C. and voiced his concerns about the handling of his complaint. After being assured Barnett\u2019s concerns would be properly investigated, it was once again in South Carolina, according to the complaint.\u201d \u2022 Obvious pressure from the head office. And Is the head of HR in Charleston the Post and Courier\u2019s editor\u2019s brother-in-law, or what?<\/p>\n<p>Manufacturing: \u201cWhistleblower John Barnett claimed Boeing managers spied on him before his alleged suicide\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2024\/03\/20\/us-news\/whistleblower-john-barnett-claimed-boeing-managers-spied-on-him\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">New York Post<\/a>]. \u201cBoeing whistleblower John Barnett claimed the company\u2019s management had been spying on him in the bombshell court case he was working on when he was <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2024\/03\/15\/us-news\/boeing-whistleblower-john-barnett-made-a-grim-prediction-before-his-death\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">mysteriously found dead<\/a>\u2026. Another section of the lawsuit stated: \u2018In June 2014, Barnett submitted a complaint to Corporate Ethics against [redacted] for violating procedures, ignoring process violations, pushing Barnett to \u2018work in the grey areas,\u2019 and \u2026. \u2018That\u2019s the way it\u2019s done there. There were always moles who would throw you under the bus to look good to the big bosses. They weren\u2019t about team unity; you never know who you could trust,\u2019 a Boeing mid-level manager, who asked to remain anonymous over fear of losing their job, told The Post Wednesday.\u201d And: \u201c\u2018It is a criminal felony offense to not properly document the build record of an aircraft. By pressuring Barnett to not follow processes \u2026 Boeing was ordering Barnett to commit a felony offense.’\u201d \u2022 Sounds like a hellhole. No wonder <a href=\"https:\/\/www.seattletimes.com\/opinion\/editorials\/dont-let-boeings-787-line-fly-to-charleston\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Qatar Airways refused to buy 787s made in Charleston<\/a> (preferring Everett, WA).<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center><\/p>\n<p>Manufacturing: \u201cAllegations of staggering criminality by Boeing spelled out in complaint by whistleblower John Barnett, released by lawyers after his death\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsws.org\/en\/articles\/2024\/03\/21\/dbis-m21.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">WSWS<\/a>]. \u201cPolice, so far, have also from the Holiday Inn where Barnett was staying. In the original police report, the cops acknowledged that the hotel had security cameras installed and facing the parking lot where Barnett\u2019s vehicle and body were located.\u201d \u2022 Haven\u2019t seen this on the cameras elsewhere, however.<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center><\/p>\n<p>Tech: AI enshittification (1):<\/p>\n<p><center><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">New: multiple published scientific papers include language that appears to have been generated by AI-tools like ChatGPT. Search for “as of my last knowledge update” on Google Scholar, you get 115 results. It’s a phrase used by OpenAI’s ChatGPT <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/5OimGqTziW\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">https:\/\/t.co\/5OimGqTziW<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/VdX1Vl3tUN\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">pic.twitter.com\/VdX1Vl3tUN<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Joseph Cox (@josephfcox) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/josephfcox\/status\/1769762024290939322\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">March 18, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><\/center><\/p>\n<p>Tech: AI enshittification (2):<\/p>\n<p><center><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Large language models are architecturally incapable of forming new abstractions.<\/p>\n<p>Which is one reason why their value as programming assistants is vanishingly small.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Grady Booch (@Grady_Booch) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Grady_Booch\/status\/1770033342005887139\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">March 19, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><\/center><\/p>\n<p>Tech: AI enshittification (3):<\/p>\n<p><center><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I think this is one of the best examples illustrating how LLM Al is a purely statistical model and is not doing any kind of actual “thinking” or “logic” and cannot be trusted for tasks that require even a modicum of reasoning, a short \ud83e\uddf5: <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Fy4PNtecWj\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">https:\/\/t.co\/Fy4PNtecWj<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Chris Alvino (@ChrisAlvino) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ChrisAlvino\/status\/1768728342067351801\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">March 15, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><\/center><\/p>\n<p>Tech: AI enshittification (4):<\/p>\n<p><center><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Large language models are architecturally incapable of forming new abstractions.<\/p>\n<p>Which is one reason why their value as programming assistants is vanishingly small.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Grady Booch (@Grady_Booch) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Grady_Booch\/status\/1770033342005887139\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">March 19, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><\/center><\/p>\n<p>Tech: \u201cPluralistic: The Coprophagic AI crisis\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/pluralistic.net\/2024\/03\/14\/inhuman-centipede\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Pluralistic<\/a>]. \u201cThe question is, why the fuck would anyone write the web if the only \u201cperson\u201d who can find what they write is an AI\u2019s crawler, which ingests the writing for its own training, but has no interest in steering readers to see what you\u2019ve written? If AI search ever becomes a thing, the open web will become an AI CAFO and search crawlers will increasingly end up imbibing the contents of its manure lagoon\u2026. There\u2019s a certain intuitive case for this being a bad idea, akin to feeding cows a slurry made of the diseased brains of other cows\u2026. But \u201cThe Curse of Recursion: Training on Generated Data Makes Models Forget,\u201d a recent paper, goes beyond the ick factor of AI that is fed on botshit and <a href=\"https:\/\/arxiv.org\/abs\/2305.17493\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">delves into the mathematical consequences of AI coprophagia<\/a>: Co-author Ross Anderson summarizes the finding neatly: \u2018using model-generated content in training causes irreversible defects.’\u201d \u2022 I\u2019ve been muttering about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/search?q=autocoprophag+site%3Awww.nakedcapitalism.com&client=opera&hs=RTl&sca_esv=913d894b4ad63b06&ei=jXD8ZaS_Acrz4-EPk5C1yAM&ved=0ahUKEwjkuY_j8oWFAxXK-TgGHRNIDTkQ4dUDCBA&uact=5&oq=autocoprophag+site%3Awww.nakedcapitalism.com&gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAiKmF1dG9jb3Byb3BoYWcgc2l0ZTp3d3cubmFrZWRjYXBpdGFsaXNtLmNvbUjsC1DlA1i6BXABeACQAQCYAXmgAdwBqgEDMS4xuAEDyAEA-AEBmAIAoAIAmAMA4gMFEgExIECIBgGSBwCgB1o&sclient=gws-wiz-serp\">AI autocoprophagia<\/a> for some time, and if it\u2019s finally propagated, I\u2019m a happy camper.<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center><\/p>\n<p>Today\u2019s Fear & Greed Index: 76 Extreme Greed (previous close: 72 Greed) [<a href=\"https:\/\/money.cnn.com\/data\/fear-and-greed\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CNN<\/a>]. One week ago: 72 (Greed). (0 is Extreme Fear; 100 is Extreme Greed). Last updated Mar 21 at 12:23:14 PM ET.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Holier than Thou<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Cf. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Matthew+23%3A1-7&version=RSV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Matthew 23:1-7<\/a>:<\/p>\n<p><center><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">March 19, 2024<\/p>\n<p>A. Liberty U. \u2013 Super King Air<br \/>B. Samaritan’s Purse \u2013 Boeing 757<br \/>C. Spirit of America Foundation (Dean Sikes) \u2013 Cessna 550<br \/>D. Word of Life Christian Center (Leroy Thompson) \u2013 Falcon 900<br \/>E. Jerry Savelle Ministries \u2013 Falcon 50 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/NRHgU6w6ek\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">pic.twitter.com\/NRHgU6w6ek<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 pastorplanes (@pastorplanes) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/pastorplanes\/status\/1770458409726321046\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">March 20, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><\/center><\/p>\n<p><strong>Zeitgeist Watch<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe joys of divorce\u201d (poem) [Michael Smith, <a href=\"https:\/\/anacharsis.substack.com\/p\/the-joys-of-divorce\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Crying in the Wilderness<\/a>]. \u201cNothing like money, makes you hate someone\u2013\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Class Warfare<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Keys to a Long Life Are Sleep and a Better Diet\u2014and Money\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/why-we-die-venki-ramakrishnan\/#intcid=_wired-right-rail_d8accb89-f43e-461e-afa2-124a2430c31d_popular4-1-reranked-by-vidi\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Wired<\/a>]. \u201cThe top 10 percent in both the UK and the US live over a decade more than the bottom 10 percent. It\u2019s not even that they live more, they live more healthy lives. Why is that? Well the poor often don\u2019t have the chance to exercise, their diets are often poor, and they work multiple jobs and have problems with sleep. All these things we think we can do, they\u2019re harder if you\u2019re poor and have to juggle jobs, child care, et cetera. One worry I have is that if we discover sophisticated interventions\u2014like turning on stem cells and so on, or having to give transcription factors to people intravenously\u2014depending on the sophistication of the intervention only the rich might be able to afford them. That would make the disparity even worse. Not only are the rich living longer, they\u2019re going to live even longer and healthier.\u201d \u2022 Yep.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRecord numbers of wealthy Americans are looking for ways to live overseas\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.msn.com\/en-us\/money\/markets\/ar-BB1k9uFy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Business Insider<\/a>]. \u201c\u2018With political divisions and societal tensions at an all-time high, American investors, entrepreneurs, and wealthy families are increasingly hedging their bets and pursuing backup citizenship or residence abroad, signaling declining faith in the domestic outlook,\u2019 [Mehdi Kadiri, the head of North America at Henley & Partners] said in the report. \u2018We anticipate similar strong demand in 2024,\u2019 Kadiri added, \u2018as more high-net-worth individuals across the political spectrum seek to hedge uncertainty.’\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>News of the Wired<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cFlying Is Weird Right Now\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/archive.ph\/IH0eH\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">The Atlantic<\/a>]. The URL is more pointed: \u201cboeing-737-safety-air-travel.\u201d \u201cFlying has, in a historical sense at least, never been safer\u2026. So what\u2019s really going on? I suspect it\u2019s a confluence of two distinct factors. The first is that although air safety is getting markedly better over time, the experience of flying is arguably worse than ever\u2026. All of that is now coupled with an increase in passenger volume: In 2023, flight demand crept back up to near pre-pandemic levels, and staffing has not caught up. It is also an especially expensive time to fly. Pile on unruly passengers, system outages, baggage fees, carry-on restrictions, meager drink and snack offerings, and the trials and tribulations of merely coexisting with other travelers who insist on lining up at the gate 72 hours before their zone boards and you have a perfectly combustible situation.\u201d \u2022\u00a0And then there\u2019s all that damn coughing. Really kills the vibe.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFrustrated visitors sue National Park Service over cashless policies\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfgate.com\/california-parks\/article\/cashless-national-park-service-lawsuit-19265876.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">SFGate<\/a>]. \u201cThree people sued the National Park Service earlier this month for its policy not to accept cash payments at a growing number of locations\u2026. The park service instituted cashless policies at approximately 29 locations, according to the lawsuit. The plaintiffs said cash payments were refused at sites in Arizona, New York and Georgia.\u201d \u2022\u00a0Good. More like this please. Is cash legal tender, or not?<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center><\/p>\n<p><strong>Contact information for plants<\/strong>: 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) <a href=\"hhttps:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/2024\/03\/200pm-water-cooler-3-20-2024.html>here<\/a>. From EM:<\/p> <p><img loading=\" lazy=\"\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/trees_shannon.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"450\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-268800\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/trees_shannon.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/trees_shannon-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/p>\n<p>EM writes: \u201cTrees on The River Shannon (Ireland).\u201d<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center><\/p>\n<p><a name=\"donate\"\/><strong>Readers<\/strong>: Water Cooler is a standalone entity <em>not<\/em> covered by the annual NC fundraiser. So if you see a link you especially like, or an item you wouldn\u2019t see anywhere else, please do not hesitate to express your appreciation in tangible form. Remember, a tip jar is for tipping! <em>Regular positive feedback both makes me feel good and lets me know I\u2019m on the right track with coverage<\/em>. When I get no donations for five or ten 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:<\/p>\n<p>Here is the screen that will appear, which I have helpfully annotated:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-226891\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/contribution.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"606\" height=\"384\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/contribution.png 606w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/contribution-300x190.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 606px) 100vw, 606px\"\/><\/p>\n<p>If you hate PayPal, you can email me at lambert [UNDERSCORE] strether [DOT] corrente [AT] yahoo [DOT] com, and I will give you directions on how to send a check. Thank you!<\/p>\n<div class=\"printfriendly pf-alignleft\"><a href=\"#\" rel=\"nofollow\" onclick=\"window.print(); return false;\" title=\"Printer Friendly, PDF & Email\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"border:none;-webkit-box-shadow:none; -moz-box-shadow: none; box-shadow:none; padding:0; margin:0\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.printfriendly.com\/buttons\/print-button-gray.png\" alt=\"Print Friendly, PDF & Email\"\/><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/2024\/03\/200pm-water-cooler-3-21-2024.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Lambert Strether of Corrente. Bird Song of the Day American Robin, Libertytown, Frederick, Maryland, United States. \u201cVery quiet vocalization at close range. Dawn song.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":78658,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[153,183],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-78657","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-spotlight"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78657","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78657"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78657\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}