\n<\/p>\n
Bird Song of the Day<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Brown Thrasher, Lake Wales; Bok Sanctuary, Florida, United States. From 1963!<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p><strong>In Case You Might Miss\u2026 <\/strong> <\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><a href=\"#strategy\">Trump strategy<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#market\">Taleb<\/a>: Tech firms \u201cgrey swans\u201d?<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#boeing\">Ortberg soothes the analysts<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#class\"> Andreessen predicts AI-driven wage crash<\/a> (and that\u2019s a good thing).<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#marriage\">\u201cHuman Reproduction as Prisoner\u2019s Dilemma\u201d<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center> <\/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><a name=\"trump\"\/>Trump Administration<\/p>\n<blockquote wp_automatic_readability=\"171.39290854377\">\n<p>Energy in the executive:<\/p>\n<p><a name=\"strategy\"\/>\u201cTrump: We\u2019re Forging A New Political Majority That\u2019s Shattering The New Deal Coalition\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.realclearpolitics.com\/video\/2025\/01\/27\/trump_were_forging_a_new_political_majority_thats_shattering_the_new_deal_coalition.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">RealClearPolitics<\/a>]. President Donald Trump speaks at the House Republican Issues Conference at the Trump National Doral Miami Resort: \u201cTogether, we\u2019re forging a new political majority that\u2019s shattering and replacing Franklin Roosevelt\u2019s New Deal coalition, which dominated American politics for over 100 years\u2026. If we do our job over the next 21 months, not only will House Republicans be reelected and expand our majority in 2026, we will cement a national governing coalition that will preserve American freedom for generations to come. There has never been anything like what\u2019s happened in politics in the last few years.\u201d \u2022 This, it seems to me, is the name of the game: Party (hence class) power. Presidential power is important, too, but which is more important? Party power, obviously, since without Party power a Democrat Administration could take over in 2028 and use all this \u201cdictatorial\u201d power for its <em>own<\/em> ends. Credit MAGA and Trump for understanding this, very much unlike the RINOs. (Another sign of Trump\u2019s party leader perspective is the relative youth of so many of his appointments. If Hegseth, for example, doesn\u2019t fall off the wagon or flame out, he\u2019ll be around a long time. Unlike so many RINOs.)<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Strategy Behind Trump\u2019s Policy Blitz\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/politics\/archive\/2025\/01\/trump-executive-actions-week-one\/681486\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">The Atlantic<\/a>]. \u201cThe staff was still setting up dinner on Mar-a-Lago\u2019s outdoor patio on a balmy early-January evening when Donald Trump sat down. He was surrounded by several top advisers who would soon join him in the West Wing and who wanted to get his input before his attention shifted to his wealthy guests and Palm Beach club members. Susie Wiles, the incoming chief of staff, led the conversation, listing some of the dozens of executive orders that had been teed up for Trump\u2019s signature once he reclaimed the presidency. She wanted to talk about sequencing, according to a Trump adviser present at the meeting, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations. How would he like to stagger the orders over the first few weeks back in office? \u2018No,\u2019 Trump replied, this person told me. \u2018I want to sign as many as possible as soon as we show up.\u2019 \u2018Day one,\u2019 he said.\u2019 Indeed. And: \u201cTrump\u2019s ubiquity is also a deliberate strategy, several of his aides and allies told me. Part of the point is to send a message to the American people that their self-declared \u2018favorite\u2019 president is getting things done. The person at the Palm Beach meeting and another Trump adviser, who also requested anonymity to describe private conversations, told me that the White House\u2019s flood of orders and news is also designed to disorient already despairing Democratic foes, leaving them so battered that they won\u2019t be able to mount a cohesive opposition.\u201d \u2022 Certainly Trump is sending the \u201cgetting things done\u201d message; the contrast to the molasses-brained Biden Administration is instructive. But \u201ccohesive opposition\u201d from Democrats? I think Trump\u2019s clear election win foreclosed 2017-style resistance, for good or ill. (Also, a nice example of the interplay between Wiles and Trump.)<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTrump\u2019s Dictatorial Theory of Presidential Power \u2013 What the Executive Orders, in the Aggregate, Tell Us\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.justsecurity.org\/106969\/trump-dictatorial-theory-presidential-power-executive-orders\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">JustSecurity<\/a>]. \u201cOn issue after issue, Trump claims that the Constitution directly empowers him to take certain actions, without any authorization by Congress and in the face of contrary statutes. The idea that the Constitution directly confers certain powers on the President is, by itself, neither new nor controversial. Yet in many of these orders, Trump is not simply asserting an inherent constitutional power to act. He is claiming a power to act in ways that clearly conflict with existing federal statutes. That is, he is asserting a constitutional prerogative to ignore, disregard, or even openly violate federal laws that are inconsistent with his policy agenda. Assertions of that general sort have been made in the past, and it is clear that the Constitution does confer on the President some exclusive powers that Congress may not regulate or restrict. Examples include the President\u2019s power to veto proposed legislation, to grant pardons, to remove high-ranking executive officers he has appointed, and to recognize foreign governments. But these are the exceptions, not the rule. As Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett put it in her concurring opinion in the Trump immunity case, \u2018the Constitution does not vest every exercise of executive power in the President\u2019s sole discretion. \u2026 Congress has concurrent authority over many Government functions, and it may sometimes use that authority to regulate the President\u2019s official conduct.\u2019 Chief Justice John Roberts\u2019 majority opinion in that case was sloppy and ill-reasoned in many respects, but neither he nor anyone else on the Court disagreed with Justice Barrett on this basic point. Indeed, Roberts relied heavily on Justice Robert Jackson\u2019s concurring opinion in Youngstown Sheet and Tube Co. v. Sawyer, the steel seizure case. There, Jackson famously emphasized that presidential assertions of power to contravene federal law \u2018must be scrutinized with caution, for what is at stake is the equilibrium established by our constitutional system.\u2019 \u2014 regardless of whether the context is one of foreign affairs or national emergency. It is as though Trump is reprising his claim from his 2016 nomination acceptance speech that he alone can address the vital needs of the nation, but extending it to say that he alone has a mandate to suspend the law in pursuit of his goals.\u201d \u2022 User tik-tok and birthright citizenship as examples. This is well worth a read (and the fact that material of this clarity is coming from the spook-adjacent lawfare community makes me want to hurl. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Problem With a President\u2019s \u2018First 100 Days’\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2025\/01\/28\/president-100-days-trump-reagan\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Foreign Policy<\/a>]. \u201c[T]he contemporary notion of the first 100 days took hold under Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933. Following an inaugural address in which Roosevelt assured the nation that it had nothing to \u2018fear but fear itself,\u2019 he tried to show this principle in practice by confronting the massive crisis of the Great Depression in a proactive manner. Rather than waiting for the crisis to subside, Roosevelt would push Congress to legislate. Coupled with the fireside chats that he delivered on the radio to alleviate national insecurity, Roosevelt was able to move an unprecedented slate of major legislation through Congress.\u201d You can see the parallel to Trump here: legislation vs. executive orders; fireside chat vs media firehose. But: \u201cBut the reality is that evaluating presidents through the 100 days framework has always been a limited tool\u2026. Jimmy Carter, who many in the media considered as having an extremely successful 100 days\u2014which included signing the Reorganization Act, which would allow the president to reorganize the executive branch in pursuit of efficiency; and an economic stimulus package that he signed into law 2 weeks after the 100 Days ended\u2014suffered so much during the next few years that his reputation ended up being exactly the opposite of a leader who understood how to move the political needle.\u201d <\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p>\u201cBreaking: The Handbasket is first to report catastrophic OMB funding memo\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehandbasket.co\/p\/omb-memo-freeze-federal-grants-scoop\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">The Handbasket<\/a>]. \u201cA copy of the memo from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) was provided to The Handbasket at approximately 5pm ET by a source whose anonymity is being protected for fear of professional retribution\u2026. It is a truly unhinged document that sounds like it was written by the world\u2019s most petty 4Chan poster\u2014but then again, that\u2019s who\u2019s currently running our federal government. Here\u2019s the first paragraph to get a feel for it (emphasis mine):<\/p>\n<blockquote wp_automatic_readability=\"19\">\n<p>The American people elected Donald J. Trump to be President of the United States and gave him a mandate to increase the impact of every federal taxpayer dollar. In Fiscal Year 2024, of the nearly $10 trillion that the Federal Government spent, more than $3 trillion was Federal financial assistance, such as grants and loans. Career and political appointees in the Executive Branch have a duty to align Federal spending and action with the will of the American people as expressed through Presidential priorities. Financial assistance should be dedicated to advancing Administration priorities, focusing taxpayer dollars to advance a stronger and safer America, eliminating the financial burden of inflation for citizens, unleashing American energy and manufacturing, ending \u201cwokeness\u201d and the weaponization of government, promoting efficiency in government, and Making America Healthy Again. .<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>One of the more irritating things about MAGA and movement conservatives in general is that they seem to think that the Frankfurt School and people like <a href=\"https:\/\/chroniclesmagazine.org\/columns\/sins-of-omission\/the-man-who-made-cultural-marxism\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Marcuse<\/a> and his <a href=\"https:\/\/hackmd.io\/@lPrrK-NrSzWeF7m6CepQ5A\/BJKpa_z4n\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">degenerate descendants<\/a> like Robin DiAngelo or Ibrama Kendi are <em>Marxists<\/em>. Do you hear the DEI people talking about the working class owning and controlling the means of production? About democratic control of capital? No? On the bright side, \u201cKnow your enemy,\u201d as Sun Tzu famously said. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cTop USAID career staff placed on immediate leave\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2025\/01\/27\/top-usaid-career-staff-ordered-leave-00200854\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Politico<\/a>]. \u201cThe Trump administration has ordered dozens of top career employees of the U.S. Agency for International Development to go on administrative leave, according to six people told of the decision\u2026. The decision appears to affect nearly every career staffer who holds a top leadership role at the agency, at least in Washington \u2014 around 60 officials, the current and former officials said. The cuts have left many offices within the agency entirely devoid of senior non-political leadership. The entire cadre of leaders who run USAID\u2019s bureau for global health, for example, was put on leave, according to two of the officials. \u2018This is a huge morale hit,\u2019 said a former senior Trump administration official who was also told of the move. \u2018This is the leadership of the agency. This is like taking out all the generals. I don\u2019t know what they hope to accomplish by it.’\u201d \u2022\u00a0Insofar as they\u2019re spooks, I\u2019m not crying.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTrump Administration Halts H.I.V. Drug Distribution in Poor Countries\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/01\/27\/health\/pepfar-trump-freeze.html?unlocked_article_code=1.sU4.nnB5.iT69u4FuwlEZ&smid=url-share\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">New York Times<\/a>]. The deck: \u201cPEPFAR\u2019s computer systems also are being taken offline, a sign that the program may not return, as Republican critics had hoped.\u201d More: \u201cThe Trump administration has instructed organizations in other countries to stop disbursing H.I.V. medications purchased with U.S. aid, even if the drugs have already been obtained and are sitting in local clinics. The directive is part of a broader freeze on foreign aid initiated last week. It includes the President\u2019s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the global health program started by George W. Bush that is credited with saving more than 25 million lives worldwide. The administration had already moved to stop PEPFAR funding from moving to clinics, hospitals and other organizations in low-income countries. Appointments are being canceled, and patients are being turned away from clinics, according to people with knowledge of the situation who feared retribution if they spoke publicly. Many people with H.I.V. are facing abrupt interruptions to their treatment. But most federal officials are also under strict orders not to communicate with external partners, leading to confusion and anxiety, according to several people with knowledge of the situation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTrump Administration Payment Freeze May Delay Money For Critical Preschool Program\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.huffpost.com\/entry\/trump-administration-delay-head-start-payments_n_6798f032e4b041a82d14726e\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">HuffPo<\/a>]. \u201cThe online system that distributes federal money to Head Start programs is warning providers of upcoming delays, apparently because of the Trump administration\u2019s sweeping review of federal spending. A message about the possible delays appeared this morning, as Head Start providers were logging on to file for their next distributions. HuffPost obtained a screenshot from an official at an early childhood advocacy organization; an official at a second advocacy group then confirmed hearing it about it from providers. The message says that \u201cDue to Executive Orders regarding potentially unallowable grant payments, PMS [the payment system] is taking additional measures to process payments. Reviews of applicable programs and payments will result in delays and\/or rejections of payments.\u2019 It\u2019s not clear whether the message appeared for all providers nationwide, or just some.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p>\u201cTrump Ousts Top Labor Board Leaders Who Backed Broader Worker Rights\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2025-01-28\/trump-fires-nlrb-general-counsel-jennifer-abruzzo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Bloomberg<\/a>]. \u201cDonald Trump is forcing out top leaders of the US labor board, ushering in a swift reboot of workplace law enforcement while testing the limits of presidential authority. Jennifer Abruzzo, the general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board, said she was fired via email late on Monday. Gwynne Wilcox, who was one of the labor board\u2019s two Democratic members, said she was ousted, too. \u2018 [good riddance, because what is needed is <em>a universal perspective across the<\/em> entire <em>working class<\/em>, which by definition is not unique] that I believe will be lost upon my unprecedented and illegal removal,\u2019 Wilcox said in a statement. \u2018I will be pursuing all legal avenues to challenge my removal, which violates long-standing Supreme Court precedent.’\u201d Nice to see that the Democrats have some sort of SWAT Team to rush to her defense. Oh, wait\u2026. More: \u201cFiring Wilcox was less expected, particularly given that there were already enough vacant seats on the board for Trump to install a Republican majority in the coming months.\u201d Remember when the Democrats butchered getting another Democrat on the Board? Why, that was weeks ago! Anyhow, firing Wilcox is illegal why\u2013<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTrump fires US labor board member, hobbling agency amid legal battles\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/us\/trump-fires-us-labor-board-member-hobbling-agency-amid-legal-battles-2025-01-28\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Reuters<\/a>]. \u201cGwynne Wilcox, who was appointed to the board by Democratic former President Joe Biden, in a statement called her firing late Monday illegal and said she would pursue \u201call legal avenues\u201d to challenge it\u2026. Once board members are confirmed, federal law allows them to be removed only for \u2018neglect of duty or malfeasance in office.\u2019\u2026 The five-member board already had two vacancies, so the removal of Wilcox leaves the agency without a quorum to issue decisions even in routine cases accusing companies or unions of violating federal labor law. Hundreds of cases are pending before the board, including ones involving Amazon.com, Tesla, Walmart, Apple, and dozens against Starbucks as it faces a nationwide union campaign.\u201d \u2022 So, no basis for the firing, so far as I can tell. No doubt one can be invented!<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><a name=\"democrats\"\/>Democrats <em>en d\u00e9shabill\u00e9<\/em><\/p>\n<blockquote wp_automatic_readability=\"48.593216318786\">\n<p>\u201cConfirmed: Unions Squandered the Biden Years\u201d [Hamilton Nolan, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hamiltonnolan.com\/p\/confirmed-unions-squandered-the-biden\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">How Things Work<\/a>]. \u201cn constant fear of being crushed by hostile Republican laws, unions have poured billions of dollars into, mostly, getting Democrats elected at the national level. And Joe Biden was as good as this game has ever gotten for them. We just lived through four years of the fruits of this approach. It is not theoretical. We can now evaluate it on its merits\u2026. The real question is: Has achieving electoral political power translated into the growth of union power?\u2026 Today, we can definitively say the answer is \u2018no.\u2019\u2026 In 2024, union density in America fell to 9.9% of the work force. In 1983, union density was 20.1%, meaning that organized labor is now less than half as powerful as it was during the Reagan presidency\u2026. In 2020, union density was 10.8%. That means that over the course of the most pro-union presidency in my lifetime, not only did union density not rise\u2014it declined into single digits. We are losing\u2026. [Organizing] is the responsibility of existing unions and the broader labor movement. That means that unions must spend every dollar they possibly can on new organizing. They have not done this. They did not do it, during the course of the Biden administration. They still are not doing it. As a result\u2014by the standard of \u2018increasing the power of organized labor in the work force\u2019\u2014the Biden administration was squandered by organized labor.\u201d \u2022 Yep.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAmy Walter: You\u2019re Not Hearing A Unified Outcry Among Democrats About Deportations In Major Cities\u201d [Amy Walter, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.realclearpolitics.com\/video\/2025\/01\/27\/amy_walter_youre_not_hearing_a_unified_outcry_among_democrats_about_deportations_in_major_cities.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">RealClearPolitics<\/a>]. \u201cI think the most important thing for Democrats to realize, though, is they\u2019re in the minority. When you\u2019re out of power, you are out of power. And the reality is they now can really just simply react to what is happening based on what Republicans are doing. And their strategy going forward in many ways is going to be a reaction to what the Republican Party did. Four years from now or three years from now or a year from now when the presidential race really begins, that\u2019s when the Democratic messaging really begins. Who do Democrats want to be? What do they want their message to be? We don\u2019t have an opposition party leader in this country like they do in so many other countries. It\u2019s really the nominee of the party who becomes that messenger. And that is going to be a long time from now.\u201d \u2022 Another way of saying this is that <em>right now<\/em> there\u2019s an enormous power vacuum in the Democrat Party. And (a) nobody is stepping in to fill it, perhaps because (b) they would have to bypass the tired and corrupt Democrat apparatus to do it, and in any case (c) the only way forward for the Democrat Party is to abandon or at least put in its place its current base in the PMC, which lacks and has lacked the power to win elections on any principled basis, let alone govern (as Stoller keeps complaining, corrrectly). Three tall orders!<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDemocrats\u2019 playbook for Trump 2.0: Tune out the noise and focus on economic issues\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/congress\/democrats-playbook-trump-tune-noise-focus-economic-issues-rcna189180\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">NBC<\/a>]. By all means focus on \u201ceconomic issues\u201d as opposed to class power for workers. You\u2019re liberals! \u201cLess than 48 hours after President Donald Trump was inaugurated, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries held a closed-door meeting with Democratic lawmakers to issue a warning and a clarion call. The new administration was going to \u201cflood the zone,\u201d and Democrats couldn\u2019t afford to chase every single outrage \u2014 or nothing was going to sink in for the American people, Jeffries told them, according to a person in the room who requested anonymity to discuss the private meeting. Jeffries, D-N.Y., urged members to focus their message on the cost of living, along with border security and community safety. \u2018The House Republican Contract Against America is an extreme plan that will not lower costs for everyday Americans,\u201d Jeffries told reporters the next day, referring to the GOP agenda and spending cuts it is weighing. \u201cIt will make our country more expensive.\u201d\u201d \u2022 Holy Lord, \u201cContract Against America.\u201d Jeffries keeps his lamp trimmed and burning <em>for Gingrich<\/em>. Clue stick: Donald Trump is not Newt Gingrich. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>Syndemics<\/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>Covid 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>, <del><a href=\"https:\/\/biobot.io\/data\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Biobot<\/a><\/del>; 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:\/\/skylab.cdph.ca.gov\/calwws\/\" 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:\/\/avrpublic.dhhs.utah.gov\/uwss\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>); VA (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/coronavirus\/sars-cov-2-in-wastewater\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/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, KF, KidDoc, LL, Michael King, KF, LaRuse, mrsyk, MT, MT_Wild, otisyves, Petal (6), RK (2), RL, RM, Rod, square coats (11), tennesseewaltzer, thump, Tom B., Utah, Bob White (3). <\/p>\n<p>Stay safe out there!<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p>Lambert here: Everything\u2019s gone dark except for trusty New York State hospitalization (daily), Walgreen\u2019s positivity (weekly), and the Cleveland Clinic? Readers, do you have any suggestions about alternatives at state level? Thank you! How I wish we had Biobot back\u2026.<\/p>\n<p><a name=\"table\"\/><strong>TABLE 1: Daily Covid Charts<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody wp_automatic_readability=\"10.853293413174\">\n<tr colspan=\"2\">\n<td valign=\"top\"><strong>Wastewater<\/strong><\/td>\n<td\/>\n<\/tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\" wp_automatic_readability=\"3.6190476190476\">\n<td valign=\"top\"> This week[1] <a href=\"https:\/\/covid.cdc.gov\/covid-data-tracker\/#wastewater-surveillance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CDC<\/a> January 13<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\"> Last week[2] <a href=\"https:\/\/covid.cdc.gov\/covid-data-tracker\/#wastewater-surveillance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CDC<\/a> (until next week):<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td>\n<p><span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-ww-natl-2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-285678\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-ww-natl-2.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-ww-natl-2-300x209.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" style=\"align: left; margin-left: 0px !important; padding: 9px 0 9px 0;\">\n<p><span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-ww-natl-1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-285430\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-ww-natl-1.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-ww-natl-1-300x200.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr colspan=\"2\" wp_automatic_readability=\"3.6417910447761\">\n<td valign=\"top\"><strong> Variants<\/strong> [3] <a href=\"https:\/\/covid.cdc.gov\/covid-data-tracker\/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery#variant-proportions\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CDC<\/a> January 18<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\"> <strong>Emergency Room Visits<\/strong>[4] <a href=\"https:\/\/covid.cdc.gov\/covid-data-tracker\/#trends_select_7dayeddiagnosed_00\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CDC<\/a> January 11<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td valign=\"top\">\n<p><span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-variants-natl.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-285677\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-variants-natl.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-variants-natl-300x230.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">\n<p><span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-ccd-ed-natl.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-285672\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-ccd-ed-natl.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-ccd-ed-natl-300x159.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr colspan=\"2\">\n<td valign=\"top\"><strong>Hospitalization<\/strong><\/td>\n<td\/>\n<\/tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\" wp_automatic_readability=\"3.8961038961039\">\n<td valign=\"top\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; color: gold;\">\u2605<\/span> New York[5] <a href=\"https:\/\/coronavirus.health.ny.gov\/daily-hospitalization-summary\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">New York State<\/a>, data January 27:<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\"> National [6] <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/coronavirus\/2019-ncov\/covidnetdashboard\/de\/powerbi\/dashboard.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CDC<\/a> January 24:<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td valign=\"top\">\n<p><span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-ny-hospitalization-nyc-10.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-286229\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-ny-hospitalization-nyc-10.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-ny-hospitalization-nyc-10-300x168.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">\n<p><span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-hospitalization-natl-2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-286161\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-hospitalization-natl-2.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-hospitalization-natl-2-288x300.png 288w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr colspan=\"2\">\n<td valign=\"top\"><strong>Positivity<\/strong><\/td>\n<td\/>\n<\/tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\" wp_automatic_readability=\"2.5714285714286\">\n<td valign=\"top\"> National[7] <a href=\"https:\/\/www.walgreens.com\/healthcare-solutions\/covid-19-index\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Walgreens<\/a> January 27:<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\"> Ohio[8] <a href=\"https:\/\/clevelandcliniclabs.com\/respiratory-virus-surveillance-statistics\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Cleveland Clinic<\/a> January 18:<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td>\n<p><span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-walgreens-positivity-states-2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-286163\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-walgreens-positivity-states-2.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-walgreens-positivity-states-2-300x189.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<p><span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cleveland-positivity-oh-2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-286162\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cleveland-positivity-oh-2.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cleveland-positivity-oh-2-300x198.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr colspan=\"2\">\n<td valign=\"top\"><strong>Travelers Data<\/strong><\/td>\n<td\/>\n<\/tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\" wp_automatic_readability=\"3.5932203389831\">\n<td valign=\"top\"> Positivity[9] <a href=\"https:\/\/covid.cdc.gov\/covid-data-tracker\/#traveler-genomic-surveillance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CDC<\/a> December 30:<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\"> Variants[10] <a href=\"https:\/\/covid.cdc.gov\/covid-data-tracker\/#traveler-genomic-surveillance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CDC<\/a> December 30<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\">\n<p><span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-positivity-travelers-2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-285676\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-positivity-travelers-2.png 608w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-positivity-travelers-2-300x161.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 608px) 100vw, 608px\"\/><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">\n<p><span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-variants-travelers-2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-285681\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-variants-travelers-2.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-variants-travelers-2-300x210.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr colspan=\"2\">\n<td valign=\"top\"><strong>Deaths<\/strong><\/td>\n<td\/>\n<\/tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\" wp_automatic_readability=\"3.76\">\n<td valign=\"top\"> Weekly Deaths vs. % Positivity [11] <a href=\"https:\/\/health.hawaii.gov\/coronavirusdisease2019\/what-you-should-know\/current-situation-in-the-us\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CDC<\/a> January 11:<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\"> Weekly Deaths vs. ED Visits [12] <a href=\"https:\/\/health.hawaii.gov\/coronadisease2019\/what-you-should-know\/current-situation-in-the-us\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CDC<\/a> January 11:<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td valign=\"top\">\n<p><span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-death-positivity.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-285674\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-death-positivity.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-death-positivity-300x177.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">\n<p><span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-death-ed.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-285673\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-death-ed.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-death-ed-300x174.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<td wp_automatic_readability=\"151.76267942584\">\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] (CDC) Seeing more red and more orange, but nothing new at major hubs. <\/p>\n<p>[2] (CDC) Last week\u2019s wastewater map.<\/p>\n<p>[3] (CDC Variants) XEC takes over. That WHO label, \u201cOmmicron,\u201d has done a great job normalizing successive waves of infection.<\/p>\n<p>[4] (ED) A little uptick.<\/p>\n<p>[5] (Hospitalization: NY) Definitely jumped.<\/p>\n<p>[6] (Hospitalization: CDC). Leveling out.<\/p>\n<p>[7] (Walgreens) Leveling out.<\/p>\n<p>[8] (Cleveland) Continued upward trend since, well, Thanksgiving.<\/p>\n<p>[9] (Travelers: Positivity) Leveling out.<\/p>\n<p>[10] (Travelers: Variants). Positivity is new, but variants have not yet been released.<\/p>\n<p>[11] Deaths low, positivity leveling out.<\/p>\n<p>[12] Deaths low, ED leveling out.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Stats Watch<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>There are no official statistics of interest today.<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p><a name=\"boeing\"\/>Manufacturing: \u201cBoeing Shares Surge by 6% Despite Difficult Year Marked by Losses and Challenges\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/ceoworld.biz\/2025\/01\/28\/boeing-shares-surge-by-6-despite-difficult-year-marked-by-losses-and-challenges\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CEO World<\/a>]. \u201cBoeing\u2019s stock rose by 6% on Tuesday morning after the company reported a fourth-quarter net loss that aligned with its recently disclosed preliminary results. The plane maker closed out a challenging year marked by significant financial setbacks, safety investigations, and a workers\u2019 strike\u2026 After the report\u2019s release, Boeing shares initially showed little movement in premarket trading. However, they surged after the market opened, recently trading at $186.49. The stock had entered the day down nearly 15% over the past 12 months.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Manufacturing: \u201cWhat Investors Found to Like in Boeing\u2019s Tea Leaves\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/livecoverage\/stock-market-today-dow-sp500-nasdaq-live-01-28-2025\/card\/what-investors-found-to-like-in-boeing-s-tea-leaves-P4dUWTRJPlxywIhMTMUx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Wall Street Journal<\/a>]. \u201cOverall, however, it appears that markets are no longer paying close attention to the minutiae of Boeing\u2019s financial metrics. This is understandable, since brokers themselves are all over the place: 2025 free cash flow estimates range from negative $7.3 billion to a much smaller $1.2 billion burn. No other large commercial-aerospace firm offers such a huge degree of uncertainty. Despite much anticipation, Boeing didn\u2019t provide financial targets for 2025. So what is it that investors like? Executives did say that free cash flow should be positive in the second half of the year as the many parked jets accumulated during years of trouble are finished and shipped to customers. Also, MAX deliveries for January are shaping up to be in the high 30s. With supply-chain constraints easing, the closely watched target of producing 38 MAXs a month is looking achievable this year. Crucially, new CEO Kelly Ortberg has given himself room to maneuver by ending the strike, issuing $24 billion in equity\u2014more than twice what was initially expected\u2014and focusing on quality control both at Boeing and its supplier Spirit AeroSystems. \u2018The work at Spirit during the strike has really paid off,\u2019 he told analysts Tuesday. \u2018That team has done a great job of improving the overall performance and quality of the fuselages.’\u201d Hmm. Concluding: \u201cInvestors are correctly looking beyond short-term noise, and hoping that 2025 will be the year in which \u2018Mr. Fix-it\u2019 finally puts Boeing on the recovery path. So far, though, this remains a mostly unquantifiable assumption.\u201d \u2022 Ortberg soothes the analysts.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Market: \u201cBlack Swan\u2019s Taleb Says Nvidia Rout Is Hint of What\u2019s Coming\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/archive.is\/JIzm5\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Bloomberg<\/a>]. \u201c\u201dThis is the beginning,\u201d Taleb told Bloomberg News in an interview after the close of markets on Monday. \u2018The beginning of an adjustment of people to reality. Because now they realize, now, it\u2019s no longer flawless. You have a small little chip on the glass.\u2019 The frenzied selling was triggered by sudden fears that US tech giants may not dominate the field of artificial intelligence as expected. The concerns follow the emergence of DeepSeek, a Chinese AI startup that has demonstrated a lower-cost approach to developing the technology. Investors interpreted that as a threat to both demand for and reliance on Nvidia\u2019s advanced chips. Taleb said investors have until now been too focused on a single narrative: That the company\u2019s shares would keep rising as it maintains its dominance of AI. Monday\u2019s retreat was actually \u2018very little\u2019 considering the risks in the industry, he said.\u201d And: \u201c[Taleb] described technology firms as \u2018gray swans,\u2019 because investors underestimate the deviations in their prices that are possible in a day.\u201d \u2022\u00a0Hmm.<\/p>\n<p><a name=\"market\"\/>Mr. Market:<\/p>\n<p><center wp_automatic_readability=\"5.2258566978193\"> <\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" wp_automatic_readability=\"13.302180685358\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The fact that, following the DeepSeek ascendancy, uranium stocks fell 11% (on the ‘fears’ that the vast expansion of data centres may be unnecessary, rendering nuclear power less attractive), reveals how deeply in the void of madness the stock market had fallen\u2026<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Yanis Varoufakis (@yanisvaroufakis) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/yanisvaroufakis\/status\/1884266752059867474\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">January 28, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><\/center><br \/>\n<center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p>Today\u2019s Fear & Greed Index: 44 Fear (previous close: 39 Neutral) [<a href=\"https:\/\/money.cnn.com\/data\/fear-and-greed\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CNN<\/a>]. One week ago: 41 (Fear). (0 is Extreme Fear; 100 is Extreme Greed). Last updated Jan 27 at 1:49:14 PM ET.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Gallery<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Geometrical:<\/p>\n<p><center wp_automatic_readability=\"1.8440366972477\"> <\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" wp_automatic_readability=\"5.5321100917431\">\n<p lang=\"cs\" dir=\"ltr\">Wassily Kandinsky, Odessa Port <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/I3AYGey7uR\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">pic.twitter.com\/I3AYGey7uR<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Impressions (@impression_ists) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/impression_ists\/status\/1884124945728561507\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">January 28, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><\/center> <\/p>\n<p><strong>Groves of Academe<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re empowering the worst of the worst:<\/p>\n<p><center wp_automatic_readability=\"2.2202797202797\"> <\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" wp_automatic_readability=\"7.1048951048951\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Don\u2019t worry about pausing your tenure clock. The board eliminated tenure. And your program.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Associate Deans (@ass_deans) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ass_deans\/status\/1884274754007490828\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">January 28, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><\/center> <\/p>\n<p><strong>Zeitgeist Watch<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cHuman Reproduction as Prisoner\u2019s Dilemma\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.aporiamagazine.com\/p\/human-reproduction-as-prisoners-dilemma\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Aporia<\/a>]. \u201cThe core problem marriage exists to solve is that it takes almost twenty years and an enormous amount of work and resources to raise children. This makes human reproduction analogous to a prisoner\u2019s dilemma. Both father and mother can choose to fully commit or pursue other options. In this context, marriage provides a framework for encouraging, legitimizing, and stabilizing commitment.\u201d This gloom conclusion caught my eye: \u201cThe shift from a cooperate\/cooperate marriage system, where both men and women made sacrifices to gain the security required for childbearing, to a cooperate\/defect one, where men are expected to uphold their end of the bargain in exchange for nothing, has failed. This is the legacy of second wave feminism. Men are dropping out of work or burning things down, and both marriage and children are increasingly relics of the past. We are thereby moving towards a defect\/defect system of the kind I described at the start. Men increasingly disdain the daily grind (bewildering public intellectuals, who fail to understand why men won\u2019t respond to market signals). Birth rates continue to decline. And things slowly fall apart. In the event of war, few feel the urge to defend their country. We are in the early stages of the same sort of centuries-long collapse that many civilizations throughout history have suffered.\u201d \u2022 Qualified that this is not inevitable (since nothing in history is, I would argue).<\/p>\n<p><a name=\"class\"\/><strong>Class Warfare<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cTop AI Investor Says Goal Is to Crash Human Wages\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/futurism.com\/the-byte\/ai-investor-goal-crash-human-wages\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Futurism<\/a>]. \u201cIn a recent tweet, [Marc Andreessen,] the American billionaire investor casually proclaimed that AI must \u2018crash\u2019 everyone\u2019s wages before it can deliver us an economic utopia \u2014 one that\u2019ll definitely happen, and certainly not create a permanent underclass of have-nots\u2026. \u2018A world in which human wages crash from AI \u2014 logically, necessarily \u2014 is a world in which productivity growth goes through the roof, and prices for goods and services crash to near zero,\u2019 Andreessen wrote. \u2018Consumer cornucopia. Everything you need and want for pennies.\u2019 So fret not, lowly laborer: you may be destined for financial ruin, but paradise is right around the corner. Pinky promise.\u201d \u2022 \u201cNear,\u201d as in \u201cnear zero,\u201d is doing rather a lot of work. If I\u2019ve got zero, \u201cnear zero\u201d might as well be on the moon. Or on Mars.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStarbucks staff given \u2018panic button\u2019 for laptop lurkers who won\u2019t leave\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/business\/2025\/01\/27\/starbucks-staff-given-panic-button-for-laptop-lurkers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">The Telegraph<\/a>]. \u201cStarbucks is to install panic buttons for staff as it cracks down on customers who sit in its shops or try to use its lavatories without buying anything. US workers have been given new guidelines on how to eject customers who stay in the stores for a \u2018prolonged\u2019 amount of time, attempt to use lavatories or fill up water bottles without making a purchase, as first reported by Business Insider. The company is also training workers in conflict de-escalation. According to reports, panic buttons have even been installed in a handful of stores in a trial of how best to keep them secure. Starbucks said earlier this month that it would no longer allow customers in the US to use its amenities for free, as part of an attempt by Brian Niccol, the new chief executive, to revive the business\u2026 The about-turn comes amid a wider pushback against customers who sit in coffee shops for hours at a time, taking advantage of free wi-fi but not spending more than the cost of one coffee in many cases. As well as preventing shops from making money by turning tables, so-called laptop lurkers have also been criticised for dampening the environment of bars and coffee shops and turning them into less social spaces.\u201d \u2022 I seem to recall that the strong coffee-house culture of <em>fin de si\u00e8cle<\/em> Vienna was due to a horrid housing situation. If one is looking for root causes. As far as reviving the business, the coffee is burnt and the food is dull. Fix that!<\/p>\n<p><a name=\"wired\"\/><strong>News of the Wired<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Oof. Dad.<\/p>\n<p><center wp_automatic_readability=\"2.7758620689655\"> <\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" wp_automatic_readability=\"7.9310344827586\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I had to google the provinces to get this.<\/p>\n<p>You \u2026 outdid yourself. This is indeed a terrible map. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/FczhRQ0A1G\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">pic.twitter.com\/FczhRQ0A1G<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Lefteris Karapetsas | Hiring for @rotkiapp (@LefterisJP) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LefterisJP\/status\/1884214676709667161\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">January 28, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><\/center><br \/>\n<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=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/2025\/01\/200pm-water-cooler-1-24-2025.html\">here<\/a>. From TH:<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/land_art.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"452\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-286232\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/land_art.jpeg 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/land_art-300x226.jpeg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/p>\n<p>TH writes: \u201cInspired by James Brunt\u2019s book, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jamesbruntartist.co.uk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Land Art<\/a>, I took advantage of a 66 degree November day to assemble this installation. Took about 90 minutes and had a ball.\u201d What a neat idea!<\/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. Material here is Lambert\u2019s, and does not express the views of the Naked Capitalism site. 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 three or four days I get worried. More tangibly, a constant trickle of donations helps me with expenses, and I factor in that trickle when setting fundraising goals:<\/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<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<!-- .entry-content --><\/p>\n<footer class=\"entry-meta\">\n\t\t\tThis entry was posted in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/category\/water-cooler\" rel=\"category tag\">Water Cooler<\/a> on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/2025\/01\/200pm-water-cooler-1-28-2025.html\" title=\"2:00 pm\" rel=\"bookmark\"><time class=\"entry-date updated\" datetime=\"2025-01-28T14:00:03-05:00\">January 28, 2025<\/time><\/a><span class=\"by-author\"> by <span class=\"author vcard\"><a class=\"url fn n\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/author\/lambert-strether\" title=\"View all posts by Lambert Strether\" rel=\"author\">Lambert Strether<\/a><\/span><\/span>.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"author-info\" wp_automatic_readability=\"20.197005056398\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<!-- .author-avatar --><\/p>\n<div class=\"author-description\" wp_automatic_readability=\"35.467911318553\">\n<h2>About Lambert Strether<\/h2>\n<p>Readers, I have had a correspondent characterize my views as realistic cynical. Let me briefly explain them. I believe in universal programs that provide concrete material benefits, especially to the working class. Medicare for All is the prime example, but tuition-free college and a Post Office Bank also fall under this heading. So do a Jobs Guarantee and a Debt Jubilee. Clearly, neither liberal Democrats nor conservative Republicans can deliver on such programs, because the two are different flavors of neoliberalism (\u201cBecause markets\u201d). I don\u2019t much care about the \u201cism\u201d that delivers the benefits, although whichever one does have to put common humanity first, as opposed to markets. Could be a second FDR saving capitalism, democratic socialism leashing and collaring it, or communism razing it. I don\u2019t much care, as long as the benefits are delivered. <br \/>\n <br \/>\nTo me, the key issue \u2014 and this is why Medicare for All is always first with me \u2014 is the tens of thousands of excess \u201cdeaths from despair,\u201d as described by the Case-Deaton study, and other recent studies. That enormous body count makes Medicare for All, at the very least, a moral and strategic imperative. And that level of suffering and organic damage makes the concerns of identity politics \u2014 even the worthy fight to help the refugees Bush, Obama, and Clinton\u2019s wars created \u2014 bright shiny objects by comparison. Hence my frustration with the news flow \u2014 currently in my view the swirling intersection of two, separate Shock Doctrine campaigns, one by the Administration, and the other by out-of-power liberals and their allies in the State and in the press \u2014 a news flow that constantly forces me to focus on matters that I regard as of secondary importance to the excess deaths. What kind of political economy is it that halts or even reverses the increases in life expectancy that civilized societies have achieved? I am also very hopeful that the continuing destruction of both party establishments will open the space for voices supporting programs similar to those I have listed; let\u2019s call such voices \u201cthe left.\u201d Volatility creates opportunity, especially if the Democrat establishment, which puts markets first and opposes all such programs, isn\u2019t allowed to get back into the saddle. Eyes on the prize! I love the tactical level, and secretly love even the horse race, since I\u2019ve been blogging about it daily for fourteen years, but everything I write has this perspective at the back of it.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<!-- .author-link\t-->\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p><!-- .author-description -->\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p><!-- .author-info --><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/footer>\n<p><!-- .entry-meta --><br \/>\n\t<!-- #post --><\/p>\n<nav class=\"nav-single\">\n<h3 class=\"assistive-text\">Post navigation<\/h3>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<span class=\"nav-previous list-posts-older\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/2025\/01\/the-planet-had-58-billion-dollar-weather-disasters-in-2024-the-second-highest-on-record.html\" rel=\"prev\"><span class=\"meta-nav\">\u2190<\/span> The Planet Had 58 Billion-Dollar Weather Disasters in 2024, The Second-Highest on Record<\/a><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"nav-next list-posts-newer\"\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t<\/nav>\n<p><!-- .nav-single --><\/p>\n<p>\t<!-- #comments .comments-area --><\/p>\n<p>\t<!-- #content --><br \/>\n<!-- #primary --><\/p>\n<p>\t<!-- #secondary --><\/p>\n<footer id=\"colophon\" role=\"contentinfo\">\n\t\t\t\t<!-- .site-info --><br \/>\n\t\t<\/footer>\n<p><!-- #colophon --><br \/>\n\t\t<!-- #main.wrapper --><br \/>\n<!-- #page --><br \/>\n<!-- .mobile-menu-wrap --><\/p>\n<p><!-- Blog Reader Pooling - removed 09\/16\/2015 by M. Lacourse --><br \/>\n<!-- <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"nc-hide\" src=\"http:\/\/t.blogreaderproject.com\/t.gif?c9a0f3c0f2425bc76f3b4c3baf750ea8\" alt=\"\" width=\"0\" height=\"0\"> --><\/p>\n<p><!-- wp footer --><\/p>\n<\/td>\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\/2025\/01\/200pm-water-cooler-1-28-2025.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bird Song of the Day Brown Thrasher, Lake Wales; Bok Sanctuary, Florida, United States. From 1963! * * * In Case You Might Miss\u2026 Trump<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":90292,"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-90291","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\/90291","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=90291"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90291\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Brown Thrasher, Lake Wales; Bok Sanctuary, Florida, United States. From 1963!<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p><strong>In Case You Might Miss\u2026 <\/strong> <\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><a href=\"#strategy\">Trump strategy<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#market\">Taleb<\/a>: Tech firms \u201cgrey swans\u201d?<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#boeing\">Ortberg soothes the analysts<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#class\"> Andreessen predicts AI-driven wage crash<\/a> (and that\u2019s a good thing).<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#marriage\">\u201cHuman Reproduction as Prisoner\u2019s Dilemma\u201d<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center> <\/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><a name=\"trump\"\/>Trump Administration<\/p>\n<blockquote wp_automatic_readability=\"171.39290854377\">\n<p>Energy in the executive:<\/p>\n<p><a name=\"strategy\"\/>\u201cTrump: We\u2019re Forging A New Political Majority That\u2019s Shattering The New Deal Coalition\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.realclearpolitics.com\/video\/2025\/01\/27\/trump_were_forging_a_new_political_majority_thats_shattering_the_new_deal_coalition.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">RealClearPolitics<\/a>]. President Donald Trump speaks at the House Republican Issues Conference at the Trump National Doral Miami Resort: \u201cTogether, we\u2019re forging a new political majority that\u2019s shattering and replacing Franklin Roosevelt\u2019s New Deal coalition, which dominated American politics for over 100 years\u2026. If we do our job over the next 21 months, not only will House Republicans be reelected and expand our majority in 2026, we will cement a national governing coalition that will preserve American freedom for generations to come. There has never been anything like what\u2019s happened in politics in the last few years.\u201d \u2022 This, it seems to me, is the name of the game: Party (hence class) power. Presidential power is important, too, but which is more important? Party power, obviously, since without Party power a Democrat Administration could take over in 2028 and use all this \u201cdictatorial\u201d power for its <em>own<\/em> ends. Credit MAGA and Trump for understanding this, very much unlike the RINOs. (Another sign of Trump\u2019s party leader perspective is the relative youth of so many of his appointments. If Hegseth, for example, doesn\u2019t fall off the wagon or flame out, he\u2019ll be around a long time. Unlike so many RINOs.)<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Strategy Behind Trump\u2019s Policy Blitz\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/politics\/archive\/2025\/01\/trump-executive-actions-week-one\/681486\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">The Atlantic<\/a>]. \u201cThe staff was still setting up dinner on Mar-a-Lago\u2019s outdoor patio on a balmy early-January evening when Donald Trump sat down. He was surrounded by several top advisers who would soon join him in the West Wing and who wanted to get his input before his attention shifted to his wealthy guests and Palm Beach club members. Susie Wiles, the incoming chief of staff, led the conversation, listing some of the dozens of executive orders that had been teed up for Trump\u2019s signature once he reclaimed the presidency. She wanted to talk about sequencing, according to a Trump adviser present at the meeting, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations. How would he like to stagger the orders over the first few weeks back in office? \u2018No,\u2019 Trump replied, this person told me. \u2018I want to sign as many as possible as soon as we show up.\u2019 \u2018Day one,\u2019 he said.\u2019 Indeed. And: \u201cTrump\u2019s ubiquity is also a deliberate strategy, several of his aides and allies told me. Part of the point is to send a message to the American people that their self-declared \u2018favorite\u2019 president is getting things done. The person at the Palm Beach meeting and another Trump adviser, who also requested anonymity to describe private conversations, told me that the White House\u2019s flood of orders and news is also designed to disorient already despairing Democratic foes, leaving them so battered that they won\u2019t be able to mount a cohesive opposition.\u201d \u2022 Certainly Trump is sending the \u201cgetting things done\u201d message; the contrast to the molasses-brained Biden Administration is instructive. But \u201ccohesive opposition\u201d from Democrats? I think Trump\u2019s clear election win foreclosed 2017-style resistance, for good or ill. (Also, a nice example of the interplay between Wiles and Trump.)<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTrump\u2019s Dictatorial Theory of Presidential Power \u2013 What the Executive Orders, in the Aggregate, Tell Us\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.justsecurity.org\/106969\/trump-dictatorial-theory-presidential-power-executive-orders\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">JustSecurity<\/a>]. \u201cOn issue after issue, Trump claims that the Constitution directly empowers him to take certain actions, without any authorization by Congress and in the face of contrary statutes. The idea that the Constitution directly confers certain powers on the President is, by itself, neither new nor controversial. Yet in many of these orders, Trump is not simply asserting an inherent constitutional power to act. He is claiming a power to act in ways that clearly conflict with existing federal statutes. That is, he is asserting a constitutional prerogative to ignore, disregard, or even openly violate federal laws that are inconsistent with his policy agenda. Assertions of that general sort have been made in the past, and it is clear that the Constitution does confer on the President some exclusive powers that Congress may not regulate or restrict. Examples include the President\u2019s power to veto proposed legislation, to grant pardons, to remove high-ranking executive officers he has appointed, and to recognize foreign governments. But these are the exceptions, not the rule. As Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett put it in her concurring opinion in the Trump immunity case, \u2018the Constitution does not vest every exercise of executive power in the President\u2019s sole discretion. \u2026 Congress has concurrent authority over many Government functions, and it may sometimes use that authority to regulate the President\u2019s official conduct.\u2019 Chief Justice John Roberts\u2019 majority opinion in that case was sloppy and ill-reasoned in many respects, but neither he nor anyone else on the Court disagreed with Justice Barrett on this basic point. Indeed, Roberts relied heavily on Justice Robert Jackson\u2019s concurring opinion in Youngstown Sheet and Tube Co. v. Sawyer, the steel seizure case. There, Jackson famously emphasized that presidential assertions of power to contravene federal law \u2018must be scrutinized with caution, for what is at stake is the equilibrium established by our constitutional system.\u2019 \u2014 regardless of whether the context is one of foreign affairs or national emergency. It is as though Trump is reprising his claim from his 2016 nomination acceptance speech that he alone can address the vital needs of the nation, but extending it to say that he alone has a mandate to suspend the law in pursuit of his goals.\u201d \u2022 User tik-tok and birthright citizenship as examples. This is well worth a read (and the fact that material of this clarity is coming from the spook-adjacent lawfare community makes me want to hurl. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Problem With a President\u2019s \u2018First 100 Days’\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2025\/01\/28\/president-100-days-trump-reagan\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Foreign Policy<\/a>]. \u201c[T]he contemporary notion of the first 100 days took hold under Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933. Following an inaugural address in which Roosevelt assured the nation that it had nothing to \u2018fear but fear itself,\u2019 he tried to show this principle in practice by confronting the massive crisis of the Great Depression in a proactive manner. Rather than waiting for the crisis to subside, Roosevelt would push Congress to legislate. Coupled with the fireside chats that he delivered on the radio to alleviate national insecurity, Roosevelt was able to move an unprecedented slate of major legislation through Congress.\u201d You can see the parallel to Trump here: legislation vs. executive orders; fireside chat vs media firehose. But: \u201cBut the reality is that evaluating presidents through the 100 days framework has always been a limited tool\u2026. Jimmy Carter, who many in the media considered as having an extremely successful 100 days\u2014which included signing the Reorganization Act, which would allow the president to reorganize the executive branch in pursuit of efficiency; and an economic stimulus package that he signed into law 2 weeks after the 100 Days ended\u2014suffered so much during the next few years that his reputation ended up being exactly the opposite of a leader who understood how to move the political needle.\u201d <\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p>\u201cBreaking: The Handbasket is first to report catastrophic OMB funding memo\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehandbasket.co\/p\/omb-memo-freeze-federal-grants-scoop\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">The Handbasket<\/a>]. \u201cA copy of the memo from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) was provided to The Handbasket at approximately 5pm ET by a source whose anonymity is being protected for fear of professional retribution\u2026. It is a truly unhinged document that sounds like it was written by the world\u2019s most petty 4Chan poster\u2014but then again, that\u2019s who\u2019s currently running our federal government. Here\u2019s the first paragraph to get a feel for it (emphasis mine):<\/p>\n<blockquote wp_automatic_readability=\"19\">\n<p>The American people elected Donald J. Trump to be President of the United States and gave him a mandate to increase the impact of every federal taxpayer dollar. In Fiscal Year 2024, of the nearly $10 trillion that the Federal Government spent, more than $3 trillion was Federal financial assistance, such as grants and loans. Career and political appointees in the Executive Branch have a duty to align Federal spending and action with the will of the American people as expressed through Presidential priorities. Financial assistance should be dedicated to advancing Administration priorities, focusing taxpayer dollars to advance a stronger and safer America, eliminating the financial burden of inflation for citizens, unleashing American energy and manufacturing, ending \u201cwokeness\u201d and the weaponization of government, promoting efficiency in government, and Making America Healthy Again. .<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>One of the more irritating things about MAGA and movement conservatives in general is that they seem to think that the Frankfurt School and people like <a href=\"https:\/\/chroniclesmagazine.org\/columns\/sins-of-omission\/the-man-who-made-cultural-marxism\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Marcuse<\/a> and his <a href=\"https:\/\/hackmd.io\/@lPrrK-NrSzWeF7m6CepQ5A\/BJKpa_z4n\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">degenerate descendants<\/a> like Robin DiAngelo or Ibrama Kendi are <em>Marxists<\/em>. Do you hear the DEI people talking about the working class owning and controlling the means of production? About democratic control of capital? No? On the bright side, \u201cKnow your enemy,\u201d as Sun Tzu famously said. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cTop USAID career staff placed on immediate leave\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2025\/01\/27\/top-usaid-career-staff-ordered-leave-00200854\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Politico<\/a>]. \u201cThe Trump administration has ordered dozens of top career employees of the U.S. Agency for International Development to go on administrative leave, according to six people told of the decision\u2026. The decision appears to affect nearly every career staffer who holds a top leadership role at the agency, at least in Washington \u2014 around 60 officials, the current and former officials said. The cuts have left many offices within the agency entirely devoid of senior non-political leadership. The entire cadre of leaders who run USAID\u2019s bureau for global health, for example, was put on leave, according to two of the officials. \u2018This is a huge morale hit,\u2019 said a former senior Trump administration official who was also told of the move. \u2018This is the leadership of the agency. This is like taking out all the generals. I don\u2019t know what they hope to accomplish by it.’\u201d \u2022\u00a0Insofar as they\u2019re spooks, I\u2019m not crying.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTrump Administration Halts H.I.V. Drug Distribution in Poor Countries\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/01\/27\/health\/pepfar-trump-freeze.html?unlocked_article_code=1.sU4.nnB5.iT69u4FuwlEZ&smid=url-share\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">New York Times<\/a>]. The deck: \u201cPEPFAR\u2019s computer systems also are being taken offline, a sign that the program may not return, as Republican critics had hoped.\u201d More: \u201cThe Trump administration has instructed organizations in other countries to stop disbursing H.I.V. medications purchased with U.S. aid, even if the drugs have already been obtained and are sitting in local clinics. The directive is part of a broader freeze on foreign aid initiated last week. It includes the President\u2019s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the global health program started by George W. Bush that is credited with saving more than 25 million lives worldwide. The administration had already moved to stop PEPFAR funding from moving to clinics, hospitals and other organizations in low-income countries. Appointments are being canceled, and patients are being turned away from clinics, according to people with knowledge of the situation who feared retribution if they spoke publicly. Many people with H.I.V. are facing abrupt interruptions to their treatment. But most federal officials are also under strict orders not to communicate with external partners, leading to confusion and anxiety, according to several people with knowledge of the situation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTrump Administration Payment Freeze May Delay Money For Critical Preschool Program\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.huffpost.com\/entry\/trump-administration-delay-head-start-payments_n_6798f032e4b041a82d14726e\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">HuffPo<\/a>]. \u201cThe online system that distributes federal money to Head Start programs is warning providers of upcoming delays, apparently because of the Trump administration\u2019s sweeping review of federal spending. A message about the possible delays appeared this morning, as Head Start providers were logging on to file for their next distributions. HuffPost obtained a screenshot from an official at an early childhood advocacy organization; an official at a second advocacy group then confirmed hearing it about it from providers. The message says that \u201cDue to Executive Orders regarding potentially unallowable grant payments, PMS [the payment system] is taking additional measures to process payments. Reviews of applicable programs and payments will result in delays and\/or rejections of payments.\u2019 It\u2019s not clear whether the message appeared for all providers nationwide, or just some.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p>\u201cTrump Ousts Top Labor Board Leaders Who Backed Broader Worker Rights\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2025-01-28\/trump-fires-nlrb-general-counsel-jennifer-abruzzo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Bloomberg<\/a>]. \u201cDonald Trump is forcing out top leaders of the US labor board, ushering in a swift reboot of workplace law enforcement while testing the limits of presidential authority. Jennifer Abruzzo, the general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board, said she was fired via email late on Monday. Gwynne Wilcox, who was one of the labor board\u2019s two Democratic members, said she was ousted, too. \u2018 [good riddance, because what is needed is <em>a universal perspective across the<\/em> entire <em>working class<\/em>, which by definition is not unique] that I believe will be lost upon my unprecedented and illegal removal,\u2019 Wilcox said in a statement. \u2018I will be pursuing all legal avenues to challenge my removal, which violates long-standing Supreme Court precedent.’\u201d Nice to see that the Democrats have some sort of SWAT Team to rush to her defense. Oh, wait\u2026. More: \u201cFiring Wilcox was less expected, particularly given that there were already enough vacant seats on the board for Trump to install a Republican majority in the coming months.\u201d Remember when the Democrats butchered getting another Democrat on the Board? Why, that was weeks ago! Anyhow, firing Wilcox is illegal why\u2013<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTrump fires US labor board member, hobbling agency amid legal battles\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/us\/trump-fires-us-labor-board-member-hobbling-agency-amid-legal-battles-2025-01-28\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Reuters<\/a>]. \u201cGwynne Wilcox, who was appointed to the board by Democratic former President Joe Biden, in a statement called her firing late Monday illegal and said she would pursue \u201call legal avenues\u201d to challenge it\u2026. Once board members are confirmed, federal law allows them to be removed only for \u2018neglect of duty or malfeasance in office.\u2019\u2026 The five-member board already had two vacancies, so the removal of Wilcox leaves the agency without a quorum to issue decisions even in routine cases accusing companies or unions of violating federal labor law. Hundreds of cases are pending before the board, including ones involving Amazon.com, Tesla, Walmart, Apple, and dozens against Starbucks as it faces a nationwide union campaign.\u201d \u2022 So, no basis for the firing, so far as I can tell. No doubt one can be invented!<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><a name=\"democrats\"\/>Democrats <em>en d\u00e9shabill\u00e9<\/em><\/p>\n<blockquote wp_automatic_readability=\"48.593216318786\">\n<p>\u201cConfirmed: Unions Squandered the Biden Years\u201d [Hamilton Nolan, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hamiltonnolan.com\/p\/confirmed-unions-squandered-the-biden\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">How Things Work<\/a>]. \u201cn constant fear of being crushed by hostile Republican laws, unions have poured billions of dollars into, mostly, getting Democrats elected at the national level. And Joe Biden was as good as this game has ever gotten for them. We just lived through four years of the fruits of this approach. It is not theoretical. We can now evaluate it on its merits\u2026. The real question is: Has achieving electoral political power translated into the growth of union power?\u2026 Today, we can definitively say the answer is \u2018no.\u2019\u2026 In 2024, union density in America fell to 9.9% of the work force. In 1983, union density was 20.1%, meaning that organized labor is now less than half as powerful as it was during the Reagan presidency\u2026. In 2020, union density was 10.8%. That means that over the course of the most pro-union presidency in my lifetime, not only did union density not rise\u2014it declined into single digits. We are losing\u2026. [Organizing] is the responsibility of existing unions and the broader labor movement. That means that unions must spend every dollar they possibly can on new organizing. They have not done this. They did not do it, during the course of the Biden administration. They still are not doing it. As a result\u2014by the standard of \u2018increasing the power of organized labor in the work force\u2019\u2014the Biden administration was squandered by organized labor.\u201d \u2022 Yep.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAmy Walter: You\u2019re Not Hearing A Unified Outcry Among Democrats About Deportations In Major Cities\u201d [Amy Walter, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.realclearpolitics.com\/video\/2025\/01\/27\/amy_walter_youre_not_hearing_a_unified_outcry_among_democrats_about_deportations_in_major_cities.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">RealClearPolitics<\/a>]. \u201cI think the most important thing for Democrats to realize, though, is they\u2019re in the minority. When you\u2019re out of power, you are out of power. And the reality is they now can really just simply react to what is happening based on what Republicans are doing. And their strategy going forward in many ways is going to be a reaction to what the Republican Party did. Four years from now or three years from now or a year from now when the presidential race really begins, that\u2019s when the Democratic messaging really begins. Who do Democrats want to be? What do they want their message to be? We don\u2019t have an opposition party leader in this country like they do in so many other countries. It\u2019s really the nominee of the party who becomes that messenger. And that is going to be a long time from now.\u201d \u2022 Another way of saying this is that <em>right now<\/em> there\u2019s an enormous power vacuum in the Democrat Party. And (a) nobody is stepping in to fill it, perhaps because (b) they would have to bypass the tired and corrupt Democrat apparatus to do it, and in any case (c) the only way forward for the Democrat Party is to abandon or at least put in its place its current base in the PMC, which lacks and has lacked the power to win elections on any principled basis, let alone govern (as Stoller keeps complaining, corrrectly). Three tall orders!<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDemocrats\u2019 playbook for Trump 2.0: Tune out the noise and focus on economic issues\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/congress\/democrats-playbook-trump-tune-noise-focus-economic-issues-rcna189180\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">NBC<\/a>]. By all means focus on \u201ceconomic issues\u201d as opposed to class power for workers. You\u2019re liberals! \u201cLess than 48 hours after President Donald Trump was inaugurated, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries held a closed-door meeting with Democratic lawmakers to issue a warning and a clarion call. The new administration was going to \u201cflood the zone,\u201d and Democrats couldn\u2019t afford to chase every single outrage \u2014 or nothing was going to sink in for the American people, Jeffries told them, according to a person in the room who requested anonymity to discuss the private meeting. Jeffries, D-N.Y., urged members to focus their message on the cost of living, along with border security and community safety. \u2018The House Republican Contract Against America is an extreme plan that will not lower costs for everyday Americans,\u201d Jeffries told reporters the next day, referring to the GOP agenda and spending cuts it is weighing. \u201cIt will make our country more expensive.\u201d\u201d \u2022 Holy Lord, \u201cContract Against America.\u201d Jeffries keeps his lamp trimmed and burning <em>for Gingrich<\/em>. Clue stick: Donald Trump is not Newt Gingrich. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>Syndemics<\/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>Covid 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>, <del><a href=\"https:\/\/biobot.io\/data\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Biobot<\/a><\/del>; 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:\/\/skylab.cdph.ca.gov\/calwws\/\" 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:\/\/avrpublic.dhhs.utah.gov\/uwss\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>); VA (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/coronavirus\/sars-cov-2-in-wastewater\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/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, KF, KidDoc, LL, Michael King, KF, LaRuse, mrsyk, MT, MT_Wild, otisyves, Petal (6), RK (2), RL, RM, Rod, square coats (11), tennesseewaltzer, thump, Tom B., Utah, Bob White (3). <\/p>\n<p>Stay safe out there!<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p>Lambert here: Everything\u2019s gone dark except for trusty New York State hospitalization (daily), Walgreen\u2019s positivity (weekly), and the Cleveland Clinic? Readers, do you have any suggestions about alternatives at state level? Thank you! How I wish we had Biobot back\u2026.<\/p>\n<p><a name=\"table\"\/><strong>TABLE 1: Daily Covid Charts<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody wp_automatic_readability=\"10.853293413174\">\n<tr colspan=\"2\">\n<td valign=\"top\"><strong>Wastewater<\/strong><\/td>\n<td\/>\n<\/tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\" wp_automatic_readability=\"3.6190476190476\">\n<td valign=\"top\"> This week[1] <a href=\"https:\/\/covid.cdc.gov\/covid-data-tracker\/#wastewater-surveillance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CDC<\/a> January 13<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\"> Last week[2] <a href=\"https:\/\/covid.cdc.gov\/covid-data-tracker\/#wastewater-surveillance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CDC<\/a> (until next week):<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td>\n<p><span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-ww-natl-2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-285678\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-ww-natl-2.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-ww-natl-2-300x209.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" style=\"align: left; margin-left: 0px !important; padding: 9px 0 9px 0;\">\n<p><span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-ww-natl-1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-285430\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-ww-natl-1.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-ww-natl-1-300x200.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr colspan=\"2\" wp_automatic_readability=\"3.6417910447761\">\n<td valign=\"top\"><strong> Variants<\/strong> [3] <a href=\"https:\/\/covid.cdc.gov\/covid-data-tracker\/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery#variant-proportions\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CDC<\/a> January 18<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\"> <strong>Emergency Room Visits<\/strong>[4] <a href=\"https:\/\/covid.cdc.gov\/covid-data-tracker\/#trends_select_7dayeddiagnosed_00\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CDC<\/a> January 11<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td valign=\"top\">\n<p><span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-variants-natl.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-285677\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-variants-natl.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-variants-natl-300x230.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">\n<p><span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-ccd-ed-natl.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-285672\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-ccd-ed-natl.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-ccd-ed-natl-300x159.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr colspan=\"2\">\n<td valign=\"top\"><strong>Hospitalization<\/strong><\/td>\n<td\/>\n<\/tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\" wp_automatic_readability=\"3.8961038961039\">\n<td valign=\"top\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; color: gold;\">\u2605<\/span> New York[5] <a href=\"https:\/\/coronavirus.health.ny.gov\/daily-hospitalization-summary\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">New York State<\/a>, data January 27:<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\"> National [6] <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/coronavirus\/2019-ncov\/covidnetdashboard\/de\/powerbi\/dashboard.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CDC<\/a> January 24:<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td valign=\"top\">\n<p><span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-ny-hospitalization-nyc-10.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-286229\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-ny-hospitalization-nyc-10.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-ny-hospitalization-nyc-10-300x168.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">\n<p><span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-hospitalization-natl-2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-286161\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-hospitalization-natl-2.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-hospitalization-natl-2-288x300.png 288w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr colspan=\"2\">\n<td valign=\"top\"><strong>Positivity<\/strong><\/td>\n<td\/>\n<\/tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\" wp_automatic_readability=\"2.5714285714286\">\n<td valign=\"top\"> National[7] <a href=\"https:\/\/www.walgreens.com\/healthcare-solutions\/covid-19-index\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Walgreens<\/a> January 27:<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\"> Ohio[8] <a href=\"https:\/\/clevelandcliniclabs.com\/respiratory-virus-surveillance-statistics\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Cleveland Clinic<\/a> January 18:<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td>\n<p><span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-walgreens-positivity-states-2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-286163\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-walgreens-positivity-states-2.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-walgreens-positivity-states-2-300x189.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<p><span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cleveland-positivity-oh-2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-286162\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cleveland-positivity-oh-2.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cleveland-positivity-oh-2-300x198.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr colspan=\"2\">\n<td valign=\"top\"><strong>Travelers Data<\/strong><\/td>\n<td\/>\n<\/tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\" wp_automatic_readability=\"3.5932203389831\">\n<td valign=\"top\"> Positivity[9] <a href=\"https:\/\/covid.cdc.gov\/covid-data-tracker\/#traveler-genomic-surveillance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CDC<\/a> December 30:<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\"> Variants[10] <a href=\"https:\/\/covid.cdc.gov\/covid-data-tracker\/#traveler-genomic-surveillance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CDC<\/a> December 30<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\">\n<p><span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-positivity-travelers-2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-285676\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-positivity-travelers-2.png 608w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-positivity-travelers-2-300x161.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 608px) 100vw, 608px\"\/><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">\n<p><span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-variants-travelers-2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-285681\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-variants-travelers-2.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-variants-travelers-2-300x210.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr colspan=\"2\">\n<td valign=\"top\"><strong>Deaths<\/strong><\/td>\n<td\/>\n<\/tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\" wp_automatic_readability=\"3.76\">\n<td valign=\"top\"> Weekly Deaths vs. % Positivity [11] <a href=\"https:\/\/health.hawaii.gov\/coronavirusdisease2019\/what-you-should-know\/current-situation-in-the-us\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CDC<\/a> January 11:<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\"> Weekly Deaths vs. ED Visits [12] <a href=\"https:\/\/health.hawaii.gov\/coronadisease2019\/what-you-should-know\/current-situation-in-the-us\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CDC<\/a> January 11:<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td valign=\"top\">\n<p><span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-death-positivity.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-285674\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-death-positivity.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-death-positivity-300x177.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">\n<p><span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-death-ed.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-285673\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-death-ed.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-death-ed-300x174.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<td wp_automatic_readability=\"151.76267942584\">\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] (CDC) Seeing more red and more orange, but nothing new at major hubs. <\/p>\n<p>[2] (CDC) Last week\u2019s wastewater map.<\/p>\n<p>[3] (CDC Variants) XEC takes over. That WHO label, \u201cOmmicron,\u201d has done a great job normalizing successive waves of infection.<\/p>\n<p>[4] (ED) A little uptick.<\/p>\n<p>[5] (Hospitalization: NY) Definitely jumped.<\/p>\n<p>[6] (Hospitalization: CDC). Leveling out.<\/p>\n<p>[7] (Walgreens) Leveling out.<\/p>\n<p>[8] (Cleveland) Continued upward trend since, well, Thanksgiving.<\/p>\n<p>[9] (Travelers: Positivity) Leveling out.<\/p>\n<p>[10] (Travelers: Variants). Positivity is new, but variants have not yet been released.<\/p>\n<p>[11] Deaths low, positivity leveling out.<\/p>\n<p>[12] Deaths low, ED leveling out.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Stats Watch<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>There are no official statistics of interest today.<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p><a name=\"boeing\"\/>Manufacturing: \u201cBoeing Shares Surge by 6% Despite Difficult Year Marked by Losses and Challenges\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/ceoworld.biz\/2025\/01\/28\/boeing-shares-surge-by-6-despite-difficult-year-marked-by-losses-and-challenges\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CEO World<\/a>]. \u201cBoeing\u2019s stock rose by 6% on Tuesday morning after the company reported a fourth-quarter net loss that aligned with its recently disclosed preliminary results. The plane maker closed out a challenging year marked by significant financial setbacks, safety investigations, and a workers\u2019 strike\u2026 After the report\u2019s release, Boeing shares initially showed little movement in premarket trading. However, they surged after the market opened, recently trading at $186.49. The stock had entered the day down nearly 15% over the past 12 months.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Manufacturing: \u201cWhat Investors Found to Like in Boeing\u2019s Tea Leaves\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/livecoverage\/stock-market-today-dow-sp500-nasdaq-live-01-28-2025\/card\/what-investors-found-to-like-in-boeing-s-tea-leaves-P4dUWTRJPlxywIhMTMUx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Wall Street Journal<\/a>]. \u201cOverall, however, it appears that markets are no longer paying close attention to the minutiae of Boeing\u2019s financial metrics. This is understandable, since brokers themselves are all over the place: 2025 free cash flow estimates range from negative $7.3 billion to a much smaller $1.2 billion burn. No other large commercial-aerospace firm offers such a huge degree of uncertainty. Despite much anticipation, Boeing didn\u2019t provide financial targets for 2025. So what is it that investors like? Executives did say that free cash flow should be positive in the second half of the year as the many parked jets accumulated during years of trouble are finished and shipped to customers. Also, MAX deliveries for January are shaping up to be in the high 30s. With supply-chain constraints easing, the closely watched target of producing 38 MAXs a month is looking achievable this year. Crucially, new CEO Kelly Ortberg has given himself room to maneuver by ending the strike, issuing $24 billion in equity\u2014more than twice what was initially expected\u2014and focusing on quality control both at Boeing and its supplier Spirit AeroSystems. \u2018The work at Spirit during the strike has really paid off,\u2019 he told analysts Tuesday. \u2018That team has done a great job of improving the overall performance and quality of the fuselages.’\u201d Hmm. Concluding: \u201cInvestors are correctly looking beyond short-term noise, and hoping that 2025 will be the year in which \u2018Mr. Fix-it\u2019 finally puts Boeing on the recovery path. So far, though, this remains a mostly unquantifiable assumption.\u201d \u2022 Ortberg soothes the analysts.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Market: \u201cBlack Swan\u2019s Taleb Says Nvidia Rout Is Hint of What\u2019s Coming\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/archive.is\/JIzm5\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Bloomberg<\/a>]. \u201c\u201dThis is the beginning,\u201d Taleb told Bloomberg News in an interview after the close of markets on Monday. \u2018The beginning of an adjustment of people to reality. Because now they realize, now, it\u2019s no longer flawless. You have a small little chip on the glass.\u2019 The frenzied selling was triggered by sudden fears that US tech giants may not dominate the field of artificial intelligence as expected. The concerns follow the emergence of DeepSeek, a Chinese AI startup that has demonstrated a lower-cost approach to developing the technology. Investors interpreted that as a threat to both demand for and reliance on Nvidia\u2019s advanced chips. Taleb said investors have until now been too focused on a single narrative: That the company\u2019s shares would keep rising as it maintains its dominance of AI. Monday\u2019s retreat was actually \u2018very little\u2019 considering the risks in the industry, he said.\u201d And: \u201c[Taleb] described technology firms as \u2018gray swans,\u2019 because investors underestimate the deviations in their prices that are possible in a day.\u201d \u2022\u00a0Hmm.<\/p>\n<p><a name=\"market\"\/>Mr. Market:<\/p>\n<p><center wp_automatic_readability=\"5.2258566978193\"> <\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" wp_automatic_readability=\"13.302180685358\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The fact that, following the DeepSeek ascendancy, uranium stocks fell 11% (on the ‘fears’ that the vast expansion of data centres may be unnecessary, rendering nuclear power less attractive), reveals how deeply in the void of madness the stock market had fallen\u2026<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Yanis Varoufakis (@yanisvaroufakis) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/yanisvaroufakis\/status\/1884266752059867474\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">January 28, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><\/center><br \/>\n<center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p>Today\u2019s Fear & Greed Index: 44 Fear (previous close: 39 Neutral) [<a href=\"https:\/\/money.cnn.com\/data\/fear-and-greed\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CNN<\/a>]. One week ago: 41 (Fear). (0 is Extreme Fear; 100 is Extreme Greed). Last updated Jan 27 at 1:49:14 PM ET.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Gallery<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Geometrical:<\/p>\n<p><center wp_automatic_readability=\"1.8440366972477\"> <\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" wp_automatic_readability=\"5.5321100917431\">\n<p lang=\"cs\" dir=\"ltr\">Wassily Kandinsky, Odessa Port <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/I3AYGey7uR\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">pic.twitter.com\/I3AYGey7uR<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Impressions (@impression_ists) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/impression_ists\/status\/1884124945728561507\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">January 28, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><\/center> <\/p>\n<p><strong>Groves of Academe<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re empowering the worst of the worst:<\/p>\n<p><center wp_automatic_readability=\"2.2202797202797\"> <\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" wp_automatic_readability=\"7.1048951048951\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Don\u2019t worry about pausing your tenure clock. The board eliminated tenure. And your program.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Associate Deans (@ass_deans) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ass_deans\/status\/1884274754007490828\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">January 28, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><\/center> <\/p>\n<p><strong>Zeitgeist Watch<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cHuman Reproduction as Prisoner\u2019s Dilemma\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.aporiamagazine.com\/p\/human-reproduction-as-prisoners-dilemma\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Aporia<\/a>]. \u201cThe core problem marriage exists to solve is that it takes almost twenty years and an enormous amount of work and resources to raise children. This makes human reproduction analogous to a prisoner\u2019s dilemma. Both father and mother can choose to fully commit or pursue other options. In this context, marriage provides a framework for encouraging, legitimizing, and stabilizing commitment.\u201d This gloom conclusion caught my eye: \u201cThe shift from a cooperate\/cooperate marriage system, where both men and women made sacrifices to gain the security required for childbearing, to a cooperate\/defect one, where men are expected to uphold their end of the bargain in exchange for nothing, has failed. This is the legacy of second wave feminism. Men are dropping out of work or burning things down, and both marriage and children are increasingly relics of the past. We are thereby moving towards a defect\/defect system of the kind I described at the start. Men increasingly disdain the daily grind (bewildering public intellectuals, who fail to understand why men won\u2019t respond to market signals). Birth rates continue to decline. And things slowly fall apart. In the event of war, few feel the urge to defend their country. We are in the early stages of the same sort of centuries-long collapse that many civilizations throughout history have suffered.\u201d \u2022 Qualified that this is not inevitable (since nothing in history is, I would argue).<\/p>\n<p><a name=\"class\"\/><strong>Class Warfare<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cTop AI Investor Says Goal Is to Crash Human Wages\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/futurism.com\/the-byte\/ai-investor-goal-crash-human-wages\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Futurism<\/a>]. \u201cIn a recent tweet, [Marc Andreessen,] the American billionaire investor casually proclaimed that AI must \u2018crash\u2019 everyone\u2019s wages before it can deliver us an economic utopia \u2014 one that\u2019ll definitely happen, and certainly not create a permanent underclass of have-nots\u2026. \u2018A world in which human wages crash from AI \u2014 logically, necessarily \u2014 is a world in which productivity growth goes through the roof, and prices for goods and services crash to near zero,\u2019 Andreessen wrote. \u2018Consumer cornucopia. Everything you need and want for pennies.\u2019 So fret not, lowly laborer: you may be destined for financial ruin, but paradise is right around the corner. Pinky promise.\u201d \u2022 \u201cNear,\u201d as in \u201cnear zero,\u201d is doing rather a lot of work. If I\u2019ve got zero, \u201cnear zero\u201d might as well be on the moon. Or on Mars.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStarbucks staff given \u2018panic button\u2019 for laptop lurkers who won\u2019t leave\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/business\/2025\/01\/27\/starbucks-staff-given-panic-button-for-laptop-lurkers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">The Telegraph<\/a>]. \u201cStarbucks is to install panic buttons for staff as it cracks down on customers who sit in its shops or try to use its lavatories without buying anything. US workers have been given new guidelines on how to eject customers who stay in the stores for a \u2018prolonged\u2019 amount of time, attempt to use lavatories or fill up water bottles without making a purchase, as first reported by Business Insider. The company is also training workers in conflict de-escalation. According to reports, panic buttons have even been installed in a handful of stores in a trial of how best to keep them secure. Starbucks said earlier this month that it would no longer allow customers in the US to use its amenities for free, as part of an attempt by Brian Niccol, the new chief executive, to revive the business\u2026 The about-turn comes amid a wider pushback against customers who sit in coffee shops for hours at a time, taking advantage of free wi-fi but not spending more than the cost of one coffee in many cases. As well as preventing shops from making money by turning tables, so-called laptop lurkers have also been criticised for dampening the environment of bars and coffee shops and turning them into less social spaces.\u201d \u2022 I seem to recall that the strong coffee-house culture of <em>fin de si\u00e8cle<\/em> Vienna was due to a horrid housing situation. If one is looking for root causes. As far as reviving the business, the coffee is burnt and the food is dull. Fix that!<\/p>\n<p><a name=\"wired\"\/><strong>News of the Wired<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Oof. Dad.<\/p>\n<p><center wp_automatic_readability=\"2.7758620689655\"> <\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" wp_automatic_readability=\"7.9310344827586\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I had to google the provinces to get this.<\/p>\n<p>You \u2026 outdid yourself. This is indeed a terrible map. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/FczhRQ0A1G\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">pic.twitter.com\/FczhRQ0A1G<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Lefteris Karapetsas | Hiring for @rotkiapp (@LefterisJP) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LefterisJP\/status\/1884214676709667161\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">January 28, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><\/center><br \/>\n<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=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/2025\/01\/200pm-water-cooler-1-24-2025.html\">here<\/a>. From TH:<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/land_art.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"452\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-286232\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/land_art.jpeg 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/land_art-300x226.jpeg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/p>\n<p>TH writes: \u201cInspired by James Brunt\u2019s book, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jamesbruntartist.co.uk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Land Art<\/a>, I took advantage of a 66 degree November day to assemble this installation. Took about 90 minutes and had a ball.\u201d What a neat idea!<\/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. Material here is Lambert\u2019s, and does not express the views of the Naked Capitalism site. 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 three or four days I get worried. More tangibly, a constant trickle of donations helps me with expenses, and I factor in that trickle when setting fundraising goals:<\/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<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<!-- .entry-content --><\/p>\n<footer class=\"entry-meta\">\n\t\t\tThis entry was posted in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/category\/water-cooler\" rel=\"category tag\">Water Cooler<\/a> on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/2025\/01\/200pm-water-cooler-1-28-2025.html\" title=\"2:00 pm\" rel=\"bookmark\"><time class=\"entry-date updated\" datetime=\"2025-01-28T14:00:03-05:00\">January 28, 2025<\/time><\/a><span class=\"by-author\"> by <span class=\"author vcard\"><a class=\"url fn n\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/author\/lambert-strether\" title=\"View all posts by Lambert Strether\" rel=\"author\">Lambert Strether<\/a><\/span><\/span>.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"author-info\" wp_automatic_readability=\"20.197005056398\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<!-- .author-avatar --><\/p>\n<div class=\"author-description\" wp_automatic_readability=\"35.467911318553\">\n<h2>About Lambert Strether<\/h2>\n<p>Readers, I have had a correspondent characterize my views as realistic cynical. Let me briefly explain them. I believe in universal programs that provide concrete material benefits, especially to the working class. Medicare for All is the prime example, but tuition-free college and a Post Office Bank also fall under this heading. So do a Jobs Guarantee and a Debt Jubilee. Clearly, neither liberal Democrats nor conservative Republicans can deliver on such programs, because the two are different flavors of neoliberalism (\u201cBecause markets\u201d). I don\u2019t much care about the \u201cism\u201d that delivers the benefits, although whichever one does have to put common humanity first, as opposed to markets. Could be a second FDR saving capitalism, democratic socialism leashing and collaring it, or communism razing it. I don\u2019t much care, as long as the benefits are delivered. <br \/>\n <br \/>\nTo me, the key issue \u2014 and this is why Medicare for All is always first with me \u2014 is the tens of thousands of excess \u201cdeaths from despair,\u201d as described by the Case-Deaton study, and other recent studies. That enormous body count makes Medicare for All, at the very least, a moral and strategic imperative. And that level of suffering and organic damage makes the concerns of identity politics \u2014 even the worthy fight to help the refugees Bush, Obama, and Clinton\u2019s wars created \u2014 bright shiny objects by comparison. Hence my frustration with the news flow \u2014 currently in my view the swirling intersection of two, separate Shock Doctrine campaigns, one by the Administration, and the other by out-of-power liberals and their allies in the State and in the press \u2014 a news flow that constantly forces me to focus on matters that I regard as of secondary importance to the excess deaths. What kind of political economy is it that halts or even reverses the increases in life expectancy that civilized societies have achieved? I am also very hopeful that the continuing destruction of both party establishments will open the space for voices supporting programs similar to those I have listed; let\u2019s call such voices \u201cthe left.\u201d Volatility creates opportunity, especially if the Democrat establishment, which puts markets first and opposes all such programs, isn\u2019t allowed to get back into the saddle. Eyes on the prize! I love the tactical level, and secretly love even the horse race, since I\u2019ve been blogging about it daily for fourteen years, but everything I write has this perspective at the back of it.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<!-- .author-link\t-->\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p><!-- .author-description -->\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p><!-- .author-info --><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/footer>\n<p><!-- .entry-meta --><br \/>\n\t<!-- #post --><\/p>\n<nav class=\"nav-single\">\n<h3 class=\"assistive-text\">Post navigation<\/h3>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<span class=\"nav-previous list-posts-older\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/2025\/01\/the-planet-had-58-billion-dollar-weather-disasters-in-2024-the-second-highest-on-record.html\" rel=\"prev\"><span class=\"meta-nav\">\u2190<\/span> The Planet Had 58 Billion-Dollar Weather Disasters in 2024, The Second-Highest on Record<\/a><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"nav-next list-posts-newer\"\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t<\/nav>\n<p><!-- .nav-single --><\/p>\n<p>\t<!-- #comments .comments-area --><\/p>\n<p>\t<!-- #content --><br \/>\n<!-- #primary --><\/p>\n<p>\t<!-- #secondary --><\/p>\n<footer id=\"colophon\" role=\"contentinfo\">\n\t\t\t\t<!-- .site-info --><br \/>\n\t\t<\/footer>\n<p><!-- #colophon --><br \/>\n\t\t<!-- #main.wrapper --><br \/>\n<!-- #page --><br \/>\n<!-- .mobile-menu-wrap --><\/p>\n<p><!-- Blog Reader Pooling - removed 09\/16\/2015 by M. Lacourse --><br \/>\n<!-- <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"nc-hide\" src=\"http:\/\/t.blogreaderproject.com\/t.gif?c9a0f3c0f2425bc76f3b4c3baf750ea8\" alt=\"\" width=\"0\" height=\"0\"> --><\/p>\n<p><!-- wp footer --><\/p>\n<\/td>\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\/2025\/01\/200pm-water-cooler-1-28-2025.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bird Song of the Day Brown Thrasher, Lake Wales; Bok Sanctuary, Florida, United States. 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