\n<\/p>\n
By Lambert Strether.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\nReaders, my head cold continues, as does my stuffed-up stupidity and whinging. Ugh. \u2013lambert<\/p>\nBird Song of the Day<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Brown Thrasher, Davidson College\u2013Main Campus, Mecklenburg, North Carolina, United States.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCountry diary: A bird that had existed only in my imagination becomes vividly real\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/environment\/2025\/feb\/03\/country-diary-bird-existed-only-imagination-becomes-vividly-real\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Guardian<\/a>]. \u201cWe\u2019ve come to church this morning in search of a fictional bird\u2026 So far my only sighting of the UK\u2019s largest finch has been in my Collins Guide to British Birds\u2026. Something moves near the top of an ash by the church tower. There, on a leafless branch, sits my first ever hawfinch. A hunk with buff breast, slightly darker crown and a warm cinnamon back with the slate-grey wing patches that tell me it is a female.<\/p>\n<p>She\u2019s eating something \u2013 most likely a yew berry. Unaffected by the toxicity, she\u2019ll make light work of the seed inside the red fleshy aril with her specially modified bill, capable of exerting a force in excess of 450N. For a bird with a reputation for being elusive, her Latin name, Coccothraustes coccothraustes (the kernel-crushing kernel crusher), has the all subtlety of a sledgehammer. Looking at her hefty bill and thick-set body, I can\u2019t deny that she is manifestly \u2013 and magnificently \u2013 real.\u201d \u2022 They found the bird!<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p><strong>In Case You Might Miss\u2026 <\/strong> <\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><a href=\"#NRx\">DOGE as a revolutionary NRx (neo-reactionary) project.<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#foia\">DOGE seeks to avoid FOIA<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#opm\">DOGE given sysadmin privileges<\/a> at Office of Personnel Management with days of the Inaugural.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#turner\">An atmospheric Turner<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p><a name=\"helper\"\/><strong>Look for the Helpers<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cDog\u2019s sudden illness reveals region\u2019s generosity\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.apg-wi.com\/ashland_daily_press\/news\/local\/dog-s-sudden-illness-reveals-region-s-generosity\/article_d46890e2-e271-11ef-8126-a33fe47397ef.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Ashland Daily Press<\/a> (SD)]. \u2022 Dog gets a wheelchair\u2026 <\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p>My email address is down by the plant; please send examples of there (\u201cHelpers\u201d in the subject line). In our increasingly desperate and fragile neoliberal society, everyday <em>normal<\/em> incidents and stories of \u201cthe communism of everyday life\u201d are what I am looking for (and not, say, the Red Cross in Hawaii, or even the UNWRA in Gaza).<\/p>\n<p><strong>Politics<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo many of the social reactions that strike us as psychological are in fact a rational management of symbolic capital.\u201d \u2013Pierre Bourdieu, Classification Struggles<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p>Trump Administration<\/p>\n<blockquote wp_automatic_readability=\"14.802955665025\">\n<p>\u201cDOJ sues Illinois, Chicago over \u2018sanctuary city\u2019 laws\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/regulation\/court-battles\/5130411-doj-illinois-sanctuary-city\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">The Hill<\/a>]. \u201c\u2018The challenged provisions of Illinois, Chicago, and Cook County law reflect their intentional effort to obstruct the Federal Government\u2019s enforcement of federal immigration law and to impede consultation and communication between federal, state, and local law enforcement officials that is necessary for federal officials to carry out federal immigration law and keep Americans safe,\u2019 the lawsuit states.\u201d \u2022 Unsurprising, since sanctuary cities are a form of \u201cnullification\u201d of which John C. Calhoun would be proud.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>DOGE<\/p>\n<blockquote wp_automatic_readability=\"171.1589345172\">\n<p>\u201cSoftware, Sovereignty and the Post-Neoliberal Politics of Exit\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1177\/0263276421999439\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">SAGE Journals<\/a> (BP)]. Fight through the academic prose on this one: \u201cThis paper examines the impact of thinking \u2013 that of Curtis Yarvin, Nick Land, Peter Thiel and Patri Friedman in particular \u2013 on contemporary political debates manifest in \u2018architectures of exit\u2019\u2026 Approaching NRx thinking just a few years ago might have been a mildly diverting exercise; a chance to \u2018connect some philosophical ideas\u2009\u2026\u2009using some very silly right-wing nutjobs who were nevertheless\u2009\u2026\u2009interesting\u2019 (<a href=\"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1177\/0263276421999439#bibr62-0263276421999439\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Sandifer, 2017<\/a>: 1). As <a href=\"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1177\/0263276421999439#bibr41-0263276421999439\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">MacDougald (2015)<\/a> describes, NRx writing often appears as \u2018little more than a fever swamp of feudal misogynists, racist programmers and \u201cfascist teenage dungeon masters,\u201d gathering on subreddits to await the collapse of Western civilization\u2019. As such, it reads like \u2018all the awful things you always suspected about libertarianism with odds and ends from PUA culture, Victorian Social Darwinism, and an only semi-ironic attachment to absolutism\u2019. However, post-2016, as <a href=\"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1177\/0263276421999439#bibr62-0263276421999439\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Sandifer (2017: 1)<\/a> expresses it in her own inimitable style, \u2018everything went to shit\u2019 and suddenly these otherwise \u2018batshit crazy\u2019 ideas, associated software projects and social prototyping experiments began to manifest across a whole range of global cultural, political and technological imaginaries. As hard as it is to fathom, NRx thinking now forms a significant part of the theoretical universe that contemporary political figures and \u2018proto-theorists\u2019 such as Dominic Cummings (in the UK) (Cummings, 2020; Lewis et al., 2002;<a href=\"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1177\/0263276421999439#bibr49-0263276421999439\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"> Mulhall, 2020<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1177\/0263276421999439#bibr76-0263276421999439\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Volpicelli, 2020<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1177\/0263276421999439#bibr78-0263276421999439\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Wolf, 2020<\/a>) and Steve Bannon (in the US) (<a href=\"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1177\/0263276421999439#bibr26-0263276421999439\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Goldhill, 2017<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1177\/0263276421999439#bibr27-0263276421999439\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Gray, 2017<\/a>) draw upon and are attempting to promulgate into mainstream political discourse. As Nagle (<a href=\"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1177\/0263276421999439#bibr51-0263276421999439\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">2017: 53<\/a>) explains it, supporters of NRx ideas seem to have been more adept at \u2018heeding the ideas\u2009\u2026\u2009of\u2009\u2026\u2009Gramsci\u2019s theory of hegemony\u2019, especially via social media (<a href=\"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1177\/0263276421999439#bibr17-0263276421999439\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Daniels, 2018<\/a>), than have those on the left more usually associated with them (<a href=\"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1177\/0263276421999439#bibr48-0263276421999439\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Mouffe, 2019<\/a>).\u201d \u2022 This was thrown over my transom a few days ago; and today, this\u2013<\/p>\n<p><a name=\"NRx\"\/>\u201cSubject: Capture of U.S. Critical Infrastructure by Neoreactionaries\u201d (PDF) [<a href=\"https:\/\/america2.news\/content\/files\/2025\/02\/Musk-NRx-Memo-February-5-2025.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">anonymous<\/a>]. Interesting memo, embedded for distribution at the end of today\u2019s Water Cooler. \u201cRather than operating as an ally of the Trump administration, Musk has hijacked its ambitions for his own purposes. His rapid takeover of federal infrastructure mirrors the broader ambitions of the neoreactionary (NRx) movement\u2014a small group of Silicon Valley elites who reject democracy and seek to install a \u201cCEO Monarch\u201d to rule by technological and financial dominance. This network includes Peter Thiel, Marc Andreessen, Balaji Srinivasan, David Sacks, and Curtis Yarvin, among others. Once considered fringe, purveyors of this ideology have now been embedded into the core of government operations. Musk\u2019s maneuvering demonstrates a long-standing strategy of this elite class: not dismantling government, but replacing its power structures with ones they control. DOGE has not reduced bureaucracy\u2014it has privatized it. Treasury has not been made more efficient\u2014it has been placed under a billionaire\u2019s influence. TikTok has not been secured from foreign threats\u2014it has been delayed so Musk can position himself as its gatekeeper. President Trump, far from asserting dominance over the administrative state, may now find himself hostage to Musk.\u201d \u2022 Normally, I don\u2019t care what confirmed enshittifiers like Thiel, Andreessen, Srinivasan, Sacks, Yarvin et al. think, as long as they stay in their cuddle puddles; none of these rich dudes are as insightful as they think they are (and all are subject to \u201cBig Man\u201d syndrome, where nobody says \u201cNo\u201d to them, which gradually poisons their worldview of that is actually feasible). And normally Lambert the Cautious wouild prefer to connect many more dots before any pronouncement. I remain cautious because I don\u2019t know the provenance of the piece, although it doesn\u2019t read like it was produced by the DNC. The remedies \u2014 \u201cLaunch Immediate Congressional Investigations; II. Strengthened Conflict of Interest and Ethics Recommendations\u201d \u2014 are very weak \u2014 What, no General Strike? \u2014 suggesting to me it comes from the NGO ambit, from a shop like Indivisible. I will say it\u2019s the first piece I\u2019ve seen that gives an account of DOGE\u2019s extreme speed and secrecy. Know your enemy (and that goes for MAGA, too. Which side do you thing Thiel and Andreessen were on in the H1B fight?) Oh, and before anybody screams CT, what this looks like to me: \u201cThe first <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/2024\/07\/200pm-water-cooler-7-12-2024.html#flex\">FlexNet<\/a> I\u2019ve seen that attempted to seize state power.\u201d NOTE Adding, it\u2019s nice to have another explanation for Mush\u2019s frenetic behavior than Special K: By this account, he must see himself as point man for an actual revolution; I would imagine Lenin has a lot of short nights in 1917, too.<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p>\u201c\u2018What Musk is doing is illegal\u2019: Bernie Sanders slams DOGE gutting agencies\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/edition.cnn.com\/2025\/02\/05\/politics\/video\/bernie-sanders-trump-musk-doge-ac360-digvid\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CNN<\/a>]. \u2022 Yes, that\u2019s the point. See above.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMusk\u2019s Brazen Cost-Cutting Campaign Is Annoying GOP Senators, Treasury Staff\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/archive.is\/OItiU\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Bloomberg<\/a>]. Exremely deceptive headline, because way too bland: \u201c. As Bessent was building out his team in December, he interviewed Tom Krause, who is now a member of Musk\u2019s Department of Government Efficiency, according to a person familiar with the matter. Krause is now digging into Treasury\u2019s systems and data. Among the topics they discussed during the interview was the very mission in which DOGE is now engaged, the person said. A group of roughly half a dozen GOP senators reached out privately to the White House to object to Musk\u2019s accessing of Treasury systems, according to people familiar with the conversations. The senators indicated that the moves went beyond DOGE\u2019s stated mission to save the government money. Yet , even recommending Krause for the special government employee status he now is using to plumb Treasury\u2019s servers.\u201d \u2022 Lends some credence to t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/2025\/02\/200pm-water-cooler-2-5-2025.html#comment-4172383\">he idea broached by alert reader hamstak that DOGE started work early<\/a>, and somebody badged one or more of the \u201cprogrammers\u201d in before official project launch.<\/p>\n<p><a name=\"opm\"\/>\u201cMusk\u2019s DOGE agents access sensitive personnel data, alarming security officials\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/archive.is\/rGfmG\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">WaPo<\/a>]. Another blandly deceptive headline: \u201cAgents of billionaire Elon Musk\u2019s Department of Government Efficiency have gained access to highly restricted government records on millions of federal employees \u2014 including Treasury and State Department officials in sensitive security positions \u2014 as part of a broader effort to wrest control over the government\u2019s main personnel agency, according to four U.S. officials with knowledge of the developments\u2026. Records obtained by The Post show that several members of Musk\u2019s DOGE team \u2014 some of whom are in their early 20s and come from positions at his private companies \u2014 were last month. That gives them sweeping authority to install and modify software on government-supplied equipment and, according to two OPM officials, to alter internal documentation of their own activities.\u201d Yikes. More: \u201cMeanwhile, morale has plummeted, said three OPM officials, as DOGE agents have clashed with senior career personnel. One official recalled a recent meeting in which a young DOGE team member began screaming at senior developers and calling them \u2018idiots.’\u201d Seems to be going well. More: \u201c. Three more gained access about a week later, they said.\u201d And: \u201cA former U.S. security official said DOGE\u2019s access to Treasury\u2019s payment system is alarming, describing it as a comprehensive map to U.S. expenditures encompassing highly classified programs and purposes. The agency said this week Musk\u2019s agents have \u201cread-only access.’\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDay Seven of the Trump-Musk Treasury Payments Crisis of 2025: \u201cYours and WIRED\u2019s Reporting is Actually Doing Something\u201d\u201d [Nathan Tankus, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.crisesnotes.com\/day-seven-of-the-trump-musk-treasury-payments-crisis-of-2025-yours-and-wireds-reporting-is-actually-doing-something\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Notes on the Crises<\/a>]. Does DOGE operative Marko Elez have read access (the press), or read-write (the blogs): \u201cA source familiar with the situation who I asked about the current circumstances and the latest state of play of \u2018read only\u2019 versus \u2018read and write\u2019 had this to say: \u201cAgain, it\u2019s a distinction that doesn\u2019t matter too much to me. He shouldn\u2019t have access to this almost 5 trillion dollar payment flow, even if it\u2019s \u2018read-only.\u2019 He shouldn\u2019t even be at Fiscal Service. None of this should be happening and it\u2019s only going to get worse the longer \u2018DOGE\u2019 is here and the more they learn about what they can do and get away with.\u201d In other words, while it\u2019s good news that they are reacting to our reporting, the situation still remains catastrophic at best and we can\u2019t relent until this has been resolved.\u201d <\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe blatant lie behind Elon Musk\u2019s power grab\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/politics\/398583\/musk-trump-doge-fraud-waste-debt-deficit\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Vox<\/a>]. \u201c\u2018We have $36 trillion of national debt growing at a rapid rate,\u2019 the billionaire investor Bill Ackman posted on X Tuesday. \u2018All Americans must therefore make their voices heard loud and clear about how much they support DOGE, Elon and our president\u2019s efforts to help our country. We cannot let DOGE fail as our country is rapidly on the path to insolvency.\u2019 There are many reasons to reject this argument. The United States is not going to become \u2018insolvent\u2019 any time soon. And preserving the rule of law is likely more important to our nation\u2019s long-term well-being than slashing federal spending\u2026. DOGE, meanwhile, is ostensibly focused on rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse in federal spending. But it is not mathematically possible to offset entitlement spending or tax cuts by eliminating such waste (and identifying fraudulent or wasteful disbursements in advance is easier said than done). Musk has claimed, without evidence, that there is $1.7 trillion in annual waste and fraud \u2014 a figure that nearly matches the size of the federal deficit. Yet when DOGE has actually tried to name specific examples of \u2018wasteful\u2019 spending, it has offered up programs that have negligible budgetary costs.\u201d \u2022 And not, say, the Pentagon. Or the CIA\u2019s black budget. And I long for the day when Stephanie Kelton is Treasury Secretary. <\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p><a name=\"foia\"\/>\u201cDOGE Employees Ordered to Stop Using Slack While Agency Transitions to a Records System Not Subject to FOIA\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.404media.co\/doge-employees-ordered-to-stop-using-slack-while-agency-transitions-to-a-records-system-not-subject-to-foia\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">404 Media<\/a>]. \u201cThe messages indicate that, under Elon Musk\u2019s leadership, DOGE is actively taking steps to make sure its communications and records are not subject to the Freedom of Information Act, a records transparency law commonly used by journalists and lawyers to hold government accountable. Instead, DOGE is asserting that rather than reporting up through the Office of Management and Budget as the United States Digital Service did for years, it is reporting through the Executive Office of the President and to White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. Under OMB, it was generally subject to FOIA. Under the White House Chief of Staff, records it creates are generally not subject to FOIA.\u201d \u2022\u00a0Hi, Susie [waves].<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p>Oh for a moment of blessed silence without Elon\u2019s yammering:<\/p>\n<p><center wp_automatic_readability=\"2.7613065326633\"> <\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" wp_automatic_readability=\"7.8894472361809\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">As a Special Government Employee Musk is subject to the Hatch Act\u2026<\/p>\n<p>\u2026which prohibits any partisan commentary while on duty <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/laeQY12ob1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">pic.twitter.com\/laeQY12ob1<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Brett Bruen (@BrettBruen) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BrettBruen\/status\/1887320637011558558\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">February 6, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><\/center> <\/p>\n<p>So that\u2019s alright, then:<\/p>\n<p><center wp_automatic_readability=\"2.6962025316456\"> <\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" wp_automatic_readability=\"8.0886075949367\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Press Sec clarifies that Elon Musk will self-determine when there is a conflict of interest involving him and DOGE.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Sam Stein (@samstein) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/samstein\/status\/1887207700259311902\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">February 5, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><\/center><br \/>\n<center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p>\u201cDOGE Teen Owns \u2018Tesla.Sexy LLC\u2019 and Worked at Startup That Has Hired Convicted Hackers\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/archive.is\/VAD48\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Wired<\/a>]. And the deck: \u201cExperts question whether Edward Coristine, a DOGE staffer who has gone by \u2018Big Balls\u2019 online, would pass the background check typically required for access to sensitive US government systems\u2026. Davi Ottenheimer, a longtime security operations and compliance manager, says many factors about Coristine\u2019s employment history and online footprint could raise questions about his ability to obtain security clearance. \u2018Limited real work experience is a risk,\u2019 says Ottenheimer, as an example. \u2018Plus his handle is literally Big Balls.’\u201d \u2022 I\u2019m sure Coristine will do very well. It\u2019s curious we don\u2019t know how many hires DOGE has. They\u2019re presented as a small, elite crew, but \u201cBig Balls\u201d argues against that. 100? 1000?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Young, Inexperienced Engineers Aiding Elon Musk\u2019s Government Takeover\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/archive.is\/AfVxo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Wired<\/a>]. \u201c[Luke Farritor] is a former intern at SpaceX, Musk\u2019s space company, and <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.is\/o\/AfVxo\/https:\/\/www.businesswire.com\/news\/home\/20240320742346\/en\/Thiel-Foundation-Announces-Next-Thiel-Fellow-Class\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">currently<\/a> a <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.is\/o\/AfVxo\/https:\/\/thielfellowship.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Thiel Fellow<\/a> after, according to his LinkedIn, dropping out of the University of Nebraska\u2014Lincoln. While in school, he was part of an award-winning team that <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.is\/o\/AfVxo\/https:\/\/news.unl.edu\/article-2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">deciphered portions of an ancient Greek scroll<\/a>.\u201d \u2022 <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.is\/vbxk0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">A fascinating project<\/a>, and one could wish that Farritor had continued as a scholar, instead of joining an neo-reactionary FlexNet.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>2024 Post Mortem<\/p>\n<blockquote wp_automatic_readability=\"17.957446808511\">\n<p>\u201c\u2018Uncommitted\u2019 leaders stand by 2024 strategy after Trump floats Gaza takeover\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/donald-trump\/uncommitted-leaders-stand-2024-strategy-trump-floats-gaza-takeover-rcna190782\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">NBC<\/a>]. \u201cEven inside the Harris campaign, there was dissent about whether she needed to take a more aggressive stance for Gaza. A Harris organizer who worked on youth turnout said that senior campaign officials gave them an order: When they sent out mass volunteer or fundraising emails and people replied by asking about Gaza, they were told to mark it as \u2018no response.\u2019 The result? They seldom ended up engaging with voters on that issue. \u2018We also didn\u2019t create a new category for Gaza responses out of fear that category would be leaked. Instead we were told to mark them as \u2018no response,\u201d the organizer said, faulting top Harris campaign leaders for failing to address the issue. \u2018The only \u2018clowns\u2019 out there are those who were in senior leadership and decided to abdicate on this issue, who silenced a Palestinian speaker at the DNC, and who told us to ignore it every time a voter asked us about Gaza.’\u201d \u2022 So the Democrat regulars <em>arranged to lie to themselves in their own polls<\/em>. Reminds me of a continuing character in Nicole Hollander\u2019s classic series <em>Sylvia<\/em>, \u201cThe Woman Who Lies in Her Journal\u201d:<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/sylvia.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"576\" height=\"179\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-286763\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/sylvia.png 576w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/sylvia-300x93.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 576px) 100vw, 576px\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\u201cOh, right. Like you never thought of it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><a name=\"democrats\"\/>Democrats <em>en d\u00e9shabill\u00e9<\/em><\/p>\n<blockquote wp_automatic_readability=\"20.824775353017\">\n<p>\u201cDemocratic polling finds Elon Musk is unpopular\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/live-updates\/2025\/02\/06\/congress\/elon-musk-approval-rating-00202805\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Politico<\/a>]. \u201cNew internal polling, conducted on behalf of House Majority Forward, a nonprofit aligned with House Democratic leadership, found Musk is viewed negatively among 1,000 registered voters in battleground districts. His approval rating is upside down (43 percent approve to 51 disapprove) and his favorability is even worse (42 percent favorable to 51 percent unfavorable). And the survey was completed between Jan. 19-25 \u2014 before some of Musk\u2019s more extreme moves as the leader of the Department of Government Efficiency. Pollsters asked respondents for their thoughts on \u2018the creation of a government of the rich for the rich by appointing up to nine different billionaires to the administration,\u2019 and found 70 percent opposed with only 19 percent in support \u2014 a stat that suggests Democrats have landed on a message that could gain traction with swing voters.\u201d \u2022\u00a0But what about the <em>good<\/em> billionaires? Anyhow, I say \u201cride it out and wait for the midterms.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>\u201cDemocrats\u2019 phones bombarded with calls to \u2018fight harder’\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2025\/02\/06\/democrats-congress-trump-musk-doge-calls\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Axios<\/a>]. \u201cCongressional Democrats\u2019 offices are being inundated by phone calls from angry constituents who feel the party should be doing more to combat President Trump and his administration.\u201d But: \u201c\u2018There has definitely been some tension the last few days where people felt like: you are calling the wrong people. You are literally calling the wrong people,\u2019 said one House Democrat.\u201d \u2022 But that\u2019s a familiar tension, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Realignment and Legitimacy<\/p>\n<blockquote wp_automatic_readability=\"11.505747126437\">\n<p>\u201cDEI Is a Failure Because the Civil Rights Movement Wasn\u2019t About Elite Diversity\u201d [Zaid Jilani, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theamericansaga.com\/p\/dei-is-a-failure-because-the-civil\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">The American Saga<\/a>]. \u201cNot every critic of DEI is motivated by white resentment. Many people criticize these programs because they have <a href=\"https:\/\/hbr.org\/2016\/07\/why-diversity-programs-fail\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">little positive impact on diversity, anyway<\/a>, and there\u2019s a bunch of evidence that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theamericansaga.com\/p\/progressives-need-to-stop-lecturing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">diversity trainings can actually make people more prejudiced<\/a>.\u201d Turning DEI into a self-licking ice-cream cone, since more prejudice requires more training. More: \u201cThe reality is that DEI is only tangentially related to the rights and opportunities of minorities. The civil rights movement was not about diversifying corporate or government offices with a few black or brown faces in places of power. It wasn\u2019t about diversity trainings where employees roll their eyes as someone hired by HR lectures them for three hours about their privilege. It was about redistributing power to the masses of people who don\u2019t have it, including white people.\u201d \u2022 So it would be nice if we didn\u2019t roll back civil rights too.<\/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>Transmission: Covid<\/p>\n<blockquote wp_automatic_readability=\"10.355329949239\">\n<p>\u201cNearly 30% of cats, dogs owned by COVID patients had SARS-CoV-2 antibodies by 2021\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cidrap.umn.edu\/covid-19\/nearly-30-cats-dogs-owned-covid-patients-had-sars-cov-2-antibodies-2021\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy<\/a>]. \u201cNearly 30% of cats and dogs belonging to COVID-infected patients in central Texas tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, signaling previous infection, from 2020 to 2021, according to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biorxiv.org\/content\/10.1101\/2025.02.03.636361v1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">study<\/a> published yesterday on the preprint server bioRxiv.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Variants: H5N1<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Oh good:<\/p>\n<p><center wp_automatic_readability=\"4.3820224719101\"> <\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" wp_automatic_readability=\"11.393258426966\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Both severe cases of <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/H5N1?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">#H5N1<\/a> \u2013 including the death in Louisiana, and the teenager in critical condition in Canada- were D1.1 genotype viruses. This has now been detected in dairy cattle, where most of the infections in humans have been occurring (previous dairy spillovers were w\/\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/05wyTbqyk9\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">https:\/\/t.co\/05wyTbqyk9<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Abraar Karan (@AbraarKaran) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AbraarKaran\/status\/1887240078369693934\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">February 5, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><\/center>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p><a name=\"table\"\/><strong>TABLE 1: Daily Covid Charts<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody wp_automatic_readability=\"10.882352941176\">\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 27<\/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\/02\/covid-cdc-ww-natl.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-286625\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/covid-cdc-ww-natl.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/covid-cdc-ww-natl-300x241.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\/no_covid-cdc-ww-natl-2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"418\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-286399\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/no_covid-cdc-ww-natl-2.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/no_covid-cdc-ww-natl-2-300x209.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr colspan=\"2\" wp_automatic_readability=\"3.6571428571429\">\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><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; color: gold;\">\u2605<\/span>[4] <a href=\"https:\/\/covid.cdc.gov\/covid-data-tracker\/#trends_select_7dayeddiagnosed_00\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CDC<\/a> January 25<\/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 loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/no_covid-cdc-variants-natl.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"460\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-286397\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/no_covid-cdc-variants-natl.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/no_covid-cdc-variants-natl-300x230.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (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\/02\/covid-cdc-ed-natl.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-286688\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/covid-cdc-ed-natl.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/covid-cdc-ed-natl-300x180.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 February 3:<\/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 31:<\/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\/02\/covid-ny-hospitalization-nyc-1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-286758\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/covid-ny-hospitalization-nyc-1.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/covid-ny-hospitalization-nyc-1-300x191.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\/02\/covid-cdc-hospitalization-natl.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-286689\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/covid-cdc-hospitalization-natl.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/covid-cdc-hospitalization-natl-282x300.png 282w\" 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> February 3:<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\"> Ohio[8] <a href=\"https:\/\/clevelandcliniclabs.com\/respiratory-virus-surveillance-statistics\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Cleveland Clinic<\/a> February 1:<\/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\/02\/covid-walgreens-positivity-states.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-286693\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/covid-walgreens-positivity-states.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/covid-walgreens-positivity-states-300x169.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=\"3.5789473684211\">\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> January 13:<\/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> January 13 <\/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\/02\/covid-cdc-positivity-travelers.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-286694\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/covid-cdc-positivity-travelers.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/covid-cdc-positivity-travelers-300x171.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\/02\/covid-cdc-variants-travelers.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-286692\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/covid-cdc-variants-travelers.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/covid-cdc-variants-travelers-300x207.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=\"3.7777777777778\">\n<td valign=\"top\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; color: gold;\">\u2605<\/span> 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 25:<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; color: gold;\">\u2605<\/span> 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 25:<\/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\/02\/covid-cdc-deaths-positivity-natl.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-286757\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/covid-cdc-deaths-positivity-natl.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/covid-cdc-deaths-positivity-natl-300x202.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<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/covid-cdc-deaths-ed-natl.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-286756\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/covid-cdc-deaths-ed-natl.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/covid-cdc-deaths-ed-natl-300x172.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<td wp_automatic_readability=\"115.66228936665\">\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) Down, 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, but no exponential growth either, Odd.<\/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>Employment Situation: \u201cUnited States Challenger Job Cuts\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/tradingeconomics.com\/united-states\/challenger-job-cuts\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Trading Economics<\/a>]. US employers announced 49,795 job cuts in January 2025, above 38,792 in December 2024 but down 40% from 82,307 a year earlier. It is also the lowest January job cut total since 2022. \u2018January was relatively quiet in terms of job cut announcements. However, we\u2019ve already seen major announcements in the early days of February, so it seems this quiet is unlikely to last,\u2019 said Andrew Challenger, Senior VP of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. Technology led all sectors in job-cutting activity in January with 7,488.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Employment Situation: \u201cUnited States Initial Jobless Claims\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/tradingeconomics.com\/united-states\/jobless-claims\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Trading Economics<\/a>]. \u201cInitial jobless claims in the US rose by 11,000 from the previous week to 219,000 in the last week of January 2025, above market expectations of 213,000. In the meantime, recurring claims rose by 26,000 to 1,886,000 in the previous week, ahead of market expectations of 1,870,000. Despite remaining robust against a historical perspective, the data was in line with the view that the US labor market is due for a slight degree of softening in 2025.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p>Manufacturing: \u201cThe same Boeing passenger plane keeps being diverted after take-off\u2026 what\u2019s going on?\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/travel\/news-and-advice\/american-airlines-boeing-plane-diversion-b2693332.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Independent<\/a>]. \u2022 Registration code N819AN.<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p>Today\u2019s Fear & Greed Index: 40 Fear (previous close: 39 Fear) [<a href=\"https:\/\/money.cnn.com\/data\/fear-and-greed\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CNN<\/a>]. One week ago: 49 (Neutral). (0 is Extreme Fear; 100 is Extreme Greed). Last updated Feb 4 at 2:10:42 PM ET.<\/p>\n<p><a name=\"guillotine\"\/><strong>Guillotine Watch<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a name=\"turner\"\/>Pretty!<\/p>\n<p><center wp_automatic_readability=\"2\"> <\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" wp_automatic_readability=\"6\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Turner, The Burning of the Houses of Parliament <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/9VJD4jpN89\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">pic.twitter.com\/9VJD4jpN89<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Impressions (@impression_ists) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/impression_ists\/status\/1887493140300399086\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">February 6, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><\/center> <\/p>\n<p><strong>Public Health<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cRealClearFoundation Launches the Journal of the Academy of Public Health\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.realclearscience.com\/articles\/2025\/02\/05\/realclearfoundation_launches_the_journal_of_the_academy_of_public_health_1089515.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">RealClearScience<\/a>]. \u201c5 February 2025 (Washington, DC) The RealClearFoundation announces today the launch of the Journal of the Academy of Public Health, a revolutionary new scientific journal publishing cutting-edge, peer-reviewed and open access research from the world\u2019s leading scholars of epidemiology, vaccinology, global public health, health policy and related disciplines.\u202f The Journal was co-founded by Dr. Jay Bhattacharya of Stanford University and Dr. Martin Kulldorff, formerly of Harvard University. Their shared vision is presented in Dr. Kulldorff\u2019s inaugural paper, \u201cThe Rise and Fall of Scientific Journals and a Way Forward.\u201d \u2022\u00a0Splendid to see one of the service providers from Stanford\u2019s house of ill fame make good. (Up until this point, I have always considered RealClear* to be conservative, but solid. No more, sadly.<\/p>\n<p><a name=\"wired\"\/><strong>News of the Wired<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I am not wired today.<\/p>\n<p><strong>APPENDIX<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Musk-NRx-Memo-February-5-2025.pdf\" class=\"pdfemb-viewer\" style=\"\" data-width=\"max\" data-height=\"max\" data-mobile-width=\"500\" data-scrollbar=\"none\" data-download=\"on\" data-tracking=\"on\" data-newwindow=\"on\" data-pagetextbox=\"off\" data-scrolltotop=\"off\" data-startzoom=\"100\" data-startfpzoom=\"100\" data-toolbar=\"bottom\" data-toolbar-fixed=\"on\">Musk-NRx-Memo-February-5-2025<br \/><\/a><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\/02\/200pm-water-cooler-2-5-2025.html\">here<\/a>. From TW:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/hoarfrost.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"800\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-286754\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/hoarfrost.jpeg 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/hoarfrost-225x300.jpeg 225w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/p>\n<p>TW writes: \u201cHoarfrost, Christmas Day, at Patrick Marsh, Sun Prairie, WI.\u201d Wow!<\/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\/guest-post\" rel=\"category tag\">Guest Post<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/category\/water-cooler\" rel=\"category tag\">Water Cooler<\/a> on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/2025\/02\/200pm-water-cooler-2-6-2025.html\" title=\"2:00 pm\" rel=\"bookmark\"><time class=\"entry-date updated\" datetime=\"2025-02-06T14:00:03-05:00\">February 6, 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\/02\/ice-faking-news-games-search-engines-to-make-mass-deportations-appear-way-more-massive-than-they-are.html\" rel=\"prev\"><span class=\"meta-nav\">\u2190<\/span> ICE Faking News: Games Search Engines to Make Mass Deportations Appear Way More Massive Than They Are<\/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<link rel=\"stylesheet\" id=\"pdfemb_embed_pdf_css-css\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/pdfembedder-premium\/css\/pdfemb-embed-pdf.css?ver=3.1.8\" type=\"text\/css\" media=\"all\"\/>\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\/02\/200pm-water-cooler-2-6-2025.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Lambert Strether. Readers, my head cold continues, as does my stuffed-up stupidity and whinging. Ugh. \u2013lambert Bird Song of the Day Brown Thrasher, Davidson<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":90674,"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-90673","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\/90673","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=90673"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90673\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90674"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Readers, my head cold continues, as does my stuffed-up stupidity and whinging. Ugh. \u2013lambert<\/p>\n
Bird Song of the Day<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Brown Thrasher, Davidson College\u2013Main Campus, Mecklenburg, North Carolina, United States.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCountry diary: A bird that had existed only in my imagination becomes vividly real\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/environment\/2025\/feb\/03\/country-diary-bird-existed-only-imagination-becomes-vividly-real\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Guardian<\/a>]. \u201cWe\u2019ve come to church this morning in search of a fictional bird\u2026 So far my only sighting of the UK\u2019s largest finch has been in my Collins Guide to British Birds\u2026. Something moves near the top of an ash by the church tower. There, on a leafless branch, sits my first ever hawfinch. A hunk with buff breast, slightly darker crown and a warm cinnamon back with the slate-grey wing patches that tell me it is a female.<\/p>\n<p>She\u2019s eating something \u2013 most likely a yew berry. Unaffected by the toxicity, she\u2019ll make light work of the seed inside the red fleshy aril with her specially modified bill, capable of exerting a force in excess of 450N. For a bird with a reputation for being elusive, her Latin name, Coccothraustes coccothraustes (the kernel-crushing kernel crusher), has the all subtlety of a sledgehammer. Looking at her hefty bill and thick-set body, I can\u2019t deny that she is manifestly \u2013 and magnificently \u2013 real.\u201d \u2022 They found the bird!<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p><strong>In Case You Might Miss\u2026 <\/strong> <\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><a href=\"#NRx\">DOGE as a revolutionary NRx (neo-reactionary) project.<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#foia\">DOGE seeks to avoid FOIA<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#opm\">DOGE given sysadmin privileges<\/a> at Office of Personnel Management with days of the Inaugural.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#turner\">An atmospheric Turner<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p><a name=\"helper\"\/><strong>Look for the Helpers<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cDog\u2019s sudden illness reveals region\u2019s generosity\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.apg-wi.com\/ashland_daily_press\/news\/local\/dog-s-sudden-illness-reveals-region-s-generosity\/article_d46890e2-e271-11ef-8126-a33fe47397ef.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Ashland Daily Press<\/a> (SD)]. \u2022 Dog gets a wheelchair\u2026 <\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p>My email address is down by the plant; please send examples of there (\u201cHelpers\u201d in the subject line). In our increasingly desperate and fragile neoliberal society, everyday <em>normal<\/em> incidents and stories of \u201cthe communism of everyday life\u201d are what I am looking for (and not, say, the Red Cross in Hawaii, or even the UNWRA in Gaza).<\/p>\n<p><strong>Politics<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo many of the social reactions that strike us as psychological are in fact a rational management of symbolic capital.\u201d \u2013Pierre Bourdieu, Classification Struggles<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p>Trump Administration<\/p>\n<blockquote wp_automatic_readability=\"14.802955665025\">\n<p>\u201cDOJ sues Illinois, Chicago over \u2018sanctuary city\u2019 laws\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/regulation\/court-battles\/5130411-doj-illinois-sanctuary-city\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">The Hill<\/a>]. \u201c\u2018The challenged provisions of Illinois, Chicago, and Cook County law reflect their intentional effort to obstruct the Federal Government\u2019s enforcement of federal immigration law and to impede consultation and communication between federal, state, and local law enforcement officials that is necessary for federal officials to carry out federal immigration law and keep Americans safe,\u2019 the lawsuit states.\u201d \u2022 Unsurprising, since sanctuary cities are a form of \u201cnullification\u201d of which John C. Calhoun would be proud.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>DOGE<\/p>\n<blockquote wp_automatic_readability=\"171.1589345172\">\n<p>\u201cSoftware, Sovereignty and the Post-Neoliberal Politics of Exit\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1177\/0263276421999439\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">SAGE Journals<\/a> (BP)]. Fight through the academic prose on this one: \u201cThis paper examines the impact of thinking \u2013 that of Curtis Yarvin, Nick Land, Peter Thiel and Patri Friedman in particular \u2013 on contemporary political debates manifest in \u2018architectures of exit\u2019\u2026 Approaching NRx thinking just a few years ago might have been a mildly diverting exercise; a chance to \u2018connect some philosophical ideas\u2009\u2026\u2009using some very silly right-wing nutjobs who were nevertheless\u2009\u2026\u2009interesting\u2019 (<a href=\"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1177\/0263276421999439#bibr62-0263276421999439\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Sandifer, 2017<\/a>: 1). As <a href=\"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1177\/0263276421999439#bibr41-0263276421999439\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">MacDougald (2015)<\/a> describes, NRx writing often appears as \u2018little more than a fever swamp of feudal misogynists, racist programmers and \u201cfascist teenage dungeon masters,\u201d gathering on subreddits to await the collapse of Western civilization\u2019. As such, it reads like \u2018all the awful things you always suspected about libertarianism with odds and ends from PUA culture, Victorian Social Darwinism, and an only semi-ironic attachment to absolutism\u2019. However, post-2016, as <a href=\"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1177\/0263276421999439#bibr62-0263276421999439\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Sandifer (2017: 1)<\/a> expresses it in her own inimitable style, \u2018everything went to shit\u2019 and suddenly these otherwise \u2018batshit crazy\u2019 ideas, associated software projects and social prototyping experiments began to manifest across a whole range of global cultural, political and technological imaginaries. As hard as it is to fathom, NRx thinking now forms a significant part of the theoretical universe that contemporary political figures and \u2018proto-theorists\u2019 such as Dominic Cummings (in the UK) (Cummings, 2020; Lewis et al., 2002;<a href=\"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1177\/0263276421999439#bibr49-0263276421999439\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"> Mulhall, 2020<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1177\/0263276421999439#bibr76-0263276421999439\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Volpicelli, 2020<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1177\/0263276421999439#bibr78-0263276421999439\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Wolf, 2020<\/a>) and Steve Bannon (in the US) (<a href=\"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1177\/0263276421999439#bibr26-0263276421999439\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Goldhill, 2017<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1177\/0263276421999439#bibr27-0263276421999439\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Gray, 2017<\/a>) draw upon and are attempting to promulgate into mainstream political discourse. As Nagle (<a href=\"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1177\/0263276421999439#bibr51-0263276421999439\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">2017: 53<\/a>) explains it, supporters of NRx ideas seem to have been more adept at \u2018heeding the ideas\u2009\u2026\u2009of\u2009\u2026\u2009Gramsci\u2019s theory of hegemony\u2019, especially via social media (<a href=\"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1177\/0263276421999439#bibr17-0263276421999439\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Daniels, 2018<\/a>), than have those on the left more usually associated with them (<a href=\"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1177\/0263276421999439#bibr48-0263276421999439\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Mouffe, 2019<\/a>).\u201d \u2022 This was thrown over my transom a few days ago; and today, this\u2013<\/p>\n<p><a name=\"NRx\"\/>\u201cSubject: Capture of U.S. Critical Infrastructure by Neoreactionaries\u201d (PDF) [<a href=\"https:\/\/america2.news\/content\/files\/2025\/02\/Musk-NRx-Memo-February-5-2025.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">anonymous<\/a>]. Interesting memo, embedded for distribution at the end of today\u2019s Water Cooler. \u201cRather than operating as an ally of the Trump administration, Musk has hijacked its ambitions for his own purposes. His rapid takeover of federal infrastructure mirrors the broader ambitions of the neoreactionary (NRx) movement\u2014a small group of Silicon Valley elites who reject democracy and seek to install a \u201cCEO Monarch\u201d to rule by technological and financial dominance. This network includes Peter Thiel, Marc Andreessen, Balaji Srinivasan, David Sacks, and Curtis Yarvin, among others. Once considered fringe, purveyors of this ideology have now been embedded into the core of government operations. Musk\u2019s maneuvering demonstrates a long-standing strategy of this elite class: not dismantling government, but replacing its power structures with ones they control. DOGE has not reduced bureaucracy\u2014it has privatized it. Treasury has not been made more efficient\u2014it has been placed under a billionaire\u2019s influence. TikTok has not been secured from foreign threats\u2014it has been delayed so Musk can position himself as its gatekeeper. President Trump, far from asserting dominance over the administrative state, may now find himself hostage to Musk.\u201d \u2022 Normally, I don\u2019t care what confirmed enshittifiers like Thiel, Andreessen, Srinivasan, Sacks, Yarvin et al. think, as long as they stay in their cuddle puddles; none of these rich dudes are as insightful as they think they are (and all are subject to \u201cBig Man\u201d syndrome, where nobody says \u201cNo\u201d to them, which gradually poisons their worldview of that is actually feasible). And normally Lambert the Cautious wouild prefer to connect many more dots before any pronouncement. I remain cautious because I don\u2019t know the provenance of the piece, although it doesn\u2019t read like it was produced by the DNC. The remedies \u2014 \u201cLaunch Immediate Congressional Investigations; II. Strengthened Conflict of Interest and Ethics Recommendations\u201d \u2014 are very weak \u2014 What, no General Strike? \u2014 suggesting to me it comes from the NGO ambit, from a shop like Indivisible. I will say it\u2019s the first piece I\u2019ve seen that gives an account of DOGE\u2019s extreme speed and secrecy. Know your enemy (and that goes for MAGA, too. Which side do you thing Thiel and Andreessen were on in the H1B fight?) Oh, and before anybody screams CT, what this looks like to me: \u201cThe first <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/2024\/07\/200pm-water-cooler-7-12-2024.html#flex\">FlexNet<\/a> I\u2019ve seen that attempted to seize state power.\u201d NOTE Adding, it\u2019s nice to have another explanation for Mush\u2019s frenetic behavior than Special K: By this account, he must see himself as point man for an actual revolution; I would imagine Lenin has a lot of short nights in 1917, too.<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p>\u201c\u2018What Musk is doing is illegal\u2019: Bernie Sanders slams DOGE gutting agencies\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/edition.cnn.com\/2025\/02\/05\/politics\/video\/bernie-sanders-trump-musk-doge-ac360-digvid\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CNN<\/a>]. \u2022 Yes, that\u2019s the point. See above.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMusk\u2019s Brazen Cost-Cutting Campaign Is Annoying GOP Senators, Treasury Staff\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/archive.is\/OItiU\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Bloomberg<\/a>]. Exremely deceptive headline, because way too bland: \u201c. As Bessent was building out his team in December, he interviewed Tom Krause, who is now a member of Musk\u2019s Department of Government Efficiency, according to a person familiar with the matter. Krause is now digging into Treasury\u2019s systems and data. Among the topics they discussed during the interview was the very mission in which DOGE is now engaged, the person said. A group of roughly half a dozen GOP senators reached out privately to the White House to object to Musk\u2019s accessing of Treasury systems, according to people familiar with the conversations. The senators indicated that the moves went beyond DOGE\u2019s stated mission to save the government money. Yet , even recommending Krause for the special government employee status he now is using to plumb Treasury\u2019s servers.\u201d \u2022 Lends some credence to t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/2025\/02\/200pm-water-cooler-2-5-2025.html#comment-4172383\">he idea broached by alert reader hamstak that DOGE started work early<\/a>, and somebody badged one or more of the \u201cprogrammers\u201d in before official project launch.<\/p>\n<p><a name=\"opm\"\/>\u201cMusk\u2019s DOGE agents access sensitive personnel data, alarming security officials\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/archive.is\/rGfmG\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">WaPo<\/a>]. Another blandly deceptive headline: \u201cAgents of billionaire Elon Musk\u2019s Department of Government Efficiency have gained access to highly restricted government records on millions of federal employees \u2014 including Treasury and State Department officials in sensitive security positions \u2014 as part of a broader effort to wrest control over the government\u2019s main personnel agency, according to four U.S. officials with knowledge of the developments\u2026. Records obtained by The Post show that several members of Musk\u2019s DOGE team \u2014 some of whom are in their early 20s and come from positions at his private companies \u2014 were last month. That gives them sweeping authority to install and modify software on government-supplied equipment and, according to two OPM officials, to alter internal documentation of their own activities.\u201d Yikes. More: \u201cMeanwhile, morale has plummeted, said three OPM officials, as DOGE agents have clashed with senior career personnel. One official recalled a recent meeting in which a young DOGE team member began screaming at senior developers and calling them \u2018idiots.’\u201d Seems to be going well. More: \u201c. Three more gained access about a week later, they said.\u201d And: \u201cA former U.S. security official said DOGE\u2019s access to Treasury\u2019s payment system is alarming, describing it as a comprehensive map to U.S. expenditures encompassing highly classified programs and purposes. The agency said this week Musk\u2019s agents have \u201cread-only access.’\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDay Seven of the Trump-Musk Treasury Payments Crisis of 2025: \u201cYours and WIRED\u2019s Reporting is Actually Doing Something\u201d\u201d [Nathan Tankus, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.crisesnotes.com\/day-seven-of-the-trump-musk-treasury-payments-crisis-of-2025-yours-and-wireds-reporting-is-actually-doing-something\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Notes on the Crises<\/a>]. Does DOGE operative Marko Elez have read access (the press), or read-write (the blogs): \u201cA source familiar with the situation who I asked about the current circumstances and the latest state of play of \u2018read only\u2019 versus \u2018read and write\u2019 had this to say: \u201cAgain, it\u2019s a distinction that doesn\u2019t matter too much to me. He shouldn\u2019t have access to this almost 5 trillion dollar payment flow, even if it\u2019s \u2018read-only.\u2019 He shouldn\u2019t even be at Fiscal Service. None of this should be happening and it\u2019s only going to get worse the longer \u2018DOGE\u2019 is here and the more they learn about what they can do and get away with.\u201d In other words, while it\u2019s good news that they are reacting to our reporting, the situation still remains catastrophic at best and we can\u2019t relent until this has been resolved.\u201d <\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe blatant lie behind Elon Musk\u2019s power grab\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/politics\/398583\/musk-trump-doge-fraud-waste-debt-deficit\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Vox<\/a>]. \u201c\u2018We have $36 trillion of national debt growing at a rapid rate,\u2019 the billionaire investor Bill Ackman posted on X Tuesday. \u2018All Americans must therefore make their voices heard loud and clear about how much they support DOGE, Elon and our president\u2019s efforts to help our country. We cannot let DOGE fail as our country is rapidly on the path to insolvency.\u2019 There are many reasons to reject this argument. The United States is not going to become \u2018insolvent\u2019 any time soon. And preserving the rule of law is likely more important to our nation\u2019s long-term well-being than slashing federal spending\u2026. DOGE, meanwhile, is ostensibly focused on rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse in federal spending. But it is not mathematically possible to offset entitlement spending or tax cuts by eliminating such waste (and identifying fraudulent or wasteful disbursements in advance is easier said than done). Musk has claimed, without evidence, that there is $1.7 trillion in annual waste and fraud \u2014 a figure that nearly matches the size of the federal deficit. Yet when DOGE has actually tried to name specific examples of \u2018wasteful\u2019 spending, it has offered up programs that have negligible budgetary costs.\u201d \u2022 And not, say, the Pentagon. Or the CIA\u2019s black budget. And I long for the day when Stephanie Kelton is Treasury Secretary. <\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p><a name=\"foia\"\/>\u201cDOGE Employees Ordered to Stop Using Slack While Agency Transitions to a Records System Not Subject to FOIA\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.404media.co\/doge-employees-ordered-to-stop-using-slack-while-agency-transitions-to-a-records-system-not-subject-to-foia\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">404 Media<\/a>]. \u201cThe messages indicate that, under Elon Musk\u2019s leadership, DOGE is actively taking steps to make sure its communications and records are not subject to the Freedom of Information Act, a records transparency law commonly used by journalists and lawyers to hold government accountable. Instead, DOGE is asserting that rather than reporting up through the Office of Management and Budget as the United States Digital Service did for years, it is reporting through the Executive Office of the President and to White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. Under OMB, it was generally subject to FOIA. Under the White House Chief of Staff, records it creates are generally not subject to FOIA.\u201d \u2022\u00a0Hi, Susie [waves].<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p>Oh for a moment of blessed silence without Elon\u2019s yammering:<\/p>\n<p><center wp_automatic_readability=\"2.7613065326633\"> <\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" wp_automatic_readability=\"7.8894472361809\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">As a Special Government Employee Musk is subject to the Hatch Act\u2026<\/p>\n<p>\u2026which prohibits any partisan commentary while on duty <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/laeQY12ob1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">pic.twitter.com\/laeQY12ob1<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Brett Bruen (@BrettBruen) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BrettBruen\/status\/1887320637011558558\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">February 6, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><\/center> <\/p>\n<p>So that\u2019s alright, then:<\/p>\n<p><center wp_automatic_readability=\"2.6962025316456\"> <\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" wp_automatic_readability=\"8.0886075949367\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Press Sec clarifies that Elon Musk will self-determine when there is a conflict of interest involving him and DOGE.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Sam Stein (@samstein) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/samstein\/status\/1887207700259311902\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">February 5, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><\/center><br \/>\n<center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p>\u201cDOGE Teen Owns \u2018Tesla.Sexy LLC\u2019 and Worked at Startup That Has Hired Convicted Hackers\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/archive.is\/VAD48\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Wired<\/a>]. And the deck: \u201cExperts question whether Edward Coristine, a DOGE staffer who has gone by \u2018Big Balls\u2019 online, would pass the background check typically required for access to sensitive US government systems\u2026. Davi Ottenheimer, a longtime security operations and compliance manager, says many factors about Coristine\u2019s employment history and online footprint could raise questions about his ability to obtain security clearance. \u2018Limited real work experience is a risk,\u2019 says Ottenheimer, as an example. \u2018Plus his handle is literally Big Balls.’\u201d \u2022 I\u2019m sure Coristine will do very well. It\u2019s curious we don\u2019t know how many hires DOGE has. They\u2019re presented as a small, elite crew, but \u201cBig Balls\u201d argues against that. 100? 1000?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Young, Inexperienced Engineers Aiding Elon Musk\u2019s Government Takeover\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/archive.is\/AfVxo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Wired<\/a>]. \u201c[Luke Farritor] is a former intern at SpaceX, Musk\u2019s space company, and <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.is\/o\/AfVxo\/https:\/\/www.businesswire.com\/news\/home\/20240320742346\/en\/Thiel-Foundation-Announces-Next-Thiel-Fellow-Class\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">currently<\/a> a <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.is\/o\/AfVxo\/https:\/\/thielfellowship.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Thiel Fellow<\/a> after, according to his LinkedIn, dropping out of the University of Nebraska\u2014Lincoln. While in school, he was part of an award-winning team that <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.is\/o\/AfVxo\/https:\/\/news.unl.edu\/article-2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">deciphered portions of an ancient Greek scroll<\/a>.\u201d \u2022 <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.is\/vbxk0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">A fascinating project<\/a>, and one could wish that Farritor had continued as a scholar, instead of joining an neo-reactionary FlexNet.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>2024 Post Mortem<\/p>\n<blockquote wp_automatic_readability=\"17.957446808511\">\n<p>\u201c\u2018Uncommitted\u2019 leaders stand by 2024 strategy after Trump floats Gaza takeover\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/donald-trump\/uncommitted-leaders-stand-2024-strategy-trump-floats-gaza-takeover-rcna190782\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">NBC<\/a>]. \u201cEven inside the Harris campaign, there was dissent about whether she needed to take a more aggressive stance for Gaza. A Harris organizer who worked on youth turnout said that senior campaign officials gave them an order: When they sent out mass volunteer or fundraising emails and people replied by asking about Gaza, they were told to mark it as \u2018no response.\u2019 The result? They seldom ended up engaging with voters on that issue. \u2018We also didn\u2019t create a new category for Gaza responses out of fear that category would be leaked. Instead we were told to mark them as \u2018no response,\u201d the organizer said, faulting top Harris campaign leaders for failing to address the issue. \u2018The only \u2018clowns\u2019 out there are those who were in senior leadership and decided to abdicate on this issue, who silenced a Palestinian speaker at the DNC, and who told us to ignore it every time a voter asked us about Gaza.’\u201d \u2022 So the Democrat regulars <em>arranged to lie to themselves in their own polls<\/em>. Reminds me of a continuing character in Nicole Hollander\u2019s classic series <em>Sylvia<\/em>, \u201cThe Woman Who Lies in Her Journal\u201d:<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/sylvia.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"576\" height=\"179\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-286763\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/sylvia.png 576w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/sylvia-300x93.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 576px) 100vw, 576px\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\u201cOh, right. Like you never thought of it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><a name=\"democrats\"\/>Democrats <em>en d\u00e9shabill\u00e9<\/em><\/p>\n<blockquote wp_automatic_readability=\"20.824775353017\">\n<p>\u201cDemocratic polling finds Elon Musk is unpopular\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/live-updates\/2025\/02\/06\/congress\/elon-musk-approval-rating-00202805\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Politico<\/a>]. \u201cNew internal polling, conducted on behalf of House Majority Forward, a nonprofit aligned with House Democratic leadership, found Musk is viewed negatively among 1,000 registered voters in battleground districts. His approval rating is upside down (43 percent approve to 51 disapprove) and his favorability is even worse (42 percent favorable to 51 percent unfavorable). And the survey was completed between Jan. 19-25 \u2014 before some of Musk\u2019s more extreme moves as the leader of the Department of Government Efficiency. Pollsters asked respondents for their thoughts on \u2018the creation of a government of the rich for the rich by appointing up to nine different billionaires to the administration,\u2019 and found 70 percent opposed with only 19 percent in support \u2014 a stat that suggests Democrats have landed on a message that could gain traction with swing voters.\u201d \u2022\u00a0But what about the <em>good<\/em> billionaires? Anyhow, I say \u201cride it out and wait for the midterms.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>\u201cDemocrats\u2019 phones bombarded with calls to \u2018fight harder’\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2025\/02\/06\/democrats-congress-trump-musk-doge-calls\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Axios<\/a>]. \u201cCongressional Democrats\u2019 offices are being inundated by phone calls from angry constituents who feel the party should be doing more to combat President Trump and his administration.\u201d But: \u201c\u2018There has definitely been some tension the last few days where people felt like: you are calling the wrong people. You are literally calling the wrong people,\u2019 said one House Democrat.\u201d \u2022 But that\u2019s a familiar tension, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Realignment and Legitimacy<\/p>\n<blockquote wp_automatic_readability=\"11.505747126437\">\n<p>\u201cDEI Is a Failure Because the Civil Rights Movement Wasn\u2019t About Elite Diversity\u201d [Zaid Jilani, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theamericansaga.com\/p\/dei-is-a-failure-because-the-civil\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">The American Saga<\/a>]. \u201cNot every critic of DEI is motivated by white resentment. Many people criticize these programs because they have <a href=\"https:\/\/hbr.org\/2016\/07\/why-diversity-programs-fail\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">little positive impact on diversity, anyway<\/a>, and there\u2019s a bunch of evidence that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theamericansaga.com\/p\/progressives-need-to-stop-lecturing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">diversity trainings can actually make people more prejudiced<\/a>.\u201d Turning DEI into a self-licking ice-cream cone, since more prejudice requires more training. More: \u201cThe reality is that DEI is only tangentially related to the rights and opportunities of minorities. The civil rights movement was not about diversifying corporate or government offices with a few black or brown faces in places of power. It wasn\u2019t about diversity trainings where employees roll their eyes as someone hired by HR lectures them for three hours about their privilege. It was about redistributing power to the masses of people who don\u2019t have it, including white people.\u201d \u2022 So it would be nice if we didn\u2019t roll back civil rights too.<\/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>Transmission: Covid<\/p>\n<blockquote wp_automatic_readability=\"10.355329949239\">\n<p>\u201cNearly 30% of cats, dogs owned by COVID patients had SARS-CoV-2 antibodies by 2021\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cidrap.umn.edu\/covid-19\/nearly-30-cats-dogs-owned-covid-patients-had-sars-cov-2-antibodies-2021\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy<\/a>]. \u201cNearly 30% of cats and dogs belonging to COVID-infected patients in central Texas tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, signaling previous infection, from 2020 to 2021, according to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biorxiv.org\/content\/10.1101\/2025.02.03.636361v1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">study<\/a> published yesterday on the preprint server bioRxiv.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Variants: H5N1<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Oh good:<\/p>\n<p><center wp_automatic_readability=\"4.3820224719101\"> <\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" wp_automatic_readability=\"11.393258426966\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Both severe cases of <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/H5N1?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">#H5N1<\/a> \u2013 including the death in Louisiana, and the teenager in critical condition in Canada- were D1.1 genotype viruses. This has now been detected in dairy cattle, where most of the infections in humans have been occurring (previous dairy spillovers were w\/\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/05wyTbqyk9\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">https:\/\/t.co\/05wyTbqyk9<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Abraar Karan (@AbraarKaran) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AbraarKaran\/status\/1887240078369693934\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">February 5, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><\/center>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p><a name=\"table\"\/><strong>TABLE 1: Daily Covid Charts<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody wp_automatic_readability=\"10.882352941176\">\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 27<\/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\/02\/covid-cdc-ww-natl.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-286625\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/covid-cdc-ww-natl.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/covid-cdc-ww-natl-300x241.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\/no_covid-cdc-ww-natl-2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"418\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-286399\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/no_covid-cdc-ww-natl-2.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/no_covid-cdc-ww-natl-2-300x209.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr colspan=\"2\" wp_automatic_readability=\"3.6571428571429\">\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><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; color: gold;\">\u2605<\/span>[4] <a href=\"https:\/\/covid.cdc.gov\/covid-data-tracker\/#trends_select_7dayeddiagnosed_00\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CDC<\/a> January 25<\/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 loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/no_covid-cdc-variants-natl.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"460\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-286397\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/no_covid-cdc-variants-natl.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/no_covid-cdc-variants-natl-300x230.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (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\/02\/covid-cdc-ed-natl.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-286688\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/covid-cdc-ed-natl.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/covid-cdc-ed-natl-300x180.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 February 3:<\/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 31:<\/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\/02\/covid-ny-hospitalization-nyc-1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-286758\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/covid-ny-hospitalization-nyc-1.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/covid-ny-hospitalization-nyc-1-300x191.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\/02\/covid-cdc-hospitalization-natl.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-286689\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/covid-cdc-hospitalization-natl.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/covid-cdc-hospitalization-natl-282x300.png 282w\" 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> February 3:<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\"> Ohio[8] <a href=\"https:\/\/clevelandcliniclabs.com\/respiratory-virus-surveillance-statistics\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Cleveland Clinic<\/a> February 1:<\/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\/02\/covid-walgreens-positivity-states.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-286693\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/covid-walgreens-positivity-states.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/covid-walgreens-positivity-states-300x169.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=\"3.5789473684211\">\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> January 13:<\/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> January 13 <\/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\/02\/covid-cdc-positivity-travelers.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-286694\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/covid-cdc-positivity-travelers.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/covid-cdc-positivity-travelers-300x171.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\/02\/covid-cdc-variants-travelers.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-286692\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/covid-cdc-variants-travelers.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/covid-cdc-variants-travelers-300x207.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=\"3.7777777777778\">\n<td valign=\"top\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; color: gold;\">\u2605<\/span> 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 25:<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; color: gold;\">\u2605<\/span> 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 25:<\/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\/02\/covid-cdc-deaths-positivity-natl.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-286757\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/covid-cdc-deaths-positivity-natl.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/covid-cdc-deaths-positivity-natl-300x202.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<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/covid-cdc-deaths-ed-natl.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-286756\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/covid-cdc-deaths-ed-natl.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/covid-cdc-deaths-ed-natl-300x172.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<td wp_automatic_readability=\"115.66228936665\">\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) Down, 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, but no exponential growth either, Odd.<\/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>Employment Situation: \u201cUnited States Challenger Job Cuts\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/tradingeconomics.com\/united-states\/challenger-job-cuts\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Trading Economics<\/a>]. US employers announced 49,795 job cuts in January 2025, above 38,792 in December 2024 but down 40% from 82,307 a year earlier. It is also the lowest January job cut total since 2022. \u2018January was relatively quiet in terms of job cut announcements. However, we\u2019ve already seen major announcements in the early days of February, so it seems this quiet is unlikely to last,\u2019 said Andrew Challenger, Senior VP of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. Technology led all sectors in job-cutting activity in January with 7,488.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Employment Situation: \u201cUnited States Initial Jobless Claims\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/tradingeconomics.com\/united-states\/jobless-claims\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Trading Economics<\/a>]. \u201cInitial jobless claims in the US rose by 11,000 from the previous week to 219,000 in the last week of January 2025, above market expectations of 213,000. In the meantime, recurring claims rose by 26,000 to 1,886,000 in the previous week, ahead of market expectations of 1,870,000. Despite remaining robust against a historical perspective, the data was in line with the view that the US labor market is due for a slight degree of softening in 2025.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p>Manufacturing: \u201cThe same Boeing passenger plane keeps being diverted after take-off\u2026 what\u2019s going on?\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/travel\/news-and-advice\/american-airlines-boeing-plane-diversion-b2693332.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Independent<\/a>]. \u2022 Registration code N819AN.<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p>Today\u2019s Fear & Greed Index: 40 Fear (previous close: 39 Fear) [<a href=\"https:\/\/money.cnn.com\/data\/fear-and-greed\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CNN<\/a>]. One week ago: 49 (Neutral). (0 is Extreme Fear; 100 is Extreme Greed). Last updated Feb 4 at 2:10:42 PM ET.<\/p>\n<p><a name=\"guillotine\"\/><strong>Guillotine Watch<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a name=\"turner\"\/>Pretty!<\/p>\n<p><center wp_automatic_readability=\"2\"> <\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" wp_automatic_readability=\"6\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Turner, The Burning of the Houses of Parliament <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/9VJD4jpN89\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">pic.twitter.com\/9VJD4jpN89<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Impressions (@impression_ists) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/impression_ists\/status\/1887493140300399086\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">February 6, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><\/center> <\/p>\n<p><strong>Public Health<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cRealClearFoundation Launches the Journal of the Academy of Public Health\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.realclearscience.com\/articles\/2025\/02\/05\/realclearfoundation_launches_the_journal_of_the_academy_of_public_health_1089515.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">RealClearScience<\/a>]. \u201c5 February 2025 (Washington, DC) The RealClearFoundation announces today the launch of the Journal of the Academy of Public Health, a revolutionary new scientific journal publishing cutting-edge, peer-reviewed and open access research from the world\u2019s leading scholars of epidemiology, vaccinology, global public health, health policy and related disciplines.\u202f The Journal was co-founded by Dr. Jay Bhattacharya of Stanford University and Dr. Martin Kulldorff, formerly of Harvard University. Their shared vision is presented in Dr. Kulldorff\u2019s inaugural paper, \u201cThe Rise and Fall of Scientific Journals and a Way Forward.\u201d \u2022\u00a0Splendid to see one of the service providers from Stanford\u2019s house of ill fame make good. (Up until this point, I have always considered RealClear* to be conservative, but solid. No more, sadly.<\/p>\n<p><a name=\"wired\"\/><strong>News of the Wired<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I am not wired today.<\/p>\n<p><strong>APPENDIX<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Musk-NRx-Memo-February-5-2025.pdf\" class=\"pdfemb-viewer\" style=\"\" data-width=\"max\" data-height=\"max\" data-mobile-width=\"500\" data-scrollbar=\"none\" data-download=\"on\" data-tracking=\"on\" data-newwindow=\"on\" data-pagetextbox=\"off\" data-scrolltotop=\"off\" data-startzoom=\"100\" data-startfpzoom=\"100\" data-toolbar=\"bottom\" data-toolbar-fixed=\"on\">Musk-NRx-Memo-February-5-2025<br \/><\/a><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\/02\/200pm-water-cooler-2-5-2025.html\">here<\/a>. From TW:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/hoarfrost.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"800\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-286754\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/hoarfrost.jpeg 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/hoarfrost-225x300.jpeg 225w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/p>\n<p>TW writes: \u201cHoarfrost, Christmas Day, at Patrick Marsh, Sun Prairie, WI.\u201d Wow!<\/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\/guest-post\" rel=\"category tag\">Guest Post<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/category\/water-cooler\" rel=\"category tag\">Water Cooler<\/a> on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/2025\/02\/200pm-water-cooler-2-6-2025.html\" title=\"2:00 pm\" rel=\"bookmark\"><time class=\"entry-date updated\" datetime=\"2025-02-06T14:00:03-05:00\">February 6, 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\/02\/ice-faking-news-games-search-engines-to-make-mass-deportations-appear-way-more-massive-than-they-are.html\" rel=\"prev\"><span class=\"meta-nav\">\u2190<\/span> ICE Faking News: Games Search Engines to Make Mass Deportations Appear Way More Massive Than They Are<\/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. 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Ugh. \u2013lambert Bird Song of the Day Brown Thrasher, Davidson<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":90674,"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-90673","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\/90673","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=90673"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90673\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90674"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Brown Thrasher, Davidson College\u2013Main Campus, Mecklenburg, North Carolina, United States.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCountry diary: A bird that had existed only in my imagination becomes vividly real\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/environment\/2025\/feb\/03\/country-diary-bird-existed-only-imagination-becomes-vividly-real\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Guardian<\/a>]. \u201cWe\u2019ve come to church this morning in search of a fictional bird\u2026 So far my only sighting of the UK\u2019s largest finch has been in my Collins Guide to British Birds\u2026. Something moves near the top of an ash by the church tower. There, on a leafless branch, sits my first ever hawfinch. A hunk with buff breast, slightly darker crown and a warm cinnamon back with the slate-grey wing patches that tell me it is a female.<\/p>\n<p>She\u2019s eating something \u2013 most likely a yew berry. Unaffected by the toxicity, she\u2019ll make light work of the seed inside the red fleshy aril with her specially modified bill, capable of exerting a force in excess of 450N. For a bird with a reputation for being elusive, her Latin name, Coccothraustes coccothraustes (the kernel-crushing kernel crusher), has the all subtlety of a sledgehammer. Looking at her hefty bill and thick-set body, I can\u2019t deny that she is manifestly \u2013 and magnificently \u2013 real.\u201d \u2022 They found the bird!<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p><strong>In Case You Might Miss\u2026 <\/strong> <\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><a href=\"#NRx\">DOGE as a revolutionary NRx (neo-reactionary) project.<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#foia\">DOGE seeks to avoid FOIA<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#opm\">DOGE given sysadmin privileges<\/a> at Office of Personnel Management with days of the Inaugural.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#turner\">An atmospheric Turner<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p><a name=\"helper\"\/><strong>Look for the Helpers<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cDog\u2019s sudden illness reveals region\u2019s generosity\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.apg-wi.com\/ashland_daily_press\/news\/local\/dog-s-sudden-illness-reveals-region-s-generosity\/article_d46890e2-e271-11ef-8126-a33fe47397ef.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Ashland Daily Press<\/a> (SD)]. \u2022 Dog gets a wheelchair\u2026 <\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p>My email address is down by the plant; please send examples of there (\u201cHelpers\u201d in the subject line). In our increasingly desperate and fragile neoliberal society, everyday <em>normal<\/em> incidents and stories of \u201cthe communism of everyday life\u201d are what I am looking for (and not, say, the Red Cross in Hawaii, or even the UNWRA in Gaza).<\/p>\n<p><strong>Politics<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo many of the social reactions that strike us as psychological are in fact a rational management of symbolic capital.\u201d \u2013Pierre Bourdieu, Classification Struggles<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p>Trump Administration<\/p>\n<blockquote wp_automatic_readability=\"14.802955665025\">\n<p>\u201cDOJ sues Illinois, Chicago over \u2018sanctuary city\u2019 laws\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/regulation\/court-battles\/5130411-doj-illinois-sanctuary-city\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">The Hill<\/a>]. \u201c\u2018The challenged provisions of Illinois, Chicago, and Cook County law reflect their intentional effort to obstruct the Federal Government\u2019s enforcement of federal immigration law and to impede consultation and communication between federal, state, and local law enforcement officials that is necessary for federal officials to carry out federal immigration law and keep Americans safe,\u2019 the lawsuit states.\u201d \u2022 Unsurprising, since sanctuary cities are a form of \u201cnullification\u201d of which John C. Calhoun would be proud.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>DOGE<\/p>\n<blockquote wp_automatic_readability=\"171.1589345172\">\n<p>\u201cSoftware, Sovereignty and the Post-Neoliberal Politics of Exit\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1177\/0263276421999439\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">SAGE Journals<\/a> (BP)]. Fight through the academic prose on this one: \u201cThis paper examines the impact of thinking \u2013 that of Curtis Yarvin, Nick Land, Peter Thiel and Patri Friedman in particular \u2013 on contemporary political debates manifest in \u2018architectures of exit\u2019\u2026 Approaching NRx thinking just a few years ago might have been a mildly diverting exercise; a chance to \u2018connect some philosophical ideas\u2009\u2026\u2009using some very silly right-wing nutjobs who were nevertheless\u2009\u2026\u2009interesting\u2019 (<a href=\"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1177\/0263276421999439#bibr62-0263276421999439\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Sandifer, 2017<\/a>: 1). As <a href=\"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1177\/0263276421999439#bibr41-0263276421999439\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">MacDougald (2015)<\/a> describes, NRx writing often appears as \u2018little more than a fever swamp of feudal misogynists, racist programmers and \u201cfascist teenage dungeon masters,\u201d gathering on subreddits to await the collapse of Western civilization\u2019. As such, it reads like \u2018all the awful things you always suspected about libertarianism with odds and ends from PUA culture, Victorian Social Darwinism, and an only semi-ironic attachment to absolutism\u2019. However, post-2016, as <a href=\"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1177\/0263276421999439#bibr62-0263276421999439\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Sandifer (2017: 1)<\/a> expresses it in her own inimitable style, \u2018everything went to shit\u2019 and suddenly these otherwise \u2018batshit crazy\u2019 ideas, associated software projects and social prototyping experiments began to manifest across a whole range of global cultural, political and technological imaginaries. As hard as it is to fathom, NRx thinking now forms a significant part of the theoretical universe that contemporary political figures and \u2018proto-theorists\u2019 such as Dominic Cummings (in the UK) (Cummings, 2020; Lewis et al., 2002;<a href=\"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1177\/0263276421999439#bibr49-0263276421999439\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"> Mulhall, 2020<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1177\/0263276421999439#bibr76-0263276421999439\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Volpicelli, 2020<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1177\/0263276421999439#bibr78-0263276421999439\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Wolf, 2020<\/a>) and Steve Bannon (in the US) (<a href=\"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1177\/0263276421999439#bibr26-0263276421999439\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Goldhill, 2017<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1177\/0263276421999439#bibr27-0263276421999439\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Gray, 2017<\/a>) draw upon and are attempting to promulgate into mainstream political discourse. As Nagle (<a href=\"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1177\/0263276421999439#bibr51-0263276421999439\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">2017: 53<\/a>) explains it, supporters of NRx ideas seem to have been more adept at \u2018heeding the ideas\u2009\u2026\u2009of\u2009\u2026\u2009Gramsci\u2019s theory of hegemony\u2019, especially via social media (<a href=\"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1177\/0263276421999439#bibr17-0263276421999439\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Daniels, 2018<\/a>), than have those on the left more usually associated with them (<a href=\"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1177\/0263276421999439#bibr48-0263276421999439\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Mouffe, 2019<\/a>).\u201d \u2022 This was thrown over my transom a few days ago; and today, this\u2013<\/p>\n<p><a name=\"NRx\"\/>\u201cSubject: Capture of U.S. Critical Infrastructure by Neoreactionaries\u201d (PDF) [<a href=\"https:\/\/america2.news\/content\/files\/2025\/02\/Musk-NRx-Memo-February-5-2025.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">anonymous<\/a>]. Interesting memo, embedded for distribution at the end of today\u2019s Water Cooler. \u201cRather than operating as an ally of the Trump administration, Musk has hijacked its ambitions for his own purposes. His rapid takeover of federal infrastructure mirrors the broader ambitions of the neoreactionary (NRx) movement\u2014a small group of Silicon Valley elites who reject democracy and seek to install a \u201cCEO Monarch\u201d to rule by technological and financial dominance. This network includes Peter Thiel, Marc Andreessen, Balaji Srinivasan, David Sacks, and Curtis Yarvin, among others. Once considered fringe, purveyors of this ideology have now been embedded into the core of government operations. Musk\u2019s maneuvering demonstrates a long-standing strategy of this elite class: not dismantling government, but replacing its power structures with ones they control. DOGE has not reduced bureaucracy\u2014it has privatized it. Treasury has not been made more efficient\u2014it has been placed under a billionaire\u2019s influence. TikTok has not been secured from foreign threats\u2014it has been delayed so Musk can position himself as its gatekeeper. President Trump, far from asserting dominance over the administrative state, may now find himself hostage to Musk.\u201d \u2022 Normally, I don\u2019t care what confirmed enshittifiers like Thiel, Andreessen, Srinivasan, Sacks, Yarvin et al. think, as long as they stay in their cuddle puddles; none of these rich dudes are as insightful as they think they are (and all are subject to \u201cBig Man\u201d syndrome, where nobody says \u201cNo\u201d to them, which gradually poisons their worldview of that is actually feasible). And normally Lambert the Cautious wouild prefer to connect many more dots before any pronouncement. I remain cautious because I don\u2019t know the provenance of the piece, although it doesn\u2019t read like it was produced by the DNC. The remedies \u2014 \u201cLaunch Immediate Congressional Investigations; II. Strengthened Conflict of Interest and Ethics Recommendations\u201d \u2014 are very weak \u2014 What, no General Strike? \u2014 suggesting to me it comes from the NGO ambit, from a shop like Indivisible. I will say it\u2019s the first piece I\u2019ve seen that gives an account of DOGE\u2019s extreme speed and secrecy. Know your enemy (and that goes for MAGA, too. Which side do you thing Thiel and Andreessen were on in the H1B fight?) Oh, and before anybody screams CT, what this looks like to me: \u201cThe first <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/2024\/07\/200pm-water-cooler-7-12-2024.html#flex\">FlexNet<\/a> I\u2019ve seen that attempted to seize state power.\u201d NOTE Adding, it\u2019s nice to have another explanation for Mush\u2019s frenetic behavior than Special K: By this account, he must see himself as point man for an actual revolution; I would imagine Lenin has a lot of short nights in 1917, too.<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p>\u201c\u2018What Musk is doing is illegal\u2019: Bernie Sanders slams DOGE gutting agencies\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/edition.cnn.com\/2025\/02\/05\/politics\/video\/bernie-sanders-trump-musk-doge-ac360-digvid\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CNN<\/a>]. \u2022 Yes, that\u2019s the point. See above.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMusk\u2019s Brazen Cost-Cutting Campaign Is Annoying GOP Senators, Treasury Staff\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/archive.is\/OItiU\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Bloomberg<\/a>]. Exremely deceptive headline, because way too bland: \u201c. As Bessent was building out his team in December, he interviewed Tom Krause, who is now a member of Musk\u2019s Department of Government Efficiency, according to a person familiar with the matter. Krause is now digging into Treasury\u2019s systems and data. Among the topics they discussed during the interview was the very mission in which DOGE is now engaged, the person said. A group of roughly half a dozen GOP senators reached out privately to the White House to object to Musk\u2019s accessing of Treasury systems, according to people familiar with the conversations. The senators indicated that the moves went beyond DOGE\u2019s stated mission to save the government money. Yet , even recommending Krause for the special government employee status he now is using to plumb Treasury\u2019s servers.\u201d \u2022 Lends some credence to t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/2025\/02\/200pm-water-cooler-2-5-2025.html#comment-4172383\">he idea broached by alert reader hamstak that DOGE started work early<\/a>, and somebody badged one or more of the \u201cprogrammers\u201d in before official project launch.<\/p>\n<p><a name=\"opm\"\/>\u201cMusk\u2019s DOGE agents access sensitive personnel data, alarming security officials\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/archive.is\/rGfmG\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">WaPo<\/a>]. Another blandly deceptive headline: \u201cAgents of billionaire Elon Musk\u2019s Department of Government Efficiency have gained access to highly restricted government records on millions of federal employees \u2014 including Treasury and State Department officials in sensitive security positions \u2014 as part of a broader effort to wrest control over the government\u2019s main personnel agency, according to four U.S. officials with knowledge of the developments\u2026. Records obtained by The Post show that several members of Musk\u2019s DOGE team \u2014 some of whom are in their early 20s and come from positions at his private companies \u2014 were last month. That gives them sweeping authority to install and modify software on government-supplied equipment and, according to two OPM officials, to alter internal documentation of their own activities.\u201d Yikes. More: \u201cMeanwhile, morale has plummeted, said three OPM officials, as DOGE agents have clashed with senior career personnel. One official recalled a recent meeting in which a young DOGE team member began screaming at senior developers and calling them \u2018idiots.’\u201d Seems to be going well. More: \u201c. Three more gained access about a week later, they said.\u201d And: \u201cA former U.S. security official said DOGE\u2019s access to Treasury\u2019s payment system is alarming, describing it as a comprehensive map to U.S. expenditures encompassing highly classified programs and purposes. The agency said this week Musk\u2019s agents have \u201cread-only access.’\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDay Seven of the Trump-Musk Treasury Payments Crisis of 2025: \u201cYours and WIRED\u2019s Reporting is Actually Doing Something\u201d\u201d [Nathan Tankus, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.crisesnotes.com\/day-seven-of-the-trump-musk-treasury-payments-crisis-of-2025-yours-and-wireds-reporting-is-actually-doing-something\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Notes on the Crises<\/a>]. Does DOGE operative Marko Elez have read access (the press), or read-write (the blogs): \u201cA source familiar with the situation who I asked about the current circumstances and the latest state of play of \u2018read only\u2019 versus \u2018read and write\u2019 had this to say: \u201cAgain, it\u2019s a distinction that doesn\u2019t matter too much to me. He shouldn\u2019t have access to this almost 5 trillion dollar payment flow, even if it\u2019s \u2018read-only.\u2019 He shouldn\u2019t even be at Fiscal Service. None of this should be happening and it\u2019s only going to get worse the longer \u2018DOGE\u2019 is here and the more they learn about what they can do and get away with.\u201d In other words, while it\u2019s good news that they are reacting to our reporting, the situation still remains catastrophic at best and we can\u2019t relent until this has been resolved.\u201d <\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe blatant lie behind Elon Musk\u2019s power grab\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/politics\/398583\/musk-trump-doge-fraud-waste-debt-deficit\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Vox<\/a>]. \u201c\u2018We have $36 trillion of national debt growing at a rapid rate,\u2019 the billionaire investor Bill Ackman posted on X Tuesday. \u2018All Americans must therefore make their voices heard loud and clear about how much they support DOGE, Elon and our president\u2019s efforts to help our country. We cannot let DOGE fail as our country is rapidly on the path to insolvency.\u2019 There are many reasons to reject this argument. The United States is not going to become \u2018insolvent\u2019 any time soon. And preserving the rule of law is likely more important to our nation\u2019s long-term well-being than slashing federal spending\u2026. DOGE, meanwhile, is ostensibly focused on rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse in federal spending. But it is not mathematically possible to offset entitlement spending or tax cuts by eliminating such waste (and identifying fraudulent or wasteful disbursements in advance is easier said than done). Musk has claimed, without evidence, that there is $1.7 trillion in annual waste and fraud \u2014 a figure that nearly matches the size of the federal deficit. Yet when DOGE has actually tried to name specific examples of \u2018wasteful\u2019 spending, it has offered up programs that have negligible budgetary costs.\u201d \u2022 And not, say, the Pentagon. Or the CIA\u2019s black budget. And I long for the day when Stephanie Kelton is Treasury Secretary. <\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p><a name=\"foia\"\/>\u201cDOGE Employees Ordered to Stop Using Slack While Agency Transitions to a Records System Not Subject to FOIA\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.404media.co\/doge-employees-ordered-to-stop-using-slack-while-agency-transitions-to-a-records-system-not-subject-to-foia\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">404 Media<\/a>]. \u201cThe messages indicate that, under Elon Musk\u2019s leadership, DOGE is actively taking steps to make sure its communications and records are not subject to the Freedom of Information Act, a records transparency law commonly used by journalists and lawyers to hold government accountable. Instead, DOGE is asserting that rather than reporting up through the Office of Management and Budget as the United States Digital Service did for years, it is reporting through the Executive Office of the President and to White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. Under OMB, it was generally subject to FOIA. Under the White House Chief of Staff, records it creates are generally not subject to FOIA.\u201d \u2022\u00a0Hi, Susie [waves].<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p>Oh for a moment of blessed silence without Elon\u2019s yammering:<\/p>\n<p><center wp_automatic_readability=\"2.7613065326633\"> <\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" wp_automatic_readability=\"7.8894472361809\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">As a Special Government Employee Musk is subject to the Hatch Act\u2026<\/p>\n<p>\u2026which prohibits any partisan commentary while on duty <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/laeQY12ob1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">pic.twitter.com\/laeQY12ob1<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Brett Bruen (@BrettBruen) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BrettBruen\/status\/1887320637011558558\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">February 6, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><\/center> <\/p>\n<p>So that\u2019s alright, then:<\/p>\n<p><center wp_automatic_readability=\"2.6962025316456\"> <\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" wp_automatic_readability=\"8.0886075949367\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Press Sec clarifies that Elon Musk will self-determine when there is a conflict of interest involving him and DOGE.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Sam Stein (@samstein) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/samstein\/status\/1887207700259311902\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">February 5, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><\/center><br \/>\n<center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p>\u201cDOGE Teen Owns \u2018Tesla.Sexy LLC\u2019 and Worked at Startup That Has Hired Convicted Hackers\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/archive.is\/VAD48\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Wired<\/a>]. And the deck: \u201cExperts question whether Edward Coristine, a DOGE staffer who has gone by \u2018Big Balls\u2019 online, would pass the background check typically required for access to sensitive US government systems\u2026. Davi Ottenheimer, a longtime security operations and compliance manager, says many factors about Coristine\u2019s employment history and online footprint could raise questions about his ability to obtain security clearance. \u2018Limited real work experience is a risk,\u2019 says Ottenheimer, as an example. \u2018Plus his handle is literally Big Balls.’\u201d \u2022 I\u2019m sure Coristine will do very well. It\u2019s curious we don\u2019t know how many hires DOGE has. They\u2019re presented as a small, elite crew, but \u201cBig Balls\u201d argues against that. 100? 1000?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Young, Inexperienced Engineers Aiding Elon Musk\u2019s Government Takeover\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/archive.is\/AfVxo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Wired<\/a>]. \u201c[Luke Farritor] is a former intern at SpaceX, Musk\u2019s space company, and <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.is\/o\/AfVxo\/https:\/\/www.businesswire.com\/news\/home\/20240320742346\/en\/Thiel-Foundation-Announces-Next-Thiel-Fellow-Class\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">currently<\/a> a <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.is\/o\/AfVxo\/https:\/\/thielfellowship.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Thiel Fellow<\/a> after, according to his LinkedIn, dropping out of the University of Nebraska\u2014Lincoln. While in school, he was part of an award-winning team that <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.is\/o\/AfVxo\/https:\/\/news.unl.edu\/article-2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">deciphered portions of an ancient Greek scroll<\/a>.\u201d \u2022 <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.is\/vbxk0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">A fascinating project<\/a>, and one could wish that Farritor had continued as a scholar, instead of joining an neo-reactionary FlexNet.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>2024 Post Mortem<\/p>\n<blockquote wp_automatic_readability=\"17.957446808511\">\n<p>\u201c\u2018Uncommitted\u2019 leaders stand by 2024 strategy after Trump floats Gaza takeover\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/donald-trump\/uncommitted-leaders-stand-2024-strategy-trump-floats-gaza-takeover-rcna190782\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">NBC<\/a>]. \u201cEven inside the Harris campaign, there was dissent about whether she needed to take a more aggressive stance for Gaza. A Harris organizer who worked on youth turnout said that senior campaign officials gave them an order: When they sent out mass volunteer or fundraising emails and people replied by asking about Gaza, they were told to mark it as \u2018no response.\u2019 The result? They seldom ended up engaging with voters on that issue. \u2018We also didn\u2019t create a new category for Gaza responses out of fear that category would be leaked. Instead we were told to mark them as \u2018no response,\u201d the organizer said, faulting top Harris campaign leaders for failing to address the issue. \u2018The only \u2018clowns\u2019 out there are those who were in senior leadership and decided to abdicate on this issue, who silenced a Palestinian speaker at the DNC, and who told us to ignore it every time a voter asked us about Gaza.’\u201d \u2022 So the Democrat regulars <em>arranged to lie to themselves in their own polls<\/em>. Reminds me of a continuing character in Nicole Hollander\u2019s classic series <em>Sylvia<\/em>, \u201cThe Woman Who Lies in Her Journal\u201d:<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/sylvia.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"576\" height=\"179\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-286763\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/sylvia.png 576w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/sylvia-300x93.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 576px) 100vw, 576px\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\u201cOh, right. Like you never thought of it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><a name=\"democrats\"\/>Democrats <em>en d\u00e9shabill\u00e9<\/em><\/p>\n<blockquote wp_automatic_readability=\"20.824775353017\">\n<p>\u201cDemocratic polling finds Elon Musk is unpopular\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/live-updates\/2025\/02\/06\/congress\/elon-musk-approval-rating-00202805\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Politico<\/a>]. \u201cNew internal polling, conducted on behalf of House Majority Forward, a nonprofit aligned with House Democratic leadership, found Musk is viewed negatively among 1,000 registered voters in battleground districts. His approval rating is upside down (43 percent approve to 51 disapprove) and his favorability is even worse (42 percent favorable to 51 percent unfavorable). And the survey was completed between Jan. 19-25 \u2014 before some of Musk\u2019s more extreme moves as the leader of the Department of Government Efficiency. Pollsters asked respondents for their thoughts on \u2018the creation of a government of the rich for the rich by appointing up to nine different billionaires to the administration,\u2019 and found 70 percent opposed with only 19 percent in support \u2014 a stat that suggests Democrats have landed on a message that could gain traction with swing voters.\u201d \u2022\u00a0But what about the <em>good<\/em> billionaires? Anyhow, I say \u201cride it out and wait for the midterms.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>\u201cDemocrats\u2019 phones bombarded with calls to \u2018fight harder’\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2025\/02\/06\/democrats-congress-trump-musk-doge-calls\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Axios<\/a>]. \u201cCongressional Democrats\u2019 offices are being inundated by phone calls from angry constituents who feel the party should be doing more to combat President Trump and his administration.\u201d But: \u201c\u2018There has definitely been some tension the last few days where people felt like: you are calling the wrong people. You are literally calling the wrong people,\u2019 said one House Democrat.\u201d \u2022 But that\u2019s a familiar tension, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Realignment and Legitimacy<\/p>\n<blockquote wp_automatic_readability=\"11.505747126437\">\n<p>\u201cDEI Is a Failure Because the Civil Rights Movement Wasn\u2019t About Elite Diversity\u201d [Zaid Jilani, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theamericansaga.com\/p\/dei-is-a-failure-because-the-civil\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">The American Saga<\/a>]. \u201cNot every critic of DEI is motivated by white resentment. Many people criticize these programs because they have <a href=\"https:\/\/hbr.org\/2016\/07\/why-diversity-programs-fail\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">little positive impact on diversity, anyway<\/a>, and there\u2019s a bunch of evidence that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theamericansaga.com\/p\/progressives-need-to-stop-lecturing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">diversity trainings can actually make people more prejudiced<\/a>.\u201d Turning DEI into a self-licking ice-cream cone, since more prejudice requires more training. More: \u201cThe reality is that DEI is only tangentially related to the rights and opportunities of minorities. The civil rights movement was not about diversifying corporate or government offices with a few black or brown faces in places of power. It wasn\u2019t about diversity trainings where employees roll their eyes as someone hired by HR lectures them for three hours about their privilege. It was about redistributing power to the masses of people who don\u2019t have it, including white people.\u201d \u2022 So it would be nice if we didn\u2019t roll back civil rights too.<\/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>Transmission: Covid<\/p>\n<blockquote wp_automatic_readability=\"10.355329949239\">\n<p>\u201cNearly 30% of cats, dogs owned by COVID patients had SARS-CoV-2 antibodies by 2021\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cidrap.umn.edu\/covid-19\/nearly-30-cats-dogs-owned-covid-patients-had-sars-cov-2-antibodies-2021\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy<\/a>]. \u201cNearly 30% of cats and dogs belonging to COVID-infected patients in central Texas tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, signaling previous infection, from 2020 to 2021, according to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biorxiv.org\/content\/10.1101\/2025.02.03.636361v1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">study<\/a> published yesterday on the preprint server bioRxiv.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Variants: H5N1<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Oh good:<\/p>\n<p><center wp_automatic_readability=\"4.3820224719101\"> <\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" wp_automatic_readability=\"11.393258426966\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Both severe cases of <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/H5N1?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">#H5N1<\/a> \u2013 including the death in Louisiana, and the teenager in critical condition in Canada- were D1.1 genotype viruses. This has now been detected in dairy cattle, where most of the infections in humans have been occurring (previous dairy spillovers were w\/\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/05wyTbqyk9\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">https:\/\/t.co\/05wyTbqyk9<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Abraar Karan (@AbraarKaran) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AbraarKaran\/status\/1887240078369693934\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">February 5, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><\/center>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p><a name=\"table\"\/><strong>TABLE 1: Daily Covid Charts<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody wp_automatic_readability=\"10.882352941176\">\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 27<\/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\/02\/covid-cdc-ww-natl.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-286625\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/covid-cdc-ww-natl.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/covid-cdc-ww-natl-300x241.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\/no_covid-cdc-ww-natl-2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"418\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-286399\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/no_covid-cdc-ww-natl-2.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/no_covid-cdc-ww-natl-2-300x209.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr colspan=\"2\" wp_automatic_readability=\"3.6571428571429\">\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><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; color: gold;\">\u2605<\/span>[4] <a href=\"https:\/\/covid.cdc.gov\/covid-data-tracker\/#trends_select_7dayeddiagnosed_00\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CDC<\/a> January 25<\/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 loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/no_covid-cdc-variants-natl.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"460\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-286397\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/no_covid-cdc-variants-natl.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/no_covid-cdc-variants-natl-300x230.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (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\/02\/covid-cdc-ed-natl.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-286688\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/covid-cdc-ed-natl.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/covid-cdc-ed-natl-300x180.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 February 3:<\/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 31:<\/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\/02\/covid-ny-hospitalization-nyc-1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-286758\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/covid-ny-hospitalization-nyc-1.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/covid-ny-hospitalization-nyc-1-300x191.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\/02\/covid-cdc-hospitalization-natl.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-286689\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/covid-cdc-hospitalization-natl.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/covid-cdc-hospitalization-natl-282x300.png 282w\" 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> February 3:<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\"> Ohio[8] <a href=\"https:\/\/clevelandcliniclabs.com\/respiratory-virus-surveillance-statistics\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Cleveland Clinic<\/a> February 1:<\/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\/02\/covid-walgreens-positivity-states.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-286693\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/covid-walgreens-positivity-states.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/covid-walgreens-positivity-states-300x169.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=\"3.5789473684211\">\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> January 13:<\/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> January 13 <\/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\/02\/covid-cdc-positivity-travelers.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-286694\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/covid-cdc-positivity-travelers.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/covid-cdc-positivity-travelers-300x171.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\/02\/covid-cdc-variants-travelers.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-286692\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/covid-cdc-variants-travelers.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/covid-cdc-variants-travelers-300x207.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=\"3.7777777777778\">\n<td valign=\"top\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; color: gold;\">\u2605<\/span> 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 25:<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; color: gold;\">\u2605<\/span> 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 25:<\/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\/02\/covid-cdc-deaths-positivity-natl.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-286757\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/covid-cdc-deaths-positivity-natl.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/covid-cdc-deaths-positivity-natl-300x202.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<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/covid-cdc-deaths-ed-natl.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-286756\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/covid-cdc-deaths-ed-natl.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/covid-cdc-deaths-ed-natl-300x172.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<td wp_automatic_readability=\"115.66228936665\">\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) Down, 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, but no exponential growth either, Odd.<\/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>Employment Situation: \u201cUnited States Challenger Job Cuts\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/tradingeconomics.com\/united-states\/challenger-job-cuts\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Trading Economics<\/a>]. US employers announced 49,795 job cuts in January 2025, above 38,792 in December 2024 but down 40% from 82,307 a year earlier. It is also the lowest January job cut total since 2022. \u2018January was relatively quiet in terms of job cut announcements. However, we\u2019ve already seen major announcements in the early days of February, so it seems this quiet is unlikely to last,\u2019 said Andrew Challenger, Senior VP of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. Technology led all sectors in job-cutting activity in January with 7,488.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Employment Situation: \u201cUnited States Initial Jobless Claims\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/tradingeconomics.com\/united-states\/jobless-claims\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Trading Economics<\/a>]. \u201cInitial jobless claims in the US rose by 11,000 from the previous week to 219,000 in the last week of January 2025, above market expectations of 213,000. In the meantime, recurring claims rose by 26,000 to 1,886,000 in the previous week, ahead of market expectations of 1,870,000. Despite remaining robust against a historical perspective, the data was in line with the view that the US labor market is due for a slight degree of softening in 2025.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p>Manufacturing: \u201cThe same Boeing passenger plane keeps being diverted after take-off\u2026 what\u2019s going on?\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/travel\/news-and-advice\/american-airlines-boeing-plane-diversion-b2693332.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Independent<\/a>]. \u2022 Registration code N819AN.<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p>Today\u2019s Fear & Greed Index: 40 Fear (previous close: 39 Fear) [<a href=\"https:\/\/money.cnn.com\/data\/fear-and-greed\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CNN<\/a>]. One week ago: 49 (Neutral). (0 is Extreme Fear; 100 is Extreme Greed). Last updated Feb 4 at 2:10:42 PM ET.<\/p>\n<p><a name=\"guillotine\"\/><strong>Guillotine Watch<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a name=\"turner\"\/>Pretty!<\/p>\n<p><center wp_automatic_readability=\"2\"> <\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" wp_automatic_readability=\"6\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Turner, The Burning of the Houses of Parliament <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/9VJD4jpN89\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">pic.twitter.com\/9VJD4jpN89<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Impressions (@impression_ists) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/impression_ists\/status\/1887493140300399086\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">February 6, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><\/center> <\/p>\n<p><strong>Public Health<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cRealClearFoundation Launches the Journal of the Academy of Public Health\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.realclearscience.com\/articles\/2025\/02\/05\/realclearfoundation_launches_the_journal_of_the_academy_of_public_health_1089515.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">RealClearScience<\/a>]. \u201c5 February 2025 (Washington, DC) The RealClearFoundation announces today the launch of the Journal of the Academy of Public Health, a revolutionary new scientific journal publishing cutting-edge, peer-reviewed and open access research from the world\u2019s leading scholars of epidemiology, vaccinology, global public health, health policy and related disciplines.\u202f The Journal was co-founded by Dr. Jay Bhattacharya of Stanford University and Dr. Martin Kulldorff, formerly of Harvard University. Their shared vision is presented in Dr. Kulldorff\u2019s inaugural paper, \u201cThe Rise and Fall of Scientific Journals and a Way Forward.\u201d \u2022\u00a0Splendid to see one of the service providers from Stanford\u2019s house of ill fame make good. (Up until this point, I have always considered RealClear* to be conservative, but solid. No more, sadly.<\/p>\n<p><a name=\"wired\"\/><strong>News of the Wired<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I am not wired today.<\/p>\n<p><strong>APPENDIX<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Musk-NRx-Memo-February-5-2025.pdf\" class=\"pdfemb-viewer\" style=\"\" data-width=\"max\" data-height=\"max\" data-mobile-width=\"500\" data-scrollbar=\"none\" data-download=\"on\" data-tracking=\"on\" data-newwindow=\"on\" data-pagetextbox=\"off\" data-scrolltotop=\"off\" data-startzoom=\"100\" data-startfpzoom=\"100\" data-toolbar=\"bottom\" data-toolbar-fixed=\"on\">Musk-NRx-Memo-February-5-2025<br \/><\/a><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\/02\/200pm-water-cooler-2-5-2025.html\">here<\/a>. From TW:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/hoarfrost.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"800\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-286754\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/hoarfrost.jpeg 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/hoarfrost-225x300.jpeg 225w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/p>\n<p>TW writes: \u201cHoarfrost, Christmas Day, at Patrick Marsh, Sun Prairie, WI.\u201d Wow!<\/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\/guest-post\" rel=\"category tag\">Guest Post<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/category\/water-cooler\" rel=\"category tag\">Water Cooler<\/a> on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/2025\/02\/200pm-water-cooler-2-6-2025.html\" title=\"2:00 pm\" rel=\"bookmark\"><time class=\"entry-date updated\" datetime=\"2025-02-06T14:00:03-05:00\">February 6, 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\/02\/ice-faking-news-games-search-engines-to-make-mass-deportations-appear-way-more-massive-than-they-are.html\" rel=\"prev\"><span class=\"meta-nav\">\u2190<\/span> ICE Faking News: Games Search Engines to Make Mass Deportations Appear Way More Massive Than They Are<\/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. 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Ugh. \u2013lambert Bird Song of the Day Brown Thrasher, Davidson<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":90674,"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-90673","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\/90673","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=90673"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90673\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90674"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}