By Lambert Strether of Corrente.
Fowl Music of the Day
Good and lengthy, so you can also make your espresso now. One other migratory hen (with accompaniment).
#COVID19
Numerous charts right this moment:
Vaccination by area:
A curler coaster. Extra knowledge issues? (I’ve additionally not stated, as a result of it’s too apparent, that if by Bubba we imply The South, then Bubba has completed fairly properly on vax, regardless of all of the sturm und drang within the press.
61% of the US is totally (doubly) vaccinated (CDC knowledge, corresponding to it’s, as of December 14. The stately 0.1% rise per day returns. We’ve got damaged the essential 61% psychological barrier! Mediocre by world requirements, being slightly below Estonia, and simply above Peru within the Monetary Instances league tables as of this Monday).
Case depend by United States areas:
I whinged in regards to the interval of fiddling and diddling that appeared earlier than the earlier peak (and hadn’t appeared hitherto). Issues went up, peaked, or went down. Now we’re fiddling and diddling once more. I’ve helpfully highlighted each intervals. Additionally, as occurred in 2020, I might count on a second, increased peak, from Omicron if for no different cause.
I discover the Northeast, South, Midwest, and West fanning out like that regarding, so listed here are the person areas:
Northeast:
New York and Pennsylvania main in tandem, as they’ve for a while. I might have anticipated Massachusetts to be worse.
Midwest:
Ohio and Wisconsin arising.
South:
Yikes, Texas! And issues had been going so properly…
West:
Yikes, California!
At a minimal, the official narrative that “Covid is behind us,” or that the pandemic might be “over by January” (Gottlieb), or “I do know some individuals appear to not wish to hand over on the great pandemic, however you realize what? It’s over” (Invoice Maher) is clearly problematic. (This chart is a seven-day common, so modifications in path solely present up when a practice is absolutely rolling.)
One of many sources of the concept Covid is on the best way out, I might speculate, is the CDC’s modeling hub (whose projections additionally appear to have been used to justify faculty re-opening). Right here is the present model of the chart from the CDC modeling hub, which aggregates the outcomes of eight fashions in 4 eventualities, with the final run (“Spherical 9”) having taken place on 2021-08-30, and plots present case knowledge (black dotted line) in opposition to the aggregated mannequin predictions (gray space), together with the common of the aggregated mannequin predictions (black line). I’ve helpfully highlighted the case knowledge mentioned above:
Case knowledge (black dotted line) has been throughout the tolerance of the fashions; it doesn’t conform to the fashions’ common (black line), but it surely stays inside aggregated predictions (the gray space).
I wrote: “It’s too early to say ‘Dammit, CDC, your fashions had been damaged’; but it surely’s not too quickly to think about the chance that they is likely to be. The case knowledge nonetheless appears to be like prefer it’s attempting to interrupt out of the gray space. We will see.” The case knowledge has now damaged out of the gray space (see at “Oopsie!”). Because the fashions are aggregated standard knowledge, it’s not truthful to name them propaganda, precisely. Nonetheless. standard knowledge is trying slightly shaky, and anyone who relied on them to foretell that we might be “again to regular” by early subsequent yr must be taking one other take a look at their assumptions. And that is — I assume — earlier than Omicron!
MWRA (Boston-area) wastewater detection, not up to date:
A steep drop within the common, just like the final peak. We’ll see if will get uneven once more, or not.
The Massachusetts Water Assets Authority (MWRA) service space consists of 43 municipalities in and round Boston, together with not solely a number of faculty methods however a number of giant universities. Since Boston is so very education-heavy, then, I feel it could possibly be a superb main indicator for Covid unfold in faculties usually.
From CDC: “Neighborhood Profile Report” (PDF), “Fast Riser” counties:
West Coast a lot better, Midwest higher, New England going strong crimson. Extra flecks of crimson, particularly in Texas. Bizarre flare-ups, like flying coals in a forest hearth. They land, catch, however — one hopes — sputter out.
The earlier launch:
Hospitalization (CDC Neighborhood Profile):
I’ve helpfully highlighted the states the place the “pattern” arrow factors up in yellow, and the place it’s vertical, in orange. (Notice pattern, whether or not up or down, is marked by the arrow, at prime. Admissions are offered within the graph, on the backside. So it’s potential to have an upward pattern, however from a really low baseline.)
Demise charge (Our World in Knowledge):
Whole: 821,335 819,315. Modest rise. At this charge, I don’t assume we’ll hit the million mark by New Yr’s.
Extra deaths (whole, not solely from Covid):
Onerous to consider we’ve no extra deaths now, however very lucky in that case. (CDC explains there are knowledge lags).
Covid instances in historic variant sources, with additions from the Mind Belief:
South Africa’s rise appears to be like linear, though it is a log scale. Sorry for the kerfuffle on the left. Regardless of how I tinker, it doesn’t go away.
Politics
“However what’s authorities itself, however the best of all reflections on human nature?” –James Madison, Federalist 51
“That they had one weapon left and each knew it: treachery.” –Frank Herbert, Dune
“That they had realized nothing, and forgotten nothing.” –Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord
Capitol Seizure
“Considered one of These Riots Is Not Just like the Different” [National Review]. “What has been clear to a few of us for a very long time — and what’s changing into tougher to disclaim each day — is that the occasions of January 6 had been a part of an tried coup d’état, one which proceeded on two fronts: Because the rioters occupied the Capitol and disrupted the method of certifying the Electoral Faculty votes, Trump’s authorized minions sought madly for some pretext upon which to nullify the election. In the meantime, Trump allies occupying a number of factors on the far-right tail of the bell curve of glue-sniffing insanity hatched every kind of supplementary schemes, a few of them involving the navy. A riot that’s a part of a coup d’état is just not very very similar to a riot that’s a part of a coup de Goal.” • Quoting a RINO on this as a result of I so don’t wish to need to grasp the element in WaPo and the Instances. Based mostly on previous type, each lead paragraph goes to cite nameless sources, after which every part will go downhill from there.
Biden Administration
“High secret JFK assassination recordsdata are FINALLY launched: Lee Harvey Oswald was involved with member of KGB two months earlier than taking pictures and nameless cellphone calls stated Russia was behind it, trove of 1,500 paperwork reveal” [Daily Mail]. • These darn Russkies! I knew they had been behind it!
* * * So do one thing about it (1):
I’m deeply troubled by studies of Kellogg’s plans to completely substitute placing employees. Completely changing placing employees is an existential assault on the union and its members’ jobs and livelihoods. I strongly assist laws that will ban that follow.
— President Biden (@POTUS) December 10, 2021
So do one thing about it (2):
Paying off your youngsters’ pupil mortgage debt can really feel overwhelming. We’d like a president who understands that. pic.twitter.com/VnCrEGh5mx
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) October 29, 2019
So do one thing about it (3):
We should codify Roe and defend entry to secure, authorized abortion. Interval.
— The Democrats (@TheDemocrats) December 14, 2021
Democrats en Deshabille
Lambert right here: Clearly, the Democrat Get together is a rotting corpse that may’t bury itself. Why is that? First, the Democrat Get together is the political expression of the category energy of PMC, their base (lucidly defined by Thomas Frank in Hear, Liberal!). ; if the Democrat Get together didn’t exist, the PMC must invent it. . (“PMC” modulo “class expatriates,” after all.) Second, all of the working elements of the Get together reinforce one another. Go away apart characterizing the relationships between parts of the Get together (ka-ching, however not totally) these parts comprise a community — a Flex Internet? An iron octagon? — of funders, distributors, apparatchiks, electeds, NGOs, and miscellaneous mercenaries, with property within the press and the intelligence neighborhood. (Notice that voters don’t seem inside this construction. That’s as a result of, not like say UK Labour or DSA, the Democrat Get together is just not a membership group. Uninteresting normals might “establish” with the Democrat Get together, however they can’t be part of it, besides as apparatchiks at no matter stage.) No matter, if something, that’s to switch the Democrat Get together must reveal the operational functionality to take care of all this. Sadly, I see nothing of the requisite scale and scope on the horizon, although I might like to be unsuitable. (If Sanders had leaped nimbly from the electoral practice to the strike wave practice after shedding in 2020, as an alternative of that weak charity sh*t he went with, issues is likely to be totally different right this moment. I’m not certain that was in him to do, and I’m undecided he had the employees to do it, though I consider such a pivot to a “battle of motion” would have been highly regarded together with his small donors. What a disgrace the app wasn’t two-way.) Ah properly, nonetheless.
For an instance of the category energy that the PMC can wield, look no additional than RussiaGate. All of the working elements of the Democrat Get together fired on all cylinders to cripple an elected President; it was very efficient, and went on for years. Now think about that the identical Get together had labored, throughout Covid, to create an alternate narrative — see Ferguson et al., supra, to see what such a story might need regarded like, and with the unions (particularly lecturers) concerned. On the very least, the Biden Administration would have had a plan, and the bottom ready for it. At one of the best, a “parallel authorities” (Gene Sharp #198) would have emerged, able to take energy in 2020. As an alternative, all we obtained was [genuflects] Tony Fauci. And Cuomo and Newsom butchering their respective Blue States, after all. The distinction? With RussiaGate, Democrats had been stopping governance. In my various situation, they might have been making ready for it.
And whereas we’re at it: Consider the left’s applications, and lay them in opposition to the PMC’s pursuits. (1) Free Faculty, even neighborhood school. Might devalue PMC credentials. Na ga occur. (2) MedicareForAll. Ends jobs assure for means-testing gatekeepers in authorities, profit-through-denial-of-care gatekeepers within the medical health insurance enterprise, to not point out opposition from some medical guilds. Na ga occur. (3) Ending the empire (and reining within the nationwide safety state). The lights would exit throughout Fairfax and Loudon counties. Na ga occur. These are all glorious coverage objectives. However let’s be clear that it’s not solely billionaires who oppose them.
Displaying the PMC’s lack of ability to manipulate, as a category they appear unable to broaden their scope of operations into new fields. Take into account the chances of the “Swiss Cheese Mannequin.” Layered defenses embody in depth testing, contact tracing, air flow methods (not merely blue collar HVAC work, however design and analysis), and quarantines. If we take a look at every layer as a jobs assure for credentialed professionals and managers, like ObamaCare, the alternatives are great (and that’s earlier than we get to all of the coaching and consulting). And but the PMC hasn’t advocated for this mannequin in any respect. As an alternative, we get authoritarian followership (Fauci) and a totalizing and tribalizing religion in an especially dangerous vax-only resolution. Why? It’s nearly as in the event that they’re “appearing in opposition to their very own self-interest,” and I don’t faux to grasp it.
And I’m not the one one who’s puzzled. “Even in case you…
already did droop the filibuster for particular causes prior to now and would now for SC nominees. It has razor-thin margins but can nonetheless cross huge spending payments. Invoking Manchin or Sinema does not actually clarify the puzzle; it simply re-describes it.
— corey robin (@CoreyRobin) December 2, 2021
NEW A second instance of the PMC’s lack of ability to manipulate comes beneath the rubric of “our democracy.” Of the varied elements of the Democrat get together, NGOs, miscellaneous mercenaries, property within the press, and the intelligence neighborhood all consider — or no less than repeat vociferously — that “our democracy” is beneath risk, whether or not from election integrity points, or from fascism. However different elements — funders, distributors, apparatchiks, and electeds — don’t consider this in any respect. On election integrity, HR 1 has not handed. Gerrymandering continues apace (additionally an indication that Republicans take their politics rather more severely than Democrats do). On fascism, I suppose we’ve Pelosi’s January 6 Fee. However nothing illegal happened, or we might have Merrick Garland’s January Investigation. The mixture of hysterical yammering from some Democrats and blithe indifference from others is extraordinarily unsettling. (This leaves apart the query of whether or not Democrats, as a celebration, have the standing to complain about both the erosion of democracy or the imminence of fascism. I say no.) In fact, there’s a resolution to the issues with “our democracy”:
Prediction
Democrats will clear up the issue of minoritarian tyranny by shedding the favored vote. https://t.co/hdw4IxTu2b
— Alice in Winter (@AliceFromQueens) November 18, 2021
* * * “Democratic governors fear about risk to democracy however don’t see it as a profitable message for 2022” [CNN]. • Oh.
“The Democrats Combating to Defend the Coastal Elite” [The Atlantic]. “[Robert Menendez, the senior senator from New Jersey] main the opposition to a first-of-its-kind coverage that will power owners with property closest to the water to pay extra for federal flood insurance coverage. The pricing scheme, referred to as Threat Ranking 2.0, was first developed beneath the Obama administration, however the Trump administration delayed its implementation. Now it represents one of the progressive modifications that President Joe Biden could make with out new approval from Congress: By overhauling premiums within the Nationwide Flood Insurance coverage Program, the federal government can concurrently price-in the dangers posed by local weather change and proper historic inequities by which hundreds of thousands of lower-income owners have primarily backed flood safety for his or her a lot wealthier neighbors. On the heart of the struggle are the questions of who will get to reside by the water, and who ought to shoulder the burden of prices that rise with the ocean stage. The estimated 13 million individuals who reside within the formally designated floodplain are divided between those that can purchase expensive waterfront properties and people consigned to reside in much less fascinating, low-lying areas as a result of that’s all they will afford.”
Trump Legacy
Graphic remedies apart, Trump creating his personal media platforms doesn’t look like such a nasty concept:
As a result of I hate myself, I used to be scrolling via the Trump Media and Expertise Group’s investor presentation (apologies if my feed has already completed this) however …there’s some wonderful work in right here. Maybe my favourite slide: pic.twitter.com/ZWasvvR8rt
— Charlie Warzel (@cwarzel) December 15, 2021
If he can execute. Or decide the proper individuals. There, Trump has uneven type, to place it mildly.
Republican Funhouse
Right here we go:
And there it’s … pic.twitter.com/cVVNWoT4nb
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) December 15, 2021
“Max Linn, a colourful candidate, useless at 62” [Sun-Journal]. “Max Linn, one of many extra colourful characters in Maine politics and maybe the primary Mainer to catch COVID-19, died over the weekend.” • On a go to to Wuhan in December 2019! Commentary:
You made my day.
— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) December 14, 2021
Simply one other liberal Democrat celebrating the loss of life of a political opponent….
Clinton Legacy
“Hillary 2024? Given the competitors, she would be the Dems’ finest hope” [The Hill]. • I feel a Trump v. Clinton rematch can be… stunning, one way or the other. As flaming rubble generally is, notably within the gathering darkness.
Stats Watch
Manufacturing: “United States NY Empire State Manufacturing Index” [Trading Economics]. “The New York Empire State Manufacturing Index rose to 31.9 in December of 2021 from 30.9 in November, beating forecasts of 25, pointing to sturdy development in enterprise exercise within the New York State…. Labor market indicators pointed to a strong enhance in employment (21.4 vs 26) and an extended common workweek (12.1 vs 23.1)…. Plans for capital and expertise spending had been sturdy.”
Retail: “United States Retail Gross sales]” [Trading Economics]. “US retail commerce rose 0.3 % from a month earlier in November 2021 after surging 1.8 % in October and properly under market expectations of 0.8 %, including to indicators of slowing home demand amid the quickest inflation in many years. The so-called core retail gross sales, which correspond most carefully with the buyer spending part of GDP, edged down 0.1 % in November.”
Employment State of affairs: “United States Preliminary Jobless Claims” [Trading Economics]. “The variety of Individuals submitting new claims for unemployment advantages dropped by 43 thousand from the earlier interval to 184 thousand within the week ending December 4th, the bottom stage since early September 1969 and under market expectations of 215 thousand, as demand for labor stays sturdy amid the continued financial restoration and as many employers search to retain employees.”
Manufacturing: “United States Kansas Fed Manufacturing Index” [Trading Economics]. “The Kansas Metropolis Fed’s Manufacturing Manufacturing Index fell to 17 in November of 2021 from 25 within the earlier month. Manufacturing unit development was pushed by elevated exercise at sturdy items vegetation, notably equipment manufacturing, electrical gear, transportation gear, and furnishings manufacturing. ‘Regional manufacturing facility exercise continued to develop however at a slower tempo than in latest months’, stated Chad Wilkerson, vice chairman and economist on the Federal Reserve Financial institution of Kansas Metropolis.”
Retail: “‘Food plan’ soda is disappearing from retailer cabinets” [KMOV4]. “That’s as a result of some weight-reduction plan sodas are disappearing — or no less than, that packaging is gone. As an alternative you’ll discover these drinks beneath their new branding: zero sugar. ‘Zero sugar’ has changed ‘weight-reduction plan’ for a lot of no-calorie smooth drinks. Canada Dry and Schweppes ginger ales, 7Up, A&W and Sunkist, made by Keurig Dr Pepper, now label their weight-reduction plan drinks ‘zero sugar.’ (One exception is the namesake Dr Pepper model, which is able to nonetheless are available in ‘weight-reduction plan’ packaging along with a unique zero sugar model.) The explanation for the overhaul: The phrase ‘weight-reduction plan’ has fallen out of style — particularly for Millennials and Gen Z-ers…. Evolving attitudes towards weight-reduction plan as an idea imply soda makers need to de-emphasize weight-reduction plan branding as they steam forward with zero-sugar choices — even when, as within the case of these manufacturers owned by Keurig Dr Pepper, they’re promoting the identical precise drink. The tactic may assist soda makers carry extra customers, particularly youthful ones, into the fold. The trade wants these prospects if it desires to develop the soda market.” • How about “Additive Free”?
The Bezzle:
Western Union is clearly the long run. Least expensive transactions of all of the blockchains, what blockchain does Western Union use to have such low charges? pic.twitter.com/6PmSqLSRGH
— Bitfinex’ed ? Κασσάνδρα? (@Bitfinexed) December 14, 2021
The Bezzle: “Digital Shortage”:
posting this once more as a result of I can pic.twitter.com/12N7iW1ohG
— A. Marmot ?Underground? (@_Anunnery) December 12, 2021
Walter Benjaman, right-click stan.
The Bezzle: “Dr. Seuss Characters Get NFT Therapy in ‘Seussibles’ App (Unique)” [Hollywood Reporter]. “By a partnership with Dapper Labs — the corporate behind CryptoKitties and NBA High Shot — and the NFT startup Tibles, Dr. Seuss Enterprises is releasing its NFT choices via a cell and net app referred to as Seussibles. Customers 18 and over can join an account and buy packets of Seuss collectibles with their bank cards, with “blind” five-packs — the place the client doesn’t know what 5 NFTs they’re receiving — beginning at $4.99. , and customers can use the Seussibles app to speak with different followers and commerce their collectibles.”
Tech: “The Log4J Vulnerability Will Hang-out the Web for Years” [Wired]. ” A vulnerability within the open supply Apache logging library Log4j despatched system directors and safety professionals scrambling over the weekend. Often called Log4Shell, the flaw is exposing among the world’s hottest purposes and providers to assault, and the outlook hasn’t improved for the reason that vulnerability got here to mild on Thursday. If something, it’s now excruciatingly clear that Log4Shell will proceed to wreak havoc throughout the web for years to return…. The arduous half might be monitoring all of these down. Many organizations don’t have a transparent accounting of each program they use and the software program elements inside every of these methods…. By its nature, open supply software program will be integrated wherever builders need, which means that when a significant vulnerability crops up, uncovered code can lurk round each nook. Even earlier than Log4Shell, software program provide chain safety advocates had more and more pushed for “software program payments of supplies,” or SBOMs, to make it simpler to take inventory and sustain with safety protections.” • Commentary:
— v0lundr (@v0lundr_) December 14, 2021
Tech: “Her Instagram Deal with Was ‘Metaverse.’ Final Month, It Vanished.” [New York Times]. “n October, Thea-Mai Baumann, an Australian artist and technologist, discovered herself sitting on prime web actual property. In 2012, she had began an Instagram account with the deal with @metaverse, a reputation she utilized in her inventive work. On the account, she documented her life in Brisbane, the place she studied wonderful artwork, and her travels to Shanghai, the place she constructed an augmented actuality firm referred to as Metaverse Makeovers. She had fewer than 1,000 followers when Fb, the mother or father firm of Instagram, introduced on Oct. 28 that it was altering its identify. Henceforth, Fb can be referred to as Meta, a mirrored image of its give attention to the metaverse, a digital world it sees as the way forward for the web. Within the days earlier than, as phrase leaked out, Ms. Baumann started receiving messages from strangers providing to purchase her Instagram deal with. ‘You at the moment are a millionaire,’ one individual wrote on her account. One other warned: ‘fb isn’t gonna purchase it, they’re gonna take it.’ On Nov. 2, precisely that occurred. Early that morning, when she tried to log in to Instagram, she discovered that the account had been disabled. A message on the display screen learn: ‘Your account has been blocked for pretending to be another person.’…” • After the Instances beginning calling Fb, Baumann’s account was restored. However Fb can do no matter it desires with Instagram handles, so the state of affairs hardly appears secure.
Tech: “5 Former SpaceX Staff Communicate Out About Harassment At The Firm” [The Verge]. “A gaggle of former SpaceX staff are coming ahead about their expertise working on the industrial rocket firm, claiming that there’s a tradition of sexual harassment within the office and that managers and the human sources division dealt with complaints poorly. The people are talking out in mild of an essay revealed by one former worker, Ashley Kosak, who left SpaceX in November. In her account, Kosak particulars a number of situations of being groped and feeling uncomfortable after heading off sexual advances by her male co-workers. 4 extra individuals who spoke with The Verge described their very own troubling experiences at SpaceX or witnessing different ladies and nonbinary individuals being harassed. In three instances reviewed by The Verge, SpaceX HR was made conscious of the allegations and had inconsistent responses that the workers felt had been insufficient.
Right now’s Worry & Greed Index: The Worry and Greed display screen is clean once more! [CNN]. Final up to date Dec 15 at 11:27am. New intern?
Well being Care
Unsettling Omicron anecdote:
A pal was at a small get together final weekend (11 individuals). Everybody had neg LFDs first, all vaxxed inc 3 boosted. All home windows open. 1 individual examined +ve 2 days later. Now one other 7/11 have examined +ve (inc my boosted pal) & 2 out of remaining 3 have signs & ready for PCR. 1/2
— Prof. Christina Pagel (@chrischirp) December 15, 2021
Lots extra downthread. What’s irritating about Omicron is that there doesn’t appear to be any new tactic I can make use of in opposition to it. The virus ups its sport. I can’t up mine.
Unbelievable that persons are being pressured to take N95s and substitute them with surgical masks:
Outrageous! I am getting on a bus in Canada and was informed I have to take away my N95 and placed on a free surgical/medical masks as an alternative. @GovCanHealth wants to repair this. @DFisman pic.twitter.com/ynppS100r1
— Linsey Marr (@linseymarr) December 15, 2021
I’ve learn that it is a persevering with downside in Canadian hospitals, as a result of they’re run by an infection management droplet goons, who actively oppose the notion of airborne transmission. I’ve additionally heard anecdotes of officious PMC gatekeepers doing the identical factor in america. So by “unbelievable,” I imply “all too plausible.”
“Sinovac Offers Insufficient Defend Towards Omicron in Hong Kong Examine” [Bloomberg]. “Amongst a gaggle of 25 individuals vaccinated with two Coronavac doses, none confirmed enough antibodies of their blood serum to neutralize the omicron variant, stated a press release from a staff of researchers on the College of Hong Kong launched late Tuesday evening. The Beijing-based firm then launched its personal findings on Wednesday, saying that seven of 20 individuals — 35% — who acquired two doses in its examine confirmed enough antibodies to neutralize omicron. The image improved considerably when a booster shot was added into the combination, with Sinovac’s lab outcomes displaying that amongst a gaggle of 48 individuals who had acquired three doses, 45 of them, or 94%, had enough antibodies to neutralize omicron, the corporate stated. It didn’t elaborate on particulars of its examine or whether or not findings had been going to be revealed in a scientific journal.”
Is “disinformation” too harsh a phrase for what CDC and WHO have completed with airborne transmission?
Too unhealthy the Dutch prime minister continues to unfold misinformation about COVID-19 mitigations.
His podium reveals handwashing as the primary measure, though there are ZERO confirmed instances of floor transmission
Doesn’t present masks for an AIRBORNE virus!!
Made potential by @WHO https://t.co/RlSv0pnVMj
— Prof. Jose-Luis Jimenez (@jljcolorado) December 14, 2021
Whoops:
An extended thread on @NYTimes/@washingtonpost/@TheAtlantic‘s favourite prediction-making professional, Monica Gandhi. Feb 22, 2021: “I have to say variants, shmariants, okay? I am sorry, I do not know what sort of bother that is going to get me in…” pic.twitter.com/CwQL6QBG78
— Acme Birch Beer (@KindAndUnblind) December 13, 2021
Be ready:
Virus traps prepared for deployment #Corona #Omicron
Thanks for the design concept @JimRosenthal4 https://t.co/uRoJHLhxOg pic.twitter.com/slXAs5pegq
— Rod Elder (@Zaphod13) December 15, 2021
Feral Hog Watch
“30–50 feral hogs? Why Twitter memes are extra optimistic (and far quicker) than you may assume” [The Conversation]. “The seeming absurdity of the response, together with the format of the tweet, made for superb meme materials. The jokes quickly started, and the meme shortly advanced and commenced referencing different Twitter memes.” • And really humorous it was, too!
Zeitgeist Watch
No surprise:
Billie Eilish says watching porn from the age of 11 ‘destroyed my mind’ https://t.co/5Kr5YBm9KL
— Sky Information (@SkyNews) December 15, 2021
No matter pr0n is about, it’s not about intercourse.
Groves of Academe
This can be a very sweet-tempered thread:
shout out to the coed who emailed to inform me they wanted an extension as a result of their edibles had been too highly effective i have not stopped laughing since i learn your message
— jennifer (@jenfronc) December 14, 2021
Why not, say I.
Black Injustice Tipping Level
Jogs my memory of Reconstruction:
State division memo from 1948 on “denazification” pic.twitter.com/aUBAC7hppw
— Historic.ly (@historic_ly) December 14, 2021
Since that labored out so properly…
Class Warfare
“‘Air pollution all over the place’: how one-click buying is creating Amazon warehouse cities” [Guardian]. “The Inland Empire area, the place Parker lives, is now one of many greatest nationwide hubs for the e-commerce trade. The modifications it has undergone are being replicated in cities and cities throughout the nation. To feed the one-click, one-day supply calls for of the nation, new warehouses are opening shortly, usually in Black and brown neighborhoods. They often chew up total suburban blocks and communities within the course of, crowding roadways with supply vehicles and vans and air house with cargo planes, clouding the air with extra air pollution. Positioned about 60 miles east of Los Angeles, the Inland Empire has the third-largest focus of Amazon warehouses within the US, in accordance with a database of Amazon services Shopper Experiences (CR) bought from MWPVL, a logistics consulting agency.” • I ponder how earthquake-proof they’re?
Information of the Wired
I appear to not be wired right this moment. Oh properly!
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SR writes: “November in So Vermont. We’ll eat the tops of the kale and the hens will end
the remainder of it earlier than the primary of the yr. It’s been a heat fall so they’re all nonetheless
out on the grass proper now.”
Readers, thanks for all of the plant photos!
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