Fowl Tune of the Day
Brown Thrasher, Newnans Lake SF–East Path (Pithlachocco Path), Alachua, Florida, United States. Virtuosic!
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In Case You Would possibly Miss…
Anti-Trump lawfare begins… however with far, way more strong instances.
OMB memo RESCINDED. That was quick!
A protection of slowness.
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Politics
“So lots of the social reactions that strike us as psychological are actually a rational administration of symbolic capital.” –Pierre Bourdieu, Classification Struggles
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Trump Assassination Makes an attempt (Plural)
They disappeared The Claims Adjuster too:
It’s been six months for the reason that Butler assassination try and we nonetheless know nothing concerning the man who shot Donald Trump, a lot much less why he was allowed to do it. That ought to make you nervous. Sean Davis explains.
(0:00) The Three Huge Questions of the Trump Assassination Try… pic.twitter.com/Y6ZHachAut
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) January 17, 2025
Trump Administration
Lambert right here:
From my armchair at 60,0000 ft, right here is how I see Trump’s govt orders and yesterday and at present’s barrage of communiqués from the OMB. A primary approximation, issues can change!
First, the Democrat Social gathering is sort of a rotten plank, and the Republicans had been going to punch via it eventually. I really feel sooner is healthier than later, as a result of I’ve some optimism about a greater consequence later if “we” take the punch now, what with the varied approaching and inter-related crises that shall be worse and worse later.
As a result of–
Second, the important thing level isn’t what the Republicans do (“You may belief the Republicans… To be Republicans”) however how Democrats react. In spite of everything, Trump isn’t that in style; his victory in 2024 was strong, however not spectacular; and “pausing” applications upon which the working class relies upon may not be one of the best ways for Trump to pivot his get together to make that very same working class his base. This means an unlimited energy vacuum within the Democrat Social gathering management, and politics abhors a vacuum. Any person will step up, virtually by definition not from the drained, flaccid, corrupt, and dull-witted get together management, however “out of nowhere.” My thought was a metropolis councillor from, say, Minnesota (plain-spoken and media savvy are musts); Yves puzzled the place our Huey Lengthy is. Maybe the Skunk Social gathering!
Third, the Medicaid shutdown fiasco (particulars to return under) exhibits some weaknesses within the Trump operation. Stoller is right to say that Republicans wish to govern, and Democrats shrink from it, however all of the Republicans needed to do to stop the Medicaid shutdown once they wrote the OMB “pause” memo was to explicitly exempt Medicaid by title, as they did with Medicare and Social Safety, in footnote 2. Everybody is aware of to learn the footnotes, proper? Effectively, apparently no one in Stephen Miller’s OMB did. I don’t know the way the screw-up occurred — some reactionary dweeb thought Medicaid was a part of Medicare? They hate poor individuals? Their AI had a hallucination? — however the identical form of factor occurred with the Bush Administration, which found that you simply simply can’t swap in Liberty College legal professionals for Harvard legal professionals (Christianists although they might be). Or once they tried to reconstruct Iraq with twenty-something Younger Republicans. In different phrases, simply because Republicans wish to govern doesn’t imply they do it effectively.
P.S. I don’t wish to suggest that I’m wedded to the Democrat Social gathering; in any case, the Republican Social gathering was within the White Home after solely two election cycles. I don’t take any of the present various events significantly; however that doesn’t imply a brand new second get together couldn’t be created. My thought — blue sky although it’s — is that Democrats 2.0 can be a dues paying get together, an concept that labored so efficiently for Labour within the UK that the spooks, the press, the Israeli Embassy, and the electeds all needed to work onerous to cripple it. So perhaps Corbyn was onto one thing. Any person extra intelligent than I’m must pencil it out, however dues may take the get together out of the arms of the squillionaires. Sufficient dues, and also you begin providing member advantages, too. Why not? Blue skying wildly, the opposite main dues-paying establishment in politics is… unions. Why not a Labor Social gathering? Sounds loopy, however while you think about the leverage that the Longshoreman, the railway employees, the truckers, and the airline stewardesses might exert if directed towards a single program at a single time… Effectively, “The facility to destroy a factor is absolutely the management over it.”
P.P.S. On the rescission of OMB memo M-25-13 (belowP: I don’t assume the impulses behind the memo have modified. There appear to have been three drivers: (1) animus in opposition to “large gummint” typically; (2) animus in opposition to NGOs; (3) animus in opposition to DEI, but additionally different numerous “irritable psychological gestures.” Taking these out of order: Huge Gummint points are additionally being dealt with on the personnel stage (see the OPM materials). Psychological Gestures should not particularly related — does anyone actually imagine that “Marxist fairness” and “Inexperienced New Deal Social Engineering” are sufficiently conceptualized to be “recognized” not to mention “reviewed”? DEI is the exception because it has an institutional equipment to assist it, however frankly, if the Republicans handle to kill it off, they’ll be doing Democrats a favor. As for NGOs, I feel they’re the true goal of the memo, which could rationally have been pared down to deal with them alone (and maybe shall be). Do recall, for instance, that on the important thing Republican subject of immigration, the allocation of immigrants to cities and cities throughout the US was dealt with, not by authorities, however by an invisible albeit well-funded community of NGOs, a coverage that must be introduced into the sunshine of day and examined. So whereas the memo was poorly drafted, its rescission is a minor tactical victory.
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OMB memo M-25-13 -> Medicaid freeze-up -> response -> rescission. This hyperlink offers one of the best timeline and element–
“As some Medicaid websites freeze up, White Home acts to make clear pause on grants and applications” [Stat]. • Summarizing the discourse because it flowed throughout my feed: M-25-13 explicitly exempted Medicare and Social Safety from the freeze (or “pause”) in footnote 2. Medicaid was not exempted. And from footnote 1, “help obtained straight by people” was exempted, however that doesn’t exempt Medicaid, which reimburses suppliers. Given the tenor of the memo (“profession and political appointees within the Government Department have an obligation to align Federal spending and motion with the need of the American individuals as expressed via Presidential priorities”) it was rational for presidency officers to observe the letter of the memo as finest they might and freeze the websites. Administration advocates framed this as “malicious compliance,” however placing attributed motives apart, I don’t assume compliance was irrational. The textual content is the textual content, in any case. By accident or not, “it’s fairly apparent they simply threw a giant breaker change on the federal authorities” (although it will be good to have reporting on the small print of how the breaker change was thrown). At this level, the memo was rescinded. I ponder if any heads will roll? For instance, Stephen Miller’s:
Positive there are dumb media hoaxes however for those who unintentionally flip off Medicaid individuals discover.
— Matt Stoller (@matthewstoller) January 29, 2025
“[E]xplicitly excluded all assist and profit applications” is improper; Miller seems to not have learn his personal memo (see dialogue of footnotes 1 and a pair of above.)
“White Home response provides to confusion on federal funding freeze” [PBS]. “The Workplace of Administration and Price range has rescinded its name for a pause on federal help, in keeping with the company’s memo shared by Democracy Ahead, which led a authorized problem over the trouble. However the White Home mentioned that solely the unique memo calling for the freeze had been rescinded. The brand new memo says the heads of govt departments and businesses ought to contact their normal counsels ‘in case you have questions on implementing the President’s Government Orders.’ However Karoline Leavitt, the White Home spokeswoman, advised reporters that the transfer merely meant a recession of the memo. She mentioned efforts to ‘finish the egregious waste of federal funding’ will proceed. She mentioned the OMB memo has been rescinded ‘to finish any confusion on federal coverage created by the court docket ruling and the dishonest media protection.’ The administration expects that rescinding the memo will finish the court docket case in opposition to it. After widespread confusion from the initially very broad memo calling for a halt in federal help, pending overview, the White Home tried Tuesday to additional make clear which applications wouldn’t be affected, later specifying that it will not impression Medicaid and SNAP applications, for instance. This newest assertion from the White Home is probably going so as to add to the confusion fairly than make clear it.” As for the ability of the purse: “The order supplied an early litmus take a look at for simply how keen Congressional Republicans can be to cede their energy of the purse in deference to the chief of their get together – even quickly…. Home Speaker Mike Johnson referred to as it ‘an utility of frequent sense,’ and mentioned it will ‘be innocent ultimately.’” • Is it attainable to be a constitutionalist and a consequentialist on the identical time? Johnson appears to assume so, however I’m not so positive….
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Lawfare, however with way more strong instances:
“Lawsuit claims methods behind OPM governmentwide electronic mail blast are unlawful, insecure” [FedScoop]. “A lawsuit filed in federal court docket Monday alleges that the Workplace of Personnel Administration arrange an on-premise server to conduct final week’s mass electronic mail blast to federal workers and retailer info it obtained in response with out doing a privateness impression evaluation on the system as required by legislation. Filed by two nameless federal workers within the U.S. District Court docket for the District of Columbia, the class-action lawsuit requires OPM to cease the usage of the system till the company can present that it’s lawfully carried out a privateness evaluation. The 2 workers accuse OPM officers of deploying the brand new server — which is alleged to be ‘retaining details about each worker of the U.S. Government Department’ or probably doing so via methods linked to it — in a ‘speedy’ method with out constructing correct safety measures into it or assessing the privateness impacts as required by the E-Authorities Act of 2002. On Friday, OPM despatched a mass electronic mail to workers throughout the federal authorities — although not each federal worker obtained it, together with one of many plaintiffs within the lawsuit — to check ‘a brand new distribution and response checklist,’ asking recipients to answer ‘sure.’ Over the weekend, federal workers obtained one other take a look at ‘to substantiate that an electronic mail might be despatched and replied to by all authorities workers.’ Some company and division heads gave steering to their workers that the emails from OPM could possibly be trusted. The criticism goes on to say: ‘OPM has not carried out a PIA for this unknown electronic mail server or any system which collects or maintains Personally Identifiable Info (‘PII’) obtained from its use,’ nor has a chief info officer or equal company official signed off on an evaluation. Lastly, such an evaluation would have to be made publicly accessible for overview. ‘OPM’s failure to take these steps constitutes company motion unlawfully withheld or unreasonably delayed in violation of 5 U.S.C. § 706(1),’ the lawsuit states. ‘Plaintiffs are being materially harmed by this inaction as a result of they’re being denied details about how these methods — which shall be wealthy in PII about each worker of the U.S. Government Department — are being designed and used.’ As a measure of reduction, the plaintiffs name for an injunction of the methods concerned within the matter till OPM conducts the required privateness evaluation.” • Alternatively, Trump might have arrange the servers in a toilet at Mar-a-Lago…..
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“Trump Hit With New Lawsuit for Funneling Delicate Information to Elon Musk” [The New Republic]. “Donald Trump’s administration has been hit with a lawsuit over allegedly gathering federal worker info and directing it to an worker of Elon Musk. The lawsuit, filed within the U.S. District Court docket for the District of Columbia Monday, alleges that worker information goes to Amanda Scales, who, in keeping with LinkedIn, works for xAI, a personal company of which Musk is the CEO. This might violate federal legal guidelines on transparency and put the delicate info of federal workers into the arms of a personal company.” • Right here is the submitting.
“Elon Musk Lackeys Have Taken Over the Workplace of Personnel Administration” [Wired]. “Sources throughout the federal authorities inform WIRED that the very best ranks of the Workplace of Personnel Administration (OPM)—basically the human sources operate for your complete federal authorities—at the moment are managed by individuals with connections to Musk and to the tech trade. Amongst them is an individual who, in keeping with a web based résumé, was set to begin faculty final fall. Scott Kupor, a managing accomplice on the highly effective funding agency Andreessen Horowitz, stands as Trump’s nominee to run the OPM. …. Amanda Scales is, as has been reported, the brand new chief of workers on the OPM. She previously labored in expertise for xAI, Musk’s synthetic intelligence firm, in keeping with her LinkedIn. Earlier than that, she was a part of the expertise and operations workforce at Human Capital, a enterprise agency with investments within the protection tech startup Anduril and the political betting platform Kalshi; earlier than that, she labored for years at Uber. Her placement on this key function, specialists imagine, appears a part of a broader sample of the historically apolitical OPM being transformed to make use of as a political device.” And: “In line with the identical sources, different individuals on the high of the brand new OPM meals chain embrace two individuals with obvious software program engineering backgrounds, whom WIRED isn’t naming due to their ages. One, a senior adviser to the director, is a 21-year-old whose on-line résumé touts his work for Palantir, the federal government contractor and analytics agency cofounded by billionaire Peter Thiel, who’s its chair. (The previous CEO of PayPal and a longtime Musk affiliate, Thiel is a Trump supporter who helped bankroll the 2022 Senate marketing campaign of his protégé, Vice President JD Vance.) The opposite, who reviews on to Scales, graduated from highschool in 2024, in keeping with a mirrored copy of a web based résumé and his highschool’s scholar journal; he lists jobs as a camp counselor and a bicycle mechanic amongst his skilled experiences, in addition to a summer time function at Neuralink, Musk’s brain-computer interface firm.” • Analytically, I don’t assume “Musk’s lackeys” is right framing. It is a Flex-Internet centered on Silicon Valley. As for the 21-year-old…. One in every of Thiel’s blood baggage?
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“Federal choose quickly blocks Trump administration freeze on federal grants and loans” [Associated Press]. “A federal choose on Tuesday quickly blocked a push from President Donald Trump to pause federal funding whereas his administration conducts an across-the-board ideological overview to uproot progressive initiatives…. U.S. District Choose Loren L. AliKhan blocked the funding freeze solely minutes earlier than it was scheduled to take impact. The executive keep, prompted by a lawsuit introduced by nonprofit teams that obtain federal cash, lasts till Monday afternoon. One other court docket listening to is scheduled that morning to think about the problem.” • Right here is the docket. Right here is the submitting. NOTE This submitting issues the OMB memo now rescinded. BWA-HA-HA-HA! I picked one of the best posssible day to get a late begin!
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OMB memo M-25-13 rescinded:
🚨 Trump’s White Home OMB rescinds federal assist freeze. pic.twitter.com/u6lyLSQQhu
— Peter Alexander (@PeterAlexander) January 29, 2025
At the least anyone within the White Home has the self-discipline to chop their losses, even at the price of permitting the Democrats a minor tactical victory!
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“Trump’s Try and Usurp Congress’s Spending Energy” [Reason]. The rescission of OMB memo M-25-13 apart: “As in his first time period, Trump is once more planning to disclaim federal funds to sanctuary jurisdictions until they settle for his dictates on immigration coverage. Earlier, he suspended practically all international assist applications, besides these for Israel and Egypt. Trump additionally not too long ago threatened to withhold catastrophe reduction funds from California, until they undertake his most popular adjustments to state election legislation. Extra typically, he and his underlings have far-reaching plans to ‘impound’ federal spending they disapprove of. Together, this can be a huge assault on Congress’ energy over federal spending. The Spending Clause of the Structure is evident in giving Congress, not the president, the ability to allocate federal spending. In terms of circumstances imposed on grants to state and native governments, the Supreme Court docket has lengthy made clear that they too should be imposed by Congress, and meet numerous different necessities, as effectively. Such circumstances should, amongst different issues, 1) be enacted and clearly indicated by Congress (the chief can’t make up its personal grant circumstances), 2) be associated to the needs of the grant in query (e.g. – grants for well being care or schooling can’t be conditioned on immigration enforcement), and three) not be ‘coercive.’ Thus, for instance, even Congress couldn’t situation catastrophe assist on adjustments in state election legislation, as a result of the 2 points should not associated. Some may argue that lots of the Administration’s actions on spending aren’t any large deal as a result of they’re solely “non permanent.” But when the White Home can ‘quickly’ withhold congressionally allotted funds for a month, why not for 2 months, or for 2 years? There isn’t a logical stopping level right here.” • Huge triers, these guys. And loads of parallel strains of assault. I’m a bit of amazed that the Home — which I’d assume values having the ability of the purse — is rolling over for this. What do these guys have on Mike Johnson, anyhow?
Nomination
RFK (1):
I completely agree with RFK Jr’s critique of America’s meals provide. It urgently wants an overhaul
However he is nominated for HHS
NOT the U.S. Division of Agriculture
And his ideas on well being points like HIV and vaccines are categorically undefendable and very harmful
— Craig Spencer MD MPH (@Craig_A_Spencer) January 29, 2025
RFK (2):
RFK Jr says we have to extra ‘worth primarily based care’ and extra privatized insurance coverage, claims Medicaid is not ‘working for anybody.’ It is mainly Cato type libertarianism. pic.twitter.com/Bt5zTpdOyq
— Matt Stoller (@matthewstoller) January 29, 2025
RFK (3):
That is what oligarchy appears to be like like. They’re not hiding it.
— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) January 29, 2025
2024 Publish Mortem
I’m stealin’ again to my usual was:
Kamala Harris’s husband Doug Emhoff simply determined he’d prefer to symbolize large non-public fairness corporations for the company legislation agency Willkie Farr & Gallagher that after employed Robert Bork. Hooray! pic.twitter.com/GfQflAgG6r
— Matt Stoller (@matthewstoller) January 27, 2025
Democrats en déshabillé
“‘A 5 Alarm F-ing Fireplace’: Trump’s Federal Funding Freeze Is Jolting Some Dems Into Battle Mode” [HuffPo]. “Democrats on Capitol Hill are fuming about President Donald Trump’s Monday evening announcement that he’s freezing all federal grants and loans, a shocking motion that seems as unconstitutional as it’s dangerous to hundreds of thousands of People…. Almost two dozen Democrats on Tuesday opposed affirmation of Trump’s transportation secretary nominee, Sean Duffy, who is comparatively noncontroversial. Some explicitly mentioned their cause was due to the president’s freeze on federal cash.” • I suppose it’s a step up from a sternly worded letter.
Please kill me now:
That is nice. This crew has a fairly spectacular monitor file of profitable powerful races with the type of inventive, working-class messaging that Dems want now
— Jon Favreau (@jonfavs) January 27, 2025
We’re gonna pry that “struggle” meme from their chilly, useless arms….
Not such a foul concept:
I agree with Tim Snyder: it’s time for Democrats to type a Shadow Cupboard identical to they do in the UK
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) January 29, 2025
The bottom isn’t completely happy (however can be fully addled by RussiaGate, Trump Derangement Syndrome, and an excessive amount of brunch, so what do you do):
We’re listening to this precise sentiment from so a lot of our members proper now.
— Leah Greenberg (@Leahgreenb) January 27, 2025
Syndemics
“I’m in earnest — I can’t equivocate — I can’t excuse — I can’t retreat a single inch — AND I WILL BE HEARD.” –William Lloyd Garrison
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Covid Sources, United States (Nationwide): Transmission (CDC); Wastewater (CDC, Biobot; consists of many counties; Wastewater Scan, consists of drilldown by zip); Variants (CDC; Walgreens); “Iowa COVID-19 Tracker” (in IA, however nationwide information). “An infection Management, Emergency Administration, Security, and Basic Ideas” (particularly on hospitalization by metropolis).
Lambert right here: Readers, thanks for the collective effort. To replace any entry, do be happy to contact me on the handle given with the crops. Please put “COVID” within the topic line. Thanks!
Sources, United States (Native): AK (dashboard); AL (dashboard); AR (dashboard); AZ (dashboard); CA (dashboard; Marin, dashboard; Stanford, wastewater; Oakland, wastewater); CO (dashboard; wastewater); CT (dashboard); DE (dashboard); FL (wastewater); GA (wastewater); HI (dashboard); IA (wastewater reviews); ID (dashboard, Boise; dashboard, wastewater, Central Idaho; wastewater, Coeur d’Alene; dashboard, Spokane County); IL (wastewater); IN (dashboard); KS (dashboard; wastewater, Lawrence); KY (dashboard, Louisville); LA (dashboard); MA (wastewater); MD (dashboard); ME (dashboard); MI (wastewater; wastewater); MN (dashboard); MO (wastewater); MS (dashboard); MT (dashboard); NC (dashboard); ND (dashboard; wastewater); NE (dashboard); NH (wastewater); NJ (dashboard); NM (dashboard); NV (dashboard; wastewater, Southern NV); NY (dashboard); OH (dashboard); OK (dashboard); OR (dashboard); PA (dashboard); RI (dashboard); SC (dashboard); SD (dashboard); TN (dashboard); TX (dashboard); UT (wastewater); VA (wastewater); VT (dashboard); WA (dashboard; dashboard); WI (wastewater); WV (wastewater); WY (wastewater).
Sources, Canada (Nationwide): Wastewater (Authorities of Canada).
Sources, Canada (Provincial): ON (wastewater); QC (les eaux usées); BC (wastewater); BC, Vancouver (wastewater).
Hat tricks to useful 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, sq. coats (11), tennesseewaltzer, thump, Tom B., Utah, Bob White (3).
Keep secure on the market!
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Lambert right here: Every thing’s gone darkish aside from trusty New York State hospitalization (day by day), Walgreen’s positivity (weekly), and the Cleveland Clinic? Readers, do you’ve gotten any options about alternate options at state stage? Thanks! How I want we had Biobot again….
TABLE 1: Each day Covid Charts
Wastewater
This week[1] CDC January 13
Final week[2] CDC (till subsequent week):
Variants [3] CDC January 18
Emergency Room Visits[4] CDC January 11
Hospitalization
New York[5] New York State, information January 27:
Nationwide [6] CDC January 24:
Positivity
Nationwide[7] Walgreens January 27:
Ohio[8] Cleveland Clinic January 18:
Vacationers Information
Positivity[9] CDC December 30:
Variants[10] CDC December 30
Deaths
Weekly Deaths vs. % Positivity [11] CDC January 11:
Weekly Deaths vs. ED Visits [12] CDC January 11:
LEGEND
1) ★ for charts new at present; all others should not up to date.
2) For a full-size/full-resolution picture, Command-click (MacOS) or right-click (Home windows) on the chart thumbnail and “open picture in new tab.”
NOTES
[1] (CDC) Seeing extra pink and extra orange, however nothing new at main hubs.
[2] (CDC) Final week’s wastewater map.
[3] (CDC Variants) XEC takes over. That WHO label, “Ommicron,” has executed an ideal job normalizing successive waves of an infection.
[4] (ED) A bit of uptick.
[5] (Hospitalization: NY) Undoubtedly jumped.
[6] (Hospitalization: CDC). Leveling out.
[7] (Walgreens) Leveling out.
[8] (Cleveland) Continued upward development since, effectively, Thanksgiving.
[9] (Vacationers: Positivity) Leveling out.
[10] (Vacationers: Variants). Positivity is new, however variants haven’t but been launched.
[11] Deaths low, positivity leveling out.
[12] Deaths low, ED leveling out.
Stats Watch
There aren’t any official statistics of curiosity at present.
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Manufacturing: “Boeing plans to wrap up rework in ‘shadow factories’ this yr” [FlightGlobal]. “Boeing has made progress winnowing its once-massive stock of undelivered 737 Max and 787s and is now getting ready to shutter so-called “shadow factories” through which it has been finishing rework on the plane.” Shadow factories. First I’ve head. Extra: “A lot of Boeing’s saved 737s and 787s have required rework as a consequence of manufacturing points. At one level, Boeing was sitting on some 450 undelivered 737 Max and 120 undelivered 787s. To this point this yr, Boeing has already delivered round 10 of the 55 737 Max 8s in its stock at end-2024, says West. ‘We now anticipate to close down the shadow manufacturing unit mid-year, and to ship all of the remaining [Max 8s] to prospects throughout the yr.’ Boeing intends to finish rework on the 25 undelivered 787s in ‘early 2025’, although deliveries of these jets will run into subsequent yr, West provides. A number of manufacturing high quality points, together with these affecting 737 Max aft-pressure bulkheads and 787 fuselages, have pressured Boeing to remodel already produced plane. Boeing has been conducting the time-intensive and costly work on 787s at its manufacturing website in Everett and on 737 Max plane at a website in Moses Lake, Washington.” • Oh. I feel Deming would have had one thing to say about all this.
Tech: “OpenAI says it has proof China’s DeepSeek used its mannequin to coach competitor” [Financial Times]. • Any person name a w-h-a-a-a-mbulance! OpenAI ripped off your complete web — the Bearded One calls this “unique accumulation” — and know they’re whinging about theft?
Tech: When you assume it’s price it:
Motherboard: Gigabyte MZ73-LM0 or MZ73-LM1. We would like 2 EPYC sockets to get a large 24 channels of DDR5 RAM to max out that reminiscence dimension and bandwidth.
— Matthew Carrigan (@carrigmat) January 28, 2025
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Right now’s Worry & Greed Index: 46 Impartial (earlier shut: 44 Worry) [CNN]. One week in the past: 42 (Worry). (0 is Excessive Worry; 100 is Excessive Greed). Final up to date Jan 29 at 1:05:03 PM ET.
Musical Interlude
The one band the mattered:
“#1 You’ve the best to not be killed.” That track is a propos, however I unintentionally had autoplay on, and so this got here up, really my favourite:
One of many higher anti-war songs….
Zeitgeist Watch
“A defence of slowness on the finish of the world” [Sarah’s Substack]. Contradicts the above a bit, I suppose. Ah effectively, however. “Spencer Greenberg of Clearer Pondering not too long ago wrote that believing you solely have one choice is harmful. Greedy to protect what you imagine is your sole alternative can result in poor decision-making, like tolerating abuse in a relationship or staying within the improper job. I feel this argument extends to believing you’ve gotten little or no time. To stay within the shadow of an impending singularity could make each alternative seem as one in all an ever-dwindling quantity. It could possibly finish in cash you want you hadn’t spent, intercourse you want you hadn’t had, or nights you want you hadn’t drunk a lot. It could possibly obscure alternatives whose advantages may take longer to manifest. Staying within the Gradual World can guard in opposition to impulsivity. It could possibly broaden your menu of choices, and make you extra prone to take bets that can repay in longer timelines (which we may be fortunate sufficient to get!). It’s okay to consolation your self with age-old adages meant to stave off myopicism – that you simply’re nonetheless younger, that you simply’ve acquired your complete life forward of you and that there’s all the time subsequent yr. It’s okay to actually imagine these adages and to stay as if they’re true.” • I feel the “singularity” is Foolish Valley foofrah bred from an excessive amount of silly cash sloshing about. However gradual (as in Gradual Meals) remains to be good.
Class Warfare
All bets are off” [Cory Doctorow, Pluralistic]. “When unions are outlawed, solely outlaws may have unions. Unions don’t owe their existence to labor legal guidelines that defend organizing actions. Relatively, labor legal guidelines exist as a result of once-illegal unions had been fashioned within the enamel of violent suppression, and people unions demanded – and acquired – labor legislation. Bosses have hated unions for the reason that begin, and so they’ve actually hated legal guidelines defending employees. Costume this up in no matter self-serving rationale you need – ‘the liberty to contract,’ or ‘meritocracy’ – all of it cashes out to this: when employees discount collectively, worth that may in any other case go to buyers and executives goes to the employees. I’m not simply speaking about wages right here, both. If an employer is pressured – by a union, or by a labor legislation that solely exists due to union militancy – to function a secure office, they need to spend cash on issues like hearth suppression, PPE, and paid breaks to keep away from repetitive pressure accidents. Within the absence of some power that corrals bosses into offering these security measures, they’ll use that cash to pay themselves, and externalize the price of on-the-job accidents to their employees.” • Price studying in full.
Information of the Wired
Taking the Frecciarossa 500 set from Reggio Calabria to Turin, Italy’s longest high-speed rail journey:
pic.twitter.com/9nN9rjuDOo
— @nonstopeurotrip.com on 🦋 (@nonstopeurotrip) January 29, 2025
The video exhibits that Italy places up glass anti-noise limitations, so you possibly can nonetheless see the view. Not concrete blocks!
“Watch the trail of a raindrop from anyplace on the earth” [River Runner Global].• Enjoyable!
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Contact info for crops: Readers, be happy to contact me at lambert [UNDERSCORE] strether [DOT] corrente [AT] yahoo [DOT] com, to (a) learn the way to ship me a test in case you are allergic to PayPal and (b) to learn the way to ship me pictures of crops. Greens are fantastic! Fungi, lichen, and coral are deemed to be honorary crops! In order for you your deal with to look as a credit score, please place it initially of your mail in parentheses: (thus). In any other case, I’ll anonymize by utilizing your initials. See the earlier Water Cooler (with plant) right here. From RM:
RM writes: “Mushrooms encircling the bottom of useless and burned ponderosa pine.”
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This entry was posted in Water Cooler on January 29, 2025.
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