By Lambert Strether of Corrente
Chook Music of the Day
Cunning Lark, Arusha, Tanzania.
Politics
“However what’s authorities itself, however the best of all reflections on human nature?” –James Madison, Federalist 51
“That they had discovered nothing, and forgotten nothing.” –Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord
“When the going will get bizarre, the bizarre flip professional.” –Hunter Thompson
Capitol Seizure
“Jan. 6 Panel to Sum Up Its Case In opposition to Trump: Dereliction of Obligation” [New York Times]. “The Home committee investigating the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol plans to return to prime time on Thursday to ship what quantities to a closing argument within the case it has made towards former President Donald J. Trump, accusing the previous commander in chief of dereliction of responsibility for failing to name off the assault carried out in his identify. To take action, the panel will put two navy veterans — Consultant Elaine Luria, Democrat of Virginia and Consultant Adam Kinzinger, Republican of Illinois — entrance and heart in main its presentation and questioning…. In an interview previewing the listening to, which is scheduled for 8 p.m. on July 21, Ms. Luria stated the panel deliberate to doc in nice element how Mr. Trump did nothing for greater than three hours whereas his supporters stormed the Capitol, elevating moral, ethical and authorized questions across the former president. ‘The captain of a ship can not sit there and watch the ship burned to the waterline and never do something to cease it,’ Ms. Luria stated, invoking her expertise within the Navy, the place she labored on nuclear reactors. ‘And that’s precisely what he did.’” • Burned to the waterline? Actually?
“Home GOP lawmakers applaud Pence for his function on Jan. 6” [The Hill]. “Home Republican lawmakers applauded former Vice President Mike Pence for his actions on Jan. 6, 2021, giving him a heat reception as he spoke to members of the conservative Republican Research Committee on Capitol Hill on Wednesday. Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) thanked Pence for exhibiting braveness that day, sources within the room stated. ‘He was congratulated for exhibiting the braveness that he did on January 6, and albeit, everybody within the room clapped, myself included,’ stated Rep. Dan Meuser (R-Pa.). ‘It was, in fact, what he ought to have executed. I imply, it was the constitutional factor to do.’ Pence’s ceremonial function presiding over the joint session of Congress on Jan. 6 to certify the Electoral Faculty rely from the 2020 election cemented President Biden’s win.”
Abortion
“Home Dems Transfer To Shield Contraception From Supreme Court docket” [Associated Press]. “The correct to make use of contraceptives could be inscribed into legislation below a measure Democrats are pushing by way of the Home, their newest campaign-season response to worries {that a} conservative Supreme Court docket that’s erased federal abortion rights might go additional. The Home deliberate to vote Thursday on the laws and ship it to the Senate, the place its destiny appeared unsure.” • Homosexual marriage to be codified, contraception to be codified, abortion stays uncodified. Odd!
Biden Administration
Biden’s doctor, July 21, 2022:
Per President Biden’s White Home doctor:
Gentle signs: runny nostril, fatigue and a dry cough that began yesterday. pic.twitter.com/fYoGnbX871
— Natasha Korecki (@natashakorecki) July 21, 2022
Gentle, of course.
“Oh, No, Oh, No… I Love This Meme.” [Andrei Martyanov, Reminiscence of the Future…]. “These creeps in DNC don’t even perceive that other than abusing a very mentally disabled man, nonetheless despicable Joe Biden and his clan are, they proceed to humiliate the nation. Leonid Brezhnev in his late years was an instance of a coherent speech and psychological readability in comparison with Joe. It’s a nationwide disgrace and for any one that didn’t lose the remnants of his or her humanity and decency (District of Columbia doesn’t rely–none to be discovered there) it is usually painful to observe with out cringing.”
Pelosi disses Biden on Taiwan:
Pelosi on Biden’s remarks about her potential journey to Taiwan:
“I feel what the president was saying was possibly the navy was afraid our aircraft would get shot down or one thing, I do not know precisely.”
She provides she hasn’t seen his feedback or heard straight from him on this
— Heather Caygle (@heatherscope) July 21, 2022
“Federal investigation of Hunter Biden reaches vital juncture, sources say” [CNN]. “The federal investigation into Hunter Biden’s enterprise actions is nearing a vital juncture as investigators weigh potential expenses and prosecutors confront Justice Division pointers to typically keep away from bringing politically delicate instances near an election, in keeping with individuals briefed on the matter. Whereas no last determination has been made on whether or not to convey expenses towards President Joe Biden’s son, sources say the probe has intensified in current months together with discussions amongst Delaware-based prosecutors, investigators working the probe and officers at Justice Division headquarters. Discussions just lately have centered round probably bringing expenses that would embrace alleged tax violations and making a false assertion in reference to Biden’s buy of a firearm at a time he would have been prohibited from doing so due to his acknowledged struggles with drug habit.” • That’s it?
“Sanders Information Modification to Restrict $76 Billion in ‘Company Welfare’ for Microchip Business” [Common Dreams]. “Sen. Bernie Sanders on Tuesday launched an modification that may impose restrictions on the billions of {dollars} in federal subsidies and tax credit that Congress is poised at hand to the worthwhile U.S. microchip trade, which has been lobbying aggressively for the handouts. Sanders’ proposed modifications to the CHIPS Act, which cleared a key procedural hurdle within the Senate Tuesday night, would prohibit firms that obtain subsidies below the invoice from utilizing the funds to purchase again their very own inventory, offshore U.S. jobs, or crack down on unionization efforts. The senator argues that no-strings-attached giveaways to the microchip trade would quantity to “company welfare.” … The most recent model of the CHIPS Act, which now clocks in at 1,054 pages of legislative textual content, comes with an total price ticket of round $250 billion, tens of billions of which might be used to subsidize U.S. semiconductor manufacturing. Contemporary tax language included within the invoice elevated the advantages to the microchip trade from round $52 billion to $76 billion.”
2022
* * * “Democrats spend tens of millions on Republican primaries” [Open Secrets]. “Political teams and nonprofits aligned with the Democratic Social gathering have spent practically $44 million on promoting campaigns throughout 5 states’ Republican primaries to spice up the profile of far-right candidates in California, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Illinois and Maryland. Democrats technique is rooted within the perception that these candidates — lots of whom unfold unfounded claims that the 2020 presidential race was stolen from former President Donald Trump — might be simpler to defeat in a normal election. Democratic spending has helped safe Republican nominations for candidates in Illinois and Pennsylvania. In Maryland, Democrats are spending on a Republican gubernatorial major that’s nonetheless ongoing and is considered as a tossup. However in California and Colorado, Democrats spent cash elevating the profile of candidates who didn’t advance to the final election.” • It’s as if the Social Democrats have been spending cash on the Nazis. Superb to see the Democrats doubling down on the Pied Piper technique after it failed catastrophically in 2016. Maybe they assume their present candidates are lots higher than Clinton? Belief me, they’re not — no less than not the candidates the mind geniuses at DNC are funding. Granted $44 million isn’t all that a lot, but it surely’s not nothing, particularly in a major.
“Seven endorsements that can check Trump’s affect” [The Hill]. “Trump’s endorsement has seen combined outcomes thus far, although a lot of the main candidates he supported have received their races. Nonetheless, the previous president’s endorsed candidates are dealing with some contentious last GOP major battles. Listed below are seven Trump-endorsed candidates to observe as the first season involves an in depth.” • Blake Masters (AZ US Senate), Kari Lake (AZ Governor), Mark Finchem (AZ Secretary of State), David Farnsworth (AZ Home), Kelly Tshibaka (AK US Senate), Sarah Palin (AK US Home), and Harriet Hageman (WY US Home).
PA: Shot, chaser:
I can’t cease laughing I’m going to harm myself pic.twitter.com/1j56dr5JCj
— Laura Bassett (@LEBassett) July 20, 2022
PA: Oppo:
Oh we have now solely simply begun to search out the bizarre, outdated Oz tweets. https://t.co/vkjC6MYKsU
— Lee 🖖 Carter (@carterforva) July 20, 2022
2024
“Column: Why you shouldn’t underestimate Kamala Harris in all of the hypothesis a couple of post-Biden 2024” [Los Angeles Times]. “The workplace of vice chairman would possibly shrink its occupants within the public eye. However behind the scenes it presents a formidable platform to construct a nationwide marketing campaign. (In current many years, Biden, Al Gore, George H.W. Bush and Walter Mondale held the workplace earlier than profitable their celebration’s nomination.)…. Harris, who publicly shuns overt political exercise, has nonetheless made strikes that would serve her nicely, talking at a significant Democratic Social gathering dinner in early-voting South Carolina and, because the administration level particular person on abortion rights, assembly state lawmakers and Democrats throughout the nation…. It additionally helps an excellent deal that Harris is a pioneering Black girl in a celebration whose most loyal constituents are Black voters. Their help for Harris stays robust. In a Fox Information ballot launched final month, the vice chairman’s total approval ranking was 41%. Amongst Black respondents, it was 73%.” Nice. From the constituency that gave us Obama, Clinton, and Biden. And: “As we speak’s head-to-head polls are meaningless. Within the battle to succeed Biden, his vice chairman stays the one to beat.” • Which says lots, however not in the best way the authors assume.
Democrats en Déshabillé
I’ve moved my standing remarks on the Democrat Social gathering (“the Democrat Social gathering is a rotting corpse that may’t bury itself”) to a separate, back-dated put up, to which I’ll periodically add materials, summarizing the addition right here in a “dwell” Water Cooler. (Hopefully, some Bourdieu.) It seems that defining the Democrat Social gathering is, in reality, a tough drawback. I do assume the paragraph that follows is on level all the best way again to 2016, if not earlier than:
The Democrat Social gathering is the political expression of the category energy of PMC, their base (lucidly defined by Thomas Frank in Pay attention, Liberal!). ; if the Democrat Social gathering didn’t exist, the PMC must invent it. . (“PMC” modulo “class expatriates,” in fact.) Second, all of the working elements of the Social gathering reinforce one another. Depart apart characterizing the relationships between parts of the Social gathering (ka-ching, however not fully) these parts comprise a community — a Flex Web? An iron octagon? — of funders, distributors, apparatchiks, electeds, NGOs, and miscellaneous mercenaries, with belongings within the press and the intelligence neighborhood.
Be aware, in fact, that the category energy of the PMC each expresses and is proscribed by different lessons; oligarchs and American gentry (see ‘industrial mannequin’ of Ferguson, Jorgensen, and Jie) and the working class spring to thoughts. Suck up, kick down.
* * * “Ocasio-Cortez pushes again on claims she ‘faked’ being handcuffed throughout arrest” [The Hill]. “‘Politics has develop into performative artwork,’ Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) tweeted on Wednesday. ‘So in fact @aoc fakes being in handcuffs. Efficiency, not coverage, is the secret up right here.’ ‘No faking right here,’ Ocasio-Cortez responded on Twitter a couple of minutes later. ‘Placing your fingers behind your again is a greatest apply whereas detained, handcuffed or not, to keep away from escalating expenses like resisting arrest.’” • In the event you’re explaining, you’re dropping. Anyhow, AOC might be proper, even when the query arises: What’s unsuitable with resisting arrrest? All in all, although, I’m irresistably reminded of the Democrat tendency towards auto-kinbaku-bi.
I shouldn’t run this and I apologize prematurely for offense that can absolutely be given. Nonetheless:
As an autistic particular person with ADHD and sensory processing points, I do know what it’s prefer to not have the ability to learn the room, perceive what’s happening, or prioritize necessary duties. That’s why this Incapacity Pleasure Month, I’m partnering with Congressional Democratic management
— ALJ Dredd (@UnionSaltBae) July 20, 2022
(A horrible class error, in fact; events should not individuals, simply as governments should not households. Nonetheless….)
This, nonetheless, needs to be fully inoffensive:
You continue to assume the Democratic Social gathering may be reformed or taken over from inside? It will possibly’t. Mission: Inconceivable.
— Turncoat Don (@TurncoatD) July 20, 2022
I like the credit on the finish: “Written by Robert Reich / Directed by David Axelrod.”
Realignment and Legitimacy
If “deadly,” what then?
Really outstanding numbers. In slightly below two years public approval of the US Supreme Court docket has fallen from 66% to 38%. Merely unprecedented in rapidity. That is what deadly lack of institutional legitimacy appears to be like like. https://t.co/HJU0x0GtPp pic.twitter.com/PHWh8aw0k0
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) July 20, 2022
#COVID19
“Grieving in a Pandemic” [New England Journal of Medicine]. “Struggling my very own loss helped me to know how a lot of grief is about dropping our concept of the longer term. The lady whose mother and father have been each hospitalized within the days earlier than my sister and nephew died — she finally misplaced each mother and father, days aside — feared the ache she would expertise if the individuals she cherished died. Maybe she even feared that her life would now not be livable. I had that worry, too. However we go on. good friend who has been by way of loss put it this manner: ‘My life will at all times be slightly extra bitter, slightly bit tainted, rather less full.…However I do discover happiness and pleasure and sweetness.…With time they’ve returned.’” • I’ve been very fortunate all through the pandemic and have misplaced no person near me. My “concept of the fiuture” did, nonetheless, embrace a United States that would undertake difficult tasks within the public curiosity, as an alternative of giving up. That future appears to be gone.
“SARS-CoV-2 oral pill vaccination induces neutralizing mucosal IgA in a part 1 open label trial” (preprint) [medRxiv]. Strategies: “We carried out a single-site, dose-ranging, open-label medical trial of an oral SARS-CoV2 vaccine to find out security and immunogenicity. This pill vaccine is comprised of a non-replicating adenoviral vector expressing the SARS-CoV-2 Spike and Nucleocapsid genes and a double-stranded RNA adjuvant. 35 grownup topics assembly inclusion/exclusion standards acquired a single low (1×1010 IU) or excessive (5×1010 IU) dose and 5 topics acquired two low doses. Nasal, saliva and serum samples have been assessed for the presence of IgA, IgG and surrogate neutralizing antibodies. Convalescent topics between 1-8 months put up an infection have been recruited to offer nasal, saliva, and serum samples for comparability.” Outcomes: “The vaccine was nicely tolerated with none dose-limiting toxicity noticed. No serum neutralizing antibodies have been noticed, however modest IgA responses have been seen in serum put up immunization. Nearly all of vaccine recipients had a rise in mucosal secretory IgA which was extremely cross-reactive towards all coronaviruses examined and continued as much as 360 days. Moreover, the nasal IgA induced by vaccination has superior neutralizing exercise in comparison with convalescent nasal samples.” • Attention-grabbing.
Maskstravaganza: “Can You Reuse a KN95 or N95 Masks? Consultants Say Sure, however Comply with These Steps” [Smithsonian]. “Virus particles trapped within the respirator will die off over the course of hours to days, so specialists advocate letting an N95 or KN95 masks hand around in a cool, dry place for a day or two between outings. A easy technique for implementing this resting interval between makes use of is to place your masks in a brown paper bag for twenty-four to 48 hours earlier than utilizing it once more. ‘The priority about sporting a masks in public, clearly, when you get particles on it, even perhaps the virus, however when you retailer it in a dry bag, you might be basically sanitizing once more over a time period,’ says Joe Gastaldo, an infectious illness professional at OhioHealth, to the Miami Herald’s Bailey Aldridge. Sabrina Assoumou, an infectious illness doctor at Boston Medical Heart, recommends having a number of masks in a rotation, so every masks can have a sanitation break between makes use of. People can then label the luggage accordingly to maintain observe of every masks.” • Simply don’t use the identical brown luggage for tomatos.
Hey, I ponder what the Monkeypox case counts are? How’s the testing going? The vaccinations?
I predict the monkeypox breakout goes to be very ugly when it “all of a sudden” explodes into the final inhabitants when children return to high school in August and September. It’s going to unfold like wildfire from pre-k to school campuses. It’s going to be terrible.
— AshleyStevens (@The_Acumen) July 21, 2022
In the meantime, WHO has been engaged on a brand new identify for monkeypox for 5 weeks now. How’s it going?
In the event you missed it, right here’s a put up on my queasiness with CDC numbers, particularly case rely, which I (nonetheless) think about most necessary, regardless of what Walensky’s psychos at CDC who invented “neighborhood ranges” assume. However these are the numbers we have now.
Case Depend
Lambert right here: The 91-Divoc chart’s case rely legend reads “up to date 07/21/2022.” The final “new confirmed instances” datapoint is 2020-07-18, rely 129,243. Going to the supply information from Johns Hopkins, the rely of the most recent, although undated, datapoint is 129,243. From which I deduce that the Johns Hopkins feed has stalled, for no matter motive. Watching all these information sources slowly decay from regular illumination to blinking, or winking out fully, jogs my memory of a horror movie. Or Philip Okay. Dick’s Ubik.
NOT UPDATED Case rely for the USA:
The prepare continues to be rolling. There was a bizarre, plateau-like “fiddling and diddling” stage earlier than the Omicron explosion, too. This conjuncture feels the identical. Beneath the hood the BA.4/BA.5 are making up a higher and higher proportion of instances. Do not forget that instances are undercounted, one supply saying by an element of six, Gottlieb pondering we solely choose up one in seven or eight.) Therefore, I take the case rely and multiply it by six to approximate the true degree of instances, and draw the DNC-blue “Biden Line” at that time. The earlier rely was ~135,400. As we speak, it’s ~125,900 and 135,400 * 6 = a Biden line at 755,400 per day. That’s fairly loads of instances per day, when you consider it. A minimum of we have now affirmation that the extraordinary mass of case anecdotes we’ve seen have a foundation in actuality. (Bear in mind these information factors are weekly averages, so every day fluctuations are smoothed out.) The black “Fauci Line” is a counter to triumphalism, because it compares present ranges to previous crises.
NOT UPDATED Regional case rely for 4 weeks:
Now the South and West.
NOT UPDATED The South:
Florida and Texas, nonetheless neck and neck.
NOT UPDATED The West:
So, the nationwide drop resolves to California.
• “With Tulsa’s COVID threat upgraded and instances rising, native ER leaders push precautions, vaccination” [Tulsa World]. “Tulsa County’s COVID-19 threat has been upgraded from the bottom to the very best degree in current weeks as instances have continued to rise throughout the state because the summer season holidays started. The Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention tracks community-level threat to assist get public well being suggestions to residents primarily based on probably the most just lately obtainable native information.” That’s completely not what CDC’s “neighborhood ranges” do. Extra: “Most of those that spoke Friday supplied comparable steering for anybody involved about changing into contaminated: Return to early-pandemic precautions, together with social distance, masking, hand-washing and monitoring signs.” • Hand-washing. And no suggestions on poorly ventilated areas. We’ve discovered nothing.
Positivity
From the Walgreen’s check positivity tracker:
1.1%. Up. (I ponder if there’s a Keynesian Magnificence Contest impact, right here; that’s, if individuals encounter a sympotomatic particular person, whether or not of their social circle or in regular exercise, they’re extra prone to get a check, as a result of they imagine, appropriately, that it’s extra seemingly they are going to be contaminated.) What we’re seeing right here is the steepest and largest acceleration of positivity on Walgreen’s chart.
Transmission
Here is CDC’s interactive map by county set to community transmission. This is the map CDC wants only hospitals to look at, not you. For July 19, 2020:
Establishment, i.e. it’s a completely not-over pandemic.
Lambert right here: After the transfer from the CDC to the laughingly named ‘https://healthdata.gov,” this discover appeared: “Efficient June 22, 2022, the Group Profile Report will solely be up to date twice per week, on Wednesdays and Fridays.” So now the administration has belatedly come to the conclusion that we’re in a BA.5 surge, and but important information for making our private threat evaluation is just obtainable twice per week. What’s the over/below on whether or not they truly ship tomorrow?
NOT UPDATED Fast Riser information, by county (CDC), July 19:
California worrse, Texas and Louisiana considerably higher, Illinois higher, upstate New York worse.
Earlier Fast Riser information:
NOT UPDATED Hospitalization information, by state (CDC), July 19:
Numerous yellow. Haven’t seen so little inexperienced (good) in fairly a while.
Variants
Lambert right here: It’s past irritating how sluggish the variant information is. I appeared for extra charts: California doesn’t to a BA.4/BA.5 breakdown. New York does but it surely, too, is on a molasses-like two-week cycle. Does no person within the public well being institution get a promotion for monitoring variants? Are there no grants? Is there a single lab that does this work, and all people will get the outcomes from them? Extra sources from readers welcome [grinds teeth, bangs head on desk].
NOT UPDATED Variant information, nationwide (Walgreens), June 30:
NOT UPDATED Variant information, nationwide (CDC), July 2:
BA.5 transferring alongside properly.
Wastewater
Wastewater information (CDC), Jul 17:
This chart works a bit like speedy riser counties: “This metric reveals whether or not SARS-CoV-2 ranges at a website are at present larger or decrease than previous historic ranges on the identical website. 0% means ranges are the bottom they’ve been on the website; 100% means ranges are the very best they’ve been on the website.” So, there’s a bunch of pink dots on the West Coast. That’s 100%, so meaning “ranges are the very best they’ve ever been.” Not damaged down by variant, CDC, good job.
Lambert right here: This web page was loading so slowly that I started to surprise if that is how CDC had chosen to sabotage wastewater efforts. Nonetheless, after some experimentation, I discover I need to flip off my VPN to get this web page to load. Good job, CDC.
Deaths
Demise fee (Our World in Knowledge):
Complete: 1,050,702 1,049,683 1,049,274. I’ve added an anti-triumphalist Fauci Line. It’s good that for deaths I’ve a pleasant, easy, every day chart that simply retains chugging alongside, in contrast to the whole lot else CDC and the White Home are screwing up or letting go darkish, good job.
Stats Watch
Employment Scenario: “United States Preliminary Jobless Claims” [Trading Economics]. “The variety of People submitting new claims for unemployment advantages jumped by 9 thousand to 251,000 the week that ended July sixteenth, the very best since November 2021 and nicely above market expectations of 240,000, pointing a cooler labor market.”
Manufacturing: “United States Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index” [Trading Economics]. “The Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index within the US decreased for the fourth consecutive month to -12.3 in July of 2022, the bottom since Could 2020 and nicely beneath forecasts pointing to a flat studying. The survey’s indicators for present normal exercise and new orders moved additional into detrimental territory. The shipments index was constructive and rose barely, whereas the indexes for inventories and unfilled orders have been detrimental. The employment indicators declined however remained constructive. Each value indexes fell however stay elevated. The longer term indicators counsel that companies anticipate total declines in exercise and new orders however will increase in shipments and employment over the subsequent six months.”
Tech: “Minecraft and NFTs” [Minecraft]. “NFTs, nonetheless, can create fashions of shortage and exclusion that battle with our Tips and the spirit of Minecraft. To make sure that Minecraft gamers have a secure and inclusive expertise, blockchain applied sciences should not permitted to be built-in inside our shopper and server purposes, nor might Minecraft in-game content material corresponding to worlds, skins, persona gadgets, or different mods, be utilized by blockchain expertise to create a scarce digital asset. Our causes observe. Some firms have just lately launched NFT implementations which can be related to Minecraft world information and pores and skin packs. Different examples of how NFTs and blockchain might be utilized with Minecraft embrace creating Minecraft collectible NFTs, permitting gamers to earn NFTs by way of actions carried out on a server, or incomes Minecraft NFT rewards for actions exterior the sport. Every of those makes use of of NFTs and different blockchain applied sciences creates digital possession primarily based on shortage and exclusion, which doesn’t align with Minecraft values of artistic inclusion and taking part in collectively. NFTs should not inclusive of all our neighborhood and create a state of affairs of the haves and the have-nots. The speculative pricing and funding mentality round NFTs takes the main target away from taking part in the sport and encourages profiteering, which we predict is inconsistent with the long-term pleasure and success of our gamers.”
As we speak’s Concern & Greed Index: 41 Concern (earlier shut: 33 Concern) [CNN]. One week in the past: 23 (Excessive Concern). (0 is Excessive Concern; 100 is Excessive Greed). Final up to date Jul 21 at 1:47 PM EDT.
Picture E book
Deserted America isn’t a lot destroy pr0n as destroy erotica:
The deserted Lebow Bros. Clothes Firm in Baltimore, nonetheless stuffed with lots of of males’s fits. Lebow has since been transformed into a college. https://t.co/JuIsawJG9v pic.twitter.com/sWENJLZRzZ
— Deserted America / Matthew Christopher (@abandonedameric) July 21, 2022
The Conservatory
“The New Numbers on Music Consumption Are Very Ugly” [The Honest Broker]. “It appears not possible—in any case, billions of {dollars} are spent yearly by leisure companies of their quest for market dominance. But, regardless of this fixed spending spree, virtually each week brings a brand new signal of cultural stagnation. The most recent information comes at the moment from market analysis outfit Luminate, who inform us that the share of latest music continues to shrink within the face of competitors from outdated songs. I wrote about this a number of months in the past, and the numbers have been already ugly again then. However they’ve gotten worse. The most recent report reveals that the consumption of outdated music grew one other 14% through the first half of 2022, whereas demand for brand new music declined an extra 1.4%. These outdated tunes now characterize a staggering 72% of the market.”
Our Famously Free Press
Protection of free speech:
“Hello New York Occasions, my boss fired me at no cost speech.”
“Hmm, very regarding! We’ll get you a column. Was this speech pro-race science? Being a terf? Professional-apartheid?”
“No I stated we should always have a union.”
[dial tone] https://t.co/Al3ppqEHME
— Tristan Schweiger (@tjschweiger) July 20, 2022
Zeitgeist Watch
“Notes on Our Tasteless Period” [Culture: An Owner’s Manual]. “Kissick calls NFTs the “most tasteless aesthetic phenomenon in historical past” — however NFT tradition is tasteless otherwise than camp tackiness. There may be one other dependable strategy to produce tasteless issues in addition to the intentional negation of fine style: Creators also can lack information about what constitutes good style. Kissick writes, “I don’t assume the artists behind the most well-liked PFP sequence have a lot curiosity in aesthetic judgments of any type” — there is no such thing as a figuring out tackiness, simply “listless, enervated garishness, and saccharine emptiness.” NFTs are tasteless as a result of they’re ersatz artwork.” The NFTs I’ve seen have been uniformly ugly and silly; I’m glad to see I’m not alone for my part. Extra: ” To place a barely extra optimistic spin on the longer term: Tastelessness will rapidly invite its personal tasteful backlash. And maybe that is the second we’ll work out find out how to revitalize and rehabilitate the notion of style to work for us within the web period.” • Could possibly be!
Guillotine Watch
“The Haves and the Have-Yachts” [The New Yorker]. “On the docks, brokers parse the group in keeping with a taxonomy of potential. Friends asking for excursions face a gantlet of greeters, skilled to differentiate ‘superrich shoppers’ from ‘ineligible guests,’ within the phrases of Emma Spence, a former greeter on the Palm Seaside present. Spence appeared for promising clues (the appropriate sneakers, jewellery, pets) in addition to for pink flags (cameras, ornate enterprise playing cards, garments with pop-culture references). For greeters from elsewhere, Palm Seaside is a difficult project. In contrast to in Europe, the place cash can nonetheless produce some seen tells—Hunter Wellies, a Barbour jacket—the habits of wealth in Florida provide little that’s dependable. One colleague resorted to binoculars, to identify a passerby with a hundred-thousand-dollar watch. In accordance with Spence, individuals judged to have inadequate shopping for energy are quietly marked for ‘dissuasion.’ For the uninitiated, a pleasure boat the size of a soccer area may be bewildering.”
Information of the Wired
Unwired as soon as extra!
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The life cycle of the blackberry:
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