By Lambert Strether of Corrente.
Bird Song of the Day
Sedge Warbler, ‘thy’ Denmark. “Habitat: Swamp.” Virtuousic!
Patient readers, I’ve had an enormous scheduling debacle, and so must sacrifice Water Cooler to complete a post on an important court decision by the California Ninth Circuit on vaccine mandates.
In the meantime, I’m surprised Taylor Swift, superspreader, never came up with her own version of this (or maybe she did):
Instead of spaces taking much-needed steps to prevent the spread of COVID-19, we are asked to sign liability waivers saying we won’t sue when we get COVID-19. pic.twitter.com/3eGJIW5CVK
— Myra Batchelder (@myrabatchelder) June 10, 2024
Readers, I reverence the New York Public Library, and so this example of end-state neoliberalism fills me with appalled disgust. Do we have any New York readers and/or librarians who can find out who committed this atrocity and get them pilloried? Why the heck don’t they fix their ventilation system, make C02 concentrations visible, and have N95s available? Have fun! (Also, should be “agents,” plural, and there’s a missing Oxford comma.)
Contact information for plants: Readers, feel free to contact me at lambert [UNDERSCORE] strether [DOT] corrente [AT] yahoo [DOT] com, to (a) find out how to send me a check if you are allergic to PayPal and (b) to find out how to send me images of plants. Vegetables are fine! Fungi, lichen, and coral are deemed to be honorary plants! If you want your handle to appear as a credit, please place it at the start of your mail in parentheses: (thus). Otherwise, I will anonymize by using your initials. See the previous Water Cooler (with plant) here. From Amfortas:
I believe these are Black-Eyed Susans — I recall fields of them in the Midwest — but don’t Black-Eyed Susans have yellow petals?
Readers: Water Cooler is a standalone entity not covered by the annual NC fundraiser. So if you see a link you especially like, or an item you wouldn’t see anywhere else, please do not hesitate to express your appreciation in tangible form. Remember, a tip jar is for tipping! Regular positive feedback both makes me feel good and lets me know I’m on the right track with coverage. When I get no donations for three or four days I get worried. More tangibly, a constant trickle of donations helps me with expenses, and I factor in that trickle when setting fundraising goals:
Here is the screen that will appear, which I have helpfully annotated:
If you hate PayPal, you can email me at lambert [UNDERSCORE] strether [DOT] corrente [AT] yahoo [DOT] com, and I will give you directions on how to send a check. Thank you!
