By Lambert Strether of Corrente
Patient readers, today is a travel day for me, so this is an Open Thread. I realize my schedule has been overly dynamic lately, and I’m hoping it gets back to normal soon. –lambert
Bird Song of the Day
Willow Warbler, Han Vejleskjulet, Lund Fjord, Region Nordjylland, Denmark.
An amuse bouche for the coming week–
Readers will recall that I ran “Sen. Mark Warner works to gather Senate Democrats to ask Biden to exit race” a couple days ago. This appears to be a shot across Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Warner’s bow:
Dear @MarkWarner
Are you sure you want to go down this road?
You definitely know what I’m talking about.
Think about it very carefully.
— Don Winslow (@donwinslow) July 6, 2024
Now, I’m writing this a day in advance, before I hit the road, and so by the time you read this, maybe everything will have blown over. But Winslow reminds me of (drug lord) Hector Salamanca in Better Call Saul: “Consider your position carefully.” Pass the popcorn.
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 SV:
SV writes: “Been trying for years to get a pic of a butterfly on our Milkweed (syriaca). Perhaps because it bloomed a month early this year? Pictured is a Gulf Fritillary.”
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:
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