C19 Open Discussion Week 6

From CNBC:

The New York retail real estate market is reeling because of coronavirus, as rents tumble

The coronavirus pandemic is pummeling the retail real estate market in New York City, with rents tumbling and not expected to turn around anytime soon, according to a new report from commercial real estate services firm CBRE.

Average retail asking rents in the city continued to fall during the first quarter, which started Jan. 1 and ended March 31, with the average of the New York City neighborhoods surveyed dropping 9% year over year to $714 per square foot, the report said. This marked the tenth consecutive quarter of declines. On a year-over-year basis, 13 of the 16 corridors tracked by CBRE, including the Upper East Side and Upper West Side, saw rent decreases.

Most notably, in Times Square, retail rents have dropped to levels not seen since 2011. Average rents dropped 15.7% from a year ago to $1,647 per square foot. Average rents are now below $1,800 per square foot for the first time since 2011, CBRE said.

A corridor in SoHo along Broadway saw the biggest drop in asking rents, of 30.1%, to $420 per square foot from $600 per square foot a year ago. CBRE said some of the most expensive listings in the area are being repriced down, hoping to lure buyers with a cheaper deal.

“It remains to be seen how quickly normal life will return to New York City after the crisis has passed and how long the Manhattan retail sector will take to recover from this dramatic economic decline,” the CBRE report said.

“The retail sector will remain under duress until social distancing mandates are lifted and foot traffic is restored,” it said.

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338 Responses to C19 Open Discussion Week 6

  1. A Home Buyer says:

    Most be a work day again…

    First!

  2. grim says:

    Grim – there is no immunity and so goes thee immunity passport. With corona, you can recover today after suffering fever and yucky symptoms and 2+ weeks later catch it again. All the time passing it to someone else.

    Realistically, there can be no vaccine for at least a year.

    If there is no immunity, the probability of a vaccine in a year is nil. Mull that over a bit.

    Social distancing gets replaced by mass civil disobedience as people begin to disregard prohibitions on work, business, movement, gatherings.

  3. grim says:

    By the way, I don’t believe that.

    Occam’s Razor – far more likely the tests were wrong.

    Otherwise China would have millions dead already, they don’t. Far more than they say, but certainly not enough to indicate high potential for re-infection.

  4. Blue Ribbon Teacher says:

    Blue Ribbon – there you go with your racist stereotyping. Get a life!

    Yes…I’m clearly racist against Chinese people. My grandparents and father are from China you idiot.

  5. joyce says:

    From The Dallas Morning News:

    If you imagine that a local business making surgical face masks is working 24/7, guess again

    https://www.dallasnews.com/news/watchdog/2020/04/03/if-you-imagine-that-a-local-business-making-surgical-face-masks-is-working-247-guess-again/

  6. FakeNewsHoaxes says:

    The stay at home orders will be lifted as they are gradually ignored and viewed as meaningless. That has begun. Nearly no one would return to a movie, restaurant, cruise right now or until businesses adapt.

    That’s why there will be unrest. Small businesses that can’t adapt will fail. Many 10s of thousands. It’s going to take years for this to settle out as we shift to the socialization of the virus.

  7. Juice Box says:

    Not sure if it was mentioned the Stanford antibody study has been out.
    It has drawn some controversy, as the study has been interpreted by some to mean we are closer to herd immunity.

    Stanford found rate of virus may be 50 to 85 times higher than official figures

    At the time of the study, Santa Clara county had 1,094 confirmed cases of Covid-19, resulting in 50 deaths. But based on the rate of participants who have antibodies, the study estimates it is likely that between 48,000 and 81,000 people had been infected in Santa Clara county by early April.

    That also means coronavirus is potentially much less deadly to the overall population than initially thought. As of Tuesday, the US’s coronavirus death rate was 4.1% and Stanford researchers said their findings show a death rate of just 0.12% to 0.2%.

    https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-01095-0

  8. Juice Box says:

    Controversy on both sides lots of confirmation bias on twitter questioning the Stanford Study.

    Some say using the lockdown on everyone instead of those most likely to get severely sick means we shot ourselves in the foot by not allowing a faster spread. We could be at 15-20% immune right now with 40% immune by May 1, and herd immunity by June 1.

    Other says the results cannot be true, the study is flawed, the samples were biased as to those who “thought they were once sick with covid19” and then there are those that say we need to test everyone over and over endlessly until we know exactly who can get sick down to the last man, woman and child.

  9. 3b says:

    In real estate news a listing just came on by me. Asking price is the same as sold price in 2005. 3 beds 2 bath. Move in. Just saying.

  10. Juice Box says:

    3b – Who needs a house out in Hackensack?

  11. 3b says:

    Juice Just north of Hackensack!!

  12. Juice Box says:

    3b – You are on the same mighty and majestic river I used to fish off the Oradell Ave bridge my Bronx boy. It is a shame there these days no fishing, whenever I drive by there I want to pull my car over and rip down the no fishing sign on that bridge.

  13. D-FENS says:

    The states had plans to protect prisoners and release them from jail. No plans to protect long term care facilities though.

  14. Fast Eddie says:

    I did a lot of work since buying my current house – 2 bathrooms redone, stone floor in the den, new roof, hardwood floors redone, new stone fireplace, new cedar fence around property, repainted practically whole inside and just this week, six humongous pines were removed from behind the pool. Each were about 70 foot tall. The house was inviting to begin with… who knows how much I can get for it now. I have relatives of two neighbors ready to pounce on it if/when I decide to downsize. You walk in the front door and greeted with wide planked floors and a stone fireplace with French doors on the left leading to an office. You’re pretty much sold right there. No house tour guides needed to sell.

  15. D-FENS says:

    Did congress fund the Paycheck Protection Program yet or are they still holding small business hostage until their demands are met?

    If they don’t fund it today, every small business owner should tell the government to fcuk off and re-open their business.

  16. 3b says:

    Juice: The mighty Hackensack!! It’s a shame it’s filthy. Out of the Bronx over 30 years now, but it never leaves ya!!

  17. Deadconomy says:

    I don’t think anyone really knows what’s going on. Bias galore.

    My take. Mother Nature is going to work as it does when populations rise. It sends out attacks to control the population. So is this a major attack? No idea, but it def is an attack on our population.

  18. D-FENS says:

    Can’t believe I missed this. I thought it was nuts when the Chinese did it. Now Elizabeth, NJ is flying drones over private property scolding people for not social distancing.

    https://nypost.com/2020/04/08/nj-town-using-talking-drones-to-scold-people-for-gathering/

  19. joyce says:

    It’s all in the name of public safety. No one is allowed to question policy.

  20. Fast Eddie says:

    People should be classified according to BMI and IQ.

    That will solve most problems.

  21. Chicago says:

    What ever happened to Briggy on the Hackey?

  22. 3b says:

    Brigadoon-on Hackensack!!

  23. Libturd says:

    Fab,

    That is a non-partisan issue. They all pay for this kind of treatment. Biden perhaps, being the most corporate hack of the entire pack of DEM nominees. Or should I say, PAC of nominees.

    Shake Shack is no less worse than Goldman Sachs.

  24. Walking says:

    Billy Joel told 3b -” who needs a house out Hackensack, is that all you get for your money” .

  25. Walking says:

    Ohio prisons much like the Navy much like the Stanford study are confirming that up to 50% of their prison population is covid 19 positive with no sypmtoms. Food for thought.

  26. 3b says:

    How is this virus spreading to the prison population? And if so many may have it across the country it would appear it got here sooner than originally thought.

  27. Fabius Maximus says:

    Lib,

    Shake Shack, paid it back. When all this is over the FOIA requests will be flying and we’ll see who stepped up to the trough.

    https://www.fox19.com/2020/04/20/shake-shack-gets-funding-will-return-paycheck-protection-loan/

  28. libturd says:

    I just got an ad for a “screen time” knit shirt from H1llburn.

    Did you see the Frito-Lays Ad?

    “Frito-Lay’s parent company, PepsiCo Inc., earlier this month said it has committed more than $45 million to various efforts related to the coronavirus pandemic”

    Pepsi (who owns them) makes 70 billion a year in revenue and 5 billion a year in profit. That huge 45 million donation that is supposed to make you buy Lays over Herr’s or Pringle’s, doesn’t even represent 1/100th of their profit. Not revenue. Profit.

    Heck, Ramon, their CEO, makes 10 million a year.

  29. Libturd says:

    Fab,

    Why did they apply for it?

    I don’t mean to single them out. They all do it!

  30. ExEssex says:

    10:10 Trump fat & stupid.
    Probably the dumbest @sshole to grace the planet.

  31. Libturd says:

    Got oil?

    $10 barrel.

    I’m getting closer to selling my 30% which I did quite well with in the short-term and just locking in the short-term gains.

  32. Fast Eddie says:

    Probably the dumbest @sshole to grace the planet.

    And yet, he’s the most powerful guy on the planet, his enough money to fill a walk-in vault, has a smoking hot wife and will get reelected.

  33. Libturd says:

    I didn’t realize he was married. There’s a first lady?

  34. ExEssex says:

    https://www.vaughns-1-pagers.com/politics/donald-trump-failures.htm#trump-failures

    A list of the POTUS’ failures. Add “America” to the list. His last act of ignorance.

  35. ExEssex says:

    The COVID-19 JERK

    1. He Destroyed U.S. Preparedness
    – Dismantled the U.S. pandemic
    response team (thru Bolton)
    – Fired the leadership
    – Disbanded in April 2018

    2. Trump’s Catastrophic Inaction
    – He is killing American citizens
    – “I don’t take any responsibility
    at all.”
    – Late responses to everything
    – Delays all positive actions

    3. Trump’s Botched Response
    – Failure to acknowledge the threat
    – Failure of imagination
    – Failure to listen to experts
    – Failure to provide testing
    – Failure to provide PPE
    – Personal Protective Equipment
    – Failure to release equipment
    – Lack of coordination
    – Gives false information daily

    4. Trump Spews Misinformation
    – “The virus concern is a hoax.”
    – “It is like the flu.”
    – “It will disappear in April.”
    – “We are doing a great job.”
    – Pushes a phony “cure”,
    in which he owns stock
    – Belittles social distancing

    5. Trump Is A Narcissist Maniac
    – He “knows more than anybody”
    – Values economics over lives
    – Proclaimed himself a “wartime”
    president
    – Tries to take credit for gains
    he had nothing to do with

    6. Trump Blames Others
    – The State Governors
    – The WHO, the CDC
    – Medical workers
    – The Democrats
    – The Media
    – Hospitals
    – Obama
    – China
    .

    IF, at this point, you are STILL unable to realize that Trump is the WORST PRESIDENT EVER, then you need help.

    He is a clear and present danger to this country, and everyone in it.

    What else can I say?
    Are you conscious? WAKE UP!

  36. Libturd says:

    Check out Dare County (Outer Banks) NC

    https://covid-survey.dataforgood.fb.com/?mod=article_inline

    In a typical August, the county goes from 30K to 300K in population.

  37. joyce says:

    Disappointed to hear Cuomo starting to move the goalpost.

  38. Juice Box says:

    Interesting move in China. While digital currency legislation has failed here (added to the covid19 bills but later removed) they are forging ahead with a pretty big pilot in China.

    https://www.ledgerinsights.com/china-digital-currency-wallet-dcep-cbdc/

  39. leftwing says:

    “Got oil? $10 barrel.”

    Front month contract. Expiring shortly. Look at June.

  40. Walking says:

    $10 barrel? It’s cheaper then a 6 pack of ipa. Bring back the hummer please.

  41. Walking says:

    Then /than for the grammar police

  42. chicagofinance says:

    I am not defending Trump, but just to give you a sense of how twisted and distorted this claim is…..

    4. Trump Spews Misinformation
    – Pushes a phony “cure”,
    in which he owns stock

    Trump has a blind trust for his investments. In one of those trusts, the mutual fund Dodge & Cox is owned. I’m sure that many of you are familiar with this mutual fund, because it is very commonly used in 401(k)’s, and is well regarded. One of the holdings of Dodge & Cox is Sanofi, which is not even in the top 10 holdings of the portfolio (#15). In Sanofi’s drug portfolio is large, and hydroxychloroquine is a small part of it……. and wait for it….. it is off patent….

    So on the bullshit-o-meter – factually correct, BUT…. this rates high…. overall as an approach reflecting the media narrative and the distortion, it is instructive.

  43. Oil says:

    I just saw the alert on Oil cratering. I have an Ameritrade account, is this an opportunity to buy any Oil stocks? If I want to buy and hold for an Oil comeback what should I be buying? Thoughts?

  44. leftwing says:

    Guys, on the oil PLEASE…..the data being thrown around is garbage…it’s all technical due to a futures contract rolling over tomorrow.

    It’s $1.23 now, and CME has said they will let it go negative.

    PLEASE don’t do ANYTHING based on these clickbait headlines. look at June (about $22) or Brent.

  45. Deadconomy says:

    Holy crap..

    “Free-Falling: U.S. Oil Drops Below $3 Per Barrel As Demand Disappears”

  46. RentL0rd says:

    Social distancing gets replaced by mass civil disobedience as people begin to disregard prohibitions on work, business, movement, gatherings.

    There’s always a first and this will be the first for a different kind of mass suicide/ mass purge

  47. 3b says:

    Chgo I saw that a while ago on Business Insider, but was just too weary to post it.

  48. homeboken says:

    I took some profits on my XOP position, after a 30% run-up. The balance is a multi-year hold, so I am still long-term bullish.

    The near term future traded at 0.01 recently. 1 penny. Negative oil here we come.

  49. Libturd says:

    3B, Chi,

    That’s why I never post that kind of bullshit. Only the wonksters take joy in that tabloid crap. If I bash Trump, it’s legit. Like opening up by Easter, or claiming it is under control.

  50. Chicago says:

    Left. Point taken

    Still spot price on May delivery
    -$1.43…… as in paying someone

  51. FakeNewsHoaxes says:

    The fact that Obama gave $3.7 million to the wuhan lab at the epicenter of the virus outbreak is a major story.

    What are the chances that the research he funded contributed to all of this? And was the 3.7 mil before or after Hunter Biden wasnamed to the phony board seats in China?

    Just wow. That’s astonishing. Our government was giving money to communist China for research. Incomprehensible. It’s no wonder Facebook and the rest of the globalist elite are doing what they can to spike that story.

    It’s catastrophic for their plans.

  52. leftwing says:

    Chi, agreed, but as you know that is the quote for WTI today/tomorrow. This price action to negative value is entirely driven simply because a couple towns in Oklahoma don’t have any more room to store the stuff that will be delivered EXACTLY tomorrow……

    That’s why for economic value look to the now current contract (June, $22) or Brent ($26), which has no storage issues nor a 12 hour pricing gun to it’s head.

    Cheaper to pay someone to take it if you can’t when it’s arriving on your doorstep tomorrow.

  53. No One says:

    I think you guys complaining about big chains using the PPP loans are somewhat off base.
    As I read it, the government wanted businesses to take loans that would be forgiven in the case they were used to keep paying employees on payroll. It’s basically an outsourced welfare program. Why is it better for bigger restaurant chains to lay off people than smaller restaurants? Because small restaurant or large restaurant, low sales = layoffs.

    If anything, I would trust the larger companies to actually follow the letter of the law, convert the loans into paychecks. Some small companies owned by families may fire all non-family employees and just pay themselves with the loan.

    Anyway, rushed government programs are bound to be terrible no matter what.
    It would have been more efficient had the Fed just invented a new series of $1000 bills with Trump’s face on it and sent everyone with a SSN three per month for the duration of getting locked up by govt. The price of pizza would blow sky high.

  54. Fabius Maximus says:

    Chi,

    What is this blind trust thing you speak of? Giving nominal control of a revokable trust to Bubba Jr and Cleatus doesn’t really count.

  55. Libturd says:

    Hoax,

    The U.S. owes $1.09 trillion to China.

    You need to find a new source for your diarrhea which you mistake as news.

    You are not convincing anyone here of anything accept your lack of IQ.

  56. leftwing says:

    Just took a nice 21 minute round trip short some SPX futures……boom.

  57. Fast Eddie says:

    Yes, it’s true… this is the man the left believes is the most qualified to lead:

    https://twitter.com/EddieZipperer/status/1251127127098957824

  58. leftwing says:

    Not advice…discussion…..

    There will be post-equity market close some real detail on the May oil contract action. Maybe some hedgie blowup. Or ETF fcuk up.

    Subject to that….the basic issue is that there is zero demand right now. Period. 90% of American families ares on the same tank of gas they had in the car a month ago.

    The key question….with the caveat that a physical commodity with a one day bomb ticker attached is very different than the economy and market as a whole….this is what price action looks like when there is a severe contraction of demand. Should the NASDAQ be off only 10% from its high? Should the S&P be priced off 2021 earnings of 170, a record level? Depends, how much sustainable demand do you think there will be in the economy when it re-opens? Very little, well the markets may resemble oil if that’s true. Up to you. A person on either side of the trade is what makes a market, no?

  59. 3b says:

    Fab: Read the article and then come back, Business Insider, April 6 I believe. It’s a non event.

  60. ExEssex says:

    3:04 a Pringle’s can could beat Trump this Nov.

  61. Libturd says:

    An empty Pringle’s can.

  62. FakeNewsHoaxes says:

    Just a hunch but funding Chinese virus research and open borders aren’t likely to be popular positions this election cycle.

  63. Libturd says:

    Here you go FNH.

    https://report.nih.gov/award/index.cfm?ot=&fy=2017&state=46&ic=&fm=&orgid=&distr=&rfa=&om=n&pid=&view=statedetail

    How much research has Trump spent on China through the same grants system Obama used?

    Lying again. Like your liar in chief.

    Like I said before, you are making yourself look dumber by the minute. But keep on digging. Eventually you’ll hit China.

  64. chicagofinance says:

    Fab: 3 things….. 1. blind Trust is at JPM; 2. by definition it is a blind trust, so the fact that we know anything about its contents implies that a Fiduciary leaked the information, which is a breach. As a result of #1 & #2…. #3 STFU.

    Fabius Maximus says:
    April 20, 2020 at 2:38 pm
    Chi,

    What is this blind trust thing you speak of? Giving nominal control of a revokable trust to Bubba Jr and Cleatus doesn’t really count.

  65. chicagofinance says:

    To reiterate….. blind to Trump and also blind to us.

  66. Juice Box says:

    Chi – Any attempt to take away the Left’s talking points will be met with complete dissonance, otherwise they would need to reconcile that they only have their candidates strength to run on, and right now that creepy uncle, well he ain’t out on the campaign trail, and how exactly is he going to win this one while hiding in his basement is beyond me.

  67. leftwing says:

    TN removing “safer at home”, their version of lockdown, April 30.

    Offering widespread free drive through testing for anyone who wants it (ie, no symptoms required).

    Meanwhile, after donning some totally useless mask for my first foray out into NJ earlier today I had other masked people climbing on me at the supermarket (hey, we’re masked, it’s safe, right) and had to touch my mask no fewer than three times with my gloved hands to readjust. Wonderful.

    #MurphyIsAnIdiot

  68. ExEssex says:

    4:02 huuuuge list of failures and F-ckups.
    Picking one item to dispute somehow makes the list suspect?
    Imbecile.

  69. leftwing says:

    Generally avoiding the bad rugby match here of DJT v. TDS but a point for thought on Biden…

    First, I acknowledge Trump is infantile, has the speaking capacity of your average third grader, and is an overall hot mess. I also need to disclose while I’m actually a fan of someone like Cuomo I am not some starry eyed politico dreaming he’ll be drafted to top the ticket at the convention (zero chance of happening).

    So with that…..the Dems have a serious issue with Biden. Cognitively, there are apparent issues. They have kept him locked in the spare bedroom but can’t avoid certain events like debates (although look for them to use any means like COVID to delay and limit the number). He’s going to get destroyed.

    I don’t say that with any pleasure. The spectacle of a confused senior getting torn apart publicly for political theater is appalling. And, as anyone who has dealt with these issues may have experienced, the more you tighten down the more frustrated and rebellious the person becomes particularly a senior. Especially on trigger points (eg, Hunter). When we get out of virus headlines and Biden needs to come front and center alone on a debate stage for two hours after being put through the wringer 20 times over by handlers he’s going to erupt…..

    Anyone saying different, well, you’re just a lyin’ dog faced pony soldier, you are!

  70. Fabius Maximus says:

    Chi,

    1) the trusts aren’t blind if his sons are running them and he can still control them. 2) there is no breach of fiduciary responsibility as all the information is in the Federal disclosures. 3) When you say you went to Columbia, does that just mean that TrumpU was renting classroom space for you?

  71. Fabius Maximus says:
  72. Libturd says:

    leftwing

    There was a good reason that the majority of Biden’s endorsements came once it was between Bernie and Biden. Deep down inside, everyone hoped it wouldn’t be Bernie or Biden. Well besides those bought by Bloomberg.

    Warren would have been okay if she didn’t keep flip-flopping like a fish out of water.

    Truthfully, though. I don’t think Biden has anything more than a speech impediment combined with the typical memory loss of a person of his age. I also think he would step down if it worsened. I am more scared of his corporate backing than neural connections.

  73. Fabius Maximus says:

    One for you testing Mavens. I tried posting over the weekend. It will be interesting where people fall on this one.

    Open Source Academia for the humanitarian good vs Corporate control for Quality Assurance and control of the cash.
    https://www.bbc.com/news/business-52276836

  74. Walking says:

    Fab, all you need is a 5 year old to be killed because the test failed. Try and splain that to a jury. All the good these humanterians did will be useless as they are sued to bankruptcy. Never forget for every good deed there is a lawyer to punish you.

  75. homeboken says:

    Lib – Why should I vote for a guy that you admit “will step down if it gets too hard”

    This is, without hyperbole, the most demanding job in the world. And no matter what the D’s tell you, we will not be better off so long as Trump is out.

    With Biden, we will 100% be worse off. You guys all have a shrewd business sense, do you think other world leaders will not totally take advantage of a guy riddled with dementia?

    There had to be 50 better candidates for the DNC to back. A Biden presidency is a massive danger to so many aspects of American life.

    Get him to drop out. Give me literally ANYONE but Biden that I can try to get behind. But I will damned if you ask me to vote for a 78 year old, dementia patient that has been middling in politics for nearly 5 decades. I mean, what the hell? How did the DNC land on that guy?

  76. 3b says:

    Lib in reference to Biden I think it’s more then a speech impediment and age appropriate memory loss. We have a lunatic like Trump and all the Democrats can offer is Biden. It’s pathetic, but it’s how the Democrats make sure they do the bidding of their corporate masters. I would have voted for Bernie or Warren.

  77. joyce says:

    NJ won’t pay non-essential government employees to do nothing anymore; the Federal government will.
    https://www.nj.com/coronavirus/2020/04/100k-nj-public-workers-could-be-partially-furloughed-under-plan-proposed-by-state-senate.html

  78. Blue Ribbon Teacher says:

    China has now banned online gaming with the outside world.

    https://www.talkesport.com/news/china-to-ban-online-gaming-chatting-with-foreigners/

  79. Blue Ribbon Teacher says:

    online game chat.

  80. No One says:

    BRT,
    China govt didn’t even allow their people to watch that dumb we are the world show with Gaga. I think because they are telling their citizens the rest of the world we are all dying and screaming, not smiling and cheerful.

  81. Fabius Maximus says:

    Homeboken,

    Why should you vote for Biden. Here’s your alternative.
    https://twitter.com/GeoffRBennett/status/1252353312776548353

    Dems made their choice. Time to make yours.

  82. Fabius Maximus says:

    Walking

    False negative or false positive would not top it stops this. Given the amount of “trials” going on at the moment the liability is left at the door.

    I see this as refill the printer cartridges with your 3rd market reagents or buy OEM printer ink at full freight from the manufacturer.

  83. chicagofinance says:

    Fab: typical you…. argue in bad faith and also drag the discussion in an arcane direction that is remote from the original argument…. you are a useless waste of time….. and I hate Trump…. so stop with your purposeful baiting… you are truly worthless, but worse, because you abandoned the board when your sensibilities were hurt. Pure cowardice.

    Recede into the echo chamber that reminds you of how superior you are to all of us.

  84. Fabius Maximus says:

    Aw shucks Chi, are you “a snowflake needing a safe space from microaggression?”

    If you maintain that Donnie is running blind trunts then, Yes I will call into question your professional competence.

  85. Fabius Maximus says:

    “trusts”, before you get pedantic

  86. 3b says:

    Fab we don’t have to vote for either one. Pathetic that all the Democrats can offer is Biden, but it’s not surprising.

  87. 3b says:

    Fab Did you actually read the Business Insider article ? If you did you would have noted the amount of stock in that drug company is negligible.

  88. Fabius Maximus says:

    3b, yes you do have to vote.

    First, it was the only thing the founding fathers asked of you.
    It helps defeat the opponent.
    Its reminds who you voted for, who they need rely on.

    Even in NJ where the Electoral College is a given, you contribute to the popular vote. You know that it sticks in Donnies craw that he lost the popular vote by 3 million.

    It maybe a Sh1t Sandw1ch choice for you, but you have to make it, regardless what side you are on.

  89. Fabius Maximus says:

    3b

    If you scroll back, at no point am i calling into question what Donnie is holding. When all of this is done, I sm sure who is makeing money at this point will come out.

    The point I am taking exception to here, is that Donnie is using Blind Trusts. That is laughable.

  90. joyce says:

    The only thing?

    How will a 3rd party generate support and grow in the future if no one votes for them?

    Fabius Maximus says:
    April 20, 2020 at 11:04 pm
    3b, yes you do have to vote.

    First, it was the only thing the founding fathers asked of you.
    It helps defeat the opponent.
    Its reminds who you voted for, who they need rely on.

    Even in NJ where the Electoral College is a given, you contribute to the popular vote. You know that it sticks in Donnies craw that he lost the popular vote by 3 million.

    It maybe a Sh1t Sandw1ch choice for you, but you have to make it, regardless what side you are on.

  91. 3b says:

    Fab No I don’t have to vote. The political parties have an obligation to provide us competent, qualified candidates that will
    Work for the common good and provide good government for the Americans
    People. Both parties fail miserably , as they are bought and paid for by their corporate masters. I will not vote, it’s a farce.

  92. Fabius Maximus says:

    Joyce, please tell me that’s Rhetorical?

  93. joyce says:

    which question

  94. joyce says:

    yes you do have to vote.

    wrong

    First, it was the only thing the founding fathers asked of you.

    wrong

    It helps defeat the opponent.

    correct

    Its reminds who you voted for, who they need rely on.

    not sure what this means

    It maybe a Sh1t Sandw1ch choice for you, but you have to make it, regardless what side you are on.

    wrong

    Great post by the way, Fabius.

  95. JCer says:

    Fab, I’ll tell you right now I’m voting for the orange moron, not because I want to but because I feel I have to. The democrats need to be soundly defeated by literally not just one of the worst presidents but one of the worst people. One more term of Trump will not be fatal, allowing the democrats to continually subvert the will of their constituency should not be allowed. Quite frankly Booker and Buttigieg never looked so good and neither is really qualified for the highest office. Even crazy Bernie seems like a better option, literally a feeble old man who was never a political superstar, who has some serious skeletons in his closet between the harassment accusation and the train wreck that is his son!

    Re-electing Trump is the only way to right the democrat party and it is important to have 2 viable parties. As it stands we have no functioning parties.

  96. Fabius Maximus says:

    3b

    Then you don’t get to complain about who wins.

    If Joe wins, no complaints from you, no matter what he does.
    If Donnie wins, no complaints from you, no matter what he does.

    Go sit out!

  97. Fabius Maximus says:

    JCer,

    No problem, your vote, your choice. I’ll respect your vote but I’ll still hold you accountable for it

    “Trump will not be fatal”. We’ll file that one away

  98. Fabius Maximus says:

    Joyce

    Ross Perot, 18% of the vote, ZERO electoral College votes.

    Where exactly is this third party revolution coming from?

  99. joyce says:

    Don’t Blame Me. I voted for Kodos.

    Fabius Maximus says:
    April 20, 2020 at 11:48 pm
    3b

    Then you don’t get to complain about who wins.

    If Joe wins, no complaints from you, no matter what he does.
    If Donnie wins, no complaints from you, no matter what he does.

    Go sit out!

  100. joyce says:

    It will have a better chance of happening once highly educated intellectuals such as yourself abandon the fallacy of voting for the lesser of two evils.

    Fabius Maximus says:
    April 21, 2020 at 12:00 am
    Joyce

    Ross Perot, 18% of the vote, ZERO electoral College votes.

    Where exactly is this third party revolution coming from?

  101. Njescapee says:

    Hope everyone is well. It’s been a few years and most of the same characters here with the same schtick . It’s reassuring that some things haven’t changed. The Keys have been closed to visitors since around Saint Paddy’s Day. No cruise ships and tourists result in beautiful clear water but nearly everyone’s broke. Duval Street is totally empty. Great time for road repairs. It s just like a sci-fi movie The Day the Earth Stood Still.

  102. Fabius Maximus says:

    It has no chance of happening Period. But feel free to explain to me how there is any sort of path for a third party vote to win in this system. All a third party does is split the vote for one of the candidates.

    I didn’t make the system, I’m just pointing out the flaws in it.

  103. joyce says:

    I agree it’s very difficult. But throughout this country’s history, new parties have slowly emerged and come into prominence. Factions of the remaining party(ies) splintered and realigned. The shifting from the first to the second/third/fourth party systems involved new parties. The end result is that a “third party” came into being but after gaining acceptance they were no longer considered a third party.

    Now, I await your history lesson of why I “have to vote” and how “it was the only thing the founding fathers asked of [me].”

    Fabius Maximus says:
    April 21, 2020 at 12:29 am
    It has no chance of happening Period. But feel free to explain to me how there is any sort of path for a third party vote to win in this system. All a third party does is split the vote for one of the candidates.

    I didn’t make the system, I’m just pointing out the flaws in it.

  104. leftwing says:

    “All a third party does is split the vote for one of the candidates.”

    All it does?

    Tactically, in a binary system, the ability to control the marginal vote is all that matters.

    Perot, looking to actually win? Overkill and amateur hour…

    Give me 5% of voters united under one banner in OH, MI, PA, NC, WI, and FL and I will determine the next President of the US and the Party’s platform.

    That is the origin of your ‘third party’. A mix of disaffected Berninistas, middle Americans, and Millennials in key states. And this small group will be more powerful than NY, CA, TX, NJ, the NRA, and the NAACP combined.

    As a personal aside, this is where Bernie failed. A revolutionary understands that it may be necessary to burn everything down to effect change. A true revolutionary understands he doesn’t have to, just the threat of doing so is as effective. Bernie folded winning hands – twice – and left the table empty handed. And, more importantly, so did his supporters. That hurts me. I was pulling for the old coot to really rock some boats.

  105. grim says:

    Bernie and Trump are the same person. They are both exemplars of the polarizing qualities of their respective parties.

    Trump just did a better job of aligning enough of the party voting bloc to not give the party leadership a choice.

  106. grim says:

    Damn, just about everyone came back for the reunion.

    Nothing like a crisis to bring the fam together.

  107. FakeNewsHoaxes says:

    The claim that US funding was going to the wuhan lab has been repeated a few places. Gaetz also said it on fox. The fact that it doesn’t show up on the nih site doesn’t mean anything.

    Duke was also apparently involved there. It appears they recieve 3-400 mil/year from NIH. The Facebook “fact checker” who was labeling any theories about whether the virus could have escaped a lab as misinformation also had a duke/wuhan background.

    I’d like to know what they are up to over there. Masdive story if we were involved with Coronavirus research.

  108. FakeNewsHoaxes says:

    As For Biden, yes, he had his graft operation up and running in China. We give you funding and preferential diplomatic and trade deals and you give my family and associates bogus board seats.

  109. Slippery Situation says:

    Saudis own largest oil refinery in Texas. They keep shipping their oil to it further suppressing US oil prices. Apparently US shale oil is more expensive to transport via pipeline to Texas for refining. I wish POTUS would tell Saudis no more tanker oil into US until the mess in oil is over. June futures already down 20%. Oil dropping like this has negative ramifications for US well beyond oil. I don’t know why POTUS won’t force Saudis to stop shipping oil to US for a bit.

  110. grim says:

    The theory that covid-19 was spreading globally before the Wuhan outbreak seems far more plausible to me. Saw a few timeline summaries that appear to say that the global spread timing was simply too quick for Wuhan to be the genesis.

  111. grim says:

    Why isn’t cheap oil good for the US?

  112. 3b says:

    Fab No. I have every right to complain . And I will continue to complain about both parties as I have for years. At some point people will ignore all the BS that both parties engage in and focus on what is really important.

  113. 3b says:

    Grim: True. But Bernie would have scared the crap out of the corporate elites and the bought and paid for politicians on both sides. We might have gotten some real structural reform that is needed. The system is rotten.

  114. FakeNewsHoaxes says:

    I believe the timeline for introduction to the US. As communicable as it is, had it gotten into the schools here it would have hit much harder.

    People who were sick here prior to it spreading in NYC had the common flu and cold. Those kill.

    In Europe it spread through tourist hubs which are flooded with Chinese.

    IMO, the story that we don’t know is how it originated and how long it circulated in wuhan prod to it traveling. Who was patient zero?

  115. homeboken says:

    I am thinking a lot about general ideas for my personal vote, in any election, for any office.

    I don’t expect we will see term limits any time during my lifetime. So I want to impose my own principals to my choice.

    Right now – I am thinking that any candidate that has spent 10 years or more in elected office, can NEVER get my vote. The idea of career politicians is the core problem I have with our form of government.

    So I ask the board – For an idea like this, what is the correct # of years to make the candidate ineligible. Again, this only for my personal vote. Not looking to legislate this at all. 10 years too long? Not long enough?

  116. Libturd says:

    Hoax,

    “The fact that it doesn’t show up on the nih site doesn’t mean anything”

    And this is why you are as much a simpleton as that asshole we all choose to ignore.

    So what you are saying is that Trump just as likely paid for that Wuhan lab as much as Obama did.

    Go back to your parent’s basement you partisan troll.

  117. leftwing says:

    “Why isn’t cheap oil good for the US?”

    It is provided it’s long term.

    This action by Saudis/Russians is a short term squeeze to shut down US production which has been a burr under their saddle for a while now. Bankrupt the Permian Basin infrastructure, prices pop up to a much higher permanent level.

  118. Bystander says:

    The most useless exercise is trying to argue with people who pretend to be open-minded during election process..most are not, particularly when it is incumbent up for re-election. If you can’t see a reason to vote Trump admin out of office now then you were never looking for it. Stop pretending. When Hilary stumbled, she had dimentia or MS or something. Now Biden is mentally unstable but Trump incoherent, crazy rants are a mental “feature”. When Bernie quits race, he was suddenly a legit candidate who would shake up the corporatocracy. Vote whoever you want but Trump ain’t changing jack and don’t tell me he is “American worker first” candidate. He could have crippled H1B visa program and penalized on-shore outsourcers easily. Instead he did lip service and towed big corp line. That would have done wonders to help American workers by putting pressure to develop onshore again. It is hogwash.

  119. D-FENS says:

    The reality of PPP

    https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-04-21/coronavirus-rescue-plan-for-small-business-will-work?sref=1pnqJ0TR

    Media reports have painted a picture of chaos in launching the program. But it is succeeding to a greater degree than the coverage would have you believe. Congress allocated $349 billion in forgivable loans, and the program ran out of money late last week, less than two weeks after it began. During that time, nearly 5,000 lenders approved 1.7 million loans.

    Eighty-eight percent of the loans were for amounts less than $350,000, and three-quarters were for less than $150,000, suggesting that many are going to smaller businesses. Fifty-five percent of the total amount of money given to small businesses involved loans under $1 million.

    Fabius Maximus says:
    April 20, 2020 at 10:16 am
    D-FENS

    The reality of PPP

    https://twitter.com/JuddLegum/status/1252209171405176833

  120. leftwing says:

    “I don’t expect we will see term limits any time during my lifetime. So I want to impose my own principals to my choice.”

    Disclaimer: I am in my fifth decade pulling election levers and am not nor have I been part of either major party. So my comments have nothing to do with Red v Blue, Dem v. Repub…Just macro observations.

    Repubs are a bit more progressive than Dems in these matters. To your point above on term limits, the GOP House has imposed six year term limits on Committee Chairmanships. That is huge as DC is all about power and influence, which flows directly from rank on the committees, which flows directly from seniority. It was implemented by the Party, at serious cost to themselves (many retirements of senior incumbents who would otherwise stay in Congress, which exposed their ‘safe’ District seat to Dem turnover).

    Further, to grim’s point earlier, that Trump got alignment to take the nomination choice away from the Party whereas Bernie didn’t….That action wasn’t optional. Party nomination rules and processes differ. The Dems have the ‘superdelegates’ that directed the 2016 nomination irrespective of the primary results (Bernie could have won 50 states and 50+% of the popular and would have lost the nomination in the first round). They dialed superdelegates power back for 2020 but they still retain the ability to effectively name the nominee. The Repubs have no similar process.

    Saying Trump aligned a bloc gives both Trump and the Repub Party too much credit…the Party would have blocked him in a heartbeat if they had the tools in the box that the Dems had re: Bernie.

    Anyway all things considered, from a Party perspective the Repubs are more ‘democratic’ in their Party practices than the Dems. The Dems are still playing by Tammany rules, and it has and will continue to bite them in the arse with groups like Bernie voters.

  121. 3b says:

    Once Bernie was eliminated than the accolades started from the Democrats about what a great candidate he was. I can’t see how any Democrat can be enthusiastic with Biden as a candidate.

  122. Blue Ribbon Teacher says:

    The Republicans didn’t want Trump as their nominee. That was apparent in the very first televised Republican debate when he was polling at over 40% when the next highest was like 10%. Their first question was to get them all to pledge to not run as a 3rd party candidate, which was directed at Trump exclusively. They all said they wouldn’t. Trump said that he won’t commit to that. They asked why. He flat out said that he wouldn’t give up that leverage to ensure they don’t screw him out of the nomination.

    To be honest, Bernie was in a position to do the same thing. But he has no balls and wouldn’t screw over the democrats.

  123. Juice Box says:

    Hunter Biden still has a 10% stake in BHR partners in China worth at least $20 million through an LLC he setup with his ole buddy. That problem isn’t going away, he is not going to give up his only wealth these days.

  124. Fast Eddie says:

    The number of new cases in New York seem to be going down at a faster pace on a daily basis whereas the numbers in New Jersey are in the upper 3,000 range for almost two weeks now. Day after day, upper 3K of new cases. WTF? The streets and roads are empty… where are these cases coming from?

  125. Bystander says:

    3b,

    He is not but the rogue gallery of nuts that orange clown has put together is hurting this country. For instance I will take a Slow Joe and a stable group of qualified govt leaders over unqualified hand-bag experts and their special husband brokering Middle East peace..or Rick Perry with his finger on the button when he had no idea it was part of the role. You are voting for admin more than prez. This is a bunch of yes folks, with orange tanning cream on their lips, nothing more..

  126. Juice Box says:

    cheap oil – will be great for “recovery” when the economy starts up full blast again. If I had a few empty oil tanks I would be filling them up now for that day.

    However “recovery” is still something that won’t occur until according to some people we get daily genetic tests at home monitored by big brother to see if we are worthy to even be allowed to step foot off our property again.

  127. FakeNewsHoaxes says:

    Lol. TDS people who spent years chasing witch hunts and political investigations are making claims that others are too partisan.

    It appears from trumps comments that the wuhan lab is STILL getting US funding. We deserve to know why and under what premise it began.

    In the big picture, oblama was way too tight with China. We’ve been sold out to them for decades. Biden spent that entire time with his hand out looking for a cut.

  128. Juice Box says:

    Eddie – re: “where are these new cases coming from”

    Spend some time in the supermarkets. I continually see the Silent Generation and Boomers shopping there, the last people that should be leaving their homes yet they do day after day.

    Anecdotal. Dear old Mom’s car won’t start for some “unknown” reason….Anyone here think we should even allow the Silent Generation to escape a lock-down? Groceries are delivered, walk around the block is approved. Yoga is done in the living room on a nice cushy mat watching the teacher on the iPad.

  129. Fast Eddie says:

    Juice,

    That can’t be the deciding factor and if so, tell the kids to go shopping. And maybe there’s no one else to go shopping for the boomers and elders. It’s as if we’re pulling numbers from other places. NY is drastically going down and we’re at the same numbers for 10 days now. It doesn’t make sense.

  130. Libturd says:

    Gary,

    Just went to Harvest to Home to do curbside pickup of our weekly produce. Once again, incredible quality and incredibly easy to order. Priced about Whole Paycheck level. There was enough traffic on 3 and 46 to make it difficult change lanes as well as merge on and off. These are not all necessary workers. Passed the ShopRite in Little Falls. At least 200 cars in the parking lot.

    I don’t want to start any anecdotal based conspiracies, but it just seems like way more than 1 in 100 people under age 50 that get the virus are dying. We are about to add a local cop we know to the list. His heart stopped last night. Heck there are only like 20 cases reported so far in our town. And he’s not the first person I know under 50 to croak.

    Same thing in Montclair. I’m sure you all heard that the singer from the Fountains of Wayne croaked as well as two jazz artists. All around 50.

    Is it possible that numbers are being underreported here, just like in China? After all, our president has no problem lying. Why would he be truthful about OUR numbers?

  131. FakeNewsHoaxes says:

    The death rate in NJ is obscenely high-like 5%. No way will it settle that high.

    There are 10s of thousands of moderate cases that probably not been tested. Maybe because of capacity. They are probably now being tested but have nbeen infected for a while. . Hospitalizations and deaths are dropping which means new cases are too.

  132. ExEssex says:

    This darn Covid-19 is mutating. Latest word is the US strain was relatively mild.
    Look for this virus to emerge again next November.

  133. njtownhomer says:

    I am not gonna vote for one pussy grabber over another. It is probably better to leave them alone. Neither of them would do any difference on the disfunctionality anyway. On the other hand I think senate needs to flip too for better checks and balances.

    As for the case increase, I see an awful lot of cars on roads and in my area. Easter dinners, small backyard parties are still going on in my area. On top of that shopping continues, police departments organize birthday drives for kids in town. They could have organized shopping for the elderly in town instead.

  134. 3b says:

    Bystander I don’t believe he will necessarily be surrounded by a stable group of competent officials. So vote Biden but don’t worry others will actually run the country? That is sad and pathetic.

  135. leftwing says:

    “[Trump] flat out said that he wouldn’t give up that leverage to ensure they don’t screw him out of the nomination. To be honest, Bernie was in a position to do the same thing. But he has no balls and wouldn’t screw over the democrats.”

    Boom. My point exactly. The second that Bernie signed onto the “anything to beat Trump” mantra he was toast. Literally handed over any leverage he had to the Party.

    An entire lifetime as an outsider. Eight years campaigning. Hundreds of millions of dollars raised. Largest grassroots movement in decades. Serious amount of popular vote in two election cycles on a national basis.

    What does he get in return for that unprecedented accomplishment? Two written pages in the Party platform at the convention, a document no one reads let alone follows. Putz. Sad.

    The right way to handle this situation? Walk into Dem HQ with an ask list 5x as long as what you want and 5x as extreme. Tell them who the nominee and VP will be. Hand the sheet over and watch the Party erupt with anger and laughter. Keep silent, then smile politely, tell them you have a meeting with Trump in 48 hours, and you expect their answer before then otherwise you will deliver enough of your supporters to Trump to absolutely ensure his re-election. Then get up very slowly, leave quietly and politely, and ignore the first dozen calls coming in from the Party.

    That’s how you leverage power, and get what you want.

  136. joyce says:

    The individual states are reporting their numbers.

    Libturd says:
    April 21, 2020 at 11:33 am

    Is it possible that numbers are being underreported here, just like in China? After all, our president has no problem lying. Why would he be truthful about OUR numbers?

  137. Blue Ribbon Teacher says:

    Eddie – re: “where are these new cases coming from”

    Spend some time in the supermarkets. I continually see the Silent Generation and Boomers shopping there, the last people that should be leaving their homes yet they do day after day.

    Anecdotal. Dear old Mom’s car won’t start for some “unknown” reason….Anyone here think we should even allow the Silent Generation to escape a lock-down? Groceries are delivered, walk around the block is approved. Yoga is done in the living room on a nice cushy mat watching the teacher on the iPad.

    Many of these people are completely irrational. All of my friends have not been able to keep their parents from going to the store on a daily basis. They all refuse to allow their children to shop for them. They weren’t ready to be treated like senior citizens yet.

    Furthermore, their brains and logical skills are seriously deteriorating at age 60+ and they have no idea what they are talking about with respect to how this disease is transmitted. They are not capable of making prudent decisions at this stage in their life.

    As far as going out…they refuse to take walks. It’s BJ’s and Costco or bust. That’s the only walk they want to do. My MIL insists on going to every single store that’s open to get her deals to save $10.00 for the week.

  138. Blue Ribbon Teacher says:

    Is it possible that numbers are being underreported here, just like in China? After all, our president has no problem lying. Why would he be truthful about OUR numbers?

    The numbers are a mess because not everyone gets tested. The best indicator is the amount of hospitalization and the amount of deaths. Until we do widespread antibody testing on significant segments of the population, we won’t know the real numbers.

  139. Libturd says:

    “The individual states are reporting their numbers.”

    Hardly a defense. :P

    Some states are urging their citizens to get infected. Others are making sure you can’t even hang out in your yard.

    Now what’s with everyone driving with masks on?

  140. Bystander says:

    3b,

    Sad and pathetic would describe the instability, delusion, nepotism and narcissism of Trump administration. I will take other side happily. Reagan is revered and it is well known that he was suffering dementia back in ’87. A prompter and a stick are all that is needed for prez. Rest is behind scenes. Think Trump is doing it all? Right, he is smartest man in history according to himseld even expert on viruses.

  141. Juice Box says:

    Just got news coworker has Covid. Her husband has been in and out of the hospital a dozen times in the last six months, several life saving surgeries and many hospital stays for infection and reinfections. He is in again for more surgery, and she visited apparently and got Covid it seems.

  142. ExEssex says:

    1:23 Right!? Looks ridiculous.

  143. 3b says:

    Bystander:Don’t put words in my mouth. I never said Trump is doing good. I said I won’t be voting in the election because of the miserable choices, just like in 2016 where again I did not vote. That was painful for me, but it was a principled decision on my part. Reagan more than likely had dementia by the time of his re-election, but at least the guy was likeable and was instrumental in helping achieve the fall of the Soviet Union, and liberation of Eastern Europe. Biden is uninspiring and dull.

  144. Blue Ribbon Teacher says:

    Two things. Biden’s dementia seems to be a lot worse than Reagan’s was. The second would be…if you think back to when your grandfather first stopped making sense when he was talking. Usually, it’s a quick descent into oblivion over the next 2 years.

  145. Blue Ribbon Teacher says:

    Here’s a question to ponder. Wouldn’t it be great to have a wikileaks to see everything on Trump and the rest of the Federal Government, the WHOs, and China’s emails from December to March?

  146. Grim says:

    In the end we will probably find out hospitals and healthcare providers were a major transmission vector.

    Terrible, wish it wasn’t the case, but between nursing homes and the infection rates of first responders….

  147. No One says:

    Reagan started out much sharper than Biden. Even in the end, and after getting shot, he still handled his declining skills without looking totally helpless. Slow Joe is starting behind where Reagan finished his 8th year, and poor Old Joe cannot seem to even read off his prepared script when it’s right in front of him, and then gets all flustered and angry at people in his confusion.
    The US voter will not elect someone pooping in their Depends for President.
    Will the Dems take emergency action to prevent the embarrassment of this train wreck? I don’t think “well this VP is also qualified to be president” is an adequate correction. The problem is that Sanders is the second-place guy who would be waiting in the wings if Joe bowed out, and that old Stalinist is also unacceptable, from a policy perspective.

    I have all kinds of problems with Trump, both policy and personality, but I don’t rule him out on grounds of mental deterioration like I would Biden.

  148. joyce says:

    N.J. patients who got experimental plasma treatment making ‘remarkable’ recovery, hospital says
    https://www.nj.com/coronavirus/2020/04/nj-patients-who-got-experimental-plasma-treatment-making-remarkable-recovery-hospital-says.html
    The first two coronavirus patients in New Jersey to receive an experimental plasma treatment are both making “remarkable” recoveries, according to the hospital system treating them.

    Virtua Health said both Renee Bannister, a 63-year-old teacher from Gloucester County, and Andy Fei, a 61-year-old opera singer from Mount Laurel, have been taken off of ventilators and moved out of intensive care beds at Virtua Voorhees Hospital.

    “We are incredibly excited about these remarkable recoveries,” Dr. Eric Sztejman, a medical director for Virtua Health, said in a release Tuesday. “We performed the transfusions just days after the clinical trial was announced, so it is gratifying to be among the first in nation to explore this promising approach to combating the coronavirus.”

  149. Blue Ribbon Teacher says:

    1918 flu found that outdoor patient treatment centers that were setup for temporary treatment had far less transmission than indoor hospitals.

  150. homeboken says:

    I’m with 3b on this – I could never defend the statement:
    “Yeah, he is in serious cognitive decline and he has been running for President since 1988 but think of all the geniuses that he is going to have working in his cabinet!”

    The point is – I don’t get to vote for any cabinet members. I cast a vote of Pres and his VP. If you hate Trump that much that you are willing to hand your leadership over to a group that is unknowable today, then we shouldn’t debate this anymore. You’ve already decided.

    Last point – the more I think about Biden the more I become convinced that the DNC is preparing only for the 2024 election. Biden is canon fodder, and if somehow he wins, he won’t be running again in 2024. So the play looks like – 2024 or bust.

  151. ExEssex says:

    Whatever you gotta tell yourself.

  152. ExEssex says:

    Trump was a terrible idea from the beginning. He’s been a bumbling fool with profiteers and criminals everywhere. He’s done essentially what The Simpsons predicted he’d do years ago. The whole freakin’ world saw him coming. Guy needs to leave. Turnout will flush this turd once and for all.

  153. Dink says:

    Bystander nails it:

    “The most useless exercise is trying to argue with people who pretend to be open-minded during election process..most are not, particularly when it is incumbent up for re-election. If you can’t see a reason to vote Trump admin out of office now then you were never looking for it. Stop pretending. When Hilary stumbled, she had dementia or MS or something. Now Biden is mentally unstable but Trump incoherent, crazy rants are a mental “feature”..”

    The concern trolling invariably comes from people who range from right of center to libertarian. Like they were ever going to vote for a liberal anyway. They are closet Trumpers mostly as there is probably very little distance between Trump and their preferred policies. They just don’t like how crass he is about it basically. The “Biden has dementia” is an obvious tell as well as either they literally have never seen Trump speak or know nothing about his penchant for stupid conspiracy theories…. or they are just disingenuous about the whole thing.

  154. 3b says:

    Dunk: So those of us who don’t like Trump or Biden, are really Trump supported in disguise. If we don’t agree then we are suspect. That’s why the left is so scary.

  155. Juice Box says:

    $25 billion for coronavirus testing in the new legislation!

    I am in the wrong business!

  156. Libturd says:

    3B,

    Wonky people only see it as black or white.

  157. RentL0rd says:

    Stale Juice Box – You only see the $25 B aside for invaluable Testing out of the $480B?

    Glad the democrats are fighting for it.. otherwise the brain-dead GOP would allocate nothing for testing!

  158. ExEssex says:

    Trump had a few opportunities to help out working people, but he opted instead for big corporate boondoggles, yeah I think some of his policies are “ok” but they really aren’t well formulated or effective. He’s unable to speak to a crowd without lying, his mental fitness has always been a question mark, and he’s a fat orange f@ck.

  159. Deadconomy says:

    Lib, meet the neighbors

    “Last month, af­ter two weeks of quar­an­tine liv­ing, Man­hat­tan res­i­dents Eric and Heidi Ma­ti­soff packed their two tod­dlers and dog into an SUV and tem­porarily moved in with Mrs. Ma­ti­soff’s mother, who lives North­vale, N.J. On the drive over, the Sub­ur­ban Jun­gle clients stopped to view an avail­able four-bed­room house in Glen Ridge, N.J. They made an of­fer that day. The clos­ing is sched­uled for June 15.”

    https://www.wsj.com/articles/escape-from-new-york-city-11587477601?emailToken=d4b6febc172142b654eaac7d45df4541We+AVtsyDZOyaZh7MizMzjTZqZw9HYiab3I8qLGhxFo2xER+rbqTAEZSMhgwkcaTmwxccIh3r8uSZAfFRN79ug%3D%3D&reflink=article_copyURL_share

  160. JCer says:

    Don’t worry if governor “Tax and Spend” could he’d sell your children into slavery to fund his progressive utopia. Borrowing is just the tip of the iceberg. When do we think the feds will come to bail out the states, I’d imagine most who didn’t have their finances in order are getting crushed by COVID. Not too much difference between states like NJ or IL and companies like JCPenny.

  161. chicagofinance says:

    Biden has dementia. I have never voted Republican, although I would have voted Romney given the chance. Trump is an a%%hole and I would have voted for Bloomberg (despite the fact the he is thoroughly boring and unlikeable).

    I’ve been unimpressed with Biden for many years, but the killshot for me was the VP debate with Ryan in 2012. He actually won that debate though….. Biden is worse than Trump even if he had all his marbles.

    I consider myself center/center-right, possibly a bit libertarian. Socially liberal.

    Dink says:
    April 21, 2020 at 4:02 pm
    If you can’t see a reason to vote Trump admin out of office now then you were never looking for it. Stop pretending. When Hilary stumbled, she had dementia or MS or something. Now Biden is mentally unstable but Trump incoherent, crazy rants are a mental “feature”..”

    The concern trolling invariably comes from people who range from right of center to libertarian. Like they were ever going to vote for a liberal anyway. They are closet Trumpers mostly as there is probably very little distance between Trump and their preferred policies. They just don’t like how crass he is about it basically. The “Biden has dementia” is an obvious tell as well as either they literally have never seen Trump speak or know nothing about his penchant for stupid conspiracy theories…. or they are just disingenuous about the whole thing.

  162. Juice Box says:

    Interesting how the CDC numbers and numbers reported by NJ numbers don’t jive at all.

    Table 5 – 2/1/2020 to 4/18/2020.*

    Deaths | COVID-19 | All Causes |Pneumonia | Pneumonia & COVID-19 | FLU
    New Jersey 1,378 19,038 1,982 710 96

    https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/COVID19/

  163. Juice Box says:

    Deaths | COVID-19 | All Causes |Pneumonia | Pneumonia & COVID-19 | FLU
    1,378 | 19,038 | 1,982 | 710 |96

    These numbers don’t jive.

    4,377 reported in the news for NJ?

  164. Juice Box says:

    Chi – he is a loveable gaffe machine just like ole Ronnie Raygun was. They may to need to give him a couple of “pep” shots before the debates that is all.

  165. homeboken says:

    I’ll say it again:

    I don’t like Trump, I think we as a country can do much better.
    Personally, my income would easily double on an annual basis with a D controlled Executive and legislative.

    So believe me, I would prefer to vote D. Both socially and personally.

    This isn’t tin-foil hat stuff. The man is sick and getting worse. Imagine Biden on stage for 2 hours a day, every day for a month. Taking questions like Trump (and outright attacks). It would NEVER happen.

    Here is the real question and I don’t know the answer, so please help:
    Who comprises the group of real power that will be making all the calls of a Biden presidency? There is someone making all these decisions and I would be the life of my kids that it is NOT Joe Biden making any of these real decisions.

  166. Nomad says:

    LabCorp now has home COVID 19 test.

    Available soon except if you live in NJ or NY. Apparently, if you can’t pump your own gas, you don’t have the ability to swab your nose.

    https://www.pixel.labcorp.com/covid-19

  167. Dink says:

    “Dunk: So those of us who don’t like Trump or Biden, are really Trump supported in disguise. If we don’t agree then we are suspect. That’s why the left is so scary.”

    I exaggerate, not necessarily MAGA crowd, just closer politically to Trump then the other side. And you kind of prove my point as someone who paints himself as some sort of both sider centrist but 95% of your posts are along the lines of “the left are bigger hypocrites” or “the left is so scary”.

  168. 3b says:

    Dink: I have always been a centrist and have always been an independent. My problem with the left is simply that they are hypocrites. At least with the Republicans and the right they don’t hide it. And yes the left is becoming quite scary in their attempts to quash all dissent or disagreement with their positions.

  169. Dink says:

    “Biden has dementia”

    Coming from the same exact crew who said Hilary has a seizure disorder, Parkinsons, or whatever. So maybe I should take their armchair doctoring as seriously as it should be which is not at all.

    ” At least with the Republicans and the right they don’t hide it”.

    I don’t get what you are saying. How are Republicans open with their hypocrisy? I mean its quite obvious and shameless but they will never admit to being hypocrites (i think Nom did once though). These are the same people who droned on for 8 years about Obama’s narcissism and golfing but simply cant muster up the strength to mention Trump’s. They don’t say oh yea its because we are hypocrites. Remember the Ebola crisis where everyone on the right was wetting the bed about the oncoming doom. Same people today who say “its just the flu”. They never own up to being completely wrong about stuff or contradicting themselves mostly because they are simply a never-ending fountain of bad faith.

  170. Juice Box says:

    RentL0rd – funding means “Silence!” to the pitchfork crowd on any/either side.

    Gonna be an interesting discussion when most of us who are fortunate and well still alive after all out testing?

    Would you agree? Then place your bets OIL and AIRLINES!

  171. BoomerRemover says:

    While the old man is like a filing cabinet with no drawers, he is a lifelong stutterer. The mannerisms which stem from his disability are oft misinterpreted as dementia.

  172. Blue Ribbon Teacher says:

    Hillary maybe didn’t have a seizure disorder…but it was kind of amusing that she fainted and was dragged around like a corpse after they went on a mass media tour touting how strong and healthy she was. That was the day she lost the election IMO.

  173. 3b says:

    Dink I won’t belabor the point with you. Democrats and Republicans flip side of the same coin. Democrats are worse because they claim they are not.

  174. Deadconomy says:

    3b, just keeps doubling down..he is blind to his bias, as he is blind to his biased position on the nyc metro housing market.

    “And you kind of prove my point as someone who paints himself as some sort of both sider centrist but 95% of your posts are along the lines of “the left are bigger hypocrites” or “the left is so scary”.”

    3b says:
    April 21, 2020 at 8:56 pm
    Dink: I have always been a centrist and have always been an independent. My problem with the left is simply that they are hypocrites. At least with the Republicans and the right they don’t hide it. And yes the left is becoming quite scary in their attempts to quash all dissent or disagreement with their positions.

    3b says:
    April 21, 2020 at 10:41 pm
    Dink I won’t belabor the point with you. Democrats and Republicans flip side of the same coin. Democrats are worse because they claim they are not.

  175. 3b says:

    Pumps I asked you to stop responding to my posts. Your obsession with
    With singling my posts out is disturbing. Should you not he preparing for your on line teaching. It’s incredible you have no shame you posted here for years claiming to have a big finance job, making big bucks with big raises and bosses, only to be outed as a teacher whose spouse makes the big bucks. You are pathetic.

  176. Blue Ribbon Teacher says:

    Dr. Michael Osterholm on the WHO:

    “Many of us were incredibly disappointed for lack of a better word in the WHO and its response,” Dr. Michael Osterholm, the director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, said in a podcast interview published Tuesday.

    “When you look at what WHO did I think they set us back a great deal because they made countries believe if just a few countries that were going to get this would just do the containment work, we could stop it.”

    “We couldn’t.”

    “Trying to stop this kind of transmission is like trying to stop the wind,” he said. “So we held back on a preparedness, and gave people excuses not to do it.”

  177. Blue Ribbon Teacher says:

    lol…I’d hate to see Abbott districts in this mess. I have several students that are just MIA since March 13 and they won’t respond to any emails.

    My son and daughter’s district….they mailed it in completely for the 1st month at the elementary level. My wife and I are the primary instructors for my kids education for the remaining 8 weeks.

  178. njtownhomer says:

    https://www.sfchronicle.com/health/article/First-known-U-S-coronavirus-death-occurred-on-15217316.php

    looks like first case could in US may be late Jan, early Feb.

    Same county research indicates the infection is already 50-80x of reported (https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.04.14.20062463v1)

  179. grim says:

    If the first death was Feb 6, the first case in the US has to be months before that.

  180. Fast Eddie says:

    lol…I’d hate to see Abbott districts in this mess. I have several students that are just MIA since March 13 and they won’t respond to any emails.

    My son and daughter’s district….they mailed it in completely for the 1st month at the elementary level. My wife and I are the primary instructors for my kids education for the remaining 8 weeks.

    My spouse is a Catholic School teacher… online every day with every student using Zoom and Google meets. It’s like nothing changed, rolling right along. And they supplied kids with Chrome books who didn’t have a machine of their own. Again, Catholic School as opposed to the bloated waste in the public sector.

  181. grim says:

    Wayne did a great job, didn’t miss a beat.

    Surprised compared to other towns, and especially other states. Work with folks over in Arizona that say that distance learning was such a failure, they cancelled school for the rest of the year because they realized they would never figure it out.

  182. homeboken says:

    3 kids, 2 school aged. Their elementary school is doing the bare minimum. At night, a few worksheets get posted along a 2 minute video. That is the extent of the communication, except they each get about 40 mins of zoom time, but its not 1:1. It’s like 10:1.

    This is Kinder and 3rd grade.

    I am very disappointed but willing to give a wide leeway since, who the heck ever prepared for a month + long shut down of the schools.

    once this is over, my district needs to do a post-mortem and improve for future.

  183. Libturd says:

    My 9th grader’s straight A average was saved by the virus. It looked like honors Math (geometry) was going to take him out as he had a solid B heading into the final semester. For whatever reason, the class is much easier online for him than in-person. At a B+ now and teetering on an A minus. I guess the honors breakfast won’t be happening this year anyway.

  184. homeboken says:

    I went to the honors breakfast every years during HS, as the bus-boy.

  185. Deadconomy says:

    This is not addressing anyone on this blog, so don’t take it personal.

    So the same people that support low teacher compensation are also the first to complain that Jr. isn’t getting the education he deserves. And remember, a lot of these schools had to adapt with no notice whatsoever. These aren’t some little schools, these are big districts and it’s no easy task. I think they did a great job in my district. Guess my taxes pay for something of value. You pay for what you get.

  186. what if Wednesday says:

    What if the Wuhan Virus, not so much escaped – but was released a la 12 Monkeys movie scenario. It would explain a lot of the CCP tight security and changing of narrative about this.

    Finally, whether Trump or Biden. Don’t all kid yourself that it is not. We are at the same generational and ideological vacuous standpoint as the USSR in these mens’ time.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuri_Andropov
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konstantin_Chernenko

  187. Deadconomy says:

    Blue , there you go with your elitism bashing Abbott districts. Again, why are you hiding out in one of the best school districts in the state teaching AP? Come roll around in the dirt and prove your elite skills in an Abbott district. Your type always runs from the Abbots and then judge how bad those schools are. If you can do better, go do it. Go help the most challenging schools…

  188. Deadconomy says:

    Is this what 3b means when he says there is no difference in education across state lines? That nj is overrated, no difference between education in different states because they all have colleges? Funny dude… you pay for what you get. Good luck raising your child in one of these “cheap” locations.

    grim says:
    April 22, 2020 at 7:37 am
    Wayne did a great job, didn’t miss a beat.

    Surprised compared to other towns, and especially other states. Work with folks over in Arizona that say that distance learning was such a failure, they cancelled school for the rest of the year because they realized they would never figure it out.

  189. Deadconomy says:

    I’m just a handle. The finance job was my wife. I did not make up lies about the compensation. You can think what you want. Maybe if people like you didn’t sh!t on education, I could have said I was a teacher from the start. Only reason blue gets a pass is because he feeds your right wing biases with claims like there is nothing to worry about climate change.

    I prob make more money than you from passive income on investments. So keep calling me pathetic..

    3b says:
    April 21, 2020 at 11:10 pm
    Pumps I asked you to stop responding to my posts. Your obsession with
    With singling my posts out is disturbing. Should you not he preparing for your on line teaching. It’s incredible you have no shame you posted here for years claiming to have a big finance job, making big bucks with big raises and bosses, only to be outed as a teacher whose spouse makes the big bucks. You are pathetic.

  190. homeboken says:

    Dead – Distance learning in NJ is just as horrible as Arizona. At least in my case, I am a 2 time customer of the NJ schools. I am seriously considering bucking up for private school after I see what really goes on every day. Ignorance was bliss, I was at work, kids went to school. Now I see what they are doing all day long. Not impressed.

  191. Fast Eddie says:

    A regular day of work… spouse has commandeered the dining room and I am in my office. The spouse is conducting regular lessons from 8:30 to 3:00 without missing a beat. I hear kids reading and then discussing, doing lesson plans, the works. The whole school is working like a clock. Occasionally, the principal pops in to see how everything is going. The transition is so smooth, that they’ve had enrollment coming over from public schools during this lock down. All this done at a third of the cost of public schools.

  192. Deadconomy says:

    This is exactly the behavior that will hurt the economy and make this recession last longer.

    Scrooge never lets a good crisis go to waste to lower costs. If times are good, can’t get away with it, so they pile on to take advantage during the bad times…hurting the economy even more.

    “And managers are taking other steps too. In addition to reducing hours, a common measure in recessions, they’re also slashing pay levels –- which is much more unusual, and may be an ominous sign for the post-virus economy.


    Salary cuts billed as temporary could easily end up as a more permanent feature of payrolls, with employees finding they’re expected to work for 10% or 20% less than before, according to Gregory Daco at Oxford Economics.

“That, sadly, is a reality of the recession that may potentially last longer,” he said.”

    https://apple.news/AD3qlcakAQ62D5X8e1on8Ww

  193. grim says:

    Lots of companies are taking this opportunity to shift work to outsourcers.

    No stigma for mass layoffs. Lots of companies that were on the fence about balancing the public backlash with cost savings and taking the opportunity to pull the trigger.

  194. grim says:

    There are hundreds of thousands of jobs that will not be returning when we open back up again. In my capacity, with the companies I work with, I can point to tens of thousands that I have direct knowledge of.

  195. Waht if Wednesday says:

    Trump has his well known moronic problems,

    But this at heart is what is wrong the dems. I actually prefere another 4 yrs of orange hoover, where he is not likely to finish it because nature won’t allow it. Then get Biden with the dems oligarch machine that the Clintons created back in power.

    https://prospect.org/coronavirus/unsanitized-donna-shalala-selection-bailout-oversight-panel/

  196. homeboken says:

    Grim – maybe hundreds of thousands at the state level.

    Nationally – it is in the millions already. My job gives me some data about the middle and lower income rungs of society on a monthly basis. If the ability to pay rent is any gauge, this job loss is going to be 2x the current 22m at the lowest point.

  197. Juice Box says:

    Why work? Big Brother is taking care of us with Universal Income coming right?

    “But even though she had customers, Marietta reluctantly decided to close the coffee shop just over a week ago.

    “The very people we hired have now asked us to be laid off,” Marietta wrote in a blog post. “Not because they did not like their jobs or because they did not want to work, but because it would cost them literally hundreds of dollars per week to be employed.”

    With the federal government now offering $600 a week on top of the state’s unemployment benefits, she recognized her former employees could make more money staying home than they did on the job.”

    https://www.npr.org/2020/04/21/838879361/bitter-taste-for-coffee-shop-owner-as-new-600-jobless-benefit-closed-her-busines

  198. grim says:

    Yeah, we are seeing that across the US.

    We have employees asking to be laid off.

  199. Juice Box says:

    Speaking on not working. I have three cousins that are furloughed. Each is looking for a career change now. One is leaving NYC and not renewing apt lease and headed to the country to start over. Other one is seething with anger over his furlough, and is looking for a new career. Third one is looking to move to a state that allows legal consumption of the wacky weed. All are late 40s, early 50s.

    I doubt any will be hired back anyway once this is all over. As Grim says stigma on layoffs etc, and now stigma on ageism at work won’t matter anymore.

  200. 3b says:

    Pumps you most certainly did make up lies about your compensation and the raises you were getting and how brilliant you were at your job that you could post all day when you should have been focusing on your students, instead of lying about your accomplishments. As for your passive income who cares, we could all do that if Grandma gave us a house. Fact is your wife is the primary breadwinner and it bothers you. Now you are on again about schools and NJ is the best, blah blah. Your having a wet dream now about all the New Yorkers who will be flocking to the suburbs to flee the pandemic and pay big bucks for your house. It’s a sickness with you. It was so nice while you were gone. Like I said you are pathetic, and a simpleton.

  201. Deadconomy says:

    You have a right to your opinion, and your experience might justify it.

    My daughters teacher is in her last year. She is retiring. Two months ago, I took my daughter to her school playground. She wanted to go look through her classroom window to show me something. Low and behold, at 7pm, this teacher was still working. There are good ones out there, and there are bad ones.

    Honestly, nj has good teachers and good schools for the most part. Nothing is perfect, though. Most nj kids turn out to be pretty darn productive adults. I think that shows that your child is going to be fine under this state education system, so don’t stress over it. You are most likely in good hands.

    Also, make sure to stay on top of your child. The school can’t do it all. You also have to help the school out by being a good parent. That’s why abbot schools are the way they are, the parents are not really there for their kids. It’s pretty much all on the school. Hence, why you want to send your kid to a district where the parents help their kids, are there for them, and hold them accountable for their learning.

    homeboken says:
    April 22, 2020 at 8:28 am
    Dead – Distance learning in NJ is just as horrible as Arizona. At least in my case, I am a 2 time customer of the NJ schools. I am seriously considering bucking up for private school after I see what really goes on every day. Ignorance was bliss, I was at work, kids went to school. Now I see what they are doing all day long. Not impressed.

  202. Juice Box says:

    Seems the plague did start earlier in California.

    “At least two people who died in early and mid-February had contracted the novel coronavirus, health officials in California said Tuesday, signaling that the virus may have spread — and claimed lives — in the United States weeks earlier than previously thought.

    Tissue samples taken during autopsies of two individuals who died at home in Santa Clara County, Calif., tested positive for the virus, local health officials said in a statement. The victims died on Feb. 6 and Feb. 17, respectively.”

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/04/22/death-coronavirus-first-california/?utm_source=reddit.com

  203. Deadconomy says:

    Fast, I went to catholic school from 1st to 8th grade. If the catholic school replaced the public school system, you would still be crying about how bad it is. Go watch “The Wire” and understand how difficult the education problem really is in poor areas. Charter, private, or public is not the issue, it’s the demographics of the location. It’s not easy to teach poor kids with no parental support. That’s the bottom line. The school can help, but it can’t save them all. Unmotivated kid with no parental support is very difficult to help.

  204. Blue Ribbon Teacher says:

    Why would I move to an Abbott district? So I can take a $40,000 pay cut?

  205. Juice Box says:

    Neighbor was just laid off, age 59 worked in the mortgage business his whole career, the Plague gave the business the “reason” to get rid of him, as he was not furloughed but laid off.

    He sees no reason to go back to work other than Medical Insurance. Has a few months to figure that one out. Two homes one here is paid off but the high taxes will eventually force him to sell the one he has here in NJ.

  206. Fast Eddie says:

    There are hundreds of thousands of jobs that will not be returning when we open back up again.

    Which will be replaced by jobs that require new skills fueled by demands? Haven’t we transitioned since the beginning of time?

  207. Fast Eddie says:

    Unmotivated kid with no parental support is very difficult to help.

    Tell that to the democrats.

  208. Blue Ribbon Teacher says:

    https://slate.com/business/2020/04/yeast-shortage-supermarkets-coronavirus.html?utm_source=pocket-newtab

    Apparently everyone is buying out flour with hope of making bread. Unfortunately, yeast is off the shelves and it’s not easy to ramp up production. What a lot of people don’t realize is that you can create your own culture in about 2 weeks by letting a flour and water mixture sit out. I did it 15 years ago and have kept that same culture alive since then.

  209. Phoenix says:

    “Lots of companies are taking this opportunity to shift work to outsourcers.”

    Is Trump for this or against this?
    Is it Anti-American to outsource work?
    Are republicans against outsourcing more than democrats, or does profit mean more than political affiliation or patriotism?

  210. Deadconomy says:

    3b, your post is full of excuses and hate. My grandma didn’t give me a house, but I don’t care. Think what you want.

  211. Phoenix says:

    Before the crisis money owed to the retirees pension was approx 200 Billion in NJ.

    With the stock market’s current state anyone guess how it is now?

  212. Juice Box says:

    RE: The school can help, but it can’t save them all

    Proverbs 13:24 spare the rod and spoil the child

    Sister Mary had her ruler, she did her best to beat the devil out of you.

  213. 3b says:

    Pumps no executes no hate. I correct myself she sold it to you at a discount the rest is true. You are a liar and a fraud. An insufferable simpleton. Back to ignoring you.

  214. Deadconomy says:

    Exactly why social!sm is the devil in disguise. Absolutely destroys motivation, innovation, and the ability to work hard.

    But what’s the answer as jobs are sent overseas, and the remaining jobs pay so little that you are better off not working? I don’t have the answer, but I wish someone did..

    grim says:
    April 22, 2020 at 9:15 am
    Yeah, we are seeing that across the US.

    We have employees asking to be laid off.

  215. Juice Box says:

    We made eight loaves of bread and froze them weeks ago. I think we still have two left, kids no longer want to eat bread anymore so we are making different things for them.

  216. 3b says:

    Fast: That’s what they said when they sent manufacturing jobs overseas, and that has not exactly worked out, assuming that was ever really the plan. Forget about out sourcing, how quickly does AI advance, no people here or there.

  217. 3b says:

    Grim rhetorical question perhaps, but why would people ask to be laid off? For 600 more in unemployment on a temporary basis?

  218. Blue Ribbon Teacher says:

    District to district, there is no continuity. Basically, we were planning for this the month leading into it. I hit the ground running the first Monday we were home with my lessons. We were made clear of expectations.

    My local district completely dropped the ball and it’s all likely due to the fact that we have a temporary superintendent who doesn’t give a crap. The staff had them sign up for a math website and “do whatever they want”. It was only by week 3 that they do a 30 minute zoom meeting which is just a 30 minute show and tell session. And they’ve done the same thing the past 2 weeks as well.

    Basically, my wife and I morphed into their primary instructor. I’ve seen this play out before. The 3rd grade teachers won’t be addressing what they failed to learn in 2nd grade. All I can say is this…my kids are going to be at a big advantage relative to the other students in their grade.

  219. Deadconomy says:

    3b, fair enough. I’m not proud of lying about my occupation, but I did what I had to do. There was a lot of hate for me and teachers on this blog, so i did what I had to do, otherwise I would not be taken seriously. Worse off, have someone emailing my school email like they did to Blue (and people like Blue on this blog). So I’m sorry for the dishonesty with my occupation, it’s not right, but I had my reasons. Is it justified, no. So I am sorry.

    I am also sorry for being so stubborn and argumentative. I have grown, and i am trying to listen more and be more understanding of other’s position on issues. No longer the know it all because that’s for losers, and I don’t want to be a loser.

    And I promise you that I don’t care about the price of my home. As long as I get my money back when I sell, I would be happy. Will I ever even sell? I honestly might be here for life, so the price is meaningless to me. So don’t think my position on nyc metro market is based on self serving bias.

    I really do believe in this nyc economy long term. It’s the lifeblood of our country and it’s one of the greatest cities in the world. It will always have a place as a leader in our national economy. That’s my opinion, and maybe it is going to hell like you suggest, but this is how I see it.

    Rt 3 is probably the cheapest real estate within short distance to Manhattan. All it takes is for more efficient access to nyc and boom, those values are through the f’en roof. We will see what happens.

  220. homeboken says:

    BRT – this is my concern. I am certain that I am not doing the best for my kids education, neither is my wife. We are getting by but if I wanted to be a teacher, well….

    Anyway, I’d pay to have some skilled teacher get them back up to speed. As we open, I may have to find them a supplemental tutor.

  221. grim says:

    Grim rhetorical question perhaps, but why would people ask to be laid off? For 600 more in unemployment on a temporary basis?

    Yep, their kids are at home, they have no child care, and they are scared.

  222. Fast Eddie says:

    New York’s numbers are plummeting. On 4/15, they had ~ 11,000 new cases and as of yesterday, they had ~ 4,000 new cases. Meanwhile, NJ has the methodical ~ 3,500 cases day after day. It’s up slightly from yesterday.

  223. 3b says:

    Grim: And what happens after that? Are these lower level positions?

  224. 30 year realtor says:

    Who among you is moving to Georgia? If you were there would you be getting a tattoo? How about that haircare or a massage? Dinner and a movie?

    Canary in a coal mine.

  225. Wolfgang Turd says:

    Gator made two loaves of bread. They were decent when they were warm and doughy. I don’t eat much bread except for the seeded rye that I use in my lunchtime smoked brisket and the frozen naan which I reheat when I make Indian food.

    BRT, good on you for culturing yeast. One of my sisters married a French dude (who happens to love their universal health care btw) and they culture everything. They have the best vinegar you will ever taste. She has this strawberry vinegar that if you mix just a little into tuna fish salad, it’s like heaven on earth.

    I will say this. I’ve always been a decent cook, since my parents raised us to be independent. Though we spent an inordinate amount of time cleaning our home, I was lucky enough to have also learned auto maintenance, plumbing, electronics, landscaping, gardening, fishing, hunting, finance, sewing, laundry and cooking among other things. Probably besides finance, plumbing and electric, cooking has come in the most handy. Though I always tended to cook dinner, especially once I started working from home. This quarantine has really allowed me to hone my skills, especially when it comes to being creative with the ingredients I have remaining at home as I try to empty our pantry as much as possible before restocking. Since we no longer bring in food (or eat out for that matter), I’ve been trying to perfect my Asian to make up for it. I’ve got Thai down to a science (don’t need recipes), especially with the help of the Instant Pot which does an incredible job at blending flavors due to the high pressure. It’s also an amazing time saver. Since our hunkering down, I’ve perfected Pad Thai, Drunken Noodle, Massaman, Red and Yellow (mild) curries as well as figured out how to make that great dressing they use on many of their salads (papaya salad) for example. On the Chinese front, I’ve made Chow Fon, an amazingly simple and authentic beef with broccoli and a handful of Sichuan dishes since we all love chili oil spiced dishes. I’ve always made Bok Choy, Chinese Broccoli and my new favorite, Snowpea Shoots with Hoisin or dou miao. We also make Korean style rice bowls frequently as I love short ribs (Kalbi) and those pickled sides (Banchan). I’ll cheat and use ground beef instead of sirloin some time for my bulgogi. I love Vietnamese too, but just can’t source the vegetables I need without an HMart in the area. Fortunately, there’s a tiny East/West market in Belleville that has noodles and coconut milk extremely cheap and the rest I usually find at local Indian markets of all places.

    I made some fantastic meatball stromboli last night. Fairway has the absolute best frozen pizza dough and I had a bunch of fresh mozz to use up.

    It’s funny, you guys probably didn’t know this about him, but before ExPat went t1ts up, we often shared recipes and cooking tricks. We both were trying to figure out how to simulate Rao’s marinara and the Chick Fil A chicken breast among other things.

  226. Hold my beer says:

    Fast

    Has New Jersey expanded its testing criteria? Maybe they are testing people under 65 who aren’t seriously ill.

  227. leftwing says:

    “Rhetorical question perhaps, but why would people ask to be laid off? For 600 more in unemployment on a temporary basis?”

    Sister is a PT, flyover state. She is second and not primary income, she and husband empty nesters. Had a four day workweek for fulltime, well defined hours. Her employer prior to obtaining PPP asked employees to take 40% of prior salary, with pro-rata reduction in hours, but they would be effectively on-call because therapy was being delivered remotely. Uncertainty of schedule unappealing to her. She also had an issue with the concept of remote PT. She asked to be canned, employer accommodating as more patients/hours become available to other therapists. She’s not concerned about job availability when this all clears.

    Without the extra 600 probably would not have made sense for her, and obviously would not have worked if income were currently needed in the household or job availability post-virus were a concern.

  228. Juice Box says:

    Georgia? I have family there in Atlanta. Nice place to visit, live there? NO WAY!

    Someone has to go first with the reopening, what was supposed to be 15 days is now dragging on an on and on.

    Rules in Georgia for reopening are no more than 10 people to gather in a single location at any time and everyone must maintain at least 6 feet of separation, all are to wear masks PPE etc. Anyone feeling sick must stay home.

  229. Hold my beer says:

    Dallas county extended shelter in place until May 15th. Tarrant county will consider loosening shelter in place in 2 to 4 weeks. Tarrant county only has a little over 100 people in the hospital with CCP virus.

  230. Libturd, the Master Beta says:

    So in other words, more partisan-based hope. Lot’s of talky the talky, but no walkie the walkie.

  231. 3b says:

    Left Understand. Your Sisters situation makes sense. Facts and circumstances.

  232. Libturd says:

    When is Easter again?

  233. Hold my beer says:

    I bought a used zojurishi bread machine at a thrift store a few years ago for $3. Probably by far the best investment I have ever made.

  234. Juice Box says:

    Heard from my coworker with Covid19, she definitely got it from the Hospital, says she touched door handles and stuff while there visiting her husband. Today was first day with no fever. We are sending her food and supplies, another coworker who lives nearby did a drop off of some meals since she is too weak to cook.

  235. Fabius Maximus says:

    Unempl;yment with out the 600 will give a lot of people six months breathing room to work out whats next.

    The states like GA need to get places reopened to allow them to purge the unemployment rolls faster than the voting roles. They can afford the numbers of claims and with their tax caps they are in deep sh1t without federal help.

  236. Emeril Libturdasse says:

    Gator always wanted one, but we have more kitchen appliances than a Williams Sonoma. and those breadmakers are huge.

  237. homeboken says:

    Will this shutdown or extended shutdown be the kill-shot to the various public employee pension systems? They were all massively underfunded before.

    Now we have a huge drop in tax revenue’s, mass layoffs and a 30% drop in the market value of held securities.

    Any of you public employees (teachers for example) worried about the future of your retirement?

  238. joyce says:

    Tattoo – no (don’t have any, no plans to change that)
    hair care, massage – yes, yes
    dinner – yes
    movie – no (haven’t been in years)

    30 year realtor says:
    April 22, 2020 at 10:43 am
    Who among you is moving to Georgia? If you were there would you be getting a tattoo? How about that haircare or a massage? Dinner and a movie?

  239. Medical What if Wednesday says:

    2 things about the Red States opening up,

    1- Yep, all numbers are going to go up.

    2-Naivetés is gone, experience has seasoned the medical world.

    What I mean is the lack of proper PPE and knowledge initially made everyone intubate and put the patient on ventilator for everyone’s safety. There was an opinion piece yesterday in the NY Times by a physician regarding silent hypoxia generated by lung surfactant and ciliary cell destruction caused by Wuhan Virus. It sort of reaffirms a hunch that I posted here a few days ago. Where week 1 of symptoms is key to promote pulmonary clearance/toiletry – see cystic fibrosis breathing exercises to avoid week 2’s crash and descend into likely death.

    As time has gone by, other regional areas have developed their own little protocol of what works for them. Many don’t intubate until the PaO2 – oxygen level diluted in blood plasma is below 50 instead of Red Cell oxygen saturation levels, instead they are using other breathing devices and adjuncts, of course they are not as populated as NYC. Many also make it clear to the family the mortality rate of what is going to happen once on ventilator and actively encourage not intubating the really sick and elderly.

    So this will likely be a 2 yrs plus event, but as time passes experience by both providers and the public of what to expect will influence outcome in ways that no one knows.

  240. Fabius Maximus says:

    Districts that were already using the likes of Google classrooms were in much better shape when all this came down. The learning curve for Google is pretty steep. I have to applaud those IT staff in the districts getting their teachers through this.
    One of my kids is in a school that invested in MS Teams, they are rocking it.

    Spring break helped. A lot of NY took that time and the snow days at the start to try and put something together. This year is shot for a lot of kids. Another area that when it does open up, life will be different.

  241. Blue Ribbon Teacher says:

    Lib,

    I do the same thing. I have some grape vines that produce ungodly amounts of grapes. I make vinegar out of the smallest ones. Concord grape vinegar is amazing. Unfiltered. What I do to enhance it with nice color and flavor is stick a bunch of purple basil in it and let it infuse over the course of a few weeks. It’s amazing stuff.

    I’ve actually hacked the self cleaning cycle on my oven and use clay tiles to mimic. a wood oven. My wife hand makes all of our pasta. That’s been the big challenge. Italian 00 flour and semolina are rare commodities since Italy shut down. We also stocked up on reggiano parmagianno because of the Italy shut down. I’ve basically mastered Italian (not americanized), Mexican (authentic not americanized), Middle Eastern, and Moroccan. Ironically, being Chinese, that’s the least I do. I’ve been experimenting making different types of potstickers. The best one I’ve done is a vegetable one that I made using the leaves from Beets, mushrooms, carrots, ginger, and snap peas. I’ve also been dabbing into Korean a lot as well lately.

    From the beginning of the year, we stopped eating out entirely just to cut back in prep for the massive hit that an upcoming Dinsey vacation. Now that Armageddon hit, we’ve eaten out as a family a grand total of twice for the year. Although, I figured that Disney at the end of August was still a possibility given that it’s going to be 100 there every day…I’m not so sure anymore.

  242. homeboken says:

    Re Georgia opening – I would do all those things, save the tatoo but that’s a personal choice.

    I would do absolutely anything that fell short of a crowded flight, cruise or big sporting event.

    I will carry sanitizer, wash my hands a lot, wear a mask and social distance.

    I am early 40’s and healthy. If this virus wants to take me out, hiding under my bed isn’t going to stop it.

    If you are old, sick, frail or even just scared. You should 100% stay home. People like me will open the economy and provide for you until you overcome your fears. Humanity understands the fearful. We will cover for you until you get comfortable. But don’t make us all live within the confines of your fearful mindset. Some of us are just fine with the odds we have of survival IF we contract the virus.

  243. Fabius Maximus says:

    I bought a bread machine when I first came to this company. I have a regular order with Amazon to deliver boxed mix every month.

    If you need yeast, just stop by any good pizza place. They should be able to hook you up for the price of a slice.

  244. Homeboken Retirement says:

    Homeboken,

    Everything has a silver lining. The state, county and local government will be bailed out, just not in the way you thought.

    The Wuhan virus is going to create one way or another a national Medicare for All. A lot of hospitals are going to fail/ already on the border of failing – many in deep red states.

    A Medicare for All, means state, county, local government will no longer have retiree medical expense and charity care/Medicaid expenses on their books. Monies will be re-routed to pensions and other expenses.

    Finally, the investment values of those pension funds will be partially re-inflated by the continual asset price inflation attempt of the Fed and the Wall Street Banksters.

  245. Blue Ribbon Teacher says:

    Will this shutdown or extended shutdown be the kill-shot to the various public employee pension systems? They were all massively underfunded before.

    Now we have a huge drop in tax revenue’s, mass layoffs and a 30% drop in the market value of held securities.

    Any of you public employees (teachers for example) worried about the future of your retirement?

    I’ve always maintained that at best, I can hope for 50% of what’s promised….that’s at best. I’d settle for 35 cents on the dollar at this point. Consider this…the fed has continually over the past 20 years, bailed out more and more things and expanded what they were willing to do. I think there’s no question that the fed bails out all these things and severe inflation ensues. I’ve always kept my precious metals as an insurance policy. Stocks were nice to me over the past 10 years aside from the past 2 months. Have a decent cash position that I would like to put to work over the next couple of months as well. Bottom line…I’m going to be funding my own retirement, which is why I’ve been tutoring non-stop for the past 5 years. Only a fool would rely on a promised public pension.

  246. Fast Eddie says:

    Although, I figured that Disney at the end of August was still a possibility given that it’s going to be 100 there every day…I’m not so sure anymore.

    You’ll be there. :)

  247. Libturd says:

    Thank you for your service homeboken.

  248. 3b says:

    Lib We have a bread maker, my wife’s bought it from a friend that used to work at Williams Sonoma , employee discount etc. the thing is massive. It was used exactly once!! It’s in the basement collecting dust with the Keurig!!

  249. 3b says:

    The Fed is going to buy everything, might as well.

  250. Fabius Maximus says:

    The problems we are seeing today can be traced all the way back to Saint Ronnie. Now we see the reality of what happens when you transition to a Serviced Based economy and there is no demand for services.

  251. homeboken says:

    Just put me in coach, I’m ready to play.

    Libturd says:
    April 22, 2020 at 11:26 am
    Thank you for your service homeboken.

  252. Fabius Maximus says:

    Big news here. Yes Russia interfered. Next chapter will be fun. Was Donnie part of it? This is a GOP controlled committee. Are they throwing Donnie under the bus?

    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia-senate/bipartisan-u-s-senate-report-backs-spy-agencies-findings-on-russia-idUSKCN2232RO

  253. homeboken says:

    Lib – this is a problems I have with the extended lockdown crowd. You seem to think you are on the moral high ground and everybody that might want to earn a living to feed their family is a right wing nutbag.

    You are wrong on this one. Both sides have merit. We did the closed economy thing for 5 weeks now. Time to try a modified approach.

  254. leftwing says:

    Re: reopening……haircut, then planting my arse in the bar seat of my favorite steakhouse. Usually I go light, crabmeat, beef tenderloin, hash browns, martini. Probably multiply by three the first time. Or maybe just do three places back to back. Or rent the entire fcuking place and have a we survived the virus party lol.

    Chr1st, I’m salivating now.

  255. 3b says:

    Fab and we have interfered in elections and overthrown governments around the world.

  256. libturd says:

    You are reading me wrong. I don’t feel I have a morally higher standing. I will continue to help those less fortunate than me get through this, regardless if they are willing to risk infection (I understand, not likely death) or not. Where I differ is in how we successfully achieve this. Write now, it’s partisan politics over science. There is no balance whatsoever. It’s all or nothing. Our country is complete devoid of political leadership on both sides.

    There is a better way of doing this than permanent quarantine and killing the economy. There’s also a better way of doing this than opening beaches all willy-nilly and threatening our front line workers before they are equipped properly to handle it.

    Though, until I see some political will to do this effectively, I’ll let the partisan hacks go sacrifice themselves on my behalf. I am fortunate that I save like a motherfcuker.

    Does this make sense?

  257. 3b says:

    Fab it started with Saint Ronnie but the Democrats were against it? Is that what you are saying?

  258. leftwing says:

    “The problems we are seeing today can be traced all the way back to Saint Ronnie. Now we see the reality of what happens when you transition to a Serviced Based economy and there is no demand for services.”

    Fabs, what color is the sky in your world? Seriously? You’re like a retired history professor with Alzheimers and Tourettes.

  259. Fabius Maximus says:

    3b,

    Yes, you have made that point before. Does that mean its OK for them to interfere in ours?

    “Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States, levies war against them or adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the United States or elsewhere, is guilty of treason and shall suffer death, or shall be imprisoned”

  260. leftwing says:

    The great manufacturing exodus was primed by an unholy alliance of the left (globalists) and right (free traders) finding common ground and fueled by corporate lobbying and cash across the fat political middle. No one has clean hands.

    When history is written with enough hindsight – centuries – this society of the US will be the laughingstock of many millennia.

    We literally owned the best of everything – resources, manufacturing, technology, intellect. And we gave it away for free. To our openly and sworn enemies. welcomes them in and asked them to take it away. How fcuking stupid can a purportedly brilliant society be?

  261. homeboken says:

    Lib – it makes sense yes. My bad on assuming I knew your position. Your answer is grounded in logic, which doesn’t surprise me from what I know of you posting history here.

  262. 3b says:

    Fab No it does not. But weigh who is the greater enemy for this country, Russia or China? The Dems screaming about Russian interference, yet strangely silent on China. Funny also that the Dems were accusing Reagan of being the cause of war with the Soviet Union, and that we should negotiate with them, in spite of them being a brutal dictatorship. Funny all these years later the Dems screaming about the brutal Russian dictatorship, now that it’s just an ordinary dictatorship I presume? Of course because my opinions are contrary to the scripts prepared by both the left and the right, I am now deemed to be a Trump supporter by some, including friends of mine.

  263. joyce says:

    There is no debate. What Russia did was wrong. Pointing to other bad actors (China, or even ourselves) changes nothing. Wrong is wrong.

  264. JCer says:

    A pandemic is a serious issue for much of how modern economies are structured. The whole global supply chain JIT model means even if you had production in this country you would be idling factories as you waited on components from China or Europe. This is a global economic catastrophe and almost no one will be spared. Services are just the tip of the iceberg, I don’t necessarily disagree that the move away from manufacturing was misguided and high value manufacturing (ala Germany, Japan, etc) should still be performed here.

    What we have now is fear and what we are seeing is deflation, demand has collapsed and many don’t have money now to spend or are too fearful to spend. After staring down layoffs and those who received salary reductions, these people are likely to be less enthusiastic consumers. With the collapse in demand pricing will respond in kind. Money printing and stimulus maybe able to keep stock prices up short term but I fail to see how we can keep corporate profits anywhere close to pre-crisis levels and as companies slash costs, salaries, and employees to try and maintain a profit or keep dry powder to weather the storm this will just exacerbate the situation further.

    I’m not sure if the horse has left the barn and we won’t be able to get it back in again but if we don’t figure out how to get back to some kind of normal functioning economy we could see a deflationary spiral and a depression as bad as the great depression of the 1930’s. We need a treatment fast, we need to get people back out into the world.

    Speaking of treatments, indomethacin, could an NSAID they use to treat dogs and people with gout be the answer for COVID? So apparently invitro it showed antiviral action against SARS and recently was tested on SARS-CoV2, they also tested it on CCoV, canine Coronavirus and not only was it effective in vitro but also in vivo(in dogs, 0 fatalities in test subject group where other groups had 20-60% fatalities, recovery time was best with the drug and recovered patient plasma). It has a better side effect profile than HCL. Seems to me this is would be a good drug to try, the NSAID nature of the drug can treat some of the fever/pain/inflammation and it seems likely it would reduce viral load.

  265. FakeNewsHoaxes says:

    Lol. Yeah. That’s a really credible report. They apparently relied on RT reporting and comey, Brennan, and clapper. Have they been charged with perjury yet?

  266. 30 year realtor says:

    My point about Georgia is why have a step by step procedure for reopening and not follow it. Have to laugh at their regulations about social distancing and what is permitted. Total violation of plan Trump presented last week.

  267. Libturd says:

    Time to reopen.

    Ok… just received the Official State of Georgia Board of Cosmetology & Barbering Guidelines to open salons, etc… they want us to wear a face mask, splash shield & gloves that must be changed after each client… ok.. also require each client to wear mask..(is there a secret mystery place where we can buy these items in bulk since they’re SOLD OUT?)… ok.. we must cover the clients mouth, nose and eyes with a towel at the shampoo bowl 👀, …..put plastic over any cloth seating, close all waiting areas…… wrap the shampoo bowl in plastic for each client….😱….but the craziest of all… they want us to take the temperature of each and every client and have you verbally respond to a health questionnaire asking your whereabouts and who you have been around….. and this is only a small part of the new guidelines….. but here is the kicker… the meeting was teleconferenced and the State Board offices closed to avoid face-to-face interaction due to the Pandemic…. but they want us to do it…… so, now we are triage nurses? ..this is madness…… im so glad I already made the decision to keep myself and my clients safe ….and at home… oh, I forgot to add that they want us to change or remove our work clothes before entering our homes…..🤦🏾‍♀️

    Just for perspective: I would need on average 50 masks, 10-15 face shields (disinfecting per client) & 100 pairs of gloves PER WEEK, along with at least 10 client capes, 10 stylist smocks, 10 shampoo capes and a change of clothes to go home in EVERDAY…… because I would not be picking and choosing which safety measure to follow….

  268. Blue Ribbon Teacher says:

    The lack of PPE and the ability to ramp up production is a key failure of Clinton, Bush, and Obama’s outsourcing party. People think you can snap your fingers and make more drugs and masks domestically when the entire supply chain and infrastructure was dismantled.

  269. Blue Ribbon Teacher says:

    People forget the left spent the better part of two years screaming that we can’t force domestic production because it would be too expensive. They wanted us to stay reliant on China and their talking points were always in favor of not placing tariffs on China. Remember the whole “tariffs don’t work mantra”?

  270. Blue Ribbon Teacher says:

    We literally owned the best of everything – resources, manufacturing, technology, intellect. And we gave it away for free. To our openly and sworn enemies. welcomes them in and asked them to take it away. How fcuking stupid can a purportedly brilliant society be?

    While libertarian in nature for the majority of my beliefs, libertarians are sorely misguided on international trade. They spout that the best outcome is always free trade and completely ignore hostile governments cheating the system and central banks manipulating currency. Furthermore, a free market is never the best situation for the person who is the biggest market player. Opening up trade to allow other nations to compete with us was the dumbest thing we’ve done as a country.

  271. Libturdian Thoughts says:

    You know, a strong president may have reached out to all of the leaders around the world and offered a coordinated attack on this pandemic than leaving each country at it’s own peril. Of course, once you make fun of nearly every world leader, that bridge is already burnt.

    This lesson has been sponsored by the Beta Dog Association of America, who didn’t praise the POTUS for Grabbin’ them by the puzzy.

    If I was a religious person, I might have thought we deserved this virus.

  272. 3b says:

    Joyce : Agreed. My point is the left picks and chooses what to be outraged about as does the right. In my opinion they are outraged as they have convinced themselves that because of this interference Hillary lost the 2016 election. I don’t believe that to be the case.

  273. Fast Eddie says:

    NJ had the highest number of deaths yesterday. I’d like to know what we’re doing wrong.

  274. Libturd says:

    “I’d like to know what we’re doing wrong.”

    We are actually counting the number of dead.

  275. Blue Ribbon Teacher says:

    The peak is supposed to be Apr 25th so we are likely right on schedule. That being said…too many people around just don’t have that much discipline. If people just took two seconds to practice social distancing in public, wash their hands, and stop going all over the place, this would have peaked last week.

  276. Libturd says:

    Realistically, I would say we are not practicing enough physical separation. Every time I venture out and I mean EVERY TIME! I am dumbfounded by what I see. I went to pick up my produce yesterday (they put it in my trunk) at 12:30 in the afternoon. Route 3 and 46 were heavier than they would typically be on a pre-19 day. Just wait until they open up the states.

    I am still yet to encounter a single person on the outside remove a mask or glove properly. Even Murphy does it incorrectly.

    Heck, when the POTUS was telling everyone to separate by 6 feet, he was surrounded by all of these medical experts that were virtually butt-humping each other when he should have been overly exaggerating like that showman Cuomo.

    I’m telling you all and I know where you are all coming from. This opening of the country is going to be more of a failure than the result of our lack of proactiveness in regards to this disease in the first place.

    Just watch!

  277. Blue Ribbon Teacher says:

    This pandemic response was a failure on a world level. China failed to allow information out on the virus. The WHO was more concerned with preventing bad news out of China than preventing the spread of the virus. They went so far to even spread misinformation. The WHO failed miserably on their mission as this virus has made it to every friggin country.

    The problem is, other countries were clueless as well. We shut down travel from China and Europe. Those were both prudent measures. The WHO, China, EU, and half the country year objected. But the reality was, it was already too late.

    Taiwan and New Zealand seemed to be the most successful…but it’s a lot easier to shut down an island than a continent. Given the set of circumstances we were presented with, there was nothing that would have prevented this outbreak…nothing.

    That being said, the FDA and CDC did screw the pooch and it has more to do with inefficient government than anything.

  278. JCer says:

    On trade, our moron politicians have invested trillions in defense, yet all of our production is handled by our enemies. Just from a defense perspective re-shoring some of our manufacturing should have been a mandate. Listen protectionism is not really the answer, we really cannot be in the business of producing trinkets we can buy those from a lot of countries but key production of necessities needs to be maintained to protect against war or currency collapse. The future should look different, I suspect the pandemic might be the impetus for change……

  279. Libturd says:

    Joyce is probably right. Since there is no effin’ way any politician is going to do anything to help us solve this dilemma, we might as well just all dive into the deep end. Whether or not you know how to swim is inconsequential since if we don’t, we will all drown anyway due to the the lack of any help from our useless politicians. I would call them leaders, but that would be an outright lie.

  280. JCer says:

    BRT at it’s best the WHO is woefully incompetent, at it’s worst they are aligned with the Chinese dictatorship and acted in bad faith. There needs to be serious changes in that organization….

    China was barring assistance from different countries, suppressing information and spreading outright lies that the disease couldn’t be transmitted person to person. Frankly I was watching this unfold in January and it did not make sense at the time. The conflicting information from China, they were locking down(the CCP could care less about the well being of their citizens) but it was being proclaimed that this cannot be spread person to person. We still do not know the truth about the virus and the CCP has tried really hard to make this the case.

  281. Deadconomy says:

    They will bail it out one way or another, imo. If you eliminate pensions, you are hurting the economy. Those pensions support wall st financial markets while also supporting the economy by giving retired individuals a means of consumption. So I think bail out..

    “Any of you public employees (teachers for example) worried about the future of your retirement?”

  282. chicagofinance says:

    Interesting insight that in many ways says it all. No wonder you see things in such a hopelessly distorted way. We obviously have a board of directors and the CEO runs everything….. everything should be command and control. Jews can work in the legal department, but blue bloods only in the executive ranks.

    Fabius Maximus says:
    April 22, 2020 at 11:24 am
    I bought a bread machine when I first came to this company.

  283. Blue Ribbon Teacher says:

    We are larger than all of Europe combined. We could reduce trade to zero internationally and still function internally.

  284. Libturd says:

    We just got an order from Costco delivered via Instacart. Never again! The problem with the gig economy is that the gig workers are complete sh1t for brains. He replaced Choice Top Sirloin cap with Prime. I just spent $40 on an absolute terrible cut of meat. I asked for 8 pounds of chicken tenderloin and I got less than 3 pounds of organic chicken tenderloin for more than the cost of the 8 pounds non. We needed Nutella. We got nutella and bread stick dippers. I spent $100 more than I wanted on half the amount of food. And the only sub the idiot called us on was one brand of seltzer to be replaced with another at the same price. Now to figure out what the hell to do with prime sirloin cap. Probably will smoke it.

  285. chicagofinance says:

    In an ideal situation, we would cease the finger pointing about who made the U.S. vulnerable either structurally over the past 20 years, or in actions taken since the beginning of this year.

    Bottom line: wipe the slate clean. We just learned quite a bit about China collectively over the last 90 days. Many knew this information, but now there is clarity and societal galvanization. So what are we going to do?

    leftwing says:
    April 22, 2020 at 12:03 pm
    The great manufacturing exodus was primed by an unholy alliance of the left (globalists) and right (free traders) finding common ground and fueled by corporate lobbying and cash across the fat political middle. No one has clean hands.

    When history is written with enough hindsight – centuries – this society of the US will be the laughingstock of many millennia.

    We literally owned the best of everything – resources, manufacturing, technology, intellect. And we gave it away for free. To our openly and sworn enemies. welcomes them in and asked them to take it away. How fcuking stupid can a purportedly brilliant society be?

  286. Hold my beer says:

    Bon appetit

    “bogey contains ‘a rich reservoir of good bacteria.”

    https://metro.co.uk/2019/03/28/science-says-picking-your-nose-and-eating-its-contents-might-be-good-for-you-so-mucus-munch-anyone-9041154/

    If this study spreads what are the odds hipsters and woke folks will be having booger eating parties and adding spices to their hand picked gold?

    Or identifying themselves as booger curious?

  287. Libturd says:

    I’ll admit to occasionally picking my nose to improve breathing, especially in allergy season. But I never ever eat it. And for what it’s worth, Flonase has been the greatest weapon against seasonal allergies ever. I don’t even notice them anymore and I stopped taking Loratadine (Clarit1n).

  288. Hold my beer says:

    We really need to stop doing trade with China as long as CCP is in charge.

    https://www.yahoo.com/news/chinese-agents-spread-messages-sowed-122243818.html

    “Chinese Agents Spread Messages That Sowed Virus Panic in U.S., Officials Say”

    But let’s outsource all our manufacturing to a regime that is our adversary and requires our companies to share intellectual property in order to make their so we can save a few bucks. What could go wrong?

    Meanwhile we have a 60+ year embargo on Cuba while we enrich the CCP

  289. Hold my beer says:

    Libturd

    I wonder if the booger curious crowd fends off the CCP virus better than non eaters do.

    How can we apply for a grant to study this and patent the results to sell to big Pharma?

  290. 3b says:

    Chgo Nothing will be done whether it’s Trump re-elected or Biden. The powers that be in this country won’t permit it.

  291. ExEssex says:

    There is a plethora of bacteria to explore, if ya brave enough.
    Betcha “Tinder Hookups” are way down.

  292. ExEssex says:

    “Booger Curious”…. I was doing the grocery run today, mask in place.
    Standing in line I sneezed, though it was barely perceptible under the mask I felt a huge snot wad fling from my covered mouth and nose into the mask like a catchers mitt.
    Good times.

  293. Liboogerturd says:

    EsEssex,

    MHB and I want to know, did you eat it?

    Your participation in this study will be compensated for. In additional nose gold.

  294. Deadconomy says:

    Hold, you are absolutely correct. As Chi stated; we need to stop blaming, wipe the slate clean, and come up with a solution. And quickly, time is of the essence.

  295. leftwing says:

    “we will all drown anyway due to the the lack of any help from our useless politicians”

    The LAST thing I ever want is help from politicians. Why would I seek anything important from some of the least competent, corrupted, and most conflicted people out there? Yeah, good idea, think I’ll go ask my ex’s div0rce lawyer for advice next. Then lend my convertible to a drunk on a bender.

  296. leftwing says:

    Just came back from Shoprite. Masks for the healthy are counterproductive and put people at higher risk for C19 spread. Ridiculous feel good idea.

  297. Libturd says:

    If you saw what I paid in estimated and property taxes, you might think I would want something for it besides, energy, water, sewer, police and fire protection.

  298. leftwing says:

    ^^^^Wouldn’t it be better on every level to pay less and throw most of the political bums out? I’m not in the habit of repetitively paying for sh1tty, if not downright harmful, services just because they exist.

    Or, let the politicians just be honest. I owe them a vig because they got elected. Just like the regular mob, I’ll pay up if they just go away.

  299. ExEssex says:

    3:23 but the way it caught that booger…

    What “if” you are an carrier showing no symptoms…..?

    What then!? In the name of flying flem.

  300. Libturd says:

    left.

    It sure is starting to feel like the government, especially the local one, is the mob.

  301. 3b says:

    Left why are masks for the healthy counterproductive?

  302. libturd says:

    Masks are counterproductive because they provide a false sense of security. If you are wearing it to protect your self from others, then you have to wash your hands before taking it off and only handle it from the inside. The sad truth is, most people play around with the mask so often that they touch their faces more than would if they weren’t wearing one. Look around next time you guys go out. It’s a touch mask fest.

    Though, I think there is some value in wearing a mask in that you are much more unlikely to infect someone else. Of course, if there is a single person in spitting range without a mask, then you are still at risk with a mask on.

  303. leftwing says:

    On the masks exactly what Lib said. I inadvertently touched my face a few times from reflex because of the novelty of the thing, which I’ve rarely done. Saw one woman with full cart adjust her mask with her entire gloved hand….so she just touched no fewer than 25 objects that have been handled by dozens of people before her and smears whatever was on those products on a thin permeable surface held tightly to her most vulnerable mucus membranes…good luck there….

  304. homeboken says:

    Sen. McConnel (I am not a fan) just said that he wants to press pause on future stimulus/bailout money.

    Says “states should be allowed to declare bankruptcy”

    Imagine!?? Go BK and blow out a ton of the most wretched contracts the state is a party to? Talk about a quick pension problem fix.

  305. 3b says:

    Thanks. Makes sense. We wipe everything down when we come home from
    Very limited trips to supermarket. And I too readjust the mask.

  306. JCer says:

    P95 3M 6800 respirator when I go to the grocery store. I try not to touch the mask, sanitize hands with purell before taking it off and after. Groceries are sanitized where possible with a bleach water solution, dry goods sit in quarantine for 3 days. Frankly it is an exhausting 4 hour exercise, breathing through a respirator without active flow is like breathing with COVID! I did gloves once and decided probably not the best idea it strikes me the virus clings to and is more likely picked up by gloved hands.

  307. Blue Ribbon Teacher says:

    I’m working on a disinfecting apparatus. Hydroponic foil walled grow tent. It seals and reflects light all over. I’m swapping out the grow lamp with a uv fluorescent lamp. Wire rack on the bottom to elevate the packages and I’ll layer the ground with foil or a mirror. 30 minutes of exposure should take care of anything. Hell, I’m pretty sure 2 minutes would take care of it but no harm in leaving it on.

    Basically, if you’ve ever seen a meat aging locker, the second they close the doors, a UV lamp goes on to kill all microbes. It’s already been verified that the virus is short lived in the presence of UV light.

    They are pretty cheap.

  308. ExEssex says:

    I think the masks make me feel like Batman.

  309. Libturd says:

    If you maintain your separation, the real key is not to touch your face. I learned all of this when the D was in isolation. He had zero immunity so a single cough or touch would mean certain sickness and in many cases death. At the minimum, a week’s worth of liquid sh1t and ass wounds, because your body can’t even defend itself from the acidity of it’s own waste on the skin. Those were terrible days. But it did train us not to touch our faces and taught us the importance not of just washing our hands, but with hot water and getting under the nails and around the thumbs as well as the backs.

    I can go days on end without touching my face now, but I have to wear the mask in case someone else sneezes without one.

    A couple of hints. When shopping, make believe you are Indian. They only use their right hands for everything public because they often wipe with the left and then clean their hands afterwards. So keep one hand on the shopping cart or in your pocket at all times. If you can manage the right hand pushing and product grabbing. You can then use your germ free left hand to look at your phone or access your wallet. It’s really mind over matter. Practice at home for a few hours. It’s not difficult. And remember that anti-bacterial cleaner is way worse than washing your hands with hot water and soap. Though it is infinitely better than doing nothing.

    In other news, I know how to operate pumps, perform inoculations, insert feeding tubes and many other nursing skills. I’m also the master at catching vomit. Don’t ask. I’m just good at reading the body language.

  310. Deadconomy says:

    Could happen.

    No matter what, the worker will get screwed. They signed a contract, paid into pension for years to support current retirees, and when it comes time to collect, the previous generations will be long gone having spent the younger generation’s money. Public workers are an easy out because no one gives a sh!t about anyone but themselves. So as long as it’s not them being robbed of their life work contribution, they won’t give a damn. Easy target.

    So the politicians will prime the propaganda machine to instill hate in the govt worker as it is their fault for signing the contract and having a pension. It’s their fault for being forced to contribute to a fund they know is not financially sound due to no contributions for 20 years by the crooked leaders of the previous generation. The previous generations populace turned a blind eye to this theft because it was benefiting.

    The sick part, would have been a minor fix to pay the cost upfront instead of not paying for 20 years into the fund. You know the power of compounding. They literally turned something that was not really a problem into an enormous problem. These people should be shot for kicking the can down the road for over 20 years. That’s f’en criminal. How much they cost future generations! Someone should really have to answer to this theft facing current generations.

    One of the greatest heists ever pulled off, yet almost nobody knows there was a robbery. They don’t speak about the robbery, instead they blame the pensions as being too rich for the source of the pension debt issue. No, it was robbed for 20 years. How can a pension that is too lavish survive for over 20 years with no payments? Don’t be naive, you know what happened here. It was stolen and distributed. Govt leaders stole from future generations and no one cared simply because it was not their pocket being robbed. Still to this day, no one cares.

    I have given up on this issue. I’m old enough to know what happens here….bankruptcy or bailout, with the worker taking all of the pain.

    homeboken says:
    April 22, 2020 at 4:06 pm
    Sen. McConnel (I am not a fan) just said that he wants to press pause on future stimulus/bailout money.

    Says “states should be allowed to declare bankruptcy”

    Imagine!?? Go BK and blow out a ton of the most wretched contracts the state is a party to? Talk about a quick pension problem fix.

  311. JCer says:

    I feel like darth vader…….

  312. Deadconomy says:

    What’s really messed up…if current generation of workers like myself didn’t have to contribute to the pension, we would have absolutely killed it if this was forced contribution into our 401k. We missed the longest bull run in history at the early stages of our career. Do you know what that means in cost in terms of compounding long term?

    It boils my blood thinking about this…pure robbery.

  313. Deadconomy says:

    Then people have the nerve to say I don’t deserve that pension? Go f’k yourself…

  314. Deadconomy says:

    Blue, how much is the pension contribution? 9%? That’s with no work contribution, that’s 9% out of your pay going into an insolvent fund. You could have put 9% of your pay into a 12 year bull run. Compounding away.. if the board of ed matches 5%, that’s 14% a year. I want to puke thinking about the math.

  315. JCer says:

    Pumps your contributions go directly in the pocket of retired teachers. BRT nails it, if you expected to get full payment for the pension which is really a ponzi scheme you were mistaken. By the time you get there they will means test SS and your pension will be reduced on way or another, just assume you aren’t getting it and save accordingly…….

  316. What if wednesday says:

    This is from a great site (jesse’s café americain) , it explains the GOP/DEM – Trump/Biden issue.

    “A credibility trap is a condition wherein the financial, political and informational functions of a society have been compromised by corruption and fraud, so that the leadership cannot effectively reform, or even honestly address, the problems of that system without impairing and implicating, at least incidentally, a broad swath of the power structure, including themselves.

    The status quo tolerates the corruption and the fraud because they have profited at least indirectly from it, and would like to continue to do so. Even the impulse to reform within the power structure is susceptible to various forms of soft blackmail and coercion by the system that maintains and rewards.

    And so a failed policy and its support system become self-sustaining, long after it is seen by objective observers to have failed. In its failure it is counterproductive, and an impediment to recovery in the real economy.

    Admitting failure is not an option for the thought leaders who receive their power from that system. The continuity of the structural hierarchy must therefore be maintained at all costs, even to the point of becoming a painfully obvious, organized hypocrisy.

  317. leftwing says:

    Funny, Lib, I do the ‘Michael Jackson’ as well when I go shopping.

    Glove on right hand, left hand bare. Carry, touch public spaces (god those self pay pads are gross), handle money only with the right hand. Money goes back in right jacket pocket, presumed dirty. Car keys, opening car door, mask, all with left hand. Glove off before in the car, other than bags car is a clean environment. New gloves on at home to bring in bags, both hands, to unpack and wipe down packages. Wash hands well immediately after.

    Have to do the right side dirty/left side clean or I know I’d inadvertently go for gunk in my eye with a not cleaned hand….

  318. Deadconomy says:

    That’s a lot of money to be taking out of someone’s paycheck and then telling them …f’k you. So if I don’t get my pension, I’m basically working 10 years, and giving one of those years away untaxed to a bunch of crooks. That’s not even including compounding. Every 10 years an entire years worth of salary taken and robbed.

    Holy crap… they are insane if they think people aren’t going to flip out. People will go “postal.” I know I sure as hell won’t let the govt rob me of hundreds of thousands of dollars if they are bailing out businesses and sending out $1200 dollar stimulus checks for breathing. Where’s my handout?

    JCer says:
    April 22, 2020 at 5:53 pm
    Pumps your contributions go directly in the pocket of retired teachers. BRT nails it, if you expected to get full payment for the pension which is really a ponzi scheme you were mistaken. By the time you get there they will means test SS and your pension will be reduced on way or another, just assume you aren’t getting it and save accordingly…….

  319. Phoenix says:

    “The sad truth is, most people play around with the mask so often that they touch their faces more than would if they weren’t wearing one. ”

    True, but by them wearing a mask they are less likely to spew their viral load onto you. So it’s a good thing.
    In the real environment where masks are used your hands may be covered with sterile gloves-which trains you to never touch the mask as you would have to put on another pair of sterile gloves. You learn very quickly from your colleagues when you make such a mistake and it only happens once.

    A small spray bottle with alcohol is a nice thing to keep in your pocket and in your car. Spray your hands with it before you take off your mask. Hands clean first. Never touch your face until you have sanitized them no matter what technique you used.

    UV lights are great, I use one myself. Most will generate ozone which is not so good for you. Great for quickly decontaminating groceries. Foil makes a great reflector and amplifies the germ killing properties.

  320. Phoenix says:

    “So if I don’t get my pension, I’m basically working 10 years, and giving one of those years away untaxed to a bunch of crooks. That’s not even including compounding. Every 10 years an entire years worth of salary taken and robbed.”

    Same for those with 401k’s when cretins like this with inside information do their forms of witchcraft.

    Sen. Kelly Loeffler sold at least $18 million more in stocks before the coronavirus crash than previously reported
    Loeffler is one of many lawmakers under fire for suspicious stock-trading activity following a coronavirus intel briefing.

  321. joyce says:

    Alaska to ease restrictions.
    329 confirmed cases
    168 recovered
    9 deaths

    60,000+ unemployment claims

  322. Deadconomy says:

    Phoenix, I don’t know how we as a population let them get away with this. Nothing is going to happen, and that’s just sad. Understand the message loud and clear, go long on white collar crimes. No one ever goes to jail for it.

  323. RentL0rd says:

    It should be mandatory for every Trumper out there to watch the sh1t show called white house press conference.

  324. Juice Box says:

    dog wagging time?

    “I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea.”

  325. Blue Ribbon Teacher says:

    You can either sit around and play victim or get out and do something about it. No one is going to feel sorry for a teacher not getting their pension. Plan accordingly. If I didn’t secure my current salary, I would have left the profession.

  326. ExEssex says:

    It’s a weird time to be a teacher. Really don’t miss it. Pretty sure this latest foray into tech will send a lot of folks who can retire to the exits.

  327. leftwing says:

    Re: Loeffler, the misinformation is mind boggling…..

    Her investments were managed by outside advisers. No input from her or her husband. Horrible slam job, zero fact checking by Daily Beast. But, hey, why let facts get in the way of a good political lynching….

    https://www.wsj.com/articles/i-never-traded-on-confidential-coronavirus-information-11586365056?mod=opinion_lead_pos6

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