C19 Open Discussion Week 46

Posted on January 16, 2021 by grim

From the Star Ledger:

N.J.’s vaccination rate is the worst in the Northeast. See how other states compare. 

This entry was posted in General. Bookmark the permalink.

108 Responses to C19 Open Discussion Week 46

  1. Hold my beer says:
    January 16, 2021 at 6:39 am

    First

  2. ExEssex says:
    January 16, 2021 at 6:58 am

    Second

  3. Hold my beer says:
    January 16, 2021 at 8:18 am

    50 year old Texas real estate agent takes private plane to DC riots. Promotes her business while in rotunda. Lives in an apartment. Pretty much defines what a Texas 50k millionaire is.

    https://www.yahoo.com/news/texas-real-estate-agent-took-210955457.html

  5. Crushednjmillenial says:
    January 16, 2021 at 8:47 am

    Wow, thank you Star Ledger, for finally writing this article. Took long enough, but this is straight out of journalism 101.

    The people of NJ are complacent about a lot of government ineptitude, and our local news sources are often asleep at the switch, but at least NJ’s vaccine rollout numbers have now been featured with an appropriate description in a mainstream NJ press outlet. I figure this might embarrass the gov enough in an election year that further vaccine administration will proceed much better than if this article wasn’t written. Plus, Biden is almost in so there is no more incentive in NJ to shut the economy and slow-walk vaccine rollout so you can then blame the feds.

  6. Juice Box says:
    January 16, 2021 at 9:36 am

    PAterson mega vaccine center closed today, sign on door said come back Wednesday. Hundreds were in line too. This vaccine rollout is a joke, we need joe Biden to save the world.

  7. Phoenix says:
    January 16, 2021 at 9:43 am

    Paterson should have let their local dealers handle the distribution. It’s right in their wheelhouse.

  8. Grim says:
    January 16, 2021 at 9:46 am

    I got a call from the medical volunteer squad yesterday to come out and volunteer somewhere but couldn’t – I think it was either Paterson or setup for the new Passaic county site in the old Modells on 46. There was a vague hint at the possibility of a shot participating.

  9. Phoenix says:
    January 16, 2021 at 9:56 am

    “The database reported that in 2019, the United States spent $732 billion on national defense, which was more than the next 10 countries combined.”

    To simplify this, you spent all of your money on potatoes, of which you have way more than you need, and no meat, of which you desperately need.

    Enjoy standing in line. If you are lucky you can see a military base from where you are. That is where your money is spent.

  10. Phoenix says:
    January 16, 2021 at 10:00 am

    And with all that money spent, you could not prevent a bunch of drunken yahoos from entering the Capital.

  11. Phoenix says:
    January 16, 2021 at 10:02 am

    “At least 13 off-duty law enforcement officials are suspected of taking part in the riot, a tally that could grow as investigators continue to pore over footage and records to identify participants.”

    Wow. Now there is a surprise…./s

  12. Phoenix says:
    January 16, 2021 at 10:04 am

    “A legitimate republic stands on 4 boxes,” Officer Thomas Robertson, 47, wrote in response on his Facebook page. “The soapbox, the ballot box, the jury box and then the cartridge box. We just moved to step 3. Step 4 will not be pretty…I’ve spent most of my adult life fighting a counter insurgency. I’m about to become part of one, and a very effective one.”

  13. Juice Box says:
    January 16, 2021 at 10:14 am

    BTW – At the Paterson cattle call this morning. The line was 1/2 old fogies, and the other 1/2 were quite a few younger people some “smokers” and five foot tall 180 lb comorbid Kathys. Again Kathy cannot weigh over 200 lbs. The range is 180-200 lbs for the five foot tall version.

    Who wrote this anyway?

    1 B category open it up OK but really 16 year old smokers?

    Individuals at High Risk (Phase 1B)

    Individuals aged 65 and older, and individuals ages 16-64 with medical conditions, as defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, that increase the risk of severe illness from the virus. These conditions include:

    Cancer
    Chronic kidney disease
    COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease)
    Down Syndrome
    Heart conditions, such as heart failure, coronary artery disease, or cardiomyopathies
    Obesity (body mass index [BMI] of 30 kg/m2 or higher but < 40 kg/m2)
    Severe Obesity (BMI ≥ 40 kg/m2)
    Sickle cell disease
    Smoking
    Type 2 diabetes mellitus

  14. The Great Pumpkin says:
    January 16, 2021 at 11:17 am

    Hilarious!

    Keep it coming!!

    Phoenix says:
    January 16, 2021 at 10:00 am
    And with all that money spent, you could not prevent a bunch of drunken yahoos from entering the Capital.

  15. Grim says:
    January 16, 2021 at 12:22 pm

    Stu who is your mtg guy again?

    Think I’m going to flip into a 10 or 15 year at these rates.

  16. Chicago says:
    January 16, 2021 at 1:06 pm

    The complaining about running out vaccine by Cuomo and De Blasio is so transparent.

    There is a reason it as being rationed in the first place.

    They opened the floodgates and now they might run out.

    What is the mystery?

    The finger pointing by Cuomo at the Federal government is really very insightful to observe.

    You see sound bites from his press conference and it becomes clear just how much of an operator he is. Disappointing, but we knew this. At this juncture it is just dispiriting.

    There is no Trump to push back, so lay blame at the dead corpse administration, and then Biden gets any credit for new supply. So transparent.

    And presented on news at face value. Pure crap

  17. joyce says:
    January 16, 2021 at 1:29 pm

    carl nielsen mortgage master/loan depot

  18. Very Stable Genius says:
    January 16, 2021 at 3:35 pm

    The GOP will split in two. The pillow-guy will be the candidate of the Trump faction.

    Yesterday he was at the White House outlining his platform, including martial law.

  19. Fast Eddie says:
    January 16, 2021 at 4:57 pm

    Listening to O’Biden reminds me of an old, drunken councilmen from the Greenville section of Jersey City. I can see him stopping by Tierneys or some other joint on Old Bergen Road having yet another ball and beer, talking Ir1sh yarns and other crock and bull. He is on that level… nothing more than a city councilman with limited ability. He’s not too intelligent and coupled with the slow onset of dementia, he’s easily manipulated. The left will let him blab away while whispering what to say in his ear while the maf1a boss Pelosi threatens people who dare to get into the way of the clamp down and redistribution. We’re in some trying times. Here’s hoping this administration fails repeatedly and often,

  20. Fabius Maximus says:
    January 16, 2021 at 5:13 pm

    Grim, I would put a small caveat with Carl. I called him last time I needed a mortgage. It was ok up to the point where I told him, I was working with other brokers trying to get the best rate. His view was that if I felt the need to shop around and not go with him straight away, he didn’t need the business. Now while I can respect his position, at the end of the day, I’m squeezing a lemon and that last 1/8 of a percent is a decent chunk of change.

    I did ask the BOA guy for the Mozilo Countrywide rate, it got a smile and a laugh but no dice. In the end we went with Shmuel Shayowiz at Approved Funding in River Edge. Mrs Fab found him through her Real Estate network. It was a protoc0lgy exam, but overall top rate service.

  22. ExEssex says:
    January 16, 2021 at 7:01 pm

    4:57 shaddup stupid.

  23. Phoenix says:
    January 16, 2021 at 7:47 pm

    Looking for love in all the wrong places:

    Women and men have in some cases also turned the dating apps into hunting grounds, striking up conversations with rioters, gathering potentially incriminating photos or confessions, then relaying them to the FBI. Using the dating apps to pursue members of the mob has become a viral pursuit, with tips shared on Twitter and some women changing their location on the dating apps to Washington, D.C., in hopes of ensnaring a potential suspect.

  25. ExEssex says:
    January 16, 2021 at 10:43 pm

    The US developed coronavirus vaccines in record time last year.
    But the process of getting those shots into people’s arms is going horrendously slow.
    The blame lies with a president who either forgot — or didn’t care enough — to finish off the country’s vaccination plan.
    There are promising signs that this vaccine drive is going to accelerate soon.

  26. ExEssex says:
    January 17, 2021 at 6:17 am

    WASHINGTON — As President Trump prepares to leave office in days, a lucrative market for pardons is coming to a head, with some of his allies collecting fees from wealthy felons or their associates to push the White House for clemency, according to documents and interviews with more than three dozen lobbyists and lawyers.

    The brisk market for pardons reflects the access peddling that has defined Mr. Trump’s presidency as well as his unorthodox approach to exercising unchecked presidential clemency powers. Pardons and commutations are intended to show mercy to deserving recipients, but Mr. Trump has used many of them to reward personal or political allies.

    The pardon lobbying heated up as it became clear that Mr. Trump had no recourse for challenging his election defeat, lobbyists and lawyers say. One lobbyist, Brett Tolman, a former federal prosecutor who has been advising the White House on pardons and commutations, has monetized his clemency work, collecting tens of thousands of dollars, and possibly more, in recent weeks to lobby the White House for clemency for the son of a former Arkansas senator; the founder of the notorious online drug marketplace Silk Road; and a Manhattan socialite who pleaded guilty in a fraud scheme.

  27. Very Stable Genius says:
    January 17, 2021 at 7:51 am

    Is Trump now going to release his healthcare plan?

    What about “Infrastructure Week”?

    Time is running out.

  28. The Great Pumpkin says:
    January 17, 2021 at 8:38 am

    Trump is a clown. Selling pardons? What a scumbag.

  29. Fabius Maximus says:
    January 17, 2021 at 10:15 am

    Hey Gary, your greatness even gets a new flag.

    https://twitter.com/someknew/status/1350761046756130816/photo/1

  30. Bystander says:
    January 17, 2021 at 10:25 am

    “Here’s hoping this administration fails repeatedly and often”

    Fail at what, Ed? Print trillions to fund green energy, student loan debt and healthcare? The Fed will continue to back it all. Unemployment will fall, stocks will rise and economy will ‘heal’. Same playbook as the Orange clown who you believe followed greatest economy ever. There is only one playbook, print and spend so we don’t ‘fail’. Get off the R vs D crazy train.

  31. 30 year realtor says:
    January 17, 2021 at 10:43 am

    Fast Eddie,

    “We are in some trying times” you said. Yes, the country just survived a siege of the Capitol by enemy combatants. Eddie, which side do you stand with?

  32. The Great Pumpkin says:
    January 17, 2021 at 10:46 am

    “Desired returns on equities ought to be related to the returns on such supposedly safe assets. This relationship is known as “the equity risk premium,” which is the excess return sought on equities over the expected returns on government debt. This premium cannot be measured directly, since it only exists in investors’ minds.

    But it can be inferred from past experience, as explained in a 2015 paper by Fernando Duarte and Carlo Rosa for the New York Federal Reserve. More recently, in the Credit Suisse Global Investment Returns Yearbook 2020, Elroy Dimson, Paul Marsh and Mike Staunton of the London Business School estimated the excess return on world stocks over bonds at 3.2 percentage points between 1900 and 2020. For the U.K., the excess is estimated at 3.6 percentage points; for the U.S., at 4.4 percentage points.

    Are these excess returns in line with what people initially expected? We do not know. But they are a starting point. The premium demanded now might be lower than that sought for much of the past 120 years. Corporate accounting has improved greatly. So, too, has macroeconomic stability — at least by the wretched standards of the first half of the 20th century. Moreover, the ability to hold diversified portfolios is far greater now. Such changes suggest the risk premium, often believed to be excessive, should have fallen.”

    https://financialpost.com/financial-times/why-there-is-no-stock-market-bubble

  33. The Great Pumpkin says:
    January 17, 2021 at 10:47 am

    Given the interest rates, then, stock markets are not overvalued. The big questions are whether real interest rates will jump, and how soon.

    Many believe that ultra-low real rates are the product of loose monetary policies over decades. Yet, if that were right, we would expect to see high inflation by now.

    A better hypothesis is that there have been big structural shifts in global savings and investment. Indeed, Lukasz Rachel of the Bank of England and Lawrence Summers of Harvard argued in Brookings Papers 2019 that real economic forces have lowered the private sector’s neutral real interest rate by 7 percentage points since the 1970s.

    Will these structural, decades-long trends towards ultra-low real interest rates reverse? The answer has to be that real interest rates are more likely to rise than fall still further. If so, long-term bonds will be a terrible investment. But it also depends on why real interest rates rise. If they were to do so as a product of higher investment and faster growth, strong corporate earnings might offset the impact of the higher real interest rates on stock prices. If, however, savings rates were to fall, perhaps because of ageing, there would be no such offset, and stock prices might become significantly overvalued.

    Some major stock markets, notably the U.K.’s, do look cheap today. Even U.S. stock prices look reasonable, valued against the returns on safer assets. So will the forces that have made real interest rates negative dissipate and, if so, how soon? These are the big questions. The answers will shape the future.

  34. The Great Pumpkin says:
    January 17, 2021 at 10:49 am

    Yup…The game has changed.

    “A better hypothesis is that there have been big structural shifts in global savings and investment. Indeed, Lukasz Rachel of the Bank of England and Lawrence Summers of Harvard argued in Brookings Papers 2019 that real economic forces have lowered the private sector’s neutral real interest rate by 7 percentage points since the 1970s.”

  35. Bystander says:
    January 17, 2021 at 11:00 am

    Yes, in your small brain, you want to see the game has shifted, people are smarter now, accounting is better and innovation will drive it all to greatness. You need a Harvard lectururer to confirm these “it’s different now” feelings. These smart economists want to bloviate about their informed opinions yet all you need to do is look back at 2018 Q4 stock hemmorage when Powell thought it was time to raise rates just a little, not even to where they were post Lehman failure. That is your truth. Spare of the insights. Go invest and ride out Fed like everyone else. This is fragile egg not a strong tower.

  37. 3b says:
    January 17, 2021 at 11:08 am

    Fast: I am no fan of Biden, and believe he and other bought and paid for boomer politicians who refuse to exit the stage gave us Trump. However, I don’t see how anyone can hope that Biden fails, however that might be defined. We have had decades of failure,2 term of Bush, 2 of Obama, and now Trump. We as a country can’t have more failure, forget about your feelings Fast, this is for your children and grandchildren. We simply can’t afford to have any more failure.

  38. 3b says:
    January 17, 2021 at 11:11 am

    Bystander: The guy on the street now is an expert on real estate, buy now! Do the 100k or more kitchen remodel! You can’t lose! Real estate will keep rising. When this thing blows it’s going to be uglier than the last bust!! Hurry Hurry!!

  39. BRT says:
    January 17, 2021 at 11:15 am

    I’ve said it for 15 years straight, debt/deficits do matter. We’ve been able to hold on for so long because the rest of the central banks of the world have artificially supported us by devaluing their own currencies. But at some point, the interest payments on our debt alone balloon far too big to cover it through taxation. Moreover, bailouts never solve the problem, just create worse ones down the road. Look at the stimulus/bailouts. Bush’s stimulus when he took office was what? $300? Obama’s was more when he took office. Now, Trump/Biden are committed to massive stimulus each quarter. Moreover, looking those emergency loans, I see companies taking in hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars of funny money. Will it keep us afloat? It might, until the next round where they are mailing us all $10k every quarter.

  40. Juice Box says:
    January 17, 2021 at 11:51 am

    Reading up on vaccine production.

    Seems Lonza the only other company contracted to make the Moderna vaccine has only one production line in the Lonza Portsmouth New Hampshire, and one in Visp Switzerland. Moderna has a in inhouse production line as well.

    After completion of the first Swiss production line, Lonza is preparing for two additional Visp lines to be commissioned.

    The lines, which cost 70 million Swiss francs ($79 million) to build and require 60-70 employees each, will have capacity to produce ingredients for 300 million doses of Moderna’s mRNA vaccine annually, Lonza has said.

    It’s also based upon a 10-year exclusive collaboration deal.

    It seems we have a real production problem here, as I have not heard of any plans to increase production here in the USA.

    How is sleepy Joe going to force them to make more?

  41. FinTech says:
    January 17, 2021 at 11:52 am

    Grim,

    I use provident funding. You cannot get lower rates. They even show you the live rates on the website. No one really does that anymore. I have done the loandepot vs them and vs gardenstate home loans and no one can be provident.

    https://www.provident.com/

  42. Juice Box says:
    January 17, 2021 at 11:58 am

    Both Pfizer and Moderna committed to manufacture and deliver about 2.3 billion doses this year worldwide.

    I fail to see how they are going to be able to do that without more production lines. Each line supposedly can only produce 100 million doses a year.

  43. Very Stable Genius says:
    January 17, 2021 at 12:11 pm

    Paul O’Neill said he tried to warn Vice President Dick Cheney that growing budget deficits posed a threat to the economy.

    Cheney cut him off, O’Neill said. “You know, Paul, Reagan proved deficits don’t matter,” he said, according to excerpts.

    BRT says:
    January 17, 2021 at 11:15 am

    debt/deficits do matter.

  44. Bystander says:
    January 17, 2021 at 12:21 pm

    Very,

    I guess I am siding with Reagan now. They don’t matter. I have to wonder why we let investors suffer in these previous down cycles. Why did Greenspan not print trillions to keep pets dot com afloat, employees working, and stock holders happy? There is no end game here.

  45. BRT says:
    January 17, 2021 at 12:25 pm

    This ain’t just a Dick Cheney problem, no president has tried to reign it in.

  46. Bystander says:
    January 17, 2021 at 12:37 pm

    3b,

    It is tiresome for sure. People are jumping both feet into properties, even the previous unsellables. There is a place up block that family bought at height at end of 2007. Paid 560k for absolute freaking dump. They tried to bail at 570k two years ago and got laughed at. Now, they have invested not a dime in place and outdated house is 14 years older. Should be selling for $450k at most but got offer for $515k. I should post pictures. I have to think someone thinks they can flip it. I can’t see how this is unlike bubble mania times but Powell will keep pedal to metal.

  47. Fast Eddie says:
    January 17, 2021 at 1:22 pm

    Eddie, which side do you stand with?

    I’m standing with the side that believes in a free society based on classical American sovereignty and ideals… those who resist the great reset and refuse to acquiesce to a centralized government and entitled propaganda. I won’t be privy to a liberal psychopathological neurosis which believes in managing people’s lives instead of protecting their rights.

  48. Fast Eddie says:
    January 17, 2021 at 1:32 pm

    Resilience is not in a liberal’s vocabulary, they’d rather cave than challenge when an entitlement collop is dangled in front of their snouts.

  49. Bystander says:
    January 17, 2021 at 1:34 pm

    Ed, the great entitlement driving this country over the edge sits within the military industrial complex and Wall st. Throw the stupid train book away..it does not apply

  50. Fast Eddie says:
    January 17, 2021 at 1:43 pm

    By,

    I won’t disagree with that notion but there’s A LOT more to this saga.

  51. The Great Pumpkin says:
    January 17, 2021 at 2:05 pm

    It is interesting to observe how the government can suddenly pump out endless amounts of stimulus money to save America when it wants to. The assumption is the stimulus will be eventually repaid by issuing more Treasury bonds and raising taxes. Hence, we will need to thank foreigners, richer people, and our children for paying the bill.

    If you are an American who isn’t getting any stimulus money while also paying lots of taxes, the main way to benefit is to stay invested. Some of the stimulus money will be spent, hopefully boosting corporate profits and strengthening the economy in the process.

    Be proud your tax dollars are stimulating your fellow Americans!

    Real Estate FOMO Is Rising

    I was playing softball yesterday and got to talking with my 30-year-old friend who has been thinking about buying real estate in San Francisco since early-2020. But he was too nervous to take advantage last year.

    He worked at Uber for four years and left last year to join another startup as a VP of Product. After selling off all his Uber stock, he cleared at least $2 million after taxes. I’m assuming he makes between $200,000 – $250,000 a year in salary at his new job.

    When the pandemic hit in March 2020, he was very doubtful about buying real estate then, despite my encouragement. I even sent him my comprehensive post on how real estate gets impacted when stocks sell off to shake some fear out of him.

    There’s no way you can read the post and not believe in some of my arguments. Yet, every month we chatted in 2020 he said he wanted to wait.

    When I asked him what he was up to now, he told me he recently got preapproved for a mortgage and is ready to buy!

    When I asked him why the change in heart, he said, “Now that there are vaccines, there’s a clear path to recovery starting around the second half of this year.”

    Then I asked him whether he was feeling some FOMO with the successful IPOs of Airbnb and Affirm.

    He responded, “Absolutely. I want to buy a place before herd immunity is achieved and before the people from Airbnb and Affirm get to sell their stock by this summer!”

    And this, my friends, is an example of how investor sentiment works. Only until there is a “clear path” or a “green light” do most investors dare to put significant capital to work.

    The Future Of Supply And Demand

    One of the key issues for today’s buyers is low supply. Any rational real estate seller will hold off listing their property now given the path to recovery is now so much clearer.

    Hence, there may be a wave of new supply coming to the market in 2H2021. However, I bet there will be an even bigger wave of demand after there’s an all-clear sign to come out of the bunker.

    The next time you read something on Financial Samurai that feels off, pay closer attention. I’m likely trying to anticipate change in the future in order to build more wealth and live a better life.

    Getting mad at a thesis is a waste of time. Instead, use the opportunity to shine a light on what you might be missing. I do this all the time by listening to reader feedback.

  52. The Great Pumpkin says:
    January 17, 2021 at 2:45 pm

    This guy has been right way more than he is wrong, esp when it comes to real estate. He called the rise in real estate in fly over country years ago. He understands like myself, that a market seeks out value after it peaks. It spreads out into those value areas until those areas are no longer a value. Hence, repeat the cycle. Start it up again.

    Real estate is a long term game, it’s not volatile asset. Nyc might have already bottomed, or it might have further to go, but make no doubt about it; now is a buyer’s market, and it won’t last forever. 15-20 years from now, you are going to wish you invested when everyone was piling on and calling for the end of NYC.

    Remember, the time to buy in the suburbs was when everyone was calling for the end of the suburbs…now you are going to pay. You missed that window and it’s never coming back. A new higher priced bottom will soon be here for good, you missed that cycle.

  53. Grim says:
    January 17, 2021 at 3:17 pm

    Pfizer has 3 additional lines being built in the US right now.

  54. Grim says:
    January 17, 2021 at 3:19 pm

    Andover Mass, St Louis, and Pleasant Prairie Wisc.

  55. 3b says:
    January 17, 2021 at 3:23 pm

    Bystander: Powell is a fool! He does not have anything else in his arsenal contrary to what he says. Negative rates?? What will that say about the US economy it’s madness!! The Fed put a floor under housing prices during the financial crisis, instead of letting it go and cleansing the economy. And they were kept low. Slight increase at the end of 2018, market goes berserk! The Market controls the Fed now! Covid and the Fed doubles down, massive stimulus, more to come, it’s all going to end badly. No one should be cheering this stock and real estate market.

  56. Crushednjmillenial says:
    January 17, 2021 at 4:32 pm

    If a vaccine production line costs $70 million and produces 100 million doses per year, then the US govt should order and pay for 100 production lines built. The lines then immediately become property of Pfizer and Moderna, subject to a contract to deliver vaccine doses to US govt. every month, 1 billion doses could potentially be produced per month and in 8 months, we would have enough for two doses for half the world’s population. Obviously, the limiting factor would then move from dose production to the freezers and other logistics.

    $7 Billion is a drop in a bucket for the US government and a drop in the bucket compared to cost of COVID disruptions. For Pete’s sake, China might even just send a check for this. Good luck getting the other $4T they owe the world for letting COVID out.

  57. FatsoEddie StillAConstipatedTraitor says:
    January 17, 2021 at 4:42 pm

    3b just ponder the following. I’m playing devil’s advocate. And traitor Fatso Eddie keep your simpleton Rand mouth shut.

    Let’s go back to the early 80’s with Reagan’s Star Wars program and what it did to the Soviet Union’s system as their top down party is always correct mentality could not imagine, because it was forbidden from thinking outside those ideologically confined parameters.

    If the Soviet Union had a “Devil’s Advocate Office” like Israel did after one of their war. They would be able to see that the true goal of Star Wars was to make them spend money and do wild goose chases into bankruptcy which they did.

    What if what we have today is a wild goose chase because we are not recognizing the true nature of problem. The problem, until proven otherwise seems to be that certain high level Manhattan Project like Chinese Communits Party entity is conducting biological war worldwide to weaken any perceived enemies. Why is China hiding the true source of virus? Why do they test imported products for Virus? And did they help spread like that?

    If the above conjecture is likely, let’s prove it or disapprove it. And create a proper response. But to do this we have to move beyond our corporatist state mentality. This is our severe weakness. Until proven otherwise we have to treat the issue as an evolving Biological War event and act accordingly. Yes, it means government telling corporations what to do, when and how to do it. And forcing it with orders, tariffs and taxes.

    The best outcome if there is no CCP conspiracy we move along and improve because it forced us to have a goal driven industrial policy. If there is a CCP conspiracy we don’t end up like the Soviet Union in 1989.

    Finally, is incredible to see that a large percentage of the people involved in the Capitol Hill insurrection have history of mental illness and signs and symptoms of mental illness. There has to be massive identification for treatment of all theses fringe elements.

    Start with Fatso Treason Boy

  58. BRT says:
    January 17, 2021 at 5:07 pm

    The Fed’s exclusive tool is inflation, be it from free money, bailouts, or low interest rates. It’s never had anything else. They just repackage the label of their “solutions”.

  59. 3b says:
    January 17, 2021 at 5:12 pm

    BRT: Massive inflation with high interest rates to combat it will destroy the stock and real estate market. Then what a reset, and we start fresh??

  60. No One says:
    January 17, 2021 at 5:35 pm

    Eddie-hater,
    You seem to be saying that the way to fight the PRC is to become like the PRC.
    We’re already on track for that, so relax your sphincter and enjoy, Biden-Harris are almost here.

  62. BRT says:
    January 17, 2021 at 7:30 pm

    BRT: Massive inflation with high interest rates to combat it will destroy the stock and real estate market. Then what a reset, and we start fresh??

    Only if the federal government admits it’s broke and too big. I wouldn’t be surprised to see states try to secede in the next 10 years.

  63. joyce says:
    January 17, 2021 at 7:34 pm

    Yep

    BRT says:
    January 17, 2021 at 5:07 pm
    The Fed’s exclusive tool is inflation, be it from free money, bailouts, or low interest rates. It’s never had anything else. They just repackage the label of their “solutions”.

  64. joyce says:
    January 17, 2021 at 7:36 pm

    Well, I guess you could include in their toolbox the lack of action they are supposed to take in terms of regulating financial institutions.

  65. NoOne IsCluelessAsEddie says:
    January 17, 2021 at 8:43 pm

    No One,

    We are already there. Is called Corporate State. Or who pays for what and to whom do politicians listen to. Frankly the Corporate State just dropped the mic regarding their power by curtailing of political contributions.

    A Corporate State is Rand and TraitorEddie’s wet dream. But it does not have any value for a country that could be under biological attack with the aim of draining its the coffers, energies and social cohesion. To solve it requires foresight deeper than a fiscal quarter or year.

  66. Phoenix says:
    January 17, 2021 at 11:29 pm

    “A Corporate State is Rand and TraitorEddie’s wet dream.”

    And all along I thought it was Biden’s and Kamala’s.

    Naah, I think I am right. KamalaKorp.

  67. Phoenix says:
    January 17, 2021 at 11:30 pm

    Joyce,
    The fed sold whatever little soul they had a long time ago.

  68. Phoenix says:
    January 17, 2021 at 11:31 pm

    The finance guys will keep pumping and dumping until America dies.

    Then they will head to the morgue and pump and dump the dead body as well.

  69. The Great Pumpkin says:
    January 18, 2021 at 12:00 am

    Trump may have given American populism its characteristic expression, but he didn’t unleash it and it won’t end with him. Many of the grievances that brought him into the political arena have, as we say, worsened. His Democratic tormentors have learnt little from their early debacles. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the New York congresswoman, complains about “white supremacist” colleagues in Congress; Zoe Lofgren, the California congresswoman, describes the Capitol marchers as “right-wing terrorists”. That leaves Republicans worried that, once Democrats are done with Trump, they will come for his rank and file. This diminishes the likelihood that Democrats will be able to win a conviction of Trump in the Senate in the coming weeks.
    The global populist movement, as opposed to Trump’s American fans, may indeed suffer a setback in the coming months. A good relationship with the US remains an asset for any European head of state, and Trump’s departure makes it less likely that, say, Marine Le Pen or Marion Maréchal will have a friend in the White House in 2022. The same goes for Matteo Salvini, Viktor Orbán and others. In America, all the grievances that created populism remain. Trump was effective in rallying populists together but wholly incompetent in carrying out their programme. Even to his followers, his departure might be a liberation.

    https://apple.news/A2MItw7o_R4K4Y2aiQEOzVg

  72. Hold my beer says:
    January 18, 2021 at 6:13 am

    Why aren’t y’all up and working in order to subsidize my lifestyle?

  73. grim says:
    January 18, 2021 at 7:00 am

    Totally accurate, from the NYT:

    ‘We’re underselling the vaccine’
    Early in the pandemic, many health experts — in the U.S. and around the world — decided that the public could not be trusted to hear the truth about masks. Instead, the experts spread a misleading message, discouraging the use of masks.

    Their motivation was mostly good. It sprung from a concern that people would rush to buy high-grade medical masks, leaving too few for doctors and nurses. The experts were also unsure how much ordinary masks would help.

    But the message was still a mistake.

    It confused people. (If masks weren’t effective, why did doctors and nurses need them?) It delayed the widespread use of masks (even though there was good reason to believe they could help). And it damaged the credibility of public health experts.

    “When people feel as though they may not be getting the full truth from the authorities, snake-oil sellers and price gougers have an easier time,” the sociologist Zeynep Tufekci wrote early last year.

    Now a version of the mask story is repeating itself — this time involving the vaccines. Once again, the experts don’t seem to trust the public to hear the full truth.

    This issue is important and complex enough that I’m going to make today’s newsletter a bit longer than usual. If you still have questions, don’t hesitate to email me at themorning@nytimes.com.

    ‘Ridiculously encouraging’
    Right now, public discussion of the vaccines is full of warnings about their limitations: They’re not 100 percent effective. Even vaccinated people may be able to spread the virus. And people shouldn’t change their behavior once they get their shots.

    These warnings have a basis in truth, just as it’s true that masks are imperfect. But the sum total of the warnings is misleading, as I heard from multiple doctors and epidemiologists last week.

    “It’s driving me a little bit crazy,” Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown School of Public Health, told me.

    “We’re underselling the vaccine,” Dr. Aaron Richterman, an infectious-disease specialist at the University of Pennsylvania, said.

    “It’s going to save your life — that’s where the emphasis has to be right now,” Dr. Peter Hotez of the Baylor College of Medicine said.

    The Moderna and Pfizer vaccines are “essentially 100 percent effective against serious disease,” Dr. Paul Offit, the director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, said. “It’s ridiculously encouraging.”

  74. Juice Box says:
    January 18, 2021 at 7:48 am

    Spent most of yesterday with family trying to Register my mother and aunt for one of a thousand shots being give out at Holy Name Hospital in Teaneck NJ for today and tomorrow only. Site crashed within seconds of being announced that registration was open. Could not complete form the data lookups were failing and the calendar app was down. We spent 10 hours trying yesterday, Facebook groups was full of angry people.

    Bergen County is 932,000 people and they have only vaccinated 39,000.
    There is going to be allot of anxiety in the coming weeks, there is now a vaccine shortage and from what I have read it’s going to be that way for a long time, as production has not opened up more lines as of yet.

    That is unless we commandeer the production in the USA, and what remains in Pfizer and Moderna’s storage held aside for other countries.

    100 million shots in 100 days? Who’s allotment of vaccine are we going to commandeer?

    100

  75. Hold my beer says:
    January 18, 2021 at 8:07 am

    If only they had time and resources to come up with a distribution and marketing plan.

  76. Juice Box says:
    January 18, 2021 at 8:11 am

    I checked all websites listed this morning, including the four Mega sites that are open no appointments available at any of them, all scheduling systems are offline. Check back regularly it says sign up for alerts.

    What was the purpose of the state registration site anyway? The governor opened it up to millions of people last week however the state is not booking the appointments. No way no how, every center and hospital uses a different online booking system.What a cluster f*u*ck….

    This is what they sent out yesterday…beyond useless.

    From: DOH-No-reply CovidVaccine2
    Date: January 10, 2021 at 4:47:50 PM EST
    TO: XXXXXX XXXXXXX

    Subject: COVID-19 Vaccination – Phase 1B

    Hello XXXXX XXXXX,

    You’re on the list! Appointments to schedule your vaccine visit are not yet available, but we have successfully received your registration.

    COVID-19 vaccinations will be made available in phases to ensure those most at risk are prioritized. We will send you an email when it is time for you to schedule an appointment.

    While we work to distribute vaccines quickly and safely, please remember to wear a mask, wash your hands regularly, and practice social distancing. For more on preventing the spread of COVID-19, visit covid19.nj.gov .

    Thank you!

    New Jersey Department of Health
    Seal of the State of New Jersey New Jersey Department of Health Logo

  77. grim says:
    January 18, 2021 at 8:43 am

    FDA pushed back on the AstraZeneca/Oxford vax due to some procedural screwups. Not sure there was concern about efficacy or safety, there was more concern over the public perception of approving a vaccine that had some questionable methodology.

    AZ/Oxford will be the next largest bulk of vax volume available, even though it’s most likely that J&J will be approved first.

  78. Bystander says:
    January 18, 2021 at 8:43 am

    Operation Warp Speed became Operation Warped Brain pretty quickly after election loss.

  79. The Great Pumpkin says:
    January 18, 2021 at 8:49 am

    Truly amazing. This is what happens when you have too many politicians with their hand out to make things happen. Always looking for something in return. Can’t get anything done efficiently or effectively. Scumbags.

  80. The Great Pumpkin says:
    January 18, 2021 at 8:54 am

    This review hit the nail on the head, “Also, social media seem to be taking a lot of heat that should perhaps be focused more broadly on our media and ourselves.”

    Media+Us are also to blame. Idiots all around!

    https://www.wsj.com/articles/social-media-in-2020-a-year-of-misinformation-and-disinformation-11607712530?mod=e2tw&fbclid=IwAR332OeODIfckQ9nN9whF9LnN5JVSGjGEp0lflg6zn_LB82vGlWFA49g-PU%2Baem_AZv4BgarswkS4VZqtRiXScLzrVwSnOtiDC37PxLeSYk27bGkC8hpEujhVhK2FFfTZIx0BdIQjb39RU7gXvgond4Mkaepv5EWk0RyMZdXTPJCyQ

  81. Juice Box says:
    January 18, 2021 at 8:57 am

    That AstraZeneca /Oxford vaccine sounds like it was from the plot of 28 days later.

    Take the spike protein gene of the coronavirus is insert into a “harmless” chimpanzee virus, then inject it into humans what could go wrong?

  82. Very Stable Genius says:
    January 18, 2021 at 9:19 am

    Are pardons going for $2 million?

  83. Juice Box says:
    January 18, 2021 at 9:20 am

    Here are some slides what was proposed for the State of NJ build, a state wide scheduling system for vaccine administration.

    Slides below. dated 12/14/2020 So Planning is well very recent.

    No idea if this was even an RFP or if the work is underway to build it out.

    https://bionj.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/NJ-Vaccine-Scheduling-System-121420.pdf

  84. Juice Box says:
    January 18, 2021 at 9:29 am

    re: Pardon $$$

    Seems Senator Menendez’s buddy and former co-defendant and now federal prisoner Salomon Melgen is getting a pardon. $73 million in Medicare fraud. 18 counts of fraud and bribery charges against him and Menendez, and Bob skated the Jury would not convict him.

    I wonder if our esteemed Senator will vote to impeach now? Magically after the hung jury the Justice Department decided not to seek a retrial, the biggest mystery of the bribery prosecution was that the Justice Department never flipped Melgen to testify against Menendez.

    Now Trump got hisour esteemed Senator’s buddy out of jail, before he squealed on what really happened at Casa De Campo in the DR with all of those young and some perhaps too young ladies, and where all that money really went.

  85. Fast Eddie says:
    January 18, 2021 at 10:10 am

    I see the military in Honduras is fighting back crowds of caravans eager to reach our newly opened borders. And in other news, Pelosi hated the National Guard this past summer, calling them storm troopers and today she loves them because they will save her and the synthetic inauguration.

  86. Phoenix says:
    January 18, 2021 at 10:59 am

    Eddie,
    I posted a link to that earlier.

    Are you surprised? Cause I’m not.

    USS America just keeps bouncing off one iceberg after another. How many more impacts do you think the bulkheads can withstand before its too late?

  87. Chicago says:
    January 18, 2021 at 11:15 am

    Phoenix says:
    January 18, 2021 at 12:11 am
    Here they come.

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=96A0uyFWQHs

  88. Fast Eddie says:
    January 18, 2021 at 11:22 am

    According to a leftist, compassion is defined as opening the border in exchange for votes. What? You really thought leftists show compassion with nothing in it for them?

  89. Phoenix says:
    January 18, 2021 at 11:23 am

    Chi,
    That was not my link.

    Eddie won’t find it humorous.

  90. Phoenix says:
    January 18, 2021 at 11:30 am

    “Pelosi hated the National Guard this past summer, calling them storm troopers”

    Americans love affair with “authority” and “legal.”

    They love it when they can get it to do their bidding for them.
    They hate it when it turns it’s back on them.

    Women are the best at using it as it’s mostly males looking to be “Heroes” to distressed female victims. Central Park Amy Cooper was a perfect example. Could not wait to sick the hounds on a man who called her out on her illegal activity. Bet she would have smiled, kicked her feet back, and enjoyed a glass of wine had he been lit up like Breonna Taylor.

  91. ExEssex says:
    January 18, 2021 at 12:09 pm

    11:22 let’s instead mobilize homegrown terrorists for votes.
    Let’s embolden hate and violence. Let’s reward a petulant loser with another failed POTUS term.

  92. 30 year realtor says:
    January 18, 2021 at 1:32 pm

    Eddie,

    Your hero is a traitor. Your continued support of Trump implies all sorts of things about you. If those implications do not fit, which ones don’t fit? Are you good with the storming of the Capitol? Are you good with the Stop the Steal thing? Are you good with the white supremacists? Inquiring minds want to know. And please clearly define your favorite term, “Classical America “.

  94. Hold my beer says:
    January 18, 2021 at 3:34 pm

    When I saw her video a day or two before the riot where she’s rambling about the 2nd amendment while walking through a suburb I thought she seemed dumber than palin.

  95. njtownhomer says:
    January 18, 2021 at 4:11 pm

    Trump (self or Jr)/Boebert for 2024 !

    Full of compassion our friends kind of like.

  96. relo says:
    January 18, 2021 at 4:38 pm

    So how are we going to Covid test the caravan?

  97. Fast Eddie says:
    January 18, 2021 at 5:29 pm

    So how are we going to Covid test the caravan?

    They’ll be given the vaccine at the border before entering.

  98. No One says:
    January 18, 2021 at 5:32 pm

    The “corporate state” is fascism, not capitalism. Ayn Rand argued against it vehemently. She also repeatedly attacked “conservatives”. Most critiques of Ayn Rand’s views are critiques of syrawmen that bear no likeness of her actual ideals. She favored reason, egoism, individual rights and capitalism, and opposed mysticism, collectivism, statism. Trump would have been a villain in her novels. Though I know as many people who have become his fans as have opposed him. On the other hand Biden is such a nonentity he would barely qualify as a character at all. Leftist politicians like him are a dime a dozen.

  99. No One says:
    January 18, 2021 at 5:33 pm

    I hope Biden fails to hike my taxes as much as he campaigned on.

  100. Walking says:
    January 18, 2021 at 5:50 pm

    Juice box, regarding the chimpanzee approach to Aztra Zeneca’s vaccine. I worked with a guy whose job was to fly down to New Orleans once a month to pick up the Chimps to be delivered up here for the polio vaccine. The way it was explained to me the polio virus was injected into the chimps and was latter harvested from the kidneys. I could tell you some more stories, but suffice to say those chimps are very smart. When maint had to do work in the vivarium’s the chimps would throw water at a maint tech when he wasnt looking. When the tech would turn around the male chimp would smile while holding his private.

  101. Bystander says:
    January 18, 2021 at 6:38 pm

    “She favored reason, egoism, individual rights and capitalism”

    ..as well as cuckholdism and, later, personal welfarism

  103. Chicago says:
    January 18, 2021 at 7:46 pm

    My town is so blue blood. Gotta keep up with the Smith’s and the Jones’s.
    https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.app.com/amp/4199037001

  104. ExEssex says:
    January 18, 2021 at 8:22 pm

    Trust the Plan.

    There is no f’in plan.

  105. grim says:
    January 18, 2021 at 9:11 pm

    Got my vax.

    All I have to say about it, is that the expected take rate of our frontline essential workers is far below expectation. Guess those guys are afraid of the thin blue needle.

  106. BRT says:
    January 18, 2021 at 9:50 pm

    Walking,

    at Animal Kingdom, a kid I went to grad school with told me he worked there one summer. He said, his job was to comp people free dinners, because if any fathers at the exhibit stared at the Alpha the wrong way, he would chuck poop at them. Apparently, he had laser accuracy.

  107. ExEssex says:
    January 18, 2021 at 9:56 pm

    Official Stats say:

    Last job approval rating of 34% is his lowest
    Averages 41% job approval, four points lower than any other president
    Approval ratings of Trump most politically polarized by wide margin

  108. No One says:
    January 18, 2021 at 11:14 pm

    Bystander,
    Ad hominim attack much?
    After massively overpaying for the social security program that I’m against, I also plan to accept the pittance I might get.
    As for cuckoldry, perhaps you’re more expert than me. But I notice when strong leftist women have affairs or open marriages, it’s deemed “empowering” and brave, “European” or “grown up”. Why the double standard for a woman who never pretended to live by the Bible? Did not Dems plan in 2016 to elect a woman president who spent decades in an open marriage?

Comments are closed.