C19 Open Discussion Week 43b

From InsiderNJ:

New Jersey Employment Increases in November; Unemployment Rate Increases To 10.2% 

New Jersey private sector employers added to their payrolls in November for the seventh consecutive month while employment in the public sector moved lower. Estimates produced by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicate that total nonfarm wage and salary employment in New Jersey increased by 7,100 in November to reach a seasonally adjusted level of 3,896,300. The gains were recorded in the private sector (+9,700) of the state’s economy while employment in the public sector fell by 2,600.

New Jersey has now regained a total of 485,700 jobs in the six months since April, or about 58 percent of the jobs lost due to the coronavirus pandemic and measures taken in response to it. The state’s unemployment rate increased by 2.2 percentage points to 10.2 percent in November, mainly due to New Jersey residents re-entering the labor force seeking employment over the month. See the technical notes at the end of this release for information about the impact of the coronavirus on this month’s employment estimates.

Based on more complete reporting from employers, previously released total nonfarm employment estimates for October were revised higher by 2,300 to show an over-the-month (September – October) decrease of 2,900 jobs. Preliminary estimates had indicated an over-the-month loss of 5,200 jobs. The state’s October unemployment rate was revised lower to 8.0 percent.

In November, employment increases were recorded in six out of nine major private industry sectors. Sectors that recorded job gains include trade, transportation, and utilities (+14,300), education and health services (+2,900), financial activities (+2,100), information, (+900), manufacturing (+600), and professional and business services (+500). Sectors that recorded job losses include leisure and hospitality (-6,400), construction (-3,800), and other services (-1,400). The public sector recorded a decrease of 2,600 over the month, concentrated at the federal level (-2,700).

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214 Responses to C19 Open Discussion Week 43b

  1. grim says:

    UK shifts vaccination strategy, no longer reserving the second shot in advance. Looking to vaccinate as many people as possible upfront, and backfill second shot as production increases. They also approved the Oxford/AZ vax with a wide second dose range of 4-12 weeks.

  2. Fast Eddie says:

    With Covid we are seeing the true underbelly of Reganomics.

    LMFAO!! The fact that Reagan is still discussed proves his position as one of the greatest presidents in the history of this country. And he was. And it kills you leftist mutts to no end. You have no democrat president in our lifetimes to proudly say made a difference and created a legacy. Clinton? He had eight years of relatively calm waters, domestically and abroad when he wasn’t s.exually assaulting women. Oblammy? LOL!!! He was a talking parrot that his handlers paraded around like a pet while his follows were duped into believing he did anything of substance. List Oblamma in the bottom ten of presidents that warmed the seat and did not much else. Selling books and spewing bullsh1t at podiums to purchase big Hampton houses is his legacy.

  3. grim says:

    Decisions were made.

    Old white people were clearly more important than poor disenfranchised minorities.

    Both Democrats and Republicans agreed, in fact, it was the democrats who went all in on it, without a gameplan for how to address the societal impact it would cause.

    Case in point, Murphy expended more resources and energy going after a gym that dared to defy him, while completely ignoring tens of thousands who were not receiving their rightfully owed unemployment benefits.

  4. ExEssex says:

    7:50 tHanK yOu PrEsiDunCe TwUmp

  5. grim says:

    Go long US Economy:

    https://www.princeton.edu/~mwatson/papers/Presidents_Blinder_Watson_July2014.pdf

    Relating to the paper above – coming out of COVID will see massive US economic expansion – all of this growth and expansion will come in Biden’s first term. Huge GDP growth. Does Biden deserve credit? Probably not, but adds further data points to what the authors above are saying. Democrat first terms align with strong GDP growth.

    Huge employment rebound, especially in highly impacted industries. Significantly increased spending. Large wealth transfers from inheritance and the corresponding increases in consumption and investment. The US will likely be one of the first economies out of COVID – meaning we will disproportionately benefit from the near-term growth (like wars we win).

  6. ExEssex says:

    WSJ-President Trump has always put his personal interests above nearly everything else, and Republicans are paying the political price. Mr. Trump lost his re-election bid to Joe Biden, and now he may cost Republicans the Senate too.

    Mr. Trump lost his re-election bid even as Republicans did better down-ballot because more voters liked his policies than liked him. The President hewed to a largely conservative agenda as long as he needed to maintain GOP support. But now that he’ll soon leave Washington, he’s throwing that over to punish Republicans and anyone else who refuses to indulge his fantasies about overturning the election.

  7. ExEssex says:

    Eddie Trump is trash, his legacy is tragic.

  8. grim says:

    16 states raising minimum wage on the first.

    NJ will go from $11 to $12.

  9. 3b says:

    Grim Can we raise rates then? Massive increase in economic activity should mean an increase in rates. I don’t see that happening.

  10. ExEssex says:

    Jerusalem Post- Despite not having won a Nobel Peace Prize, US President Donald Trump nonetheless included the famous award in a video he uploaded to Twitter on Tuesday, implying that he won the coveted prize for his role in helping orchestrate the Abraham Accords.
    The video, which is one minute long, contains a montage of scenes from throughout the Trump presidency, accompanied by orchestral music and featuring slogans such as “Trump stands for America” and “Trump stands for our military might” to mark different sections.
    But following the section titled “Trump stands for peace,” footage is shown of him alongside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Bahraini and Emirati foreign ministers at the Abraham Accords signing ceremony on September 15. Superimposed onto these scenes is the Nobel Peace Prize.

  11. ExEssex says:

    the Mar-a-Lago black-tie New Year’s Eve party is still set to go ahead on Thursday.

    Guests have paid thousands for tickets to attend the celebrations with Trump and his family.

    Although coronavirus cases continue to increase across the United States, a member of the club said at least 500 reservations have been confirmed, according to CNN.

    GRIM FORECAST

    It comes after a top expert claimed January’s coronavirus death toll could be the highest yet after millions ignored travel warnings for holiday gatherings.

    Dr Anthony Fauci made the grim forecast on Tuesday, as daily Covid hospitalizations hit more than 121,000 – days after warning of a new spike caused by Christmas travel and gatherings.

    At least 1.28 million ignored US travel warnings and boarded flights on Sunday, according to daily figures from the Transportation and Security Administration.

    Meanwhile, 1.1 million travelers took journeys on Monday according to the agency – even as those admitted to hospital each day shows no sign of slowing down.

    Fauci – after warning of a “post-seasonal” surge in Covid infections on Sunday – today predicted that Americans’ failure to heed experts’ advice on the Christmas holidays would have nightmarish consequences.

    He told CNN today: “Once you get to large numbers of people at a dinner, inside, poor air ventilation and circulation, that’s when you get in trouble.”

  12. BRT says:

    FBI drops the ball again. How many times does this incompetent organization need to be explicitly told someone is plotting something and completely ignore it?

    In the aftermath of the explosion, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said Warner was “not on our radar” prior to the bombing. But a Metro Nashville Police Department report from August 2019 shows that local and federal authorities were aware of alleged threats he had made.

    On Aug. 21, 2019, Warner’s girlfriend told Nashville police that Warner “was building bombs in the RV trailer at his residence,” the MNPD report states. Nashville police forwarded the information to the FBI.

  13. 3b says:

    Essex: And Obama got the prize for doing nothing.

  14. Phoenix says:

    “GRIM FORECAST

    It comes after a top expert claimed January’s coronavirus death toll could be the highest yet after millions ignored travel warnings for holiday gatherings.”

    Seems to be a bump in suicides as well. Wonder if those will be attributed to Covid.

  15. ExEssex says:

    9:36 please. Let’s pretend for a minute you aren’t an imbecile.

  16. ExEssex says:

    The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided that the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009 is to be awarded to President Barack Obama for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples. The Committee has attached special importance to Obama’s vision of and work for a world without nuclear weapons.

    Obama has as President created a new climate in international politics. Multilateral diplomacy has regained a central position, with emphasis on the role that the United Nations and other international institutions can play. Dialogue and negotiations are preferred as instruments for resolving even the most difficult international conflicts. The vision of a world free from nuclear arms has powerfully stimulated disarmament and arms control negotiations. Thanks to Obama’s initiative, the USA is now playing a more constructive role in meeting the great climatic challenges the world is confronting. Democracy and human rights are to be strengthened.

    Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world’s attention and given its people hope for a better future. His diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world’s population.

    For 108 years, the Norwegian Nobel Committee has sought to stimulate precisely that international policy and those attitudes for which Obama is now the world’s leading spokesman. The Committee endorses Obama’s appeal that “Now is the time for all of us to take our share of responsibility for a global response to global challenges.”

    Oslo, October 9, 2009

  17. Phoenix says:

    Obama could have prosecuted the criminal bankers.

    He did not. No different than Trumps pardoning, and in all truth, worse.

    Biden might be the one that finally pushes America over the edge.

  18. ExEssex says:

    dOes tHiS sOund lIkE nOtHinG tO yoU.!?!?

  19. ExEssex says:

    9:45 pullleaze

  20. ExEssex says:

    Trump is leaving the office and America is dumpster fire.

  21. ExEssex says:

    In other news:

    Hillary “Hilaria” Baldwin has opened up about being accused of faking her background — insisting it was everyone else’s fault for assuming she was Spanish.

    Alec Baldwin’s wife told The New York Times in an interview posted early Wednesday that she had always hidden her parents’ true background as bourgeois Bostonians purely in an innocent attempt to protect their privacy.

    And she claimed she was raised by a father with such “deep, deep, deep bonds” with the European nation that, “When we weren’t in Spain, we called it ‘we brought Spain into our home.’”

    The world then misrepresented her innocent pronouncement about “going home” to Spain, because they did not realize that “home is where my parents are going to be,” Baldwin claimed to the outlet.

  22. Hold my beer says:

    Essex

    Maybe Biden will nominate her for Ambassador to Spain.

  23. 3b says:

    Essex You accuse Repubs here of being delusional, one could argue you are delusional on the Dem side, as in they can do no wrong. And Obama and the peace prize was nonsense and you know it. He did nothing and giving it to him was disgraceful and cheapens the prize for those who received it and truly deserved it. And it’s true, he turned a blind eye to Wall Street. He was bought and paid for just like the rest of them.

  24. ExEssex says:

    As I recall no one was clamoring to arrest Wall St execs who by their deeds sunk the economy. Their actions were deemed “legal” and most of the posters on this very board work for the firms that had a hand in the debacle.

    But oh those emails.

  25. BRT says:

    Alec Baldwin’s wife told The New York Times in an interview posted early Wednesday that she had always hidden her parents’ true background as bourgeois Bostonians purely in an innocent attempt to protect their privacy.

    Yeah, a woman so interested in privacy constantly tweeting to her hundreds of thousands of followers pictures of her doing yoga in her underwear with her babies laying on the floor. I’m not buying it.

  26. BRT says:

    Did you know that since social media started going bananas, suicides in children are up 78% from what was a steady baseline for nearly a century? What’s more of a danger to our kids, covid or facebook and instagram?

  27. BRT says:

    As I recall no one was clamoring to arrest Wall St execs who by their deeds sunk the economy. Their actions were deemed “legal” and most of the posters on this very board work for the firms that had a hand in the debacle.

    I’m pretty sure half of this board was clamoring for prosecution at the time.

  28. 3b says:

    Essex: Many people were calling for perp walks in orange jump suits and on this board as well. And calling for the break up of the banks and reinstating glass steagall, myself included. Obama did nothing. He was incredibly self absorbed and full of himself.
    Of course after the disaster of young Bush as president people were looking for change, but ended up with more of the same.

  29. ExEssex says:

    They got change. They just needed to look under their couch cushions.

  30. ExEssex says:

    At least we got those gender neutral bathrooms.

  31. Fast Eddie says:

    I turned on CCNN briefly last night during prime time and what we’re they discussing? Trump’s “failure” to deliver the vaccine in a timely manner. I laughed out loud. You can take that thought into 50 different directions. It’s beyond criminal what the s0c1alist democrats are doing to our country. Censorship, political correctness, failure to report news, stealth suppression, blue pencil journalism, unbalanced analysis wrapped up in a clever and cunning tangent is what the leftist orderlies are shoving down the gullets of the disoriented masses. Years ago, I mentioned that we were slowly losing our sovereignty and was laughed at for suggesting it. Even those sympathetic to liberal causes are going to experience the same grief as those who opposed it. We are retreating from apathy to dependence.

  32. ExEssex says:

    I still laugh at you Eddie don’t worry.

  33. ExEssex says:

    Most US voters don’t want Trump to run in 2024 and 42% say he is ‘one of the worst presidents’ ever, Fox News poll finds

  34. The Great Pumpkin says:

    What a shot…knocked it out of the park.

    No One says:
    December 30, 2020 at 1:18 am
    Pumpkin,
    Haven’t you received your school materials that declare ideals of self-discipline, perseverance and diligence to be the lies by which the white capitalist patriarchy oppress everyone else?
    Only bigger government can deliver financial success, according to modern intellectuals, as individual effort is an illusion in the face of America’s systemic injustice.
    The intellectuals pushing this narrative are murdering the souls of future generations, trying to squash the right to the pursuit of happiness.

  35. Fast Eddie says:

    coming out of COVID will see massive US economic expansion – all of this growth and expansion will come in Biden’s first term. Huge GDP growth. Does Biden deserve credit? Probably not…

    The senile f.uck will wallow in it, which is expected and the doilies who support him will broadcast it as much as possible. It’ll be Trump’s fault up until the time the ship turns. Tax hikes and more regulation will be the reason why the economy ramps up again… even though it was buzzing before the covid gut punch. The production class will take advantage of it in the form of investment while the whiners will clamor for more soc1al and economic justice.

  36. The Great Pumpkin says:

    This country became great because it was built on Puritan values of hard work, sacrifice, and family. That’s how all these white people became rich and dominant. Somehow, over time, success has become associated with racism instead of the values these families used to become wealthy. It’s crazy how people perceive things.

    And please don’t give me the bs that working hard gets you nowhere. That’s insanity.

  37. The Great Pumpkin says:

    People will never be happy. They just don’t appreciate what they have. Always want what the other guy has. It’s sad. So no matter how good their life really is, in their mind, it sucks. Why? Because that guy has what I want. Human nature is a bitch.

    So that’s where a lot of these calls for economic equality stem from. People wanting what someone else has….And telling themselves lies as to why they deserve it.

  38. Libturd says:

    Eddie,

    I saw the same newscast last night where Trump was blamed for the vaccination issue. Though the states obviously have no clue, I still posit at the times of emergency, the president, if a strong leader, can strongly influence the states. Though with Trump’s burnt bridges, anti-blue state rhetoric, constant beatdown of the media and lack of placing any importance on Covid, his ability to effectively lead was destroyed long before Covid.

    Within 3 weeks of the Small Pox outbreak in 1947, 6 million children were vaccinated in NYC alone. 5 million within the first two weeks.

    We are no longer a functioning country.

    BTW, no one was more for perp walks and letting Wall Street rebuild on it’s own than I was. And if you dig into the perpetrators of the fiscal fiasco, you will see that their massive wealth has allowed them to out-lawyer (and outPAC) the Feds. I bet few here are aware that Angelo Mozilo ended up paying a mere $67.5 million in fines and restitution and all charges against him were dropped. It is estimated he profited well over 400 million dollars from the subprime fiasco.

    I also don’t doubt the US economy prediction Grim reported on. I would say 2/3rds of our friends are currently vacationing this Christmas break as they are sick of being pent up. Our hospitals are going to be in a load os sh1t and I expect schools, sports, etc to all be remote or shutdown again by the third week in January. Then as we gradually reopen, we’ll have to deal with Easter too. But I’m guessing, as a country, we’ll finally get out act together by the end of the Summer due to vaccinations and the natural decrease in seasonal cases. I would look for next Fall to be the explosion of the pent-up demand and the following year for the economy to go hog wild. Though, I still wouldn’t rule out some serious ugliness this Spring as we pay the price for all of our terrible economy management. We’ll see how forward looking the market really is. How high can our P/Es get before they compress under earnings increases still 12 to 16 months away. Personally, I’m positioned 50/50 currently. If there is a correction, I will probably get back to 75/25. If there is no correction, I’m perfectly happy. I had a record breaking year due to some really smart stock picks and the performance of VUG. I also nailed it in my 401K by being 100% for most of the year in our best performing option, large cap growth. By the way, since my mention of boring BLD. It went up 70% when the Nasdaq went up 27% in the past 6 months. But keep loading into TSLA and the FAANGS and crypto currencies where you can lose 30-40% in a week (or a day).

    Still can’t believe my best investment year ever will be during Covid. Something is not adding up.

    Also, still can’t believe the pork in that bill and that we are sending $2,000 to 80-90% of the population who don’t need it.

    Enjoy the crumbs fools. Lord knows, it will immediately transfer to the rich in stock market gains from your discretionary spending.

  39. grim says:

    Within 3 weeks of the Small Pox outbreak in 1947, 6 million children were vaccinated in NYC alone. 5 million within the first two weeks.

    We are no longer a functioning country.

    Terrible…

  40. grim says:

    Word on the street is that opt-out in NJ is very, very high. Rather, probably more accurate to say that opt-in is very, very low. The fact that these are health care providers scares the hell out of me.

  41. leftwing says:

    “…a top expert claimed January’s coronavirus death toll could be the highest yet after millions ignored travel warnings for holiday gatherings.

    Dr Anthony Fauci made the grim forecast on Tuesday, as daily Covid hospitalizations hit more than 121,000 – days after warning of a new spike caused by Christmas travel and gatherings.

    At least 1.28 million ignored US travel warnings and boarded flights on Sunday, according to daily figures from the Transportation and Security Administration.

    Meanwhile, 1.1 million travelers took journeys on Monday according to the agency – even as those admitted to hospital each day shows no sign of slowing down.”

    Insufferable liberals….Yes, we all get it…..there is a virus….a handful of people go to the hospital, and a handful of those die…..

    We are making informed choices fully cognizant of those risks.

    Jesus, you people are worse than a nagging wife that just won’t STFU about the garbage.

  42. leftwing says:

    “dOes tHiS sOund lIkE nOtHinG tO yoU.!?!?”

    LOLOLOL. It is literally the definition of NOTHING:

    “The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided that the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009 is to be awarded to President Barack Obama for his extraordinary efforts…vision of and work for…The vision of…are to be…captured the world’s attention…hope…concept…attitudes…spokesman.” NOTHING. NADA.

    Obama was named October 9th, he had been in office for about 8 months. Nominations and debate start months before naming. So Obama was under consideration a few months into his Presidency….

    It was an affirmative action participation award. Period.

  43. Fast Eddie says:

    …his ability to effectively lead was destroyed long before Covid.

    I agree. Every achievement was ignored and every fake narrative the left could conjure was shouted from the hilltops.

  44. leftwing says:

    “Seems to be a bump in suicides as well. Wonder if those will be attributed to Covid.”

    Wife: Did I get fat during COVID?
    Husband: You weren’t really that skinny to begin with.
    Time of death: 11:09am
    Cause: COVID-19

  45. leftwing says:

    “As I recall no one was clamoring to arrest Wall St execs who by their deeds sunk the economy. Their actions were deemed “legal” and most of the posters on this very board work for the firms that had a hand in the debacle.”

    Very few cases of criminal behavior so no to arrests. I overwhelmingly supported letting them fail.

  46. grim says:

    Nobody here defended Angelo Mozilo.

  47. grim says:

    Mr Hyde says:
    October 25, 2010 at 1:36 pm (Edit)
    Citibank’s former chief underwriter has testified under oath that he, and the rest of management, knew that 60% of production was bogus in 2006 and 80% in 2007

    I guess we dont need to have that imaginary Attorney General, Eric Holder look into this at all? Noting to see here move along…..

  48. grim says:

    Shore Guy says:
    January 20, 2012 at 11:41 am (Edit)
    Well, well, well. Who could it be? Could it be Satan?

    Well, just Eric Holder, it turns out.

    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46070458/ns/business-us_business/?google_editors_picks=true

    U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Lanny Breuer, head of the Justice Department’s criminal division, were partners for years at a Washington law firm that represented a Who’s Who of big banks and other companies at the center of alleged foreclosure fraud, a Reuters inquiry shows.

  49. grim says:

    https://njrereport.com/index.php/2016/04/12/more-settlements-no-guilt-no-prosecution/

    grim says:
    April 12, 2016 at 6:09 am (Edit)
    Nice to see that Lynch is carrying on the Holder tradition.

    Why prosecute when you can just settle?

  50. grim says:

    Sean says:
    February 2, 2009 at 9:44 am (Edit)
    Did anyone hear the Bloomberg interview this morning around 8AM? They had on an author William K. Black who wrote the book called “The best way to rob a bank is to own it.” Book is an insiders view on the S&L Fraud that went on in the 80’s.

    He went on this morning about how during the S&L scandal the Govn’t prosecuted over 1,000 insiders for Accounting and Securities Fraud, (note there were only 3,000 S&L’s at the time) while this time around there really has yet to be any perp walks.

  51. grim says:

    30 year realtor says:
    October 27, 2010 at 9:31 pm (Edit)
    More rant about banks and title…If homeowner fcuks up he loses home. I bank fcuks up they get a do over? Laws concerning title and foreclosure date back hundreds of years (judicial foreclosure). Banks and their counsel know the laws, it is property 101. They have a piece of paper to prove their standing. Simple concept, why change it?

    Hedge fund buys MBS for 30% ? If they get 30 cents back they are whole. Why not just give them back what they paid even if there is insurance against fraud committed during the packaging and sale of the MBS? This could be their contribution to correcting the problems with the financial system. They’re not losing anything, so we can change the rules?

    What about a stand up guy who is paying the mortgage religiously? Guy figures he should ask his mortgage servicer to prove chain of title and possession of the note. Turns out the servicer can’t produce the note. Should the stand up guy pay?

    The problem is not the system. The problem is rampant abuse of the system from within! The law is fine and does not require change. The people associated with the mortgage end of the financial community who participated in creating these messes must be held accountable. From the lowly clerk to the CEOs, they must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

  52. grim says:

    I think 30 year nailed in this last piece. While many of us were against creation of new regulations, we were not against enforcement of the current rules, and especially seeing the government move forward full force with prosecutions, and not settlements and hand slaps.

  53. grim says:

    Good news, Murphy is allowing indoor sports again.

    What happened between last week and this week that it was ok now?

    Data clearly didn’t determine this.

    Can’t wait to hear him congratulate himself again in 30 minutes.

  54. Juice Box says:

    re; “opt-in is very, very low”

    Little lyrics for this one… Merry Vaccination everyone..

    He sees you when you’re sleeping and he knows when you’re awake. Now it’s your turn to get the vaccine and you better behave! The system is tracking us, the Governor made sure, you better obey or they are coming for you.

    Governor Murphy will be vaccinating around town…..

    “Gov. Phil Murphy announced Friday he’s signing an executive order to streamline the vaccination process and more easily track the two doses needed for the first vaccines.

    The order will change the New Jersey Immunization Information System from an opt-in to an opt-out program for any resident who chooses to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.”

    “The registry tracks all vaccinations in the state. And usually, if you’re a resident born after 1998, you are automatically opted in. If you were born before then, you can opt in, though it’s not required.

    But with this order, everyone who wants a coronavirus vaccine is automatically enrolled in to make sure their two-dose regimen is “properly tracked and managed,” Murphy said”

    https://www.nj.com/coronavirus/2020/12/nj-orders-change-to-streamline-covid-19-vaccine-shots-tracking-when-shots-arrive.html

  55. leftwing says:

    Not really sure what that 80% of ‘production’ being ‘bogus’ means…Out of context, hard to tell but very suspect given scale…

    Not to rehash the housing crisis again but society should understand where fiduciary duty lies….WS has a duty of disclosure. They are intermediaries. Essentially high end RE brokers. Same type of whore, just a few more zeroes.

    They agent paper from one entity, market it, then offer it to another entity.

    In the same way your RE broker is not liable if you discover a previously unknown leaking oil tank on your newly purchased property, WS is not responsible if appraisals and credit ratings on your paper aren’t what they appeared to be.

    Gross incompetence? Yes.
    Willful ignorance? Likely.

    Specific, prosecutable acts of criminality? Ehhhhh.

  56. Juice Box says:

    You have to realize who ran the DOJ. Obama’s “wingman” Eric Holder.

    Let’s skip past the crimes related to the Housing crisis, and just take about plain and simple money laundering for the drug cartels and terrorists.

    Our DOJ during the Obama Holder era had HSBC dead to rights on that, and the Attorney General at the time said NO.

    Deferred prosecution agreement is the new gold standard. Pay up and you skate free “Too Big to Prosecute”

  57. leftwing says:

    https://www.npr.org/sections/biden-transition-updates/2020/12/30/951430323/gop-sen-hawley-will-object-to-electoral-college-certification

    Break out my handy guide to the electoral count process from a few months back and some popcorn.

    Since they go alphabetically it is likely Arizona is the first State that will be contested in the roll count, after which the joint session will pause for each chamber to gather, debate, and vote.

    Won’t go anywhere, but should be fun.

  58. joyce says:

    I agree rehashing the debate again is a waste of time. Some of us have different opinions which will not be changed at this point. I will just say this… it’s way too narrow of a view to say “wall street is to blame for the crisis” and it’s also too narrow of a view to say the only role “wall street” had in the crisis was the marketing of securities.

    leftwing says:
    December 30, 2020 at 12:33 pm

  59. Juice Box says:

    Joyce – Marketing of securities and betting against them later. No worries the firewalls were up.

  60. grim says:

    Hot off the presses from Judy.

    62k vaccines administered of 512k allocated.

    Going backward on the stats.

  61. ExEssex says:

    Looks like Louisville is firing the Brianna Taylor murderers.

  62. Comrade Nom Deplume, Tired AF says:

    Looks like ExEssex is off his meds again. He’s always been a troll’s troll but he is outdoing himself now that schools are on break and he has all this time off before he has to start virtual teaching again.

  63. Comrade Nom Deplume, Tired AF says:

    Grim,

    Back at the end of the S&L crisis, I interned for the DOJ task force prosecuting banks. They were trying to go after anyone and everyone then. To the point of bending rules to see if they could bring/make cases.

    Fast forward to my time at a BIGLAW firm in DC where I repped (wait for it) banks! As one partner said to me “Nom, we don’t try cases, we settle them” and I thought the settlements then were eye-popping. Now they’re quaint.

    And today, because we passed so much legislation, we declared victory and pulled out.

  64. No One says:

    Pumpkin,
    Despite all the times you frustrate me with your hardheaded wrongness, I do appreciate that you do value effort and trying to better yourself, and to hold parents responsible for themselves and their kids, and that you have applied this in your own life.
    Happier New Year!

  65. Juice Box says:

    Yeah criminal referrals from regulators to government prosecutors during the S&L Crisis. William Black was on MSM back in 2009-2010 talking about it and how Holder and the DOJ refused to do their Job back then on NOW.

    JPM bought themselves some Justice last month.

    https://www.justice.gov/criminal-vns/case/jpmorgan-dpa

  66. Phoenix says:

    ” I would look for next Fall to be the explosion of the pent-up demand and the following year for the economy to go hog wild.”

    Yeah, this is it in a nutshell.

    https://youtu.be/7feRwMOc5kA?t=8

  67. Phoenix says:

    I wanted them all to see jail time, including the criminals from the rating industries.

    What we got was typical American justice. In other words, nothing.

    Trump just pardoned a bunch of criminals. Repub, Dem, it does not matter. Lori Loughlin is out already.
    I have zero faith in the American justice system to get anything right.

  68. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Thank you, no one. Remember, I was young when I first came to this blog. So I was naive when it came to the subjects of equality and fairness.

    What we really should be teaching people is that life is not fair. Someone is going to be born with more money than you, or gifted with good looks, maybe even both. Another is going to be born into a poor abusive household. Yes, it’s terrible that we can’t all be born equal (with beautiful looks and great parenting), but that’s not how the system works.

    The thing you must get the youth and disenfranchised to understand is the concept that you don’t have to live like this forever. If you don’t like your life right now, you can change it. Start coming up with a logical plan to create the life that you want. Don’t make excuses, just make it happen however long it takes.

    That’s what America offers you. Freedom to create and live the life that you want. If you don’t have as much as the next guy, and are upset, well, do something about it.

    I came from nothing, and built my life during a period where people said economic mobility is dead. My siblings did the exact same thing. All millennials. All own two properties and have above avg incomes. How can it be? WE WANTED A BETTER LIFE FOR OURSELVES AND OUR KIDS. Doesn’t happen over night, but it will come in time. You just have to want it, and act on it.

    I was reading up about Marylyn Monroe. Man, she was a foster kid, abused over and over by different foster families. She wanted a better life and used what she had (her looks) to become rich and famous. Didn’t end well, but the point is there. She wasn’t dealt a good hand, but did what she had to improve her lot.

  69. Walking says:

    Anyone check their online bank account? Just got a nice gift from the irs, that was pretty fast.

  70. 3b says:

    Phoenix: All true, and I have been saying it for years. It’s just amazing to me that some here think the Democrats are better and all was well before Trump took office.

  71. Phoenix says:

    “What we really should be teaching people is that life is not fair.”

    Tell that to Breonna Taylor. Looks like law enforcement has delivered that message successfully. And the justice system will do it’s best to make sure that coffin is nailed tightly.
    Don’t worry, your day might just come as well Pumps. Hope your ready to suck it up like you expect everyone else to. Be prepared cause some are not.

  72. Phoenix says:

    “Just got a nice gift from the irs, that was pretty fast.”

    Go take a walk into the playground and thank the children there, as they are the ones that, without their knowledge, gave you the “gift.”

  73. BidenIsTheGOAT says:

    The tds folks aren’t going away. They can’t come to grips with the fact that their progressive world view was rejected. So they will continue to blame trump. MAGA ♾

  74. Phoenix says:

    Life isn’t fair hey Pumpy. Guess she should just “suck it up.” Or, leak all of it out.

    https://www.insider.com/new-york-times-breonna-taylor-shooting-visual-investigation-2020-12

  75. BidenIsTheGOAT says:

    Right before thanksgiving, a 12 year old kid in phila was shot and killed after someone rang the doorbell and shot through the door. I didn’t see it mentioned.

    It’s tragic what the lefts exploitation of urban violence is going to do. A lot of innocents will end up dead.

  76. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Phoenix, bad things happen. I’m not talking about what happened to her. I’m talking about people that throw away their life because the hand they were given was not good enough to play in their mind. So they focus on self pity and think the rich guy doesn’t deserve to be rich because they were born with a better hand.

  77. The Great Pumpkin says:

    News flash. Best hand doesn’t always win. You play the game and the hand you were dealt. Only babies give up. Love the kids growing up that turned off the game anytime they were losing. F’ing losers.

    That’s the people out there crying we need more economic equality. The babies..just play.

  78. Phoenix says:

    Biden,
    Watch that video. It’s damning. They turned that apartment complex into swiss cheese. It’s only luck that others were not killed.

  79. Fast Eddie says:

    Mary Ann, Gilligan’s Island, passed away – covid. This shit has got to end.

  80. 3b says:

    Phoenix: Pumps today is a pull yourself up by the bootstraps Capitalist, last week he was an advocate of universal basis income. He was Republican and a Trump supporter, then he became a Democrat he changes like the wind.

  81. The Great Pumpkin says:

    UBI is a basic income. Aka poor. It still operates on the idea if you want to better yourself, there is opportunity to. It’s acknowledging that low skilled individuals who lack low skill opportunities will still be able to survive.

  82. 3b says:

    I know what it is pumps. Does not change what I said.

  83. BidenIsTheGOAT says:

    nytimes. Sure. lol. That’s a propaganda outfit. Even old school progressives aren’t welcome there.

  84. Phoenix says:

    Well, he is a hybrid. Capitalist real estate tycoon, but sucks off the government teat in his career. Will dump all of his “love of Wayne” at retirement time, take his Wayne NJ pension to Florida where he will skip paying into the same pension he draws out of.

    He would fall over and puke if he saw what I see on a daily basis. I dont have PDS, or pumpy derangement syndrome. He does bring up valid points at times just like our outgoing Trump. So there is that.

    I expect to see more Twisted Tea justice in the future of America. Google it if you don’t know what it is. We are headed that way now.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpk5WG-arRE

  85. Phoenix says:

    Biden,
    Plenty of real footage there if you just want to utilize the data and formulate your own opinion without the “propaganda.”
    Or like some you just feel like “it’s all good.” Who cares. Don’t worry, you don’t, but you will over time. The train is above maximum weight, the mountain has been crested, and you don’t have enough dynamic or primary breaking to overcome the kinetic energy that is coming at you, and America in general. It’s denial at this point.

    The comments in the footage alone seal the deal for me. I am good at filtering bias and seeing both sides of things. Thanks but I’ll stick to reality.

  86. Bystander says:

    Yes it was all Holder turning his head. Where was Mukasey doing from 2007-2009 under GWB? Too busy crafting TARP to ensure AIG execs got their bonuses for great ‘above board’ work. Not a partisan issue. Everyone has hand out so why punish and risk that pay stream.

  87. ExEssex says:

    Presidential historian Michael Beschloss told MSNBC that President Donald Trump’s legacy will always be tied to the catastrophic COVID-19 death toll in the US.
    “Donald Trump is not going to change the record. He was largely responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans who did not need to die,” Beschloss said.
    As of Wednesday, nearly 339,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 under Trump’s watch. It’s the highest reported COVID-19 death toll in the world.

  88. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Interesting ideas, thanks for the share.

    I am empathetic, but I also understand why some people are helpless. I just try to get individuals to believe in themselves and understand things can change with hard work. Not easy, but very possible.

    Also, make good choices. Too many people make bad choices over and over. Understand the power of choice and be wise with it.

    “I expect to see more Twisted Tea justice in the future of America. Google it if you don’t know what it is. We are headed that way now

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpk5WG-arRE

  89. chicagofinance says:

    Ex: dude…. this is pure garbage….seriously…

    ExEssex says:
    December 30, 2020 at 5:29 pm
    Presidential historian Michael Beschloss told MSNBC that President Donald Trump’s legacy will always be tied to the catastrophic COVID-19 death toll in the US.
    “Donald Trump is not going to change the record. He was largely responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans who did not need to die,” Beschloss said.
    As of Wednesday, nearly 339,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 under Trump’s watch. It’s the highest reported COVID-19 death toll in the world.

  90. ExEssex says:

    5:33 he ain’t wrong though.
    It is called Depraved Indifference.

  91. ExEssex says:

    Officials in two states, Colorado and California, say they have discovered cases of the more contagious variant, which was first identified in Britain.

    A day after Colorado reported the first known case of the variant in the United States, state officials on Wednesday reported a second one. Then later in the day, Gov. Gavin Newsom of California announced that his state, too, had a case.

    There is no evidence that the new variant makes people any sicker, but it appears to be much more contagious than older forms. And that threatens to complicate what had seemed a hopeful, if halting, path to recovery from the pandemic in the United States.

  92. ExEssex says:

    The Atlantic-
    More than a year ago, I argued in these pages that if Donald Trump held virtually any other position of responsibility in modern society, he would already have been removed from that role. The article was called “If Trump Were an Airline Pilot,” and the examples ranged from CEOs to nuclear-submarine commanders to surgeons in an operating room. If any of them had demonstrated the impulsiveness, the irrationality, the vindictiveness, the ceaseless need for glorification that all distinguish Trump, responsible authorities would long ago have suspended them. The stakes—in lives, legal exposure, dollars and cents, war and peace—would be too great to do otherwise.
    At the time of that comparison, the main case against Trump involved his temperamental, intellectual, and moral unfitness for the job. But since then we’ve moved into the realm of manslaughter. Yesterday nearly 2,000 Americans died of COVID-19. By Thanksgiving Day, another 10,000 to 15,000 will have perished. By year’s end, who knows? And meanwhile the person in charge of guiding the national response does nothing.

    Or worse than nothing. He tweets in rage. He fires anyone suspected of disloyalty. He encourages endless lawsuits that are tossed out of court one after another but that, one after another, do cumulative damage to confidence in elections and democracy. His cat’s-paw in charge of the General Services Administration does what none of her predecessors ever dared, pretending that the outcome of the election is still in doubt. Thus she blocks Joe Biden’s transition team from receiving the funding or cooperation it needs during the rapidly dwindling days until inauguration. (Rapidly dwindling from an incoming administration’s perspective, with so many plans to prepare and staffers to select. Moving like molasses from other perspectives.) We’re beyond the range of my earlier comparisons to a leader of a museum “who routinely insulted large parts of its constituency” or a CEO “making costly strategic decisions on personal impulse.” The problem with finding analogies to illuminate the Trump administration’s reckless disregard for national welfare now is that all of them seem so extreme.

  93. Phoenix says:

    ExEssex,
    Your country voted him in. Please do not forget that fact, unless you too are delusional and think he did not win the election, just like some believe Biden did not win.

    America is getting what it deserved. If you have a problem with Trump, just look at the democratic party that put up such a loser candidate there was no way he should have won.

    Unless this country goes to party line voting, there is no hope at all and even then it might just sink anyway.

    And as far as the covid vaccinations, I can tell you, it’s a real fiasco that is for sure.

  94. BRT says:

    All viruses mutate over time to do two things to try to survive:

    1. Become more contagious
    2. Become less lethal

    This Great Britain strain is just normal evolution in a virus.

  95. Hold my beer says:

    We’re setting new Covid records every day .

    https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/coronavirus-covid-19-dfw-north-texas-updates-dec-30/287-96c13663-f17b-4d9c-9cfd-5339e847a405

    I think its going to get much worse in mid January with so many people travelling or going to get togethers and parties from Christmas to New Years.

    And I still see people not wearing masks every time I go out. Saw a couple around 55-60 not wearing masks at the post office today. For a change they were Vietnamese (I could hear them talking). Vietnamese tend to be Trumpers. I won’t go to the Vietnamese places in my area anymore. Last time I went to a Vietnamese plaza mask wearing rate was worse than Walmart. There was even a sign by the front door stating masks were required. There were two guys who run small booths sitting on either side of the sign not wearing masks.

  96. ExEssex says:

    7:00 betcha 45 will be in lockup before summer 2021.

  97. grim says:

    Daily Dose Report

    California – 300,696
    Texas – 205,463
    New York – 203,000
    Florida – 175,465
    Illinois – 129,192

    New Jersey – 62,901

  98. grim says:

    It’s been really difficult to gain some speed here in New Jersey, because Murphy insists that each site wait until he can come for a photo op with a decrepit corpse before starting.

  99. Phoenix says:

    Ex,
    He has too much money. Maybe somewhere else, but in America he will walk without a doubt. They will attempt to convict him until he dies of old age and never be successful.

    Grim,
    Try to do anything in N.J, the amount of permits you need to put on a set of stairs on your house and the time it takes to get them approved is longer than it takes to frame them, put on the treads and finish.

    You would think with all of the PhD’s, and muppets with masters they could defrost something, withdraw a set amount, and inject it in a reasonable amount of time. Too many muppets in meetings, and no one to actually do the work.

  100. Phoenix says:

    No worries though, prisoners are now going to take priority over you.

    “A poor person of color on the streets of Camden N.J. are worth nothing to the state, put them behind bars they are worth 40-50 thousand dollars a year to prison contractors, food service and phone card and that is something that is very real but not even understood by the victims themselves.”

    https://youtu.be/lpk5WG-arRE?t=479

  101. ExEssex says:

    7:55 sad but very true. Similar value to a student in a school, but an entirely different set of “services” are employed. Or are they?

  102. FatsoEddie StillConstipatedWithTrumpKoolAid says:

    Well take hope. If you get the virus soon you will go to your local dyalisis center to get Monoclonal Antibodies infusion. Fresenius Dyalisis Center will start doing Monoclonal Antibodies infusion as hospitals have been busier with the sicker patients. See Reuters for the story.

    Eddie there the Ayn Rand toil3t in Moscow’s airport still waiting for you.

  103. chicagofinance says:

    Kyle Smith

    They save the most Wrong decision for the end: after private industry developed a COVID vaccine before a single American was even infected, then spent the entire year testing and running through regulatory obstacle courses, government agencies are handling distribution. As I write these words, 11 million doses of vaccine are out there ready to go but only 2.1 million folks have actually gotten the shots. If Walgreens, CVS, or even Arby’s were in charge of this operation, you’d already have your vaccination appointment logged in your Google calendar.

    Instead, our betters have decided that, when 10,000 people a week are dying, the answer lies in running distribution like the DMV: You’ll get the vaccine when the government workers behind the counter are good and ready to wrap up their conversation on whatever episode of “Grey’s Anatomy” they’re chatting about and turn their attention to you.

  104. chicagofinance says:

    I really disagree with the premise. Trump is guilty of everything below listed, but at bottom he merely wasted resources, money and political capital. All other charges can be thrown at the feet of other people practicing their independence. We are the country that is probably the most transparent and reasonable in the face of this health crisis. Europe and Asia are a laughingstock.

    I will say that should your philosophy be that the President by definition is alwaus ultimately responsible for everything on his watch, I understand the perspective, but disagree with the “correlation implies causation” implication.

    ExEssex says:
    December 30, 2020 at 5:53 pm
    The Atlantic-
    More than a year ago, I argued in these pages that if Donald Trump held virtually any other position of responsibility in modern society, he would already have been removed from that role. The article was called “If Trump Were an Airline Pilot,” and the examples ranged from CEOs to nuclear-submarine commanders to surgeons in an operating room. If any of them had demonstrated the impulsiveness, the irrationality, the vindictiveness, the ceaseless need for glorification that all distinguish Trump, responsible authorities would long ago have suspended them.

  105. ChiFi DrankTrumpKoolAid says:

    ChiFi,

    BS. Trump is guilty of depraved indifference. Getting a bunch of college intern and telling them that the fate of PPE for the country was in their hand is what you expect from a New York rich douche like him. Excusing him is what I expect from ideologues that are constipated and need to go to the Ayn Rand 3rd Floor Bathroom at Moscow’s airport Toilet of losers wing.

    The federal bureaucracy is problematic, but can get things done – like Man in the Moon, WW2, etc. When you have someone like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Lee_Witt VS https://wikiality.fandom.com/wiki/Michael_%22Heck_of_a_Job%22_Brownie

  106. crushednjmillenial says:

    It’s time for the federal government to step up on vaccine distribution. The President should divert some upcoming vaccine doses away from states that have failed to quickly distribute the vaccine and instead have the US military set up appointments and sites at our federal military bases for people to get vaccinated directly through the feds. Hell, charge a non-refundable $100 or $200 for booking an appointment so that only the most-committed people come to the military base vaccinations. In addition, he should begin distributing substantial doses to Walgreens and CVS and decree by executive order that such doses are not subject to the authority of a state governor’s covid priorty system.

    Covid is the biggest thing that has happened to the world since 9/11. This vaccine rollout does not seem commensurate with how much of a health, economic, and lifestyle hit the US has taken here.

    I skimmed a few articles, but I do not see exactly what the bottleneck is here. Admittedly I am not a logistics expert, but the pace of vaccine distribution seems off by a factor of 5 or 10. It has been 15 days since the dramatic video of the FedEx trucks leaving the Pfizer plant, for the love of god.

  107. crushednjmillenial says:

    Pardon my rant . . .

    Indeed, I am scandalized that part of the logistics plan for rolling out the vaccine has not included having potential vaccine recipients standing by in their own cars in the parking lot of each hospital so that the moment a nurse has downtime for some reason and there are doses available, the nurse can shoot someone, anyone.

  108. Phoenix says:

    the nurse can shoot someone, anyone.

    Nope, too much legal liability. Not going to happen. Someone must be there to monitor you for 15-30 minutes in case you have a life threatening reaction as some have had.
    If America was not such a sue happy warped legal corrupt money hungry pathologic narcissistic opportunistic rat hole yeah maybe.
    Well it is. So have a seat, let’s have all of your documents, sign all of the legal waivers, and do what we tell you as if you do not, you may kindly exit the premises.

  109. Phoenix says:

    This guy is right. This will be America’s future.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxSN4ip_F6M

  110. Libturd says:

    What a country. Criminals get the vaccine before the taxpayers. I wonder what I should do to get mine?

    Anyone want to record my 2020 Christmas Classic?

    The countries led by a compulsive liar
    Friends wear masks below their nose
    Professional sports are a Dumpster fire
    No one cares I’m in yesterday’s clothes

    Everybody knows good takeout and some cheap merlot
    Helps you forget Rona wrecked your life
    Vaccinations are ready to go
    But there is a terribly long line
    I’ll continue to play the covid lottery
    I’ve got tons of paper towels and PPP
    Baby yoda’s so cute that I could die
    Especially if I decide it’s time to fly

    And so I’m counting down the last few December days
    Very soon we will be in 21.
    The New Year, for sure, there’l be better days
    2020 was simply no fun

    And so I’m counting down the last few December days
    Very soon we will be in 21.
    The New Year, for sure, there’l be better days
    2020 was simply no fun

  111. crushednjmillenial says:

    North NJ Real Estate . . .

    The house at the link below received 15 offers within 3 days of being listed, according to the agent.

    75 Stockton Street, Hillsdale, NJ
    $488k ask
    3 bed, 1.5 bath
    100 x 75 lot
    $13k annual property tax

    Anyone want to take a shot at how much it will finally sell for? I’m thinking $515k. Am I way off?

    https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/75-Stockton-St_Hillsdale_NJ_07642_M68653-60973

  112. njtownhomer says:

    It has a stellar agent (Ghada), and walk to school location. Corner lot.
    Conservative 10%+ boost. I’d say $540K

  113. grim says:

    I skimmed a few articles, but I do not see exactly what the bottleneck is here. Admittedly I am not a logistics expert, but the pace of vaccine distribution seems off by a factor of 5 or 10. It has been 15 days since the dramatic video of the FedEx trucks leaving the Pfizer plant, for the love of god.

    Team Murphy limited who can get it, how they get it, how they register to be able to get it, and how they must administer. Unlike, you know, every other vaccine administered across NJ hundreds, if not thousands of times daily, by thousands of doctors and nurses that know far better how to administer a vaccine.

    The Federal Government approved our Distillation Plant permit in 27 days, NJ took 11 months.

  114. leftwing says:

    “It is called Depraved Indifference.”

    If Trump is guilty of depraved indifference for “doing nothing” then what is the charge against Murphy and Cuomo for the sheer idiocy of their nursing home fiascoes?

    Manslaughter?

    Listen people, stats matter.

    Somewhere around 300k people have died with some contribution from COVID. Fully one-third were over 85. Another third were between 75-84.

    Fewer than 10,000 were under the age of 44. Let me repeat…since COVID started fewer than 10,000 Americans under the age of 44 passed from it. That’s 0.00005 of that population cohort.

    Newsflash. IT IS A VIRUS. People were always going to die. No amount of government intervention was going to change that. And nothing the government has done, or reasonably should do, is outside the scope of an individual’s capability of protecting himself.

    The 2/3 of seniors who died had their demise accelerated….no different than a bad flu season, poor air quality in major urban centers, or a summer of excess heat and humidity. Unfortunate, but happens every year to the most vulnerable from various causes.

    The most unusual cohort? Those 10,000 deaths – TOTAL – age 44 and under.

    The real criminals are the ones shutting down everyone and everything for that infinitesimal morbidity rate. More people that age likely die in crosswalks each year.

    Your health during this virus is 100% in your personal control. You don’t need an idiot NE liberal governor or a narcissist in the White House to tell you what to do. Or, if you do, chances are Darwin would catch you somewhere else before you hit 85 anyway.

  115. leftwing says:

    And, for kicks and giggles, 3,000 or so people 44 and under pass from flu each year.

    That number will be, once COVID is all said and done, approximately 25% of the number of COVID deaths in that age cohort.

    Are we going to spend 25% of the amount spent on COVID for next year’s flu season? What, about $1.5 trillion? Are we going to shut down 25% of the businesses? 25% of the churches? Schools for 25% of the time?

    If not, why not? Are those lives who will be lost to flu not as valuable and precious as the lives lost to COVID?

    Morally and ethically how can one support COVID measures but not the same measures, proportionately, for flu?

  116. leftwing says:

    One more, then I need to get back to working……Sincere question, not tweaking you, I am honestly interested in your view and logic.

    “Covid is the biggest thing that has happened to the world since 9/11.”

    By what measure was 9/11 the most significant world event in the last twenty years?

    By what measure does COVID compare?

  117. ExEssex says:

    Trump lost.

  118. aj says:

    Leftwing is spot on.

    And the super low death rate of under 44 is likely a reason why many people are ok with not being a rush to get the vaccine.

    “Fewer than 10,000 were under the age of 44. Let me repeat…since COVID started fewer than 10,000 Americans under the age of 44 passed from it. That’s 0.00005 of that population cohort.”

  119. Grim says:

    NJ unemployment the worst in the nation.

    Why bother focusing on the single thing that will actually open the economy up.

  120. D-FENS says:

    It’s not even fake news anymore. More than that

    https://twitter.com/raheemkassam/status/1343975986602389505?s=21

    day we reveal that also EVERY major Western media outlet is compromised by the Chinese Communist Party and we show the receipts.

    CNN, Atlantic, BBC, Reuters, WaPo, the Hill, AFP, Bloomberg… you name it.

    They are conflicted out of ACTUAL reporting:

  121. Grim says:

    If you think Trump deserves blame I’m not sure how you don’t think Murphy deserves to be hung.

  122. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Touch upon this some more.

    I thought I didn’t need college, ended up at the post office. Was making good money at 19. I could have stayed there and would have 21 years in right now. Instead, I made the choice that I wanted better for myself. Went back to school full time and became a teacher. I made that choice, could have easily settled for less and be alright. Instead, took a risk to improve my lot in life.

    I should have went to an easier district, but it what it is. It’s my service to society and the poor. Doing my part to help them, even though most of the time they don’t want to be helped. Urban teaching is challenging and highly stressful, but I chose that. Could have went to an easier setting, but I stayed.

    Also, while I was in the post office, I chose to better myself. I said, I need to figure out how to make more money. A job doesn’t make you rich. Investing does. So I CHOSE to sacrifice and put my capital to work by buying real estate. Man, I thank my past self for working so hard for the future self. It is appreciated.

    As for wife, I chose that too. I wasn’t only attracted to looks. I also wanted to find a partner that was independent and not living off me. I could have married an unmotivated model who couldn’t take care of herself and would rely on me for the rest of her life (nothing wrong with that if that’s what you want), but I didn’t want that. I wanted a girl, who was as motivated as me, at chasing a better life. Obviously, she wanted the same thing, and we came together.

    You think she would have married me if I had not chose to become a teacher? You think she would have married me if I was not a successful young investor? Yes, my kindness and boyish looks played a role, but so did my ambition to better myself.

    Make choices. Make the life that you want for yourself (I don’t care what age you are, young or old). At the end of the road, make a life that you wanted and that you could be proud of on your last breath.

    And remember..life is not meant to be perfect. It has ups and downs, you have to roll with the punches and keep your eye on the prize while continuing to make choices that get you to the life that you want.

    “Also, make good choices. Too many people make bad choices over and over. Understand the power of choice and be wise with it.”

  123. ExEssex says:

    Thanks Pumpkin. We’ll all sleep a lot better now.

  124. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Lefty brings up some very good points.

    Also, AJ brought up a very good point. Scared to take the vaccine, well then you are not really scared of COVID.

  125. crushednjmillenial says:

    Pumpkin . . .

    Up thread, you said “And please don’t give me the bs that working hard gets you nowhere. That’s insanity.”

    I’m just curious which of the following constitutes “hard work”

    -working at the post office
    -getting a college degree
    -working as a teacher
    -owning and managing a two-family rental

  126. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Essex,

    I’m only educating people on this blog about the power of choice. I’m also trying to motivate people that are not happy with their life to make the CHOICE to change it.

  127. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Crushed,

    If it’s so easy, why don’t you do it? That’s what I thought. Discredit my hard work to make yourself feel better. It’s exactly what I stated in my passage to “no one.” See below.

    “So that’s where a lot of these calls for economic equality stem from. People wanting what someone else has….And telling themselves lies as to why they deserve it.”

  128. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Maybe working as a teacher in the suburbs is easier, but urban teaching is one of the toughest jobs in America. That’s why no one lasts and it’s all young teachers in those districts.

    Also, UPS or Postal worker are tough jobs. I assumed too, like yourself, that a letter carrier is an easy job. Ever think why people go postal? That job is horrible. Days like this when it’s cold pouring rain, I thank god that I made the choice to leave.

  129. crushednjmillenial says:

    Leftwing . . .

    9/11 is a small event on a global scale if you only focus on the immediate results – 3,000 people dead and a few billion in property damage. I’d argue, offhand and in stream of consciousness, though that it is the biggest singular event that has happened in the last twenty years because of the inevitable response and consequences – 1 million dead already in the various war on terror wars, directly and indirectly. Trillions spent by the US – cash and debt. A diminishment of the US’s status as the sole world superpower and guarantor of the current global order. This diminishment, in part, opened the door for a larger global role for China. The spending arguably partially precipitated some of our political polarization, which might arguably partially stem from a fight over resources (main street and joe sixpack are hurting but wall street and those high up don’t want France-style taxation). Glboally, refugees, starvation, ISIS sex slaves, and disease from the dust kicked up by missles. Geopolitically, it is hard to imagine what the world looks like if the 9/11 attacks were thwarted, it is so different.

    I suppose an argument can be made that the 2008 Global Financial Crisis is “bigger.” Besides that, maybe, some kind of an argument relating to the continued march upward of technology.

    Besides that, I would say Covid is “big” because, right or wrong, it HAS altered the fundaments of life for almost all Americans and Europeans. The grief from 300k dead is a “big” thing. On health, if the news reports are to be believed, many people are suffering a longer-term negative health diminishment from covid, even though everyone who lived that I know personally has described it as “i had a headache for a few days” or “Worst flu I ever had” but they are fine now. Work from home and social distancing has bankrupted people and pushed others to the brink of it. The debt the US has added in response to Covid provides short term stablitiy while making long-term stability more tenuous. And, looking forward, the true medium-term economic ramificataions have not been resolved – the eviction moratoriums and foreclosuree moratoriums need to get lifted someday.

    Don’t kill me if some of this doesn’t make sense. I’m just trying to vomit up my ideas on this topic, not write a dissertation, haha.

  130. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Crushed,

    That was prob your best post on this blog. Well done. Enjoyed it.

  131. Libturd says:

    Left wing. What would the numbers have been without the measures put in place?

    Serious question.

  132. No One says:

    9/11 was big, mostly because it set off a chain reaction. It has also stolen millions of hours of people’s time at airports subsequently, and paved the way for people trading their liberty for the perception of security.

    The GFC was big, and again, the government “cures” have been worse than the mostly-government disease. Almost nobody has earned a positive real yield on their fixed income since then, with central planners squeezing investors into riskier assets.

    COVID is big because it has set the stage for arbitrary rule by questionable experts. Rule by decree and emergency powers, trampling people’s rights, and effectively locking people up. They rule Incompetently and with great destruction, as one would expect. And it now will be the template for many more expert-declared “emergencies”. “Climate Change” will be used to justify permanent arbitrary emergency rule by “experts” for the rest our lives. Bootlicking useful idiots are already celebrating 2020 as the year of steepest (7%) CO2 emissions decline (probably since the great depression, which presumably they also cheered). Get ready for more – just cower inside for the rest of your lives and get your news/shopping/information from the big tech companies via your small screens.

  133. Hold my beer says:

    Pumps

    I agree with you on crushed post.

    9/11 and the war on terror Has also les to the Arab spring, Syrian civil war, the UKs and Australia’s involvement in Iraq has also probably contributed to multiple PM changes in those countries and I would think Brexit as well. And the millions of refugees that have fled the wars and moved to Europe will have long term impacts on Europe as well.

  134. Phoenix says:

    9/11 was a punch in the nose. It was a message to the US that you are not untouchable and that someone with enough patience can get to you.

    America is the Karen of the world.

    Covid is nature’s way of telling America, and the world, cut the crap. Same as global warming, but humans don’t listen to nor believe that either. Well, Boomers don’t. Long as they get the fix they want like a drug addict, that is all that matters.

    Those kids, in the playgrounds of America, they will reap whatever the Boomers have sowed over the years. Just look at the suicides, family killings, rage out in the streets. All results of poor policy making by those in power. A president who will refuse to leave as if he is a king. Now that is pure Boomer narcissism. Then to be replaced by Biden, who has done so much damage already and he is the savior?

    Get a bottle of Grim’s distillations and a table.
    https://youtu.be/MzD_a3BSpEM?t=21

  135. Phoenix says:

    9/11 was big, mostly because it set off a chain reaction.

    The fuse was a confused old man reading My Pet Goat.

    That should tell you everything you need to know.

    If the one thing in history any 5th grader would even be smart enough to remember, Afghanistan is a bottomless pit, the Russians learned that lesson the hard way. America jumped in with both feet. So you got Bin Laden. You took his bait. That guy was smarter than any leader in the western world.

  136. joyce says:

    Financial crisis and Covid pandemic,

    Would either have been worse without the massive government response? The answer is undeniably yes and no. It would have been better for some people and worse for other people. (This is only in response to what was done. There were different options that were not implemented for both events that I think could have been better overall, but it still would be better better and worse for different groups)

  137. Phoenix says:

    I’d like to know how many 9/11 deaths were caused by the actions of Christie Whitman?

    America is a reactive, not proactive, punishment is the answer to everything country.

    Punishment for some, however, with the exception of those with money and power.

  138. 3b says:

    George the younger Bush was one of the worst Presidents ever. He set the stage for the two that came after.

  139. Phoenix says:

    If it were not for the healthcare system, Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security a good portion of those 300k deaths would have occurred years ago long before this.

    A large portion of American healthcare is spent keeping people alive that have done damage to themselves with their own lifestyle choices.

    Some just hit the lottery of poor genetics. Or lousy social issues. One can be doomed early in life through no fault of their own. Right pumpy?

  140. 3b says:

    Joyce: A lot could have been done better during the financial crisis that would have put us on a more solid economic foundation then we are on now. And it should have been done. This next blow up will be the ugliest in my opinion and blame the Fed for much of it.

  141. Phoenix says:

    Voting no longer works in America. The control is not in the voters hands, it’s in the parties hands.

    This guy Biden is a real donkey. Down to the hoofs and all.

    If that guy Chris Hedges is correct, and I see plenty of truth in what he is saying, America is in for a load of hurt. Well, boomers maybe not cause they are “grandfathered” and got theirs.
    I hope he is wrong, but he is a guy who has watched deterioration from other countries so has experience. I mean Christ look what happened here a shortage of toilet paper with crazies fighting over it.

    It takes very little to go from stable to unstable.

  142. Phoenix says:

    Biden and his cohorts are going to try to disarm the populace next. They know what is coming.

  143. No One says:

    Yes the US is probably in for more hurt, but it’s because of intellectuals like Chris Hedges, not despite it. That guy is seriously a Marxist hater of the US. Teaching Marxism and and neo-marxism to people in jail. Writing love letters to the commie Sandinistas in his award winning journalism. Recently working for Russian News propaganda department which I thought lefties were supposed to hate.
    Phoenix, regardless of how women have pissed you off, watching youtube videos from commie vegan nuts isn’t the cure.

  144. The Great Pumpkin says:

    I’m going to use this with my students on the first day back in 2021.

    Crushed, watch this entire video. You asked what hard work…I woke up every day and did what I had to do.

    https://youtu.be/FBHwYaVXH7g

  145. Phoenix says:

    You don’t have to subscribe to everything someone says in order to learn from it.

    Some have TDS. I don’t. I don’t agree with much he does, but he has done good things.

    A bit of Hedges does not make you a Marxist. Just like a bit of Trump does not make you a repub.

  146. Phoenix says:

    “Yes the US is probably in for more hurt, but it’s because of intellectuals like Chris Hedges, not despite it. ”

    Not for nothing, but what power has this guy even had? Teaching people in jail, is that all leaking to the outside and causing hurt from behind bars?

    If he was gone instantly nothing would change in America. That guy runs absolutely nothing in this country. What has he done that has caused any problems here that you could state? He start BLM? white supremacy, Karens, Covid, Wars, election tampering?

  147. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Absolutely, and I empathize with this crowd. Who don’t I empathize with? The people who hide behind the people that really need help. A person born perfectly healthy, but decides to make a living hell for everyone else around them by always looking for help because they can’t help themselves. This takes away from people that really need help.

    So if a person perfectly healthy decides to feed themselves till they are a fat unhealthy f’k who can’t get out of bed…not my problem. Pay for it yourself.

    If they decide to drug themselves up to the point they can’t maintain a job or their life, not my f’ing problem.

    If they decided to not exercise or take care of themselves, not my f’ing problem.

    If they decided to disrespect education and come out of college unable to support themselves… not my f’ing problem. Student debt? Not my f’ing problem, should have went to state school. Eat it.

    We all have choices.

    “Some just hit the lottery of poor genetics. Or lousy social issues. One can be doomed early in life through no fault of their own. Right pumpy?”

  148. Phoenix says:

    Here you go pumpy, right down your alley of education. eff’m right? Like there are no criminals in your industry. Lazy unionized guidance counselors with their feet up on their desks waiting to retire with a pension.

    https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/collegeinc/

  149. Phoenix says:

    Hey pumpy,
    What about these kids? Parents get probation. Does that sound like the right penalty compared to jail time for some kid with pot?
    Are these kids going to be damaged now? Eating disorders, etc

    Eff’m right?

    https://www.newsbreak.com/news/2049780311285/nj-couple-who-starved-children-inflicted-years-of-extreme-punishments-sentenced-to-probation

  150. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Phoenix,

    At the end of the day, don’t take an easy degree that leads to nowhere. I went into education, because I know my college degree limited the field of competition for my job. I knew if I could tolerate the ghetto, I could get a job.

    Is it my fault these people sign up for shoddy schools hiding behind the veil of higher education? I look at those places as used car dealerships. Why in the world would people sign up for these con schools? Hell, trump university anyone? Some people make really bad choices. Can’t say that enough.

    That’s where most of these problems come from with student debt. Kids that should have never been in college in the first place because they have no work ethic, who had no chance of ever completing their 4 year degree. Now they have student loans with no skills. Like, how stupid can you be to take on loans for something you know you can’t do because you don’t have the work ethic or ambition it takes to get a “real” college degree. F these people. Always have to wipe their a$$.

    Some people just want to be told what to do and have someone hold their hand the entire way like this is an episode of Sesame Street. Life don’t work like that.

  151. The Great Pumpkin says:

    This is one of my favorite motivational speeches of all time. This is the long uncut original version. Use these speeches any time you are questioning yourself or need a push.

    ARNOLD!!

    https://youtu.be/DGP50oLo560

  152. Libturd says:

    Phoenix,

    Don’t get me started with our generally useless government workers. I am spending countless hours collecting the information I need for my son’s medical reimbursement. Every call to every government organization goes the same way. After an endless maze of automated prompts, I eventually get to a wait of 45 minutes. When someone finally does answer, they either purposely hang up on me or say they can’t provide me with any proof of payment or evidence of transactions. I then ask to speak to a manager, who they will never put on, since they lied and are just too lazy to either run the report or issue the ticket to have the report run.

    Of course, I can call any hotel, any medical center, even the department in charge of the parking garages at hospitals and get exactly what I need.

    The public schools are equally disastrous to work with. There is so much laziness and incompetence among these administrations that it’s clear these ranks are made up of individuals that could never hack it in the real world. These individuals often pale in contrast to the knowledge of the volunteer boards that supposedly audit them.

    Don’t even get me started with the disaster that is the DMV.

  153. Phoenix says:

    Lib,
    Try a courthouse. Add everything you mentioned, but arrogant, authoritative, and armed. You are paying an attorney by the hour, and they are strolling in an hour late with a cup of coffee and a briefcase with not a single care in the world.

    Private industry we produce or out we go. I can’t begin to tell you what hoops I have to jump through in order to survive in my career. I’m good with it as it is kind of necessary to not only stay on your game, but step it up as well all of the time. Kind of like pilots have to do simulator time.

    The places you mentioned, you need them, they don’t need you, and they are untouchable. I’ve had more helpful minimum wage teenagers in Target than in any public institution for the most part.

  154. Phoenix says:

    “The public schools are equally disastrous to work with.”

    Kids from public schools that succeed are usually gifted, have great family support, or are lucky enough to get a teacher/counselor who is the aberration from the norm and actually cares about your kid. Hopefully not like this one.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9095855/Illinois-teacher-face-prison-kissing-inappropriately-touching-teen-boy-student.html

  155. BRT says:

    Teachers don’t need to actually care about their students all that much. I had plenty of teachers in middle school that were world class a-holes. But they were damn good at what they did.

  156. leftwing says:

    “Left wing. What would the numbers have been without the measures put in place?Serious question.”

    Serious answers. The first one sounds flippant but is the most relevant.

    First, it doesn’t matter because calculating such is off point. The point is that control of the risk of whether one acquires the virus is nearly entirely in control of the individual and we did not need heavy handed, ineffective government intervention to keep ourselves safe. If you want to run that counterfactual saying no government measures you are likely Exhibit A given your son’s condition. Did you need more from Trump/Murphy to keep your family safe? Would your family be less safe if healthy 44 year olds could dine out? If 17 year old girls could have played basketball in December? If 6,700 football fans could have filled a stadium in October and November rather than January?

    The second answer if we want to massage the numbers….in the sub-44 year old category let’s assume with no government measures the death rate would more than double from 10,000 to 25,000. Is society willing to tradeoff 15,000 incremental deaths for $5 trillion and ceasing most commerce? Obviously not. We spend literally nothing (relatively) on flu and it kills twice that amount annually. Or pick your other favorite cause that produces in excess of 25,000 deaths annually and compare the spending. There are only two conclusions….We as a society, for better or worse, do not want that tradeoff. Or we value a life lost to COVID much more highly than a life lost to other causes, which is of course ridiculous.

    On the 75+ group….let’s say without government intervention that death rate doubles. Same logic. The most morbid of that group – a currently expiring 90 year old in an LTC for three years – are gone anyway. Suppose for the sake of argument I grant with government intervention 80,000 people aged 75 or older were somehow ‘spared’…those that died had two or three co-morbidities and somehow (I don’t know how) all the restrictions kept those with additional risks alive. Now without government regulations I’m to believe this group of 80,000 additional people would both be dead AND incapable of making adjustments themselves that would have spared them? Makes no sense. To make the abstract easy, lets say those that died so far were obese, sedentary, asthmatic, and had a heart condition. The new deaths come from that group who decided to travel and see the grandkids. They couldn’t figure out on their own to stay home? And, btw, the regulations never banned 75+ year olds from public travel.

    So, back to my original and most important point….the ability to stay safe during COVID is nearly entirely in the control of the individual.

    We truly do not and did not need all this insanity from our “leaders”. Pissing in the wind.

  157. BRT says:

    Lib, when I was trying to get my Physics cert in addition to my chem cert, they initially denied it by email a week before school because the morons couldn’t analyze my transcripts. But there was no one to reply to. I drove to three county board offices to try to figure out who’s door I needed to show up to. It was impossible…there was no one. There was no address in Trenton that I could find. I couldn’t even find the building of their department.

    The next day, I went to Rutgers, got the Dean of Physics, Dean of Chemistry, and my research advisor to each sign a letter that I drafted about how my 120 credits of Physics should surely satisfy the 30 credit requirement for certification. I sent hard copies of these letters to every single email address I could find online in the DOE. I guess I got a hit somewhere because I got a random message two days before school started that my cert got approved.

    Once that was done, I needed to mail away for my hard copy of my certification. You had to fill out the forms online and mail a check to a random address in Trenton. I procrastinated on writing the $200 worth of checks and randomly, the cert shows up anyway…so I never paid. The guys at the office were later arrested because they were stealing all those checks. I guess they thought they stole mine too and just mailed the certs out.

  158. Phoenix says:

    “So, back to my original and most important point….the ability to stay safe during COVID is nearly entirely in the control of the individual.”

    And the more money you have, the more control you would have as well. Retired with a good pension, food deliveries, etc. With enough money you could get down to almost zero risk as long as you do not need medical assistance.

  159. grim says:

    Well, my better half just left for her vax appt.

  160. leftwing says:

    Crushed (and everyone) good responses to the 9/11-COVID impact question. I didn’t see the link at first but understand now…agree that it was not the actual death toll and economic impact of 9/11 but the response we chose from dozens of potential responses on the table.

    So to add to the group, off the top of my head, the most impactful events of the last twenty years for me in no particular order….

    American military imperialism in the Middle East. For all the reasons everyone discuss above.

    The Federal Reserve using its balance sheet and printing presses to support debt issuances and fiscal policy from market forces. Unprecedented, and when (not if) that rubber band snaps back we are in a world of hurt.

    Rise of the China as an equivalent superpower. The difference between us and China has closed rapidly over the past twenty years…where we once had leadership in most categories today outside of the ability to project power globally (aircraft fleet) and the highest end of our technology (a gap closing quickly) they are at or surpass our capabilities. And may very well surpass us in total in the next 20 years.

    The consumer IoT. Benchmark it to the introduction of the iphone if you want but the difference between the ‘consumer internet’ c.2000 and now is beyond phenomenal. It has fundamentally altered entire industries and how we interact at the most basic level with and among eachother. And we are just at the beginning of understanding and exploring its full power.

    That’s mine. Jingo-istic, I’m sure since we are talking worldwide I’m missing something OUS, probably EU/EC related….

  161. 30 year realtor says:

    Leftwing,

    You clearly have financial means and live alone. This is the only way someone can be 100% in control of their covid destiny. Can you see beyond your personal landscape?

  162. Juice Box says:

    NY Times reported 14 million doses sent out to the US states and territories as of today that is about 70% of what the Trump administration promised by the end of the year yet only 3 million doses about 21% administered. Plenty sitting on ice. This is going to take a while, there are over 220 million people in the US over the age of 16 eligible for the vaccine.

    They should change the rules ASAP and get the stuff on ice out the door already, apparently 60% of the health care workers are opting out in some places. Time to start shipping the Moderna vaccine to primary care physician offices since there is no need for special refrigerators, and realistically it was stupid to leave them out of the vaccine distribution plans in the first place.

  163. Phoenix says:

    30,

    What left says is true. I work in an industry where Covid is everywhere. I’m not wearing an N95 mask all day. Contaminated surfaces have to be everywhere no matter how well staff is cleaning. Most have not come down with it although many have. And quite a few suspect they were infected at home where the rules get relaxed.

    The average person can protect themselves quite well by following basic rules. What’s happening is that they are not. If you are in a shared household, all it takes is for your daughter to sneak out with her Covid infested boyfriend for 5 minutes and off you go.

    Do you have forced hot air vs baseboard? One bathroom vs 2? Husband working 2 jobs with sloppy co-workers?

    Just be glad that the death rate from this is as low as it is. Next time around it could be much worse.

  164. Phoenix says:

    Trump got you the vaccine. Well, not directly, but it was accelerated a bit by “Warp Speed.” Money does grease the wheels of businesses. I’m sure we paid way more than the rest of the world per dose.

    Red tape is slowing down the vaccinations. Thank your legal system for that.

    I’d bet there will be lawsuits coming over this. Filing a lawsuit to some Americans is easier and more profitable than working for a living.

  165. leftwing says:

    30, tend not to agree on either point…solo or being myopic.

    Not to churn the waters again but the four basic measures – handwash, surface/face awareness, mask, social distance – can be effected by everyone. More easily by some, but by everyone. Each person has their own ‘bubble’ of who gets around them, and how they interact with those in their bubble.

    At the very least it is wildly more effective than the preening Emmy award winner pulling random numbers (6700 fans, why not 6800, or 8600?) and dates (January not November?) out of his fat ass to ‘protect’ the populace.

    How in the world does that keep you more ‘safe’?

  166. Phoenix says:

    apparently 60% of the health care workers are opting out in some places.

    Well, not where I work. The list is long and growing every day. They are attempting to accommodate walk-ins as well although most are scheduled. The only ones I know of that are refusing/reluctant are young females that are concerned about their future fertility. Most everyone else is on board.

  167. Phoenix says:

    What I also found surprising from our team was how those who had Covid are even more motivated to get the vaccine than everyone else. They were the quickest to get in line.

    Seems those that have went through this don’t want to do it ever again.

  168. Hold my beer says:

    Texas is having red tape issues too.

    https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/vaccine/a-look-at-the-mess-behind-texass-vaccine-rollout-and-how-to-fix-it/287-8cf4a318-e6e6-4868-aacf-b225e5a6ea01

    You would think with 9 months to prepare a database would have been built to track where and when people got vaccinated . In Texas to vote the bar code on your drivers license gets scanned, why couldn’t they creat a similar system for vaccinating people and only have to manually enter the info of people who don’t have a drivers license or scannable state id?

  169. Phoenix says:

    Sorry, we outsourced those careers in order to save money.

    “You would think with 9 months to prepare a database would have been built to track where and when people got vaccinated “

  170. chicagofinance says:

    Whoever painted the S&P just now thank you…….

  171. chicagofinance says:

    Does anyone know which publicly traded stock has the greatest (efficient) Bitcoin exposure? The two variables are prorated exposure and also small premium to fair value.

    I was thinking the most mainstream play would be PYPL (maybe SQ?), but I haven’t looked into it.

  172. chicagofinance says:

    small premium = smallest premium

  173. chicagofinance says:

    No One: the first 20 seconds of this video is all you need to know.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXKNTLsLJVk

  174. Juice Box says:

    Ouch what will Sleepy Joe do now? It was “China” that put out bounties on US Soldiers in Afghanistan. Trump was briefed on Dec 17 and well so was Sleepy Joe if he is getting the classified presidential briefings.

    Sanctions on the CCP?

    Remember now Pravda said it was the Russians, opps Fake news..

    https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/30/us/politics/russian-bounties-afghanistan-intelligence.html

  175. Juice Box says:

    Dinner Menu for New Year’s eve. I have grown to be quite a cook lately, Pandemic has given me time to refine my skillz….

    Kale Caesar Salad – Whole Foods so easy peasy
    Broiled Lobster Tails – Garlic & Butter Sauce
    Grilled Sirloin Steak – my special marinade Soy, Brown Sugar, Pepper and Garlic
    Spinach side – in a creamy parmesan sauce
    Twice baked Potatoes – Sour Creme, Cheddar green onions

    Paired with a nice Organic Red, bottle is already open so Happy New Year

  176. ExEssex says:

    Rock on this Conservative scum:
    https://youtu.be/yw51MNAp9IY

  177. BRT says:

    Those chimps fighting at the zoo, I saw them do that in Hawaii. It’s quite a spectacle. I sat there for 1 hour watching it.

  178. ExEssex says:

    4:47 delicious except literally no skill required for those particular dishes.

  179. leftwing says:

    Dude, seriously, what is wrong with you.

    Nice JB, enjoy. HNY All!!

  180. Juice Box says:

    Essex – I think you need to find a new strain…

    Anyway I have added sautéed mushrooms..

    Happy New Year as I am on my second bottle!

  181. The Great Pumpkin says:

    1) Late in the cycle, every office goes casual.

    Then a few months after a recession begins, someone shows up at the office wearing a suit because they are worried about their job.

    The next day everyone is wearing a suit.

    Business travel will be the same.

    2) Every business will try to stay on Zoom.

    But then one company, struggling with sales, will send their sales representatives on the road and conversions will increase.

    The next quarter all of their competitors will be on the road.

    Business travel will come back.

    https://twitter.com/gavinsbaker/status/1341443734521712642?s=21

  182. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Juice,

    Damn, your wife struck gold. Sounds delicious.

  183. The Great Pumpkin says:

    That’s what I would think. Makes sense.

    I’m actually thinking of doing a 10 year strategy for the next 10 years to dollar cost avg into the 5 ark funds at 20% each on a monthly basis. Thinking here; so much innovation is coming, mine as well invest in it.

    chicagofinance says:
    December 31, 2020 at 4:03 pm
    Does anyone know which publicly traded stock has the greatest (efficient) Bitcoin exposure? The two variables are prorated exposure and also small premium to fair value.

    I was thinking the most mainstream play would be PYPL (maybe SQ?), but I haven’t looked into it.

  184. Juice Box says:

    Pumps – Year end for Wall St, my better half is still working, some client needed their hundreds of millions and they need it now, the rich will always be a*s*s*h*o*l*es that is why they are rich.

    Seriously, I enjoy my time with my kids, my wife, my dog and basically being a house husband these days. I now have my outdoor charcoal grill lit, mushrooms cleaned and ready to go, potatoes in the oven and the lobster defrosted, and steak marinating.

    Skillz to run and indoor/outdoor operation ain’t easy. I insist to do most of itm as well I am the chef, only thing my wife did was cut the lobster shells, and right now she is winding down as I handed her a drink.

    I will go back to the “office” but the question is when? No rush that is because I worked my whole life and saved. Not bad for shanty Irish. She could have done worse.

    Happy New Year!

  185. Juice Box says:

    I am only going to say it one more time.

    The FED plans to launch their own crypto soon. Crypto investors are due for a reckoning again. I have been following the coin world they are in the denial stage right now, any mention in their world gets you banned. Sure it looks very profitable, but all Ponzi scams do.

  186. 3b says:

    Pumps Gavin is just chattering. My company saved a fortune on business travel this past year, as did so many other companies. It’s never coming back to what it was, not to mention it is incredibly inefficient.
    As for the suit comment yeah we started with suits went casual, went back to suits and have been back to casual for years now after the financial crisis. Gavin’s information is stale.

  187. 3b says:

    Juice: I thought you were Lace Curtain Irish!!

  188. njtownhomer says:

    Just look at money flow after 9/11. NY lost its financial center status and most of the wealth started to move to all around the world. I believe London and Hong Kong
    benefited greatly.

    Meanwhile Bush and Cheney printed and spent trillions of dollars with no real return and caused 2008 GFC. Obama continued the malaise and with Trump + COVID bad planning and wrong financial responses led to 10 T$+ deficits that will blow badly for US dollar.

  189. chicagofinance says:

    This looks as if it was filmed in 2020!

    No One says:
    December 31, 2020 at 4:32 pm
    Happy New Year Chifi
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zk1DNzg0LWs

  190. Bystander says:

    Happy New Year all, even the resident dufus who thinks he worked “hard” when he simply rode the Fed printing press into jubilee like millions of others. Marrying up and having single lonely child were other choices. The good things in life are watching two young brothers chase each other around park, not some douchey BMW but I digress. He won’t ever get it. Polished off some shrimp fettuccine and wine so time for reflection. I head into next week with a hiring freeze and 3 major app rewrite projects. I have no freaking idea what 2021 holds but I will most likely have another 4 star rating year and no raise for third year. My tax reval was done in Oct and it increased 15 percent. Basically I am f-ed. I can only tighten belt further but my choice as single income. I just never thought the NYC financial industry would squeeze so tight over last 5-6 years. I know..blah blah reinvent yourself but my education, certs and experience are meaningless now. It is simply H1B squeezing tech dry. It is clear where I made error now. I left Northern Virginia over 18 years ago. There is ex of mine on FB who just got remarried. We started dating around 1999 when I was 26 and she was 22. What a beauty. She had stomach and hips like a belly dancer. We both loved partying and jam music. I used to bring her see funk bands like Galactic and men would stop to watch her shake. It was great. We were very “compatible” and had intense 8 months of scr*wing and traveling all over. I took her to NYC for first time in her life. I was never did much hard drugs but she got e for Y2K and never forgot her dancing around topless while my friends and I waited for end of world. Wild one but she showed could be hippie girl who showed me frisbee golf locations but that night look completely dolled up. She lived to please me. She met my college educated friends, stayed at nice houses in Bergen County and saw me as some svengali. Reality was she grew up fatherless in old townhouse in bumblef*ck Manassas VA. She worked as a temp for SAIC in Reston or some big govt contractors. After a year with me, I think she saw a better life. She started going to night school at some UVA branch campus near Tysons corner. We still partied but relationship fizzled bc neither ready to settle. Still fooled around when not dating others but she knew I wanted out of DC. I said goodbye to her in 2001 but she messaged me 4 years post divorce and 2 kids. We really liked each other and wanted nothing but best. I saw she got remarried and bought a new house with hubby. A cool $1m in Leesburg f-in middle of nowhere VA. I hated Herndon/Reston when I lived there. F-in mega malls and chain restaurants with pickup trucks all over. Zero character. Well, she is head of contracts for some small IT middleman who does work for DoD. New hubby does same it appears. There is no end to military spending, no care for costs bc taxpayer is funding it. Little H1B population. It is a great life for all down in NoVA and it keep going further and further out in metro VA. I should have caught the DC spending rainbow like all these people. It amazes me. HNY all

  191. Bystander says:

    Hey Grim. Mod please. HNY!

  192. chicagofinance says:

    Isn’t it great to have WF in your back pocket? …… I only lived over there for 18 months, it was such a convenience. The butcher counter kicks everyone’s a%%

    Juice Box says:
    December 31, 2020 at 4:47 pm
    Dinner Menu for New Year’s eve. I have grown to be quite a cook lately, Pandemic has given me time to refine my skillz….

  193. chicagofinance says:

    HNY

  194. Fast Eddie says:

    Bystander,

    That read like a JJ story!

  195. ExEssex says:

    A fine fine day today with sun & high 60s. Nothing is burning .
    Watched the sunset on 2020 on the Malibu coast w/ my Fam.
    Gorgeous light along that PCH. Some unforgettable vistas.
    Buh Bye 2020. HNY posters. Be well.

  196. Chicago says:

    Bystander: I spent time working for AT&T at JV they had in Reston and Herndon. Was up and back there in 2001 & 02. That is no place to live. Perfectly fine, but sterile as hell. Could be a suburb in anywhere, and the traffic is punishing.

    Be careful with your wistful memories, you don’t know how she turned out or what happened to those hips. I bumped into an ex about 10 years ago and it was devastating. Ruined my memories of a 3 year on/off thing when I was 25. I wish I could just leave my ideal back in my mind.

  197. Bystander says:

    It’s the gods honest truth Ed. Saw it in FB this morning. Her hubby was posted thankful for new wife and home. I was shocked. This girl was doing e like candy at age 23. I stayed away from that stuff. She was cool and never pushed it except for Y2K where it made sense to me at that time. Would never again. Too f-in surreal. I guess she finished her undergrad at 26 and got career started. She worked to get herself a better life. Not taking anything away but NoVA has like 4 percent unemployment compared to 10 percent in NJ. I have frat brother who was a douche with a big home in haughty Bethesda. He works as IT mgr for Montgomery county govt. Makes $165k base plus all those benefits. He will probably retire at 50. It is nuts seeing DC people who can’t miss while private sector in NYC gets cremated. These are not super bright people at all. Should have stayed under the DC spending rainbow apparently when Leesburg is now $1m homes.

  198. Bystander says:

    Hah, Chi..she also had DSLs. Her hubby posted pics. She looks very much same. Jesus, if they guy knew what I did to his wife and how she partied back then. The stories, my God.

  199. Juice Box says:

    Bystander – The grass is always greener? Cumon man if you loved her you would have only been her first husband. You dodged it, and left for a reason, you mention of “E” tells me so, most of the party girls I knew that did “E” burned out their Serotonin, Dopamine and Norepinephrine receptors. So be thankful, the damage is permeant according to studies. Plenty of men have been brought to their knees over beauty just as our very own resident “He Man Woman Hater”.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBIC8JTQMMQ

  200. Chicago says:

    Bystander: The old saying about DC.

    It’s a mix of north and south.
    Northern hospitality.
    Southern efficiency.

  201. Bystander says:

    It was not love, Juice. Young lust as Floyd put it. Story was not about pining for her. She drove me crazy when she started school. Everything centered around it. I just can’t believe the money flowing around DC/Nova now. It was Tysons, Vienna then Reston then Herndon then Sterling then Ashburn and now Leesburg. $1m in Leesburg? I guess I should invest in Winchester. Who needs brain cells when you just need someone to sign a contract and Joe taxpayer pays the bills. Signing off..see you in 2021

  202. Bystander says:

    Classic chi…and here I am in CT trying to squeeze nickels out my @ss bc my IBs exec board won’t risk money paying people when perhaps then can get us to work 16 hr days, en gratis.

  203. BRT says:

    Father slowly recovering. He lost 14 pounds. No return of taste or smell. Got vacinnated Tuesday while still symptomatic? Happy new year.

  204. Libturd says:

    Happy New Year good people of the blog.

    One year closer to Pura Vida.

  205. Libturd says:

    And Essex, that was cruel. 100% true, but absolutely soda out the nose cruel.

    Whoever complimented Pumps, please stop. It’s painful.

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