It’s just not possible here

From Bloomberg:

Zero-Down Mortgages Stoke U.S. Subprime-Like Fears in Canada

They’re the kind of exotic mortgages that one typically associates with the reckless, go-go housing market that gripped the U.S., circa 2005: Put down 5% cash and get 3% back; or, wilder yet, put down nothing at all. So when these products — and others like them — started popping up in the normally cautious Canadian financial industry, it raised alarm among policy makers in Ottawa.

This is year twenty-five of the great Canadian housing bull market, a nearly uninterrupted straight line up that has few parallels in the world. At a time of soaring real-estate prices all over the globe, only one major economy — New Zealand — has a frothier housing market than Canada, according to an analysis by Bloomberg Economics. And after all those years of price gains, including a 21% surge since the pandemic began, millions of middle-class Canadians have no chance of scrounging together the money needed to make a conventional down payment of 20%.

In Whitby, a booming Toronto suburb nestled against the banks of Lake Ontario, this is a lament that mortgage broker Sherry Corbitt hears constantly from first-time home buyers. More than half of them, she says, are opting for loans that either allow them to borrow the money for their down payment or that provide cash back after the closing. A year ago, these products made up a small fraction of her business.

Asked whether this worries her at all, Corbitt, who works with some of Canada’s biggest banks, whips out a statistic she’s proud of: In her 13 years in the industry, not a single client has defaulted. “We’re never going to see what happened in the States,” she declares. “It’s just not possible here.”

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378 Responses to It’s just not possible here

  1. grim says:

    Unenrolled from the child credit advance payment, what a hassle that was.

  2. Grim says:

    Vegas remasks workers. NJ Rt up to 1.4.

  3. SmallGovConservative says:

    I see it was a bad blog day yesterday for Lib; it’s as though he’d been told by his DNC handler that he was slacking and so he spent the day spewing excuses for Dem malfeasance in a Pumpkin-like, space-wasting, nonsense fest. Excusing Dem disinterest in finding the root cause of COVID — we wouldn’t be willing to start a war with the CCP so why bother? Excusing the single largest cohort of un-vaxxed because they’re Dem supporters and victims of a cruel society — while Reps who’ve chosen not to vax are simply morons! I hope he brings better stuff to the blog today because yesterday was literally an explosion of useless drivel, the likes of which is typically only seen from Pumpkin.

  4. Hold my beer says:

    99.5% of covid deaths in Texas since February were unvaccinated.

    https://www.texastribune.org/2021/07/22/texas-coronavirus-vaccinations/

    Covid was at very high levels in Texas in January. I bet a lot of those deaths in February and March were people who couldn’t get the vaccine if they wanted it. April on is probably a better time line to follow since vaccines were easy to get march.

  5. Fast Eddie says:

    I notice Yahoo is in the same camp as the likes of CNN and other spooge outlets touting the same 2 or 3 stories over and over and over again. Besides the fake Capital erect1on mantra, today’s jeremiad tells the woes of dying patients pleading for the jab and being told it’s too late. The left are true masters at evangelistic hype!

  6. Hold my beer says:

    I was in Walmart and another grocery store yesterday. I’d say less than 10% of the people there were wearing masks. Amazing since only 40% of the people in my area have been vaccinated. I bet covid gets very bad in my area again end of august or in September.

  7. Libturd says:

    Small: Truth sucks eh? Every day the rest of us are subjected to the absolutely absurd drivel that is clearly the latest narrative spread by the right wing media sources. And you all take your marching orders like the good little Republican soldiers that you are without even thinking. So many posts devoid of any original thought. And never once admitting your sh1t stinks. So unconvincing. So lacking logic. Just so obvious.

    I am still waiting to hear from a Republican what our sanctions against China would be?

    Also. Those 14 riot related deaths. You ought to look them up when you get a chance. Nearly every single one of them was not directly related to the protests. Just the same old brothas shooting brothas. One guy was run over by a FedEx Truck. Three were shot in a carjacking. I would go on, but I’d simply be wasting my time pointing out the truth to someone who believes the constant lies of a party in complete disarray. Polly want a cracker?

    Grim: Why didn’t you just route your payment into a separate account somewhere? I suppose your principles matter even more than the government making interest off your money.

    Left: HZO to the moon. Did you see the earnings? Here is the revised guidance.
    “Based on current business conditions, retail trends and other factors, the Company is raising its fiscal year 2021 guidance for earnings per diluted share to the range of $6.40 to $6.55 from $5.50 to $5.65, which was previously increased from original guidance of $4.00 to $4.20 per diluted share. This compares to a non-GAAP adjusted, but fully taxed, earnings per diluted share of $3.42 in fiscal 2020.”

    Nomad: Interesting podcast, but really, not that much meat to it. I agree that things have gone to far and this is the point at which it backfires. And I’m sure the right is gnashing their choppers at the left’s overplaying of their hand. But it doesn’t matter as long as populism remains their platform. For it doesn’t matter who the Dems run. Every sane person will still head out to the polls to vote against populism regardless of how difficult the right tries to make it for their votes to count. It’s really a shame. The left now has the triple punch of the momentum of academia indoctrination, gender/identity politics as well as the loss of so many older rightwing voters to overcome. And they think persecuting gays, making up stories about cell towers, the deep state, election fraud and generally bullying anyone who believes in change for the better is unpatriotic and unAmerican. Getting back to the podcast, the best thing I can say is that it made the drive feel shorter. A couple more critiques. The host aught to be less of a monotone speakers. Also, if Prof G wants a little more credibility, which he deserves. He should be careful about the shysters he allows advertise to support his podcast. At one point, there was a commercial for investing in art through a holdings company where they admitted to having high commissions, but promised the first 50,000 callers no commissions for the first six months. Yeah, that’s not happening. There was another memorable spot where they spew a couple Pumpkinisms (oft parroted Buffet quotes) and then claim that they will do for you the same thing the big Wall Street firms do for their high net worth clients. I could see Pumps falling for it, but come on.

    Joyce, I haven’t had a chance to dig deeper on DeSantis’ lunacy. The dude is doing everything in his power to make believe Covid doesn’t even exist to the detriment of his constituents. If my dad dies from this variant, it will be DeSantis’ fault. Fortunately, many of the old people who are mostly Republican are ignoring his dangerous rhetoric. My dad, who bleeds red to the point of nearly always throwing a conniption during political discussions, and a huge Trump guy said DeSantis is the most dangerous and heinuous politician he has ever witnessed in his 87 years of existence. And this is the front runner for the 2024 election. Good luck with that.

  8. Phoenix says:

    “I bet covid gets very bad in my area again end of august or in September.”

    Yay.

    Can’t wait. I’m so excited about the added labor coming my way.

    Hey pumpy, is there room on the couch for me?

  9. Libturd says:

    It’s all coming together now. Obviously, the Chinese intentionally leaked the virus to take over the world. Biden, launch the nukes!

    Here’s a Republican medical expert sharing her knowledge of science.

    https://www.fox19.com/2021/06/09/doctor-claims-during-ohio-statehouse-testimony-that-vaccine-causes-magnetism-makes-spoons-stick-persons-body/

  10. Libturd says:

    Phoenix,

    My detached garage is available. Though there is a rat running around in there that seems impermeable to poison. It doesn’t help that my neighbors chicken coop is 10 yards away. On the bright side, you won’t need to set an alarm to come in for the 7am shift. The chickens will do it for you.

  11. Libturd says:

    For anyone else interested in not owing extra on their taxes due to the stupid child credit advance, I would suggest this offer. Just ACH route your monthly deposit here. Make 5 debit card transactions (easy peasy) and they will give you an extra $300. Plus 1.1% interest.

    https://www.mymoneyblog.com/kabbage-business-checking-review-bonus.html

  12. Grim says:

    Republicans stand no chance at 2024. In retrospect it’ll look like genocide for political gain.

  13. grim says:

    Also keep in mind that Republicans are squandering the single greatest economic gift since the end of WWII.

    First countries out of this pandemic will reap the rewards. Just like out of WWII.

    Too bad it’s not going to be us.

  14. Libturd says:

    It’s just common sense. Forget the party. If America was truly great, we would have vaccinated the world. But it didn’t fit the political narrative. The damage done by these populists is immeasurable. But blame Faucci. He said not to wear masks to save them for the first responders. All political all the time. No common sense. Just common deception.

  15. grim says:

    From CNBC:

    Sales of existing homes rise slightly as more listings finally hit the market

    After four straight months of declines, sales of previously owned homes rose 1.4% in June month-to-month to a seasonally adjust annualized rate of 5.86 million units, according to the National Association of Realtors.

    These sales represent closings, so they are based on contracts signed in April and May.

    Sales were 22.9% higher compared with June 2020. That annual comparison, according to the Realtors, is still slightly skewed due to pandemic lockdowns in certain parts of the country that lasted into summer last year.

    The inventory of homes for sale at the end of June was 1.25 million, representing a 2.6-month supply at the current sales pace. That is a slight improvement from May’s 2.5-month supply.

    “We may have turned a corner on inventory,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. “There is some softening in the demand.”

  16. Hold my beer says:

    Libturd

    Blacks and hispanics have lower vaccination rates than white republicans. That’s a fact mainstream media doesn’t point out.

    And it would have been political suicide to vaccinate other countries before everyone in the US who wanted a vaccine and was 12 or older had a chance to get one.

  17. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Yes, I know my students well. They watch YouTube and TikTok. They don’t understand a good source from a bad a source. It’s f’ed. Ignorance is bliss.

    It’s really sad. We have a chance to contain this just like we did with small pox, but people won’t take the vaccine. F them all.

    Hold my beer says:
    July 22, 2021 at 10:51 am
    Libturd

    Blacks and hispanics have lower vaccination rates than white republicans. That’s a fact mainstream media doesn’t point out.

  18. The Great Pumpkin says:

    I was just trying to help my friends out. They are convinced the vaccine is unsafe and better off not taking it because “they are healthy” and can “fight it off on their own.” Situation is f’ed. No convincing these people.

    They are going to have to learn the hard way and take us all for the ride.

  19. leftwing says:

    “Republicans stand no chance at 2024.”

    Given where we are with COVID, the economy, midterms, and rates/inflation 2024 is two lifetimes away. Only thing that can be said right now is that the outcome will be somewhere between zero and 100.

    2022 is the money shot. Repubs take one chamber and Dems are fcuked.

    Dems keep both they can create a chimera of prosperity going into 2024 by borrowing and spending. Fools like Pumps who believe increasing prices driven by a debt fueled binge is wealth will eat it up.

  20. Yo! says:

    Canada housing market haters have been wrong for decades. Most doom-and-gloom experts on Canada housing have thrown in the towel, unlike black eyed bloodied Rosenberg who continues to humiliate himself with wrong forecasts year after year.

    The people calling for an Canada real estate crash, including the so-called really smart money geniuses out of New York and London, attract media attention such as Bloomberg articles. The reporters, if they did the jobs right which they won’t, should investigate where the experts, including Rosenberg, got it wrong. In Canada, mortgage delinquencies have remained close to non-existent.

    My biggest personal investment is a Canadian real estate developer, SmartCentres, that builds condos and owns Walmart anchored shopping centers.. Thousands of con said. dos sold in a Toronto suburb, Vaughan, and all will close. Massive profits. I made 2x on this one and collect 12% annual dividends, paid monthly.

    Njreport has bad calls on housing market. All missed 2020-2021 boom.

  21. Fast Eddie says:

    Republicans stand no chance at 2024.

    That’s true but not for the reason(s) you think. We have become a “I want it now, fat, bloated, less-educated, dangle the carrot, pull lever/get pellet, lazy, boorish” society who is falling in love with s0c1alism and central control. Any viable plan the Republicans put forward that requires some level of individual effort will be squashed by the minion muppets if not by the deceitful democrats.

  22. chicagofinance says:

    Right…… not disagreeing….. however, please comment …….

    Volume down, so therefore is this a mix issue? Only trying to use experience from 2005-2008.

    Reiterating mix……
    first observation: 1,2,3,4,5 = 3 average
    volume down at lowest price
    second observation 2,3,4,5 = 3.5 average
    reported 17% increase in price, but in reality nothing happened except bottom of market closed up. Technically a negative sign.

    Noting….. we are seeing volumes drop,

    I am not disagreeing with you. Please comment.

    Yo! says:
    July 21, 2021 at 3:39 pm
    Hello New Jersey real estate experts. I was looking at NJ real rate report facts. Single family house prices bounced 15.2% in 2020 then blasted up 22.4% through the May of this year, according to NJAR. Nobody here saw this coming. Will prices go up double digits next yea? I say yes.

  23. The Great Pumpkin says:

    I love when a smoker tells me the vaccine is dangerous and they are not taking it.

  24. chicagofinance says:

    Rosenberg plays in my sandbox too….. he is chronically wrong, to the point that he got kicked out of NYC and back to Canada over 15 years ago. He only resurfaces at times like now.

    Yo! says:
    July 22, 2021 at 11:10 am
    Canada housing market haters have been wrong for decades. Most doom-and-gloom experts on Canada housing have thrown in the towel, unlike black eyed bloodied Rosenberg who continues to humiliate himself with wrong forecasts year after year

  25. The Great Pumpkin says:

    People don’t get it and will never get it. If something goes up, they automatically assume it must be a bubble and come down.

    Yo! says:
    July 22, 2021 at 11:10 am
    Canada housing market haters have been wrong for decades. Most doom-and-gloom experts on Canada housing have thrown in the towel, unlike black eyed bloodied Rosenberg who continues to humiliate himself with wrong forecasts year after year.

  26. chicagofinance says:

    Mix issue was grim’s comment from 2006. I do not want to take credit.

  27. Libturd says:

    HMB,

    Yes, blacks have a distrust of the Federal government. Latinos? I really can’t explain it. There’s a Latino member in my investment club who wanted to wait longer to see if there were any longer term effects. But he planned to get it soon. That’s all the anecdotal evidence I have. There are two other Latinos in my club who chose to vaccinate first thing. If I were to guess, it’s an educational level thing. The more educated, the less the belief in kooky conspiracies. We also have a black member (older woman) who refuses, which is crazy because she runs a charity to educate women in Africa of the dangers of c1rcumc1sion. She regularly gets vaccinated for all kinds of diseases since she is in Africa multiple times per year. Yet the Covid vaccine she is deathly afraid of. The distrust of the government remains strong in the Black community. Can you really blame them though? Look at the voting restrictions that were just but into place in Georgia!

    When I was a Frosh, I had two inner city roommates (that was before urban became popular) that were 100% convinced that their high school and now their college put saltpeter in the fountain drinks in the cafeteria as a sperm1c1de. I told them they were crazy. Still, they would only drink bottled drinks or water from the water fountain. I suppose when all of your peers are locked in the cycle of poverty due to government dependance, such rumours run wild.

    And I am not talking about distributing to the world before us. I’m talking about really making a huge investment in mass scale production of the vaccines so we could aid in the stopping of these variants. There is a very good chance that vaccine hesitancy is going to make everything we’ve done to this point a near complete waste of time. The same people most likely to eat whatever cr@p the King or Wendy puts in their burgers are somehow the most fearful of the vaccine. It really is crazy.

  28. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Chi,

    You know why the volume is down. There are hardly any good properties on the market.

  29. Libturd says:

    HMB,

    Yes, blacks have a distrust of the Federal government. Latinos? I really can’t explain it. There’s a Latino member in my investment club who wanted to wait longer to see if there were any longer term effects. But he planned to get it soon. That’s all the anecdotal evidence I have. There are two other Latinos in my club who chose to vaccinate first thing. If I were to guess, it’s an educational level thing. The more educated, the less the belief in kooky conspiracies. We also have a black member (older woman) who refuses, which is crazy because she runs a charity to educate women in Africa of the dangers of c1rcumc1sion. She regularly gets vaccinated for all kinds of diseases since she is in Africa multiple times per year. Yet the Covid vaccine she is deathly afraid of. The distrust of the government remains strong in the Black community. Can you really blame them though? Look at the voting restrictions that were just but into place in Georgia!

    When I was a Frosh, I had two inner city roommates (that was before urban became popular) that were 100% convinced that their high school and now their college put saltpeter in the fountain drinks in the cafeteria as a sp3rm1c1de. I told them they were crazy. Still, they would only drink bottled drinks or water from the water fountain. I suppose when all of your peers are locked in the cycle of poverty due to government dependance, such rumours run wild.

    And I am not talking about distributing to the world before us. I’m talking about really making a huge investment in mass scale production of the vaccines so we could aid in the stopping of these variants. There is a very good chance that vaccine hesitancy is going to make everything we’ve done to this point a near complete waste of time. The same people most likely to eat whatever cr@p the King or Wendy puts in their burgers are somehow the most fearful of the vaccine. It really is crazy.

  30. Libturd says:

    Volume is indeed down due to lack of properties available both used and new construction.

    Used homes. I like that.

  31. leftwing says:

    Lib, yeah nice results. Need the price action to follow through.

    I always feel this dark shadow around small cap value stocks with low volumes….the rug can get pulled out from under them for no apparent reason.

    Anyway, looks like there is a slight share overhang around 50.50-53.50. We make it through and hold you may have clear sailing after. I’ll likely hang around for the next two weeks and see where she goes. If she seems to struggle there I’ll likely exit. Really want to see a close above 51 today. Keeps some technicals intact.

    Can’t see any way to play MDC other than straight shares. Have to think about that. That’s the investment account, not sure if I like it that much.

    Likely find a way into gaming, looking for higher LV exposure (but some Asia) and online. MGM maybe. Next trade probably this sector.

    Next lodging and REITs. KIM has popped on my radar, not sure if you have a view.

  32. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Lib,

    I’ve had students try to convince me that witches are real. They saw it on a YouTube video. They have a huge distrust of the govt. They treat the education system as a conspiracy theory against them, they view it as a prison system instead of an opportunity. Then people wonder why it’s so difficult to teach them.

    My famous line to them…help me, help you!! Please!!

  33. leftwing says:

    “Mix issue was grim’s comment from 2006. I do not want to take credit.”

    LOL, I was going to type that I like your example so much that i intend to steal it and use it.

    Thanks grim. Great illustration.

  34. 3b says:

    Lib: I don’t know the answer, but is there the same level of distrust in the Black community for other vaccines? They don’t trust the government with the Covid vaccine, yet they see all these white people are taking this same vaccine that they distrust? It makes no sense to me.

  35. The Great Pumpkin says:

    A lot of people also stepped out of the market for the time being from being disgusted by pricing and tired from the competition it takes to get a house. Not easy to buy a house in this market. They will be back in the fall or next year.

  36. 3b says:

    Yo: Keep cheering the rise in house prices on, it will make the decline only bigger.

  37. Libturd says:

    3B, makes no sense to me either, but it also made no sense when Bebo’s family refused to send him to Headstart (for free, with transportation included). Now look where Bebo is. Stupid kid died elevator surfing in the Bronx. Stupid is hard to explain to stupid people. And even if I saw his family today and I asked them if they were happy. They’de say yes. This is the only life they know.

  38. The Great Pumpkin says:

    It’s not about cheering it on. It’s about understanding and acknowledging what’s happening with the market and acting on it. If I suddenly see signs of a major crash in housing, don’t you think I would want to sell? Opposite side too.

    3b says:
    July 22, 2021 at 11:38 am
    Yo: Keep cheering the rise in house prices on, it will make the decline only bigger.

  39. 3b says:

    That’s the thing you don’t understand!

  40. Fast Eddie says:

    Stupid is hard to explain to stupid people.

    Thus, the reason people continue to vote democrat.

  41. The Great Pumpkin says:

    “The bottom line: The vaccines are the most effective weapon against this pandemic, but they only work if we use them.”

    https://apple.news/AHyERBqKjSKKtEsPkbVfRGw

  42. Phoenix says:

    Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has threatened to arrest anyone who refuses to be vaccinated against the coronavirus, as the country grapples with both vaccine hesitancy and a lack of supplies.

    “I will order their arrest,” Duterte said late Monday. “To protect the people, I have to sequester you in jail. Now choose — get vaccinated, or I’ll lock you up in a cell.”

    “If you don’t want to be vaccinated, I’ll have you arrested and have the vaccine shot into your [buttocks],” he said, using a vulgar term.

    He also expressed impatience with any kind of anti-vaccine sentiment, suggesting that if people felt that way, they should leave.

    “If you don’t get vaccinated, leave the Philippines. Go to India if you want, or somewhere, America,” he added.

  43. crushednjmillenial says:

    On investigating the source of the virus . . .

    I believe that it is extremely important that the world know what the source of the virus is. If it was natural, fine. But, if it was created in a Chinese lab and escaped accidently, then the world should know. It’s hard to project the exact political response in the US, but if the US govt’s “official” position is that the virus was man-made, then I’d be hard to imagine that the US political realities would not demand strict sanctions and tariffs on China.

    Also important would be the follow-up media work on WHO was flatly dismissive of the man-made theory – politician, media personality, CNN “factcheckers”, or other public figures. Let’s remember them as wrong and we all will hopefully have them marked as untrustworthy, like those cretins who led us to War in Iraq.

    As for whether China or the US needs the other more – I personally believe that right now the US is still in the stronger position. While China can hurt us tremendously due to parts of critical supply chains being in China (medicine, etc), the US can rally much more of the rich world around its cause. If there were unified punitive tariffs or bans on Chinese products, then, in my opinion, China falls into civil war, while the developed world struggles less. China exports like 20% of the value of its economy, and I’d argue that those exports have a multiplier effect up to maybe 30% of its economy. I don’t believe the Chinese public will be alright with 15% unemployment and other declining measures of well-being.

  44. crushednjmillenial says:

    *Instead of I’d, I meant to type “it’d”, above.

  45. Phoenix says:

    Crushed,
    Push China that far and you might not like their response.

    Not exactly a country that you would like to see go “rogue.”

    However, I do believe radiation kills Covid.

  46. Phoenix says:

    Lib,
    You needed to pump that offer up a bit. I’ve already slept with a rat, did that for years.

    Not sure if my rat was immune to poison, as I never tried, but I am hopeful that she is not immune to Karma. Plus you seem mean to your renters. Lastly, don’t need hantavirus – it’s as bad or worse than Covid.

    Last time I slept in a detached garage it was in the back of a Chevy Nomad with a charming young woman when I was in my twenties.

    But thanks for the offer.

  47. Libturd says:

    We should investigate. Yes, absolutely. But good luck making it happen. See how well the Trump tariffs worked? It’s like negotiating with someone inebriated. There’s a very good reason I would never invest in the Chinese stock market. They simply cannot be trusted.

    Maybe the world gets it’s act together and unilaterally demands an open inspection. Even then, there will be nothing to see. We’ve played this game how many times with Iran and North Korea.

    I’m just being real. Not real stupid, as Chris Rock would say.

  48. Phoenix says:

    3b,
    The government will do what it always does, bail out the banks when the SHTF.

    You know, the Obama method. When you have all the rats in a barrel instead you tip it over and let them escape. I still regret voting for that cretin, but it was either him or that Romney scum who felt that after years of working with Medicare that I would be getting a Voucher while Boomer sailed off into the sunset with the real deal.

    That’s how it is sometimes, heads they win, tails I lose.

  49. Phoenix says:

    Maybe we could tap the Chinese phones with some of that Pegasus software.

  50. Phoenix says:

    Well, sometimes history repeats itself. Use caution.

    https://www.independent.org/news/article.asp?id=1930

  51. ExEssex says:

    There are So many real issues we face.
    The most that some of you can
    Muster is empty headed jingoism.

  52. Juice Box says:

    re: cannot be trusted.

    He is the latest…only 4,636 deaths?

    “China has largely ended local transmission of COVID through lockdowns and mask-wearing requirements, and has now administered more than 1.4 billion doses of Chinese vaccines. Just 12 new domestically spread cases were reported Thursday and China’s death toll from the virus has remained unchanged for months at 4,636.”

  53. crushednjmillenial says:

    Pumpkin on Murphy . . .

    Pumpkin, if the Governor election was today, would you vote for Murphy?

    As in, NJ is number one in per capita covid deaths in the US, Governor Murphy? 16-month-to-date-eviction-moratorium Governor Murphy? The guy who says “We need to support small businesses” after he closed them for six months Governor Murphy?

  54. Phoenix says:

    America is at a point like what you face when you are on a motorcycle doing 60 and some old granny who is 3/4 blind in both eyes cuts in front of you.

    You put your arms up and let go of that bike. Cause it’s crashing and you might not want to be on it when it does.

  55. Phoenix says:

    Murphy sent a check for 500 as a bribe. Don’t think it will work?

    I do. I get one free hour with an attorney with that, so about 3 typed paragraphs.

  56. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Crushed,

    I would vote for him in a second. No one is perfect, but he has done a hell of a job. Wow, a guy that actually did what he said he was going to do on the campaign trail…imagine that.

  57. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Oh, wow, the vaccine works when everyone takes it. Who would have thought?!

    “China has largely ended local transmission of COVID through lockdowns and mask-wearing requirements, and has now administered more than 1.4 billion doses of Chinese vaccines. Just 12 new domestically spread cases were reported Thursday and China’s death toll from the virus has remained unchanged for months at 4,636.”

  58. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Guess there is a positive that comes with a dictatorship.

    Phoenix says:
    July 22, 2021 at 12:19 pm
    Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has threatened to arrest anyone who refuses to be vaccinated against the coronavirus, as the country grapples with both vaccine hesitancy and a lack of supplies.

  59. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Is China forcing its population to take the vaccine because they think it’s unsafe and want to kill their people for profit? Asking for all the anti vaxxers?

  60. 3b says:

    Phoenix: I voted for Obama twice. I bought that whole hope and change BS. I think he was one of the most ineffectual and divisive , and sanctimonious Presidents we have ever had. And yes no punishment for the banks , some orange jump suits and handcuffs would have sent a powerful message. Hope and change my ass!

  61. Phoenix says:

    “some orange jump suits and handcuffs would have sent a powerful message.”

    That HAD to be done. It was the message that needed to be sent.
    When they walked, you knew without a doubt that America was corrupt beyond any repair.

  62. ExEssex says:

    Cohen tweeted on Wednesday that Kushner’s name had been absent from “all the controversy, indictments and arrests” related to the investigation. He speculated that this was because Kushner was already cooperating with prosecutors.

    “Interesting how @jaredkushner (#SecretaryOfEverything) name appears to be absent from all the controversy, indictments and arrests,” Cohen tweeted. “Is he next to fall or a cooperating witness? Knowing what a snake he is, I bet the latter!”

  63. ExEssex says:

    I honestly can’t get too down on Obama.

  64. SmallGovConservative says:

    ExEssex says:
    July 22, 2021 at 1:10 pm
    “I honestly can’t get too down on Obama”

    Of course not. You love weak, lazy, talentless and unaccomplished leaders and Obama covers all the bases. And when you start rattling off his ‘accomplishments’, it’s even clearer why a Dem apologist like you would like him…
    – ‘leading from behind’ in Libya and abandoning his ‘line in the sand’ in Syria, leading to tens of thousands of deaths, torrents of refugees and Russia regaining a foothold in the mideast
    – aiding and abetting the start of the war on the police, paving the way for the skyrocketing rates of violent crime in our cities
    – let’s not forget some other doozies: ISIS, trannie bathroom ‘rights’, cash-for-clunkers, cash-for-Iran, etc, etc

  65. chicagofinance says:

    Did she start as a rat, or did she evolve into one? Was she always a gold digger?

    Phoenix says:
    July 22, 2021 at 12:32 pm
    Lib,
    You needed to pump that offer up a bit. I’ve already slept with a rat, did that for years.

  66. Phoenix says:

    SGC,
    Did you like Romney getting rid of Medicare? Were you old enough to make it under the window?
    I think he would have been president if it were not for this. Would have been my choice.

  67. chicagofinance says:

    You are entitled to your opinion, but to call him talentless and unaccomplished is wrong…. the rest of it rings true.

    SmallGovConservative says:
    July 22, 2021 at 1:44 pm
    ExEssex says:
    July 22, 2021 at 1:10 pm
    “I honestly can’t get too down on Obama”

    Of course not. You love weak, lazy, talentless and unaccomplished leaders and Obama covers all the bases. And when you start rattling off his ‘accomplishments’, it’s even clearer why a Dem apologist like you would like him…
    – ‘leading from behind’ in Libya and abandoning his ‘line in the sand’ in Syria, leading to tens of thousands of deaths, torrents of refugees and Russia regaining a foothold in the mideast
    – aiding and abetting the start of the war on the police, paving the way for the skyrocketing rates of violent crime in our cities
    – let’s not forget some other doozies: ISIS, trannie bathroom ‘rights’, cash-for-clunkers, cash-for-Iran, etc, etc

  68. chicagofinance says:

    Are you really that naïve?

    The Great Pumpkin says:
    July 22, 2021 at 12:55 pm
    Oh, wow, the vaccine works when everyone takes it. Who would have thought?!

    “China has largely ended local transmission of COVID through lockdowns and mask-wearing requirements, and has now administered more than 1.4 billion doses of Chinese vaccines. Just 12 new domestically spread cases were reported Thursday and China’s death toll from the virus has remained unchanged for months at 4,636.”

  69. JCer says:

    Obama is what soured me on the Democrats, never has a politician so brazenly lied to the electorate. He was “hope and change”, what we got was basically an ineffective version of George W Bush in blackface. There was no reform of corrupt government practices he doubled down on them!

    Here is the thing, dictators don’t care about the vaccine as long as production is still up and running. The vaccine could have horrible side effects and they’d still mandate it. I don’t for a single second believe any reports out of China, I think we’ve seen how ineffective the Sinovac vaccine is. The problem with stupid people is they do not understand math, 1 in a million has a severe side effect so they think they’ll be that one, they also think they’ll win the lottery so at least they are consistent in their poor understanding of math and statistics. As for vaccines, the virus is gonna virus, herd immunity and vaccines only increases the likelihood of resistant dominant strains.

    As for canadian housing, it doesn’t need to crash but it could end in stagnation and inflation. Housing prices cannot so far exceed the end users ability to purchase them for so long, they can try to keep inflating through creative financing, 100 year mortgages but eventually they hit a wall. People are willing to spend an ever increasing about of their income on housing what keeps the US in check is vast amounts of space, if prices get too high people move elsewhere. In canada prices are high everywhere there is no elsewhere.

    As for China, we could sanction them if we determine they caused the pandemic. We could repudiate debts, etc as long as the whole world was on board. You can bet the countries who took BRI dollars what those loans repudiated because of covid. If the US, Europe and our asian allies took a hard line with China, they would have to negotiate, they’d have no choice. If we had real evidence of malfeasance on the part of the Chinese I think we could get them to the table, I’d like to see debts forgiven because of the economic loses from COVID, the least they could do is pay back a few trillion we have had to spend on stimulus and the BRI project countries get some relief from the debts they cannot pay. China’s big soft underbelly is they are a command and control economy that depends on foreign free markets to set demand, if the free markets disappear there economy collapses without a doubt, they wouldn’t know what to do with all of the garbage they produce and they depend on food imports to feed their tremendous population.

  70. Fast Eddie says:

    SmallGovConservative,

    That’s a brutal list. Domestically and abroad, he just couldn’t score anything close to a win. Even Obammy care was a schlocky, dilapidated mess that limped to the finish line and as expected, the production class is forever paying for that blunder.

  71. chicagofinance says:

    If you view China as a dangerous competitor to the U.S. and an aspirational imperialist regime, then anything that will help build a coalition against them is important. In terms of gaining any kind of satisfaction or guilty verdict, it ain’t ever going to happen…… for legal, criminal and -most importantly- face saving reasons.

    crushednjmillenial says:
    July 22, 2021 at 12:20 pm
    On investigating the source of the virus . . .

    I believe that it is extremely important that the world know what the source of the virus is. If it was natural, fine. But, if it was created in a Chinese lab and escaped accidently, then the world should know. It’s hard to project the exact political response in the US, but if the US govt’s “official” position is that the virus was man-made, then I’d be hard to imagine that the US political realities would not demand strict sanctions and tariffs on China.

  72. Juice Box says:

    Ugh a 13 year old kid from Holmdel made an online threat to my kids summer camp, so wasted money on that today as camp was cancelled. Police tracked him down quickly, seemed to be a disgruntled kid who attended previously but not this year.

  73. chicagofinance says:

    The research, identification and sourcing is grim. The example is mine.

    leftwing says:
    July 22, 2021 at 11:30 am
    “Mix issue was grim’s comment from 2006. I do not want to take credit.”

    LOL, I was going to type that I like your example so much that i intend to steal it and use it.

    Thanks grim. Great illustration.

  74. 3b says:

    Jcer Wall st won’t permit sanctions on China. It hurts business.

  75. chicagofinance says:

    A housing crash is very effectively masked in an area such as NJ. Unless there is a gun to someone’s head, most normal people cannot accept the cognitive dissonance that they made a major life decision that was stupid, reckless and irrational. They will attempt to normalize it and rationalize it by any means possible…… even if it means that they have to wait 16 years to “break-even” (i.e. 2005-2021) under whatever twisted metric they use.

    Long-term returns in real estate are 3% on a real basis, and driven by incomes. Anything else is an unsustainable trend that is masking external factors.

    Caveat emptor.

    The Great Pumpkin says:
    July 22, 2021 at 11:54 am
    It’s not about cheering it on. It’s about understanding and acknowledging what’s happening with the market and acting on it. If I suddenly see signs of a major crash in housing, don’t you think I would want to sell? Opposite side too.

    3b says:
    July 22, 2021 at 11:38 am
    Yo: Keep cheering the rise in house prices on, it will make the decline only bigger.

  76. BRT says:

    First off, the Chinese vaccine is relatively ineffective compared to what we have. 2nd, we’ve got video of people completely locked down in China as late as 2 weeks ago. 3rd, China’s been lying about their numbers since May of last year.

  77. crushednjmillenial says:

    Fauci – lying about gain of function research.

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

  78. JCer says:

    3b I know, that’s the reason Peter Navarro a registered DEMOCRAT was a key advisor to Trump. Both parties have have turned a blind eye to China’s abuses because big corporations are addicted to cheap Chinese made goods. Mind you the consumer has seen little benefit as the corps have taken the lion share of the production savings as profit.

    We should hold the Chinese accountable for many things including their human rights violations. Instead we continue to embolden the bastards by giving them more and more business and in turn money to build their war machine. Frankly we should have investigated decoupling a decade ago and should be looking to ensure we have domestic suppliers for critical medical needs.

  79. 3b says:

    Jcer: Don’t worry, Joe is going to build it back better. He is just another corrupt career politician.

  80. BRT says:

    Fauci can try to twist definitions all he wants, he funded research through a proxy that modifies mammalian viruses to jump species. That’s the definition of dangerous. He also funded the lab that likely was responsible for the virus.

  81. Libturd says:

    Trump funded that lab too. And while we are at it, I’m fairly certain JCer made another politically motivated false statement.

    “As for vaccines, the virus is gonna virus, herd immunity and vaccines only increases the likelihood of resistant dominant strains.”

    This is untrue.

    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6304978/

    https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/02/18/967462483/how-herd-immunity-works-and-what-stands-in-its-way

    As for Obama, I give him a lot of credit for Obamacare (even if he stole it from Romney). I agree he was mostly ineffective. As for divisive, they all are. He had to walk a very difficult tightrope as first black president. In the end, they are all ineffective as long as they are supported by the parties.

    I hoped Trump wouldn’t have been such an egoist. He was right about so many things, but clueless on how to get buy in from either party. He too was in an impossible position. It didn’t help that he was quite the fool.

    And now we firmly have the establishment Democrats running the show. Biden is an empty suit. So is Harris. They calculated correctly this time. Don’t doubt for a minute that the DNC would have had it any other way. Every single candidate that offered an alternative on the left has been silenced.

    Still the Fauci fascination. Who cares. No one listens to any of these guys anyway. Anyone who joins the Federal Government is clearly a puppet. In most cases, they are one of two types of professionals. Either they are filthy rich and want the power and legacy. Or they are really too stupid to make it in the private sector and realize that they have a much better shot of succeeding financially working for Uncle Sam.

  82. grim says:

    All the evidence is long gone, cleaned up, replaced, disappeared. You’ll never find anything to link the lab at this point. They are busy faking health records all across the country to make Wuhan an improbable starting point.

  83. Libturd says:

    Getting keys done at ACE. $450 w/ tax for the two cars. This is a little over half of what the dealers around here wanted. I really gotta get outta Jersey. In Costa Rica, it probably would have been $50.

    Gator and I overheard a conversation going on at a restaurant we were in in Manahawkin yesterday. One of the two couples eating together was moving to Costa Rica for the health care discount. I heard him say something like, all you need to prove is that you have $1,000 coming in monthly and you can join the caja. Gator and I were laughing.

  84. Libturd says:

    Grim,

    Of course and that was my point all along.

  85. grim says:

    Dominican president got a 3rd dose today, Pfizer. Urges the public to follow.

    Pretty sure they are now the first in the world to establish a 3 dose regime. Trials? Nahhhhhhh.

    Not sure they had much of a choice, you know, with the first two doses being shitty Chinese vaccines.

  86. The Great Pumpkin says:

    What does China have to gain by lying about the numbers of people testing positive for Covid? I don’t get it. What kind of power do they yield from this? Can’t the Chinese people look around and say our govt is lying about the numbers so what else are they lying about? I don’t trust China, but I don’t think they are lying about the numbers saying they have Covid under control.

  87. No One says:

    JCer,
    China under the CCP should never have been given Most Favored Nation status by Clinton, and they shouldn’t have been invited into the WTO under Bush.
    Amoral businesses pushed this. The MFN debate was probably the key turning point under Clinton. Initially people were repulsed at the thought of treating a one-party state as a “normal” country. But there was lots of lobbying, and I remember even some “libertarians” were pushing for it, on the claim that if free countries economically integrated with repressed countries, it would magically improve the freedoms. Similarly some people argued that the internet would surely lead to more freedom.
    I remember before the MFN vote the CEO of Westinghouse Electric wrote an editorial in the WSJ supporting China’s MFN entry along these lines. Of course China was telling Westinghouse they’d get lots of wonderful contracts in China for being such a loyal servant. Instead they got just enough JV contracts to allow China’s state-owned turbine makers to transfer their technology, and then they’ve been nothing special in China after that.
    The crook Nixon was most at fault by making nice to Mao. His pal the proudly unprincipled Kissinger has made massive sums of money over decades as China’s #1 US asset.

  88. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Problem with this approach…real estate is always based on “local market.” Throwing all the real estate in the country into one lump avg disguises how good some areas are in terms of appreciation and how bad some areas are in terms of appreciation. Some locations lose money on a real basis because no one wants to live there.

    Location, location, locations. Otherwise, how did so many people become filthy rich off real estate if what you state below is true. How did Trump get so rich? Not by 3% returns.

    “Long-term returns in real estate are 3% on a real basis, and driven by incomes. Anything else is an unsustainable trend that is masking external factors.”

  89. 3b says:

    I simply cannot believe someone would ask the question what does China by lying about Covid Numbers.

  90. No One says:

    Trump is an egotist not an egoist.
    Aristotle was a philosophical egoist.
    Trump is vain and obsessed with how others see him.

    One of my daughter’s 19 year old dance friends works at Trump’s Bedminster club. He’s already personally handed her a total of $400 cash tips over two occasions. She got a photo with him too but he demanded that she never post it on social media. My daughter interviewed and was also accepted, but we advised her that there would be many people who would be repulsed by that on her resume, and this summer her goal was mostly to build experience not to maximize current income. Also, the Trump club wouldn’t give her enough time flexibility as apparently they are short staffed, probably due to a lack of foreign labor.

  91. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Yet, you gave no response. So simple, then answer it. What do they gain by lying to their own people about the Covid #s?

    3b says:
    July 22, 2021 at 4:03 pm
    I simply cannot believe someone would ask the question what does China by lying about Covid Numbers

  92. BRT says:

    I simply cannot believe someone would ask the question what does China by lying about Covid Numbers.

    More importantly, someone entrusted to teach children about history

  93. Phoenix says:

    Won’t take too long for Costa Rica to get in trouble financially taking on the healthcare of overweight, overfed American Boomers

    My guess is the early ones will be “grandfathered.” And then it will stop.

    “One of the two couples eating together was moving to Costa Rica for the health care discount. I heard him say something like, all you need to prove is that you have $1,000 coming in monthly and you can join the caja.”

  94. The Great Pumpkin says:

    And if lying about the numbers is such a benefit, why isn’t any other country doing it? Why isn’t the Philippine dictator lying about the numbers and instead forcing his people to take it? He should lie to his people about the Covid numbers, that’s a benefit to his leadership.

  95. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Yup. How long before they get sick of Americans coming and using the system they never paid into?

    Phoenix says:
    July 22, 2021 at 4:21 pm
    Won’t take too long for Costa Rica to get in trouble financially taking on the healthcare of overweight, overfed American Boomers

    My guess is the early ones will be “grandfathered.” And then it will stop.

  96. No One says:

    If Trump had just converted his inheritance into a 60% allocation into an equity index fund and 40% into a bond index fund, and stayed out of his real estate and other ventures, he would be much richer now.

  97. JCer says:

    No one no argument here, Clinton made a misstep and Bush doubled down by admitting them to the WTO.

    Lib look at other fatal coronaviruses endemic in livestock populations. What we are seeing with the vaccines isn’t unprecedented. The virus will evolve and make it’s way through the vaccinated effectively favoring mutations that render the vaccine ineffective. We see this on an annual basis with influenza. Granted Covid does not seem mutate as fast as influenza, but the inevitability is still there. I fully expect covid to be with us for the long haul, I’d like to be wrong. Since we are seeing breakthrough infections, those people are producing vaccine resistant virus, how else can we explain the Texas legislators spreading the virus to the vaccinated? I hope the vaccines hold up but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t concerned by the sheer number of symptomatic breakthrough cases. I question if naturally acquired immunity is the same or is it better.

  98. The Great Pumpkin says:

    No one, what was the source of his inheritance? How many families became rich off real estate?

  99. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Yes, because too many selfish individuals won’t take the vaccine. Karma is a bitch…they will get theirs.

    “I fully expect covid to be with us for the long haul, I’d like to be wrong.”

  100. 3b says:

    I can’t believe you compare China to the Philippines .

  101. The Great Pumpkin says:

    And for all the people that won’t take the vaccine…please don’t get in your car. The odds of dying are much greater than from taking a vaccine…but you won’t stop using it, will you?

  102. The Great Pumpkin says:

    I can’t believe you have not yet answered “the simple” question. Keep dancing around it. What does China leadership gain from lying about the Covid numbers to their people and the world?

  103. Libturd says:

    I would be careful about judging the breakthroughs the way you are. First, most are from the J&J vaccine which even studies revealed was only 60ish percent effective. Second, this Delta Variant is a true monster. 10 to 100 times more infectious than the prior variants. Now combine the fact that masking and distancing is not happening in Texas at any rate near where it was a year ago multiplied by the low number of people vaccinated and I’m surprised there aren’t MORE breakthrough cases.

    I don’t think you can compare flu to flu directly anyhow. Every strain is different. We might attempt to eradicate the normal flu if it was deadlier. We don’t since we consider it manageable. Still, thank the 35% or so of the population who get their shots. They are significantly lowering the odds for everyone.

    Same is the case with Covid 19. Shame we can’t find about 20% more to just take the damn shot.

    The math and science still clearly shows the advantages it offers over the risk of side effects of the vaccine. I honestly think most of this antivax bullsh1t is nothing more than a political narrative. It’s hard to believe that people will risk their lives and serious illness to keep the other party from winning elections. It’s absolutely ludicrous. Then again, the masses have always been asses.

    And for what it’s worth, no member in the collective 69 years of our regular flu vaccine taking has had the regular flu. I guess we are an anomaly to Republican science.

  104. No One says:

    The same thing the Chinese Communist Party gains from lying about nearly everything, power and influence. Why do they control all media, print, tv, radio, social, and why must all journalists be registered communist party members? They say it’s for quality control, to make sure that the media and journalists only tell the truth. What noble humanitarians they are! And they say it’s all them doing their duty in their service to the people! They are serving the people all day and all night.
    Nobody knows what the stats are in China. China also has historically had a massively lower percentage of deaths from regular flu than other countries.

    Here’s a nice short story written by a famous author Lu Xun, pre-revolution. It still works today for China, especially explaining how they serve the people.
    https://academic.mu.edu/meissnerd/madman.html

  105. Libturd says:

    I should have added in the collective 69 years that my FAMILY has been vaccinated for the regular flu. I always here stories of people getting the flu who claim to have had the shot. But I never WITNESS them. My kid’s doctor says the same thing. Perhaps people like to lie and make believe they were vaccinated so they don’t look foolish.

    Ask 100 seventh graders if they have had sex and over half of them will say they have. Same phenomenon.

    And thanks for NoOne for the Egoist vs. Egotist clarification. I think this is the second time you point this out to me. I’m a slow learner, I suppose.

  106. Libturd says:

    NoOne,
    Seeing what China made Google do to exist in China should be enough.

    Google it Pumps.

    “Google China is a subsidiary of Google. Once a popular search engine, most services offered by Google China were blocked by the Great Firewall in the People’s Republic of China.”

  107. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Okay, if you live in China, and they are telling you there are no deaths and like 14 new cases; as a citizen, wouldn’t this piss you off esp if a loved one died from it? Wouldn’t it make you question your govt? Raising the risk of Revolution?!

    If the United States govt was telling you Covid is under control and we haven’t had deaths in months, what effect would it have on you? People would be flipping out.

  108. The Great Pumpkin says:

    You can’t just lie about having Covid under control when you really don’t.

  109. The Great Pumpkin says:

    And I totally understand that China censors and controls the narrative for their people. I just don’t think they can do that with a virus. You can’t lie to the people if it is really spreading. Then again, maybe you guys are right, and they are. I would just think it’s a stupid move that could risk losing control of your people.

  110. 3b says:

    I think rather than me dancing around it , you should be embarrassed by asking such an incredibly stupid question , and then as always doubling down on the stupidity.

  111. Libturd says:

    China can never be trusted. If you want to deal with them, expect them to never hold up their end of the bargain. Trump learned this the hard way. China can go without Cantonese Lobster longer than America can go without commodities. Trust me. Or Reuters.

    https://www.reuters.com/business/us-tariff-review-considers-commodity-shortages-inflation-official-2021-05-14/

  112. Libturd says:

    Just curious, how long before health care companies choose to not insure the unvaccinated and what would the Republican position be on such a decision?

  113. Libturd says:

    And Joyce, I think you are correct about DeSantis. Businesses can’t require that masks be worn, unless you are Universal or Disney. They can with immunity since DeSantis allowed them a loophole. The hypocrite knows who butters his bread and money obviously means more than science to this Republican darling.

    Enjoy the Trump wannabe.

  114. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Just read one article…and guess what, most of the experts agree with me.

    “Stanley Rosen, a University of Southern California professor who specializes in Chinese politics, told Fox News in an email that any inaccuracies would likely be coming from local officials who report to the central government.

    “I would think that even if the statistics are not completely accurate, they do suggest that China is doing a reasonably good job of controlling further outbreaks,” he said.

    Rosen added that China doesn’t include asymptomatic cases as confirmed cases, but even those numbers have been very low.”

    “Hawes said that CHina’s consistently low numbers “suggest that China has had an effective response to the pandemic…The country was already the world’s largest producer of personal protective equipment such as masks, and compliance to policies was very high. Many health experts consider China a success story of coronavirus pandemic control, in part due to the centralized epidemic response system already in place.”

    Dr. Scott Gottlieb, former commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, told CNBC in an interview last fall that he believed the accuracy of the numbers coming out of China and other countries like Japan, South Korea, Australia and Thailand.

    “The entire Pacific Rim has less than 1,000 infections a day,” Gottlieb said in October. “People want to say China is lying about the two dozen cases that they’re reporting a day, which I don’t believe they are [lying]. Certainly, the entire Pacific Rim isn’t in on the conspiracy. It isn’t inevitable that we have a raging epidemic.””

    https://www.foxnews.com/world/chinas-coronavirus-cases-is-the-communist-regime-lying-to-the-world

    3b says:
    July 22, 2021 at 5:29 pm
    I think rather than me dancing around it , you should be embarrassed by asking such an incredibly stupid question , and then as always doubling down on the stupidity.

  115. The Great Pumpkin says:

    So I really doubt the virus is spreading rapidly through China right now and they are just lying about it.

  116. JCer says:

    Lib, you misread the situation with China, if we don’t send them grains, and meat they starve. 1.4 bn people, destroyed environment, rising standard of living, serious crop failures. You get the picture they are dependent on crop imports not necessarily from US but from somewhere. They currently have a dangerous monopoly on rare earth materials, electronics production, and necessary medical supplies. The rest isn’t as much of a problem.

    Lib the J&J vaccine isn’t behind the breakthrough infections, remarkably very few have taken that particular shot as compared to the other 2. Most breakthrough infections are Pfizer because Pfizer was the one most given. Flu vaccine failure largely comes from selecting the wrong variants or the flu evolving in such a way as to evade the protections elicited by the flu vaccine you took. Given the data we have at the moment there is no reason not to take the vaccine(if you have never had COVID), but again Math is hard.

  117. Phoenix says:

    All China needs to do is give boomers what they want for their property in America. That’s pretty easy as they’ll sell out this country for a buck.

  118. chicagofinance says:

    I have family and friends who lived in Communist Dictatorships. Simply, you don’t know what you don’t know. I visited the Soviet Union in 1986. Take away television, the internet and your phone. Fill everything with propaganda.

    How do you think cults work? Familiarize yourself with biographies of people who escaped Scientology or left Hasdic communities.

    The Great Pumpkin says:
    July 22, 2021 at 6:16 pm
    So I really doubt the virus is spreading rapidly through China right now and they are just lying about it.

  119. Phoenix says:

    China can never be trusted.

    Haha. As if America can be trusted. Who exactly? Our police, judges, teachers, clergy, or spouses?

    What about Karen, can she be trusted. How many Tesla videos did I see where some blotus decides to key the car being so ignorant and not knowing it has about 90 cameras on it?

    This used to be a place to look up to, now everyone wants to run to Costa Rica.

    When the going gets tough, Americans run to Central America.

    Yup.

  120. Phoenix says:

    Detectives listened through a tapped phone as Landrau spoke with the set leader, Eric Polanco, 27, after he was shot, Bruck said.

    NJ. Paterson.

    Pegasus.

  121. The Great Pumpkin says:

    “We don’t know the vaccine’s long-term side effects.”

    Historically, the vast majority of vaccine side effects occur not long after getting the shot, said Dr. Gabor Kelen, head of the emergency medicine department at Johns Hopkins University. Allergic reactions, which are rare, happen within moments; most other side effects emerge and dissipate within weeks.

    “People need to chill about the long-term impact,” Kelen said. “The way immunology works is [if] something’s gonna happen, it’s gonna happen fairly soon,” he said.
    SCIENCE

    Why are side effects worse after a second dose of COVID-19 vaccine?
    What you really should be worried about is the long-term effects of a coronavirus infection, Carnethon said. She ticked off a few of problems that plague the unfortunate people who suffer from long COVID, including heart inflammation, fatigue and cognitive difficulties.

    Throughout history, she said, “there’s been no vaccine that had worse side effects than the disease that it was developed to fight.”

    https://apple.news/ALUMvpHABTmuXGnUjrohdCg

  122. JCer says:

    Yes the basic science would seem to indicate if you were going to have an adverse reaction to the vaccine it would happen shortly after injection. The only concern long term would be ADE which is not something anyone has reported with COVID vaccines. I don’t doubt some have had adverse reactions but it is rare and it happens relatively close to when you were jabbed.

  123. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Chi,

    I understand how China lies. I’m not pro China. But when it comes to reporting the Covid numbers today, I don’t see why they need to lie in the present.

  124. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Yes, but this has nothing to do with current vaccine. If there were major problems with it, we would already being seeing it. Billions have been given various vaccines.

    Phoenix says:
    July 22, 2021 at 7:18 pm
    Well, it has happened by accident.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2020/04/14/cutter-polio-vaccine-paralyzed-children-coronavirus/

  125. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Bottom line, if it wasn’t safe, we would already know. Saying it hasn’t been tested long term is a cop out excuse by anti vaxxers.

    JCer says:
    July 22, 2021 at 7:19 pm
    Yes the basic science would seem to indicate if you were going to have an adverse reaction to the vaccine it would happen shortly after injection. The only concern long term would be ADE which is not something anyone has reported with COVID vaccines. I don’t doubt some have had adverse reactions but it is rare and it happens relatively close to when you were jabbed.

  126. The Great Pumpkin says:

    But the minute one of their own dies or becomes permanently sick from Covid….they line up like lemmings for a vaccine.

  127. The Great Pumpkin says:

    You can die in a car crash while wearing a seat belt. Doesn’t mean you don’t need to wear the damn thing.

  128. InversePumpkin says:

    I don’t get it guys. This data looks totally real. They conquered this by March of last year. I believe China when they say they only had 4636 deaths from the Wuhan wheeze.

    https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/china/

  129. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Inverse,

    Can you show me proof that the virus is running wild in China? If not, STFU.

  130. SmallGovConservative says:

    Libturd says:
    July 22, 2021 at 5:44 pm
    “…Enjoy the Trump wannabe.”

    Go see a doctor; you’ve got the worst case of chronic TDS I’ve ever seen. This is now day two of your nonsensical, hypocritical Dem stooge-fest. In your non-stop whining about Reps you fail to mention even once that tens of thousands of unvaxxed (and likely heavily infected) illegal immigrants are streaming into the country every month thanks to SlowJoe’s disastrous border policy. You literally sound like a hysterical woman — completely devoid of logic, reason and reality.

    COVID cases among migrants in Rio Grande Valley sector surge 900% as border numbers continue to rise — https://www.foxnews.com/politics/covid-cases-migrants-rio-grande-valley-sector-border-numbers

  131. InversePumpkin says:

    Here you go dingus,

    https://twitter.com/TruthAbtChina/status/1396298923766026243

    Not like it matters though, every piece of data you are presented with you somehow find a way for it to confirm your world view. You don’t ever believe what you see. You only see what you believe.

  132. 3b says:

    And the experts said the chances that the virus was created in a lab was slim to none. A year later and it’s considered a viable if not probable explanation. China cannot be trusted on anything period. Any one that believes otherwise is an idiot.

  133. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Is this a sad attempt at a joke? Is this satire?

    InversePumpkin says:
    July 22, 2021 at 9:29 pm
    Here you go dingus,

    https://twitter.com/TruthAbtChina/status/1396298923766026243

    Not like it matters though, every piece of data you are presented with you somehow find a way for it to confirm your world view. You don’t ever believe what you see. You only see what you believe.

  134. The Great Pumpkin says:

    That’s proof of the virus running wild in China? That post was def satire. Can’t be serious.

  135. No One says:

    The virus could greater than reported but less than running wild. My suspicion is that deaths from pneumonia and heart failure will be up in China. American officials have an incentive to report covid (except Cuomo). Chinese officials have an incentive to suppress. The Chinese govt also tracks everyone, has spies in your neighborhood, and have no problem locking you up in your apt or a Covid hotel and throwing away the key.

  136. InversePumpkin says:

    No, but my handle is supposed to be satire of you. I’ve deviated from that. I need to go back to it. Here, let me get back into character.

    You can see how dedicated they are to achieving herd immunity! All masked up and trampling over each other to get the shot. I wish we were as dedicated. They haven’t had a major outbreak since Mar 2020 and they are still all lined up for the vaccine that is only 50% effective!

  137. Libturd says:

    We could offer free vaccines at the border. Heck, you wouldn’t need the wall.

  138. JCer says:

    China lies, pumps, they lie constantly. They lie about their military prowess, their rockets that can hit ships, their aircraft carriers that have no planes, their next generation fighters that have obsolete flight decks utilizing stolen US and Russian technology, about their economy, and everything else, they are lying liars who lie. They have had hundreds of thousands of COVID deaths(at the minimum) in China, the pandemic has been raging there since November 2019, when you have to disappear doctors because they are warning people about the illness you are engaging in a coverup and doing some serious lying. It’s very convenient that all the whistleblowers “succumbed” to the illness.

  139. Phoenix says:

    “China cannot be trusted on anything period. Any one that believes otherwise is an idiot.”

    Boomers trusted China. Shipped all of our jobs there. Shifted all manufacturing there. Cause boomer liked the profits. Boomer didn’t care about they youth, they cared about stock bonuses.
    Boohoo boomer, now crying that China is a threat. Eff off.
    Now we are supposed to be concerned or care?
    What about when your global corporations were lining your campaign pockets, did you care about that?
    Nahh, didn’t think so. Creepy Sniffing Joe is still in bed with them along with his Wonder Pet son. Trump and his daughter doing business there, both of their hands covered in Chinese feces.
    Is India much better? Or Russia?
    Yeah, time to wave the American flag, cause Bezos and Zuckerberg love you and are trustworthy as well as they collect and sell your data. /end rant

  140. Phoenix says:

    Jcer,
    And I’m not sure, but do you suggest starving them? You wanna try that, go for it.
    You might just get yourself into a real war. Doesn’t take much today.

    Americans get all nostalgic about WW2. Well, China ain’t Iraq, Iran, or Libya. It ain’t Afghanistan or Vietnam either. Boomers built it into a monster. And sure its behind, but it’s people aren’t as spoiled as Americans are. My guess is they know the soft spot of this country-and even if America were to prevail, this mainland would be hit for only the second time in history, 1st being when Japan sent over balloons with bombs attached.
    And you have lots of Chinese right here in this country who have got your number.
    Be careful what you ask for. You just might get an order of Kung Pow.

  141. Libturd says:

    Keys at Ace were $455 complete for the two cars

  142. Ex says:

    Boomers sold out under the guise of globalism.
    Costs were cut, factories shuttered, and fortunes
    were made.

  143. Phoenix says:

    Chi,
    Didn’t start as a rat. Wasn’t much of a gold digger either. But her mommy, a therapist, encouraged her to cheat, and destroyed the marriages of all of her children. What do you expect from a muppet born in West Virginia?

    If there was no creepy MIL, I would probably still be married. Her disease infected her daughter’s brain early in life, she knew how to control her. Fear and lies.

    And Left, should you start your business, I’d suggest you tell prospective wedding clients that they closely observe the parents of those they are going to marry-it’s way more critical to the long term stability of a marriage. The day I noticed my ex-fathers testicles in the jar over the mantlepiece I should have run for the hills. I should have known that’s what my ex had embedded in her DNA as the future for me.
    When that didn’t happen, then poof.
    I’ll work with anyone, but not going to be your effing doormat.

  144. grim says:

    Keys at Ace were $455 complete for the two cars

    I feel that’s not terrible. I remember being quoted more than that for a single Beemer fob, which I lost snowblowing one winter. Told them to go f* themselves, just like I did with their $1,000 headlight bulb replacement quote.

    Found it on the lawn when the snow melted in the spring, replaced the battery and it worked until I sold the car. I hear Mercedes is the worst of the lot, followed by Land Rover, probably Audi too. The whole thing is a racket.

  145. grim says:

    Changed gigs btw. I’m now applying my automation skills to healthcare and pharma. Sorry about your job. Between healthcare and robots, I figure this is a pretty good field to spend the next decade.

  146. grim says:

    Hear the hard seltzer market is crashing, no surprise.

    Malt-based beverages (non-beer) will always suck compared to their spirit based counterparts. But until you see state-level parity on taxes between beer/wine and spirits-based ready-to-drink, they’ll never be able to compete. You can find these spirit-based canned drinks around, but they are usually $5-10 more expensive a 4/6-pack, due to the tax differences. In many places, a 4 pack of 255ml cans would be taxed the same as a LITER bottle of vodka, even though it probably contains 1/10th the taxable component.

    Beer industry is fighting hard against tax parity (taxing by actual alcohol content in the drink, as opposed to the type of alcohol), because they feel if they lose exclusivity to the can, they lose the market entirely. Ready to Drink spirits based cocktails have the Beer industry scared to death.

  147. grim says:

    I predict this will be the least watched Olympic Games in history.

  148. Phoenix says:

    Grim,
    Use your automation skills to make masks. Looks like we are going to need them again.

  149. grim says:

    Hope y’all didn’t throw them all out already. Fall is going to suck.

    Maybe I’ll take Murphy’s grant money and invest in a canning line.

  150. Fast Eddie says:

    I read about the crashing hard seltzer industry this morning. Why do startups and smaller companies but all their eggs in one basket? As for the Olympics, count me for having zero enthusiasm. The same is holding true for most sports in general. I never thought I’d lose my love for pro football. I couldn’t wait to buy preview magazines and read sites on player profiles, etc. Giants football was Sunday religion growing up. Heck, went to just about every home game in the 80s. Once politics entered on top of ridiculous salaries, it doused a lot of the fire. I’ll watch in passing but the passion is mostly gone.

  151. Phoenix says:

    Eddie,
    College and high school not off the table if you still want to watch.

    As far as the Hard Seltzer and other brews, the whole market is overflowing with thousands of brands, most of the crap tastes the same anyway I would guess. Then again I don’t drink much.
    Plus, its mommies and women now pounding the booze, that’s who they should market to. All of those MADD mommies. Time to start DAMM, drunks against mad mothers.

  152. Phoenix says:

    Grim,
    If you did it right, you should have have at least got a cool 1mil of free taxpayer money.

    So many businesses cashed in on the PPP ride.

  153. Phoenix says:

    Going to the Brick House next week. Is it any good?

  154. Hold my beer says:

    Phoenix

    When are medical schools going to start teaching how to fix stupid and come up with a cure for karenitis?

  155. Fabius Maximus says:

    Grim,

    Why build when you can buy.

    https://www.bizbuysell.com/Business-Opportunity/Mobile-Canning-Business-over-200K-Cash-Flow/1863102/

    I cant see the sales of White Claw going anywhere. But I do feel that canned IPA is over saturated. 200 brands all tasting for the most part the same. Unless its randalled with something interesting, I’ll pass.

  156. grim says:

    Eh, lines are getting less expensive and smaller. I can use a mobile canner as well, or just as easily borrow my neighbor’s line.

    We would really need to get large jacketed brite tanks for carbonation, and cold boxes.

    Once NJ kills the cocktails to go law (which they will), we’ll shift over to canned or small-bottled RTD under our Federal license to be able to continue to sell cocktails to go. Still cocktails are far easier for us, since it doesn’t require any of the carbonation equipment, we can continue to use our existing bottling lines to produce.

    New challenge is the glass shortage you haven’t heard about yet. We purchase US made glass, but China glass shortages and shipping issues have more buyers clamoring for US-made. I may have to buy an extra 5,000 bottles just to make sure we have enough to make it through the end of year.

  157. Fast Eddie says:

    Phoenix,

    Eddie,
    College and high school not off the table if you still want to watch.

    I’ve been watching the SEC and attended a few high school games in the last few years. I’ll watch Sunday football if I’m home; otherwise, other things are taken precedent. I enjoy baseball better because the majority of the players are either from Central America, the Dominican Republic, etc. and along with the American-born guys don’t seem to want to make endless political statements. I was never a huge hockey fan but I think I may gravitate more to it because they tend to leave politics out of it totally. The NBA killed itself. Period. Re-discovering NASCAR this summer has been a blessing… truly one of the few things left that is pure American… the National Anthem being sung, the American flag everywhere, a prayer and simple, grassroots folks. Nobody is angry, everything is leisurely and people say excuse me and thank you. And standing at that fence at the start/finish line as a wall of thunder approaches is a rush that can’t be explained.

  158. Phoenix says:

    Karenitis is a social disease, but you can medicate them, it requires patient cooperation, however.

    Anyway, it’s a form of entertainment, and if you are lucky, you get to see when a few of them meet social justice. It’s a symptom of a much bigger disease.

    In medicine, we are too busy putting shattered skeletons back together from all of the accidents from booze and white claw drinkers. Keep liquoring up, it’s my bread and butter. And all of this increased alcohol use, that too is a symptom of a much bigger disease.

    It’s just sad when the innocents pay the price for this behavior.

  159. SmallGovConservative says:

    Fast Eddie says:
    July 23, 2021 at 8:44 am
    “I’ve been watching the SEC and attended a few high school games in the last few years…”

    As a long-time season ticket holder, let me put in a plug for Rutgers football as an option. You certainly haven’t missed anything since they joined the Big10, but with Schiano back in charge I’m hopeful that we’re going to be seeing some big-time games in the next few years. When the team is good and the opponent is good, Rutgers stadium is a fun place to be.

  160. Libturdian Thoughts says:

    Gary,

    I’m with you with the pro sports, but not necessarily for the same reasons. I can hardly even watch pro football anymore with all of the showboating. Pro basketball has become the most “look at me” sport ever and except for this year, the team that has the best player in the league always wins. Plus the ref protection of the superstars kills any semblance of defense or team play. Baseball I can still watch, but is really suited for being at the game. It’s just too slow. College football and basketball are still the bomb though, I wish there was just a little parity in football. At least a few new teams enter the top 20 every year in basketball. In football, it’s the same top twenty pretty much year in and year out. Hockey, IMO, and I may be biased, is still the only pro game not terribly tainted by commercial1sm, civil rights acts, poor sportsmanship, etc. Do you know what’s really interesting? Pro basketball, certainly the most Afro-centric sport of them all, completely skipped over the BLM movement. The BLM movement was really embraced mainly by white folks.

  161. Libturd says:

    Smalls,

    You know I was a Rutgers football season ticket holder for many years but now just buy individual games. It is a pretty enjoyable Saturday event. Just wish this team could figure out how to get a good corner on the field. They’ve been trying to figure out how to stop the long ball since the 80s.

    Their basketball team is going to be top twenty again this year. Their two best players returned for a 6th year (Covid rules) and their sophomore giant from Africa should be a good replacement for their big guy they just lost to the NBA.

  162. Fast Eddie says:

    Phoenix,

    That’s a local track somewhere. There’s a few Hispanic drivers, one Black driver at the Cup (major league) level and Michael Jordan along with Denny Hamlin is a NASCAR team owner. Aric Almirola won last week in New Hampshire and he’s of Cuban heritage.

  163. Fabius Maximus says:

    a “rash” that can’t be explained in NASCAR is the infield at Talladega on Friday night. That place could be a dry run for The Purge

    Small, Lib must be your worst nightmare. A solid R vote for all those years turning their back on the party. He is not alone. I have a lot of R friends who are the same way. I called this back in 2008. Bonehead should have shut the Tea Party down, the moment that bus showed up in DC.

    At this point the GQP will have to rely on Voter Suppression and interference to win next year. If they do, this country is finished.

  164. libtonic says:

    Grim,

    On the hard seltzer, or really any other girly drink business. The mistake they are all making is that is has to be syrupy sweet. If you look at the history of it, the stuff that sold was always disgustingly sweet. Be it, Zima, the wine-cooler years, the hard ciders, the hard lemonades. They are all sugar bombs. The hard seltzers, not so sweet. I’ve had one. Tasted like a poorly made weak vodka tonic. Why bother?

  165. Phoenix says:

    All that I see is that America is what it claims to be. A melting pot of all sorts, races, religions, and financial status. Except now, thanks to income inequality, the melting point of the individuals has increased, and they refuse to melt.

    So you have a mixture, and not a solution. Well, it’s time to put some sort of catalyst into this “mixture” before it becomes exothermic and explodes.

  166. grim says:

    Not only did the GOP pull a Hillary, they made the Dems look like amateurs at it.

    They know they need to distance themselves from anything Trump, and you are now seeing that start to happen.

    The best chance they have at mid-terms and 2024 – make the deplorables deplorable again.

  167. Phoenix says:

    Hard seltzer, lemonades, etc,

    Its for the kids, and especially for the females, to get hooked on alcohol as a crutch to help you escape the reality of the life you are living in.

    Plus of course provide tax dollars to the parasites of America.

    Then later, when you claim to be “refined” you just centrifuge yourself out by bragging about the more expensive liquor you are drinking later. It becomes a status/money thing, but at the end of the day an alcoholic is an alcoholic, be it Budweiser or Pappy VanWinkle.

    You are just an alcoholic with more money.

  168. Libturd says:

    Not really a solid R vote Fab. But there were a few R men I pulled the lever for. I absolutely adored Chris Christie until about his third year. Then he turned, like all of them, into a hack. There were plenty of others too. But they had to be intelligent for me to pull the trigger. What remains of the Republican Party today more closely resembles the cast of Jackass than legitimate leadership. All conspiracies, all the time. They really should rename the party at this point to the freak show.

  169. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Wow, what a misleading headline. Makes you think the prices are falling. Then you read it and realize they aren’t talking about pricing.

    “The U.S. housing market appears to be straining under the weight of its own pandemic-driven success. Recent data shows the sector is returning from the stratosphere and coming back to pre-COVID levels, as evidenced by a slew of data released this week.”

    https://www.reuters.com/business/us-housing-market-floats-back-earth-2021-07-22/

  170. SmallGovConservative says:

    Libturd says:
    July 23, 2021 at 9:03 am
    “Just wish this team [RU] could figure out how to get a good corner on the field…”

    Funny thing is, Schiano has turned out a bunch of NFL corners and Belichick seems to love them. It’s a tough position, especially with all of the offense-friendly rules now in place. I gave up basketball tix because I couldn’t make most games once I started working in NYC — and the team stunk. Definitely seems like Pikiell is building a solid program there.

  171. Phoenix says:

    I’ve seen and held the cirrhotic livers of both the rich and the poor.

    There is no discernable difference between the two that any pathologist has ever been able to detect.

  172. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Lmao…so inventory is still going to be a problem for years?

    “While groundbreaking on new residential homes (USHST=ECI) increased by 6.3% in June, building permits (USBPE=ECI), a more forward-looking indicator, dropped 5.1% to an eight-month low.

    With these moves, starts and permits returned to pre-pandemic levels.”

  173. 3b says:

    Phoenix: The Boomers did not trust the Chinese, they simply did not care. It was all about them. There is an article in Market watch this morning, where almost 70 percent of American Parents surveyed are worried about their children’s financial future. Worries my ass! Who is benefiting for the most part by the run up in the housing market and stock market due to the disastrous polices of the Fed, the Boomers!

  174. Phoenix says:

    ” What remains of the Republican Party today more closely resembles the cast of Jackass than legitimate leadership.”

    And what acts like and has a resemblance to the character of a Jackass is AOC.

    Parking her Tesla illegally behind a Whole Foods. What a winner.

    Hee Haw.

  175. Fast Eddie says:

    a “rash” that can’t be explained in NASCAR is the infield at Talladega on Friday night. That place could be a dry run for The Purge

    As opposed to the cunts who turn their backs, burn and loot and denounce evil America? Who destroy statues that have been standing for 200 years now deemed a symbol of satan? Who commandeer whole blocks and destroy buildings? The mostly peaceful protesters? The greatest act by the left and the democrats is their achievement of failure. In 20 years, the progressive left a.k.a as the democrat party has dismantled everything that has been built since the founding of this country. They’re a pathetic lot of castaways, duds, loafers, losers and washouts. The left is a collection of dregs, offering nothing but turbulence and discord… a miserable, jaundiced and pathetic lot of nothing preoccupied with the most irrelevant babble imaginable.

  176. The Great Pumpkin says:

    3b,

    How does one give away the manufacturing base with someone you don’t trust. They trusted the Chinese alright, and got played at their own capitalist game by a bunch of commies they underestimated.

  177. SmallGovConservative says:

    Libturd says:
    July 23, 2021 at 9:19 am
    “But they [Reps] had to be intelligent for me to pull the trigger.”

    Yet you voted for SlowJoe? I think we can all agree that he’s the exact opposite of intelligent.

  178. Libturd says:

    Grim,

    Did you see who they decided to staff the committee to investigate the Jan. 6th Capitol attack? They are far from “getting it.” Until they distance themselves from the Qanon crowd, they are toast. Ask the majority of the participants here? Most still believe Trump won the election due to widespread voter fraud. Remember. they all made fun of Hillary for waiting till the following morning to concede the election against Trump. Just a bunch of moronic hypocrites at every turn.

    Fab is right in pointing out that when you can no longer get the more independently thinking voter like me, you are toast. Populism is only seen in a positive light by those easily manipulated. At this point, as long as the Dems don’t do anything suicidal and the Repubs keep embracing the 5G cell tower believing crowd, they are indeed toast.

  179. Phoenix says:

    3b,
    It is, and has been about them for many years. It’s what made that parody “Boomers got the vax” on SNL so funny.

    Cause it was true. Every last bit of it.

    I work with some young individuals, and teach them the business I work in. They are wonderful, talented, hard working, and idealistic. Every time one of them leaves I die a little bit inside. So much better quality than many of the lazy boomers I have worked with over the years. More courage, more drive, more empathy.

    I’ll take them on my team even with their lack of experience. Way better than many of the whiny Karens I have to deal with.

  180. Libturd says:

    Smalls,

    I voted AGAINST the moron in chief. I would have pulled the lever for any of the 20 dem candidates as would have every sane American. Fortunately, the undecideds/swing voters had some common sense. I KNEW they would. So much for the polls being wrong a second time. People learned their lesson. If you are too embarrassed to admit you would vote for Trump, then you probably shouldn’t have in the first place. Yes?

  181. Libturd says:

    We never trusted the Chinese. The greedy only cared about one thing. Getting the cheapest labor possible. What kind of trust do you need when the Chinese can manufacture/assemble an iPhone for 1/4 of the cost of doing it in Cupertino. Apple cares not about American jobs nor the quality of life of a Chinese slave laborer. Profit margin is all that matters. Why make millions and employ Americans when you can make billions employing slave labor? It’s the American way.

  182. Libturd says:

    HZO yo. Thanks for the idea Lefty.

  183. Fast Eddie says:

    Fab is right in pointing out that when you can no longer get the more independently thinking voter like me, you are toast.

    Independently thinking voter? You’ve gone so far left you can see the back of right-wingers heads.

  184. Juice Box says:

    Had a July 4th party neighbors all left some hard seltzers behind. Vizzy, Good Company, and White Claw. I tasted a few. Seems to me these carbonated sweet drinks are marketed to people new to drinking, as they’re easy to drink etc low alcohol and sweet with some fake fruity tastes, for me not really my style. If I drink a beer it’s usually in a glass and really just like wine in a glass and not a can. Drink this stuff straight out of a can with no ice? It’s kind of like going to a club and paying full price and getting a can of beer, no thanks… Tax breaks for low-alcohol malt beverages like Grim mentioned will keep them around and in many states can be sold in the supermarket or gas station next to beer where wine and hard liquors cannot.

    I remember the Zima days well. That was marketed as a beer alternative to Women. Clubs tried to use it in mix drinks…I do remember it being sold as mixing Zima with Red Bull too….Those two combined and add in a few rounds of shots meant a real bad hangover filled with hallucinations….LoL

  185. grim says:

    China is investing in AI translation at a rate nobody has ever invested in translation before.

    Just wait until American companies can outsource non-manufacturing work to China.

  186. BidenIsTheGOAT says:

    The conspiracies rap is a lame accusation to make.

    After the dossier and Russia collusion hoax, not to mention the cavanaugh and impeachment I hoax, everyone who backed trump is justified in believing in an establishment cabal.

    We’ve seen the media lies, the deep state activity, big tech suppression, it’s been proven if you care to look.

  187. grim says:

    Genocide for political gain will be the defining history for this Republican administration. Remember, the losers don’t write the history.

  188. Phoenix says:

    How does one give away the manufacturing base with someone you don’t trust. They trusted the Chinese alright, and got played at their own capitalist game by a bunch of commies they underestimated.

    Pumpy, you are part right. This is what happens when you deal with a narcissist, I have plenty of experience in that arena.

    They did underestimate. They did get played. They just thought they were smarter. It’s typical Boomer behavior. (of course, not all Boomers are like this).

    The Chinese should just come to America and buy up all the land they can get, a boomer will sell for the right price, boomers are addicted to money like druggies to crack. They don’t care about the future or the youth, only themselves.

    Then America will be theirs for the taking from the inside. No war required.

    Watch this again. Listen to the lyrics. It’s them in a nutshell. Sometimes SNL is off like Dave Kingman, but when they connect, they hit it out of the ballpark.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hekDuCBxCc

  189. Fabius Maximus says:

    Gary,

    The tracks change from state to state. You’ll fit right in in Dega, bring the kids.

    NSFW – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zk6rSPnLOLE

  190. Libturd says:

    Grim,

    I’m imagining the enormity of the mistakes due to cultural translation errors.

  191. joyce says:

    Libturd,
    I love most of your posts. But come on, you can’t just say everyone’s comments are politically biased except for yours.

  192. Phoenix says:

    “China is investing in AI translation at a rate nobody has ever invested in translation before.”

    China is working, America is fat, lazy, entitled and inebriated.

  193. grim says:

    I’m imagining the enormity of the mistakes due to cultural translation errors.

    Pretty sure Walmart doesn’t care.

  194. Bystander says:

    “As a long-time season ticket holder, let me put in a plug for Rutgers football as an option. ”

    Geez, along with your political views, your football choice is s%t as well. Not surprised.

  195. Phoenix says:

    Oh,
    And now high on weed. Fully taxed to the max weed, that is.

    Gov’t has to get it’s cut while you are high and drunk.

    It’s one way to make you forget just how broke you are.

  196. Phoenix says:

    In ten years there won’t be a cashier at Walmart. They will be living in cardboard boxes on the streets in Wayne.

  197. BidenIsTheGOAT says:

    Genocide and which administration? The open borders administration? The covid stuff has made people hysterical.

    Take the shot if you want and go on with your life. Tracking the fake news narrative of the day is a recipe for an unhealthy disposition.

  198. The Great Pumpkin says:

    “This week, just three states Florida, Texas and Missouri, three states with lower vaccination rates accounted for 40 percent of all cases nationwide,” Zients said at a White House news conference. “For the second week in a row, one in five of all cases occurring in Florida alone. And within communities, these cases are primarily among unvaccinated people.”

  199. grim says:

    See, this is how it starts, hopefully this manifests itself into a complete retooling of the Republican Party. Drain the swamp I say…

    Washington (CNN)Alabama Republican Gov. Kay Ivey on Thursday called out “the unvaccinated folks” for the rise in Covid-19 cases in her state, a remarkable plea at a time when many GOP leaders are refusing to urge people to get vaccinated even as Covid-19 cases surge in many parts of the country.

    “Folks are supposed to have common sense. But it’s time to start blaming the unvaccinated folks, not the regular folks. It’s the unvaccinated folks that are letting us down,” Ivey told reporters in Birmingham.

  200. Fast Eddie says:

    Fabisu,

    I watched the whole video but couldn’t find the part where they stomped and burnt a flag, shot a cop, shit in the street, r.aped a girl, looted and burned whole blocks, called for violence and dragged people from cars and beat them.

  201. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Covid coming for the unvaccinated. Ask yourself, which long term effects are worse…the actual virus or the vaccine for said virus? Choose wisely.

  202. BidenIsTheGOAT says:

    Well with the vaccine you still carry the virus so my gut tells me the people getting the vaccine the potential for long term side effects is greater.

  203. Chicago says:

    What Olympics are you talking about?

    grim says:
    July 23, 2021 at 6:55 am
    I predict this will be the least watched Olympic Games in history.

  204. Phoenix says:

    A good read. Missing a critical chapter, the role of law enforcement in prosecuting those who lie about this during a divorce.

    Well, there is no such chapter cause there never was any plan to do anything about it, no money to be made in that direction, only work for lazy District Attorneys.

    Last paragraph on page 48 is the winner.

    https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubPDFs/law.pdf

  205. grim says:

    Genocide and which administration?

    My position on anti-vax was widely known here, far before covid and the current events.

    Deliberately seeding misinformation and creating doubt and hesitancy among the un-vaccinated population, when the science is abundantly clear on this, is no different from the deliberate murder of a large number of people, with the intent of destroying a nation – the definition of genocide. I’ve said it here before, anti-vaxxers should be able to be charged with manslaughter.

  206. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Biden,

    Ahh, so you don’t understand.

    “Throughout history, she said, “there’s been no vaccine that had worse side effects than the disease that it was developed to fight.””

    https://apple.news/ALUMvpHABTmuXGnUjrohdCg

  207. BidenIsTheGOAT says:

    On the “conspiracy” front, is the lab leak still a “conspiracy”?

    No viable alternate theory for the pandemic, loads of circumstantial evidence, and a cover up occurred.

    Fake news and democrats don’t want to find the truth of the origin. Is it a conspiracy theory?

  208. Grim says:

    Does it matter? Is someone going to push China for reparations? Doubtful.

    Or is it really just for Republicans to be able to say “Trump told you so about the China Virus”?

  209. Grim says:

    One by one they fall.

    Anthony Scaramucci, founder and co-managing partner of SkyBridge, told CNBC he has mandated Covid shots at his hedge fund’s office.

  210. Juice Box says:

    Phoenix – In ten years will there even be a Walmart? Drone deliveries by air and ground of everything..

    On top of the dozens of patents Amazon has for air drone delivery, they added a new one a van full of delivery drones and packages. The delivery van (perhaps even a self driving one) would transport packages almost to their destination, then send out and direct delivery of both ground based and flight capable drones to execute the final drop-off.

    Here is their latest patent on this system…

    https://pdfaiw.uspto.gov/.aiw?PageNum=0&docid=20210209543&IDKey=7FCF354B29E5&HomeUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fappft.uspto.gov%2Fnetacgi%2Fnph-Parser%3FSect1%3DPTO1%2526Sect2%3DHITOFF%2526d%3DPG01%2526p%3D1%2526u%3D%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.html%2526r%3D1%2526f%3DG%2526l%3D50%2526s1%3D20210209543.PGNR.%2526OS%3D%2526RS%3D

  211. BidenIsTheGOAT says:

    From what I’ve seen, anti vax is not a partisan issue. With the covid vax in particular, I haven’t studied it but I’ve heard that it’s correlated more strongly to race and age.

  212. Juice Box says:

    re: AI translation. Been following that since my days of watching startups attempt it 20+ years ago. Crowd sourcing, AKA giving away your knowledge for free is the only way it will get there, humans sharing their knowledge for free is required to get it done.

    Just think of the challenges. All, known terms, phrases, and even idioms like “raining cats and dogs” for their meanings have to be defined. Scan every passage in all literature and create translations can be done at high speed, but that information still needs to be available for low or no cost. The main issue as I see it is we are not China, information is getting more protections in Europe and here now. They won’t get it for free they will have to steal it.

  213. Libturd says:

    Joyce,

    I generalize too much. I admit it. I see through the Dem bullsh1t as well. It’s just that the Republican clown show is just too hard to ignore.

    I’m a big Stern fan. Not of the immature stripper and hooker sh1t which he has mostly moved away from, fortunately. His show has never been political over the 40 or so years as he knows that media is already inundated with it, but somehow he can’t stop focusing on the clown show. Stern himself is a lot like me in his political leanings. He could never vote for Hillary nor Trump. He ran as a Republican years ago and has endorsed more Republicans than Democrats over the years.

    I know I don’t say it enough, but I can’t stand the games the Dems play either. The lying by both parties is absolutely embarrassing and unprofessional. It’s like a terrible episode of the Bachelor. I know the excuse is that it’s just politics and as long as the voters don’t protest it, than it becomes acceptable. But the country is really just sick of it already. They made that message loud and clear by the turnout in this last election.

    If I were a betting man, I would bet that attempts to make it nearly impossible to vote by mail by the clown team will have a reverse effect on the outcome. The masses are asses, but even a stubborn ass is still used for a purpose.

    And I’m cool with coming across all high and mighty. If I’m wrong, let the deep state take me in. Though, don’t stop the criticism. I can handle it. Not sure I can adjust to your liking. Regardless, I respect your intelligence greatly and hope it keeps on coming.

    And yes, Goat, the media lies, the deep state activity, big tech suppression all has occurred. But that does not mean that every conspiracy is true, nor does it mean that we should ignore the science behind Covid. You can’t simply make every decision the opposite of what the other party believes. Especially when you are putting people’s health at risk. And for the record, I and most non-wonky people, knew the pissing dossier was complete bullsh1t. But this election fraud garbage? How infantile.

  214. Fast Eddie says:

    The intellectual liberals… you know, as opposed to those ‘Daga dregs:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roeQHQSlIc8

  215. Juice Box says:

    antivax? It’s way way too political now….

    There are millions of adults in NYC walking around without the Covid vaccine. You will encounter them in the Subways, retail stores, and in your own office..

    The largest healthcare union in the United States protested yesterday in NYC against mandated vaccinations.

    “Members of 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East gathered outside the hospital’s main campus on 168th Street and Fort Washington Avenue in Washington Heights for the “Trust Our Voices Rally.”

    “We believe that our members are best equipped to make the healthcare decisions that are right for their bodies and for their families,” 1199SEIU Communications Director Cara Noel said. “We have been promoting vaccination, but to make vaccination a condition of employement is absolutely wrong.”

    https://abc7ny.com/health/union-protests-ny-presbyterians-covid-vaccine-mandate-for-staff/10903483/

  216. BidenIsTheGOAT says:

    Scientists outside of the government funding sphere are unanimous. Finding the source of covid is crucial to treating it and preventing future pandemics.

    And yes, holding the CCP accountable to the extent possible is a justice and public awareness concern. I don’t think people understand largely how in humane they are as their influence grows. Within the party they consider covid a godsen(they are godless), their authoritarian grip has tightened.

  217. Fast Eddie says:

    And now we have a full hour of the “compassionate” left:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYmhCJQb0dU

  218. Juice Box says:

    BTW – the Science now says they are seeing concentrations in the lungs of the Delta variant at 1000% more than the original virus last year mush sooner after infection. This Delta variant is simply quicker at replicating when you get infected.

    I am thinking of topping off my vaccine soon.

  219. SmallGovConservative says:

    Grim says:
    July 23, 2021 at 10:19 am
    “Does it [identifying root cause of COVID] matter?”

    This is textbook TDS. There’s simply no other explanation for why an intelligent and otherwise reasonable person would ever make this statement.

  220. Grim says:

    Unions see capitulating to vaccine mandates as loss of bargaining power.

    Never let a crisis go to waste when you can reopen collective bargaining and use this as leverage for more concessions, right?

  221. Grim says:

    See? What’s in it for me?

  222. Libturd says:

    “Well with the vaccine you still carry the virus so my gut tells me the people getting the vaccine the potential for long term side effects is greater.”

    Keep telling yourself this. The bias within you grows stronger. You look as silly as that guy interviewed in the hospital bed.

  223. grim says:

    This is textbook TDS. There’s simply no other explanation for why an intelligent and otherwise reasonable person would ever make this statement.

    Ok, well then.

    The United States of America knowingly funded the lab, which created this virus, and caused this pandemic, under the Trump administration.

    See, does that make it better?

  224. Fabius Maximus says:

    Gary,

    Campus Reform and InfoWars? Really?

  225. BidenIsTheGOAT says:

    Who is making the covid origin investigation a partisan issue and why?

    Gain of function was rightfully banned under Obama. Kudos to them for recognizing the risk.
    Supposedly Unaccountable bureaucrats sought out loopholes to continue doing it. Ie broke the law.

    If that’s true, and it should be investigated, then why give them cover? To preserve a political narrative? Really?

  226. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Imagine being called a “sheep” for taking a vaccine.

    Now you know why there are winners and losers in a capitalist economy. Some people are lost in the woods and will never be found.

  227. Libturd says:

    Same old deception. Of course the root of it matters. But you keep ignoring the fact that you will never find it if you are depending on China to tell you the truth.

    Stop being so obtuse.

    There is absolutely nothing political in this statement. Now tell me about your position. Devoid of common sense, as usual.

  228. BRT says:

    likewise, when you run cover or are content to ignore the idiocy that the Fauci led NIH engaged in, you are enabling them to do equally stupid things in the future. This is the national government level of you having to tell your kids, don’t play with matches, you might burn down the house.

  229. Fast Eddie says:

    Campus Reform and InfoWars? Really?

    The words and actions of progressives as it unfolds, regardless of the source. I know the left are masters at deception, so it must be difficult to watch.

  230. grim says:

    Sorry, Trump is not responsible if this happened under his watch? No different from the crooked CEO who claims no knowledge of the crimes that took place under his watch. Or is the defense here negligence?

    Gain of function research, the researched that was banned because it was basically biological warfare research, one step removed from using weapons of mass destruction. What we invaded Iraq over? You are telling me the administration had no knowledge such an egregious crime against not only US law, but international law as well, was being committed on their watch? A crime that would no doubt make us look terrible to the rest of the world?

  231. BidenIsTheGOAT says:

    Who said that we should rely on China? You need an international commission free of government funding influence.

    If you actually care, this is the blueprint. https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2021/07/22/opinions/covid-origins-full-investigation-china-who-metzl/index.html?__twitter_impression=true

  232. grim says:

    China has the most powerful government the world has ever known.

    They can execute coverups on a scale that the CIA and NSA could only dream of.

    Everything is gone, anyone that would talk is gone, there is no evidence, if the lab was indeed the origin, it will NEVER be known.

  233. BidenIsTheGOAT says:

    Is that an argument for or against an investigation?

    Let’s find out what transpired and who knew what and when.

    Let’s hold unaccountable bureaucrats accountable if they broke the law. I’m sick and tired of the going rogue and then seeking political cover when their schemes are uncovered. Politicians can be held accountable at the poll.

  234. BRT says:

    Obama put the mandates in place to end the research. Fauci and the NIH took steps to circumvent that by using proxies. Maybe you should be concerned with your highest paid government official blatantly circumventing regulations with federal money. Perhaps you don’t remember this but the instant Trump was made aware of it last year, he shut it down funding mechanism that was doing that. Then 60 minutes ran a slander piece of how irresponsible it was of him to terminate the grant involving an interview with Peter Daszak.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iagUDDyhf64

    I’m not tryin to blame Obama or Trump for the funding nonsense. It’s not the presidents job to monitor every single grant that goes out. It’s the responsibility of the NIH and the scientific community. And there was plenty of noise in the scientific community. You can go back and read Dr. Richard Ebright’s of Rutgers warnings from 2016 on about this.

  235. Juice Box says:

    Their censorship of the internet is unparalleled…not one covid death in over a year?

    They are quickly isolating themselves from the rest of the world. Take a look at DiDi their version of Uber but much much bigger 550 million users and tens of millions of drivers.

    They went forward with their US IPO in late June against the wishes of the government and as punishment they crippled the company in China it’s mobile app was just forced off app stores in China. That will be death for them.

  236. BRT says:

    btw, they tried sending Peter D. in during that 3 hour sham investigation into Wuhan and they came out and concluded all was well and the media and the NIH/CDC tried running with it as if that legitimized it. This doesn’t worry you? How are you supposed to hold any administrations Dem or Rep accountable when this is the standard we are satisfied with?

  237. Libturd says:

    Which politicians are we going to hold accountable? All of them?

    A non-partisan grant supported the lab. Okay, end the grants if Trump didn’t. Let’s keep politics out of this.

    According to the CNN link:

    Although not having full access to all of the relevant resources in China would hamper this investigation, a great deal of progress can be made by pooling efforts, accessing materials available outside of China, and creating secure whistleblower provisions empowering Chinese experts to share information.

    How the heck do you blow a whistle on a lab you have zero access to? Come on now? If that’s the plan, then you are simply wasting your time.

  238. Fast Eddie says:

    The Cleveland Guardians.

    Lol. Sure.

  239. Juice Box says:

    Lib – the Wuhan database was open and shared amongst worldwide researchers before covid hit, and it was all taken office. They are hoping someone has a copy as any data for or against the lab theory is long long gone.

    WHO was just rebuffed about reopening an investigation for or against anything in China, they are saying that they should investigate the US instead.

    “Beijing is also going on the offensive, lobbing unsubstantiated claims at the United States. On Wednesday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian called for an investigation into the U.S. military-run infectious-disease research lab at Fort Detrick, Md., as part of coronavirus origin tracing, saying 5 million Chinese Internet users signed a petition for such a probe.”

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/07/22/china-covid-who-wuhan/

    Make no mistake their entire population will be convinced the virus originated here in the USA.

  240. grim says:

    It did originate here, we funded the lab, it’s America’s fault.

  241. Libturd says:

    Well, now that 4 million people are dead. The world should send their tanks and missiles into China to prove what we all know is likely. Do you really think China is going to just back down? So let’s kill millions more. Because the likelihood that this was done purposely is absolutely zero. Unless of course, you believe the Chinese is trying to magnetize us through 5G emitting cell phone towers.

  242. grim says:

    Has nothing to do with science, it has everything to do with blaming Fauci for daring to speak out against Trump. Goal is simple, delegitimize the NIH, CDC, and science community. You’ll see, in a few months the Republican talking points sheet will have focus areas about openly questioning evolution.

  243. Libturd says:

    Juice,

    No doubt China will try to cover this up. Much like Russia tried to Hide Chernobyl and the US tries to hide all of our clandestine operations. I’m sure you guys all know how we got some of the information leading to Bin Laden right? We launched a fake vaccine distribution in Muslim countries to seek information on his whereabouts. Maybe Pakistan should have nuked us?

    Unless you are prepared to go to war with China over it and even if you do, the truth will likely never be found.

  244. grim says:

    Unless you are prepared to go to war with China over it and even if you do, the truth will likely never be found.

    Don’t follow, we funded the lab, there is zero question about USA funding the Wuhan Lab, we gave them money to do research, we gave them legitimacy to do research, knowing full well what they were researching, knowing full well the likely inability to maintain the safety standards necessary for that level of research.

    If Wuhan is to blame, so is the US, there is zero way that we walk away not being culpable. The most realistic outcome? US becomes counterparty to the damages. China can easily claim we were party to the coverup. Hell, maybe we were party to the coverup. There will be a global outcry for reparations. World will DEMAND that USA must make it right.

  245. Libturd says:

    All true Grim. Perhaps we contracted with them to develop a bio weapon? Equally as plausible as some of the alchemy others here believe.

  246. Juice Box says:

    EcoHealth Alliance a British and America NGO was funded. Perhaps arm’s length kind of stuff for plausible deniability? It could have been an operation, a way for US intelligence to gain a way to see what was going on inside that lab, by funding some research and getting access to their data.

    There is allot of classified stuff we keep hearing exists. Biden ordered a 90 day reval from the intelligence community due out next month, to him anyway.. This was because on the theory that it originated in Wuhan, Fauci himself backtracked on in May in a Senate hearing.

    Seems that however the science is the problem itself. In order to even study these bat viruses in the lab they need to culture and grow them. Apparently the only way to do that effectively is to by inserting the new virus proteins into the backbone of other known viruses, and then do their testing on human and other animal cells. This does look like gain of function on the surface, but may not be either, there is no consensus from the scientific community and may well never be. So we don’t know what happened there and now most likely will never know if there is no smoking gun. All evidence for or against the theory is now gone unless someone can find evidence of a virus that is 99% matching sequence to covid-19, and then show that it could have been modified in a lab to make it covid-19, so for now we only have the absence of evidence and lots of finger pointing.

  247. Juice Box says:

    Meanwhile Giants vs Eagles war is heating up and the first preseason game isn’t for two weeks.

    https://www.nj.com/eagles/2021/07/man-dies-after-alleged-eagles-vs-giants-argument-leads-to-shooting-outside-philly-cheesesteak-restaurant.html

  248. SmallGovConservative says:

    Wow! Complete craziness from grim and Lib over the COVID origin question.

    The core issue here is very simple — the Dems have shown virtually no interest in investigating the root cause and have made it crystal clear that they won’t expend an ounce of effort to try to make sure that happens. That is indefensible! And all of grim & Lib’s ranting, hysterics and excuses don’t change that fact. Look at some of this stuff from just the past few posts (all offered as rationale for the Dems disinterest in investigating root cause) — kooky!

    “Has nothing to do with science…”
    “Goal is simple, delegitimize the NIH, CDC, and science community.”
    “If Wuhan is to blame, so is the US…”
    “World will DEMAND that USA must make it right.”
    “Unless you are prepared to go to war with China…”
    “Perhaps we contracted with them to develop a bio weapon…”

  249. Libturd says:

    Deflection, as usual.

    What’s your strategy besides making everything an attack on Democrats? Cause that seems to be all you know or care about?

  250. BRT says:

    Motivations of detractors shouldn’t give you a pass on your misdeeds. This is why fauci has continually lied. He has been given immunity on everything.

  251. Libturd says:

    So Fauci is fired. Great. Who the fukc cares about Fauci? Since when did the chief medical correspondent, or whatever his title is, matter so much? So he lied. So do all of them. And quite frankly, I could care less if he was fired or not. He lost all credibility with me when he kowtowed to every one of Trump’s whims. Even so, no one listens to him anyway. Want to pin the blame for Covid on him? Go ahead. If it makes you feel better.

  252. The Great Pumpkin says:

    A startup says it has built an inexpensive battery that can discharge power for days using one of the most common elements on Earth: iron.

    Form Energy’s batteries are far too heavy for electric cars. But it says they will be capable of solving one of the most elusive problems facing renewable energy: cheaply storing large amounts of electricity to power grids when the sun isn’t shining and wind isn’t blowing.

    Its prototype battery, nicknamed Big Jim, is filled with 18,000 pebble-size gray pieces of iron, an abundant, nontoxic and nonflammable mineral.

    If all continues to go according to plan, its iron-air batteries will be capable of affordable, long-duration power storage by 2025.

  253. The Great Pumpkin says:

    “I have respect for the environment, and I drive an electric car and am happy to pay the extra costs because the technology is good. But to say that an electric stove is as good as a gas one is misunderstanding the art of cooking.”

    — George Chen, executive chef and founder of San Francisco restaurant China Live. Cooks are pushing back as cities try to phase out natural gas.

  254. Fabius Maximus says:

    “Let’s find out what transpired and who knew what and when.”

    So GOAT, I’ll assume you are fully behind the Jan 6 investigations?

    Can we also circle back on Kavanaugh, while we are at it?
    FBI says it got more than 4,500 tips on Kavanaugh, providing ‘relevant’ ones to Trump White House. https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/22/politics/fbi-kavanaugh-ford-investigation/index.html

    Also who paid off Kavs $1.2Mil Mortgage, his Country Club fees and Credit Cards?

  255. The Great Pumpkin says:

    I could never do this. I’m not a person that likes major change in my life.

    “10.9 million
    The number of American workers who described themselves as digital nomads in 2020, up 49% since 2019, according to a recent study. The post-pandemic digital nomad makes longer stays, takes fewer flights and maybe even puts down roots.”

  256. BRT says:

    See…this is the problem. Your head honcho is the face of the public response and is supposed instill confidence in the system and public. He’s only created distrust through his methods. You should be complaining equally about him because the sooner we get rid of him and put someone more respectable in office, the sooner more people will get vaxxed. Then, the safer your immunocompromised family members are. A guy like Scott gottlieb is much more up front, logical, and honest.

    And dude, we aren’t blaming him for covid. We are blaming him for a laundry list of dumb crap that followed.

  257. Fabius Maximus says:

    Off to “Slum it, in Summit!” Any one have any suggestions to kill 2 hours with teenagers in that area? Game stores, arcades etc?

  258. Grim says:

    NJ Rt up to 1.42 from 1.40 yesterday.

    Start masking up again, it’s inevitable at this rate.

  259. Juice Bxo says:

    Fab – 4500 tips to an FBI hotline on one person? Sounds like massive amount of false reports. Isn’t that a crime? Sounds like it to me.

  260. Hold my beer says:

    Positivity rate is over 17% in my area.

    And fauci needs to go. I’m with brt. The guy has lost credibility.

  261. The Great Pumpkin says:

    “However, big investors’ activity will increase now that the pandemic has made owning family homes more attractive. While the rents collected from commercial real-estate assets such as malls and offices took a hit during the Covid-19 crisis, most private residential tenants continued to pay up. Family homes could be an even better long-term bet than owning e-commerce warehouses. Real-estate research firm Green Street estimates that renting out U.S. single-family homes will deliver annual returns of 6.6%—versus a forecast of 6.3% for industrial property.
    Buying up homes solves several headaches for powerful investors. Housing is a large asset class so can mop up a lot of excess cash. The submarket for rented single-family homes alone is worth approximately $3.1 trillion, according to Amherst—40% larger than the value of all U.S. offices and more than triple the value of all the country’s hotels. Renting out homes is also a good hedge against inflation. Over the past four years, rents have increased by 15% on average across Europe, Colliers data shows.”

    And then this….

    “The rub is that easing the housing shortage isn’t actually in investors’ financial interest. A lack of supply, coupled with the fact that more young families are priced out of homeownership, is precisely what will drive the fat returns expected in rented real estate over the next few years. Adding new supply could make these bets less lucrative and would also mean taking on development risk just as construction costs are rising sharply.
    But to venture into such touchy real estate, investors must weigh this trade-off to avoid being ejected from the family home.”

    https://apple.news/AYAtRdB1aTZCE4stxlRBC3A

  262. SmallGovConservative says:

    Fabius Maximus says:
    July 23, 2021 at 2:19 pm
    “Also who paid off Kavs $1.2Mil Mortgage…”

    Could’ve been Hunter Biden. Did you hear that he’s become a really good artist since his dad entered office? Yeah, he’s selling works for up to half a mil to anonymous buyers so he probably has enough to have paid off the mortgage.

  263. Libturd says:

    If you want to play partisan. Perhaps we should just put Fauci in a muzzle and bring in Berx again. She was so much less a puppet. Especially when she virtually said Covid was over last April and that there would be no ICU shortages.

    Enough with the politics. We are all not as stupid as you think we are.

  264. Libturd says:

    As long as we are ditching Fauci, shouldn’t we dump every single Republican who did not certify the election? Especially after the 39 counts of fraud were found false? Come on now. Enough with the politics.

  265. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Prices are not going to go down…

    “Biden administration unveils new aid to prevent foreclosure spike”

  266. Grim says:

    Glad to see NJ hospital systems enforcing vaccine mandates.

    RWJ fired 6 this week that refused. University in Newark announced mandated vaccination today. Hackensack announced a week ago, deadline is October 1, or you get terminated.

    Governor should mandate all NJ state workers, and legislators, are vaccinated as well.

  267. Libturd says:

    My company is Japanese based. I think their policy is perfect. You must upload your vaccination card to HR to work without a mask. Also, all women must wear plaid mini skirts and everyone must blur their vision when they are changing.

  268. Grim says:

    Was asked to provide a copy and details as I went through on boarding. Happy to provide it.

  269. 3b says:

    Prices will go down!!

  270. No One says:

    FabMax, Reeves Reed Arboreum has nice gardens to look at in Summit. Main St you can walk through and get ice cream and such. Or just drive through the street with the big mansions near the arboretum and tell them how you crave to nationalize them in the name of the proletariat.

  271. Libturd, the great disruptor says:

    Here comes MDC and VEEV hits a new high every day. My picks are tripling their indexes. I’m the next Cathie Wood. I wonder what symbol I should use for my fund? Wait, I know. PUMP.

    Damn, it’s taken.

  272. BidenIsTheGOAT says:

    So just to be clear, should we not investigate the covid origin because it’s a waste of time and China will stonewall or because it’s voreed as partisan.

    Either way it’s linked to 600k deaths in this country and sounds completely unhinged but just want to be clear.

  273. Libturd says:

    Awesome NoOne.

    Here’s a serious question. How are the Republicans going to win in 2024 when all of their registered voters have died from Covid-19?

  274. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Nice call. See how that works.

    Libturd, the great disruptor says:
    July 23, 2021 at 3:24 pm
    Here comes MDC and VEEV hits a new high every day. My picks are tripling their indexes. I’m the next Cathie Wood. I wonder what symbol I should use for my fund? Wait, I know. PUMP.

    Damn, it’s taken.

  275. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Promise me you will have the biggest party the next time they do.

    3b says:
    July 23, 2021 at 3:12 pm
    Prices will go down!!

  276. Grim says:

    They’ll all vote Democrat once they are dead.

  277. The Great Pumpkin says:

    FB up 5% today…google 3%. Might be time to get out of the small caps and go back to the fang focus with the 401k. They just keep rolling.

  278. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Prob missed the train now…could kick my ass. Was telling my wife we need to switch it, but I never acted on it. Have to look this over, maybe still time to make the move.

  279. Libturd, the Kooky one. says:

    Be careful Grim, they might start calling you names.

  280. Libturd says:

    Value is moving too. Trust me. This is a case of the rising tide. Just get ready to drop some ballast in the Fall and Winter. This has been a once in a lifetime bull market. We can’t print to prosperity forever.

  281. The Great Pumpkin says:

    The answer? Wealthy people like to live amongst themselves.

    “There are luxury real-estate markets. Then there’s Palm Beach.

    The 16-mile stretch of barrier island off Florida has seen an unprecendented buying spree over the past 16 months, as deep-pocketed buyers—from software billionaire Larry Ellison to designer Tommy Hilfiger—poured billions of dollars into property there. Since March 2020, there have been at least 22 sales north of $40 million in Palm Beach County, with two over $100 million and about 35 over $30 million. That’s a whole lotta moula.

    What is it about Palm Beach that keeps buyers coming back for more? Is it the rise of remote work? Favorable tax policies for the wealthy? The fact there’s no lack of sunshine in Florida? Something else? Let me know what you think is contributing to the property boom by replying to this email.”

  282. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Amen. Just please post when you get a feeling it’s peaking. Unbelievable how much money has been made.

    I’ll just leave it be in the value small cap…I’ll follow the rising tide.

    Libturd says:
    July 23, 2021 at 3:43 pm
    Value is moving too. Trust me. This is a case of the rising tide. Just get ready to drop some ballast in the Fall and Winter. This has been a once in a lifetime bull market. We can’t print to prosperity forever.

  283. leftwing says:

    “At this point the GQP will have to rely on Voter Suppression and interference to win next year.”

    “The best chance they have at mid-terms and 2024 – make the deplorables deplorable again.”

    “What remains of the Republican Party today more closely resembles the cast of Jackass than legitimate leadership. All conspiracies, all the time. They really should rename the party at this point to the freak show.”

    Very metrocentric of you all.

    Remember, your vote is irrelevant.

  284. leftwing says:

    “Fab is right in pointing out that when you can no longer get the more independently thinking voter like me, you are toast.”

    To the voters in the areas that count Stu you are a diehard Liberal, and Fab is a communist to be curb stomped.

    Your view of the political spectrum is wildly skewed…but, where you sit is where you stand.

  285. No One says:

    Regarding luxury Florida real estate:

    It’s simple financial analysis. Take someone with an income of $10m/yr in NJ, and they expect to make that income for the next 20 years. As a NJ resident they will be paying $1m/yr. If they move to FL instead, they get to keep that $20m. You can buy a pretty nice house or condo, club membership, and maybe a boat with the savings, play golf and tennis all winter, and still come out ahead financially.

    I don’t think I’d like Palm Beach that much, because there are way too many New Yorkers there, and it takes hundreds of millions to be someone there. Sarasota Area people aren’t trying to show off as much. More of the “millionaire next door” types than the Donald Trump types. The Donald Trump types also know that Florida law protects your home from your bankruptcy creditors, no matter how much it’s worth.

  286. The Great Pumpkin says:

    No One…Palm Beach is the elite of the elite. No different than billionaire row in NYC or billionaire row in other locations around the world. They like to be amongst themselves.
    Not all, but most want the company of other elite. Palm Beach offers access to airport and it has a perfect defense system from the class of people they don’t want to associate with.

  287. grim says:

    I spent a lot of time in Miami – Brickell & South Beach over the past 5 years.

    I hate Florida.

  288. Libturd says:

    Remember, your vote is irrelevant.

    You could say that again.

    I do sit where I stand. I really want to see it through your lense, but it seems so far fetched. Heck, people are jumping ship like the whole thing is about to sink.

  289. Phoenix says:

    “Unions see capitulating to vaccine mandates as loss of bargaining power.

    Never let a crisis go to waste when you can reopen collective bargaining and use this as leverage for more concessions, right?”

    If they can turn it into profit why not? Doubt they will, however. But I do know quite a few young ones who were able to pay off their loans already that will be taking a hiatus should Covid round 2 hit. Many of the boomers have already put in for their retirement for this year.

    What I thought was interesting is how the younger types plan. One wrote the resignation letter with a blank spot for the name, date, and signature. They passed around copies, all ready to go, just fill in the blanks and walk out in a couple weeks.

    Easy peasy.

  290. Phoenix says:

    Florida is going to need a desalination plant soon for all of it’s water supplies.

  291. Phoenix says:

    With the taxes you save in Florida you can pay the tuition to a good private school system for your kids.

  292. Phoenix says:

    A right-wing radio host in Tennessee, who had questioned the need for Covid-19 vaccines while promoting ‘alternatives,’ is ‘fighting for his life’ against the virus in a critical care unit. Phil Valentine, who hosts a show on SuperTalk 99.7 WTN in Nashville, is battling ‘Covid pneumonia and the attendant side effects,’ his brother, Mark, said in a statement Thursday. ‘Please continue to pray for his recovery and PLEASE GO GET VACCINATED!’ Mark Valentine implored.

  293. Juice Box says:

    Hillsong ain’t conservative. I did not know they had a college too..

    https://www.the-sun.com/news/3334636/man-dies-of-covid-after-posting-99-problems-tweet/

  294. No One says:

    Libturd, you know that Covid kills less than 1% of those infected by it.
    Estimated infection fatality rate for those under age 55 is about 0.25%. Even age 55 to 64 it’s under 0.5%. It’s 65 years old and older where infection fatality might be over 5% or 10%. So DeSantis might deserve praise for “following the science” and reserving the shots for medical people and the senior citizens early on. Unlike NJ which prioritized government employees and those willing to lie about co-morbidities.
    I don’t mind the Republicans who say “your body your choice” for shots, but I think every responsible politician should accompany that with some data to inform your choice: if you are over 55 years old or sick, you have a real chance of dying or getting super-sick, and if you are over 75 and get it you have above a 10% chance of dying, and or will take out a few of your canasta partners with you. Meanwhile the odds that the shot will hurt you is maybe 0.001%. So if you aren’t an idiot, it’s a really easy choice to make about your body.

    I’m pretty sure Old Joe can’t understand this data and doesn’t know how to talk about it even with a script on the teleprompter. He sure doesn’t know how to speak about it extemporaneously, like when he recently baldly lied and said on TV that if you get the vaccine, you won’t get COVID. Making up stuff in his senile delirium hurts his credibility just like Trump’s constant fantasy-talk hurt his.

    When I was a teen I played a lot of Dungeons and Dragons and other RPGs so I got a pretty good feel for how many times a 0 0 or 9 9 would come up throwing two ten-sided dice. Maybe that gave me a head start in my investing career and dealing with probabilities.

    https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33289900/#&gid=article-figures&pid=fig-5-uid-4

  295. No One says:

    Hillsong combines rap music and religion, a couple of my least favorite things, into one package. That story implied Jesus wanted that vax-avoiding preacher dead.

    Right next to that story was one about a 23 year old Chinese female tower crane operator who fell 160ft and died I suppose because she was climbing down with one hand on the ladder and the other hand on her phone live-streaming to her adoring fans. https://www.the-sun.com/news/3338947/influencer-crane-operator-falls-death-video-phone-followers-china/

    Which one of them was more stupid?

  296. leftwing says:

    “Goal is simple, delegitimize the NIH, CDC, and science community.”

    Most assuredly, they do not need my help to attain that endpoint.

  297. The Great Pumpkin says:

    As Boat Sales Soar, Private Docks Become Precious Real Estate
    Waterfront homes with personal docks, sea walls and lifts are in high demand

    https://www.wsj.com/articles/as-boat-sales-soar-private-docks-become-precious-real-estate-11626805800

  298. leftwing says:

    Lib, glad HZO worked for you. Wish I hopped into your VEEV.

    Still looking at MDC, not sure I want to go just straight out long stock.

    I exited my HZO this morning, except two contracts just to keep track of how she continues to trade. Too much in gains, and I’m in options so much more susceptible to smaller reversals while also under a deadline.

    Going to look at MGM over the weekend. KIM also landed on my radar…

    Someone mentioned above get your masks ready for the Fall. I think it’s sooner, we are likely already well in to the final wave and will get whacked hard shortly, certainly in August. I need to determine how much that view on COVID should color my investment thesis. So much of it, as this crazy pandemic has been to date, is less about the science and actual risks and more about perception and political responses.

    Even hard core leftists like DiBlasio are asserting no more closures…how long does that last? What happens when this pops? Jcer mentions above the increased viral load…that massive and immediate explosion paired with an 8-10x more transmission rate and breakthrough cases is going to have this thing running rampant.

    Need to find a good source of infections of the fully vaccinated with hospitalizations of the vaccinated broken down by age and pre-existing. Thinking that will be best tell of the severity of the wave to come.

    Have a good weekend brother.

  299. leftwing says:

    Did NJ microbrewery laws change to allow live music?

    Scrolling through weekend events and two of them are advertising live entertainment.

  300. Juice Box says:

    re: “Goal is simple, delegitimize the NIH, CDC, and science community.”

    HorseHockey….they need to be accountable. They were created to make doctors, scientist etc and the medical community overall accountable. They are captured just like the regulators in finance.

  301. Libturd says:

    I think marketwise, this surge ain’t gonna do a thing. We all know that Uncle Sam has endless paper to get us out of any jam.

    And NoOne. I understand probability incredibly well. My hobby is dependant on it (video poker). My fear is not for myself. It’s for my father and son, both who are immunocompromised thanks to cancer treatment. So it is an easy (albeit selfish) decision to avoid putting something in your body that is highly unnecessary. Unless you win the unlucky lottery, like my son has, or unless you carry the influenza to someone who already won the unlucky lottery, like my son has. Remember, when things are shut down in the fall, it will be the fault of the selfish. Don’t go blaming inept politicians this time. Their job (supposedly) is to do what’s best for everyone. Not what they feel is best for themselves.

  302. BRT says:

    Nothing about my arguments against Fauci were political.

  303. Libturd says:

    Mine neither to be totally honest. But I still don’t feel he matters much in the grand scheme.

  304. Libturd says:

    What is horsehockey? Sounds interesting. :P

  305. The Great Pumpkin says:

    ““Cli­mate sci­ence is al­ready far down the road to politi­ciza­tion. “Twenty or 30 years ago,” Mr. Ri­d­ley says, “you could study how the ice ages hap­pened and dis­cuss com­pet­ing the­o­ries with­out be­ing at all po­lit­i­cal about it.” Now it’s very hard to have a con­ver­sa­tion on the sub­ject “with­out peo­ple try­ing to in­ter­pret it through a po­lit­i­cal lens.”

    Mr. Ri­d­ley de­scribes him­self as “luke­warm” on cli­mate change. He ac­cepts that hu­mans have made the cli­mate warmer, but doesn’t sub­scribe to any of the cat­a­strophist views that call for rad­i­cal changes in hu­man be­hav­ior and con­sump­tion. His nu­anced po­si­tion hasn’t pro­tected him from at­tack, of course, and the British left is prone to vil­ify him as a “de­nier.”

    Cli­mate sci­ence has also been “in­fected by cul­tural rel­a­tivism and post­mod-ernism,” Mr. Ri­d­ley says. He cites a pa­per that was crit­i­cal of glaciol­ogy—the study of glac­i­ers—“be­cause it wasn’t suf­fi­ciently fem­i­nist.” I won­der if he’s kid­ding, but Google con­firms he isn’t. In 2016 Progress in Hu­man Ge­og­ra­phy pub­lished “Glac­i­ers, gen­der, and sci­ence: A fem­i­nist glaciol­ogy frame­work for global en­vi­ron­men­tal change re­search.””

    “The politi­ciza­tion of sci­ence leads to a loss of con­fi­dence in sci­ence as an in­sti­tu­tion. The dis­trust may be jus­ti­fied but leaves a vac­uum, of­ten filled by a “much more su­per­sti­tious ap­proach to knowl­edge.” To such su­per­sti­tion Mr. Ri­d­ley at­trib­utes pub­lic re­sis­tance to tech­nolo­gies such as ge­net­i­cally mod­i­fied food, nu­clear power—and vac­cines.

    If you spurn Covid-19 vac­ci­na­tion, Mr. Ri­d­ley says he would “fer­vently ar­gue” that it is “the lesser of two risks, at least for adults.” We have “am­ple data to show that—for this vac­cine, and for oth­ers, go­ing back cen­turies.” He calls vac­ci­na­tion “prob­a­bly the most mas­sive and in­cred­i­ble ben­e­fit of sci­en­tific knowl­edge.” Yet it’s “coun­ter­in­tu­itive and dif­fi­cult to un­der­stand,” which may ex­plain why its ad­vo­cates have been vil­i­fied through the cen­turies.”

    https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-china-media-lab-leak-climate-ridley-biden-censorship-coronavirus-11627049477?st=lf4usmll3hgtpxj&reflink=article_copyURL_share

  306. Hold my beer says:

    Texas is about to get lit up with cases. Averaging 4,500 a day the last 4 days.

    https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/texas-health-leaders-worried-rise-covid-19-cases-hospitalizations-delta/287-599a85d9-0c15-441b-9ad2-995576e26b39

    If the the growth rate doesn’t slow Texas will be 15,000 to 20,000 a day by end of august.

  307. Grim says:

    Cue politician backpedaling.

    But… but… I never said not to get vaccinated, I never said COVID wasn’t dangerous, I was just trying to defend your personal liberty.

  308. grim says:

    Screwing around with some numbers this morning to dig into the racial disparities for vaccination.

    One key factor – race by age. Does the dramatically difference in racial breakdown by age partially explain the lagging vax status by racial/ethnic group, or the uptake?

    What’s interesting is, in NJ, more than 60% of the child population is non-white or hispanic. This is basically the opposite of the total population, or looking at it another way, the white adult population is probably north of 70%.

  309. grim says:

    As of 2019 (it’s the data I could find):

    NJ White (non-hispanic) Pop – 4.85 million
    Vax Eligible (12+) – 4.29 million (88%)

    NJ Black (non-hispanic) Pop – 1.15 million
    Vax Eligible (12+) – 0.98 million (85%)

    NJ Hispanic Pop – 1.87 million
    Vax Eligible (12+) – 1.49 million (80%)

    While the difference between white/black populations doesn’t seem material to me, the gap in non-hispanic white to hispanic (all) is 8 points, that’s substantial enough that age/race variations here are going to have a material impact on the overall pop numbers.

    This became fairly evident to me when looking at the vaccination status by municipality.

    Look at a town like Passaic:

    18 and Over: 71% Vaccinated (1 dose)
    65 and Over: 89% Vaccinated (1 dose)

    You think, wow, great performance, and wonder – where’s the vax hesitancy among the larger hispanic population towns?

    Then you look at the All Ages number, and you see 53%. Bingo – it’s the kids.

    And I bet the eligibility gap in the south is far larger than this too.

  310. grim says:

    It by no means explains the entire gap, but it explains some of it. This also means there is a time factor associated with widening of the age ranges, which just based on age demographics, would have favored the white non-hispanic pop.

    NJ White (non-hispanic) Pop – 4.85 million
    Vax Eligible (18+) – 3.96 million (82%)

    NJ Hispanic Pop – 1.87 million
    Vax Eligible (18+) – 1.32 million (71%)

    See what I mean, if you look at these numbers prior to the last age range widening, it dramatically favors white – now you are talking 11 points.

  311. grim says:

    Or flipping it the other way.

    When NJ opened vaccinations up to 55+

    White Eligibility – 38%
    Hispanic Eligibility – 18% (and that’s rounded up from 17.6%)

    So now, first wave mass-vax, you’ve got a solid 20 point difference. This is what I mean by there being a time-dependent impact across the potential to reach 100% of the pop. Realistically, you are talking about a 2 month lead given to the white population simply due to age distribution skewing older.

    Confirming this, you absolutely see it in the municipal trend data, going back to Passaic again:

    18+ Vaccination % – 1 Dose
    As of 6/25 – 64%
    As of 7/25 – 71%

    Look at that jump over the last MONTH, and this was well after NJ vaccination rates began to plummet.

  312. leftwing says:

    A lot of data, I’m missing the high level point but am interested.

    Are you saying that populations by race skew differently by age so those populations with a higher proportion of elderly are going to have a higher percentage of their total populations vaccinated?

    Makes sense, if so. Anecdotally and by comparison to other activities I suspect there is also a strong socioeconomic factor in vax v. no vax.

    The differences between those coming from the ‘holler’ and those coming from the ghetto are smaller than their politics belie.

    Would also suspect those families skew younger with more children.

  313. leftwing says:

    “Cue politician backpedaling. But… but… I never said not to get vaccinated…”

    People see and hear what they want through their own personal prisms…

    I suspect the number of politicians you can produce actually saying “don’t get vaccinated” is about the same number that have stated they want the US republic replaced by soc1alism….small fringes on both ends but broadly attributed to everyone of the same Party….

    I’ve been called anti-vaxxer on here…..wasn’t worth the keyboard strokes to correct the fool that I was likely among the first vaccinated among us, first dose Jan, second dose mid-Feb.

    Easier to take my more nuanced argument and boil it down to three syllables….

    Such is what passes for discourse these days.

  314. Crushednjmillenial says:

    From the Bloomberg vaccine tracker, it appears that all the major European nations are approximately in line with the US and Canada as far as percentage of population fully vaccinated:

    UK: 55%
    Spain: 54.6%
    Canada: 50.9%
    France: 50.6%
    US: 48.9%
    Germany: 48.6%
    Italy: 48.4%

    So, all our more cosmopolitan cousins in major First World countries with their more sophisticated outlooks on life have added up to a few percent more ppl getting vaccinated in their borders.

    Given this data, I don’t think it is logical to denigrate either MAGA/red state whites or inner city people for refusing to vaccinate. In my opinion, the problem is the establishment elites running the world have burned their credibility time-after-time. They marched us off to Iraq and Vietnam. They shipped off the manufacturing jobs. They resigned in disgrace for all manner of impropriety. The media covered for them.

    And, THIS, is why Fauci’s lying, the surgeon general saying “please, don’t wear masks” in the early days of the pandemic, and an accounting of who was pushing the idea that lab leak was IMPOSSIBLE conspiracy theory needs to be out there. The mistrust of the elite is transnational, and I don’t blame conspiracy trolls on FB, it’s our highest, richest, and most powerful that are primarily to blame.

    For the record, i am not some anti-vax proponent or something- this has never been a political issue that I paid much attention to. I was vaccinated for COVID in Spring 2021. I have an older relative that refused to vax for months after eligibility and I implored her to do so.

  315. grim says:

    Are you saying that populations by race skew differently by age so those populations with a higher proportion of elderly are going to have a higher percentage of their total populations vaccinated?

    Yeah, I’m saying you can’t compare vaccination rates by demographic group without adjusting for age variations and the resultant time-related impacts.

  316. grim says:

    And, if you look at the racial gap data, it’s a very, very different story between the hispanic and black populations.

    https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/covid-vaccine-tracker-global-distribution/us-vaccine-demographics.html

    For the hispanic populations, the large gaps months back have been closed in many states, and you see a very similar slope. I would argue SOME of this is the age/time difference playing out similarly across the country.

    For the black populations, while there has been improvement, most show the same low slope trending. You look at a place like NYC on the graph, and it’s really surprising. One of the largest gaps in the country, showing little, if any, signs of progress..

  317. grim says:

    From the Bloomberg vaccine tracker, it appears that all the major European nations are approximately in line with the US and Canada as far as percentage of population fully vaccinated

    Sorry, the picture you are painting is not quite accurate. US led all of these countries, until recently, where they’ve all eclipsed us, and continue to vaccinate at a pace that embarrasses the US. As of this week, the EU is vaccinating it’s population at 6x the rate of the US.

    France mandates have accelerated their rate to an astounding 6.3x the US rate.

    They will leave us in the dust in a few weeks.

  318. Phoenix says:

    “In my opinion, the problem is the establishment elites running the world have burned their credibility time-after-time. They marched us off to Iraq and Vietnam. They shipped off the manufacturing jobs. They resigned in disgrace for all manner of impropriety.”

    Yup, sounds about right. Can’t disagree with anything in this statement.

  319. BRT says:

    If you want to see how a real leader speaks to their people on covid planning, take a look at Singapore’s PM. Practical, up front, and logical.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnkXquh2wRw

  320. Phoenix says:

    BRT,
    We could have elected real leaders in America many times. Americans chose not to.

    Oh well.

    Smoke ’em if you got ’em.

  321. leftwing says:

    I’ll see you and raise you one…..

    I tried to find the most extensive video I could….every one focuses on the tasing…..if you can get the full body cam video you will see that the officer after tasing the victim goes into his apartment, reaches on top of the cabinet, takes the machete, and brings it into the hallway dropping it next to the unconscious 78 year old…

    POS. Lock him up in the general population with the full video playing in a continuous loop in the Tv room.

    https://www.9news.com/article/news/investigations/idaho-springs-officer-tasing-man-body-camera-video/73-f95a0023-0b36-4c0d-8fd4-540dbe820f4a

  322. Juice Box says:

    There is a ton of Federal Covid money. There is no reason why they cannot start paying the unvaccinated. Heck with the BUDGET surplus NJ alone can cover it.

  323. Phoenix says:

    LW,
    Here is the full video. And it goes to show that its not about race either.

    You won. Your video > my video.

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

  324. BRT says:

    Australia is having lockdown protests. Thousands of people with few wearing masks.

    https://www.news.com.au/world/coronavirus/australia/wild-scenes-as-sydney-antilockdown-protesters-clash-with-police/news-story/e5b47e5103e55a7c6ebd1eb6d0094a78

    Their “top doctor” told them last week they shouldn’t even talk to anyone else for fear of catching it. Talk about Neanderthal thinking

  325. Phoenix says:

    How much does a boomer need to feel good about themselves? I mean, you are sixty years old. Haven’t you paid that house off yet? Can’t be the student loans? Can’t be you lost your life savings in a divorce.

    COVID-19 hardly fazed a Rockland doctor who, with his wife, continued to collect bribes and kickbacks in exchange for ordering millions of dollars in genetic tests from his offices in Pennsylvania, a federal grand jury in Newark charged.

    Yitzchok “Barry” Kurtzer, 61,and Robin Kurtzer, 60, both of Monsey, collected monthly cash kickbacks and bribes ranging in exchange for “collecting DNA samples from Medicare patients and sending them for genetic tests to clinical laboratories in New Jersey and Pennsylvania,” Acting U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Rachael Honig said.

    The payoffs ranged up $5,000, she said.

  326. Phoenix says:

    BRT,
    Just watch what happens when Americans are told they need to mask up again.

    Reddit Public Freakout will be hopping with videos.

  327. Phoenix says:

    Juice,

    “There is a ton of Federal Covid money.”

    That’s what Yitzchok and Robin Kurtzer said.

  328. BRT says:

    haha, good luck with trying to tell high school kids to mask again. They got vaxxed and all started wearing it like a chin diaper all of June. No staff wants to play mask police this September.

  329. Phoenix says:

    So Facebook wanted to put Pegasus spyware on iPhone users phones. And we should be worried about the Chinese, right??

    NSO has also pointed out in court that at one point, Facebook, which owns WhatsApp, solicited NSO’s business. In 2017, Facebook executives reached to NSO to ask for help in tracking the habits of iPhone users, including which apps they used and how much time they spent on them, according to records obtained by The Post.

  330. Phoenix says:

    BRT,

    But I’d bet many teachers would like to WFH just like many posters on here.

    They may just get their wish.

  331. Juice Box says:

    Yes it is going to be back to masks again. I can just feel it now…….So in addition to my kids camp being closed last week do to an online threat from a disgruntled teenager, one camper now has Covid. So off to CVS minute clinic tomorrow for rapid tests otherwise I am paying for two weeks of camp while my kids are home in quarantine for 10 + days etc….Joy….

  332. Phoenix says:

    “House Rep. Ronny Jackson, who served as the top White House physician under the Obama and Trump administrations, has predicted President Joe Biden won’t finish his term in office because of a lack of fitness for the job. ‘Something is SERIOUSLY wrong with Biden – and it’s only going to get WORSE!’ the Republican congressman from Texas tweeted on Thursday.”

    Kamala rejoices and salivates every time she reads a headline like this.

    Be careful what you ask for Ronny. The cure might be worse than the disease……

  333. Juice Box says:

    I am more concerned with the demographics in NY Metro..We have millions of mouth breathers all adults 18+ unvaccinated, Gov Murphy and Gov Cuomo need to start handing out cash for vax….It’s the only way we don’t go back to masks and perhaps even lockdowns…I can see the schools going back quickly to remote learning too….

  334. Phoenix says:

    Depending on how much they are paying, I might go for a second round. Helps to pay my lawyer’s fees.

  335. Hold my beer says:

    Phoenix

    Facebook is creepy. Not just with everyone posting how wonderful their lives are

    My wife never logged in on her work computer or even at work and never listed her employer and only logs in once a month. Yet every time she logs in she gets Facebook notices that you may know so and so it’s showing her coworkers. It’s creepy.

  336. joyce says:

    Piece of trash who won the ghetto lottery?

    Phoenix says:
    July 24, 2021 at 11:25 am
    LW,
    Here is the full video. And it goes to show that its not about race either.

    You won. Your video > my video.

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

  337. The Great Pumpkin says:

    The Boss Wants You Back in the Office. Like, Now.
    Companies are starting to summon workers back, though many employees prefer more flexible office schedules -WSJ

    https://apple.news/AkejM5ygfS0msnjham6G2nA

  338. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Real good read on MMT from Bloomberg Businessweek. Let me know if you want me to share entire article.

    “ Not There Yet
    Even if much of the pandemic response has been in line with MMT thinking, and there’s less alarm about deficits and debt nowadays, Kelton says few have embraced the theory’s core claim: that “governments that issue their own currency never have to borrow it from anyone in order to spend. And if they choose to issue bonds, they can always choose the interest rate that they are willing to pay.”
    She describes that intellectual leap as “the last mile to MMT” and says few economists and policymakers so far have been willing to take it. “They’re not there,” she says. “They will not go there.””

    https://apple.news/A_ifYwm62QSWE1mF2SIVfRQ

  339. BRT says:

    BRT,

    But I’d bet many teachers would like to WFH just like many posters on here.

    They may just get their wish.

    You are right. And many of them, who want to work from home, still want teachers elsewhere to work in person so they can still send their kids to in person learning. Remote teaching was a dog and pony show where the system pretends they achieved their goals. You talk to any elementary teacher, they’ll tell you how far behind these kids are. Most high schoolers faked their way through last year. And it was still free A’s for most of them for minimal work. It’s a joke.

  340. Ex says:

    Would hate like hell to have to worry about young kids and their education in the pandemic world. Yea Facebook is creepy and definitely strange. Interesting to see how people live, realize your life is more interesting than 90% of theirs, but that you probably wouldn’t have settled for their lives.

  341. Ex says:

    That being said, we all live worthwhile lives if we believe them to be so.

  342. 3b says:

    Phoenix: So some teachers want WFH, and summers off, and the Christian and Jewish holidays, including the week in December, and the week in February, or half a week , and the week in the Spring. And done everyday at 3:00!

  343. Grim says:

    Ba Ba Bouey

  344. Grim says:

    In the late 1980s when HIV was running rampant, several states passed laws that made the transmission of HIV a criminal act, a felony, including in New Jersey. If you intentionally exposed your partner to HIV, it was a crime.

    From Joyce’s link – The criminalization of HIV should be looked at as one of the darkest moments in public health and government. This was a travesty of the greatest proportion.

    This is an argument I made early on, when Murphy sent out the police. Make it a crime and you’ll destroy trust when you most need it.

  345. Libturd says:

    What’s that for?

  346. grim says:

    The fauci caller

  347. Phoenix says:

    “That being said, we all live worthwhile lives if we believe them to be so.”

    That’s how oligarchs sleep well at night.

  348. Phoenix says:

    “Interesting to see how people live, realize your life is more interesting than 90% of theirs,”

    I read this blog and find that 90% of people on here have a more interesting life than I do.

    It’s all good.

  349. Fast Eddie says:

    We got the word this week: Back to the office full time. We’ll phase in a few days per week for now and then it’s five days per week by October.

  350. Grim says:

    For the first time in 12 years I’ll have an office I can commute to.

    Manhattan office opened last week, NJ opens in September.

  351. Ex says:

    Mazel Tov boys.

  352. Libturd says:

    Any of you watching/watched Shtisel?

  353. 3b says:

    Fast : We are not going back until January, enhanced WFH final deterioration end of Sept . We were already 2 days WFH before Covid, we are either going to 3 or 4 WFH . Also took an opportunity to go to Jersey City office , save on taxes. My team is split in different cities, so even when we go back for the one to two days in office, we will still have to Zoom when we need to get together.

  354. Phoenix says:

    If you are an NJ guy, don’t put a Pa guy in a grip knowing that they can legally carry and you are a neutered NJ pet.

    “An argument between a Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants fan turned deadly when one killed the other while waiting in line for cheesesteaks early Thursday morning in Philly.

    Paul C. Burkert, 36, of Reading, pulled out a gun and shot 23-year-old Camden resident David Padro around 1 a.m. outside of Pat’s Steaks, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

    The two had gotten into a dispute when things turned physical on Ninth and Wharton Streets, authorities said.

    Padro was rushed to Jefferson University Hospital where he died of a gunshot wound to the back, police said.

    Pat’s general manage Tom Francono told the Inquirer the two men were arguing in part over football, when “one guy grabbed the other guy and got him in a grip, and the other guy pulled out a gun and shot him in the torso.”

  355. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Says the guy advocating for WFH the past year in the name of employees quality of life. What’s the matter, teachers don’t count? I get it, you don’t like teachers…most don’t for whatever reason.

    3b says:
    July 24, 2021 at 2:35 pm
    Phoenix: So some teachers want WFH, and summers off, and the Christian and Jewish holidays, including the week in December, and the week in February, or half a week , and the week in the Spring. And done everyday at 3:00!

  356. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Dude, just realize businesses only accepted WFH because of a pandemic. It’s not the optimum route for their business…and that’s all that matters.

    How can you even take a major company seriously that has all its workers WFH and let’s its employees set the schedule?

    3b says:
    July 24, 2021 at 8:26 pm
    Fast : We are not going back until January, enhanced WFH final deterioration end of Sept . We were already 2 days WFH before Covid, we are either going to 3 or 4 WFH . Also took an opportunity to go to Jersey City office , save on taxes. My team is split in different cities, so even when we go back for the one to two days in office, we will still have to Zoom when we need to get together.

  357. The Great Pumpkin says:

    People are nuts. Murder rate going up!

    https://fb.watch/6Yw-kYgU-X/

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