Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[iam416]

It really is. It's so bad that even DSL is sort of dismissing it and saying "well, the Senate bill is the one that will pass." Yeah, hopefully. And fair enough. But, still. SHAMEFUL SHIT.

[AlabamAlum]

[Dr. Strangelove]

Guallaudet University money

Fun fact time...did you know that Gallaudet originated the football huddle? Since they could only communicate via hand signs, to avoid the opposing players figuring out the signals they had to crowd together in a circle to call plays.

[Ghengis Jon]

When can we beat members of Congress with sticks? Need something longer than broom handles to maintain social distancing.

[AlabamAlum]

Yes, I did know that, DSL.

[iam416]

We should ask Harry Reid what he thinks about helping casinos.

[AlabamAlum]

I was going to post a tasteless joke about "well, now we know what became of crashcourse" but thought better of it.

I'm sure he's out there saving lives as we speak. If he's lurking...Hello!!!!

This is quality. Hate you just half said it.

[Ghengis Jon]

Ignore the headline, there is some good info on testing and the issues in rolling it out.

https://apnews.com/c335958b1f8f6a37b19b421bc7759722

[iam416]

I rather enjoyed Kevin Williamson's summary of our connundrum -- https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/...rable/#slide-1

The horrifying conclusion:

That should inspire every sane man to load up on food, paper products, alcohol and ammo and then bunker down for the coming acopalypse.

[Hannibal]

This guy has a long history of controversial statements and positions so this isn't wildly surprising. Would be nice though if he's so willing to give his life so his grandkids might have 2.3% GDP growth in the 3rd quarter (and thinks most grandparents would or SHOULD do likewise), it would be nice if he'd sign a waiver stating he refuses to take up a hospital room in the event he catches CV19. Save it for the young people instead.

https://www.axios.com/coronavirus-te...486e0c5c3.html

You say this as if economics growth versus Depression level unemployment (we're already there) and economic collapse is a frivolous difference. "It's just money" is a simpleton's way of looking at the problem. We're not talking about the difference between ordering the steak versus a burger at a restaurant. We're talking about everybody from factory workers to car salesmen to janitors suddenly having no way to pay any bills. That means no way to pay their mortgage, buy food, or buy medicines. You're talking about millions of people approaching retirement potentially seeing their life savings wiped out, and millions more seeing their pension funds evaporate. And if you think that a one time stimulus to hand $1,000 to affected families is going to effectively mitigate this, you are living in la-la land. If you think that printing money is the solution, then you only need look at 1920s Germany to see what happens when you have money printed with no underlying economic activity to support it.

Here's a realistic take -- we are going to have to lift the quarantines before the virus is fully defeated. Period. The discussion on how we run our economy while minimizing the risk to the elderly and those with pre-existing lung issues needs to be taking place now. This isn't "selfishness". Life has to go on at some point with some risk.

[Dr. Strangelove]

You say this as if economics growth versus Depression level unemployment (we're already there) and economic collapse is a frivolous difference. We're not talking about the difference between ordering the steak versus a burger at a restaurant. We're talking about everybody from factory workers to car salesmen to janitors suddenly having no way to pay any bills. That means no way to pay their mortgage, buy food, or buy medicines. You're talking about millions of people approaching retirement potentially seeing their life savings wiped out, and millions more seeing their pension funds evaporate. And if you think that a one time stimulus to hand $1,000 to affected families is going to effectively mitigate this, you are living in la-la land. If you think that printing money is the solution, then you only need look at 1920s Germany to see what happens when you have money printed with no underlying economic activity to support it.

Here's a realistic take -- we are going to have to lift the quarantines before the virus is fully defeated. Period. The discussion on how we run our economy while minimizing the risk to the elderly and those with pre-existing lung issues needs to be taking place now. This isn't "selfishness". Life has to go on at some point with some risk.

The quarantines will not remain in place forever and will be lifted before we completely eradicate the disease. That is obvious. But I can read and I see growing noise from the viewpoints on the Right that the time to end the restrictions has come and we should just accept the losses and move on. One, that's not going to happen. Two, anyone who thinks a major city can have a functioning, healthy economy while at the same time an epidemic is raging and the hospitals are overrun is delusional. And that is what'll happen in NYC and elsewhere if we stop even trying to prevent the spread. Just reminding people to wash their hands ain't good enough to prevent hospital overload in dense areas.

[iam416]

The state-run pension funds are going to get annihilated if this doesn't correct itself relatively soon.

Here's a realistic take -- we are going to have to lift the quarantines before the virus is fully defeated. Period. The discussion on how we run our economy while minimizing the risk to the elderly and those with pre-existing lung issues needs to be taking place now. This isn't "selfishness". Life has to go on at some point with some risk.

That's right, but there needs to be a well-articulated, well-thought out policy explaining how this works. My guess is that right now we simply don't have the testing capacity to effectuate this.

We need gads more tests and gads more hospital capacity. Then we can start to think about sensibly easing back to things.

But, I also have news for you -- the US Govt can't force people to go out to social places and spend money. PDJT could tell us all today that it's fine to gather with 15,000 people and it ain't fucking happening. Life will start to get back to normal when people start to believe that they won't catch death going out and, if they do, they have a reasonable prospect of adequate healthcare. That's just reality.

[Hannibal]

The state-run pension funds are going to get annihilated if this doesn't correct itself relatively soon.



That's right, but there needs to be a well-articulated, well-thought out policy explaining how this works. My guess is that right now we simply don't have the testing capacity to effectuate this.

We need gads more tests and gads more hospital capacity. Then we can start to think about sensibly easing back to things.

But, I also have news for you -- the US Govt can't force people to go out to social places and spend money. PDJT could tell us all today that it's fine to gather with 15,000 people and it ain't fucking happening. Life will start to get back to normal when people start to believe that they won't catch death going out and, if they do, they have a reasonable prospect of adequate healthcare. That's just reality.

Nobody has to tell people to go out and spend money. They will do this naturally. If anything, people need to be forced to stay home.

[AlabamAlum]

[Dr. Strangelove]

We need gads more tests and gads more hospital capacity. Then we can start to think about sensibly easing back to things.

But, I also have news for you -- the US Govt can't force people to go out to social places and spend money. PDJT could tell us all today that it's fine to gather with 15,000 people and it ain't fucking happening. Life will start to get back to normal when people start to believe that they won't catch death going out and, if they do, they have a reasonable prospect of adequate healthcare. That's just reality.

I can tell you right now that unless there's a vaccine or proven treatment by late August, I won't be attending my customary number of tailgates this year (if there's even a football season). And the trip to Oregon is probably off.