Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[Hannibal]

Surprising ruling in Federal Court before 2 Trump appointees which says Alabama's congressional map is illegal under the Voting Rights Act and orders it to create two majority black districts. Likely going to be appealed to the Supreme Court.

So minorities vote as blocks and it's a demographic head count?

Thanks for proving my point.

You can stop calling me racist for saying this now.

[Hannibal]

People are fleeing the shithole of California so fast that Uhaul can't keep up with the demand.

[THE_WIZARD_]

War in Ukraine = Wag The Dog movie

[THE_WIZARD_]

...

[iam416]

Isn't there a movie about an insufferable online persona from some truck stop town that was gunned down by heroic men pushed one mediocre wing too far? Or did I dream that? Please tell me it's a documentary.

[Hannibal]

It’s still hard to believe that 80-ish million Americans chose today’s America over Mean Tweets. Alas, the saying “in a democracy you get the government you deserve” has never been more true.

Me personally — I’d choose the occasional “grab her by the pussy remark” if it meant fully stocked grocery store shelves again.

[Obi-Jon]

It’s still hard to believe that 70-ish million Americans chose anti-American scum over today’s America. Alas, the saying “in a democracy you get the government you deserve” has been true for every administration.

Me personally — My taxes haven't gone up, my roads have been fixed, we've had fully stocked grocery store shelves for a year now and I'm about to enter a very comfortable retirement. Today is not that bad.

[iam416]

To be fair, I remember Jon all throughout 2019 saying how well things were going for him, personally, and noting that things weren't that bad under DJT. To be fair.

[iam416]

The shortages are pretty odd. I buy caffeine-free Diet Pepsi. It's so hit or miss. Like, I'll go weeks without being able to find it. I buy a ton of Gatorade Zero -- and that's been really hard to find. When I see it I have to stock up. Frozen potatoes! Finding Ore-Ida frozen potatoes of almost any variety is next to impossible.

It's not like I can't buy most of the shit I need and certainly I can survive without the items that aren't there, but it's annoying and, as noted, odd.

Now, if you had to buy a car right about now you'd definitely feel the pain.

[Hannibal]

Retirement, eh? Congrats. May our "transitory" inflation not eat too much into your fixed income.

I'm glad that you're doing well and that your stores don't look like something out of East Germany c1982. Where I live I'm seeing shortages of all kinds of stuff. I mentioned grocery store shelves above but cars are another big one. Buddy of mine sells cars and they can barely get any in.

[iam416]

The shortages are real if not widespread. I think it's always a huge political mistake to tell people that what they're seeing with their own two eyes ain't real. So, every time The Chairman or some D pooh-poohs not being able to get shit you want, they're losing credibility.

[Mike]

I've recently gotten back into a music hobby and have a bunch of stuff on back order for going on two months. It's pretty annoying. Our grocery store seems fully stocked but outrageously expensive. The car dealers near me are mostly empty on the new car side which is a little concerning because I have a lease expiring this summer. Hopefully inventory will be replenished by then.

I'll even cut the Biden admin a little slack in that the supply chain situation is a global problem not limited to the U.S., but it is a GLARING sign that it's time to get back to normal re: Covid restrictions before minor annoyances and costs increases become far more debilitating.

[iam416]

The costs aren't going down any time soon. That'll be a problem for The Chairman for awhile. Amazingly...and I really do mean that -- I'm amazing -- Amazingly he still insists that his 3T BBB catastrophe is the key to bringing inflation under control. That's not quite as an egregious lie as the "voter suppression" lie the entire D party is peddling, but, still, JFC....

[Mike]

Well, that's the party that thinks dudes with dicks should compete in girls track. So it makes sense in that regard.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Empty grocery shelves, the high cost of food, fuels and basic necessities and empty new/used car lots fundamentally start from the idiocy of the initial and now the lingering effects of PHE declarations that then spawned mitigation measures whose costs far outweighed any PH benefits. It's not even close..

I'm not going to rant about this. You know the details of said rants.

An article in the NYTs this morning equated personal COVID risk assessments to be influenced by partisan political views. Maybe but the real reason is stupidity. Older Americans were less worried about COVID risks that younger Americans with a large number of those dismissing hard science that get's replaced in their personal risk assessments by bull-shit that then gets augmented within social media platforms.

The point is, people with good incomes and cash to burn aren't spending it in the service sector. They have been buying capital goods at a high rate for about a year although that's tapering off. The demand for cars, appliances and furniture have been through the roof and coming up against materials and worker shortages that impact production. That you can't get what you want is a classic supply demand problem prominently exacerbated by COVID fear that keeps people out of the office, the warehouse and the plant. Call outs for illness contribute - the kinds of symptoms you yourself wouldn't call out sick for.

Of course, that's not all of the problem. An index used by shipping companies to measure how smoothly ships are being loaded, sailing and being unloaded is historically high. An 80 reflects a smoothly operating shipping industry. It's hovering around 115 right now. Lots of reasons for that. I don't need to list them. The drag on supply induced by transportation slow-downs is anticipated to last into 2023 - fuck.

The author of the Economist article I read suggested that governments should stimulate consumer service sector spending to take the pressure off the sectors of the economy that are stressed due to parts not being available to assemble final products and final product production slowed by lack of plant workers. Well, I know exactly how to do that. CANCEL THE PHE. Message it's safe to resume normal activities such as going back to work then tear down all the useless restrictions to personal mobility and social contacts. That would be a start.