CR: COVID-19 --Political Talk

[HenryJames 65917]

 

[Nice Guy Eddie 13419]

5 minutes ago, EuroHorn said:

China's 'One Belt One Road' (OBOR), ie Belt Road Project, is a major contributor to the spread of this infection in Italy and Iran.

https://www.news18.com/news/opinion/conspiracy-or-otherwise-countries-may-soon-redefine-ties-with-china-in-view-of-coronavirus-outbreak-2544965.html

 

Never heard of that news agency but maybe it’s legit. China is also using this situation to cement their position as the world leader for many countries. They seem to be the ones out there trying to help others, seemingly more than we are. Even if their govt is at fault for this massive spread of the disease, we could be seeing the future as the US is pulling back from world leadership. Especially starting in 2017.

[TriStone 1724]

5 hours ago, Dnaguy said:

3.) He doesn’t want to actually compel industry to make more masks (the ones we need) and ventilators b/c it’s an easy metric that the public can see that the administration has failed to deliver on. Why else are they so squishy about testing and # of ventilators? And if he doesn’t compel industry, then he can always go back and blame them for not having enough.

So again, even though demand for these products is astronomically high, US manufacturers aren't making an effort to supply them because Trump won't tell them to?  Setting aside whatever nefarious evil motives you believe are guiding him, why does Trump need to compel industry to do anything?  What the hell happened to the profit motive?  Did these companies forget how to capitalism?

Edited March 22, 2020 by TriStone

[Nice Guy Eddie 13419]

8 minutes ago, Red Five said:

If this had happened a couple of years ago, I wonder what it would have done for the prospects for Cuomo and Newsom. 

Cuomo isn’t actually doing anything spectacular but we’ve become so accustomed to bs press conference in the WH where half of the information is thanking trump, trump thanking himself, for taking the greatest actions in the history of the world. And generally not expressing any real information.

 

[JimmyJames 12271]

20 minutes ago, Hiphopopotamos said:

The china ban bought time - and then he did absolutely nothing with it. 

That’s because it was a Democratic deep state hoax. And then it wasn’t.

[FondrenRoad 4378]

7 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

Cuomo isn’t actually doing anything spectacular but we’ve become so accustomed to bs press conference in the WH where half of the information is thanking trump, trump thanking himself, for taking the greatest actions in the history of the world. And generally not expressing any real information.

 

Yeah, all Cuomo is really doing is telling the truth in a matter of fact way.  Sad that it seems refreshing in today's world.

[Loco 3752]

 

[Hiphopopotamos 20865]

3 minutes ago, TriStone said:

So again, even though demand for these products is astronomically high, US manufacturers aren't making an effort to supply them because Trump won't tell them to?  Setting aside whatever nefarious evil motives you believe are guiding him, why does Trump need to compel industry to do anything?  What the hell happened to the profit motive?  Did these companies forget how to capitalism?

I don't think its as profitable as you might think.  Most of these factories are going to have to be re-purposed and are going to have to spend a significant amount of time and money on QC for medical supplies.  Its going to be a little while before they can actually start producing a significant amount of supplies, and then once they do they still have to compete against manufacturers in China who are currently pumping out as many units as their slave labor can build.

And that doesn't factor in the immense public pressure they will be under to provide these supplies at low/no cost to hospitals.

[bad_teammate 13147]

11 minutes ago, TriStone said:

What the hell happened to the profit motive? 

What is the longterm profit incentive to jump into this market when, within a year, demand will (very hopefully) die?

[edit]

Damn you hiphop!

Edited March 22, 2020 by bad_teammate

[kopp0e 1135]

11 hours ago, Jive Turkey said:

yep.  i support the hometown Dallas business, not that Oklahoma crap.

I knew Hobby Lobby was from Oklahoma, but did not know Michael´s was from Texas, my duaghter loves shopping there...

Anyways, I read a coment last night, on twitterville, where this map was shown & a reponse: ¨look at all the places ain´t no pandemic¨... Oy vey, bro...

[Mrs Whiggins 13049]

8 minutes ago, TriStone said:

So again, even though demand for these products is astronomically high, US manufacturers aren't making an effort to supply them because Trump won't tell them to?  Setting aside whatever nefarious evil motives you believe are guiding him, why does Trump need to compel industry to do anything?  What the hell happened to the profit motive?  Did these companies forget how to capitalism?

This is story from February so the situation has evolved, I am sure, but most manufacturers are not located in America anymore. Whether the loosening of regs will help add a few companies to the mix remains to be seen:

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/coronavirus-face-masks-prestige-ameritech-demand/

From the story:

Quote

 

And although Bowen said his company has yet to receive a request from the federal government, Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar told senators Tuesday that the nation has an immense need for the very products Prestige Ameritech manufactures. Asked if the government has enough surgical masks and N95 respirators to protect healthcare workers combatting the coronavirus, Azar responded, "Of course not ... This is an unprecedented potential severe health challenge globally."

Despite this unprecedented challenge, Bowen said, his company has yet to increase its staff or extend its production times, citing the uncertainty that comes with outbreaks like the current one. Hiring more staff to work longer hours may help to meet the growing needs of the nation's health care workers, but if the outbreak subsides,  he explained, his businesses would be forced to downsize.

"We're caught between a rock and a hard place," he said. "We don't like to lay people off." 

 

So, yes and no with respect to capitalism?

 

[Mrs Whiggins 13049]

2 minutes ago, kopp0e said:

I knew Hobby Lobby was from Oklahoma, but did not know Michael´s was from Texas, my duaghter loves shopping there...

Anyways, I read a coment last night, on twitterville, where this map was shown & a reponse: ¨look at all the places ain´t no pandemic¨... Oy vey, bro...

South is fixing to SEC SEC the heck out of this virus. Look at south Florida, Atlanta (where we've seen the crowded airport pics) and NOLA. Ugh. Not going to be pretty. The Texas triangle is a thing too.

[bad_teammate 13147]

Primary all Dems who vote for this

 

[kopp0e 1135]

2 minutes ago, Mrs Whiggins said:

South is fixing to SEC SEC the heck out of this virus. Look at south Florida, Atlanta (where we've seen the crowded airport pics) and NOLA. Ugh. Not going to be pretty. The Texas triangle is a thing too.

Well hopefully the new FDA measures will help to save lives:

Well, (at least those rascally Texans) I kid, hopefully all will be well... But I ain´t going to Atlanta...

[cactusflinthead 27595]

 

[mdmost 42880]

It feels like there are entire classes of people who are effectively slave labor right now. Grocery store workers, Amazon, UPS, and USPS delivery and mail carriers, restaurant workers, and anyone in the acute care industry. I can't imagine how scared the average, poorly paid cashier or grocery bagger feels right now. 

[cactusflinthead 27595]

There's your answer. They haven't forgotten how to capitalize on a demand in the marketplace. They don't want to miss out on gouging the shit out of us. 

[cactusflinthead 27595]

 

[cactusflinthead 27595]

 

[Grade of D as in David 13253]

42 minutes ago, HenryJames said:

 

Can we change the shelter in place to the purge just for a couple of days?

[Francisco 2.0 32347]

 

 

[Message Board User 12390]

40 minutes ago, Francisco 2.0 said:

 

 

Correct.

 

[mdmost 42880]

So many hands in the cookie jar on this one. But keep away all you dirty poor people. Why can't you just pick yourselves up by your own bootstraps!

[achooloco 1065]

On 3/20/2020 at 11:42 AM, Johnny Sack said:

This board is an echo chamber.  As is twitter.  Trump is doing a good job with this.  And the polls reflect it.  Go ahead and neg me and continue on with the lib circle jerk, citizens of the bizarro Texags Politics board. 

eat shit traitor

[conVINCEd 21468]

7 minutes ago, Message Board User said:

Correct.

 

[Nice Guy Eddie 13419]

If a company wants bailout money, then their name, location, exec names, and amounts all have to be public. It’s cool if they want to refuse the money on those conditions. Fine with me.

[pyrohornIII 4812]

9 hours ago, Bama Chick said:

Damn now Fauci is lying.

No good.

 

I'm going to give Fauci a little latitude.  I imagine he's doing this to puff up trump and stay on the team.  Behind the scenes he's the one they are all yelling "DO SOMETHING!  But give Trump the credit".   He realizes how worse this could be if he was removed, and the likelihood of his replacement being as moronic and corrupt as all other trump appointees.

2 hours ago, triplehorn said:

Pretty detailed explanation of the evolution of the predicament - we're at critical shortages and yet we're at a fraction of surge levels over the next 4-8 weeks.  It's hard to see how this won't prove catastrophic. 

APnews: Imports of medical supplies plummet as demand in US soars

The only real chance we have is basically implementing a national shelter in place policy for an initial 6 weeks starting today.

 

He spends all this time trying to deflect his inadequate response into hatred for China for giving the world this awful disease.  Of course China is our biggest provider of medical supplies.  Sure, let's piss them off.   We can use the maquilladoras, right?  We've got the Mexicans on our side, si?

1 hour ago, mdmost said:

It feels like there are entire classes of people who are effectively slave labor right now. Grocery store workers, Amazon, UPS, and USPS delivery and mail carriers, restaurant workers, and anyone in the acute care industry. I can't imagine how scared the average, poorly paid cashier or grocery bagger feels right now. 

This is the one case I would support self checkout.  Also, they should close the stores on each even hour (2, 4,6,etc,) and let the stockers fill the shelves for a half hour then retreat to a sanitized break room.  Also use a take-a-number system to limit how many individual shoppers in the store at once.  When one checks out, another is allowed to enter.  

1 hour ago, cactusflinthead said:

 

A great example of what voter suppression has wrought.

[pyrohornIII 4812]

I would think Trump and Kushner are brainstorming how to turn a profit off this more than saving people.  Would not surprise me to see their properties to be commandeered by the government (for a reasonable fee) to act as overflow hospitals/hospices.  Kushner be kicking poors to the streets out of his slums to get 5 grand an apt to let those same poors come back in and die in them of COVID.  Of course then the government would have to pay for reconditioning all those properties once this is passed.  

[Nice Guy Eddie 13419]

It’s also possible Fanuci is repeating info that he’s heard at the WH. I assume he will he asked questions if he provides incorrect info and he doesn’t seem to be the type that won’t look into it and set the record straight.

[TornACL 7690]

1 hour ago, kopp0e said:

I knew Hobby Lobby was from Oklahoma, but did not know Michael´s was from Texas, my duaghter loves shopping there...

Anyways, I read a coment last night, on twitterville, where this map was shown & a reponse: ¨look at all the places ain´t no pandemic¨... Oy vey, bro...

I saw that same comment a couple of times, and they were all dripping with sarcasm in response to Trumpians previously marveling about all the red on the electoral map. 

[Francisco 2.0 32347]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 22, 2020 by Francisco 2.0

[cactusflinthead 27595]

 

[Lagunamadre 1975]

3 minutes ago, Francisco 2.0 said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well this would make that whole ethics conundrum of who gets the one ventilator quite easy. 

[Grade of D as in David 13253]

"Mobile hairdressers, what the fuck is that for? You know the casket will be closed don't you?"

 

 

 

Edited March 22, 2020 by Grade of D as in David
From the video 2 posts above

[Message Board User 12390]

 

[LABEVO 928]

 

[Bama Chick 28596]

Thanks for that compilation of Italian mayors.

They speak for all of us hospital workers.

[pyrohornIII 4812]

38 minutes ago, Lagunamadre said:

Well this would make that whole ethics conundrum of who gets the one ventilator quite easy. 

 

44 minutes ago, Francisco 2.0 said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am curious if the Senate or House has anything in place or is working towards something where they can do business from quarantine.  Or will they keep in place all the old rules, like the one that Gohmert used to stall the first relief bill?

[cactusflinthead 27595]

 

[Tuco 5076]

Some good news for Italy, the number of new cases was lower for today than yesterday (5560 today, 6557 yesterday).  (They get uploaded to this tracker in a single update, but I don't exactly what time period it is for.)   Maybe it's just an outlier, or maybe it reflects a change in testing priority, but I'm going to chose to see a light at the end of the tunnel for them. 

For the US, our numbers keep accelerating.  13,960 new cases as of 1:30 Central.  At this rate, we will have more cases than Italy within the next 72 hours. Granted, we have a much bigger population, so it's not as dire.  We will catch China in next four days, maybe sooner. 

 

Edited March 22, 2020 by Tuco

[cactusflinthead 27595]

 

[Mrs Whiggins 13049]

2 hours ago, mdmost said:

It feels like there are entire classes of people who are effectively slave labor right now. Grocery store workers, Amazon, UPS, and USPS delivery and mail carriers, restaurant workers, and anyone in the acute care industry. I can't imagine how scared the average, poorly paid cashier or grocery bagger feels right now. 

Stressed for sure. We went early this morning to the grocery store we have patronized for almost 20 years. The employees have seen our children grow from babies to adults and teens. They are our community. Spoke with one of the managers today (only to say thank you) and I thought she was going to cry--customers have been yelling at her and the rest of the cashiers about the limits on essentials and/or trying to get around the limits by claiming each child is an individual purchaser (to then sell items elsewhere). The employee whose young child has cancer is worried about how her daughter will receive treatment if mom gets sick--she has to travel to Houston for treatments. Maria and Toni in the deli who work long hours and care for elderly family members. I know they are worried, too.

The mail carrier that I used to bake treats for I have to wave at from the stoop. Ginger, the bank teller whose favorite cookie is snickerdoodle, I can only see through the drive through. Howard the auto mechanic and all the fellows in the shop who tease my husband when we stop in to drop off one of the cars. The customers whom they serve, do they remember that these employees are people and they help keep our community on its feet? I hope so. I'm afraid many don't see beyond the hands behind the product or service.

And yes, the health care workers and staffers on the front lines. They are fighting for everyone.

[cactusflinthead 27595]

 

[Red Five 40696]

3 minutes ago, cactusflinthead said:

 

"The virus, honey. By a factor of thousands. Frankly, it won't even be close. And the ones that do will probably be pretty old, and odds are they were going to die of loneliness anyway. Bye bye now sweetie."

[FondrenRoad 4378]

2 hours ago, mdmost said:

It feels like there are entire classes of people who are effectively slave labor right now. Grocery store workers, Amazon, UPS, and USPS delivery and mail carriers, restaurant workers, and anyone in the acute care industry. I can't imagine how scared the average, poorly paid cashier or grocery bagger feels right now. 

Yeah its bullshit that people getting paid minimum wage are being somewhat forced to work. Part of any plan should include wage bumps for any low wage worker deemed essential. 

If my local grocery is any indicator, they can afford to temporarily double pay. They are doing 4 or 5 times their normal business. Low wage workers at other essential businesses like restaurants should have federal emergency pay increases paid via current unemployment insurance systems. 

[FORTY NINE TO ZERO 2630]

4 minutes ago, Mrs Whiggins said:

Stressed for sure. We went early this morning to the grocery store we have patronized for almost 20 years. The employees have seen our children grow from babies to adults and teens. They are our community. Spoke with one of the managers today (only to say thank you) and I thought she was going to cry--customers have been yelling at her and the rest of the cashiers about the limits on essentials and/or trying to get around the limits by claiming each child is an individual purchaser (to then sell items elsewhere). The employee whose young child has cancer is worried about how her daughter will receive treatment if mom gets sick--she has to travel to Houston for treatments. Maria and Toni in the deli who work long hours and care for elderly family members. I know they are worried, too.

The mail carrier that I used to bake treats for I have to wave at from the stoop. Ginger, the bank teller whose favorite cookie is snickerdoodle, I can only see through the drive through. Howard the auto mechanic and all the fellows in the shop who tease my husband when we stop in to drop off one of the cars. The customers whom they serve, do they remember that these employees are people and they help keep our community on its feet? I hope so. I'm afraid many don't see beyond the hands behind the product or service.

And yes, the health care workers and staffers on the front lines. They are fighting for everyone.

What kind of cars do y’all have to drop off cars that often?  Some cool old classic?

[Message Board User 12390]

 

[henrygandorf 29183]

14 minutes ago, cactusflinthead said:

 

i typically hate tweets like this. and i still do. 

[Message Board User 12390]

Tigerdroppings (which is basically Texags east) isn't going to like this one bit.

https://www.tigerdroppings.com/rant/politics/

 

[HenryJames 65917]