Hah.
Got that right.
Just wondering, though: is the payoff to the Democrats of destroying the economy (or continuing to do so while Republicans go back to work), just to spoil Trump’s chances of re-election, really worth the indirect costs to them?

They have investment portfolios going in the tank too, don’t they? Favorite shops and eateries closed? If not among those with $25K fridges for their ice cream, they still have to buy toilet paper and hamburger.

Have they never counted the cost to themselves, or do the leaders genuinely not care about the suffering of their party minions?

“But even a layperson can see that there is a fairly clear pattern in the most notorious, destructive, and widely reported cases of mass COVID-19 infection—virtually all of which feature forms of human behaviour that permit the direct ballistic delivery of a large-droplet Flüggian payload from face A to face B. If fomites were a major pathway for COVID-19 infection outside of hospitals, old-age residences, and homes, one would expect restaurant cooks, mass-transit ticket handlers, and FedEx delivery workers to be at the center of major clusters. They’re not. If small-droplet airborne concentrations in unventilated spaces were a common vector for COVID-19 transmission (as with measles, for instance), one would expect whole office buildings to become mass-infection hot spots. That doesn’t seem to have happened.”

No reason to shut down every business in America as if they were all a NYC subway.

“We’ve been stampeded into a regime of social control that is unprecedented in our history. Our economy has been shattered. Ordinary people have been terrorized by death-infused propaganda designed to motivate obedience to the limits on free movement. We have been reduced to life as medical subjects in our condition of self-quarantine. As unemployment numbers skyrocket and Congress spends trillions, the political stakes rise.

The experts, professionals, bureaucrats, and public officials who did this to us have tremendous incentives to close ranks and say, “It is not wise to tell people that the danger was never grave and now has passed.” Sustaining the coronavirus narrative will require many lies. It will be up to us to insist on the truth.”

Norway is in the first quarter in fighting the battle. Sweden is in the third. Why in the world would anyone assume that their casualties should be comparable when they are at such very different places on their timelines? Wait to compare the death rates when both have finished the battle.

not a big deal… church wont pay, they too busy letting the het kids suffer on the street in favor of looking good helping the lgbt… its a very left world here, and i have even been called nasty names…

all my attempts at business led to my partnrs cheating me..
my first lady faked her murder and took the kid…
then the courts said i had no rights… family almost non existent, what does exist does not care to bother. sis didnt come to the wedding, she didnt invite me to hers… didnt speak to me for 25 years, then claimed she was there for me..

My tech ideas are a waste…
my artwork was created for the trash
without connection, there is no way to go forward
without money, there is no way to either…

all my experience has amounted to nothing..
and i have had even more horrid experiences i cant mention

too tired…
but thanks… nice thoughts..
they dont apply…
When do those things (and i have tried) its never that way for me.
Dont get me wrong, i am likeable enough… but just non existent..
always been that way… its why i got so smart… nothing else to do

[PS i was going to restore the stained glass of the church.. they signed a contract.. now they wont let me and so, no money in that… big over 6 fig job and was going to get the money from donations… but the board decided not to abide by their agreement…

oh.. all those celeb photos. they dont get paid, they are all out there, but without money cant get them to pay.. they even use my dads shots without a byline… no cash either…

my partners stole my life savings, and nearly left me homeless but i got hired..

my high speed search chip has no takers after the geneticist played lead the duck till her retired with millions as hte famous schadt of illumina buried my work

on and on]

It seems to me that the county has reached the level of control where they can now begin to open up businesses if they have the needed testing supplies and case trackers/tracers trained. At yesterday’s Covid-19 briefing at the White House they talked about the huge ramp up in testing capabilities and supplies that have been made in the last month. They claimed we can begin testing millions of people per month. Yet, in yesterday’s address by Governor Inslee he claimed the state has a good supply of tracker/tracers trained but doesn’t have the swabs to do widespread testing. There seems to be a misconnect between the national and state level on the testing issue. Hope that gets worked out soon.

We now have residential construction, limited Boeing shifts, elective surgeries, fishing, hunting, and state parks open. Retail stores may soon be able to open. It’s the restaurants, hairdressers/barbers, nail salons, gyms, mass gatherings at sports/arts events, and other such businesses that will be the hardest to open. Watching Georgia in that respect will be interesting.

I’m not going to let my guard down until there’s a proven treatment or vaccine. Mask, gloves, sanitizer, Lysol wipes, and avoiding crowds will be my choice for the foreseeable future. My wife and I will go out more frequently, but will pick our spots carefully.

I did grocery shopping this morning. Things seem to have become more relaxed. Several people without masks, not the usual shunning and distancing, and more people stopping to chat. However, the store’s shelves are still pretty well picked over especially non-perishable items and cleaning supplies. Traffic on the highways seems to be heavy considering there is so much still shut down. Where are they all going? Fishing, elective surgery, or?

Personally I really enjoy urban life, but you are correct, it is a lifestyle that is mostly unnecessary in America today. The industrial revolution necessitated a great many people living packed in crowded cities, and almost instantly problems arose; disease, crime, fire… Technological progress has now negated most of those reasons, but people are still attracted to urban centers.

“… no loss if i am not around, no one would notice… “

We would certainly notice!

Look at all the people around you struggling; abuse, drug/alcohol addiction, unemployment, disability, illness… They need you. A friend of mine started doing IT work for a local church. He started out doing it for free, but they found he was so handy they began paying him. His reputation spread by word of mouth and now he does similar work for several not for profits. He’s not earning what he would working in industry, but he’s working, his talents are appreciated and his talents are bringing joy to others.

I know the COVID lockdown makes this virtually impossible at the moment, but when things re-open I strongly encourage you to find some social environment where you can be useful. Volunteer at a soup kitchen or homeless shelter for an hour or two everyday. Or a hospital. Or one of the countless charities in NYC. Even if the world of commerce is treating you unfairly there is still tremendous need all around you. It is so important to have a reason to get out of bed each day. Someplace to go where people are expecting you and you feel useful. Do it for those who need help.

You were a virtuoso musician, correct? Maybe there is a conservatory that needs a janitor? I don’t mean that facetiously. Insert yourself somewhere you would like to be, anyway you can, and then see what happens from there.

I don’t know if you’ve read Mark Twain’s Autobiography, but in it he wrote down a suggestion for finding work that I had stumbled onto myself. I recently recommended it to one of my sons. I did a quick google search and here’s a succinct write up of Twain’s proposal.

https://medium.com/@bjmfactory/mark-twains-advice-for-getting-a-job-e41a03a98d48

I continue to believe that the elderly(ish) should seriously consider continued lockdown, while everyone else now has enough information to justify going back to normal quickly. Politically, it’s probably necessary to ease back into normal slowly enough that we can track how fast case counts rise, and keep an eye on making sure ICUs don’t get overwhelmed. But I’m honestly not sure the medical evidence supports any such thing.

Medically the best argument probably is to abolish mass transit nationwide, and maybe highrises, too. We know that’s not going to happen, because it would be intuitively obvious to the most casual observer that the costs would outweigh the benefits. Even more important, the costs wouldn’t land on the right people, so ain’t gonna happen.