PLAYPEN: Covid-19 Everything Political

[Craig Lamson]

This is just you making broad generalization based on minimal data, because you need a box to put people in. Now you're putting people in the same box because that is an even easier way to think about a complex world. Head on over to your local Home Depot and park in the parking lot. You'll probably see some people with masks and some people without masks. There are some people that aren't there because they are afraid to go out, and some people that aren't there because they don't need to buy anything. And just because someone isn't wearing a mask doesn't mean he is being "oppositional"; maybe he just forgot to bring it with him. And that guy wearing a mask; maybe he is oppositional, but his wife made him do it, and he didn't feel like arguing about it.  People are different. They are not just one way or the other, here or there.

Home Depot and most other stores require you to wear a mask to enter. Generally, like masks or not, if you want to shop there, you put one on.

[Craig Lamson]

Really, we know how to handle it? Is that why there are over 1,000 people dieing from Covid every day? Is that what you call "handling it"?

Yep, thats what happens when you have an open country and there is a virus, some people catch it.  Some are going to die.  Its a fact of life. 

[Alan Klein]

Not only that, it is pretty bad in the US, but not again. It's been bad continuously here.

Not really.  If you break down America by states like there are countries in Europe, you'll see that some are better and some worse.  New Jersey where I live was bad originally, then got better.  We seem to be picking up again, hopefully not a second wave.   So it hasn't been continuous nor across the board.  Leadership, rules, medical capacity, culture, population density, etc varies from state to state as it varies country to country in Europe.  So statistics vary as well. Unfortunately, because of the election, politicians and the news media are playing games with reporting cherry picking the news to make it bad for Trump. 

After the election, perceptions will change as people look at it more clear headedly. Just like the Kurd issue went away, the Jerusalem capital issue went away, the killing of the Iranian general went away, the wall issue, no more central Americans fleeing to our border issues went away, etc.  They were only issues as long as they could try to punish Trump.  Once the effect no longer worked, often because TRump did something about them, no one any longer care about the Kurds, Israel, Iran, the wall, or people crossing the border.  No one actually ever cared about those things beyond politics anyway.

[Craig Lamson]

I don't know who made one on the tripods I use and it seems to work pretty well. The thing is sometimes by the end of the 400 page thread on which is the best tripod you decide you really don't need a new tripod after all. I see that a lot. I mean take a look a the threads discussing whether the Nikon Z7 or the Canon R5 is best. They go back and forth for months and end up not buying either of them because the rumor sites said Nikon was coming out with the Z9 and Canon was coming out with the Canon R whatever. Meanwhile, they haven't taken any pictures because they are waiting for a better camera. But I guess all that is obvious and I am not saying anything that hasn't been said before. I haven't taken any pictures in a couple of months but at least I haven't been reading any camera reviews either.

By the way, I am not entirely sure if the Nikon and Canon model numbers I mentioned are correct. Like I said, I haven't been reading an camera reviews lately.

I havent bought a camera since the 5Ds came out, and I have no intentions of buying anything.

[faberryman]

No, is much different.  The money is in your possession and you need to actually write a check and see it leave your account.

Its never your cash when they deduct it from your check.

I guess people experience things differently. But maybe not. Maybe people always experience things the way you do.

[Craig Lamson]

I guess people experience things differently. But maybe not. Maybe people always experience things the way you do.

So have you been self-employed and needed to make estimated tax payments?  Or owned a business and needed to made weekly tax payments?

[faberryman]

Home Depot and most other stores require you to wear a mask to enter. Generally, like masks or not, if you want to shop there, you put one on.

The oppositional people don't. They go in, and when asked to put one on, they tell the greeter guy to go to hell they are not going to put on any fucking mask. Sometimes there are altercations. People have gotten shot over it. Some are even dead.

[Craig Lamson]

The oppositional people don't. They go in, and when asked to put one on, they tell the greeter guy to go to hell they are not going to put on any fucking mask. Sometimes there are altercations. People have gotten shot over it. Some are even dead.

I'm not seeing that here, but your milage may vary.

[Alan Klein]

So have you been self-employed and needed to make estimated tax payments?  Or owned a business and needed to made weekly tax payments?

Payroll deductions for employees' Social Security and Medicare and matching employer's contributions are the real killers. The officers of the corporation are personally responsible for paying them.  If you have a cash flow problem due to deadbeat customers and delay payments to the government, which is illegal, you can get into a lot of trouble.  But it's often done by owners who are strapped for cash.  I learned that from a boss who got into a lot of trouble because of it.  So when I had my own business, I paid that first before creditors and everyone else I owed money too including myself.

[faberryman]

So have you been self-employed and needed to make estimated tax payments?  Or owned a business and needed to made weekly tax payments?

Yes. The thing is I got used to it. I don't like to paying taxes any more than they next guy, but there are just some things you have to do anyway. You can't get mad every time you do something you don't like to do.  For example, my wife asked me to get off the god damn computer and clean out the garage like she has been asking me to do for weeks. Well I have been procrastinating, so the sooner I get started, the sooner I'll get finished. I don't plan on kicking the dog on the way out. My blood pressure is high enough as it is.

[Craig Lamson]

Yes. The thing is I got used to it, so after a while I didn't resent it that much. It was just the way it was.

Of course you get used to it, because you had to do it.  But based on your statement you did resent it at some time. 

[faberryman]

Payroll deductions for employees' Social Security and Medicare and matching employer's contributions are the real killers. The officers of the corporation are personally responsible for paying them.  If you have a cash flow problem due to deadbeat customers and delay payments to the government, which is illegal, you can get into a lot of trouble.  But it's often done by owners who are strapped for cash.  I learned that from a boss who got into a lot of trouble because of it.  So when I had my own business, I paid that first before creditors and everyone else I owed money too including myself.

Sounds like a reasonable approach.

[chez]

Yep, thats what happens when you have an open country and there is a virus, some people catch it.  Some are going to die.  Its a fact of life.

Well there are a bunch of "open countries" all over this world that have way less death than in the states. Really has little to do with open countries...but much to do with the plan to handle the pendemic. Some plans are just better than others...then there are some countries with no plans.

[Craig Lamson]

Well there are a bunch of "open countries" all over this world that have way less death than in the states. Really has little to do with open countries...but much to do with the plan to handle the pendemic. Some plans are just better than others...then there are some countries with no plans.

Not as open as most of the USA, at least as it appears.  Even the best laid plans are getting sucker punched as the virus continues to spread.  My feeling (as it has been for quite some time) is its not the plan but rather the people.  Some people are more malleable that others.  Some are more risk averse than others.  Others are more confined geographically or politically than  others.  Still this virus affect very few in lasting ways. People will ultimately decide how much risk they are willing to accept.

[faberryman]

Unfortunately, because of the election, politicians and the news media are playing games with reporting cherry picking the news to make it bad for Trump.

This seems to be the go to explanation for everything.

[faberryman]

Of course you get used to it, because you had to do it.  But based on your statement you did resent it at some time.

Well, at first I felt a sense of accomplishment that I had actually earned enough money to owe taxes and had enough money in the bank to cover the check. Then as things improved there was probably a period when it was a more a sense of resignation, like well I guess that new set of golf clubs is going to have to wait. Then when things were sort of humming along it was just one of the things you had to take care of like health insurance and your secretary's salary. I wouldn't swear it never happened. Everybody has a bad day once in a while. Some people consider taxes the government stealing your money, so I can understand that those people might feel resentment, but that's not how I approach it.

What I do resent are all the loopholes and accounting tricks which make it possible for someone like Trump to pay either no or de minimus taxes, assuming he is not engaged in outright fraud. I include Amazon and others in that group with Trump. The tricky part is that if Amazon paid taxes they would just pass the cost on to me by jacking up my Amazon Prime fee, so maybe I am better off just keeping my mouth. I don't feel that way about Trump because I would never stay in any of his hotels anyway, so some other poor smuck would end up paying it, not me.

[chez]

Not as open as most of the USA, at least as it appears.  Even the best laid plans are getting sucker punched as the virus continues to spread.  My feeling (as it has been for quite some time) is its not the plan but rather the people.  Some people are more malleable that others.  Some are more risk averse than others.  Others are more confined geographically or politically than  others.  Still this virus affect very few in lasting ways. People will ultimately decide how much risk they are willing to accept.

I'd say it's more the leadership. Good leadership throughout history has led young men into battle sacrificing their lives...surely good leadership could help people unite combatting this virus.

[chez]

This seems to be the go to explanation for everything.

Yeh...and elections in the US happen on a very regular basis...so the merry-go-round continues.

[faberryman]

I'm not seeing that here, but your milage may vary.

I haven't actually seen anyone shot, but I have read about it a few times in my newsfeed. YouTube has a bunch of videos of people screaming at each other, which is not a pleasant customer experience. I just put on my mask and get in and get out. Fortunately, I don't go to Walmart, where a lot of these incidents seem to occur. Also, maybe there aren't that many rugged individualists being a pain in the ass around where you live. Consider yourself lucky.

[Robert Roaldi]

Discussions about taxes are usually utterly silly. We live in societies in which we have shared costs, so we share in paying for them. End of story. There are of course ongoing discussions about which things we want to pay for collectively and which we do not. The argument that the government is confiscating your money by force is spectacularly laughable, the government is us. This was all settled in a grade 9 civics class in 1926.