Some of the experts saw the 2008-09 crash coming. And they made a lot of money at it. If you haven't seen it yet, watch the movie "The Big Short." Some --quite a few, actually -- saw the pandemic coming, and issued warnings.
I will have to say that despite my acknowledged belief that Trump is a buffoon, a dunce and a dullard, a twit, a prat and an avaricious crook, a proto-fascist and a sinner of the first water, who richly deserves to go to hell (for those of you who believe in such a place) and who should be required by law to wear a pair of Clown Shoes so everybody who meets him will know what they're dealing with...Despite that, I would have to disagree with chez about this puppet thing -- what set of crazy morons could be pulling his strings to get him to do what he's done? Nope, he's done it all on his own (and relying on his gut, of course, which is easily his most substantial asset.)
That aside, I've also seen the reports that Alan is referring to, which hint at a possibly developing problem with food supplies. Meat supplies for sure, which doesn't bother me too much, as I'm a vegetarian, but if everyone who can't have his pork chop at night starts eating my salads, I could have a problem as well. It seems that many different kinds of food processing plants have had to slow down or even stop the processing, because to go full-speed requires lots of people to work in close quarters, and that a number of these plants, quite a few people have gotten sick and some have died. The biggest pork processor in the country is now closed...If we start having food problems, we could see some substantial civil unrest.
As far as reopening is concerned, we're just starting to see a surge of cases here in New Mexico. We're probably at least three to four weeks from a peak -- probably won't see it until sometime in May, or so Alan's experts say. If that's the case, we probably can't start reopening until June. What I hope doesn't happen is that Clown Shoes doesn't order the entire country to open at once, including the places that haven't peaked, so we get another surge of infection. If we reopen, it's going to have to be slow, and in careful stages, and at different times in different parts of the country. And if we don't wait long enough, we'll get another surge anyway.
IMHO.
Thanks for the explanation of the meat issue at the producers. It will also just raise the price of food as demand outstripes supply. What are people going to do who can't afford it?
Regarding reopening the country, Trump has said it's going to be done regionally. Fauci's agreed. The federal government cannot force New Mexico to open up their theaters if you don't want too. Governors like power too. That's why they're governors. They like running things, unlike senators and congressmen. They won't give up their power to the federal government even though they were responsible for not having proper medical supplies as much as the feds were. But that's another story.
When the economy is back opened, both Trump and the governors want to get credit for doing their jobs. Let's face it. They're all responsible anyways. That's what we're paying them for. Of course, if it gets screwed up, each side will blame the other and the rest of us will suffer. Isn't that what usually happens?
