PLAYPEN: Covid-19 Everything Political

[Peter McLennan]

Why don't you let the guy get some sleep? 

Perhaps you missed the part where I said "We can wait.  Reasoned argument and clear communication takes time." ?

Also, this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Trump_administration_dismissals_and_resignations

I believe reading the link will reveal the contents found therein.

[Peter McLennan]

I think I read somewhere that the plants produced something like half of all the pork produced in the US.

Good riddance. Pork production is among the most cruel of mankind's enterprises.

[Paulo Bizarro]

Some of ou guys are engaged in "panic porn," as Bill Maher rightly calls it. You are peddling fear mongering, by tripping over each other who is going to come up with the most ridiculous statistical manipulation to support your doom & gloom narrative. You are, willingly or not, helping the world-wide phenomenon of rising totalitarianism and police state. Police world-wide are beating or arresting curfew breakers, including pensioners. U.K. police are threatening to check your cart in supermarkets to see if all the articles are "essential," and to set up roadblocks to see if your trip is "essential." In Michigan, family members can not visit each other. This is fascism rising. The usual suspect and wanna-be little dictators all over the world, including Democratic governors in the States, are conducting dry runs to see just how much harassment the population can withstand and what is the best way to control masses: ankle bracelets, house arrests, tracing, phone monitoring. Every totalitarians wet dream is coming true in front of us, and some of you are even cheering it.

Keep you tin hat...

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

... Retired at 63 years ? Not exactly a productive resource ... 63 years !! ROTFL

Sounds like mocking, but to avoid any misunderstanding, what is your point?

[BobShaw]

Retired at 63 years ? Not exactly a productive resource ... 63 years !! ROTFL

I retired at 59 after working and paying taxes for 45 years.
I didn't waste my life so I have saved for my retirement and can now spend it doing what I like.

I have friends who are still working at age 75 and will die where they work.
What is preferable?

[kers]

I retired at 59 after working and paying taxes for 45 years.
I didn't waste my life so I have saved for my retirement and can now spend it doing what I like.

I have friends who are still working at age 75 and will die where they work.
What is preferable?

Depends if they are happy or not.

[Alan Klein]

I retired at 59 after working and paying taxes for 45 years.
I didn't waste my life so I have saved for my retirement and can now spend it doing what I like.

I have friends who are still working at age 75 and will die where they work.
What is preferable?

I'm just happy I made it to 75, working or not.

[Manoli]

Sounds like mocking, but to avoid any misunderstanding, what is your point?

There's nothing mocking.

Over more than 16,000 posts
You've espoused a Trumpette philosophy, at times bordering on the alt-rght, a-go-go.
You've mocked many here, liberally calling them lefties, commies and worse.
You've derided what you euphemistically call 'social medicine' and embraced, in general, a provocatively extremist right-wing philosophy.

You're now retired at 63 years young.
You've made a choice, fortunately for you, a basic tenet of centre left philosophy..

I'm just highlighting the dichotomy.
Enjoy your retirement, but spare us the sanctimonious piffle.

[/END]

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

... You're now retired at 63 years young.
You've made a choice, fortunately for you, a basic tenet of centre left philosophy..

I'm just highlighting the dichotomy...

What dichotomy!?

Are you saying that "making a choice" is somehow a basic tenet of left philosophy?

[faberryman]

Coronavirus in plants forced shutdowns.  With less pork products available, other foods will go up as well: steak, fish, etc. 

Just read that white collar workers are starting to be hit like blue collar and service workers before them. The whole economy's going to tank.  The US government is going to try to bail everyone out to no avail.  Just pumping more money into a declining productive economy.  Prices will skyrocket. Usually when jobs are lost you can go into depression, where prices drop like a rock.  But because the government is printing, prices will go up while productivity and jobs go down like in the 1970's when we had "stagflation" and prices went up 55%.  This is going to be a repeat, only worse.  Less jobs higher prices.  At least then there was no disease to contend with.  This is a fiasco.  Pray the virus dies out on its own.

No need to retype your post each time. Just type "#7" and we'll know what you are talking about.

[Robert Roaldi]

At the risk of avoiding insult and politics, here is a set of interesting podcasts re Covid-19.

https://www.ted.com/podcasts/ted-interview

Chris Andersen is doing daily interviews about the pandemic with various specialists and releasing them as podcasts, about an hour long each.

So far I’ve listened to the one with Bill Gates and the one with Seth Berkley. The one with Berkley is very useful, he gives good layman's background and analysis about vaccines in general and the market failure of developing vaccines for diseases that won’t make much profit but that are nevertheless good for everybody. There is a lot fascinating stuff going on behind the scenes. I say behind the scenes but the info is not really hidden, just not highlighted in the daily media barrage.

It’s nice to hear conversations with people who aren’t insane. Makes a change from the daily news and social media. It's also good to listen to long detailed answers to complex questions, makes you realize how insulting and degrading the modern sound bite has become.

[Craig Lamson]

I retired at 59 after working and paying taxes for 45 years.
I didn't waste my life so I have saved for my retirement and can now spend it doing what I like.

I have friends who are still working at age 75 and will die where they work.
What is preferable?

What’s wrong with work?  I’m 67 and could retire tomorrow.  I enjoy working and I enjoy the rewards.  We work seasonally and after a few months off I’m ready to get back to work. So exactly what is preferable?

[Craig Lamson]

Good riddance. Pork production is among the most cruel of mankind's enterprises.

Today sounds like the perfect day to smoke some baby back ribs. 

[Alan Klein]

What’s wrong with work?  I’m 67 and could retire tomorrow.  I enjoy working and I enjoy the rewards.  We work seasonally and after a few months off I’m ready to get back to work. So exactly what is preferable?

I retired at 68 (now 75) when my wife retired at 61.  I didn't see any point retiring if she was still working. We both say now it would be nice if we had part time jobs consulting or whatever. I'm not into golf or tennis and how much photography can you do?  With the virus, there's going to be high unemployment.  So getting a job going forward for us would be hard even if we sought them.

[chez]

I retired at 57, 5 years ago. The 2008 market crash was very good for me. I have zero desire to work again. I've been traveling for many months a year ( well not this year ) and getting to see amazing people, food and culture. Why would I want to ever get back onto that mouse treadmill when I have all the freedom in the world what I want to do every day I wake up?

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

More madness:

https://www.foxnews.com/us/california-citys-coronavirus-restrictions-include-37-tons-of-sand-atop-skateboarding-park

California city fills skate park with sand to deter rule-busting skateboarders

The lengths totalitarians would go to ensure obedient, subdued population!

[Chris Kern]

I retired at 68 (now 75) when my wife retired at 61. . . .  We both say now it would be nice if we had part time jobs consulting or whatever.

But you have a full-time job here, propagating apocalyptic economic forecasts and Chinese conspiracy theories.  If you decamped for greener pastures, this thread would go preternaturally silent.

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

Bill Maher, a Trump hater, explains the term "Panic Porn," slams and mocks apocalyptic headlines, and peddlers of doom and gloom

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcvIQJ-QurQ&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR28eHWnUAUKVRAkZROcYRf2oUJfKxZyVgFugnMjNgws3ZJBo4tOn2O18v8

[Peter McLennan]

.  If you decamped for greener pastures, this thread would go preternaturally silent.

Nah.  You’d still have <insert usual suspects here> spewing disinformation, contempt and condescension, while studiously avoiding discussion of facts they’d rather ignore.

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

Let me peddle some more "extreme right-wing propaganda," this time from an obscure alt-right site:

https://www.bloomberg.com/amp/news/articles/2020-04-19/sweden-says-controversial-covid-19-strategy-is-proving-effective?fbclid=IwAR27jbMi7qIJFt48sh7eCfex2XypFnKCg0ke6xgShOgPWLOJEdNJeMTLefM

Sweden Says Controversial Covid-19 Strategy Is Proving Effective

At no stage did Sweden see a real shortage of medical equipment or hospital capacity, and tents set up as emergency care facilities around the country have mostly remained empty.