COVID-2019 in America, effect on politics and economy

[Ironduke]

I can tell you first hand that would be obvious but then people still relate to me that they actually did take their soft contacts out without washing their hands after cutting jalapeno peppers. Had one last week. Never, never, underestimate a human...

Heh, a few years back I minced a bunch of habaneros then took a leak. I was in the bathtub with a gallon of milk after that.

[Double Edge]

Early days on this, but some panic buying has already happened in some areas.

Think we have enough German words in the english language ? should we have more ?

“Hamsterkauf” in the German language means “panic buying.” The word comes from “hamstern” (hoarding) and “kaufen,” (to buy).

Panic buying is perhaps part of the German angst that crops up once in a while. The question is: If angst made it into the English language long ago, isn’t it time for hamsterkauf to follow suit and join the likes of dachshund, blitzkrieg, kindergarten, realpolitik and hinterland?

Probably not, as compound words stand a far lower chance of ever being incorporated, but never say die in this crazy lexiconic world.

Be that as it may, there’s no denying the fact that a number of English-language publications have explicitly mentioned and explained the German expression for hoarding as they seem to like it quite a bit.

[Bigfella]

Heh, a few years back I minced a bunch of habaneros then took a leak. I was in the bathtub with a gallon of milk after that.

A mate of mine did the exact same thing when we were living in a share house 30 years ago. The really funny thing was that in order to get from the toilet to the bathroom you had to go through the kitchen. I was chopping veges when I heard a scream from the toilet & saw my mate running through the kitchen as he tried to pull his pants up.

It was a mistake he only made once.

[Officer of Engineers]

Heh, a few years back I minced a bunch of habaneros then took a leak. I was in the bathtub with a gallon of milk after that.

A mate of mine did the exact same thing when we were living in a share house 30 years ago. The really funny thing was that in order to get from the toilet to the bathroom you had to go through the kitchen. I was chopping veges when I heard a scream from the toilet & saw my mate running through the kitchen as he tried to pull his pants up.

It was a mistake he only made once.

Thank you, Gentlemen, for putting those pictures in my head. GET THEM OUT. GET THEM OUT.

[Firestorm]

Geopolitics are afoot. Who can hold out and who will cut and run of the three: US, Saudi Arabia, or Russia...

Base on a rational economic POV the US should be the one in trouble first given higher cost of producing a barrel. Simple, but...

The Joker in the deck is our Joker who doesn't act rational.

I don't understand their line of thinking here. Even if they are able to outlast the US fracking companies and put them out of business, once the oil price goes back up, they will be back! Or someone else will come in their place and start fracking again. The fracking genie is out of the bottle and the Saudis cannot put him back in again.

[TopHatter]

Op-Ed: A Commander-in-Chief who cannot do the job ‘must resign — immediately,’ writes presidential scholar

As we all grapple with what the novel coronavirus means for various aspects of our lives, ranging from canceled public events to closed schools and volatile financial markets SPX, -4.88% TMUBMUSD10Y, 0.871% , it’s worth asking a fundamental question. What would a normal president say and do in response to this crisis?

It’s painfully obvious that no normal person — let alone any typical president — would respond in the way President Donald Trump has.

At each stage, he has lied, he has created confusion, he has made reckless predictions, and he has, once and for all, demonstrated his manifest unfitness to serve.

We may not be able to fix the damage that Trump has already caused, but at least we can stop him from doing any more harm. Public figures ought to be calling on the president to resign from office, to get out of the way and let competent people step in.

In his public statements over the last few weeks, Trump has demonstrated that he is simply incapable of taking on the challenge before him. On Feb. 29, Trump confidently predicted that the number of infected people in the U.S. would “within a couple of days [be] going to be down to close to zero.”

Ten days later, states reported 571 Americans had tested positive for the coronavirus. That’s what is known based on limited testing. Experts believe the number of infected people in the U.S. is actually higher, and likely to keep increasing in the near future.

It is clear even to casual observers that Trump is in over his head and is interested mainly in public messaging that he thinks will mitigate personal political damage to him in an election year.

One observer described Trump as “a walking, talking, tweeting disaster when it comes to the communications strategy required during a complex crisis like this one.” Last Friday, when Trump spoke to reporters at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, the president incorrectly declared that “anybody … that needs a test gets a test.” That is plainly untrue, as Vice President Mike Pence had conceded a day earlier.

During the Friday press briefing, Trump bragged to the press about his supposed scientific expertise, suggesting that he has “a natural ability” to understand the issues associated with coronavirus. One reporter who witnessed the briefing said that “the president’s statements to the press were terrifying.”

Some experts have suggested that we simply have to accept that we have a president who is incapable of handling the crisis and work around that reality. Crisis-management expert Juliette Kayyem concluded that “a crisis finds a nation as it is, not as its citizens wish it to be.”

On one level, this is a powerful observation. Public health experts charged with responding to the crisis have to confront reality as it stands right now, with a president who is who he is. They can’t wish their way around that.

On another level, however, it is a mistake to assume we are simply stuck with the president we have. If he can’t do the job, the consequences are deadly serious, as lives are quite literally at stake.

While scientists, doctors and other public health professionals deal with the day-to-day business of saving lives and mitigating damage, the rest of us — especially those with a platform that reaches the public — must say what is self-evident: Donald Trump cannot do his job. He must resign — immediately.

Readers who are generally receptive to this conclusion may not unreasonably ask: What’s the point? Trump will never voluntarily leave office. That is a fair observation, and I do not expect him to do so.

I still believe it is essential to call for his resignation because it is so plainly the right thing to do. In a functioning system, elected officials from both major political parties would call for the president’s resignation, and he would be forced to leave office or face impeachment and removal through the constitutional process.

Our system, tragically, has failed. But we must continue fighting against that failure by working to restore the normalcy that has been taken from us. That is what it means to have a constitutional democracy in these deeply troubled times. One step toward restoring normalcy — admittedly, a symbolic step — is insisting that ordinary standards still mean something, that Trump’s failure cannot be glossed over or be set to the side.

In calling for Trump’s resignation we are refusing to accept the assumption that Trump exists outside of normal rules, and that this is something we simply must accept. We know he isn’t up to the job. The question is whether we, as citizens in a constitutional democracy, are up to ours.

Chris Edelson is an assistant professor of government in American University’s School of Public Affairs. He has written two books on presidential power, and recently wrote a book chapter describing the problem of constitutional failure in the United States.
_________

Trump followers have repeatedly jeered at and denigrated Never Trumpers and others who gave dire warnings about Trump's fitness to serve as President and countered-claimed that he's been the BEST President we've ever had (excuse me while I go laugh uproariously and throw up at the same time).

Welp, you might say THIS is what we were worried about. A national (or worse, global) crisis that Trump would fumble - BADLY - at the cost of people's lives.

This man is not fit or capable enough to run a lemonade stand. And yet his followers and the GOP remain criminally SILENT.

[Ironduke]

Early days on this, but some panic buying has already happened in some areas.

So I just went to the grocery store to get some wine and balsamic vinegar, and yeah, all the bottled water, toilet paper, and hand sanitizer is gone. First time I've seen it.

I wonder why one of the biggest things people are worrying about is how they're going to wipe the poo off their bum.

[tbm3fan]

So I just went to the grocery store to get some wine and balsamic vinegar, and yeah, all the bottled water, toilet paper, and hand sanitizer is gone. First time I've seen it.

I wonder why one of the biggest things people are worrying about is how they're going to wipe the poo off their bum.

Like I said don't underestimate a human. Severe watery diarrhea is not a symptom so why the rush for TP is beyond me. The closing down of a cities water department is not a symptom so why the rush for bottled water. Last, why bother with hand sanitizer when a plain old inexpensive bar of soap can do wonders.

I use soap all day long. Now while seeing people in a nursing home last week I used the sanitizer on the wall every 10 minutes for 5 hours. Easier than taking the long walk to the men's restroom to use water and soap. My visit next Wednesday to a nursing home in San Francisco's Japan Town are has been canceled until further notice. They have locked down. I know this place always has seniors in their 90s whose health is tenuous.

[TopHatter]

So I just went to the grocery store to get some wine and balsamic vinegar, and yeah, all the bottled water, toilet paper, and hand sanitizer is gone. First time I've seen it.

I wonder why one of the biggest things people are worrying about is how they're going to wipe the poo off their bum.

Like I said don't underestimate a human. Severe watery diarrhea is not a symptom so why the rush for TP is beyond me. The closing down of a cities water department is not a symptom so why the rush for bottled water. Last, why bother with hand sanitizer when a plain old inexpensive bar of soap can do wonders.

Same thing happens before a hurricane: People are grabbing the items they know (or think they know) that will disappear first, because these are items that are most essential to them.

Essentially they're preparing for the breakdown of civilization....or at least, supermarket supply chains.

[Ironduke]

In a press conference a little while ago, Trump stated that all travel between Europe (excluding the UK) and the US will be suspended, including "trade and cargo", starting Friday at midnight.

The rest of the NBA season is being suspended.

[Ironduke]

Same thing happens before a hurricane: People are grabbing the items they know (or think they know) that will disappear first, because these are items that are most essential to them.

Essentially they're preparing for the breakdown of civilization....or at least, supermarket supply chains.

Maybe it's time to start learning how to use the three seashells.

[tbm3fan]

Maybe it's time to start learning how to use the three seashells.

Well I have plenty of line but a lack of 16 oz cans. I know I'll go to Costco and clean them out of 16 oz cans of tomato sauce and diced tomatoes. I'll bet once the crowd sees what I am doing there will be a run on tomatoes. Monkey see, monkey do.

[tbm3fan]

Wow, Tom Hanks and his wife have tested positive. They were recently in Australia for pre-production work.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/11/enter...rus/index.html

[TopHatter]

In a press conference a little while ago, Trump stated that all travel between Europe (excluding the UK) and the US will be suspended, including "trade and cargo", starting Friday at midnight.

And then the White House has to walk back pretty much every bullshit thing that Trump said in just 10 minutes. Wow...

What great leadership looks like: Great speech, measured tone, heavy on solutions, transparency and ideas.

Then there's the current dumpster fire in the Oval Office that is not only failing to address the health challenges of the pandemic, but is vandalizing the markets and the economy.

Donald Trump does not possess a single attribute of leadership that we need; integrity, honesty, courage, decency, compassion, dignity, honor, intellectual heft, competence or grace. Not a single one.

But at least he's the "anti-lefty".

[Double Edge]

A national (or worse, global) crisis that Trump would fumble - BADLY - at the cost of people's lives.

Trump didn't start this one.

He had this crap foisted on him from abroad like just every other leader.

I've yet to hear from people of a country who think their leader is doing a good job with this.

China appears to be turning a corner but how enduring this recovery will be remains to be seen.