The US Hamster Wheel

[Boac]

Thank the Lord there is someone in the White House with a brain https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... risky.html

[Seenenough]

There is a world economic firestorm comming down the pipe that many countries will likely never financially recover from.

I suspect the US lockdown will become more widespread.

The press here in the US remain silent about the supply line issues that have exposed the dependence that the US has to medical supplies produced in China.

It will be interesting to see how things will look and have adjused and rebalanced in three or so years.I would bet a bit that the Medical Provisions Sector of the US market will have grown dramatically.

[BenThere]

Seenenough,

You perceive correctly that we are in a period of profound adjustment to our new reality. Millions of Americans are suddenly out of work. My wife just today had to close her hair salon due to Michigan's new coronavirus mitigation policies. Here in the Detroit metro area, with about 500,000 automobile industry workers, all three auto manufactures based here, GM, Ford and Fiat-Chrysler, are totally shuttering their manufacturing facilities. Breathtaking! What comes next is unknown.

So far we are not shut down in our homes, though we are encouraged to shelter in place at our homes. We went to the supermarket yesterday after a forced return from Mexico to stock our pantry and found the shelves at our local Kroger fully stocked except for hand sanitizer. Traffic on normally busy arterial roadways was noticeably reduced. Loaded up on shelf staples, rice, soups, flour and yeast, meats for freezing, etc. We came home, unloaded a large SUV full of groceries and then went out and filled the tanks of our three cars at $1.57 US/gallon, about 40P/UK/litre, down from $2.80 or so two weeks ago. Haven't seen that in years. Interestingly the premium our Mercedes requires is $2.49, quite a spread over regular. Now that Michigan is hunkering down in isolation I think we're prepared to live happily at home for several months, watching this story continue to unfold. My 5500 watt generator drinks regular gasoline at a few liters/hour under our normal loads which power the fridge, lighting and washer/dryer. Our heat, which reduces daily as Spring arrives, is powered by natural gas, which is in a glut now, securely supplied, and runs me about $20-30/month.

President Trump has for some time embraced a policy of returning production facilities to the US, especially from China, and expressly focusing on critical supplies such as pharmaceuticals. I'm sure Boac won't agree but I like what the president is doing to confront the challenge, and I think and hope the US will ultimately emerge from this crisis ready to repair and rebuild.

I realized coming home from Mexico that, while at the time Mexico had a very low rate of coronavirus impact, that America, with a broad safety net, the best health care access I know of, the best technology and resources to fight this scourge, and Freedom, is the best place to be. As of today we can't go back to Mexico, nor can we go to Australia where we spend a month every year. My plan is to book a month (I do HomeExchange) in Northern Michigan, when the snow melts, at a rustic cabin with a deck on a trout stream where I can cast for dinner, sip a scotch on the deck in the sunshine, surrounded by forest, and enjoy the wonders of nature as God meant it to be.

[Boac]

No, Ben, I do not disagee you like it. I would, however, observe that you are very much in the minority and in fantasy land.

[BenThere]

That's uncanny, Boac, that is exactly how I would describe you!

Current RCP average polls show 55% approval of President Trump's handling of the coronavirus crisis. What majority are you referring to - Brits?

[llondel]

I guess I'm in the 45%. I think he's a complete disaster and is more concerned with looking good so he gets re-elected than dealing with the problem. If it lasts until November and he's behind in the polls you can bet that there will be talk floated of postponing the election.

[BenThere]

So what do you expect him to do? He is getting in front of the mike and cameras every day and broadcasting his thought, policy, strategy, results, challenges and answering extensive questions from a generally hostile press. That is not a 'complete disaster'. What would be your prescription for an ideal leader in this situation?

And what basis do you have that he has given any inclination to try to postpone the election other than left-wing speculation, Ilondel?

[llondel]

He doesn't present well. He should be making a brief introductory speech and then handing over to the experts, rather than standing there and contradicting both them, and whatever it was he said yesterday (unless new information has come to light of course). that would improve his image a lot, being seen to be listening to experts rather than just go with what he feels like today, which is the impression he gives.

As for the election thing, that's just my personal thoughts. I'm hoping that things don't last that long and we're all back to some semblance of normal life well before November. As a precursor to something like that happening, I am disturbed by Barr wanting to suspend parts of the constitution with his attempts to detain people without trial, I think if he gets his way it will have a higher cost than not letting him do it.

[Boac]

Ben - I have no doubt you dismissed this post by ian16th as 'Fake News', since it doesn't fit with your idea of fantasy - except unfortunately it was your clown pushing out these wonderful bits of crap. He has not improved, having to be constantly corrected by those WITH a brain.

This is the 'chosen one's response that your 55% think is excellent. Obviously a highly intelligent 55%.
viewtopic.php?f=64&t=1997&p=223649&hilit=trump#p223649

[Seenenough]

Ben-those who obsess with how Trump answered some of the idiotic questions that he is asked over and over again are myopically focused on the small problems and are oblivious to the world economic earthquake comming down the track.The press seem to go on as if the comming issues will have no effect on their own financial viability.

It does not matter how much money is in reserve ventilators can only be produced as such a speed provided China is in a position to supply components that are immeadiately needed.There is no wand that can be waved that will deliver 40 000 ventilators within a week.It will be a big problem of course if you live in a country that has run out of money to buy the most basic medical needs.The only way that they will be able to survive then is to rely on donations of money and materials.

No doubt then the world will expect the US to kick in much more than their fair share as they always have in such world disasters.

Even Andrew Cuomo came out this morning and acknowledged that there are not enough Doctors and Nurses available the in the to double the hospital bed capacity within the near future.

The problem is likely the same in most of the western world.I wonder how long the EU can remain upright for?

[John Hill]

I am confident the US will race to the rescue of the rest of the world as they have done so many times before.

[Undried Plum]

"Spanish" Flu originated in the US and it now seems that Covid19 did too.

Characteristically the Corporatocracy is trying to blame foreigners for its origin, just as with H1N1 in 1918, but it's now clear that Wuhan meat market was merely an incubation and distribution point, not the originator.

The most likely vector was one of the 300+ US military personnel who visited Wuhan in October.

[Seenenough]

"Spanish" Flu originated in the US and it now seems that Covid19 did too.

Characteristically the Corporatocracy is trying to blame foreigners for its origin, just as with H1N1 in 1918, but it's now clear that Wuhan meat market was merely an incubation and distribution point, not the originator.

The most likely vector was one of the 300+ US military personnel who visited Wuhan in October.

You been reading too many Chinese controlled media outlets.

[John Hill]

I don't know who to believe, the Chinese who I have never known to lie or those that told us about Saddam's weapons of mass destruction.

[Seenenough]

Would you believe a country who imprisons people who publicly criticize the Communist Party of China and its Leader.

[John Hill]

If I cant believe a country that imprisons people for whatever reason and without trial just who could I believe?

[Undried Plum]

The science which shows that the virus was initiated in the US comes from a Taiwanese epidemiologist and a Japanese one.

OK, the Taiwanese guy is ethnically Chinese, but to suggest that he's in some way controlled by the People's Republic is absurd.

The Japanese guy may look a bit Chinky to a racist Murricane, but they are actually very different cultures.

On the matter of "Communism", China hasn't been communist for decades. Ever since Deng Xiaoping said it's cool to get rich, they've been making money through capitalism at an astonishing rate. There are now more Chinese billionaires than in New York or London.

The data clearly shows that the virus was circulating in a small way in Wuhan before the big explosion in numbers in the first week of December. The data also shows that it was probably circulating in the US in a very small way, undetected, in October when those 300+ military people went to Wuhan.

[Undried Plum]

If I cant believe a country that imprisons people for whatever reason and without trial just who could I believe?

[Seenenough]

'On the matter of "Communism", China hasn't been communist for decades'. -what on earth are you smoking.

"Ever since Deng Xiaoping said it's cool to get rich, they've been making money through capitalism at an astonishing rate."-As with all Communist Countries some Commarades are more equal than others.

[Seenenough]

Dumb ass talking heads are so oblivious that they do not realize that they may not have paid jobs in a month or so.