Seemed strange to hear the CARES $350B SBA program had already run dry last weekend. Whodathunkit?
“One law firm, the Stalwart Law Group, filed five class action lawsuits this week — four in California and one in New York — alleging that banks processed clients with larger loans first because they stood to generate more money in fees. By the time the banks tried to process loans from their smaller clients, the lawsuit alleges, the program had run dry.”
Correction – banks and large businesses that didn’t need it. Throw another one on the pile of ill-conceived government economic initiatives that probably did more harm than good. At least they have alot of money to play with while the rest of us sit around watching and waiting to see if they can save the world. (spoiler alert: It’s a re-run.)
Piggy needs another refill.
This latest 70-80 year money-credit cycle is here now. Capital injection has reached the numeric level at which money becomes something apart from value. What that is, remains to be seen.
Right wing talk radio (Limbaugh, Hannity, et al) is a pox on society. It is used to spin alt-right bullshyt, simply because it is the easiest way to lie to millions of people. You can’t see their face, and there is no opposing position. Whenever some idiot like Rush Limpdick starts by saying “It looks like…” Standby for industrial strength stupidity.
These cocksuckers have been spreading bald-faced lies. Conservative congressman have gone to the podium selling obvious, de-bunked conspiracy theories. Weaponizing the virus against the people and/or Trump is a political con intended to keep them in power. Let’s hope it doesn’t start a war, and with any luck at all, Limbaugh’s cancer treatment will fail soon.
Watch the pirate missing his bird representative from Texas, Dan Crenshaw skillfully answer not a single question posed by Bill Mahr, while vacuously justifying Trump in the most embarrassingly backhanded ways yet dreamed up:
It’s one of the best examples I’ve seen demonstrating political dishonesty. I’m actually starting to rank them on how well they make the segue with appropriate buzzwords seeming to stay on topic, while in some cases actually changing the subject. Crenshaw does it well. Guess maybe he learned something with the Seals. Probably trained by some of these mutherfuckers.
“LIBERATE MICHIGAN! … LIBERATE MINNESOTA! … LIBERATE VIRGINIA, and save your great 2nd Amendment. It is under siege!”
We’ll have a MAGA demonstration at the Denver commons demanding liberation as well this afternoon. Despite the grievous outcomes expected, I am starting to hope they get their way and gen it up again, even as the 2nd wave of outbreaks is beginning in China. They keep harping on the economic consequences, but fail to recognize one of the many simple lessons from this debacle. I cannot count the number of times I’ve heard someone lamenting “the economy is not designed for this!” Maybe this is not the economy we need.
“The president is fomenting domestic rebellion and spreading lies — even while his own administration says the virus is real, it is deadly and we have a long way to go before restrictions can be lifted.”
Said the Washington State governor, Jay Inslee. Sometimes the only way to deal with willful ignorance is to just let it run it’s course. Were I a healthcare worker, I’d be observant of anybody coming into the ER wearing a MAGA hat, and put them at the bottom of my personal priority list, like the VA does with Cannabis users.
Trump encouraging rallies he himself won’t attend?
When quick, decisive action is called for, what does Trump do in the midst of the worst global health crisis in decades? Cut funding to the WHO – the one organization positioned to help. It’s just insane.
Has cutting off your nose to spite your face ever been more political?
Trump’s depraved authoritarian antics have reached the tipping point. We always knew he was off his rocker, with recent utterings taking things to the next level:
April 13th:“The president of the United States has the authority to do what the president has the authority to do, which is very powerful. The president of the United States calls the shots”
“When somebody is the president of the United States, the authority is total, and that’s the way it’s got to be. It’s total, and the governors know that.”
I cannot understand how anybody – I mean ANYBODY – finds this behavior acceptable in any way, shape of form. How can you not be embarrassed to say you are a supporter? If so, you are a traitor to this country. I’d say it’s about time for 2-in-the-hat if there wasn’t more important business to attend to right at the moment. Kinda hard getting anything done with an idiot like that standing in the way causing problems.
“Everything we did was right.” Really? Then I guess we’re lucky they didn’t do that. But they wanted to – probably right up until Dr. Fauci warned him about the mortality problem extending to all. It’s just pure stupidity ravaging the country.
He seems to think there is some big decision about re-opening the economy on his plate. “the biggest decision I will ever make…” In fact, will be the inveterate liar’s biggest decision roundly ignored until White House moving day next year.
The chickens have come home to roost, rural America. Maybe if you are far enough out in the boonies you won’t get sick, but you will get hungry. Unfortunately there’s two unavoidable, big issues working against you on that front this time around.
Everybody knows you’ve already lost the struggle against the corporate farming conglomerates. The cost of doing business is just so 21st century these days. You might be better off than the city dwellers in a supply chain crisis if you really are exercising self-sufficiency as touted in the early American vernacular. News reports across the country seem to indicate otherwise early on in this particular disaster.
The pandemic’s economic toll is not financial.
As starkly disturbing as it is, overlook the death toll and tragedy in our hospitals and nursing homes for a moment, as food bank lines stretch to greater lengths all across the country. Next time around, when it comes to voting, be careful what you ask for.
Can’t wait to see how the voter’s treatment turns out.
But for the lack of Federal government action, after repeated warnings with months wasted, thousands of U.S. citizens have died with many thousands more expected to meet their fate in coming weeks.
“Wisconsin’s largest city normally has 180 polling places on Election Day, but Albrecht said on Tuesday it will be down to five for the entire city.”
Fuck the virus, fuck the people – we have a government in need of more corruption!
Walmart workers are dying, for chrissakes! It goes right along with the everything is essential concept. It aligns with the impeachment show trial. The Republican message is “we will do as we wish, and fuck you very much.” This illustrates beyond any reasonable doubt, exactly what the conservative leaders of this society really care about. It is one thing, and one thing only: Stay in power. They are playing with fire. Fire spreads any way it likes. Pendulums have a way of swinging.
“The things they had in there were crazy,” President Trump complained on Fox & Friends, referring to the Democratic proposals to encourage mailing a ballot to every American this fall. “They had things—levels of voting that, if you ever agreed to it, you’d never have a Republican elected in this country again.”
As a retired military member, I probably have a little better understanding of the “disaster” thing. That is after all, pretty much the military’s whole reason for being: creating violent disasters of the most unimaginable kind, and attempting to protect themselves from the same. With modern medical and airlift technology, evacuating and caring for the wounded was never a really big problem ever since the Korean war. Messes get cleaned up, life goes on – for the survivors.
But knowing the potential for unacceptably high levels of disastrous consequences was what kept people trained, supplies stocked, equipment tested and chains of command communicating and working together. I am quite certain it still does to this day, in the military. Today, New York sends the National Guard looking to collect ventilators across the state, while administrators bid for them on the open market. N95’s are going for 10x their normal price. It’s a fucking travesty.
So nobody in the healthcare industry saw the potential for a disastrous pandemic? More to the point: Who is going to accept responsibility for not preparing? We are talking about paper gowns, masks and rubber gloves. No storage space? Not enough in the budget? Should be interesting reviewing the plans in a few months. Wonder if they will comply with the subpoenas?
Healthcare suddenly became a scarce commodity when it literally ran out with their fingers buried deeply in the insurance co. cookie jar. We as a citizenry have paid the highest prices anywhere for the best healthcare available. Too bad it only comes on a pay-as-you-go basis. Now we employ questionable re-use sanitizing practices in tents as the price goes up REAL high. Has penny-wise and pound-foolish ever rang more true? Healthcare is no longer taken for granted. It is laid bare for what it is under the weight of the biggest pandemic in modern times: A ponzi scheme run by the Pharma co.’s and HMO’s.
Funny thing about this one is you only see how much you’re paying in from the pay stub. So now we have a new negative economic stimulus to go along with a run on the banks, and a run on the stores: A run on the hospitals. Consider the numbers assuming a 2% mortality rate, because numbers really are the the bean counter’s main concern, right? WTF have we been investing in all these years? Too bad parts of the problem are extremely lucrative, with practical solutions written out of law and corporate governance.
This is the country’s COVID-19 bow wave.
Just when you thought things in Corporate America couldn’t get any worse, Muilenburg’s deeds or lack thereof, now seem trivial in comparison.
Going on a year-and-a-half recovering from orthopedic surgeries, the answer for me will be, decidedly not. It “was” on our side while SARS-v2 was silently spreading all over the planet, before the most spectacularly disastrous governmental blunders since the German army invaded Russia unfolded like a new YouTube entertainment channel right under the noses of anyone paying attention. That’s an insidious part of the current “big” problem – paying attention.
It didn’t take long to stumble across a well-informed compendium penned by Mr. David Malmo-Levine. It is by far, the most well-researched, accurately cited and brutally honest review of the issue you’ll find in one place. Even ignoring the Cannabis culture ending reveals much insight. The Chinese have some ‘splainin to do. Trump already did his. the months of downplay and denial were purposely followed to avoid panic, don’t-cha know?! How generous of him to un-wittingly spend the one resource we had on our side. Gotta give him credit, tho – you can’t blame malevolence for that which can be explained by stupidity. Sometimes they even go hand-in-hand.
“The tests are perfect! Anyone who wants a test can get a test!”
That “part of the big problem” thing is, he knows the faithful only need hear his re-assuring sound bites spewed in smooth, con-man style, because apart from that and Fox News, they simply are not paying attention.
Does anyone not yet understand one of Trump’s biggest early so-called “accomplishments” was just another in the long list of cons?
“Parts of the facility were dismantled following a 2018 summit in Singapore between President Trump and North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un.”
Remodel ≠ Dismantle
“Kim promised to fully dismantle the site in the presence of international inspectors if a deal could be reached.” Nobody bothered to mention “the deal” as t’were, was not for a launch facility. The deal was trading lies for time. The big lie is Trump scored some victory over DPRK aggression. In the meantime, hermit kingdom gets a cover story for the remodeling project. Brilliant!
Buck the Cuck stood in the House this morning decrying the CARES act as a burden on future generations. Sometimes I get the notion certain officials have the talking points programmed in by a brain-suppression process rendering an inability to recognize other forms of cognizance. Maybe he thinks we’re just a bunch of farmers and ski bums already in debt so fuck the rest of the country. It’s hard to speculate on the thought process of somebody like that under these circumstances. But that’s what he did.
Here’s the source of Asimov’s quote below, alluding to the root cause of the problem(s) in this country and many others today. More to the point: “America’s right to know is a meaningless slogan, when hardly anyone can read.”
It rings more true today, than ever. Normal people hold no ill will against the simply ignorant. It is the willfully ignorant I despise. One common rallying cry heard lately is “Make the Liberals Cry Again!” That’s all they care about. Not any substance or issues – just hatred and bigotry, with no compunction for their mental state.
Failure IS an option.
They simply don’t understand that most GOP leadership is little more educated on the issues than them, with primary considerations being the Stock Market and the economy. These cocksuckers literally do not care who or how many die. ER’s are overflowing all across the country and these pricks want to make a point of getting back to work. They viewed the pending Federal money giveaway as just another opportunity to prop up big industry. Raging pandemic? Sounds like a great reason to take up the anti-abortion banner, right? We’ll just downplay it until it’s too late, then look at things from a conservative Xtian viewpoint when forced to confront reality. Never let a good crises go to waste. Fucking morons.
With one glaring exception: Being an intellectually-challenged Twit. That IS your fault, asshole.
Get cellphones in everybody’s hands and pump ’em full ‘o shyt. Brilliant. Until the lies, misinformation and money comes out of politics, life as we knew it, is over.
Mostly to quash science, these days. At least that is what they did in China. The first Covid-19 case turned up in Wuhan, November 2019. The Chinese doctor who sounded the alarm not long after was arrested and later died from the disease, or so they said. Healthcare workers trying to get the word out were also arrested late in 2019. Those are just a few early-on facts I am afraid have been overlooked. Many more are unknown, mostly because journalists were expelled.
The multi-dimensional stupidity practiced by authoritarian regimes including current mainland China, is historically self-evident. I have always observed the adage to not blame malevolence for that which may be explained by stupidity. In this case, it is not a huge leap to hypothesize a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) plot, sacrificing thousands of human lives to re-orient the hopeless economic disaster they have been flirting with for years. Might the easiest , fastest and least risky (to them) way to level the economic playing field be a hard reset on the whole goddamn thing?
Most pundits I’ve heard squawking about it in the past few days have pointed to the economic impact as the biggest issue. Alot of people will die from the virus, but not in Black Plague or Spanish Flu numbers. It’s easy enough for anyone prepared to simply wait for it to burn out. It certainly is difficult to fathom a conspiracy like that. The problem with big conspiracy theories is that too many people get involved. What if the people involved were just spreading a virus?
Not to take away from our own stupid, slow response, but did China very stupidly fuck it up, or did the CCP let it get very stupidly fucked up on purpose? This is not a racist rant, by any means. Stupidity knows no color. But China is at the top of the blame food chain, and that needs to be dealt with. Either way.
A recent (yesterday?) poll said the majority of Americans approve of Trump’s crises handling. They must have asked 10 people what they though about getting free money. For those more reality-based readers.
These assholes called a government spent months watching the Wuhan disaster unfold as if it was some new entertainment channel on Youtube. Now the Cunt-in-Chief stands before the country spreading misinformation and lies, while his crippled administration stands behind him in stark disbelief. The good part is at least we saw it coming. The bad news is we are woefully un-prepared.
He really wanted to do a full facepalm. Is he fired yet?
