Powerball

Being in the deep south, now you get it.

You're entitled to rant. I stand by what I said. 1. I find it very hard to feel sorry for folks who still enthusiastically support an administration who's acting their best interest. Things 2. These protesters interjected race into this when they were proudly waving a symbolism of racism/slavery (with not a single POC around, I might add). 3. They're acting selfishly by punishing everyone else with the defiance of the governor's order for their poor decisions (whether in terms of voting or choices for making a living). EDIT: Also, you complain about socialism, which is ironic because assuming the kindest of reasons, these people are upset because they're unable to support themselves. Yet, a stronger social safety net, such as the one across the border in Canada, would have given these folks the support they need to weather this crisis. Thus, we wouldn't have to be choosing between hundreds of thousands people dying from the plague or people suffering from an economic collapse. Yet, they voted otherwise and now here we are...

While we're still on the subject of the stimulus checks, yesterday the IRS launched a website where you can provide your direct deposit information and track its status: https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/14/politics/get-my-payment-stimulus-checks-irs/index.html https://www.irs.gov/coronavirus/get-my-payment

When I see individuals like these protesters blocking ambulances and flying confederate flags (knowing darn well the implication behind it), their anger clearly goes well beyond "Dey terk er jerbs!!!" Let's call out the huge elephant in the room. The stats show this virus is disproportionately hitting people of a certain ethnicity the hardest, in a city where that ethnicity makes up over 80% of the population. To them, this group of people and the city they live in are perfectly expendable for their own selfish needs of keeping open a "multi-generation" business that only existed since 2002, or gardening / motorboat racing in snow and 31*F weather, as I'm certain the typical protester at this spectacle didn't have pleasant opinions about the city in question nor the ethnic group in question in thr first place. As Governor Whitmer succinctly stated, while they're out protesting the stay-at-home order, they may well have just made the pandemic worse and it will now have to be extended even longer (something she was trying to prevent). I have a disabled, elderly mother in Detroit (I.E. one who would be a prime candidate for contracting COVID-19) who is frightened to death given she's already had multiple health scares. Obviously, she wants this to pass ASAP. So this does hit close to home even for me and forgive me if I don't all that sorry for the protesters who are doing everything to prolong it. As far as the economic impact, most of us are taking a hit to one extent of another (so what they're experiencing isn't all that special). I've been forced to take a 10% paycut and 2 week furlough myself. It sucks, but I'm not out here defying orders intended to minimize the spread of this virus like some petulant child because I'm upset about it. And the reality is you live in a heavily blue collar state tied to an extremely cyclical industry. Thus, you're always going to be hit harder than others when economic downturns happen (it is what it is). If you don't like it, find another state to live in or another industry/field to work in. Furthermore, as far as someone bringing up what Canada is doing, I couldn't help but see all of the Trump / Pence posters in the photos. I personally voted for the candidate(s) who would have done a lot more to help them through this tough time economically than a measely one-time $1,200 check (and even push for programs similar to the ones in Canada). Yet, they're still proudly supporting a "leader" and his administration who just orchestrated the largest transfer of wealth in history to the professional / ownership class. So how much can you really do to help folks who insist on voting against their best interests? Ok, ranting done.

What I will say is that defense, as usual, seems to be the only real safe haven. For one, the government mandates that contractors maintain a certain staff level for national security purposes. But also, that industry's main customer is one that can print/borrow money and operate with a deficit infinitely. Aerospace is mixed. The military side is still humming along, but the commercial side (where the customers are Delta, Boeing, etc.) is getting decimated.

Auto Sales have already cratered to near Great Recession lows, and will no doubt be even lower by the end of April. Also, the ways things are going at Ford, they'll be in bankruptcy court by the Summer. They have a furniture CEO running the company who's completely out of his element, their stocks are now rated junk and they're begging for things such as another Cash for Clunkers. Ford's U.S. Sales Chief Wants a New "Cash for Clunkers" Initiative: Here's Why It Won't Help Ford’s Debt Was Cut to Junk. This Is Why the Stock Is Rising. GM and Chrysler are somewhat better because they got rid of much of their debt in bankruptcy and GM specifically has exited the world to fluff up its balance sheets. But with auto sales in both the US and China (GM's primary markets) being an unmitigated disaster, and the losses they were still recovering from after the plant shutdowns last fall, they're not far behind from being in Ford's position. And then there's the city of Detroit. They already have a $300 million dollar budget hole to backfill, and that's going to mean more cuts to the city's already bare bones services.

It's just too bad that they're going to take away hospital beds from thoughtful people when they inevitably catch the virus.

The SPC is sticking with a moderate outlook in the latest update.

Also yes.

To my knowledge, yes. EDIT: Come to think of it, a PDS watch might have been issued on 3/28 in IL/IA/MO.

I'm just going to leave this here for purposes. It was being discussed over at SouthernWX for what owuld also be an historic severe weather outbreak for the Southeast US.

Well, there was the *HUGE* exception of the March 2008 blizzard. Still bitter about that one.