RogueWaves

Fixed! Snow was flying on a warm day in Beijing last week. Legit fatties that were floating too, not some graupel, IP, or hail-mix. Not certain of their climo comparisons, but I think it'd be similar to a burst of snow in Chicago or Detroit at the tail end of July. If one looks hard enough, I think you can see hints of the GSM and it's effects. Don't think we're anywhere close to Maunder level stuff tho. At least not yet.

Yet, our state's leadership chose the non-traditional path of folding tent and closing shop. Who doesn't understand that this economic crunch will role up to the government payrolls in due time as private sector businesses are who/what actually funds all those services/dept's. It's like "ready, fire, aim!"...as you shoot your own foot.

In Michigan? I don't think you even have the option to do those here. Mine would've stopped at getting a haircut aside from the mentioned visit to the bookstore's coffee shop area, and an unfortunately timed death in the immediate family.

Yeah, and I wasn't slamming Jonger for his biz making out good. But the state UIA maximum (which hasn't changed in literally decades) is a joke as far as living on it for anyone that makes a decent wage/salary. Forget it unless you are single with super cheap rent, can live on starvation-level calories, and don't own/maintain a car. It's gap insurance, I get it, but you better have that nest egg to chew on or you'll be hurtin for certain, and quickly. Other better scenario is ofc if you're married and have a spouse who is still getting their normal income. That's much easier all the way around. I am amazed that the state's court system is gearing up to deal with an estimated 80K+ "renter evictions" as we head into August when the governor is allowing the pandemic protection to expire. Who are these people? It doesn't make sense as anyone who had a job and qualified for UIA should've been getting the extra $2400/mo which easily pays 99% of people's rent around MI with plenty left-over in most cases. I know it's been mentioned that people have been living "high on the hog" if the pandemic $$ was actually more than they made working, but still, you pay the rent first, right??

As much as this has helped your biz, it's a disaster for thousands and cutting-off assistance cold turkey is not the way to go. Opening as you outline is right, but those that don't have a job to return to will be destitute if left on their own with zero aid. The over-generous fed pandemic UIA is already set to expire and I don't think the Dem's will manage to get it extended. A more realistic amount/formula is in the works as a compromise between the D's 3T proposal and the R's 1T proposal. Stay tuned..

Surprisingly stormy and rainy day here after beginning the day with only a 40% T-storm call from my office. They scrambled to play catch-up and went 70% after things had already got going (that's my office). Nice post-storms cool down is welcomed too ofc. Last summer this town was in a mini-drought about a 5 mile diameter zone that was missed in every direction. This summer the cards have flipped and we score regular rain. Not a brown blade to be found.

The 2 aren't that far apart on the chart actually. If the outdoor cookout is presuming distancing then yeah, it edges out the indoors eatery. I've been to one pool party and it was with immediate fam mostly so the distancing was a bit lax. I just came from eating-in at the local B&N coffee shop and felt totally safe. Tables were limited and spread about 10 or 12 feet apart. Masks were worn whenever you were not at your table eating and drinking. It's self-serve so no waitstaff running around and it wasn't that busy but most tables were in use.

I would say it's "raging and dangerous" when death numbers are spiking, not just test cases catching up with the inevitable spread.

We may have that convenient data now, but was it known at the beginning of that coming into the U.S. when decisions were being made? If not, then it isn't a fair comparison in my book.

Read several of those articles, thx. And those anti-maskers were in an era (or shortly after) when donning masks for all kinds of illnesses/outbreaks/mass deaths was quite common. It's worth noting in the main article that masking was more popular during the war as it was viewed as patriotic. It was post-war that the real push-backs started in earnest. It's also difficult to make an even comparison between then and now for other reasons as well. The slowness with which data could circulate to the general public (night and day). The number of fatalities were massive with that thus the fear was legit as most people lost loved ones, or at least knew local people who got ill and/or perished. As for enforcing more then, the "mask police" on the street corner did that, but downtown's were the marketplace then. Would be the equivalent of shopping malls today, which here anyways are barely open. But then again, brick-n-morter's been on life support due to online markets taking over.

It was a reference to that youtube vid Jonger linked. It was a slight hyperbole but I thought you watched that and would catch it. Nonetheless, posts with subtle undertones about "grandma dying" have been made.

Pretty sure he was handed a "no win" situation. Whichever way he leaned, the other side would've cried "foul". A doctor in the Houston area has had a 100% cure rate using a regimen that includes HCQ, but nobody wants to go there. What do you do?

Not about CDC/Fauci waffles. The left says if you don't wear one, you must hate your neighbor and just want people to die. The right has deemed it an erosion of 2nd amendment freedoms if it's a forced thing. It has been politicized, though ideally it would've been better had it not been.

And the increased protocols for cleanliness at common touch points at businesses, especially food related ones.

Other than your belittlement of our president, this was a good post and totally agree.

Nice tongue-in-cheek edit there. While mere moments after a post calling for no politicizing of comments, a truly direct political "orange man bad" shot is fired. Nice. It's pretty convenient to blame a guy in his first term ever in politics (let alone head of the "free world") who got a truck-load of this horse sh*t dumped on him. We could easily have found ourselves in this same controversial boat in 2009 when H1N1 was running rampant. Funny how the powers that be never called for draconian economy killing measures while "O" was in that role. And yes, many conspiracy theories are later proven to have been conspiracy fact. The trouble is nobody cares to parse the details 5 or 10 years later especially if they weren't personally impacted by great loss.

FYI, I don't have any of those! Joking ofc, but I posted that cartoon as a bit of a spoof towards you actually. It's an old capture from early in the outbreak. It is pretty funny if taken for it's intended humor and not as a statement of fact. I was with fam this Friday for a funeral that was delayed since April due to covid. We were just sitting around visiting afterwards and my sister's hubby from MN took a poll to see how many of us knew firsthand of someone with covid. Seven of us from 3 different states. Only my other sister could say they knew of one single person. Her friend's adult daughter who works at a hospital in the Detroit metro area. This gal's department was suddenly idled by the lockdown of non-essential business back in April so management moved her to work in the covid patient zone WITHOUT proper PPE. She contracted the virus but being younger did not suffer much worse than a typical bad flu case. I agree with the post that masking became a political "football". Confusing signals up front certainly didn't help things at all. As for being political in posts. Please tell me what major event affecting so many people in so many ways is free from politics. In my small town I can't leave snow on my walk beyond 24 hrs, nor allow my dog to poop outside my yard without cleaning it up. Certainly can't park dead vehicles on my property indefinitely. It's not the wild west. We're a society of "rules and reg's" like never before in history. We aren't bringing politics into covid. They were joined at the hip from day 1. With any threat to health and safety, everyone will assess it and draw their line of response in a different place along the spectrum. That's just the nature of human individualism not to mention this nation was founded on the principals of freedom of choice from dictatorial control. There are people willing to die to defend that still. They aren't "idiots" or "heartless" individuals. Putting the mandate of anything on a person in our country is just likely to rub a certain percentage of our population the wrong way. I don't have the answer to how you gain 100% compliance to a controversial demand on the individual in such a freedom loving society. I just don't see forcing it as realistic. At some point forcing will back-fire and you will have revolt on your hands. My wife leans towards masking as she is much more the compliant type, even tho she too questions the narrative of whether the risk warrants the first time in history response of restrictions. Hopefully we all get through this and can put this in the rear view mirror. It has been a good time to reflect on the bigger picture of life and how we respond to it's ups and downs as we go along the journey.

Thought my 83 here was nasty

I know you mean well, but where's the fun in the mushy middle? As long as we've been dealt this lousy hand we might as well play it for all it's worth. There's a lot of good banter here not only about the C-19 disaster, but other issues that are part of the bigger picture as well. Posts that are seen by some as antagonistic actually bring forth more discussion and sharing of knowledge. I will add this. I live next door to the Middle School and walking my pooch today noticed a "masks required" sign that had in bold font "ITS THE LAW". I thought "whoa, did we pass a law suddenly?" because the last I knew it was just the governor's most recent emergency order and not a law in the real sense of the term. I'll not mix words. I'm no fan of big gov nor government over-reach. So if the masking is not truly "the law" like wearing seatbelts (or not needing to wear a motorcycle helmet), that sign has me a bit concerned.

Duh. Who said I don't wear a mask? If you look far enough back in the thread made it clear I do wear a mask. But I don't wear one any longer than necessary to conduct close proximity business. That can have adverse side-effects. I wear it when appropriate and not a minute longer than necessary. The masks certainly work to stop moisture droplets/sneezes/cough projectiles that would contain the tiny virus particles. They are not an air-tight seal to the head though, so any normal exhaled air that goes out sideways could also contain the tiny virus particles. They help, but they don't guarantee a prevention of spread by an asymptomatic carrier to those around him/her. We'd all have to dress up in hazmat suits like that cartoon to truly be "safe" in the open marketplace.

Very nice business ideals. Sad that the larger the corp and richer the industry, the more corruption tends to happen. Wish it were otherwise.

A very good point I've always thought about as well. Unfortunately as you say, most businesses aren't any better than the average household at saving for that rainy day scenario. It's a cultural thing that flew the coup generations ago never to return. As for personal situations, many in #puremichigan were just digging out of the hole left in their finances and nest eggs from the banking fiasco of 2008. Now this, so I wouldn't expect much headway in the goal of that rainy day fund becoming the norm anytime soon. It just won't be possible no matter how much people may wish to do it.

I thought AZ was a massive breakout state? How can they be in the green "not rapidly spreading" category. Makes no sense.

Ford's "revolutionary plan" only worked out that way due to a new thing called mass-production assembly lines that produced cars cheap enough. The other thing going for him was the immense popularity and thus quantity demand for the product. The key to keeping the cars affordable was the volume. No way his plan to pay higher wages works if the volume wasn't there. I worked for Four Winns boats in Cadillac some years back, and trust me, nobody on that assembly line was paid well enough to easily afford even their lower-end sport boats, let alone the really low volume cabin cruisers or even the mid-sized cuddies.

Unless you're old or in a high risk group, maybe stop buying the fear narrative.