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Posted by Convicted One on Monday, June 1, 2020 10:48 PM

Flintlock76
Kind of makes sense.  What's the point of plundering if you get sick and can't enjoy the swag?

 

Especially with video surveillance cameras everywhere.Movie

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Posted by 54light15 on Monday, June 1, 2020 10:21 PM

To get a reasonably decent view of what's happening in Europe, especially the U.K. read The Guardian on line. When I'm in London, that's the paper I buy every day. The news you get from over there is not the news you get over here. 

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Posted by Flintlock76 on Monday, June 1, 2020 10:13 PM

daveklepper
The policeman thought the cellphone was a gun and that his li.fe waS IN DAnger  

They haven't been imported to this country since their configuration makes them automatically illegal, but there have been handguns made overseas disguised as cell phones for quite a while now.  American law enforcement personnel have been warned about them for years, just in case some come in "under the radar." 

 

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Posted by Flintlock76 on Monday, June 1, 2020 9:37 PM

Since David's the man on site over there I'll take his word on events there before anyone elses, thank you very much!

You see, some European friends of mine told me years ago that if I was relying on the American press to keep me informed of events in Europe, then I didn't know what was happening in Europe.

By the same token, they found after living in the US for a short period of time the reverse was true.  If they relyed on the European press to keep them informed of events in the US, then they didn't know what was happening in the US! 

Mind you, this was  in the pre-internet days.  But even today I wouldn't be so sure of what I see.  Remember the old saying, "News reports are just the first draft of history."  

And as far as agendas, the existance or "non" thereof, I'm not going there.

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Posted by daveklepper on Monday, June 1, 2020 9:21 PM

You, the BBC, and Ha'Aretz are discustingly indifferemt to the daily incitement to murder that comes from "Palestinian" radio, TV, newspapers, and classrooms.

I am very deeply grieved over the death of that young man.   But I also understand why it happened.

The policeman thought the cellphone was a gun and that his life was in danger.

And I have seen policemen help Arabs, both citizens of Israel and those holding PA identity cars, enough times, so I believe what the policeman said.

 

 

 

 

 

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Posted by Flintlock76 on Monday, June 1, 2020 9:20 PM

Convicted One
  I even saw looters wearing face masks!

Kind of makes sense.  What's the point of plundering if you get sick and can't enjoy the swag?

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Posted by Convicted One on Monday, June 1, 2020 8:33 PM

This patient has tested positive for Covid-19  88+ days from first infection. 

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Posted by Convicted One on Monday, June 1, 2020 4:27 PM

It does appear that many many citizens all across these united states are now  determined to follow Rahm Emanuel's play book.  I even saw looters wearing face masks!

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Posted by charlie hebdo on Monday, June 1, 2020 3:56 PM

This thread has been all over the place since its inception. 

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Posted by Convicted One on Monday, June 1, 2020 3:18 PM

54light15
I'm wondering, Charlie just what your post has to do with the subject of this thread? Please advise. 

I'd say that neither side has clean hands here, two wrongs never make a right.  Bang Head

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Posted by 54light15 on Monday, June 1, 2020 1:52 PM

I'm wondering, Charlie just what your post has to do with the subject of this thread? Please advise. 

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Posted by charlie hebdo on Monday, June 1, 2020 12:33 PM

daveklepper

Charlie, I question your motives in posting this news item.  It does not belong on this Forum, but I am forced to post my discussion with a fellow MIT Graduate who, like me, has spent a lifetime fighting racism.

I am attaching my book manuscript, Jews have green hair, because it includes my \
experience with racism.
 
And there is racism in Israel too.  But most of my Israeli-born friends are not racists.
The teller most friendly tome at my local Israeli bank branch (I'm 88-years old, and he
always insists I jump to the head of the line at his window) is a very black Ethiopian-
descent.man.
 
I'm horrified by the killing the USA which set off violent protests.  There have been very
little of this kind of protest for a similar tragedy at the Old City here in Jerusalem. 
Why no violent protest here, just protests?  Because even Israeli Arabs realize that
"Palestinian" leaders  lhave as much responsibility for the death of this impaired
young man, by these leaders constant calling for them to perform acts of terror against Israeli
Jews, in conformance with the distortion of what was a tolerant religion until the time of the
notorious Mufti HaajHusseini, friend of Hitler.
 
Even the victims of the tragedy, the parents of the impaired young man, appear to
understand that and are not willing to be used by the anti-Semitic PLO and Hamas.
 
But I'll not walk around the Old City with a cell-phone in my hand in case a cop 
thinks it's a gun.
 
 

 

 

Your tone of indifference in response suggests you didn't even read the BBC article or Haaretz. 

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Posted by daveklepper on Monday, June 1, 2020 11:28 AM

I can report that I do usually use public transportation returning from the Yeshiva to my apartment, and often I am the only passenger on the Egged 48 bus.  But there is less walking, even though much longer and far less direct, to use the Arab 275 or 255 bus to Damascus Gate, light rail to Givat HaTachmoshet ("Ammunition Hill"} and then the Egged bus to my apartment.  So I do that on occasion, also.  Even though I am 88, nobody has stopped me from using the transit systems.  I do wear a facemask outside of either the Yeshiva or my apartment.

The Yeshiva requires "Social Distancing." but not face-masks.

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Posted by daveklepper on Monday, June 1, 2020 11:04 AM

Charlie, I question your motives in posting this news item.  It does not belong on this Forum, but I am forced to post my discussion with a fellow MIT Graduate who, like me, has spent a lifetime fighting racism.

I am attaching my book manuscript, Jews have green hair, because it includes my \
experience with racism.
 
And there is racism in Israel too.  But most of my Israeli-born friends are not racists.
The teller most friendly tome at my local Israeli bank branch (I'm 88-years old, and he
always insists I jump to the head of the line at his window) is a very black Ethiopian-
descent.man.
 
I'm horrified by the killing the USA which set off violent protests.  There have been very
little of this kind of protest for a similar tragedy at the Old City here in Jerusalem. 
Why no violent protest here, just protests?  Because even Israeli Arabs realize that
"Palestinian" leaders  lhave as much responsibility for the death of this impaired
young man, by these leaders constant calling for them to perform acts of terror against Israeli
Jews, in conformance with the distortion of what was a tolerant religion until the time of the
notorious Mufti HaajHusseini, friend of Hitler.
 
Even the victims of the tragedy, the parents of the impaired young man, appear to
understand that and are not willing to be used by the anti-Semitic PLO and Hamas.
 
But I'll not walk around the Old City with a cell-phone in my hand in case a cop 
thinks it's a gun.
 
 

 

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Posted by Euclid on Monday, June 1, 2020 10:03 AM

Generally, the cause of recessions is a slowing of economic growth, and that happens for a variety of reasons, and sometimes several of those reasons together are the cause.  Often there is widespread disagreement about the cause of a recession. 

I conclude that there are two reasons for the recession we are now entering:

  1. The new tariffs on products imported into our country from China.

  2. The intentional shutdown of our economy to stop the pandemic.

 

I have never seen a recession that has such a clear cause as this one does.  I doubt that many people see any issues about the tariffs, and so that cause will largely go unrealized.  Yet, I believe the consistent slowdown all through 2019 was caused by the increasing China tariffs in that year.  Now, the shutdown gives massive fuel to that already forming recession cause by the tariffs.  

However, the most effective way to produce a recession is to intentionally shut off the economy as we have done.  Never have we done that before, and I doubt that most people have even considered the outcome.  But the effect of the cause of a recession is always delayed until it ripples through.  In the case of our developing recession, I doubt that anybody except some economists anticipate it because the effect has not yet rippled through to be perceptible.  To the general public, the developing recession is practically invisible.   

Yet, never in recent world history, has a cause for recession been so clear and extreme.  So when the recession effect finally begins to be felt by the public, the reaction will be strong and loud. 

The only problem with a widespread economic collapse is that individuals can lose everything they own.  There is no safe haven.  Everyone’s wealth exists subject to conditions.  Economic collapse will change the terms of those conditions.     

Besides the effects of the economic shutdown and the tariffs, there is a third factor that will play a big role.  That is the absurd belief that massive government spending can kick start the economy out of a recession.  The recession becomes a pretext to do what governments love most, and that is to spend public money.  That is where the prosperity of the organization of Government lies.  

In this recession, our government actually believes that the tariffs have no downside on our economy, but rather, are even a source of revenue propelling us to great wealth.  With thinking like this, we are likely to miss any opportunity to sidestep the coming economic disaster that will soon make itself felt. 

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Posted by charlie hebdo on Monday, June 1, 2020 8:42 AM

Update from Israel: An unarmed, 32-year old autistic Palestinian man was shot dead by police personnel in East Jerusalem while walking to his special needs school. 

BBC News - Autistic Palestinian shot by Israeli police buried amid revenge call https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-52876014

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Posted by BaltACD on Sunday, May 31, 2020 7:19 AM

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

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Posted by daveklepper on Wednesday, May 27, 2020 3:39 PM

Report from Israel's Health Ministry excerpted from The Times of  Israel website:

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Israel increased by 19 between Friday mid-morning and Saturday evening, Health Ministry data showed Saturday, after over a week of under 50 daily infections.

Two new deaths were recorded since Friday morning, bringing the nation’s toll to 268 by Saturday evening. There were no details on the identities of those who died.

The total number of cases as of Saturday evening stood at 16,608. Of them, 12,855 have recovered from COVID-19, meaning the number of active cases was down to 3,485.
Of those ill with the virus, 59 were in serious condition, 49 of them on ventilators. Another 40 were in moderate condition with the rest displaying mild symptoms, the ministry said.
The ministry said 5,671 virus tests were conducted Friday. Israel has the lab capacity to test up to 15,000 people for COVID-19 daily but demand has gone down as fewer suspected cases show up to have swabs taken, the Health Ministry said last month.

The number of new infections has slowed dramatically in recent weeks. Israel has gone 14 days without seeing over 100 new confirmed cases in a single day.
Amid the sustained drop in infections, the government has increasingly rolled back restrictions meant to curb the outbreak, opening some schools and allowing many businesses to reopen, and was reportedly planning more such measures.

Israel’s education system was set to return to full operation on Sunday in most of the country after some two months during which Israeli children were ordered to stay home in order to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

Additionally, authorities were bracing for a possible second wave of infections after thousands of ultra-Orthodox men gathered Monday night and Tuesday in Jerusalem, Beit Shemesh and Mount Meron to celebrate Lag B’Omer in violation of guidelines.

Hundreds also gathered at a funeral Tuesday for an IDF soldier killed during a West Bank raid.

Violations have been reported across the country, from passengers crowded on a domestic flight to Eilat to thousands of beach-goers who ignored the closure of the shores amid unseasonably sweltering weather.

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Posted by charlie hebdo on Wednesday, May 27, 2020 3:35 PM

tloc52

I don't believe Dr. F. Is worried about or is hinting at the economy. My belief is that the isolation has triggered bouts of depression in the population that we will never be able to account for and will have with us forever.

No matter the bounce back of the economy, the Stock market is not a reflection or indicator of the economy, the every day person working is. They are not spending because rightfully they are scared. If we can get to 10 million still unemployed at Xmas that will help, but JMO, we won't. I think what will happen around September/October 2020 in the USA we will see the biggest Bankruptcy filings ever as the creditors will be relentless in the pursuit of their payment. The 4 day work week floating about won't allow folks the ability to payback their bills. No employer(a few)is going to pay a 32 hour workweek with 40 hours money. Be good, be safe.

TomO

 

 

Interesting observations and predictions,  as opposed to the bizarre postings from Bucky and the mostly "Besserwisser" remarks from our Jack of all trades. 

I would only add that the primary beneficiaries of the stimuli are, as usual, large corporations, who are also following Rahm Emauel"s advice of not letting a crisis go to waste. In this case by drastically cutting labor. 

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Posted by Euclid on Wednesday, May 27, 2020 10:41 AM

I am convinced that the public generally has no idea a recession is coming.  Recessions are often predictable, but hardly anyone recognizes their approach until they arrive.  That is why my hydrogen bomb needs a lit fuse as an analogy for something that is in the process of being delivered, but is not yet recognized. 

As we are taught by the housing bubble, it does not take much of an issue to trigger a massive recession.  All it takes is a little “irrational exuberance” as Mr. Greenspan once said about the bubble that he first described as froth. 

And as bad as it can be, it goes right over the heads of those who retain their gainful full time employment.  But to those selling business services, it is like losing a limb.  It is very bad when it happens, but you get over it and life goes on.

What we face now will make the bubble recession seem like a warm summer breeze.  And unlike the bubble recession, the general public has no inkling about the impending recession which will be less like a bubble and more like the world on fire. 

Of course, the big problem is that everyone will run out of money.  Robust economies don’t just happen.  They are built over time by blood, sweat, and risk taking.  It is the height of arrogance to think that economies can be simply shut off and restarted when convenient.  There is a price to be paid for the time shut down.  So when the geniuses say it is time to restart, it will not start as expected.

Another part of the arrogance of thinking we can order the economy to march to our tune is the silly notion that we can just stimulate our way to recovery.  This notion is as silly as the idea that we can turn off the economy and simply restart it like an electric motor.  Where do we get such naiveté? 

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Posted by tloc52 on Wednesday, May 27, 2020 10:00 AM

I don't believe Dr. F. Is worried about or is hinting at the economy. My belief is that the isolation has triggered bouts of depression in the population that we will never be able to account for and will have with us forever.

No matter the bounce back of the economy, the Stock market is not a reflection or indicator of the economy, the every day person working is. They are not spending because rightfully they are scared. If we can get to 10 million still unemployed at Xmas that will help, but JMO, we won't. I think what will happen around September/October 2020 in the USA we will see the biggest Bankruptcy filings ever as the creditors will be relentless in the pursuit of their payment. The 4 day work week floating about won't allow folks the ability to payback their bills. No employer(a few)is going to pay a 32 hour workweek with 40 hours money. Be good, be safe.

TomO

 

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Posted by NKP guy on Wednesday, May 27, 2020 9:56 AM

Euclid
Both Trump and Fauci also know that when this goes off, it will be clearly the fault of Dr. Fauci and not Trump

   Well, duh...

   Please name one thing in Trump's life, ever, that was his fault.

   The man is "perfect."  Don't you get it?

   Now, when it comes to credit & praise....

 

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Posted by Overmod on Wednesday, May 27, 2020 8:41 AM

Euclid
Anybody who is paying attention realizes that this is the hydrogen smart bomb of economy busters.  Both Trump and Fauci know this.  Both know that the fuse has been lit, but the free money society does not even know there is a bomb. 

This has to rank as one of the all-time great mixing of metaphors of this (and perhaps any) era.  I love the implication if a 'hydrogen smart bomb' but it's a technological oxymoron; the idea of 'lighting a fuse' to trigger such a device is charming but ridiculous.

I suspect there are multiple 'bombs' involved in wrecking various parts of the economy 'as we know it' -- some of which have already gone off, with sufficient effect to wreck the economy over time, or push it into the kind of singularity easily exploited by those with sufficient means, power, or cunning.  How much of the existing 'middle class' survives even the collapse so far without being pushed into dead-end subsistence jobs will be interesting to see, as will the effect on consumption patterns.

Something I find interesting is that very specific coherent actions across multiple disciplines are needed for this "restarting"  -- complicated by the fact that we have to guard against resurgence of infection nearly as carefully as we 'should have' after the initial outbreak.  These things are not rocket science to determine, but they do need careful forethought to be properly synergistic, and some very easily substituted shortfalls could be catastrophic.  I note very little of this from either the Trump administration's machinery or from the 'medical establishment' spokesfolks, which would verge on the ridiculous if it weren't so needlessly sad, but I see effectively none from the 'usual suspects' critics of Trump and his political prospects, either -- which I find regrettably but predictably typical of that group.  I'd have thought at least one of the folks in the big-blue-wave transformed House to be proposing omnibus directed-recovery legislation, or at least the equivalent of 'enabling laws' to make their likely-compulsory methodologies legitimate ... ah, well, it's still a ways to the election.  Perhaps once Biden has been machinated out and Trump no longer a factor we'll see some action belatedly appear, but I'll bet it'll be defective in the usual ways.

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Posted by Euclid on Wednesday, May 27, 2020 7:54 AM

Re-

https://www.businessinsider.com/anthony-fauci-irreparable-damage-stay-at-home-too-long-2020-5

 

It is a spectacular performance of Fauci and the news reporting taking a “have it both ways” position on the most polarizing issue we currently face.  Obviously that issue is polarized by the power of the President opposed to the slightly greater power of Dr. Fauci. 

But even more interesting is what this performance indicates about the nature of the economic risk we are taking by shutting down nearly all economic production for what is likely to be a span of 6-10 months at least; and then printing trillions of dollars in order to have our cake and eat it too. 

Anybody who is paying attention realizes that this is the hydrogen smart bomb of economy busters.  Both Trump and Fauci know this.  Both know that the fuse has been lit, but the free money society does not even know there is a bomb. 

Both Trump and Fauci also know that when this goes off, it will be clearly the fault of Dr. Fauci and not Trump.  So this requires Dr. Fauci to take out a small insurance policy be being able to say he was not 100% in favor of locking down until all the risk has disappeared. 

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Posted by Erik_Mag on Tuesday, May 26, 2020 11:57 PM

Gramp

I suspect Fauci was also considering the myriad other medical conditions that have been crowded out and are festering by focusing on lockdowns for Covid. 

BINGO! Add not keeping up with vaccinations. Also note that "elective surgery" does not mean cosmetic surgery but any surgery that is not immediately needed to save someone's life.

Couple this with increased calls to suicide hotlines, increased suicide attempts, drug and alcohol addiction. Ther are good statistics on how death rate increases with increasing unemployment.

Lockdowns kill people and should only be imposed as long as the lockdowns save more lives by reducing infection rates than are lost by the lockdown itself. They made sense when not much was known how SARS-CoV-2 was spread, now that there is a lot more data it is time for a more focused approach.

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Posted by Gramp on Tuesday, May 26, 2020 9:52 PM

I suspect Fauci was also considering the myriad other medical conditions that have been crowded out and are festering by focusing on lockdowns for Covid. 

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Posted by Gramp on Tuesday, May 26, 2020 9:42 PM

Thanks, Flintlock76, for the added detail. Should've mentioned the troops getting the Flu was info the involved countries didn't want to be made known. Hence neutral Spain ended up getting the "blame".

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Posted by Flintlock76 on Tuesday, May 26, 2020 9:26 PM

Euclid
Dr. Fauci warns of irreparable damage if the lockdowns remain too long.  But nobody wants to say just what it is that would be irreparably damaged.

It strikes me Dr. Fauci is speaking of economic damage and governmental damage, especially on the state and local level.  I guess.  Only he knows what he really means.

Does he think the lockdowns and mandatory separations have to end now to stave off disaster but he doesn't really want to come right out and say so?  Again, only he knows.  

The state level damage is occurring now, with state employee layoffs and furloughs, since the tax revenue isn't there to pay them.  Kean University in New Jersey has had to eliminate its music program since there isn't the money to pay for it.  What other programs in other colleges will follow is anyone's guess. 

 

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Posted by Convicted One on Tuesday, May 26, 2020 8:05 PM

Euclid
It is as if there is a system that Fauci is a part of, and that system just does not want him to say what he just said.

With the way the media prides itself as a "shark tank" of sorts, saying too much has a downside.

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Posted by Euclid on Tuesday, May 26, 2020 8:01 PM
Dr. Fauci warns of irreparable damage if the lockdowns remain too long.  But nobody wants to say just what it is that would be irreparably damaged.  It is very weird. 
 
 
I assume he means economic damage, but notice how much dancing is going on about what he actually means.  At one point, they emphasize that the damage could be health related, but no explanation.  It is as if there is a system that Fauci is a part of, and that system just does not want him to say what he just said.
 
I think we are already in for a lot of damage that simply has not arrived yet.  But when it does, I don't think it will be irreparable.  Everything is reparable.  There will always be another decade. 

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