Corona Virus/Dow Jones taking a hit/possible recession

[TigerClaw]

Idris Elba has tested positive.
https://twitter.com/idriselba/status...17034901524481

[IndigoErth]

That's a shame. He's young enough hopefully he'll be fine. But definitely puts more of a face on it when celebrities start catching it.

Though this is supposedly doing lung damage even to those young enough to otherwise do okay with it. Hopefully no one here ends up with it. Don't need any Turtle fans getting infected.


Local restaurants, taverns, and bars being limited only to take-out and delivery as of tonight. Eight local cases now; the newest one the first not associated with the university.

The first four cases apparently all got it from a "social gathering" in Princeton, NJ. Dammit, Jersey, I knew it. lol

[victory_angel]

The counties of San Francisco, Santa Clara, San Mateo, Marin, Contra Costa and Alameda are all on Shelter in Place orders until April 7th. That may be true for other affected places in the US as well.

I'm in Contra Costa County but at the border edge of Alameda County, so close I have the same zip of a Neighboring town in that county.

[Andrew NDB]

All Regal movie theaters closed starting tomorrow.

[TommyT]

Hey guys, it's fine. It's just the flu.
Nothing to worry about.

[sdp]

The markets tank Everytime Trump tries to fix things. Someone in his administration needs to stop him, this isn't "owning the libs" anymore, it's causing enormous problems.

[Leo656]

Sorry, I just couldn't help it.

I can't be the only one who reads news articles MOSTLY for the Comments sections. And it amuses me that to a lot of people, the reaction to the pandemic and subsequent panic has been, "HERE'S what your abortions and gay marriage gets ya!"

I think this situation conclusively proves that either there IS no God, or He truly hates us all. But it's absolutely one or the other.

[Roseangelo]

Still nothing in my life has changed. Work per normal. Karate per normal (although much smaller classes and basically just non-contact drills). Social life still nonexistent.

But I have a feeling CA is going to get wholly locked down similar to the Bay Area within a few days.

[Leo656]

Yeah, I heard San Fran ain't doin' so good. Probably just the start.

[Roseangelo]

Originally Posted by Leo656

Yeah, I heard San Fran ain't doin' so good. Probably just the start.

My county still has zero cases. But the county just north of us is up to nine. So it's coming...

[Leo656]

If this has taught us anything, it's that just the idea that something bad MIGHT happen is enough to make humanity sh*t their collective pants.

[Andrew NDB]

Rather than paraphrasing, a post from a friend:

The Governor of New York seems to want the Federal Government to create a National Lockdown Protocol that dictates what all states must adhere to. Then a reporter asked if he has shut down all schools statewide in a similar show of uniformity, to which he replied: "we will." Meaning he hasn't yet. But damn it Trump, give us Leadership. Like a dictator.

Aren’t there allot of folks claiming Trump wants to be a dictator? If the Feds do as NY is asking, are we going to hear about Dictator Trump everywhere?

But more importantly, in my mind anyways, isn’t every State a Sovereign State? Why would any State choose to give up that Freedom? Cuomo says if NY shuts down all its bars but New Jersey doesn’t, then everyone will go to the bars in Jersey!!!

Yeah. That’s right. That’s a different State. They should be allowed to govern themselves. The decisions you are making for your State, as the Governor of your State, should be the decisions of that States Leadership. If your people get pissed about those decisions, maybe you shouldn’t have made them, as you are representing them. I think it’s weak to be looking for the Federal Government to make that decision for you, especially since your main desire for it seems to be to either impose your will upon other States, have a means to deflect the outrage of the people in your State toward DC (Trump), or most likely, both.

If a State decides to not shut down schools or business or whatever, that’s their Right as a Sovereign State. If they choose to disagree with whoever is spewing the doom and gloom that’s causing panic across our Nation, that’s their Sovereign Right. I’m not saying it’s a good or bad decision, that’s not the point. The point is, those decisions are or should be in the hands of the Leadership of each individual Sovereign State. That we are not run by a Dictator.

I’m also saying that if the Feds DO impose some kind of tyrannical demands, all the outrage that does come from it will NOT be directed at the State, but at Trump. I’m saying that all the media and Trump haters will have the ammunition they’ve always wanted: Dictator Trump exercising his dream of Tyranny upon us all.

But of course, the pristine morality of our media would never do something like that. They would never use a National Emergency as a political weapon to attack President Trump.

I’m just crazy.

I agree with... 85% of that. But Trump stuff aside, yeesh. Scary times indeed. I'm not certain on a state level they are being handled or focused in the right ways (possibly not at all, though I admit to not being well versed in the complexities of pandemics), but yes, they should be handled on the state level.

[Leo656]

Federal policy trumps state policy, especially in times of crisis. Small-scale and unrelated example: Weed (and CBD) is "legal" almost everywhere, but they can still bust you for either if they just wanna f*ck with you. Right or wrong, "fair" or not, that's how it works. "State Policy" ultimately means jack sh*t in a Republic. We've seen that in cases both great and small.

I can be fairly libertarian myself, but frankly, with most of the carriers not even displaying any symptoms - but just as likely, if not more so, to pass it on to someone who's more at risk - I feel like "better safe than sorry" might not be so bad for a little while. Like at least for the next few days.

The whole States' Rights debate can carry on once the uncertainty settles. Right now, people want to lynch you for spitting on the sidewalk. Not the time to ague that "We have the RIGHT to congregate en masse, you 'fraidy cats!" Create the illusion of security for a few days so things can get back to normal faster. We do it Your Way, and then one person sneezes, and this sh*t starts all over again.

Can't agree with you on this Right Now, even if I appreciate the principle of the thing. Fact is, last week they said Everything's Fine. It clearly was not "fine". For right now, we need to calm the panic by creating at least a veneer of security even if it is just a smokescreen. It'll calm people down, if nothing else, which will in turn get us back to Real Life that much faster.

[Andrew NDB]

Originally Posted by Leo656

It clearly was not "fine".

True, but it was kind of... made to be not fine.

There's no perfect solution to anything like this but if it was me... special incentives, compensation and workplace protections for working people over 60 or with pre-existing stuff to stay home until the pandemic largely blows over. Obviously, big public gatherings discouraged, at least from the aforementioned groups being in attendance temporarily. Lots of awareness made in public ("if you are over 60, especially over 70, there's a good chance this CAN kill you!"). Otherwise, business as usual.

[Leo656]

So... assume the risk until it gets REALLY Bad? Because just because it hasn't, it still might. And then where would we be?

Some wrestling promoters ran shows this weekend. They're drowning in bad press now and getting blasted even by people in the business because "All it takes is One Person" and the risk simply isn't worth it.

Nah, can't agree, although I admire your optimism. Sometimes, an ounce of prevention really is worth a pound of cure.

If a week goes by and things start to swing positive... awesome. I hope so! But there's just no sense in doing any less than what's being done, right now. I'm MORE frustrated about it than the next guy, believe me... but if for no other reason than to quell the panic and fear... it's necessary. And if it DOESN'T get better in a few days, well... then they were right to do this.

Frankly, I'm a No-Risk person in just about all things, and this is where you and I simply differ. Because in my experience, the higher the risk, the harsher the landing. We can't afford to softball this one.

Let's just cross our fingers and hope it's temporary. All we can do.

[Andrew NDB]

Originally Posted by Leo656

So... assume the risk until it gets REALLY Bad? Because just because it hasn't, it still might. And then where would we be?

I guess it depends on perspective. If we know, and we pretty much do, that if you're not over 60, have no pre-existing conditions... this won't kill you. In fact, you may not even show symptoms or only ever show mild ones. You may not even know you had anything to begin with and then you're better.

I mean, what's worse? Tanking the economy and putting us all out of work and possibly quarantined for an untold period of time that could extend for months with a full recovery to what was as an unknown... or a good portion of us do get sick but get better like from the regular flu, while enacting protections for the percentage of people in the age range/pre-existing conditions set that are actually the ones at risk of dying and awareness (be particularly mindful of touching stuff and be hygenic and don't be hugging grandma... in fact limit your interactions with older people for a while)?

It's entirely possible I'm way off -- there are many complexities and layers to something like this. I just ponder the quandary on a very basic level.

[Leo656]

I agree in theory and principle, but again, "It only takes one." My wife, for example, isn't taking this whole thing very seriously, either, but I doubt she wants to be the one to accidentally catch it, give it to her grandmother, and then it kills her. It's EXTREMELY possible, and that's one of the many reasons why people are choosing caution over principle. At least for Right Now.

It's why I skipped working the show on Saturday. I'm not incredibly scared of catching it, but I cough, and coughing makes people nervous. ONE person gets sick, guess who'd be blamed for it, even if I didn't have it? I'd never get booked again. I would've been used, but I was told "We don't want anyone with even the slightest of symptoms to come to work, because All It Takes Is One." And then they got blasted for running the show, anyway, mostly by other wrestlers, none of whom are overly concerned for their own health, but for the health of others. Nobody wants to PASS it, even if they themselves aren't going to be at risk from it.

Same with the gym. We were prepared to stay open, but last week even the owner said this was probably gonna happen. Because even though we scrub the place with bleach and disinfectant, All It Takes Is One. And then we're liable to get sued no matter what the law says. So our hands are tied, well-scrubbed as they may be. One lady I was training today was supremely annoyed that I kept wiping down the equipment after she used it - which is ALWAYS standard policy, anyway - "MY hands are clean!" she insisted. "Not my call, not my policy. All It Takes Is One." She didn't get it. Well, she can be mad. Everyone else in the gym thanked me for doing my job.

Big Picture.

[Papenbrook]

And, of course, various, high-profile CEOs are leaving their positions of work, so as not to be blamed for the economic depression that will, almost certainly, arrive.

Cowards.

[Andrew NDB]

Originally Posted by Papenbrook

And, of course, various, high-profile CEOs are leaving their positions of work, so as not to be blamed for the economic depression that will, almost certainly, arrive.

Cowards.

We're already there.

[Papenbrook]

Still, they are evading their responsibilities, punishing their employees, and taking their hoards of cash with them.

I feel no sympathy for them.