bigjoey

Not so much to “define life’s meaning” but a reminder that mankind is not as powerful as we believe in our modern era. For people in our time, life has been relatively easy compared to our ancestors who knew the universe was full of risk. Due to our good fortune of living in modern times with painless dentistry, climate controlled homes and computers-phones in our hands, God became irrelevant. We are experiencing a great cataclysm that is starting to feel apocalyptic in almost Biblical terms. We are being humbled as we begin to realize our powerlessness in the face of the unknown. It is a time like this that I am reminded that people of strong spiritual resources can redeem catastrophe and turn it into a wonderful moment. I was belittled on this site for admiring of the victims of Dylan Roof’s mass murder in a black church who instead of revenge offered forgiveness. That is the spiritual strength of which I speak that is rare in our time. Can people redeem the Coronavirus catastrophe and turn it into a grand creative moment like those church goers? I think people with a deep sense of religious strength can do this. A British historian, Herbert Butterfield in 1949 published “Christianity and History.” It emphasizes the Hebrew Bible’s teaching on history. The Hebrew patriarchs reflected on catastrophe and cataclysmic events and found God in history. These events are a call for repentance and revival and deepening our spiritual beliefs. So in answer to the question posed: I find our situation a reminder of our frailty and insignificance in the scope of the universe. Man is not as powerful as many believe. This is a reminder of the importance of faith and the importance of deep spiritual resources.

Did they close on 9-11.

A reason not to shop there when the pandemic is over. To the stores that treat their customers with empathy and kindness during this time, their customers will remember and those stores will flourish after the pandemic is over.

Health (especially in third world countries) has been an area of focus for him and his foundation. This is not a sudden new interest from him. He is an amazing man.

Just got back from a shopping trip. Both my local market and CVS had toilet paper. Both stores well stocked and no crowds so keeping social distance was easy. Able to walk right up to cashiers. My guess is that many people who bought like crazy are starting to dig into their hordes and do not need more. After all, you do not use any more toilet paper just because you have a year’s supply. I guess some people are starting to feel a little silly and are asking “Why did I buy that?” Out and walking every day and people wave and greet each other (while keeping safe distances). Everyone seems very friendly.

I have a friend who is in a lower middle class building. He is cooking all the meals for a frail old lady. In addition, a number of people in his building lost their jobs, have no money and no food. My friend has little money himself but went out and bought grocery gift cards to distribute to those people. What a mensch?.

Much the same here in Kansas. People calling to ask if I need help of any kind. Neighbors asking each other if they can do anything for each other. Emails going out from local community groups with suggestions for charitable actions that need to be taken. For example, a friend volunteers at an inner city charter schools and she is organizing the production of 240 packages for the kids containing school supplies for home learning (paper, crayons, glue, etc); the local blood bank put out a call for donors and has a schedule that goes out week of donors; meals on wheels has expanded to meet the needs of newly home bound seniors; a local whisky distillery has started making hand sanitizer and is donating the sanitizer to people in need; etc The outpouring of generosity is amazing as people are rising to the challenge of the crisis.

Talked with a person in the grocery business. He said that the reason most groceries still have produce is that the market is just shifting what they use to sell to restaurants to the grocery stores. Since fruit and produce is perishable, it gets put out and can not really be stored for long. In the last few years, as people started eating out more, restaurants took business from grocery stores. Now the grocery stores are getting those customers back.

I wish I could give this multiple thumbs up. The best post ever. Thank you.

Kansas City is unusual in that except for Whole Foods, the big chains are not here and left years ago. No Kroger, Safeway, A&P, etc. Even Whole Foods stores are few. “Independent” grocery stores and local chains are dominant here. These independent stores (local chains really) belong to a local co-op or buying groups with huge local warehouses. So far, my local grocery (Hen House) has been well stocked and only a few things like toilet paper and cleaning products have empty shelves due to panic buying. Those items are restocked but people grab them up as soon as they appear. Otherwise, I can get pretty much of whatever I want. Plenty of fresh fish, chicken, pork and beef. Most produce is out. The bakery and deli and prepared food sections are full. Only occasionally is an item out but then back in stock within a day or two. I know many of the staff since I have shopped there for years and I thank them for working. The simple thank you brings a smile to their faces. They like knowing they are appreciated. I think the hoarders have pretty well stocked up as the store traffic seems to be returning to normal. I expect toilet paper to become a staple on shelves as well since there is plenty of back up stock and the paper factories are running as fast as they can to refill the warehouses. Expect a glut of toilet paper and sales in the months to come. Through the wonderful mechanics of capitalism, new suppliers are coming online. For example, a local whisky distillery has switched from whiskey to hand sanitizer.

Same here.

There may be a drug: https://nypost.com/2020/03/19/old-malaria-drug-hydroxychloroquine-may-help-cure-coronavirus-study/ If expanded tests work.....

Looting after Hurricane Katrina: Looting after Hurricane Florence;

My sister just did a road trip to get home: 1-definitely bring food as few restaurants open. 2-bring wipes to clean everything in the motel room; you do not know how well it was cleaned or if the cleaners were contagious 3-keep gas tank above half full because in rural areas, even gas stations can be closed or limited hours.

In Southern California, the Gelson’s chain of groceries is setting aside the first hour of the day for 65+ seniors.

There are many stocks whose business will not be affected by the virus. For example, H&R Block; sick or not, people will need to pay their taxes. Some dividend yields are being pushed to high levels as the stock prices drop. If the stock is in an IRA account, the dividend yield is higher as it is tax free. For example, Outfront Media is yielding 5.8%; they have billboards which are often on long term contract and they have the lease to sell the advertising on NYC subways (in an election year, there will be no shortage of demand). So while you wait for the market to come back, you can get a nice income. While no one can predict the bottom point of the market, this drop in price can be a buying opportunity for those investors with a long term view.

NPR had a piece yesterday about how much energy “the cloud” uses. The amount of digital bandwidth is about to increase several times as 5G becomes a reality. “The cloud” is powered by thousands of server farms which suck up huge amounts of electricity. Almost all of that electricity is generated by coal/gas plants and generates pollution. The real surprise was that the pollution was equal to the pollution generated by the transportation industry?. Bottom line, typing away on your electronic devices to post here is highly polluting?. So along with cruises, you need to give up your digital device uses that get on the internet and use “the cloud.”

Boomer here. Remember “duck and cover” drills in school in case of an atomic attack:) https://slate.com/human-interest/2018/03/are-duck-and-cover-school-drills-from-the-nuclear-era-a-useful-parallel-to-active-shooter-drills.html

Depending on the still unknown length of the virus incubation period and depending on if a person during the virus incubation period is contagious, this could lead to a real slow down in escort hiring. These unknowns need to be know before any health conscious buyer of escort services ventures into the hiring marketplace.

Today, many young people have become millionaires by working in high tech. The richest people in Kansas City where I live are not the old line families but the younger ones working for Cerner and Garmin. The reason home prices are rising fast in places like San Francisco and Seattle and Austin are all these newly created millionaires in high tech creating a fast growing demand for housing. Yes, you started out with a stable home; that is one if the keys to success in life. Family and education are two keys to ending poverty. No secret there. Those are two themes I have been posting about for years only to be attacked. Those are two areas where people need to take personal responsibility rather than blaming society for their failures. Yes, social factors come into play as well. But often government hinders people rising from poverty. Think bad large city school systems that fail to reform themselves generation after generation. Think licensing requirements aimed to keep people out of professions and not to compete with those already in the field. Success is a combination of luck, society’s factors and personal factors. Today, it seems fashionable for some presidential candidates to attack success due to hard work and intelligence. Love to see a debate between Oprah the billionaire and Sanders who thinks her wealth was not earned and deserved.

Thr time to close on the new property in a 1031 exchange is 180 days. Normally, that is plenty of time, especially if the new property is identified in advance. Most Real estate agents are familiar with the process and can help smooth the way.

True BUT Prop 13 also protects middle class people from being forced out of their homes when the prices go up over time or the area becomes gentrified. I have a friend who bought her home about 45 years ago for about $30,000 in Culver City. Today, about half the old houses on her block have been torn down and replaced by McMansions. Her lot would sell for about $1.5 million. She was a preschool teacher. Based on today’s market valuation, she could not afford her taxes and be forced to sell. Prop 13 protects people like her. Prop 13 has a good and bad side.

You do not have to die for the government never to collect the accumulated depreciation and any capital gain: 1-Donate the property to charity and you get a full deduction for the market value and never record the gain?. 2-Do a 1031 exchange when you want to sell the property.

Dennis Hastert’s transactions totaled $952,000 which is I assume more than our hypothetical escort’s amount of cash:) As I noted, if done in smaller amounts over several days, no red flags should be raised. IF banks are suspicious, they file a report as described in the link below. To be super safe, our hypothetical escort could keep the transactions under $5,000 and spaced several days apart (and even at different branches so he is dealing with different bank tellers). Could even use multiple banks. in the Hastert case, the amounts were just so huge they were hard to cover up: https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-dennis-hastert-bank-laws-0530-biz-20150529-story.html?outputType=amp

One of my biggest surprises about Brazil was that it has over a million and a half citizens of Japanese descent. It has the largest Japanese population outside of Japan. San Paulo has a large section with buildings with Japanese architecture. The Japanese started migrating there in the early 1900’s, not just after WWII. Yes, there has been much intermarriage of Japanese with other ethnic groups; that is unusual for Japanese as normally, they did not intermarry. For example, Taiwan was a Japanese colony before WWII and there was almost no intermarriage with the indigenous Taiwanese population.