Pandemic preparation? ?

[+ Pensant]

If they can still install them, I’m considering getting a Toto washlet, thus forgoing the need for TP. Expensive, yes, but I’ve lost so much money that a few thousand isn’t going to make a difference. I’ve always wanted one anyway.

[+ tassojunior]

If they can still install them, I’m considering getting a Toto washlet, thus forgoing the need for TP. Expensive, yes, but I’ve lost so much money that a few thousand isn’t going to make a difference. I’ve always wanted one anyway.

 

That's an expensive one. Home Depot has self-install unheated ones for $50 and most bidet seats with all the features are $200, a lot less than a few months' TP. You may want to install a simple cheap one first to know what features you want. The world seems to be divided between warm-water folks and cool-water folks. Non-Americans seem to prefer the handheld hose variety like we have in showers or kitchen sinks.

Edited March 18, 2020 by tassojunior

[KeepItReal]

That's an expensive one. Home Depot has self-install unheated ones for $50 and most bidet seats with all the features are $200, a lot less a few months' TP.

I completely appreciate the concept of a bidet. But the drying setting never does it for me - I usually end up reaching for some paper anyway. *shrug*

[+ tassojunior]

I completely appreciate the concept of a bidet. But the drying setting never does it for me - I usually end up reaching for some paper anyway. *shrug*

 

Butt less paper.

[+ bigjoey]

Has anyone experienced any covid19 issues when driving to a destination? I am driving from Dallas to a very rural midwestern town to help out a family member. I’ll be there for a month. I don’t expect any problems getting gas and I’ll bring along some food and TP just in case. Will only be spending one night in a yet-to-be-determined hotel. Am I missing something that could derail me?

 

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.

[+ sync]

Apparently, the local gun stores are selling out of guns and ammo. Some will not sell ammo without the purchase of a firearm. More than a few residents of my liberal neighborhood are quietly discussing the acquisition of guns. Is this another ominous trend—a fear that the police won’t be able to contain desperate crowds looking for supplies and food in gentrified neighborhoods?

Regrettably, the concern about the possibility of looting and home break-ins is justified.

[+ tassojunior]

Regrettably, the concern about the possibility of looting and home break-ins is justified.

 

As a holder of a quantity, I hope the discussion merging break-ins, guns and toilet paper is just a coincidence.

[mike carey]

[+ tassojunior]

[+ tassojunior]

[+ tassojunior]

[+ tassojunior]

[+ FrankR]

Regrettably, the concern about the possibility of looting and home break-ins is justified.

Really? I guess I have not been keeping up with the news. Where did they have looting and home break-ins? Please share a link- inquiring minds want to know...

[+ sync]

Really? I guess I have not been keeping up with the news. Where did they have looting and home break-ins? Please share a link- inquiring minds want to know...

This behavior is very common after any wide-spread disruption of public services or shortages (severe storms, power outages). If you ignore the possibility until it happens, you risk becoming one of the statistics.

[EZEtoGRU]

Bank branches starting to close. JPMorgan-Chase.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-jpmorgan-coronavirus-branches/jpmorgan-chase-to-close-1000-chase-branches-on-coronavirus-concerns-idUSKBN2153OY?il=0

[+ bigjoey]

This behavior is very common after any wide-spread disruption of public services or shortages (severe storms, power outages). If you ignore the possibility until it happens, you risk becoming one of the statistics.

 

Looting after Hurricane Katrina:

 

 

Looting after Hurricane Florence;

[Guest]

http://www.stationgossip.com/2020/03/a-few-weeks-ago-it-was-democrat-hoax.html

[thickornotatall]

Our Publix is giving you a cart on the way in which has been wiped down by the person at the door. I needed to pick up 2 RXs. milk..some fruit and a few other items. NO MILK....no yogurt...no potatoes...on and on. I couldn't wait to get out of their. Frantic people arguing with the managers for lack of merch. I'm usually a very calm..cool guy with lots of patience. We live on an island in the middle of a huge city.. Glad to get home to peace and quiet...Truthfully I'm thinking this will go on for quite some time. I see my 401K being decimated. I'm retired and live off the income from a trust which depends on the market. I tried to e ultra conservative with investing but have a limit on losing income. It is difficult to sleep...So I'm napping before supper..The best intentions and plans are going haywire..(deep breath)

[+ pitman]

This behavior is very common after any wide-spread disruption of public services or shortages (severe storms, power outages). If you ignore the possibility until it happens, you risk becoming one of the statistics.

This is the type of conflict that is more likely to arise, probably very soon.

 

A Youth Backlash?

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/a-youth-backlash

[Epigonos]

Well it seems I won’t be going to Puerto Vallarta after all. United Airlines could and would guarantee my flight there on Saturday, the 21st but couldn’t and wouldn’t guarantee my flight home on the 28th. The agent on the United customer service line was great. She assured me that the flight would “most likely” be a go. However, on the Q.T. she told me that if she were in my place she wouldn’t take the chance – I cancelled. The condo owner of the place I rented has been fantastic and I am rescheduled for Saturday, November 7th – Saturday, November 14th. Tomorrow I will cancel my LAX valet parking.

 

As someone else said in retrospect 2019 is looking awfully good.

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

Pelosi blocks UBI. Yang Gang going crazy on her.

 

No politics in The Lounge.

 

You're going to get this thread moved.

[Walker1]

I am just wondering if this is going to be another Great Depression?

[MikeBiDude]

I am just wondering if this is going to be another Great Depression?

Talking heads on CNN discussing that now

[+ stevenkesslar]

I am just wondering if this is going to be another Great Depression?

 

It does not have to be. I posted this in a different forum. But this is an apolitical "the facts, the facts, and only the facts" view:

 

In China, the world’s second-biggest economy after the United States, the jobless rate rose to 6.2% in February, the highest since records began, and up from 5.2% in December.

 

The majority of Chinese businesses and factories – apart from the epicenter in Hubei province – have reopened, but it is unclear how many workers and staff have actually returned.

 

In the [uS] airline industry, tens of thousands have already been laid off or put on unpaid leave. The U.S. state of Nevada, home to the casinos of Las Vegas, effectively shut its entire leisure industry overnight. The sector employs 355,000 people - a quarter of all jobs in the state.

 

 

A few caveats. Any data from China should be viewed with a little suspicion. But it's an apples to apples from pre-crisis to midcrisis. China spent February in shutdown mode. Which is to say Wuhan, a city comparable to Detroit, was literally shut down. And the rest of the country slowed down.

 

This can not be stated enough. Shandong is the second largest province in the country, with about 90 million people. That's over one quarter of the US population. They have had 761 cases. There are 746 recoveries, 7 deaths, and 7 active cases. A lot of US states right now are in better shape than Shandong was in terms of case loads. Let's keep it that way. The imperative to prevent a Great Depression is to act now.

 

In Jiangsu, a coastal province north of Shanghai with 80 million people, there were 631 cases and 631 recoveries. There were no deaths. Jiangsu is over ten times the size of Washington state, where there are now 1014 cases and 55 deaths. If we let every state turn into Washington, and Washington turn into Italy, that's a recipe for a Great Depression.

 

There is a near consensus from both economic and health experts that we can't begin to know the long-term economic impacts until we contain the immediate health crisis. That will determine whether this is a V-shaped recession, or a Great Depression. I strongly suspect that "20 % unemployment" language is what any responsible leader would do in a situation like this: tell people what the worst could be, in order to rally support for doing immediate and urgent things that will prevent the worst outcomes.

 

China is not out of this yet, although they report that they only have a few dozen new cases a day now. And while I will never forget that they started this thing, we won't get back to normal until we are trading with them again - which involves both safe goods and healthy people.

 

Unemployment during the Great Recession peaked at about 10 %. It is almost a given that we will have as big or bigger a bailout as we did to dig our way out of that. So I can't think of a reason why we would need to have 10 % unemployment, or even anything close to it.

 

Dr. Fauci is not an economist. But right now I think the scientists are the best economists around. I think his goal is to get Americans hunkered down, so that we can be like Shandong, or Jiangsu. They will take a heavy hit. They have already. But it won't be a Depression, as long as we take the steps that we know worked there, or in South Korea.

 

Again, the scientists are the best economists around right now. One of the experts on Ebola and other diseases said his practical experiences dealing with real outbreaks in real time is that speed trumps everything. If you wait for the perfect plan, you will fail. You have to do everything you can to contain the virus as quickly as you can. I think that right there determines whether this is a V-shaped recession, or a Great Depression.

Edited March 19, 2020 by stevenkesslar

[+ tassojunior]

No politics in The Lounge.

 

You're going to get this thread moved.

 

moved