Coronavirus:

[up148]

Lot of unemployed out there now and those going back tend to have degrees, can work from home, and are the people that companies want to keep vs. the disgruntled, the complainers, the troublesome, and quite probably those nearly invested in their pensions. Opportunistic pruning of the tree is happening. Still seeing 800k new applications for unemployment so that's only flattening out a bit; end of the month when the money for the airlines and others runs out will trigger a new wave of unemployment applications. Going to be a cold winter this year around the old tree for a lot of families.

Yes, this I've thought about for the past 6 months. Companies that were carrying fat are streamlining and they learned all the extra baggage isn't needed to accomplish their goals. Looks like another wave of job attrition, but chalked up to Covid this time. Everyone can't work at fast food and service jobs, so what happens. YES, it is going to be a cold winter around the old tree.

Going through another (minor this time) remodel before we move into the new house and it's amazing the delays we're finding on everything from faucets and sinks to major appliances. Seems everything manufactured is at least 8-10 weeks out on delivery and all are USA brands....OOPS, just because it says GE, Kitchen Aid, Etc., doesn't mean it's made here. Really sucks.

[chuck]

How do you feel, Chuck, that applies to the steel industry that used to be the lifeblood of the communities that had been prospering in and around the metropolitan Pittsburgh area?

Steel Industry really failed to modernize/adapt. The companies did not see any point in modernizing or adapting to recycling. "New" steel became less economically attractive and they shut down those older plants. There was also a failure to adapt/adopt processes to make "designer" steels for specialty/niche markets. There is also the factor that the volume of steel required to make "A" has dropped significantly as the processes/needs have changed. Automobiles shed pounds to get their fuel economy up and substituted high strength Mass substitution of other materials also shrinks your market.

As far as the jobs in these plants, same thing automation. Plants that went to higher degrees of automation shed workers but remained profitable enough to keep around. Great for the mill owners, not so hot for the workers.

The real tragedy in all of this is we have been putting off major infrastructure upgrades to the point of near collapse of the transportation network. No one wants to pay for building (now rebuilding) roadways, waterways, rail links, etc. Not a big enough return on investment. We have fractured our sense of communal responsibility to the point that no one is willing to pony up tax dollars or purchase bonds to fund essential projects. If it isn't directly beneficial to me I don't see why I should have to pay for it. These projects are a) badly needed, and b) have a ripple effect on the economy. The steel/concrete needed to build this stuff means employment for not just the people building the "thing" but also the people making the stuff that will be used to build it.

At this point in time, the Canadian government is funding building a new crossing from Ontario to Michigan over the Detroit River because the US can't get its sh*t together to do so. They will build the bridge provided it's built by Canadians using Canadian steel and then they (Canadians) will collect the tolls. This was touted as a major victory by US politicians as "we" get a "free" bridge out of the deal. Dumb, dumb, dumb.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

How do you feel, Chuck, that applies to the steel industry that used to be the lifeblood of the communities that had been prospering in and around the metropolitan Pittsburgh area?

Steel Industry really failed to modernize/adapt. The companies did not see any point in modernizing or adapting to recycling.

Sadly true; self-inflicted failure.

The real tragedy in all of this is we have been putting off major infrastructure upgrades to the point of near collapse of the transportation network. No one wants to pay for building (now rebuilding) roadways, waterways, rail links, etc. Not a big enough return on investment. We have fractured our sense of communal responsibility to the point that no one is willing to pony up tax dollars or purchase bonds to fund essential projects. If it isn't directly beneficial to me I don't see why I should have to pay for it. These projects are a) badly needed, and b) have a ripple effect on the economy. The steel/concrete needed to build this stuff means employment for not just the people building the "thing" but also the people making the stuff that will be used to build it.

Lot of jobs involved in that which would ripple across the country -- really the economic stimulus that was needed years ago.

At this point in time, the Canadian government is funding building a new crossing from Ontario to Michigan over the Detroit River because the US can't get its sh*t together to do so. They will build the bridge provided it's built by Canadians using Canadian steel and then they (Canadians) will collect the tolls. This was touted as a major victory by US politicians as "we" get a "free" bridge out of the deal. Dumb, dumb, dumb.

That's like the toll lanes here -- Australian company makes the money.........

[rogruth]

My question about list of states by IQ was a semi jest.I do understand IQ some. But If it were possible I don't think it would be what most expect.

[bob turner]

Have not checked in for a bit. Interesting diversion into the value of education.


Degrees have been seriously over ranked for decades. I can remember back in the 70's and 80's Hallmark, here in KC, wouldn't even take your application unless you had a degree, including receptionists, secretaries, etc. And the receptionist telling you this at the front desk, wasn't even smart enough to walk and chew gum. I think other major corporations followed Hallmarks lead. Doubt they can get away with that in today's world.

Yep, but one of the important things is to play the game. I went in to the Navy without a college degree and very soon learned that there was a caste system. Back then, enlisted folks couldn't buy their liquor in the base store - my wife did have a degree, but she could not set foot in places where degrees were required because of my educational status. Being about half smart, I figured out that I would need a degree or two to compete. Hey, you have to do those things that are necessary, right? All I wanted to do really was fly airplanes - I was already a licensed commercial pilot when I enlisted, but only a college degree would get you a job at United.

So I got degrees - two of them at UCSD, thanks - and two more. The one I most value is a law degree, obtained from a "trailer park" law school. Opened a lot of doors - good engineering job, airline career, bragging rights . . .

But Butch is correct in a way - did not make me smarter; just added to my knowledge base. I used to be fluent in Fourier Transforms, and am slowly learning Constitutional Law. Very satisfying, if useless for a guy in his 80th year.

Listen - the more formal education you get, the better off you are, both in an economic sense and in the ability to understand what is going on around you.

Now, back to the Corona Virus - just finished John Barry's book "The Great Influenza". I recommend it for several reasons. One is - so far, our Covid has sort of paralleled the 1918 pandemic. Let us fervently hope that it is now mutating toward a less virulent strain. Apparently the 1918 virus was a problem in the Spring of 1918, but slacked off a bit in the Summer. Then, in the last week of September 1918, it exploded in a mutated, deadly version of itself. Bodies piled up so fast they could not figure out what to do with them - not like in New York, where a few refrigerated morgues were set up a few months ago, but more like "dig a huge trench and cover these things!"

I am not religious, but those of you who are - pray that Trump is correct and this thing has turned the corner!

[bob turner]

In a different, and slightly more political vein, I note that I live in a fairly conservative environment. Some of my friends truly believe that Corona Virus is in fact a Democrat Hoax, and that if Biden is elected it will magically go away. This is after the Woodward tapes.

I call them my friends - in spite of their getting almost 100% of their information from Fox and Limbaugh, these are good people. If you are in trouble, they come to your aid. Most have even acceded to my wishes to be masked when within 6 feet of me, even though they are quite sure that masks only serve to infect the wearer more rapidly, and are a badge of cowardice, if not treason. So I just make a joke when they come at me with the latest on how Hilary is eating pre-teens at pizza parlor events, etc.

They could be right in one respect - we simply do not know if this thing will mutate into something as deadly and intractable as the 1918 flu - but it could go away on November 4. Let us hope that they are right, and that Fauci is wrong.

But do not count on it - take precautions. Respect your more liberal friends, and wear a mask when you have to get closer than six feet - especially if you go to parties and other large gatherings in the meantime.

Opinion - of course.

[up148]

We need a new party in this country. Not liberal, not conservative, but common sense. Hard to believe anyone could truly believe Covid was invented as a political guise, but I've learned in today's world anything and everything is possible. We are living in an almost unbelievable time.

[chuck]

Tuned in to see some of the college football game. Not so much to see the game but to watch the crowd. Fox showed very little crowd shots compared to a "normal" game. They deliberately kept the camera's shooting low/tight. Sidelines were a mixed bag of masked/unmasked. Officials wore masks (I guess they aren't that stupid after all). Distance shots showed most of the stadium was pretty empty, maybe 35%-45% capacity.

Social distancing was evident EXCEPT in the student section(s). Mask wearing was also largely absent among the students. It looked like about 60-70% compliance in the non student areas and maybe 20-25% in the student areas.

I stopped going to live games a long time ago. I like being able to pause, replay, go to the bathroom, fix something to eat/drink. I don't like fighting for parking, getting food/drinks spilled on you, fighting my way in/out of the venue, ....

Wouldn't bother me if they went with cardboard fans and just televised the game.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

We need a new party in this country. Not liberal, not conservative, but common sense.

Sadly both extremes lay claim to being the common sense party and their fanatical supporters thrive on that belief. An actual middle party would be potent and rapidly corrupted, and probably fragment quickly.

Hard to believe anyone could truly believe Covid was invented as a political guise, but I've learned in today's world anything and everything is possible.

It wasn't, except to those that prefer to live fantasy lives where conspiracy theories exist as their security blankets to protect them from reality

We are living in an almost unbelievable time.

I suspect that the "establishment" thought the same in the the 60's. But, believe it since it's real.

[up148]

The opinions that are held with passion are always those for which no good ground exists; indeed the passion is the measure of the holder’s lack of rational conviction. Opinions in politics and religion are almost always held passionately.

Did you coin that Rufus or find it? Never heard it before and it's 100% true. Passion stands in the way of an open mind and closed minds are very dangerous.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

The opinions that are held with passion are always those for which no good ground exists; indeed the passion is the measure of the holder’s lack of rational conviction. Opinions in politics and religion are almost always held passionately.

Did you coin that Rufus or find it?

Bertrand Russell

Never heard it before and it's 100% true. Passion stands in the way of an open mind and closed minds are very dangerous.

Does very neatly apply to our current conditions.

[HONDO74]

Top WHO scientist: Pre-coronavirus life won't return till 2022
'We don't know how long these vaccines will protect for'
https://www.foxnews.com/world/leading-w ... until-2022

A top scientist at the World Health Organization says it's unlikely the world will return to some semblance of normal pre-coronavirus life before 2022.

“The way that people are picturing it is that in January, you have vaccines for the whole world and things will start going back to normal,” the organization's chief science officer, Soumya Swaminathan, told the South China Morning Post.

But, according to Swaminathan, that vision is a fantasy and "not how it works." She pointed out that the most realistic timeline places a COVID-19 vaccine rollout during mid-2021 and that immunization wouldn't happen overnight, and wearing face coverings and social distancing would still be necessary for a while afterward.

“We need 60% to 70% of the population to have immunity before you will start seeing a dramatic reduction in transmission of this virus,” Swaminathan explained at a virtual meeting hosted by the United Nations Foundation. "We also don’t know how long these vaccines will protect for -- that’s the other big question mark: How long does immunity last? And, it’s possible that you will need a booster.”

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Top WHO scientist: Pre-coronavirus life won't return till 2022
'We don't know how long these vaccines will protect for'
https://www.foxnews.com/world/leading-w ... until-2022

A top scientist at the World Health Organization says it's unlikely the world will return to some semblance of normal pre-coronavirus life before 2022.

“The way that people are picturing it is that in January, you have vaccines for the whole world and things will start going back to normal,” the organization's chief science officer, Soumya Swaminathan, told the South China Morning Post.

But, according to Swaminathan, that vision is a fantasy and "not how it works." She pointed out that the most realistic timeline places a COVID-19 vaccine rollout during mid-2021 and that immunization wouldn't happen overnight, and wearing face coverings and social distancing would still be necessary for a while afterward.

“We need 60% to 70% of the population to have immunity before you will start seeing a dramatic reduction in transmission of this virus,” Swaminathan explained at a virtual meeting hosted by the United Nations Foundation. "We also don’t know how long these vaccines will protect for -- that’s the other big question mark: How long does immunity last? And, it’s possible that you will need a booster.”

Not news except to those that think a vaccine is a magic wand......and we're going ot be very lucky to see a validated and approved vaccine this year. Then there becomes the issue of production and distribution.

Right now we can't get the flu shots...........

Want to think about living at the intersection of the flu and covid? No.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

[robert.]