JJ-4

I'm not in CA so that sounds reasonable.

32 minutes ago, the blob said:

I have a tough time believing it will be 90-100 days, but I guess the week before Memorial Day will be 60 days. Obviously Easter is pure fantasy. By taking action early California may have pushed their peak into may or june though (albeit, likely a less horrendous peak than we're about to see here in New York).

 

Interesting tool to look at COVID projections (not sure I agree with them)

2 minutes ago, Buzzetta said:

Technically speaking no.

I am going to assume this is MCS?

What if you had a slow month?  What if no one bought the books you were selling? You still have the books.  I think I would only consider it lost income if the books disappeared.  Personally to me, there is no difference to that and me having a book on eBay that is not selling.  I still have ownership over the item... it just isn't selling.

 

That's one way to look at it.  What can I say.  I'm an optimist. 

I agree with you.  I would think of it as revenue shortfall compared to forecast.  You just didn't see the sales you expected.

On ‎4‎/‎4‎/‎2020 at 10:20 AM, kav said:

How can masks be poisonous?  How can this be some money making scam?
Ps my thoughts on storage lockers and comics: NEVER.  If you have no room for them find trusted friend.   If not possible, SELLTHEM.  Buy as many back later as you can with the money.  Let money be your storage locker!!!

Totally agree, and with you money you save every month by not having to rent a storage locker, more comics!

1 hour ago, piper said:

It's a great read. (if a bit of a slow burn).  I read this 25+ years ago.

Thanks!!  I'm going to give it a go.

Anyone read any Ken Follett?  I was given Pillars of the Earth, wanted to know if it was a good read.

24 minutes ago, the blob said:

I don't disagree. But the very rich (who tend to have income via capital gains and other income taxed at a lower rate than labor) pay about half the overall tax rate I do. Part of that is compounded by me paying SS on nearly all of my income and they may not pay it on any of their's. I am upper middle class simply by virtue of the fact that I live in a two white collar professional home and my wife, literally, has 4 jobs and never stops working. Yes, obviously, unless they are in some "no tax" situation due to various loopholes and loss carry overs or whatever, they pay more than I do in total $. But we have a tax system that rewards investment and passive income (and also building a company, hard work for sure), does not reward "labor" the same way. Until I have some huge capital gain that gets favorable tax treatment I am not thrilled with this.  I am not all in on confiscatory tax rates and all that, but, at a minimum, I don't think these folks should pay lower than I do.

 

Agee on income vs capital gains taxes.  Thought this would be helpful for everyone else who is reading this.

On ‎3‎/‎23‎/‎2020 at 2:36 PM, Red_Hood said:

Don't let the negative thoughts and the television news let you down....  There is so much more to life.

A little boy waved to my 2 year old daughter as he went by on his little scooter through our bay window in the living room and she waved back and said, "See you soon!"

There are moments to cherish during this crisis.... we will make it through it.

ps. Just don't ask my opinion about the teenagers partying in Florida for Spring Break.

I hope those out of shape, pasty white, doughy teens get a good life lesson about reality.

Those "kids" on spring break really screwed up.  Not sure what should be done about that.  That said, I agree my younger one's have been having a good time just taking it easy for a while.  They usually are on the go non stop between school, homework, sports, and social obligations.  Nice to just see them acting like kids (like we probably had it when we were younger) for a change.

1 hour ago, the blob said:

I think this sort of "kicking" in a national emergency is probably preferable to tax cuts to billionaires who already pay half my tax rate and amazon during economic boom times, but I don't want to sound political....

The debt is a huge problem, and not only do we not take in enough in taxes but we have a spending problem as well.  That said, the more you make the more you have to pay in taxes.  Full stop.  There is certainly room for simplification of the tax code but saying that the rich pay less that the middle class is just not true.

On ‎3‎/‎20‎/‎2020 at 6:04 PM, mattn792 said:

Spot on.  And all this selling means someone else is buying.  Like me 

And if folks aren't seasoned investors you should join your companies 401K if you aren't participating and increase your contribution if you already do.

Stock are on sale for the near future if you want to fill your retirement nest egg and have at least 5 to 7 years to retirement.

16 hours ago, dupont2005 said:

Yeah, any of those mild cases can turn not mild for any number of reasons, as they have been doing in order to bring the mortality rate up to what it is. Another statistic is people recovered from covid-19, which is a far lower number than those who have died from it. Worrying 

 

and even if it were “only” 4.5%, that’s 45 times the mortality rate of the flu. 

But we've explained that it's not 4.1% due to the lack of testing.  And may people have recovered from it just as folks get over the flu or the common cold.  80% of the people that get it will have no to very mild symptoms.  Repeat, many people will have no symptoms and not even know they have it.  Please stop the mis-information.

Also, This is going to get worse before it gets better, not to alarm folks but I believe the National Guard will be deployed to help keep folks calm, prevent looting and enforce the closure of business, won't probably announced until the troops are deployed.  Perhaps as soon as later today.

12 hours ago, G G ® said:

I'd like to say something about this chaos we are living in and then I'm out.

I am in a very high risk group, some of you may know, and those who don't I have no intention of boring you with the details.

I am supposed to be in 12 week quarantine for my own protection. Problem is I can't adhere to it. I have a 90 year old mother who can rarely get out, and doesn't really understand the significance or the gravity of the current situation. But guess what? She has to eat like the rest of us.

This morning I had to take her to a local 'mall' crammed with people acting like locusts trying to buy food and supplies. I have to take over and do the shopping while she sits down on a bench 'cos she can barely walk.

So I'm at the checkout, with a fair bit of stuff for my mum and I say to the guy behind me, 'you can go in front of me' cos he only has two items. The guy looks at me as tho' I was a piece of s**t and goes in front of me, doesn't say thanks, kiss my arse or anything.

Meanwhile my mum is sitting at a cafe in the mall and someone comes up and gives her a free cup of tea, asks her if she is alright etc.

Moral of the story:

Doesn't matter how bad the situation, some humans will be wonderful, some will be d**ks.

That is the human condition.

If you are in the very high risk group you should not be around large groups of people, and bringing you elderly mother out with you is just a problematic.  Could you order some food on line?  Have your grocery store assemble the order for you to pick up?  Have another family member do your shopping or pay a high school kid to do your shopping? I know this is very difficult and I'm certainly not in your situation but if I would you I would do ANYTHING to avoid having to go out to a crammed mall.  Anyone else have suggestions for  G C to keep him and his mother safe?

1 hour ago, BIGJIMMY said:

My tap water is very cloudy, but I will take your advice and check out Target. Really don't want to go out no more. Hopefully, I can pick up the inexpensive water filter jug on line from Target. Thanks though for the tip.

No problem, we use one and the kids even like the taste, it's similar to what you would get from bottled water.

29 minutes ago, slym2none said:

No excuse to be rude.

-slym

Hard to read tone thru a text post but just the opposite, we should all be nicer to each other while we go thru this!

Thanks.

25 minutes ago, Ken Aldred said:

On Monday morning I left the supermarket with my resupplies and was waiting for a taxi to arrive.  Just as I was about to go over to get in, a motorcyclist mounted the pavement directly in front of me without slowing down, in order then to slam his brakes on and park at the store's cycle racks, missing me by a very, very small margin.  Because I'm ordinarily a bit disconnected from what's going on around me due to autism and was focused on the taxi, I was completely unaware of his approach and could easily have moved an inch or two straight into his path and been mowed down.  He just had an angry, 'screw-you' sort of look on his face and walked off.  Sometimes animals can be far worse risks than viruses, although I suspect the latter has a higher IQ in this case.

There's still the freak accident, Final Destination Effect in play during these difficult times.

He didn't hit you so no harm no foul.  Cut everyone some slack, many people are having a tough day worrying about their loved ones too.

4 minutes ago, BIGJIMMY said:

Scored 16 rolls over toilet paper today at Wal-Mart. That should be enough for awhile. Only thing I am worried about is water. My tap water is bad and bottled water is heavy to lift I am willing to have spring water delivered to me. My grandmother years ago did that. I am out of the loop with Spring water delivery. Any suggestions will be cool.

Or in inexpensive water filter jug you can keep in the fridge.  Pick one up at Target for cheap.

4 minutes ago, pastandpresentcomics said:

Does anyone really think the death rate percentage matters to those people who have died from the virus?

You are correct it does not.  But it is important to know if this thing is going to impact us like a seasonal influenza or a 90% deadly ebola outbreak don't you think?

Would you behavior be different if you thought you had a normal level of risk when you took a drive in your car or if it was going to be 100% fatal today?

Here are some additional facts about COVID-19.  Exposure (infection) for the average population will have the following results.

80% of people will have very mild to no symptoms

15% of people will have symptoms serious enough to feel ill, will likely have to practice self-care (Advil, liquids, rest) as they will not be sick enough to require hospitalization & doctor’s offices will not want them to come in and potentially spread the illness to staff and other patients

5% of people will have symptoms acute enough to have respiratory distress and will need medical care intervention (isolated in a sick ward).

If 5% of the US population (16 Million people) all showed up at a hospital tomorrow the system would be completely overloaded.  Thus, to lower the impact to all we need to practice social distancing. This will help keep the frail, elderly, and compromised individuals safe.  Stay 5 feet away from others, wash your hands, stay out of any crowded areas, don’t go out at all if you don’t have to, spend time with your family, and read some funny books.  That will dramatically reduce the spread of the virus and allow us to flatten the curve.

Thanks.

22 minutes ago, pemart1966 said:

If you have any symptoms you shouldn't be "social distancing" you should be in "self isolation".

Social distancing and self isolation are things that should be done even if you don't have any symptoms...

Yes, you should self isolation if you have symptoms, or if you are part of a high risk group.  It's not practical for everyone (those that have no symptoms) to self isolation.  Thus social distancing is appropriate since COVID is spread by bodily fluids, coughing, spit when you talk, touching things and then transferring to your eyes or mouth after an infected person has touched them.  The appropriate response is social distancing, so people can do some of the required day to day activities, we can't all stay under the covers forever.  We can get thru this without everyone freaking out.

Stay calms and wash your hands.

7 minutes ago, dupont2005 said:

There must have been 2400 deaths since you last checked 

 

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

 

10% mortality globally, 61% within the US

You are way off.  Stats from WHO (as of 3/18/2020) 7,807 deaths of 191,187, so still 4.1%. 

In the US 58 deaths of 3,536 so only 1.6% morality here so far and we have an acute shortage of tests.

https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/situation-reports  

16 hours ago, dupont2005 said:

There are also people dying of COVID-19 type symptoms who aren’t being diagnosed. The fact that the diagnosis and death rates follow the same lines make me think they’re fairly accurate and we aren’t missing hundreds of thousands of infected people out there

 

current mortality rate is 10% internationally, 59% in USA among resolved cases. But even if it were 4.1% that is still a horrifying statistic.

I don't know where you get your numbers but the current mortality rate is 4.1% internationally using stats directly from WHO, 7,426 of 179,111 but like I said earlier the denominator is vastly understated so the actual rate is much lower.  Don't get me wrong, this is a very serious issue that is affecting people around the globe but you should not freak out if you are not part of the at risk population.  Practice social distancing and self quarantine if you have any symptoms.

55 minutes ago, lizards2 said:

Hookers and blow!!! 

* Spit take *

13 hours ago, the blob said:

My wife dressed as Ebola to a Halloween party 4 or 5 years ago. There were doctors there dressed as Ebola patients and doctors coveted in blood. Terrible

Humor can be used to deal with risk, uncertainty, loss.  Not that big of deal.

On ‎3‎/‎15‎/‎2020 at 10:31 PM, lou_fine said:

No, the numbers aren't fake, as they are simply incomplete which then has the potential to result in misleading percentages.

For example, if you are talking about the death rate, it is most likely overstated at this point in time since you are dividing by a number (i.e. total number of cases) that is severely understated because testing is still NOT YET in place to give us an accurate count with respect to this number.  

Completely agree, the math on COVID suggests no greater than a 4.1% morality rate but since we don't know the actual number of cases (due to limited testing) the true number is probably just a fraction of that.