• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

  • About Us
  • Lexicon
  • Contact Us
  • Our Store
  • ↑
  • ↓
  • ←
  • →

Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

Bad people in a position to do bad things will do bad things because they are bad people. End of story.

American history and black history cannot be separated.

“Until such time as the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin on.”

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

You know it’s bad when the Project 2025 people have to create training videos on “How To Be Normal”.

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires.

The words do not have to be perfect.

This chaos was totally avoidable.

Let the trolls come, and then ignore them. that’s the worst thing you can do to a troll.

Someone should tell Republicans that violence is the last refuge of the incompetent, or possibly the first.

The fight for our country is always worth it. ~Kamala Harris

Every reporter and pundit should have to declare if they ever vacationed with a billionaire.

I am pretty sure these ‘journalists’ were not always such a bootlicking sycophants.

We can show the world that autocracy can be defeated.

Petty moves from a petty man.

Cancel the cowardly Times and Post and set up an equivalent monthly donation to ProPublica.

Republican speaker of the house Mike Johnson is the bland and smiling face of evil.

If you still can’t see these things even now, maybe politics isn’t your forte and you should stop writing about it.

So many bastards, so little time.

Optimism opens the door to great things.

Mobile Menu

  • Seattle Meet-up Post
  • 2025 Activism
  • Targeted Political Fundraising
  • Donate with Venmo, Zelle & PayPal
  • Site Feedback
  • War in Ukraine
  • Submit Photos to On the Road
  • Politics
  • On The Road
  • Open Threads
  • Topics
  • COVID-19
  • Authors
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Lexicon
  • Our Store
  • Politics
  • Open Threads
  • 2025 Activism
  • Garden Chats
  • On The Road
  • Targeted Fundraising!
You are here: Home / Music / Thursday Evening Open Thread

Thursday Evening Open Thread

by Anne Laurie|  March 26, 20207:04 pm| 125 Comments

This post is in: Music, Open Threads

FacebookTweetEmail

Since morning we have received numerous requests for written authorization to play this song on TVs & Radio stations. Please go ahead and use it! It's not ours anymore but for the world. We're only trying to add our voice to the many ongoing efforts against #COVID19. Full video.. pic.twitter.com/6ea3shezSs

— BOBI WINE (@HEBobiwine) March 25, 2020

Still the catchiest pandemic-related ditty I’ve run across! Ugandan singer / activist Bobi Wine has some other fine work on YouTube, too…

FacebookTweetEmail
Previous Post: « Republican Venality Open Thread: Deliberate, Criminal Negligence
Next Post: Horrorshow Open Thread: Maybe the Rich WANT Us to Kill Them? »

Reader Interactions

125Comments

  1. 1.

    WereBear

    March 26, 2020 at 7:16 pm

    Since there was no respite warning, I’ll let this thought here:

    I think we lucked out that we have President Obama for Ebola, and pResident tRump for COVID-19.

    Yanno? Just in terms of relative mayhem. (Reading The Hot Zone. Scare you silly, it will.)

  2. 2.

    The Dangerman

    March 26, 2020 at 7:52 pm

    Fire Department just came for a neighbor; Fireman said she looked pale (great) and I know she has asthma (great) and I heard her say she doesn’t want to go to the Hospital (and why the fuck not? I’d ask her except the obvious). Fire Folks all left and I heard the goodbye; it wasn’t “good luck” or “feel better”, it was “see you later”. Ummmmmmmm. Shit.

    I was going to go out for a short respite walk. Well, THAT got flushed in a hurry.

  3. 3.

    Bruuuuce

    March 26, 2020 at 7:58 pm

    Have we spoken about the amazingly entitled putz from UPenn who penned first an article titled “Penn stole our senior year over the common cold” and then, when called on it, doubled down with “OPEN LETTER | About our little misunderstanding“? The first one is about a week old, so ancient news, but WOW! IN the running for the Golden Dunce Cap of 2020, non-professional-politician division. It is to be noted that the UPenn Statesman is their conservative rag, so it’s not a shock that he found an outlet there. But I am still boggling, despite knowing that there is no peak wingnut.

  4. 4.

    p.a.

    March 26, 2020 at 8:08 pm

    I keep hitting the ‘ad covered content’ complaint about google ads, and it’s been a week, and they haven’t fixed it yet!?

  5. 5.

    WereBear

    March 26, 2020 at 8:09 pm

    @Bruuuuce:  despite knowing that there is no peak wingnut

     
    As objects approach a black hole, it grows larger much more quickly than expected, thanks to the incredible curvature of space.

    Things speed up. The darkness curves around to fill the view… then it becomes visible behind you, as well.

    Too late to escape.

    Sadly, some will experience Peak Wingnut, because they listened to Fox and Trump instead of their exasperated friends and relations.

  6. 6.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    March 26, 2020 at 8:09 pm

    One of my oldest friends just told me that his father of 87 passed away last night.  Covid-19 death in Maine.  His aunt (his father’s sister) and he got it at some get-together 3 weeks-ish ago.  Asymptomatic couple carried it.  His aunt passed earlier in the week.

    My friend was there with his dad a week ago Sunday and since has been self-quarantining.  10 days into it and no symptoms.

  7. 7.

    HumboldtBlue

    March 26, 2020 at 8:10 pm

    Kaitlyn is on duty doing her job when she learns some awesome news.

  8. 8.

    Dan B

    March 26, 2020 at 8:11 pm

    In addition to the EPA no longer enforcing enviro-nazi reg’s the Department of Labor os dropping affirmative action.  My partner just remarked that “We’re not even getting the trains running on time.  Usually with fascists you get some train action.”

    Is there some bingo or drinking game that we can run on what horror/ libertarian paradisical dream they will trot out while grannies Die for the Dow?

  9. 9.

    WereBear

    March 26, 2020 at 8:11 pm

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage: I’m sorry. That’s so sad.

  10. 10.

    Renie

    March 26, 2020 at 8:16 pm

    Anyone know the regulations on the new unemployment provisions?  Does it cover people who work off of 1099s?  Any good sources available yet?

  11. 11.

    WereBear

    March 26, 2020 at 8:16 pm

    @Dan B:

    Is there some bingo or drinking game that we can run on what horror/ libertarian paradisical dream they will trot out while grannies Die for the Dow?

     
    The central square on my card is Debt Slavery.

  12. 12.

    lamh36

    March 26, 2020 at 8:18 pm

    Professor today shared the stories of his Asian students who are exchange student here and they are deadly afraid of leaving their dorms because of the uptick in violence they have been reading about.

  13. 13.

    Another Scott

    March 26, 2020 at 8:19 pm

    @Renie: Maybe this?

    https://www.bakerlaw.com/alerts/individual-income-tax-implications-of-the-coronavirus-aid-relief-and-economic-security-cares-act

    HTH. Good luck!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  14. 14.

    Bruuuuce

    March 26, 2020 at 8:19 pm

    @WereBear: But while we can approach the center, the curve is asymptotic, and we’ll never get there.

    Hey! Did Zeno have some sort of advanced astronomy going, then?

  15. 15.

    Dan B

    March 26, 2020 at 8:20 pm

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage: These tragic stories will be commonplace, but never common.  The owner of a well loved neighborhood grocery in Seattle passed away last week.  We had a Seattle Meetup at a restaurant across the street from the store, the Leschi Market.

    It gets real and close.

  16. 16.

    NotMax

    March 26, 2020 at 8:21 pm

    Report from the wide world of non-sports. Trucked the landlady out so she could go to her P.O. box, the bank and the market to get cat food and a few other items.

    Popped in to the market myself to check for onions. Also (reluctantly, see below) picked up some eggs and a tub of ice cream while there. Rare for me to have ice cream in the house but had an itch for it and scored a container of decent brand spumoni at 50% off. This particular supermarket has always been my shopping stop of last resort and I avoid going there as much as I can.

    Parking lot of small mall about one-third full.
    Bread goods aplenty.
    Some spot empty spaces on the shelves, but not a lot. Exception: paper goods very scanty.
    Bulk food serve yourself containers emptied.
    Sushi station in market shut completely.
    Deli counter reduced to what is essentially a kiosk.
    Starbuck’s attached to market shut completely.
    Big X’s in blue tape marked out on floor at registers for those in line.
    Sign on the window of in-store pharmacy: “If you’re sick, call from your car and we’ll bring your prescription out to you.”
    .
    Market making out like a bandit. Examples:
    Fresh onions: $3.69/lb
    Dozen eggs (with store membership): $5.99 (no membership: $6.99)
    Canister of Passover macaroons: $7.99
    Single box of matzo: 8 bucks and change.
    14 oz. can of either diced or crushed tomatoes: $3.49
    Noticed prices on nearly everything have increased dramatically.
    .

  17. 17.

    catclub

    March 26, 2020 at 8:24 pm

    @Renie: Does it cover people who work off of 1099s? Any good sources available yet?

     

    I heard that gig economy workers would have some way in. UI?

  18. 18.

    Dan B

    March 26, 2020 at 8:28 pm

    @lamh36:  There are stories of Chinese exchange students paying $20,000 for private charter flights to get out of the US.

    Southeast Seattle, about 1/4 of the city, is about 25% Chinese american, and another 40% is other Asian so it would be weird but not impossible for overt racism here.  But we’ll see.

  19. 19.

    NotMax

    March 26, 2020 at 8:35 pm

    @Dan B

    Very large influx of Chinese in town where Mom lives in NY (also large numbers of Iranians who arrived late last century, but that’s another story). Thinking good thoughts for them.

  20. 20.

    gwangung

    March 26, 2020 at 8:35 pm

    @Dan B: We’ve had vandalism of windows in the I-District

     

    And that kind of proportion is kinda ripe for incidents, either from neighbors or from folks trolling by…

  21. 21.

    HumboldtBlue

    March 26, 2020 at 8:36 pm

    Liverpool Football Club issue a thanks to the health workers across the world.

    It’s an international message featuring people from Germany, England, Guinea, Senegal, Brazil, Greece, Scotland, Belgium, The Netherlands, Wales, Japan, Egypt, Croatia, the U.S., Spain, Switzerland and Ireland.

  22. 22.

    dmsilev

    March 26, 2020 at 8:37 pm

    @Bruuuuce: I got as far as

    In case you missed it, epidemiological events since January have proven President Trump wildly correct.

    before bailing out.

  23. 23.

    Bruuuuce

    March 26, 2020 at 8:41 pm

    @dmsilev: It doesn’t improve. This guy is the epitome of arrogant privilege. What scares me is that there are people who still think like him, and that society tolerates them.

  24. 24.

    Kifaru1

    March 26, 2020 at 8:46 pm

    My favorite coronavirus song so far is a re-purposed Bohemian Rhapsody:

    https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10218376617061095&id=1062811331&d=null&vh=i

  25. 25.

    NotMax

    March 26, 2020 at 8:47 pm

    @Bruuuuce

    Oh, there are others who are more (to coin a word) epitomous. The difference is they know better than to showboat it 24/7/365.

  26. 26.

    HumboldtBlue

    March 26, 2020 at 8:51 pm

    The UK took to their doors and windows at 8 p.m. tonight to applaud their health workers.

    They clapped a lot.

  27. 27.

    realbtl

    March 26, 2020 at 8:58 pm

    Montana governor just ordered non-essential business/travel shut down.  Outdoor recreation is still ok with distancing which isn’t quite as crazy as it sounds as we have a lot of space and few people.  Plus I don’t think we’ll be seeing many tourist this year.

  28. 28.

    dmsilev

    March 26, 2020 at 9:01 pm

    @realbtl: Outdoor recreation with distancing is the approach California took as well. The state and various counties has had to close a bunch of popular trails and parks and beaches because people were ignoring the second half of that.

  29. 29.

    Jeffro

    March 26, 2020 at 9:09 pm

    Did I just read correctly, that during the presser today trumpov called Gov Inslee a ‘wise guy’ and said something to the effect that ‘we made it so he won’t be so wise anymore’?

    Is the president* ordering aid to be withheld from blue states, and/or Govs that don’t kiss his ring?

    Would SOMEONE please ahem um solve this ahem um problem for our country, stat?

  30. 30.

    Another Scott

    March 26, 2020 at 9:09 pm

    We knew it could happen.

    We knew it *would* eventually happen.

    So:

    We left them a playbook.

    We left them an expert NSC team.

    We built a transition exercise around it.

    We built new programs to prepare for it.

    They ignored/closed/undermined all of that.

    This is horseshit. https://t.co/fAAU4IENM0

    — Jeremy THANK YOU HEALTH HEROES Konyndyk (@JeremyKonyndyk) March 26, 2020

    Good people need to continue speaking up.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  31. 31.

    Roger Moore

    March 26, 2020 at 9:09 pm

    @dmsilev:

    I’ve been happy to see that “outdoor recreation with social distancing” has worked in my neighborhood.  People walk their dogs or go out for a jog while maintaining a good distance.  It seems like a healthy outlet to me.

  32. 32.

    Amir Khalid

    March 26, 2020 at 9:12 pm

    The social-distance guideline seems to differ with the country: 1m here in Malaysia, 1.5m in Germany as cited in Angela Merkel’s TV address, 1.8m in the US. Does anyone know the reason for the difference?

  33. 33.

    dmsilev

    March 26, 2020 at 9:14 pm

    @Amir Khalid: Americans spit longer distances.

    (I don’t actually know)

  34. 34.

    Immanentize

    March 26, 2020 at 9:14 pm

    @Amir Khalid: People in the US sneeze much more vigorously.

    ETA Actually an uncovered  sneeze or cough almost always sprays particles four feet or more. So the six foot/two meter prescription is the best and safest of those distances

  35. 35.

    NotMax

    March 26, 2020 at 9:19 pm

    @Immanentize

    Recall you were looking for it a while back. People Will Talk airing on TCM 10 p.m. Saturday.

  36. 36.

    Immanentize

    March 26, 2020 at 9:21 pm

    @NotMax: thank you.  I love that movie!

  37. 37.

    japa21

    March 26, 2020 at 9:24 pm

    I will be interested to see what happens in Illinois starting around next Tuesday. That will be two weeks after the primary.  I know I will be monitoring myself closely as I was a judge and in the environment for over 13 hours.

    The same could be said for FL and AZ.

  38. 38.

    Another Scott

    March 26, 2020 at 9:25 pm

    @Renie: Horse’s mouth:

    https://www.irs.gov/coronavirus

    Not a whole lot there yet, but keep looking.

    HTH.

    (via GovExec)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  39. 39.

    Doc Sardonic

    March 26, 2020 at 9:27 pm

    @Amir Khalid: I think maybe because 6 feet is easy for us calculate. Person + shopping cart 6 feet, two average adult steps ~6 feet, so it is kind of an automatic thing.

  40. 40.

    West of the Cascades

    March 26, 2020 at 9:33 pm

    @dmsilev: Oregon generally seems to have taken the same approach, but some of the popular trails had to be shut down because of the inability to keep distance. But there are a LOT of unused old logging roads within a 75-minute drive of Portland where one can get a great hike or run without encountering a single other person (and a few established trails in the National Forest and Tillamook State Forest, too, that have no people on them).

  41. 41.

    frosty

    March 26, 2020 at 9:40 pm

    @Amir Khalid: I don’t but the Mythbusters did the research:

    https://mythresults.com/flu-fiction

  42. 42.

    HumboldtBlue

    March 26, 2020 at 9:41 pm

    @Amir Khalid:

    Like you’ve never seen the six-yard box before.

    SMH.

  43. 43.

    Martin

    March 26, 2020 at 9:43 pm

    @Immanentize: Shit, when I sneeze I could reach Amir.

  44. 44.

    ziggy

    March 26, 2020 at 9:44 pm

    @Immanentize: People in the US sneeze much more vigorously.

    Tell me about it! My husband should have a minimum 12′ perimeter around him. We have a system where he slaps a nearby surface twice before sneezing, so he doesn’t blow my eardrums out!

  45. 45.

    NotMax

    March 26, 2020 at 9:44 pm

    Ripple effects.

    Final Crisis? Diamond Comic Distributors Halts Shipments Of New Comics In Response To COVID-19 Shutdowns

  46. 46.

    joel hanes

    March 26, 2020 at 9:49 pm

    @Jeffro:

    Is the president* ordering aid to be withheld from blue states, and/or Govs that don’t kiss his ring?

    Yes.   He’s doing it in plausibly-deniable mobster-speak, but he’s doing it.  But he can’t prevent himself from gloating about it, also in mobster-speak, because his ego needs us to know that he’s getting revenge.

  47. 47.

    delk

    March 26, 2020 at 9:50 pm

    @japa21: my husband was a judge as well.

  48. 48.

    joel hanes

    March 26, 2020 at 9:51 pm

    @Another Scott:

    I wish that Dr. Messionier would decide she has no more fucks left to give and tell us what she experienced.

  49. 49.

    joel hanes

    March 26, 2020 at 9:53 pm

    @Immanentize:

    The six foot/two meter prescription is the best and safest of those distances

    Personally, I strive for ten to twelve feet and a crosswind.  If I’m going to the store, I go masked.

  50. 50.

    NotMax

    March 26, 2020 at 9:53 pm

    @joel hanes

    I wish America had no more Fox to give.

    :)

  51. 51.

    trollhattan

    March 26, 2020 at 9:54 pm

    Shopping therapy: my Neko Case LP box set arrived from the UK a mere week after ordering. Shipping box was savaged but the contents are fine. Best surprise is the card with download code for digital versions of all the albums, but what I await is time sans people living here who may not share my reverence for Neko Case [Philistines] so I can give the LPs a proper spin. The Voice is The Voice. Accept no substitutes.

    #NekoVirusCureVeryLoud

  52. 52.

    trollhattan

    March 26, 2020 at 9:56 pm

    @joel hanes:

    Gone metric for the duration. I have a Metric Buttload of data that says I’m right. 2 meters or die!

  53. 53.

    NotMax

    March 26, 2020 at 9:57 pm

    Mentioned above above a foray out in public. While there, either hanging out in the parking lot waiting for landlady or inside the market –

    # of people seen: around 60
    # with masks: 3

  54. 54.

    Ruckus

    March 26, 2020 at 9:57 pm

    Something a bit different.

    UOGB

  55. 55.

    HumboldtBlue

    March 26, 2020 at 9:58 pm

    The USS Roosevelt was operating in the Philippine Sea and is now anchored in Apra Bay, Guam.

    An aircraft carrier is an especially difficult place to deal with a virus.

    While the economic implications of the COVID-19 outbreak are significant and highly visible, an outbreak of the virus onboard an aircraft carrier presents a fundamentally different challenge, with different implications, than an outbreak on land. Virtually any shipboard environment presents difficult conditions to contain a viral outbreak, but this is true more so on an aircraft carrier than on any other type of ship. When the carrier is deployed with its embarked air wing, there are over 5,000 personnel onboard. The only other type of ship that embarks a similar number of people is a cruise ship. Unlike cruise ships, which offer some personal space and the potential for quarantine as a protective measure against infection, sailors onboard aircraft carriers live in tightly confined spaces and eat in communal settings.

  56. 56.

    joel hanes

    March 26, 2020 at 10:00 pm

    @trollhattan:

    Well, a metric buttload is a lot of data, but you might want to click through that Mythbusters link.

  57. 57.

    HumboldtBlue

    March 26, 2020 at 10:03 pm

    @Ruckus:

    Never tire of that.

    You sexy thing.

  58. 58.

    NotMax

    March 26, 2020 at 10:04 pm

    @Ruckus

    Jake Shimabukuro – When The Masks Come Down.

  59. 59.

    Martin

    March 26, 2020 at 10:04 pm

    Ok, we all need to mount campaigns in our states to mandate that all new hotel/motel air conditioners be equipped for negative pressure use. It’d only cost a few dollars per room. Pretty inexpensive insurance for the next occasion.

  60. 60.

    trollhattan

    March 26, 2020 at 10:06 pm

    @joel hanes:

    What am I Canadian?!?

    Back in the Jimmy Carter era we were transitioning to metric, to the extent that highway signs had mph/kph and miles/kilometers but Ronny Gawddamn Reagan killed that off, right quick.

    And that was that.

    Gawd bless Ronny Gawddamn Reagan. Vass fur ein Mensch.

  61. 61.

    Bruuuuce

    March 26, 2020 at 10:09 pm

    @NotMax: I’ll see your comics and raise you a peeps factory closing just before Easter.

  62. 62.

    Martin

    March 26, 2020 at 10:09 pm

    @trollhattan: I love how the beverage industries stuck with it because a 2L bottle of soda was a bit smaller than a 64 oz bottle and a 750ml bottle of liquor was a bit less than a fifth of a gallon.

    They should have told everyone that if they switched to kg they’d all lose weight.

  63. 63.

    NotMax

    March 26, 2020 at 10:09 pm

    @Martin

    Just a note that those bathroom vents they’re talking about are not isolated from nor independent to each room. They’re connected to lots of other rooms.

  64. 64.

    Dan B

    March 26, 2020 at 10:09 pm

    @gwangung:  It seems like the creeps show up in the neighborhoods like Capitol Hill for harassing gays when it was practically the only gay hood several decades ago and the ID when it’s not as asian as Little Saigon.  We’re in mid Beacon Hill in a single family neighborhood, mostly several generations in one house.  It’s not part of the mental map of racist whites from exurbia.  If Trump and his minions keep a grip on power all bets are off.  They’ll be angry at how they were treated so badly by the people they threatened.

  65. 65.

    Avalune

    March 26, 2020 at 10:10 pm

    Everything online is so depressing lately I’ve been sitting with the TV off writing my blog post for Saturday, exercising and bankrolling home expansions in angry bite-y spiders in animal crossing.

    Sorry to hear about the losses.

  66. 66.

    mrmoshpotato

    March 26, 2020 at 10:11 pm

    @NotMax: Fresh onions: $3.69/lb

    Hot dog!

    Dozen eggs (with store membership): $5.99 (no membership: $6.99)

    Dog thrown into the Sun!

  67. 67.

    NotMax

    March 26, 2020 at 10:14 pm

    @mrmoshpotato

    Shouldn’t be so petty but Thursday is 5% off everything except alcoholic beverages for seniors there and took some satisfaction in denying them those few pennies from the redonkulous prices.

  68. 68.

    Dan B

    March 26, 2020 at 10:15 pm

    @Jeffro: I wonder if Trump wants to make an example of Inslee because California and New York are bigger and more powerful states.  That would fit the logic of the bully / mobster.

  69. 69.

    burnspbesq

    March 26, 2020 at 10:15 pm

    @trollhattan:

    I’ve been digging deep into the back catalog of the late, great Malian guitarist Ali Farka Toure.

    Amir, if you’re not familiar, check him out. Easiest way in is the album he did with Ry Cooder in the mid 1990s, Talking Timbuktu.

  70. 70.

    Martin

    March 26, 2020 at 10:17 pm

    @NotMax: Not sure how much the differ from our dorms, but our dorms draw from a common air source. So provided all rooms are negative pressure, none are feeding into the common source. But all of them need to be switched on.

  71. 71.

    Mary G

    March 26, 2020 at 10:22 pm

    Happy 80th birthday to the most powerful woman in American politics, Nancy SMASH Pelosi!

    ❤?✌???????

    Karen Tumulty has a great profile in the WaPo:

    In the wake of 9/11, Republicans were on the rise again. Pundits were astonished that the House Democratic caucus would turn to a liberal from San Francisco as its leader. “Are the Democrats about to go insane?” David Brooks wrote in the Weekly Standard. “Nancy Pelosi, the presumptive House minority leader, may be the most caricaturable politician since Newt Gingrich.”

    But two more cycles after that, Pelosi had her hands on that gavel that now sits in the Smithsonian.

  72. 72.

    chris

    March 26, 2020 at 10:25 pm

    Apologies if already posted but it’s pretty good.

    Today's ad, hot off the griddle.Someone did see it coming. pic.twitter.com/ziS3R4gkkJ— Ben Wexler (@mrbenwexler) 27 March 2020

  73. 73.

    burnspbesq

    March 26, 2020 at 10:25 pm

    It’s been interesting, in a law-geek sort of way, to watch Sweetwater and Musician’s Friend try to entice me into buying the guitar and amp I’m thinking about getting. They are doing everything except dropping the price. It started with free shipping, and it’s now up to four years interest-free financing. Apparently Fender can prohibit them from dropping the price on new gear.

    It’s like an antitrust law exam question happening in real time.

  74. 74.

    sanjeevs

    March 26, 2020 at 10:27 pm

    The surprising thing to me about the Unemplyment figures was the states worst hit

    Pennsylvania is worst with 378k , then Ohio with almost 200k

    Anyone know why? I would have expected tourist states to be worst hit initially.

  75. 75.

    NotMax

    March 26, 2020 at 10:29 pm

    @NotMax

    Total senior savings per the receipt: 68 cents. Plus the nickel bring-your-own-bag credit.

    Now the dilemma is where to invest such a windfall.

    ;)

  76. 76.

    NotMax

    March 26, 2020 at 10:33 pm

    @sanjeevs

    Both PA and OH still (though not what they once were) big manufacturing states. Gross numbers on factory payrolls are large.

  77. 77.

    Another Scott

    March 26, 2020 at 10:34 pm

    @Martin: Eh?

    2 l = 67.6 oz > 64 oz

    (fifth = 757 ml > 750 ml so you’re Ok there)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  78. 78.

    Mary G

    March 26, 2020 at 10:37 pm

    Jimmy Kimmel tells Biden that wearing his Phillies hat isn't a way to win votes. Biden says "It's a way to be able to sleep with my wife." pic.twitter.com/WhJHy69Ebb— Jennifer Epstein (@jeneps) March 27, 2020

  79. 79.

    ziggy

    March 26, 2020 at 10:37 pm

    @Dan B: Trump told the governers that the federal gov would be “backup” for them. Inssssslee (the snake!) told him “we don’t need a backup, we need a Tom Brady”, along with a few other comments. Trump will get revenge, that’s what he’s best at. He doesn’t care about our state because it is reliably blue. A good reason to get rid of electoral college (well, also Trump).

  80. 80.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    March 26, 2020 at 10:40 pm

    trump ran out of the Covid briefing early today, he was afraid of tough questions, but missed the attention. The solution? A Hannity binkie!

    Yamiche Alcindor @Yamiche· 46
    Wow Pres Trump is saying @NYGovCuomo is off base to say NY state needs 30,000 ventilators. Trump said, “I have a feeling that a lot of the numbers that are being said in some areas are just bigger than they are going to be. I don’t believe you need 40,000 or 30,000 ventilators”

    Daniel Dale @ddale8 38m
    Trump: “Some of these governors you know they take take take and then they complain…you build them a hospital and then they’re always complaining.”
    Trump says he’s having a big problem with “the young, a woman governor, you know who I’m talking about, from Michigan.”

    and he’s giving medical advice again

    Daniel Dale@ddale8 1h
    Trump wrongly says “there’s no risk” to taking a medication for the coronavirus if “it’s already out there” for other purposes.
    Hannity and Trump are talking up various possible treatments for the coronavirus; I’ll skip the details. (Again, there are no proven treatments.)

  81. 81.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    March 26, 2020 at 10:41 pm

    Governor Gretchen Whitmer @GovWhitmer 20m
    Hi, my name is Gretchen Whitmer, and that governor is me
    I’ve asked repeatedly and respectfully for help. We need it. No more political attacks, just PPEs, ventilators, N95 masks, test kits. You said you stand with Michigan — prove it.

  82. 82.

    Another Scott

    March 26, 2020 at 10:41 pm

    Reminder that this was the official US govt position 30 days ago https://t.co/8O9q9ZkTIW

    — Shiv Ramdas (@nameshiv) March 26, 2020

    Yet another comment that has aged very, very badly. Larry Kudlow in this case.

    Don’t forget.

    We have to vote the monsters out.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  83. 83.

    NotMax

    March 26, 2020 at 10:42 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Shame there’s no window in the studio so we can see what color the sky is where they are.

  84. 84.

    HinTN

    March 26, 2020 at 10:44 pm

    @burnspbesq:

    Malian guitarist Ali Farka Toure

    Didn’t he play the kora?

    ETA: Yes, he was great and I wore the 1s and 0s off that record.

  85. 85.

    Firebert

    March 26, 2020 at 10:48 pm

    @burnspbesq: I work for a small boutique musical instrument company.  From experience, the big guitar companies all maintain a team of hungry lawyers.

  86. 86.

    Jeffro

    March 26, 2020 at 10:48 pm

    @Dan B: who knows?  He’s sick.

    he literally doesn’t care if anyone/any state perceived as ‘blue’ ie anti-trumpov lives or dies

  87. 87.

    Amir Khalid

    March 26, 2020 at 10:49 pm

    @burnspbesq:

    By the way, which guitar and amp would that be?

    I remmber seeing an American guitar YouTuber’s rant on this topic. This guy, a self-professed libertarian with a yen for subtly racist humour whose videos I no longer watch, took Fender’s side: dealers should not be free to charge less than the minumum recommended selling price.

    I wonder, what’s it to Fender? The retail markup is the dealer’s money, not Fender’s. If the dealer wants to shave his price for the sake of customer goodwill and maybe repeat business, that’s just him cooking*.

     

    *Hat-tip to Chef John

  88. 88.

    Jeffro

    March 26, 2020 at 10:50 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: good for her!

    take it to him, Dems!  Lives are at stake!

  89. 89.

    lgerard

    March 26, 2020 at 10:55 pm

    The federal government’s planned $2 trillion economic rescue package includes financial aid for individuals and industries that are struggling to survive the coronavirus pandemic.

    It also includes a potential bonanza for America’s richest real estate investors.

    Senate Republicans inserted an easy-to-overlook provision on page 203 of the 880-page bill that would permit wealthy investors to use losses generated by real estate to minimize their taxes on profits from things like investments in the stock market. The estimated cost of the change over 10 years is $170 billion.

    God dammit, now I’m angry again

  90. 90.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    March 26, 2020 at 10:59 pm

    Speaking of ventilators, our MBA Princeling is on the case

    After Considering $1 Billion Price Tag for Ventilators, White House Has Second Thoughts
    At the center of the discussion about how to ramp up the production of ventilators is Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and a senior White House aide, who has told people that he was called in two weeks ago by Vice President Mike Pence to produce more coronavirus test kits and who has now turned his attention to ventilators. …
    So on Wednesday, despite the president’s tweet three days earlier, FEMA was still weighing competing offers in order to make a recommendation to Mr. Kushner.

    Somebody better check on Cuomo, he may blow a gasket….

  91. 91.

    rikyrah

    March 26, 2020 at 11:03 pm

    @HumboldtBlue:

    awe??????

  92. 92.

    burnspbesq

    March 26, 2020 at 11:03 pm

    @Firebert:

    Fender would have a hard time recruiting top-notch in-house lawyers. Corona, California is the armpit of the fucking universe.

    I could see working for Martin or Taylor.

  93. 93.

    Anne Laurie

    March 26, 2020 at 11:05 pm

    @sanjeevs: The surprising thing to me about the Unemployment figures was the states worst hit

    Pennsylvania is worst with 378k , then Ohio with almost 200k.

    Not sure about PA, but Ohio has a lot of auto-related industries, which shut down early because the manufacturers could tell nobody would be buying new cars this summer.

    Probably cutbacks at the airline hub in Dayton didn’t help, either.

    Tourism uses a lot of warm bodies, but many of those bodies are ‘self employed small businesses’ or ‘gig economy workers’.  The trinket shop owner, the hot dog franchisee, and the guys driving the eight-person tour buses probably don’t qualify for unemployment benefits, at least under the standing rules.

  94. 94.

    burnspbesq

    March 26, 2020 at 11:05 pm

    @Amir Khalid:

    The American Performer Tele with the humbucker in the neck position, and a reissue ‘65 Princeton.

  95. 95.

    lgerard

    March 26, 2020 at 11:09 pm

    @trollhattan:

     

    While you are downloading those, you also might want to download this NPR concert from 2009 with Kelly Hogan if you haven’t already.

    The encores are smokin’

    https://www.npr.org/2009/04/09/102641637/neko-case-and-will-sheff-in-concert?refresh=true

  96. 96.

    Just One More Canuck

    March 26, 2020 at 11:09 pm

    @NotMax: 6.99 per dozen? Jeezus. Our local market has them for what would be about $2.25 in American dollars

  97. 97.

    Inspectrix

    March 26, 2020 at 11:09 pm

    @trollhattan:  Neke Case, yes.

    I gave her some slots on my Corona playlist.

    enjoy your collection.

  98. 98.

    Firebert

    March 26, 2020 at 11:12 pm

    @burnspbesq: I could see working for Martin or Taylor.

    Couldn’t help noticing that you didn’t mention Gibson. :P

  99. 99.

    rikyrah

    March 26, 2020 at 11:12 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

     

    Sue? the?phuck?outta? Hannity?and ?Fox?

  100. 100.

    burnspbesq

    March 26, 2020 at 11:13 pm

    @lgerard:

    that times article is pure gibberish to me, and i practiced tax law for 37 years. Anybody got a link to the statutory language?

  101. 101.

    Anne Laurie

    March 26, 2020 at 11:16 pm

    @Amir Khalid: I wonder, what’s it to Fender? The retail markup is the dealer’s money, not Fender’s.

    One of the most often-repeated MBA mantras — which is why even *I* know it! — is that a company’s “brand” needs to be positioned for a particular market.  Upscale brands, like Fender, must at all cost avoid being associated with the word discount, because that would besmirch their products forever & ever.

    The assumption is that someone with the money to spend on a Fender guitar (or a Rolex watch, or a Coach handbag) can’t actually tell what’s quality from what’s advertising.  Doesn’t say much for what they think of their customers!

  102. 102.

    burnspbesq

    March 26, 2020 at 11:16 pm

    @Firebert:

    Nashville’s not high on my list of places to live. Nazareth, Pennsylvania is a cool little town, and you can commute to El Cajon from any of the nice parts of San Diego.

  103. 103.

    Doc Sardonic

    March 26, 2020 at 11:17 pm

    @burnspbesq: The way a lot of the music stores get around the minimum retail is periodically they will have a sale on a “open box” guitar, amp, pedal etc. Keep watching because I have a feeling that as things continue to spiral around the drain there may suddenly be a whole bunch of open boxes.

  104. 104.

    ballerat

    March 26, 2020 at 11:18 pm

    @Martin: Manufacturers of sheet goods went metric some years ago. Didn’t tell Bubba about it. He’d rather buy a 15/32-inch sheet of plywood and pretend it’s still 1/2 inch than accept some limp-wristed euro-socialist metric measurement of 12mm.

    They all bought 15/32 bits too despite 12mm making just as tight dadoes.

  105. 105.

    James E Powell

    March 26, 2020 at 11:22 pm

    @burnspbesq:

    Why not go used? I look at the prices for new guitars and just shake my head. Oy!

    ETA: I would come out of attorney retirement to work for Fender. Corona is a jump up the road.

  106. 106.

    burnspbesq

    March 26, 2020 at 11:22 pm

    @Doc Sardonic:

    yup. The problem with open box is that it can be hard to tell from photos how badly the original owner banged it up.

  107. 107.

    burnspbesq

    March 26, 2020 at 11:23 pm

    @James E Powell:

    Even in Austin, used guitar stores aren’t essential. All closed for the duration.

  108. 108.

    lgerard

    March 26, 2020 at 11:24 pm

    @burnspbesq:

     

    https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6819239-FINAL-FINAL-CARES-ACT.html

     

    The best I can figure out is that it puts a new loophole into the 2017 tax scam.

    One things for certain, it benefits trump, kushner and their Mar a lago friends

  109. 109.

    burnspbesq

    March 26, 2020 at 11:25 pm

    @James E Powell:

    No kidding, but some are worse than others. The difference between the Guild I bought and the Martin I was lusting after is paying for the Tele.

  110. 110.

    Doc Sardonic

    March 26, 2020 at 11:29 pm

    @James E Powell: I prefer used guitars and amps, new ones have pretty much priced me out. Unless a guitar is really messed up I can possibly resurrect it, matter of this shut myself in the house situation may allow me to concentrate on my hunnerd buck triplets.

  111. 111.

    trollhattan

    March 26, 2020 at 11:37 pm

    @lgerard:

    Ooooh, Thanks!

  112. 112.

    James E Powell

    March 26, 2020 at 11:37 pm

    @burnspbesq:

    @Doc Sardonic:

    I’ve been lucky on ebay and reverb. I maintain discipline on price and usually watch the market for the guitar I want for months before I find one priced low enough that I will take a chance on it. I am currently stalking a butterscotch blonde Classic Player Baja Telecaster. Prices have gone up since they discontinued the line. So I will keep waiting.

  113. 113.

    burnspbesq

    March 26, 2020 at 11:42 pm

    @lgerard:

    Going to need to spend more time with Section 2304.

    Section 2306 is a nice little goodie for businesses. For taxable years beginning in 2020 and 2021, the amount of business interest expense that can be deducted is increased from business interest income plus 30 percent of EBITDA to business interest income plus 50 percent of EBITDA. Real estate developers (most of whom couldn’t opt out of section 163(j) because they weren’t “qualified real property trades or businesses”) are going to fucking love this.

  114. 114.

    Another Scott

    March 26, 2020 at 11:43 pm

    @lgerard:

    HR748 Final (880 page pdf).

    HTH.

    Cheers,
    Scottt.

  115. 115.

    The Thin Black Duke

    March 26, 2020 at 11:44 pm

    @James E Powell: The $500 MIJ Fender Pbass my beloved got me for a Christmas present fifteen years ago has served me well. And after swapping out the stock pickups for Seymour Duncans and TI Jazz strings, she sings.

  116. 116.

    lgerard

    March 26, 2020 at 11:56 pm

    @burnspbesq:

    Suggest you contact whichever GOP donors lawyer that wrote that

  117. 117.

    burnspbesq

    March 27, 2020 at 12:06 am

    @Anne Laurie:

    The major brands have multiple product families, from entry-level to ultra-luxury. Taylor’s lineup is most transparent: the first digit of the model number tells you where you are (the higher, the better). With the others, you have to wade through a pretty opaque nomenclature (is an American Performer Fender better than an American Professional? No, but you wouldn’t necessarily know that without doing some digging).

    What they want to do is what GM used to do, get you into a Chevy early in life, and as you get older and have more $, entice you into Pontiac, then Buick or Olds, and ultimately to Caddy.

  118. 118.

    JWR

    March 27, 2020 at 12:11 am

    @James E Powell:

    I maintain discipline on price and usually watch the market for the guitar I want

    When I bought my last new guitar, I was advised to wail for the year-end price drop, which was good for me, since I began my search in early November. The guitar I finally bought went down by another $100 (at Manny’s) before they finally rolled out the next years model, so yay, me!

  119. 119.

    Amir Khalid

    March 27, 2020 at 12:15 am

    @The Thin Black Duke:

    I am but a penurious player of poor man’s Squiers and Epiphones.

  120. 120.

    JWR

    March 27, 2020 at 12:18 am

    @burnspbesq:

    The American Performer Tele with the humbucker in the neck position, and a reissue ‘65 Princeton.

    Ooo, schweet! I used to play an old Deluxe Reverb (black or silverface, I don’t remember which) during garage band practice, and that thing broke up sooo nicely.

  121. 121.

    burnspbesq

    March 27, 2020 at 12:30 am

    @JWR:

    Deluxe is tempting, but I’m going to pass on the last seven watts in the interest of domestic tranquility. ;-)

    Robbie Robertson was one of my first guitar heroes, and the tele-with-bucker was his signature instrument.

  122. 122.

    JWR

    March 27, 2020 at 12:43 am

    @burnspbesq:

    Robbie Robertson was one of my first guitar heroes, and the tele-with-bucker was his signature instrument.

    Robertson is one of my faves, too, and my Tele is set up the same way, though I always think of him with a Strat, probably from The Last Waltz.

  123. 123.

    James E Powell

    March 27, 2020 at 1:26 am

    @Amir Khalid:

    I am but a penurious player of poor man’s Squiers and Epiphones.

    I am part what is pretty much a Telecaster cult and several people speak very highly of the current Squier CV Teles. I’ve never played one, but the talk is they are really good and a good value.

  124. 124.

    Amir Khalid

    March 27, 2020 at 3:13 am

    @James E Powell:

    I’ve tried a Squier Classic Vibe Telecaster in the shop, and it is indeed a very nice guitar. Some say it’s better than a Mexican Player Tele for 2/3 the money. What I have are the low-end Squiers: an Affinity and a Standard.

  125. 125.

    Elizabelle

    March 27, 2020 at 11:34 am

    It is the Javits Center.

Comments are closed.

Primary Sidebar

Image by MomSense (5/10.25)

Recent Comments

  • They Call Me Noni on Monday Night Open Thread (May 12, 2025 @ 8:22pm)
  • WaterGirl on As Settled as a Fat Wombat in Its Burrow (May 12, 2025 @ 8:22pm)
  • Suburban Mom on Monday Night Open Thread (May 12, 2025 @ 8:22pm)
  • WaterGirl on Monday Night Open Thread (May 12, 2025 @ 8:20pm)
  • Viva BrisVegas on As Settled as a Fat Wombat in Its Burrow (May 12, 2025 @ 8:20pm)

PA Supreme Court At Risk

Donate

Balloon Juice Posts

View by Topic
View by Author
View by Month & Year
View by Past Author

Featuring

Medium Cool
Artists in Our Midst
Authors in Our Midst
War in Ukraine
Donate to Razom for Ukraine

🎈Keep Balloon Juice Ad Free

Become a Balloon Juice Patreon
Donate with Venmo, Zelle or PayPal

Meetups

Upcoming Ohio Meetup May 17
5/11 Post about the May 17 Ohio Meetup

Calling All Jackals

Site Feedback
Nominate a Rotating Tag
Submit Photos to On the Road
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Links)
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Posts)
Fix Nyms with Apostrophes

Hands Off! – Denver, San Diego & Austin

Social Media

Balloon Juice
WaterGirl
TaMara
John Cole
DougJ (aka NYT Pitchbot)
Betty Cracker
Tom Levenson
David Anderson
Major Major Major Major
DougJ NYT Pitchbot
mistermix

Keeping Track

Legal Challenges (Lawfare)
Republicans Fleeing Town Halls (TPM)
21 Letters (to Borrow or Steal)
Search Donations from a Brand

PA Supreme Court At Risk

Donate

Site Footer

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Comment Policy
  • Our Authors
  • Blogroll
  • Our Artists
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2025 Dev Balloon Juice · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc

Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!