Remember yesterday’s Biden tweet?
This is, somehow, a fact that makes the whole ad better https://t.co/TsnDWN1fJH
— The Cyberpunk Landsknecht (@cakotz) August 6, 2020
Car news is to the Michigan press what entertainment news is to LA, or political news to DC:
Biden campaign ad spills beans on GM's secret Corvette plans https://t.co/WJELHoO7X2 via @freep
— Kathy Gray (@michpoligal) August 6, 2020
… GM spokesman Jim Cain,when asked about an electric Corvette,said company policy is to decline to discuss future products.
But GM has said it will have an all-electric lineup across its brands one day, with Cadillac being the lead brand for that technology. Cadillac’s boss has said the brand lineup will be nearly all-electric by 2030.
GM did not plant any tip about an all-electric variant of the Corvette in Biden’s ear, said Jeannine Ginivan, GM spokeswoman.
“I don’t know who ‘they’ are who told him that, but we don’t have any news about any new electric Corvette,” Ginivan said, reiterating that GM does not discuss future product. “We are excited about the line of vehicles we have coming. We have the GMC Hummer electric pickup and tonight the Lyriq (SUV) reveal.”…
Explanation: Yep, Joe Biden actually is interested in classic cars — he doesn’t just play a ‘Vette guy for the pollsters.
.
Immediately underneath that, ‘More Tweets’…
Wishing my friend @GovMikeDeWine good health and a speedy recovery.
— Governor Gretchen Whitmer (@GovWhitmer) August 6, 2020
Another prominent Repub’s caught the ‘Rona…
This afternoon, Governor DeWine talked with local journalists about testing positive for #COVID19. Watch the entire Q&A here: https://t.co/fw0YouHYwP pic.twitter.com/wl2U8s9jbz
— Governor Mike DeWine (@GovMikeDeWine) August 6, 2020
(I’m sure Gov. Whitmer actually likes her Ohio counterpart, but all relationships between Michigan & Ohio are… historically fraught.)
That Saudi Yellowcake Plant
Ken
Historically fraught, indeed.
(“They went to war over what!?”)
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
DeWine is such a boring, cowardly mediocrity. Hope he stays asymptomatic and recovers, but his reopening policies were stupid and he didn’t lift a finger to defend Acton. She also recently stepped down as a consultant for DeWine after resigning as Health Director.
different-church-lady
I know I don’t have all the info, and it’s not going to turn out well, but it is blowing my mind a bit that Trump is signaling more interest in doing some kind of relief action deal with the Democrats than the GOP is.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@different-church-lady:
Yeah, I’d like to know the story there
Ken
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): “My name will be on the checks again, right?”
A Ghost to Most
Joe can wish for an electric Vette. I’m drooling over the new Ford Bronco, and I’m a die-hard Toyota guy.
patrick II
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
He’s in a national election, they are in state elections or no elections. He needs to get someone besides the base to vote for him. His sees the economy as the key to his re-election (or stealing it). He is also not as much as an idealogue (except for the racism part) as many conservative senators who believe the government should not interfere.
Kropacetic
If true, that’s a good sign for a getting a deal. No way is McConnell going to hold a deal back if the President says he wants it. I wonder what people will remember, that Dems fought for public spending for months or that Trump (belatedly) stepped in.
Baud
@A Ghost to Most:
I’m not a huge Ford fan, but I recently rented an Explorer (gas) and I was pretty impressed.
Formica
@patrick II: Pretty much, yeah. The MAGAs over on Free Republic (I read it so you don’t have to!) are more or less resigned to the reality that Mango Mussolini has to extend the bolstered unemployment benefits and the eviction moratorium in order to win votes, even though it will
help black and brown peopleincrease the deficit.Patricia Kayden
WaterGirl
I just caught up on the morning COVID thread, and I watched the 20-minute interview with Dr. Fauci.
He has gotten really cagey and dodged some of the questions – answering part of the question but not addressing the question that was asked.
I find that really discouraging. Fauci doesn’t want to offend the orange one. Fauci was asked about why he thinks we’re doing so poorly compared to most of the rest of the world, and he couldn’t even say that we’re not doing enough testing, tracing, mask wearing, etc.
I am beyond disappointed. sigh.
jl
@Baud: Looks like Baud 2024 will have to upgrade from the Schwinn bike w basket for the campaign ads.
Rusty
@A Ghost to Most: I’m an old car guy, and we have owned mostly Fords over the years for our daily drivers, but it has been awhile since I have been genuinely excited about a new vehicle, until the Bronco that is. With two out of college (but not done paying) and two more to go I am thinking a new Bronco will not be in the budget, however it’s finally fun to dream of something new. Make mine a two door base model with the seven speed manual and a white top like the original 1966 version. :)
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@patrick II:
That makes sense
Kay
The dynamic btwn the 2 states (MI and OH) was interesting because Whitmer and DeWine took almost the same approach, which confounded some GOP messaging. Whitmer couldn’t be the monster they wanted to make her with DeWine next door doing the same stuff.
DeWine disappointed with chickening out on the masks though- CLEARLY scared of the GOP base – he shoulda stuck to his guns – people were with him.
Yutsano
@Baud: I’m still trying to rent a newer Volkswagen than my scaled down 2016 but every time I’ve had the occasion they’ve been gone. Once travel is a thing again I’ll keep aiming for that. Not that I want to upgrade just yet. Just to get a feel for what’s upcoming.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@WaterGirl:
Honestly, what’s the point of him staying in the position if he’s just going to effectively act like he’s compromised? It’s not a political appointee position. If he feels he can’t do his job, then he should just resign
Baud
@jl: But Toto looks so cute in the basket.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Kay:
Wanted to ask you Kay; in light of the summer camp outbreaks as well as school athletes in training already testing positive, how do you feel about school reopening plans now?
I think it’s clear schools will not be able to stay open at this rate for long. I’ve already seen several move to hybrid and online models now
Baud
@Yutsano:
I have no need for a big SUV or truck. I’m hoping my next car is all electric.
Elizabelle
Listening to a wonderful rainstorm outside; have the patio door open to hear it.
Jay
Major Major Major Major
Go Joe!
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): I mean, he does actually run NIAID, too, it’s not a press secretary job.
OT: A special thanks to anybody who might’ve bought ‘my’ anthology, we are #4 in new-release SF anthologies right now on the Kindle store! And the rest are $0.99 so they don’t count.
Kay
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
i think it was always going to be hard and no one was (or is) addressing all the issues w/kids not being in school.
I think it is really hard for parents and there’s just been this handwaving about what is a huge problem
daycares are now overrun- I knew they would’ be – someone has to care for these kids or their parents can’t work
we never even tried to solve it – we just did nothing
misterpuff
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Why quit now? In less than six months, he could be back in the saddle as the leader of the real fight against COVID-19.
If the election goes pear-shaped, he can quit then and probably head to New Zealand as the USA will become a smokin’ crater pandemic-wise.
SiubhanDuinne
All this talk about vintage cars makes me realise that it’s been a while since I’ve seen Mustang Bobby around. Maybe he’s commented and I’ve just missed him. Hope he’s well and busy writing plays.
Jay
The US is eating it’s “seed corn”, ( children, Foreign Students, Visa Talent) and it’s “memory”, ( Elders).
Kay
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
I think government absolutely failed parents AND children.
They’re on their own – there was no systemic solution or mitigation even offered – it was “tough luck, you figure it out”
I think they’ll lose jobs and then collapse financially. They were barely hanging on as it was.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Baud:
Well, Lordstown Motors is producing an electric truck
If we’re all going to have to drive pick-up trucks in like 10-15 years, then we might as well drive these
Doug R
Right now as far as I can figure in the all-electric with long range-affordable division I can see the Kia Niro/Hyundai Kona, the Chevy Bolt and the Tesla 3. All around $30-40,000 which isn’t bad for a new car, but still a little rich for me. Maybe in a couple of years as batteries get cheaper it’ll be more economical.
TaMara (HFG)
I’m so there for an electric Vette.
Ken
@Jay: Unless Georgia has mandated masks in the schools, the family should challenge the suspension on the grounds that the students are shown following policy, so the picture cannot put the school in a bad light.
Jay
randy khan
@Kropacetic:
I say this again and again, but only because it’s true: The Senate Republicans have no agency at all on any relief bill that’s coming. They wasted weeks of our time pretending they mattered, but they don’t. They were irrelevant to all the previous bills and they’re irrelevant to this one.
All that matters is what the Dems and the Administration agree to do. The Senate Republicans will fall in line with whatever the Administration accepts because they have no other choice.
mad citizen
Rust Never Sleeps.
Ken
Why would we need to do that? Transporting our possessions as we flee from one temporary sanctuary to the next?
WaterGirl
@Major Major Major Major: Do they track book by paperback vs. hardcover vs. electronic?
I was planning to buy your book and the other 5×5 book that the editor put in the thread last night.
But I don’t think the friend I’m buying for does ebooks. So if I got the paperback this week instead of a couple of weeks from now, that wouldn’t help with your #4 rating. Right?
Major Major Major Major
@WaterGirl: You should buy whichever works best for you! The hard copies are gorgeous, I got mine today.
WaterGirl
@SiubhanDuinne: He wrote to me a couple of weeks ago to give me some updated info for the BJ authors list. He was excited that several of his plays had been published. (see below)
Philip Middleton Williams / Mustang Bobby
· Seven plays and one anthology of short plays published by Smith Scripts.
Kay
I think political media perhaps do not appreciate how scared people are about the economy.
None of our people in our office express fear of getting the virus – not deniers or dramatic about it but aware of the risk and stoic about that. What’s scaring them are the layoffs. They suffered economic calamity ten years ago – they are dreading that it will happen again. The stock market doesn’t mean anything to them – it’s why it’s so hard to convince them to keep funds in retirement plans – they worry about debt payments – auto loans and mortgages.
They think the economy is bad and I feel like that hasn’t been discussed enough.
NotMax
Cars?
Although have never been much of a fan of of 2-door sedans, wouldn’t say no if someone offered one, if just to sit in it, recline the seat and gaze at the ceiling.
;)
Jay
@Ken:
that’s not how “the system” works,
– student get’s suspended,
– a couple of weeks later, there is a hearing with the same people who suspended them, where the suspension is up held,
– a couple of weeks to months later there is an appeal hearing in front of the exact same people,
– then, if the family has money and connections, the lawsuit(s) start,…..
frosty
Jay Leno got a ride in the electric Corvette already. Indoors, but it’s not that big a secret.
Martin
Shame regarding DeWine. Against my expectations he was a good leader on this in the beginning but then meandered off to Trumpland.
Kropacetic
@randy khan: Yeah. It still bothers me that after aid is held up for months by the president’s party, past expiration while people are fearing what it means for their livelihoods, Trump is still going to get most of the credit.
gwangung
@Kay:
And that’s not getting to the huge number of people ALREADY laid off…
PsiFighter37
@different-church-lady: I hope someone tells that asshole that he can’t sign an executive order extending unemployment benefits. But, knowing the craven sycophants who work in the White House, they will probably give him a Sharpie to do his stupid “Look at what I just signed!” act tomorrow. Hopefully there is a reporter willing to ask how that is not against the law.
WaterGirl
@SiubhanDuinne: It was so nice to wake up to your kind words this morning in On The Road! thank you
PsiFighter37
@Kropacetic: He won’t get any of the credit, because people will continue to die. By Election Day, over 200,000 people are going to be dead because of COVID-19, and I would not be surprised if we start to see another surge in infections as GOP governors do stupid things and try to force everyone to go to school without a mask.
Omnes Omnibus
@Jay: What is your experience in the American education system as a teacher or administrator?
lollipopguild
@Baud: Trump: ” I am going to get you and your little dog too!”
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Kay:
I agree with you. The federal government and many state governments have failed. We should’ve contained the virus first, then reopened schools, but we didn’t because Trump is in office
Kay
@gwangung:
They’re gunshy. We were feeding kids at the library in the last collapse. It was devastating. Page after page of foreclosure notices. They ALL remember. I will never forget it.
They’re seeing layoffs again and they’re terrified. It took some of them ten years to recover from the last crash and they’re seeing it start again.
Mary G
@Major Major Major Major: I bought the Kindle version when I saw that post. Looking forward to reading it.
randy khan
I missed the thread last night, but I have to say that ad is so freaking on-brand it’s scary. Joe wants the electric Corvette because it will go really fast, not because it’s better for the environment or virtuous in some way. He just wants to drive.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@different-church-lady:
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Somebody saw some bad internal polls this afternoon.
Kropacetic
@PsiFighter37: He has been getting the credit. Even among people who don’t like him very much. “Trump” send out those $1200 checks and “Trump” did the PUA. His utter lack of engagement and his party’s indifference to our well-being sails right past everyone. Trump’s in charge, so everything the government does is because of Trump.
Major Major Major Major
@Mary G: thanks!
some enterprising fast reader tweeted at me today that they liked the story at the end. I am unaccustomed to my stories being read so that’s fun/scary.
Kay
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
Even if 25 million additional people wanted to find daycare they couldn’t do it. There’s no “excess” daycare supply. You can’t flood it with every kid under 12 all of a sudden.
The school discussion in our district was good – not insane or vitriolic. Teachers are working parents too – they were sympathetic to the problem.
joel hanes
@Martin:
DeWine’s voters were promising to punish him for behaving sanely and not letting them die for Freedumb as they wished.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: People think my YorkiPom looks like Toto.
A bit of trivia: Toto is buried under the Ventura Freeway in the Valley.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: I’ve probably bought my last car(the Prius), though a new camera would be nice(I’m hearing rumors about the Sony A7 IV).
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Kay:
Speaking of the economy, I wanted to get your reaction to this article:
It’s Directional
I think this comes across as a bit arrogant (not to mention doom and gloom in a sense) and as BillinGlendale noted, a lot of small businesses have permanently closed. It likely will be a slow recovery if anything
Mary G
@Major Major Major Major: I wish I could promise to read it fast, but the backlog on my Kindle numbers in the thousands. I’ll try to read it sooner than later, anyway.
Kay
My middle son loves machines and is an electrician and he’s now a fanatical electric bike and scooter person. He buys and trades and works on them – he thinks the bikes have the capacity to change how we live.
he’s an electric bike evangelical
aliasofwestgate
i was gonna say last night that the ‘Vette ad would play well in MI, because gearheads like my brother are just like him. He’s always loved his cars. Growing up in MI, i appreciate cars quite a bit myself even if i’m not a fanatic about it like a lot of the locals i grew up in north of Detroit.
Gin & Tonic
Open thread? This is one of the awesomest photos I’ve seen in a long time. These people were bad ass, seriously.
Roger Moore
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
The key thing to remember is that Fauci’s main job is not to answer interview questions. His main job is to be head of NIAID, i.e. the chief infectious disease researcher at NIH. He does wind up spending a lot of time doing PR stuff, but he’s still running NIH’s COVID research.
Major Major Major Major
@Mary G: Oh dear I hope it didn’t sound like I was asking for anything.
WaterGirl
@TaMara (HFG): Oh good, because I ordered one for you for your birthday! :-)
James E Powell
@different-church-lady:
Because most of the Republican senators will still be there after January 20, 2021. And they are going to be screaming about debt & deficit & immigrants mooching & lazy black people getting free stuff & all the usual right-wing bullshit. They are not going to vote for providing relief because they are going to be very vocally against it as soon as November 4th and maybe even sooner than that.
Compare this with Republicans’ refusal to go along with their former hero, George W Bush on the bank bailouts.
Roger Moore
@Jay:
The school’s claim that mask wearing is a personal choice and they can’t enforce it doesn’t even pass the laugh test. I’ve never been associated with a public school that didn’t have a detailed dress code that was vigorously enforced by the administration. If they have the time and energy to police their students’ social media postings, they have the time and energy to protect their students’ lives by enforcing mask wearing.
Omnes Omnibus
@Gin & Tonic: Co-sign.
Mary G
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): He’s a financial advisor in “wealth management” so he’s got a personal incentive to keep his rich clients active in the markets. He doesn’t care about poors, he wants commissions/fees.
The fact is that really rich people did great in the last recession and are raking it in as regular people are drowning. Private equity firms will snatch up foreclosures. Their financial considerations have nothing to do with us.
Elizabelle
@?BillinGlendaleCA: What did Toto do to get crosswise with the mob?
Kay
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
the v shaped recovery again – my faith in financial people came crashing down with the 2009 crash. I don’t understand being so incredibly wrong on a tangible asset like real estate. WTF – if they can’t value that they can’t value anything.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Kay:
Yeah, but you also have to think of the welfare of the teachers and other staff. Many have already died because of the virus. It sucks all around and it didn’t have to be this way in the first place
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Mary G:
@Kay:
I think what I’m most concerned about is Trump announcing a vaccine is ready in October and that along with a bunch other factors being enough to push him over 270
Kay
Right as I finished complaining no one was addressing child care “Elizabeth warren on child care in the pandemic” in the NYT :)
love her
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Roger Moore:
I suppose that’s true. I thought I heard thought that the WH was attempting to freeze him out of COVID-related duties
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
It’s still super surreal to see Trump (or at least the admin officials) be more rational than the Senate Repubs. Not that that’s saying much
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Elizabelle: Toto passed away from natural causes in 1946 and was buried on the property of her owner. The 101’s route ended up going though that property in the late 1950’s. There is a memorial at the Hollywood Forever cemetery.
Baud
@Gin & Tonic: Nice.
Baud
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Trump was probably going to lose before COVID. I don’t see how a vaccine announcement changes anything.
Mary G
Buzzfeed has an article about the suspended student.
One of the teens who posted photos, 15-year-old Hannah Watters, told BuzzFeed News she received a five-day, out-of-school suspension for posting one photo and one video on Twitter. She also tweeted a count of how many students in each of her classes were wearing masks – not many. They busted her for breaking a rule prohibiting use of film or pictures taken at school on social media. The family plans to fight. The administration is tap dancing.
zhena gogolia
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Real name Terry. Played Rags in Bright Eyes with Shirley Temple.
Gin & Tonic
My wife had me order a 50-lb bag of dog food today. I guess that means the dog is staying, right?
Baud
@?BillinGlendaleCA: How will you get around after your Prius dies?
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Ken:
That’s kinda dark. I guess Mad Max was a more accurate depiction of the future than Back to the Future III, who woulda thunk?
NotMax
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
No doubt included in that most awesomest ever health care plan ever he’s going to sign … any day now.
“I said by election day. I didn’t say in what year, now did I?”
//
Mary G
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): No one but his 27% hard core fans will believe in that vaccine.
dmsilev
@Kay: She’s busy today; also has a Post op-ed on housing and the need to prevent private equity jackals from profiting off the near-inevitable housing crisis.
Roger Moore
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
I think that guy doesn’t know or is deliberately concealing how much of what’s going on in the stock market right now is a result of a massive attempt to prop it up. Stocks aren’t doing well right now because investors have confidence in the economy; they’re doing well because investors have confidence Trump will continue to prop the market up. The moment that support slackens, the whole thing will come crashing down.
Baud
@NotMax:
But let’s talk about Biden waiting a week to pick his Veep. #Media
debbie
@Martin:
There was talk of impeachment. Probably frightened him. Meanwhile in Michigan, every state a-hole legislator who wanted to impeach Witmer lost their primaries. I’m hoping the same thing happens here in Ohio in November.
patrick II
@Jay:
The real kicker is that Gilead has another drug, GS-441524 , that is cheaper to manufacture and has tested as well or better than remdesivir. But the patent runs out years sooner, so they are going with remdesivir.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Major Major Major Major: I missed this. Can you post the link?
Baud
@debbie: Oh wow. That’s amazing.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: My last car lasted for 31 years.
MC
Hello everyone! Quick introduction here. I am 34, transgender (closeted), partly disabled (mental health), and I live with my parents. My job is non-essential and has a fair amount of coronavirus going around. I have heart problems that put me in the at-risk category. This, among other things, has me nihilistic most of the time. That’s all for now.
NotMax
@Baud
Can fill up a lot more digital column inches speculating about something that is known to be going to occur rather than on something which doesn’t exist.
debbie
@Gin & Tonic:
At least for a week or two.
Fair Economist
@Baud:
I decided a couple years ago I’d never buy another gasoline car. Hubby was thinking about a Ford Mustang, but I said “no” and he got a Tesla Model 3 instead (which he had also been considering, and which he really likes). I’m now driving his old car, and when I replace it it will be with an electric.
Major Major Major Major
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Here you go: https://balloon-juice.com/2020/08/05/celebrating-jackals-major-major/
Mary G
Nancy SMASH is taking the administration for all it’s worth after a 3-hour meeting with Meadows and Mnuchin:
Baud
@MC:
A little young for us, but we’ve been lucky with our junior jackals.
Fair Economist
@Roger Moore:
Stocks are doing well because the Fed is pumping such massive amounts of money into the bond market. Almost any company can tap into huge amounts of financing cheap.
Elizabelle
@Mary G: Where is Leigh Caldwell that it is August 7th?
zhena gogolia
@MC:
Oh, I hope you stay well.
Baud
@Elizabelle:
Time keeps on slipping, slipping, slipping into the future.
zhena gogolia
Great Trump endorsement of Susan Collins (courtesy J.-L. Cauvin):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqIiCkAYLT8
Mary G
@Elizabelle: Twitter time has little relationship to real time.
NotMax
@MC
Do jump in more often. The water is temperate and the snacks are fantastic.
WaterGirl
@Gin & Tonic: Can you see me nodding from where you are?
Fair Economist
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
Too many of the Senate Republicans have drunk the Flavor-Aid. There’s enough refusing to support anything that McConnell can’t get a majority to pass any bill from his side. All he could do would be to put up a Dem bill and hope there’s enough less-insane Republicans to pass it.
patrick II
@Fair Economist:
And invest in what?
WaterGirl
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
It’s the most recent post under Celebrating Jackals in the sidebar. Here’s the direct link:
https://balloon-juice.com/2020/08/05/celebrating-jackals-major-major/
frosty
@Kay: My wife and I bought folding eBikes for our travels. The ARE magical. You can ride downhill and know you can get back without a struggle!
Good for your son. I think this is going to grow. He should check out Philly Electric Wheels (PHEW) for ideas. That’s where I got mine.
WaterGirl
@debbie:
Justice seems pretty swift in this instance! Yay
geg6
@Doug R:
My sister just bought a Kona and she adores it.
Gravenstone
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Who is the delusional fucking prat who vomited forth that garbage? Between failed vaccine candidates being produced ‘on risk’ and ultimately being destroyed, logistical nightmares trying to disburse any actual effective vaccines and a cohort of brain dead zombie anti-vaxxers there will be no meaningful vaccine application prior to the election. Probably not prior to Q3 2021. But fuckboy is all in on ‘directionality’ because he expects to make some bank from it.
Anne Laurie
Congratulations on your new housemate!
Don’t know if you got the message I tried to send you, but: If you haven’t already done so, you might want to check out AKC Rally.
Burns a lot of energy (for the handler, too), and from what I remember, the people involved are very friendly…
NotMax
OT.
Received yet another offer to join from AARP today. Normally nothing much unusual about that except this one is prominently stamped Happy Birthday [my name] on the front of the envelope.
My birthday is in May.
Calouste
@Gin & Tonic:
Either that or you better mentally prepare for a new diet.
A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)
@Elizabelle: I’m jealous! Our pond is so low; it shouldn’t be this low for another month at least. A Stage 4 drought has been declared. It’s been in the 80s for the past week ( pretty perfect), but it supposed to go up to the mid 90s again starting tomorrow. Oh well, the basil and tomatoes like it.
Omnes Omnibus
@frosty: I was out riding last week and as I was struggling up a hill, this, shall we say, non-athletic looking gentleman just zipped past me. I was momentary crushed – I am used to the racing type blowing past me, but this was something different. I started to catch up to him on the next flat surface and then realized he was on an e-bike.
Gin & Tonic
@Anne Laurie: Did get the message and appreciate it.
WaterGirl
@Baud: ear worm!
Omnes Omnibus
@NotMax: Anyway, aren’t you like 300 years old?
TS (the original)
Presumably DeWine had to be tested to get within 50 feet of dear leader – which begs the question – how many are walking & working with COVID-19 who have no idea they have it. Do Ohio administrators who spend time with the Governor now get tested – or do they not be bothered?
Martin
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): I agree. The market is not dumb. What’s not reflected in these discussions of ‘the market’ is that the stock market is heavily biased toward physical goods, and what’s most impacted is services. Retail is the exception here, but pass-through retail is doing okay (Walmart, Costco, etc.) Most service business is too small to be in the Dow or even the S&P 500. The market doesn’t give a shit if the mom and pop restaurant down the street from you goes out of business – nobody has stock in them. Maybe if there’s an upstream impact on a large food distributor like Sysco you’d see it there, or farther up the chain on Dole or Purdue, but at the end of the day people are still going to eat, and if they don’t get their pineapple at the restaurant odds are they’ll still get it at home.
So when people can’t go out and consume services they tend to consume goods. That lost vacation turns into a new iPad to Zoom on. Yes, that’ll hurt Hilton, but it’ll help Apple more. And to that end, what are the dynamics individual companies are facing. If all of your manufacturing is in China, you’re fine. They’re wide open because they have competent national public health leadership. They understood the long term impact of a pandemic and took REALLY severe short term pain to avoid them. Or South Korea, or Taiwan, or even Germany or France.
So the market, not being dumb, is instead brutally efficient at protecting their interests. They sell service stocks and buy the kinds of goods that will be in demand during a pandemic. Medical supplies, home electronics, things like bicycles because people are afraid of mass transit. This is a classic flight to safety, assuming you can recognize what is and isn’t safe.
When this ends, there will be some question of how money should flow back. Will our habits go back to normal and money should flow back to Hilton. Or will some of this be permanentized. What normally happens after something like this is a new baseline established. The response to being stuck at home might really benefit the travel industry in a few years, but maybe people decide that they missed that more than yoga or some other service. And maybe people decide that they really like the new goods – they learned to cook and they like that, and they just don’t go back to restaurants, at least at the same scale.
And normally this turns into a value measure. The higher end, nicer stuff does well. People that go back to restaurants go back to nicer ones, because they see more value to that. And the low end, fast food, etc. never quite recovers. Same with vacations and other things like that. Why go to New Jersey every year when we can save up a bit and go to Europe every 2 years.
But these are all guesses. It could result in a massive shift to services and stay that way, and all of the goods gains disappear. To be blunt, the market largely depends on people not changing their behavior. Tide does what they do because they know once you move our of the house and choose a detergent, odds are you’ll never change it so they focus on that brand loyalty. But disasters throw that out the window to some degree. People try new things either because they’re bored or because they are trying to improve their lockdown lives and decide that they need the extra ply on their toilet paper, or because the store was out of their normal brand and the only thing they could buy was this other stuff, and hey, it’s pretty nice.
Disasters are usually a great time to make money if you know what you’re doing. It’s not for the feint of heart, and it’s hardly guaranteed – you can lose a LOT of money which we rarely learn about because it’s more fun to tell the tale of the guy that earned a billion from the housing crisis than the guy that lost a billion. But the market rewards risk takers. I’ve made money simultaneously betting into and (effectively) shorting the same stock, simply by gambling on when the stock would go up and then subsequently down, and making money on both.
Gin & Tonic
@Omnes Omnibus: I’ve had that happen a few times in more or less the same place when riding home from work – it’s a really steep uphill for about the first mile and a half, and some guy wearing, like Dockers and a polo shirt zipped past me on what looked like a wide-tire MTB. Pissed me the fuck off the first time, until I realized what was going on.
geg6
@Kropacetic:
I don’t know who you’re talking to but that’s not the common wisdom, even in Trump country where I live. They know it was Pelosi and it kills them to admit it. But they do when pressed.
Roger Moore
@NotMax:
One of the things I’m most worried about with the data economy is that the profiles the big data merchants are building of us are full of misinformation. They apparently think I’m about 20 years older than I am and married. The idea people could be basing important decisions on garbage information like that is really scary.
NotMax
@Omnes Omnibus
Tremendously less strenuous to chase ambulances on a e-bike.
:)
@Omnes Omnibus
There are certainly days when I feel about 250. Can’t imagine 300 would feel all that much different.
;)
Lapassionara
Hey, I have read the entire thread, and it was a worthwhile way to spend my time. Thank you for being you, and thank you to MC for saying hello.
Omnes Omnibus
@geg6: My experience matches yours. Both in Madison and further north in my hometown and at our cabin.
patrick II
@Martin:
Thanks. That answers my earlier question to Fair Economist at 117.
Martin
Given positivity rates in places like Florida up above 20% possibly as many as 10 million americans are currently infected and have no idea.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Major Major Major Major: thanks.
Omnes Omnibus
@NotMax: I have a reasonably fast car for certain activities. Although I should note on a car thread that I have started practicing double clutching my shifts because it is a good skill to have.
People say that 285 is when things really change.
Roger Moore
@Martin:
This is idiotic. It ignores macroeconomics. If mom and pop businesses crash and burn, their employees will be out of work and not buying either goods or services. Our economy is doing badly right now and is only avoiding an absolute collapse because of the boosted unemployment payments the Republicans are so eager to end. If those payments go away, the big companies will have to answer the question of how they can have any customers when nobody has any money.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Martin: Every time they do test-and-trace in my building complex, they find asymptomatic people. I think it must be really common.
raven
@Gin & Tonic: I ended up ordering an recumbent stationary bike for the basement. I went to a physical therapist for a few weeks and, basically, he threw in to towel because nothing was making me any better. I did warm up on a recumbent and I liked it so I figured what the hell. I’m still trying to figure out if I want to go back to swimming at the Y. The word is that it’s not crowded in the pool and this layoff sucks.
Major Major Major Major
@MC: Welcome! This is a great place to feel nihilistic. And other things too, should the need arise.
SiubhanDuinne
@WaterGirl:
Thanks! He sounds busy, and that’s good.
Martin
@patrick II: So, the market is a weighing machine not a measuring machine. That is, money doesn’t go into a stock because it hits so much profit/share or whatever. It goes into a stock because that stock looks better than other stocks. Now increasing profit/share will certainly contribute to that determination, but exposure to Covid does as well – negatively for service businesses, but positively if you’re a delivery service or make PPEs, etc.
And money can leave the market entirely and go into bonds or cash or whatever, but those markets need to look safer or more profitable than the markets. And bonds look like garbage right now. You can borrow at below the inflation rate thereby making money in the process, which means if you’re the lender, you’re losing money in the process.
But tech stocks reported earnings last week and they were bonkers strong. People are absolutely blowing their vacation money on new doo-dads, Disney+, etc.
Gin & Tonic
@raven: Glad you found something. My daughter is now using a stationary trainer because she had a disk replaced in her neck and can’t go on the road, but I just can’t do it. It’s the road and the wind and the light and the smells that do it for me, not the cycling motion.
Mary G
The chairman of the Board of Education at that school in Georgia is a real POS:
Back in May:
raven
@Gin & Tonic: Yea, I’m hoping this will help me. I’m spooked by bikes on the road and that’s a surefire way to get hurt.
schrodingers_cat
You know who has Republicans beat in dastardliness and who is worse than the Orange Clown? The Sangh and its assorted “leaders” from Advani to the current monster in charge. That foundation stone that was laid yesterday on the ruins of Babar’s mosque and the dead bodies of thousands of Indians, mostly Muslim. They are pure evil. And supported by some in own family.
A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)
@MC: Welcome, MC!
Omnes Omnibus
@raven: Will a rowing machine fuck up your shoulder? It’s an indoor exercise that doesn’t make me crazy for some reason.
SiubhanDuinne
@WaterGirl:
You do yeoman’s work and don’t get nearly the credit you deserve. In fact, Balloon Juice is really blessed with its quality and variety of front-pagers, and I think we should thank you all more frequently.
There. That’s much nicer than a pay check, isn’t it?
hueyplong
@Roger Moore: GOPers are so focused on shitting on the lower classes that they forget a consumer economy sort of needs consumers.
NotMax
@raven
Luckily, clowns are addicted to tricycles so that’s one less threat to fret over.
;)
trollhattan
@Doug R:
Was flabbergasted to learn the per kWh battery cost has dropped 90% from the Tesla Roadster to today. Once the charging infrastructure matures (including universal charging across vehicles) the product will be ready for prime time. This will happen sooner than folks realize, and the results will be very, very good.
GregMulka
My district just pushed the first day back one week. We had the choice between in person or virtual so I’m running more Ethernet cables in the basement. The chatter is if the numbers don’t drop quite a bit we’ll be full virtual.
raven
@Omnes Omnibus: I tried one at the Y and you are right, my shoulder no likey. Only being able to walk a mile and a half at a time really sucks. I pondered this for quite a while and this was the best I could come up with. It was around $300 so it’s not the end of the world if it doesn’t work out.
SiubhanDuinne
@NotMax:
Trust me, it doesn’t.
Omnes Omnibus
@SiubhanDuinne: I think I said something nice about her once. Or at least I thought about doing it. And it’s the thought that counts, right?
Martin
@Roger Moore: No, that’s entirely fair. But those are long-term problems, which means there’s still short-term money to be made.
But the market is mostly a bystander to this. If I have money in the market and a recession and high unemployment is looming, what do I do? Take it out and put it under my mattress? That’s not going to help the situation. It might help me, but it won’t help the economy to do that. All I can really do is chart the consequences of this – taking money out of Neiman Marcus (going out of business anyway) and putting it in Dollar General or whatever.
But investors have very little influence on the broader economy. They can serve as a measure of certain aspects of the economy, but that’s about it.
Yutsano
@NotMax: Every blog needs a Methuselah. Although I do believe Subaru Dianne is a wee bit older.
trollhattan
@Omnes Omnibus:
Double-clutching was the reason I used to go through Saab master cylinders rather frequently. Fun fact: they were Girling sourced from the UK. Figures.
Omnes Omnibus
@raven: Have you tried elliptical machines? Low impact and it would be a change up from an indoor bike all the time.
Omnes Omnibus
@trollhattan: So you are suggesting that I go light on it?
NotMax
@Yutsano
I believe Ladyraxinerok (apologies if I screwed up the nym) holds seniority amongst the commentariat.
Martin
@trollhattan: We’re currently at a point that electric cars should cost the same to produce as gas powered ones. They don’t due to both the fact that the price of a car bears little relationship to how much it cost to make, as well as a lack of infrastructure – big automakers haven’t refined BEV production to the degree they have conventional vehicles. But we’re at an inflection point right now.
Personally, I think the auto market is highly susceptible to being upended. Not by Tesla, they’re too conventional, but how cars are made, interacted with, the cost structure, etc. is very antiquated. It’s a very expensive market to move into though, but if a domestic company like Apple doesn’t jump into this space, it’ll likely be a foreign manufacturer with government support. Probably China.
geg6
@Omnes Omnibus:
Good to know the Rust Belt seems to be in sync.
The Moar You Know
@Omnes Omnibus: Asshole lawyer parent of their district’s #1 discipline problem if I know anything about the educational system…and I do.
raven
@Omnes Omnibus: I had better luck on them at the Y but I need something for home. I guess I could buy both?
artem1s
@Doug R:
Honda has a plug in hybrid that allows a mostly short commute driver to avoid using gas altogether. they also have two fuel cell models that are available on the west coast for lease only. the rest of the regular hybrids are no more expensive than regular gas vehicles.
Yutsano
@Omnes Omnibus: He can “suggest” all he wants. You decide how to treat your own clutch. There is no try.
Omnes Omnibus
@raven: I am just throwing out ideas here.
@Yutsano: But he is named after the home of Saab.
J R in WV
@Jay:
This is not legal, students have First Amendment rights just like the rest of us. The ACLU will put this down in court!
trollhattan
@Omnes Omnibus:
Heck no, it’s fun and what’s an occasional clutch master? Besides, maybe they’re better now.
Just change that fluid.
SiubhanDuinne
@Yutsano:
I don’t think I’m the oldest jackal (just turned 78), but am probably in the top five.
raven
@Omnes Omnibus: I appreciate it.
geg6
@Martin:
We have so many students coming from FL, TX and CA, I’m beside myself. Right now, my county has a hotspot at the cracker plant being built right now, the largest construction project in the world at the moment. They have a skeleton crew but just yesterday had 14 new cases. Haven’t seen today’s numbers, but probably just as bad. Most of the people working there are from out-of-state: TX, OK, LA, based on license plates. Our campus, I fear, is the next.
Benw
@Baud: we have a Nissan Leaf and it’s fantastic!!
trollhattan
@J R in WV:
Proably true but why is it always the students who are punished for merely pointing out the adults’ stupidity? Sure as hell wouldn’t fly here, but politics be different in some parts of our fine land.
Gin & Tonic
@J R in WV: IANAL, but photos in which minor students’ faces are clearly visible are verboten, I believe.
Ruckus
@Kay:
I’m with you on this. I lost everything in the not so great recession and now I’m really, really getting to a retirement date, just because I’m not getting any younger and I’d like to travel a bit and have a retirement. But I worked one day this week because we’ve slowed down at work, although the boss has quoted a bunch. I’m part time, older and so when someone has to take time off, I’m the first on the list. So in ten yrs I’m looking at earning zero. Still have SS but of course that doesn’t quite cut the mustard. If this continues for a while I’ll be OK but not in the positive column. This century has not been all that grand has it?
Omnes Omnibus
@trollhattan: Cool.
ETA: If someone ever tosses me the keys to an Aston Martin DBR1, I want to be ready.
Jeffro
Agreed. Nobody outside the wingnut bubble believes him about anything (and that bubble has gotten smaller since 2016), nor would they give him credit for a vaccine, nor would they let their glee about a vaccine override their utter disgust at how we got to this sad point in the first place.
He’s toast.
Chetan Murthy
@Gin & Tonic:
I feel you, but still, a little pitch: I also find that riding a stationary bike is like watching paint dry. Torture. So to do it, I have to
(1) have the music up high
(2) something to read or watch
I read B-J! Ha! And LG&M. If I were more disciplined, I would refrain from reading any blogs until I was on the bike. In any case, bit-by-bit, I’m back up to an hour and change at a decent heart-rate. And it shows in the knees when I walk up-and-down stairs. Seriously, It’s not awful. You gotta have sufficient distraction, and sufficient time that even if you don’t push, you can just sit there and spin, watching a movie, or show, or whatever. Or reading B-J.
Lately, I’ve been able to do some hacking while spinning on the bike. Basically, if I spin slowly enough that I can hack (need oxygen for the brain to think), then it’s an easy enough pace that I can keep going for, y’know, a half-hour, no sweat. I’m not breaking any land-speed records here, for sure. But it’s a decent enough workout when nothing, literally nothing I -like- to do, is a safe option. And it’s for sure better on the knees, than riding up-and-down the hills in my SF neighborhood.
P.S. And my setup is cheep: I got a used mag-trainer (years ago, from somebody up the street) and a used mountain bike from a guy across town. People are always buying these things and finding out they didn’t really wanna exercise that much after all, so just watching Craigslist isn’t a bad way to find one. I’ve bought bikes that way for the last 15yr.
Chyron HR
@geg6:
PLEASE, the proper term is “white working class plant”.
trollhattan
@Omnes Omnibus:
True fact: I could do clutchless shifts on the highway in my model 99. Sweet gearbox, could have used a fifth gear but that didn’t appear until the model 900. Cruising for hours @3500 rpm gets old.
Ruckus
@Martin:
The Chinese are moving very rapidly into all electric cars. They don’t have a big long history in auto manufacturing and internal combustion engines such as we do and they have a huge environmental problem because of vehicles, like CA used to have. So they’ve made a decision to go electric and they have a number of companies only making EVs. From small city cars up to what look like some pretty nice stuff. Without that long history of ICE and a lot of government control they have a different roll out situation, right at the time of massive battery technology improvement.
Elizabelle
@geg6:
Cracker plant?
Omnes Omnibus
@trollhattan: I’ve got a six speed. Fourth is basically a direct drive (.95) while 5th and 6th are overdrives (.85 and .75 respectively – the engine turns around 2400 at 80 in 6th).
Chetan Murthy
@Gin & Tonic: How about an arm bike? I’ve used ’em at the gym, and they seem to give a pretty good upper-body workout. I know the ones at the gym are probably pricey AF, but maybe there are home models that aren’t so expensive? I have no idea, but just wondering. Certainly should be smoother on the joints than a rowing machine, I’d think.
Others here (e.g. Adam) have suggested TRX. If you have a place to hang one …..
SiubhanDuinne
@Omnes Omnibus:
Yes. That, and chocolate.
geg6
@Chyron HR:
Well, cracker plant is an apt name, even if that doesn’t really begin to describe what a plant that uses fracking waste does.
mrmoshpotato
“Obviously could Nazi the President.”
We think he’s a Nazi too, Governor DeWine.
NotMax
@Ruckus
India, also too.
In fact, one new twist freshly announced: Tata Motors introduces subscription model for Nexon EV.
mrmoshpotato
@Ken: They wanted Toledo to strip.
trollhattan
@Omnes Omnibus:
Really appreciate an engine that can confidently loaf at freeway speeds because it has adequate torque at low rpms. One more reason turbos are muy bueno.
geg6
@Elizabelle:
Being built about 4-5 mikes from my house. Right next to the oldest nuke plant in the US.
https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&channel=iphone_bm&source=hp&ei=mLcsX6G2BYqDytMPpeWsqAw&q=shell+cracker+plant&oq=shell+cracker&gs_lcp=ChFtb2JpbGUtZ3dzLXdpei1ocBABGAAyBQgAELEDMgIIADICCAAyAggAMgIIADICCAAyAggAMgIIADoCCCk6CAgpELEDEJMCOgUIKRCTAjoICCkQsQMQgwE6BQgpEKsCOgQIKRAKOggIABCxAxCDAToICC4QsQMQgwE6AgguOgUILhCxAzoFCC4QkwI6BAguEAo6BAgAEAo6BQghEKABUO0WWKN1YImEAWgHcAB4AIABtgKIAe4WkgEIMTEuMi41LjKYAQCgAQGwAQ8&sclient=mobile-gws-wiz-hp
trollhattan
@NotMax:
I will be indignant if Tata never introduces a Bodacious model.
Fun fact: Tata owns Jaguar and Aston Martin and Land Rover. Who’s the colonizer now?
mrmoshpotato
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): No more playing president most likely means jail for Dump.
Russthuglican Congresstrash and Senators don’t care.
Me, cynical? Naw! Optimistic!
Ken
@geg6: Oh, petrochemical cracking. I was puzzling over how a saltine factory could be that big.
NotMax
@trollhattan
“The Bodacious is sold only in pairs.”
Omnes Omnibus
@trollhattan: About ten years ago, I had a rental Renault Twingo in the Netherlands and Belgium and it had about zero torque and a tiny band where it was available. I got caught not thinking a couple of times and really had to row through the gears to get back up to anything like a reasonable speed. I was happy the terrain was flat.
mrmoshpotato
“Oooooh jerky. Should we get some? Stock up for the apocalypse?”
-Gene Belcher
WaterGirl
@SiubhanDuinne: dark chocolate!
Omnes Omnibus
@trollhattan: I know Tata has Jag and LR, but I though AM wasn’t a part of that deal and was spun off to someone else.
ETA: Geely in China owns Volvo and another Chinese company bought the remains of Saab.
Gin & Tonic
@mrmoshpotato: Donald J Trump will never see the inside of a prison cell. You can take that to the bank.
Martin
@Ruckus: They have 400,000 electric buses on the road there. We have a mandate to have 200.
Part of the problem is what I’ve referred to a few times before – that the US is very focused on efficiency of capital, where China is focused on speed to market. So US automakers have billions in debt and investment in plants that they can’t walk away from. To some degree they’re trapped in a product strategy they expected would have another 20 years in it. China just doesn’t suffer from that as badly. For one, they haven’t been making these investments for generations. Shenzen in 1980 had 30,000 people in it, and it now has 15 million. That’s two investment cycles for a US durable goods company.
But China’s focus is on speed. That’s why they could get mask production doubled in a week. It’s what they do, and it’s why US companies go there – particularly tech companies where tech might only carry value for 12 months before being superceded. Speed is key because the money comes from getting that product out there today, because your competitor will have it out tomorrow.
So EVs are a perfect market for China. They can bypass the billions in ICE capex, jump straight to BEV, get ahead of incumbent automakers, and hit their stride right when battery costs allow them to undercut the incumbents on price. Now, incumbents could be doing this same thing, but they simply aren’t. Their business model doesn’t permit it, and they aren’t brave enough to tip up a new brand around a BEV business model. And I’m pretty sure we’re going to lose out completely.
California has been trying to push the market in the right direction, but the feds have been undermining it because they feel the oil companies are the key market. But they’re dead in the water. Everyone knows it. This country needs to learn how to move fast again. That’s why CA tech has succeeded – they reject the normal American approach. Yes, that means tech bros are going to break shit, but good christ, we’re going to lose the auto industry with the trajectory we’re on.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Elizabelle: It’s where Betty came from.
NotMax
@trollhattan
Mildly curious if the JC Whitney catalog includes bras for Tatas.
:)
Anne Laurie
Thank you for this — it did not seem like a good idea to me, but I do not feel sufficiently informed about Indian politics to write a respectable post about it.
As always, if you want to write something up, I’d be thrilled to put it up as a guest post (with, of course, link back to your blog)!
Ruckus
@Martin:
EVs cost more now because the system isn’t built around them yet. They don’t sell enough to support the dealers, charging can still be a bit of a problem if you don’t have a garage and the service, up until just recently the range of all but a few cars was not all that great, etc. But that is changing rapidly because the battery technology has improved a lot, the manufacture of them has improved a lot, so the price has come down dramatically. And there is a rapid charge/connector standard in place now, at least in the more populated areas, so it’s becoming easier and easier. Battery mfg is the big issue right now, the volume needs to go up, but the sales need to be there to justify that, it’s a chicken/egg thing. But the technology is decent enough to switch over now, production just needs to catch up.
rikyrah
Martin
@Omnes Omnibus: AM is it’s own entity right now.
Elizabelle
@geg6: Thank you. Had never heard of that term.
WRT cracker: I was not sure if you were speaking of baked goods or of the WWC/Alabama between Philly and Pittsburgh types that would be showing up for the jobs.
But it’s petrochemical. Of course.
And you, geg, live in
A Community Ripe for Revival
For Beaver County workers — who like to work hard (ie. in factory/manufacturing jobs) as opposed to those who work wuss, for non-factory working man types, like those in service jobs, healthcare, things women and elites do all day, the non hard workers — anyway, 600 jobs forecast, but get that 2 year associates degree, peeps. At a minimum.
Martin
@rikyrah: No shit. That’s who I’d be most afraid of as well.
Elizabelle
@rikyrah: I am Team Kamala.
Who in the world has been talking up Karen Bass lo these many days? Who?
Frankensteinbeck
I have been thinking about the stimulus negotiations. I do not hold with the ‘McConnell is irrelevant, it’s about what Trump will sign’ theory. That ignores all the history of Trump’s presidency, where Trump signed almost everything handed to him even when it gave a middle finger to his priorities, and the only vetoes had McConnell going “We’ll vote on it, but Trump will veto it!” publicly, giving him permission. McConnell holds all the power on the Republican side. He can cow Trump, and block any bill.
So, what I think we’re seeing is one of two things. Possibly both. McConnell can’t get all his caucus to vote on a bill, so as a matter of pride, he’s washing his hands of it and dumping the responsibility on the White House. He wants to do nothing. That’s suicide, and he knows it. He’s too much an arrogant asshole to endure passing a bill with all Democrat votes and half the Republicans. So he’s dumping negotiations on the White House and it will be Trump’s bill, and McConnell will bring it up to vote but otherwise sit in a corner and pout.
The alternative is that McConnell is shit at crafting legislation. He doesn’t understand it well enough to get down into the weeds and actually negotiate. His experience is 90% saying “I refuse to allow a vote” and 10% “Here is a bill that was handed to me. Vote for it, peons.” With mixed results on that 10%. Mnuchin at least knows what the Hell all the words and sentences mean.
Combined with either of them, McConnell loathes having to directly negotiate with Nancy Pelosi. He has always avoided it whenever possible. He hates her on a personal level.
Omnes Omnibus
@Elizabelle: Meghan Trainor?
Uncle Cosmo
@Omnes Omnibus:
Rhetorical question, right? We already know the answer: Zero, zip, zilch, nada, null, niente, rien. The Knucklehead Of The Frozen North can’t even spell. But that’s never stopped him from telling us Yanks what we all (supposedly) need to be doing.
He occasionally c&p’s interesting tweets. That’s the sum total of his value to this blog.
Elizabelle
@Omnes Omnibus: I do not know that person. Who??
mrmoshpotato
@Jay: Apparently the Trump trash that runs the school has never heard of the Streisand effect.
Kelly
@Omnes Omnibus: Rowing an actual boat has always been great for my shoulders. My shoulders like the rowing machines where I’m pulling against a fan. I don’t like the rowers with hydraulic cylinders for resistance, can’t get into a rhythm.
Omnes Omnibus
@Elizabelle: You are going to regret asking that question. M-Train.
Jay Noble
@Fair Economist: As a Nebraskan I applaud your correct attribution of the cult drink as Flavor-Aid.
Elizabelle
@Omnes Omnibus: Ah right. Was thinking pundit, but that’s even better.
No treble.
WaterGirl
@Uncle Cosmo: That’s a pretty dickish thing to say, even if you don’t care for Jay.
Ruckus
@Martin:
The bus line in my area has electric buses and at one Metro station has inductive charge points for them to use. They are, as best as I can tell only purchasing new electric buses to replace any diesel ones that are due.
And yes I agree. If we keep doing big business like we currently are we are going to become a nothing nation. Lots of money floating around, that never does anything productive, it’s traded around, talked about how great business is, meanwhile it’s the stock market, and the wealthy, while everyone else gets poorer and poorer and the majority of the customers don’t have enough to support the smaller and smaller number of reasonable businesses, so jobs become scarce and scarcer and the entire thing collapses upon itself. That is the republican way though, do nothing productive, put your pennies in a jar, be happy with shit, and watch the whole thing dry up so much it makes the dust bowl look like an aquatic park. republicans are good for the top level republicans and no one else. They don’t understand growth, reasonable power, betterment of all, they are selfish assholes and if they didn’t have their heads up their asses they might actually be able to see that. I’m not holding my breath.
Elizabelle
Posted without comment. How many times can one get away with this one weird trick?
Ohio’s governor tested negative for the coronavirus hours after a positive test stopped him from meeting President Trump.
Thursday, August 6, 2020 10:30 PM EST
The whiplash day of contradictory results is a further indication of the country’s limited ability to slow the spread of the virus with widespread and accurate testing.
Mr. DeWine, who was tested on Thursday morning as part of a screening set up by the White House, first received an antigen test, a new frontier of testing that allows for results in minutes, not days, but has been shown to be less accurate.
mrmoshpotato
@Kelly: ?Row row row your boat, gently down the stream, merrily merrily merrily, getting a great shoulder workout ?
Kent
You think that’s bad. The US and the UK nearly went to war in the San Juan Islands, Washington in a border dispute triggered by a pig. Or more accurately, an American farmer who shot a Canadian pig that was invading his garden. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pig_War_(1859)
Omnes Omnibus
@Kent: Bacon vs Canadian bacon? I think we could get that past any just war theory analysis.
Kelly
@mrmoshpotato: yep ;-)
a thousand flouncing lurkers was fidelio
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): My greatniece and -nephew in the greater Phoenix area will be online only, despite Ducey’s party-line proclamations; those in the Kansas suburbs of Kansas City are apparently able to chose and are leaning towards online. I believe those in Massachusetts are also both going to be online—that’s two red states (and blue/purple cities), plus a state so blue George McGovern got his only electoral votes there. My niece’s ex, up in Massachusetts, may die if there are no school sports; he lives for that.
Alison Rose
Someone explain this to my definitely-not-a-Constitutional-expert self – can he even do this? Like…how is this enforceable? How is it legal? (Not that legal matters to him, but still.)
Trump issues orders banning TikTok and WeChat from operating in 45 days if they are not sold by Chinese parent companies
Ruckus
@Elizabelle:
People who are scared of Kamala Harris. That she is far better than they want her to be and that considering how badly they’ve screwed the pooch if she’s VP, she probably will be the next president and do 2 terms. If dems can do 3 terms and do them well, that and shitforbrains will most likely kill republicans as a political entity. To the press the horse race is done for all but the youngest journalists. That is, most of the current top of the heap in major media will be done in 12 yrs, retired, worm food as it were. They might actually have to work to eat. And none of them know how to actually work.
Omnes Omnibus
@Alison Rose: You hate the lawyers who comment here, don’t you?
prostratedragon
@Kay: His view might win the day. Last summer I was going to Chicago north downtown in a paratransit van –basically a big taxi– when we happened on a young man peddling/zooming along on an electrified bike, apparently on a commute. A couple of miles later and we were stuck in some festival-related traffic mess on Michigan Avenue along Grant Park, when here comes Mr. Electric Bike swanning past in the bike lane, by now clearly on a path to get anywhere near a downtown destination than we were. I remarked, “You know, I think he’s onto something,” to which the driver agreed.
Alison Rose
@Omnes Omnibus: No way, I’m Jewish, I love lawyers.
(Only Jewish people are allowed to make that joke.)
I’m just flummoxed because Googling literally gives me every possible perspective on it and I don’t know who is full of shit or not.
Elizabelle
@Ruckus: I like that scenario.
And yeah. All you want to do is cover the horse race? Go be a sportswriter. But beware. Their readers are all about actual, demonstrable numbers and statistics, and they believe what they see with their own eyes.
Kay
@prostratedragon:
he gave me a used scooter for my birthday in June and now I want one of his bikes
I’ll wheedle one out of him – he wants everyone to try one
WaterGirl
@Omnes Omnibus: I prefer Kevin Bacon to Canadian Bacon, myself.
WaterGirl
@Alison Rose: They talked about this on the Lawfare podcast that I listened to earlier this week. If Trump calls it National Security, he has pretty wide berth to do what he wants.
ballerat
@Fair Economist:
Well, better than a blonde I suppose.
Ah, so he went for a redhead : )
Kent
Karen Bass is the kind of finalist that you put forward to fill out the slate when you’ve already made up your mind but want to pretend that you haven’t.
Alison Rose
@WaterGirl: Ugh. Terrific.
IF HE TAKES SARAH COOPER AWAY FROM US, WE FUCKIN RIOT
rikyrah
@Gin & Tonic:
Awe??
rikyrah
@MC:
Welcome and jump in