Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

He wakes up lying, and he lies all day.

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

The gop is a fucking disgrace.

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

“woke” is the new caravan.

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

Let me file that under fuck it.

“In the future, this lab will be a museum. do not touch it.”

This blog will pay for itself.

Giving up is unforgivable.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

Celebrate the fucking wins.

Washington Post Catch and Kill, not noticeably better than the Enquirer’s.

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

One way or another, he’s a liar.

The desire to stay informed is directly at odds with the need to not be constantly enraged.

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

Republicans firmly believe having an abortion is a very personal, very private decision between a woman and J.D. Vance.

Republicans got rid of McCarthy. Democrats chose not to save him.

You are here: Home / Economics / C.R.E.A.M. / Sunday Evening Open Thread: Maybe A ‘Stimulus’ Finally, But #MoscowMitch Still Terrible

Sunday Evening Open Thread: Maybe A ‘Stimulus’ Finally, But #MoscowMitch Still Terrible

by | 187 Comments

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He could’ve accepted the House HEROES Act any time since last May, but now he gets to grandstand at Christmas…

I’m not on Facebook, but I’ll be looking for further reports elsewhere…

ETA: Let’s see if this works:

Reader Interactions

187Comments

  1. 1.

    Ajabu

    I just had a similar situation. I was supposed to do a virtual concert at 8 PM tonight. Got a call for it about 10 days ago. Got another call on Friday last Telling me (48 hours before the gig) that the chosen platform wouldn’t work for what they were trying to do. I pointed out that they had 10 months lead time for a pandemic Christmas concert and yet they waited until the first week of December to start planning it.
    Dumb ass mofos…

  3. 3.

    JoyceH

    Just getting word that Trump is going down to Mar A Lago for the holidays, leaving Wednesday. Whew! I’d been thinking that the way he’s been acting lately, staying in DC over the holidays would be a Bad Sign. (Martial law, Situation Room, etc) So I was relieved, though less relieved that the Secret Service is expecting him to return to DC on January 3. I’m hoping once he gets down there, to all that gaudy splendor and deferential staff, the place where they burn his steaks just right, he might start asking, why return to that ‘dump’ in DC?

  5. 5.

    Raoul Paste

    Even Josh Hawley is saying that this bill is an inadequate stimulus, in other words too stingy
    Also, happy holidays to Ajabu

  7. 7.

    Ajabu

    and happy holidays to you as well.

    why do they insist on calling it stimulus?

    With a stimulus I’d go buy a new Mercedes. This is urgent survival money. Like keep food on the table and pay the bills money.

  8. 8.

    TS (the original)

    @JoyceH:

    Secret Service is expecting him to return to DC on January 3

    Thought the rules down there said no-one could stay more than 7 days at a time. Hope the neighbors keep complaining.

  9. 9.

    Suzanne

    I am exhausted. Just worn out in every way. I have no excuse… everyone in the house is healthy, move is complete. But I just feel like I have nothing left.

    I took my mom shopping yesterday. Due to the snowstorm on Wednesday, the roads were finally clear enough. Curbside pickup at IKEA for a rug for the entryway. Then the craft store, where there is plenty of space to distance and yet some dickheads invaded our personal space. Then finally to Costco for groceries, cat food, toilet paper, some winter clothes items, diapers, allergy meds, gas, etc. It was a shitshow. So many people. I tried so hard to distance. It’s so stressful. I go out so rarely these days, and every time I do, it’s this constant mental calculation of how far away are people, what direction are they walking, are they wearing their masks properly, do they seem to be doing any gross behavior like touching my cart or any merchandise, did the cart get sanitized, is anyone coughing, can I hold my breath long enough while  they walk by. I’m tired.

    Got home, emptied the car ($800 worth of Costco stuff, so it filled the car), put down the rug….. and my mom’s dog pissed on the rug before it had even been down for an hour.

  10. 10.

    sdhays

    @TS (the original): I thought the rules also stated that no one could stay there for more than 21 days a year, so I’m pretty sure he’s already way over his limit, as if the rules will ever apply to him.

  12. 12.

    Anotherlurker

    Already, some very Democratic friends are complaining that Democratic leadership needs to be replaced with younger leadership. They are complaining that Pelosi and Shumer are caving to the traitors.   When I ask how younger leadership will help to get a bigger stimmy, the replies are thin, vague, to say the least.

  13. 13.

    trnc

    @JoyceH: I don’t mean to rain on the parade, but it doesn’t make a whole lot of difference where he is and he’s able to misuse his presidential powers from anywhere.

  14. 14.

    Suzanne

    @raven: They did have disinfectant wipes at Costco for the first time in months. They also had the nice toilet paper. Both were LIMIT 1. No paper towels, though.

  15. 15.

    Bill Arnold

    @sdhays:

    so I’m pretty sure he’s already way over his limit, as if the rules will ever apply to him.

    Once he’s no longer POTUS, he’s just another wealthy (supposedly :-) guy with richer neighbors, some of whom will object to his security presence, and/or simply to his presence

  21. 21.

    WaterGirl

    @Suzanne:

    Got home, emptied the car ($800 worth of Costco stuff, so it filled the car), put down the rug….. and my mom’s dog pissed on the rug before it had even been down for an hour.

    Ugh.  I’m sorry Suzanne.

  22. 22.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Anotherlurker:

    Already, some very Democratic friends are complaining that Democratic leadership needs to be replaced with younger leadership. They are complaining that Pelosi and Shumer are caving to the traitors

    evergreen

    There’s a sizable faction of the left that can’t accept the fact that votes– votes in elections, votes in Congress– carry more weight than what is right or righteous, so somewhere out there must be the One Weird Trick that will trump R control of the Senate, to say nothing of The Beast who has the veto for another month. They don’t know what it is, but they know it’s out there if only Nancy Pelosi weren’t stupid or corrupt. Or both.

  24. 24.

    Yutsano

    So basically: I work tomorrow then WHO KNOWS??? I feel like there are players in this mix who are going for failure. But I could be wrong.

    A Vox primer if anyone is curious. I think it’s half shit but we’ll see.

  25. 25.

    WaterGirl

    @debbie: @Major Major Major Major:

    If that’s true, that we got 70% of what we wanted, then the Rs must be worried about Georgia.

    I don’t see how it could be 70% of what we wanted if Pelosi’s bill was for 2 or 3 Trillion and we were already negotiated down to less than 1 Trillion, so maybe it’s 70% of where we were after giving up a ton of stuff.

  27. 27.

    Another Scott

    @Baud: He’ll try again later, if he’s still majority leader.  He won’t give up until he’s defeated.

    Meanwhile, Brexit seems to be starting early BBCNews:

    Covid-19: Dover port halts traffic to France for 48 hours
    Published1 hour ago

    The port of Dover has been closed to all vehicle traffic leaving the UK for the next 48 hours.

    France acted to halt lorry movements in the wake of fresh concerns over the spread of a new strain of coronavirus.

    UK ministers and officials will discuss the move at the government’s Cobra emergency committee on Monday.

    Freight from coming to Britain from France will be allowed, but there are fears lorry drivers will not travel to avoid being stuck in the UK.

    Transport Secretary Grant Shapps urged the public and hauliers not to travel to ports in Kent, including Dover. “We expect significant disruption in the area,” he said.

    […]

    How’s that herd mentality working out for ya, BoJo??

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  28. 28.

    eddie blake

    it’s too goddamn small, and the states and cities are DROWNING. mz blake is a teacher. she is very nervous about the future. biden BETTER bolster the states’ finances, or there will be a bloodbath in ’22.

  32. 32.

    Cheryl Rofer

    @Suzanne: You can get deliveries from practically everywhere. I am using Costco, CVS, InstaCart, and Office Depot. I’m pretty sure I can also do Home Depot and a few others I don’t need urgently and will wait until after the new year.

    I’m also lucky to have a high-quality produce, milk, bread, and prepared food grocer that delivers from Albuquerque.

    I don’t go to stores any more, don’t plan to until the case numbers are way down.

  37. 37.

    JoyceH

    @trnc: Oh sure, he can do presidential things anywhere but there’s symbolism and also it seems to me to be indicative of his state of mind. Staying in DC is “standing fast” and holding the line and all that macho BS, whereas flying off to a country club for the holidays has a real “slinking away” feel to it. Plus, he’s used to doing other stuff down there – it’s warm, he can golf! The fact that he’s going there seems to me to indicate that for all his bluster, he’s not really going to do anything specific about trying to stay in power.

  38. 38.

    Geminid

    It sounds like trump is expected to sign this bill. He still says he’ll veto the ~$760 billion National Defense Authorization Act  passed a week ago. trump’s ostensible reasons are objections to language mandating changes in military base names and restrictions on pulling troops out of Germany and other countries. Also trump has complained that changes in regulation of social media are not including. But the real sticking point for trump may be the attachment of the Corporate Transparency Act a few weeks ago. This law would crack down on the use of shell companies to hide money laundering and other financial misdeeds. Congressional leaders seem determined to override any veto, even if it means holding a vote of the current Congress on Jan.2.

  40. 40.

    debbie

    @Baud:

    Yes. That and Toomey — I think losing both are real victories for us. Hopefully, it’s the beginning of a shift away from McConnell’s bullshit.

  42. 42.

    Calouste

    @Another Scott: The Netherlands halted all air and ferry traffic from the UK until New Year’s Day, maybe with an exception for lorries. A number of other countries no longer allow flights from the UK either. In other words, people are more or less stuck on the island.

  43. 43.

    Dan B

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: I do the same.  Arrive Costco 7:30 PM.  Wednesdays are often the slowest evening, according to staff.  The people in the store are less likely to be space cadets about distancing.  They’re on a mission to shop and get out – no standing mid aisle trying to decide what to buy.  Grab and git!

  44. 44.

    patrick II

    @TS (the original):

    What I am waiting for is for the Palm Beach Police trying to evict him after the city wins it’s court case.  I don’t think the Secret Service will let it happen, but I am curious how it will turn out.

  45. 45.

    eddie blake

    @Baud:
    biden’s whole schtick during the campaign was that, were he the nominee and won,  post trump, the gop fever would break and he’d be able to find senators to work with him.

    pretty sure he’s out of his fucking mind, but it doesn’t matter. HE will get blamed for the recession/ depression to come, if the gop succeeds in hamstringing him.

    we know it. the gop knows it.
    we’ve seen it before.

  48. 48.

    danielx

    @Suzanne:

    ….. and my mom’s dog pissed on the rug before it had even been down for an hour.

    Because of course it did. After all, it is 2020. Like the dog needed an excuse…

  49. 49.

    natem

    Look, this bill is pretty underwhelming, I get that, but it’s pretty funny how people point to Pelosi accepting this one as opposed to the $1.8T offer Mnuchin was floating in October as failed negotiating when, let’s see, there was an election just days away that, sorry to say, played into her calculus—it had to! that’s a big effing gift wrapped in a bow to Trump.

    And, what else? Oh yeah, Mnuchin isn’t Senate Majority Leader, but you know maybe these geniuses can predict the future outcome of THAT.

    Anyway, the real answer is we need Biden, Ossoff and Warnock sworn in like now, but that being not possible gotta make do with this turd

  50. 50.

    mrmoshpotato

    In other grifter news…

    NeverTrump Lincoln Project seeks to trademark name for 'political fundraising services.' Problem: One Christopher J. Small already owns name. Uses it to educate people about–get this–Abraham Lincoln. NeverTrumpers gird for battle. https://t.co/SrzpTDx4b8— Byron York (@ByronYork) December 17, 2020

    SAD!

  52. 52.

    mrmoshpotato

    What the fuck is this drug commercial with a rockin’ version of You Are My Sunshine?  Seriously, WTF?

  53. 53.

    Suzanne

    @Dan B: I usually go on weeknights, too. But there was a snowstorm this week and our streets weren’t clear until Friday afternoon. I’m not old enough for senior hours.

  54. 54.

    Kayla Rudbek

    Nancy Smash and the Biden administration need to get the post office fixed as well.  My local post office is still all screwed up, as is the postal service in Minneapolis.  I could have driven from Northern Virginia to Minneapolis and back twice in the time from my parents mailing out our Christmas presents to us.  I should check with my sibling to see whether their boxes got to them yet from Minneapolis (still Northern Virginia as the destination but a different local post office).

  55. 55.

    mali muso

    @Suzanne: not sure how widespread it is but my Costco partners with Instacart for food and grocery delivery. They even fold the delivery and instacart fees into the item prices so you know exactly what you’re spending (less the tip, which I always make very generous).

  56. 56.

    MisterForkbeard

    @natem: Back in October, McConnell was saying his caucus wouldn’t accept Mnuchin’s proposal anyway.

    This was as good as it was ever going to get. You can’t argue with sociopaths, and that’s what McConnell and the R caucus is. They do not care that lots of people die or go bankrupt if it doesn’t harm them personally.

  57. 57.

    Benw

    Huh, NBC seems to have hired Steve Kornacki to do his thing for NFL playoff projections? You do you, Steve!

    @Suzanne: you have every reason to be exhausted, no excuses needed. I went to Target yesterday, you described the feeling perfectly! I bailed on the rest of my errands and went home to shower and exercise just to blow off the stress

  60. 60.

    WaterGirl

    @Suzanne: Even with your mom with you?  I would think if you are taking her shopping that you could use the senior hours

    Edit: Having said that, I’m sure you’re less interested in our helpful suggestions.  So i’ll just commiserate on your really hard day, and the dog peeing on your new rug in your new house was the icing on the already shitty cake.

  61. 61.

    Sure Lurkalot

    @Cheryl Rofer: I did deliveries from grocers and Costco this spring. I did some in store when cases were way down in summer and fall and when cases exploded again, I started doing curbside at Whole Foods and our Kroger affiliate instead of delivery. So far so good.  The curbside gets me a 3 or 4 mile car ride and a change of scenery. FWIW, Target does great curbside. They seem to be out the door with your stuff as your pulling into a parking space.

  62. 62.

    mali muso

    @Suzanne: well, blah. I hear you in the stress involved in darting through the aisles. Target has gotten a lot of my business lately by virtue of their free contactless pick up option.

  63. 63.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Elizabeth Warren @SenWarren 4h
    Senate Dems have protected the Fed’s flexibility to lend money to states, cities, and small businesses during emergencies. That’s absolutely critical. I remain shocked that @SenToomey
    and the GOP made this their sticking point in agreeing to a relief bill. I’m glad they’ve lost.

    as I’m reading this, they defunded the Fed’s ability to lend– the money the Fed had been authorized will go to the payouts in the new bill– but the Fed can lend in the future if they (and Biden) can find the money. I have no idea how much the Fed can do without more funds being authorized.

  64. 64.

    Dan B

    @Suzanne: I saw you had wanted to go on Wednesday but blizzard aftermath.  I live in Seattle that basically shuts down in snow – hills, inadequate snow removal, drivers from warmer climes, etc.  I learned to drive in hilly country west of Akron.  We kept a yardstick by the door to measure the snow depth.  I rescued lots of people in Seattle blizzards with my Toyota Tercel 4WD.  I don’t like driving in snow.

  65. 65.

    natem

    @MisterForkbeard:

    FWIW the outcome in October might have been more favorable to Dems given what was at stake for Rs at that moment, but to just assume this is how it would have played out is fucking Big Brain Bullshit

  66. 66.

    trollhattan

    @Another Scott:

    The new COVID variation is worrying, and of course we won’t have flight restrictions for the UK until it’s well established here. ‘Cause that’s how we roll.

  68. 68.

    Sure Lurkalot

    @mali muso: That’s how I get Costco too.  The add on to the prices is pretty egregious…like 15-20%. I wish that all went to the shopper but likely it’s not even half.

    Still, the service is appreciated and good. My last shopper texted pictures of substitutions and asked me if there was anything else I wanted him to get before he checked out.

  69. 69.

    Dan B

    @Suzanne: Sorry about the rug.  We always seem to have a kitty that must make new things smell “right”.  I found a fancy little sideshow tent (cat napping tent) completely saturated last week.

    Where can I get kitty vallium?  (Where can I get someone to volunteer-bleed during administration / delivery of said Valium?)

  70. 70.

    Suzanne

    @WaterGirl: The other challenge with senior hours is that almost every store has them during my work hours, and my mom doesn’t drive, so I would have to move meetings around. Weeknight evenings are usually not a big deal, though. They’re usually pretty sparse. The storm wrecked that plan, though.

    I typically love the curbside pickup option. I was commenting to SuzMom how I hope it sticks around in the After Times.

  71. 71.

    Mary G

    @Cheryl Rofer:

    @Suzanne:

    Is that for everybody or just Costco itself?  Here I can order anything from Costco that one person can carry through Instacart. We were lucky; my housemate and I put in a huge Instacart Costco order two days before the shutdown in March, two big bales of TP and paper towels, and a bunch of staples which lasted quite a few months. It’s more expensive with a big tip; I’m lucky to be able to afford it.

  72. 72.

    Another Scott

    @trollhattan: I would assume the fancy new variant is nearly everywhere already.

    Repost ScienceMag:

    […]

    The ban on flights from the United Kingdom that other countries are imposing “is pretty extreme,” says Hodcroft. But it does give countries time to think about putting any additional measures in place to deal with passengers from the United Kingdom, she says: “I would hope that most countries in Europe are thinking about this.”

    But scientists say B.1.1.7 may already be much more widespread. Dutch researchers have found it in a sample from one patient taken in early December, Dutch health minister Hugo de Jonge wrote in a letter to Parliament today. They will try to find out how the patient became infected and if there are related cases. Other countries may well have the variant as well, says epidemiologist William Hanage of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health; the United Kingdom may just have picked it up first because that country has the most sophisticated SARS-CoV-2 genomic monitoring in the world. Many countries have little or no sequencing.

    The evolutionary process that led to B.1.1.7 may also occur elsewhere. With vaccines being rolled out, the selective pressure on the virus is going to change, meaning variants that help the virus thrive could be selected for, says Kristian Andersen, an infectious disease researcher at Scripps Research. The important thing in the coming months will be picking up such events, says Andersen.  “Whatever enabled the B.1.1.7 lineage to emerge is likely going on in other parts of the world”, he says. “Will we be able to actually detect it and then follow up on it? That, to me is one of the critical things.”

    (Emphasis added)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  74. 74.

    Mary G

    @Sure Lurkalot: I’ve used Instacart for a couple of years now. The experienced shoppers text back and forth with pictures and it’s great After the lockdown the new ones were often a hilarious mess. I ordered cherries with “don’t replace” and got a box of cherry tomatoes.

    I also tip big; I used to do it in cash but in this Covid blowup in CA  they just want to dump and run, so I increase it on the app when they do a good job.

  75. 75.

    Jackie

    @danielx: Please note when linking to a paywall. I inadvertently used my last freebie only to realize I had already read this article.  ?

  76. 76.

    trollhattan

    Fleecing the fleeceable, or the fleeceable self-fleecing?

    “The odds-shifting bonanza on election night, with all that money on the line, was not a sign that the oddsmakers knew something the mainstream media did not. Instead, the Trump spike was the peak of a phenomenon that had been unfolding all year. Many Trump supporters were certain he could not lose, and they plowed so much money into betting on him that they distorted markets in his (and ultimately, the sportsbooks’) favor.”

    Said gambling writer Collin Sherwin: “It’s the most irrational market I ever saw.”

    John Gruber: “The MAGA types were still wagering real money on Trump after the election had been called for Biden. It was like taking candy from babies who deserved to have their candy stolen.”

    https://politicalwire.com/2020/12/20/how-oddsmakers-made-a-killing-off-trump-supporters/

    My concern for them is immense. OTOH less money for ammo.

  77. 77.

    TS (the original)

    @sdhays:

    as if the rules will ever apply to him

    Main reason why he is fighting so hard to invalidate the election. Come Jan 20 – things might change.

  78. 78.

    trollhattan

    @Another Scott:

    Wouldn’t surprise me or more to the point, I’ll be surprised if it’s not already here, reflecting on the fact we finally stopped direct flights from China at a time the virus was being brought over from Europe.

  82. 82.

    Jay

    @Dan B:

    I love driving in the snow, the day after the “Big Storm”, ( an inch or so here), because all the bad drivers are waiting for the bodyshops to be open, and the tow trucks to show up.

    I learned to drive in the Wet Coast Snow, dry Interior Powder over Ice, and flat country snowdrifts, when young. When the streets got quiet, Dad would let my brother and I, loose with the van, to “play in the snow”, and learn.

  83. 83.

    WaterGirl

    @Baud: Well, at least they got a deal and didn’t have to let business owners kill their employees with impunity.

    I am pinning my hopes in Georgia, but I’m not counting on that.

    Biden looked really tired when he introduced his Energy and Climate teams on Saturday.  I think he has aged already.  But he is still the right pick for these times.

  85. 85.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    This is pretty cool.  Now I get to deduct my Popeye’s chicken sandwich on my taxes.

  89. 89.

    dmsilev

    @Kayla Rudbek: I had decent luck with the Post Office this week. From LA, sent a package to my parents near Boston on Monday. It was scheduled to arrive Thursday, but ended up getting delivered today. Given the snowstorm that rolled through, I’ll call that good enough.

  90. 90.

    Suzanne

    @Mary G: I don’t know what is possible elsewhere, but the closest Costco to me doesn’t do curbside pickup for groceries, though they will do it for things like electronics and appliances. And they don’t have Instacart to my zip code. Other stores will do Instacart to me, not sure why Costco doesn’t.

  93. 93.

    TS (the original)

    @Baud:

    I foolishly took a look at his twitter feed to see what he is doing – he seems to be seriously demented about losing the election.

    As I say continuously – imagine if Hillary had acted in this fashion when losing 4 years ago.

    It is to be hoped we find out  the implications of him losing when he cannot scream that he is immune to prosecution.

  97. 97.

    dmsilev

    @Baud: I think there are some states that allow drive-through booze sales (I think Texas?), so yes in theory. Definitely a market niche worth exploring.

  108. 108.

    Jay

    @Suzanne:

    when “we” rolled out curbside, and 3 hour delivery, it was so accelerated by Covid that it wasn’t until August that we had the Staff to do it properly. We had no qualified pickers, no cashiers, no runners.

    We finally got close to staffing up in November, now that cold and flu season has hit, and now that we have deployed “mask greeters” and Covid Captains, we are horribly short staffed. In my area, we should have had 2 full time, 2 part time just for “normal”, instead there was just the two of us.

    and of course, it’s Covid and I am so fucking glad that people are following Dr.Bonnie Hendry’s advice and are staying the fuck home, unless it’s essential, (not!).

    Even with cutting the Store occupancy in half since the current wave hit, the store is still shit full of not socially distancing, chin masker, recreational shoppers.

    Sadly, 10 months in and so much of it is still just make it up as we go.

  110. 110.

    rikyrah

    @Kayla Rudbek:

    My sister sent my other sister in Minnesota some stuff, and is like..

     

    She should have gotten it by now.

     

    And my response is…

    “They still are on their plan to destroy the Post Office… Did you think otherwise?”

    She seemed to understand.

  111. 111.

    rikyrah

    @Suzanne:

    I go to work everyday.

    When I get home on Friday, I am exhausted. Trying to get to and from work COVID-free is mentally taxing for me.?

    I crawl into bed Friday evening, and don’t plan to leave the house until Monday morning.

  112. 112.

    oldgold

    One big present for businesses in this new relief bill is that it allows for the deduction of expenses paid for by PPP loan money.

    When the PPP loan money was disbursed to businesses it was understood that the money would not be deemed to be taxable income, but that the expenses paid for with PPP loan money would not be deductible. The new bill changes that by allowing businesses to deduct expenses paid for with PPP loan money.

    This is a big double-dip tax windfall.

  115. 115.

    Ruckus

    @JoyceH:

    Not to paint too shitty a picture but he can do anything at his shitty golf club that he can do at the WH. He has the same powers and the same access, especially since he doesn’t even know how most of it works in any event. He rants, people give him answers and he rants. Where he does that is irrelevant. OTOH if he’s at the golf club he can play golf, or at least his version of it as often as he wants and as he has a half track mind if he’s doing that he’s not doing anything else.

  116. 116.

    Gvg

    @Suzanne: Look into curbside pickup. I have been doing it for everything since March. It took awhile to figure out. Some stores only do it with their own ap. Some stores only do it at some branches…I go to a different grocery store in the same chain, which is not even out of my way as it’s one of three I pass on my way home. Some stores took awhile to get it set up. Home Depot’s ap works better with my iPad then my android phone, no idea why. Walmart has recently gotten terrible, which seems to have to do with increased demand and sick employees, that’s local. Target has expanded the curbside spaces and gotten much faster at it. Also recently been asking us to pick up as soon as possible so their orders don’t pile up. I take it they are doing very well and I haven’t had problems.
    I do target and Publix grocery once a week and Home Depot when ever I need to fix something…you can stay out of stores.
    Once this is over I need to get a bunch of stuff I need to look at like flooring, but until then I just restock. It gets old but it isn’t stressful to stay home.

  118. 118.

    Jay

    @rikyrah:

    yeah, when I get a day off, I sleep until close to noon or later, then take a 2-3 hour nap in the afternoon, ( and I never used to nap),

    if I have a second day off in a row, then I sleep maybe 2 hours less, all told.

    I am exhausted all the time.

  123. 123.

    Gvg

    @Calouste: too late, the same reports this morning said the new strain was already in the Netherlands. Closing the barn doo after the horse is gone. I bet it’s here already too.

  124. 124.

    Mary G

    @Jay: LA Times today:
    Supermarkets in L.A. County see unprecedented coronavirus infection rates.

    Barbara Hughes, a cashier at a Food 4 Less in Palmdale, said she had to put in 70 hours last week because so many of her colleagues are out with COVID-19. Twenty-one employees have recently tested positive for the virus, according to county records.

    “Every single one of my managers has COVID — one of them is really sick,” said Hughes, 61. “It’s stressful, but I just tell myself: ‘You gotta go. You gotta work.’”

    They demonstrated this week because they’re not even getting the measly $2/hour hazard bonus they were paid at the start. Fucking corporations.

  125. 125.

    Jay

    So what happens when COVID is this widespread in LA? It spreads everywhere, making everything more dangerous.I looked at grocery stores, the most essential of businesses. Staff are falling sick at unprecedented rates. Trader Joe's. Sprouts. Food 4 Less.https://t.co/fOhm5gVPPz— Soumya (@skarlamangla) December 20, 2020

  126. 126.

    Mary G

    Who’s the third world country now:

    LA Times: SAN DIEGO — Forty years ago, Paul Courtright went to South Korea as a Peace Corps volunteer, helping a developing country find its footing after decades of foreign occupation, poverty, disease and war.

    Last month, with the United States reeling under a surge in coronavirus cases, South Korea returned the favor. It sent “COVID-19 survival boxes” to Peace Corps alumni in the U.S.

    When his box arrived at the San Diego home he shares with his wife, Courtright found 100 masks, antimicrobial gloves, a folding fan, instant coffee, candy and silver chopsticks decorated with turtles (a symbol in Asian culture of good fortune and long life).

    “The irony of having South Korea send us COVID-19 supplies and gifts is not lost on any of us,” Courtright said.

    A really feel-good story.

  127. 127.

    Suzanne

    @rikyrah: I go in to our office one day a week. We are rotating so one person is in the office each day to receive mail and packages. Other than that, I have a home office, and I have canceled all of my job site work until this is better. And I am still stressed out. Ugh.

    We needed a new washer and dryer for our house. Mr. Suzanne and I went to the local appliance place at its slowest time and ordered a set, and the washer was delivered and installed yesterday. So now I’m freaking out about having delivery guys in my house, even though they were only in the basement. And Mr. Suzanne had to interact with them. Ahhhh this is such a rabbit hole.

  128. 128.

    randy khan

    @Kayla Rudbek:

    The Postal Service is having a very hard time this holiday season.  I have a package coming the other direction – from southern Minnesota to northern Virginia – that was sent on December 8 and just hit Merrifield.  Maybe we’ll get it tomorrow.  Maybe not.

  129. 129.

    Jay

    @Mary G:

    my Corp killed the Covid Bonus at the end of July and rolled it into a fixed raise in August.

    part time got 2 weeks paid sick time, on top of accrued sick time, full timers, 4 weeks, to be paid out Dec 31st.

    in August, they announced we could roll it over into 2021, if we wanted.

    in October, they announced that we couldn’t roll it over, because they had decided we all get the 2/4 Covid sick time starting over at 12:05pm New Years Eve.

    where our Corp is falling down is basically, pretending this all is normal, and reacting, not being proactive. They lag by a couple of weeks or months and it’s us “burned outs”, closing the gaps, as much as we can.

    “Management”, is a joke.

  130. 130.

    dmsilev

    @Mary G: Yeah, it’s pretty frightening. I’m on a once-every-two-weeks grocery schedule, and I try to shop early in the morning other other off peak times. In and out as fast as possible. I buy as much as I can at the local farmers market even though it’s more expensive; at least it’s outdoors.
    Putting grocery workers near the front of the line for vaccinations is absolutely the right thing to do.

  131. 131.

    Amir Khalid

    @Suzanne:

    TP and disinfectants were in short supply here too, at first. But not for very long, and they are easily available now. I’m surprised to hear that supplies are constrained over there.

  133. 133.

    satby

    Shipping is still a fucking nightmare, and not just the Post Office, though they’re slammed the hardest. I assume DeJoy is the genius that decreed that all mail in the state of Indiana be sent first to Indianapolis, even if it was just going from one town to the town next door [and I also assume most states are now using a huge central depository to slow down the processing and sorting]. I’m watching priority packages I brought to the main post office not even be scanned in consistently, taking 2-3 days to travel the 5 hours to Indy, then sit there for several more days before moving on. It’s a total freakshow. And I don’t blame the mail handlers, because they had a working system that was deliberately destroyed for the benefit of private delivery services.

  135. 135.

    Mary G

    @dmsilev: I tweeted like three times at Nate Silver yesterday because of this:

    I know a fair bit about COVID. I spent a fairly large part of my life reading research about COVID. And I'm a good reader—it's part of my job. I'm not doing any epidemiology on my own. The problem is that ACIP's recommendations on vaccine prioritization don't match the research. https://t.co/t82qhPqSiY— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) December 20, 2020

    I would much rather be lower than mail carriers, grocery workers, and essential public-facing workers, because I can keep sheltering in place even though I hate it due to them.

    Today the CDC has revised the guidance as he wanted and he’s taking a victory lap. Still a wanker. How can you spend most of your life reading about a disease that’s barely a year old?

  138. 138.

    Jay

    @Mary G:

    there was a story yesterday about a for profit Cancer Hospital with no Covid or ICU Wards getting full immunization, ( first shot), including Administration working from home, while the local hospital actually dealing with the Covid cases, got none.

  139. 139.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @mrmoshpotato:

    Well, aside from hurting the “right people”…

    That is what they expected, and they got it.  They got it like they have never gotten it before.  They bathed in liberal tears, roared with approval as brown children were locked in cages, and strutted proudly as a president told them they were fighting the good fight by refusing to be even slightly inconvenienced to protect others from dying of plague.  It has been four years of heaven for bigoted assholes, and they are desperate to convince themselves it’s not over.

  140. 140.

    Mary G

    @Jay: I almost posted that LAT story, it is so sad and so maddening:

    The following day, the Folsoms went to Kim’s oncologist at Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach. Billy had business in San Clemente, so he decided to pass by some old haunts along the coast. “All the bars were packed,” he said. “No one was wearing a mask. No one socially distanced. No one cared.”

    He calls them “maskholes,” which is a good term.

    Not unrelated: Orange County had its highest number of new cases yesterday at 3,445.
    Today 4,606. When the hospitals are already full.

  141. 141.

    Bill Arnold

    @rikyrah:

    You mean…employers get to kill at will “protection”

    Well, human citizens should have a right to kill corporations. It’s only fair. Perhaps with voter referendums.

  142. 142.

    Eric S.

    @Baud: <blockquote>You can order a martini take out?</blockquote>

    We can in Chicago. At least until the pandemic is over and it is safe for restaurants and bars to open.

  144. 144.

    Soprano2

    Trump and his family are wealthy,  it wouldn’t matter whether they had passports or not,  they could go to many countries by private plane without ever showing a passport. Learned that from an episode of “Hidden Brain” about a woman who used to be a wealth manager for billionaires.  She travelled from one country to another and back without her passport.

  145. 145.

    eddie blake

    @Uncle Cosmo:

    fuck off, cosmo, you constant tool. yeah. the gop, the fascist fucking gop is just gonna come to their senses? they’ve viewed every single fucking democratic president since carter as illegitimate, but at least they went through the motions. now they’re chomping at the bit to just burn to the ground anything they don’t like and kill off as many of us as possible…

    but biden’s gonna make them come to jesus? sure as shit hope he has a plan b…and c.. and a few fucking more.

    oh yah, and eat a bag of shit.

  146. 146.

    Bill Arnold

    @TS (the original):

    I foolishly took a look at his twitter feed to see what he is doing – he seems to be seriously demented about losing the election.

    Looks like the Biden-rigged-the-election conspiracy narratives (they are not theories, more pre-falsified narratives appealing to those with a certain alt-reality world-view) are getting baked into a lot of minds, including D.J.Trump’s mind. The appearance is that he genuinely thinks he won. He will be miserable the rest of his life.

  147. 147.

    rikyrah

    @Suzanne:

    My Direct TV has been out since October. I keep on pushing back date for the repair man because, I am scared to have someone in my house. I have an appointment for the 29th. So far, I haven’t cancelled.. I am still terrified.

  149. 149.

    Bill Arnold

    @eddie blake:
    Note what people are objecting to, which is your stated belief that Biden is delusional about the nature of current Republicans. He went through nearly 8 years of obstruction as Obama’s VP.

  150. 150.

    craigie

    @danielx:

    Article says this:

    There is also an opportunity, with Trump a former president, for the Republican Party to once again become the home of sane conservatism.

    I would like to know when was this golden age? I haven’t seen it in my advanced lifetime.

  152. 152.

    HumboldtBlue

    The next four years are going to be far worse than 2020.

    The GOP will ensure it.

    And we get fuck all.

  155. 155.

    Jay

    @eddie blake:

    they ( MSM and ReThugs) crucified Hillary Clinton over “deplorables”,

    Biden’s “reach across the isle”, is “performative”, it actually will require ReThugs to cross the isle, if they want.

     

    @Bill Arnold:

    and they came after Hunter with a bagload of CT and bs.

    Joe Biden has no “illusions” about who the ReThugs are, or the comity obsessed and bothsiderist media are.

    Pretty sure he knows how to properly slide the knife in sideways while extending a hand of friendship with a gracious smile.

  158. 158.

    Bill Arnold

    @rikyrah:
    Terror understandable.
    FWIW, the few repair people I’ve used the last 10 months (this is NYS) have been quite disciplined about mask usage, because they’re afraid of getting sick from contaminated air in random customer dwellings, and they also were happy to see a mask on me. Also, I avoided the room they’d been in for a while, going outside if necessary. A little trust required that they won’t remove valuables, worth it to limit sharing of unfiltered exhaled air even further.
    Certainly an unmasked repair person should never be allowed inside.

  160. 160.

    Scout211

    @rikyrah:

    We had to have a service person come to the house for our Dish and I was very impressed with the safety precautions. The service tech wore a mask and gloves the whole time and maintained 6 ft distance. I wore a mask and my husband stayed in a room with the door closed while I interacted with the tech guy. We also opened all the windows (it was October so it wasn’t too cold for that).  Dish sent an email detailing the safety protocol before the service call. The whole thing went smoothly and I was quite relieved.

    Maybe you could call DTV customer service and ask them to give you their safety protocol for service calls to see if you would feel comfortable with them.

  161. 161.

    satby

    @Eric S.: I saw that. I should have just chauffeured them to the city. ? But thanks.

    My first sign of trouble was that Cole’s order sat in Indianapolis for a solid week before it moved on and he finally got it.

  163. 163.

    Redshift

    @Baud:

    You can order a martini take out? 

    Don’t know if it’s true everywhere, but after restaurants were restricted to take-out, Virginia started allowing them to sell booze carry-out, because there are plenty of restaurants that make most of their profits from booze. So yes, here you can order a martini take out.

  164. 164.

    Dan B

    One of My Mike’s tenants in his rental house got Covid in the spring.  His 50 YO gym bunny husband had no symptoms.  They are both suffering from brain fog.  A friend of theirs lost his job from brain fog.

    These stories are not being adequately covered.

  166. 166.

    Jay

    @Dan B:

    when the Pandemic is under control, there will be three dominate  Covid MSM narratives,

    Medical professionals abandoning medicine,

    Long Haulers,

    Covid PTSD

  168. 168.

    sab

    @Dan B: Feliway diffusers work pretty well as an alternative to kitty valium. I can always tell when the bottle has run out because Shadow turns back into Meankitty.

  169. 169.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @HumboldtBlue:

    The next four years are going to be far worse than 2020.

    We hold one more (and arguably the most powerful) branch of government than we did the last four years.  No, it will not be worse.  It will be vastly better.  McConnell is still a hate-filled cancer on America, but he will be a hate-filled cancer fighting a rear guard action rather than sitting pretty as Trump destroys everything for him.

  170. 170.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Frankensteinbeck: That is what they expected, and they got it. They got it like they have never gotten it before. They bathed in liberal tears, roared with approval as brown children were locked in cages, and strutted proudly as a president told them they were fighting the good fight by refusing to be even slightly inconvenienced to protect others from dying of plague. It has been four years of heaven for bigoted assholes, and they are desperate to convince themselves it’s not over.

    Yup.  And all of it is…what’s the word?  Oh right!  Deplorable!

  171. 171.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Gvg: We’ve started using a combination of Instacart from BJ’s and Target drive-up orders to do nearly all of our regular shopping. When the pandemic shutdown started, I assumed I could use Peapod, the grocery delivery service, but it was so slammed it was just impossible to use. But BJ’s plus Target plus the occasional delivery order from Petco actually cover most of the bases, without ever going into a store.

  172. 172.

    cain

    @Another Scott:

    It’s interesting that UK gets a strain that travels even faster. Yeah, sucks to be them. Fuck em – let them reap the whirlwind – but feel bad for folks like Tony Jay.

    But yeah, we can’t allow the more virulent form to show up here either. But I suspect it is already here and it’s going to be a shit show. But what do folks like Marco care, right? he got inoculated. Too bad there is nothing for stupidity and selfishness.

  173. 173.

    Matt McIrvin

    @HumboldtBlue:

    The next four years are going to be far worse than 2020.

    The GOP will ensure it.

    And we get fuck all.

    Gee, I guess we should have reelected Trump!

    (That’s pretty much what the Republican argument has come down to: “vote for us or we’ll shoot this dog.”)

  174. 174.

    Jay

    1/?The UK #SARSCoV2 variant reported to be 70% more transmissible harbors a set of mutations in the Spike protein––the part of the virus that touches the human ACE2 receptor and allows the virus entry into our cells. One mutation, N501Y, allows Spike to bind ACE2 more tightly? pic.twitter.com/pwmdwfntRh— Dr. Ali Nouri (@AliNouriPhD) December 20, 2020

    Thread,

  175. 175.

    Jay

    @cain:

    the mutation was discovered over 7 months ago, ( DNA differences).

    one month ago, the study on it’s increased infection rate, progress and adaptations was completed.

    It’s here and every where already.

  177. 177.

    rikyrah

     

     

    @Dan B:

    No, they are not being covered. The extent to the symptoms of “mild” cases are not being covered either. what can happen if you never go to the hospital with this disease

  178. 178.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Luciamia: Trump is, legally.  Any blame should adhere to him.  Trying to put any of it on Biden at this point is counterfuckingproductive at best.

  183. 183.

    Fair Economist

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    as I’m reading this, they defunded the Fed’s ability to lend– the money the Fed had been authorized will go to the payouts in the new bill– but the Fed can lend in the future if they (and Biden) can find the money. I have no idea how much the Fed can do without more funds being authorized.

    That doesn’t limit the Fed at all. The Fed has the power to create money.

  184. 184.

    rikyrah

    @Jay:

    Also, I have had eczema since I was a baby. I usually have two breakouts- one at the beginning of winter, the other at the beginning of summer.

    I haven’t had a breakout this bad in years. I know it’s the stress.

  185. 185.

    lowtechcyclist

    Way late here, but what the hey:

    To the extent that anyone’s paying attention to me, y’all know that I’ve been rather critical of Pelosi pretty much throughout this Congress.  And I still think she badly misplayed things at several points along the way.

    BUT I think she got about as good a deal as she could have gotten right now.  So big props to Nancy and Chuck for pulling this together.

    My only reservation is, what did they give away to get this?  If corporations can deduct three-martini lunches again, that’s a small price to pay.  Anything else?

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