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If it isn't COVID-19 it's the weather. This year is just using our nads as a speed bag. Hoping everybody isn't without power for too long.

None of what the Mayor Cooper proposed should come as a particular shock. In a state where income tax doesn't exist, and a local economy depending on tourism revenue to the point where they can't scare it away by throwing every cost burden onto the liquor and hotel tax, it's easy enough to see where government will turn for revenue. Since government can only pare down so much until we're in discussions about how long can people go between trash collection, or how many cops to not have on a given shift, it's bout to reach a breaking point somewhere, and the locals are always left footing the bill in that case. @MacGyver is spot on, it's liberals and conservatives coming into this area. That will probably continue apace since state and local governments across the map are facing shortfalls in revenue, and middle Tennessee is still a very attractive landing spot.

I went ahead and locked in the offer of an increase free rent extension knowing a hefty property tax hike was coming and could be passed onto me.

Nashville Farmers Market (currently doing drive thru services) has some great vendors that sell some high quality meat. Bit higher in price as you mention, and I can see them having a limited supply, but they're great to do business with.

Maybe some exaggeration or worst case scenarios being discussed, but is it truly panic when we run a tight supply chain like we do? These companies have their operations tweaked for efficiency and profitability...and I don't think it'll take much to throw a wrench into the gears. No company is ready for anything other than a small fraction of their workforce to be out of action, and only then for a few days at a time, not weeks.

You can check their site buy I think the Trijicon RMR is made in the USA. It's pricey, but great quality and you're most likely gonna buy once and cry once.

Some things are best left to professionals. Though it does explain how they can be so damned delish with nothing more than a piece of slice cheese melted on top.

That's a fair price for some of those items. The Hashbrowns are particularly appealing.

This would work, we've used a bunch in my office. D-Link makes good ones too. This model is running internet to the computer I'm posting from right now. https://us.dlink.com/en/products/dgs-1005g-5-port-gigabit-desktop-switch Also, I'd be remiss if I didn't make the pitch to ditch Comcast equipment. I bought this model/router a few months back and love it. After using it for about a year, maybe a year and a half, I'll be saving whatever I'd be getting charged in equipment rental. Just needed to give the modem details to Comcast and let them open it to getting my signal. It also has four ports if you want to keep it simple. https://motorolanetwork.com/mg7540.html

Stress tests are supposed to be academic exercises...we're seeing a real world application.

Patriots' Day is still a celebrated holiday in the Boston area. The Boston Marathon is traditionally run on the Monday closest to it, and that day, the Red Sox have a home game if the weather is nice. It used to end (if it didn't go extra innings) at a time to let the fans out in time to cheer the marathon runners at that point in the route. Not sure why that stopped. Obviously those things won't be happening this year, and that's a shame.

Nice to see DOJ looking out for the little people as per usual... DOJ lets companies skip paying penalties during pandemic https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/493216-doj-lets-companies-skip-paying-penalties-during-pandemic

I still use quad rails; never got into KeyMod or M-Lok. Have a Knight's Armament M4 RAS on my SBR and a 13” Troy Bravo rail on my 16" AR.

I try not to begrudge the conspiracy theorists; they need something to occupy their time same as me, I suppose. But would it be too much of an ask for them to come up with something entertaining instead of pushing garbage that can be debunked in 5 seconds as krunchnik did above?

I want him to resist the urge to turn everything into the "Donald Trump is Awesome" show. However, I understand that's wishful thinking, and he's genetically incapable of servant leadership rooted in humility. But things like this infuriate me: With all the chaos, it's a time for leadership to step forward, admitting the path out of this will be imperfect and bumpy while we try to do our best...not spend time insulting reporters when all he has to do is reject the premise of a question and move on. The irony in all his hot air is, I was *this close* to voting for him come November since the sky had indeed not fallen yet. The Democrats deserve zero reward for their indecision married to a lack of vision, and the Libertarian Party has yet to get any candidates into consideration who have a baseline of experience for me to respect enough. But seeing his "leadership" in a time of crisis snap back to his incessant need for praise instead of a serious and apolitical response has me returning my vote back into the category of writing someone in just to have it recorded.

Has that ownership really been contested, though? I don't think anybody is actually in love with China or anything, they've just been filling a void we left because that's how nature works. This isn't a decision I'm too firm about one way or the other, but a "taking my ball and going home" move isn't going to fix the WHO one bit, and it's certainly not going to teach China any kind of lesson. It's just more of the knee jerk reaction that's passing for decision making these days.

If he goes through with this, the consiquences will be China having an increased role in shaping WHO policy because we won't be in their way. If he was serious about this, he'd be increasing our stake in the organization so we can shape the agenda like an activist investor plusing up their position before a shareholder's vote.

*Side note, I was at WrestleMania 14 when he took on The Undertaker. Great match.

Say it louder three times for the people in the back!

All things being equal, I'd like to see a way for companies to keep a reserve fund at some level of their revenue/earnings. For reasons in my reply to Erik, that's not plausible in the current operating environment, but it could be a first step if we change the way things are currently done. As for choosing who gets a bailout...it's not the bailouts themselves I have a problem with, it's bailouts sans strings. Boeing is the perfect example of a company that I'm very uncomfortable with right now, because their company's failures are in some level of blame right now as COVID-19. Mark Cuban hits the 10 ring in this clip telling Boeing no way should they get a bailout free and clear. If we're gonna bailout Boeing, it needs to be with some heavy conditions, or after a bankruptcy where we can put a better company to the old name. So, a huge part of the problem is we incentivize share buybacks, and debt supported balance sheets. Between the tax code and corporate culture where folks get compensated on performance of earnings to share, publicly traded companies really have no choice but to do what's best fiscally, because doing the right thing for other reasons leaves you at a competitive disadvantage, puts your job in jeopardy, or worse, makes you a takeover target for activist investors. We're getting the behavior we reward, and we shouldn't be surprised by it.

I can see that take away. From my perspective, I watch the Fed a lot. What they do is mostly wonky, but it's without interference from Congress or the President, so they tend to be more proactive, and in larger force. What they're doing is telling me we're not going to be as good as we hope when CoronaMania passes as people think. Our economy had some serious warts that easy money was covering up...now we're seeing just how restrictive cash flow has been for businesses, along with how easy it's been for Uncle Sugar to come to the rescue. If this is sustainable, someone needs to show me the reasoning, because I don't see it. It's a bit of a stark contrast to 2008. At least then we had conversations about which businesses should be allowed to fold completely, which ones we'd let fall than raise up, and which ones would get support before bankruptcy. That debate was completely absent this time, and most folks in government are seemingly fine with it because the arguments over the bailouts were not focused on market ethics or moral hazard.

This piece is a bit long, but well worth the time to read. It focuses on the long term financial horizon, but has some very astute political analysis to go alongside it as people try to theorize how governments and their actions will have to be accounted for with regards to financial market planning. https://seekingalpha.com/article/4337018-covidminus-19-will-accelerate-preexisting-trends

The really annoying thing about AOC is she as often as not identifies a real problem. It's the solutions she proposes that go off the rails. Of course minorities are at higher risk and infection rates for COVID-19. As a demographic, they're more likely to be in jobs that can't be done from home which increases their exposure to the virus. They also as a group have lesser health overall from lack of access to quality healthcare because they may or may not have benefits; often having to defer medical treatment that isn't an emergency anyway because of cost whether even when they have insurance. I'm not trying to start a big thing, but I think we can all realize that by whatever reasons, minorities are at greater risk, and not belittle that fact, even if it came from an imperfect messenger.

If the Fed is doing the things described in the article below, and running up their balance sheet into the ionosphere as shown above, they're worried to a degree that means we're still in danger of a big time economic crash. We should also be ready to consider we won't just bounce back like some think, but instead could have a long hard slug upcoming. https://www.forbes.com/sites/sarahhansen/2020/04/09/the-fed-will-pump-another-23-trillion-into-the-economy/#2ecc84db2f28

I would hope as CoronaMania eventually starts to pass, people can realize their pantry is still full of all the just in case stuff they bought. From there, should be easy to donate at least some of it to organizations that will be doing what they can to help those who need some time to let a job market come back so that can get a new pair of bootstraps to pull themselves up by.