OT: Corona virus

[MakeeLearn]

Social Distancing is going to weaken our immune systems.

[Lowpe]

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

ORIGINAL: Cap Mandrake
We almost had polio eliminated from the planet...now it will take years to make up lost ground.

That probably makes Bill Gates mad, as it is his cause celeb I believe.

Cause celebre, however the term is usually used for a controversial action... I wouldn't think that eradicating polio would be controversial among the overwhelming proportion of the populous that has a functioning brain.

His foundation is interested in public health in general, mostly on a global scale.

I think it is literally translated as famous cases. In investigating -- it was poor word choice, I should have used notorious.[:D]

Is 'Notorious' Always Negative? Notorious is a word that got a bad rap by association with an undesirable lot. ... The most common meaning of 'notorious' is "widely and unfavorably known." The word does have a neutral meaning ("widely known"), but it tends to be colored by the pejorative meaning.

I would be using it in its widely known meaning if clarification is needed.[:)]

https://www.gatesnotes.com/Health/Our-P ... cate-Polio

[Lowpe]

ORIGINAL: RangerJoe

ORIGINAL: JohnDillworth

ORIGINAL: Lowpe



I heard, by which I mean you should question, on the radio hourly news update that 50% of Americans are tapping into their retirement savings because of Covid. In addition that 1/3 of credit card holders are getting their allowable credit reduced.

I kind of give credence to this considering my background. A small business owner is ineligible for unemployment. Their business value (if impacted by lockdwon) is now approaching 0 if not badly into the red.

It simply seems to me that they are damned if they do and certainly damned if they don't. The rational decision is to open up and face the uncertain virus and govt reaction over the certain economic death.

The economic damage is incalculable and will not come back fast. We will hit 20% unemployment and anyone that thinks it will come down to anything close to what it was is either selling you something or running for something (if you choose to think there is a distinction). Here is something else under the iceberg of 30 million unemployed. In this country almost all health insurance is tied to your employment. Yes, there is COBRA, but if you are laid off you need to pay both your share and the former employers share of health insurance so almost everyone will do without. So now we have tens of millions of unemployed people and few of them have health insurance. What can go wrong? More than a few economists have stated it will be 10 years or more before we see sub 5% unemployment again. One of the things our country does worst is train people that are transitioning out of obsolete jobs. So now we have tens of millions that are unemployed, uninsured, probably have some significant debt and have to be retrained for a different job. Hope is never a good strategy but once again, I hope I'm not reading the tea leaves correctly.

I know nothing about running a small business but I do know a few people that run them. Rule #1 is set up the business so you, the owner, are also an employee. So you can lay yourself off and collect unemployment. Yes, it is a little more expensive in good times, but it is paying big dividends now.

Not just for unemployment reasons but also legal liability. Have the company with the sign on the door own the letterhead and not much else. It leases everything else from another company that you also own. You are an employee of the company with the letterhead and all of your employment expenses are now tax deductible, including your solid platinum healthcare which includes dental and optical, not to mention your retirement savings plus the maximum matching funds from the company.

When I say that "you" own it, your family members can also own a share. This way the entire family can go to a shareholders meeting at a resort, restaurant, or wherever. You can also hire the children and pay them a wage instead of giving them an allowance. [;)]

I know the vast majority of the strategies: of ownership, depreciation of assets, leases, renting, family, key insurance, home offices, etc, etc.

[MakeeLearn]

The People We Were



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0fsg8ijn8E

[RangerJoe]

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

ORIGINAL: RangerJoe

ORIGINAL: JohnDillworth


The economic damage is incalculable and will not come back fast. We will hit 20% unemployment and anyone that thinks it will come down to anything close to what it was is either selling you something or running for something (if you choose to think there is a distinction). Here is something else under the iceberg of 30 million unemployed. In this country almost all health insurance is tied to your employment. Yes, there is COBRA, but if you are laid off you need to pay both your share and the former employers share of health insurance so almost everyone will do without. So now we have tens of millions of unemployed people and few of them have health insurance. What can go wrong? More than a few economists have stated it will be 10 years or more before we see sub 5% unemployment again. One of the things our country does worst is train people that are transitioning out of obsolete jobs. So now we have tens of millions that are unemployed, uninsured, probably have some significant debt and have to be retrained for a different job. Hope is never a good strategy but once again, I hope I'm not reading the tea leaves correctly.

I know nothing about running a small business but I do know a few people that run them. Rule #1 is set up the business so you, the owner, are also an employee. So you can lay yourself off and collect unemployment. Yes, it is a little more expensive in good times, but it is paying big dividends now.

Not just for unemployment reasons but also legal liability. Have the company with the sign on the door own the letterhead and not much else. It leases everything else from another company that you also own. You are an employee of the company with the letterhead and all of your employment expenses are now tax deductible, including your solid platinum healthcare which includes dental and optical, not to mention your retirement savings plus the maximum matching funds from the company.

When I say that "you" own it, your family members can also own a share. This way the entire family can go to a shareholders meeting at a resort, restaurant, or wherever. You can also hire the children and pay them a wage instead of giving them an allowance. [;)]

I know the vast majority of the strategies: of ownership, depreciation of assets, leases, renting, family, key insurance, home offices, etc, etc.

Incorporated?

[Chickenboy]

ORIGINAL: USSAmerica

ORIGINAL: obvert

Just a quick post on this OT event. Sebastian was born on May 11 at 21:53 in London. Everyone is now home and healthy, napping actually. [:)]

Many congratulations, Eric!

+1 [8D]

[Lowpe]

ORIGINAL: RangerJoe

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

ORIGINAL: RangerJoe




Not just for unemployment reasons but also legal liability. Have the company with the sign on the door own the letterhead and not much else. It leases everything else from another company that you also own. You are an employee of the company with the letterhead and all of your employment expenses are now tax deductible, including your solid platinum healthcare which includes dental and optical, not to mention your retirement savings plus the maximum matching funds from the company.

When I say that "you" own it, your family members can also own a share. This way the entire family can go to a shareholders meeting at a resort, restaurant, or wherever. You can also hire the children and pay them a wage instead of giving them an allowance. [;)]

I know the vast majority of the strategies: of ownership, depreciation of assets, leases, renting, family, key insurance, home offices, etc, etc.

Incorporated?

My business was a C Chapter. Over the years I had attorneys, accountants, tax accountants, financial planners, a board of directors, compliance officers, business & professional groups, etc, etc. etc.

[Lowpe]

DOD study raises tantalizing question: does flu shot increase vulnerability to coronaviruses?

https://justthenews.com/politics-policy ... er-viruses

[Lowpe]

Senators warn of suicide rate increase due to pandemic, suggest more federal mental health funding

https://justthenews.com/politics-policy ... re-federal

[MakeeLearn]

WA Governor To Residents: COVID-Test-Deniers Will Not Be Allowed To Leave Home To Get Groceries
05/13/202


https://www.zerohedge.com/health/nj-gov ... -groceries



"Therefore, those individuals that refuse to cooperate with contact tracers and/or refuse testing will not be allowed to leave their homes to purchase basic necessities such as groceries and/or prescriptions. "

[RangerJoe]

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

ORIGINAL: RangerJoe

ORIGINAL: Lowpe




I know the vast majority of the strategies: of ownership, depreciation of assets, leases, renting, family, key insurance, home offices, etc, etc.

Incorporated?

My business was a C Chapter. Over the years I had attorneys, accountants, tax accountants, financial planners, a board of directors, compliance officers, business & professional groups, etc, etc. etc.

Smart. I was telling a neighbor some strategies about setting up his business. He became an independent contractor when Ma Bell broke up. He said something that he wished his attorney and his book keeper would have told him these things.

[MakeeLearn]

There's plenty of meat in America — for those who can afford it
1 hr ago


https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets ... li=BBnbfcL



"So while lower-income consumers are finding meat hard to come by -- with Kroger Co. and Costco Wholesale Corp. rationing purchases -- richer Americans have their pick of fancy offerings that often cost twice as much, or more."

[Lowpe]

Venice locals beckon visitors back to the 'dead city'

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/venice-locals ... 43155.html

On Venice's famous St Mark's Square, even the pigeons have disappeared. There are no tourists to feed them, so why bother hanging around?
--
My daughter had a trip planned with a group for September. The trip was cancelled, and she lost 25% of the cost of the trip. I doubt she does another planned group tour in a long time, although I hear there is pressure for the travel industry to reform their cancellation provisions because of Covid.

[Lowpe]

Thought CR could fact check this article:

Coronavirus cases, deaths in Georgia continue to decline, three weeks after re-opening

https://justthenews.com/politics-policy ... ia-contiue

[Canoerebel]

Yes, that's true. All leading indicators (mortality, new cases, hospitalizations, etc.) are declining in Georgia. I'm worried (wary) about the wheels coming off, but man things seem very promising.

On a separate note, while returning to work an hour ago, a national radio talk show interview between two "experts" caught my ear when one said, "New York is not Georgia." They were making the same point made here earlier today - that the two jurisdictions, what they're dealing with and how they need to deal with it, are different. It's eerie how many times we've had discussion in here and the same thought/data shortly afterwards popped up in the news or talk shows, etc. (It's eerie because I don't have television, don't subscribe to newspapers, and only erratically hear radio news. The thoughts I share here are mostly self-generated, based on my experience, what I learn from you all, and the sources you've pointed me to.)

[obvert]

ORIGINAL: MakeeLearn

Vitamin D appears to play role in COVID-19 mortality rates
May 8, 2020

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-05- ... ality.html



"After studying global data from the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, researchers have discovered a strong correlation between severe vitamin D deficiency and mortality rates. "


"This is exactly where Backman believes vitamin D plays a major role. Not only does vitamin D enhance our innate immune systems, it also prevents our immune systems from becoming dangerously overactive. This means that having healthy levels of vitamin D could protect patients against severe complications, including death, from COVID-19."


""Our analysis shows that it might be as high as cutting the mortality rate in half," Backman said. "

This could be where the summer helps. Maybe where some climates have already helped more than others.

[obvert]

This is interesting. I think effective treatment is the next most important thing to a successful vaccine.

I love hearing stories where people got on top of this early, before it was a pandemic, and were already trying to find solutions.

https://www.wired.com/story/ai-uncovers ... ter-recirc

LATE ONE JANUARY afternoon, British pharmacologist Peter Richardson ran out of his home office and told his wife, “Got it!” She asked what he was talking about and offered a cup of tea. Richardson explained that he had identified a drug that might help people infected with a new virus spreading in China.

Richardson’s dash was prompted by a finding from artificial intelligence software developed by his employer, BenevolentAI, a London startup where he is vice president of pharmacology. The company has created a kind of search engine on steroids that combines drug industry data with nuggets gleaned from scientific research papers. Using the software, Richardson had identified a rheumatoid arthritis drug that might dampen some of the most severe effects of the new virus, an illness now known as Covid-19.

--------------------

Jonsson says the unexpected suggestion from BenevolentAI prompted Lilly to examine its data on baricitinib. The company also talked with outside researchers who did new lab tests on the drug. Lilly’s experts concluded that BenevolentAI’s hypotheses had merit, particularly the notion that the drug might dampen Covid-19’s dangerous cytokine storms. The company found corroborating evidence in results from early tests of baricitinib in severe Covid-19 cases by doctors in Italy inspired by BenevolentAI’s work. That’s when it opened talks with the government’s infectious disease institute about a trial to test the drug’s effect on Covid-19 patients.

[Cap Mandrake]

ORIGINAL: MakeeLearn

There's plenty of meat in America — for those who can afford it
1 hr ago


https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets ... li=BBnbfcL



"So while lower-income consumers are finding meat hard to come by -- with Kroger Co. and Costco Wholesale Corp. rationing purchases -- richer Americans have their pick of fancy offerings that often cost twice as much, or more."

The suppliers are different. Amish chickens aren't marched into a factory 20,000 at a time[:D]

[RangerJoe]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

Our mall is just a couple of miles down the road. For many years, I've routinely taken my lunch there, purchased a large unsweet ice tea, and read while eating. I resumed doing so last week, after a six-week Covid-hiatus. At first, there was next to nobody in the food court or in line at the vendors. Today was noticeably, remarkably more busy. People are definitely much more active. As best I can tell, there remains a wariness and caution about the wheels possibly coming off. Set against that feeling is an increasing confidence in returning to a more active work- and lifestyle. People are careful and polite in maintaining social distancing and being courteous. All restaurant employees wear masks. Only a few customers do - probably less than ten percent. Nursing homes and assisted living facilities remain on lockdown.

I went to Target today, all of the employees that I saw where wearing masks and one was sanitising the handles of the coolers. The cashier did not have the mask covering her nose and I mentioned that the mask does little good them. She said that it was hard to breathe. I told her to try a M17 gas mask from the military. She said that she heard about those from her step-father who was in the Navy.

I also noticed her accent was not from around here so I asked her where she was from. She said that she was from Alabama. So I told her where she could catch catfish but they would not eat rotten food. I also told her where she could get some good, smoked country style ribs to cook with black-eyed peas. They are leaner than ham hocks but are still very flavorable.

Deep fried catfish, hush puppies, cooked greens, hominy, peach cobbler, and pecan pie . . . [&o]

[Lowpe]

ORIGINAL: Cap Mandrake

ORIGINAL: MakeeLearn

There's plenty of meat in America — for those who can afford it
1 hr ago


https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets ... li=BBnbfcL



"So while lower-income consumers are finding meat hard to come by -- with Kroger Co. and Costco Wholesale Corp. rationing purchases -- richer Americans have their pick of fancy offerings that often cost twice as much, or more."

The suppliers are different. Amish chickens aren't marched into a factory 20,000 at a time[:D]

The Amish are pretty darn harsh on their animals. [:(] But I get you point.[:)]