WINNIE THE FLU The CCP Virus has DEMOLISHED libertarianism

by | Apr 3, 2020 | Libertarianism | 485 comments

Pie ponders etc… The title message or variations thereof are something often seen these days on lefty twitter. Then again they always are, but these days just a tad more. It is, off course, linked to the SARS-CoV-2 whatever. This has proven, once and for all time, libertarianism wrong.

How lucky, then, that this special event supports one’s hobbyhorse one has been riding for 30 years. This proves more government is needed, just like every single thing that happened ever proved more government is necessary.

Has it though? Has it really? Is this what covid did? You will not be surprised that I think not. For me all it did, as I may have mentioned, is strengthen even more, if possible, the idea that there is no room to communicate between people of differing concepts of life. It is hard to have a discussion with the left, mainly because we cannot first establish some simple facts of reality as a starting point. Reality is, off coursed, racist, sexist and transphobic. Nothing is objective and all that.

Let’s say we have two glasses of beer. We can debate if beer 1 is better than beer2 as long as we can agree, at least, we are looking at two glass of beer. But if someone sees a glass of beer and someone else sees the same object a decorative candle, there is no debate to be had.

But let us analyze things a bit. Why is libertarianism crushed? Because, they will say, government was essential in handling the pandemic. This is, off course, not such a hard fact as it may seem and can be considered at least debatable. But even assuming, for the sake of argument, that it is not debatable, it does not prove at all what they claim it proves.

I have seen in the past, among leftists wanting huge government intervention, claims such as measure X was applied during WWI or WWII and so it works. This is a ridiculous claim. Many things happened in the great wars. But life in general was massively disrupted and things were pretty bad. Living standards were low, most things rationed and so on. Some measure implemented were accepted in those times as necessary, whether they were or not. No one can claim everything government did during the wars was good. The fact that those measures would apply or be accepted during peace is ridiculous. If blinds on all windows work during the Blitz, they don’t do much in peacetime, except hide your fetish from you neighbor, though your kink may be that the neighbors know your fetish.

Similarly, things government does during a pandemic have no bearing on what it should do when there isn’t one. Some things necessary for short term survival in the presence of a, pardon the phrase, “clear and present danger” are not good for long term thriving, especially if that danger is not there.

Many of the things the left wants are not good even now. Why would anyone think nationalizing things increases production? When history has shown quite the opposite, and in less stressful times. European countries nationalized plenty after World War 2, probably by the stupid thinking that government involvement in production “worked” during the war.  It was an unmitigated disaster. That is, if you can look at history and see reality.

An analogy for this, seen online somewhere, is that if during a critical event in a hospital you need a defibrillator, that does not mean using one every morning as a healthy person is good. A random dose of chemotherapy for a cancer free patient would probably greatly harm said patient.  So no, the need, if any, of government intervention during war or pandemic does not, in any way, imply the need of government intervention during normal times.

But I will go further. For me, the virus proves wrong most of the left’s claims. This was, for all intents and purposes, a massive failure of government and experts. And trust in experts is one of the main conceits of the left. Well the experts failed. Miserably. Be it European Union agencies, US Surgeon General, World Health Organization and most national government agencies. All these institutions, one month before things started to go sideways, were adamant in claiming there was no risk (there was in fact), in was not human to human transmissible (ehm), there will be no pandemic (spoiler alert…) masks are no good (while not a panacea, they definitely help), travel restrictions are unwarranted, etc etc etc. A non-failure of government would have been preventing the pandemic from happening, given there was advanced warning. But nooo, that would have been RACIST. Instead of doing right by their citizens, every agency just repeated Chinese Communist Party propaganda. And all the press did the same. This is not a discussion on how bad the virus is. But, given the measures governments took in the end, it is clear the governments think it is bad. And as such, the measures come too late. And in the end, women and minorities hardest hit.

Every one of the quality socialized healthcare systems was unprepared and overwhelmed, although the great boogieman, the profit motive, was absent. Where were the experts then?

I will go a step further. This proved to me that the government of the world are too preoccupied with things that should not be, in a free society, under the purview of government, in order to do what, in any non-anarchy, is the core function of government: protecting residents and their rights. If they are too big, too far extended, they can no longer focus on what they should do. Money is wasted massively on everything government should not do, and, suddenly, there is not enough left for the few things government should have a role in. But this is on purpose, to grow government. That is why, whenever budgets are reduced, the actual important things are the first to go. The graft remains untouched.

Whatever your view of the virus, it is a massive clusterfuck. And it was mostly under the watchful eyes of governments spending trillions in total, north of 40% of GDP. BUT THEY ARE UNDERFUNDED!!!! How exactly is beyond me. But I believe this is the main argument of the left right now. No matter how much money government gets, if it fails it is underfunded. What would be well funded? Always more. It is a tidy little argument. It cannot fail. Except when communism, which is the final end of this kind of thinking, come. Ah, but that is never real communism. It never is.

 

About The Author

PieInTheSky

PieInTheSky

Mind your own business you nosy buggers

485 Comments

  1. PieInTheSky

    As a note this is mostly a hot take post for me, in that I did not take time to re-read it a couple of times as I usually do, wrote in in like 20 min looked for obvious typos and submitted. Make of it what you will.

    • Don Escaped Texas

      It was the perfect call !

      How many languages do you speak? I’ve worked for/with guys who could spend the day contracting, managing, and selling in a third language; I’m impressed by people so wired.

      • PieInTheSky

        only the two

      • Nephilium

        Only…

    • Fatty Bolger

      Hot take or not, it’s excellent.

      • R C Dean

        Concur.

      • Sensei

        +1

      • SandMan

        +2

    • bacon-magic

      Great hot take!

  2. Drake

    Yep. I unfortunately agree.

    The CDC are a bunch of fuck-ups. Those plague movies with Dustin Hoffman and the other one where Geneth Paltrow spread a Chinese virus by being a whore – both wildly over-stated the competence and preparedness of the CDC. The FDA has done nothing but get in people’s way and actively hinder doctor’s finding effective treatments and getting them to patients. Same for governors.

    Everyone will learn the wrong lessons while stroking their statist-boners.

    • AlexinCT

      The CDC is basically an entity where people with PhDs go to turn into feckless DMV employees. The problem will always be the bureaucracy and the inertia towards growing that and its power. Getting shit done is a low priority. Were they not doing a ton of climate change, attacking those that point out biology only has XX, XY, and XXY genders as ebul, shilling for Islam, pushing abortion, and doing anything but prepping for a pandemic like we have?

      Yeah, but we need more government in healthcare…

      • Drake

        Watching those people give a presser is watching Pournelle’s Iron Law being played out right in front of me.

      • juris imprudent

        Listen, vaping wasn’t going to go away on it’s own, the CDC had a big job to do there, right? What, you’re probably one of those neanderthals that think people should decide for themselves about smoking or vaping. Moron, don’t you know that 12-th hand smoke/vape is poisonous to all life – no, not just human life, all life. If people insist on fucking up their lives with nicotine addictions, then by god there is no lie we won’t tell to justify stomping all over their faces – all for their own good of course.

      • AlexinCT

        So while they pissed away time and tax payer money, they left the Obama era stockpiles depleted and managed to not have any kind of in place plan to deal with an event like the one we had. But hey, we need more big three letter agency oversight of other aspects of our lives! Yeah, sure…

    • Ted S.

      The most irritating thing about Outbreak was the standard-issue military-as-bogeyman conspiracy theory, with the lady doctor and the black officer beating it.

      • AlexinCT

        Hollywood pablum. Always the same shit show, and they wonder why the fucking unwashed masses won’t spend $20 to watch that drivel on a big screen.

  3. PieInTheSky

    So what is everyone drinking?

    I am having a glass of catleya perfect simplu feteasca neagra . not bad. young but drinkable right now.

      • C. Anacreon

        Monster Energy Zero Ultra (white can, zero carbs, zero sugar)

    • kinnath

      So what is everyone drinking?

      Diet Mountain Dew. It’s still the middle of the work day.

      • PieInTheSky

        1. it is 7 pm

        2. today was not a work day. it was a vacation day. A stay in home vacation, but still.

      • Spartacus

        Mountain Dew and water right now. In a few hours I’m going to crack open this bottle of Don Julio 1942 and have a belt or two. Or three.

      • Ted S.

        Not crab juice?

    • Drake

      Bought a bottle of Brockmans gin today. Looking forward to trying it tonight.

      • PieInTheSky

        seems light on the juniper

      • Drake

        I’m not a gin aficionado – usually just Bombay Gin & Tonics, so we’ll see.

      • Sensei

        Are you gainfully employed again?

      • Drake

        Not yet – in the interview process with two places.

      • Sensei

        Good luck!

        If it makes you feel any better I managed to navigate getting my current job with no electricity for two weeks during Hurricane Sandy. Everybody was truly working from home.

      • DEG

        Best wishes!

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      catleya perfect simplu feteasca neagra

      They’re branding the Red Cross donation bags now?

    • CPRM

      Red Dog no 20. #Day off before layoff!

      • PieInTheSky

        googling that only returns

        Red Dog Casino no deposit bonus codes 2020

        not a drink of some sorts

      • RBS

        “The Plank Road name was resurrected in the 1990s to sell Icehouse and Red Dog as a more premium beer under a different name”

        LOL. Icehouse was my swill of choice for parties in college.

      • Not Adahn

        The ice-brewed fad made some good beers, but more terrible ones.

      • Tres Cool

        See also “Colders 29”

      • Not Adahn

        Olympia Ice might have been the worst beer I had back then.

      • The Hyperbole

        Fire brewed or GTFO.

      • PieInTheSky

        Red Dog
        Mixed Drink Recipe from Cocktail Builder

        1 1/2 oz of Orange Juice
        1/2 oz of Orange Vodka
        3 oz of Ginger ale
        2 oz of Crown Royal canadian whisky
        1 1/2 oz of Cranberry Juice

        this is closest

      • C. Anacreon

        How about a Salty Dog?

      • DEG

        #Day off before layoff!

        Sorry.

      • PieInTheSky

        yeah me too did not register that

    • Tres Cool

      Water with my lunch.
      However, I did run to Kroger to score the obligatory TALL CANS for tonight’s happy hour. Didnt want to be a hypocrite

      Cant guarantee that they’ll make it to 7 pm tho.

      • PieInTheSky

        is that like 660 ml aka 2 beers worth?

      • Tres Cool

        Precisely

        If they made my swill in 40 oz, it would be TALLER cans. But I cant find it around here.

      • C. Anacreon

        When I was a kid my Dad would always say as Mom was serving dinner, “Bring on the Swill!”

      • Shirley Knott

        My mother once overcooked the pork chops we were having for dinner. When she brought them to the table my younger brother said “oh, boy! Pork chips!”
        She was not amused.

      • Nephilium

        So will my crowler of Alpha Ambush IPL count as a tall can?

        Just found out one of my locals is doing deals on beer to go (crowlers and just takeout).

      • Tres Cool

        My criteria is that the container has to look at home in a paper-bag.

      • Nephilium

        I’ll let you decide. 32 ounce cans, filled with beer from tap.

    • RBS

      Water. I might swing by the store on the way home and pick up something though.

      • AlexinCT

        It’s some bourbon or a gin martini (olives & olive juice, wave the vermouth bottle while still closed over the glass) for myself tonight.

      • R C Dean

        No vermouth, not a martini.

        Sorry, them’s the rules.

      • AlexinCT

        Heathen!

        I waved the vermouth over the glass! That’s enough molecules for me, man…

      • bacon-magic

        I pour the vermouth over the ice then drain it.

      • R C Dean

        The naturopathic martini.

    • R C Dean

      So what is everyone drinking?

      The bitter dregs of my disillusionment with my fellow subjects of the Imperial American Regime, Unlimited and Totipotent. And humanity in general.

      • juris imprudent

        I believe I have a barrel of that myself.

    • Count Potato

      water

    • DEG

      Tea with honey and lemon. No bourbon.

    • Rebel Scum

      Coffee. Still at work.

    • invisible finger

      Coffee when I woke up, unusual for me. During my meetings this morning I had a Murphy’s Irish Stout. At lunch I am having half a can of Sprite. Water the rest of the day.

    • Jarflax

      I’m waiting until 4 pm eastern to start. When I start I plan on greatly reducing the quantity on Glenmorangie Lasanta in my home.

    • bacon-magic

      Irish breakfast tea.

  4. Q Continuum

    The virus is a Rorschach test; people will find in it whatever they want to find.

    Libertarians find government incompetence in the form of the FDA and the CDC holding up progress toward a solution.
    Statists see a failure of private solutions and demand greater central control.

    Obviously most (all?) people here bend toward the former.

    • PieInTheSky

      Statists see a failure of private solutions and demand greater central control. – but how can you see that when governments usually restrict and regulate private involvement to whatever they allow? Private could not react as they were not allowed to.

      South korea got the private sector in from the start by easing restrictions, and they got testing up and running faster than the majority. England on the other hand fell way behind relying on government. US FDA did similar.

      • Q Continuum

        “how can you see that when governments usually restrict and regulate private involvement to whatever they allow”

        Don’t ask me why Statists see the world as they do; it’s like trying to understand the world through the eyes of an alien species. If they were persuadable with logic, they wouldn’t be rushing headlong into yet another commie/socialist experiment.

      • AlexinCT

        Statists prefer a world where government picks winners & losers, even if that exercise/responsibility causes the most amount of misery and deaths no matter the situation. For them it is about the world not being just (practically always because these “others” must have it better than them because these “others” have to be cheating, lying, and stealing [at least the honest ones will admit they mean more than they do] to be better off or at the same place they are) and only government somehow making it as close as just as possible. It’s about as stupid a vision as you can have and religious in nature. Replace an almighty god with government, and you get them and their need to recreate the concept of heaven on earth.

    • Don Escaped Texas

      Absolutely. For that matter, everything is a Rorschach Test: projection is running neck and neck with prejudice and in the can of worms with confirmation bias that drives what most folk think about most things.

      Dispassionate, even-handed discussion that refers to first principles is rare as hens’ teeth; I don’t know where the public would find decent thought leadership any more.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        It’s been drummed out of intellectual society.

      • leon

        Dispassionate, even-handed discussion that refers to first principles is rare as hens’ teeth

        Talk for your self, It just so happens that I’m always right…

    • Certified Public Asshat

      It's remarkable that the virus has caused every one of us to examine and challenge our pre-virus political beliefs, and conclude that we all were even more super-extra correct than we had previously imagined— David Burge (@iowahawkblog) March 30, 2020

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        I’ve decided that I was wrong about how thin the veneer was.

        We shifted from seeking proactive, productive solutions to full blown panic and its accompanying corruption within a week.

      • Q Continuum

        ^^^This.

        I learned that I was far too optimistic about what the public would put up with. Our betters are taking notice of everything they’re getting away with so easily and will push the envelope even further next time.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        Which is why I have no love for those who are defying the lesser shutdown restrictions in this environment. Provoking the government (and its supporting mob) will only result in further restrictions right now.

        Just keep your head down.

      • RBS

        Happened here last weekend. Everyone went to the beach so the Governor closed all the public accesses and public boat ramps for everyone except commercial fishermen.

      • R C Dean

        Its incredible. And because I happened to have travel scheduled during that week (March 8 – 15), I had a front-row seat. People started dropping from the conference I was going to (about half), and we spent a good part of the conference watching the whole thing blow up on our phones and email. The Friday before – some cancellations, people mulling non-essential travel. By the time I got home on Friday – Full. Blown. Panic. The leading edge of the panic – toilet paper – was already underway the week before, but I think its fair to say we went from mild amusement at the TP hoarding to hair-on-fire in a week.

      • Nephilium

        I was traveling that same week. My flight back was on the 13th, and the airport was already showing signs of less people. Staff at one of the bars said it was lighter then Thanksgiving day traffic.

      • Dr. Fronkensteen

        +1 bias confirmation

    • Rhywun

      I would posit that statists see government incompetence too—they just don’t give a shit.

      • Tres Cool

        Or embrace it.

      • Rhywun

        Yes, because they are not interested in actually doing or “solving” anything. Only profiting from it.

      • Raven Nation

        Or blame it on the wrong Top Men having power.

    • RBS

      Nobody wants to go to the hospital right now. Last shift we had a guy beg us not to take him.

      • ChipsnSalsa

        Tis but a scratch!

      • Drake

        Really? Maybe I’m biased as an old Marine.
        Marines who got wounded begged to get flown to a hospital ship instead of an Army field hospital. Those things had incredible reputations in the service. Had to drive a Marine with a foot wound up to one of the Kuwait City airports to be flown directly to a hospital ship in the Gulf because our Corpsmen were adamant that he not be sent to an Army hospital – they were sure the Army would amputate the foot.

      • leon

        No one needs more than two feet.

      • Plisade

        That’s *not* what she said.

      • AlexinCT

        If she has no feet she might be leaving snail tracks…

      • Plisade

        That bad, huh? What have I become?!

      • Swiss Servator

        Odd…in Afghanistan and Iraq, both – I saw everyone try to get into the Army level III hospitals. “The Love Boat” was too busy with the crew getting impregnated.

      • Drake

        Hmm… I believe the Army hospital system was reorganized between wars. Depending on where my wounds were, I still might choose “The Love Boat”.

      • Q Continuum

        ““The Love Boat” was too busy with the crew getting impregnated.”

        Checks out as to why the Marines wanted to go there.

      • Drake

        Shouldn’t just be the squids riding the waves.

      • Bobarian LMD

        I have it on good authority that Marines don’t fuck sailors, they get fucked by them.

      • Ted S.

        Somehow, I don’t think you were going to get impregnated.

    • Rhywun

      The reason for this is not “fake models”, it’s the clusterfuck process they put in place to test patients for CV before transporting them over. AFAICT, New York hospitals ARE stretched and DO need this.

  5. Fourscore

    Then we get hit with, “Well, its better to have too many (much) than not enough. Its people like you that accept people dying as the alternative”

    Every kid on Halloween knows that too much can be worse than not enough, whatever that means

    • Drake

      People used to accept that dying was going to happen. My SIL’s father is all kinds of “at risk” and doesn’t give a shit. He’s told his doctor’s he isn’t eating rabbit food to extend his life and now he’s told his daughters he isn’t cowering at home. They are both furious with him for not panicking and doing everything possible to live an extra few months.

      • Fourscore

        Hats off to the gent! The world is a scary place. Life is terminal.

      • Grosspatzer

        Good on him. Life is not a game that awards bonus points for longevity, far more important to use the time we have as best we can. As Fourscore said, life is terminal.

  6. PieInTheSky

    goddamnit Not Adah you and your “The Importance of Being Earnest.”

    • Not Adahn

      Why? Are you watching it now?

      • PieInTheSky

        worse really. I was reminded I had it on a dvd from my piratin days.

        As a bit of story time, back then the internet was not that fast and hdd not that big, so I burned movies on dvds. I still have em if they still work. I have I don’t know the english term these notebook like things with plastic sleeves that hold dvds. I got nostalgic and went trough a bunch of old dvds holding pirated movies and anime. reminded me of what I was downloading back in the day. i have hundreds of movies i think

      • Count Potato

        “english term these notebook like things with plastic sleeves that hold dvds”

        binders?

      • Not Adahn

        DVD case.

        A binder is what you keep your women in.

      • Count Potato

        Yes

        Just search amazon, etc. for “DVD binders”

      • Pine_Tree

        I thought “binders” was sexist now and you can’t say it.

      • The Hyperbole

        I’d call it an album.

      • C. Anacreon

        It would be nice to be able to do some Bunburying right now.

  7. Yusef drives a Kia

    I fucked up, whilst walking the dog, I saw a huge lineup of cars, then it hiT me, food bank, driveup style, so here we sit, in line. Hole I don’t piss myself……

    • Yusef drives a Kia

      Or hope

      • Tres Cool

        My Kroger was cray earlier. Not only is it 3rd of the month (Mother’s Day!) but everyone is repeating the same patterns from 2 weeks ago: carts loaded with TP and cases of water.

      • banginglc1

        People must shit a lot more than me.

      • invisible finger

        People are forced to buy toilet paper because they can’t steal it from work now.

      • Bobarian LMD

        The toilet paper at work is why I have hemorrhoids.

    • PieInTheSky

      best of luck. driving means you probably don’t have much beer in you

      • Yusef drives a Kia

        It’s only 930 am here, and we are parked in a half mile long line, 50 feet in 30 minutes

  8. AlmightyJB

    But Libertarianism is responsible for this entire problem to begin with so…. ~ every prog site

    • Don Escaped Texas

      NewWife sent me some meme the upshot of which is that the popular opinion of libertarianism is Joe Exotic. That’s terribly unfair because that lesbian with the chewed off arm only looked half Mexican to me.

      A lot of nonsense is being debited to our ledger. I liked it better when the reputation was just diaper fetishes and rubber boot-hats.

      • Nephilium

        Most people can’t explain their own political beliefs, let alone those of a fringe 5% of the population.

        /looks at the Libertarian party

        They don’t help either…

      • banginglc1

        I can’t tell you how many girls I have dated that when I told them I was a libertarian they asked me what that was.

      • Rebel Scum

        “A Republican that likes weed”. – Democrat

        “A Democrat that likes guns.” – Republican

      • Q Continuum

        Tell them you like butt sex. That always goes over well.

      • Nephilium

        Back during Obamas first run, one of my (black) coworkers was shocked when I answered that I wouldn’t be voting for him. Her response was, “But… you’re not racist!” I then explained that I wasn’t voting for McCain either, and was going to go third party. She then said, “There’s more then two options?”

      • Spartacus

        This year I am seriously thinking about John McAfee/Marc Randazza as a write-in combo.
        Slogan: “McAfee/Randazza–because at this point, what difference does it make?”

      • grrizzly

        Actually, voting for the Republican candidate on the ballot doesn’t make you a racist either. Just saying.

      • Not Adahn

        I’m only a couple of episodes into it, but I’m not really seeing the problem.

        At this point in the series, I hate the filmmaker more than the characters.

      • Don Escaped Texas

        I don’t have a problem with Joe at all. As long as I’m not being taxed to prop him up, he can ride tigers every hour of the day.

        The popular critique is more about deportment than philosophy; building on Neph: he doesn’t have a philosophy, and neither do those who judge him. I think the average libertarian might have a gun or two, but the fairer view, hopefully, is as competent proprietor (plumber, coder, whatever) who’s not looking for a handout. Joe lives some of that, but the clown-suit is all anyone sees.

    • juris imprudent

      ~ every prog site

      Every ‘national conservative’ site too.

      Statists gotta state.

  9. Mojeaux

    It’s a good post. Depressing as hell, but a good one.

    Every civilization goes through a cycle and starts dying at the point of peak prosperity.

    tl;dr People have too much time on their hands and can stare into the abyss until it stares back.

    • Pope Jimbo

      Dan Carlin has some quote in his podcasts that goes something like “Every civilization goes up the stairs in boots and comes down the stairs in silk slippers”

      Basically, when civilizations are growing and thriving it is because the population is hardy, but at some point they get too lazy and the civilization crumbles.

      • DEG

        Hard times create hard men
        Hard men create good times
        Good times create soft men
        Soft men create hard times

      • Mojeaux

        I am reminded of Earth Abides.

      • Plisade

        Time Machine

      • Mojeaux

        Every civilization goes up the stairs in boots and comes down the stairs in silk slippers”

        Clearly I need to catch up on Dan Carlin. I did his WWI series of podcasts and it was brilliant. Still don’t understand most of it, but I understand more of it than I did before (and probably more than most people).

      • Pope Jimbo

        The Wrath of the Khans (about the mongols) was how I first started listening to Carlin. That was a great series.

      • l0b0t

        Seconded. That was some amazing audio documentarianism. Carlin does good work. I’ve also really enjoyed his series (well, I’ve enjoyed everything of his to which I’ve listened) about thermonuclear annihilation. Also, Caesar At Hastings is just the sort of historical pondering that really speaks to me.

    • ron73440

      Mojeaux, I really enjoyed the story. I have one of your books in my Kindle, but I haven’t read it yet.

      I guess I need to bump it up the list.

      Thanks for submitting it.

      • Mojeaux

        I’m thrilled you enjoyed it. It’s wildly different from my others, but a friend once told me she could tell my voice no matter what genre I wrote in and generally what people like about an author is their voice.

  10. Urthona

    Nah. We’re kicking ass and taking names.

    ..

    BTW, how can I get the new antibodies test? Convinced I already had this.

    • Tres Cool

      Spit a loogey into an envelope and mail it to the CDC. They’ll be in touch.

      • Urthona

        On it.

      • AlexinCT

        You might get a visit from the FBI if you do it that way….

      • Q Continuum

        Loogey is too difficult to analyze. Gotta be a semen sample.

      • RBS

        How do you think he sealed the envelope?

      • AlexinCT

        This will illicit a visit by the IRS instead of the FBI…

      • Not Adahn

        But remember, to make the sample easier to get out you need to toss in some cornstarch, flour or other whiite powder.

      • AlexinCT

        Now we are talking!

    • Urthona

      Finally people will know cigarettes are dangerous.

    • PieInTheSky

      I am reminded of the old joke

      guy goes to buy a pack of cigarettes. the one he gets has a warning “may cause erectile dysfunction” so he asks the store clerk do you have any with cancer?

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Poking the bear is a stupid fucking move that will cost us all liberties over the long run.

      • Rebel Scum

        I thought we learned in the 40s that appeasement doesn’t work.

    • Fourscore

      I wish the ladies would wear a big “A” so I wouldn’t make so many mistakes.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        Alcoholics are easier to pick up.

      • Not Adahn

        If you have to pick them up, they’ve had too much to drink and they legally can’t consent.

    • R C Dean

      Umm, telling people to self-quarantine is not medical advice. Self-quarantine is not treatment. House arrest orders are, at best, public health, not medical. The two are very different. Although hardly anybody seems to get this.

      • Q Continuum

        Shut up peasant and do what you’re told.

    • robc

      Adblock wont let me in (and I dont trust the CJ enough to turn it off), does the article name the judges? Want to see if it is anyone I know.

      • Tres Cool

        “Issuing health-related civil orders is new territory for the courts, according to Judge Charles Cunningham, who issued two Friday.”

      • robc

        Name sounds vaguely familiar, but I don’t know anything about him.

  11. Nephilium

    As an afternoon reminder. Glibs Virtual Happy Hour, tonight starting at 19:00 Eastern.

    • Tres Cool

      Im still not guaranteeing that Ill have pants on.

      • Q Continuum

        I think we’re all counting on a drunken Tres striptease.

      • Tres Cool

        Schumer aint got nuthin on these m00bs!

        (Chuck or Amy….take your pick)

      • AlexinCT

        Chuck looks like he can suck a golfball through a garden hose. Amy looks like she swallowed the golfball…

      • Nephilium

        I’m guaranteeing I will not have pants on. It’s WFH MADNESS!

    • Dr. Fronkensteen

      Is there a meeting number? Sorry I’m new to Zoom.

      • ChipsnSalsa

        8675309

      • Dr. Fronkensteen

        Thanks although I’ll be late due to being at work and on central time.

      • Nephilium

        Built into the link. If you’d prefer, meeting number: 849 837 331

      • Tres Cool

        Reverse that order, and you have the measurements for my ideal woman.

    • PieInTheSky

      If it lasts more than 6 hours I may join 😀

    • Timeloose

      How many will have real visuals or will we be wearing masks?

  12. Ownbestenemy

    So got a message from kid’s school. They will only be able to receive a C on all their grades (unless they had A or B as of March!) What the fuck shit is that.

    • PieInTheSky

      well things are shit, it is good they learn this at a young age

    • Ownbestenemy

      Looks like the Unions have spoken

      Our directives at this point are that the third quarter grades will be the semester 2 final grades. If students earned a D or F then they are able to raise that grade up to 1 letter, but if they earned a C or better then that grade is final. I will continue to post at least 1 new assignment per week to cover the 4th quarter content. If you earned a C or better 3rd quarter then this work is for you to learn, gain knowledge to help in further classes and life and stay sharp as a student

      • Rebel Scum

        I hope that isn’t for high school (not that it is anything but bs anyway) because that affects gpa for college admission.

        If students earned a D or F then they are able to raise that grade up to 1 letter, but if they earned a C or better then that grade is final.

        Naturally, you have to hold back those that perform better.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Yep…high school. They have already revised it. My guess mine and other parents responses of bullshit might have had an play in that

    • Fatty Bolger

      That’s idiotic. The Karens aren’t going to stand for this, I promise you that. And for once, I’ll agree with them.

    • Dr. Fronkensteen

      Is you or is you not my constituency?

      • juris imprudent

        As it turned out, they isn’t.

    • Not Adahn

      “Everyone else, give us your ventilators! We’ll give them back when we’re done, I promise. Also, I want a million people to come in and help for free. This won’t cause any problems at all.”

      • AlexinCT

        Is that an advert for the Healthcare for all that the team blue geriatric crowd were peddling back when we were forced to watch them try to outdo each other on whom hated bad orange man the most on a stage?

    • Desk Jockey

      Family member in the hospital system up here (2 hours north of NYC) heard reports of them coding any death in the city to the virus. All part of the nursing rumor mill but not surprising.

    • Viking1865

      Remove the grain from Ukraine, send it to Moscow.

    • AlexinCT

      Someone should point out the correlation with Cuomo robbing these supplies from areas where voters are far more likely to vote against him, by large margins, to bring it to those that vote for him in numbers that exceed eligible voter turnout. Cause I bet you that if he had an “R” next to his name, they would be crucifying him for this act…

      • leon

        BridgeGate -> VentilatorGate

  13. Count Potato

    “WINNIE THE FLU”

    LOL

    • tripacer

      “Commie cough” is starting to grow on me.

      • Tres Cool

        “Chink Croup” is a bit more edgy

  14. Certified Public Asshat

    Soccer link, but not really soccer related: Tottenham fans, supporters trust pile pressure on the club to financially support non-player staff

    Tottenham Hotspur is rightfully catching a lot of criticism from its supporters and elsewhere for its decision earlier this week to furlough 40% of its non-playing staff and to take advantage of the UK government’s plan to cover 80% of those affected workers’ wages. Spurs also cut 20% off of the salary of non-furloughed workers, including executives.

    Spurs aren’t the only club to do this — as of the time of this posting, Newcastle, Norwich and Bournemouth have all also taken advantage of the government’s furlough plan — but they are the only club who are not further supplementing in order to make sure that affected staff receive their full pay.

    A lot of derp based on the notorious assumption that wealth = cash.

    • Rhywun

      Who could have possibly seen that coming?

  15. DEG

    But, given the measures governments took in the end, it is clear the governments think it is bad.

    Assumes facts not in evidence.

    • PieInTheSky

      fine they want the public to think it is bad, but we know they know we know they know etc…

  16. Don Escaped Texas

    On the dead thread Scruff used a phrase that reminded me of an outstanding book: https://www.amazon.com/Drunkards-Walk-Randomness-Rules-Lives/dp/0307275175

    I have had tremendous difficulty explaining the randomness in processes and in our lives; there remains an entirely unreasonable notions about foresight, management, decision-making, and execution. Leonard Mlodinow humorously collects some great examples that explain cognitive bias, luck, and a lot of other bits of bad math and thinking that are screwing people up at work and at home.

    My favorite example is explaining to Dad how (just watch), all things being equal, most approach shots in golf fall short of the pin. People have terrible judgment of their own power and skills, the lay of the land, the vagaries of wind and temperature, and so they pull the wrong club: the optimistic club, the club that is perfect only for the perfect swing, a thing that happens maybe 20% of the time.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      To be honest, I lifted that turn of phrase for Trump from the book.

    • Pope Jimbo

      How not to be Wrong: The Power of Mathematical Thinking is similar.

      The example in this book that is interesting the RAF in WWII trying to figure out where to armor their planes. They gathered a ton of info on where planes had been hit with enemy fire to try to figure out where more armor was needed. Some mathematician looked at the data and told them to armor all the places that had 0 or very few bullet holes according to the data. The idea being that since sample set was only from planes that had returned, the data was only from planes who’s armoring had worked. So those planes hadn’t been hit in the unarmored areas (if they had they would have crashed).

      • Pine_Tree

        Can’t take time to find the link, but you can actually find some of the actual diagrams and reports used in the analysis online – real story.

      • Akira

        I have that book, and it’s in the queue after I finish Meltdown by Tom Woods. I’ve leafed through it; sounds interesting.

  17. Rebel Scum

    Oh, bother…

    • DEG

      That’s a top shelf collection.

    • banginglc1

      This working from home has my dick so sore . . .

  18. The Late P Brooks

    This proved to me that the government of the world are too preoccupied with things that should not be, in a free society, under the purview of government, in order to do what, in any non-anarchy, is the core function of government: protecting residents and their rights. If they are too big, too far extended, they can no longer focus on what they should do. Money is wasted massively on everything government should not do, and, suddenly, there is not enough left for the few things government should have a role in. But this is on purpose, to grow government. That is why, whenever budgets are reduced, the actual important things are the first to go. The graft remains untouched.

    Mission creep. Bureaucratic empire building.

    Forces as inexorable as gravity.

  19. Count Potato

    So my temp is normal. I still feel like crap. I think I spent around 12 hours in bed last night/this morning. My ribs hurt, but I’m not coughing.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      I had that two weeks ago. I was zonked out for a day or two.

      • Count Potato

        We both had the sore throat and low temp thing a couple weeks a ago too, if I remember correctly?

        Did you ever get a fever?

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        Nope

      • Count Potato

        Well, I guess that is different then.

    • Drake

      Are you going to get tested?

      I had a sore chest a couple weeks ago. Convinced myself I had it, then took an antacid and felt better, and foolish.

      • Lady Zorg aka Babalu

        You’re not foolish. We are biologically designed to respond to perceived danger. I try to remember that when I see everyone around me losing their minds – they aren’t bad people, they aren’t even necessarily stupid. They are just responding to overwhelming stimulus that is short-circuiting their ability to reason.

      • Count Potato

        My test is Monday.

    • PieInTheSky

      hangover?

    • DEG

      It’s good to hear your temp is normal. I think that is a good sign. Everything OK with your mom?

      • Count Potato

        She seems to be taking this better than I am. So far, she says she feels fine. I made a bunch of adjustments and such, figured out a way with dessert cups and colored post-its so she can do her own medication, etc.

        It’s still very perplexing to me how I could have caught anything since I was so careful. My biggest worry is that she caught it from me.

      • DEG

        I hope for the best for you folks. Despite all this shit going on, I think you folks will be fine.

      • Count Potato

        I hope you are right.

    • invisible finger

      Fap to a few Demi Rose pictures and call us in the morning.

  20. Not Adahn

    For those of you short on ammo, armsunlimited is having a sale on… 4.6 x 30mm? This is a cartridge? Ooooh, yeah, the MP7. That thing.

    • Q Continuum

      Since the whole world is buying guns, I figured why the hell not?

      https://www.taurususa.com/firearms/revolvers/608/

      Found a killer deal on GunBroker. Always wanted one because, 8 round cylinder? Hellz yeah!

      Well, I would have bought it, had it not been tragically lost in a shipping accident.

      • R C Dean

        I about fell over when our CMO told me he had just bought a gun – 9mm S&W Shield. I think its the first gun he’s bought, although he’s ex-Army so he should know how to handle it. Could only get a couple of boxes of ammo, though. I told him when my 1,000 rounds arrives in a couple weeks I’d front him some.

      • Drake

        If we’re wearing bandanas over our faces, may as well have revolvers on our hips.

      • R C Dean

        I will be ordering an open carry holster for the hogleg double-stack .45. Why the hell not? Open carry is legal here. Well, its legal everywhere under the 2A, but nobody is arresting anyone for it in AZ.

      • l0b0t

        Which one do you have, sir? I’ve had my beloved Para-Ordnance P12 for many, many years with no complaints after a thorough lapping/fitting/polishing/spring & grip replacement. Recently, I viewed some DerpTube stuff about the Model 2011, new fancy double-stack .45 frames, but I’ve never seen one in person (not many opportunities in NYC).

      • R C Dean

        P14-45. 5 inch full size 1911 with a 14 round mag. Just the way it came out of the box except for the grips, never any problems with it.

      • Not Adahn

        Someone of your means should look into picking up an Atlas Athena, something from Cabot, or at the very least a Hayes Custom Tac Ultra

  21. westernsloper

    This proved to me that the government of the world are too preoccupied with things that should not be, in a free society, under the purview of government, in order to do what, in any non-anarchy, is the core function of government: protecting residents and their rights. If they are too big, too far extended, they can no longer focus on what they should do.

    I agree they have gotten way off mission and this amended sentence is where I stand. I don’t know what I am. Am I an anarchist? AnCap? Constitutionalist? Fuck if I know. I jsut know I am pissed off.

    • westernsloper

      Yes jsut!

    • Q Continuum

      I would be happy with strict Constitutionalism if there were some way to absolutely prevent mission creep. It seems impossible though.

  22. kinnath

    Dangerous ideas and their indicators:

    1) some of the most dangerous ideas in the world are expressed immediately before or immediately after the phrase “if it saves one life”.

    Agree? Disagree? Other indicators?

    • DEG

      Agree.

      Other indicator – “It’s for the children.”

      • kinnath

        Always a classic.

    • kinnath

      Taking the dog to the vet (annual visit and rabies shot). Feel free to insult me while I am away.

    • RAHeinlein

      Agree. Ditto the phrase “every single person”

    • R C Dean

      Agree. It justifies every single conceivable abuse and infringement, in emotional terms that most people find irresistable.

      • Viking1865

        Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves. -Pitt the Younger.

  23. Certified Public Asshat

    Major asshole alert:

    Do you know of any smoke shop,craft store or other non essential business (not covered by @CISAgov ) ignoring my #SaferAtHome order and putting profits over public health in your area? Report on https://t.co/uERysAqFAr so we can shut them down ASAP. #FlattenTheCurve— Clay Jenkins (@JudgeClayJ) April 2, 2020

    • Shirley Knott

      Report the legislature, each court, and every press conference.

    • leon

      ignoring my #SaferAtHome order and putting profits over public health in your area?

      How dare they try to provide for themselves! They are putting their profits over everyone else. This retard of a lawyer (hence the affection “judge”) has just demonstrated that when it comes to what those in power deem “public” necessity, your attempt to feed your family will be deemed as greedy profiteering.

      In a more civilized time there were suggestions for where Mr Clay could be placed, feet first.

  24. R C Dean

    Still early, but we are tracking the actual confirmed cases in AZ, and we have a couple of days now where the increase is only 15 new cases. This is a slower rate of increase than over the last week, and comes with more testing. The vast majority of tests are still coming back negative, although there is a false negative rate that is estimated to be 10 – 15%.

    If this holds through the weekend, then we may have already seen the peak here. At a level that is an order of magnitude or more below what the models said, and way below anything that would justify the panic and economic damage.

    • RAHeinlein

      Good information. What is the lag between test/results?

      • R C Dean

        Varies. The lab we use has a 2 – 3 day turnaround, I believe. Others are longer – 5 days, in that neighborhood.

        I gather the real bottleneck for expanding testing is the specimen collection kits.

    • Urthona

      Still going up in Texas, though barely. Texas is the second largest population and has only seen like 80 deaths so far. Something feels off.

      • R C Dean

        People need to be focusing on the rate of increase. There’s different ways to measure it – how many days to double is one. Percentage increase day-over-day (or other time period) is another. Our rate of increase appears to be slowing and may even have gone to zero, which if it bears out means we are close to rolling over the top of the bell curve.

      • Urthona

        So does that mean we are behind the curve by several weeks or what?

      • R C Dean

        Nobody knows. Could be that you have a higher population that is already immune, could be you are behind the curve. Remember: the odds are very high this thing dies out from the heat in May, so I believe we are running out the clock on it, at least this season. If you are far enough behind the curve, you will not have much of a curve.

        We desperately need widespread antibody testing this summer, hopefully as a rebuttal to the inevitable attempts to reignite the panic next fall.

      • Urthona

        I mean it’s already been in the 90s here.

      • Plinker762

        “We know that with the warmer weather this May, people want to go outside. However to keep flattening the curve I have issued orders that all non-essential people must stay indoors.”

      • Lady Zorg aka Babalu

        And yet Dallas county just extended cower in place through May 20.

        What happened to “flatten the curve”? The curve is already flattening.

      • Don Escaped Texas

        the timing of the curves are offset to the same standard (case load or density), so you can compare TX to where other states were this many cases in

        look at the normalized curve

        I make a lot of warranty jokes, and these numbers are similar: rumors of war; but, after a few weeks, the weirdness and kinks and biases have averaged out; as a quality manager I like would say: directionally correct

        of course, Plano’s one thing and Terlingua’s another; I’ve written there is no such thing (to the virus) as “China,” . . . . probably no such place as TX either

      • Jarflax

        People need to be focusing on living their lives. I wrote a whole screed about this but honestly the one sentence covers everything in my opinion, all the rest was just me ranting and I need to stop.

    • invisible finger

      How many tests? How many positives?

      • R C Dean

        I’d have to go across the building to find out. Sorry.

      • Ted S.

        They don’t have a phone you can call? :-p

  25. Plisade

    “measures governments took in the end”

    I’ve got a measure for the government to take in the end, IYKWIM.

    “But I believe this is the main argument of the left right now. No matter how much money government gets, if it fails it is underfunded.”

    Stick an “and” in there and you’ve nailed it.

  26. The Late P Brooks

    Serious journalists want serious journalism

    On Thursday, 74 journalism professors wrote an open letter to Fox Corporation chairman Rupert Murdoch and CEO Lachlan Murdoch claiming that coverage of the coronavirus from the company’s Fox News Channel “is a danger to public health.”

    The professors cite the results of a YouGov/Economist poll that indicates “Americans who pay the most attention to Fox News are much less likely than others to say they are worried about the coronavirus,” according to their letter.

    The letter says that “as the virus spread across the world, Fox News hosts and guests minimized the dangers, accusing Democrats and the media of inflating the dangers (in Sean Hannity’s words) to ‘bludgeon Trump with this hew hoax.'”

    Whycome you no on hobgoblin bandwagon?

    Terrorizing the rubes is your sacred duty.

    • Q Continuum

      I just love these people, they are walking, talking parodies.

    • westernsloper

      Again, look at the bottom right graph here.

  27. The Late P Brooks

    Since the whole world is buying guns, I figured why the hell not?

    https://www.taurususa.com/firearms/revolvers/608/

    Found a killer deal on GunBroker. Always wanted one because, 8 round cylinder? Hellz yeah!

    Is that a .357?

    Of course, i had to do some window shopping after I clicked on the link. Oh, look, a 1911 “commander” with full size frame and 4.2″ barrel in .45acp.

    My next build. On an aluminum 80%.

  28. The Late P Brooks

    Agree. It justifies every single conceivable abuse and infringement, in emotional terms that most people find irresistable.

    You can’t put a price tag on a human life!

    • invisible finger

      Sure you can. Life is cheap – supply outpaces demand.

  29. Private Chipperbot

    Gov Gretchen bans boats…

    Skies are sunny, you’ve been cooped up at home for two weeks and you’re ready to take the boat or kayak out of hibernation and hit one of Michigan’s waterways. Dock it. Launching watercraft is prohibited under Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s stay-in-place order, according to a Michigan State Police spokesman.

    But kayaking and boating are verboten — and Shaw says he recommends people avoid the other outdoor activities, too, even if they’re allowed under the governor’s order.

    “Don’t look at the order and say, ‘how can I find a way around this?’ Look at it and say, ‘I don’t want to get the virus and kill my wife or husband,'” he said.

    “You may think you’re not doing any harm by going kayaking or boating, but you’re still touching doorknobs, making contact with people,” Shaw said. “What happens if you’re kayaking and the Coast Guard has to come out and try to rescue you, and they expose themselves? Just stay home.”

    F-U.

    • RAHeinlein

      If you become sick and infect someone else, you are a killer – nice.

      • Tres Cool

        Just wait until they begin charging scofflaws with attempted homicide.

      • Tres Cool

        “Police say Ahmed could not provide officers with an essential reason why he was outside during a stay-at-home order. ”

        He was taking his gun for a walk. Duh.

      • Nephilium

        Yeah, he’s not the brightest criminal (I mean, he got caught).

      • leon

        I guess saying: “If i don’t get some fresh air i’ll fucking murder someone” is not an appropriate response?

      • Fourscore

        Sunshine is the best disinfectant, for the body and the soul.

    • Rebel Scum

      People need to start ignoring this horseshit and fast.

      • Gender Traitor

        I may indeed start to ignore the horseshit, but I plan to continue eating.

      • Rebel Scum

        *narrows gaze*

    • Nephilium

      “Don’t look at the order and say, ‘how can I find a way around this?’ Look at it and say, ‘I don’t want to get the virus and kill my wife or husband,’” he said.

      Maybe the reason I want to leave the house is so that I’m less likely to kill my girlfriend?

    • leon

      I think it’s time we ban Sex and Cohabitation. Every person a home!

    • Pope Jimbo

      C’mon! This sort of shit has got to end up in some torch carrying mobs doesn’t it?

      It seems like they are just fucking with us at this point. Over/under on when they go for closing liquor stores?

      Shit like this is stupid on the face of it. Kayaking and boating should be things that you can do with very low tolerance of risk. You know how many times I’ve needed the Coast Guard? Zero. You know how many CG resources are on local lakes? None (at least in MN).

      And even if the Sheriff’s water patrol has to come save me, most of them are young enough to be in the low risk pool anyhow.

      That whole quote is dumb, idiotic and asinine. If we had a functioning press corps, the dolt wouldn’t have been able to finish because of all the scornful questions that were shouted at him.

      • Q Continuum

        “This sort of shit has got to end up in some torch carrying mobs doesn’t it?”

        One would hope, but I grow more pessimistic by the day.

      • Pope Jimbo

        #MeToo

        My biggest fear now is that if I go out in public, I’m not going to get the virus, but I’ll go on some rage filled rant and get arrested for not kneeling to the King.

      • Rebel Scum

        Over/under on when they go for closing liquor stores?

        State or private? In Va I believe they will remain open because state $$$.

        Either way, I’d hope they know better.

      • Pope Jimbo

        I should point out that my boat has no door knobs. Neither does my kayak. And I’m way more than six feet away from anyone else.

        I guess I could invite Tundra and Leap to go fishing with me and we’d be about 4 feet away from each other. Maybe corona viruses stick extra hard to shared wax worms or something? I know I wouldn’t let either of those two stick their mitts into my beer cooler. They would have to bring their own. (Same with schnapps. Bring your own).

      • RAHeinlein

        Keep your shared wax worms to yourself, Mister!

      • Tres Cool

        Barely even a euphemism.

      • Tundra

        I’m in.

        But no worm-sharing. Leeches, on the other hand…

      • banginglc1

        It’s cause they suck right?

      • Pope Jimbo

        I’m really, really, really worried that my local bait shop isn’t going to re-open. The couple that runs it are normally on vacation between the end of Feb and opener (May). So I’m hoping this isn’t the nut punch it could have been.

        And you can’t share my leeches either! Fucking fishing with greedy libertarians is the worst!

      • Fourscore

        “invite Tundra and Leap to go fishing with me and we’d be about 4 feet away from each other.”

        Obvious you need a bigger boat, what kind of MN guy are you?

      • pistoffnick

        You know who else needed a bigger boat?

      • invisible finger

        “This sort of shit has got to end up in some torch carrying mobs doesn’t it?”

        If it does, the MSM won’t cover it.

      • juris imprudent

        Actually that would be funny – govt was brought down by a mob and we missed it (deliberately).

    • Rebel Scum

      The state says stores must restrict access to nonessential goods by close [sic] aisles, closing portions of the store or removing items from the floor. The order says “showrooms and garden sections of large home improvement centers should be closed.”

      Quarantine is no time to take advantage of a chance to do household projects.

    • Nephilium

      Thank the gods that digital delivery is still available to them. Of course, I’m going to guess that if you need a new router during these times, you’re fucked.

    • R C Dean

      Clothing is non-essential?

      Interesting.

      The stupid is positively fluorescent. There is no reason to limit what is sold. People don’t catch the Commie Cough from some of the things they buy, but not others. At worst, limit the number of people in the store, probably based on square footage.

      • invisible finger

        Shouldn’t even bother with limiting that. I’ve been to stores (grocers, Target, Walmart) almost every day (morning, noon, and night) since this shit started and the only time any store I was in was crowded was Day Two.

    • invisible finger

      Can’t even watch the goddamned paint dry.

    • Fourscore

      I told the check out at Walmart that anyone that had a job was essential, otherwise they wouldn’t have been hired. Not sure she understood.

      • invisible finger

        Another theory shot to shit immediately.

      • Not Adahn

        …unless they were required to be hired. Then their job is undoubtedly non-essential.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      WTF

      We’ve completely jumped over productive measures to limit the spread to full-blown lunacy.

    • Akira

      Consumer electronics

      Yea, who the fuck needs a cell phone or a computer? It’s not like people need to check in with elderly relatives or work from home or anything…

      Home and garden

      Home repairs are completely unnecessary. Your downstairs bath is regurgitating shit-water? Sorry comrade, you’ll have to just endure it in the name of Public Health™.

  30. Drake

    If I had nothing else to do right now, I would be reading the Michigan and Vermont state constitutions right now to see where the governors get this kind of power.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Usually tucked away in a statue. Nevada’s is NRS 414

      Also our fuck head Guv stated this in his declaration as where his power is derived to be our sole rule making body

      Article 5, Section 1; Nevada State Constitution

      “Supreme executive power vested in governor”

      • Fourscore

        “Supreme”, Wow, that beats my natural rights right there. Sorry to have troubled you, guvneh

      • Drake

        That’s a phrase you must love to hear.

      • Ownbestenemy

        IMO he twisted the intent which means he is the head of the Executive…not of government.

        But what do I know Im just a lowly plebe that must follow orders

      • l0b0t

        FUCK OFF, SLAVERS!!! A plain reading of that clearly states that the Gov may boss around his state agencies willy-nilly, not that there is any compulsion for the citizenry to play along.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Problem is, all our local news is non-critical and bought in to whatever the Governor’s message is. No one is asking questions…legislators are non-existent, local boards that tried to fight back were beaten into submission.

        He and the Chief Medical Officer are the State’s Overload right now and no one…NO ONE is even trying to question.

      • Nephilium

        At least in the Ohio briefing yesterday, the very first question asked was how are people supposed to pay their bills when they can’t work.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Free monies LIBTARD!!11!! Did I do that right?

      • invisible finger

        I wonder why they don’t ask this at the Illinois briefings.

      • R C Dean

        The only questions our Gov. gets from the press have to do with why he isn’t cracking down on everything a lot harder.

      • RAHeinlein

        Same here in Iowa.

  31. UnCivilServant

    made my semi-weekly trip to the grovery store.

    I left wanting to enact violence on the cashier and the other customers.

    Buncha cuntes.

    • Fourscore

      How’d did it go, UCS? Regular or CV?

      • UnCivilServant

        I was trying to go about business as normal, and everyone was trying to be little authoritarians.

    • Ted S.

      I left wanting to enact violence on the cashier and the other customers.

      But you forgot to wear your enacting gloves.

  32. Tundra

    No critical analysis, Pie, but I think you nailed it.

  33. The Late P Brooks

    Had Caesar not decreed the shop closed, I would have had the paperwork going on this:

    340 bucks? That’s a DEAL.

    • Not Adahn

      It was $399 at the LGS.

      Shipping and transfer fees make that online $339 just/almost as much.

  34. mrfamous

    Most here know this but for those who don’t, I give you the executive director of the World Health Organization.

    Even if you could at least see the argument that a competent centralized overseer is invaluable, it’s always some craven fuckstick like the above who rises to the top, never the guy you only know as “the only guy at Home Depot with half a clue.”

  35. Pope Jimbo

    You know why I think this is a big giant farce? Because there are no good breakdowns of people who have died from this. Why? Because it doesn’t support the narrative.

    This is the best I’ve seen and it is from Israel.

    Most of Israel’s coronavirus fatalities have been elderly men with underlying medical conditions, in line with global averages.

    The average age of Israel’s dead was 79.8 years old as of Thursday afternoon. Of the 34 dead, 21, or 64 percent, were men, and 13 were women.
    Ninety-four percent of Israel’s fatalities — all but two — are over the age of 60, in line with the average in Europe of 95%.

    The vast majority of Israel’s dead had underlying medical conditions, as do most senior citizens. Israeli medical authorities rarely specify which preexisting conditions the fatalities had.

    If the victims were spread across all the demographics and it was bringing down cute photogenic kids, we’d be reading all about it.

    • Pope Jimbo

      Another reason I won’t believe anything that comes out the capitol is because they still are claiming that tens of thousands are going to die. G-Walz is claiming that destroying our state will reduce the death count from 70K to 50K. (Currently 22 dead).

      The Washington modelers meanwhile predicted 2K deaths (since revised to 1K because of cower in place rules).

      None of the press seem at all interested in grilling the state on where their numbers came from.

      And too many people I know just go with whatever the govt tells them. None of them seem to be able to look at those numbers and think on their own “that sure seems like a lot”.

      • Fourscore

        Let’s see, 22 over 5 million, so about 18 %, right. Damn, this is serious, 18%. Now that’s the way you do math, never show your work, you’ll just have to take my word for it.

      • Fatty Bolger

        So according to this, 97.8% of people who died had underlying conditions.

      • Q Continuum

        SHUT THE FUCK UP STATISTITARD

    • CPRM

      As a celibate virgin I approve of their first example.

      The Assassin is on Twitter for one reason: to get you off

      I’m really drunk and may be misreading this.

      • Q Continuum

        I think we need to make it a Glib mission to find you a wife.

        You’re Catholic right? I’m assuming you want someone similarly devout and with a great rack. Let’s put this lousy chat room to work!

      • Q Continuum

        Now we need a profile.

      • leon

        Name: CPRM
        Occupation: Animating an Anthropomorphized version of Donald Trumps Hat and Hair for the entertainment of social group of delinquents and miscreants.

      • Q Continuum

        ^^^Panty peeler.

      • banginglc1

        Skills: Drinking and social distancing before it was cool.

    • PieInTheSky

      41? aint no one have time for that

  36. The Late P Brooks

    What sort of goods are considered non-essential?

    Arts and crafts
    Beauty supplies
    Carpet and flooring
    Clothing
    Consumer electronics
    Entertainment (books, music, movies)
    Furniture
    Home and garden
    Jewelry
    Paint
    Photo services
    Sports equipment
    Toys

    It’s for your own good.

    • Drake

      And we wouldn’t want evil companies like Walmart earning a profit.

      • hayeksplosives

        I am spending some quarantine time on projects, like gardening, getting my chimney repaired for next winter, etc. Businesses like these will go under if we can’t visit them now.

        Another good thing about not putting “cower in place” rules is that it keeps people feeling productive and in charge of their destinies. It’s good for moral fiber—probably why the statists are eager to contain our freedom and self reliance.

    • Ownbestenemy

      How is clothing, outsidecof this group, not essential?

      • Drake

        Home and Garden? Keeping your home functional seems pretty important right now.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Even when London was being bombed daily I am sure you could go out and get jewelry or I don’t know…supplies to make homemade masks since you cant buy any….

    • invisible finger

      I guess I can’t mow my lawn this year. We’ll see how that goes over with the local polizei.

      • R C Dean

        “Mower’s busted. Hardware store locked down by you lot. Am I supposed to cut it with scissors? Wait, don’t answer that.”

      • UnCivilServant

        “You can just pay the fine.”

      • Not Adahn

        And you know that if you were out in your lawn with a scythe, you’d be ventilated by the popo in no time.

  37. egould310

    Work ground to a halt. I am now studying an accounting textbook to maintain some semblance of productivity and justify drawing a paycheck.

    This is just dumb. https://youtu.be/Z1umT7OKUqA

    • Don Escaped Texas

      #MeToo

      I’ve run out of things to pretend to be doing. I’m drawing a check and carding out Game 7 of 1997.

      • hayeksplosives

        We have to work on useful things only (no overhead like training) and if we run out, we have to take vacation, and if that runs out, have to take unpaid leave. Ouch. Thanks, gubmint.

      • Ownbestenemy

        I have finished all my online training through 2021…I just set my lynx to available, run music player in bsckground and it looks like I am on the computer all day long

      • Gender Traitor

        Our Professional Employer Org (PEO) this afternoon sent us some info about paid leave provisions included in the FFCRA. Can’t easily link on my phone, but check out http://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/ffcra . It may or may not help you, but it might help someone here. I’m told businesses may get tax credits (on payroll taxes?) if they can document expenses based on specific COVID time off payroll codes.

      • Trigger Hippie

        I played Football game using a deck of cards and sheet of paper when I was a kid.

        I’d draw out a grid with two stacked rectangles connected to five squares for each rectangle. Rectangles for the team name, squares for the quarters and total score.

        Draw that out about fifteen times then copy the page as you wish. Pick a college team, then fill out a season before playing.

        I’d then shuffle the deck randomly pull twenty cards, split them in two, then play the decks against each other.

        Jokers worth 15 and 0
        Aces 14
        Kings13
        Queens 12
        Jack’s 11
        Number cards keep their value

        When the high card is subtracted by the low card to a total of 8,7,6,3, the deck with the high card gets those points. Play a quarter, shuffle the decks, repeat until four quarters, add the total for the final score.

        It’s a good time killer, I guess.

        *shrugs*

  38. Yusef drives a Kia

    This is like the Soviet Union, but with nice cars, thousands of cars, probably going to run out of food before the line ends,
    / End of Days …….

    • Q Continuum

      More evil: FDA or DEA?

      • Drake

        Aggressively murdering versus passive-aggressive murdering… tough call.

        As I said above – they are the embodiment of the Iron Law of Bureaucracy. I would have guessed that they would have gotten out the way during a pandemic – but nope, they are still protecting their turf.

    • Rebel Scum

      But we are past March 24th.

      • Heroic Mulatto

        I asked this question a few days ago.

      • RAHeinlein

        Alibaba representatives were present for one of Cuomo’s pressers over a week ago – he specifically called them out for their procurement assistance.

        Re: FDA approval of alternate certification – this was looked at early-on and quality standards weren’t the same, fraud was a concern, and other countries returned defective masks.

        https://news.yahoo.com/netherlands-recalled-600-000-coronavirus-090511130.html

    • PieInTheSky

      I blame 3M

  39. Rebel Scum

    Judge is asshole.

    A federal judge on Tuesday denied a request to force Ventura County, Calif., to reopen gun stores forced to close in response to the coronavirus.

    Judge Consuelo B. Marshall, a Jimmy Carter appointee, of the District Court for the Central District of California, said she would not grant a temporary restraining order against the county’s shutdown order. Her decision is one of the first in the legal battle over pandemic-related closures of gun businesses. It may indicate the court fights could drag on for weeks and produce mixed results even as Americans buy guns for self-protection at a record pace.

    “While the public interest is served by protecting Second Amendment rights, the public interest is also served by protecting the public health by limiting the spread of a virulent disease,” Marshall said in a ruling.

    I don’t believe the words “public interest/health” appear in the constitution. And I don’t know how something that is in the supposed “interest” of the “public” supersedes a constitutionally acknowledged right.

    • Q Continuum

      “a Jimmy Carter appointee”

      Christ, how old is this bitch?

      • leon

        Not only that, but never even elevated above district court?

    • Ownbestenemy

      I am normally an optimist…but that is fading daily

  40. Nephilium

    Fuck… Mid-June?

    • PieInTheSky

      I dunno man my improvised gym gear will not last more than early may I hope to be done by then.

    • RAHeinlein

      OT: Were you the mastermind of Glib’s Beer It Forward?

      • Nephilium

        I wouldn’t say mastermind, but I ran several of them here.

      • RAHeinlein

        The other day someone commented about not being to find pork (he was planning to get out the smoker). Living in a pork-rich state it made me think about who else may be missing something they typically enjoy and I was wondering whether a “Pay it Forward” Glib exchange (at a later date, or do something nice for someone else) might be of-interest.

      • Nephilium

        Feel free to run with it. Keep in mind that shipping isn’t cheap, and if you’re going for perishables (like pork), the shipping costs ramp up quickly as you need overnight (and dry ice and a cooler).

    • DEG

      Last I saw anything about Sununu bloviating, he pushed off the peak in NH. Earlier this week he said something about “two weeks” or so for the peak. Then yesterday or so he said, “three or four weeks.”

      Fuck.

    • Ted S.

      What the fuck did the Cleveland Clinic do to become so prominent? Our local news shows potted health “news” shit from them all the time.

      • Nephilium

        Very highly regarded cardiology department, and ranks up with the Mayo Clinic for general reputation. You want a heart transplant or open heart surgery, you go to Cleveland (and quite a few Saudi royals have).

      • creech

        I’ve heard they were good. But I also read yesterday about a railroad executive who died in his office from a massive heart attack two hours after his annual visit to Cleveland Clinic gave him a good bill of health. You just never know.

  41. RAHeinlein

    IMF Chief just said the pandemic is “humanity’s darkest hour” and “a crisis like no other”

    As others here have stated, we are screwed in the event of a real crisis.

    • PieInTheSky

      “humanity’s darkest hour” – I mean i think the agencies have a secret out stupid each other contest

      • leon

        ‘The Population Bomb’ made dire predictions—and triggered a wave of repression around the world

        Damn. That is pretty hard on someone whom i’ve rarely seen critiques of in the popular press.

      • Grosspatzer

        Surprising to see this in the Smithsonian mag. Some censor is sleeping on the job.

    • Plinker762

      “darkest hour” as in succumbing to authoritarianism?

    • R C Dean

      the pandemic is “humanity’s darkest hour”

      Its not even on the list of darkest hours in the last couple hundred years, you cunte.

      • UnCivilServant

        They want to feel important.

      • Jarflax

        The disease itself isn’t, but when the response triggers Great Depression II which I am increasingly convinced it will, and the US slips all the way into socialism, that will be way up on the darkest hours list.

      • Q Continuum

        The disease itself is a fart in the wind. You’re absolutely right that it set the stage for greatly accelerating the decline of Western civilization.

  42. Yusef drives a Kia

    Power grab, nothing more….

  43. Invisible BEAM of the comment stream

    Well, there’s a lot of downers on this site these past few days. Let’s see if I can help lift some spirits — eyecandy from my studio to brighten the male Glibs’ day. My apologies in advance to all the mythical glib females out there, I don’t actually have good images of male eye candy.

      • Q Continuum

        Let’s set her up with CPRM.

      • Invisible BEAM of the comment stream

        She’s happily married and has two adorable kids.
        Sorry, CPRM.

    • Ownbestenemy

      At least those counties are doing it and not Supreme Governor’s Ruling for the whole state…at least.

  44. Certified Public Asshat

    My wife has fallen down the 5g = coronavirus rabbit hole. Send help.

    • UnCivilServant

      Um, what?

      I am missing some context as to what that means. Care to elaborate?

    • Ownbestenemy

      Some believe that the virus is propagated where 5g is being deployed

    • R C Dean

      5G devices have terrible security and are prone to viruses. Just about everything 5G is made in China.

      The Commie Cough is a virus. From China.

      WAKE UP, SHEEPLE!

      • Q Continuum

        Qanon approves.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      I am so sorry.

      I think that’s a terminal condition.

  45. Ownbestenemy

    Normally I am glad Nevada is a biennial congress. However, this is when you should be holding emergency sessions and meeting to challenge the executive.

    • UnCivilServant

      Have they re-closed Vegas?

      • Nephilium

        I don’t believe Vegas opened back up.

      • UnCivilServant

        I have to either cancel or reschedule the road trip with my dad because of this garbage.

      • Ownbestenemy

        The way the Governor is going…cancell all the way up to summer

  46. mikey

    My wife has a close friend that has been having a tough time and she’s prone to depression even in good times. She loves to sew, so my wife sent her a link to plague mask pattern (they’re real simple) and suggested she sell them on etsy. She did that and now is having trouble keeping up with the orders. She’s now busy doing something useful and making a few needed bucks. It’s been a real pickup for her.

    • R C Dean

      Excellent.

    • Invisible BEAM of the comment stream

      That’s a great idea!

    • Mojeaux

      That is awesome. Capitalism will find a way.

    • Don Escaped Texas

      just don’t get arrested at the Hobby Lobby picking up supplies !

      • Mojeaux

        That’s what Walmart is for.

      • grrizzly

        Not in Vermont!

    • Plinker762

      Etsy to ban the sale of masks to prevent price gouging and hording.

      • Mojeaux

        Easy to imagine, but it won’t be Etsy leading that charge. They’ll be forced.

    • Ted S.

      I’m surprised Etsy is letting her do that.

  47. Jarflax

    Ferrets are adorable, but extremely destructive. That is all.

    • Mojeaux

      Ope, what? That’s your pet species of choice?

      *melts from adorable*

      • Jarflax

        When you share a house with an 11 year old girl, and her father who spoils her you are not limited to pet species of choice. We have 2 dogs, a cat, and a ferret at the moment. Previous permanent residents have been other dogs (never more than two at a time) other cats, and a rabbit. Temporary residents (school pets we have kept for the summer) include hermit crabs, a snake, and a tarantula. I personally have none at the moment since my cat died last summer, but as the more or less responsible person here (hey it is a curve) I do a lot of the pet care, including letting Chaos (the ferret) roam free in my room while I work from home spend my days yelling at the world.

    • R C Dean

      Are they a member of the terrier family?

      • Drake

        I got it. I call our obnoxious dog a terrierist.

      • R C Dean

        When our two get all spun up they are the world’s shortest barbarian horde.

    • Q Continuum

      If I had a spare $9000 lying around, I would totally get one of those Siberian domesticated red foxes.

      • UnCivilServant

        Is that what they’re calling Russian mail-order brides these days?

      • Q Continuum

        No way man, the brides are much cheaper.

      • Bobarian LMD

        A lot more than $9K.

        And they aren’t really domesticated.

      • Mojeaux

        I had a chinchilla once.

      • Mojeaux

        I think Huskies are adorable because they talk, but I wouldn’t get any other animal but a cat. Every time a cat gets old I say “no more” and then said cat dies and I’ve got new cats within a week. I cannot STAND to be alone in a house without a kitty soul in it.

      • Trigger Hippie

        I wouldn’t say they’re adorable, but the homeowner of a house I worked on recently had an absolutely beautiful Pharaoh Hound.

        Never seen one before.

    • Rebel Scum

      I set the garbage bag on the kitchen floor while I went out to start my car this morning with the intention of coming back in to take it out when I left for work. By the time I got back in the cat had chewed a hole in the bag and was eating garbage food. I was less than pleased. But that was not as bad as when I came home one day to find a bag that had been torn from the can and trash strewn about. I have to keep the trashcan in the laundry room with the door closed.

      • Q Continuum

        Things my cat has broken/ruined:

        Television (knocked off stand)
        Futon and Frame (urine)
        3 lamps (all knocked over)
        Carpet in my entryway (torn up trying to scratch under the door to the garage)

        On top of eating a bunch of styrofoam and requiring a $3000 operation when he was 3 months old.

      • Mojeaux

        Oh and I thought holes in my drapes and back were bad…

      • banginglc1

        requiring a $3000 operation when he was 3 months old.

        Cat’s only cost $30 at the humane society her .. . . just sayin’

      • Rebel Scum

        His is a designer cat. I got mine at the spca. When one/both croak, I kinda want to get a Russian Blue. But maybe not if they eat styrofoam requiring expensive procedures to fix.

      • Q Continuum

        In spite of my grievances with him, he doesn’t have a mean bone in his body. Very smart too; plays fetch and has figured out how to use doorhandles (which is rather annoying but funny).

      • Rebel Scum

        Dang.

        Television

        One of mine likes to get on the wall-mounted tv in the bedroom. So far so good since it is the smaller of the 2. (Bitch has put paw-prints on the screen though, not happy about that.). Andnow that I think about it, they both get on that tv. Hopefully they do not try at the same time…

        3 lamps

        The little one also tried to break one of my nightstand lamps. Startled me when she knocked it off the nightstand in the middle of the night. I suspect she tried to jump on top of it.

        The other one is larger and a male. Hopefully he sticks to being a total pig by trying to get in the trashcan and taking tupperware out of the sink (even right after being fed…pisses me off…) instead of doing any real/expensive damage.

      • Not Adahn

        The most destruction I’ve had a pet do was a dog that dug through the carpeting and sub-flooring to get out of a room to mate. He was fixed immediately thereafter.

      • R C Dean

        A long time ago, my Newfie chewed through the door to the garage and bit all the plugs off my power tools.

        A few weeks later, he latched onto the garden hose and broke off the pipe for the hose bib inside the wall.

        The pits have been more in the chewing-on-furniture mode.

      • UnCivilServant

        … I was confused when I misread that as ‘Newwife’.

      • Q Continuum

        Did he actually crush that ass or did you get him before?

      • Not Adahn

        We got home before his escape tunnel was complete.

      • Not Adahn

        The bitch’s owner would probably disagree considering what a misshapen mongrel he was.

      • UnCivilServant

        Oh come on, if he’d reached her, he’d clearly have been an expert digger.

      • Not Adahn

        I’m sure there’s probably a competitive caninedigging league out there somewhere…

    • Semi-Spartan Dad

      We had 3 ferrets many years ago. I don’t remember them being especially destructive, but they were fearless. The three of them would encircle the Doberman and then take turns charging in on exposed flanks. They were just playing and the dog was a good sport about it. We even have a picture somewhere of a ferret hanging off her lip in midair.

      I’ve already promised my daughter she can have her two of her own as soon as she’s old enough to change the litter box.

    • Not Adahn

      Unreconstructed and I had a fraternity brother that had a ferret. It was entertaining. But what we did NOT expect was exactly how fast it ripped the throat out of someone else’s pet rat. Like literally bit the trachea completely out.

      • UnCivilServant

        You put a ferret in the vicinity of it’s natural prey?

      • Not Adahn

        It was an unfortunate encounter in a common area. Fortunately, the pet rat had only been a pet for a day or so at that point, so the loss felt by the owner was less than the impression made by getting to watch the kill up close.

      • Nephilium

        I knew someone who managed to “tame” a squirrel. The thing lived inside his store, and would come over and sit on peoples’ shoulders. If someone left the door open, it would sit there and look out the door until someone closed it. Most people usually freaked out the first time they saw it running around the store.

      • hayeksplosives

        Squirrels are little trouble makers, but cute. Rats are cute and very trainable. I’m a rat fan.

  48. Sensei

    Looks like our Glibs that live in Japan may be there for a while.

    Americans warned to leave Japan or risk long stay as virus cases surge

    The U.S. Embassy in Tokyo issued a warning to American citizens Friday that said those with plans to return should do so now or risk being stuck here for an “indefinite period.”

    Singling out Japan’s lack of widespread testing, the embassy gave a sobering assessment of the potential strain the novel coronavirus could place on Japan’s health care system should infections spike.

    “The Japanese Government’s decision to not test broadly makes it difficult to accurately assess the COVID-19 prevalence rate,” the embassy said on its website, referring to the illness caused by the virus.

    “While we have confidence in Japan’s health care system today, we believe a significant increase in COVID-19 cases makes it difficult to predict how the system will be functioning in the coming weeks,” it said.

    • Q Continuum

      You know who else deported people before locking them up indefinitely?

      • Mojeaux

        FDR?

      • Sensei

        I knew I liked you.

      • Mojeaux

        Likewise!

      • Sensei

        FDR?

    • AlexinCT

      GAIJIN GO HOME!

    • The Other Kevin

      Illegal immigrant loophole!

    • Not Adahn

      Most of the guntubers have posts: “Welcome New Gun Owners!”

    • leon

      How can that be when all the leftist states banned guns and won’t process the purchases?

      • Q Continuum

        GHOST GUNZ!!!11!1!

      • Not Adahn

        I really should be saving up for the glut of never-fired used guns that will be hitting the market the week after the dempanic shutdown ends.

      • Unreconstructed

        Hmmm…work bonuses should come through this month…I see an opportunity!

  49. PieInTheSky

    So in quarantine activities for Pie, I am doing an online wine tasting tonight. They will also allow us to buy at a discount en primeur but a minimum of 6 bottles which is more than I usually buy of 1 wine.