Quoted from Tranquilize:

Interesting to see the way people respond to our gov'ts aid package. What bugs me the most is that many of my fellow citizens cry for free-market capitalism, which has it's good and bad points, until the handouts start flowing. It's amazing that people who max out debt, don't save a dime, and bitch about paying taxes are the first in line and the loudest when shit hits the fan.
I do agree that those who need help should get it - those who need things like food and shelter and keeping a business alive - but if irresponsible consumers need to sell some assets to get by, that's life. The government's role is not to support quality of life, especially at a citizen's convenience.

Quoted from mcluvin:

How much actual meat do you get per pound?

Quoted from DCFAN:

My wife was able to get tp today. I believe it was Wal-mart.

Quoted from wrb1977:

One take away from that chart is that the longer this goes on the more ridiculous China’s numbers look. It doesn’t help us moving forward, but one can only imagine how much lower the numbers would be throughout the rest of the world had they been honest, transparent, and supplied the rest of the world with accurate information as to what they were dealing with from the very beginning. Sure, every country most likely could have done things better, but the most egregious mistake was made by China and misled the entire world. Now is not the time, but China needs to be globally held accountable for their actions. Each individual country, including our own, will need to hold their respective governments accountable for any missteps as well. Once again, it doesn’t matter right now and moving forward in fighting this, unfortunately we are where we are, but God I wish China would have been truthful. We would be in a very different place right now as their negligence cost the world countless lives. This angers me to no extent...sorry for the rant...carry on...time to do some yardwork!

Quoted from o-din:

I saw packaged bacon at Ralphs for over $10 a pound. They are usually kinda pricy without using their card, but that seemed way out of line.
I'll be going to Stater Bros next week to see what their butcher cut bacon is going for now. Usually $4.99 to $5.99 a pound.

What's that cheese goo doing on there? Fake hash browns too?
That aint no Fantasy Omelet.

Quoted from Mr68:

Yesterday I ate an entire loaf of cinnamon raisin bread all by myself. No joke.[quoted image]

Quoted from goingincirclez:Why is the US such a discombulated Covid mess right now?

Quoted from TheFamilyArcade:

I can't agree with this. When China was reporting their #s it still looked like a VERY BIG DEAL, and people that mattered in this country chose to deny it and disregard the seriousness of it. And keep in mind, those were publicly reported #s. if you think the US didn't have better intel on the situation you're naive. We did have better intel. From the most valid sources (CDC, WHO, NHS, etc.) it's documented. And I'm sure our moles on the ground were reporting same...before they died of it, possibly.
Its only now, after the US and many other Western countries have left China's reported #s and death cases in the dust that people are questioning the "veracity" of China's reporting. So, yeah, they're lying now about it. But when it was reality, we still ignored them. NOT N EXCUSE.

Quoted from Atari_Daze:Amazing the impact we have on our planet:
https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/02/world/coronavirus-earth-seismic-noise-scn-trnd/index.html

Quoted from CrazyLevi:

What is wrong with these people?
And why don’t we have a national stay at home order yet?
And why am I asking you guys?

Quoted from cait001:

This statement!!!!
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200403005218/en/3M-Response-Defense-Production-Act-Order[quoted image]

Quoted from TheFamilyArcade:

IMO, we should acknowledge the global market place we live in and be fair with our trade partners and try and engender positive, win-win relationships. During a global problem, in a global economy, trying to "go it alone" just seems kind of, um stupid. That's all.

Quoted from cait001:

Amazing that kids can get years in prison for stealing a $50 shirt but terminal malfeasance on this scale will just get you a finger wagging while you start your next term as a highly paid official.

Quoted from Gryszzz:

If any of you guys or gals are havin trouble adjusting to your new role as an overweight and sheltered, raging alcoholic, just pm me. Been honing this shit FOR YEARS.

Quoted from sven:

I hope the people will hold those responsible accountable. I do think that people in charge are allowed to make mistakes. Huge things like denying a problem when all experts say there is one, or saying 'I really didn't know...', or 'China told us it wasn't that bad, so it's their fault we didn't do the right things', etc.... I hope that will be punished by outcome of later elections.
In Belarus Vodka and saunas will save them from the corona virus https://news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-belarus-president-refuses-to-cancel-anything-and-says-vodka-and-saunas-will-ward-off-coronavirus-11965396
Unfortunately, in Belarus elections aren't considered 'fair' or 'open'. Fortunately in a lot of countries they are.

Quoted from ForceFlow:4/2 & 4/3 NY Governor's briefings
4/2: 4/3:

Highlights:
-New manufacturers for PPEs needed (masks, gowns, face shields). Will finance companies to transition to making these products and then also buy the products.
-Hotspots developing on long island
-Javits to now be for covid-19 patients only (as opposed to just non-covid overflow from hospitals)
-Hospitals have effectively been turned into covid-19 ICU centers
-Non-covid cases have significantly dropped. Less car accidents, less bike accidents, less crime, less trauma cases. Cancelled elective non-critical surgery. Less people are getting hurt when just staying at home.
-BiPAPP machines being used for breathing assistance for less serious cases to free up ventilators for more serious cases (more details in the 4/2 briefing)
-NY Governor signing executive order allowing state to take ventilators and PPE from institutions that don't need them right now and redeploy them to where needed right now. The equipment will be returned or reimbursed. National guard will be deployed to pick up and transport ventilators and PPE across the state.
-There are several hundred excess ventilators in hospitals that don't have a high number of covid cases right now. "Several hundred could represent several hundred lives, so am I willing to deploy the national guard and inconvenience people for several hundred lives? You're damn right I am," said Governor Cuomo.
-The burn rate is about 300 ventilators per day. Finding a few hundred ventilators means you found another day.
-State budget passed. Budget was difficult to pass because NY is effectively "broke". NY needs federal assistance.
-This is not a states rights vs federal interference issue. It is a national disaster emergency where states need and are welcoming federal assistance.
-Proposal for rolling deployment of operations. The focus should be directed to each regional situation in the nation as it develops/peaks where ventilators and medical staff are needed most, then shift assistance to the next area that peaks. Help the place that has the most immediate crisis, then move to the next place in crisis.
-When a patient walks in to a hospital, they need a bed, a ventilator, hospital staff with PPE. People will die if one of those things are absent.
-20,000 health professionals outside of the state have volunteered to help NY
-When the curve / urgent need in NY is over, NY will send equipment & experienced staff to wherever needed.

-Don't get a false sense of security from improvised face masks
-15-20% increase in domestic violence reports. NY domestic violence hotline: 1-800-942-6906. Women in domestic violence situations will receive help and will be relocated to find safe shelter. State police will investigate every case.
[quoted image]
[edit]: Do you find these briefing summaries helpful/useful? Not sure if I should continue them considering they're just NY only.

Quoted from FYMF:Hate to break it to all these people who keep repeating this.
It is 78 degrees where I am located right now and that is AFTER a little cold front just hit us.
Three days ago was above 90 and hotter even further south.
It will be above 90 degrees here again in next few days and on it's way to staying in the 90s yet Florida... especially South Florida is vying for contention of epicenter every single new day.

Quoted from flynnibus:Want to start a ruckus in a bar full of rednecks? Play 4-5 songs of hip hop or rap in a row... or maybe some latin music.
Not everyone 'prunes' their internet jukebox fully...

Quoted from JodyG:

The coast guard already started rejecting cruise lines calls for sick passenger removal. Cruise companies who are not US flagged and do not have their headquarters in the US were told to contact the country they are flagged in for help (usually Bahamas) or contract a private rescue company. Its ridiculous that they are able to dodge taxes like they do, but still demand US aid like they are owed it. They even try to minimize their docking time on US soil, because many ports are charging huge docking fees in some cases by the hour just to get some kind of money out of the cruise line. Miami charges $80k/day for the Harmony of the Seas to dock there.

Quoted from o-din:

I saw packaged bacon at Ralphs for over $10 a pound. They are usually kinda pricy without using their card, but that seemed way out of line.

Quoted from Mr68:

My cleaning lady called today because she badly needs the work. I told her no way that I wanted she and her friend coming into my house but that I would continue to pay her each week. She was grateful when I told her we are all in this together.

Quoted from Azmodeus:I have watched manufacturing exit America, for the most part.
Our dependence upon chinas manufacturing has landed us here. IMO
We have our own problems, but China. Freedom of speech for example. It is symbolic only- in China. I wish Chinese people the best in life but I must push for American manufacturing. Now. Money where my mouth is.
This cannot happen again. IMO.

Quoted from Jaybird815:Mind boggling
https://qz.com/1830415/despite-coronavirus-outbreaks-cruise-bookings-are-up-for-2021/amp/

Quoted from Zablon:Easy enough, tariffs large enough to deter the tax breaks and cost differences. Won't happen though, and if it did, 'we' the consumers wouldn't like it either.

Quoted from PinJim:

The local Kroger (Louisville, KY) had brisket and pork ribs on sale for $2/pound last week. I’m still kicking myself for not buying brisket. Our damn freezers are full. I did buy and make some ribs, yum yum...[quoted image][quoted image][quoted image]

Quoted from Darcy:Got this joke some where this morning.
"I didn't know my Grand Mother had a hand gun, until I coughed 3 times, while sitting with her watching TV."

Quoted from pinwiztom:

Safeway up here in the NW has 3 lb package of bacon for sale at $2.99/lb, if you are a safeway card club carrying member.
Buy and freeze it!

Quoted from flynnibus:...about 60% right.
They told the ships to be ready to stay off shore indefinitely and be prepared to tend for their own. All evacuations would now have be approved. The coast guard could not secure shore side medical treatment and the company would have to prove they've secured their own transportation and medical treatment for the patient once brought to shore for an evac to even be considered. They were also told they should check with their own flagged country --first--
The actual bulletin attached...[quoted image]

Quoted from CrazyLevi:I kind of understand why he got sacked. He broke the rules by leaking his important letter to the media.
Basically, he sacrificed his career for his crew, surely as a last resort to get action, to protect the men and women on that ship. He can be proud of his actions and the crew thankful.

Quoted from ForceFlow:I just went to the local Aldi store for some essential perishables. I wasn't going to go in if it was crowded, but there were only a small handful of cars there, so I went in.
Food was fully stocked, except for bread. Plenty of eggs, milk, canned goods, frozen foods, etc. Toilet paper and paper towels were still all gone. There was a limit of 6 jugs of milk, and a limit on canned goods.
All the cashiers had plexiglass shields. There were signs everywhere to remind people to keep 6 feet away from each other, and stickers on the floor throughout the whole store measured 6 feet apart saying the same thing
About half the customers in the store were wearing masks, about half were not. There were maybe a dozen people, plus 4 staff. Only a couple of customers were wearing gloves. Staff were not wearing gloves or masks.
I also noticed that the divider bars had been removed from all the check-out lanes.
That was about everything I observed.
[edit]: They also had a sign up about a daily designated shopping time of 8:30-9:30am for vulnerable individuals.

Quoted from ForceFlow:

I don't usually do a whole lot of cooking from scratch, but I had the urge to make bauernfrühstück this morning for brunch. It's hard to go wrong with this dish. I ended up using a smaller pan than I normally would since I just used my larger pan for something else, but it worked fine.
Sliced up a potato, a quarter onion, half a tomato, and cooked in some oil for a little while. Mixed up 4 eggs and milk, poured in the eggs, and mixed occasionally. Added a little salt. Makes enough for 2 meals. You could throw in green peppers and bacon bits too, but that's optional. There's also a few other things you can add--it's pretty flexible, depending on your tastes and what you have on hand.
[quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image]

Quoted from TheFamilyArcade:

Probably because they'e on sale.

Quoted from o-din:And only American cheese on Filet O Fish.
Time for breakfast. $4.31 for two. Life is good!
Except the few times I have gone out over the last couple weeks, I have seen more and more drivers that must think they really are the only ones on the road now. Even with a fraction of the traffic, it is almost worse now than it was before.[quoted image]

Quoted from swampfire:

My mom who lives with us is cranking out these masks like a squirrel on speed. Beer for the guys, pretty floral designs for the women. I love mine.[quoted image]

Quoted from TheFamilyArcade:

free shavacado

Quoted from pinballjj:

sorry to diverge from the current topic of food ( I am getting hungry)
interview on leadership
NPR's Rachel Martin talks to retired Army General Stanley McChrystal, who commanded forces in Afghanistan, about remote work leadership during a national crisis. He founded the McChrystal group.
RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:
General Stanley McChrystal says watching the spread of the coronavirus reminds him of another fight, a fight against an enemy that is also hard to predict and detect. In 2004, the general took over the Joint Special Operations Task Force and oversaw operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. And in his book "Team Of Teams: New Rules Of Engagement For A Complex World," McChrystal and several members of his team share what they learned.
General McChrystal joins us now. Thanks so much for being with us.
STANLEY MCCHRYSTAL: Thanks for having me, Rachel.
MARTIN: So you say the current situation reminds you of, in particular, the early months fighting al-Qaida in Iraq. Explain that comparison.
MCCHRYSTAL: Well, that was unexpected because we had been purpose-built as a counterterrorist force to operate as a traditional military unit and do sort of slow, periodic but very precise operations. And we got against al-Qaida in Iraq, which emerged - starting in 2003 - as a completely different kind of organization. It was viral. It was amorphous. It constantly adapted. It was a bit like COVID-19.
And getting your arms around it required us to operate in a fundamentally different way. We had to connect our force and realign ourselves every 24 hours because the fight changed so fast. So the reality was winning that fight was less about barrel-chested commandos going in the door and capturing someone. The reality was, how could you pull information, understand the big picture on a constant basis and then apply your resources most effectively?
MARTIN: How do you lead through unpredictability when there is such a vacuum of information?
MCCHRYSTAL: First is a little bit of management. First, you set up a system that can bring in information, that can cross-level both the information, best practices; what's working and what isn't - and so the entire organization gets smarter. That's critical. The second is the leader has to, first and foremost, be absolutely straightforward with all the people they're leading, has to tell them the truth. Even though the truth can change from day to day, we've got to have a level of candor that convinces people that what they're getting from the leader is the best information available at the time.
The second thing the leader has to do is give confidence. And if you think of Winston Churchill in 1940, Britain was thought to be about to lose the war. And what he didn't say was - he didn't say, we're winning. He didn't say, we're about to win. He said, we'll never surrender. He built their confidence for the long haul. I think that's what leaders have to give at every level.
MARTIN: So how do you come down on sharing public information? I mean, when you're running a counterterrorism operation, there are obviously a lot of things you don't want the public to know because it jeopardizes that mission. A public health emergency is so different. How important is accurate public information even though it might be frightening?
MCCHRYSTAL: I think it's critical because if you think about it, what we don't know leaves a vacuum in our mind, and we fill it with the most terrifying ideas. And so I think it's much better for us to get the best information we can, give transparency as best we can. People can handle bad news or frightening news if it's put into context for them and they believe it's accurate.
MARTIN: Have you given thought to how fear can be used productively, though, in a situation like that? I mean, I imagine, as a leader, you need to use anxiety or fear to motivate. Right? But you can't incite it so much as to cause people to become desperate. But if people aren't afraid, then they don't take the threat seriously.
MCCHRYSTAL: That's exactly right. You have to balance it. You've got to tell them that there's a serious problem, that they need to fear the enemy; they need to respect the enemy. But at the same time, you have to build their confidence that says, if you do this right, we can win this. A lot of people have used the analogy of a war, but we really haven't asked the American people to sacrifice for a war since World War II. I think we could mobilize ourselves for what is a warlike threat from a virus that's producing things. And I think the American people want to contribute. They're already scared. I think what we could do is use that as a unifying idea that says, this problem is big enough it requires everybody to focus - it requires some sacrifice from each of us.
MARTIN: What needs to be happening right now that is not?
MCCHRYSTAL: We should not be fighting COVID-19 as 50 separate fights, 50 separate states and territories and certainly not at individual municipal levels. This needs to be a collaborative, national-level fight. When the president talks to the nation about COVID-19, I wish he'd stand up in front of a map and he'd show what things are and he'd say, America, this is an American problem - it's also a global problem - we're going to fight it as an American fight, not as leaving any city or state off on their own to do as well as they can.
MARTIN: But the president has suggested - more than suggested, he has said outright that this is a problem best managed at the state and local level. You disagree.
MCCHRYSTAL: I disagree fundamentally. I think that there are things that are - execution at the state and local level, certainly people in hospitals are making very local decisions, and they're executing. And you don't want to micromanage that, but you do want to manage the overall effort, particularly when you have a shortage of resources.
MARTIN: We talked earlier about what it takes to lead through unpredictability. But how do you reassure Americans right now who don't know when this is going to be over?
MCCHRYSTAL: The first thing we don't want to do is give people an expectation that we are going to have - on date certain, we'll all go back to the park and restaurants and whatnot because then, if it doesn't happen, that disappointment is crushing. But if we tell the nation this is a long, hard fight, we're not sure when it's going to get better, all we can guarantee you is it's going to get better and we are not going to give up until it does. Then people can calculate differently. It's really important to give people realistic appraisals so that we're not, you know, leading them to big disappointment.
MARTIN: Managing expectations.
MCCHRYSTAL: Yes, ma'am.
MARTIN: General Stanley McChrystal, who commanded forces in Afghanistan and Iraq and founded the McChrystal Group, thank you so much for your time, General. Take good care.
MCCHRYSTAL: You're kind to have me. Take care, Rachel

Quoted from sunnRAT:Here's what I did on Wednesday.[quoted image]

Quoted from TheFamilyArcade:

Am I the only one a little disappointed in these "full disclosure" pics of the Corona situation? I mean, really, a bunch of true pics of balding (and hair recessive) pinheads isn't making this crisis any easier!
I pretty much envision all pinsiders as 1970 Clint Eastwood in a crazy three way with Penthouse Pets. Not...reality.

Quoted from jamesmc:I'd rather pay 23.99 and not work as hard. I even had my son in law bring them home from work at Costco. Gave him a credit card to use for awhile. We have tp.[quoted image]

Quoted from Tranquilize:

Interesting to see the way people respond to our gov'ts aid package. What bugs me the most is that many of my fellow citizens cry for free-market capitalism, which has it's good and bad points, until the handouts start flowing. It's amazing that people who max out debt, don't save a dime, and bitch about paying taxes are the first in line and the loudest when shit hits the fan.
I do agree that those who need help should get it - those who need things like food and shelter and keeping a business alive - but if irresponsible consumers need to sell some assets to get by, that's life. The government's role is not to support quality of life, especially at a citizen's convenience.

Quoted from Jaybird815:Welcome, Captain happy vibes!