fuzzynormal

I'm sure your boot-strap morals will not allow you to take the money, that's socialism, right? 😉

Trade war=virus? I can't tell if you're trying to be sarcastic. FWIW, the paternal side of my family is mostly soy bean farmers. If you don't believe me, believe soy bean farmers. Trump's trade war back fired so of course it affects everybody in the USA. I don't understand the rest of your comment and how it's germane to the original context. Do you know what supply-side economics are?

Trump. The one and only thing I've ever agreed with him on. Trade imbalance should be addressed by any and all administrations. However, two things: 1) His ham handed terms were so half-baked his trade war backfired, and 2) International trade is not supply-side economics. So how does Chinese trade address my comment, which was an inquiry from Mercer on how a Trump administration is/was affecting me?

That's a can of worms question in my mind. Lots of stuff attached to an answer. You mentioned economics. Well, for instance, I believe that supply-side ideologist are capable of making economies that do benefit citizens, but only for certain citizens. Inflating the wealthy's access to money demands cost be paid by the opposite end of the spectrum. It's a fancy pyramid scheme with pretty graphs. I think good old-fashioned supply-and-demand enterprise is by far more equitable and just. Witnessing how the supply-side canard has wreaked havoc among the working class over the last 40 years is an ethical disaster, imho. But because it's easy to hide behind bad-faith arguments supporting supply-side ideas it's a useful political tool. So yeah. Supply-Side. And how that keeps exacerbating the inequality of wealth in the nation is a moral failing of leadership. That's definitely one thing I don't like.

With more people doing it because they ain't got anything better to do. Which is...same as normal then.

Methinks the next two months are going to be a crazy online bumpy ride. Millions of people sitting on their computers, out of work, just bloviating and hurumphing at each other. Maybe I can put my efforts into something slightly more productive: #ReleaseTheButtholeCut

Quickly? Effectively? Where are you at? Traveling or on an assignment? Assuming he's young and healthy so there's probably not a big health risk for him?

Do you mind if we return to the evangelical thing regarding one political side not having as much respect for science as the other? Not sure if you responded to that one.

If you want to know why I'm a little hot about this, it's simply because I have family that's currently sick (not with COVID-19 we think) but with the contagion peak set to hit within the next week or so it has me extremely paranoid about hospitalization. I'll readily admit I'm using this forum as an emotional release valve --and while I try to be respectable to all I do get frustrated.

On the contrary, all evidence shows that you're not afraid to talk politics. I will however suggest that you do deflect from certain questions.

Did you vote at all for POTUS in the last election?

I'm afraid it requires somber reflection on facts and evidence. Then action on that evidence may be beyond what we're capable of as a society. The pawn metaphor seems apt. All I hope is that there's a political pendulum swing in the USA that returns us to a deeper pragmatism as was held by the generation that survived the Spanish, Flu, Great Depression and WWII. My currently favorite (apocryphal) quote about the USA is Benjamin Franklin's. When asked, “Doctor, what have we got? A republic or a monarchy?” Franklin responded, “A republic, if you can keep it.”

Great! Available to you though? Half a dozen locations ain't bad news as it's finally a start, but it's a trifle. And why should testing only be finally rolled out now? Do you think it might have been better if the testing was happening 2 or 3 weeks ago? You know, like the out-of-work employees from the dismantled the National Security Council’s global health security office were saying since January? These are facts that illustrate the current administration in a unflattering light. A light so unflattering that Trump supporters, like you, prefer to ignore by employing the embarrassing deflecting rhetoric of "now's not the time to be political."

I invite you to please explain last week's quotes of "Democratic Hoax" or “Impeachment Scam” to me. Hold on, let me get go get some popcorn. Do you acknowledge even a hint of hypocrisy in your statement? At all? Just a little tiny weeny bit? If you respond with either a yes or no to that question I'd be flabbergasted. But, seriously, maybe we should just stop bouncing around the issue, stop this deflecting nonsense, and get right to the heart of the matter. My impression is simply that you just don't like Donald Trump being criticized. This upsets you, you resent it, and so you try and defend him. I think he's indefensible. There's probably no middle ground there because both of us are pretty convinced of our opinions, am I right? If that's the case, perhaps we should both just shut the hell up. What do you say?

Not necessarily true. Singapore, Taiwan, Japan, Hong Kong were prepared and have been good examples on how to handle it. If you want to get real about things. Let me ask you, if you wanted to get a COVID-19 test right now here in the USA, do you think you'd be able to do it?

As I said, I encourage you to read up on it. A little history and perspective never hurt anyone. It might temper the nationalistic angst you've been posting.

It's a duty as U.S. citizens to hold politicians into account when they are failing us. I mean, you do appreciate that aspect of the republic, right? That's the fundamental system. Granted, I don't feel regular citizens have as much agency as we should in the current system, but it's disingenuous or willfully obtuse to claim that Americans shouldn't do the thing they were expected to do by the founders of this nation.

China bears responsibility in missteps, but if you're going to be critical of mishandling this dance, prepare to put your tap dancing shoes for the next 2 months! Also, I seriously recommend you read up on the Spanish Flu. Americans were an integral part of the global crew building that glass house. --One of the deadliest pandemics in history. Maybe hold off on throwing nationalistic stones? My family has 3 family members that we know of that died from the Spanish Flu. 1 of my paternal grandmother's siblings, 2 of my grandfather's, and 1 of my maternal grandmother's uncles.

I also have a fluffy butt.

Yeah. Agreed, but at the same time we've been building to this moment on the schedule. Lots of sweat equity leading up to this springtime. Sunk cost fallacy, maybe?

So the original post was about film jobs in the COVID outbreak. So I have a question: My wife and I are considering doing a crowd-fundraiser for a feature film that's rather inspirational. It's about animal rescue. We've been back and forth if this is a good time for such a thing? On the one hand, there's going to be A LOT of people at home just bouncing around the web, maybe we'd have a good chance at getting more eyeballs on the project that normal. However, how many people will be in the mood to donate money when the economy is screeching to a halt? Basic impressions. What's your gut feeling? Do-able/not-do-able?

That's...optimistic.

I'd like to take a moment and point out the history of the Spanish Flu in order to offer a little perspective if you're gonna get nationalistic.

It's part of the American history and culture. We'll always be a bit behind compared to other nations in that regard. It's a blessing and a curse.

I sometimes do wonder if the rhetorical triplicate thing he does is by canny design, or if it's just his nature. I think I get confused because it might be a savvy technique that's using a limited vocabulary. Hope you're right. Believe it when you see it. There happens to be a certain history with Donald Trump and promises of getting paid.