Las Vegas Marking Parking Places for Homeless Encampment
April 1st, 2020Any bailout trillions over here? Nope, none here.
But how about a white rectangle painted on a parking lot?
Good for whatever ails ya.
Via: PBS:
Homeless people in Las Vegas have been directed to sleep in rectangles painted on the pavement in a makeshift parking lot camp as a way to limit the spread of the coronavirus, a move that is stirring outrage by some on social media.
The GitHub Arctic Vault Program
April 1st, 2020First seeds, now code.
GitHub is owned by Microsoft, by the way.
Via: Github:
The GitHub Arctic Code Vault is a data repository preserved in the Arctic World Archive (AWA), a very-long-term archival facility 250 meters deep in the permafrost of an Arctic mountain. The archive is located in a decommissioned coal mine in the Svalbard archipelago, closer to the North Pole than the Arctic Circle. GitHub will capture a snapshot of every active public repository on 02/02/2020 and preserve that data in the Arctic Code Vault.
“Surveillance Capitalism” Is Now a Pandemic Necessity
April 1st, 2020
Via: Bloomberg:
There are no atheists in foxholes, and no tech regulators in a coronavirus lockdown.What was once thunderously described as “surveillance capitalism” is now a pandemic necessity. Twitch is where our children go to school; Twitter where epidemiological models are debated; and WhatsApp where we have drinks with friends.
Trillions in Coronavirus Spending Could Explode Deficits to World War II Levels
April 1st, 2020Trillions here. Trillions there.
“Now there’s no telling just how high the deficit will go.”
Via: Marketwatch:
Now there’s no telling just how high the deficit will go.
…
Altogether, deficit spending in the next two years could drive the national debt to around $29 trillion from an estimated $23.6 trillion right now. Previously the U.S. was not expected to reach that mark until 2025.
Just as firefighters don’t care how much water they use in putting out a fire, governments don’t fret about how much they spend to fight a once-in-a-lifetime crisis like a deadly global pandemic. Democrats and Republicans in Washington are virtually united in the belief that they should spend whatever they need to and worry about how to pay for the coronavirus bailout later.
Coronavirus Testing Kits Heading to the UK Contaminated with Covid-19
April 1st, 2020Via: Evening Standard:
Testing kits which were headed to the UK have been found to be contaminated with coronavirus.
The Government has said that it aims to boost the rate of tests to 25,000 every day by the end of April at the latest and has asked private companies to help drive up test production.
But one production firm, Luxembourg-based manufacturer Eurofins, told UK labs on Monday that deliveries would be delayed as core parts had been contaminated with coronavirus, the Telegraph reported.
“If the Virus Hadn’t Caused the Crash, Something Else Would Have”
April 1st, 2020Via: Bloomberg:
The novel coronavirus has already had a significant impact on the global economy, which will worsen if the outbreak and the shutdowns designed to contain it continue for very long. But it’s only an accelerant: If not Covid-19, as the disease caused by the virus is known, something else would have started the conflagration. Shortfalls in revenue and cash flows, caused by the shutdowns, have simply exposed the vulnerabilities of a structurally unsound economic and financial system.
A fall in revenue is problematic but manageable without debt. Unfortunately, in the aftermath of the 2008 crash, debt levels were increased rather than reduced, encouraged in part by low policy rates and the abundant liquidity engineered by central banks globally. Global debt as a percentage of GDP rose from around 250% in 2007 to 325% in 2019. Current debt levels are triple what they were in 1999. Businesses and households, with declining or no income and high levels of borrowing, now face an existential struggle to meet large financial commitments.
Dr. John Ioannidis of Stanford University, Perspectives on the Pandemic
March 31st, 2020If Covid-19 hadn’t been identified as a novel disease, and it caused 10,000 deaths in the U.S., this would be, “Well within the range of statistical noise,” of routine deaths from influenza. Without the current hype, this would attract less attention than a professional basketball game, according to Dr. Ioannidis.
And yet, somehow:
A billion people are on lockdown across the globe.
Six trillion dollars, created out of nothing in one fell swoop, will mostly be handed to the usual suspects, with the bill falling on the shoulders of countless future generations. (Enjoy your $1200, by the way.)
Continuity of government plans have been activated.
And, the zombies are treating whatever bullshit is on the TV as absolute Gospel. (See your friends on Facebook.)
Wow.
Via: Journeyman Pictures:
What’s Up With The Italian Mortality Rate?
March 31st, 2020Via: Corbett Report:
10 More Experts Criticizing the Coronavirus Panic
March 31st, 2020Via: Off Guardian:
Following on from our previous list, here are ten more expert voices, drowned out or disregarded by the mainstream narrative, offering their take on the coronavirus outbreak.
Macy’s Will Furlough 130,000 Employees
March 30th, 2020Via: Reuters:
Macy’s Inc said on Monday it would furlough most of its 130,000-strong workforce starting this week as all stores of the department chain operator have been temporarily shut due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Like many retailers, Macy’s has already said it would suspend quarterly dividend and withdrew its 2020 sales and profit forecasts in response to the uncertainty and financial hit from the store closures.
The company said on Monday the store closures had severely dented a majority of its sales, despite the online business staying up and running.
