Merv's Politically Incorrect Audio Blog

Conspiracy theorist about what? The reality of COVID has nothing to do with the fact that the actions of governments are informed, rational, or justified. Those are different things.
I can die of of COVID a week from now, at my age it is not distant possibility, particularly with the exposure caused by two members of my close family working in healthcare and going to work without missing a day since March. I can die of a number of other causes, which is actually way more likely. And what does it have to do with masks? I wear mask wherever I go, for the protection and comfort of other people.
I am not pissed off, I am retired and, at least for now, pretty comfortable. That does not mean I do not see what is happening around me, and that I do not need a good explanation for the quarantine of the healthy.
Reality of COVID danger does not means that I am going to shit my pants 24/7. believing everything that people who have been wrong about everything so far tell me without scrutinizing it. Particularly when I see lives around me ruined not by COVID.

 

At my local Libertarians Meeting next month we are hosting this guy:

http://www.frenchcapitalmanagement.com/

Yes, he does wealth management and stuff like that. But he did sued Jacksonville with help of a State Rep to overturn the mask order in Jacksonville a few months back.

As much as people to shake their heads, he does have a point. The city per state law didn't have the authority to do a mask order in Jax. However, it is ok to shake your head again because he is a financial adviser and believes the mask orders and limited people at the time hurts his business.

I should attend this meeting next month, here's what my local Libertarian group stated on the meeting with the zinger at the end:

"You may recognize Jason as the business owner who filed a lawsuit against the City of Jacksonville with Rep. Anthony Sabatini last year.

Jason will speak about his experience, additional thoughts on mask mandates and answer questions. Jason is a Navy veteran having served two tours in Operation Enduring Freedom, is a UNF MBA graduate, owns French Capital Management--an investment advisory money management firm--and enjoys surfing.

We understand the issue of masks is touchy. The right to private property is a core value for libertarians, and we will honor the request from Leci's to adhere to current mandates. Please have yours on hand to wear as appropriate."



Most likely what this guy will say it is the right of a business to do a mask order, but he doesn't believe a business should have the right to be forced to do a mask order.

 

I understand your perspective now. I think you are following a false logic that many people also do.

If my leaders, scientists, authorities are the experts and then they are not perfect or correct 100% of the time then I no longer trust anything they say. Similar to when young adults realize their parents are just regular people and not perfect deities.

First of all, no one is an expert on a new or novel coronavirus. People aren’t perfect and even if they claim they know everything they are full of shit. Right now, no one can fully explain why Covid-19 is dwindling in India.

I think it all boils down to is do you (or anyone) else trust their government to act in their best interests. Public health is not glamorous and usually not very elegant in its implementation. You’re correct to be skeptical but be careful about becoming cynical and thinking there is some nefarious plot being hatched in secret basement labs.

As far as the reality of COVID-19, I don’t think anyone knows how this is going to go with all of these new variants coming to light. This virus clearly mutates faster than we bargained for. I tend to be very pessimistic about this virus and hope I’m wrong.

 

I think your right in that it will be this or a variation thereof. Would he say that building codes/fire codes and other basic safety requirements are a matter of "private property" and should be up to the individual/business? The problem this sort of thinking above has - if you can even call it that, its almost just a kind of impulse and "instinct" - is that reality is always more complicated. The radical "individual" (or business), free from the fetters of any other individual, is just not reality. We are all much more intertwined and interdependent than we usually allow ourselves to reflect on. He himself does not have a business without a basic infrastructure, peace (and peace keepers), and all the rest a society and civilization affords him.

In the end life is a bitch and then you die. No doubt his idealism is sincere, but sincerity is not truth. The truth I can't help but see is that folks like him just don't want to pay a price for a pandemic. They want things their way and don't want the inconvenience and cost. Yet, when he or his love ones contract Covid they will expect others, such as doctors/nurses to take care of them at their risk, inconvenience, and cost. Not that he will necessarily even realize this...

 

This is an interesting take on wokeness and the use of language, a new 'national' elite as opposed to the past regional elites, etc. Not sure I am convinced by everything but it is thought provoking:

https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/new-national-american-elite

 

To flip this around, I think the real solution to what you’re highlighting is that the checks should just go to everyone now. Time and again, the problem with means-testing is that inevitably people whom the program is designed to help don’t get the help due to the complexity of determining eligibility. Meanwhile almost no one fails to get a universal program. (Medicare has about a 99% uptake. The EITC has about a 79% uptake. That 20% is really consequential.)

It also becomes really complicated to decide how to calculate need. Lots of people’s incomes have been incredibly volatile (mostly downward) this past year. But the checks have been based on 2019 income. So some people who should be getting checks based on 2020 income aren’t, and vice versa. Discussions about the proposed monthly payout refundable child tax credit are running into this problem, too.

Ultimately, the real means test is a progressive tax rate. If we give people checks this year who don’t need it (however we define need) based on 2020 or 2021 income, we can always tax it back later. Particularly in times of crisis when people are really suffering, it’s most important not to allow people who need it to fall through the cracks.

There’s also the larger issue of my spending being someone else’s income, etc. If some SBAFers use their check to buy ZMF headphones or Schiit DACs and that helps those companies through the pandemic, is that bad? Is it better or worse to do it that way than through loans or grants to those businesses? It’s hard to suss all this stuff out clearly, particularly in the middle of a pandemic.

 

See, to me, dying isn't the worst thing. A new illness is like a new drug. They carry a lot of the same unknowns and there's just no telling what kind of impact it could be having on different parts of your body. I also don't buy the "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger" deal. If you like being healthy, you generally want to avoid getting sick. It's still not a good thing. Every time you get sick, it puts a lot of strain on your body and makes you weaker, for a while after, even. Sure, your immune system learns a new trick, but in the meantime whatever is stirring it up is still doing damage. And C19 has the nasty tendency to sick it on healthy cells. Not something you want in your body. It's not a question of if it will do damage, but rather what it will damage and how, and how much that will ultimately impact you.

So to me, not being concerned about getting it and doing nothing to minimize your chance of getting it is like signing up to have your water spiked with an experimental drug that's been through no human trials. Nobody knows what will really happen to you. In this case, I suppose you CAN reasonably assume that you won't die. But it'll still be a while before we even see the full effect that this illness can have on the body. I'd rather pass on the strange new pathogen if I can help it. Wait for the early trials to finish first, at least.

 

This happened to the five-year-old daughter of a friend on another forum. It's bad enough reading stuff like this in the media, about people one does not know, and I don't shrug my shoulders at that. It is really scary to hear first hand, to one so young, and the impact on her parents. Covid danger is not just for us oldies.

 

I’ve been avoiding this thread but was curious to see the board’s reaction to the big brouhaha vis-a-vis r/wallstreetbets vs hedge funds. If you weren’t convinced of an entrenched elite class trying to control the unwashed masses before now witness the speed at which the government, media and big tech shut down the retail investors. This is a good basic primer about what’s happening that touches on some broader cultural themes.

https://mobile.twitter.com/wokal_distance/status/1354672028192698371

 

The reason for shutting down r/wallstreetbets was *given as* the standard "offensive language, violent content/ ant-simetic, etc.". True or not I don't know.

Hedge funds and the general Wall Street elite vs the "little guy" is an interesting mechanism. One of those two groups knows something the other doesn't. Honestly I tend to go with the Wall Street crowd for 2 reasons:

#1 Pretty much everything is in classic bubble territory (US GDP dropped by 3%+ last year but market had one of its best years ever).
#2 The money printing inflation everyone was expecting is here but not where it's expected (goods and services) - it's in stock prices. Not sure what the ramifications are here but it doesn't feel right.

If anyone knows how all this will play out in the next few years, let me know and I'll give you a percentage of profit lol.

 

What is a Free Market at this point? Dems voters hate the Free Market as much as the GOP voters nowadays.

*Time for a Beer*

 

I am just wandering if the value of "rescue package" for Melvin Capital and other hedge funds will be higher or lower then the value of COVID-19 relief. Apparently in this "free market" economy, investors can only invest if it does not hurt big hedge funds. Those being private companies of course.
Melvin Capital borrowed already 2.5 bln to cover the shorts and this money already disappeared. Hate speech is an excellent label for everything, bringing down Parler good because of hate speech , bringing down Melvin Capital.. well, it is actually hate speech, and very bad.
The establishment is scared shitless of anything real people may be doing, trading was just added to the long list of dangerous, subversive activities.
The funniest thing is that there is a part of American population who really cannot see the game that is being played with this so called "democratic system" in spite of the fact how transparent it is.

 

What surer way to discredit them right? They were nazis!

The mechanic of a hedge fund transaction is pretty simple - they borrow shares of a stock at one price then sell it and hope it goes down in price so they can buy a replacement at the lower price. The difference is their profit. The r/wsb investors bought shares in game stop which some hedge funds had a large position in which caused the share price to increase and the hedge funds had to meet margin calls and/or buy shares at the now inflated prices. If it was Warren Buffet who did what r/wsb did nobody would bat an eye but retail investors are supposed to know their place (as rabble).

Incomes for the middle and working classes tanked but the 1% did quite well under the pandemic.

https://www.theguardian.com/busines...is-boosts-the-fortunes-of-worlds-billionaires

 

@YMO
@wormcycle

both the dems and repubs honchos want economic fascism with them and their buddies in charge. They do not want to lose their positions at the top. A social and economic position based on insane, bad debt and bribing the politicians who hand out cash to the people. They’re scared shitless of mass appeal and getting called on it by market forces and random chance. Trumpers and antifa are the least of it. They all have a certain disgusting look to them. Real economic reform of Wall Street would be hell for them. History shows that’s not going to happen without a war or revolution that they can’t control that could leave them destitute or dead

 

That is painful to read, but nothing extraordinary. It takes $$ to make $$. When the market tanked last March, those with billions could bet large sums that they'd hardly miss. When the market shot into the now bubble, they made out like bandits. This is the history of the stock market from Musk/Bezos all the way back to Carnegie/Rockefeller. This had nothing to do with Covid

Where covid had disproportionate impact was driving brick/mortar further underwater (here Bezos benefitted) and in driving up anything related to WFH (everything from electronics to collaboration apps).

 

Round 1:
1: *Manipulate pricing via sheer hedge fund volumes behind closed doors*
1: ????
1. Profit
2. AOC and other economic flunkies complain on TV
1: grumble grumble stupid poors don't invest and spend their $ on lotto tickets grumble grumble

Round 2:
Poors: *Actually invest and attempt to openly move pricing. Succeed.*
1: SHUT IT DOWN!!! JOE BIDDEB BAIL ME OUT PLZZZZZZ!!!!
Poors: broke boi cri louder pls


In all seriousness, how this administration responds I think will speak louder than any of the "BLM good Orange Man bad*" narratives they've been pushing. If anything, I'm actually glad that if something dumb like this was going to happen, it happens within the first weeks and the fire is put under them now, not 3 years in. *Nothing personal against Orange Man or Black People

 

We are watching in real time something big. To the folks who were fine with Google, Twitter, Facebook censoring: MSNBC is calling for regulating what information about market and trading should be allowed on the web.
Once it starts it never stops. Now it should obvious to everyone that what is censored is not what is hateful, harmful or otherwise. What is censored is what establishment finds threatening to their interests.
Trump, Sanders, people on reddit does not matter, anything that challenges domination of the financial and political class will be removed.

 

https://reason.com/2021/01/28/elizabeth-warren-and-the-sec-should-let-the-gamestop-lulz-go-on/

Can't say that I disagree.