NY Post: Knicks dealing with NBA’s coronavirus ‘quarantine’

From Berman:

In a perfect world, the Knicks would have been in sunny Miami on Friday, facing the resurgent Heat while playing out their season’s final 16 games.

Instead, it was Day 1 of Knicks players being advised by the NBA to remain stuck in their New York homes following the league’s suspension of the season because of the coronavirus pandemic.

All teams have been ordered not to practice, according to an industry source.

According to the source, the NBA has recommended “quarantine … only for those individuals who exhibit symptoms of the virus and/or have been in a certain level of close or consistent contact with a person infected with COVID-19.”

The recommendation also included that “teams coordinate with their local or state health departments for such circumstances.”

The NBA has deemed those teams that have played the Jazz in the past 10 days as having such “close or consistent contact.”

Two Jazz players are infected — stars Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert, who played 34 minutes each against the Knicks on March 4 at the Garden.

Hopefully you’re all doing well in your own self-isolation!

Enjoy some Warren Zevon-style isolation…

239 replies on “NY Post: Knicks dealing with NBA’s coronavirus ‘quarantine’”

Latest news here in Tennessee is 29 cases, just 1 in Knoxville so far. The Nashville area looks to be getting hit. No deaths, yet. I see that NYC apparently just had its first death.

All my best for all of you, esp. those of you like Jowles and Farfa on the “front lines” right now.

Thanks all — this may very well be a cold/flu and not COVID-19. We don’t know!

Jowles, I’m so sorry, and I’m flabbergasted about Lady Jowles. That’s borderline criminal. I’m actually north of you up in the pandepicenter, which really means I’m just a week ahead of your area (estimating two weeks ahead of NY, although y’all are catching up fast). I ordered all my staff to work from home two weeks ago. Unless it’s a systems-critical job (food, power, medical, emergency, etc.), everyone should be home.

This is a response to everyone expressing sympathy: thank you, and we’re in agreement. It’s a testament to corporate power that there are no civil or criminal liabilities, it seems, in having people work through a highly contagious pandemic event. When it comes to slowing the spread of this thing, I guess the minarchist’s “personal responsibility” maxim is the primary thing keeping us from a national catastrophe. Let’s see how that works out.

That’s borderline criminal.

Nothing borderline about it, if an employer forces an employee to come in sick at a time like this they are putting people’s life in danger. I would consider not going to the office if this was me.

I hope you guys are better soon, Jowles.

This week was her first week with this company. She is in a tenuous position to say the least.

Bob, no one could have known on January 22 that this was likely to spread?

Here’s an article from January 23. In the context of COVID spreading in Wuhan, it explains that a simulation a few months earlier from Johns Hopkins had estimated that a coronavirus pandemic could lead to 65M deaths worldwide.

On January 25, a friend of mine was forwarded an email written by a flu epidemiologist/computational biologist who works in an academic center in Seattle. This expert said that COVID would likely be a pandemic and projected that there would be 2 to 20 million deaths by the end of the year.

You know who has access to even better sources of information than Business Insider and forwarded emails? The President of the United States.

You’re trying to excuse this by saying that “you can only make predictions with the data you have at hand and history to go by.” In basketball terms, your argument is the equivalent of saying that no one could have predicted that the Lakers would be better than the Knicks this year since both teams were 0-1 on October 23.

Spreading exponentially is what highly communicable diseases do. Experts saw this coming based on the data at hand and history to go by. The fact that President Trump didn’t is solely because he refused to listen to experts.

Thanks Josh.

This week was her first week with this company. She is in a tenuous position to say the least.

Yes, absolutely. It’s awful.

anyone got a link to this “test”…

I heard there were different variations in the world…

I’m curious how it might work, and how does it differ from other tests…

so I guess one thing to check with yourself is your temperature?

One of my college floor mates is a lobbyist in DC and he’s very well plugged-in. Specifically he works in the health care arena, for Pharma.

His take on the Trump admin from day one was that we were headed for problems because Trump doesn’t listen to experts, and that he has kooky personal beliefs about health care. At the beginning of his term he wanted to hire Dr. Oz to be head of HHS. That’s right. Dr. Fucking Oz. My friend personally had to call Paul Ryan and tell Paul Ryan to tell Trump to please come up with a better option than Dr. Oz.

This is the level of seriousness and expertise he brings to the healthcare sphere. He’s an ignoramus.

“Thanks all — this may very well be a cold/flu and not COVID-19. We don’t know!”

Jowles…. I don’t give a fiddler’s fuck about what my boss wants… if I have a cough or a fever I’m not going into work. Period! The boss can fire her and that would suck…. but it won’t kill anyone. Going into work with the real possibility of being ill WILL kill Innocent people if she is positive.

If they fire her for following CDC guidance I cannot believe there isn’t relief coming from the EEOC or some other legal remedy in the pipeline.

And for sure tape the conversation where her boss tries to get her to come into work when she tells him/her she is coughing with a fever. And document it on your cell visually.

Then (and I am serious) call Tucker Carlson with the evidence and he will play it and fuck that company royally.

Losing a job sucks but potentially putting hundreds of innocent people at risk is immoral. As well as yourself.

Jowles that is a terrible situation and I hope guys are able to find a fucking test soon and recover quickly. You should consider anonymously calling the state attorney general or department of health hotline and reporting the company’s behavior. Another option is to find a reporter who will leave your name out of it. I don’t know your wife, but if she is as thoughtful as you are I think she will deeply regret going into work, even under severe pressure, without knowing her diagnosis.

“Can Tucker Carlson help us get tested?”

Probably not but at least for the time being when you sue for wrongful termination it won’t get pitched by the 9th Circuit…..

” It’s nice to hear from you Joe Dumars. One of the nice things about this blog is it’s variety. Posters here disagree about more than just Trump. ”

Thanks KnicksfaninNJ. Very true. Except for the political takes, I enjoy reading KB. I come over here to de-stress but as I said when I notice posts are political, I just scroll down and ignore 🙂

“Can Tucker Carlson help us get tested?”

Going to work for the Jazz is probably your best bet….funny how millionaires can get tested and the average Joe cannot….l wonder if they tested all the hourly people on the Jazz that come in daily contact with Gobert

“I don’t understand why you would read the contributors here for 13 years, know they are smart and educated, and then willfully ignore them when you don’t like what they say. (But, then again, there’s a lot I don’t understand about Trump supporters). ”

Yup 13 years! Best sports blog, for me ( other NBA blogs I visit once in a while especially if there are hot issues about the team) But for most part, KB has been a daily ritual. Im a Proud KB addict !!! As I said, I enjoy reading in KB Knicks topics, NBA topics and all non basketball topics – but I ignore the anti Trump tirades! I come here to de-stress and relax! ( I guess the feeling is mutual. But I respect your views ) Cheers! 🙂

“I could watch Mulholland Drive everyday of the shutdown and not get bored.”

Watched Mulholland Drive on Netflix last night with my son . Great work by David Lynch. Last month, we- me and my son – binge watched all the Twin Peak iterations . Loved it, esp my son! Btw, thanks to KB I get to watch some, not all, recommendations here 🙂

Not sure if it’s streaming anywhere, but The Tree of Life is a great watch if you’re okay with vague narratives. Watch in 4K if possible.

I have to say, I didn’t go into full Take This shit Seriously mode until ptmilo started sounding the bell here. That is what I love about this blog. I could care less about the Knicks these days, but I’ve come to know and respect the regular contributors here so much that when somebody like pt, who is always so on point, says something, I listen.

“Not sure if it’s streaming anywhere, but The Tree of Life is a great watch if you’re okay with vague narratives. Watch in 4K if possible.”

I like Malick a lot. But I wouldn’t recommend him to anybody that I didn’t know the cinematic tastes of very well. Unlike Lynch, whose weirdness has a kitschy pop-element to it, Malick requires a lot of letting go. That said, TheNew World was totally hypnotic to me. I love his work.

Just found out a friend of mine in Spain has it. She’s pregnant and it hasn’t been too bad for her but she spent last weekend with her parents who are elderly and quite infirm. She is freaking out, has no idea how she got it.

And my work colleague’s friend’s 16 year old daughter has it. Again, her symptoms are not serious but how the hell did she get it? They live on the UUWS.

I really miss watching Julius dribbling into traffic from the perimeter and losing the ball.

And Mitch dunking

i just want to be clear that my last sentence above was not in the slightest meant as any sort of half assed shaming of a likely terrified sick person being pressured to go to work during the sudden onset of your bog standard global pandemic. it was purely advice i would try to give to myself under the circumstances, nothing more.

No one’s going to have a clue how they got it. Incubation period is too long. That’s why everyone trying to fight Gobert is silly — Mitchell could have given it to Gobert for all we know.

i just want to be clear that my last sentence above was not in the slightest meant as any sort of half assed shaming of a likely terrified sick person being pressured to go to work during the sudden onset of your bog standard global pandemic. it was purely advice i would try to give to myself under the circumstances, nothing more.

The words I would use to describe her in everyday life: sober, objective, articulate, discerning, judicial. Hell, she specifically chose math as a major because it required no bullshit, no negotiation and no grey area whatsoever. This is how I know it’s bad for her — she knows there is no moral grey area here but she is caught between the rock et al.

I want her to stay home and we’re going to have a talk tomorrow about how best to handle this. LJ should be home and we both know it. We just don’t know how to do it without putting her into jeopardy while we’re on the cusp of a recession or worse. She can handle a couple weeks of unpaid time off, but six months of un- or underemployment would not be sustainable. The situation is fucked. We need testing, yesterday.

So most assuredly, no offense taken. Thanks for not telling her to call Tucker Carlson, though. Appreciate you for that.

COVID-19 Greece Latest News

228 infected
3 dead

Government continued to take precautionary measures and closed also cafeterias, hair salons, Malls, Open Care Centers for the Elderly, beauty salons, private tutoring centers and forbid the dining capacity of restaurants and other shops with food(allowed only delivery & take away).

45 (Stupid fucks) persons were arrested after inspections for not complying with government’s shutdowns.
They can be charged from a few years to life sentence depending from the consequences (human+animal lives) of their disobedience.

Well in Italy 7k people have been reported for disobeying the shutdown. It’s a world full of Dolans

Farfa:
Well in Italy 7k people have been reported for disobeying the shutdown. It’s a world full of Dolans

I know man.
They say:
Una faccia una razza
about Greeks and Italians.
We re exactly the same in stupidity. We just happened to be luckier on this one…

How about the top 16 teams in the NBA self-quarantine for 4 weeks, and then have a single-elimination tournament with only other teams in the stands?

My wife teaches special ed, and all the kids aren’t coming into school when they resume after spring break, but they’re making the teachers go into work. She could easily do everything she needs to do from her laptop at home.

She used to teach for LA Unified School District, and they have a strong union so their teachers will not be going into school for a while. But the smaller district she is in now has a less powerful union, so they don’t have the juice to force the issue.

She wants to go back to LAUSD after this.

Farfa:
Well in Italy 7k people have been reported for disobeying the shutdown. It’s a world full of Dolans

2+ weeks ago the Greek government cancelled the traditional carnival of Patra (the most famous/bigger in Greece) as a precautionary meter for COVID-19.
On March the 1st 8k gathered in Patra to celebrate/parade for the carnival disobeying the government’s cancellation….
Una faccia…

“Thanks for not telling her to call Tucker Carlson, though.”

Jowels I realize you are under the gun but if your wife’s boss is being a dick and putting people’s lives at potential risk he and the company should be outed and it’s time to go to DEFCON 5. I’d suggest MSLSD and Lawrence O’Donnell but no one watches that…….

“Not sure if it’s streaming anywhere, but The Tree of Life is a great watch if you’re okay with vague narratives. Watch in 4K if possible.”

I like Malick a lot. But I wouldn’t recommend him to anybody that I didn’t know the cinematic tastes of very well. Unlike Lynch, whose weirdness has a kitschy pop-element to it, Malick requires a lot of letting go. That said, TheNew World was totally hypnotic to me. I love his work.

Since everyone is going to be doing a lot of streaming over the next few weeks (and the fact that I’d rather talk about films than the virus if just for distractions sake) I’d recommend Days of Heaven or Badlands to Someone who hasn’t seen any Malick. Both have enough plot and dialogue to satisfy the uninitiated while still having all of the visual beauty of his later work. I still think those are his two best films- if you could excise the Sean Penn moments from Tree of Life it’d probably top them but those first two are both stone cold classics.

Ironically I was going to see A Hidden Life tonight (Malick’s latest) which is playing nearby but decided I really didn’t want to spend three hours in a theater right now. Instead I think I’ll watch Badlands tonight as part of a mini- Warren Oates festival along with Two Lane Blacktop and either Cockfighter or Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia.

Lately i started listening intensively to film scores.
Any good recommendations ?

The good news is that today, I started sneezing like a madman, so it appears less likely to be COVID-19. Still quarantining the hell out of myself, but those sneezes are a gift from heaven.

Lately i started listening intensively to film scores.
Any good recommendations ?

If you’ve not yet discovered Ennio Morricone, start with him.

EDIT: I see you were speaking Italian above, so never mind. You know.

Best of luck to you and LJ, Jowles. I’m sorry any one has to make that choice.

My friend now has it. He’s 35 and fit, and is in good spirits. Just mentioning it bc the process in Manhattan is running pretty well, according to his experience. He went to a city MD, passed the screening, got sent to Mt Sinai, took the test. He was told to wait 3-5 days. Said the whole process took a couple of hours and every place he went to seemed to be operating normally.

Hopefully that experience becomes more common.

Hubert: If you’ve not yet discovered Ennio Morricone, start with him.

EDIT: I see you were speaking Italian above, so never mind. You know.

Yeap!
Ennio is The Man.
Italians in general are definitely killing it during the 60s/70s.
I’ve listened to some pretty serious groovy stuff from italian film composers.

^ edit: he presumes he has it. Hasnt gotten test back. Only mentioned it for those in NY who are avoiding the doctor bc they think it’s a shit show.

Btw, thanks to KB I get to watch some, not all, recommendations here 🙂

Spartacus: Blood and Sand

I’m not sure, but, I think I heard/read some super genius TV enthusiast say that it was the single greatest season of TV eva…

maybe, just maybe the single most gratifying season finale ever created…

Knew Your Nicks:
Lately i started listening intensively to film scores.
Any good recommendations ?

Some of my faves:

Vertigo – Bernard Herrmann
Koyaanisqatsi – Phillip Glass
Good Time – Dan Lopatin
Solaris – Edward Artemiev
Anatomy Of A Murder – Duke Ellington
Cul De Sac – Krzysztof Komeda

Nothing like being principal of a school remaining open during a historic pandemic while teachers are planning a massive sick-out. And no sports to boot.

It’s pretty ridiculous but true that the information I’ve gleaned from reading this blog is what’s got me to go all the way on quarantine with my family. I was in LA the week before last and my host freaked out that he had it, so I got a hotel room for the last couple days and grew concerned when I started coughing. I was thinking I’d have to skip my flight home rather than risk giving it to people. But after 48 hours, no fever, so I figured I was ok. He got tested, and it’s not corona, but I was taking meetings could possibly have it. Another 4 days before I’m theoretically past the incubation stage, and meanwhile I’ve self-quarantined, but my son has asthma, so it wouldn’t be good if I do have it…

I told everyone my companies (a dozen people) to work from home a few weeks ago, so I feel good about that. But it’s going to be financially tough on one of the companies in particular. Worse, though, is my wife works with young underprivileged kids, and we are now discussing her cancelling all appointments for the next few weeks (or more). Bad for the kids, bad for us.

In the end, though, what else can a responsible person do? Stay home. Don’t spread it if you have it; don’t catch it if you don’t; either way, lower that growth curve under a factor of one.

The simple calculus is this…. you can’t help anyone if you are dead. Use the Issac Newton example and isolate yourself and your family group from everyone else if humanly possible. There is plenty of time to make up lost money when things get better. Biology is biology and it doesn’t care. Respect it.

Dmitri Shostakovich scored a 1955 movie called The Gadfly which has the greatest film score of all time. It’s some of the best music ever composed, by anyone, from any era. (He wrote it shortly after the death of Stalin, who’s regime tormented he and his fellow artists to no end, which likely contributes to its sublimity.)

Max Richter is a more modern composer who works largely in film, television, and multimedia. He did the music for The Leftovers, and his On The Nature of Daylight is featured in the opening segment of The Arrival, which is one of the most powerful openings of a movie that I’ve ever seen.

Max Richter is great. “The Blue Notebooks” is an amazing album. It was t written as a soundtrack to anything but it’s so cinematic it has been used in tons of movies.

@Z-Man and @ JK47
My wife runs an NYC charter school whose charter was granted by the City and is thus controlled by Deblasio ( cf. Success Academy with a state charter that has been able to close).
She spent all day yesterday negotiating with the union that wants schools closed ( and are pressuring DeB to do so) and was able to make Tuesday and Wednesday Superintendent’s days with no students. I am negotiating with her to work from home tomorrow. My estimate is attendance is below 50% across the City tomorrow. I understand the conundrum surrounding closing the schools( I recently retired from DoE), but having scores of friends still teaching, I hope the DoE schools are closed and a different way to provide food and child care to essential NYC workers whose kids go to public schools is arrived at.

Thanks for the insights Bo. There are lots of alternatives to a total shutdown. I’m fine with reporting to help see a reasonable plan through. But the current situation is untenable.

JK47: Some of my faves:

Vertigo – Bernard Herrmann
Koyaanisqatsi – Phillip Glass
Good Time – Dan Lopatin
Solaris – Edward Artemiev
Anatomy Of A Murder – Duke Ellington
Cul De Sac – Krzysztof Komeda

Koyaanisqatsi and Solaris are top and fave of mine too.
Used to have ‘anatomy of a murder’ on cd many years ago but remember it too oldskool jazz for me but one revisit won’t harm.
Vertigo and Cul de Sac would be checked.
Just checked a few from ‘good time’ on YouTube.
Pretty good prog electronic shit ! Expected hip hop due to its cover but was pleasantly surprised!
Thanks man!

Looks like you know music much better than bball! (Just teasing you!!!;-)

” I understand the conundrum surrounding closing the schools( I recently retired from DoE), but having scores of friends still teaching, I hope the DoE schools are closed and a different way to provide food and child care to essential NYC workers whose kids go to public schools is arrived at.”

In Mercer County, NJ (East Windsor Township) they are closing schools as of noon Monday, but leaving the cafeteria open indefinitely (from 8am- noon) for poor kids to get their breakfast and lunch if they care to. I’m not sure that is an optimal solution, but at least there is some compassionate out of the box thinking going on looking for real solutions.

Donnie Walsh:
Dmitri Shostakovich scored a 1955 movie called The Gadfly which has the greatest film score of all time. It’s some of the best music ever composed, by anyone, from any era. (He wrote it shortly after the death of Stalin, who’s regime tormented he and his fellow artists to no end, which likely contributes to its sublimity.)

Max Richter is a more modern composer who works largely in film, television, and multimedia. He did the music for The Leftovers, and his On The Nature of Daylight is featured in the opening segment of The Arrival, which is one of the most powerful openings of a movie that I’ve ever seen.

Gadfly will be checked.
Max Richter too.
Thanks DW!

Trump said early on that the virus was another reason why we needed to build the wall. He probably thought you got it from drinking Mexican beer.

“Thanks for the insights Bo. There are lots of alternatives to a total shutdown. I’m fine with reporting to help see a reasonable plan through. But the current situation is untenable.”

Within a week all non-essential adults will be staying at home so there will be no reason to keep the schools open. Virtual schooling will work certainly as a temporary measure.

My HS junior son was a little pissed the SAT’s were cancelled yesterday. He was hoping to improve on his 1370 score 6 months ago….

In NY, ELA State testing is scheduled for March 25-26. In NYC these tests have huge repercussions. I wonder when we’ll hear more about them.

bobneptune: Within a week all non-essential adults will be staying at home so there will be no reason to keep the schools open. Virtual schooling will work certainly as a temporary measure.

I’d be good with this.

I understand that shutting down the schools will come with its fair share of repercussions and isn’t a decision you can make lightly, but “social distancing, except for the 1,126,501 kids in NYC public schools who gather 5 times a week for 8 hours” is not a coherent or effective policy.

It seems impossible to me that we’ll make much of any progress flattening the curve while kids, who aren’t exactly known for their commitment to cleanliness and hygiene, are transmitting this thing to older school staff and their families.

Shut them down and leave them partially open for meals and daycare (with the decrease in students allowing for extreme precautions) seems like the obvious move to me, and frankly it was reckless to keep them open for this long. I mean my friend who was a teacher just worked an optional Saturday shift yesterday. That’s insane.

Jowles, why don’t you try that home remedy you recommended to me about 10 years ago?

Seriously, hope you and the missus are okay and that there are no repercussions of any kind for her employment situation. So far, 20% of my staff is calling out and I expect that number to double by tomorrow. The good news is that if schools are (criminally negligently) kept open, student attendance will likely be very low.

PS Ardbeg 10 is my “bleach” of choice these days, covid-19 doesn’t stand a chance against it.

Update from Israel:

1. Some 200 hundred sick (as of yesterday), zero fatalities.

2. Schools and entertainment establishments are on a shutdown, everything else may be shut down later this week.

3. No gatherings of over 10 people.

4. At 1Am last night, after the daily newspaper were already closed for new items, the Minister of Justice announced he’s closing down the courts. As a result the PM’s bribery trial is postponed by two months. He’s been doing everything in his power to avoid trial, and is now using the corona virus.

5. The joint Arab list recommended Gantz, the leader of the largest opposition party, as the next PM. This is the first time the Arab party is doing so. If all other opposition parties also recommend Gantz he’ll have a mandate to put together a government, following the elections 12 days ago.

6. The PM and his party are rumored to try and disallow the parliament from assembling tomorrow, so that there would be no vote on replacing the chairmen, who is from the PM’s party.

7. The right wing zelots are threatening everyone and everything, including personal death threats that go without any response from our police. They are calling all Arabs terrorists and the PM is fully behind these calls. Meanwhile a large percentage of our overworked hospitals staff are Arabs and obviously they are taking care of everyone.

Sorry for publishing a political post dealing with another country, but we’re fighting for our democracy today — in practice and not as an abstract concept — and I know some people here care about these things.

Also spent about an hour texting yesterday with my friends about how hard it is to convince our elderly parents that this is a serious situation and they need to stop going out in public like they normally do.

Nowhere near enough people are taking this seriously. I’m seeing a lot of dangerously dumb comments on my social media feed. It’s turning into a red vs blue thing for some people and it’s not that. People need to take this shit seriously and do the social distancing and stop pretending this is all overblown and some sort of plot that was hatched for political reasons.

Overreacting is better than underreacting.

One of the many aggravating things about this is the utter lack of sports — not just games, but anything to read. It’s just endless stories about how the different leagues are shutting down and guesswork about the impact of same. I’m hoping bored journalists will start to turn to writing in-depth stories about individual players — it’s almost a lost art, and I’ve always loved reading them, even about scrubs (especially them in fact, since we all know too much about the stars already). Who knows, maybe we’d finally find out what Trier did to piss everyone off…

Bob, that sounds like a decent solution. It’s not such an issue in Montclair – they just closed the schools. Kids at home, schooling is virtual the next few weeks at least. But I flipped out because my daughter went to a K-pop concert Friday night anyway! Her defense was that the tickets cost $200. I said I’d cover the cost of not going to any subsequent concerts. Meanwhile, like DRed, I’m begging my mother to stop going to shows in Florida. Come on.

Ingmarrr, I like hearing that perspective, thanks. I’ve only taken one trip though the Middle East, but I met with people like Rafik Hariri and then-Prince Salman, so it was an enlightening experience….

The union rep who is interfacing with my wife indicated that one of the ideas being discussed is bringing in retired teachers to staff the cafeterias, which unless the City is looking to reduce pension costs is not the right staffing situation. If DeBlasio decides not to close schools or to keep a small number open for food and childcare, since almost all metro area colleges are closed or will be closed, it seems more sensible to hire healthy college students to watch and feed the students, whose parents cannot make alternate home care arrangements.
As for the state exams, I would guess they will be postponed without a date pending greater clarity on the legs of the virus.

I would support paying willing teachers additional for coming in. Principals will have excess $$$ (use it or lose it) due to cancellation of various things.

I work at a middle school in Miami Dade County and on Friday it was announced school will be closed this week and the following week is spring break so there will be no school for the next 2 weeks and they’ll determine then if schools will be closed longer. Kids will be doing virtual school this week but who knows how many of them will actually go online for the few hours a day they are being required to do so. Our end of the year testing doesn’t start until end of April and mostly done during May so we have time before that becomes an issue.

Catching up on the blog posts hope everyone remains healthy and THCJ wishing you and your better half all the best, even if you do have the virus I’m sure you’d kick it’s ass.

We’re in excellent health. No worries on that front — I’m concerned about the rest of us.

Z-Man
Your proposal makes the most sense in balancing the needs of all stakeholders. It is my understanding that something along those lines has been proposed and pushed back on by the union. IMO, it’s no different than principals selecting certain teachers for per session time. The pressure to close schools is rising with the Queens BP calling for parents to keep their children home.

Thanks, rama. This sounds like some visit.

Meanwhile the parliament’s chairman announced that he indeed would not allow a vote to replace him — against the expressed demand of the majority of the parliament members. This means that he would continue to have complete control over which laws are voted on, including a law that the majority wants to pass on prime minister term limits.

The right wing is effectively refusing to step down, or give up any type of control, despite losing the elections.

Donnie Walsh:
Dmitri Shostakovich scored a 1955 movie called The Gadfly which has the greatest film score of all time. It’s some of the best music ever composed, by anyone, from any era. (He wrote it shortly after the death of Stalin, who’s regime tormented he and his fellow artists to no end, which likely contributes to its sublimity.)

Thanks for that, DW. Shostakovich is one of my favorite composers but I was unaware of this piece.

I presume you’ve read Testimony? My music professor told me it was probably fiction, but that was 20 years ago. Not sure what they say about it now, or if I care.

My AP (10X smarter than me) said it would be like summer school…extra pay for those who want it (if too many want it, DOE, principals and UFT can work that out as they always do.) Or there could be a rotation so that all who want it get paid something. And teachers not interested in coming in would still have to educate other students remotely or do whatever principals assign (e.g. PD) so no one is getting a paid vacation. DOE could provide cheap chromebooks to students who need technology.

PS I’d recommend the per diem sub rate (something like $180 per day) rather than the per session rate (over $50 per hour.)

COVID-19
Some Alarming numbers for those who STILL don’t realise – don’t believe how serious this shit is.

During the last 24hrs

368 dead in Italy (1809 totally)
100 dead in Spain (288 totally)

A couple notes from my vantage point:

It was like memorial day weekend out here in East Hampton. Not for me, mind you. I came here for isolation, not to get wasted at Stephen’s Talkhouse. But the amount of people packed into bars out here blows my mind. And from my Instagram feed, it’s no different than NYC. What’s the point of canceling all these events if dumb motherfuckers are gonna get us quarantined by congregating in bars and clubs til 4am? Put a curfew on these chucklefucks already.

A week ago I saw assclowns on my insta feed in Aspen gleefully crowing “no virus here, stay calm”. Now Aspen is shut down and pretty much everyone who was there the first week of March has CV.

Devin Nunes says we should all go out and frequent our local pub. In case you’re wondering who the stupidest fucking person in the world is.

Greek government closed schools for 14 days and the next day all students were packed at the cafeterias!
Then the government shutdown the cafeterias, bars, cinemas, theatres, hair & beauty salons, gyms and other places who could spread easily the virus by overcrowding and….
Yeap ! “The Young at heart(not only the kids) and the Restless and Dumb Motherfuckers” instead of staying home went to the beaches (it was sunny yesterday in Greece) and the ski resorts!
After that government closed also beaches and ski resorts.
The Main COVID-19 problem is now public transportation for those who can’t avoid it in order to go to work and keeping distances/not overcrowding in the mandatory visit of a super market for supplies.

Yeah even though we have no school this week cafeterias will still be open serving breakfast and lunch for kids who want to come in and get food, mostly aimed for the kids who get free lunch who may not be able to get lunch at home. Breakfast is free for all kids every day but not lunch.

BigBlueAL:
Yeah even though we have no school this week cafeterias will still be open serving breakfast and lunch for kids who want to come in and get food, mostly aimed for the kids who get free lunch who may not be able to get lunch at home.Breakfast is free for all kids every day but not lunch.

Dining in restaurants/pizzerias/fast foods and other places that sell food in Greece was shutdown by the government.
Only take away and delivery are allowed.

In other news, the shitty, four-chord post-punk band with a tone-deaf wannabe Danzig singer that practices in an uninsulated shed down the block has resumed activities at noon on Sunday. If I go radio silent, it is just as likely that I’ve committed several violent felonies as I am bed-ridden.

Film Score Reviews:

Cul de sac – Pretty cool shit ! Despite being short its pretty well composed and arranged. Wishlist.

Gadfly – Slightly pompous and melodramatic at times but still beautiful. I won’t get depressed for not having it on Lp or Cd but i wouldn’t bothered if i find it on a nice price. You just can’t go wrong with Shostakovich. One of the Greatest ever.
*Listened to the Fedosseiev 12track edition on YouTube. Idk if there’s another better tho..

Has anyone seen any recommendations on sending out for food?

Some restaurants are delivering. Obviously, contact with the delivery person might be an issue, but assume I got a pizza delivered, washed my hands, and then had dinner. Would that be risky?

I haven’t been here for awhile. I’m trying to avoid any stressful situations.

Jowles, I’m sorry to hear what’s going on in your life. I pray everything works out well.

Strat
I am not a medical professional, but your risk seems to be connected to the steps the foodservice takes to minimize transmission risk on their end. For example, I noticed that at my favorite local pizzeria the employees were not wearing gloves, taking cash and cards from many consumers and also preparing food. While I do not have the data to analyze the probability of transmitting the virus under these circumstances, it was more than I am willing to take. I even avoid taking elevators whenever I can. The last time I was on one, someone sneezed and while she turned away it wasn’t into her elbow. The two others on the elevator gave her very dirty looks. This is the new normal here in NYC.

Edit: I should add that I am 66 and thus have to be ultra careful.

Stratomatic: Frequently wrong, but never in doubt:
Has anyone seen any recommendations on sending out for food?

Some restaurants are delivering.Obviously, contact with the delivery person might be an issue, but assume I got a pizza delivered, washed my hands, and then had dinner. Would that be risky?

Today i saw an add for “No contact Delivery” from Domino’s Pizza in Athens/Greece. You’re paying via internet/PayPal and there’s a procedure which looks safe.
I’d suggest you to phone the pizzeria and ask them if they can do something similar even while paying cash.

I’m in a bit of a pickle here.

I’ve been cautious beyond all reason. I’ve only been out of the house 3-4 times in the last 3-4 days for less than 30 minutes each time. Each time was to stockpile some food and each time I washed my hands thoroughly. I wore gloves today. I even wash doorknobs and the money I get in change. I’m in good shape in terms of food etc..

However, I have an 85 year old mother that lives with my special needs brother (Asperger). So taking care of them (they live 30 minutes away by car) is going to get tricky. I have enough surplus to drive there and drop off some of mine when they run low, but trying to convince my brother to say inside is close to impossible. I don’t know what to do.

At the same time I live with my girlfriend who insisted on going to work in Manhattan (a non essential job) all last week via express bus. I don’t know whether to tie her down or change the locks because she wants to go to work again tomorrow. (WE DON’T NEED THE MONEY). She’s a brilliant woman in some stage of denial and I can’t talk any sense into her. I’m besides myself. I may have to physically block the door and not allow her to leave. I’ve tried everything. I was forceful, loving, mathematical etc.. She just won’t accept what’s going on and how there is no upside to going to work and huge downside if she catches the virus.

Now as for the dangers from the employees that prepare, bake & pack the pizza there’s always a risk depending on the degree of their morality and their awareness.

That’s a bummer about your GF, Strat. I’m in a similar boat with my parents, both of whom have exactly the kind of conditions you don’t want to have right now. They seem to think if they keep washing their hands they’ll be ok. They’re both leaving the house on a daily basis. They’re not really grasping the severity of the situation and I’m thousands of miles away so there’s nothing I can do.

They also live in South Florida, which is going to be a disaster area when this shit hits the fan. So many old people down there.

#Cruelty alert#
Strat,
I’d proposed you to show your gf the Italy situation and tell her that her behaviour stresses you and shows disrespect to your LIFE.
If she doesn’t get it start searching for a new gf…

I’m literally begging her right now. I’m telling her how much I love her and how if she loved me at all she would do this one thing for me. It isn’t an intellectual thing. She’s brilliant. It’s some kind of denial and unwillingness to accept reality. She knows what’s going on in Italy but she starts talking about their old population and other factors that make their situation unique compared to the US.

It may come down to me blocking the door in the morning.

This is not a good situation for someone that has anxiety issues like me.

Thanks for allowing me to vent.

> I’m in a similar boat with my parents<

Is there anyone else that can help?

My mother "gets it", but she's 85 and the primary caretaker of my special needs brother. She actually feels like it's less of a risk for her to go out and get food than sending him, but when you have his illness, you can't reason with the person. He'll just do what he wants.

Honestly, I can’t figure out how people can be so reckless about their own dearest’s health.

If I was thinking only about myself, I probably wouldn’t care that much about COVID. I’m youngish, my immune system looks fine, I’ve weathered heavier storms (melanoma anyone?).

But I can’t, for the life of mine, bear the thought that my behaviour could endanger anyone else. It looks like being obese put people at a much higher risk of complications from COVID. I have friends and relatives who are old, obese and/or immunodepressed. If I caught COVID I’d be a 10% probability of a death sentence for them.

How can this not be enough? Life will go on even after this. Let time pass idly while medical superheroes do that Tony Stark bringing the bomb away from Manhattan thing every day, never knowing if they’ll go home safe again until a vaccine is developed.

You know better man.
Just don’t put your life/health in danger for no good reason.

Strat, sorry for being blunt, but is there no way that your brother can be forcefully sedated? I can’t think of anything else.

Also, I feel you on anxiety issues. The very first thing I bought after the lockdown was a Xanax bottle (I’m dealing with anxiety issues since 2015).

Farfa,

My brother refuses to accept any kind of mental health care. I’ve been trying to help him for 40 years. Unless you’ve experienced it, it’s hard to understand how difficult it is to get through to someone with his illness. It’s almost as if the harder you try the worse it gets.

I’m already on Xanax right now. I have about a 1 month supply right now, but the usual dosage is not cutting it for me right now. I’m already worried about the renewal process. 😉 At least I have massive amounts of alcohol in the house. Maybe I can drink myself into a tolerable condition. 🙂

strat that sounds like a near impossible situation. especially wrt to your brother. the risk your girlfriend is imposing on you is unconscionable, despite almost no reward.

Sorry for the religion, but thank you dear God, she just agreed to stay home. Now I can focus on my family.

The entire thing was mind boggling. She’s a brilliant woman, I can’t even fathom why she was being stubborn and reckless with our lives. It was some strange form of denial. 35 years and I never experienced anything like it with her.

Glad to hear it, Strat. Now set up your bunker and ride this thing out.

>Glad to hear it, Strat. Now set up your bunker and ride this thing out.<

Please stay well.

All our differences of opinion are meaningless now. We are in this together.

I’m sacrificing imaginary lambs daily to be able to sit home and have FUN! instead of going to work from as long as i remember myself and you’re risking lives to go to work !!!!?????
What’s going on????
What’s happening with you people!!!!????
;))

Well as expected DeBlasio caved and closed schools until at least 4/20. No one reports tomorrow, then teachers and administrators report the rest of the week to prepare for distance learning. Certain buildings are open for students who need to eat and be cared for. Better late than never.

Sorry for the religion, but thank you dear God, she just agreed to stay home. Now I can focus on my family.

Great news, Strat. Hopefully this brings your anxiety levels down.

My wife has severe anxiety and this has been really hard on her, so I get it.

Stratomatic: Frequently wrong, but never in doubt:
The entire thing was mind boggling. She’s a brilliant woman, I can’t even fathom why she was being stubborn and reckless with our lives. It was some strange form of denial.35 years and I never experienced anything like it with her.

I’m not a psychologist but I’ll try to ‘improvise’ like i were one.
I think fears and habbits blur our consciousness sometimes and make us act strangely and toxically to ourselves and to others ‘around’ us.
Habbits have the tendency to make us feel secure even if they’re not healthy or secure.
Fears also can make us change our priorities and neglect our basic needs in order to avoid facing them(our fears).
If you try to understand which fear or which habbit blurred your gf’s ‘vision’ you may help her ‘see’ better next time and avoid some anxiety.
I also may write bs above but at least I don’t charge anything!

Listening to film scores is one step closer to achieving Peak Disenchanted Record Store Clerk status, where you only listen to field recordings and Arabic industrial EDM that’s recorded on cellphones.

Large events and mass gatherings can contribute to the spread of COVID-19 in the United States via travelers who attend these events and introduce the virus to new communities. Examples of large events and mass gatherings include conferences, festivals, parades, concerts, sporting events, weddings, and other types of assemblies. These events can be planned not only by organizations and communities but also by individuals.

Therefore, CDC, in accordance with its guidance for large events and mass gatherings, recommends that for the next 8 weeks, organizers (whether groups or individuals) cancel or postpone in-person events that consist of 50 people or more throughout the United States.

More here.

As Zach Lowe pointed out, between players, coaches, and trainers, you get to 50 pretty easily before a single fan is allowed in the arena. Woj says this:

CDC recommendation of no events of 50-plus people for next two months comes as a number of NBA owners and executives increasingly believe a best case scenario is a mid-to-late June return to play — with no fans. League’s scouting for possible arena dates all the way thru August.

The Honorable Cock Jowles:
Listening to film scores is one step closer to achieving Peak Disenchanted Record Store Clerk status, where you only listen to field recordings and Arabic industrial EDM that’s recorded on cellphones.

Ever heard of Blade Runner ?
Or Virgin Suicides ?
Or Suspiria ?
Or….

Listening to film scores is one step closer to achieving Peak Disenchanted Record Store Clerk status, where you only listen to field recordings and Arabic industrial EDM that’s recorded on cellphones.

My best friend is a musical omnivore and he’s gone through pretty much everything. Lately he’s been trying to tell me to check out some early Foghat albums. I’m like, bro, I draw the line at 80’s Japanese New Age.

dang strat, that’s a tough situation…life’s a crazy thing, do right, make all the right moves – and, someone runs you over while they’re on their cell phone and you’re just trying to cross the street…

sometimes there just is no action you can take…acceptance and hope I guess at that point…it’s easy to hit diminishing returns pretty quickly when it comes to worrying…

My best friend is a musical omnivore and he’s gone through pretty much everything. Lately he’s been trying to tell me to check out some early Foghat albums. I’m like, bro, I draw the line at 80’s Japanese New Age.

I knew someone here would know what I’m talking about

(also those are great film scores, I know, ok, I’m just throwing the slightest shade, but not actually)

The Honorable Cock Jowles: I knew someone here would know what I’m talking about

(also those are great film scores, I know, ok, I’m just throwing the slightest shade, but not actually)

There are hundreds and thousands and maybe millions or billions of film scores out there as there are other music albums from any possible genre.

Finding the good ones (for you) ain’t an easy task but it’s definitely worthy! (If you’re a digger)

I’m good friends with Mike Andrews, who did the score for Donnie Darko, which is a masterpiece.

I’ve worked with him on a few projects and he’s kind of like my film scoring mentor. The last thing I did with him was the Garry Shandling documentary that Judd Apatow produced, which I highly recommend.

ha, my very first concert was foghat… saw them in alburquerque around ’79 or so…

not sure if you remember but years ago there was this excedrin commercial talking about headache relief…in the commercial they showed this rock concert…

it felt just like that…lord but it was exceedingly loud…the whole night I wanted nothing but a fast ride out of there…

you know, I heard the soundtrack for Spartacus: Blood and Sand was pretty amazing…

“Thanks for that, DW. Shostakovich is one of my favorite composers but I was unaware of this piece.

I presume you’ve read Testimony? My music professor told me it was probably fiction, but that was 20 years ago. Not sure what they say about it now, or if I care.”

He happened into the worst time to be a Russian intellectual and artist. We’ll probably never know what he really thought, what was double-speak, and what was meant to be subversive or not. All we know is that he survived, while many of his contemporaries did not. (I guess he had a Steve Millsian/Allan Houstonian skill for surviving the worst regimes).

Which is why I think his best work comes after Stalin died, including his second piano concerto, of which he commented before its premiere “it has no redeeming artistic merits”. Was he serious? Was he being ironic? Was he still gunshy after his twenty years of appeasing Stalin? Who cares, right? The piece is near perfect. (Leonard Bernstein performs it while simultaneously conducting the NY Phil in what is the best recording available here https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_0JH1sC2OPQ )

I’m sure the transmission rate is wildly underestimated because there are probably hundreds if not thousands of people who have the virus and don’t even know it which means they are obviously not getting tested for it. At the same time the death rate has got to be much lower than they are saying because those same people mentioned who have the virus and don’t even know it are obviously not passing away or even getting sick enough to need hospital care. It seems like it really is a super low rate of people with the virus who are getting sick enough to need hospital care but it’s still a large enough number that we all need to be careful. To me though it just seems hard to gage what is the number of cases where we say OK we can get back to normal? What if we all go back to normal then the cases of the virus spikes up again and it becomes a never ending cycle?

so, on the not so slow ride to 60, it’s like every year I’m presented with some new and interesting biological failing…lately it’s remembering to eat in the mornings…I’m high a lot, so, sometimes takes me a minute to figure out that the odd feeling I’m having may in fact be my blood sugar and not just drugs…

couple of months ago I’m sitting at the desk and suddenly got something weird going on inside my head – in a moment of clarity realized there was some ringing thing going on in my left ear…

had never experienced that before, took a minute to realize what was happening…only lasted for a half hour or so…

I can’t wait to see what falls apart next, I find myself strangely legitimately curious…yeah, what a long strange trip it’s been…

Imagine the whole world without precautionary measures and quarantines and then project a possible number of infected & dead.
A wildly underestimated one.

soundtracks…probably gonna get flamed for this but given my formative years were in the 80’s…here goes:

Tank Girl
Singles
Light Sleeper – only because I am a huge Call/Michael Been fan
Purple Rain
Valley Girl
Fast Times
Colors

Concert Movies
Song remains the same-fell asleep at that midnight show about 50 times
Let there be rock
rattle and hum
stop making sense

and Geo…if you like Spartacus (which was fucking awesome)…assume you soaked up Banshee as well….if not…gotta do that…

I just binge watched The Outsider on HBO…very good..

NorCal/Bay Area is hunkered down…schools closed/don’t come to work/food flying off the shelves…going to put my 1969-70 Knicks Championship Season LP on the turntable now….some salve in the wounds…

For me the only sports thing that is still going on is e-sports now, as the Chinese league has resumed to play online matches instead of in their showrooms. I heard the Chinese basketball association will resume in two weeks playing in empty arenas in cities that’s determined safe.

As for food deliveries, first the food itself should be OK, as cooking temperature kills the virus quite effectively; now the thing is the delivery driver. The drivers are on the more dangerous side of things as they have contact with more people. As long as they care for their safety and do their job disinfecting it should be fine. The worst thing that could happen is the delivery driver is sick, then you just keep a distance with face masks and gloves and keep the process to a minimum. The packaging has a bit of chance of catching some fluid if the driver is infected, so to be extra cautious just handle with gloves and throw packaging away. Then wash hands before eating.

What if we all go back to normal then the cases of the virus spikes up again and it becomes a never ending cycle?

During the Spanish flu Denver lifted their social distancing measures too soon. The second spike was worse than the first.

1. I’ve seen a number of studies from the cruise ships and all the data was very encouraging. On top of that, older people tend to take cruises. So if anything the data should have been screwed towards worse results.

2. In Italy, my cousin is now on total home lockdown. He’s not allowed to leave the house without filling out a form specifying why he is out. Even that is typically only for food shopping etc.. They control the number of people in the store at any given time.

3. I’ve seen modelers who seem to know what they are doing estimating that the true caseload in the US now was probably somewhere between 50k and 100k growing at 15% daily until these measures were taken. Worst case was 500k. So hopefully the growth rate will slow, the number that need hospitalization remains low and we can slowly stabilize in the next couple of weeks and then reverse active cases after that.

A cautionary tale of woe for those you you who believe this is being overblown and who have spouses who still think going to work is a good idea.

Recall last week I mentioned the fellow who died in NJ (John Brennan) was a friend through the harness racing business. John was the horseman’s rep in the paddock at Yonkers raceway and was there when they raced (5-6 nights a week). Literally over a hundred people would probably stop to talk to him during his regular work routine

Well… IT gets much worse….. yesterday the second NJ person died in Freehold , NJ. She was the sister of two Harness racing brothers that raced horses in the Yonker’s paddock the last few nights John Brennan was working.

As it turns out, the 2 brothers are now ill, one is on a ventilator. It seems as though they had a family dinner and the boys were shedding virus while not noticeably ill and the sister dies in relatively short order as they boys are just coming down with symptoms. UGH…..

So don’t think you cant catch it at a restaurant from some random. Or at work with just casual contact.

Issac Newton has wisely given us the blueprint to survive theses sorts of epidemics…..ignore him at your own peril…..what’s the worst thing that can happen if you overreact….. you miss a few diners out, get laughed at by your Luddite friends and you have a 5 year supply of dried garbanzo beans 🙂

https://www.nj.com/coronavirus/2020/03/new-jerseys-2nd-coronavirus-death-ided-as-religious-education-teacher.html

>>>I’m sure the transmission rate is wildly underestimated because there are probably hundreds if not thousands of people who have the virus and don’t even know it which means they are obviously not getting tested for it.<<<

That's not the case with the Diamond Princess cruise ship. Everyone was tested and quarantined.

Unfortunately, Brador, I don't think the data on the death rate is particularly useful, as there is a natural selection bias in it.

How likely are the most at risk of our population, i.e. elderly, low income, with preexisting health problems to be present on an expensive cruise ship? Also, everyone on that ship had access to all the services they needed to recover, which is not something an overcrowded health care system can provide.

The death rate can be lower if everyone gets proper medical attention, but we already knew that. The problem is not the virus, it's our capacity to respond to it.

The bad news from the study was it confirmed that 17% of the cruise's population contracted Coronavirus, likely from one person. 52% of the 634 people infected passengers were asymptomatic before testing positive.

Sorry to be a downer, but that report isn't cause for optimism.

Sorry about that Bob. Terrifying story.

Stock market acting like Steve Mills has been announced as the new head of the Fed. Making 08-09 look like the NCAA’s.

>>>Stock market acting like Steve Mills has been announced as the new head of the Fed. Making 08-09 look like the NCAA’s.<<<

I would welcome Steve Mills as Fed Chairman at this point. Powell has been a disaster. His policy has been wrong and moves have been panic inducing.

I suspect the particular move was driven by Trump. But since there was no obvious external event for making the move now (and on a Sunday, to boot) the market interpreted it as they must know something bad that we don’t know. Hence the major drop. The market could have continued to drop anyway, but whether it was Trump or Powell as the cause, it was a disastrous move.

Yeah, just going for a weak Knicks related joke. Monetary policy has been a disaster for a while, but this was particularly idiotic. Tough time to have no bullets to fire and eminently obvious this would happen.

A lot of people going to be hurt really badly in every corner of America but Trump and the virus have done their bit to reduce wealth inequality.

I wonder what the year’s booking at Doral look like….

>>>Trump and the virus have done their bit to reduce wealth inequality.<<<

I disagree. This is hurting the average American more than the wealthy. They have family offices and access to private equity and hedge funds that have been shorting the shit out of this trade. The smart money started moved to treasury bonds a while ago and those things are up 30% year over year. Those who aren't making money in this market have the liquidity and the temperament to be patient, which is not something everyone has.

It's the average investor that's been doing nothing, watching their 401k deteriorate because they had a 100% allocation to Large Cap US Equity. The older ones are likely going to start buying bonds now at all time high valuations, which will only lead to another disaster down the road.

The injections of liquidity by the Fed are to ease issues in the bond market, not the stock market. Most likely it was appropriate and just the beginning. I’m not a bond expert, but certain spreads were out of whack because of the lack of liquidity and demand for cash. If the fed is out there buying assets (or doing repos) it’s greasing the wheels.

“I disagree. This is hurting the average American more than the wealthy.”

Yeah, again, weak joke. I agree completely. That was what I was going for honestly, i.e. when paper inequality gets reduced it’s actually even more devastating.

Putting myself in KB quarantine for a day.

Strat, respectfully, everything you’re saying is wrong. The Fed flooded the market with liquidity in 2019. That’s why stocks were up 30%.

The fed is panicking.

The mistakes in monetary policy started decades ago under Greenspan. He used artificially low rates to address every small crisis that came up (1987 and on). That prevented manageable excesses from being removed from the system via bankruptcy and recession and propped them up instead. With each crisis, Bernanke, Yellen, and now Powell have been doing the same thing because the system kept getting more and more leveraged and more and more dangerous. That why we have zero interest rates, various QEs etc… They’ve been screwing up for decades by not allowing the market to clean excesses. Now the excesses are so large, they are running out of options except printing trillions of dollars to pay for government fiscal stimulus.

Any thoughts on whether or not to pull out of the market or hold?

>Strat, respectfully, everything you’re saying is wrong. The Fed flooded the market with liquidity in 2019. That’s why stocks were up 30%.

The fed is panicking.<

I didn't say anything about how we created this stock and debt bubble. This bubble has been growing since long before Powell took over. The biggest seeds were planted with QE going all the way back to the 2008 crisis. I'm saying they don't have much of a choice now if the bond market is frozen.

“Putting myself in KB quarantine for a day.”

Ha! Please don’t. I’m just keen to talk about the current market environment with people who aren’t my clients. They need a break from all the communication we’ve had!

>>> I’m saying they don’t have much of a choice now if the bond market is frozen.<<<

Fair point. But that's been true for weeks.

It's not just the action, it's about delivery of the message.

>Any thoughts on whether or not to pull out of the market or hold?<

I was in a conservative position (at least for me) coming into this, but it wound up being less conservative than I hoped because some gold mines I own are getting hit almost as hard as businesses that WILL suffer greatly like airlines, restaurants, theme parks etc..

My feeling was that when the next market crisis came from this bubble I would need cash (to live on and to buy bargains in the market) and gold as a hedge against the very large budget deficits and money printing that were sure to follow. Some of the gold mines actually have very good fundamentals. I think I got everything right as far as what was going to happen, except in a panic where people are not thinking, some are being forced to sell to meet redemptions at a fund, and others are getting margin calls, even if fundamentally my holdings make more sense than others they are getting sold anyway. I think ultimately I will be rewarded, but we'll see.

I have't done any buying yet, but I'm not selling anything. I've been though a bunch of these crashes already.

Just make sure you have cash to live on. Beyond that it really depends on your age, life circumstances, risk tolerance, and Xanax prescription.

>It’s not just the action, it’s about delivery of the message.<

It feels to me like no matter what he says or does it's going to be spun badly.

People are scared shitless of how the system is going to handle this health crisis and the resultant economic carnage. I'm usually not scared, but I am now.

>>>It feels to me like no matter what he says or does it’s going to be spun badly.<<<

If this is being "spun" badly it's because it's bad. His predecessors telegraphed their moves for weeks if not months and never surprised a single person. No one knows what to expect from him and the market now has to price in the possibility of negative rates.

>If this is being “spun” badly it’s because it’s bad. His predecessors telegraphed their moves for weeks if not months and never surprised a single person. No one knows what to expect from him and the market now has to price in the possibility of negative rates.<

I think when people are afraid they find the downside of everything and vice versa.

I think negative rates are off the table. He pretty much said as much.

IMO, the next step is a massive fiscal stimulus package from Washington and he's going to help monetize it. We are going to QE la la Land.

smoke ’em if you got them boys. We’re looking at a mini depression…its going to get tough out there…everyone expecting a bailout. Its a savings problem…many regular folks font have 2 months worth of expenses saved. about half the population cant make it through 6 months without liquidating 401Ks and selling at these levels.

This is a terrible tragedy but fortunes are there to be made.. In all businesses, including basketball. Not all owners are created the same. Having Dolan’s ability to absorb losses is a serious asset that Leon will take advantage of. Look for several all stars with huge maxes to be available for anyone who wants to pay the luxury taxes and even Silver even granting trade exemptions to keep the league solvent.

>>>I think when people are afraid they find the downside of everything and vice versa.<<<

Sure, but that's not what's happening here. The guy basically just shot a bazooka rocket into the air, and we don't have a lot of rockets.

Never been a big cable series watcher. My all-time favorites is The Pacific and that doesn’t really qualify. Just started watching The Wire. So far, so good.

Just started watching The Wire. So far, so good.

Man, I wish I could watch that show for the first time again. Season 4 is going to do some things to you.

>Sure, but that’s not what’s happening here. The guy basically just shot a bazooka rocket into the air, and we don’t have a lot of rockets.>

If you are referring to interest rates, personally, I don’t think it mattered much one way or the other at this point. The market should have known the next recession was going to take us down to zero, 1/4 point here or there doesn’t matter much.

The fed still has more weapons.

If Washington comes up with a 2 trillion dollar fiscal plan (for example) to send every adult 2K-3K and to also extend short term loans to businesses etc… normally you have to come up with the 2 trillion from somewhere. The Fed is going to simply print a lot of it by buying all the bonds with its magic wand of money creation. lol The fed could even buy corporate bonds if necessary with a law change that would certainly happen if necessary.

That could have unintended negative consequences, but imo they are going to use that bullet.

(gold mines are rallying strongly off the lows into positive territory easing my pain for couple of hours at least)

I would like to ask a question for people who are in finance and know the markets and how all that works.

The stock market keeps crashing. I think this is the third of fourth time in the last few weeks where they’ve had to temporarily stop trading for the day.

Why can’t they just close up trading for a few weeks? If the markets keep going down and down because traders don’t know what is going on and are panicking, aren’t they doing more long term damage to the economy and people’s investments, 401K’s, etc….than if they just shut it all down for a few weeks while we get a better picture of the situation?

>>>The fed still has more weapons.<<<

People are too confident that running back the 2008 playbook is going to work. Part of the reason it worked in the first place was because we trusted the leaders who came up with it to come up with something else if it didn't.

These guys are just reading off a crib sheet and doing a bad job of executing the plan that was laid out for them. If they can't run the plays that are written, how are they going to come up with new plays?

The injections of liquidity by the Fed are to ease issues in the bond market, not the stock market. Most likely it was appropriate and just the beginning. I’m not a bond expert, but certain spreads were out of whack because of the lack of liquidity and demand for cash. If the fed is out there buying assets (or doing repos) it’s greasing the wheels.

Basically you’re saying the Fed knows something about the bond market that we don’t know and that’s why they did it. I say “something we don’t know” because they haven’t stated anything like that in the past few days. That’s basically what the market is inferring. But if the fed knows something we don’t, they should just say it. Otherwise they are causing panic without giving a good reason. The unknown is usually scarier than reality.

We can’t agree on whether BPM is a reliable estimator of value, but sure, let’s talk about global fiscal policy during an unprecedented world disaster.

On the lighter side… for those of us who have been deluged with messages like this from our friends:

“Hey, man. Hope you’re doing well in these dire times. My daughter who goes to school with a police officer who is friends with DeBlasio’s son said that his friend in the Army Corps in DC sent him this email:
Hi comrades: my brother who is a surgeon in Italy just had lunch with a WHO lawyer who told him that his youngest son is a top general in the marines just met with a physician from Harvard who just texted him and said that the mayor of New York is about to announce that the president has ordered your mom to suck on deez nuts. Please forward to your network.”

(If you don’t live in NY, messages with rumors of NY’s shutdown legitimized by a random connection have been floating for weeks. That and news links that lead to pictures of that very large man that maybe you know.)

I have way too much time on my hands. Of course, that means I’ve been reading about nutty “cures”. How about some sturdy moonshine? I’m not being facetious. Hear me out.

(1) The virus appears to be concentrated in the upper respiratory tract.
(2) Alcohol is effective in killing COVID-19 if the alcohol content is >= 60%. (If you’re wondering, Listerine is 27%)

Could >=120 proof alcohol taken in spray form via an inhaler help reduce the concentration of the virus? According to Wikipedia: Alcohol inhalation is a method of administering alcohol directly into the respiratory system, with aid of a vaporizing or nebulizing device. It is chiefly applied for recreational use, when it is also referred to as alcohol smoking, but it has medical applications for testing on laboratory rats and treatment of pulmonary edema in humans.

To be clear, I’m not recommending anyone start vaporizing and inhaling 192 Proof Spirytus Delikatesowy. There are risks associated with alcohol inhalation so it would have to be done by a trained doctor even if it were proven to be effective. I’m more wondering if this is something the research and medical community should be pursuing. Now that it appears the COVID-19 is concentrated in the upper respiratory tract (at greater concentration than sars), even killing off some of the virus might buy victims’ immune systems more time in the fight.

I couldn’t find any place where this possibility has been raised. Some organizations stated there was no evidence that drinking industrial strength liquor would be effective after some Iranians started drinking bootleg stuff. Maybe it’s a non-starter because the amount of vaporized alcohol needed to have any real effect is too great to make this feasible. Or maybe, even if effective, the alcohol could do some damage which would offset any gain.

That’s it…gotta go start researching “MMS”.

Bron, our store is out of vodka for something equivalent (the storekeep says as a wipe for surfaces, which personally would make me want to lick them, which seems ‘counter’productive…).

Connecticut shut down bars and restaurants today. Immediately after the announcement, the supermarkets exploded. Any carrier who was planning on going out to eat tonight will be introducing his virus to a much more concentrated environment in the grocery store

If no one mentioned Requiem For A Dream, that film score is incredible. Clint Mansell scored that film and a number of others which are also probably good.

And

The Honorable Cock Jowles:
We can’t agree on whether BPM is a reliable estimator of value, but sure, let’s talk about global fiscal policy during an unprecedented world disaster.

Which fiscal policy ranks Frank Ntilikina the best?

our store is out of vodka for something equivalent (the storekeep says as a wipe for surfaces, which personally would make me want to lick them, which seems ‘counter’productive

Heh, nice. People are wasting the hard liquor. Instead of wiping it and drinking it, they should be inhaling it. To recoup my stock market deficit, I should load a video to youtube showing how simple it is: just pour some Bruichladdich X4 Quadrupled Whiskey over dry ice and inhale the vapor through a straw. Maybe my video would go “viral”.

We can’t agree on whether BPM is a reliable estimator of value, but sure, let’s talk about global fiscal policy during an unprecedented world disaster.

hah, so true….now could we start debating whether inhaling alcohol could “cure” COVID-19? Hey, people here know liquor, we established that from previous threads.

I came back to NY because East Hampton is now more crowded than Manhattan and out of all supplies. FWIW Amazon Go is pretty fucking handy right now. All the food is sealed, fresh, and was packed in a sterile environment. They have toilet paper, vitamin C, and other wellness goods because they’re only stocking a few at a time to prevent people from stockpiling.

THCJ, you mentioned Tinnitus. I am suffering badly from that. Did you figure out a remedy?

Thanks,

Chris

White noise machines, really. Anti-depressants are sometimes used in extreme cases, but I have no experience there. Over time your brain will adapt and you’ll hear it less, unless there’s further damage and the tinnitus progresses.

Always — wear — earplugs.

feeling lucky today…found out last night the kids mom’s water filter pitcher thing was broke…checked walmart, nothing…target though had two left – woo hoo!!!

was able to pick up a little more hand soap and stuff too…

thank god i recently went to a dispensary and a sesh to re-up…just in case anyone was worried – i’m good on weed for a while 🙂

had a chance to catch a bit of the democratic debate last night…it was interesting…it seemed a bit like bernie was playing along and in there for biden to warm up on…

biden himself seemed to be filled with a little more fire and focus than usual…i gotta say though, maybe it’s due to my superficial nature – but, hard for me to have a ton of faith in folks once their skin gets that translucent hue to it…

stopped listening after a while though cuz i was checking out that Shostakovich piece Donnie had linked (thank you): https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_0JH1sC2OPQ …that was some wonderful stuff…

listening to this right now…i have a particular fondness for the lawrence of arabia soundtrack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_MAK0rYdnQ – it’s all sounds so grand…

i liked pepper’s mention of both purple rain and singles…both were incredible for their time…heck, they both still sound really good…

there are some pretty great star wars soundtracks…maybe a little overly dramatic, but fun nonetheless…

I’ve been gradually stockpiling food for a few weeks now and I could go at least a month without leaving the apartment but my elderly parents didn’t listen at all when I kept telling them they were going to have to prepare to be shut in for a long time so I’ll be heading to queens to do a ton of shopping for them in the next couple days.

>Basically you’re saying the Fed knows something about the bond market that we don’t know and that’s why they did it. <

I think everyone that follows markets closely knows there have been some issues with bonds and lending lately.

Some of it is out of my league. However, the Fed has been doing Repos (too complex to discuss) since before the coronavirus issue hit because there was some unforeseen spikes in interest rates. Basically the Fed was making money available to banks at the interest rate it has targeted by adding temporary money to the system because banks stopped lending to each other. That was perceived as a negative and hard to explain.

Since this health crisis started everything has been very volatile in bond markets too. The spreads between various government maturities and between government and corporate bonds have widened in ways that suggest everyone wants to be as liquid as possible (very short term safe money). Makes perfect sense. That's what always happens in panics.

I think the Fed wants those markets to function as intended and not in such a panicked way.

Maybe its actions made people more panicked, but I think the big league players already knew this.

IMO, what's going on in stocks now is that prices were very high and the coronavirus pricked the bubble. Now markets are adjusting to the reality that economic activity is falling fast, earnings are going to be way lower than expected, and some companies may need to be bailed out. That makes some companies worth a lot less than people thought just a few weeks ago.

The problem of course is that it ridiculously difficult to know how much anything is worth now because no one knows how and when this is all going to end.

Dred,

I’m going to be in the same boat soon with my mother and brother. Maybe you can find someone that does deliveries. That’s what I am going to search for.

>Tinnitus<

Have you ever had an MRI to take a look at what's going on in there?

What were you guys saying about lentils the other day? I need to stock up for isolation all over again and don’t want to go the rice & beans route.

Btw my local market is pretty stacked. Did some people here not know they could go to places other than trader Joe’s?

Heat up a half can of tomato paste and a generous amount of olive oil over medium heat in a pot.
Quarter a whole white (or red if you’re out) onion and throw it in the pot.
Rinse the lentils thoroughly for 3 – 5 minutes.
Add lentils to the pot.
Add enough water to cover the lentils.
Add some salt and wait for it to simmer (while covered).
I like to add 4 whole grape tomatoes… really gives it some nice acid.
Stir every 15 minutes. You should also try and break apart the onion pieces as it cooks, this adds a lot of flavor. You should probably add salt to taste as you check it.
It should be done after ~45 minutes. When it’s done I hunt the tomatoes and pop them.

Usually serves 6-8 and costs around $4.

spam baby…lots and lots of spam…oh yeah – freeze dried peas and some ramen noodles too…mmmmm, yum…

When I was poorer than I am now (but perhaps will be soon again), I used to chop up cabbage — only time I’ve ever used cabbage, never understood what it was for, still not sure — cook it with lentil, onions as KBPR suggests, basically stick any leftover veggies lying around, then stir in curry paste toward the end. You can add rice, but then it’s rice and beans, albeit curried. Cheap and big and lasts a long time in the fridge, too.

“What were you guys saying about lentils the other day? I need to stock up for isolation all over again and don’t want to go the rice & beans route.”

Hubert…. Lentils are the perfect food for the zombie apocalypse. One cup of lentils (dry) yields 99% of the protein for the average human. It is high in many minerals and vitamins. You would be hard pressed to find a single food with more varied nutrients.

While Lentils are relatively high in carbohydrates half are in the form of fiber which isn’t absorbed but great for your colon. And they are low in sugar and super low in fructose if you are concerned about NAFLD.

Lentils do not provide much in the way of the fat soluble vitamins (A< D< E & K) nor B12. A decent multivitamin should cover the fat soluble vitamins and a 4 0z can of salmon 3-4 times a week will cover the B12 and any amino acids lacking in the lentils.

You can buy 4, 6 lb bags of Goya lentils for around $40 bucks. At a cup a day that's a 60 day supply. Grab a case of 4 oz salmon cans and 2 gallons of olive oil and you are good til 5/15th 🙂

My degree is in Biology and I did a deep dive into human nutrition 4 years ago when a dear friend of mine died suddenly from a MI and I decided to change my diet. I lost 60 pounds and have kept 52 of them off for 4 years.

https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/legumes-and-legume-products/4337/2

they just issued a “everything is closed but supermarkets/pharmacies” here in the Bay Area…just went to a few supermarkets…it was sheer madness….just got in the car and drove home…thank god I got that 12 lb brisket this weekend…gonna get that smoked in the backyard and ready to gnaw on for the next week or so….

going through different stockpile lists…i think the only thing i may be really missing is powdered milk…just hadn’t thought about that one…may also need to pick up a few of those pillsbury bread things, just in case…

i like tuna, so got that, but, may wanna pick up some chicken in a can and maybe even some actual spam…

need to go through my cabinet where i keep all my medical supplies and do some re-organizing…i’m old, so i got a lot of different shit and equipment just stuffed in there (i think i have a wrap or brace for every single spot on my body)…

oh yeah, speaking of drugs – gotta remember to order another 90 day supply of meds…

Btw my local market is pretty stacked. Did some people here not know they could go to places other than trader Joe’s?

It is a mystery. It’s not as if Trader Joe’s is actually cheap, or you know, good. Their in-house stuff is the same quality as Associated or C-Town or whoever else’s in-house stuff. But people mob that joint and Whole Foods and it makes no sense. Local markets by me are fine. Stocked, about as busy as normal afaict.

Lentils give me the shits, which in today’s TP climate seems ill-advised. Stick with your legume of choice.

Lentils give me the shits, which in today’s TP climate seems ill-advised.

🙂

With lentils you can also add carrots and celery to the onion. My mom adds a little red wine vinegar. She’s Greek so she knows what she is doing and it is a nice touch.

Adding red wine, white wine or vinegar to any saute will kick things up a notch. Bam, etc.

But red wine tastes better than red wine vinegar for deglazing.

I’m making split pea soup as I type.

For green lentils I do this:

Dry roast 1 cup for a few minutes, then add vegetable broth until fully covered. Cook till the broth is mostly gone then set them aside.

Sauté onion, garlic, ginger, and unseeded Serrano peppers in avocado oil for five minutes, then add a teaspoon of curry paste. Sauté a few more minutes.

Add the lentils, stir, then add 28 oz of diced tomatoes. Add cumin/turmeric/garam masala/any other spices you like and simmer it all for 40-60 mins adding water as needed.

Add tofu, fried egg, or meat if you like. Serve hot.

(I’m going to make Ethiopian food this week if I can score some injera bread down in little Ethiopia before they roll the sidewalks up. Vegan Ethiopian cuisine is almost exclusively lentil based, with the spicy red lentils cooked in berbere spices, Mmm Mmm Mmm)

Dry roasting/toasting can do wonders for flavor. The Maillard reaction is real as hell.

Dry roasting sounds interesting. You just put them in the oven at a certain temperature or can you just put them in a covered pot on the stove?

Thanks Bob and all the fellas. Not sure how much longer I can count on Amazon Go.

geo: oh yeah, speaking of drugs – gotta remember to order another 90 day supply of meds…

One of the reasons I came back to NY…. I have enough psilocybin in my apartment to spend the next two months on an astral plane.

I have enough psilocybin in my apartment to spend the next two months on an astral plane.

sounds like you got your food covered at least – mushrooms sprinkled over lentils 🙂

My career in real estate is likely fucked. Was just talking to some smart people. It’s likely that very soon we won’t be able to do title searches on houses. That means we can’t close sales. I’m terrified right now.

swiftandabundant: I

Swift I think this is becoming increasingly likely. I don’t what the point of having a market open now is, nobody has any idea what the world is going to be like in two weeks. Every trade right now is essentially long or short the coronavirus. Nothing else matters. And no one should be buying that trade.

swiftandabundant:
I would like to ask a question for people who are in finance and know the markets and how all that works.

The stock market keeps crashing. I think this is the third of fourth time in the last few weeks where they’ve had to temporarily stop trading for the day.

Why can’t they just close up trading for a few weeks? If the markets keep going down and down because traders don’t know what is going on and are panicking, aren’t they doing more long term damage to the economy and people’s investments, 401K’s, etc….than if they just shut it all down for a few weeks while we get a better picture of the situation?

^ this is what I was trying to quote above.

hey hubert, I can’t make myself watch money, but I have to imagine it is very possible to make money off of trump…his behavior seems pretty predictable…

never shorted stocks, or tried day trading…I kind of get the process, I don’t know, just didn’t seem too much fun to focus on…in the case of doing it daily – stressful as hell…

i have to imagine for some there’s a good bit of money to be made on the way down…

I watched about a half hour of nfl free agency…it felt good…

saw the g-men picked up a coverage guy…the texans/bill o’brian has made some really odd moves the last few years…

Why no title searches? Is it not all digitized down under? I can remember one real estate process I participated in long ago where we had to dig though old records in a registrar’s office. I can’t imagine the staff being too helpful at a time like this. But it seems like it should go more smoothly these days.

I honestly am not sure how this goes from here. I think we can all take 2-3 weeks of this but it seems clear that won’t be enough. That London study is quite dispiriting.

> It’s likely that very soon we won’t be able to do title searches on houses.<

You are going to have to explain "why" to me on that one.

In New York you can use ACRIS for pretty much anything in the five boroughs. You can print out deeds and anything else filable. The other counties I can’t say off the top of my head.

I think the issue is title searches for liens and problems. Banks won’t give a mortgage without title insurance. If the county offices close, the title insurance company can’t do the needed search.

I picked a fun time to start a business (November)… interesting to see how much this impacts our fundraising.

geo:
hey hubert, I can’t make myself watch money, but I have to imagine it is very possible to make money off of trump…his behavior seems pretty predictable…

never shorted stocks, or tried day trading…I kind of get the process, I don’t know, just didn’t seem too much fun to focus on…in the case of doing it daily – stressful as hell…

i have to imagine for some there’s a good bit of money to be made on the way down…

Don’t try it, man. Especially now.

That’s got nothing to do with you, I’ve said as much to my wealthiest clients.

wise advice…betting down has always been intriguing to me, kind of like solving a hard puzzle…

I am though feeling a strong urge to watch the airlines over the next six months or so…

they’ll be a recovery…I mean, I’m pretty sure they’ll be a recovery…timing that re-entry in to the market could be interesting…

Looks like I will be able to close houses in Saratoga County. Both Fulton and Montgomery counties are not digital and the workers are not in the office so no title in those two.

>>>“Bidiong – Thought you lived in Australia for some reason.”<<<

I’m sure this isn’t the first time Bidiong’s been mistaken for Dtrickey.

A bidiong is a rare species of jumping marsupial endemic to a small peninsula in Northern Australia. Hence my confusion.

Catching up on this thread has been quite the trip.

It’s great to hear that situation took care of itself, Strat. I was stressed just reading about it, so I can’t imagine how you felt while it was going on.

My roommate’s (completely non-essential) employer somehow hasn’t sent everyone home yet, which is crazy given that I get the impression we’re a day or two away from a curfew. So many people just seem a step or ten behind when it comes to evaluating the seriousness of this situation.

So my main challenge today was to protect my staff and their families from the indecisiveness/poor decision-making of my bosses.

Day 1 of the quarantine my wife got into an Instagram beef with Michael Rapaport.

>>>Dry roasting sounds interesting. You just put them in the oven at a certain temperature or can you just put them in a covered pot on the stove?<<<

Just brown them in a skillet with no oil.

Rappaport tried to sick his “rappapack” on me on twitter a few years ago and it was one of the funniest interactions I’ve ever had on that website.

If Detroit wants to match a good offer for Christian Wood, it seems to me they will have to waive some players they care about, or go way over the cap. If they actually just sign everybody to their cap holds, they will be over the luxury cap, and that calculation assumes Wood gets paid only his cap hold, which is $1.7M. That seems unlikely to me. So they have some tough decisions to make, and they will get tougher if the cap goes down because of the Coronavirus.

That means that 4 Nets are irresponsible idiots that were out partying even after seeing several basketball players test positive or they all got it from another NBA source that we aren’t aware of yet (incubation period issue). I don’t think there are any recent game ties between the Nets and the players that we know are positive so far.

That means that 4 Nets are irresponsible idiots that were out partying even after seeing several basketball players test positive or they all got it from another NBA source that we aren’t aware of yet (incubation period issue). I don’t think there are any recent game ties between the Nets and the players that we know are positive so far.

Shit, they could have gotten it stocking up at the grocery store. Or a fan from New Rochelle was at a game and touched a handrail or something that one of the players or staff then touched. Or church. Could have been almost anything, doesn’t have to be irresponsibility or an NBA source.

Kevin Durant is one of those Nets. My wife’s head is going to explode. Goes way beyond Tom Hanks.

so, another trip to the local grocery store…oh yeah baby – scored some toilet paper as they were bringing it out…not exactly the good stuff, gonna have to be a little careful with the wipe…

bread was gone…

also picked up a can of spam, there was only one or two cans total left…more symbolic than anything, but i feel better now…not much of a drinker, but, got me a 20 pack of tecate lite, just in case this thing drags on for a while and the grocery store situation gets a little crazier…

nothing like a beer and a smoke to settle the day…

heck, i didn’t much like leaving the house before, now, not much need to at least…

really need to go through the pantry, fridge, and medicine cabinet to organize better though…

>Shit, they could have gotten it stocking up at the grocery store. Or a fan from New Rochelle was at a game and touched a handrail or something that one of the players or staff then touched. Or church. Could have been almost anything, doesn’t have to be irresponsibility or an NBA source.<

I understand that anything is possible, but it seems way more likely it was something the 4 did together. That would mean most likely they got it from another NBA player, a basketball related activity they did together, or some other activity they did together.

Once Gobert and especially the Detroit player were positive and the season was suspended. IMO there probably shouldn't have been much if any basketball contact with each other period.

The timing sort of suggests they were infected after Gobert.

That raises a question in my mind.

I'm not so sure any basketball related activity was prudent since several NBA teams are in isolation and the contact is close between players, the balls, locker rooms etc… If it's not basketball, it was social.

I understand that anything is possible, but it seems way more likely it was something the 4 did together.

They probably all get the same spam mail. Stays on surfaces, right? NOBODY PANIC, I’M DOING IT ENOUGH FOR ALL OF US.

>Stays on surfaces, right? NOBODY PANIC, I’M DOING IT ENOUGH FOR ALL OF US.<

Talk about panic!

I'm spraying all my snail mail lightly with Lysol before bringing it in.

I wash down most packages I get from the store.

I'm washing all currency and coins I get for change and wiping down my credit cards and wallet after use.

I wash my keys after I come into the apartment and then wash down the doorknobs.

I've dreaded every time I've had to leave the house in the last few days to shop or do some laundry where I wore gloves wiped down handles and even my laundry bags when I returned.

My hands are getting raw from all the hand washing. I pray I did enough.

I feel you. Add some lotion to your regime though. I ordered a 500 count box of individually wrapped alcohol wipes. I figure this is a less horrible way to sanitized safety.

There must be all these germophobes out there just feeling intensely vindicated.

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