Coronavirus disease (COVID-19)

[Sledgstone 8,672]

Quote

CNBC: Receiving SSI benefits? You will get your coronavirus stimulus payment automatically, government says.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/15/ssi-beneficiaries-will-get-coronavirus-stimulus-payments-automatically.html

Turns out they wont need to fill out that IRS form after all. The only ppl that need to use that form now are SSI, SSA, SSDI, VA ppl that don't file taxes, but have a kid under 18 they could claim as a dependent if they actually had to file taxes. That way those ppl can get an extra $500 per dependent. I think anyone that already filled out the online form just pushes them to the top of the list for getting it sent out faster.

[Sledgstone 8,672]

On 3/31/2020 at 1:26 AM, slippers said:

Unconfirmed source has it that corona has been spreading since semptember of last year and as early as november here in the States. And like many, showing corona like symptoms, i was sick for 3 days in January, with body chills, chest pains, and some headaches but no fever. and lingering dry cough that lasted for 2 months.. but we'll never know if it was or not and take this seriously as it passes like other respiratory viruses slow down during warm weather.

https://www.syracuse.com/coronavirus/2020/04/coronavirus-8000-people-in-cny-likely-had-the-virus-and-never-knew-it.html

Quote

 

In addition, many people might have had the illness before the first reported case in Onondaga County on March 16, Anderson said. The virus likely reached Central New York in late January or February, she said. Upstate saw an increase in late February of patients with symptoms similar to COVID-19, she said.

“People began presenting with upper respiratory illnesses right around the time when influenza cases went down,” she said. “We’ll never know for sure, but we think that was a sign of an uptick in (COVID-19) cases.”

 

Looks like the theory of "we had this in January" is becoming more real. It's a shame theres no antibody testing or even accurate antibody testing to actually confirm this. I'd like to get tested to see if I already had it or not since i was sick back in january.

In other news, Smithfield had to close a huge pork processing plant and we might have a shortage of pork soon.

https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/04/13/833110486/u-s-meat-supply-is-perilously-close-to-a-shortage-ceo-warns

[slippers 3,168]

texas gov is planning to reopen in may..or at least lift some restrictions. 1000+ new cases daily and we havent even had our peak yet. ppl want to be impatient and die then no one can stop them. but cant blame those who need to work and feel desperate. either way it hasnt affected me that much and im like 80% confident that i had corona back in jan so i almost have no fear of it. dont get me wrong though, if this thing was something like ebola, i would drop everything and ill be one of first ones to lock myself in and never come out for an entire year lol. only thing i like about this whole thing is theres no school buses in the morning bc i have to pass like 3 different schools to get to my work. theres still lots of cars out there. they all cant be essential workers or grocery shoppers but anyway schools here are definitely out until august. ill get my stimulus in may via mail. i always choose mail option for my tax refund so i dont mind. i thought there was suppose to be 2nd stimulus checks coming but i guess thats out the window for texas

[Sledgstone 8,672]

I read they're still debating an additional stimulus that sends more checks out or not. I don't think it'll happen. The government would rather open back up and take their chances then hand out more free money to citizens. I bet we'll see more public opinion switching over to re-opening everything because US citizens will start snapping soon. Its already been a month in most places and alot of people will start raging soon because even though most are getting large bonuses in unemployment of free money via stimulus they'll all want someone to blame for the inconvenience. Some will blame the president, others will blame the governors, others will blame China. But the longer it goes on for the more everyone will start focusing on the individuals imposing the restrictions directly onto them.. the governors. Thats also why Trump changed his position about having the governors call the shots on re-opening instead of himself, because he wants the blame shifted to them. And it will soon enough. I've already seen a handful of friends on facebook bashing Cuomo for NY state's economy and "bullshit restrictions". 

[Strider Hiryu 2,704]

Believe me when I tell you no ones getting large bonuses with unemployment. I'm getting diddly shit for unemployment (I don't know where this additional $600 is at as I'm not getting it, I get $425 a week (before taxes so $375 once taxes are taken out) so I'm extremely lucky I found a job (yea I found one, never did say anything about it. I start tomorrow) even if it's only part-time for now). Unless ND is just fucking me over I'm pretty sure no one is getting the full amount a week they could get with this CARE act (remember unemployment is based entirely off of what you made at you job in the last tax year (they literally comb through all of it and base what you get off of what your wages were last year, don't know the exact formula and I'm to lazy to go look for the packet that explains it all. Also note I did indicate I'm unemployed due to COVID, only thing that did is wave the week waiting period and get rid of the proving I'm looking for a job requirement (not sure if that's the same everywhere or not but that's ND's stipulations on unemployment).

Not to surprising that states are going to start opening up. God forbid we flatten the curve before we send people back out. What's a couple 100,000 deaths compared to people's complete boredom of sitting home and not being able to go out? What's a couple 100,000 deaths compared to complete economic collapse? There's a reason I hate people and this doesn't help that opinion any.

[Sledgstone 8,672]

12 hours ago, Strider Hiryu said:

Believe me when I tell you no ones getting large bonuses with unemployment. I'm getting diddly shit for unemployment (I don't know where this additional $600 is at as I'm not getting it, I get $425 a week (before taxes so $375 once taxes are taken out) so I'm extremely lucky I found a job (yea I found one, never did say anything about it. I start tomorrow) even if it's only part-time for now). Unless ND is just fucking me over I'm pretty sure no one is getting the full amount a week they could get with this CARE act (remember unemployment is based entirely off of what you made at you job in the last tax year (they literally comb through all of it and base what you get off of what your wages were last year, don't know the exact formula and I'm to lazy to go look for the packet that explains it all. Also note I did indicate I'm unemployed due to COVID, only thing that did is wave the week waiting period and get rid of the proving I'm looking for a job requirement (not sure if that's the same everywhere or not but that's ND's stipulations on unemployment).

Congrats on the new job. Holy crap that sucks about the unemployment. From what I read about that unemployment bonus you should have gotten a flat +$600 a week with that $375. Damn. I guess there must be more to it than that. I know someone else about to get their first unemployment check. I'll ask her if she got it or not.

[Sledgstone 8,672]

I can't find the article now, but apparently that extra $600 a week for unemployment was being paid by only 44 states as of earlier this week because the states have been slow to implement it. I thought that unemployment benefit was paid by the federal government. Turns out it was a federal law in the CARES act forcing states to pay that $600 a week. No wonder many states are now wanting to rush to re-open. Many governors have already stated that once a persons job is available again, if they do not take their job back (because unemployment is paying them more than working), it will be considered a voluntary resignment and they'll be kicked off unemployment. I also have heard from a friend that some people not eligible for unemployment are able to claim reduced hours as a claim somehow and are still getting roughly 30 hours a week in or so along with the additional $600 a week. That screams of fraud to me and it really emphasizes how badly implemented all the Covid19 relief programs are right now. And dead people being sent stimulus checks. Wtf. After all this is over I'm expecting a new oversight committee / investigation to kick in later this year to weed out all the fraud and mismanaged money. I have a feeling quite a few people are going to be getting audited next tax season to get some of that money back. I've been audited twice in the past. The IRS likes to let you do your normal taxes at the beginning of the year and then they audit you and give you a bill in November of that year.. So anyone getting free money now they don't qualify for will probably be getting a hefty bill from the IRS come November of 2021. At that time watch people complain their asses off again.. "the government is taking my stimulus money, they never told me it was a loan!"  Its not a loan, but I guarantee people that get audited got way more money than they should have and will plead ignorance.

If we had adequate testing we could determine if we've reached "herd immunity" status yet, but because there still isn't any wide spread testing available it seems like many of these states are doing the test run to see if its safe or not. Well good luck Texas, Georgia, etc. Hopefully no major outbreaks happen there and we'll be good to go nationwide soon.

[slippers 3,168]

 sums it up nicely i guess. their voices crack me up

[Sledgstone 8,672]

Its actually pretty accurate.  And its technically an official video from the Chinese government.

https://deadline.com/2020/05/china-mocks-us-coronavirus-reaction-animated-video-1202924889/

 

[Sledgstone 8,672]

If there is supposed to be a meat shortage, I'm not seeing it. I don't know about walmart, but the grocery store I went to yesterday in the same shopping area was fully stocked. Had every meat imaginable, except for pork ribs. There was a limitation of 2 packages of pork per person, but aside from ribs they had everything and even many bulk packages.

Looks like my region might be starting its slow reopen by this friday as long as a few more criteria are met to appease Cuomo's rules. My parent's are in Ohio will be doing the same. I told them to keep themselves inside for a couple extra weeks so other people can test the waters first to see if a hot spot explodes in the area.

[DeathscytheX 9,732]

My meat market manager tells me its coming. Here we're having trouble getting everything except beef. We have limits on chicken and pork. The Deli is having issues with the brand name meats, and the chicken orders are getting cut inconsistently. I think because not enough people are paying attention, and its not being widely reported, meat has a chance to rebound quickly. Otherwise there would be another panic buying wave.

I think the most impressive thing so far is that Corona beer is still on the shelf. They stopped production last month, they must churn that out like crazy. Even with the sales taking it hit because of dumb people and name association, it's still impressive that we keep getting deliveries. Although I've noticed recently its mostly light and extra and not regular Corona.

[Sledgstone 8,672]

I was expecting another round of hoard shopping for meat. But maybe we'll luck out on that because nobody has enough freezer space. My younger bro bought a chest freezer a month ago. It took 3 weeks to get shipped and delivered. He said freezers are out of stock everywhere and all back ordered.

[Myk JL 1,731]

I started hoard shopping for meat on Pi Day.

Only meat I usually ate that is out of stock is Tilapia.

I'm thinking about switching to Salmon when it comes to fish.

But Salmon cost more & has fewer serving per bag.

[slippers 3,168]

i go to kroger every saturday or sunday to buy 2 big whole chickens (about 3 - 4 lbs) thats already been cooked. i cut them up to little pieces and put them in containers and im good for a week. they were however out of stock for close to a month (including frozen ones) and i asked a deli lady and she told me that a processing plant had been shutdown so there were no more big chickens. but smaller sized whole chickens were available so it was no
biggie for me. and there was no limit to how many chickens i could get so i grabbed what i needed for that week. after trump ordered meat factories to stay open recently, i managed to buy big chickens again last saturday. sams offer them at half price but they make you wait in line outside so i didnt bother to check there. 

[Sledgstone 8,672]

SSI recipients received their $1200.00 stimulus direct deposited today. At least the government actually got that right without screwing it up. This $600 a week unemployment thing actually sounds stupid to me. I know a handful of people that are getting it, my brother knows a good chunk of people getting it.. it seems a bit ludicrous to me. For example, my brother knows someone that was working at a gamestop part time. She only made around $600 a month. Now with the unemployment shes been making roughly $50 a week + the $600 a week bonus. Now she makes $2600.00 a month to stay home. wtf. $2000 a month bonus for these 3 months to not work. What I don't get is I know people on SSI and disability and it maxes out around $800-900 a month. The federal government decided disabled people can survive off roughly $800 a month along with medicaid, but unemployed people need their unemployment benefit plus $2400 a month to survive!? how the fuck does that work? I also found out if you have reduced hours, like only working 4 days a week instead of 5 you can claim the partial unemployment benefit and still get the $600 a week bonus. My friend's old coworkers are doing that at his old job. They're all still making like $20+ a hour 32 hours a week, getting their $50 or so partial unemployment each week and the $600 a week bonus. wtf. I also found out a local contractor got one of the forgivable small business loans. The guy's business hasn't been affected hardly at all, all employees are still doing their contractor work while social distancing and the guy pocketed $250,000.00 pretty much as pure profit bonus. Theres basically no oversight at all. I have never seen the government just had out cash like this before. Its crazy to think a republican held white house is literally giving away money like a broken ATM just spewing it all out onto the street. And all that money is basically being funneled to walmart, amazon and grocery stores because its the only places you can buy stuff.

But watch how there will still be a social security issue when we all get to retirement age.. Social security will run out of money, blah blah, retirement age is now 80, work until you die, because the government can't afford to pay you the benefits you paid into your entire life, etc... unless another pandemic happens in which they'll just print and give away an ass ton of money again to anyone because money limitations don't matter for that.

I saw another bill being proposed by democrats to extend that $600 a week benefit through January of 2021 and add another round of stimulus checks to everyone with a massive increase for people with children. Holy crap. If that were to happen, the dollar will lose so much value because of the massive federal debt and at the end of that the country would be pretty much guaranteed to have to go through punishing austerity measures that would wreck whatever economy we have left.

I feel bad for the people that died of Covid19, but I want to see the economy open back up ASAP. Let old people and people with severe pre-existing conditions stay at home still and stay safe for another month or so without punishment from their employers, etc., but let the rest of the population go out and resume their lives. Good news is testing in my area is significant now as of this week. They're now letting anyone and everyone be tested at multiple locations even if you don't show symptoms. If this was available at the beginning, this entire lockdown for months wouldn't have been necessary... Which also brings me back to the endless money pit that is USA right now.. if we had all this money to pay everyone hundreds of billions of dollars to not work.. why the hell didn't the federal government tap into that endless supply of cash for preventive measures like national testing and have it done within the first half month of this entire breakout. I'm glad Covid19 wasn't the equivalent of Spanish flu, half the country would have probably died with this shitty response.

[DeathscytheX 9,732]

Social Security was already obsolete. I can't count the amount of older people I know that hit retirement age and had to come back or do some part time work to supplement. The government has abused it for years, borrowing from it, all the way back til the Clinton presidency, maybe even the HW era. I gave up on it long ago and won't be counting on it to be there. At this point it should just be abolished, its not cool it gets taken out of our checks and it wont be there when its our time to collect.

As we slowly open back up, the businesses that didn't make it are coming to light and its a damn shame.

Honestly the Federal Government isn't fully to blame. Remember at one point the WHO said the damn thing wasn't even transferable or contagious. Because the head of it was put up there by China... I mean the guy wouldn't even acknowledge Taiwan's existence in a press conference.  Maybe the Fed could have handled it better either way, but the WHO and China lied about a lot which gave the rest of the world a late start on preparation. The travel bans were also called racist and blocked by judges. Our own bullshit stupid ass partisanship made this worse than it should have been.

Pelosi isn't offering any better solutions, shes just making it worse. https://www.dailywire.com/news/pelosis-bill-gives-massive-tax-break-to-the-rich-in-mostly-blue-states-taxpayer-money-to-illegal-aliens?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=dwbrand

Everyone is just trying to line the pockets of their base now I guess. These "relief packages" should only be helping the public, it should have nothing to do with Unions, Illegals, Pro Life, Pro Choice, Anti or Pro 2nd Amendment, Free speech, or anything besides helping people. this pork barrel shit is getting so old where we hold up important legislation because of some fucking wishlist by one side where they block a resolution for something that's completely unrelated.

[Sledgstone 8,672]

My region has started phase 1 of NY state's reopening plan. Manufacturing and retail jobs can all start back up, but all retail aside from Walmart, Lowes, etc is all curbside pickup which makes no damn sense to me at all.. I can go into the dollar store and buy stuff because they were deemed essential business because they have food items, but if I walk down that same shopping center, Bed Bath and Beyond, Five Below, etc. all have to sell their stuff on the sidewalk I guess because they can only operate curbside.. wtf. And it sounds like a large amount of jobs that are starting to hire back are going to purposefully make everyone take a couple paid days off per pay period so those employees can all still claim the partial unemployment $600 a week benefit as an incentive to come back to work because unemployment pays them more than their actual wages would.

On 5/13/2020 at 10:01 PM, DeathscytheX said:

Social Security was already obsolete. I can't count the amount of older people I know that hit retirement age and had to come back or do some part time work to supplement. The government has abused it for years, borrowing from it, all the way back til the Clinton presidency, maybe even the HW era. I gave up on it long ago and won't be counting on it to be there. At this point it should just be abolished, its not cool it gets taken out of our checks and it wont be there when its our time to collect.

They need to fix it and then stop touching it. In principal I understand why they implemented it because americans don't save enough money for retirement at all. They obviously don't if such a large amount of older people you know all have to keep working. x_x Like my parents have a 401k, savings, CDs and a handful of stocks but also need that social security combined with it all to make their retirement work and be happy. I'm glad its working out for them. As for me, I have a shitty small 401k, no savings, debt instead.. no stocks, no CDs, etc. All I really have to look forward to at this point is getting a small check from social security when I'm in my 70s so at least I can do part time work instead of having to be full time until the day I die. x_x

I also see that money going out of my paycheck for it every paycheck and I get the letters from Social Security roughly once a year or so saying "at your current contribution and income, when you retire at this age, your benefit will be $x.xx amount of money per month, etc." As far as I'm concerned the money I'm putting into it is still my money. Its like how I direct deposit an extra $30 a paycheck into a rainy day checking account. If that bank takes that money out of that account, spends it on upgrading one of their new branch locations and then gives out my money as bonuses to their employees, I'd be raging pissed that they fraudulently used my cash and its gone. I feel like that about social security. Thats my damn money, I have a full record of it being taken out of every paycheck. Every time I read about the government dipping into it pisses me off and I don't understand why it doesn't enrage everyone else. Everyone around my age has like 20+ years of contributions already put in.. if they want to destroy the entire system instead of fixing it, then I want my 20+ years of contributions back so I can put it into a different retirement program because if Social Security didn't exist for these last 20+ years thats alot of money I could have been contributing to a 401k with compounding interest. x_x

[DeathscytheX 9,732]

The problem is, they'll never not touch it. Even if they make some kind of law that they can't they will. Some POTUS down the line will sign and executive order citing some emergency and take out of it. People don't care because they don't understand that it won't be there one day when it's their turn. The generations coming up after us, have no sense of self reliance or general responsibility. Also, a lot of people think it will be enough for them to live off of, which is what happened to the people I know. They thought they could just live off social security when they retire, because i assume at some point long ago, you actually could. The only way anyone could do that now is if they have their shit 100% together, have every single debt paid off the day they hang it up, and then live frugally the last years of their life.

Thankfully the company I work for has private stock you earn off accumulated hours. You can also buy some at certain times of the year. If I work here for another 30 years, I could live off the divined checks rest of my life. Apparently more people retire from my company as a millionaire than almost any other company. There are some people raking in 100k a dividend check. Of course that could always change in 30 years, some shitbags could get on the board and decide to go public and ruin everything. Seems to be my luck in this industry. The last company I worked for, people that been there for 30-40 years were making bank and ran the thing into the ground for everyone else as they hopped off the sinking ship.

Social Security should be abolished. It should be paid out to a certain cut off date for people, and when they die it should be done away with. In its place should be a federally insured private savings fund. Something you can set up with your bank. There should be something that strongly encourages people to set this up, like a tax break, and maybe while you can't touch it until you're 65, you can still collect the interest off of it while it grows. Have other options like said interest can be deposited right back into it, and you can add more into it yourself at any time. While you could up how much of your check goes into it, there has to be a reasonable base minimum. that way people can't just put $1 a week in and complain that the system doesn't work. There has to be a new system where the government isn't "safekeeping" it for us.

[slippers 3,168]

so much for social distancing. protesters (mobs more likely) trashed houston downtown last night. its really ridiculous. their excuse is george floyd is from houston so they smashed random cars and building windows. its really unfortunate what happened to him but looting, burning, and destroying businesses and properties is not a way to do it. they dont want to change their ways, so nothings going to change. im sure tens of thousands of ppl who had nothing to do with it and only wanted to get back to work after pandemic have already lost sympathy for their cause. 👎

[Sledgstone 8,672]

The looting is some bullshit. Protest and some rioting in the region where it happened ok i can understand that. but robbing target stores and other businesses and burning random places for the hell of it in random parts of the country is just theft and vandalism. Alot of people are using the situation as an excuse to go steal crap and it's not helping the cause. But I will say I blame the f*cked up cops and the judicial system in place that keeps letting them get off the hook. That cop did murder that guy. He was kneeling on his neck arteries until he died and he should be charged with murder. The more stuff like that goes unpunished or "he was fired with paid leave" the more this kind of reaction will happen. All the cops have stun guns now. If someone isn't cooperative they can stun them and the probes stay in them and the cop can stun them again to restrain them again, etc.

I have personally talked with alot of cops over the years in NY, none recently thankfully, state, local and county cops. Out of all the ones I've had to talk to I don't trust a single one.

On another note, we hit phase 2 of reopening the economy here. All the barber shops, hair salons etc. Are all open again. Pretty much every business is open again I think except for restaurants, movie theaters and other entertainment avenues.

[DeathscytheX 9,732]

I wonder how many looters will get the CV? Pretty amazing how irrelevant social distancing is when you're smashing up shit and stealing. Some people I've been connected with on social media have completely be indoctrinated to woke culture. One of them told me razing the whole city too the ground and ruining everyone's life was worth getting the cop arrested. That's how fucked up these people are. Dude would have gotten arrested without the city getting destroyed. The video evidence is clear.. everyone was going crazy because it took more than 24 hours to make the arrest. Now he is arrested and people are still destroying property.

What started the whole conversation was this person compared the riots to the Boston tea party, and then got triggered when I said that the Sons of Liberty didn't take the tea home with them, they dumped it in the harbor, they didn't destroy the ship, and they didn't set Boston on fire. A lot of people that were upset at this murder have had their cars and businesses destroyed... And people out there wonder why people are upset at the looting and rioting. These people have no where to shop now for essentials. The elderly and disabled can't drive 40 minutes to the next town. When you inconvenience the general public, you're not going to gain sympathy for your cause no matter how righteous. Basic human nature causes resentment if someone can't live their life... they really wont give a shit about someone else dying.

[slippers 3,168]

from what i remember houston local news has covered 3 questionable deaths involving police officers within 6 months. victims were 2 white couple (drug raid but no drugs found) and 1 hispanic father (on video clearly kneeling with hands behind his back but gunned down anyway). none of them made national headline and their story was buried. i visit bestgore (very graphic, not recommended) time to time and most of police brutality videos they have involve white victims, especially homeless and mentally ill are targets. not only US but canada and other countries as well. theres no question the guy was murdered, and without a video and protests the cop wouldnt even be charged with 3rd degree murder. but if the victim had been any other race, this would be buried just like the rest of em. media loves this kind of race dividing shit. its weird i was watching yt videos and interviews from LA riot last week before any of these happened. remember that infamous violence involving a truck driver in the middle of street? well recently they interviewed the black guy who pulled out a white truck driver and hit him with a brick says if he could do it all over again, he would. bc society hasnt changed so he wont either. wtf.

[Myk JL 1,731]

Is everyone suppose to get a $1200 check?

Because I swear I didn't do any paper work for this.

I'm a little worried I might end up with over $2000 or I'm going to have to go on spending sprees.

[slippers 3,168]

^ they are sending checks to dead ppl as well. just enjoy your free money im sure mine would be going to ps5 fund, thats if any stores are left standing by then. 

--------------------

just a bit of rant..cities are burning and national guards are deployed to 20 states. thanks to corona you cant even ban face masks so its convinient for them to terrorize and destroy everything in their path. so it happens his funeral service will be held in houston next tuesday. its gonna be a big mess. im hoping itll be held at downtown so at least riot police might have some control like last weekend when rioters trashed it. they were able to shut it down and blocked all the exits for several days. if not, then im guessing southwest area will suffer big. large black population live there. they always have shootings and killings going on (but lets not profile it hurts feelings) its not safe to go there unless you are just passing through to get to galvestone. a worst case scenario would be after all this bs is over, govt is gonna impose 2nd lockdown due to 2nd wave of corona. but screw that, no one is listening anymore. 

and ppl better learn how to protect their businesses like rooftop koreans, otherwise stay the hell away. that poor restaurant owner in dallas almost died several days ago trying to protect his livelihood and now hispitalized. it so sad what they are going through and now this after lockdown already crippled them financially.

 

[Sledgstone 8,672]

21 hours ago, Myk JL said:

Is everyone suppose to get a $1200 check?

Because I swear I didn't do any paper work for this.

I'm a little worried I might end up with over $2000 or I'm going to have to go on spending sprees.

Everyone on SSI got the $1200 and it doesn't count towards the $2000 limit. My family members got it to and didn't have to fill out any paperwork for it. They just got the follow up letter photocopy signed by Trump as a confirmation of the deposit. And it does not count as income or earned income for taxes either.