Generational Dynamics World View News

[FishbellykanakaDude]

'Kiss me I'm from Wuhan' t-shirts will be big sellers too...

Hah ha ha ha...! Very good.

..That's why "The Comedy Industry™" was mentioned.


How about: "I got Tested, and all I got was this Ventilator!"

[FishbellykanakaDude]

• • Be seated.
    
    Men, all this stuff you hear about America not wanting to fight, wanting to stay out of the war, is a lot of bullshit. Americans love to fight. All real Americans love the sting and clash of battle. When you were kids, you all admired the champion marble shooter, the fastest runner, the big-league ball players and the toughest boxers. Americans love a winner and will not tolerate a loser. Americans play to win all the time. That's why Americans have never lost and will never lose a war. The very thought of losing is hateful to Americans. Battle is the most significant competition in which a man can indulge. It brings out all that is best and it removes all that is base.
    
    You are not all going to die. Only two percent of you right here today would be killed in a major battle. Every man is scared in his first action. If he says he's not, he's a goddamn liar. But the real hero is the man who fights even though he's scared. Some men will get over their fright in a minute under fire, some take an hour, and for some it takes days. But the real man never lets his fear of death overpower his honor, his sense of duty to his country, and his innate manhood.
    
    All through your army career you men have bitched about what you call 'this chicken-shit drilling.' That is all for a purpose—to ensure instant obedience to orders and to create constant alertness. This must be bred into every soldier. I don't give a fuck for a man who is not always on his toes. But the drilling has made veterans of all you men. You are ready! A man has to be alert all the time if he expects to keep on breathing. If not, some German son-of-a-bitch will sneak up behind him and beat him to death with a sock full of shit. There are four hundred neatly marked graves in Sicily, all because one man went to sleep on the job—but they are German graves, because we caught the bastard asleep before his officer did.
    
    An army is a team. It lives, eats, sleeps, and fights as a team. This individual hero stuff is bullshit. The bilious bastards who write that stuff for the Saturday Evening Post don't know any more about real battle than they do about fucking. And we have the best team—we have the finest food and equipment, the best spirit and the best men in the world. Why, by God, I actually pity these poor bastards we're going up against.
    
    All the real heroes are not storybook combat fighters. Every single man in the army plays a vital role. So don't ever let up. Don't ever think that your job is unimportant. What if every truck driver decided that he didn't like the whine of the shells and turned yellow and jumped headlong into a ditch? That cowardly bastard could say to himself, 'Hell, they won't miss me, just one man in thousands.' What if every man said that? Where in the hell would we be then? No, thank God, Americans don't say that. Every man does his job. Every man is important. The ordnance men are needed to supply the guns, the quartermaster is needed to bring up the food and clothes for us because where we are going there isn't a hell of a lot to steal. Every last damn man in the mess hall, even the one who boils the water to keep us from getting the GI shits, has a job to do.
    
    Each man must think not only of himself, but think of his buddy fighting alongside him. We don't want yellow cowards in the army. They should be killed off like flies. If not, they will go back home after the war, goddamn cowards, and breed more cowards. The brave men will breed more brave men. Kill off the goddamn cowards and we'll have a nation of brave men.
    
    One of the bravest men I saw in the African campaign was on a telegraph pole in the midst of furious fire while we were moving toward Tunis. I stopped and asked him what the hell he was doing up there. He answered, 'Fixing the wire, sir.' 'Isn't it a little unhealthy up there right now?' I asked. 'Yes sir, but this goddamn wire has got to be fixed.' I asked, 'Don't those planes strafing the road bother you?' And he answered, 'No sir, but you sure as hell do.' Now, there was a real soldier. A real man. A man who devoted all he had to his duty, no matter how great the odds, no matter how seemingly insignificant his duty appeared at the time.
    
    And you should have seen the trucks on the road to Gabès. Those drivers were magnificent. All day and all night they crawled along those son-of-a-bitch roads, never stopping, never deviating from their course with shells bursting all around them. Many of the men drove over 40 consecutive hours. We got through on good old American guts. These were not combat men. But they were soldiers with a job to do. They were part of a team. Without them the fight would have been lost.
    
    Sure, we all want to go home. We want to get this war over with. But you can't win a war lying down. The quickest way to get it over with is to get the bastards who started it. We want to get the hell over there and clean the goddamn thing up, and then get at those purple-pissing Japs. The quicker they are whipped, the quicker we go home. The shortest way home is through Berlin and Tokyo. So keep moving. And when we get to Berlin, I am personally going to shoot that paper-hanging son-of-a-bitch Hitler.
    
    When a man is lying in a shell hole, if he just stays there all day, a Boche will get him eventually. The hell with that. My men don't dig foxholes. Foxholes only slow up an offensive. Keep moving. We'll win this war, but we'll win it only by fighting and showing the Germans that we've got more guts than they have or ever will have. We're not just going to shoot the bastards, we're going to rip out their living goddamned guts and use them to grease the treads of our tanks. We're going to murder those lousy Hun cocksuckers by the bushel-fucking-basket.
    
    Some of you men are wondering whether or not you'll chicken out under fire. Don't worry about it. I can assure you that you'll all do your duty. War is a bloody business, a killing business. The Nazis are the enemy. Wade into them, spill their blood or they will spill yours. Shoot them in the guts. Rip open their belly. When shells are hitting all around you and you wipe the dirt from your face and you realize that it's not dirt, it's the blood and gut of what was once your best friend, you'll know what to do.
    
    I don't want any messages saying 'I'm holding my position.' We're not holding a goddamned thing. We're advancing constantly and we're not interested in holding anything except the enemy's balls. We're going to hold him by his balls and we're going to kick him in the ass; twist his balls and kick the living shit out of him all the time. Our plan of operation is to advance and keep on advancing. We're going to go through the enemy like shit through a tinhorn.
    
    There will be some complaints that we're pushing our people too hard. I don't give a damn about such complaints. I believe that an ounce of sweat will save a gallon of blood. The harder we push, the more Germans we kill. The more Germans we kill, the fewer of our men will be killed. Pushing harder means fewer casualties. I want you all to remember that. My men don't surrender. I don't want to hear of any soldier under my command being captured unless he is hit. Even if you are hit, you can still fight. That's not just bullshit either. I want men like the lieutenant in Libya who, with a Luger against his chest, swept aside the gun with his hand, jerked his helmet off with the other and busted the hell out of the Boche with the helmet. Then he picked up the gun and he killed another German. All this time the man had a bullet through his lung. That's a man for you!
    
    Don't forget, you don't know I'm here at all. No word of that fact is to be mentioned in any letters. The world is not supposed to know what the hell they did with me. I'm not supposed to be commanding this army. I'm not even supposed to be in England. Let the first bastards to find out be the goddamned Germans. Some day, I want them to rise up on their piss-soaked hind legs and howl 'Ach! It's the goddamned Third Army and that son-of-a-bitch Patton again!'
    
    Then there's one thing you men will be able to say when this war is over and you get back home. Thirty years from now when you're sitting by your fireside with your grandson on your knee and he asks, 'What did you do in the great World War Two?' You won't have to cough and say, 'Well, your granddaddy shoveled shit in Louisiana.' No sir, you can look him straight in the eye and say 'Son, your granddaddy rode with the great Third Army and a son-of-a-goddamned-bitch named George Patton!'
    
    All right, you sons of bitches. You know how I feel. I'll be proud to lead you wonderful guys in battle anytime, anywhere. That's all.

https://genius.com/Gen-george-patton-sp ... -annotated

[MrGuest]

** 15-Mar-2020 World View: The Real Economy

In analyzing how the crisis will unfold in the next few months, there
are three related issues that everyone is conflating, but which are
really quite separate:

• The spread of the virus
• The stock market
• The real economy

What I'm particularly interested in is the real economy. The spread
of the virus is a potential disaster, and the stock market is a
potential disaster, but I believe that, although it will be hurt, the
real economy will do better than many people expect.

To show what I mean, here's what happened between 1929-33:

• the stock market fell 90%
• but the GNP (gross national product) fell only 35%.

The GNP represents what I'm calling the "real economy." These are
ordinary businesses, often private businesses completely unaffected by
the stock market, that are scrambling to do everything possible to
stay in business.

If a restaurant or bar wants to stay open, then the owner will
separate the tables and place screens between them to create
compartments, and then sanitize each compartment after the people
leave.

If a factory wants to stay open, and it depends on supply chains
originating from one country whose factories can't supply them, then
the owner will look for new suppliers in other countries.

Here are some examples of businesses that are likely to do well in the
next few months:

• Suppliers of bathroom and medical supplies.
• Beds, furniture, and various "self-isolation" products
• Online education services
• Telemedicine / telehealth services
• Online entertainment and gaming
• Electric scooter rentals (so you won't have to take the bus)
• Adaptive clothing of all kinds (protection from virus)
• Air filtration systems (for boats and planes)

Even in the worst case scenario, we can imagine a world that's as busy
and bustling as it was until recently, but now people are protected by
special clothing or compartmentalization or special safe modes of
transportation. These are all technically within reach -- and in fact
are really quite simple to implement -- but they just haven't been
necessary until now.

I believe that the real economy is going to do a lot better than most
people think, and possibly a lot better than the stock market, as it
did during the Great Depression.

So does anyone have any thoughts about businesses that will do well,
and possible surprises, during the next few months?

Sex toys? Sex VR? Sex robots? People who are accustomed to using tinder to get their rocks off are not going to be satisfied with regular old internet porn for very long.

Can you say more about this adaptive clothing?

[richard5za]

** 15-Mar-2020 World View: The Real Economy

In analyzing how the crisis will unfold in the next few months, there
are three related issues that everyone is conflating, but which are
really quite separate:

• The spread of the virus
• The stock market
• The real economy

What I'm particularly interested in is the real economy. The spread
of the virus is a potential disaster, and the stock market is a
potential disaster, but I believe that, although it will be hurt, the
real economy will do better than many people expect.


So does anyone have any thoughts about businesses that will do well,
and possible surprises, during the next few months?

I am not clear where you included global debt in the 3 points above, John. I suspect that debt is the biggest issue we are facing. Corporate debt alone is around $ 75 trillion and unpayable. Total global debt you posted as $ 260 trillion and I agree with your figure.
Some market analysts have suggested that eventually we will reach a point called "the Great Reset". A fellow called John Mauldin has long been a proponent of this theory. The theory basically says that there will be a grand debt jubilee, where all debt is written off and the slate wiped clean. I have no idea how this works in practice, but what I have always thought is that we will only get to that point when there has been a credit crisis of epic proportions and no other way out. It will be a last resort plan and way out of the mess. Could take a long time to get there too. By that stage most of us will be living in poverty

[John]

** 16-Mar-2020 World View: Global debt

> I am not clear where you included global debt in the 3 points
> above, John. I suspect that debt is the biggest issue we are
> facing. Corporate debt alone is around $ 75 trillion and
> unpayable. Total global debt you posted as $ 260 trillion and I
> agree with your figure.

> Some market analysts have suggested that eventually we will reach
> a point called "the Great Reset". A fellow called John Mauldin has
> long been a proponent of this theory. The theory basically says
> that there will be a grand debt jubilee, where all debt is written
> off and the slate wiped clean. I have no idea how this works in
> practice, but what I have always thought is that we will only get
> to that point when there has been a credit crisis of epic
> proportions and no other way out. It will be a last resort plan
> and way out of the mess. Could take a long time to get there
> too. By that stage most of us will be living in poverty

There's no way that the global debt crisis will be resolved
without a world war.

As World War II was ending, the World Bank and International Monetary
Fund were set up to settle up accounts from before the war, and to
guarantee that a new global debt crisis would never occur again, just
as they set up the United Nations to guarantee that there would never
be another world war. With the rise of Generation-X and contempt for
the Silent Generation that set up those institutions, those
institutions are all failing now.

So in the last 20 years, global debt has gotten out of control, and
has overwhelmed the World Bank and IMF, and Russia has sabotaged and
destroyed the United Nations.

[John]

** 16-Mar-2020 World View: Wuhan Coronavirus Covid-19: Flattening the curve

Almost every news report these days contains the phrase "Flattening
the curve." This refers to postponing Covid-19 infections for as long
as possible, using such techniques as closing schools and stores,
locking down cities and making everyone stay at home.

The idea is that if everyone gets sick at once, then hospitals will
be overwhelmed. But if the infection rate can be slowed down,
then hospitals will be able to keep up.

Medium.com has collected together some "Flattening the curve" graphs.

• Static flattening graph

The above graph illustrates the concept. If everyone gets sick at
once, then the "Healthcare system capacity" will be exceeded. But if
the same number of cases is spread over time, and the curve is
flattened, then according to this graph, the healthcare system will be
able to handle them.

Here's another one:

• Dynamic flattening graph

The article does some calculations, and concludes that this won't
work unless the length of the flattened curve is a decade.

-- Graphics: Flattening the curve
https://medium.com/@joschabach/flatteni ... a324fe9727
(Medium, 16-Mar-2020)

[FishbellykanakaDude]

... If everyone gets sick at
once, then the "Healthcare system capacity" will be exceeded. But if
the same number of cases is spread over time, and the curve is
flattened, then according to this graph, the healthcare system will be
able to handle them.

Here's another one:

[im g]https://miro.medium.com/max/1600/0*U8p2wc_K6APLgTeQ.gif[/img]

• Dynamic flattening graph

The article does some calculations, and concludes that this won't
work unless the length of the flattened curve is a decade.

-- Graphics: Flattening the curve
https://medium.com/@joschabach/flatteni ... a324fe9727
(Medium, 16-Mar-2020)

• • Flattening the curve is not an option for the United States, for the UK or Germany. Don’t tell your friends to flatten the curve. Let’s start containment and stop the curve.

The "Decade Long Flattening":

(( The above curve has FAR too shallow an onset slope and far too little "recurve" on it's trailing slope! It also obviously doesn't consider either "effect saturation" or "inoculation" effects. ))

..of course, containment WILL ALSO not work, so what DOES that leave us with?

[FishbellykanakaDude]

** 16-Mar-2020 World View: Global debt

...

> Some market analysts have suggested that eventually we will reach
> a point called "the Great Reset". A fellow called John Mauldin has
> long been a proponent of this theory. The theory basically says
> that there will be a grand debt jubilee, where all debt is written
> off and the slate wiped clean. ...

There's no way that the global debt crisis will be resolved
without a world war. ...

There will be a "Debt Jubilee Light" within two years, which will be a forgiveness/write-off of debt of some portion of debt, simply to relieve the immediate pressure on everyone (as everyone owes everyone to some extent), but a portion of the debt will remain in place without a "collection enforcement" being implemented.

Then,.. around 2026 (starting ~late Jan 2025 [any guesses as to why?]), after things have "freed up" quite a bit, collection enforcement will be attempted, and China will balk, and sanctions will be imposed, and China will do something monumentally stupid, and MORE sanctions will be imposed, and China will partially collapse, but before they collapse entirely they will let loose the hounds.

By this time Russia will be too heavily invested in the West to oppose it, and Iran will be of an entirely different "western-ish shape" altogether and fighting their Sunni enemies, and the Sunnis will have become the protected little punk of that little "highly diminished" parasite-of-the-West punk known as China.

[FishbellykanakaDude]

... Sex toys? Sex VR? Sex robots? People who are accustomed to using tinder to get their rocks off are not going to be satisfied with regular old internet porn for very long.

Can you say more about this adaptive clothing?

The "old" word for the "sexy" stuff is (as I said above): "Teledildonics".

Adaptive clothing would be something like Single Use Overgarments (trashable at the door) that are still "stylish". This would also include shoes and gloves. And "lung protectors", which would be a "stylish" facemask wherein the user's face is entirely visible (bubble mask).

(( The big "problem" with current facemasks is that it renders the user an "ambiguous/possible threatening robot", which creeps people out FAST and HARD! ))

[John]

** 16-Mar-2020 World View: Adaptive clothing

> Adaptive clothing would be something like Single Use Overgarments
> (trashable at the door) that are still "stylish". This would also
> include shoes and gloves. And "lung protectors", which would be a
> "stylish" facemask wherein the user's face is entirely visible
> (bubble mask).

This is speculative, but I think it might also be possible to create
decent looking fabrics that repel viruses. Another possibility is
some kind of spray that you apply to your clothing in the morning and
it repels or kills viruses all day long.