U.S. suffered worst quarterly contraction on record

[wing2000]

...get your head out of the sand.....

...over 150k dead....and at this rate, it could be twice that by the end of the year. The United States is in the same COVID league as India and Brazil...

Whose head is in the sand?

 

[wing2000]

Canada shares 5,250 miles of border with the US and its citizens are allowed to take international flights into the European Union - Americans not so much!

UNITED STATES - July 31, 2020
************************************************
NEW CASES - 70,904

DEATHS - 1,402

CANADA - July 31, 2020
*************************************************
NEW CASES - 513

DEATHS - 6
*****************************************************************************************
Given that the US has 8.7 times Canada's population, the adjusted figures that would allow for direct comparisons -

NEW CASES - 4,463.1

DEATHS - 52.2

Coronavirus Update (Live): 17,998,419 Cases and 687,783 Deaths from COVID-19 Virus Pandemic - Worldometer

Add in the EU, AU, NZ and all of S.E. Asia -- and the US would still surpass all of those countries combined.

 

[wing2000]

It all comes down to President Trump refusing to make the tough decisions over time to contain this virus. Leaders of other countries did so and it's apparent in the results that are evident in the COVID statistics today.

President Trump tried to what he has done when faced with a challenge his entire life: Cheat and chose the easy way out.

 

[FreeinChrist]

The ppe problem was cause by China buying the world supply before anyone knew what was going on. It also did not help that China was the primary maker of masks etc.

However, activating the defense production act sooner to make masks, etc, would have been really wise rather than pretending it would just disappear.

 

[iluvatar5150]

There are shortages all around in all sorts of things.

I noticed something similar recently as I am getting into pro audio (microphones, preamps, compressors).

As a business or a hobby? This is a lousy time to be getting into that as a business (not that it was ever a great time).

 

[disciple Clint]

However, activating the defense production act sooner to make masks, etc, would have been really wise rather than pretending it would just disappear.

Trump gave private industry a chance to start voluntary production.
If he had not done that people would claim he is a power hungry dictator. Come on there is always some way to twist what he does and make it look evil.

 

[iluvatar5150]

Trump gave private industry a chance to start voluntary production.
If he had not done that people would claim he is a power hungry dictator. Come on there is always some way to twist what he does and make it look evil.

It's August and there's still a shortage.

 

[lasthero]

Trump gave private industry a chance to start voluntary production.
If he had not done that people would claim he is a power hungry dictator. Come on there is always some way to twist what he does and make it look evil.

I doubt anyone would call him a dictator for making sure the population had enough masks for a pandemic. That’s a very sensible thing to do.

 

[FreeinChrist]

nm
​

 

[FreeinChrist]

I doubt anyone would call him a dictator for making sure the population had enough masks for a pandemic. That’s a very sensible thing to do.

It was his responsibility to make sure there were plenty of masks by using the Defense Production Act.

 

[Belk]

Trump gave private industry a chance to start voluntary production.
If he had not done that people would claim he is a power hungry dictator. Come on there is always some way to twist what he does and make it look evil.

Well we can't have that. Better to let people die. If Trump is so worried about complaints he likely should not of become president.

 

[Paulos23]

Glad you believe in alternative facts......

Nothing alternative about them.

 

[Paulos23]

Of course he can claim the tank was not his fault, especially when surely most all know by now, it was caused by the pandemic.

Wow, some things are just obvious to most and it's hard to believe people refuse to, or are just not able to see that? I'd guess even most demarcates won't try to pull that one off.

That deserves another "Wow"

And again, if Trump did something constructive about the pandemic day one, I would be giving him more of a break. As it is, he stated with saying it would go away instead of enacting any plan.

 

[Kenny'sID]

And again, if Trump did something constructive about the pandemic day one, I would be giving him more of a break.

I'm sure of it.

 

[FireDragon76]

As a business or a hobby? This is a lousy time to be getting into that as a business (not that it was ever a great time).

Not a business, just a hobby. Just hooking a dynamic microphone up to a PC (I tried the really cheap way of doing it with an isolation transformer, but that introduced too much noise). I am making do with a used Rolls preamp, but it's nothing special, and if not for my graphics card's digital noise reduction capability (courtesy of machine learning), it would be below average in terms of performance.

Right now basic audio interfaces that used to go for around $50 dollars are going for almost $200 dollars.

 

[iluvatar5150]

Not a business, just a hobby. Just hooking a dynamic microphone up to a PC (I tried the really cheap way of doing it with an isolation transformer, but that introduced too much noise). I am making do with a used Rolls preamp, but it's nothing special, and if not for my graphics card's digital noise reduction capability (courtesy of machine learning), it would be below average in terms of performance.

Right now basic audio interfaces that used to go for around $50 dollars are going for almost $200 dollars.

Yeah, if you don't have at least a functional preamp, that's gonna be poop. Sweetwater's got the Focusrite Scarlett Solo and 2i2 in stock for the regular <$200 MAP. Assuming you don't need more than 1-2 channels of i/o, it's tough to beat those things for the price. When we started working from home in March, I got my guys all set up with just a 2i2 and whatever headphones they had. I've shipped a couple hundred thousand units since then on just the 2i2, a pair of Sennheiser HD6XX's, and some cheapo M-Audio speakers that my wife bought off her ex-boyfriend before we met.

 

[FireDragon76]

Yeah, if you don't have at least a functional preamp, that's gonna be poop. Sweetwater's got the Focusrite Scarlett Solo and 2i2 in stock for the regular <$200 MAP. Assuming you don't need more than 1-2 channels of i/o, it's tough to beat those things for the price. When we started working from home in March, I got my guys all set up with just a 2i2 and whatever headphones they had. I've shipped a couple hundred thousand units since then on just the 2i2, a pair of Sennheiser HD6XX's, and some cheapo M-Audio speakers that my wife bought off her ex-boyfriend before we met.

The Rolls preamp is actually a quality product, for what it is (and made in the US), but it's more of a preamp like a DJ in a club might use. And strangely enough, it's not hard to get hold of one. All the other recommended budget brands are mostly non-existent. I even contemplated getting a tube preamp (there are many on eBay), even though I am not particularly a fan of vacuum tubes (I toyed around with a vacuum tube-based stereo preamp in the past).

The dynamic microphone works out fairly well because I live in an apartment and the dynamic microphone rejects room noise fairly well. Whereas a medium condenser microphone I tried (my S.O., who is a musician, has one I borrowed) just picked up too much noise from the room... and also plenty from outside. And for the price (ten dollars off Amazon), the dynamic microphone sounds great with a little EQ.

I'm guessing the price has gone up because alot of people have the exact sort of interests I am doing (perhaps having more time on their hands), not alot of disposable income, and it seems the supply chain of inexpensive audio gear is pinched due to the virus.

 

[iluvatar5150]

The Rolls preamp is actually a quality product, for what it is (and made in the US), but it's more of a preamp like a DJ in a club might use. And strangely enough, it's not hard to get hold of one. All the other recommended budget brands are mostly non-existent. I even contemplated getting a tube preamp (there are many on eBay), even though I am not particularly a fan of vacuum tubes (I toyed around with a vacuum tube-based stereo preamp in the past).

IME, most anything in this business <$100 isn't even "budget"; it's just junk that isn't worth bothering with.

Anything with "tubes" isn't worth bothering with until you're up into several hundred dollars per channel (new price) because it's expensive to build the electronics required to make a tube actually work the way a "tube" is supposed to work. Short of that, they're added to the circuit to be little more than a gimmicky light bulb. If you're just a noob hobbyist, "tubes" is one of the last places I'd suggest putting your money.

I'm guessing the price has gone up because alot of people have the exact sort of interests I am doing (perhaps having more time on their hands), not alot of disposable income, and it seems the supply chain of inexpensive audio gear is pinched due to the virus.

I haven't seen as much of a shortage with audio gear (though, I suppose I haven't been buying much lately, which is a nice change...), but I know video gear has been hard to come by. I couldn't even find a cheapo webcam a couple months ago, and a lot of church techs were all trying to get their livestream rigs up and running at the same time and all ran into supply issues. Amusingly, there was also a run on low-powered FM transmitters because they all wanted to start doing drive-in churches.

 

[disciple Clint]

It's August and there's still a shortage.

what is there a shortage of, test swabs because of the accelerated rate of testing, is that a problem or part of a solution?

 

[disciple Clint]

I doubt anyone would call him a dictator for making sure the population had enough masks for a pandemic. That’s a very sensible thing to do.

Yes you are correct only the MSM would consistently find some way to make everything he does evil.