Elon Musk threatens to move the Tesla headquarters out of Palo Alto because of California's "ignorant and facist" (his words) handling of the COVID-19 crisis. CNBC News report: Web Link

The difference between Santa Clara & San Mateo Counties in comparison to other more rural CA counties seems to be predicated on overall mass intelligence, political leanings (conservative vs liberal) & a religion over science mentality.

For example...Yuba County is a far
cry from the bay area.

It’s high time to open up San Mateo county.

Practice social distancing. If you’re afraid or ill, stay home (but do go outside to get some the sun’s enriching vitamin D).

Zero new deaths yesterday in SCC, and 17 new cases. What, exactly, are leaders "holding firm" for? As for keeping them that way, it's time to learn to build the plane as we fly it, as people are saying about the vaccine itself. County leaders have had more than two months to get their contact tracing and teasing in place, while citizens have been doing their part. Time's up.

County public health officials have had 6 weeks to get ready. We are either still locked down because the disease is ravaging the county (empty hospitals say otherwise) or because we are not prepared (take a look at the testing numbers). It’s time to demand accountability from these officials. Why are we not prepared after 6 weeks? Where are the tests? Where are the contact tracers? Why should people now suffer and die because they couldn’t use the 6 weeks to prepare? If they have done, then they should tell us when they will be ready.

So much for “flatten the curve.” The curve IS flattened! We did our part, but why aren’t we ready yet?

Easy for Elon Musk to say when he's the least likely to get CoVid if and when it breaks out among Tesla workers. So far, whenever there's been a CoVid incident at Amazon, Safeway, etc., it's always the front line workers who catch it, never the people at the top. Politicians and even Hollywood celebrities and basketball players (hardly the demographics most vulnerable to the virus) have access to testing, while others do not.

I notice Mayor Fine didn't say he was pro Palo AlTANS. As in, Pro Residents. Pro people who live here and have sacrificed most of their lives to put down roots and contribute to the community. Pro people who sacrificed decades to have a small plot they can garden behind their home and a workshop in the garage. Pro neighbors (on the South side, remember us?).

Based on his history, Mayor Fine really stands for:
Pro density,
pro traffic,
pro congestion,
pro pollution,
pro gridlock,
(de facto) pro unfettered noise,
pro pushing out homeowners,
pro tech celebrities (and everyone else) over residents,
pro bulldozing neighborhoods for high-density luxury housing,
pro making homeowners pay for the degradation of their city and quality of life,
pro developers who give him cash that he doesn't report to the voters until after the election, pro misleading the voters (as the fair elections people said he did),
(de facto) pro turning Palo Alto into an office park,
pro using euphemistic language to say what he's for (pro "housing" when he's never stood up for the truly low income, only for rabbit hutch entry level worker housing for companies who do NOT pay their way),
pro attacking his political opponents with characterizations that apply to himself (see last election),
pro making residents pay for everything all while attacking the house-poor (i.e., evil homeowners) as if they are Ritchie Rich's who should be stripped of everything they sacrificed their whole lives for...

Can we please have an accounting of what Tesla Hdqtrs contributes to our city coffers so I can decide whether I care if they move the Headquarters? Their workers like to cut through our neighborhood and it's been so much safer during the lockdown not having all the cut through traffic. If we're going to have a recession, the upside is that we have too many employees who come here to work during the day, and it will be ultimately a good thing if those companies do move to places where they can reasonably expand. [Portion removed.]

Let's go back to the beginning when the Shelter in Place was instituted. We were told that 3 weeks we should be sheltering in place to flatten the curve to give hospitals the space for the expected number of cases.

When did it change from 3 weeks to no final date? When we were told 3 weeks, most of us mentally prepared for 3 weeks, not 8 weeks with no end in sight.

What are we waiting for now? The curve has been flattened. Most of us sheltering at home are healthy. If we meet with others who have been sheltering in place the risk in say getting hair cut or having family over for dinner is low because we have all been sheltering and not mixing.

The hospitals have not been over-whelmed. Most people who do get Covid 19 have mild symptoms and even those who are hospitalized are recovering and most of those do not need respirators.

What are we waiting for? Are we waiting or a magic vaccine that will prevent us all from getting Covid? If not, then what are we waiting for now?

Please. Can someone tell me what are we waiting for as we shelter in place for? The end of May is still 3 weeks away? Will we be able to go back to work? If we work in a an office with other people who have been sheltering in place and we can wear masks, self distance and not use the breakroom are we likely to catch it?

The children are not going back to school and camps are cancelled at least for the first part of Summer. Restaurants can serve outside tables with social distancing. Hair can be cut if social distancing and everyone wears masks. Retail can be done with outside counter service (just like the old days).

Please. Can someone tell me what is the magic formula for letting us stop sheltering in place?

I am asking, because really I do not know what we are sheltering in place from any more.

[Post removed.]

[Post removed.]

The Alameda County Health Dept. is a Hot Mess. They don't do 100% Contact Tracing, insuffient Covid tests, & Insufficient Anti-Boy tests. They can give accurate numbers as they don't test. They basically want everyone to stay at home atleast until 2021.

The numbers in February were similar to what we have now. Then in early March, the numbers exploded and we went to Shelter-in-Place. What do the complainers think will happen if all the controls are released now? It will be worse than March.

Complete tracking, tracing, and isolating has to be put in place to quarantine infected people while they are still asymptomatic.

The people who are anxious to evade social distancing now are the ones most likely to be "superspreaders".

Elon Musk no doubt assumes people will continue to buy his cars once he relocates to Texas or Nevada. But who buys a new car when they may be soon unemployed? How well do cars really sell during a possible recession? And where are you going to drive a new car when stay-in-place orders are still in effect?

I doubt China will be a market for cars, or any high-end purchases soon. An article I read about China's middle class says that "60.9 per cent of 3,143 households said their income in 2020 would shrink this year compared with last year. A total of 25.9 per cent said the drop in earnings would be significant, with 41.6 per cent planning to reduce consumption this year." These are not the numbers you want to hear when you want to sell cars.

A Detroit Bureau article specifically says, "Chinese car sales collapsed, sliding 79% for the full month." "As the nation comes to grips with the worsening coronavirus pandemic, new car sales appear to be tumbling off a cliff, with a new report by J.D. Power warning that March retail demand could slip by as much as 41%, approaching levels that haven’t been seen since the depths of the Great Recession a decade ago."

Back in March, Palo Alto Online reported that "Palo Alto-based Tesla/SpaceX CEO Elon Musk had promised to provide 1,200 ventilators". Well, I'd be *very* happy to let him reopen the factories to save lives rather than build cars that might not be sold.

China's "revenge spending" : Web Link

Detroit Bureau : Web Link

Ventilators promised by Elon Musk : Web Link

"Data from Harris Poll found that nearly a third of Americans are considering relocating to less crowded places as a direct result of Covid-19. The poll, conducted at the end of April, indicated that respondents aged 18 to 35 were the most likely to be considering such a move. "
Web Link

Do you hear that, Mayor Fine? Build, Baby, Build! Densify! Densify! DENSIFY!!!!!!!!! is just so pre-pandemic.

The bay area’s success is based on the entrepreneurial spirit — in other words, facing and solving problems, not cowering at home. We have the best companies and the smartest people. Let Tesla and other companies re-open and apply the same entrepreneurial spirit to solving this problem. They don’t need incompetent politicians telling them what to do.

"Talk is Cheap" makes an interesting point.

I am curious exactly what Tesla and other large businesses contribute to Palo Alto. We know that Elon Musk is a billionaire and we know that Tesla reported almost 25 billion dollars in revenue in 2019.

How much did Elon Musk or Tesla pay in taxes to California or to the local communities that housed its employees, including Palo Alto? What exactly DOES Tesla do for Palo Alto?

I think we need to answer those questions before we start worrying about any negative consequence of Tesla leaving our neighborhood. For far too long, local and state governments have given huge companies like Tesla tax subsidies and all sorts of local services paid for by local taxpayers without demanding anything in return.

Now during this pandemic, where many people ARE dying, and where everyone is being impacted in many harmful ways -- e.g. separated from aging parents, being deprived of full education, going often days or weeks without interacting with others due to valid health concerns -- and where are local government, strapped for decades do to regressive tax policies that historically favor commercial developers and the wealthiest few over working families and everyone else -- NOW is the time when we need billionaires and 25 billion dollar companies to reach into their wallets and GIVE. And if they don't reach into their wallets and give, we need to require them to give back to the communities that have given so much to them.

We are blessed to have Dr. Sara Cody -- a PAUSD parent and the most successful local health director in the country -- to lead us to the best-in-class health situation we in Palo Alto are experiencing today. Given Dr. Cody's fantastic knowledge and advice, which has kept our community healthy and our beloved seniors ALIVE, now is NOT the time to move away from Dr. Cody's leadership and shift to the anti-science rabid twitter-tantrums of a billionaire who does not like not getting his way all the time.

I am disappointed in Mayor Fine's response. We are Palo Alto and we stand up for our residents, our safety, and our community. We do not allow billionaire celebrities to blur our vision by putting Iron Man stars in our eyes.

@Rebecca Eisenberg,

I am curious about those things, too. Despite the really excellent local journalists we have, the loss of journalism nationally has really made things worse for many years now. There's an awful lot that we don't know, that in the past would have been better understood because of the 4th estate.

I keep hearing how we had this great economy up until the coronavirus hit. People repeat and hear a constant drone from the top, from someone who also constantly lies. Why is that the one thing taken without question? 60 Minutes today in one story said best economy in a decade, then the next story talked about how farmers have been so devastated by the potus's import taxes (tariffs) starting TWO YEARS AGO, and the federal relief went mostly to the biggest/richest and family farmers are being hit in ways they haven't been for generations. That all preceded the pandemic.

Manufacturing in this country was also in a recession starting in 2018, hit hard by the import taxes before the pandemic, and was widely reported as being in recession in financial news, but that was drowned out by all the rosy assessments of the economy in general. It's been painful to see how little capacity we had left to make our own medications or PPE or even wipes when it came to it, or respond to farmers' surpluses by canning/freezing/drying storing the food for the coming depression.

We kept hearing about how Americans got this big tax cut in 2017, but most of it went to the wealthiest (who surely kept the stock market looking good). But my middle-class friends and we got the biggest tax INCREASE by orders of magnitude higher of anything in our entire lives. Same in other high-cost-of-living states. The housing market cooled fast (predictably) not long after -- I have never seen so many homes for sale in November in this area after that. Not a single report mentioned the effect of such huge tax increases on the bottom rungs of homeownership in certain states. It almost seemed surgical. Every provision that could raise someone's taxes hit that segment. You see not a peep in the media. Family in red states who supposedly got big tax breaks also reported only dozens of dollars more, not the huge breaks that I assume must have gone to someone (?) Where is the analysis of how locals were affected, how different segments of the population were devastated economically before this pandemic because of it? Since federal economic policy, such as in tax law, doesn't take cost-of-living differences across the country into account, the very people who were hit hardest by the pandemic, those on the coasts (who got big tax increases in 2017), many will not even get a stimulus check.

The last few years have not been good for consumer protection, either. In 2008, the last time the economy tanked, banks were making half their money by shaking people down for various fees. If you aren't wealthy, banks can be downright predatory. Communications companies too. Energy companies. Insurance companies... It should be called Shakedown Economics rather than trickle-down economics. In the past, as a citizen of this country, there was recourse, usually through our government. This is the first time in my life that I have palpably felt the hollowing out of our institutions and federal government so keenly, that there just seems to be no point in seeking recourse. Who has been affected by this hollowing out of the rule of law? I see many -- where are the reports? It's almost like we're living in a parallel universe now, there's the people I see in my world and what they're going through, and then there's what politicians and the news are concerned about, and never the twain shall meet.

Who is left to do any analysis? You get people like a poster above who couch the shelter in place as "cowering at home", as if we haven't just seen this huge explosion of creativity to deal with this pandemic.

Which, like the damage after Hurricane Katrina, we've been warned about for decades (pandemics and the sorry state of our public health system). I remember listening to an NPR guest in the early '90s discussing the loss of public health in our country and the peril that placed us in. Who is talking about that, and about the economic/shakedown policies that have left the majority of Americans with no capacity to build a safety net for times like these?

The news bends over backwards to give divisive partisans from the WH a parting shot in every critical news story, but don't let opposition leaders respond after critical tweeties even that involve elections. And those parting shots are intentionally divisive, and blame people like our public health officials who are the real heroes who have saved lives, and who probably make way less in salary as public servants relative to their responsibilities than they would if they'd done something far less meaningful with their degrees. We *really* don't hear about the public servants who are working hard on our behalf yet have the leader of our nation turning a segment of our nation against them for partisan gain. Where is the news to even analyze the divisiveness, the rhetorical devices, what the loss of our standing in the world the last 3 years has cost us in this moment?

These are hard times ahead. Regardless of the kind of recession, the economic monoculture the city council majority exemplified by Mayor Fine made us subject to was always going to leave us open to really hard hits.

Dear Talk is Cheap -

I agree with you entirely, and I appreciate your thoughtful, articulate, well-researched response. I know a lot about family farms given that I was born in Wisconsin, and have many friends and relatives who still live there. Everything you said is correct - and is also true for Central California, which has been abandoned and devastated both by federal *and* state policy redirecting their water towards wealthy political campaign contributors and businesses supported by the lobbyists who have outsized influence in Sacramento and Washington DC. We in Palo Alto must do MUCH better.

These are among the many reasons I am running for Palo Alto City Council this November. I always post using my real name, so I should be easy to reach. Please contact me if you would like to discuss more. I am very interested in hearing your perspectives -- and the perspectives of so many (the vast majority) of our Palo Alto residents, whose best interests have not been reflected in local policy. I want to change this for the better. I promise to do my absolute best if given the opportunity. Our community deserves transparency and truth. Our residents deserve safety and accountability. It's not out of reach if we demand better.

Go for it Elon, move all your tech workers to rural Nevada in the middle of a pandemic that most likely will not end for two years. Ask them what's important in these times? Perhaps access to high quality healthcare. Good luck with that in rural Nevada or much of Texas. See how your worker satisfaction and productivity will prosper (not). Palo Alto will do just fine without you (or Adrian Fine for that matter).

Thanks to Rebecca for using a message board to tout your political ambitions. Classy.

The rest of us would like to see a plan to resume our lives. Any plan. A workable plan that doesn’t dither and mandate hiring and training hundreds of government workers. An intellectually honest plan that reflects actual data - elevated risk of infection and illness to about 5% of us, almost no risk to the vast majority. A practical plan that creates real quarantine protections and monitoring for those at risk, along with creative solutions (outdoor commerce, curb side retail, etc) for small businesses and lower risk citizens. You know, the vast majority of us.

Most of all, we want our elected officials to actually lead and make that plan - instead of abdicating responsibility to an unelected health official who is either not interested or not capable of considering multiple perspectives and needs.

Good luck with your election plans.

I will m

Rebecca

Thank you indeed for announcing your intention to be a candidate for City Council. Anyone who plans to do this deserves our thanks and I shall definitely be paying attention to anything you have to say on this message board or in any other venue.

I think we are all aware that the future couple of years will be unlike any other in living memory and in some areas you will be feeling your way, the blind leading the blind comes to mind.

So the one thing I think most of those of us who live in Palo Alto would say to you is put the residents, the voters, those who live in town, send their kids to school in town, shop in town, spend free time in town, put us first. We may not all have the same ideas of how this will look, but those of us who live here deserve to be the priority over any other issue.

Tesla needs to be allowed to operate its factory in a way that is safe and will not spread virus. Like many businesses, Tesla cannot stay shut indefinitely and needs to produce product or services in order to collect revenue. Unlike software jobs, building cars requires physical labor and cannot be done remotely or "work from home".

Happy to help Adrian Fine’s embarrassing exchange with Elon Musk is what we get with a Mayor who used City letterhead to misrepresent Palo Alto residents on those bills from Sacramento looking to take away local voice.

No help from Fine would be better for Palo Alto.

To Rebecca Eisenberg and others who wish to keep things locked down.

I am 70+ (an “endangered senior”) and wish to be treated like an adult capable of making responsible decisions.

I have spent my life keeping myself in shape. I walk five miles a day, swim regularly, and lift weights. I don’t smoke, drink, or do drugs. I am fit. If I’m sick or feel fearful, I’ll stay home.

Let’s open things up before more damage is done.

@Karenovirus
Posters like Eisenberg are not acting on an ideological take as you apparently are. This is not about lockdown versus “free Michigan” but about doing things in a scientifically sound way, recognizing that things are not all known. This virus can get around to infect a lot of other people if you are infected but feel fine.The virus can leave healthy people with mild infection with long term medical care needs. You are unwittingly demonstrating that you couldn’t be trusted to do the right thing for others and are only focused on yourself.

A lot is not known about the virus but it’s already clear that it’s not the flu. Didn’t the 2018 pandemic hit the young and healthiest hardest, it is believed, because something had come through the previous year that hit the oldest and youngest hardest? Your plan couldn’t be a better path to selecting for such a thing next year.

It’s easy to sit and take potshots at people who are actually trying to work to deal with this situation. Those who take the biggest potshots tend not to see the damage they do or are good at lying to themselves and others to avoid taking responsibility. This never was a choice between lockdown or keep things as they were, and isn’t now. You’re just coming across as being destructively divisive for partisan reasons.

Lol. Didn’t the 2018 Pandemic

Meant 1918

I’m with the mayor, and I’ve had enough if the shelter in place. We need prosperous businesses to support the community. Open up already! And yes, COVID is real and a real danger. But so are the dangers of keeping the status quo indefinitely.

The lockdown has a cost measured in loss of human life and misery, too. Economic decline leads to poverty which in turn increases mortality rates. Lack of access to school meals increases food insecurity for students that rely on school meals for their daily meals which impacts longer long health outcomes.

It’s too easy for those of us in white collar jobs who can WFH to argue for indefinite lockdown in the name of getting this right because of the human cost. Being overly conservative may have a similar human cost.

The Trump administration botched the response, years before the emergency happened. Emergency preparedness is an easy target because “this may never happen”. And then it did. Excuses. Excuses. The electorate chose a reckless clown (ignoring the fact that more voters chose Ms Rodman Clinton), and the the bill came due in due course with thousands of lives lost due to a nefarious neglect of the most basic government functions.

I've been in the Tesla factory, with its level of automation and the amount of space in the building, they could easily come up with a plan to social distance, keep their employees safe and build cars.

Musk bragging about his "CHINA" factory...
Another reason NOT to buy a Tesla..

Rather than assume Tesla's reopening plan is not good, it's fairly easy to evaluate it based on their real world experience reopening their China factory where the outbreak started in the first place.

There's a good case to be made that Tesla is actually the best company to model a phased reopening since they've already done it successfully.

It seems to me that the county officials are looking at this reopening challenge through the wrong end of the telescope.

@Rebecca Eisenberg,
I have appreciated your posts and perspective, and thank you for running for Council.

To those clamoring to open up -- we are opening up. You're just spouting politicized rhetoric. No matter what we did or do now, things will not go back to the way they were. At least not like they would have if investments in things like public health or value of good governance, truth, a fairer economy, and coming together hadn't been so thoroughly savaged by a political party/movement on the right for so long.

The preamble to the Constitution begins with the words "We the People," and includes the ambition to "form a more perfect union" and "promote the general welfare." Just a reminder to those who swore to uphold the Constitution.

I believe that Elon is right and Bay Area leadership is not doing anything at all. We are not at hospital capacity and never needed to use field hospitals. Actually, now Stanford is doing elective surgery so not sure why we are not letting Tesla build cars. Public health officials are people with questionable capacity to lead us through this pandemic. Turns out this was true at all levels of leadership - federal, state, county and town. What is the proposal to reopen? None, no tracing plans, no idea how to go about it. The officials are not showing us the number of sick patients as the number is really low as visible from 51 hospitalized in San Mateo. So when I spend the month only meeting random people in grocery stores wearing a mask and not being able to tell who i ran into and who touched my supplies before me i get 30 cases per day in San Mateo. And if i go to work in a factory and stand next to one to two guys i know who they are and can contact trace how is that going to be much worse. At this point in 2000 poverty killed 500K people in the us. Let's see what it will do now that we have 30M unemployed. I do not want to feed them through Foodbank. Either the politicians figure out how to open us up or move over and let the business figure it out. Amazon had a case of Covid? Sure it did, it also had flu, hiv etc but did not have layoffs. SIP anyone retired and let the rest go back to work and take the risk. Public officials were supposed to sort out testing and PPE and they sorted out that we need another month to sort it out. Lets lay them off and sort it out with a different bunch. Too big of a questions for a unelected health care "Administrator" with no credentials to lead.

Those that expressing support for Eisenberg either haven't read her [portion removed] online rants or are part of her campaign team. She has repeatedly attacked those she disagrees with. [Portion removed.]

In regards to Tesla, they are one of the largest contributors of sales tax to the city. Presumably, they pay other taxes like utility tax and property tax as part of their bill like the rest of us. What other form of taxation should they pay to local communities?

Rebecca Eisenberg is a Stanford grad who also studied law at Harvard, with Elizabeth Warren, now a US Senator who ran for president.
Although a product of Silicon Valley, her mindset and methodology on policy and social issues is divergent and much broader (compared to, for example tech executives Eric Filseth and Tom Dubois).
Although arguably an elite, she fights like an underdog.
Leadership here does not seem to embrace or encourage her.
Although she did not get seated, her well-argued and detailed dissection of recent patterns of spoils took out the incumbent.
I think thousands of voters would choose her. And her participation would raise the level of discourse.
We need more people like Rebecca Eisenberg.

How interesting that Mayor Fine is more horrified about 2 residents playing tennis than about Musk's threatening the health of his employees. But appealing to business interests, esp. those with big bucks, has always taken precedence over responding to mere residents and our concerns.

@Talk is Cheap, you say “ investments in things like public health or value of good governance, truth, a fairer economy, and coming together hadn't been so thoroughly savaged by a political party/movement on the right for so long.”

You’re kidding, right? You mean like San Francisco, the cesspool of homelessness, drug addictions and mental health issues, feces in the streets kind of governance? Which, BtW has been FIRMLY entrenched and held by Democrats for 50+ years.

Own it.

By the way although this is a somewhat higher than average discourse for a thread of mostly anonymous posters on Palo alto weekly but: what about a little journalistic gumshoe work to actually report on the economic affects of corporations like Palantir Hewlett-Packard or Tesla having office space here or HQ.
My sense is it’s good for landlord but not so much for taxpayers or residents.

also: Isn’t there a proverb about how if your head is down fixated on the feces on the sidewalk you may fail to notice the beautiful ocean sky’s clouds trees hills of San Francisco?
I sometimes zip up there for a burrito —what is it that you do?

There is no vaccine. There has never been a vaccine for a coronavirus and there may never be one for this one. If one happens to be successfully developed and tested to be safe it could take several years. The virus will be around whether we open now in in some future date and deaths are sure to follow. The seasonal flu has had several vaccines.
Never the less people do die in the tens of thousands every year having taken the vaccine. A wait and see policy is unsustainable. Time to open was three weeks ago.

I for sure am not voting for any of the current administration in Santa Clara or CA. We have been in lock down for 2 months with no end in sight and for what. We have no spikes, we have ample hospital capacity, so what are we waiting for. I get it - till everyone is out of job and metal wreck

Good for Elon. California needs a kick in the pants about this.

This was originally supposed to be to "flatten the curve" but now it has taken on a life of its own that makes no sense. Sorry folks, the virus is here to stay. We have to live our lives and that always involves some risk. If you're scolding people about c19 but not activist about other risks then you are being dishonest about your own motives. That goes double for those of you who have decided to malign the intelligence of your fellow Californians who don't share your opinions.

Taking cues from a CEO, whose "success" relied on tax dollars from those
who could not afford the pricey cars, relies on taxes paid by other
drivers to maintain roads, and other business gaffes sets a bad example
in an already biased environment.

To reopen partially, letting people with virus mingle with others who cannot
find an N95 mask to protect themselves would be like telling drunk drivers
that it is ok to be on the road as long as you are careful - cloth masks,
loose, comfortable and stylish looks are not protective gear for virus.

If the CEOs were to demand that reliable testing be in place for everyone
as a condition to reopen, just as those privileged in the White House get
daily testing, even though it is faulty - then that would have displayed
maturity more becoming of a CEO. Alas, that would be too much to expect
from Tesla CEO. And, for the Mayor to not weigh the pros and cons but
proclaim his "pro" positions as a rationale shows the lack of critical
thinking and reasoning in public officials.

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I think we would have been better prepared for this pandemic if the internet had never been invented. Troll on, comrade.

Of the 45 comments here, only two people, myself and Eisenberg have signed our names and live in the community. Maybe “Marc Light” is a Facebook executive living in Boston or a tax preparer in San Jose. Maybe there are “Gus” and “John” who are our neighbors and participate somehow in civic life, in real life. But far all we know the other 30 or more comments are made by some KGB operative sitting in Siberia whose job it is to sow distrust and misinformation, and undermine Palo Alto’s election. And kill more Americans with the coronavirus.
Online names are unamerican.

@ Mark

Some of us,in the middle, still have to work for the Lunatic Liberals and the Crazy Conservatives that run this valley.

Hence the anonymity.

^ Can we use a screen name for our Covid screening test? Or am I stuck with Archie Leach?

Sfgate has summarized where counties are at in terms of moving to stage 2 of reopening as outlined by the governor. SF and Alameda are poised to go in that direction on May 18th. San Mateo talks about going even further sometime in mid-May. Santa Clara makes no projections and claims the need for testing and tracing at levels not justified by data. What does Sara Cody know that no one else does? Web Link

Elon adios. Dont let the door hit you on the way out.

@ Mark Weiss

You don't need to know my name. My words should be taken by the value of their content and character. My name is not necessary. If I can vote without making a public declaration of how I vote and my vote valued, then my words here can be valued, or not, without my name.

Nothing sinister, nothing threatening, just honest opinion which you can choose to agree with or disagree.

[Post removed.]

I read through most of the comments complaining about why the shelter in place orders are still around and cannot help but laugh at such bratty entitlement. The reason why the shelter in place is in order is to let the virus run itself out. If everyone stayed home for 3 weeks, the people who are infected would either recover, get hospitalized and helped, or die. People who did not have it would continue to not have it. But you had people breaking the SIP and getting together. So new infections kept occurring. If you wonder why SIP is continuing, it is because of antsy people like you who leave early, get infected, and then cause the problem that you are complaining about.

Thank goodness! Musk has created a perfect storm of political and business ambition.

Call in the journalists to report on what are the issues between Alameda Public Health officials and Telsa's production manager.

There is a prize winning story here on how not to resolve conflict.

@Cold bath SIP is not a way of having the virus run itself out. It can only do that in 1 of 3 ways. 1) Everyone catches it (either dies or develops immunity) 2) A vaccine is developed and everyone is vaccinated.
SIP was only done to prevent a run on hospitals and overwhelming hospital capacity.
Clearly, this is not happening with hospitals furloughing doctors and nurses.

To Mayor Fine and all other Mayors

Before jumping in head first on a life threatening matter, please tell us about the issues Musk cannot resolve with public health officials.

Active negotiations for Telsa public safety have been going on for a long time. Who would take a one-side opinion from Elon Musk? Trumpism must be contagious.

I expect you to be informed before suggesting a solution. You have a duty to tell us the basis of your recommendations. How much of your rational is economic recovery and how much is informed healthcare recovery?

Our fine mayor, with his many faults, does seem to understand that we as a region in the Bay Area, need to have our manufacturing industries up and running once again. The California economy is floundering. Whether it be large businesses such as Tesla, or small family run businesses, we cannot flounder any longer.

Get businesses up and running. Bring in rules to help not to hinder them. Allow the economy to flourish. Some will not make it. Some will be forced to move. Some will get by hanging on a thread. But getting the economy going is what will help us all to recover.

Recovering is not going to happen by prevention methods. Those who have been sheltering for 2 months are well. Keeping them healthy while they work and fulfilling the requirements of their jobs are still necessary. But getting the Bay Area back to work has to happen.

It seems that Mayor Fine understands this.

I trust people like Sara Cody (who are educated, responsible, knowledgeable and don't have an economic incentive in *either* direction) to make rational, well thought out decisions. I trust them more than I trust Elon $21B Musk, or Adrian Fine.

Everyone around here is a self-styled expert on how to deal with the virus and reopening, etc. And their opinions are just that -- opinions, mostly not based on science.

"Live free or die" is fine. "Live free and kill others" is not.

So put your lives in the hands of experts, not the armchair epidemiologists. As Reagan said, "Trust, but verify." Definitely negotiate, question, and try and understand the experts. But realize they know more about this than most of us.
And lives are at stake.

Yet the experts do not always know. We in Santa Clara County could not have the "gardeners" but could landscape because the "gardeners" do not live here, have to buy gas somewhere else, etc., etc. The "gardeners" and the landscapers are the same people. It took Santa Clara County a few weeks to figure that out. Duh!

Posted by Cold bath, a resident of Adobe-Meadow

>> The reason why the shelter in place is in order is to let the virus run itself out. [...] But you had people breaking the SIP and getting together. So new infections kept occurring. If you wonder why SIP is continuing, it is because of antsy people like you who leave early, get infected, and then cause the problem that you are complaining about.

Construction re-started last week, and, wouldn't you know it, I saw quite a few construction workers (remodels within walking distance) talking in small groups of 3-5 workers with no masks and their faces very close together.

And, over the weekend, I saw a number of small groups, clearly not household members, who were talking very closely with each other. A lot of people seem to think limited re-opening means re-lax.

As we "re-open" anything, whether a house remodel or a Tesla factory, workers need to be trained, and, monitored, to make sure that social distancing continues with people on the job. Socially, people still need to keep their distance. Yes, it is unnatural, but, otherwise, second-wave: Web Link

Dr Sarah Cody sounds like a very good doctor and knows her stuff very well when it comes to medical decisions.

However, she is not an economist and not a business owner.

I think her advice on how to prevent the public from getting infected is very valid. But her advice on how to organize the economy, run a business or to prevent people from going bankrupt is not fair on the public. Yes, let her give her input on what safety measures should be in the workplace/business, reduce contact, social distancing, screens, masks inside business, contactless payments, gloves, suggestions to close break rooms, use of hand sanitizers and extra handwashing, etc. are valuable.

On how to survive the pandemic from a business or economic standpoint, her advice is not valuable.

@coldbath please explain how my wanting to go back to work so that I can pay rent, buy food is “bratty entitlement”? Really, tell me.

The extremely low numbers no longer justify the extreme shut down. We must start to balance and get our economy started. If not the long term ramifications are disastrous.

Start slow, start smart, open back up. Let the salons and the restaurants and small businesses get back to work. Then monitor, watch and carefully back off when/if the numbers start to justify it. But we need to get back. Now.

Replying to above:
If you were voting, in comparison, you would have to prove your identity, vote under your own name, and only vote once.
Unlike TS or PAW -- here -- you would not be able to stand outside the voting booth and kibbitz or insult or state "Nothing sinister, nothing threatening, just honest opinion which you can choose to agree with or disagree".

So you are saying in your anonymity you are somewhere between a coward and a troll?

I agree with NB that this is a teaching moment, or an opportunity for journalists to do their jobs.
Also, there is some irony in this thread being based not on an event but a tweet. Comments about comments about comments.
And there is more irony in the fact that a foreign born CEO billionaire is calling We The People and our leaders "fascists" for not letting big business do what it will at whatever costs it chooses. (Duly noted that the company is named after a eugenics-nut).

In terms of the run-up for the local election, this is the exact place for deliberations and how events in China, Italy, Washington and Fremont relate to what we can, in theory, control here. And if Adrian Fine wants to be re-elected he's got to up his game considerably. Being mayor does not mean you can keep your council seat in a cake walk.

Yo, Adrian, show us what you got!

Land and labor costs are cheaper in Nevada.

@Mark Weiss
To support your view that people should not post anonymously you wrote
“ So you are saying in your anonymity you are somewhere between a coward and a troll?”

And there you have made the case for anonymity. When people can’t make a good case, they quickly turn to attacking the poster rather than the issue. You just did it yourself.

@Wake,
>you say “ investments in things like public health or value of good governance, truth, a fairer economy, and coming together hadn't been so thoroughly savaged by a political party/movement on the right for so long.”
You’re kidding, right? You mean like San Francisco, the cesspool of homelessness, drug addictions and mental health issues, feces in the streets kind of governance? Which, BtW has been FIRMLY entrenched and held by Democrats for 50+ years. Own it.


@Wake,
Speaking of owning it (and feces), how about you own the Republican responsibility for our national homelessness problem? When Republicans cause a problem and relentlessly make it impossible for those trying to fix it to do anything substantial, they still own it, despite how skillful they have gotten at fingerpointing and avoiding being responsible.

Far from being a 50+ year problem in SF, homelessness in SF grew a whopping 30% since 2017 — squarely under this national administration, which clearly is aware of it and believes they have all the answers — the Trvmp administration even sent out a representative to SF. So what did they do to help because of it? Mayor Breed asked the federal government for help, when the nation was experiencing the greatest economy ever, according to the potus. The homelessness problem in Washington DC has been even worse — again, what did the potus do about it except point fingers? Clearly, he was aware of it. What he never does is own it or do anything constructive. His behavior smacks of spending taxpayer money to look for things to lambast during the next campaign rather than solving problems for the least among us. (How many times has he visited the most populous state in the country during his campaign and since taking office? Maybe five times total including fundraising? Thereabouts? If this is such a problem, where was the federal government when the mayor asked for help?)

Why should “Democrats" own it? Republicans under Reagan birthed the national homelessness problem and linked it inextricably with mental illness, and sustained it with their made up economic ideology of trickle-down economics (read Reagan’s budget director David Stockman if you want to understand the “made up” part, he admitted it was made up for the sole purpose of cutting top tax rates), which has been hurting the 99% ever since. The Republican party has been the primary reason this country has the most expensive healthcare system in the world by far and the only one in the first world that doesn’t cover everyone. The Republican party has fought consumer protection and other means the public would otherwise have to protect against predatory capitalism, a primary reason people end up destitute. The greatest contributor to personal bankruptcies has been healthcare costs, and this in turn has had everything to do with the homelessness problem, both among the mentally ill and not. The conflation of mental illness and unrelated financial destitution has made addressing the problem almost impossible.

So no, Republicans do not get a pass on the national homelessness problem just because they have been so successful for decades at ensuring no one can change the national economy and policies to be less favorable only to the very tippy top and so oppressive to those at the bottom. And this administration doesn’t get a pass since the homelessness in those cities exploded under his watch, and especially since his policies have been so biased and steeped in partisan favoritism towards his potential voters and so punitive to blue states on the coasts.

The Repblican party birthed the homelessness problem of the mentally ill. It would be one thing if it had been solved since, or they had allowed Democrats in any of that time to legislate for the majorities who voted for them (let’s not forget that Republicans have gotten into office without winning the majority of votes for their last potuses, and they have stacked the Supreme Court for the entire 50 years with rulings that have been absolutely fawning of rich special interests). Especially when it comes to healthcare, which every other first-world country shows can be far cheaper, better, and can serve everyone.

See, Republicans know how to create these problems, and they know how to blame Democrats. They don’t seem to not know how to do anything constructive BUT blame Democrats, who usually are plenty busy cleaning up the last Republican devastation of the economy.

I’m really tired of people on the right creating problems, from Reagan’s birthing the homelessness problem that has been with us ever since, to the tanking of the economy under Bush Jr (after almost total domination by the right for two terms), and making Obama responsible for things not being fixed overnight even as he and his administration got us out of that Republican-led economic freefall with an unprecedented streak of growth.

This administration has been exploding deficits, caused farmers to lose their markets and farms on an unprecedented scale, put manufacturing in recession, levied brutal tax increases on millions of the middle class — just in states he didn’t like — all before the pandemic. But we are supposed to believe it was the greatest economy ever. A large swath of California middle-class won’t even get the stimulus check, because there is no cost-of-living adjustment in the limit (which Republicans ought to understand, given that they claim to understand capitalism and supply/demand).

So where have the Republicans in Washington been when the homelessness problem was exploding under this administration? Fighting against healthcare with the rest of the Republican party. Dividing the country rather than trying to unify to solve problems. Biasing policies against states they don’t like and for states they do. Actively trying to overturn elections of Democrats especially in western states while screaming about “coups” in order to avoid oversight of corruption. Pointing fingers at Democrats while not lifting a finger to do anything constructive.

Okay, okay, the recent bump in homelessness is just as much the result of Democrats buying the bankrupt arguments about BUILD! BUILD! BUILD! reducing housing costs despite ZERO examples of that working worldwide in in-demand job centers (kind of like Republican voters buying that Jesus would have been a greedy Republican as opposed to violently throwing them out of the church for exploiting it to make money), but the bankrupt Republican trickle-down economics and war on ordinary American prosperity and healthcare put us here and made the problem as intractable as it is.

Own it yourself. Whatever happened to Republicans taking “personal responsibility”? Oh, right. That was always another version of fingerpointing at others rather than taking responsibility themselves.

I’m not going to write an essay here but I’ll just say this. You’re tired of your perceptions, your issue. I’m tired of Democrats blaming everything on Reagan THIRTY YEARS AGO.

Again, Dems have controlled SF for 50+ years and the “progressive” policies have caused one of the most beautiful cities in the world to become a complete and absolute cesspool. And there is NO ONE but the Democrats to blame. Period. 50 years you’ve had it. Fifty years.

He's OWNING you right now.

I do wish we could discuss the inability of Santa Clara County to reopen. Other countries are setting up timetables with dates on when various activities can reopen and how things will look in the future. They are even talking about the return of professional sport, albeit without fans, in June. We on the other hand, have no timetable and no firm start for reopening anything.

If SCC can't get small businesses up and running soon, there will be no businesses left to reopen.

LOL, he isn’t OWNING me, that’s the funniest thing I’ve read all day! LOL!!! He didn’t respond about SF and classically deflected to that rambling litany.

He didn’t OWN anything. He failed to acknowledge and explain the complete and utter failure of the Democrats. Period. L...O...L.

Sooooooo Greg...is this what you do when you can't sell guns at your shop?

San Mateo and San Francisco just announced plans to enter phase 2 next week. What is going on with our county? New cases are down, hospitals are not filled with Covid patients. Are the other countries more ramped up on testing and tracing capabilities? I just don’t understand what Dr. Cody is waiting for. She has us on indefinite lockdown. I worry that as other countries are opening, our consumer dollars will migrate to the stores in cities that have opened.

@SW
What is going on is Sara Cody wants us to stay like this until we have a vaccine, which literally could be forever. If you don't like it, talk to elected officials. That is our only hope.

@Wake,
>I’m tired of Democrats blaming everything on Reagan THIRTY YEARS AGO.

If you’re tired of be blamed for Reaganomics, then stop inflicting your golden-calf worship of it on the rest of us TODAY, STILL, it’s destroying our country.

Your party has been stacking the Supreme Court for the last FIFTY YEARS, and you won’t let go, despite the majority of those years the electorate (whether won by Democrats or Republicans in the White House) majority vote was Democratic. Republicans had to STEAL a Supreme Court seat during the Obama years, and stack it with ultrapartisan angry rightwing-biased since. So don’t gripe about Reagan like that corrupt economic ideology isn’t still being actively inflicted on the MAJORITY of the rest of us.

If only the Reagan revolution stayed 30 years ago. Republicans have been, in their own words, trying to drown our government in a bathtub ever since, eviscerating public safety and public investment ever since — jacking up debt and deficits every time they get in to office by the way— attacking any attempt to bring healthcare into this country on par with other first-world nations, and most importantly, actively, aggressively, pushing the "permanent Republican majority" which is inherently anti-democracy every since. THIS WHOLE TIME. I have watched the infrastructure of our once shining example to the world crumble ever since. In many places, we look closer to a third world country today than the first-world proud well-kept nation we once were.

Your party has forsaken the basic principles of honor and fiscal responsibility ever since, sacrificing everything on the alter of top tax cuts and plutocracy. It goes on yet TODAY. If you don’t like being blamed for it STOP INFLICTING IT ON US. Even until very recently, Republicans have been actively trying to overturn states' elections by recall even while they were screaming bloody murder about "coups" to avoid any Constitutionally- and morally-mandated oversight of their ultra-corrupt lying unprepared divisive terrible manager leader, who still hasn't gotten the message that his 2016 campaign is over and the potus is supposed to be the public servant for everyone (not the imperious demi-God of only the minority who voted for him).


>"Again, Dems have controlled SF for 50+ years and the “progressive” policies have caused one of the most beautiful cities in the world to become a complete and absolute cesspool. And there is NO ONE but the Democrats to blame. Period. 50 years you’ve had it. Fifty years.”

I’m not going to defend what the Democrats have done to roll over for corporations’ push to densify the Bay Area, I have already conceded that point and the damage it has done. But your reaching back 50 years in regards to SF is just wrong. San Francisco was, until the tech companies overran it and pushed everyone else out, the most beautiful city in America. Under Democrats. Here’s an article from the conservative Daily Mail in 2010, notice it calls SF the beautiful city (many Europeans consider SF the only city worth calling beautiful in the country): Web Link
Again, all until very recently.

And again, homelessness has increased in SF by a whopping thirty percent since 2017, under the Trvmp administration, and while the current mayor asked for help with the homelessness problem. What exactly did the federal government do to help? What did they do to help with the major problem of lack of mental healthcare in this country — ongoing since Reagan, and yes, you own it since your party has so actively fought high-quality less-expensive universal healthcare which is clearly possible since the rest of the first world does it — they FOUGHT it.

I realize it’s all the rage for Republicans to take no responsibility for anything and do nothing but divide and attack their fellow countrymen, but you don’t get to keep attacking our nation and at the same time, blame all the problems that creates on everyone else. Well, you will, because blame and point fingers at everyone else seems to be the main feature of Republicans these days, but it’s wrong. The smooth and relentless lying started with Reagan, that's been going on for far too long -- how about giving THAT up and I'll stop complaining about it? The majority of people I know would vote for someone who was truly fiscally responsible in a heartbeat. Republicans haven't been that since Eisenhower, speaking of 60 years ago.

It seems like our county is so slow in every direction and can't make any reasonable decisions by itself. We said pretty adamantly that we wouldn't close schools until SF and San Mateo closed theirs, and then we did a quick about face and joined. San Mateo implemented masks first (and we still haven't except for our city). Now those counties reopen while we said pretty firmly on Tuesday that we're staying closed. I'm anticipating a quick cave on that too. I actually think we should go to phase 2 but I don't trust our the judgment of our own county officials much, good thing they have other counties to watch and copy.

COVID numbers as of May 13 (Web Link

United States population: 331,000,000
COVID DEATHS: 84,575
% death: .00025551

California population: 40,000,000
COVID DEATHS: 2,974
% death: .00007435

Santa Clara population: 2,000,000
COVID DEATHS: 130
% death: .000065

People. Honest to god....WAKE UP! [Portion removed.]

Psst, you're comparing apples to oranges and all the smart people see it. Just sayin'

[Post removed.]

My BIGGEST apologies, I cannot believe I did that but my percentages are off. Corrections:

US deaths vs population: .025551
California deaths vs population: .007435
Santa Clara County deaths vs population: .0065

I do not understand why anyone would take a percentage of deaths vs identified cases....that number is absolutely meaningless. We have NO IDEA how many have been infected but we DO know the likelihood is very high which then REDUCES the death rate even more!

Honestly, why do you want to make this out to be worse than it is?

According to CDC as of May 14:

Web Link

Number of cases: 1,384,930
Number of deaths: 83,947

6.1% of identified cases died.

Why take the percentage of identified cases versus deaths? Because first of all, isn't the US leading the world in testing, according to your leader? Are you contradicting him and saying that our testing isn't in very good shape and we can't identify most cases after all?

Secondly, even if we are off by an order of magnitude because of the abysmal leadership from Washington, that's still 2 million Americans needlessly dead because our leader is too impatient to come up with a different plan so we can deal with this in a way that saves hundreds of thousands or millions of American lives.

I want everyone else who witnesses this to understand, today you have people like this dismissing the deaths of tens or hundreds of thousands or millions of Americans as meaningless in light of keeping everything exactly as it was economically before this things happened, this thing that their leadership didn't want to spend money or thought preparing our nation for. Well, it's a pipe dream. Opening up doesn't make the virus go away nor will it get everything back to "normal."

Normal from now on should mean that we make investments in things like public health, so that in the future if something like this happens, we look more like Germany than like a third-world nation in our response and consequences. We run the economy for the majority of Americans, not for a privileged selfish few, so that the majority have a cushion when something like this happens.

I say "we", but it's going to have to mean Democrats stop being such fickle voters, and get out the vote for not just presidential races, but all races down the line in order for saner power balance. I can't believe I'm saying this, but we would be SO much better off if Pence were potus now if the Republicans had just done there job. He is spineless in the fact of his overlord, but he would at least be trying to do the right thing if he were boss.

It’s kind of a coincidence because I found it while looking for something else but here is a tape of a Facebook executive telling a crowd in Menlo Park, two years ago, that if they don’t start getting their way with the government they will pull out of silicon Valley and take the whole valley with them maybe to Oregon:

Web Link
(I am sort of pivoting or merging two other threads about Facebook but like tesla they prefer we keep our mouth shut and let the money flow towards them — Not too far from the image of humans being used to fuel the batteries of futuristic robot rulers; Are we human beings or humans being?)

We are leading the testing, we have done more than any country. I don’t know what the “right” amount of testing is TBH, I really don’t. Pretty sure no one does. So what if you test me today then to,or row I contract it....what good is that? Something just doesn’t seem right there.

SECONDLY, what are you talking about 2,000,000 dead?? The number is 84,500

I am in no way dismissing deaths and to suggest so is inflammatory and false. So just stop.

Yes we need better overall healthcare. Yes, we need to handle the homelessness, drug addictions and mental issues that have plagued SF since progressives instituted policy over the last years.

But don’t you dare imply that I dismiss the deaths of anyone. [Portion removed.]

I am sorry if this seems annoying or off-topic but there are obviously two threads in this one stream but I wish to point out that I made an indirect illusion to the movie the matrix and spoiler alert or fair warning humans being reduced to merely supplying plasma for the batteries of the robots our overlords. Yet the “” other” thread is about leader ship asking us to give blood or plasma millions and billions of times in the near future coming soon???
How much of our blood do you need for testing?

I forget whether it’s planet of the apes or the matrix but is there a backstory movie where an intermediate stage was better batteries!
His name is...musk? Is his assistant Amber Gris?

@ Wake up! “ I cannot believe I did that but my percentages are off. “

You are simply out of your depth. Best not struggle fabricating new numbers - it only further confuses your posts.

@ Talk is cheap sorry I went 36 hours without checking this thread.
Point well taken I did not ask exactly what the person meant when they said that if they use their name it would cause some type of disruption between they and their extremist bosses; should I say I prefer to read posts that are not cowardly or troll like I think the discussion though “is there a troll?” is a thing.
I admire your courage to post even though doing so could come back to haunt you.
On another thread i even offer to donate $1000 to charity if either the weekly would prove the truth in the tale being told or more directly if the teller parentheses Abba salon parentheses would unmask him or herself. And if you try to search engine this person you find likely a different person with a similar name, in prison or pleading. And it is much easier to find a famous 1200 word passage from William Faulkner from a book of a very similar name than it is to ascertain whether there is a human named Absalom
Also reminds me and this indeed is an attack on a public figure there was a somewhat robotic and cold council set of utterances and I compared them to a scene from a science-fiction movie wherevHarrison Ford is trying to figure out and they have a very specific name for the test not the Turing test if the other end of the conversation is robot or not.
And I was retaliating because I went to this person‘s office hour and they taped my interaction and knowing that they did I also taped it and I was startled to find edited out the part that I found most offensive. The guy or a robot or guy acting like a robot jumped up midsentence and said I have to be somewhere else not hearing that what I said was my “mother died last year and”
If having zero empathy for someone talking about the recently deceased mother is not robotic what would you call it?

Kind of reminds me if you excuse the digression and I’m sure hear it comment number 60 most people have a lot of time on their hands there is a section from a leaf Batuman the Idiot where she is paraphrasing NABA cough discussing mathematics and claims that initially math was a very crude approximation for reality 123 Many where is now math can describe an Endo skeleton of a world and is more real than the world. I mean in the sense that we build robots yet they are building us and likewise someday auto correct will become actual speech

@Wake,

>SECONDLY, what are you talking about 2,000,000 dead?? The number is 84,500

You are the one who has insisted on comparing the number of deaths that has occurred to this point under shutdowns to the total population of the United States, 331,000,000, and then asking why it's relevant to give the percentage of deaths as the number who have died versus number infected.

If every one of those 331,000,000 people you brought up were infected, at a 6% death rate, that's 20 million dead. If you assume an order of magnitude lower death rate or lower number infected, i.e., only 1/10th of American's get infected, that's 2 million dead.

2 million is only just over half of one percent of the population. If you want everything to open up, and you want to compare the number who have died versus the entire population of the US (most of whom haven't been infected because of mitigations), then intellectual honesty dictates that you consider more of the population will become infected and what those deaths will look like. Assuming, of course, that there is no mutation that makes it more infectious or deadly if it is allowed to spread more broadly.

Another poster suggested herd immunity, which is ludicrous of course because herd immunity is what you do with vaccinations, not by giving everyone a deadly disease when a vaccination is on the horizon. But if herd immunity is achieved by the 90-ish percentile you would expect with vaccination, at a 6% death rate, that's almost 18 million people dead. If you assume it only requires 20% of the population, that's still almost 4 million dead. What do you think that's going to do to consumer confidence?

It seems to me you and your partisan party-over-country-ers are just looking for a way to twist this economic crisis around to blame it on your fellow Americans rather than on a pandemic, the lack of preparedness and consequences of the tremendous wealth gap and lack of a universal low-cost high-quality healthcare system as every other first-world nation in the world except our has because your party won't let us. As usual, you expect your opponents to be the adults in the room who pick up the pieces while you rail and bully and do what you want regardless of who else is hurt. Then just blame the consequences of what you do on everyone else anyway.

We are NOT leading the testing. That ship has sailed. First of all, we are not leading per capita, and we didn't even close to lead in the early days of the pandemic when it would have made a difference like in some of the countries who handled this better than we did. Lying about our leading in testing over and over again does not make it so. (How much taxpayer money was spent on those banners? They weren't necessary. There is a 39ish% of the country who will believe the potus poops unicorn glitter if he says so.)

You claim you aren't dismissing deaths, but you're the one above you compared the number dead against the entire uninfected population of the country and suggested we had nothing to worry about in opening up, that we should just move forward and let upsurges in DEATHS guide us to back off. As Dr. Anthony Fauci said (and I trust his credentials better than yours), if this thing is allowed to surge, we may not be able to get control of it again. Again, not exactly good for the economy.

Where did WE the people go? You and your party seem only to care about power and how to blame others instead of being responsible, fiscally or otherwise.

In 1918, the virus hit people in their prime. I have heard analyses that this was probably something coming around that had hit old people and children hard the prior year. Prisoners volunteered for a study, and were voluntarily inoculated -- they were fine, probably because of what had gone through the prison the year before.

What if history repeats itself, because of people like you who are so focused on getting things back the way they were when, again, that ship has sailed because the pandemic is still with us (not in small part due to the lack of early testing that was promised and not delivered), you will simply find a way to deflect and blame it on others. Speaking of the need to stop it.

Comments on Tesla - it's headquarters are in the hills. We had a large city party there one year - very nice party. That means it's tax base is centered at the headquarters. The factory is in Fremont so they also get a tax base jump. They are employing people who increase the commercial/private sector state base vs the government employee base. The paper had an article about how much the state provides to the federal government vs how much it receives from the federal government. Worst case was the state of Maryland - they are almost 100% supported by federal and state government dollars. One could construe them as the " deep state". CA is about equal in how much it gives to the feds in taxes vs how much it receives but that is going to slide downhill now.

I am beginning to think that there is more to this delay than appears. If you suck the blood out of the economy then more people will move which appears to be a goal of a number of industries in the county and state. A lot of very rich people are going to be buying a lot of distressed property at very low rates. I am getting calls to sell my house for CASH. No - not going to happen right now but a lot of energy right now on the buying and selling of property. Scare people to death and other states look really good - like Florida.

As to the city, county, and state government those employees are government employees - that includes teachers. So think about how the cost of government gets inflated by hiring and keeping non-essential people vs the commercial world in which they are contributors to the state and federal government tax base. And those are the employees that are getting laid off.

Tesla has the right idea - move that factory to Texas. Better deal for him and the employees. Most manufacturing companies have moved out of state. So who do we have but the tech folks who just plunk away on a computer building APPS. Not a lot of union type work, and a lot of H1b employees who cost less. So there is some gaming going on here while everyone is virtue signaling.

I am a big fan of James Michner epic novels. For the younger people he takes a location and goes into the evolution and history from a societal POV. Many made into movies and plays. Hawaii, Tales of the South Pacific. All in the world of WW2 and it's after affects. "Poland" was the bread basket of the European location with well oiled process for supply chain management regarding farming. Very successful. When Poland was taken over by the Communist they wanted the steel and metal so the farmers were left with no tools for farming. The Supply Chain was broken. That impoverished the general population who were then reduced to standing in lines to get food.
We are looking now at the supply chain for food and manufacturing getting broken down. Not good.

Glad to report today that DT is providing a huge amount of funding to the agricultural segment of the population. The goal is to make sure that the food chain and supply chain is maintained. That is the pigs, chickens, cattle, potatoes, soybeans, etc. Also to make sure that there are no crops that are plowed under - that food will go to those who need it. And those cute pigs will not be killed.

On the real estate front the Ace hardware building and building next door have been bought by our local group - Perry. When the leases run out on those businesses are yet to be guaranteed a space there. We should be tracking the sale of properties now to help gauge the impact of this economy shutdown.

A side note - I used to go over to the coast to a berry picking farm. You picked the berries then paid by the pound. I would then freeze them in baggies. I am reading where there is an apple picking farm over in the apple growing area. So why are those farmers over in Watsonville plowing there crops under? They need to advertise what they have and people will come pick what they want and pay by the pound. To me plowing under sounds like a tax gimic when you know that people will come and pick those items. It sounds like more gaming the system.

And Mark - Oregon is not the place to be heading for a manufacturing business. But lots of tech in the Lake Oswego area. Check out the housing costs in Texas - much better tax base for business.

As we start reopening, the squirrel rodent world has seen a surge
in roadkills, and issued a stay-at-home order until the death rate
flattens. They do not have PPE for everyone to run across the traffic
roads. The model predicts peak roadkill rates in 2 to 4 weeks, if the
social distancing and stay-at-home order is followed. There are a lot
of nuts out there, so download the contact tracing app.

@Resident-1

"That means it's tax base is centered at the headquarters. "

In looking at companies paying property taxes in Palo Alto, Tesla doesn't appear anywhere. They are probably leasing from a landlord who is paying a pittance because the property hasn't changed hands in forever. Tesla benefits from being in the heart of Silicon Valley, in a great location for people commuting, near the Tesla outlet in Palo Alto (where it's customers are), it's a reasonable question whether this headquarters there is providing any taxes to Palo Alto. I don't think it is.

The Tesla showrooms might be, but Tesla benefits from having those showrooms where the customers are. That has nothing to do with whether we should care whether the headquarters is in Palo Alto. So far, I have seen nothing at all to indicate that Tesla headquarters in Palo Alto benefits the City at all, nor warrants the mayor kowtowing and once again representing the tech celebrity culture and corporations rather than residents of the city.

Happy to be corrected, but not with speculation. The question remains: does Tesla headquarters benefit Palo Alto at all? There is no business tax, and they aren't paying property taxes for that property, they contribute commuter traffic and congestion, cut through neighborhoods, etc. I bear them no ill will, but his threat began by including both headquarters and the factory, and the headquarters was quietly dropped from the threat. Again, still wondering if they contribute anything that we residents should care whether they leave.

I was deleted from this thread for tongue-in-check pointing out that it reminds me of the movie "The Matrix" if you read the covid-19 thread and the tesla thread simultaneously.
Yet today The New York Times reports that Tesla's weirdo founder actually used the same basic metaphor, the red pill, to rally his supporters. So once again, I've scooped the Weekly.
Web Link

Ok, I was claiming that if the simulation were true, or we were indeed destined for a future of robot overlords that we should watch how much tissue is taken in testing, but still is was very Neo Eno for an eon. Taking Tesla Mountain by Stragedy.

Many corporations use the state of Delaware as their legal incorporation point because that state provides the best legal basis for litigation. Tesla has a complex in SOCAL for it's Space=x product. You all may be right that Tesla merely leases the space up in the hills. That is Property Taxes. However they have a large population of workers in the state of CA so they have to be filing a tax return for the business portion run in the state overall. They are contributing to the state income and state disability taxes. And their employees are filing tax returns which contributes to the state and federal tax base.

It is reported in the WSJ that he is selling his home in the vicinity and home in SOCAL. The battery portion of the business is in Nevada. If the major inventory for the product is in CA then that is part of his reporting. His corporate reporting includes the Work in Process so the company benefits the state.
Back to Palo Alto - not clear. City manager knows the answer. The supposed plan is that the state receives state taxes which are then floated out in the budget for schools and infrastructure. Now we have to question if that is actually happening. Many decisions being made which put voted on taxes back into the general fund which then gets put elsewhere.

Posted by Mark Weiss, a resident of Downtown North

>> Yet today The New York Times reports that Tesla's weirdo founder actually used the same basic metaphor, the red pill, to rally his supporters.

Web Link

If Elon is taking the red pill, moving Tesla HQ to Huntsville, AL, would be a natural. Alabama is one of the reddest states. DT had several of his most famous rallies there, NASA MSFC is there-- that is the NASA propulsion center (SpaceX, etc.), and people don't question plutocracy in Alabama. Texas and/or Florida may go "blue" one of these elections, but Alabama? Never.

WRT COVID-19, Elon famously said (March 19th), "Based on current trends, probably close to zero new cases in US too by end of April".

Web Link

I wonder if
X Æ A-12
would be a legal name in Alabama. That could clinch the deal.

I have to laugh if people think that Florida will go blue. People move to Florida to avoid the heavy taxes in NY State and CA. I now have a lot of CA friends that live in Florida. They love it and cannot figure out why I am here. I am 4th generation CA and hope that it will return to sensibility concerning it's tax base.

The CA government ruined this state by shutting down the military bases that built planes and ships. And the cities - SF that shut down their port system. SF appears to be cutting it's own throat. And it drives out manufacturing. That is the basis of the 'diverse" population which is now stuck with no blue collar jobs. And shut down all of the businesses that provide jobs for a diverse population. All you got is a bunch of Tech people plunking away in their homes because they do not build a product. At least Hollywood in it's weird way is producing something entertaining. Do not discount that the US Navy has a presence in San Diego. You need to look at the state overall.
Cape Canaveral is in Florida - I have been there for launch which is a major tourist attraction. Don't discount Florida as the place where a diverse population can find a job to support their families.

My work is music -- I was profiled in these pages by Yoshi Kato on 3/13/20 about my concert series in Mitchell Park plus I ran for City Council in 2009 on an "arts platform" so permit me to circle back to #Anon with an arts point, or two rather. To wit:
1) regarding Huntsville, AL, I've been there, on tour with the black piano player Henry Butler, driving out from New Orleans for a two night stand. I recall a very tall blondish fellow wearing preppy clothing putting his arm around my shoulder and saying "Do we make you nervous?" I think he was alluding to all the tall preppy people; Elon would love it there, or they'd love him;
2) Elon's baby-mom or partner or wife is a performing artist named Grimes who mixes music and technology. She is similar to a Stanford PhD named Holly Herndon, minus the fact that Holly has a PhD and got the f_ out of Kansas and lives in Berlin and is partnered at least creatively with another computer theorist and has a podcast named Interdependence.
I would rather Santa Clara Valley / Palo Alto do more to attract or retain creatives like Holly Herndon and let the strict-uber-capitalists fly to the moon.

I noted in the papers today that CA is losing population for a number of reasons - the boomer population is on it's way to heaven. Young people with families are moving to other states that have much lower housing cost and lower tax base. Legislator in San Diego - Tony Atkins is taking up the housing debacle on the move to break up the single family housing zones in cities and suburban towns. She is part of the Weiner group busy destructing the state. That is all based on the theory that the population in the state will increase. Evidence says that is not so. And if the Gov keeps every one on a tight leash then you can expect that the desirability of living in CA will fly out the door. And if you are working on the theory that immigration will fill that gap then think again. The move now is that each country get up to speed on providing the housing, health and education within so that people want to stay in their country. The world goal now is that each country gets the knowledge base to provide a living for the people within. And since our universities are pursuing virtual classrooms then the incentive for foreign people to come to school here is also flying out the door. Foreign students pay more so why come.

Noted in the paper today is Tulare County which is defying orders and opening. The central valley cities are based on diverse spaced populations and are not at high risk for illness. The risk resides in having their farm country gutted out financially which puts them up for grabs by outside agencies. Dole is based in Westlake Village, SOCAL. Del Monte is based in Walnut Creek. Both are mega world-wide growers and are heritage companies to the older east coast mega companies. Both are no longer on the stock exchange so their books and investors are not obvious. So there lies the rub - we know who their investors are. The gutting of real estate needs to have a light shown on it.

More on Tulare County - the opinion sections of the paper are peppered with opinions regarding any and everything that they can attribute to DT - in a negative fashion.
My father and aunt grew up in Tulare. Aunt went to UC Berkley and father went to SU where he majored in Journalism. On the SU paper sports page then on to SF newspapers after graduation. Aunt was most favored teacher in the high school system with a great football team. I remember going to visit the grandparents in AG country to see all of the great crops and animals that were in our state.

We live in the tech section of the state and I wonder if the children growing up here have any idea where food comes from - other than the local market - and the huge amount of value in the land, equipment, time and energy required to get food items from the valley floor to the table. Dianne Feinstein knows as she has a group of "corporate farm" people that helps to focus where our water is going. Gov Newsome knows - he has agriculture in his back pocket of revenue generating projects, as does the Pelosi family. While Nancy is busy in DC the other parts of the family are working the financial side of the farming industry - both within state and internationally.
People sitting in tech world that spend their time writing apps and stay home from work think the world starts and stops where they are. Zuck has told his FB people they can work from home - FB appears to be going through some strange transformations right now so the stay at homes need some more guidance.

Meanwhile Zuck is busy buying the island of Kauai. Mr. Oracle has bought the island of Lanai. Mr. Dell is busy on the big island in the same high level development as the Pelosi family who have a long time investment in the region. He is rebuilding a resort that got wiped put in a hurricane. And Mr. Gates's compound is on the big island in the Kona harbor area where he can bring in his yacht.

And DT has nothing to do with the great long range development of the state resources - your state government and tech people have everything to do with the water resources and land ownership in this state. Like the land of OZ - there are many wizards behind the curtain. And this pandemic is creating strange opportunities to move the pieces around on the monopoly board. And they are doing that.
Bottom line is the supply chains of all of the industries in this state - be it technical, commercial, or AG cannot be broken down now. And the people who move the industry in this state - in this region - in this tech industry - are also very invested in the AG world.

Yes - talk is cheap. Read the Opinion Section of your local papers - the SJM and SFC.
A person in Oakland is casting disgust and vitriol on the County of Tulare for opening up. Note to reader - Oakland's pot industry is defined as "essential". So the only agriculture product grown in Oakland is pot - and whatever other strange product they can hide in the hot houses. Apparently the lady opinion maven eats pot for breakfast, lunch and dinner. That opinion maker has no idea where food comes from - that is Safeway's job. And kudo's to Safeway - went to their store in the evening and it was fully stocked with all of your favorite products and lots of fruit and vegetables, all now coming into season. Apricots, plums, etc. Now that is the Safeway that I have wallowed in, admiring the Dole bananas. All arriving from your favorite Central American port in Guatemala. They use a ship that has refrigeration for perishable products.

Now I read the daily shipping news - it tells you what ships are arriving and which are departing. Thank you Oakland for retaining your heritage function for shipping. There is the Jones Act which states that any product shipping out of Hawaii to the mainland must be on a US owned ship line. Hello Matson - visit Filoli - The Ross family owned the Matson line at one point and donated their home to the National Trust. You can now visit by a reservation system - go to their web-site. Go see the great produce they grow on their property for educational purposes. And the great flower presentations.

Looking back at the comments made the blame game is on. Everyone is trying to score some points for a D or an R. Where I see today is that the Governor of this state from Day 1 - in his state of the state speech has been taking on the Federal Government - President in every way possible. He has been working on the dynamic that this state could secede from the US and be just fine. And the state AG has been busy suing everyone out there - including other states - if they do not agree with the CA "vision". It is like mimicking other governments which have a cartel running the show. The Sanctuary City originator probably terrorized the aging Gov.Brown, but Newsome let him do that. What a mess. And now San Jose is taking on the clean-up of the gang world. Big gangs in LA.

So the worm has turned - who could have imagined this all would have happened - except Gates who was giving Ted talks on the subject years ago. So the argument in part is the narrative that CA is a mighty powerful force and the Gov has taken control. Or the bottom is falling out and now it is the Feds job to provide funding. And maybe people are not filling out the Census so we may lose a representative in congress while other states are increasing their populations and will get another seat.
A lot of cards are on the table. And the counties that all have a different mix of tax bases have to play their cards based on the tax base of their counties. This is not a one size fits all situation. And the Federal Government is letting the states exercise their authority over their locals. Every state has been required to display their elective leadership. And like Poland - when you let in party leaders who are just aping the party line but have no experience in how a country works then you get into trouble.

Banking in the world of the FLU. I get paper billings on the transactions on my charge cards. This process has been going on for years up until the month of March. Suddenly the main on-line "Cardmember Services" in Carol Stream, IL stopped sending paper. But they flooded my computer with all of the great advantages of on-line banking. In the meantime they charged my a late fee and service charge because I did not respond in a specified time period. So we are now arguing that point. I am now assuming that the cardmember services employees - like FB - are sitting in their own homes plunking away on your banking information. - Not good and not secure. And how about those FB sign-in pushes for using their site for donations? Now that definitely has some problems - again someone is sitting in their apartment marshaling your banking information regarding donations. They need to go into your charge card or bank statement to do that. Think about that one.

I wish the strange news would stop - but it does not. Giant fire on the SF wharf where the fishing industry is centered. All of their equipment was stored in a wharf that burned down. All is lost. The rationale for not having the overhead sprinklers was that the wharf used to be a parking garage. So think about that excuse. If the wharf caught fire and a lot of high end cars were destroyed then they would be sued by everyone. So the overhead sprinkler system should have been a requirement no matter what was stored in the wharf facility. This is like the Oakland Ghost ship fire.
I hope that every city of the peninsula is checking their facilities to make sure they are up to code regarding fire safety regulations. That is something that every city needs to allocate some money to. That includes SU and all of their facilities of varying age. We all have a lot to worry about - the flu being one of those worries, but keeping code up to date for safety of people is also one of those important city jobs.

On the science channel yesterday was a lengthy program on the upcoming Space=X flight out of Cape Canaveral - coming up this week. They showed a previous flight using a dummy to monitor the body activity and the ability of the unit to connect to the space station. All systems go. Also a lengthy bio on Tesla from childhood up. He helped crate PayPal where his original fortune came from.

He is an excellent presenter and it is clear that his interest is now focused on the Space-X Program located in Hawthorne. Hawthorne is directly east of Manhattan Beach and the other beach cities. Most of the higher level staff lives in that specific area which has other "defense' contractors whose efforts are directed at space programs. He has big plans for the growth of that facility. Excellent show. It is clear that he transcends the R and D politics and is working his programs. Now that is where he needs to live. A lot of the LA Lakers live in that vicinity so its fits his emerging interests. He is a showman - so Hollywood and the sports media is a good fit.

The Space-X launch was scrubbed due to bad weather. But it is now scheduled for 30 May - Saturday. If you watch the Discovery Channel there is a huge amount of background information and footage on the development of this product and related programs. The Space-X facility in SOCAL - Hawthorne is in the hub of the company Space Programs that got shut down in previous decades. Our local Ford Aerospace helped build the Houston Control Center. Jet Propulsion Labs is in Pasadena. Every major company had a contribution to these major efforts. And now the huge population of people that were involved in the space programs are cheering on.

It is unfortunate that it is being politized. That is unnecessary. Tesla is in the aerospace world now and that appears to be a SOCAL industry that is being reinvented. And Cape Canaveral is getting attention and business, and a huge amount of tourists. And our own local contributions through Ford Aerospace, and SSL has gone from our local environment. Chalk up another loss for our local economy.