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Author Topic: corona pandemic~  (Read 504039 times)

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Offline glenn57

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Agreed. It's gone overboard in some cases. Listening to the monotonous drone of the nattering nabobs of negatvism on TV doesn't cut it. And a guy's gotta do something. Can't go anywhere to eat so I gotta get the wife something for her birthday today. Got some Cabelas points so perhaps a new fishing rod or if I wanna go all out, maybe a .243!  :happy1:

I think they closed Cabala's down?     :pouty:  It's Bass Pro Shop now!   :rotflmao: :rotflmao:
i just drove by there.......and it aint closed from the amount of cars in the lot!!!!!!!
2015 deer slayer!!!!!!!!!!

Offline Rebel SS

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                                             :reporter;     ;)

Offline glenn57

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Just got done reading the local paper.  The County Commissioners had an emergency meeting to deal with the issues now at hand.  One comment they made was that they wish the State would close the walleye season to end all of these people from all over coming up here and spreading the virus.  As a remote community if it got a stronghold here we would be in deep trouble.  I also wish they would keep it closed to prevent the overthrow of the area by fisher people here at ice out on the river.
our county commisioners pretty mush shut down alot of there stuff to.
2015 deer slayer!!!!!!!!!!

Offline glenn57

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Seriously...how would they close down the river?
Close it down to Walleye fishing the open water when they are spawning. Lots of big girls caught and miss handled.
yea i'd like to see the tribes abide by this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :doofus:
2015 deer slayer!!!!!!!!!!

Offline Rebel SS

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Offline glenn57

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2015 deer slayer!!!!!!!!!!

Offline Rebel SS

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$10 toilet paper? Coronavirus gouging complaints surge in US

By REESE DUNKLIN and JUSTIN PRITCHARD
Updated: March 19, 2020 02:42 PM
Created: March 19, 2020 11:52 AM

One store advertised hand sanitizer at $60 a bottle. Another was accused of hawking it at $1 a squirt. Chain stores offered $26 thermometers and face masks at the "everyday low price" of $39.95 a pair, while a convenience store touted toilet paper at $10 a roll next to a sign reading: "This is not a joke."

Across a country where lines are long, some shelves are empty and patience is thin, authorities are receiving a surge of reports about merchants trying to cash in on the coronavirus crisis with outrageous prices, phony cures and other scams. An Associated Press survey of attorneys general or consumer protection agencies nationwide found reports already exceeded 5,000, with hundreds more arriving daily.

"Greed is a powerful motivator for some people," said Josh Stein, the attorney general of North Carolina, where the number of reports jumped from 72 to 131 one day earlier this week. "It is inexcusable to prey on people in a vulnerable time to make a quick buck."

AP's 50-state survey is the most comprehensive look so far at the emerging problem. In all, 41 states responded with numbers that included both tips and formally filed complaints against mom-and-pop stores and big-box retailers alike.

This combination of March 11, 2020 photos made by investigators with the Michigan Attorney General's Office shows a $4.47 shelf price sticker for a gallon of Clorox bleach and $8.99 on a price scanner for the same item at a Menards store in Jackson, Mich. (Michigan Attorney General's Office via AP)
This combination of March 11, 2020 photos made by investigators with the Michigan Attorney General's Office shows a $4.47 shelf price sticker for a gallon of Clorox bleach and $8.99 on a price scanner for the same item at a Menards store in Jackson, Mich. (Michigan Attorney General's Office via AP)

AP
AP's count is certainly low also because it only includes cases in which someone went online or called to register a grievance. Many others went to the court of social media to vent their outrage.

"STOP SHOPPING HERE!!" one woman blared on Facebook next to cellphone photos of a Southern California grocery charging $6.98 for a gallon of milk and $14.99 for cheddar cheese. "There are families out there who really need groceries and they're overcharging."

Beyond AP's state count, individual cities are carrying out efforts to prevent exploitation. New York City alone has received more than 1,000 complaints, issued 550 violations and imposed $275,000 in fines for price gouging - including one case in which a store was accused of selling bottles of Purell at $79 each. Among the items the city is preventing stores from jacking up the prices on: aloe vera and rubbing alcohol, the ingredients that can be combined to make hand sanitizer.

Some states refused to share how many reports they've received and several rural states said they had none. Those that did are still checking out many of the claims. While some have gone to court against sellers, others have determined cases didn't meet their legal standard for price gouging, which generally involves an increase of more than 10%.

Many states said they try to resolve reports not by pursuing fines or criminal charges but by confronting the retailer, which typically apologizes and lowers the price.

In Maine, investigators had photographic evidence from a shopper showing the $10 rolls of toilet paper. In Tennessee, where state lawyers forced two brothers to stop selling the more than 17,000 bottles of hand sanitizer they had hoarded, investigators checked out a tip that a store was charging $1 for each squirt.

There were reports of overpriced rice in Wisconsin and potatoes in Idaho. In Connecticut, a seller reportedly inflated the cost of medical masks 10 times over the normal value. One couple in Ohio reported that a thermometer they bought for $8 at a national chain store cost $26 two days later.

"This is so wrong at a time of crisis," the wife wrote in her report about the thermometer. "Contact them and tell them they can't do this."

Pennsylvania, which with more than 1,200 reports earlier this week had the most in the nation, created an email address dedicated to complaints. Oregon launched a price-gouging hotline this week. Oklahoma's attorney general is shifting agents to its consumer protection unit.

A small slice of reports involved not high prices but false claims that products or services can detect or even cure the virus, which in most people causes only mild or moderate symptoms but can be deadly for some. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved no treatments or vaccines, and the National Institutes of Health says no scientific evidence exists to suggest alternative remedies help.

That hasn't stopped the likes of televangelist Jim Bakker pushing treatments with tiny silver particles and conspiracy theorist and Infowars host Alex Jones advertising toothpastes, creams and other products on his radio show. Both were targets last week of cease-and-desist letters from New York's attorney general, and the federal government has sent seven warning letters over false claims.

In Michigan, where reports spiked from 363 on Tuesday morning to 572 Wednesday, Attorney General Dana Nessel's office issued cease-and-desist letters instructing businesses and online sellers to correct their pricing or risk further action.

One went to an Ann Arbor cleaning store that used its Twitter account to advertise Purell at prices that soared from $7.50 for one large bottle to $60 in mere days. After customer backlash, the retailer called the tweeted advertisement a "false post" and lowered the prices.

Another warning letter went to the home improvement chain Menards. Some of its stores doubled the price of a gallon of Clorox bleach to $8.99 and offered two types of 3M respirator masks for an "everyday low price" of $39.95 a pair - more than four times what Home Depot advertised.

"I'm very disappointed with Menards' choice of actions during this uneasy time," one man who believed he was overcharged for bleach wrote in an affidavit.

Menards spokesman Jeff Abbott said in a statement that the Wisconsin-based chain considered the Clorox price reasonable because the product had a higher bleach concentration that would last customers twice as long. The statement didn't address the respirator masks.

"We are disappointed and are taking this very seriously," Abbott said.


Authorities in states including Florida were forwarding to the nation's online retail giants - including Amazon, Walmart and eBay - reports that third-party sellers on their sites were overcharging.

In a statement, Walmart spokesman Kevin Gardner said the company is "taking a firm stance" against possible price gouging on its Marketplace site. Walmart's policy calls for removing listings that are unfairly priced.

On Wednesday, a bipartisan group of House lawmakers urged the Justice Department - which has so far focused on false claims rather than high prices - to police price gouging so that people "have access to the items they need to protect themselves, their families, and their communities."

In an AP interview this week, Attorney General William Barr pledged that the Justice Department would "come down hard" on profiteers so they are not "taking advantage to further hurt the American people."
« Last Edit: March 03/19/20, 03:10:44 PM by Rebel SS »

Offline Bobberineyes

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Another pandemic brewing up here, city owned liquor stores are shutting down. Lord help us if the rest shut down.. :tut:

Offline Reinhard

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I think that's BS.  But if they do you can get booze and beer online.  good luck.

Offline Rebel SS

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If they do that, which I doubt, things'll  get ugly fast. I would hope they realize that.
If they announce that, they just put a run on the booze. Compound the problem.

Offline mike89

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If they do that, which I doubt, things'll  get ugly fast. I would hope they realize that.
If they announce that, they just put a run on the booze. Compound the problem.

I think that's already started...
a bad day of fishing is still better than a good day at work!!

Offline Rebel SS

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Wanna make a beer run with me? We can get lotsa cases in the truck.... :rotflmao:

Offline roony

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I don't do a lot of boozing any more but I got a good supply if I decide to restart.

Offline Rebel SS

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I wish I could! Had to put my feet up and settle for a frosty mug of A&W last nite!  Works for me! Shoulda put a scoop of ice cream in it! :toast:
I know the booze stores deliver, so it really shouldn't be an issue.
« Last Edit: March 03/19/20, 06:07:20 PM by Rebel SS »

Offline glenn57

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Another pandemic brewing up here, city owned liquor stores are shutting down. Lord help us if the rest shut down.. :tut:
meh, boober if they shut them down we,ll just go down to Dotchs and wait till the bulk tanker truck comes. :happy1:
2015 deer slayer!!!!!!!!!!

Offline Jerkbiat

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We did like HD last Friday and stocked up on beer. Bought 10 cases. Get 10% off when you do that too.
Hey look your bobber is up!

Offline Rebel SS

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With no one supposed to be out and about, and all that wood available,  mebbe if ya got a boiler and some copper tubing, and a drip chamber......naaa.   :rotflmao:   :police:

Offline Rebel SS

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Offline mike89

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We did like HD last Friday and stocked up on beer. Bought 10 cases. Get 10% off when you do that too.

did the same thing here...
a bad day of fishing is still better than a good day at work!!

Offline Coffee118

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I saw this article on FB

I talked with a man today, an 80+ year old man.  I asked him if there was anything I can get him while this Coronavirus scare was gripping America.

He simply smiled, looked away and said:

"Let me tell you what I need!  I need to believe, at some point, this country my generation fought for... I need to believe this nation we handed safely to our children and their children...

I need to know this generation will quit being a bunch of sissies...that they respect what they've been given...that they've earned what others sacrificed for."

I wasn't sure where the conversation was going or if it was going anywhere at all.  So, I sat there, quietly observing. 

"You know, I was a little boy during WWII.  Those were scary days.   We didn't know if we were going to be speaking English, German or Japanese at the end of the war.  There was no certainty, no guarantees like Americans enjoy today. 

And no home went without sacrifice or loss.  Every house, up and down every street, had someone in harm's way.  Maybe their Daddy was a soldier, maybe their son was a sailor, maybe it was an uncle.  Sometimes it was the whole damn family...fathers, sons, uncles...

Having someone, you love, sent off to war...it wasn't less frightening than it is today.  It was scary as Hell.  If anything, it was more frightening.  We didn't have battle front news.  We didn't have email or cellphones.  You sent them away and you hoped...you prayed.  You may not hear from them for months, if ever.  Sometimes a mother was getting her son's letters the same day Dad was comforting her over their child's death.

And we sacrificed.  You couldn't buy things.  Everything was rationed.  You were only allowed so much milk per month, only so much bread, toilet paper.  EVERYTHING was restricted for the war effort.  And what you weren't using, what you didn't need, things you threw away, they were saved and sorted for the war effort.  My generation was the original recycling movement in America.

And we had viruses back then...serious viruses.  Things like polio, measles, and such.  It was nothing to walk to school and pass a house or two that was quarantined.  We didn't shut down our schools.  We didn't shut down our cities.  We carried on, without masks, without hand sanitizer.  And do you know what?  We persevered.  We overcame.  We didn't attack our President, we came together.  We rallied around the flag for the war.  Thick or thin, we were in it to win.  And we would lose more boys in an hour of combat than we lose in entire wars today."

He slowly looked away again.  Maybe I saw a small tear in the corner of his eye.  Then he continued:

"Today's kids don't know sacrifice. They think a sacrifice is not having coverage on their phone while they freely drive across the country.  Today's kids are selfish and spoiled.  In my generation, we looked out for our elders.  We helped out with single moms who's husbands were either at war or dead from war.  Today's kids rush the store, buying everything they can...no concern for anyone but themselves.  It's shameful the way Americans behave these days.  None of them deserve the sacrifices their granddads made.

So, no I don't need anything.  I appreciate your offer but, I know I've been through worse things than this virus.  But maybe I should be asking you, what can I do to help you?  Do you have enough pop to get through this, enough steak?  Will you be able to survive with 113 channels on your tv?"

I smiled, fighting back a tear of my own...now humbled by a man in his 80's.  All I could do was thank him for the history lesson, leave my number for emergency and leave with my ego firmly tucked in my rear.

I talked to a man today.  A real man.  An American man from an era long gone and forgotten.  We will never understand the sacrifices.  We will never fully earn their sacrifices.  But we should work harder to learn about them..learn from them...to respect them.
if you kick me when I'm down you better pray I don't get up.

Offline mike89

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a bad day of fishing is still better than a good day at work!!

Offline Rebel SS

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                  :Clap:

Offline LPS

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Offline markn

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  Thanks coffee. :happy1:
mm

Online Gunner55

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Life............. what happens while your making other plans. John Lennon

Offline Jerkbiat

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Hey look your bobber is up!

Offline Dotch

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Time itself is bought and sold, the spreading fear of growing old contains a thousand foolish games that we play. (Neil Young)

Offline Dotch

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And now for a little levity...

Time itself is bought and sold, the spreading fear of growing old contains a thousand foolish games that we play. (Neil Young)

Offline mike89

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 :happy1: :happy1:

I like that!!!
a bad day of fishing is still better than a good day at work!!

Offline Rebel SS

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Now if Barney Fife had used THAT before singing instead of his throat spray... :rotflmao: