We bring you more on the Covid-19 overreaction, the best cash back cards, introduce you soon to the new Google debit Card, get on virtual train and national park rides, the best Covid-19 coverage online, all pandemic relief extensions, visit Hong Kong and South Los Angeles, two awesome investing related links, we talk about social media sellouts, awesome photography you have come to expect, the best independent movies, laugh at a music teacher playing her ukulele, Chase tightening business credit apps, I rock a 5k race and lots more freeeeeee!
TBB Blog Mission: To Educate. Entertain. Inspire. In That Order!
Support TBB by applying for CREDIT CARDS and visiting our LINKS!
You like my blog? Send a link to someone please!
COVID-19
I could turn my blog into a COVID-19 blog and not miss a beat you know…
I loved this article from Behavioral Scientist: Epidemic Humility-Knowing Your Limits in a Pandemic. It will be well worth your time imho…
Frequent expressions of supreme confidence might seem odd in light of our obvious and inevitable ignorance about a new threat. The thing about overconfidence, though, is that it afflicts most of us much of the time. That’s according to cognitive psychologists, who’ve studied the phenomenon systematically for half a century. Overconfidence has been called “the mother of all psychological biases.” [In my field of finance, if I had a dollar for every time some bozo expert predicted something only to be proven wrong again…and again I would not have to whine blogging here for the lack of blog conversions LOL]
…medical statistician Robert Grant tweeted: “I’ve studied this stuff at university, done data analysis for decades, written several NHS guidelines (including one for an infectious disease), and taught it to health professionals. That’s why you don’t see me making any coronavirus forecasts.”
The concept of epistemic humility is useful to describe the difference between these two kinds of character. Epistemic humility is an intellectual virtue. It is grounded in the realization that our knowledge is always provisional and incomplete—and that it might require revision in light of new evidence. Grant appreciates the extent of our ignorance under these difficult conditions; the other characters don’t. A lack of epistemic humility is a vice—and it can cause massive damage both in our private lives and in public policy. [So, what do you call someone who has this epistemic humility? I wish so many geniuses in the current US administration had it!]
And it’s never been more important to learn to separate the wheat from the chaff—the experts who offer well-sourced information from the charlatans who offer little but misdirection. The latter are sadly common, in part because they are in greater demand on TV and in politics. It can be hard to tell who’s who. But paying attention to their confidence offers a clue. People who express themselves with extreme confidence without having access to relevant information and the experience and training required to process it can safely be classified among the charlatans until further notice. If expertise does not protect against overconfidence, what does? Research in fact suggests one simple thing that everyone can do. It is to consider reasons that you may be wrong. If you want to reduce overconfidence in yourself or others, just ask: What are the reasons to think this claim may be mistaken? Under what conditions would this be wrong? Such questions are difficult, because we are much more used to searching for reasons we are right. But thinking through the ways in which we can fail helps reduce overconfidence and promotes epistemic humility. Again, it is fine and good to have opinions, and to express them in public—even with great conviction. The point is that true experts, unlike charlatans, express themselves in a way that mirrors their limitations. All of us who want to be taken seriously would do well to demonstrate the virtue of epistemic humility. [This is great advice!]
Next time you hear from people that we are overreacting and we must open up the economy now…forward them this article and shut them up! We’re not overreacting to the coronavirus.
As Kent State University epidemiologist Tara Smith told me, “It’s the paradox of public health: When you do it right, nothing happens.”
So we are continuing to learn about this disease. CNN’s Chris Cuomo has it and he has been doing his show while quarantining from his basement and then…his wife got it! Think about that for a second…oh, and he does not know how he got infected in the first place. And then one night, he said, he had these intense bizarre dreams. The thing that is really strange is that so many have such different symptoms…heck, some have it and they have no idea! And then I ran across this article with some really strange findings affecting the brain, you have been warned: What does Covid-19 Do to Your Brain. Scientists are racing to figure out why some patients also develop neurological ailments like confusion, stroke, seizure, or loss of smell.
This next article attempts to answer how deadly is Covid-19 compared to seasonal flu, past pandemics, or car crashes? Some of the graphs in this one will shock you!
Any serious attempt to put coronavirus deaths in context by comparing it to some other cause of death in a previous year must acknowledge the marked differences in the Covid-19 trend — most notably, the rapid spike in deaths that is still underway, and the wide range of uncertainty about when it will peak, how high it will peak, and whether it will peak only once. As long as the pandemic is rapidly spreading, these comparisons will be fraught. Perhaps a better way to state the danger posed by the coronavirus is just that we cannot easily compare it to any precedent in recent history. Nor do we need to dispute projections about future deaths to recognize what has happened already. Amid the statistical noise is a powerful signal. The question is whether we choose to see it.
I am going to help with How to Talk to Coronavirus Skeptics. Just be aware that most of them will still vote for Trump, sad lol. But if you insist:
But for people who are resisting, for whatever reason, you have to acknowledge that the resistance is reasonable on some level. Nobody wants to be stuck in their house for the next six months, or possibly longer. Most people like to go out to restaurants, bars, clubs. We like to go to our gym. We like to go to work. We like to not be laid off. I mean, this really sucks. This is a really lousy situation. I think starting with the acknowledgement of the lousiness of it is really important, because then people feel that you’re not invalidating their feelings. You’re recognizing that this is lousy, but denying it doesn’t make it go away. In fact, the opposite: denying it makes it worse, and that’s the argument that I found works with climate change. You say to people, “Yeah, we’re going to have to make some big changes in the way we live, but we can make those changes.”
When this is eventually over, I hope we reassess how we compensate the lower paid essential workers! Visualizing the Occupations With the Highest COVID-19 Risk
Another long read if you are interested to learn about the World Health Organization. Which of course has its problems. The WHO v coronavirus: why it can’t handle the pandemic. Attacked by Trump and ignored by many of its most powerful members, the World Health Organization is facing a major crisis – just at the moment we need it most. You will learn a lot about the history of this organization, its successes and the current problems it is facing.I still firmly believe science will save us. I just hope it is not too late lol. Maybe it will be this guy: The Covid Test Lab That Could Save America. But first we need to solve the testing problem! The leader of the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub solved a snake pandemic. Now he’s trying to solve the U.S.’s coronavirus testing problem.
There are great answers to common questions we are all asking these days in this article in the “failing” New York Times: Is the Virus on My Clothes? My Shoes? My Hair? My Newspaper? I now can run and breathe easier, thanks!
Another great link and then I think I better stop and move on to the other sections. I mean, look at this already so far! I lost two email list subscribers over the weekend, WTF! What Have Epidemiologists Learned About the Coronavirus? I think this is a must read…read the whole thing!
MILES & POINTS
HOT CREDIT CARD OFFERS: New: The CitiBusiness AAdvantage Platinum now offers 70k AA miles. There is an offer for the United Explorer card offering 60,000 miles. The IHG Rewards Club card offering 140k points too, highest ever. For a standard workhorse card I recommend the 60k Chase Sapphire Preferred card. For a standard premium card I recommend the 50k Chase Sapphire Reserve card. For a standard 2% cash back card I recommend the Citi Double Cash card. Available with my links. Lets move on!
Andy The Lazy Traveler is back! The Covid-19 State of Mind: We Are Grounded and Cash Is King Again. With a great post once again. We last met at the Hyatt Zilara resort in Cancun in December and we both wish we were back there again…This current situation sure sucks! Great advice on cash back cards. And if you get these cards with my links I will plow the profits back into the blog and hire him to write more guest posts here so go!
This is an excellent resource: Comprehensive List: All Frequent Flyer, Hotel Loyalty & Rental Car Status Extension Policies 2020-2021 (COVID-19 Relief).
I guess this is coming and I hope it is better than what Apple got out: Leaked pics reveal Google smart debit card to rival Apple’s.
Citi added Emirates as a Thank You Network transfer partner. Zzzzzz. As long as they do not have a US legacy airline transfer partner…they will always play catch up to Chase and Amex. This did not stop bloggers from trying to enthusiastically sell numerous Citi travel rewards credit cards.
Virgin Australia is now in administration. Basically, they are bankrupt and expect many changes soon. Brace for more…
TRAVEL
We can’t go anywhere for free using our miles and points these days so let’s keep traveling virtually I guess. 10 Scenic National Park Drives Everyone Should Do at Least Once.
Wait, there is more! 13 Virtual Train Rides From Around the World That You Can Experience Right Now.
Wow, photos of Hong Kong’s public fountains from the air.
I had never heard or seen this before in Los Angeles. The Watts Tower. One guy worked on it for 33 years. What a legacy left behind. Same with me, my grandkids will read my TBB blog posts and be so darn proud. I hope, please don’t laugh!
PERSONAL FINANCE
I always read the memos by Howard Marks. Not that I always agree with him but I think they are just great! Here is the latest one: Knowledge of the Future.
Another fantastic set of slides by Mary Meeker: Our New World. Must read regarding our new reality, technology, health care and stuff like that.
ODDZ & ENDZ
Amazing photography! Don McCullin, Legendary War Photographer, Reflects on His Career: “Am I Haunted by All This? I Think About It All the Time.”
Well, lets see it because I am not seeing it! We’ll All Be Social Media Sellouts Soon. This made me lol: Companies are turning to small-time influencers to promote their brands. Will any of us be able to resist the lure of free products and cash? It would at least be nice to realize if they know my blog even exists!
There are some great flicks in this list: The 50 most important American independent movies Lame blogger question would be…which one is your favorite?
You know I am no fun of Trump. Some say I have TDS. I had to google it! Whatever. But this is GOLD! British Writer Pens the Best Description Of Trump I’ve Read. He totally nails it! It will make your day. But if you are a supporter of him…maybe not 🙂
Ok, now it is time to laugh. Music teacher giving a music lesson about online learning. Bwahahahahaha
BLOG BUZZ
We are now entering BLOG BUZZ, a section for advanced hobbyists and veterans of this fast imploding hobby and also a section where I go on and on about some stuff that happens in my life because it helps me feel better about myself.
The University of Michigan Big House 5k Race was canceled. So I ran it at the local Cinemark IMAX complex parking lot, it was completely empty! And I lowered my PR 1 minute and 1 second #winnning
When it rains…Chase Tightens Up On Business Credit Card Applications. When I get around to it I could probably insert referral links every time I get to mention a credit card too…maybe I will one day. Until then, I just keep whining #facepalm.
Every week I get an email with stats about my blog. Last week was the lowest traffic ever. I think I am turning out some high quality content here but obviously this does not translate to traffic and conversions. At all. You have no idea how discouraging this is. Actually, it is the WORST thing about blogging…for seven and a half years here. With the corona mega pandemic turning everything upside down…it won’t get better on the conversion front anytime soon. As many blogs have quit or are barely posting any new content these days…something has to give. Full Disclosure: I have been whining like this for years, sad lol! I need to find time to look into newsletter. Or maybe I go to Boarding Area. Now that Rene is no longer there it should be safe 🙂
And I leave you with this…
TBB
travelbloggerbuzz@gmail.com
Follow TBB on Twitter @FlyerTalkerinA2.
You can subscribe to TBB below, winners only!
Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.
Good morning.
Glad you are hanging in there. Thanks for the links.
Silver! For the Pacific North West! WOW! It’s gonna take a couple hours to read all the good stuff here! I don’t know how you can lose people because this is always a top quality source of info. And it is well written and fun! Thanks as always, George!
I have no idea either man! I think it is because I don’t have a 30 staff dept just dealing with SEO only like TPG has. Or no bloggers link to me when I have linked to them numerous times. Or just doing no marketing/promotion at all other than scheduling some tweets with links to my blogs on Twitter.
It is very disheartening to say the least. The latest weekly stats email was the worst ever. I have no idea WTF is going on. I have no staff to pay so that helps. But every week I see why so many bloggers quit…so they can do better things with their time.
I am hanging in there…barely.
Happy 420 day everybody!
Well, I cannot speak for others, but I am ALWAYS glad when a new edition of TBB hits the ol’ email thing-ee here. Maybe it is the SEO thing or not having a FB group with nimrods asking stupid questions or who knows what. Whatever, people that appreciate the well curated posts you send out will stick with you, I think. Unless they have life challenges that mean they have to pare down the emails or who knows what like health problems.
Please try to bear up and keep doing this labor of love. It IS appreciated.
Thanks Carl, much appreciated.
If it was not for the kind words I get sometimes…I would have quit a long time ago.
Maybe you guys should stop so it will come easier to me 🙂
Yay! Another post! I really look forward to them. Takes me more than two hours to go through all the linked articles. I learn so much about stuff I didn’t think I was interested in knowing about until you linked to it. FWIW I have referred your blog to friends..
And imho the readers you have lost may be followers of the orange one.
I liked the last line, lol. Maybe that is a good thing hey? 🙂
Thanks for referring my blog to friends. Keep doing it so we can defeat TPG and MMS and FTG…oh wait, we defeated FTG, one down!
I would think every publication would be down. All of the podcasts I listen to are saying listenership is down. The miles and points stuff in general is at a lull. The diehards are still reading I am sure, but the layman who propped up your stats probably isn’t. I wouldn’t take it personally. The product is as good as ever. Also just not much news outside of Coronavirus.
Yeah, good point on traffic and on podcasts too.
It would be nice to get some laymen and make them diehards 🙂
Yeah, coronavirus has pretty much turned everything…
Thanks.
+1 Illegitimi Non Carborundum.
I had to google that:
Illegitimi non carborundum is a mock-Latin aphorism, often translated as ‘Don’t let the bastards grind you down’. The phrase itself has no meaning in Latin and can only be mock-translated as a Latin–English pun.
Love it!
Trump description was very funny! And, sorry, but I laughed at your legacy when you asked me not to laugh.
Podcast listening is down as well. Can’t do it on the commute to work and can’t read blogs during lunch at work.
Great quality. I guess you’ll just need to do it because you love it. Or that you are addicted and can’t stop. It’s one of the 2.
Maybe it is like that eternal blogger fake dilemma: CSP or CSR? And the answer is always BOTH! 🙂
Thanks amigo. Can’t wait for this to be over so I can go to Panera, Starbucks and also go to lunch together again.
Ah, we like you. Even those who read you and don’t comment.
Thank you, I like to be liked 🙂 Keeps me going…I can assure you it is not the conversions lol.
Blogging reward = $ + ego points. Understandable that you take it personally, but you really shouldn’t. Today’s post is one of the top content posts I’ve seen anywhere for a while! Cheer up, Brian!
Forgot to add…
If you take a Venn diagram of a) people who stand to lose the most raw $$ from the corona economy, with b) people who stand the absolute least risk of dying (due to their resources), it’s about a perfectly filled-in circle. None of your (our) lives matter to them, not one bit, compared to their perceived losses. And they’re gonna spend some Bank to convince you that YOU need the economy completely reopened.
See: DeVos family behind the AstroTurf protests in Michigan.
I said is back during the financial crisis and bailing out the banks. And I say it again now, we should have followed the Swedish models.
1. bank shareholders should have been wiped out in 2008.
2. Unlike South Korea, we don’t have the testing/monitoring system to return our society back to something resembling “normal”. Unemployment in SE (volunteered quarantine) has gone from 6 to 8% and is projected to peak at 10%. Here we are facing 20-30% unemployment rate with no sustainable path towards normalcy.
WTF is the point having the most well run and technologically advanced companies (FB, Alphabet, Apple, AMZN) when u can’t solve the current problem. The main industry in Iceland is fishing and tourism and they have done remarkably well. It’s not rocket science.
Yes, the buck stops in the WH. And he’ll probably beat Biden.
Thanks Anonymous.
Kind of late to look back to 2008, we are rewriting everything in 2020. Yeah, not everything was perfect of course. But we were progressing well in an overall sense.
I am not sure Sweden will turn out as good as you think. Time will tell.
If the moron is elected again…well, I guess we deserve it. I will do my best to vote often for Biden to make sure we have a normal human being running things 🙂
Gotta run, actually no, today is rest day.
Unfortunately we may not know the outcome until we have a vaccine in year 2024? Yup 4 years is the current record to develop a vaccine. Do you think we can beat that with Trump as the Prez?
Anyone who believes the Trump familia isn’t making a killing in the stock market, just isn’t listening. Down one day, up the next, etc. With dear old Dad in the White House, making appropriate comments, their portfolios must be really getting some exercise, growing. Buy low, sell high. Rinse, repeat.
I always look forward to TBB, both the posts and the comments section.
“U.S. Colleges Brace for a Devastating Summer and Fall”:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-19/u-s-colleges-brace-for-covid-19-to-hurt-summer-and-fall-finances
Yeah…not looking good. University of Michigan announced hiring freezes and salary cuts as they expect $400 million to $1 billion shortfall. Having said that, its endowment is approaching a trillion or something like that 🙂 We will likely see small liberal arts colleges close by the fall, sad!
Can’t wait to see how much fussball coaches will make this fall. Hey, what’s the purpose of an endowment if ur not going to use it during a crisis? “Serving” the public good as a non-profit org while getting fat tax cuts has never sounded this wrong before. Do you tell your clients to save their 401k until they are dead?
Good point on the coaches. I think Buzz posted a map a while back showing the highest paid state employee in each state. 48 or so were the state university’s head football coach.
Buzz-Thanks for the wonderful reading. When neighbors ask me “Did you see Trump last night”, I respond “No, I read the Travel Blogger Buzz blog and I learn a lot”. Puzzled looks for sure, but it’s a long term project.
I think the upcoming football season is toast…The University of Michigan Big House with over 100k+ fans packed in like sardines…well, not seeing it. That will have severe consequences and I hope it starts with the wildly overpaid coaching staff!
Thanks, I am done watching the moron too, my blood pressure goes up. If Joe does not win I think we are phucked!
Time to short oil, folks. Larry “Buy the dips” Kudlow says oil prices will come back:
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/22/larry-kudlow-says-oil-should-rebound-as-the-economy-starts-to-reopen.html
I wonder what Kramer thinks? How about Ingy?
Still waiting for Ramsey to post anything from Jim that looks ahead. With dates 🙂
My cousin back in Greece who owns the gas station my dad and uncle started, well, I fear for her, she sounds too depressed.
I have a relative in Barclays and will reach out to see if he can spare some oil as it appears every bank employee will have a new benefit: Free oil LOL
I cannot believe nobody in this blogspace has written about
https://www.vice.com/en_in/article/5dm7mn/buy-tanker-during-coronavirus-oil-prices
I mean, the article doesn’t even get in to the miles one could earn by buying the supertanker in the first place! Plus, if you buy a tanker you get to sail for freeeeeeee!
I actually did read that one, enjoyed it but it did not make the cut 🙂
Yeah, crazy!
But wait-Kudlow is still at it:
https://nypost.com/2020/04/23/businesses-shouldnt-be-liable-for-coronavirus-cases-kudlow/
He has a point-Since no one in this administration bears any responsibiity for anything, why should businesses be liable for putting their employees and customers at risk? They’d just have to spend money on safe practices.
No regulations, no legal liability, no problem. Details on Hannity at 9pm.
The Friday blog post is developing well. Best Covid-19 coverage. Announcing one more blog is dead. And lots more…
April to date: Just one conversion…Looks like under 5 for the month so do I go once a week and kind of basically tighten the noose for my eventual demise here…decisions, decisions…
And today’s run was while snowing…WTF, it is April 22!
Dearly beloved, we have gathered here today…
Thoughts and prayers on Frugal Travel Guy website, RIP.
Conversions mattered after all.