It’s Day 52 of Stilgherrian’s coronavirus isolation, but Prime Minister Scott Morrison has now sketched out a three-step plan for rolling back the restrictions on our movements. If everything works. Meanwhile, everything in The America is collapsing.
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This episode, it’s thanks to Andrew McKenzie, Brett Rann (with a personal update I won’t repeat here because I’m never one to gossip), and Kimberley Heitman (“Quokkas hold the keys to other worlds, no seriouslyâ€).
Thanks also to the people who sent birthday gifts including drinks and funds for same: Jon Eaves, Leanne O’Donnell, The Lovely Corinne, Nick Andrew, and one person who’s choosing to remain anonymous.
Episode Links
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My son. He's all of us. #fuckinCOVID19
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Australian prime minister Scott Morrison has detailed a gradual opening up of society with the timing of Stage 1, 2 and 3 determined by the states
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When the pandemic has passed, there will need to be a reckoning of responses by state and federal governments. The reckoning should focus in particular on the costs incurred and the benefits accrued from the Morrison government’s decisions, how and when they responded to the health crisis, the costs of lockdown, and when and how they unlocked the economy.
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How do you put a cost on a life? It’s often said that human life is priceless, but that of course is a nonsense. Insurers and actuaries weigh it in their scales every day and now Boris Johnson has the biggest call for any prime minister to make outside of a war: the trade-off between “health and wealth” as he plots a path out of lockdown.
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“This poll reveals the massive devastation on young people lives caused by the crisis. It is no surprise those whose lives most affected want life to return to normal, as quickly and safely as possible,” said John Roskam, Executive Director at the Institute of Public Affairs.
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41% of those polled agreed "There should be an immediate easing of petty restrictions with appropriate social distancing in place", 39% disagreed. Don't you hate it when dodgy wording (viz "petty") doesn't get the result you wanted? Soz, Strayans love lockdown! (For now.) Quote Tweet
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It would be glib to suggest that most restaurants can survive by simply pivoting to delivery. Indeed, many won’t—and not just because some consumers might be afraid of lukewarm trout. The bigger problem is that the most popular delivery items (appetizers and entrées) tend to be the least profitable, while delivery consumers rarely order the higher-margin items, like dessert and booze, that actually pay the rent
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Derek Thompson, staff writer at The Atlantic, expects that the pandemic will radically reshape American consumption — from the components of our diets to the composition of our cities.
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In the mid-19th century, the Industrial Revolution was beginning to transform the US economy. Railways were on the rise, and so was factory production; both brought radical changes to American food systems. By 1897, when a cough-syrup maker patented the brand name "Jell-O," the processed-food industry was thriving.
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The research, yet to be peer-reviewed but posted online by scientists from the US and UK, also found the newer strain, or G-strain, may allow people to be infected a second time.
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The government's coronavirus strategy bets heavily on an unproven COVID-19 tracing app, but the lack of a working back end and ham-fisted messaging risks the loss of the public's trust.
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We will vanquish the virus and build a future of greatness and glory with American heart, American hands, American pride, and American soul!
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"Morning in America" is the common name of a political campaign television commercial, formally titled "Prouder, Stronger, Better" and featuring the opening line "It's morning again in America." The ad was part of the 1984 U.S. presidential campaign of Republican Party candidate Ronald Reagan.
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Donald Trump’s failed presidency has left the nation weaker, sicker, and teetering on the verge of a new Great Depression.
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The Trump campaign sent out a press release on the Lincoln Project ad that calls George Conway "largely unemployed" and needing "get off the couch more often."
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"Well, that is what it is" -- Really poignant stuff here from Trump on the topic of his message to hurting Americans
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In an Economist/YouGov survey from last week, 45% of Americans believe the coronavirus was created in a laboratory -- including two-thirds of Republican voters.
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Texas is putting to test the predictions of public health experts who warned about the repercussions of reopening the state at this time.
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Despite the fact that the U.S. is the number one world hotspot for coronavirus, with nearly 1.13 million confirmed cases and over 65,605 deaths (nearly triple that of any other nation), the Trump administration has pulled the U.S. out of a World Health Organization (WHO) global initiative “to speed the development, production and distribution of drugs and vaccines against COVID-19,” a spokesman for the U.S. mission in Geneva told Reuters.
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BREAKING: As @GovAbbott reopens the state in the midst of a rising infection and death rate, leaked audio from a call with Texas Legislators reveals that he knows reopening puts more Texans at risk. #txlege
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On Tuesday, leaked audio of a call with state lawmakers revealed that Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) admitted his decision to lift lockdowns in Texas will cause more people to be infected with COVID-19.
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Nearly half of the employees of a Utah County business tested positive for COVID-19 after the business instructed employees to not follow quarantine guidelines and required staff who had tested positive to report to work, according to a written statement from county executives.
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Hundreds of people are still out in California protesting stay-at-home orders, while more are flocking to the state’s beaches
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Starting to feel really weird that we made such a big deal about 9/11. At this point we have a 9/11 every two days and have decided that's not a bad enough thing to stop people from getting haircuts.
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ABC: You're three years into your term. What did you do when you became president to restock those cupboards that you say are bare? TRUMP: "Well, I'll be honest, uh, I have a lot of things going on."
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After learning that one of his valets was infected, Trump became "lava level mad" at his staff and said he doesn't feel it is doing all it can to protect him, according to a person close to the White House.
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Crozier will serve as a special assistant to the Naval Air Forces chief of staff, a spokesman said. Crozier's reassignment is standard.
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Sensitive creatures are starting to hide when keepers walk past, as a result of the lack of visitors
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With much of the world’s human population stuck at home during the coronavirus pandemic, one Japanese aquarium is exploring a new way to ensure its inhabitants don’t become too used to the peace and quiet.
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Local official Agustín Conejo admitted it was "a wrong move". "I admit that it was a mistake, it was done with the best intention," he said.
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As we’re communicating a lot via email, here’s a handy cipher for decoding British emails.
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The university town of Lund in Sweden is to dump a tonne of chicken manure in its central park in a bid to deter up to 30,000 residents from gathering there for traditional celebrations to mark Walpurgis Night on Thursday.
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Daniel Andrews has NO legal right to ban people from playing GOLF. As long as you ‘self distance’, you can do what you want - LOOK AROUND. It’s a fraud, and a mockery of the quarantine ‘laws’. This IS pathetic virtue signaling. #GolfVic
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There is NO DOUBT that the Chinese communist party has orchestrated the collapse of the western world’s free enterprise/capitalist society - even European de facto models, by spreading their virus. Wake up world. #ChineseWuhanVirus
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US President Donald Trump and his Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, have doubled down on claims that “enormous evidence” exists to prove COVID-19 originated in a laboratory in Wuhan. The claims have put Australia in a delicate position.
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This is all about US presidential politics. There are three issues in this campaign: Trump’s handling of the virus; how to dig the US out of its virus-induced economic hole; and who can be most hardline on China – the Donald or “Beijing Biden”, as the Republicans now seek to tag his Democratic opponent. There’s little else on the table.
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What if the during the flyovers the Blue Angels and the Thunderbirds were spraying HydroxyChloroquine?? POTUS said the Virus would just disappear.... Retweet like crazy
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It is a sad inevitability that a substance touted as a miracle cure for cancer, diabetes, malaria, HIV/AIDs, autism - even the common cold - would eventually add COVID-19 to the list.
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38. Dolly Parton, National Treasure, Is Backing Some Really Promising Coronavirus Treatment ResearchAfter the country music legend and American icon suffered a terrible accident in 2013, she befriended Vanderbilt University surgeon Naji Abumrad, who introduced her to the school’s cutting-edge antibody research when the COVID-19 pandemic began.
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My kid wrote a song called, “I Wonder What’s Inside your Butthole” Quite honestly, it slaps.
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I remixed it. My 6 year old and I watched the original like 50 times in a row.
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