All it took was a global epidemic of potentially unprecedented scale and severity and suddenly it’s like we’re turning into Denmark over here.
In the last few days, a parade of American multinationals that had long resisted providing humane and necessary benefits to their workers abruptly changed their minds, announcing plans to pay and protect even their lowest-rung employees harmed by the ravages of the coronavirus.
Because the virus is coldly indiscriminate and nearly inescapable, it leaves us all, rich and poor, in the same boat: The only way any of us is truly protected is if the least among us is protected.
Category: Uncategorized
Socialism for the Wealthy is in clear sight (ODT)
Trump’s happy talk about the virus can be chalked up to his efforts to stave off steep losses if people abandon his hotels and resorts. His desire to throw massive sums of money at the industries involved are similarly motivated. And his desperation to prop up the financial markets is all about maintaining the illusion that the economy is still supercharged long enough to get him re-elected.
As usual, Donald Trump’s primary concern, if not his sole concern, is Donald Trump.
The Capitalist response to the Coronavirus (ODT)
Our Politicians are far from leaders but followers. Albo leads from behind calling for a bipartisan plan to tackle Covid-19. However the decision to cancel the GP was made by “The FIA and Formula 1, with the full support of the Australian Grand Prix Corporation (AGPC) have therefore taken the decision that all Formula 1 activity for the Australian Grand Prix is cancelled.” It seems the LNP really only sees this as a political performance for Scotty from marketing. Event decisions are still left up to individual organisations. Meanwhile chaos and confusion reign. (ODT)
The Grand Prix, The Football, all come first and we are like children looking to America to lead us out of the bewilderness (ODT)
Through poor leadership and a media who loves to sensationalise, our government is turning Australians against those truly in need, writes Noely Neate.
via Scott Morrison’s spread of fear has turned Australians from the public good
Hiding the most important fact. Lack of Testing Equipment!! Yes Now Coronavirus is Real and not as trivial as Trump made out.(ODT)
Trump Responds To Spiraling U.S. Coronavirus Outbreak By Unveiling Europe Travel Ban
The president said nothing about the lack of available testing across the country. The coronavirus has already killed dozens in the U.S. and infected at least 1,200.
The decision came shortly before Trump addressed the nation about the rapidly spiraling coronavirus, which has resulted in the infection of more than 1,200 people so far within the United States. The president said he was banning noncitizens from traveling to the U.S. from Europe for 30 days in an attempt to stave off more infections, but he failed to speak about the availability of testing across the country amid reports that not enough kits are available and that some hospitals are running out of supplies.
via Trump Cancels Travel To Nevada And Colorado This Week Amid Coronavirus Spread | HuffPost Australia
It’s part of his schtick: To sell himself as someone who won’t be rushed into anything, as the calm, thoughtful person who considers things and then announces the solution which, almost without exception is to chuck $2 billion at the problem. Drought, “Here’s two billion!” Bushfires: “We’ve established a two billion dollar Bushfire Relief Fund”! Coronavirus: “We’re working with the states and there’s a two billion dollar fund for extra resources to deal with the problem.”
And that’s where it’s so hard to find the correct level of panic. When you hear about the empty supermarket shelves, it’s easy to wonder if one should have watched more of those shows about zombies for educational reasons about preparing oneself by stockpiling and boarding up the house. But on the other hand, when someone says that it’s nothing to worry about because it’s probably going to kill less people than your average flu, there’s a certain soothing reassurance about that and I’d like to believe them.
And I would. It’s only the fact that Andrew Bolt is one of the people saying it that makes me think I should start shopping and watch an episode of “The Walking Dead”.
via Scott Morrison And Finding The Right Level Of Panic – » The Australian Independent Media Network
World Health Organisation declares coronavirus outbreak a pandemic
What does this do to global Private Health Insurance? (ODT)
via Coronavirus: World Health Organisation declares COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic
USA Medicine a service for the distributors of health and not for the consumers (ODT)
The Saudi’s have Trump by the balls and can do the same at any time by just lowering the prices, (ODT)
Here Are 13 Claims Trump Has Made about Coronavirus That Have Already Gone down in Flames
A new analysis of British media’s coverage of foreign policy has found that, by and large, the UK press acts as “an appendage of the state” and has been “misinforming the public” and “failing to report” completely on key issues.
The statistical analysis was carried out by Declassified UK, a new “public service journalism” project investigating Britain’s foreign,military and intelligence policies and run by journalist and historian Mark Curtis.
The Israeli regime continues “excessive use of force against protests in the Gaza Strip.”
According to Haaretz columnist Gideon Levy, the IDF “doesn’t have snipers on the Gaza border. It has hunters,” adding:
Since Great March of Return protests began, “8,000” Gazans were “permanently disabled” by IDF soldiers.
None interviewed by Haaretz expressed regret for their actions. None witnessed the misery endured by knee-capped or other seriously injured Gazans.
Nor do most Israelis express any concern for around two million Gazans who’ve been virtually imprisoned in the Strip since 2007 — cut off from the outside world for political reasons, not for any threat they pose.
Humanitarian crisis conditions grip the Territory. Nearly all of its water is unsafe to drink because of raw sewage pollution, high salinity levels, and sporadic electricity.
In the last decade, three preemptive Israeli wars of aggression devastated Gaza and its vital infrastructure.
Israeli terror-bombing and cross-border incursions occur at its discretion.
Yet the world community remains largely indifferent to what continues endlessly, doing nothing to help long-suffering Gazans, letting Israel get away with murder and much more.
For those of us on the Left we need to heed the warning from the ASIO chief and sharpen our antennae for spotting any of these rightwing nut jobs before they wreck the joint. Should you spot any of the aforesaid rightwing nutters, call you mum she’s the only person you can trust – but keep an eye on her particularly if she starts saying things like ‘I do so miss Gerard Henderson on Insiders, he’s so balanced’ !
‘Ooroo !
Coronavirus-panic sweeps the nation. There’s barely a bottle of Dettol hand sanitizer left on a metal supermarket shelf across the land. Panic buying of toilet paper, pasta and rice turns ugly. A fight erupts in a Western Sydney Woolworths. Two Bankstown women, aged 23 and 60 are charged with affray.
Whilst no injury seems to have been sustained, the same cannot be said of the Morrison government which ends the week reeking of corruption after misleading the senate over changes to its rorted sports grants after it had entered caretaker mode 11 April 2019, whilst former Sports Minister Bridget McKenzie departs from the script by insisting she knows nothing of changes made in her name after caretaker mode commenced.
Sport Australia has refused to answer forty questions, which officials took on notice, effectively denying a senate committee request and failing to meet its Friday deadline. Former Health Department Head, Glenys Beauchamp, did comply but she’s destroyed all of her personal notes following her resignation in January. Genius.
Adding injury to insult, Attorney-General Porter has to be corrected by his own department on his misunderstanding of his own paper tiger DIY federal anti-corruption body he’s been drafting since 2018. Then, from up shit creek, there’s a hullabaloo about all that bushfire crisis money being as scarce as rocking-horse poo. Labor’s Murray Watt makes a convincing case that Scotty’s $2 billion dollar fund doesn’t even exist.
But you can be sure the virus will be made to take the blame for four years of its own, woeful, economic mismanagement. And the welfare of business mates and wealth creators will matter far more than that of households or pensioners or wage and salary earners. And we’ll never stop hearing about how wonderful it is.
And it’ll be no good asking about sports rorts corruption and illegality or anything unconstitutional because the PM’s presser will always be about something else.
Newly-obtained government records show that Donald Trump’s company has charged the U.S. Secret Service at least $628,000 for rooms, at rates as high as $650 per night, at his Florida and New Jersey properties since 2017. Secret Service personnel have used taxpayer money to stay at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago and Bedminster resorts in connection with Trump’s frequent visits there.
The Washington Post, which already had obtained and written about some of the records, received a new tranche from the group Public Citizen (where I am a board member), which has persistently pursued the records under the Freedom of Information Act since January 2017.
The total charges, from inauguration day through Trump’s stay at Mar-a-Lago this very weekend, are now likely much higher, because the government has refused to disclose more recent records. Plus, many other government employees, beyond the Secret Service, accompany Trump on these trips, and others may be staying at his properties at taxpayer expense.
via Mar-a-Lago Secret Service Scandal Shows Depth of Trump Corruption | Republic Report
Can you spot the 7 stupid moments of the stupid President? (ODT)
via Here Are 7 Ridiculous and Disturbing Moments from Trump’s Visit to the CDC | The Smirking Chimp
On Friday, the Trump regime blocked a Security Council statement, expressing support for cessation of hostilities in Idlib province Syria agreed to by Russia and Turkey on Thursday in Moscow.
Endless conflict continues with no prospect for near-term resolution.
via Trump Regime Blocks SC Support for Syria Ceasefire Already Breached – Stephen Lendman
Australia’s economic growth improves, but hold the champagne. Economic headwinds? Not really. Economy stronger than the OECD, Europe, Canada and the UK? Errr … no. Strong jobs growth? Sorry, no. Alan Austin runs his ruler over the latest quarterly accounts.
via Australia’s economic growth improves, but hold the champagne – Michael West
olddogthoughts 
You must be logged in to post a comment.