JOHN FEFFER.- Will COVID-19 Kill Globalisation

(7) Maryann Corbett on Twitter: "As I said at the @EcotoneMagazine panel last Thursday, I write sonnets when I'm angry. This one's in the new @PotomacReview. https://t.co/teehaFuWeb" / Twitter

Departments prepare for public servants to work from home

MAKING IT WORK: The union representing the APS has reminded employers to support staff who are in non-permanent roles.

MUNGO MACCALLUM.- Peter Dutton is human after all

Posted on 16 March 2020

It would be harsh and uncaring to admit a modicum of satisfaction at the news that Peter Dutton has contracted coronavirus. Continue reading →

Demographic science aids in understanding the spread and fatality rates of COVID-19 (PDF) Jennifer Beam Dowd, Valentina Rotondi, Liliana Andriano, David M. Brazel, Per Block, Xuejie Ding, Yan Liu, and Melinda C. Mills Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science, University of Oxford & Nuffield College. Includes this chart on flattening the curve in Italy 

Don Moynihan ✔ @donmoyn

Real-time evidence of flattening the curve. Lodi had the first Covid-19 case in Italy, and implemented a shutdown on Feb 23. Bergamo waited until March 8.
Look at the difference.

Incredible research by @drjenndowd, @melindacmills & co-authors. https://osf.io/fd4rh/?view_only=c2f00dfe3677493faa421fc2ea38e295 …

Reported US coronavirus cases in March via

@CNN

: 3/1 - 89 3/2 - 105 3/3 - 125 3/4 - 159 3/5 - 227 3/6 - 331 3/7 - 444 3/8 - 564 3/9 - 728 3/10 - 1,000 3/11 - 1,267 3/12 - 1,645 3/13 - 2,204 3/14 - 2,826 Now - 3,485

Coronavirus: Nigerian celebrities wear blinged-up masks https://bbc.in/2TUo3Uq


Boeing shows the danger of ignoring fearful staff  FT

 

Hindu group offers cow urine in a bid to ward off coronavirus.

How the fireside chat provided a model for calming the nation that President Trump failed to follow

COMMUNICATION SKILLS FOUND WANTING: National addresses need to closely hew to the blueprint Roosevelt invented if to be deemed successful.

Coronavirus in Australia — infograms

CORONAVIRUS VISUAL DATA: Confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Australia over time, in a series of infograms. Data current at 8pm, March 15.

The launch of a new open access platform ushers in a new era of accessibility for the Institution – “Culture connoisseurs, rejoice: The Smithsonian Institution is inviting the world to engage with its vast repository of resources like never before. For the first time in its 174-year history, the Smithsonian has released 2.8 million high-resolution two- and three-dimensional images from across its collections onto an open access online platform for patrons to peruse and download free of charge. Featuring data and material from all 19 Smithsonian museums, nine research centers, libraries, archives and the National Zoo, the new digital depot encourages the public to not just view its contents, but use, reuse and transform them into just about anything they choose—be it a postcard, a beer koozie or a pair of bootie shorts. And this gargantuan data dump is just the beginning. Throughout the rest of 2020, the Smithsonian will be rolling out another 200,000 or so images, with more to come as the Institution continues to digitize its collection of 155 million items and counting. “Being a relevant source for people who are learning around the world is key to our mission,” says Effie Kapsalis, who is heading up the effort as the Smithsonian’s senior digital program officer. “We can’t imagine what people are going to do with the collections. We’re prepared to be surprised.” The database’s launch also marks the latest victory for a growing global effort to migrate museum collections into the public domain. Nearly 200 other institutions worldwide—including Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum, New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Art Institute of Chicago—have made similar moves to digitize and liberate their masterworks in recent years. But the scale of the Smithsonian’s release is “unprecedented” in both depth and breadth, says Simon Tanner, an expert in digital cultural heritage at King’s College London…”


Coronavirus: 8,000 private hospital beds rented to NHS for £2.4million per day Daily Mirror


The incompetence pandemic Politico. Europe


A BILL WHITTLE PODCAST: The Cold War: What We Saw | We Like Ike – Episode 6.

Hear the rest of The Cold War: What We Saw with Bill Whittle.

In the years after World War II, Dwight David Eisenhower was arguably the most popular man on the planet. Ike’s prestige was so immense that in 1948, President Harry S Truman offered him the top slot on the 1948 Democratic ticket, with the offer to revert to his former position as Vice President under Eisenhower. It wasn’t enough.

JOHN FEFFER.- Will COVID-19 Kill Globalisation(Counterpunch 10.3.2020)

Posted on 13 March 2020

At a dinner party in mid-February, an architect told me that he was having a problem finishing his building projects. It was the carpets. Continue reading →