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Thursday, April 09, 2020

Navigating the Covid-19 pandemic: We’re just clambering into a life raft. Dry land is far away

"Life is a series of things that seem to be your fault when it's that damn butterfly flapping its wings in the High Tatra Mountains."

Cloudless pale blue sky.
Men and women wearing masks.

He wishes them well

I am also partial to William Arthur Ward's insightful logic: “Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.”
As [William] Faulkner’s daughter, Jill, wrote, “Pappy was getting ready to start on one of these bouts.  I went to him and said, ‘Please don’t start drinking.’  And he was already well on his way, and he turned to me and said, ‘You know, no one remembers Shakespeare’s child.’ ”

“How does a man greet people he’s known all his life when they’re standing in his house because they’ve lost something, lost everything perhaps, and he has not…How do you look at neighbors and former schoolmates when you know that tomorrow morning, they’ll be buying wood from you for coffins.”  Paul Graves, on the night of the tornado.

The coronavirus marks the end of an era defined by liberalism and rising living standards. What will shape the new world order? Brave New Post-Wuhan world  



Minister furiously defends handling of Ruby Princess by 'very senior' health officials


The handling of the ill-fated cruise ship could have been "wiser," the NSW Minister for Health Brad Hazzard has acknowledged but has doubled down in his defence of health authorities.



Navigating the Covid-19 pandemic: We’re just clambering into a life raft. Dry land is far away

The New York Times – If you have some spare time at home and want a productive project, consider creating a digital archive of your personal papers.  “While this week’sWorld Backup Day is typically celebrated most by hard-drive makers and data-storage services, it’s supposed to make people remember to back up their computers. But even if you’re already backing up your digital files, do you have a backup plan for your one-of-a-kind documents and photos that you have only on paper — like birth certificates, marriage licenses and military-discharge papers? Scanning copies of your personal papers creates a digital archive that can also be used as a backup, especially if you have the files password-protected and stored in a secure location. And even if you don’t have a document scanner, you can create your personal archive with a smartphone, a few apps and a bit of time. Here’s a guide to getting started…”


One lesson from the coronavirus is that we need leaders who prevent crises more than we need managers who scramble to handle them


Wall Street Journal op-ed:  Covid-19 was a Leadership Test. It Came Back Negative., by Sam Walker (author, The Captain Class: The Hidden Force That Creates the World’s Greatest Teams (2018))


Silver, Cecilia, Breaking News: Drafting Client Alerts to Prepare for Practice (February 28, 2020). Vol. 27, No. 2 Perspectives: Teaching Legal Research and Writing (Fall 2019). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3546217

“Drafting engaging client alerts is a newsworthy addition to the first-year legal writing curriculum. While client alerts fulfill an important marketing function for employers, they can be used for pedagogical purposes as well. Besides reinforcing many of the lessons students learn in “traditional legal writing,” client alerts can provide useful examples of ethics and professionalism by showing how careful lawyers assess the impact of a new law and advise clients.”

“Today, the Future of Privacy Forum (FPF) released a collection of  new publications and resources to help governments, educators, researchers, companies, and other organizations navigate essential privacy questions regarding the response to the coronavirus pandemic. Global leaders responding to the coronavirus pandemic are increasingly relying on data from individuals and communities to analyze the virus’ progression, deploy resources, and make policy decisions. “We want to help organizations make data available for leaders, researchers, and the public without opening the door to lasting or limitless surveillance,” said Jules  Polonetsky, CEO of the Future of Privacy Forum. “The information we have compiled will help decision makers think clearly about – and document – what personal information they will collect or disclose, to whom, and under what conditions.” 

  • The  resources are accessible on the FPF website at fpf.org/privacy-and-pandemics. They include: COVID-19: Privacy & Data Protection Resources consolidates privacy resources from sources around the world, highlighting resources that are useful to organizations grappling with questions about pandemic-related data. The site will be updated on a regular basis  with new content…”
William Blake's flint cottage, Rudyard Kipling's stone manor: What role do houses play in the lives of creative people? Kipling