The Assistant Minister for Superannuation, Senator Jane Hume, has acknowledged the hard work and long hours of the Treasurer's office, and particularly the team at Treasury, in developing the Government's economic response for the Coronavirus.
"If you think about it, we've basically delivered two Budgets in two weeks" , Ms Hume said in an address to the AFR Banking and Wealth Summit on 30 March 2020
CHANGE: Corona beer suspends production due to coronavirus
‘War Dialing’ Tool Exposes Zoom’s Password Problems Krebs on Security
Social distancing will be 'new normal' until coronavirus vaccine, says Premier
'Terrible news': British PM Boris Johnson in intensive care with coronavirus
Governments accountable for Ruby Princess debacle
The Inspector General’s Disturbing FISA Memo Lawfare. “It appears that the facts presented in a lot of FISA applications are not reliably accurate.” No!
Cardinal George Pell to Walk Free From Prison After Court Overturns His Sex-Abuse Conviction Daily Beast
PERMANENT
AGENCY: Shane Fitzsimmons will lead the agency tasked with managing
the state’s response to crises, including COVID-19.
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WORLD
ROUNDUP: Today: Beware the billionaire saviour. Plus, how the White
House ignored both scientists and soldiers.
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TOO
TEMPTED: NSW ICAC releases guidance on handling the corruption risks
public sector agencies may face during COVID-19.
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THE ONGOING SECURITY NIGHTMARE THAT IS THE ZOOM VIDEOCONFERENCING APP: Attackers can use Zoom to steal users’ Windows credentials with no warning. “Zoom for Windows converts network locations into clickable links. What could go wrong?
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Massimo Carlotto–BANDIT LOVE
“Your problem these days is getting information, and the cops are the best source available. They gather information, collect it in a central location, and it’s always for sale…Plus, all these organized crime families and rings of Mafiosi just use the cops to eliminate their competitors.”
How the BBC betrayed the NHS: an exclusive report on two years of censorship and distortion BBC (IH). IH writes:
Unfortunately, [the author] makes no mention of the cuts that began under the Thatcherites in the 1980s and continued by their Blairite, Cameron and May successors, including the loss of hygiene, pathology, and tropical medicine capability, including the Royal Air Force’s institute headed by my father for a while, and how the NHS and tri service medical services wargamed such scenarios and maintained a network of regional centres, including military bases, able to assist in such emergencies. The shopkeeper’s daughter and her successors knew the price of everything and the value of nothing.
The stimulus bill includes a tax break for the 1% CNN (maryann). As readers know, I’m a fan of the em-dash–
It is worth taking a minute — many of us have more of those now in our quarantined states — to explain.
So even the relatively sheltered tax law professors are ticked off. A good explainer for this NYT story, in plain English.
Paulo Coelho–THE SPY
“There was never any concrete evidence against me – only documents that had been tampered with – but you will never publicly admit that you allowed an innocent woman to die. Innocent? Perhaps that is not the right word. I was never innocent, [but] I thought I could manipulate those who wanted state secrets…In the end, I was the one manipulated…convicted of espionage even though the only thing concrete I traded was the gossip from high-society salons…I never revealed anything new.” –Mata Hari to her lawyer, M. Clunet.
The National Symphony Orchestra Lays Off All 96 Musicians With A One-Week Notice
Despite a $25 million stimulus package for the Kennedy Center, the musicians of the NSO were told late Friday night that their April 3 paycheck would be their last, and their health care would end at the end of May if concerts have not resumed. Unsurprisingly, given that their collective bargaining agreement requires six weeks of pay before layoffs for economic hardship, “the union has filed a grievance challenging what it believes is an illegal action.” – The Washington Post
South Park
NBC News’ Lester Holt, anchoring the
network’s coronavirus coverage Wednesday. (NBC News)
Lester Holt didn’t hesitate, not even for a second, when I asked
him Wednesday if he had ever seen a story like the coronavirus.
“No, I haven’t,” the “NBC Nightly News” anchor said. “I always
thought 9/11 would be the biggest story I would ever cover. But this is the
biggest story we have ever seen.”
Stop and think about that. The biggest story we have ever seen.
This coming from a seasoned journalist who has never been one for hyperbole.
Yet he can’t think of a bigger story.
“This affects the entire world,” Holt said. “Each and every one
of us.”
I caught up with Holt over the phone Wednesday afternoon just
after he finished anchoring NBC News’ special coverage of the White House
coronavirus press conference, and a few hours before anchoring “NBC Nightly
News.” That has become his daily routine, if there is such a thing as “routine”
in this time of coronavirus.
He also was getting ready for an NBC special airing primetime
tonight about the pandemic. Well, getting ready as best he could for a show
that was more than 24 hours away when we spoke. “NBC News Special Report:
Coronavirus Pandemic” airs at 10 p.m. Eastern on NBC, MSNBC, and streaming
services NBC News NOW and Telemundo Digital.
The special will include expert analysis and health advice from
NBC’s coronavirus team, including NBC News correspondent Dr. John Torres and
NBC News medical contributor Dr. Joseph Fair. What will they talk about
exactly?
With changes to this story happening literally by the minute,
Holt couldn’t be sure what he was going to say on Wednesday’s “NBC Nightly
News,” let alone on today’s evening news and one-hour special.
“This story is moving so rapidly that all we can do is provide
our viewers with the best information we can when we get it,” Holt said. “We’re
doing our best to get answers.”
Holt has mentioned time and time again on his broadcasts that he
understands some of the frustrations around this story. People want to know
when this is all going to end, when our lives will return to normal. They want
to be assured that they and their loved ones are going to be OK.
But there are no answers to those questions, and nobody can
offer any assurances.
“What we’re doing is to be as people-centric as we can,” Holt
said. “How are people being affected?”
So Holt and his team report on how the virus is transmitted, how
people can best protect themselves and how this could impact their health and
their finances.
“We’re just trying to put this into as much in perspective as
possible,” Holt said. “This is one of those stories where we are literally all
in this together. We’re all affected by this.”
While he’s is not looking for pats on the back, Holt is proud of
the work journalists are doing. He also acknowledges that he is one of a
handful of people in the country who Americans are turning to in order to make
sense of what is happening.
“I’m not here to be a consoler on a regular basis, but I
recognize that this is scary stuff,” Holt said. “And as I sit out there, I am
picturing people around the country watching and craving answers. I do feel a
responsibility to report the facts, but also to find those moments to kind of
make people understand that, ‘I get it. I hear you. I’m with you. We’re all in
this together and I’m going to do the best I can to get the people with the
right answers in front of the camera and get them to you.’”
Following coronavirus
We have had piecemeal evidence from TV ratings and web traffic
that people are paying attention to the news about coronavirus. But now we also
have statistical evidence.
The latest survey from the Pew Research Center
shows 89% of U.S. adults say they are following news about coronavirus very or
fairly closely. In addition, 70% say COVID-19 poses a major threat to the
nation’s economy and 47% say it is a major threat to the overall health of the
U.S. population.
Those surveyed also believe the media are doing a decent job
with coronavirus coverage — 70% say the media are doing at least “somewhat
good.” However, nearly half (48%) say they’ve seen some made up news about the
pandemic.
A story about the story
Perhaps the most impactful story about coronavirus so far was
published online on March 14 by The Washington Post. The Post’s Harry Stevens put together graphics
to help readers understand the importance and impact of social distancing. It
was remarkably detailed, yet made the concept of social distancing easy to
understand. It has become one of the most-read stories in the history of the
Post’s website. To find out more about the Post story, check out senior
multimedia reporter Alex Mahadevan’s piece on Poynter.
COVID-19: ATO Advice and Guidance - Jeremy Geale
Jeremy provided an update on the public advice and guidance that we have released as well as an email address you can contact if you have concerns we have not covered.
We're working shoulder-to-shoulder with businesses and the community - Mark Konza
Mark provided an update on how large public businesses can get in contact if they require help.
Working with larger private businesses impacted by COVID-19 - Tim Dyce
Tim provided an update to large private businesses on where they can go to for more information and who they can contact if they need help.
COVID-19: ATO Advice and Guidance - Jeremy Geale
Jeremy provided an update on the public advice and guidance that we have released as well as an email address you can contact if you have concerns we have not covered.
We're working shoulder-to-shoulder with businesses and the community - Mark Konza
Mark provided an update on how large public businesses can get in contact if they require help.
Working with larger private businesses impacted by COVID-19 - Tim Dyce
Tim provided an update to large private businesses on where they can go to for more information and who they can contact if they need help.
