COVID-19 updates comments and concerns

[DELTAprime]

I am seeing a lot more plush toys and chalk drawings/messages on footpaths as I go for walks.

I've heard of people doing that. Any other time I'd assume it was the work of a crazy person.

[griffin]

As I'm seeing more stores catching up with things like toilet paper and mince meat, I'm now seeing a lot of grocery stores (both Coles and Woolies) being completely empty of all eggs in the last week. Something seems to be disrupting the supply of eggs to Coles and Woolies, as almost everything else is starting to show up in decent numbers now.


I feel really sorry for those in America, stuck with a president who just doesn't seem to understand basic science and common sense, which is costing thousands of lives because he doesn't want states to shut down to prevent the virus, and the ones that have shut down he wants them to start re-opening within weeks just as the virus numbers have only just start coming back down... rather than waiting until the virus numbers are at zero or close to it.

It doesn't help that Trump has a major conflict of interest as American President, due to being a businessman with billions invested in real estate and the share-market, he is too focused on protecting the economy or talking it up (to keep the share market in positive territory), because he needs to protect his fortune and family's fortune. Other career politicians are focussed on saving lives right now and worrying about the economy after the virus is eradicated or contained. Trump on the other hand, was not bothered when he was casually announcing that there is a potential for up to 100,000 Americans dying from Covid-19, instead of being saddened by that possibility, or committing to a much lower figure or strategies that could prevent that huge number of deaths. He often tells the media at the press briefings that states don't need as much testing and medical equipment, pointing out that states with very few cases don't need the equipment, while claiming that states with lots of cases are over-estimating the amount of equipment they need (and now that they are just a few days past the highest number of deaths, he's now less interested in helping states, because he is always saying that the virus is just going to die out on its own, as if it will suddenly stop being passed on to new people). So many of the deaths were preventable, but he will just go on blaming everyone else. I don't think Trump has ever taken responsibility for anything wrong during his presidency, claiming to be the smartest, most perfect person in the world, and as long as Fox News is there to keep reassuring him that he is perfect, anything that goes wrong is someone else's fault.

He's so worried about being re-elected, Trump has not only used his Covid-19 update press conferences to promote or defend everything he thinks he has done right, but now he has managed to mobilise his supporters in swing states to go out in public to protest the lockdowns, because it is affecting the economy (which affects his personal fortune), but the protesting will just increase the spread of the virus among the groups of people protesting together.
To top it all, Trump just announced his intention of shutting down Congress (as a right in the constitution that has never been used), because they are preventing him from appointing people to roles that they are not suited for, as they are the only ones with the power (outside of an election) to be able to stand in his way. Removing congress (which is like having our Prime Minister shutting down a minority hostile parliament... something that happened just before the last Federal Election), and discrediting the media (as well as prohibiting some from even attending the press briefings) leaves the American President taking on the role of dictator. Something Trump has admired (being friendly with the "presidents" of Russia, China and Nth Korea - all of which have control of their media, police/military, and/or elections, and have kept themselves in power for decades), and hasn't kept it a secret that he would love to have that same power in America, proposing changes to the constitution to allow him to stay as president.

If Trump loses the election this November, he is not going to go quietly... he will be a constant voice in the media and social media, criticising everything his replacement does... and expect him to run for the 2024 election, and every election after that until he dies of old age, as his power in the Republican party will prevent anyone well-known from running against him if they want to keep their current job in politics (anyone who has spoken out against Trump in the past has either been removed by him, or lost the support of their party and the voters who support Trump). While Trump is alive, I don't think there will be another Republican president, because he won't stand aside to allow someone else whom he would see as inferior to him (everyone is inferior to him), to be the Republican candidate.

[Unicran]

Any excuse to segway to Trump trouncing... Carry on.

[Trent]

Any excuse to segway to Trump trouncing... Carry on.

The dude needs trouncing.

[Unicran]

The dude needs trouncing.

Needs to cut back on eating carrots. Perhaps carrots is the panacea to COVID-19.

[Ralph Wiggum]

Gotta love the protests to end the lockdown. Just waiting for natural selection to run its course....

[griffin]

I think Trump and his blind followers have earned the Darwin Award for 2020.
It just shows how little he cares about others, for sacrificing his republican voters just to target democrat states as part of his re-election strategy (encouraging them to go out in public in crowds to protest the life-saving lockdown measures, in the same week that had the biggest number of deaths the USA has had so far)... and those people who are protesting are too stupid to see that they are just being used for his own political and financial benefit.


My workplace has applied for the Jobkeeper program, and even though they haven't yet been accepted, they sent out emails to us workers yesterday to have us fill in a form if we want to participate, which suggests that they will close down our worksite as soon as they are accepted by the government (which would mean, no more money until the Jobkeeper payments start in about 6 weeks time (which is meant to backdate the payments to when you were laid off).
Obviously we would want the payments if the company isn't going to be paying us anymore, so why ask us if we want to be part of the program.
Ironically, I would expect businesses (and shops) would be allowed to go back to work by the end of May (as the virus numbers should have bottomed out by then), so we would end up being closed down for the next 4-5 weeks, only to be told we can go back to work just before the Jobkeeper payment starts.
I wonder - if the government say that we can relax our lockdown to let people go back to shopping and work before the end of May, would they still pay out the Jobkeeper money to people who were out of work for several weeks, but were back to work when the payments were to be sent out in about 6 weeks time.
I might have to do some reading up on this before I sign up to anything.

[1AZRAEL1]

When you see people shooting pictures of people they disagree with, you really have to question how low can people go and how stupid people really are.

[shockNwave]

Ah Trump, the guy who wouldn't let those pesky victims of 9/11 derail his interview* on that tragic day. So instead of cancelling the interview out of respect he went ahead and the closest he came to showing condolences was to express disappointment that the stock exchange had to be closed due to the attacks.

And now Trump wants to cut the WHO's funding because he see's the corona outbreak as a China vs. USA thing with WHO guilty of siding with China.

*Phone interview given to Alan Marcus (his former publicist).

[DELTAprime]

I can't wait to stop hearing about Trump. Just 8 more months, Just 8 more months.