Coronavirus/COVID-19

The Governor has apologised, basically said this should never have happened. Unfortunately all of the commentators are bringing up the issue that the black/Hispanic reporter was arrested, meanwhile their white reporter wasn't.

This is just inflaming the whole situation even further.

I prefer to see it as an example of what is actually happening on a daily basis there.

I hereby declare the United States of America an official Basket Case - the way CV19 handled, no power over China, now riots have raised their ugly head once more.

My dad who served in the Pacific in WW2 used to say thank God for the Americans because if it wasn't for them Australia would have been taken over by Japan. I grew up with a sense of 'USA will fix it' comfort mentality if a similar situation occurred, backed up by the things I saw USA achieve - space exploration, technology advances, 'superpower' status etc.

The last few years has opened my eyes to a few things - the ignorance everyday Americans have about the rest of the world/other cultures, the huntin' shootin' fishin' "Hills Have Eyes" mentality of half the population, the lack of a basic contingency plan for something like a viral pandemic, no global influence, fear of change for the better....

I respected the 'old' USA - whether that was misguided or not I still believe my dad was right.

They've become a laughing stock - except no one's laughing.
 
I prefer to see it as an example of what is actually happening on a daily basis there.

I hereby declare the United States of America an official Basket Case - the way CV19 handled, no power over China, now riots have raised their ugly head once more.

My dad who served in the Pacific in WW2 used to say thank God for the Americans because if it wasn't for them Australia would have been taken over by Japan. I grew up with a sense of 'USA will fix it' comfort mentality if a similar situation occurred, backed up by the things I saw USA achieve - space exploration, technology advances, 'superpower' status etc.

The last few years has opened my eyes to a few things - the ignorance everyday Americans have about the rest of the world/other cultures, the huntin' shootin' fishin' "Hills Have Eyes" mentality of half the population, the lack of a basic contingency plan for something like a viral pandemic, no global influence, fear of change for the better....

I respected the 'old' USA - whether that was misguided or not I still believe my dad was right.

They've become a laughing stock - except no one's laughing.

Yes, right in front of the eyes of the world they were stupid enough to demonstrate how black men are treated and pre-judged. Live on air, while the reporter is saying we're from CNN, someone decided to go through with this arrest and make the point blatantly clear.
 
Looking at the numbers - both national and global - I don't think there's anywhere else in the world I'd rather be during this crisis than in Australia.

...

The following ... charts are directly from the worldometer site.

Australia (pop 25m+)
View attachment 866288


South Korea (pop 51m+)
View attachment 866295
You can see how there is a very long tail of daily new cases in South Korea, even though very small in number.
Just had another look at this. Our New Cases chart looks very similar to South Korea's a month ago.
1590798311604.png


And here's South Korea's chart today. The long tail is now even longer.
1590798917054.png

Chart source: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

Covid19 is more or less under control in both countries but devilishly hard to eliminate completely. With no herd immunity a dangerous rebound is still a genuine risk during the easing of restrictions if we don't continue to exercise a great degree of caution as individuals.
 

LittleG

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I prefer to see it as an example of what is actually happening on a daily basis there.

I hereby declare the United States of America an official Basket Case - the way CV19 handled, no power over China, now riots have raised their ugly head once more.

My dad who served in the Pacific in WW2 used to say thank God for the Americans because if it wasn't for them Australia would have been taken over by Japan. I grew up with a sense of 'USA will fix it' comfort mentality if a similar situation occurred, backed up by the things I saw USA achieve - space exploration, technology advances, 'superpower' status etc.

The last few years has opened my eyes to a few things - the ignorance everyday Americans have about the rest of the world/other cultures, the huntin' shootin' fishin' "Hills Have Eyes" mentality of half the population, the lack of a basic contingency plan for something like a viral pandemic, no global influence, fear of change for the better....

I respected the 'old' USA - whether that was misguided or not I still believe my dad was right.

They've become a laughing stock - except no one's laughing.

Great post.
 
I should add to the above that while South Korea and Australia (and NZ for that matter) have had a similar trajectory and we talked about Vietnam a few pages back, there's another success story during the pandemic. That's been Taiwan which has had a bit of media coverage in recent days.

23 million people and close proximity to China but only 442 cases and 7 deaths.

1590799707289.png

Note that the scale on the Y-axis is very different to Australia's and South Korea's.
 
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LittleG

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Just had another look at this. Our New Cases chart looks very similar to South Korea's a month ago.
View attachment 883859

And here's South Korea's chart today. The long tail is now even longer.
View attachment 883864
Chart source: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

Covid19 is more or less under control in both countries but devilishly hard to eliminate completely. With no herd immunity a dangerous rebound is still a genuine risk during the easing of restrictions if we don't continue to exercise a great degree of caution as individuals.

South Korea had a super spreader event recently. An individual infected 40+ people in a single night of dancing, drinking and merriment
 
South Korea had a super spreader event recently. An individual infected 40+ people in a single night of dancing, drinking and merriment
Yes, that's a good example of how it can happen. Both countries are geared up to jump on such outbreaks with meticulous contact tracing, testing and isolation or quarantine but once it get into the hundreds it's very hard to hold it down without declaring another lockdown. Nobody wants to go back there again.
 

LittleG

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Yes, that's a good example of how it can happen. Both countries are geared up to jump on such outbreaks with meticulous contact tracing, testing and isolation or quarantine but once it get into the hundreds it's very hard to hold it down without declaring another lockdown. Nobody wants to go back there again.

IF we can avoid the second wave... our biggest issue will be restarting the economy. Our economy is going to be shite for ages as a result of this.

Major issues:
Social distancing makes public transport unprofitable.
Rent can’t be paid by many people - causing major amounts of vacancies, both residential BUT really commercial will be hit hardest. Restaurants & retailers will not be able to justify the rent on premises, maybe they will have to drop 50%+ to make some businesses viable.
Tourism industry is looking at 50%+ contraction, that’s many hotels broke.
Banks - mortgage defaults will be a major issue.
Company profit results will send some major shockwaves through the stock market.
Retirees will see their investments be massively reduced and much lower dividends.
Aged care will need an overhaul, as many operations are poor and will become unprofitable.


Suggestions:
Some industries will drop in a massive way. The government will need to let some go down and buy them during the fire sale that will result. Things like power infrastructure, public transport and the like. May as well buy them than prop them up for years.
 

footscray1973

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Suggestions:
Some industries will drop in a massive way. The government will need to let some go down and buy them during the fire sale that will result. Things like power infrastructure, public transport and the like. May as well buy them than prop them up for years.

Too logical. Public transport for one should never be out of govt control - more efficient to maintain and upgrade using their own employees than contractors and PPP. Poles and wires the same - many years ago I worked for one of the owners of power infrastructure - all the line guys said maintenance efficiency and governance had dropped since they worked under the SEC. SEC, G&F and others were major employers of apprentices too, some who stayed and some who moved to other industries once qualified - benefiting the whole state. Now - nada.
 

LittleG

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Too logical. Public transport for one should never be out of govt control - more efficient to maintain and upgrade using their own employees than contractors and PPP. Poles and wires the same - many years ago I worked for one of the owners of power infrastructure - all the line guys said maintenance efficiency and governance had dropped since they worked under the SEC.

This is the REAL reason the power bills went up. Carbon tax was negligible in comparison.

SEC, G&F and others were major employers of apprentices too, some who stayed and some who moved to other industries once qualified - benefiting the whole state. Now - nada.
Underrated service to the industry. Apprenticeships are hugely important and for young ones to get the experience they need.
 

LittleG

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Too logical. Public transport for one should never be out of govt control - more efficient to maintain and upgrade using their own employees than contractors and PPP. Poles and wires the same - many years ago I worked for one of the owners of power infrastructure - all the line guys said maintenance efficiency and governance had dropped since they worked under the SEC. SEC, G&F and others were major employers of apprentices too, some who stayed and some who moved to other industries once qualified - benefiting the whole state. Now - nada.

I think the US & Aus missed a huge opportunity during the GFC to let at least one of the Banks fail. Let it go down and buy it out during the fire sale. Instead we spent Billions of dollars that went to the very people who created the GFC in the first place.

The Free Market needs to be left alone. It was my biggest issue with ALL the parties involved, both sides wanted the solution that came about BUT it wasn’t a good solution. Certainly not a free market one.
 

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...My dad who served in the Pacific in WW2 used to say thank God for the Americans because if it wasn't for them Australia would have been taken over by Japan. I grew up with a sense of 'USA will fix it' comfort mentality if a similar situation occurred, backed up by the things I saw USA achieve - space exploration, technology advances, 'superpower' status etc.

The last few years has opened my eyes to a few things - the ignorance everyday Americans have about the rest of the world/other cultures, the huntin' shootin' fishin' "Hills Have Eyes" mentality of half the population, the lack of a basic contingency plan for something like a viral pandemic, no global influence, fear of change for the better....

I respected the 'old' USA - whether that was misguided or not I still believe my dad was right....
In terms of ignorance everyday Americans have about the rest of the world/other cultures, the huntin' shootin' fishin' "Hills Have Eyes" mentality of half the population, the lack of a basic contingency plan for something like a viral pandemic I don't think that the US is any worse, if that's the word, than it was during WW11, probably better, segregation is no longer official. The US had severe losses in the Spanish Flu Epidemic, too. Race Riots are regular occurrences. There were 48 between 2000 and 2019, 33 since 2010 [Source https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_incidents_of_civil_unrest_in_the_United_States#21st_century Yeah, I know, a bit iffy and the list is headed Civil Unrest but they are really race riots.She still has the most influence in the World.This Pandemic has weakened her but it's not terminal.[/I]
 
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by

In terms of ignorance everyday Americans have about the rest of the world/other cultures, the huntin' shootin' fishin' "Hills Have Eyes" mentality of half the population, the lack of a basic contingency plan for something like a viral pandemic I don't think that the US is any worse, if that's the word, than it was during WW11, probably better, segregation is no longer official. The US had severe losses in the Spanish Flu Epidemic, too. Race Riots are regular occurrences. There were 48 between 2000 and 2019, 33 since 2010 [Source https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_incidents_of_civil_unrest_in_the_United_States#21st_century Yeah, I know, a bit iffy and the list is headed Civil Unrest but they are really race riots.She still has the most influence in the World.This Pandemic has weakened her but it's not terminal.[/I]

Don't you think things would have improved? We're talking about nearly 100 years ago.
 

King Harold

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Don't you think things would have improved? We're talking about nearly 100 years ago.

you would have thought !
Despite the continued defence Of the US by our colleague on here , another term for this current administration may well see the end of them as the worlds
leading super power. Their very democracy is under serious threat .
 
you would have thought !
Despite the continued defence Of the US by our colleague on here , another term for this current administration may well see the end of them as the worlds
leading super power. Their very democracy is under serious threat .

I agree.
 

DogNabbit

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Yes they will!

They're on special at Coles every second week.

They often do the $20 box for half.

Trust me - I'm all over it 😘

You got to get on the food recycling shops thats where you start to get some insane bargains . Somewhere like cheaper buy miles which has a lovely premises in the heart of footscray it's self.

I Cleaned up after Easter there, you're basically making money when you shop there. Just a hot tip.
 

DogNabbit

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...

A... with the likes of 'Dictator Dan' and other childish insults?

...
and inaccurate. Everyone knows it's Chairman Dan.
[/QUOTE]

I get the Chairman Dan part being more inline with the insult trying to link him to authortarian China but I gotta say the alliteration just works better structurally.
 

D Mitchell

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I get the Chairman Dan part being more inline with the insult trying to link him to authortarian China but I gotta say the alliteration just works better structurally.
Yes, the alliteration works better. The Dictator / Chairman epithets arise from the overzealous imposition of rules on self isolation. That’s just a bit of fun, not much of an insult. Golf’s a trivial issue. Return to work is more serious but doesn’t worry me, Belt and Road really does, though. That’s not all Andrews’ doing, if he was the only one it wouldn’t have happened. Cabinet and Government, which means the ALP, share the opprobrium. What’s the Auditor General doing ? Budget Estimates 2019-2020 Report predicts debt of $51 bil by 2023 and acknowledges reduced revenue because of falling real estate prices. Is he intimidated by Pallas after the Transurban extension issue last year ?
 
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D Mitchell

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Don't you think things would have improved? We're talking about nearly 100 years ago.
100 years ago takes it back to post WW1. Things would have improved is very broad. If you mean race relations, then there has been dramatic change. Segregation has gone, there’s a substantial Afro-American middle class, there’s been a black President. If you mean Global influence, even more dramatic. League of Nations, WW11, post WW11 World order, United Nations

The US has always been criticised for its treatment of blacks, from slavery days to today, deservedly so; for its World influence, the Ugly American syndrome; for the ignorance and insularity of its citizens yet widespread tourism probably derives from American post WW 1 tourism and there used to be a saying, probably still is, that the West End existed because of American tourists. For all that American entrepreneurs dominate the world economy, its technology improves our lives and the State Department brokers peace deals all over the World.
 
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LittleG

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Yes, the alliteration works better. The Dictator / Chairman epithets arise from the overzealous imposition of rules on self isolation. That’s just a bit of fun, not much of an insult. Golf’s a trivial issue. Return to work is more serious but doesn’t worry me, Belt and Road really does, though. That’s not all Andrews’ doing, if he was the only one it wouldn’t have happened. Cabinet and Government, which means the ALP, share the opprobrium. What’s the Auditor General doing ? Budget Estimates 2019-2020 Report predicts debt of $51 bil by 2023 and acknowledges reduced revenue because of falling real estate prices. Is he intimidated by Pallas after the Transurban extension issue last year ?

The federal government has repeatedly declined to fund Victorian infrastructure. Repeatedly. The money for these much needed projects should have come from the Feds BUT they decided to do tax cuts and pork barrelling (sports rorts and others), while still running up a deficit.

So, Victoria after years of trying to get funding, found the best conditions for getting the money around. Just like how we sell to China because we get great prices, we borrow from China at great rates. IF they weren’t great rates, then we would borrow from elsewhere.


I hate taking money from China even for selling them barley, I am not a fan of their government (would rather get it from morally corrupt Trump). But the blame for this is at a Federal level. Any state of Australia who can’t upgrade their rail network for decades, has a revenue problem. Who controls the revenue? The federal government who refuse to fund anything. Lay blame where it is due.



To get us out of the COVID economic hole we are now in, we must fund many projects. Hopefully these are less construction and more focused on those areas most effected by the downturn. Regional areas have been neglected for decades.
 

D Mitchell

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The federal government has repeatedly declined to fund Victorian infrastructure. Repeatedly. The money for these much needed projects should have come from the Feds BUT they decided to do tax cuts and pork barrelling (sports rorts and others), ...


You really mean the 2014 election when the Feds refused to produce the $3 bil it was going to provide for the East West Link but which the newly elected Victorian Labour Government walked away from, having promised before the election to honour, and handed the Consortium a cool $1.1 bil of money it didn't have for doing nothing and then wanted the Feds to saddle up again for Railway Crossings, window dressing for political purposes. The Feds were right. Why should the Aus taxpayer pay for absolute stupidity and bloody mindedness? Belt and Road is not just a loan, it's capitulation, Chinese companies contracted, Chinese workers. China pays its own businesses, Victoria pays interest, gives China a foot in the door woe betide us if there's a default. As Victoria gets its money from the Feds and Stamp Duty, that's going to happen unless the Feds stump up, in what will be a recession.
 
100 years ago takes it back to post WW1. Things would have improved is very broad. If you mean race relations, then there has been dramatic change. Segregation has gone, there’s a substantial Afro-American middle class, there’s been a black President. If you mean Global influence, even more dramatic. League of Nations, WW11, post WW11 World order, United Nations

The US has always been criticised for its treatment of blacks, from slavery days to today, deservedly so; for its World influence, the Ugly American syndrome; for the ignorance and insularity of its citizens yet widespread tourism probably derives from American post WW 1 tourism and there used to be a saying, probably still is, that the West End existed because of American tourists. For all that American entrepreneurs dominate the world economy, its technology improves our lives and the State Department brokers peace deals all over the World.

If you read my post I said "nearly" 100 years ago. And isn't post WW1 long enough to have improved things?

I acknowledge the improvements you quote, but there's still so much that could and should have been improved. Regardless of colour, USA haven't tackled their poverty stricken at all. There's nothing equivalent of our health system and even the general welfare system is limited. It's not like they don't have the money - you said it yourself "American entrepreneurs dominate the world economy". Perhaps it's time they spent it in their own backyard and ensured altruism came into the psyche because the money, technology and peace deals are all about what's in it for them - not about what good they can do for others just for the sake of improving the world.

They're are now viewed across the world as a basket case, even by their own allies - I can see Kim, Xi and Vlad belly laughing now.
 
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