The West Australian had a Painted Dog Research poll of 500 respondents on attitudes to the coronavirus, with field work dates undisclosed – or at least its website did, as I can’t see any mention of it in the hard copy. What the online report ($) tells us is that 71% believed the federal government should “enforce a full lockdown”; that 25% expected three months of social distancing, and 23% six months; that 18% were extremely worried about losing their job by September, with another 42% slightly worried; and that 68% were most concerned about the health impact, compared with 28% for the economic impact.
Other than that, I have the following to relate about Queensland’s elections on the weekend, which I’ll put here as the dedicated post on the subject doesn’t seem to be doing much business:
• As the dust settles on the troubled counting process, it’s clear the Liberal National Party has enjoyed something of a triumph in the election for Brisbane City Council, extending their 16-year grip on the lord mayoralty and quite probably repeating their feat from 2016 of winning 19 out 26 wards on the council. Incumbent Adrian Schrinner leads Labor’s Pat Condren in the lord mayoral race by a margin of 5.5%, although the latter gained a 4.0% swing off Graham Quirk’s landslide win in 2016. The ABC projection is awarding 17 ward seats to the LNP, to which they look very likely to add Enoggera, while maintaining a slender lead over the Greens in Paddington. The Greens’ combined council ward vote is up 3.4% on 2016 to 17.9%, and they retained their sole existing seat of The Gabba with swings of 12.2% on the primary vote and 8.5% on two-party preferred.
• However, it was a less good performance by the LNP in the two state by-elections, where all the detail is laid out at my results pages for Bundamba and Currumbin. The party finished a distant third behind One Nation in Bundamba, which remains a safe seat for Labor, and have only narrowly held on in Currumbin, where Labor has achieved a rare feat for a governing party in picking up a swing of nearly 2% at a by-election. Party leader Deb Frecklington would nonetheless be relieved by the result, since a defeat in Currumbin, which a pre-election poll suggested was in prospect, would surely have imperilled her leadership, despite her being able to point to the highly unusual circumstances in which the election was held.
• Speaking of which, I offer the following numbers on the ways the enrolled voters of Bundamba and Currumbin did and didn’t vote, with the qualification that there is an indeterminate number of postals still to be counted — perhaps rather a few of them, given I understood that there had been a surge in applications (although it seems a number of applicants never received their ballots).
Finally, a few thoughts on the situation in the United States, elaborating on a subject covered in yesterday’s post here by Adrian Beaumont – you are encouraged to comment on that thread if you have something specific to offer on matters American, and in particular on Donald Trump’s confounding opinion poll bounce over the past few weeks. I sought to put the latter event in context in a paywalled Crikey article on Monday, the key feature of which is the following comparison of his approval rating trend, as measured by FiveThirtyEight, with comparable trend measures of my own for Angela Merkel, Boris Johnson, Emmanuel Macron and Scott Morrison.
The upshot is that leaders the world over are enjoying a “rally around the flag” approval bounce, and that Donald Trump’s looks meagre indeed compared with his colleagues across the Atlantic. I feel pretty sure that the lack of a clear bounce for Scott Morrison is down to the fact that there have been no new numbers since Essential Research’s poll of over a fortnight ago, with the surges for Merkel, Johnson and Macron being concentrated since that time.
It’s also interesting to observe that Trump’s improvement has not been consistently observed. The chart below records his trends so far from this year from the five most prolific pollsters. For some reason, Rasmussen, the pollster that is usually most favourable to him — and which is accordingly the most frequent subject of his vainglorious tweets on the odd occasion when it reaches 50% — has in fact found his approval rating going in the direction he deserves. There is also no sign of change from the Ipsos series. However, the improving trend from the other three is more in line with the many other pollsters included in the FiveThirtyEight series, hence its overall picture of his best ratings since his post-election honeymoon.
Dan
I sincerely hope so. The party does not deserve to exist after this. The Liberal and National parties need to just disband as well. They are just a danger to human life. They need to be replaced with people with sensible thinking, with right wing views as they like, but based on evidence.
And no more damned religious bloody nutters.
This is one person’s experience. How many weeks’ isolation is enough?
I suspect there is a temporary ‘rally around the flag’ reaction that’s taken place here. What will prove more enduring are the economic fallout and massive health toll. Couple these with video of Trump consistently downplaying the corona-crisis and I think there’s plenty of ammunition for dem’s to aim at Trump come November. Fingers crossed it works.
Good morning Dawn Patrollers
George Megalogenis begins this contribution with, “There is a credibility gap in the story Scott Morrison tells about the nation’s response to the coronavirus. The Prime Minister likes to talk up his early decision to close the border to China, the source of the pandemic. But he is careful to avoid mentioning the United States, the source of the largest number of confirmed cases in Australia from any individual foreign country.” An interesting read.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/a-health-and-economic-crisis-with-the-added-complication-of-international-relations-20200402-p54gkn.html
How science finally caught up with Trump’s playbook – with millions of lives at stake. This is an excoriation!
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/apr/04/trump-coronavirus-science-analysis
Melbourne researchers say an anti-parasitic drug commonly used to combat head lice has been found to kill the virus that causes COVID-19 in the lab within 48 hours.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/australian-scientists-discover-head-lice-drug-kills-coronavirus-in-lab-20200404-p54h15.html
By funnelling the JobKeeper program through the ATO, the government will kill the cash economy and motivate the population to get their taxes in order writes John Faine who says the department has just been handed a gift.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/the-ato-just-got-a-gift-20200403-p54gsh.html
Turns out politicians can drop the ideology and fix things. Never let ’em forget it urges Jacqui Maley.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/turns-out-politicians-can-drop-the-ideology-and-fix-things-never-let-em-forget-it-20200403-p54gu7.html
The magnitude of restrictions on the way we live makes the holding of parliament far more important than many might appreciate writes John Pesutto.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/governments-need-to-get-ahead-of-the-scrutiny-curve-20200403-p54gp3.html
The puzzle of coronavirus: a huge variation in rates of death and severe disease across the globe.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/the-puzzle-of-coronavirus-a-huge-variation-in-rates-of-death-and-severe-disease-across-the-globe-20200402-p54gkr.html
Cait Kelly reveals how real estate agents across the country are swapping tips on how to keep their renters paying top dollar, including tricks to drive them in circles when they ask for rental relief.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/2020/04/04/coronavirus-rent-agents/
Borders have closed and nations are taking back control, but we need to preserve the best of our global institutions writes Dave Sharma.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/the-virus-has-shaken-globalism-which-will-yield-ground-to-nation-states-20200401-p54fw6.html
John Lord explains what makes the Morrison government’s actions of the past week so astonishing.
https://theaimn.com/what-makes-the-morrison-governments-actions-of-the-past-week-so-astonishing/
Peter FitzSimons declares that heads must roll over the Ruby Princess petri dish.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/heads-must-roll-over-the-ruby-princess-petri-dish-20200403-p54gwr.html
A study of websites offering advice about antidepressants has found widespread misinformation, and widespread backing by drug companies. As people are flocking in record numbers to get their medical advice online, thanks to the coronavirus, it is time to expose the risks. Dr Maryanne Demasi reports.
https://www.michaelwest.com.au/websites-research-online-advice-on-medications-skewed-by-big-pharma-funding/
With the current pandemic shaking up the global economy, it might be time to look at democratic socialism as a viable economic model, writes John Wren in his weekly loitical review.
https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/wrens-week-time-to-reshape-our-political-and-economic-model,13760
Social distancing rules make funerals complicated and lonely affairs. So how do you say goodbye to a loved one asks Cloe Booker.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/virus-brings-a-new-kind-of-mourning-as-dead-are-farewelled-from-afar-20200401-p54g4p.html
Australia could avoid an “Italian or American acceleration” if people keep complying with social distancing rules, an adviser to the WHO said.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/we-will-now-see-the-benefits-case-increase-slows-as-lockdown-takes-effect-20200403-p54gxb.html
Now that we have abandoned the precious surplus, Tim Cornwall asks if we could reverse the NDIS underspend that was enabling it.
https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/how-the-ndis-has-failed-under-a-liberal-government,13761
After coronavirus, private hospitals should not be allowed to return to ‘business as usual’ writes health policy analyst Jennifer Doggett.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/apr/03/after-coronavirus-private-hospitals-should-not-be-allowed-to-return-to-business-as-usual
Many of us right now are gaining a better understanding of the economy and how destructive it can be, writes Sue Stevenson.
https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/our-economy-is-a-beast-we-keep-feeding,13762
Cameron Houston tells us about the cough that crossed the globe by leading to Andrew Abercrombie’s ill-fated party.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/victoria/the-cough-that-crossed-the-globe-andrew-abercrombie-s-ill-fated-party-20200403-p54gp9.html
There’s nothing pro-life about exploiting a pandemic to further a political agenda writes Arwa Mahdawi as she rolls out several examples.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/apr/04/abortion-restrictions-coronavirus-pandemic-nothing-pro-life
From Washington David Smith writes that as unthinkable events unfold over coronavirus, experts say no one knows if the election will happen as scheduled – and Trump is in a ‘precarious position’
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/apr/04/us-2020-presidential-election-coronavirus-future
Donald Trump is “decapitating the leadership of the intelligence community in the middle of a national crisis”, senior Democrat Adam Schiff has charged, after the president fired the inspector general of the US intelligence community late on Friday night.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/apr/04/donald-trump-decapitating-intelligence-leadership-coronavirus-crisis-senior-democrat
Idiot-in-Chief Donald Trump said on Friday that the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention was urging all Americans to wear a mask when they leave their homes, but he immediately undercut the message by repeatedly calling the recommendation voluntary and promising that he would not wear one himself.
https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/donald-trump-at-odds-with-his-administration-s-mask-advice-20200404-p54h29.html
Cartoon Corner
Alan Moir
Matt Golding
Reg Lynch
Matt Davidson
From the US
Good Morning.
I see Joe Rogan is now backing Trump.
Might have something to do with Trump doing Medicare for all C19 patients rather than fighting for healthcare based on your credit card.
Biden outflanked by Trump on healthcare.
Trump has been a disaster with c19 but he is going to win the healthcare debate.
It seems the British Labour Party now has a new leader. How did I miss this? I remember one comment about someone called Starmer, but there wasn’t much commentary here. Does Trump blind everyone?
Lizzie
It was decided last night our time. I and others commented on it last night.
guytaur
So I slept through it. Thanks. 🙂
lizzie @ #1606 Sunday, April 5th, 2020 – 4:35 am
Some of us have no interest in UK politics.
@rcbregman tweets
Wow, Financial Times editorial today. ‘Radical reforms — reversing the policy direction of the last four decades — will need to be put on the table. (…) Policies until recently considered eccentric, such as basic income and wealth taxes, will have to be in the mix.’ https://twitter.com/rcbregman/status/1246371782698905600/photo/1
Kate @ #1557 Saturday, April 4th, 2020 – 11:04 pm
I’m liking the prospect that the Tories may have to call him ‘Sir’. 😀
@jburnmurdoch tweets
NEW: Sat 4 April update of coronavirus trajectories
Daily new deaths:
• US about to go clear of Spain for most daily deaths of any country in the world
• UK on steeper trajectory than Italy, which was seen as hardest-hit country worldwide
Live charts: http://ft.com/coronavirus-latest https://twitter.com/jburnmurdoch/status/1246538228267712514/photo/1
Trump’s failure in preparing the nation for the coronavirus is summed up in this article. In essence Trump was warned by security, health and intelligence agencies about the virus 70 days before he actually took it seriously.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2020/04/04/coronavirus-government-dysfunction/?arc404=true
Well, that diagram that lizzie put up earlier is only going around ever so slightly for me. However, I know it’s not stress from COVID-19, it’s stress (managed well I think), from the fact I woke up this morning to the kitchen sink being blocked! Luckily I had some caustic soda on hand but I’m not so sure about the strength of it anymore. As, when we took everything out from under the sink and finally tracked the caustic soda down, it had effloresced out of the container it was in and clung to the sides and floor of the cupboard, with what was left inside the container turned to liquid. So I’m unsure about the concentration of what remains.
Anyway, we have cleaned the caustic from the side of the cupboard with vinegar, with thick gloves on, and poured a solution of the stuff, to instructions anyway, down the sink hole. See what happens.
Now, there’s a lesson here boys and girls. The latest fad for using Coconut Oil to cook with WILL end in tears for your plumbing and pipes! It seems as though, as soon as the weather turned cold it just solidified! It had probably been sitting there in a sludgy form in the warmer weather, but not any more.
*sigh*
Pity the poor workers on shift the night of 18th/19th March putting up with a shitshow directed from on high – and alleged criminal action by Carnival
Good work BK and thanks for the ✔ Dawn Patrol. ✔
https://www.palmerreport.com/analysis/fox-news-is-in-deep-trouble/27302/
We need to know who the ‘Senior Carnival Australia official’ who directed the cover-up is.
Morning all
Day savings over and the weather is very ordinary. Cold and windy.
No one will be tempted to venture out in Melbourne town. Social distancing will be a success today.
And Much thanks Bk for todays reading.
The conspiracy theory that links 5G technology to the spread of coronavirus is “dangerous nonsense”, a British minister said at the government’s daily coronavirus briefing. The bizarre theory has led to phone masts around the UK being attacked.
Message for It’s Time:
Shove it up your jumper.
We may be nearing ‘peak conspiracy theory’ . Spotted this and a top effort to roll chips,5g,vaccines and the Rockefellor’s NWO into such a small space. 🙂
.
Vic:
The forecast for here this week is for 30 degrees later in the week! Cold today though.
#weatheronPB
I admit I don’t really understand this 5G conspiracy stuff or even where it came from. Is this what happens when large sections of the workforce work from home? 😆
Fess
Nice.
We had lovely weather during the week, but the last few days have been wintry, cold,rainy and now windy as well.
poroti @ #1623 Sunday, April 5th, 2020 – 7:34 am
That is a case for taking the internet off people.
C@t
I too have a kitchen sink story from last month. It was showing obvious signs of blockage so I asked my son to take the drain apart. I was feeling guilty in case I’d blocked it with coffee grounds, although I’m pretty careful and also never put any grease or oil into the sink. As it happens, when it was re-plumbed for the dishwasher, the outlet from the sink is now twice the usual length. My son pulled out what looked like a bottlebrush, with a long thin handle and a hands width clump at the end. It was impossible that a bottlebrush could have gone down the holes, so he reluctantly took it outside and washed the ‘brush’ apart in running water.
All dog hair, in a tangled mass! Must have taken years to accumulate. The long ‘handle’ was a straightened wire coathanger, obviously used by someone to poke out a previous small blockage, and which had dropped right down the long drain and disappeared from view!
In its simplest terms; the NDIS was just one of many piggy banks for the LNP to break open when it needed (and it always needs more and more) cash desperately.
https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/how-the-ndis-has-failed-under-a-liberal-government,13761
Anyone see a rush to buy Ivermectin and almost certainly a few deaths as people ignore warnings? What the media should have done was kept their mouths shut about Ivermectin until more evidence was in about its effectiveness.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-04-04/monash-researchers-hopes-for-coronavirus-drug-treatment-warning/12121578?section=politics
Spare a thought for Ged Kearney today:
https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/coronavirus/2020/04/05/coronavirus-ged-kearney-father-in-law/
lizzie,
😆 That’s a dog brush of a completely different kind!
C@t
Ged Kearney’s story is very worrying and sad because the gentleman tried to do the right things to protect himself and his wife.
Confessions
The 5g stuff has been going for a while. It probably just mutated from “4g” conspiracies. ‘Electromagnetic radiation” has a very long history among the ‘conspiracy community’ . The story remains the same only the ‘frequency’ changes.
5g conspiracy UK:
A Facebook page, which was created on Thursday, encouraged people to set fire to the towers due to baseless claims about the health risks posed by 5G technology, before the social media company took down the page on Friday morning.
Actor Woody Harrelson and former Dancing on Ice judge Jason Gardiner were among the celebrities who shared theories connecting 5G to the Covid-19 pandemic.
lizzie @ #1632 Sunday, April 5th, 2020 – 7:45 am
Yes, that’s an object lesson to us all. And why I put so much of the story up.
(But not all of it, Mr Bowe! 🙂 )
You shake your head and wonder who would be SO reckless as to create a facebook page containing such dangerous advice.
For the Poll Bludgers TV Commentary page.
Van der Valk*
The first (apparently) of three parts was shown on ABC TV last night. I managed to stay awake for about half of it and will catch up later today with “IView”.
Van Der Valk centres on the investigations of detective Piet Van der Valk in and around the city of Amsterdam as he investigates a series of high profile cases. This series Van der Valk and his team are immersed in the worlds of art, politics, addiction, mysticism and the fashion industry.
The headline part is played by Marc Warren who has been around playing various parts since
1987 — The Bill –Man in pub –Series 3,– Episode 3
I recall him vividly playing the despicable Graham McArdy in this episode –
1996 –A Touch of Frost –Graham McArdy –Series 4,– Episode 1
*The show follows a street smart and unapologetic Dutch detective navigates the lively and enigmatic city of Amsterdam, solving mysterious crimes using astute human observation and inspired detection. The original series, which was produced by Thames Television for ITV, starred Barry Foster as Dutch detective Commissaris Piet/Simon Van Der Valk. It was loosely based on the novels by Nicolas Freeling. Warren will play the detective.
Curses, foiled again – I’v been gazumped by a plumbing story. 😎
Cat
To be safe with copyright 10% is a rule to live by. Its what I try and do myself.
Not a go at you just a reminder to all really. 🙂
Cat
To be safe with copyright 10% is a rule to live by. Its what I try and do myself.
Not a go at you just a reminder to all really. 🙂
Edit: The reason for the 10% is advice I got as a student on photocopying articles in physical form.
poroti:
Woody Harrelson has been promoting the 5G conspiracy on Instagram. I had no idea the man was such a nutter!
South Dakota is one of the remaining 11 US States with Republican governors who refuse to order a lock down, now this:
“South Dakota state representative Bob Glanzer died from coronavirus Friday night.
Glanzer, 74, is the second member of his family to die from COVID-19, The Associated Press reported.
He is the first sitting U.S. legislator to die from the virus.”
https://www.nydailynews.com/coronavirus/ny-coronavirus-south-dakota-state-representative-bob-glanzer-dead-20200404-43tkdggt3zakfj26i7zoczghnu-story.html
C@tmomma @ #1615 Sunday, April 5th, 2020 – 7:19 am
It’s rubbish. It’s an optical illusion which always turns for neurological reasons. It’s got nothing to do with stress.
Ged Kearneys story is sad and worrying.
I have ensured that my parents have not ventured out at all since first week of March.
They have had their medical appointments via tele health. But they have a podiatrist appointment in mid April and we have been advised that they are to wait in car until podiatrist calls them into rooms for treatment.
Wondering now if that is a good move.
C@t:
The Kearney death is a timely lesson to all to take the virus risks seriously. While he may not have ventured much outside his home, I wonder if his wife was, or whether the household was receiving visitors, either family or friends.
I see our Buzz Killer stentorian Overlord, Principal It’s Time, has clocked on. 🙄
Grrrr
Scott Dworkin
@funder
·
44m
Trump just ranted about the fact he’s impeached for life, then said “somebody ought to sue his ass off” talking about the Ukraine whistleblower. Thousands of Americans are dying. Trump is an abomination. Completely unhinged.
Scott Dworkin
@funder
·
1h
Trump is out of his fricking mind.
That sums up today’s press conference.
Scott Dworkin
@funder
·
1h
Trump went from talking about how a lot of Americans are going to die this week, to ranting about fake news, then blabbing about his poll numbers, which are abysmal for a time of crisis. More importantly, I have a beer in my hand, one sip every time Trump compliments himself—CHUG
Victoria
You can only go on the best advice available. It was a good move at the time.
Now we know talking can be enough to transmit the virus.
Something we did not know just a few days ago.
So please don’t feel guilty. I hope the Kearney family is avoiding that guilt feeling its bad enough dealing with the isolation issues in a time of grief.
KayJay
I started off a little confused because I have only seen Marc Warren as a typical Cockney villain. I was also put off by the violence. Not sure I’ll bother any more.
‘fess,
They could have been getting visitors, though it seems they took the threat pretty seriously. The story outlines how they were well, until he wasn’t and then went downhill fast. He could simply have caught COVID-19 when he went to the shops.
Fess
My parents have been isolated from visitors since mid March
And since stage 3, I have been the main visitor delivering groceries, medications etc.
The rest of the family, which is big, have kept away.