abqtommy
abqtommy's JournalFrom The BBC 5-7-20: "Coronavirus: How much news is too much?" This is a question I've begun
asking myself for some time now so let's see what The BBC has to say. I also have to add that I also
have been asking the same question regarding news reporting in general, which today appears to be all bad... However, back to the focus on COVID-19 reporting...
From the article: "By Maddy Savage 6th May 2020
News consumption skyrocketed at the start of the pandemic, but for some it’s led to fatigue or anxiety. Where do you draw the line while staying informed?
Constant notifications on your phone. TV news specials and debates in place of your favourite sports show. WhatsApp and Messenger stacking up with Covid-19 articles your former flatmate or estranged aunt just “had to share”. Sound familiar?
If our daily news intake was counted in calories, many of us would have piled on even more weight in recent weeks (yes, we empathise with those of you struggling with lockdown snacking). There was a swell of traffic to news sites around the world as the pandemic went global in March. Broadcasters also logged record ratings, including an uptick in younger viewers who’d typically shun traditional evening news bulletins. But as the crisis continues, some are now opting for a different diet.
It totally consumed me at one point, and I had to stop – Parul Ghosh
“It’s so easy to get lost on the internet with one article leading to another... it totally consumed me at one point, and I had to stop,” says Parul Ghosh, a 32-year-old entrepreneur. She found herself glued to global news websites and TV channels far more than usual, while also attempting to keep up with different national strategies. In India her family are living under strict lockdown, while Sweden, where she is currently based, has left more of society open. “I was stressed, because I constantly compared things to what's happening back home,” she says. 'I constantly compared things to what's happening back home,' she says. 'I constantly worried about my elderly parents and when I would be able to travel to them'."
much more at link:
https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20200505-coronavirus-how-much-news-is-too-much
I rate today as a "Ho Boy" day for news, from the Beatles' lyric in the song A Day In The life...
which goes "I read the news today, Ho Boy..."
From The BBC/Entertainment & Arts 5-6-20: Millie Small: My Boy Lollipop singer dies aged 73
"Jamaican singer Millie Small has died at the age of 73 after suffering a stroke.
The star was most famous for her hit single My Boy Lollipop, which reached number two in both the US and the UK in 1964.
It remains one of the biggest-selling ska songs of all time, with more than seven million sales."
more at link: https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-52557332
I first heard about Millie when I watched a documentary about Jamaican music and musicians some
years ago. RIP, Millie... 
From Al Jazeera 5-6-20: Out of pandemic anti-Blackness, a case for pan-Africanism
Virtual pan-Africanism can be a refuge. by Yannick Giovanni Marshall
"Chinese Jim Crow including "no blacks allowed" policies, evictions, forceful testing of Africans and African Americans and leaving Black people to starve on the streets of Guangzhou led several African leaders to come together and demand an end to racist mistreatment.
It was not much but it was enough to spur a Chinese whitewashing campaign, forcing officials to try to spin the reporting as sensationalising isolated incidents. Relationships will be mended and Chinese capital will soon overcome this minor threat to its access to African land and resources."
snip
"Time will not loosen the world's grip on anti-Blackness and so what is required now is a radical loss of patience. There is no point in taking the world by its shoulders and shaking them while screaming about the existence of Black humanity. They will not get it."
much more at link:
https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/pandemic-anti-blackness-case-pan-africanism-200502160650489.html
I have an interest in "racial"/ethnic matters and the writer uses passion and many internal links in support of this opinion piece. I especially was drawn to the words "what is required now is a radical loss of patience", which we can apply to any number of societal/political problems. It's writing like
this that keeps me reading Al Jazeera every day.
Catastrophe today right here in Duke City/Albuquerque! My sons tv went out so I ran up to
our local WalMart but they didn't have any tvs for sale at all. The clerk I talked to said that everybody's
buying tvs due to the quarantine but I shot that idea down.
Fortunately we're filthy with WalMarts here (sure, we're filthy without them too... 
The Three Stooges) So I visited 2 other WalMarts and a Target and finally wound up buying a 32"
Hisense-Roku tv listed at 115 bucks. I also bought a 2-year service plan so total out the door was
132 bucks, a pretty cheap price to pay to maintain harmony in our household.
My son runs his tv and puter 24/7 and since he outweighs me I try real hard to keep him happy. He's
a happy camper today, for sure!
May all of my catastrophes be no worse than this and I wish all of you the same.
From The Guardian/U.S. Politics 5-4-20: "Mitch McConnell could yet pay price
for 'tone deaf' coronavirus response"
from article: The Senate majority leader oversaw a huge handout to big business and drew bipartisan ire for suggesting struggling states should go bankrupt...
It was, New York’s governor, Andrew Cuomo observed, “one of the really dumb ideas of all time”. Larry Hogan, his counterpart in Maryland, called it “complete nonsense”. Congressman Pete King of New York said it was the work of the “Marie Antoinette of the Senate”.
Trump adviser: coronavirus relief aid threat to ‘sanctuary cities’ could happen
It would be an understatement to say Mitch McConnell’s suggestion that state and local governments should declare bankruptcy rather than seek more federal funding went down like a lead balloon. It was a rare instance of the Senate majority leader overplaying his hand.
It also showed that Donald Trump is not the only figure embodying liberal nightmares in the time of coronavirus. When historians contemplate a death toll in the tens of thousands and an economy fallen off a cliff, they will pay close attention to the president’s most important ally.
more at link:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/may/04/mitch-mcconnell-coronavirus-response-trump
Articles like this and of course the photo galleries make The Guardian a daily read for me.
From BBC/Health 5-4-20: Malaria 'completely stopped' by microbe (that prevents mosquitoes
from becoming infected)
From article: "Scientists have discovered a microbe that completely protects mosquitoes from being infected with malaria.
The team in Kenya and the UK say the finding has "enormous potential" to control the disease.
Malaria is spread by the bite of infected mosquitoes, so protecting them could in turn protect people.
The researchers are now investigating whether they can release infected mosquitoes into the wild, or use spores to suppress the disease."
more at link: https://www.bbc.com/news/health-52530828
This is very interesting and encouraging...
From The Guardian, May 1, 2020: Yanis Varoufakis: Marx predicted our present crisis -
and points the way out...
"The Communist Manifesto foresaw the predatory and polarised global capitalism of the 21st century. But Marx and Engels also showed us that we have the power to create a better world.
By Yanis Varoufakis
snip
We need more robots, better solar panels, instant communication and sophisticated green transport networks. But equally, we need to organise politically to defend the weak, empower the many and prepare the ground for reversing the absurdities of capitalism. In practical terms, this means treating the idea that there is no alternative with the contempt it deserves while rejecting all calls for a “return” to a less modernised existence. There was nothing ethical about life under earlier forms of capitalism. TV shows that massively invest in calculated nostalgia, such as Downton Abbey, should make us glad to live when we do. At the same time, they might also encourage us to floor the accelerator of change."
much more at link:
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/apr/20/yanis-varoufakis-marx-crisis-communist-manifesto
I'm 71 years old and this is the best/most understandable writing on this topic that I've ever seen.
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