Radio New Zealand (August 17)
Going into a national lock down “buys us some time to see results of testing and contact tracing to assess how widely the outbreak has spread.” So far, there’s only one case, but he may have infected others. “One thing we’ve learned from watching Sydney over the past two months is that half-measures can quickly lead to disaster…. Our best option is to go hard now and then relax later if it turns out we have avoided the worst…. With Delta there are no second chances.”
Tags: Contact tracing, Delta, Disaster, Half-measures, Lock down, Outbreak, Relax, Second chances, Spread, Sydney, Testing
Wall Street Journal (April 19)
In India, New Delhi became the first region “to reimpose sweeping measures like the ones employed last spring.” Though “India has sought to avoid the strict lockdowns that punished its economy last spring… the step was necessary to avoid an even bigger disaster: a complete breakdown of its hospitals.” Experts anticipate “a cascade of other Indian states” following New Delhi into lockdown.
Tags: Breakdown, Disaster, Economy, Experts, Hospitals, India, Lockdowns, New Delhi, Punished, Strict
Washington Post (April 2)
“At the onset of the pandemic, analysts feared it would mark a disaster for women.” All of their “concerns proved to be true. But the social damage wrought by what’s been dubbed the ‘shadow pandemic’ may be felt for decades to come.”
Tags: “Shadow pandemic”, Analysts, Concerns, Disaster, Onset, Pandemic, Social damage, Women
The Economist (March 6)
“Though understandable,” the knee-jerk reaction following the Fukushima disaster “was wrong.” Nuclear power has numerous drawbacks, but “well-regulated nuclear power is safe” and essential given the climate crisis. Nuclear provides constant generating capacity to support a reliable grid. Furthermore, “nuclear provides such capacity with no ongoing emissions, and it is doing so safely and at scale around the world.”
Tags: Climate crisis, Disaster, Drawbacks, Emissions, Fukushima, Generating capacity, Grid, Nuclear power, Reaction, Reliable, Safe, Scale, Understandable, Well-regulated
Bloomberg (February 12)
“GameStop is only the most public manifestation of a trend that radically departs from all precedents. Some of the potential consequences are worrying…. The most heavily shorted stocks have been doing well ever since the recovery from the initial shock of the pandemic got under way last March.” This has created “a historic ‘black swan’ disaster for short sellers.”
Tags: Black swan, Consequences, Disaster, GameStop, Historic, Pandemic, Precedents, Recovery, Shock, Shorted stocks, Trend, Worrying
LA Times (October 2)
“Trump’s coronavirus infection is the result of his deadly, foolish recklessness.” His presidency “has been a disaster,” but this is still “a time for Americans to come together and wish Trump a speedy recovery…. We hope Trump will return to good health — and then be resoundingly defeated in November.”
Tags: Coronavirus, Deadly, Defeated, Disaster, Foolish, Health, Presidency, Recklessness, Recovery, Trump, U.S.
Foreign Policy (June 22)
“India has crossed two bleak landmarks in its battle against the coronavirus. The country has now reached over 400,000 infections, making it the fourth-worst-hit country in the world, overtaking Britain, Spain, and Italy. But it’s also lifted its 76-day lockdown.” In order “to stave off economic disaster,” the country is now “walking head-on into a pandemic at its peak.”
Tags: Battle, Bleak, Coronavirus, Disaster, India, Infections, Italy, Landmarks, Lockdown, Pandemic, Peak, Spain, UK
New York Times (February 26)
“Japan can’t handle the coronavirus. Can it host the Olympics?” The nation’s leaders have a “sense of entitlement.” This “breeds indifference and incompetence,” which was on full display during “by the unmitigated epidemiological and public relations disaster that was the saga of the Diamond Princess cruise ship.”
Tags: Coronavirus, Diamond Princess, Disaster, Entitlement, Incompetence, Indifference, Japan, Leaders, Olympics
The Guardian (June 12)
“The problem with earthquakes is that they undermine the very things you do to prevent them. And with Tokyo now seeing millions of tourists a year, and expecting millions more for the Rugby World Cup this year and the Olympics in 2020, the city is ripe for panic in the event of a disaster.”
Tags: Disaster, Earthquakes, Olympics, Panic, Prevent, Problem, Rugby World Cup, Tokyo, Tourists, Undermine
The Economist (February 2)
“The iron-ore mines in Minas Gerais look like roughshod capitalism let loose.” On Monday, a tailing dam break released “a wave of sludge that may have killed more than 350 people,” making this “one of the worst tailings tragedies in history.” Furthermore, “this is the second such disaster in which” Vale, the mine operator, has been “implicated in just over three years.” This disaster should be a “cause for soul-searching” for Vale and for the global mining industry.
Tags: Capitalism, Disaster, Iron ore, Minas Gerais, Mining industry, Sludge, Soul-searching, Tailing dam, Vale
