Time (April 22)
“Greece has an elderly population and a fragile economy,” but despite being a tourist mecca has somehow “escaped the worst of the coronavirus so far….with only 2,245 confirmed cases and 116 deaths as of April 21, one of the lowest counts in the European Union.” Some of this may be luck, but experts are attributing the early imposition of stringent “measures, and the way Greeks have largely abided by them.”
Tags: Confirmed, Coronavirus, Deaths, Economy, Elderly, EU, Fragile, Greece, Greeks, Population, Stringent “measures, Tourist
Washington Post (April 2)
For weeks President Trump “talked nonsense….. The failure to prepare and the foot-dragging that has followed will mean … more people will get sick and die. Yes, those deaths — the losses that could have been prevented by sane, sensible decisions his own advisers were urging — are on Trump’s head. No amount of spin will absolve him of that responsibility.”
Tags: Absolve, Deaths, Failure, Foot-dragging, Losses, Nonsense, Prepare, Sane, Sensible, Sick, Spin, Trump
The Economist (March 14)
“All governments will struggle” with Covid19. “As they belatedly realise that health systems will buckle and deaths mount,” how well the governments and their leaders cope will be determined by “their attitude to uncertainty; the structure and competence of their health systems; and, above all, whether they are trusted.”
Tags: Attitude, Buckle, Competence, COVID-19, Deaths, Governments, Health systems, Struggle, Trust, Uncertainty
New Yorker (May 14)
National Security Adviser John Bolton said moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem was “merely ‘a recognition of reality,’ but it was actually a suspension of disbelief.” Though dignitaries at the opening ceremony were exuberant, “none of this alleviated the sinking feeling that young Gazans had gained the world’s attention, and sympathy, through their deaths” as Turkey and South Africa recalled their ambassadors to Israel while other countries lodged condemnations.
Tags: Ambassadors, Bolton, Deaths, Dignitaries, Disbelief, Embassy, Gazans, Israel, Jerusalem, NSA, Reality, South Africa, Sympathy, Turkey, U.S.
USA Today (July 7)
Recent shooting deaths of minorities by police, most recently in Minneapolis, have highlighted the need for significant reforms and better policing. “With a lack of national standards among our nation’s estimated 17,000 police agencies, individual officer and organizational competencies range from outstanding to notoriously bad. There is far too much variation and lack of agreement on what constitutes ‘good’ policing.”
Tags: Deaths, Minneapolis, Minorities, National standards, Officers, Police, Policing, Reforms, Shooting, U.S.
Bloomberg (April 18)
“The death toll from earthquakes that struck southern Japan rose to 42 and the economic impact began to reverberate Monday as companies surveyed damage and the potential effects on production from supply-chain disruptions.” Amidst the uncertainty, investors “are speculating that Japan’s government and central bank will need to consider more stimulus for an economy that is already struggling.”
Tags: BOJ, Damage, Deaths, Earthquakes, Economic impact, Government, Investors, Japan, Production, Stimulus, Supply-chain disruptions, Uncertainty
Los Angeles Times (January 6)
“With gun epidemic raging, Obama finally bypasses Congress.” The president detailed his “modest steps” in a sometimes tearful speech. Ultimately, further Congressional measures will be necessary to solve what has become “one of the most vexing political issues of our time.” The over 30,000 gun related deaths each year show the “grotesque human cost…. At some point, the American people need to inform their leaders that this price is just too high to pay.”
USA Today (May 22)
“Had Takata and NHTSA moved more quickly, they would have prevented deaths and injuries.” Finally in full motion, the biggest auto safety recall in U.S. history, involving 34 million Takata air bags, will still “take years—yes, years—before all the defective air bags are replaced.”
Washington Post (July 8)
“Maybe Chicago’s death toll will help stop the madness on gun access.” Over the Fourth of July weekend, Chicago “was scarred by what tragically has become another American tradition: gun violence. In the course of 84 hours this past weekend, 82 people were shot in Chicago, 16 of them fatally. One person an hour, not in some far-flung war zone but on the streets of a major U.S. city.”
