The Wuhan Clan - Tony Holohan's Having a House Party

It was a lovely piece of writing though

pucan and 1520 are the same owners, hideous as they are they wouldn’t be that stupid and yes the Wesht

@Lazarus - going with The Crane. The US tourist buck.

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That’s quite disappointing.

We live in confusing times bro

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The ones that had been open closed after the joint Govt VFI announcement. It is disappointing The Crane elected not to, fine spot one time

The Times view on the global response to coronavirus: Beggar Thy Neighbour

There are alarming signs that international co-operation over the Covid-19 pandemic is breaking down

Saturday March 14 2020, 12.01am GMT, The Times

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The coronavirus pandemic is a crisis like no other that the world has faced in modern times. It is the first truly global emergency for at least 100 years in terms of its scale and reach. No country is immune, nor is the disease any respecter of wealth or status. So far almost 125,000 infections have been reported from 118 countries and territories and the disease has claimed more than 4,000 lives. Almost certainly the true numbers are higher as testing in many countries remains inadequate and some may be deliberately under-reporting. In any case it is clear those numbers will rise.

Such a global crisis clearly demands a global response. A virus does not recognise national borders. And in an interconnected global economy, financial contagion can spread faster and damage societies more than the disease. All countries must do what they can to protect their own people as best they can. But the lesson of past crises is that the protection is likely to be far more effective if governments co-ordinate their response.

So far there have been some encouraging signs of co-operation, notably in the search for a vaccine. China was quick to share the virus’s genetic code and scientists have been disseminating their research findings. There has also been co-operation between financial policymakers. G7 finance ministers and central bankers have spoken often and responded forcefully to the financial panic, as they did during the global financial crisis of 2008. Meanwhile the World Health Organisation (WHO) has co-ordinated the medical response, sharing information, supplying equipment and helping countries to develop response plans.

Nonetheless there have been alarming examples in recent days of global co-operation breaking down. There are many reasons why President Trump’s televised statement on Wednesday, in which he announced the suspension of flights from most of Europe, triggered the biggest one-day fall in global stock markets since 1987. It was not just that his policy did not appear to be based on science or that his statement’s obvious omissions and errors raised further questions about his handling of the crisis. By taking such a step without warning European leaders, and using nationalist rhetoric to blame the crisis on foreigners, he signalled his lack of interest in a global response.

The crisis has also reignited concerns about European Union cohesion. Several EU members have introduced border controls and some, including Germany, have blocked exports of medical supplies in breach of single market principles. Worse, Italian bond yields spiked this week after Christine Lagarde cast doubt on the European Central Bank’s willingness to intervene to keep borrowing costs low. Will this be another one of those crises that leads to further EU and eurozone integration or the one that blows it apart?

Britain’s own response also undermines global co-operation. The WHO once again yesterday urged all countries to “find, isolate, test and treat every case to break the chains of transmission”. Yet Britain, uniquely, has abandoned attempts to halt the virus in favour of a policy of slowing its progress towards a goal of hitting a 60 per cent infection rate, assumed to provide “herd immunity”. That approach conflicts with other countries’ efforts to halt the spread of the crisis and may yet have implications for Britain’s relations with the rest of the world.

Indeed the risk is that this crisis will sound the death-knell for globalisation, bringing about not just the breakdown of global supply chains but global co-operation, as each nation tries to fend for itself. That would surely only deepen the disaster. History is littered with examples of the dire consequences of beggar-thy-neighbour approaches to international crises. Global leaders urgently need to come together to agree on a common approach before it is too late.

The header is enough for anyone with a brain cell to know not t read that scaremongering article.

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No worries pal. I’m fine. I have to tell you tho; this god guy won’t look after us. He hasn’t looked after the hungry millions or the suffering children; the war displaced innocents or the disease ravaged poor in the third world. Why would he give a flying fuck about some 1st world whingers?

Time we looked after each other.

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Goodnight mate. Ask for God’s protection and you’ll be ok.

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Sleep well. I’ve shown that boy the door. If it gives you solace that’s fine. We’re born to die.

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M.E.N.

MEN

Everyone memorise that.

This virus is the NME.

On the cans anyway

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What are our latest tested numbers? Haven’t seen an update since last Monday.

Drink loads of water and avoid alcohol

He sounds like he had a couple alright :grinning:. Still great advice though and can’t be reinforced enough right now

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Dont smoke and eat your vegetables and you’ll be grand