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AS THE US approaches 100,000 coronavirus deaths, The New York Times has marked the grim milestone with a stark memorial on its front page – one-line obituaries for 1,000 victims.
“The 1,000 people here reflect just 1% of the toll. None were mere numbers,” the newspaper said in a short introduction on the front page, which was entirely covered in text.
The United States has been the hardest-hit country in the coronavirus pandemic by far, in deaths and number of infections.
As of yesterday evening, the US had recorded 97,048 deaths and 1.6 million cases of the virus, and will likely reach 100,000 fatalities in a matter of days.
Victims featured by the Times included “Joe Diffie, 62, Nashville, Grammy-winning country music star,” and “Lila A. Fenwick, 87, New York City, first black woman to graduate from Harvard Law School.”
Also: “Myles Coker, 69, New York City, freed from life in prison,” “Ruth Skapinok, 85, Roseville, Calif., backyard birds were known to eat from her hand,” and “Jordan Driver Haynes, 27, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, generous young man with a delightful grin.”
Marc Lacey, the paper’s national editor, said, “I wanted something that people would look back on in 100 years to understand the toll of what we’re living through.”
The milestone of 100,000 deaths loomed as US states across the country ease lockdown measures.
US President Donald Trump, with an eye on his re-election prospects in November, has pressed for a further reopening of the country as job losses mount and the economy slows from coronavirus shutdowns.
“TRANSITION TO GREATNESS,” Trump tweeted yesterday evening, his slogan for the reopening of America.
But many online commentators noted the dissonance between the staggering death toll and Trump’s tweet.
George Conway, a frequent critic of Trump and husband of White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, tweeted a the newspaper front page – alongside a photo of Trump playing golf yesterday.
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Its in the constitution Leo.”All the children of the state shall be treated equally”Time for you and minister O Gorman to have a serious look in the mirror and never mind the ^soundbytes^.
@Willie Marty: I think you may be confusing things with the Proclamation of Independence, “cherishing all the children of the nation equally”. And it isn’t literally referring to children, but all Irish people.
@Sean O’Dhubhghaill: good morning Sean .The article is specifically dealing with children in the present and indeed the future.
@Willie Marty: Morning! What is the article?
@Sean O’Dhubhghaill: i dont think you are fully awake yet Sean.Maybe go for a short walk
@Willie Marty: I have walked to the shop for milk, so I’m awake. Now, what article in the Constitution are you referring to?
@Sean O’Dhubhghaill: proclamation of independence Trump’s the constitution
@Sean O’Dhubhghaill: Article 42A re Childrens rights
@Willie Marty: Thank You!
@Sean O’Dhubhghaill: Sorry, can’t find it. Article 42 deals with education.
@Sean O’Dhubhghaill: Sean are you sure you brought milk from the shop or something stronger
@Sean O’Dhubhghaill: Pathetic government ass licker
@Daddy or Chips?: It’s an article in the Constitution which I am asking about, a document which can ONLY be changed by the PEOPLE. It is completely beyond the grasp and power of any government.
@quacquac 51: how does the proclamation trump our constitution? I could go out tomorrow and stand on the steps of the GPO and make a proclamation, it has no power, unless a constitution is then designed around it. The constitution gives power, not a proclamation.
@NotMyIreland: only west Brits don’t recognise the proclamation of independence.
You hear hat kids, you can get one of the best little educations in the world here. Then if your lucky enough you’ll get to use your college degree to get a soul crushing job and live month to month barely able to afford the rent in a treehouse your renting in someones back garden, with zero hope of ever owning your own home. Thank your uncle and his friends for that.
@Zim Zimma: The best thing we can do as parents is give our kids a good education and prepare them to emigrate to real countries where they can get a real job and live properly.
@David Corrigan: it’s a shame but you’re right that’s seems to be the only way forward now,they’re at nothing even trying here now and it’s going to get worse as immigration increases population increases,rent increases,knock on effect of that again,sickening while the fat cats just keep lining they’re pockets and kicking the can down the road,pure greed, carelessness,lack of empathy and corruption throughout.
@Zim Zimma: Ireland has an extremely good education system and one of the highest participation rates in 3rd level
Lieo good for soundbytes as Ireland regresses after 100 years of his ilk.
Jesus here we go again with leaky soundbites off on another ramble…..action not words Prince vanity socks!!
In order to keep myself from entering a deeper state of depression, |I have decided to believe that every time the media quotes Varadkar, they misheard him. It’s beginning to look as if Vadadkar is not aware that Ireland consists of more than the Dublin 4 leafy suburbs.
We all give out about this country (me included), but the reality is that Ireland is one of the best countries in the World to live in. Our kids come home from school alive,we don’t get 40c+ temperatures,we’ve plenty of food,we have freedom,we have one of the most beautiful countries on the planet,the list is endless, Yes there’s a lot of things that annoy us,but I’d take Ireland over 99% of other countries any day. Its no surprise millions people want to come and live here.
@Gerard Carey: So you are ok with your kids having no hope of buying a house or being able to save for retirement due to the extremely high cost of living Gerard?
@Gerard Carey: what planet are you living on! Ireland is as good as a third world country. No infrastructure, bad road network, extremely high cost of living, no support for children with development issues…. Unless you want to place them on a waiting list for years and years… corruption, and a government that don’t care about their own. Wake up and smell the roses.
And for that reason me and my family are out…. The millions that dream of living here can have it!
@Gerard Carey: are you on drugs, and if so pass them round cos they must have you on some trip to even think of posting a delusional comment like that. BTW, kids coming home from school alive isn’t much comfort when many have no home to in or are going hungry cos their family have to decide whether food on the table or the over priced utility bills are paid for this month. And not having 40 degrees heat will be a great comfort for the elderly who will probably be told to go cold for winter due to the greens preventing them from using turf and energy companies ripping them off….should we give more great examples about Ireland cos we haven’t even talked about our lovely health service, public transport and the best of all, our wonderful political mob and what they bring to the great Ireland??
@Gerard Carey: thanks for speaking sense, a pleasant change from the usual manure the whingers post here.
@Roj Blake: righttttttttt id say if this government or their mates literally came into your house and took a dump on the plate you use for dinner, it would probably be eaten like a sunday roast and a thank you note would be sent afterwards. You remind me of one of leaky leo’s patriots who will do anything not to believe he or is mates are bad
@Gerard Carey: you need to get out of the country to realise how wrong you are. We left almost 20 years ago to raise our kids in Switzerland. Each time we go back to Ireland we are horrified at how bad it has become
He is just a complete narcissist. He and his successive governments have stolen our children’s futures, they’ll never be able to own their own homes, they can afford to live due to energy, grocery, insurance, & income taxes which he’s implemented. Then you read this rubbish. If he really wants to help the future generation start by helping the people of this country now ( the squeezed middle ) so we’re not taxed to non existence & stop helping his buddies & colleagues family members who sit on the boards of energy companies, banks, insurance companies & vulture funds! But again we all know where Leo will end up after the next election so it’s clear he and Micheal are feathering their nests before they’re thrown out!
Are we the only country in the EU that keeps voting the same Gov over and over again, no what what they do wrong? I thought if a Gov doesn’t do its job and cripples people in many ways, you vote in a new Gov and give them a chance. If the new Gov don’t do it’s job, it’s the same process. That way Government knows not to take the piss out of people.
A crap country to grow up in. I wish 80s Ireland was still here for my kids.
The worse TAOISEACH ever . Never believe a word that comes out of this guy mouth . Give the people a referendum on Immigration .
What the leak really means is, if you’re rich in Ireland life is good, and you can get the best education and daddy will buy you your first house
The continual negativity here on The Journal is becoming oppressive and depressing.
@Sean O’Dhubhghaill: We need the Journal to publish some positive stories. Can you think of any Sean?
@Sean O’Dhubhghaill: it’s a reflection on how a lot of people feel in this country, people are fed up with government after government fail beyond description on so many things. The basics in this country get worse and worse and not 1 minister has ever stood up and called it exactly how it is they just spin lies and bull and move on to the next mess. It’s just not good enough. People are fully entitled to moan and if this country stays on it’s current projection then the future is looking very bleak.
@Sean O’Dhubhghaill: maybe a story attacking some of the government opposition? Seems like its the only story the usual suspects on here have no problem with
@Sean O’Dhubhghaill: the negativity didn’t just appear one day, it has been a slow burner that is now boiling in the people of Ireland. No affordable housing for the youth, little or no chance of owning a home for the youth, hospital waiting lists gone through the roof, violence on our capitals streets, prisons jammed out the door, all these problems are at ffg door. The negativity is very much warranted. Roll on the next election, Leo the leak will be living of his wife’s doctors salary after the next election fingers crossed.
@Derek Lyster: The basics in this country, the overall standard of living, education, healthcare, etc., are probably in the top 10-20 in the world. I just don’t think people realise this and the continual negativity us depressing.
@Sean O’Dhubhghaill: You are correct in that the standard of living is ok enough for the top earners Sean. But it’s shocking bad for everyone else i.e. the majority. Do you just want those people to sit back and take it?
@Sean O’Dhubhghaill: Switch off then!
@quacquac 51: No he won’t, he will return to private practice or live off his pension and he is Gay. Where are you from, are you Irish and know nothing of Leo?
@David Corrigan: The data would suggest otherwise. Ireland is around average of EU countries when it comes to cost of living. Indeed, the UNDP Human Development Report Index 2020 found Ireland to have the second highest quality of life in the world, ranking number two of 189 countries – now I find that difficult to believe, but generally speaking Ireland scores pretty well when compared to other EU countries. I’d certainly prefer to live here rather than UK, US, Italy or France. Nordic countries tend to score higher than Ireland
@Emmet Murphy: no gays in Ireland Emmet.
@SYaxJ2Ts: You are using 3 year old data. More recent data blows your theory clean work out of the water again.
The majority are struggling to make ends meet. That’s not living. That’s existing. Massive difference.
@David Corrigan: that article is behind a paywall, so I haven’t been able to read it. However we do indeed have the joint highest prices in the EU, but we also have the joint highest salaries which compensates for this. The article refers to retirees, who obviously can’t benefit from these higher salaries.
@Sean O’Dhubhghaill: healthcare is a shambles in this country and getting worse. Our youth are being failed, our elderly are being failed, the childrens hospital is a sh tshow, peoples standard of living is being eroded on a constant basis, things are that bad it’s not a shock to see people sleeping in doorways. There are some really great things about this country but there are some serious problems that the government have no idea how to solve and are getting worse.
@Sean O’Dhubhghaill: Stop reading them then. It’s not mandatory.
Most of the doom and gloom along with fear that are referred to in this comments section is actually peddled by those in these comments sections. They use childish names for politicians and are anti everything without ever offering a reasonably thought out and educated solution to anything. Ireland is far from perfect and we have some serious issues to address but having our country labelled as ‘Third World’ is reflective of somebody with little to no knowledge of what is beyond our borders. In my opinion, it is all just a whirl of sound bites echoing in an effort to make out that we are living in hell. All politically driven and tutored by a political party too. The truth is, despite our hardships of which there are many of varying degrees, we are actually quite privileged to live here.
@Sun Rise: Your expectations are rock bottom. You need to insist on better management of our resources. A non-functioning health service even though we put forward 24 billion euro per year. A housing crisis even though the state owns more land than what’s needed to build homes. Cost of living crisis due to cartels charging what they like for mediocre products/services.
If you were managing a team of engineers for example, would you think you would last in your job if you had that “ah shur it will do attitude” when describing your teams output?
Not on your nelly would you. Your managers would replace you quicker than a hot snot.
@Sun Rise: For the taxes we pay we would expect standards in certain services. A 24 billion health budget yet my father of nearly 80 was sent home from A&E on a friday cos it was too busy and told to come back on the monday morning, when he did come back he was sitting in a wheelchair from 9am till he finally got seen too at 1 pm, had to wait an additonal 6 hours before they found a bed for him. Its not about hardships its about a lack of accountability and the im alright jack blinkers some have that ah sure it could be worse so lets just pretend so and dont say a word cos look at other countries. Its no wonder the catholic church ruled for so long cos this country lost its spark and fight after independence and now its just rollover and have the belly tickled attitude thats replaced it
Education is great, hopefully, we can stop picking it apart and just let it be, and the place isn’t overpopulated yet, tho I don’t think it’s avoidable in the long run, parts of healthcare sure, soon as a case is slightly unique it falls off a cliff. But the thing is these positives have been in place for generations, I availed of a genuinely free 3rd level education some 20 years ago. So what has happened since then? That’s the problem, go back to the 90s and especially through the ‘glory’ years and your people have done nothing through this time to implement the same stability across any of the other areas of society. It’s not even your fault Leo, but unfortunately you will be at the front of it.
So apparently one of the best education systems…
- Forces children and teenagers to WASTE hours each week learning a useless language, that almost nobody wants to learn (Irish)
- They act as if it is the most important subject (this useless language)
- They waste precious time learning that useless subject that could be spent learning something useful, or studying
- It puts extra unnecessary pressure for exams
They also
- Have baerly any extra help for those who need it
- It is practically impossible for people to get any extra time in the exams, even if it is 100% obvious they need it.
Also, studies have shown that it is better if teenagers get up later, and go to bed later. If it were truly one of the best education systems, it would act like that is a fact, not fiction.
Tell that to the girls in care being trafficked every week.
Tell that to Traveller children.
Tell that to the illiterate many of whom end up creating jobs for prison officers.
Hyprocrite of the highest order.
I would love to know more detail about how we constant claim to have one of the best educations systems in the developed world , what are the measures used to compare – I look at the physical development of young people in our education system and it’s beyond a joke , there isn’t one country in Europe with a worse obesity problem , many have to do physical training , most have much better options for apprentices , young adults who wish to choose a path an build a successful life for themselves in trades , motor sectors , building , etc etc have a much better range of options other than a race points for a degree in afield you may not want to pursue or a course for beauty salon which is destined for failure / what are measures to prove Ireland has best education system please
Comments closed on Whitehall and Drimnagh assaults. Journal would like you to contribute a payment to keep them running, but you can’t contribute a comment. Pffft.
No surprise to see my above comment jumped on by a certain person of a particular political bias. It is worth mentioning that I didn’t compare our country to that of a Third World nation. I made a statement that despite the many issues we have to sort out, we are privileged to live in this country and are far better off than most. It is nothing short of ignorance to refer to Ireland as a Third World country.
One thing about leo he’s an optimist, he could be aboard a sinking ship with no lifeboats and he’s find some positive in the impending doom.. Don’t think it’s enough to save him or his party from the total wipe out they are going to get in the next election
Children are not treasured by the State in this State by your Government Taoiseach unless they feel safe in their own home something you and Minister O Gorman should reflect on the numbers of homeless every night before going to bed before you are kicked out of office
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