I was asked a question: "Would I be right in saying GDP is not always a good indicator of an economy?"
My response: "GDP is an important piece of a larger puzzle which should never be looked at in isolation."
Here's a brief explainer:
GDP (gross domestic product) is the value of services provided and goods produced in a year.
My grandfather was born 16 December 1903. Twenty four hours later, the Wright Brothers flew the first airplane.
In 1914 when he was 10 years old, World War I broke out. When it ended in 1918, he was 14. 22 million people were dead
From 1918 until the time he turned 16 in 1920, Spanish Flu broke out. 50 million people died. He started work.
Can dogs be trained to sniff out Covid-19?
Medical Detection Dogs, a UK NGO founded in 2008 on the premise that dogs can be trained to sniff out diseases, is hoping this is the case.
They are working in partnership with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and Durham University. This team recently collaborated to successfully prove that dogs can be trained to detect malaria.
In Italy, cigarettes and other tobacco products in that country can only be sold by designated tobacco shops called "tabacchi".
These outlets are ubiquitous and easily recognisable by very distinct blue sign with a large 'T' and the words 'sali tabacchi, valori bollati'.
The "sali" part goes back to days when salt was a government controlled monopoly. That's no longer the case for salt, but tobacco still is.
Many people have noticed that the Ramaphosa government has quite efficiently been rolling out water supplies to communities following the declaration of the Covid-19 State of Disaster.
Not only water supplies; provisions for emergency housing in the form of tents or other makeshift shelters as well as increased shelters for potential victims of domestic violence has also swiftly been deployed.
So many of us have been asking, if government was capable of doing this all along, why was this not done earlier?
Just a brief, philosophical note today on Jean-Jacques Rousseau (28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778), Genevan philosopher, writer and composer.
Rousseau was famously against property rights. I quote:
Italy, country of my eldest daughter's birth and home to some of my dearest friends, has borne the brunt of Covid-19 tragedies thus far.
As I write this, 812 people have died in the past 24 hours pushing the death toll to 11 591.
There will be much speculation in the years ahead as to why the virus's impact has been so devastating in that country, but put that aside for now.
As pictures roll in from around the country of our urban masses crammed into peri-urban slums (which we sanctimoniously refer to as informal settlements), many of us have taken to sharing sentiments about how privileged we are to be relatively safe within our middle-class and upper-class dwellings.
Privileged? No. At best, we are lucky.
Edcon CEO Grant Pattison reportedly broke down in tears this week on a conference call to suppliers. "We only have sufficient liquidity to pay salaries... which we deem a priority during these uncertain times."
Day 1 of lockdown in South Africa greeted with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's announcement today that he had tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19.
The news was greeted with mirth and derision by the usual suspects. They pointed to BoJo's previous bravado about shaking hands with infected patients. Slurs such as "covidiot" were abundant.
