Letâs focus on keeping local businesses afloat
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February 14, 2021 â 10.30pm
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Credit:Illustration: Michael Leunig
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COVID-19
Letâs focus on keeping local businesses afloat
I am dismayed to be back in lockdown but given the circumstances and possible consequences â a significant and rapid spread of a highly virulent strain of the virus â I am prepared to do what it takes.
It is not helpful for various industry bodies to be quick to tell me what damage this will do to an already battered Victorian economy. What would be helpful is for these organisations to use their considerable communications expertise to tell me what I can do to help local businesses that are hit hard. The government is being nimble in introducing restrictions. We
The Australian Tennis tournament is using the new Hawk-Eye electronic line-calling system rather than line umpires, a sensible move given COVID restrictions although there is the possibility of an unexpected option beyond out and fault, advertisements.
Advertisements in papers and on TV are a regular part of life and there are so many logos on players uniforms that surely enough brand names are out there for anyone to want but apparently no. The line calling system may now call out Buy Brand X or Brand Y will make your skin glow or if it is connected by Wi-Fi there are many other messages that an enthusiastic hacker could call out and have heard by the whole world. This could be the new version of Trump Twitter posts now that his voice is silenced for a while.
Earwax removal: Cleaning with earbuds can cause severe issues (Image: GETTY)
READ MORE People say they only use them to put make-up on, but we know what else they re using them for. They re putting them inside their ears.
Otherwise known as Q-tips in the US, cotton buds push earwax and debris into the ears, making them harder to clean.
If pushed too deep, problems can include perforated eardrums, complete deafness, vertigo, nausea, and even facial paralysis.
But there are much safer alternatives for people who need to drain excess wax.
Earwax removal: People can use eyedrop canisters to administer oil before bed (Image: GETTY)
One of the possibly few positive outcomes from the COVID-19 pandemic is the return to a simpler life although it hasn’t rarely been voluntarily. On the weekend we went to see an Australian film, “Penguin Bloom”, well worth seeing, and we bought an ice-cream cone, a simple pleasure or so I thought.
While waiting for the start of the film I read the information on the side and there were 22 components. This seemed complicated since as a child our grandmother used to make it for us with milk, sugar, cream, vanilla extract and maybe salt. Some of these products were unknown to me although Google tells me that “Maltodextrin” can “improve flavor, thickness, or shelf life” and warns that Colors 102 and 133 are suspected of causing Asthma attacks. I wasn’t sure whether to eat it but decided to take the risk.
Letters to the Editor
Opinion
Letters to the Editor - Unity, the Biden inauguration, Texas school districts not showing the inauguration, Collin County vaccine woes
Readers doubt the country will be unified, were impressed with Biden’s inauguration, criticize school districts for not sharing the inauguration with students and ask where can they get the vaccine in Collin County.
It takes two sides
Well, that didn’t take long. Before President Biden had even set foot in the White House, the propaganda machine at Fox News and its morning talk shows were already at it fear mongering and pushing hate. They were bashing the ceremonies, the lack of a crowd (come on, really?) and, in short, basically saying beware of the Biden administration. Even Sen. John Cornyn is expressing skepticism at unity and is accusing Biden of divisiveness. The indicted Ken Paxton has called Biden lawless and has stated he will see Biden in court.