Who knew in the early days of his career, when Simon Amstell was taking the mick out of celebrities on Popworld and then Never Mind the Buzzcocks, that he would turn into one of the cleverest comics of his generation, with a special talent for making existential angst funny?

And now the latest of his amusing navel-gazing stand-up shows isSet Free (recorded late last year). In it he turns his soul-searching for which read his search for his father's approval into a form of group therapy with a barrel of laughs thrown in.

The comic sets out by saying: The problem with humanity at the moment is that we all feel we're special. And for the next hour he chips away at all those things that he thought made him special and deserving of love being funny or intelligent or interesting but which he now acknowledges were never going to make those he wanted to love him, love him.

In a tight hour, Amstell describes his relationship with his largely absent father both physically and, it would appear, emotionally as he was brought up mostly by his single-parent mother.Our truth is, of course, our own but the fact his dad didn't see his two previous shows because they're not my kind of thing does rather give the game away. (Although there is a marvellous addendum to this story later in the show when we encounter his dad again.)

Amstell tells us about his therapy, his desire to overcome his intimacy issues and the need to stop chasing men who were, for whatever reason, mostly unavailable as well as what he calls a mild eating disorder when he was younger.

He describes, with several stories where he is the butt of the joke, his search for enlightenment, whether by taking MDMA, being game for a threesome, visiting a sweat lodge or following a guru who taught him meditation techniques. Where once he may have scoffed at meditation, Amstell now enjoys it; it has gone from from discipline to blissipline.

He's painfully honest, too, about bouts of depression and his attempt at cracking America. He felt lost" in Los Angeles rather than having found any sense of accomplishment about performing there, despite it being a notable achievement.

Despite the serious subjects he raises, none of this feels self-indulgent or heavy-going. Quite the opposite, in fact; he even has some poo jokes in the set, and hilariously recounts his overkeenness to lose his virginity on a teenage trip to Paris, where his schoolboy French wasn't up to snuff.

Some of this show is just wise, Amstell tells us at one point. Indeed it is, but it's very funny too.

Available on Netflix

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Simon Amstell, Netflix - wisdom and wisecracks - The Arts Desk

Local News

Apr 10, 2020

BURT ANGELI

IRON MOUNTAIN Burt Angeli, a Daily News fixture who covered area athletics for more than four decades, 35 of those years as sports editor, died Thursday at age 65.

Angeli whose ScuttleBu(r)t column was a must-read for athletes, coaches, fans and dog lovers had battled cancer for the past year.

An Iron River native and St. Norbert College graduate, Angeli came to The Daily News in July 1976, serving as sports editor until 2011, when he took on a larger writing role.

He maintained an arduous work schedule during his 44 years at the newspaper, committed to giving attention to as many local young athletes as possible.

He won numerous awards over the decades from the Michigan Press Association and the state Associated Press, most recently earning first place for Best Sports Feature in the 2019 Michigan AP Media Editors contest. The story was a look back at Florence High Schools 1989 state championship boys basketball team.

Burt Angeli, April 14, 1954-April 9, 2020. Rest in peace.

When Angeli took the sports editor job at The Daily News, coverage of youth athletics mainly was limited to football, basketball, baseball and track. Under his guidance, and as Title IX came into play, the list expanded by a dozen more sports.

He kept close contact with coaches and athletic directors from 11 area school districts, laying a foundation for prep coverage that would span generations. He emphasized stories that went beyond scorekeeping, promoting values of dedication, discipline, fairness and teamwork.

He was colorful, too, unafraid to gently jab Iron Mountains favorite sons Tom Izzo and Steve Mariucci, even as they rose to national fame in mens college basketball and NFL football, respectively.

Angelis ScuttleBu(r)t columns offered quick observations on sports and life overall, quiet mixes of wit and enlightenment.

Angeli is survived by his family wife Regina, siblings, nieces and nephews along with his hurting colleagues and readers.

A tribute to Burt is planned for Mondays Daily News. Friends, former colleagues, coaches, past athletes, readers and others are invited to submit comments to news@ironmountaindailynews.com.

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As the final hours of Passover slip away, Jews in every part of the world celebrate the Feast of Moshiach (Moshiachs Seudah in Yiddish), a custom of the Baal Shem Tov and his students. Just as we enter Passover with a celebration of the liberation from Egypt, so we sign off with a celebration of a much greater liberation yet to come.

Usually, many people gather for the feast, everyone sings, the rabbi talks a little, and everyone imbibes four cups of wine (or grape juice). Since the vast majority of us will be home this year due to Coronavirus, this means that you and I are now taking the place of the rabbis and communal leaders.

Not sure what to do?

Heres a suggested program, comprising four readings, each of which may be followed by a cup of wine.

Pray the afternoon service on the final day of Passover earlier than usual, so you have enough time to set the table and wash for matzah well before sunset. The program is flexible, but we suggest you sing your favorite niggunim (Chassidic melodies) and read the following four articles, each one followed by a l'chaim over another (small) glass of wine or grape juice.

After night has fallen, don't forget to include the Passover inserts in Grace After Meals (and give the rabbi some time to repurchase your chametz before defrosting those bagels in the freezer).

Next Year In Jerusalem!

The eighth day of Pesach is traditionally associated with our hopes for the coming of Moshiach. For this reason, the haftorah read on that day contains many prophecies which refer to the era of the redemption. Among the best-known of these: The wolf will dwell with the lamb; the leopard will lie down with a young goat; He will raise a banner for the nations and gather in the exiles of Israel.

About two hundred and fifty years ago, as the time for Moshiach drew closer, the Baal Shem Tov instituted a custom which underlines the connection between the redemption and the eighth day of Pesach: on that day he would partake of Moshiachs Seudah, the festive meal of Moshiach.

Moshiachs Seudah is intended to deepen our awareness of Moshiach and enable us to integrate it into our thinking processes. The twelfth article of Rambams thirteen principles of faith is I believe with perfect faith in the coming of Moshiach. Even if he delays, I will wait every day for him to come. Though all believing Jews accept this principle intellectually, for many the concept of Moshiach remains an abstraction. Partaking of Moshiachs Seudah reinforces our belief in this principle, translating our awareness of Moshiach into a meal, a physical experience which leads us to associate this concept with our flesh and blood.

The Baal Shem Tovs linking of our awareness of Moshiach to the physical is significant, because it prepares us for the revelations of the era of the redemption. In that era, the Gdliness that is enclothed within the physical world will be overtly manifest. As the prophet Isaiah declared, The glory of Gd will be revealed, and all flesh will see it together. At that time, the glory of Gd will permeate even the physical aspects of the worldall flesh.

Chassidut explains that the preparations for a revelation must foreshadow the revelation itself. Since, in the era of the redemption, the revelation of Gdliness will find expression even in the physical world, it is fitting that our preparation for these revelations be associated with physical activities such as eating and drinking.

Moshiachs Seudah, as mentioned above, is held on the eighth day of Pesach. The Torah originally commanded us to celebrate Pesach for seven days. When our people were exiled, however, a certain degree of doubt arose regarding the exact date on which the holidays should be celebrated. To solve the problem of determining the Jewish calendar in exile, our sages added an extra day to each festival. In other words, the eighth day of Pesach had been an ordinary day, but through the power endowed by the Torah, the Jewish people were able to transform it into a holy day.

When Moshiach comes, a similar transformation will occur throughout all of creation. Even the material and mundane aspects of the world will reveal Gdliness. Celebration of Moshiachs Seudah on the eighth day of Pesachonce an ordinary day, now transformedanticipates the kind of transformation that will characterize the era of the redemption.

That the Baal Shem Tov originated the custom of Moshiachs Seudah is particularly fitting. Once, in the course of his ascent to the heavenly realms on Rosh Hashanah, the Baal Shem Tov encountered Moshiach and asked him, When are you coming? Moshiach replied, When the wellsprings of your teachings spread outward.

The goal of the Baal Shem Tovs life was to prepare us for Moshiach, and the institution of Moshiachs Seudah was part of that lifes work.

Like many other teachings of the Baal Shem Tov, the custom of conducting Moshiachs Seudah was explained and widely disseminated by the successive rebbes of Chabad. Moreover, in 5666 (1906) the Rebbe Rashab (the fifth Lubavitcher Rebbe) added a new element to Moshiachs Seudah: the drinking of four cups of wine.

During the time of the Baal Shem Tov, the main ingredient of Moshiachs Seudah was matzah. The tasteless flatness of matzah symbolizes selfless humility, a desire to transcend oneself. Wine, by contrast, is flavorful and pleasurable, and thus symbolizes the assertiveness of our individual personalities. Combining matzah and wine in Moshiachs Seudah teaches us that self-transcendence does not require that we erase our personal identities. Self-transcendence may be accomplished within each individuals nature. A person can retain his distinctive character and identity, yet dedicate his life to spreading Gdliness instead of pursuing personal fulfillment. Once he has fundamentally transformed his will, an individual can proceed to a more complete level of service of Gd in which his essential commitment permeates every aspect of his personality.

This innovation of the Rebbe Rashab exemplifies the comprehensive contribution of Chabad Chassidut to the legacy of the Baal Shem Tov. The Baal Shem Tov taught each Jew how to reveal his essential Gdly nature and thus rise above his personal identity. Chabad, an acronym for the Hebrew words chochmah, binah and daat (wisdom, understanding and knowledge), brings the Baal Shem Tovs teachings into the realm of the intellect, allowing them to be integrated and applied within each individuals personal framework.

Our generation has been charged with the responsibility of making all Jews aware of Moshiachand this includes the custom of conducting Moshiachs Seudah. This mission is particularly relevant in our day, for the Jewish people have completed all the divine service necessary to enable Moshiach to come. As the Previous Rebbe expressed it, We have already polished the buttons. Moshiach is waiting: Here he stands behind our wall, watching through the windows, peering through the crevices. The walls of exile are already crumbling, and now, in the immediate future, Moshiach will be revealed.

There are those who argue that speaking openly about the coming of Moshiach may alienate some people. The very opposite is true. We are living in the time directly preceding the age of Moshiach. The world is changing, and people are willing, even anxious, to hear about Moshiach. It is thus our duty to reach out and involve as many people as possible in the preparations for his coming.

These endeavors will escalate the fulfillment of the prophecies of the haftorah recited on the eighth day of Pesach: A shoot will come forth from the stem of Yishai..., and the spirit of Gd will rest upon himwith the coming of Moshiach, speedily in our days.

Adapted from Likkutei Sichot, vol. 7, pp. 272278, and the Rebbes talks of the last day of Pesach 5722 [1962].

Every year, in honor of Passover, members of the Baal Shem Tovs household purchased a large quantity of new cups to be used for the duration of the holiday.

Of course, following Jewish law, the glasses that were to be used would first be immersed in a mikvah.

The glasses came in a variety of shapes and sizes. Now, in Jewish literature there is a system for measuring liquids, with specific names for the various amounts. In the Baal Shem Tovs home, the glasses were referred to by the Jewish name for the amount of liquid they were able to contain. Thus, a glass that contained three ounces or so was called a reviit glass, etc.

Before Passover, the Baal Shem Tov would look through the glasses and instruct which cups could be set upon the table and which should be set aside. He provided no reasons for his directives, but everyone knew that surely his reasoning was sound.

Thus passed the first seven days of Passover.

Now, the final meal on Passover, known as Moshiachs meal, was special. It was open to the public; everyone who passed through the sages door was free to enter and partake of the festivities. Before the meal began, the Baal Shem Tov instructed that a certain cup be removed from the table because it had not been immersed.

During the meal, a newcomer entered and asked for some wine. Sorry, he was told, but there are no more clean cups.

What do you mean? he asked with surprise, pointing to the cup that had been set aside, I see a clean cup right over here that no one is using!

Oh, he was told, that cup has not been immersed in the mikvah and must not be used.

It doesnt matter, he replied dismissively, reaching for the cup.

At that point, the Baal Shem Tov, who had hitherto been silent during the exchange, spoke with sadness. He just testified about himself.

The words were mysterious to everyone aside from the man himself. Hearing the rebbes gentle words of rebuke, he admitted his shortcoming. It was true. He and his wife were not particular about the laws of family purity, which require a previously menstruant woman to immerse in a mikvah before being intimate with her husband.

Inspired, they resolved to mend their ways.

Translated from Sefer Hasichot, 5702.

Every time you people talk about the messianic era, and the Moshiach (which I assume equates with messiah), you insist on talking about him as a king. Well, we started guillotining kings over two hundred years ago, and they havent really been in fashion since. We have found liberal democracies much more adept at protecting the rights of the individuals, and working for the maximum benefit of the maximum number of people. Kings were notoriously lousy at all that.

So how about we just call him (or her) an enlightened spiritual leader? The king title seems such an anachronism.

Looking forward to your response

Dear Looking Forward,

You raise an excellent point, but Im not sure whether you really understand how sharp a point it really is.

The prophet Isaiah describes an individual upon whom the spirit of Gd rests, a spirit of wisdom and understanding, a spirit of counsel and heroism, a spirit of knowledge and fear of the Lord.

What will this individual accomplish? Something quite different than what we are used to kings accomplishing. The prophet continues:

A wolf shall live with a lamb, and a leopard shall lie with a kid; and a calf and a lion cub and a fatling shall lie together, and a small child shall lead them. A cow and a bear shall graze, their children shall lie down together; and a lion, like cattle, shall eat straw.

An infant shall play over the hole of a viper snake, and over the eyeball of an adder, a weaned child shall stretch forth his hand. They shall neither harm nor destroy on all My holy mount, for the earth shall be full of the knowing of Gd as water covers the seabed.

Basically, what that means is that the messianic times are not simply times of love, peace and hanging out together. They are times when the earth shall be full of the knowing of Gd, so inundated with that knowing, that higher awareness, that state of enlightenment, that even the wild beasts of the field will behave.

If so, in such a state, who needs a king? Who needs any government at all? Let the people, so fully enlightened and aware of their Creator and their responsibility to His creation, self-organize and work things out between one another. I mean, do you really expect enlightened beings to hurt, steal, extort, or otherwise cause bodily or monetary harm to one another? So who needs government in such a world, never mind a king?

Okay, to get to that point, we may well need an outstanding individual, a great leader who could deal with the oppressors and dictators and other powerful shmendriks of the world. As Maimonides puts it, someone who will strengthen the Torah and fight the wars of Gdnot necessarily military wars, but actions that have very powerful political and social ramifications.

But once that mission is complete and the world is at peace, buzzing with wisdom until even the leopards and wolves are behaving and the very earth itself is full of knowledge, then everything changes. What would be crucial at such a point would be not a king, but a teacher. Yes, the world is enlightened, but it is still a world emerging into enlightenment. The Moshiach, as a teacher, would guide people to see and to understand this new world into which they had entered.

And yet, the very word moshiach means anointed. Anointed for what? Anointed to be a king. But who will need a king?

What really is a king? Yes, a king governs, but is that really what a king is?

The question was asked by several of the rebbes of Chabad. Heres how they answered:

A kingan authentic, genuine-to-the-core kingis an individual who stands head and shoulders above the people around him. Thats why a king who must force the people to accept him as king is not a real king. A real king is someone like King Saul, who, when chosen by the prophet Samuel and the people, could not be found, because he had hid himself, hoping that he would not be chosen.

About King Saul, the prophet says that he was from his shoulders up taller than all the people. Thats not just a vertical measurement. Shoulders refers to emotions. Sauls emotions were at the level of another persons intellect. His mind, then, was completely beyond, in a higher realm altogether.

This will also be the character of the Moshiach. Yes, he will be a teacherbecause thats what those times will be all about: learning, knowing, gaining divine wisdom. But a teachera good teacherlimits his lesson to that for which the student is ready and can handle. The Moshiach will be a teacher, but one with a kingly character: as enlightened as they may be, he will see far beyond. And yet, as a teacher-king, he will be capable of transmitting that transcendental knowledge to all of us as well. Perhaps not cognitively, but in some form in which it can be shared.

An interesting idea, because it fits so well into the idea of what the messianic era is all about and how it fulfills the purpose of creationas Rabbi Schneur Zalman writes, everything depends on our work throughout the time of exile.

Meaning that through the toil of our hard work, our struggle and persistence in the most trying times right up until that glorious era, we will draw into the world a deep light, an essence-light, such as could never have been revealed without that labor. It is that essence-light that the Moshiach will have the job of revealing to us. Something entirely transcendental, and yet, something that each of us touches; something from which each of us draws strength every time we defy the confusion and darkness of our present world to do what we know is right and beautiful.

This teacher, then, is the ultimate of teachers. A king teacher. For he will show us the very core essence of our souls, and how they are rooted in the Core Essence of All Being. He will reveal to us how we are all kings.

My husband and I had been married for three-and-a-half years, and we desperately wanted children. We were living in Jerusalem at the time. Passover was coming to an end, and although we had had a wonderful holiday, there was a sadness that clouded our joy. It had been another seder without a baby, another week of Chol Hamoed without a child to take around to parks and festive events. Another year of asking, When will our personal redemption come?

On the How could one more blessing hurt?seventh day of Passover, we ate what I thought was going to be the last holiday meal in the mid-morning, and I settled down to read and enjoy the last hours of Passover. (In Israel, Passover is celebrated for seven days; outside of Israel, an eighth day is observed as well.) All of a sudden, I heard a knock on my door. Two friends had come to visit. One of them was single, the other newly married.

Elana, come. Were taking you to my mother in-laws cousin. Shes married to a great tzaddik [righteous man]. Here was an opportunity for me to receive a blessing for children.

We wound our way through the twisted alleyways of a very religious neighborhood in Jerusalem, until we arrived at the tzaddiks home. His wife, the rebbetzin, opened the door. She greeted us as though we were old friends, although she didnt even know who I was or why I was coming to meet her and her husband. She rushed us to the dining-room table, which was laid out with salads and delicacies. Before I knew it, I was sitting at the table, surrounded by this incredible family and being served tons of food.

Now, just as a side note, by this point in the week I had had my full of meat and chicken and potatoes. I definitely was not hungry and had no idea that I was going to be eating yet another (mind you, delicious) Passover meal. I thought that I was done already. But no, the rebbetzin informed me that we were taking part in the Seudat Moshiach (Meal of Moshiach). I had no idea what she was talking about. She then turned to me and said, Im not trying to be nosy, but do you want a blessing from my husband for children?

I nodded yes. I had already received various blessings; undergone many, many treatments; and tried dozens of things to become pregnant. How could one more blessing hurt?

And, a Should they go back to Egypt? Should they fight? What now?year later to the day, I gave birth to my son. A few months after his birth, my single friend got married; five years later, she gave birth to her second son, also on the last day of Passover.

So, what is the Seudat Moshiach? What is its power?

Gd took the Jewish people out of Egypt, and seven days later, they stood before the Red Sea. The Egyptians were almost upon them; there was nowhere to go. They felt desperation. Should they go back to Egypt? Should they fight? What now? Moses stretched out his arm and raised his staff to the sea. Nothing happened. Then one man, Nachshon the son of Aminadav, stepped into the sea. Nothing happened. He kept walking until the water was up to his chest, then up to his neck, then his nose. And then it happened. The sea split, and the nation of Israel passed through. Once they reached the other side, their enemy came chasing after them, and the wall of water crashed down, drowning the Egyptian soldiers in the stormy sea.

What would have happened if Nachshon hadnt jumped in? What would have happened if he hadnt kept walking into the waters? Would Gd have split the sea open? I dont know. Maybe, maybe not.

What would have happened if you decided you couldnt meet one more person? What if you had turned down that opportunity to go on one more date, the one where you met your husband? Would you be married now? I dont know. Maybe, maybe not.

What would have happened if you decided that you had had enough, and you were done trying to conceive? What if you decided this when you had only one more chance to ovulate? Would you have a baby now? I dont know. Maybe, maybe not.

And what Its all about the one more good deedif you were tired of dealing with rejection and sending out resumes? If you hadnt sent out that last one, would you be working now? Maybe, maybe not.

The last day of Passover, when we have the Seudat Moshiach, is about the one more. The one more meal, one more blessing, one more date, one more try. Its about the one more good deed that will tip the scales and bring the redemption.

And for me, it will always be about the blessing I received on the last day of Passover, and the precious baby I was given on that daymy Avraham Nissim, for nissim means miracles.

Visit link:
Printable Program for Your Quarantine Moshiach's Meal - With suggested readings for each of the four cups - Chabad.org

The Austrian economist Joseph Schumpeter argued that creative destruction was "the essential fact about capitalism".

The capitalist machine constantly creates new products, markets and methods of transportation and organisation that sweep away the old.

Occasionally, there are times when a similarly convulsive process applies to institutions and ideas, as the Northwestern University historian Joel Mokyr has described in his writings on the Industrial Revolution.

Are we living through such a moment today as a global pandemic, a technological revolution and an existential environmental threat unleash a new wave of creative destruction of old institutions and ideas?

Every generation likes to think it is living at a hinge point in history. It's more exciting that way. And so, after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001 and the global financial crisis of 2008, we all told ourselves that nothing would be the same again. We were partly right, but mostly wrong.

In this latest crisis, we have again looked to the familiar institutions of the nation state and big corporations to save us. That is understandable in so far as they both deliver indispensable services.

The state is the only legitimate means of providing collective security and public health. It is also society's insurer of last resort: Some 84 countries have introduced social protection programmes in response to the pandemic. The market also remains the most efficient mechanism for delivering private goods. The way in which food retailers have continued to operate complex supply chains during this crisis is near miraculous.

But the latest pandemic-induced economic emergency is also exposing the limits of the state and the market and the fault lines of society. When finance ministries have maxed out their budget deficits and central banks have no further room left to cut interest rates, then we have to invent novel economic tools.

Profit-seeking companies are also far better at satisfying the pre-existing demands of consumers than pre-empting massive societal challenges, such as pandemics or the energy transition.

Dr Henry Kissinger, the grand old man of US strategic thinking, has argued that the latest crisis is triggering a political and economic upheaval that could last for generations.

"Nations cohere and flourish on the belief that their institutions can foresee calamity, arrest its impact and restore stability," he wrote last week.

"When the Covid-19 pandemic is over, many countries' institutions will be perceived as having failed. Whether this judgment is objectively fair is irrelevant. The reality is the world will never be the same after the coronavirus."

In their different ways, both governments and traditional corporations are relatively closed institutions optimised for efficiency, rather than agility. But the latter may now be the overwhelming demand of our fast-moving age.

Estonia and Singapore have seized the digital moment to create flexible tech-enabled platforms they call government as a service. Some of the biggest tech companies, including Apple, Google and Amazon, have big plans to pioneer preventive healthcare, too.

But the latest technologies have also allowed new collective organisations to emerge to address public needs: Wikipedia in information; the UK website Mumsnet in parental advice; and GitHub in open source software. The UK's National Health Service volunteer responders' app, designed to mobilise an army of support, has received a staggering 750,000 applications. Are these the new proto-institutions of the 21st century?

In his book, Professor Mokyr argued that it was the spread of Enlightenment ideas and the creation of new institutions that helped spark the Industrial Revolution in Britain. Innovation became a word of praise, rather than one of abuse.

A remarkable set of institutions, including the Royal Society (founded in 1660), the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) (1754) and the Royal Institution (1799), led a discourse between "luciferous" and "fructiferous" knowledge, linking intellectuals and producers.

"The essence of the Enlightenment's impact on the economy was the drive to expand the accumulation of useful knowledge and direct it toward practical use," Prof Mokyr wrote.

Mr Matthew Taylor, the RSA's chief executive, argues that flourishing societies need constructive interaction between the state, the market and civil society, representing the values of authority, individual aspiration and connectedness, respectively.

However, the ideology of Western democracies in recent years has been for the state to serve the market, sidelining civil society and creating a "solidarity deficit" that has been filled by populism.

This latest crisis provides an opportunity to rebalance the imperatives of social solidarity with the dynamism of the market to enhance the legitimacy of government. "We need a mixture of practicality and idealism," he says.

In moments of crisis, it is all too easy to be mesmerised by the destruction, but there is a demand - and a real opportunity - to respond creatively, too.

FINANCIAL TIMES

See more here:
How to make good use of new wave of 'creative destruction' - straits times

These are desperate times the world over. Nigerias President Muhammadu Buhari has taken a number of steps in the right direction in our battle to contain the pandemic. Some of our state governors are also proving their mettle by their actions, while some others are trivialising this crisis and putting their people at risk with pedestrian rhetoric and stupid actions. Just like was recorded in bible times during Jobs crisis, we can also see that Great men are notalwayswise. We have come to discover in stark relief the number of misfits we have leading us. It is also in this time of war that generals are earning their stripes, and by Gods grace the day would soon come when we would celebrate the heroes of this battle and document their roles in serving our common good.

As things stand today though, there is still no cure for the virus, and our best efforts to win this war remains to continue to enforce Physical Distancing, aggressive contacts tracing, and mass enlightenment on the need for everyone to practice personal hygiene and build their immunity. I must add to that the need to improve the morale of our heroic health workers on the frontlines, and incentivise them to continue to put in their best. These are the ones staying the hands of the pandemic within our borders the ones who are bravely defying the scary projections about the pandemic overrunning our health system.

The greatest challenge however is ensuring wilful compliance by the citizenry to Physical Distancing measures put in place by government, and at the same time maintaining social cohesion and law and order. This is because of the toll the lockdown is taking on the majority of Nigerians, which President Buhari in showing empathy acknowledged in his recent statement We realise that today, there will be sons and daughters unable to visit their parents, and elders that are isolated from young ones. And there will be those who live day-to-day, eating as they earn, who face real and present suffering. It is heart-breaking and worrisome to read of spikes in crime in our urban centres, and the desperation of many Nigerians to do anything at this time for bread. A video that went viral recently shows a septuagenarian woman, confidently saying she would be happy to sleep with anyone forN500 to survive.

The encouraging news is that characteristic of Nigerians being our brothers keepers, in addition to efforts of government across all levels, we are seeing humanitarian responses at the level of individuals, families, and clusters of friends crowdsourcing money and food to share with less privileged people. People are cooking meals and distributing to fellow Nigerians on the streets, and distributing stipends to vulnerable families. Citizens responses have been commendable and has proven that every single person counts in efforts at nation building. We must not stop. As I had encouraged inpart 1 of this article, when this pestilence passes, we must keep up in this same spirit and hold our leaders accountable to addressing some urgent problems that has compounded the impact of the COVID 19 pandemic in Nigeria. Some of these are as follows.

Inequality:Wealthy Nigerians and corporations are falling over themselves to announce huge donations to confront the pandemic in Nigeria. The problem is you dont prepare for war in times of war, and many Nigerians are beginning to wonder what exactly would be done with all these monies, and how exactly it would tangibly impact their lives. These donations in many cases come from donors who are as complicit as our leaders in the house of cards we have built. Jobless economic growth over the years has enriched a few while others wallow in indigence. This is why we have a severe housing deficit yet empty and overpriced real estate abound in our major cities. We have a broken education system yet Nigerians as international students fund the education systems in other countries. Poverty is one thing in Nigeria, Inequality is another. Wherever inequality exists, it is joined by a league of ills. We must not forget the saying attributed to French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau: Quand les pauvres nauront plus rien manger, ils mangeront les riches! meaning When the poor have nothing more to eat, they will eat the rich!.

Data Management:For long we have failed to heed the warning of experts that our inefficiencies in managing data would hurt us someday. This is the day. The dearth of veritable data and the lack of integration of the ones we have amongst key government entities is blunting efforts in this war as far as contact tracing and delivery of humanitarian relief is concerned. Assuming we have the infinite resources, we simply lack the data to reach our most vulnerable citizens with relief in an equitable, efficient, and dignified way. We must however acknowledge that some governments have done well in this regard, a good example being the Government of Ekiti state who have been able to leverage existing databases in the statesVulnerable Peoples Support Programme to reach vulnerable households with relief in a dignified way.This issue of data goes beyond government. Very few of our social and religious organisations that have for long been sustained by contributions of Nigerians can boast of comprehensive databases with which they can attend to the material, mental health, and spiritual needs of members during this crisis. We can do better.

Social Protection:Closely related to the subject of data management is Social Protection. We absolutely need to rethink our strategies on how we cater for the most vulnerable segments of our society. The main purpose of social protection is to reduce poverty, economic shocks and vulnerability, which in turn, helps to determine the country-specific social protection design requirements (ADB, 2003). The Federal Governments National Social Investments Programme (N-SIP) is doing very well in the circumstances, but we need to ask what became of social protection initiatives of previous administrations? What are the assurances that the N-SIP would survive beyond the lifetime of this administration? Sadly, social protection programmes in Nigeria have been dogged by lack of continuity and susceptibility to nepotism and partisan manipulations. Instead of strengthening existing programmes, successive administrations choose to truncate them and initiate new ones thereby losing traction. We must build resilient and enduring social protection programmes on the solid foundations of accurate data, transparency, and accountability, and over time deepen its coverage and impact.

Functional Federalism:With such a large country in terms of land mass and population, this crisis has brought back to the fore conversations about the nature of the federalism we practice. In the days leading up to President Buharis March 29, 2020 national broadcast, there was a hue and cry about the need for him to address the nation, as though his speech was to be a silver bullet to solve all the problems. What we didnt pay attention to was all the work that was already going on in different states of the federation with diverse strategies that best suit their peculiarities. That is the way it should be. As a matter of fact, the presidents actions and policy pronouncements only served, in many instances, to reinforce actions already taken by some state governors. In other jurisdictions we see the beauty of Cooperative Federalism in fighting this ugly situation. We see all levels of governments federal, state, and municipal working collaboratively to address the challenges, with each empowered to act in the best interest of their citizens. We must in the principle of Subsidiarity urgently seek ways to devolve more power and resources from an unwieldy federal government to the lower levels of government, and encourage them to generate more income within the states. The lower levels of government who are closer to the people and better positioned to respond faster and more appropriately in times like this, should have greater resources and less encumbrances.

Special Status for Lagos State:One of the commendable actions by President Buhari recently is providing a grant ofN10billion to the government of Lagos State to help them in the fight against COVID 19. This action was not contested by any other state. It is by itself presidential recognition that Lagos is disproportionately affected by this crisis, and carries the weight of the expectations of the entire country to provide the leadership to nip the scourge in the bud, as it did in the past with Ebola. With an estimated population of 20 million, and ranked as the fifth largest economy in Africa, Lagos is undeniably our economic nerve centre, and host to our busiest airport and seaport. When this crisis is over, we must revisit the need to grant special status to Lagos state; a move that has been repeatedly turned down by the Nigerian Senate. The last time the matter was debated on the floor of the senate in 2016 was one of the rowdiest sessions in her history. Senator Olusola Adeyeye making a comparison between Abuja and Lagos in his contribution had declared that the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) is a rotten and over-pampered child. The National Assembly is respectfully put on notice, you can see for yourselves, there is no need for long debates after this crisis, Lagos is not the mate of any other state.

State of Origin / State of Residence:Talking of states, we need to review the nonsense we have kept up with for such a long time State of Origin! There is hardly any form you fill in Nigeria today that doesnt have that inanity in spite of the divisions it fosters, and the fact that it negates the spirit and letters of our constitution. Any Nigerian should be able to live and work freely in any state of the federation and be recognised as a resident. Now that we are all in this crisis together, we can clearly see that the actions or inactions of those that reside in a state affects one and all, regardless of their origin. As far as our well-being and economic prospects are concerned, the people we live and work with are more relevant than those we share ancestry with that are far away. I hope Nwagbo that has lived in Lagos State for most of his life would now be able to fill in Lagos state as his state of residence, just the same way that Ibinabo that lives in Kano state can fill in Kano as her state of residence because she lives there. We must learn from this crisis and especially need to cross the river to deliver this message to a certain governor, and all those who discriminate against non-indigenes in their states.

National Orientation:This crisis has exposed the non-existence of a coherent national orientation strategy. Presidential spokesman Femi Adesina has told us it is not the style of our president to speak frequently granted. But communications and national orientation is much more than that.It is about leading the reformation of the hearts and minds of Nigerians and aligning our collective psyche to national goals and aspirations. It is about inspiring Nigerians, and in times like this, it is about providing accurate information that trickles down to the grassroots. If there is a vacuum in the flow of communications from the leadership of our country, and presidential aides are needlessly combative, we look to the National Orientation Agency of Nigeria to rise to its mandate of effectively communicating government policy, staying abreast of public opinion, and promoting patriotism, national unity, and development of Nigerian society. The agency has been quiet so far, and needs to keep up with the times and jettison antiquated strategies. This is 2020 and it is laughable that our national orientation strategy revolves around theWar Against Indiscipline (WAI Brigade)of the Buhari / Idiagbon era. How is that serving us now?

The Culture of the Big Man:Our culture ofbigmanismis a social malaise that is demonstrated by the high and mighty in our society who live ostentatious lifestyles and promote the wilful disobedience of laws. Nigerian big men are never seen alone, but rather with retinues of aides and security operatives who fall over themselves to answer to their every whim, only to become gentle when they are abroad. In spite of the Nigerian Police being stretched thin, we still have policemen drafted as personal bodyguards to protect big men, leaving common Nigerians vulnerable. They disobey traffic laws, shunt queues, and intimidate fellow citizens at every opportunity. Their favourite expression which evidences our confused identity is do you know who I am? Most Nigerians are eitherbig menor aspiring to be, and our children are being socialised to perpetuate these attitudes. The culture ofbigmanismis what breeds the perception that our leaders, who should know better, are above the law, and has been implicated in the potential spread of the virus. Such recklessness was demonstrated by the leading opposition party whose leadership convened a Southwest Reunification Rally mid-march, pulling such a massive crowd during a pandemic. Similar indiscretions were demonstrated by leaders from the ruling party, and even our celebrities are not left out. What moral rectitude do they now have to enforce physical distancing measures? Obviously we all need to concentrate more on reuniting our brains with common-sense, and rebuilding a society where no one is above the law, and the virtues of humility and simplicity once again become the norm rather than the exception.

Foreign Relations:These are very tough times, and the global balance of power would never be the same again. Many countries are currently concentrating on defeating the pandemic but have hinted of significant changes to their foreign policy in the days ahead.The pandemic will change the world forever, and diplomatic relations between countries are bound to be renegotiated.The question is where does Nigeria seat in the light of these emerging realities? The viral videos of the horrible treatment being meted out to Nigerians in China is symptomatic of how low we have come. Now more than ever before, Nigeria needs to take our foreign policy seriously.We cannot afford to take a reactionary and incoherent foreign relations strategy, and our inefficient and poorly funded diplomatic missions into the future. Nigeria mustprioritise our national interests and rekindle the fire of Pan-Africanism.We must rise from being pawns in the high stakes contest for global relevance, and find our voice and place in the emerging global order.

Leadership:COVID 19 is showing us the direct impact that incompetent leadership has on lives, and the destruction that can befall nations when leaders joke with such priorities as the health sector. Every aspect of life in Nigeria needs to be overhauled, while leveraging the gains we have achieved in some areas. We need our education system functioning again so that our research institutions can develop new technologies and make advances in medical science that would help humanity. Instead of hustling for give-aways on twitter, we must rid our society of systemic corruption and equip our government institutions with the human and material resources to build functional systems and structures that serve the interest of all Nigerians. It is often argued that followers in Nigeria are as bad as our leaders, but the truth is nothing can change without transformational leaders leading an enlightened and active citizenry.

By Gods grace and the resilience of Nigerians, together we will win this war against COVID 19, and Nigeria would be great again.

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Now that we are home (2): Together we will win - TheCable

You can make the walled garden very very sweet. But the jungle outside is always more appealing in the long term - Sir Tim Berners Lee, Wired.

In the early days of the Internet, users would dial in on a modem to a proprietary network controlled by AOL, Prodigy, CompuServe or others. An AOL user would find different content available to a Prodigy user. Advertisers would have to think carefully about which network to target. The introduction of the HTTP and the Web changed this: suddenly the same content was available to everyone. You could browse the forest, and not just the trees.

Fast forward twenty-years, and proprietary networks have not gone away. In fact almost all of the most popular serves on the Internet today exist on walled garden domains. Most of the content you publish is stored on the servers of privately held Big Tech companies.

You can make the walled garden very very sweet. But the jungle outside is always more appealing in the long term Sir Tim Berners Lee, in Wired

The architecture of these services is not open-protocol but proprietary and hidden. The terms of service can allow for data-mining, censorship, location tracking or the storing of your biometric information on a private system in a country far-away.

The spaces we occupy on the Internet are increasingly private and controlled. There is no public space and maybe thats a problem? After all, the conceptual underpinnings of 'public space' emerged during theEuropean enlightenment, as individuals became classified ascitizens instead of subjects.

The spaces we occupy on the Internet are increasingly private and controlled. There is no public space and maybe thats a problem?

The public square, townhouse or promenade belonged to everyone. Some of the mass-communities in cyberspace may feel open, but their technology is proprietary. Youre a user. Not a citizen. Access can be revoked at any time.

Some of the mass-communities in cyberspace may feel open, but their technology is proprietary

According to Amy James of Alexandria Labs, the solution could be a public index on the Web, with content storage across the distributed network of the blockchain. This technology would create a more horizontal relationship between users and walled gardens, creators and platforms, privacy and data.

Either way, it's clear that the private vs. public space debate is beginning to encapsulate many of the idea influencing the future of the Internet.

Full disclosure: Al Bawaba is exploring blockchain solutions on the Open Index Protocol.

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The Jungle Outside On Balkanized Internets, Public Space and the Blockchain - Al-Bawaba

APRIL 14, 2020 Updated 4 hours ago

Covid-19

Nature is returning to deserted cities around the world. Meanwhile, down on the Pelorus Sound, she never really left, writes Allan Ramsay.

Mice have always been a big challenge in my struggle to live by Buddhist principles. Five of them are now very dead and minding their karmas elsewhere after being found in the kitchen volunteering as collateral damage in my latest battle for enlightenment.

And they are just the tip of the iceberg. As humans have been forced back into their boxes to contemplate their lives, the universe and everything else, the wildlife is making a bid for supremacy way beyond my kitchen.

A coyote was seen near the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. In the UK, people have been getting excited about the appearance of sheep on traffic roundabouts and goats in a deserted playground. Mind you, those last two sightings have caused some head scratching round these parts that would be pretty much business as usual here. If we had a roundabout.

Closer to home, on Great Barrier Island, a kiwi was filmed inspecting a DOC kitchen. A rare white tauhou (waxeye) was photographed in central Wellington. Theres plenty more. Its all good to see.

Here in the Pelorus Sound, Im not sure nature is doing anything all that different. She never quite left in the first place. Twice a day the tide goes in and out, part of the pertinent, daily reminder of our complete insignificance.

Across the water, starting at dusk and on into the night, as they do every autumn, virus or not, the stags have started to roar.

Theyre giving each other that come and have a go if you think yer ard enuff stuff that males like to do usually ensuring they keep a good distance from each other. Their deerish insults conveyed in huffing, gravelly sounds, pitched at such a low, ground-level frequency that they give off no echo at all.

What was likely a rare New Zealand falcon dropped by the other night, too. It was hunting something visible only to itself on the front lawn, just three metres out from the deck. It slapped itself down on the grass for about two seconds, then clumsily staggered into the air, off through the ponga fronds and into the darkness. I think its prey was heavier than expected.

Then there was the seal that showed up in the shallows at the end of the garden during the big moon tides weve just had. Not that usual to find them this far up the sound, Im told.

The chicks in the shag colony nesting in the bare trees just along the shore are well grown and about ready to fly. Now Im just waiting for Sir David Attenborough to stick his head up through the harakeke down by the tomatoes.

And, of course, smugly waving its essential services letter granted by the PM, the Easter Bunny delivered chocolate eggs and hot cross buns. I have to confess I pass on this information as hearsay, as I didnt actually see it. Then again, I would never blame the Bunny for moving fast, given the number of guns in the neighbourhood.

To cap it all off, on Wednesday afternoon there was a near miss when the moon shot past us only 357,042 kms away, the closest it gets in its orbit. Over the next few nights it put on quite the supermoon flounce and encore as it went by a real hey, look at me moment. Talk about a drama queen.

Aside from the Easter Bunny bit, it all adds up to a thumbnail sketch of Gaia in action the notion that everything on the planet is connected one way or another, that the planet itself might be alive. How we laughed when scientist James Lovelock first proposed the idea in the 1960s. Clearly some dippy hippy shit. It was also the theory that allowed the serious study of climate change. So were not laughing now.

Meanwhile, the piwakawaka are fluttering around, as they do, wittering on and inviting themselves into the house. As we work through week three of lockdown, its become perfectly acceptable behaviour for us three PoBs (People of the Bubble) to talk to them at length.

Football scores, hokey pokey versus cookies and cream, the nutrient value of horse versus goat manure, the deputy PMs haircut, dressing left or right on a bike ride, capitalism versus communism, climate change versus Covid-19 nothing is off the table.

So far, theyre not talking back.

* Made with the support of NZ on Air *

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Covid-19 Call of the wild Nature is returning to deserted cities around the world. Meanwhile - Newsroom

You no doubt want to hear what I think of being in hiding, Anne Frank wrote in (and to) her diary, which shed named Kitty, on July 11, 1942. Well, all I can say is that I dont really know yet. Only a day or so had passed since the Franks had fled their house in Amsterdam for a secret annex in the back of an office buildinga harsh precaution against the harsher menace of Nazism. Anne, lonely, would soon be lonelier. She wouldnt live to see the readers who no doubt want[ed] to hear what she thought. A few weeks earlier, the thirteen-year-old had referred plaintively to the condition that prompted me to keep a diary in the first place: I dont have a friend.

It is painful to consider the lackof connection, stimulation, solace, controlout of which Franks diary arose. Some authors avoid writing about what they dont really know yet, but, for Frank, discovering what she thought and felt, or at least managing her uncertainty, may have been the whole point. Forced within, both physically and psychologically, Frank seems to have countered that retreat with an exteriorization. She could manifest her inner world in paper and ink; she could shape her not-knowing into language. Perhaps she could even outsmart timeby organizing it, occupying it, smoothing it into a continuous flow.

Its been a lonely few weeks. Our plight isnt comparable to Franks stoppered girlhood, but the coronavirus has made us fearful and helpless, and weve entered an age of diaries: coronavirus diaries and pandemic journals and quarantine diaries and Wuhan diaries and coronavirus-quarantine diaries, in the press and outside of it, as historians and mental-health professionals alike urge us toward self-documentation. Were transcribing what were cooking, eating, reading, listening to, and streaming. Collectively, were revisiting the notebooks of the politician Samuel Pepys, who blogged the bubonic plagues arrival in London, in 1665, and lingering over A Journal of the Plague Year, the protopandemic novel, from 1722, by Daniel Defoe.

What function do such records serve in moments of crisis? If youre looking for a reactive form, one that makes it possible to respond in real time to the latest statistic, then a diary is the one you want, Larry Rosenwald, a professor of English at Wellesley, told me. Any utterance can be an entry. Its the quickest route from thought to production. Let poetry finesse emotions recollected in tranquility; a journal can field them as they come. The form connotes immediacy, authenticity, a lack of mediation. As the writer Andrew Hassam suggests, because a founding principle of the diary is the belief in its own privacy, its language is assumed to have no designs on a reader. This relieves the author from the duty to be accessible or interesting. (They dont have to be timely, eitherindeed, most diaries are explicitly and transparently dated.)

That explains one use for journals in nerve-fraying times: mood regulationor, as a non-psychologist might put it, venting. The lifelong diarist Ralph Waldo Emerson was an extraordinarily diverse and capacious self-chronicler, Rosenwald told me, free in his choice of subject and tone, and yet, in the run-up to the Civil War, Emerson grew obsessive, monomaniacal, writing largely about the perfidy of highly respected congresspeople. This was a less beguiling period of his introspection, Rosenwald said, but it served a psychological need: to rage. Other habitual diarists have processed disaster with a pointed consistency. The Puritan preacher Cotton Mather, an early advocate for vaccination, became a controversial figure during the smallpox epidemic of 1721. Townspeople hurled a bomb through his window. Members of his family fell ill and died. And yet the reverends diary reveals not agitation but a measured and stately piety, an aspirational calm. I this Day considered, Mather wrote, upon learning that the plague had killed his uncle, how strangely the Lord hath, beyond my Expectation, prolonged my Life.

Lifeas in the pure gift of it, rather than its artistic expressionis the diarists chief concern. (This is one distinction between journaling and memoir.) But if diaries argue for the value of the ephemeral or mundane, implying that these subjects need no adornment, the material is nevertheless transformed. The diary, the scholar Irina Paperno writes, represents a lasting trace of ones beingan effective defense against annihilation. Take Albert Underwood, an artilleryman in the Civil War, who scrawled a few sentences into his journal every day until a steamer explosion killed him, in 1865. Very pleasant today, runs a typical entry. Still laying up yet waiting for the river to rise. There is something alchemical about how these words evoke a world: the laying, the waiting, the river itself on pause. What happens becomes, in Seamus Heaneys phrase, the music of what happens. Experience can seem almost sacred.

Diaries have long mirrored both the people who created them and the eras in which they were created. Early examples, in the seventeenth century, grew out of almanacs and housekeeping logs. Third day of planting; sold four bushels of grainx shillings; quarreled with brother. These texts married economic best practices to a new form of religious self-surveillance. Puritans, for instance, used diaries to inventory their sins and, ideally, to hasten a moral awakening. (Cotton Mather, recounting how he spent his thirty-fourth birthday, wrote as if an angel were monitoring the page: I paraphrased, improved, and applied, the whole Hundred and Third Psalms, on my Knees before the Lord.) As the Enlightenment secularized the impulse toward self betterment, diaries became cornerstones of a sentimental educationaids in the cultivation of feeling. In her study of eighteenth-century pedagogy, the scholar J. A. Baggerman focuses on a Dutch child of ten, Otto van Eck, whose journal formed part of a comprehensive didactic regime instilled with great insistence by his parents, who later read his jottings and supplied them with commentary. (Otto inclined toward the poetic, either naturally or because he intuited that a tender melancholy might please his mother and father. We have a perfectly green May, he writes. If I werent deaf, Id rise early to hear the nightingale.) Fifty years later, the Romantic movement co-opted the diary as a vehicle for individualism. (Paperno quotes the painter Eugne Delacroix, who grandly defined his journal as the history of what I feel.) For the Positivists, diaries were empirical instruments. For the modernists, they were crucibles of self making.

And what are diaries now? When things go well, one learns that one is better company than one thought. When they dont, one circles, with some helplessness, those handsome Protestant dreams: atonement and rebirth. Over the past few days, trying to journal, I was simultaneously too shameless to alter my garbage routines and not shameless enough to lie about it. (Wallowed, I wrote, on day two, taken with the symmetry of the ls and ws. Wallowed. Wallowed. WAAALLOOOOWED.) More seductive, to me, than any cleansing aspect was the Enlightenment notion of the diary as a kind of affective workout: weight training for feelings. Global disasters cause suffering, of course, and witnessing the suffering of others can shake loose more sufferingpsychiatrists have spoken about a nationwide increase in anxiety and depressive symptoms, and the mental-health toll is even greater for nurses and doctors. But a quieter fear can haunt those not on the front lines. What if the eeriness of the new normal leaves you numb? What if, bombarded by death rates and scared parents and images of fellow-citizens in masks, your emotions fail to rise to the occasion?

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Dear Diary, The World Is Burning - The New Yorker

Cosmic techno group, Pleasurekraft, is hitting 2020 with their new album titled Love In The Age Of Machines. We see its release on their own Kraftek Records label. It contains 12 heart rate inducing tracks, ready to blow your mind.

This follows their huge remix track of Adam Beyers Space Date last year. They showcase their forward-thinking grooves rippled with interstellar melodies and scintillating synths. Their music is an auditory and physical journey to be experienced.

Last Sapien portrays gritty dystopian societies, perfect for the albums theme. Nostalgic for the Future is dark, rainy, and casts urban-lit textures down your spine while listening. If you sense impending doom reading the titles, youll feel a sense of wonder at how the music carries you through it all.

Panopticon ft. Thomas Gandoy is a more intense track, like a voyage through the galaxy and back. I Sing Body Electric and Main Sequence carry their cosmic techno vibes youve been looking for. The build-up in your body releases with Novacene. At The Mountains of Madness and Primordial have krafty titles and they elicit pounding heartbeats the more you listen to them. End with Requiem For The American Dream and youve got just the right amount of techno leading you adrift forever.

Hush, The Occupant, and Corpse Revive Number 3 add enlightenment to the other pessimistic tracks of the album. Combined with their abstract ideas for love, justice, liberty, art, and scientific beauty, this makes the perfect dystopian, sci-fi soundtrack.

As the title states, humanity in the age of machines can lose their way. Machines can surely take over our fragile bodies. What do we do?

You listen to the album below. Award yourself the experience of listening to a unique, endless sea of dance music. Think about your place among the stars.

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Pleasurekraft Love In The Age Of Machines - EDMTunes

13 April 2020 19:00 (UTC+04:00)

497

By Ofeliya Afandiyeva

Azerbaijan has set up a Council for Public Control under Coronavirus Response Fund on April 11, the official website of the Azerbaijani Cabinet of Ministers reported.

The relevant decree to set up the council was signed by Prime Minister Ali Asadov on April 11.

The reason for setting up the Council for Public Control is to ensure transparency in the use of funds collected in the Coronavirus Response Fund and to regularly inform the public about the use of the funds.

According to the order, the Council is created in the following composition of seven members, including five members public representatives and two representatives of the Operational Headquarters under the Cabinet of Ministers:

Ziyad Samadzade - Full member of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, Chairman of the Council of Economists;

Shafiga Mammadova - Chairman of the Union of Cinematographers of Azerbaijan;

Farhad Badalbeyli - Rector of the Baku Music Academy named after Uzeyir Hajibeyli;

Garay Garaybeyli - Rector of the Azerbaijan Medical University (AMU);

Zemfira Meftahaddinova - Olympic champion, Member of the Executive Committee of the National Olympic Committee;

Aydin Isayev - Deputy Head of the Department of Tax Policy and Revenues of the Office of the Ministry of Finance of Azerbaijan - Head of the Sector;

Rasim Ismayilov - Deputy Head of the Main Financial Department of the State Tax Service under the Ministry of Economy.

Board meetings are valid if two-thirds of its members are present. Decisions of the Council are taken by a simple majority vote of its members.

The council within two working days approves orders received from the relevant state bodies and state-owned legal entities.

The council publishes information on the use of the funds resources twice a month on the websitehttp://covid19fund.gov.az/en/.

The Fund to Support Fight against Coronavirus was established by the decree of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on March 19, 2020.

On March 19, President Aliyev announced the creation of the Fund to Support Fight Against Coronavirus.

Initially, the government allocated $11.7 million to the fund and the president and the first lady donated their annual salaries to the fund. As of April 8, the fund had collected about $65.1 million.Donations have been made by 2,692 legal entities and 8,223 individuals.

The resourcesof the Fund are used in the following directions to combat coronavirus:

1) The remuneration of medical workers and the provision of material assistance to them;

2) The improvement of the infrastructure and material and technical capacity of medical institutions (including the acquisition of technological installations, devices, equipment, vehicles, goods, and materials, as well as other medical supplies);

3) The formation of medical institutions of special regime;

4) The organization and implementation of control and monitoring;

5) The financing of researches in the medical field;

6) The training of specialists in the medical field;

7) Awareness-raising and enlightenment activities;

8) Other measures taken to fight against the coronavirus.

Moreover, President Ilham Aliyevdonatedhis annualsalaryto theFund on March 21.

Currently, the amount of donations transferred to the Fund in Azerbaijan is about $65 million.

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Azerbaijan sets up council to control fund over fight with COVID-19 - AzerNews