Welcome to our comprehensive site update state for March 2020, a time when the coronavirus is reshaping daily life worldwide. In these challenging moments, we aim to keep our community informed, prepared, and connected. Knowledge empowers us, especially as traditional institutions face unprecedented strain.
Site Update State Overview
1 Site’s Place In The World
As most of you probably know, the site is run primarily by me (Jamie Frater) from Wellington, New Zealand. This is the land that the billionaires bug out to, and our current government is very friendly indeed with those people, so let’s hope that means things will remain calm. At this stage, aside from closing our country’s borders, all schools stay open, and all shops, businesses, and restaurants continue to operate. Shelves are full (there is even plenty of toilet paper) and people are smiling and courteous as always. Our national infection total sits at thirty‑nine with no deaths. If things stay that way, I’ll still be here banging away at the keyboard while watching Seinfeld and Friends reruns. Optimism is valuable, but preparedness is equally crucial—and to that end…
2 Virus Contingency
I am in the process of drafting a set of documents that will guarantee continuity for the site should anything happen to me personally. While I’m currently in a relatively safe position, there’s no absolute certainty that circumstances will stay favorable. Our submissions database is in excellent shape and is very easy to manage, so if something does pull me away from the site for a spell, it shouldn’t cause any pause in our publishing schedule.
3 Writers And Payments
Yesterday I issued a statement to nine‑hundred site writers outlining our plans for handling submissions, editing, and payments. Because of the virus and the shifting financial needs of many people, we are now committed to issuing payments for lists within one to five days of acceptance. Advanced payments have also been issued in some urgent cases. We continue to accept submissions as usual and have seen a slight increase since our list on the gig economy, which is amazing. It’s always our preference to publish lists from our regular readers. To that end you may have noticed a few lists creeping in that focus on the workings or lives of everyday people. Now is definitely a good time for us to get to know the secrets and lives of those who work every day to make our lives comfortable. We may soon be looking at a brave new world in which those jobs are even more vital than before, so let’s all give a big thank you to the people who do the jobs that we often take for granted.
4 Your View: Daily Forum
Yesterday we published a “Your View” on how the coronavirus is affecting you. Would you all be interested in us publishing a daily extra “Your View” post to use as a general‑purpose public forum on how the virus (and other related issues such as the economy) are affecting you? It would sit alongside the two regular lists we publish each day and would allow us to keep virus‑related content in one place. Alternatively we could simply “sticky” the existing Your View to the top of the “Trending” section on the desktop front page. Let me know what you prefer, if anything. I am also mindful that some people may want a safe haven from the constant bombardment of media on the virus, in which case it may be better for us to continue as we are with occasional lists relating to current events.
I should note that the site runs a Discord server which you can get to right here: .com On Discord.
5 Virus Terminology
The Chinese communist government is engaging in a propaganda campaign to eradicate the use of the term “Chinese” in relation to the virus which appears to have originated there. Officials have publicly stated that the virus is the result of a US bioweapon. President Trump has been firm in the use of the term “Chinese Virus” to counter these propaganda efforts from the communists. Unfortunately the mainstream media and a number of people online are actively helping the Chinese government – in some cases intentionally, in others through innocent attempts to do good. Because of a large increase in the number of anonymous commenters speaking in defense of the Communist government of China, we are having to monitor things much more closely than usual to ensure that genuine conversations about the virus amongst our regular readers are not derailed.
The site is run primarily out of New Zealand and I want to be clear that we absolutely stand with the traditional allies of New Zealand: Australia, the United States of America, Canada, and the United Kingdom. I cannot stress enough how important it is that we stand united right now in the face of not just a terrible viral attack, but a potential economic collapse which is exacerbated by the trade war between the US and China and the oil war occurring between Russia and Saudi Arabia. Free speech is always welcome, but paid propaganda and shilling are not. If you find your comment in the pending queue, please be patient.
6 Commenting And Working Together
In light of the previous item I would like to ask everyone to please be extra generous in their use of charity when it comes to commenting here. We know there is huge division in society right now and the mainstream media is playing to that as hard and as fast as they can. We must rise above that. The site has long been home to an intelligent and friendly community. Let us come together now, left and right, people from all nations and say no to the hatred the media is attempting to foment amongst us. Their time is past. The best way we can do this is to presume, in all cases, that the people we speak to on here have only the very best of intentions. Let’s make the comments section a beacon of unity and kindness for all the readers who are either here already sharing our love of lists, or the new readers who will discover us over the period of quarantine that has arrived or is coming.
7 Can We Help
Obviously there is a physical limit to what the site can do to help you all out individually if that is needed, but what we can do is put out appeals or information. If you find yourself stuck in a position of risk with no one at all to help you, please feel free to email me at [email protected]. It may be that I can appeal to another reader who lives near you to give you a helping hand of some kind. I am single and live alone – so I know the risks that go along with isolation under those circumstances. I can’t promise to work miracles but if necessary I can at least try to help somehow. Of course let’s hope that this never becomes necessary, but if it does: we’re here – even if only to lend an ear.
8 Coronavirus Coverage
We have already published a number of coronavirus‑related lists and a few other disease and virus lists before that. We will continue to publish related content when new perspectives warrant it. Here is a rundown of the coverage so far.
Top 10 Crazy Conspiracy Theories Surrounding The Chinese Coronavirus
Top 10 Crazy Facts About The Coronavirus Outbreak
Top 10 Things You Need To Do To Prepare For The Coronavirus
10 Reasons The Coronavirus Should Terrify You
Top 10 Essential Facts About The Coronavirus, The Only Article You’ll Ever Need About COVID‑19
8 Conspiracy Theories About Deadly Disease Outbreaks
10 Deadly Viruses And Bacteria Created In Labs
10 Viruses That Actually Help Humankind
10 Scary Facts About The Justinian Plague
10 Of Human History’s Most Atrocious Plagues