By December 1918, the number of new cases tapered off, and American society began to return, gradually, to normal. (PUBLIC WILL GET ITS FIRST LOOK AT 1918 FOOTBALL, WHEN BAN LIFTS, TOMORROW, read a headline in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.) However, the solitary aspect of the epidemic also affected the way that it was memorialized. As the disease stopped its spread, the publics attention quickly shifted to the end of World War I, undermining the cathartic rituals that societies need to get past collective traumas. In the decades after the sickness, the flu lodged in the back of peoples mind, remembered but not often discussed. The American writer John Dos Passos, who caught the disease on a troop ship, never mentioned the experience in any detail. It never got a lot of attention, but it was there, below the surface, Barry said.

More than 80 years later, the novelist Thomas Mullen wrote The Last Town on Earth, a fictional account of the 1918 flu. In an interview after the books publication, Mullen commented on a wall of silence surrounding survivors memories of the 1918 flu, which was quickly leading to the very erasure of those memories. The historian Alfred W. Crosby deemed it Americas forgotten pandemic.

In many places, the loneliness and suspicion caused by the flu continued to pervade American society in subtle ways. To some, it seemed that something had been permanently lost. People didnt seem as friendly as before, John Delano, a New Haven, Connecticut, resident, said in 1997. They didnt visit each other, bring food over, have parties all the time. The neighborhood changed. People changed. Everything changed.

Read: The coronavirus is no 1918 pandemic

However, Barry reassured me, this was not universally the case. In his research, he found that communities came together in places where local leadership spoke honestly about the danger of influenza. There was certainly plenty of fear nonetheless, you didnt seem to find the kind of disintegration that occurred in other places, he said. In cities where proactive public-health commissioners exhibited strong leadership, he argues in his book, people maintained faith in one another.

Seattle Commissioner of Health J. S. McBride, for instance, rapidly imposed firm public-health measures and even volunteered his services at an emergency hospital. In November 1918, he commended Seattle residents for their co-operation in observing the drastic, but necessary, orders which have been issued by us during the influenza epidemic. McBrides actions may have been what allowed Seattleites like Violet Harris to remember the epidemic as a somewhat boring time.

After six weeks of lockdown, public gathering spaces in Seattle finally reopened for business. School opens this week, Harris wrote in her diary. Thursday! Did you ever? As if they couldnt have waited till Monday!

We want to hear what you think about this article. Submit a letter to the editor or write to letters@theatlantic.com.

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How the 1918 Pandemic Frayed Social Bonds - The Atlantic

After a last-minute shuffle pulling the ASX's first-quarter loss lower yesterday, Aussie shares have kicked off the new quarter with a bang.

Despite historic quarterly losses across global economies, the final quarter of the financial year has started with some optimism. Today, all 11 of our market sectors closed green.

There was no sudden sell-off on the ASX 200 this time around as the index quickly put on some weight then held steady. When the closing bell rang, the index was 3.58 per cent higher at 5258.60 points.

Today's surge was spearheaded by a rebound in the energy sector as our big oilers posted some healthy gains. Woodside put on 7.85 per cent, Origin Energy 5.02 per cent, and Santos 9.65 per cent.

Oil Search soared 12.61 per cent ahead after striking some healthy oil flows in Alaska.

Shopping centre operators staged their own comeback today. Part of the recently-established real estate sector, Scentre Group gained 12.46 per cent and Vicinity Centres 11.59 per cent. Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield gained 4.87 per cent.

As for the other real estate companies, Goodman Group gained 2.98 per cent, Dexus gained 5.94 per cent, and Mirvac gained 5.74 per cent.

After leading yesterday's sudden loss, our resource stocks regained their momentum today and posted some healthy gains across the board. BHP climbed 4.31 per cent and Rio Tinto 4.53 per cent. Andrew Forrest's Fortescue Metals, back now to third-place in the sector behind Rio, gained 3.5 per cent.

Meanwhile, our financials sector barely held on to green today until a sudden upswing across our big banks. Commonwealth Bank and Westpac posted 2.99 per cent and 1.21 per cent gains, respectively. NAB and ANZ almost missed out but a last-minute rise saw them close 1.62 per cent and 0.53 per cent green, respectively.

The generally-volatile technology sector was once more relatively stable. A 9.89 per cent incline from Afterpay offset a 7.02 per cent decline from WiseTech. Xero gained 2.34 per cent and Computershare 3.81 per cent.

The new quarter was not off to as strong a start for our neighbours to the east. Of the Asian markets, only the Shanghai Composite was showing green when the ASX closed. The Asia Dow was lower by 0.87 per cent, Japan's Nikkei 225 by 1.94 per cent, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng by 0.92 per cent.

Today, one Australian dollar is worth 61.23 US cents, 49.46 pence, and 10.97 South African Rand.

Noxopharm (ASX:NOX) is the latest biotech company to announce a potential COVID-19 related treatment. The company told shareholders today it would be trialling its idronoxil drug as a treatment for the inflammatory "cytokine storm" condition responsible for the many COVID-19-related deaths. Eager punters jumped at the opportunity to grab a piece of another coronavirus player and Noxopharm shares gained 92.86 per cent today to close worth 27 cents each.

Real estate group The Agency (ASX:AU1) lost a fifth of its share price today after extending its debt repayment deadline once more. In a tough economy, the company was granted an extension for some debt repayments to a major bank in late March as The Agency works on some refinancing negotiations. Today, a further extension until April 14 has been granted, suggesting the company is still struggling to refinance. Shares in The Agency lost 20 per cent today to close worth four cents each.

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ASX Today: Final quarter kicks off with a bang - The Market Herald

Motorcycles are meditative objects capable of clearing lifes chaos and worry by the simple fact that if your mind wanders, you die. That sounds like metaphysical bullshit, something from a man whos too into crystals with #livefortoday splattered across his Instagram. Yet, when something like the 2020 Honda CB650R comes along, you learn to embrace each moment with a hippyish zeal, even when life is throwing curveballs.

The entry-level sport cruiser came to me at a time in 2019 where mental clarity was in short supply. A couple weeks before the CB650R showed up, a friend tragically passed away during a solo motorcycle trip (though not in a crash). A few weeks before that, another friend was seriously injured on a bike when a drunk driver plowed into him at a stoplight. All the while, for the fourth time in my ongoingfoster-to-adopt story, I'd once again become a father. Every risk on the road suddenly felt magnified. The deck was stacked against the Hondaas it would be if this was happening today amid the coronavirus outbreak

But the open road still tugged at me, and somewhat hesitantly, I put a leg over the saddle. And while the specs belie a machine that isnt as addictive as others, Honda's CB650R is the purest distillation of motorcycling, a bike of simple joys that helped me feel comfortable riding once again. Its what every motorcycle should try to emulate: Always able to deliver the freedom, tranquility, and perspective riders seek, whether they know it or not.

Jonathon Klein

At the fringe of a desperate manhunt, I watched helplessly as the world searched for my friend and renowned automotive journalist Davey Johnson last spring after he disappeared while riding a motorcycle through northern California. A week later, the news I and so many others dreaded came inwhile riding, Davey had stopped at a river and went for a swim, as he was wont to do. He never got out. It wasn't the middle-of-nowhere wreck we'd imagined, but his sudden, unexpected passing still felt like an earthquake that reordered things on a deep level.

A few weeks prior to Daveys passing, another good friend was nearly killed when a drunk driver plowed into him and three others on their way home after a day of hard riding. All were wearing proper protective gear, and though his riding partners escaped with cuts and bruises, my friend wasn't as lucky. His head injuries have forever changed his life even as he continues an incredible recovery.

The short interval between both incidents meant that when I picked up the CB650R two weeks after Daveys death, my thoughts dwelled on both men. I know the danger of riding. I found out firsthand years ago when I broke my shoulder, bruised my lung and spine, and took a nasty concussion while laying a Kawasaki Z1000 down on a canyon road. Bad, but the quarter-inch-deep gashes across my helmet told a story that couldve ended much worse. These two men were comrades in arms, riders to their cores. And now neither would ever ride again.

Jonathon Klein

Adding to that anxiety of my first ride after all that were thoughts of my wife and kids. My heart skipped a few beats as thoughts about me going down rocketed around my head. What would they do if I never came home?

Riding tends to be an insular experience. Its just you, the road, and your thoughts. Theres no texting, answering emails, crying children, crying adults, meetings, chores, or any of lifes tedium. But hopping on the CB650R that first time, all I felt was terror.

My thoughts dwelled on every single life-ending potentiality. I couldnt do my job. Did the CB650R turn in quickly? Did it feel light and maneuverable? Was it heavy? Was there enough power? Was the experience fun or middling or terrible? I couldn't say. My thoughts evaporated as soon as they formed. The zen of motorcycling, and indeed one of the most fun parts of this job, was shattered. The ride ended early.

I let the CB650R sit for two weeks, during which time I talked to other friends who rode. They told me to take my time, to relax. But the best advice was to not push myself to get back into it if I wasn't ready, because if I did try and force it without keeping a cool head, I'd be in even more danger. Their pep talks helped, so gingerly, I got back onto the CB650R and pointed it toward the mountains.

Jonathon Klein

Hondas 2020 CB650R has all the right specs for a middle-weight motorcycle. Powered by a 649cc four-cylinder engine, and coupled to Hondas always brilliant six-speed sequential manual transmission, the CB650R puts down what well call 94 horsepower (93.9 according to Honda), and 47 pound-feet of torque.

That isnt what anyone would call explosive, especially considering the bevy of brutes available in the segment, i.e. Ducati Hypermotard, KTM 790 Duke, Kawasaki Z650, and even some of the electric models that have begun to pop up. But where the CB650R lacks in power, it makes up for it in its chassis dynamics and weight.

Both motor and the Hondas aluminum frame are integral chassis components, which, in addition to the Showa-sourced suspension and a full tank of fuel, give the CB650R a wet weight of 447 pounds. Dual disc brake rotors with four-piston calipers handle stopping up front, while the rear is serviced by a single disc, single-piston unit. Summed up, its the right recipe to get you riding when your comfort zone has moved miles away from where it once was.

Jonathon Klein

A quarter way up Angeles Crest Highway, Tom Misch and De La Souls It Runs Through Me began streaming through my helmet. The song is a soothingly pop-centric jazz medley. The tempo, the beat, the snappy drums are perfect to groove to. Everything, every worry, every anxious thought, and the rest of the world faded away. I felt myself getting back into the ride; part of that is because of how approachable the sporty CB650R remains.

Through the canyon roads, I began to see just how lovely the bike can be as a companion. Its light, not overly powerful, and responds to your thighs whims. You dont steer with your hands or lean with your shoulders like other motorcycles as much as you tango with the bike, your hips and legs dancing with the machine between them.

Powering ahead, its readily apparent that this isnt a motorcycle for attacking corners, nor is it one demanding knees be dragged across the gritty pavement. Theres no aggression to the throttle or telepathic turn-in like a race bike. Like Mischs song, its all about flow. The CB650R wants you to just ride, feel comfortable, and let everything else fall away.

Jonathon Klein

The warm wind blowing through my jacket, I hopped onto a particularly desolate canyon offshoot thats long, flowy, and always empty. A damn-near perfect road. Throttling up, the four-pot engine is peppy at low RPMs but begs to be revved out and reach its 12,800 RPM redline. Jokes about Honda's VTEC (variable valve timing and engine control) kicking in come naturally, as the motor finds its stride past 8,000 RPM and shoots toward its peak with an urgency not felt below that mark. It took me a while to find the balance and not forget a surge was imminent, but once that learning period is over, it pulls like a dream.

Easy to feather, the CB650R's brakes are lovelyprogressive and smooth yet able to arrest your momentum safely in a panic stop (say, when you're lane-splitting and a car pulls into your path without looking). They're responsive enough that even in my hyper-cautious state, I eventually felt confident enough to trail-brake the rear as turn after turn fell behind.

Truly, the sum of Hondas CB650R is that the more you ride it, the more confident you are, and the more you want to swing your leg over its seat. Youll yearn for short and long rides, trips to the market, the gas station, or even a midnight run to CVS when your kid is sick. After my three months with it, I didnt want to give it back or give up riding, and thats down to Hondas superb engineering. Because without its presence at a trying time, I might have never gotten back on two wheels.

Jonathon Klein

There was good evidence that it was time to hang my helmet up for good. I know my mother would love for me to do just that. But something kept tugging at my psyche. Why should fear bring about the end of something that I love? Riding a motorcycle is my preferred method for self-reflection, and Ive begun to pull my helmet on more and more, each time feeling better than the last. As I said, Honda gets a lot of credit here. But so does Davey.

Recently, I was reading through an old Car and Driverarticle Davey wrote after he had a brush with death behind a motorcycles handlebars. In it, he writes, Long-distance riding is meditative, and I find I prefer it on a naked bike, wholly exposed to the elements. All the while, the world is benignly conspiring against you. Road imperfections, inattentive motorists, trucks shedding tire tread, rain, deer, snow, crosswinds, dehydration, hail, lightning. Sure, all might find a way to kill you in an automobile, but theres no omnipresent specter hanging just outside your peripheral vision. There should be, but there isnt.

Jonathon Klein

He continued, summing up my feelings perfectly: Not to go back up again, or not to get back on the bike, would be completely understandable. But to give up either thing would surely be a loss. My parents, Lemmy, Bowie, Prince, Merle, Gene Wilder: Im quickly losing the adults I grew up with. Im not going to lose the joy and peace that motorcycling brings, too.

Fear helps you survive, but it can cause you to overcompensate and no longer live. Life is full of dangers, terrors, and what-ifs. If you dont face them head-on, you end up at the end of your life regretting not doing what you actually loved.

So, Im not giving up riding. At least not yet. I dont know what the future holds, but two-wheel machines are still in it for me. Maybe its on the back of Hondas joyously rideable CB650R, maybe something else. All I know is that if anyone hankering for a great riding bike, they should head to their local dealer and slap $9,199 down for a CB650R. As a machine, as a piece of fine engineering, that's already a steal. But add in its ability to soothe the soul, and it gives you far more than you ever bargained for.

Link:
2020 Honda CB650R Review: The Right Salve for These Chaotic Times - The Drive

LIFE is no laughing matter at the moment but an hour or so in the company of a hilariously silly, self-deprecating Shane Todd may just be the tonic we all need right now.

We meet pre-Covid-19 restrictions to chat about his upcoming tour, Somebody Told Me, opening in September and taking in 21 dates across Ireland and England.

In the circumstances, we dont shake hands and you can almost see the Co Down comic taking a mental note this aspect of coronovirus, along with stockpiled toilet rolls, panic buying and hand sanitiser, is sure to end up in a show some day.

For the popular Holywood entertainer, nothing is off limits in stand-up, having kick-started his career on a show based around his own health crisis when diagnosed with Crohns disease a type of inflammatory bowel disease more than four years ago.

It is a condition, he says, in a conspiratorial whisper, that he still doesnt fully understand and still cant spell properly but being able to always see the funny side helped pull him through.

I still dont really know what Crohns is, says the personable 31-year-old, but I do look after myself diet and lifestyle-wise, although Im not one of those people who Googles every symptom.

I was told it was a condition for life but luckily Im a very happy-go-lucky kind of person. Pretty much the week I got diagnosed, I thought, This is going to dominate my life for the next while, so I can either sit and be sad, or start making a note of the funny things that happen. So, it just started with a couple of little things and then grew into an entire show.

Medical professionals still arent sure what causes Crohns disease but it is believed to be linked to a flaw with the immune system, causing it to attack the sufferers digestive tract and resulting in symptoms of varying severity, among them diarrhoea, cramps, fatigue and weight loss.

The weight loss was the only thing that really affected me, Todd reveals. Im naturally pretty skinny, so when I lost three and-a-half stone over a number of weeks, it was difficult because I am pretty vain. I mean, every car I pass, I do have to have a wee look in the window

At the start, though, there wasnt much to laugh about when he started having excruciating cramps that would come and go and felt like a tight knot in his stomach. A keen amateur sportsman, he had been playing football for his team in Holywood when, one evening, the pain became overwhelming and he took himself off to A&E.

They thought it was my appendix, so they took it out and sent me home, he recalls. I did a lot of sport football and street fighting so thought I would recover quickly, but I didnt. Then, at a family wedding about a week later, I was talking to my cousin, a consultant in gastroenterology, and he thought I didnt look too good. I got admitted to the City Hospital and was there for a couple of weeks while they tried to figure out what was wrong with me.

It was a shock when I was eventually diagnosed, especially as I had just given up a job in a call centre to work full-time in comedy, but I was also glad because I think its better to know what you are dealing with some people have something bothering them for years and dont know what it is.

Today, he is still adapting his diet and being as proactive as possible.

I very rarely drink now, I exercise every day and I try to get enough sleep. At the moment, I am getting an infusion with a new drug at the Royal Victoria Hospital called Infliximab and they are happy with my progress. I felt great before going on it and I still feel great, so its definitely not doing me any harm. Crohns is an unpredictable condition, but diet is the number one thing Ive worked on.

Currently living in Ballynahinch with his wife, Stacey, the comic still plays football for Dundrum FC hosts a show on BBC Radio Ulster, has a role in BBC Ones Soft Border Patrol, his own Toddcast and is now looking forward to what will be his fifth themed tour, with Somebody Told Me based on urban myths.

It follows on from the Crohns show and others including The Toddfather, which played to sell-out audiences last year, coming about after the comedian lost a bet to friend and fellow comedian, Dave Elliot.

We did a show on Radio Ulster in which we featured a general-knowledge quiz and the loser had to have a tattoo chosen by the winner, Todd explains. I lost the quiz, somehow; I still think it was fixed because Im very, very intelligent and Dave isnt Id like you to print that and I had to have this Toddfather tattooed on my leg. My wife hates it, but it gave me an idea for another show.

Comedy, for this master of silly, observational humour, delivered with such deadpan precision that you never quite know when he is being serious, is a "dream" career for Todd, who spent his formative years as the "class clown", mercilessly mimicking teachers and fellow students.

I never take myself too seriously, he affirms, and I think theres humour in the sub-elements of most subjects, even the most unlikely ones.

"Northern Ireland people especially have a trait of being able to laugh in the face of tragedies and that is how we survive if you didnt laugh, youd cry, sort of thing.

My sense of humour was definitely influenced by my gran who I spent a lot of time with at her White City home in Holywood. It was this kind of environment where everybody took the hand out of everyone else in a loving way. I grew up with that, where you always had to defend yourself and be prepared for a light-hearted roasting.

Career-wise, Todd never had a Plan B and, luckily, doesnt need to, having been making people laugh at themselves, at him and at life in general, for 13 years now (five years full-time), in auditoriums across Northern Ireland, as well as in the US, Canada, France, Holland and Britain.

Its my dream job, but it comes without a safety net, he admits. Sometimes, people say they have no fall-back, but you know they secretly have some kind of medical degree. I dont delve too much into the psychology of it, but I think when people come to see a comedy show, theyre there to get away from whatever is going on that day in their head.

"People who have been having a bad time of it have paid good money to come and see the show, so the game is to make those people just forget about whatevers happening and try to have a laugh. It's all we can do.

:: Details and tickets at shine.net/comedy

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Shane Todd: Even now, life is still a laughing matter for The Toddfather - The Irish News

When Stuart Olson Inc. (TSE:SOX) reported its results to December 2019 its auditors, Deloitte & Touche LLP could not be sure that it would be able to continue as a going concern in the next year. It is therefore fair to assume that, based on those financials, the company should strengthen its balance sheet in the short term, perhaps by issuing shares.

Since the company probably needs cash fairly quickly, it may be in a position where it has to accept whatever terms it can get. So current risks on the balance sheet could have a big impact on how shareholders fare from here. The biggest concern we would have is the companys debt, since its lenders might force the company into administration if it cannot repay them.

View our latest analysis for Stuart Olson

As you can see below, Stuart Olson had CA$119.9m of debt, at December 2019, which is about the same as the year before. You can click the chart for greater detail. On the flip side, it has CA$8.21m in cash leading to net debt of about CA$111.7m.

The latest balance sheet data shows that Stuart Olson had liabilities of CA$262.8m due within a year, and liabilities of CA$187.3m falling due after that. Offsetting this, it had CA$8.21m in cash and CA$294.7m in receivables that were due within 12 months. So it has liabilities totalling CA$147.2m more than its cash and near-term receivables, combined.

The deficiency here weighs heavily on the CA$21.4m company itself, as if a child were struggling under the weight of an enormous back-pack full of books, his sports gear, and a trumpet. So we definitely think shareholders need to watch this one closely. After all, Stuart Olson would likely require a major re-capitalisation if it had to pay its creditors today. The balance sheet is clearly the area to focus on when you are analysing debt. But ultimately the future profitability of the business will decide if Stuart Olson can strengthen its balance sheet over time. So if youre focused on the future you can check out this free report showing analyst profit forecasts.

Over 12 months, Stuart Olson made a loss at the EBIT level, and saw its revenue drop to CA$929m, which is a fall of 3.9%. We would much prefer see growth.

Importantly, Stuart Olson had negative earnings before interest and tax (EBIT), over the last year. Indeed, it lost a very considerable CA$5.1m at the EBIT level. Reflecting on this and the significant total liabilities, its hard to know what to say about the stock because of our intense dis-affinity for it. Like every long-shot were sure it has a glossy presentation outlining its blue-sky potential. But the reality is that it is low on liquid assets relative to liabilities, and it burned through CA$6.7m in the last year. So we consider this a high risk stock, and were worried its share price could sink faster than than a dingy with a great white shark attacking it. Were too cautious to want to invest in a company after an auditor has expressed doubts about its ability to continue as a going concern. Thats because companies should always make sure the auditor has confidence that the company will continue as a going concern, in our view. The balance sheet is clearly the area to focus on when you are analysing debt. But ultimately, every company can contain risks that exist outside of the balance sheet. Take risks, for example Stuart Olson has 5 warning signs (and 2 which are a bit unpleasant) we think you should know about.

If, after all that, youre more interested in a fast growing company with a rock-solid balance sheet, then check out our list of net cash growth stocks without delay.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.

We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.

Link:
Auditors Have Doubts About Stuart Olson (TSE:SOX) - Simply Wall St