Monthly Archives: March 2020

Credit: Photo courtesy ofGage Skidmore

Former Vice President Joe Biden is moving ever closer to the Democratic Partys presidential nomination, as he recently picked up wins in a handful of additional states to extend his lead over Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

Despite losing early contests in Iowa and New Hampshire, the former vice president had strong showings elsewhere, all while taking a more focused aim at the Second Amendment.

Recently, he used expletives to insult Second Amendment supporters headed to the polls in Detroit, Mich. When asked about why he was trying to rescind Second Amendment rights, Biden told the man, Youre full off s---. A Biden spokesman doubled down on this rhetoric by tweeting, Remember that its not only Donald Trump whos terrified of a Biden presidency. Its the NRA, who Joe Biden has beaten twice - to ban assault weapons and pass the Brady Bill.

Just a week earlier, Joe Biden tapped failed presidential candidate and former Texas Rep. Beto ORourke to take care of the gun problem with him. It wasnt long ago that ORourke was making headlines for proclaiming, Hell yes, were going to take your AR-15. ORourkes numbers dipped following this debate and he exited the race just over a month later.

Biden decided he wasnt done there, though. He also recently hired ORourkes former campaign manager, Jen OMalley Dillon, to the same position. It should come as no surprise that, like ORourke, she is no friend of our right to keep and bear arms. Following a tragedy in Texas that took eight lives (including the murderer), she tweeted, GET EVERYONE OF THOSE GODD--- GUNS OFF OUR STREETS.

The former vice president also picked up endorsements from anti-gun politicians and special-interest groups alike. This includes support from former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who made attacking the Second Amendment the cornerstone of his failed campaign. Biden also secured endorsements from the bulk of all other previous presidential hopefuls, including Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D), Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and, most recently, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii).

Biden also received the backing of the Bloomberg-funded Everytown for Gun Safety, the Brady Campaign and former Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-Ariz.).

As this was being written, however, Sanders had still not conceded the race. That being said, Sanders has also made it clear throughout his decades in public office that he is an anti-gun opportunist who will cave to the demands of his partisan, anti-Second Amendment base.

Whoever the nominee ultimately is, both leading candidates have the Second Amendment in their sights; but whats most troubling is that the former vice president seems to be taking a more focused aim on the Second Amendment as his campaign progresses towards the nomination in July.

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Biden Nears Nomination, Focuses Sights on the Second Amendment - America's 1st Freedom

Just a few weeks ago, the term social distancing hadnt entered our lexicon. The Angus Barn was my new favorite restaurant. I enjoyed my investment statements, and my biggest concern for the baseball season was whether the Colorado Rockies would trade Nolan Arenado.

Now? Social distancing dominates our lives. The Angus Barn is closed, except for take-out. The stock market has tanked. Im imagining a summer without the Boys of Summer. And Im one of the lucky ones.

The coronavirus crisis has been jarring. Were all justifiably worried about our families, friends, and communities. We cant even take comfort in each other out of fear of transmission. Im a hugger, and I havent touched a person in more than a week.

In a matter of days, our state went from reveling in an economic renaissance to the fear of economic insecurity, with tens of thousands of North Carolinians wondering how theyll pay their rent and buy groceries.

Even with the economic uncertainty, a recent poll from sister organization the Civitas Institute reflects North Carolinas optimism. Likely voters are concerned about COVID-19, but not panicked.

But theres something more that my John Locke Foundation colleague Jon Sanders nailed in a recent blog post, This isnt a fight we expected, but know this: Its a war a free society is uniquely geared to win. He goes on to quote President Reagan in his first inaugural address, We as Americans have the capacity now, as weve had in the past, to do whatever needs to be done to preserve this last and greatest bastion of freedom.

In a free society, with great challenges comes great innovation.

At the John Locke Foundation, we didnt wait for some grandiose, centralized governmental plan to deal with this crisis. Within days, our policy innovators released a series of free-market solutions to help elected officials make sound decisions as we all navigate these uncharted waters.

Were seeing the results right now, as state leadership relaxes regulation and saves lives. Were witnessing the creativity and innovation of the private sector from bringing online classes to kids to telemedicine to doctors opening their own drive through clinics. Some companies already have changed their business model to survive.

When we put our faith in the brilliance of individual ingenuity vs. the command and control of a massive bureaucratic state, we solve problems and people thrive. We cant stop every crisis from happening, but we can create an atmosphere of freedom that encourages creativity and innovation to lessen the impact.

As we rebuild our economy, we have a once-in-a-lifetime moment to expand freedom.

Imagine a North Carolina with no certificate of need laws, where doctors decide what equipment they need to best treat their patients.

Imagine a North Carolina where parents have a slew of unrestricted options on how to best educate their children that arent dependent on a lottery or a limited Opportunity Scholarship.

Imagine a North Carolina where taxpayers have voice in the size and scope of government they want and are willing to fund.

Imagine a North Carolina where every resident pursues a profession of his or her choosing, free from burdensome licensing requirements and regulations.

Imagine a North Carolina where worker freedom is enshrined in our constitution. These are just a few examples. There will be more freedom-forward policy suggestions.

Naturally, well have detractors who desire a very different state that preys on collective fear, seeing this crisis as their opportunity to force us into a top-down, governmental command-and-control regime.

Theyve already published their goal to seize the initiative in building new, strong and lasting systems that are largely insulated from the political fray and designed to work automatically regardless of who is in power. These systems are to be global in scope, stripping us of our state and national identity and leaving us with no recourse to vote these systems out of power when the controlling body becomes tyrannical or unresponsive to our needs.

Of course, there is a role for government, as is clearly defined in the U.S. and our state constitutions. Thats the battle.

As coach Herb Brooks said to the 1980 USA hockey team that pulled off the Miracle on Ice, Great moments are born from great opportunity. Or, in our case, great challenge. We have a moment to usher in an era of expanded freedom. This is our time. Now we must go out there and take it.

Amy Cooke is CEO of the John Locke Foundation, and publisher of the Carolina Journal.

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Freedoms moment in time - The Robesonian

Tom Coburn, Oklahomas independent voice for conservative principles and fiscal responsibility, died Friday. He was 72.

Coburn rose from obscurity to national prominence on the strength of his intellectual abilities and his dedication to a strict reading of the U.S. Constitution.

That often made him out of fashion in Washington, but he was made to order for the people of Oklahoma, who were fed up with a national government that seemed unrestrained by economics or common sense.

A Republican in the 2nd Congressional District, which had been historically dominated by Democrats, Coburn was swept into the U.S. House in 1994. It was his first bid for public office.

Abiding by a promise to limit himself to three terms in the House, Coburn retired in 2000, but returned more popular than ever to the Senate in the 2004 election. He would serve 10 years there before retiring from elected office.

In Congress, Coburn was steadfastly dedicated to serving the nations long-term interests as he saw them, not necessarily his constituents short-term desires. He wouldnt work for pet projects and successfully led the Senate effort to ban legislative funding earmarks, one of his most lasting accomplishments.

His unique brand of leadership only added to his stature in his home state. When he retired from the Senate in 2014, he was clearly the most popular politician in the state.

Coburn cast a long shadow in Oklahoma and the nation. He campaigned for a national constitutional convention to force a balanced budget amendment. His opposition to Medicaid expansion helped solidify Republican opposition to the idea in the Mary Fallin administration.

Coburn was an unabashed advocate for freedom and duty. He was dedicated to the proposition that one leader could make a difference if he remained true to his course.

In his valedictory speech from the Senate floor, Coburn said the most important number in that chamber wasnt 60, the number needed to proceed with business, or 51, the number needed to pass bills.

The most important number in the Senate is one, Coburn said. One Senator. Thats how it was set up.

Our nation will miss his dedication to the causes of liberty and good government.

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Tulsa World editorial: Tom Coburn an unabshed advocate for freedom and duty was loved in Oklahoma and will be missed in the United States - Tulsa...

The beach in Tel Aviv is seen empty, amid the coronavirus pandemic, March 17, 2020. Photo: Reuters / Corinna Kern.

Our current predicament, faced with a pandemic whose sudden appearance and terrible toll confuses and terrifies us, has occasioned much comment from the religiously-minded.

In these pages, for example, some have said that the phenomenon teaches us the limits of science and the necessity of the Divine. Others have held that it demands humility before Gods creation. Others recommend the willful embrace of optimism and gratitude despite everything.

All such admonitions seem inadequate, however. When we find ourselves face to face with a monster that itself has no face, that can be anywhere and everywhere, that destroys our bodies and takes lives without compunction or contemplation, because it is incapable of both, we must reckon with the terrible challenge this poses to our assumptions.

Far from the limits of science, the current crisis demonstrates to us the necessity of science, because in the end whether by vaccine, epidemiology, or the derived policies of isolation and quarantine it is unquestionably science that will save us.

Humility before Gods creation will gain us nothing, because it also implies humility before the monster that is, surrender. And surrender is precisely the thing we must reject. Optimism and gratitude are, one regrets to say, both acts of willful blindness. It is, in fact, pessimism that is most prudent in such a situation, and the thing most likely to spur us to action. As for gratitude, it simply ignores the horrendous injuries we are now suffering.

This pandemic, then, is not an occasion for a retreat into faith, but a direct challenge to it, and it demands an answer beyond surrender, humility, optimism, or gratitude.

Perhaps the most thorough exploration of this challenge is Albert Camus novel The Plague, and it is not a coincidence that, seven decades after it was published, the book is again climbing the bestseller lists.

The Plague tells the tale of an epidemic that decimates the small Algerian city of Oran. It strikes without warning, kills without discrimination or mercy, and forces those who witness it to reckon with the brutality of fate and their own impotence in the face of an enemy they can neither see nor control.

Some of the characters fall into despair, some disappear into themselves, some willingly die, and others expend their efforts in treating and comforting the afflicted. Dr. Rieux, the main character, understands that he has almost no resources, no viable treatment and no cure for the disease. He cannot even ameliorate the suffering of his patients. And he is always exposed to the possibility of infection by the disease itself. Nonetheless, he perseveres.

In a sense, all of the characters fail in their task. They cannot arrest or control the disease, which ruthlessly exterminates the young and the old, believers and non-believers, the righteous and the wicked. In the end, the plague recedes as suddenly as it began, without reason or explanation. And the beleaguered Dr. Rieux knows it could return just as inexplicably:

He knew what those jubilant crowds did not know but could have learned from books: that the plague bacillus never dies or disappears for good; that it can lie dormant for years and years in furniture and linen chests; that it bides its time in bedrooms, cellars, trunks, and bookshelves; and that perhaps the day would come when, for the bane and the enlightening of men, it would rouse up its rats again and send them forth to die in a happy city.

Despite appearances, however, The Plague is very much not a tract of despair. Indeed, Camus appears to be saying that those who battle the plague may have failed to defeat it, but in a sense they triumph, because they have, through an act of will, found meaning in the struggle itself. They have undergone the bane of men and emerged enlightened.

This is in keeping with Camus own philosophy of the absurd. The world, Camus believed, is fundamentally meaningless, and visits on us both pleasures and horrors that are equally random and inexplicable. As such, it is up to us to find our own meaning, and perhaps even our own joy in the struggle against this meaninglessness. As he put it in his classic image of Sisyphus condemned to roll a boulder to the top of a hill and then see it fall again, for all eternity, Camus said, We must imagine Sisyphus happy.

In effect, to Camus, meaning itself is an act of will and resistance. An uprising against fate: I rebel, therefore I am.

In a sense, Camus theory depends on a single thing: The choice of resistance can be made because, in the end, human beings have a kind of absolute freedom. However horrendous or constrained our conditions may be, we nonetheless have the freedom to reject them, to rebel against them, to resist them unto the end, even if it is only within ourselves. Or, as Camus put it, In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer. And that makes me happy. For it says that no matter how hard the world pushes against me, within me, theres something stronger, something better, pushing right back.

In a time of plague, then, we too must rebel against meaninglessness, against death, against the absurd, and perhaps because we have the freedom to do so. It is for this reason, more than anything else, because it is the only way, that the retreat into an emptiness of pure faith and shallow optimism must be rejected.

Whether or not there is a God is unknowable. Even if there is a God, it is certain as Maimonides, for example, asserted that we can know nothing about him. But if he exists, we must assume that our absolute freedom is his own act of will, and it has been given to everything that exists without qualification or condition. It is absolute. If one believes in a God, one must believe, by definition, in a God for whom freedom is above all, even for the smallest organism. Even for the virus that ravages other creatures, even for those who suffer from this freedom and even for those who, in the end, nevertheless choose to resist.

And perhaps the ultimate proof is one of the central divine admonitions of Judaism: I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Therefore choose life.

To say choose life is, even the most devout will be forced to admit, impossible if man did not have the absolute freedom to choose. A freedom that is beyond God, though it is Gods own creation out of his own absolute freedom.

We must imagine that Judaism embraces this God of absolute freedom. That those of faith and those without faith should not reject that which may save us, bow before monsters or embrace a false optimism and undeserved gratitude. We should simply admit that it is incumbent on us all to choose because we are free to choose the invincible summer, and act accordingly.

Benjamin Kerstein is an Israeli-American writer.

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The Plague and a God of Absolute Freedom - Algemeiner

I am humbled and inspired by the amazing work that is being done in these unprecedented times and I would like to thank everyone in the NHS. As the Covid-19 situation evolves, it is even more essential that we have the freedom to speak up. Speaking up, and listening up, is critical in times of challenge, when workers are stretched to their very limits.

Over 19,000 cases of speaking up by NHS workers in trusts have been handled by Freedom to Speak Up Guardians over the last two years. In the last year, cases have risen by 73 per cent, compared to 2017-18.

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Of the 12,000 cases raised between 1 April 2018 and 31 March 2019, guardians reported that nearly one in three included an element of patient safety/quality of care, and just over one in four included an element of bullying/harassment, according to a report published by the National Guardians Office which analyses the speaking up data submitted by guardians.

Freedom to Speak Up Guardians were established in every trust in England in the wake of the Francis Inquiry into the events at Mid-Staffordshire Foundation Trust, and guardians themselves believe that the perception of the speaking up culture in health is improving.

We must never lose sight of the fact that while Freedom to Speak Up is there for workers, it ultimately all comes back to patients and service users keeping them safe and providing the highest quality care

According to a survey conducted by the National Guardians Office of those in speaking up roles, 76 per cent think their work is making a difference, compared to 68 per cent last year. They also reported that awareness of the guardian role is improving. This is also mirrored in the views of the workforce in the NHS Staff Survey, as reflected in the Freedom to Speak Up Index, published last year. This will be available on the culture and engagement page of Model Hospital, which is currently under development.

The confidence that NHS workers have in the ability of guardians to address the issues they raise is growing and more learning is being brought to organisations to help them improve.

Our goal at the National Guardians Office is to make speaking up business as usual, and while there is distance to go to achieve that, these latest figures are encouraging. I also encourage organisations to use data to develop new insights into their own speaking up culture and to learn from those who have made substantial improvements.

The data report revealed that the percentage of cases reported as anonymous is falling, down to 12 per cent in 2018-19 compared to 18 per cent in 2017-18.

However, the report also shows that the percentage of cases reported as suffering detriment has remained disappointingly static at five per cent. There was also evidence that the number of speaking up cases varies significantly from trust to trust, with the highest number of cases in a single trust reported over the year being 270, while the lowest number was just one.

Measures like the level of reported anonymity dropping are good indicators to suggest workers feel more confident to speak up, particularly when considered in tandem with the encouraging increase in the overall number of cases.

However, it is important that each individual trust looks at their data in context and tries to draw learning from it. Organisations where very few workers are speaking up or where detriment is reported should look to understand and address the issues that may account for that. I am delighted that the Care Quality Commission will be looking at this when evaluating how well-led organisations are.

Fostering a culture in which workers are supported to speak up and removing barriers that may prevent them from doing so, is in the best interests of every organisation that wants to deliver the highest quality care possible.

We must never lose sight of the fact that while Freedom to Speak Up is there for workers, it ultimately all comes back to patients and service users keeping them safe and providing the highest quality care.

Freedom to Speak Up Guardians remain available to support the amazing NHS workforce to speak up safely.

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Understanding the impact of Freedom to Speak Up - Health Service Journal

Len Shackleton was a footballing genius. No question about that. He was known as the Clown Prince of Soccer long before Gazza, a player with twinkling feet and an equally roguish sense of fun.

He was the man who launched a thousand quips. When Shack penned his autobiography he cheekily headlined one chapter 'What Directors Know About Football' and left the page blank.

Shack, ever flamboyant, delivered the perfect introduction when he signed for Newcastle United. In his very first game he scored an unbelievable double hat-trick - yes, six goals - against Newport County who were slaughtered 13-0, still the Magpies biggest victory in their history. Nobody ever topped Shack.

I became a good, good friend of his. We knocked about on United's Fairs Cup excursions across Europe and flew out to Las Vegas together on a North Eastern Sporting Club trip just before the Mags continental success of 69.

Alderman William McKeag was with us, an aristocratic character who was chairman of United and regularly rowed in public with Stan Seymour, a down to earth working class bloke who called a spade a ruddy shovel.

McKeag spoke like Churchill, wore pin striped suits, and even occasionally pince-nez glasses (a sort of double monocle) on a chord.

Anyway for weeks before we left for Vegas McKeag's office were in touch with City Hall officials in the Nevada Desert pointing out that an influential figure was about to hit town... a former member of the British Parliament, one-time Lord Mayor of Newcastle, and chairman of a most influential football club.

Consequently shortly after we arrived a message winged its way to our hotel. McKeag was to be awarded the Freedom of the City of Las Vegas with a symbolic silver key the official gift of recognition. Obviously the propaganda had worked.

Of course it's no good being honoured if no one knows about it so, as the local hack back home, I was invited to join McKeag on his trip downtown along with Shack, a footballer he had doted upon.

Ten o'clock the following morning a big limousine drew up at the hotel complete with six police motorcycle outriders - all very grand - and we winged our way down The Strip to City Hall where we were met with due ceremony.

The Mayor, a guy who looked vaguely like Giant Haystacks, underwent a terrific spiel about what an honour it was to host Mr William McKeag and finished by producing the key to the city with a great flourish. Naturally our Newcastle ambassador replied with great Churchillian delivery and at some considerable length. I swear a couple of the gun-toting Vegas cops nodded off at one time.

When he had finished the Mayor turned to Shack and myself.

"Hi, guys," he boomed. "Here's a key each for you. Have a good day now!"

So Leonard Francis Shackleton and John Gibson were awarded the Freedom of the City of Las Vegas along with William McKeag. Not that I reported the fact in the Chron when we got back!

Shack was a class entertainment act throughout our stay in the gambling capital of the world.

A footballer renowned for his ball control, he nudged me one night as we walked into the hotel bar.

"Say nowt," whispered Len. "Just keep talking to me."

With that he put his hand in his trouser pocket, pulled out a coin, and flicked it into the air. Without looking he caught the falling coin on the instep of his foot, flicked it up again, leaned forward, and the coin dropped into the top pocket of his jacket. I could see one or two punters staring in disbelief before nudging their mates.

Shack did it twice more before the bar was in uproar. The Yanks nicknamed him Yorkshire because of where he came from and we never paid for another drink in the joint for the rest of our trip.

Shack famously signed for Sunderland after leaving Newcastle of course and he had undertaken a close season trip to America when, because he was an entertainer supreme, he was paid appearance money each game by Sunderland's hosts.

Shack had opened a bank account on the other side of the Atlantic and never touched the money...until now. He used to knock on my door at night dressed like the star he was in a monogrammed shirt bearing the initials LFS and off we would go to see the shows on The Strip bolstered by his considerable financial backing.

We saw Sammy Davis Jnr, the most professional of artists, and Judy Garland, the most befuddled. Judy, bless her, was no longer walking down the yellow brick road but was suffering greatly from the effects of bodily abuse. The Yanks, however, would forgive her everything and she received a standing ovation just for remembering to face the front when she sang.

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Len Shackleton - the genuine footballing legend with the freedom of Las Vegas - Chronicle Live

Heres what the staff of the Technology and Press Freedom Project at the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press is tracking this week.

At a time when the public is trying tosift through misinformationand stay up to date on accurate news about COVID-19, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press haspublished resourcesfeaturing recommendations for journalists, legislators, and courts to ensure that the press and the publics right of access to information is protected.

As government entities take necessary steps to curb the spread of the virus, reporters may have questions about how to navigate these changes. Press freedom and government transparency during COVID-19 answers frequently asked questions on various topics, including Emergency Powers and the Press, Open Meetings and Public Records, and Court Access.

For example, the resources urge state and local emergency authorities to define news media organizations as essential or life-sustaining businesses in any shelter-in-place or lockdown orders. We call on government officials to provide as much advance notice to the public if public meetings are moving to online or telephonic formats, and urge officials to, when possible, record meetings and promptly make them available to the public online. They also advocate for courts to maintain filings and records and make them promptly available to the public electronically.

Our attorneys are actively trackingemergency measures,public records and open meetings measures, andcourt access measuresat the federal, state, and local levels.

As responses to the pandemic evolve, the Reporters Committee will continue to update these resources in real time. For our readers who have updates about government responses to COVID-19 that could impact newsgathering rights or public access, please submit them tomedia@rcfp.org. And as always, for specific legal questions or concerns, please reach out to the Reporters Committeeshotlineathotline@rcfp.org.

Lyndsey Wajert

A new cybercrime bill that includes language that would amend and expand the Computer Fraud and Abuse Actis raising concerns among civil liberties groups. Were it to pass with the CFAA expansion, the Defending American Security from Kremlin Aggression Act of 2019 would amend several sections of the law, including a provision that could be used against computer security researchers who identify vulnerabilities in systems or software (an activity that resembles journalism, in many ways) and another that allows private companies to get broad civil orders to shut down botnets.

The editorial board of The Orange County Registerhas demandedthe city of Fullerton, California, end its lawsuit against several local bloggers who the city alleges hacked their Dropbox account, calling the suit anti-speech. Most recently, the citysecured a gag orderagainst the bloggers, who run a site called Friends for Fullertons Future, preventing them from publishing documents obtained from the citys Dropbox account, which was not protected by security credentials and was accessible by anyone on the internet. But this gag order was stayed in part by the appellate court pending resolution of the merits of the case. The Reporters Committee previouslyfiled a briefin the case, explaining how the citys expansive interpretation of the hacking laws could pose a severe threat to newsgathering.

Privacy commissioners in various countries arelifting data restrictionsto help health officials use health and location data to combat the spread of COVID-19. The Markupwroteabout steps that could be taken to better protect against deanonymization in large datasets (that is, when various pieces of otherwise anonymized data can be cross-referenced to identify a specific individual).

In an open letter, the publishers of The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journalcalled on Chinese officialsto reverse their decision torevoke the press credentialsfor the news organizations China-based reporters.

Lawyers for Julian Assange last weekappliedfor the WikiLeaks founders release on bail, citing the risk of contracting COVID-19 in prison. A judgedeniedthe request on Wednesday.

The Reynolds Journalism Institute at the University of Missouris School of Journalism has somesuggestionsfor how news organizations with drones can capitalize on the decrease in pedestrian or vehicular traffic caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, including examining the conditions of empty roads to demonstrate the possible need for infrastructure investments.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuitdeclinedto review a prior three-judge panel ruling that blocking critics on President Trumps Twitter account, which he uses for official business, violated the First Amendment.

The Pentagon reportedlywill not splitits cloud-computing contract for the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure, or JEDI project, between Microsoft and Amazon. Amazon haschallengedthe governments decision to award the contract to Microsoft in court.

Smart reads

Poynteroffersa few helpful ways journalists reporting on the frontlines of this pandemic can de-stress. Take care of yourselves, but know that you are providing an essential service!

Gif of the Week:When weekly meetings involve slightly smaller colleagues.

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This Week in Technology + Press Freedom: March 29, 2020 - Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press

Time Out Theatre editor Andrzejukowski is father to two young children, who he loves very much in moderation. Now, theyre locked in together 24/7. Find out how hes coping in this new series about parenting in thetime of corona.

Anyone who says they like to spend time with their children is lying. Or at the very least, theyre exaggerating. Obviously its nice to spend some time with your little treasures. Obviously its adorable when they run around smashing up stuff while pretending to be a succession of increasingly esoteric dinosaurs. Obviously. Within limits. But as parent to a two-year-old and an almost-five-year-old, the prospect of simply being locked away with them for an indefinite period of time with no possibility of a break is something that a week or two ago I would have probablycounted as one of my greatest fears.

However, times change. Pandemics happen.

Today is my birthday. A week or so ago I was under the impression I would start it alone in a hotel in Paris, having attended a French-language production of The Glass Menagerie the previous night.As the designated morning parent (ie I always get up with them),not having to deal with my own children for one morning was going to be a sort of present to myself. I would sweep magnificently into St Pancras in the early afternoon, saunter into Time Outs Kings Cross office, sign off the magazine pages that would have included my review of that weeks big West End opening, The Seagull starring Emilia Clarke, then head home todeepest, darkest Zone 4for some sort of meal out that would also not involve children.

Instead, I begin my (mercifully insignificant-numbered) birthday dealing with a howling four-year-old, in genuine hystericsover misspelling the word exhibition: I dictated the spelling to him, but he thought it began with two es and is in mortal anguish because I crossed the first one out for him, and it was the one he liked the most. (My plummy-looking e! I miss it so much!)

This is noteven the first daywere at home with the kids. This is thelastday theyre allowed to go to school before they all close. This is the fun bit. The prospect of precisely what wed do with them in these social-distancingtimeseven if we didnt have full-time jobs is daunting enough.But we do havefull-time jobs. WillI have to teach them stuff? Im a theatre critic: essentially my only life skill is staying out at night while trying to make the works of Harold Pinter all about me. The idea of working, housebound, with two children charging around, feels like a cruel and unusual punishment. Certainly this birthday is not going the way Id hoped.

Then, a birthday miracle happens. My wife, an editor who worksfor the government, is apparently technically considered a key worker. And the government line on journalists suddenly becomes promisingly unclear, with the suggestion being that all journalists might count. A key worker issomebody deemed so important to the running of society that their kids are allowed to keep attending school, so the parent can actually get some damn work done. And society probably would collapse without, er, theatre critics with nothing to review, wouldnt it? Wouldnt it?Oh God, probably not. After a brief conversation with the school, we decide its probably not the right thing to do.To be fair, were somewhatinfluenced by the fact that they sound massively unenthusiastic about staying open (its not teaching, its babysitting). In the end, my birthday present to myselfwasnt a Parisian breakfast but a short-lived fantasy of childcare assistance.

So here we are. What for some of you fuckers is surely just working from home plus a lovely opportunity to catch up on reading and work your way through Netflix is, for us, round-the-clock childcare plus our jobs, with no possibility ofturning to our traditional helpers, grandparents. Oh, and wecant go to the playground.

Really, areparents not thetruevictims of this terrible outbreak? Well, apart from the immuno-compromised and the over-70s, obviously. And NHS workers. And people whove lost their jobs, or are being forced to continue their jobs, the mentally ill, the lonely, the self-isolating, supermarket workers, tube drivers, teachers, construction workers oh, and people whove actually had Covid-19. Okay, were probably notthe true victims. But its going to be interesting.

Coach JoeYes, I thought he was a dickhead before. Yes, I basically think hes Jesus now. His full half-hour PElessons are a bit much for the (now) five-year-old and the two-year-old, but the first 15 minutes or so are fun.

Learning about currencyThe school provided us with a single PDFpage of teaching ideas, the first of which was teaching the children about coins which has been quite fun, but we have also had to explain that youre not allowed to use them.

Ninja-ing around the parkMore on our attempts to socially distance our children next time, but after extensive canvassing of randoms on Twitter, my current approach to our daily exercise routine is to play in the park but only in weird, obscure spots reached by stealth.

Forways to connect with your city under lockdown clickhere.

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Goodbye, freedom: the start of my parenting quarantine - Time Out London