Finding joy in the little and big things

If you were on Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, TikTok, any news website in the world... Myspace, the Dark Web, AOL... watching TV, listening to the radio, walking down the street, having afternoon tea with your grandmother... even if you were sitting alone on the moon, you would have heard that the President of the United States of America has tested positive to COVID-19.

If you haven't then I thank you for choosing this newsletter as the first thing you read following a life of isolation in a nuclear bunker, because the news that Donald Trump has coronavirus went viral.

Almost instantly, Schadenfreude went viral, peaking in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the US. The search term 'what does schadenfreude mean?' increased by 50 per cent. Schadenfreude, the pleasure derived by someone from another person's misfortune, is an interesting moral dilemma. Trump has mocked Joe Biden for wearing a mask, and now he has COVID-19. Should we celebrate it or feel pity?

As of October 1, the United States recorded 7.31 million positive cases for coronavirus, while Australia had 27,036. Victoria makes up the bulk of the cases with 20,183. We are cruising down the Roadmap to Recovery; however, some of us want to hit top gear earlier than others. Currently, there's talk regional Victorians might be able to visit Bondi beach or the Barossa Valley before we can go to the MCG. Seems ludacris on paper. That's just for the people who can afford to travel, as some experts believe the Federal Government will strip more than $31 billion from the economy by reducing the JobKeeper and JobSeeker payments.

Fortunately, we have a number of local leaders who want to make sure the Wimmera can prosper during these unprecedented times. Horsham has nine candidates for the upcoming local election; however, some question whether they truly represent the whole region. Do they meet the pub test, if they fully open.

Have a great weekend,

Ben Fraser (Acting editor)