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The Conservative government and its allies in the establishment media have made it clear that they dont care about the lives of ordinary people.

The UK has the highest coronavirus (Covid 19) death rate in Europe and the second-highest total number of deaths in the world; the reproduction rate (R number) hasnt consistently been reducing and horrendous daily death figures are still being announced. From refusing to lockdown while the virus could still be contained, to inadequate PPE, testing problems, and now an app run by a company that cant be trusted with data, everything about the governments response is shambolic.

Now, the media and the government are going to war with teaching unions; a war started by theDaily Mail. Teachers are being blamed for government failures and for wanting to keep staff, pupils and their families safe.

When the government fails to protect us, its down to all of us to take action. There are several ways we can resist what is happening and build alternatives to state power.

Back in March, the government was criticised for promotingthe idea of herd immunity. It later dropped this discredited idea. But now it seems herd immunity is back on the table.

All through the lockdown, part of the governments message was stay home to protect the NHS. But this messaging was also about building capacity in the NHS. During the lockdown, this happened. Nightingale hospitals were built across England but they werent used. As of 4 May, three of the new hospitals hadnt taken any patients at all. The original Nightingale at Londons hospital was put into hibernation in case of a second wave, having only treated just 54 patients.

With that capacity in place, Johnson now seems happy to lift elements of the lockdown despite the data not backing his actions and independent scientists labelling his actions potentially dangerous. The government may no longer be calling it herd immunity, but its hard to see it in any other way.

Johnson is putting working-class peoples lives at risk by encouraging manufacturing and construction workers back to work. Meanwhile, data from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) shows that people from deprived areas are dying at twice the rate of those in affluent areas. Research from UCL Institute for Global Health showed that people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds are two to three times more likely to die from coronavirus.

This is unbelievably tragic, but it shouldnt be surprising. After all, this is the party thats backed a programme of austerity that the Institute for Public Policy Research found led to 130,000 preventable deaths; a party that, according to the UN, implemented austerity measures that deliberately pushedthousands of people into poverty:

UK standards of well-being have descended precipitately in a remarkably short period of time, as a result of deliberate policy choices made when many other options were available.

Increasingly like its attitude to coronavirus, a political choice was made to implement measures that fell:

disproportionately upon the poor, women, racial and ethnic minorities, children, single parents, and people with disabilities.

The story of how the Tories bailed out the bankers by punishing ordinary people is a familiar one. But it took time. The austerity project was driven over years; some services were eroded in a piecemeal fashion; groups were targeted at different times.

But this time its different because its slapping us in the face. Were not facing a gradual decline but a sudden one imposed over weeks. The impact of coronavirus policy is like austerity on speed. Working-class and BAME communities are paying the highest possible price while the rich get back their nannies and cleaners; construction workers, in an industry known for blacklisting those who raise health and safety issues, can go back to work, while the rich can play golf and drive to the beach.

The class division in ending the lockdown couldnt be clearer.

Meanwhile, as Ive previously written forThe Canary, the government and establishment media are trying to change the narrative, and in the process are gaslighting every single one of us. Despite a catalogue of government failures, blame is being placed on individuals. Whether its those forced onto crowded public transport in order to get to work or those following government advice and enjoying the sun in beauty spots.

Having seen the virus rampage through our care homes, Matt Hancock now wants us to believe that there was a protective ring placed around them. During Boris Johnsons address to the nation on 10 May, he stressed the importance of the R number and that keeping that number down was crucial to the relaxing of measures. But when it later became clear that the R rate appeared to be increasing, deputy chief medical officer Dr Jenny Harries underplayed this previously vital statistic.

This is rewriting history. And its happening on almost a daily basis.

Now the gaslighting has taken yet another turn. Were supposed to believe that were too afraid to leave our homes, that the governments earlier messaging was too successful. In order to get us back to work, the government is trying to convince us that were irrationally scared. But that anxiety is rational. We may be anxious about going out but with good reason. With the death rate and the R-number of the virus still high, not enough has changed.

And when lifting restrictions result in the tragically almost inevitable second peak, individuals will be blamed rather than a shambolic government thats handled the pandemic with devastating consequences. After all, its obvious we werent alert enough.

Under normal circumstances, wed be taking to the street. Wed have the usual channels of mass resistance open to us. But unless we have the worlds first socially distanced uprising, these options are closed.

The government has failed us and is putting thousands of our lives, and the lives of our loved ones, at risk. So we need to take matters into our own hands. We need to make our own decisions based on facts not government spin or an establishment media that appears happy to risk lives to preserve the wealth of the elite.

In doing so we also need to recognise privilege. Its easy for someone like me to advocate not going back to work when I work from home. But if my family was relying on food banks, then I know that decision could be different.

So unlike the establishment media, its important not to blame individuals and the decisions they need to make. But where possible, if work isnt essential, refuse to do it. If the government tries to force kids back to school on 1 June and you live somewhere that is obeying the government directive, support teachers and dont send your children back. Find out about rent strikes, and support and join the campaign. If youre not already a member, join a union. Join the growing voices demanding the government implement a Universal Basic Income to ensure no-one is left behind.

Finally, get involved in your local mutual aid group. Find out ways you can support people and reach out for support if you need it. As Tom Anderson reported in The Canary, mutual aid groups are setting up alternative structures across the country because:

it became clear in February and early March that the states coronavirus strategy was totally inadequate for taking care of the wellbeing of working class people

Moreover, these groups are establishing a new way of doing things that hope:

to come out of the pandemic having been able to help some people, but also having made some deeper links in the local community and feeling more prepared to keep fighting for a better world with those around us, and to have made the struggle more intersectional and inclusive as a result.

The phrase the new normal is bandied around a lot. For the government, it looks like its new normal will be business as usual with a bit of social distancing thrown in for good measure. We need to reject this and model the new normal that we want to see across our communities.

The government has failed. The establishment media has failed. Its time for the people to take charge, set the agenda, and show we can and will do things differently.

Featured image via Guardian News/YouTube

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Stop listening to the government and establishment media. Its time for ordinary people to take control. - The Canary

Microsoft is making some improvements to its Windows 10 accessibility features, specifically centered around making the text cursor easier to see and follow using the built-in Magnifier feature. Theres also new text-to-speech functionality being integrated into the Magnifier tool, as well as improvements to Narrator (the built-in Windows screen reader), all set to roll out in the May 2020 Update.

Microsoft had previously offered tools to adjust the size and color of the standard mouse cursor. Now its bringing similar options to the text cursor, allowing users with impaired vision to adjust the size, thickness, and color of the text cursor, along with adding a new, larger indication to easily find it on-screen. Similarly, the Magnifier feature will follow the text cursor in the middle of the display, just like it does with the regular mouse cursor.

Magnifier is also getting a new text-to-speech feature that will read out text in browsers or applications (Edge, Chrome, Firefox, Word, Outlook, and Powerpoint are all called out by name). To that end, there are new media control buttons in the Magnifier app, allowing users to easily control playback.

Lastly, Microsoft has made improvements to Narrator, its screen reading tool that makes it possible to use Windows without being able to see the screen. Microsoft is adding options to hear sounds instead of full phrases for toggling actions, and its adding better support for announcing capital letters and words. Narrator also offers a better experience when web browsing, adding support for Firefox, an option to automatically start reading webpages, and a feature that gives a summary of the entire page.

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Windows 10 gets accessibility improvements to cursor, screen reader, and more - The Verge

JERUSALEM Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday pledged to annex parts of the occupied West Bank in the coming months, vowing to move ahead with the explosive plan despite a growing chorus of condemnations by key allies.

The Palestinians, with wide international backing, seek the entire West Bank as the heartland of a future independent state. Annexing large chunks of this territory would all but destroy the faint remaining hopes of a two-state solution.

In an apparent reference to the friendly administration of President Donald Trump, Netanyahu said Israel had a historic opportunity to redraw the Mideast map that could not be missed. Israeli media quoted him as saying he would act in July.

This is an opportunity that we will not let pass, he told members of his conservative Likud party. He added that the historic opportunity to annex the West Bank had never before occurred since Israels founding in 1948.

The comments threatened to push Israel closer to a confrontation with Arab and European partners, and could deepen what is becoming a growing partisan divide over Israel in Washington.

Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war. It has settled nearly 500,000 Jewish settlers in the territory, but never formally claimed it as an Israeli territory due to stiff international opposition.

But the Trump administration has taken a much softer line toward Israeli settlements than its predecessors. Trumps Mideast team is dominated by advisers with close ties to the settlements, and his Mideast plan, unveiled in January, envisions leaving some 30% of the territory under permanent Israeli control while giving the Palestinians expanded autonomy in the rest of the area. The Palestinians have rejected the plan, saying it is unfairly biased toward Israel.

With Trumps re-election prospects uncertain this November, Israeli hard-liners have urged Netanyahu to move ahead with annexation quickly. The Israeli leaders new coalition deal includes an official clause allowing him to present his annexation plan to the government in July.

Netanyahu told party members in a closed-door meeting that we have a target date for July and we dont intend to change it, Likud officials said.

The plan has already exposed a partisan divide in Washington. Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee in the U.S. presidential elections, recently said that annexation would choke off hopes for a two-state solution. 18 Democratic senators warned in a letter this week that annexation could harm U.S.-Israeli ties.

The EUs foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, has said annexation would violate international law and vowed to use all our diplomatic capacities to stop it.

Closer to home, the Palestinians last week cut off security ties a valuable tool in a shared struggled against Islamic militants with Israel to protest the annexation plan.

Saudi Arabia, an influential Arab country that maintains behind-the-scenes relations with Israel, announced its rejection of the Israeli measures and plans to annex Palestinian lands.

The Arab League has condemned it as a war crime, and both Jordan and Egypt the only two Arab countries at peace with Israel have harshly criticized it.

Netanyahu spoke a day after beginning his trial on corruption charges.

The prime minister launched a blistering tirade against the countrys legal system when he arrived at court, accusing police, prosecutors and media of conspiring to oust him. As he spoke, hundreds of supporters cheered outside.

Speaking to Likud on Monday, Netanyahu said he was very moved by the support.

Critics have said his attacks on the justice system risk undermining the countrys democratic foundations.

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Israeli leader vows to push ahead with annexing West Bank - The Republic

Maharashtra as a state is the top contributor to National Coronavirus cases. As of Saturday, the Maharashtra count for Coronavirus positive cases had already crossed the 47,000 mark. As a state, Maharashtra is contributing almost 50% of the nations total Coronavirus cases. As expected, the Chief Minister of the State, Uddhav Thackeray, is being criticised widely for his handling of the situation. While Shiv Senas PR strategy is extensive, roping in Bollywood celebrities and even journalists to sing songs praising the CM, the reality does weigh down on the political dispensation from time to time.

Uddhav Thackeray today released a video message for the people of his state. In that video, one of the things he said was We cant say that the lockdown will be over by May 31. We will have to see how we will go forward. The coming time is crucial as the multiplication of virus is picking up.

As per this statement, it would seem like Uddhav Thackeray is agreeing that the lockdown has merits and is perhaps one of the only ways to arrest the Coronavirus pandemic, especially in a state like Maharashtra, that has been out of control for a long time as far as this pandemic is concerned.

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But then, Uddhav Thackeray says something completely different and bizarre. He says, It was wrong to impose the lockdown suddenly. It will be equally wrong to lift it in one go. It will be a double whammy for our own people.

After saying that he might not be lifting the lockdown because there is a severe multiplication of virus, Uddhav Thackeray suddenly said that the sudden imposition of lockdown was a bad decision in itself. Further, after saying the imposition was incorrect, he backs it up by saying that it will be equally detrimental if the lockdown is lifted completely.

This is a classic Heads I win, Tails you lose situation where Uddhav Thackeray is saying that the lockdown is needed in Maharashtra because it has spiralled out of control but at the same time, mouthing mandatory criticism to play petty politics in complete contradiction to his previous statements.

The Chief Minister, his party and his allies confusion doesnt seem to end there. Uddhav Thackeray in his address to his people said that he needs more time to start domestic travel. It is pertinent to note that the central government is all set to start domestic travel soon. Further, the Home Minister of the State, who belongs to NCP also said that it was a bad idea to start domestic air travel to Maharashtra.

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However, soon after these tall statements, NCPs Nawab Malik, who is also a Minister in Maharashtra went on record to state that Maharashtra will actually allow 25 flights to land in Maharashtra on Monday.

Maharashtra, which has survived so far on PR stunts and media control seems to be spiralling out of control. The state was mismanaged up until now as far as tackling the Coronavirus pandemic was concerned with the highest number of Coronavirus positive cases from the state, but now, even their public perception seems to be going for a toss with rambling statements first, contradictory statements next.

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Heads I win, Tails you lose: Uddhav Thackeray and his Govt sound clueless with contradictory statements on Coronavirus lockdown and travel - OpIndia

20% of college students are more depressed.

11% are more anxious.

16% are more lonely.

A college student studying, surrounded by books.

COVID-19 has caused serious emotional challenges for young people. In fact, according to Wisdo, a peer-to-peer counseling community, pandemic anxiety is almost three times more worrying to this age group than any other stress-creating experiences pre COVID-19.

Three-time bestselling New York Times author Dan Ariely, who wrote Predictably Irrational and is a professor of psychology and behavioral economics at Duke University, uses the app and is an advisor to the company. He says the virus is a huge issue, and the economic impact of shutdowns is massive.

But most important is the psychological impact.

Theres lots of things happening in this Corona crisis, but one of them is the unpredictability of the world, and the reality that when things are unpredictable theyre very hard to deal with, Ariely told me on the TechFirst podcast. And who has the most amount of unpredictability? Young people ... they basically have no control over their environment.

When the world is unpredictable and bad things happen, learned helplessness sets in, Ariely says.

Stress builds as well: health and medical stress, financial stress, even stress from being in close proximity for a long time with the same people during shutdown. These are all results of schools shutting down, jobs being lost, and college students uncertainty of when and how they will be able to resume classes and move towards careers.

Wisdo is conducting what it calls the worlds first comprehensive study of mental health during the pandemic. The study will encompass all users of the app in the U.S. and the UK and will last through the entire 2020 year.

The initial findings are not good.

Dan Ariely

Depression, anxiety, and stress are leading to sleeping problems, trouble expressing thoughts and feelings in conversation, and challenges with enjoying life. And theres been a huge increase in the number of students reporting excessive worrying.

Ariely isnt just speaking theoretically or academically about how a lack of control of your circumstances impacts your wellness and mental health. Hes experienced what hes talking about and its why he wears half a beard.

I was burned 70%, I was in hospital for about three years, he told me. The lack of knowledge of whats going to happen and not being able to control my own destiny in any way was incredibly tough ... it was incredibly psychologically challenging.

So what can students or adults who have lost a job do to regain a sense of control and some level of mental health?

Ariely says there are some simple steps anyone can take.

Were not going to get a lot of control back, Ariely says. The question is, can we get some of it back? And so in hospital, one way to give people control is whats called patient controlled analgesia when you basically have a button and you decide when to press and that gives you medication on your time.

The key, Ariely says, is to find something like that in our lives. Something that provides some level of control, and shows quick results. Examples that most of us are seeing on social media probably include baking bread especially sourdough or hobbies like knitting or art. Retail therapy is another, Ariely says, but he doesnt recommend it. (Gets expensive, he says.)

Essentially, anything that shows you quick improvement is best.

Corona time is giving us an opportunity to work on those things, and this is a sense of control, Ariely says. Why? Because its a process that allows you to see progress. If you start to meditate, it gives you progress. Another, a good thing to do is to do push ups. Why? You could see the increase, right? First day its maybe three and then you can move at some to four, but what you want is things that you can actually see the improvement.

And that sourdough were seeing on social media?

Its the modern-day Tamagotchi, says Ariely. Keeping something alive even some yeast is an exercise in creativity and control that can help us feel better in general.

See the full transcript of our conversation here.

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25 Million Students On COVID-19: Depression, Anxiety And Loneliness Hitting Peak Levels - Forbes