Covid 19 Coronavirus

[bill_qaz]

Today's fart, sorry Trump

20200429_112536.jpg (105.73 KiB) Viewed 2197 times

[DavidS]

Don’t forget that we are a couple of weeks behind Italy, Spain (and France?) so aren’t to their stage yet. Having the chance to assess how their relaxations work will be to our advantage.
I wouldn’t say the UK has rushed anything overall apart from trying to keep things together as much as possible.

We haven’t stopped people with other ailments getting in touch, they have decided for themselves. Why on earth would you not get in touch if someone is having a heart attack or stroke!

One of the biggest problems we have here is the media. Rather than be helpful, they seem determined to find any negative angle or bad story and that engenders fear or mistrust, all based on glorious hindsight or a general nasty attitude. I admire all of those trying to sort this thing out, it is a thankless task with no real precedent to work from. I don’t think any country has covered themselves in glory - even Germany seems to still have a rising death rate.

If mistakes have been made then so be it but give all the governments a chance.

[daveuprite]

Agree with much of that, but we must always remember what the media is about (well, what I really mean is proper investigative journalism, not trash media/lifestyle/magazine/tabloid stuff). It's about shining a light where those in power don't want it shone (nice...!). It's about exposing mistakes, negligence, inaction, incompetence and cover-ups - with a view to better and more efficient governance in future (if mistakes are learned from, that is).

Anyone can see what the UK gov is currently trying to do. They are trying to defer all investigation and kick it down the road to a future public inquiry, which will probably take 2 years to complete and by which time covid-19 will have dropped far down the political agenda and will have been diluted in people's memories. The time is now. The time is now to ask awkward questions about a woefully delayed reaction to events in China; and about insufficient stockpiling of equipment following a largely ignored 2016 planning exercise; about chronic PPE shortages for frontliners; and about radically less Covid+ testing than other countries. Don't let the politicians off the hook. Your taxes pay for them, and the mistakes they make cost you a small fortune in all kinds of ways - and in this case cost many people their lives. To give them an easy time right now by being less critical is to give them licence to make the same errors time and time again. There's nothing a career politician likes more than a docile press and a lack of consequences for his/her decisions.

That doesn't mean they shouldn't be congratulated when they get it right, of course, and it is absolutely true to say that the current emergency is a huge strain on the capacity of any government.

[Asgard]

An alternative direction....

https://www.investec.com/en_gb/focus/co ... kdown.html

[daveuprite]

As he often does, Jonathon Freedland sums it up so well:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... -president

[Asgard]

Thing is dave allthough its a bit less than 50% of Elligible voters who bother to vote will vote for him (a fact in itself baffling as I thought only about 10% of Americans were actually batshit crazy)..he will get back in due the system of electoral colleges which is fucked up, a bit like ours is here in the UK.

I honestly can't see him lasting through the second term though, the bloke is plainly off his trolley (technical term) it's just a matter of enough of the republican power centre working out how to get rid of him without hurting the party.

A Fake breakdown and certification as 100% bananas comes to mind (fake because he doesnt really have to get any sicker, but they will have to say he has got worse to justify taking him out only then and not before)

[daveuprite]

Thing is dave allthough its a bit less than 50% of Elligible voters who bother to vote will vote for him (a fact in itself baffling as I thought only about 10% of Americans were actually batshit crazy)..he will get back in due the system of electoral colleges which is fucked up, a bit like ours is here in the UK.

I honestly can't see him lasting through the second term though, the bloke is plainly off his trolley (technical term) it's just a matter of enough of the republican power centre working out how to get rid of him without hurting the party.

A Fake breakdown and certification as 100% bananas comes to mind (fake because he doesnt really have to get any sicker, but they will have to say he has got worse to justify taking him out only then and not before)

Yeah, I'm not confident that he won't get a second term, horrific though that is, for all of us. But what's possibly most worrying is that nobody (democrat, republican or neutral) seems to be saying 'OK, we're stuck with this appalling aberration for now, but how are we going to alter the constitution to prevent anyone this psychologically flawed from getting past the nomination stage ever again?'

As things stand, another immature, self-obsessed, ignorant fool is free to become president at any time. Surely it's time to set some kind of test for all nominees to pass before another sociopath is let loose again on the world?

[Asgard]

The constitution is akin to the Bible for right wing America and the founding fathers taken as gods, seriously its a mindset.
I have good friends in and fond memories of the west coast but doubt I'll go back now

Such a shame......apologies for massive thread drift

[garyboy]

I think a lot of british people miss the point that mr trump actually represents the majority of americans, which is why he got elected.

I was watching a brief history of America very recently, which showed how grabbing and selfish the pioneers were. .. for land, for gold, for wealth through cattle, etc disregarding and running over the native inhabitants, even massacring the poor buggers, for their own selfish greed, also decimating the local wildlife, buffalos, beavers etc, and setting up strange cults and opinions.

The americans killed each other mercilessly in civil wars, and made sure they could continue to do so with the second amendment .. the right to bear arms and murder your neighbour at will .. a basic American human right enshrined in its written constitution …. lol .

in recent times, they, like the rest of the world, has a great shortage of great leaders, .. people with morals born of personal hardship and deprived upbringing with any emphasis on morality.

Then the great saviour emerges .. someone who can speak their simple but very effective language .. who communicates with them personally on twitter .. omg. .. and .. importantly .. puts their American greed FIRST. … remember that? .. America first, America first … they believe it and live by it. .. its who they are.. its where t hey came from.


ok .. I am being too thrashing in my description .. nearly half of americans are actually human.

but they All see an increase in the American economy .. an increase in American firepower in their armed forces .. an increase in world domination, I mean influence, lol .. an increase in American kudos or standing in the world etc etc etc. .. giving those pesky Chinese upstarts the boot where it hurts .. the stifling of world trade … gaaagh … that's where he really started going wrong, poor man.

now his intellect is under fire .. from himself .. but is this any worse than the intellect of the equally egotistical john bercow? .. that supposedly socially sensitive british man, who made state decisions based on his personal opinions of what a nicety is.?


ps … I have never been to America .. but think it is a great place, and would love to see the places from the old west .. the movies we grew up with .. ride the plains with a horse and Winchester rifle .. visit all those familiar names .. the places..
and the people .. they can be the best in the world when they want. .. We in Britain will never forget what they did for us in the wars.

god bless America .. and the rest of us too

[Jak*]

What this crisis has exposed, here and in the US, is not only the incompetence of our leaders but also the depth of inequality within our society. Other countries (notably New Zealand) seem to have handled thins so much better.
Once again the British government has chosen to ignore the advice of some experts (significantly the advice of the 2016 report into the impact of a global pandemics) and believed those whose views more closely aligned with their political objectives.
My greatest fear is that as a country (and world) we will fail to learn from these lessons and carry on regardless. I would like to think that the millions clapping the NHS and other key workers will take to the streets demanding better pay and working conditions for these people when this is over, it would be nice if those parents who are struggling to teach one or two of their own children for a few weeks told the government it is time to show that we value the support staff and teachers in our schools, it would be great if as individuals we started thinking about how we spend our money and whether we should be contributing to likes of Branson, Wetherspoon and Rees Mogg who all have shown a total lack of philanthropy at this time. It would be great if we looked at the positive impacts of this crisis as well, the benefits to the environment and the impact on global warming, the sense of community in some areas and the wonderful work of volunteers in a variety of ways who have given their time and ideas to help others.
It would be great but I doubt it will happen, because unfortunately the government and the right wing press do not want it to.
Cheers Jak