Coronavirus

[Nearly Sane]

Worrying news from America

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-53088354

[jeremyp]

After the demise of the Track and Trace app - John Crace's take on competence.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/jun/18/our-ministers-show-how-world-beating-they-are-all-over-again

It's interesting because there wasn't really much wrong in the way they approached developing the app. They developed an app. They weren't sure how well it would work so they did a proof of concept. The PoC showed up some problems so they went back to the drawing board.The app was clearly oversold by the government.

As for the issues with measuring distances, they seem perfectly credible problems to me. Physical obstructions will affect signal strength. Does it matter? Well, I suppose, if you are the person who was three metres away and now has to self isolate, that might matter.

As for the collaboration with Apple, what has probably happened is that somebody on the dev team talked to somebody in Apple about some technical issues and as that travelled up the command chain that morphed into "we are talking to Apple" and then "we are collaborating with Apple" and then "the UK is collaborating with Apple".

[flower girl]

Worrying news from America

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-53088354

Yes.  Florida is exploding right now very near where I live (a few miles from the university where the cases among the student-age is rapidly climbing.)

Been tracking the numbers of deaths in the UK for a little over a month now.  It seems the numbers are trending fewer now. 

[Alan Burns]

Worrying news from America

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-53088354

Is it any wonder after the blatant disregard of social distancing during many of the anti racist demonstrations?
Lets hope we can all re focus on the fact that all lives matter.

[Aruntraveller]

Lets hope we can all re focus on the fact that all lives matter.

Missing the point.

A house is on fire in a street. All the houses matter.

Now do you expect the fire brigade to hose down all the houses or just the one on fire?

Breast Cancer Awareness - oh, how often have I had to chide people with "All cancers matter"?

Why don't you stop with the stupidity?

[flower girl]

Is it any wonder after the blatant disregard of social distancing during many of the anti racist demonstrations?
Lets hope we can all re focus on the fact that all lives matter.

The reality is, once you delve into what life in America has been like for people of color? Black lives have never, ever mattered. Even worse than that, as I just read in The New Yorker entitled "The History That James Baldwin Wanted America to See," Baldwin, a contemporary of Martin Luther King, once said that for Blacks "after the sun goes down" anything could happen. If you were Black? You, your wife, your innocent sons and daughters were at the mercy of the night riders who terrorized, brutalized, abused into absolute, defiled submission. There's an effort now underway to document and identify all the American Blacks who were lynched in America during this awful and vulnerable time. Fathers, sons, brothers hung in the family's front-yard trees for all the family to see.  And the very race who did this well into the 20th century are upset now because they want to be included among whose lives matter. If it were me, I would change the slogan to say, "Black Lives Matter Too."  That really does reflect the truth behind this new movement (May God be with them at every step.)

PS, the leading medical advisors are telecasting right now that the single most Coronavirus epicenter in the entire world will be from Trump's Tulsa, Oklahoma rally.  I'm watching live nearly 20K people, hardly anyone wearing masks, crowded, literally shoulder to shoulder, inside an enclosed arena for the next five hours for a Trump (ego fest) rally.  It's incomprehensible to me that anyone would be okay with this. 

[Nearly Sane]

Is it any wonder after the blatant disregard of social distancing during many of the anti racist demonstrations?
Lets hope we can all re focus on the fact that all lives matter.

I note you mention the BLM   protests but not these


https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_United_States_anti-lockdown_protests

It makes you look very racist.

[Roses]

Is it any wonder after the blatant disregard of social distancing during many of the anti racist demonstrations?
Lets hope we can all re focus on the fact that all lives matter.

There is a person who thinks his life matters more than that of any other, and is willing to put the health and wellbeing of his country at risk to protect his own interests!

[jeremyp]

I take your general point. In fact, what "Black Lives Matter" means is that Black lives matter too. The point is that they haven't seemed to matter in the past.

Anyway, the pedant in me has to react to your poorly chosen analogies.

Missing the point.

A house is on fire in a street. All the houses matter.

Now do you expect the fire brigade to hose down all the houses or just the one on fire?

The fire brigade may get to the point that they feel the the other houses may also catch fire and then they will start hosing them down to prevent that from happening.

Breast Cancer Awareness - oh, how often have I had to chide people with "All cancers matter"?

Actually, yes you do. There tend to be a few diseases that get all the awareness and funding for research. Cancer research in the UK is quite well funded but some other diseases like Alzheimer's get far less attention and funding despite their prevalence. Breast cancer is probably the biggest big C in terms of awareness. Your analogy would work better if somebody had come up to you in Movember and said "all cancers matter".

[jeremyp]

PS, the leading medical advisors are telecasting right now that the single most Coronavirus epicenter in the entire world will be from Trump's Tulsa, Oklahoma rally.  I'm watching live nearly 20K people, hardly anyone wearing masks, crowded, literally shoulder to shoulder, inside an enclosed arena for the next five hours for a Trump (ego fest) rally.  It's incomprehensible to me that anyone would be okay with this.

Apparently, not all the Trumpsters are as stupid as they seem. Tulsa rally fails to draw expected crowds

[SteveH]

Disappointed to see AB parroting the "All lives matter" guff spouted by t' rump and his racist admirers. Of course all lives matter, but the point of the slogan "black lives matter" is that black lives seem often not to matter.

[Aruntraveller]

I take your general point. In fact, what "Black Lives Matter" means is that Black lives matter too. The point is that they haven't seemed to matter in the past.

Anyway, the pedant in me has to react to your poorly chosen analogies.
The fire brigade may get to the point that they feel the the other houses may also catch fire and then they will start hosing them down to prevent that from happening.
Actually, yes you do. There tend to be a few diseases that get all the awareness and funding for research. Cancer research in the UK is quite well funded but some other diseases like Alzheimer's get far less attention and funding despite their prevalence. Breast cancer is probably the biggest big C in terms of awareness. Your analogy would work better if somebody had come up to you in Movember and said "all cancers matter".

I have to be a little pedantic myself.

I don't dispute that Alzheimers is underfunded, but as I specifically mentioned "all Cancers matter" I don't see that your rebuttal works in that respect. Also the analogy about the house works because you would concentrate more on the house on fire than the rest in the street in the hope that an improvement would be gained for the whole street. Rather like there would be an improvement for the whole community if black lives did indeed matter.   

[Alan Burns]

Missing the point.

A house is on fire in a street. All the houses matter.

Now do you expect the fire brigade to hose down all the houses or just the one on fire?

Breast Cancer Awareness - oh, how often have I had to chide people with "All cancers matter"?

Why don't you stop with the stupidity?

The point I was making was that many people, especially in the US, are still dying of corona virus, but the efforts to help prevent these deaths have been hampered by many demonstrators ignoring social distancing rules.

[Aruntraveller]

The point I was making was that many people, especially in the US, are still dying of corona virus, but the efforts to help prevent these deaths have been hampered by many demonstrators ignoring social distancing rules.

And yet many other ignore social distancing rules and you chose not to highlight them. Funny that.

[Nearly Sane]

The point I was making was that many people, especially in the US, are still dying of corona virus, but the efforts to help prevent these deaths have been hampered by many demonstrators ignoring social distancing rules.

But to highlighted BLM protests ignoring the earlier lockdown protests by amongst others white supremacists that were not condemned by Trump. Why?

And chose to.do it using the All Lives Matter phrase associated with those who play down the racism against black people in the US.

Why?

[Alan Burns]

But to highlighted BLM protests ignoring the earlier lockdown protests by amongst others white supremacists that were not condemned by Trump. Why?

And chose to.do it using the All Lives Matter phrase associated with those who play down the racism against black people in the US.

Why?

I condemn violent protests of any sort because they invariably cause more harm than good.

As an aside -
One of the highlights of my life was being invited (along with my future wife) to join up with the Caribbean Christian community in London to play guitar during prayer and worship sessions.  We discovered a new dimension of uninhibited joy in their enthusiastic celebration of the Christian life.

[Nearly Sane]

I condemn violent protests of any sort because they invariably cause more harm than good.

As an aside -
One of the highlights of my life was being invited (along with my future wife) to join up with the Caribbean Christian community in London to play guitar during prayer and worship sessions.  We discovered a new dimension of uninhibited joy in their enthusiastic celebration of the Christian life.

You didn't mention violence. You just mentioned social distancing, and completely ignored the earlier protests which were not condemned by Trump. You have now doubled down by implying that all BLM protests were violent, and then tried the'Some of my best friends are...' trope. I suspect your racism may be unconscious but your posts here read strongly of a racist attitude

[SteveH]

You didn't mention violence. You just mentioned social distancing, and completely ignored the earlier protests which were not condemned by Trump. You have now doubled down by implying that all BLM protests were violent, and then tried the'Some of my best friends are...' trope. I suspect your racism may be unconscious but your posts here read strongly of a racist attitude

AB's mention of the Caribbean Christians seemed excruciatingly patronising.

[flower girl]

Apparently, not all the Trumpsters are as stupid as they seem. Tulsa rally fails to draw expected crowds

Yes, seeing this in the news today.  The estimates were about a third of 19K.  When you think about it, that's still over 6000 people, most all not wearing masks, definitely not social distancing, and inside and enclosed area for at least a couple of hours.  (I've been logging the John's Hopkins data for awhile now. I'm going to add Oklahoma to my list just to see how much the cases change over the next month.)

Also, the news is reporting that teens using tiktok and one other site were able to create over a million fake tickets for Trump's event.  Not sure how, or if, this affected the small number that showed up, but it definitely is embarrassing for Trump who bragged all over conservative media about the 1M number.

[Nearly Sane]

Yes, seeing this in the news today.  The estimates were about a third of 19K.  When you think about it, that's still over 6000 people, most all not wearing masks, definitely not social distancing, and inside and enclosed area for at least a couple of hours.  (I've been logging the John's Hopkins data for awhile now. I'm going to add Oklahoma to my list just to see how much the cases change over the next month.)

Also, the news is reporting that teens using tiktok and one other site were able to create over a million fake tickets for Trump's event.  Not sure how, or if, this affected the small number that showed up, but it definitely is embarrassing for Trump who bragged all over conservative media about the 1M number.

At least he can drink a glass of water with 1 hand even if he then then throws it away.

[flower girl]

 

[jeremyp]

The point I was making was that many people, especially in the US, are still dying of corona virus, but the efforts to help prevent these deaths have been hampered by many demonstrators ignoring social distancing rules.

That was my concern when I saw the protests in London. But think about this:

at the time, the ONS was saying about one person in a thousand has COVID19 at any given time and 70% of them report no symptoms. That means, on the demo in London (100,000), only about seventy people had the virus, assuming all the symptomatic people stayed at home. Furthermore, if you are in contact with a person with coronavirus, the probability is that you won't catch the disease. The seventy people will have been in contact with lots of other people, so they will pass it on to some, but the blip will be much smaller than you might think and as the protests coincided with some relaxation of the social distancing rules, it will probably be lost in the noise.

[jeremyp]

Also, the news is reporting that teens using tiktok and one other site were able to create over a million fake tickets for Trump's event.  Not sure how, or if, this affected the small number that showed up, but it definitely is embarrassing for Trump who bragged all over conservative media about the 1M number.

It probably depressed the numbers. If you've got free tickets and maybe a long drive to get to Tulsa and Trump says "we distributed a million tickets", you'll probably think, I won't get near the place, I won't bother going at all.

[SteveH]

a long drive to get to Tulsa...

24 hours, maybe?

[jeremyp]

At least he can drink a glass of water with 1 hand even if he then then throws it away.

What does it say about somebody, if drinking a glass of water with one hand gets them a round of applause?

It doesn't seem to have worked though. People are analysing why he threw the glass away instead of putting it down. The theory is that he needs to keep his little finger under it to support it.

Or maybe it did work: if people are analysing the glass, they are not analysing children in cages (remember that? It's still happening) or packing the judiciary with Republican stooges or any of the other really horrible things Trump is doing.