Hello I have popped back again as I do

Well I'm still drawing stuff and things are still in a state of normality at home. But elsewhere things are starting to come off the rails a bit. Covid-19 is getting worse in the UK again and it  is looking likely it will be seriously bad. Parts of Europe are a couple of weeks ahead of the UK and Countries such as Spain and France are not good. 

The Election in the USA seems to be just strange at present; Mr Bidon seems a bit frail and as for Mr Trump; to me he has lost the plot as well as going down with Covid-19 and he also appears to have given key members of his party Covid-19. He says he is fine, but in truth it is early days for him and this is one seriously nasty virus that can get you many days even weeks after you think all is going well. And he does not appear to be trying to win votes from outside his core supporters. So is at risk of self destruction both physically and in the Presidential race.

We will see I guess. . . . . . 

 

The Coronavirus observational guide . . .

I have been somewhat quiet of late. Partly because I am busy doing many other things but also because we are at that point in the story of the coronavirus; Covid-19 where things are changing slower. Well they are here in the UK clearly this is not the case in the USA where the virus has taken off in some parts. Citizens in the USA are incredibly sensitive to restrictions in personal freedom so lockdowns are hard to enforce and the virus has taken advantage of this and the numbers are becoming frightening.  

In Britain there is the first hint of a second wave, clearly it is too early to really tell so we will see. Not far from me there was a small cluster of Covid-19 found on a traveller site as a result of a party with another traveller site, but that hopefully has been kept under control by a strict lockdown. Although I believe a couple of folk refused at first and went walkabout, but the long arm of the law may have had a few words so they returned home.

There was a huge explosion in Beirut a couple of days ago causing chaos in a city which already had many problems including Covid-19. I suspect this will now spread through the population very quickly because everyone is involved in trying to save the city after so much of it has been damaged including three of its hospitals.

 

The Coronavirus observational guide . . .

Now last time I posted on my blog I did happen to mention that the masses had heard little of the track and trace system that was being developed and tested. Well it seems that the reason for that is it didn’t work very well. I am not entirely surprised.  What governments often forget to take into account is that developing IT software is not easy and often takes time and costs a lot. Gone are the days when you could ask an IT geek hidden in his bedroom to create something overnight.

News on testing folk for Coronavirus has also gone rather quiet I think the government’s argument is that because numbers are reducing it is no longer important.  Of course if people get complacent it runs the risk of a second wave of Covid-19 which would cause loads of issues as lockdown is eased in an attempt to return to normal

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I do have a little theory of my own (far too long to go into here) about the spread of Covid-19 and the slow but sure reduction in cases. It is clear that where there is a population living or working in close proximity the risk is very high. So social distancing is highly effective in cities, but out in the country it probably makes little difference. So I do think that having very targeted social distancing and working practices would be as effective as a national policy, but I guess the big problem then is policing it. Folk you see will bend the rules on the grounds that they are fine and are not worried so it is not important.

Since I was last here a common and cheap drug has been found to be effective in the worse cases where life is at risk so that is a really positive step.

And as a final note the Black Lives Matter movement continues to have an impact on many, also a positive step…  

The Coronavirus observational guide . . .

Here in the UK lockdown continues to be eased as the number of deaths falls. This is good news, although I still have doubts about the effectiveness of the systems put in place to ensure we don’t get a second peak. There is a track and trace system, but we hear little about it. And Coronavirus testing numbers look good but it is not the number of people tested but the number of tests. It also includes tests sent out in the post on that day, but we never know how many get returned and used.

I still think we may be at a point where other issues such as folks income and savings could turn into a major issue very soon. 

The incident in the USA where the black man (George Floyd) died during his arrest where the police were very much in the wrong has had worldwide implications. The Black Lives Matter protests have seen thousands of people protesting and the destruction or removal of statues of those who were in some way involved with the slave trade; and in several countries.  It is good that there is a possibility of a change of attitude. But there also needs to be something to remind folk of the past and what was done during the slave trade removing all evidence without replacing it with something that shows the barbarity of what happened risks removing the events from history.

The Coronavirus observational guide . . .

We continue to remain in a state of uncertainty here in the UK as the government slowly allow some easing of lockdown. It’s a tricky situation. Many schools are due to open tomorrow, however only with a limited number of pupils in order to maintain social distancing. There is still much disagreement about the right way forward as some want lockdown eased quickly while others feel everything is moving too fast.

To tell the truth we will only know if the easing of lockdown will work if we don’t get a second peak in deaths, so that is a risky strategy. But it is hard to say for sure what the right way forward is.

 In the USA a black man died while being arrested, the police officer had him pinned to the ground with his knee on his neck and maintained this until sometime after the man stopped moving. The result has been nationwide rioting for 4-5 nights. So not only did a black man unnecessarily die but the rioting will possibly lead to the spread of the coronavirus among a high risk group of US citizens. The number of people who have or had the virus in the US is already high . . . This is very sad.

I think across the world governments and individuals are starting to weigh up the risks of Covid-19 against the future risks of their financial situation. Of course this is another area where the well-off are in a much stronger position than the poor. Probably another underlying issue behind the US rioting where to many lives can look and feel very unequal.

The Coronavirus observational guide . . .

Now on the last post of my humble blog I said that Dominic Cummings the Prime Ministers chief adviser had become the main news here in Britain as a result of his trip to his parents’ house to self-isolate with his wife and small child. As I said it was understandable, but possibly bending the rules. Well there have been continued demands for him to be sacked again today. And as I said then he is not the sort of chap to fall on his sword. So far Boris Johnson is sticking with him, which is surprising really normally a PM would drop someone like a ton of bricks and folk would be happy they have their man. But that has not happened and so folk are angry some are very angry, even members of the Conservative party are angry.  Mr Cummings has always appeared to be an arrogant man to me and I suspect may others. Even folk within the Tory party think he has too much power. This is why some folk and a lot of the press have been rather passionate about trying to remove him. 

I think he should go now because he is meant to be an adviser working in the shadows not headline news, he is now a serious distraction from the things that are important in the continuing story and battle to control Covid-19.  

He did make one point however I agreed with that I saw on the news when he was trying to leave his London home. He said to the Press that they were not keeping to the 2 metres required by social distancing. And it was true they were hounding him and hustling each other for the best shots and to fire questions at him. Now its fine to be critical of him and what he did, but you are being hypercritical if you then ignore important parts of the rules to avoid the spread of Covid-19 such as social distancing yourself. Just because you work for the media does not make you exempt in the same way Dominic Cummings is not exempt which is why folk argue he should be sacked . . . . . Pot-Kettle is what came to mind as I watched it.

OOOoooooo it’s a small point or possibly not, but Boris Johnson still looks far from well to me. I do wonder if he would now be happier if he was not the Prime Minister. Sometimes our dreams do not work out as planned. 

A chap needs a place to hide

this is mine