Napoleonic & ECW wargaming, with a load of old Hooptedoodle on this & that


Monday 29 June 2020

Hooptedoodle #371 - Darwin Is Watching

I'm very nervously watching news of the rapid upturn in Covid infections in a number of Southern and Western States in America, which would appear to be directly related to relaxation (or abandonment) of social distancing and health guidelines. I understand that the President has expressed the view that widespread testing has inflated the figures, and makes things look worse than they are - does this mean that we are best not to know?

Frank exchange of views in Austin TX on the merits of protecting public health - photo borrowed from the BBC
Mr Greg Abbott, the Governor of the State of Texas - a man who is unlikely to be a liberal of any sort, I would have thought, has warned that hospitals may be unable to cope, and is taking steps to increase testing and to ensure there are adequate supplies of PPE. Even the Vice-President, Mr Pence, is now urging the public to obey regulations regarding the wearing of face-masks, "wherever it's indicated", saying, "we know from experience, it will slow the spread of the coronavirus", which appears to be something of a change of policy from a week or two ago.

Very alarming. Obviously, I hope this will stabilise quickly - with luck, some helpful changes of attitude might result - maybe some of them in high places - it remains to be seen. Do current trends mean that Trump's supporters are disproportionately at risk? Can we - all of us - try very hard to learn something here?





14 comments:

  1. We may learn but many won't. One of my sons reasons for leaving America to come back here was the crass stupidity of many people who just seemed to jump on a bandwagon that made the biggest noise. No independent thought, no rational thinking. Add to that ( in some cases) a blind faith in Gods will and it is unlikely common sense will prevail.
    Having seen the Lemmings that swamped our local beaches this weekend ( I've never seen so many people here since I was a kid) then I expect some localised spikes shortly all a pretty sad indictment on the abandonment of common sense by many.

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  2. People's thinking (???) and related behavior in all of this has been absolutely mind boggling. Navel gazing and self-centered attempts to wish away things staring us in the face (spreading the virus and killing many in the process) are the order of the day from the top on down. There truly are no words.

    Best Regards,

    Stokes (The Man in the Cotton Mask)

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  3. "Well I have a microphone and you don’t so you will listen to every damn word I have to say!” Adam Sandler. The Wedding Singer. Cheers Greg

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  4. Thank you gentlemen - I find this all very bewildering. I was particularly impressed by some anti-mask protests in (I think) Florida, which reckoned that the whole idea was a blasphemous insult against the wonderful breathing system that the Lord has given us (i.e. a nose with two holes in it). The XXL size black teeshirt in the photograph, by the way, says "Snowflakes Don't Last Long in Texas", which may be of interest to anyone who believes they don't do irony in the US.

    I do understand that people will feel they must do what they believe in, and they get upset and frustrated, but it would be nice if they had a think before they started yelling. What is wrong with these guys?

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    Replies
    1. Pure ignorance that is what is wrong with them. And if somebody yelled at me like that I'd break their jaw!.
      Regards,
      Paul.

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    2. Yeah, the black shirt is a good one. Perhaps the BBC misunderstood the situation captured in the photo? Equally plausible is that the three lads have just been informed that the rib-joint is out of BBQ.

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    3. Hi Jon - yes - I found a newsreel video of the same incident, and now realise that the guy in the mask and minorities hat was actually trying to antagonise them, prancing about with airhorns, and probably did need his butt kicking anyway. Interestingly, the snowflake-haters are chanting (I think) "Go home Nazis", which is another of these irony things. Have to say the policeman on the spot did a good job keeping things just short of complete mayhem. One bit of the video which impressed was a big guy in a teeshirt which said "I Don't Kneel", who attempted to pick a fight with the airhorn man. Perhaps he has arthritis?

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  5. Further to my last you may enjoy watching and listening to this https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pRCzZp1J0v0
    It is 3 hours long mind you all of which is very interesting however the first hour is very insightful as to what is happening and may or may not provide some clarity. Whatever - the conclusion is not very promising

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    1. Thanks for this Graham - I watched the first hour, but then had to go for a walk on the beach (in the rain, on my own, naturally). It's actually a brilliant interview - I'll go back to it, though it's scary.

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  6. Let me see if I've got this straight. There are street protests in 15 US states, is it now, in favour of being left alone and not making a fuss?
    "What do we want?!!"
    "Nothing at all!"
    "When do we want it?!!"
    "Erm……."

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    1. Excellent! That really creased me up.

      For no obvious reason, I am reminded of:

      Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the Earth, as long as that's OK with the rest of you.

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  7. I said my piece in response to the prior post, but decades of encouraging anti-scientific views (Creation "science", ant-vaxxers, climate change denial, expressly forbidding meaningful governmental oversight of the vitamins and supplement industry) certainly hasn't helped the US situation either.

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