I wonder if I’ll be writing this diary in lockdown when we get to day 450? It’s a possibility.
Unless we get an effective vaccine, which is unlikely, or an effective drug, the risk will be there. Covid-19 will be present in the population.
They reckon that around 350,000 have had the disease. That is a tiny portion of the population. If we come out of lockdown too early it will undoubtedly surge again. What a dilemma.
The big hope is to get the number of cases right down, test, isolate and follow up. The trouble is that we’ve allowed it to get out of control.
What is clear is that the pandemic has had a good effect on most people. They are friendlier, politer and more helpful. There’s a sense of community. It’s brought people together.
It has also made people aware that we need to value a lot of our low-paid workers. They are out on the frontline putting themselves at risk for us.
The Thursday clapping is a sign of all that united appreciation!!
This morning I was playing my Leon Rosselson – such a great musician and songwriter. Such great songs of social justice.
Today was another nice day (at least in the afternoon). We had a good walk along the back lanes. The May Blossom is falling and more trees have their Spring costumes on. So refreshing!
Tomorrow I’m preparing to decorate the stairwell. Long ladders and a big job!!
I’ve been working on my poetry book this afternoon. It’s coming together well.
So that is the sum total of my day. It has a familiar routine.
Hey Opher,how’s tricks?
Since outdoor activity on Day 46 is somewhat impeded by rain, I thought this recently released documentary by Michael Moore called ‘Planet of the Humans’ would help fill-in the empty space left behind. The film has provoked a furious reaction from scientists and campaigners who have called for it be taken down.
Blurb beneath the YouTube film reads as follows…
‘Michael Moore presents Planet of the Humans, a documentary that dares to say what no one else will this Earth Day — that we are losing the battle to stop climate change on planet earth because we are following leaders who have taken us down the wrong road — selling out the green movement to wealthy interests and corporate America. This film is the wake-up call to the reality we are afraid to face: that in the midst of a human-caused extinction event, the environmental movement’s answer is to push for techno-fixes and band-aids. It’s too little, too late.
Removed from the debate is the only thing that MIGHT save us: getting a grip on our out-of-control human presence and consumption. Why is this not THE issue? Because that would be bad for profits, bad for business. Have we environmentalists fallen for illusions, “green” illusions, that are anything but green, because we’re scared that this is the end—and we’ve pinned all our hopes on biomass, wind turbines, and electric cars?
No amount of batteries are going to save us, warns director Jeff Gibbs (lifelong environmentalist and co-producer of “Fahrenheit 9/11” and “Bowling for Columbine”). This urgent, must-see movie, a full-frontal assault on our sacred cows, is guaranteed to generate anger, debate, and, hopefully, a willingness to see our survival in a new way—before it’s too late.
Featuring: Al Gore, Bill McKibben, Richard Branson, Robert F Kennedy Jr., Michael Bloomberg, Van Jones, Vinod Khosla, Koch Brothers, Vandana Shiva, General Motors, 350.org, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sierra Club, the Union of Concerned Scientists, Nature Conservancy, Elon Musk, Tesla.
Music by: Radiohead, King Crimson, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Blank & Jones, If These Trees Could Talk, Valentina Lisitsa, Culprit 1, Patrick O’hearn, The Torquays, Nigel Stanford, and many more.’
What are your thoughts?
Ciao for now,
DN
Hi Dewin,
Glad to see you are still alive and not a victim of covid!! Are you writing???
I love Michael Moore – he always tells it like it is!! Thanks for the link!! I’ll try and get round to that when I can. Busy writing – poetry book and Roy Harper book!
Despite the U.K government’s negligence and insidious pursuit of herd-immunity, thankfully I’ve not, as yet, succumbed to the ‘invisible enemy’ or been ‘wrestled to the floor’ by the COVID ‘mugger’. Gratefully, I’m not one of the F.T’s suggested – and far-more realistic, all-encompassing – 41,000 COVID deaths in the U.K. It saddens me to know that thousands have died unnecessarily as a result of our government’s politically diseased ideology.
No, not writing at this time but busy in other necessary ways: mainly working, and supporting elderly relatives.
I only came across the Moore film this morning and have yet to watch it myself. A Moore film will always be viewed as controversial – particularly by big business and Establishment figures – for he challenges convention, displaces the public’s perception, and quite rightly invites us to consider the larger picture. Whether or not we accept his perspective is a matter of personal
choice.
One of the great benefits of retirement is in having the time and opportunity to write, so enjoy that freedom.
DN
I am enjoying it Dewin – though I’m getting a little stir crazy! I miss friends and family – contact is so human. One needs to recharge batteries!
Glad to hear that you are doing good!
I do like Michael Moore. He has my sensibilities!! What work are you doing? Is it better than what you were doing? What’s the future hold?
I’m halfway through Moore’s documentary. Thus far it is a very illuminating and altogether sobering expose. The Green Revolution appears not to be as green, or as viable, or as environmentally protective as we might imagine. Well worth watching.
To be realistic, I don’t think an easement of lock-down is likely within the next few weeks. When we are permitted to engage once again with life, social-distancing rules will still prevail and human-contact continue to be restricted. As I recall Wuhan were in lock-down for 76 days. We’ve barely managed 6 weeks! Had we been ahead of the curve and not so dismally behind it, perhaps a return to normality – albeit emerging into a shadow of what normality was – might have been possible by now. As it is we’ll have to grin and bare it and vent our spleen at this shambolic government.
In light of lock-down, work is therapeutic, and offers some level of social interaction. Yes, it’s certainly more enjoyable, and more fulfilling than what I was doing previously.
Right now, it’s a little tricky making plans for the future when that future is so uncertain. For example, i see British Airways have just announced 12,000 job losses. One wonders how impacting (devastating?) C-19 will prove to be elsewhere in the economy.
How’s the writing going?
DN
Hi Dewin,
I’m glad your work is restoring your spirit after years of misery. Your experiences must leave you very cynical.
I think we are heading for a dismal period of extreme austerity. The poor will pay the price for an inept government.
It seems to me that the WHO could have done a lot better. The populist leaders are proving inept. They are all guilty of mass murder. It is inexcusable. This should have been prepared for and contained.
As for writing – rewrite of Harper book – Chapter 8. Two thirds through the poetry book. All good!!
You take care Dewin!!
Vive la Revolution!!
To the ancient Greeks, cynics were those who prided themselves on skepticism and their ability to be wary of other people’s motives. Cynicism was a sign of discerning intelligence. However, as Wiki suggests, ‘Modern cynicism is a distrust toward professed ethical and social values, especially when there are high expectations concerning society, institutions, and authorities that are unfulfilled.’ I am cynical of our shameless government.
Regards extreme austerity post COVID, sadly I think you are probably right. I’ve read articles suggesting 3 years+ to undo the damage caused by COVID to the U.K economy. During this period, and irrespective of the additional confusion caused by Brexit, the rich will undoubtedly get richer at the expense of the vast majority.
The WHO cannot be held accountable for diabolical decisions made by inept governments and administrations that did not act on their earliest advice. The U.K population represents just 1% of the global population but the ‘official’ number of U.K deaths to COVID represents 10%+ of the global tally. Had the U.K government followed WHO advice issued in late January and acted with purposeful intention to save lives, it is quite possible that total might have been significantly less.
‘They, (the government) are all guilty of mass murder’ – a photograph appearing in a mainstream newspaper showing BJ in Downing St. observing the one-minute’s silence for NHS and Care staff lost to COVID had one commenter point out that he was standing with his hands behind his back so that the public would not see he had their blood-on his hands.
Good luck with completing the Harper rewrite and compiling the remainder of your anthology. Busy as bee!
Take care, stay well, keep smiling.
DN
I agree with you Dewin.
Oh for a well thought-through international strategy. If the WHO had more money and clout it could wade in and isolate possible pandemics before they get started. But the stupid Americans would feel that was communism!!
Trump, Johnson and Bolsonaro typify the populist responses. All they care about is their own power, popularity and wealth. They did not have a strategy and have allowed it to get out of hand. Lamentable fools.
I hope their bubbles get well and truly burst!
A bit of decorating today – then back to the books!