Today I thought I’d have a spot of heavy sounds from the 60s. Named after one of Owsley’s makes of Acid, Blue Cheer were loud, they were heavy – a dynamic trio.
The Corona Diaries – Day 160
It feels as if the world has gone crazy. The right-wingers are really exerting their muscle – buoyed up by Trump, Brexit and a stream of lies and misinformation from the internet.
The coronavirus has become a political football. It is no longer a medical condition; it is a symbol of political belief.
The internet is firing out a stream of lies and incitements. The 5G hoax is still circulating. It has all become tied in with anti-vaxxers, science deniers, flat earthers and all those people who believe the conspiracy theories.
The political spin is confusing people.
The matter is simple. A virus has jumped from bats, to pangolins and on to humans. It is one of a string of viruses (MERS, SARS, EBOLA, Swine Flu, Bird Flu) that have done the same. We are getting these pandemics because we are opening up hunting in remote regions. We are bringing these poor animals back to be sold and slaughtered in ‘wet’ markets (particularly in Asia). We are coming into contact with viruses we have not encountered before.
It is nothing to do with 5G or Chinese government germ warfare.
There is no immunity in the population because we have not encountered the virus before!
The virus kills 1-2% of those infected. It is presently killing 4% globally – 5% in the UK and 7.9% in the USA. If we work on the basis that, left unchecked, it will kill 1% (mainly the old, obese or those with underlying problems such as asthma and diabetes) that means that if no measures are taken we are looking at deaths in the USA (population 331 million) of 3,310,000 people. In the UK it would lead to the deaths of 600,000 people.
20% of those contracting Covid-19 require hospital treatment.
Now, those people protesting the anti-covid restrictions, who say it infringes their rights and civil liberties should consider – are these huge numbers of deaths acceptable? Are you happy killing off your grandparents and the sick?
Are you happy with the medical services being totally overwhelmed and people being buried in mass graves (as we have already seen in New York).
I can understand people being worried sick because their livelihood has gone; they cannot pay the bills, will lose their house and can’t feed their kids. I can see why they want normality – but this isn’t a normal situation.
In the UK (as across Europe) the virus is on the rise – 1715 new cases but just one death.
In the USA – a further 36,939 new cases and 374 deaths.
In Brazil 0 16158 new cases and 566 deaths.
For those going around with your banners – Masks are muzzles – or – New Normal + New Fascism – perhaps you should think of the dire number of deaths you could be unleashing and perhaps you should go and talk to the family of one of the victims and see if they agree with you?
This virus kills. We are lucky is doesn’t kill more. Some virus would wipe out 90+%
This is where governments need to step in to look after those whose livelihoods are gone – but these people don’t like government, do they?
The far-right is also trying to put the spin on the Black Lives Matter movement. They want riots and violence and they are trying to incite it. Not only have they got people in the midst of the peaceful demonstrations deliberately causing damage and violence, they have open incitement.
I was amazed to see the convoy of far-right Trump supporters drive through the demonstrators in Portland shooting demonstrators with paintballs and spraying them with dye. They were deliberately trying to incite them to violence. Where were the police?? If someone shot me with a paintball I’d want them in court!
Today I wasn’t in a good mood. I don’t like what is happening to the world – divided, hate-filled and violent. I don’t like the selfishness and greed. I don’t like the environmental damage and cruelty. I walked up my hill. It was much warmer. I looked at nature. I then went for a meal outside with friends and had a nice natter. We had a pint or two and put the world right. I came home and played some Davy Graham. I read a bit of Human Kind (a very positive book) and started work on my Roy Harper book.
My book – ‘Farther from the Sun’ is not completed and published (both paperback and digital both available on Amazon). I’m feeling alright!
Things were good in my life.
Today’s Music to keep me Saaannneee in Isolation – Davy Graham
Just listen to Anji and marvel!
Davy was the guy who started the whole contemporary folk scene in Britain. In the early sixties, he went out to Morroco and brought back the rhythms and chords. He married them to traditional British folk songs and created a whole new way of playing.
His work with Shirley Collins (a traditional folk singer) was extraordinary for its time. Folk Routes New Routes was something new. It lay the groundwork for bands like Fairport Convention.
He was an extraordinary guitarist – the best on the Les Cousins folk scene and his incredible work on songs like Anji laid down the standard for all the others to aspire to.
Davy was a genius – but heroin was his downfall.
Today I’ll be nodding along to those fabulous sounds
The Corona Diaries – Day 159
Today felt a bit like winter! Temperatures down to 13C. This is August! Bloody global warming messing up the weather!
Today we went to see my daughter and two of the grandchildren for a walk in the park and by the side of the river! We had a nice walk and a meal outside. It was bloody freezing!
I’m getting a bit pissed off with this virus. Meeting up with people feels strange – no hugs and a constant assessment of risk all the time. It makes it feel really unnatural and tense. I don’t like it. Part of me thinks ‘to hell with the risk’ – just act normal – but part of me thinks that this is not a bug to mess with. At my age, it could be nasty. There is no way of telling. I really don’t want to end up on a respirator.
The problem with these risk factors is that it’s all a big unknown. If you touch something – a plate, a knife and fork, the salad, a seat – or go too near to someone and breathe. There’s no way of knowing. The risk is very small but, even social distancing, you take risks.
To risk, or not to risk, that’s the question:
Whether it be nobler to meet a friend and suffer
The vagaries of outrageous fortune
Or ignore the risk of outrageous troubles
And by ignoring them, to die – to sleep
And by sleep to say we end.
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to: ’tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish’d. To die, to sleep;
To sleep, perchance to dream—ay, there’s the rub:
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come,
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil.
Nay – I’d rather not shuffle off just yet – But I’m beginning to get a bit peeved with this artificial life and I know I’m in danger of casting fate to the wind!
But not just yet. For I think these are dangerous times. Many people are feeling like me – they have had enough. They are going out to raves, mixing in pubs and meeting up with friends and family. They are complacent and fatalistic. The government is calling them selfish and the general view is that these people are stupid – but a lot of them are young and have weighed up the risk to themselves – it’s tiny. They know they can pass it on but I think they really won’t get it. A lot of us have not heard of many people we know getting it. Back when I started this diary – 159 days ago – I thought I’d be hearing about a lot of cases around in my community and among my friends. That has not happened. It leaves me in a bit of a quandary.
In the UK yesterday we had 1108 new cases and 12 more deaths. It’s out there and on the rise. I don’t think any of us want to get to where we were when the virus was rampant and the NHS was swamped.
The far-right are flexing their muscles not only over in the States but in Berlin, Paris and even in London. They are completely nuts. They want a complete end to lockdown, an end to social distancing and face masks and the country getting back to normal.
What is totally stupid about this is that this would result in the virus numbers increasing exponentially. Hundreds of thousands would die, the health services would be overwhelmed and the end result of that is that the economy would be ruined again.
If there was any justice all these right-wing nuts would go down with the disease, die off and leave the rest of us in a better world.
The SAGE committee is already worried about another 85,000 deaths this winter. To do away with all protective measures would be stupid.
In the States, where 42% still support the most selfish moronic leader the States have ever had, they have gone back into a clear lead over Bolsonaro and Brazil – 44,269 new cases yesterday and 870 more deaths – Brazil could only muster 43,412 new cases and 758 deaths.
These are crazy times. Health and politics! What a mix.
Stay safe!!
Todays Music to keep me sssAAAAnnnnEEE in Isolation – Tim Rose
I first saw Tim Rose with a band back in the 60s when Morning Dew first came out. I didn’t get to see him again for a few decades, just before he died. He was playing a club in Hull with an acoustic guitar. I had a chat afterwards. He was a nice guy.
I always rated him though he didn’t have too many great songs. They sounded a bit the same.
The Corona Diaries – Day 158
Another cold, wet day in August! – Doesn’t bode well for January! But it did not deter me. With no symptoms of Covid clogging my lungs I braved the weather and marched up my hill like the Grand Old Duke of York! I even marched down again. There was not a lot to see on account of the weather and the mowing (which has driven the wildlife away.
I came back – completed the final editing of my book – Farther from the Sun and played a lot of old sixties Beat bands from my distant youth. Great stuff.
Meanwhile, the machinations of our useless government continue – schools, many of which have already gone back, finally get some guidance – bit bloody late mate! How anybody is supposed to implement things retrospectively is beyond me. They continue to make it up as they go along.
The warning of a second wave was stark from a leaked SAGE report concerning this winter – they are predicting a worst-case scenario of 85,000 deaths and lockdown restrictions reimposed.
Meanwhile, it seems that despite all that clapping for key workers, they are still going to be shat one. No pay rises for nurses and teachers, drivers and cleaners, shop workers and refuse collectors and all the others. They’ll leave it to all the vultures hovering around the government contracts to make a killing. I bet Rees-Mogg is rubbing his hands with glee!
I bet the government (just like Trump) are praying for an early effective vaccine (in Trump’s case it doesn’t even have to be safe or effective – just in time to get him elected). They have passed legislation to rush it through.
The debate on getting back to work continues. Forget the health risks – it’s the economy stupid! Forget the added pollution – get back to work! We need the workers using public transport, buying meals, coffee and champagne! Businesses are crashing!
Too late I fear! Firms have seen the light. Working from home is good and productive. People don’t enjoy hours commuting. People like working from home. I reckon we’ll adjust to a two day in and three days out approach – requiring less office space and a move out of city centres.
That’d be great for the environment and good for people. Firms can reduce their costs on expensive offices and we can convert a lot of that space into accommodation to ease the housing problem. Win Win Win Win. The only losers will be those firms servicing the workers or transporting them in.
It’ll settle. Compared to the job losses when we crash out with Brexit it’s peanuts.
In the race to be the world’s most incompetent twat Trump surges ahead. Not only do we have the most Weasley, lying, fear-mongering speeches designed to fire-up his base in an attempt to steal the election through the electoral college, but we have a continued rise in Covid-19 cases and deaths – another 45,447 new cases and 1009 deaths! That’s ahead of the lamentable Bolsonaro who slips to second with a mere 43,412 new cases and only 855 deaths. I’m sure he’ll do better tomorrow! I’m waiting for the dark horse (with currently the worst record per million in the world – our bumbling Johnson) to sneak up on the rail in the coming months. I think we’re in for a hard winter.
Don’t get too complacent good people. Corona loves complacency! Stay safe!!
Today’s Music to keep me SSSSaaaaNNNNEEE in Isolation – Minor Beat Groups of the sixties.
The Corona Diaries – Day 157
Today is a cold, rainy dismal day. This is still August. We have all of winter to get through and this is a taster. Tomorrow may be sunny again but we know that whatever the next couple of months holds, throughout November, December, January, February and March we are going to have a lot of wet, cold weather. Walks are not going to be the pleasant jaunts they have been these last four months. There will not be the chance of meeting up with friends and family outside.
There does not appear to be much chance of getting a vaccine before winter. I think that psychologically our lockdown will feel much more claustrophobic and our isolation much more extreme.
I ask myself how we can get back to some semblance of normality, how we can feel secure going shopping or meeting up inside with family and friends? Right now with the rate going up – up to 1522 new cases yesterday – I do not feel confident of not going down with the disease.
I think if we had a government that was on the ball – as with Scotland, Germany and New Zealand, I would feel safe to have a normal life. That means have a good Track and Trace system in place coupled with accurate information about the level of infection in my area. I do not think we have that.
The Government constantly puts people in positions of power (like Dido Harris) based on their Brexiteering credentials and loyalty – not their competence. They keep giving out contracts to their chums instead of putting them out to tender.
Consequently, we do not have a Track and Trace system that is effective enough, we waste millions on substandard equipment, we have no Track and Trace App and nobody is on top of anything.
Everything the government is doing smacks of panic and incompetence. The examinations fiasco to the sacking of civil servants. It stinks.
They give out directives without any direction – such as with the back to school moral duty.
Everything fills me with foreboding. They do not seem to have a handle on anything.
What I want is a leader who gives clear, concise instructions and information.
I want clear, up to the minute, local information in order to give me an idea of risk.
I want a Track and Trace system in place that is capable of finding all infected people – including asymptomatic cases and contacting all contacts so that they can be isolating and are not spreading the disease.
I would like a phone app that tells me if I have been close to anybody who has the disease.
I want tests at airports to check for people bringing the virus back in.
At present we have none of that. All we get is cheerleading, snappy little slogans, panic and dithering. Johnson blusters his way around, gives no concrete guidance, then disappears, while Cummings is busy knifing civil servants and shifting the blame elsewhere. I don’t trust him an inch. He does whatever he wants in order to win – lying, cheating and throwing colleagues under the bus. Competence is not a factor. It’s all about Brexit and loyalty. Hence – a mess.
You can see this from the figures. The number of excess deaths since lockdown now exceeds 63,000. the number of death certificates mentioning Covid are 57,200, yet we have ‘official’ Cummings-approved figures of 41,477.
I don’t believe them.
We’re heading for the perfect storm – a winter second wave of Covid, a seasonal flu epidemic and Brexit.
The furloughing is ending and the redundancies are already mounting. When a no-deal Brexit hits in January the economy will take a further hit.
It looks to me that we’re in for a long bleak winter!
Could be worse I suppose. The hospital deaths are down and patient numbers are down. The NHS seems to be doing a great job despite all the Tory cuts.
The other side of the pond is interesting. Trump and Bolsonaro continue to joust as to who is the most inept and deplorable.
The US is rioting again following the absurd shooting of Jacob Blake. Instead of attempting to pacify the divisions Trump is pouring fuel on it. He has not said a word against the shooting but is threatening the demonstrators again. It seems that it is alright to shoot an unarmed black man in the back seven times and go around threatening people with guns – like seventeen-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse – a Trump-supporting kid, now accused of murder, who thinks it’s alright for armed militia to roam the streets shooting protestors. The police are doing a good job. He’s the friend of all black people, all women and law and order. The fact that he’s presiding over a country on the brink of civil war is immaterial.
The USA has another 43,814 new cases and 1118 deaths. Brazil beats the USA in new cases with 44,235 cases yesterday but comes second with only 984 new deaths. The question remains as to which of them will come out top as the most deplorable.
Of course, their supporters still think they are great!
Stay safe everyone! The world is in chaos but always remember – the vast majority of people are absolutely great! Don’t let the mean ones spoil your life!
Today’s Music to keep me ASSNEEE in Isolation – Peter Le Farge
Peter Le Farge was a Folksinger in the Greenwich Village sixties scene. He claimed to be a Native American Indian – but that is open to doubt. He was a rodeo rider and painter who tragically died in 1965 (a possible stroke or OD on sleeping pills).
He wrote a number of great protest songs about Native American Indians – was championed by Dylan and Johnie Cash.
Today I’m playing my Peter Le Farge.
The second track on here:
The Corona Diaries – Day 156
We are getting near to the end of August, the end of summer, and into the Autumn. There are worrying times ahead. With the approach of winter, they are expecting a second wave of Covid-19 along with the seasonal flu epidemic. With schools back, the diseases will spread. That’ll spell trouble for medical services!
But I’m making the most of the last days of summer. I was up bright and early climbing up my hill and completing my 10K. It felt good. The sun shone on me. I even came back and painted a few windows!
This afternoon I’ve been inside. It’s been pouring with rain and I’ve been doing some editing and playing the Grateful Dead. Can’t be bad.
I had a real laugh watching Johnson in school. He’s such a twerp of a nincompoop. I can’t imagine what the rest of the world makes of him (or us for electing him).
The government is still in a flat panic. Nothing is working. The oven-ready Brexit talks have stalled and we’re looking at a no-deal – with all the job losses, bureaucracy and red tape that entails (the Tories want to do away with workers’ rights and environmental standards and the EU doesn’t want their markets undercut). The scientists are predicting a second wave of Covid, there is going to be a round of seasonal flu (which will confuse the issue), schools are going back – even if we don’t know quite how, our world-beating Track and Trace is still misfiring (more targets missed), the quack theories on 5G are still circulating, the empty offices have knock-on effects on rents, transport and support services (shops, pubs and sandwiches), the economy is still in a mess and this useless bunch of right-wing extremists aren’t up to the job!
Not to worry – Dominic has the answer. He wants the biggest racist, misogynistic, climate change denier and environmental scourge on the planet. As he couldn’t get Trump he is going for the Aussie jerk Tony Abbott. He’ll fix everything and set up all manner of deals. (Before you know it we’ll be a Third World country).
On a high note, houses are selling like hotcakes. Perhaps everybody is selling up and moving abroad before everything collapses around them?
As we look to January with warnings of food shortages, mass job losses, second waves, epidemics, NHS collapse, and Tony Abbott joining forces with Dominic Cummings, I’m feeling good. Part of me is thinking that the silly plonkers have brought it all on themselves. I know that is not a nice thing to think – but it’s true. I despair of people!
Speaking of which – the rioting is going nicely in the States as another black man is moronically shot seven times in the back at close range for daring to get into his car. Trump, far from sympathising with innocent black men being shot and murdered by police, is threatening to bring more violence down on them. It’s not surprising that he is languishing in the polls.
I watched the Tribe of Trump stirring up hatred and fear at their convention, their only weapons, firing up their base and looking to steal the election through the electoral college. It stinks. I think we could have a civil war if this goes on much longer. America is collapsing in on itself due to incompetence, extremism and madness. The Republican Party has been taken over by the clan of Trump.
Today in the UK we had another 1048 new cases of Covid and 16 deaths – still going up slightly.
In the USA it was up to 42355 with another 1260 deaths. I hope some of those people who still think it’s a hoax and refuse to wear masks or social distance are beginning to get worried. Until it’s under control things cannot get back to normal and they are stopping it getting back to normal.
In Brazil we have a similar fool in charge. The ‘little flu’ has killed another 1085 with 47,162 new cases.
I told you that I despair of people – they are still supporting these incompetent fools.
Anyway – say hello to Tony Abbott if you see him – adios and adieu – fare the well! We’re all doomed!