General / Off-Topic The safest place

[Ian Skippy]

We're at roughly three weeks from the first official cases. I'm in agreement with the idea that population density will either increase/decrease the rapidity of spread, but while this is no New York, it's still a city with tens of thousands of people. And that's just my local city, there being many others. So far it's just crickets, and I think there should be more activity using the accepted models.

Well, we'll just have to wait and see (or, hopefully, not! ). To provide some local perspective; the Netherlands is a tiny country and extremely densely populated compared with most western countries. It is ~14x more densely populated than the US for example. Corona hit the Netherlands hardest (so far, that is) in the South, which is a mere 157 miles from the very northern province (Groningen, where I lived before I moved to Belgium).You can see a map of the spread in the Netherlands here:

Actuele informatie over COVID-19 | RIVM

Actuele cijfers COVID-19 en nieuws over het nieuwe coronavirus

www.rivm.nl

Three weeks after the first case, we had a total of 'only' 76 casualties, the overwhelming majority of them in Brabant. The rest of the country, at the time, had combined less than 10 casualties. Not per day, in total. The week after that 434, and the week after that 1393. And that is in our tiny, densely, packed country. I hope I am wrong, but I fear the worst for most US states is yet to come.

And if not, we'll have a whole bunch of new and very interesting questions!

 

[Ian Skippy]

France, someone is angry!
View attachment 167954

If you are interested in a good rant, here is the petition this refers to:

Spoiler

" I will not let anyone say that budgetary choices are made at the expense of your security. This is false. I will be the guarantor. " This is what Emmanuel Macron wrote on July 20, 2017 .

However, almost 3 years later, in the midst of a COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, it is obvious that budgetary choices have been made at the expense of our security. Our health security. In 2018 Emmanuel Macron deleted more than 4,000 hospital beds. In 20 years, 100,000 hospital beds have been eliminated .

Today the 6th economic power in the world, 3rd exporter of arms in the world, today France is full of stocks of LBD and grenades for its police forces but lack of masks, tests, respirators, resuscitation beds for his care forces ...

In the midst of the Coronavirus crisis, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said on March 28, 2020 during a speech : " I will not let anyone say that there was a delay in the decision-making regarding confinement. "

No one ? Really ?

We are saying here that there has been a delay in containment measures.

We say here that maintaining the first round of municipal elections in this epidemic context was criminal.

We demand the requisition of the means of production of masks and medicines .

We demand from the government of the 6th world economic power that the "appeals for donations" and public charity cease , and that the necessary money be recovered in the gifts distributed for 20 years to the wealthy thanks to the suppression of the ISF , to the reduction of the inheritance tax, to the reduction of the tax on capital income and on the wealthiest income, to that of the tax on the profits of large companies, etc.

We call for the opening of a parliamentary inquiry as well as an independent judicial inquiry so that all the light can be shed on this state scandal .

Whatever happens, it is only together that we can achieve " a complete reassessment of the social" hierarchy "of the trades, in accordance with our values and relative to their real usefulness ".

You will not confine our anger.

It has been signed by 0.0014% of the French population. Not holding my breath there will be a 'requisition of the means of production', but it sounds delightfully retro in 2020...

 

[lysan]

If you are interested in a good rant, here is the petition this refers to:

Spoiler

" I will not let anyone say that budgetary choices are made at the expense of your security. This is false. I will be the guarantor. " This is what Emmanuel Macron wrote on July 20, 2017 .

However, almost 3 years later, in the midst of a COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, it is obvious that budgetary choices have been made at the expense of our security. Our health security. In 2018 Emmanuel Macron deleted more than 4,000 hospital beds. In 20 years, 100,000 hospital beds have been eliminated .

Today the 6th economic power in the world, 3rd exporter of arms in the world, today France is full of stocks of LBD and grenades for its police forces but lack of masks, tests, respirators, resuscitation beds for his care forces ...

In the midst of the Coronavirus crisis, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said on March 28, 2020 during a speech : " I will not let anyone say that there was a delay in the decision-making regarding confinement. "

No one ? Really ?

We are saying here that there has been a delay in containment measures.

We say here that maintaining the first round of municipal elections in this epidemic context was criminal.

We demand the requisition of the means of production of masks and medicines .

We demand from the government of the 6th world economic power that the "appeals for donations" and public charity cease , and that the necessary money be recovered in the gifts distributed for 20 years to the wealthy thanks to the suppression of the ISF , to the reduction of the inheritance tax, to the reduction of the tax on capital income and on the wealthiest income, to that of the tax on the profits of large companies, etc.

We call for the opening of a parliamentary inquiry as well as an independent judicial inquiry so that all the light can be shed on this state scandal .

Whatever happens, it is only together that we can achieve " a complete reassessment of the social" hierarchy "of the trades, in accordance with our values and relative to their real usefulness ".

You will not confine our anger.

It has been signed by 0.0014% of the French population. Not holding my breath there will be a 'requisition of the means of production', but it sounds delightfully retro in 2020...

Well I understand the anger, the yellow vests ain’t going away any day soon.

 

[Good Whiskey]

One thing events like this always remind me of is how warped our perception of the world is because of nations, which do not actually exist beyond our thoughts and the paper we commit them to. Viruses don't plague nations as they appear on maps. They plague human beings. They cross borders in trucks, on planes, on boats and on foot. They don't recognize Americans and Canadians and Angolans and Chinese. They remind us that everything we've come up with and live by is entirely ephemeral and arbitrary, and it all only carries whatever weight we mutually agree to assign to it. To paraphrase Governor Cuomo of New York, they are the great equalizer.

 

[Ian Skippy]

Well I understand the anger, the yellow vests ain’t going away any day soon.

Indeed, this is part of a much larger source of unrest in France. I don't think it is very much helping right now though.

 

[Davidkylo]

Home is the safest place to live on earth. nowhere else.

 

[Ian Skippy]

Home is the safest place to live on earth. nowhere else.

ISS is doing fine, no?

 

[Ian Skippy]

Adding perfect timing to an already impeccable track record, the UN decided upon this: the next members of the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, UN Special Rapporteur on the protection of freedom of opinion and expression and UN’s next global monitor on the right to health will be picked by...

drumroll

Spoiler

China

 

[jasonbarron]

Yep. You just can't make this stuff up.

 

[GJ51]

Italy, France record lower coronavirus deaths: Live updates

France records 357 deaths, lowest daily increase in a week; Italy reports 525 deaths, the lowest in more than two weeks.

www.aljazeera.com

 

[sewerratuk]

Boris has been admitted to hospital, it’s being played down but you have to hazard it is pretty bad. If I was PM I would allow anyone to take me unless it was serious.
And Scotland’s chief medical officer has resigned, she didn’t really have a choice after that hypocrisy

 

[jasonbarron]

Boris has been admitted to hospital, it’s being played down but you have to hazard it is pretty bad. If I was PM I would allow anyone to take me unless it was serious.
And Scotland’s chief medical officer has resigned, she didn’t really have a choice after that hypocrisy

I agree, Boris must be in serious trouble. What do you mean by that last part about Scotland's chief medical officer and hypocrisy?

 

[insanephoton]

I agree, Boris must be in serious trouble. What do you mean by that last part about Scotland's chief medical officer and hypocrisy?

She was officially telling people to stay at home and not make unnecessary trips, but was found to have made 2 trips to her second home during lockdown.

 

[Synkreto]

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sz1bGzYdRdk

 

[jasonbarron]

She was officially telling people to stay at home and not make unnecessary trips, but was found to have made 2 trips to her second home during lockdown.

oof

 

[metatheurgist]

ISS is doing fine, no?

No cases in Antarctica afaik.

 

[Robin of Spiritwood]

Boris has been admitted to hospital, it’s being played down but you have to hazard it is pretty bad. If I was PM I would allow anyone to take me unless it was serious.

Probably correct.
The NHS can easily send someone to No. 10 to do a swab, read SpO2, listen to lungs, take blood etc.
They can't do a portable CT, which may have become needed.

 

[Robin of Spiritwood]

I'd say stupid. And I mean really stupid.
How can one think it's wise to ram an Ice Class certified cruise ship in a patrol boat 5-6 times lighter

Why is an Icebreaker Cruise ship faffing around at the Equator?
(Who is it carrying and what do they intend to ram? )

 

[lysan]

Yep. You just can't make this stuff up.

Yeah talk about letting the fox guard the henhouse.

 

[Morbad]

Why is an Icebreaker Cruise ship faffing around at the Equator?

Arctic Cruise season peaks in the summer when days are longer and lanes less choked with ice, but the ships work perfectly fine in other waters and it's vastly more economical/profitable to keep ships in service. The RCGS Resolute runs both arctic, antarctic, and south/central American routes. It had recently finished the antarctic season and was working it's way north in preparation for the arctic season, running it's Central and South American cruises in between.

You can clearly see the ship's itinerary:

Meet RCGS Resolute | One Ocean Expeditions

In 2018 we welcomed RCGS Resolute to the One Ocean Fleet. Purpose-built for polar travel, it sets a new standard for comfort, safety and accessibility in small ship cruising.

www.oneoceanexpeditions.com

At the time of this incident, they were headed to Willemstead, likely to take on passengers on the way to Panama.

(Who is it carrying and what do they intend to ram? )

It's crew, and almost certainly nothing.

The idea that one would use a five-star cruise ship in active service to sneak mercenaries into Venezuela is far fetched, as is the idea one would plan on ramming anything, let alone a warship, especially while following procedure and contacting the MRCC for guidance in the process.

There are two different sides to the story and it's too soon for the results of any investigations, but the cruise line's account is far more credible.

Personally, I suspect that jumpy naval authorities became suspicious of the cruise ship (which was adrift and conducting engine repairs very near the border) which was then interdicted by an inexperienced and/or ill-informed crew aboard the Naiguatá. I find it hard to believe the collision was intentional, as that would be profoundly moronic, but a reckless and overly close approach to intimidate or board the Resolute could easily have gone wrong in poor weather.