“…[COVID-19] tests carried out across the UK, excluding Northern Ireland. – Priti Patel, UK Home Secretary [a Conservative politician].”

Link.

Another article:

‘Speaking at the daily Downing Street coronavirus briefing, Priti Patel [a Conservative] was asked twice if she would apologise about the lack of PPE being provided to frontline workers. “I’m sorry if people feel that there have been failings,” she said. “I will be very, very clear about that.”’

…

‘Speaking to Sky News after the press conference, the [Labour Party] shadow health secretary, Jonathan Ashworth, said: “It wasn’t really an apology, was it? It was one of those half-hearted apologies where you use the word ‘sorry’ to give the impression that you are apologising but you are not actually in reality apologising.”‘

Link.

Let me get this straight, the Home Secretary (a Conservative) can’t read numbers, and is very, very clear about something it appears she cannot sympathise or empathise with, and cannot ensure it is fixed. If Amazon (for example) can figure it out why can’t a national government‽ Logistics, pure and simple.

By the way, the graph indicates things are improving, right? Look carefully at the vertical scale, it’s logarithmic; equal height divisions for 100 – 1,000 – 10,000 – 100,000 – 1,000,000. It’s disingenuous and thus completely reprehensible!

Oh yeah, the resistance to quoting the number of dead and affected nurses, what’s all that about then?

Back to Priti Patel:

In a radio interview about her refusal, four times, to appear before a select committee to discuss the [Conservative] government coronavirus response, she said there was:

“politicking going on”.

Link.

Am I allowed to opine that she’s out of her depth here? Not just regarding the government’s response, but in her inability to even pretend to be concerned about the people her and her government’s indecision and ineptitude affects.

I bought some noise-cancelling headphones to be prepared well in advance of working from home, or so I thought. Delivered the weekend before the UK government advised non-essential workers to work from home if at all possible. Luckily I can work from home, and I’ve got an understanding employer.

I had just enough time to set them up and not feel silly in audio video calls. Well, not too silly.

Being honest, my initial impression of listening to music, even close to top volume, they seemed a teeny bit ‘dull’ compared to my Bluedio Revolution R+, but it’s hen I discovered I’d set Amazon Prime Music to equalise the volume of all tracks. Yeah, that’s better.

Before buying the new ones I’d read up on noise cancellation and honestly didn’t expect much. I was wrong. Dead wrong. I *also* listened to a few of the tracks recommended to bring out the best (or worst?) in headphones. You know, tests.

I really don’t know what prompted me to search YouTube just now for ‘headphone test’ but I’m so glad I did! The very first one I tapped on both reminded me of my advancing years (high frequency hearing loss) and, well…

Headphones on, darkened room, here it is; listen to the end!

Ultimate Headphones Test (The only 10 minutes you won’t waste on YouTube today.)

Advisory: read the comments if you must,

Warning: sweary stuff later.

I’ve been working from home. Until today I was doing pretty well at it too, motivation high, reasonably productive despite the relative isolation, but I hit a productivity brick wall today.

No matter, I’ll have a good old-fashioned moan, I’m sure it’ll help!

I know they mean well, but when my oldest daughter’s high school sends out informative messages they do so in the most amateur way imaginable.

Today’s email arrived with a typically useless subject, this is the shortest by a comfortable margin:

“JWa”.

The body text is even more abbreviated than usual:

“Please find attached information

Regards”.

And the attachment is:

“KIT 2.docx”.

Yet again (yes, I complained about the previous messages) there’s an almost impenetrable wall of text to extract both meaning and relevance from. To be fair though, at least this time there’s white space between the paragraphs!

/me takes a breath

Meanwhile, my youngest daughter’s primary school is exclusively posting on Facebook, despite having a similar messaging system to the high school. Anyone without Facebook is left high and dry. Yes, I asked if they could also use the system to email so I can forward to my wife, who’s not on Facebook.

But at least the primary school’s messages are written by someone who knows how to communicate effectively!

/me takes a big breath

My wife came home in the early hours of early Thursday morning from her night shift, she’d apparently gone pale, had developed a too-high temperature and the week-old cough had escalated somewhat. Her employer generously let her come home.

The same employer that refuses to test all-but those admitted to hospital with advanced symptoms of COVID-19 (or at least a coronavirus.) So the same people tasked with looking after sufferers are without adequate protection and testing.

So, instead of being tested to see if it is or isn’t a coronavirus, my wife must self-isolate for 2 weeks while I attempt to work, look after my wife, the girls, shop… and try to stay sane whilst wondering how we got into this mess. I’m not feeling sorry for myself, I’m angry that we’re letting this happen.

And then the news that there’s no shortage of masks, it’s a regional supply issue, that the government missed a deadline to apply for European ventilator aid, that a private company offered thousands of ventilators sources from overseas – but were ignored, that approval for proctor ventilators was due this week and its spun as ‘ready for manufacture’, that politicians, royals, celebrities and sports players can get tested, and consultants get fitted for and trained on the use of the ‘good’ masks but there’s no plan whatsoever to keep nurses and ordinary doctors safe‽

/me gives up, takes another breath

For yesterday evening we were urged on the regular and throughout social media to stand at our front doors at 8pm and clap for the NHS, for the wonderful people staffing it in these extraordinarily difficult times.

Apart from making the nation feel better about what’s going on…

…I wonder, when what’s going on is teetering on the edge of being controllable, what the FUCK did clapping at the door actually achieve‽

We’ve either been brought up to believe the NHS is both a wonderful thing and inviolate or saw its formation. It is wonderful and it should indeed be inviolate! But the latter has been eroded over the last 10 years by those evil nasty party Tory twats, you know, the same ones who won the popular vote in the last election? FFS, the popular vote to the tories!

As with my last post here, I have to say that no-one who voted Tory deserves for them or their loved ones the fate intended by the special advisers – the pre-lockdown ‘strategy’ that its ok for government to do nothing and send out the message to be ready to watch one’s loved ones die to protect our economy.

When we emerge from this pandemic, for we shall, I’m certain our rights will have been permanently eroded. That’s the easy bit to reconcile.

I’m scared of the unknown. I’m frightened for my family, for my job, and for humanity; what was once certain now isn’t.

“This is something you won’t want to read, but please read it anyway; it’s worth remembering next time you vote here in the UK.”

https://www.thecanary.co/trending/2020/03/24/former-tory-adviser-uses-130000-austerity-deaths-to-argue-against-coronavirus-shutdown/amp/ (Link opens in new window.)

I said this on Twitter and Facebook yesterday, but it’s a bit insular isn’t it. Expand it to the right wing of politics everywhere and I’m still unable to grasp how anyone can think this way; the depth of their conviction – and their ignorance of facts staggers me.

Right now as society shifts as the covid-19 coronavirus spreads and our liberties are necessarily restricted, I can’t process a lot of things, and haven’t really felt able to use the word ‘evil’ without at least attempting to understand the rationale behind past decisions made. But, restricting my thoughts to the UK, the lack of humanity in Conservative party official policy through my entire adult life is telling.‬

From Thatcher onwards, the ability of Conservative politicians to ignore their own people – constituents who put them in power trusting in the state’s nominal duty to protect – really does baffle me. The obvious absence of that humanity leads me to an inescapable personal conclusion.

If you even once attempt to justify a past vote for the UK Conservative party by picking a single current example of ‘a good thing they’re doing right now” or one at any point since Thatcher, rather than shun I’ll make it my business to educate you. The complete lack of actual knowledge I’ve observed since ‘Brexit’ became a thing and since voters here decided to jump to the political and social right, it burns. Voting for a manufactured personality, in blissful ignorance of all the evidence of detached privilege, incompetence and a singular selfish purpose, it burns.

This is not fine. (Think of precedent.)

So what if I’m crap at this ‘politics’ thing, at least my conscience will be clear for having tried.

---

I’m publishing the post now (3am!) but might come back to flesh it out another time, when I can process what the fuck is happening.

January:

It was a bright cold day in April January, and the clocks were striking thirteen. Winston Smith, his chin nuzzled into his breast in an effort to escape the vile wind, slipped quickly through the glass doors of Victory Mansions, though not quickly enough to prevent a swirl of gritty dust from entering along with him.

February:

It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents—except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the housetops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the dark.

March:

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way – in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

April:

Jack Torrance thought: Officious little prick.

An article in defence of the effects of the evolution of the English Conservative Party’s core principles in the decade after forming the 2010 coalition government.

I hope you found something useful in it.

Imagine Fantasy Island without Ricardo Montalbán and Hervé Villechaize. And the directors, writers, cast, crew…

No more:

“Our guests are arriving on time, to the second.”

Or:

“Smiles everyone!”

But more of:

“I think this is someone else’s fantasy.”

And:

“The island ain’t what you think it is.”

---

Some quotes from here: https://www.moviequotesandmore.com/fantasy-island-new-quotes/

My NFL bets failed.  No shame in that.  Given the abilities of the teams surrounding the 3 QBs I’d have expected 10TDs for the weekend, but no, it simply wasn’t to be.  The summary: Garoppolo (1 passing TD on Saturday), Jackson (1 passing TD on Saturday) and Mahomes, well…

Patrick Mahomes had a frankly magnificent 5 touchdown passes yesterday.  Behind 24-0 to the Texans at the start of the 2nd quarter, and with r/Browns quite rightly having written them off, the Chiefs scored 41 unanswered points, 28 in that 2nd quarter alone, winning with a triumphal final score of 51-31!  Given such entertainment value I cannot complain about losing my stake.

It gives me no pleasure as a Cleveland Browns fan to break the news that the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens were eliminated from the playoffs in the early hours of this morning (UK time.)

/s = a tag used to indicate sarcasm

Disappointed about the bet I made for the new car fund on Thursday but hey, having a guilt-free reason to root for pretty-much any other next week will almost easily make up for it!

Trying to automatically post from this blog’s RSS feed to Reddit using the IFTTT service.

It’s not going well.