Wildewire

I'm definitely less productive at the moment than I have been. My morning Facebook binge has gone from around ninety minutes to more than a couple of hours. I'm depressed by people who post their opinions- that the Covid-19 virus was man-made, that it is being disseminated via 5G telephone masts, that the lockdown is a Nazi -(yes "Nazi" plot) etc. Someone I know claimed that people VOLUNTEERING to take part in vaccine trials were succombing to "the Nazi National Health Service". I asked her to explain and she doubled down with more of her OPINION- as we know; opinion overrules science and empirical fact. I decided to unfriend her rather than enter into futile debate. Another friend posted about "this man-made virus". When I asked him to share his source material he talked about governmental management failures, but wouldn't accept that wasn't the same as saying the virus had been man made. This friend is older and [fact] sparsely educated...

An interesting by-product of the Covid-19 pandemic has been the responses of people with extreme religious beliefs who claim that their faith is stronger than the virus. Sadly, for them; the virus didn't get the note and there have been a succession of "pastors" "immams" and others dropping dead from "Covid 19 complications" (AKA their own stupidity and arrogance) and unknown numbers of their "flocks" and their famillies who've been infected and/or died. When one "pastor" claimed that he'd continue his services until he was "in jail or in hospital" just two weeks before he was in a morgue it was clear that he DID understand the risks but flouted them anyway. Well... The pandemic and self-isolation instructions have come at Easter; one of the most lucrative times in the "Christian" calendar. "Churches", especially in America where they pay no tax have business plans built around estimations o...

The doorbell rang on Sunday. It was a guy I'd helped out almost ten years ago when he was suffering abuse from his Thai wife who, once she'd become a mother, told him how she was going to kick him out of their house and make him pay for it until the kid was 16. He was a friend of a longterm lodger. When I met him his wife attacked him regularly- I took photographic evidence and I contacted various social support oganisation and social work officials on his behalf all of whom were poised and ready to deal with a very real issue that men up here refuse to acknowledge. He did nothing. He refused to contact these people who were waiting to help him. I literally took it to the point where I couldn't do any more- he would have to step up. Eventually the various officials, two of whom were embarrassed at their work because of this told me there was nothing they could do any more. I was left feeling VERY exposed, embarrassed and quite annoyed. I didn't cut ties with him imm...

I just hope that we; the people, will be able to hang onto the practical changes being implemented to combat the global pandemic. This is an opportunity for the biggest redistribution of wealth... ever! A little over ten years ago, governments across the world used financial reserves to prop up the failing banking system; the prevailing wisdom was that without the banks world economies would fail. Now that people are unable to work and therefore earn, they will be getting into debt, what will the banks do now? If people can't pay their mortgages, or rent will they be evicted? If they can't pay for utilities, will they be disconnected? Either way; the situation is unprecedented and there will be a moment when we, the people will have the power to make things change for our permanent betterment or we will allow "them" to restore the stinking status quo. Perennially intractable issues like housing the homeless have suddenly been implemented and most people are real...