Well, I’ve been in my house pretty exclusively for what seems like forever. Going for groceries feels like a trip into an alternate future. But it’s nice to get out.

Otherwise, there’s walking the dog, who sadly will be leaving us very soon. Playing the guitar out back, dusting off that novel to see if I can resurrect it. Then Zooming, FaceTiming, and Hanging Out with friends. Which isn’t ‘getting out,’ but is both valuable and exhausting. It’s what we’ve got.

Meanwhile, we’ve also got an interminable circus sideshow as the Premier League season still remains in limbo, with various other leagues deciding various things. Me, I stick with my original position: Keep everyone in place, promote if you like. Trim by dropping five at season’s end, or do it more slowly. Doesn’t really matter. Work out a deal: More PL games, more revenue to help make up for what’s going to be lost in the near term.

For now, though, it seems the League are still desperate to find a way to finish, so god only knows. Me, I know I’m sick of hearing that the season “has” to be played out. No it doesn’t. They can choose to do so or not. I personally think everyone could use a dose of certainty at this point, and the League could give it to us by simply saying, ‘Time, gentlemen’. Move on to the summer, transfers, plans for the next campaign, all of that. Give Liverpool the title. Who cares?

Naturally, my interest in how the campaign is concluded is heavily weighted by what’s best for Villa. But I also think what’s best for Villa lines up with reality.

To say it’s an unprecedented situation is an epic understatement, and there’s just no way this plays out with any relation to the season up to its suspension. Closed-door, neutral site, no crowds, overseas venues, even…the varying motivation and effort of teams the relegation contenders will play. The levels of fitness, lack of team training sessions. Contracts. It’s all just a mess. Never mind the players being kept away from their families all over the world while in quarantine over the summer. Or simply refusing to play.

Points per game? Midseason position? Pure crap. Those who argue that “integrity” demands the games be played are inherently acknowledging Villa could go on a winning streak. So a solution that precludes that possibility is not about integrity. It’s about money, always has been, and the players are commodities. The owners, directors, and investors won’t be out there playing, or quarantined for weeks or even months away from their families.

I get the money. I get the legal issues. And at least some are finally copping to those being the primary considerations for finishing rather than “integrity.” There is no sporting integrity to the season if it’s played out in bizarre, forced circumstances that affect all clubs disproportionately. It’s a very small fig leaf.

And I have to say, I’m furious with emerging reports that the top six clubs are united in insisting on relegation. It’s easy to say “Play it out” when your safety is assured and you’re playing for CL money and prestige. Doesn’t matter to them how fair and consistent the competition is for everyone else facing quite different stakes. I’m hoping the purported coalition of eight clubs opposing the current proposal is true and holds.

Now, football as a whole? I’ve no idea what the financial ramifications are for all clubs. I don’t really even know what they are for Villa. It’s obviously going to vary. But football is part of the nation’s, and world’s, lifeblood. Football will continue. And somehow, some way, teams will be reborn. Instead of focusing exclusively on one solution, some thought out to be given to others that really are about the spirit and importance of football.

So if the games “have” to be played to keep clubs afloat, and if it can be done safely, and the players agree, go ahead, grab the TV money while also acknowledging that the massive disruption to the season simply cannot produce a fair result at the bottom end of the table.

•••••••

The other thing I’m sick of is the interminable Manure interest in Jack Grealish. Or at least the articles about it. I’d like to think, given what we’ve recently heard Wes Edens say about still planning to challenge at the top in five years, that there’s a chance Jack would stay at least through the end of his current contract. And of course, that depends on Villa staying up.

Now we all know Conor Hourihane had it right when he said, “If I’m being brutally honest, he’s too good for our team at Aston Villa.” His honesty is refreshing, but it does also tell us how important Jack is to the club. Can we survive without him? We’ll find a way, sure, but it would be nice if that were a question for another day, and certainly not a question being answered in the Championship.

At the same time, no one would begrudge him a big move. He does deserve to be surrounded by better players and playing on the biggest stages. But that doesn’t mean it won’t sting to see him in another shirt, and it doesn’t mean Villa’s resources can’t get better players around him sooner rather than later. Of course, if he brings in a huge fee, it might well benefit the club more than him staying—if the ensuing recruitment is right.

Anyway…here we are, the strangest period I’ve experienced.

I hope everyone is well and staying safe.

Comments 134

  1. From previous post

    Well whatever someones point of view on covid is I have heard some very odd things lately. Banburys Hospital has Zero covid patients and neither does a very big one near slough near a firm I subby for. The owner of said firm had a chest infection which cleared up with penicillin, his Dr tried to put him down as a covid patient. His Father in law died last week too and not of Covid, same thing they tried to add him to the list.

    Care homes are being asked to do the same with normal deaths being overwritten by GP’s even though they never saw the patient. Talking of which People in care homes that need hospital are not getting sent there. If they then Die because they can’t get treated I suspect they are more covid statistics. Add to that the many that won’t go to hospital with their ailments and have potentially died at home. Theres a big chance this will dwarf anything covid actually does.

    The mrs care home has one woman that has had it, she was brought in but can’t move except for her eyes the poor old gal. She is susceptible to bronchitis and she got over covid.

    This chap whos seems rather bright, Michael Levitt, Professor of Structural Biology at Stanford and the winner of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 2013 thinks the Herd immunity was the right thing to do.

    “I think the policy of herd immunity is the right policy. I think Britain was on exactly the right track before they were fed wrong numbers. And they made a huge mistake.” His death toll estimates have beaten Fergusons into a cocked hat.

    What seems to be happening is we are following the science but it might be the wrong science or scientist.

    https://unherd.com/thepost/nobel-prize-winning-scientist-the-covid-19-epidemic-was-never-exponential/

  2. Hi JC, all good as is possible thanks mate, Whats frustrating is there are clearly deaths from Covid but with the tests also being dodgy and throwing up false positives its all so muddy. This is from the office of National statistics. I would say the UK stats are fairly good hence we look shit 🙂

    “Professor Sir Ian Diamond, the head of the Office of National Statistics (ONS), was interviewed on Marr yesterday. (You can watch it on the BBC iPlayer here.) They got into a number of interesting issues, including how best to calculate the UK death toll, which Diamond predicted is really around 30,000, not the 28,131 as of yesterday morning. This is if you add those deaths where medical practitioners have recorded COVID-19 as the cause of death on the death certificate but don’t have any test evidence to corroborate that. At present, as readers of this site will know, only those COVID-19 deaths where the patient tested positive are currently included in the Government’s official death toll.

    Diamond went on to explain to Andrew Marr that of the excess deaths he and his colleagues at the ONS have counted, up to a third are an indirect consequence of the lockdown and other measures, adding that even more indirect deaths will occur in the future.”

    The Rhetoric is that this is unprecedented stuff but 4.5 million have died of communicable disease this year so far 2.5 m children under 5 have died, there are loads of others like deaths by smoking 1.7 m cancer 2.8m There is next to no perspective and I am surprised at the lack of kick back, well there is some in France and Germany but its all hushed up.

  3. JC- thanks for the leader mate.

    I think that you can’t give Liverpool the title and relegate the bottom three that will never stand, just seems unfair. Also if two come up will that mean the pot of money is spread thinner? they won’t like that, certainly means the bigger clubs will have a harder time buying the likes of Jack too. Perhaps we can get Ferguson to model it? and I don’t mean Sir Alex.

    Told a Liverpool fan that he can have the title if its changed to the 3/4 Covid cup.

  4. Ha…Yeah. They’re just upset this is stealing their thunder, Liverpool.

    It is unfair, and did see some people talking sense about that this afternoon/evening. I mean, even considering taking the whole show to Australia? Utter farce.

    But money talks. And the clubs up top probably won’t like losing out on some. Really, they’re just being selfish, petulant children, seems to me. So who knows.

  5. And with the virus? God. We won’t have good answers for a long time…if ever, really, since it’s been handled so poorly.

    All I know is that I hope we’re learning something and can handle the next round of this, or the next, inevitable new one, with a lot more competence.

    Whatever the toll in lives and economically, whatever the causes, it didn’t *have* to do this much damage.

  6. Thanks for the header JC.
    Good to see clarity, you must have more time.
    Can’t help but agree on the whole, especially about the threat of boredom.
    Yes, let’s hope any change goes across the board, & also includes the greedy EPL & EFL.
    It’ll all scare the bejasus out of the senior establishment administrators.
    Couldn’t happen to a more deserving cause.
    About time.

  7. JC- yes mate we appear to not want to know the truth whatever it is, crazy thing is all the moneys on and in a vaccine now when so much more could have or could be done. We have stopped the world for what is looking like a bad flu season. I think a potential lack of herd immunity will bite many countries either by Covid or by the next version or not at all, Still don’t think its the real deal.

    That said Spanish Flu was mild then changed in the trenches to a real threat. Africa could be a disaster, as if they don’t have enough disease we have given them Obesity. They have 5 ICU beds per million people.

    one eminent scientist has said that its not Covid as such its the combination of that and one I forget the name of that causes a cytokine storm. Covid opens the door as it is. She said that one was introduced probably by vaccination as its a mouse Virus. Right who’s 1st for the Vaccine 🙂

    By locking down Dr John Lee says we may be stopping the mild form from spreading and the maintaining the deadly version via the hospitals, normally they run out of people to infect as they are dead so have to mutate to a milder form.

    On a lighter note every Thursday people are injuring themselves while clapping the NHS and ending up in A&E , well done.

  8. Whatever the outcome of how this season ends, if it includes relegation there will be massive legal cases against the EPL. However it finishes, the integrity of the season is compromised due to the inequalities of the situation.

    The EPL should be more concerned about how they are going to deal with next season. I can’t see crowds back in grounds until a vaccine appears. They need to start planning now.

    As for Jack, like all footballers looking to move this summer, they will find the transfer fees and salaries are not what they might expect. There’s an extremely strong case for any player to stay put for now rather than negotiate a long term contract elsewhere at a reduced salary. The time to move will be when the fans are back through the turnstiles.

  9. Plug – Don’t worry sky will put their prices up (again) and the clubs will put theirs up too. Nobody will rock the boat ultimately because that might destroy the gravy train all together, shame.

  10. Interesting 🙂

    “In France, it became known during a subsequent investigation that the first Covid19-positive patient had already been treated at the end of December 2019, one month earlier than previously assumed. The man was being treated for what appeared to be flu-related pneumonia. This case shows that the new corona virus either arrived in Europe earlier than assumed, or that it is not as new as assumed, or that the test result was a false-positive. In addition, it is not clear whether the man, who has long since recovered, was actually suffering from flu or corona virus or both.”

  11. Mark
    The good old days eh, sounds brilliant, but the logic has more gaps than tube stations.
    Revisionism is another opiate of the people, perhaps that’s the new treatment?

  12. Well, all getting very interesting regarding Purslow’s comments, and what is clearly Compass’s stance.

    Quite a little shit-storm they’ve kicked off. I’m sure Edens and Sawiris have consulted a lot of high-powered legal expertise before speaking.

  13. I don’t see what neutral grounds has to offer safety wise other than they can set up the cameras and leave them? it has plenty to take away. At least the money we have in our owners can buy the best lawyers while the EPL go broke.

  14. Dunno, MK.

    Haven’t really seen if there are detailed explanations. Guessing yes, the cameras. Consistency of measures, maybe less work required getting a few sites safe, less travel, an ability to concentrate resources. All of the above?

  15. Yeah, dressing rooms…any points of contact, doors, etc.

    I’m looking at all this and I’m just getting so fed up with the hierarchy in the game right now.

  16. Good morning/evening/night fellow lifers hope everyone is keeping well
    Football how can they think about restarting it ,all the while death numbers mounts up
    Our leaders in every walk of life have failed us for far too long(JC excluded)
    Anyways keep well and I see our old friend john lerwil popping up on other sites,

  17. MK, Sky may have to start reducing their prices in line with any reductions in sponsorship of the EPL. If that dodgy geezer completes his buy out of the Wai Ayes soon then BE In Sports will stop sponsoring the EPL. They’re based in Qatar who are at odds with the Saudis.

    Reduced sponsorship competition will lead to lower demand and lower sponsorship bids. I only see downward pressure on finances on the immediate horizon.

  18. Plug- They will try it mate of that I have no doubt look at shops and food prices. If the shit really hits the fan economy wise then they will have to rethink.

    JC – yes they are thinking with their yesterday hats on, part of me does think thats not the worst way to look at it, imagine a disaster you’ll get one.

    JG- glad to see your still here mate, I would not worry the deaths are not that bad considering a bad flu year is 650k to a million dead, this is a mild cold in comparison. Right now they have identified 12-18 strains so they will not vaccinate their way out .

    I hope they realise that this is just yet another pandemic to go with Diabetes, cancer, heart disease etc caused or made worse by our poor food supply and the wonderful government recommendations from huge cooperation. I expect they won’t as it will cancel said corporations hold on society. Imagine the next step, working from home by your fridge that will work well 🙂

  19. I’ve just seen my favourite stat during this global Hysteria session. Apparently 8 people died last year by falling over while putting their trousers on, brilliant.

  20. I’ve just seen my favourite quote from the new – ‘Stay alert’ instructions.
    “Stay alert? It’s a deadly virus not a zebra crossing”.

  21. IanG- Think we will have to stay alert to recognise it as the bloody thing has changed 18 times at least since Wuhan.

    Does make me laugh, the Government are convinced we can only understand slogans and the opposition think we are as thick as pig shit and can’t understand whats been said.

  22. Mark
    I think it’s more like the government doesn’t understand the actual advice given, & has to give out something that they have a chance of defending with their limited intelligence, but even screw that up.
    The parallels with what Trump is doing are alarming.
    Even Germany is twitching.

  23. As the current focus seems to be through the self interest lens, it’s obvious that them potentially losing money or power is more important than the scientific advice.

    The government seem to want to use football as a distraction & cover, which is passing the buck along with it.
    It should be interesting to see if someone in the FA, EPL & EFL actually remembers why we’re in the position & raises their head out of the trough.
    If the focus is the health of all people including footballers, then the season should be voided with all promotions & no relegations, so that we can unite with some clarity & restart when it won’t potentially kill people.
    Of course there are many on the periphery of the murdoch/ sky etc fold who don’t actually give a shit, & then find out they’re the financial patsy, which is where the business side of football seems to potentially be at the moment.
    Lap dogs are lapping it up.

    The players are not all dumb, & what they do should be indicative.

  24. IanG- Can’t argue there, years of education have seen to that. As for following or not following the science how about not doing the science? One mans opinion adopted worldwide near enough and any sceptics are ignored despite mounting empirical evidence, science without open discussion and debate?

    The Government will be held to blame no doubt but there is an undercurrent in politics that doesn’t care about the people or their opinions only their own ideology and positions and I include many academics in that. If Brexit has taught us anything its that they will stop at nothing and are still engaged in a war with each other. Public Health England who the government should be able to rely on are next to useless, no surprise since they have been at war with a civil service that has its own agenda. This country is divided like America and engaged in a foot shooting competition.

    Meanwhile we might as well empty our bank accounts and hand it to the 1% of the 1% and cooperation’s because thats where its heading.

  25. Some observations. The FA now seem to be the ones calling the shots insisting promotion and relegation is set in stone whatever happens to the season. As Mark says, their heads are so far into the trough, they can’t see what’s happening.

    Unless there is some clause written into the FA structure that clubs have signed up to, there will be 3 teams suing for sums that will break them. They would be far better off putting what funds they do possess into the lower league clubs that look like folding. Piss ups and breweries come to mind.

  26. some facts on social distancing??

    WHO recommendation – 1 metre
    USA – 6 feet
    Germany – 1.5 metres
    Australia – 1.5 metres
    France – 1 metre
    Italy – 1 metre
    Sweden – Use your common sense

    And this is priceless, take a look at the ‘alternative’ advisory group shadowing the Strategic Advisory Group for Emergencies that’s due to publish its first report tomorrow. Baring in mind this is supposed to provide a critique that should be unbiased take a look at this article and where the group all hold allegiance.

    https://order-order.com/2020/05/04/not-independent-activist-stuffed-shadow-sage/

    I ask you how can any of this be taken seriously?

  27. Mark
    No it’s not supposed to be unbiased, just right.
    The fact is that some of the things like calling boris churchhill & co alt right, are actually correct.
    We don’t know what the other committee’s contribution is, as they won’t tell us, & as they don’t speak out it would be easy to assume that either they are buried, or that they don’t disagree.
    There’s also a little of the pot calling the kettle black here Mark, as your own agendas are showing.
    A political bias is one thing, as long as it’s genuinely held for the people, it can have some respect.
    But all the brexit crew in government have changed position more times than someone with piles, so I don’t think that applies to their agenda, as it’s basically the british tea party, & we all know how crazy they turned out to be.
    Hardly the role model.
    I think from watching events, the new shadow cabinet are hardly extreme.
    The problem with acting out any ideologies, is that it incorporates trying to bring a concept into what is happening in the present, so it never works, & instead it has to come from assimilation & the experience of the reality, otherwise there is nothing to communicate other than the manipulation, which is wearing & usually eventually doesn’t end well.
    Everything else is often a projected mental health problem with us as the scapegoats.:]

  28. IanG- I have voted for both sides and even the Greens in the past but I would dispute that Boris and co are Far right mate, if they are they are fair enough but I don’t see that. Useless in some ways as most politicians seem to be these days but the left seems far more ideologically driven and detached from the working man. Is there any party that represents that sector any more?

    The fact remains that the Tories are our government and as such have been voted in by the people. We need a strong opposition for sure but we don’t need them to constantly undermine everything they try to do. The Civil service keep getting caught out doing the same along with the BBC etc. If Boris had said stay at home I can only imagine the calls to get back to work. I find it all very false, I try to find the truth I hope and this lot use whatever is at hand to sling mud the more they do it the less appealing they are.

    There is something sinister about all this, recently on twitter someone named theresa claimed two nurses had died in wales and 3 others were on ventilators, it got retweeted 10,000 times. The hospital pointed out that no-one had died and no nurses were ill. About 500 retracted their comments 9500 didn’t.

    Even the risk to NHS staff is over stated, they are far safer it turns out than the rest of us by quite a lot according to the data. but its constantly used as propaganda.

    I think you will find that that shadow sage group will have no problem getting published meanwhile any Skeptics on social media are cut off at the knees. They are of course painted as extreme far right, deniers etc even though many are just doctors and scientists or concerned people that have eyes and a brain. The many far left academics and doctors in the NHS don’t have to declare their political bias unless its highlighted and even then its ignored, presumably as they are deemed on the right side?

    For instance 5 NHS staff featured in the recent BBC documentary about PPE all hand picked activists. Now call me far right or whatever you like but I will call this stuff out as I would if I thought they were far right and seeking to sway opinion.

    Politics for me has no place in these arenas but everywhere I turn there it is.

  29. Oh and on censorship, Sir Bob Diamond, the head of the ONS, said the ONS had looked into the cause of non-Covid excess deaths since the beginning of the year and would publish its findings “in the next few days”. That hasn’t happened and maybe will never be seen as it shows up the problems with lockdowns.

    while in Germany

    “An impact accesment has been leaked in Germany from the Ministry of the Interior detailing the deaths that have occurred there because of the lockdown. Its cost more deaths from Cancer than have died from Covid . It has in the meantime already been dismissed by the Ministry as the expression of an “isolated individual opinion”.

    So it doesn’t seem to matter who’s in charge does it. Makes you glad footballs just about greed.

  30. Mark
    it’s as deep as you want to look, without trying to create a commentary which limits it.
    Motivation is what makes most things a crime or not, or helpful or not, not a construct.
    It’s also a matter of trust & whether we believe there is any.
    I think you tend to lump it all together into soup.

  31. MK,

    You’re going to have all sorts of varying accounts, erroneous reporting, etc. It’s very fluid, and will remain that way. Like I say, we won’t really know until the dust settles. ‘Reopening’ will give us more data. ER doctors in NYC will tell you a very different story, and there have been plenty of deaths among providers. I know everyone’s trying to get the real picture, but inaccurate accounts on twitter and youtube conspiracies aren’t going to give the answers.

    Me, I don’t think the epidemiologists and the rest have an agenda. If they’re exaggerating worst-case scenarios, it’s because they have to consider worst case. Now, like anyone, they want their models to be right. These folks love to be right. Which means there are plenty of just-as-smart people picking their work apart.

    But today in the US, the only country to handle it worse than England, the numbers are: 1.3 million(+) cases, 82,476 deaths. That’s a 6% rate. Of course, the case counts are low. Probably dramatically. So the IFR isn’t going to be that high in the end. But, since March, that’s a higher number of deaths than the upper-end forecast for the flu season (approx. 60k), in two months instead of six, with lockdowns. And based on 1.3 million cases vs. an estimated 55 million. The COVID death counts are probably low, as well.

    Coding for flu-related deaths is just as ‘arbitrary’ and widely variable as it is for anything else.

    If we want to prove over- or under-reaction, it’s about more testing, pure and simple. But that’s only going to help clear up some of the confusion, and is going to be more helpful going forward. I truly hate the economic suffering as much as anyone. Doing what I can to spend and support.

    But I’m not rushing out to get a haircut. Gave myself one and it’s not half bad.

  32. Hi JC, There certainly will be a lot to chew over. I like the phrase conspiracy theory, first used by the CIA I believe to help hide anything to close to the truth.

    A New York ER doctor flagged up that ventilators were causing problems a while back and that Oxygen was a better way to go. on that score Heard of a couple locally that both had it, she went in 1st and ended up on a ventilator which requires being sedated, she is still being weened off it and the drugs 7 weeks later while he was in and out in about 4 days. When another friend went in he was given the choice?? he asked which is best and two consultants gave him two different answers. I would not be surprised to find a fair few have died by unintentional mistreatment. Did you see that 66% of the patients in New York hospitals had been isolating at home apparently?

    I have personally heard so many cases of doctors wanting to label every death or cold/flu covid its not funny, things like end of life patients being put on the list even when they have two weeks to live, don’t even test them. The UK’s reporting differs to other countries it seems so there may be massive over reporting here or under reporting elsewhere maybe or both who knows.

    Neil Ferguson reckons the excess death here is 50-70% covid or 30-50% from overloaded hospitals etc, Except they are not overloaded quite the opposite so death from not getting treated is way up or another factor like stress. People in Care homes are not being sent to hospitals either. Visits to ER here are 58% down.

    The biggest cock up appears to be Public Health England and the NHS deciding to send old folk from the hospitals to the care homes and in some instances failing to tell them they had covid. I know this is true as it happened at the mrs place.

    Mr Ferguson has a terrible record with his Model and still has by the looks, other models are saying that not only is his wrong or poor but others were not even consulted which seems odd.

    It does look at the moment that most governments have had a bad case of shitting their pants. Unfortunately it can’t be fixed with a bit of daz and a quick hot wash.

    Also heard that they reckon that less than .6% of the UK population have had it so either the measures were unbelievably effective or this is the black death.

    I saw a comment that the players might not be physiologically ready to play and I’m still chuckling at that.

  33. Mark
    That’s what happens when there is no transparency.
    What’s actually going on is hardly likely to be better than they’re portraying, it’s usually worse.
    It’s the pattern with power games, they remind me of world war 1 british generals so far.

  34. JC
    Was the haircut good in the daylight the next day?
    As for the players, I’d look out for ending up a patsy if I was them, as things haven’t solidified enough to tell what’s truth yet.
    It’s not exactly that ‘Red Jack’ was representing the Villa at the captains meeting with the fat cats.
    Life’s harder than the moving reality, as usual.

  35. IanG- I saw this and thought yes thats about it.

    “The public is being so heavily bombarded with biased, selective information that it is almost impossible to make out the truth”

    Kerala’s a good example of what probably should of happened. I would question that India itself only has 82k cases and 2600 deaths. Thats a sub continent of some billion odd people? so much seems dependant on location and latitude (Vit D?) . Testing seems important but also inaccurate, the mrs has had her third yesterday which is the new one which is supposed to be accurate.

    Could Britain have done the same at an international hub? no idea of the scale myself. I noticed she has said 1 metre away not two, ours must be a better jumper 🙂 one things for sure Public Health England that were supposed to have a plan in place clearly didn’t .

    There are now studies from Spain and China stating that the key workers are at less risk than the population that are cooped up at home because they haven’t been able to find one case transmitted outside yet.

    Its appears VitD deficiency has a large part to play along with genetics, health status and age. I expect will will see if those with low death rates are successful or just too successful in time. If you stop transmission in the populace does that merely delay potential deaths or immunity which leads to less death? we will see.

    Saw an essay by a shelf stacker in tescos’s and he said that the the protocols are mostly ignored in store by staff and public, which I’d agree with, even said that the cleanliness of the staff loo’s etc is not exactly stellar. Looks like we have new “ism” in town Safetyism. Can’t vouch for its veracity but here it is.

    https://www.reddit.com/r/ukpolitics/comments/gj87id/an_essential_workers_rant/

  36. Oh and another stat of the day, 360,000 estimated to drown every year, mostly in swimming pools. I wonder if people having keys to their doors causes a lot of death?

  37. Mark
    It is obvious things are not what they seem, as they never have been.
    But the internet is a bit like a drug in that it replaces or changes the perceptions.
    What we do with it then encourages an exponential shift in how we view everything which uncontrollably changes our internal balance & outer perception, & creates uncertainty & distrust individually & as a society [football as a focus is currently useful to illustrate this].
    How it affects the natural world [which includes us], is often negative & destructive.
    So I’m more interested in what they’re trying to do with these bursts of impetus, rather than focus too much on what they say.
    In the martial arts they consider that often we always offer ourselves to the hook via our emotions & certainties, so if you don’t get involved in it the other person can’t attack you advantageously so goes somewhere else looking for a victim.

  38. IanG – speaking of how we look at things this whole debacle stinks of the woke culture. To me its like watching one huge emotionally driven decision after another.

    I’m certain about not much of this (who is) but when reputable doctors and scientists are being dismissed on the basis that what they are saying is not allowed? that is not rational, nor is plastering people with the left right label for what is a scientific/medical problem. Apparently Google , twitter and Facebook are the guardians of all reality, most of what I see in those arenas is virtue signalling.

    Meanwhile people are happy to sit at home and take state aid while the poorest risk their lives and their families so they can. They even want guarantees of safety at work before they will turn up? if thats not some fucked up thinking what is.

    This a school for kids idea of what will happen when they re-open.

    Children to be isolated in bubbles of small groups
    To remain with one teacher in one classroom all day
    All toys, books and soft furnishings removed
    Children to work at desks 1m apart, all to face the same direction, and not mix, INCLUDING NURSERY!
    Desks etc to be continually cleaned throughout the day
    To be seated at desks all day. No sitting on the floor
    Children only to attend in clean clothes and a clean coat every day
    No hot lunch for Reception and Year 1, packed lunches to be provided by the school
    No outdoor equipment to be touched
    They will have to spend much of the day working independently (the teacher cannot help them)
    Set toilet times
    Toileting accidents – children to clean themselves up; if they can’t then the parent has to come and collect the child to clean them at home.

    This is for under 5’s! why bother. As Steamer used to say blood like gnats piss.

    Being left and abandoned by labour is probably a bonus.

  39. Mark
    Woke culture? Well you are in Oxfordshire mate.
    The emotional messaging from authorities has been going on for at least the past 3 years, especially with the Brexit.
    You don’t work in an environment like a meat factory etc, you’re beginning to sound like ‘disgruntled of Long Compton’
    The labourless children on the pot? In my day we were given shovels mate

  40. IanG- No mate I work on building sites where they pretend to distance and have no cleaning facilities or PPE and couldn’t give a shit but hey.

    I’m not excluding anyone, emotional messaging is rife throughout politics and media but labour are the wokest of the woke for sure. I think the working class need a new party.

    As for Brexit funny how this crisis has shown that the country hasn’t yet collapsed in a far worse situation, still they wouldn’t have lied to us would they. Whats more after 3 1/2 years of telling us of the dire consequences they are now backing much worse. Love this from the historian David Starkey .

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8S8Js-tEmlg

  41. Mark
    I’m beginning to think that you’re on one a bit here.
    Many people are in the same boat if they go to work, & it wouldn’t be like that if there wasn’t a consensus probably based on coercion & fear of losing their livelihood in difficult times, & which pressure has been increasing since Thatcher.

    The people responsible for that coercion are those that make the actual on site environment & rules, such as the business owners & the ingrained paternal forelock tugging proletariat attitudes [the british are renowned for standing for the 5 card trick].
    This became self policed by the workers themselves in the end unfortunately, with a new class system with an underclass appearing.
    Then there are those who deliberately sold out their fellow workers in the 70’s & 80’s to become self employed with personal inducements & & to hell with the rest, whose wages plummeted & their individual & family wellbeing was often shattered.

    With the building trade, UCatt was harrassed illegally by special branch & MI5 for years, with illegal blacklists & so on, if anyone spoke out they were sacked, & the wages got worse with the small companies doing the same on cue with the wages getting worse & the cost of living going through the roof.
    Some trades like car makers, were sabotaged by neglect & mismanagement on one side, & corruption [including unions] on the other.

    This became the norm & our culture got much worse with the accompanying focus on selfish greed, from the yuppies onwards.
    Basically designed & forced though by the Corporate level from USA to increase their own earnings, until they now run most government’s agendas & set the rules.
    It’s taken 75 years to undo the necessary social changes that came after world war 2, mostly led by USA

    The academics are hardly in the same league as big business & their allies.
    So as for politicians, many, but not all thankfully, are basically rubber stamping & entrenching their interests, & it’s very like the 19th century [again].
    Bugger isn’t it!

  42. Mark – yeah starkey.
    He’s great at clarifying historical patterns with insight & common sense, but his current day conclusions are often wrong for me, & strangely imprecise & vague other than his prejudices.
    He’s odd.
    His class attitudes & politics are still showing strongly plus he’s an old fashioned right wing tory, & he lashes out & loses it still, becoming the ogre he’s projecting, like many of us.
    But hey ho, much of it we already know & most I know went into lockdown not so much in fear, but more just in case, as no-one can honestly trust the fragmented system we have left with the incapables.
    We oldies will wait them out, until they forget we’re here again.

    He’s quite brilliant in some ways, but his quirks get very old school.
    We both come from a time when all illnesses were geographical, so if you had a brain you avoided places with the dread, now we get it coming to us from all directions, it’s a different pattern.

    But I agree they’re a right shower, & I also have some unease about an optimistic outcome.

  43. IanG- Sorry haven’t got back to you mate the Mrs is suffering with the separation from her family and the constant ground hog day at work with the dementia folks so have been busy.

    No I don’t have a problem with people not wanting to get exposed just annoyed that there is virtually zero chance most will suffer at all and they are wetting their pants over not much. They will however if they stay away to long have nothing to return to. I don’t think this has been explained or has even sunk in with many, its a bit of a no brainer.

    As far as work conditions are concerned I saw an article by a doctor that basically said they don’t distance (unless someones looking) and half the time the PPE hampers their work making it dangerous and most the time they don’t wear the masks etc. Staff that get Covid stay off for a week then return with no idea whether they are passing it on. So when I see the shenanigans in shops etc where people are doing half arsed measures mainly to look like they are complying I just chuckle, this is to be rolled out worldwide??

    To top it saw an interview with Mr Microsoft where he said the Vaccine could kill 700,000 and flu jabs don’t work for old people, who needs comedians.

    I think the Governments have fucked up looking at the data and are now arse covering at a pace that they hope will make it look at least a bit dangerous a bit longer.

    I like Starkey because he at least uses a bit of humour among some good insights. Yeah he’s a self confessed royalist and old time Tory but at least he has common sense. Considering how the world is today thats comforting 🙂

  44. Jark
    Yes it is like that, sorry to hear that your missus is exhausted.
    My carer has had to go off sick with hypertension from her main job, which is an agency mcmillan nurse & carer.
    She did 12 hour shifts with one patient at a time, so charlemaine boris & his his band of empty heads has struck again with the induced chaos.
    I wonder if we can return the empties?

  45. Mark
    Blimey you’ve acquired a science fiction name.
    Thank god for whatsapp, that’s if her folks live somewhere with good internet & not censored & restricted to pointless speeds like in china.

  46. OK Lifers. The way forward as I see it. The teams have started training. There’s a chance the season might get going again. But it might not.

    If it does, there’s every chance it won’t finish because this virus is certain to flare up again and affect some teams, if not all. It is therefore critical that we hit the ground running and make a fast start in an attempt to gain a couple of places. Then if the season does go tits up before it’s finished, we’re outside the last 3 and hopefully any points per game roulette manoeuvres won’t sink us.

  47. Plug- your probably right as any sign of it will disadvantage teams or at least that will be the rational. I would imagine that the players will isolate anyway for the duration so should limit that or not as we have seen 🙂

  48. Voila

    The Premier League has revealed that six players or staff tested positive for coronavirus in its first round of testing.
    The league carried out 748 tests and has said that the positive tests were spread across three clubs. No further details were given.
    The tests are being done as part of a process designed to allow matches to restart in June. Squads were allowed to return to training, carried out according to physical distancing, on Tuesday.

    The league said in a statement: “The Premier League can today confirm that, on Sunday 17 May and Monday 18 May, 748 players and club staff were tested for Covid-19.

    “Of these, six have tested positive from three clubs. Players or club staff who have tested positive will now self-isolate for a period of seven days.

    “The Premier League is providing this aggregated information for the purposes of competition integrity and oversight.”

    “No specific details as to clubs or individuals will be provided by the Premier League due to legal and operational requirements.”

    Germany’s Bundesliga, which restarted last Saturday, announced 10 positive tests in early May from 1,724 tests on players on players and staff at clubs in the top two tiers.

  49. The elf all meeting today. Apparently no relegation might be a possibility in those leagues, so they can’t relegate us of that’s the case. Hopefully

  50. Fitness will be pretty laughable. But I guess it’ll be the same for all, roughly.

    So, you’ll have games where either the intensity won’t be anywhere near the same, or it will to start and then they’ll be knackered. Again, no continuity, and lack of continuity is inherently without “integrity”.

    That said. One wonders whether the time away will have allowed Villa to regroup, mentally. Whereas they might have been feeling a pull toward the inevitability of relegation, perhaps they’ve had a chance to freshen themselves up, psychologically. No idea, obviously.

    But some of Guilbert’s comments lead me to believe that a) he was playing hurt, and b) knew very clearly he’d been terribly inconsistent and wanted to fix that. B is probably at least partly due to A, especially where I think he’d said something about not sticking close enough to his man. Who knows how many others were carrying knocks we didn’t know about.

    And of course, SJM will have had that much longer to work on his ankle instead of being rushed back. That can only be a good thing.

    I’ve also wondered whether playing to empty stadiums might also reduce the nerves and pressure.

  51. JC, my thoughts entirely. The fitness levels of the struggling teams might just be higher than the mid table teams as the stakes for them is much greater. We’ll be better for the rest, but so will the others around us.

    Playing in empty stadiums should definitely reduce nerves but I can only say a rocking VP packed to the rafters can carry us home and we’ve been robbed of that. As you say, there is no integrity.

    Is the current team good enough? After we beat Naarwich away and the Wai Ayes I believed there were 3 other teams worse than us so I expected survival. I am still hopeful, but Deano needs to get it right for the remaining games.

  52. Plug…

    Yeah, it’s so hard to know. What I realized after I posted the comment is that fitness will also obviously have a big effect on injuries. How hard will players push themselves, if they’re trying not to overstretch? What happens when a key player goes down with something like a pull that probably wouldn’t happen ordinarily? We don’t have many we can afford to lose.

  53. JC /Plug If only we had a player that is hard to get the ball off , could be handy in a game that doesn’t rely on speed so much, On the other hand so could a team that can pass.

  54. Good to see everyone has been looking after themselves. Great to read the comments here as always.
    The future of football for fans does not look great whatever happens. Would love to see them play remaining fixtures on local sunday league pitches as we dont need the stadiums anymore.
    This made me chuckle – https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2020/05/22/future-football-without-fans-danish-club-aarhus-introduce-virtual/
    Highlights a few culture differences when Koreans use sex dolls and the Danes do this.

  55. bibulus- Wasn’t there a proposal to fill empty seats at stadiums with CGI at one time? I’m baffled that people are actually going through with this (not so ) brave new world. There is loads of data now saying the rates of infection had dropped prior to lockdowns and that its naturally gone through its cycle. Why are we still in limbo? unless someone has different info like its man made then I conclude we are now sheep led by sheep.

  56. bibulus- At last white privilege counts for something 🙂 as you say being fit and having no metabolic issues means your ok, regardless of race. The only potential issue is VIT D levels as we have a lack of sunlight in the winter in Europe hence white skin being an advantage. That said a Friend of mine is white and 26 stone and was on oxygen for 4 days, his lungs are still buggered so its no joke. That said they are reckoning its no more than a bad flu season in risk for the majority, thats no longer a guess but based on the numbers.

    https://swprs.org/studies-on-covid-19-lethality/

    I must admit I am amazed that people are accepting that the world has changed irreparably based on what we now know.

    I quite fancy the Oculus but its still a bit steep for something that would sit in a draw to much. The bonus is you can’t get a virtual kicking from the away fans.

  57. Hi Mark,
    When you say ,”they are reckoning it’s no more than a bad flu season”, who exactly is they? Also , where can I find the ‘loads of data’ available about the infection rates?

  58. MK,

    Now approaching 100k deaths in US (98,902). Flu season this year had upper-end estimate of 60k deaths, but from an upper-end estimate of 55 million cases. IFR of 0.1%.

    Like I’ve said, I doubt we’ll ever know the real case count, in fact I’m sure we won’t, but out of 14.9 million tests, 1.69 million have come back positive. Based on that, 6% IFR. It’ll be lower in the end, of course, but still too early to be comparing to flu. And the US case count is still rising into May, well past the end of the longer flu season.

    Shame someone couldn’t have pulled his thumb out and prioritized testing so we’d have decent numbers to judge this with.

  59. Testing, yes then there’s how many of these tests were accurate, & are the numbers being manipulated & facts hidden.
    It’s like being back in the wild west.

  60. Prox/JC A bad flu season is around 290- 640k deaths worldwide, forget local stuff. where it happens has different effects for various reasons but all follow the same pattern. As the law was changed here to be able to put covid as cause of death without examination we will never know the truth along with the deaths caused by the lockdowns themselves, oap suicides 2-3 times up etc. That I feel will be where it stays because of political forces and reputations.

    There is plenty of evidence out there just not readily available without looking.

    https://swprs.org/studies-on-covid-19-lethality/

  61. Players have been given the go ahead for full contact in training, personally if its going ahead so be it, I can’t wait, crowds or no crowds. We will likely have the spectacle of players being bought and sold while playing the team they might move to, going to be busy and messy.

  62. So now we know. After 2 weekends of Bundesliga action behind closed doors, the stats record that home advantage counts for nowt without the fans. Only 4 home wins recorded. There goes our advantage and those with more away games to play are the winners.

    The season’s playing field is most definitely not level and the lack of integrity proven.

  63. MK,

    Couple things…1) You have to consider local, 2) you have to consider how “flu deaths” are estimated.

    On local, there’s clearly been widely varying degrees of effectiveness in response and testing. So right now, US or UK numbers are not anywhere near as meaningful as South Korean or German numbers. But also built into that is how each country responded: 37,130 deaths in the UK, 8,372 in Germany. We will never have any idea of Brazil’s, India’s, China’s or Russia’s actual numbers.

    With numbers, and methodology, you’ve seen in the comments below the Swiss paper, there’s a lot of back-and-forth. The base IFR they use for flu, for example, seems to be much higher than the accepted norm. Me, I’m neither an epidemiologist nor a statistician. So, I leave those arguments to others much more qualified, and wait for the consensus from the experts.

    Do I trust experts? I do trust the process, experts reviewing research and poking holes in it. You’ll get the dissenters in there making their case.

    I think what all these comparisons to flu will show is that we’ve long just accepted those flu estimates, and never really paid attention to them. Interesting opinion from a doc at Harvard and Brigham & Women’s Hospital. His view is that the numbers thrown out in the estimates for flu deaths (locally and globally) are wildly inflated. If you think there’s monkey business, misdiagnosis, agenda, whatever, around the COVID fatality counts, you also have to acknowledge that flu counting methodology is much less consistent and much more fungible.

    https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/comparing-covid-19-deaths-to-flu-deaths-is-like-comparing-apples-to-oranges/

  64. Plug,

    Probably not surprising. I’ve wondered whether teams like Villa will benefit from lack of fans and the pressure of expectations. Just going out to play with no mass tension from the home support could make a game at Villa Park easier, but for different reasons.

    Could also be the case that motivation drops without the energy, pressure, and reaction the crowd bring. There’s obviously a difference in grounds, smaller, larger, and the way teams are suited to each. There is a familiarity with dimensions and space, also styles of play that work one place, not so much another.

    My guess is that the home-away argument was definitely a bit of a ploy from Villa. Throw it out there, see if it gums up the works given the neutral-site mandate. Compass are no idiots.

    But I do agree…A go-ahead will provide an outcome on the field, but I don’t think it will provide any of the continuity needed to call it ‘fair’. If we do play on, we just have to hope it’s unfair in a way that ends up benefiting Villa.

  65. Does anyone think we will even stay up when we resume?

    I can’t help but think how dire we were against Bournemouth and Southampton before all this corona started.

    I don’t have much faith in our quality. We have Grealish, and mcginn back but that’s about it

  66. Frem,

    It’s tough. From what I’ve surmised above in between the COVID bits, the layoff could work to Villa’s advantage. Likewise empty stadia.

    Pure speculation, but they’ve had time to regroup mentally, won’t have the expectations of the crowd (of course will also be missing their encouragement), and have been working on individual weaknesses.

    I don’t think we can underestimate the value of McGinn’s return. He should be fully recovered, and while everyone will tire given the layoff, I think he’ll look fresher than he did before the injury. We’ve missed his fight, goals, threat. It could be the difference we need.

    Though it’s probably true of any season, another big factor will be how the teams who are safe but aren’t challenging for anything will play. I’m guessing there’ll be less motivation than usual. Then if Liverpool have clinched the title when we play them, will they play with abandon looking to rack up points? Or will they say, “Yeah, ‘full-strength squad'” then go out and just go through the motions with the title in hand?

  67. Hi JC- Yes I agree Flu numbers are not accurate, even the Spanish Flu has estimates of 17m to 50m and some think 100m died, thats a fair gap. However neither are Covid deaths . Met a builder today whose friend is fighting to get Covid taken off his mums certificate as she had a heart attack and went to hospital and died there, didn’t stop the doctor.

    The biggest bone of contention is how many have had it , that alters the rates, estimates are difficult because unlike Flu numbers which is based partly on people seeking treatment many are asymptomatic. One guy was positive and had no idea he’d had it, they track and traced 455 people and not one proved positive. Many think just being exposed to other corona viruses in general confers some people immunity.

    As far as Flu numbers go you don’t usually see someone with cancer who’s dying put down as a flu death even if thats what kills him, with Covid you do or its implicated and put down as causal.

    As far as Britains deaths this might explain things

    “For Covid-19 only, the certification can be made by a single doctor, and there is no requirement for them to have examined, or even met, the patient. A video-link consultation in the four weeks prior to death is now felt to be sufficient for death to be attributed to Covid-19. For deaths in care homes the situation is even more extraordinary. Care home providers, most of whom are not medically trained, may make a statement to the effect that a patient has died of Covid-19. In the words of the Office for National Statistics, this ‘may or may not correspond to a medical diagnosis or test result, or be reflected in the death certification’. From 29 March the numbers of ‘Covid deaths’ have included all cases where Covid-19 was simply mentioned on the death certificate”

    https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-way-covid-deaths-are-being-counted-is-a-national-scandal?utm_medium=email&utm_source=CampaignMonitor_Editorial&utm_campaign=WEEK%20%2020200530%20%20AL%20%20ServiceNow+CID_ba2e747644c6378d31e44e942085c825

    Also the Excess deaths in this country coincide with the start of lockdown, the reported covid deaths are very much going down but the latest ONS figures put the excess deaths as rising despite that fact. I have read in america that the Hospitals get $13k for a covid patient and something like $35k if they are put on a ventilator, Thats a worrying incentive if true.

    There is also a corridor of the worst hit places, its on a 30-50 degree latitude. Takes in New York, London, Lombardy and I think Wuhan. that would mean 4 months of poor sunlight plus smog . All those areas have poor Vit D status a known predictor of outcome. Italy are now saying it was there as early as October apparently, French say Dec so does the UK so lockdowns? something more going on as tests done in italy in feb by an american firm that 50% of people in the epicentre had antibodies, this was ignored..

    Funny enough the Scandinavians have a D rich diet and put it in everything, not sure about Germany.

    Sorry for the long reply

  68. Yes MK. And it looks like Villa v Sheff U on that Weds “at home”.

    Here’s hoping the layoff has blunted the Blades and worked wonders for Villa.

  69. Mark
    Because it also causes other unstable conditions to kill us or take our health long term, when otherwise they possibly wouldn’t, as well as economically being a nuisance.
    Simple really.

  70. Plug
    At least McGinn seems up for it.
    There won’t be many niggles either right now, I hope there’s no injuries for the Chelsea game, because they won’t be match fit.

  71. IanG- Looking at the world today I have to agree, the alternatives do not add up. Even Mr Microsoft admitted they do nothing for the over 50’s. Meanwhile during this pandemic doctors on the ground that have developed protocols that have saved people are being ignored on the whole. For instance this one has been presented 4 times to the whitehouse.

    “Five critical care physicians have formed the Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Working Group (FLCCC). The group has developed a highly effective treatment protocol known as MATH+
    Of the more than 100 hospitalized COVID-19 patients treated with the MATH+ protocol as of mid-April, only two died. Both were in their 80s and had advanced chronic medical conditions”

    https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2020/05/29/dr-paul-marik-critical-care.aspx?cid_source=dnl&cid_medium=email&cid_content=art1HL&cid=20200529Z2&et_cid=DM547463&et_rid=881989876

    Dr. Judy Mikovits a very smart lady labelled as anti vaxer when really she is presenting evidence and raising concerns. Dissenting voices are now being de-platformed across the internet with someone out there deciding whats harmful etc.

    She discovered a mouse retro virus turning up in people causing all sorts that is very likely come from Vaccinations.

  72. JC- Further thoughts on the Bad flu comparison,

    The have been a fare few flu pandemics that have killed comparable or worse numbers. Asian flu killed the equivalent ( population 15m less) of 42,000 brits in the 57/58 and about 4m worldwide. This was at a time when there was less pollution, better food quality, better fitness and general health of people other than infectious disease. That number was mostly kids and young people 20-40’s, they did not count the old folk that died as flu victims apparently. The advice was clean your hands and stay away from crowds and go to bed and drink water if you get it. Of course there was not the travel/population aspect we have today either so it was pretty virulent.

    Covid 19 is abroad at a time when much of the population is older and people are fat with lots of co morbidities and Diabetes is rampant. These appear to be the people at risk not the healthy. Not to mention the many Vaccines/meds etc that may have added to the mix or are being taken now. Add the global network of transport and it surely puts this into perspective. When you add death from treatments given, people infected in hospital and homes etc I am surprised that its been less lethal than was promised. In short its lethal if you tick the boxes.

    One other aspect is the fear that has been ramped up by the governments and media over this ( a factor in itself) plus the free speech clamp down you have to wonder if we have lost our collective minds.

    I have to conclude that its either.
    A: A product of our time.
    B: A set up for whatever reason which expected much worse.
    C: Just another Flu that kills the already afflicted but provokes a massive over response from the immune system in some.

    This is worth reading, a comparison with the 57/58 reactions to a pandemic. Not a short read.

    https://lockdownsceptics.org/from-stoicism-to-hysteria-uk-pandemic-responses-a-historical-context/

  73. MK,

    Sorry, can’t engage as much as I’d like, had a massive round of layoffs, and it’s been very very busy since.

    But short version: History’s useful, because when flu has been really bad, we can see large numbers. Gives us an indication of what one might expect (and they’ll have been using those examples) from a given rate of spread and IFR.

    Questions will always remain in those comparisons, though. I mean, the modern healthcare system vs. 1918? Apples and oranges. The world itself? Less communication, less travel, less coordination. Different hygiene and housing, work conditions. Nutrition, fitness. All sorts of variables.

    All we know right now (and all the experts had to work with) were the initial observed rates of spread and mortality. You take that and model for “doing nothing” to “doing everything.” You get different numbers. 100,000 in the US matches up fairly well with lockdown projections at the low end (100k–240k, I believe). But the situation changes, we see different things in different places. It’s constantly shifting. Can’t work any other way. Don’t listen to the Mikovits’s of the world. I’ve watched a bit of that, my mom sent it, then looked into her. Discredited and rightly so. Now conspiracy theories and all sorts of anti-this-and-that crowds pile on.

    I take my information from people like this guy, a former schoolmate. Brilliant, very cool, very level-headed, and very open-minded: https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/profiles/results/directory/profile/0022270/david-feller-kopman. He’s not taking it lightly, he’s open to any credible insights from anywhere.

    I truly hate the fallout. Might well cost me my job, and I love my job. Already causing a lot of pain for millions and millions. What I would say is that if the US and the UK had taken it more seriously to begin with, the fallout wouldn’t have been so bad for us. If nothing else, I hope we’ve learned that quick, decisive action with serious national coordination is essential. The way US leadership has handled it borders on criminal negligence, criminal stupidity, or both. Whatever we end up concluding about the virus (IFR and all the rest), we’ll probably all agree that all of this didn’t need to be so bad.

    As we move forward, we learn whether we overreacted or not. There’s still a lot of numbers up in the air, and the early (and ongoing) inadequacy of testing will keep things murky. I still return to a quote from early on: It will only seem like we overreacted if it works.

    Then we see what happens after reopening, the summer, and then fall and winter. We could end up concluding almost anything. I don’t think the reaction in serious media has been hysterical, though it obviously has dominated news coverage, and I hate how TV news works. Which is why I don’t watch any TV news. I do know that in my lifetime, no hospitals or cities I’d have been in have had to bring in refrigerated trucks for all the bodies. And a number of doctors have said that if we could see inside the ERs and ICUs, we’d have a much different impression.

    But you’re right, obesity is higher, the population is older overall, and things like diabetes are much more prevalent. So that will certainly have a big effect. Thing is, that’s the population you’re dealing with, that’s the population you’re trying to treat and protect. That’s what doctors swear to do.

    Wake-up call? One would hope, and on more than on front. We’re paying for very expensive lessons. Let’s hope we get enough good data to learn from them.

  74. JC- hello mate sorry to hear about your job I think we are all in that boat potentially, certainly many people I work for are struggling. Had to laugh when you jumped to researching Mikovits and concluded she’s been discredited, you have faith in those that discredit her rather than hearing her out. From what she goes into on that video she has not had a fair hearing regardless of whether she is right or not.
    I listen to all sorts of people talk and you can weed out the loons pretty easily, some not so. Some things that were deemed heresy in nutrition 10 years ago are now being proven true. I guess it comes down to what your exposed to , in your line of work I’m not surprised you discount it. I think therein lies the problem today on many fronts what is actually credible and who gets to say it is? This says it better than I could.

    “We wonder why conspiracy theories are on the rise. As the political, media and technological elites frantically attempt to stem their flow, they fail to recognise that the rise in conspiracy theories is directly correlated to an alienation from, and collapse of trust in, institutions. People are being asked to be unquestioning and to act in ways that go against every human instinct.”

    To me there isn’t a right or wrong side to be on, thats proven to be the case in science very often.

    That quote
    “It will only seem like we overreacted if it works.”

    I think that depends on what your expecting to happen. This may very well be success and we are pretty much bystanders floundering about, it may very well have been the same with minimal intervention and no lockdown. We have an awful lot of examples now that point to Lockdowns being a step to far and even detrimental . We will never know I suspect, I just hope we don’t call it a success because the alternative is to embarrassing for those that profess to know.

    Still mate soon we will be able to be totally wrong about football again hopefully 🙂

    Going on Gabbys reaction and insight the games will resemble a field hospital full of players that have become unfit

    https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/11997334/gabby-agbonlahor-ive-never-felt-so-ill-in-my-entire-life-after-testing-positive-for-coronavirus

  75. Mark
    Now Sweden is apparently almost level pegging with us, you don’t mention them as a shining example any more.
    I used to work for Otis as an engineers mate, & they’re as dumb as everyone else in my experience.
    Where I come from we were taught at an early age that you couldn’t trust any government, politician, authority figure or anyone who’s taken the shilling as it were, due to experience.
    Bringing it up to the modern day, the conspiracy theorists just seem to want to forge their shilling, which is pretty dumb.
    I mean with 3D printers & such technology, what was the problem with making things, as an example.
    It obviously needs the will to want to do it, so when you see prevarication, obstruction, lack of transparency & lies, you know they’re at it.
    You don’t need a conspiracy theory to see that it’s bent, but it is pretty pointless to run with it.
    It’s like crossing the road without looking, writing a text on your phone.

  76. Mark
    We certainly seem to have built up a surplus of intellectual retards.
    Gratefully back to the football, having a game in hand to play before the rest start, means we will be a little more match fit for our second game & their first, which I hope is a good omen.

  77. IanG- why would I need to mention it mate? UK 566 deaths per million with lockdown Sweden 435 deaths per million without. UK economy fucked Swedens not. UK’s Point of lockdown to save the NHS not lives, Swedens hospital ICU’s never got above 80% full. So the Modellers have a very big fly in the ointment because we were told 500K UK deaths without a lockdown, so Sweden should easily have 43,950 not the 4,395 that they currently do. We have Never had a Flu season where nodody died either, why is it expected now as a mark of success?

    I’m not speaking of Engineers as infallible either but of the methods used, we are all Human. As far as science etc goes I don’t think we have ever been so seemingly closed minded or influenced by prestige, politics and Money. What else could explain the search for more drugs for health when a change in diet could stop a mountain of modern mans diseases?

    Heres a great article by a Brazilian scientist which points out the state of affairs in Science. 25 Brazilian scientists have signed the letter defending the Drug hydroxychloroquine and pointing to the dodgy science conducted recently around it and its use and the Pandemic in general.

    https://conexaopolitica.com.br/ultimas/brazilian-scientists-and-academics-write-an-open-letter-on-the-science-of-the-coronavirus-pandemic/

  78. IanG- Forgot to add the height of admissions was on the 2nd April the use of ventilator beds was 41% at its highest on the 10th, Hooray the NHS was well and truly saved. Can’t quite remember anyone telling us that though at the time, maybe I missed it with all the clapping.

  79. IanG- yes with my Smorgasbord how did you know? I see the Norwegian prime minister has come out saying the lockdown was a mistake and apologised. Can’t see that happening here they would roast Boris even though the press and opposition have called for ever stringent measures. Even the Swedes said they made a mistake by not protecting Old folks homes better.

    So this football thing whats that all about?

  80. Mark
    Supposedly playing with a round ball that in ages past was solid apparently.
    Apparently we’re supposed to win

  81. IanG- Apparently having said it doesn’t transit between humans, praising the Chinese measures and then saying Swedens approach was the way to go the World Health Organisation have said there will be no second wave, should we be worried? 🙂

    JG- The answer to Covid 19 was wash your hands and ignore it. Just need a few million now to run an experiment, I tried a model but got glue all over the place.

  82. Spent yesterday on a building site that is taking the Virus very seriously, we all had to wear masks, the foreman cleaned door and window handles three times a day (5 houses) and I heard him say to a chap with no mask ” I’m doing it for you , your doing it for me” at that point I realised that the world had truly gone off the deep end. The art of keeping up appearances is in full flow.

  83. Might well be a friendly between Villa and WBA on Saturday, two one hour games to benefit the squads, wonder if the Villa official site will show it?

  84. Bibulus- you got that right 🙂

    Now I am wondering if it will be ok to rock up to Villa park as a protester? apparently they get a pass on the large gatherings rule, Maybe we could protest about being 2nd from bottom.

  85. On another note anyone newly out of work should look to the banks as they are all hiring debt collectors at this moment, its the growth industry.

  86. Hi folks,
    Thought it was maybe time to drop in and start getting a feel of things again, after spending weeks of lockdown on gardening leave!! My garden has never looked so good, and I am on time with my planting , etc.
    Haven’t joined in the covid discussions here, as have been busy arguing with many others on f/b and the government handling, especially, the Welsh Assembly. I am in the high risk group, and received a food parcel for the first time just over a week ago!
    The only thing I will say is, that if people carry out the basic hygiene and keep a sensible distance from strangers, use masks in crowded situations, there should not be a problem.
    Looking forward to the games coming up, with Sky re-instating my very good deal, and seeing live football once more.

    I think that Villa may well have been saved by the lockdown, now having a fully fit team, which by all accounts is now raring to go, with Dean smith in very positive mood.

  87. PP- Hello mate good to see you, I think plenty of blame will be thrown around when in reality there was very little other than the basics to be done. Very likely that the spread began in nov/dec 19 by which time lockdowns were pointless and probably always were. As more is understood we will see that the existing immunity across countries varies for many reasons and exposure to other viruses. Case of right/wrong place right time.

    Like you I can’t wait for the football to start.

  88. MK,

    Actually watched my first footy match yesterday, Charlton v West Ham, which had plenty of goals, and started the football brain ticking over. I also watched Crouch’s tv show on Saturday, which was quite entertaining, and finished up watching Shearer’s Euro 96 show, which included some interesting moments, plus poor Gareth Southgate’s lowest moment.

  89. So it ended Villa 2-2 WBA. Twice behind and twice we levelled. We are still shipping goals and that is a worry. The leaky defence remains.

    Next up Leicester City on Weds night.

  90. Mark, They played three 30 minute sessions with both sides using 25 players. Davis got the first equalizer and Jack the second one.

  91. JG, bibulus, PP, Plug: Good to see you all. MK and IanG…you’ve been stalwarts.

    Since everyone’s right and it’s time to wrap our heads around football again, there’s a fresh post up.

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