Coronavirus (Covid-19) Discussion
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You should see the shit show in Dallas, Texas right now.
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All - I'm looking for good masks in Europe, preferably shaped for a normal face (you know, with a nose). I don't mind paying slightly premium prices. I'm planning a flight tp the US and I'd prefer something better than the light face masks I'm using in shops. Thanks.
My wife has a couple of the rectangular ones and it’s not much protection. You might as well wear a shemagh over your face. Much more comfortable. A shemagh might not have the tight weave of one of the cotton masks but at least it forms more of a seal
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Interesting read…..
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@Giles in my day to day work I am the lead practitioner for The Mental Capacity Act an Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards. In a nutshell, that involves assessing whether adults with a mental impairment (or disorder) have the mental capacity required to make 'time specific' decisions… That involves us all being able to understand, retain, weigh and use, and communicate information necessary to make that decision.
There are then cases where I would need to assess that it is in a person's best interests to deprive a person of their liberty. Where it is necessary, the restrictions need to be the least restrictive of their liberty that are available... (bear with me!). You can imagine how much this process and the considerations that need to be given have changed recently! It's one of the reasons I've been so vocal in this thread, I am privy to info that isn't always shared with the general population.
I work with Barristers that sometimes sit in the Court of Appeal, or even the Supreme Court (the UK' highest Court). There is a widely held view here that the UK Government have not used the 'least restrictive' option to keep people safe, The Public Health Act could have been amended to achieve that (the context for this is what is afforded in domestic and European law in the UK, so drawing direct comparisons to other UK states is not always helpful. It can be, but not always). Its why there has been so much speculation that there are other agendas at play, not just public health.
It's a very interesting area to me, and though I generally sound like a beardy twat on this forum, I actually have quite a responsible job!... Hopefully some of the twatishness would be eroded if you ever met me, or not!
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Interesting read…..
Sound advice. Basically, try not to be a effin moron.
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The behavioural sciences element of the Covid-19 experience has fascinated me. In the UK for the past 10 weeks we have had a clap for the NHS/carers phenomenon. It has been used to gauge public receptiveness and compliance (not a fact hidden by government advisors). It has helped advise whether a track and trace app would be widely taken up. Tonight was apparently the last national clap. Interesting as the app comes online soon.
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Interview with Professor Karl Friston on his approach to modelling Covid-19.
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So many of the strategies being implemented during this global pandemic were planned and predicted decades ago. The used to get labelled as conspiracy theories… Have you noticed how the language has changed to 'disinformation'?
Quite Weapons for Silent Wars was found in 1979. It was a manual for the compliance of the citizens of the world, the methodology? A biochemical, invisible 'enemy' that would create compliance through fear or doctrine, the end goal being state control of fuel and the economy, and control of the state by global private interests.
Baby steps have been taken so far (desensitisation of people's spending... You have less emotional connection with your money if you pay with the tap of an iPhone than you do handing over a bill. Fact. Watch interviews with the founders of PayPal).
If you have time, and are broadly open minded to new information, and can view it objectively, but critically, this compilation is worth a watch. Let Covid-19 frame the context a little..
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there's nothing new or conspiracy in that thought.. i can't remember where i got this from (reading or watching something) but i'm paraphrasing,
"if you force the masses to give up their freedom and rights, you will be met with disagreement, anger and rebellion. but if you created a situation that was extremely devastating or mind-numbingly catastrophic, people will voluntarily give it up."
on a more conspiring thought, has anyone ever noticed how there's always wars towards the end or at the beginning of a new century? we're currently right around that time frame.. WW1 and 2, Napoleonic etc..
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on a more conspiring thought, has anyone ever noticed how there's always wars towards the end or at the beginning of a new century? we're currently right around that time frame.. WW1 and 2, Napoleonic etc..
Or towards the end of a presidential term
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Bingo @Giles
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on a more conspiring thought, has anyone ever noticed how there's always wars towards the end or at the beginning of a new century? we're currently right around that time frame.. WW1 and 2, Napoleonic etc..
Or towards the end of a presidential term
Trade and commerce, often in the guise of religious dogma. If the middle east didn't first have valuable spices, and latterly 95% of the world's fossil fuel reserves, it might be quite a peaceful but dusty place now.
You're right in what you paraphrase too. It's why militaristic language was chosen to set the narrative for Covid-19…firstly it creates a common enemy, secondly it gives the state more power, and the public more willingness to hand any perceived authority and autonomy they have back to the state.
I think that the cleverest psychological warfare used by the state is by far the dumbing down of the masses, while simultaneously making them think that they have insight and intellect. People trust without reason, and with little capacity to intellectually challenge social and economic policy, because 'politics is boring' but 'celebrity and sport are interesting'.
Clap for the NHS and draw a rainbow is the new baseball and football, in the absence of those 2 distractions (read up on why a baseball league was created at the end of the Great depression... Distract a mobilised public).
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I went fishing with a mate last night. His GF works in procurement for a large aerospace company. Since the lock-down, she has been working from home. It is unlikely that she will ever go back into the office full time again. The company has calculated that the staff productivity of those workers now working from home has increased by 22%…..
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This issue has raised some uncomfortable questions in the education sector in Norway. At my level (16-19 yo) the Norwegian government has pushed through a very unpopular policy regarding attendance. If you miss more the 10% of scheduled teaching in a class you lose your grade completely. The students hated it, but it was extremely effective. It has helped massively in lowering the drop-out rate and improving the attainment of the bottom 50% of students.
When corona hit all that went out the window. While teachers were able to use net based tech to teach effectively the students who needed it the most vanished and we had no recourse to track absentee-ism, or routines for getting them assessed. The ability to audit the participation and engagement of weak or unmotivated students that you get from seeing them three times a week was suddenly gone.
Any move towards devolving schooling at this level to digital platforms and away from physical places of work is going to need a small revolution.
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I went fishing with a mate last night. His GF works in procurement for a large aerospace company. Since the lock-down, she has been working from home. It is unlikely that she will ever go back into the office full time again. The company has calculated that the staff productivity of those workers now working from home has increased by 22%…..
The dynamics behind working from home (WFH) in this case may be different. Nothing was opened, no where to go and you couldn't spend time doing other "errands". Fear of the unknown, workers may be afraid if they don’t step up, they could lose their jobs. Companies may also be focusing on just one or two key priorities at this time. Without multitasking and juggling many priorities, employee’s productivity might have gone up. Read something recently on something call “Ctrip Paradox”. It was an “experiment” where employees of a Chinese travel company were asked to WFH. The study shows home workers were more productive, but as a group, they were less content. Although employers are warming to the idea: logistically it works, real estate savings, productivity has gone up, WFH may have a long term impact on office morale. https://news.stanford.edu/2020/03/30/productivity-pitfalls-working-home-age-covid-19/
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This issue has raised some uncomfortable questions in the education sector in Norway. At my level (16-19 yo) the Norwegian government has pushed through a very unpopular policy regarding attendance. If you miss more the 10% of scheduled teaching in a class you lose your grade completely. The students hated it, but it was extremely effective. It has helped massively in lowering the drop-out rate and improving the attainment of the bottom 50% of students.
When corona hit all that went out the window. While teachers were able to use net based tech to teach effectively the students who needed it the most vanished and we had no recourse to track absentee-ism, or routines for getting them assessed. The ability to audit the participation and engagement of weak or unmotivated students that you get from seeing them three times a week was suddenly gone.
Any move towards devolving schooling at this level to digital platforms and away from physical places of work is going to need a small revolution.
We’re encountering the same problem in the govt training sector. We have limited mechanisms to measure engagement, the few we do have are questionable in effectiveness, and exam security is out the window.
On the flip side of that my productivity has gone through the roof (I work on the administrative side of our training organization). The fact I don’t have to deal with people wandering into my office complaining about random shit has opened up a lot of time in my day.
