Corbyn-91

[Dean Baxter]

It must be a hard life for a journalist; you spend three-and-a half years providing even-handed, impartial, and definitely not hysterical coverage of Brexit, and then, suddenly, it's over. How do you fill the vacuum that is your sordid little existence? Of course, Mexit (a story so inconsequential, it suffered an existential crisis) provided merriment for a fortnight or so, but even people who own royal wedding memorabilia got bored with that.
Then came Coronavirus; a story with everything: Peril, lock-downs, bewildered people bulk-buying Smart Price toilet roll...for some reason. I am actually starting to think the conspiracy theorists are on to something and the Coronavirus was created in a lab, to give the media something to benignly comment on, endlessly, even when there is nothing new to say.
Coronavirus is actually an umbrella term for this type of infection, and the proper name for this particular strand is, of course, Corbyn-91.
If one more person posts on social media about how all this was predicted in a book back in 1980, that person won't have to worry about Corbyn-91, because I will strangle them. Yes, we all know that Dean Kootz's thriller The Eyes Of Darkness describes a killer virus named 'Wuhan-400' after the Chinese city it originates, which spreads around the globe in 2020. Some scientists are referring to this phenomenon as a co-incidence. Apparently it happens when two or more events coincide.
If and when a Father Christmas lookalike-billionaire clones dinosaurs and populates a theme park with them, and the dinosaurs inevitably run amok, people will no-doubt point at Jurassic Park and wryly comment that it's 'a bit spooky'.
Here's a fact: Ninety-nine percent of statistics are made up on the spot.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump has imposed a travel ban to and from Europe. This is with the exception of the UK; presumably because he likes to play golf in it.

 

[CageSage]

The human reaction is a worthy note for writers -- it's the real deal, no melodrama, no fakery ... oh, sorry, it's a conspiracy (and seeing politicians play it down seems to strengthen the underlying belief they're either lying or stupid or both).
Yesterday, I spent time in a waiting room with several other people. Usually I talk to people in these situations, but when I opened with one of the usual gambits, the jaw would drop, the face took on a wild-eyed widening, hands tore out a hanky for over the face and they moved two or three seats further away, staring at me as if I were a maniac with a machete.
This is a study in the human condition of fear of the unknown, fuel for story. A new story with the realism of the fear of the masses and the consequences. And our own fears ...

 

[RK Wallis]

stupid

Totally this, lol! Only 2 days ago our Prime Minister (don't even know his name, he doesn't deserve my memory cells) was encouraging people to go to the football and went himself, the next day our sportings associations said sportsmen will play but to no crowds; they're cancelling all tickets. What does that tell you?!

 

[Steve C]

sportsmen will play but to no crowds; they're cancelling all tickets. What does that tell you?!

That they're not very good at sport?

 

[Paul Whybrow]

It does make you wonder whether the coronavirus was manufactured and released. Take these two stories:

Bill Gates predicted a Coronavirus-like outbreak

The CDC Owns The Coronavirus Strain Isolated From Humans

In case you’re naïve and think that rich folk and governments don’t do that sort of thing, take a gander at these stories:

Tuskegee syphilis experiment - Wikipedia

Willowbrook State School - Wikipedia

How thousands were subjected to chemical warfare trials during the Cold War

In the modern age of terrorism, including lone gunmen, we’ve come to accept that we’re all potentially targets, but we need to realise that those targetting us include our own governments. If you believe that governments care about their people, then open your eyes. We exist to be oppressed, persecuted and experimented upon.

Bikers have long had a saying: “There’s no justice, there’s just us.”

It’s never been truer.

 

[Steve C]

I live in a fairly remote part of Thailand where the nearest police are 60 kilometres away and they go home at six.. People settle disagreements themselves and sometimes guns go off but right now I am in probably one of the safest places in the world

 

[Rich.]

Hi everyone, please keep in mind that Litopia is not a forum for political debate. This thread is sailing a little close to the wind. Thanks.

And as for Covid-19, let's try and keep our sharing of information evidence based, please. I'm in a locked-down bit of the world, and I'm seeing first hand the damage that poorly sourced "facts" can cause. What people need right now is solidarity and clear, actionable information.

It's easy to pontificate. Let's not do that here.

Thanks again.

 

[KateESal]

What @Rich. said.

I've now started a thread for general sharing about the effects of the crisis on us, because Rich and I wanted a space to chat about it and I'm sure there are ohers on here who feel the same.