7th April 2020
Hello again one and all and here we are in sunny France at the start of our 4th week of lockdown. And sunny it really is – I’m sat here in shorts and t-shirt enjoying the weather and the prospect of more to come. The garden is awash with colour – daffodils, tulips, dandelions, grape hyacinths, primroses, wild violets and daisies cover the grass and even the fact that the garden more closely resembles an abandoned building site (which in fact is what it has become since the start of all this Covid-19 stuff) doesn’t detract from the joy that Spring brings to the outdoors. The cherry trees I planted in December have blossomed so we can look forward to a little fruit from them this year – it wont be much as the trees are very young and small but I’m sure the birds will enjoy them! I know that the weather back home in Blighty is just as good but please, under no circumstances, venture outside your doors unless it is absolutely necessary. My social media feeds (my sister Sally on Facebook) indicate that there are still gangs of youngsters congregating outside in certain areas (Leigh in Lancashire) – do these fools think they are invulnerable? My sister-in-law Jane lives in Cheadle and she has told us that her neighbour who lives behind her (Mother and one son) had a garden full ‘enjoying’ a barbeque yesterday, mixing up a number of households and so disregarding Government advice – or is it instruction – it’s difficult to determine a clear message at the moment. Regardless, the potential consequences of this kind of selfish behaviour could mean someone’s death, it’s as simple as that. My advice to anyone witnessing inappropriate behaviour like this is to give the boys (and girls) in blue a call and get them stopped. That way you will be helping save your one hour a day for exercise, and given how invaluable that is to your mental, never mind physical health it has got to be worth doing.
The restrictions here in France are stricter. To go out, for any reason, we have to fill out an obligatory form – if not you risk a maximum 1500€ fine and even jail time. The Gendarmes are taking no excuses and are policing this very firmly – 100,000 of them – on foot, in cars, everywhere – even here in the countryside! We are allowed out for an hour for some exercise – alone or in a family group – but we can’t go more than one kilometre from our house.
There’s no talk of lifting the lockdown, unlike in the British press who, when they get their chance to ‘grill’ whoever is the Governments sacrificial lamb at the evening Press Conferences, keep bleating about how long it will last. I know the economy is suffering but you’d think these journo’s would pool resources and ask different questions and not waste the whole half hour asking the same stuff. It’s bad enough that some right-wing think tanks (or should that be ‘thick’ tanks?) are already questioning the value of lives versus economic cost – by which they mean their profits! – when it is so obviously not the time to start confusing people even more by even talking about lifting the restrictions too late put in place.
I don’t know about you but don’t these daily shows look more like an audition for the next leader of the Conservatives? Boris was anything but convincing and now he’s spewed it and gone into hiding his Cabinet ‘colleagues’ are so obviously vying for his job it’s embarrassing. The Chancellor has gone missing since he announced his last effort to secure jobs and incomes, Raab is nothing short of a disaster – he’s the man in line to take over if Boris gets worse FFS! – and Gove just oozes slime and shite! I’m no fan of Matt Hancock but at least he’s put his nuts on the block by promising all those tests. If he succeeds all well and good, if he fails hopefully he’ll be man enough to fall on his sword – but probably not given the noise coming out about people looking to duck their responsibilities by pointing ‘anonymous’ fingers elsewhere!
As for Boris – if he has got Corona virus then he has no one to blame but himself, playing at Billy Big Bollocks shaking hands and ignoring social distancing rules at the same time as telling us all how to behave. His behaviour is even more despicable when you factor in his pregnant girlfriend and the risk to both her and his unborn child. Has the man no sense? So now he’s in hospital, filling an ICU bed through his own stupidity and when (if?) he recovers will no doubt praise the NHS wholeheartedly – while secretly plotting with the likes of Raab to flog it off – as was revealed during the Brexit shambles.
Personally I don’t think he’s got it – it’s all a Dominic Cummings instigated fake news show to try to drum up some sympathy for the useless buffoon in charge at this time, the greatest challenge the country has faced since 1939 and Adolf Hitler. He needs something to deflect us from the truth of his incompetence so a quick stay in hospital will do the trick – for now. Unless, of course, he’s actually in RNOH Stanmore having a spine surgically inserted! Now I know Stanmore intimately (see earlier blogs) and believe me, as good as they are (and they are the best) they aren’t that good.
If you’re thinking I might be being more than a little uncharitable towards our Prime Minister you are spot on! I have no sympathy for him at all.
Getting back to the evening auditions I have yet to see anyone really challenge the stats as shown on the slides, or just as importantly the way the stats are presented. Call me stupid if you want but doesn’t depressing the vertical scale also depress the trajectory of the data shown?
Let me show you the Global Death Comparison slide from last night (6th April):
See how 50 – 1,000 deaths take up the bottom half of the vertical scale but the top half of the vertical scale, which shows the rise in deaths levelling off, covers 1,000 – 10,000 deaths.
Now here I’ve drawn a very rough graph with a ‘proper’ vertical scale – spot the difference and then consider the impression this gives as opposed to the official graph.
My Excel skills deserted me a long time ago but if you draw straight lines between the same coloured squares you will see steeper trajectories for the number of deaths in Spain, Italy and the UK than those shown on the official slides which, to me, paint a different picture. It looks more like we are starting to climb up Boris’s sombrero – definitely not levelling off as the Government and their gurus would have us believe.
Why aren’t the celebrated journo’s challenging the quality and veracity of the data we are being fed – they would rather just fill their limited air-time asking the same old and easy questions?
Jem’s Juke Box offers you Bob Dylan and the ‘The Times they are a Changin’
because believe me, when this is all over there will be an account and things will have to change or we will have learnt nothing from this disaster.
In closing I have to comment on the sad passing of my old friend Tony Churton. Tony eventually succumbed to a second brain haemorrhage yesterday (6th April) after struggling for over seven years with declining health. We met on the first day we started at Moseley Hall Grammar School in Cheadle – September 1966 – aged 11 and we remained friends ever since. His passing leaves a big hole in the hearts of friends and family, not helped by the fact that his brothers can’t even bury him while all this is going on. Covid-19 is interrupting the ‘normal’ pains of life so please don’t add to it – Stay safe, stay home
I’ll be back soon but as ever – please feel free to comment and share
Jem