Long before the coronavirus pandemic I had grown uncomfortable with the traditional handshake greeting. My discomfort only being aggravated by the fact that it was so difficult to avoid. And to forsake. The urge to shake hands on meeting friends and acquaintances or being introduced to new people is almost primal. It is close to … Continue reading Handshake no more
I wonder if many - or any - of the politicians attending COP26 understand what the term 'homo fragilis' implies. I wonder if they appreciate what it portends. Literally, it means 'fragile man'. In the context of human survival it is intended to convey just how tenuous is humankind's grip on existence. We have grown … Continue reading Homo fragilis
I don't do faith. I may do trust. I may do confidence. But I don't do faith. I do confidence when the balance of evidence and reasoned argument and reasonable assumption is sufficient to persuade me that an individual, group or organisation will perform as claimed. I do trust when the balance of evidence and … Continue reading The curse of faith
BE THE BREAK! STOP THE VIRUS GETTING TO YOU! STOP THE VIRUS GETTING FROM YOU TO SOMEONE ELSE! DO THIS ALL THE TIME FOR AS LONG AS IT TAKES!
I think Nicola Sturgeon has realised that if she hoped to achieve elimination of coronavirus in Scotland this would require that she confront the British government on the issue of border control and win that confrontation. Nicola Sturgeon does not do confrontational politics.
Idiots like Willie Rennie are dangerous. They are dangerous because they put ideology before scientific evident and observable reality.
It seems that with every word she utters Nicola Sturgeon widens the gulf between the dream that will never die and the realisation that will never happen.
The point is that a mono-crisis breeds predictable offshoots of various sorts which pack the media and push everything else out of sight. Which may suit some people just fine.
The good news is that, as yet, nobody is using the coronavirus outbreak as a pretext for launching a war. Although I have to qualify that by stating that I haven't been following Donald Trump's Twitter feed today. Or ever, for that matter.
Escalating towards the most effective measures in response to data about the spread of the disease cannot be effective as you will always and necessarily be acting too late. It's not epidemiology. It's just good sense.
Peter A Bell 