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From our man in Espana

Meanwhile, in a far foreign land, entrepreneurial capitalism rides to the rescue. Yay! I have now rented myself a dog. Said crossbreed german shepherd currently looking at an immediate future of being the best fed but most exercised pooch in southern Spain. Plans to tunnel out have been put on hold…

Excellent. Although brother, who is a bit further around the coast, states that he’s only allowed to dog walk within 50 metres of his own house……

20 thoughts on “From our man in Espana”

  1. Civil liberty abounds here!

    No cops! They have disappeared. I haven’t seen one in days!

    I presume they have orders restricting their activity. There won’t be a public announcement, “You can drive as fast as you want to!”

    This while others talk all sorts of quarantines and lock downs. Decadence! They have no one to enforce it!

    The people are limiting their congregations and business, and creating social distance. Which is all that should have ever been expected. Government peacocks notwithstanding.

  2. There aren’t enough monkey-suited bastards to cover a tiny fraction of anywhere.

    Ratted out by your shite-scum fellow human beings is a far bigger danger.

  3. Philadelphia police commish stepped in it: she announced police weren’t going to do sh|+.

    What a dumbass. Every police department is slacking. But you don’t fvcking announce it!

  4. Cheaper than renting a dog: take a lead for a walk and say “Have you seen my dog?”

    @Gamecock

    I’ve always found Christmas Day & New Years eve/day to be the ‘safest’ days to go on a high speed bike ride

  5. Now for a bit of context: I just had a look at the official figures for flu related deaths in the UK
    https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/839350/Surveillance_of_influenza_and_other_respiratory_viruses_in_the_UK_2018_to_2019-FINAL.pdf)
    2014/15 – 28,330
    2015/16 – 11,875
    2016/17 – 18,009
    2017/18 – 26,408
    Of course the Coronavirus is real but are governments using it as a ready made H L Mencken type hobgoblin?

    Perspective

    Normal: In the UK there are 1,668 deaths per day
    https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/datasets/vitalstatisticspopulationandhealthreferencetables

    Covid-19 +1, 10, 100 pd mostly ‘with’ not ‘by’ premature – a blib

    Keep calm

  6. My shares portfolio has recovered by around 10% since the bottom.

    Is it me but has the BBC talked about ‘falls’ when share falls happen but talked about “continued volatility” when they rise?

  7. You would hope that after the first settles go TD would have a hard look at the role the media played and some damning reports published and new regulations, sadly can’t see that happening.
    Media are already starting to attack the scale of the actions taken and the US media seems like it’s looking forward to blaming Trump for this all through the election cycle.

  8. Aus gone from sane to loon in days, all so disjointed

    Coles liquor stores stay open despite statewide coronavirus shutdown
    With the two most populous states announcing a state-wide shut down of non-essential services, there is friction as to what constitutes ‘non-essential services’ as Coles announces its liquor stores will remain open
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuomENww8Vc

    Yes, Coles liquor stores should stay open

    ‘Bottle shops’ considered an essential service; will remain open amidst Australia lockdown
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BG5HozFgAg

    Why is alcohol not sold in any shop that wants to in Aus like UK?

    But
    Govt orders schools to remain open until the end of term
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaeW2EUKvEM

    Good move Aus. However, schools now Marxist indoctrination centres – maybe closing good?

    Aus considering petrol price cap – no, no, no don’t
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beYnNByC9yc

    “WRHobba 12 hours ago
    put in price caps and expect petrol shortages, people need to do this with their wallets, and the prices will come down as competition crushes the greedy”

  9. I’m seeing this as a double edged sword. One one hand the government will have more power, but on the other I’m expecting people to be a lot more cynical about the climate scam, blokes in frocks, blue haired mad women etc. That’s all from before the Great Shutdown and no longer applies.

  10. BniC
    I’m expecting Trump to go ballistic when the dust settles. Billion dollar health agencies which have already seen three respitory epidemics in recent years apparently ordering masks on eBay and ticking the ‘express delivery’ box?

    Also some agency to monitor disease in China as they can’t be trusted. Perhaps repurpose the CIA as the China Influenza Agency?

  11. Bloke in North Dorset

    “March 22, 2020 at 10:11 pm
    Now for a bit of context: I just had a look at the official figures for flu related deaths in the UK
    https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/839350/Surveillance_of_influenza_and_other_respiratory_viruses_in_the_UK_2018_to_2019-FINAL.pdf)
    2014/15 – 28,330
    2015/16 – 11,875
    2016/17 – 18,009
    2017/18 – 26,408”

    I’m willing to accept that there’s could be an over reaction to this virus but those numbers don’t help as there was a vaccine. Notwithstanding Jim’s point that not everyone gets it, what would be good to know is what would have happened without a vaccination.

    We’ve also go to bear in mind that not everyone would react calmly if there was a massive increase in deaths and the government had stood by. Judging by the panic buying if deaths reach, say, 10x those above and hospitals are overwhelmed we could be seeing civil disruption and riots the like of which we haven’t seen before.

    As I was leaving the Army in 1990 I got involved at the margins of civil contingency planning. Planners then thought we were only 5 meals away from riots, add in a deadly, for some, virus and god knows what will happen. It may be the “boomer remover” virus, but flippancy only lasts until it’s your mother/father/brother/sister/son/daughter left lying to die in your home because the health care system has ground to a halt and politicians did nothing.

  12. As far as I can see those dying from Covid are the people who would have died from flu. Are we actually extending any lives by combating Covid, or are we merely altering the cause of death?

  13. BiND. The 18/19 figure was under 2000. (page 51)
    The differences year to year will depend on whether the flu vaccine is effective. So perhaps the answer to “what would have happened without a vaccination?” is something like the 14/15 or 17/18 numbers.

  14. Bloke in North Dorset said:
    “As I was leaving the Army in 1990 I got involved at the margins of civil contingency planning. Planners then thought we were only 5 meals away from riots”

    So are the government’s actions making that better or worse? At the moment, looks like worse to me.

  15. Bloke in North Dorset

    Richard,

    I think it’s more the crap reporting of what they’re saying and sensationalising panic buying.

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