SpankyMcFarland

On the Central Park incident, Cooper the birder regrets the consequences for Cooper the banker:

Better policies generally lead to better results. Here’s a striking example:

Sobriety can have that effect too. Too much blood in the alcohol system is not for every writer. Regarding age-related effects, political columnists should be given a choice of retirement at 65 or an entirely different subject to cover. A lot of them go off and end up repeating themselves.

In each province it probably means a slightly different thing. Clyde Wells’ Liberals were centrists by Canadian standards on most matters, if anything a little to the left given the economic realities of the province. Over the decades, I have seen Murphy’s views move to the right and his tone take on a much darker hue in the National Post. There’s not much of a mix to his ideologies now.

Back in the day, Murphy ran for the Liberals twice as a candidate in provincial races and worked with Clyde Wells. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rex_Murphy

Screening programs are generally directed at diseases that take years to develop. We’re facing a deadly pandemic that threatens the existence of many of us. Why shouldn’t we use tools that have been successful elsewhere? https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-52579475 Privacy and fundamental freedoms don’t matter too much if you’re dead.

Proof I have none but I suspect news about a project that big won't be possible to seal off entirely from the world. So we'll see how they do.

The Chinese authorities intend to test the whole of population of Wuhan, 11 million people, in the next ten days: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-52629213 It looks like it probably won’t happen that quickly but it’s the sort of ambitious thinking on testing we should have too.

Here’s a story of contact tracing from Germany, right down to a salt cellar: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/04/it-was-the-saltshaker-how-germany-meticulously-traced-its-coronavirus-outbreak

Germany provides details of its contact tracing program in many of its provinces (Lander) e.g. how many staff are employed. https://www.buzzfeed.com/albertonardelli/germany-uk-coronavirus-contact-tracing-compared Where are we with that?

There is a case for mandatory tracking but time is of the essence and I don’t see it being rapidly implementable. Like many European countries, Germany has now gone with the decentralized Apple-Google opt-in app.

.

In normal times I value my privacy, but not above life itself. While this global crisis lasts, I’d be willing to divulge my less than exciting activities at places like the Trap and Gill, now gone, alas. https://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/maritimes-themed-trap-and-gill-pub-closing-its-calgary-doors/

I am more than willing to let the state monitor me as closely as necessary to protect me and others in this time of peril.

The possible answers in that questionnaire show how weird results can be derived from such polls. None of the alternatives are satisfactory. WHO made serious mistakes but I don’t see how defunding them etc. right now helps fight the global pandemic. It’s just political pandering. Anger is not a policy program.

I draw an entirely different message from the same data; in such a crisis, Canada should not depend on any foreign country for vital medical supplies.

I read the daily CBC COVID-19 update for my province online more often than I bother to watch them on TV because I can see the numbers I want straight away.

Given the power of big data, such missives will become a lot more targeted, e.g women at the lower end of my realistic age range, maybe twenty years younger, who apparently have interests that mirror mine friending me on Facebook etc. As my late wife used to constantly remind me, "men are so stupid", and I certainly am in these matters.

As has already been noted, Greece’s official COVID-19 figures are impressively low. https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/greece/ This good news story appears to be confirmed by data on excess mortality from all causes, showing that the country has not had a recent spike, unlike many of its European neighbours:

I would agree that the government has more pressing matters to consider.

So how many owners in Canada is that? It’s considerably less than 1% of the population?

Who owns weapons like these? I don’t know anybody who does.

Someone should inform Lord Black that the British Empire died in 1956 and ain’t coming back. The best way to negotiate with China would be for Asia, North America and Europe to speak with one voice through EU-TPP but there is no hope of that at the moment.

Those aromas must be disappearing in Finland, too?

It is impressive in part because the surrounding land is so flat.