Holien

Or send tourists who like Cathedrals and leave deadly perfume bottles around to be picked up by innocent folk on the look out for a valentine's gift...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52542943 The economic shock from this is going to be very unpleasant and will drive people into the arms of extremists populist politicians who promise salvation by creating an enemy people can unite against. I was hoping for a peaceful retirement (starting end of this month) but the next ten years (if I am lucky enough to be around) will be very very interesting times... Thanks to everyone for making some really good and insightful posts it is great to understand it from the different countries perspective. A pity to see the charts showing America and Sweden are not decreasing the numbers. The UK seems to be winning and at least our numpties are now on track to increase testing and trace to really nail it. Took longer than it should and not enough preparation beforehand but at least our dissenting medical staff don't fall out of windows!

Desertfox Yes that is happening now in Germany because Germany has been one of the successes in keeping on top of it. Likewise in the UK the emergency hospitals in Exhibition centres have not been used and as we see a drop off in cases there is a push to get people back in for normal treatment which is great as we need to find a way of getting back to normal, whatever that is going to be. The world Governments were truly horrified at what happened in Italy and that informed the responses and lock downs that have curtailed the death rates. Please read the link provided to understand why those two gents are not the chaps to be informing Government health policy as they can't get the basics right! 0.4% death rate vs 0.1% doesn't sound too much different but what that is saying is it 4000 people will die compared to 1000 in a million people. Say 83 million Germans let's open up and let it run free, 332,000 people die, that is not going to have a great economic impact. Germany might have kept it to 0.4% but that is through test and trace and lock down which those muppets you have quoted would not have done...

That is Great support for her and I wish her and her colleagues well. As a society we are going to have to give the healthcare staff some serious PTSD support as they are taking a battering. This is not just the Flu as some YouTube pseudo Drs are still pushing... Doctors and healthcare staff in UK without PPE have fallen and the sustained influx of dying patients on the mental welfare of the staff is not great...

Anyone who watches this clip I then suggest you read the following... (The truth is out there, imo usually not in YouTube clips...) https://theprepared.com/blog/dr-ericksons-viral-covid-19-briefing-video-is-dangerously-wrong/ His starting point is seriously flawed... "So if you look at California—these numbers are from yesterday—we have 33,865 COVID cases, out of a total of 280,900 total tested. That’s 12% of Californians were positive for COVID. So we don’t, the initial — as you guys know, the initial models were woefully inaccurate. They predicted millions of cases of death — not of prevalence or incidence — but death. That is not materializing. What is materializing is, in the state of California is 12% positives. You have a 0.03 chance of dying from COVID in the state of California." Here’s the obvious reason why using a 12% test positivity rate to claim that 12% of Californians already have SARS-COV-2 is so dangerous. Right now, the USA and many other countries are limiting their testing only to people who show symptoms of COVID-19. Furthermore, in many parts of the country since this all began, only those with the most severe COVID-19 symptoms have been tested. We aren’t testing 100% of the population. What Erickson does in this video is conceptually the same as sampling a communion line to figure out how many Catholics live in California. Or estimating the prevalence of alcoholism by sampling an AA meeting. It may be hard to believe that a physician would do something so dumb, but that’s exactly what he’s up to in this clip.

So I said I would furnish some examples that is all about decisions and less about the actual combat. Attached is the current area of operations where the German player is tasked with crossing the River Arun. The German player does not get this detailed view until they have been in the area for a length of time and then I start to feed them these A grade maps. The A3 Map is the quality the Germans get to begin with. The key with any of these games is understanding the terrain and how to use it. As a commander maps are absolutely key. In the ACW period they rarely had detailed maps, some commanders even brought Map Makers along with them Stonewall Jackson employed an amazing chap called Jedediah Hotchkiss. He is one of my mapping heroes and Jackson was capable of great things in the Valley because of his maps. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jedediah_Hotchkiss Anyway I digress... So examples of decisions rather than combat affecting the outcome of the game. Allied player rightly blew the bridges at New Bridge but failed to put any thought into the foot bridges... Result the Germans are crossing at Guildenhurst foot bridge. The Allied player put units in Paplands Hanger woods and the buildings just South of the woods and the German player just tried to rush units in open across the bridge. Result lots of dead Germans. Eventually they worked over the allied positions but a simple fire mission on the possible enemy locations would have saved a company of infantry from dying. The Allied player then made a key decision to pull back a heavy weapons company from the woods just before the Germans woke up to the fact that they should be shelling with artillery those woods. Again combat little effect and the Allies saved a Heavy Weapons company. With hidden movement and only being updated when things are revealed it is about the commanders decisions rather than the combat. Of course the dice rolls do have an effect and it can sway a battle but often it is more about the decision of where things are located. CM is often about that too...

If Anyone fancies an interesting read on German Equipment I found the PDF here: - http://efilms.assets.ushmm.org/_media/movies_wm/_img/Originals/War-Department_Technical-Manual_Handbook-on-German Military-Forces.pdf That was the 1943 version This is the 1945 Version https://openlibrary.org/books/OL18004993M/Handbook_On_German_Military_Forces

Great, let's hope it drives some new blood to the store front and fresh questions on the forum. I will be checking out some of games mentioned.

Ok found a report on this. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/coronavirus-doctor-putin-positive-test-update-a9438391.html As mentioned the doctor had been tested before being allowed near Putin. Obviously there are still concerns about testing not being accurate. Still interesting to see the pivot in how Putin is now portrayed in full PPE...

Thanks AlanSA I had previously read that darling Putin was having everyone tested off screen before he staged photo shots like that? Do you have the article to hand with that story? Certainly a different approach now being communicated to the Russian people. Early days it was a Western thing nothing to fear I am a hard man and won't wear a mask, but I will have checked the folk who I meet. Now the media message with him in full PPE has changed and asking the Russian people to take it seriously. Comrades look how serious your President is taking it. Compare to the American leadership approach. Different message being sent... Media is important and I guess Putin now thinks he needs to remembered in full PPE, why?

This world leader is taking his safety seriously, no shaking hands and wandering around un protected in the covid wards.... https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-52461431 A pity his medical teams don't get the same level of PPE, mind you our UK staff don't either... Ohhh and then I just saw this.... Joy.. (Sarcastic joy...)

Does it really? Hmmm China makes money from supplying the world with goods used by humans. Hmm let's shut down the whole world economy and put our own population out of work, get them really mad at the leadership and ferment political change.... That sounds like a cunning plan Baldric would come up with!

ONS has updated chart with latest statistics. Not getting any better and still some way to go...

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-52435463 BBC article on India and trying to understand the apparently low death rate. Might be of interest to those with work colleagues in India. Gives some insight that it is far harder to track deaths due to local and family cremation practices and I guess less bureaucracy on the process. In the UK it has to follow a strict process, you can't just do it on a field near your home. Feeds into the discussion of how does each country get accurate numbers.

The UK has the ONS office for national statistics and they are doing work on trying to get an accurate picture of what is really happening. It is politically independent. The image from the BBC shows 2015 vs 2020. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-51979654

How are they going to feed them? In China I saw reports that the government took care of organised food delivery. No problems if you have easy street / building and apartment numbers. Let's hope the Indian government has thought it through...

You can lead a horse to water... There will be consequences for China the world's perception will change and how they handle these requests to better understand the virus will help influence people. From the buzzfeed article

I am no Chinese government fan and they are to be watched and held to account, how this is done is the problem. We need to work together in the west to better deal with them in a fair and consistent manner. Of course democracy changes leadership every 4 years and it is difficult to gain a consistent approach. Governments need to be held to account for what they have truly done, not what is being used to whip up fear. For example we went to war in Iraq on the basis of weapons of mass destruction which was a lie built up to sway public opinion, let's make sure we are more wary in future... There is a move in the Conservative party to examine what China is upto. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-52414635 Time will tell what will come from it...

Thanks Elvis et al, for me this thread highlights different opinions and allows a collaborative discussion about this buggerance as one of my beloved authors would say. A pity he has passed away, as he would have had a field day.... Even those opinions that I find odd are good to hear as long as people respect one another without the personal provocations.

I see the other game of directing folk towards attacking the Chinese government is gaining traction, I just had an unsolicited text message asking me to watch a 50 minute "You tube" program saying the CCP virus came from the research laboratory in the area. I sent the person back this link asking them to read the article. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ryanhatesthis/coronavirus-rumors-escape-lab-china-fox-news-trump IMO This theme is a way to distract and turn people's anger away from why their country was not ready. Someone has to be blamed for this woe that has befallen the whole planet. Of course seeing China's reported numbers is not going to help with this... China not allowing an independent investigation will again just feed this agenda and drive further wedges between people to give governments the leeway to be more aggressive and justify war. Mind you the Russian and Chinese Government are playing the same game which gives thos Governments cover to fight back... History shows it is used time and time again, threat of Communist domino theory anyone? Interesting times.

Thanks AKD reading that article now starts to make sense in how the Virus is being weaponised in the American Election. Link the democrats to the stay at home orders and they become the bad cop that the Republican supporters can turn against, they generate mass support because people have lost jobs so drag in a wider support base... The Democrats ruined the economy, the Republicans would have saved the economy but ohh those evil Democrats want to destroy your freedom to infect folk... Joy.... And there I was thinking it was about saving lives and based upon past experience then protecting the economy as you have more people alive to generate and create the economy.

Ultimately I think we can open up when everyone has one of these to wear https://www.uhs.nhs.uk/AboutTheTrust/Newsandpublications/Latestnews/2020/April/Hospital-trust-becomes-first-to-introduce-pioneering-respirator-hoods-for-staff-treating-coronavirus-patients.aspx I can see the new norm with factories and work places giving staff these hoods. That or testing is sorted so we know if we are infectious or not. Until then it will continue to spread and kill.

Hi Kevinkin, I am just trying to check what you are saying as I think we all agree that the Shelter in Place (lockdown) will need to be lifted, it's just when. So I think your argument is that the lockdown needs lifting right now? Or should never have been put in place? Is that a fair summary? None of us want the Lockdowns to stay in place forever. Even though you think Fauci is risk adverse "we will never open" statement seems a bit of a stretch, the experts are just saying we need to open when we have decent measures in place to Track and Trace and control this virus. I wonder why people are not jumping up and down about Track and Trace not being in place? Only now are we in the UK getting to that after stopping it when we were inundated with cases. If America can get it under control then it will be easier to control it going forward. I think we can all agree that is if no lockdown was put in place there would be more deaths than has been the case? Do you agree with that Kevinkin?

This belongs here... https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-52407177 Not the pandemic thread!

American flu, That was me being cheeky... Thanks for the interesting article this bit really made me wonder... Hmm saving lives has a better economic outcome... "The economic impact of shutdownsA study published this year argued that cities that acted early and aggressively to impose social distancing to limit the spread of the Spanish flu actually performed better economically after the pandemic was over than those that did not. Fewer workers had died, and the local population more quickly resumed normal economic behavior, three economists found."