"Already this week we have seen video of a police officer instructing a man that he and his family are not allowed to play in their own front garden, people doing yoga in local parks being told to go home, socially-isolating families being ordered off beaches even though they are within walking distance of their homes, Cambridgeshire police telling people what they can and cannot buy in supermarkets and Northamptonshire Police saying they might set up roadblocks and could start searching shopping trolleys." Peter Black fears overzealous police forces are undermining lockdown. "In Raab's favour, my father would point out ...
My favourite analogy for what is going on just now is that humanity has been dumped. You know when you're on the receiving end of a breakup and you don't see it coming, and it is with someone you have been seeing for long enough that you kind of have a life together at least half-assedly mapped out in your head. Your spending plans are tied to them. Your social plans. Your happiness. Your sense of who you are. Your sense that you can trust how things will be from one day to the next, derived from how things have ...
In these strange times I have been thinking a lot about the meaning and consequences of it all. I'm not alone. With so little else to do in lock-down many others are thinking about the effects of Covid-19. Alas this effort is as unproductive as so much else that is going on right now. For ... Continue reading Covid-19 will not make the world a better place
[IMG: There is a place for the Lib Dems, as part of a Progressive Alliance voice] The phrase 'we are all in this together' must seep into all facets of our lives if it's to be meaningful. Politics ought not to... The post There is a place for the Lib Dems, as part of a Progressive Alliance voice appeared first on Ambitiousmamas.
Wide Open Country offers five stories that capture who Townes Van Zandt was: Born March 7, 1944, in Fort Worth, Texas, singer-songwriter John Townes Van Zandt is the perfect example of an artist whose legend only grows with time. For many, Van Zandt was a walking paradox. Somehow the greatest country songwriter to live is still not a household name among country fans like Willie Nelson or Merle Haggard. A well-to-do kid born into comfort who lived his adult life in relative simplicity and poverty. An extremely intelligent man who somehow fell victim to the oldest trick in the book ...
Earlier in the week Hina Bokhari reminded us that major festivals of the three Abrahamic religions - Passover, the start of Ramadan and Holy Week – almost coincide this year. (I have never properly understood why Passover and Maundy Thursday don't coincide every year.) And thank you, Hina, for a beautiful post about Easter this morning. All three festivals include periods for introspection and reflection of the origins of our faiths, and all involve symbolic meals. Today I would normally be enjoying a church full of colour. It is always devoid of flowers during Lent (apart from a burst of ...
The German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche argued that "there are no facts, only interpretations." Nonetheless, at my primary school, History was all about "facts" — names and dates, almost all linked to kings and queens of England. But at secondary school, the radical insight that facts could be interpreted differently and therefore that History was mainly [...]
The World Bank issued pandemic bonds in 2017 after the outbreak of the Ebola Virus in West Africa. They are a form of emergency aid to the health systems of the poorest countries eligible for funding from the International Development Association. However, as Bloomberg reports Pandemic Bonds these take a long-time to pay out and the sums are relatively small and nowhere near enough to deal with the scale of the crisis in third world countries. What is required in developed nations now both for their own needs and to aid the poorest countries are Coronavirus bonds. These would be ...
A look at some of the holy (and formerly holy) sites around the village. Includes maps, and continuity errors regarding my shirts. Four and a half minutes. Happy Easter, everyone!
Sun 12th
11:51
Shropshire Council makes it easier for those who need food but struggle to pay for it - we have exce...
One of the pressing needs identified in the last couple of weeks is ensuring that everyone has food. Shropshire Council will now purchase food for people who are self-isolating and cannot purchase supplies over the phone using a debit or credit card and cannot access cash. There are a lot of reasons why this might be the case. For example, elderly people who don't use cards, don't have access to cards or don't wish to use them. Shropshire Council can purchase goods on their behalf and send an invoice to be paid later. This is an emergency measure for those ...
Many thanks for being a reader of Liberal Democrat Newswire, my website, my social media channels or some combination of all of them. It would be great if you can take a few minutes to complete this survey in order to help me to choose content and channels which match what you find interesting and convenient. You can take the reader survey here.
Sat, 12:56: You did not get COVID-19 in the fall of 2019. https://t.co/WVNa3wSObB It's a lie by Victor Davis Hanson. Sat, 14:48: New discovery suggests London's story goes back more than 3,000 years longer than previously thought... https://t.co/zFjW1Nwz7P Sat, 16:05: RT @juliakite: OK, I see today's hysteria is, "New York City is throwing dead COVID-19 patients in mass graves you can see from space," so... Sat, 16:34: December 2005 books https://t.co/xqFao5aKF0 Sat, 18:12: Excession, by Iain M. Banks https://t.co/l8580VyVpZ Sat, 19:49: RT @bbcdoctorwho: "I just wanted to say, hello. Hello Doctor. It's so very very nice to meet you." #DoctorWho ...
Throughout this crisis all the governments have insisted that they are following the best scientific advice in the decisions they are making, however as David McCoy, a professor of Global Public Health and director of the Centre for Public Health at Queen Mary University of London, points out in this excellent article, technical evidence can only take us so far. He says that there is a non-scientific element to decision-making which involves choosing between competing demands and needs in society, determining what is ethical and moral, and balancing challenges that are current and immediate with those that will only emerge ...
I am a Muslim. But since I was a child I have been influenced by many religions. My father, the late Naz Bokhari was a champion of interfaith work in his community, and instilled in us a healthy respect of other religions. When we were young he would even sing school hymns in the car on long journeys and tell us stories from other cultures and faith groups. Later when we were older, he would encourage respectful engagement with the observances and celebrations of others, believing these to be opportunities for different communities to come together and celebrate the shared ...
This week, Nicola Sturgeon took First Minster's Questions from Scotland's party leaders in virtual form. Holyrood is again leading the way on showing how a modern Parliament can continue to scrutinise a government even in these unprecedented times. Willie Rennie asked about care homes, particularly about how they accepted new residents who may be discharged straight from hospital and about mental health – especially the trauma that NHS workers are being exposed to. You can see him at about 30 minutes in. It was a really good and thoughtful session with difficult questions being asked and answered in a manner ...
Sun 12th
08:30
Wendy Chamberlain: I used to be a Police Officer, now I worry about them being given more power
I, like virtually everyone else in this country, am taking this lockdown business very seriously. In fact, I think my anxiety about Coronavirus is going to skyrocket in that intervening period between the most restrictive measures ending and the advent of a cure or vaccine. My husband is not quite as high risk as you can get, but he's well on the way and when I read the small print, I'm high risk for complications from Covid-19 too. So I'm actually quite happy being at home at the moment. I realise that I am very lucky to be able to ...
Further update - for Sunday 12th April 2020 from Councillor Fraser Macpherson and Councillor Craig Duncan : SHIELDINGAfter some delay and technical problems with the text service, steps have been taken to protect people with the highest clinical risk - the 'shielded' group. 144,000 people have now been sent a letter. As people are newly diagnosed, or if clinicians feel it is required, the NHS will continue to add to the central list. Councils, GPs and health boards will be told who is on the shielding central list. The letter invites them to register by text. Over 24 000 people ...
Sun 12th
06:18We all need exercise - farmers must not illegally close footpaths during the national emergency #cor...
Many of us are getting a bit stir crazy. Pinned down to our homes and our gardens, when we have a garden. Allowed out for essentials like shopping and medical appointments. And our single permitted daily walk. We benefit in Ludlow from good access to the countryside. We can stroll past pleasant gardens into green and leafy fields and woods. One of our well walked routes heads out of town along Burway and across the fields towards Bromfield, where sadly the café and The Clive are closed for the duration. It's a great route and you can return via Oakley ...
