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Lockdown Update Day 112
First up... Cronk! Came across this thread a few weeks ago, and it was just delightful:
The Guardian: 'Cronk rules everything around me': long-lost beverage resurrected after 120 years
Odd ads for Dr Cronk’s Compound Sarsaparilla Beer, once wildly popular, went viral on Twitter. Now a Canadian brewer is bringing it back
~~
In corona news:
Coronavirus: Brazil's President Bolsonaro tests positive
Sweden Has Become the World’s Cautionary Tale
Its decision to carry on in the face of the pandemic has yielded a surge of deaths without sparing its economy from damage — a red flag as the United States and Britain move to lift lockdowns.
(Personal note: I think we're our own red flag.)
~~
And it's 15 years since the London bombings. I'm not sure how to feel. 15 years is a long time, but I still remember it vividly; worrying about LJ friends that I knew lived in London, messages flying back and forth if anyone had heard from so-and-so... And having lived in London for 3 years, using those tube stations on a regular basis, it made it all feel much more immediate.
~~
Today's art is the 7 July Memorial:
Website here, if you want to know more about the design.
ETA: Completely managed to forget that this icon is a product of that attack...
And now there's been a development:In 1883, a drink called "Cronk" started advertising in the Calgary Herald. See if you can spot their ads. pic.twitter.com/yg3dMRDkY6
— Paul Fairie (@paulisci) June 21, 2020
The Guardian: 'Cronk rules everything around me': long-lost beverage resurrected after 120 years
Odd ads for Dr Cronk’s Compound Sarsaparilla Beer, once wildly popular, went viral on Twitter. Now a Canadian brewer is bringing it back
~~
In corona news:
Coronavirus: Brazil's President Bolsonaro tests positive
Sweden Has Become the World’s Cautionary Tale
Its decision to carry on in the face of the pandemic has yielded a surge of deaths without sparing its economy from damage — a red flag as the United States and Britain move to lift lockdowns.
(Personal note: I think we're our own red flag.)
~~
And it's 15 years since the London bombings. I'm not sure how to feel. 15 years is a long time, but I still remember it vividly; worrying about LJ friends that I knew lived in London, messages flying back and forth if anyone had heard from so-and-so... And having lived in London for 3 years, using those tube stations on a regular basis, it made it all feel much more immediate.
~~
Today's art is the 7 July Memorial:
Website here, if you want to know more about the design.
ETA: Completely managed to forget that this icon is a product of that attack...
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:(
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But at least we're not deliberately killing off the parts of the electorate who'd vote against us, unlike some regimes.
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Sorry to hear that. I always expect Scandinavian countries to do the right thing, even if I know better. Although, unless your politicians are blaming the old-age homes, you're still doing better than us.
But at least we're not deliberately killing off the parts of the electorate who'd vote against us, unlike some regimes.
True. As well as having superior healthcare and social care etc etc
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Not quite, but the politicians in charge of the old-age homes are blaming the government, since they know voters have no idea who's responsible. And then they keep cutting costs in the name of efficiency, in the middle of a pandemic.
The point is, not to dismiss the value of social distancing (or to dull my rage at all the people who come into the library and are shocked, SHOCKED, to find that everything isn't "normal"), but the people in care homes are the people who have no say in how and when and whether to socially distance. And they're the ones who have been dying in droves. But the idea that we should be the cautionary tale when Trump and Bolsonaro are actively encouraging people to die as soon as possible is ludicrous.
Or maybe I'm just on edge because I just got my negative antibody test and there goes my entire summer and I won't see my parents for another three months at least. Fuck this fucking year.
ETA: Apologies, didn't mean to bring my ranty pants over to your LJ. I should probably just go to bed and hope the sun rises tomorrow.
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Also...ditto on all of the above.
But the idea that we should be the cautionary tale when Trump and Bolsonaro are actively encouraging people to die as soon as possible is ludicrous.
Yep. Considering Brazil and US are vying for the top places on the COVID MAP OF DOOM.
I think the virus is keeping Trump alive - because he's helping it along. As the NY State Governor stated - Trump is enabling the virus.
(Yeah, I tested negative for the anti-body as well - so I feel your pain. Although it's not exactly clear if it's proof of immunity or that it is precisely accurate. But I was kind of hoping I had a mild case of the thing in November.)
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Also, being as I'm in Canada, I wonder if we'll be able to get Cronk in Nova Scotia. Is it just me, or do those ads have a more than a little Nightvalean feel to them?
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We were very lucky not to end up going your route as well, because most of our deaths at the beginning of the pandemic were also in (private) care homes.
My mother said that back in my home town, people had decided that they would keep corona out of the local care home, no matter the cost (because they knew that they couldn't trust the owners of the care home to do it). She works as a clearner at the school where the daughter of one of the nurses working at the care home goes to, and she made sure the be extra careful to disinfect everything, and the headmaster had similarly ordered that no extra people were allowed in the school building to lessen the chances of the nurse's daughter getting sick.
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IKR? 9/11 feel like aeons ago, but this feels recent.
Also, being as I'm in Canada, I wonder if we'll be able to get Cronk in Nova Scotia.
Oooh you might yes!
Is it just me, or do those ads have a more than a little Nightvalean feel to them?
From what I know of Nightvale (i.e. what I have absorbed by fannish osmosis) then yes? Although it must be the other way around, surely. ;)
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Ah yes, capitalism having a moment. Ours are brilliant on that score either, but the government decreed that old people should be released from hospitals into care homes without testing, there wasn't enough PPE and then... surprise, surprise, lots of old people died. :( The gall of Boris Johnson to now blame the victims is in another league. This government is pathologically incapable of taking responsibility. >:(
but the people in care homes are the people who have no say in how and when and whether to socially distance. And they're the ones who have been dying in droves. But the idea that we should be the cautionary tale when Trump and Bolsonaro are actively encouraging people to die as soon as possible is ludicrous.
It's a very weird mental leap. This isn't some MAGA supporter or Karen refusing to wear a mask, it's people who weren't protected properly.
Or maybe I'm just on edge because I just got my negative antibody test and there goes my entire summer and I won't see my parents for another three months at least. Fuck this fucking year.
I'm so sorry. We were supposed to go visit my parents this summer, but that's not happening either... :(
ETA: Apologies, didn't mean to bring my ranty pants over to your LJ. I should probably just go to bed and hope the sun rises tomorrow.
Rants always welcome!! Although if Sweden's anything like England you've had rain for... about a week now?
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It might be different for you, but I think I was just a little too young to realise the impact of 9/11 at the time, but the London Bombing I was old enough to understand that what was on the telly wasn't a movie?
Although it must be the other way around, surely. ;)
Ha ha! It depends a lot on Night Vale's wibbly wobbley timey wimey. You must tell me Miss M's thoughts, I imagine she'd have some intelligent ones. All of this in-canon as opposed to real life where yes, of course Cronk came first.
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Oh yes, and continuing into next week, which is my first holiday week. Yay. Then again, there are worse things to do than going for long socially-distanced bike rides in a light summer drizzle.
it's people who weren't protected properly.
Exactly. If you're 87 and living in an assisted facility and get maybe half an hour of face time with another human being every day to help you with the most basic functions, it's not like you can choose to lock your door. And to the company who hired that person, taking extra care due to the virus is simply unprofitable.
If you're interested, here's a good rebuttal of the NYT hitpiece. Which I assume came about because the NYT are seeing a lot of Trump fans pointing to Sweden as proof you can get through this without doing anything, which is a) simply not true, and b) hang on, Trump fans like socialized medicine, full sick pay, job security and implicitly trusting the state now? Because that's what our entire strategy relies on. So basically, in the war between Trump and anti-Trump, we got used as a cudgel, and now the entire world is reading that article.
The way I see it, it is a monumental failure of policy, but it's partly due to the responsible health experts (and I do believe putting experts rather than politicians in charge is a good thing) assuming that we actually still have the welfare system we have on paper. Which, after 20+ years of politicians cutting mandatory services with the magical battle cry "But we're doing it without reducing quality of service!", we simply don't. Care homes, hospitals, schools, libraries, social services... it's all been sold at scrap value to clever investors who run it as cheaply as they can and pocket the difference.
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Hope you stay safe too.
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Ah yes. I had two babies when 9/11 happened, so yeah. I remember watching it on the TV and the surreal feeling.
Ha ha! It depends a lot on Night Vale's wibbly wobbley timey wimey. You must tell me Miss M's thoughts, I imagine she'd have some intelligent ones. All of this in-canon as opposed to real life where yes, of course Cronk came first.
Nightvale was about 5 fandoms ago... but I know she bought the book. And yes in-canon vs RL is always a fun distinction.
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True. Hope the weather clears up though.
Exactly. If you're 87 and living in an assisted facility and get maybe half an hour of face time with another human being every day to help you with the most basic functions, it's not like you can choose to lock your door. And to the company who hired that person, taking extra care due to the virus is simply unprofitable.
*nods* What is this world we live in... :(
If you're interested, here's a good rebuttal of the NYT hitpiece.
Thank you! It struck me as a weird piece (hence my own comment, since the UK & the US are being led by morons, whereas Sweden isn't, they just chose a different path).
So basically, in the war between Trump and anti-Trump, we got used as a cudgel, and now the entire world is reading that article.
Still better than Fox News... ?
assuming that we actually still have the welfare system we have on paper. Which, after 20+ years of politicians cutting mandatory services with the magical battle cry "But we're doing it without reducing quality of service!", we simply don't.
Sorry to hear that. :(
Care homes, hospitals, schools, libraries, social services... it's all been sold at scrap value to clever investors who run it as cheaply as they can and pocket the difference.
Oh yeah, that sounds familiar.
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I'm struggling with the media at the moment. Too much opinion not enough facts and it's hurting their credibility.
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