To paraphrase William ‘Braveheart’ Wallace, COVID19 may take our lives but it will never take...OUR TECHNOLOGY! This nasty strain of Coronavirus has knocked mankind for six, whisking many of us off to meet our makers but Tech, like rust never sleeps. Humanity’s innate ingenuity will always find a way to shine, even in the darkest of times. Unsurprisingly the Digital Age we live in has come to the fore, allowing business and life in general to get back to some semblance of normality. Or as we now call it in Brave New Coronavirus World the ‘new normal’. These digital wonders are literally propping up our daily lives. Techno tools that are proving essential in keeping us moving forward and not grinding to a shuddering halt.   This leap in technology during COVID19 has gathered real momentum. We all need to be in a permanent state of digital readiness. Staying current to whatever technology dreams up next, will not only be essential to a business but to the country that business is lo...

Whether 'tis nobler in the ballot box to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous unpopularity. Or to take up arms against a pandemic of troubles.  And by opposing end them. W oe is the fate of Trump’s Disunited States of America, that the stark reality of digging modern day plague pits would be required to achieve herd immunity from COVID19. Of course, this would mean the most vulnerable amongst us, would frequently receive a visit from G. Reaper for months, possibly years. For everyone to contract the virus, a lot of people will have to die before the upside of herd immunity would be seen. In the States, Corona fatalities are nearing 170,000. That figure would be a drop in the ocean if herd immunity was allowed to run its course.  So, what is herd immunity?  It is the point where most of the population, (figures vary between 60% to 90%), become immune to the virus either by being infected and recovering from the disease or by vaccination against it. This theory has ...

Yes, we’ve all had to   get used to being frightened to death by switching on the six o’clock news for the latest Coronavirus death toll. But like Eric Idle jauntily warbling on the cross, let’s take five minutes to look on the bright side of COVID19. E ver since a new   and novel strain of Coronavirus emerged from the wet markets of Wuhan, our world has been put on hold. We and all those close to us, now live under the fear of death. COVID19 will go down in history, alongside those other decimating deceases, Spanish Flu and the Black Death. But how can we take any positives   from COVID19 when schools are being closed, people are being laid off, hoarding is rife, staying home is the norm and hospitals are overwhelmed with the sick and the dying? The uncomfortable truth is, a global pandemic was always going to happen. The World Health Organisation has been warning governments for years but they simply chose not to listen. Although any death is a death too many , in the c...

If we thought our pandemic gripped world couldn’t get any worse, we were wrong. With the murder of George Floyd by the lethal use of a Minneapolis police officer’s knee, cities across the world have risen with mass gatherings of protesters. Outrage for George’s unlawful and  unnecessary  death have stoked fears the contagion will spread, as many protests occurred in Coronavirus hot spots. With streets flooded with demonstrators, many not wearing masks and the police responding with tear gas, the perfect Petri dish for COVID19 has been created. Imperfect Timing. George’s murder and subsequent protests have come just as many communities were beginning to lower their guard. Restrictions were gradually being loosened. In terms of COVID19, the protests couldn’t have happened at a worse time, with fears for a second more deadly wave, making the first look like a walk in the park. Months of social distancing have been overturned overnight. Fresh outbreaks could see the rein...

The world has a choice, develop herd immunity and let COVID19 run its course. Leaving the world with a massive body count. With few escaping the loss of a friend or a family member. OR… The human race searches for the 21 st  Century holy grail. A vaccine, that can be distributed on a massive scale to save a significant amount of humanity. Obviously, the latter is more attractive, so how are we doing on our quest? The race for a COVID19 vaccine is on! I better kick off with a word of caution, the development of a safe vaccine for a new illness like COVID19, can take up to 18 months to get to us. That’s with accelerated approval and research moving at unprecedented speed. Saying that, the first COVID-cure-off-the-rank, of course looks like coming from China. This vaccine is being developed by two giant Chinese pharmaceutical companies and it has just completed a second phase of testing. They say it might be ready to go to market by the end of 2020, which is astonishing. In fact,...

Fixing society by letting COVID19 run rampant and cull the elderly, weak and homeless, is a radical point of view to say the least. When you realise such callousness comes from a Californian County official, it’s terrifying. Especially if you’re old, weak or live on the streets. This heartless, ‘let nature take its course’ doctrine, was hurriedly hushed up and the offender, the now infamous Ken Turnage, removed from a Facebook post from the Antioch City Council. Zee Führer  Turnage. Before the post was taken down, the County official stated, ‘We would have significant loss of life, we would lose many elderly, that would reduce burdens in our defunct Social Security System, health care cost. Once the wave subsided, jobs would be available for others and it would also free up housing in which we are in dire need of’. Turnage, then stressed that COVID19’s natural selection would ‘cull the herd’ of people he considered undesirable, which includes the mentally sick. Allowing C...

In the United States, Coronavirus has mutated into Moronavirus! Worryingly, even though there is an international travel ban, this mutation of STUPID20 is spanning oceans and crossing borders with ease. We might try to compensate for Moronavirus’s spread, by saying the world has never had to deal with anything like of COVID19 before but recent U.S. lockdown protests, have probably spread the virus further. Data from protester’s cell phones suggest, the virus travelled hundreds of miles after these protest rallies were over. Little or no precautions were taken and the consequences will become apparent, when America’s death toll breaks through the 100,000 barrier.  Second Wave inevitable? These anti-lockdown protests seem to have provided perfect conditions to launch a second wave of COVID19 in America. Trying to explain exactly what an epidemiologist is to a protester, might have been a task for Fox News. Taking advice from an expert in controlling diseas...

I can only speak for myself but if I wasn’t a sandwich short of picnic before COVID19, I sure as hell am now! The whole world, including yours truly is still becoming familiar with their new normal. Practicing social distancing and spending more and more time at home. Living 24/7 in my own skin, without the distraction of travel or an overpriced coffee, is a sobering experience. There is only so much of a Netflix addiction I can take and believe me, I can take a lot. It’s not knowing when this pandemic will ease up, that’s let the kangaroos loose in my top paddock. (As they never say in Australia.) You a Cooler King? It’s little wonder that the prison system has for years used social isolation, in the form of solitary confinement, as a form of punishment. In the Great Escape, The Cooler King played by the King of Cool Steve McQueen, was always being thrown into ‘The Hole’. Luckily for him, Zee Germans allowed him to take his baseball and glove with him, otherwise he might have...

The U.S. now holds the world record for the highest number of its citizens infected by COVID19. If there was a podium at the Olympic Coronavirus Games, President Donald would be standing atop of the tree, proudly taking the applause of a huge, imaginary crowd of his supporters. (Not unlike his phantom inauguration throng!) His view is that America’s 1.5 million cases, together with a staggering 92,000 deaths, is some sort of spiky red ‘BADGE OF HONOUR’? Spinning is winning! Like an expert spin doctor, President Donald tried to explain his country’s Coronavirus record. ‘You know when you say that we lead in cases, that's because we have more testing than anybody else. So, when we have a lot of cases, I don't look at that as a bad thing. I look at that as, in a certain respect, as being a good thing because it means our testing is much better.' Duh! According to an Oxford University scientific publication, the U.S. lags globally behind other countries in testing, on a per cap...