Trying to make sense of the car crash that is 2020, is a tricky business. Which is why conspiracy theories are born. From a laboratory manufactured bioweapon to tracker vaccines, that know what you had for breakfast. One man’s conspiracy theory is a trillion men’s misinformation. Clutching at straws is what human beings do, when our world is in meltdown. In writing this piece I do not wish to trivialise the gravity of the situation we find ourselves in. The very nature of Social Media and the light speed a rumour, falsehood or fabrication, can whizz around the globe is frightening. I sincerely urge you to stay safe by continuing to practice good hygiene and physical distancing. As well as avoiding public gatherings and by isolating yourself, if need be. It’s a tough call but these are tough times. So, in no particular order here are some of the more colourful Coronavirus conspiracies that are nuttier than Secret Squirrel doo-doo. First, as I’ve already mentioned, features a swarthy ...

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 ...

If you live in Australia and New Zealand, it’s time to thank your COVID19 lucky stars. While the Antipodes is flattening the curve, in other parts of the world, the pandemic is not fading away but actually accelerating. This extremely bad news was delivered by  the World Health Organization (WHO), reporting that new Coronavirus cases were reaching new heights. Millions more infected.   In the first three months of the pandemic, one million cases of COVID19 were recorded. It took just eight days to reach the next million cases! With a worldwide total exceeding a staggering nine million, the death rate in some countries doesn’t make for comfortable reading. Donald Trump’s America tops the charts with a lamentable figure that’s heading towards 130,000 deaths. Brazil leads the way in South America, with a thousand Brazilians losing their lives every day. Brazil going nuts! Governments seem to be choosing between lives and livelihoods. Brazil’s President declared social dista...

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,...

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...

There’s nothing like a good pandemic to flush out, exactly what kind of people we really are. In doing so of course, we also discover the calibre of human being that we have all around us. COVID19, a microscopic virus has put the entire human race under the microscope. Unnaturally cooping us together, this nasty Coronavirus doesn’t take any prisoners, when it comes to highlighting our shortcomings. In short, are we positive, thumbs up ‘glass half fullers’ or a bunch of miserable ‘glass half emptiers’? Let the Lockdown Games begin! COVID19 a killer you can survive. Yes, COVID19 is terrifying but you can come out the other side and live to tell the tale. It’s not many diseases that have brave nurses the world over, as frightened as the patients they’re caring for. When it has you in its grip with a fever, rasping cough, abdominal and chest pains, coupled with a shortness of breath, you really think you’re not long for this world. When you start bringing up blood and your te...

Self-isolation across the nation. I have to admit to be more of a Bowie kinda guy but Slade’s 1972 foot-stomper ‘Mama Weer All Crazee Now!’, recently uploaded from some forgotten school memory, directly into my self-isolating bonce. Who’d’ve thought, Noddy and Jim’s teeny classic, decades after being penned, would perfectly describe what a bemused world population is currently experiencing? International ‘Climbing Walls Championships'.  Slowly but surely cogs are beginning to come off spindles between our collective ears. COVID19 lock-down has caused some ordinary Terry and Junes to begin to crawl up the wall, over the ceiling and down the other side of the room. Their homes have been slowly transforming into prison cells but some refuse to be caged in. Like the neighbour caught heading out, ninja-like, disguised as a bush! Joking aside, more of these click-bait pranks are actually going to have us all cooped-up for even longer. COVIDIVORCE?   Relationships are being pu...