Scrutable

Unfortunate that the guy who drove a JCB with Get Brexit Done written on it through a polystyrene wall has decided that a life or death pandemic is the time for nuanced messaging

jimbob wrote: Sat Mar 21, 2020 9:41 am

badger wrote: Sat Mar 21, 2020 9:34 am

Ben B wrote: Sat Mar 21, 2020 9:01 am Godfrey Bloom is a pillock.



https://twitter.com/goddersbloom/status ... 0613905408

Oof. Pillock is right, and then some. His timeline reveals he's drunk the same kool aid as Piers Corbyn, and is saying that the spring equinox will kill the virus off, so calm down snowflakes etc. I thought Social Media was supposed to be shutting this stuff down?

I did just tweet the following reply:

Well, with an optimistic estimate of 50% infection rate, and 2% mortality, we're looking at more than ten times that number of deaths in about the same length of time.

raven wrote: Sun Mar 22, 2020 10:48 pm

lpm wrote: Sun Mar 22, 2020 6:48 pm The weakness of their language has reached absurd levels, This oh-so-clever nudge unit seems incapable of using basic nudge techniques. A starting point is speaking in a way that easily gets across to people.

- use concrete words, not abstract
- be practical, not conceptual
- use familiar words, not fancy words
- keep it human, not mathematical

This. So much this. These people can't communicate clearly to save anybody's life. As I said somewhere, the average read age in the UK is something like 11. Have you seen the advice on gov.uk? It's wordy, long and badly organised. For goodness sake, if you want people to listen, make your guidance simple and use simple, everyday language.

You know, like that slogan, what was it again? Oh yes. Take back control.If Cummings can reduce Brexit to three words, surely he can come up with appropriate, simply worded guidance for this.[/sarcasm] I can well believe Cummings jumped all over the idea of herd immunity as soon as he heard it. He seems just like a guy who knows a lot of science-y sounding buzz words and the precise meaning of none of them.

NICE guidelines for the UK for triage into critical care. Not based on age, but on a 9 point "frailty scale".

That's all very well under normal circumstances, but when you're inundated with a lot of critical patients at once, patients struggling to breathe and unaccompanied by family because you're trying to limit everyone's exposure, how do you find out what someone's usual activity levels are or how often they need help?

raven wrote: Sun Mar 22, 2020 10:48 pmThat's all very well under normal circumstances, but when you're inundated with a lot of critical patients at once, patients struggling to breathe and unaccompanied by family because you're trying to limit everyone's exposure, how do you find out what someone's usual activity levels are or how often they need help?

Opti wrote: Sun Mar 22, 2020 6:47 pm Fortunately, here in Spain, the general public are taking the lockdown pretty damn seriously.

There seems to be a fair bit of 'English Exceptionalism' going on back in the UK.
This ain't like the blitz guys.

Little waster wrote: Thu Mar 19, 2020 3:47 pm
Basic points are the school are going to post online various resources and activities to try and keep the kids' hand in in regards to English and Maths; all other aspects of the curriculum are to to be covered by watching Horrible Histories and Blue Planet(!).

EACLucifer wrote: Mon Mar 23, 2020 9:43 am

Opti wrote: Sun Mar 22, 2020 6:47 pm Fortunately, here in Spain, the general public are taking the lockdown pretty damn seriously.

There seems to be a fair bit of 'English Exceptionalism' going on back in the UK.
This ain't like the blitz guys.

I suspect the difference lies more in communication and leadership - and the lack of it in the UK right now - than any significant inherent difference in the population.

lpm wrote: Mon Mar 23, 2020 9:04 am Jesus, the videos of London tube trains this morning... Crushed together like a usual rush hour. This in one of the most over-heated cities on the planet.

Bewildered wrote: Mon Mar 23, 2020 11:07 am Just looking at the worldometer graph for cases https://www.worldometers.info/coronavir ... y/germany/ seems like Germany’s measures are having a strong impact and they are still ramping them up. Or should I worry their testing is dropping off?

If I understand correctly there is still a lot of speculation and uncertainty as to why they have such a low deaths per confirmed case, but I assume that most of that will be down to more testing. so then it suggest the uk is at a significantly later stage than Germany, and without the same success in dampening the curve, though maybe some hope recent measures will help. Right?

It also feels to me like Australia has been very slow to act, but it does seem we are much further behind than even Germany so we may have more time.

FWIW I really appreciated mikeh’s post itt given he has a real expertise here, and hope he posts more e.g. telling me I’m wrong, but I’m finding it hard to believe that bringing in stricter measures faster isn’t the best course.

Little waster wrote: Mon Mar 23, 2020 12:30 am Of course the WW2-equivalent of heading to a crowded pub for a jolly good knees-up in the midst of a deadly pandemic would be spending your evenings radioing the Germans British convoy movements.

TopBadger wrote: Mon Mar 23, 2020 12:42 pm

Little waster wrote: Mon Mar 23, 2020 12:30 am Of course the WW2-equivalent of heading to a crowded pub for a jolly good knees-up in the midst of a deadly pandemic would be spending your evenings radioing the Germans British convoy movements.

A more appropriate analogy might be refusing to take part in the blackout...

TopBadger wrote: Mon Mar 23, 2020 12:42 pm

Little waster wrote: Mon Mar 23, 2020 12:30 am Of course the WW2-equivalent of heading to a crowded pub for a jolly good knees-up in the midst of a deadly pandemic would be spending your evenings radioing the Germans British convoy movements.

A more appropriate analogy might be refusing to take part in the blackout...

dyqik wrote: Mon Mar 23, 2020 2:42 pm We have a stay-at-home order here now, with non-essential businesses being closed.

FlammableFlower wrote: Mon Mar 23, 2020 7:27 am
The "average reading age" thing is made up, looked into on an episode of More Or Less, as far as they could discover it was just invented by some website and it has kept being repeated (or variations of it) as it suits certain viewpoints.

However, that doesn't detract at all from the substance of your and lpm's posts, that simplicity and clarity are what's needed.

EACLucifer wrote: Mon Mar 23, 2020 1:11 pm

TopBadger wrote: Mon Mar 23, 2020 12:42 pm

Little waster wrote: Mon Mar 23, 2020 12:30 am Of course the WW2-equivalent of heading to a crowded pub for a jolly good knees-up in the midst of a deadly pandemic would be spending your evenings radioing the Germans British convoy movements.

A more appropriate analogy might be refusing to take part in the blackout...

Yeah. I wonder if all these idiots who think "blitz spirit" means carrying on as normal and enabling a pandemic are even the slightest bit aware of the restrictions Britain did impose during the war?