I have been using Flipboard now for quite some time, by its nature it really doesn't or hasn't required the need for a personal connection for those who follow you, like or flip your stories but I would like to think that in the current times that maybe changes.
I'm self isolating,( currently for 12 weeks ) still collecting and flipping stories into my magazines. The things that interest me have interested others and so I thought via my long redundant blog I might just give a little background to some of my core interests, flesh out the invisible face behind this collection of magazines I guess.
History has always been a big thing for me, I am not quite sure when that became a big part of my interests probably at an early age though. When I was about 6-7 years old we used to live in Berlin and I was aware all around me of a very recent past. The Berlin Wall was something that loomed large close to us and I can remember as a young child taking family walks close to it and looking out over its expanse at the guard towers. So I think at quite an early age my interest in how the past affects your present, Spandau Prison, Checkpoint Charlie were all things that seemed quite normal to me at an early age.
Having a Dad in the military who also had a keen interest in History and Current Affairs also played there part. It is probably telling that my first memory from watching TV is of the Americans pulling out of Saigon, I still find that now grainy image quite a powerful memory whenever it is played on TV.
I also had an amazing History teacher when I was in school in Penicuik , Scotland, he laid the foundations for my interest in social history and also WWI. That powerful social change that occurred after WWI, how life never really was the same, peoples thoughts about their place in society and religion, the changes at that time were sweeping.
The other thing I have done for about 15 years is take a keen interest in my family tree, to date it has well over 5000 people on it.I also did the DNA test and I tend to now go back to the tree every 6 months an add bits and pieces. Probably one of the most relevant recent parts of my families history is one of my Dads Great Aunts who went to Canada with her husband and 2 sons. WWI broke out and both her sons enlisted, one managed to survive the horrors of the trenches and started his journey home on one of the troop ships, sadly he never saw his family again as he caught Spanish Flu and died on the ship, he is however listed as one of the war dead.
I also have a love of ancient history , I did sit an archaeology course ( just a basic one) but I do love Archaeology also Folklore , Myths and Legends. We also go on Holiday a lot to Greece and I have been lucky enough to visit many historical sites, Delphi, Athens, Knossos to name a few. I just like that sensation of standing in parts of history I find that pretty awe inspiring.
Music, an essentially individual but powerful part of my life. I put this down to having moved a lot during my youth ( due to my Dads career) so I attach a lot of memories to music it being easier than dates and specific places. Music is an emotional crutch for me I guess, I would point out that I have no creative musical talent I am just a nerd who enjoys music. laiste-seren on Spotify if you want to find some of my playlists, there is literally a whole range of tunes.
Laiste-Seren is an old gaming name I had hence the nod toward Online on my Flipboard Magazines, I played Runescape for about 10 years I also worked for Jagex for a while as a J-Mod many moons ago. These days I don't do gaming for personal reasons, the passing of my online and offline good friend Dustycrack hit hard and I lost the enthusiasm to virtually rediscover new platforms and worlds. I did for a while though enjoy dabbling in RS and Guild Wars, these days though I leave Gaming to my sons but it is good to keep that connection with them and we talk about new games and gaming at length.
I think that probably covers some of the more interesting Magazine topics, the other titles ie Recipes, well I'm a Mum of 3 grown up sons so obviously I developed a keen interest in cooking. We are a social family, we eat out a lot spend a lot of time talking about new recipes and we like the family bonding time over a meal.
So I will spend the next 12 weeks continuing to add to my Magazines, thanks to all the followers and those who just flip and like and enjoy what I enjoy !
Sunday, 29 March 2020
Tuesday, 10 March 2020
Covid-19 a personal opinion
I am definitely no expert and to be honest at this precise moment I'm grateful for that. Whether your a specialist in health, virology, statistics,logistics economics or running a country the right decisions at the moment are critical.
I can't speak for other countries plans or policies either. Every country has their own social, economic and health concerns. I can only reflect on how things look from my perspective in the UK.
I guess I'm here out of pure frustration, I had decided a long time ago to stop blogging, but Twitter drove me here! There is so much misinformation, panic and unwillingness to believe anything.
So it occurs to me that whether you flank yourself with scientific and medical experts, or not you can't win and you can't win because suspicion and conspiracy are pretty much the leading threat from social media. I pretty much guarantee that whoever was running the country right now it wouldn't be good enough. Instead of coming together we are actually torn apart by our own opinions and needs.
A good programme to watch by the way is Contagion A BBC Four Pandemic, it goes some way to explaining how scientific modelling works in these situations. How experts in the field and Universities create these plans and models that Government work from. Why handwashing is important , the reason certain steps are taken at certain times.
On a personal level I would very much like to wrap my parents and parents-in-law in bubble wrap at the moment atleast 3 of them have underlying health issues. So I get the clamour for doing something now. Why are we waiting to shut down everything, get everyone to quarantine now. Its an understandable thing to want to protect family and friends. The problem is when you are running a country you can't just make sweeping decisions. The argument I see frequently is that we should ban all travel close all airports and ports, being an island is our greatest defence. The greatest issue with that is logistics and economics. Surely peoples lives are more important than money is often the rallying cry. Yes they are but also the ability to function as a country and be able to understand how current situations will playout in the future. The strain being felt by the Air Industry at the moment the economic impact of shutting down mass transportation, air travel etc is huge. Are we really ok with saying we can sacrifice all of this for 1 month or 2 months ?
Can we honestly say we know more about how this will play out, do we as individuals have all the statistics, models scientific facts to hand. No we rely on a Government to tell us the best thing to do at this moment . If you shut every school who looks after the children of nurses,doctors,ambulance drivers who work in healthcare. If you demand your voice and situation is more important than any other person we all end up screaming for attention. That's the role of Government to keep the country functioning. Chances are you may not agree with every decision they make but to sit there saying rubbish like they don't care because they are Tories , or it will ease social care and pension worries is just insane. As I said before I doubt it would matter who was running the country, looking at every country that is fighting this virus there are people all over the world saying their Government isn't doing enough.
Yes, it might not affect you immediately if people can't fly to wherever you perceive the threat is but when people start losing jobs and can't pay their bills it will begin to take its toll nationally. Being able to make projections about the future of Industry, Finance and Health is the responsibility of Government and we may not think they are listening to us personally but there is no great conspiracy to just sacrifice us to a pandemic.
That doesn't mean there is a sense of futility, yes this virus will happen and will peak, but as individuals we all have our part to play in the coming weeks. Self isolation, ensuring elderly relatives do not over expose themselves, looking out for neighbours and those at risk in our communities. Listening to what we are being advised and taking the right action when we are told.
The experts are out there talking and telling us we need to prepare, healthcare workers in various countries who are battling this already. The talk is of how quickly health systems are overwhelmed. The risk to you might be minimal but the risk to those who will need that care is huge and so the decision to try and delay the peak and prepare is the right one. Yes the knee jerk reaction as individuals is to personalise and demand immediate action, I'm in my 50's and diabetic so yes I am fully aware but I am also aware of my responsibility to listen and take advice to protect myself. My Dad who has cancer and going through chemo is also aware and has been self isolating for weeks to protect himself.
I'm not looking to blame anyone, we are where we are and this virus will take its toll sadly but the other thing to remember is it doesn't care if your Labour, Tory, Brexit, Remain, rich or poor it will spread regardless, Arguing about it and believing that whoever is in charge is not taking advice from experts and just making it up as they go along is ridiculous
A final word and yes I know I said I can't comment on other countries but I will say I'd feel an awful lot more anxious if we had Trump in control, control is probably an overly generous word. Stay safe people, listen to advice, wash your hands look out for those who are vulnerable. Right now what we need is a bit more humanity and a lot less suspicion.
I can't speak for other countries plans or policies either. Every country has their own social, economic and health concerns. I can only reflect on how things look from my perspective in the UK.
I guess I'm here out of pure frustration, I had decided a long time ago to stop blogging, but Twitter drove me here! There is so much misinformation, panic and unwillingness to believe anything.
So it occurs to me that whether you flank yourself with scientific and medical experts, or not you can't win and you can't win because suspicion and conspiracy are pretty much the leading threat from social media. I pretty much guarantee that whoever was running the country right now it wouldn't be good enough. Instead of coming together we are actually torn apart by our own opinions and needs.
A good programme to watch by the way is Contagion A BBC Four Pandemic, it goes some way to explaining how scientific modelling works in these situations. How experts in the field and Universities create these plans and models that Government work from. Why handwashing is important , the reason certain steps are taken at certain times.
On a personal level I would very much like to wrap my parents and parents-in-law in bubble wrap at the moment atleast 3 of them have underlying health issues. So I get the clamour for doing something now. Why are we waiting to shut down everything, get everyone to quarantine now. Its an understandable thing to want to protect family and friends. The problem is when you are running a country you can't just make sweeping decisions. The argument I see frequently is that we should ban all travel close all airports and ports, being an island is our greatest defence. The greatest issue with that is logistics and economics. Surely peoples lives are more important than money is often the rallying cry. Yes they are but also the ability to function as a country and be able to understand how current situations will playout in the future. The strain being felt by the Air Industry at the moment the economic impact of shutting down mass transportation, air travel etc is huge. Are we really ok with saying we can sacrifice all of this for 1 month or 2 months ?
Can we honestly say we know more about how this will play out, do we as individuals have all the statistics, models scientific facts to hand. No we rely on a Government to tell us the best thing to do at this moment . If you shut every school who looks after the children of nurses,doctors,ambulance drivers who work in healthcare. If you demand your voice and situation is more important than any other person we all end up screaming for attention. That's the role of Government to keep the country functioning. Chances are you may not agree with every decision they make but to sit there saying rubbish like they don't care because they are Tories , or it will ease social care and pension worries is just insane. As I said before I doubt it would matter who was running the country, looking at every country that is fighting this virus there are people all over the world saying their Government isn't doing enough.
Yes, it might not affect you immediately if people can't fly to wherever you perceive the threat is but when people start losing jobs and can't pay their bills it will begin to take its toll nationally. Being able to make projections about the future of Industry, Finance and Health is the responsibility of Government and we may not think they are listening to us personally but there is no great conspiracy to just sacrifice us to a pandemic.
That doesn't mean there is a sense of futility, yes this virus will happen and will peak, but as individuals we all have our part to play in the coming weeks. Self isolation, ensuring elderly relatives do not over expose themselves, looking out for neighbours and those at risk in our communities. Listening to what we are being advised and taking the right action when we are told.
The experts are out there talking and telling us we need to prepare, healthcare workers in various countries who are battling this already. The talk is of how quickly health systems are overwhelmed. The risk to you might be minimal but the risk to those who will need that care is huge and so the decision to try and delay the peak and prepare is the right one. Yes the knee jerk reaction as individuals is to personalise and demand immediate action, I'm in my 50's and diabetic so yes I am fully aware but I am also aware of my responsibility to listen and take advice to protect myself. My Dad who has cancer and going through chemo is also aware and has been self isolating for weeks to protect himself.
I'm not looking to blame anyone, we are where we are and this virus will take its toll sadly but the other thing to remember is it doesn't care if your Labour, Tory, Brexit, Remain, rich or poor it will spread regardless, Arguing about it and believing that whoever is in charge is not taking advice from experts and just making it up as they go along is ridiculous
A final word and yes I know I said I can't comment on other countries but I will say I'd feel an awful lot more anxious if we had Trump in control, control is probably an overly generous word. Stay safe people, listen to advice, wash your hands look out for those who are vulnerable. Right now what we need is a bit more humanity and a lot less suspicion.
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