Whickwithy said:

     You know, if I  were willing to believe (and cared about) any conspiracy theory, it would be that nature and humanity's own unintentional  but very real and substantial stupidity created this virus in order to drive mankind crazy.  You just can't get away from it!  No matter whether you go to a website dedicated to science, fashion, variety, finance, entertainment, message boards, or, of course, the news there is just no avoiding it.  So, everyone stews in isolation with it ringing in their ears.

     Worse yet, the virus itself is a real mind-bender and gets scarier all the time.  It has varying reactions in various people dependent on age (maybe).  It hides in lots of people that show no symptoms.  There's no convincing belief that it can't be caught more than once.  It kills in a wild number of ways.  It mostly leaves children alone and attacks the aged with a vengeance.  Weird.

     I was just thinking the other day of an outcome of this that would be remarkable, which means it probably isn't going to happen.  Right now, the idiots that so desperately want to show they are in charge are the politicians.  Only in places where the medical and scientific community are really in charge, has there been some level of success.  So, the outrageous but, oh so gratifying scenario would be if the loud-mouthed, utterly useless (in all cases, not just this virus) politicians were thrown out on their asses and people began to heed serious scientists.  Okay, I admit.  I'm not really sure that would be a great improvement but anything other than a bunch of loud(est)-mouthed idiots with no justification or training to be in charge has to be somewhat of an improvement.

     I also, of course, love that the best plans from politicians, so far, have been from women.  Duh.  Beautiful.   Most male dominated governments and politicians seem to shoot from the hip, blathering out whatever comes to mind. 

    Let me just say that you wouldn't believe how much I edited out of this... You think this was rambling?

You might think of it as rambling Whickwithy but there's a huge amount that I agree with in there

Best article I've seen yet on the virus.  I finally understand the difference between COVID-19 and SARS-COV-2.  I just thought people were being confusing....

A thorough and interesting read, along with several of the side articles. 

I think this has brutally exposed the neoliberal mindset of exploit the planet, exploit it’s resources, exploit the animal kingdom, exploit your fellow Man etc. We have always been told that the lean, just in time supply lines are for efficiency, which is true, but it also means it maximises profits by cutting corners, reducing workers rights and leaving infrastructure unable to cope with situations like a pandemic. In particular, the decision by the UK to turn it’s back on Europe and the US to turn it’s back on virtually everybody has caught them out as they forgot that the ‘just in time’ model depends heavily on free flow of goods at borders.

On a slightly side bar to this thread, it was interesting to watch the VE 75 celebrations yesterday. Many of the same people you are noticing pulling for one side or the other in the US were finding ways to equate the liberation of Europe in 1945 to the liberation, as they see it, of the UK from the ‘Yoke’ of the EU. Anyone with only a partially function cerebral cortex knows that, although the EU has it’s faults (the needs of some to federalise it being one) it is undoubtably the reason for 75 years of peace across Europe, (along with the UN to be fair); a continent that before was constantly torn apart by war. The UK had arguably the best deal of any country in the block; we retained our sovereign currency (thank God) and the contribution we made every year in funding was largely recouped in subsidies to Farmers and big construction projects. Interestingly, I’ve travelled for many years across Europe and you would see many signs in each town/city pointing out that this project and that initiative was partly funded by the EU, but in the UK, which equally benefitted from these funds, the signs were magically never installed; as though the very fact we benefitted from this funding somehow diminished us as a nation & a people, where it was more likely done because it didn’t suit some people’s political direction and ideology. Make no mistake, as in the US, the Tories hate the very concept of socialism in any form, even the NHS, as it goes against their profit, profit, profit way of thinking. Anyone who is familiar with later Star Trek, the Tories are basically Ferrengi’s!

Which spiritual?