covid-19 has caused almost everything to be collapsed!

This is a room for the discussion of travel plans or experiences and the culture of places you have visited or plan to visit.
User avatar
PeterMollenburg
Black Belt - 3rd Dan
Posts: 3226
Joined: Wed Jul 22, 2015 11:54 am
Location: Australia
Languages: English (N), French (B2-certified), Dutch (High A2?), Spanish (~A1), German (long-forgotten 99%), Norwegian (false starts in 2020 & 2021)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=18080
x 8006

Re: covid-19 has caused almost everything to be collapsed!

Postby PeterMollenburg » Thu Oct 08, 2020 12:36 am

Adrianslont wrote:
PeterMollenburg wrote:The Matrix of control....

"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics."

The phrase derives from the full sentence, ; it was popularized in the United States by Mark Twain and others, who mistakenly attributed it to the British prime minister Benjamin Disraeli.[1] The phrase is not found in any of Disraeli's works and the earliest known appearances were years after his death.[1] The phrase was attributed to an anonymous writer in mid-1891 and later that year to Sir Charles Dilke,[1] but several others have been listed as originators of the quote,[1] including frequent erroneous attribution to Twain himself.[2][1]
----------------------------
"The further a society drifts from the truth, the more it hates those who speak it.

George Orwell
----------------------------

No longer a government by free opinion, no longer a government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a government by the opinion and the duress of small groups of dominant men.

Woodrow Wilson
----------------------------
To destroy this invisible government, to befoul the unholy alliance between corrupt business and corrupt politics is the first task of the statesmanship of the day

Theodore Roosevelt


“The main thing that I learned about conspiracy theory, is that conspiracy theorists believe in a conspiracy because that is more comforting. The truth of the world is that it is actually chaotic. The truth is that it is not The Iluminati, or The Jewish Banking Conspiracy, or the Gray Alien Theory.

The truth is far more frightening - Nobody is in control.

The world is rudderless.”
Alan Moore

“History is much more the product of chaos than of conspiracy”
Zbigniew Brzezinski

“Facts count. Conspiracy theories, usually the refuge of the bitter or disempowered, range from factually challenged to wildly hallucinogenic. Conspiracy theories are not harmless entertainment, or a laudable facet of the freedom of speech. Conspiracy theories do both overt and tacit harm.”
K Lee Lerner

“The mentally disturbed do not employ the Principle of Scientific Parsimony: the most simple theory to explain a given set of facts. They shoot for the baroque.”
Philip K. Dick

Here in Australia we have been very fortunate that we have had a relatively low number of cases and deaths - approximately 27,000 cases and nearly 900 deaths in a country of approximately 25 million. Those are the statistics and I don’t believe there is any lying involved with them.

We have suffered in other ways, too of course. People have lost their jobs, mental health is not so healthy for many, and travel has been more restricted here than nearly anywhere in the world. Travel between many states has not been possible for me for months. I would have to ask permission to leave the country and I probably wouldn’t get it. If I did get it, i would be quarantined in a hotel for two weeks, confined to a single room, at my expense on return.

These restrictions have played a huge role in keeping our case numbers and deaths low. I believe those restrictions have been imposed by well meaning state and federal governments in the best interests of Australian citizens. I don’t believe they have been guided by any invisible hands. And that is despite the fact that I did not vote for the incumbent governments where I live.

Certainly there is always room for discussion of the effectiveness of response, of the proportionality of the response and the motivations of certain people that lobby for power and position in their workplaces in the return to a post covid world. Hopefully that discussion is based on fact and cites specific instances, and doesn’t just make vague unsubstantiated claims and blame.

People, businesses and governments have all suffered. There are have been a few “winners” who make masks and sell medical equipment of course but so what? I certainly don’t believe the winners had a secret agenda to spread the virus and profit. I see no gains for governments that incur large financial losses themselves and have to face the nation with huge deficits.

It’s been a tough year for the world. I have been personally lucky, I feel - but there have been downs, too.

I have strengthened some friendships by meeting regularly online and others by meeting in person. I am retired and my income is as secure as it gets.

On the downside there have been the same moments of stress and uncertainty that billions have felt this year. One family member works in a public hospital and initially that was a big worry - it has proven not to be an ongoing concern. Another family member has needed to seek counselling. That’s tough for all of us.

Jimmy, I hope your “balance sheet” for the year has been as good as mine or better and the world improves ASAP.

Personally, I would love to be travelling and getting out to some live music, too.

Edit: spelling. And another negative for me: I’ve missed swimming, something that keeps me healthy and emotionally healthy. My pool is still closed, though others have opened with restrictions. The ocean is still too cold for me for the next 1.5 months.


I appreciate your reply Adrianslont. Democracy and freedom of speech allow us to look at things from many angles and to express our different points of views.

Yes, there have been positives and negatives to come from the Covid 'situation', I certainly agree. It's affected most of us.
3 x

User avatar
rdearman
Site Admin
Posts: 7223
Joined: Thu May 14, 2015 4:18 pm
Location: United Kingdom
Languages: English (N)
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=1836
x 23092
Contact:

Re: covid-19 has caused almost everything to be collapsed!

Postby rdearman » Thu Oct 08, 2020 7:41 am

Just one more off-topic post on an already off-topic thread.

Adrianslont wrote:Jimmy, I hope your “balance sheet” for the year has been as good as mine or better and the world improves ASAP.

Who is Jimmy? Is this another Australian thing? Like Sheila ?
1 x
: 0 / 150 Read 150 books in 2024

My YouTube Channel
The Autodidactic Podcast
My Author's Newsletter

I post on this forum with mobile devices, so excuse short msgs and typos.

User avatar
Adrianslont
Blue Belt
Posts: 827
Joined: Sun Aug 16, 2015 10:39 am
Location: Australia
Languages: English (N), Learning Indonesian and French
x 1936

Re: covid-19 has caused almost everything to be collapsed!

Postby Adrianslont » Thu Oct 08, 2020 10:56 am

rdearman wrote:Just one more off-topic post on an already off-topic thread.

Adrianslont wrote:Jimmy, I hope your “balance sheet” for the year has been as good as mine or better and the world improves ASAP.

Who is Jimmy? Is this another Australian thing? Like Sheila ?

Jimmy is OP!

See, I was actually on topic. ;) :D

The male equivalent of Sheila is Bruce. Actually not exactly equivalent as we refer to “a sheila” meaning “a woman” but not “a Bruce”. Bruce is just a man’s name.

I believe “Jimmy” is the Scottish equivalent of “Bruce”. However I believe OP is probably Kurdish.

Edit for further information: the equivalent of “a Sheila” is “a bloke” eg “Sheilas on the left, blokes on the right”.

I’m sure you will be able to find some people who refer to “a Bruce” but they are wrong, as prescriptivists would say, or language changes, as descriptivists would say.

I believe the term Bruce actually originated in Monty Pythons Flying Circus. They seemed to think coarse, masculine, anti-gay Australian men were typically called Bruce. There’s probably a skit on YouTube. The origins of Bruce are probably lost on younger Australians who may not even use the term - typical slang, I guess.

Australians generally embraced “Bruce”. Funnily enough the four Bruces I can think of off the top of my head have not been overtly masculine or coarse but variously, gentle, intellectual, and/or gay.
8 x

jimmy
Green Belt
Posts: 396
Joined: Fri Jan 12, 2018 6:08 pm
Languages: ...
x 182

Re: covid-19 has caused almost everything to be collapsed!

Postby jimmy » Thu Oct 08, 2020 6:53 pm

Adrianslont wrote:
rdearman wrote:Just one more off-topic post on an already off-topic thread.

Adrianslont wrote:Jimmy, I hope your “balance sheet” for the year has been as good as mine or better and the world improves ASAP.

Who is Jimmy? Is this another Australian thing? Like Sheila ?

Jimmy is OP!

See, I was actually on topic. ;) :D

The male equivalent of Sheila is Bruce. Actually not exactly equivalent as we refer to “a sheila” meaning “a woman” but not “a Bruce”. Bruce is just a man’s name.

I believe “Jimmy” is the Scottish equivalent of “Bruce”. However I believe OP is probably Kurdish.

Edit for further information: the equivalent of “a Sheila” is “a bloke” eg “Sheilas on the left, blokes on the right”.

I’m sure you will be able to find some people who refer to “a Bruce” but they are wrong, as prescriptivists would say, or language changes, as descriptivists would say.

I believe the term Bruce actually originated in Monty Pythons Flying Circus. They seemed to think coarse, masculine, anti-gay Australian men were typically called Bruce. There’s probably a skit on YouTube. The origins of Bruce are probably lost on younger Australians who may not even use the term - typical slang, I guess.

Australians generally embraced “Bruce”. Funnily enough the four Bruces I can think of off the top of my head have not been overtly masculine or coarse but variously, gentle, intellectual, and/or gay.


ahaha :) :) :) Thanks both for clarifications and explanation. While I do not know what "Bruce" and/or "Sheila"'s content relevant to, yes I am OP.
,
:) :) :) meanwhile I am just laughing to @readerman to see that he supposed I was an australian (presumably a troll) hahahha :) :)
1 x
Self Taught - Autodidactic


Return to “Travel and Culture”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests