Coronavirus 2

[fraurosena]

Update from Europe and around the world:

• There were 327 deaths reported in Belgium yesterday. Most deaths were in care homes. The total number of deaths in Belgium is now 3346. 
  421 patients were hospitalised; there were 16 less patients in the ICU. A total number of 1262 patients are being treated in the ICU.
• For the third day in a row there were less deaths reported in Spain. Yesterday 510 patients died, bringing the total number up to 16.353. The total number of confirmed cases is now 161.852.
• Germany had the smallest rise in deaths in 10 days yesterday, with 129 deaths bringing the total up to 2736. The number of confirmed cases decreased as well, with 3969 new cases bringing the total up to 122.171
• Peru is ending its controversial separation of sexes measures. After a week of only allowing men outside on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and the women on the other days of the week and no one on Sunday, public criticism of the discrimination of the sexes have pressured the authorities to end the separation measures.
• According to ongoing research in seven hospitals in the Netherlands, seven in ten patients who are treated in the ICU will have long term physical, mental or cognitive repercussions. They suffer from PICS, or Post Intensive Care Syndrome, experiencing moderate to serious complaints of depression, memory retention, ability to concentrate and feeling easily overwhelmed. Others have physical complaints due to loss of musculature whilst they were hospitalised. Patients who were treated in the ICU for more than four days had the most longterm complaints. As COVID19 patients are treated in the ICU for an average of three weeks, it's to be presumed that they will also have these longterm PICS complaints.
• China's attempts at keeping a second wave at bay are not quite working yet. They have reported a rise of 46 new confirmed cases yesterday, bringing their total up to 81.953. There were 3 reported deaths, making their total number of deaths 3339.
• The US is the first country to report more than 2000 deaths in one day. According to Johns Hopkins there were 2108 deaths recorded yesterday. There are about half a million cases in total.
• German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier will be holding a rare televised speech to the public today in which he will address the current situation concerning the corona crisis.
• The corona-measures in Surinam have been prolonged by an additional fourteen days. According to president Desi Bouterse this is necessary because there is still an uncontrolled number of people entering the country. Surinam shares borders with Guyana and French Guyana, which both have serious outbreaks, according to the head of the National Security Council.
• Starting tonight there will be a complete lockdown in thirty large cities in Turkey. From midnight on Saturday to midnight on Sunday, no one will be allowed outside. These measures come after 98 people died of the virus in the last 24 hrs. On social media there are reports that large droves of people are now out doing last minute shopping before the lockdown.
• Moscow has announced stricter measures to combat the spread of the virus in the city. Most organisations and companies will be closed down for at least a week. Mayor Sobjanin also announced the introduction of a permit-system, with which residents will have to show if they are legitimately outside.
  There are 12.000 confirmed cases in Russia, 7800 of which in Moscow alone. People are only allowed to be out to buy food and medication, or to walk their dogs within a radius of hundred meters from their residence. 
• The corona crisis is turning into a humanitarian and economic disaster in Africa; where rich countries can simply loan money to combat the crisis, poor African countries have trouble getting loans, making it difficult for them to combat the crisis effectively.
• Apple and Google are collaborating on the development of a corona-app that registers if you have been too close to an infected person. The tech-giant collaboration ensures that the app will work the same way on Android and iPhones and will be able to communicate without any technological constraints. 
• Italian Prime Minister Guiseppe Conte has prolonged the Italian lockdown until May 3, but certain measures will be lessened somewhat, such as shops being able to open again next week. At one of the worst hit countries in the world, Italy has had 18.849 reported deaths, the highest global numbers.
• According to Reuters' calculation the global total number of corona-related deaths up till now is 100.000. The first corona death was reported on January 9 of this year. 83 days later the global death toll was 50.000. A mere 8 days later there were 100.000 reported deaths. The actual number of deaths is presumably much higher, as some countries only count patients that have died in hospitals.
• There were 980 deaths reported in the UK yesterday, their highest number yet, and higher than the deadliest day in Italy. The death toll in the UK is now 8958.
• There were 189 new corona hospitalisations in the Netherlands, 36 less than the day before. The total number of hospitalisations (including recoveries) is 8386.
  The total number of reported corona deaths is 2643; the actual number is presumably higher as only confirmed cases are counted.
  There were 1316 new confirmed cases, bringing the total up to 24.413.

 

[thoughtful]

Here's a way to help:

https://www.savethechildren.org/us/what-we-do/emergency-response/coronavirus-outbreak/save-with-stories

This initiative is aimed at the needs of poor rural kids in the US.

[thoughtful]

One of my piano students, a teen who loves to play golf, downloaded piano sheet music for this, since there is no Masters Tournament to watch this year:

I hope that he and the other golf fans in their household find it comforting.

[fraurosena]

Louisiana church expecting 2,000 at Easter service despite coronavirus: 'Satan and a virus will not stop us'

Quote

While many churches across the nation plan to hold their Easter services online Sunday, a Louisiana pastor says his church near Baton Rouge is expecting a crowd of 2,000 or more despite federal coronavirus guidance advising social distancing.  

“Satan and a virus will not stop us,” Rev. Tony Spell told Reuters. “God will shield us from all harm and sickness. We are not afraid. We are called by God to stand against the Antichrist creeping into America’s borders. We will spread the Gospel.”

Spell has gained attention in recent days for insisting on holding in-person services as the coronavirus pandemic has left more than 14,700 dead in the United States and as cases nationwide top 431,000. 

“Like any zealot or like any pure religious person, death looks to them like a welcome friend. True Christians do not mind dying. They fear living in fear,” Spell told TMZ in an interview this week.

Spell was arrested on March 31 and charged with six misdemeanors for violating an executive order by Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) banning gatherings of more than 50 people. Central, La., Police Chief Roger Corcoran said Spell's decision to continue in-person services was “reckless and irresponsible.”

His arrest took place just a day after Florida megachurch Pastor Rodney Howard-Browne was also arrested for holding services at his church, the River at Tampa Bay, amid the COVID-19 outbreak. 

President Trump and Vice President Pence have both acknowledged that, while it's not the same as going in person, they will both be attending virtual Easter services this year and have encouraged other Americans to follow suit. 

Federal officials are advising people not to gather in large groups, maintain distance, wash hands and, when possible, avoid leaving home. Health experts also advise wearing cloth masks when possible. 

Most states have issued their own independent stay-at-home orders, and some have even imposed fines for violators.

If he was arrested on March 31 for six misdemeanours for violating an executive order by the governor, and therefore clearly a serial offender, why is he out on the streets to reoffend? Why are they allowing him to put peoples lives at risk?

Edited April 11, 2020 by fraurosena

[fraurosena]

Heart wrenching reality.

 

[Howl]

This is where we're at, discussing whether Trump is dumb or stupid. 

 

[GreyhoundFan]

1 hour ago, Howl said:

This is where we're at, discussing whether Trump is dumb or stupid.

I think he's dumb AND stupid. Also: foolish, ill-advised, ludicrous, short-sighted, thick, brainless, rash, inane, unthinking, vile, witless, moronic, doltish, mindless, idiotic, and obtuse. There are many others, but those are the words I could remember off the top of my head.

[nst]

I had a tenant give notice. 

not to fret. I asked one of the nurses and she knows someone 

so cross your fingers it's getting rented sooner than later again. 

Happy Easter people.

I won't tell you about the vicar and whistler. 

[Ozlsn]

5 hours ago, fraurosena said:

Heart wrenching reality.

 

A 14:1 patient:nurse ratio is not sustainable with high level care patients. I cried watching that, because she's right. I don't know what you do - is it possible to train techs (I'm assuming they do low level patient care? Our system is different) quickly? How do you keep the caregivers from burning out and getting so tired that more mistakes happen?

 

[Audrey2]

6 hours ago, fraurosena said:

President Trump and Vice President Pence have both acknowledged that, while it's not the same as going in person, they will both be attending virtual Easter services this year and have encouraged other Americans to follow suit. 

Trump maybe staying at home and having the computer monitor on, but I'm betting he's tweeting or watching Fox news in the background during the service.

[Ozlsn]

Prepare for the ultimate gaslighting.

"What is about to be unleashed on American society will be the greatest campaign ever created to get you to feel normal again. It will come from brands, it will come from government, it will even come from each other, and it will come from the left and from the right. We will do anything, spend anything, believe anything, just so we can take away how horribly uncomfortable all of this feels. And on top of that, just to turn the screw that much more, will be the one effort that’s even greater: the all-out blitz to make you believe you never saw what you saw. The air wasn’t really cleaner; those images were fake. The hospitals weren’t really a war zone; those stories were hyperbole. The numbers were not that high; the press is lying. You didn’t see people in masks standing in the rain risking their lives to vote. Not in America. You didn’t see the leader of the free world push an unproven miracle drug like a late-night infomercial salesman. That was a crisis update. You didn’t see homeless people dead on the street. You didn’t see inequality. You didn’t see indifference. You didn’t see utter failure of leadership and systems.

But you did. You are not crazy, my friends. And so we are about to be gaslit in a truly unprecedented way. It starts with a check for $1,200 (Don’t say I never gave you anything) and then it will be so big that it will be bigly. And it will be a one-two punch from both big business and the big White House — inextricably intertwined now more than ever and being led by, as our luck would have it, a Marketer in Chief. Business and government are about to band together to knock us unconscious again. It will be funded like no other operation in our lifetimes. It will be fast. It will be furious. And it will be overwhelming. The Great American Return to Normal is coming."

 

[fraurosena]

Daily Update:

• The UK is giving 65 million pounds to the WHO to aid in combatting the corona pandemic. The British authorities said this particular financing is meant to prevent the spread of the virus in developing countries, as well as prevent a second wave of infections in the UK.
  In the meantime, Boris Johnson has left the hospital. Following advice from his medical team, he will not be resuming his work immediately. He will need a couple of weeks of rest to fully recover. Johnson has praised his doctors and nurses for the exemplary care he received. "I owe my life to them. I cannot thank them enough," he said.
  Yesterday more than 900 people died of the corona virus in the UK.
  Queen Elisabeth shared a special message recorded to mark the Easter weekend on twitter, speaking of light overcoming darkness, and the hope that Easter symbolises.

Spoiler

 

• 268 Belgians died yesterday. The death toll now stands at 3600. There were 392 new hospitalisations, bringing the total up to 5353 patients. The number of ICU patients went down with 39 to 1223.
• Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission expects there to be a vaccine by the end of this year. Two of the most promising research teams in Europe are working on the development of a vaccine. "They will be starting clinical trials soon," she told newspaper Bild am Sonntag. After the trials it will take a number of steps to get the vaccine approved and mass produced. "We will have to live with the virus for many months yet, presumably until next year." She expects that residents of care homes will not be able to receive any visitors until there is a vaccine. "I know this is difficult, but we're talking about people's lives here. We need to be disciplined and patient."
  Von der Leyen also advised against booking summer holidays for the time being. "Nobody can make reliable predictions for July and August right now." 
• There were 1920 deaths in the past 24 hours in the US. The corona outbreak has now cost more than 20.00 American lives. With 527.000 confirmed cases, the US has passed Italy with the highest number of known cases. 
• The president of Belarus, the 'last dictator of Europe', is trivialising the corona virus and is hardly taking any measures to prevent the spread or aid the healthcare system. He has said the virus doesn't exist, it's just a flu.  "There is no virus", he told a reporter, whilst standing in an ice-stadium. "You can't see the virus flying around here, can you? It's like a refrigerator here. There is nothing healthier." His advice is to "Drink vodka and go to the sauna." Belarusians are now taking matters into their own hands. They are buying PPE's and donating them to hospitals as well as voluntarily self-isolating.
• There were 2821 new confirmed cases in Germany in the past 24 hours; 129 patients died. A total number of 2673 people have died of the virus.
  For the first time Germany has more recovered than newly infected cases: more than 60.000 of the 120.000 confirmed cases have recovered.
• Covidiot conspiracy theorists in the Netherlands have set fire to 5G masts in different locations across the country.
  The number of confirmed cases rose with 1188 to 25.587 in total.
  There were 196 new hospitalisations. The number of ICU patients rose by 7 up to 1391; 1334 in Dutch hospitals and 57 in Germany. 387 ICU patients that have died of the virus up till now. 178 ICU patients have recovered. 
  94 patients were reported to have died in the past 24 hours, the lowest number of deaths since March 30. So far 2737 people in the Netherlands have officially died of the corona virus. The actual number is higher, as only the deaths of tested patients are officially counted.
• António Guterres, the UN Secretary General, has asked to keep healthcare workers in everyone's thoughts and prayers during the holidays. "Normally this would be a period of coming together, but everything is different at the moment," Guterres said. "During your reflections, spend extra attention to people in healthcare working on the frontlines in the battle against the corona virus. Also keep the most vulnerable people living in refugee camps in mind."
• Spain's minister for Industry, Commerce and Tourism, Maria Reyes Maroto, has stated that people will still need to adhere to the 1.5m social distancing and limitations on gatherings on the beaches during summer. These measures will need to be maintained until a vaccine has been developed.
  After the number of daily new confirmed cases halved in a week's time, Spain has reported a rise in the number of deaths yesterday. With 619 deaths, the total death toll rose to 16.972. The total number of confirmed cases rose with more than 4100 to 166.019. 
• A video of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has drawn criticism in his country. In the video, Abe is sitting on a couch with a dog in his lap, drinking tea, watching television and reading a book. The message is for people to stay at home. But the video lead to criticism on social media, where people are saying Abe is ignoring the plight of people who are in financial difficulties because of the corona outbreak. The hashtag "Who do you think you are?" was trending for a while. One person tweeted: "In a time when people have to fight to stay alive, you have the luxury of making a video like this. You can only ask: who do you think you are?"
  Abe has yet to react to the criticism.

[Howl]

There's a move afoot to provide credentialing to retired military medics so they can assist in hospitals.  

Veterans group calls on lawmakers to credential former medics to join the fight against COVID-19

[Howl]

Interesting critique of how HSLDA et al. are attempting to co-opt and reframe the conversation about homeschooling during the pandemic. 

Homeschoolers want you to believe the pandemic has a silver lining — they’re wrong     While the public experiences a health calamity, the homeschooling movement sees a big opportunity

From fundie mega families covered by fj, I assumed most homeschooling families tended to struggle financially (except the Duggars).  However, as someone interviewed for the article notes, the average homeschool family tends to make three times the national average in salary. 

T. Jameson Brewer is an assistant professor of social foundations of education at the University of North Georgia and a former high school and middle school social studies teacher and was interviewed for the article linked above. 

Quote

In an email, Brewer included an excerpt from a forthcoming book in which he calculated "the typical homeschooling family makes nearly 50 percent more than the typical household in the United States"—a remarkable statistic given that homeschool households normally sacrifice one income. Taking into account the absence of a second parental income, the sole income supporting a homeschool household is three times the national median...

 

Edited April 12, 2020 by Howl

[clueliss]

Another care facility, this one in St Charles county Missouri (outside is S t Louis), cringed when I saw life care center 

 

[Audrey2]

3 hours ago, Howl said:

Interesting critique of how HSLDA et al. are attempting to co-opt and reframe the conversation about homeschooling during the pandemic. 

Homeschoolers want you to believe the pandemic has a silver lining — they’re wrong     While the public experiences a health calamity, the homeschooling movement sees a big opportunity

From fundie mega families covered by fj, I assumed most homeschooling families tended to struggle financially (except the Duggars).  However, as someone interviewed for the article notes, the average homeschool family tends to make three times the national average in salary. 

T. Jameson Brewer is an assistant professor of social foundations of education at the University of North Georgia and a former high school and middle school social studies teacher and was interviewed for the article linked above. 

 

In order to fill the conservative dream of not needing schools because everyone's homeschooling, which I have seen mentioned in reactions to Yahoo articles as well as articles on my local news website, with people writing in and saying, "Why do we have expensive school buildings we could save a lot of money and have a lot fewer teachers if we went to homeschooling?) at least two things must happen.

1. Parents need to be educated enough and dedicated enough to actively look for and search out a good homeschooling curriculum or put their own together. This takes time and you can't just grab the first one you see. If you say you want "your conservative values taught that aren't being taught in the liberal schools" you need to delve deeply into the curriculum to make sure that all of it, K-12, says exactly what you want to say to indoctrinate your children with information like the world is 6000 years old and science is just a bunch of theories (you mean like the theory of gravity? 

2. You need to have a parent with the time and energy to ensure the children are doing the schooling. I've worked with elementary School students for over 16 years and have experience substitute teaching in middle schools and high schools. While there are small groups of very motivated students who want to learn just because they want to learn, most other students really need to be motivated, especially in areas they don't like. Just turning your children loose on the internet and letting them roam through websites is not education.

In reality, I know many parents are trying to accomplish all of their own work from home as well as the limited education their children are getting from home. This is a no way a criticism of schools or teachers- they have had to create lessons on the fly and essentially they're making up how they educate the students as they go along while still trying to meet state standards. In some districts, they're encouraged to do more remedial and upkeep work then try to teach students new concepts. I think many of us have seen reactions by these parents trying to do double duty who have decided that making sure their children learn is really challenging, especially when they have full-time jobs they're supposed to be online for.

[HerNameIsBuffy]

16 minutes ago, Audrey2 said:

In order to fill the conservative dream of not needing schools because everyone's homeschooling, which I have seen mentioned in reactions to Yahoo articles as well as articles on my local news website, with people writing in and saying, "Why do we have expensive school buildings we could save a lot of money and have a lot fewer teachers if we went to homeschooling?) at least two things must happen.

1. Parents need to be educated enough and dedicated enough to actively look for and search out a good homeschooling curriculum or put their own together. This takes time and you can't just grab the first one you see. If you say you want "your conservative values taught that aren't being taught in the liberal schools" you need to delve deeply into the curriculum to make sure that all of it, K-12, says exactly what you want to say to indoctrinate your children with information like the world is 6000 years old and science is just a bunch of theories (you mean like the theory of gravity? 

2. You need to have a parent with the time and energy to ensure the children are doing the schooling. I've worked with elementary School students for over 16 years and have experience substitute teaching in middle schools and high schools. While there are small groups of very motivated students who want to learn just because they want to learn, most other students really need to be motivated, especially in areas they don't like. Just turning your children loose on the internet and letting them roam through websites is not education.

In reality, I know many parents are trying to accomplish all of their own work from home as well as the limited education their children are getting from home. This is a no way a criticism of schools or teachers- they have had to create lessons on the fly and essentially they're making up how they educate the students as they go along while still trying to meet state standards. In some districts, they're encouraged to do more remedial and upkeep work then try to teach students new concepts. I think many of us have seen reactions by these parents trying to do double duty who have decided that making sure their children learn is really challenging, especially when they have full-time jobs they're supposed to be online for.

For this to happen we'd need to go back to a society where a family could live on one income, at least until the youngest is through high school.  

That is by no means possible for everyone even through pre-school...much less for their entire childhoods. 

I do hope the silver lining of this pandemic is people realizing how many people live on the edge financially...how few even with good jobs are just trying to keep the bills paid month to month and how few of us even with insurance can handle the costs of getting really sick and needed hospitalization.  Not for homeschooling, of course, but I do think we've become trapped in a society where so many hardworking people are struggling just to get by and having a baby or needing time off now and then for a sick child causes so much stress.  I would like people to be able to better their lives by having more choices, which is a different agenda than the homeschooling coalition.

[Syriana]

Yesterday more than 900 people died of the corona virus in the UK.

And yet, YET we still have people refusing to abide by the lock-down rules, still have people 'popping out' at will, still have people who think nothing of socialising with friends and family (including elderly)!  I can understand some teens rebelling - teens are well known for rebelling although even a lot of teens are following the rules - but what is going on with a decent percentage of the adult population over here?  My next door neighbour's house might as well have had a revolving door for the last week, they've had more visitors in the last 7 days than they would usually have in 7 weeks!!!!

 

[Ozlsn]

8 hours ago, fraurosena said:

Johnson has praised his doctors and nurses for the exemplary care he received. "I owe my life to them. I cannot thank them enough," he said.

Oh good. It'd be nice if that translates into restoring and increasing NHS funding.

Also comparing Queen Elizabeth's speeches to Donald Trump's speeches - she has a lot more experience at leading, even when she personally is not having a good year. She's also 20 years older, and sounds a lot more coherent. 

8 hours ago, fraurosena said:

Covidiot conspiracy theorists in the Netherlands have set fire to 5G masts in different locations across the country.

I swear I'm just waiting for this to happen here. 5G towers and wind farms (don't even ask. I am still trying to process that one.)

8 hours ago, fraurosena said:

Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission expects there to be a vaccine by the end of this year

I'm assuming she means in trials? The best predictions I've seen are 18 months to 2 years. There are 35 vaccines being developed that I've heard about - not all will make it through trials obviously.

3 hours ago, Audrey2 said:

In reality, I know many parents are trying to accomplish all of their own work from home as well as the limited education their children are getting from home.

Yes. I keep getting really irritated with media interviewing parents who homeschooled their children to show us how it can be done. Yeah, tell us about how you did it while fitting in the Zoom meetings, writing the reports/analyses, reading the data - you know, all the things that require concentration at work. While quite a few of my friends aren't working due to this shut down, a reasonable number are trying to work full or part time at their hopefully ongoing paid employment while simultaneously trying to do distance learning with their kids. My house is the most dirty it has ever been despite (because?) all of us being home - and that's because the ball that is crashing the most often is cleaning. I'm semi-grateful we can't do much on the long weekend, because I've mostly been cleaning.

Either way conservatives - if you want your wet dream of all schooling being done at home then you need to pay the people at home to do it, and give them training etc. And ensure they actually want to do it - which, to be honest, I probably wouldn't mind as much if I had time, and knew what the hell I was doing. Some of my friends though are likely to end up on meds because they are finding it so insanely stressful.

Edited April 12, 2020 by Ozlsn

[Ozlsn]

2 hours ago, HerNameIsBuffy said:

For this to happen we'd need to go back to a society where a family could live on one income, at least until the youngest is through high school.  

Or we pay the people at home doing the teaching - I.e. start valuing the work and paying it appropriately.

2 hours ago, HerNameIsBuffy said:

I do hope the silver lining of this pandemic is people realizing how many people live on the edge financially...how few even with good jobs are just trying to keep the bills paid month to month and how few of us even with insurance can handle the costs of getting really sick and needed hospitalization

There was a meme going around which said something like "all the problems being talked about with covid-19 - the hospital costs , housing, lack of sick leave etc. - are what the left has been talking about for years". 

I really hope this does open some people's eyes to the fact that we live and die as a society, and we are all interconnected. The way we treat the sickest and poorest will affect all of us - the cashier who went to work sick because she had no leave can infect the multimillionaire banker that couldn't be saved in the ICU.

[HerNameIsBuffy]

9 minutes ago, Ozlsn said:

I really hope this does open some people's eyes to the fact that we live and die as a society, and we are all interconnected. The way we treat the sickest and poorest will affect all of us - the cashier who went to work sick because she had no leave can infect the multimillionaire banker that couldn't be saved in the ICU.

Just anecdata, but I know people who voted for Trump who now are in favor of Medicare for all and making sure there is a safety net so everyone's basic needs are properly met.  This turnaround came with the lockdown, it opened their eyes to how close to the edge some people are living.

We can tsk tsk all day about how people should have seen it before, but seeing it now and wanting to do something about it is better than never coming around at all.  They vote and it will never again be for Trump.

[HerNameIsBuffy]

21 minutes ago, Ozlsn said:

Or we pay the people at home doing the teaching - I.e. start valuing the work and paying it appropriately.

The work is of course valuable, but a parent per family getting paid to homeschool is no where near as cost effective as a properly run school with good teachers.  And if public money was involved then they sure as heck need to be evaluated and meet the same standards as the teaching of a good school.

As a tax payer I wouldn't begrudge my tax dollars educating families like the Duggars in public schools, but I'd be picketing if they wanted to give that to Michelle for her SOTDRT.

In this hypothetical world where homeschooling became ubiquitous I'd have no problem with tax money going toward giving homeschooled kids materials for the curriculum, if there was oversight of their education.  

[Ozlsn]

5 minutes ago, HerNameIsBuffy said:

The work is of course valuable, but a parent per family getting paid to homeschool is no where near as cost effective as a properly run school with good teachers. 

Totally agree. What annoys me about the conservative homeschooling wet dream is that it discounts the actual work involved in teaching - it becomes "oh that thing that women do", which is then counted as worthless because it's unpaid. If conservatives want their "everyone is homeschooled" then I think they need to factor in the costs, which includes paying families to do it, and to do it properly - and the costs of ensuring that kids are receiving an education that will allow them to succeed in the broader society.

Personally I don't want Michelle (or Nic/Joe or Abbie, or - God forbid - Tom Mills) homeschooling anyone from their various relative positions of ignorance, neglect, resentment and all of the above. I would much rather kids were educated by trained professionals - and preferably in smaller classes and with motivated teachers who were able to interact and motivate individual students to the best of their abilities (no, I don't want much. Heh).  One of the things that really makes me sad about reading about these families is how screwed over the kids are getting in their "education".

So for me the costs of homeschooling also include ensuring that the work of teaching isn't devalued - and that all parties expected to be responsible for it have at least some level of accredited training.

[Ozlsn]

Tim Brooke-Taylor, best known for The Goodies, has died of covid-19 aged 79.

I am so sad. I grew up watching The Goodies - intended as a late night satirical show someone at the Australian ABC saw an episode and thought it was a kids show, with the unintentional effect of giving Australian kids growing up an early introduction into satirical comedy. I met Tim at a con in 2000 - he was one of the nicest guests I've met. Funny, sarcastic at times, happy to chat with everyone.  I was on the committee for that con, and so we all went out for drinks and a meal afterwards. I forget what time we finished (...late) but he was partying on with us until the end. Vale Tim - we will miss you.

[adidas]

@Ozlsn I’m so sad too - have been singing the theme song in my head all morning ?