The Coronavirus Thread

[Sean Hayden]

We’re on the Brink of Cyberpunk

It’s not just the technology, surveillance, and dystopian vibes—it’s the culmination of decades of deliberate governmental erosion.

Government, as experienced for much of the 20th century, is largely absent from the lives of characters in cyberpunk stories. Police are a durable feature, but government services and functions beyond the security state are absent.

Yet for all the aggressive visibility of politics in our daily lives, we’re not that far off from the powerlessness of a cyberpunk future. Cyberpunk speaks to the present because the conditions that inspired cyberpunk remain largely unchanged.

As the COVID-19 pandemic sweeps through the world, it collides with governments in the West that have spent decades deliberately shedding power, capability, and responsibility, reducing themselves to little more than vestigial organs that coordinate public-private partnerships of civic responsibility. This hollowing of the state began in earnest in the 1980s, and the science fiction of that time—the earliest texts of cyberpunk—imagines what happens when that process is complete. Cyberpunk is a genre of vast corporate power and acute personal deprivation. The technologies at the center of it are all means of control, control bought by the wealthy or broken by criminals. Where recourse is available, in whatever small way, it’s through direct action.

https://slate.com/technology/2020/04/co ... ket-newtab

[Scot Dutchy]

Australia's population is not concentrated like Europe.

Uhm, yes it is. 64% of Australians live in five cities with a population of 1.26 to 4.39 million inhabitants. Most of the rest are crammed into the narrow coastal strip east of the Great Dividing Range.

Once again comparing apples and pears. Five cities with 4,39 million? Bloody villages. We have the Randstad which has four major cities and a population of 16 million. You are not crammed. JFCOAPS. Your infra and urban structure is incomparable. Plenty of cherry picking being done. Those tiny areas of concentration

BTW you never answered my question why you are stalking me.

[Cunt]

BTW you never answered my question why you are stalking me.

Some posters seem to only have joy tearing down the ideas of others, rather than taking the risky step of sharing their own.

It's a coping mechanism, at least for me.

[laklak]

Manatee County has a curfew. A fucking curfew. FUCK them. I will not abide by a fucking curfew. In fact, I will purposely go out after 11:00 PM and drive around.

Fuck them. Fucking NAZIS.

[Cunt]

Manatee County has a curfew. A fucking curfew. FUCK them. I will not abide by a fucking curfew. In fact, I will purposely go out after 11:00 PM and drive around.

Fuck them. Fucking NAZIS.

How do we exercise our civil liberties in this environment?

It's almost like this kind of crisis specifically opposes all civil liberties as I've understood them.

[laklak]

Civil disobedience.

I'm fine with rational restrictions, but I fail to see how a fucking curfew at 11:00 PM does anything at all to halt the spread of the virus. It's just the little-dicked county commissioners trying to throw their weight around.

Again, fuck them. I will not comply.

[Cunt]

Civil disobedience.

I'm fine with rational restrictions, but I fail to see how a fucking curfew at 11:00 PM does anything at all to halt the spread of the virus. It's just the little-dicked county commissioners trying to throw their weight around.

Again, fuck them. I will not comply.

I have been trying to exceed government recommendations, because I generally do.

With that in mind, we were thinking of going to play on the ice road. I thought about it, and unnecessary car travel DOES mean more trips to the gas station (etc.) so I can see that extra fuel consumption leads to more contacts.

I'm good with some civil disobedience, but want to be sure.

On an unrelated note, lots of celebreties and politicians are looking GREAT! The only way they look that good, is to employ hairdressers, make-up people, and other 'non-essential' services.

I wonder if their shoes will be shined?

Now, I do understand that many people can do for themselves, but most can't. Watch for the good hairdo's if you want to know who is being a fucking hypocrite. (especially visible on lady politicians and celebs)

[Svartalf]

Manatee County has a curfew. A fucking curfew. FUCK them. I will not abide by a fucking curfew. In fact, I will purposely go out after 11:00 PM and drive around.

Fuck them. Fucking NAZIS.

How do we exercise our civil liberties in this environment?

It's almost like this kind of crisis specifically opposes all civil liberties as I've understood them.

the crisis does not oppose our liberties,. the methods the governments have chosen to fight it with do.

[Cunt]

Manatee County has a curfew. A fucking curfew. FUCK them. I will not abide by a fucking curfew. In fact, I will purposely go out after 11:00 PM and drive around.

Fuck them. Fucking NAZIS.

How do we exercise our civil liberties in this environment?

It's almost like this kind of crisis specifically opposes all civil liberties as I've understood them.

the crisis does not oppose our liberties,. the methods the governments have chosen to fight it with do.

Important distinction, but it is a bit of a fog.

It's like instantly, Canada gained control of all groups larger than 10, via electronic sniffing.

The resistance seems to be limited to joining laklak, and preparing to hoist the Jolly Roger, or whinging at an old frenchman online.

[Tero]

Drug effective for RNA viruses
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remdesivir
without messing up our cellular RNA functions.

[JimC]

Civil disobedience.

I'm fine with rational restrictions, but I fail to see how a fucking curfew at 11:00 PM does anything at all to halt the spread of the virus. It's just the little-dicked county commissioners trying to throw their weight around.

Again, fuck them. I will not comply.

Are we going to have another media report on a Florida Man vs the cops?

[laklak]

No, they won't find the body, I'll take forensic countermeasures.

[Brian Peacock]

Interesting read with ideas on why the number of deaths is so low in Germany (Early detailed contact-tracing won time and so the shutdown happened in a relatively early stage)

https://www.euractiv.com/section/corona ... as-traced/

How does it compare to the expected seasonal average. Italy, Spain, the UK and The Netherlands are seeing a whopping bulge in those numbers - more than can be accounted for by the inclusion of Covid-19 deaths alone.

[JimC]

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-04-16/ ... 9/12149024

Reported deaths may be the tip of the iceberg in many countries.

A potential coronavirus "catastrophe" could be unfolding in care homes across the United Kingdom, after the British Government revealed there have been COVID-19 outbreaks in 2,000 facilities.

Eileen Chubb, a former care worker who now runs the advocacy group Compassion in Care, has told the ABC she has been inundated with calls from "frightened" staff and has warned of an "absolute catastrophe".

"What's happening is that care homes have been told not to admit residents from the care home to a hospital if they become ill from COVID-19," she said.

"They're residential care homes, so they can't treat people, so what you basically have is a policy of just letting people die."

On April 15, the UK's Department of Health announced a further 761 people died in the previous 24-hour reporting period, taking the British death toll close to 13,000.

But that figure only took into account those who had died in hospitals and did not include deaths in care homes or the wider community.

Britain's Work and Pensions Secretary, Therese Coffey, told the BBC the daily figure released by the Health Department was based on hospital deaths because "it's accurate and quick".

[pErvinalia]

Australia's population is not concentrated like Europe. Nobody here has to drive hours to reach a shop or doctor.

Yes it is. Most people live in the capital cities.