Coronavirus - Overall
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German minister commits suicide after 'coronavirus crisis worries'
RANKFURT AM MAIN (AFP) - Mr Thomas Schaefer, the finance minister of Germany's Hesse state, has committed suicide apparently after becoming "deeply worried" over how to cope with the economic fallout from the coronavirus, state premier Volker Bouffier said on Sunday (March 29).
Mr Schaefer, 54, was found dead near a railway track on Saturday. The Wiesbaden prosecution's office said they believe he died by suicide.
"We are in shock, we are in disbelief and, above all, we are immensely sad," Mr Bouffier said in a recorded statement.
Hesse is home to Germany's financial capital Frankfurt, where major lenders like Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank have their headquarters. The European Central Bank is also located in Frankfurt.
A visibly shaken Mr Bouffier recalled that Mr Schaefer, who was Hesse's finance chief for 10 years, had been working "day and night" to help companies and workers deal with the economic impact of the pandemic.
"Today, we have to assume that he was deeply worried," said Mr Bouffier, a close ally of Chancellor Angela Merkel.
"It's precisely during this difficult time that we would have needed someone like him," he added.
Popular and well-respected, Mr Schaefer had long been touted as a possible successor to Mr Bouffier.
He leaves behind a wife and two children.
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@antipodean that's heavy.
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Amazing how a handful, few hundred? Communist bureacrats have managed to pretty much fuck over the entire world
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=12320909
For all our failures as Western democracies, this is worse
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@Salacious-Crumb Well they are more concerned about gotcha moments and any negative about Trump. It is really pathetic. Interesting articles coming out in Liberal rags about the ineptitude of liberal governments and their preparations for pandemics from Obama not restocking N95 after N1H1 to California https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-03-27/coronavirus-california-mobile-hospitals-ventilators. Of course they spend their time blaming Trump but he only as been in government 3 years whereas these life long politicians has been living off the wealth of the public for years and have been in charge. At the moment our death rate is at 1.7 percent. Worldwide it is at close to 4 and that does not take into account those who have the virus but haven’t been tested or have recovered, as if they had the flu, so the rate is actually lower. Will be interesting to see the fallout in the end and whether we will continue to pursue a policy that ends up ruining economies.
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@Machpants said in Coronavirus - Overall:
Amazing how a handful, few hundred? Communist bureacrats have managed to pretty much fuck over the entire world
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=12320909
For all our failures as Western democracies, this is worse
I don't know about worse. But every bit as bad in a different way. That they had the system in place and it was derailed by mid level apparatchiks is an epic fail. Heads will roll in the wake of this, they need to encourage more transparency down the chain of command
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@canefan said in Coronavirus - Overall:
@Machpants said in Coronavirus - Overall:
Amazing how a handful, few hundred? Communist bureacrats have managed to pretty much fuck over the entire world
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=12320909
For all our failures as Western democracies, this is worse
I don't know about worse. But every bit as bad in a different way. That they had the system in place and it was derailed by mid level apparatchiks is an epic fail. Heads will roll in the wake of this, they need to encourage more transparency down the chain of command
That's rubbish, it failed because the top in China are corrupt evil bastards and everyone knows it.
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@Baron-Silas-Greenback said in Coronavirus - Overall:
@canefan said in Coronavirus - Overall:
@Machpants said in Coronavirus - Overall:
Amazing how a handful, few hundred? Communist bureacrats have managed to pretty much fuck over the entire world
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=12320909
For all our failures as Western democracies, this is worse
I don't know about worse. But every bit as bad in a different way. That they had the system in place and it was derailed by mid level apparatchiks is an epic fail. Heads will roll in the wake of this, they need to encourage more transparency down the chain of command
That's rubbish, it failed because the top in China are corrupt evil bastards and everyone knows it.
This. If the people who report to you perceive that there is an advantage to be gained in hiding a difficult truth from you then your governance system is to blame. Doesn’t matter whether it’s a social club, a corporation or a country.
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The lifestyle website I used for marathon training (Kenzai) had a blog today about dealing with the psychological demands of this which was great. In a nutshell it said
- Set aside 30-60 mins a day to keep informed. Morning is best
- Communicate using apps with others a LOT
- Do not talk about the virus / media when speaking to others. Talk about life, strategies for kids etc.
So, one week into lockdown, I've stopped reading media / opinions / commentary from people that aren't experts and reverted to speaking more routinely with my friends / family and keep the focus specifically on life, social distancing with kids, exercise etc.
And it works.
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@MajorRage said in Coronavirus - Overall:
The lifestyle website I used for marathon training (Kenzai) had a blog today about dealing with the psychological demands of this which was great. In a nutshell it said
- Set aside 30-60 mins a day to keep informed. Morning is best
- Communicate using apps with others a LOT
- Do not talk about the virus / media when speaking to others. Talk about life, strategies for kids etc.
So, one week into lockdown, I've stopped reading media / opinions / commentary from people that aren't experts and reverted to speaking more routinely with my friends / family and keep the focus specifically on life, social distancing with kids, exercise etc.
And it works.
So where does that leave the Fern....
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@voodoo said in Coronavirus - Overall:
@MajorRage said in Coronavirus - Overall:
The lifestyle website I used for marathon training (Kenzai) had a blog today about dealing with the psychological demands of this which was great. In a nutshell it said
- Set aside 30-60 mins a day to keep informed. Morning is best
- Communicate using apps with others a LOT
- Do not talk about the virus / media when speaking to others. Talk about life, strategies for kids etc.
So, one week into lockdown, I've stopped reading media / opinions / commentary from people that aren't experts and reverted to speaking more routinely with my friends / family and keep the focus specifically on life, social distancing with kids, exercise etc.
And it works.
So where does that leave the Fern....
See Number 2 ...
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@JC said in Coronavirus - Overall:
@Baron-Silas-Greenback said in Coronavirus - Overall:
@canefan said in Coronavirus - Overall:
@Machpants said in Coronavirus - Overall:
Amazing how a handful, few hundred? Communist bureacrats have managed to pretty much fuck over the entire world
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=12320909
For all our failures as Western democracies, this is worse
I don't know about worse. But every bit as bad in a different way. That they had the system in place and it was derailed by mid level apparatchiks is an epic fail. Heads will roll in the wake of this, they need to encourage more transparency down the chain of command
That's rubbish, it failed because the top in China are corrupt evil bastards and everyone knows it.
This. If the people who report to you perceive that there is an advantage to be gained in hiding a difficult truth from you then your governance system is to blame. Doesn’t matter whether it’s a social club, a corporation or a country.
Based on my dealings with them, that is their culture in a nutshell. Don't give bad news, don't make a decision because if it's wrong you're gone. Defer to others at all times
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@JC said in Coronavirus - Overall:
@Baron-Silas-Greenback said in Coronavirus - Overall:
@canefan said in Coronavirus - Overall:
@Machpants said in Coronavirus - Overall:
Amazing how a handful, few hundred? Communist bureacrats have managed to pretty much fuck over the entire world
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=12320909
For all our failures as Western democracies, this is worse
I don't know about worse. But every bit as bad in a different way. That they had the system in place and it was derailed by mid level apparatchiks is an epic fail. Heads will roll in the wake of this, they need to encourage more transparency down the chain of command
That's rubbish, it failed because the top in China are corrupt evil bastards and everyone knows it.
This. If the people who report to you perceive that there is an advantage to be gained in hiding a difficult truth from you then your governance system is to blame. Doesn’t matter whether it’s a social club, a corporation or a country.
The first rule of being ruled by corrupt evil bastards? Dont give them bad news.
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Interesting stuff. So, last week a 21 year old died here of Coronavirus - with no underlying conditions. She was then effectively used as the poster-child for everybody to take note of the govt requirements to isolate etc.
However, apparently her death had nothing to do with Covid. NHS staff who dealt with it have been dubious as to where this information came from.
Note the guardian article has been removed pending investigation. All a bit odd.
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This post is deleted!
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@barbarian said in Coronavirus - Overall:
My fellow doctors should zip it and let the experts fight this virus
The bloke who's leading the UK response, Chris Whitty, is one of the top epidemiologists in the world and was responsible for containing Ebola in Africa. We are lucky to have him.
Doesn't stop rentaquote doctors with minimal qualifications telling us all that he's got it all wrong.
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That's a list of great hints.
Mrs M & I have stopped reading some of the newspapers as their agendas just wind us up. A quick whiz thru the news in the AM and then the daily breifings - where we enjoy any inane questions being ignored or slapped down.