Science Fiction, Fantasy & Human (& other) Beings in Peril

[Apostate]

A typical German would have said instead:
"OK, it is not so difficult as it looks because you can split the words easily behind the filling "s" and then recognize the words by your knowledge of comparing linguistic similarities of non-roman languages in Europe ... - .... but I took the google translator because I am too lazy for this work!"

Aber sicher!

 

[Silent_Water]

OK, now I think, it is time in Germany to become a bit scared by the coronavirus because it is for the most people here like living in an unknown science fiction story yet.
Beginning on Monday, Germany will turn itself into a kind of Middle-Ages-Castle.
It sounded for me like Germany's politicians united at their best times in history because there were no blamings at all between parties or political opponents (except from the small radical right wing parties).

The speeches in some news sounded really like being united by preparing for a war and I heard such voices for the first time in my life in Germany.
Real sentences from yesterday's press conferences sounding like preparations for war by different German politicians from all parties in order to fight against the virus:

"Wir haben aus den Ereignissen in Italien unsere Schlüsse gezogen und wir denken, dass wir die schlimmsten Krankheitsausbrüche noch verhindern können ... Die Waffen zum Schutz der Bürger, der Wirtschaft und des Staates liegen auf dem Tisch: Die Regierung des Staates und die Regierungen der Bundesländer garantieren die Bezahlung der Kosten aller Tests der Krankenkassen, Krankheitsausfälle, Kredite und Bürgschaften für finanzielle Ausfälle der Unternehmen in unbegrenzter Höhe. .... Wir denken, unser Staat ist reich genug, um diese Krise durchzustehen!"

(= "We have drawn our conclusions from the occurrences in Italy and we think, it is still time to avoid the worst outbreaks of this illness ... The weapons for protecting our citizens, our economy and our state are laid on the table: The government of the state and the governments of our federal states guarantee towards all citizens the payments of all costs of testing by all medical insurances, costs of illnesses, credits, sureties and penalties towards all German companies which are or might be caused by this illness. ... We think, our state is rich enough to cope with and to stand through this crisis!")

All schools and probably soon all universities will be closed in Germany for an unknown time. All sport events will be cancelled as soon as possible and it will be interesting how this society will look like in some weeks. (By the way, I might be loosing my job related to tourism inside Germany because it is becoming senseless to make this job when everyone is staying at home - but on the other hand, it is worth loosing it when others are protected by not meeting me or me meeting them.
So, if you have a home office job during the next weeks or months for a German "stable genius" like me, tell me!

By the way and "stable genius": The behaviour of German politicians in general right now is the friendliest and most considerate behaviour I have ever seen and it is the exact opposite of the behaviour of this man (and I am sorry to say that: but I am very, very glad right now to live right here in Germany and not in the USA):

The Trump Presidency Is Over

It has taken a good deal longer than it should have, but Americans have now seen the con man behind the curtain.

www.theatlantic.com

 

[Servus Venandi]

By the way and "stable genius": The behaviour of German politicians in general right now is the friendliest and most considerate behaviour I have ever seen and it is the exact opposite of the behaviour of this man (and I am sorry to say that: but I am very, very glad right now to live right here in Germany and not in the USA):

The Trump Presidency Is Over

It has taken a good deal longer than it should have, but Americans have now seen the con man behind the curtain.

www.theatlantic.com

If aliens landed in overwhelming force and started crucifying people for laughs, Wehner would find a way to blame Donald Trump. He's been since 2016, and I would take his angry twaddle with a few dozen pinches of salt.

 

[Gibbs505]

If aliens landed in overwhelming force and started crucifying people for laughs, Wehner would find a way to blame Donald Trump. He's been since 2016, and I would take his angry twaddle with a few dozen pinches of salt.

Indeed, the democrats and everyone on the left has been trying to get Trump since election day 2016!
Not that Trump hasn't done a lot to piss them off!

 

[Silent_Water]

Hm, I somehow got the feeling I should explain my opinions in my postings about the world at this moment a little bit more in my personal Sci-Fi-style.

Maybe, I am a bit tending to a "naive science-fiction-mysticism" but I honestly believe that the main reason for the living of human beings is to help life to exist as long as possible on this earth and to make a progress in evolution by helping each other to survive the dangers in life on this planet.

In the long run, in all times and in all possible ways, all nations had to pay a very high price when they were leading wars against this "principle", against other nations and so on.

Europe had most probably for thousands of years the most cruel wars of all continents but right now,
the member states of the European Union also have the longest time in European human history without war: 75 years (!!!),
in which no human being between Portugal and Poland, between Italy and Norway had to die in a war in his home country - if he was not a soldier or mercenary to take part in a foreign war outside of the EU in the interest of his home states or a member of the French Foreign Legion.

But being German, I am really convinced that this 75-years-peace is the greatest success of the EU you can imagine: A whole lifetime of 75 years without a war in the center of Europe with so many different nations, different interests and different languages! Other European generations in former times could only have dreamed of such a 75-years-success!
And all of this because the European governments were clever enough to find a way in the middle between the extreme forms of ideologic-economic systems as the inhuman communism like in the former Soviet Union on the one hand or - on the other hand: the "Laissez-faire-" free inhuman capitalisms like in 1820 with children working as miners in coal mines because they were so small that the mine owners did not have to spend money for walks high enough for grown-up men.

At this point and concerning the corona virus, I would like to compare the EU with the other extremes and in the long run, I will make the surprising prediction that the EU will cope better with this pandemic illness that the most other countries or systems in the world. I will start in the east:

1. Russia will do everything to keep the coronavirus out of its borders but it will not be successful because of the length of the "incubations process" and one day, one businessman will meet a colleague who does not know that he is contagious and this day will be the start of a catastrophe for Russia because the health care system itself there tends to be a catastrophe on its own and it makes a lot of sense that Russia has a permanent "ministry for preventing catastrophes".

2. The European Union is right now paying a high price for being such an open-minded society in its member states with open frontiers between the states but they will also help each other with medical treatments and informations between the friended governments more than any other economic space in this world. Politically and militarily, the EU may be weak compared to the US or Russia but we have more inhabitants and some national economies of the EU put together are the strongest in the world. As far as I know, China is using now the German test for coronaviruses and this is not pure coincidence!

3. The coronavirus will - in the long run - be more dangerous for the USA than for the EU because of some of the "social-democratic" ideas in the EU which may look for some US-citizens like pure "communism" but which will be good for winning against a pandemic.
For example, the Germans, all Scandinavians and almost all EU-member-states think that no working person is infecting himself willingly with an illness which makes him unable to work and so, if a doctor confirms this illness, the worker can stay ill at home and his employer has to pay him the full amount of his wage for up to six weeks of his illness or until the worker gets back to work. This has the advantage that a worker goes to a doctor without having fear for losing his job and because the most states in Europe have forced their citizens into state-run-medical-insurances, the treatment of the illness is free for them.

And now tell me, how many persons in the USA will not go to a doctor during the next weeks because they do not want to lose their jobs because they only feel a slight sore throat or a strange slight aching in their knees? How will they know that it is not only a simple cold or the beginning of a slight arthrosis because of their age, but ... the coronavirus?! (Remember: In the worst case, you can infect other persons during 10-12 days without knowing yourself that you are already infected yourself!)
Are the USA sure now to have really conclusive tests for the coronavirus?

No one knows the exact answers to these questions but these answers can decide the lives of many thousands of people!

 

[Servus Venandi]

Hm, I somehow got the feeling I should explain my opinions in my postings about the world at this moment a little bit more in my personal Sci-Fi-style.
...
No one knows the exact answers to these questions but these answers can decide the lives of many thousands of people!

I'm having trouble making the connection from Wehner's cancerous hit piece, to your nearly 1000 words on the systemic differences between the EU, Russia, and the United States. So much is wrong. It would take 2000 words to properly respond.

Trump didn't invent capitalism, national borders or coronavirus. Americans generally don't lose their jobs for getting sick, and there are provisions like supplemental insurance, disability and unemployment coverage in dire cases. Free healthcare is a unicorn, because we live in a world of scarcity.

I promised myself months ago that I wouldn't get stuck in long political exchanges with the CruxForum locals. I've already violated the spirit of that rule, and I'll stop here before this turns into a quagmire.

 

[Silent_Water]

OK, let us simply wait and see and count.

Coronavirus: Why Are There So Many Cases in Italy?

Italy has by far the largest number of novel coronavirus cases in Europe. But why? There are many reasons, and recognizing them could be vital for other countries around the world.

www.spiegel.de

Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID-19) - Statistics and Research

Country-by-country data and research on the pandemic. Updated daily.

ourworldindata.org

It may be that the coronavirus proves us all to be wrong within the next four weeks but I am also convinced that this virus will spread in some countries more invisibly and unremarked than in others.
The countries with more unremarked infections will certainly have more problems in the near future and the government statistics in democracies are more reliable than in non-democratic countries.

This is simply all about we can be really sure.
About everything else we can say the same as one of the possibly greatest philosophers of our time said: "We will see ... "

 

[Silent_Water]

An article of yesterday evening in the British "The Guardian" and we will only have two weeks to wait in order to see if this was exaggeration or coming reality:

Ex-Obama official warns US health system faces 'tsunami' over coronavirus

Andy Slavitt, formerly Medicare and Medicaid administrator, tweets outline of threat after ‘Trump’s months-long denial’

www.theguardian.com

We will see.

 

[Silent_Water]

I really get a feeling like I am participating in a world-wide science-fiction-experiment with a lot of people doing things they never did before like these:

I like this text under one of these videos: "Now I understand why the Renaissance started in Italy!"

And by the way: I sat yesterday in some city buses in a Western-German town and the driver told me, bus driving is for free at least on Saturday and Sunday in this city because of the coronavirus.
There were barrier-bands and cordons around every driver as you can see here:


The passengers had to get in and out from the bus at the exit-door because the drivers were ordered not to get into any physical contact wih their guests. The drivers did not accept any payment and absolutely everyone (all drivers and all guests) were extremely friendly.
I have no idea how bus driving will look like tomorrow in Germany. I have never before experienced such a strange mood in the German society and in Europe. Everyone seems to wait for a "tsunami in slow-motion".

 

[Silent_Water]

Some of these Italians are simply great singers by nature and sometimes behind the songs, you hear women crying with tears in the background:

 

[Silent_Water]

After the last video from Italy's Florence in the morning ...

... with this singer Maurizio Marchini I simply just had to look for the text and translation of "Nessun dorma". Yes, it fits somehow:

Original Italian lyrics of "Nessun dorma":

Nessun dorma! Nessun dorma!
Tu pure, o Principessa
Nella tua fredda stanza
Guardi le stelle che tremano
D'amore e di speranza!
Ma il mio mistero è chiuso in me
Il nome mio nessun saprà!
No, no, sulla tua bocca lo dirò
Quando la luce splenderà!
Ed il mio bacio scioglierà
Il silenzio che ti fa mia!
ll nome suo nessun saprà
E noi dovrem, ahimè! Morir! Morir!
Dilegua, o notte! Tramontate, stelle!
Tramontate, stelle! All'alba vincerò!
Vincerò! Vincerò!


None shall sleep,
None shall sleep!
Even you, oh Princess,
In your cold room,
Watch the stars,
That tremble with love
And with hope.
But my secret is hidden within me,
My name no one shall know,
No... no...
On your mouth, I will tell it,
When the light shines.
And my kiss will dissolve the silence that makes you mine!
(No one will know his name and we must, alas, die.)
Vanish, o night!
Set, stars! Set, stars!
At dawn, I will win!
I will win!
I will win!

 

[Gibbs505]

I really get a feeling like I am participating in a world-wide science-fiction-experiment with a lot of people doing things they never did before like these:
And by the way: I sat yesterday in some city buses in a Western-German town and the driver told me, bus driving is for free at least on Saturday and Sunday in this city because of the coronavirus.
There were barrier-bands and cordons around every driver as you can see here:
View attachment 835656

The passengers had to get in and out from the bus at the exit-door because the drivers were ordered not to get into any physical contact wih their guests. The drivers did not accept any payment and absolutely everyone (all drivers and all guests) were extremely friendly.
I have no idea how bus driving will look like tomorrow in Germany. I have never before experienced such a strange mood in the German society and in Europe. Everyone seems to wait for a "tsunami in slow-motion".

Interesting seat covers!

 

[Silent_Water]

Yes, indeed. When these relatively new buses appeared with such seat covers for the first time, the school kids had some fun in the morning by counting how many persons they found in the yellow and the red lines on the seat covers. Even today, tourists and people who do not often use buses are talking about the numbers of persons or other things they can discover. I always found it interesting that someone really seemed to think about what motives are shown on which seats. For example, on the left side you see an old woman with a trolley like you often see in this city when they are on a buying-tour through supermarkets. And this motive is near the driver on seats which are reserved for elderly people. Nice idea, I think.

 

[Gibbs505]

Yes, indeed. When these relatively new buses appeared with such seat covers for the first time, the school kids had some fun in the morning by counting how many persons they found in the yellow and the red lines on the seat covers. Even today, tourists and people who do not often use buses are talking about the numbers of persons or other things they can discover. I always found it interesting that someone really seemed to think about what motives are shown on which seats. For example, on the left side you see an old woman with a trolley like you often see in this city when they are on a buying-tour through supermarkets. And this motive is near the driver on seats which are reserved for elderly people. Nice idea, I think.

Thanks! Always interesting to learn something new!

 

[Silent_Water]

When you hear this morning news in Germany about the relationship between the German and the US government and German government members say something like "capitalism has its limits, limits which are set in Germany by decency, honour and good manners" or "Germany is not for sale", then you can be almost sure that the Trump government must have done something wrong in Germany:
Offering ONE BILLION DOLLARS for an almost unknown German company but which is indeed possibly inventing a vaccine against the coronavirus during the next six months - offering this large amount of money for the exclusive right of the company's patents and copyrights only for the USA:

U.S. Offered ‘Large Sum’ to German Company for Access to Coronavirus Vaccine Research, German Officials Say (Published 2020)

The United States says it will share any vaccine breakthroughs with the world, but German officials appeared rattled by its reported overture to a biotech firm.

www.nytimes.com

USA und Deutschland streiten um Coronavirus-Impfstoff

In Tübingen forscht die Firma CureVac mit Hochdruck an einem Corona-Impfstoff, die Rechte daran wollen sich offenbar aber die USA sichern. Die Firma will da nicht mitmachen - sie erhält Lob von Wirtschaftsminister Altmaier.

www.tagesschau.de

Corona: USA will Zugriff auf deutsche Impfstoff-Firma - WELT

Die Tübinger Firma CureVac forscht unter Hochdruck an einem Corona-Impfstoff. Nach WELT AM SONNTAG-Informationen will sich die US-Regierung die Rechte daran exklusiv sichern. Die deutsche Regierung versucht, das zu verhindern.

www.welt.de

 

[Silent_Water]

I have just read the shortest reader's comment to one German article about this issue with the one billion dollars offer for this vaccine company:

"Wenn jemand denkt, absolut alles ist käuflich, kann man ihm nur zur Berufswahl seiner Mutter gratulieren!"

(= "If someone thinks, absolutely everything is for sale, he can only be congratulated on the profession's choice of his mother!")

 

[Servus Venandi]

You conveniently neglected to mention that the company (CureVac) was headed by an American (up until he left a few days ago, perhaps directly related to his dealings with the Trump admin).

You also conveniently neglected to mention that Trump officials have solicited vaccine assistance from some 25 other companies.

CureVac has decided that feigning indignation will be more profitable in the long term than looking subservient to the United States. I don't blame them, but don't pretend this is some mustache-twirling capitalist overreach. If anything, CureVac—whether exaggerating their claims or not (I'm betting on "yes")—is demonstrating market prerogative in action by telling a global superpower to fuck off.

I broke my rule again.

 

[Silent_Water]

Is it possible that you conveniently neglected the reactions from ALL German parties with more than 5% (CDU, SPD, FDP, Grüne, Linke, AfD) which do all (without any exception) NOT regard this offer of one billion dollars by the Trump administration as - at least - fitting in time and amount of offer?

Why is there this talking about the special restriction of this offer "exclusively for the USA"?
Do you think, anyone in ALL parties in Germany has right now in times of fighting against the coronavirus so much time and fun by make this all up just in order to annoy the US-government?

In the simplest case in favour for the US-side, Trump and his aides were as unclear and chaotic as usual by making demands and offers at wrong times.
If it is so, this is not the problem of the German government, the German newspapers oder the German TV.

Strange, that not only the Germans but all European governments have right now problems with the erratic course of this US-government and its constant surprises during the last years.

The Europeans remember times when they had the words of honour by an American president and they could rely on. These times are over with a President Trump and we Europeans all have seen pictures from Ukrainian or Kurdish battlefields with very surprised men there in their news.

You may not believe it today but growing up, I really once was filled with enthusiasm about the USA. My parents were born in the Communist Romania as members of the German minority there and the USA once were an enlightening example of freedom and wealth for my whole family and all their Romanian friends there.
And today? You cannot imagine how bad the reputation of president Trump became in Europe especially because of the devastating TV-news during the last year (leaving Kurds and Ukrainians surprisingly alone, Russian troops laughing about finding filled US-refrigerators in the suddenly abandoned US positions in Syria etc. ) .

Now, there is only disappointment all over the most countries in Europe about - from our point of view - a completely torn superpower in a cold civil war in its own with a government that obviously does not know any more anything about reliability in international relations, truth in the speeches of its politicians and wisdom at all!

 

[Servus Venandi]

At last check, Trump was President of the United States, not Appeaser of German Political Parties.

I never said anyone was out to "annoy the U.S. Government." I said CureVac made a calculated, market-based decision, and good for them. If you believe it was anything else, I've got a golden crucifix on the moon to sell you.

You're kind of right about the "cold civil war," but only kind of. Trump is the symptom, not the cause.

 

[Silent_Water]

When Trump is the symptom, not the cause - as you wrote - then the problems of the USA during the coming weeks will be more terrible than I expected them to be.

Further above, I tried to apologize in my way for a dark side of my character concerning my hate, because I am usually a really friendly guy with a lot of understanding. I really fear to have begun loving to hate Donald Trump and I am afraid, after the coronavirus has caused thousands of victims in Italy, I now really hate the nonsense Trump was telling about this virus more than the nonsense of any other living politician on Earth.

I will try to explain my hate in a so rational way as I can, partly by quoting newspaper articles from Europe and from the USA:

Trump is not an experienced politician. His supporters love this about him, but it also means that he is unprepared for the performative parts of the job. He has no idea how to read a speech with any conviction (you can always tell when he’s winging it, because those are the only times when there is energy to his voice). He cannot for the life of him display any kind of empathy and he always has to be the center of interest as he sees it because he is absolutely infallible in his own opinion.

In this coming coronacrisis, America needs a leader; but as all Europeans and NATO-members saw here …

… it has a lout!

Trump has always been so obsessed with dodging blame and claiming glory that he has consistently attempted to bend the truth to his better. But that will not work in this case.

This virus - as it appeared in Italy during the last 3 weeks – this virus is really like a devil with its long, unpredictable incubation period and even unpredictable long time of infecting others - and you cannot impress this slow coming devil by ignoring or lying about it.

Indeed, the lying by politicians in the whole world about the impact of the virus only served to make the impact of the virus greater.

Trump continues to brag about the relatively low number of diagnosed cases of the virus and deaths from it in America, but that data is corrupted by his incompetence. We have absolutely no idea how many people have the virus in America, or how many had it and have recovered, because there has been an outrageous and embarrassing dearth of testing in this country.

Trump liked the low numbers and by dragging his feet, he kept them low.

Even when cooler heads and bigger brains prevailed, and Trump stopped trying to wish the virus away and started the work of driving it away, he was hapless, dishonest and dissembling.

"Being a good head of state requires believing in something larger than one’s self. The ideals that animate the USA should stir the soul: a nation conceived in liberty, dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal, resolved that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth."

Trump, however, believes in nothing beyond himself, and he cannot feign that belief.

This attitude of Trump has already made and also will still make the coronavirus stronger in the USA than in most European countries. It is funny to imagine that one of the smallest living things on Earth has "corona = crown" in its name because of its pointed halo and this little thing will now come to President Trump and show him and us that its crown is probably mightier than any president in this world because it can cause death by uncontrollable coincidence.