sluggerotoole--2020-11-14--Do we like being distracted?

Do we like being distracted?

It ’ s sunny and I ’ ve just ordered at my local cafe .
My fellow customers and I wait in the little socially distanced phalanx we ’ ve been trained to form .
Business seems to have been steady for the cafe since they reopened in May .
I suspect they may be selling to customers who this time last year were queuing for coffees in Belfast city centre , but now come here to break up a day spent working from their breakfast table .
All of a sudden I ’ m scrolling a newsfeed on my @ @ @ @ @ @ @ involuntary response to the previous thought .
I look around and realise that each of us is peering through our own little private glass screen , scrolling through something , checking something .
I ’ ve been thinking a lot about where location fits into how we organise our economic activity in the era of pandemics and contagion .
I realise looking around me , as the sun shines on us and we avert our eyes from the pavement it illuminates , that our relationship with physical location has actually been under renegotiation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ do you check ?
How many times a day do you check each thing ?
Do you ever unsleep your phone or laptop and start aimlessly checking , unsure precisely what for ?
If you ’ re any way like me , you ’ ve lost more complete hours than you could ever count following your nose through things demanding your attention before then remembering what it was you set out to do an hour or so previously .
Attention is now broadly accepted as a scarce resource to be competed for .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ clickbait being used as shorthand for that competition , though it ’ s jarring to have something so fundamental to our experience compared to fish in a pond .
( I seldom hear how attention is earned or won , more often captured . )
The competition for eyeballs is another way this market is ‘ visualised ’ for us .
Is this TV series sufficiently riveting in the opening two episodes to maintain an audience , each member of that audience with both his eyeballs trained on the desired screen space ?
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ much influence exerted ?
Distractions proliferate furiously in the modern work environment .
2020 has been the year many people have had to adapt to at least one new platform to better facilitate remote working , be that Facebook ’ s Workplace , Microsoft ’ s Teams , or a project management platform like Slack or Monday .
While there may be a solid case for more opt-in communication spaces to replace the need for endless group email threads , each of these which is introduced adds a new tile or icon to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the power to pop onto your screenspace and grab you by the eyeballs ; one more thing that can sync to your phone and wake you with a bzzz and a beep if you forget to silence your phone before sleep .
( Or , better still , put that phone down to sleep a safe distance from where you can reflexively check it first thing next morning . )
Here ’ s a question .
Do we like being distracted ?
At first glance it does seem we like to have a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Generally there are some pull factors intrinsic to where we send our attention .
News , for example .
There are big , important stories unfolding in our lifetime , many of them polarising the English-speaking world in what can feel like an epoch-defining way .
Not only do we want to stay informed , but many of us feel the drive to stay connected to our tribe .
Every event ripples out into commentary , satire , venting in WhatsApp groups .
Smartphones seem to be the key determinant of where @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was in the pre-iPhone era that I first encountered the expression “ attention-based economy ” .
The 2005 article reported from a leadership conference where a keynote speaker opened with a simple message , “ Pay attention ” , and waited as heads lifted from laptops and Blackberries .
The speaker ’ s prediction as described was one where attention and focus would become a valued commodity and resource , in the sense that organisations would invest in nurturing staff , protecting them from distraction and enabling deep work , seeing a possible @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their employees ’ time than a rival whose staff were distracted .
Apart from being off as a prediction , that analysis falls into a common logical pitfall : the assumption that more time at something will linearly produce more output .
This assumption may have had some validity when used to plan the industrial shift work from which we still inherit our business hours of today , but it may actually be counterproductive for work which involves people thinking through tasks .
Modern workplaces seem to reflect a different approach to this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ problem sets across teams and a preference for connectedness over reliance on any individual ’ s ability to produce through deep focus .
It may be a corollary of this that the attention economy we were delivered , the eyeball market if you will , is really more of a distraction economy where connectedness at a given instant is what ’ s up for grabs .
Why let that person be connected to their colleagues or teams when they could be connecting with our site and the advertisers who pay us to deliver @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It seems we do need time away from our tasks in order to let our brains process and work quietly , reframing the problem , drawing on other reference points , other types of problem set .
Clearly the threat of greater distraction hasn ’ t put us off our rapid uptake of new personal tech over successive decades .
Maybe even framing this piece in terms of distraction involves a pejorative judgement on my part of people ’ s behaviour during what is their time ; a moralistic idea of what is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an acquiescence to capitalism ’ s reduction of humans to units of production and consumption .
But here ’ s the flipside : do we have a means of escape ?
If we haven ’ t already assented to push notifications from a favourite news website , then the mere fact of being alive seems to present constant reminders that something is happening now now now .
An ambulance siren rings in the distance .
Check today ’ s updates on COVID numbers .
A ball bounces on the pavement .
Will the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ?
Check the restrictions .
( Doesn ’ t look like it . )
Then one looks at the emerging literature on smartphone addiction and wonders if we may superficially enjoy the things we distract ourselves with , but no more than any other dependency the utility equation gradually flips from : “ I enjoy this ” to “ I suffer in the absence of this , therefore I need this just to feel neutral ” .
In the time I ’ ve been writing this , I ’ ve several times been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and notification symbols whose allure I ’ m trying to become more aware of .
A few times I ’ ve seen the dark screen of my phone and , as if it were dossing off while on the clock , poked it awake just to see it light up , not even particularly curious if the homescreen has anything urgent to alert me to- just ‘ cause it ’ s there .
Maybe that ’ s because the sun has departed and left a wet and dreary day outside and the cars @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I want to drown out .
This is another driver of the distraction economy : a war on boredom .
This is the instinct to ‘ pair ’ a source of stimulation with a task which is otherwise mundane or understimulating .
This could be a work task which is routine-dominated , a routine household chore , or a commute .
The proliferation of podcasts is surely linked to our access to devices which remove the need to endure any such tedium in silence .
Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone have an exchange @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s character Mia having forgotten where she parked .
Sebastian ( Gosling ) suggests she hold her car key to her chin so her brain will boost the signal like an antenna .
“ I think it gives you cancer but you find your car faster ” .
“ I mean you don ’ t live long but you get where you ’ re going quicker so it all evens out.
” My daughter is three and likes La-La Land , though I ’ m not relishing explaining to her in a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that exchange both funny and chilling .
The joke works because it taps into a real suspicion that any of our time on earth spent enduring any kind of tedium , triviality or boredom is objectively wasted time , time you may as well have been dead .
“ There ’ s an hour of my life I ’ m never getting back ” .
A risk here is that this instinct comes to colonise our entire waking experience .
For most of us , many components of the day are under-stimulating .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ all but three of the commuters on my deck had earphones and two of the remaining three were scrolling their phone .
On one level , I entirely get that bus journeys aren ’ t all that interesting .
People have passions and interests , and the opportunity to nurture those while on the move or otherwise engaged is an exciting outworking of technological development .
But having just said that we can undervalue the productive function of distraction , I think it ’ s also a mistake to discount boredom as lost @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in periods of understimulation and , especially , to signal out the entire ambient experience of sociality and replace that with a fully personalised and curated soundscape .
Surely this is a vicious cycle which further reduces our tolerance of any sort of under-stimulation and leaves us never truly at rest or ‘ alone with our thoughts ’ .
Might we then even seek out more low-engagement time when we ’ re distractible as an opportunity to get through more peripheral stimulation ?
Or indeed , could the ‘ pairing ’ of journeys @ @ @ @ @ @ @ association , whereby next time I ’ m in that part of the city , or house , I crave similar distraction and am taken out of any sense of presence in that place ?
If I had to guess , I would say that the biggest driver of where we send our attention is our aversion to loneliness and conflation of being alone with being lonely .
Podcasts , along with talk radio , seem to serve as synthetic human company and companionship .
Meanwhile , after an initial ten years during @ @ @ @ @ @ @ proved difficult , listeners will have noticed the tsunami of paid-for slots from show sponsors , automated advert inserts and paywalled content which mark the monetisation of the medium .
Part of this is a technological story of market segmentation and analysis of audience , alongside the production tools to reach ‘ eardrums ’ by the same scalable methods that eyeballs have been reached before .
But also significant is the affinity and relationship listeners have with those human voices they connect to routinely and the scope to leverage and monetise that affinity @ @ @ @ @ @ @ endorsements in those sponsored slots ) .
The question we ’ re left with is why and what next : what about this past decade has made the quest for capture of eyes and ears so urgent ?
As I wait to hear my coffee order called , a glance up from the screen and around my local high street gives a clue .
Businesses which can ’ t compete with online retailers are closing .
COVID seems to have accelerated an emergent placelessness in our economic transactions .
Suddenly physical proximity , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , are tumbling in value .
If our screens are a marketplace for our goods and services as well as our attention , we ’ re suddenly even more bound to that space by dint of working from home and moving even more of our interactions online .
If we value the places we inhabit , we may need to pay them more attention as we move through them and think about how we can reconfigure how we spend our attention and money to sustain those places and communities into an uncertain future @ @ @ @ @ @ @ CC BY-NC-SA

It’s sunny and I’ve just ordered at my local cafe. My fellow customers and I wait in the little socially distanced phalanx we’ve been trained to form. Business seems to have been steady for the cafe since they reopened in May. I suspect they may be selling to customers who this time last year were queuing for coffees in Belfast city centre, but now come here to break up a day spent working from their breakfast table. All of a sudden I’m scrolling a newsfeed on my phone and I realise this is an involuntary response to the previous thought. I look around and realise that each of us is peering through our own little private glass screen, scrolling through something, checking something. I’ve been thinking a lot about where location fits into how we organise our economic activity in the era of pandemics and contagion. I realise looking around me, as the sun shines on us and we avert our eyes from the pavement it illuminates, that our relationship with physical location has actually been under renegotiation for some time.
How many things do you check? How many times a day do you check each thing? Do you ever unsleep your phone or laptop and start aimlessly checking, unsure precisely what for? If you’re any way like me, you’ve lost more complete hours than you could ever count following your nose through things demanding your attention before then remembering what it was you set out to do an hour or so previously.
Attention is now broadly accepted as a scarce resource to be competed for. We’re familiar with expressions like clickbait being used as shorthand for that competition, though it’s jarring to have something so fundamental to our experience compared to fish in a pond. (I seldom hear how attention is earned or won, more often captured.)
The competition for eyeballs is another way this market is ‘visualised’ for us. Is this TV series sufficiently riveting in the opening two episodes to maintain an audience, each member of that audience with both his eyeballs trained on the desired screen space? How many views, engagements, how much influence exerted?
Distractions proliferate furiously in the modern work environment. 2020 has been the year many people have had to adapt to at least one new platform to better facilitate remote working, be that Facebook’s Workplace, Microsoft’s Teams, or a project management platform like Slack or Monday. While there may be a solid case for more opt-in communication spaces to replace the need for endless group email threads, each of these which is introduced adds a new tile or icon to compulsively click on; another thing with the power to pop onto your screenspace and grab you by the eyeballs; one more thing that can sync to your phone and wake you with a bzzz and a beep if you forget to silence your phone before sleep. (Or, better still, put that phone down to sleep a safe distance from where you can reflexively check it first thing next morning.)
Here’s a question. Do we like being distracted? At first glance it does seem we like to have a release from what we’re doing. Generally there are some pull factors intrinsic to where we send our attention. News, for example. There are big, important stories unfolding in our lifetime, many of them polarising the English-speaking world in what can feel like an epoch-defining way. Not only do we want to stay informed, but many of us feel the drive to stay connected to our tribe. Every event ripples out into commentary, satire, venting in WhatsApp groups.
Smartphones seem to be the key determinant of where our attention is directed, though it was in the pre-iPhone era that I first encountered the expression “attention-based economy”. The 2005 article reported from a leadership conference where a keynote speaker opened with a simple message, “Pay attention”, and waited as heads lifted from laptops and Blackberries. The speaker’s prediction as described was one where attention and focus would become a valued commodity and resource, in the sense that organisations would invest in nurturing staff, protecting them from distraction and enabling deep work, seeing a possible advantage in extracting the maximal value from their employees’ time than a rival whose staff were distracted.
Apart from being off as a prediction, that analysis falls into a common logical pitfall: the assumption that more time at something will linearly produce more output. This assumption may have had some validity when used to plan the industrial shift work from which we still inherit our business hours of today, but it may actually be counterproductive for work which involves people thinking through tasks. Modern workplaces seem to reflect a different approach to this problem, namely the sharing out of problem sets across teams and a preference for connectedness over reliance on any individual’s ability to produce through deep focus. It may be a corollary of this that the attention economy we were delivered, the eyeball market if you will, is really more of a distraction economy where connectedness at a given instant is what’s up for grabs. Why let that person be connected to their colleagues or teams when they could be connecting with our site and the advertisers who pay us to deliver them their attention, their engagement?
It seems we do need time away from our tasks in order to let our brains process and work quietly, reframing the problem, drawing on other reference points, other types of problem set. Clearly the threat of greater distraction hasn’t put us off our rapid uptake of new personal tech over successive decades. Maybe even framing this piece in terms of distraction involves a pejorative judgement on my part of people’s behaviour during what is their time; a moralistic idea of what is deserving of our time and energy, an acquiescence to capitalism’s reduction of humans to units of production and consumption.
But here’s the flipside: do we have a means of escape? If we haven’t already assented to push notifications from a favourite news website, then the mere fact of being alive seems to present constant reminders that something is happening now now now. An ambulance siren rings in the distance. Check today’s updates on COVID numbers. A ball bounces on the pavement. Will the match be allowed go ahead on Saturday? Check the restrictions. (Doesn’t look like it.) Then one looks at the emerging literature on smartphone addiction and wonders if we may superficially enjoy the things we distract ourselves with, but no more than any other dependency the utility equation gradually flips from: “I enjoy this” to “I suffer in the absence of this, therefore I need this just to feel neutral”.
In the time I’ve been writing this, I’ve several times been drawn to the very apps, icons and notification symbols whose allure I’m trying to become more aware of. A few times I’ve seen the dark screen of my phone and, as if it were dossing off while on the clock, poked it awake just to see it light up, not even particularly curious if the homescreen has anything urgent to alert me to- just ‘cause it’s there. Maybe that’s because the sun has departed and left a wet and dreary day outside and the cars passing are making a splashing noise that I want to drown out.
This is another driver of the distraction economy: a war on boredom. This is the instinct to ‘pair’ a source of stimulation with a task which is otherwise mundane or understimulating. This could be a work task which is routine-dominated, a routine household chore, or a commute. The proliferation of podcasts is surely linked to our access to devices which remove the need to endure any such tedium in silence. Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone have an exchange in La-La Land which revolve around Stone’s character Mia having forgotten where she parked. Sebastian (Gosling) suggests she hold her car key to her chin so her brain will boost the signal like an antenna.
“I think it gives you cancer but you find your car faster”.
“What?”
“I mean you don’t live long but you get where you’re going quicker so it all evens out.”
My daughter is three and likes La-La Land, though I’m not relishing explaining to her in a few years’ time why I find that exchange both funny and chilling. The joke works because it taps into a real suspicion that any of our time on earth spent enduring any kind of tedium, triviality or boredom is objectively wasted time, time you may as well have been dead. “There’s an hour of my life I’m never getting back”.
A risk here is that this instinct comes to colonise our entire waking experience. For most of us, many components of the day are under-stimulating. I recently sat on a bus where all but three of the commuters on my deck had earphones and two of the remaining three were scrolling their phone. On one level, I entirely get that bus journeys aren’t all that interesting. People have passions and interests, and the opportunity to nurture those while on the move or otherwise engaged is an exciting outworking of technological development. But having just said that we can undervalue the productive function of distraction, I think it’s also a mistake to discount boredom as lost time and to fail to see value in periods of understimulation and, especially, to signal out the entire ambient experience of sociality and replace that with a fully personalised and curated soundscape. Surely this is a vicious cycle which further reduces our tolerance of any sort of under-stimulation and leaves us never truly at rest or ‘alone with our thoughts’. Might we then even seek out more low-engagement time when we’re distractible as an opportunity to get through more peripheral stimulation? Or indeed, could the ‘pairing’ of journeys and tasks with particular distractions create an association, whereby next time I’m in that part of the city, or house, I crave similar distraction and am taken out of any sense of presence in that place?
If I had to guess, I would say that the biggest driver of where we send our attention is our aversion to loneliness and conflation of being alone with being lonely. Podcasts, along with talk radio, seem to serve as synthetic human company and companionship. Meanwhile, after an initial ten years during turning a podcast into a profitable product proved difficult, listeners will have noticed the tsunami of paid-for slots from show sponsors, automated advert inserts and paywalled content which mark the monetisation of the medium. Part of this is a technological story of market segmentation and analysis of audience, alongside the production tools to reach ‘eardrums’ by the same scalable methods that eyeballs have been reached before. But also significant is the affinity and relationship listeners have with those human voices they connect to routinely and the scope to leverage and monetise that affinity (hence advertisers asking hosts for personal endorsements in those sponsored slots).
The question we’re left with is why and what next: what about this past decade has made the quest for capture of eyes and ears so urgent? As I wait to hear my coffee order called, a glance up from the screen and around my local high street gives a clue. Businesses which can’t compete with online retailers are closing. COVID seems to have accelerated an emergent placelessness in our economic transactions. Suddenly physical proximity, the old laws of location location location, are tumbling in value. If our screens are a marketplace for our goods and services as well as our attention, we’re suddenly even more bound to that space by dint of working from home and moving even more of our interactions online. If we value the places we inhabit, we may need to pay them more attention as we move through them and think about how we can reconfigure how we spend our attention and money to sustain those places and communities into an uncertain future.
Photo by Averyanovphoto is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA


sluggerotoole--2020-11-14--Would I Lie to ALL of You?

Would I Lie to ALL of You?

Fancy watching an online version of the popular BBC Show , but with a local slant ?
As part of the Being Human Festival 2020 , the ContactVIRT project at Queen ’ s University will be hosting their own version of the show involving two groups comprising “ Catholics ” and “ Protestants ” in Northern Ireland who will play the game in virtual reality ( VR ) .
One team reads a story while members of the opposite team quiz them and decide whether the story is true or a lie .
This pre-recorded event will be streamed online @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ?
The ContactVirt project ’ s primary objective is to reduce sectarian prejudice between members of the two largest religious communities in Northern Ireland through the use of VR .
Research in social psychology , particularly the “ contact hypothesis ” , suggests that sustained interactions between members of rival groups can lead to decreases in prejudice , stereotyping , and discrimination .
However , having intergroup interactions in real life can be difficult to achieve because of different cultural , ideological , religious , or even physical barriers ; therefore , alternative @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a “ safe ” way , such as technology-mediated contact , are being explored .
The ContactVIRT project also aims to engage non-academic audiences and to make scientific research more approachable .
For this reason , we partner with the Community Relations Council of Northern Ireland ( CRC ) for most of our public activities and events .
The CRC has been essential in connecting our project with community and peace-building organisations in a two-way dialogue .
Another key partner is the Nerve Centre through its Culture Lab exhibition , part of its @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the tagline ‘ Don ’ t Believe the Stereotype ’ , the exhibition takes a playfully provocative approach , and includes the famous ‘ Differences ’ blackboard from the hit TV series Derry Girls .
The blackboard sits alongside a new interactive installation , inspired by the iconic prop that will test visitors ’ preconceptions and challenge traditional stereotypes among Catholics and Protestants .
Would I Lie to All of You will be streamed online on Thursday 19 November from 12noon –1pm .
This is a free event and you can register here @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
For further information on the UK-wide Being Human Festival , please click here .
Photo by geralt is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA

Fancy watching an online version of the popular BBC Show, but with a local slant?
As part of the Being Human Festival 2020, the ContactVIRT project at Queen’s University will be hosting their own version of the show involving two groups comprising “Catholics” and “Protestants” in Northern Ireland who will play the game in virtual reality (VR). One team reads a story while members of the opposite team quiz them and decide whether the story is true or a lie. This pre-recorded event will be streamed online.
What’s it all about?
The ContactVirt project’s primary objective is to reduce sectarian prejudice between members of the two largest religious communities in Northern Ireland through the use of VR. Research in social psychology, particularly the “contact hypothesis”, suggests that sustained interactions between members of rival groups can lead to decreases in prejudice, stereotyping, and discrimination. However, having intergroup interactions in real life can be difficult to achieve because of different cultural, ideological, religious, or even physical barriers; therefore, alternative ways for bringing members into interaction in a “safe” way, such as technology-mediated contact, are being explored.
The ContactVIRT project also aims to engage non-academic audiences and to make scientific
research more approachable. For this reason, we partner with the Community Relations
Council of Northern Ireland (CRC) for most of our public activities and events. The CRC has
been essential in connecting our project with community and peace-building organisations in a two-way dialogue.
Another key partner is the Nerve Centre through its Culture Lab exhibition, part of its bigger project Making the Future. With the tagline ‘Don’t Believe the Stereotype’, the exhibition takes a playfully provocative approach, and includes the famous ‘Differences’ blackboard from the hit TV series Derry Girls. The blackboard sits alongside a new interactive installation, inspired by the iconic prop that will test visitors’ preconceptions and challenge traditional stereotypes among Catholics and Protestants.
Would I Lie to All of You will be streamed online on Thursday 19 November from 12noon –1pm. This is a free event and you can register here to receive more information and joining instructions.
For further information on the UK-wide Being Human Festival, please click here.
Photo by geralt is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA


sluggerotoole--2020-11-15--What’s your wee treat?

What’s your wee treat?

I was up in Ballycastle during the summer and they had an open-air artisan market at the seafront .
It was the usual mix of handmade crafts as well as local food products .
Having a bit of a sweet tooth at the best of times my eye was drawn to a homemade banana bread with chocolate pieces .
‘ How much is it ?
’ I asked the lady .
‘ £3.50 , ’ she replied .
I was thinking it was a bit pricey .
But I had that awkward moment when I had made eye contact with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ no , so I handed over my money .
When I got home I made a cup of coffee and decided to try some of the banana bread .
I sliced a bit off and put it in the toaster before smothering it with butter .
Taking a bite of the buttery sugary treat was the nearest I have come to ecstasy all year – all my worries just melted away as I horsed it all in me .
For the rest of the week I looked forward to having my daily slice @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
It became one of the highlights of my day .
A bit sad I know , but I find during this pandemic it is the little things that really keep you sane .
Driving up to Ballycastle every week to buy banana bread might be a bit extreme ( although picking up sourdough bread in the wonderful Ursa Minor Bakery would justify the trip ) .
So I started to make my own .
I experimented with different mixes before settling on a dark chocolate and walnut banana bread .
I make @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that it is healthy .
If I am not in the mood for banana bread my other drug of choice is the fresh croissants from Lidl .
Again they get toasted and covered with butter .
The wife , who is not from these parts , often asks me why I am putting butter on top of a product that is largely butter to begin with ?
She does not really get our love of butter .
But we locals know there are very few products that can not be improved with the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Thankfully science has seen sense and butter is now practically a health food and you can safely bin those tasteless chemical cocktails that are ‘ spreads ’ .
I think it is important to have some ground rules for a wee treat .
The key rule is it must be at most once a day , and it must be a single portion .
Some people may have horsed the entire banana in them in one sitting .
But that would just lead to nausea , regret and an arse only suitable @ @ @ @ @ @ @ O ’ Brien once observed .
The second rule is it has to differ substantially from your normal diet .
If you survive on a diet of junk at the best of times the addition of more sugar will just hasten your journey into type 2 diabetes .
My diet is generally very healthy so I can easily cope with the odd treat .
The denial aspect is very important .
If you get it all the time then it is no longer a treat – you have to actively look forward to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we are the biggest snackers in Europe , which no doubt correlates to us also being the fattest people in Europe .
I have friends who are very extreme and don ’ t allow their kids any sugar , but we prefer a more realistic approach .
Our strategy is to eat healthily 90 % of the time , but we are no stranger to Häagen-Dazs and dark chocolate .
Many of us have discovered the way to cope with this pandemic is to take each day as it comes .
Having something @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of staying sane .
For some , it might be a glass a whiskey , a new episode in your favourite show , a new chapter in a good book .
What ’ s your wee treat ?
Photo by pixel2013 is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA

I was up in Ballycastle during the summer and they had an open-air artisan market at the seafront. It was the usual mix of handmade crafts as well as local food products. Having a bit of a sweet tooth at the best of times my eye was drawn to a homemade banana bread with chocolate pieces. ‘How much is it?’ I asked the lady. ‘£3.50,’ she replied. I was thinking it was a bit pricey. But I had that awkward moment when I had made eye contact with her and it felt rude to say no, so I handed over my money.
When I got home I made a cup of coffee and decided to try some of the banana bread. I sliced a bit off and put it in the toaster before smothering it with butter. Taking a bite of the buttery sugary treat was the nearest I have come to ecstasy all year – all my worries just melted away as I horsed it all in me. For the rest of the week I looked forward to having my daily slice of banana bread and cup of coffee. It became one of the highlights of my day. A bit sad I know, but I find during this pandemic it is the little things that really keep you sane.
Driving up to Ballycastle every week to buy banana bread might be a bit extreme (although picking up sourdough bread in the wonderful Ursa Minor Bakery would justify the trip). So I started to make my own. I experimented with different mixes before settling on a dark chocolate and walnut banana bread. I make it with wholemeal flour to delude myself that it is healthy.
If I am not in the mood for banana bread my other drug of choice is the fresh croissants from Lidl. Again they get toasted and covered with butter. The wife, who is not from these parts, often asks me why I am putting butter on top of a product that is largely butter to begin with? She does not really get our love of butter. But we locals know there are very few products that can not be improved with the addition of a huge whack of butter. Thankfully science has seen sense and butter is now practically a health food and you can safely bin those tasteless chemical cocktails that are ‘spreads’.
I think it is important to have some ground rules for a wee treat. The key rule is it must be at most once a day, and it must be a single portion. Some people may have horsed the entire banana in them in one sitting. But that would just lead to nausea, regret and an arse only suitable for playing handball against, as Flann O’Brien once observed.
The second rule is it has to differ substantially from your normal diet. If you survive on a diet of junk at the best of times the addition of more sugar will just hasten your journey into type 2 diabetes. My diet is generally very healthy so I can easily cope with the odd treat. The denial aspect is very important. If you get it all the time then it is no longer a treat – you have to actively look forward to it.
In the UK and Ireland we are the biggest snackers in Europe, which no doubt correlates to us also being the fattest people in Europe. I have friends who are very extreme and don’t allow their kids any sugar, but we prefer a more realistic approach. Our strategy is to eat healthily 90% of the time, but we are no stranger to Häagen-Dazs and dark chocolate.
Many of us have discovered the way to cope with this pandemic is to take each day as it comes. Having something to look forward is a good way of staying sane. For some, it might be a glass a whiskey, a new episode in your favourite show, a new chapter in a good book. What’s your wee treat?
Photo by pixel2013 is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA


sluggerotoole--2020-11-15--Everything is Spiritual by Rob Bell: Part Memoir, Part Hymn for Humanity

My eyes had already welled up with tears after the first three pages of Rob Bell ’ s latest book , Everything is Spiritual : Who we are and What we ’ re doing Here .
Those early pages took me to his grandmother ’ s front porch on a windswept farm in central Michigan , introducing me to the grief and love that shaped him and set his life on its course .
My emotional response testifies to Bell ’ s skill as a storyteller , which makes Everything is Spiritual a quick , even compulsive , read .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ not a short book .
It is written in a flowing style more reminiscent of free verse poetry than conventional prose : there are no chapters , no subheadings , and no index .
Sections ( if they can be considered such ) are demarcated by occasional lines of asterisks .
I found this style surprisingly captivating .
It drew me inexorably in as he pondered his own creative efforts , his failures , his relationships , and through it all , his experience of life as an exploration of the spirit – @ @ @ @ @ @ @ together .
Everything is Spiritual is Bell ’ s eleventh book and , though it is not explicitly billed as such , it is really a memoir exploring his journey from evangelical childhood to megachurch pastor to something of a spiritual guide to the growing ranks of Americans who have become disillusioned with American Christianity , particularly evangelicalism .
It is also part hymn for humanity in its almost relentless hopefulness , despite a searing awareness of human tragedy .
Bell ’ s evangelical youth was one of disciplined hard work and tough @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his father and brother , Bell ’ s father was told ( by his own mother ) that he was not allowed to cry , because he should be happy they were in heaven .
Bell attended university at Wheaton College , the so-called ‘ evangelical Harvard ’ , and Fuller Theological Seminary .
Shortly after he became the protégé of Belfast-born pastor Ed Dobson , who had started an evangelical church in Grand Rapids , Michigan .
Dobson , a former executive for the conservative group the Morality Majority , is presented @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Everything is Spiritual , recognising Bell ’ s gifts and encouraging him to start his own congregation , Mars Hill Bible Church in Grandville , Michigan .
Bell is a lightning rod figure in Christian circles in the United States , dividing opinion and arousing controversy .
Though less well-known in Northern Ireland , Bell ’ s work has been much discussed within our own evangelical subculture , with similarly polarising effect .
He was branded a heretic after his 2011 book Love Wins , in which he questions the existence of a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
A sympathetic 2018 documentary about Bell is simply titled The Heretic .
But for me , Bell ’ s critique of the intertwining of American Christianity with American capitalism and military might is much more interesting .
In Everything is Spiritual Bell returns to this theme , inviting us to reflect on how much of the bible was written from the perspective of people who were oppressed by the military superpowers of their day .
He reminds us of Jesus ’ passion for the poor .
Alluding to Psalm 20:7 , he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who condemn Bell for his views on hell can use this as a reason to dismiss him outright , thereby avoiding awkward questions about the empires of the West and their role in contributing to the suffering of the world ’ s poor .
The furore over hell was seminal in Bell ’ s life and is the subject of some soul-searching in Everything is Spiritual : he left his Mars Hill church shortly after and moved to Los Angeles , where he has since focused on writing and public speaking .
In @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the American mainstream , winning the praise of Oprah and Eat , Pray , Love author Elizabeth Gilbert .
But Bell also describes what can only be characterised as a stress-fueled breakdown .
At a crucial juncture he traveled to Dublin to visit an Irish priest , referred to only as Fr Jack , for spiritual guidance .
Fr Jack assured him that he has a gift to give , and counselled him to stop worrying about what others think .
Bell describes this as a moment of epiphany and release : The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ interest in spirituality on this island and in other parts of the world .
Everything is Spiritual was written before Covid-19 , but it engages with big questions that have loomed even larger during the pandemic .
Bell plays with those questions through the lens of his personal spiritual journey , rooted in the Christian tradition .
This book won ’ t please those looking for systematic theology , or even just for a straightforward memoir .
In the end , Everything is Spiritual is , more than anything else , a hymn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ world and an invitation to discover it , despite the pain and loss that is part of being human .

My eyes had already welled up with tears after the first three pages of Rob Bell’s latest book, Everything is Spiritual: Who we are and What we’re doing Here. Those early pages took me to his grandmother’s front porch on a windswept farm in central Michigan, introducing me to the grief and love that shaped him and set his life on its course.
My emotional response testifies to Bell’s skill as a storyteller, which makes Everything is Spiritual a quick, even compulsive, read. At just over 300 pages it is not a short book. It is written in a flowing style more reminiscent of free verse poetry than conventional prose: there are no chapters, no subheadings, and no index. Sections (if they can be considered such) are demarcated by occasional lines of asterisks.
I found this style surprisingly captivating. It drew me inexorably in as he pondered his own creative efforts, his failures, his relationships, and through it all, his experience of life as an exploration of the spirit – or the love – that holds everything together.
Everything is Spiritual is Bell’s eleventh book and, though it is not explicitly billed as such, it is really a memoir exploring his journey from evangelical childhood to megachurch pastor to something of a spiritual guide to the growing ranks of Americans who have become disillusioned with American Christianity, particularly evangelicalism. It is also part hymn for humanity in its almost relentless hopefulness, despite a searing awareness of human tragedy.
Bell’s evangelical youth was one of disciplined hard work and tough family fortitude: after the deaths of his father and brother, Bell’s father was told (by his own mother) that he was not allowed to cry, because he should be happy they were in heaven. Bell attended university at Wheaton College, the so-called ‘evangelical Harvard’, and Fuller Theological Seminary.
Shortly after he became the protégé of Belfast-born pastor Ed Dobson, who had started an evangelical church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Dobson, a former executive for the conservative group the Morality Majority, is presented as a humane and supportive figure in Everything is Spiritual, recognising Bell’s gifts and encouraging him to start his own congregation, Mars Hill Bible Church in Grandville, Michigan.
Bell is a lightning rod figure in Christian circles in the United States, dividing opinion and arousing controversy. Though less well-known in Northern Ireland, Bell’s work has been much discussed within our own evangelical subculture, with similarly polarising effect.
He was branded a heretic after his 2011 book Love Wins, in which he questions the existence of a literal hell of eternal, fiery punishment. A sympathetic 2018 documentary about Bell is simply titled The Heretic.
But for me, Bell’s critique of the intertwining of American Christianity with American capitalism and military might is much more interesting. In Everything is Spiritual Bell returns to this theme, inviting us to reflect on how much of the bible was written from the perspective of people who were oppressed by the military superpowers of their day. He reminds us of Jesus’ passion for the poor. Alluding to Psalm 20:7, he writes:
In the Bible, there are those who Trust in chariots. America. We’re the ones with the chariots. No wonder so many Americans misread the Bible. If you’re a citizen of the most dominant global military power the world has ever seen, what do you do with a book that is relentlessly critical of dominant military superpowers?
In some ways, those who condemn Bell for his views on hell can use this as a reason to dismiss him outright, thereby avoiding awkward questions about the empires of the West and their role in contributing to the suffering of the world’s poor.
The furore over hell was seminal in Bell’s life and is the subject of some soul-searching in Everything is Spiritual: he left his Mars Hill church shortly after and moved to Los Angeles, where he has since focused on writing and public speaking. In this he has been spectacularly successful in the American mainstream, winning the praise of Oprah and Eat, Pray, Love author Elizabeth Gilbert.
But Bell also describes what can only be characterised as a stress-fueled breakdown. At a crucial juncture he traveled to Dublin to visit an Irish priest, referred to only as Fr Jack, for spiritual guidance. Fr Jack assured him that he has a gift to give, and counselled him to stop worrying about what others think. Bell describes this as a moment of epiphany and release:
Give the gift, And surrender the rest. … If the only answer ever to anything is You really need to do more and try harder Your heart will eventually wear out. Along with your body. And your soul.
The Covid-19 pandemic has contributed to a renewed interest in spirituality on this island and in other parts of the world. Everything is Spiritual was written before Covid-19, but it engages with big questions that have loomed even larger during the pandemic. Bell plays with those questions through the lens of his personal spiritual journey, rooted in the Christian tradition. This book won’t please those looking for systematic theology, or even just for a straightforward memoir. In the end, Everything is Spiritual is, more than anything else, a hymn to all that is good in the world and an invitation to discover it, despite the pain and loss that is part of being human.


sluggerotoole--2020-11-16--Covid 19: Getting things wrong is a feature, not a bug in democracy, but can we keep learning from t

Covid 19: Getting things wrong is a feature, not a bug in democracy, but can we keep learning from them?

“ Any man ’ s death diminishes me , because I am involved in mankind , and therefore never send to know for whom the bells tolls ; it tolls for thee.
” I have tried not to over comment on the progress ( or lack of it ) in handling the Coronavirus by any one government or administration .
If there is a long term advantage to having been plunged into deep uncertainty , we can learn quicker .
The Pfizer vaccine is promising ( not to say astonishing ) , but even more promising is that it is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ vaccines coming onto the market in the next few months .
The global nature of the threat has cut development time to a fraction .
But in the meantime , we have a very difficult winter to get through .
Keeping demand manageable on the NHS is not the only resource problem , the reluctance to come into hospital or even call the GP may be storing up other fatalities .
I ’ m booked in later in the week to pick up a flu shot from the local GP and have been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ backdoor where precautions are in place to administrate it out with the confines of the surgery .
Lots of treatments are now being handled on the phone , cutting time and stressful journeys down for both patients and medical staff alike .
Afterward , we will have a huge amount of experience from which to learn .
Chris Dillow , a wise man of the British left notes something important here : Michael Story and Stuart Ritchie describe how experts were initially wrong about Covid-19 , for example in resisting the use of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Again , though , this form of ruin is inevitable : the world is complex and unknowable .
We must choose which errors to make , what ruin to incur .
Where we might justifiably blame the experts is not so much for being wrong but for exaggerating their knowledge .
Quite .
For example , although it left a lot of daft conjecture and real damage ( in the Dakotas infection rates went through the roof because of non-compliance ) in its wake , the reason mask-wearing wasn ’ t pushed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ staff .
The calls for an early lockdown was resisted in the UK partly because the behavioural science suggested that people would resist .
It turns out that a shared common threat to life and sheer visceral fear is a powerful motivator .
One close member of my own family saw three medical colleagues end up in ICT , two of them were given ventilation .
Now in the second wave , I have good friends who have lost people in a second wave which is more diffuse and hard to track than @ @ @ @ @ @ @ remains very real right now , there is likely to be some kind of conclusion to the crisis ( which has seen governments borrow $ 1.25 trillion on the bond market just to try to keep local economies from collapsing .
Despite amazing levels of innovation , local businesses are struggling as Trevor Ringland highlighted in the Irish News last week : For wider public health , mental health and our standard of life , we need to rescue our economy , enable social activity and let younger people continue to work .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ forefront of this drive – promoting innovation and bringing both courage and caution to our thinking .
Business people and others had adapted to make the best of the situation , but the latest restrictions undermined all their hard work .
We should be seeking out examples of good practice and encouraging their wider adoption as we dare not destroy our economy any further .
As the Chief Medical Officer said on Nolan this morning , these are difficult decisions , and I would not like to be a politician .
This is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ aren ’ t accountable to the people , and politicians who are ) .
The Republic ’ s five-level system allows for a basket of considerations , not least High Street retailers whose businesses have no access to large sums of public cash that say some of the airlines have needed to keep them solvent .
Getting things wrong is a feature , not a bug in democracy , the more relevant question is whether we have the courage to keep learning from our so called mistakes ?
Photo by eliza28diamonds is licensed @ @ @

“Any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee.”
-John Donne, via TWiV
I have tried not to over comment on the progress (or lack of it) in handling the Coronavirus by any one government or administration. If there is a long term advantage to having been plunged into deep uncertainty, we can learn quicker.
The Pfizer vaccine is promising (not to say astonishing), but even more promising is that it is only one of maybe three or four vaccines coming onto the market in the next few months. The global nature of the threat has cut development time to a fraction.
But in the meantime, we have a very difficult winter to get through. Keeping demand manageable on the NHS is not the only resource problem, the reluctance to come into hospital or even call the GP may be storing up other fatalities.
I’m booked in later in the week to pick up a flu shot from the local GP and have been told I have to come to the backdoor where precautions are in place to administrate it out with the confines of the surgery.
Lots of treatments are now being handled on the phone, cutting time and stressful journeys down for both patients and medical staff alike. Afterward, we will have a huge amount of experience from which to learn.
Chris Dillow, a wise man of the British left notes something important here:
Michael Story and Stuart Ritchie describe how experts were initially wrong about Covid-19, for example in resisting the use of masks and calls for an early lockdown. Again, though, this form of ruin is inevitable: the world is complex and unknowable. We must choose which errors to make, what ruin to incur. Where we might justifiably blame the experts is not so much for being wrong but for exaggerating their knowledge.
Quite. For example, although it left a lot of daft conjecture and real damage (in the Dakotas infection rates went through the roof because of non-compliance) in its wake, the reason mask-wearing wasn’t pushed was that PPE was prioritised for medical staff.
The calls for an early lockdown was resisted in the UK partly because the behavioural science suggested that people would resist. It turns out that a shared common threat to life and sheer visceral fear is a powerful motivator.
One close member of my own family saw three medical colleagues end up in ICT, two of them were given ventilation. Now in the second wave, I have good friends who have lost people in a second wave which is more diffuse and hard to track than the first.
So although the threat remains very real right now, there is likely to be some kind of conclusion to the crisis (which has seen governments borrow $1.25 trillion on the bond market just to try to keep local economies from collapsing.
Despite amazing levels of innovation, local businesses are struggling as Trevor Ringland highlighted in the Irish News last week:
For wider public health, mental health and our standard of life, we need to rescue our economy, enable social activity and let younger people continue to work. The private sector should be at the forefront of this drive – promoting innovation and bringing both courage and caution to our thinking. Business people and others had adapted to make the best of the situation, but the latest restrictions undermined all their hard work. We should be seeking out examples of good practice and encouraging their wider adoption as we dare not destroy our economy any further.
As the Chief Medical Officer said on Nolan this morning, these are difficult decisions, and I would not like to be a politician. This is the right relationship between experts (who aren’t accountable to the people, and politicians who are).
The Republic’s five-level system allows for a basket of considerations, not least High Street retailers whose businesses have no access to large sums of public cash that say some of the airlines have needed to keep them solvent.
Getting things wrong is a feature, not a bug in democracy, the more relevant question is whether we have the courage to keep learning from our so called mistakes?
Photo by eliza28diamonds is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA


Fergus on Monday

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sluggerotoole--2020-11-17--Disregarding the poppy will only hinder Irish unity

It seemed the annual poppy debate , like many events in 2020 , was cancelled or run with socially distanced measures in place .
It was not until Taoiseach Micheál Martin appeared in Enniskillen , laying a wreath on Remembrance Day that the topic resurfaced down in the South .
It is not an overly new occurrence of a Taoiseach attending such event .
Enda Kenny during his time as Taoiseach , started the tradition and was followed by Leo Varadkar and now Micheál Martin .
However , Martin was spotted wearing a shamrock poppy , a sight which ruffled @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It was an interesting choice , as only three years ago , Martin , commenting on the fact Varadkar had started wearing a shamrock poppy in the Dáil , said he would not wear the shamrock poppy if he became Taoiseach .
For those who are unaware , the shamrock poppy specifically commemorates Irish people who died fighting for the United Kingdom , the most obvious example being in WWI .
The Unionist community certainly appreciated the gesture as Martin became the first Fianna Fáil Taoiseach to attend a Remembrance Sunday event .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ is it important that Irishmen who fought and died serving for the British Army in WWI be recognised but it also strengthens ties between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland , especially within the unionist community .
I ’ m not here to debate whether it is right or wrong to wear a poppy , quite frankly I don ’ t care and it is none of my business what people choose to wear similarly as it is none of my business whether people choose to wear white socks with a suit @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) It is actually because of the Shared Island Unit , established within the Irish government in October , I mention the poppy .
Why the poppy , in all its variants is important is simple , respecting people ’ s right to wear one paves the way for further reconciliation .
The poppy debate is only a proxy war between nationalists and unionists .
The wearing of the shamrock poppy is just a workaround for the contention around the issue of wearing a poppy for Irish politicians .
It goes without saying @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with what the poppy stands , you do not have to wear a poppy , my argument is that you have to respect people ’ s choice to wear one .
Equally , people must also respect people ’ s choice not to wear one .
You will only know when people respect the wearing of a poppy/not wearing one , when the debates about it no longer become yearly events .
It may seem inconceivable that certain groups will respect people ’ s choice to wear a poppy .
These same groups @ @ @ @ @ @ @ watch Irish flags being burned on top of massive bonfires on Twelfth of July each year , yet placing yourself on the higher moral ground , above the burning of one another ’ s symbols , that will be the side who wins the support of neutrals .
You could say “ but they burn our symbols ” , yeah they do , but that only polarises and divides nationalists from unionists which is exactly what loyalists and some unionists want .
It serves unionist political interests that there is an evident divide @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it this way , if you are a nationalist and seek Irish unity , why would you risk hindering the chance of unity by tearing into unionist symbols and culture every year ?
What message does that send to moderate unionists who seek peace and desperately want to build a bright future for Northern Ireland ?
At the end of the day , these are the people you need to be convincing that Irish unity actually benefits them not least because Ireland ’ s EU membership is a far better alternative than a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ idea of building a truly shared future , a shared island in which connections and trust between traditions on the island are at the forefront .
Reconciliation is highly difficult and takes a lot of time , but confronting history opens the path to reconciliation .
What history will tell you is symbols mean everything to everyone , the poppy being no exception .
That is why disregarding British symbols will only hinder Irish unity .
“ Project 365 # 299 : 261009 A Legion Of Paper Flowers ” by comedy_nose is marked @ @ @ @

It seemed the annual poppy debate, like many events in 2020, was cancelled or run with socially distanced measures in place. It was not until Taoiseach Micheál Martin appeared in Enniskillen, laying a wreath on Remembrance Day that the topic resurfaced down in the South. It is not an overly new occurrence of a Taoiseach attending such event. Enda Kenny during his time as Taoiseach, started the tradition and was followed by Leo Varadkar and now Micheál Martin.
However, Martin was spotted wearing a shamrock poppy, a sight which ruffled a few feathers within republican circles. It was an interesting choice, as only three years ago, Martin, commenting on the fact Varadkar had started wearing a shamrock poppy in the Dáil, said he would not wear the shamrock poppy if he became Taoiseach. For those who are unaware, the shamrock poppy specifically commemorates Irish people who died fighting for the United Kingdom, the most obvious example being in WWI.
The Unionist community certainly appreciated the gesture as Martin became the first Fianna Fáil Taoiseach to attend a Remembrance Sunday event. These are symbolic moments. Not only is it important that Irishmen who fought and died serving for the British Army in WWI be recognised but it also strengthens ties between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, especially within the unionist community.
I’m not here to debate whether it is right or wrong to wear a poppy, quite frankly I don’t care and it is none of my business what people choose to wear similarly as it is none of my business whether people choose to wear white socks with a suit. (do not do it lads)
It is actually because of the Shared Island Unit, established within the Irish government in October, I mention the poppy. Why the poppy, in all its variants is important is simple, respecting people’s right to wear one paves the way for further reconciliation. The poppy debate is only a proxy war between nationalists and unionists.
The wearing of the shamrock poppy is just a workaround for the contention around the issue of wearing a poppy for Irish politicians. It goes without saying, you do not have to agree with what the poppy stands, you do not have to wear a poppy, my argument is that you have to respect people’s choice to wear one.
Equally, people must also respect people’s choice not to wear one. You will only know when people respect the wearing of a poppy/not wearing one, when the debates about it no longer become yearly events.
It may seem inconceivable that certain groups will respect people’s choice to wear a poppy. These same groups do, after all, have to watch Irish flags being burned on top of massive bonfires on Twelfth of July each year, yet placing yourself on the higher moral ground, above the burning of one another’s symbols, that will be the side who wins the support of neutrals.
You could say “but they burn our symbols”, yeah they do, but that only polarises and divides nationalists from unionists which is exactly what loyalists and some unionists want. It serves unionist political interests that there is an evident divide between them and their neighbors. Put it this way, if you are a nationalist and seek Irish unity, why would you risk hindering the chance of unity by tearing into unionist symbols and culture every year? What message does that send to moderate unionists who seek peace and desperately want to build a bright future for Northern Ireland?
At the end of the day, these are the people you need to be convincing that Irish unity actually benefits them not least because Ireland’s EU membership is a far better alternative than a no-deal Brexit United Kingdom but also the idea of building a truly shared future, a shared island in which connections and trust between traditions on the island are at the forefront.
Reconciliation is highly difficult and takes a lot of time, but confronting history opens the path to reconciliation. What history will tell you is symbols mean everything to everyone, the poppy being no exception. That is why disregarding British symbols will only hinder Irish unity.
“Project 365 #299: 261009 A Legion Of Paper Flowers” by comedy_nose is marked with CC PDM 1.0


sluggerotoole--2020-11-17--Join us for a live Martin Luther King III talk this Thursday night at 7pm…

We are partnering with The John and Pat Hume Foundation and Politics in Action to host an online event with @ @ @ @ @ the American human rights advocate and son of assassinated civil rights leader Martin Luther King @ @ @ @ @ discussing the developing political situation in the United States and civil rights issues around the @ @ @ @ @ be live-streamed on Facebook live , click here to register for the event for free… @ @ @ @ @ Cherry Blossoms ” by John Brighenti is licensed under CC BY


sluggerotoole--2020-11-18--We need to talk about Care Homes

We need to talk about Care Homes

Looking at the steadily rising numbers of Covid outbreaks in Care Homes through September it seemed as if ‘ something ’ was happening , and that ‘ something ’ wasn ’ t good .
That ‘ something ’ is now beyond bad .
There were a few learning points from the first wave of Covid earlier this year .
The basic message of wash hands , face masks ( sort of ) and safe distance ; Hands , Face , Space seemed a simple message , and the fundamentals underlying that message hold good and accepted by most that if @ @ @ @ @ @ @ courtesy to others .
This is post not going to be a challenge to those fundamentals .
Cleanliness , courtesy and caution seems sensible basics for people to adopt where there is a viral infection out there , somewhere .
This is about Care Homes .
As this article is being written the number of Covid outbreaks in Care Homes is at its highest ever level ( UPDATE : a day later the number is higher at 165 on 17th November ) .
There have been a few questions – not nearly enough @ @ @ @ @ @ @ some answers , but these seem only to raise more questions .
Let ’ s start with ‘ how has it got to this ’ ?
The biggest challenge is in finding numbers and making sense of what they are saying .
Last week , there was the usual statement on deaths due to Covid from the Department of Health .
In summary then there were 78 deaths in the week 31st to 6th November .
55 in hospital , 17 in care homes , and the rest ( 6 ) at hospice @ @ @ @ @ @ @ generous and take a long view that 20 % of those who die in hospital are care home residents , that would equate to 28 deaths of care home residents , or around 36 % of the total of 78 .
We can ’ t be sure , because specific numbers are not given .
It is difficult to compare earlier in the year with today , because testing has changed and is now significantly outside the hospital environment , and community transmission is more widespread for this ‘ second ’ wave .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ NISRA recording of deaths at 1,141 for the year to date ( as of 6 November ) and the Department of Health that records a lower number of 772 to date – Departmental figures are based on patients having previously tested positive for the virus , whereas the NISRA figures are based on the information entered on death certificates , completed by medical professionals where individuals may or may not have previously tested positive for the virus .
The NISRA dashboard and Department of Health figures are different .
Does that matter ?
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ sense from a plethora of numbers and percentages that require considerable analysis before getting any sort of clearer picture .
Eddie Lynch is the Commissioner for Older People .
In a short segment at the end of his show , Nolan was principally interested in extracting guests ’ views on whether they believed a second lockdown was necessary , or not .
The Nolan Show 4 November 2020 ( last 20 minutes or so ) .
With focus that day on Nolan ’ s show on ‘ lockdown ’ , and the questions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ view on Lockdown , and not on the rate of outbreaks in Care Homes , Mr Lynch ’ s response to a question on Care Homes was simply that he didn ’ t have all the data – something along the lines of “ …don ’ t have all the information before me.
” Mr Lynch said it was of course important to reduce infection in the community and welcomed an announcement by the Minister that staff in care homes would be tested weekly .
If anyone wondered whether that level of testing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ already for some weeks , or months , no view on that was asked of Mr Lynch , and no view was offered .
Mr Lynch ’ s interview was followed immediately by the Care Home Provider Association ’ s CEO , Pauline Shepherd , who echoed Mr Lynch ’ s view : “ as transmission increases in the community it will also increase the risk of getting into and moving around Care Homes.
” Nothing remarkable in that statement .
Nothing remarkable either in commenting that by their nature a Care Home @ @ @ @ @ @ @ inspectors going out and in , allied health professionals going in and out .
Social distancing in personal care in Care Homes would be nigh on impossible .
What was interesting in Pauline Shepherd ’ s statement was that while she too welcomed the announcement two weeks previously , that testing for staff might increase to weekly , she added that on that day there were still no plans in place as to how ‘ the money ’ will be spent on the staff to make testing happen .
She added too that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ discharges unless staff in place to take care – there simply wasn ’ t the staff within the system to share around Care Homes .
Yes , this was an issue raised with the Minister ; the Minister ’ s action was to have ‘ written ’ to another department to look at staff and workplace issues .
There are questions here as to why with outbreaks in Care Homes rising since early September , and rising steeply from early in October , we are now mid-November and talking about increasing the frequency @ @ @ @ @ @ @ talking about fast-testing .
By far the greatest number of deaths recorded this past week ( not unusually ) have been those over 60 years of age , and more than half over 80 years old .
Residents of Care Homes are therefore at significant risk when community transmission is widespread – and that is the case to a far greater extent in the second wave than it was in the first .
It might be considered this , the impact of community transfer to Care Homes , was one of the most @ @ @ @ @ @ @ What that also means is that as many would have underlying conditions it might be expected that a Care Home resident might be more likely to require hospitalisation that those of similar age outside the Care Home environment , and possibly greater levels of personal care in hospitals too , which places pressures on services at all levels .
Care Homes are therefore an issue that impacts on total service provision .
There is a ‘ plan in place ’ for a ‘ surge ’ which is long on ‘ to-do ’ and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that hospitals are struggling with staffing – Sam McBride from the News Letter has noted that the Minister has said the issue in hospital capacity is not one of financial resource , but of human resources .
That makes the current planning for Care Homes difficult ( from website today 16th November ) : No mention of weekly testing , and testing for whole home difficult if there aren ’ t even the staff trained and available to undertake those tests .
Not if the Trusts haven ’ t even the staff to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ resources may also be in part due to residents from Care Homes being unable to be discharged because a ) there are not enough staff in Care Homes to assure safety ( as indicated by Pauline Shepherd b ) there is an outbreak in the Care Home to which they might be discharged .
Despite the ‘ surge plan ’ being updated in September , 154 Care Homes ( reported NISRA 16th November ) , nearly one third of all registered Care Homes in NI , have a recorded outbreak of Covid : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ there were 482 registered care homes in NI of which 248 are nursing and 234 residential care .
When Jim Alister questioned the health Minister on the issue of outbreaks in Care Homes on Tuesday ( 10 November ) there was no sense of urgency , or a sense of exactly how what was being said failed to match the scale of the issue .
Notable that was no mention of weekly testing , the week following the points being made on Nolan – not that that should be a measure of timely @ @ @ @ @ @ @ % of outbreaks was due to staff testing positive is not really an answer to the question posed .
With the number of outbreaks in Care Homes at 147 on the day this question was asked in the Assembly ( now 165 on 17th November ) , even if removing the percentage of ‘ staff ’ recorded outbreaks that would leave as many outbreaks now as at the first wave peak earlier this year .
The response by the Minister lacked any sense of urgency or any sense that there was a problem @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Care Homes .
It is difficult to believe that after six months there has not been an effective plan in place to suppress any second wave in respect of its impact on Care Homes specifically , and the elderly more generally .
It is more than clear that the greatest ‘ at risk ’ age group are those over 60 and in particular those with underlying conditions – increasingly likely in those over 60 , and especially those over 80 .
When you add the closed environment of a Care Home that risk @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and particular problems for Care Homes .
It must be emphasised that Covid is not inevitably fatal for those over 80 , and there are many ( if not more ) in that age group being discharged than dying in hospital where Covid infection had been identified .
That does not excuse the appalling level of Care Home breakouts in Northern Ireland and the seemingly slow response from the Department of Health to what has been an issue arising since early September .
The number of outbreaks in Care Homes simply can not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a great deal more media attention .
The scale of recorded outbreaks in Care Homes is not simply down to unwitting transmission by staff – which if 46 % is in part an explanation is itself a point where the obvious question arises as to the consequent action taken to mitigate .
However , it is clear that at this point there is a range of issues to be addressed of which suppressing risk of transmission by staff is just one .
There has been little offered , or questioned , as to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not being taken as a matter of urgency ( indeed , has not been implemented more than a month ago ) in reducing visitors , increasing regular testing ( frankly daily – including fast result testing , even if supplemental – would be appropriate at this point ) , and a complete simplification and a printed in plain English “ Surge ” simple ‘ point ’ plan of action to replace what is obviously not working .
Photo by geralt is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA

Looking at the steadily rising numbers of Covid outbreaks in Care Homes through September it seemed as if ‘something’ was happening, and that ‘something’ wasn’t good. That ‘something’ is now beyond bad.
There were a few learning points from the first wave of Covid earlier this year. The basic message of wash hands, face masks (sort of) and safe distance; Hands, Face, Space seemed a simple message, and the fundamentals underlying that message hold good and accepted by most that if not science they were common sense and courtesy to others.
This is post not going to be a challenge to those fundamentals. Cleanliness, courtesy and caution seems sensible basics for people to adopt where there is a viral infection out there, somewhere.
This is about Care Homes. As this article is being written the number of Covid outbreaks in Care Homes is at its highest ever level (UPDATE: a day later the number is higher at 165 on 17th November).
There have been a few questions – not nearly enough from the media. There have been some answers, but these seem only to raise more questions.
Let’s start with ‘how has it got to this’? The biggest challenge is in finding numbers and making sense of what they are saying.
Last week, there was the usual statement on deaths due to Covid from the Department of Health.
“Latest figures published today by NISRA show that 78 deaths involving Covid-19 occurred in the last week, from 31st October to 6th November….” “The week ending 6th November saw 55 Covid-19 related hospital deaths. Seventeen Covid-19 related deaths occurred in a care home during the week ending 6th November….” “Further analysis, which includes deaths of care home residents in hospital, shows that of the 496 deaths of care home residents involving Covid-19 in the year to date to 6th November 2020, 79.4% (394) occurred in a care home, with the remaining 102 occurring in hospital. On this basis, deaths of care home residents account for 43.5% of all Covid-19 related deaths;….”
In summary then there were 78 deaths in the week 31st to 6th November. 55 in hospital, 17 in care homes, and the rest (6) at hospice or at home. If we are generous and take a long view that 20% of those who die in hospital are care home residents, that would equate to 28 deaths of care home residents, or around 36% of the total of 78. We can’t be sure, because specific numbers are not given.
It is difficult to compare earlier in the year with today, because testing has changed and is now significantly outside the hospital environment, and community transmission is more widespread for this ‘second’ wave.
Also, there is significant difference between NISRA recording of deaths at 1,141 for the year to date (as of 6 November) and the Department of Health that records a lower number of 772 to date – Departmental figures are based on patients having previously tested positive for the virus, whereas the NISRA figures are based on the information entered on death certificates, completed by medical professionals where individuals may or may not have previously tested positive for the virus.
The NISRA dashboard and Department of Health figures are different. Does that matter? Only if you are trying to make sense from a plethora of numbers and percentages that require considerable analysis before getting any sort of clearer picture.
Eddie Lynch is the Commissioner for Older People. In a short segment at the end of his show, Nolan was principally interested in extracting guests’ views on whether they believed a second lockdown was necessary, or not. The Nolan Show 4 November 2020 (last 20 minutes or so).
With focus that day on Nolan’s show on ‘lockdown’, and the questions were focused specifically Mr Lynch’s view on Lockdown, and not on the rate of outbreaks in Care Homes, Mr Lynch’s response to a question on Care Homes was simply that he didn’t have all the data – something along the lines of “…don’t have all the information before me.”
Mr Lynch said it was of course important to reduce infection in the community and welcomed an announcement by the Minister that staff in care homes would be tested weekly. If anyone wondered whether that level of testing shouldn’t have been in place already for some weeks, or months, no view on that was asked of Mr Lynch, and no view was offered.
Mr Lynch’s interview was followed immediately by the Care Home Provider Association’s CEO, Pauline Shepherd, who echoed Mr Lynch’s view: “as transmission increases in the community it will also increase the risk of getting into and moving around Care Homes.” Nothing remarkable in that statement. Nothing remarkable either in commenting that by their nature a Care Home has staff moving out and in, inspectors going out and in, allied health professionals going in and out. Social distancing in personal care in Care Homes would be nigh on impossible.
What was interesting in Pauline Shepherd’s statement was that while she too welcomed the announcement two weeks previously, that testing for staff might increase to weekly, she added that on that day there were still no plans in place as to how ‘the money’ will be spent on the staff to make testing happen. She added too that Care Homes may need to not accept discharges unless staff in place to take care – there simply wasn’t the staff within the system to share around Care Homes. Yes, this was an issue raised with the Minister; the Minister’s action was to have ‘written’ to another department to look at staff and workplace issues.
There are questions here as to why with outbreaks in Care Homes rising since early September, and rising steeply from early in October, we are now mid-November and talking about increasing the frequency of testing staff – and no-one is talking about fast-testing. By far the greatest number of deaths recorded this past week (not unusually) have been those over 60 years of age, and more than half over 80 years old.
Residents of Care Homes are therefore at significant risk when community transmission is widespread – and that is the case to a far greater extent in the second wave than it was in the first. It might be considered this, the impact of community transfer to Care Homes, was one of the most important lessons learned earlier in 2020. What that also means is that as many would have underlying conditions it might be expected that a Care Home resident might be more likely to require hospitalisation that those of similar age outside the Care Home environment, and possibly greater levels of personal care in hospitals too, which places pressures on services at all levels.
Care Homes are therefore an issue that impacts on total service provision. There is a ‘plan in place’ for a ‘surge’ which is long on ‘to-do’ and broad statements of intent.
We know that hospitals are struggling with staffing – Sam McBride from the News Letter has noted that the Minister has said the issue in hospital capacity is not one of financial resource, but of human resources.
That makes the current planning for Care Homes difficult (from website today 16th November):
“Covid-19 testing is available to all asymptomatic care home residents on a 28-day cycle and testing is undertaken of asymptomatic staff on a 14-day cycle across Northern Ireland. Additional testing takes place on a ‘whole home’ basis should any results be returned as positive and meet the definition of an outbreak.”
No mention of weekly testing, and testing for whole home difficult if there aren’t even the staff trained and available to undertake those tests.
“Trusts will ensure that appropriate staffing and medical input is available to the homes when required.”
Not if the Trusts haven’t even the staff to cover hospital wards. Stretching of hospital resources may also be in part due to residents from Care Homes being unable to be discharged because a) there are not enough staff in Care Homes to assure safety (as indicated by Pauline Shepherd b) there is an outbreak in the Care Home to which they might be discharged.
Despite the ‘surge plan’ being updated in September, 154 Care Homes (reported NISRA 16th November), nearly one third of all registered Care Homes in NI, have a recorded outbreak of Covid: – as at 13 October 2020, there were 482 registered care homes in NI of which 248 are nursing and 234 residential care.
When Jim Alister questioned the health Minister on the issue of outbreaks in Care Homes on Tuesday (10 November) there was no sense of urgency, or a sense of exactly how what was being said failed to match the scale of the issue.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRBvUMXT01s?start=622]
Notable that was no mention of weekly testing, the week following the points being made on Nolan – not that that should be a measure of timely action! The suggestion that around 40/46% of outbreaks was due to staff testing positive is not really an answer to the question posed. With the number of outbreaks in Care Homes at 147 on the day this question was asked in the Assembly (now 165 on 17th November), even if removing the percentage of ‘staff’ recorded outbreaks that would leave as many outbreaks now as at the first wave peak earlier this year.
The response by the Minister lacked any sense of urgency or any sense that there was a problem with the scale of the outbreaks in Care Homes.
It is difficult to believe that after six months there has not been an effective plan in place to suppress any second wave in respect of its impact on Care Homes specifically, and the elderly more generally.
It is more than clear that the greatest ‘at risk’ age group are those over 60 and in particular those with underlying conditions – increasingly likely in those over 60, and especially those over 80. When you add the closed environment of a Care Home that risk increases considerably, and Covid presents known and particular problems for Care Homes.
It must be emphasised that Covid is not inevitably fatal for those over 80, and there are many (if not more) in that age group being discharged than dying in hospital where Covid infection had been identified.
That does not excuse the appalling level of Care Home breakouts in Northern Ireland and the seemingly slow response from the Department of Health to what has been an issue arising since early September.
The number of outbreaks in Care Homes simply cannot be explained away and should be receiving a great deal more media attention. The scale of recorded outbreaks in Care Homes is not simply down to unwitting transmission by staff – which if 46% is in part an explanation is itself a point where the obvious question arises as to the consequent action taken to mitigate.
However, it is clear that at this point there is a range of issues to be addressed of which suppressing risk of transmission by staff is just one.
There has been little offered, or questioned, as to why a greater level of action is not being taken as a matter of urgency (indeed, has not been implemented more than a month ago) in reducing visitors, increasing regular testing (frankly daily – including fast result testing, even if supplemental – would be appropriate at this point), and a complete simplification and a printed in plain English “Surge” simple ‘point’ plan of action to replace what is obviously not working.
Photo by geralt is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA