SpaceSimCentral

More bad news (potentially - data are still uncertain) - it's easier to link the BBC article.

Yeah they saying we have a few different variants here in the USA too and I will have to agree with @d-c-elington here in the USA there is about 3k people dying every day.... yeah the majority of the deaths are to older folks and people with underlying conditions but its still it's 3k a day regardless. We have the virus killing thousands and causing economic chaos everywhere.... will be interested in how we are going to get out of this spiral.
I doubt highly this is a naturally occurring virus and its a damn shame none of our countries are really trying to find out why and where it came from, I have a pretty good idea on where it came from just need to know why.
Stay safe everyone and take care of yourselves .... I don't need to be doing this to any of the pilots at the station....

Posted by: @sscadmin
I have a pretty good idea on where it came from

Within China, it seems the airbrushing of Wuhan's role as the source of the pandemic is already well-advanced. The Chinese government is well-practiced at airbrushing history, the Tiananmen Square Massacre being a good example.
Going off at a tangent, one thing that worries me is that China will almost certainly be the first nation to colonise Mars, and perhaps the Moon too. Many years ago, a friend told me that the 21st century would belong to China - prophetic?

Posted by: @cody
Going off at a tangent, one thing that worries me is that China will almost certainly be the first nation to colonise Mars, and perhaps the Moon too. Many years ago, a friend told me that the 21st century would belong to China - prophetic?

I would have to agree that China is definitely embracing technology quicker than the USA, even though its to spy on every move of their populous... but with this embracing of technology I think they will be the first country to really start heavily using crypto. We all know that money rules this planet and those with it rule over those without it.... all countries need to start taking more notice, especially when a country that is pulling ahead is one that suppresses its own people for personal gain.... I think the world is getting more toxic.
We have the news stating that China is going to have a positive GDP this year and already at 2%+ and most other countries economies are shit because of the virus.... makes ya wonder huh

Reds from the red planet.
Chinese have a plan and they are thinking in the 30 to 40 years ahead unlike western political leaders who only think in terms of the when the next election is. 

Posted by: @pinback
Chinese have a plan and they are thinking in the 30 to 40 years ahead

Yep! Does democracy hold us back? There's a nasty thought!

Yeah it is a shocking really how quickly China went from 3rd world country to where they are now. What people need to think more about is how China is benefitting off this virus pandemic. I will admit China is great at squashing resistance to the CCP rule, just look how they quelled Hong Kong when they voted to take it back they came in and just took it and ended all that stuff. Breaking treaty agreements and the govt's of the world did nothing.... now China is eying Taiwan and since they received no resistance in HK I bet they might try for it especially during the current world crisis and maybe to test the new USA president. There is already news reports of China flying into their airspace on purpose.

Posted by: @sscadmin
now China is eying Taiwan and since they received no resistance in HK I bet they might try for it especially during the current world crisis and maybe to test the new USA president.

Yep, they're testing the new administration, right enough. Their activities in the South China Sea, establishing military bases on tiny islands which several nations claim, worry me. That's another potential flashpoint, located on major shipping lanes too.

In the last 30 years the democracies have allowed big business to go into china and the Chinese's have been very cleaver in saying that they will let them make their goods cheaply in china, all they have to do is transfer their technology to china and anything they could not get that way they simply steal.
When they feel ready to take Taiwan, they will simply take it and will the world do anything about it, probably not.

Posted by: @pinback
In the last 30 years the democracies have allowed big business to go into china and the Chinese's have been very cleaver in saying that they will let them make their goods cheaply

100% right Pinback, all of our companies greed for profits have created a big problem. As we saw simply when the virus hit how our supply chains broke down and all the countries panic in how to get necessity item. I am afraid that Biden will not be hard enough on China.... all we can do is wait and see what all of the countries do to confront China? I did like how Australia was fighting back on the taxes and bands that China was doing to them. Posted by: @cody
establishing military bases on tiny islands which several nations claim, worry me. That's another potential flashpoint, located on major shipping lanes too.

Yes all of the Asian countries cannot really put up a fight to China's navy.... its the biggest Navy on the planet in quantity of ships/subs .... yeah their quality/tech may not equal a lot of the countries of the world.... but these Asian countries cannot match them and without the bigger countries of the world patrolling this area China could take it all very quickly actually.

The Vaccine - or how I learned to stop worrying and love the jab
Ten days after the jab, and I still feel normal - still human, still ugly! And apart from twenty-fours of utter exhaustion, no side effects. I have no urge to swing from the chandelier, no urge to climb trees - no untoward effects whatsoever. Oh wait [..........................] sorry about that, my wetware installed an update and had to reboot!

Posted by: @cody
The Vaccine - or how I learned to stop worrying and love the jab

Just to be safe I have erected a quarantine barrier around your quarters .... you know just to be sure

Posted by: @sscadmin
I have erected a quarantine barrier around your quarters .... you know just to be sure

No, please... let me out! I'm safe, I promise... nothing wrong with me at all. I am normal! It's just this image I have in my mind... it's kinda blue, and there's a message. It says: "WinVac has encountered a problem and will have to close!" What can it....... ?

Whats going on in Europe? Seeing some news that some of the countries are starting to lockdown again and they stopped issuing the vaccine (I haven't decided to take this yet). New strain?

Vaccine rollout has been poor in most of continental Europe, so cases are on the rise again. Also, some major contries (France, Germany) have paused use of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine due to fears of bloodclots. Fears which seem to be baseless.
The UK went solo (thankfully) when it came to ordering vaccines, rather than fall into line with the EU 'vaccine plan' (which we could've done), and rollout here in England is well ahead of schedule. The muppets at Westminster got something right at last!

Posted by: @cody
Also, some major contries (France, Germany) have paused use of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine due to fears of bloodclots. Fears which seem to be baseless.

Even though I haven't decided to get the vaccine yet, we still don't really have a baseline to do an actual risk analysis... I guess we are doing that now people do need to think that we all have some unique qualities per individual and we are not exactly the same so in some certain situations some people could have issues with any foreign substance being injected into our bodies, this is why I generally wait to see what happens to the general populous and then decide.
You would have thought that each country would have put in the orders for the vaccine to at the least supply them to the elderly and 'at risk' people. How could they mess this up? Its been all over the news for months now about the vaccine and countries buying it As we all know our tax money doesn't always get spent on these politicians wisely. 

Now the uber-bureaucrats of the EU Commission are playing politics with vaccine supplies/exports - again! Trying to deflect blame for their poor performance? I'm not saying the muppets at Westminster are any better, but at least I can vote them out. The prime directive of all such bureaucracies is to keep the trough which they have their snouts in full. This has been the case for centuries, if not millennia.
Politics should play no part in such a serious pandemic - but it does, unfortunately! Wake up, sheeple!

Second stage ignition confirmed! Burn is nominal. Boosting to orbit!
If it's anything like the first jab, I'm in for a day of utter fatigue!

Posted by: @cody
If it's anything like the first jab, I'm in for a day of utter fatigue!

How you been feeling Cody? I have read a few news titles that France, Italy and maybe some others are starting to lock folks down again. Since you got both shots does this mean your free to go and do what you want now?

Posted by: @sscadmin
How you been feeling Cody?

Instead of a day of fatigue, I got two days of flu-like aches and pains. Worse than the first jab, but all gone now and I'm back to normal. I'm not exactly frolicking around like a spring lamb, more hobbling around like an old man. Oh wait... I am an old man!
Things look bad in Europe! Seems to me they've really fucked-up their vaccination roll-out, and countries like France are battling an anti-vaccine mood. The EU blame AstraZeneca for a shortage of vaccine doses, and there's this fear of blood clots linked to the AZ vaccine, which has led to its use being suspended. If I had the choice, I'd go for the one I've had (Pfizer-BioNTech), but it's a numbers game in effect. Posted by: @sscadmin
Since you got both shots does this mean your free to go and do what you want now?

Good question! I certainly feel more confident now about doing what I want, but we've become conditioned into being cautious. I'm not liking that too much. The idea of a Covid-19 'passport' is attractive, and I think any form of travel will require one, now and for the foreseeable future. I'm not sure I'd want it as an app though - too easily tracked for my liking. Some sort of certificate, or an actual stamp in my passport (like a visa), would be my preference. We shall see how the UK government goes about it.
I've got some future travel vouchers from British Airways (instead of a refund), and I'm itching to use them!