Bandolero -

The Jaguar F-Type is back, with a fresh look and an assortment of new bells and whistles. They have, thankfully, resisted the urge to treat it to a new pair of beige slacks and a matching M&S cardigan, although that must have been tough. Alright, there’s a bit more to the update than the above would imply (a modest engine power hike, a new engine derivative, some new suspension componentry and some digital instruments) but perhaps not as much as you might imagine would be necessary to keep a current sports car up to date in what is now – wait for it – its eighth year in production. Is it entirely fair, then, you may wonder, to pitch the ‘new’, range-topping R version of this car into a head-to-head contest with the only-a-year-old 992-generation Porsche 911? Knowing what we already do about the latter – it’s a group test winner already and was highly commended at Britain’s Best Driver’s Car shootout, don’t forget – is that a contest the plucky Brit can possibly win? Well, it’s certainly a curious notional position for the fresh meat in one of these twin tests to occupy. Usually it’s the most recently launched car that comes in with all the advantages, yet the Jaguar holds nothing over the lighter, faster and fundamentally newer Porsche that might give it an on-paper head start here – save, perhaps, the peak outputs of its supercharged 5.0-litre V8 engine. But here is the truth you’ll discover having driven these cars extensively and one after another: there are some things the new Jaguar F-Type R P575 AWD does every bit as well as a Porsche 911 Carrera 4S; there are a handful of things it does even better, actually. I must add for the sake of balance that there are also plenty of ways in which the German is quite plainly the Brummie’s superior. And yet what you’re about to read is a contest, trust me, not a pushover. The Jaguar, for all of the long-toothedness that the new styling and interior smartening seek to disguise, has its shout, and for some – maybe even for you – it will be the better car. Did someone say ‘shout’? My ears are still ringing, as it happens. The first thing I’m happy to confirm is that a range-topping Jaguar sports car with a Welsh-made supercharged V8 engine could out-shout just about any 911 road car it happened to be within a few hundred metres of. There’s mention of a ‘quiet’ mode in the car’s press material, and naturally you assume – having heard the thing snarling through the middle of its rev range at full load like a band of bloodthirsty sousaphone players – it might be a misprint. In fact, it’s a convenience feature that Jaguar would seem to have appropriated from close rival Aston Martin: it allows you to start the car’s engine discreetly on an early weekday morning so as not to upset the neighbours. Or the neighbour’s neighbours. Or, for that matter, the night-shift staff at your local early-warning earthquake monitoring station. In actuality, ‘quiet start mode’ is nothing more or less than the car’s normal running setting; if you want noisy, you simply select Dynamic mode or the active exhaust’s loud setting before turning over the engine (and then, presumably, you just move house). So it’s not even a new button in an otherwise pretty familiar cabin that, but for some new trim materials (nice matt black door handles, by the way, folks) and the new digital instruments and infotainment system, could perhaps have done with more of a material lift. The Porsche would have been my bet to get its nose in front when these cars were compared as stationary, daily use ownership prospects, no question. But for every blow the 911 lands, the F-Type lands one right back. You’re a little more squeezed into the Jaguar, it’s true, but the seat it offers to your backside is softer and more comfortable than the 911’s and barely any less adjustable or supportive. It also needs slightly less of a bend-and-stoop manoeuvre to slide into. The Porsche offers more room for your extremities, along with those occasional back seats for your clobber, better visibility, a better driving position, significantly more sophisticated and usable on-board display and infotainment technology, and significantly better perceived quality. The neat look and substantial feel of its switchgear is a cut above and then some.

Noida resident Preeti (name changed) has not slept for four days because she has been experiencing “paralysing” anxiety. The nationwide lockdown has aggravated her paranoia over COVID-19 and intensified her depression and anxiety. It doesn’t help that she can’t get the face-time she needs with her counsellor. To make up for this, they speak multiple times a day over the phone. The thought that goes over repeatedly in Preeti’s mind is — “When is this going to end?” The pandemic and ensuing lockdown in India have exacerbated symptoms like anxiety in those with existing mental health conditions. The isolation and uncertainty has also prompted some to seek professional help for the first time. Issues range from fears about the virus to worries about job security and manifest in different ways across states and classes. Delhi-based consultant neuropsychiatrist Dr. Umang Kochhar estimates a 20 per cent increase in the number of patients during the lockdown period. This includes those who may have sought his help in the past, were “stable”, but now see a “spike” in symptoms. “Sleep is one thing that has been impacted the most,” he said. Last week, the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences launched a national COVID-19 psychosocial helpline in conjunction with the Health Ministry. On the first day, they received 1,000 calls. On the second—3,000. “Many states have also started regional language helplines,” said NIMHANS director BN Gangadhar. Other long-standing mental health organisations have had to find new ways to be accessible during the lockdown. For instance, Mumbai-headquartered psychosocial helpline, iCALL, announced three new numbers after the lockdown prevented its counsellors from reaching the office helpline. The new numbers were “flooded” with calls, but iCALL has only been able to cater to 55-60 a day instead of its usual 75-80 because of a shortage of counsellors. It is adding more counsellors. Around half the calls concern rising tensions over COVID-19, increasing domestic violence and the effects of the lockdown on jobs and personal finances. “The calls are not only coming from upper or middle-class people, but also daily wage workers who do not know where they will get their next day’s pay from,” said iCALL programme coordinator Tanuja Babre. West Bengal-based activist Ratnaboli Ray, founder of mental health rights organisation Anjali, explained that mental health issues take on different shapes for those living in poverty. “Poor people who had been reintegrated in the community and were leading a meaningful life are feeling resourceless and their anxiety levels have gone up. They are worried they will have to die out of hunger, or how they will access the medication they are on.” “The effect is going to be large, widespread and in a sense, perhaps, long-lasting,” said Sitaram Bhartia Hospital consultant psychiatrist Dr. Alok Sarin. “At the moment, everybody has a sense of fragility. Anxiety is now the new normal,” he elaborated.

Israel has drafted some of its finest military minds to wage war on coronavirus, with members of the elite 8200 intelligence unit assisting the Health Ministry with efforts to stem the spread of the disease. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter At least 15 intelligence officers from famed unit have been deployed to work alongside health officials at a specially erected compound near Sheba Medical Center in the center of the country. "The Health Ministry asked us to join the fight against the coronavirus," says an unnamed senior officer in the unit, adding that they are "analyzing data using our methodology." Another 300 members of the unit are also supporting the efforts while also continuing their duty analyzing data related to the Lebanese-based terror group Hezbollah, the Iranian Quds Force and Hamas in Gaza. "We were asked by the ministry to determine why coronavirus deaths in Germany remain low though the number of confirmed cases is high and continuing to grow, how South Korea managed to flatten the curve and what the results of measures taken by other countries are," says the officer. "We were also asked about the situation in the Palestinian Authority and what research into coronavirus cures is being done around the world." Each question goes to a dedicated team that collects data, analyzes it and prepares a report. "More complex questions are analyzed using algorithms we normally use for military purposes, which enables a quick response," the officer says. "We view the rate of infection in Israel through our sophisticated tools and could warn authorities that we are nearing the rates seen in Italy at the start of the pandemic and could point to factors that give room for optimism." Israel's Military Intelligence is also coordinating with counterpart agencies around the world and has reached out to medical researchers working on inoculation based on antibodies collected from people who have recovered from COVID-19. The members of unit were surprised by the basic technological capabilities of the Health Ministry, which uses a dated computer system and archaic work methods, compared to the abilities at their disposal. They found that each institution - hospitals, the Health Ministry, laboratories, health maintenance organizations and Magen David Adom rescue service - kept its data separate. As such, one of the first tasks assigned to the team was establishing a software package that would allow all healthcare providers to share their data in real time. "In normal times, not during a war like now, nothing happens if a file transferred from organization to another arrives tomorrow or the next day," the officer says. "We immediately went in, developing fast connectivity, data retrieval and a uniform [system] that reliably transmits testing information between the agencies." The officer also had high praise for the medical staff who are on the front line of this war, and expressed the hope that the technological systems they use will soon get the funding they need.

Why we ran it: To see if the near-perfect theory of a car with diesel power for long journeys and electric power for short trips can be matched by the reality Life with an E-Class Estate: Month 5 What could be better than a frugal diesel wagon that can turn into an electric car? - 25 March 2020 It has been an interesting and informative time with the Mercedes-Benz E300de Estate, powered as it is by the only diesel-electric hybrid powertrain on the market. And that’s the first thing to say: diesel may not be po[CENSORED]r at present, largely due to its urban emissions, but here is a way out of that trap. The ideas behind a car you can use emissions-free and conscience-clear in town but that will also provide all the benefits of a modern, clean diesel on a long run are clear. I understand why it probably won’t catch on – diesel’s unfairly maligned reputation and the lack of interest in it outside of Europe – but on merit alone, it’s the best solution I’ve seen. As for the car, I was most interested in what I knew would be a reality gap between how it performed on paper and how it actually got on in the real world – and I don’t just mean its demonstrably nonsensical official fuel consumption and CO2 figures. There is, for instance, the price to consider: the E300de costs £9230 more than an otherwise-identical E220d powered by the same engine but without the hybrid apparatus. On the one hand, you might ponder how many thousands of miles you would need to drive to recoup that premium, but then for a company car, the taxation incentives might conversely prove exceedingly tempting. You might abhor the additional 345kg that it weighs over the E220d, or you may consider that its 302bhp more than makes up the difference over the 191bhp model. And in power-to-weight ratio terms, you would be absolutely correct. It’s the difference between a car that can reach 62mph in less than six seconds and one that needs rather more than seven. And that is significant. For me, however, there is a large conceptual component to the argument. Do you like the idea of the diesel hybrid? I very much do. For a start, what the numbers will never reveal is just how startlingly luxurious this Mercedes feels while wafting you around not only on velvety springs but also in almost complete silence. And for most people, most of the time, that will be most journeys. The E300de’s performance on electrons alone is better than adequate in all normal circumstances. I like, too, the fact that its projected electric-only range is always a mile or two fewer than it actually achieves, despite the fact that I do almost no town driving in it. The day-to-day downsides are both the size and, particularly, shape of the boot and the knowledge that on a long run, you’re carting four adults’ worth of additional mass that is, pun entirely intended, not pulling its weight.

The philosophy of Givers Gain® is about giving to other people first. Within this context, the giver cannot and should not expect an immediate return on their investment based on another’s gain. What they should focus on is that, given enough effort and time, their generosity will be returned by and through their network of contacts, friends and colleagues — many times over and in many different ways. I incorporated the philosophy of Givers Gain into BNI almost 35 years ago, because I saw that many networking groups were far too mercenary in their approach. They used networking as a face-to-face cold-calling opportunity. I believed then, and I know now, that networking is all about relationship-building, and that one of the best ways to build a relationship is to help others first. Through giving, you can gain in so many ways. I also recognize that there are takers in the world. There are people who either don’t understand the power of Givers Gain or who don’t really care or believe in the concept. I call these two categories of people “can’t do’s” and “won’t do’s.” The can’t do’s do not know how to do something or do not understand why it’s important to do something. For these people, I’ve learned that with the right coaching, they may become willing to make that transition. Then there are the people who are “won’t do’s.” They just want what serves them best and have no true intention of giving. It’s important to recognize them as soon as possible, because they will abuse the relationship, not nurture it. Life requires discernment. Sometimes, that is about evaluating the people in your network and whether they are willing to contribute to your relationship. Givers Gain does not mean you should be a “taker’s victim.” The world is full of givers and takers. Apply contextual insight and use appropriate judgment to give freely to the people who value the giving approach in life. Use discernment for the ones who do not. I know a man who gave a half a dozen referrals to someone in his networking group over 18 months, but the individual never reciprocated. The man came to me seeking advice. I coached him to do the following....

Back in early February, the U.S. Army predicted that 80,000 to 150,000 people could die as a result of the covid-19 outbreak, as evidenced by an unclassified briefing published by the Daily Beast this morning. That range now falls below the White House task force’s latest projection of 100,000 to 240,000 deaths, but the awareness of the potential toll contrasts President Trump’s lackadaisical approach to the crisis in the following days and weeks. In late February, he said that China’s coronavirus emergency was “going to go away,” and he has consistently downplayed the severity of the crisis by comparing covid-19 to the flu, and in early March, he told Sean Hannity that he had a “hunch” that the WHO’s estimate of a 3.4 percent mortality rate was “false,” and that most people would recover with mild symptoms. The Army categorized that outcome as a “black swan” event, a rare calamity, which the Daily Beast claims is “often understood as an unlikely one.” In their most dire scenario, 80,000 to 150,000 deaths would be the result if the medical community seriously underestimated the mortality rate. It correctly stated that the virus could be transmitted easily by asymptomatic individuals. The document predicted that up to 80 million Americans could be infected. Except, the Daily Beast points out, the Army doesn’t seem to have done much with its own forecast, even to safeguard itself, waiting until early March to obtain test kits. While the Army Corps of Engineers is now reportedly looking to convert 114 sites into makeshift hospitals, Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said earlier this month that the military lacks the staff, training, and equipment to do so. At that point, he and Joint Staff Surgeon Paul Friedrichs said that the Department of Defense had issued virtually no request for help in dealing with the outbreak. The case-fatality ratio of covid-19 is unclear, as scientists are factoring in asymptomatic or mild cases which go unreported. The World Health Organization’s Director General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus observed in March that 3.4 percent of people with reported cases have died — which many have interpreted to be the mortality rate — although researchers from the Imperial College of London recently estimated that the mortality rate could be as low as .66 percent when controlling for lower-risk younger people who are less likely to need hospitalization. Time will also be required to account for deaths that are related to the outbreak, such as people who die from a separate preventable cause because they were unable to get medical treatment at an overcrowded hospital. The Daily Beast confirms that the document was seen by high-ranking officials in the U.S. Northern Command and of the Department of the Army’s Pentagon offices. It is unclear whether the briefing made it to the White House Army officials have not responded to Gizmodo’s request to verify the authenticity of the document. The severity of the crisis seems to have dawned on the president at some point in the past week (precisely, in the intervening nine days since he stated that he’d like to see the United States “opened up” again by Easter). In an about-face on Sunday, he extended social distancing guidelines by 30 days. Two days ago, in a press conference where Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Deborah Birx put the latest minimum death toll at 100,000, Trump said that such measures are “a matter of life and death.” New projections come in, and he routinely ignores them. Namely, state officials’ predictions of severe ventilator shortages. Appearing to take the problem seriously last week, he accused GM of “wasting time” in producing the life-saving equipment (although the New York Times has reported that the federal government was completely uncommunicative about its needs while GM scrambled to convert its plants). Presently, he is lashing out on Twitter at the “complainers” who “are never satisfied” with medical equipment supplied by the federal government, saying that they “should have been stockpiled up and ready long before the crisis hit.” They probably should have known to get their own intelligence.

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