Berlin, Germany - Corona Virus Protests

Demonstrators held flags from:  Germany, Russia, the Netherlands, the German Empire, and Bavaria

SATURDAY, AUGUST 29, 2020

Thousands of people have marched through the German capital Berlin in protest at coronavirus restrictions.

Police imposed mandatory mask-wearing and social distancing - and by midday ordered demonstrators to disperse for flouting the order.

The rally was mostly peaceful, but police later made "numerous arrests".

City authorities had tried to stop the march from going ahead, fearing safety measures would be ignored, but a court overturned the ban.

About 18,000 people took part in Saturday's march, police said.

Although Germany has so far not seen the wave of cases affecting some parts of Europe, its infection rate has been growing. New case numbers are reaching highs last seen in April.

Police issued their order to disperse after participants refused to keep a safe distance from each other, the authorities said.

"Unfortunately, we have no other option," Berlin police said on Twitter. "All the measures taken so far have not led to compliance with the conditions."

Protesters were closely packed in places, and sat together on the ground at one point.

Police said protesters dispersed largely peacefully although there were some pockets of unrest, with officers using pepper spray.

The demonstration was organised by the Stuttgart-based movement Querdenken 711 (or Lateral Thinking 711). The group has more than 16,000 followers on Facebook and communicates largely through encrypted messaging service Telegram.

It believes that coronavirus regulations infringe on basic rights and freedoms enshrined in Germany's constitution and wants them to be lifted.

East TN Humidity

As we approach the Labor Day Weekend and the unofficial official end of summer, humidity levels in East TN force many people inside as one can easily feel the moisture in the air without it raining and either you are in a pool of water or sitting in front of a fan, you are still miserable.  Labor Day Weekends are typically filled with family activities that revolve around cooking outside on a grill and I wonder if that past time will still be observed this year with our unfriendly Corona Virus Pandemic.

People who do not wear a face mask, do not wash their hands, and do not social distance do have that right and the rest of us should support their right to die.  However, most of these people will not die, they will simply pass the virus along to others who may not be that fortunate.

As far as our humidity is concerned here in East TN, it has been in the upper 80's with only slight evening rain while we sleep and in the afternoon of the second or third day like this, when I went to mow the lawn in the afternoon, the grass was still wet close to the ground because of the humidity.  While mowing my acre lot which is not that much land, I had to stop and clean the riding lawn mower out twice...  and no, I was not mowing it on a low setting...  and yes, I had the flap pulled up with a cord.

This morning, I decided to sit out on the porch for an hour or two and while the temperature is not that high, the air is still, full of moisture, and the longer I sit out here the harder it becomes for me to breathe believe it or not.  I have a little fan on the table beside my table and chair and when I turn it on, it mitigates the humidity and I am relative comfortable but now cooler than I was before since I am sitting out here in just my cotton boxers.

The sky is composed of about 4-5 different shades of gray from the light to the not so light but not threatening dark either...  at least not yet anyway as they are calling for thunder showers today.