When will this shit end?

[zahidf]

 

[efcfanwirral]

2 minutes ago, zahidf said:

 

And the logical conclusion of that statement is thats what the government wants for some reason 

[fatyeti24]

1 hour ago, eFestivals said:

come and measure my belly.  

The perks of Gold Membership!

4 minutes ago, Ozanne said:

It should be a good one this week. 

I'll bet it follows the same path as has become the norm.  Johnson will be asked questions, which he won't answer because making things into an unwatchable shitshow is his only talent.

[stuie]

Robert Jenrick really is the most patronising, slippery, abhorrent little Tory boy toad isn’t he? I don’t believe a word that comes out of his entitled mouth and he makes me want to break my tv. 

[Quark]

3 minutes ago, efcfanwirral said:

And the logical conclusion of that statement is thats what the government wants for some reason 

Disagree.  It's not what they want; it's either seen as an acceptable cost for whatever they want to get out of it (as it's not a cost that directly affects them) or, as I suggested to Ozanne, THEY SIMPLY DON'T CARE.

I don't know if that's more or less evil tbh.

Edited October 21, 2020 by Quark

[efcfanwirral]

5 minutes ago, Quark said:

Disagree.  It's not what they want; it's either seen as an acceptable cost for whatever they want to get out of it (as it's not a cost that directly affects them) or, as I suggested to Ozanne, THEY SIMPLY DON'T CARE.

I don't know if that's more or less evil tbh.

I think the first option is what I was trying to get at - it's either an acceptable cost or a good distraction. Either Brexit or privatisation or both. If a vaccine comes in the spring, they have finite time to take advantage of a crisis not of their making before we move onto one that is of their own making 

That story about Cummings being obsessed with fines tells me what direction we're heading in as a country. That's terrifying. 

I even sometimes have doubts when typing these things out - I keep to matter of fact and not judgement or anger, as I genuinely believe that if they continue on this path then one day what we say online will be used against us. 

[Lycra]

Interesting piece in the Guardian from the Dept. Of Health former Director of Immunisation. Basically saying don't get your hopes up for a quick resolution.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/oct/21/covid-vaccine-immunisation-protection

Edited October 21, 2020 by Lycra

[st dan]

11 minutes ago, stuie said:

Robert Jenrick really is the most patronising, slippery, abhorrent little Tory boy toad isn’t he? I don’t believe a word that comes out of his entitled mouth and he makes me want to break my tv. 

Yep, he’s detestable. They all are. You can see why they had to make Boris PM, so he can charm people with his funny hair to get them in power. Any of the others wouldn’t have stood a chance if you gave them centre stage for long enough. 

[Quark]

1 minute ago, st dan said:

Yep, he’s detestable. They all are. You can see why they had to make Boris PM, so he can charm people with his funny hair to get them in power. Any of the others wouldn’t have stood a chance if you gave them centre stage for long enough. 

Regular bit popping up on Twitter is that the way to tell Hancock and Raab apart is that Hancock looks like he drained the company pension fund by mistake and Raab looks like he did it on purpose.

[Quark]

10 minutes ago, efcfanwirral said:

I think the first option is what I was trying to get at - it's either an acceptable cost or a good distraction. Either Brexit or privatisation or both. If a vaccine comes in the spring, they have finite time to take advantage of a crisis not of their making before we move onto one that is of their own making 

That story about Cummings being obsessed with fines tells me what direction we're heading in as a country. That's terrifying. 

I even sometimes have doubts when typing these things out - I keep to matter of fact and not judgement or anger, as I genuinely believe that if they continue on this path then one day what we say online will be used against us. 

I did find myself wondering last night whether this is gong to end up being Johnson's poll tax riots.

[Punksnotdead]

18 minutes ago, fatyeti24 said:

The perks of Gold Membership!

I'll bet it follows the same path as has become the norm.  Johnson will be asked questions, which he won't answer because making things into an unwatchable shitshow is his only talent.

Yep. And he'll blame Labour for everything bad that's ever happened. In other words: same old, same old!

[priest17]

26 minutes ago, Ozanne said:

It should be a good one this week. 

It's gonna be fucking well annoying this week. Keir Starmer will back the north who you'd argue are the moral victors (although no one won anything yesterday) but Johnson will feel like they won some shit game of chicken. I expect great questions and simple batting away answers without ever really getting under his skin too much.

[steviewevie]

Just now, priest17 said:

It's gonna be fucking well annoying this week. Keir Starmer will back the north who you'd argue are the moral victors (although no one won anything yesterday) but Johnson will feel like they won some shit game of chicken. I expect great questions and simple batting away answers without ever really getting under his skin too much.

I expect they will also argue about national circuit break lockdown versus the regional lockdown...but Johnson can now use what that JVT bloke said yesterday in his defense. So, then Starmer is left with financing the lockdowns, but then Johnson can say why should Manchester get more than other regions etc etc.

[priest17]

1 minute ago, steviewevie said:

I expect they will also argue about national circuit break lockdown versus the regional lockdown...but Johnson can now use what that JVT bloke said yesterday in his defense. So, then Starmer is left with financing the lockdowns, but then Johnson can say why should Manchester get more than other regions etc etc.

Yep 20 minutes of predictable, infuriating back and forth that's not worth watching. The most annoying thing about it is is that I will watch it all.

[MEGABOWL]

1 hour ago, Quark said:

Don't get me wrong I'm of the opinion that there are plenty of reasons why gyms should stay open, based on what seems to be the evidence for transmission of the virus when balanced against all the other benefits.  I'm loving being able to get back in once a week!

My point is just that it's a bit of stretch to imagine that closing gyms is going to suddenly reverse a non-existent trend toward defeating obesity in the UK and doom everyone to weak immune systems.

Gotcha. Yeah fair point.

[stuie]

Just now, priest17 said:

Yep 20 minutes of predictable, infuriating back and forth that's not worth watching. The most annoying thing about it is is that I will watch it all.

It’s the highlight of my WFH Wednesday! I actually get a bit excited about it.

Just hoping and waiting for a moment of glory, like when you watch a video of a kid landing a decent punch on a bully who picked on him. 

[Quark]

5 minutes ago, stuie said:

It’s the highlight of my WFH Wednesday! I actually get a bit excited about it.

Just hoping and waiting for a moment of glory, like when you watch a video of a kid landing a decent punch on a bully who picked on him. 

Trouble is that it's also the equivalent of the bully getting punched, but then they both get taken to the headteacher's office and they're both told to behave themselves in future with absolutely zero impact on the bully's behaviour.

[Zoo Music Girl]

1 hour ago, Mr.Tease said:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/20/failure-to-act-on-covid-circuit-breaker-will-cost-billions-labour

 

But the shadow chancellor, Anneliese Dodds, points to analysis, including by the International Monetary Fund, which suggests much of the economic hit from coronavirus comes from “voluntary distancing” – the changes in people’s behaviour when they believe the disease is rife.

The Labour push for a second nationwide intervention was further bolstered on Tuesday by a Bank of England policymaker who suggested Britain’s virus-stricken economy could benefit from tough controls to bring the disease under control.

Warning that there is no simple trade-off between health and the economy, Gertjan Vlieghe, a member of Threadneedle Street’s rate-setting monetary policy committee, said it was misleading to argue that Britain’s economy would function as normal if there were no government controls on business and social life.

Most of the economic damage has been caused by people voluntarily avoiding their usual activities because of the risk of catching coronavirus, he said, adding: “There is a region where measures to contain the virus actually help both public health and the economy.”

Highlighting a similar decline in consumer spending in Sweden and Denmark this year – despite fewer restrictions imposed by the Swedish government – he added: “Higher virus prevalence is associated with weaker economic performance. But tighter government restrictions do not appear to have a clear additional effect on the economy.

This is a really good point and one @DeanoL has been making consistently. I'm a good example of someone who is doing fine financially but still massively restricting my leisure activities due to the risk of the virus, both to myself and spreading it in general, but mainly because we have vulnerable people in our lives and the chance to see them potentially at some point is way more important to us than going to the pub or a restaurant. We could do that, but we're not. So I wonder how many people like me are not doing the things they are technically allowed to, which sadly affects the economy, because the virus is not under control. 

[st dan]

6 minutes ago, stuie said:

It’s the highlight of my WFH Wednesday! I actually get a bit excited about it.

Just hoping and waiting for a moment of glory, like when you watch a video of a kid landing a decent punch on a bully who picked on him. 

Except rather than going down, this bully stands there and takes all the punches, but remains unaffected by them then just goes about his day as is nothing has happened! 

[morph100]

Does this new breathalyser Covid test that gives results in a minute help us?

https://news.nus.edu.sg/research/60-second-breath-test-detect-covid-19

or will it be too expensive or not available in time?

[stuie]

2 minutes ago, Quark said:

Trouble is that it's also the equivalent of the bully getting punched, but then they both get taken to the headteacher's office and they're both told to behave themselves in future with absolutely zero impact on the bully's behaviour.

2 minutes ago, st dan said:

Except rather than going down, this bully stands there and takes all the punches, but remains unaffected by them then just goes about his day as is nothing has happened! 

Every bully gets his comeuppance one day! 

[FestivalJamie]

So can someone actually tell me how tier 3 is different to tier 2 apart from closing bars which don’t sell food? (Given pubs which serve “a pasty and chips” can stay open).

Yesterday we had 241 deaths, deaths are now climbing by about 100 each week. That means at this current rate in 10 weeks with no national circuit breaker we will reach 1000 deaths a day. Meaning on Christmas Day we could see a really nasty death toll. 

I am still in complete doubt these tiers are doing anything to reduce the numbers, they are harming the economy but not getting infection rates down. We need proper closures of hospitality accompanied by proper support, universities need to move fully online (and send students home from halls after a 2 week quarantine) and secondary schools need to reduce bubble size and move to a blended learning approach. 

The current state we are in is very dangerous. Tier 2 and tier 3 have done nothing so far to reduce the infections, the r is still noticeably above 1. Moving more areas into tier 3 in my opinion will have no effect either, as just closing bars will not stop this virus circulating. We need firmer restrictions, potentially in the form of a circuit breaker. I would personally opt for national rather than regional as it prevents people going to socialise and go out in different cities if things in theirs are closed.

[efcfanwirral]

10 minutes ago, Zoo Music Girl said:

This is a really good point and one @DeanoL has been making consistently. I'm a good example of someone who is doing fine financially but still massively restricting my leisure activities due to the risk of the virus, both to myself and spreading it in general, but mainly because we have vulnerable people in our lives and the chance to see them potentially at some point is way more important to us than going to the pub or a restaurant. We could do that, but we're not. So I wonder how many people like me are not doing the things they are technically allowed to, which sadly affects the economy, because the virus is not under control. 

I'm in exactly the same boat - me and my girlfriend live in a town where none of our friends are, and in normal times are more than happy to go out in here or the next town for a couple of drinks in various places and end with an (amazing) meal at a music bar. Usually just the two of us so technically we can still do this.

But we don't now the weather has turned. Our cut off was inside/outside once it became clear spread had slowed hugely over the summer. We were a bit uncomfortable with the lack of masks inside when you go to order at the bar (and that itself wasn't great) but we figured you weren't spending long in there anyway. 

But our contribution to the economy is now basically supermarket and online orders. We do nothing at all else. Gigs and holidays, plus travelling to see friends in different areas, were our main activities.

 

Edited October 21, 2020 by efcfanwirral

[st dan]

10 mins in and Boris is actually winning this one so far I think ....

[Quark]

4 minutes ago, stuie said:

Every bully gets his comeuppance one day! 

Wish I had your optimism.  Hollywood would tell us that they do, but real life's horribly different.

Johnson will eventually get booted out or discarded, but he won't go to jail, he won't lose his fortune, and he won't be left jobless.  The public perception of him will be wrecked but, and this is the key thing again, he won't give a shit.