When will this shit end?

[steviewevie]

Well, if Farage is going anti-lockdown I'll have to vote for the lockdown party.

[xxialac]

14 minutes ago, efcfanwirral said:

Farage is involved in politics more than the rest of us, he could know more than we do about how long this will go on for I.e. knows that they wont lift restrictions til there's a 100% neutralising vaccine? So much has been put out there recently alluding to this but we ignore it or ridicule it because we don't want to believe it. Completely natural but still 

Huh? You're saying that lockdown could go on for a further 4 years? You're out of your tree...

Edited November 1, 2020 by xxialac

[efcfanwirral]

2 minutes ago, xxialac said:

Huh? You're saying that lockdown could go on for a further 4 years? You're out of your tree...

Not necessarily 4 years but I'd be surprised if its lifted next summer. And from the last few years I wouldn't be surprised if there's a general election before Farage's lot is obsolete due to no more lockdowns

[DeanoL]

The school closure thing seems crazy. Everyone seemed to know that another lockdown was inevitable. Never heard a single person say “hey, maybe we should keep schools open over half term to give us a week to play with.”

The government currently saying things will be loads better by summer. So how about close schools now and make the summer holiday 2 weeks instead of 6?

Yes, there are lots of practical issues with that sort of thing but it is workable. It’s not a binary choice between kids losing schooling and kids spreading Covid.

but no one wants to do anything actually radical to change it.

[xxialac]

1 minute ago, efcfanwirral said:

Not necessarily 4 years but I'd be surprised if its lifted next summer. And from the last few years I wouldn't be surprised if there's a general election before Farage's lot is obsolete due to no more lockdowns

Firstly, of course it will be lifted by next Summer (well before actually). Have you not seen the scientific modelling? All the different groups predict it will be easing by March - and even shutting down that long would knacker the economy.

And why would there be a general election when the Tories have a vast majority they don't want to relinquish?

[Fuzzy Afro]

3 minutes ago, DeanoL said:

The school closure thing seems crazy. Everyone seemed to know that another lockdown was inevitable. Never heard a single person say “hey, maybe we should keep schools open over half term to give us a week to play with.”

The government currently saying things will be loads better by summer. So how about close schools now and make the summer holiday 2 weeks instead of 6?

Yes, there are lots of practical issues with that sort of thing but it is workable. It’s not a binary choice between kids losing schooling and kids spreading Covid.

but no one wants to do anything actually radical to change it.

Teachers would go ballistic if this happened 

[Ozanne]

3 minutes ago, DeanoL said:

The school closure thing seems crazy. Everyone seemed to know that another lockdown was inevitable. Never heard a single person say “hey, maybe we should keep schools open over half term to give us a week to play with.”

The government currently saying things will be loads better by summer. So how about close schools now and make the summer holiday 2 weeks instead of 6?

Yes, there are lots of practical issues with that sort of thing but it is workable. It’s not a binary choice between kids losing schooling and kids spreading Covid.

but no one wants to do anything actually radical to change it.

Starmer addressed this on Marr. He said do it over half term and ask schools to have inset days either side and you have schools closed for 12 days. 

[efcfanwirral]

3 minutes ago, xxialac said:

Firstly, of course it will be lifted by next Summer (well before actually). Have you not seen the scientific modelling? All the different groups predict it will be easing by March - and even shutting down that long would knacker the economy.

And why would there be a general election when the Tories have a vast majority they don't want to relinquish?

I mean more it'll be lifted for summer then reintroduced in cycles - I don't see a not fully effective vaccine being the end of it all. 

I thought the same til I saw the talk of all the infighting this week - they sound like they're in a right mess and after they get the all important no deal over the line I could see them falling apart a bit. From there who knows what could happen  

[zahidf]

1 minute ago, efcfanwirral said:

I mean more it'll be lifted for summer then reintroduced in cycles - I don't see a not fully effective vaccine being the end of it all. 

I thought the same til I saw the talk of all the infighting this week - they sound like they're in a right mess and after they get the all important no deal over the line I could see them falling apart a bit. From there who knows what could happen  

The flu vaccine isn't 100%. If there is a civid vaccine as good as that, it'll be enough for everyone to just ignore the issue going forward 

[DeanoL]

Just now, Ozanne said:

Starmer addressed this on Marr. He said do it over half term and ask schools to have inset days either side and you have schools closed for 12 days. 

Oh yeah doing the lockdown at half term would be the best option but knowing Spaffer wouldn’t do that, saving half term up in case anything was needed in future seems prudent. Let’s dump the whole timetable for this school year and just close schools when it’s best for managing the virus, not during pre-ordained half terms.

Would teachers hate it? Sure, but they’re no worse off than loads of other people badly impacted by the epidemic. “Teacher holiday planning” is not top of my list of important things to maintain during a virus outbreak.

(And before someone asks, yes, I’d take that same approach for my own job if it made that job secure. )

[Leyrulion]

7 minutes ago, zahidf said:

The flu vaccine isn't 100%. If there is a civid vaccine as good as that, it'll be enough for everyone to just ignore the issue going forward 

We hope. 

If the vaccine isn't 100% but the strain on hospitals and associated healthcare is low then I agree. 

But this is more deadly then flu and there's a chance the vaccine could be as, if not better, then the one for flu but still lead to an intolerable strain on healthcare until the 2nd generation of vaccines come out. 

Right now we don't know how effective the vaccines will be 50%, 75%, 100%??

[dotdash79]

11 minutes ago, DeanoL said:

Oh yeah doing the lockdown at half term would be the best option but knowing Spaffer wouldn’t do that, saving half term up in case anything was needed in future seems prudent. Let’s dump the whole timetable for this school year and just close schools when it’s best for managing the virus, not during pre-ordained half terms.

Would teachers hate it? Sure, but they’re no worse off than loads of other people badly impacted by the epidemic. “Teacher holiday planning” is not top of my list of important things to maintain during a virus outbreak.

(And before someone asks, yes, I’d take that same approach for my own job if it made that job secure. )

It’s not just teachers holiday planning, parents plan so they can take leave, companies know if they are coming or going

[Mark E. Spliff]

4 hours ago, Fuzzy Afro said:

Have a Charles  

Have a Charles  

Have a Helen  

I guess someone who spends dawn til dusk obsessively posting links on a forum was always going to attract a special friend, but it looks like @steviewevie's hit the jackpot here.  I'd keep a little distance though stevie: the last guy on here who used the voting system as a proxy for debate turned out to be that embarrassing friend you wouldn't want to be seen dead with.

[DeanoL]

18 minutes ago, dotdash79 said:

It’s not just teachers holiday planning, parents plan so they can take leave, companies know if they are coming or going

It wouldn’t be easy. But everyone seems to agree the most important thing right now is education. And the second most important thing is keeping the infection rate down. 

We can do both. It’s not easy, but it feels worthwhile to me? And if it’s not we all need to acknowledge that actually we think “having an easier life” is more important than one of those two.

[Ozanne]

 

[shoptildrop]

Jesus no one was safe

BBC News - Prince William 'contracted Covid-19 in April'
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-54774942

Edited November 1, 2020 by shoptildrop

[Ryan1984]

Has there been a swing towards Trump over night? Lots of US residents are despondent on my Twitter feed.

[Ozanne]

6 minutes ago, Ryan1984 said:

Has there been a swing towards Trump over night? Lots of US residents are despondent on my Twitter feed.

Not really, Biden is still up 8.5 points on average in the polls. 

[steviewevie]

My Trump to win bet not looking so silly now?!

[steviewevie]

8 hours ago, Mark E. Spliff said:

I guess someone who spends dawn til dusk obsessively posting links on a forum was always going to attract a special friend, but it looks like @steviewevie's hit the jackpot here.  I'd keep a little distance though stevie: the last guy on here who used the voting system as a proxy for debate turned out to be that embarrassing friend you wouldn't want to be seen dead with.

jealous much?

[SwedgeAntilles]

To cut through the noise

 

Extended read here - https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/im-here-to-remind-you-that-trump-can-still-win/

tl;dr - nothing has really changed in the last 48 hours, Trump can definitely still win via the EC but the polls need to be more wrong than they were in 2016. 

[squirrelarmy]

32 minutes ago, Ryan1984 said:

Has there been a swing towards Trump over night? Lots of US residents are despondent on my Twitter feed.

Trump was suggesting he was going to Fire Fauci. He’s also going to declare himself the winner before all the votes are counted if a couple of early reporting states go his way. 
 

The man is delusional. 

[Reckoner]

43 minutes ago, Ryan1984 said:

Has there been a swing towards Trump over night? Lots of US residents are despondent on my Twitter feed.

There has been one bad poll in Iowa, which Biden was ahead in most polls, but doesn't necessarily need to win that has gone Trump +7. It also could have been from Trump claiming that he'll claim victory on the night of the election before postal and pre-polls have all been counted.

All in all they still look good though. A slight tightening, but Biden is still ahead where he needs to be, competitive in Georgia, texas etc. You'd still rather be where he is although Trump still has a pathway.

edit: Actually, read the 538 link that @SwedgeAntilleshas posted. That sums it up well.

Edited November 2, 2020 by Gregfc15
ammended

[Ryan1984]

The Beeb are dragging Captain Tom out again today... Can the man not have a rest?

[FloorFiller]

Whether Trump wins or loses, America is gonna be a pretty awful place to be over the coming weeks/months. He’s ramped his supporters up to start a near civil war in either instance, but especially in the (fingers crossed) likely scenario that he loses. The time between the final election result and him hopefully leaving office is gonna be mayhem, and he’s gonna attempt to burn the country down before he’s forced out.