Within the UK, the ranking of: • England did not change, remaining a little above mid-table (i.e second quartile); • Scotland fell into the third quartile of countries, due to a decline in its education and income performances, the latter associated with the decline in North Sea related activity. Despite this, Scotland’s very poor life expectancy performance remains its weakest area of performance; • Wales and Northern Ireland both fell into the bottom quartile of countries, principally due to poor GDP performances. - The relatively poor Scottish performance, in terms of education and health, suggests that changes may be needed to the, still young, devolved political system. Such changes should involve strengthening the challenge and scrutiny roles both within and out-with the Parliament. - Looking across the UK as a whole, the results highlight the fact that greater political devolution alone does not easily lead to an improving performance in key areas of well- being. In fact, unless proper supporting bodies are also cultivated, it can lead to a weakening in some important aspects of policy development.
Scotland's areas of decline within its control are both fully devolved - Education and Health. I'm not sure Westminster can be blamed for the price of oil....
You really are a nasty bit of work.
Nat allergic to facts! Who knew?
And it was posted in response to a question from UD.....
I do hope we have a post on the possible global impact of Coronavirus. I went to a local authority planning session today for possible pandemic..its not Brexit we have to worry about I can assure you. you
Indeed
Purely selfishly, as someone currently suffering from a cold, sore throat, lost voice and a tight chest - and with lungs that are sub-optimal - I'd prefer not to read about respiratory viruses, snake-induced or otherwise.
Fortunately since Xmas I’ve been holed up in a remote corner of Cumbria (with only a 2-day visit to London at NY to expose me to danger) so I’m hoping that it’s just the usual winter bug and I will see my next birthday in 2 weeks time.
Hope you feel better soon. Have you tried apple cider vinegar? They sell the organic stuff in COOP now. I use it to make salad dressing. Delicious.
No. To drink or just for salad dressing? There is a Coop nearby so will get.
Gargling with vinegar or salt is what my Mum used to get me to do for sore throats.
I watched the film Contagion (2011) again last night. The problem with it is that's like watching a documentary i.e. entirely plausible in almost every regard and eerily close to the opening sequences of the Coronavirus. The first half hour of the film is pretty gripping.
It doesn't need to be said, I guess, but we're standing quite close to a precipice.
That was the first thing I thought about when the seriousness of the story first broke, and I couldn't understand why everyone wasn't equally worried about it.
I do hope we have a post on the possible global impact of Coronavirus. I went to a local authority planning session today for possible pandemic..its not Brexit we have to worry about I can assure you. you
Indeed
Purely selfishly, as someone currently suffering from a cold, sore throat, lost voice and a tight chest - and with lungs that are sub-optimal - I'd prefer not to read about respiratory viruses, snake-induced or otherwise.
Fortunately since Xmas I’ve been holed up in a remote corner of Cumbria (with only a 2-day visit to London at NY to expose me to danger) so I’m hoping that it’s just the usual winter bug and I will see my next birthday in 2 weeks time.
Blimey, Cyclefree, that is crazy. I hope they find the right thing to treat it with soon.
Benylin, Strepsils and Nurofen. Plus wrapping up warm, lots of sleep and some nice Scotch broth. It took me a month to get over the very strong antibiotics I was on before.
It’s doing wonders for my reading mind. Halfway through Max Hastings’ book on the Vietnam War. And there are some fantastic radio programmes to catch up on too.
Be careful, my wife was similar and is still in hospital unwell after a month. We thought it was just a virus but ended up very serious pneumonia which they are still trying to control. PS: Not trying to alarm you.
Sorry to hear that - I hope its soon under control.
I do hope we have a post on the possible global impact of Coronavirus. I went to a local authority planning session today for possible pandemic..its not Brexit we have to worry about I can assure you. you
Indeed
Purely selfishly, as someone currently suffering from a cold, sore throat, lost voice and a tight chest - and with lungs that are sub-optimal - I'd prefer not to read about respiratory viruses, snake-induced or otherwise.
Fortunately since Xmas I’ve been holed up in a remote corner of Cumbria (with only a 2-day visit to London at NY to expose me to danger) so I’m hoping that it’s just the usual winter bug and I will see my next birthday in 2 weeks time.
Blimey, Cyclefree, that is crazy. I hope they find the right thing to treat it with soon.
Benylin, Strepsils and Nurofen. Plus wrapping up warm, lots of sleep and some nice Scotch broth. It took me a month to get over the very strong antibiotics I was on before.
It’s doing wonders for my reading mind. Halfway through Max Hastings’ book on the Vietnam War. And there are some fantastic radio programmes to catch up on too.
Be careful, my wife was similar and is still in hospital unwell after a month. We thought it was just a virus but ended up very serious pneumonia which they are still trying to control. PS: Not trying to alarm you.
Sorry to hear that Malc, and surprised as the last bulletin was she was improving. Best wishes to the both of you. Hope you are at least recovered from your own illness.
I do hope we have a post on the possible global impact of Coronavirus. I went to a local authority planning session today for possible pandemic..its not Brexit we have to worry about I can assure you. you
Indeed
Purely selfishly, as someone currently suffering from a cold, sore throat, lost voice and a tight chest - and with lungs that are sub-optimal - I'd prefer not to read about respiratory viruses, snake-induced or otherwise.
Fortunately since Xmas I’ve been holed up in a remote corner of Cumbria (with only a 2-day visit to London at NY to expose me to danger) so I’m hoping that it’s just the usual winter bug and I will see my next birthday in 2 weeks time.
Blimey, Cyclefree, that is crazy. I hope they find the right thing to treat it with soon.
Benylin, Strepsils and Nurofen. Plus wrapping up warm, lots of sleep and some nice Scotch broth. It took me a month to get over the very strong antibiotics I was on before.
It’s doing wonders for my reading mind. Halfway through Max Hastings’ book on the Vietnam War. And there are some fantastic radio programmes to catch up on too.
Be careful, my wife was similar and is still in hospital unwell after a month. We thought it was just a virus but ended up very serious pneumonia which they are still trying to control. PS: Not trying to alarm you.
Aargh. I hope not - I’ve had the anti-pneumonia injection as I used to get pneumonia regularly - and any more damage for my lungs is pretty sub-optimal.
I’m sorry to hear your wife is still not well. I really hope she gets better soon. Best wishes to you both.
Within the UK, the ranking of: • England did not change, remaining a little above mid-table (i.e second quartile); • Scotland fell into the third quartile of countries, due to a decline in its education and income performances, the latter associated with the decline in North Sea related activity. Despite this, Scotland’s very poor life expectancy performance remains its weakest area of performance; • Wales and Northern Ireland both fell into the bottom quartile of countries, principally due to poor GDP performances. - The relatively poor Scottish performance, in terms of education and health, suggests that changes may be needed to the, still young, devolved political system. Such changes should involve strengthening the challenge and scrutiny roles both within and out-with the Parliament. - Looking across the UK as a whole, the results highlight the fact that greater political devolution alone does not easily lead to an improving performance in key areas of well- being. In fact, unless proper supporting bodies are also cultivated, it can lead to a weakening in some important aspects of policy development.
Golly, the Union doesn't seem to be working very well for 3/4 of its members.
Once again Carlotta using fake news: This so-called “index of well-being” is not an official publication but is the work of a self-employed and self-styled “political economist” called John McLaren. McLaren was special adviser to both Donald Dewar and Henry McLeish and is a staunch Unionist. McLaren removed Chile, Israel, Ireland, Latvia, Luxembourg, Mexico and Turkey from his study. As a result of this manipulation, he claims Scotland has dropped into the “bottom half of OECD nations”, but deliberately excluded the lowest-scoring OECD nations to achieve this result. https://www.thenational.scot/news/18186244.fact-check-claim-scotland-slid-global-wellbeing-rankings/
I watched the film Contagion (2011) again last night. The problem with it is that's like watching a documentary i.e. entirely plausible in almost every regard and eerily close to the opening sequences of the Coronavirus. The first half hour of the film is pretty gripping.
It doesn't need to be said, I guess, but we're standing quite close to a precipice.
That was the first thing I thought about when the seriousness of the story first broke, and I couldn't understand why everyone wasn't equally worried about it.
The media always like to sensationalise though, don't they? It makes people think that you're just crying wolf. Because of that, I'm not concerned.
I do hope we have a post on the possible global impact of Coronavirus. I went to a local authority planning session today for possible pandemic..its not Brexit we have to worry about I can assure you. you
Tens of thousands infected 81 dead, nearly all old or with breathing difficulties. Suggests to me very low mortality, very low risk. Disruptive certainly but pandemic probably not. Unless it mutates of course.
I got the feeling that the government dont believe the low figures coming out of China...there is a sense of a much bigger problem than is being reported
I suspect the numbers we are getting are at least a week old. Not wrong as such, just not current.....
Chatting to a co-worker from Shanghai today at lunch (she says her friends and family back home are all staying in as much as possible) and she was of course the Chinese government can't be relied on to be telling the truth. However, she did say that if the CCP are still claiming everything's under control at the end of next week, they probably will be on top of it, given the incubation period. By then it will either be out-of-control beyond denial or actually under control.
Have you read Nick Turse’s Kill Anything That Moves ?
Is it any good?
Yes. He’s a journalist as well as a historian, and it’s written with something of a polemical slant, but it gives a perspective (and original research) on the ground war not really available elsewhere. Not an easy read.
Within the UK, the ranking of: • England did not change, remaining a little above mid-table (i.e second quartile); • Scotland fell into the third quartile of countries, due to a decline in its education and income performances, the latter associated with the decline in North Sea related activity. Despite this, Scotland’s very poor life expectancy performance remains its weakest area of performance; • W - Looking across the UK as a whole, the results highlight the fact that greater political devolution alone does not easily lead to an improving performance in key areas of well- being. In fact, unless proper supporting bodies are also cultivated, it can lead to a weakening in some important aspects of policy development.
Scotland's areas of decline within its control are both fully devolved - Education and Health. I'm not sure Westminster can be blamed for the price of oil....
You really are a nasty bit of work.
Nat allergic to facts! Who knew?
And it was posted in response to a question from UD.....
Once again Carlotta using fake news: This so-called “index of well-being” is not an official publication but is the work of a self-employed and self-styled “political economist” called John McLaren. McLaren was special adviser to both Donald Dewar and Henry McLeish and is a staunch Unionist. McLaren removed Chile, Israel, Ireland, Latvia, Luxembourg, Mexico and Turkey from his study. As a result of this manipulation, he claims Scotland has dropped into the “bottom half of OECD nations”, but deliberately excluded the lowest-scoring OECD nations to achieve this result. https://www.thenational.scot/news/18186244.fact-check-claim-scotland-slid-global-wellbeing-rankings/
I watched the film Contagion (2011) again last night. The problem with it is that's like watching a documentary i.e. entirely plausible in almost every regard and eerily close to the opening sequences of the Coronavirus. The first half hour of the film is pretty gripping.
It doesn't need to be said, I guess, but we're standing quite close to a precipice.
That was the first thing I thought about when the seriousness of the story first broke, and I couldn't understand why everyone wasn't equally worried about it.
So...does anybody remember the 1970s BBCTV series "Survivors"? Brilliant title sequence. Or "World War Z"? Any discussion of the global pandemic genre has to include those two. It's like talking about global thermonuclear war without mentioning "Threads"
I watched the film Contagion (2011) again last night. The problem with it is that's like watching a documentary i.e. entirely plausible in almost every regard and eerily close to the opening sequences of the Coronavirus. The first half hour of the film is pretty gripping.
It doesn't need to be said, I guess, but we're standing quite close to a precipice.
That was the first thing I thought about when the seriousness of the story first broke, and I couldn't understand why everyone wasn't equally worried about it.
Part of the problem is we've had a bunch of these stories in the past couple decades, and they all (luckily) turned out to be not all that harmful. Which of course makes it harder to convince people that eventually it actually will be serious.
See also: hurrican evacuation warnings prior to Katrina and Sandy.
I do hope we have a post on the possible global impact of Coronavirus. I went to a local authority planning session today for possible pandemic..its not Brexit we have to worry about I can assure you. you
Indeed
Purely selfishly, as someone currently suffering from a cold, sore throat, lost voice and a tight chest - and with lungs that are sub-optimal - I'd prefer not to read about respiratory viruses, snake-induced or otherwise.
Fortunately since Xmas I’ve been holed up in a remote corner of Cumbria (with only a 2-day visit to London at NY to expose me to danger) so I’m hoping that it’s just the usual winter bug and I will see my next birthday in 2 weeks time.
Blimey, Cyclefree, that is crazy. I hope they find the right thing to treat it with soon.
Benylin, Strepsils and Nurofen. Plus wrapping up warm, lots of sleep and some nice Scotch broth. It took me a month to get over the very strong antibiotics I was on before.
It’s doing wonders for my reading mind. Halfway through Max Hastings’ book on the Vietnam War. And there are some fantastic radio programmes to catch up on too.
Be careful, my wife was similar and is still in hospital unwell after a month. We thought it was just a virus but ended up very serious pneumonia which they are still trying to control. PS: Not trying to alarm you.
Sorry to hear that Malc, and surprised as the last bulletin was she was improving. Best wishes to the both of you. Hope you are at least recovered from your own illness.
ydoethur , thanks , I am well recovered. She was just about to get out when she got "Hospital aquired pneumonia" on top which caused the setback and whilst she is relatively much better she is still unwell and it seems to be taking them a long time to work through what to do.
I do hope we have a post on the possible global impact of Coronavirus. I went to a local authority planning session today for possible pandemic..its not Brexit we have to worry about I can assure you. you
Indeed
Purely selfishly, as someone currently suffering from a cold, sore throat, lost voice and a tight chest - and with lungs that are sub-optimal - I'd prefer not to read about respiratory viruses, snake-induced or otherwise.
Fortunately since Xmas I’ve been holed up in a remote corner of Cumbria (with only a 2-day visit to London at NY to expose me to danger) so I’m hoping that it’s just the usual winter bug and I will see my next birthday in 2 weeks time.
Blimey, Cyclefree, that is crazy. I hope they find the right thing to treat it with soon.
Benylin, Strepsils and Nurofen. Plus wrapping up warm, lots of sleep and some nice Scotch broth. It took me a month to get over the very strong antibiotics I was on before.
It’s doing wonders for my reading mind. Halfway through Max Hastings’ book on the Vietnam War. And there are some fantastic radio programmes to catch up on too.
Be careful, my wife was similar and is still in hospital unwell after a month. We thought it was just a virus but ended up very serious pneumonia which they are still trying to control. PS: Not trying to alarm you.
Aargh. I hope not - I’ve had the anti-pneumonia injection as I used to get pneumonia regularly - and any more damage for my lungs is pretty sub-optimal.
I’m sorry to hear your wife is still not well. I really hope she gets better soon. Best wishes to you both.
I do hope we have a post on the possible global impact of Coronavirus. I went to a local authority planning session today for possible pandemic..its not Brexit we have to worry about I can assure you. you
Indeed
Purely selfishly, as someone currently suffering from a cold, sore throat, lost voice and a tight chest - and with lungs that are sub-optimal - I'd prefer not to read about respiratory viruses, snake-induced or otherwise.
Fortunately since Xmas I’ve been holed up in a remote corner of Cumbria (with only a 2-day visit to London at NY to expose me to danger) so I’m hoping that it’s just the usual winter bug and I will see my next birthday in 2 weeks time.
Blimey, Cyclefree, that is crazy. I hope they find the right thing to treat it with soon.
Benylin, Strepsils and Nurofen. Plus wrapping up warm, lots of sleep and some nice Scotch broth. It took me a month to get over the very strong antibiotics I was on before.
It’s doing wonders for my reading mind. Halfway through Max Hastings’ book on the Vietnam War. And there are some fantastic radio programmes to catch up on too.
Be careful, my wife was similar and is still in hospital unwell after a month. We thought it was just a virus but ended up very serious pneumonia which they are still trying to control. PS: Not trying to alarm you.
Sorry to hear that Malc, and surprised as the last bulletin was she was improving. Best wishes to the both of you. Hope you are at least recovered from your own illness.
ydoethur , thanks , I am well recovered. She was just about to get out when she got "Hospital aquired pneumonia" on top which caused the setback and whilst she is relatively much better she is still unwell and it seems to be taking them a long time to work through what to do.
Man, that’s frustrating. Fingers crossed they get it right soon.
I watched the film Contagion (2011) again last night. The problem with it is that's like watching a documentary i.e. entirely plausible in almost every regard and eerily close to the opening sequences of the Coronavirus. The first half hour of the film is pretty gripping.
It doesn't need to be said, I guess, but we're standing quite close to a precipice.
That was the first thing I thought about when the seriousness of the story first broke, and I couldn't understand why everyone wasn't equally worried about it.
The media always like to sensationalise though, don't they? It makes people think that you're just crying wolf. Because of that, I'm not concerned.
Scotland's areas of decline within its control are both fully devolved - Education and Health. I'm not sure Westminster can be blamed for the price of oil....
You really are a nasty bit of work.
Nat allergic to facts! Who knew?
And it was posted in response to a question from UD.....
Once again Carlotta using fake news: This so-called “index of well-being” is not an official publication but is the work of a self-employed and self-styled “political economist” called John McLaren. McLaren was special adviser to both Donald Dewar and Henry McLeish and is a staunch Unionist. McLaren removed Chile, Israel, Ireland, Latvia, Luxembourg, Mexico and Turkey from his study. As a result of this manipulation, he claims Scotland has dropped into the “bottom half of OECD nations”, but deliberately excluded the lowest-scoring OECD nations to achieve this result. https://www.thenational.scot/news/18186244.fact-check-claim-scotland-slid-global-wellbeing-rankings/
The Nat Onal as "Fact Checker" - it's the way you tell'em!
Tell me, which of the "Facts" that comprise the index do you dispute?
I do hope we have a post on the possible global impact of Coronavirus. I went to a local authority planning session today for possible pandemic..its not Brexit we have to worry about I can assure you. you
Tens of thousands infected 81 dead, nearly all old or with breathing difficulties. Suggests to me very low mortality, very low risk. Disruptive certainly but pandemic probably not. Unless it mutates of course.
I got the feeling that the government dont believe the low figures coming out of China...there is a sense of a much bigger problem than is being reported
I suspect the numbers we are getting are at least a week old. Not wrong as such, just not current.....
Chatting to a co-worker from Shanghai today at lunch (she says her friends and family back home are all staying in as much as possible) and she was of course the Chinese government can't be relied on to be telling the truth. However, she did say that if the CCP are still claiming everything's under control at the end of next week, they probably will be on top of it, given the incubation period. By then it will either be out-of-control beyond denial or actually under control.
Hopefully it will be Chinese New Year rather than Chinese Flu Year.
Scotland's areas of decline within its control are both fully devolved - Education and Health. I'm not sure Westminster can be blamed for the price of oil....
You really are a nasty bit of work.
Nat allergic to facts! Who knew?
And it was posted in response to a question from UD.....
Once again Carlotta using fake news: This so-called “index of well-being” is not an official publication but is the work of a self-employed and self-styled “political economist” called John McLaren. McLaren was special adviser to both Donald Dewar and Henry McLeish and is a staunch Unionist. McLaren removed Chile, Israel, Ireland, Latvia, Luxembourg, Mexico and Turkey from his study. As a result of this manipulation, he claims Scotland has dropped into the “bottom half of OECD nations”, but deliberately excluded the lowest-scoring OECD nations to achieve this result. https://www.thenational.scot/news/18186244.fact-check-claim-scotland-slid-global-wellbeing-rankings/
The Nat Onal as "Fact Checker" - it's the way you tell'em!
Tell me, which of the "Facts" that comprise the index do you dispute?
I believe you can read the article , it clearly shows how crap it is , using only 4 factors, omitting lots of the bottom end countries , etc etc. Pure unionist garbage and totally at odds with other real wellbeing surveys done using real methods.
I do hope we have a post on the possible global impact of Coronavirus. I went to a local authority planning session today for possible pandemic..its not Brexit we have to worry about I can assure you. you
Indeed
Purely selfishly, as someone currently suffering from a cold, sore throat, lost voice and a tight chest - and with lungs that are sub-optimal - I'd prefer not to read about respiratory viruses, snake-induced or otherwise.
Fortunately since Xmas I’ve been holed up in a remote corner of Cumbria (with only a 2-day visit to London at NY to expose me to danger) so I’m hoping that it’s just the usual winter bug and I will see my next birthday in 2 weeks time.
Blimey, Cyclefree, that is crazy. I hope they find the right thing to treat it with soon.
Benylin, Strepsils and Nurofen. Plus wrapping up warm, lots of sleep and some nice Scotch broth. It took me a month to get over the very strong antibiotics I was on before.
It’s doing wonders for my reading mind. Halfway through Max Hastings’ book on the Vietnam War. And there are some fantastic radio programmes to catch up on too.
Be careful, my wife was similar and is still in hospital unwell after a month. We thought it was just a virus but ended up very serious pneumonia which they are still trying to control. PS: Not trying to alarm you.
Sorry to hear that Malc, and surprised as the last bulletin was she was improving. Best wishes to the both of you. Hope you are at least recovered from your own illness.
ydoethur , thanks , I am well recovered. She was just about to get out when she got "Hospital aquired pneumonia" on top which caused the setback and whilst she is relatively much better she is still unwell and it seems to be taking them a long time to work through what to do.
Gaahgh. Iatrogenic illnesses: they happen far too bloody often. Hope she recovers, Malc: good luck to her.
I watched the film Contagion (2011) again last night. The problem with it is that's like watching a documentary i.e. entirely plausible in almost every regard and eerily close to the opening sequences of the Coronavirus. The first half hour of the film is pretty gripping.
It doesn't need to be said, I guess, but we're standing quite close to a precipice.
That was the first thing I thought about when the seriousness of the story first broke, and I couldn't understand why everyone wasn't equally worried about it.
The media always like to sensationalise though, don't they? It makes people think that you're just crying wolf. Because of that, I'm not concerned.
Remember: the wolf eventually came.
I get what you say, but I can't help thinking it all something I've heard before.
Scotland's areas of decline within its control are both fully devolved - Education and Health. I'm not sure Westminster can be blamed for the price of oil....
You really are a nasty bit of work.
Nat allergic to facts! Who knew?
And it was posted in response to a question from UD.....
Once again Carlotta using fake news: This so-called “index of well-being” is not an official publication but is the work of a self-employed and self-styled “political economist” called John McLaren. McLaren was special adviser to both Donald Dewar and Henry McLeish and is a staunch Unionist. McLaren removed Chile, Israel, Ireland, Latvia, Luxembourg, Mexico and Turkey from his study. As a result of this manipulation, he claims Scotland has dropped into the “bottom half of OECD nations”, but deliberately excluded the lowest-scoring OECD nations to achieve this result. https://www.thenational.scot/news/18186244.fact-check-claim-scotland-slid-global-wellbeing-rankings/
The Nat Onal as "Fact Checker" - it's the way you tell'em!
Tell me, which of the "Facts" that comprise the index do you dispute?
Scotland's areas of decline within its control are both fully devolved - Education and Health. I'm not sure Westminster can be blamed for the price of oil....
You really are a nasty bit of work.
Nat allergic to facts! Who knew?
And it was posted in response to a question from UD.....
Once again Carlotta using fake news: This so-called “index of well-being” is not an official publication but is the work of a self-employed and self-styled “political economist” called John McLaren. McLaren was special adviser to both Donald Dewar and Henry McLeish and is a staunch Unionist. McLaren removed Chile, Israel, Ireland, Latvia, Luxembourg, Mexico and Turkey from his study. As a result of this manipulation, he claims Scotland has dropped into the “bottom half of OECD nations”, but deliberately excluded the lowest-scoring OECD nations to achieve this result. https://www.thenational.scot/news/18186244.fact-check-claim-scotland-slid-global-wellbeing-rankings/
The Nat Onal as "Fact Checker" - it's the way you tell'em!
Tell me, which of the "Facts" that comprise the index do you dispute?
Scotland's areas of decline within its control are both fully devolved - Education and Health. I'm not sure Westminster can be blamed for the price of oil....
You really are a nasty bit of work.
Nat allergic to facts! Who knew?
And it was posted in response to a question from UD.....
Once again Carlotta using fake news: This so-called “index of well-being” is not an official publication but is the work of a self-employed and self-styled “political economist” called John McLaren. McLaren was special adviser to both Donald Dewar and Henry McLeish and is a staunch Unionist. McLaren removed Chile, Israel, Ireland, Latvia, Luxembourg, Mexico and Turkey from his study. As a result of this manipulation, he claims Scotland has dropped into the “bottom half of OECD nations”, but deliberately excluded the lowest-scoring OECD nations to achieve this result. https://www.thenational.scot/news/18186244.fact-check-claim-scotland-slid-global-wellbeing-rankings/
The Nat Onal as "Fact Checker" - it's the way you tell'em!
Tell me, which of the "Facts" that comprise the index do you dispute?
Once again Carlotta using fake news: This so-called “index of well-being” is not an official publication but is the work of a self-employed and self-styled “political economist” called John McLaren. McLaren was special adviser to both Donald Dewar and Henry McLeish and is a staunch Unionist. McLaren removed Chile, Israel, Ireland, Latvia, Luxembourg, Mexico and Turkey from his study. As a result of this manipulation, he claims Scotland has dropped into the “bottom half of OECD nations”, but deliberately excluded the lowest-scoring OECD nations to achieve this result. https://www.thenational.scot/news/18186244.fact-check-claim-scotland-slid-global-wellbeing-rankings/
The Nat Onal as "Fact Checker" - it's the way you tell'em!
Tell me, which of the "Facts" that comprise the index do you dispute?
You want the comfort of knowing Scotland still outranks Somalia, malc?
You miss the point Mark , it was deliberate so that the Labour clown could say they were in bottom half based on his crap data. It is usual crap peddled by Carlotta, it must be desperate not having a life other than scanning for any old crap that denigrates Scotland and then trying to pretend it is real. Afraid I have better things to do.
Golly, the Union doesn't seem to be working very well for 3/4 of its members.
Devolution, certainly.
Yet the most fully devolved nation of Scotland, Wales and NI is doing the best out of them.
.
You really are a nasty bit of work.
Nat allergic to facts! Who knew?
And it was posted in response to a question from UD.....
Once again Carlotta using fake news: This so-called “index of well-being” is not an official publication but is the work of a self-employed and self-styled “political economist” called John McLaren. McLaren was special adviser to both Donald Dewar and Henry McLeish and is a staunch Unionist. McLaren removed Chile, Israel, Ireland, Latvia, Luxembourg, Mexico and Turkey from his study. As a result of this manipulation, he claims Scotland has dropped into the “bottom half of OECD nations”, but deliberately excluded the lowest-scoring OECD nations to achieve this result. https://www.thenational.scot/news/18186244.fact-check-claim-scotland-slid-global-wellbeing-rankings/
The Nat Onal as "Fact Checker" - it's the way you tell'em!
Tell me, which of the "Facts" that comprise the index do you dispute?
I watched the film Contagion (2011) again last night. The problem with it is that's like watching a documentary i.e. entirely plausible in almost every regard and eerily close to the opening sequences of the Coronavirus. The first half hour of the film is pretty gripping.
It doesn't need to be said, I guess, but we're standing quite close to a precipice.
That was the first thing I thought about when the seriousness of the story first broke, and I couldn't understand why everyone wasn't equally worried about it.
So...does anybody remember the 1970s BBCTV series "Survivors"? Brilliant title sequence. Or "World War Z"? Any discussion of the global pandemic genre has to include those two. It's like talking about global thermonuclear war without mentioning "Threads"
I watched the film Contagion (2011) again last night. The problem with it is that's like watching a documentary i.e. entirely plausible in almost every regard and eerily close to the opening sequences of the Coronavirus. The first half hour of the film is pretty gripping.
It doesn't need to be said, I guess, but we're standing quite close to a precipice.
That was the first thing I thought about when the seriousness of the story first broke, and I couldn't understand why everyone wasn't equally worried about it.
So...does anybody remember the 1970s BBCTV series "Survivors"? Brilliant title sequence. Or "World War Z"? Any discussion of the global pandemic genre has to include those two. It's like talking about global thermonuclear war without mentioning "Threads"
Yes, I remember Survivors. Made a big impression on my young teenage self. Didn't miss an episode.
But since the land actually rises from Morfa Mawddach (where the line to Dolgellau diverged) to Barmouth Bridge, I’m not quite sure how that helps. The low point is about 400 yards north of Fairbourne station.
I’m also wondering how (a) you get it back to Barmouth from Penmaenpool and (b) how the bloody hell you get the train to do a sharp right angled turn at the George III to cross the bridge.
I would probably say ... find out the budget for saving Fairbourne and the railway line ... and then ask, what are the alternatives for that sum of money given the public transport needs of South Meirionnydd? And make the choice from there.
I don't think saving Fairbourne is a high priority ... or even a low priority. The railway line may be worth saving, but only if the project can win on its own merits when viewed against other public transport needs in the area.
It is basically a cost-benefit analysis. (With the flooding of Fairbourne being on the plus side of the ledger )
I certainly don't think we should start with the idea that someone's crappy bungalow should be saved at huge public cost.
You want the comfort of knowing Scotland still outranks Somalia, malc?
You miss the point Mark , it was deliberate so that the Labour clown could say they were in bottom half based on his crap data. It is usual crap peddled by Carlotta, it must be desperate not having a life other than scanning for any old crap that denigrates Scotland and then trying to pretend it is real. Afraid I have better things to do.
The usual denial peddled by Malcolm - the index is certainly open to criticism (which isn't?) - but to pretend that the data that its constructed from is "crap" is typical Nat "shoot the messenger" - rather than get to the bottom of declining educational standards etc.
I watched the film Contagion (2011) again last night. The problem with it is that's like watching a documentary i.e. entirely plausible in almost every regard and eerily close to the opening sequences of the Coronavirus. The first half hour of the film is pretty gripping.
It doesn't need to be said, I guess, but we're standing quite close to a precipice.
That was the first thing I thought about when the seriousness of the story first broke, and I couldn't understand why everyone wasn't equally worried about it.
So...does anybody remember the 1970s BBCTV series "Survivors"? Brilliant title sequence. Or "World War Z"? Any discussion of the global pandemic genre has to include those two. It's like talking about global thermonuclear war without mentioning "Threads"
Caveats abound with such a broad brush analysis (see the full paper on the Scottish Trends website for greater discussion of these ) but it seems clear that Scotland’s performance, particularly with regards to health and education has been disappointing in comparison to other countries.
Furthermore its not good enough to simply blame UK wide funding cuts on this performance as most other countries (including England) have lived through similar circumstances and managed to do better.
What might be some of the causes of such a relatively weak performance and what might be done to improve matters?
In each case the answers lie both within and out-with the Parliament.
Within the Parliament, there is a need for greater scrutiny and competition of ideas.
On the former point, the current Committee system is highly partisan and needs overhauling to ensure greater independence from the government, or for some form of bicameralism to be introduced.
You want the comfort of knowing Scotland still outranks Somalia, malc?
You miss the point Mark , it was deliberate so that the Labour clown could say they were in bottom half based on his crap data. It is usual crap peddled by Carlotta, it must be desperate not having a life other than scanning for any old crap that denigrates Scotland and then trying to pretend it is real. Afraid I have better things to do.
The usual denial peddled by Malcolm - the index is certainly open to criticism (which isn't?) - but to pretend that the data that its constructed from is "crap" is typical Nat "shoot the messenger" - rather than get to the bottom of declining educational standards etc.
Fair does to the Scots though, they are worldies when it comes to messenger-shooting....
Not unnaturally there are many diplomats on the list, as they had the ability to arrange papers for refugees. What’s notable is just how many ignored or flouted official procedures to do so, like the remarkable Japanese Chiune Sugihara.
Anyone watch The Windermere Children? My antennae are sometimes off about these things but I thought it was excellent, it managed to stay the right side of mawkishness. The choice to have subtitles for spoken German and Polish also very good.
I do hope we have a post on the possible global impact of Coronavirus. I went to a local authority planning session today for possible pandemic..its not Brexit we have to worry about I can assure you. you
Indeed
Purely selfishly, as someone currently suffering from a cold, sore throat, lost voice and a tight chest - and with lungs that are sub-optimal - I'd prefer not to read about respiratory viruses, snake-induced or otherwise.
Fortunately since Xmas I’ve been holed up in a remote corner of Cumbria (with only a 2-day visit to London at NY to expose me to danger) so I’m hoping that it’s just the usual winter bug and I will see my next birthday in 2 weeks time.
Hope you feel better soon. Have you tried apple cider vinegar? They sell the organic stuff in COOP now. I use it to make salad dressing. Delicious.
No. To drink or just for salad dressing? There is a Coop nearby so will get.
Gargling with vinegar or salt is what my Mum used to get me to do for sore throats.
It's very high in natural vitamin c I believe. A lot of people take a spoonful (sometimes mixed with honey) but I prefer making a nice vinaigrette with it. Have it most nights with lots of green leaves. Easier to include in my diet that way. @Cyclefree
Comments
And it was posted in response to a question from UD.....
Gargling with vinegar or salt is what my Mum used to get me to do for sore throats.
I’m sorry to hear your wife is still not well. I really hope she gets better soon. Best wishes to you both.
This so-called “index of well-being” is not an official publication but is the work of a self-employed and self-styled “political economist” called John McLaren. McLaren was special adviser to both Donald Dewar and Henry McLeish and is a staunch Unionist.
McLaren removed Chile, Israel, Ireland, Latvia, Luxembourg, Mexico and Turkey from his study. As a result of this manipulation, he claims Scotland has dropped into the “bottom half of OECD nations”, but deliberately excluded the lowest-scoring OECD nations to achieve this result.
https://www.thenational.scot/news/18186244.fact-check-claim-scotland-slid-global-wellbeing-rankings/
He’s a journalist as well as a historian, and it’s written with something of a polemical slant, but it gives a perspective (and original research) on the ground war not really available elsewhere. Not an easy read.
This so-called “index of well-being” is not an official publication but is the work of a self-employed and self-styled “political economist” called John McLaren. McLaren was special adviser to both Donald Dewar and Henry McLeish and is a staunch Unionist.
McLaren removed Chile, Israel, Ireland, Latvia, Luxembourg, Mexico and Turkey from his study. As a result of this manipulation, he claims Scotland has dropped into the “bottom half of OECD nations”, but deliberately excluded the lowest-scoring OECD nations to achieve this result.
https://www.thenational.scot/news/18186244.fact-check-claim-scotland-slid-global-wellbeing-rankings/
See also: hurrican evacuation warnings prior to Katrina and Sandy.
Tell me, which of the "Facts" that comprise the index do you dispute?
https://inews.co.uk/news/scotland/pisa-results-2019-scotland-worst-ever-performance-science-maths-1331557
Aside from that, a nice thread with standout contribution (in middle of Lord Dubbs debate) probably being -
"You can stick your smelling salts up your arse."
And look after yourself!
It is usual crap peddled by Carlotta, it must be desperate not having a life other than scanning for any old crap that denigrates Scotland and then trying to pretend it is real.
Afraid I have better things to do.
The study does not break down data by "home nations" but by EU regions:
https://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/en/information/maps/social_progress
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzKQJXhTUC0
The remake in early 2000s (date?) was pants.
I don't think saving Fairbourne is a high priority ... or even a low priority. The railway line may be worth saving, but only if the project can win on its own merits when viewed against other public transport needs in the area.
It is basically a cost-benefit analysis. (With the flooding of Fairbourne being on the plus side of the ledger
I certainly don't think we should start with the idea that someone's crappy bungalow should be saved at huge public cost.
https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/news/5215881/police-scotland-glasgow-grooming-gang-secret/
https://twitter.com/tnewtondunn/status/1221921733562814464?s=21
Caveats abound with such a broad brush analysis (see the full paper on the Scottish Trends website for greater discussion of these ) but it seems clear that Scotland’s performance, particularly with regards to health and education has been disappointing in comparison to other countries.
Furthermore its not good enough to simply blame UK wide funding cuts on this performance as most other countries (including England) have lived through similar circumstances and managed to do better.
What might be some of the causes of such a relatively weak performance and what might be done to improve matters?
In each case the answers lie both within and out-with the Parliament.
Within the Parliament, there is a need for greater scrutiny and competition of ideas.
On the former point, the current Committee system is highly partisan and needs overhauling to ensure greater independence from the government, or for some form of bicameralism to be introduced.
https://reformscotland.com/2020/01/index-of-social-economic-well-being-john-mclaren/
https://twitter.com/LisHammond/status/1221900875532242945
https://twitter.com/BBCHelena/status/1221922671132397568/photo/1
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rescuers_of_Jews_during_the_Holocaust
Not unnaturally there are many diplomats on the list, as they had the ability to arrange papers for refugees.
What’s notable is just how many ignored or flouted official procedures to do so, like the remarkable Japanese Chiune Sugihara.
This thread is under review for Chinese security issues