Found out yesterday that my 19 year old son is self harming. For his generation this is agony. Can't go out. Can't see people. Can't do stuff. Can't even go to college as a distraction. A big fat blank where a future should be. His mum then more in a flap about the risk of him going to uni in September because the virus. For me that will be one of many risks of going to uni including the traditional getting dangerously drunk and waking up in bramble bushes at 3am with no idea where you are or how you got there, have lost your glasses so can't see great and appear to have someone else's hooded top on backwards...
Sorry to hear that Rochdale. I can't imagine the worry and pain you must feel to know that grown-up children are so unhappy.
I don't really agree with this. If we are going to have to endure lockdown for several weeks more then we don't want the airwaves dominated by a discussion now about it- with different views expressed, some, no doubt arguing for an early end to it. It will simply tempt the numpties to stop taking it seriously and start partying. Human nature, I'm afraid.
Found out yesterday that my 19 year old son is self harming. For his generation this is agony. Can't go out. Can't see people. Can't do stuff. Can't even go to college as a distraction. A big fat blank where a future should be. His mum then more in a flap about the risk of him going to uni in September because the virus. For me that will be one of many risks of going to uni including the traditional getting dangerously drunk and waking up in bramble bushes at 3am with no idea where you are or how you got there, have lost your glasses so can't see great and appear to have someone else's hooded top on backwards...
This breaks my heart. I’m very sorry, Mr Pioneers.
Our patients are proned for 16 hours per day. It has been documented to improve outcomes in ARDS for years. Not quite as easy as it sounds as all lines, wires and infusions have to be stopped and ventilators disconnected during the manoeuvre, then re connected after positioning.
I don't really agree with this. If we are going to have to endure lockdown for several weeks more then we don't want the airwaves dominated by a discussion now about it- with different views expressed, some, no doubt arguing for an early end to it. It will simply tempt the numpties to stop taking it seriously and start partying. Human nature, I'm afraid.
Hancock was right, and he did well this morning. Need to know basis.
Absolutely. And yesterday the Scottish government explained that they were simply not able to make the investment in mental health that they had promised because of the money spent on CV. Huge mistake. So many lives lost, so many more turned into a living hell. We need that investment more than ever.
As an example the overlap between those who die of a drug overdose and those receiving (inadequate) mental health treatment is frightening and a major reason we have the worst record for drug deaths in Europe. Self medicating by desperately unhappy people.
We must also remember those people whose lives will be shortened as hospitals are all but closed to just Ciovid 19 patients and all other surgeries are being delayed indefinitely.
I liked the idea yesterday of bringing the Nightingale hospitals fully into service so our hospitals can get back to the day job. The NHS has done remarkably well in creating the extra capacity but we can’t go on like this indefinitely.
Is James Bond that franchise that is never as good as it never was?
A bit like Dr Who*, for spies...
*Dr Who has reappeared in BBC iPlayer archive section with the first modern series.
It’s also on Netflix.
Er... So you don't have to accept the free version, you can pay a subscription to watch it? Sounds great!
Which versions free in your eyes?
The BBC costs far, far more than Netflix. If you're on a tight budget then getting Netflix is much cheaper as well as much better value for money. The BBC is a luxury more than Netflix.
It is true on the face of it that a Netflix subscription is cheaper than a BBC license, but you need to compare like with like.
And what is like for like?
Like for like they are both TV subscription services and the reality is the BBC is the more expensive of the two. There is a reason ever increasing numbers of people, especially young people on a budget, are abandoning the BBC and choosing Netflix and other budget-friendly alternatives.
For someone to refer to the BBC as "free" is either naive or ignorant.
Isn't Netflix's basic plan limited to a single device, so cheaper for an individual but not necessarily so for larger families?
That's not the only plan that's cheaper than the Licence Fee. All Netflix subscription options are cheaper than the Licence Fee.
The Basic Plan is £5.99 per month (1 user) The Standard Plan is £8.99 per month (multiple users, 2 at a time) The Family Plan is £11.99 per month.
The Licence Fee is £13.13 per month.
Television is 55% of total according to this, and probably about 60% when you give TV a share of overheads. So it looks like the BBC TV is similar to Netflix once you take out radio, website, world service.
I suppose the concept of Public Health Scotland passed you by?
Not much point when Tories are keeping everything for England. They will only sell them to English NHS and care homes, you lost your glasses.
Its you and the Nat Onal that needs glasses. Only 3 out of 2,200 products could not be shipped to Scotland because PHE owned them and are not licensed to distribute in Scotland
'Why are these people obsessing about something that I'm still posting about? It's distracting me from my 473rd post on why no one should pay any attention to The National.'
We're just pointing out that there is quality journalism in Scotland. You got a problem with that?
it's always interesting to have a view of Scotland from the 1960s.
I think the Press & Journal and Courier are a bit more up to date than that.
If any paper seems stuck in the past its the Nat Onal.
The BBC needs a kick up the arse. It’s news operation is complacent. It’s drama is too worthy. Much of its output is very predictable.
But scrap the BBC? Fuck off. It’s a great national asset, like the NHS, the monarchy, the armed forces, and the National Trust.
I don't think anyone said it should be scrapped.
Those who want it should voluntarily subscribe to it. There already is a subscription fee, just break the link to having to pay for it if you wish to watch other live TV channels would be my only adjustment.
Is James Bond that franchise that is never as good as it never was?
A bit like Dr Who*, for spies...
*Dr Who has reappeared in BBC iPlayer archive section with the first modern series.
It’s also on Netflix.
Er... So you don't have to accept the free version, you can pay a subscription to watch it? Sounds great!
Which versions free in your eyes?
The BBC costs far, far more than Netflix. If you're on a tight budget then getting Netflix is much cheaper as well as much better value for money. The BBC is a luxury more than Netflix.
It is true on the face of it that a Netflix subscription is cheaper than a BBC license, but you need to compare like with like.
And what is like for like?
Like for like they are both TV subscription services and the reality is the BBC is the more expensive of the two. There is a reason ever increasing numbers of people, especially young people on a budget, are abandoning the BBC and choosing Netflix and other budget-friendly alternatives.
For someone to refer to the BBC as "free" is either naive or ignorant.
Isn't Netflix's basic plan limited to a single device, so cheaper for an individual but not necessarily so for larger families?
That's not the only plan that's cheaper than the Licence Fee. All Netflix subscription options are cheaper than the Licence Fee.
The Basic Plan is £5.99 per month (1 user) The Standard Plan is £8.99 per month (multiple users, 2 at a time) The Family Plan is £11.99 per month.
The Licence Fee is £13.13 per month.
Television is 55% of total according to this, and probably about 60% when you give TV a share of overheads. So it looks like the BBC TV is similar to Netflix once you take out radio, website, world service.
Anyone else watched Quiz over the last three nights? About the £1m, the coughs and the Major. I see the Major and his wife have launched another appeal, and that play was part of the case for it.
I watched it. and knew his £1m question. but not some earlier ones.
from that program the evidence for his conviction looked shaky i thought.
His Wikipedia entry reveals an interesting pattern of insurance claims which must have been terribly unfortunate....
I think the lockdown should start to be lifted by the end of the month.
I don't think it's the worst of all worlds. The NHS hasn't hit capacity, and the virus hasn't gone away, so we need to safely reinstate as much economic activity as we can within its bounds.
Exactly right. The number of new infections will be on a downward path, and we can SLOWLY begin to remove the most severe restrictions.
Would be nice to clarify the overall strategy. Feels like the plan is to maintain a steady stream of CV cases within the NHS' capacity to handle them. Rather than say to get back to an earlier state where we try to identify hotspots early through testing and eradicate them.
TBF it sounds like there really isn't yet enough data to decide what the overall strategy is.
There still seem to be wildly varying non-bonkers estimates about how many people have actually got this thing; At the "lots" end, the UK might genuinely be a long way on the way to herd immunity, whereas at the "few" end you need to get as close as you can to eradication. That's OK right now because you're at or above the level you'd want if you were going the herd immunity route, but once you get cases back under control you have to choose one way or the other, hopefully without relying on a coin flip.
Found out yesterday that my 19 year old son is self harming. For his generation this is agony. Can't go out. Can't see people. Can't do stuff. Can't even go to college as a distraction. A big fat blank where a future should be. His mum then more in a flap about the risk of him going to uni in September because the virus. For me that will be one of many risks of going to uni including the traditional getting dangerously drunk and waking up in bramble bushes at 3am with no idea where you are or how you got there, have lost your glasses so can't see great and appear to have someone else's hooded top on backwards...
That is very upsetting news. I am so sorry and hope he can get help
Appreciate the comments - the job of the PB community is that we support each other regardless of the other arguments we all enjoy having. He is autistic (such a broad term now that its a spectrum rather than automatic Rain Main) - as is my wife. As I appear to be though undiagnosed (I'm 43, functional and self-aware so whats the point of doing more than the online tests). We're adults with a few decades of life experience under our belts to fall back on. He doesn't, and the support available to him has dropped off because less physical interaction just as the isolation ramps up to never before experienced levels. He's doing social media with his friends. But they do that all the time normally, so its the physical isolation thats the horror not that they can't talk to each other.
He'll be ok. But the "cabin fever" that those of us with a decent house and stuff and ok mental health are suffering is nothing compared to those shut away by themselves with less resilient mental states. Guy rang into James O'Brien yesterday on his "are you alright?" topic and wept down the phone at the impact his living alone was having on him. Yes we need to control the virus. But as with the economic damage the shutdown plus "fuck you" business loans/UC policy implementation is causing, they need to consider what will be left of us as and when this indefinite period of waiting is lifted. They hope for a V-shaped recovery. No chance. We're broken.
I suppose the concept of Public Health Scotland passed you by?
Not much point when Tories are keeping everything for England. They will only sell them to English NHS and care homes, you lost your glasses.
Its you and the Nat Onal that needs glasses. Only 3 out of 2,200 products could not be shipped to Scotland because PHE owned them and are not licensed to distribute in Scotland
'Why are these people obsessing about something that I'm still posting about? It's distracting me from my 473rd post on why no one should pay any attention to The National.'
Mentioned the National three times, I think. (Now four). Important not to let the perpetrators of such offensive and deliberately misleading bile go unchallenged.
The BBC needs a kick up the arse. It’s news operation is complacent. It’s drama is too worthy. Much of its output is very predictable.
But scrap the BBC? Fuck off. It’s a great national asset, like the NHS, the monarchy, the armed forces, and the National Trust.
I don't think anyone said it should be scrapped.
Those who want it should voluntarily subscribe to it. There already is a subscription fee, just break the link to having to pay for it if you wish to watch other live TV channels would be my only adjustment.
This amounts to scrapping it, as far as I am concerned.
Just fund it through taxation, with some kind of lock on the funding to safeguard its non-political role.
Absolutely. And yesterday the Scottish government explained that they were simply not able to make the investment in mental health that they had promised because of the money spent on CV. Huge mistake. So many lives lost, so many more turned into a living hell. We need that investment more than ever.
As an example the overlap between those who die of a drug overdose and those receiving (inadequate) mental health treatment is frightening and a major reason we have the worst record for drug deaths in Europe. Self medicating by desperately unhappy people.
We must also remember those people whose lives will be shortened as hospitals are all but closed to just Ciovid 19 patients and all other surgeries are being delayed indefinitely.
I liked the idea yesterday of bringing the Nightingale hospitals fully into service so our hospitals can get back to the day job. The NHS has done remarkably well in creating the extra capacity but we can’t go on like this indefinitely.
Whether you are worried about losing your job, your employer (or the small business you own) going bust, or just worried that your postponed routine check-up might have found something life-threatening, "we can't go on like this indefinitely" is going to be the mood music until the lockdown is lifted, I'm afraid.
I suppose the concept of Public Health Scotland passed you by?
Not much point when Tories are keeping everything for England. They will only sell them to English NHS and care homes, you lost your glasses.
Its you and the Nat Onal that needs glasses. Only 3 out of 2,200 products could not be shipped to Scotland because PHE owned them and are not licensed to distribute in Scotland
'Why are these people obsessing about something that I'm still posting about? It's distracting me from my 473rd post on why no one should pay any attention to The National.'
We're just pointing out that there is quality journalism in Scotland. You got a problem with that?
it's always interesting to have a view of Scotland from the 1960s.
I think the Press & Journal and Courier are a bit more up to date than that.
If any paper seems stuck in the past its the Nat Onal.
Have heard a few National readers are switching to the Beano to get a higher calibre of coverage.
Onion divot likes the articles by the man pretending to be a talking dog so is sticking with it.
I suppose the concept of Public Health Scotland passed you by?
Not much point when Tories are keeping everything for England. They will only sell them to English NHS and care homes, you lost your glasses.
Its you and the Nat Onal that needs glasses. Only 3 out of 2,200 products could not be shipped to Scotland because PHE owned them and are not licensed to distribute in Scotland
'Why are these people obsessing about something that I'm still posting about? It's distracting me from my 473rd post on why no one should pay any attention to The National.'
We're just pointing out that there is quality journalism in Scotland. You got a problem with that?
it's always interesting to have a view of Scotland from the 1960s.
I think the Press & Journal and Courier are a bit more up to date than that.
If any paper seems stuck in the past its the Nat Onal.
Also in NZ, the debate is moving to how to rebuild and recover as lockdown is relaxed.
I have no idea why the govt here is so secretive, prissy, and defensive about such discussions.
Because whatever they say - whatever - will be criticised by the opposition the media. The government is going to find coming out of lockdown far more problematic than going into lockdown proved to be.
Is James Bond that franchise that is never as good as it never was?
A bit like Dr Who*, for spies...
*Dr Who has reappeared in BBC iPlayer archive section with the first modern series.
It’s also on Netflix.
Er... So you don't have to accept the free version, you can pay a subscription to watch it? Sounds great!
Which versions free in your eyes?
The BBC costs far, far more than Netflix. If you're on a tight budget then getting Netflix is much cheaper as well as much better value for money. The BBC is a luxury more than Netflix.
It is true on the face of it that a Netflix subscription is cheaper than a BBC license, but you need to compare like with like.
And what is like for like?
Like for like they are both TV subscription services and the reality is the BBC is the more expensive of the two. There is a reason ever increasing numbers of people, especially young people on a budget, are abandoning the BBC and choosing Netflix and other budget-friendly alternatives.
For someone to refer to the BBC as "free" is either naive or ignorant.
I am all for a voluntary BBC subscription service but you have to look at the BBC's constituent parts:
1) News 2) Drama 3) Comedy 4) Children's programming 5) Sport 6) Podcasts 7) Weather 8) Regional TV 9) Regional radio 10) Quiz shows 11) Gardening shows 12) BBC CYMRU 13) BBC Scotland 14) BBC Northern Ireland 15) Films 16) Er... 17) That's probably not it.
And then make a comparison. No point just saying, well Netflix has excellent drama and therefore it's worth as much as the BBC.
Do you think Netflix is just drama?
BBC is definitely better at 1 - but ever increasing amounts of people get their News from neither.
Netflix is much better than the BBC at 2, 3, 4 and 15
5 the BBC is better than Netflix but much worse than rivals that care for Sport (if you care for sport you'd be looking at other options)
Weather there are plenty of great websites to visit to get weather info - not sure why you need a TV to do that.
I couldn't care less about 6 through to 14 so couldn't comment on them.
Well exactly. And your priorities will be different to other people. If you differentiated to determine the minimum, you might find that in total, people are happy with what it currently is.
If you would pay, say, £4.99/month for 1, then others would pay £4.99/month each for 2, 4, and 8. Pretty soon you are at £14.58/month for the lot.
I suppose the concept of Public Health Scotland passed you by?
Not much point when Tories are keeping everything for England. They will only sell them to English NHS and care homes, you lost your glasses.
Its you and the Nat Onal that needs glasses. Only 3 out of 2,200 products could not be shipped to Scotland because PHE owned them and are not licensed to distribute in Scotland
'Why are these people obsessing about something that I'm still posting about? It's distracting me from my 473rd post on why no one should pay any attention to The National.'
We're just pointing out that there is quality journalism in Scotland. You got a problem with that?
it's always interesting to have a view of Scotland from the 1960s.
I think the Press & Journal and Courier are a bit more up to date than that.
If any paper seems stuck in the past its the Nat Onal.
Also in NZ, the debate is moving to how to rebuild and recover as lockdown is relaxed.
I have no idea why the govt here is so secretive, prissy, and defensive about such discussions.
Because whatever they say - whatever - will be criticised by the opposition the media. The government is going to find coming out of lockdown far more problematic than going into lockdown proved to be.
Right.
So government’s shouldn’t bother leading then, for fear of criticism from the Opposition.
I am one of the few people outside NZ that loathes Jacinda Ardern. She has great PR, but she’s an inexperienced nitwit.
She’s just done something fabulous though, which is to take a 20% pay cut, along with the rest of her Cabinet.
I know this is just a symbol, but it is a powerful one that we are “in this together”.
What chances of Boris et al following suit?
As one Cabinet Minister complained when Mrs Thatcher froze their pay, it's all right for her: she's married to a millionaire. Today's Cabinet would barely notice if they took an 80 per cent pay cut.
The fact is for those under 45 Covid 19 is no more deadly than seasonal flu, once the peak has passed the focus should be on gettimg them back to school, college and work as soon as possible, using mass testing to try and keep the spread under control and still keeping prudent social distancing.
Then ultimately the focus should shift to just keeping those over 70 who are most at risk indoors with lockdown ended but the advice to them being to stay indoors as much as possible until a vaccine is found or the virus dies out.
Note that one seventh of all deaths for ages 15-44 in the week ending 3rd April 2020 were down as COVID-19 deaths.
I gave an example of my uni exploits to highlight normal dangers - in my case drinkninininge to blackout. But I had a fabulous group of mates and we looked after each other. I know others don't turn into pint-sized alcoholics and get into drugs or shagging anything that walks - or have no friends at all and quit.
These are life experiences and we all grow and learn. But being cooped up in your bedroom for endless weeks with no end in sight and massive uncertainty over what happens next? Hard for the kids. And you don't know what their home life is like. He's split from his boyfriend - they can't see each other. And BF's parents seriously dislike his "lifestyle choices" and being basically imprisoned with authority figures who tell you endlessly how much they dislike who he is had apparently sent the BF over the edge, and his mental health breakdown was then impacting so badly on my son that he had to end it.
At least 11,600 people in Spain have died in social service residences due to the coronavirus or with compatible symptoms, according to figures calculated by El País. Senior centers have been hit particularly hard, but discrepancies in the data mean it is impossible to know the extent of the problem. El Pais
Is James Bond that franchise that is never as good as it never was?
A bit like Dr Who*, for spies...
*Dr Who has reappeared in BBC iPlayer archive section with the first modern series.
It’s also on Netflix.
Er... So you don't have to accept the free version, you can pay a subscription to watch it? Sounds great!
Which versions free in your eyes?
The BBC costs far, far more than Netflix. If you're on a tight budget then getting Netflix is much cheaper as well as much better value for money. The BBC is a luxury more than Netflix.
It is true on the face of it that a Netflix subscription is cheaper than a BBC license, but you need to compare like with like.
And what is like for like?
Like for like they are both TV subscription services and the reality is the BBC is the more expensive of the two. There is a reason ever increasing numbers of people, especially young people on a budget, are abandoning the BBC and choosing Netflix and other budget-friendly alternatives.
For someone to refer to the BBC as "free" is either naive or ignorant.
I am all for a voluntary BBC subscription service but you have to look at the BBC's constituent parts:
1) News 2) Drama 3) Comedy 4) Children's programming 5) Sport 6) Podcasts 7) Weather 8) Regional TV 9) Regional radio 10) Quiz shows 11) Gardening shows 12) BBC CYMRU 13) BBC Scotland 14) BBC Northern Ireland 15) Films 16) Er... 17) That's probably not it.
And then make a comparison. No point just saying, well Netflix has excellent drama and therefore it's worth as much as the BBC.
Do you think Netflix is just drama?
BBC is definitely better at 1 - but ever increasing amounts of people get their News from neither.
Netflix is much better than the BBC at 2, 3, 4 and 15
5 the BBC is better than Netflix but much worse than rivals that care for Sport (if you care for sport you'd be looking at other options)
Weather there are plenty of great websites to visit to get weather info - not sure why you need a TV to do that.
I couldn't care less about 6 through to 14 so couldn't comment on them.
Well exactly. And your priorities will be different to other people. If you differentiated to determine the minimum, you might find that in total, people are happy with what it currently is.
If you would pay, say, £4.99/month for 1, then others would pay £4.99/month each for 2, 4, and 8. Pretty soon you are at £14.58/month for the lot.
With a hell of a lot less hassle, frankly.
Except you don't get charged £4.99 for any of them individually.
Both subscription services offer a package and let people decide which package they want. I pay for many subscription services - Netflix, Sky, BBC, Disney+ and find BBC to be the least value of the lot costing far more than Netflix or Disney and nearly as much as Sky. But I can't have Sky without a Licence Fee which is a disgrace in 2020.
But this started because someone terms the BBC as free. Its not, its more expensive was my point. If I was on a budget I'd drop Sky and the Licence Fee before I dropped Netflix or Disney.
I suppose the concept of Public Health Scotland passed you by?
Not much point when Tories are keeping everything for England. They will only sell them to English NHS and care homes, you lost your glasses.
Its you and the Nat Onal that needs glasses. Only 3 out of 2,200 products could not be shipped to Scotland because PHE owned them and are not licensed to distribute in Scotland
'Why are these people obsessing about something that I'm still posting about? It's distracting me from my 473rd post on why no one should pay any attention to The National.'
Mentioned the National three times, I think. (Now four). Important not to let the perpetrators of such offensive and deliberately misleading bile go unchallenged.
Carlotta got you as an apprentice CCHQ spokesmans helper now.
I don't really agree with this. If we are going to have to endure lockdown for several weeks more then we don't want the airwaves dominated by a discussion now about it- with different views expressed, some, no doubt arguing for an early end to it. It will simply tempt the numpties to stop taking it seriously and start partying. Human nature, I'm afraid.
Hancock was right, and he did well this morning. Need to know basis.
Nah. He should have said that the government was looking at it and is aware that, just as the lockdown wasn't implemented a minute too early for the sake of the physical and mental health of the nation, likewise will it only be lifted once it has been determined (by "the experts") that it is safe to do so and that "a range of options" are being looked at.
Job done. Range of options? Sounds good to me - serious heads are giving this some time.
But complete silence is not ok. Apart from those who have forgotten that we live in a democracy with an accountable government that has (rightly, obvs) just imposed the most draconian restriction of human rights since the war.
I gave an example of my uni exploits to highlight normal dangers - in my case drinkninininge to blackout. But I had a fabulous group of mates and we looked after each other. I know others don't turn into pint-sized alcoholics and get into drugs or shagging anything that walks - or have no friends at all and quit.
These are life experiences and we all grow and learn. But being cooped up in your bedroom for endless weeks with no end in sight and massive uncertainty over what happens next? Hard for the kids. And you don't know what their home life is like. He's split from his boyfriend - they can't see each other. And BF's parents seriously dislike his "lifestyle choices" and being basically imprisoned with authority figures who tell you endlessly how much they dislike who he is had apparently sent the BF over the edge, and his mental health breakdown was then impacting so badly on my son that he had to end it.
Also in NZ, the debate is moving to how to rebuild and recover as lockdown is relaxed.
I have no idea why the govt here is so secretive, prissy, and defensive about such discussions.
Because whatever they say - whatever - will be criticised by the opposition the media. The government is going to find coming out of lockdown far more problematic than going into lockdown proved to be.
Which is why they need to prove to people that they understand the dynamics of it.
The fact is for those under 45 Covid 19 is no more deadly than seasonal flu, once the peak has passed the focus should be on gettimg them back to school, college and work as soon as possible, using mass testing to try and keep the spread under control and still keeping prudent social distancing.
Then ultimately the focus should shift to just keeping those over 70 who are most at risk indoors with lockdown ended but the advice to them being to stay indoors as much as possible until a vaccine is found or the virus dies out.
Sometimes, in order to demonstrate a partisan point, you make statements that are dangerously ill-thought through.
@rcs100 - my favourite quiz question is the one which was asked here a few weeks back about the third most populous island in the British Isles, but you don't want to be making a whole quiz out of questions that people won't get. Therefore, I will advance a quiz in a question my wife set last week: not too difficult, but not something I had ever thought about before: what is the only country to be crossed by both the equator and the tropic of Capricorn?
i guessed right. to the second question. but not the first.
Found out yesterday that my 19 year old son is self harming. For his generation this is agony. Can't go out. Can't see people. Can't do stuff. Can't even go to college as a distraction. A big fat blank where a future should be. His mum then more in a flap about the risk of him going to uni in September because the virus. For me that will be one of many risks of going to uni including the traditional getting dangerously drunk and waking up in bramble bushes at 3am with no idea where you are or how you got there, have lost your glasses so can't see great and appear to have someone else's hooded top on backwards...
Missed all that. Freshers week at a small college 40 years ago gave me my first taste of wine, at my first cheese and wine party, though I did not much like the taste and switched to orange juice. The pairing of cheese and pineapple seemed a bit odd too, though it might be all right on round bread, I suppose. Later, as a chemistry student locked in the lab each afternoon and writing up experiments each evening, it did seem that the arts students were having a better time of it, as they spread themselves in the gardens, reading books under the shade of trees.
Also in NZ, the debate is moving to how to rebuild and recover as lockdown is relaxed.
I have no idea why the govt here is so secretive, prissy, and defensive about such discussions.
Because whatever they say - whatever - will be criticised by the opposition the media. The government is going to find coming out of lockdown far more problematic than going into lockdown proved to be.
Which is why they need to prove to people that they understand the dynamics of it.
Yes, and I believe that they do (broadly) - or at least they do far more that the opposition and the media.
The fact is for those under 45 Covid 19 is no more deadly than seasonal flu, once the peak has passed the focus should be on gettimg them back to school, college and work as soon as possible, using mass testing to try and keep the spread under control and still keeping prudent social distancing.
Then ultimately the focus should shift to just keeping those over 70 who are most at risk indoors with lockdown ended but the advice to them being to stay indoors as much as possible until a vaccine is found or the virus dies out.
Note that one seventh of all deaths for ages 15-44 in the week ending 3rd April 2020 were down as COVID-19 deaths.
Thats probably due to other 'death' factors not being present as well. Road Traffic Accidents, misadventures due to nights out, lower gang activity, probably less drug abuse as well, etc etc.
I suppose the concept of Public Health Scotland passed you by?
Not much point when Tories are keeping everything for England. They will only sell them to English NHS and care homes, you lost your glasses.
Its you and the Nat Onal that needs glasses. Only 3 out of 2,200 products could not be shipped to Scotland because PHE owned them and are not licensed to distribute in Scotland
'Why are these people obsessing about something that I'm still posting about? It's distracting me from my 473rd post on why no one should pay any attention to The National.'
We're just pointing out that there is quality journalism in Scotland. You got a problem with that?
it's always interesting to have a view of Scotland from the 1960s.
I think the Press & Journal and Courier are a bit more up to date than that.
If any paper seems stuck in the past its the Nat Onal.
I don't really agree with this. If we are going to have to endure lockdown for several weeks more then we don't want the airwaves dominated by a discussion now about it- with different views expressed, some, no doubt arguing for an early end to it. It will simply tempt the numpties to stop taking it seriously and start partying. Human nature, I'm afraid.
Hancock was right, and he did well this morning. Need to know basis.
Nah. He should have said that the government was looking at it and is aware that, just as the lockdown wasn't implemented a minute too early for the sake of the physical and mental health of the nation, likewise will it only be lifted once it has been determined (by "the experts") that it is safe to do so and that "a range of options" are being looked at.
Job done. Range of options? Sounds good to me - serious heads are giving this some time.
But complete silence is not ok. Apart from those who have forgotten that we live in a democracy with an accountable government that has (rightly, obvs) just imposed the most draconian restriction of human rights since the war.
We already know what you said in your first paragraph. You`ve just stated the obvious.
I was so sad to hear about Rochdale Pioneer's son. One of the dreadful things about this lockdown is it is so counter-intuitive in many ways. You can't pop in to visit a lonely pensioner, you can't invite the family stuck in a block of flats to play in your garden, you can't give anyone a hug other than those self-isolating in your house. Twice since the lock-down started I've seen people out who I felt were suffering mentally. I wanted to dash up to them and ask them if they wanted to have a chat but I couldn't. However, I have thought about them many times since and asked myself what I could have done.
This is been trailed so much, I’ve already set my clock to it.
Or rather, I’ve told Mrs Walker that Miss Walker will be back at school May 10.
It doesn’t feel like the wrong date, though, as annoying as it is for Cummings/Boris to time such moves according to the PR schedule.
Given that the press seem to be making up quotes and stories - "definitely no help for the economy planned" - in the absence of sufficient off the record briefings... Why should this be any different?
It must be very hard - going from an environment where people queue up to give you information.
Having it replaced by one where you have to try and work out how Google works and read numbers and all that hard stuff.
I am one of the few people outside NZ that loathes Jacinda Ardern. She has great PR, but she’s an inexperienced nitwit.
She’s just done something fabulous though, which is to take a 20% pay cut, along with the rest of her Cabinet.
I know this is just a symbol, but it is a powerful one that we are “in this together”.
What chances of Boris et al following suit?
I'm no fan of silly virtue-signalling, so hopefully not
Gordon Brown did that in 2010 ... his last action after losing the GE. What a shit that man is.
Is that right? iirc Brown took the cut before the election but did not announce it (so hardly virtue-signalling). That the millionaire Cameron complained about it, despite having promised to do the same, did not show him in a favourable light.
..... Pubs, bars and nightclubs have always been under an obligation to keep out the under-18s; perhaps, in future, they will be made to ask everybody for ID and to turn away the over-30s or over-40s as well?
Whilst nightclubs should mainly be the preserve of the young anyway, if you ask pubs to start turning away the over 30s, you might as well not bother reopening them.
I gave an example of my uni exploits to highlight normal dangers - in my case drinkninininge to blackout. But I had a fabulous group of mates and we looked after each other. I know others don't turn into pint-sized alcoholics and get into drugs or shagging anything that walks - or have no friends at all and quit.
These are life experiences and we all grow and learn. But being cooped up in your bedroom for endless weeks with no end in sight and massive uncertainty over what happens next? Hard for the kids. And you don't know what their home life is like. He's split from his boyfriend - they can't see each other. And BF's parents seriously dislike his "lifestyle choices" and being basically imprisoned with authority figures who tell you endlessly how much they dislike who he is had apparently sent the BF over the edge, and his mental health breakdown was then impacting so badly on my son that he had to end it.
Life...
Very sorry to hear that about your son. At that age everything is magnified emotionally enough as it is, without the pandemic to magnify the magnification.
Also in NZ, the debate is moving to how to rebuild and recover as lockdown is relaxed.
I have no idea why the govt here is so secretive, prissy, and defensive about such discussions.
They're concerned about messaging. KISS - "Keep it Simple Stupid" (not you!) - at the moment its very simple "Stay at Home" - as that starts to relax the chances of people misunderstanding/taking liberties will increase and risk rising infection.
NZ's case is rather different from the UK - they've made choices we haven't - essentially shutting themselves off from the rest of the world. Thats a choice the UK decided against in its original pandemic plan and is yet to revisit. At the moment the only people who can fly across the Atlantic in both directions are US citizens.
Is James Bond that franchise that is never as good as it never was?
A bit like Dr Who*, for spies...
*Dr Who has reappeared in BBC iPlayer archive section with the first modern series.
It’s also on Netflix.
Er... So you don't have to accept the free version, you can pay a subscription to watch it? Sounds great!
Which versions free in your eyes?
The BBC costs far, far more than Netflix. If you're on a tight budget then getting Netflix is much cheaper as well as much better value for money. The BBC is a luxury more than Netflix.
It is true on the face of it that a Netflix subscription is cheaper than a BBC license, but you need to compare like with like.
And what is like for like?
Like for like they are both TV subscription services and the reality is the BBC is the more expensive of the two. There is a reason ever increasing numbers of people, especially young people on a budget, are abandoning the BBC and choosing Netflix and other budget-friendly alternatives.
For someone to refer to the BBC as "free" is either naive or ignorant.
I am all for a voluntary BBC subscription service but you have to look at the BBC's constituent parts:
1) News 2) Drama 3) Comedy 4) Children's programming 5) Sport 6) Podcasts 7) Weather 8) Regional TV 9) Regional radio 10) Quiz shows 11) Gardening shows 12) BBC CYMRU 13) BBC Scotland 14) BBC Northern Ireland 15) Films 16) Er... 17) That's probably not it.
And then make a comparison. No point just saying, well Netflix has excellent drama and therefore it's worth as much as the BBC.
Do you think Netflix is just drama?
BBC is definitely better at 1 - but ever increasing amounts of people get their News from neither.
Netflix is much better than the BBC at 2, 3, 4 and 15
5 the BBC is better than Netflix but much worse than rivals that care for Sport (if you care for sport you'd be looking at other options)
Weather there are plenty of great websites to visit to get weather info - not sure why you need a TV to do that.
I couldn't care less about 6 through to 14 so couldn't comment on them.
Well exactly. And your priorities will be different to other people. If you differentiated to determine the minimum, you might find that in total, people are happy with what it currently is.
If you would pay, say, £4.99/month for 1, then others would pay £4.99/month each for 2, 4, and 8. Pretty soon you are at £14.58/month for the lot.
With a hell of a lot less hassle, frankly.
Except you don't get charged £4.99 for any of them individually.
Both subscription services offer a package and let people decide which package they want. I pay for many subscription services - Netflix, Sky, BBC, Disney+ and find BBC to be the least value of the lot costing far more than Netflix or Disney and nearly as much as Sky. But I can't have Sky without a Licence Fee which is a disgrace in 2020.
But this started because someone terms the BBC as free. Its not, its more expensive was my point. If I was on a budget I'd drop Sky and the Licence Fee before I dropped Netflix or Disney.
Just out of interest what would be your "go to" smartphone/internet news service? And what radio station would you listen to for news?
I am one of the few people outside NZ that loathes Jacinda Ardern. She has great PR, but she’s an inexperienced nitwit.
She’s just done something fabulous though, which is to take a 20% pay cut, along with the rest of her Cabinet.
I know this is just a symbol, but it is a powerful one that we are “in this together”.
What chances of Boris et al following suit?
I'm no fan of silly virtue-signalling, so hopefully not
Gordon Brown did that in 2010 ... his last action after losing the GE. What a shit that man is.
Is that right? iirc Brown took the cut before the election but did not announce it (so hardly virtue-signalling). That the millionaire Cameron complained about it, despite having promised to do the same, did not show him in a favourable light.
Not sure thats true. My recollection is that the cut was the last action of a complete and utter shit.. Gordon Brown.
I don't really agree with this. If we are going to have to endure lockdown for several weeks more then we don't want the airwaves dominated by a discussion now about it- with different views expressed, some, no doubt arguing for an early end to it. It will simply tempt the numpties to stop taking it seriously and start partying. Human nature, I'm afraid.
Hancock was right, and he did well this morning. Need to know basis.
Nah. He should have said that the government was looking at it and is aware that, just as the lockdown wasn't implemented a minute too early for the sake of the physical and mental health of the nation, likewise will it only be lifted once it has been determined (by "the experts") that it is safe to do so and that "a range of options" are being looked at.
Job done. Range of options? Sounds good to me - serious heads are giving this some time.
But complete silence is not ok. Apart from those who have forgotten that we live in a democracy with an accountable government that has (rightly, obvs) just imposed the most draconian restriction of human rights since the war.
We already know what you said in your first paragraph. You`ve just stated the obvious.
Absolutely. And yesterday the Scottish government explained that they were simply not able to make the investment in mental health that they had promised because of the money spent on CV. Huge mistake. So many lives lost, so many more turned into a living hell. We need that investment more than ever.
As an example the overlap between those who die of a drug overdose and those receiving (inadequate) mental health treatment is frightening and a major reason we have the worst record for drug deaths in Europe. Self medicating by desperately unhappy people.
We must also remember those people whose lives will be shortened as hospitals are all but closed to just Ciovid 19 patients and all other surgeries are being delayed indefinitely.
I liked the idea yesterday of bringing the Nightingale hospitals fully into service so our hospitals can get back to the day job. The NHS has done remarkably well in creating the extra capacity but we can’t go on like this indefinitely.
I can understand why they cleared the hospitals as they did not know what to expect from this virus, but as Matt Hanock stated there were a record number of empty beds in the NHS yesterday. The situation is now that many hospitals are very quiet and are massively overstaffed. The media have tried to find a hospital under severe stress but have failed. As an example my wife yesterday looked afer zero patients. There were numerous other nurses in the same boat. She does feel a bit strange as all food at the hospital canteen is now free to staff, they have installed fridges throughout the hospital which are fully stocked with free cans of drink. Food, flowers, Easter Eggs etc are being donated in huge numbers for the staff (yesterday 1000 tubs of ice cream were delivered), yet she has never done such little work. She feels very guilty, she hates the 8 pm clap tonight.
I am one of the few people outside NZ that loathes Jacinda Ardern. She has great PR, but she’s an inexperienced nitwit.
She’s just done something fabulous though, which is to take a 20% pay cut, along with the rest of her Cabinet.
I know this is just a symbol, but it is a powerful one that we are “in this together”.
What chances of Boris et al following suit?
I'm no fan of silly virtue-signalling, so hopefully not
Gordon Brown did that in 2010 ... his last action after losing the GE. What a shit that man is.
Is that right? iirc Brown took the cut before the election but did not announce it (so hardly virtue-signalling). That the millionaire Cameron complained about it, despite having promised to do the same, did not show him in a favourable light.
The Brown cut took effect after his last payslip went through. He did announce it as well.
Also in NZ, the debate is moving to how to rebuild and recover as lockdown is relaxed.
I have no idea why the govt here is so secretive, prissy, and defensive about such discussions.
They're concerned about messaging. KISS - "Keep it Simple Stupid" (not you!) - at the moment its very simple "Stay at Home" - as that starts to relax the chances of people misunderstanding/taking liberties will increase and risk rising infection.
NZ's case is rather different from the UK - they've made choices we haven't - essentially shutting themselves off from the rest of the world. Thats a choice the UK decided against in its original pandemic plan and is yet to revisit. At the moment the only people who can fly across the Atlantic in both directions are US citizens.
Since the evidence suggests we are getting the message even more than the govt projected, I disagree.
The British public are not retarded. They can handle the idea that at some stage - and perhaps sooner rather than later - we will begin to relax measures.
Indeed, not only can they handle it, it would be very healthy to their mental and financial wellbeing to hear it.
"The most secure bio-labs routinely make errors that could cause a global pandemic & are about to re-start experiments on pathogens engineered to make them mammalian-airborne-transmissible"
I am one of the few people outside NZ that loathes Jacinda Ardern. She has great PR, but she’s an inexperienced nitwit.
She’s just done something fabulous though, which is to take a 20% pay cut, along with the rest of her Cabinet.
I know this is just a symbol, but it is a powerful one that we are “in this together”.
What chances of Boris et al following suit?
I'm no fan of silly virtue-signalling, so hopefully not
Gordon Brown did that in 2010 ... his last action after losing the GE. What a shit that man is.
Is that right? iirc Brown took the cut before the election but did not announce it (so hardly virtue-signalling). That the millionaire Cameron complained about it, despite having promised to do the same, did not show him in a favourable light.
The Brown cut took effect after his last payslip went through. He did announce it as well.
If he announced it, how was Cameron taken by surprise?
Also in NZ, the debate is moving to how to rebuild and recover as lockdown is relaxed.
I have no idea why the govt here is so secretive, prissy, and defensive about such discussions.
NZ's case is rather different from the UK - they've made choices we haven't - essentially shutting themselves off from the rest of the world. Thats a choice the UK decided against in its original pandemic plan and is yet to revisit. At the moment the only people who can fly across the Atlantic in both directions are US citizens.
NZ is pretty much cut off from the rest of the world as a matter of course.
The BBC needs a kick up the arse. It’s news operation is complacent. It’s drama is too worthy. Much of its output is very predictable.
But scrap the BBC? Fuck off. It’s a great national asset, like the NHS, the monarchy, the armed forces, and the National Trust.
I don't think anyone said it should be scrapped.
Those who want it should voluntarily subscribe to it. There already is a subscription fee, just break the link to having to pay for it if you wish to watch other live TV channels would be my only adjustment.
This amounts to scrapping it, as far as I am concerned.
Just fund it through taxation, with some kind of lock on the funding to safeguard its non-political role.
Next.
If that amounts to scrapping it you are admitting its a service that people don't think is worth the money when given the choice and that they would instead choose other service.
Your takeaway from that is lets force them to pay for it anyway via tax even though they don't consider it value for money ?
I haven't had a tv license or tv for about a decade frankly as I long ago discovered that what was broadcast had no value to me and I really don't see why I should be expected to pay for your entertainment just because you like it.
I am one of the few people outside NZ that loathes Jacinda Ardern. She has great PR, but she’s an inexperienced nitwit.
She’s just done something fabulous though, which is to take a 20% pay cut, along with the rest of her Cabinet.
I know this is just a symbol, but it is a powerful one that we are “in this together”.
What chances of Boris et al following suit?
I'm no fan of silly virtue-signalling, so hopefully not
Gordon Brown did that in 2010 ... his last action after losing the GE. What a shit that man is.
Is that right? iirc Brown took the cut before the election but did not announce it (so hardly virtue-signalling). That the millionaire Cameron complained about it, despite having promised to do the same, did not show him in a favourable light.
The Brown cut took effect after his last payslip went through. He did announce it as well.
If he announced it, how was Cameron taken by surprise?
The surprise was announcing and implementing it after he was on the way out of office.
Compare and contrast with John Major leaving the Blairs a bottle of good champagne (which he bought with his own money), ice bucket, glasses and a nice note in the No. 10 flat, when he left.
The BBC needs a kick up the arse. It’s news operation is complacent. It’s drama is too worthy. Much of its output is very predictable.
But scrap the BBC? Fuck off. It’s a great national asset, like the NHS, the monarchy, the armed forces, and the National Trust.
I don't think anyone said it should be scrapped.
Those who want it should voluntarily subscribe to it. There already is a subscription fee, just break the link to having to pay for it if you wish to watch other live TV channels would be my only adjustment.
This amounts to scrapping it, as far as I am concerned.
Just fund it through taxation, with some kind of lock on the funding to safeguard its non-political role.
Next.
If that amounts to scrapping it you are admitting its a service that people don't think is worth the money when given the choice and that they would instead choose other service.
Your takeaway from that is lets force them to pay for it anyway via tax even though they don't consider it value for money ?
I haven't had a tv license or tv for about a decade frankly as I long ago discovered that what was broadcast had no value to me and I really don't see why I should be expected to pay for your entertainment just because you like it.
Yes.
Public service broadcasting even benefits people who don’t watch it.
See also, public health services, public education systems, public transport networks etc.
I am one of the few people outside NZ that loathes Jacinda Ardern. She has great PR, but she’s an inexperienced nitwit.
She’s just done something fabulous though, which is to take a 20% pay cut, along with the rest of her Cabinet.
I know this is just a symbol, but it is a powerful one that we are “in this together”.
What chances of Boris et al following suit?
I'm no fan of silly virtue-signalling, so hopefully not
Gordon Brown did that in 2010 ... his last action after losing the GE. What a shit that man is.
Is that right? iirc Brown took the cut before the election but did not announce it (so hardly virtue-signalling). That the millionaire Cameron complained about it, despite having promised to do the same, did not show him in a favourable light.
The Brown cut took effect after his last payslip went through. He did announce it as well.
Found out yesterday that my 19 year old son is self harming. For his generation this is agony. Can't go out. Can't see people. Can't do stuff. Can't even go to college as a distraction. A big fat blank where a future should be. His mum then more in a flap about the risk of him going to uni in September because the virus. For me that will be one of many risks of going to uni including the traditional getting dangerously drunk and waking up in bramble bushes at 3am with no idea where you are or how you got there, have lost your glasses so can't see great and appear to have someone else's hooded top on backwards...
My condolences to your son RP, I hope he's able to get help if he needs it. I think I'd have gone insane at that age if I'd not been able to go out and potentially had issues starting uni.
More likely no-one can decide whether the cream or jam goes on first until Boris is fully recuperated. Dom did not appoint the Cabinet to think for themselves. The government's failure to get a grip will be ruthlessly exploited by Starmer unless Sir Keith Kieth started by announcing he did not want to criticise the government. Oh.
Johnson is in a fantastic position right now. Most of the country believes that through a mixture of his indomitable spirit and the NHS miracle workers involved in his care he has just come through a near death experience in a personal battle against the very virus the nation is at war with. This is PR gold and he will not want to jeopardize it by returning to the fray too quickly. If he did there is a risk of people going, “hang on, he looks OK to me, was he really quite as sick as they were making out?” Whatever the answer to this it is not a question he wants out there being floated. So, rest assured we will not see him chairing cabinets or cobras or fronting up daily pressers any time soon. What we will get is the occasional short and inspirational video in which he talks directly to his people. To us. Behind the scenes, however, he will be in charge. I expect the line within government is that he is a little too weak to be doing things like reading documents, especially any with lots of numbers in, but is absolutely up to making the big “Great Man” calls based on being orally briefed by his key colleagues and advisors, especially Michael Gove. So, all in all, if you’re Boris Johnson, a most satisfactory state of affairs and one he will be keen to prolong for as long as is humanly possible.
The BBC needs a kick up the arse. It’s news operation is complacent. It’s drama is too worthy. Much of its output is very predictable.
But scrap the BBC? Fuck off. It’s a great national asset, like the NHS, the monarchy, the armed forces, and the National Trust.
I don't think anyone said it should be scrapped.
Those who want it should voluntarily subscribe to it. There already is a subscription fee, just break the link to having to pay for it if you wish to watch other live TV channels would be my only adjustment.
This amounts to scrapping it, as far as I am concerned.
Just fund it through taxation, with some kind of lock on the funding to safeguard its non-political role.
Next.
If that amounts to scrapping it you are admitting its a service that people don't think is worth the money when given the choice and that they would instead choose other service.
Your takeaway from that is lets force them to pay for it anyway via tax even though they don't consider it value for money ?
I haven't had a tv license or tv for about a decade frankly as I long ago discovered that what was broadcast had no value to me and I really don't see why I should be expected to pay for your entertainment just because you like it.
Yes.
Public service broadcasting even benefits people who don’t watch it.
See also, public health services, public education systems, public transport networks etc.
The bbc does very little public service broadcasting 99.9% of its output is crap like eastenders and bake off / home/ holiday ripoffs.
You want it you pay for it. It is no benefit to me in the least and no nor do I listen to the radio. If the bbc disappeared tomorrow it wouldn't affect how informed people are in the slightest.
The BBC needs a kick up the arse. It’s news operation is complacent. It’s drama is too worthy. Much of its output is very predictable.
But scrap the BBC? Fuck off. It’s a great national asset, like the NHS, the monarchy, the armed forces, and the National Trust.
I don't think anyone said it should be scrapped.
Those who want it should voluntarily subscribe to it. There already is a subscription fee, just break the link to having to pay for it if you wish to watch other live TV channels would be my only adjustment.
This amounts to scrapping it, as far as I am concerned.
Just fund it through taxation, with some kind of lock on the funding to safeguard its non-political role.
Next.
If that amounts to scrapping it you are admitting its a service that people don't think is worth the money when given the choice and that they would instead choose other service.
Your takeaway from that is lets force them to pay for it anyway via tax even though they don't consider it value for money ?
I haven't had a tv license or tv for about a decade frankly as I long ago discovered that what was broadcast had no value to me and I really don't see why I should be expected to pay for your entertainment just because you like it.
Yes.
Public service broadcasting even benefits people who don’t watch it.
See also, public health services, public education systems, public transport networks etc.
The bbc does very little public service broadcasting 99.9% of its output is crap like eastenders and bake off / home/ holiday ripoffs.
You want it you pay for it. It is no benefit to me in the least and no nor do I listen to the radio. If the bbc disappeared tomorrow it wouldn't affect how informed people are in the slightest.
“I have no kids, why do I have to pay for schools”. Just pure selfishness.
The BBC needs a kick up the arse. It’s news operation is complacent. It’s drama is too worthy. Much of its output is very predictable.
But scrap the BBC? Fuck off. It’s a great national asset, like the NHS, the monarchy, the armed forces, and the National Trust.
I don't think anyone said it should be scrapped.
Those who want it should voluntarily subscribe to it. There already is a subscription fee, just break the link to having to pay for it if you wish to watch other live TV channels would be my only adjustment.
This amounts to scrapping it, as far as I am concerned.
Just fund it through taxation, with some kind of lock on the funding to safeguard its non-political role.
Next.
If that amounts to scrapping it you are admitting its a service that people don't think is worth the money when given the choice and that they would instead choose other service.
Your takeaway from that is lets force them to pay for it anyway via tax even though they don't consider it value for money ?
I haven't had a tv license or tv for about a decade frankly as I long ago discovered that what was broadcast had no value to me and I really don't see why I should be expected to pay for your entertainment just because you like it.
Yes.
Public service broadcasting even benefits people who don’t watch it.
See also, public health services, public education systems, public transport networks etc.
The bbc does very little public service broadcasting 99.9% of its output is crap like eastenders and bake off / home/ holiday ripoffs.
You want it you pay for it. It is no benefit to me in the least and no nor do I listen to the radio. If the bbc disappeared tomorrow it wouldn't affect how informed people are in the slightest.
“I have no kids, why do I have to pay for schools”. Just pure selfishness.
I have no love for the argument that "I don't use something so I don't see why I should have to pay for it". Sheer libertarian twaddle. People benefit from the BBC in plenty of ways, from weather forecast distribution to enjoying soap operas. It's the key vector for important national news, is the default channel for most radio listeners because it understands its audience. It has a public education role (and produces the best documentaries in the world) which it is good at, and its kids TV has been superb ever since I was a kid.
Comments
I’m very sorry, Mr Pioneers.
https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/check-if-you-need-one/topics/what-does-your-licence-fee-pay-for-top13
If any paper seems stuck in the past its the Nat Onal.
Those who want it should voluntarily subscribe to it. There already is a subscription fee, just break the link to having to pay for it if you wish to watch other live TV channels would be my only adjustment.
There still seem to be wildly varying non-bonkers estimates about how many people have actually got this thing; At the "lots" end, the UK might genuinely be a long way on the way to herd immunity, whereas at the "few" end you need to get as close as you can to eradication. That's OK right now because you're at or above the level you'd want if you were going the herd immunity route, but once you get cases back under control you have to choose one way or the other, hopefully without relying on a coin flip.
He'll be ok. But the "cabin fever" that those of us with a decent house and stuff and ok mental health are suffering is nothing compared to those shut away by themselves with less resilient mental states. Guy rang into James O'Brien yesterday on his "are you alright?" topic and wept down the phone at the impact his living alone was having on him. Yes we need to control the virus. But as with the economic damage the shutdown plus "fuck you" business loans/UC policy implementation is causing, they need to consider what will be left of us as and when this indefinite period of waiting is lifted. They hope for a V-shaped recovery. No chance. We're broken.
She’s just done something fabulous though, which is to take a 20% pay cut, along with the rest of her Cabinet.
I know this is just a symbol, but it is a powerful one that we are “in this together”.
What chances of Boris et al following suit?
Just fund it through taxation, with some kind of lock on the funding to safeguard its non-political role.
Next.
So when is it?
In a critique of the WHO she contests that the WHO had their eye off the ball with Covid-19 because they did nothing about the previous 18 strains.
So please, no more criticism of Priti for being terminally stupid.
Onion divot likes the articles by the man pretending to be a talking dog so is sticking with it.
I have no idea why the govt here is so secretive, prissy, and defensive about such discussions.
You can disagree but they aren't being secretive.
This is Priti Patel trying to read out the number 19.
https://twitter.com/harryb22/status/1248994294121345025?s=21
If you would pay, say, £4.99/month for 1, then others would pay £4.99/month each for 2, 4, and 8. Pretty soon you are at £14.58/month for the lot.
With a hell of a lot less hassle, frankly.
Demographics of those who have Covid-19 have also been updated, with the age range from 0 to 99 years old.
Only about 4% of cases are under 18.
https://guernseypress.com/news/2020/04/15/coronavirus-good-news-as-infection-curve-starts-to-flatten/
We know very well already that this government doesn’t really do competence.
All very plausible if you drink enough conspiracy juice.
So government’s shouldn’t bother leading then, for fear of criticism from the Opposition.
What a shower.
Both likely to be subject to public inquiries in some sun-kissed corona-free future.
These are life experiences and we all grow and learn. But being cooped up in your bedroom for endless weeks with no end in sight and massive uncertainty over what happens next? Hard for the kids. And you don't know what their home life is like. He's split from his boyfriend - they can't see each other. And BF's parents seriously dislike his "lifestyle choices" and being basically imprisoned with authority figures who tell you endlessly how much they dislike who he is had apparently sent the BF over the edge, and his mental health breakdown was then impacting so badly on my son that he had to end it.
Life...
At least 11,600 people in Spain have died in social service residences due to the coronavirus or with compatible symptoms, according to figures calculated by El País. Senior centers have been hit particularly hard, but discrepancies in the data mean it is impossible to know the extent of the problem. El Pais
Both subscription services offer a package and let people decide which package they want. I pay for many subscription services - Netflix, Sky, BBC, Disney+ and find BBC to be the least value of the lot costing far more than Netflix or Disney and nearly as much as Sky. But I can't have Sky without a Licence Fee which is a disgrace in 2020.
But this started because someone terms the BBC as free. Its not, its more expensive was my point. If I was on a budget I'd drop Sky and the Licence Fee before I dropped Netflix or Disney.
Hospitals not overwhelmed - tick
Private sector engaged and delivering - tick
10k tests a day - tick
Job done. Range of options? Sounds good to me - serious heads are giving this some time.
But complete silence is not ok. Apart from those who have forgotten that we live in a democracy with an accountable government that has (rightly, obvs) just imposed the most draconian restriction of human rights since the war.
https://twitter.com/soniasodha/status/1250695047026290693?s=20
I’ll give you “hospitals not overwhelmed”.
Pinned tweet:
https://twitter.com/ScotNational/status/1121051194607247360?s=20
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/15/opinion/coronavirus-antibodies-test.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage
Or rather, I’ve told Mrs Walker that Miss Walker will be back at school May 10.
It doesn’t feel like the wrong date, though, as annoying as it is for Cummings/Boris to time such moves according to the PR schedule.
It must be very hard - going from an environment where people queue up to give you information.
Having it replaced by one where you have to try and work out how Google works and read numbers and all that hard stuff.
NZ's case is rather different from the UK - they've made choices we haven't - essentially shutting themselves off from the rest of the world. Thats a choice the UK decided against in its original pandemic plan and is yet to revisit. At the moment the only people who can fly across the Atlantic in both directions are US citizens.
The British public are not retarded. They can handle the idea that at some stage - and perhaps sooner rather than later - we will begin to relax measures.
Indeed, not only can they handle it, it would be very healthy to their mental and financial wellbeing to hear it.
"The most secure bio-labs routinely make errors that could cause a global pandemic & are about to re-start experiments on pathogens engineered to make them mammalian-airborne-transmissible"
https://dominiccummings.com/2019/03/04/the-most-secure-bio-labs-routinely-make-errors-that-could-cause-a-global-pandemic-are-about-to-re-start-experiments-on-pathogens-engineered-to-make-them-mammalian-airborne-transmissible/
Your takeaway from that is lets force them to pay for it anyway via tax even though they don't consider it value for money ?
I haven't had a tv license or tv for about a decade frankly as I long ago discovered that what was broadcast had no value to me and I really don't see why I should be expected to pay for your entertainment just because you like it.
EDIT - it's come back again!
Compare and contrast with John Major leaving the Blairs a bottle of good champagne (which he bought with his own money), ice bucket, glasses and a nice note in the No. 10 flat, when he left.
Public service broadcasting even benefits people who don’t watch it.
See also, public health services, public education systems, public transport networks etc.
Edit - it's there on my mobile, but mostly hidden by the RH sidebar. You have to know what to click to get it. Opera Browser on a Pixel 3a.
More annoying it's been cropping the LH margin so close on my mobile it loses the first character of each line of text, which is very irritating.
You want it you pay for it. It is no benefit to me in the least and no nor do I listen to the radio. If the bbc disappeared tomorrow it wouldn't affect how informed people are in the slightest.
Click to sort by 10th column. San Marino comes out top.
Just pure selfishness.
And this edited on android.