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Latest COVID related polling and an excellent cartoon on Boris’s challenge – politicalbetting.com

13

Comments

  • isamisam Posts: 41,118
    edited September 2020
    Foxy said:

    DavidL said:

    Foxy said:

    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    FF43 said:

    DavidL said:

    The tweet before says she can't understand how it has come to this.

    Because we are being led by a ship of fools.
    The reason is because preparing for Brexit has been done for just over 12 months.

    Under Theresa May and Phil Hammond no money for serious planning was put up and no decisions made. So now its all being done quickly, but its getting done.
    Hammond in particular’s failure to prepare was deeply scandalous. I am astonished that he is thought worthy of the Tory whip in the Lords.
    The fundamental reason why the government under both May and Johnson have failed to prepare is because no-one has been honest about what Brexit entails. Leavers didn't intend to vote for massive boosts in bureaucracy, to make things more difficult, more costly, more time-consuming and in some cases impossible. Even though that's what they actually did vote for.

    So is Hammond more disgraceful for knowing exactly what Brexit would result in - he voted Remain after all - but doing nothing about it after the vote. Or is Johnson the worse culprit for being dishonest in the first place?
    Hammond is the most at fault. He chose to accept the second highest position in a government that was supposedly committed to a policy he did not support and sought actively to frustrate. It’s disgraceful.
    You're in deep denial about your own choices and are lashing out.
    Not at all. I was asked a question and I answered it. My main criticism of Hammond was that he had the imagination of a junior bank manager ( and I apologise to any of them on this board). His budgets completely lacked imagination, innovation or purpose. I suppose that suited May well enough but it did the country no favours. His uselessness as Chancellor did more damage to this country than his dishonesty about Brexit because it was far more important to our future prospects.
    To be clear Brexit was, is and will remain a side issue in the management of our economy.
    I think Brexit, even hard Brexit, could have been a side issue if it was managed properly. Unfortunately that has not been the case.

    There really is no excuse for the lack of preparations for customs. We refused a Customs Union so whatever else was the outcome of negotiations required them.

    This is a a government of fuckwits. We have no need of exports.
    I agree with your first sentence. I have a lot of sympathy for the next 3. Actually I just agree with them too. What the hell has been going on?
    Many of the leading Brexiteers in the Tory party didn't really believe in Brexit but just saw it as a way to a) win power and/or b) get a better deal out of the EU. They didn't actually want to have to go through with it. In reality there isn't much difference between Hammond and Gove's views on it.
    There seems to be a complete failure by Brexiteers to understand that Brexit means Brexit. They were so wrapped up in flag waving culture war that they didn't make any proper plans for third country status. Chickens are coming home to roost.
    If the three main parties had done something about mass immigration, there would never have been a referendum for Leave to win. But they couldn't wean themselves off it
  • Look at those ZOE app numbers...to infinity and beyond.

    https://twitter.com/cricketwyvern/status/1308790415974371329?s=19

    What is ZOE app symptom?
    A huge app-based survey of symptoms people get with COVID- they are one of the groups who recognised the importance of loss of taste/smell as a key symptom.

    One of the things they can do with their data set is a real-time estimate of the number of infections each day. (They make it 14 thousand new infections yesterday across the UK.)

    If you're not signed up, it's here:

    https://covid.joinzoe.com/
    Thanks. So the table is of people who have a symptom that ZOE flags up? In which case a lot will be normal colds surely?
  • Foxy said:

    DavidL said:

    Foxy said:

    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    FF43 said:

    DavidL said:

    The tweet before says she can't understand how it has come to this.

    Because we are being led by a ship of fools.
    The reason is because preparing for Brexit has been done for just over 12 months.

    Under Theresa May and Phil Hammond no money for serious planning was put up and no decisions made. So now its all being done quickly, but its getting done.
    Hammond in particular’s failure to prepare was deeply scandalous. I am astonished that he is thought worthy of the Tory whip in the Lords.
    The fundamental reason why the government under both May and Johnson have failed to prepare is because no-one has been honest about what Brexit entails. Leavers didn't intend to vote for massive boosts in bureaucracy, to make things more difficult, more costly, more time-consuming and in some cases impossible. Even though that's what they actually did vote for.

    So is Hammond more disgraceful for knowing exactly what Brexit would result in - he voted Remain after all - but doing nothing about it after the vote. Or is Johnson the worse culprit for being dishonest in the first place?
    Hammond is the most at fault. He chose to accept the second highest position in a government that was supposedly committed to a policy he did not support and sought actively to frustrate. It’s disgraceful.
    You're in deep denial about your own choices and are lashing out.
    Not at all. I was asked a question and I answered it. My main criticism of Hammond was that he had the imagination of a junior bank manager ( and I apologise to any of them on this board). His budgets completely lacked imagination, innovation or purpose. I suppose that suited May well enough but it did the country no favours. His uselessness as Chancellor did more damage to this country than his dishonesty about Brexit because it was far more important to our future prospects.
    To be clear Brexit was, is and will remain a side issue in the management of our economy.
    I think Brexit, even hard Brexit, could have been a side issue if it was managed properly. Unfortunately that has not been the case.

    There really is no excuse for the lack of preparations for customs. We refused a Customs Union so whatever else was the outcome of negotiations required them.

    This is a a government of fuckwits. We have no need of exports.
    I agree with your first sentence. I have a lot of sympathy for the next 3. Actually I just agree with them too. What the hell has been going on?
    Many of the leading Brexiteers in the Tory party didn't really believe in Brexit but just saw it as a way to a) win power and/or b) get a better deal out of the EU. They didn't actually want to have to go through with it. In reality there isn't much difference between Hammond and Gove's views on it.
    There seems to be a complete failure by Brexiteers to understand that Brexit means Brexit. They were so wrapped up in flag waving culture war that they didn't make any proper plans for third country status. Chickens are coming home to roost.
    The guiding ethos was always that we just needed to show Brussels that we were serious and the EU would bend over backwards to keep us happy. Instead they've turned our formerly serious image into a joke.
  • kyf_100 said:

    Scott_xP said:
    There are signs of a resistance movement among young people against their disgusting treatment at the hands of absolutely everybody in the establishment.

    Think back to your school and university days, and compare those with what the young are going through now.

    Its quite appalling.
    I don't think I'd be paying 10k a year to watch live stream videos in a tiny dorm room and no student bar.
    And you must only socialise with those from your flat. You better hope you haven't got unlucky and been put in alongside 1 or 2 total knobheads.
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 53,859

    nichomar said:

    Scott_xP said:
    There are signs of a resistance movement among young people against their disgusting treatment at the hands of absolutely everybody in the establishment.

    Think back to your school and university days, and compare those with what the young are going through now.

    Its quite appalling.
    What should their contribution have been to control the pandemic then?
    Just imagine going to university and not being able to congregate in groups of more than six. Gruesome. Gruesome. Barbaric.

    And when you come out, laden with debt, what are your prospects in lockdown Britain?
    My son is due to go to University in October next year. I am seriously thinking about a gap year for him even although it would delay my retirement. The options available to our young people right now are nothing short of horrendous.
  • AlistairAlistair Posts: 23,670
    Andy_JS said:

    stodge said:

    More US polling this evening:

    Quinnipiac has Biden up 52-42 nationally.

    https://poll.qu.edu/images/polling/us/us09232020_ufth12.pdf

    1302 Likely voters with a margin of error of 2.7%.

    A Civitas poll in North Carolina has Trump a point ahead 45-44 with 8% Undecided.

    https://www.nccivitas.org/polling/trump-biden-dead-heat/

    612 Likely voters in the State with a near 4% Margin of Error so the headline isn't wrong.

    National polls have never been so irrelevant. It's the state polls that are important.
    If you had looked at the state polls (like I did in 2016) yo d have thought there was no chance of Clinton losing.

    If you looked at the National polling you'd have seen massive Trump momentum.
  • contrariancontrarian Posts: 5,818
    kyf_100 said:

    Scott_xP said:
    There are signs of a resistance movement among young people against their disgusting treatment at the hands of absolutely everybody in the establishment.

    Think back to your school and university days, and compare those with what the young are going through now.

    Its quite appalling.
    I don't think I'd be paying 10k a year to watch live stream videos in a tiny dorm room and no student bar.
    And then to come out into a world where five million are unemployed and the economy has been scarred for decades.

    With a huge deficit and debt to contend with. High taxes for ever.

    Yeh but a few eighty year old with two co-morbidities lived a few months longer. So that's OK then.

    FFS
  • FF43 said:

    FF43 said:

    FF43 said:

    ydoethur said:

    isam said:

    ydoethur said:

    isam said:

    This is something I've noticed for a while, the Tories do like talking about Sir Keir Starmer.

    https://twitter.com/ChairmanMoet/status/1308830133894209548

    They're trying to make him sound posh, but his working class, one of the lads credentials are bang on - violin lessons at Private school are on every white van man's CV
    The problem isn’t that. The problem is that you don’t want to be weaponising class when your own party leader is a thick posho transparently only there because daddy pulled the right strings.

    I don’t buy Keir Starmer’s proletarian schtick, but compared to Boris Johnson or indeed Jeremy Corbyn he’s a veritable Worzel Gummidge.
    Maybe so, but Boris schtick is that he is a posho. I think that working class people are more inclined to be alright with that than a middle class, slightly woke, human rights lawyer. But maybe that's just the kind of people I know
    The Johnson schtick is that he’s a posho who understands ordinary people.

    As lies go, this is as unconvincing as Cummings’ claim he needed childcare. And I don’t think it fools anybody. It’s just that people happen to like what they see - the bumbling, slightly shady, clown who makes them all laugh.

    Therefore, as that persona is remorselessly peeled away in office, he doesn’t want any bright lights shone on the relative background of the Tories and Labour. Such a comparison is still not to the Tories’ advantage if it matters - and if it doesn’t matter, he’s wasting time and energy that could be better used.
    Astute post. Stick to your strengths. Which in Johnson's case is as a charlatan that unaccountably, but actually, charms some people.
    When you think about though this is actually quite patronising: it implies he bewitches people who are too stupid to know any better, and so it's his fault.

    Heaven forbid that they might have minds of their own and recognise that Boris understands them and wants to address their real concerns (and not what they're told their concerns should be).

    This is a mistake that liberal elites make time and time again: start with respect and addressing the root concerns.

    Don't practice cognitive dissonance.
    Not exactly. The psychology of charlatans is interesting. Their job is to sell a dream. It has to be believable and authentic, even though the product itself is a fraud. They probably do believe in the story themselves at the point when they tell it, otherwise it won't convince. Johnson understands very well the people he is selling to, their hopes, their fears, their desires - otherwise he wouldn't be as good as he is at what he does.
    Additional important point. You mentioned respect. A charlatan has no respect for the people he is cheating. Johnson in general lacks respect for people.
    “Sincerity is the key to success. Once you can fake that you’ve got it made.”

    There's another intriguing thing going on here. If you start from the theory that Boris is a charlatan (and it explains a lot), then his ascent to power is the biggest grift in history, and the population of the UK are his marks (as I believe the parlance goes).

    But part of the art of the con-artist is to make it really shameful for the victim to admit that they're a victim. Either because it makes them look stupid, or it shows them up for being dishonest themselves. Hence the catchphrase "offer them something for nothing, give them nothing for something".

    https://youtu.be/m4nLURpHGQg

    That might help explain some of the more... contorted expressions of loyalty to Boris. It might also help explain the ongoing floor of 40 % the Conservatives have in the polls. But it doesn't explain what happens next, when the irresistible force of global reality meets the immovable object Boris's story.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,717
    kyf_100 said:

    Scott_xP said:
    There are signs of a resistance movement among young people against their disgusting treatment at the hands of absolutely everybody in the establishment.

    Think back to your school and university days, and compare those with what the young are going through now.

    Its quite appalling.
    I don't think I'd be paying 10k a year to watch live stream videos in a tiny dorm room and no student bar.
    The reason student numbers are up is because the alternatives are crap too. Getting a mcjob in hospitality? Gap year travel? Neither looks much good this year either.

    The first term will be weird, but this is the new normal. Get used to it.

    Fox jr starts this week at KCL. Not living in halls though, but a flat share, so no lockdown.
  • DavidL said:

    nichomar said:

    Scott_xP said:
    There are signs of a resistance movement among young people against their disgusting treatment at the hands of absolutely everybody in the establishment.

    Think back to your school and university days, and compare those with what the young are going through now.

    Its quite appalling.
    What should their contribution have been to control the pandemic then?
    Just imagine going to university and not being able to congregate in groups of more than six. Gruesome. Gruesome. Barbaric.

    And when you come out, laden with debt, what are your prospects in lockdown Britain?
    My son is due to go to University in October next year. I am seriously thinking about a gap year for him even although it would delay my retirement. The options available to our young people right now are nothing short of horrendous.
    Difficult decisions.

    Personally I would say delay if at all possible. You only get one chance at being a student (well, usually) and all the wonderful opportunities and chances that offers. Best to try and experience a normal year.

  • rcs1000 said:

    nichomar said:

    Scott_xP said:
    There are signs of a resistance movement among young people against their disgusting treatment at the hands of absolutely everybody in the establishment.

    Think back to your school and university days, and compare those with what the young are going through now.

    Its quite appalling.
    What should their contribution have been to control the pandemic then?
    Just imagine going to university and not being able to congregate in groups of more than six. Gruesome. Gruesome. Barbaric.

    And when you come out, laden with debt, what are your prospects in lockdown Britain?
    That's a pretty mean thing to say about physicists and mathematicians.
    Forcing physicists into groups as large as six? What kind of monstrosity is this?
  • contrariancontrarian Posts: 5,818
    DavidL said:

    nichomar said:

    Scott_xP said:
    There are signs of a resistance movement among young people against their disgusting treatment at the hands of absolutely everybody in the establishment.

    Think back to your school and university days, and compare those with what the young are going through now.

    Its quite appalling.
    What should their contribution have been to control the pandemic then?
    Just imagine going to university and not being able to congregate in groups of more than six. Gruesome. Gruesome. Barbaric.

    And when you come out, laden with debt, what are your prospects in lockdown Britain?
    My son is due to go to University in October next year. I am seriously thinking about a gap year for him even although it would delay my retirement. The options available to our young people right now are nothing short of horrendous.
    It doesn;t get better after college. We have some young people working for us, single, bright, full of life, who have spent the last six months in sh8tty accommodation in grotty parts of London working and doing not a lot else. One said to me today that another lockdown really would be a massive blow.

    Its bloody awful
  • Scott_xP said:

    Gove sorted Education and the Environment so Kent will be fine...as Normandie Nord.

    https://twitter.com/DPJHodges/status/1308802593230147585
    Somebody else is currently sitting in the same office thinking we will need a permits for people to enter Sussex, G London, Essex and Surrey given the number stuck in Kent.
  • I guess if you are a 2nd or 3rd year it won't be quite as bad as hopefully you already got a friendship group and if you weren't there you would be just stuck at home.

    But freshers, got to be hellish.
  • Look at those ZOE app numbers...to infinity and beyond.

    https://twitter.com/cricketwyvern/status/1308790415974371329?s=19

    What is ZOE app symptom?
    A huge app-based survey of symptoms people get with COVID- they are one of the groups who recognised the importance of loss of taste/smell as a key symptom.

    One of the things they can do with their data set is a real-time estimate of the number of infections each day. (They make it 14 thousand new infections yesterday across the UK.)

    If you're not signed up, it's here:

    https://covid.joinzoe.com/
    Thanks. So the table is of people who have a symptom that ZOE flags up? In which case a lot will be normal colds surely?
    I don't know, but I think the questions are smarter and better calibrated than that. Up to now, it's agreed pretty well against the ONS survey, just quite a bit faster.
  • contrariancontrarian Posts: 5,818
    Foxy said:

    kyf_100 said:

    Scott_xP said:
    There are signs of a resistance movement among young people against their disgusting treatment at the hands of absolutely everybody in the establishment.

    Think back to your school and university days, and compare those with what the young are going through now.

    Its quite appalling.
    I don't think I'd be paying 10k a year to watch live stream videos in a tiny dorm room and no student bar.
    The reason student numbers are up is because the alternatives are crap too. Getting a mcjob in hospitality? Gap year travel? Neither looks much good this year either.

    The first term will be weird, but this is the new normal. Get used to it.

    Fox jr starts this week at KCL. Not living in halls though, but a flat share, so no lockdown.
    You blasted effing hypocrite. How was six years at medical school? bet it was all work and no play (NOT).

    All so that some very old and very sick people can stay very old and very sick a bit longer

    You are happy with that trade off for your children?
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,717

    DavidL said:

    nichomar said:

    Scott_xP said:
    There are signs of a resistance movement among young people against their disgusting treatment at the hands of absolutely everybody in the establishment.

    Think back to your school and university days, and compare those with what the young are going through now.

    Its quite appalling.
    What should their contribution have been to control the pandemic then?
    Just imagine going to university and not being able to congregate in groups of more than six. Gruesome. Gruesome. Barbaric.

    And when you come out, laden with debt, what are your prospects in lockdown Britain?
    My son is due to go to University in October next year. I am seriously thinking about a gap year for him even although it would delay my retirement. The options available to our young people right now are nothing short of horrendous.
    It doesn;t get better after college. We have some young people working for us, single, bright, full of life, who have spent the last six months in sh8tty accommodation in grotty parts of London working and doing not a lot else. One said to me today that another lockdown really would be a massive blow.

    Its bloody awful
    The thing about the virus though is that it exists and yes life would be sweeter without, but wishes won't make it go away. Ignoring it is not really an option. I note that Swedish Universities are much the same in terms of going online.

    https://twitter.com/thehowie/status/1304123055090724864?s=09
  • https://twitter.com/DPJHodges/status/1308855356580401153

    Maybe BSE has spread more widely into humans: it certainly seems to have hit the Cabinet and their advisors.
  • When will Brexiters simply fess up and say, “whoops, I made a really stupid decision and cost the country £200bn (and counting), and it’s international reputation?”.

    The only Brexit ever even slightly palatable was EEA-style, and this was made nigh on impossible by the Brexiter’s own campaign which focused mostly on immigration.

    It really is that simple.

    All we can do now is wait at least a generation for the cancer to abate, if it ever does.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,717
    edited September 2020

    Foxy said:

    kyf_100 said:

    Scott_xP said:
    There are signs of a resistance movement among young people against their disgusting treatment at the hands of absolutely everybody in the establishment.

    Think back to your school and university days, and compare those with what the young are going through now.

    Its quite appalling.
    I don't think I'd be paying 10k a year to watch live stream videos in a tiny dorm room and no student bar.
    The reason student numbers are up is because the alternatives are crap too. Getting a mcjob in hospitality? Gap year travel? Neither looks much good this year either.

    The first term will be weird, but this is the new normal. Get used to it.

    Fox jr starts this week at KCL. Not living in halls though, but a flat share, so no lockdown.
    You blasted effing hypocrite. How was six years at medical school? bet it was all work and no play (NOT).

    All so that some very old and very sick people can stay very old and very sick a bit longer

    You are happy with that trade off for your children?
    Yeah, I worked hard but had a good time too. Not that that means much to this pandemic.

    Yes, life will be peculiar for Fox jr, but he was keen to go and get on with life. What alternative is there?

    BTW Covid-19 does not only kill the very old and very sick, on average a covid victim actuarily lost 10 years of life in the first wave.
  • FF43FF43 Posts: 17,208

    FF43 said:

    FF43 said:



    Not exactly. The psychology of charlatans is interesting. Their job is to sell a dream. It has to be believable and authentic, even though the product itself is a fraud. They probably do believe in the story themselves at the point when they tell it, otherwise it won't convince. Johnson understands very well the people he is selling to, their hopes, their fears, their desires - otherwise he wouldn't be as good as he is at what he does.

    Additional important point. You mentioned respect. A charlatan has no respect for the people he is cheating. Johnson in general lacks respect for people.
    “Sincerity is the key to success. Once you can fake that you’ve got it made.”

    There's another intriguing thing going on here. If you start from the theory that Boris is a charlatan (and it explains a lot), then his ascent to power is the biggest grift in history, and the population of the UK are his marks (as I believe the parlance goes).

    But part of the art of the con-artist is to make it really shameful for the victim to admit that they're a victim. Either because it makes them look stupid, or it shows them up for being dishonest themselves. Hence the catchphrase "offer them something for nothing, give them nothing for something".

    https://youtu.be/m4nLURpHGQg

    That might help explain some of the more... contorted expressions of loyalty to Boris. It might also help explain the ongoing floor of 40 % the Conservatives have in the polls. But it doesn't explain what happens next, when the irresistible force of global reality meets the immovable object Boris's story.
    @Casino_Royale also mentioned cognitive dissonance, which is a coping mechanism. I guess some people will stick with him to the bitter end and others go back to doing and thinking what they did before. Don't know...

    One thing that puzzles me about successful charlatans, is why they have a deep rooted need to cheat people. Salesman is an honourable profession that not many people are really good at. They are very marketable. Why don't they sell an honest product?
  • geoffwgeoffw Posts: 8,720
    RIP  Juliette Greco
  • dr_spyndr_spyn Posts: 11,300
    Looks as if SKS has forced out some rebellious juniors. Might upset some of the woke, but may be a blessing in disguise.

    https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/labour-mps-quit-keir-starmers-22732524

  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 34,695
    edited September 2020
    DavidL said:

    nichomar said:

    Scott_xP said:
    There are signs of a resistance movement among young people against their disgusting treatment at the hands of absolutely everybody in the establishment.

    Think back to your school and university days, and compare those with what the young are going through now.

    Its quite appalling.
    What should their contribution have been to control the pandemic then?
    Just imagine going to university and not being able to congregate in groups of more than six. Gruesome. Gruesome. Barbaric.

    And when you come out, laden with debt, what are your prospects in lockdown Britain?
    My son is due to go to University in October next year. I am seriously thinking about a gap year for him even although it would delay my retirement. The options available to our young people right now are nothing short of horrendous.
    That makes no sense.

    Covid-wise things will be vastly better by October 2021, or if not they won't improve any further between October 2021 and October 2022.

    We'll have a functioning vaccine within 12 months or not at all.

    PS You're seriously thinking about a gap year for him?? What is it about kids today that they need their parents to make such decisions?
  • GallowgateGallowgate Posts: 19,468
    edited September 2020
    The NHS trace app is live.
  • The NHS trace app is live.

    It'll be down by 10:30.
  • On Covid, Boris was actually OK last night.
    He has very strange verbal and facial tics, but reading direct from autocue saved him from “comic” asides.

    Having reflected on it for a day l, though, if the virus is spiralling out of control, why is the appropriate measure to shut the pub an hour earlier. Surely that will do the grand sum of fuck all.

    I am worried we are heading straight for Lockdown 2.0, and the consequent economic collapse and mental health calamity.
  • AlistairAlistair Posts: 23,670

    kyf_100 said:

    Scott_xP said:
    There are signs of a resistance movement among young people against their disgusting treatment at the hands of absolutely everybody in the establishment.

    Think back to your school and university days, and compare those with what the young are going through now.

    Its quite appalling.
    I don't think I'd be paying 10k a year to watch live stream videos in a tiny dorm room and no student bar.
    And then to come out into a world where five million are unemployed and the economy has been scarred for decades.

    With a huge deficit and debt to contend with. High taxes for ever.

    Yeh but a few eighty year old with two co-morbidities lived a few months longer. So that's OK then.

    FFS
    10 years.
  • When will Brexiters simply fess up and say, “whoops, I made a really stupid decision and cost the country £200bn (and counting), and it’s international reputation?”.

    The only Brexit ever even slightly palatable was EEA-style, and this was made nigh on impossible by the Brexiter’s own campaign which focused mostly on immigration.

    It really is that simple.

    All we can do now is wait at least a generation for the cancer to abate, if it ever does.

    Brexit will be a tremendous success not that you will ever admit it.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,717

    When will Brexiters simply fess up and say, “whoops, I made a really stupid decision and cost the country £200bn (and counting), and it’s international reputation?”.

    The only Brexit ever even slightly palatable was EEA-style, and this was made nigh on impossible by the Brexiter’s own campaign which focused mostly on immigration.

    It really is that simple.

    All we can do now is wait at least a generation for the cancer to abate, if it ever does.

    Good to see you back.

    There will be a hell of a lot of buyers remorse next year, but not easy to go back.

    Brexiteers are doing a "Cleveland Steamer" on the EU, to ensure that they will not want us back.
  • isam said:

    Jordan Pickford, he's just the English Kepa Arrizabalaga.

    Terrible for the 2nd goal
    England won't do well at Euro 2021 if he's our keeper.
    What do you expect from a mackem?
    The same I expect from Geordies, because in my eyes and ears you're both the same.
    That's the sort of comment I would expect from a Midlander.
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 29,411

    I guess if you are a 2nd or 3rd year it won't be quite as bad as hopefully you already got a friendship group and if you weren't there you would be just stuck at home.

    But freshers, got to be hellish.

    Would have seriously advised eldest to defer had it not been their final year.
    "May as well get it over with as there's no guarantee it will be any better next year" was their response.
    "There aren't any decent jobs to be had, and I can't go travelling, so at least by then I'll have a degree."
    This was in July. Prescient.
  • GallowgateGallowgate Posts: 19,468

    The NHS trace app is live.

    It'll be down by 10:30.
    It seems good to me. It’s using the official apple exposure system on iOS too so it integrates well and you can see what its doing in the background transparently.


  • When will Brexiters simply fess up and say, “whoops, I made a really stupid decision and cost the country £200bn (and counting), and it’s international reputation?”.

    The only Brexit ever even slightly palatable was EEA-style, and this was made nigh on impossible by the Brexiter’s own campaign which focused mostly on immigration.

    It really is that simple.

    All we can do now is wait at least a generation for the cancer to abate, if it ever does.

    Brexit will be a tremendous success not that you will ever admit it.
    If we are still trading on SM/CU terms on January 1st, will you admit you were wrong about Johnson's strategy?
  • Since Apple and Google are powering the NHS app does it work with other countries apps?

    EG if someone using the Scottish (or German or other) app comes near for a sustained time someone using the English one then will that count as a contact? Or do you need to download the NHS, Scottish, NI (and Welsh?) apps separately?
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 34,695

    The NHS trace app is live.

    Oh great, just checked it and I need to buy a new iPhone - requires iOS 13.5 so it's not going to work in my iPhone 6 :disappointed:
  • When will Brexiters simply fess up and say, “whoops, I made a really stupid decision and cost the country £200bn (and counting), and it’s international reputation?”.

    The only Brexit ever even slightly palatable was EEA-style, and this was made nigh on impossible by the Brexiter’s own campaign which focused mostly on immigration.

    It really is that simple.

    All we can do now is wait at least a generation for the cancer to abate, if it ever does.

    Brexit will be a tremendous success not that you will ever admit it.
    Must be hard to be a prophet in the wilderness.
  • Since Apple and Google are powering the NHS app does it work with other countries apps?

    EG if someone using the Scottish (or German or other) app comes near for a sustained time someone using the English one then will that count as a contact? Or do you need to download the NHS, Scottish, NI (and Welsh?) apps separately?

    No, you have to use the separate scottish app.
  • isamisam Posts: 41,118
    And they sacked people who voted against it?

    https://twitter.com/uklabour/status/1308836454731313154?s=21
  • PJHPJH Posts: 646

    I guess if you are a 2nd or 3rd year it won't be quite as bad as hopefully you already got a friendship group and if you weren't there you would be just stuck at home.

    But freshers, got to be hellish.

    I just dropped my daughter off at the weekend for her first year at Uni. There is nothing much going on, no contact from anybody, they are just left alone to fester in their rooms. It's appalling, they can't be expected to endure this for the rest of the year. I expect the dropout rate for first years will be astronomical this year.

    If I was a student I would be agitating against this - the young should be allowed to have a life.
  • When will Brexiters simply fess up and say, “whoops, I made a really stupid decision and cost the country £200bn (and counting), and it’s international reputation?”.

    The only Brexit ever even slightly palatable was EEA-style, and this was made nigh on impossible by the Brexiter’s own campaign which focused mostly on immigration.

    It really is that simple.

    All we can do now is wait at least a generation for the cancer to abate, if it ever does.

    Brexit will be a tremendous success not that you will ever admit it.
    If we are still trading on SM/CU terms on January 1st, will you admit you were wrong about Johnson's strategy?
    No. I have said a new transition period from the Brexit transition into whatever new arrangements we have agreed could be entirely logical, so long as its not an extension of the current transition for its own sake and that we have a pre-agreed destination. An implementation transition, which this transition was not.
  • FF43FF43 Posts: 17,208
    Scott_xP said:

    Gove sorted Education and the Environment so Kent will be fine...as Normandie Nord.

    https://twitter.com/DPJHodges/status/1308802593230147585
    A trade expert, that we apparently need fewer of, explains. An enforced border at Kent is better than chaos at Dover. It's a solution to a problem. [That the problem is a completely stupid one made by the group that Dan Hodges is part of doesn't change that point]

    https://twitter.com/SamuelMarcLowe/status/1308755918922878976

  • GallowgateGallowgate Posts: 19,468

    Since Apple and Google are powering the NHS app does it work with other countries apps?

    EG if someone using the Scottish (or German or other) app comes near for a sustained time someone using the English one then will that count as a contact? Or do you need to download the NHS, Scottish, NI (and Welsh?) apps separately?

    The system talks about “active region” so perhaps not.


  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 21,298
    edited September 2020
    Foxy said:

    When will Brexiters simply fess up and say, “whoops, I made a really stupid decision and cost the country £200bn (and counting), and it’s international reputation?”.

    The only Brexit ever even slightly palatable was EEA-style, and this was made nigh on impossible by the Brexiter’s own campaign which focused mostly on immigration.

    It really is that simple.

    All we can do now is wait at least a generation for the cancer to abate, if it ever does.

    Good to see you back.

    There will be a hell of a lot of buyers remorse next year, but not easy to go back.

    Brexiteers are doing a "Cleveland Steamer" on the EU, to ensure that they will not want us back.
    Thanks. I managed to avoid PB for most of lockdown, but was lured back by last week’s constitutional showaddywaddy.

    I don’t believe there will be any buyers remorse for the psychological reasons cited above.

    Nor do I think the U.K. will “go back”. But in a generation, the leaders of rump England may decide that closer ties with the EU are overwhelmingly in the country’s best interests.
  • On Covid, Boris was actually OK last night.
    He has very strange verbal and facial tics, but reading direct from autocue saved him from “comic” asides.

    Having reflected on it for a day l, though, if the virus is spiralling out of control, why is the appropriate measure to shut the pub an hour earlier. Surely that will do the grand sum of fuck all.

    I am worried we are heading straight for Lockdown 2.0, and the consequent economic collapse and mental health calamity.

    Yep. Very sadly we are about to go through the whole cycle again.

    The one hour pub shut is just to appear to be doing something. Nicola is on to him and has put down a trump card of no household visits.


  • The NHS trace app is live.

    Oh great, just checked it and I need to buy a new iPhone - requires iOS 13.5 so it's not going to work in my iPhone 6 :disappointed:
    The Scottish App doesn't either....
  • Well on the surface, this app, unlike the first one, doesn't appear to have been cobbled together by some undergrads at a 24hr hackathon.
  • isam said:

    And they sacked people who voted against it?

    https://twitter.com/uklabour/status/1308836454731313154?s=21


    The whip was to abstain. Why hand the Tories ammunition?
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 21,298
    edited September 2020

    On Covid, Boris was actually OK last night.
    He has very strange verbal and facial tics, but reading direct from autocue saved him from “comic” asides.

    Having reflected on it for a day l, though, if the virus is spiralling out of control, why is the appropriate measure to shut the pub an hour earlier. Surely that will do the grand sum of fuck all.

    I am worried we are heading straight for Lockdown 2.0, and the consequent economic collapse and mental health calamity.

    Yep. Very sadly we are about to go through the whole cycle again.

    The one hour pub shut is just to appear to be doing something. Nicola is on to him and has put down a trump card of no household visits.


    I really don’t want you to be right.
    For once, I want to believe that Boris has a plan.
  • GallowgateGallowgate Posts: 19,468

    The NHS trace app is live.

    Oh great, just checked it and I need to buy a new iPhone - requires iOS 13.5 so it's not going to work in my iPhone 6 :disappointed:
    Best wait as the next generation of iPhones will be announced within the next month.
  • When will Brexiters simply fess up and say, “whoops, I made a really stupid decision and cost the country £200bn (and counting), and it’s international reputation?”.

    The only Brexit ever even slightly palatable was EEA-style, and this was made nigh on impossible by the Brexiter’s own campaign which focused mostly on immigration.

    It really is that simple.

    All we can do now is wait at least a generation for the cancer to abate, if it ever does.

    Brexit will be a tremendous success not that you will ever admit it.
    Must be hard to be a prophet in the wilderness.
    The best prophets were always in the wilderness.
  • So basically the former leadership team and their key acolytes.

    What an astonishing turn around.
  • GallowgateGallowgate Posts: 19,468

    When will Brexiters simply fess up and say, “whoops, I made a really stupid decision and cost the country £200bn (and counting), and it’s international reputation?”.

    The only Brexit ever even slightly palatable was EEA-style, and this was made nigh on impossible by the Brexiter’s own campaign which focused mostly on immigration.

    It really is that simple.

    All we can do now is wait at least a generation for the cancer to abate, if it ever does.

    Brexit will be a tremendous success not that you will ever admit it.
    Must be hard to be a prophet in the wilderness.
    The best prophets were always in the wilderness.
    And all of them have been loons.
  • I can see this crazy situation where students end up having to do all their lectures online stuck in their uni accommodation and not allowed to leave for months.

    At the moment, most unis plan to do a few hours of in person teaching each week, but if it becomes rife, i can't see it sustainable given how risky it would be for older academics.

    Is it that or they empty out unis and risk spreading it wide and far.

    I fear that bringing the students back has been a mistake, for them and everyone else. As you say, once the virus becomes widespread there are no good options.

    As for face-to-face teaching, I hope the universities will see sense if the virus is rife. At the moment I'm not hearing any movement on that, despite staff and unions raising concerns. Of course, the higher-ups making the decisions aren't the ones being put at risk...

    --AS
  • FF43 said:

    Scott_xP said:

    Gove sorted Education and the Environment so Kent will be fine...as Normandie Nord.

    https://twitter.com/DPJHodges/status/1308802593230147585
    A trade expert, that we apparently need fewer of, explains. An enforced border at Kent is better than chaos at Dover. It's a solution to a problem. [That the problem is a completely stupid one made by the group that Dan Hodges is part of doesn't change that point]

    https://twitter.com/SamuelMarcLowe/status/1308755918922878976

    Thatcher must be spinning in her grave at this anti-markets lunacy.
  • Can somebody explain the bill Labour MPs voted against tonight?

    Also, CCHQ attacks on Starmer remind me of those on Blair.

    They simultaneously - from my reading/understanding - attacked him being too like old Labour whilst also stealing the Tories ideas. Didn't work too well
  • GallowgateGallowgate Posts: 19,468

    I can see this crazy situation where students end up having to do all their lectures online stuck in their uni accommodation and not allowed to leave for months.

    At the moment, most unis plan to do a few hours of in person teaching each week, but if it becomes rife, i can't see it sustainable given how risky it would be for older academics.

    Is it that or they empty out unis and risk spreading it wide and far.

    I fear that bringing the students back has been a mistake, for them and everyone else. As you say, once the virus becomes widespread there are no good options.

    As for face-to-face teaching, I hope the universities will see sense if the virus is rife. At the moment I'm not hearing any movement on that, despite staff and unions raising concerns. Of course, the higher-ups making the decisions aren't the ones being put at risk...

    --AS
    I have my timetable now and I have 2 hours of face-to-face per week. 1 hour of that is between 7-8pm.
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 34,695

    The NHS trace app is live.

    Oh great, just checked it and I need to buy a new iPhone - requires iOS 13.5 so it's not going to work in my iPhone 6 :disappointed:
    Best wait as the next generation of iPhones will be announced within the next month.
    Very unlikely I'll be buying the latest generation - I'll take a cheaper option. In any event, my iPhone6 still works perfectly well in all other respects.
  • GallowgateGallowgate Posts: 19,468
    edited September 2020

    The NHS trace app is live.

    Oh great, just checked it and I need to buy a new iPhone - requires iOS 13.5 so it's not going to work in my iPhone 6 :disappointed:
    Best wait as the next generation of iPhones will be announced within the next month.
    Very unlikely I'll be buying the latest generation - I'll take a cheaper option. In any event, my iPhone6 still works perfectly well in all other respects.
    Yes but the current generation will then be cheaper!

    If your iPhone 6 is no longer receiving software updates from Apple then it wont be getting patches for security vulnerabilities.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,717

    I can see this crazy situation where students end up having to do all their lectures online stuck in their uni accommodation and not allowed to leave for months.

    At the moment, most unis plan to do a few hours of in person teaching each week, but if it becomes rife, i can't see it sustainable given how risky it would be for older academics.

    Is it that or they empty out unis and risk spreading it wide and far.

    I fear that bringing the students back has been a mistake, for them and everyone else. As you say, once the virus becomes widespread there are no good options.

    As for face-to-face teaching, I hope the universities will see sense if the virus is rife. At the moment I'm not hearing any movement on that, despite staff and unions raising concerns. Of course, the higher-ups making the decisions aren't the ones being put at risk...

    --AS
    Yeah, but what was the alternative?

    Sitting on the sofa for a year eating lockdown pasta and playing X box?
  • I can see this crazy situation where students end up having to do all their lectures online stuck in their uni accommodation and not allowed to leave for months.

    At the moment, most unis plan to do a few hours of in person teaching each week, but if it becomes rife, i can't see it sustainable given how risky it would be for older academics.

    Is it that or they empty out unis and risk spreading it wide and far.

    I fear that bringing the students back has been a mistake, for them and everyone else. As you say, once the virus becomes widespread there are no good options.

    As for face-to-face teaching, I hope the universities will see sense if the virus is rife. At the moment I'm not hearing any movement on that, despite staff and unions raising concerns. Of course, the higher-ups making the decisions aren't the ones being put at risk...

    --AS
    I have my timetable now and I have 2 hours of face-to-face per week. 1 hour of that is between 7-8pm.
    7-8pm. You better hope the lecture doesn't drag on or you'll miss the new last orders time. :smiley:
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 57,210

    The NHS trace app is live.

    It'll be down by 10:30.
    It seems good to me. It’s using the official apple exposure system on iOS too so it integrates well and you can see what its doing in the background transparently.


    Draining your battery by the looks of it.
  • GallowgateGallowgate Posts: 19,468

    I can see this crazy situation where students end up having to do all their lectures online stuck in their uni accommodation and not allowed to leave for months.

    At the moment, most unis plan to do a few hours of in person teaching each week, but if it becomes rife, i can't see it sustainable given how risky it would be for older academics.

    Is it that or they empty out unis and risk spreading it wide and far.

    I fear that bringing the students back has been a mistake, for them and everyone else. As you say, once the virus becomes widespread there are no good options.

    As for face-to-face teaching, I hope the universities will see sense if the virus is rife. At the moment I'm not hearing any movement on that, despite staff and unions raising concerns. Of course, the higher-ups making the decisions aren't the ones being put at risk...

    --AS
    I have my timetable now and I have 2 hours of face-to-face per week. 1 hour of that is between 7-8pm.
    7-8pm. You better hope the lecture doesn't drag on or you'll miss the new last orders time. :smiley:
    Exactly my thought! To be honest it actually works great for me because parking in Newcastle city centre is free after 5pm.
  • GallowgateGallowgate Posts: 19,468
    rcs1000 said:

    The NHS trace app is live.

    It'll be down by 10:30.
    It seems good to me. It’s using the official apple exposure system on iOS too so it integrates well and you can see what its doing in the background transparently.


    Draining your battery by the looks of it.
    It was totally at 100% when I downloaded it. :#
  • Pulpstar said:
    After four years of most of these MPs moaning their heads off that 'people weren't getting behind Jeremy' and 'undermining him every step' they immediately turn into rebels once not in charge.

    Hypocrites.

  • FF43FF43 Posts: 17,208
    edited September 2020
    The Star front pages are the best thing around just now. To everyone's surprise I guess. Also the Star confirms the bog roll panic buy situation has come back*. So we know it's true.

    * Extra point for the best bog roll pun so far...
  • GallowgateGallowgate Posts: 19,468
    Using the trace app to scan QR codes at venues is a masterstroke because it will massively drive adoption.

    I’ve just received an email from McDonalds saying they will require customers to use the app to register their track and trace details. Hopefully most others follow suit.
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,594

    Using the trace app to scan QR codes at venues is a masterstroke because it will massively drive adoption.

    I’ve just received an email from McDonalds saying they will require customers to use the app to register their track and trace details. Hopefully most others follow suit.

    What about people who don't have smartphones?
  • Swedish Lockdown incoming...

    Sweden shifts towards lockdown measures: Chief scientist says he is now considering short 'chain-breaking' localised restrictions, amid spike of cases in Stockholm

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8765787/Swedens-lockdown-free-coronavirus-response-risk-officials-mull-chain-breaking-measures.html
  • isamisam Posts: 41,118

    isam said:

    And they sacked people who voted against it?

    https://twitter.com/uklabour/status/1308836454731313154?s=21


    The whip was to abstain. Why hand the Tories ammunition?
    I think the man in the street would assume Labour voted against the bill by virtue of them tweeting their disapproval of the Tories voting for it
  • GallowgateGallowgate Posts: 19,468
    Andy_JS said:

    Using the trace app to scan QR codes at venues is a masterstroke because it will massively drive adoption.

    I’ve just received an email from McDonalds saying they will require customers to use the app to register their track and trace details. Hopefully most others follow suit.

    What about people who don't have smartphones?
    They can stay at home.
  • Using the trace app to scan QR codes at venues is a masterstroke because it will massively drive adoption.

    I’ve just received an email from McDonalds saying they will require customers to use the app to register their track and trace details. Hopefully most others follow suit.

    They should have had the QR code track as soon as we came out of lockdown.
  • Foxy said:

    I can see this crazy situation where students end up having to do all their lectures online stuck in their uni accommodation and not allowed to leave for months.

    At the moment, most unis plan to do a few hours of in person teaching each week, but if it becomes rife, i can't see it sustainable given how risky it would be for older academics.

    Is it that or they empty out unis and risk spreading it wide and far.

    I fear that bringing the students back has been a mistake, for them and everyone else. As you say, once the virus becomes widespread there are no good options.

    As for face-to-face teaching, I hope the universities will see sense if the virus is rife. At the moment I'm not hearing any movement on that, despite staff and unions raising concerns. Of course, the higher-ups making the decisions aren't the ones being put at risk...

    --AS
    Yeah, but what was the alternative?

    Sitting on the sofa for a year eating lockdown pasta and playing X box?
    I was thinking that a half year or year of distance learning might be a less bad situation. Obviously not a real University experience (most living with parents) but more comfortable then being locked in halls of residence, safer than shared kitchens, preserving the opportunity to keep small local friendship groups, and allowing learning to start in some fashion.

    There are no good options in a pandemic, but high-density student accommodation has got to be one of the worse ones, especially if it can't be sustained and many end up going home anyway and spreading the virus further. We'll only know with hindsight, of course.

    --AS
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,594

    Andy_JS said:

    Using the trace app to scan QR codes at venues is a masterstroke because it will massively drive adoption.

    I’ve just received an email from McDonalds saying they will require customers to use the app to register their track and trace details. Hopefully most others follow suit.

    What about people who don't have smartphones?
    They can stay at home.
    I refuse to own a smartphone and I'm not staying at home.
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 29,411

    So basically the former leadership team and their key acolytes.

    What an astonishing turn around.
    Indeed. Reduced to an embattled rump in the wilderness. You could have named a similar number at the height of Blair.
    Did someone collectively slip the nation a stupid pill in 2015?
    One which lasted around 5 years? Kent Road Access Pass (KRAP) being the final symptom before we convalesce.
  • I can see this crazy situation where students end up having to do all their lectures online stuck in their uni accommodation and not allowed to leave for months.

    At the moment, most unis plan to do a few hours of in person teaching each week, but if it becomes rife, i can't see it sustainable given how risky it would be for older academics.

    Is it that or they empty out unis and risk spreading it wide and far.

    I fear that bringing the students back has been a mistake, for them and everyone else. As you say, once the virus becomes widespread there are no good options.

    As for face-to-face teaching, I hope the universities will see sense if the virus is rife. At the moment I'm not hearing any movement on that, despite staff and unions raising concerns. Of course, the higher-ups making the decisions aren't the ones being put at risk...

    --AS
    I have my timetable now and I have 2 hours of face-to-face per week. 1 hour of that is between 7-8pm.
    You have my heartfelt sympathy. It's a horrible situation. I hope you have some positive experiences despite the circumstances.

    --AS
  • GallowgateGallowgate Posts: 19,468
    Andy_JS said:

    Andy_JS said:

    Using the trace app to scan QR codes at venues is a masterstroke because it will massively drive adoption.

    I’ve just received an email from McDonalds saying they will require customers to use the app to register their track and trace details. Hopefully most others follow suit.

    What about people who don't have smartphones?
    They can stay at home.
    I refuse to own a smartphone and I'm not staying at home.
    To be honest it doesn’t matter. We need approximately 60% usage for effective T&T according to that Guardian article so you can get away with not having one.
  • Using the trace app to scan QR codes at venues is a masterstroke because it will massively drive adoption.

    I’ve just received an email from McDonalds saying they will require customers to use the app to register their track and trace details. Hopefully most others follow suit.

    Dystopian.

  • dixiedean said:

    So basically the former leadership team and their key acolytes.

    What an astonishing turn around.
    Indeed. Reduced to an embattled rump in the wilderness. You could have named a similar number at the height of Blair.
    Did someone collectively slip the nation a stupid pill in 2015?
    One which lasted around 5 years? Kent Road Access Pass (KRAP) being the final symptom before we convalesce.
    I assume most of them incluing Corbyn will be expelled from the labour party once the ECHR is published
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,594
    O/T

    This is an interesting essay in Quillette magazine.

    "The Rule of the Masses
    G. Gavin Collins"

    https://quillette.com/2020/09/14/the-rule-of-the-masses/
  • RobDRobD Posts: 59,935
    Andy_JS said:

    Andy_JS said:

    Using the trace app to scan QR codes at venues is a masterstroke because it will massively drive adoption.

    I’ve just received an email from McDonalds saying they will require customers to use the app to register their track and trace details. Hopefully most others follow suit.

    What about people who don't have smartphones?
    They can stay at home.
    I refuse to own a smartphone and I'm not staying at home.
    That's fair enough, but they are under no obligation to serve you.
  • GallowgateGallowgate Posts: 19,468

    Using the trace app to scan QR codes at venues is a masterstroke because it will massively drive adoption.

    I’ve just received an email from McDonalds saying they will require customers to use the app to register their track and trace details. Hopefully most others follow suit.

    Dystopian.

    No it isn’t. Having a decentralised app that doesn’t store data is better than lockdown and being confined to our homes.

    It’s no more dystopian than a venue refusing to take cash and instead requiring electronic payment.
  • RobDRobD Posts: 59,935

    Using the trace app to scan QR codes at venues is a masterstroke because it will massively drive adoption.

    I’ve just received an email from McDonalds saying they will require customers to use the app to register their track and trace details. Hopefully most others follow suit.

    Dystopian.

    No it isn’t. Having a decentralised app that doesn’t store data is better than lockdown and being confined to our homes.

    It’s no more dystopian than a venue refusing to take cash and instead requiring electronic payment.
    Now that it's fully decentralised I don't see what the problem is.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,717
    rcs1000 said:

    kyf_100 said:

    Scott_xP said:
    There are signs of a resistance movement among young people against their disgusting treatment at the hands of absolutely everybody in the establishment.

    Think back to your school and university days, and compare those with what the young are going through now.

    Its quite appalling.
    I don't think I'd be paying 10k a year to watch live stream videos in a tiny dorm room and no student bar.
    And then to come out into a world where five million are unemployed and the economy has been scarred for decades.

    With a huge deficit and debt to contend with. High taxes for ever.

    Yeh but a few eighty year old with two co-morbidities lived a few months longer. So that's OK then.

    FFS
    Have you considered changing your username to 'absurd hyperbole'

    I can just imagine your post at the end of WW2.

    "Hundreds of thousands dead. Millions injured or homeless. No jobs to return to as factories bombed or making the wrong things. National debt at 300% of GDP. Might as well commit suicide now. No future ahead of us."

    Also, I believe that @Foxy has reported the actual number as being ten years of life on average being lost for each CV19 death.

    There is a discussion to have, a serious one, about what level of restrictions we should have, and the costs and the benefits. But you seem to exaggerate the costs ('barbaric' being your most absurdly overused word), while minimising the benefits ('a few eighty years old with two co-morbidities').

    Foxy said:

    I can see this crazy situation where students end up having to do all their lectures online stuck in their uni accommodation and not allowed to leave for months.

    At the moment, most unis plan to do a few hours of in person teaching each week, but if it becomes rife, i can't see it sustainable given how risky it would be for older academics.

    Is it that or they empty out unis and risk spreading it wide and far.

    I fear that bringing the students back has been a mistake, for them and everyone else. As you say, once the virus becomes widespread there are no good options.

    As for face-to-face teaching, I hope the universities will see sense if the virus is rife. At the moment I'm not hearing any movement on that, despite staff and unions raising concerns. Of course, the higher-ups making the decisions aren't the ones being put at risk...

    --AS
    Yeah, but what was the alternative?

    Sitting on the sofa for a year eating lockdown pasta and playing X box?
    I was thinking that a half year or year of distance learning might be a less bad situation. Obviously not a real University experience (most living with parents) but more comfortable then being locked in halls of residence, safer than shared kitchens, preserving the opportunity to keep small local friendship groups, and allowing learning to start in some fashion.

    There are no good options in a pandemic, but high-density student accommodation has got to be one of the worse ones, especially if it can't be sustained and many end up going home anyway and spreading the virus further. We'll only know with hindsight, of course.

    --AS
    I was told the other day that 50% of students now live at home. Not sure of the source.

    Fox jr decided against halls, opting to live with an acting friend, and has other friends living nearby. A good decision, I think.

  • eristdooferistdoof Posts: 5,065
    edited September 2020

    On Covid, Boris was actually OK last night.
    He has very strange verbal and facial tics, but reading direct from autocue saved him from “comic” asides.

    Having reflected on it for a day l, though, if the virus is spiralling out of control, why is the appropriate measure to shut the pub an hour earlier. Surely that will do the grand sum of fuck all.

    I am worried we are heading straight for Lockdown 2.0, and the consequent economic collapse and mental health calamity.

    Cue Anabobazina to shout "ITS NOT JUST ONE HOUR", missing the real point.
This discussion has been closed.