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

rcs1000 said:

contrarian said:

nichomar said:

contrarian said:

Scott_xP said:

https://twitter.com/ZoraSuleman/status/1308858893712359425

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.

You may think this is funny. I really don't. Its an appalling situation.

Foxy said:

williamglenn said:

DavidL said:

Foxy said:

DavidL said:

williamglenn said:

DavidL said:

FF43 said:

DavidL said:

Philip_Thompson said:

rottenborough said:

CarlottaVance said:

https://twitter.com/AnnaJerzewska/status/1308720508494581761?s=20
https://twitter.com/AnnaJerzewska/status/1308727294178009089?s=20

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:

contrarian said:

Scott_xP said:

https://twitter.com/ZoraSuleman/status/1308858893712359425

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.

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.

https://twitter.com/Brexit/status/1308686699099295745

FF43 said:

FF43 said:

Casino_Royale said:

FF43 said:

ydoethur said:

isam said:

ydoethur said:

isam said:

TheScreamingEagles 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.

DavidL said:

contrarian said:

nichomar said:

contrarian said:

Scott_xP said:

https://twitter.com/ZoraSuleman/status/1308858893712359425

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.

DavidL said:

contrarian said:

nichomar said:

contrarian said:

Scott_xP said:

https://twitter.com/ZoraSuleman/status/1308858893712359425

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

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.

rottenborough said:

Stuartinromford said:

rottenborough said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

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.

contrarian said:

DavidL said:

contrarian said:

nichomar said:

contrarian said:

Scott_xP said:

https://twitter.com/ZoraSuleman/status/1308858893712359425

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

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.

Stuartinromford said:

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?

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

DavidL said:

contrarian said:

nichomar said:

contrarian said:

Scott_xP said:

https://twitter.com/ZoraSuleman/status/1308858893712359425

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?

Gallowgate said:

The NHS trace app is live.

It'll be down by 10:30.

contrarian said:

kyf_100 said:

contrarian said:

Scott_xP said:

https://twitter.com/ZoraSuleman/status/1308858893712359425

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.

Gardenwalker 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.

Better off without them then.....

https://twitter.com/OliverMilne/status/1308857401509138434?s=20

rottenborough said:

Gallowgate 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.

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?

Philip_Thompson said:

Gardenwalker 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.

Brexit will be a tremendous success not that you will ever admit it.

Must be hard to be a prophet in the wilderness.

And they sacked people who voted against it?

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

FrancisUrquhart said:

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.

Scott_xP said:

Mexicanpete 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

Foxy said:

Gardenwalker 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.

Benpointer said:

Gallowgate said:

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

The Scottish App doesn't either....

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?

Benpointer said:

Gallowgate said:

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

Best wait as the next generation of iPhones will be announced within the next month.

Gardenwalker said:

Philip_Thompson said:

Gardenwalker 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.

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.

Philip_Thompson said:

Gardenwalker said:

Philip_Thompson said:

Gardenwalker 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.

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.

FrancisUrquhart 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

Gallowgate said:

Benpointer said:

Gallowgate said:

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

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.

AlwaysSinging said:

FrancisUrquhart 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?

Gallowgate said:

AlwaysSinging said:

FrancisUrquhart 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

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.

Gallowgate said:

rottenborough said:

Gallowgate 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.

Looks like Germany is having problems with it's much vaunted covid app


https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/23/glitches-dent-german-enthusiasm-for-covid-contact-tracing-app?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

Pulpstar said:

rottenborough said:

CarlottaVance said:

Better off without them then.....

https://twitter.com/OliverMilne/status/1308857401509138434?s=20

https://twitter.com/dansabbagh/status/1308849876445298689

That's your hard left right there.

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.

https://twitter.com/BBCHelena/status/1308882281071865859?s=20

Gallowgate 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?

CarlottaVance said:

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

Gallowgate 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.

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

Gallowgate said:

Andy_JS said:

Gallowgate 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.

Gallowgate said:

AlwaysSinging said:

FrancisUrquhart 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

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

Gallowgate 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.

Dystopian.

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/

rottenborough said:

Gallowgate 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.

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.

rcs1000 said:

contrarian said:

kyf_100 said:

contrarian said:

Scott_xP said:

https://twitter.com/ZoraSuleman/status/1308858893712359425

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').

AlwaysSinging said:

Foxy said:

AlwaysSinging said:

FrancisUrquhart 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.