Ipsos MORI finds for the first time in a year optimists outnumber pessimists – politicalbetting.com

This might explain the current voting intention figures with decent Tory leads, whilst the EU’s vaccine strategy, replete with export bans, has also had an impact, whether this is fleeting or a permanent shift will be interesting.
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It’s a type of Remoaner that believes - seriously - that the Tory government has somehow confected or greatly exaggerated the Covid crisis, so as to mask the terrible damage of Brexit, preventing a national change of mind
It’s a rare yet exceptional new variant. Worth a look just for its flamboyant severity
Why wouldn't anyone be optimistic given what we've all been through? Surprised it is so close tbh.
"Bristol’s administration under Rees closely supervises its citizens. £90,000 is paid to social media company Impact Social to track online platforms,[xx] with citizens’ social media mentions of the mayor and City Council being sent to the Head of the Mayor’s Office and to the mayor’s policy advisers. Though the Impact Social contract says “information from the analysis will be available to anybody upon request,” it took an investigative reporter, Joanna Booth, to make these reports public. Conservative Leader Councillor Mark Weston commented: “This is the first time I have heard of the company ‘Impact Social’ and, given the apparent cost of their contract and supposed non-partisan status, I am surprised that these monthly reports are not more widely circulated or distributed.” Liberal Democrat leader councillor Gary Hopkins added: “We knew nothing about this and it is quite staggering in its gall. The cost of the Mayor’s Office is quite appalling in any case and this is disgraceful.”"
http://bristolcommentary.uk/bristol-is-now-the-uks-leader-in-authoritarian-democracy
Pillocks.
A group of the world’s richest and most storied soccer clubs has agreed in principle on a plan to create a breakaway European club competition that would, if it comes to fruition, upend the structures, economics and relationships that have bound global soccer for nearly a century.
After months of secret talks, the breakaway teams — which include Real Madrid and Barcelona in Spain, Manchester United and Liverpool in England, and Juventus and A.C. Milan in Italy — could make an announcement as early as Sunday, according to multiple people familiar with the plans.
The timing of the announcement appears designed to overshadow Monday’s plan by European soccer’s governing body, UEFA, to ratify a newly designed Champions League, a competition which would be decimated by the departure of its biggest teams.
At least 12 teams have either signed up as founding members or expressed interest in joining the breakaway group, including six prominent teams from England’s Premier League, three from Spain and three from Italy, according to the people with knowledge of the plans.
The group has been trying to get other top teams, like Germany’s Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, to commit, but to date those clubs — and others — have declined to turn their backs on the decades-old domestic structures and Continental competitions that have underpinned European soccer for generations.
The French champion Paris Saint-Germain, for example, has been invited to join but has so far resisted the overtures. Its president, Nasser al-Khelaifi, sits on the UEFA board and also heads beIN Media Group, the Qatar-based television network that has paid millions of dollars to UEFA for the right to broadcast Champions League games.
The teams committed to the super league plan are, for the moment, limited to almost a dozen clubs from Spain, Italy and England. A cohort of six teams from the Premier League — United, Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham — represents the biggest grouping from a single country. Atlético Madrid is the other team from Spain that is said to have endorsed the project, while the Milan rivals Internazionale and A.C. Milan would join Juventus as Italy’s representatives.
The New York Times contacted a number of clubs involved in the breakaway plans but all declined to comment or did not respond. A UEFA spokesman did not immediately return a request for comment.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/18/sports/soccer/super-league-united-liverpool-juventus-madrid.html
https://news.sky.com/story/european-super-league-plans-set-to-be-announced-six-english-teams-involved-sky-news-understands-12279432
https://www.politico.eu/coronavirus-in-europe/
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/european-super-league-five-english-clubs-sign-up-to-breakaway-league-in-challenge-to-uefa-plans-xks8jdxtm
Fans will rebel
I think bribery scandals trigger different levels of rebates,
Thanks to a £4.6bn financing deal from JP Morgan, the Americanization of European Football is nearly complete...
https://twitter.com/MailSport/status/1383799230364409864
The first is explosive of course, the second nothing like as dramatic
The reason I can't get into American sports is most of them are closed shops.
STATEMENT: Premier League on European Super League proposal 👇🏻 #SSN
Still pretty “adventurous”
Our system has developed in a different way and we don't need to change it.
In fact, FIFA and UEFA might insist domestic associations ban these clubs and might ban the players from playing international football.
It is now a closed shop.
BREAKING NEWS:
In a joint statement, UEFA, English FA, Italian FA, Spanish FA, Premier, Liga, Serie A announce that the 12 clubs involved in SuperLeague will be banned from domestic league if they will pursue their project
The players are a weak link. They will come under intense personal pressure - social media, etc - to step away.
And the fact the Germans and French have refused to join is also a massive issue
PSG's owners are closely linked to UEFA.
Edit. I see we've covered that.
EFC in Champions League?
Not all bad. We might have a title challenge next year...
Imagine the loud booing of, say, a Man U player in an England shirt - by England fans. Marcus Rashford won't be so beloved after this
There are so many problems I don't see how this works, and I wonder if it is just a way to bully UEFA into changing the Champ League in a way that's more pleasing to the big teams....
My laptop has just frozen during a Windows 10 update
"50% completed, do not switch off"
It's just stuck on that and has been stuck for hours. It won't even switch off if I press the off button hard and long
Anything else I can do?!
Any other helpful suggestions?!
The auction for the 2022-25 rights cycle is due to be finalised this summer.
The pandemic probably was going to see a reduction in the value of the domestic rights, with today's news, nobody's going to spend huge.
Neither of their fans would stand for it.
It's a Microsoft Surface, it's newish, and it's by far the best laptop I've ever had (until this glitch)
I can see Disney / ESPN spend big bucks...the other option is EPL do their own thing, perhaps in partnership with a technology partner, like MLB did 10 years ago, that became BamTech, which then a load of US sports used and which Disney eventually bought
Macron does not believe that the Russian vaccine "Sputnik V" can now be used in the EU - CBS
And you are right re the politics.
Well we all know how the EU like to ban things involving the Brits.
It seems the ludicrous new system is not ludicrous enough for some.
After that you are on your own because I know sod all about Surfaces. I'd be inclined to wait for longer, and then try restarting it but do what MS says. Also do a search and limit time to the last few days.
I think that's appalling, but it's nothing compared to literally breaking away to form a closed shop, which is what this lot are doing.
Due to be announced Monday.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-9484141/FIVE-Premier-League-teams-sign-European-Super-League-snub-UEFA.html
Why not ask questions such as: why can't care home residents see family in a normal pre-pandemic way when the resident and the visitor has been vaccinated? How can it be right that vaccinated family members cannot see their loved ones when unvaccinated care home staff can? Why are many pubs and other businesses being allowed to bring in rules which are not required by government regulations, thus prolonging restrictions unnecessarily and inequitably? How can it be right that our government is giving non-UK citizens more freedom to travel than UK citizens? Etc, etc .....
Could shoot LibDem fox as well.
It reminds me why I keep an old machine with XP in Oracle virtual box.
*apart from Decrepiter, Poodle, and Stark Dawning: ta for your help
I got straight through to a technician via a chat thingy (not a robot, an actual person)
He was giving me advice when my computer healed itself anyway
But it just took a minute to reach him. That's impressive
New UK figures revealed
Almost 10 million people in the UK have now received both doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, while nearly 33 million have had their first dose.
According to government figures released on Sunday, 9,930,846 people have received a first dose and 32,849,223, their second.
The stats also showed 1,882 further cases recorded in the latest 24-hour period.
A further 10 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for COVID-19 as of Sunday, bringing the UK total to 127,270."
https://news.sky.com/story/sophy-ridge-on-sunday-live-greensill-lobbying-scandal-risks-red-wall-seats-boris-johnson-warned-12278896
https://twitter.com/MartijnRasser/status/1383769537829502979