Off Topic Coronavirus and NOTHING to do with football thread

Here's one clever way of educating younger children...

 

Interesting who was ‘Ensemble’ in the credits, too.

 

A decent bit of investigation which certainly raises even more questions about the government's ability to get things right. Not only costs but quality are brought into doubt, which of course is not quite how the government sees things.

https://www.newstatesman.com/politi...source-government-contract-covid-corona-virus

 

As opposed to ‘stick your finger in the air and see which way the wind blows’/more worried about appearing to do something than actually doing it/gravy train your mates’ companies with govt contracts going unreported by biased media -style of COVID actions in UK. We are an island yet rank very high in terms of impact. Heads should roll (do I mean figuratively? Depends if Special Branch are reading... ).

 

If???

 

As if people don't have enough problems at the moment, this happens. This looks like another failure in building control.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/oct/19/residents-evacuated-london-paragon-site-brentford

 

What most of the world has been waiting for - a mute button for Trump.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news...ction-special-at-last-a-mute-button-for-trump

 

It would appear that the Westminster government is in panic mode over Scotland judging by the internal report they have received. “If the SNP builds on this momentum then the endpoint could be a full-blown constitutional crisis or a second independence referendum." "Brexit has changed the game and makes the conventional argument against a rerun of the 2014 referendum - that it was a “once in a generation” vote - no longer effective, it said. “Put simply, there are not enough leave voters to convert to the ‘No’ side to make up for the movement of remain voters into the ‘Yes’ camp,” the report said.
At the same time the Welsh government wants to bring forward the job support scheme, even helping to fund it as their lockdown begins. So far there has been a straight no. We have all seen the delay in providing an agreed support package for the Manchester region, which seems to go against all the advice to act quickly. It just seems that controlling the purse strings is more important to London than setting people against them in different parts of the UK.

 

I see that Danger Mouse's partner Penfold has had his bail lifted - but the Tories are still protecting his identity.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...ing-House-Commons-researcher-bail-lifted.html

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They're facing trouble from Jersey too. Possibly more annoying for them given the island's tax haven status?

https://video.twimg.com/ext_tw_video/1316756602515533824/pu/vid/480x270/_Ib0RQ0y7Wbi-05u.mp4?tag=10

 

Boris' plan to break international law rejected by the House of Lords

https://metro.co.uk/2020/10/20/bori...o-break-international-law-on-brexit-13451771/

I can just hear the anguished cries from the Tory benches - "Those damned unelected bureacrats interfering in our government - this isn't the Brexit we voted for..."

 

£5m to help people survive, or 0.042% of the £12bn they/ve spent on the failed Test and Trace. This is just plain daft.

 

You will not have heard of Jo Gideon MP for Stoke on Trent Central in all probability unless you live in the area. She is the chairperson of a national charity, Feeding Britain which is set up to end food poverty and hunger in the UK. Go to their website and you find them appealing for donations. "A donation of just £10 can purchase the equivalent of 30 meals for a family at risk of hunger." You will also find a statement from them. "The [Commons] Committee's report hits the bullseye. The rate at which sums are deducted from Universal Credit, to repay advances and other debts, is driving all too many people to the brink of destitution. The Government has promised to ease the rate of deductions, and make them much more manageable, but not for another 12 months. People who are hungry cannot afford to wait that long. Justice demands that action is taken without delay."
So you might have thought that Jo Gideon would want to support the motion calling for school meals to continue through the holiday periods, but she actually voted against doing so. Her reasoning was that it would be a "sticking plaster". Is her appeal for a £10 donation not a sticking plaster?

 

I'd say that her real reason is simply that her government don't want to pay and would prefer that everyone else pay instead - even though we already do as taxpayers. No doubt a throwback to Cameron's Big Society idea, in which 'empowering the people' really meant 'volunteer and do it yourselves'.

Meanwhile, in the HoC dining rooms, subsidised gluttony will still exist...

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Lucky enough to have eaten there as a good friend of mine was a senior conservation officer for the Palace of Westminster. Decent t enough tukka, ridiculously cheap. Therein lies the point.

Anyway, charriddee is there to make the well off not feel bad about themselves. Trouble is it's not them that gives the more significant portion of their expendable income it's always those who have least to give.
She's in the wrong job. Cow.

 

As someone who has never been a professional teacher, but a person with very close links to schools, I am full of both sorrow and anger when I see the latest news about the government and the attitude that it has to children. As a governor I helped to appoint staff, and got to know them very well. I also was called in from time to time to help out when there was a visit somewhere and it was thought that my knowledge might help out.
I remember very clearly a visit when I was asked to take around four of the known trouble makers. Somehow I got through to them, and the look of a sudden understanding in their faces was hugely satisfying for me. It turned out to be a great day out, and a day that I was told later had changed the attitude of the children to learning.
The sorrow I have is for the teachers who have been put in an impossible situation. If they send children home to isolate they must by law provide online learning within 24 hours. How on earth can they do that if they do not have the tools to do it?
The anger goes to the government who have just slashed the provision of laptops to the disadvantaged pupils by 80%. 61 laptops promised to a school that has now been told they will only get 13.
How has this sudden reduction come about? Well we do know from public record that contracts to provide laptops to schools was given without tendering to a company that was paid £460 per machine, but the specification said that you could buy it from PC World for £199 before discount. If the going rate had been paid twice as many laptops could have been provided.
This may be incompetence or a deliberate policy to benefit their friends, but however you look at it the government has got it wrong yet again big time.

 

If you watch this to the end you will see why the government is so short of money. Selling sandwiches to each other is not enough to run an economy

 

And focus on the rankings from 2016 on. What could possibly be the reason the drop?

 

The Netherlands is only so high because of the export of Frenkie de Jong, Matthis de Ligt, Hakim Ziyech and Donny van der Beek

 

Interesting to compare this with the ratings on quality of life:

1. Denmark
2. Switzerland
3. Finland
4. Australia
5. The Netherlands
6. Austria
7. Iceland
8. New Zealand
9. Germany
10. Estonia

From all the biggest export nations only The Netherlands really scores well here and Germany just creeps in at 9. Big export nations become so by pushing labour costs down and thus remaining competitive - I mean who the hell wants to live in China or the USA.