Off Topic Coronavirus and NOTHING to do with football thread

Can you believe that of all the health ministers since 2010, the much disliked hunt has been the best. Considering his failures is it any wonder we are in such difficult times?

 

Virtually all the medical associations pressing for tougher restrictions.. Perhaps ironically similar to the rest of Europe..?
My cynical view is that Bojo wanted to keep the economy going at the expense of some collateral.. Dare I say... Deaths...
Shocking really...
OK need to let the economy grow... But masks and health passes will save a lot of lives and get a few hundred thousand wavered to go for the jabs..

 

Things are not improving. Mrs J T is stuck with her severe depression. She is safe , but having to be proactive for even a few days is hard. I worry a little that this long period might make her worse.
I’v tried my best to push the stupid government into some COVID action ( by catching the wretched thing, last Sat during my trip to see ….?) That didn’t go well either. ( Sorry, wrong thread).
I should have gone by car. Wore a mask both ways-nobody else on either train journey bothered. Perhaps it’s not the govt. fault-it’s ours. Anyway, having had vaccines, symptoms are like flu , not worse, ( so far!) so I hope to be ok in a week. Something to be cheerful about. Am still trying to persuade recalcitrant (bohemian) son to have vaccine. Not much more I can do really. Other son (GP) is completely fed up with situation. He tells me that all his colleagues are seriously ready to hand back their contracts unless there is proper recognition of their situation. Demanding more face to face appts. (BTW he ‘s had covid twice. Really loves face to face appts!) is barmy. All it means is patients waiting 4-5 weeks to see the doctor.
I wish I could be more cheerful.
Add in climate change and for the first time EVER I am not sorry to have less years ahead.

 

So sorry to read this JT. I hope you soon feel better, and of course wish your wife some respite from her depression. I really do not understand why the government is frightened to act. It is clear that vaccination along with other measures does bring the numbers of people infected down. I watch Chateauroux playing football most weeks from the comfort of my armchair, but to get into the ground you must have your pass sanitaire, and wear a mask while moving around the ground. Looking at the fans once the game has started, a large proportion of them still wear their masks, and despite them are still quite noisy. Seeing as the nation has a reputation for being a bit on the bolshie side, it seems odd that they are being more considerate of others than you suggest is happening in the UK. We discovered from Rees-Mogg today that you cannot catch the virus from your friends. It seems that classes of schoolchildren are rather proving him to be wrong. I believe that the French government has said that the legislation for the pass sanitaire will stay in place until next July. It really isn't a problem to have one.

 

Thanks for the good wishes. My friend Michael who came over from Provence to meet up last Sat said the same re masks. He was coming next for Manure, but thinks the risk ( as evidenced by my situation) is getting too great.
I think the French reputation for bolshieness is directed at authority rather than friends,neighbours,community.
Rees-Mogg is unspeakably stupid. Does he think MP's never meet anyone else ? ( Of course he may be right and Tory Mp's NEVER associate with anyone other than Tory Mp's).

 

W⚓

 

I concur with that “cynical view”. To me Bozo’s wishes are conspicuous.

When Jim Hacker said to Sir Humphrey Appleby that he (Humph) was a cynic, Humph replied:
“A cynic is what an idealist calls a realist.”

 

Shouldn't be surprised really as Tory philosophy is about free will and free markets. Not obviously themselves a bad thing....


but
..

 

One political 'practice' which completely defeats the purpose of debating in parliament in my opinion. Government minister Paul Scully filibusters to ensure a Bill aimed at protecting worker's pay & conditions goes no further.

https://www.theguardian.com/law/2021/oct/22/anger-as-ministers-block-fire-and-rehire-bill-in-commons

 

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Nothing new I suppose - a doctor exposing the plan to sell the NHS to American Corporations.

 

I will admit to surprise watching vlogs of people going to the match last Saturday. I don't think I saw one mask. That wouldn't be tolerated by the public, here, as much as the authorities. There are members of the loony right wing fundamentalist churches that object, but they are in a tiny minority.

 

I read this piece and wondered why having proof of your vaccination is so difficult to carry with you. I have the paper version that I show and is scanned by a mobile phone when I go into a bar for a coffee. It is so simple I don't think twice about it. Turning up at a nightclub without the admission money would stop you getting in, so why do people think they can ignore the rules over the passports?

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-59034619

 

For anyone interested in what might be going into a river near you, this interactive map will give you some idea. Zoom in to your area, then click on the dots in the area that interests you.
https://experience.arcgis.com/exper...fe6736e37bbc7b/?draft=true&org=theriverstrust

 

There are a couple of tricks to apply before reading anything espoused by BBC Scotland - reading between the lines to see what is not being said and research elsewhere for the truth.


Firstly, the whole article is based on the claim that over 550 ‘revellers’ without vaccine passports were refused entry to venues. That’s the Scottish Hospitality Group’s stated total for one weekend - and they claim to represent clubs Scotland-wide. In Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Dundee, Inverness, Perth, Stirling and Dumfries alone there are 223 nightclubs within city centre areas - without even factoring in nightclubs elsewhere, that averages around 2.5 refusals per nightclub. Not too shocking really - and the only question it should beg is why are a small number of people ignoring the law? It wouldn't actually surprise me if many of those 550 were actually the same people being refused entry at different clubs...


As to the Scottish Hospitality Group itself, and the ‘spokesperson’ named in the article, Stephen Montgomery, a little research paints a clearer picture. The group does have a Linkedin account, but not much else. In that account there is a link to the ‘company website’ - which turns out to be the website for The Townhead Hotel in Lockerbie, owned by none other than Stephen Montgomery. Vested interest? Stephen is a member of the local Conservative club - other members include David Mundell MP and Oliver Mundell (his son) MSP. I know this because Lockerbie is not far from Moffat, where my parents lived - in fact David Mundell bought my mother’s flat when she moved into sheltered accommodation. It’s common knowledge in the area that the Conservative party, courtesy of the Mundells, fund the organisation as a grassroots anti-Independence group rather than re-create the discredited Better Together group. Nothing too wrong with that I suppose, but there is never any mention in any BBC Scotland article - or those of any other media outlet - about their political affiliations or funding source.


The group does seem to be one of BBC Scotland’s go to sources for any anti-Scottish Government comments - another being the MSP mentioned in the article, the unelectable Murdo Fraser. I call him unelectable as he has now stood for election nine times and lost every time - yet has served as an MSP since 2001, because he gets number one spot on the party’s List for a Regional seat - a ridiculous system which guarantees people like him a seat. Murdo is known as a Conservative attack dog, and offers very little else really - he’s an Orange Order dinosaur as well as a Rangers fan, two groups that do little but stir up hatred. I’ve crossed swords with him on Twitter many times over that, to the extent that he blocked me a few years ago. It must give him indigestion to know that some friends on Twitter regularly send me copies of his more contentious posts so that I can continue to berate him.

Having said all that, I admit to having a problem with the SG's vaccine passport app - it simply isn't too user friendly. It requires two photographs to confirm ID - one from either a passport of driving licence, and the other to be taken by your smartphone and uploaded into the app for comparison. Like many others, I've found that the app won't recognise the two photos as valid - so it won't go on to accessing my health records, rendering it useless. Not a problem for me, as I have a paper copy I can use. But it does leave me to wonder - have those 550 had a similar problem and, all being typical of the youth of today and so reliant on technology, they simply refused to carry paper copies?

 

Other than the local theatre, I haven't been stopped anywhere. Utter ****e in my book.

 

Just when you think that a political party couldn't sink any lower, along comes evidence that it has...