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Messages - lfdown2

#31
General discussion / Re: China Coronavirus
January 28, 2021, 02:20:17 PM
Quote from: johnnycool on January 28, 2021, 02:03:13 PM
Quote from: Angelo on January 28, 2021, 01:15:42 PM
Doesn't look good for Oxford AZ......


https://www.ft.com/content/e5b64f87-6f2b-3097-b04a-bb76c013a284

Thought the Germans killed that story....

https://www.businessinsider.com/oxford-astrazeneca-vaccine-older-people-study-effective-german-government-2021-1?r=US&IR=T

Smells like politics, and muscle flexing to me (no basis for such an opinion btw) - especially with the ongoing row with supply from OAZ to the EU.
#32
General discussion / Re: Eating Habits
January 28, 2021, 12:09:58 PM
Quote from: Ethan Tremblay on January 28, 2021, 12:00:28 PM
I am all for shopping locally, but at the end of the day the price is going to be the deciding factor in where I buy my groceries. 

I would have shopped in my local supermarket for years, then I tried Sainsburys and bought the same items and the price difference was roughly £15 - £20.  Over the course of the year that accrues to some saving like. 

I do have a distain for the big supermarkets and how they capture your data and analyse it to market you better, and also how they create their own branded products based off of what people are purchasing, they are trying to monopolise the food industry in that regard.  But, as the main breadwinner in my family, I have to do what is financially best for my family. 

I have a friend who is a butcher and I will always give him a turn though, even though I know I could get, say a box of chicken for £7 cheaper elsewhere, that would be a concession of mine.

But do you know what you're getting.

I understand the argument though, the problem being that as the Amazon's and Tesco's of this world get bigger their buying power increases accordingly, and it's at the point now where the small retailers will never be able to compete with them again - it's all about scale.

Apologies for hijacking the thread to discuss the merits of capitalism...
#33
General discussion / Re: Eating Habits
January 28, 2021, 09:33:04 AM
How many of you would consider not only what you are eating but where it has come from?

Since moving jobs closer to my local town I have made a point now of going to the local butcher and green grocer - doing my best not to buy either of those from the big supermarkets. Have also bought some meat from the farm gate and I would have seen a big difference in quality & taste.

I have developed a particular dislike of the big supermarkets through this pandemic too (not that they will care and not that is particularly their fault), when it's all over there will be very little left on the high street.
#34
General discussion / Re: Teachers get it handy!
January 28, 2021, 09:16:55 AM
Same - not sure how it would work practically but it should be considered now as a plan B.

I would have said it is the early years kids that are missing the teacher contact most - I know with our wee one that it's as much as we can do to get her weekly worksheets completed and handed in, its less about teaching her and more about ticking the box - and as I say there are many more disadvantaged and in most instances through no fault of the parents/guardians who are trying to hold down a job at the same time. 
#35
General discussion / Re: Teachers get it handy!
January 28, 2021, 09:00:22 AM
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-55834042

Pupils in Northern Ireland are not set to return to school until Monday 8 March at the earliest.

Education Minister Peter Weir made the recommendation in a paper to be discussed by the executive on Thursday, BBC News NI understands.

It may also be the case that only some year groups go back to school on 8 March, if a return then is possible.


At what point does the year become a write-off, while we aren't so bad, (1 in P1) the wife is part time (and a qualifies secondary teacher) so just about manage to get through the weeks work - how do families with multiple kids and 2 parents in work, or a single working parent and no teaching ability manage? Those kids are severely disadvantaged, I can't help but think beyond the death toll this will be the biggest legacy of the pandemic.
#36
Interesting article from the Newsletter;

https://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/politics/philip-smith-new-research-shows-neithers-problem-union-unionists-3111473

In reality there is a growing cohort who would prefer an independent northern Ireland, as that is not in play it will be a case of the less worse option.
#37
General discussion / Re: China Coronavirus
January 22, 2021, 11:55:03 AM
Quote from: armaghniac on January 22, 2021, 11:40:55 AM
QuoteIs it unreasonable to request clear parameters around the placement and removal of restrictions? So that we can see how far from 'a reward' we are.

You could say that restrictions would be removed when cases were x or whatever. However, it is hard to give definite values for these things, in these islands the whole Christmas thing was derailed by a combination of people pushing the envelope and the arrival of the new variant.

But surely this is exactly what they are doing in the executive - setting parameters, running modelling and then proposing restrictions or not.

Quote from: armaghniac on January 22, 2021, 11:40:55 AM
QuoteAlso, I find it particularly frustrating that we have no indication of forward planning, (short of ring the army) as an example, we are seeing daily that certain hospitals are over 100% capacity, while others are not - the north is a small place in the grand scheme of things, can we not move patients around, we don't see the capacity of the nightingale facilities, how are they being used etc.

I presume they would move patients around if it helped. The Nightingale idea doesn't work because there aren't enough staff to go around, especially as many staff are isolating.

Would these Nightingale facilities not be the perfect facility for the army if they are to be used. While very poorly delivered I could see some merit in the comment from P Sheehan of SF, it is difficult for an army medic/doctor etc to walk on to a ward with which they are unfamiliar and be highly effective. Could it not be that the Nightingale facilities be developed for those professionals and let them run them (we're told there id further availability)
#38
General discussion / Re: China Coronavirus
January 22, 2021, 11:31:25 AM
Quote from: armaghniac on January 22, 2021, 10:59:30 AM
Quote from: GetOverTheBar on January 22, 2021, 10:04:28 AM
That bugs me, not the DUP (well they do), but the blame on the people, all the time.

If you keep blaming the people it only ends one way.

The amount of people I hear daily saying "it's them oul house parties....". Look, of course there are parties going on. But Jesus Christ, just think about it. You would think that every 2nd house in the North was pumping then people just regurgitate that yet your local Tesco is just as "gathered" from open to close and not a word of it because it's allowed.

I haven't been to a party lately, but recalling such things they are nothing like going to Tesco. In Tesco you wear a mask, you may pass people in the aisle but you quickly move on and the whole thing takes 30 mins. The whole idea of a party is to meet people and talk to them, not at all like shopping. So this comparison is bollix.

QuoteThey have yet to twig that when you stop people doing anything, you force their hand. The next few months will certainly now see compliance plummet to minimal levels.

You don't "force their hand", they can just do what needs to be done. People do not drive down one way streets the wrong way because they want to make a point, such things exist for good reason.
All that is needed is a bit of responsibility for a few months, things will be greatly eased in summer in any case.

In the most part people have been 'responsible' for almost a year now, done 'what needs to be done'. However all we have in return is M McBride and R Swan preaching from the pulpit that we're not doing what we are told.

Is it unreasonable to request clear parameters around the placement and removal of restrictions? So that we can see how far from 'a reward' we are.

Also, I find it particularly frustrating that we have no indication of forward planning, (short of ring the army) as an example, we are seeing daily that certain hospitals are over 100% capacity, while others are not - the north is a small place in the grand scheme of things, can we not move patients around, we don't see the capacity of the nightingale facilities, how are they being used etc.   

I suppose in the most part it's just tough now, not tough in that I've lost my job or lost a family member but just sh*t. I have it good, live in the country (have space), still in gainful employment, great family etc but the weeks still roll in to each other with no sign of a way out as we go from one lockdown to the next.
#39
General discussion / Re: China Coronavirus
January 22, 2021, 10:01:16 AM
Quote from: whitegoodman on January 22, 2021, 09:50:09 AM
Is everyone not going a bit over the top with the Israel data.  The chief scientific officer still seemed pretty confident yesterday leaving it for the 10 -12 weeks.  I know you couldn't trust the politicians as far as you could throw them but surely the top medics and scientists aren't just winging it.

Also if lockdown was based on the numbers in hospital going down to a certain number, say 500 for example.  What happens when they go back up to 510 or 550 or 600 ?  To put an exact number on anything makes life very difficult for the decision makers and as we have inept decision makers surely this wouldn't be a good thing.

The decision yesterday to extend the lockdown which was due to end in 2 weeks by a further 4 weeks is, I assume, based on figures such as those I have proposed. As such surely those can be shared.

I would have thought, using your example, that it could be something like; Inpatients - 500, IC Inpatients - 20, R Rate - 0.5 (plus what ever other parameters are relevant) = Open non essential retail etc (Numbers have no basis whatsoever btw)

There could then be a further set of numbers for schools, gyms, cafes, etc
#40
General discussion / Re: China Coronavirus
January 22, 2021, 09:47:55 AM
Quote from: mackers on January 22, 2021, 09:43:27 AM
Quote from: johnnycool on January 22, 2021, 09:35:30 AM
Took my Dad in for his first vaccination yesterday.
He got the Astro Zenica one and isn't due to get the second dose till the first week in April, 10 weeks away.

So, if we're being told that the first dose may only offer 30% of immunity based on the figures coming out if Israel and then it takes a further 10 days after the second dose to get the immunity up into the high 90's (this was initially based on the two doses being three weeks apart though) and my Da's circumstances are the norm, then I think we're going to be in lockdowns of one form or another till mid to late April...
The Israel figure of 30% immunity is based on the Pfizer jab not the AstraZeneca one.  The AstraZeneca one was trialled with a longer break so the data is there for a decent immunity level after the first jab.  It appears as if winging it with a bigger gap between the doses on the Pfizer jab is the wrong call.  They did this without any trial data.

We are increasing the gap on the pfizer jab too.
#41
General discussion / Re: China Coronavirus
January 22, 2021, 08:47:38 AM
Why do they put dates on 'lockdowns'? I think I would prefer if they were to say, that measures will be reduced when; hospital admissions are x, R rate is x, Intensive care in patients are x...etc.

At least that way we can all see how we are tracking towards relaxation.

This craic of 1 'lockdown' rolling in to another is soul destroying.
#42
General discussion / Re: Coffee machine
January 18, 2021, 08:52:32 AM
Quote from: Tony Baloney on January 17, 2021, 09:20:01 PM
Quote from: redzone on January 17, 2021, 09:00:24 PM
Any good recommendations for a decent coffee machine. Money isn't a problem because il save it in a year. Spending a minimum of a tenner a week, sometimes twenty thas last year
Sage Barista Express. You can spend more for Touch or Oracle for the gadgets, but can't imagine the coffee will taste different albeit I'm sure they introduce a bit more automation to the process. Know a few people with them and say they're the business.

Have one of these, have it about 5 years now, great job - but, I thought I wanted a good coffee machine but in reality I know fek all about good coffee and would have probably gotten as much from a decent nespresso type machine, just worth considering how much of a coffee connoisseur you really are, as I had ideas above my station!
#43
General discussion / Re: Teachers get it handy!
January 07, 2021, 04:05:56 PM
I seen the following tweet from Jayne McCormack (BBC) earlier:

"The social engineering being put forward by Sinn Fein, the Sdlp and alliance party has to stop," - @DUPleader
doesn't rule out deploying cross-community vote tomorrow if SF call a vote on the transfer test, and she hopes UUP would "see the need to protect academic selection"


Why would unionists be more inclined to retain academic selection? I had assumed nationalists (with pressure from CCMS) would have had more affinity to academic selection and the retention of grammar schools.
#44
General discussion / Re: China Coronavirus
December 05, 2020, 09:10:52 PM
FF and FG would rather enter a coalition together than share info with SF, even in a pandemic. The DUP and SF in the north have both stated from the beginning they had been disappointed that formation had not been shared in relation to lockdowns and strategy.
#45
Quote from: trueblue1234 on December 02, 2020, 10:02:32 AM
Quote from: Angelo on December 02, 2020, 09:14:15 AM
Quote from: JimStynes on December 02, 2020, 07:09:32 AM
Angelo has been windmilling every thread he's in. McIlroy is a busted flush apparently, constantly making a **** of himself in the covid threads and the Tyrone threads. Detests Neil Lennon because he's from Lurgan.  He's 90% WUM.

I'm actually right and that seems to be the issue people have with me.

No, there's plenty others on here who have said the same as you, yet they don't get the same reaction off people.

It's not what your saying that makes people think you are a C**k. It's how you say it and how often you say it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duck_test