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Post by olliebean on Mar 18, 2022 21:35:24 GMT
My housemate works in a school, where the rules, even before the last remaining ones were lifted, said that children had to go into school as normal even if someone in their household had tested positive - and I think even if the child themself was showing symptoms, at least unless/until they tested positive (that's what was happening, anyway - lots of unmasked symptomatic children spreading it around the place). And since the schools were instructed to stop giving out the free lateral flow tests to staff, she's seen a few staff members come in with clear symptoms who just aren't bothering to test any more. None of them wearing masks, of course. Not surprising, then, that she eventually came down with it - but testament to the protective value of mask-wearing to the wearer that she managed to avoid it for so long.
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Post by olliebean on Mar 16, 2022 9:07:56 GMT
My housemate (who is triple jabbed) has it as of yesterday, and has been utterly laid low by the tiredness. That seems to be the symptom that is affecting people the most now, albeit not the most common symptom. It sounds very much like an acute version of chronic fatigue, and I worry that this means long Covid (which has been likened to chronic fatigue) is set to become more common.
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Post by olliebean on Mar 7, 2022 8:58:08 GMT
I reckon with Waitress and Come From Away there's an element of recency bias, tbh; give them 19 years (the age of the next most recent show in the list) and I doubt either of them would still be there.
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Post by olliebean on Feb 28, 2022 9:06:44 GMT
I would never ordinarily agree to the National losing its funding, until HEX and now it should lose its funding because of that and send a very strong message across the arts field that Art Council funding should be about the arts and not nepotism. Also I would agree because of that the Arts Council should be disbanded and the long arm policy ditched and funding should be brought into Government control, no more free lunches and blank cheques. What happened at the National was completely shocking. Funding should not be in Government control, or we will only see productions that toe the Government party's line.
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Post by olliebean on Feb 28, 2022 9:02:56 GMT
I am of Russian Blood and ashamed of what Putin and Kremlin is doing to Ukraine. I am with Ukraine. Я російської крові і мені соромно за те, що Путін і Кремль роблять з Україною. Я з Україною Is that translatable on a family board? The Russian says the same as the English.
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Post by olliebean on Feb 23, 2022 11:36:12 GMT
TBH, I'd sooner spend less on the telly and use the saving to buy a decent soundbar, which I can keep when I spend less on my next telly.
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Post by olliebean on Feb 22, 2022 23:11:12 GMT
I think this the start of the updates being phased out entirely. Can’t come soon enough. The daily figures are what are keeping us completely on edge. Imagine if we knew the daily flu figures every year! This depends on how individuals view it. Some people will be on edge looking at how high the figures are; others will be kept more on edge by having no idea how high they are.
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Post by olliebean on Feb 21, 2022 15:41:35 GMT
I'm far from the first person to say this, but living with Covid isn't the same as pretending it doesn't exist. Johnson's strategy seems to be heading firmly towards the latter.
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Post by olliebean on Feb 21, 2022 14:25:47 GMT
I'm deeply disappointed but I can't say I'm surprised. The government have made it very clear that they don't give a damn if vulnerable people catch covid just as long as they don't do it all at once & overwhelm the NHS. It will be interesting to see if we end up with people taking their employers to court if they become seriously ill with covid having caught it from colleagues who came into work knowing that they were infectious. So the vaccine doesn't work then? Or are you still living in April 2020? The vaccine, as you know perfectly well, while it provides a significant amount of protection against serious illness (enough, it is hoped, to prevent the NHS being overwhelmed), is not 100% effective. Vaccinated individuals can, albeit with a much lower probability than the unvaccinated, still become seriously ill from Covid.
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Post by olliebean on Feb 17, 2022 11:39:53 GMT
The DoH has in the past refused to say what they pay for the LFTs, but "One source has said they can run to £30 for a pack of seven."
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Post by olliebean on Feb 16, 2022 21:47:22 GMT
I don't know about LFTs, but it's been suggested the price of a PCR test might be set at £100.
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Post by olliebean on Feb 15, 2022 23:26:20 GMT
It was inevitable they would stop making LFTs free at some point. Still, encouraging people to continue being responsible even though it's no longer mandatory, whilst simultaneously removing one of the main means by which people can continue to be voluntarily responsible, isn't exactly joined-up policy making.
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Post by olliebean on Feb 9, 2022 21:52:08 GMT
There may not be a case against the employer, but wouldn't there be a case against the person who acted recklessly by coming in to work (especially if they were unmasked)? I think there were successful cases like this when people with HIV/AIDS had unprotected sex, knowing they were contagious. Well no. If you legally don't have to isolate if you're covid positive then there isn't a civil case . Unless you can prove they infected you on purpose (coughing in your face, getting too close to you) but I don't see how that can happen I believe, however, there is a legal obligation on employers to take reasonable steps to provide a safe workplace, and there could be a case against the employer if they knowingly asked an infected employee to come in to work.
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Post by olliebean on Feb 9, 2022 14:38:40 GMT
Unspoken: "But we're going to look the other way if your employer insists you go to work regardless."
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Post by olliebean on Feb 7, 2022 8:54:53 GMT
Fraud isn't a crime any more, hadn't you heard?
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Post by olliebean on Jan 29, 2022 21:33:23 GMT
BTW, I see there's a 2-hour version of this on Radio 2 tomorrow afternoon. I don't know whether that means more songs, or just that they've stuck more talky stuff in between some of the songs.
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Post by olliebean on Jan 26, 2022 11:27:48 GMT
Much as Johnson might like this to be the case, the police have been very clear that they see no reason why the report cannot be published. I wouldn't be surprised if the phrase "I pay your wages" has been used. Hmm. If it has, I rather hope the reply was "No you don't, the taxpayers do. And they pay yours as well."
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Post by olliebean on Jan 26, 2022 9:32:21 GMT
The Met were bought into the investigation as the evidence gathered indicated criminal activity which only the Police can determine. Whether a fine or imprisonment Gray has suspicion of an offence being committed and certain conditions are satisfied indicating the Prime Ministers office engaged in criminal activity. Bringing in the Met means that the conclusion of Gray’s report is known and that in her opinion the events broke the law, we may not know the details but we do know the conclusion. Johnson is now in the unenviable position of being accused of breaking the law and misleading Parliament. So Sue Gray passes her report to the police but not Parliament, Government, Cabinet. I would guess the Cabinet Secretary would see it. Or does the police deciding to get involved superceed her report so she cannot publish it as it might influence any court action? Much as Johnson might like this to be the case, the police have been very clear that they see no reason why the report cannot be published.
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Post by olliebean on Jan 25, 2022 11:15:55 GMT
If Johnson gets a fine for breaking the rules, what's the betting he'll try to get a donor to pay it for him?
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Post by olliebean on Jan 25, 2022 9:54:15 GMT
Our greatest ever Prime Minister Winston Churchill said ‘the opposition sit opposite you, your enemy sit behind you.’ Theresa May became Prime Minister unopposed, had a confidence vote and won it, which meant her position as Prime Minister was secure for a whole year, in 2 months it all ended up in tears and she was gone. A lot of people say about Margaret Thatcher being stabbed in the back she wasn’t, she was stabbed in the front. Boris is/was popular with the electored (you decide), he is/was popular with members of the wider Conservative Party (you decide) however he is detested in parliament (I decided) they cannot wait to depose him, if they can, That wallpaper and parties comes across as arrogance and could be fatal, we will see over the coming weeks. That bubbling buffoonery that is actually all put on, that endears the public to him but when people get hit in the pockets and struggling to pay bills and unemployment goes up, actually will rile people instead. We have to wait and see what happens. Is Winston Churchill our greatest ever leader? I'd probably have gone for Attlee, but it's a subjective judgement.
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Post by olliebean on Jan 24, 2022 22:50:05 GMT
What happens if he loses a no-confidence vote but refuses to resign? Has that ever happened? Is it possible for anyone other than the electorate to get rid of him, in that scenario? Because he has the type of personality that I could easily see doing that.
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Post by olliebean on Jan 20, 2022 21:38:24 GMT
It's particularly mystifying why the mask mandate had to be removed a week earlier for schools than for anywhere else, especially with schools being hubs of transmission. It's almost as though the intention is still to go for herd immunity (now thought by science to be impossible with the increased transmissibility of Omicron) by ensuring it spreads as much as possible now that vaccines will protect (most) people from severe illness.
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Post by olliebean on Jan 20, 2022 9:16:03 GMT
While I'm as keen as the next person to see the back of Johnson, I can't shake this creeping sense of dread that whoever, and whatever, comes after he's gone will be - albeit less obviously - fundamentally worse.
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Post by olliebean on Jan 19, 2022 21:13:58 GMT
Meanwhile, I guess the fact that Tories are now more welcome than socialists in Labour says something about the breadth of choice we are going to have at the next general election.
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Post by olliebean on Jan 18, 2022 17:56:03 GMT
I wonder if the government have failed to take into account that they'll want the BBC on side during the next election, well before 2027 rolls around. Of course they haven't, Boris Johnson rarely thinks beyond the end of next week, if that far.
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Post by olliebean on Jan 17, 2022 10:23:08 GMT
The suggestion that "lacked menace" means "lacked sex appeal," and therefore the implication that a man cannot be sexy without being menacing, is somewhat disturbing.
Dancing, on the other hand, can be very sexy, in both men and women (and I speak as a staunch heterosexual).
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Post by olliebean on Jan 17, 2022 8:48:49 GMT
I don’t think it will happen. The commercial TV industry never really recovered from the 2007/08 recession. All anyone wants to make is a cheap and cheerful TV show, and that is why we have had an absolute onslaught of reality TV over the years from every commercial TV station. If the BBC must move towards a commercial arrangement with advertisements, it isn’t going to access an untapped revenue stream - it’s going to move into an overcrowded market. Does anyone really think ITV would ever be happy about that? The alternatives aren’t really viable and I think that is where the government is going to come unstuck with this. Asking it to move to a subscription model is all very well but it’s completely impractical - the iPlayer remains first and foremost a catch-up service, and you can’t expect the BBC to use licence fee funds to create content that will only be shown behind a paywall (which is the only way to do it, otherwise where does the BBC get money to create content for a subscription service?) Whatever the way forward, the licence fee isn’t going anywhere - how the BBC is funded might change, but whatever happens will need to be done gradually over many years. All of which might be relevant if we had a government which cared about practicality or reality.
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Post by olliebean on Jan 16, 2022 22:23:25 GMT
Good riddance to the BBC: they haven’t made anything of any worth in decades and insisted on pensioners paying the full whack while chancers like Gary Lineker are paid an obscene amount. I have no nostalgia for crap like Eastenders and Doctor Who which they have ground into dust in their determination to be woke. The Government made the pensioners pay full whack, not the BBC. The other thing to note is that people saying the BBC is a luxury are wrong. If this pandemic has taught us anything, it is the importance of television. Of access to news. To those who live alone, the BBC might be their only connection with the outside world. It's 4p a day. For everything. If that's not worth fighting to save I don't know what is. You're out by a factor of 10, by the way.
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Post by olliebean on Jan 16, 2022 17:29:42 GMT
It's not about whether you want to watch it. It's a public service. Impartial news. Radio. All of it. We all pay into the pot. It's fair and how it should be. Channel 4 is a public-owned not-for-profit public service broadcaster and we don’t all “pay into the pot” for that. And what’s more Channel 4 don’t criminally prosecute and convict 100,000 people a year (75% of them women)for non-payment of a license fee. Until they get around to selling that off (which is also on the cards).
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Post by olliebean on Jan 16, 2022 12:08:16 GMT
Yes, the excuses seem to be converging on the No.10 work culture being such that they can't tell the difference between work and boozy parties. In which case, frankly, that's way more of a problem than the fact that the parties broke the rules.
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