The Artful Dodger

10 minutes ago, nudge said:

I take it this study didn't take nursing homes, prisons, hospitals, public transportation, schools, restaurants or places of religious worship into account? Because I can't imagine how a short grocery shopping trip to a supermarket could pose a higher risk than spending time in any of the above mentioned places which tend to be by far more crowded, lack distancing, and have by far longer times of potential exposure, increasing the risk of infection. 

I'll say this, it's telling that Asia and Africa have handled this so much better the West. Africa especially. People in the UK seem to think they are owed a completely safe life, they've no idea what the rest of the world goes through. As we slowly strangle ourselves because people 'don't feel safe' we will eventually realise how wrong we have got this all. Every single one of us over the age 21 of UK is responsible for what comes next. We are cowards who expect everything on a plate.

The instances of healthy people being badly effected for months are still very rare, the honest truth that the West is not willing to face is the fact that we are a fat, unhealthy people. Nobody will talk about that right now but it has to be mentioned we go forward. If the UK wasn't a colony of the USA it wouldn't have the death toll it has.

We are a sad, pathetic mess as a country. Thick and lazy, nobody reads a book and we watch all our sport sat on our arse. If this doesn't make people realise how awful our culture is then nothing will. This is a warning shot.

Remember when we had the tug of war over Pearson, was genuine arguments about which club had the better future  

Why aren't we doing everything to get vaccinations done asap? Get the army in, anyone who can help etc. It will be very expensive but lockdown till Easter will be far more damaging.

58 minutes ago, SchalkeUK said:

Sorry for the delay people.  I was going to let you know how my 'injection' went, but I gave been put on a lower list - mainly due to a blood test that shows a high level of antibodies and that somewhere between March and now I have had the virus, lived with and beaten it - not sure how, never had any indication that it was there and my 'bubble' of 3 of us are all tested positive with antibodies so we are somewhat safe for the moment.  The nurse told me that there are more old people like me and that if it is easy for you to get a blood test then do it as there are quite a few of us feeling happier today!  Don't ask why or how or anything - I just feel that my years in the RAF when they pumped all sorts into me in the Far East - including a visit to Christmas Island in 1957 seems to have strengthened my immune system somewhat.  Watch this space (if you want)

Well in. I wonder if we’ll ever get to the bottom of why this virus effects some people so severely. Clearly old age and certain medical conditions are important but not the only factor.

Best make the most of the pub then, reckon this next lockdown will be until we’ve got most vulnerable people vaccinated.

A new virus strain was inevitable at some point, just need to up the vaccination process. It's very slow at the moment, despite millions being promised before Chirstmas.

Excited for Canelo v Smith now. The usual height different pictures going round, shows just how phenomenal Canelo is. Stepping up to much bigger men and beating them. I think Smith at his best can do it though, anything less and he’s done.

Managed to cling on to tier 2 for now, I presume we'll see another full lockdown at some point. As it is I've just booked a table at a local pub for me and my 5 brothers on Xmas eve.

Will still respond to the vaccine though. So shouldn’t be a major concern. 

Perfect display from Joshua really, showed his best. Fair play to Pulev for carrying on that long but his limitations were pretty obvious.

Hoping for an impressive Joshua performance on Saturday, just to keep the pressure on the Fury fight. Hard to see him losing, Pulev is tough but doesn't have anywhere near the dynamism or danger of Povetkin, who Joshua despatched impressively.

Suarez's was about the context, he was grabbing Evra's skin and saying it, can that really be considered as 'friendly'? I don't think so. The whole defence was based around Suarez not understanding that the word was offensive though, so I can't see Cavani getting away with it.

So Cavani could be in bother for his use of the word 'Negrito'

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/nov/30/edinson-cavani-fa-investigation-social-media-instagram-post

I do think context is key here, but it'll be interesting to see how it goes seeing as this was the word Suarez used and was banned for 8 games.

Weird seeing Liverpool getting full on sucked off by the Tories in parliament, but it's certainly helped out this mass testing. Hopefully we've seen the worst now and can slowly march towards the vaccine.

Whichever way you feel, this arguments shows what is wrong with boxing. We're arguing about companies, rather than boxers. It's like having huge debates about BT v SKY when it comes to footy, rather than the actual sport. 

Let's just hope we get to see the best v the best over the coming year or so. 

It's not really Hearn's fault, his obnoxious, wideboy persona is sadly aa part of it but I just dislike his role really,  boxing seems to have so many people leeching off the talent of others and a lot of his cards are just rip offs, imo.

70% was about as good as was expected prior to these other ones getting over 90%, which is extremely high.

It's still a good vaccine and further signs that we could be out of this soon.

2 hours ago, RandoEFC said:

My response to the public sector pay freeze on its own is that actually, it's fair enough, especially if the NHS is exempt. I'm obviously biased on this but I do think the education sector should be exempt as well. We had to learn how to teach kids through the internet overnight in March, got slated for it if we didn't get it right immediately, then were asked to decide which of our exam students should get certain qualifications without sitting an exam, had our professional judgement slated (unless you work at Eton in which case the grades you provided were definitely accurate) until the cabinet did their u-turn, and have had to completely reinvent the logistics of running a school and timetabling to keep them open after the summer and through this second lockdown. Luckily for me, I'm not under the direct jurisdiction of the UK government's public sector pay policy so financially it doesn't impact me, but that's not what I'm arsed about, it's the disrespect of the sacrifices made by the public sector over the past year. Yes, we're very lucky to have the job security where thousands of others have been made redundant, but apart from the front doorstep clap virtue signalling, any hopes that government and public attitudes towards public sector workers would be improved after seeing how badly the private sector falls to pieces without hospitals, schools, policing, etc., has been sadly misplaced. Time to buckle up for another decade of teachers being labelled Antifa activists by mainstream newspapers with comments like "those that can, do, those that can't, teach" by red-faced morons who wouldn't last an hour in a classroom themselves.

Anyway, back to the pay-freeze, all of this furlough money has to come from somewhere, it's just the reality of the economics behind this thing. There will be complaining but due to the nature of most health, education and other public sector workers, I think most of us will understand that we need to accept this as a part of doing our bit to get the country out of debt after all of the spending this year. I get it, but it's the timing again. The amount they've announced in extra spending on the defence budget just yesterday as some sort of show of strength, whether that's literal military strength or "look how much I'm investing in our country" financial strength, now looks ridiculous if they're going to come out the next day and say "sorry public sector, we all have to make sacrifices in these difficult times, we just don't have enough in the treasury to give you the annual pay rise this year". You can't have it both ways without drawing criticism but yes, they'll probably get away with it because 50% or more of the print media will say nothing on the matter and the public are so well trained nowadays to see everything through the lens of "us vs them" that there won't be many outside the public sector who will bat an eyelid at the news.

Problem is that a lot of public sectory pay has been effectively frozen for years, in fact in real terms civil servants have taken pay cuts. This is just classic turning on the public sector because the private sector is going through a tough area.

The answer is clearly that income tax must rise for all but the lowest earners. I'd raise income tax to a standard 25% and then 50% for those over 50k. This would work. People just won't do it though, even many on the left baulk at actually raising tax. Even the supposedly 'marxist, red, commie' Corbyn didn't actually outright propose tax rises in his last manifesto. That's how unpalatable it is. I am far from a high earner but extra 30-50quid a month is affordable, we'd sort the debt out in no time.

Christmas is now the big topic, with arguments about whether restrictions should be eased at all etc, with talk of us easing for 5 days followed by a month harsh lockdown etc. I have some sympathy with the government here, I think people are going to visit family pretty much whatever the circumstances so I think it makes sense to allow it legally. No point criminalising millions, the police won't enforce it anyway.

Positive news keeps coming, the Oxford vaccine looks to be especially useful in older patients. The question now is managing the loigistical roll out of this as quickly but efficiently as possible.

I'd imagine it'll be Spring earliest that we see society starting to see restrictions eased en masse but it'll be worth the wait. I hope the government give us a week long bank holiday or something, we need a chance to party.

At least the mask has slipped and we can see the truth (which I pointed out a long time ago). 

16 minutes ago, LFCMike said:

As above, have Liverpool requested it?

Of course they haven’t but why let the truth get in way of an enjoyable lie. 
 

Don’t forget you live in a country whose population tried to stop you winning a league you were 20 points clear of. Their hatred is so strong it ignores facts and rational thought.

42 minutes ago, Stan said:

So Liverpool have succeeded in having VAR official David Coote removed for Sundays game. 

Has this ever happened to any other side, being able to have a official removed?

Genuinely curious. Can't recall it happening recently... 

What an absolutely ridiculous comment. How have Liverpool got anyone ‘removed’; there has been no complaint or asking for people to be removed. Instead an actual physical presence is needed elsewhere so they’ve moved things around, like they do all the time. 

This paranoid, conspiratorial nonesense that English people have about Liverpool is insane. 

14 hours ago, Spike said:

If Liverpool and nearly every high performing team aren't doping then I'm Duchess Fergie, the only time the news ever comes out is when it's a player doing it on their own volition a la Samir Nasri.

Why do you think that, do you not think they'd be pretty easily caught? The amount of people who would have to be involved is incredible. 

As barmy as the anti-vaxxers.