Coronavirus outbreak

[mjr]

Fat right politicians like Varoufakis, Renzi or Sanchez??? It is the EC and eurogroup politics and policies that are making people open their eyes on plenty of things

Salvini was mentioned. I forget who else.

IMO the EU is doing much better than the UK (triumphantly announcing 30 ventilators!) or US (state and federal government engaged in bidding wars).

 

[newfhouse]

Well why don't you get off your arse and do something as you seem to have all the answers

Help me out here, numbnuts. Like the vast majority of the population I’m neither a government minister nor a director of health services. I’m just an ordinary public servant doing his best to carry on progressing unrelated but valuable work while self isolating with, fortunately, low level symptoms.

I’m still able to read widely and hence develop opinions about the competence of those in power, and thus far I think they are failing us all in important ways. I believe Johnson is being shielded from criticism to an extent, and that he will throw colleagues under a big red lie-covered bus rather than take full responsibility for unnecessary deaths. Time will tell.

If I do manage to get off my arse, what exactly would you have me do?

 

[lazybloke]

Swiss news: smartphone tracking app discussed - they say it'd need 60% of population to use it so we could surrender our privacy for nought, changes to refugee process, steep increase in USA unemployment, far right politicians exploiting the crisis to restart anti-EU campaigns, perfomances moving online, UEFA competitions suspended.

Curious to know why a 'webmaster for hire' is so anti-technology.
Temporarily sharing selected data is a long way from "surrendering privacy".

 

[Eziemnaik]

I have no doubt he was. What I am saying recent (lack of) actions from bodies supposed to ease off economic pressures is not making EU more popular in plenty of Europe. I think within a year Itaxit on cards

 

[newfhouse]

Curious to know why a 'webmaster for hire' is so anti-technology.
Temporarily sharing selected data is a long way from "surrendering privacy".

Perhaps he understands the implications better than the average Joe. Who selects the data being shared?

 

[mjr]

Curious to know why a 'webmaster for hire' is so anti-technology.
Temporarily sharing selected data is a long way from "surrendering privacy".

I'm not anti-technology, obviously. I'm just realistic that the temptation to overreach for profit (if commercial) or snooping (if gov't) will probably prove too strong, or there will be a bug like Zoom's that results in unwanted data-sharing without consent. I would also bet that any gov't-backed app won't be verifiable by users because most aren't.

Call it bitter experience if you like. In the past, I've uncovered social enterprises publishing apps with "phone home" leaks and that was good people with strong ethical stances, so what chance this gov't won't do similar things by error or design?

 

[Blue Hills]

Fat right politicians like Varoufakis, Renzi or Sanchez??? It is the EC and eurogroup politics and policies that are making people open their eyes on plenty of things

Renzi?

 

[kingrollo]

I don't believe it - Johnson has just said again

"Were ramping up the testing in the coming weeks"

....if you say something often enough people will believe it ....

 

[Ming the Merciless]

I don't believe it - Johnson has just said again

"Were ramping up the testing in the coming weeks"

....if you say something often enough people will believe it ....

It needs ramping now, not in the coming weeks or it won’t be able to catch up.

 

[nickyboy]

There seems to be a bit on social media this morning that roads are busier than past few days. The inference being that people are starting to disregard the lockdown. It's very difficult to make this assessment on an individual basis

Here is the Tom Tom real time analysis of London traffic. No evidence of any increase this morning

 

[kingrollo]

At this rate the vaccine will be here before the test........although probably not in the UK.

 

[IaninSheffield]

Fat right politicians like Varoufakis...

Yanis Varoufakis? Willing to be corrected here, but isn't he fairly well left of centre?

 

[kingrollo]

There seems to be a bit on social media this morning that roads are busier than past few days. The inference being that people are starting to disregard the lockdown. It's very difficult to make this assessment on an individual basis

Here is the Tom Tom real time analysis of London traffic. No evidence of any increase this morning

View attachment 512058

Anicdotal of course - but I live near a main road - and yesterday and today I heard the hum of traffic for the first time since the lockdown.

A lot of companies are saying "we are involved in making the ventilators"

 

[Eziemnaik]

Yanis Varoufakis? Willing to be corrected here, but isn't he fairly well left of centre?

Exactly.
What is happening is causing pro EU people to reassess their positions

 

[MrGrumpy]

There seems to be a bit on social media this morning that roads are busier than past few days. The inference being that people are starting to disregard the lockdown. It's very difficult to make this assessment on an individual basis

Here is the Tom Tom real time analysis of London traffic. No evidence of any increase this morning

View attachment 512058

All very subjective but I thought the M8 up here was a bit busier this morning early doors than it had been all week ? A few others at work also commentated as well. Possibly some people returning to work due to self isolation or I just happened to time my commute earlier than I had previously ?