anotherchance

The issue for me is that no matter what the numbers do, the mask fans will see that as vindication for continuing with the mandate - either “numbers are down because masks work” or “why would we remove the mask mandate when the numbers are so high?” I challenged a mate on this the other day and once they were clamped I just got “hardly a big deal” and something about right wing media.

Loads and loads of animals in the same place at once. There was a thing on TV last night about a abandoned house which was full of hundreds of birds and it still gives me the chill now. Couldn’t change the channel quick enough. Same for a rat infested house or even a video of 20/30 cats running about together indoors. No no no.

Whatever the ins and outs, that’s what agents do. Going to be rivalling statement FC if we do this every time an agent comes the c**t. Let it slide, Consi’s reputation remains intact, deal with the leaks separately and privately (next week when there’s no game) and then we’re not dealing with this pish three days before the biggest game of the season.

They are, but Goodwin will have dealt with agents before and should understand that they’ll start high. In any case, Consi’s career with us shouldn’t be ending with his contract offer plastered all over the website. If Goodwin wanted to clamp down on leaks, he could’ve done so privately and without taking the gloss off what should be a period of tribute to a fantastic servant.

Rumours of a Ramirez transfer request, 200k fee for Dunne and Lewis, Woods, Jet and McLennan being told they can move on. Had severe doubts about Goodwin, and while he deserves the chance to gut the squad, I’m quite concerned at what’s to come - especially given the Dunne idea and fee.

I’d be amazed if he wanted more than a year to the point when he demanded it given his character, especially given Goodwin suggested it was more or less agreed.

I see Balloux is getting death threats and the “you advocate genocide” chat from the zero COVID brigade, led by this nutter. for sharing a study about infection + vaccination helping with immunity. Imagine getting in a state like that over something which is both positive and based on plain common sense.

Sturgeon thrives on division - she knows even once this nonsense is binned that there'll still be folk snarling at others for not indulging their personal fears and concerns. The (justifiable) boasting about the vaccine rollout should have gone hand in hand with a concerted effort at emphasising how safe society is as a result, and maybe get a good chunk of those who are especially vulnerable and still concerned to feel less so. Instead, for 2 years any positive news has been caveated so much that it comes across as a negative and it just adds to the nonsense. Of course, I'd rather people weighed it up for themselves and engaged some critical thinking, but in reality the messaging from politicians does have an impact, as Sturgeon well knows.

Had a mild drama last weekend where the Mrs thought the baby was kicking/moving less than it's been (25 weeks). Straight on the phone to triage and off to hospital get a reassurance scan - naturally during the wait to be seen it was doing Riverdance inside her, so got the strong heartbeat and went on our way. We both panicked like f**k - natural maybe, but equally I think we're agreed we need to deal with these things more calmly than we are as there'll be 18+ years of dramas to come.

It is simply pandering to the likes of the NHS Grampian woman (who complains constantly about workloads, yet who is never off the news) who wants them in place as a visible reminder that we’re still in a pandemic. Mandating masks as a substitute for effective public health messaging is an utter disgrace.

I wonder how many of those on social media who are aghast at this, are the type who'll say "tough shit" when somebody gets the sack because they've posted something online which they don't like. If you forget the Hollywood aspect and take it down to civilian levels. if somebody has a problem with something I'd said I'd rather they dealt with it there and then, then it's done. Rather than getting all snide, grassing folk up to their jobs potentially ruining their lives, dragging it out - most folk would take the slap surely? As for the gag, subject matter is largely irrelevant for me as to whether something is funny. Doing taboo comedy well is a talent in any case.

Absolutely - meek messaging and half saying things without spitting it out and being firm and assertive helps no-one. Sturgeon forever bragged about being unashamedly “candid” when it came to scariants or bad news, but now it’s going the other way it’s all smoke and mirrors without having the stones to be honest about it.

Your confusing me with someone else re nuclear war and as for my posts re England I was pointing out that in the main it is well ahead of here. Like it or loathe it you are going to continue to see people masking long after the legal requirements end. It might not be more than say 5% but let's be honest pre Covid you could have walked round Glasgow all week and never seen one. I use the mask example as that will be the most visible one. Why that would bother non mask wearers is baffling to me, live and let live. It’s not really about “live and let live though” is it? Nobody is saying they shouldn’t have the choice to mask up if they want. People are and will be free to wear them, in the same way they’re free to wear hazmat suits or full beekeeper clobber if that’s what they want to do. Nobody is stopping them, but equally others have the right to question the logic. My issue is that encouraging ongoing mask usage is an abdication of responsibility from ScotGov - they can’t get the messaging around managing risk right given high case numbers but low ICU etc, so masks fill that gap nicely - and because “personal responsibility” probably sounds too Tory or something.

Another issue is that the NHS has been fetishised in the same way the military has in America - even more so in the last two years. When it works and you get the service your taxes pay for, there’s almost an expectation that you have to act like your accumulator has come in or that you’ve had a stroke of good fortune. NHS pressure shouldn’t be headline news or a particular consideration for the wider public, and if it is being talked about should be from the perspective of discussions around government funding rather than cranking up the COVID fear factor based on scenes from Bergamo two years ago.

The mad thing is, it doesn’t even necessitate a layman’s understanding of epidemiological waves which most of us will have picked up over the last two years. Somebody, anybody, could plot a few basic graphs showing the rise and fall of cases during the pandemic and ScotGov will be able to see exactly what’s in the post over the next week or two. I’d prefer it in a way if it was just thickness and naive stupidity. But I’m afraid it’s nothing but a muscle flexing exercise to remind us all who calls the shots, as has been the case for months and months.

I especially enjoy the condescending, Keir Starmer style, “adult in the room” tone that MT’s posts are delivered in.

It will have the opposite effect, it’ll make wee Jeanie even more feart to go and get her bread and milk once this charade ends. It’s all for show and an attempt to cover up another failure of effective public health messaging.

That Jillian Evans from NHS Grampian wanting masks to stay for now because they send a warning that we’re not out of the woods yet. I’d have thought if that’s the road they want to go down then they need to work out how to get that messaging across without the need for masks etc. Keeping masks to “send a warning” is an admission that nobody’s really listening to these gobshites anymore.

Clive Myrie hosting Mastermind last night. ”I thought he was in Ukraine” Told her they flew the audience and the contestants out as a show of solidarity, and she quite happily accepted said explanation without question.

A younger relative (jagged x3 and underlying conditions) has had it fairly bad and got one of the treatments as a result, seems as though it's triggered another bout of chronic fatigue syndrome. Refuses to put this down to long COVID, as it just seems as though this is the latest infection to trigger the CFS, just as other infections have in the past. No demands for society to change for them - just accepts it for what it is and tries to get through it best they can.

The reason Sridhar and others argued in favour of continual lockdowns post vaccines is because they personally were fine and could manage the impact of lockdowns without much bother, and didn’t care about the impact on anybody who couldn’t.

Absolutely. Having a basic layman’s ability to understand and contextualise statistics has been a fairly useful skill to have throughout. As has the ability to keep a calm head while there was so much shrieking and catastrophising coming from elsewhere. Many of those who continue to come out of this badly are the ones who try to apply their own biases, ideologies and desire to be perceived a certain way into a global pandemic, and still refuse to self-reflect.

I’d say scoffing at the source rather than going near the argument might be a contender too?

A group of us got hassle from strangers on the train last weekend for going maskless and drinking. Happens semi regularly too. Might just have been incredibly unlucky on these occasions to encounter the tiny minority who bother about these things, or it might be that there’s a decent chunk of people who still feel the need to lecture folk? Equally, the sanctimonious c***s who’ve spoken down to the rest of us for two years now (whether they’re still preaching or not) can’t really complain about getting it rubbed in their faces about being wrong for a while yet. Shouldn’t dish it out if they can’t take it back….

I’d imagine the ones who catastrophise about COVID will also be having us nuked by the end of next week. Surprising how much use some folk get out of a tin foil hat.