[COVID-19] General Discussion

[RedruthRFC]

I’d rather have rugby and other sport than not, but there is a bit of a moral element to it. Coincidentally I’ve just read this from yesterday’s Grauniad which summaries some of the conundrums more eloquently than I’m managing.

Is it morally right for rugby to host the Six Nations in a pandemic? | Robert Kitson

No crowds will be permitted, so we might wonder if broadcasting revenue is sufficient reason to press on with the 2021 championship

www.theguardian.com

Quite a good article, but for me he ducks out of the moral debate just as he's getting his teeth into it. I stand by what I said, that if it's not making things worse there's no moral problem. In the case of cross border competition, it's more difficult to be sure that this is the case.

 

[rugbeian]

All politician's are populist to a certain degree, I seem to remember the promise of free broadband at the last election.

they seem to be still playing party politics and that's annoying. BJ like to fancy himself as Churchill but when Churchill was made PM in 1940 he understood party politics had to be forgotten for the common good and his wartime cabinet contained allies, enemies, civilians and in the case of Ernest Bevan a left wing trade unionist and this has to be the biggest crisis this country and indeed the world has faced since then.

I don't know if you have this problem in your country, but in the USA a lot of politicians are beholden to some sort of lobby group. Big corporations that buy favors from political hacks who sell their soul$ and back stab their constituents.

 

[ncurd]

I don't know if you have this problem in your country, but in the USA a lot of politicians are beholden to some sort of lobby group. Big corporations that buy favors from political hacks who sell their soul$ and back stab their constituents.

Mainly an issue with the two main parties here but nowhere near the extent to America. Conservatives have a lot of big money donors who try to get what they want/government contracts. Labour due to their origins get a lot of money from the unions but their influence has been on the wane since Thatcher except during Corbyn's reign where he was quite happy to do whatever Len McCluskey wanted (in charge of one of the UK's largest unions and as such gets a seat on Labours executive board).

 

[rugbeian]

Mainly an issue with the two main parties here but nowhere near the extent to America. Conservatives have a lot of big money donors who try to get what they want/government contracts. Labour due to their origins get a lot of money from the unions but their influence has been on the wane since Thatcher except during Corbyn's reign where he was quite happy to do whatever Len McCluskey wanted (in charge of one of the UK's largest unions and as such gets a seat on Labours executive board).

Thank you for the explanation.

 

[Tallshort]

I don't know if you have this problem in your country, but in the USA a lot of politicians are beholden to some sort of lobby group. Big corporations that buy favors from political hacks who sell their soul$ and back stab their constituents.

Its not as obvious as it is in America but donors etc will have some influence.

You don't get politicians denying Climate change or blocking gun control but as Ncurd said, contracts dont always go to the best company's.....

 

[ncurd]

Its not as obvious as it is in America but donors etc will have some influence.

You don't get politicians denying Climate change or blocking gun control but as Ncurd said, contracts dont always go to the best company's.....

Remember that time we paid for a shipping firm with no boats?

 

[Tallshort]

Remember that time we paid for a shipping firm with no boats?

HA! Yes I do although I still think HS2 is the best example of how a totally pointless and very expensive infrastructure project can somehow be agreed by a Government following a load of handshake deals in Gentlemen clubs in Pall Mall.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

HA! Yes I do although I still think HS2 is the best example of how a totally pointless and very expensive infrastructure project can somehow be agreed by a Government following a load of handshake deals in Gentlemen clubs in Pall Mall.

Don't get me started on HS2,
They're tearing up all around my village for it, demolishing ancient woodland, bunch of people either being forced to sell up or sell off their gardens etc.

It's even more ridiculous now that remote working is becoming more acceptable and the numbers of people commuting to London everyday are sure to drop post pandemic

 

[Tallshort]

Don't get me started on HS2,
They're tearing up all around my village for it, demolishing ancient woodland, bunch of people either being forced to sell up or sell off their gardens etc.

It's even more ridiculous now that remote working is becoming more acceptable and the numbers of people commuting to London everyday are sure to drop post pandemic

I get VIZ comments on my Facebook feed and one was "To save several billions on HS2 why not just ask people to catch the train from Birmingham 20 minutes earlier!"

 

[ncurd]

The sad thing is our train network badly needs investment (but in terms of service people can use) and make it way more affordable. HS2 is not the answer at all to those problems. London to Birmingham is already a great transport link.

One of the considerable thing I've noted with moving to Gloucestershire is how poor it all is unless I want to go North/South back when I lived in Somerset we had both East/West and North/South lines. But the East/West line was 2 mile out of town.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

London to Birmingham is already a great transport link.

Yup,
Apparently HS2 will cut "up to" 30mins off the journey (so 1hr25 to 55mins) - really not worth it. 1hr20 isn't a ridiculous amount of time, considering the distance.
The issue is cost - ticket prices are mental unless you book an age in advance.
Bet HS2 tickets will cost a bomb.

 

[Tallshort]

The sad thing is our train network badly needs investment (but in terms of service people can use) and make it way more affordable. HS2 is not the answer at all to those problems. London to Birmingham is already a great transport link.

One of the considerable thing I've noted with moving to Gloucestershire is how poor it all is unless I want to go North/South back when I lived in Somerset we had both East/West and North/South lines. But the East/West line was 2 mile out of town.

They could reopen the Burton to Leicester line near me for a fraction of the cost and the line is still there! Even the lights are still working, just need to refurb the stations along the line and bingo, people can avoid the A511 and all the freight traffic.

 

[The_Blindside]

HS2 Probably not worth it in this country. Still, I was embarrassed (how behind our railway is) when using the Bullet train in Japan just how good and fast that is. They’ve had that since the 1960s.

 

[ragerancher]

HS2 Probably not worth it in this country. Still, I was embarrassed (how behind our railway is) when using the Bullet train in Japan just how good and fast that is. They’ve had that since the 1960s.

It's how things are done in this country. We just don't do general infrastructure and maintenance, we instead spaff it up against the wall on pet projects.

 

[Tallshort]

Well after knowing about the Brazilian varient for nearly a week the Government is set to announce travel bans..... Slow hand clap

 

[The_Blindside]

Insurers must pay small firms for Covid lockdown losses

A Supreme Court ruling provides a lifeline for many firms that had business interruption insurance.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[rugbeian]

Single Dose Vaccine!

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/13/covid-vaccine-johnson-johnson-one-shot-safe-generates-immune-response.html

 

[TRF_Olyy]

316k vaccinations yesterday,
Look to be increasing by about 50k per day - hopefully see that go up another notch when pharmacies start administering too.

One of my local vaccine centres is in Lichfield cathedral, like right in the middle of it, tombs/stained glass/gargoyles n everything.
Crossing my fingers for that one.