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I know your schtick here is to be the contrarian ‘voice of reason’ who sets the wrong-thinking dolts right, delivering your insights with your customary dose of condescension, but you’re just blatantly wrong here. I’ll bypass the relative differences in approach which saw me sitting with my son in an empty Hampden a full 3 hours before the opening Euro match against Czech Republic nursing a cup of lukewarm water (and my prescribed maximum A4-sized bag of snacks brought from home) with the cold beers and steak pie I enjoyed at Wembley for the England v Italy final, and confine myself to the restrictions that affected my businesses in 2021, and how these differed from those imposed on their English counterparts. In my sectors (hospitality, live music, nightclubs and events) the differences between Scotland and England, in terms of restrictions, were never as marginal as Scot Gov’s apologists would have us believe. We spent the early months of 2021 in lockdown, which eventually gave way to the purgatorial realm of the Scottish tier system. Thankfully Scot Gov’s absurd recorded music ban was lifted (the only such ban in the civilised world), which after the sector reopened in late July 2020 (implemented mid Aug 2020) had eliminated what little atmosphere it was possible to generate in socially-distanced bars, a characteristically joyless act of a puritanical government that has absolutely no affinity for music or for culture, and little tolerance for the demon drink. On 17th May 2021, indoor hospitality venues in England were permitted to reopen (with normal licensing hours) and Scotland (with the initial exception of Glasgow) was permitted to move to level 2 restrictions, in which pubs could reopen (those of us that hadn’t jumped at the irresistible opportunity of repurposing ourselves as cafes and serving soft drinks and coffees / teas with a 6.00pm curfew in Tier 3), serving alcohol only with a meal, and with a strict curfew of 10.30pm (which meant customers vacating the building at that time, so effectively last orders at 10.00pm, as if the virus only came out at night) and maximum group sizes of 6 from 3 households. England’s ‘rule of 6’ never stipulated a maximum number of households, so 6 from 6 was acceptable there. Most pubs (mine included) do the majority of their business between 10.00 and 1.00am, so arbitrarily closing bars at the back of 10.00pm effectively rendered hitherto viable businesses completely unprofitable, which in tandem with the vastly reduced capacities associated with social distancing was a terminal two-pronged threat for many outlets. By contrast with England, Scot Gov burdened Scottish businesses with this early curfew nonsense, which merely resulted in people being decanted en masse at the same time from socially-distanced managed environnements with Covid mitigations in place into non-socially-distanced environments with no such mitigations, such as house parties and similar gatherings, and Scot Gov also insisted on an advance bookings only policy, in strict two hour time slots, which merely encouraged people to book multiple outlets, only ever planning to go to one, resulting in hordes of no shows, with those customers that did show up having to leave after two hours to go somewhere else (presumably dispersing the virus rather more efficiently than having customers stay put) while outlets wondered if the next table booking was even going to show up. On 19th July 2021, nightclubs reopened in England - live music concerts could take place at 100% capacity and social distancing in hospitality and related sectors was abandoned. In Scotland, by contrast, nightclubs did not reopen. Nightclubs weren’t even allowed to open in Tier 0 of the tier system. Non socially distanced concerts could not take place, and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, which contributes massively to the Scottish economy, and which is predicated on the raison d’être of small events in small indoor venues, was effectively cancelled for the second year in a row, with a farcically emaciated facsimile of the event scheduled to take place almost exclusively in large socially-distanced outdoor gazebos, as socially distanced gigs are simply not viable in indoors settings, small clubs especially. Meanwhile English gigs, cabaret, comedy and other events were taking place in late July and early August at full capacity. As it happens, Scot Gov finally lifted Covid restrictions on August 9th, one week into the Fringe calendar and far too late for venues to schedule any meaningful programmes of events, non socially distanced gigs were allowed to take place again and nightclubs were finally allowed ro reopen, three weeks after England. Might not seem like a long time, but England had been signalling the end of restrictions leading up to 19th July for months, while Scotland characteristically prevaricated and effectively sabotaged one of its major cultural assets - the Edinburgh Festival and Fringe. And of course in Scotland, we just had to make life that bit more difficult for our already beleaguered events, live music and nightclub sectors by introducing vaccine passports barely a couple of months after these long-shuttered businesses had finally reopened, with the shonkiest least fit-for-purpose app imaginable, which (initially at least) almost no-one could get to work, and which resulted in an immediate loss of footfall of circa 40% across these sectors. Needless to say, just when businesses were starting to recover from that massive blow, Omicron reared it’s head and the vaccine passport regime, implemented at great cost, and requiring the recruitment of additional dedicated staff to enforce, proved (like the extensive and expensive Covid mitigations implemented throughout hospitality) to be absolutely no protection to these businesses being shuttered or heavily restricted again at the first opportunity. In early December, Scot Gov decimated Scottish businesses’ lucrative Christmas trade with its entirely predictable overreaction to the Omicron variant, which the data from South Africa had already suggested was milder by far than Delta. The perennial bête noires nightclubs were closed again. Public Health Scotland, the FM and her Scot Gov minions told people to cancel their Christmas nights out and avoid busy hospitality settings, absolutely destroying (by far) the most profitable month of the year for these businesses, after almost two full punishing years of restrictions. As we know, England carried on more or less as normal, with little appreciable difference in case incidence or indeed in rates of hospitalisations or deaths. ‘Business in Scotland’ statistics suggest that 20,000 Scottish businesses failed during the first 12 months of the pandemic, to March 2021. I wonder what that figure is now? I imagine the Scottish government will be dreading the release of the updated figures. So, spare me your trite, Ill-informed nonsense about how Scotland’s regime of restrictions has varied little from England’s, because as someone who is very familiar with the minutiae of the restrictions and regulations to date, it’s patent nonsense. Scottish businesses have since virtually Day 1 one of the pandemic been subject to significantly tighter restrictions than their English counterparts (with these regulations often being arbitrary, counter-productive, inconsistent and self-contradictory), and with generally less government support to boot. I sat in on a Zoom meeting on Tuesday with representatives of live music venues from throughout the U.K. (as I have often done over the last couple of years) and the general reaction from our English counterparts when discussing the consistently more onerous Scottish (and Welsh and Northern Irish for that matter) restrictions is a mixture of sympathy and incredulity. We have rarely if ever been on the same page as our English counterparts.

I think Omicron is the one that has broken this pandemic. I know a lot of people who caught it, and reading the media it seems the same story everywhere. People reporting no symptoms, mild symptoms, or it feeling just like a cold. And people now thinking that the reaction to it - isolation, masks, various other restrictions - seem overblown to deal with it. Sure, there will always be a hard core of clinically vulnerable people for whom the risk of covid is higher; but their risk to flu, pneumonia and others is also higher, and always has been. The link between "cases" and severe illness/death has shattered. This is due to a number of things, from the virus itself being milder, to the fantastic work of the vaccines. Those in hospital are largely made up of the unvaccinated. There is no real reason then to carry on forcing people who have done all the right things - worked from home, home schooled the kids, limited social contacts, didn't go to that wedding/funeral/works event, got vaccinated, got boosted - to keep restricting their lives.

A beautiful 10 for Thursday.

First super sexy TEN for some time for Thursday. There were some absolute sitters in there, but had to rely on eduguesses for Bug's Life and strongman.

I'll go. I think they're beer is good and don't care if they are slave drivers. You'll be worrying about animal welfare next. What's your missus like? Never mind, I'm sure she can't be that bad.

"Shackled Boiler Suit"....... a bit hoppy for my taste.........

Ten Thursday, no guesses.

Ooft a super dooper sexy 10. Can't remember the last time I did that!

A Thursday 10 for me as well.

10 for Thursday. Knew 9 and it helps when you’re watching Andy Murray while doing the quiz.

10 Thursday

10 for Thursday.

I have been told that the signings we make will make the fans go wow and not in a bad way,but no names were given. This was from the same guy that told me Rennie was getting the managers job a day before he was announced.

10/10 for Thu

Rattled straight through Thursday with a 10 .

Why are folk getting so upset because Rennie & Miller said there would be signings. Rennie could still come true to his word and it’s quite possible they were confident they had deals being done and somethings changed out with their hands. The difference between Holt and Rennie is that Holt is part of the reason we are where we are and Rennie hasn’t done anything wrong for people to be getting on his back already.

Who needs feedback from clinicians actually treating Shanicron on the ground, when we've got a dentist ready to tell 'Stuart n Tam' what the score is on a Saturday football show. Our scientific expertise knows no rival.

10 for Thursday.

Speak to a few people that were close (family/friends/ex-colleagues/social) and get a few anecdotes that covers each part of your mums life and add one from yourself. Base what every you say around these anecdotes then fill out with some general information about your mum. You won’t be far off and save falling in to traps about only speaking about her from your perspective and avoiding the impersonal bullshit that comes from someone who didn’t really know her.

Are Dundee doing duvet covers? That's the missus birthday sorted.

Add me to the list of Full-Housers with an almost guess-free Ten for Thursday. (Strong lad was a guess).

I always 'like' the 'He/she would frequently tell of [insert funny but not too embarrassing story]' parts. From experience, the "she would enjoy the [this, this and that]... not so much the [insert PTTGOYN]" in a dry tone usually gets an uplifting chuckle. FWIW, I tend to embrace what's normally the first part about where they were born, where exactly they grew up, their first job, first holiday, how she met your dad etc. There's a good chance that younger members of the family, never mind friends, won't know about that part of your mum's life. I usually come away from such things having learned something new about the person, which provides some comfort.

Sorry but that is a ridiculous post.

Will there be new players in the squad before Hamilton ? Of course Are the important people in making these decision worried , don’t think so is there a plan in place , certainly Are some fans panicking for no reason , yes

^^^

He's the leader of the Scottish Conservatives

I just want McPake’s reign of terror to end.

So is p&b unanimous. Brewdog = wanks Tennents = good guys

I read about this overheard conversation in a Portobello pub: Auld Punter 1: Billy's deid then Auld Punter 2: Who was Billy? Did I ken him? Auld Punter 1: Aye, he was the one that wore a leather jacket and sat up at the bar Auld Punter 2: Oh, was he the one that was always arguing with Tam the Barman about horses? Auld Punter 1: Aye. Auld Punter 2. So he's deid is he? Good.

I know a lot of the EPL/EFL fanboys like to talk about the 'standard' of Scottish Football (it boils my piss, btw!) but I was at Preston v Barnsley back in December. It was fucking guff. Considering some of these players were on £10k a week (at least!) it was dire stuff. You've literally got clubs clinging on for dear life (hiya Derby!) in some quest to reach the Premier League and get relegated so they can fill their coffers (good afternoon Norwich!). It's insanity and I await the next ITV Digital style collapse.

What a lot of shite.

In the same way as the thread on Orange Walks metamorphosed into a hub of cricket talk, the transition of the Covid thread to Incel chat will be as seamless as it is unsurprising.

He'll be remembered as being even more of a cűnt than you. Think on that. It's some fucking bar. 1. He still hasn't "got Brexit done". 2. He won a massive majority based on a raft of manifesto promises which he has spent the last couple of years breaking, one by one. Feel free to mention anything that has been implemented from that manifesto. 3. He isn't even bright enough to lie consistently. 4. Finally, on pandemic response. Much public money was spent on vaccines which work, but I don't hear you trumpeting about the public money spaffed up the wall on vaccines which were found to be unsuitable. The "superb" rollout of the vaccination and booster programmes was due to a Herculean effort on behalf of NHS staff and an army of volunteers (mainly , Public Sector), not that fucking empty shirt - he was too busy getting pissed with his staff. That the only thing he continues to claim for himself as a success is a result of a massive socialist response from the public aiding an institution he is denied to destroying would be beautifully ironic were it not so fucking disgraceful.

Three word reviews of "watership down" for this pish.

Talking of which, she complained the telly was too loud so I got fancy bluetooth headphones. Really good. Great sound for me, silence for her. Then I put them on to watch something and started adjusting the volume because it was a bit muffled. I was convinced the batteries were going as I was turning them up, turning them up and it was like listening through cotton wool. Then I looked up and saw the wife at the living room door gesticulating. I took the headphones off to see what she was moaning about. Turned out the headphones weren't hooked up to Bluetooth. I was wearing them like ear defenders and the entire street was listening to my telly.

Here's an idea. Drink the stuff you might like and don't drink the other stuff.

This is the usual pish we see in the media time and time again before another routine pumping the following week. Sort it out in house and show it on the pitch or stfu Gowser. The fact that half the players aren’t good enough at this level is as big a problem as any lack of effort. Add in the incompetence of the manager and it’s a relegation recipe as clear as day. I was thinking today, are the owners even aware of the discontent among the fans? You would think it would be glaringly obvious but you never know. The time to make our voices heard is long overdue IMO or it’s going to be straight back down without laying a glove on the league and god knows how many seasons more of championship misery. For once in my miserable life I wish we could just have some sort of hope for the club going forward. Thank you.

Zero hashtags has been the maximum number for a long time.

There is a fair amount of backlash from the usual suspects on twitter to England dropping Plan B. I really do think the psychological impact of the last 2 years will last a very long time for many people. The government terrified millions into locking themselves away in 2020, and a big chunk of those are still in that state of heightened fear.

That's because cricket is utter dogshite.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jan/19/removal-of-covid-rules-in-uk-risks-premature-signal-of-victory Bold call from the clowncar unit that has predicted approximately 85 million Covid deaths in the UK so far.

I did my Dad's eulogy a few years ago. By far and away the hardest thing I've ever had to do.

We're not looking at an entire rebuild at the moment to be very competitive in this league. Airdrie weren't streets ahead on saturday and they're second top. 3 decent signings and we should be able to get results against anyone in league one . Fans are looking for something positive to invest in. Whether that's next year's season ticket or joining the supporters society they want to see something palpable from the new board and manager. If we just freewheel from now till may your not going to get much enthusiasm for either.

I've said it before, but having the only two rich Americans on the planet who actually reward failure instead of instantly firing the cause of it is one of the most Dundee things ever. The actual most Dundee thing ever was mentioned up the thread. You just know that when Saints can Davidson, they'll appoint Ross and stay up at our expense whilst we're still stuck floundering about with McPake.

I dunno, even if he were to lose the election, I doubt he'd take the Queen's job.