Coronavirus (COVID-19)

[Inanimate Carbon Rod]

12 hours ago, NorthernLights said:

A good article on the way Western countries treated the information about omicron that came out of South Africa at the end of last year.

Is racism why South African evidence of milder infection was ignored?

Yes, abso-fuckinglutely yes, but its ok, because its the ‘right kind of racism’ for the folks who dismissed they SA evidence. 

3 hours ago, oaksoft said:

They are so caught up in the self-righteousness and morality of their position that their children's needs are becoming secondary to their own egos. Another side effect of wrapping covid up in a moralistic blanket. Now they have backed themselves into a corner where it will be very difficult for them to give in because they've wrongly turned a medical issue into a moral crusade.

I don't think they have the faintest idea of how much damage they are doing to their kids.

Being a home-school teacher sounds easy in principle but it's almost impossible for most kids to get a proper education that way. It's not just about maths and English. Home schooled kids will struggle socially and working with groups of people in the future.

I suspect most of this bravado will evaporate when the court summons and the fines start pouring in.

Mad thing is, many of these affected middle class arseholes ignore that the biggest cause of childhood death as a factor is actually poverty, what contributes significantly to poverty? Missing out on education. Absolute dickheads to a man. 

3 hours ago, Monkey Tennis said:

Classes of 15 would have done.

Anyway, I can't see you ever having to concern yourself with the fate of offspring, so don't worry about it.

Ooooft. Can someone come and collect their da? 

[red23]

5 hours ago, scottsdad said:

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. 

One of my mates mrs refuses to go outside the house now as shes so anxious, she can't even face going to the shops. Did have a kid during lockdown which always turns woman a bit more mental but shows it does impact people in strange ways,

[Sergeant Wilson]

11 minutes ago, red23 said:

One of my mates mrs refuses to go outside the house now as shes so anxious, she can't even face going to the shops. Did have a kid during lockdown which always turns woman a bit more mental but shows it does impact people in strange ways,

Go round with a bottle of something.

That should have her running into the street.

[Left Back]

3 minutes ago, Sergeant Wilson said:

Go round with a bottle of something.

That should have her running into the street.

Bleach?

[Monkey Tennis]

2 hours ago, craigkillie said:

Ignoring the crude and fairly unpleasant personal attack, can you please talk me through the practicalities of every single university course being taught on campus whilst still complying with some degree of social distancing?

When giving your answer, please bear in mind that even the biggest lecture theatres which can normally hold 200+ have capacities of 50 under the current distancing advice being used by universities, and most rooms are much smaller than this and have smaller maximum capacities as a result.

Why on earth would I attempt to do such a thing?

I've not called for it at all?  I do think, however, that provision could be significantly greater in certain places than has been evident.  You shared some of my concern on the matter and were actually terribly helpful on it in the autumn, so I'm unclear as to why such a stark presentation of things is being offered now.

Not jumping aboard an indignant bandwagon, are we?

[Monkey Tennis]

4 hours ago, oaksoft said:

I like a bit of rough banter as much as anyone but TBH you've really crossed a line with that particularly nasty piece of shite.

I'm not sure what you're gaining from posting in this manner.

Ok, not my finest hour on here.

It was an unkind comment and I therefore apologise.

 

 

I can probably be spared the moralising though.  Remember that VT's entire presence on here is founded on a capacity to mock, deride and belittle.  Remember too, that he took us down a personal path by referring to my daughter as a "sprog" and "precious".  He knows nothing whatever of her, her circumstances, challenges etc, yet felt justified in referring to her in derogatory terms that incidentally, upset nobody on here at all. 

Let's remember too that VT's apparent virginity is something of a staple on here.  Does it not come up that way if you tag him or something?  Surely only the much maligned God botherers believe that such status still permits conception.  I've no idea if it's true or not, but let's not pretend that the charge has just been invented by me.

The comment in question did not reflect well on me and I'll not be making it again.  I'm old enough to know better.  For the above reasons, however, I'll not be crippled by guilt over it either.

 

Edited January 20, 2022 by Monkey Tennis

[Dawson Park Boy]

2 hours ago, craigkillie said:

Ignoring the crude and fairly unpleasant personal attack, can you please talk me through the practicalities of every single university course being taught on campus whilst still complying with some degree of social distancing?

When giving your answer, please bear in mind that even the biggest lecture theatres which can normally hold 200+ have capacities of 50 under the current distancing advice being used by universities, and most rooms are much smaller than this and have smaller maximum capacities as a result.

Why do universities need such large  social distancing?

Football stadia don’t seem to need to do this.

Am I missing something or is it the unions are just being awkward?

[Todd_is_God]

[vikingTON]

43 minutes ago, Monkey Tennis said:

Ok, not my finest hour on here.

It was an unkind comment and I therefore apologise.

 

 

I can probably be spared the moralising though.  Remember that VT's entire presence on here is founded on a capacity to mock, deride and belittle.  Remember too, that he took us down a personal path by referring to my daughter as a "sprog" and "precious".  He knows nothing whatever of her, her circumstances, challenges etc, yet felt justified in referring to her in derogatory terms that incidentally, upset nobody on here at all. 

Let's remember too that VT's apparent virginity is something of a staple on here.  Does it not come up that way if you tag him or something?  Surely only the much maligned God botherers believe that such status still permits conception.  I've no idea if it's true or not, but let's not pretend that the charge has just been invented by me.

The comment in question did not reflect well on me and I'll not be making it again.  I'm old enough to know better.  For the above reasons, however, I'll not be crippled by guilt over it either.

 

I'll just skip over the rest of this wild and borderline creepy post to point out that the 'precious' description was referring to you alone. As in the sheer hypocrisy of you throwing employee protections that you've been engaging in mock outrage about completely overboard, as soon as you want a better setup for your precious daughter. (emph. - italics only). And then attacking staff for not turning up and working because they're not doing so in the precise way that you demand. 

Quite why you're trying to get up on your cross about 'sprog' would be mystifying, if it weren't for your general clown running across a minefield display for the past wee while. 

Edited January 20, 2022 by vikingTON

[Thorongil]

58 minutes ago, Monkey Tennis said:

Ok, not my finest hour on here.

It was an unkind comment and I therefore apologise.

 

 

I can probably be spared the moralising though.  Remember that VT's entire presence on here is founded on a capacity to mock, deride and belittle.  Remember too, that he took us down a personal path by referring to my daughter as a "sprog" and "precious".  He knows nothing whatever of her, her circumstances, challenges etc, yet felt justified in referring to her in derogatory terms that incidentally, upset nobody on here at all. 

Let's remember too that VT's apparent virginity is something of a staple on here.  Does it not come up that way if you tag him or something?  Surely only the much maligned God botherers believe that such status still permits conception.  I've no idea if it's true or not, but let's not pretend that the charge has just been invented by me.

The comment in question did not reflect well on me and I'll not be making it again.  I'm old enough to know better.  For the above reasons, however, I'll not be crippled by guilt over it either.

 

Compelling and fair comment.

[Thorongil]

17 minutes ago, virginton said:

I'll just skip over the rest of this wild and borderline creepy post to point out that the 'precious' description was referring to you alone. As in the sheer hypocrisy of you throwing employee protections that you've been engaging in mock outrage about completely overboard, as soon as you want a better setup for your precious daughter. (emph. - italics only). And then attacking staff for not turning up and working because they're not doing so in the precise way that you demand. 

Quite why you're trying to get up on your cross about 'sprog' would be mystifying, if it weren't for your general clown running across a minefield display for the past wee while. 

Does not reflect well upon the poster. 

[deegee]

Totally depressing seeing the state of this tonight on television. That’s before we even touch on the insipid bunch of halfwits on the panel.

The sooner we ditch all this “pantomime” and hysterics over a cold, the better for all of us.

 

[Thorongil]

57 minutes ago, Dawson Park Boy said:

Why do universities need such large  social distancing?

Football stadia don’t seem to need to do this.

Am I missing something or is it the unions are just being awkward?

Got it in one IMO.

[craigkillie]

2 hours ago, Monkey Tennis said:

Why on earth would I attempt to do such a thing?

I've not called for it at all?  I do think, however, that provision could be significantly greater in certain places than has been evident.  You shared some of my concern on the matter and were actually terribly helpful on it in the autumn, so I'm unclear as to why such a stark presentation of things is being offered now.

Not jumping aboard an indignant bandwagon, are we?

 

I'm not jumping aboard anything. You were suggesting classes of 15 were taught, something which certainly was happening across my university and I suspect most others. The issues were with larger classes, where clearly it was not possible in terms of staff resources or room availability to have the same classes being taught 4 or 5 times to allow everyone to attend a session. Therefore those larger classes most likely still had a reduced in-person provision.

 

2 hours ago, Dawson Park Boy said:

Why do universities need such large  social distancing?

Football stadia don’t seem to need to do this.

Am I missing something or is it the unions are just being awkward?

Universities don't tend to teach classes outdoors, so I'm not sure that football stadia are a relevant comparison. The distancing isn't a legal requirement but has been implemented by most universities regardless as far as I'm aware. That will be a mixture of universities being risk averse in terms of avoiding being blamed if there are student outbreaks but also pressure from unions given that these are workplaces.

[Sergeant Wilson]

5 hours ago, craigkillie said:

Universities don't tend to teach classes outdoors

Not even on the last day at summer?

[Monkey Tennis]

6 hours ago, craigkillie said:

 

I'm not jumping aboard anything. You were suggesting classes of 15 were taught, something which certainly was happening across my university and I suspect most others. The issues were with larger classes, where clearly it was not possible in terms of staff resources or room availability to have the same classes being taught 4 or 5 times to allow everyone to attend a session. Therefore those larger classes most likely still had a reduced in-person provision.

I've genuinely no idea what you're on about here.

I really did not at any stage suggest that classes of 200 should be divided into sections of 15 for the purposes of lectures.  You seem under the impression that I've said something along such lines.

In the case that most interests me, and the one you were helpful with back in September before I became the anti-Christ, the smaller lessons haven't run at all either.

You appear to have jumped the gun a little here.

[vikingTON]

47 minutes ago, Monkey Tennis said:

 before I became the anti-Christ, 

^^^ Liverpool-esque levels of self-pity. 

[ICTChris]

I’ve not paid much attention to university restrictions. Are they mostly voluntary on the part of the institutions in Scotland or are there still legal restrictions? What is happening with them in England now that ‘plan B’ is no more?

[PedroMoutinho]

10 minutes ago, ICTChris said:

I’ve not paid much attention to university restrictions. Are they mostly voluntary on the part of the institutions in Scotland or are there still legal restrictions? What is happening with them in England now that ‘plan B’ is no more?

I believe it’s Scottish government guidance that unis should have distancing in place and no classes bigger than 50

[scottsdad]

7 minutes ago, ICTChris said:

I’ve not paid much attention to university restrictions. Are they mostly voluntary on the part of the institutions in Scotland or are there still legal restrictions? What is happening with them in England now that ‘plan B’ is no more?

In Scotland, the government allows classes of up to 80% of room capacity. However most institutions have their own policy below this. My own uni is running at 50% room capacity with masks and distancing in place this semester. This is more than last semester. 

The big problem for us is with postgraduate students. We have January intakes and the numbers here are variable. One guy I know was allocated a room with a capacity of 80, so can take 40. This is roughly what he had last year.  Unexpectedly 210 students enrolled for his class this month.