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Coronavirus (COVID-19)


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1 minute ago, Granny Danger said:

So we’re now debating what’s worse, COVID or Ebola.

I’m glad I’m going back to work soon.

Yes. Its the contagious disease Cup Final.

Sars and Mers done well, but both unlucky to lose in the semis to higher quality opponents.

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I got paywalled when I clicked on your link but when I clicked on one from Twitter it worked.
It's a good article, there have obviously been some areas where Sturgeon has done better than the UK Government - she has been clearer in her communications, for example.  What is true is that the actual policy has been the same, the big failures are the same - poor provision of PPE, lack of attention to care homes, testing capacity, not acting quickly enough.
One thing that's interesting, and it doesn't just apply to this crisis, is that there's a kind of 'Tartan halo' around the Scottish Parliament, a lot of people see whatever comes out of there as better than anything from WEstminster.  This isn't specific to the SNP, there were similar results from the previous Labour-LibDem executives.  Another big factor is that there is no real opposition to the SNP, none of the opposition parties are credible as an alternative government and criticism from them just isn't taken seriously.  Perhaps this could change if Nicola Sturgeon was to step down because I think there is a significant drop off in capability in the current SNP adminstration from her but even then I don't think that's going to propel Jackspn Carlaw into Bute House.
The SNP haven't handled it any better really until the easing of lockdown and have had a few clangers like the CMO and the nike fiasco.
Sturgeon has presented the facts well and come across as a strong leader. I'm not sure why she has to do every single address though?
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Guest JTS98
3 minutes ago, Steven W said:

Yes. Its the contagious disease Cup Final.

Sars and Mers done well, but both unlucky to lose in the semis to higher quality opponents.

Nah. Sars and Mers were like 90s Holland and Spain. Lots of hype, lots of promise, but ultimately fell short on the big stage.

Ebola is Egypt. A strong regional power with occasional flashes of brilliance.

Covid-19 is Argentina. Not the best of the bunch, but will always be there or there abouts.

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1 hour ago, MixuFruit said:

Yeah I agree about the Tartan Halo thing but there's 2 things going on there in my opinion:

  1. We elect the parliament so we view it as 'ours' more than the UK one, even if as you say it really needs more of a critical eye. Unfortunately the press up here mostly blew their chance at this by being so hostile to the SNP for reasons I've explained elsewhere so we don't really get that, it's either confinued open hostility or unhelpful cheerleading (Daily Record & Sunday Posts are possible honourable exceptions).
  2. Like brexit is for conservatives, independence is the overriding issue for SNP. People will overlook all manner of bad things as long as they eventually deliver on the main goal.

I do think that some people look at the SP as more authentically 'ours' but the turnout for SP elections is lower than for Westminster elections.  Barely half the eligible population bother to vote in these elections, less than for the UK Parliament.  

Regarding the press in Scotland, it's an odd thing that people who are interested in politics seem far more interested in the media now that media influence andpower is at it's lowest ebb.  There was an article during the crisis in the National by Stuart Cosgrove that summed this up for me very well - he spent the article condemning Unionist newspapers , saying he watched the First Minister's updates because he so enjoyed watching her "handing the journalists arses to them".  These are the updates where the FM told us how many people were dying every day, at that point dozens upon dozens every day.  Looking at it, it's really strange behaviour and I think it misses the point of a lot of what is going on in our society.

You are right about the overriding issue trumping everything else for the SNP.  I do think that the form this takes in Scotland, where a party is inching towards achieving their goal over the course of years, might not be the best approach.  I have a feeling that it might miss undercurrents in society and politics that occur outside of the view of the politcally engaged.  The example I think of is that in the 2016 EU referendeum, 38% of the Scottish vote was for Leave.  Since the 1980s when Labour and the SNP pivoted to a pro-EU standpoint there hasn't really been any consistent Euruscepticism in Scottish politics, practically every elected representative in Scotland sinxe then has been pro-EU, the Leave campaign in Scotland was perfunctory yet they got a million votes.  It makes me wonder if there's some untapped movement out there that no-one thinks about, could something happen to blow away the assumptions and comfortable agreement we have about Scottish society and politics?  Probably not tbh but it does make me think.

Edited by ICTChris
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2 minutes ago, D.A.F.C said:

The SNP haven't handled it any better really until the easing of lockdown and have had a few clangers like the CMO and the nike fiasco.
Sturgeon has presented the facts well and come across as a strong leader. I'm not sure why she has to do every single address though?

I think it's probably better perception - leader is there and visible. Johnson meanwhile gives the impression he can't be arsed which is fueling the fire. 

Johnson also only seems to appear when there is "good news" to announce. He seems really insecure and desperate to be liked, meanwhile the lackies can front up and play bad cop. 

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4 minutes ago, Stellaboz said:

What is aids then? 

AIDS is Brazil.

A strong history, a high profile, but there's no reason to be as afraid of it as most people are as it's not as big a deal as it was in the past or as people think it is today.

Edited by JTS98
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2 minutes ago, JTS98 said:

Nah. Sars and Mers were like 90s Holland and Spain. Lots of hype, lots of promise, but ultimately fell short on the big stage.

Ebola is Egypt. A strong regional power with occasional flashes of brilliance.

Covid-19 is Argentina. Not the best of the bunch, but will always be there or there abouts.

AIDS is Bulgaria. Really strong in the 90s, feared by everyone. Fell away quite a bit since then but still on the scene now and dangerous opponent for anyone, but nothing like it's halcyon days of yesteryear

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2 minutes ago, Steven W said:

AIDS is Bulgaria. Really strong in the 90s, feared by everyone. Fell away quite a bit since then but still on the scene now and dangerous opponent for anyone, but nothing like it's halcyon days of yesteryear

Decent argument, but AIDS has a far stronger history than Bulgaria.

AIDS has disease prestige.

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6 minutes ago, Steven W said:

AIDS is Bulgaria. Really strong in the 90s, feared by everyone. Fell away quite a bit since then but still on the scene now and dangerous opponent for anyone, but nothing like it's halcyon days of yesteryear

I was thinking of it more as a Cameroon who appeared in the 80/90s seemingly from nowhere, had a couple of strong tournaments and did really well in the States before declining to the point where they're only really seen these days as a major threat regionally.

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3 minutes ago, Todd_is_God said:

+13 cases is a good sign

I wonder if it will be revealed when the 40 previous tests were performed.

Just 13 new cases in Scotland?

 

 

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