Generic Virus Thread

[AVFC_Hitz]

52 minutes ago, NurembergVillan said:

Vancouver was incredible, but SO far away and SO expensive.  Once I quit my job there was no way I could afford to stay there with another role, or doing what I'm doing now.

Germany had everything, really.  I was eroding the language barrier too, so once I'd got fluent it'd been fine.  Think I went there too young and in the wrong relationship.

I felt the same in Berlin. I was earning €200 a day doing the historical tour stuff and bar crawls in the evening. Was cracking the language and there was many a drunken conversation saying I'd jack in uni and stay on. I'd have probably gone on to Humboldt uni and done something there, too. 

Alas, I came back and thus followed 6 brilliant years in Istanbul and 5 years here in Sofia with a young family. 

Heinz sight is a wonderful thing.

[Sam-AVFC]

31 minutes ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

It’s sad to read how many people want to leave the country because of the government.  A real shame.

Personally I love this country and the opportunities it’s given me and my family since they migrated here.   I’m not going to let the current government ruin that. 

Have things really gotten that bad in the UK?

I've seriously considered leaving. The only thing that has stopped me is the guilt of leaving behind family members in care homes etc (although I might not have to worry about that much longer). I also don't think I'd ever bother coming back if I left.

Maybe it's just my experience, but I have seen some shocking stuff over the last 5 years that I'd never run into before including, but not limited to:

• an enormous increase in homelessness and food bank usage.
• a group of skinheads chasing an Asian man through the streets of London shouting they're going to kill him. In the **** City (shiny tall bit) of all places.
• countless people being shouted at to 'go home' in public.
• a clumsy, yet peaceful political leader being cast as the 2nd coming of Hitler while we laugh off the anti-semitism, homophobia, racism and misogyny of our current PM and his cronies.
• the fact our version of 'taking back control' from unelected bureaucrats is shaping up to be the most damaging economic exit possible...led by an unelected bureaucrat with complete disdain for anyone and anything else.
• constant gaslighting by ministers. At least politicians had the decency to try and avoid a question in the past.
• the fact this sort of shite still seems to be escalating.
• Edit - I missed a big one for me; a trend towards anti-intellectualism.

Perhaps I was just too young before to realise what was going on, but to me it certainly feels like things have changed. 

Edited May 26, 2020 by Sam-AVFC

[DCJonah]

19 minutes ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

It’s sad to read how many people want to leave the country because of the government.  A real shame.

Personally I love this country and the opportunities it’s given me and my family since they migrated here.   I’m not going to let the current government ruin that. 

Have things really gotten that bad in the UK?

 

My life is amazing. My wife and I have decent paying jobs, we just bought a 4 bedroom house in a nice area, our kids will be attending an outstanding school in September and I have close family and friends all around me. I'm doing fine. But one of the things I hate about politics in this country is that mentality. I'm OK so **** people who aren't. 

The tories being in power won't make my life bad. Labour being in power would probably make little difference

Its just the tribalism, the racism, the shitting on the most vulnerable and the most in need of help. The consistent cuts to public services and the lying and manipulating around it. It upsets me to see where we seem to be heading as a country. Take this pandemic, it hasn't really affected me. My wife's parents had it but have come out fine. Me and my wife are still getting paid and I spend most days in a lovely garden with my children. But I'm still pissed and and embarrassed at the state in which this governement has handled things. 

[PaulC]

1 hour ago, HanoiVillan said:

I think that's a reasonable concern, because that's clearly what is animating the Steves Baker of the party. However, I think on balance destabilising the party is a risk I'm prepared to take.

We have another 4 years or more of this party at least its not something I want to risk. 

[StefanAVFC]

I moved 5 years ago, nothing to do with politics, just for the hell of it.

It's easy to forge a new life. Work hard, be open minded.

[Sam-AVFC]

3 minutes ago, DCJonah said:

My life is amazing. My wife and I have decent paying jobs, we just bought a 4 bedroom house in a nice area, our kids will be attending an outstanding school in September and I have close family and friends all around me. I'm doing fine. But one of the things I hate about politics in this country is that mentality. I'm OK so **** people who aren't. 

The tories being in power won't make my life bad. Labour being in power would probably make little difference

Its just the tribalism, the racism, the shitting on the most vulnerable and the most in need of help. The consistent cuts to public services and the lying and manipulating around it. It upsets me to see where we seem to be heading as a country. Take this pandemic, it hasn't really affected me. My wife's parents had it but have come out fine. Me and my wife are still getting paid and I spend most days in a lovely garden with my children. But I'm still pissed and and embarrassed at the state in which this governement has handled things. 

This as well.

I'm comfortable myself and the party in power has little impact to me, but that makes me find it even more egregious when someone sneers at me for daring to be stupid enough to vote with empathy.

[foreveryoung]

30 minutes ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

It’s sad to read how many people want to leave the country because of the government.  A real shame.

Personally I love this country and the opportunities it’s given me and my family since they migrated here.   I’m not going to let the current government ruin that. 

Have things really gotten that bad in the UK?

 

I'm not  backing the tories, but I think if Corbyn got in it would have been alot worse.

[DCJonah]

1 minute ago, foreveryoung said:

I'm not  backing the tories, but I think if Corbyn got in it would have been alot worse.

Worse than the most deaths in Europe and losing more healthcare workers than any other country? 

I doubt it. I seriously doubt Corbyn would have been talking about shaking hands with people at the end of March. 

[Stevo985]

3 minutes ago, foreveryoung said:

I'm not  backing the tories, but I think if Corbyn got in it would have been alot worse.

Show your working

[foreveryoung]

Just now, DCJonah said:

Worse than the most deaths in Europe and losing more healthcare workers than any other country? 

I doubt it. I seriously doubt Corbyn would have been talking about shaking hands with people at the end of March. 

He wouldn't have got it right. For one he would have had to self isolate from the start, so who would have been running the country??

[Sam-AVFC]

1 minute ago, foreveryoung said:

I'm not  backing the tories, but I think if Corbyn got in it would have been alot worse.

See, this is interesting to me.

Why do you believe that? Is it it just because the general picture painted of him is one of incompetence? Is there something in his well publicised views that makes you think this?

I'm absolutely baffled by people chucking stuff like this out like we haven't dealt with this worse than all but probably 1/2 other countries.

I believe the decision to delay any lockdown etc was a political one (protect business), so why on earth would Corbyn have made the same decision rather than locking down earlier? And if he did lockdown earlier how on earth could it conceivably be worse?

[Stevo985]

2 minutes ago, foreveryoung said:

He wouldn't have got it right. For one he would have had to self isolate from the start, so who would have been running the country??

He could have left his cat in charge and I'd wager it would have done a better job than Johnson

[LondonLax]

Quote

Anyone who imagines his defence of Cummings is born of loyalty is unfamiliar with the concept “Boris Johnson”. This is actually a simple story: man with no ideas is too terrified to sack his ideas man. Or to put it in the complex intellectual terms it deserves, some street heckler once shouted at David Hasselhoff: “Oi! Hasselhoff! You’re nothing without your talking car!” Cummings is the talking car to Johnson’s Hasselhoff.

The whole article is pretty great 

https://amp.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/may/26/dominic-cummings-boris-johnson-terrified-sack-him?CMP=fb_cif&__twitter_impression=true&fbclid=IwAR3JYT2Idh9keEhaanD4ngiiyBlP2CxwRnJBSftTncDkmHYGspccM8LXwt8

[foreveryoung]

1 minute ago, Stevo985 said:

He could have left his cat in charge and I'd wager it would have done a better job than Johnson

Errr, ok?

As I said i'm not backing Johnson, all i'm saying is Corbyn would have been a none starter.

[GarethRDR]

7 minutes ago, foreveryoung said:

so who would have been running the country??

Someone actually elected to run it which would, at least, be an improvement on the incumbent situation.

[DCJonah]

16 minutes ago, foreveryoung said:

He wouldn't have got it right. For one he would have had to self isolate from the start, so who would have been running the country??

Why would he not be able to run the country while self isolating? 

I just don't see how it could actually be much worse. 

[Davkaus]

What's lockdown looking like where people are? I only left the house today for a half an hour run, but the queues outside shops were busier than ever, the traffic looks close to normal, and there have been groups of kids playing football and hanging out in the park all day.

Normality is restoring, regardless of the law.

[choffer]

Just now, Davkaus said:

What's lockdown looking like where people are? I only left the house today for a half an hour run, but the queues outside shops were busier than ever, the traffic looks close to normal, and there have been groups of kids playing football and hanging out in the park all day.

Normality is restoring, regardless of the law.

Had to go to KwikFit today as I've a slow puncture and I need to get to a funeral on Friday. I was stunned at how many people were out and about, as if nothing was going on. The car needs new shoes so I had to book it in for the fitting - Friday morning was the first they could manage. Seems the whole of Richmond was out and about, very little in the way of masks and even less social distancing. 

It did make me wonder if I was victim to some Truman Show type ruse where I'd been isolating myself for months while everyone else was out living their best lives.

[bannedfromHandV]

3 minutes ago, choffer said:

Had to go to KwikFit today as I've a slow puncture and I need to get to a funeral on Friday. I was stunned at how many people were out and about, as if nothing was going on. The car needs new shoes so I had to book it in for the fitting - Friday morning was the first they could manage. Seems the whole of Richmond was out and about, very little in the way of masks and even less social distancing. 

It did make me wonder if I was victim to some Truman Show type ruse where I'd been isolating myself for months while everyone else was out living their best lives.

But it’s allowed now, so why would people who have been stuck at home for 2+ months continue to be stuck at home now they’re not being told to do so? 
 

I don’t think many people are particularly bothered about actually catching the virus, the only real concern remaining is the prospect that you might catch it and pass it on to someone else who might die (guilt).

I popped out and the roads were busy which I admit took me back a little at first but then you realise it’s just normality, we’ve been conditioned to think of the most normal things as being heinous in nature over recent months, it’ll take a while for people’s brains to recalibrate again I guess.

[Demitri_C]

40 minutes ago, Sam-AVFC said:

See, this is interesting to me.

Why do you believe that? Is it it just because the general picture painted of him is one of incompetence? Is there something in his well publicised views that makes you think this?

I'm absolutely baffled by people chucking stuff like this out like we haven't dealt with this worse than all but probably 1/2 other countries.

I believe the decision to delay any lockdown etc was a political one (protect business), so why on earth would Corbyn have made the same decision rather than locking down earlier? And if he did lockdown earlier how on earth could it conceivably be worse?

Well considering he humiliated labour in one of the worat showings in laboura history i think that speaks volumes.  And that was a against a clown in boris.