Off Topic Thread 5.0

Zzippy

swiwi_ wrote: »

Say what you like, but do the Irish have their own version of “How Bizarre”

Have you not heard Maniac 2000!

Stheno

I recognised about five of the bands/albums on that list

Emailed the three TDS yesterday and was pleasantly surprised to get a non template reply from one today

CatFromHue

The song that was never meant as a song but became an anthem.

kuang1

Stheno wrote: »

I recognised about five of the bands/albums on that list

Emailed the three TDS yesterday and was pleasantly surprised to get a non template reply from one today

I emailed my 4 yesterday and got 2 replies. One non template and one template from an assistant.
Non template one was quite good to be fair.

dregin

Stheno wrote: »

I recognised about five of the bands/albums on that list

Emailed the three TDS yesterday and was pleasantly surprised to get a non template reply from one today

To complain about the album list, yeah?

Dave_The_Sheep

kuang1 wrote: »

I emailed my 4 yesterday and got 2 replies. One non template and one template from an assistant.
Non template one was quite good to be fair.

Care to share? I'm interested in what replies people get - mine have been two from four, and both were basically "we'll relay your concerns to the transport/health minister".

kuang1

Dave_The_Sheep wrote: »

Care to share? I'm interested in what replies people get - mine have been two from four, and both were basically "we'll relay your concerns to the transport/health minister".

Pm sent

kuang1

Friend of mine returning to Ireland in a few days as his dad is very ill.
He's got everything lined up to self isolate and is not the type to flaunt the rules or anything.

Means he can't actually see his dad for 2 weeks after he gets here.

Is it possible to get a covid test done voluntarily without symptoms?
(If you're happy to foot the bill of course.)

errlloyd

kuang1 wrote: »

Is it possible to get a covid test done voluntarily without symptoms?
(If you're happy to foot the bill of course.)

You can get an antibody test, which tests if you have already had Covid. I believe TMB among others are offering it.

kuang1

errlloyd wrote: »

You can get an antibody test, which tests if you have already had Covid. I believe TMB among others are offering it.

Oh yeah I knew about that one alright.

I was just wondering if he arrives on Friday and self-isolates, could he on, say, Monday go and get a test done. That way he could avoid quarantining further if his test was negative.

Stheno

kuang1 wrote: »

Oh yeah I knew about that one alright.

I was just wondering if he arrives on Friday and self-isolates, could he on, say, Monday go and get a test done. That way he could avoid quarantining further if his test was negative.

Think tmb do private tests as well as the antibody tests

Four days would be a short time though isn't incubation 5-12 days?

kuang1

Stheno wrote: »

Think tmb do private tests as well as the antibody tests

Four days would be a short time though isn't incubation 5-12 days?

This is part of what I don't know and would love to.

If I contract the virus on Monday and were to be tested on Thursday, is it possible that test could give a false negative?

I'm guessing the answer isn't clear cut given the nature of viruses and individual immune systems varying in efficacy etc.

sydthebeat

kuang1 wrote: »

This is part of what I don't know and would love to.

If I contract the virus on Monday and were to be tested on Thursday, is it possible that test could give a false negative?

I'm guessing the answer isn't clear cut given the nature of viruses and individual immune systems varying in efficacy etc.

it absolutely is... its also possible to have outright visible symptoms and for a GP to diagnose you with covid, even if /regardless if, a test shows negative.

kuang1

sydthebeat wrote: »

it absolutely is... its also possible to have outright visible symptoms and for a GP to diagnose you with covid, even if /regardless if, a test shows negative.

Ok gotcha. Hence why the only 100% way to be safe and sure is to self isolate for 14 days.

Time should help evolve the type and quality of testing you'd hope. Easy to see how this paralyses economies currently though when 14 day isolation is the only foolproof method of allowing travel.

aloooof

kuang1 wrote: »

This is part of what I don't know and would love to.

If I contract the virus on Monday and were to be tested on Thursday, is it possible that test could give a false negative?

I'm guessing the answer isn't clear cut given the nature of viruses and individual immune systems varying in efficacy etc.

My understanding* is that the earlier you test from the date of contracting the virus, a false negative is more likely.

(*With all the usual caveats, not an expert etc.). I've no idea how more likely, or what the optimal wait time is tho. And even that is incidental as, naturally, you don't know when you contract it.

thomond2006

https://waterfordwhispersnews.com/2020/07/14/the-bull-mccabe-put-in-charge-of-dublin-airport-security/

Now, be a good Yank...

pickarooney

Stheno wrote: »

I recognised about five of the bands/albums on that list

Emailed the three TDS yesterday and was pleasantly surprised to get a non template reply from one today

The list is a bit controversial but I don't think it warrants involving members of the Dáil.

pickarooney

kuang1 wrote: »

Friend of mine returning to Ireland in a few days as his dad is very ill.
He's got everything lined up to self isolate and is not the type to flaunt the rules or anything.

Means he can't actually see his dad for 2 weeks after he gets here.

Is it possible to get a covid test done voluntarily without symptoms?
(If you're happy to foot the bill of course.)

I'm flying at the end of the week and a negative COVID test result from the last 72 hours is mandatory for boarding. So I guess it depends where he'd flying from and to. Worth asking the doctor or medical labs where he is.

kuang1

pickarooney wrote: »

I'm flying at the end of the week and a negative COVID test result from the last 72 hours is mandatory for boarding. So I guess it depends where he'd flying from and to. Worth asking the doctor or medical labs where he is.

Is it the airline insisting on that?

How easy is it to arrange a test for that reason or is it done by going to your GP?

swiwi_

errlloyd wrote: »

You can get an antibody test, which tests if you have already had Covid. I believe TMB among others are offering it.

Private labs will always offer this sort of thing €€€

The medical usefulness of serological tests for Covid is far from proven at present.

Podge_irl

pickarooney wrote: »

I'm flying at the end of the week and a negative COVID test result from the last 72 hours is mandatory for boarding. So I guess it depends where he'd flying from and to. Worth asking the doctor or medical labs where he is.

Not heard of such a requirement anywhere (and I'm flying on Thurs...). Seems a bit onerous and potentially pointless.

jacothelad

So Gove and Bonzo are now rewriting for their Brexit lies. So it's 40 lorry parks Bonzo meant, not 40 hospitals. A simple mistake anyone could make . Well, all of Kent (with the curious exception of Tunbridge Wells) voted for Brexit so they must be relishing their county being turned into a giant 20,000 lorry park cum outdoor toilet, after all how many times have we repeatedly been told that Brexiters 'knew what they were voting for'

A large proportion of freight entering Dover will be frozen and/or chilled produce. That requires a refrigeration trailer, the fridge runs of a diesel belly tank on the trailer. There is no other way. When the trailer is stationery they are (a) drinking diesel as the trailer skin heats up and (b) bloody noisy. They are spewing vast clouds of deadly diesel particulates into the lungs of the good Bremorons of Kent.. GOOD.

When refrigerated lorries park up for the night they need to either plug the fridge into a 45 amp, seven pin electrical system, or they will have their fridge turned off for them by other drivers trying to sleep. Once the fridge is either turned off, or runs out of diesel, the load will very quickly be unusable. So, Mr Gove, have you factored all the costs associated with setting up electric points, or will Ashford just be “blow-fly and maggot” central? This is a good example of facts that should be pointed out (forcefully) and fed to everyone living in Ashford and anyone with a public voice loud enough to get through.Poor old Ashford in Kent, the first locality where Brexit voters will truly feel the pain of shooting themselves in both feet, I would like to sympathise but these bastards have turned the gun on the rest of the nation as well

British travellers face the worst possible outcome once the Brexit transition period ends, the government has confirmed.

Promises that the European Health Insurance Card (Ehic) scheme would continue have been dashed, meaning travellers to the EU will face sharply increased travel insurance premiums.

UK visitors to the European Union are being urged to check their passport expiry dates.

The UK agricultural sector will be completely stuffed.It won't be able to export its foodstuffs (as we lack the requisite number of qualified vets - and there's now no way they could be trained or recruited in time).And its home market will be swamped by cheaper produce from abroad.

So much for those farmers with their 'Vote Brexit' placards in their fields! It's what the Brexiteers wanted, utter destruction of UK farming for all but the largest landowners , so they can pick up the land for next to nothing from bankrupt farmers... all the better to save inheritance tax with.

You'd think the absolute last thing you would want to do during the biggest global economic and social crisis of our lifetimes, is Brexit. Tearing up the complex relationship we have with our closest allies and replacing it with nothing or something worse. At a time when everyone's attention should be focused on people's lives and how to rebuild a better economy and society.

We shouldn't be wasting effort on some nonsensical right-wing libertarian pipe dream. A pipe dream that never looked more ridiculous than it does right now. And that's really saying something.

So God was creating man. And his little assistant came up to him and he said: "Hey, we've got all these bodies left, but we're right out of brains, we're right out of hearts and we're right out of vocal chords." And God said: "F*ck it! Sew 'em up anyway. Smack smiles on the faces and make them talk out of their arses." And lo, God created the Tory Party.

I'm wondering if at any point someone will prepare a spreadsheet showing what Brexit costs in comparison to the costs of being in the EU, with evidence! Suspect not. The costs of the customs checks alone will be about 13bn a year and rising in perpetuity, before we factor in all the infrastructure, staff and IT systems etc The ludicrously expensive clusterf*ck of Brexit is being laid bare. No amount of bull****, lies, and slogans will mask the blindingly obvious. This is project reality, and we were right all along. All these Tories saying that “it was made perfectly clear to the public at the time that Brexit would cost jobs, would be a difficult road” are ultimately duplicitous. They are right, Gove was right that the public was warned. It was warned by remainers. Endlessly.

Not once did Gove say it would be hard, nor did Johnson. They claimed it would be simple with the exact same benefits after leaving as before. No. It was remainers who said it would cost jobs, vast amounts of treasure and international
We were right and they called us elitist.
We were right and they said we weren’t patriotic.
We were right and they called us project fear.
We were right and they let death threats and actual murder against M.P.s blossom.
We were right. We warned everyone and now the Tories are claiming "You were warned" when they proclaimed that Brexit would only be good and make us all free and better off..

Feck em.

Oven ready! Frictionless! Not a hint of embarrassment or self awareness at the U turns personally made by weasle faced haemorrhoid, Gove. In the last 4 years. since 2016 the UK has lost billions in foreign investment. It is true to say that Gove and Johnson never believed in Brexit in the first place. Brexit was an opportunity for Johnson to secure the role of PM. Now they may think the cat is in the bag, but all I am able to see are the endless claw marks of fat cats covering not just this government, but our lives too.

According to Bloomberg's analysis, Brexit has already cost the UK economy more than the sum of all its membership contributions since joining the European project.

mfceiling

Hop off the fence there Jaco and tell us what you really think!!

pickarooney

kuang1 wrote: »

Is it the airline insisting on that?

How easy is it to arrange a test for that reason or is it done by going to your GP?

The French government insists on it. I'm not sure if all destinations are concerned, ours is technically an internal flight. Some labs just need to see the flight ticket, others ask for a prescription from a doctor. The test (swab and/or blood test) is free.

Neil3030

jaco the presumably not tory lad wrote:

According to Bloomberg's analysis, Brexit has already cost the UK economy more than the sum of all its membership contributions since joining the European project.

That is absolutely mind boggling. Christ.

Neil3030

Neil3030 wrote: »

That is absolutely mind boggling. Christ.

It's pretty hard to understand. England in particular has been hit terribly by covid and the evidence of the Governments failures are staggering. But the Tories are climbing in the polls and Johnson has pulled ahead of Starmer on his personal popularity rating. What is being done to warp the reality of English voters to the point that they are happy to sign off on all this?

Stories of serious wide spread corruption, taxes going to Tory donors and astonishing levels of waste are floating around the media - but it's hand waved away by half the country.

The scale and depth of misinformation deployed by the party of government against their own supporters really must be something. I can only presume that this combined with a fairly coordinated right wing media has created some weird bubble of alternative reality within England.

Welsh assembly now having their first debate on Independence. Whatever koolaid is being fed to the English population clearly doesn't stretch much beyond the borders. Scotland are almost certainly going to leave the UK and I'd imagine much sooner than people think, but we could be watching the start of a larger fracturing as the divide between English Tory voters and the rest of the world widens.

No deal Brexit right in the middle of winter flu season too. Is there an end game here that isn't going to be a catastrophe?

awec

Polls etc mean nothing right now.

awec

awec wrote: »

Polls etc mean nothing right now.

They mean nothing in terms of an election - but they confirm approval for the Government's actions which I find hard to comprehend and reconcile given the scale of failure and proven dishonesty.

Neil3030

Well the math stack up.

Bojo's bus claimed the UK contributed 350m per week (18.2bn per year) to the EU.

Membership for 43 years, assuming you're talking roughly 2.5x increase in their contributions due to inflation over that period. So I make somewhere in the territory of 500-550bn total contributions through 2016. But let's assume they continued making payments until 2020, so somewhere around £600bn total contributions.

May 2016 the total value of businesses on the London Stock Exchange was 4.3TN. Leaving out the economic impact of Covid, let's compare to February 2020, when the value of these businesses had contracted to 3.5TN. Now I'm no economist, but I'm guessing £800bn wiped off your stock market is a decent proxy for the value lost in the wider economy.

Oh and this all assumes the UK were actually contributing 18.2bn per year, as per bojo's claim in 2016.... which many dispute.

mfceiling

Neil3030 wrote: »

Well the math stack up.

Bojo's bus claimed the UK contributed 350m per week (18.2bn per year) to the EU.

Membership for 43 years, assuming you're talking roughly 2.5x increase in their contributions due to inflation over that period. So I make somewhere in the territory of 500-550bn total contributions through 2016. But let's assume they continued making payments until 2020, so somewhere around £600bn total contributions.

May 2016 the total value of businesses on the London Stock Exchange was 4.3TN. Leaving out the economic impact of Covid, let's compare to February 2020, when the value of these businesses had contracted to 3.5TN. Now I'm no economist, but I'm guessing £800bn wiped off your stock market is a decent proxy for the value lost in the wider economy.

Oh and this all assumes the UK were actually contributing 18.2bn per year, as per bojo's claim in 2016.... which many dispute.

Neil...