Colin

Who was it that said "truth is the first casualty of war" ?

I think that I would get banned if I replied to that... 

Tarsus,  My "bullsh!t detector" is on a hair trigger

This is beginning to read like the Monty Python sketch of the philosopher Socrates playing football.
 
think I prefer the "polemics". 

An interesting "must" read from a site that is normally full of "shouty" conspiracy theorists.  Wonder if there is any "truth" in it.
 
https://www.infowars.com/breakthrough-single-dose-of-common-agricultural-drug-found-to-essentially-eliminate-all-viral-material-of-covid-19-within-48-hours/

About 1 millionth of a second. 

About 1 millionth of a second. 

About 1 millionth of a second. 

Sympathies George, but I can't see any way you can blame it on Westminster. 

I would guess that the whole scheme was dreamed up by someone who hasn't taken a bus since they were at school...

It just struck me as being "similar vein" to the incident last week where someone in "authority" (?) tried to stop a shop selling Easter Eggs.  Over-reach by the over-zealous
 
Taxi Drivers are already suffering from much reduced trade.  Why would they turn away business. ?

https://www.shetlandtimes.co.uk/2020/04/02/taxi-drivers-to-quiz-passengers-on-whether-journeys-are-essential
 
Is it just me, or does anyone else here think that the SIC has "overstepped" their authority a bit.?
 
I "get" what they are trying to do but, I cannot help thinking that Taxi Drivers would not welcome this kind of interference(?) in their business and, it puts an un-necessary burden on them.
 
What next ?  Will Bus Drivers/Ferry Crew be expected to "interrogate" passengers before they let them on board ?
 
Get a grip here.  If I want to spend £10-15 on a taxi, it is because I have a valid reason to do so.  The only thing the driver should have to say (if he accepts the hire) is "where to mate ?"

https://www.shetlandtimes.co.uk/2020/04/02/taxi-drivers-to-quiz-passengers-on-whether-journeys-are-essential
 
Is it just me, or does anyone else here think that the SIC has "overstepped" their authority a bit.?
 
I "get" what they are trying to do but, I cannot help thinking that Taxi Drivers would not welcome this kind of interference(?) in their business and, it puts an un-necessary burden on them.
 
What next ?  Will Bus Drivers/Ferry Crew be expected to "interrogate" passengers before they let them on board ?
 
Get a grip here.  If I want to spend £10-15 on a taxi, it is because I have a valid reason to do so.  The only thing the driver should have to say (if he accepts the hire) is "where to mate ?"

"For the people on here advocating the 'survival of the fittest' approach', spare a thought for the health professionals who would be left with the hellish decision of who would receive treatment and who would be left to let nature take it's course."
 
A hellish choice indeed but, if it has to be made between "Patient A" and "Patient B", then you would wonder if either patient was actually "fit enough" to survive.. 
 
Truth is that the NHS has been cut back to the bone by successive governments, doesn't have adequete stocks, and can no longer cope with anything more than "normal" throughput.

There is no doubt that Corvid-19 is a "nasty little sausage", and that a lot of people are "at risk", but we should all "get a grip" and stop slavishly following the televised "saturation" coverage.  Every time I put the telly on, I see nothing but "talking heads" telling us what we must/must not do.  I didn't know that we were a country so full of "experts" !!, and I'm getting a little fed up with the "glee" that the media seems to have in thrusting so many crap and meaningless interviews on us.
 
I got a dose of Swine Flu a few weeks back.  Didn't enjoy it one bit and felt quite ill but, I was dismayed to find out that NHS Shetland knew it was about but didn't advertise it. !!  I wonder how many people with "underlying health problems" died from that one ?
Also, why keep that one quiet but shout from the rooftops about "Kung Flu/Woo Han Floo" (call it whatever you like).
Ghostrider is not the only one getting "frustrated" with the whole business.

Well, I agree with Ghostrider on this one. 
 
It's a terribly "harsh" take on things but, If you want "herd immunity" then you have to start by culling the weakest/less fit/less able from the herd.!!! 
A horrible thought but, nature does it all the time with other "species", and we never bat an eyelid..!!
 
Modern medicine is, indeed, a wonderful tool but, using it to keep people alive beyond their "natural" time and subjecting them to a much reduced "quality of life" where they need ongoing "support" as a consequence is "debateable".
 
OK, nobody wants to lose anyone "close" to them, and we will all fight until our last breath, that's a given, but there needs to be a serious injection of reality at some point.  We can't live forever !!

Well, I agree with Ghostrider on this one. 
 
It's a terribly "harsh" take on things but, If you want "herd immunity" then you have to start by culling the weakest/less fit/less able from the herd.!!! 
A horrible thought but, nature does it all the time with other "species", and we never bat an eyelid..!!
 
Modern medicine is, indeed, a wonderful tool but, using it to keep people alive beyond their "natural" time and subjecting them to a much reduced "quality of life" where they need ongoing "support" as a consequence is "debateable".
 
OK, nobody wants to lose anyone "close" to them, and we will all fight until our last breath, that's a given, but there needs to be a serious injection of reality at some point.  We can't live forever !!

Well, I agree with Ghostrider on this one. 
 
It's a terribly "harsh" take on things but, If you want "herd immunity" then you have to start by culling the weakest/less fit/less able from the herd.!!! 
A horrible thought but, nature does it all the time with other "species", and we never bat an eyelid..!!
 
Modern medicine is, indeed, a wonderful tool but, using it to keep people alive beyond their "natural" time and subjecting them to a much reduced "quality of life" where they need ongoing "support" as a consequence is "debateable".
 
OK, nobody wants to lose anyone "close" to them, and we will all fight until our last breath, that's a given, but there needs to be a serious injection of reality at some point.  We can't live forever !!

Well, I agree with Ghostrider on this one. 
 
It's a terribly "harsh" take on things but, If you want "herd immunity" then you have to start by culling the weakest/less fit/less able from the herd.!!! 
A horrible thought but, nature does it all the time with other "species", and we never bat an eyelid..!!
 
Modern medicine is, indeed, a wonderful tool but, using it to keep people alive beyond their "natural" time and subjecting them to a much reduced "quality of life" where they need ongoing "support" as a consequence is "debateable".
 
OK, nobody wants to lose anyone "close" to them, and we will all fight until our last breath, that's a given, but there needs to be a serious injection of reality at some point.  We can't live forever !!

Recurring outbreaks are  the trade off for 'flattening the curve', you end up with a slow burn that goes on for a long drawn out period, as opposed to having let it have a free for all, with a massive initial carnage and getting it over and done with. At the end of it all the pile of stiffs won't be much different in size, its just the impact (mostly psychological) on the population that changes.
 
Its all about the numbers gane of reaching critical mass, you have to achieve a point where the number of potential hosts for the virus are the minority of the population, through either antibody hosts or bodies in boxes, for it to falter and eventually peter out naturally. Flattening the curve does allow for the possibility of the virus mutating in to a weaker much less lethal version, and/or drier/warmer weather discouraging/eliminating it, but both are Russian Roulette, it could equally mutate in to a more contagious/virulent strain, or thrive better in drier/warmer conditions.
 
A vaccine would be fine, but its not that straightforward. A significant proportion of those dying with this would have already been dead had they caught any flu in the recent past, and the only reason they've not caught an ordinary flu before now is there's been a vaccine for that for 40 years or so.
 
All fine and good while it lasts, until you get something like we have at present, when yoiu have patients with very little hope of recovery who'd have gone last winter or before with nothing more than an ordinary flu, bed blocking while medics fight and mostly lose to keep them alive, to the point that people with asthma or suchlike, who could be far more easily saved, were they to get adequate treatment soon enough, are having to wait until they're an emergency case before they get it, leading to some of them not making it, that very likely would at any other time.
 
While I don't doubt those who got an extra bit of time as a result of the flu jab appreciated that, you have to question if a vaccine is such a good idea in the bigger longer term picture, if when, like right now, you get something come along for which there is no vaccine or 'cure', and not only are you losing those who are only still around as a result of a previous vaccine, you're losing some who very probably needn't be lost, were it not for those who are only still around thanks to another vaccine hogging all of the facilities.
 
Vaccines for diseases etc that have a high fataility rate, such as smallpox, diptheria, tetanus etc are fine and well,those things are what they are, they don't mutate like a flu virus, and dying from them is no reflection on the victims health or fitness. The flu never killed anyone, the complications associated with it does, and those are most lethal to the weak and frail, and those with poor health.
 
There's a good argument to be made that if you're not healthy enough to survive a standard winter flu, maybe its time to take your exit from this mortal coil, as you're pretty much well f**ked all round anyway. One thing is certain though, we can't continue as we are, as while the flu vaccine has no doubt given a very many people additional weeks, months or even years of life they'd not had otherwise, the downside of it is at any one given moment the numbers or frail/unhealthy people are significantly higher than previously, as as soon as something like Corona comes round, the number of them in hospital beds are crippling and leading to some less frail/unhealthy people not getting adequae treatment soon enough, and becoming needless victims.
 
We either need to accept that if someone is in a state that a normal winter flu would take them out, its best to let them go, or we need to invest massively in hospitals, staff and equipment adequate to handle the large numbers of those frail/weak people who get chest issues as soon as they get a whiff of a flu, just in case of the situation we're in right now.. Most of it would stand unused almost all of the timecosting Millions in upkeep. Between a rock and a hard place come sto mind, bit such are the moral/etithical dilemmas medical advances give to us as teh flip side of their 'benefits'.

Not saying he was guilty or innocent, but the prosecution witnesses must have failed to convince the jury.  
Must have had the same lawyer as O J Simpson !!
 
Why were 2 of the jury discharged ?  Is it possible that those 2 might have swayed the verdict in the opposite direction? 

George, I think that you "see the devil" in every corner.

It's a good question though.  In the "uncertain" times ahead, any form of local communication is better than no communication at all.  After all, can we REALLY rely on something as technically complicated as the internet ?

The warnings were all there with the "SARS" & "H1N1" outbreaks.  Shame that our so called "leaders" were so "politically blinkered" that they couldn't do anything concrete to prevent this one.
 
Chinese companies were allowed to buy leather (and other) goods factories in Italy (for the prestige "made in Italy label") and then staff them with a lot of Chinese workers who they flew in.  Go figure.
 
A lot of others have to accept a share of the blame as well (airlines/cruise lines/travel companies).  Just ask if so many people really need so many foreign holidays. 
The virus has spread so quickly simply because we have allowed it to and, indeed, assisted it.!!

Globalisation with open borders makes pandemics like the present one inevitable . We saw that many EU countries were incredibly reluctant to end unrestricted movement of people due to their  political adherence to globalisation but this pandemic which will see millions of people die saw political correctness ramming into the concrete buffers of reality and they were forced to act however reluctantly to save lives . This pandemic could change the political landscape in Europe for generations to come .