tom_widdows

Love the rumour that a 'yes' vote' from the clubs is legally binding but a 'No' vote isn't.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/apr/12/uk-insurers-face-legal-action-from-small-firms-over-covid-19-claims This will be interesting and maybe (should we actually survive this virus malarky) could lead to a serious overhaul of the Insurance industry which I reckon has been a long time coming.

Hearts now getting their 50pence worth. At last a bit of entertainment

Stirling Moss - 90 Tim Brooke-Taylor - 79

Supply and demand doesnt seem to apply for scottish football. The amount of money you can shell out for one game would make you think every match was 95% sold out from the get go. But then again given the world is full of companies that make massive losses each year and yet still carry on (Uber springs to mind) without consequence the idea that you should live within your means no longer seems to apply. No wonder every single country in the world is TRILLIONS in debt. The cheaper tickets discussion could really do with at least one club (ideally 3) actually trying it for several seasons (not just one like was done with season tickets in the Skovdahl era), and also being sensible about it (not like Hearts in the Romanov era). Perhaps if multiple teams were prepared to try it each could adopt its own personal model Team 1 - all individual match tickets are £10 no matter what age you are. Season tickets based on the £10 price but it works out you get 3 or 4 'free' games) Team 2 - Individual match tickets are £15 for adults, £5 for kids under 18. Season tickets priced accordingly Team 3 - Individual match tickets start at £10 adult, £5 kids under 18 and go on sale several weeks in advance. Each week the prices go up a certain amount until it reached an on the day price of say £20 & £10 thereby encouraging fans to buy early. This model would be slighly more complicated in terms of working out season ticket prices but fairly sure it could be worked out I seriously doubt AFC would ever get 20,000 week in week out but the more fans you can get into the stadium each week the higher the chances of making extra money on Merchandise, Pies, Bovril etc. I havent been to pittodrie for a few seasons now and a quick look at the ticket prices currently on the AFC website has made it clear it wont be top of my priority list anytime soon Min £25 and Maximum £32. Im not skint (yet) but at that price Im happy just listening to the radio and watching the goals on the BBC website/ Youtube

Potential entertaining soap opera on the cards with this Dundee and Sevco malarky Dundee potentially stabbing the two Thistles in the back (perhaps they played the 'we are a bigger club so should be promoted instead of Caley in the league reconstruction). Sevco turning their evil horde on Orinco-ck (see how much teflon is woven into those suits of his with the orcs and goblins on his back)

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/11/reveal-cost-of-35m-unusable-covid-19-tests-health-chiefs-told The Chris Grayling school of politics strikes again

Swedish Priminister doing something I can't imagine any UK poltician in power ever doing Admitting their government was not prepared and hasn't done enough.

Matt Hancock didnt quite get off scott free on his radio 4 interview this morning but as much as I don't like the guy I don't like the way the BBC are reporting what he said. Full quote: 'I don't want to impugn blame on people who have used more PPE than the guidelines suggest because I understand the difficulties in the circumstances. What I would say it is very important to use the right PPE and not overuse it.' I personally interpret that as 'Home-made PPE isnt safe, and as we are short of the proper stuff, be careful not to waste what you have' BBC Tagline 'Do not overuse PPE, says UK health secretary' If I hadn't heard the interview, or wasnt prepared to read the full transcript I'd say that could be interpreted as: 'PPE is expensive so stop being such pussies and get back to work' akin to a Charles Dickens workhouse owner. What they should be reporting is his 'excuse' for the UK having more daily deaths than Italy & Spain ever did is that the UK has a Higher population. The interviewer then stopped him in his tracks by pointing out Germany has a higher population than the UK.

Guardian reporting the 14 team premiership being put forward by cockwomble and co No relegation in any divisions Arabs & Caley promoted to premier Falkirk & Raith Promoted to Championship Cove & Edinburgh promoted to League One 1 Highland league & 1 Lowland league team promoted to League two

For all the talk about ensuring social distancing etc is maintained and emphasising that Easter is not an excuse to fuck about, my local tesco metro seems to have relaxed its policies. The tape on the floors and screens at the tills remain but a couple of weeks ago they had lines on the pavement marking queing positions, a 1 way entry/ exit system, staff inside and out to restrict the number of folk in the store. Today all of the external proceedures have gone out the window. Inside the shop the rush for easter eggs also seems to take priority over the 2m rule. Meanwhile across the Atlantic the Donald just keeps on giving.

Stickers (well one at least) appearing around my local area declaring selected LAMPOSTS as '5G Microwave & Class 1 Cancer Causing Radiation causing lampost' Not sure if this is satire or stupidity given the lampost I spotted the sticker on has no mobile antenna. 200m up there road there is a mobile phone mast but perhaps they ran out of stickers

Update today Northern Ireland - 1 per 33,607 people Scotland - 1 per 24,955 people Wales - 1 per 20,383 people England - 1 per 14,212 people

It all depends if they have given the actual number. China's population is more than 4 times as much as the USA. India is the one to look at given they have a population similar to China's with a higher population density however they have only reported 68 deaths Those figures will need adjusting as they are based on 2018 populations

Rough current death rates for each part of the UK(based on population not number of infections - whether or not these countries are definetely recording all coronovirus deaths is up for debate) Northern Ireland - 1 per 39,208 people Scotland - 1 per 31,616 people Wales - 1 per 22,262 people England - 1 per 17,224 people Compared to: Italy - 1 per 4,120 people Spain - 1 per 4,166 people Belgium - 1 per 9,973 people France - 1 per 10,312 people Netherlands - 1 per 11,553 people Luxembourg - 1 per 19,419 people Ireland - 1 per 40,250 people Portugal - 1 per 41,829 people USA - 1 per 46,319 people Germany - 1 per 64,933 people China - 1 per 417,218 people

I'd like to think that in light of the last 3 months all plans have gone out the window.

To me that logic is up there with the best examples of human arrogance & selfishness. The idea that insects are merely something to use as we please and can be discarded using technology at the earliest opportunity with no consequence Isn't there some passage in the Bible that claims humans can rule over all animals and use them as they please? Insects not only pollinate crops, they also pollinate pretty much every plant, tree, shrub etc on the planet. All the GM crops in the world won't provide clean air, natural protection against subsidance, flooding, weather etc They are pest controllers They are soil cultivators They are a huge part of natures waste disposal team. They are food for millions of creatures in the food chain, many of which Humans rely on. The insects die, the plants die, and the animals (including humans) follow sharpish. The last things to die will be bacteria and germs etc as they will have a last field day on all the carcassas that in a controlled eco-system would gradually be broken down by insects and other carion eaters. I think Ill just refer to George Carlin

UEFA making a nice cagey threat of countries losing Champions & Europa League Spots if they prematurely end their seasons. Sure the Belgian FA are chuffed to hear that one day after declaring Bruge as champions

I suspected you are not advocating it however the implicaiton of your existing phenomenon comment doesnt help your case as it suggests you don't consider the loss of insects to be as bad as it really is. To clarify everything supposeldy good humans do is worthless if it means all the insects die out. We spent hundreds of years fucking up the natural order to make our lives easier for short term gain and in doing so our progress to the Disney Prophecy that is Wall-E gets faster by the day. Killing off things at the top of the food-chain - Bears, Wolves, Crocodiles, Tigers, Lions, Pythons, etc solved one minor problem (Humans being eaten) but in doing so moved humans to the top of that chain. Problem is we are closer to cockroaches than the Bear in that we adapt and are not reliant on particular food/ prey so the natural control of numbers at the top of the chain was thrown out the window. Cockroaches at least still get eaten. Insects vanish = Extinctions on a global scale: Plants and Animals. I have personally been cynical about WI-FI and mobile data since they became something the masses were able to have. Part of this was based on experience of early similar technology (infra red controllers for early consoles anyone?) but the other part was in the back of my mind the premise of the air around us being filled with various frequencies, dare I say it 'radiations' everywhere you go didn't, and still does not seem right to me. People used to flock to watch nuclear bomb tests in the American deserts as it was considered good safe entertainment. Fast forward 70 years and how many people will happily skip off for an unguided walk around Pripyat? 'Sick Building Syndromme' was a big thing when I was at Uni but seemed to mainly concentrate on commercial/public buildings. I would not be surprised if a 'new & improved' sick building syndromme or perhaps even 'sick area' syndromme appears in the next 10-20 years in domestic buildings, as the technology we use advances faster than testing & regulation (thanks to worldwide government cuts, and pressure from big corporations to have their products used). I had a CPD presentation from a famous company who make a certain product used widely in kitchens. The presentation was for a new fancier version of their main product which can effectivelly repair itself. When asked about the recyclability of this new product the response was (I'm not kidding) 'It can't be recycled so we have made it extremely strong so it will last at least 20 years before it starts to fail.' I then asked the presenter how they could guarantee their product would be actually used for 20years (giving the example of the flat below mine which had 3 new kitchens in the space of 5 years. One was ripped out less than 2months after it had been installed), and suggested their policy of creating new non-recyclable products all of which would eventually end up in landfill was irresponsible. The guy looked like had been slapped in the face. That company will not be alone. If the ordinary people of the world were crying out for 5G, then I might be able to get onboard. The only people I see crying out for it are large corporations, and Politicians. Neither of which have a strong track record in being socialists and humanitarians but do have have a long history of being in each other's pockets.

That could be plucked straight from a Trump, Enron, Exxon, Tory marketing slogan. Instead of 'fuck, this is going to make an existing serious problem worse. Abort!', it's 'It's already happening so fuck it lets pour petrol on it to make a buck'

What is it harmful to? All the driverless cars, virtual realtiy and data collection are worthless if all the insects, birds, trees etc arer wiped out. Since when are projected VR, or the other two items a necessity? They don't quite fall into the same category as clean water & air or a sustainable food supply etc

Recall him scoring his first goal for the club at Tanndaice 3-0 down after 10mins and yet when that goal went in (about midway through the first half) I (and I suspect many others) genuinely thought the dons were going to come back for at least a point. Where that optimism came from shall forever remain a mystery

plus concussion and a ruptured spleen

https://www.esquire.com/uk/life/a31915611/coronavirus-timeline/

Look out for how far Alan Main kicks the ball in the last minute.