maxjam

Oh yeah its not just limited to one news station/political party - everyone does its cos it generates money, power or both.  It is killing society however as we're forever being told the other side is evil.  We're being manipulated and shepherded into boxes and taught to despise people that don't agree with us rather than focus on what we do have in common. 
As for covid, I think we all agree that the first lockdown was warranted but as time has gone on not only have the goal posts have moved but they continue to move.  IMO politicians, big corp and the media gained a lot of power and money during the initial outbreak and its been in their interests to prolong the pandemic ever since. 
Does it really matter if a country has been financially ruined for example?  The rich can even make money betting against economies anyway and move to some sunny tax haven to avoid any fallout. 
What we really need is someone to give us the truth, for politicians to ensure we get our freedoms back and for those that have made millions/billions throughout the pandemic to pay their share.  I'm fairly certain non of that is going to happen though.

Oh yeah its not just limited to one news station/political party - everyone does its cos it generates money, power or both.  It is killing society however as we're forever being told the other side is evil.  We're being manipulated and shepherded into boxes and taught to despise people that don't agree with us rather than focus on what we do have in common. 
As for covid, I think we all agree that the first lockdown was warranted but as time has gone on not only have the goal posts have moved but they continue to move.  IMO politicians, big corp and the media gained a lot of power and money during the initial outbreak and its been in their interests to prolong the pandemic ever since. 
Does it really matter if a country has been financially ruined for example?  The rich can even make money betting against economies anyway and move to some sunny tax haven to avoid any fallout. 
What we really need is someone to give us the truth, for politicians to ensure we get our freedoms back and for those that have made millions/billions throughout the pandemic to pay their share.  I'm fairly certain non of that is going to happen though.

Surely the penultimate paragraph tells you what you need to know?  Regardless of lockdowns some places in the world were always going to get hit more/less severe than others due to a variety of factors.  Which is why despite Biden calling out the Texas and Florida Governors for their 'Neanderthal thinking' their infection rates are plummeting despite having fully reopened whilst other states in the US are suffering despite being in lockdown ? 

I'd like to see a proper breakdown of stats before I pass judgement tbh.   What percentage of people that died with covid had pneumonia vs those that died with heart disease or cancer etc.  But tbh, I'm tired of it all now and don't really care anymore - just looking forwards to some sunny weather and getting back to 'normal'.

Worse, definitely worse.  Driven in part by 24/7 news outlets that have to turn a profit and social media. 
I agree with a lot of what you said and would like to expand upon others but this isn't the thread for that and I'd only be putting the effort in to write an off topic post that may end up being removed. 
I think regarding covid however, as we emerge from the pandemic we really need to start pushing back against the Government, big business and the media now.  In an ideal world we'd be given the truth, get our freedoms restored, learn lessons for the future and have those that profited from the crisis or exploited it in some way pay their dues.

Oh yeah its not just limited to one news station/political party - everyone does its cos it generates money, power or both.  It is killing society however as we're forever being told the other side is evil.  We're being manipulated and shepherded into boxes and taught to despise people that don't agree with us rather than focus on what we do have in common. 
As for covid, I think we all agree that the first lockdown was warranted but as time has gone on not only have the goal posts have moved but they continue to move.  IMO politicians, big corp and the media gained a lot of power and money during the initial outbreak and its been in their interests to prolong the pandemic ever since. 
Does it really matter if a country has been financially ruined for example?  The rich can even make money betting against economies anyway and move to some sunny tax haven to avoid any fallout. 
What we really need is someone to give us the truth, for politicians to ensure we get our freedoms back and for those that have made millions/billions throughout the pandemic to pay their share.  I'm fairly certain non of that is going to happen though.

Worse, definitely worse.  Driven in part by 24/7 news outlets that have to turn a profit and social media. 
I agree with a lot of what you said and would like to expand upon others but this isn't the thread for that and I'd only be putting the effort in to write an off topic post that may end up being removed. 
I think regarding covid however, as we emerge from the pandemic we really need to start pushing back against the Government, big business and the media now.  In an ideal world we'd be given the truth, get our freedoms restored, learn lessons for the future and have those that profited from the crisis or exploited it in some way pay their dues.

Great post.
As @GboroRam mentioned though, is it worse than before?
In the past, media sensationalism taught us to despise those who are different. Now that is mostly no longer acceptable, we are taught to despise those with different opinions. It's progress of sorts as at least people can change their minds!
Maybe people have to stand up and reject sensationalism, but I'm not sure that's possible. Social Media has just amplified this massively as it's full of nobodies looking to earn money from extreme views. There is even less of a filter these days.  This also drowns out moderate voices looking for compromise.
Heard an interesting radio programme a few months back about gerrymandering in the US, where election boundaries were kept being redrawn to sure up either sides support.
So originally, you may have two election areas, both mixed between rich and poor, black and white etc. To win an election, a candidate had to appeal to a broad spectrum of voters.
Over time, boundaries were redrawn to end up with one party's voters in one area and vice versa. This then meant the winning party was a given and the only challenge came from within the own party, attempting to push further from the centre ground towards the extreme.
This seems to be how the media also seems to operate these days, perhaps as the are so driven by commercial need to sensationalise. Think we need the BBC more than ever, but one that can always provide an unbiased factual account of what us going on. Maybe the news could be replaced with More or Less?

Oh yeah its not just limited to one news station/political party - everyone does its cos it generates money, power or both.  It is killing society however as we're forever being told the other side is evil.  We're being manipulated and shepherded into boxes and taught to despise people that don't agree with us rather than focus on what we do have in common. 
As for covid, I think we all agree that the first lockdown was warranted but as time has gone on not only have the goal posts have moved but they continue to move.  IMO politicians, big corp and the media gained a lot of power and money during the initial outbreak and its been in their interests to prolong the pandemic ever since. 
Does it really matter if a country has been financially ruined for example?  The rich can even make money betting against economies anyway and move to some sunny tax haven to avoid any fallout. 
What we really need is someone to give us the truth, for politicians to ensure we get our freedoms back and for those that have made millions/billions throughout the pandemic to pay their share.  I'm fairly certain non of that is going to happen though.

Oh yeah its not just limited to one news station/political party - everyone does its cos it generates money, power or both.  It is killing society however as we're forever being told the other side is evil.  We're being manipulated and shepherded into boxes and taught to despise people that don't agree with us rather than focus on what we do have in common. 
As for covid, I think we all agree that the first lockdown was warranted but as time has gone on not only have the goal posts have moved but they continue to move.  IMO politicians, big corp and the media gained a lot of power and money during the initial outbreak and its been in their interests to prolong the pandemic ever since. 
Does it really matter if a country has been financially ruined for example?  The rich can even make money betting against economies anyway and move to some sunny tax haven to avoid any fallout. 
What we really need is someone to give us the truth, for politicians to ensure we get our freedoms back and for those that have made millions/billions throughout the pandemic to pay their share.  I'm fairly certain non of that is going to happen though.

The problem is that we're all being manipulated by the media and politicians.  
The Guardian article that sparked this conversation was designed for its audience to get clicks, giving it a more balanced approach wouldn't have worked so well - or generated as much income.
The latest Project Veritas sting is a great example of this.  CNN have basically admitted that they were a propaganda wing of the Democrat party and there sole goal was, by hook or by crook, to get rid of Trump.  They also said (and to keep this on point) that after covid fatigue has died down the next thing they are going to go overboard on is the climate because and I quote 'fear sells'.  
There are very few balanced articles these days, we are all being shepherded camps and made to despise the opposition for profit and power. 

Oh yeah its not just limited to one news station/political party - everyone does its cos it generates money, power or both.  It is killing society however as we're forever being told the other side is evil.  We're being manipulated and shepherded into boxes and taught to despise people that don't agree with us rather than focus on what we do have in common. 
As for covid, I think we all agree that the first lockdown was warranted but as time has gone on not only have the goal posts have moved but they continue to move.  IMO politicians, big corp and the media gained a lot of power and money during the initial outbreak and its been in their interests to prolong the pandemic ever since. 
Does it really matter if a country has been financially ruined for example?  The rich can even make money betting against economies anyway and move to some sunny tax haven to avoid any fallout. 
What we really need is someone to give us the truth, for politicians to ensure we get our freedoms back and for those that have made millions/billions throughout the pandemic to pay their share.  I'm fairly certain non of that is going to happen though.

The problem is that we're all being manipulated by the media and politicians.  
The Guardian article that sparked this conversation was designed for its audience to get clicks, giving it a more balanced approach wouldn't have worked so well - or generated as much income.
The latest Project Veritas sting is a great example of this.  CNN have basically admitted that they were a propaganda wing of the Democrat party and there sole goal was, by hook or by crook, to get rid of Trump.  They also said (and to keep this on point) that after covid fatigue has died down the next thing they are going to go overboard on is the climate because and I quote 'fear sells'.  
There are very few balanced articles these days, we are all being shepherded camps and made to despise the opposition for profit and power. 

this is my view I am not getting into the tennis that was played in the first version.  
I read that Sweden changed direction after the first wave because they recognised it was wrong
I read that brazil are in a terrible position because the leader is a denier.
I believe that wearing masks and applying other controls has saved many lives of those who required hospital treatment.

The point I was making was that the thread has quickly reverted back to "I'm right", "NO, I'm right!" arguments again - it's incredibly tiresome to see the same culprits having yet another pissing contest.....

Surely the penultimate paragraph tells you what you need to know?  Regardless of lockdowns some places in the world were always going to get hit more/less severe than others due to a variety of factors.  Which is why despite Biden calling out the Texas and Florida Governors for their 'Neanderthal thinking' their infection rates are plummeting despite having fully reopened whilst other states in the US are suffering despite being in lockdown ? 

I'd like to see a proper breakdown of stats before I pass judgement tbh.   What percentage of people that died with covid had pneumonia vs those that died with heart disease or cancer etc.  But tbh, I'm tired of it all now and don't really care anymore - just looking forwards to some sunny weather and getting back to 'normal'.

Well done @maxjamfor reviving the thread in the light of yesterday's Yuri's night, the 60th anniversary of the first voyage of a Human into space.
A lot's happened since my last updates. Given the buzz about building a Human city on Mars, my alter ego was invited onto Russia Today (or all places) to talk about that. It doesn't seem to be on YouTube so sadly this isn't embedded and it means sliding to 12:25 or so to begin: https://www.rt.com/shows/sputnik/519237-big-apple-red-planet
I can't believe they edited out all my talk about Boca Chica and what's going on there! I know I should speak more quickly too give them time to fit more in.
In Boca Chica, Starship prototype SN11 launched in a peasouper of fog, so couldn't be seen. It exploded just above the pad when trying to land, and again this could not be seen. What were SpaceX thinking? If they'd waited an hour the early morning Texan fog would have cleared.
This was a setback. However, the company had already decided to skip planned prototypes SN12-14 and go straight to 15 which is intended to be a very significant improvement on previous versions. This is now on the launchpad and had the first test of its fuel tanks yesterday. It looks swish and has a loot more hexagonal heatshield tiles, but nowhere near as many as SN16 which is also almost ready to go. I'd expect SN15 to fly within the next 10 days.

Not exactly the right thread for this, but it is pretty cool!
 

Our 3yo Schnauzer, Schnapps now has a 5mnth old friend, Chester.  He's only been with us a week but they are already inseparable ?
 

There will be a little known EFL clause that says it defaults to Gibson.....

Good news if he owns the Stadium,means he can sell it to himself to get us out of FFP ina couple of years.

Ikechi Anya has really let himself go hasn’t he. 

FWIW here is my two peneth...
Mel clearly wants out (for a number of reasons) he's given it his best shot and not quite got us over the line.  Fair play to the guy, he invested his time, energy and considerable wealth into the club and given us more good times than bad.
He has tried to find us the best new owner possible and settled on Erik Alonso who is talking the talk at least.  My personal view is no one really wants to own a football club to lose £X million so his intentions will be in the right place, whether he succeeds or follows through with any promises time will tell - but its the start of another journey and hopefully we'll enjoy the ride.

Let's hope he signs all the paperwork before kick off.