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Doctor Blind

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Posts posted by Doctor Blind

    This is definitely a depressing backsliding but as I understand it the government had already been set up in such a way that Aung San Suu Kyi / her party never really had control of the country (I think a certain percentage of seats in parliament were reserved for the military which effectively gave them permanent veto power over anything they didn't like), sadly it seemed kind of inevitable that they would eventually do this.

     

    Yes, it's 25% I believe.

     

    As others have said Aung San Suu Kyi has been a huge disappointment since effectively taking power in 2010, not least the Rohingya genocide that was carried out a few years ago.

    I simply don't think I have fueled divisions and as I say I feel that that is something you have read into anything I've said.

     

    (Not to single you out but...this wouldn't be the first time on the forum someone has got the wrong end of the stick from something I said, hasn't challenged me then and there, and has then proceeded to keep reading my posts through that lens that isn't anything to do with where I'm coming from until they've built me up in their head as deliberately spreading an agenda...)

     

    Hey, we're all human here.

     

    I think something the pandemic has exposed is the large (and growing) inequalities that exist - and highlighted how these inequalities are reinforced by the structures that our society sits within. There are absolutely massive inequalities in wealth, in health (life expectancy varies hugely between affluent and deprived areas) and the pandemic just amplified these. Just think about those who could not afford to self-isolate/miss work due to worries about being able to afford food and rent, those who could not work from home and still had to use public transport to get to work. All of these people were more exposed to the virus (as well as potentially exposing others) and had their risk of contracting it multiplied, compare that to the relatively wealthy middle class who could easily work from home and keep themselves and their families safe.

     

    That's before even considering mental health, those who live in the countryside and have large gardens and houses obviously have a much easier time of it during lockdown, as well as considering adult social care, care for the elderly and education which will inevitably have seen wider gaps in child development because of vastly different at home circumstances.

     

    I'd like to hope that this will pressure the government into abadoning austerity and actively seeking to address these inequalities, but the cynic in me believes they'll just victory lap and high five each other once the vaccine rollout is complete and then just move on.

    Honestly I can totally understand why there is a lot of anger. I get how frustrating and incredibly tedious the past 11 months have been, and both how and why it coalesces around large public figures like Colonel (Captain) Tom Moore, although it is hugely misdirected. As is the anger at minor transgressions from those heading to the beach in May or having a snowball fight in a park in Leeds last month. There are a minority of idiots and people from all ages and backgrounds who have acted selfishly, but the majority have followed the rules, the majority have made huge sacrifices for the benefit of others and have done so despite the absolutely dire performance of our government at getting a control of this pandemic. That is also despite being constantly gaslighted about their performance and how it's "not fair to compare against other better performing nations". Lockdowns are ultimately a blunt tool that solve nothing, we have ended up in a constant lock/release cycle because of complacency from government, their betting the house on a vaccine (which ... imagine for a second had one not appeared for several years... ) and because they squandered every single advantage that we had in the months leading up to the pandemic, and then failed to learn from mistakes. Please do not turn this into something that divides the public, we must remember who is really accountable for the mistakes that were made and the mess that we are in, the real power and decisions that could have changed our trajectory in this pandemic are held the government. Remember that anger the next time you vote.

    You're such a beacon of positivity aren't you?

     

    In better news - it looks like Daily Deaths from Covid-19 peaked on 17th January (7-day average: 1246) and is the rate now back below 1000 for the first time since early January. With the vaccination programme making good progress, it does look like we should see sustained falls in this rate from here on in which is good news.

    So basically the DUP have been made to look like fools by their support of brexit and anyone who’s annoyed by the propaganda about the Irish Sea Border are moving to the TUV while the remain vote still divided between SF/Alliance/SDLP. The media in NI really are bigging up this with constant reports of products we are having a problem getting now and it just feeds into insecurities of certain sections. Mr Nolan I’m talking about you!

     

    I think many Unionists are waking up to the fact that the Conservatives are more than happy to throw them under a bus when it suits their agenda.

     

    Bring on the Border Poll.

    I get the frustration - but save your anger for those who really deserve it: e.g. the government who let the situation get this out-of-hand.

     

    I'm not going to support the decision to go on holiday, but I can understand it - I mean the man is very, very old and likely to die soon. As long as he was happy with the risks involved, didn't put anyone else at risk, and it didn't break any rules (which at the time, it looks like it did not) then I don't have a huge problem with it. It sounds like he has been too ill to have the vaccine sadly.

     

    I hate the way the media uses hyperbole over people like Captain (Colonel) Tom. He did a good thing, nothing more, nothing less.

    I remember hearing it loads and thinking it would be huge but it didn’t even chart top 40!

     

    It did have a long run in the Top 75 in spite of not making the Top 40. The week that it entered at 67 I bought the 7" vinyl (which I've still got - and included a CD single inside it!) and was surprised that it was that low. But it did climb in subsequent weeks and hang around.

     

    “Oxford Comma” did make the Top 40 that summer (38), later followed by “Cousins” (39) in 2010 which must have had a delayed physical release because according to my chart archive I bought, played and charted it in November 2009.

    What happens if the contract gets voided? This doesn't look very good for the EU.

     

    It doesn't look great.

     

    It's the kind of incompetence that I'd expect OUR government to be capable of.. I'm sure it is the reason they are backing down on the invoking of Article 16 (NI Protocol). That and they've united the whole of Ireland against them.

    So who would have thought the EU would be the first to trigger article 16 of the Irish Sea border protocol to stop vaccine entering the ‘UK’ through the back door following arguments about vaccine distribution over the last week.

     

    Oh no, I definitely did not expect that! The EU haven't exactly covered themselves in glory through this vaccine approval process in taking forever to approve and now this. It pains me to say it, but the UK has definitely played a blinder with regard to the vaccine rollout (mainly of course because the NHS have been in charge of the distribution and implementation rather than private contractors with little/nil experience).

    Doctor Blind Chart - 24th January 2021

     

    TW - LW / Artist / “Song” / (Peak- if not current)

     

    01 - 01 Yves Tumor “Kerosene!” *3 weeks at #1*

    02 - 02 Jon Hopkins “Dawn Chorus”

    03 - 05 Burial, Four Tet & Thom Yorke “Her Revolution / His Rope”

    04 - 03 The Comet Is Coming ft. Joshua Idehen “Imminent” (02)

    05 - 10 Kelly Lee Owens “Jeanette”

    06 - 08 Yard Act “Peanuts”

    07 - 04 Páula, Povoa & Jerge “Primavera” (01)

    08 - 18 SZA “Good Days”

    09 - 14 Arlo Parks “Caroline”

    10 - 06 Martin Rott “Kinetic Theory” (03)

     

    11 - 17 Gabriels “Love And Hate In A Different Time”

    12 - 07 Working Men’s Club “John Cooper Clarke” (04)

    13 - 09 Quantic “Theme From Selva” (02)

    14 - 19 Jade Bird “Headstart”

    15 - 12 London Grammar “Californian Soil” (12)

    16 - 22 Magdalena Bay “Sky2Fall”

    17 - 11 Julien Baker “Faith Healer” (02)

    18 - 15 The Avalanches ft. MGMT and Johnny Marr “The Divine Chord” (15)

    19 - 32 Georgia “Running Up That Hill”

    20 - 27 Bicep ft. Clara La San “Saku”

     

    21 - 13 Disclosure ft. Kelis “Watch Your Step” (09)

    22 - 25 KennyHoopla ft. Travis Barker “Estella//”

    23 - 36 Mogwai “Ritchie Sacramento”

    24 - 39 Danny L Harle & DJ Danny “On A Mountain”

    25 - 34 Madlib “Road of the Lonely Ones”

    26 - 16 Biig Piig “Feels Right” (08)

    27 - 35 KOKOROKO “Baba Ayoola”

    28 - 24 Django Django “Glowing In The Dark” (24)

    29 - 44 clipping. “'96 Neve Campbell”

    30 - 21 Actress ft. Sampha “Walking Flames” (06)

     

    31 - 41 Little Dragon & Moses Sumney “The Other Lover”

    32 - 23 Oneohtrix Point Never “Lost But Never Alone” (23)

    33 - 42 Joesef “Does It Make You Feel Good?”

    34 - 48 Godford “Can't Get Over You”

    35 - 20 Loyle Carner “Yesterday” (13)

    36 - 26 Das Mörtal “It Comes” (08)

    37 - 49 Rochelle Jordan “Got Em”

    38 - NE Black Country, New Road “Track X” *Highest New Entry*

    39 - 29 SAULT “Free” (03)

    40 - NE CHAI “Action” *New Entry*

    Notwithstanding the potential problem with the South African variant, there is some hope. With the two new vaccines getting closer to approval, the UK and EU are now set to have more than enough vaccines to cover the whole adult population. That, and the WHO scheme specifically set up to help the developing world (and in which the UK and EU are participating with the USA under Biden also likely to join) may mean a wider distribution of the vaccine is not as far away as feared.

     

    2023.. that's quite far away IMO. : (

     

    The lack of global coordination, and total self interest is disappointing.

     

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    It's the press in this country Steve - journalism is an important public good and it should be treated as such.

     

    Unfortunately we have allowed rich and powerful voices to control the majority of the media, leading to the whipping up of hatred against anything that challenges it and defending those who will help to uphold the status quo, and so we get this nonsense:

     

    @1354193215256223744

     

    'Heartfelt message' - do me a favour, I'd rather he actually turned up to some of the COBRA meetings in February last year and actually had a strategy..

    The share price for Gamestop is going down now, I wonder did many of those redditors sell their shares in Gamestop before it started going down?

     

    They may be the ones holding when the price collapses - what gets me is that this gets loads of outcry and intervention, whereas it is perfectly fine for hedge funds to co-ordinate and use their vast capital to short sell huge amounts of shares - watch the price collapse as other shareholders in the company get out, then buy everything back when the price hits a low and pocket the profit. Absolute lowlifes IMO.

     

    Apologies if anyone here does that, but to be absolutely honest with you - you must be morally bankrupt.