Butch

The cynical part of me would ask who is waiting to buy some of these properties if or when the landlords default or have to sell up cheap?. My money would be on some of the more influential members of society giving instruction to lawyers to keep a close eye on things.

Two of the finest Stones tracks ever right there Bro. I've wanted to see the Stones live since I was a young spotty teenager, every time there has been something that has stopped me for whatever reason. I have made a promise to myself that I will see them live if ever they have another tour regardless of cost, there is nothing even remotely close to these guys; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRXGsPBUV5g

I've mentioned it elsewhere on this forum, in our societies, accepting someone else's choice and point of view is one thing, it is called tolerance and acceptance. However, when we change the fabric of our society to the detriment of our own history, which, for those being catered for (the protestors) includes sullying the names and actions of the very people to whom we owe the society we live in, we then start on the downward slope of where that tolerance and acceptance becomes appeasement. One such example being the Cecil Rhodes statue. Cecil Rhodes was a slaver and a magnate, he was also a philanthropist who set up a trust fund so that underprivileged kids could get educated. Many African Students have done so and benefited from his scholarships, yet still campaign for his statues to be torn down. When asked if it is double standards ,one afrikaan scholar commented : "that "this scholarship does not buy our silence...There is no hypocrisy in being a recipient of a Rhodes scholarship and being publicly critical of Cecil Rhodes and his legacy... There is no clause that binds us to find 'the good' in Rhodes’ character, nor to sanitise the imperialist, colonial agenda he propagated" (source - Wki) however, he fails to realise the irony that without such a scholarship he would not have a voice with which to protest. He has the right to disagree with Rhodes and his historical actions, but if he feels so strongly then why accept the scholarship?. The hypocrisy only serves to illustrate the self entitled attitude of that generation. Much in the same way Lewis Hamilton will bully people to "take the knee" while driving for the same company which built Hitlers car and was integral in the Nazi War effort, not to mention engineering parts that were specifically designed for equipment built to murder Jews. His conscience must be somewhat silenced by the multi million dollar contract he is signed up to. Many celebs and public figures in the entertainment industry, will whore themselves to whatever politically correct and moral crusade will get them more money, if it's not Extinction Rebellion, it's BLM, if it's not BLM it's Climate Change following retarded 16 year old girl or whatever. Anything that pays a greenback. They're actually worse than whores, at least with a whore you don't need to see them again whereas these f*cking wankers keep popping up like a bad "whack a mole" The other issue are the media. Recent events for the BLM movement (who's roots lay in an anarchist and anti Police ideals) have been biased towards them. The current Anti Trump rhetoric being spewed out by the US media has only hyped it up, Anyone remotely right of centre is a fascist these days, and every time I see a "white silence is violence" sign, I look at the people holding it who are ignorant of their own racist statement they are making. A person doesn't have to be white to be a racist, this fact is lost on most of them. Lastly, the quote attributed to Voltaire which reads: “I wholly disapprove of what you say—and will defend to the death your right to say it.” has even lost its value. Many normal guys, like the average working Joe can't have an opinion anymore, lest it gets interpreted as racist, misogynistic, offensive or if it even goes against current popular thinking, and that really is the true travesty here. Freedom of speech is a right afforded to us by the sacrifice of others. When movements like "BLM" want to remove that freedom, or criminalise parts of it, yet still wish to be allowed their own freedoms to express themselves, then as a society we need to examine the direction in which we are heading, because when the fundamental right of free speech is eroded, not only are we failing as a society, we are failing the generations that will follow behind us, because we have been entrusted to uphold that right by those who gave their lives defending it. As far as I am concerned, BLM can go and f**k themselves.

bit late to answer but you'd have to do a fair bit of homework on it, probably easier to pick some good performing blue chip shares and hold onto them long term. I'm currently topping up on Imperial Brands which are fairly cheap and offer a good dividend, plus it comes in quarterly which is a bonus. I'm also considering throwing some money at BAT as they aim to meet the 210 pence per share dividend this year, which, when the shares are around £27 each is close to 10%, but again I'm holding off on BAT for the moment. I grabbed some Purple Bricks shares in late May at about 36 pence each, I was going to cash out the other week at 55 pence, but they dropped, they're now up to 51 pence which is still not bad value, and possibly a mid term share as the UK Govt have suspended Stamp Duty and Boris is on about stimulating the UK economy by encouraging building. At that price, it's probably worth risking a monkey on it, if things go well there might be a tidy little profit at the end pf all this.

It does make you wonder how bad things need to be when we're happy to see the Sterling go over 40 baht to the pound!, 10 years ago the suggestion of which would have most people laughing.

Back in the late 90's / early 00's Diesel in the UK was promoted as being the "best" option for new car buyers, it was encouraged by Gordon Brown who introduced a sliding rate of VED which encouraged cars which produce less CO2 as cheaper to tax. This , however, ignored the NOX and other particulates emitted by the vehicles. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-41985715 Anyway, that's the background and it was a loooong time ago. Diesels nowadays are less polluting and more efficient, but there is still a stigma attached to them in the UK at least (not sure about Europe). Now is a good time to buy a secondhand diesel car if you intend to hold onto it. Resale values have dropped significantly, and depreciation seems to hit diesel cars more than their petrol counterparts. There are some real bargains to be had out there for someone looking for a diesel, and it may be at a point where any higher duty levied by the Govt will be outweighed by the cheaper cost of the car, much like a few years ago when petrol was hitting £1.38 a litre and dealers / traders couldn't give large displacement engined cars like Range Rovers and high end BMW / Merc / Lexus away. Some people snapped up a few deals then, a guy I know got a V8 BMW for the same price as a 2 years newer second hand Modeo. In SEA Diesel is still popular and widely used, they also have a very good CNG network. For us it's a no brainer out there, Diesel Fortuner Automatic ticks pretty much any boxes that need ticking. In the UK at least, the rumours are that the Govt will try to "price them off the road" by increasing punitive VED rates, we will have to see, either way, in the UK many believe the future of diesel is looking bleak.

Spot on. With what is happening in vietnam, along with the jitters the UK are getting about a second wave, Thailand will remain closed to visitors at least until next year at an estimate.

Just finished my final shift rotation , now off for 2 weeks. It was rather unpleasant on Friday, I was perched on top of a Crane replacing one of the HV motors. Not only was it effing hot, I was also wearing heavy overalls and we had to use cutting gear to remove it because the motor had been there 20 or so years and the fixing bolts had not been greased and tied ( we add loads of heavy grease then wrap any exposed threads and bolts in a linen type of cloth, then seal it to stop the rust penetrating and "exfoliating" like you may see old rebar doing on some buildings). Using gas cutting gear in 35 degree heat while wearing overalls, a hat and a mask, plus a covid mask , I know how Alec Guinness felt in "Bridge on the River Kwai" , when he came out of that little tin box, I was sweating like a fat bird shagging in a sauna. Finished the job this morning, now on holiday for 2 weeks and enjoying a very cold bottle of Red Horse. My piss is also less yellow than it was yesterday. Got 2 weeks to finish the Patio, Garden and try to relax in between.

I had you down as preferring a very large portion of Fairy Cake...

this morning I manually shovelled 2 tons (metric) of earth by hand into 2 large bags for disposal at my mates farm , and it was not pleasant, however because the wife wants a new patio, she gets what she wants, although at the rate she is spending our money, she's going to end up underneath it. Also, just ordered 4 bags of quicklime and a meat cleaver.

Especially around the area of the anus, often deliberately cut out by the owner.

Me neither: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethiopian_Airlines_Flight_961

That link's behind a paywall for me mate. I'll try and find an alternative. Hospitals were "eerily quiet" for a good reason, no visitors were allowed in and non essential operations cancelled, along with all elective surgeries and most outpatient appointments, many Wards and services were closed down and the staff told to either redeploy as per instructions or work from home if possible, it was part of the lockdown instructions, hence, yes, quiet hospitals. Patient numbers were deliberately decreased because, at the time, it was deemed to be a very high risk. The NHS is always open for business, if it was closed then there would have been no treatment of Covid patients, and my Mrs would be out of a job. You are totally missing the context of the quote when Chris Whitty made it, he was instructing people that if they had a medical emergency to go to Hospital, because the pressure on the system by encouraging those with minor issues meant that the NHS could still deliver a service, it had NOTHING to do with the Hospitals being quiet, it was all about the fact that the NHS was still there and able to deliver its services. The NHS has the ability and capacity to deal with emergencies, pandemic or not, that was the point he was making. https://www.facebook.com/skynews/videos/1579499415561415/ You seem to be talking in hindsight, but as you were not on the front line, then how could you possibly know what the situation was apart from what you read in the media?. The very same media you chastise so much for being liars and scare mongers. When dealing with an infectious airborne disease, it's somewhat prudent to prevent people who might very possibly die from it by getting them somewhere safer than the hospital for the mid to long term, usually their own homes. It is about infection control. The NHS was being stretched, due to Nurses self isolating (hence a fairly rapidly rushed through guidelines regarding Health workers and C-19 Isolation practices) and a lack of staff. Let me explain: Every day there is a team at every hospital under the title of "Trustwide Staffing", they manage staffing levels and redeployment as well as agency etc. Now, redeploying a Nurse from her normal Ward is something many are reticent to do because it can introduce an element of risk (Nurse gets stressed, unfamiliar colleagues, different environment) , so unless there is an imbalance of staff, the status quo remains unchanged. Now, with C-19 as I mentioned earlier, many Wards were changed into Isolation Wards, the staff of these wards were kept in situe and then given guidance on treating C-19 patients. This made many unhappy, obviously and this also led to increased risk to them due to exposure and lack of PPE, which in turn led to more self isolating. Hospitals were (some still are) also divided into "Red" and "Green" zones. Green Zones have been quiet, because the public are (or were) discouraged in going there. Not all Hospitals were at or near "breaking point" but several were, many went into the "Black alert" (OPEL 4 Status) - this is the yardstick by which "breaking point" (media term) is judged, and when at the Trust in question issues the following that "actions have failed to contain service pressure and the local health economy is unable to deliver comprehensive emergency care". It is a valid point to look back and say it was an over reaction, but we simply don't know what would have happened without lockdown and the preparation measures taking place. It's not unlike when the UK prepared for the planned German invasion during WW2, building defences, pill boxes and training clandestine commando units, getting the population ready to fight. The Govt worked on the info and level of perceived threat back then, and they did exactly the same thing during the peak, which was to do their best to protect the lives of those in the Country.

Maybe we can all agree that in the UK at least, one utter travesty of this was the poor handling of the Care homes. I personally think the blame lies at the feet of the Govt for not providing enough initial guidance, PPE and not enough was done to protect the (private sector) staff. The inaction and poor response, planning and guidance cost lives, many of whom come from the generation we owe the most to. Hopefully there will be an admission of some kind by the Govt, and maybe the chance for some closure to those who lost loved ones because of the poor handling of it.

I explained clearly that public health responses are specifically aimed at dealing with localised events , with flexibility built in. Not an opinion, that is a fact. Every NHS trust has policies for a public health response, and they vary although the bare bones of them are the same. The localised lockdowns we are seeing is an example of a public health response carried out within a small area. As for your idea of not having lockdown, hand washing was encouraged, shielding of elderly was put in place, staff were redeployed, but the information the PHE had at the time was limited, so lockdown justified. C-19, without lockdown would have seen massive fatalities, moreover it gave the UK the one commodity it needed, which was time. It prevented the spread of the disease, thus stopping and preventing thousands of vulnerable people within the demographic from dying. Also, your opinion goes against that of pretty much every Govt affected by this worldwide, with a few exceptions. Apologies for the mix up with the cruise ship study you are correct , I think I clicked on the first link rather than reading down the search page. 🙂 The study was done in May, the peak was March - April. As I said, asymptomatic does not mean harmless, it means not showing symptoms at the time of testing positive. Also, that in itself explains why lockdown was needed, if asymptomatic people wandered around, the disease will spread faster, thus infecting more and killing those more vulnerable. Italy, again. How on earth can you say that "a majority of nurses were redeployed into Nightingale hospitals" - my Mrs covers 3 Hospitals, there were NO Nightingale re deployments from any of them, in fact if it is indeed "the truth" give me the numbers, a source, where the Nurses went to and the staffing levels of the average Nightingale ward. You are not taking into account or appreciate the fact that many Nurses took to self isolation as well, thus reducing staffing levels in most Trusts, from small town Hospitals to the Major ones. Some were working at 40% staff capacity, so where would the "Majority" of Nurses to staff nightingale Hospitals come from?. In fact, the Military were due to help out if things got bad. If the nightingale hospitals were empty, they would not send staff to an empty hospitals, that's not anecdotal, that's from me having a very good understanding of the NHS staffing policy and how the NHS worked with C-19. Also, because lockdown was working, they had time to build the hospital, and also would have had warning that as it began to fill up, if ever, then they could redeploy Nurses from nearby Hospitals and possibly Military bases as relatively short notice.

Consider the fact nearly all dementia patients are in care homes . Also, consider the overall mortality rate of Dementia and Alzheimer patients as a whole, plus the fact that during the peak the virus was still not fully understood, however, the Govt did fail miserably on Care homes and there is no escaping that fact, but instead of looking at the 25%, we need to focus on the 75% majority. It is a shameful situation, and a terrible and shameful failing of the Govt which they are guilty of.

A public health response couldn't have coped, otherwise they would have used it. As I explained, quite clearly, public health responses deal with specific pre planned scenarios with an element of flexibility built in, , actually, why don't you tell me exactly how a Public health response would have acted and why it would have been successful instead, give me the parameters in which it would have worked, how it would have worked sucessfully and what precautions and measures it would have taken to ensure the success, rather than me explaining why lockdown was necessary. Much easier. The figures they worked from were the data from Italy. it is not 80% asymptomatic, they are figures "suggested" by the ONS, not confirmed, moreover they have come to light recently, so are we talking about the lockdown when it was at the peak or now?. Secondly, asymptomatic does not mean harmless. Important point. If you need to quote figures, make sure they have been verified and are not speculative please. It says UP to 70-80%, not definite. Agreed it is higher than expected, but the PHe were dealing with previously relatively unknown disease and information they had at the time, they don't concern themselves with the asymptomatic rate, they worry about the infection rate as the asymptomatic rate when dealing with control of a virus is not important, because the infection rate has a direct bearing whereas the asymptomatic rate does not. Someone asymptomatic contributes to the R rate, their status as being asymptomatic is moot, as they are still infected. Thus, asymptomatic people are still infected, they just do not show symptoms. Asymptomatic people can still infect others, so 80%, or even 99.9999 % does not make C-19 any less infectious, it just means that more people can get it, more can be infected and it can spread more widely, it also doesn't make it any less harmful. Chlamydia is asymptomatic in many women, and it stops them having kids due to PID, so being asymptomatic does not mean that it is harmless. Secondly, as I said, what would you rather have, no nightingale and a massive influx of patients or something that is there is you need it. It is called Risk control, think of it as a very expensive Fire extinguisher. There is no mention of the number of Nurses in that article, and given that there are over 500k registered with the Unions for the NHS, I'd ask you to provide a definitive figure as you seem to be so keen on quoting news sources. As I said, due to isolation, and redeployment nurses were busy, "Thousands" were not redeployed to nightingale Hospitals because they were effectively C-19 specific Wards within a building, thus they don't need to be staffed by thousands. Anecdotally, a Children's Ward Nurse wouldn't probably find herself redeployed, but feel free to ask her what happened to all the Day rostered Nurses, ITU, Derma, HDU, HMU Recovery, Theatre , Cardiac and respiratory Nurses along with the ones they redeployed from the Cancer Wards in her local hospital. It will make interesting reading. I can speak with some authority on Essex, Kent and East Anglia NHS trusts regarding redeployment and how it was done, and the Nurses and Doctors were anything but "quiet".

Grayray, easy to say more deaths from Cancer, but if no lockdown then how about a 10000% increase in deaths due to C-19 for a hypothetical figure?. The sick , if exposed to a non controlled C-19 will die, the true R rate of C-19 is unknown, and let us, for a moment consider the fact it actually is a weaponised version of the Flu from China, designed to be fatal in many cases. What then?. Call me a tinfoilhatter but I think there is some truth in that, otherwise why such a vociferous reaction from the Govts worldwide?. They definitely know something we don't.

No. That's wrong, and while I have respect for you, please allow me to give some details. Public health responses are scenario specific, aimed at localised issues, or alternatively nationalised issues such as mass sunburn, flu or infection from a transmissible disease previously identified. C-19 is different, and the lockdown prevented NHS trusts being overwhelmed by C-19 cases because the R number has been reduced by the lockdown, so without the lockdown you would have some figures to work from but you don't, because lockdown reduced the R number. If we did not have lockdown and the R number hit 10, which it may well have, then the NHS could not cope with it. Hence lockdown. As for the doctors and Nurses, they were balls out in the infected areas, it is somewhat unfair and disingenuous to make an assumption without actually having any evidence. The Nurse and Doctors were stretched due to the number of self isolations by staff. My wife is a consultant Haematologist and was called into a nursing role due to a lack of staff, there was a 40% shortage of staff in many NHS trusts, Norfolk for one, Essex for another due to isolation at the peak. That's not anecdotal ,that's factual and I can provide the paperwork to prove it. A nurse in an eye clinic might have had it easy for a week or so, but the trusts redeployed staff on an ad hoc basis, and purposed some to C-19 Wards on a rotational rota. Tell me where "doctors and nurses" had it easy during the lockdown, because if they did, the staffing policy in their trust was failing to follow PHE guidelines, it did not happen, and A&E admissions "collapsed" for one reason, during lockdown, hospitals were separated into "Red and "green" zones, thus anyone with C-19 symptoms were triaged pre A&E, and sent directly to isolation units, so yes, A&E admissions did reduce due to people being encouraged not to attend for a broken finger nail as more pressing issues were needed, and those entering "Red Zones" with C-19 were NOT classified as A&E patients, so that clears that up. Lastly it was nothing to do with the media, it was all about the information and data coming out from Italy which was the "worst case" the Govt prepares for. If they bowed to media pressure, Corbyn would have been shot ages ago for very good reason. the PHE get the raw data from the NHS, what they do with it is anyone's guess. However, there is a data trail and that data trail is available to be investigated and held accountable. As for 80% being asymptomatic, that's a one off cruise ship study an proves nothing, and not the 5%-80% which is closer to reality and hardly a reliable figure to work from.

Their Customer Service in the UK is piss poor, but the product is good. Flown with them since they had the 747 Combi's and the CC got a round of applause when arriving in BKK. PE then was called "Evergreen Deluxe" and had red chairs just in front of the Econ section. got upgraded to Biz a couple of times on the top deck of a 747. If I recall check in was done by Air Canada staff, I was on first name terms with one of them, she always tried to upgrade me or gave me the best seat. Excellent airline back then and way above anything else on offer. I've still got a few of the dark green in flight blankets.Back then there were deals where it was cheaper to buy a flight with 2 nights in a BKK hotel than the flight itself on its own. We booked the Nana once, an experience which was, interesting. 2 free nights, mostly spent in Soi SamSam and Thermae. They still have a good product and have moved with the times, their PE is as good ,if not marginally better than the Cathay equivalent. The flight timings pre covid were shocking at one point in mid 2019, with most flights out of LHR going out late, one delayed for over 40 hours in Mar 2019 plus the debacle of the CC strike which was nothing short of shameful. Customer service not interested, put them up against a wall and shoot them. Recent events had my refund issued by EVA in good time despite the office being closed. The UK staff need a damn good kick up the arse, but all in all they're pretty good.

I was thinking June / July as well. Good call. The problem is at this point in time, I'm reluctant to book or consider booking anything at all.