Are you worried yet.

[Silvercat]

I’ve still got a few bits of Habitat furniture that I bought for my first house.

Same here....we had 2 Olivia Kitchens in 2 consecutive houses and what fantastic quality they were. 40mm thick beech worktops, solid beech frames etc...So well made....I would buy them again if they hadnt virtually gone bust. By the way they didnt come from China either; came from France.

 

[iainw]

George Orwell (the canary-in-the-coalmine for fascism in my book) made it very clear in his 1946 essay, The Prevention of Literature, that people are required to censor themselves when faced with "the dangerous proposition ... that intellectual honesty is a form of antisocial selfishness". We have to just accept that we are required to fall into line, or be attacked. It is no longer acceptable to even suggest that the sky is not falling, and anyone doing so will inevitably be accused of antisocial selfishness, hatred of nurses, and a desire to kill our neighbours, by the guardians of righteousness.

I'm sorry @Rwc13 you are on your own from now on. As far as I am concerned, there is simply no point trying to discuss things in a balanced way here, as the scaremongering, irrationality and fascism in some parts of this thread has passed some sort of threshold for me. I might see you all back here in June/July when the crisis is mostly over, or in December/January when UK death rates will be merely 2-5% higher than normal.

The likelihood of you not replying in a sarcastic manner to comments before June/July I would say it rather low. I haven’t heard anyone make irrational or scaremongering comments on here.

 

[Nibby]

Why is it that so many people seem to focus on and want to wallow in or even celebrate bad news? And then also react to it with such panic and hysteria.

It brings a bit of excitement into their dull boring lives. The same people who look forward going to a funeral.

 

[iainw]

My daughter has worked for the NHS for quite some time, she has obviously seen things and had to deal with things that she keeps to her self, tries to keep it all separate from her outside of work life. A couple of days ago I saw her really upset, not directly by the day to day grind, but by the attitude she experienced by hospital management. She complained on behalf of herself and others that they did not feel safe with the level of PPE they were being provided with. She was basically called a wimp and told that even if they were provided with an adequate amount of masks it wouldn’t make any difference anyway, they would still catch it. That’s great for the moral of those who are going the extra mile. I would not blame her or others if they just said, OK up yours, I’m going home to self isolate with my husband and kids. But they don’t, do they! It’s disgusting and hospital upper management need to get their act together. At the very least with moral support if nothing else.

100% correct. Only people who this crisis touches personally will truly understand. For those who think people are over reacting - it’s simply mind boggling. It must be very hard for you to see someone you love walk into those circumstances. I truly hope she is ok and you can celebrate together when this is over and she can know she made a difference .

 

[alfatwo]

Same here....we had 2 Olivia Kitchens in 2 consecutive houses and what fantastic quality they were. 40mm thick beech worktops, solid beech frames etc...So well made....I would buy them again if they hadnt virtually gone bust. By the way they didnt come from China either; came from France.

Another one of Margert Thatcher's idea's just buy everything in, cheap..
And don't even start me on the poll tax!

Dave

 

[Saigon]

100% correct. Only people who this crisis touches personally will truly understand. For those who think people are over reacting - it’s simply mind boggling. It must be very hard for you to see someone you love walk into those circumstances. I truly hope she is ok and you can celebrate together when this is over and she can know she made a difference .

Thank you.

 

[Wanderer]

Another one of Margert Thatcher's idea's just buy everything in, cheap..
And don't even start me on the poll tax!

Dave

Or The Falklands, lost a few mates over that, not just dead ones, but scarred ones too...

 

[RoaryRati]

I’ve still got a few bits of Habitat furniture that I bought for my first house.

So have I - and it works perfectly. I'm also waring my dad's old jumper - must be about 50 years old - and use my great aunt's hardly used beautiful bed sheets and pillow cases - about 70 years old

 

[Phil H]

Its just a crying shame that against the horrific backdrop of Covid-19 that we are all hearing about every hour of every day, there are also so many fantastic stories of positive human endeavour and support which need to be put in the spotlight. There are so many fantastic people out there, doing some fantastic things for others, so for once I would love to hear a lot about these stories to show the positive side of the human spirit in the face of adversity.

I couldn't agree more.

PH

 

[daverichardson]

Mark mas
you had better not bu99er off or I will send the lads round

 

[highlander]

Why is it that so many people seem to focus on and want to wallow in or even celebrate bad news? And then also react to it with such panic and hysteria. Where does this inclination towards such negativity come from? Have we been conditioned this way over the long term by the media?

in one way or another we have been, since 9/11 conditioned by govs and the media to be responsive to threat. it suits those in charge to keep us "alert", just my view.

 

[alfatwo]

Why is it that so many people seem to focus on and want to wallow in or even celebrate bad news? And then also react to it with such panic and hysteria. Where does this inclination towards such negativity come from? Have we been conditioned this way over the long term by the media?

in one way or another we have been, since 9/11 conditioned by govs and the media to be responsive to threat. it suits those in charge to keep us "alert", just my view.

Too true mate, and have you noticed how cheap credit has become since back then, just to keep us all quite!

Got a feeling the virtual debtors prison is going to be fairly full by Christmas!

Dave

 

[Wattie]

And let’s not forget, this economic slowdown we are in now was brought on by Coronavirus, not by a normal economic downturn. So if the lockdown ends after, say three months, why shouldn’t there be something like an economic “reset” to the economic position that existed before Coronavirus. If most businesses keep their employees (using Government support) and people feel confident to start “consuming” again because they have jobs and salaries, then why should this be much more than a three month economic blip?

With the support available from Governments and if banks and other credit lenders are sensible and supportive, and business and people don’t overreact, this surely needn’t be the economic disaster that’s being predicted by many. I know this is a dramatic oversimplification of things, but I do feel the world is at risk of talking itself into a worse economic crisis than there needs to be.

Ok, I’m in my bunker now with my hard hat on ready for the bombs to be launched.

Totally wrong, the economic position prior Cv was a debt based illusion.

I agree that it’s now a balancing act between saving lives and rescuing what remains of a deflated economic bubble- now burst.
It’s a balance between keeping as many alive and uninfected as possible and trying to return to normal.
Unusually for me, I have no idea how you can achieve that so as a result fear an ongoing scenario of illness combined with economic depression of massive proportion.

 

[Wattie]

Bankers.

About sums them up.

 

[rockits]

An interesting watch ...................make of it what you will , we can discuss it tomorrow

Thanks for that Loz.....great watch and very interesting but revealing.

One thing is for sure until we get some truth or transparency the default position is we need to protect ourselves and trust nobody. Least of all the Chinese.

Until we get all the facts and crucially transparency we don't know for sure of course what is going on. For me though there are just too many weird scenarios for it to be how it has been told to date.

Once a lier always a lier. We all know that communism is not healthy and a democratic approach is more balanced and favoured. If there are any truths in much of this and I fear there could be, maybe China has gone a step too far even for them this time.

I and am sure many others now will be much more conscious of future purchasing decisions as it starts with lots of little building blocks. It won't happen overnight but we should be creating much more self sufficiency and less reliance on others. Especially others who cannot be trusted and have completely different agendas and goal.

I understood the virus to be natural but there are strong suggestions in this program that this could be very far from the actual fact.

It is very worrying and we need to start taking steps. I have a Huawei mobile but already looking at options. Trouble is what are the options? Who do you trust?

When Google, FB and the like don't seem to be any cleaner or more trustworthy who the h3ck do you trust?

One thing is for sure......we need to start getting more secure. Hacks are coming as one prong of a multi pronged attack on our way of life and liberties.

All this is like a scene out of a Will Smith & Gene Hackman movie! Except it is all very real!!

 

[lozcb]

Thanks for that Loz.....great watch and very interesting but revealing.

One thing is for sure until we get some truth or transparency the default position is we need to protect ourselves and trust nobody. Least of all the Chinese.

Until we get all the facts and crucially transparency we don't know for sure of course what is going on. For me though there are just too many weird scenarios for it to be how it has been told to date.

Once a lier always a lier. We all know that communism is not healthy and a democratic approach is more balanced and favoured. If there are any truths in much of this and I fear there could be, maybe China has gone a step too far even for them this time.

I and am sure many others now will be much more conscious of future purchasing decisions as it starts with lots of little building blocks. It won't happen overnight but we should be creating much more self sufficiency and less reliance on others. Especially others who cannot be trusted and have completely different agendas and goal.

I understood the virus to be natural but there are strong suggestions in this program that this could be very far from the actual fact.

It is very worrying and we need to start taking steps. I have a Huawei mobile but already looking at options. Trouble is what are the options? Who do you trust?

When Google, FB and the like don't seem to be any cleaner or more trustworthy who the h3ck do you trust?

One thing is for sure......we need to start getting more secure. Hacks are coming as one prong of a multi pronged attack on our way of life and liberties.

All this is like a scene out of a Will Smith & Gene Hackman movie! Except it is all very real!!

Unfortunately in a typically British stiff upper lip kind of way we are still playing Queensbury rules , it's time the gloves come off , as nasty a scenario as it sounds , other wise sheeple I'd brush up on your Mandarin ,ditch your Bible and start reading Mau .

 

[rockits]

I hope we have ceased any further Huawei 5G contracts now them.

 

[lozcb]

I hope we have ceased any further Huawei 5G contracts now them.

I think thats a foregone conclusion now that hospital will have focussed Boris just that little bit more , and as for the British Steel deal , my thoughts are let them buy it and fund it , then Nationalise it as part of the recompence deal , along with what ever investments they have here, we have to start bareknuckle fighting.

 

[Rwc13]

Totally wrong, the economic position prior Cv was a debt based illusion.

I agree that it’s now a balancing act between saving lives and rescuing what remains of a deflated economic bubble- now burst.
It’s a balance between keeping as many alive and uninfected as possible and trying to return to normal.
Unusually for me, I have no idea how you can achieve that so as a result fear an ongoing scenario of illness combined with economic depression of massive proportion.

And here we go again. It seems that only you can be right about pretty much everything. Even when you aren’t.

In a democracy, others are entitled to express their opinions you know without you jumping in with your opposing opinion as if it’s fact - just because you read it on zerohedge. There are plenty of far more intelligent financial experts than you, me or the folk at Zerohedge out there that disagree with your view of the financial markets and Governments’ current approach to supporting them and the economy.

 

[dgmx5]

And so the next step in repeating the mistakes of te last century creeps in... isolationism becomes nationalism and then wars are not far behind.

Criticising a free press which, regardless of political persuasion, seem to be less than impressed by the government's handling is also worrying.

First it was certain broadcasters or newspaper titles were accused of bias on Brexit. Fair enough, that was a polarising subject and someone might feel the 'other' side were attacking them.

But this is a common challenge across the world, and certain countries or cultures are doing a better job.

Yesterday's graph (switched back from a logarithmic scale, consistency in presenting data is paramount unless you are trying to change the narrative) shows we are still closely following Italy and, thankfully, not as bad as Spain.

But why, given the warnings we had and the opportunity to act earlier and avoid this?

It may be true that lockdown was not necessary, follow Sweden's course to see if that may have been right.

Opposition parties have to find a balance between challenging and supporting the government.

The press should be free of such concerns but are pilloried by the public for daring to challenge the government's response.

What I can see is people having jobs after all this but poorer than before with the additional taxation they will bear and still no appetite to fairly tax businesses, particularly Amazon, Starbucks etc and the wealthy.

A tithe is simple... everyone pays the same share. Tax is not. The rich have sufficient headroom in their wealth to employ someone to discover loopholes.

And so the inequality going into this year will be even more pronounced at the end, and politicians will argue better to be poor than dead. Except economies need a poor underclass that knows its place to make money for others.

And the poor will be more resentful than they were after the GFC, and there will be no more immigrants to blame after Brexit for them being poor so they will point the finger at another country for them being poor. And wars will start.

And the wealthy will look on and allow this to happen because it serves their needs.

An earlier post said not to politicise this thread, to pull together behind our government and support it, yet it is acceptable to label other countries and regimes and not scrutinise our own?