BruceVC

Great story and its an example of my point about the English nature of saying " how are you " But I always assumed it was more a South African cultural thing. Because I have noticed in London, Im not sure of the broader UK, specifically people dont do it and in fact you dont even greet people on the streets of London generally unless you personally know them But your initial response to that phone call is appropriate in the sense a complete stranger shouldnt be asking you those things because they dont know you ..I have noticed this is in the EU generally So now imagine how funny my real SA example is when people who are strangers say to me " how are you " and I start offloading my exaggerated problems in the line of the canteen .....and they always use to listen because they are force to because they did ask me. But I notice how surprised and generally uncomfortable they become from their facial expressions ....but they still keep quite and listen Anyway I only do it for about 1 minute before telling them I am a joking or I just stop....Im not a malicious person Gorthfuscious

Its a pity that is the answer because then the USA is in for tens of thousands more deaths amongst those who refuse to be vaccinated if you consider the overall 30 % of the total population who resist the proven science

Good point....that is a stumbling block but I wonder if many people would lie about this type of thing? Oh, thats a very reasonable price for what that helmet is

I wonder how much one of those bad boys costs....its looks expensive? I wanted to share with you something additional about the UK approach to the virus which makes sense to me on certain levels especially considering the reality of endless variants as you also raised I was just watching their daily update and today is their reopening, as in optional mask wearing and everything open like clubs which are typically super spreader events So they now seeing 50k new cases a day and they predict 100k new cases a day but they seeing very low hospitalization rates because of the high vaccination rate so the UK government is understandably fine with that. Their are numerous critics to their approach for different reasons. The biggest risk is a variant that evolves that escapes vaccine efficacy at least with all the current vaccines. So far we havent seen this globally but its possible But you can mitigate this by the creation of new vaccines. But from September the UK will make it mandatory for vaccine passports in places like clubs. So here is my question to you and others, would you accept vaccine passports (meaning you have to prove you had a vaccine ) to go to work or visit anywhere outside your house? I cant see how we will reduce the spread of the virus in any country without making vaccines almost mandatory? Whats your view on this ?The alternative is you accept 5 % of all unvaccinated people will eventually get the virus and die from it ...thats a lot of people if you consider the population of the USA and its 30 % unvaccinated citizens? https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/vaccine-passport-compulsory-for-nightclubs-and-large-events-from-september/ar-AAMk7wf

Yes we are, and restaurants and malls are open and so is any business that chooses to be fully open Alcohol is banned so bars are closed that only sell alcohol but bars are open for food sales But masks are mandatory and legally required if you go can inside any shop or public space

I work from home with 90 % of my work When we not going through a wave I have been to one or 2 customers onsite but basically since our lockdown started last year March none of the large listed companies that are primarily my customers have been open like they use to so everyone works remotely....with the exception of helpdesks and some isolated meetings This is part of the problem with our economic recovery, we not selling new business because that requires onsite visits which wont happen in SA until most of us have been vaccinated So the objective of getting vaccines is not just about socializing for me but being able to work as we use to. I am basically a consultant and you cant consult sitting at home

Their is a real scientific argument that the UK is currently having that is similar to what you saying Basically the UK government is saying " we will have variants for years so does mean we will be wearing masks for years " and its valid That is why they lifting all restrictions today, including mask wearing , and making these things optional. But it requires a high vaccination rate which they accept means the virus will spread in the UK but not the hospitalization rate and deaths The problem in the USA is you dont have a higher enough vaccination rate so you shouldnt be removing all restrictions Anyway we will see how it works out in the UK

Perfect, that VIP card works for me and can we make it for strip clubs and Vegas gentleman clubs as well

Personally I dislike wearing my mask immensely , its impersonal and I find it anathema to the fundamental gregarious nature of how human beings are suppose to interact. We like to look at each and see each others expressions and smiles and similar things But I wear it only because of the virus. I am waiting for the day when we achieve " herd immunity " in SA and I can go back to being able to go to the local bar and socialize I mentioned this before, I would vote for you as president because you would implement things that make sense to me...just not UBI and other welfare state ideas

Yes, I cant give you a complicated but accurate answer like Amentep , they work one way. They dont stop you getting exposed and contracting the virus, you need advanced PPE like we see people working in hospitals use ...those work both ways So to answer your relevant question, imagine this. If you meet a friend at a bar for a drink and your friend ( who has the virus but doesn't know as he is asymptomatic )is not wearing his mask and you are sitting and chatting to him he can and will expose you to the invisible Corona molecules and you can get the virus And the real risk with all these variants and new stains is even if you have been vaccinated you can still get sick, its unlikely you will end up in hospital with severe symptoms but you can still get the virus especially with variants like this Delta variant that is running rampant in the USA And I have no idea about goggles but I assume you joking

Absolutely, you are clearly at that " Bethesda fatigue " moment that is inevitable for their games like with Ubisoft games I loved my recent sojourn with Morrowind but I definitely started feeling I was ready to complete the main quest after 130 hours and move on. Thats also why I never played the expansions despite your suggestions (and I have played them the first time around ) Thats the secret to enjoying Elder Scroll games....dont spend too much time playing them

Also the Corona molecules that float in the air hang around for a while and dont vanish or dissipate straight away So for example when any country is experiencing a wave if you refuse to wear a mask and sit indoor in a restaurant or bar and someone comes after you your intransigence can literally cause other people, even wearing a mask, to be exposed. So I dont see any valid argument about not wearing a mask when their is a wave or high virus load

https://www.tellerreport.com/news/2021-07-19-jeff-bezos-takes-off-on-tuesday-in-his-rocket--a-new-step-for-space-tourism---france-24.Bkt4st9MAO.html So in 24 hours Jeff Bezos will take that first exciting step as a space tourist Personally I am one of those people who has no interest in ever going into space, the moon or Mars but I can understand other peoples excitement about this journey and the concept of space tourism Does anyone else want to go to space and what are your reasons?

I was watching an interesting debate about DeSantis and the commentators were raising how he is seen as a rising star in the Republican party and how he could have real ambitions to become the next Republican presidential candidate So the midterms will give us a good indication of the support the current Republican party has and then we have to consider someone like DeSantis as president of the US based on trajectory of the GOP winning the midterms? I would much rather see DeSantis as the Republican candidate than Trump again....much, much, much rather

But Gromnir you know that Volo used the word " Nazi " in a frivolous and inaccurate way. He just threw the word around and overused it so it became meaningless. So when he accused the US government of being Nazi it didnt matter. I have been called a fascist and racist on this forum which is the same as any comparison to the US being a Nazi state....its not accurate and doesnt reflect the reality. I know you know this about the USA but I am raising the whole volo point

Yes, I have been following the extensive flood damage on several international news channels Its unprecedented in some places or at least in living memory

It amazed me how badly DeSantis has handled the virus around basic virus best practice but he still remains very popular. I understand his support with his stanch anti-socialist views and the large Cuban American , and other Latino groups, and Republican base in Florida but I am still surprised around his popularity Did you see the latest, official state sponsored "anti-Fauci " mechandise ....and its selling https://news.yahoo.com/florida-gov-ron-desantis-selling-222004119.html

Got it, then the 5 day snap lockdown makes sense...its not a normal lockdown Is your contact tracing effective then, it sounds like it is? Contact tracing has failed in the majority of countries due to the resources, citizen acceptance and real effort it requires from government

When you say snap lockdowns only lasting 5 days that is indeed nonsensical and doesnt make any sense around how the virus spreads. Because you can be exposed to the virus and you will go through an incubation period for up to 10 days and then only show symptoms and spread the virus . So a 5 days lockdown is meaningless if I am understanding you correctly ? And also lockdowns shouldn't be about shutting down all businesses because both lives and livelihoods matter and you can achieve both in a logical lockdown. For example when the virus is spreading or you in a wave you shutdown businesses where you cannot control or enforce mask wearing so you close down clubs and large outdoor gatherings and sometimes religious gatherings. But you can keep restaurants open because restaurant owners can enforce restrictions and keep numbers low. Its not ideal but this type of approach offers a reasonable balance

Im sorry to hear this Gorthfuscious, in SA we have about 20k + news cases a day so if its any consolation you not really at the definition of a virus crisis....yet We have discussed over the last 12 months the success and failures of the Australian governments response to the virus spreading within your borders. Your view was generally that your government has been draconian in its efforts and you didnt seem to support measure like quarantine hotels or the lockdown measures and people being told " you cant travel to province x " It doesnt seem like you have that opinion anymore considering suggestions using places like Christmas Island for quarantine centers which is an excellent idea considering how the virus is spreading in Oz?

Weekend brings much joy and revelry which translates in this time of lockdown to English Breakfast time. Today I am cooking eggs, ham ( no bacon ), pork sausage, toast and an onion and tomato salsa mix So its basically another healthy, almost Vegan breakfast again. I say almost Vegan because I am including ham, eggs and pork sausage so its not completely Vegan ....but its the thought that counts

I always thought Louis Pasteur created the first vaccine. But after reading these posts I did some research and you right, the concept of vaccines have been around for a lot longer than that. I learnt something new https://www.historyofvaccines.org/timeline/all

You make some valid points and I agree that 99 % of people dying in the USA due to Covid are unvaccinated. No one is disputing this and this gets raised and discussed extensively on CNN and their is no doubt that the hesitancy is caused by misinformation around the scientific and irrefutable nature of the virus and vaccines But lets say you shutdown FB permanently, their would be other platforms that misinformation can and would be disseminated. So you see the conundrum, its not FB but the spread of misinformation And even if you somehow shutdown all types of social media people would utilize other systems like cell phones or newspapers to create and propagate fake news ....so would we then be accursing the broader media and the cell phone companies of " killing people " ? Would you be fine with that ? Remember the concept of SM media fake news is akin to gossip, its been with us for all time and you are not going to stop people gossiping.

You right, their is enough food globally to feed the world and resources to give every person in the world a roof over the head. But their isnt one system of government that manages these resources and even in a wealthy country like the USA much of the resources only exist because of the private sector....not government. But the worlds constant and worse examples of inequality are in failed states and or dictatorships, if we can fix that by removing these types of governments it will go a long way to reducing global poverty and things like the immigration crisis that many countries grapple with. So unless the world can somehow move to a single government, which none of us want and its not practical, we are always going to have abuse of resources and mismanagement in certain places in the world? Excellent observation as usual and I am so glad you have raised this point. And its always white people who suffer in these examples. Its a terrible reality to live in as a white person and I am glad you have noticed this. We need to pass more laws so white people aren't discriminated against

Lets be positive ....lets say cautiously optimistic. That way we cant be disappointed if the trilogy is a disappointment, its a win win