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Category Archives: British Politics
Posted by Silvi Veale in British Politics, Covid-19, Face Masks
British Politics, Coronavirus, Cycling Masks, Dust Masks, Face Masks, Politics
This is Part Three of a set of posts called 'Wearing a Face Mask During a Pandemic'.
Re-Useable Masks Available to Purchase:
Anti Pollution/Sports Masks:
Colourful cycling mask with vents and valves.
Anti pollution masks have been growing in popularity for some time. They are worn by cyclists and bikers and by those doing sports or jogging in polluted conditions.
These masks vary from basic mouth, nose and chin covers, to bandana style scarves, to 'tube' scarves, to balaclavas and to full face coverings.
Full Face Cycling Mask
Many are ornate, with pictures of animals, superheroes, skulls, and fantasy designs.
None of these masks were designed to deal with a virus and some (the scarves in particular) may be too thin/porous to be much help in providing protection. However, they should, by differing degrees depending upon material used, prevent the wearer spreading the virus when in contact with others.
Half face 'skull' mask/tube scarf
Anti-pollution masks can be made in a variety of materials, from cotton to velvet or suede, leather and sometimes plastic.
But some of the most popular are made with a material called Neoprene.
Neoprene is waterproof. It comes in a range of thicknesses and can be used to make a variety of fashion items as well as scuba diving equipment.
But in cycle/motorbike masks and face covers, neoprene really comes into its own as you will see if you study the many designs.
Because neoprene is not breathable, all neoprene masks should have a respirator valve (most will have 2) and many have ventilator slits (on the outside layer only).
A good anti pollution mask has an outer 'shielding' layer (which has valves and ventilators), plus a sturdy inner filter pad in the shape of the inner mask.
Popular price cycling mask with fitted, changeable inner filter
A good inner filter will contain around 5 layers to filter out harmful particles, allergins and smells from the atmosphere, keeping you safe from the vast majority of pollutants.
However, the manufacturers of these masks do not usually make any claims about keeping specific virus particles out.
Nevertheless, some, like the manufacturers of the top quality Respro masks, will say that their filter system will filter out large particles and some smaller ones. And this is important, because a cough or sneeze from someone with Covid-19 will contain large and medium as well as micro particles and some of these may well be filtered out by these masks. But (probably as a result of this statement on their facts page, and a rush to buy), the Respro website was temporarily closed to further orders as I typed this…
Respro Sportsta™ Mask
Scientists are researching the effect of 'viral load' on a person's reaction to the Covid-19 virus. Some say there is evidence that a lower viral load may mean the likelehood of a milder case of the illness. However, there is much research to be done on this and there is disagreement as to the findings (see Note 2). Nevertheless, for those concerned about viral load, it could be suggested that the wearer of any anti-pollution mask which filters larger particles might not get such a viral overload if coughed or sneezed on by a virus carrier.
But because of the growing claims that facemasks with valves can expel virus particles into the atmosphere (see Note 1), sports and anti-pollution masks of this nature may in future not be considered suitable for wearing by the general public.
I will admit that I am still looking at anti pollution/sports masks, mainly because I love the designs. I also love that if you purchase a reasonable quality design from one of the better manufacturers, you can get a mask which will fit you well.
Another factor that I like is that these masks are mostly waterproof so they do give defence from moist particles, unlike cloth masks which are more likely to soak moist particles into the top layer.
However, manufacturer's recomendations to use the inner filter for several times before changing is something I'm not sure about for pandemic use.
But I will research some more over time 🙂
Stretch Masks:
Neoprene is one of a range of stretchable fabrics used to make the style of face masks some are calling 'shark masks'. These are washable masks where the stretchable fabric used extends into the ear loops also, giving a pointed 'shark' look from the side.
These basic stretch masks are quick to use, light to wear, and washable. They are usually made with just one layer of material and in a very basic shape. As they are very stretchy but also moldable, they often provide a good fit to a whole range of face shapes and head sizes.
A range of stretch face masks
Because they are usually one layer and have no pocket for a filter, it is debateable how much virus the 'shark' masks will keep out. But in their defence, the material used is usually dense (if you hold it up to the light, you should not be able to see through it). And, as with most other face coverings, they should keep virus particles in, so will help to prevent virus spread.
Dust masks come in a range of shapes and sizes and resemble many different medical masks.
Dust masks were never designed to keep out virus particles. They were designed specifically to protect the wearer from dust, powders and other dangerous particles when at work.
Basic cotton dust mask
The most basic dust masks are for wearing literally when dusting or creating a dusty atmosphere. They are often made with two layers of fabric and in the same shape as surgical masks. They provide a comfortable mask, but will not filter out minute particles.
Dust Masks With Filters:
With the surge in interest in cycling wear, a number of manufacturers have produced face masks in cotton, polyester, or other light materials which are classed as dust masks, but are also advertised as light cycling wear.
Many of these masks have 2 layers of fabric, plus an inner pocket where a filter can be placed.
Dust/cycling mask with respirator valve plus example of inner filters used
Masks may or may not have a respirator valve on the outside (Personally, I have found that a respirator valve on these particular masks makes little difference, as the material used to make the masks is usually breathable. However, the valve may prevent heat and moisture accumulating in the mask when worn for an extended period).
Dust/Cycling Masks without respirator valve, showing carbon filters
Filters used in dust masks are usually PM2.5 filters (often called 'carbon filters' because an inner layer contains carbon). PM2.5 filters are designed to filter out particles in the atmosphere which have a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometers. These are light particles found within polluted atmospheres which can invade the lungs, so PM2.5 filters are considered effective in protecting us from many allergies and harmful atmospheric substances.
It must be noted that these filters cannot fully protect us from virus particles with a size of 0.3 microns. Nevertheless, it could be suggested that the filters could prevent large virus droplets entering the inner mask, along with part of the viral load. As with many things face mask, the scientific jury is still out on this, Covid-19 being such a new and fairly unpredictable virus.
And in any case, if these dust masks are worn correctly (ie: from bridge of nose to under the chin and fitting snuggly), they should prevent virus particles being expelled into the atmosphere when the wearer coughs or sneezes (or even talks). So they can be worn as an effective part of preventing the spread of Covid-19.
Heavy Duty Dust Masks:
Dust masks used in more particle-intensive workplaces are marked according to protection levels – from FFP1 to FFP3:
FFP1 and FFP2 Dust Masks
FFP1 dust masks provide reasonable protection from dust and paint sprays.
FFP2 dust masks provide excellent protection from paint, chemicals, sprays, etc, and some small particles too. These work very similarly to N95 masks and are said to provide some protection against virus particles.
FFP3 dust masks provide excellent protection against particles of all types, including some tiny particles of the type found within virus droplets. They are usually considered to be of N95+ standard.
FFP3 Dust Mask
Some, particularly FFP2 and FFP3 level dust masks, will have breathing filter valves.
High level dust masks provide a very good level of protection, and as a result these masks are sometimes being used by health care workers who are unable to obtain FFP3 Medical Respirators.
However, the vast majority of dust masks were never made to fit the face as well as a medical mask and they were not designed specifically to filter micro particles of the size found in virus spread.
This is why, although your works mask may give you a lot of protection when worn out in public, it will never give you full protection.
But it has to be said that it is still a whole lot better individual protection than many will have.
Cloth Face Masks To Purchase:
With the sharp rise in public interest in face masks, Many clothing manufacturers, large and small, plus a range of other companies, have turned their focus to making and selling face masks.
The majority of these will be made from cotton, although some will have a special outer finish which the manufacturer claims will make them water resistant.
Pleated Cotton Face Masks – Etsy
Cotton masks to buy are made predominantly in one of two shapes: rectangular with pleats (surgical mask shape); or shaped to fit the face. Many will have a pocket for a filter (usually a PM2.5 filter, although some manufacturers make their own filters to fit their particular masks).
Cotton masks to purchase can be found on Etsy, Amazon, eBay, Craftsy, and on manufacturer's own sites, plus you will find adverts for them all over Facebook. Online prices for this type of mask range from £5 upwards, with more exclusive fabric designs, or perhaps extras like extra filters, a bag for the mask, etc, commanding a higher outlay.
Fitted Cotton Face Masks – The Sustainable Mask – Christy Dawn
With such a wide and growing range of cotton masks available to purchase online, it would be easy to get carried away and perhaps spend money you cannot really afford on a whole range of new masks.
I will talk more about cotton masks in my next post about making your own masks and 'face covers', but for now, I would recommend this:
Before you spend a lot of money on a variety of cotton masks (or any mask come to that), make sure that the mask you want is:
made in your size (face sizes vary considerably but masks not so much);
fits well, but will give you room around your mouth and nose to breath (a tight mask you cannot breath in will soon be thrown in the bin);
can be washed on a normal washing machine cycle (you will soon get fed up hand washing a mask which requires delicate treatment).
With a cotton mask, I personally would also go for a mask which has at least 3 layers (one can be an insertable filter).
More on cotton masks later…
Of course to many of us, purchasing a face mask of any description may be an unattainable wish, given that a lot of us have been unable to work or obtain a full wage for some time.
So, along with the fact that our Government is telling us not to use up masks suitable for use in hospitals and social care and we are all being asked to wear a 'cloth face covering' when in crowded public spaces, many of us are considering making our own face masks.
The use of home-made cloth face masks is a whole other topic and I will write about it in my next post on face masks.
In the meantime, I hope that this piece has helped to clear up a few queries about the varying types of face masks you will encounter once you start looking.
But whatever type of face mask you buy, please do wear them if you possibly can. It could help us all.
Note 1: Why your N95 mask could endanger others: https://www.sfgate.com/living-in-sf/article/Why-your-N95-mask-could-endanger-others-15246318.php
Note 2: Viral dynamics in mild and severe cases of COVID-19: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(20)30232-2/fulltext
Posted by Silvi Veale in British Politics, Covid-19, Face Masks, NHS
Face Masks, Medical Respirators, NHS, Politics
This is Part Two of a set of posts called 'Wearing a Face Mask During a Pandemic'.
Masks designed to keep the wearer safe from the virus as well as to prevent virus spread:
Frontline medical work during the Covid pandemic – The Times
It has to be said, that although we all want to keep our community safe and not spread the virus among it, most people researching face masks are looking for ways to keep themselves safe from the virus as well, because they don't want to rely entirely upon everyone else wearing a mask (or wearing a mask effectively) to help protect them.
Many will look at the following masks for the best safety options, but as you will see, they will be unobtainable for most of the public and they have their drawbacks too:
Respirator Masks Worn in Hospitals:
Respirator Masks are primarily for medical staff working in hospitals, in close contact with patients who have infectious diseases, but are now being recommended for frontine social care workers also:
FFP2 and FFP3 Medical Respirators
The FFP3 respirator (Europe and UK) (and sometimes the FFP2 Respirator), and the N95, N99, and N100 respirators (US) should be worn by doctors, nurses and anyone working in close contact with a Covid-19 patient.
N95 and N99 Medical Respirators
These masks are designed to filter out extremely tiny microscopic particles (size 0.3 Microns) of virus as follows:
A tight-fitting FFP2 (Europe and UK) mask should filter out around 94% of virus particles.
A tight-fitting FFP3 (Europe and UK) mask should filter out 99%+ of virus particles.
A tight-fitting N95 (US) mask should filter out at least 95% of virus particles.
A tight-fitting N99 (US) mask should filter out 99% of virus particles.
A tight-fitting N100 (US) mask should filter out 99.7% of virus particles.
N100 Medical Respirator Mask
Other countries have similar categories for medical masks. For instance, the Chinese system is KN95 (Filters out up to 95% of 0.3 Microns particles) and above.
Because these top quality protection masks work on the basis of keeping microscopic virus particles out, they need a tight seal with the face. So all of the above respirator masks must be chosen to fit the person wearing them and medical staff should be measured regularly to ensure they continue to have the best fit.
The disadvantage to this is that these masks can be pretty uncomfortable to wear for long periods of time.
Even though the majority of these masks have valves to help with breathing, some medical staff still find the masks are sealed in so tight that it makes their breathing laboured, they feel 'headachey', and some wearers experience a strong feeling of claustrophobia.
'Marks for Heroes' Sore marks left by medical respirators – Xinhua Net
And then there are the sore marks which a tight medical respirator leaves on the face. These masks are not at all comfortable.
As with surgical masks, medical respirator masks are also disposable (although, with the acute shortage of top quality respirator masks, some hospitals are recommending that their staff clean and sterilise these masks to be worn at least twice).
Can the general public wear medical level respirator masks?
Because there is a worldwide shortage of medical level respirator masks, it is only fair that front line medical and social care staff have access to them before the general public.
Plus, these masks are very expensive for a member of the public to buy. For example you can purchase a FFP3 respirator mask on eBay, but a good quality (and in date) one will cost you around £35-50 minimum.
And remember that these masks are meant to be worn once, so planning to wear a good quality respirator mask regularly would be a very expensive exercise.
However, some people do buy single FFP3 masks for emergency use (an urgent hospital visit to see a relative, for example).
All that being said, you can purchase some relatively inexpensive Chinese-made KN95 disposable masks on eBay, Amazon, etc:
KN95 Masks from China:
Like the medical respirator masks above, KN95 face masks are also disposable. They are usually almost circular in shape, with a snug fit all around and a centre seam pointing outwards (giving a cone shape). This gives the wearer lots of inside space for their mouth and nose and, with the help of an adjustable nose bar, they stay in place well, even when the wearer is talking.
KN95 Mask, showing the cone shape
As these masks are made mainly in China, they are made to Chinese specifications.
They do not fit UK or US criteria for protection (for instance, KN95 masks often have elastic ear loops, while N95 and FFP3 masks will usually have adjustable ties to enable a better fit), but good ones will adhere to Chinese safety specifications, which in these times of PPE shortages, many will find acceptable.
At the time of typing, these masks retail at around £2-£4 per mask without a respirator valve, and around £8 to £10 per mask with a respirator valve.
They vary in design and quality and I'm afraid it usually relies upon paying your money and taking a chance. Whether that is worth it is up to you.
Some KN95 masks are not well made. Most of them are mass-produced. But nevertheless, some are excellent for the job required. The good ones will fit well, are comfortable to wear, and probably provide a very reasonable level of protection (as reasonable as you can get with a mask which is not specifically measured to fit you).
KN95 masks also vary between 3 ply and 5 ply – These masks have layers of material – to block, to filter and for comfort. 4 and 5 ply masks will have extra filter layers.
Some also have respirator valves like the European, UK and US respirator masks (the valves should expel moist air without letting particles in – this helps prevent the inner mask getting wet from your breath).
As an aside, valves on facemasks worn by the public are frowned upon by some US sources and may even eventually be banned for general use. This is because it is thought that expelling air from inside a mask means also expelling particles of virus into the surrounding atmosphere- and this is of course the opposite result to that required when asking the public to wear masks (see Note 1).
But most KN95 masks to purchase online do not have respirator valves. They are, however, reasonably light to wear, have room inside to breath, and most people would have no trouble wearing them without a break for up to 4 hours if required (for a hospital visit, a long trip to the shops, for part of the working day in a busy office, etc).
A popular KN95 face mask design
As someone who has purchased and worn KN95 masks on a couple of occasions, I personally would say they are worth the outlay when you want a light, comfortable, reasonably reliable mask to wear in a crowded space to give you a good measure of protection as well as to protect others.
But don't rely on KN95 masks entirely. They are not UK or US medical grade. Social distancing is vital whenever possible when wearing a KN95 mask, as is frequently washing your hands.
In any case, even if you choose to buy some KN95 masks on eBay or elsewhere, you will probably be looking for other masks to top up the number of masks you may need to wear every day, especially as we could be wearing face masks more and more over the following months.
And many of you will be looking for the money-saving value of a mask which you can safely wear, wash, and wear again.
These will be discussed in the next post.
Coronavirus, Face Masks, NHS, Surgical Masks
This is Part One of a set of posts called 'Wearing a Face Mask During a Pandemic'. And it tells you all about Surgical Masks.
Surgical Masks:
Surgical Face masks at a Korean wedding – From Commisceo Global
When you watch TV or social media and see crowds or groups of people from countries which are struggling with Covid-19, many of them will be wearing surgical masks.
Surgical masks are disposable, designed for wearing once only. Most will have a light blue/turquoise outer (waterproof) layer, with 2 further layers in white – the middle layer acts as the filter to large droplets which have traversed the waterproof layer, and the inner layer is the comfort fit for your face which also soaks up any excess moisture.
Medical grade surgical mask fastened with ties
Surgical masks are also recognisable for their pleats. The pleats ensure that the mask is narrow enough to fit the side of the face, while expanding to be wide enough at the centre to cover your face from bridge of nose to under the chin.
Surgical masks are popular because they are light, relatively inexpensive, and usually comfortable to wear.
The combination of materials used in making surgical masks have also been tested to filter out up to 95% of 3.0 Microns size particles (usually classed as Bacteria Filtration), which is extremely helpful in a range of medical settings.
However, those filter calculations were taken by looking at the fabric used, not the way the mask fits.
Surgical masks can fit comfortably on the face and an inbuilt, moldable nose bar makes them a good fit across the nose.
Medical grade surgical mask, showing fit across nose and at sides
However, surgical masks often 'gap' at the sides, which means that there is a risk of particles getting into the sides of the mask. With this in mind, a loose fitting surgical mask will not live up to that 95% Bacteria Filtration in a close up situation. It could even slip down as low as 50% maximum. But this will depend upon how the mask fits the individual wearer, because these masks are usually one size fits all.
There is also discussion on the size of virus droplets, as surgical masks are good filters for large (3.0 Microns) bacterial droplets, but not necessarily as good at filtering out micro-sized (0.3 Microns) virus particles which make up part of the Covid-19 viral load.
Research is still ongoing here though, as there is uncertaintly as to the nature of the micro particles in relation to the larger droplets. For example, if most of the micro particles are still part of the larger droplet when they land on the mask, a significant amount of them may be filtered out too – but no one, as yet, knows for sure. However, this makes another article and I'll leave that one to an expert :).
Nevertheless, surgical masks are excellent at keeping virus particles in.
So, if a Covid-19 sufferer coughs or sneezes while wearing a surgical mask (or even sheds virus particles as they talk), most of these virus particles should remain in the mask, rather than being expelled into the surrounding atmosphere.
Thus the argument goes that if we all wore surgical masks, cross infection would go down dramatically.
This is because there may be many people walking around in public who have Covid-19 but are pre-symptomatic or even asymptomatic, so they look, sound and feel perfectly fine, but may still be shedding the virus. If they had to wear a surgical mask, this could help stop the spread of the virus.
And of course, surgical masks go some way to protect those sharing space with Covid-19 patients, when the patient wears the surgical mask. The mask prevents a significant proportion of virus spread getting out into the surrounding atmosphere.
So surgical masks definitely have their uses. And if we all wore them, along with social distancing and hand washing measures, they would go a long way to keeping us safe.
Wearing of surgical masks by the general public
Several countries encourage the wearing of surgical masks by the population. In Spain, for example, these masks are handed out in public transport stations and even sent to citizens by post.
However, the UK and the US appear to have a serious shortage of surgical masks to be worn by health and social care workers, therefore the Government request is that surgical masks have to be saved for health and social care staff only.
Nevertheless, face masks described as and looking like surgical masks are on sale to the general public, online, and from some local shops, so you may well see many people wearing surgical masks while shopping, working, and travelling on public transport.
Surgical style face masks which can be purchased online
What often happens is that these masks are made in the same way and with the same materials as the surgical masks used in hospitals. They are said to be tested to the standard of 95% Bacteria Filtration, but have, for example, elastic ear fittings rather than tie head fittings. They may also vary in size to those worn by staff in hospitals.
Some of these masks were originally designed to be used by service workers, such as hairdressers and beauticians, in food preparation, and even in delicate manufacturing processes, and a host of other work situations. But now these masks are being made in their millions to be worn as a form of protection during the pandemic.
And now that the rush by sellers to substantially overprice masks for sale has been largely outlawed, these surgical style masks are quite a reasonable purchase – for example, at time of writing you can purchase a box of 50 for around £10 on eBay or Amazon. So they are still more expensive than they were before the pandemic, but obtainable by many nevertheless, especially to share between friends, family and work colleagues.
Surgical style mask with elastic ear loops for sale online
You may also see some healthcare workers wearing this type of surgical mask, especially in social care, where lack of PPE has left visiting care workers and care home managers having to purchase their own protective wear.
The UK Government's recommendation is to discourage the wearing of surgical masks by the general public and to encourage the wearing of 'cloth face covers' which I'll discuss more in a later part of this study. But, like other examples of limited Government knowledge, the actual characterisation of what exactly is a surgical mask, compared with the cheaper version purchased online, has left some confusion.
Suffice to say that many of the UK public are wearing these 'surgical mask' type face masks and will most probably continue to do so, because they do provide a reasonably effective, recognisable, and relatively comfortable answer to the growing need to wear a face mask.
In the next post, I will be talking about the masks designed to keep us safe as individuals as well as prevent the spread of the virus.
British Politics, Coronavirus, Face Masks, Politics
Shopping wearing face masks in Germany – The Local de
When we all saw that a dangerous epidemic was happening in Wuhan, China, many of us feared that the Coronavirus would go worldwide and with dreadful consequences.
Sadly, not only were we correct, but the spread of the virus (now called Covid-19) was much faster and frightening than we had even imagined.
So when, in February, the UK Government was still telling its citizens that this country was low/moderate risk from Covid-19, some of us did our own research, because we knew by then that our Government would be unable to protect us.
We watched the spread of the virus in Wuhan and in China as a whole, and we watched the way the authorities fought to control it.
We watched as South Korea appeared to be on the verge of a total catastrophe from the virus, but then pulled back from the brink with excellent tracking, tracing and isolation measures.
Then we saw the virus enter Northern Italy and the truly dreadful suffering and death which entailed. We watched Italian health workers as they begged us to learn from their suffering before it was too late for us.
Well we, as a population, did learn, but sadly our Government did not.
And the people of the UK suffered terrible losses of loved ones as a result.
Face Masks at last:
'Should you wear a face mask' – Lincolnshire Live
Another thing our Government failed to learn about was the use of face masks.
In almost every country that the virus had entered, citizens took to wearing face masks for protection when they had to go out.
And, as the spread of the virus eased in different countries, face masks were used as part of a regime of safety measures for coming out of lockdown.
But our government still insisted that face masks were unnecessary and stated that in some cases they were dangerous.
Even when the WHO advised that face masks were a recommended part of ending lockdown, and when the (at first very reluctant) US Government told citizens they should be using face masks, most members of our UK Government ignored the whole thing or mumbled in a disgruntled and confused fashion about 'face coverings' as if the term 'face mask' was forbidden.
But then it finally hit the Government that the reluctance of many British people to go out after lockdown was because they were afraid of doing so, despite (or perhaps because of) all the insincere assurances from Government spokespersons that things were getting a lot better.
And who could blame people for being afraid and not listening to Government assurances, when evidence showed that the UK had such a dreadfully high death count from Covid-19 and one which was totally in opposition to the 'moderate' risk they had been assured of a few weeks earlier by those same Government spokespersons.
So finally the UK Government gave in (and as is now customary they gave in much later than necessary) and advised that 'face covering' should be used on public transport, in hospitals, and in other public spaces where it was difficult to social distance.
Masks on public transport – Business Insider
And many UK citizens were left in confusion. From being told that face masks were unnecessary or even dangerous, they now had to find a suitable 'face covering' for upcoming hospital visits, for catching the bus to work, etc.
The result is that a large number of people living in the UK, who never thought they would have to wear a face mask, now either resent this new 'advice', or fear it, or are simply confused because they don't know where to begin, how to find something suitable, or simply what the hell the term 'face covering' actually means.
How to find out more:
Well, there is a lot of help out there:
There are Facebook groups with members offering to make masks for others.
There are loads of articles about face masks and the different types and how they work.
There are hundreds of YouTube videos showing you how to make a face mask.
And for those who can afford to buy a face mask or two, there are sellers on Amazon, eBay, Etsy, etc, selling all types of face masks at often very reasonable prices.
But perhaps that is all too much at once?
Since early March, I've been researching the making and wearing of face masks.
I've looked at all the different types of mask; at the range of materials used; at different types of filters; at mask fitting; at how to wear a mask and remove a mask; and loads more.
So I've decided to put all this together in a series of posts.
There is quite a lot of typing, but I'll add plenty of pictures too 🙂
Facemasks in public – Express and Star
If I can help someone make some choices about face masks and wearing them, then I'm happy.
And all that information accumulated since March had to come out somewhere after all 🙂
The next piece will be on types of face mask and I'll post it soon.
Posted by Silvi Veale in British Politics, General Election, Labour Party, Politics, Uncategorized
Blogging, British Politics, General Election, Labour Party, Politics, Search engines, SEO, Social Media, Social Networking, The Labour Party
UK Labour Needs To Use More Search Engine Optimisation Skills
Labour Summer of Smears – Another Angry Voice. See link at end of article
Newspapers are losing sales and TV channels are losing credibility (not fast enough though, it has to be said).
So where do most voters turn to now when they want to find out about a political party?
They go online.
They may go to Facebook and Twitter, maybe Instagram too. But many do not.
They simply put a search term into Google (or occasionally Bing) and look at the results that turn up.
But the Labour Party is missing out in the search engines.
When I search Google for 'Labour Policies', I get the Labour Party 'Where we stand', followed by 'Manifesto'.
But, underneath those and still, on the Google front page, I then find:
"Investors fear Labour policies ahead of the election" – Financial times
"What Labour and Conservative policies really mean for immigration" – The Times
"What Jeremy Corbyn's tax plan means for you and what you'll pay" – The Telegraph
And you can imagine the anti-Labour spin in those above three articles alone…
Next I get the Google 'question box' with:
"What does the Labour party believe in?"
And a link going to a Wikipedia article by the Australian Labor Party!
Give me strength! 🙄
Google Page 2:
"Labour Party latest news, pictures, policies and campaigns …" – The Daily Express…
"What is Labour's Brexit plan?" – BBC News asks its usual question even though it knows the answer full well.
Okay, then there's an article from the Guardian (?) and one from Labour List.
We also get: "Labour for a Green New Deal—Policy" – but the page hasn't been updated since conference…
And that's it for anything really positive about Labour Policy and those links are between other non-positive links. And we are at the end of the 2nd page.
Most people don't search any further than that…
Now at this point, some may say "well what can you expect – search engines are biased".
And I would say, Wake up!
Search engines are biased towards making money. That means selling advertising spots.
They are not going to be able to do that if their searches are seen to be skewed. Because if that is the case, people won't use them and advertisers will go elsewhere.
(I'm not saying that there are no problems with the large search engines – there obviously are. But that would take a whole other article and we need to put that aside and get some positive posts on Labour UK up the top of the search engines now!).
Now, I'm old school SEO (search engine optimisation). I learned SEO in the late 90s and carried on learning and using it in the noughties.
I know how to get a post to the top of the search engines using keywords, links and trusted sites.
But I haven't the up-to-date knowledge, the time (and certainly not the money) to learn how to counter bot impressions on such a large scale as employed by some political parties.
I also do not have access to making headway on 'trusted sites' in the political category – Large print newspapers, well-known magazines, etc.
But I'm sure that there must be a whole load of talented people in the Labour Party who could work on this.
So this is a plea:
PLEASE, to help UK Labour:
If you haven't got one already, set up a blog (wordpress.com would be a good start, or blogger, or open a free Medium account)
Start writing positive articles on UK Labour using great keywords and keep on doing so.
Share all your positive posts all over social media.
Share links with other UK Labour writers and share their posts too.
Comment on any Labour positive post.
Share articles from Labour-positive Newspapers and write about them too.
This is not about brilliant writing – SEO isn't about that (sadly).
It's just about getting good, hopeful, positive, voteable articles about UK Labour all over the front pages of the search engines.
And here's another plea:
If you are up-to-date on SEO and have the resources to help.
Please get in touch with Labour or Momentum and offer your services.
This is from me. I'm in no way speaking for UK Labour or Momentum, but I'm pretty sure they'd appreciate the offer.
Labour is Missing Out in the Search Engines. But it doesn't have to be this way.
So please do what you can to change this quickly!
The Image used at the beginning of this post is from:
How many of these Labour Party policies did you actually hear about this summer?
Things are even worse now in the run up to the 12th December 2019 General Election.
The article, by Another Angry Voice, is correct and excellent, but I'm sure that the writer would prefer not to have to write a similar one after December this year.
27 Friday Sep 2019
Posted by Silvi Veale in Brexit, British Politics, General Election, Jeremy Corbyn, Labour Party, Politics, Socialism
Brexit, British Politics, Labour Party, Politics, Socialism
The EU Referendum of 2016 was an event which changed politics in the UK forever. And one of the changes which took place was that many of the people who voted in the Referendum were not regular voters. In fact, it appears that a significant proportion of referendum voters were voting for the first time.
And many of those 'not very often' or first time voters voted Leave.
After years, in some cases, of feeling that there was no point in voting, because: 'it didn't matter; they would be shafted whoever they voted for', for many people the Referendum, appears to have been a means of expressing their disgust with what they saw as 'the self-serving political establishment'.
The morning that the result became clear, many Leave voters were jubilant that at last it seemed that their vote had actually achieved something, and that was 'one in the eye for the establishment'.
And it's not surprising that they felt this way.
The Effect of Austerity:
After years of suffering the effects of cruel austerity measures and of having their cries for help seemingly ignored, people were then told by the Remain Campaign, without a trace of irony, that they 'must' vote Remain 'for their own sakes'.
This message was pushed by 'establishment' figures, including Prime Minister, ex-Etonian Cameron. And was then pressed home by none less than the President of the US, arriving in the UK it seemed, just to tell us all that we must vote Remain 'for the good of our country'.
Now, this would have been all well and good, if people had been feeling happy and secure in their daily lives and wanting to preserve that situation, but many people were not (and are still not) feeling happy or secure. So, they had every right to ask themselves what did they have to lose?
The 'Immigration' debate:
At this point you could argue that people's fears and unhappiness was stoked up more by Farage, with his racist and thoroughly misleading message on immigration, and tales of the 'corruption of the EU'. Setting these Farage-defined 'issues' side by side as an 'other' which 'the Brits' needed to repel.
Farage certainly gave many unhappy people a mythical range of scapegoats to blame. And he was definitely aided and abetted by the mass media in getting his divisive message across.
I am certain that the encouragement of Farage and his disgusting message led to the overt racism and violence that now threatens the very core of our society (and that's even before you count all the dangerous rhetoric spewing from the mouth of our current PM and some who support him).
And back in 2016, as a 7/10 Remainer (sometimes 5.5 out of 10), what made me decide to vote Remain and even be very upset on the day that Leave won, was that at the time it appeared to me that much of the Leave vote was based upon reactions to messages filled with racism and bigotry. I could not be a part of that. I also feared that the result would be seen by the racists and bigots almost as 'justification' for their prejudice. And on this latter point I think I was proved correct.
However, with the experience of three years of ever more heated discussion on Brexit, while more and more families sink into poverty, ever more people are homeless, and while our NHS and welfare services are being run down ever more swiftly, I do understand why many ordinary people who are not racist or bigots voted Leave.
I think it was in the hope of political change: and even if that change wasn't perfect, at least it would send a clear message that people had had enough of politicians not taking their needs seriously.
So, from being someone who calls herself 'a Remainer', I have come to the viewpoint that we really do need to take seriously those who voted to Leave the EU. Because:
1: Not to do so would be dangerous – the longer this Brexit shambles has gone on, the more angry and frustrated people have become. Okay, we should never give in to threats or fears of violence by extremists who want to force their views upon others. But the Referendum campaign and the following years have allowed the rise of a violent minority of extreme right wingers, who like nothing better than to build a mob (in the old days they would have been handing out pitchforks to villagers). They have sensed victory (however fleeting). Revoking Article 50 (as the LibDems and some other Remainers want to happen) would give these thugs perceived 'justification' to stir up violent protest. and that would be a protest where anyone who doesn't fit their warped views on 'Britishness' and 'Patriotism' would certainly not be safe.
2: To ignore Leave voters would be the death knell of any hope of involving ordinary people in politics. Our representive democratic system is not perfect by any means. It is skewed towards supporting the priviledged, purely because it operates within a class-riven society. But, if used correctly (rather than being 'played' as it is at the moment by Boris Johnson), it is a way for ordinary people to at least get a say in how the country is run. If people who voted only occasionally, but voted in the Referendum, feel that even when they 'win' they will be ignored, how can the UK ever again even try to hold itself up as 'a pillar of democracy'. And with complete distrust in democracy, on the one hand we have people feeling they are considered worthless by the leaders of the society they live in (and that will include distrust of the political left as well as the right); and worst case scenario, we could then drift into situation 1.
On the democracy note: yes, I know that the Leave campaign cheated big time with the message they put across (and possibly the funds they used to do it). But people don't want you telling them that they 'fell for cheats'. How patronising and short-sighted is that?
It's my belief that whatever the cheating, whatever the messages from both sides, many of those who voted Leave didn't care about any of that. If you believe that the political system is skewed against you anyway, you will not be surprised if there is cheating. You are more likely to shrug your shoulders and move on to think about what matters to you and your family. For many who voted Leave, their vote was an angry cry for help – or at least to be acknowledged.
And to ignore that cry now would not only be wrong; it would be 'proving' that those ordinary people were correct – the political establishment really doesn't give a sh*t about them.
Now, I'm a member of the Labour Party. Like most things in life, it's not perfect. But I truly believe that most Labour members and politicians do care about ordinary people (however much that message gets lost now and again with infighting among different party factions). They want to help those who are struggling and they want to achieve a fairer society for the many, not the rich and greedy few. And that society will listen to everyone – not just those who were educated at Eton.
So by that philosophy, Labour has to be the party that listens to Leavers and Remainers. It cannot ignore what still seems like half of the population.
I've come a long way in my views since June 2016. I'm still a Remainer (Remain and reform though, at the very least), but I do believe it is correct for Jeremy Corbyn to argue that if Labour wins the next General Election, he and his Brexit team will do their best to negotiate a good deal with the EU, and then that deal will be put to the people alongside the Remain option.
Like several points I've mentioned here, Labour's Brexit strategy is not a perfect solution, but it's one which, having acknowledged the god-awful mess that the Tories have got us into with their incompetent Brexit negotiations, is the only sensible option left. And it's the only hope of bringing this fractured country together and fending off the rise and further influence of right-wing extremists.
And when all put together like that, Labour's Brexit policy seems pretty damn reasonable!
Posted by Silvi Veale in British Politics, General Election, Politics
Politics, Tories
Will June 8th be May's Titanic Moment?
The Titanic was described as incredibly STRONG, with gigantic steel plates and a hull made of wrought iron and over 1k tons of rivets.
The Titanic was designed to be STABLE so that passengers would feel they were sailing in 'the most sumptuous palace afloat'.
When the Titanic hit an iceberg, the wrought iron's inability to stretch caused the hull to shatter into pieces.
And the rivets were not up to standard for the steel plates and gave way.
As for stability, the Titanic had a tendency to heel to port and allowance had not been made for the excessive roll caused by flooding of watertight areas on impact and thus rapid flooding of the starboard side.
The Titanic sunk for several reasons, but the designers' assertion that its strength and stability made it unsinkable may well have led to less than adequate planning for an impact.
The result was chaos and catastrophe…
The passengers on the Titanic required more than promises that it was STRONG and STABLE.
Just like UK citizens require more than shallow words and empty promises.
Don't vote for empty rhetoric and policies which will only shatter and leave the country and its people sunk in the dregs.
Don't vote for the Tories!
http://www.thomas-hardye.dorset.sch.uk/documents/students_work/titanic_essay_rebecca.pdf
http://marconigraph.com/titanic/fire/fire2.html
Posted by Silvi Veale in British Politics, Jeremy Corbyn, Labour Party, NHS, Politics
British Politics, Jeremy Corbyn, NHS, NHS Crisis, Tories
May 2015 seems an awful long way away now, so much has happened.
But I remember making a blog post near the General Election saying that, despite some misgivings on some of the policies put forward by the Labour Party that year (and set out on that terrible 'headstone'…), I would be voting Labour with one main objective in mind – to Save Our NHS.
I truly feared for our NHS under a Tory government and I just couldn't understand why so many people couldn't see this too.
Well, my fears about the Tories have come true – they are deliberately dismantling our NHS and allowing it to fail.
I would guess that their solution would be to sell it all off (or give it away as they have done recently) to private investors, while assuring us that this will be best for us and 'the only way', and that plans will be set up so that we can all get private insurance…
So I have to agree with Devutopia here:
And I could just say 'I told you so' at this point, to all those Tory voters (or those whose votes split the left of centre vote) who are now complaining about not being able to see a GP or about ever longer waiting lists and waits at A&E.
But that would be pointless and would solve nothing.
Especially when the Labour Party, of late, has been struggling within itself rather than getting on and opposing the Tories and UKIP and exposing them for the parasites they are at every opportunity.
Now I'm a member of the Labour Party (and have been since summer 2015) and I am looking to my party to hold this government to account – to show the public the Tory lies and to offer us all a solution that will not involve further privatisation (in fact, ideally the only way this will work is if the whole lot comes back completely into public ownership).
And I'm looking for everyone in the Labour Party to get over their back stabbing and petty squabbles and to concentrate on doing something which is absolutely vital for all of us – that the Labour Party as a whole gets together and fights with everything its got to save our Free and public NHS.
I know it won't be easy. I would be a fool if I didn't realise that the establishment in general will do everything it can to belittle and denigrate Labour now that it has a true democratic socialist as leader.
But Labour brought us the NHS and Labour needs to be getting this across at every opportunity and demonstrating that they have real solutions and alternatives for Tory deliberate mismanagement.
So, I guess this is not so much sad remembrance of why this is happening now and why we have a true Humanitarian #NHSCrisis, but a plea to everyone in the Labour Party – left, centre and right (and all bits in between) to come together for the sake of Our NHS.
Because if Labour cannot do this then there really is no hope for any of us.
Posted by Silvi Veale in British Politics, Jeremy Corbyn, Labour Party, Politics
British Politics, Labour Party, Snoopers Charter
Mass surveillance came in under the Tories, with 'state of the art' CCTV footage on the streets, but it was embraced with open arms under Blair and strengthened after 9/11, when the US 'anti-terrorism policies' led to snooping on a grand scale. It was like Blair's Government not only watched with envy, but attempted to do even better with their surveillance on British citizens.
Today, and even after local authority cuts, I believe that the UK is still covered with more CCTV cameras than anywhere else in the World. They can track our every move. And even when the cameras are unavailable, the GPS on our mobiles does the job for them.
Mass surveillance is something that you imagine a totalitarian right wing government subscribing to, but that isn't necessarily so.
The authoritarian nature of government in the Blair years was one of the reasons I, as a socialist, felt increasingly disenfranchised.
A PM who insists on taking the country to war, despite huge public outcry and strong evidence contrary to the reasons for the war in the first place, affirmed my misgivings.
Couple this with the strengthening (rather than abolition) of Thatcher's trade union laws and the post-9/11 strengthening of the forces of the state against public assemblies, together with the loss of clause 4, plus the many measures put in place to tell families what to do, rather than actually helping them, and it seemed to me that Blair's government was in no way supporting working class people and their rights to speak out and organise against injustice. Rather, it was seeking to control them.
To me, it seemed that a government that insisted on controlling the very class who historically supported them was not to be trusted to support their voters when it came to fair treatment in the workplace, or when it came to peaceful protests of any description.
But the 'importance of surveillance' argument carried on, and there were further discussions on how to 'control' information on the internet (always given as 'ways to ensure public/family safety').
I believe it was during Brown's short premiership that laptops were given to poor families so that they too could have access to the world-wide web. These were the laptops given to school children whose parents were on a low-income and, on the surface, it seemed like a great idea. However, these laptops came with many blocks to places you were not 'allowed' to browse (not just 'adult' sites – many students were unable to access sites they needed to complete their homework and their parents couldn't use these laptops to pay a bill, or visit their bank account, and FB and Twitter were definitely out).
Savvy parents found an 'IT friend' to help them permanently delete the blocking software; others simply threw the laptop away, or sold it on eBay to another unlucky customer.
This was a short-lived and not very successful attempt to control internet access under the guise of 'safety', but, some might say that suspicions about the ideas behind the 'free laptops' may have been correct….
And, although by now more and more people were getting worried about the implications of mass surveillance and the way it could be used against ordinary people, this implication that 'we need strong surveillance for our own security and safety' has prevailed as the overriding argument to oppose anyone who objects.
And even today, if anyone raises their head above the parapet and complains about increases in surveillance, they are likely to be met with the argument: 'if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to worry about', and if you go on complaining, you can be made to feel like 'the enemy' – 'what have you got to hide then?' is likely to be the (sometimes unsaid) question. So many prefer not to complain at all.
Of course, the Tory Government, returned in 2010, was never going to cut back on mass surveillance, despite some 'libertarian' claims from a few in their midst. No, what the Tories had (in coalition and now on their own) was a ready-made system of population control, backed up with laws passed and experiments already undertaken.
It fitted right in to their plans to make things even harder for the majority, with new bills on trade unions to control them completely, and with legislation they could put in place in case of mass public protest.
But what the present government still struggles with is control of information via the internet. They can certainly try to monitor individuals and group suspects, but when they carry out legislation that will leave most of the population extremely angry, they face the prospect that all these people could be suspects! And it is not that easy to monitor everyone!
So, on 7th June 'the Snoopers charter' was placed before Parliament…
This is a description of the bill by The Canary:
'On 7 June a bill passed in parliament that threatens the fundamental rights of everyone in the UK. But it seems that only around 25% of the population is aware of its existence, giving MPs the opportunity to take an axe to our autonomy largely without our knowledge.
'The Investigatory Powers (IP) bill, more commonly known as the Snoopers Charter, passed through its latest stage in the commons by 444 to 69 votes.
'Privacy is indeed at the heart of the IP bill, but it will destroy privacy rather than protect it. It is designed to secure immense surveillance powers for the UK's security services, and other public bodies. The proposals include allowing bulk interception of communications, bulk collection of communications data – meaning 'metadata' which is essentially the data about data – and bulk equipment interference – aka hacking.
'Indeed, 'bulk' gathering of information seems to be a major point of the IP bill. As Bella Sankey, Director of Policy for Liberty, explains:
This Bill would create a detailed profile on each of us which could be made available to hundreds of organisations to speculatively trawl and analyse. It will all but end online privacy, put our personal security at risk and swamp law enforcement with swathes of useless information.
'As The Intercept has recently reported, even the UK spies themselves have warned that collecting too much information is dangerous. The publication released a secret report from the UK's security service, which stated that MI5:
can currently collect (whether itself or through partners …) significantly more than it is able to exploit fully… This creates a real risk of 'intelligence failure' i.e. from the Service being unable to access potentially life-saving intelligence from data that it has already collected.
'The IP bill aims to put these deficient data practices on a statutory footing, to legitimise them. But many argue that targeting specific communications, rather than scooping up information on everyone, is a better way to fight crime. It would also ensure that most individuals retain the liberties afforded to them under multiple human rights conventions.'
See the full article by the Canary here.
Now, you may think that Labour Members of Parliament would oppose this bill. It is not only extremely flawed, it also attacks our human rights on several levels.
And after all, isn't the Labour Party opposing the Tories' attempts to change our access to human rights, by opposing the extremely suspect Tory-proposed 'British Bill of Rights'?
But of course, you only have to look back at the recent history of the Labour Party to realise that this wouldn't necessarily be the case…
However, under the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn, with his strong belief in human rights, I was hoping that there would at least have been a virulent opposition to 'the snooper's charter' and a good debate among Labour MPs about whether or not to support it.
But this didn't appear to be the case…
Three parties did vote against the bill: the SNP, the Green party and the Liberal Democrats.
But many Labour MPs appeared reasonably happy to vote for the bill as long as concessions were made, including 'a privacy clause' and protection for trade unions from being targetted. They also received assurance that there would be a 'double lock' on warrant approvals.
However, they did not challenge the 'mass surveillance' part of the bill, and yet that is at the bill's core.
Knowing the history of recent mass surveillance in the UK and the strong support from recent Labour Governments for this, although I am dismayed to learn that Labour MPs allowed this bill to pass 'in principle', I am sadly not surprised.
Now, I know that the Labour Party are deeply involved in getting a 'Remain' vote right now in the EU referendum, but that can be no excuse for taking their eye off the ball with this bill.
It is draconian. It will be used to target individuals, even if trade unions are considered 'safe', and it will be used to target protest groups and protest posts.
And that's not even to mention the way that mass surveillance of the UK population, once a shady business or the work of commercial search engine 'algorithms' with 'privacy clauses', is now being legitimised for state use.
Surely, as a Corbyn supporter I should be dismayed, not to mention disappointed….?
Posted by Silvi Veale in British Politics, Jeremy Corbyn, NHS
British Politics, Junior Doctors, NHS, Nurses Bursaries
It was good to see that Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell gave their full support to the Junior Doctors' Strike last Tuesday. Not only was this the first time in my memory that a Labour Leader and Labour Shadow Chancellor had openly and unequivocally supported a strike, but it was, without doubt, the correct thing to do.
The fight by Junior Doctors for fair treatment at work and by nurses and all NHS workers to retain their bursaries is not only their fight; it is ours too.
Of course, this is about wages, and working hours, and payment for training, but it is also very much about patient safety. And at the heart of the struggle is the fight for something we all hold dear: our Free National Health Service.
Without doctors and nurses we would not have a health service, and without the hard work and dedication of doctors, nurses, and all health support workers and practitioners, our NHS would certainly not be free.
And the issue of 'free' is important when we look at the creeping privatisation of our NHS and how it affects not only doctors and nurses, but all of us.
The NHS Privatisation plan:
There are 3 main factors to this:
Soon there will no longer be a 'national' health service.
This has already happened in Manchester, and very soon we will have 'regional health services' all over the UK, with NHS funding subsumed within local authority funding. And we all know what has happened to local authority funding…it has been cut, and cut again!
The Private Finance Initiative or 'PFI':
Since 1992, most large scale public capital investment in the UK has used PFI procurement, whereby a consortium of investment banks, builders, and service contractors raises the finance, and designs, builds, and operates the facilities for the public authority through a project company
Now on the surface, this sounds good – after all, it appears that nothing has been sold off and that the private sector is contributing to the NHS.
But that of course is not the case….
Through the PFI scheme private companies have built NHS hospitals and leased them back to the NHS. They also run support services as part of these contracts. This has of course been highly profitable for the companies involved, otherwise the scheme would not have worked, but it is now becoming crystal clear that the PFI model offers very poor value and is, in fact, draining our NHS of desperately-needed funds.
A number of NHS hospitals are struggling to cope with the cost of meeting their PFI debts. South London Healthcare Trust was the first to be put into administration after being put on a growing list of trusts burdened with PFI debt.
In the early 1990s, hospitals paid no charge on their land, buildings and assets, but today many PFI-run hospitals are paying a substantial percentage to PFI investers just to keep going. And the percentage they pay is rising all the time. At the moment, when new government money is injected into the NHS, most of it goes directly to private investors because of PFI.
We are told that we can no longer afford to pay for universal healthcare, but that simply wouldn't be true, if only we stopped using NHS funds to pay back the banks and other financiers who control the PFIs.
The Five Year Forward View:
On 1st April 2014, NHS England's new chief executive, Simon Stevens, laid out his plans for the NHS, and on the surface they sounded positive enough. For example, he talked about:
"Unleashing the passion and drive of the million plus frontline NHS staff who are devoting their professional lives to caring."
The problem was, that Stevens had a different idea of how to 'unleash that passion' than most users of the NHS would have wanted to hear.
By October, 2014, Stevens had published his '5 Year forward Plan'; a 39-page report which sets out ways the NHS in England needs to change over the next five years to ensure (and I quote) "it remains affordable in the face of increasing demand and finance pressures."
On the surface, this 'plan' was welcomed by members of the NHS, as it outlined a way of dealing with patient care to fit a more modern age.
However, it has now become apparent that the '5 year forward plan' was based more on business strategy than on patient need (In fact, when talking about his plan, Stevens described it as 'NHS England's Business plan', first and foremost).
One of Steven's most controversial measures is the call for more 'super hospitals', which are, no doubt, more cost-effective in a business sense, but are in actual fact dangerous for some patients living in rural areas, whose access to hospital emergency care and follow-on care will be severely restricted (especially when we take note of cuts to our ambulance services).
But that's just one example of the problems with this '5 year plan'.
The main problem is that it has been designed with profitabilty in mind, rather than patient need.
Now, when you combine these 3 strategies – Devolution, Privatisation, and the '5 year forward plan', you begin to see how much our Free and Public National Health Service is being put under pressure and is already being privatised.
Add to that the 'profitability factor', so beloved by PFI investers and by Stevens, and you see where the perceived need to change Junior Doctors' contracts and to end Nurse's Bursaries come in. Wages and personel costs being a huge part of the cost of any large 'enterprise', something has to be done about them to make them more 'affordable' for private investors.
The present scheme of work and pay for Junior doctors is not profitable enough when considered as part of a business plan for investors, and neither of course are bursaries for training NHS staff.
When you take all these things together, it becomes clear that our NHS is not only under threat of privatisation; it is already being privatised.
And this is why it is so important that we all support the junior doctors, student nurses, and in fact all NHS and health care workers.
We may not have access to the boardrooms of private companies, or be able to take part in meetings of private investment consortiums. But we can sure as hell let this government know that we know what they are doing, and that we intend to make them stop doing it!
So, we need to support our Junior Doctors and we need to support our Student Nurses and all NHS workers hoping to train within a free NHS.
Their fight is a fight that all workers and students are having to make – for fair treatment at work; for a living wage; and for free education.
If we as workers let Jeremy Hunt force the junior doctors to sign up to a new contract, how can we expect this Government to be fair to us when we call for decent wages and safe working conditions?
If we as students let this government force all health care workers to pay for their training, we are effectively saying that it is okay to pay for education, and we are therefore giving up the right to call for an end to student loans and for the right to free education for all.
And, if we, as users of the NHS, do not support Junior Doctors and Student Nurses in their fight for fair treatment by Mr Hunt, we are effectively saying "It's okay Mr Hunt – you go ahead and make their services more profitable to the private sector." And by doing that we would be giving up our right to demand that our NHS is saved from privatisation.
So we must support our junior doctors, our student nurses and all of our NHS workers.
And as for the Tories, we need to tell them in no uncertain terms "get your thieving hands off of our Free and National Health Service!"


text:
News > Latest Poker News > Jason Somerville Partners with PokerStars for Run It Up Twitch Studio Venture
June 22, 2018 Latest Poker News
Jason Somerville Partners with PokerStars for Run It Up Twitch Studio Venture
Jason Somerville and PokerStars have joined forces to help build-up poker's presence on the popular live streaming channel Twitch.
Jason Somerville will go live with a host of new Run It Up content from a dedicated studio in Las Vegas. (Image: PokerStars)
As detailed in a June 14 press release, Jason Somerville's Run It Up brand has partnered with the online poker site to launch a new studio in Las Vegas. Dubbed Run It Up Studios, the facility will not only give Somerville a place to host his stream but allow creative types to develop live and video content.
"We are eager to grow the game of poker by reaching more fans, more regularly, and with superior poker programming," Somerville said in the June 14 press release.
Poker Content Goes Digital
While fans of the poker pro will be eager to see how the streams look in the new studio, Somerville wants it to become a hub for programmers of all types. A combination of live tournament content has already been planned, but "small-scale independent" broadcasters are also going to create bespoke content for the Run It Up Twitch channel.
Interestingly, the new project could become a direct competitor to Poker Central's PokerGo streaming platform. Launched in April 2018, the PokerGo studio is a 10,000 square foot purpose-built studio inside ARIA Resort & Casino.
To boost the appeal of the subscription-only streaming service, PokerGo has become the home of popular shows such as Poker After Dark. Additionally, a number of World Series of Poker (WSOP) events have been screened on PokerGo this summer.
Crossing Content Streams
Although Somerville's Twitch channel will offer a slightly different style of programming, the project as a whole is indicative of the direction poker and gaming content is moving. In addition to PokerGo and Run It Up, the Luxor unveiled the new Esports Arena Las Vegas in April.
Featuring a 50-foot-high LED video wall, a competition stage and 30,000 square feet of multilevel seating, the arena is the city's first dedicated venue for eSports. By opening a new studio, Somerville and PokerStars will be hoping to tap into this emerging gaming culture in Sin City.
"Twitch Poker is an exciting new platform for poker innovation and community-building," said vice president of corporate communications of The Stars Group, Eric Hollreiser.
With more than 100 million active monthly users, Twitch is the largest live streaming platform in the world. This makes it a potentially lucrative resource for poker operators across the industry.
By creating dedicated studios, the likes of Run It Up should be able to produce professional-quality content which, in turn, could draw bigger audiences. If major brands can do this successfully, it could help bring more players into the game and benefit the industry as a whole.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Q: Which of the following sentence sounds more professional Can you help me in choosing a sentence that is most professional in technology

*

*The lamp went out.

*The lamp died.

*The lamp was not working.

*The lamp was out of order.

*The lamp burned out.

Thank you for you help

A:
The lamp went out - seems okay. Especially in the context of 'light', 'go out' means light goes out making it dark.  The lamp died - seems okay. However, it's more used when machines stops working.  The lamp wasn't working - okay and natural  The lamp was out of order - okay. However, more frequently used for devices and machines  The lamp burned out - okay but used more when we mean to say that something has stopped burning because of lack of fuel.

My personal choice:
Option 3 if you mean 'lamp' like this.
Option 5 if your lamp is like this.
Note: Third and fourth option would mean that the event of lamp fusing out had already happened. On the other hand, rest of the options may mean the action happened as you noticed. It all depends on the context.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
//
//  FRDateActionSheet.h
//
//  Created by Jonathan Dalrymple on 09/11/2013.
//
#import <UIKit/UIKit.h>

#import "FRActionSheet.h"

@class FRDateActionSheet;

typedef void(^FRDateActionSheetHandlerBlock)(FRDateActionSheet *sheet, NSDate *date);

const static NSInteger FRDateActionSheetMonthMode = 128;

@interface FRDateActionSheet : FRActionSheet

/**
 *  @param Sheet title text
 *  @param startDate
 *  @param endDate
 *  @param datePickerMode
 *  @param aBlock
 */
- (id)initWithTitle:(NSString *)aString
        minimumDate:(NSDate *)startDate
        maximumDate:(NSDate *)endDate
     datePickerMode:(NSInteger)mode
            handler:(FRDateActionSheetHandlerBlock)aBlock;

/**
 *  @param Sheet title text
 *  @param startDate
 *  @param endDate
 *  @param defaultDate
 *  @param datePickerMode
 *  @param aBlock
 */
- (id)initWithTitle:(NSString *)aString
        minimumDate:(NSDate *)startDate
        maximumDate:(NSDate *)endDate
        defaultDate:(NSDate *)aDate
     datePickerMode:(NSInteger)mode
            handler:(FRDateActionSheetHandlerBlock)aBlock;

@end

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Kuwait Set to Announce Super Hornet Deal
by Jason Hyatt May 9, 2015
Employees of Boeing Defense in the St. Louis Super Hornet/Growler production facility, as well as employees involved in helping manufacture F/A-18E/F components across the country, are breathing a collective sigh of relief. News just hit of an impending announcement that Kuwait will purchase 28 Super Hornets in a deal that could fetch just north of three billion U.S. dollars.
The Kuwaiti Air Force's aging Legacy Hornet fleet is due for an upgrade, and the deal could potentially keep the production line open in St. Louis beyond 2017. The Kuwaiti government has already signed a formal letter stating their firm plans to order the new aircraft. Unless the U.S. government blocks the deal, it appears as good as done once plans are finalized between the two countries.
The deal, coupled with moves by lawmakers to approve an additional 12 Super Hornets for the U.S. Navy, would keep production lines open for an additional two years beyond the original scheduled shut down in 2017.
Boeing Super Hornet test pilot Ricardo Traven practices an airshow routine
Coming from the world of military contract work, I know all too well how much this means to the folks putting these aircraft together. More importantly, I understand what relief it must be for their families having grown up in such a perilous environment–always on edge when new contracts were waiting finalization.
Military contract work is a tremendous source of income and a great opportunity for people seeking to enter the world of aviation or further their careers in it, but when you near the end of a given contract, tensions for employees are ratcheted up quite a few notches. There is never a guarantee that original production numbers will stay firm, let alone the hopes of winning another contract to maintain employment.
Potential orders from Denmark, Malaysia, Canada, and Belgium may also extend the life of the St. Louis production line. Denmark's decision on what direction they want to go is expected in late 2015 with other nations thereafter.
Boeing's main competition for orders from Denmark, Belgium, and Canada comes from Lockheed-Martin f-35 with the F-35 Lightning II. Timeline slips and cost overruns in the F-35 program have reopened the competition and given Boeing a puncher's chance at winning the business.
Only time will tell, but the future looks a lot brighter this week than it did last week–a scene all too familiar in this line of work.
Boeing: The End Of Building Fighters?
Fighter Jet Sales Approved for Middle East Countries
Strike Fighter Shortfall: Are More Super Hornets The Answer?
Hornet, then Super Hornet… now Super Duper hornet? Here's the low down on Block III Super Hornet upgrades
Can 'Stealth Aircraft' Evade an F-18 Super Hornet? Not According to Boeing!
Ask A Fighter Pilot: Hornet vs Super Hornet!


With warm weather just around the corner, women everywhere are counting down the days until they can wear summer dresses and show off some serious legs for days. But for some, visible veins are holding them back, and they worry about stepping out in public in shorts, dresses or swimsuits.
As a future cosmetic laser technician, you can offer your clients laser treatments for spider veins and help them regain confidence in their skin!
Anyone who has a passion for health and beauty is capable of becoming a laser tech and learn how to treat spider veins after attending a medical aesthetics course at the National Laser Institute.
In just two weeks, you'll learn how to zap spider veins away, among other aesthetic treatments, in an educational training environment where you will acquire the confidence and skills to become a medical aesthetics provider!
As the medical aesthetics industry continues to grow, businesses are incorporating skin care specialists to provide laser treatments for spider veins and other skin conditions.
Commonly found on the face and legs, spider veins are caused by the expansion of a small group of blood vessels near the skin's surface. Spider veins look like a sunburst or web pattern that looks red, blue or purple. When spider veins occur on the face, they are called telangiectasias and occur due to chronic sun exposure or extreme temperatures.
The laser is applied to the skin over the spider veins.
The light energy is absorbed by the hemoglobin in the blood.
The blood in the spider veins is vaporized.
The vein collapses and is absorbed by the body.
A laser treatment for spider veins is beneficial for veins that are too small to be treated with Sclerotherapy. In order to zap spider veins away, the vein must be smaller than 3-mm in diameter for the procedure to be effective. Laser therapy is an excellent option for treating delicate areas such as the face or people allergic to the injection solution.
During didactic education, you'll learn everything you need to know about how to treat spider veins, including the types of veins that can be treated with lasers. Your instructor will also discuss things like the consultation process, patient care, contraindications as well as potential side effects and how to treat them.
Are you looking for a new and exciting career opportunity in medical aesthetics? Learn how to zap spider veins away during medical aesthetics training for estheticians, cosmetologists and complete career changers.
With over a decade of excellence, the National Laser Institute offers medical aesthetics courses that can be completed in just two weeks. Each course combines didactic education and hands-on clinical training for the ultimate learning experience!
Our Comprehensive Laser Course is the most popular and will prepare you for a career as a cosmetic laser technician. You'll learn how to treat spider veins, as well as other cosmetic procedures like laser hair removal, laser tattoo removal, skin tightening, body contouring (CoolSculpting) and so much more!
Classroom instruction is designed to give you in-depth knowledge of skin care mechanics like how lasers work, clinical applications and laser safety. This will prepare you for clinicals, which takes place in a medical spa environment. You'll have the opportunity to watch comprehensive demonstrations of laser treatments for spider veins, as well as treat real clients that we schedule for you!
By the end of medical aesthetics training, you'll feel comfortable and confident in your newfound skills to zap spider veins away that you will be able to go on and work for a medical spa, physician's office, niche clinic and even fitness centers.
We invite you to check out tens of thousands of National Laser Institute reviews from previous students like Britt L. who attended one of our cosmetic laser courses. You can hear about her training experience in the video below!
For more information on medical aesthetics course options at the National Laser Institute, fill out the form on the right or call 1-800-982-6817 to speak with an admissions advisor.


After having spent months with various pre-release versions of 3.5, though, I'm convinced that The Little Browser That Could remains the best choice for the widest array of folks. That's as much for the virtues that Firefox has possessed for years as for new stuff: Version 3.5′ s improvements are about better speed, useful tweaks to existing features, catchup with other browsers, and early support for emerging Web standards. In other words, the browser sports no knockout new features. But the moves Mozilla has made are smart, and they're more than enough for Firefox to keep pace with its fast-evolving rivals.
After the jump, a look at what's new in rough order of importance.
technologizer browserâ, catchup, Explorerâ, Google, internet explorer 8, mac versions, release versions, review, technologizer, Today. permalink.
Same issue, a resource pig….good is pork.
I use Firefox religiously, but I'm getting kind of upset with Mozilla for not tackling the memory issue that all versions of the program have, including 3.5. Why does a browser have to hog up 350K of memory? The more you use it, the more it hogs up. This happens on 3 different computers. I most likely will switch to Google Chrome or Opera unless Mozilla comes up with a plan to fix the memory usage issue once and for all.
I've been a Firefox fan ever since AOL acquired Netscape and allowed it to die. The ONLY negative is hackers now target the browser due to it's popularity, but Mozilla is usually quick to post updates.
I have downloaded Firefox3.5 and installed it because the previous version kept hogging the CPU up to 100%.
There is plenty of evidence that this happens to a lot of people.
The new version does the same!
I had a problem connecting to the internet with my dial up using explorer on two of my 5 computers. I downloaded Fire Fox 3.1.1 from a friends thumb drive and "wa-la" the internet was at hand. I later switched to High speed internet and Fire Fox worked even better. upgraded a couple of days ago to 3.5 version and like it very well. Great plugins and addon's such as Last.FM radio station on the tool bar plays in the background while FF is on. I'm sold. Nice to shake somewhat free of Microsoft.


The 1 oz White HDPE Plastic Bullet Bottle with White Fine mist Sprayer provides impact resistance with some flexibility. Includes 20/410 PP White Fine Mist Sprayer with Clear PP Overcap and 6" Dip Tube. Dip Tube will need to be cut to fit. When cutting the dip tube, make sure to cut at a 45 degree angle. Sold by the each.


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The Likely Frontrunners To Advance To The College Cup (Final Four) – Second Round Play Begins Sunday
College Soccer News November 19, 2016 Articles
The action heats up Sunday when the second round of the NCAA Tournament unfolds at venues across the country. Anything can happen and the landscape of the tournament may change as there will likely be upsets along the road to the College Cup (Final Four). Solid play on both sides of the ball for a full ninety minutes or more, the ability to adapt to different styles of play, and toughness under pressure are among critical success factors. The frontrunners at this point are listed below.
Maryland – The Terps entered the season with a ton of talent and experience. The 2016 season has established one more time that when Sasho Cirovski only has to plug gaps due to graduation and not early departures you can fear the Turtle.
Add in the fact that transfers sophomore forward Gordon Wild (16g, 5a) and junior midfielder Jake Rozhansky (3g, 8a) have been just what the doctor ordered to help plug the gaps that needed to be filled and you have a formidable team on both sides of the ball. No one is any better than Cirovski, who has taken the Terps to the College Cup seven times and won two national championships, at getting his team prepared this time of the year.
Several things have to fall into place for a Maryland team that is 18-0-2 to date to win it all this year (as well as for everyone else) but right now the only team that can halt the Terps looks to be the Terps.
Clemson – The Tigers advanced to the national championship game last year where they were topped by Stanford in a contest in which they didn't play their best soccer of the year.
Clemson may not be as strong from top to bottom this year or have the marquee players they had last year but they have the talent and the focus not to mention the advantage of the experience they learned along to the road to the championship game last year to make another deep run in the Tourney. Diego Campos (6g, 3a) is the go-to guy on the offensive side of the ball and a solid team oriented defense has allowed a total of only fourteen goals against a very competitive slate of opponents.
The Tigers who are 12-3-5 overall have shown the ability to prevail in the close contests which bodes well for them in the survive and advance environment of the NCAA Tournament. It is noteworthy that Clemson's resume includes impressive wins over Providence, Creighton, Wake Forest, Louisville, Virginia Tech, South Carolina, and Boston College and two ties with Syracuse. Their three losses to date are to North Carolina 1-0 and Charlotte 1-0 in regular season play and Wake Forest in the ACC Tournament.
The Tigers are a talented and balanced team that is very hungry to get back to the title match. Those factors combine to make them a very dangerous opponent.
North Carolina – Count the number nine seeded Tar Heels who are 11-3-3 overall among the teams with what it takes to make a deep run in the NCAA Tourney.
The Tar Heels have a very productive and balanced attack with several excellent finishers including junior forward Zach Wright (5g, 6a). UNC entered the season with big gaps to fill on the defensive side of the ball due to the graduation of backs Jonathan Campbell and Jordan McCrary who were four year starters.
What is often overlooked is the fact that the Tar Heels have been rock solid on the defensive side of the ball allowing a total of only eight goals to date while recording eleven shutouts. The Tar Heels are among the best in the country in team goals against average (0.45) and shutout percentage (0.65). The UNC defense is led by backs Colton Storm, Alex Comsia, and Walker Hume who missed the 2015 season due to injury while James Pyle anchors the defense in goal.
Defense rules this time of the year which is a big plus as well as a necessity for the Tar Heels when they tangle with an attack oriented FGCU team in their opening contest in the Tournament on Sunday.
Indiana – The Hoosiers entered the 2016 season with a rock solid backline led by backs Grant Lillard, Andrew Gutman, Billy McConnell and Derek Creviston and veteran goalkeeper Colin Webb that many consider to be among the best in the country.
The big question mark was whether or not a clutch go-to goal scorer would emerge. All-American midfielder Tanner Thompson who has netted a total of eight goals to date including four game-winners has proved to be the playmaker the Hoosiers needed on the offensive side of the ball.
The Hoosiers who are 11-1-7 overall have the ability to make a run to the College Cup. However, despite the success they have enjoyed this season, the fact that they have seven ties to date is evidence that this is a team with a small margin for error in the NCAA Tournament where a penalty kick shootout determines who advances when teams are tied at the end of regulation and overtime.
The number seven seeded IU will have to play their best soccer of the year in order to make a sustained run beginning with their opening round contest on Sunday against an Akron team that is much better than their record to date indicates.
Charlotte – The number ten seeded 49ers who are 12-3-2 overall belong on the short list of teams with the ingredients to make a run to the College Cup. They are among the most balanced teams in the country with a goals against average of 0,51 which is fourth best in the country and they are finding the back of the net an average of 2.06 times per contest. Few teams have a better work ethic than Charlotte which is a huge plus.
Midfielder Brandt Bronico (8g, 5a) has been at the heart of the 49er attack while a very tenacious defense led by goalkeeper Elliot Panicco and backs Luke Waechter, Matej Dekovic, Sean Bowman, and Callum Montgomery has recorded ten shutouts to date while allowing a total of only nine goals.
The 49ers have won the CUSA regular season title three of the five seasons that Kevin Langan has been the head coach but they were upended 2-1 by New Mexico in the semifinals of the CUSA Tourney this year.
Charlotte begins play in the NCAA Tourney on Sunday when they host a solid Virginia Tech team that they tied 0-0 on the road during regular season play. Virginia Tech is having a breakthrough season which means they are traveling in unchartered waters at this point but they are also playing with house money now which makes them dangerous.
The key to a sustained run by Charlotte is playing a full ninety minutes plus more if needed and taking it one game at a time. If they can do that they will be a very difficult side to beat.
Stanford – The defending national champions began the season with questions regarding how they would respond to the loss of several key players including All-Americans Jordan Morris and Brandon Vincent. They started slowly going 0-1-3 in their first four contests which caused them to lose standing on the national scene. The Cardinal received a wakeup call of sorts when they were upset by San Francisco on the road back on September 23 in a contest in which they came out flat and clearly didn't play to their potential. Since that time Stanford has gelled as a team physically and mentally recording eight wins, sustaining one loss and tying one contest to improve to 11-3-4. This Cardinal team has the talent to win it all led by Foster Langsdorf (12g, 2a) and playmaker Corey Baird (3g, 6a) on the offense side of the ball and junior back Tomas Hilliard-Acre on the defensive side of the ball.
Stanford is playing as well as anyone in the country right now and as the number five seed they will have the advantage of advancing as far as at least the Elite Eight without leaving home.
Look for Stanford's ability to finish the scoring opportunities that come their way and their effectiveness out of set pieces to be a critical success factor in regard to how far they advance.
Louisville – The Cardinals looked to be among the hottest teams in the country before sustaining losses down the home stretch to Indiana 2-1 at home, Wake Forest 2-1 on the road, and Clemson 1-0 at home. They got back on track by defeating Virginia in the ACC Tournament before being topped by Wake Forest 2-1 in overtime in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament. On the other hand the number four seeded Cardinals have impressive wins over the likes of Connecticut, Xavier, Notre Dame, Virginia and Syracuse.
This is a team that has explosive offensive firepower led by dynamic forward Mohamed Thiaw who has netted eleven goals including seven game-winners to date. Louisville has also been tenacious on the defensive side of the ball led by back Tim Kubel (3g, 9a) and graduate student netminder Stefan Cleveland. The Cardinals have held opponents to a total of only twelve goals while recording a 0.62 goals against average.
The number four seeded Louisville who are 12-5-2 overall will open the NCAA Tourney on Sunday against UCLA out of the Pac-12 Conference in what looks to be one of the more interesting second round games. Thiaw has been the go-to guy for Louisville but in order for the Cardinals to make a sustained run in the NCAA Tournament they will likely need others to provide balance to the attack.
Denver – You don't go undefeated with a 17-0-3 record without being very competitive. The Pioneers play in the mid-major conference Summit League which means they have to perform well out of conference to gain credibility on the national scene.
Denver under the direction of Jamie Franks accomplished that with impressive non-conference wins over Saint Louis, Butler, New Mexico, Portland and a tie on the road with Creighton. Forwards Andre Shinyashikl (7g, 5a) and Blake Elder (7g, 2a) power a Pioneer attack that has produced at total of thirty-three goals. Denver has a rock solid defense anchored by backs Reagun Dunk and Korte Ford and goalkeeper Nick Gardner that has allowed a total of only ten goals to date.
Last year number thirteen seed Denver concluded their season earlier than expected when they were upset by SMU at home to exit the NCAA Tourney after one contest. This year the number six seeded Pioneers will hope to avoid a similar fate when they host an upstart UNLV side that advanced past San Diego State in the first round in a contest that was determined by a penalty kick shootout.
Denver is for real but the bottom line is that they need a run in the NCAA Tournament to validate the success that they have enjoyed during the regular season. If they play to their ability and continue to do the things well that they have done all season they should accomplish that.
Wake Forest – The number two seeded Demon Deacons won the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament and had another banner season under the direction of Bobby Muuss with a 15-2-3 overall record. No doubt about it, Wake Forest has what it takes to advance to the College Cup and they are highly motivated to do so after their season ended in the Elite Eight last year when they were topped at home in overtime 2-1 in a heartbreaker by eventual national champion Stanford.
The Demon Deacons are undefeated in their last nine contests which means they have a ton of momentum on their side. They have signature wins over Virginia, Louisville, South Carolina, Boston College, Notre Dame and Clemson. Wake Forest has a balanced attack led by midfielders Jacori Hayes (7g, 2a) and Ian Harkes (4g, 3a) as well as forward Jon Bokero (4g, 3a) and midfielder Ema Twumasi (4g, 2a). The Deacon defense has been tenacious all year having allowed a total of only ten goals.
The Demon Deacons will host a Coastal Carolina team on Sunday that advanced to the second round with a 2-1 win over a good Radford team. The key for Wake Forest may be to take it one contest at a time and not look past anyone.
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Glenn Adsit ministered mostly in China. He was under house arrest in China when the soldiers came one day and said, "You can return to America." He and his wife and two children started celebrating, and the soldiers said, "You can take two hundred pounds with you." Well, they'd been there for years. Two hundred pounds. They got the scales and started the family arguments: Must have this vase. Well, this is a new typewriter. What about my books? What about my games? And everyone had an opinion. Everyone had their selfish item; "I can't live without this" was heard more than once. And they weighed everything and took one thing off and weighed it again and took a few more things off. They argued and they fought; everybody had their own thing they wanted. There were lots of different opinions on what should be included and what didn't matter. They argued over the smallest things, because two hundred pounds isn't that much and, finally, though they didn't all agree, they had it right on the dot, two hundred pounds.
And in a moment, everyone agreed; the typewriter and the vase weren't even worth discussing.
Sometimes having the right perspective changes everything.
© 2014 Jamie Snyder. Thou Shall: Freedom to Strip Away the "Nots" and Discover What God Really Wants is published by David C Cook. All rights reserved.
Jamie Snyder is lead pastor of Lakeside Christian Church where he preaches and teaches to thousands on a weekly basis. Thought he has many titles — husband, father, preacher, writer, bookworm, table-tennis player extraordinaire — the most significant one, by far, is Child of God. He resides with his wife and three children in Kentucky.