Covid report day 4. After a second day of no more than a moderately bad cold, symptoms started to get worse in the evening. (Runny nose, sneezing). Another disturbed feverish night, but the fever seemed to break about half way through and I managed to get some sleep. Woke up feeling knackered and barely able to get out of bed. I have now lost most of my sense of taste and smell (coffee is just a warm, brown fluid but I got some taste from smoked mackerel). My positive PCR test came through yesterday after about 24 hours and I have received a text from my GP offering me remote oxygen monitoring. Beginning to feel pleased I didn't encounter this with a naive immune system. The daytime symptoms are no more than a moderately bad cold but the two nights of fever were something else. Shows no sign of going onto the chest though.
Planning a road trip to the Italian Lakes next summer and we fancy coimng back via Austria with a few nights stop somewhere.
I don't know Austria at all, what's our best bet for a stop... Innsbruck? Salzburg? Vienna is a bit out of the way since we have to drive back to the Channel
I saw this from last night - Sean’s suggestion of the South Tyrol was on the money in terms of its attractions, but not necessarily the geography. It depends which lake you are finishing at. If your trip ends at Garda, then heading up through the Brenner can be the way home, and South Tyrol is a great extra stop - Bolzano or Brixen, as he said, or Merano, for a small detour or Ortisei for a moderate detour.
But you’ll still then have a long drive home, too long for a single leg. Tubingen or Freiburg are great spots for an overnight to break the driving. Or Fussen, which is a great stopover, if not that far into the driving.
However if you’re at the western lakes it would obviously be more sensible to come back through Switzerland, and even from Iseo Austria would be a considerable detour. Indeed Garda via Austria is more driving than via France or Switzerland, assuming you’re heading for Calais or similar.
You can buy Austrian motorway passes online provided you do so at least two weeks before the journey.
Swiss don't half rob you to pass through though. Salzberg is beautiful but your suggestion of Fussen area is a good one , it is beautiful around there. Used to weekend in Hohen Schwangau when I was in Munich. @Benpointer
The Swiss are certainly good at fleecing travellers - but then robbing people passing through the Alps has been that country's business model dating back to ancient times.
But the iniquity of the annual pass is really that the Swiss themselves pay so little. If you compare the €40-odd Swiss pass, for doing a single or return trip across the entire country en route from the UK, to the cost you pay on the French motorways for a similar length, it isn't so bad.
I was in Schwangau just two months' back, stayed at the edge of that flat plain just below the castles, with the mountain views, and a great beer garden just along the road. I hope to return on a future trip. I'm sure we all know the closing scenes of the Great Escape, with McQueen being pursued through Alpine countryside on his motorbike - that was all filmed in that area, between Fussen and Pfronten.
The history of Tory MPs kicking out leaders is often overstated. Since the party first started electing leaders in 1965, it's only done so four times - and, crucially, even then only after a considerable period of grumbling and hesitation.
I don't really see Johnson coming back from where he is now; his problems are a factor of his personality and political style - and those aren't going to change. On top of which, he has problems coming down the line with an income squeeze, rising interest rates, an NHS under severe pressure for some years to come, and Red Wall MPs pissed off that 'levelling up' turned out to be no more than a newspaper column idea. I suspect that personal promises to MPs may also turn out (or have turned out) to have been given optimistically.
However, he's still the man who won the biggest Tory majority since the 1980s. It will take more than a few bad polls to shift him. Both that record, and also an imperative that he has to take the blame with him when he goes, means that I expect MPs to wait until at least after the May elections next year but quite possibly not until 2023 before they act. There will be, after all, 12-18 months to rebuild after that - plenty long enough to establish a new leadership in office, while potentially short enough to benefit from a lingering honeymoon.
I agree completely. I still believe that Johnson and Starmer will head their parties for years to come.
The best best at the moment in these markets IMO is Smarkets: "Keir Starmer Exit Date".
Lay 2.6 "2023 or earlier".
Given that the LP takes at least three months for a new leader to be elected (this is the settlement terms laid out in the Smarkets market rules) this means that you are betting that Starmer will lead past Sept/Oct 2022 only.
Um, spring 2023 election, Labour loses, Starmer resigns and is replaced in August 2023. Your bet loses.
Why would there be a Spring election when the new boundaries arrive in July?
I'd expect an autumn 2023 election if events are going well for the government, that makes it tight to see if Starmer could be replaced in 2023 or would survive to 2024.
Boundaries arrive in October - which is why I continually state I expect a November / December 23 election.
Is it October? I thought it was July, so was expecting ~October election.
I know the new boundaries are due next year, but has the FTPA been repealed yet? If so, doesn't there need legislation to bring back the old rules?
The repeal of the FTPA was in the Queen's Speech I believe and I believe the paper for it has been published, so the repeal should go ahead within the next year.
Back to COP26 for a moment. The simplicities of idiots have, so far, been decent predictors of actual progress. Is this idiot's guide COP26 about right:
1) CO2 emissions are both continuing and increasing in output year on year.
2) It is essential to halve emissions by 2030 - reduce to 50% of current levels.
3) COP26 puts us in line to reduce the additional annual amount of CO2 by 20%, not 50%.
4) 20% of 50% is 10% of 100%
5) COP26, if implemented, reduces the amount of annual extra CO2 by 2030 by 10% from its current level. We are still doing 90% of the damage we are doing now.
6) If the science is right this isn't going to work, and is nowhere close.
Where have I gone wrong?
I don't think you have, especially. The process will be an iterative one.
Consider the path to the current plans in the UK. And the fact that there is non-trivial political pressure to bring those further forward.
The surprise was signing up India and China to *anything*
The next step is to ratchet the progress - the fact that China and India have signed up to *something* takes alot of political pressure off Biden in the US, for example. There was a whole political thing built around "If India and China don't do anything, then we are mugs to do anything."
Which means, hopefully, more progress in the US. And, also hopefully, a new competition between India and China to promise more and more....
Doubt Biden will be able to get much green stuff through the rest of the US system any time soon. And he won't be able to get anything done at all after the midterms.
As was clear from the Budget (and maybe even the Financial Statement-y thing before that), Levelling Up is cancelled.
I actually believe Boris *is* in favour of “Levelling Up” as the speech he gave on it several months ago was one of his more informed efforts.
The issue is that Rishi is unwilling to fund it, and Boris doesn’t have the operational capability or the attention to detail to do anything about it.
Of course Levelling Up as a label will continue, and a White Paper is due soon, but my prediction is that it will not achieve much coherence and effectively be used to describe some too-modest local government reforms, a tram system for Leeds, and a hanging baskets fund.
Oh I've little doubt that levelling up (with real money) has been cancelled.
And there are a whole pile of projects that can justifibly be kicked into the long grass such as Northern Power Rail (would be nice, let's see if it's needed in the new post Covid world).
What annoys me though is that the greatest benefits for HS2 were always the eastern leg as it fixed capacity issues on both the east and central rail spines of the country and yet that's the bit that's gone.
What is left is slightly faster trains to Manchester (which although has capacity issues aren't as bad as on the eastern side).
The truly truly stupid is the spin that the Sunday Times loyally reported yesterday. OK so we have scrapped HS2E and NPR but look - THREE new high speed lines for you plucky northerners! The truncated short section to Leeds (and all the vast demolition of Leeds city centre required) is not the kind of high speed line people are expecting.
If some gobby minister tries to spin this with their usual level of knowledge and incompetence it will be truly funny.
If you find my later post I actually have a better solution that would fix the issues and cost the same (given the cost of knocking down Leeds).
Ignore the Leeds to Sheffield bit, build the Nottingham to Sheffield bit - add a link to the ECML somewhere around Doncaster and I think you would be good to go
Nope - can't build HS2E because too many Tory MPs think their patrons can't trough from it its a waste of money. Building most of it would clearly still be the HS2E scheme.
But look! The mighty sword of dobber has sliced it neatly in twain! Now we have two high speed likes to offer the plebs and neither are HS2E honest!
I think we are again seeing another item where the Red Wall MPs are losing out to those in safe seats.
What is curious is why is Boris suddenly listening to the safe seat MPs rather than the Red Wall MPs?
Because Boris is a safe-seat Tory of the old school. Levelling up was Dominic Cummings' project that was sold to Boris, not something inculcated at Eton. That is not to say Boris has abandoned levelling up; perhaps he still is convinced of its necessity; but that Boris probably does not understand its nuts and bolts. Even on Brexit, we are given to understand Boris did not understand the NIP, the customs union or the border down the Irish Sea. Why should he have a deep understanding of railway infrastructure?
Covid report day 4. After a second day of no more than a moderately bad cold, symptoms started to get worse in the evening. (Runny nose, sneezing). Another disturbed feverish night, but the fever seemed to break about half way through and I managed to get some sleep. Woke up feeling knackered and barely able to get out of bed. I have now lost most of my sense of taste and smell (coffee is just a warm, brown fluid but I got some taste from smoked mackerel). My positive PCR test came through yesterday after about 24 hours and I have received a text from my GP offering me remote oxygen monitoring. Beginning to feel pleased I didn't encounter this with a naive immune system. The daytime symptoms are no more than a moderately bad cold but the two nights of fever were something else. Shows no sign of going onto the chest though.
Best of, Mr L. Once the fever broke I started to feel progressively better. Don't think I ever lost my sense of taste, but my wife did. Hope you get a decent night's sleep tonight and find yourself considerable improved on Day 5. Have you been asked to do an antibody test by the NHS?
Back to COP26 for a moment. The simplicities of idiots have, so far, been decent predictors of actual progress. Is this idiot's guide COP26 about right:
1) CO2 emissions are both continuing and increasing in output year on year.
2) It is essential to halve emissions by 2030 - reduce to 50% of current levels.
3) COP26 puts us in line to reduce the additional annual amount of CO2 by 20%, not 50%.
4) 20% of 50% is 10% of 100%
5) COP26, if implemented, reduces the amount of annual extra CO2 by 2030 by 10% from its current level. We are still doing 90% of the damage we are doing now.
6) If the science is right this isn't going to work, and is nowhere close.
Where have I gone wrong?
3/4 is backwards I think.
20% of 50% is 40% of the target. Sounds counterintuitive but 20/50 = 40% not 10%
Shell moving their headquarters to the UK by moving a grand total of 8 (albeit the most senior management) people from the Netherlands.
But we no longer have to remember to buy RDSB not RDSA
On the downside, do we now get credited with their emissions?
No, I think that is where the location of thje relevant plants is. But it does mean that UK will get credited with the political emissions, so to speak, in regulating/not regulating the firm.
Back to COP26 for a moment. The simplicities of idiots have, so far, been decent predictors of actual progress. Is this idiot's guide COP26 about right:
1) CO2 emissions are both continuing and increasing in output year on year.
2) It is essential to halve emissions by 2030 - reduce to 50% of current levels.
3) COP26 puts us in line to reduce the additional annual amount of CO2 by 20%, not 50%.
4) 20% of 50% is 10% of 100%
5) COP26, if implemented, reduces the amount of annual extra CO2 by 2030 by 10% from its current level. We are still doing 90% of the damage we are doing now.
6) If the science is right this isn't going to work, and is nowhere close.
Where have I gone wrong?
I don't think you have, especially. The process will be an iterative one.
Consider the path to the current plans in the UK. And the fact that there is non-trivial political pressure to bring those further forward.
The surprise was signing up India and China to *anything*
The next step is to ratchet the progress - the fact that China and India have signed up to *something* takes alot of political pressure off Biden in the US, for example. There was a whole political thing built around "If India and China don't do anything, then we are mugs to do anything."
Which means, hopefully, more progress in the US. And, also hopefully, a new competition between India and China to promise more and more....
Doubt Biden will be able to get much green stuff through the rest of the US system any time soon. And he won't be able to get anything done at all after the midterms.
We shall see - a big prop of the "do nothing" types in the US has been kicked away.
It is also worth noting that quite a lot is being done by state governments in the US, away from the Republican logjam in Washington.
...Vaughan was Rafiq's childhood hero. But the incident occurred in the huddle at the start of the game during one of the first conversations they ever had...
That figure represents the largest lead for the GOP in the 110 polls conducted by the two news organizations since 1981, ABC noted. It also represents only the second time since 1981 Republicans have held a statistical advantage in that category.
The same poll found 62 percent of Americans said the Democratic party is "out of touch" with the concerns of most citizens, compared to 58 percent who said the same of Republicans.
A total of 63 percent of all respondents indicated they support President Biden's newly-passed $1 trillion infrastructure bill and another 58 percent indicated support for the larger social spending packages Democrats are working to pass in Congress...
Shades of our ge2019 when the Conservatives gave at least the impression of being on the voters' side, while Labour was too easily portrayed as caring only about factors outside its control, and often outside the country.
Covid report day 4. After a second day of no more than a moderately bad cold, symptoms started to get worse in the evening. (Runny nose, sneezing). Another disturbed feverish night, but the fever seemed to break about half way through and I managed to get some sleep. Woke up feeling knackered and barely able to get out of bed. I have now lost most of my sense of taste and smell (coffee is just a warm, brown fluid but I got some taste from smoked mackerel). My positive PCR test came through yesterday after about 24 hours and I have received a text from my GP offering me remote oxygen monitoring. Beginning to feel pleased I didn't encounter this with a naive immune system. The daytime symptoms are no more than a moderately bad cold but the two nights of fever were something else. Shows no sign of going onto the chest though.
Get well soon. I had two nights of the sweats and lost most of my smell but taste was unaffected. Over a month later my smell has returned but not fully. In terms of other symptoms the cold I had over half-term, the first since the pandemic started, was worse - couldn't stop coughing for a week. It is strange the variation in symptoms people have.
That figure represents the largest lead for the GOP in the 110 polls conducted by the two news organizations since 1981, ABC noted. It also represents only the second time since 1981 Republicans have held a statistical advantage in that category.
The same poll found 62 percent of Americans said the Democratic party is "out of touch" with the concerns of most citizens, compared to 58 percent who said the same of Republicans.
A total of 63 percent of all respondents indicated they support President Biden's newly-passed $1 trillion infrastructure bill and another 58 percent indicated support for the larger social spending packages Democrats are working to pass in Congress...
Shades of our ge2019 when the Conservatives gave at least the impression of being on the voters' side, while Labour was too easily portrayed as caring only about factors outside its control, and often outside the country.
The best thing any party can do to be 'in touch' is to get off Twitter.
...Vaughan was Rafiq's childhood hero. But the incident occurred in the huddle at the start of the game during one of the first conversations they ever had...
Never meet your heroes.
(I’ve met most of my heroes, they were uniformly brilliant.)
Back to COP26 for a moment. The simplicities of idiots have, so far, been decent predictors of actual progress. Is this idiot's guide COP26 about right:
1) CO2 emissions are both continuing and increasing in output year on year.
2) It is essential to halve emissions by 2030 - reduce to 50% of current levels.
3) COP26 puts us in line to reduce the additional annual amount of CO2 by 20%, not 50%.
4) 20% of 50% is 10% of 100%
5) COP26, if implemented, reduces the amount of annual extra CO2 by 2030 by 10% from its current level. We are still doing 90% of the damage we are doing now.
6) If the science is right this isn't going to work, and is nowhere close.
Where have I gone wrong?
Why the surprise? This was always 90% virtue signalling and bandwagon-jumping wasn't it?
How can leaders tackle environmental problems when they are focusing only on one issue with scant regard for loss of habitat and biodiversity and overall human population - and when there are limitations to what their electorates will support when they see the effects needed on their own lives.
Back to COP26 for a moment. The simplicities of idiots have, so far, been decent predictors of actual progress. Is this idiot's guide COP26 about right:
1) CO2 emissions are both continuing and increasing in output year on year.
2) It is essential to halve emissions by 2030 - reduce to 50% of current levels.
3) COP26 puts us in line to reduce the additional annual amount of CO2 by 20%, not 50%.
4) 20% of 50% is 10% of 100%
5) COP26, if implemented, reduces the amount of annual extra CO2 by 2030 by 10% from its current level. We are still doing 90% of the damage we are doing now.
6) If the science is right this isn't going to work, and is nowhere close.
Where have I gone wrong?
I don't think you have, especially. The process will be an iterative one.
Consider the path to the current plans in the UK. And the fact that there is non-trivial political pressure to bring those further forward.
The surprise was signing up India and China to *anything*
The next step is to ratchet the progress - the fact that China and India have signed up to *something* takes alot of political pressure off Biden in the US, for example. There was a whole political thing built around "If India and China don't do anything, then we are mugs to do anything."
Which means, hopefully, more progress in the US. And, also hopefully, a new competition between India and China to promise more and more....
Doubt Biden will be able to get much green stuff through the rest of the US system any time soon. And he won't be able to get anything done at all after the midterms.
We shall see - a big prop of the "do nothing" types in the US has been kicked away.
It is also worth noting that quite a lot is being done by state governments in the US, away from the Republican logjam in Washington.
Except in Texas - because well it's Texas and you can't profiteer if outsiders can provide energy into your self-contained network.
That figure represents the largest lead for the GOP in the 110 polls conducted by the two news organizations since 1981, ABC noted. It also represents only the second time since 1981 Republicans have held a statistical advantage in that category.
The same poll found 62 percent of Americans said the Democratic party is "out of touch" with the concerns of most citizens, compared to 58 percent who said the same of Republicans.
A total of 63 percent of all respondents indicated they support President Biden's newly-passed $1 trillion infrastructure bill and another 58 percent indicated support for the larger social spending packages Democrats are working to pass in Congress...
Looks like an outlier when compared with other generic ballot polls on RCP.
Planning a road trip to the Italian Lakes next summer and we fancy coimng back via Austria with a few nights stop somewhere.
I don't know Austria at all, what's our best bet for a stop... Innsbruck? Salzburg? Vienna is a bit out of the way since we have to drive back to the Channel
I saw this from last night - Sean’s suggestion of the South Tyrol was on the money in terms of its attractions, but not necessarily the geography. It depends which lake you are finishing at. If your trip ends at Garda, then heading up through the Brenner can be the way home, and South Tyrol is a great extra stop - Bolzano or Brixen, as he said, or Merano, for a small detour or Ortisei for a moderate detour.
But you’ll still then have a long drive home, too long for a single leg. Tubingen or Freiburg are great spots for an overnight to break the driving. Or Fussen, which is a great stopover, if not that far into the driving.
However if you’re at the western lakes it would obviously be more sensible to come back through Switzerland, and even from Iseo Austria would be a considerable detour. Indeed Garda via Austria is more driving than via France or Switzerland, assuming you’re heading for Calais or similar.
You can buy Austrian motorway passes online provided you do so at least two weeks before the journey.
Swiss don't half rob you to pass through though. Salzberg is beautiful but your suggestion of Fussen area is a good one , it is beautiful around there. Used to weekend in Hohen Schwangau when I was in Munich. @Benpointer
The Swiss are certainly good at fleecing travellers - but then robbing people passing through the Alps has been that country's business model dating back to ancient times.
But the iniquity of the annual pass is really that the Swiss themselves pay so little. If you compare the €40-odd Swiss pass, for doing a single or return trip across the entire country en route from the UK, to the cost you pay on the French motorways for a similar length, it isn't so bad.
I was in Schwangau just two months' back, stayed at the edge of that flat plain just below the castles, with the mountain views, and a great beer garden just along the road. I hope to return on a future trip. I'm sure we all know the closing scenes of the Great Escape, with McQueen being pursued through Alpine countryside on his motorbike - that was all filmed in that area, between Fussen and Pfronten.
It feels like Johnson has moved from derision to absolute loathing
A perfect time to have as leader of the opposition a QC and ex Director of Public Prosecutions once described as the finest lawyer of his generation.
For once the stars look to be perfectly aligned.
And the time has come for Sir Keir Rodney Starmer to remove this charlatan from political life once and for all.
"someone described as the finest lawyer of his generation."
You are having a serious giraffe, mate. Those that can, prosecute. Those that can't, direct.
That's very funny and brought a welcome smile! However in the case of Sir Keir I'm assured that unlike most in his profession (and yours?) he was not motivated by lucre and preferred public service
He earned over £113,000 in legal advice while an MP and is alleged to have used his office in breach of the regulations
Angela Rayner had a torrid time with Marr yesterday over labours double standards
That's interesting. I'd noticed that Adil Rashid had been quiet, and wondered whether he was ever going to put his head above the parapet. He should know more than just about anybody, given he's been with Yorkshire since 2005.
Covid report day 4. After a second day of no more than a moderately bad cold, symptoms started to get worse in the evening. (Runny nose, sneezing). Another disturbed feverish night, but the fever seemed to break about half way through and I managed to get some sleep. Woke up feeling knackered and barely able to get out of bed. I have now lost most of my sense of taste and smell (coffee is just a warm, brown fluid but I got some taste from smoked mackerel). My positive PCR test came through yesterday after about 24 hours and I have received a text from my GP offering me remote oxygen monitoring. Beginning to feel pleased I didn't encounter this with a naive immune system. The daytime symptoms are no more than a moderately bad cold but the two nights of fever were something else. Shows no sign of going onto the chest though.
Get well soon. I had two nights of the sweats and lost most of my smell but taste was unaffected. Over a month later my smell has returned but not fully. In terms of other symptoms the cold I had over half-term, the first since the pandemic started, was worse - couldn't stop coughing for a week. It is strange the variation in symptoms people have.
The variation does seem strange, but I think mine are about par for the course if you have been vaccinated. It seems to have restricted it to an upper respiratory tract infection. So far, and fingers crossed. Slightly annoyed I was only two weeks from a booster shot.
Having done a little reading into the Shapps story from yesterday, it looks like toast now or toast later.
Why?
I admit to having hardly read in detail, but I can’t see what he’s done wrong.
The criticism seems to be that he’s lobbied in favour of amateur flyers, but so what? In what way (for example) is this different from Boris pushing policy in favour of cyclists?
General aviation has been getting a kicking from authorities for decades, whether it’s expanding controlled airspace, increased licensing requirements or the various fees charged by the CAA (Civil Aviation Authority, or Campaign Against Aviation as pilots call them) - it’s great to see one person close to government prepared to stand up for GA, recreational and sporting flyers.
And no, Daily Mail, £100k doesn’t buy you a “Private Jet”, it gets you a share in a four seat, propellor-driven Cessna if you’re lucky.
It feels like Johnson has moved from derision to absolute loathing
A perfect time to have as leader of the opposition a QC and ex Director of Public Prosecutions once described as the finest lawyer of his generation.
For once the stars look to be perfectly aligned.
And the time has come for Sir Keir Rodney Starmer to remove this charlatan from political life once and for all.
"someone described as the finest lawyer of his generation."
You are having a serious giraffe, mate. Those that can, prosecute. Those that can't, direct.
That's very funny and brought a welcome smile! However in the case of Sir Keir I'm assured that unlike most in his profession (and yours?) he was not motivated by lucre and preferred public service
He earned over £113,000 in legal advice while an MP and is alleged to have used his office in breach of the regulations
Angela Rayner had a torrid time with Marr yesterday over labours double standards
Cynics would suggest that those Tories pushing the media to look at Starmer's lifetime record are not from the Borisite wing of the party, and are hoping to take down the World King as collateral damage.
Shell moving their headquarters to the UK by moving a grand total of 8 (albeit the most senior management) people from the Netherlands.
Yes, but if it had gone the other way the #FBPE crowd would have been all over it proclaiming it another disaster of BREXIT, just like they did over the predicted relocation of Unilever - another one which went the "wrong" way.....
Covid report day 4. After a second day of no more than a moderately bad cold, symptoms started to get worse in the evening. (Runny nose, sneezing). Another disturbed feverish night, but the fever seemed to break about half way through and I managed to get some sleep. Woke up feeling knackered and barely able to get out of bed. I have now lost most of my sense of taste and smell (coffee is just a warm, brown fluid but I got some taste from smoked mackerel). My positive PCR test came through yesterday after about 24 hours and I have received a text from my GP offering me remote oxygen monitoring. Beginning to feel pleased I didn't encounter this with a naive immune system. The daytime symptoms are no more than a moderately bad cold but the two nights of fever were something else. Shows no sign of going onto the chest though.
Get well soon. I had two nights of the sweats and lost most of my smell but taste was unaffected. Over a month later my smell has returned but not fully. In terms of other symptoms the cold I had over half-term, the first since the pandemic started, was worse - couldn't stop coughing for a week. It is strange the variation in symptoms people have.
According to Prof Spector and the data from his ZOE App, the symptoms for vaccinated people are different from those that were identified originally when we were all unvaxed. In particular the cough is no longer a typical symptom and there are cold-like symptoms like runny nose and sneezing that seem now more common with covid. He's been fuming at the government being slow to update its official guidance on symptoms to watch for; I'm not sure whether they've finally done this yet, or not.
It feels like Johnson has moved from derision to absolute loathing
A perfect time to have as leader of the opposition a QC and ex Director of Public Prosecutions once described as the finest lawyer of his generation.
For once the stars look to be perfectly aligned.
And the time has come for Sir Keir Rodney Starmer to remove this charlatan from political life once and for all.
"someone described as the finest lawyer of his generation."
You are having a serious giraffe, mate. Those that can, prosecute. Those that can't, direct.
That's very funny and brought a welcome smile! However in the case of Sir Keir I'm assured that unlike most in his profession (and yours?) he was not motivated by lucre and preferred public service
He earned over £113,000 in legal advice while an MP and is alleged to have used his office in breach of the regulations
Angela Rayner had a torrid time with Marr yesterday over labours double standards
Cynics would suggest that those Tories pushing the media to look at Starmer's lifetime record are not from the Borisite wing of the party, and are hoping to take down the World King as collateral damage.
Actually it was Marr in full on attack mode on Rayner, nothing to do with any conservative
Having done a little reading into the Shapps story from yesterday, it looks like toast now or toast later.
Why?
I admit to having hardly read in detail, but I can’t see what he’s done wrong.
The criticism seems to be that he’s lobbied in favour of amateur flyers, but so what? In what way (for example) is this different from Boris pushing policy in favour of cyclists?
General aviation has been getting a kicking from authorities for decades, whether it’s expanding controlled airspace, increased licensing requirements or the various fees charged by the CAA (Civil Aviation Authority, or Campaign Against Aviation as pilots call them) - it’s great to see one person close to government prepared to stand up for GA, recreational and sporting flyers.
And no, Daily Mail, £100k doesn’t buy you a “Private Jet”, it gets you a share in a four seat, propellor-driven Cessna if you’re lucky.
Shares are much cheaper than that, although of course you have to factor in the monthly costs, contributions to the engine fund and the hourly rate for use to get an idea of how much it would cost in total. But 100k would be ample for say a modest amount of flying over ten years' with a share in an entry level Cessna or PA28. Assuming you already have a licence, of course.
Covid report day 4. After a second day of no more than a moderately bad cold, symptoms started to get worse in the evening. (Runny nose, sneezing). Another disturbed feverish night, but the fever seemed to break about half way through and I managed to get some sleep. Woke up feeling knackered and barely able to get out of bed. I have now lost most of my sense of taste and smell (coffee is just a warm, brown fluid but I got some taste from smoked mackerel). My positive PCR test came through yesterday after about 24 hours and I have received a text from my GP offering me remote oxygen monitoring. Beginning to feel pleased I didn't encounter this with a naive immune system. The daytime symptoms are no more than a moderately bad cold but the two nights of fever were something else. Shows no sign of going onto the chest though.
Get well soon. I had two nights of the sweats and lost most of my smell but taste was unaffected. Over a month later my smell has returned but not fully. In terms of other symptoms the cold I had over half-term, the first since the pandemic started, was worse - couldn't stop coughing for a week. It is strange the variation in symptoms people have.
According to Prof Spector and the data from his ZOE App, the symptoms for vaccinated people are different from those that were identified originally when we were all unvaxed. In particular the cough is no longer a typical symptom and there are cold-like symptoms like runny nose and sneezing that seem now more common with covid. He's been fuming at the government being slow to update its official guidance on symptoms to watch for; I'm not sure whether they've finally done this yet, or not.
What's the difference then between a vaccinated Covid19 coronavirus that's causing a runny nose or sneezing . . . and the generic common cold coronaviruses that cause a runny nose or sneezing?
A total of 63 percent of all respondents indicated they support President Biden's newly-passed $1 trillion infrastructure bill and another 58 percent indicated support for the larger social spending packages Democrats are working to pass in Congress...
But not passing those bills would show they Dems were fiscally responsible and get floating voters rallying to their cause.
Paul Mainwood @PaulMainwood · 25m Booster dose cuts your chances of getting infected with Delta by at least 7x-9x vs being double-vaccinated. UK real-world data with Pfizer & AZ.
Covid report day 4. After a second day of no more than a moderately bad cold, symptoms started to get worse in the evening. (Runny nose, sneezing). Another disturbed feverish night, but the fever seemed to break about half way through and I managed to get some sleep. Woke up feeling knackered and barely able to get out of bed. I have now lost most of my sense of taste and smell (coffee is just a warm, brown fluid but I got some taste from smoked mackerel). My positive PCR test came through yesterday after about 24 hours and I have received a text from my GP offering me remote oxygen monitoring. Beginning to feel pleased I didn't encounter this with a naive immune system. The daytime symptoms are no more than a moderately bad cold but the two nights of fever were something else. Shows no sign of going onto the chest though.
Get well soon. I had two nights of the sweats and lost most of my smell but taste was unaffected. Over a month later my smell has returned but not fully. In terms of other symptoms the cold I had over half-term, the first since the pandemic started, was worse - couldn't stop coughing for a week. It is strange the variation in symptoms people have.
According to Prof Spector and the data from his ZOE App, the symptoms for vaccinated people are different from those that were identified originally when we were all unvaxed. In particular the cough is no longer a typical symptom and there are cold-like symptoms like runny nose and sneezing that seem now more common with covid. He's been fuming at the government being slow to update its official guidance on symptoms to watch for; I'm not sure whether they've finally done this yet, or not.
What's the difference then between a vaccinated Covid19 coronavirus that's causing a runny nose or sneezing . . . and the generic common cold coronaviruses that cause a runny nose or sneezing?
TLDR: If you have a cold and can't smell, you may have covid.
How do I know if I have a cold or COVID-19? At the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, the main distinguishing symptoms of COVID-19 were thought to be fever, cough and loss of smell (anosmia), often known as the ‘classic three or triad’. Thanks to millions of health reports from our ZOE COVID Study app contributors, we now know that there are more than 20 symptoms of COVID-19, including headache, runny nose, sneezing and sore throat.
Over the past 18 months the pattern of symptoms has changed as the virus has evolved and more people have been vaccinated. Many of the symptoms of COVID-19 are now the same as a regular cold, especially for people who have received two doses of the vaccine, making it hard to tell the difference.
Take a look at the lists below to know which of the most common COVID-19 symptoms you should be looking out for, depending on whether you’ve been vaccinated or not. Our data shows that loss of smell (anosmia) or loss of taste is still one of the most important predictors of testing positive for COVID-19 rather than a regular cold, so it’s an important symptom to look out for, whether you’ve been vaccinated or not.
You can check your sense of smell easily at home by sniffing scented foods or products, or noticing whether familiar foods start to lose their flavour or taste strange.
Currently, the most common COVID-19 symptoms in people who have been fully vaccinated ( as of the 21/09/21) are:
Runny nose Headache Sneezing Sore throat Loss of smell (anosmia)
(complicated by reports of the bad cold currently doing the rounds apparently coming with a bad cough)
Having done a little reading into the Shapps story from yesterday, it looks like toast now or toast later.
Why?
I admit to having hardly read in detail, but I can’t see what he’s done wrong.
The criticism seems to be that he’s lobbied in favour of amateur flyers, but so what? In what way (for example) is this different from Boris pushing policy in favour of cyclists?
General aviation has been getting a kicking from authorities for decades, whether it’s expanding controlled airspace, increased licensing requirements or the various fees charged by the CAA (Civil Aviation Authority, or Campaign Against Aviation as pilots call them) - it’s great to see one person close to government prepared to stand up for GA, recreational and sporting flyers.
And no, Daily Mail, £100k doesn’t buy you a “Private Jet”, it gets you a share in a four seat, propellor-driven Cessna if you’re lucky.
Shares are much cheaper than that, although of course you have to factor in the monthly costs, contributions to the engine fund and the hourly rate for use to get an idea of how much it would cost in total. But 100k would be ample for say a modest amount of flying over ten years' with a share in an entry level Cessna or PA28. Assuming you already have a licence, of course.
When I was doing gliding, the London Gliding club had a very amicable relationship with Luton Airport, which is nearby.
However, every now and then, a numpty in middle management at Luton would start claiming that the gliding club was a hazard and should be shutdown. It transpired in each case that the numpty in question had no idea about aviation, but was just being an idiot.
That figure represents the largest lead for the GOP in the 110 polls conducted by the two news organizations since 1981, ABC noted. It also represents only the second time since 1981 Republicans have held a statistical advantage in that category.
The same poll found 62 percent of Americans said the Democratic party is "out of touch" with the concerns of most citizens, compared to 58 percent who said the same of Republicans.
A total of 63 percent of all respondents indicated they support President Biden's newly-passed $1 trillion infrastructure bill and another 58 percent indicated support for the larger social spending packages Democrats are working to pass in Congress...
That would be an even bigger GOP landslide in the midterms next year then than the 7% margin they won the House by in 1994 and 2010 if that 10% GOP lead in the new ABC midterms poll is correct
Having done a little reading into the Shapps story from yesterday, it looks like toast now or toast later.
Why?
I admit to having hardly read in detail, but I can’t see what he’s done wrong.
The criticism seems to be that he’s lobbied in favour of amateur flyers, but so what? In what way (for example) is this different from Boris pushing policy in favour of cyclists?
General aviation has been getting a kicking from authorities for decades, whether it’s expanding controlled airspace, increased licensing requirements or the various fees charged by the CAA (Civil Aviation Authority, or Campaign Against Aviation as pilots call them) - it’s great to see one person close to government prepared to stand up for GA, recreational and sporting flyers.
And no, Daily Mail, £100k doesn’t buy you a “Private Jet”, it gets you a share in a four seat, propellor-driven Cessna if you’re lucky.
Shares are much cheaper than that, although of course you have to factor in the monthly costs, contributions to the engine fund and the hourly rate for use to get an idea of how much it would cost in total. But 100k would be ample for say a modest amount of flying over ten years' with a share in an entry level Cessna or PA28. Assuming you already have a licence, of course.
Of course, a share in an old C172 or PA28 comes in even cheaper, which is the way that most GA pilots go.
Back to COP26 for a moment. The simplicities of idiots have, so far, been decent predictors of actual progress. Is this idiot's guide COP26 about right:
1) CO2 emissions are both continuing and increasing in output year on year.
2) It is essential to halve emissions by 2030 - reduce to 50% of current levels.
3) COP26 puts us in line to reduce the additional annual amount of CO2 by 20%, not 50%.
4) 20% of 50% is 10% of 100%
5) COP26, if implemented, reduces the amount of annual extra CO2 by 2030 by 10% from its current level. We are still doing 90% of the damage we are doing now.
6) If the science is right this isn't going to work, and is nowhere close.
Where have I gone wrong?
I don't think you have, especially. The process will be an iterative one.
Consider the path to the current plans in the UK. And the fact that there is non-trivial political pressure to bring those further forward.
The surprise was signing up India and China to *anything*
The next step is to ratchet the progress - the fact that China and India have signed up to *something* takes alot of political pressure off Biden in the US, for example. There was a whole political thing built around "If India and China don't do anything, then we are mugs to do anything."
Which means, hopefully, more progress in the US. And, also hopefully, a new competition between India and China to promise more and more....
Doubt Biden will be able to get much green stuff through the rest of the US system any time soon. And he won't be able to get anything done at all after the midterms.
We shall see - a big prop of the "do nothing" types in the US has been kicked away.
It is also worth noting that quite a lot is being done by state governments in the US, away from the Republican logjam in Washington.
Except in Texas - because well it's Texas and you can't profiteer if outsiders can provide energy into your self-contained network.
Texas is installing wind capacity at a ridiculous rate. The lack of winterisation of the base load systems is another story, of course.
Paul Mainwood @PaulMainwood · 25m Booster dose cuts your chances of getting infected with Delta by at least 7x-9x vs being double-vaccinated. UK real-world data with Pfizer & AZ.
Will this be it, or will more boosters be needed?
No-one knows.
Unless you know what the chances are of getting inflected when double vaxxed then the 7x - 9x is a meaningless stat. What am I multiplying or dividing by 7 or 9? It could make a huge difference or little at all.
Paul Mainwood @PaulMainwood · 25m Booster dose cuts your chances of getting infected with Delta by at least 7x-9x vs being double-vaccinated. UK real-world data with Pfizer & AZ.
Will this be it, or will more boosters be needed?
No-one knows.
Population annually might be the best system (Boosting roughly in October each year), get a good admix of natural infection whole virus epitope in the summer, and then high neutralising spike to protect the NHS over winter.
Interesting about the GP offering remote oxygen monitoring post PCR test. I was wondering how we would actually roll out the newly approved medications that have been so heralded in the last couple of weeks given that presumably we don't want Covid patients flocking to the pharmacies in their tens of thousands as the cost would be too great, nor do we want to wait until people are severely ill. I imagine GPs will be responsible for offering them on prescription post-PCR but only to people identified as being in vulnerable groups.
Paul Mainwood @PaulMainwood · 25m Booster dose cuts your chances of getting infected with Delta by at least 7x-9x vs being double-vaccinated. UK real-world data with Pfizer & AZ.
Will this be it, or will more boosters be needed?
No-one knows.
Population annually might be the best system (Boosting roughly in October each year), get a good admix of natural infection whole virus epitope in the summer, and then high neutralising spike to protect the NHS over winter.
From before the vaccination program starting, there was talk on an annual update jab, possibly combined with the annual flu shot.
Certainly the government was buying capacity and planning for boosters from early this year.
Paul Mainwood @PaulMainwood · 25m Booster dose cuts your chances of getting infected with Delta by at least 7x-9x vs being double-vaccinated. UK real-world data with Pfizer & AZ.
Will this be it, or will more boosters be needed?
No-one knows.
Unless you know what the chances are of getting inflected when double vaxxed then the 7x - 9x is a meaningless stat. What am I multiplying or dividing by 7 or 9? It could make a huge difference or little at all.
Does anyone give that info?
It's not totally meaningless. Unless transmission amongst double-vaccinated people is zero this is good news.
That's interesting. I'd noticed that Adil Rashid had been quiet, and wondered whether he was ever going to put his head above the parapet. He should know more than just about anybody, given he's been with Yorkshire since 2005.
Dobell is a top-class reporter, on any subject and not just cricket. His departure from Cricinfo is a great loss to Cricinfo and I expect he will have no problem finding work elsewhere.
His coverage of the Rafiq affair has been characteristically sane, balanced and honest.
I seem to be in agreement wirh TSE (always a worrying sign) that MV's position now looks very difficult. I am sad about it, because I think he's a great cricket commentator, but the evidence is out there now and it will be difficult for him to overcome it.
It feels like Johnson has moved from derision to absolute loathing
A perfect time to have as leader of the opposition a QC and ex Director of Public Prosecutions once described as the finest lawyer of his generation.
For once the stars look to be perfectly aligned.
And the time has come for Sir Keir Rodney Starmer to remove this charlatan from political life once and for all.
"someone described as the finest lawyer of his generation."
You are having a serious giraffe, mate. Those that can, prosecute. Those that can't, direct.
That's very funny and brought a welcome smile! However in the case of Sir Keir I'm assured that unlike most in his profession (and yours?) he was not motivated by lucre and preferred public service
He earned over £113,000 in legal advice while an MP and is alleged to have used his office in breach of the regulations
Angela Rayner had a torrid time with Marr yesterday over labours double standards
From what I saw she wasn't particularly rattled, though. But of course, she's a former trade union negotiator, well used to dealing with some very difficult and hostile opponents.
Back to COP26 for a moment. The simplicities of idiots have, so far, been decent predictors of actual progress. Is this idiot's guide COP26 about right:
1) CO2 emissions are both continuing and increasing in output year on year.
2) It is essential to halve emissions by 2030 - reduce to 50% of current levels.
3) COP26 puts us in line to reduce the additional annual amount of CO2 by 20%, not 50%.
4) 20% of 50% is 10% of 100%
5) COP26, if implemented, reduces the amount of annual extra CO2 by 2030 by 10% from its current level. We are still doing 90% of the damage we are doing now.
6) If the science is right this isn't going to work, and is nowhere close.
Where have I gone wrong?
I don't think you have, especially. The process will be an iterative one.
Consider the path to the current plans in the UK. And the fact that there is non-trivial political pressure to bring those further forward.
The surprise was signing up India and China to *anything*
The next step is to ratchet the progress - the fact that China and India have signed up to *something* takes alot of political pressure off Biden in the US, for example. There was a whole political thing built around "If India and China don't do anything, then we are mugs to do anything."
Which means, hopefully, more progress in the US. And, also hopefully, a new competition between India and China to promise more and more....
Doubt Biden will be able to get much green stuff through the rest of the US system any time soon. And he won't be able to get anything done at all after the midterms.
We shall see - a big prop of the "do nothing" types in the US has been kicked away.
It is also worth noting that quite a lot is being done by state governments in the US, away from the Republican logjam in Washington.
Except in Texas - because well it's Texas and you can't profiteer if outsiders can provide energy into your self-contained network.
Texas is installing wind capacity at a ridiculous rate. The lack of winterisation of the base load systems is another story, of course.
Which is an odd choice as most of it is quite a continental climate and not very windy. Yet large tracts of the state have vast amounts of sunshine.
Given how windy the NE Atlantic is and how shallow our surrounding continental shelf, Britain (and Ireland) really should be aiming for wind superpower status, harvesting and exporting power directly through interconnectors and embedded in hydrogen (and smelted metals).
Paul Mainwood @PaulMainwood · 25m Booster dose cuts your chances of getting infected with Delta by at least 7x-9x vs being double-vaccinated. UK real-world data with Pfizer & AZ.
Will this be it, or will more boosters be needed?
No-one knows.
Unless you know what the chances are of getting inflected when double vaxxed then the 7x - 9x is a meaningless stat. What am I multiplying or dividing by 7 or 9? It could make a huge difference or little at all.
Does anyone give that info?
Chances of being infected aren't static, they vary as a function.
f(Population Movement, Current infection level, Time since second dose, base infection level of current variant, current aggregate population immunity level).
That's interesting. I'd noticed that Adil Rashid had been quiet, and wondered whether he was ever going to put his head above the parapet. He should know more than just about anybody, given he's been with Yorkshire since 2005.
Dobell is a top-class reporter, on any subject and not just cricket. His departure from Cricinfo is a great loss to Cricinfo and I expect he will have no problem finding work elsewhere.
His coverage of the Rafiq affair has been characteristically sane, balanced and honest.
I seem to be in agreement wirh TSE (always a worrying sign) that MV's position now looks very difficult. I am sad about it, because I think he's a great cricket commentator, but the evidence is out there now and it will be difficult for him to overcome it.
Back to COP26 for a moment. The simplicities of idiots have, so far, been decent predictors of actual progress. Is this idiot's guide COP26 about right:
1) CO2 emissions are both continuing and increasing in output year on year.
2) It is essential to halve emissions by 2030 - reduce to 50% of current levels.
3) COP26 puts us in line to reduce the additional annual amount of CO2 by 20%, not 50%.
4) 20% of 50% is 10% of 100%
5) COP26, if implemented, reduces the amount of annual extra CO2 by 2030 by 10% from its current level. We are still doing 90% of the damage we are doing now.
6) If the science is right this isn't going to work, and is nowhere close.
Where have I gone wrong?
I don't think you have, especially. The process will be an iterative one.
Consider the path to the current plans in the UK. And the fact that there is non-trivial political pressure to bring those further forward.
The surprise was signing up India and China to *anything*
The next step is to ratchet the progress - the fact that China and India have signed up to *something* takes alot of political pressure off Biden in the US, for example. There was a whole political thing built around "If India and China don't do anything, then we are mugs to do anything."
Which means, hopefully, more progress in the US. And, also hopefully, a new competition between India and China to promise more and more....
Doubt Biden will be able to get much green stuff through the rest of the US system any time soon. And he won't be able to get anything done at all after the midterms.
We shall see - a big prop of the "do nothing" types in the US has been kicked away.
It is also worth noting that quite a lot is being done by state governments in the US, away from the Republican logjam in Washington.
Except in Texas - because well it's Texas and you can't profiteer if outsiders can provide energy into your self-contained network.
Texas is installing wind capacity at a ridiculous rate. The lack of winterisation of the base load systems is another story, of course.
Which is an odd choice as most of it is quite a continental climate and not very windy. Yet large tracts of the state have vast amounts of sunshine.
Given how windy the NE Atlantic is and how shallow our surrounding continental shelf, Britain (and Ireland) really should be aiming for wind superpower status, harvesting and exporting power directly through interconnectors and embedded in hydrogen (and smelted metals).
Wind has crossed over to being cheaper than quite a few sources, in Texas
UK is building a number of interconnections which forms part of the growing network in the general area of Europe.
Paul Mainwood @PaulMainwood · 25m Booster dose cuts your chances of getting infected with Delta by at least 7x-9x vs being double-vaccinated. UK real-world data with Pfizer & AZ.
Will this be it, or will more boosters be needed?
No-one knows.
Unless you know what the chances are of getting inflected when double vaxxed then the 7x - 9x is a meaningless stat. What am I multiplying or dividing by 7 or 9? It could make a huge difference or little at all.
Does anyone give that info?
Chances of being infected aren't static, they vary as a function.
f(Population Movement, Current infection level, Time since second dose, base infection level of current variant, current aggregate population immunity level).
When you get the third dose, probability of infection heads to f(Population Movement, Current infection level, Time since third dose, base infection level of current variant, current aggregate population immunity level).
So the efficacy is simply f(Time since third)/f(Time since second). The other parts of the function matter for your absolute chance to be infected but not the relative risk compared to a 2 dosed individual.
Paul Mainwood @PaulMainwood · 25m Booster dose cuts your chances of getting infected with Delta by at least 7x-9x vs being double-vaccinated. UK real-world data with Pfizer & AZ.
Will this be it, or will more boosters be needed?
No-one knows.
Unless you know what the chances are of getting inflected when double vaxxed then the 7x - 9x is a meaningless stat. What am I multiplying or dividing by 7 or 9? It could make a huge difference or little at all.
Does anyone give that info?
It's not totally meaningless. Unless transmission amongst double-vaccinated people is zero this is good news.
Yes it is good news. It's just my lifetime rant, normally at the press because they pick up science stuff they don't understand, and get it wrong or only produce half the data making it very annoying.
My favourite is always when stuff orbits the earth docking with something else or the best was a lander onto a comet and for effect they refer to the velocity relative to the earth. Meaningless but impressively large number. If meaningful there would be a lot of debris.
It feels like Johnson has moved from derision to absolute loathing
A perfect time to have as leader of the opposition a QC and ex Director of Public Prosecutions once described as the finest lawyer of his generation.
For once the stars look to be perfectly aligned.
And the time has come for Sir Keir Rodney Starmer to remove this charlatan from political life once and for all.
"someone described as the finest lawyer of his generation."
You are having a serious giraffe, mate. Those that can, prosecute. Those that can't, direct.
That's very funny and brought a welcome smile! However in the case of Sir Keir I'm assured that unlike most in his profession (and yours?) he was not motivated by lucre and preferred public service
He earned over £113,000 in legal advice while an MP and is alleged to have used his office in breach of the regulations
Angela Rayner had a torrid time with Marr yesterday over labours double standards
This is what may be the get out of jail card for the tories: second jobs are common across all the parties.
Back to COP26 for a moment. The simplicities of idiots have, so far, been decent predictors of actual progress. Is this idiot's guide COP26 about right:
1) CO2 emissions are both continuing and increasing in output year on year.
2) It is essential to halve emissions by 2030 - reduce to 50% of current levels.
3) COP26 puts us in line to reduce the additional annual amount of CO2 by 20%, not 50%.
4) 20% of 50% is 10% of 100%
5) COP26, if implemented, reduces the amount of annual extra CO2 by 2030 by 10% from its current level. We are still doing 90% of the damage we are doing now.
6) If the science is right this isn't going to work, and is nowhere close.
Where have I gone wrong?
I don't think you have, especially. The process will be an iterative one.
Consider the path to the current plans in the UK. And the fact that there is non-trivial political pressure to bring those further forward.
The surprise was signing up India and China to *anything*
The next step is to ratchet the progress - the fact that China and India have signed up to *something* takes alot of political pressure off Biden in the US, for example. There was a whole political thing built around "If India and China don't do anything, then we are mugs to do anything."
Which means, hopefully, more progress in the US. And, also hopefully, a new competition between India and China to promise more and more....
Doubt Biden will be able to get much green stuff through the rest of the US system any time soon. And he won't be able to get anything done at all after the midterms.
We shall see - a big prop of the "do nothing" types in the US has been kicked away.
It is also worth noting that quite a lot is being done by state governments in the US, away from the Republican logjam in Washington.
Except in Texas - because well it's Texas and you can't profiteer if outsiders can provide energy into your self-contained network.
Texas is installing wind capacity at a ridiculous rate. The lack of winterisation of the base load systems is another story, of course.
Which is an odd choice as most of it is quite a continental climate and not very windy. Yet large tracts of the state have vast amounts of sunshine.
Given how windy the NE Atlantic is and how shallow our surrounding continental shelf, Britain (and Ireland) really should be aiming for wind superpower status, harvesting and exporting power directly through interconnectors and embedded in hydrogen (and smelted metals).
Exactly. We are perfectly placed to be a superpower on clean energy both generating it and exporting it. And the Hydrogen point is simple - we aren't going to replace diseasal with batteries for large vehicles so we need Hydrogen. And the Good News is that you can use green energy to produce hydrogen - there's already a prototype under construction to produce hydrogen from seawater using off-shore wind.
We already have the platforms and pipelines and on-shore stations, we just need to transition from oil and gas to hydrogen...
Which answers how the Audi part of VW get into formula 1.
Wow, that came from nowhere!
Not happy with that. Farewell McLaren, hello Seat F1
Nah, it'll be Skoda F1.
Has amused me for years that the group that owns Porsche and Lamborghini also own Skoda.
In my youth Skodas were always known to break down a lot.
They were. It was only residual Czech engineering that made therm better than Trabants. However, they've now improved out of all recognition. I drive one. (not at the moment obvs)
And if Im not mistaken it was to get at the Skoda tank works that Hitler invaded Sudentenland in 1938.
Which answers how the Audi part of VW get into formula 1.
Wow, that came from nowhere!
Not happy with that. Farewell McLaren, hello Seat F1
Nah, it'll be Skoda F1.
Has amused me for years that the group that owns Porsche and Lamborghini also own Skoda.
In my youth Skodas were always known to break down a lot.
They were. It was only residual Czech engineering that made therm better than Trabants. However, they've now improved out of all recognition. I drive one. (not at the moment obvs)
Several years ago I was told that the Octavia was largely the same vehicle as the Passat and A4, the price differential was the name and the toys you could add on.
Which answers how the Audi part of VW get into formula 1.
Wow, that came from nowhere!
Not happy with that. Farewell McLaren, hello Seat F1
Nah, it'll be Skoda F1.
Has amused me for years that the group that owns Porsche and Lamborghini also own Skoda.
In my youth Skodas were always known to break down a lot.
They were. It was only residual Czech engineering that made therm better than Trabants. However, they've now improved out of all recognition. I drive one. (not at the moment obvs)
Several years ago I was told that the Octavia was largely the same vehicle as the Passat and A4, the price differential was the name and the toys you could add on.
Yep - they were near enough the same car.
For a while I had a Skoda Octavia Laurin & Klement edition, it matched all the VW trims and all but the top 2 Audi trims.
Which answers how the Audi part of VW get into formula 1.
Wow, that came from nowhere!
Not happy with that. Farewell McLaren, hello Seat F1
Nah, it'll be Skoda F1.
Has amused me for years that the group that owns Porsche and Lamborghini also own Skoda.
In my youth Skodas were always known to break down a lot.
They were. It was only residual Czech engineering that made therm better than Trabants. However, they've now improved out of all recognition. I drive one. (not at the moment obvs)
Several years ago I was told that the Octavia was largely the same vehicle as the Passat and A4, the price differential was the name and the toys you could add on.
I think that's right. Electric Skoda's are bit behind the VW's though.
Back to COP26 for a moment. The simplicities of idiots have, so far, been decent predictors of actual progress. Is this idiot's guide COP26 about right:
1) CO2 emissions are both continuing and increasing in output year on year.
2) It is essential to halve emissions by 2030 - reduce to 50% of current levels.
3) COP26 puts us in line to reduce the additional annual amount of CO2 by 20%, not 50%.
4) 20% of 50% is 10% of 100%
5) COP26, if implemented, reduces the amount of annual extra CO2 by 2030 by 10% from its current level. We are still doing 90% of the damage we are doing now.
6) If the science is right this isn't going to work, and is nowhere close.
Where have I gone wrong?
I don't think you have, especially. The process will be an iterative one.
Consider the path to the current plans in the UK. And the fact that there is non-trivial political pressure to bring those further forward.
The surprise was signing up India and China to *anything*
The next step is to ratchet the progress - the fact that China and India have signed up to *something* takes alot of political pressure off Biden in the US, for example. There was a whole political thing built around "If India and China don't do anything, then we are mugs to do anything."
Which means, hopefully, more progress in the US. And, also hopefully, a new competition between India and China to promise more and more....
Doubt Biden will be able to get much green stuff through the rest of the US system any time soon. And he won't be able to get anything done at all after the midterms.
We shall see - a big prop of the "do nothing" types in the US has been kicked away.
It is also worth noting that quite a lot is being done by state governments in the US, away from the Republican logjam in Washington.
Except in Texas - because well it's Texas and you can't profiteer if outsiders can provide energy into your self-contained network.
Texas is installing wind capacity at a ridiculous rate. The lack of winterisation of the base load systems is another story, of course.
Which is an odd choice as most of it is quite a continental climate and not very windy. Yet large tracts of the state have vast amounts of sunshine.
Given how windy the NE Atlantic is and how shallow our surrounding continental shelf, Britain (and Ireland) really should be aiming for wind superpower status, harvesting and exporting power directly through interconnectors and embedded in hydrogen (and smelted metals).
Wind has crossed over to being cheaper than quite a few sources, in Texas
UK is building a number of interconnections which forms part of the growing network in the general area of Europe.
Yet we still, on average, import more electricity through interconnectors than we export. Largely because French nuclear power offers a low carbon option when renewables aren't firing sufficiently.
The UK approach to date seems to be to aim for something close to self-sufficiency but not, unlike say Iceland's strategy with geothermal or Norway's with hydro, to invest enough to generate significant surplus energy that can be exported or embedded in production.
Which answers how the Audi part of VW get into formula 1.
Wow, that came from nowhere!
Not happy with that. Farewell McLaren, hello Seat F1
Nah, it'll be Skoda F1.
Has amused me for years that the group that owns Porsche and Lamborghini also own Skoda.
In my youth Skodas were always known to break down a lot.
They were. It was only residual Czech engineering that made therm better than Trabants. However, they've now improved out of all recognition. I drive one. (not at the moment obvs)
Several years ago I was told that the Octavia was largely the same vehicle as the Passat and A4, the price differential was the name and the toys you could add on.
Yep - they were near enough the same car.
For a while I had a Skoda Octavia Laurin & Klement edition, it matched all the VW trims and all but the top 2 Audi trims.
It's the reason why so many taxi drivers bought Octavias.
Paul Mainwood @PaulMainwood · 25m Booster dose cuts your chances of getting infected with Delta by at least 7x-9x vs being double-vaccinated. UK real-world data with Pfizer & AZ.
Will this be it, or will more boosters be needed?
No-one knows.
Unless you know what the chances are of getting inflected when double vaxxed then the 7x - 9x is a meaningless stat. What am I multiplying or dividing by 7 or 9? It could make a huge difference or little at all.
Does anyone give that info?
It's not totally meaningless. Unless transmission amongst double-vaccinated people is zero this is good news.
Yes it is good news. It's just my lifetime rant, normally at the press because they pick up science stuff they don't understand, and get it wrong or only produce half the data making it very annoying.
My favourite is always when stuff orbits the earth docking with something else or the best was a lander onto a comet and for effect they refer to the velocity relative to the earth. Meaningless but impressively large number. If meaningful there would be a lot of debris.
Yep, I know where you're coming from. Like the X triples cancer risk claims you see now and again. Where the baseline risk is 1 in 100 million or so.
Having said that, the infection risks when double vaxxed are non-negligible - it's what, 60-70% reduction (alowing for some waning of protection over time - more if recently vaxxed) compared to unvaxxed? So say infection on a typical exposure happens in 50% of cases (plucked from my posterior, no useful definition for a 'typical' exposure anyway) then double vax gets you to 20% chance (assume 60% reduction) and booster drops you to 2-3%. So it's likely this is still clinically very significant.
Edit: Of course, to get something really meaningful, you still need to add in the risk of a 'typical' exposure. No idea on that - could get some guess from the ONS figures on 1 in X infected and work out how many people you see in a week, but then the infected tend to isolate.....
Paul Mainwood @PaulMainwood · 25m Booster dose cuts your chances of getting infected with Delta by at least 7x-9x vs being double-vaccinated. UK real-world data with Pfizer & AZ.
Will this be it, or will more boosters be needed?
No-one knows.
Unless you know what the chances are of getting inflected when double vaxxed then the 7x - 9x is a meaningless stat. What am I multiplying or dividing by 7 or 9? It could make a huge difference or little at all.
Does anyone give that info?
It's not totally meaningless. Unless transmission amongst double-vaccinated people is zero this is good news.
Yes it is good news. It's just my lifetime rant, normally at the press because they pick up science stuff they don't understand, and get it wrong or only produce half the data making it very annoying.
My favourite is always when stuff orbits the earth docking with something else or the best was a lander onto a comet and for effect they refer to the velocity relative to the earth. Meaningless but impressively large number. If meaningful there would be a lot of debris.
Yep, I know where you're coming from. Like the X triples cancer risk claims you see now and again. Where the baseline risk is 1 in 100 million or so.
Having said that, the infection risks when double vaxxed are non-negligible - it's what, 60-70% reduction (alowing for some waning of protection over time - more if recently vaxxed) compared to unvaxxed? So say infection on a typical exposure happens in 50% of cases (plucked from my posterior, no useful definition for a 'typical' exposure anyway) then double vax gets you to 20% chance (assume 60% reduction) and booster drops you to 2-3%. So it's likely this is still clinically very significant.
And AZ drops off more sharply than pfizer, so a pfizer boost is good news
Which answers how the Audi part of VW get into formula 1.
I hope that doesn't mean the end of the McLaren brand in F1.
A very storied team in the history of F1.
Pay close attention to what happens to the old cars and trophies...
I fear they won't be staying in Woking.
They'll stay there, I'm sure. That area to the West and SW of London is the world centre for F1 technology and expertise. Many of the non-UK teams have hubs in the area.
Which answers how the Audi part of VW get into formula 1.
Wow, that came from nowhere!
Not happy with that. Farewell McLaren, hello Seat F1
Nah, it'll be Skoda F1.
Has amused me for years that the group that owns Porsche and Lamborghini also own Skoda.
In my youth Skodas were always known to break down a lot.
They were. It was only residual Czech engineering that made therm better than Trabants. However, they've now improved out of all recognition. I drive one. (not at the moment obvs)
Several years ago I was told that the Octavia was largely the same vehicle as the Passat and A4, the price differential was the name and the toys you could add on.
I think that's right. Electric Skoda's are bit behind the VW's though.
You have to look at the priorities there.
VW/ Audi are the lead brands, Skoda and Seat / Cupra secondary at the moment. I suspect Skoda / Seat will start producing more EVs as production capacity and chip shortages are fixed.
Which answers how the Audi part of VW get into formula 1.
I hope that doesn't mean the end of the McLaren brand in F1.
A very storied team in the history of F1.
Pay close attention to what happens to the old cars and trophies...
I fear they won't be staying in Woking.
They'll stay there, I'm sure. That area to the West and SW of London is the world centre for F1 technology and expertise. Many of the non-UK teams have hubs in the area.
Oh the team will stay there, that's for certain. It's the history that I'm concerned about. Rumour has it that it's now in a separate company.
Sad news about McLaren being bought. That's a big piece of UK automotive and racing history falling into the hands of Germany. Once again, how do foreign investors see so much value in UK companies where UK investors don't. We have a really big problem with investing in our own companies and future.
Paul Mainwood @PaulMainwood · 25m Booster dose cuts your chances of getting infected with Delta by at least 7x-9x vs being double-vaccinated. UK real-world data with Pfizer & AZ.
Will this be it, or will more boosters be needed?
No-one knows.
Unless you know what the chances are of getting inflected when double vaxxed then the 7x - 9x is a meaningless stat. What am I multiplying or dividing by 7 or 9? It could make a huge difference or little at all.
Does anyone give that info?
It's not totally meaningless. Unless transmission amongst double-vaccinated people is zero this is good news.
Yes it is good news. It's just my lifetime rant, normally at the press because they pick up science stuff they don't understand, and get it wrong or only produce half the data making it very annoying.
My favourite is always when stuff orbits the earth docking with something else or the best was a lander onto a comet and for effect they refer to the velocity relative to the earth. Meaningless but impressively large number. If meaningful there would be a lot of debris.
Yep, I know where you're coming from. Like the X triples cancer risk claims you see now and again. Where the baseline risk is 1 in 100 million or so.
Having said that, the infection risks when double vaxxed are non-negligible - it's what, 60-70% reduction (alowing for some waning of protection over time - more if recently vaxxed) compared to unvaxxed? So say infection on a typical exposure happens in 50% of cases (plucked from my posterior, no useful definition for a 'typical' exposure anyway) then double vax gets you to 20% chance (assume 60% reduction) and booster drops you to 2-3%. So it's likely this is still clinically very significant.
n=2 alert. Both Mrs C and I were double vaccinated by Easter. We both caught Covid, without being warned of a contact through Test & Trace, in early October. While asymptomatic, but presumably infectious, we stayed with Mrs C's brother & his wife, also double vaccinated, neither of whom have developed it!
Here's another question for anyone that might know
Google informs me total atmospheric weight is 5.5 quadrillion tons (Units will be USA)
1 millionth = 5.5 billion.
Globally we emit around 30 - 35 billion tonnes of CO2 per year.
Yet Mauna Loa CO2 levels:
October 2021: 413.93 ppm October 2020: 411.51 ppm
Which corresponds to ~ 13.3 billion tonnes net increase.
What's happening to the other 22 billion tonnes of CO2 ?
Ocean absorption ?
Ocean absorption is roughly 50% of emissions though has been faltering a little recently as carbonic acid levels rise. If there's a gap with the rest then I assume that would be sequestration in soils but I'm not aware of that having a net effect, in fact pretty sure soil is a net source due to agriculture.
Which answers how the Audi part of VW get into formula 1.
Wow, that came from nowhere!
Not happy with that. Farewell McLaren, hello Seat F1
Nah, it'll be Skoda F1.
Has amused me for years that the group that owns Porsche and Lamborghini also own Skoda.
In my youth Skodas were always known to break down a lot.
They were. It was only residual Czech engineering that made therm better than Trabants. However, they've now improved out of all recognition. I drive one. (not at the moment obvs)
Several years ago I was told that the Octavia was largely the same vehicle as the Passat and A4, the price differential was the name and the toys you could add on.
Yep - they were near enough the same car.
For a while I had a Skoda Octavia Laurin & Klement edition, it matched all the VW trims and all but the top 2 Audi trims.
It's the reason why so many taxi drivers bought Octavias.
Actually that was because Skoda kept on supplying the old (incredibly reliable) diesel engines (in their own taxi driver spec / trim) for years after the rest of the VW group had stopped selling them.
The final lines of the headline are telling - "and then what?"
A16 supposedly pushes both parties to fix in a timely manner the issue that prompted the triggering. As we have no proposals that are viable apart from "The EU need to drop all their arguments" this is not going to be a solution.
The simple truth is that we will swing into a trade war as by far the smaller party, will get hit harder by it, will de-escalate and we all find ourselves damaged but back in the exact place we started.
The EU are not about to cave and dismantle the single market. You'd think that our side would understand that by now. Then again with the reports as to how Johnson didn't understand things like the customs union as late as last summer, probably not.
Which answers how the Audi part of VW get into formula 1.
Wow, that came from nowhere!
Not happy with that. Farewell McLaren, hello Seat F1
Nah, it'll be Skoda F1.
Has amused me for years that the group that owns Porsche and Lamborghini also own Skoda.
In my youth Skodas were always known to break down a lot.
They were. It was only residual Czech engineering that made therm better than Trabants. However, they've now improved out of all recognition. I drive one. (not at the moment obvs)
Several years ago I was told that the Octavia was largely the same vehicle as the Passat and A4, the price differential was the name and the toys you could add on.
I think that's right. Electric Skoda's are bit behind the VW's though.
Are they? The id3/4 get reviewed as being badly built out of poor materials and are inefficient.
Paul Mainwood @PaulMainwood · 25m Booster dose cuts your chances of getting infected with Delta by at least 7x-9x vs being double-vaccinated. UK real-world data with Pfizer & AZ.
Will this be it, or will more boosters be needed?
No-one knows.
Unless you know what the chances are of getting inflected when double vaxxed then the 7x - 9x is a meaningless stat. What am I multiplying or dividing by 7 or 9? It could make a huge difference or little at all.
Does anyone give that info?
It's not totally meaningless. Unless transmission amongst double-vaccinated people is zero this is good news.
Yes it is good news. It's just my lifetime rant, normally at the press because they pick up science stuff they don't understand, and get it wrong or only produce half the data making it very annoying.
My favourite is always when stuff orbits the earth docking with something else or the best was a lander onto a comet and for effect they refer to the velocity relative to the earth. Meaningless but impressively large number. If meaningful there would be a lot of debris.
Yep, I know where you're coming from. Like the X triples cancer risk claims you see now and again. Where the baseline risk is 1 in 100 million or so.
Having said that, the infection risks when double vaxxed are non-negligible - it's what, 60-70% reduction (alowing for some waning of protection over time - more if recently vaxxed) compared to unvaxxed? So say infection on a typical exposure happens in 50% of cases (plucked from my posterior, no useful definition for a 'typical' exposure anyway) then double vax gets you to 20% chance (assume 60% reduction) and booster drops you to 2-3%. So it's likely this is still clinically very significant.
n=2 alert. Both Mrs C and I were double vaccinated by Easter. We both caught Covid, without being warned through Test & Trace, in early October. While asymptomatic, but presumably infectious, we stayed with Mrs C's brother & his wife, also double vaccinated, neither of whom have developed it
N is greater than 2 actually, I believe there's others on PB who have caught it/have close relatives who have caught it after 2x vaccs. It's very wrong of me, but I find reliable anecdote of that kind more compelling than large numbers, having evolved to monitor what is going on in the tribe.
Paul Mainwood @PaulMainwood · 25m Booster dose cuts your chances of getting infected with Delta by at least 7x-9x vs being double-vaccinated. UK real-world data with Pfizer & AZ.
Will this be it, or will more boosters be needed?
No-one knows.
Unless you know what the chances are of getting inflected when double vaxxed then the 7x - 9x is a meaningless stat. What am I multiplying or dividing by 7 or 9? It could make a huge difference or little at all.
Does anyone give that info?
It's not totally meaningless. Unless transmission amongst double-vaccinated people is zero this is good news.
Yes it is good news. It's just my lifetime rant, normally at the press because they pick up science stuff they don't understand, and get it wrong or only produce half the data making it very annoying.
My favourite is always when stuff orbits the earth docking with something else or the best was a lander onto a comet and for effect they refer to the velocity relative to the earth. Meaningless but impressively large number. If meaningful there would be a lot of debris.
Yep, I know where you're coming from. Like the X triples cancer risk claims you see now and again. Where the baseline risk is 1 in 100 million or so.
Having said that, the infection risks when double vaxxed are non-negligible - it's what, 60-70% reduction (alowing for some waning of protection over time - more if recently vaxxed) compared to unvaxxed? So say infection on a typical exposure happens in 50% of cases (plucked from my posterior, no useful definition for a 'typical' exposure anyway) then double vax gets you to 20% chance (assume 60% reduction) and booster drops you to 2-3%. So it's likely this is still clinically very significant.
n=2 alert. Both Mrs C and I were double vaccinated by Easter. We both caught Covid, without being warned of a contact through Test & Trace, in early October. While asymptomatic, but presumably infectious, we stayed with Mrs C's brother & his wife, also double vaccinated, neither of whom have developed it!
From that I conclude the the infection risk while double vaccinated is somewhere between 0 and 1
Back to COP26 for a moment. The simplicities of idiots have, so far, been decent predictors of actual progress. Is this idiot's guide COP26 about right:
1) CO2 emissions are both continuing and increasing in output year on year.
2) It is essential to halve emissions by 2030 - reduce to 50% of current levels.
3) COP26 puts us in line to reduce the additional annual amount of CO2 by 20%, not 50%.
4) 20% of 50% is 10% of 100%
5) COP26, if implemented, reduces the amount of annual extra CO2 by 2030 by 10% from its current level. We are still doing 90% of the damage we are doing now.
6) If the science is right this isn't going to work, and is nowhere close.
Where have I gone wrong?
I don't think you have, especially. The process will be an iterative one.
Consider the path to the current plans in the UK. And the fact that there is non-trivial political pressure to bring those further forward.
The surprise was signing up India and China to *anything*
The next step is to ratchet the progress - the fact that China and India have signed up to *something* takes alot of political pressure off Biden in the US, for example. There was a whole political thing built around "If India and China don't do anything, then we are mugs to do anything."
Which means, hopefully, more progress in the US. And, also hopefully, a new competition between India and China to promise more and more....
Doubt Biden will be able to get much green stuff through the rest of the US system any time soon. And he won't be able to get anything done at all after the midterms.
TBF there seems to be a lot of R&D stuff passing through various bills in Secret Congress. As in the UK the opposition is generally reluctant to give the president a win but you can still pass stuff if everybody agrees to keep quiet about it except to the extent that specific parts benefit everybody's individual district.
Sad news about McLaren being bought. That's a big piece of UK automotive and racing history falling into the hands of Germany. Once again, how do foreign investors see so much value in UK companies where UK investors don't. We have a really big problem with investing in our own companies and future.
It's nothing to do with being British or German. McLaren Automotive are too small and can't survive in a niche market. The two other subscale British manufacturers have had to give up in the powertrain business and partner with tier one OEMs for engines and electronic (Aston Martin with Mercedes and JLR with BMW). There is no comparable British company to VAG which could have acquired McLaren.
At least they didn't end up with the Chinese who will end up putting the badge on fucking junk (MG, Lotus).
Which answers how the Audi part of VW get into formula 1.
Wow, that came from nowhere!
Not happy with that. Farewell McLaren, hello Seat F1
Nah, it'll be Skoda F1.
Has amused me for years that the group that owns Porsche and Lamborghini also own Skoda.
In my youth Skodas were always known to break down a lot.
They were. It was only residual Czech engineering that made therm better than Trabants. However, they've now improved out of all recognition. I drive one. (not at the moment obvs)
Several years ago I was told that the Octavia was largely the same vehicle as the Passat and A4, the price differential was the name and the toys you could add on.
Yep. In the same way that a WV Touareg, Audi Q7, Porsche Cayenne, Bentley Bentayga and Lambo Urus are all the same car.
WV are really good at sharing technical platforms across their brands, and also really good at marketing them separately with wildly different price points.
Sad news about McLaren being bought. That's a big piece of UK automotive and racing history falling into the hands of Germany. Once again, how do foreign investors see so much value in UK companies where UK investors don't. We have a really big problem with investing in our own companies and future.
That latter point is massive. Me and thee don't often agree but this is precisely the point I have been making for years - we only seem to appreciate the immediate and very short term value - this quarter's profit forecast and money that can be made flogging something off.
The Germans - and us in the past prior to the 80s - recognise the long term asset and invest heavily to maintain their value. Which is how we end up owning so little and having so little control even of big strategic national assets.
The final lines of the headline are telling - "and then what?"
A16 supposedly pushes both parties to fix in a timely manner the issue that prompted the triggering. As we have no proposals that are viable apart from "The EU need to drop all their arguments" this is not going to be a solution.
The simple truth is that we will swing into a trade war as by far the smaller party, will get hit harder by it, will de-escalate and we all find ourselves damaged but back in the exact place we started.
The EU are not about to cave and dismantle the single market. You'd think that our side would understand that by now. Then again with the reports as to how Johnson didn't understand things like the customs union as late as last summer, probably not.
The EU are going to cave as they have no alternative.
The only alternative to have a trade war is that they build border posts in the border of Ireland to Northern Ireland, in order to charge tariffs they need to in order to have the trade war.
If they don't do that, their bluff has been called, and its over.
Comments
On the downside, do we now get credited with their emissions?
Hope you get a decent night's sleep tonight and find yourself considerable improved on Day 5.
Have you been asked to do an antibody test by the NHS?
20% of 50% is 40% of the target. Sounds counterintuitive but 20/50 = 40% not 10%
The CBMD was always, really, London based.
Adil Rashid corroborates Azeem Rafiq's claims against Michael Vaughan.
https://twitter.com/georgedobell1/status/1460158463963762689?s=21
It is also worth noting that quite a lot is being done by state governments in the US, away from the Republican logjam in Washington.
(I’ve met most of my heroes, they were uniformly brilliant.)
How can leaders tackle environmental problems when they are focusing only on one issue with scant regard for loss of habitat and biodiversity and overall human population - and when there are limitations to what their electorates will support when they see the effects needed on their own lives.
Very cloudy there today, looking at the webcams! @malcolmg
Angela Rayner had a torrid time with Marr yesterday over labours double standards
And no, Daily Mail, £100k doesn’t buy you a “Private Jet”, it gets you a share in a four seat, propellor-driven Cessna if you’re lucky.
@PaulMainwood
·
25m
Booster dose cuts your chances of getting infected with Delta by at least 7x-9x vs being double-vaccinated. UK real-world data with Pfizer & AZ.
Will this be it, or will more boosters be needed?
No-one knows.
How do I know if I have a cold or COVID-19?
At the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, the main distinguishing symptoms of COVID-19 were thought to be fever, cough and loss of smell (anosmia), often known as the ‘classic three or triad’. Thanks to millions of health reports from our ZOE COVID Study app contributors, we now know that there are more than 20 symptoms of COVID-19, including headache, runny nose, sneezing and sore throat.
Over the past 18 months the pattern of symptoms has changed as the virus has evolved and more people have been vaccinated. Many of the symptoms of COVID-19 are now the same as a regular cold, especially for people who have received two doses of the vaccine, making it hard to tell the difference.
Take a look at the lists below to know which of the most common COVID-19 symptoms you should be looking out for, depending on whether you’ve been vaccinated or not. Our data shows that loss of smell (anosmia) or loss of taste is still one of the most important predictors of testing positive for COVID-19 rather than a regular cold, so it’s an important symptom to look out for, whether you’ve been vaccinated or not.
You can check your sense of smell easily at home by sniffing scented foods or products, or noticing whether familiar foods start to lose their flavour or taste strange.
Currently, the most common COVID-19 symptoms in people who have been fully vaccinated ( as of the 21/09/21) are:
Runny nose
Headache
Sneezing
Sore throat
Loss of smell (anosmia)
(complicated by reports of the bad cold currently doing the rounds apparently coming with a bad cough)
However, every now and then, a numpty in middle management at Luton would start claiming that the gliding club was a hazard and should be shutdown. It transpired in each case that the numpty in question had no idea about aviation, but was just being an idiot.
MoS yesterday ran with the story of Shapps having “His Own £100,000 PRIVATE JET” (their caps), but now appear to have toned down the story somewhat, showing a pic of a 6-seat Piper.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10200907/Transport-Secretary-pilot-Grant-Shapps-accused-lobbying-Government-save-airfields.html
https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/business-finance-and-corporate/audi-buys-mclaren-group-secure-formula-1-entry
Which answers how the Audi part of VW get into formula 1.
Does anyone give that info?
Certainly the government was buying capacity and planning for boosters from early this year.
His coverage of the Rafiq affair has been characteristically sane, balanced and honest.
I seem to be in agreement wirh TSE (always a worrying sign) that MV's position now looks very difficult. I am sad about it, because I think he's a great cricket commentator, but the evidence is out there now and it will be difficult for him to overcome it.
Given how windy the NE Atlantic is and how shallow our surrounding continental shelf, Britain (and Ireland) really should be aiming for wind superpower status, harvesting and exporting power directly through interconnectors and embedded in hydrogen (and smelted metals).
A very storied team in the history of F1.
f(Population Movement, Current infection level, Time since second dose, base infection level of current variant, current aggregate population immunity level).
Has amused me for years that the group that owns Porsche and Lamborghini also own Skoda.
In my youth Skodas were always known to break down a lot.
UK is building a number of interconnections which forms part of the growing network in the general area of Europe.
So the efficacy is simply f(Time since third)/f(Time since second).
The other parts of the function matter for your absolute chance to be infected but not the relative risk compared to a 2 dosed individual.
My favourite is always when stuff orbits the earth docking with something else or the best was a lander onto a comet and for effect they refer to the velocity relative to the earth. Meaningless but impressively large number. If meaningful there would be a lot of debris.
Will be a real shame to lose McLaren as an F1 team.
I fear they won't be staying in Woking.
I assume the plan is to position the brand between Lamborghini and Bugatti but they'll have to sort out the abysmal build quality.
We already have the platforms and pipelines and on-shore stations, we just need to transition from oil and gas to hydrogen...
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-59256153
And if Im not mistaken it was to get at the Skoda tank works that Hitler invaded Sudentenland in 1938.
Very expensive way to buy an F1 team.
Removing a competitor from the market, perhaps.
For a while I had a Skoda Octavia Laurin & Klement edition, it matched all the VW trims and all but the top 2 Audi trims.
The UK approach to date seems to be to aim for something close to self-sufficiency but not, unlike say Iceland's strategy with geothermal or Norway's with hydro, to invest enough to generate significant surplus energy that can be exported or embedded in production.
Having said that, the infection risks when double vaxxed are non-negligible - it's what, 60-70% reduction (alowing for some waning of protection over time - more if recently vaxxed) compared to unvaxxed? So say infection on a typical exposure happens in 50% of cases (plucked from my posterior, no useful definition for a 'typical' exposure anyway) then double vax gets you to 20% chance (assume 60% reduction) and booster drops you to 2-3%. So it's likely this is still clinically very significant.
Edit: Of course, to get something really meaningful, you still need to add in the risk of a 'typical' exposure. No idea on that - could get some guess from the ONS figures on 1 in X infected and work out how many people you see in a week, but then the infected tend to isolate.....
A smug boostee
Google informs me total atmospheric weight is 5.5 quadrillion tons (Units will be USA)
1 millionth = 5.5 billion.
Globally we emit around 30 - 35 billion tonnes of CO2 per year.
Yet Mauna Loa CO2 levels:
October 2021: 413.93 ppm
October 2020: 411.51 ppm
Which corresponds to ~ 13.3 billion tonnes net increase.
What's happening to the other 22 billion tonnes of CO2 ?
Ocean absorption ?
VW/ Audi are the lead brands, Skoda and Seat / Cupra secondary at the moment. I suspect Skoda / Seat will start producing more EVs as production capacity and chip shortages are fixed.
Both Mrs C and I were double vaccinated by Easter. We both caught Covid, without being warned of a contact through Test & Trace, in early October. While asymptomatic, but presumably infectious, we stayed with Mrs C's brother & his wife, also double vaccinated, neither of whom have developed it!
Half an hour of automotive pornography: https://youtube.com/watch?v=2ywyyScPB1E
A16 supposedly pushes both parties to fix in a timely manner the issue that prompted the triggering. As we have no proposals that are viable apart from "The EU need to drop all their arguments" this is not going to be a solution.
The simple truth is that we will swing into a trade war as by far the smaller party, will get hit harder by it, will de-escalate and we all find ourselves damaged but back in the exact place we started.
The EU are not about to cave and dismantle the single market. You'd think that our side would understand that by now. Then again with the reports as to how Johnson didn't understand things like the customs union as late as last summer, probably not.
The answer to my question, and I think to yours too
https://skepticalscience.com/print.php?r=45
The UK is likely to trigger it and that's being reported across the media not just LauraK.
With the evidence before us, saying unlikely would be spin. How is saying likely spin?
At least they didn't end up with the Chinese who will end up putting the badge on fucking junk (MG, Lotus).
WV are really good at sharing technical platforms across their brands, and also really good at marketing them separately with wildly different price points.
The Germans - and us in the past prior to the 80s - recognise the long term asset and invest heavily to maintain their value. Which is how we end up owning so little and having so little control even of big strategic national assets.
The only alternative to have a trade war is that they build border posts in the border of Ireland to Northern Ireland, in order to charge tariffs they need to in order to have the trade war.
If they don't do that, their bluff has been called, and its over.