They aren't being eased too early. Most of the population have been double vaccinated and had their boosters and the hospitalisation rate is falling.
The main reason Johnson has cut the Labour lead from 10%+ after partygate to 5% now is he ended restrictions. Thus winning back Tory voters who went to ReformUK or DK after Plan B
Tonight's RedfieldWilton poll's details are a horror show for Boris
Labour only 6% ahead in tonight's RedfieldWilton is hardly a horror show
But Boris and Sunak’s ratings in free fall at same time proves Big G is right.
Sunak's ratings in free fall is surely good for Boris? The only way he is replaced as Tory leader and PM is Labour over 10% ahead, they aren't and Sunak far more popular than he is
Sunak +4
Boris - 31
Boris is underwater no matter how you spin it
Sunak also down 6%, the trend is Boris' friend.
Even if Boris knows he probably cannot win the next general election if he drags Rishi down with him and at least rallies the Tory core vote he also knows he can at least stay PM until 2024.
5 years as PM is rather better than 3 years as PM, means he overtakes Heath whereas 3 years means he only ties with Callaghan, Brown and May
What a post to keep. “ the trend is Boris' friend “
You do realise you have posted “if Boris can’t win, he can at least ensure the Conservatives crash and burn with him” or have I just read it completely wrong?
They aren't being eased too early. Most of the population have been double vaccinated and had their boosters and the hospitalisation rate is falling.
The main reason Johnson has cut the Labour lead from 10%+ after partygate to 5% now is he ended restrictions. Thus winning back Tory voters who went to ReformUK or DK after Plan B
Tonight's RedfieldWilton poll's details are a horror show for Boris
Labour only 6% ahead in tonight's RedfieldWilton is hardly a horror show
But Boris and Sunak’s ratings in free fall at same time proves Big G is right.
Sunak's ratings in free fall is surely good for Boris? The only way he is replaced as Tory leader and PM is Labour over 10% ahead, they aren't and Sunak far more popular than he is
Sunak +4
Boris - 31
Boris is underwater no matter how you spin it
Sunak also down 6%, the trend is Boris' friend.
Even if Boris knows he probably cannot win the next general election if he drags Rishi down with him and at least rallies the Tory core vote he also knows he can at least stay PM until 2024.
5 years as PM is rather better than 3 years as PM, means he overtakes Heath whereas 3 years means he only ties with Callaghan, Brown and May
What a post to keep. “ the trend is Boris' friend “
You do realise you have posted “if Boris can’t win, he can at least ensure the Conservatives crash and burn with him” or have I just read it completely wrong?
That is exactly how I read it - unbelievable
I pretty much read it as that. Only Boris - or the ruins of a party
Russian peacekeeping troops on their way to the Donbass Republic...
I see that finally, people are noticing that Putin is a Greater Russian Nationalist.
Bit late. But hey.....
Just a street thug with grandiose pretentions.
That's what they all are.
Stalin - that is literally what he was Saddam Hussein - who liked to bang on about how he was the inheritor (and leader) of Bathtub Arab National Socialism. Mao - literally. Murdered bags of the intellectual commies to get the top spot. Mussolini - say no more Hitler - the archetype.
In fact the closest we had to a cultured dictator with actual intellect was D'Annunzio - and he only ran Fiume for a bit....
They aren't being eased too early. Most of the population have been double vaccinated and had their boosters and the hospitalisation rate is falling.
The main reason Johnson has cut the Labour lead from 10%+ after partygate to 5% now is he ended restrictions. Thus winning back Tory voters who went to ReformUK or DK after Plan B
Tonight's RedfieldWilton poll's details are a horror show for Boris
Labour only 6% ahead in tonight's RedfieldWilton is hardly a horror show
But Boris and Sunak’s ratings in free fall at same time proves Big G is right.
Sunak's ratings in free fall is surely good for Boris? The only way he is replaced as Tory leader and PM is Labour over 10% ahead, they aren't and Sunak far more popular than he is
Sunak +4
Boris - 31
Boris is underwater no matter how you spin it
Sunak also down 6%, the trend is Boris' friend.
Even if Boris knows he probably cannot win the next general election if he drags Rishi down with him and at least rallies the Tory core vote he also knows he can at least stay PM until 2024.
5 years as PM is rather better than 3 years as PM, means he overtakes Heath whereas 3 years means he only ties with Callaghan, Brown and May
What a post to keep. “ the trend is Boris' friend “
You do realise you have posted “if Boris can’t win, he can at least ensure the Conservatives crash and burn with him” or have I just read it completely wrong?
No, he can ensure Sunak crashes and burns. As long as he keeps the Labour lead from getting too high and Sunak does not look like beating Starmer either then Boris is safe
Your worship of Boris is extraordinary and blinds you to reality
Russian peacekeeping troops on their way to the Donbass Republic...
I see that finally, people are noticing that Putin is a Greater Russian Nationalist.
Bit late. But hey.....
Yes I admit I was a bit wrong last week, where I posted someone worse could replace him. After today there can be no doubt, anyone in Russia could replace this loony tomorrow and it would be an improvement. 👍🏻
For those who say it is too early, what are you trying to achieve with the restrictions still in place?
Everybody is going to get covid, its just a fact. Covid isn't going away for many many years ( if ever). 98% of the population have antibodies. Everybody can get vaccinated at any time and 4th shots for vulnerable coming. Antivirals are now available for them too. And the NHS is in no danger of being overrun by it.
So what do restrictions actually achieve, a little bit of curve flattening in the short term?
So as usual over the past 2 years, it is a dumb as shit question from the media.
Existing restrictions are minimal. Ending isolation of positives, sick pay for positives and freely availible testing have nothing really to do with freedom, just about saving money. I think all of those could reasonably be said to be ending too soon.
Indeed. Perhaps there are ways and means. I have been in the booze’n’pork back room of a supermarket in Morocco, but Iran is presumably vastly worse.
I have a close friend who speaks Farsi and has spent several years in Iran. The irony is that booze IS genuinely difficult to get, but heroin, cocaine, weed, benzos and now synthetic opioids? No problem
The Koranic edicts against booze are tipping Iran into a a major drug problem
The Kremlin has ordered Russia’s defense ministry to deploy troops in two Russia-backed separatist territories that have loomed large in the conflict over Ukraine.
They aren't being eased too early. Most of the population have been double vaccinated and had their boosters and the hospitalisation rate is falling.
The main reason Johnson has cut the Labour lead from 10%+ after partygate to 5% now is he ended restrictions. Thus winning back Tory voters who went to ReformUK or DK after Plan B
Tonight's RedfieldWilton poll's details are a horror show for Boris
Labour only 6% ahead in tonight's RedfieldWilton is hardly a horror show
Indeed. Perhaps there are ways and means. I have been in the booze’n’pork back room of a supermarket in Morocco, but Iran is presumably vastly worse.
I have a close friend who speaks Farsi and has spent several years in Iran. The irony is that booze IS genuinely difficult to get, but heroin, cocaine, weed, benzos and now synthetic opioids? No problem
The Koranic edicts against booze are tipping Iran into a a major drug problem
Interesting. Spoils my idea of opening an alcohol rehab centre for Westerners in Iran then :-)
Indeed. Perhaps there are ways and means. I have been in the booze’n’pork back room of a supermarket in Morocco, but Iran is presumably vastly worse.
I have a close friend who speaks Farsi and has spent several years in Iran. The irony is that booze IS genuinely difficult to get, but heroin, cocaine, weed, benzos and now synthetic opioids? No problem
The Koranic edicts against booze are tipping Iran into a a major drug problem
My dad used to work in Saudi Arabia and said getting booze was never a problem, at least for Westerners, it was just bloody expensive so they'd try to make their own. That was back in the 70s though.
Indeed. Perhaps there are ways and means. I have been in the booze’n’pork back room of a supermarket in Morocco, but Iran is presumably vastly worse.
I have a close friend who speaks Farsi and has spent several years in Iran. The irony is that booze IS genuinely difficult to get, but heroin, cocaine, weed, benzos and now synthetic opioids? No problem
The Koranic edicts against booze are tipping Iran into a a major drug problem
Alcohol is also a drug and as harmful if not more so than many illegal drugs. I'm not saying it's sensible to ban it (prohibition is ineffective and counterproductive in drugs policy generally), but I think a lot of people downplay quite how destructive alcohol is. We have a terrible problem with alcohol in this country.
They aren't being eased too early. Most of the population have been double vaccinated and had their boosters and the hospitalisation rate is falling.
The main reason Johnson has cut the Labour lead from 10%+ after partygate to 5% now is he ended restrictions. Thus winning back Tory voters who went to ReformUK or DK after Plan B
Tonight's RedfieldWilton poll's details are a horror show for Boris
Labour only 6% ahead in tonight's RedfieldWilton is hardly a horror show
For those who say it is too early, what are you trying to achieve with the restrictions still in place?
Everybody is going to get covid, its just a fact. Covid isn't going away for many many years ( if ever). 98% of the population have antibodies. Everybody can get vaccinated at any time and 4th shots for vulnerable coming. Antivirals are now available for them too. And the NHS is in no danger of being overrun by it.
So what do restrictions actually achieve, a little bit of curve flattening in the short term?
So as usual over the past 2 years, it is a dumb as shit question from the media.
Existing restrictions are minimal. Ending isolation of positives, sick pay for positives and freely availible testing have nothing really to do with freedom, just about saving money. I think all of those could reasonably be said to be ending too soon.
There has to be some cut off. What would say waiting until June rather than April achieve? People are going to be constantly getting COVID and they are constantly going to need some time off work. That is just the fact of the matter for the foreseeable future. We can't keep having people who aren't vulnerable or deal with vulnerable people on a daily basis test themselves 27 times a day, just because its free to get your LFT, and most people get sick pay if they are ill (if you want to argue for better sick pay from your employer, that's a different kettle of fish).
They aren't being eased too early. Most of the population have been double vaccinated and had their boosters and the hospitalisation rate is falling.
The main reason Johnson has cut the Labour lead from 10%+ after partygate to 5% now is he ended restrictions. Thus winning back Tory voters who went to ReformUK or DK after Plan B
Tonight's RedfieldWilton poll's details are a horror show for Boris
Labour only 6% ahead in tonight's RedfieldWilton is hardly a horror show
But Boris and Sunak’s ratings in free fall at same time proves Big G is right.
Sunak's ratings in free fall is surely good for Boris? The only way he is replaced as Tory leader and PM is Labour over 10% ahead, they aren't and Sunak far more popular than he is
Sunak +4
Boris - 31
Boris is underwater no matter how you spin it
Sunak also down 6%, the trend is Boris' friend.
Even if Boris knows he probably cannot win the next general election if he drags Rishi down with him and at least rallies the Tory core vote he also knows he can at least stay PM until 2024.
5 years as PM is rather better than 3 years as PM, means he overtakes Heath whereas 3 years means he only ties with Callaghan, Brown and May
What a post to keep. “ the trend is Boris' friend “
You do realise you have posted “if Boris can’t win, he can at least ensure the Conservatives crash and burn with him” or have I just read it completely wrong?
That is exactly how I read it - unbelievable
I pretty much read it as that. Only Boris - or the ruins of a party
Still an amazing 14% of respondents who think that the clown tells the truth.
Leave the crowds at Lake Bled and enjoy mountains, meadows and waterfalls.
The bit of Croatia up by the Hungarian border is supposed to be amazing
By the way, does anyone know why flying to Croatia is so expensive? Ryanair will do £20 to Zagreb, but all the London <-> Split and London <-> Dubrovnik flights, even with changes at Zagreb are about £200 return… was this true before Covid?
Indeed. Perhaps there are ways and means. I have been in the booze’n’pork back room of a supermarket in Morocco, but Iran is presumably vastly worse.
I have a close friend who speaks Farsi and has spent several years in Iran. The irony is that booze IS genuinely difficult to get, but heroin, cocaine, weed, benzos and now synthetic opioids? No problem
The Koranic edicts against booze are tipping Iran into a a major drug problem
Alcohol is also a drug and as harmful if not more so than many illegal drugs. I'm not saying it's sensible to ban it (prohibition is ineffective and counterproductive in drugs policy generally), but I think a lot of people downplay quite how destructive alcohol is. We have a terrible problem with alcohol in this country.
No we dont - alcohol has big advantages in terms of most people getting a lot of fun,relaxation and social interaction out of it .Lets not get all puritan
For those who say it is too early, what are you trying to achieve with the restrictions still in place?
Everybody is going to get covid, its just a fact. Covid isn't going away for many many years ( if ever). 98% of the population have antibodies. Everybody can get vaccinated at any time and 4th shots for vulnerable coming. Antivirals are now available for them too. And the NHS is in no danger of being overrun by it.
So what do restrictions actually achieve, a little bit of curve flattening in the short term?
So as usual over the past 2 years, it is a dumb as shit question from the media.
Existing restrictions are minimal. Ending isolation of positives, sick pay for positives and freely availible testing have nothing really to do with freedom, just about saving money. I think all of those could reasonably be said to be ending too soon.
I think the argument for winding down testing and isolation is that it isn’t doing much to stop omicron spreading, so why bother? I’d rather spend the 2 billion a month on other things.
The Kremlin has ordered Russia’s defense ministry to deploy troops in two Russia-backed separatist territories that have loomed large in the conflict over Ukraine.
NY Times blog
Do we have a fair idea of the kyiv leaning, Moscow leaning percentages in these latest annexed bits of Ukraine territory?
They aren't being eased too early. Most of the population have been double vaccinated and had their boosters and the hospitalisation rate is falling.
The main reason Johnson has cut the Labour lead from 10%+ after partygate to 5% now is he ended restrictions. Thus winning back Tory voters who went to ReformUK or DK after Plan B
Tonight's RedfieldWilton poll's details are a horror show for Boris
Labour only 6% ahead in tonight's RedfieldWilton is hardly a horror show
For those who say it is too early, what are you trying to achieve with the restrictions still in place?
Everybody is going to get covid, its just a fact. Covid isn't going away for many many years ( if ever). 98% of the population have antibodies. Everybody can get vaccinated at any time and 4th shots for vulnerable coming. Antivirals are now available for them too. And the NHS is in no danger of being overrun by it.
So what do restrictions actually achieve, a little bit of curve flattening in the short term?
So as usual over the past 2 years, it is a dumb as shit question from the media.
Existing restrictions are minimal. Ending isolation of positives, sick pay for positives and freely availible testing have nothing really to do with freedom, just about saving money. I think all of those could reasonably be said to be ending too soon.
If you have to isolate then it's obviously a restriction on your freedom. We don't do it for cases of other respiratory diseases.
If not now then when? Do you think Denmark, Sweden and Norway have all got it wrong?
Leave the crowds at Lake Bled and enjoy mountains, meadows and waterfalls.
The bit of Croatia up by the Hungarian border is supposed to be amazing
By the way, does anyone know why flying to Croatia is so expensive? Ryanair will do £20 to Zagreb, but all the London <-> Split and London <-> Dubrovnik flights, even with changes at Zagreb are about £200 return… was this true before Covid?
As non-EU their flights aren’t subsidised by the EU regional airports fund. Hence you’re actually simply paying the right price?
Russian peacekeeping troops on their way to the Donbass Republic...
I see that finally, people are noticing that Putin is a Greater Russian Nationalist.
Bit late. But hey.....
Just a street thug with grandiose pretentions.
That's what they all are.
Sta- that is literally what he was Saddam Hussein - who liked to bang on about how he was the inheritor (and leader) of Bathtub Arab National Socialism. Mao - literally. Murdered bags of the intellectual commies to get the top spot. Mussolini - say no more Hitler - the archetype.
In fact the closest we had to a cultured dictator with actual intellect was D'Annunzio - and he only ran Fiume for a bit....
I wish that were the case but it is not
Nearly all of those you cite were cunning and intelligent.
Stalin was brutally good at wielding power and fear, and fencing off his own emotions
Mao was a kind of genius, eg he knew just went to unleash the Cultural Revolution - then stop it
Hitler was a super orator (albeit florid for Anglo-Saxon tastes) and also a very gifted political operator in the round: the Swastika flag was his, and it is possibly the greatest piece of vexillological design in history
Mussolini was a thuggish, stupider copycat of d'Annunzio, agreed, and Hussein was just mafioso
But there is no point in denying some of these men had great talents. They just used them for evil purposes
On thread: No. My criticism of lockdowns is too many, too hard. The state should not have that power in principle. In practice, they are an ineffective tool. We can't cower for ever andhave already cowered too long.
Some credit to the government, because at times I honestly never thought we'd get here: I thought the pro-lockdown interests too entrenched. But only some. Because they have leapt too often to lockdowns on the basis of dodgy or insufficient evidence and have been too slow to unlock, again on the basis of dodgy or insufficient evidence. They have been in hock to the lockdown lobby, and that only really changed when Hancock was got rid of. Had it not been for Fraser Nelson's article finally alerting the Conservative Party to the paucity of the evidence on which decisions were being made, Boris would have had us in to a second winter lockdown. Because he's an idiot who doesn't know how to question evidence. But rather an idiot who arrives at the right answer eventually than someone who appears to believe in lockdown as a point of principle like his opposite number.
Leave the crowds at Lake Bled and enjoy mountains, meadows and waterfalls.
The bit of Croatia up by the Hungarian border is supposed to be amazing
By the way, does anyone know why flying to Croatia is so expensive? Ryanair will do £20 to Zagreb, but all the London <-> Split and London <-> Dubrovnik flights, even with changes at Zagreb are about £200 return… was this true before Covid?
As non-EU their flights aren’t subsidised by the EU regional airports fund. Hence you’re actually simply paying the right price?
“The Prime Minister will chair a COBR at 0630 tomorrow morning to discuss the latest developments in Ukraine and to coordinate the UK response including agreeing a significant package of sanctions to be introduced immediately.”
Indeed. Perhaps there are ways and means. I have been in the booze’n’pork back room of a supermarket in Morocco, but Iran is presumably vastly worse.
I have a close friend who speaks Farsi and has spent several years in Iran. The irony is that booze IS genuinely difficult to get, but heroin, cocaine, weed, benzos and now synthetic opioids? No problem
The Koranic edicts against booze are tipping Iran into a a major drug problem
Alcohol is also a drug and as harmful if not more so than many illegal drugs. I'm not saying it's sensible to ban it (prohibition is ineffective and counterproductive in drugs policy generally), but I think a lot of people downplay quite how destructive alcohol is. We have a terrible problem with alcohol in this country.
You are David Nutt and I claim my five pounds!
But seriously you are right. For most people alcohol is totally fine, but for some it’s a hideous curse. Whether that is the alcoholics on litres of vodka a day, or the fighting drunks who wreak such havoc under the influence, alcohol does cause a lot of grief.
Russian peacekeeping troops on their way to the Donbass Republic...
I see that finally, people are noticing that Putin is a Greater Russian Nationalist.
Bit late. But hey.....
Just a street thug with grandiose pretentions.
That's what they all are.
Sta- that is literally what he was Saddam Hussein - who liked to bang on about how he was the inheritor (and leader) of Bathtub Arab National Socialism. Mao - literally. Murdered bags of the intellectual commies to get the top spot. Mussolini - say no more Hitler - the archetype.
In fact the closest we had to a cultured dictator with actual intellect was D'Annunzio - and he only ran Fiume for a bit....
I wish that were the case but it is not
Nearly all of those you cite were cunning and intelligent.
Stalin was brutally good at wielding power and fear, and fencing off his own emotions
Mao was a kind of genius, eg he knew just went to unleash the Cultural Revolution - then stop it
Hitler was a super orator (albeit florid for Anglo-Saxon tastes) and also a very gifted political operator in the round: the Swastika flag was his, and it is possibly the greatest piece of vexillological design in history
Mussolini was a thuggish, stupider copycat of d'Annunzio, agreed, and Hussein was just mafioso
But there is no point in denying some of these men had great talents. They just used them for evil purposes
A bio I read about 20 years ago said Hussein had practically an entire library of books about Stalin.
Russian peacekeeping troops on their way to the Donbass Republic...
I see that finally, people are noticing that Putin is a Greater Russian Nationalist.
Bit late. But hey.....
Just a street thug with grandiose pretentions.
That's what they all are.
Sta- that is literally what he was Saddam Hussein - who liked to bang on about how he was the inheritor (and leader) of Bathtub Arab National Socialism. Mao - literally. Murdered bags of the intellectual commies to get the top spot. Mussolini - say no more Hitler - the archetype.
In fact the closest we had to a cultured dictator with actual intellect was D'Annunzio - and he only ran Fiume for a bit....
I wish that were the case but it is not
Nearly all of those you cite were cunning and intelligent.
Stalin was brutally good at wielding power and fear, and fencing off his own emotions
Mao was a kind of genius, eg he knew just went to unleash the Cultural Revolution - then stop it
Hitler was a super orator (albeit florid for Anglo-Saxon tastes) and also a very gifted political operator in the round: the Swastika flag was his, and it is possibly the greatest piece of vexillological design in history
Mussolini was a thuggish, stupider copycat of d'Annunzio, agreed, and Hussein was just mafioso
But there is no point in denying some of these men had great talents. They just used them for evil purposes
They aren't being eased too early. Most of the population have been double vaccinated and had their boosters and the hospitalisation rate is falling.
The main reason Johnson has cut the Labour lead from 10%+ after partygate to 5% now is he ended restrictions. Thus winning back Tory voters who went to ReformUK or DK after Plan B
Tonight's RedfieldWilton poll's details are a horror show for Boris
Labour only 6% ahead in tonight's RedfieldWilton is hardly a horror show
But Boris and Sunak’s ratings in free fall at same time proves Big G is right.
Sunak's ratings in free fall is surely good for Boris? The only way he is replaced as Tory leader and PM is Labour over 10% ahead, they aren't and Sunak far more popular than he is
Sunak +4
Boris - 31
Boris is underwater no matter how you spin it
Sunak also down 6%, the trend is Boris' friend.
Even if Boris knows he probably cannot win the next general election now if he drags Rishi down with him and at least rallies the Tory core vote he also knows he can at least stay PM until 2024.
5 years as PM is rather better than 3 years as PM, means he overtakes Heath whereas 3 years means he only ties with Callaghan, Brown and May
A pathetic response
Don't worry, I heard today they've installed Boris Johnson stickers in the urinals for people to aim at in a very working-class-tory East Midlands pub I used to frequent. He's a zombie PM. The magic's gone. It's never coming back. Even cowardly Conservative MPs will realise this soon.
Indeed. Perhaps there are ways and means. I have been in the booze’n’pork back room of a supermarket in Morocco, but Iran is presumably vastly worse.
I have a close friend who speaks Farsi and has spent several years in Iran. The irony is that booze IS genuinely difficult to get, but heroin, cocaine, weed, benzos and now synthetic opioids? No problem
The Koranic edicts against booze are tipping Iran into a a major drug problem
Alcohol is also a drug and as harmful if not more so than many illegal drugs. I'm not saying it's sensible to ban it (prohibition is ineffective and counterproductive in drugs policy generally), but I think a lot of people downplay quite how destructive alcohol is. We have a terrible problem with alcohol in this country.
There really is no comparison between the damage done by alcohol (substantial, I agree but also brings positives) with the apocalyptic disaster of a drug like Fentanyl
"‘The deadliest drug we’ve ever known’: author Sam Quinones on how fentanyl saturated the US"
They aren't being eased too early. Most of the population have been double vaccinated and had their boosters and the hospitalisation rate is falling.
The main reason Johnson has cut the Labour lead from 10%+ after partygate to 5% now is he ended restrictions. Thus winning back Tory voters who went to ReformUK or DK after Plan B
Tonight's RedfieldWilton poll's details are a horror show for Boris
Labour only 6% ahead in tonight's RedfieldWilton is hardly a horror show
But Boris and Sunak’s ratings in free fall at same time proves Big G is right.
Sunak's ratings in free fall is surely good for Boris? The only way he is replaced as Tory leader and PM is Labour over 10% ahead, they aren't and Sunak far more popular than he is
Sunak +4
Boris - 31
Boris is underwater no matter how you spin it
Sunak also down 6%, the trend is Boris' friend.
Even if Boris knows he probably cannot win the next general election now if he drags Rishi down with him and at least rallies the Tory core vote he also knows he can at least stay PM until 2024.
5 years as PM is rather better than 3 years as PM, means he overtakes Heath whereas 3 years means he only ties with Callaghan, Brown and May
A pathetic response
Don't worry, I heard today they've installed Boris Johnson stickers in the urinals for people to aim at in a very working-class-tory East Midlands pub I used to frequent. He's a zombie PM. The magic's gone. It's never coming back. Even cowardly Conservative MPs will realise this soon.
With apologies to Austin Powers: "Boris Johnson naked on a cold day! Boris Johnson naked on a cold day!"
They spent all night learning their lines. And still one of the fluffed it and Had to be reminded what he was there to say.
When I am unDictator of Britain I need to considered redecorating the Cabinet Office Briefing Room. I'm torn between
Comfy chairs, good acoustics, projection capability, head count reduction facilities integrated.... and
Standing meetings are briefer, more effective. Awesome head count reduction capability....
Standing meetings are so 21st Century, business like. but I would prefer something a bit more traditional - why not control everything, wars and all out of club chairs in a cosy room with a real fire? After all the most important thing there is the drinks cabinet?
Make sure you have proper funding like Boris did. Rely on the state budget for renovation and it will look like a tip.
For those who say it is too early, what are you trying to achieve with the restrictions still in place?
Everybody is going to get covid, its just a fact. Covid isn't going away for many many years ( if ever). 98% of the population have antibodies. Everybody can get vaccinated at any time and 4th shots for vulnerable coming. Antivirals are now available for them too. And the NHS is in no danger of being overrun by it.
So what do restrictions actually achieve, a little bit of curve flattening in the short term?
So as usual over the past 2 years, it is a dumb as shit question from the media.
Existing restrictions are minimal. Ending isolation of positives, sick pay for positives and freely availible testing have nothing really to do with freedom, just about saving money. I think all of those could reasonably be said to be ending too soon.
I think the argument for winding down testing and isolation is that it isn’t doing much to stop omicron spreading, so why bother? I’d rather spend the 2 billion a month on other things.
Where Labour should concentrate their criticism is on sick pay, where nothing has been done to improve it so that people can afford to take personal responsibility and stay home when ill (with whatever infectious disease).
That's a genuine disgrace.
I support winding down testing and all the rest, but they should be helping people to make the sensible choice.
For those who say it is too early, what are you trying to achieve with the restrictions still in place?
Everybody is going to get covid, its just a fact. Covid isn't going away for many many years ( if ever). 98% of the population have antibodies. Everybody can get vaccinated at any time and 4th shots for vulnerable coming. Antivirals are now available for them too. And the NHS is in no danger of being overrun by it.
So what do restrictions actually achieve, a little bit of curve flattening in the short term?
So as usual over the past 2 years, it is a dumb as shit question from the media.
Existing restrictions are minimal. Ending isolation of positives, sick pay for positives and freely availible testing have nothing really to do with freedom, just about saving money. I think all of those could reasonably be said to be ending too soon.
There has to be some cut off. What would say waiting until June rather than April achieve? People are going to be constantly getting COVID and they are constantly going to need some time off work. That is just the fact of the matter for the foreseeable future.
To many "living with covid" consists of ignoring it. I hope they don't live with HIV, or chlamydia the same way.
We have a new respiratory pathogen that is highly infectious, significantly dangerous to a minority of the population and prone to novel mutations.
Living with covid requires more than ignoring it. It needs attention to ventilation in crowded places, for those who are infected to minimise contact with others, a fresh look at how sick leave can work for those on ZHC and similar contracts, attention to cross infection particularly in hospitals and nursing homes, active sampling to pick up new variants promptly and updated vaccones etc etc. None of these are infringements of liberty or freedom, just sensible adaptions to allow living with covid.
They aren't being eased too early. Most of the population have been double vaccinated and had their boosters and the hospitalisation rate is falling.
The main reason Johnson has cut the Labour lead from 10%+ after partygate to 5% now is he ended restrictions. Thus winning back Tory voters who went to ReformUK or DK after Plan B
Tonight's RedfieldWilton poll's details are a horror show for Boris
Labour only 6% ahead in tonight's RedfieldWilton is hardly a horror show
But Boris and Sunak’s ratings in free fall at same time proves Big G is right.
Sunak's ratings in free fall is surely good for Boris? The only way he is replaced as Tory leader and PM is Labour over 10% ahead, they aren't and Sunak far more popular than he is
Sunak +4
Boris - 31
Boris is underwater no matter how you spin it
Sunak also down 6%, the trend is Boris' friend.
Even if Boris knows he probably cannot win the next general election now if he drags Rishi down with him and at least rallies the Tory core vote he also knows he can at least stay PM until 2024.
5 years as PM is rather better than 3 years as PM, means he overtakes Heath whereas 3 years means he only ties with Callaghan, Brown and May
A pathetic response
Don't worry, I heard today they've installed Boris Johnson stickers in the urinals for people to aim at in a very working-class-tory East Midlands pub I used to frequent. He's a zombie PM. The magic's gone. It's never coming back. Even cowardly Conservative MPs will realise this soon.
For those who say it is too early, what are you trying to achieve with the restrictions still in place?
Everybody is going to get covid, its just a fact. Covid isn't going away for many many years ( if ever). 98% of the population have antibodies. Everybody can get vaccinated at any time and 4th shots for vulnerable coming. Antivirals are now available for them too. And the NHS is in no danger of being overrun by it.
So what do restrictions actually achieve, a little bit of curve flattening in the short term?
So as usual over the past 2 years, it is a dumb as shit question from the media.
Existing restrictions are minimal. Ending isolation of positives, sick pay for positives and freely availible testing have nothing really to do with freedom, just about saving money. I think all of those could reasonably be said to be ending too soon.
I think the argument for winding down testing and isolation is that it isn’t doing much to stop omicron spreading, so why bother? I’d rather spend the 2 billion a month on other things.
Where Labour should concentrate their criticism is on sick pay, where nothing has been done to improve it so that people can afford to take personal responsibility and stay home when ill (with whatever infectious disease).
That's a genuine disgrace.
I support winding down testing and all the rest, but they should be helping people to make the sensible choice.
Due to having fessed up to suffering from excessive boredom during Lockdown, PB's resident flint-knapper @Leon was commissioned by CCHQ to knap the perfect sculpture of Boris Johnson! Finally able to take a break from knapping strangely shaped sex-toys, he accepted the work in a heartbeat, and got to sculpting the same day. Arduous work, but he felt that, over the course of several weeks of almost continuous knapping, that he got it almost completely spot on with just a little bit more required.
However, @Leon had found that he had knapped so meticulously that his hands were thoroughly knackered and sore. He wondered about taking some time off in order to finish off his masterpiece at a later date. Boris's office phoned him back reasonably promptly, but to @Leon's horror, he was told in no uncertain terms that he would lose his fee if he stopped work!
Indeed. Perhaps there are ways and means. I have been in the booze’n’pork back room of a supermarket in Morocco, but Iran is presumably vastly worse.
I have a close friend who speaks Farsi and has spent several years in Iran. The irony is that booze IS genuinely difficult to get, but heroin, cocaine, weed, benzos and now synthetic opioids? No problem
The Koranic edicts against booze are tipping Iran into a a major drug problem
Alcohol is also a drug and as harmful if not more so than many illegal drugs. I'm not saying it's sensible to ban it (prohibition is ineffective and counterproductive in drugs policy generally), but I think a lot of people downplay quite how destructive alcohol is. We have a terrible problem with alcohol in this country.
There really is no comparison between the damage done by alcohol (substantial, I agree but also brings positives) with the apocalyptic disaster of a drug like Fentanyl
"‘The deadliest drug we’ve ever known’: author Sam Quinones on how fentanyl saturated the US"
For those who say it is too early, what are you trying to achieve with the restrictions still in place?
Everybody is going to get covid, its just a fact. Covid isn't going away for many many years ( if ever). 98% of the population have antibodies. Everybody can get vaccinated at any time and 4th shots for vulnerable coming. Antivirals are now available for them too. And the NHS is in no danger of being overrun by it.
So what do restrictions actually achieve, a little bit of curve flattening in the short term?
So as usual over the past 2 years, it is a dumb as shit question from the media.
Existing restrictions are minimal. Ending isolation of positives, sick pay for positives and freely availible testing have nothing really to do with freedom, just about saving money. I think all of those could reasonably be said to be ending too soon.
There has to be some cut off. What would say waiting until June rather than April achieve? People are going to be constantly getting COVID and they are constantly going to need some time off work. That is just the fact of the matter for the foreseeable future.
To many "living with covid" consists of ignoring it. I hope they don't live with HIV, or chlamydia the same way.
We have a new respiratory pathogen that is highly infectious, significantly dangerous to a minority of the population and prone to novel mutations.
Living with covid requires more than ignoring it. It needs attention to ventilation in crowded places, for those who are infected to minimise contact with others, a fresh look at how sick leave can work for those on ZHC and similar contracts, attention to cross infection particularly in hospitals and nursing homes, active sampling to pick up new variants promptly and updated vaccones etc etc. None of these are infringements of liberty or freedom, just sensible adaptions to allow living with covid.
I honestly have no idea why the government scientists have agreed to the no need to isolate if you have symptoms. The rest of the stuff I can see, but that one is bonkers.
They spent all night learning their lines. And still one of the fluffed it and Had to be reminded what he was there to say.
When I am unDictator of Britain I need to considered redecorating the Cabinet Office Briefing Room. I'm torn between
Comfy chairs, good acoustics, projection capability, head count reduction facilities integrated.... and
Standing meetings are briefer, more effective. Awesome head count reduction capability....
Standing meetings are so 21st Century, business like. but I would prefer something a bit more traditional - why not control everything, wars and all out of club chairs in a cosy room with a real fire? After all the most important thing there is the drinks cabinet?
Make sure you have proper funding like Boris did. Rely on the state budget for renovation and it will look like a tip.
Indeed. Perhaps there are ways and means. I have been in the booze’n’pork back room of a supermarket in Morocco, but Iran is presumably vastly worse.
I have a close friend who speaks Farsi and has spent several years in Iran. The irony is that booze IS genuinely difficult to get, but heroin, cocaine, weed, benzos and now synthetic opioids? No problem
The Koranic edicts against booze are tipping Iran into a a major drug problem
Alcohol is also a drug and as harmful if not more so than many illegal drugs. I'm not saying it's sensible to ban it (prohibition is ineffective and counterproductive in drugs policy generally), but I think a lot of people downplay quite how destructive alcohol is. We have a terrible problem with alcohol in this country.
There really is no comparison between the damage done by alcohol (substantial, I agree but also brings positives) with the apocalyptic disaster of a drug like Fentanyl
"‘The deadliest drug we’ve ever known’: author Sam Quinones on how fentanyl saturated the US"
Fentanyl is largely a byproduct of prohibition though - the incentive to create ever more dense drugs to lower the transportation risk. It's quite shocking how Fentanyl has killed near enough double the people in San Fran since Feb 2020 than Covid. Regulation and testing is the way forward for drugs like ket and cocaine that are more or less ubiquitous among the young.
“The Prime Minister will chair a COBR at 0630 tomorrow morning to discuss the latest developments in Ukraine and to coordinate the UK response including agreeing a significant package of sanctions to be introduced immediately.”
Indeed. Perhaps there are ways and means. I have been in the booze’n’pork back room of a supermarket in Morocco, but Iran is presumably vastly worse.
I have a close friend who speaks Farsi and has spent several years in Iran. The irony is that booze IS genuinely difficult to get, but heroin, cocaine, weed, benzos and now synthetic opioids? No problem
The Koranic edicts against booze are tipping Iran into a a major drug problem
Alcohol is also a drug and as harmful if not more so than many illegal drugs. I'm not saying it's sensible to ban it (prohibition is ineffective and counterproductive in drugs policy generally), but I think a lot of people downplay quite how destructive alcohol is. We have a terrible problem with alcohol in this country.
There really is no comparison between the damage done by alcohol (substantial, I agree but also brings positives) with the apocalyptic disaster of a drug like Fentanyl
"‘The deadliest drug we’ve ever known’: author Sam Quinones on how fentanyl saturated the US"
This just shows how prohibition does not work. And also why decriminalization will not work. Without having a complete police state you can't stop drugs because the profitability is too large. The only way to get round that is to undercut the dealers by giving the stuff, or a viable, less deadly alternative, out at clinics. To be consumed on premises. You then have all the addicts in one place where you can focus on mental health treatment.
For those who say it is too early, what are you trying to achieve with the restrictions still in place?
Everybody is going to get covid, its just a fact. Covid isn't going away for many many years ( if ever). 98% of the population have antibodies. Everybody can get vaccinated at any time and 4th shots for vulnerable coming. Antivirals are now available for them too. And the NHS is in no danger of being overrun by it.
So what do restrictions actually achieve, a little bit of curve flattening in the short term?
So as usual over the past 2 years, it is a dumb as shit question from the media.
Existing restrictions are minimal. Ending isolation of positives, sick pay for positives and freely availible testing have nothing really to do with freedom, just about saving money. I think all of those could reasonably be said to be ending too soon.
There has to be some cut off. What would say waiting until June rather than April achieve? People are going to be constantly getting COVID and they are constantly going to need some time off work. That is just the fact of the matter for the foreseeable future.
To many "living with covid" consists of ignoring it. I hope they don't live with HIV, or chlamydia the same way.
We have a new respiratory pathogen that is highly infectious, significantly dangerous to a minority of the population and prone to novel mutations.
Living with covid requires more than ignoring it. It needs attention to ventilation in crowded places, for those who are infected to minimise contact with others, a fresh look at how sick leave can work for those on ZHC and similar contracts, attention to cross infection particularly in hospitals and nursing homes, active sampling to pick up new variants promptly and updated vaccones etc etc. None of these are infringements of liberty or freedom, just sensible adaptions to allow living with covid.
I honestly have no idea why the government scientists have agreed to the no need to isolate if you have symptoms. The rest of the stuff I can see, but that one is bonkers.
Guidance is the way to go on that - any and all semi-sensible employers won't let you go into work with symptoms, but barring people who having a sniffle from picking up essential supplies, and enforcing it via massive fines is stupid.
For those who say it is too early, what are you trying to achieve with the restrictions still in place?
Everybody is going to get covid, its just a fact. Covid isn't going away for many many years ( if ever). 98% of the population have antibodies. Everybody can get vaccinated at any time and 4th shots for vulnerable coming. Antivirals are now available for them too. And the NHS is in no danger of being overrun by it.
So what do restrictions actually achieve, a little bit of curve flattening in the short term?
So as usual over the past 2 years, it is a dumb as shit question from the media.
Existing restrictions are minimal. Ending isolation of positives, sick pay for positives and freely availible testing have nothing really to do with freedom, just about saving money. I think all of those could reasonably be said to be ending too soon.
If you have to isolate then it's obviously a restriction on your freedom. We don't do it for cases of other respiratory diseases.
If not now then when? Do you think Denmark, Sweden and Norway have all got it wrong?
The difference is that flu is much less infectious in its presymptomatic phase, hence people are isolated by being ill. Covid is most infectious in its pre-symptomatic phase, so much more transmission that way.
Dropping the legal requirement to a recommendation is reasonable in some sectors, but less so in others. Should care workers isolate when positive when working in old folks homes or cancer wards for example? And should they be able to access testing?
Russian peacekeeping troops on their way to the Donbass Republic...
I see that finally, people are noticing that Putin is a Greater Russian Nationalist.
Bit late. But hey.....
Just a street thug with grandiose pretentions.
That's what they all are.
Sta- that is literally what he was Saddam Hussein - who liked to bang on about how he was the inheritor (and leader) of Bathtub Arab National Socialism. Mao - literally. Murdered bags of the intellectual commies to get the top spot. Mussolini - say no more Hitler - the archetype.
In fact the closest we had to a cultured dictator with actual intellect was D'Annunzio - and he only ran Fiume for a bit....
I wish that were the case but it is not
Nearly all of those you cite were cunning and intelligent.
Stalin was brutally good at wielding power and fear, and fencing off his own emotions
Mao was a kind of genius, eg he knew just went to unleash the Cultural Revolution - then stop it
Hitler was a super orator (albeit florid for Anglo-Saxon tastes) and also a very gifted political operator in the round: the Swastika flag was his, and it is possibly the greatest piece of vexillological design in history
Mussolini was a thuggish, stupider copycat of d'Annunzio, agreed, and Hussein was just mafioso
But there is no point in denying some of these men had great talents. They just used them for evil purposes
D'Annunzio was a failure in the long term.
Fiume is now the Croat city of Rijeka...
They were all failures. The truly perceptive people who met them all spoke of a veneer of sophistication over the street thug.
They spent all night learning their lines. And still one of the fluffed it and Had to be reminded what he was there to say.
When I am unDictator of Britain I need to considered redecorating the Cabinet Office Briefing Room. I'm torn between
Comfy chairs, good acoustics, projection capability, head count reduction facilities integrated.... and
Standing meetings are briefer, more effective. Awesome head count reduction capability....
Standing meetings are so 21st Century, business like. but I would prefer something a bit more traditional - why not control everything, wars and all out of club chairs in a cosy room with a real fire? After all the most important thing there is the drinks cabinet?
Make sure you have proper funding like Boris did. Rely on the state budget for renovation and it will look like a tip.
What about
That’s the sort of thing. A tad too Dennis Wheatley though.
For those who say it is too early, what are you trying to achieve with the restrictions still in place?
Everybody is going to get covid, its just a fact. Covid isn't going away for many many years ( if ever). 98% of the population have antibodies. Everybody can get vaccinated at any time and 4th shots for vulnerable coming. Antivirals are now available for them too. And the NHS is in no danger of being overrun by it.
So what do restrictions actually achieve, a little bit of curve flattening in the short term?
So as usual over the past 2 years, it is a dumb as shit question from the media.
Existing restrictions are minimal. Ending isolation of positives, sick pay for positives and freely availible testing have nothing really to do with freedom, just about saving money. I think all of those could reasonably be said to be ending too soon.
There has to be some cut off. What would say waiting until June rather than April achieve? People are going to be constantly getting COVID and they are constantly going to need some time off work. That is just the fact of the matter for the foreseeable future.
To many "living with covid" consists of ignoring it. I hope they don't live with HIV, or chlamydia the same way.
We have a new respiratory pathogen that is highly infectious, significantly dangerous to a minority of the population and prone to novel mutations.
Living with covid requires more than ignoring it. It needs attention to ventilation in crowded places, for those who are infected to minimise contact with others, a fresh look at how sick leave can work for those on ZHC and similar contracts, attention to cross infection particularly in hospitals and nursing homes, active sampling to pick up new variants promptly and updated vaccones etc etc. None of these are infringements of liberty or freedom, just sensible adaptions to allow living with covid.
Nobody is ignoring it. Its a matter of what is actually effective. All these people testing themselves several times a day, or even school kids testing themselves twice a week, isn't going to do anything in the grand scheme of things. Omicron is so easily spread it still rips through schools with or without that testing. Even people isolating, unless they live on their own, rapidly and easily spread it other members of their household, often before they know it, which ensures continued transmission. Same with idea of crowded spaces, if we want crowded spaces, Omicron will infect regardless, and you don't need much time or exposure to the person (unlike original variant, where yes some of these measures had some impact).
The main things we can do is ensure ongoing surveying and sequencing (which is happening) and large amounts of vaccines / anti-virals (which is again happening, although I think we need bigger supply of anti-virals). And try to take some sensible steps among the sectors which deal with the most vulnerable.
The one thing that I think can be done, which Valance mentioned, there has to be very good plans in case we do need to ramp things up again.
BREAKING: The Biden admin has ordered all remaining State Department personnel out of Ukraine. The embassy had previously relocated from Kyiv to the western city of Lviv. Now they are shifting to Poland.
WATCH: Russian spy chief stumbles and expresses support for eastern Ukraine's annexation, to which Putin responds: "That’s not what we're talking about"
Body language experts will analyse that VT to death in years to come. Despair and reticence in their posture, despite so vociferously backing the annexation of Crimea just years before. Putin's ambitions go far beyond Ukraine, yet their posture speaks of a lack of confidence to be able to successfully subjugate 40m Ukrainians. There's a chance that the conscript bodybags/ashes coming back may do for Putin.
For those who say it is too early, what are you trying to achieve with the restrictions still in place?
Everybody is going to get covid, its just a fact. Covid isn't going away for many many years ( if ever). 98% of the population have antibodies. Everybody can get vaccinated at any time and 4th shots for vulnerable coming. Antivirals are now available for them too. And the NHS is in no danger of being overrun by it.
So what do restrictions actually achieve, a little bit of curve flattening in the short term?
So as usual over the past 2 years, it is a dumb as shit question from the media.
Existing restrictions are minimal. Ending isolation of positives, sick pay for positives and freely availible testing have nothing really to do with freedom, just about saving money. I think all of those could reasonably be said to be ending too soon.
There has to be some cut off. What would say waiting until June rather than April achieve? People are going to be constantly getting COVID and they are constantly going to need some time off work. That is just the fact of the matter for the foreseeable future.
To many "living with covid" consists of ignoring it. I hope they don't live with HIV, or chlamydia the same way.
We have a new respiratory pathogen that is highly infectious, significantly dangerous to a minority of the population and prone to novel mutations.
Living with covid requires more than ignoring it. It needs attention to ventilation in crowded places, for those who are infected to minimise contact with others, a fresh look at how sick leave can work for those on ZHC and similar contracts, attention to cross infection particularly in hospitals and nursing homes, active sampling to pick up new variants promptly and updated vaccones etc etc. None of these are infringements of liberty or freedom, just sensible adaptions to allow living with covid.
Nobody is ignoring it. Its a matter of what is actually effective. All these people testing themselves several times a day, or even school kids testing themselves twice a week, isn't going to do anything in the grand scheme of things. Omicron is so easily spread it still rips through schools with or without it. Even people isolating, unless they live on their own, rapidly and easily spread it other members of their household, often before they know it, which ensures continued transmission. Same with idea of crowded spaces, if we want crowded spaces, Omicron will infect regardless, and you don't need much time or exposure to the person (unlike original variant, where yes some of these measures had some impact).
The main things we can do is ensure ongoing surveying and sequencing (which is happening) and large amounts of vaccines / anti-virals (which is again happening, although I think we need bigger supply of anti-virals). And try to take some sensible steps among the sectors which deal with the most vulnerable.
The problem is that "the most vulnerable" and those that live with them, or meet them daily are quite a large percentage of the population.
I think the number of people testing even twice a week is small, those more than once a day approaching zero. Why stop LFTs completely? Perhaps restrict to 1 box per person per month for example, so frail grandparents can have visitors.
So the invasion has started. The extent of Putin's ambitions remains to be seen, but the next step surely trying to win control of the two eastern Ukraine regions (including the parts under Ukraine's control). That will mean direct conflict between the Russian and Ukrainian militaries that offers the pretext to extend further on the back of Russian casualties (real or imagined).
The question is whether he will be satisfied with linking up with the Crimea or extends into Kyiv. All very worrying regardless.
I hope the sanctions imposed tomorrow are serious rather than just baby steps.
Its worth noting South Korea, the poster child of test and trace, a population willing to be spied upon and a vast army of tracker (which they expanded only a couple of months ago and who work 24/7), plus a generally well behaved population who stick to the rules.
“The Prime Minister will chair a COBR at 0630 tomorrow morning to discuss the latest developments in Ukraine and to coordinate the UK response including agreeing a significant package of sanctions to be introduced immediately.”
For those who say it is too early, what are you trying to achieve with the restrictions still in place?
Everybody is going to get covid, its just a fact. Covid isn't going away for many many years ( if ever). 98% of the population have antibodies. Everybody can get vaccinated at any time and 4th shots for vulnerable coming. Antivirals are now available for them too. And the NHS is in no danger of being overrun by it.
So what do restrictions actually achieve, a little bit of curve flattening in the short term?
So as usual over the past 2 years, it is a dumb as shit question from the media.
Existing restrictions are minimal. Ending isolation of positives, sick pay for positives and freely availible testing have nothing really to do with freedom, just about saving money. I think all of those could reasonably be said to be ending too soon.
There has to be some cut off. What would say waiting until June rather than April achieve? People are going to be constantly getting COVID and they are constantly going to need some time off work. That is just the fact of the matter for the foreseeable future.
To many "living with covid" consists of ignoring it. I hope they don't live with HIV, or chlamydia the same way.
We have a new respiratory pathogen that is highly infectious, significantly dangerous to a minority of the population and prone to novel mutations.
Living with covid requires more than ignoring it. It needs attention to ventilation in crowded places, for those who are infected to minimise contact with others, a fresh look at how sick leave can work for those on ZHC and similar contracts, attention to cross infection particularly in hospitals and nursing homes, active sampling to pick up new variants promptly and updated vaccones etc etc. None of these are infringements of liberty or freedom, just sensible adaptions to allow living with covid.
Nobody is ignoring it. Its a matter of what is actually effective. All these people testing themselves several times a day, or even school kids testing themselves twice a week, isn't going to do anything in the grand scheme of things. Omicron is so easily spread it still rips through schools with or without it. Even people isolating, unless they live on their own, rapidly and easily spread it other members of their household, often before they know it, which ensures continued transmission. Same with idea of crowded spaces, if we want crowded spaces, Omicron will infect regardless, and you don't need much time or exposure to the person (unlike original variant, where yes some of these measures had some impact).
The main things we can do is ensure ongoing surveying and sequencing (which is happening) and large amounts of vaccines / anti-virals (which is again happening, although I think we need bigger supply of anti-virals). And try to take some sensible steps among the sectors which deal with the most vulnerable.
The problem is that "the most vulnerable" and those that live with them, or meet them daily are quite a large percentage of the population.
I think the number of people testing even twice a week is small, those more than once a day approaching zero. Why stop LFTs completely? Perhaps restrict to 1 box per person per month for example, so frail grandparents can have visitors.
Twice a week testing is currently all staff and students in education and child care settings.
Until April, you can still order a box of tests every 3 days. So if you are sensible you can easily stockpile plenty for your weekly visit to your elderly parent etc. They also aren't stopping for very vulnerable people, so I would think again, nothing stopping you sharing them.
They spent all night learning their lines. And still one of the fluffed it and Had to be reminded what he was there to say.
When I am unDictator of Britain I need to considered redecorating the Cabinet Office Briefing Room. I'm torn between
Comfy chairs, good acoustics, projection capability, head count reduction facilities integrated.... and
Standing meetings are briefer, more effective. Awesome head count reduction capability....
Standing meetings are so 21st Century, business like. but I would prefer something a bit more traditional - why not control everything, wars and all out of club chairs in a cosy room with a real fire? After all the most important thing there is the drinks cabinet?
Make sure you have proper funding like Boris did. Rely on the state budget for renovation and it will look like a tip.
What about
That’s the sort of thing. A tad too Dennis Wheatley though.
I was thinking gin, not Jinns.
Oh hell, let's just do what we always do. Hijack some nuclear weapons and hold the world hostage.
Also iSAGE: "By opening up in July the UK is undergoing a wildly dangerous experiment", "Christmas will be a disaster unless we lockdown now" "the modelling is right, the NHS will collapse next week" etc etc
We shouldn't expect anything other than glacially slow movement from IceAge.....
They aren't being eased too early. Most of the population have been double vaccinated and had their boosters and the hospitalisation rate is falling.
The main reason Johnson has cut the Labour lead from 10%+ after partygate to 5% now is he ended restrictions. Thus winning back Tory voters who went to ReformUK or DK after Plan B
Tonight's RedfieldWilton poll's details are a horror show for Boris
Labour only 6% ahead in tonight's RedfieldWilton is hardly a horror show
But Boris and Sunak’s ratings in free fall at same time proves Big G is right.
Sunak's ratings in free fall is surely good for Boris? The only way he is replaced as Tory leader and PM is Labour over 10% ahead, they aren't and Sunak far more popular than he is
Sunak +4
Boris - 31
Boris is underwater no matter how you spin it
Sunak also down 6%, the trend is Boris' friend.
Even if Boris knows he probably cannot win the next general election if he drags Rishi down with him and at least rallies the Tory core vote he also knows he can at least stay PM until 2024.
5 years as PM is rather better than 3 years as PM, means he overtakes Heath whereas 3 years means he only ties with Callaghan, Brown and May
What a post to keep. “ the trend is Boris' friend “
You do realise you have posted “if Boris can’t win, he can at least ensure the Conservatives crash and burn with him” or have I just read it completely wrong?
No, he can ensure Sunak crashes and burns. As long as he keeps the Labour lead from getting too high and Sunak does not look like beating Starmer either then Boris is safe
Your worship of Boris is extraordinary and blinds you to reality
One of the problems with HY is he expresses what he think might happen and what he think should happen in the same black and white, morally dispassionate way, without cues, so it is difficult to tell one from.the other, especially as he does seem to support some hard-line stuff.
But. distasteful or not, I think he is close to the mark on the thought processes and how power is exercised in the Johnson administration and thus how the game is likely to be played.
Body language experts will analyse that VT to death in years to come. Despair and reticence in their posture, despite so vociferously backing the annexation of Crimea just years before. Putin's ambitions go far beyond Ukraine, yet their posture speaks of a lack of confidence to be able to successfully subjugate 40m Ukrainians. There's a chance that the conscript bodybags/ashes coming back may do for Putin.
Not body bags, but zinc lined coffins, hence the Russian expression "zinky boys".
“The Prime Minister will chair a COBR at 0630 tomorrow morning to discuss the latest developments in Ukraine and to coordinate the UK response including agreeing a significant package of sanctions to be introduced immediately.”
Cripes. This is the 'We may have to stop taking donations from these people if this continues' episode.
No, no, no, the way to show Putin we really mean business is by doubling the price of donations the Tory party expect from his cronies to access our PMs. That is not just extra financial burden on Russia but more funds for the blue team too. Win/win, what's not to like?
Russian forces have entered the two breakaway republics. The State Dept spokesman response? It's not new, Russian forces have been there since 2014. It is new, these are notable Russian formations.
This, as I've mentioned before, is Putin's easy win. After that though it potentially gets more tricky but the US has made the misstep here by 1. Getting their embassy staff out so fast and 2. reacting to the move into the breakaway republics as a insignificant step.
For those who say it is too early, what are you trying to achieve with the restrictions still in place?
Everybody is going to get covid, its just a fact. Covid isn't going away for many many years ( if ever). 98% of the population have antibodies. Everybody can get vaccinated at any time and 4th shots for vulnerable coming. Antivirals are now available for them too. And the NHS is in no danger of being overrun by it.
So what do restrictions actually achieve, a little bit of curve flattening in the short term?
So as usual over the past 2 years, it is a dumb as shit question from the media.
Existing restrictions are minimal. Ending isolation of positives, sick pay for positives and freely availible testing have nothing really to do with freedom, just about saving money. I think all of those could reasonably be said to be ending too soon.
There has to be some cut off. What would say waiting until June rather than April achieve? People are going to be constantly getting COVID and they are constantly going to need some time off work. That is just the fact of the matter for the foreseeable future.
To many "living with covid" consists of ignoring it. I hope they don't live with HIV, or chlamydia the same way.
We have a new respiratory pathogen that is highly infectious, significantly dangerous to a minority of the population and prone to novel mutations.
Living with covid requires more than ignoring it. It needs attention to ventilation in crowded places, for those who are infected to minimise contact with others, a fresh look at how sick leave can work for those on ZHC and similar contracts, attention to cross infection particularly in hospitals and nursing homes, active sampling to pick up new variants promptly and updated vaccones etc etc. None of these are infringements of liberty or freedom, just sensible adaptions to allow living with covid.
I honestly have no idea why the government scientists have agreed to the no need to isolate if you have symptoms. The rest of the stuff I can see, but that one is bonkers.
They have not agreed to that at all, nor have the government. They say we should isolate, just accepting that there will be no legal mandate to enforce the "should".
Realistically it is rarely going to be policed anyway. If someone decides not to take a test they don't even know if they have covid or not. The police don't have time to deal with it, nor do the courts.
Body language experts will analyse that VT to death in years to come. Despair and reticence in their posture, despite so vociferously backing the annexation of Crimea just years before. Putin's ambitions go far beyond Ukraine, yet their posture speaks of a lack of confidence to be able to successfully subjugate 40m Ukrainians. There's a chance that the conscript bodybags/ashes coming back may do for Putin.
Not body bags, but zinc lined coffins, hence the Russian expression "zinky boys".
Body language experts will analyse that VT to death in years to come. Despair and reticence in their posture, despite so vociferously backing the annexation of Crimea just years before. Putin's ambitions go far beyond Ukraine, yet their posture speaks of a lack of confidence to be able to successfully subjugate 40m Ukrainians. There's a chance that the conscript bodybags/ashes coming back may do for Putin.
If someone had, say, a low earth orbit satellite with some deniable psuedo meteorites on board, is it time to drop one in his direction now? What would his replacement do?
He doesn't seem to be playing chess in the Russian style. It is definitely more Three Pawns Gambit than Giuoco Piano.
It occurred to me that he might be ill and rushing to create some kind of legacy, although that's probably over thinking it.
For those who say it is too early, what are you trying to achieve with the restrictions still in place?
Everybody is going to get covid, its just a fact. Covid isn't going away for many many years ( if ever). 98% of the population have antibodies. Everybody can get vaccinated at any time and 4th shots for vulnerable coming. Antivirals are now available for them too. And the NHS is in no danger of being overrun by it.
So what do restrictions actually achieve, a little bit of curve flattening in the short term?
So as usual over the past 2 years, it is a dumb as shit question from the media.
Existing restrictions are minimal. Ending isolation of positives, sick pay for positives and freely availible testing have nothing really to do with freedom, just about saving money. I think all of those could reasonably be said to be ending too soon.
There has to be some cut off. What would say waiting until June rather than April achieve? People are going to be constantly getting COVID and they are constantly going to need some time off work. That is just the fact of the matter for the foreseeable future.
To many "living with covid" consists of ignoring it. I hope they don't live with HIV, or chlamydia the same way.
We have a new respiratory pathogen that is highly infectious, significantly dangerous to a minority of the population and prone to novel mutations.
Living with covid requires more than ignoring it. It needs attention to ventilation in crowded places, for those who are infected to minimise contact with others, a fresh look at how sick leave can work for those on ZHC and similar contracts, attention to cross infection particularly in hospitals and nursing homes, active sampling to pick up new variants promptly and updated vaccones etc etc. None of these are infringements of liberty or freedom, just sensible adaptions to allow living with covid.
I honestly have no idea why the government scientists have agreed to the no need to isolate if you have symptoms. The rest of the stuff I can see, but that one is bonkers.
They have not agreed to that at all, nor have the government. They say we should isolate, just accepting that there will be no legal mandate to enforce the "should".
Realistically it is rarely going to be policed anyway. If someone decides not to take a test they don't even know if they have covid or not. The police don't have time to deal with it, nor do the courts.
The reality is also everybody, shielding, regularly tested, vaccinated, etc etc etc, we are all getting exposed, and huge numbers of people already have and caught it. And isolating isn't even anywhere near a magic bullet, unless you live on your own and don't need any assistance, inter-household transmission is very high.
Unless you are going to live like a hermit and never see anybody ever again, you are fighting a losing battle if you think you can avoid ever coming into contact with Omicron. Its just a matter of time until you do and you are then very likely to get it.
Body language experts will analyse that VT to death in years to come. Despair and reticence in their posture, despite so vociferously backing the annexation of Crimea just years before. Putin's ambitions go far beyond Ukraine, yet their posture speaks of a lack of confidence to be able to successfully subjugate 40m Ukrainians. There's a chance that the conscript bodybags/ashes coming back may do for Putin.
If someone had, say, a low earth orbit satellite with some deniable psuedo meteorites on board, is it time to drop one in his direction now? What would his replacement do?
He doesn't seem to be playing chess in the Russian style. It is definitely more Three Pawns Gambit than Giuoco Piano.
It occurred to me that he might be ill and rushing to create some kind of legacy, although that's probably over thinking it.
The last point I agree with - this move, and that speech was a desperate one of a man who realises that he is running out of time. However any decapitation would demand a strong, and probably nuclear response. Russia does not have the resources to subjugate Ukraine without massive conscript fatalities, especially one armed and trained by the UK/USA in counter-insurgency. This entire escalation had no off-ramps, and the only logical endpoint is one that is not overly beneficial to Russia.
Indeed. Perhaps there are ways and means. I have been in the booze’n’pork back room of a supermarket in Morocco, but Iran is presumably vastly worse.
I have a close friend who speaks Farsi and has spent several years in Iran. The irony is that booze IS genuinely difficult to get, but heroin, cocaine, weed, benzos and now synthetic opioids? No problem
The Koranic edicts against booze are tipping Iran into a a major drug problem
Alcohol is also a drug and as harmful if not more so than many illegal drugs. I'm not saying it's sensible to ban it (prohibition is ineffective and counterproductive in drugs policy generally), but I think a lot of people downplay quite how destructive alcohol is. We have a terrible problem with alcohol in this country.
There really is no comparison between the damage done by alcohol (substantial, I agree but also brings positives) with the apocalyptic disaster of a drug like Fentanyl
"‘The deadliest drug we’ve ever known’: author Sam Quinones on how fentanyl saturated the US"
This just shows how prohibition does not work. And also why decriminalization will not work. Without having a complete police state you can't stop drugs because the profitability is too large. The only way to get round that is to undercut the dealers by giving the stuff, or a viable, less deadly alternative, out at clinics. To be consumed on premises. You then have all the addicts in one place where you can focus on mental health treatment.
In 1950 there were hardly any heroin addicts in the UK. Whatever policy/policies lead to that outcome needs to be tried again IMO.
For those who say it is too early, what are you trying to achieve with the restrictions still in place?
Everybody is going to get covid, its just a fact. Covid isn't going away for many many years ( if ever). 98% of the population have antibodies. Everybody can get vaccinated at any time and 4th shots for vulnerable coming. Antivirals are now available for them too. And the NHS is in no danger of being overrun by it.
So what do restrictions actually achieve, a little bit of curve flattening in the short term?
So as usual over the past 2 years, it is a dumb as shit question from the media.
Existing restrictions are minimal. Ending isolation of positives, sick pay for positives and freely availible testing have nothing really to do with freedom, just about saving money. I think all of those could reasonably be said to be ending too soon.
There has to be some cut off. What would say waiting until June rather than April achieve? People are going to be constantly getting COVID and they are constantly going to need some time off work. That is just the fact of the matter for the foreseeable future.
To many "living with covid" consists of ignoring it. I hope they don't live with HIV, or chlamydia the same way.
We have a new respiratory pathogen that is highly infectious, significantly dangerous to a minority of the population and prone to novel mutations.
Living with covid requires more than ignoring it. It needs attention to ventilation in crowded places, for those who are infected to minimise contact with others, a fresh look at how sick leave can work for those on ZHC and similar contracts, attention to cross infection particularly in hospitals and nursing homes, active sampling to pick up new variants promptly and updated vaccones etc etc. None of these are infringements of liberty or freedom, just sensible adaptions to allow living with covid.
I honestly have no idea why the government scientists have agreed to the no need to isolate if you have symptoms. The rest of the stuff I can see, but that one is bonkers.
They have not agreed to that at all, nor have the government. They say we should isolate, just accepting that there will be no legal mandate to enforce the "should".
Realistically it is rarely going to be policed anyway. If someone decides not to take a test they don't even know if they have covid or not. The police don't have time to deal with it, nor do the courts.
The reality is also everybody, shielding, regularly tested, vaccinated, etc etc etc, we are all getting exposed, and huge numbers of people already have and caught it. And isolating isn't even anywhere near a magic bullet, unless you live on your own and don't need any assistance, inter-household transmission is very high.
Unless you are going to live like a hermit and never see anybody ever again, you are fighting a losing battle if you think you can avoid ever coming into contact with Omicron. Its just a matter of time until you do and you are then very likely to get it.
I think that is far too defeatist. Numbers are dropping rapidly, but clearly not everybody has caught it or been exposed. Mrs Foxy didn't catch it when I had it a month ago, and as far as I know I didn't pass it onto anyone else either.
Waves of infections peak then drop, way before everyone is exposed. The Spanish Flu was the same, only about a third of the population caught it.
So the invasion has started. The extent of Putin's ambitions remains to be seen, but the next step surely trying to win control of the two eastern Ukraine regions (including the parts under Ukraine's control). That will mean direct conflict between the Russian and Ukrainian militaries that offers the pretext to extend further on the back of Russian casualties (real or imagined).
The question is whether he will be satisfied with linking up with the Crimea or extends into Kyiv. All very worrying regardless.
I hope the sanctions imposed tomorrow are serious rather than just baby steps.
As part of these sanctions, can we please ban all Russians from international sport. Cheating c*nts, pollute everything they compete at. Make it last for 20 years - an entire generation of sportsmen junkies prevented from travelling for sport.
They can have their own drugged to fuck version of the Olympics, where the winner does the 100m in 4.6 seconds.
Oh, and Ukrainians get a 10 second head start when they compete.
Indeed. Perhaps there are ways and means. I have been in the booze’n’pork back room of a supermarket in Morocco, but Iran is presumably vastly worse.
I have a close friend who speaks Farsi and has spent several years in Iran. The irony is that booze IS genuinely difficult to get, but heroin, cocaine, weed, benzos and now synthetic opioids? No problem
The Koranic edicts against booze are tipping Iran into a a major drug problem
Alcohol is also a drug and as harmful if not more so than many illegal drugs. I'm not saying it's sensible to ban it (prohibition is ineffective and counterproductive in drugs policy generally), but I think a lot of people downplay quite how destructive alcohol is. We have a terrible problem with alcohol in this country.
There really is no comparison between the damage done by alcohol (substantial, I agree but also brings positives) with the apocalyptic disaster of a drug like Fentanyl
"‘The deadliest drug we’ve ever known’: author Sam Quinones on how fentanyl saturated the US"
This just shows how prohibition does not work. And also why decriminalization will not work. Without having a complete police state you can't stop drugs because the profitability is too large. The only way to get round that is to undercut the dealers by giving the stuff, or a viable, less deadly alternative, out at clinics. To be consumed on premises. You then have all the addicts in one place where you can focus on mental health treatment.
In 1950 there were hardly any heroin addicts in the UK. Whatever policy/policies lead to that outcome needs to be tried again IMO.
Body language experts will analyse that VT to death in years to come. Despair and reticence in their posture, despite so vociferously backing the annexation of Crimea just years before. Putin's ambitions go far beyond Ukraine, yet their posture speaks of a lack of confidence to be able to successfully subjugate 40m Ukrainians. There's a chance that the conscript bodybags/ashes coming back may do for Putin.
If someone had, say, a low earth orbit satellite with some deniable psuedo meteorites on board, is it time to drop one in his direction now? What would his replacement do?
He doesn't seem to be playing chess in the Russian style. It is definitely more Three Pawns Gambit than Giuoco Piano.
It occurred to me that he might be ill and rushing to create some kind of legacy, although that's probably over thinking it.
The last point I agree with - this move, and that speech was a desperate one of a man who realises that he is running out of time. However any decapitation would demand a strong, and probably nuclear response. Russia does not have the resources to subjugate Ukraine without massive conscript fatalities, especially one armed and trained by the UK/USA in counter-insurgency. This entire escalation had no off-ramps, and the only logical endpoint is one that is not overly beneficial to Russia.
The idea that his Covid-isolation has lead him to make a serious misjudgement has some merit. The shadow of the pandemic is large.
For those who say it is too early, what are you trying to achieve with the restrictions still in place?
Everybody is going to get covid, its just a fact. Covid isn't going away for many many years ( if ever). 98% of the population have antibodies. Everybody can get vaccinated at any time and 4th shots for vulnerable coming. Antivirals are now available for them too. And the NHS is in no danger of being overrun by it.
So what do restrictions actually achieve, a little bit of curve flattening in the short term?
So as usual over the past 2 years, it is a dumb as shit question from the media.
Existing restrictions are minimal. Ending isolation of positives, sick pay for positives and freely availible testing have nothing really to do with freedom, just about saving money. I think all of those could reasonably be said to be ending too soon.
There has to be some cut off. What would say waiting until June rather than April achieve? People are going to be constantly getting COVID and they are constantly going to need some time off work. That is just the fact of the matter for the foreseeable future.
To many "living with covid" consists of ignoring it. I hope they don't live with HIV, or chlamydia the same way.
We have a new respiratory pathogen that is highly infectious, significantly dangerous to a minority of the population and prone to novel mutations.
Living with covid requires more than ignoring it. It needs attention to ventilation in crowded places, for those who are infected to minimise contact with others, a fresh look at how sick leave can work for those on ZHC and similar contracts, attention to cross infection particularly in hospitals and nursing homes, active sampling to pick up new variants promptly and updated vaccones etc etc. None of these are infringements of liberty or freedom, just sensible adaptions to allow living with covid.
I honestly have no idea why the government scientists have agreed to the no need to isolate if you have symptoms. The rest of the stuff I can see, but that one is bonkers.
They have not agreed to that at all, nor have the government. They say we should isolate, just accepting that there will be no legal mandate to enforce the "should".
Realistically it is rarely going to be policed anyway. If someone decides not to take a test they don't even know if they have covid or not. The police don't have time to deal with it, nor do the courts.
The reality is also everybody, shielding, regularly tested, vaccinated, etc etc etc, we are all getting exposed, and huge numbers of people already have and caught it. And isolating isn't even anywhere near a magic bullet, unless you live on your own and don't need any assistance, inter-household transmission is very high.
Unless you are going to live like a hermit and never see anybody ever again, you are fighting a losing battle if you think you can avoid ever coming into contact with Omicron. Its just a matter of time until you do and you are then very likely to get it.
I think that is far too defeatist. Numbers are dropping rapidly, but clearly not everybody has caught it or been exposed. Mrs Foxy didn't catch it when I had it a month ago, and as far as I know I didn't pass it onto anyone else either.
Waves of infections peak then drop, way before everyone is exposed. The Spanish Flu was the same, only about a third of the population caught it.
That is why I focused on exposed rather than cases to Omicron. We have no idea how many people have in reality been exposed, only those positive cases. And the HSA modelling was based on 7x as many people will have caught it as tested positive in the official numbers (if you believe that 7x multiplier is a different matter, but I think several multiples is fair).
I would have thought most people who have been out and about doing normal things will have been somewhere where somebody had COVID at some point over the past 3 months. Triple vaxxed, especially past 3 months, gives you a decent level of protection against infection.
Its absolutely nailed on all school kids have been exposed during the pandemic.
Body language experts will analyse that VT to death in years to come. Despair and reticence in their posture, despite so vociferously backing the annexation of Crimea just years before. Putin's ambitions go far beyond Ukraine, yet their posture speaks of a lack of confidence to be able to successfully subjugate 40m Ukrainians. There's a chance that the conscript bodybags/ashes coming back may do for Putin.
If someone had, say, a low earth orbit satellite with some deniable psuedo meteorites on board, is it time to drop one in his direction now? What would his replacement do?
He doesn't seem to be playing chess in the Russian style. It is definitely more Three Pawns Gambit than Giuoco Piano.
It occurred to me that he might be ill and rushing to create some kind of legacy, although that's probably over thinking it.
The last point I agree with - this move, and that speech was a desperate one of a man who realises that he is running out of time. However any decapitation would demand a strong, and probably nuclear response. Russia does not have the resources to subjugate Ukraine without massive conscript fatalities, especially one armed and trained by the UK/USA in counter-insurgency. This entire escalation had no off-ramps, and the only logical endpoint is one that is not overly beneficial to Russia.
Any decapitation would definitely have to be fully deniable! It was more about wondering whether getting rid would actually be a benefit. There's every chance that it could actually make things worse.
He does seem to be in a rush, for whatever reason, though. Those long tables were bizarre - as if he really is terrified of Covid. Has he reason to be terrified? Or is it just some kind of descent into paranoia? It can't be good having to watch your back constantly for so many years and then have to dodge a pandemic on top.
Body language experts will analyse that VT to death in years to come. Despair and reticence in their posture, despite so vociferously backing the annexation of Crimea just years before. Putin's ambitions go far beyond Ukraine, yet their posture speaks of a lack of confidence to be able to successfully subjugate 40m Ukrainians. There's a chance that the conscript bodybags/ashes coming back may do for Putin.
If someone had, say, a low earth orbit satellite with some deniable psuedo meteorites on board, is it time to drop one in his direction now? What would his replacement do?
He doesn't seem to be playing chess in the Russian style. It is definitely more Three Pawns Gambit than Giuoco Piano.
It occurred to me that he might be ill and rushing to create some kind of legacy, although that's probably over thinking it.
The last point I agree with - this move, and that speech was a desperate one of a man who realises that he is running out of time. However any decapitation would demand a strong, and probably nuclear response. Russia does not have the resources to subjugate Ukraine without massive conscript fatalities, especially one armed and trained by the UK/USA in counter-insurgency. This entire escalation had no off-ramps, and the only logical endpoint is one that is not overly beneficial to Russia.
Eventually. Even the best begin to believe their own propaganda. See Thatcher. That the West is hopelessly woke, weak, divided and effeminate. And wouldn't do owt is an article of Faith. As is Russia as the masters of disinformation. However. They didn't reckon on prebuttal as a policy. Every step the West has been ahead signalling the next move. Putin is Mourinho. From another age. His tactics and strategy has been worked out.
Indeed. Perhaps there are ways and means. I have been in the booze’n’pork back room of a supermarket in Morocco, but Iran is presumably vastly worse.
I have a close friend who speaks Farsi and has spent several years in Iran. The irony is that booze IS genuinely difficult to get, but heroin, cocaine, weed, benzos and now synthetic opioids? No problem
The Koranic edicts against booze are tipping Iran into a a major drug problem
Alcohol is also a drug and as harmful if not more so than many illegal drugs. I'm not saying it's sensible to ban it (prohibition is ineffective and counterproductive in drugs policy generally), but I think a lot of people downplay quite how destructive alcohol is. We have a terrible problem with alcohol in this country.
There really is no comparison between the damage done by alcohol (substantial, I agree but also brings positives) with the apocalyptic disaster of a drug like Fentanyl
"‘The deadliest drug we’ve ever known’: author Sam Quinones on how fentanyl saturated the US"
This just shows how prohibition does not work. And also why decriminalization will not work. Without having a complete police state you can't stop drugs because the profitability is too large. The only way to get round that is to undercut the dealers by giving the stuff, or a viable, less deadly alternative, out at clinics. To be consumed on premises. You then have all the addicts in one place where you can focus on mental health treatment.
In 1950 there were hardly any heroin addicts in the UK. Whatever policy/policies lead to that outcome needs to be tried again IMO.
Body language experts will analyse that VT to death in years to come. Despair and reticence in their posture, despite so vociferously backing the annexation of Crimea just years before. Putin's ambitions go far beyond Ukraine, yet their posture speaks of a lack of confidence to be able to successfully subjugate 40m Ukrainians. There's a chance that the conscript bodybags/ashes coming back may do for Putin.
If someone had, say, a low earth orbit satellite with some deniable psuedo meteorites on board, is it time to drop one in his direction now? What would his replacement do?
He doesn't seem to be playing chess in the Russian style. It is definitely more Three Pawns Gambit than Giuoco Piano.
It occurred to me that he might be ill and rushing to create some kind of legacy, although that's probably over thinking it.
The last point I agree with - this move, and that speech was a desperate one of a man who realises that he is running out of time. However any decapitation would demand a strong, and probably nuclear response. Russia does not have the resources to subjugate Ukraine without massive conscript fatalities, especially one armed and trained by the UK/USA in counter-insurgency. This entire escalation had no off-ramps, and the only logical endpoint is one that is not overly beneficial to Russia.
Eventually. Even the best begin to believe their own propaganda. See Thatcher. That the West is hopelessly woke, weak, divided and effeminate. And wouldn't do owt is an article of Faith. As is Russia as the masters of disinformation. However. They didn't reckon on prebuttal as a policy. Every step the West has been ahead signalling the next move. Putin is Mourinho. From another age. His tactics and strategy has been worked out.
The West won't do anything beyond economic sanctions against Ukraine and certainly not the Russian sympathetic separatist regions but the Baltic States and NATO states are another matter
Body language experts will analyse that VT to death in years to come. Despair and reticence in their posture, despite so vociferously backing the annexation of Crimea just years before. Putin's ambitions go far beyond Ukraine, yet their posture speaks of a lack of confidence to be able to successfully subjugate 40m Ukrainians. There's a chance that the conscript bodybags/ashes coming back may do for Putin.
If someone had, say, a low earth orbit satellite with some deniable psuedo meteorites on board, is it time to drop one in his direction now? What would his replacement do?
He doesn't seem to be playing chess in the Russian style. It is definitely more Three Pawns Gambit than Giuoco Piano.
It occurred to me that he might be ill and rushing to create some kind of legacy, although that's probably over thinking it.
This is a hilarious suggestion, so I thought I'd do some calculations.
Let's say the "meteorite" is a solid iron ball, 5 metres in diameter. This would weigh some 500 tonnes; an object of that weight would be exceptionally difficult to get into orbit - the shuttle was able to take about 30 tonnes payload. The iron would then need to be flung at the earth. Given terminal velocity in air is likely to be a few hundred metres per second, there's no point in throwing it much harder, even if you could (spoiler, you can't). Let's say you SOMEHOW manage to fire this badboy 300 metres per second. It will hit the ground at a bit less than that, approx 220 metres per second. And for maximum impact, let's say it was travelling straight down, that's how you get the biggest crater. Give all those parameters, you need to be astonishingly accurate. The crater would be less than 50m is diameter. Meaning you have to get your shot in within 25m of the target from a distance of say 700km (mid range of low-earth orbit). That is the equivalent of throwing a dart from the London Eye and hitting the bullseye of a dartboard on the clock face of the Elizabeth Tower.
If you miss your target, which you will, even a near miss will leave the target basically unharmed. Even hitting the "dartboard", getting the rock 500m from your target, would only be enough to maybe blow out the glass in the building from the air shock. The target will experience a seismic shock equivalent to 0.9 on the Richter scale. That is, unfeelable. The air shock will be as loud as a busy road, 65dB. If you're super lucky, Putin will get a bit of dust in his eye which will get infected and he'll go blind. Half blind.
All in all, it sounds like a spectacularly inefficient way of pissing someone off. It certainly wouldn't get the job done of calming or ending him.
You laugh, but the US Air Force seriously considered the idea. "Rods from God" was the popular name.
Not very deniable, though. If you blew something up with a tungsten rod dropped from low earth orbit, the proportion of tungsten in the ruins might be a bit of a giveaway, and everyone knows where the satellites are, "secret" or otherwise.
Indeed. Perhaps there are ways and means. I have been in the booze’n’pork back room of a supermarket in Morocco, but Iran is presumably vastly worse.
I have a close friend who speaks Farsi and has spent several years in Iran. The irony is that booze IS genuinely difficult to get, but heroin, cocaine, weed, benzos and now synthetic opioids? No problem
The Koranic edicts against booze are tipping Iran into a a major drug problem
Alcohol is also a drug and as harmful if not more so than many illegal drugs. I'm not saying it's sensible to ban it (prohibition is ineffective and counterproductive in drugs policy generally), but I think a lot of people downplay quite how destructive alcohol is. We have a terrible problem with alcohol in this country.
There really is no comparison between the damage done by alcohol (substantial, I agree but also brings positives) with the apocalyptic disaster of a drug like Fentanyl
"‘The deadliest drug we’ve ever known’: author Sam Quinones on how fentanyl saturated the US"
This just shows how prohibition does not work. And also why decriminalization will not work. Without having a complete police state you can't stop drugs because the profitability is too large. The only way to get round that is to undercut the dealers by giving the stuff, or a viable, less deadly alternative, out at clinics. To be consumed on premises. You then have all the addicts in one place where you can focus on mental health treatment.
In 1950 there were hardly any heroin addicts in the UK. Whatever policy/policies lead to that outcome needs to be tried again IMO.
Society was rather different back then.
Foxy will correct me if I'm wrong but it's my understanding that the side effects of pharmaceutical grade heroin or even fentanyl abuse are trifling compared to those of alcohol abuse - so long as the addict receives their dose for free, indefinitely. Which costs nowt if it's legal.
I'd far rather be driven by an junkie taxi driver on 50mg of morphine than a pisshead taxi driver on a bottle of Laphroaig and I'd wager the former would be likely to live longer too. As a bonus, opioids deplete testosterone so they probably won't reproduce whilst the latter will be more likely to have damaged sperm
This argument becomes much more problematic when we are talking about more damaging drugs, but I still see nothing other than habit that justifies alcohol being legal and other substances not. And that ignores the clear and obvious right to put whatever you like into your own body.
Body language experts will analyse that VT to death in years to come. Despair and reticence in their posture, despite so vociferously backing the annexation of Crimea just years before. Putin's ambitions go far beyond Ukraine, yet their posture speaks of a lack of confidence to be able to successfully subjugate 40m Ukrainians. There's a chance that the conscript bodybags/ashes coming back may do for Putin.
If someone had, say, a low earth orbit satellite with some deniable psuedo meteorites on board, is it time to drop one in his direction now? What would his replacement do?
He doesn't seem to be playing chess in the Russian style. It is definitely more Three Pawns Gambit than Giuoco Piano.
It occurred to me that he might be ill and rushing to create some kind of legacy, although that's probably over thinking it.
The last point I agree with - this move, and that speech was a desperate one of a man who realises that he is running out of time. However any decapitation would demand a strong, and probably nuclear response. Russia does not have the resources to subjugate Ukraine without massive conscript fatalities, especially one armed and trained by the UK/USA in counter-insurgency. This entire escalation had no off-ramps, and the only logical endpoint is one that is not overly beneficial to Russia.
Eventually. Even the best begin to believe their own propaganda. See Thatcher. That the West is hopelessly woke, weak, divided and effeminate. And wouldn't do owt is an article of Faith. As is Russia as the masters of disinformation. However. They didn't reckon on prebuttal as a policy. Every step the West has been ahead signalling the next move. Putin is Mourinho. From another age. His tactics and strategy has been worked out.
The West won't do anything beyond economic sanctions against Ukraine and certainly not the Russian sympathetic separatist regions but the Baltic States and NATO states are another matter
Well then they need to pop 20 000 troops in the Baltic states on permanent station and start flying combat aircraft up and down Russia's borders on a daily basis. Putin gets the risk idea well but only if its visible. Look at Syria, the US, the Turks and the Israelis function there with comparative freedom because Putin knows the cost of trying to use military means to stop them.
Body language experts will analyse that VT to death in years to come. Despair and reticence in their posture, despite so vociferously backing the annexation of Crimea just years before. Putin's ambitions go far beyond Ukraine, yet their posture speaks of a lack of confidence to be able to successfully subjugate 40m Ukrainians. There's a chance that the conscript bodybags/ashes coming back may do for Putin.
If someone had, say, a low earth orbit satellite with some deniable psuedo meteorites on board, is it time to drop one in his direction now? What would his replacement do?
He doesn't seem to be playing chess in the Russian style. It is definitely more Three Pawns Gambit than Giuoco Piano.
It occurred to me that he might be ill and rushing to create some kind of legacy, although that's probably over thinking it.
This is a hilarious suggestion, so I thought I'd do some calculations.
Let's say the "meteorite" is a solid iron ball, 5 metres in diameter. This would weigh some 500 tonnes; an object of that weight would be exceptionally difficult to get into orbit - the shuttle was able to take about 30 tonnes payload. The iron would then need to be flung at the earth. Given terminal velocity in air is likely to be a few hundred metres per second, there's no point in throwing it much harder, even if you could (spoiler, you can't). Let's say you SOMEHOW manage to fire this badboy 300 metres per second. It will hit the ground at a bit less than that, approx 220 metres per second. And for maximum impact, let's say it was travelling straight down, that's how you get the biggest crater. Give all those parameters, you need to be astonishingly accurate. The crater would be less than 50m is diameter. Meaning you have to get your shot in within 25m of the target from a distance of say 700km (mid range of low-earth orbit). That is the equivalent of throwing a dart from the London Eye and hitting the bullseye of a dartboard on the clock face of the Elizabeth Tower.
If you miss your target, which you will, even a near miss will leave the target basically unharmed. Even hitting the "dartboard", getting the rock 500m from your target, would only be enough to maybe blow out the glass in the building from the air shock. The target will experience a seismic shock equivalent to 0.9 on the Richter scale. That is, unfeelable. The air shock will be as loud as a busy road, 65dB. If you're super lucky, Putin will get a bit of dust in his eye which will get infected and he'll go blind. Half blind.
All in all, it sounds like a spectacularly inefficient way of pissing someone off. It certainly wouldn't get the job done of calming or ending him.
You laugh, but the US Air Force seriously considered the idea. "Rods from God" was the popular name.
Not very deniable, though. If you blew something up with a tungsten rod dropped from low earth orbit, the proportion of tungsten in the ruins might be a bit of a giveaway, and everyone knows where the satellites are, "secret" or otherwise.
Yes, the idea has also been explored in science fiction, like The Expanse, and an Iain M Banks book (I forget which one). But there are easier ways given our current state of orbital vehicle capacity and the sheer mind-numbing difficulty of it. I mean, how do you even account for your missile drifting in the wind through 10+km of atmosphere?
Well, in theory they could be steerable, if your steering mechanism could survive re-entry at Mach 10. The problem being that anything not made of tungsten would no doubt melt pretty quickly.
It was just an attempt at a more amusing way of asking 'if you could push a button to eliminate Putin with no obvious cause, would it help'?
Any real attempt to take him out is going to be from much closer range. Although he does seem keen on keeping even his own generals at rather more than arms length.
Indeed. Perhaps there are ways and means. I have been in the booze’n’pork back room of a supermarket in Morocco, but Iran is presumably vastly worse.
I have a close friend who speaks Farsi and has spent several years in Iran. The irony is that booze IS genuinely difficult to get, but heroin, cocaine, weed, benzos and now synthetic opioids? No problem
The Koranic edicts against booze are tipping Iran into a a major drug problem
Alcohol is also a drug and as harmful if not more so than many illegal drugs. I'm not saying it's sensible to ban it (prohibition is ineffective and counterproductive in drugs policy generally), but I think a lot of people downplay quite how destructive alcohol is. We have a terrible problem with alcohol in this country.
There really is no comparison between the damage done by alcohol (substantial, I agree but also brings positives) with the apocalyptic disaster of a drug like Fentanyl
"‘The deadliest drug we’ve ever known’: author Sam Quinones on how fentanyl saturated the US"
This just shows how prohibition does not work. And also why decriminalization will not work. Without having a complete police state you can't stop drugs because the profitability is too large. The only way to get round that is to undercut the dealers by giving the stuff, or a viable, less deadly alternative, out at clinics. To be consumed on premises. You then have all the addicts in one place where you can focus on mental health treatment.
In 1950 there were hardly any heroin addicts in the UK. Whatever policy/policies lead to that outcome needs to be tried again IMO.
Hangin' and floggin' ?
But only in the list of brothels the whips supply you with.
Comments
THE ISLAND WHERE IRAN TRIES TO PARTY
Stalin - that is literally what he was
Saddam Hussein - who liked to bang on about how he was the inheritor (and leader) of Bathtub Arab National Socialism.
Mao - literally. Murdered bags of the intellectual commies to get the top spot.
Mussolini - say no more
Hitler - the archetype.
In fact the closest we had to a cultured dictator with actual intellect was D'Annunzio - and he only ran Fiume for a bit....
The Koranic edicts against booze are tipping Iran into a a major drug problem
NY Times blog
ElectoralCalculus:
Current boundaries: Lab 307, Con 248, LD 11, Grn 1
New boundaries: Lab 300, Con 255, LD 19, Grn 1
Comfy chairs, good acoustics, projection capability, head count reduction facilities integrated.... and
Standing meetings are briefer, more effective. Awesome head count reduction capability....
https://twitter.com/deitaone/status/1495888140216803330?s=21
If not now then when? Do you think Denmark, Sweden and Norway have all got it wrong?
Nearly all of those you cite were cunning and intelligent.
Stalin was brutally good at wielding power and fear, and fencing off his own emotions
Mao was a kind of genius, eg he knew just went to unleash the Cultural Revolution - then stop it
Hitler was a super orator (albeit florid for Anglo-Saxon tastes) and also a very gifted political operator in the round: the Swastika flag was his, and it is possibly the greatest piece of vexillological design in history
Mussolini was a thuggish, stupider copycat of d'Annunzio, agreed, and Hussein was just mafioso
But there is no point in denying some of these men had great talents. They just used them for evil purposes
My criticism of lockdowns is too many, too hard.
The state should not have that power in principle.
In practice, they are an ineffective tool.
We can't cower for ever andhave already cowered too long.
Some credit to the government, because at times I honestly never thought we'd get here: I thought the pro-lockdown interests too entrenched. But only some. Because they have leapt too often to lockdowns on the basis of dodgy or insufficient evidence and have been too slow to unlock, again on the basis of dodgy or insufficient evidence. They have been in hock to the lockdown lobby, and that only really changed when Hancock was got rid of.
Had it not been for Fraser Nelson's article finally alerting the Conservative Party to the paucity of the evidence on which decisions were being made, Boris would have had us in to a second winter lockdown. Because he's an idiot who doesn't know how to question evidence. But rather an idiot who arrives at the right answer eventually than someone who appears to believe in lockdown as a point of principle like his opposite number.
“The Prime Minister will chair a COBR at 0630 tomorrow morning to discuss the latest developments in Ukraine and to coordinate the UK response including agreeing a significant package of sanctions to be introduced immediately.”
https://twitter.com/GuidoFawkes/status/1495891639281270784
But seriously you are right. For most people alcohol is totally fine, but for some it’s a hideous curse. Whether that is the alcoholics on litres of vodka a day, or the fighting drunks who wreak such havoc under the influence, alcohol does cause a lot of grief.
Fiume is now the Croat city of Rijeka...
https://twitter.com/JohnJCrace/status/1495885432114094082
"‘The deadliest drug we’ve ever known’: author Sam Quinones on how fentanyl saturated the US"
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/jan/22/fentanyl-methamphetamine-drugs-epidemic-us
"Boris Johnson naked on a cold day! Boris Johnson naked on a cold day!"
Make sure you have proper funding like Boris did. Rely on the state budget for renovation and it will look like a tip.
That's a genuine disgrace.
I support winding down testing and all the rest, but they should be helping people to make the sensible choice.
We have a new respiratory pathogen that is highly infectious, significantly dangerous to a minority of the population and prone to novel mutations.
Living with covid requires more than ignoring it. It needs attention to ventilation in crowded places, for those who are infected to minimise contact with others, a fresh look at how sick leave can work for those on ZHC and similar contracts, attention to cross infection particularly in hospitals and nursing homes, active sampling to pick up new variants promptly and updated vaccones etc etc. None of these are infringements of liberty or freedom, just sensible adaptions to allow living with covid.
However, @Leon had found that he had knapped so meticulously that his hands were thoroughly knackered and sore. He wondered about taking some time off in order to finish off his masterpiece at a later date. Boris's office phoned him back reasonably promptly, but to @Leon's horror, he was told in no uncertain terms that he would lose his fee if he stopped work!
"Why?" asked @Leon on the phone incredulously.
"Simple!" Boris's underling replied. "You're not entitled to any..." He paused for effect. "...Statue-Tory Sick Pay!"
I thank you!
https://twitter.com/TimothyDSnyder/status/1495890431485358080
Dropping the legal requirement to a recommendation is reasonable in some sectors, but less so in others. Should care workers isolate when positive when working in old folks homes or cancer wards for example? And should they be able to access testing?
I was thinking gin, not Jinns.
The main things we can do is ensure ongoing surveying and sequencing (which is happening) and large amounts of vaccines / anti-virals (which is again happening, although I think we need bigger supply of anti-virals). And try to take some sensible steps among the sectors which deal with the most vulnerable.
The one thing that I think can be done, which Valance mentioned, there has to be very good plans in case we do need to ramp things up again.
Per @JenniferJJacobs, the US is moving all embassy staff out of Ukraine. Previously they had been moved from Kyiv to Lviv, now they will go to Poland.
https://twitter.com/Osinttechnical/status/1495895070549098504
It's going to be a full scale invasion. As the leader of the Russian LDs predicted last year 22/2/22 at 1am GMT is go time.
https://twitter.com/JenniferJJacobs/status/1495896613386133512
https://twitter.com/kamilkazani/status/1495790874235744258
WATCH: Russian spy chief stumbles and expresses support for eastern Ukraine's annexation, to which Putin responds: "That’s not what we're talking about"
https://twitter.com/BNONews/status/1495794783771574275
I think the number of people testing even twice a week is small, those more than once a day approaching zero. Why stop LFTs completely? Perhaps restrict to 1 box per person per month for example, so frail grandparents can have visitors.
The question is whether he will be satisfied with linking up with the Crimea or extends into Kyiv. All very worrying regardless.
I hope the sanctions imposed tomorrow are serious rather than just baby steps.
Now 100k+ cases a day.
Call it Russian Committee Money instead, that'llbe fine.
Until April, you can still order a box of tests every 3 days. So if you are sensible you can easily stockpile plenty for your weekly visit to your elderly parent etc. They also aren't stopping for very vulnerable people, so I would think again, nothing stopping you sharing them.
But. distasteful or not, I think he is close to the mark on the thought processes and how power is exercised in the Johnson administration and thus how the game is likely to be played.
Zinky Boys: Soviet Voices from the Afghanistan War https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0393336867/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_i_C7NDJ8E9C37Q6SM8DAPQ
Ukraine isn't Afghanistan though.
This, as I've mentioned before, is Putin's easy win. After that though it potentially gets more tricky but the US has made the misstep here by 1. Getting their embassy staff out so fast and 2. reacting to the move into the breakaway republics as a insignificant step.
Realistically it is rarely going to be policed anyway. If someone decides not to take a test they don't even know if they have covid or not. The police don't have time to deal with it, nor do the courts.
- “Yes, but he is not a Romanoff. It’s another family. He is much more powerful, and much more despotic.”
He doesn't seem to be playing chess in the Russian style. It is definitely more Three Pawns Gambit than Giuoco Piano.
It occurred to me that he might be ill and rushing to create some kind of legacy, although that's probably over thinking it.
Unless you are going to live like a hermit and never see anybody ever again, you are fighting a losing battle if you think you can avoid ever coming into contact with Omicron. Its just a matter of time until you do and you are then very likely to get it.
A roll of the dice defines a legacy? That figures for Johnson.
Waves of infections peak then drop, way before everyone is exposed. The Spanish Flu was the same, only about a third of the population caught it.
They can have their own drugged to fuck version of the Olympics, where the winner does the 100m in 4.6 seconds.
Oh, and Ukrainians get a 10 second head start when they compete.
Anyone know whether Xi has isolated much?
That might just get the letters going in.....
Apart from the letters going in bit.
I would have thought most people who have been out and about doing normal things will have been somewhere where somebody had COVID at some point over the past 3 months. Triple vaxxed, especially past 3 months, gives you a decent level of protection against infection.
Its absolutely nailed on all school kids have been exposed during the pandemic.
He does seem to be in a rush, for whatever reason, though. Those long tables were bizarre - as if he really is terrified of Covid. Has he reason to be terrified? Or is it just some kind of descent into paranoia? It can't be good having to watch your back constantly for so many years and then have to dodge a pandemic on top.
Even the best begin to believe their own propaganda. See Thatcher.
That the West is hopelessly woke, weak, divided and effeminate. And wouldn't do owt is an article of Faith. As is Russia as the masters of disinformation. However. They didn't reckon on prebuttal as a policy. Every step the West has been ahead signalling the next move.
Putin is Mourinho. From another age. His tactics and strategy has been worked out.
Not very deniable, though. If you blew something up with a tungsten rod dropped from low earth orbit, the proportion of tungsten in the ruins might be a bit of a giveaway, and everyone knows where the satellites are, "secret" or otherwise.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinetic_bombardment
I'd far rather be driven by an junkie taxi driver on 50mg of morphine than a pisshead taxi driver on a bottle of Laphroaig and I'd wager the former would be likely to live longer too. As a bonus, opioids deplete testosterone so they probably won't reproduce whilst the latter will be more likely to have damaged sperm
This argument becomes much more problematic when we are talking about more damaging drugs, but I still see nothing other than habit that justifies alcohol being legal and other substances not. And that ignores the clear and obvious right to put whatever you like into your own body.
It was just an attempt at a more amusing way of asking 'if you could push a button to eliminate Putin with no obvious cause, would it help'?
Any real attempt to take him out is going to be from much closer range. Although he does seem keen on keeping even his own generals at rather more than arms length.
Does he have a chef?
Grandpa Winston is with 🇺🇦Ukrainians today."
https://twitter.com/IAPonomarenko/status/1495919414935445507
Igor Kossov@IgorKossov·11m
Replying to @IAPonomarenko
We will fight them on the beaches.
@IAPonomarenko·11m We will fight them on the landing grounds.
@A1istair·8m Nothing to offer but blood sweat and toil. God save Ukraine. 🙏
They need all that spirit, and even more.