"Cardiff Philharmonic removes Tchaikovsky from programme in light of Russian invasion of Ukraine The orchestra had an all-Tchaikovsky concert scheduled for next week, but has decided to change the programme having deemed it to be 'inappropriate' at this time"
That's utterly ridiculous.
Twats. Especially since Tchaikovsky was associated with linking Russia with the West, culturally.
If anything we should be celebrating the work of this GAY Russian. This war is not about the Russian people or culture, but about the perverted views and actions of one man, and his regime, Putin not Tchaikovsky.
Cardiff should have used the concert as an opportunity to celebrate gay Russia.
Are you sure celebrating GAY Russians is sufficiently patronising?
Anyway, 58% of the vodka swilling scoundrels are in favour of Putin's war. Until that is in single figures I am very happy to make this about the Russian people and culture.
Still an issue in some parts of the world. eg South Korea, once the poster boy of Covid control. They have just announced an extraordinary 342,000 new cases in one day, their highest ever, and one of the absolute biggest daily caseloads reported anywhere - eg India peaked about 400,000 a day, Brazil at about 250,000, and they are both vastly bigger than S Korea
it must be Omicron (BA2?) combined with a lack of prior immunity
And it is not some innocent explosion of mild colds, death rates are also shooting up dramatically (158 today, whereas S Korea is used to single digit death rates per day)
Combined with the 5th wave Covid calamity we are seeing in Hong Kong, this is deeply ominous for China.
They have zero prior immunity. As they keep telling us, proudly. If Omicron BA2 gets in to China, then it could be hellish for them; and it must be likely that it will do so, if it can easily cause such havoc in quarantined Hong Kong
Just to add to the joys of the world
When not if.
One of my family just contracted Omicron. Completely isolating (because of caring for an elderly relative) - literal 2 minute conversation at distance with someone who later tested positive.
Everyone is going to get this.....
Not necessarily, if you've been triple-vaxxed.
My own (unscientific) perspective is: The day after my mum died (non-covid), I spent the whole day my brother who was coughing, sneezing and feeling awful the whole time. I fully expected to catch his 'bad cold' but thankfully nothing - not a sniff(!)
Although he tested negative on LFTs, his GP suspected covid and we both think that's right, and that my 3 vaccinations protected me from catching it.
As I said, totally unscientific.
My 11 year old son got covid (almost certainly omicron) over New Year. We didn't engage in any social distancing at home, and neither my wife or I, nor our daughter got it.
We were all triple vaxxed, and were lucky.
Yes, my middle daughter has recently had it (again - it was delta last time). None of the rest of us did. Wife and I are vaxxed but none of the kids are old enough yet to have been. That said, oldest daughter did have a nasty cold. But tested negative throughout. I suspect through vaccination and/or repeated exposure we are all brimming with antibodies at the moment.
Exactly.
I'm sure my wife and I sucked in omicron particles, which were swiftly identified and neutralized.
For us, it acted as an unnoticeable booster shot.
And this is one of the reasons why - even with an R0 of 7 - covid fades fairly quickly in a well vaccinated population.
It was my fervent wish, once it was upon us, that omicron would turn out to be the vaccination for the anti-vaxxers, and a booster for the rest of us, without overwhelming our hospital systems. It seems to have mostly followed that course.
Isn’t all this stuff about the MiGs a bit of a distraction? I was under the impression that most of the damage being down to Ukrainian cities was by ground based rockets and artillery rather than the airforce. What use are fighter jets against that?
How are Ukraine being equipped to take out that threat? Do the rules of the game allow Ukraine to use weapons supplied by Nato to take our ground based rockets originating from Russian territory?
I do believe that aircraft can drop bombs on artillery and rocket launchers.
"Cardiff Philharmonic removes Tchaikovsky from programme in light of Russian invasion of Ukraine The orchestra had an all-Tchaikovsky concert scheduled for next week, but has decided to change the programme having deemed it to be 'inappropriate' at this time"
My first night back in London Saturday before last, I went to the LPO's "From Russia with Love" programme (Prokofiev and Rachmaninoff). The Director of Programmes introduced herself at the outset. She said her name, that she is a Jew born in Moscow with a Ukrainian husband. She said that the programme was developed 2 years ago with the purpose of showing that music can build bridges, and that that message was all the more pertinent given developments. She went into a long diatribe against Putin's regime, and pointed out that Prokofiev was born in Donetsk and that the Russians had destroyed the airport bearing his name. The orchestra then opened the proceedings with a stirring rendition of the Ukrainian national anthem, for which everyone stood.
I do not think we should cancel Russian culture. We should put it in context, as this wonderful woman did.
If anything we should be putting more Russian culture out there.
I'd recommend Lermontov's "A Hero of Our Time". (It's fairly short.)
And, for music, Shostakovich's final symphony, the 15th, sends the shivers.
Lots of great Russian artists were enemies of czarism and dictatorship. Pushkin, the Shakespeare of Russia, is a great example. He was exiled and nearly executed for opposing Russian autocracy. Tolstoy is another
On topic, one thing that this crisis with Ukraine (and the Trump Presidency before it) has taught me is the advantage that a more collegiate Prime Ministerial system has over a Presidential one, in that it is more likely to prevent a leader from going completely off the rails, and to remove him if he does so.
Where a leader has a fixed term and a direct mandate from the people, and can only be removed, if at all, through clumsy measures like impeachment, and can surround themselves with yes men, they are obviously more likely to commit the country to catastrophes like a pointless foreign war. And you see that even in relatively benevolent systems like America's or France's, megalomania can take hold. While a Prime Minister in a Parliamentary system, who has to balance difficult factions and colleagues constantly to stay in power, cannot become completely divorced from reality.
Of course it's not as simple as that - Prime Ministers in this country with large majorities can become Presidential and megalomanical too, and they often find it more difficult than Presidents to get things done. But on balance, I think a Prime Ministerial system is much better than a Presidential one, because of the constraints it puts on the man at the top.
I think another factor might be that in parliamentary systems the head of Govt has to debate other parliamentarians on a regular basis and justify policy.
All Biden and Macron have to do is read from a tele-prompter and, if they choose, take questions from journalists.
The strength of democracies is that, in general, they are governed by rules and institutions, whereas a dictatorship is ruled by an arbitrary individual.
In that sense a Parliamentary system should be superior, as it is the institution of Parliament that rules, and the power of any individual is diluted.
But any system can be undermined, as we have ample evidence.
US pollster @cygnal has polled residents of Ukraine on their view of certain countries and leaders: EU +42.2 Nato -16.8 UK +56 Biden +25.8 Johnson +49.6 Zelensky +79 Putin -86.7
The takeaway from that poll has nothing to do with our home grown pathological liar. It’s that 5% of Ukranians have no opinion of Putin either way and that smaller percentages have either not heard of him or view him positively.
i am actually beginning to seriously worry that people like HY are actually pleased about the war in Ukraine because it has changed the narrative for their beloved "Boris". The really sad thing is that it hasn't. He was shit, is shit and always will be shit. He has to go.
BBC: Russia destroys Mariupol children's hospital in airstrike
Russia has destroyed a children's hospital in the besieged port city of Mariupol in the south-east of Ukraine, the city council has claimed in a Facebook post.
In a statement issued on Wednesday afternoon, officials alleged that "Russian occupying forces have dropped several bombs on the children's hospital. The destruction is colossal".
After today's revelations I have come to the conclusion Patel's days as a minister are numbered
She has been besieged with criticism from across the house and normally any cabinet minister in this situation would be seen next to the Prime Minister at PMQs as evidence of confidence, but Patel was not anywhere to be seen
Reports this morning of cabinet colleagues of Patel pilling into her in cabinet was not unexpected
The announcement that Michael Gove will now take responsibility for the sponsorship visa scheme and former mp, Richard Harrington has been granted a peerage and appointed to the specific office of minister for refugees
Ben Wallace confirmed at the dispatch box that the defence - home - foreign office are meeting this afternoon to coordinate the refugees response
Put all that together and Patel is marginalised
Not that simple though isn’t it? UK isn’t going to copy EU check less entry. Labour supports security checks. In terms of policy what did Patel do wrong? So she can’t be blamed if it’s a muddled all over the road government agreed policy to refuges fermented over the last several weeks to blame? She can’t be blamed by a PM when it’s his own confused, inept and failing policy position she’s struggling to implement?
"Cardiff Philharmonic removes Tchaikovsky from programme in light of Russian invasion of Ukraine The orchestra had an all-Tchaikovsky concert scheduled for next week, but has decided to change the programme having deemed it to be 'inappropriate' at this time"
That's utterly ridiculous.
Twats. Especially since Tchaikovsky was associated with linking Russia with the West, culturally.
If anything we should be celebrating the work of this GAY Russian. This war is not about the Russian people or culture, but about the perverted views and actions of one man, and his regime, Putin not Tchaikovsky.
Cardiff should have used the concert as an opportunity to celebrate gay Russia.
Are you sure celebrating GAY Russians is sufficiently patronising?
Anyway, 58% of the vodka swilling scoundrels are in favour of Putin's war. Until that is in single figures I am very happy to make this about the Russian people and culture.
Is that vodka-swilling scoundrels worldwide and, if so, were they self-identifying as such? Can we be sure none of them were gin-swillers self-identifying as vodka-swillers?
BBC: Russia destroys Mariupol children's hospital in airstrike
Russia has destroyed a children's hospital in the besieged port city of Mariupol in the south-east of Ukraine, the city council has claimed in a Facebook post.
In a statement issued on Wednesday afternoon, officials alleged that "Russian occupying forces have dropped several bombs on the children's hospital. The destruction is colossal".
They obviously don't require basic maths skills at Warwick University.....
I have not studied Maths since GCSE though it really makes no difference to the point given the death rate now is well under half what it was in 2020 post vaccination.
Numbers MATTER. Getting them that wrong is shameful.
One of my friends did a doctorate *IN HISTORY* on IIRC agrarian economy in early modern times. He wouldn't have got his doctorate if he'd not been sure whether the average rustic produced 0.1 or 10 times the number of bushels of grain he sowed.
Shameful, or just a mistake as can happen in the cut and thrust? His point remains, that it's very low.
It is very low (or, perhaps better to describe it as, acceptably low).
It is however a classic example of a time when a simple "D'oh, my mistake" would have defused the situation. Because we all make errors from time to time. And better to recognize it with a smile and a shrug.
I was 18 before I learned this lesson. As a teenager, I would realise I had made a mistake in an argument but continue to argue. Everyone I knew took this approach. Somehow admitting being wrong was somehow a bigger failure than being wrong in the first place and placed upon you an obligation to continue the argument, no matter that your position was now demonstrably observed, until everyone parted, glowering. And then I remember meeting a(n actually highly argumentative) Geordie at university who, when you pointed out his mistake, would come back with 'ah, you're not wrong there' and being hugely impressed. One of my daughters learned to cheerfully admit she was wrong and not mind about it while still at infant school. I was so proud of her. Her older sister has observed the success of the tactic and also learned; her younger sister has not, yet. Many adults I know have also not yet mastered this approach.
"Many adults I know have also not yet mastered this approach."
Because they are over-grown adolescent brats who have failed to grow up?
Isn’t all this stuff about the MiGs a bit of a distraction? I was under the impression that most of the damage being down to Ukrainian cities was by ground based rockets and artillery rather than the airforce. What use are fighter jets against that?
How are Ukraine being equipped to take out that threat? Do the rules of the game allow Ukraine to use weapons supplied by Nato to take our ground based rockets originating from Russian territory?
I do believe that aircraft can drop bombs on artillery and rocket launchers.
After today's revelations I have come to the conclusion Patel's days as a minister are numbered
She has been besieged with criticism from across the house and normally any cabinet minister in this situation would be seen next to the Prime Minister at PMQs as evidence of confidence, but Patel was not anywhere to be seen
Reports this morning of cabinet colleagues of Patel pilling into her in cabinet was not unexpected
The announcement that Michael Gove will now take responsibility for the sponsorship visa scheme and former mp, Richard Harrington has been granted a peerage and appointed to the specific office of minister for refugees
Ben Wallace confirmed at the dispatch box that the defence - home - foreign office are meeting this afternoon to coordinate the refugees response
Put all that together and Patel is marginalised
Bring back Theresa May. To the Home Office, that is.
Isn’t all this stuff about the MiGs a bit of a distraction? I was under the impression that most of the damage being down to Ukrainian cities was by ground based rockets and artillery rather than the airforce. What use are fighter jets against that?
How are Ukraine being equipped to take out that threat? Do the rules of the game allow Ukraine to use weapons supplied by Nato to take our ground based rockets originating from Russian territory?
I do believe that aircraft can drop bombs on artillery and rocket launchers.
Sure. But are mig fighter aircraft the best option for this from both an efficiency and risk pov?
US pollster @cygnal has polled residents of Ukraine on their view of certain countries and leaders: EU +42.2 Nato -16.8 UK +56 Biden +25.8 Johnson +49.6 Zelensky +79 Putin -86.7
They obviously don't require basic maths skills at Warwick University.....
I have not studied Maths since GCSE though it really makes no difference to the point given the death rate now is well under half what it was in 2020 post vaccination.
Numbers MATTER. Getting them that wrong is shameful.
One of my friends did a doctorate *IN HISTORY* on IIRC agrarian economy in early modern times. He wouldn't have got his doctorate if he'd not been sure whether the average rustic produced 0.1 or 10 times the number of bushels of grain he sowed.
Shameful, or just a mistake as can happen in the cut and thrust? His point remains, that it's very low.
It is very low (or, perhaps better to describe it as, acceptably low).
It is however a classic example of a time when a simple "D'oh, my mistake" would have defused the situation. Because we all make errors from time to time. And better to recognize it with a smile and a shrug.
I was 18 before I learned this lesson. As a teenager, I would realise I had made a mistake in an argument but continue to argue. Everyone I knew took this approach. Somehow admitting being wrong was somehow a bigger failure than being wrong in the first place and placed upon you an obligation to continue the argument, no matter that your position was now demonstrably observed, until everyone parted, glowering. And then I remember meeting a(n actually highly argumentative) Geordie at university who, when you pointed out his mistake, would come back with 'ah, you're not wrong there' and being hugely impressed. One of my daughters learned to cheerfully admit she was wrong and not mind about it while still at infant school. I was so proud of her. Her older sister has observed the success of the tactic and also learned; her younger sister has not, yet. Many adults I know have also not yet mastered this approach.
Yes, always admit an obvious error, and always apologise if you've been an idiot
It makes life so much smoother, and defuses so many awkward situations. A basic but golden rule
Talking of Russian culture I watched the Soviet “Soy Cuba” (I am Cuba) - a lot of it is moderately tedious agitprop, but then there are astonishing gems like this insane tracking shot - in those days a practical track - no ILM special effects:
"Cardiff Philharmonic removes Tchaikovsky from programme in light of Russian invasion of Ukraine The orchestra had an all-Tchaikovsky concert scheduled for next week, but has decided to change the programme having deemed it to be 'inappropriate' at this time"
My first night back in London Saturday before last, I went to the LPO's "From Russia with Love" programme (Prokofiev and Rachmaninoff). The Director of Programmes introduced herself at the outset. She said her name, that she is a Jew born in Moscow with a Ukrainian husband. She said that the programme was developed 2 years ago with the purpose of showing that music can build bridges, and that that message was all the more pertinent given developments. She went into a long diatribe against Putin's regime, and pointed out that Prokofiev was born in Donetsk and that the Russians had destroyed the airport bearing his name. The orchestra then opened the proceedings with a stirring rendition of the Ukrainian national anthem, for which everyone stood.
I do not think we should cancel Russian culture. We should put it in context, as this wonderful woman did.
If anything we should be putting more Russian culture out there.
I'd recommend Lermontov's "A Hero of Our Time". (It's fairly short.)
And, for music, Shostakovich's final symphony, the 15th, sends the shivers.
Lots of great Russian artists were enemies of czarism and dictatorship. Pushkin, the Shakespeare of Russia, is a great example. He was exiled and nearly executed for opposing Russian autocracy. Tolstoy is another
We should celebrate them not ban them. Mad
It is unfortunate that the 1812 overture is the most jingoistic front rank piece of classical music there is. And it celebrates Russian soldiers slaughtering people in the snow. If this had been Swan Lake it would be different.
They obviously don't require basic maths skills at Warwick University.....
I have not studied Maths since GCSE though it really makes no difference to the point given the death rate now is well under half what it was in 2020 post vaccination.
BBC: Russia destroys Mariupol children's hospital in airstrike
Russia has destroyed a children's hospital in the besieged port city of Mariupol in the south-east of Ukraine, the city council has claimed in a Facebook post.
In a statement issued on Wednesday afternoon, officials alleged that "Russian occupying forces have dropped several bombs on the children's hospital. The destruction is colossal".
There was a question earlier about whether jets would be that useful to Ukraine. I guess this is the answer, if the destruction was indeed delivered by dropped bombs.
Isn’t all this stuff about the MiGs a bit of a distraction? I was under the impression that most of the damage being down to Ukrainian cities was by ground based rockets and artillery rather than the airforce. What use are fighter jets against that?
How are Ukraine being equipped to take out that threat? Do the rules of the game allow Ukraine to use weapons supplied by Nato to take our ground based rockets originating from Russian territory?
I do believe that aircraft can drop bombs on artillery and rocket launchers.
Sure. But are mig fighter aircraft the best option for this from both an efficiency and risk pov?
Counter-batteries seem to be a better all-around solution, but IANAE on military equipment.
"Cardiff Philharmonic removes Tchaikovsky from programme in light of Russian invasion of Ukraine The orchestra had an all-Tchaikovsky concert scheduled for next week, but has decided to change the programme having deemed it to be 'inappropriate' at this time"
I think we need to be pretty brutal about cracking down on Russians, even if in some individual cases it is unfair and they could be innocent of any wrong-doing. The Russian people just have to understand that there are consequences if your Govt acts like this.
However, banning Tchaikovsky is plain daft and small-minded.
I think we should be celebrating Tchaikovsky's homosexuality. Mostly because it would really annoy the Russian government.
One of my favourite plays is Chekov's Cherry Orchard. It could be adapted about an oligarch who has to sell his yacht to pay the mortgage on Putin's war.
After today's revelations I have come to the conclusion Patel's days as a minister are numbered
She has been besieged with criticism from across the house and normally any cabinet minister in this situation would be seen next to the Prime Minister at PMQs as evidence of confidence, but Patel was not anywhere to be seen
Reports this morning of cabinet colleagues of Patel pilling into her in cabinet was not unexpected
The announcement that Michael Gove will now take responsibility for the sponsorship visa scheme and former mp, Richard Harrington has been granted a peerage and appointed to the specific office of minister for refugees
Ben Wallace confirmed at the dispatch box that the defence - home - foreign office are meeting this afternoon to coordinate the refugees response
Put all that together and Patel is marginalised
Bring back Theresa May. To the Home Office, that is.
After today's revelations I have come to the conclusion Patel's days as a minister are numbered
She has been besieged with criticism from across the house and normally any cabinet minister in this situation would be seen next to the Prime Minister at PMQs as evidence of confidence, but Patel was not anywhere to be seen
Reports this morning of cabinet colleagues of Patel pilling into her in cabinet was not unexpected
The announcement that Michael Gove will now take responsibility for the sponsorship visa scheme and former mp, Richard Harrington has been granted a peerage and appointed to the specific office of minister for refugees
Ben Wallace confirmed at the dispatch box that the defence - home - foreign office are meeting this afternoon to coordinate the refugees response
Put all that together and Patel is marginalised
Not that simple though isn’t it? UK isn’t going to copy EU check less entry. Labour supports security checks. In terms of policy what did Patel do wrong? So she can’t be blamed if it’s a muddled all over the road government agreed policy to refuges fermented over the last several weeks to blame? She can’t be blamed by a PM when it’s his own confused, inept and failing policy position she’s struggling to implement?
I listened to her at the dispatch box and she came over well on her brief only to be found out that some things she said especially about an office in Calais had not happened and you only need to see her record of failure over channel crossings etc to see that she is just plainly incompetent
She has been sidelined and by common consent is not upto the job
Still an issue in some parts of the world. eg South Korea, once the poster boy of Covid control. They have just announced an extraordinary 342,000 new cases in one day, their highest ever, and one of the absolute biggest daily caseloads reported anywhere - eg India peaked about 400,000 a day, Brazil at about 250,000, and they are both vastly bigger than S Korea
it must be Omicron (BA2?) combined with a lack of prior immunity
And it is not some innocent explosion of mild colds, death rates are also shooting up dramatically (158 today, whereas S Korea is used to single digit death rates per day)
Combined with the 5th wave Covid calamity we are seeing in Hong Kong, this is deeply ominous for China.
They have zero prior immunity. As they keep telling us, proudly. If Omicron BA2 gets in to China, then it could be hellish for them; and it must be likely that it will do so, if it can easily cause such havoc in quarantined Hong Kong
Just to add to the joys of the world
When not if.
One of my family just contracted Omicron. Completely isolating (because of caring for an elderly relative) - literal 2 minute conversation at distance with someone who later tested positive.
Everyone is going to get this.....
Not necessarily, if you've been triple-vaxxed.
My own (unscientific) perspective is: The day after my mum died (non-covid), I spent the whole day my brother who was coughing, sneezing and feeling awful the whole time. I fully expected to catch his 'bad cold' but thankfully nothing - not a sniff(!)
Although he tested negative on LFTs, his GP suspected covid and we both think that's right, and that my 3 vaccinations protected me from catching it.
As I said, totally unscientific.
My 11 year old son got covid (almost certainly omicron) over New Year. We didn't engage in any social distancing at home, and neither my wife or I, nor our daughter got it.
We were all triple vaxxed, and were lucky.
Yes, my middle daughter has recently had it (again - it was delta last time). None of the rest of us did. Wife and I are vaxxed but none of the kids are old enough yet to have been. That said, oldest daughter did have a nasty cold. But tested negative throughout. I suspect through vaccination and/or repeated exposure we are all brimming with antibodies at the moment.
Exactly.
I'm sure my wife and I sucked in omicron particles, which were swiftly identified and neutralized.
For us, it acted as an unnoticeable booster shot.
And this is one of the reasons why - even with an R0 of 7 - covid fades fairly quickly in a well vaccinated population.
It was my fervent wish, once it was upon us, that omicron would turn out to be the vaccination for the anti-vaxxers, and a booster for the rest of us, without overwhelming our hospital systems. It seems to have mostly followed that course.
AIUI viruses tend to get better at spreading and less deadly over time. The rationale for this is that if viruses are bad at spreading they die out because they run out of hosts. If they are good at spreading but highly deadly, they kill off their hosts before they can spread. The only way for a virus to survive in the long run is therefore to be good at spreading but less deadly. This seems to be the pattern as Covid-19 develops.
I do not think we should cancel Russian culture. We should put it in context, as this wonderful woman did.
If we don't cancel "All the Things She Said" by Tatu can we put it in the context of "would be shit if not for the fact that its a Russian song about lesbian love which is proper edgy"
The "man" listened to classical music so it's a near certainty.
I thought he wrote about it in quite candid terms..... And it is something that the current Russian government has tried to edit out of history.
The 1812 Overture isn't my cup of tea, but it does celebrate the success of a plucky nation defending itself against invasion by a powerful aggressor.
Although Prokofiev was born in a small village in the Donetsk oblast, I do not think that his music for the Russian war film Alexander Nevsky would be appropriate to program in a choral concert in current circumstances.
"Cardiff Philharmonic removes Tchaikovsky from programme in light of Russian invasion of Ukraine The orchestra had an all-Tchaikovsky concert scheduled for next week, but has decided to change the programme having deemed it to be 'inappropriate' at this time"
That's utterly ridiculous.
It's a poor attempt to be in tune with public opinion ?
They obviously don't require basic maths skills at Warwick University.....
I have not studied Maths since GCSE though it really makes no difference to the point given the death rate now is well under half what it was in 2020 post vaccination.
Numbers MATTER. Getting them that wrong is shameful.
One of my friends did a doctorate *IN HISTORY* on IIRC agrarian economy in early modern times. He wouldn't have got his doctorate if he'd not been sure whether the average rustic produced 0.1 or 10 times the number of bushels of grain he sowed.
Shameful, or just a mistake as can happen in the cut and thrust? His point remains, that it's very low.
It is very low (or, perhaps better to describe it as, acceptably low).
It is however a classic example of a time when a simple "D'oh, my mistake" would have defused the situation. Because we all make errors from time to time. And better to recognize it with a smile and a shrug.
I was 18 before I learned this lesson. As a teenager, I would realise I had made a mistake in an argument but continue to argue. Everyone I knew took this approach. Somehow admitting being wrong was somehow a bigger failure than being wrong in the first place and placed upon you an obligation to continue the argument, no matter that your position was now demonstrably observed, until everyone parted, glowering. And then I remember meeting a(n actually highly argumentative) Geordie at university who, when you pointed out his mistake, would come back with 'ah, you're not wrong there' and being hugely impressed. One of my daughters learned to cheerfully admit she was wrong and not mind about it while still at infant school. I was so proud of her. Her older sister has observed the success of the tactic and also learned; her younger sister has not, yet. Many adults I know have also not yet mastered this approach.
Yes, always admit an obvious error, and always apologise if you've been an idiot
It makes life so much smoother, and defuses so many awkward situations. A basic but golden rule
Are you well practised in apologising? Apologies, I shouldn't have said that one...below the belt an' all that.
Isn’t all this stuff about the MiGs a bit of a distraction? I was under the impression that most of the damage being down to Ukrainian cities was by ground based rockets and artillery rather than the airforce. What use are fighter jets against that?
How are Ukraine being equipped to take out that threat? Do the rules of the game allow Ukraine to use weapons supplied by Nato to take our ground based rockets originating from Russian territory?
I do believe that aircraft can drop bombs on artillery and rocket launchers.
Sure. But are mig fighter aircraft the best option for this from both an efficiency and risk pov?
No, not sure at all. But they are likely to be the only thing in the Ukrainian arsenal for hitting things over the border in Russia.
Harris will land in Poland on a mission to rally NATO against Russian aggression. But her visit could now be dominated by the question of why the U.S. and Poland have fumbled the transfer deal.
On a call previewing the trip, a senior administration official conceded the issue would be front and center. “We have been in dialogue with the Poles for some time about how best to provide a variety of security assistance to Ukraine,” the official said. “And that’s a dialogue that absolutely will continue up to and as part of the vice president’s trip.”
SSI - sitting in my armchair, my view is that this is a critical juncture for Ukraine, NATO and (of course) Russia. Also for President Biden, and most certainly for Vice President Harris.
My personal expectation is that she will help broker an agreement that will provide planes to Ukraine some how, some way. Because for one thing, don't think Biden would have sent her out with any other expectation. Because the stakes are huge for both POTUS and VEEP, not to mention the rest of us across the world.
I had dinner last night with someone who knows California very well and counts Kamala as a personal friend.
View was that she will get flattened in 2024. She’s got a difficult and thankless job, but she’s not making a go of it. He expects Newsom to run for potus in 2024 - sees it as wide open - but generally concerned by lack of talking on the democrat bench. Doesn’t rate Buttegieg- infrastructure bill was fantastic opportunity for him and he was nowhere to be seen
Newsom for President? Doubt even California would vote for him.
Your friend really think Newsom came out of the recall - which he himself was responsible for qualifying, thanks to his "French Laundry" horseshit?
Granted, Gavin Newsom IS more electorally viable than . . . wait for it . . . Andrew Cuomo!
"Cardiff Philharmonic removes Tchaikovsky from programme in light of Russian invasion of Ukraine The orchestra had an all-Tchaikovsky concert scheduled for next week, but has decided to change the programme having deemed it to be 'inappropriate' at this time"
Utterly absurd.
They'll be burning War and Peace next.
With current gas prices they probably are already.
BBC: Russia destroys Mariupol children's hospital in airstrike
Russia has destroyed a children's hospital in the besieged port city of Mariupol in the south-east of Ukraine, the city council has claimed in a Facebook post.
In a statement issued on Wednesday afternoon, officials alleged that "Russian occupying forces have dropped several bombs on the children's hospital. The destruction is colossal".
FFS. They really are plumbing the depths. I really do hope there is a heaven and hell, and that hell is where those that put others through misery have to feel the pain of all those that they have sinned against.
They obviously don't require basic maths skills at Warwick University.....
I have not studied Maths since GCSE though it really makes no difference to the point given the death rate now is well under half what it was in 2020 post vaccination.
Numbers MATTER. Getting them that wrong is shameful.
One of my friends did a doctorate *IN HISTORY* on IIRC agrarian economy in early modern times. He wouldn't have got his doctorate if he'd not been sure whether the average rustic produced 0.1 or 10 times the number of bushels of grain he sowed.
Shameful, or just a mistake as can happen in the cut and thrust? His point remains, that it's very low.
It is very low (or, perhaps better to describe it as, acceptably low).
It is however a classic example of a time when a simple "D'oh, my mistake" would have defused the situation. Because we all make errors from time to time. And better to recognize it with a smile and a shrug.
I was 18 before I learned this lesson. As a teenager, I would realise I had made a mistake in an argument but continue to argue. Everyone I knew took this approach. Somehow admitting being wrong was somehow a bigger failure than being wrong in the first place and placed upon you an obligation to continue the argument, no matter that your position was now demonstrably observed, until everyone parted, glowering. And then I remember meeting a(n actually highly argumentative) Geordie at university who, when you pointed out his mistake, would come back with 'ah, you're not wrong there' and being hugely impressed. One of my daughters learned to cheerfully admit she was wrong and not mind about it while still at infant school. I was so proud of her. Her older sister has observed the success of the tactic and also learned; her younger sister has not, yet. Many adults I know have also not yet mastered this approach.
Yes, always admit an obvious error, and always apologise if you've been an idiot
It makes life so much smoother, and defuses so many awkward situations. A basic but golden rule
Are you well practised in apologising? Apologies, I shouldn't have said that one...below the belt an' all that.
I'm often an idiot (it comes with having an excitable disposition) so I find I am often apologising. It doesn't bother me in the slightest, and I've discovered people are generally very forgiving if you say Sorry
And now I must really do some work. Sorry, gotta go!
They obviously don't require basic maths skills at Warwick University.....
I have not studied Maths since GCSE though it really makes no difference to the point given the death rate now is well under half what it was in 2020 post vaccination.
Numbers MATTER. Getting them that wrong is shameful.
One of my friends did a doctorate *IN HISTORY* on IIRC agrarian economy in early modern times. He wouldn't have got his doctorate if he'd not been sure whether the average rustic produced 0.1 or 10 times the number of bushels of grain he sowed.
Do I give a shit what you think? No. You are someone I don't agree with on barely anything and that includes this.
If I was doing a doctorate, which I am not and have not, then I might be calculating percentages more regularly based on what it was on but I am not.
I have not needed to calculate percentages to any significant degree since I was 16 doing GCSEs, if I am a little rusty and forgot to multiply by 100 in the middle of posts apologies, I am certainly not going to say it was 'shameful'
"Cardiff Philharmonic removes Tchaikovsky from programme in light of Russian invasion of Ukraine The orchestra had an all-Tchaikovsky concert scheduled for next week, but has decided to change the programme having deemed it to be 'inappropriate' at this time"
My first night back in London Saturday before last, I went to the LPO's "From Russia with Love" programme (Prokofiev and Rachmaninoff). The Director of Programmes introduced herself at the outset. She said her name, that she is a Jew born in Moscow with a Ukrainian husband. She said that the programme was developed 2 years ago with the purpose of showing that music can build bridges, and that that message was all the more pertinent given developments. She went into a long diatribe against Putin's regime, and pointed out that Prokofiev was born in Donetsk and that the Russians had destroyed the airport bearing his name. The orchestra then opened the proceedings with a stirring rendition of the Ukrainian national anthem, for which everyone stood.
I do not think we should cancel Russian culture. We should put it in context, as this wonderful woman did.
If anything we should be putting more Russian culture out there.
I'd recommend Lermontov's "A Hero of Our Time". (It's fairly short.)
And, for music, Shostakovich's final symphony, the 15th, sends the shivers.
Lots of great Russian artists were enemies of czarism and dictatorship. Pushkin, the Shakespeare of Russia, is a great example. He was exiled and nearly executed for opposing Russian autocracy. Tolstoy is another
We should celebrate them not ban them. Mad
Ditto the music; banning Shostakovich would be a travesty given that he both wrote up Soviet militarism and took the piss out of it.
After today's revelations I have come to the conclusion Patel's days as a minister are numbered
She has been besieged with criticism from across the house and normally any cabinet minister in this situation would be seen next to the Prime Minister at PMQs as evidence of confidence, but Patel was not anywhere to be seen
Reports this morning of cabinet colleagues of Patel pilling into her in cabinet was not unexpected
The announcement that Michael Gove will now take responsibility for the sponsorship visa scheme and former mp, Richard Harrington has been granted a peerage and appointed to the specific office of minister for refugees
Ben Wallace confirmed at the dispatch box that the defence - home - foreign office are meeting this afternoon to coordinate the refugees response
Put all that together and Patel is marginalised
A lot of people are displacing their anxiety about the war by projecting it onto refugees. But the refugees have already reached a place of safety if they are now in Poland, Hungary, Germany or France.
The priorities at the moment should be to help anyone else leave Ukraine if they want, and to help those who have been displaced with food, clothing and shelter..
The medium-term issue of settling the refugees is urgent, but it is not an emergency. It needs to be sorted in a timely fashion through broad international agreement, as and when the scale of the problem becomes clearer. Most of the refugees would, I suspect, prefer to return to Ukraine as soon as it is safe. This is not a suitable topic for political grandstanding.
Harris will land in Poland on a mission to rally NATO against Russian aggression. But her visit could now be dominated by the question of why the U.S. and Poland have fumbled the transfer deal.
On a call previewing the trip, a senior administration official conceded the issue would be front and center. “We have been in dialogue with the Poles for some time about how best to provide a variety of security assistance to Ukraine,” the official said. “And that’s a dialogue that absolutely will continue up to and as part of the vice president’s trip.”
SSI - sitting in my armchair, my view is that this is a critical juncture for Ukraine, NATO and (of course) Russia. Also for President Biden, and most certainly for Vice President Harris.
My personal expectation is that she will help broker an agreement that will provide planes to Ukraine some how, some way. Because for one thing, don't think Biden would have sent her out with any other expectation. Because the stakes are huge for both POTUS and VEEP, not to mention the rest of us across the world.
I had dinner last night with someone who knows California very well and counts Kamala as a personal friend.
View was that she will get flattened in 2024. She’s got a difficult and thankless job, but she’s not making a go of it. He expects Newsom to run for potus in 2024 - sees it as wide open - but generally concerned by lack of talking on the democrat bench. Doesn’t rate Buttegieg- infrastructure bill was fantastic opportunity for him and he was nowhere to be seen
Newsom for President? Doubt even California would vote for him.
Your friend really think Newsom came out of the recall - which he himself was responsible for qualifying, thanks to his "French Laundry" horseshit?
Granted, Gavin Newsom IS more electorally viable than . . . wait for it . . . Andrew Cuomo!
Re Newsom, completely agree. He's not particularly popular in California Democratic circles, so I don't see how he could get anywhere near the nomination.
They obviously don't require basic maths skills at Warwick University.....
I have not studied Maths since GCSE though it really makes no difference to the point given the death rate now is well under half what it was in 2020 post vaccination.
Numbers MATTER. Getting them that wrong is shameful.
One of my friends did a doctorate *IN HISTORY* on IIRC agrarian economy in early modern times. He wouldn't have got his doctorate if he'd not been sure whether the average rustic produced 0.1 or 10 times the number of bushels of grain he sowed.
Shameful, or just a mistake as can happen in the cut and thrust? His point remains, that it's very low.
It is very low (or, perhaps better to describe it as, acceptably low).
It is however a classic example of a time when a simple "D'oh, my mistake" would have defused the situation. Because we all make errors from time to time. And better to recognize it with a smile and a shrug.
I was 18 before I learned this lesson. As a teenager, I would realise I had made a mistake in an argument but continue to argue. Everyone I knew took this approach. Somehow admitting being wrong was somehow a bigger failure than being wrong in the first place and placed upon you an obligation to continue the argument, no matter that your position was now demonstrably observed, until everyone parted, glowering. And then I remember meeting a(n actually highly argumentative) Geordie at university who, when you pointed out his mistake, would come back with 'ah, you're not wrong there' and being hugely impressed. One of my daughters learned to cheerfully admit she was wrong and not mind about it while still at infant school. I was so proud of her. Her older sister has observed the success of the tactic and also learned; her younger sister has not, yet. Many adults I know have also not yet mastered this approach.
Yes, always admit an obvious error, and always apologise if you've been an idiot
It makes life so much smoother, and defuses so many awkward situations. A basic but golden rule
If you have apologised for predicting ten out of the last zero ends to human civilisation, I must have missed it.
BBC: Russia destroys Mariupol children's hospital in airstrike
Russia has destroyed a children's hospital in the besieged port city of Mariupol in the south-east of Ukraine, the city council has claimed in a Facebook post.
In a statement issued on Wednesday afternoon, officials alleged that "Russian occupying forces have dropped several bombs on the children's hospital. The destruction is colossal".
After today's revelations I have come to the conclusion Patel's days as a minister are numbered
She has been besieged with criticism from across the house and normally any cabinet minister in this situation would be seen next to the Prime Minister at PMQs as evidence of confidence, but Patel was not anywhere to be seen
Reports this morning of cabinet colleagues of Patel pilling into her in cabinet was not unexpected
The announcement that Michael Gove will now take responsibility for the sponsorship visa scheme and former mp, Richard Harrington has been granted a peerage and appointed to the specific office of minister for refugees
Ben Wallace confirmed at the dispatch box that the defence - home - foreign office are meeting this afternoon to coordinate the refugees response
Put all that together and Patel is marginalised
Bring back Theresa May. To the Home Office, that is.
God no - Theresa and her 'Go Home' vans?!
Slightly meant in jest, but TM did seem to be in command of the department. And commanded respect when she was there. PP simply doesn't. May not all be her fault but politics is unforgiving. And her reputation - not high to begin with - is shredded. Needs to go. Dame Priti has a nice ring.
They obviously don't require basic maths skills at Warwick University.....
I have not studied Maths since GCSE though it really makes no difference to the point given the death rate now is well under half what it was in 2020 post vaccination.
Numbers MATTER. Getting them that wrong is shameful.
One of my friends did a doctorate *IN HISTORY* on IIRC agrarian economy in early modern times. He wouldn't have got his doctorate if he'd not been sure whether the average rustic produced 0.1 or 10 times the number of bushels of grain he sowed.
Shameful, or just a mistake as can happen in the cut and thrust? His point remains, that it's very low.
It is very low (or, perhaps better to describe it as, acceptably low).
It is however a classic example of a time when a simple "D'oh, my mistake" would have defused the situation. Because we all make errors from time to time. And better to recognize it with a smile and a shrug.
I was 18 before I learned this lesson. As a teenager, I would realise I had made a mistake in an argument but continue to argue. Everyone I knew took this approach. Somehow admitting being wrong was somehow a bigger failure than being wrong in the first place and placed upon you an obligation to continue the argument, no matter that your position was now demonstrably observed, until everyone parted, glowering. And then I remember meeting a(n actually highly argumentative) Geordie at university who, when you pointed out his mistake, would come back with 'ah, you're not wrong there' and being hugely impressed. One of my daughters learned to cheerfully admit she was wrong and not mind about it while still at infant school. I was so proud of her. Her older sister has observed the success of the tactic and also learned; her younger sister has not, yet. Many adults I know have also not yet mastered this approach.
Yes, always admit an obvious error, and always apologise if you've been an idiot
It makes life so much smoother, and defuses so many awkward situations. A basic but golden rule
If you have apologised for predicting ten out of the last zero ends to human civilisation, I must have missed it.
Tbf, I think he has apologised for a few of those. ;-)
US pollster @cygnal has polled residents of Ukraine on their view of certain countries and leaders: EU +42.2 Nato -16.8 UK +56 Biden +25.8 Johnson +49.6 Zelensky +79 Putin -86.7
The takeaway from that poll has nothing to do with our home grown pathological liar. It’s that 5% of Ukranians have no opinion of Putin either way and that smaller percentages have either not heard of him or view him positively.
i am actually beginning to seriously worry that people like HY are actually pleased about the war in Ukraine because it has changed the narrative for their beloved "Boris". The really sad thing is that it hasn't. He was shit, is shit and always will be shit. He has to go.
I really hope not as this war sickens one's mind and is quite the most awful situation with war in Europe an unbelievable development
The poll @HYUFD refers to cannot be translated into his comment though it is good to see the UK and Boris being appreciated
Time will tell on whether Boris recovers his popularity, but the one thing we should all agree is that this dreadful war has upturned everything we thought about politics and economics a few short weeks ago and the way forward will be unpredictable and concerning for millions across the globe
After today's revelations I have come to the conclusion Patel's days as a minister are numbered
She has been besieged with criticism from across the house and normally any cabinet minister in this situation would be seen next to the Prime Minister at PMQs as evidence of confidence, but Patel was not anywhere to be seen
Reports this morning of cabinet colleagues of Patel pilling into her in cabinet was not unexpected
The announcement that Michael Gove will now take responsibility for the sponsorship visa scheme and former mp, Richard Harrington has been granted a peerage and appointed to the specific office of minister for refugees
Ben Wallace confirmed at the dispatch box that the defence - home - foreign office are meeting this afternoon to coordinate the refugees response
Put all that together and Patel is marginalised
Not that simple though isn’t it? UK isn’t going to copy EU check less entry. Labour supports security checks. In terms of policy what did Patel do wrong? So she can’t be blamed if it’s a muddled all over the road government agreed policy to refuges fermented over the last several weeks to blame? She can’t be blamed by a PM when it’s his own confused, inept and failing policy position she’s struggling to implement?
I listened to her at the dispatch box and she came over well on her brief only to be found out that some things she said especially about an office in Calais had not happened and you only need to see her record of failure over channel crossings etc to see that she is just plainly incompetent
She has been sidelined and by common consent is not upto the job
She can be very articulate, has a great backstory, and is rather attractive.
But she's also done a poor job with the channel migrants, and could easily have done better with Ukrainian refugees. And her lying to the then Prime Minister, not once but twice, casts some serious doubt over her judgement.
BBC: Russia destroys Mariupol children's hospital in airstrike
Russia has destroyed a children's hospital in the besieged port city of Mariupol in the south-east of Ukraine, the city council has claimed in a Facebook post.
In a statement issued on Wednesday afternoon, officials alleged that "Russian occupying forces have dropped several bombs on the children's hospital. The destruction is colossal".
"Cardiff Philharmonic removes Tchaikovsky from programme in light of Russian invasion of Ukraine The orchestra had an all-Tchaikovsky concert scheduled for next week, but has decided to change the programme having deemed it to be 'inappropriate' at this time"
That's utterly ridiculous.
Twats. Especially since Tchaikovsky was associated with linking Russia with the West, culturally.
If anything we should be celebrating the work of this GAY Russian. This war is not about the Russian people or culture, but about the perverted views and actions of one man, and his regime, Putin not Tchaikovsky.
Cardiff should have used the concert as an opportunity to celebrate gay Russia.
So what’s going wrong then and what can we do about it? The government have been on message it’s Putin’s regime to be targeted not Russia, not it’s history culture and people, that we are actually more on the side of the people there than bloodthirsty Hitler Putin is?
Personally I think we should view it like Trump America, a split between make America great again on one hand, and I can’t believe the insanity of this on the other - we didn’t blame all US for trump pulling out climate agreements etc to make make America great again, in fact we cared for his internal opponents we didn’t want to hurt them like we are targeting and hurting ordinary Russians.
Newspaper reviewers on TV last night fist pumping McDonalds had pulled out. Maybe the only real impact over there is some breadline poor people out of a job? Or am I missing something and completely wrong, it really was a moment to fist pump?
US pollster @cygnal has polled residents of Ukraine on their view of certain countries and leaders: EU +42.2 Nato -16.8 UK +56 Biden +25.8 Johnson +49.6 Zelensky +79 Putin -86.7
"Cardiff Philharmonic removes Tchaikovsky from programme in light of Russian invasion of Ukraine The orchestra had an all-Tchaikovsky concert scheduled for next week, but has decided to change the programme having deemed it to be 'inappropriate' at this time"
That's utterly ridiculous.
It's a poor attempt to be in tune with public opinion ?
Sad to say, but it is indeed wokeism, in it's purist form, as practiced by many - left, right and occasionally even center - as substitute for thought.
Reflexive anti-Russianism is BIGOTRY whether communicated via hate speech (as too many examples on PB recently) OR as prissy virtue-signaling. Either way, it's more grist for Putin's satanic mill.
12 out of 10 to the Microsoft store. Order new computer gubbins yesterday with delivery promised Friday. "We'll email you once dispatched" - so went back to check as no email yet.
And its now promising delivery in a month's time! So order cancelled and reordered from John Lewis who seem to have found some stock.
US pollster @cygnal has polled residents of Ukraine on their view of certain countries and leaders: EU +42.2 Nato -16.8 UK +56 Biden +25.8 Johnson +49.6 Zelensky +79 Putin -86.7
The takeaway from that poll has nothing to do with our home grown pathological liar. It’s that 5% of Ukranians have no opinion of Putin either way and that smaller percentages have either not heard of him or view him positively.
i am actually beginning to seriously worry that people like HY are actually pleased about the war in Ukraine because it has changed the narrative for their beloved "Boris". The really sad thing is that it hasn't. He was shit, is shit and always will be shit. He has to go.
I really hope not as this war sickens one's mind and is quite the most awful situation with war in Europe an unbelievable development
The poll @HYUFD refers to cannot be translated into his comment though it is good to see the UK and Boris being appreciated
Time will tell on whether Boris recovers his popularity, but the one thing we should all agree is that this dreadful war has upturned everything we thought about politics and economics a few short weeks ago and the way forward will be unpredictable and concerning for millions across the globe
Indeed, which is why we need proper leaders, not fools. Ben Wallace would do.
Russian forces continue to consolidate their positions, but haven’t made any major offensives in the past few days. Ukrainian forces around Chernihiv risk encirclement at the moment as the Russians move east of Kyiv.
After today's revelations I have come to the conclusion Patel's days as a minister are numbered
She has been besieged with criticism from across the house and normally any cabinet minister in this situation would be seen next to the Prime Minister at PMQs as evidence of confidence, but Patel was not anywhere to be seen
Reports this morning of cabinet colleagues of Patel pilling into her in cabinet was not unexpected
The announcement that Michael Gove will now take responsibility for the sponsorship visa scheme and former mp, Richard Harrington has been granted a peerage and appointed to the specific office of minister for refugees
Ben Wallace confirmed at the dispatch box that the defence - home - foreign office are meeting this afternoon to coordinate the refugees response
Put all that together and Patel is marginalised
Not that simple though isn’t it? UK isn’t going to copy EU check less entry. Labour supports security checks. In terms of policy what did Patel do wrong? So she can’t be blamed if it’s a muddled all over the road government agreed policy to refuges fermented over the last several weeks to blame? She can’t be blamed by a PM when it’s his own confused, inept and failing policy position she’s struggling to implement?
I listened to her at the dispatch box and she came over well on her brief only to be found out that some things she said especially about an office in Calais had not happened and you only need to see her record of failure over channel crossings etc to see that she is just plainly incompetent
She has been sidelined and by common consent is not upto the job
She can be very articulate, has a great backstory, and is rather attractive.
But she's also done a poor job with the channel migrants, and could easily have done better with Ukrainian refugees. And her lying to the then Prime Minister, not once but twice, casts some serious doubt over her judgement.
I think she's over promoted.
Overpromoted by someone that is even more overpromoted than she is no less!
They obviously don't require basic maths skills at Warwick University.....
I have not studied Maths since GCSE though it really makes no difference to the point given the death rate now is well under half what it was in 2020 post vaccination.
Numbers MATTER. Getting them that wrong is shameful.
One of my friends did a doctorate *IN HISTORY* on IIRC agrarian economy in early modern times. He wouldn't have got his doctorate if he'd not been sure whether the average rustic produced 0.1 or 10 times the number of bushels of grain he sowed.
Shameful, or just a mistake as can happen in the cut and thrust? His point remains, that it's very low.
It is very low (or, perhaps better to describe it as, acceptably low).
It is however a classic example of a time when a simple "D'oh, my mistake" would have defused the situation. Because we all make errors from time to time. And better to recognize it with a smile and a shrug.
I was 18 before I learned this lesson. As a teenager, I would realise I had made a mistake in an argument but continue to argue. Everyone I knew took this approach. Somehow admitting being wrong was somehow a bigger failure than being wrong in the first place and placed upon you an obligation to continue the argument, no matter that your position was now demonstrably observed, until everyone parted, glowering. And then I remember meeting a(n actually highly argumentative) Geordie at university who, when you pointed out his mistake, would come back with 'ah, you're not wrong there' and being hugely impressed. One of my daughters learned to cheerfully admit she was wrong and not mind about it while still at infant school. I was so proud of her. Her older sister has observed the success of the tactic and also learned; her younger sister has not, yet. Many adults I know have also not yet mastered this approach.
Yes, always admit an obvious error, and always apologise if you've been an idiot
It makes life so much smoother, and defuses so many awkward situations. A basic but golden rule
Are you well practised in apologising? Apologies, I shouldn't have said that one...below the belt an' all that.
I'm often an idiot (it comes with having an excitable disposition) so I find I am often apologising. It doesn't bother me in the slightest, and I've discovered people are generally very forgiving if you say Sorry
And now I must really do some work. Sorry, gotta go!
IBM once did some customer research that showed they were more popular with customers for whom they had cocked something up, apologised and fixed it, than they were with customers for whom they had never caused a problem.
After today's revelations I have come to the conclusion Patel's days as a minister are numbered
She has been besieged with criticism from across the house and normally any cabinet minister in this situation would be seen next to the Prime Minister at PMQs as evidence of confidence, but Patel was not anywhere to be seen
Reports this morning of cabinet colleagues of Patel pilling into her in cabinet was not unexpected
The announcement that Michael Gove will now take responsibility for the sponsorship visa scheme and former mp, Richard Harrington has been granted a peerage and appointed to the specific office of minister for refugees
Ben Wallace confirmed at the dispatch box that the defence - home - foreign office are meeting this afternoon to coordinate the refugees response
Put all that together and Patel is marginalised
A lot of people are displacing their anxiety about the war by projecting it onto refugees. But the refugees have already reached a place of safety if they are now in Poland, Hungary, Germany or France.
The priorities at the moment should be to help anyone else leave Ukraine if they want, and to help those who have been displaced with food, clothing and shelter..
The medium-term issue of settling the refugees is urgent, but it is not an emergency. It needs to be sorted in a timely fashion through broad international agreement, as and when the scale of the problem becomes clearer. Most of the refugees would, I suspect, prefer to return to Ukraine as soon as it is safe. This is not a suitable topic for political grandstanding.
An issue is either medium term, or urgent. Can't be both. If I were homeless in Calais of regard the issue as fucking urgent.
It is possible to think about more than one thing at once. Especially if you are a whole country with different ministers to think about different things.
Still an issue in some parts of the world. eg South Korea, once the poster boy of Covid control. They have just announced an extraordinary 342,000 new cases in one day, their highest ever, and one of the absolute biggest daily caseloads reported anywhere - eg India peaked about 400,000 a day, Brazil at about 250,000, and they are both vastly bigger than S Korea
it must be Omicron (BA2?) combined with a lack of prior immunity
And it is not some innocent explosion of mild colds, death rates are also shooting up dramatically (158 today, whereas S Korea is used to single digit death rates per day)
Combined with the 5th wave Covid calamity we are seeing in Hong Kong, this is deeply ominous for China.
They have zero prior immunity. As they keep telling us, proudly. If Omicron BA2 gets in to China, then it could be hellish for them; and it must be likely that it will do so, if it can easily cause such havoc in quarantined Hong Kong
Just to add to the joys of the world
When not if.
One of my family just contracted Omicron. Completely isolating (because of caring for an elderly relative) - literal 2 minute conversation at distance with someone who later tested positive.
Everyone is going to get this.....
Not necessarily, if you've been triple-vaxxed.
My own (unscientific) perspective is: The day after my mum died (non-covid), I spent the whole day my brother who was coughing, sneezing and feeling awful the whole time. I fully expected to catch his 'bad cold' but thankfully nothing - not a sniff(!)
Although he tested negative on LFTs, his GP suspected covid and we both think that's right, and that my 3 vaccinations protected me from catching it.
As I said, totally unscientific.
My 11 year old son got covid (almost certainly omicron) over New Year. We didn't engage in any social distancing at home, and neither my wife or I, nor our daughter got it.
We were all triple vaxxed, and were lucky.
Yes, my middle daughter has recently had it (again - it was delta last time). None of the rest of us did. Wife and I are vaxxed but none of the kids are old enough yet to have been. That said, oldest daughter did have a nasty cold. But tested negative throughout. I suspect through vaccination and/or repeated exposure we are all brimming with antibodies at the moment.
Exactly.
I'm sure my wife and I sucked in omicron particles, which were swiftly identified and neutralized.
For us, it acted as an unnoticeable booster shot.
And this is one of the reasons why - even with an R0 of 7 - covid fades fairly quickly in a well vaccinated population.
It was my fervent wish, once it was upon us, that omicron would turn out to be the vaccination for the anti-vaxxers, and a booster for the rest of us, without overwhelming our hospital systems. It seems to have mostly followed that course.
AIUI viruses tend to get better at spreading and less deadly over time. The rationale for this is that if viruses are bad at spreading they die out because they run out of hosts. If they are good at spreading but highly deadly, they kill off their hosts before they can spread. The only way for a virus to survive in the long run is therefore to be good at spreading but less deadly. This seems to be the pattern as Covid-19 develops.
That holds in general but NOT for COVID. For it to hold true, the high IFR has to adversely impact transmission. But SAR-CoV-2 is transmitted before serious morbidity and mortality sets in, so there is virtually no adverse evolutionary pressure from its IFR, and the transmissibility/IFR characteristics of the virus are completely decoupled.
"Cardiff Philharmonic removes Tchaikovsky from programme in light of Russian invasion of Ukraine The orchestra had an all-Tchaikovsky concert scheduled for next week, but has decided to change the programme having deemed it to be 'inappropriate' at this time"
Utterly absurd.
They'll be burning War and Peace next.
With current gas prices they probably are already.
LOL.
Although surely War and Peace is a warning to Putin. Napoleon went too far, in his hubris, and the supply lines were impossible.
Then winter arrived.
General Kutuzov was a better general than any of Putin's shower of mates and ex-KGB thugs.
After today's revelations I have come to the conclusion Patel's days as a minister are numbered
She has been besieged with criticism from across the house and normally any cabinet minister in this situation would be seen next to the Prime Minister at PMQs as evidence of confidence, but Patel was not anywhere to be seen
Reports this morning of cabinet colleagues of Patel pilling into her in cabinet was not unexpected
The announcement that Michael Gove will now take responsibility for the sponsorship visa scheme and former mp, Richard Harrington has been granted a peerage and appointed to the specific office of minister for refugees
Ben Wallace confirmed at the dispatch box that the defence - home - foreign office are meeting this afternoon to coordinate the refugees response
Put all that together and Patel is marginalised
Bring back Theresa May. To the Home Office, that is.
God no - Theresa and her 'Go Home' vans?!
Slightly meant in jest, but TM did seem to be in command of the department. And commanded respect when she was there. PP simply doesn't. May not all be her fault but politics is unforgiving. And her reputation - not high to begin with - is shredded. Needs to go. Dame Priti has a nice ring.
It is reputed to be the toughest job in government and TM did do a good job generally with the exception of the go home vans. Bozo is too weak a leader to bring a former leader back into government.
Strange, in midst of all his sound & fury, that our leading Putin apologist has apparently dropped his line (on PB anyway) that NATO and Ukraine are to blame for Russian invasion?
Not that I want to hear this drivel. But for such a truth-teller to gag himself seems . . . what's the word I'm looking for? . . . ah yes - chickenshit.
US pollster @cygnal has polled residents of Ukraine on their view of certain countries and leaders: EU +42.2 Nato -16.8 UK +56 Biden +25.8 Johnson +49.6 Zelensky +79 Putin -86.7
The takeaway from that poll has nothing to do with our home grown pathological liar. It’s that 5% of Ukranians have no opinion of Putin either way and that smaller percentages have either not heard of him or view him positively.
i am actually beginning to seriously worry that people like HY are actually pleased about the war in Ukraine because it has changed the narrative for their beloved "Boris". The really sad thing is that it hasn't. He was shit, is shit and always will be shit. He has to go.
I really hope not as this war sickens one's mind and is quite the most awful situation with war in Europe an unbelievable development
The poll @HYUFD refers to cannot be translated into his comment though it is good to see the UK and Boris being appreciated
Notable that the Ukrainian Ambassador has gone to the Home Affairs Select Committee and politely suggested that we drop the visa program like everyone else...
They are polite and aren't going to roundly attack it, but the irritation is clear.
Harris will land in Poland on a mission to rally NATO against Russian aggression. But her visit could now be dominated by the question of why the U.S. and Poland have fumbled the transfer deal.
On a call previewing the trip, a senior administration official conceded the issue would be front and center. “We have been in dialogue with the Poles for some time about how best to provide a variety of security assistance to Ukraine,” the official said. “And that’s a dialogue that absolutely will continue up to and as part of the vice president’s trip.”
SSI - sitting in my armchair, my view is that this is a critical juncture for Ukraine, NATO and (of course) Russia. Also for President Biden, and most certainly for Vice President Harris.
My personal expectation is that she will help broker an agreement that will provide planes to Ukraine some how, some way. Because for one thing, don't think Biden would have sent her out with any other expectation. Because the stakes are huge for both POTUS and VEEP, not to mention the rest of us across the world.
I had dinner last night with someone who knows California very well and counts Kamala as a personal friend.
View was that she will get flattened in 2024. She’s got a difficult and thankless job, but she’s not making a go of it. He expects Newsom to run for potus in 2024 - sees it as wide open - but generally concerned by lack of talking on the democrat bench. Doesn’t rate Buttegieg- infrastructure bill was fantastic opportunity for him and he was nowhere to be seen
Newsom for President? Doubt even California would vote for him.
Your friend really think Newsom came out of the recall - which he himself was responsible for qualifying, thanks to his "French Laundry" horseshit?
Granted, Gavin Newsom IS more electorally viable than . . . wait for it . . . Andrew Cuomo!
"Cardiff Philharmonic removes Tchaikovsky from programme in light of Russian invasion of Ukraine The orchestra had an all-Tchaikovsky concert scheduled for next week, but has decided to change the programme having deemed it to be 'inappropriate' at this time"
That's utterly ridiculous.
It's a poor attempt to be in tune with public opinion ?
Sad to say, but it is indeed wokeism, in it's purist form, as practiced by many - left, right and occasionally even center - as substitute for thought.
Reflexive anti-Russianism is BIGOTRY whether communicated via hate speech (as too many examples on PB recently) OR as prissy virtue-signaling. Either way, it's more grist for Putin's satanic mill.
"Tune"... A pitiful pun, but I was hoping for at least a groan.
"Cardiff Philharmonic removes Tchaikovsky from programme in light of Russian invasion of Ukraine The orchestra had an all-Tchaikovsky concert scheduled for next week, but has decided to change the programme having deemed it to be 'inappropriate' at this time"
That's utterly ridiculous.
It's a poor attempt to be in tune with public opinion ?
Sad to say, but it is indeed wokeism, in it's purist form, as practiced by many - left, right and occasionally even center - as substitute for thought.
Reflexive anti-Russianism is BIGOTRY whether communicated via hate speech (as too many examples on PB recently) OR as prissy virtue-signaling. Either way, it's more grist for Putin's satanic mill.
Why do you think it is reflexive? Perhaps they have thought about it
The ghastly 1812 which was specifically due to be played here is about Russian armies killing people by artillery fire. No problem with that?
US pollster @cygnal has polled residents of Ukraine on their view of certain countries and leaders: EU +42.2 Nato -16.8 UK +56 Biden +25.8 Johnson +49.6 Zelensky +79 Putin -86.7
The takeaway from that poll has nothing to do with our home grown pathological liar. It’s that 5% of Ukranians have no opinion of Putin either way and that smaller percentages have either not heard of him or view him positively.
i am actually beginning to seriously worry that people like HY are actually pleased about the war in Ukraine because it has changed the narrative for their beloved "Boris". The really sad thing is that it hasn't. He was shit, is shit and always will be shit. He has to go.
I really hope not as this war sickens one's mind and is quite the most awful situation with war in Europe an unbelievable development
The poll @HYUFD refers to cannot be translated into his comment though it is good to see the UK and Boris being appreciated
Time will tell on whether Boris recovers his popularity, but the one thing we should all agree is that this dreadful war has upturned everything we thought about politics and economics a few short weeks ago and the way forward will be unpredictable and concerning for millions across the globe
Indeed, which is why we need proper leaders, not fools. Ben Wallace would do.
Ben Wallace has been the best performing minister and I would be happy for him to be PM but that is upto conservative mps
Russian restaurants in New York City are being hit by cancellations, social media campaigns and bad reviews online after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, despite most owners being openly antiwar and many coming from Ukraine.
US pollster @cygnal has polled residents of Ukraine on their view of certain countries and leaders: EU +42.2 Nato -16.8 UK +56 Biden +25.8 Johnson +49.6 Zelensky +79 Putin -86.7
The takeaway from that poll has nothing to do with our home grown pathological liar. It’s that 5% of Ukranians have no opinion of Putin either way and that smaller percentages have either not heard of him or view him positively.
i am actually beginning to seriously worry that people like HY are actually pleased about the war in Ukraine because it has changed the narrative for their beloved "Boris". The really sad thing is that it hasn't. He was shit, is shit and always will be shit. He has to go.
I really hope not as this war sickens one's mind and is quite the most awful situation with war in Europe an unbelievable development
The poll @HYUFD refers to cannot be translated into his comment though it is good to see the UK and Boris being appreciated
Time will tell on whether Boris recovers his popularity, but the one thing we should all agree is that this dreadful war has upturned everything we thought about politics and economics a few short weeks ago and the way forward will be unpredictable and concerning for millions across the globe
Indeed, which is why we need proper leaders, not fools. Ben Wallace would do.
He’s done a very good job so far and on top of his brief but as he wasn’t a true believer in Brexit will fail to satisfy the membership .
Truss seems to have gotten away with this as she continues her re-invention to mini Maggie and has said enough anti EU stuff to appeal to the loony cult which makes up the Tory membership .
BBC: Russia destroys Mariupol children's hospital in airstrike
Russia has destroyed a children's hospital in the besieged port city of Mariupol in the south-east of Ukraine, the city council has claimed in a Facebook post.
In a statement issued on Wednesday afternoon, officials alleged that "Russian occupying forces have dropped several bombs on the children's hospital. The destruction is colossal".
There was a question earlier about whether jets would be that useful to Ukraine. I guess this is the answer, if the destruction was indeed delivered by dropped bombs.
It's going to make Kamala Harris's visit even more significant. Can the US really hold out on the Polish aircraft proposal now, (even if there was some gamesmanship about it.)
US pollster @cygnal has polled residents of Ukraine on their view of certain countries and leaders: EU +42.2 Nato -16.8 UK +56 Biden +25.8 Johnson +49.6 Zelensky +79 Putin -86.7
The takeaway from that poll has nothing to do with our home grown pathological liar. It’s that 5% of Ukranians have no opinion of Putin either way and that smaller percentages have either not heard of him or view him positively.
i am actually beginning to seriously worry that people like HY are actually pleased about the war in Ukraine because it has changed the narrative for their beloved "Boris". The really sad thing is that it hasn't. He was shit, is shit and always will be shit. He has to go.
I really hope not as this war sickens one's mind and is quite the most awful situation with war in Europe an unbelievable development
The poll @HYUFD refers to cannot be translated into his comment though it is good to see the UK and Boris being appreciated
Time will tell on whether Boris recovers his popularity, but the one thing we should all agree is that this dreadful war has upturned everything we thought about politics and economics a few short weeks ago and the way forward will be unpredictable and concerning for millions across the globe
Indeed, which is why we need proper leaders, not fools. Ben Wallace would do.
Wallace or Grommet would be an improvement on Johnson.
BBC: Russia destroys Mariupol children's hospital in airstrike
Russia has destroyed a children's hospital in the besieged port city of Mariupol in the south-east of Ukraine, the city council has claimed in a Facebook post.
In a statement issued on Wednesday afternoon, officials alleged that "Russian occupying forces have dropped several bombs on the children's hospital. The destruction is colossal".
"Cardiff Philharmonic removes Tchaikovsky from programme in light of Russian invasion of Ukraine The orchestra had an all-Tchaikovsky concert scheduled for next week, but has decided to change the programme having deemed it to be 'inappropriate' at this time"
That's utterly ridiculous.
It's a poor attempt to be in tune with public opinion ?
Sad to say, but it is indeed wokeism, in it's purist form, as practiced by many - left, right and occasionally even center - as substitute for thought.
Reflexive anti-Russianism is BIGOTRY whether communicated via hate speech (as too many examples on PB recently) OR as prissy virtue-signaling. Either way, it's more grist for Putin's satanic mill.
Why do you think it is reflexive? Perhaps they have thought about it
The ghastly 1812 which was specifically due to be played here is about Russian armies killing people by artillery fire. No problem with that?
They obviously don't require basic maths skills at Warwick University.....
I have not studied Maths since GCSE though it really makes no difference to the point given the death rate now is well under half what it was in 2020 post vaccination.
Numbers MATTER. Getting them that wrong is shameful.
One of my friends did a doctorate *IN HISTORY* on IIRC agrarian economy in early modern times. He wouldn't have got his doctorate if he'd not been sure whether the average rustic produced 0.1 or 10 times the number of bushels of grain he sowed.
Shameful, or just a mistake as can happen in the cut and thrust? His point remains, that it's very low.
It is very low (or, perhaps better to describe it as, acceptably low).
It is however a classic example of a time when a simple "D'oh, my mistake" would have defused the situation. Because we all make errors from time to time. And better to recognize it with a smile and a shrug.
I was 18 before I learned this lesson. As a teenager, I would realise I had made a mistake in an argument but continue to argue. Everyone I knew took this approach. Somehow admitting being wrong was somehow a bigger failure than being wrong in the first place and placed upon you an obligation to continue the argument, no matter that your position was now demonstrably observed, until everyone parted, glowering. And then I remember meeting a(n actually highly argumentative) Geordie at university who, when you pointed out his mistake, would come back with 'ah, you're not wrong there' and being hugely impressed. One of my daughters learned to cheerfully admit she was wrong and not mind about it while still at infant school. I was so proud of her. Her older sister has observed the success of the tactic and also learned; her younger sister has not, yet. Many adults I know have also not yet mastered this approach.
Yes, always admit an obvious error, and always apologise if you've been an idiot
It makes life so much smoother, and defuses so many awkward situations. A basic but golden rule
Are you well practised in apologising? Apologies, I shouldn't have said that one...below the belt an' all that.
I'm often an idiot (it comes with having an excitable disposition) so I find I am often apologising. It doesn't bother me in the slightest, and I've discovered people are generally very forgiving if you say Sorry
And now I must really do some work. Sorry, gotta go!
IBM once did some customer research that showed they were more popular with customers for whom they had cocked something up, apologised and fixed it, than they were with customers for whom they had never caused a problem.
US pollster @cygnal has polled residents of Ukraine on their view of certain countries and leaders: EU +42.2 Nato -16.8 UK +56 Biden +25.8 Johnson +49.6 Zelensky +79 Putin -86.7
The takeaway from that poll has nothing to do with our home grown pathological liar. It’s that 5% of Ukranians have no opinion of Putin either way and that smaller percentages have either not heard of him or view him positively.
i am actually beginning to seriously worry that people like HY are actually pleased about the war in Ukraine because it has changed the narrative for their beloved "Boris". The really sad thing is that it hasn't. He was shit, is shit and always will be shit. He has to go.
I really hope not as this war sickens one's mind and is quite the most awful situation with war in Europe an unbelievable development
The poll @HYUFD refers to cannot be translated into his comment though it is good to see the UK and Boris being appreciated
Time will tell on whether Boris recovers his popularity, but the one thing we should all agree is that this dreadful war has upturned everything we thought about politics and economics a few short weeks ago and the way forward will be unpredictable and concerning for millions across the globe
The problem with HFUYD is that everything is seen through the prism of polling or approval ratings.
"Cardiff Philharmonic removes Tchaikovsky from programme in light of Russian invasion of Ukraine The orchestra had an all-Tchaikovsky concert scheduled for next week, but has decided to change the programme having deemed it to be 'inappropriate' at this time"
My first night back in London Saturday before last, I went to the LPO's "From Russia with Love" programme (Prokofiev and Rachmaninoff). The Director of Programmes introduced herself at the outset. She said her name, that she is a Jew born in Moscow with a Ukrainian husband. She said that the programme was developed 2 years ago with the purpose of showing that music can build bridges, and that that message was all the more pertinent given developments. She went into a long diatribe against Putin's regime, and pointed out that Prokofiev was born in Donetsk and that the Russians had destroyed the airport bearing his name. The orchestra then opened the proceedings with a stirring rendition of the Ukrainian national anthem, for which everyone stood.
I do not think we should cancel Russian culture. We should put it in context, as this wonderful woman did.
If anything we should be putting more Russian culture out there.
I'd recommend Lermontov's "A Hero of Our Time". (It's fairly short.)
And, for music, Shostakovich's final symphony, the 15th, sends the shivers.
Lots of great Russian artists were enemies of czarism and dictatorship. Pushkin, the Shakespeare of Russia, is a great example. He was exiled and nearly executed for opposing Russian autocracy. Tolstoy is another
We should celebrate them not ban them. Mad
Ditto the music; banning Shostakovich would be a travesty given that he both wrote up Soviet militarism and took the piss out of it.
12 out of 10 to the Microsoft store. Order new computer gubbins yesterday with delivery promised Friday. "We'll email you once dispatched" - so went back to check as no email yet.
And its now promising delivery in a month's time! So order cancelled and reordered from John Lewis who seem to have found some stock.
Perhaps Microsofties are too broken up by departure of Russell Wilson from Seattle Seahawks > Denver Broncos to fulfill you order? Much rending of garments on local sports radio anyway!
BBC: Russia destroys Mariupol children's hospital in airstrike
Russia has destroyed a children's hospital in the besieged port city of Mariupol in the south-east of Ukraine, the city council has claimed in a Facebook post.
In a statement issued on Wednesday afternoon, officials alleged that "Russian occupying forces have dropped several bombs on the children's hospital. The destruction is colossal".
They really are reaching for that supervillain role, aren't they?
☹️
They won’t allow them out, they commit these terrible things, they are trying to put pressure on the government in Kyiv to surrender similar to the nuclear blasts on Japanese to try and spare US lives from a Japan invasion.
It’s old tactics we have watched and read about, but for us twenty somethings it’s the most horrible thing to watch and experience happening in our lifetimes. 😭
"Cardiff Philharmonic removes Tchaikovsky from programme in light of Russian invasion of Ukraine The orchestra had an all-Tchaikovsky concert scheduled for next week, but has decided to change the programme having deemed it to be 'inappropriate' at this time"
That's utterly ridiculous.
Twats. Especially since Tchaikovsky was associated with linking Russia with the West, culturally.
If anything we should be celebrating the work of this GAY Russian. This war is not about the Russian people or culture, but about the perverted views and actions of one man, and his regime, Putin not Tchaikovsky.
Cardiff should have used the concert as an opportunity to celebrate gay Russia.
So what’s going wrong then and what can we do about it? The government have been on message it’s Putin’s regime to be targeted not Russia, not it’s history culture and people, that we are actually more on the side of the people there than bloodthirsty Hitler Putin is?
Personally I think we should view it like Trump America, a split between make America great again on one hand, and I can’t believe the insanity of this on the other - we didn’t blame all US for trump pulling out climate agreements etc to make make America great again, in fact we cared for his internal opponents we didn’t want to hurt them like we are targeting and hurting ordinary Russians.
Newspaper reviewers on TV last night fist pumping McDonalds had pulled out. Maybe the only real impact over there is some breadline poor people out of a job? Or am I missing something and completely wrong, it really was a moment to fist pump?
McDonalds have stated that they are going to pay their staff in Russia. Since 86% of the Russian stores are actually owned by them, rather than as franchises.. not sure what is happening with the franchises....
At a random guess they are paying their staff with money stuck in Russia.....
"Cardiff Philharmonic removes Tchaikovsky from programme in light of Russian invasion of Ukraine The orchestra had an all-Tchaikovsky concert scheduled for next week, but has decided to change the programme having deemed it to be 'inappropriate' at this time"
That's utterly ridiculous.
It's a poor attempt to be in tune with public opinion ?
Sad to say, but it is indeed wokeism, in it's purist form, as practiced by many - left, right and occasionally even center - as substitute for thought.
Reflexive anti-Russianism is BIGOTRY whether communicated via hate speech (as too many examples on PB recently) OR as prissy virtue-signaling. Either way, it's more grist for Putin's satanic mill.
Why do you think it is reflexive? Perhaps they have thought about it
The ghastly 1812 which was specifically due to be played here is about Russian armies killing people by artillery fire. No problem with that?
He did write a fair bit, apart from 1812....
Yes. It was due to be played at this concert though
Talking of Russian culture I watched the Soviet “Soy Cuba” (I am Cuba) - a lot of it is moderately tedious agitprop, but then there are astonishing gems like this insane tracking shot - in those days a practical track - no ILM special effects:
Saw it with a Cuban American some 35 years ago in the Soviet Embassy in Geneva, dubbed in Russian with English subtitles. Super long, boring mostly, but some fascinating parts, including the portrayal (in English) of the American GIs (as they spoke in English, with English subtitles as translations of the Russian translation - the spoken word and the subtitles did not match!)
After today's revelations I have come to the conclusion Patel's days as a minister are numbered
She has been besieged with criticism from across the house and normally any cabinet minister in this situation would be seen next to the Prime Minister at PMQs as evidence of confidence, but Patel was not anywhere to be seen
Reports this morning of cabinet colleagues of Patel pilling into her in cabinet was not unexpected
The announcement that Michael Gove will now take responsibility for the sponsorship visa scheme and former mp, Richard Harrington has been granted a peerage and appointed to the specific office of minister for refugees
Ben Wallace confirmed at the dispatch box that the defence - home - foreign office are meeting this afternoon to coordinate the refugees response
Put all that together and Patel is marginalised
Bring back Theresa May. To the Home Office, that is.
God no - Theresa and her 'Go Home' vans?!
Slightly meant in jest, but TM did seem to be in command of the department. And commanded respect when she was there. PP simply doesn't. May not all be her fault but politics is unforgiving. And her reputation - not high to begin with - is shredded. Needs to go. Dame Priti has a nice ring.
I thought we'd stopped giving peerages to bullies ?
Still an issue in some parts of the world. eg South Korea, once the poster boy of Covid control. They have just announced an extraordinary 342,000 new cases in one day, their highest ever, and one of the absolute biggest daily caseloads reported anywhere - eg India peaked about 400,000 a day, Brazil at about 250,000, and they are both vastly bigger than S Korea
it must be Omicron (BA2?) combined with a lack of prior immunity
And it is not some innocent explosion of mild colds, death rates are also shooting up dramatically (158 today, whereas S Korea is used to single digit death rates per day)
Combined with the 5th wave Covid calamity we are seeing in Hong Kong, this is deeply ominous for China.
They have zero prior immunity. As they keep telling us, proudly. If Omicron BA2 gets in to China, then it could be hellish for them; and it must be likely that it will do so, if it can easily cause such havoc in quarantined Hong Kong
Just to add to the joys of the world
When not if.
One of my family just contracted Omicron. Completely isolating (because of caring for an elderly relative) - literal 2 minute conversation at distance with someone who later tested positive.
Everyone is going to get this.....
Not necessarily, if you've been triple-vaxxed.
My own (unscientific) perspective is: The day after my mum died (non-covid), I spent the whole day my brother who was coughing, sneezing and feeling awful the whole time. I fully expected to catch his 'bad cold' but thankfully nothing - not a sniff(!)
Although he tested negative on LFTs, his GP suspected covid and we both think that's right, and that my 3 vaccinations protected me from catching it.
As I said, totally unscientific.
My 11 year old son got covid (almost certainly omicron) over New Year. We didn't engage in any social distancing at home, and neither my wife or I, nor our daughter got it.
We were all triple vaxxed, and were lucky.
Yes, my middle daughter has recently had it (again - it was delta last time). None of the rest of us did. Wife and I are vaxxed but none of the kids are old enough yet to have been. That said, oldest daughter did have a nasty cold. But tested negative throughout. I suspect through vaccination and/or repeated exposure we are all brimming with antibodies at the moment.
Exactly.
I'm sure my wife and I sucked in omicron particles, which were swiftly identified and neutralized.
For us, it acted as an unnoticeable booster shot.
And this is one of the reasons why - even with an R0 of 7 - covid fades fairly quickly in a well vaccinated population.
It was my fervent wish, once it was upon us, that omicron would turn out to be the vaccination for the anti-vaxxers, and a booster for the rest of us, without overwhelming our hospital systems. It seems to have mostly followed that course.
Isn't that pretty much how any such virus acts, including original and all variants of Covid?
The thing is that the vaccine means that you're not immune-naive in your first encounter with Covid so you're not as likely to end up in hospital so long as you're vaccinated. Even with Delta we weren't getting overwhelmed hospitals post-vaccines and even with Omicron you would be getting overwhelmed hospitals without vaccines.
Its possible to overegg the difference in severity between Omicron and Delta, while Omicron is less severe the far bigger difference is between vaccinated and unvaccinated.
"Cardiff Philharmonic removes Tchaikovsky from programme in light of Russian invasion of Ukraine The orchestra had an all-Tchaikovsky concert scheduled for next week, but has decided to change the programme having deemed it to be 'inappropriate' at this time"
That's utterly ridiculous.
Twats. Especially since Tchaikovsky was associated with linking Russia with the West, culturally.
If anything we should be celebrating the work of this GAY Russian. This war is not about the Russian people or culture, but about the perverted views and actions of one man, and his regime, Putin not Tchaikovsky.
Cardiff should have used the concert as an opportunity to celebrate gay Russia.
So what’s going wrong then and what can we do about it? The government have been on message it’s Putin’s regime to be targeted not Russia, not it’s history culture and people, that we are actually more on the side of the people there than bloodthirsty Hitler Putin is?
Personally I think we should view it like Trump America, a split between make America great again on one hand, and I can’t believe the insanity of this on the other - we didn’t blame all US for trump pulling out climate agreements etc to make make America great again, in fact we cared for his internal opponents we didn’t want to hurt them like we are targeting and hurting ordinary Russians.
Newspaper reviewers on TV last night fist pumping McDonalds had pulled out. Maybe the only real impact over there is some breadline poor people out of a job? Or am I missing something and completely wrong, it really was a moment to fist pump?
McDonalds have stated that they are going to pay their staff in Russia. Since 86% of the Russian stores are actually owned by them, rather than as franchises.. not sure what is happening with the franchises....
At a random guess they are paying their staff with money stuck in Russia.....
I think MacDonald's misheard Zelinski when he talked of the No-Fly Zone, and mistakenly established a No-Fry Zone.
US pollster @cygnal has polled residents of Ukraine on their view of certain countries and leaders: EU +42.2 Nato -16.8 UK +56 Biden +25.8 Johnson +49.6 Zelensky +79 Putin -86.7
The takeaway from that poll has nothing to do with our home grown pathological liar. It’s that 5% of Ukranians have no opinion of Putin either way and that smaller percentages have either not heard of him or view him positively.
i am actually beginning to seriously worry that people like HY are actually pleased about the war in Ukraine because it has changed the narrative for their beloved "Boris". The really sad thing is that it hasn't. He was shit, is shit and always will be shit. He has to go.
I really hope not as this war sickens one's mind and is quite the most awful situation with war in Europe an unbelievable development
The poll @HYUFD refers to cannot be translated into his comment though it is good to see the UK and Boris being appreciated
Time will tell on whether Boris recovers his popularity, but the one thing we should all agree is that this dreadful war has upturned everything we thought about politics and economics a few short weeks ago and the way forward will be unpredictable and concerning for millions across the globe
Indeed, which is why we need proper leaders, not fools. Ben Wallace would do.
He’s done a very good job so far and on top of his brief but as he wasn’t a true believer in Brexit will fail to satisfy the membership .
Truss seems to have gotten away with this as she continues her re-invention to mini Maggie and has said enough anti EU stuff to appeal to the loony cult which makes up the Tory membership .
US pollster @cygnal has polled residents of Ukraine on their view of certain countries and leaders: EU +42.2 Nato -16.8 UK +56 Biden +25.8 Johnson +49.6 Zelensky +79 Putin -86.7
The takeaway from that poll has nothing to do with our home grown pathological liar. It’s that 5% of Ukranians have no opinion of Putin either way and that smaller percentages have either not heard of him or view him positively.
i am actually beginning to seriously worry that people like HY are actually pleased about the war in Ukraine because it has changed the narrative for their beloved "Boris". The really sad thing is that it hasn't. He was shit, is shit and always will be shit. He has to go.
I really hope not as this war sickens one's mind and is quite the most awful situation with war in Europe an unbelievable development
The poll @HYUFD refers to cannot be translated into his comment though it is good to see the UK and Boris being appreciated
Time will tell on whether Boris recovers his popularity, but the one thing we should all agree is that this dreadful war has upturned everything we thought about politics and economics a few short weeks ago and the way forward will be unpredictable and concerning for millions across the globe
The problem with HFUYD is that everything is seen through the prism of polling or approval ratings.
"Cardiff Philharmonic removes Tchaikovsky from programme in light of Russian invasion of Ukraine The orchestra had an all-Tchaikovsky concert scheduled for next week, but has decided to change the programme having deemed it to be 'inappropriate' at this time"
That's utterly ridiculous.
It's a poor attempt to be in tune with public opinion ?
Sad to say, but it is indeed wokeism, in it's purist form, as practiced by many - left, right and occasionally even center - as substitute for thought.
Reflexive anti-Russianism is BIGOTRY whether communicated via hate speech (as too many examples on PB recently) OR as prissy virtue-signaling. Either way, it's more grist for Putin's satanic mill.
Why do you think it is reflexive? Perhaps they have thought about it
The ghastly 1812 which was specifically due to be played here is about Russian armies killing people by artillery fire. No problem with that?
He did write a fair bit, apart from 1812....
Yes. It was due to be played at this concert though
BBC: Russia destroys Mariupol children's hospital in airstrike
Russia has destroyed a children's hospital in the besieged port city of Mariupol in the south-east of Ukraine, the city council has claimed in a Facebook post.
In a statement issued on Wednesday afternoon, officials alleged that "Russian occupying forces have dropped several bombs on the children's hospital. The destruction is colossal".
Putin entering into his indiscriminate killing phase now after failing in most other areas
Newsflashes from both Guardian and Sky say that Zelensky states that children are buried in the rubble of the hospital
No way back for Putin. He is evil personified. Ukr will resist and fight until every one of them is dead if that is required. He can never take Ukr now.
It is just too upsetting but Zelensky has announced many children buried under the rubble of a children's hospital in Mariupol following a Russian airstrike
Words fail me but it is so sad as I shed tears for those precious children and their parents
Still an issue in some parts of the world. eg South Korea, once the poster boy of Covid control. They have just announced an extraordinary 342,000 new cases in one day, their highest ever, and one of the absolute biggest daily caseloads reported anywhere - eg India peaked about 400,000 a day, Brazil at about 250,000, and they are both vastly bigger than S Korea
it must be Omicron (BA2?) combined with a lack of prior immunity
And it is not some innocent explosion of mild colds, death rates are also shooting up dramatically (158 today, whereas S Korea is used to single digit death rates per day)
Combined with the 5th wave Covid calamity we are seeing in Hong Kong, this is deeply ominous for China.
They have zero prior immunity. As they keep telling us, proudly. If Omicron BA2 gets in to China, then it could be hellish for them; and it must be likely that it will do so, if it can easily cause such havoc in quarantined Hong Kong
Just to add to the joys of the world
When not if.
One of my family just contracted Omicron. Completely isolating (because of caring for an elderly relative) - literal 2 minute conversation at distance with someone who later tested positive.
Everyone is going to get this.....
Not necessarily, if you've been triple-vaxxed.
My own (unscientific) perspective is: The day after my mum died (non-covid), I spent the whole day my brother who was coughing, sneezing and feeling awful the whole time. I fully expected to catch his 'bad cold' but thankfully nothing - not a sniff(!)
Although he tested negative on LFTs, his GP suspected covid and we both think that's right, and that my 3 vaccinations protected me from catching it.
As I said, totally unscientific.
My 11 year old son got covid (almost certainly omicron) over New Year. We didn't engage in any social distancing at home, and neither my wife or I, nor our daughter got it.
We were all triple vaxxed, and were lucky.
Yes, my middle daughter has recently had it (again - it was delta last time). None of the rest of us did. Wife and I are vaxxed but none of the kids are old enough yet to have been. That said, oldest daughter did have a nasty cold. But tested negative throughout. I suspect through vaccination and/or repeated exposure we are all brimming with antibodies at the moment.
Exactly.
I'm sure my wife and I sucked in omicron particles, which were swiftly identified and neutralized.
For us, it acted as an unnoticeable booster shot.
And this is one of the reasons why - even with an R0 of 7 - covid fades fairly quickly in a well vaccinated population.
It was my fervent wish, once it was upon us, that omicron would turn out to be the vaccination for the anti-vaxxers, and a booster for the rest of us, without overwhelming our hospital systems. It seems to have mostly followed that course.
Isn't that pretty much how any such virus acts, including original and all variants of Covid?
The thing is that the vaccine means that you're not immune-naive in your first encounter with Covid so you're not as likely to end up in hospital so long as you're vaccinated. Even with Delta we weren't getting overwhelmed hospitals post-vaccines and even with Omicron you would be getting overwhelmed hospitals without vaccines.
Its possible to overegg the difference in severity between Omicron and Delta, while Omicron is less severe the far bigger difference is between vaccinated and unvaccinated.
Russian restaurants in New York City are being hit by cancellations, social media campaigns and bad reviews online after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, despite most owners being openly antiwar and many coming from Ukraine.
They obviously don't require basic maths skills at Warwick University.....
I have not studied Maths since GCSE though it really makes no difference to the point given the death rate now is well under half what it was in 2020 post vaccination.
Numbers MATTER. Getting them that wrong is shameful.
One of my friends did a doctorate *IN HISTORY* on IIRC agrarian economy in early modern times. He wouldn't have got his doctorate if he'd not been sure whether the average rustic produced 0.1 or 10 times the number of bushels of grain he sowed.
Shameful, or just a mistake as can happen in the cut and thrust? His point remains, that it's very low.
It is very low (or, perhaps better to describe it as, acceptably low).
It is however a classic example of a time when a simple "D'oh, my mistake" would have defused the situation. Because we all make errors from time to time. And better to recognize it with a smile and a shrug.
I was 18 before I learned this lesson. As a teenager, I would realise I had made a mistake in an argument but continue to argue. Everyone I knew took this approach. Somehow admitting being wrong was somehow a bigger failure than being wrong in the first place and placed upon you an obligation to continue the argument, no matter that your position was now demonstrably observed, until everyone parted, glowering. And then I remember meeting a(n actually highly argumentative) Geordie at university who, when you pointed out his mistake, would come back with 'ah, you're not wrong there' and being hugely impressed. One of my daughters learned to cheerfully admit she was wrong and not mind about it while still at infant school. I was so proud of her. Her older sister has observed the success of the tactic and also learned; her younger sister has not, yet. Many adults I know have also not yet mastered this approach.
Yes, always admit an obvious error, and always apologise if you've been an idiot
It makes life so much smoother, and defuses so many awkward situations. A basic but golden rule
Are you well practised in apologising? Apologies, I shouldn't have said that one...below the belt an' all that.
I'm often an idiot (it comes with having an excitable disposition) so I find I am often apologising. It doesn't bother me in the slightest, and I've discovered people are generally very forgiving if you say Sorry
And now I must really do some work. Sorry, gotta go!
IBM once did some customer research that showed they were more popular with customers for whom they had cocked something up, apologised and fixed it, than they were with customers for whom they had never caused a problem.
Well known retail rule.
or business in general. An error is the opportunity to show the quality of your customer support.
"Cardiff Philharmonic removes Tchaikovsky from programme in light of Russian invasion of Ukraine The orchestra had an all-Tchaikovsky concert scheduled for next week, but has decided to change the programme having deemed it to be 'inappropriate' at this time"
That's utterly ridiculous.
Twats. Especially since Tchaikovsky was associated with linking Russia with the West, culturally.
If anything we should be celebrating the work of this GAY Russian. This war is not about the Russian people or culture, but about the perverted views and actions of one man, and his regime, Putin not Tchaikovsky.
Cardiff should have used the concert as an opportunity to celebrate gay Russia.
So what’s going wrong then and what can we do about it? The government have been on message it’s Putin’s regime to be targeted not Russia, not it’s history culture and people, that we are actually more on the side of the people there than bloodthirsty Hitler Putin is?
Personally I think we should view it like Trump America, a split between make America great again on one hand, and I can’t believe the insanity of this on the other - we didn’t blame all US for trump pulling out climate agreements etc to make make America great again, in fact we cared for his internal opponents we didn’t want to hurt them like we are targeting and hurting ordinary Russians.
Newspaper reviewers on TV last night fist pumping McDonalds had pulled out. Maybe the only real impact over there is some breadline poor people out of a job? Or am I missing something and completely wrong, it really was a moment to fist pump?
McDonalds have stated that they are going to pay their staff in Russia. Since 86% of the Russian stores are actually owned by them, rather than as franchises.. not sure what is happening with the franchises....
At a random guess they are paying their staff with money stuck in Russia.....
I think MacDonald's misheard Zelinski when he talked of the No-Fly Zone, and mistakenly established a No-Fry Zone.
"Hold the MIGs and hold NLAWs / Eat Happy Meals in our Mac-Shelters!"
I do not think we should cancel Russian culture. We should put it in context, as this wonderful woman did.
If we don't cancel "All the Things She Said" by Tatu can we put it in the context of "would be shit if not for the fact that its a Russian song about lesbian love which is proper edgy"
"Cardiff Philharmonic removes Tchaikovsky from programme in light of Russian invasion of Ukraine The orchestra had an all-Tchaikovsky concert scheduled for next week, but has decided to change the programme having deemed it to be 'inappropriate' at this time"
That's utterly ridiculous.
Twats. Especially since Tchaikovsky was associated with linking Russia with the West, culturally.
If anything we should be celebrating the work of this GAY Russian. This war is not about the Russian people or culture, but about the perverted views and actions of one man, and his regime, Putin not Tchaikovsky.
Cardiff should have used the concert as an opportunity to celebrate gay Russia.
So what’s going wrong then and what can we do about it? The government have been on message it’s Putin’s regime to be targeted not Russia, not it’s history culture and people, that we are actually more on the side of the people there than bloodthirsty Hitler Putin is?
Personally I think we should view it like Trump America, a split between make America great again on one hand, and I can’t believe the insanity of this on the other - we didn’t blame all US for trump pulling out climate agreements etc to make make America great again, in fact we cared for his internal opponents we didn’t want to hurt them like we are targeting and hurting ordinary Russians.
Newspaper reviewers on TV last night fist pumping McDonalds had pulled out. Maybe the only real impact over there is some breadline poor people out of a job? Or am I missing something and completely wrong, it really was a moment to fist pump?
McDonalds have stated that they are going to pay their staff in Russia. Since 86% of the Russian stores are actually owned by them, rather than as franchises.. not sure what is happening with the franchises....
At a random guess they are paying their staff with money stuck in Russia.....
Still an issue in some parts of the world. eg South Korea, once the poster boy of Covid control. They have just announced an extraordinary 342,000 new cases in one day, their highest ever, and one of the absolute biggest daily caseloads reported anywhere - eg India peaked about 400,000 a day, Brazil at about 250,000, and they are both vastly bigger than S Korea
it must be Omicron (BA2?) combined with a lack of prior immunity
And it is not some innocent explosion of mild colds, death rates are also shooting up dramatically (158 today, whereas S Korea is used to single digit death rates per day)
Combined with the 5th wave Covid calamity we are seeing in Hong Kong, this is deeply ominous for China.
They have zero prior immunity. As they keep telling us, proudly. If Omicron BA2 gets in to China, then it could be hellish for them; and it must be likely that it will do so, if it can easily cause such havoc in quarantined Hong Kong
Just to add to the joys of the world
When not if.
One of my family just contracted Omicron. Completely isolating (because of caring for an elderly relative) - literal 2 minute conversation at distance with someone who later tested positive.
Everyone is going to get this.....
Not necessarily, if you've been triple-vaxxed.
My own (unscientific) perspective is: The day after my mum died (non-covid), I spent the whole day my brother who was coughing, sneezing and feeling awful the whole time. I fully expected to catch his 'bad cold' but thankfully nothing - not a sniff(!)
Although he tested negative on LFTs, his GP suspected covid and we both think that's right, and that my 3 vaccinations protected me from catching it.
As I said, totally unscientific.
My 11 year old son got covid (almost certainly omicron) over New Year. We didn't engage in any social distancing at home, and neither my wife or I, nor our daughter got it.
We were all triple vaxxed, and were lucky.
Yes, my middle daughter has recently had it (again - it was delta last time). None of the rest of us did. Wife and I are vaxxed but none of the kids are old enough yet to have been. That said, oldest daughter did have a nasty cold. But tested negative throughout. I suspect through vaccination and/or repeated exposure we are all brimming with antibodies at the moment.
Exactly.
I'm sure my wife and I sucked in omicron particles, which were swiftly identified and neutralized.
For us, it acted as an unnoticeable booster shot.
And this is one of the reasons why - even with an R0 of 7 - covid fades fairly quickly in a well vaccinated population.
It was my fervent wish, once it was upon us, that omicron would turn out to be the vaccination for the anti-vaxxers, and a booster for the rest of us, without overwhelming our hospital systems. It seems to have mostly followed that course.
AIUI viruses tend to get better at spreading and less deadly over time. The rationale for this is that if viruses are bad at spreading they die out because they run out of hosts. If they are good at spreading but highly deadly, they kill off their hosts before they can spread. The only way for a virus to survive in the long run is therefore to be good at spreading but less deadly. This seems to be the pattern as Covid-19 develops.
That holds in general but NOT for COVID. For it to hold true, the high IFR has to adversely impact transmission. But SAR-CoV-2 is transmitted before serious morbidity and mortality sets in, so there is virtually no adverse evolutionary pressure from its IFR, and the transmissibility/IFR characteristics of the virus are completely decoupled.
I've read virologists and epidemiologists who argue that this is something of a myth: that "all viruses evolve to become less nasty"
Smallpox stayed horrible throughout its existence. Rabies is still a *rather unfortunate* virus to catch
I've just done a bit of rabbit-holing re Omicron BA2 in Hong Kong, the UK, and elsewhere. I fear this is going to be a concern, and we are perhaps going to see another wave in the west, as well. I fervently pray this is wrong
One tiny straw in the wind. There are many
"The UK - Barnsley Hospital has suspended all non-essential visiting after what it calls "extreme circumstances" caused by a rise in Covid-19 cases.
The restrictions are to reduce the risk of transmitting Covid, particularly the Omicron & BA2 variant."
Am laughing my ass off - welcome comic relief in these terrible times - at poster who habitually inundates PB with numbers, numbers, numbers, numbers, along with his endless interpretations, analysis, etc., etc., based on pure devotion to "true" facts . . . then whines and whimpers and wails and gnashes,etc., etc. when his numbers are questioned let alone refuted.
As Charlie Brown used to say, good grief!
Maybe he should have done a literature review first.
Talking of Russian culture I watched the Soviet “Soy Cuba” (I am Cuba) - a lot of it is moderately tedious agitprop, but then there are astonishing gems like this insane tracking shot - in those days a practical track - no ILM special effects:
Saw it with a Cuban American some 35 years ago in the Soviet Embassy in Geneva, dubbed in Russian with English subtitles. Super long, boring mostly, but some fascinating parts, including the portrayal (in English) of the American GIs (as they spoke in English, with English subtitles as translations of the Russian translation - the spoken word and the subtitles did not match!)
It is a brilliant film and on MUBI in a restored print. Certainly agitprop, but a remarkable piece of cinematography. Made in the early hopeful days of the Cuban revolution, it makes sense of why so many wanted the fall of the old regime.
Still an issue in some parts of the world. eg South Korea, once the poster boy of Covid control. They have just announced an extraordinary 342,000 new cases in one day, their highest ever, and one of the absolute biggest daily caseloads reported anywhere - eg India peaked about 400,000 a day, Brazil at about 250,000, and they are both vastly bigger than S Korea
it must be Omicron (BA2?) combined with a lack of prior immunity
And it is not some innocent explosion of mild colds, death rates are also shooting up dramatically (158 today, whereas S Korea is used to single digit death rates per day)
Combined with the 5th wave Covid calamity we are seeing in Hong Kong, this is deeply ominous for China.
They have zero prior immunity. As they keep telling us, proudly. If Omicron BA2 gets in to China, then it could be hellish for them; and it must be likely that it will do so, if it can easily cause such havoc in quarantined Hong Kong
Just to add to the joys of the world
When not if.
One of my family just contracted Omicron. Completely isolating (because of caring for an elderly relative) - literal 2 minute conversation at distance with someone who later tested positive.
Everyone is going to get this.....
Not necessarily, if you've been triple-vaxxed.
My own (unscientific) perspective is: The day after my mum died (non-covid), I spent the whole day my brother who was coughing, sneezing and feeling awful the whole time. I fully expected to catch his 'bad cold' but thankfully nothing - not a sniff(!)
Although he tested negative on LFTs, his GP suspected covid and we both think that's right, and that my 3 vaccinations protected me from catching it.
As I said, totally unscientific.
My 11 year old son got covid (almost certainly omicron) over New Year. We didn't engage in any social distancing at home, and neither my wife or I, nor our daughter got it.
We were all triple vaxxed, and were lucky.
Yes, my middle daughter has recently had it (again - it was delta last time). None of the rest of us did. Wife and I are vaxxed but none of the kids are old enough yet to have been. That said, oldest daughter did have a nasty cold. But tested negative throughout. I suspect through vaccination and/or repeated exposure we are all brimming with antibodies at the moment.
Exactly.
I'm sure my wife and I sucked in omicron particles, which were swiftly identified and neutralized.
For us, it acted as an unnoticeable booster shot.
And this is one of the reasons why - even with an R0 of 7 - covid fades fairly quickly in a well vaccinated population.
It was my fervent wish, once it was upon us, that omicron would turn out to be the vaccination for the anti-vaxxers, and a booster for the rest of us, without overwhelming our hospital systems. It seems to have mostly followed that course.
AIUI viruses tend to get better at spreading and less deadly over time. The rationale for this is that if viruses are bad at spreading they die out because they run out of hosts. If they are good at spreading but highly deadly, they kill off their hosts before they can spread. The only way for a virus to survive in the long run is therefore to be good at spreading but less deadly. This seems to be the pattern as Covid-19 develops.
That holds in general but NOT for COVID. For it to hold true, the high IFR has to adversely impact transmission. But SAR-CoV-2 is transmitted before serious morbidity and mortality sets in, so there is virtually no adverse evolutionary pressure from its IFR, and the transmissibility/IFR characteristics of the virus are completely decoupled.
While that's true... a variant of Covid with milder symptoms (like Omicron) is less likely to cause behavioral change in its hosts.
I do not think we should cancel Russian culture. We should put it in context, as this wonderful woman did.
If we don't cancel "All the Things She Said" by Tatu can we put it in the context of "would be shit if not for the fact that its a Russian song about lesbian love which is proper edgy"
Still an issue in some parts of the world. eg South Korea, once the poster boy of Covid control. They have just announced an extraordinary 342,000 new cases in one day, their highest ever, and one of the absolute biggest daily caseloads reported anywhere - eg India peaked about 400,000 a day, Brazil at about 250,000, and they are both vastly bigger than S Korea
it must be Omicron (BA2?) combined with a lack of prior immunity
And it is not some innocent explosion of mild colds, death rates are also shooting up dramatically (158 today, whereas S Korea is used to single digit death rates per day)
Combined with the 5th wave Covid calamity we are seeing in Hong Kong, this is deeply ominous for China.
They have zero prior immunity. As they keep telling us, proudly. If Omicron BA2 gets in to China, then it could be hellish for them; and it must be likely that it will do so, if it can easily cause such havoc in quarantined Hong Kong
Just to add to the joys of the world
When not if.
One of my family just contracted Omicron. Completely isolating (because of caring for an elderly relative) - literal 2 minute conversation at distance with someone who later tested positive.
Everyone is going to get this.....
Not necessarily, if you've been triple-vaxxed.
My own (unscientific) perspective is: The day after my mum died (non-covid), I spent the whole day my brother who was coughing, sneezing and feeling awful the whole time. I fully expected to catch his 'bad cold' but thankfully nothing - not a sniff(!)
Although he tested negative on LFTs, his GP suspected covid and we both think that's right, and that my 3 vaccinations protected me from catching it.
As I said, totally unscientific.
My 11 year old son got covid (almost certainly omicron) over New Year. We didn't engage in any social distancing at home, and neither my wife or I, nor our daughter got it.
We were all triple vaxxed, and were lucky.
Yes, my middle daughter has recently had it (again - it was delta last time). None of the rest of us did. Wife and I are vaxxed but none of the kids are old enough yet to have been. That said, oldest daughter did have a nasty cold. But tested negative throughout. I suspect through vaccination and/or repeated exposure we are all brimming with antibodies at the moment.
Exactly.
I'm sure my wife and I sucked in omicron particles, which were swiftly identified and neutralized.
For us, it acted as an unnoticeable booster shot.
And this is one of the reasons why - even with an R0 of 7 - covid fades fairly quickly in a well vaccinated population.
It was my fervent wish, once it was upon us, that omicron would turn out to be the vaccination for the anti-vaxxers, and a booster for the rest of us, without overwhelming our hospital systems. It seems to have mostly followed that course.
AIUI viruses tend to get better at spreading and less deadly over time. The rationale for this is that if viruses are bad at spreading they die out because they run out of hosts. If they are good at spreading but highly deadly, they kill off their hosts before they can spread. The only way for a virus to survive in the long run is therefore to be good at spreading but less deadly. This seems to be the pattern as Covid-19 develops.
That holds in general but NOT for COVID. For it to hold true, the high IFR has to adversely impact transmission. But SAR-CoV-2 is transmitted before serious morbidity and mortality sets in, so there is virtually no adverse evolutionary pressure from its IFR, and the transmissibility/IFR characteristics of the virus are completely decoupled.
I've read virologists and epidemiologists who argue that this is something of a myth: that "all viruses evolve to become less nasty"
Smallpox stayed horrible throughout its existence. Rabies is still a *rather unfortunate* virus to catch
I've just done a bit of rabbit-holing re Omicron BA2 in Hong Kong, the UK, and elsewhere. I fear this is going to be a concern, and we are perhaps going to see another wave in the west, as well. I fervently pray this is wrong
One tiny straw in the wind. There are many
"The UK - Barnsley Hospital has suspended all non-essential visiting after what it calls "extreme circumstances" caused by a rise in Covid-19 cases.
The restrictions are to reduce the risk of transmitting Covid, particularly the Omicron & BA2 variant."
US pollster @cygnal has polled residents of Ukraine on their view of certain countries and leaders: EU +42.2 Nato -16.8 UK +56 Biden +25.8 Johnson +49.6 Zelensky +79 Putin -86.7
The takeaway from that poll has nothing to do with our home grown pathological liar. It’s that 5% of Ukranians have no opinion of Putin either way and that smaller percentages have either not heard of him or view him positively.
i am actually beginning to seriously worry that people like HY are actually pleased about the war in Ukraine because it has changed the narrative for their beloved "Boris". The really sad thing is that it hasn't. He was shit, is shit and always will be shit. He has to go.
I really hope not as this war sickens one's mind and is quite the most awful situation with war in Europe an unbelievable development
The poll @HYUFD refers to cannot be translated into his comment though it is good to see the UK and Boris being appreciated
Time will tell on whether Boris recovers his popularity, but the one thing we should all agree is that this dreadful war has upturned everything we thought about politics and economics a few short weeks ago and the way forward will be unpredictable and concerning for millions across the globe
Indeed, which is why we need proper leaders, not fools. Ben Wallace would do.
Wallace or Grommet would be an improvement on Johnson.
Or even Shawn the Sheep, though he might have a Johnson like tendency to be a little woolly and follow the herd.
Comments
Anyway, 58% of the vodka swilling scoundrels are in favour of Putin's war. Until that is in single figures I am very happy to make this about the Russian people and culture.
We should celebrate them not ban them. Mad
In that sense a Parliamentary system should be superior, as it is the institution of Parliament that rules, and the power of any individual is diluted.
But any system can be undermined, as we have ample evidence.
Russia has destroyed a children's hospital in the besieged port city of Mariupol in the south-east of Ukraine, the city council has claimed in a Facebook post.
In a statement issued on Wednesday afternoon, officials alleged that "Russian occupying forces have dropped several bombs on the children's hospital. The destruction is colossal".
Link here
Because they are over-grown adolescent brats who have failed to grow up?
It makes life so much smoother, and defuses so many awkward situations. A basic but golden rule
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=uCdahJlwTG0
And another:
https://youtu.be/eOLVm_9UcRw
She has been sidelined and by common consent is not upto the job
Your friend really think Newsom came out of the recall - which he himself was responsible for qualifying, thanks to his "French Laundry" horseshit?
Granted, Gavin Newsom IS more electorally viable than . . . wait for it . . . Andrew Cuomo!
And now I must really do some work. Sorry, gotta go!
The priorities at the moment should be to help anyone else leave Ukraine if they want, and to help those who have been displaced with food, clothing and shelter..
The medium-term issue of settling the refugees is urgent, but it is not an emergency. It needs to be sorted in a timely fashion through broad international agreement, as and when the scale of the problem becomes clearer. Most of the refugees would, I suspect, prefer to return to Ukraine as soon as it is safe. This is not a suitable topic for political grandstanding.
The poll @HYUFD refers to cannot be translated into his comment though it is good to see the UK and Boris being appreciated
Time will tell on whether Boris recovers his popularity, but the one thing we should all agree is that this dreadful war has upturned everything we thought about politics and economics a few short weeks ago and the way forward will be unpredictable and concerning for millions across the globe
But she's also done a poor job with the channel migrants, and could easily have done better with Ukrainian refugees. And her lying to the then Prime Minister, not once but twice, casts some serious doubt over her judgement.
I think she's over promoted.
Personally I think we should view it like Trump America, a split between make America great again on one hand, and I can’t believe the insanity of this on the other - we didn’t blame all US for trump pulling out climate agreements etc to make make America great again, in fact we cared for his internal opponents we didn’t want to hurt them like we are targeting and hurting ordinary Russians.
Newspaper reviewers on TV last night fist pumping McDonalds had pulled out. Maybe the only real impact over there is some breadline poor people out of a job? Or am I missing something and completely wrong, it really was a moment to fist pump?
The results may be somewhat different if those polled were heading back from Calais to Brussels to fill in their application forms.
Reflexive anti-Russianism is BIGOTRY whether communicated via hate speech (as too many examples on PB recently) OR as prissy virtue-signaling. Either way, it's more grist for Putin's satanic mill.
And its now promising delivery in a month's time! So order cancelled and reordered from John Lewis who seem to have found some stock.
https://twitter.com/Osinttechnical/status/1501581399484157954
It is possible to think about more than one thing at once. Especially if you are a whole country with different ministers to think about different things.
Although surely War and Peace is a warning to Putin. Napoleon went too far, in his hubris, and the supply lines were impossible.
Then winter arrived.
General Kutuzov was a better general than any of Putin's shower of mates and ex-KGB thugs.
Not that I want to hear this drivel. But for such a truth-teller to gag himself seems . . . what's the word I'm looking for? . . . ah yes - chickenshit.
They are polite and aren't going to roundly attack it, but the irritation is clear.
A pitiful pun, but I was hoping for at least a groan.
The ghastly 1812 which was specifically due to be played here is about Russian armies killing people by artillery fire. No problem with that?
Hundreds of thousands: 19% (+3)
Tens of thousands: 23% (+2)
Few thousand: 12% (+3)
Few hundred: 2% (-1)
Changes from 28 Feb
https://yougov.co.uk/topics/international/articles-reports/2022/03/09/government-remains-far-behind-public-ukrainian-ref?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=website_article&utm_campaign=refugee_help_ukraine https://twitter.com/YouGov/status/1501586699385815040/photo/1
Russian restaurants in New York City are being hit by cancellations, social media campaigns and bad reviews online after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, despite most owners being openly antiwar and many coming from Ukraine.
https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/1501254432058716164?s=21
Truss seems to have gotten away with this as she continues her re-invention to mini Maggie and has said enough anti EU stuff to appeal to the loony cult which makes up the Tory membership .
https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2022/mar/07/impossible-bolshoi-music-director-tugan-sokhiev-quits-over-calls-to-denounce-ukraine-invasion
Though with notable exceptions.
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/mar/01/munich-philharmonic-sacks-conductor-valery-gergiev-over-failure-to-denounce-putin
They won’t allow them out, they commit these terrible things, they are trying to put pressure on the government in Kyiv to surrender similar to the nuclear blasts on Japanese to try and spare US lives from a Japan invasion.
It’s old tactics we have watched and read about, but for us twenty somethings it’s the most horrible thing to watch and experience happening in our lifetimes. 😭
At a random guess they are paying their staff with money stuck in Russia.....
The thing is that the vaccine means that you're not immune-naive in your first encounter with Covid so you're not as likely to end up in hospital so long as you're vaccinated. Even with Delta we weren't getting overwhelmed hospitals post-vaccines and even with Omicron you would be getting overwhelmed hospitals without vaccines.
Its possible to overegg the difference in severity between Omicron and Delta, while Omicron is less severe the far bigger difference is between vaccinated and unvaccinated.
Words fail me but it is so sad as I shed tears for those precious children and their parents
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3Iumaryww0
Smallpox stayed horrible throughout its existence. Rabies is still a *rather unfortunate* virus to catch
I've just done a bit of rabbit-holing re Omicron BA2 in Hong Kong, the UK, and elsewhere. I fear this is going to be a concern, and we are perhaps going to see another wave in the west, as well. I fervently pray this is wrong
One tiny straw in the wind. There are many
"The UK - Barnsley Hospital has suspended all non-essential visiting after what it calls "extreme circumstances" caused by a rise in Covid-19 cases.
The restrictions are to reduce the risk of transmitting Covid, particularly the Omicron & BA2 variant."
https://www.itv.com/news/calendar/2022-03-04/extreme-circumstances-hospital-bans-visiting-after-rise-in-covid-cases