I know a lot of people who have it or those around them who do, and hospitals are filling up again.
It hasn't gone away and it's not good. We need data and continued restrictions.
Hospitals filling up again? Evidence. The UK Covid death rate post vaccination is still tiny.
No we do not need more continued restrictions destroying our hospitality industry just after it had begin to recover again
Latest UK daily stats show:
Deaths 100 R=1 i.e. low and steady Ventilators 250 R=1 i.e. low and steady but Cases 60,000 R=1.5 i.e. rising rapidly Admissions 1,350 R=1.2 In Hospital 12,000 R=1.13
So a death rate of just 0.16% per Covid case now
I am going to get a second baseball bat with nails in, for those who refuse to understand that cases lead hospitalisation which leads deaths.
You can't compare cases on day x with deaths on day x.
You have a leftwing ideological agenda to impose everlasting restrictions and destroy most of what is left of our hospitality industry and much of the economy with it while leading to a surge in unemployment.
Tough. We have a Conservative majority government which has removed all restrictions post vaccination and will continue to ignore you. The death rate from Covid in the UK is tiny and will continue to be tiny, this government is correctly moving on
I know a lot of people who have it or those around them who do, and hospitals are filling up again.
It hasn't gone away and it's not good. We need data and continued restrictions.
Hospitals filling up again? Evidence. The UK Covid death rate post vaccination is still tiny.
No we do not need more continued restrictions destroying our hospitality industry just after it had begin to recover again
Hospitals are filling up again, but every bit as much in Scotland as in England which, once again, raises a lot of questions about the efficacy of the present restrictions. More importantly though, we have come to terms with the idea that Covid is going to be endemic and that we cannot live half lives cowering away. Our economy simply cannot sustain that, nor can it generate the revenues needed for medical services.
At my work we are back to 20% of time in the office this month, 40% next and 60% the month after at which point there will be a review. I think it is unlikely most staff will get back to 100% pre-Covid levels but i wouldn't rule it out.
We have had this debate and Boris has broadly won. We are not going back to major restrictions whilst death rates remain extremely low. Whether Sturgeon insists on her policy of differentiation will be disclosed today.
It seems that the current iteration of Covid is so infectious that restrictions actually capable of doing any good would effectively shut down the economy. I think in those circumstances more people would die due to the NHS becoming even harder to access than would die from Covid iteself.
The evidence is that Omicron is so infectious that trying to stop it with lockdowns doesn't work.
Hence New Zealand - which has been saved from a ugly situation by the excellent roll out of the vaccine.
China is looking at a very ugly situation - they have a huge number of unprotected, elderly and are not using the high end vaccines.
See the horrible situation in Hong Kong.
Is the Chinese state all that fussed about the fate of the non-productive elderly? answer: if they were, they might have prioritised vaccinating them at the expense of the young. They have done the opposite. I am just wondering whether they will pivot to a roll with it, life goes on sort of strategy when they see that lockdowns don't cut it with omicron
I know a lot of people who have it or those around them who do, and hospitals are filling up again.
It hasn't gone away and it's not good. We need data and continued restrictions.
Hospitals filling up again? Evidence. The UK Covid death rate post vaccination is still tiny.
No we do not need more continued restrictions destroying our hospitality industry just after it had begin to recover again
Hospitals are filling up again, but every bit as much in Scotland as in England which, once again, raises a lot of questions about the efficacy of the present restrictions. More importantly though, we have come to terms with the idea that Covid is going to be endemic and that we cannot live half lives cowering away. Our economy simply cannot sustain that, nor can it generate the revenues needed for medical services.
At my work we are back to 20% of time in the office this month, 40% next and 60% the month after at which point there will be a review. I think it is unlikely most staff will get back to 100% pre-Covid levels but i wouldn't rule it out.
We have had this debate and Boris has broadly won. We are not going back to major restrictions whilst death rates remain extremely low. Whether Sturgeon insists on her policy of differentiation will be disclosed today.
It seems that the current iteration of Covid is so infectious that restrictions actually capable of doing any good would effectively shut down the economy. I think in those circumstances more people would die due to the NHS becoming even harder to access than would die from Covid iteself.
The evidence is that Omicron is so infectious that trying to stop it with lockdowns doesn't work.
Hence New Zealand - which has been saved from a ugly situation by the excellent roll out of the vaccine.
China is looking at a very ugly situation - they have a huge number of unprotected, elderly and are not using the high end vaccines.
See the horrible situation in Hong Kong.
Most over 80s in Hong Kong are unvaccinated, completely different to here
Multiple demonstrations have taken place over several days in the Russian occupied cities of Kherson, Melitopol and Berdyansk.
Reporting suggests that Russia may seek to stage a “referendum” in Kherson in an attempt to legitimise the area as a “breakaway republic” similar to Donetsk, Luhansk and Crimea.
Further protests were reported in the city yesterday with Russian forces reportedly firing warning shots in an attempt to disperse peaceful protesters.
Russia has reportedly installed its own mayor in Melitopol following the alleged abduction of his predecessor on Friday 11 March. Subsequently, the Mayor of Dniprorudne has also reportedly been abducted by Russian forces.
Russia is likely to make further attempts to subvert Ukrainian democracy as it attempts to consolidate political control of Ukraine.
Likely to fail, I think. The Russians don't have enough men to control so large a population. And when it comes down to it, it's far harder to repress people with experience of democracy than those who have lived their whole lives under authoritarian control.
Something that someone who clawed his way to power in a country which has never had real democracy apparently didn't and still doesn't realise.
I'm a bit more pessimistic on this. When the Syrians arrive and start firing indiscriminately into crowds the prospects for continued mass resistance will look bleaker.
What makes it more likely that Syrians will open fire on crowds than Russians? The occupying forces will just be following orders. It seems unlikely that Russia can successfully roll out a strategy involving the massacre and subjugation/enslavement of a country the size of France with 44 million people in it. At present they have close to zero co-operation and public support amongst the Ukranian population, even the Russian speaking parts of it. There is no credible story that they can tell about what they are doing, other than the bizarre one given by Putin, in which he is trying to recreate a lost Greater Russia,albeit with hired Libyan mercenaries and troops borrowed from Syria. It does seem a bit like, after all the years of strategic brilliance and punching above their weight, the Russian bear has fallen in to a trap of its own making.
Well, Syrians fired on crowds of Syrians during the Arab Spring, and they won't speak the same language as the people they're firing on in Ukraine. I think it will be a lot easier for Syrians to fire on crowds of civilians in Ukraine then it would be for Russians.
And they may also be more likely to do so without orders, on the basis that they will find the crowds more threatening, not being able to understand the language.
This type of occupation is a recipe for disaster. The occupiers will be outnumbered by the population, who also have guns and molotov cocktails.
A nasty thought in many ways. An American friend noticed that a lot of the amateur warriors in Ukraine, on facebook etc, have taken to adding suppressors and flash hiders to their AR platforms, to go with the scopes....
I know a lot of people who have it or those around them who do, and hospitals are filling up again.
It hasn't gone away and it's not good. We need data and continued restrictions.
Hospitals filling up again? Evidence. The UK Covid death rate post vaccination is still tiny.
No we do not need more continued restrictions destroying our hospitality industry just after it had begin to recover again
Latest UK daily stats show:
Deaths 100 R=1 i.e. low and steady Ventilators 250 R=1 i.e. low and steady but Cases 60,000 R=1.5 i.e. rising rapidly Admissions 1,350 R=1.2 In Hospital 12,000 R=1.13
So a death rate of just 0.16% per Covid case now
I am going to get a second baseball bat with nails in, for those who refuse to understand that cases lead hospitalisation which leads deaths.
You can't compare cases on day x with deaths on day x.
You have a leftwing ideological agenda to impose everlasting restrictions and destroy most of what is left of our hospitality industry and much of the economy with it while leading to a surge in unemployment.
Tough. We have a Conservative majority government which has removed all restrictions post vaccination and will continue to ignore you. The death rate from Covid in the UK is tiny and will continue to be tiny, this government is correctly moving on
I know a lot of people who have it or those around them who do, and hospitals are filling up again.
It hasn't gone away and it's not good. We need data and continued restrictions.
Hospitals filling up again? Evidence. The UK Covid death rate post vaccination is still tiny.
No we do not need more continued restrictions destroying our hospitality industry just after it had begin to recover again
Latest UK daily stats show:
Deaths 100 R=1 i.e. low and steady Ventilators 250 R=1 i.e. low and steady but Cases 60,000 R=1.5 i.e. rising rapidly Admissions 1,350 R=1.2 In Hospital 12,000 R=1.13
So a death rate of just 0.16% per Covid case now
I am going to get a second baseball bat with nails in, for those who refuse to understand that cases lead hospitalisation which leads deaths.
You can't compare cases on day x with deaths on day x.
You have a leftwing ideological agenda to impose everlasting restrictions and destroy most of what is left of our hospitality industry and much of the economy with it while leading to a surge in unemployment.
Tough. We have a Conservative majority government which has removed all restrictions post vaccination and will continue to ignore you. The death rate from Covid in the UK is tiny and will continue to be tiny, this government is correctly moving on
Thank you for not liking me. It makes me feel vindicated.
I know a lot of people who have it or those around them who do, and hospitals are filling up again.
It hasn't gone away and it's not good. We need data and continued restrictions.
Hospitals filling up again? Evidence. The UK Covid death rate post vaccination is still tiny.
No we do not need more continued restrictions destroying our hospitality industry just after it had begin to recover again
Hospitals are filling up again, but every bit as much in Scotland as in England which, once again, raises a lot of questions about the efficacy of the present restrictions. More importantly though, we have come to terms with the idea that Covid is going to be endemic and that we cannot live half lives cowering away. Our economy simply cannot sustain that, nor can it generate the revenues needed for medical services.
At my work we are back to 20% of time in the office this month, 40% next and 60% the month after at which point there will be a review. I think it is unlikely most staff will get back to 100% pre-Covid levels but i wouldn't rule it out.
We have had this debate and Boris has broadly won. We are not going back to major restrictions whilst death rates remain extremely low. Whether Sturgeon insists on her policy of differentiation will be disclosed today.
It seems that the current iteration of Covid is so infectious that restrictions actually capable of doing any good would effectively shut down the economy. I think in those circumstances more people would die due to the NHS becoming even harder to access than would die from Covid iteself.
The evidence is that Omicron is so infectious that trying to stop it with lockdowns doesn't work.
Hence New Zealand - which has been saved from a ugly situation by the excellent roll out of the vaccine.
China is looking at a very ugly situation - they have a huge number of unprotected, elderly and are not using the high end vaccines.
See the horrible situation in Hong Kong.
Is the Chinese state all that fussed about the fate of the non-productive elderly? answer: if they were, they might have prioritised vaccinating them at the expense of the young. They have done the opposite. I am just wondering whether they will pivot to a roll with it, life goes on sort of strategy when they see that lockdowns don't cut it with omicron
Chinese people, in general, quite like Granddad & Grandma. Like most humans. Funny that.
Fucking up in the horrible way that looks inevitable to me, now, is not going to be popularity increasing.
We are now seemingly back in the absolutely ludicrous position where, as soon as case numbers rise, the threads are clogged with zerocovidians aggressively calling for restrictions. Despite all the evidence that a) no viable restrictions work against omicron and b) the risks from covid to the individual are now lower than influenza.
Invading forces in Ukraine spent weeks conquering Volnovakha, inflicting damage so severe that the town no longer exists https://meduza.io/en/feature/2022/03/14/behold-russia-s-liberation The town of Volnovakha lies 60 kilometers (almost 40 miles) outside Donetsk. Or rather it used to. On March 11, Russia’s Defense Ministry announced that soldiers from the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic had “liberated” the town. Ukrainian officials phrased this a bit differently, saying that Volnovakha no longer exists. Before Moscow’s full-scale invasion, more than 20,000 people lived here. Look at it now....
I know a lot of people who have it or those around them who do, and hospitals are filling up again.
It hasn't gone away and it's not good. We need data and continued restrictions.
Hospitals filling up again? Evidence. The UK Covid death rate post vaccination is still tiny.
No we do not need more continued restrictions destroying our hospitality industry just after it had begin to recover again
Hospitals are filling up again, but every bit as much in Scotland as in England which, once again, raises a lot of questions about the efficacy of the present restrictions. More importantly though, we have come to terms with the idea that Covid is going to be endemic and that we cannot live half lives cowering away. Our economy simply cannot sustain that, nor can it generate the revenues needed for medical services.
At my work we are back to 20% of time in the office this month, 40% next and 60% the month after at which point there will be a review. I think it is unlikely most staff will get back to 100% pre-Covid levels but i wouldn't rule it out.
We have had this debate and Boris has broadly won. We are not going back to major restrictions whilst death rates remain extremely low. Whether Sturgeon insists on her policy of differentiation will be disclosed today.
It seems that the current iteration of Covid is so infectious that restrictions actually capable of doing any good would effectively shut down the economy. I think in those circumstances more people would die due to the NHS becoming even harder to access than would die from Covid iteself.
The evidence is that Omicron is so infectious that trying to stop it with lockdowns doesn't work.
Hence New Zealand - which has been saved from a ugly situation by the excellent roll out of the vaccine.
China is looking at a very ugly situation - they have a huge number of unprotected, elderly and are not using the high end vaccines.
See the horrible situation in Hong Kong.
Is the Chinese state all that fussed about the fate of the non-productive elderly? answer: if they were, they might have prioritised vaccinating them at the expense of the young. They have done the opposite. I am just wondering whether they will pivot to a roll with it, life goes on sort of strategy when they see that lockdowns don't cut it with omicron
Chinese people, in general, quite like Granddad & Grandma. Like most humans. Funny that.
Fucking up in the horrible way that looks inevitable to me, now, is not going to be popularity increasing.
Chinese people, in general, do not make the rules. Russian people, in general, probably don't like shelling the shit out of maternity hospitals.
I'm in my seventies and Covid is done. It's merged into the background and I suspect I'd all but ignore any more lock-down. My brother is only a year younger but he suffers from COPD and will keep taking precautions. I'll keep taking the flu jab, the relatively new shingles one, and any new Covid booster if recommended but that's it.
No point copying Wee Jimmy - she's only trying to be different for the sake of it. Covid is now so last year.
The really good news to come up is the forthcoming mRNA vaccines for flu.
If the rumours I have heard are vaguely true, they are going to be extremely effective against the severe medical effects of flu. Which would save a huge number of lives each year.
Pfizer also have an mRNA vaccine against HIV in testing at the moment. That would be a total game-changer for Africa in particular, where the currently available treatments are prohibitively expensive.
This makes the important point about corruption in the heart of the tory party, which I acknowledge stretches back into other governments especially that of Tony Blair.
The right wing lynch mob on here who all continually like one another's posts in their echo chamber (Felix, MM, Sandpit, Foxy, StateAway, JJ, BIgG etc.) hate the spotlight to be shone on this but the fact remains that corruption runs deep in the UK. We have traded and supported utterly corrupt, evil, regimes that are not confined to Russia but certainly include Saudi Arabia and Qatar. London has become a magnet for evil money.
How do we solve the energy crisis? Gosh, there's a question from the 1970's. Nuclear power and renewables. Not raping the earth still further. We could all install solar panels and wind turbines and go off-grid. It's not that hard but it requires a lifestyle reset which you might have thought covid would have induced (it has for some).
I am *not* part of a 'right wing lynch mob'. You might wish to reconsider that.
Sorted and with apologies then x
p.s. it was quite difficult yesterday to keep track although Marquee Mark managed to make himself the most unpleasant and obnoxious person of the lynch mob, which is saying something.
I'll wear that badge with pride when it comes to you. Tell us where you really are...
We are now seemingly back in the absolutely ludicrous position where, as soon as case numbers rise, the threads are clogged with zerocovidians aggressively calling for restrictions. Despite all the evidence that a) no viable restrictions work against omicron and b) the risks from covid to the individual are now lower than influenza.
When will this ever end?
Slowly.
254 patients across UK on ventilation beds with Covid. Tiny number. Peaked at over 4000 in Jan 2021.
The frit were scared of Covid when there were no vaccines. Then they were scared of Covid with vaccines. Now they are scared of Covid with vaccines, boosters and a mild variant of Covid.
Makes one wonder the quality of life they lead more generally and may reveal a deep and vindictive desire to clip the wings of others?
This makes the important point about corruption in the heart of the tory party, which I acknowledge stretches back into other governments especially that of Tony Blair.
The right wing lynch mob on here who all continually like one another's posts in their echo chamber (Felix, MM, Sandpit, Foxy, StateAway, JJ, BIgG etc.) hate the spotlight to be shone on this but the fact remains that corruption runs deep in the UK. We have traded and supported utterly corrupt, evil, regimes that are not confined to Russia but certainly include Saudi Arabia and Qatar. London has become a magnet for evil money.
How do we solve the energy crisis? Gosh, there's a question from the 1970's. Nuclear power and renewables. Not raping the earth still further. We could all install solar panels and wind turbines and go off-grid. It's not that hard but it requires a lifestyle reset which you might have thought covid would have induced (it has for some).
I am *not* part of a 'right wing lynch mob'. You might wish to reconsider that.
One of Putin's little helpers has returned
I'm sure you think this is terribly smart, as Marquee Mark's little helper, but I am not a Putin troll. I loathe Putin and unlike you spineless cowards on the right I actually believe in not standing by and letting Putin pulverise Ukraine.
If anyone on here is Putin's little helper it's those who refuse to support Zelensky militarily.
You're a bunch of chickens. More concerned with your own NIMBYism than actually having the courage to stand up to Putin.
p.s. and yes I have been absolutely right on covid all the way along.
Boris is the most supportive leader militarily for Ukraine and is held in high esteem by President Zelenskyy
You throw out insults branding people on the right which is patently untrue and try to goad the UK and NATO into WW111
As for covid you have been wrong from day one
If you want people to take you seriously cut out the abuse to other posters
Boris is still the arse of arses G. He is a lying cheating mendacious crook. His play acting at Churchill cuts no mustard, anyone can lift a phone and act the tough guy, a fake fraud.
We are now seemingly back in the absolutely ludicrous position where, as soon as case numbers rise, the threads are clogged with zerocovidians aggressively calling for restrictions. Despite all the evidence that a) no viable restrictions work against omicron and b) the risks from covid to the individual are now lower than influenza.
When will this ever end?
If end = when will everyone on pb.com share my opinion on Covid, then it's never going to end. If end = when will we stop having restrictions, then I think we are basically there. And unlikely to go back *excepting new dangerous variant/new dangerous pandemic disease*.
More generally, Covid has opened up a new political front (and perhaps unfortunately further politicized medicine and public health)
Some potential implications I wonder about... more respect/encouragement for scientist-politicians, particularly among left-wing parties? We essentially have no senior politicians with a science background, unless I'm mistaken? Fringe parties becoming more anti-vaccine/welcoming the anti-vaxxers who seem somewhat unrepresented at the moment?
We are now seemingly back in the absolutely ludicrous position where, as soon as case numbers rise, the threads are clogged with zerocovidians aggressively calling for restrictions. Despite all the evidence that a) no viable restrictions work against omicron and b) the risks from covid to the individual are now lower than influenza.
We are now seemingly back in the absolutely ludicrous position where, as soon as case numbers rise, the threads are clogged with zerocovidians aggressively calling for restrictions. Despite all the evidence that a) no viable restrictions work against omicron and b) the risks from covid to the individual are now lower than influenza.
When will this ever end?
It's ended. We're not going back.
Long piece in Telegraph about why this might be happening. Combination of waning and more social contacts seems to be basic theory, although as ever the experts are not in agreement.
I know a lot of people who have it or those around them who do, and hospitals are filling up again.
It hasn't gone away and it's not good. We need data and continued restrictions.
Hospitals filling up again? Evidence. The UK Covid death rate post vaccination is still tiny.
No we do not need more continued restrictions destroying our hospitality industry just after it had begin to recover again
Latest UK daily stats show:
Deaths 100 R=1 i.e. low and steady Ventilators 250 R=1 i.e. low and steady but Cases 60,000 R=1.5 i.e. rising rapidly Admissions 1,350 R=1.2 In Hospital 12,000 R=1.13
So a death rate of just 0.16% per Covid case now
I am going to get a second baseball bat with nails in, for those who refuse to understand that cases lead hospitalisation which leads deaths.
You can't compare cases on day x with deaths on day x.
You have a leftwing ideological agenda to impose everlasting restrictions and destroy most of what is left of our hospitality industry and much of the economy with it while leading to a surge in unemployment.
Tough. We have a Conservative majority government which has removed all restrictions post vaccination and will continue to ignore you. The death rate from Covid in the UK is tiny and will continue to be tiny, this government is correctly moving on
Thank you for not liking me. It makes me feel vindicated.
As I am not a pure conservative in @HYUFD eyes, I wear it as a badge of honour
This makes the important point about corruption in the heart of the tory party, which I acknowledge stretches back into other governments especially that of Tony Blair.
The right wing lynch mob on here who all continually like one another's posts in their echo chamber (Felix, MM, Sandpit, Foxy, StateAway, JJ, BIgG etc.) hate the spotlight to be shone on this but the fact remains that corruption runs deep in the UK. We have traded and supported utterly corrupt, evil, regimes that are not confined to Russia but certainly include Saudi Arabia and Qatar. London has become a magnet for evil money.
How do we solve the energy crisis? Gosh, there's a question from the 1970's. Nuclear power and renewables. Not raping the earth still further. We could all install solar panels and wind turbines and go off-grid. It's not that hard but it requires a lifestyle reset which you might have thought covid would have induced (it has for some).
I am *not* part of a 'right wing lynch mob'. You might wish to reconsider that.
One of Putin's little helpers has returned
I don't know if Heathener is one of Putin's little helpers. I do find it hard to work out that poster's exact position though: they seem all over the shop.
I find my position very similar to Nicola Sturgeon's actually, right down to Scottish independence
I don't believe we should self-centredly and selfishly stand by and let Ukraine get pulverised. We should install a No Fly Zone and stand up to Putin militarily.
The people who won't help Ukraine militarily are doing so in order to save their own skins. Yes there are risks involved but this is likely to escalate anyway. We have to support the people of Ukraine on the ground and in the air. We should have done so from the outset. Instead we have been too frit to act.
And I believe that is completely misguided.
Any attempt to impose a no fly zone would immediately give credibility to Putin's claims about NATO's aggressive expansionary designs. It would very likely shore up his domestic support - the erosion of which makes more likely the peace negotiations. it would also be of limited use to Ukraine. Unless we start flying combat missions against Russian ground forces it would make little difference to Ukraine's ground attack capability, most of which is provided by their Turkish drones, which seem to have no difficulty in operating in a hostile air environment. And the bulk of Russia's offensive capability has been on the ground, not in the air.
Against that you have to set the immense risk of a tactical, or even full scale nuclear confrontation.
If you're throwing around random accusations of cowardice, then I'll happily say that you are being completely foolhardy.
The air war seems to be as follows
- Ukraine flys occasional sorties. - Russia flys more sorties - more planes! - Russia seems to do either low level, or standoff attacks with cruise missiles. - They are also using ground launched ballistic missiles.
1) This strongly suggests they see a serious threat from medium range SAMs. MANPADS are dangerous, radar guided missiles are different order.... 2) Reinforcing the Ukrainian SAM setup might actually have more bang for the buck than a no-fly zone. Los of operators of the older Russian kit out there.... easier to donate it, accidentally like, as well. If the Polish Migs aren't where they usually are a bunch of plane spotters will notice. If someone loses their S-300s the only people who will notice are the guys looking after the storage sheds....
The PMs of Poland, Slovenia and the Czech Republic travelling to Kiev today on behalf of the EU to meet President Zelensky and to emphasise Europe's solidarity with Ukraine. That doesn't happen if there are any concerns at all that the Russians have control of Ukrainian airspace.
This makes the important point about corruption in the heart of the tory party, which I acknowledge stretches back into other governments especially that of Tony Blair.
The right wing lynch mob on here who all continually like one another's posts in their echo chamber (Felix, MM, Sandpit, Foxy, StateAway, JJ, BIgG etc.) hate the spotlight to be shone on this but the fact remains that corruption runs deep in the UK. We have traded and supported utterly corrupt, evil, regimes that are not confined to Russia but certainly include Saudi Arabia and Qatar. London has become a magnet for evil money.
How do we solve the energy crisis? Gosh, there's a question from the 1970's. Nuclear power and renewables. Not raping the earth still further. We could all install solar panels and wind turbines and go off-grid. It's not that hard but it requires a lifestyle reset which you might have thought covid would have induced (it has for some).
I am *not* part of a 'right wing lynch mob'. You might wish to reconsider that.
One of Putin's little helpers has returned
I'm sure you think this is terribly smart, as Marquee Mark's little helper, but I am not a Putin troll. I loathe Putin and unlike you spineless cowards on the right I actually believe in not standing by and letting Putin pulverise Ukraine.
If anyone on here is Putin's little helper it's those who refuse to support Zelensky militarily.
You're a bunch of chickens. More concerned with your own NIMBYism than actually having the courage to stand up to Putin.
p.s. and yes I have been absolutely right on covid all the way along.
Boris is the most supportive leader militarily for Ukraine and is held in high esteem by President Zelenskyy
You throw out insults branding people on the right which is patently untrue and try to goad the UK and NATO into WW111
As for covid you have been wrong from day one
If you want people to take you seriously cut out the abuse to other posters
Boris is still the arse of arses G. He is a lying cheating mendacious crook. His play acting at Churchill cuts no mustard, anyone can lift a phone and act the tough guy, a fake fraud.
Many do not like Boris but the President of Ukraine and Ukrainians are quite the opposite and are demonstrably so
I know a lot of people who have it or those around them who do, and hospitals are filling up again.
It hasn't gone away and it's not good. We need data and continued restrictions.
Hospitals filling up again? Evidence. The UK Covid death rate post vaccination is still tiny.
No we do not need more continued restrictions destroying our hospitality industry just after it had begin to recover again
Hospitals are filling up again, but every bit as much in Scotland as in England which, once again, raises a lot of questions about the efficacy of the present restrictions. More importantly though, we have come to terms with the idea that Covid is going to be endemic and that we cannot live half lives cowering away. Our economy simply cannot sustain that, nor can it generate the revenues needed for medical services.
At my work we are back to 20% of time in the office this month, 40% next and 60% the month after at which point there will be a review. I think it is unlikely most staff will get back to 100% pre-Covid levels but i wouldn't rule it out.
We have had this debate and Boris has broadly won. We are not going back to major restrictions whilst death rates remain extremely low. Whether Sturgeon insists on her policy of differentiation will be disclosed today.
It seems that the current iteration of Covid is so infectious that restrictions actually capable of doing any good would effectively shut down the economy. I think in those circumstances more people would die due to the NHS becoming even harder to access than would die from Covid iteself.
The evidence is that Omicron is so infectious that trying to stop it with lockdowns doesn't work.
Hence New Zealand - which has been saved from a ugly situation by the excellent roll out of the vaccine.
China is looking at a very ugly situation - they have a huge number of unprotected, elderly and are not using the high end vaccines.
See the horrible situation in Hong Kong.
Most over 80s in Hong Kong are unvaccinated, completely different to here
Those who are vaccinated, mostly have the terrible Sinovac vaccine, which no-one else wanted to buy.
As others have suggested, do the CCP actually care about protecting the elderly, or are they quite ambivalent to losing a few million of their unproductive population helping out their famous demographic issues.
This makes the important point about corruption in the heart of the tory party, which I acknowledge stretches back into other governments especially that of Tony Blair.
The right wing lynch mob on here who all continually like one another's posts in their echo chamber (Felix, MM, Sandpit, Foxy, StateAway, JJ, BIgG etc.) hate the spotlight to be shone on this but the fact remains that corruption runs deep in the UK. We have traded and supported utterly corrupt, evil, regimes that are not confined to Russia but certainly include Saudi Arabia and Qatar. London has become a magnet for evil money.
How do we solve the energy crisis? Gosh, there's a question from the 1970's. Nuclear power and renewables. Not raping the earth still further. We could all install solar panels and wind turbines and go off-grid. It's not that hard but it requires a lifestyle reset which you might have thought covid would have induced (it has for some).
I am *not* part of a 'right wing lynch mob'. You might wish to reconsider that.
One of Putin's little helpers has returned
I'm sure you think this is terribly smart, as Marquee Mark's little helper, but I am not a Putin troll. I loathe Putin and unlike you spineless cowards on the right I actually believe in not standing by and letting Putin pulverise Ukraine.
If anyone on here is Putin's little helper it's those who refuse to support Zelensky militarily.
You're a bunch of chickens. More concerned with your own NIMBYism than actually having the courage to stand up to Putin.
p.s. and yes I have been absolutely right on covid all the way along.
Boris is the most supportive leader militarily for Ukraine and is held in high esteem by President Zelenskyy
You throw out insults branding people on the right which is patently untrue and try to goad the UK and NATO into WW111
As for covid you have been wrong from day one
If you want people to take you seriously cut out the abuse to other posters
Boris is still the arse of arses G. He is a lying cheating mendacious crook. His play acting at Churchill cuts no mustard, anyone can lift a phone and act the tough guy, a fake fraud.
Many do not like Boris but the President of Ukraine and Ukrainians are quite the opposite and are demonstrably so
The British loved Uncle Joe Stalin during the war.
This makes the important point about corruption in the heart of the tory party, which I acknowledge stretches back into other governments especially that of Tony Blair.
The right wing lynch mob on here who all continually like one another's posts in their echo chamber (Felix, MM, Sandpit, Foxy, StateAway, JJ, BIgG etc.) hate the spotlight to be shone on this but the fact remains that corruption runs deep in the UK. We have traded and supported utterly corrupt, evil, regimes that are not confined to Russia but certainly include Saudi Arabia and Qatar. London has become a magnet for evil money.
How do we solve the energy crisis? Gosh, there's a question from the 1970's. Nuclear power and renewables. Not raping the earth still further. We could all install solar panels and wind turbines and go off-grid. It's not that hard but it requires a lifestyle reset which you might have thought covid would have induced (it has for some).
I am *not* part of a 'right wing lynch mob'. You might wish to reconsider that.
One of Putin's little helpers has returned
I don't know if Heathener is one of Putin's little helpers. I do find it hard to work out that poster's exact position though: they seem all over the shop.
I find my position very similar to Nicola Sturgeon's actually, right down to Scottish independence
I don't believe we should self-centredly and selfishly stand by and let Ukraine get pulverised. We should install a No Fly Zone and stand up to Putin militarily.
The people who won't help Ukraine militarily are doing so in order to save their own skins. Yes there are risks involved but this is likely to escalate anyway. We have to support the people of Ukraine on the ground and in the air. We should have done so from the outset. Instead we have been too frit to act.
So you support a position of abandoning our nuclear deterrent, and declaring war on Russia?
I commented yesterday that this is surely not a serious position. It falls apart under scrutiny, as has been obvious in recent TV interviews with the Scottish government. It seems more like a cynical attempt to support two popular policies, for electoral gain, safe in the knowledge that you have no significant influence on events, and don't have to make any real decisions.
Were the SNP a bit smarter, they could have used the war as an opportunity to demonstrate their seriousness about government, in the same way that Starmer has in opposition at Westminster. Holding the NATO line, and downplaying the 'scrap trident' commitment. Instead Holyrood looks like an insignificant sixth form college talking shop.
I have suggested that this will actually make independence less likely. It puts people off in England who are receptive to the idea of Scottish independence - like myself. I have also suggested it could have a similar effect in Scotland. I did ask a few days ago what @Farooq made of all this - but don't think I got any answer.
Farooq is a balloon and knows square root of F all. Fact is that people in Scotland support being in NATO , do not want to hold nucleur weapons like lots of NATO members and the SNP have voted for and clearly stated they would be members of NATO.
We are now seemingly back in the absolutely ludicrous position where, as soon as case numbers rise, the threads are clogged with zerocovidians aggressively calling for restrictions. Despite all the evidence that a) no viable restrictions work against omicron and b) the risks from covid to the individual are now lower than influenza.
When will this ever end?
It's ended. We're not going back.
Yes it’s ended in policy terms, what hasn’t (yet) ended is the repeated drumbeat from zealots who jump on any increase to call for renewed restrictions - making it harder for everyone to get on with their lives.
I know a lot of people who have it or those around them who do, and hospitals are filling up again.
It hasn't gone away and it's not good. We need data and continued restrictions.
Hospitals filling up again? Evidence. The UK Covid death rate post vaccination is still tiny.
No we do not need more continued restrictions destroying our hospitality industry just after it had begin to recover again
Latest UK daily stats show:
Deaths 100 R=1 i.e. low and steady Ventilators 250 R=1 i.e. low and steady but Cases 60,000 R=1.5 i.e. rising rapidly Admissions 1,350 R=1.2 In Hospital 12,000 R=1.13
So a death rate of just 0.16% per Covid case now
I am going to get a second baseball bat with nails in, for those who refuse to understand that cases lead hospitalisation which leads deaths.
You can't compare cases on day x with deaths on day x.
You have a leftwing ideological agenda to impose everlasting restrictions and destroy most of what is left of our hospitality industry and much of the economy with it while leading to a surge in unemployment.
Tough. We have a Conservative majority government which has removed all restrictions post vaccination and will continue to ignore you. The death rate from Covid in the UK is tiny and will continue to be tiny, this government is correctly moving on
We are now seemingly back in the absolutely ludicrous position where, as soon as case numbers rise, the threads are clogged with zerocovidians aggressively calling for restrictions. Despite all the evidence that a) no viable restrictions work against omicron and b) the risks from covid to the individual are now lower than influenza.
When will this ever end?
Slowly.
254 patients across UK on ventilation beds with Covid. Tiny number. Peaked at over 4000 in Jan 2021.
The frit were scared of Covid when there were no vaccines. Then they were scared of Covid with vaccines. Now they are scared of Covid with vaccines, boosters and a mild variant of Covid.
Makes one wonder the quality of life they lead more generally and may reveal a deep and vindictive desire to clip the wings of others?
It’s terrifying, and sad. And a public health issue in its own right.
We are now seemingly back in the absolutely ludicrous position where, as soon as case numbers rise, the threads are clogged with zerocovidians aggressively calling for restrictions. Despite all the evidence that a) no viable restrictions work against omicron and b) the risks from covid to the individual are now lower than influenza.
When will this ever end?
It's ended. We're not going back.
Long piece in Telegraph about why this might be happening. Combination of waning and more social contacts seems to be basic theory, although as ever the experts are not in agreement.
This makes the important point about corruption in the heart of the tory party, which I acknowledge stretches back into other governments especially that of Tony Blair.
The right wing lynch mob on here who all continually like one another's posts in their echo chamber (Felix, MM, Sandpit, StateAway, BIgG etc.) hate the spotlight to be shone on this but the fact remains that corruption runs deep in the UK. We have traded and supported utterly corrupt, evil, regimes that are not confined to Russia but certainly include Saudi Arabia and Qatar. London has become a magnet for evil money.
How do we solve the energy crisis? Gosh, there's a question from the 1970's. Nuclear power and renewables. Not raping the earth still further. We could all install solar panels and wind turbines and go off-grid. It's not that hard but it requires a lifestyle reset which you might have thought covid would have induced (it has for some).
Is everyone ‘right wing lynch mob’ who disagrees with you ?
.
Nope. But there's a particular coterie of right-wingers who all like one another's posts and who turn extremely nasty against counter viewpoints, especially ones which seek to shine a light on western corruption.
Apparently even to dare to suggest that there's stinking corrupt money sloshing around the tory party, and in London, is to become a Putin puppet.
The much more subtle point, which may therefore be lost on them, is that evil people often take grains of truth and then magnify them or twist them. Conspiracy theories do a similar thing. The fact is that there is very dirty money in London and has been for some years. Of particular focus should be Russia, Saudi Arabia and Qatar but it's not confined to those three corrupt states.
I think we have identified the only Boris hater in the village
Which if it were true would rather confirm Heathener's claim, since in effect you're saying that PB has become dominated by a coterie of right wingers who have a good opinion of Johnson, hardly representative of the broad swathe of UK public opinion. And I also see a lot of mutual backslapping and picking on heretics who dare to suggest something else, at least in his case. So he doesn't seem that far off the mark.
Let’s hope there’s some truth to this, from British sources:
“Russian forces may only be able to sustain full fighting capacity for another 'ten to 14' days, senior UK defence sources indicated last night, after which Putin's men will struggle to hold the ground they have already captured from Ukrainian troops.”
Hi Heathener, please could you square something for me about your views?
You are vehemently pro an NFZ over Ukraine. This as is clear could lead to a nuclear war in which the chances are you will be evaporated.You are willing to accept this outcome I assume as a price worth paying for Ukraine’s liberty (well liberated but everyone turned to dust so not much use).
How do you balance this acceptance of death with your terror of Covid where you have stated you would attack someone who wasn’t wearing a mask near you in a supermarket ? I mean a nuclear war probably is more likely to end in your death than catching covid.
Otherwise if an NFZ didn’t lead to a nuclear war it would likely lead to conventional war which ultimately would lead to mass call up/conscription. As someone who would be relatively high up on the list for a call up, along with quite a number of posters here who aren’t old retired white gammons, it’s very nice of you, a self declared woman of age with disabilities who will never get called up, to volunteer us on your behalf.
Please would you confirm that you will be sending us all food packages to the front as we dream of happy days posting on PB as the bullets fly at us?
This makes the important point about corruption in the heart of the tory party, which I acknowledge stretches back into other governments especially that of Tony Blair.
The right wing lynch mob on here who all continually like one another's posts in their echo chamber (Felix, MM, Sandpit, StateAway, BIgG etc.) hate the spotlight to be shone on this but the fact remains that corruption runs deep in the UK. We have traded and supported utterly corrupt, evil, regimes that are not confined to Russia but certainly include Saudi Arabia and Qatar. London has become a magnet for evil money.
How do we solve the energy crisis? Gosh, there's a question from the 1970's. Nuclear power and renewables. Not raping the earth still further. We could all install solar panels and wind turbines and go off-grid. It's not that hard but it requires a lifestyle reset which you might have thought covid would have induced (it has for some).
Is everyone ‘right wing lynch mob’ who disagrees with you ?
.
Nope. But there's a particular coterie of right-wingers who all like one another's posts and who turn extremely nasty against counter viewpoints, especially ones which seek to shine a light on western corruption.
Apparently even to dare to suggest that there's stinking corrupt money sloshing around the tory party, and in London, is to become a Putin puppet.
The much more subtle point, which may therefore be lost on them, is that evil people often take grains of truth and then magnify them or twist them. Conspiracy theories do a similar thing. The fact is that there is very dirty money in London and has been for some years. Of particular focus should be Russia, Saudi Arabia and Qatar but it's not confined to those three corrupt states.
I think we have identified the only Boris hater in the village
Which if it were true would rather confirm Heathener's claim, since in effect you're saying that PB has become dominated by a coterie of right wingers who have a good opinion of Johnson, hardly representative of the broad swathe of UK public opinion. And I also see a lot of mutual backslapping and picking on heretics who dare to suggest something else, at least in his case. So he doesn't seem that far off the mark.
I think Covid recedes into insignificance when set against what is happening in Ukraine, and contemplation of the existential threat posed to us by Russia; which this crisis foreshadows. People always find something to worry about, imminent war and violent death on a mass scale is always going to climb straight to the top of the list.
Let’s hope there’s some truth to this, from British sources:
“Russian forces may only be able to sustain full fighting capacity for another 'ten to 14' days, senior UK defence sources indicated last night, after which Putin's men will struggle to hold the ground they have already captured from Ukrainian troops.”
Banging on about this point again - and assuming this is accurate - it’s why the arguments that Russia will ultimately prevail over Ukraine because of superior numbers is wrong. Russia does not have the luxury of time, it only has a few weeks to get this down. After that, it’s done.
This makes the important point about corruption in the heart of the tory party, which I acknowledge stretches back into other governments especially that of Tony Blair.
The right wing lynch mob on here who all continually like one another's posts in their echo chamber (Felix, MM, Sandpit, Foxy, StateAway, JJ, BIgG etc.) hate the spotlight to be shone on this but the fact remains that corruption runs deep in the UK. We have traded and supported utterly corrupt, evil, regimes that are not confined to Russia but certainly include Saudi Arabia and Qatar. London has become a magnet for evil money.
How do we solve the energy crisis? Gosh, there's a question from the 1970's. Nuclear power and renewables. Not raping the earth still further. We could all install solar panels and wind turbines and go off-grid. It's not that hard but it requires a lifestyle reset which you might have thought covid would have induced (it has for some).
I am *not* part of a 'right wing lynch mob'. You might wish to reconsider that.
Sorted and with apologies then x
p.s. it was quite difficult yesterday to keep track although Marquee Mark managed to make himself the most unpleasant and obnoxious person of the lynch mob, which is saying something.
If you're finding Marquee Mark unpleasant and obnoxious, you should at least consider that the problem is not with him.
This makes the important point about corruption in the heart of the tory party, which I acknowledge stretches back into other governments especially that of Tony Blair.
The right wing lynch mob on here who all continually like one another's posts in their echo chamber (Felix, MM, Sandpit, Foxy, StateAway, JJ, BIgG etc.) hate the spotlight to be shone on this but the fact remains that corruption runs deep in the UK. We have traded and supported utterly corrupt, evil, regimes that are not confined to Russia but certainly include Saudi Arabia and Qatar. London has become a magnet for evil money.
How do we solve the energy crisis? Gosh, there's a question from the 1970's. Nuclear power and renewables. Not raping the earth still further. We could all install solar panels and wind turbines and go off-grid. It's not that hard but it requires a lifestyle reset which you might have thought covid would have induced (it has for some).
I am *not* part of a 'right wing lynch mob'. You might wish to reconsider that.
Sorted and with apologies then x
p.s. it was quite difficult yesterday to keep track although Marquee Mark managed to make himself the most unpleasant and obnoxious person of the lynch mob, which is saying something.
If you're finding Marquee Mark unpleasant and obnoxious, you should at least consider that the problem is not with him.
“If you run into an asshole in the morning, you ran into an asshole. If you run into assholes all day, you're the asshole.” ― Raylan Givens
I think Covid recedes into insignificance when set against what is happening in Ukraine, and contemplation of the existential threat posed to us by Russia; which this crisis foreshadows. People always find something to worry about, imminent war and violent death on a mass scale is always going to climb straight to the top of the list.
The race is between the collapse of the Russian economy and the Ukrainians being beaten down, slowly, by Russia's fucked up war.
We are now seemingly back in the absolutely ludicrous position where, as soon as case numbers rise, the threads are clogged with zerocovidians aggressively calling for restrictions. Despite all the evidence that a) no viable restrictions work against omicron and b) the risks from covid to the individual are now lower than influenza.
When will this ever end?
Slowly.
254 patients across UK on ventilation beds with Covid. Tiny number. Peaked at over 4000 in Jan 2021.
The frit were scared of Covid when there were no vaccines. Then they were scared of Covid with vaccines. Now they are scared of Covid with vaccines, boosters and a mild variant of Covid.
Makes one wonder the quality of life they lead more generally and may reveal a deep and vindictive desire to clip the wings of others?
It’s terrifying, and sad. And a public health issue in its own right.
I've seen non-health agendas in this from the start, and have posted about it.
Those that dislike liberal democracy and want socialism. Those who hate capitalism and individualism and want state control. Those that have miserable lives who relish the opportunity to hamper those who make the most of their own. Those who are by nature curtain-twitchers who relish the chance to legitimately curtain-twitch. Those who hate the government who have been using a dreadful pandemic for political gain.
This makes the important point about corruption in the heart of the tory party, which I acknowledge stretches back into other governments especially that of Tony Blair.
The right wing lynch mob on here who all continually like one another's posts in their echo chamber (Felix, MM, Sandpit, Foxy, StateAway, JJ, BIgG etc.) hate the spotlight to be shone on this but the fact remains that corruption runs deep in the UK. We have traded and supported utterly corrupt, evil, regimes that are not confined to Russia but certainly include Saudi Arabia and Qatar. London has become a magnet for evil money.
How do we solve the energy crisis? Gosh, there's a question from the 1970's. Nuclear power and renewables. Not raping the earth still further. We could all install solar panels and wind turbines and go off-grid. It's not that hard but it requires a lifestyle reset which you might have thought covid would have induced (it has for some).
I am *not* part of a 'right wing lynch mob'. You might wish to reconsider that.
Sorted and with apologies then x
p.s. it was quite difficult yesterday to keep track although Marquee Mark managed to make himself the most unpleasant and obnoxious person of the lynch mob, which is saying something.
If you're finding Marquee Mark unpleasant and obnoxious, you should at least consider that the problem is not with him.
“If you run into an asshole in the morning, you ran into an asshole. If you run into assholes all day, you're the asshole.” ― Raylan Givens
We are now seemingly back in the absolutely ludicrous position where, as soon as case numbers rise, the threads are clogged with zerocovidians aggressively calling for restrictions. Despite all the evidence that a) no viable restrictions work against omicron and b) the risks from covid to the individual are now lower than influenza.
When will this ever end?
Slowly.
254 patients across UK on ventilation beds with Covid. Tiny number. Peaked at over 4000 in Jan 2021.
The frit were scared of Covid when there were no vaccines. Then they were scared of Covid with vaccines. Now they are scared of Covid with vaccines, boosters and a mild variant of Covid.
Makes one wonder the quality of life they lead more generally and may reveal a deep and vindictive desire to clip the wings of others?
Well on this morning's showing only you and @Anabobazina seem remotely perturbed by the whole thing. Bedwetting about bedwetters, as it were. Me, I get on with things but just operate on the basis that the future is unknowable (see my betting book this year for details) and that pretty much every epidemiologist in the country is warning against the course we are currently taking. It is not off the cards that things could get markedly worse.
And don't call people cowards for disagreeing with you. I have survived stage 3 and about 2/3rds cancer where the max is 4 without at any stage getting unduly upset about the situation.
This makes the important point about corruption in the heart of the tory party, which I acknowledge stretches back into other governments especially that of Tony Blair.
The right wing lynch mob on here who all continually like one another's posts in their echo chamber (Felix, MM, Sandpit, Foxy, StateAway, JJ, BIgG etc.) hate the spotlight to be shone on this but the fact remains that corruption runs deep in the UK. We have traded and supported utterly corrupt, evil, regimes that are not confined to Russia but certainly include Saudi Arabia and Qatar. London has become a magnet for evil money.
How do we solve the energy crisis? Gosh, there's a question from the 1970's. Nuclear power and renewables. Not raping the earth still further. We could all install solar panels and wind turbines and go off-grid. It's not that hard but it requires a lifestyle reset which you might have thought covid would have induced (it has for some).
I am *not* part of a 'right wing lynch mob'. You might wish to reconsider that.
Sorted and with apologies then x
p.s. it was quite difficult yesterday to keep track although Marquee Mark managed to make himself the most unpleasant and obnoxious person of the lynch mob, which is saying something.
If you're finding Marquee Mark unpleasant and obnoxious, you should at least consider that the problem is not with him.
“If you run into an asshole in the morning, you ran into an asshole. If you run into assholes all day, you're the asshole.” ― Raylan Givens
This makes the important point about corruption in the heart of the tory party, which I acknowledge stretches back into other governments especially that of Tony Blair.
The right wing lynch mob on here who all continually like one another's posts in their echo chamber (Felix, MM, Sandpit, Foxy, StateAway, JJ, BIgG etc.) hate the spotlight to be shone on this but the fact remains that corruption runs deep in the UK. We have traded and supported utterly corrupt, evil, regimes that are not confined to Russia but certainly include Saudi Arabia and Qatar. London has become a magnet for evil money.
How do we solve the energy crisis? Gosh, there's a question from the 1970's. Nuclear power and renewables. Not raping the earth still further. We could all install solar panels and wind turbines and go off-grid. It's not that hard but it requires a lifestyle reset which you might have thought covid would have induced (it has for some).
I am *not* part of a 'right wing lynch mob'. You might wish to reconsider that.
One of Putin's little helpers has returned
I don't know if Heathener is one of Putin's little helpers. I do find it hard to work out that poster's exact position though: they seem all over the shop.
I find my position very similar to Nicola Sturgeon's actually, right down to Scottish independence
I don't believe we should self-centredly and selfishly stand by and let Ukraine get pulverised. We should install a No Fly Zone and stand up to Putin militarily.
The people who won't help Ukraine militarily are doing so in order to save their own skins. Yes there are risks involved but this is likely to escalate anyway. We have to support the people of Ukraine on the ground and in the air. We should have done so from the outset. Instead we have been too frit to act.
So you support a position of abandoning our nuclear deterrent, and declaring war on Russia?
I commented yesterday that this is surely not a serious position. It falls apart under scrutiny, as has been obvious in recent TV interviews with the Scottish government. It seems more like a cynical attempt to support two popular policies, for electoral gain, safe in the knowledge that you have no significant influence on events, and don't have to make any real decisions.
Were the SNP a bit smarter, they could have used the war as an opportunity to demonstrate their seriousness about government, in the same way that Starmer has in opposition at Westminster. Holding the NATO line, and downplaying the 'scrap trident' commitment. Instead Holyrood looks like an insignificant sixth form college talking shop.
I have suggested that this will actually make independence less likely. It puts people off in England who are receptive to the idea of Scottish independence - like myself. I have also suggested it could have a similar effect in Scotland. I did ask a few days ago what @Farooq made of all this - but don't think I got any answer.
Farooq is a balloon and knows square root of F all. Fact is that people in Scotland support being in NATO , do not want to hold nucleur weapons like lots of NATO members and the SNP have voted for and clearly stated they would be members of NATO.
Yes but - if Scotland is pro NATO, then why is the government departing from the position held by NATO on the no fly zone? It isn't acting like a reliable future partner.
Secondly, if the Scottish population are against nuclear weapons, does that mean that they want NATO to adopt a similar policy of unilateral disarmanent - and if so, how do they expect NATO to defend itself against nuclear attack, given that Putin has expressed his willingness to use nuclear weapons?
Difficult questions for the SNP indeed, it seems like they are living in a dreamworld.
We are now seemingly back in the absolutely ludicrous position where, as soon as case numbers rise, the threads are clogged with zerocovidians aggressively calling for restrictions. Despite all the evidence that a) no viable restrictions work against omicron and b) the risks from covid to the individual are now lower than influenza.
When will this ever end?
Slowly.
254 patients across UK on ventilation beds with Covid. Tiny number. Peaked at over 4000 in Jan 2021.
The frit were scared of Covid when there were no vaccines. Then they were scared of Covid with vaccines. Now they are scared of Covid with vaccines, boosters and a mild variant of Covid.
Makes one wonder the quality of life they lead more generally and may reveal a deep and vindictive desire to clip the wings of others?
It’s terrifying, and sad. And a public health issue in its own right.
I've seen non-health agendas in this from the start, and have posted about it.
Those that dislike liberal democracy and want socialism. Those who hate capitalism and individualism and want state control. Those that have miserable lives who relish the opportunity to hamper those who make the most of their own. Those who are by nature curtain-twitchers who relish the chance to legitimately curtain-twitch. Those who hate the government who have been using a dreadful pandemic for political gain.
The future course of the pandemic is in no way correlated with the number of toys in your pram.
This makes the important point about corruption in the heart of the tory party, which I acknowledge stretches back into other governments especially that of Tony Blair.
The right wing lynch mob on here who all continually like one another's posts in their echo chamber (Felix, MM, Sandpit, Foxy, StateAway, JJ, BIgG etc.) hate the spotlight to be shone on this but the fact remains that corruption runs deep in the UK. We have traded and supported utterly corrupt, evil, regimes that are not confined to Russia but certainly include Saudi Arabia and Qatar. London has become a magnet for evil money.
How do we solve the energy crisis? Gosh, there's a question from the 1970's. Nuclear power and renewables. Not raping the earth still further. We could all install solar panels and wind turbines and go off-grid. It's not that hard but it requires a lifestyle reset which you might have thought covid would have induced (it has for some).
I am *not* part of a 'right wing lynch mob'. You might wish to reconsider that.
One of Putin's little helpers has returned
I don't know if Heathener is one of Putin's little helpers. I do find it hard to work out that poster's exact position though: they seem all over the shop.
I find my position very similar to Nicola Sturgeon's actually, right down to Scottish independence
I don't believe we should self-centredly and selfishly stand by and let Ukraine get pulverised. We should install a No Fly Zone and stand up to Putin militarily.
The people who won't help Ukraine militarily are doing so in order to save their own skins. Yes there are risks involved but this is likely to escalate anyway. We have to support the people of Ukraine on the ground and in the air. We should have done so from the outset. Instead we have been too frit to act.
So you support a position of abandoning our nuclear deterrent, and declaring war on Russia?
I commented yesterday that this is surely not a serious position. It falls apart under scrutiny, as has been obvious in recent TV interviews with the Scottish government. It seems more like a cynical attempt to support two popular policies, for electoral gain, safe in the knowledge that you have no significant influence on events, and don't have to make any real decisions.
Were the SNP a bit smarter, they could have used the war as an opportunity to demonstrate their seriousness about government, in the same way that Starmer has in opposition at Westminster. Holding the NATO line, and downplaying the 'scrap trident' commitment. Instead Holyrood looks like an insignificant sixth form college talking shop.
I have suggested that this will actually make independence less likely. It puts people off in England who are receptive to the idea of Scottish independence - like myself. I have also suggested it could have a similar effect in Scotland. I did ask a few days ago what @Farooq made of all this - but don't think I got any answer.
Farooq is a balloon and knows square root of F all. Fact is that people in Scotland support being in NATO , do not want to hold nucleur weapons like lots of NATO members and the SNP have voted for and clearly stated they would be members of NATO.
I rather doubt that an Indy Scotland issuing an ultimatums to rUK to remove Trident, and put at risk the UK's nuclear deterrence, will be welcomed into NATO. It's application would be vetoed. That's why for all the huffing and puffing, the removal of Trident would be fudged.
Anyway, Indy is a dead duck now. The world has moved on, even if there are still a few poor souls left behind waving their flags, as the ship leaves the harbour.
This makes the important point about corruption in the heart of the tory party, which I acknowledge stretches back into other governments especially that of Tony Blair.
The right wing lynch mob on here who all continually like one another's posts in their echo chamber (Felix, MM, Sandpit, Foxy, StateAway, JJ, BIgG etc.) hate the spotlight to be shone on this but the fact remains that corruption runs deep in the UK. We have traded and supported utterly corrupt, evil, regimes that are not confined to Russia but certainly include Saudi Arabia and Qatar. London has become a magnet for evil money.
How do we solve the energy crisis? Gosh, there's a question from the 1970's. Nuclear power and renewables. Not raping the earth still further. We could all install solar panels and wind turbines and go off-grid. It's not that hard but it requires a lifestyle reset which you might have thought covid would have induced (it has for some).
I am *not* part of a 'right wing lynch mob'. You might wish to reconsider that.
Sorted and with apologies then x
p.s. it was quite difficult yesterday to keep track although Marquee Mark managed to make himself the most unpleasant and obnoxious person of the lynch mob, which is saying something.
If you're finding Marquee Mark unpleasant and obnoxious, you should at least consider that the problem is not with him.
“If you run into an asshole in the morning, you ran into an asshole. If you run into assholes all day, you're the asshole.” ― Raylan Givens
Or someone who does colonoscopies?
Running into a colonoscopy is not the type of enthusiasm I would want for that procedure....
This makes the important point about corruption in the heart of the tory party, which I acknowledge stretches back into other governments especially that of Tony Blair.
The right wing lynch mob on here who all continually like one another's posts in their echo chamber (Felix, MM, Sandpit, StateAway, BIgG etc.) hate the spotlight to be shone on this but the fact remains that corruption runs deep in the UK. We have traded and supported utterly corrupt, evil, regimes that are not confined to Russia but certainly include Saudi Arabia and Qatar. London has become a magnet for evil money.
How do we solve the energy crisis? Gosh, there's a question from the 1970's. Nuclear power and renewables. Not raping the earth still further. We could all install solar panels and wind turbines and go off-grid. It's not that hard but it requires a lifestyle reset which you might have thought covid would have induced (it has for some).
Is everyone ‘right wing lynch mob’ who disagrees with you ?
.
Nope. But there's a particular coterie of right-wingers who all like one another's posts and who turn extremely nasty against counter viewpoints, especially ones which seek to shine a light on western corruption.
Apparently even to dare to suggest that there's stinking corrupt money sloshing around the tory party, and in London, is to become a Putin puppet.
The much more subtle point, which may therefore be lost on them, is that evil people often take grains of truth and then magnify them or twist them. Conspiracy theories do a similar thing. The fact is that there is very dirty money in London and has been for some years. Of particular focus should be Russia, Saudi Arabia and Qatar but it's not confined to those three corrupt states.
I think we have identified the only Boris hater in the village
Which if it were true would rather confirm Heathener's claim, since in effect you're saying that PB has become dominated by a coterie of right wingers who have a good opinion of Johnson, hardly representative of the broad swathe of UK public opinion. And I also see a lot of mutual backslapping and picking on heretics who dare to suggest something else, at least in his case. So he doesn't seem that far off the mark.
A pretty sad outcome as far as PB is concerned.
Urrrm, no. Not 'hating' does not equate to 'good opinion'.
I think Johnson is a poor PM. I argued against him being PM before he was elected, and gave the Garden Bridge fiasco as a reason why his character was not suited for the top job.
I think he has a myriad of character flaws that make him unsuitable to be PM. I actually quite like his personality; then again, I like my postman's personality, but would not want him to be PM.
Whereas 'hating' is a very dark emotion. If you 'hate' Johnson, you should really ask yourself if the problem is him or you.
This makes the important point about corruption in the heart of the tory party, which I acknowledge stretches back into other governments especially that of Tony Blair.
The right wing lynch mob on here who all continually like one another's posts in their echo chamber (Felix, MM, Sandpit, Foxy, StateAway, JJ, BIgG etc.) hate the spotlight to be shone on this but the fact remains that corruption runs deep in the UK. We have traded and supported utterly corrupt, evil, regimes that are not confined to Russia but certainly include Saudi Arabia and Qatar. London has become a magnet for evil money.
How do we solve the energy crisis? Gosh, there's a question from the 1970's. Nuclear power and renewables. Not raping the earth still further. We could all install solar panels and wind turbines and go off-grid. It's not that hard but it requires a lifestyle reset which you might have thought covid would have induced (it has for some).
I am *not* part of a 'right wing lynch mob'. You might wish to reconsider that.
Sorted and with apologies then x
p.s. it was quite difficult yesterday to keep track although Marquee Mark managed to make himself the most unpleasant and obnoxious person of the lynch mob, which is saying something.
If you're finding Marquee Mark unpleasant and obnoxious, you should at least consider that the problem is not with him.
Have to say Mark is one of the mildest mannered gentlemen on the site.
This makes the important point about corruption in the heart of the tory party, which I acknowledge stretches back into other governments especially that of Tony Blair.
The right wing lynch mob on here who all continually like one another's posts in their echo chamber (Felix, MM, Sandpit, StateAway, BIgG etc.) hate the spotlight to be shone on this but the fact remains that corruption runs deep in the UK. We have traded and supported utterly corrupt, evil, regimes that are not confined to Russia but certainly include Saudi Arabia and Qatar. London has become a magnet for evil money.
How do we solve the energy crisis? Gosh, there's a question from the 1970's. Nuclear power and renewables. Not raping the earth still further. We could all install solar panels and wind turbines and go off-grid. It's not that hard but it requires a lifestyle reset which you might have thought covid would have induced (it has for some).
Is everyone ‘right wing lynch mob’ who disagrees with you ?
.
Nope. But there's a particular coterie of right-wingers who all like one another's posts and who turn extremely nasty against counter viewpoints, especially ones which seek to shine a light on western corruption.
Apparently even to dare to suggest that there's stinking corrupt money sloshing around the tory party, and in London, is to become a Putin puppet.
The much more subtle point, which may therefore be lost on them, is that evil people often take grains of truth and then magnify them or twist them. Conspiracy theories do a similar thing. The fact is that there is very dirty money in London and has been for some years. Of particular focus should be Russia, Saudi Arabia and Qatar but it's not confined to those three corrupt states.
I think we have identified the only Boris hater in the village
Which if it were true would rather confirm Heathener's claim, since in effect you're saying that PB has become dominated by a coterie of right wingers who have a good opinion of Johnson, hardly representative of the broad swathe of UK public opinion. And I also see a lot of mutual backslapping and picking on heretics who dare to suggest something else, at least in his case. So he doesn't seem that far off the mark.
A pretty sad outcome as far as PB is concerned.
I'm not sure that's true - there aren't many people here who are big fans of Johnson, and even HYUFD has a cheerfully transactional view - if he delivers votes, good, otherwise get rid. I do think Heathener suffered an unreasonable level of personal attacks (the speculation by one poster about her sexual preference was especially unpleasant). But it remains a site where personal abuse is unusual and people tend to rally round the target when they happen (as I'm doing right now, even though I think Heathener's support for an NFZ is dangerous).
Basically when we vigorously attack each others' views I think that's fine - we can engage when we have the time and energy, or not. Speculating about each others' thoughts and motives should be beyond the pale unless it's an obvious bot like PJohnson, when frank derision is appropriate.
We are now seemingly back in the absolutely ludicrous position where, as soon as case numbers rise, the threads are clogged with zerocovidians aggressively calling for restrictions. Despite all the evidence that a) no viable restrictions work against omicron and b) the risks from covid to the individual are now lower than influenza.
When will this ever end?
Slowly.
254 patients across UK on ventilation beds with Covid. Tiny number. Peaked at over 4000 in Jan 2021.
The frit were scared of Covid when there were no vaccines. Then they were scared of Covid with vaccines. Now they are scared of Covid with vaccines, boosters and a mild variant of Covid.
Makes one wonder the quality of life they lead more generally and may reveal a deep and vindictive desire to clip the wings of others?
Well on this morning's showing only you and @Anabobazina seem remotely perturbed by the whole thing. Bedwetting about bedwetters, as it were. Me, I get on with things but just operate on the basis that the future is unknowable (see my betting book this year for details) and that pretty much every epidemiologist in the country is warning against the course we are currently taking. It is not off the cards that things could get markedly worse.
And don't call people cowards for disagreeing with you. I have survived stage 3 and about 2/3rds cancer where the max is 4 without at any stage getting unduly upset about the situation.
I'm not perturbed I'm disgusted. Like you, I get on with my life the best I can, sticking two fingers up at the government occasionally along the way, and cheers to that.
As I imply, India will play both sides until forced to choose
They HAVE chosen, as the article implies...
No they haven’t.
They are preserving a studied non-alignment, and in this case they can get cheap oil thereby.
I also don’t quite follow how anyone can be suggesting India would align with a Russia that was a junior partner to China, when Chinese soldiers keep reading fire with Indian troops. See also the question of where Pakistan sits.
What? India has long had what it calls a "special relationship" with Russia, it already is aligned with Russia.
This war does put India in a difficult position, having Russia as India's main weapons supplier if Russia becomes very dependent on China doesn't look so attractive.
You missed my point: yes India is currently close to Russia but might be forced to make another choice if Russia becomes more of a Chinese lapdog, because India and China are not best pals.
Good morning from seat 2F of the 09:50 Aberdeen - Gatwick. After a dry run on a late evening flight I think I am getting the hang of this commuting by plane thing.
The nice thing about smaller airports like Aberdeen is the human scale. From rolling up to the car park ticket barrier to clearing security took 15 minutes.
Then as there are only a handful of gates they use for these flights go down there and wait for the inbound to nose up to the gate and you're already front of the queue to get onto your up front seat with your carry on.
Unless there is a radical change of plan I'm going to be doing this most weeks from June so better get used to it ...
This makes the important point about corruption in the heart of the tory party, which I acknowledge stretches back into other governments especially that of Tony Blair.
The right wing lynch mob on here who all continually like one another's posts in their echo chamber (Felix, MM, Sandpit, StateAway, BIgG etc.) hate the spotlight to be shone on this but the fact remains that corruption runs deep in the UK. We have traded and supported utterly corrupt, evil, regimes that are not confined to Russia but certainly include Saudi Arabia and Qatar. London has become a magnet for evil money.
How do we solve the energy crisis? Gosh, there's a question from the 1970's. Nuclear power and renewables. Not raping the earth still further. We could all install solar panels and wind turbines and go off-grid. It's not that hard but it requires a lifestyle reset which you might have thought covid would have induced (it has for some).
Is everyone ‘right wing lynch mob’ who disagrees with you ?
.
Nope. But there's a particular coterie of right-wingers who all like one another's posts and who turn extremely nasty against counter viewpoints, especially ones which seek to shine a light on western corruption.
Apparently even to dare to suggest that there's stinking corrupt money sloshing around the tory party, and in London, is to become a Putin puppet.
The much more subtle point, which may therefore be lost on them, is that evil people often take grains of truth and then magnify them or twist them. Conspiracy theories do a similar thing. The fact is that there is very dirty money in London and has been for some years. Of particular focus should be Russia, Saudi Arabia and Qatar but it's not confined to those three corrupt states.
I think we have identified the only Boris hater in the village
Which if it were true would rather confirm Heathener's claim, since in effect you're saying that PB has become dominated by a coterie of right wingers who have a good opinion of Johnson, hardly representative of the broad swathe of UK public opinion. And I also see a lot of mutual backslapping and picking on heretics who dare to suggest something else, at least in his case. So he doesn't seem that far off the mark.
A pretty sad outcome as far as PB is concerned.
I'm not sure that's true - there aren't many people here who are big fans of Johnson, and even HYUFD has a cheerfully transactional view - if he delivers votes, good, otherwise get rid. I do think Heathener suffered an unreasonable level of personal attacks (the speculation by one poster about her sexual preference was especially unpleasant). But it remains a site where personal abuse is unusual and people tend to rally round the target when they happen (as I'm doing right now, even though I think Heathener's support for an NFZ is dangerous).
Basically when we vigorously attack each others' views I think that's fine - we can engage when we have the time and energy, or not. Speculating about each others' thoughts and motives should be beyond the pale unless it's an obvious bot like PJohnson, when frank derision is appropriate.
He has got the wrong end of the stick. The only Boris hater in the village = the only gay in the village from Little Britain, the point being the village is packed with them.
I know a lot of people who have it or those around them who do, and hospitals are filling up again.
It hasn't gone away and it's not good. We need data and continued restrictions.
Hospitals filling up again? Evidence. The UK Covid death rate post vaccination is still tiny.
No we do not need more continued restrictions destroying our hospitality industry just after it had begin to recover again
Latest UK daily stats show:
Deaths 100 R=1 i.e. low and steady Ventilators 250 R=1 i.e. low and steady but Cases 60,000 R=1.5 i.e. rising rapidly Admissions 1,350 R=1.2 In Hospital 12,000 R=1.13
So a death rate of just 0.16% per Covid case now
I am going to get a second baseball bat with nails in, for those who refuse to understand that cases lead hospitalisation which leads deaths.
You can't compare cases on day x with deaths on day x.
You have a leftwing ideological agenda to impose everlasting restrictions and destroy most of what is left of our hospitality industry and much of the economy with it while leading to a surge in unemployment.
Tough. We have a Conservative majority government which has removed all restrictions post vaccination and will continue to ignore you. The death rate from Covid in the UK is tiny and will continue to be tiny, this government is correctly moving on
I know I am going to regret this but @Malmesbury is not making a political point nor deriving a conclusion but a very simple mathematical one that you are not grasping. I'll try a silly example to demonstrate. If we all catch a deadly virus on the same day that puts us in hospital in 10 days and kills us all in 20 days, then on day 1 hospitalisations and deaths are zero, but all is not well because in 20 days we will all be dead. He is pointing out the flawed logic you are using, regardless of whether the decisions based upon that flawed logic turn out correct or not.
Good morning from seat 2F of the 09:50 Aberdeen - Gatwick. After a dry run on a late evening flight I think I am getting the hang of this commuting by plane thing.
The nice thing about smaller airports like Aberdeen is the human scale. From rolling up to the car park ticket barrier to clearing security took 15 minutes.
Then as there are only a handful of gates they use for these flights go down there and wait for the inbound to nose up to the gate and you're already front of the queue to get onto your up front seat with your carry on.
Unless there is a radical change of plan I'm going to be doing this most weeks from June so better get used to it ...
How long is the flight? Is it the sort of flight where you spend longer trying to find your luggage at the end than in the air?
This makes the important point about corruption in the heart of the tory party, which I acknowledge stretches back into other governments especially that of Tony Blair.
The right wing lynch mob on here who all continually like one another's posts in their echo chamber (Felix, MM, Sandpit, StateAway, BIgG etc.) hate the spotlight to be shone on this but the fact remains that corruption runs deep in the UK. We have traded and supported utterly corrupt, evil, regimes that are not confined to Russia but certainly include Saudi Arabia and Qatar. London has become a magnet for evil money.
How do we solve the energy crisis? Gosh, there's a question from the 1970's. Nuclear power and renewables. Not raping the earth still further. We could all install solar panels and wind turbines and go off-grid. It's not that hard but it requires a lifestyle reset which you might have thought covid would have induced (it has for some).
Is everyone ‘right wing lynch mob’ who disagrees with you ?
.
Nope. But there's a particular coterie of right-wingers who all like one another's posts and who turn extremely nasty against counter viewpoints, especially ones which seek to shine a light on western corruption.
Apparently even to dare to suggest that there's stinking corrupt money sloshing around the tory party, and in London, is to become a Putin puppet.
The much more subtle point, which may therefore be lost on them, is that evil people often take grains of truth and then magnify them or twist them. Conspiracy theories do a similar thing. The fact is that there is very dirty money in London and has been for some years. Of particular focus should be Russia, Saudi Arabia and Qatar but it's not confined to those three corrupt states.
I think we have identified the only Boris hater in the village
Which if it were true would rather confirm Heathener's claim, since in effect you're saying that PB has become dominated by a coterie of right wingers who have a good opinion of Johnson, hardly representative of the broad swathe of UK public opinion. And I also see a lot of mutual backslapping and picking on heretics who dare to suggest something else, at least in his case. So he doesn't seem that far off the mark.
A pretty sad outcome as far as PB is concerned.
I'm not sure that's true - there aren't many people here who are big fans of Johnson, and even HYUFD has a cheerfully transactional view - if he delivers votes, good, otherwise get rid. I do think Heathener suffered an unreasonable level of personal attacks (the speculation by one poster about her sexual preference was especially unpleasant). But it remains a site where personal abuse is unusual and people tend to rally round the target when they happen (as I'm doing right now, even though I think Heathener's support for an NFZ is dangerous).
Basically when we vigorously attack each others' views I think that's fine - we can engage when we have the time and energy, or not. Speculating about each others' thoughts and motives should be beyond the pale unless it's an obvious bot like PJohnson, when frank derision is appropriate.
I now want to change my posting name to “Frank Derision” -
This makes the important point about corruption in the heart of the tory party, which I acknowledge stretches back into other governments especially that of Tony Blair.
The right wing lynch mob on here who all continually like one another's posts in their echo chamber (Felix, MM, Sandpit, Foxy, StateAway, JJ, BIgG etc.) hate the spotlight to be shone on this but the fact remains that corruption runs deep in the UK. We have traded and supported utterly corrupt, evil, regimes that are not confined to Russia but certainly include Saudi Arabia and Qatar. London has become a magnet for evil money.
How do we solve the energy crisis? Gosh, there's a question from the 1970's. Nuclear power and renewables. Not raping the earth still further. We could all install solar panels and wind turbines and go off-grid. It's not that hard but it requires a lifestyle reset which you might have thought covid would have induced (it has for some).
I am *not* part of a 'right wing lynch mob'. You might wish to reconsider that.
Sorted and with apologies then x
p.s. it was quite difficult yesterday to keep track although Marquee Mark managed to make himself the most unpleasant and obnoxious person of the lynch mob, which is saying something.
If you're finding Marquee Mark unpleasant and obnoxious, you should at least consider that the problem is not with him.
“If you run into an asshole in the morning, you ran into an asshole. If you run into assholes all day, you're the asshole.” ― Raylan Givens
Let’s hope there’s some truth to this, from British sources:
“Russian forces may only be able to sustain full fighting capacity for another 'ten to 14' days, senior UK defence sources indicated last night, after which Putin's men will struggle to hold the ground they have already captured from Ukrainian troops.”
Banging on about this point again - and assuming this is accurate - it’s why the arguments that Russia will ultimately prevail over Ukraine because of superior numbers is wrong. Russia does not have the luxury of time, it only has a few weeks to get this down. After that, it’s done.
I do so hope this analysis is right. Unfortunately, I have the grim feeling that Putin is just going to bulldoze on until Ukraine is a smoking ruin. And if the Chinese supply him perhaps he will be able to.
We have to remember that a successful, democratic Ukraine is an existential threat to the Russian regime, because it gives Russians hope that things don't have to remain as they are. This invasion is about crushing that hope as much as anything else.
Reminds me a little of Tiananmen Square in that respect. An example is being made.
Good morning from seat 2F of the 09:50 Aberdeen - Gatwick. After a dry run on a late evening flight I think I am getting the hang of this commuting by plane thing.
The nice thing about smaller airports like Aberdeen is the human scale. From rolling up to the car park ticket barrier to clearing security took 15 minutes.
Then as there are only a handful of gates they use for these flights go down there and wait for the inbound to nose up to the gate and you're already front of the queue to get onto your up front seat with your carry on.
Unless there is a radical change of plan I'm going to be doing this most weeks from June so better get used to it ...
Small airports are awesome, I used to fly from Southampton quite a bit on domestic routes. Gatwick will sadly not be as straightforward. Shame BA don’t fly from Aberdeen to London City any more.
This makes the important point about corruption in the heart of the tory party, which I acknowledge stretches back into other governments especially that of Tony Blair.
The right wing lynch mob on here who all continually like one another's posts in their echo chamber (Felix, MM, Sandpit, Foxy, StateAway, JJ, BIgG etc.) hate the spotlight to be shone on this but the fact remains that corruption runs deep in the UK. We have traded and supported utterly corrupt, evil, regimes that are not confined to Russia but certainly include Saudi Arabia and Qatar. London has become a magnet for evil money.
How do we solve the energy crisis? Gosh, there's a question from the 1970's. Nuclear power and renewables. Not raping the earth still further. We could all install solar panels and wind turbines and go off-grid. It's not that hard but it requires a lifestyle reset which you might have thought covid would have induced (it has for some).
I am *not* part of a 'right wing lynch mob'. You might wish to reconsider that.
Sorted and with apologies then x
p.s. it was quite difficult yesterday to keep track although Marquee Mark managed to make himself the most unpleasant and obnoxious person of the lynch mob, which is saying something.
If you're finding Marquee Mark unpleasant and obnoxious, you should at least consider that the problem is not with him.
Have to say Mark is one of the mildest mannered gentlemen on the site.
Then I must try harder malcy! Thanks for that though.
This makes the important point about corruption in the heart of the tory party, which I acknowledge stretches back into other governments especially that of Tony Blair.
The right wing lynch mob on here who all continually like one another's posts in their echo chamber (Felix, MM, Sandpit, Foxy, StateAway, JJ, BIgG etc.) hate the spotlight to be shone on this but the fact remains that corruption runs deep in the UK. We have traded and supported utterly corrupt, evil, regimes that are not confined to Russia but certainly include Saudi Arabia and Qatar. London has become a magnet for evil money.
How do we solve the energy crisis? Gosh, there's a question from the 1970's. Nuclear power and renewables. Not raping the earth still further. We could all install solar panels and wind turbines and go off-grid. It's not that hard but it requires a lifestyle reset which you might have thought covid would have induced (it has for some).
I am *not* part of a 'right wing lynch mob'. You might wish to reconsider that.
One of Putin's little helpers has returned
I don't know if Heathener is one of Putin's little helpers. I do find it hard to work out that poster's exact position though: they seem all over the shop.
I find my position very similar to Nicola Sturgeon's actually, right down to Scottish independence
I don't believe we should self-centredly and selfishly stand by and let Ukraine get pulverised. We should install a No Fly Zone and stand up to Putin militarily.
The people who won't help Ukraine militarily are doing so in order to save their own skins. Yes there are risks involved but this is likely to escalate anyway. We have to support the people of Ukraine on the ground and in the air. We should have done so from the outset. Instead we have been too frit to act.
So you support a position of abandoning our nuclear deterrent, and declaring war on Russia?
I commented yesterday that this is surely not a serious position. It falls apart under scrutiny, as has been obvious in recent TV interviews with the Scottish government. It seems more like a cynical attempt to support two popular policies, for electoral gain, safe in the knowledge that you have no significant influence on events, and don't have to make any real decisions.
Were the SNP a bit smarter, they could have used the war as an opportunity to demonstrate their seriousness about government, in the same way that Starmer has in opposition at Westminster. Holding the NATO line, and downplaying the 'scrap trident' commitment. Instead Holyrood looks like an insignificant sixth form college talking shop.
I have suggested that this will actually make independence less likely. It puts people off in England who are receptive to the idea of Scottish independence - like myself. I have also suggested it could have a similar effect in Scotland. I did ask a few days ago what @Farooq made of all this - but don't think I got any answer.
Farooq is a balloon and knows square root of F all. Fact is that people in Scotland support being in NATO , do not want to hold nucleur weapons like lots of NATO members and the SNP have voted for and clearly stated they would be members of NATO.
I rather doubt that an Indy Scotland issuing an ultimatums to rUK to remove Trident, and put at risk the UK's nuclear deterrence, will be welcomed into NATO. It's application would be vetoed. That's why for all the huffing and puffing, the removal of Trident would be fudged.
Anyway, Indy is a dead duck now. The world has moved on, even if there are still a few poor souls left behind waving their flags, as the ship leaves the harbour.
This makes the important point about corruption in the heart of the tory party, which I acknowledge stretches back into other governments especially that of Tony Blair.
The right wing lynch mob on here who all continually like one another's posts in their echo chamber (Felix, MM, Sandpit, Foxy, StateAway, JJ, BIgG etc.) hate the spotlight to be shone on this but the fact remains that corruption runs deep in the UK. We have traded and supported utterly corrupt, evil, regimes that are not confined to Russia but certainly include Saudi Arabia and Qatar. London has become a magnet for evil money.
How do we solve the energy crisis? Gosh, there's a question from the 1970's. Nuclear power and renewables. Not raping the earth still further. We could all install solar panels and wind turbines and go off-grid. It's not that hard but it requires a lifestyle reset which you might have thought covid would have induced (it has for some).
I am *not* part of a 'right wing lynch mob'. You might wish to reconsider that.
Sorted and with apologies then x
p.s. it was quite difficult yesterday to keep track although Marquee Mark managed to make himself the most unpleasant and obnoxious person of the lynch mob, which is saying something.
If you're finding Marquee Mark unpleasant and obnoxious, you should at least consider that the problem is not with him.
Have to say Mark is one of the mildest mannered gentlemen on the site.
Where would you place yourself on that scale, malcolm ?
Good morning from seat 2F of the 09:50 Aberdeen - Gatwick. After a dry run on a late evening flight I think I am getting the hang of this commuting by plane thing.
The nice thing about smaller airports like Aberdeen is the human scale. From rolling up to the car park ticket barrier to clearing security took 15 minutes.
Then as there are only a handful of gates they use for these flights go down there and wait for the inbound to nose up to the gate and you're already front of the queue to get onto your up front seat with your carry on.
Unless there is a radical change of plan I'm going to be doing this most weeks from June so better get used to it ...
How long is the flight? Is it the sort of flight where you spend longer trying to find your luggage at the end than in the air?
How long? I'll tell you when we get there. Have done Luton before, this is the first to Gatwick. My luggage is above my head in the overhead bins so I won't need to wait at the other end...
India's elite used to be Western focused. All those Congress party leaders in the post war era were Oxbridge educated etc. And Western Universities still hold a strong attraction to this day. But Modi's rise has created a much stronger form of Hindu nationalism. I'd argue that more people in India are anti western and anti British now than anytime in the recent past..
Anecdotal I know I've noticed a strong rise of online Hindu nationalist comments where ever anything British is discussed. For example a walking video in London on Youtube is usually full of London is so pretty and clean and then up will pop , Some one banging on about it all being looted from Bengal and then often gets quite nasty. Can be on anything UK railways , politics culture what ever , if one Indian says something nice, then pretty much guaranteed to have a comment spitting venom about the UK.
Congress are pretty anti British. The most anti Empire politicians in India tend to be from Congress. Gandhi of course was Congress and led the push for Indian independence.
Modi gets on quite well with Boris however and the BJP pushed for its supporters in the UK to campaign for the Tories over Labour in 2019
I'd much rather India had a Congress government, anti-British..... because they were the colonial power ..... or not, than the semi (?) Fascist, violently anti Hindu BJP. That our current PM 'gets on well with Modi' suggests the sort of man he really is.
One that does his job?
It’s important for the PM to haves good relationship with India’s leaders.
This makes the important point about corruption in the heart of the tory party, which I acknowledge stretches back into other governments especially that of Tony Blair.
The right wing lynch mob on here who all continually like one another's posts in their echo chamber (Felix, MM, Sandpit, StateAway, BIgG etc.) hate the spotlight to be shone on this but the fact remains that corruption runs deep in the UK. We have traded and supported utterly corrupt, evil, regimes that are not confined to Russia but certainly include Saudi Arabia and Qatar. London has become a magnet for evil money.
How do we solve the energy crisis? Gosh, there's a question from the 1970's. Nuclear power and renewables. Not raping the earth still further. We could all install solar panels and wind turbines and go off-grid. It's not that hard but it requires a lifestyle reset which you might have thought covid would have induced (it has for some).
Is everyone ‘right wing lynch mob’ who disagrees with you ?
.
Nope. But there's a particular coterie of right-wingers who all like one another's posts and who turn extremely nasty against counter viewpoints, especially ones which seek to shine a light on western corruption.
Apparently even to dare to suggest that there's stinking corrupt money sloshing around the tory party, and in London, is to become a Putin puppet.
The much more subtle point, which may therefore be lost on them, is that evil people often take grains of truth and then magnify them or twist them. Conspiracy theories do a similar thing. The fact is that there is very dirty money in London and has been for some years. Of particular focus should be Russia, Saudi Arabia and Qatar but it's not confined to those three corrupt states.
I think we have identified the only Boris hater in the village
Which if it were true would rather confirm Heathener's claim, since in effect you're saying that PB has become dominated by a coterie of right wingers who have a good opinion of Johnson, hardly representative of the broad swathe of UK public opinion. And I also see a lot of mutual backslapping and picking on heretics who dare to suggest something else, at least in his case. So he doesn't seem that far off the mark.
A pretty sad outcome as far as PB is concerned.
If you think that you cannot be on here much - both in terms of headers and posts the site is dominated by the opposite of your suggestion - indeed several of the posters named by Heathener are very public about desiring a change of leader.
Good morning from seat 2F of the 09:50 Aberdeen - Gatwick. After a dry run on a late evening flight I think I am getting the hang of this commuting by plane thing.
The nice thing about smaller airports like Aberdeen is the human scale. From rolling up to the car park ticket barrier to clearing security took 15 minutes.
Then as there are only a handful of gates they use for these flights go down there and wait for the inbound to nose up to the gate and you're already front of the queue to get onto your up front seat with your carry on.
Unless there is a radical change of plan I'm going to be doing this most weeks from June so better get used to it ...
Small airports are awesome, I used to fly from Southampton quite a bit on domestic routes. Gatwick will sadly not be as straightforward. Shame BA don’t fly from Aberdeen to London City any more.
Plan is to have office space on the edge of the city (Chancery Lane) so 2 mins from Farringdon. Which has direct trains from Luton and Gatwick and shortly Heathrow.
I suspect this is the long term future of Covid - not serious enough to close a production / company down but more than enough to knock someone important out for a week or more.
Neil Gaiman @neilhimself · 3m It's so strange. On the one hand, people are acting as if we're in a post-Covid world. On the other, every day shooting Anansi Boys brings another change of schedule or plan because someone vital has covid and we've lost them for a week or more.
Let’s hope there’s some truth to this, from British sources:
“Russian forces may only be able to sustain full fighting capacity for another 'ten to 14' days, senior UK defence sources indicated last night, after which Putin's men will struggle to hold the ground they have already captured from Ukrainian troops.”
I know damn all about the subject but it seems obvious to me that it is easier to supply Ukrainians with anti tank stuff than it does for Russians to replace men, tanks and supporting logistics. The two sides are fighting different types of a war.
This makes the important point about corruption in the heart of the tory party, which I acknowledge stretches back into other governments especially that of Tony Blair.
The right wing lynch mob on here who all continually like one another's posts in their echo chamber (Felix, MM, Sandpit, StateAway, BIgG etc.) hate the spotlight to be shone on this but the fact remains that corruption runs deep in the UK. We have traded and supported utterly corrupt, evil, regimes that are not confined to Russia but certainly include Saudi Arabia and Qatar. London has become a magnet for evil money.
How do we solve the energy crisis? Gosh, there's a question from the 1970's. Nuclear power and renewables. Not raping the earth still further. We could all install solar panels and wind turbines and go off-grid. It's not that hard but it requires a lifestyle reset which you might have thought covid would have induced (it has for some).
Is everyone ‘right wing lynch mob’ who disagrees with you ?
.
Nope. But there's a particular coterie of right-wingers who all like one another's posts and who turn extremely nasty against counter viewpoints, especially ones which seek to shine a light on western corruption.
Apparently even to dare to suggest that there's stinking corrupt money sloshing around the tory party, and in London, is to become a Putin puppet.
The much more subtle point, which may therefore be lost on them, is that evil people often take grains of truth and then magnify them or twist them. Conspiracy theories do a similar thing. The fact is that there is very dirty money in London and has been for some years. Of particular focus should be Russia, Saudi Arabia and Qatar but it's not confined to those three corrupt states.
I think we have identified the only Boris hater in the village
Which if it were true would rather confirm Heathener's claim, since in effect you're saying that PB has become dominated by a coterie of right wingers who have a good opinion of Johnson, hardly representative of the broad swathe of UK public opinion. And I also see a lot of mutual backslapping and picking on heretics who dare to suggest something else, at least in his case. So he doesn't seem that far off the mark.
A pretty sad outcome as far as PB is concerned.
I'm not sure that's true - there aren't many people here who are big fans of Johnson, and even HYUFD has a cheerfully transactional view - if he delivers votes, good, otherwise get rid. I do think Heathener suffered an unreasonable level of personal attacks (the speculation by one poster about her sexual preference was especially unpleasant). But it remains a site where personal abuse is unusual and people tend to rally round the target when they happen (as I'm doing right now, even though I think Heathener's support for an NFZ is dangerous).
Basically when we vigorously attack each others' views I think that's fine - we can engage when we have the time and energy, or not. Speculating about each others' thoughts and motives should be beyond the pale unless it's an obvious bot like PJohnson, when frank derision is appropriate.
Fair point.
For the record, I agree with you about a NFZ. But on the other hand allowing Putin to intimidate the West into withholding supplies of even a few replacement jets for their air force is unduly weak, and just encourages escalation on his part given that it seems to work.
Also likely not unconnected with Iran's public opposition to Putin's war.
Very good news, if true. Let's hope they're both home soon.
Edited for clarity.
The pieces are moving very quickly on the board at the moment. The New Pragmatism?
If true, pretty obvious that we haven't paid it "just" to secure their release. Is it Iranian oil and gas perhaps (I don't mean shipping it to us - I mean making it available on the market).
India's elite used to be Western focused. All those Congress party leaders in the post war era were Oxbridge educated etc. And Western Universities still hold a strong attraction to this day. But Modi's rise has created a much stronger form of Hindu nationalism. I'd argue that more people in India are anti western and anti British now than anytime in the recent past..
Anecdotal I know I've noticed a strong rise of online Hindu nationalist comments where ever anything British is discussed. For example a walking video in London on Youtube is usually full of London is so pretty and clean and then up will pop , Some one banging on about it all being looted from Bengal and then often gets quite nasty. Can be on anything UK railways , politics culture what ever , if one Indian says something nice, then pretty much guaranteed to have a comment spitting venom about the UK.
Congress are pretty anti British. The most anti Empire politicians in India tend to be from Congress. Gandhi of course was Congress and led the push for Indian independence.
Modi gets on quite well with Boris however and the BJP pushed for its supporters in the UK to campaign for the Tories over Labour in 2019
I'd much rather India had a Congress government, anti-British..... because they were the colonial power ..... or not, than the semi (?) Fascist, violently anti Hindu BJP. That our current PM 'gets on well with Modi' suggests the sort of man he really is.
One that does his job?
It’s important for the PM to haves good relationship with India’s leaders.
I wonder if Sunak becoming PM would have a massive effect on UK/Indian relations. As posted by people earlier the Congress party and Hindu nationalism are huge in India but also slightly simplistic - UK evil imperialists etc etc.
If the leader of the UK was a Hindu of Indian origin would “India” think this was fantastic and they would blindly pivot to the UK or would it make no difference? Clearly somewhere in between most likely but would be an interesting sub-plot if he became PM.
Really? That puts us one Russian itchy trigger finger away from WWIII.
Zelensky had managed to survive weeks of determined targeting, including assassination squads. I think they will be relatively safe though obviously it's not absolutely risk free. But it's part of emphasising support for the fact that Ukraine is a free and independent country, and the solidarity of free eastern Europe; why shouldn't they visit ?
Good morning from seat 2F of the 09:50 Aberdeen - Gatwick. After a dry run on a late evening flight I think I am getting the hang of this commuting by plane thing.
The nice thing about smaller airports like Aberdeen is the human scale. From rolling up to the car park ticket barrier to clearing security took 15 minutes.
Then as there are only a handful of gates they use for these flights go down there and wait for the inbound to nose up to the gate and you're already front of the queue to get onto your up front seat with your carry on.
Unless there is a radical change of plan I'm going to be doing this most weeks from June so better get used to it ...
Small airports are awesome, I used to fly from Southampton quite a bit on domestic routes. Gatwick will sadly not be as straightforward. Shame BA don’t fly from Aberdeen to London City any more.
LCY is amazing, apart from the time they let me through security with a set of darts in my bag that I had forgotten about, which security at Frankfurt found when I changed planes...
Good morning from seat 2F of the 09:50 Aberdeen - Gatwick. After a dry run on a late evening flight I think I am getting the hang of this commuting by plane thing.
The nice thing about smaller airports like Aberdeen is the human scale. From rolling up to the car park ticket barrier to clearing security took 15 minutes.
Then as there are only a handful of gates they use for these flights go down there and wait for the inbound to nose up to the gate and you're already front of the queue to get onto your up front seat with your carry on.
Unless there is a radical change of plan I'm going to be doing this most weeks from June so better get used to it ...
Small airports are awesome, I used to fly from Southampton quite a bit on domestic routes. Gatwick will sadly not be as straightforward. Shame BA don’t fly from Aberdeen to London City any more.
I remember being at Aberdeen and there had been strong winds, delaying a number of flights. (Apologies for playing to the typical prejudices against the Scots, but it happens in this instance to be true!) BA put out an announcement asking for people to delay to a later flight as this next one was overbooked. Nobody moved. They put out a similar announcement. Nobody moved.
Then they said "For people taking the later flight, there will be a cash payment of £42." Damn me, I was near killed in the rush....
Good morning from seat 2F of the 09:50 Aberdeen - Gatwick. After a dry run on a late evening flight I think I am getting the hang of this commuting by plane thing.
The nice thing about smaller airports like Aberdeen is the human scale. From rolling up to the car park ticket barrier to clearing security took 15 minutes.
Then as there are only a handful of gates they use for these flights go down there and wait for the inbound to nose up to the gate and you're already front of the queue to get onto your up front seat with your carry on.
Unless there is a radical change of plan I'm going to be doing this most weeks from June so better get used to it ...
Small airports are awesome, I used to fly from Southampton quite a bit on domestic routes. Gatwick will sadly not be as straightforward. Shame BA don’t fly from Aberdeen to London City any more.
I remember being at Aberdeen and there had been strong winds, delaying a number of flights. (Apologies for playing to the typical prejudices against the Scots, but it happens in this instance to be true!) BA put out an announcement asking for people to delay to a later flight as this next one was overbooked. Nobody moved. They put out a similar announcement. Nobody moved.
Then they said "For people taking the later flight, there will be a cash payment of £42." Damn me, I was near killed in the rush....
India's elite used to be Western focused. All those Congress party leaders in the post war era were Oxbridge educated etc. And Western Universities still hold a strong attraction to this day. But Modi's rise has created a much stronger form of Hindu nationalism. I'd argue that more people in India are anti western and anti British now than anytime in the recent past..
Anecdotal I know I've noticed a strong rise of online Hindu nationalist comments where ever anything British is discussed. For example a walking video in London on Youtube is usually full of London is so pretty and clean and then up will pop , Some one banging on about it all being looted from Bengal and then often gets quite nasty. Can be on anything UK railways , politics culture what ever , if one Indian says something nice, then pretty much guaranteed to have a comment spitting venom about the UK.
Congress are pretty anti British. The most anti Empire politicians in India tend to be from Congress. Gandhi of course was Congress and led the push for Indian independence.
Modi gets on quite well with Boris however and the BJP pushed for its supporters in the UK to campaign for the Tories over Labour in 2019
I'd much rather India had a Congress government, anti-British..... because they were the colonial power ..... or not, than the semi (?) Fascist, violently anti Hindu BJP. That our current PM 'gets on well with Modi' suggests the sort of man he really is.
One that does his job?
It’s important for the PM to haves good relationship with India’s leaders.
I wonder if Sunak becoming PM would have a massive effect on UK/Indian relations. As posted by people earlier the Congress party and Hindu nationalism are huge in India but also slightly simplistic - UK evil imperialists etc etc.
If the leader of the UK was a Hindu of Indian origin would “India” think this was fantastic and they would blindly pivot to the UK or would it make no difference? Clearly somewhere in between most likely but would be an interesting sub-plot if he became PM.
I think his family connections would make it impossible for him to discuss India without people shouting him down as “compromised”.
Good morning from seat 2F of the 09:50 Aberdeen - Gatwick. After a dry run on a late evening flight I think I am getting the hang of this commuting by plane thing.
The nice thing about smaller airports like Aberdeen is the human scale. From rolling up to the car park ticket barrier to clearing security took 15 minutes.
Then as there are only a handful of gates they use for these flights go down there and wait for the inbound to nose up to the gate and you're already front of the queue to get onto your up front seat with your carry on.
Unless there is a radical change of plan I'm going to be doing this most weeks from June so better get used to it ...
Small airports are awesome, I used to fly from Southampton quite a bit on domestic routes. Gatwick will sadly not be as straightforward. Shame BA don’t fly from Aberdeen to London City any more.
Southampton to Alderney was (probably still is) 'other-worldly'. First names at the gate for regular fliers and so on. The Customs Officers were something else, though. One trip I made EVERYTHING had to be opened, even the Christmas presents my wife had carefully wrapped because she didn't trust me to do it properly. Chap in front of me said "I've just flown from Johannesburg with less fuss. Do you think I'm going to nick the plane and fly it into the nuclear plant outside Cherbourg!"
Really? That puts us one Russian itchy trigger finger away from WWIII.
Zelensky had managed to survive weeks of determined targeting, including assassination squads. I think they will be relatively safe though obviously it's not absolutely risk free. But it's part of emphasising support for the fact that Ukraine is a free and independent country, and the solidarity of free eastern Europe; why shouldn't they visit ?
I’m thinking more an anti aircraft missile on the way in, as it looks like Ukrainian airforce to one SAM operator.
Edit - but I think it’s brave and wish our PM could do it.
Propaganda works best in societies that are not free.
https://twitter.com/HannaLiubakova/status/1503381998206861314 Propaganda works. I had a call with my family in #Belarus. I was surprised by a question: “Is the EU happy that civilians have been killed by “banderivtsi”? We have just seen it on TV”.
Two weeks ago,we were on the same page.
We need support and access to free media in Belarus
India's elite used to be Western focused. All those Congress party leaders in the post war era were Oxbridge educated etc. And Western Universities still hold a strong attraction to this day. But Modi's rise has created a much stronger form of Hindu nationalism. I'd argue that more people in India are anti western and anti British now than anytime in the recent past..
Anecdotal I know I've noticed a strong rise of online Hindu nationalist comments where ever anything British is discussed. For example a walking video in London on Youtube is usually full of London is so pretty and clean and then up will pop , Some one banging on about it all being looted from Bengal and then often gets quite nasty. Can be on anything UK railways , politics culture what ever , if one Indian says something nice, then pretty much guaranteed to have a comment spitting venom about the UK.
Congress are pretty anti British. The most anti Empire politicians in India tend to be from Congress. Gandhi of course was Congress and led the push for Indian independence.
Modi gets on quite well with Boris however and the BJP pushed for its supporters in the UK to campaign for the Tories over Labour in 2019
I'd much rather India had a Congress government, anti-British..... because they were the colonial power ..... or not, than the semi (?) Fascist, violently anti Hindu BJP. That our current PM 'gets on well with Modi' suggests the sort of man he really is.
One that does his job?
It’s important for the PM to haves good relationship with India’s leaders.
Good morning from seat 2F of the 09:50 Aberdeen - Gatwick. After a dry run on a late evening flight I think I am getting the hang of this commuting by plane thing.
The nice thing about smaller airports like Aberdeen is the human scale. From rolling up to the car park ticket barrier to clearing security took 15 minutes.
Then as there are only a handful of gates they use for these flights go down there and wait for the inbound to nose up to the gate and you're already front of the queue to get onto your up front seat with your carry on.
Unless there is a radical change of plan I'm going to be doing this most weeks from June so better get used to it ...
Small airports are awesome, I used to fly from Southampton quite a bit on domestic routes. Gatwick will sadly not be as straightforward. Shame BA don’t fly from Aberdeen to London City any more.
LCY is amazing, apart from the time they let me through security with a set of darts in my bag that I had forgotten about, which security at Frankfurt found when I changed planes...
Not posted this recently as it's been fairly dull (which is a good thing!). non-COVID deaths closer to the five-year average, but that appears to be because Week 9 of 2018 was much closer to the five-year average than the weeks either side of it.
Week-ending | 5-year average | COVID deaths | non-COVID deaths | non-COVID deaths in excess of the 5-year average
* I'm using 2016 to 2020. The ONS are using 2016 to 2019 and 2021, which seems silly to me. I guess they don't want to switch at the end of March, which is what I will do, and think it's best to have the five-year average inflated by COVID now but then not so much after March.
Ed West @edwest Am I right in reading somewhere years ago that if Britain is nuked all its remaining nuclear submarines and military are to go to Australia and be handed over?
Patrick Kidd @patrick_kidd Replying to @edwest Retaining the Ashes takes a new meaning
Good morning from seat 2F of the 09:50 Aberdeen - Gatwick. After a dry run on a late evening flight I think I am getting the hang of this commuting by plane thing.
The nice thing about smaller airports like Aberdeen is the human scale. From rolling up to the car park ticket barrier to clearing security took 15 minutes.
Then as there are only a handful of gates they use for these flights go down there and wait for the inbound to nose up to the gate and you're already front of the queue to get onto your up front seat with your carry on.
Unless there is a radical change of plan I'm going to be doing this most weeks from June so better get used to it ...
Small airports are awesome, I used to fly from Southampton quite a bit on domestic routes. Gatwick will sadly not be as straightforward. Shame BA don’t fly from Aberdeen to London City any more.
LCY is amazing, apart from the time they let me through security with a set of darts in my bag that I had forgotten about, which security at Frankfurt found when I changed planes...
Good morning from seat 2F of the 09:50 Aberdeen - Gatwick. After a dry run on a late evening flight I think I am getting the hang of this commuting by plane thing.
The nice thing about smaller airports like Aberdeen is the human scale. From rolling up to the car park ticket barrier to clearing security took 15 minutes.
Then as there are only a handful of gates they use for these flights go down there and wait for the inbound to nose up to the gate and you're already front of the queue to get onto your up front seat with your carry on.
Unless there is a radical change of plan I'm going to be doing this most weeks from June so better get used to it ...
Small airports are awesome, I used to fly from Southampton quite a bit on domestic routes. Gatwick will sadly not be as straightforward. Shame BA don’t fly from Aberdeen to London City any more.
A big vote for Southampton. I used to fly regularly from there to Edinburgh. It's got to be my favourite airport.
This makes the important point about corruption in the heart of the tory party, which I acknowledge stretches back into other governments especially that of Tony Blair.
The right wing lynch mob on here who all continually like one another's posts in their echo chamber (Felix, MM, Sandpit, Foxy, StateAway, JJ, BIgG etc.) hate the spotlight to be shone on this but the fact remains that corruption runs deep in the UK. We have traded and supported utterly corrupt, evil, regimes that are not confined to Russia but certainly include Saudi Arabia and Qatar. London has become a magnet for evil money.
How do we solve the energy crisis? Gosh, there's a question from the 1970's. Nuclear power and renewables. Not raping the earth still further. We could all install solar panels and wind turbines and go off-grid. It's not that hard but it requires a lifestyle reset which you might have thought covid would have induced (it has for some).
I am *not* part of a 'right wing lynch mob'. You might wish to reconsider that.
One of Putin's little helpers has returned
I'm sure you think this is terribly smart, as Marquee Mark's little helper, but I am not a Putin troll. I loathe Putin and unlike you spineless cowards on the right I actually believe in not standing by and letting Putin pulverise Ukraine.
If anyone on here is Putin's little helper it's those who refuse to support Zelensky militarily.
You're a bunch of chickens. More concerned with your own NIMBYism than actually having the courage to stand up to Putin.
p.s. and yes I have been absolutely right on covid all the way along.
Boris is the most supportive leader militarily for Ukraine and is held in high esteem by President Zelenskyy
You throw out insults branding people on the right which is patently untrue and try to goad the UK and NATO into WW111
As for covid you have been wrong from day one
If you want people to take you seriously cut out the abuse to other posters
Boris is still the arse of arses G. He is a lying cheating mendacious crook. His play acting at Churchill cuts no mustard, anyone can lift a phone and act the tough guy, a fake fraud.
Many do not like Boris but the President of Ukraine and Ukrainians are quite the opposite and are demonstrably so
For much the same reason he was once popular in UK, Big G. He tells Ukraine exactly what they want to hear.
France and Germany dropped by before the war, after chat with Putin, and told Ukraine to adopt Minsk 2, Boris dropped by and told them exactly what they wanted to hear.
As our leader, He represents us. Where he speaks on this, Britain speaks, where he walks Britain walks. If he is a cad (partygate etc) and ultimately hated for saying what someone wants to hear and not following through on promise (weak on Oligarchs and so slow and mess on refugees Putin’s generals could be managing it) we will all be hated. 😕
Good morning from seat 2F of the 09:50 Aberdeen - Gatwick. After a dry run on a late evening flight I think I am getting the hang of this commuting by plane thing.
The nice thing about smaller airports like Aberdeen is the human scale. From rolling up to the car park ticket barrier to clearing security took 15 minutes.
Then as there are only a handful of gates they use for these flights go down there and wait for the inbound to nose up to the gate and you're already front of the queue to get onto your up front seat with your carry on.
Unless there is a radical change of plan I'm going to be doing this most weeks from June so better get used to it ...
Small airports are awesome, I used to fly from Southampton quite a bit on domestic routes. Gatwick will sadly not be as straightforward. Shame BA don’t fly from Aberdeen to London City any more.
A big vote for Southampton. I used to fly regularly from there to Edinburgh. It's got to be my favourite airport.
Agree, same here. Park up, less than 100m to check in.
Comments
Tough. We have a Conservative majority government which has removed all restrictions post vaccination and will continue to ignore you. The death rate from Covid in the UK is tiny and will continue to be tiny, this government is correctly moving on
Fucking up in the horrible way that looks inevitable to me, now, is not going to be popularity increasing.
Invading forces in Ukraine spent weeks conquering Volnovakha, inflicting damage so severe that the town no longer exists
https://meduza.io/en/feature/2022/03/14/behold-russia-s-liberation
The town of Volnovakha lies 60 kilometers (almost 40 miles) outside Donetsk. Or rather it used to. On March 11, Russia’s Defense Ministry announced that soldiers from the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic had “liberated” the town. Ukrainian officials phrased this a bit differently, saying that Volnovakha no longer exists. Before Moscow’s full-scale invasion, more than 20,000 people lived here. Look at it now....
254 patients across UK on ventilation beds with Covid. Tiny number. Peaked at over 4000 in Jan 2021.
The frit were scared of Covid when there were no vaccines. Then they were scared of Covid with vaccines. Now they are scared of Covid with vaccines, boosters and a mild variant of Covid.
Makes one wonder the quality of life they lead more generally and may reveal a deep and vindictive desire to clip the wings of others?
F*** me, it’s terrifying!
F*** me, it’s terrifying!
If end = when will we stop having restrictions, then I think we are basically there. And unlikely to go back *excepting new dangerous variant/new dangerous pandemic disease*.
More generally, Covid has opened up a new political front (and perhaps unfortunately further politicized medicine and public health)
Some potential implications I wonder about... more respect/encouragement for scientist-politicians, particularly among left-wing parties? We essentially have no senior politicians with a science background, unless I'm mistaken?
Fringe parties becoming more anti-vaccine/welcoming the anti-vaxxers who seem somewhat unrepresented at the moment?
But no point in locking down as you say, imho.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/covid-hospital-admissions-surging-start-new-wave/
- Ukraine flys occasional sorties.
- Russia flys more sorties - more planes!
- Russia seems to do either low level, or standoff attacks with cruise missiles.
- They are also using ground launched ballistic missiles.
1) This strongly suggests they see a serious threat from medium range SAMs. MANPADS are dangerous, radar guided missiles are different order....
2) Reinforcing the Ukrainian SAM setup might actually have more bang for the buck than a no-fly zone. Los of operators of the older Russian kit out there.... easier to donate it, accidentally like, as well. If the Polish Migs aren't where they usually are a bunch of plane spotters will notice. If someone loses their S-300s the only people who will notice are the guys looking after the storage sheds....
As others have suggested, do the CCP actually care about protecting the elderly, or are they quite ambivalent to losing a few million of their unproductive population helping out their famous demographic issues.
https://twitter.com/patrickwintour/status/1503649440200077314
Also likely not unconnected with Iran's public opposition to Putin's war.
A pretty sad outcome as far as PB is concerned.
“Russian forces may only be able to sustain full fighting capacity for another 'ten to 14' days, senior UK defence sources indicated last night, after which Putin's men will struggle to hold the ground they have already captured from Ukrainian troops.”
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10613069/Putins-forces-able-fight-14-days-military-experts-say.html
You are vehemently pro an NFZ over Ukraine. This as is clear could lead to a nuclear war in which the chances are you will be evaporated.You are willing to accept this outcome I assume as a price worth paying for Ukraine’s liberty (well liberated but everyone turned to dust so not much use).
How do you balance this acceptance of death with your terror of Covid where you have stated you would attack someone who wasn’t wearing a mask near you in a supermarket ? I mean a nuclear war probably is more likely to end in your death than catching covid.
Otherwise if an NFZ didn’t lead to a nuclear war it would likely lead to conventional war which ultimately would lead to mass call up/conscription. As someone who would be relatively high up on the list for a call up, along with quite a number of posters here who aren’t old retired white gammons, it’s very nice of you, a self declared woman of age with disabilities who will never get called up, to volunteer us on your behalf.
Please would you confirm that you will be sending us all food packages to the front as we dream of happy days posting on PB as the bullets fly at us?
Thanks v much.
The race is between the collapse of the Russian economy and the Ukrainians being beaten down, slowly, by Russia's fucked up war.
Those that dislike liberal democracy and want socialism. Those who hate capitalism and individualism and want state control. Those that have miserable lives who relish the opportunity to hamper those who make the most of their own. Those who are by nature curtain-twitchers who relish the chance to legitimately curtain-twitch. Those who hate the government who have been using a dreadful pandemic for political gain.
And don't call people cowards for disagreeing with you. I have survived stage 3 and about 2/3rds cancer where the max is 4 without at any stage getting unduly upset about the situation.
Secondly, if the Scottish population are against nuclear weapons, does that mean that they want NATO to adopt a similar policy of unilateral disarmanent - and if so, how do they expect NATO to defend itself against nuclear attack, given that Putin has expressed his willingness to use nuclear weapons?
Difficult questions for the SNP indeed, it seems like they are living in a dreamworld.
Anyway, Indy is a dead duck now. The world has moved on, even if there are still a few poor souls left behind waving their flags, as the ship leaves the harbour.
I think Johnson is a poor PM. I argued against him being PM before he was elected, and gave the Garden Bridge fiasco as a reason why his character was not suited for the top job.
I think he has a myriad of character flaws that make him unsuitable to be PM. I actually quite like his personality; then again, I like my postman's personality, but would not want him to be PM.
Whereas 'hating' is a very dark emotion. If you 'hate' Johnson, you should really ask yourself if the problem is him or you.
Basically when we vigorously attack each others' views I think that's fine - we can engage when we have the time and energy, or not. Speculating about each others' thoughts and motives should be beyond the pale unless it's an obvious bot like PJohnson, when frank derision is appropriate.
The nice thing about smaller airports like Aberdeen is the human scale. From rolling up to the car park ticket barrier to clearing security took 15 minutes.
Then as there are only a handful of gates they use for these flights go down there and wait for the inbound to nose up to the gate and you're already front of the queue to get onto your up front seat with your carry on.
Unless there is a radical change of plan I'm going to be doing this most weeks from June so better get used to it ...
We have to remember that a successful, democratic Ukraine is an existential threat to the Russian regime, because it gives Russians hope that things don't have to remain as they are. This invasion is about crushing that hope as much as anything else.
Reminds me a little of Tiananmen Square in that respect. An example is being made.
Edited for clarity.
It’s important for the PM to haves good relationship with India’s leaders.
Neil Gaiman
@neilhimself
·
3m
It's so strange. On the one hand, people are acting as if we're in a post-Covid world. On the other, every day shooting Anansi Boys brings another change of schedule or plan because someone vital has covid and we've lost them for a week or more.
For the record, I agree with you about a NFZ. But on the other hand allowing Putin to intimidate the West into withholding supplies of even a few replacement jets for their air force is unduly weak, and just encourages escalation on his part given that it seems to work.
If the leader of the UK was a Hindu of Indian origin would “India” think this was fantastic and they would blindly pivot to the UK or would it make no difference? Clearly somewhere in between most likely but would be an interesting sub-plot if he became PM.
But it's part of emphasising support for the fact that Ukraine is a free and independent country, and the solidarity of free eastern Europe; why shouldn't they visit ?
Then they said "For people taking the later flight, there will be a cash payment of £42." Damn me, I was near killed in the rush....
The Customs Officers were something else, though. One trip I made EVERYTHING had to be opened, even the Christmas presents my wife had carefully wrapped because she didn't trust me to do it properly.
Chap in front of me said "I've just flown from Johannesburg with less fuss. Do you think I'm going to nick the plane and fly it into the nuclear plant outside Cherbourg!"
Edit - but I think it’s brave and wish our PM could do it.
https://twitter.com/HannaLiubakova/status/1503381998206861314
Propaganda works. I had a call with my family in #Belarus. I was surprised by a question: “Is the EU happy that civilians have been killed by “banderivtsi”? We have just seen it on TV”.
Two weeks ago,we were on the same page.
We need support and access to free media in Belarus
https://tinyurl.com/bdf5dabf
Not posted this recently as it's been fairly dull (which is a good thing!). non-COVID deaths closer to the five-year average, but that appears to be because Week 9 of 2018 was much closer to the five-year average than the weeks either side of it.
Week-ending | 5-year average | COVID deaths | non-COVID deaths | non-COVID deaths in excess of the 5-year average
03-Dec-21 | 10,357 | 792 | 10,867 | 510
10-Dec-21 | 10,695 | 764 | 11,166 | 471
17-Dec-21 | 10,750 | 755 | 11,645 | 895
24-Dec-21 | 11,548 | 591 | 12,419 | 871
31-Dec-21 | 7,954 | 582 | 7,895 | -59
07-Jan-22 | 12,194* | 922 | 11,340 | -854
14-Jan-22 | 13,387* | 1,382 | 11,929 | -1,458
21-Jan-22 | 12,838* | 1,484 | 11,292 | -1,546
28-Jan-22 | 12,345* | 1,385 | 11,016| -1,329
04-Feb-22 | 11,946* | 1,242 | 10,620 | -1,326
11-Feb-22 | 11,716* | 1,066 | 10,492 | -1,224
18-Feb-22 | 11,450* | 863 | 10,408 | -1,042
25-Feb-22 | 11,426* | 766 | 10,384 | -1,042
04-Mar-22 | 11,049* | 670 | 10,555 | -494
* I'm using 2016 to 2020. The ONS are using 2016 to 2019 and 2021, which seems silly to me. I guess they don't want to switch at the end of March, which is what I will do, and think it's best to have the five-year average inflated by COVID now but then not so much after March.
Maybe it's my non-aligned status re Heathener that has counted against me?
@edwest
Am I right in reading somewhere years ago that if Britain is nuked all its remaining nuclear submarines and military are to go to Australia and be handed over?
Patrick Kidd
@patrick_kidd
Replying to
@edwest
Retaining the Ashes takes a new meaning
France and Germany dropped by before the war, after chat with Putin, and told Ukraine to adopt Minsk 2, Boris dropped by and told them exactly what they wanted to hear.
As our leader, He represents us. Where he speaks on this, Britain speaks, where he walks Britain walks. If he is a cad (partygate etc) and ultimately hated for saying what someone wants to hear and not following through on promise (weak on Oligarchs and so slow and mess on refugees Putin’s generals could be managing it) we will all be hated. 😕