“Democrats working to save their slim majority in the House in November’s elections have been sounding alarm bells lately over research showing that Republican attacks on culture-war issues are working, particularly with center-left, Hispanic and independent voters.”
NYT ($$)
How about concentrating on the real issues, rather than a phony war.
Inflation, cost of living crisis, energy security, levelling up, growing the economy and not weaponising division ?
The first Russian soldier to hand over a fully-working T-80 tank to the Ukrainians. He will get $10k after the war, and can apply for Ukrainian citizenship.
I wonder if he killed the other two crew.
Golly, I’ve not been keeping up, can an MBT get away with only 3 crew? I recall at least one of the Russian tanks has automatic loading for the main gun, the T80 I guess.
Been reading a bit about French tank design between the wars and they tended to go for one man turrets (ie the commander had to do a helluva lot) because of the manpower shortage after WWI.
Yes. In one of them (the Char B family) the main gun was fixed in the hull, no traverse, so the driver did the aiming and firing as well as the driving (admittedly with a continuously variable oil-hydraulic transmission if memory serves, though I might be wrong on that point). One other chap loaded the main gun in between. I think the fourth just sat around and handed the commander ammunition when the commander wasn't too busy aiming and firing his own turret cannon [edit], commanding and keeping on top of situational awareness. Not the most balanced workforce ever. Can't recall who operated the radio ...
No10 confirms that, despite Boris Johnson being "desperate" to go to Ukraine, the country's president Volodymyr Zelensky has not invited him to do as much
It's really up to Biden, if he doesn’t want the FLSoJ stirring things up in Kyiv search of a laugh then Johnson's not going.
Dont be silly. The USA is in the driving seat for most things but a PM making a visit isnt one of them, theres no reason Biden would give a shit. It's just a dumb idea on it's own merits.
The first Russian soldier to hand over a fully-working T-80 tank to the Ukrainians. He will get $10k after the war, and can apply for Ukrainian citizenship.
I wonder if he killed the other two crew.
Golly, I’ve not been keeping up, can an MBT get away with only 3 crew? I recall at least one of the Russian tanks has automatic loading for the main gun, the T80 I guess.
Been reading a bit about French tank design between the wars and they tended to go for one man turrets (ie the commander had to do a helluva lot) because of the manpower shortage after WWI.
Yes. In one of them (the Char B family) the main gun was fixed in the hull, no traverse, so the driver did the aiming and firing as well as the driving (admittedly with a continuously variable oil-hydraulic transmission if memory serves, though I might be wrong on that point). One other chap loaded the main gun in between. I think the fourth just sat around and handed the commander ammunition when the commander wasn't too busy aiming and firing his own turret cannon [edit], commanding and keeping on top of situational awareness. Not the most balanced workforce ever. Can't recall who operated the radio ...
I'v seen a few reports of that in the last few days, using rape as a weapon of war is very very sad. Is possible that this is mostly the Mercenary company Vargner Group who have a history of this and are now fighting in the City of Mariupol where most of these reports are coming from. But it doesn't really matter who is doing it its just Wrong so very very Wrong.
While every occupying army ever has done it few can match the proclivity of the Russians in this area.
I did not hear of e.g. the British Army using it as a weapon of war in occupying Germany during the fifties and sixties.
The British army occupied Germany (and was at war) during the sixties?
I'v seen a few reports of that in the last few days, using rape as a weapon of war is very very sad. Is possible that this is mostly the Mercenary company Vargner Group who have a history of this and are now fighting in the City of Mariupol where most of these reports are coming from. But it doesn't really matter who is doing it its just Wrong so very very Wrong.
While every occupying army ever has done it few can match the proclivity of the Russians in this area.
I did not hear of e.g. the British Army using it as a weapon of war in occupying Germany during the fifties and sixties.
The British army occupied Germany (and was at war) during the sixties?
Haven't you seen the discourse here, and in UK politics in the last ten years? Lots of people think we are still at war with the French, never mind the Germans.
Edit: to be fair, the British squaddie's favourite enemy was the regiment down the road, in the pubs of Aldershot, or the ferries to UK on a weekend.
If anything the last few weeks have shown that it really doesn't matter how contemptible your politicians are when the country they are leading still holds such political and military power. Sad but true.
Maybe
The PM would have been invited to the EU summit on Thursday if BoZo wasn't such a dick.
Maybe that matters. Maybe not.
I don’t get the concern over this one. We’re not in the EU so why would we want to bother with their summit? Nothing of military consequence in Europe can be discussed without us in the room, so this just makes the NATO meeting more important, which is surely what we want?
I could believe Cummings advising Johnson to make this comment precisely for the reason of not being invited to the EU Council. It would be impossible for Johnson to refuse the invitation, but he surely doesn't want the EU to be the forum for making these decisions.
That's why instead Britain has put effort into bilateral and multilateral relationships outside the EU, like the UK-Poland-Ukraine agreement.
I could see Johnson agreeing to a US/UK/EU format of talks, where the EU is one party out of three, but going along to the EU Council where the UK and US will be two voices among thirty - that's not the format Johnson would want.
Very short-sighted of the EU to allow themselves to be riled by Johnson in this way.
As long as it is justified by the impact of the disease, and not just on high cases, then you can make a case. If its purely because there is a lot of covid about, then they absolutely should not keep the restrictions.
There is little evidence that the remaining restrictions in say Scotland are making any difference anyway.
He can do what he likes but by the evidence around this area nobody is listening anymore
Indeed I would suggest that is across the UK
Have you managed to get your spring booster booked in?
Awaiting to hear from our surgery but all our family apart from ourselves have had covid this year including our son-in-laws elderly and infirm parents in care and it just seemed like a bad cold and they all recovered in a week or so
Pointed comment on that Brexit/Ukraine comparison.
https://twitter.com/ProfTimBale/status/1506214760718680070 As Putin’s invasion loomed, President Zelensky didn’t write two statements – one announcing surrender, the other declaring that Ukraine would fight – to see which would be best for his career...
Another one I like:
Zelenskiy was a former clown transformed into one of the great politicians of our age. Johnson is a politician become a clown.
Johnson has always played the fool. He hasn't changed since he was a young journalist aspiring to be an MP.
The difference is that Johnson is like one of those actors who is only capable of playing the one role, and always plays that role in every performance. Zelenskyy clearly has a greater range and adaptability - and he's still only 44. Who knows what he might do next once he stops being President of Ukraine?
The first Russian soldier to hand over a fully-working T-80 tank to the Ukrainians. He will get $10k after the war, and can apply for Ukrainian citizenship.
I wonder if he killed the other two crew.
Golly, I’ve not been keeping up, can an MBT get away with only 3 crew? I recall at least one of the Russian tanks has automatic loading for the main gun, the T80 I guess.
Been reading a bit about French tank design between the wars and they tended to go for one man turrets (ie the commander had to do a helluva lot) because of the manpower shortage after WWI.
Yes. In one of them (the Char B family) the main gun was fixed in the hull, no traverse, so the driver did the aiming and firing as well as the driving (admittedly with a continuously variable oil-hydraulic transmission if memory serves, though I might be wrong on that point). One other chap loaded the main gun in between. I think the fourth just sat around and handed the commander ammunition when the commander wasn't too busy aiming and firing his own turret cannon [edit], commanding and keeping on top of situational awareness. Not the most balanced workforce ever. Can't recall who operated the radio ...
Le multitasking
BTW, that Maxim which someone used to pimp his wheels on the previous thread - where/when was that photo taken? Somalia?
It's an old Sov one, the variant with the water filler cap replaced by a tractor cap so you can cram in snow when the cooling water begins to boil away.
He can do what he likes but by the evidence around this area nobody is listening anymore
Indeed I would suggest that is across the UK
Have you managed to get your spring booster booked in?
Awaiting to hear from our surgery but all our family apart from ourselves have had covid this year including our son-in-laws elderly and infirm parents in care and it just seemed like a bad cold and they all recovered in a week or so
FYI, I got my father booked in (Sunday night) using the online booking system before any contact from the GP. Obviously being in Wales, things can sometimes be different.
“Democrats working to save their slim majority in the House in November’s elections have been sounding alarm bells lately over research showing that Republican attacks on culture-war issues are working, particularly with center-left, Hispanic and independent voters.”
NYT ($$)
No doubt they are. It is quite a common tactic to set up a bogyman and then attack it.
Quite hard to make them work against Starmer, who is very obviously uninterested in rising to baits about culture war - "Whatever, what are the Tories doing about the cost of living?" is a perfectly serviceable response to question about statues and gender and all such stuff. The Tories will look seriously out of touch if they rabbit on about Wokism while letting inflation head for double figures.
Pointed comment on that Brexit/Ukraine comparison.
https://twitter.com/ProfTimBale/status/1506214760718680070 As Putin’s invasion loomed, President Zelensky didn’t write two statements – one announcing surrender, the other declaring that Ukraine would fight – to see which would be best for his career...
Another one I like:
Zelenskiy was a former clown transformed into one of the great politicians of our age. Johnson is a politician become a clown.
Johnson has always played the fool. He hasn't changed since he was a young journalist aspiring to be an MP.
The difference is that Johnson is like one of those actors who is only capable of playing the one role, and always plays that role in every performance. Zelenskyy clearly has a greater range and adaptability - and he's still only 44. Who knows what he might do next once he stops being President of Ukraine?
Back to acting. Think of the dramatic roles available
He can do what he likes but by the evidence around this area nobody is listening anymore
Indeed I would suggest that is across the UK
Have you managed to get your spring booster booked in?
Awaiting to hear from our surgery but all our family apart from ourselves have had covid this year including our son-in-laws elderly and infirm parents in care and it just seemed like a bad cold and they all recovered in a week or so
FYI, I got my father booked in (Sunday night) using the online booking system before any contact from the GP. Obviously being in Wales, things can sometimes be different.
Thanks and I expect we will hear soon
To be fair at our age we do not go out to socialise and are very content in our home with family popping in
Indeed we have had regular feelings of guilt that we have so much while this evil monster Putin is murdererously slaughtering so many innocents
He can do what he likes but by the evidence around this area nobody is listening anymore
Indeed I would suggest that is across the UK
Not round here. Masks still universal in supermarkets and everyone I know is curbing social activity and taking LFTs before every meeting. Restaurants are busy, but with staff masked and spacing between seats. Various major events are still being postponed. The perception is that it's getting worse again as we all know people who've got it and mostly report it's quite nasty - not really that people think they'll die, but that they'll have an unpleasant two weeks, so just not worth it for the sake of shopping without a mask. As always it';s a cost-benefit thing - if people really want to do something they will and take any reasonable risk, but if they're not that bothered then they won't.
If anything the last few weeks have shown that it really doesn't matter how contemptible your politicians are when the country they are leading still holds such political and military power. Sad but true.
Maybe
The PM would have been invited to the EU summit on Thursday if BoZo wasn't such a dick.
Maybe that matters. Maybe not.
I don’t get the concern over this one. We’re not in the EU so why would we want to bother with their summit? Nothing of military consequence in Europe can be discussed without us in the room, so this just makes the NATO meeting more important, which is surely what we want?
I could believe Cummings advising Johnson to make this comment precisely for the reason of not being invited to the EU Council. It would be impossible for Johnson to refuse the invitation, but he surely doesn't want the EU to be the forum for making these decisions.
That's why instead Britain has put effort into bilateral and multilateral relationships outside the EU, like the UK-Poland-Ukraine agreement.
I could see Johnson agreeing to a US/UK/EU format of talks, where the EU is one party out of three, but going along to the EU Council where the UK and US will be two voices among thirty - that's not the format Johnson would want.
Very short-sighted of the EU to allow themselves to be riled by Johnson in this way.
Problem with this analysis is that the EUCO is precisely the meeting where the decision will be made, ie the common position between the EU and the US. This then gets rolled out to the NATO and G7 meetings but no-one is likely to diverge much from that position.
It doesn't make the UK completely irrelevant. It's a significant player in the G7 and as you say it's working on the bilaterals. NATO appears to have excluded itself from involvement this conflict but no doubt there are discussions going on about a subset of countries providing security guarantees to Ukraine and the security implications of that for NATO.
I agree the EU should have invited the UK for reasons of protocol even though it doesn't make much difference in practice.
He can do what he likes but by the evidence around this area nobody is listening anymore
Indeed I would suggest that is across the UK
Not round here. Masks still universal in supermarkets and everyone I know is curbing social activity and taking LFTs before every meeting. Restaurants are busy, but with staff masked and spacing between seats. Various major events are still being postponed. The perception is that it's getting worse again as we all know people who've got it and mostly report it's quite nasty - not really that people think they'll die, but that they'll have an unpleasant two weeks, so just not worth it for the sake of shopping without a mask. As always it';s a cost-benefit thing - if people really want to do something they will and take any reasonable risk, but if they're not that bothered then they won't.
Certainly mask wearing in the shopping and recreational areas has disappeared and noticeably much less in the shops as well
The first Russian soldier to hand over a fully-working T-80 tank to the Ukrainians. He will get $10k after the war, and can apply for Ukrainian citizenship.
I wonder if he killed the other two crew.
Golly, I’ve not been keeping up, can an MBT get away with only 3 crew? I recall at least one of the Russian tanks has automatic loading for the main gun, the T80 I guess.
Been reading a bit about French tank design between the wars and they tended to go for one man turrets (ie the commander had to do a helluva lot) because of the manpower shortage after WWI.
Yes. In one of them (the Char B family) the main gun was fixed in the hull, no traverse, so the driver did the aiming and firing as well as the driving (admittedly with a continuously variable oil-hydraulic transmission if memory serves, though I might be wrong on that point). One other chap loaded the main gun in between. I think the fourth just sat around and handed the commander ammunition when the commander wasn't too busy aiming and firing his own turret cannon [edit], commanding and keeping on top of situational awareness. Not the most balanced workforce ever. Can't recall who operated the radio ...
Le multitasking
BTW, that Maxim which someone used to pimp his wheels on the previous thread - where/when was that photo taken? Somalia?
It's an old Sov one, the variant with the water filler cap replaced by a tractor cap so you can cram in snow when the cooling water begins to boil away.
The original caption said in use by militants in Ukraine (war in Donbass). I believe there are quite a few about eg
No10 confirms that, despite Boris Johnson being "desperate" to go to Ukraine, the country's president Volodymyr Zelensky has not invited him to do as much
It's really up to Biden, if he doesn’t want the FLSoJ stirring things up in Kyiv search of a laugh then Johnson's not going.
Dont be silly. The USA is in the driving seat for most things but a PM making a visit isnt one of them, theres no reason Biden would give a shit. It's just a dumb idea on it's own merits.
I don't want to see him gurning around in Ukraine. He should stay here and concentrate on his phone calls and red boxes. Only time we need to see him is when he goes to the House of Commons.
Yes, the French election defies the best efforts of punters to make it interesting. It's seemingly as sewn up as a North Korean plebiscite.
Totally off-topic, my bank (First Direct) is introducing new security in online transactions, and will ask me to enter my email address, not because they want to know but so they judge whether it's genuine based on how I type it in. How does this work? Dependent on speed, or tendency to make typos, or what?
The only similar behavioural typing thing I've heard of is payday lenders, who apparently judge how much interest to charge you partly on how you move the bar on the online chart when you're exploring what you might get. If you go straight for the maximum amount, they interpret that as being higher risk and charge you more than if you experiment with different levels before trying the maximum. I don't actually like the idea but I can see the logic.
It sounds stupid and you should check it is not a scam. If genuine, probably the test is for human typing rather than a hacker's bot slapping the whole thing in at once. Trouble is, your browser probably will slap it in all at once.
He can do what he likes but by the evidence around this area nobody is listening anymore
Indeed I would suggest that is across the UK
Have you managed to get your spring booster booked in?
Awaiting to hear from our surgery but all our family apart from ourselves have had covid this year including our son-in-laws elderly and infirm parents in care and it just seemed like a bad cold and they all recovered in a week or so
Should we base medical recommendations on what happened to one family or use the vast amount of data collected from across the whole population? I had thought it was more sensible to use the national data, but, you know, Big G’s family were fine, so who needs epidemiology?
He can do what he likes but by the evidence around this area nobody is listening anymore
Indeed I would suggest that is across the UK
Not round here. Masks still universal in supermarkets and everyone I know is curbing social activity and taking LFTs before every meeting. Restaurants are busy, but with staff masked and spacing between seats. Various major events are still being postponed. The perception is that it's getting worse again as we all know people who've got it and mostly report it's quite nasty - not really that people think they'll die, but that they'll have an unpleasant two weeks, so just not worth it for the sake of shopping without a mask. As always it';s a cost-benefit thing - if people really want to do something they will and take any reasonable risk, but if they're not that bothered then they won't.
Certainly mask wearing in the shopping and recreational areas has disappeared and noticeably much less in the shops as well
I find mask wearing 'universal' a bit hard to credit Nick. Even in leafy Warminster's Waitrose we are down to about 20% max wearing a mask. Are you living in a town of 80 year olds with no immune system?
He can do what he likes but by the evidence around this area nobody is listening anymore
Indeed I would suggest that is across the UK
Not round here. Masks still universal in supermarkets and everyone I know is curbing social activity and taking LFTs before every meeting. Restaurants are busy, but with staff masked and spacing between seats. Various major events are still being postponed. The perception is that it's getting worse again as we all know people who've got it and mostly report it's quite nasty - not really that people think they'll die, but that they'll have an unpleasant two weeks, so just not worth it for the sake of shopping without a mask. As always it';s a cost-benefit thing - if people really want to do something they will and take any reasonable risk, but if they're not that bothered then they won't.
Certainly mask wearing in the shopping and recreational areas has disappeared and noticeably much less in the shops as well
Just back from Sainsbury's where mask-wearing was around the two thirds mark.
He can do what he likes but by the evidence around this area nobody is listening anymore
Indeed I would suggest that is across the UK
Not in Edinburgh. Masks still mandated here and still abided by as much as they ever have been. Indeed the local pharmacy now employs someone at peak periods to enforce their rule of no more than three people inside the store at a time, but doesn't ever have to tell anyone to put a mask on.
Feels like a lot of wasted effort to me, but perhaps the illusion of control is reassuring for others.
The first Russian soldier to hand over a fully-working T-80 tank to the Ukrainians. He will get $10k after the war, and can apply for Ukrainian citizenship.
Give it a week and the price will be down to a bottle of vodka and a pot noodle....
Jonathan "Simple Sword of Truth" Aitken paid $5m for a T-80 when he was Minister of Defence Procurement.
He can do what he likes but by the evidence around this area nobody is listening anymore
Indeed I would suggest that is across the UK
Have you managed to get your spring booster booked in?
Awaiting to hear from our surgery but all our family apart from ourselves have had covid this year including our son-in-laws elderly and infirm parents in care and it just seemed like a bad cold and they all recovered in a week or so
Should we base medical recommendations on what happened to one family or use the vast amount of data collected from across the whole population? I had thought it was more sensible to use the national data, but, you know, Big G’s family were fine, so who needs epidemiology?
My family have lots of whats app groups and while it is known cases are rising there seems no appetite to go down the more restrictions route
And you can dismiss my family, but this is a widely held view in the country
Mind you if you want to continue that is a matter of your choice as it should be
“Democrats working to save their slim majority in the House in November’s elections have been sounding alarm bells lately over research showing that Republican attacks on culture-war issues are working, particularly with center-left, Hispanic and independent voters.”
NYT ($$)
How about concentrating on the real issues, rather than a phony war.
Inflation, cost of living crisis, energy security, levelling up, growing the economy and not weaponising division ?
Most of those are either caused by government actions or, at best, are global tides that Johnson can do no more about than Canute did.
They bang on about Culture Wars because that's pretty much all they've got.
Let's be honest the identitarian left and right both love nothing more than a bit of culture war. It's a nice playground game that helps them to get outraged under controlled conditions, is distracting from real tricky political issues and leaves them with a feeling of virtue. It's the wars of religion de nos jours.
I would hazard a guess based on social media that perhaps 15-20% of the population really indulge in culture warring, with roughly a 50:50 split between those outraged by "far right bigotry" and those equally offended by "left wing woke nonsense". Perhaps another 40-50% of the population have a mild leaning towards one side or the other, the Anglican church of these particular wars of religion (I'd put myself in that camp), and the rest don't even know it's happening.
Wokeism does bother me. It's not benign. It aims to disrespect people those they accuse of being Woke, to be offensive and to other their targets. To the extent it's successful, it undermines civic society.
I find mask wearing 'universal' a bit hard to credit Nick. Even in leafy Warminster's Waitrose we are down to about 20% max wearing a mask. Are you living in a town of 80 year olds with no immune system?
No, I'm in Godalming, Surrey, and mostly shop in Sainsbury. Average age of shoppers about 40-50, I suppose. You occasionally do see someone without a mask and the shop no longer asks for it, but it's certainly over 90%.
It was always a high-mask area as I remember when we debated this last year. As it's all voluntary, I don't think it need bother anyone, but if it became mandatory in shops again, people round here would mostly shrug. It's totally different to night clubs etc., where I can see that wearing a mask would spoil the fun unless it's, um, specialised. Almost nobody buys groceries for fun.
He can do what he likes but by the evidence around this area nobody is listening anymore
Indeed I would suggest that is across the UK
Not round here. Masks still universal in supermarkets and everyone I know is curbing social activity and taking LFTs before every meeting. Restaurants are busy, but with staff masked and spacing between seats. Various major events are still being postponed. The perception is that it's getting worse again as we all know people who've got it and mostly report it's quite nasty - not really that people think they'll die, but that they'll have an unpleasant two weeks, so just not worth it for the sake of shopping without a mask. As always it';s a cost-benefit thing - if people really want to do something they will and take any reasonable risk, but if they're not that bothered then they won't.
Certainly mask wearing in the shopping and recreational areas has disappeared and noticeably much less in the shops as well
I find mask wearing 'universal' a bit hard to credit Nick. Even in leafy Warminster's Waitrose we are down to about 20% max wearing a mask. Are you living in a town of 80 year olds with no immune system?
Also find Nick's reporting of people voluntarily curbing social activity surprising. Certainly not the case in my bit of middle-aged suburban GM. My mum and dad (both in their 70s) and wife currently have it; one daughter has just had the all clear and gone back to school. All have been a bit poorly but had they been that ill in 2019 would have put it down to a bad cold. And we didn't curb social activity because there was a bad cold going around.
He can do what he likes but by the evidence around this area nobody is listening anymore
Indeed I would suggest that is across the UK
Not in Edinburgh. Masks still mandated here and still abided by as much as they ever have been. Indeed the local pharmacy now employs someone at peak periods to enforce their rule of no more than three people inside the store at a time, but doesn't ever have to tell anyone to put a mask on.
Feels like a lot of wasted effort to me, but perhaps the illusion of control is reassuring for others.
I can understand it in a pharmacy or health environment
If anything the last few weeks have shown that it really doesn't matter how contemptible your politicians are when the country they are leading still holds such political and military power. Sad but true. And I say that as someone who detests Johnson.
Whatever happened to "actions speak louder than words"?
I have no words to describe the tedium induced by @Scott_P actions…
He can do what he likes but by the evidence around this area nobody is listening anymore
Indeed I would suggest that is across the UK
Not in Edinburgh. Masks still mandated here and still abided by as much as they ever have been. Indeed the local pharmacy now employs someone at peak periods to enforce their rule of no more than three people inside the store at a time, but doesn't ever have to tell anyone to put a mask on.
Feels like a lot of wasted effort to me, but perhaps the illusion of control is reassuring for others.
It's very silly and time to move on TBH. Seems far more relaxed in Northern Ireland . The difference with Scotland is palpable. I went to Belfast just over a week ago and perhaps a majority wearing masks on buses but hardly anybody wearing them in shops or food outlets.
Still desperate to cling onto any relevance and her fleeting 15 minutes of fame
It never ceases to amaze me, given how wrong diet sage have been at many times in the pandemic, how they still get given this level of prominence by media outlets.
He can do what he likes but by the evidence around this area nobody is listening anymore
Indeed I would suggest that is across the UK
Not round here. Masks still universal in supermarkets and everyone I know is curbing social activity and taking LFTs before every meeting. Restaurants are busy, but with staff masked and spacing between seats. Various major events are still being postponed. The perception is that it's getting worse again as we all know people who've got it and mostly report it's quite nasty - not really that people think they'll die, but that they'll have an unpleasant two weeks, so just not worth it for the sake of shopping without a mask. As always it';s a cost-benefit thing - if people really want to do something they will and take any reasonable risk, but if they're not that bothered then they won't.
I find this incredible
Covid has nearly disappeared from London life. Mask wearing is down to about 15-20%. Sometimes it is 0%.
Probably the last conspicuous bit of Covid panto are the big clear plastic divides in shops, at tills, and so on. They are surely useless, but probably quite a faff to remove, so many still have them
He can do what he likes but by the evidence around this area nobody is listening anymore
Indeed I would suggest that is across the UK
Not round here. Masks still universal in supermarkets and everyone I know is curbing social activity and taking LFTs before every meeting. Restaurants are busy, but with staff masked and spacing between seats. Various major events are still being postponed. The perception is that it's getting worse again as we all know people who've got it and mostly report it's quite nasty - not really that people think they'll die, but that they'll have an unpleasant two weeks, so just not worth it for the sake of shopping without a mask. As always it';s a cost-benefit thing - if people really want to do something they will and take any reasonable risk, but if they're not that bothered then they won't.
I find this incredible
Covid has nearly disappeared from London life. Mask wearing is down to about 15-20%. Sometimes it is 0%.
Probably the last conspicuous bit of Covid panto are the big clear plastic divides in shops, at tills, and so on. They are surely useless, but probably quite a faff to remove, so many still have them
There has been some evidence those plastic screens might even well make things worse, because they block the circulation of fresh air.
He can do what he likes but by the evidence around this area nobody is listening anymore
Indeed I would suggest that is across the UK
Not round here. Masks still universal in supermarkets and everyone I know is curbing social activity and taking LFTs before every meeting. Restaurants are busy, but with staff masked and spacing between seats. Various major events are still being postponed. The perception is that it's getting worse again as we all know people who've got it and mostly report it's quite nasty - not really that people think they'll die, but that they'll have an unpleasant two weeks, so just not worth it for the sake of shopping without a mask. As always it';s a cost-benefit thing - if people really want to do something they will and take any reasonable risk, but if they're not that bothered then they won't.
My daughter has it and gave me a fright by reporting that: "It literally feels like my lungs are blocked up it's really weird"
So I panicked and bought her a pulse oximeter online which said her O2 was at 97% - so that's okay.
He can do what he likes but by the evidence around this area nobody is listening anymore
Indeed I would suggest that is across the UK
Not round here. Masks still universal in supermarkets and everyone I know is curbing social activity and taking LFTs before every meeting. Restaurants are busy, but with staff masked and spacing between seats. Various major events are still being postponed. The perception is that it's getting worse again as we all know people who've got it and mostly report it's quite nasty - not really that people think they'll die, but that they'll have an unpleasant two weeks, so just not worth it for the sake of shopping without a mask. As always it';s a cost-benefit thing - if people really want to do something they will and take any reasonable risk, but if they're not that bothered then they won't.
Certainly mask wearing in the shopping and recreational areas has disappeared and noticeably much less in the shops as well
I find mask wearing 'universal' a bit hard to credit Nick. Even in leafy Warminster's Waitrose we are down to about 20% max wearing a mask. Are you living in a town of 80 year olds with no immune system?
Also find Nick's reporting of people voluntarily curbing social activity surprising. Certainly not the case in my bit of middle-aged suburban GM. My mum and dad (both in their 70s) and wife currently have it; one daughter has just had the all clear and gone back to school. All have been a bit poorly but had they been that ill in 2019 would have put it down to a bad cold. And we didn't curb social activity because there was a bad cold going around.
It certainly is not the case round here either.
We were out in Durham on Saturday and it was thriving, really busy. People just carrying on like normal.
Talking of Covid precautions, I just heard that my 50-something stepmother has got Covid
This is *ironic* as she is immuno-compromised and takes more precautions than anyone I know. Literally. She does not meet people indoors, she always wears a good mask (practically a diving helmet) she never goes to pubs/restaurants/theatres, and she has been doing this for two solid years
And yet she has still caught Omicron BA2 (presumably)
Of course messaging is tailored, but I believe when Zelensky talked to the German parliament he did talk about their initial actions not being fast enough, so they don't just praise and praise to make supporters happy, they do try to build on the guilt some feel for not doing more by pointing out where we don't do enough (the no fly zone criticism applying to everyone of course).
He can do what he likes but by the evidence around this area nobody is listening anymore
Indeed I would suggest that is across the UK
Not round here. Masks still universal in supermarkets and everyone I know is curbing social activity and taking LFTs before every meeting. Restaurants are busy, but with staff masked and spacing between seats. Various major events are still being postponed. The perception is that it's getting worse again as we all know people who've got it and mostly report it's quite nasty - not really that people think they'll die, but that they'll have an unpleasant two weeks, so just not worth it for the sake of shopping without a mask. As always it';s a cost-benefit thing - if people really want to do something they will and take any reasonable risk, but if they're not that bothered then they won't.
I find this incredible
Covid has nearly disappeared from London life. Mask wearing is down to about 15-20%. Sometimes it is 0%.
Probably the last conspicuous bit of Covid panto are the big clear plastic divides in shops, at tills, and so on. They are surely useless, but probably quite a faff to remove, so many still have them
There has been some evidence those plastic screens might even well make things worse, because they block the circulation of fresh air.
90% of comments I see about iSage are people complaining about them having the oxygen of publicity.
Perhaps, but most people if they see stuff from at all will see it in the context of a news headline about 'experts', and even if that number is few it can have disproportionate impact.
I see #sendherback is trending on twitter. Seems to be prevalent in a particular dank little corner of my own polity, nice teeth and cared for nails seem to be great triggers of rage for these people.
Our support in Ukraine is interesting, as I don't believe we have a large Ukrainian population or descendents, so any historic support given was presumably very much about geo political goals than any cultural/domestic sympathy from a significant chunk of our country being catered to (by contrast there are apparently 1.4m Canadians of Ukrainian descent)
They don't seem to have got the message that we're irrelevant now we're not in the EU any more and that Boris is a clown who never does anything right.
I will forward them some articles by Adonis, Mandelson and Heseltine.
On second thoughts, they probably have enough problems.
No evidence of anyone taking extra precautions here in SE London. We are fully back to normal. I think most people are at the "get it over with" stage now. If masking or limiting social interaction slow down the spread then that simply means we all get Covid in May, when our vaccine immunity has waned further, instead of March and April. It's a timing difference.
I see #sendherback is trending on twitter. Seems to be prevalent in a particular dank little corner of my own polity, nice teeth and cared for nails seem to be great triggers of rage for these people.
Clicking on it as a search term it seems to be mostly people criticising it (2 in 20 were seemingly genuinely using it before I stopped), so hopefully it is a grubby little corner indeed.
But it does endorse the rule about not overpanicking about things trending, since if we're lucky a good proportion of those adding to it trending are condemning the thing trending.
I see #sendherback is trending on twitter. Seems to be prevalent in a particular dank little corner of my own polity, nice teeth and cared for nails seem to be great triggers of rage for these people.
I assume the FSB is occupied with other stuff at the moment but if they're looking in, if the PB Company of Gentlemen Freedom Fighters ever reaches the kill zones of Ukraine they now know that they just need to get their guys masked up and the GFFs will run screeching from the field.
I see #sendherback is trending on twitter. Seems to be prevalent in a particular dank little corner of my own polity, nice teeth and cared for nails seem to be great triggers of rage for these people.
🧵1/I have done an analysis of those responding to #NazaninZaghariRatcliffe's interview, specifically focusing on those calling her an 'ungrateful cow' for not showing enough deference or gratitude to the UK government. The Brexit partisanship on the topic is startling. Read on! https://twitter.com/marcowenjones/status/1506210844190859265/photo/1
No evidence of anyone taking extra precautions here in SE London. We are fully back to normal. I think most people are at the "get it over with" stage now. If masking or limiting social interaction slow down the spread then that simply means we all get Covid in May, when our vaccine immunity has waned further, instead of March and April. It's a timing difference.
And, judging by my family anecdata, literally EVERYONE is now getting it, even those entombed in lead chambers, 40 metres beneath the surface of the Faroe Islands
So there ain't no stopping it, just accept that you will get a dose
Our support in Ukraine is interesting, as I don't believe we have a large Ukrainian population or descendents, so any historic support given was presumably very much about geo political goals than any cultural/domestic sympathy from a significant chunk of our country being catered to (by contrast there are apparently 1.4m Canadians of Ukrainian descent)
.My Canadian daughter in law and family are all Ukraine descent
So Mr. Usmanov doesn't own the properties. Instead a Trust owns them, of which he is presumably the sole beneficiary (though probably not the Trustee) so that's completely different I assume to owning them personally.
No evidence of anyone taking extra precautions here in SE London. We are fully back to normal. I think most people are at the "get it over with" stage now. If masking or limiting social interaction slow down the spread then that simply means we all get Covid in May, when our vaccine immunity has waned further, instead of March and April. It's a timing difference.
And, judging by my family anecdata, literally EVERYONE is now getting it, even those entombed in lead chambers, 40 metres beneath the surface of the Faroe Islands
So there ain't no stopping it, just accept that you will get a dose
Faroe Islands have the highest recorded case rate in the world. Just under 70 cases per 100 pop, but a fatality rate of only 0.08%.
Not a fan generally of hemicyclical arrangement, but I'm liking the Italian Parliament chamber compared to some others. Classy. From Zelensky's address.
While Cameron has one famous quote about Twitter, another telling line of his was that Twitter is not Britain.
And for that, we should be grateful.
Twitter is not just "not Britain" it "is Russia, and sometimes China"
Many of the more incendiary remarks, on almost any US/UK political topic, are generated by computers or geeks in Novosibirsk, to accentuate western divisions on any hot topic - from Scottish Nationalism to January 6
And they fire up both sides of any argument. It is so easy to do
@michaelh992 🚩Ukrainian armed forces claim that they have cut the Russian supply lines to Bucha, Irpin and Hostomel near #Kyiv - major development if confirmed (and if Ukrainian forces can hold their position)
While Cameron has one famous quote about Twitter, another telling line of his was that Twitter is not Britain.
And for that, we should be grateful.
I think you're missing the point. Whether these are real people or bots, the overlap between Brexit/antiwoke and the (sadly predictable) misogyny and abuse is the thing. The people sending these tweets understand their audience to be receptive to this kind of hatred. These attitudes are correlated. That tells us something, it is useful information not to be lightly dismissed.
While Cameron has one famous quote about Twitter, another telling line of his was that Twitter is not Britain.
And for that, we should be grateful.
It's an even better one than his more famous one. Matt Singh from Number Cruncher has it as his twitter header (though it seems as though Cameron actually put it the other way around).
The first Russian soldier to hand over a fully-working T-80 tank to the Ukrainians. He will get $10k after the war, and can apply for Ukrainian citizenship.
I wonder if he killed the other two crew.
Golly, I’ve not been keeping up, can an MBT get away with only 3 crew? I recall at least one of the Russian tanks has automatic loading for the main gun, the T80 I guess.
Been reading a bit about French tank design between the wars and they tended to go for one man turrets (ie the commander had to do a helluva lot) because of the manpower shortage after WWI.
Yes. In one of them (the Char B family) the main gun was fixed in the hull, no traverse, so the driver did the aiming and firing as well as the driving (admittedly with a continuously variable oil-hydraulic transmission if memory serves, though I might be wrong on that point). One other chap loaded the main gun in between. I think the fourth just sat around and handed the commander ammunition when the commander wasn't too busy aiming and firing his own turret cannon [edit], commanding and keeping on top of situational awareness. Not the most balanced workforce ever. Can't recall who operated the radio ...
I see #sendherback is trending on twitter. Seems to be prevalent in a particular dank little corner of my own polity, nice teeth and cared for nails seem to be great triggers of rage for these people.
Clicking on it as a search term it seems to be mostly people criticising it (2 in 20 were seemingly genuinely using it before I stopped), so hopefully it is a grubby little corner indeed.
But it does endorse the rule about not overpanicking about things trending, since if we're lucky a good proportion of those adding to it trending are condemning the thing trending.
Let's just hope that BJ doen't 'accidentally' include it in a speech.
While Cameron has one famous quote about Twitter, another telling line of his was that Twitter is not Britain.
And for that, we should be grateful.
Twitter is not just "not Britain" it "is Russia, and sometimes China"
Many of the more incendiary remarks, on almost any US/UK political topic, are generated by computers or geeks in Novosibirsk, to accentuate western divisions on any hot topic - from Scottish Nationalism to January 6
And they fire up both sides of any argument. It is so easy to do
@michaelh992 🚩Ukrainian armed forces claim that they have cut the Russian supply lines to Bucha, Irpin and Hostomel near #Kyiv - major development if confirmed (and if Ukrainian forces can hold their position)
So after a month of fighting to get in, they could end up fighting to get out. Don't stop til you get to Moscow, Russian lads. And when you get there, do the world a favour.
The first Russian soldier to hand over a fully-working T-80 tank to the Ukrainians. He will get $10k after the war, and can apply for Ukrainian citizenship.
I wonder if he killed the other two crew.
Golly, I’ve not been keeping up, can an MBT get away with only 3 crew? I recall at least one of the Russian tanks has automatic loading for the main gun, the T80 I guess.
Been reading a bit about French tank design between the wars and they tended to go for one man turrets (ie the commander had to do a helluva lot) because of the manpower shortage after WWI.
Yes. In one of them (the Char B family) the main gun was fixed in the hull, no traverse, so the driver did the aiming and firing as well as the driving (admittedly with a continuously variable oil-hydraulic transmission if memory serves, though I might be wrong on that point). One other chap loaded the main gun in between. I think the fourth just sat around and handed the commander ammunition when the commander wasn't too busy aiming and firing his own turret cannon [edit], commanding and keeping on top of situational awareness. Not the most balanced workforce ever. Can't recall who operated the radio ...
Le multitasking
L'overload cognitif
Actually learnt a new phrase in French today: la surcharge cognitive
The first Russian soldier to hand over a fully-working T-80 tank to the Ukrainians. He will get $10k after the war, and can apply for Ukrainian citizenship.
I wonder if he killed the other two crew.
Been reading a bit about French tank design between the wars
While Cameron has one famous quote about Twitter, another telling line of his was that Twitter is not Britain.
And for that, we should be grateful.
I think you're missing the point. Whether these are real people or bots, the overlap between Brexit/antiwoke and the (sadly predictable) misogyny and abuse is the thing. The people sending these tweets understand their audience to be receptive to this kind of hatred. These attitudes are correlated. That tells us something, it is useful information not to be lightly dismissed.
Comments
Indeed I would suggest that is across the UK
Edit: to be fair, the British squaddie's favourite enemy was the regiment down the road, in the pubs of Aldershot, or the ferries to UK on a weekend.
That's why instead Britain has put effort into bilateral and multilateral relationships outside the EU, like the UK-Poland-Ukraine agreement.
I could see Johnson agreeing to a US/UK/EU format of talks, where the EU is one party out of three, but going along to the EU Council where the UK and US will be two voices among thirty - that's not the format Johnson would want.
Very short-sighted of the EU to allow themselves to be riled by Johnson in this way.
There is little evidence that the remaining restrictions in say Scotland are making any difference anyway.
The difference is that Johnson is like one of those actors who is only capable of playing the one role, and always plays that role in every performance. Zelenskyy clearly has a greater range and adaptability - and he's still only 44. Who knows what he might do next once he stops being President of Ukraine?
It's an old Sov one, the variant with the water filler cap replaced by a tractor cap so you can cram in snow when the cooling water begins to boil away.
To be fair at our age we do not go out to socialise and are very content in our home with family popping in
Indeed we have had regular feelings of guilt that we have so much while this evil monster Putin is murdererously slaughtering so many innocents
It doesn't make the UK completely irrelevant. It's a significant player in the G7 and as you say it's working on the bilaterals. NATO appears to have excluded itself from involvement this conflict but no doubt there are discussions going on about a subset of countries providing security guarantees to Ukraine and the security implications of that for NATO.
I agree the EU should have invited the UK for reasons of protocol even though it doesn't make much difference in practice.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xvDHvHXA6A
Excess deaths 'too high', says Independent Sage member
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/32098/ukrainian-troops-are-still-using-this-pre-world-war-i-era-maxim-machine-gun-in-combat
But frankly it didn't seem to do any harm, since there wasn't much going to be achieved it seems.
Also - I thought they were currently below the 5 year average?
Glad the bloody things aren't needed* any longer.
Edited extra bit: *mandated would be a better word.
'Historic England puts aerial photos of nation’s past online'
https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2022/mar/22/historic-england-puts-aerial-photos-of-nations-past-online
No link in the article, unhelpfully, so go here: https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/archive/collections/aerial-photos/
Feels like a lot of wasted effort to me, but perhaps the illusion of control is reassuring for others.
And you can dismiss my family, but this is a widely held view in the country
Mind you if you want to continue that is a matter of your choice as it should be
"The first to provide us with serious weapons....your role is special"
And contrasts with "the passivity of other countries".
I wonder who he means??
https://twitter.com/timmyvoe/status/1505923717813129216
It was always a high-mask area as I remember when we debated this last year. As it's all voluntary, I don't think it need bother anyone, but if it became mandatory in shops again, people round here would mostly shrug. It's totally different to night clubs etc., where I can see that wearing a mask would spoil the fun unless it's, um, specialised. Almost nobody buys groceries for fun.
My mum and dad (both in their 70s) and wife currently have it; one daughter has just had the all clear and gone back to school. All have been a bit poorly but had they been that ill in 2019 would have put it down to a bad cold. And we didn't curb social activity because there was a bad cold going around.
Or they say they do?
Veritasium - Making Antivenom From The World's Deadliest Snakes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ziWrneMYss
It never ceases to amaze me, given how wrong diet sage have been at many times in the pandemic, how they still get given this level of prominence by media outlets.
Covid has nearly disappeared from London life. Mask wearing is down to about 15-20%. Sometimes it is 0%.
Probably the last conspicuous bit of Covid panto are the big clear plastic divides in shops, at tills, and so on. They are surely useless, but probably quite a faff to remove, so many still have them
So I panicked and bought her a pulse oximeter online which said her O2 was at 97% - so that's okay.
It certainly is not the case round here either.
We were out in Durham on Saturday and it was thriving, really busy. People just carrying on like normal.
This is *ironic* as she is immuno-compromised and takes more precautions than anyone I know. Literally. She does not meet people indoors, she always wears a good mask (practically a diving helmet) she never goes to pubs/restaurants/theatres, and she has been doing this for two solid years
And yet she has still caught Omicron BA2 (presumably)
It is simply too infectious to be stopped
Imagine they are both jabbed to the eyeballs
I will forward them some articles by Adonis, Mandelson and Heseltine.
On second thoughts, they probably have enough problems.
But it does endorse the rule about not overpanicking about things trending, since if we're lucky a good proportion of those adding to it trending are condemning the thing trending.
I also notice #ungratefulcow is trending !!!!
So there ain't no stopping it, just accept that you will get a dose
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-60825983
So Mr. Usmanov doesn't own the properties. Instead a Trust owns them, of which he is presumably the sole beneficiary (though probably not the Trustee) so that's completely different I assume to owning them personally.
And for that, we should be grateful.
https://twitter.com/REWearmouth/status/1506257531399720968
https://mobile.twitter.com/PaulBrandITV/status/1506239276094165002
NEW: Damning report by HMIC into corruption in Met Police finds the force is "not fit for purpose".
- Cash, jewellery, drugs regularly 'go missing'. Access code for one store was scribbled on the door
- Over 100 new recruits have previous convictions for crimes including theft
Over 200 warrant cards missing, too.
Many of the more incendiary remarks, on almost any US/UK political topic, are generated by computers or geeks in Novosibirsk, to accentuate western divisions on any hot topic - from Scottish Nationalism to January 6
And they fire up both sides of any argument. It is so easy to do
🚩Ukrainian armed forces claim that they have cut the Russian supply lines to Bucha, Irpin and Hostomel near #Kyiv - major development if confirmed (and if Ukrainian forces can hold their position)
https://twitter.com/michaelh992/status/1506256037443219461
'It read a lot better..'
Don't stop til you get to Moscow, Russian lads. And when you get there, do the world a favour.
Of course that matters. That's the whole point.
It took me 3 seconds to find my first Russian bot
His tweet:
"Ungrateful cow , moo moo"
His profile?
https://twitter.com/DavidJo66933798
"5 followers"
"Joined in March 2022"
President Zelensky speaking to the Italian Parliament:
“The Russians destroying our fuel depots & from exporting wheat.
It will lead to a food crisis in North Africa, sending thousands and thousands of migrants toward your shores unless this war is stopped.
We need sanctions”
"Got help me for defending Boris Johnson but this ungrateful cow paid the price for her own arrogance and stupidity.
As it is she got off lightly."
'Got' instead of God? Really?
And the profile:
Robert in the UK
@RobertintheUK1
White working British man
Joined March 2022
1 Following
1 Follower
"White working British man"
Yes, that's how British people describe themselves
This is laughable. We are being played by Russia. Calm the F down