https://twitter.com/b_nishanov/status/1509913543507947526 “Russia wants us to support them but we don’t recognize Crimea, or Donbas. Yes, we are in a union with Russia but it doesn’t apply to this situation. We won’t help Russia avoid US and EU sanctions.” - Deputy chair of the presidential administration in Kazakhstan. This is huge.
Cases - DOWN. R is below 1. We should see this feeding through in the ONS numbers, soon, we hope. In Hospital - UP Admissions - UP. R stable at 1.1 or so MV beds - UP Deaths - UP
Not sure we need daily updates anymore, they only serve to negatively affect the mental health of the nation. Most people are trying to move on. A daily scoreboard hardly helps with that aim.
I'm happy with daily updates. The government's advice on Covid seems a bit mixed. Rather than self-isolate after a positive test, we are now urged, though not compelled, to stay at home with any Covid-like symptoms, which in practice means any cold symptoms. That sounds like a larger group.
Cases - DOWN. R is below 1. We should see this feeding through in the ONS numbers, soon, we hope. In Hospital - UP Admissions - UP. R stable at 1.1 or so MV beds - UP Deaths - UP
Case data from testing is meaningless now. I note the ONS had last week at over 5 million cases across the nation.
Yes, if I'm anything to go by, reporting is now pretty sporadic. I reported the positive finding when I caught the bug (and was urged to self-isolate for 10 days, as I'm doing), didn't bother to report continued positives over the following days, but reported the negative one today (hooray). I wasn't being prodded to report progress and didn't think it would add much useful info - and I'm generally a rule-following type.
What's the current accepted wisdom on whether having just had the bug protects you against getting it again? My impression is "a bit", but any more concrete info would be helpful.
A curiosity in the first few days was obsessive half-asleep sense of urgent tasks - on the first night, I convinced myself that I needed to mediate in Ukraine before going to sleep; on the second night, to solve a complicated dday job task. I'm told this is a fairly common symptom, though I've not heard about it before.
I suppose if Covid were a software developer, it'd say "It's a feature, not a bug..."
Cases - DOWN. R is below 1. We should see this feeding through in the ONS numbers, soon, we hope. In Hospital - UP Admissions - UP. R stable at 1.1 or so MV beds - UP Deaths - UP
Case data from testing is meaningless now. I note the ONS had last week at over 5 million cases across the nation.
One wonders how long cases can keep rolling along at ridiculous levels like 1 in 12. At that rate, in crude terms, if nobody had ever had the wretched disease we could still all catch it in three months - but clearly a very large fraction of the populace already has, and I'd be astonished if a significant percentage were being reinfected on a monthly basis.
Reinfections are running at 10% iirc. But that is based on the case figure not the ons data.
"CorrectHorseBattery"Calling Starmer Ed 2.0 has to be one of the laziest criticisms .
I agree Ed was pretty poor but at least he offered alternative ideas when he was leader. Starmer hasn't really done that. Ed was also wise enough not to give David Lammy a senior shadow cabinet position. Cmpared to Starmer Ed was a giant.
Lammy has been consistently making sense ever since, I have to keep reminding myself of Marie Antoinette as the discoverer of radium
speaking of which, if Putin has thyroid cancer it's quite possible he is having radioactive iodine therapy in which case it's very likely he is on corticosteroids for side effects, hence the moon face
Lammy is a changed man. He was once basically laughing stock, but he's far from that now. Well done David Lammy!
Time and wind have conspired to make him look a little haggered though. Maybe he can translate that to statesman-like.
Cases - DOWN. R is below 1. We should see this feeding through in the ONS numbers, soon, we hope. In Hospital - UP Admissions - UP. R stable at 1.1 or so MV beds - UP Deaths - UP
Case data from testing is meaningless now. I note the ONS had last week at over 5 million cases across the nation.
Yes, if I'm anything to go by, reporting is now pretty sporadic. I reported the positive finding when I caught the bug (and was urged to self-isolate for 10 days, as I'm doing), didn't bother to report continued positives over the following days, but reported the negative one today (hooray). I wasn't being prodded to report progress and didn't think it would add much useful info - and I'm generally a rule-following type.
What's the current accepted wisdom on whether having just had the bug protects you against getting it again? My impression is "a bit", but any more concrete info would be helpful.
A curiosity in the first few days was obsessive half-asleep sense of urgent tasks - on the first night, I convinced myself that I needed to mediate in Ukraine before going to sleep; on the second night, to solve a complicated dday job task. I'm told this is a fairly common symptom, though I've not heard about it before.
I suppose if Covid were a software developer, it'd say "It's a feature, not a bug..."
28 days protection is the current advice. At least that is how long you shouldn't test for.
Cases - DOWN. R is below 1. We should see this feeding through in the ONS numbers, soon, we hope. In Hospital - UP Admissions - UP. R stable at 1.1 or so MV beds - UP Deaths - UP
Case data from testing is meaningless now. I note the ONS had last week at over 5 million cases across the nation.
While I don’t doubt that there is a lot of it about, I getting a bit suspicious of the ons data. Specifically they are 5 million who would test positive, not 5 million who would be unwell. And as they are using Pcr on random people, how much asymptomatic and recovered people are included in these 5 million? We’ve been specifically warned about using PCR after infection for a decent period, yet are the ons excluding such people? I had a great chat with a pharmacist colleague who works at one of the Bristol hospitals. Very illuminating. Most interesting was her description of the first wave, where she led a team in icu. Although it was grim, it was also a great time of unity against one issue, with everyone pulling together. Now the problem is people off sick, the nhs trying to do its job again for all patients and the staff just being knackered. She said that the anti virals have been game changers for keeping the vulnerable out of hospital.
My guess is that cases will crash soon, and the pressures will ease, but by god the hospitals need a break.
Yes. It seems to have been the case for a long time now that the prolonged isolation with covid is worse in aggregate than the virus itself.
Cases look to be dropping like a stone now but we should no more celebrate this than we should catastrophise when they are rising.
It needs to become background noise, like colds or flu. For many people it is already, but a substantial minority of the population remain preoccupied with covid in a way they are not with other bugs.
"CorrectHorseBattery"Calling Starmer Ed 2.0 has to be one of the laziest criticisms .
I agree Ed was pretty poor but at least he offered alternative ideas when he was leader. Starmer hasn't really done that. Ed was also wise enough not to give David Lammy a senior shadow cabinet position. Cmpared to Starmer Ed was a giant.
Lammy has been consistently making sense ever since, I have to keep reminding myself of Marie Antoinette as the discoverer of radium
speaking of which, if Putin has thyroid cancer it's quite possible he is having radioactive iodine therapy in which case it's very likely he is on corticosteroids for side effects, hence the moon face
Lammy is a changed man. He was once basically laughing stock, but he's far from that now. Well done David Lammy!
Time and wind have conspired to make him look a little haggered though. Maybe he can translate that to statesman-like.
Can't help wondering if the man has some characteristic which makes it important to the gammonry that he should continue to fail.
Never seen a photo, mind, so can't address your "haggard" point.
"CorrectHorseBattery"Calling Starmer Ed 2.0 has to be one of the laziest criticisms .
I agree Ed was pretty poor but at least he offered alternative ideas when he was leader. Starmer hasn't really done that. Ed was also wise enough not to give David Lammy a senior shadow cabinet position. Cmpared to Starmer Ed was a giant.
Lammy has been consistently making sense ever since, I have to keep reminding myself of Marie Antoinette as the discoverer of radium
speaking of which, if Putin has thyroid cancer it's quite possible he is having radioactive iodine therapy in which case it's very likely he is on corticosteroids for side effects, hence the moon face
Lammy is a changed man. He was once basically laughing stock, but he's far from that now. Well done David Lammy!
Time and wind have conspired to make him look a little haggered though. Maybe he can translate that to statesman-like.
Can't help wondering if the man has some characteristic which makes it important to the gammonry that he should continue to fail.
Never seen a photo, mind, so can't address your "haggard" point.
Cases - DOWN. R is below 1. We should see this feeding through in the ONS numbers, soon, we hope. In Hospital - UP Admissions - UP. R stable at 1.1 or so MV beds - UP Deaths - UP
Not sure we need daily updates anymore, they only serve to negatively affect the mental health of the nation. Most people are trying to move on. A daily scoreboard hardly helps with that aim.
I'm happy with daily updates. The government's advice on Covid seems a bit mixed. Rather than self-isolate after a positive test, we are now urged, though not compelled, to stay at home with any Covid-like symptoms, which in practice means any cold symptoms. That sounds like a larger group.
Would you advocate daily updates for influenza, the common cold, and norovirus? Sadly, did such updates exist, many millions would make themselves sick with worry about those, too.
Five hours delay at a Turkish airport due to check-in meltdown. Not recommended
My Azerbaijan trip is finally on for the 14th. And I have the Ukrainians to thank for there being no threat of a Russian invasion there while I'm in-country. Although the Azeris might seek to do something against the Armenians while the Russians are distracted.
"CorrectHorseBattery"Calling Starmer Ed 2.0 has to be one of the laziest criticisms .
I agree Ed was pretty poor but at least he offered alternative ideas when he was leader. Starmer hasn't really done that. Ed was also wise enough not to give David Lammy a senior shadow cabinet position. Cmpared to Starmer Ed was a giant.
Lammy has been consistently making sense ever since, I have to keep reminding myself of Marie Antoinette as the discoverer of radium
speaking of which, if Putin has thyroid cancer it's quite possible he is having radioactive iodine therapy in which case it's very likely he is on corticosteroids for side effects, hence the moon face
Lammy is a changed man. He was once basically laughing stock, but he's far from that now. Well done David Lammy!
Time and wind have conspired to make him look a little haggered though. Maybe he can translate that to statesman-like.
Can't help wondering if the man has some characteristic which makes it important to the gammonry that he should continue to fail.
Never seen a photo, mind, so can't address your "haggard" point.
Could we just end this pointless squabble?
WTF is squabbly about that? I thought I was agreeing with you
https://twitter.com/b_nishanov/status/1509913543507947526 “Russia wants us to support them but we don’t recognize Crimea, or Donbas. Yes, we are in a union with Russia but it doesn’t apply to this situation. We won’t help Russia avoid US and EU sanctions.” - Deputy chair of the presidential administration in Kazakhstan. This is huge.
https://twitter.com/b_nishanov/status/1509913543507947526 “Russia wants us to support them but we don’t recognize Crimea, or Donbas. Yes, we are in a union with Russia but it doesn’t apply to this situation. We won’t help Russia avoid US and EU sanctions.” - Deputy chair of the presidential administration in Kazakhstan. This is huge.
That man would have been shot several months ago but for Russian soldiers.
If Putin is losing Kazakhstan, Russia is really in trouble.
Cases - DOWN. R is below 1. We should see this feeding through in the ONS numbers, soon, we hope. In Hospital - UP Admissions - UP. R stable at 1.1 or so MV beds - UP Deaths - UP
Case data from testing is meaningless now. I note the ONS had last week at over 5 million cases across the nation.
Yes, if I'm anything to go by, reporting is now pretty sporadic. I reported the positive finding when I caught the bug (and was urged to self-isolate for 10 days, as I'm doing), didn't bother to report continued positives over the following days, but reported the negative one today (hooray). I wasn't being prodded to report progress and didn't think it would add much useful info - and I'm generally a rule-following type.
What's the current accepted wisdom on whether having just had the bug protects you against getting it again? My impression is "a bit", but any more concrete info would be helpful.
A curiosity in the first few days was obsessive half-asleep sense of urgent tasks - on the first night, I convinced myself that I needed to mediate in Ukraine before going to sleep; on the second night, to solve a complicated dday job task. I'm told this is a fairly common symptom, though I've not heard about it before.
I suppose if Covid were a software developer, it'd say "It's a feature, not a bug..."
You will be unlucky to get the same strain again. Sadly we’ve had the initial omicron wave which was able to reinfect a lot of people who’d had original, alpha or delta, and the BA2 which does the same and also original omicron. There are people who’ve had two or three bouts in the last six months. Going forward it’s likely that we will all retain significant protection against serious illness, but reinfections are going to be common. I think it likely that there will be an autumn booster campaign, almost certainly tweaked to account for at least some of the current variants. Remember that the current vaccines are all still original Covid flavour.
Generally, no. Prolly best I PM you daily rather than clutter up the site.
NCAYWS gets literally zero Google hits (of any significance)
Has PB developed a new slang…. And I missed out??
*sad face*
Nobody cares about your wor[l]dle score
Ah. But that’s wrong, Alistair cared, or at least he cared enough to belittle me with a much better score. I’ll take that
When you complete a cryptic crossword do you wave it around for all to see then go on the internet to brag about it?
I’ve still got three hours 20 minutes til my (totally fucked up) internal Turkish flight. So, yeah, I probably would, right now
I tried to read THE DAWN OF EVERYTHING that much praised early human history, but no one told me it was quasi-Marxist drivel, full of howling errors, and written in the most cringeworthy *first person plural* style
Appalling nonsense. So here I am on PB. Soz boz apolibobs
"CorrectHorseBattery"Calling Starmer Ed 2.0 has to be one of the laziest criticisms .
I agree Ed was pretty poor but at least he offered alternative ideas when he was leader. Starmer hasn't really done that. Ed was also wise enough not to give David Lammy a senior shadow cabinet position. Cmpared to Starmer Ed was a giant.
Lammy has been consistently making sense ever since, I have to keep reminding myself of Marie Antoinette as the discoverer of radium
speaking of which, if Putin has thyroid cancer it's quite possible he is having radioactive iodine therapy in which case it's very likely he is on corticosteroids for side effects, hence the moon face
Lammy is a changed man. He was once basically laughing stock, but he's far from that now. Well done David Lammy!
Time and wind have conspired to make him look a little haggered though. Maybe he can translate that to statesman-like.
Time and WIND?
Do you mean his own or that which he has had to weather?
Five hours delay at a Turkish airport due to check-in meltdown. Not recommended
My Azerbaijan trip is finally on for the 14th. And I have the Ukrainians to thank for there being no threat of a Russian invasion there while I'm in-country. Although the Azeris might seek to do something against the Armenians while the Russians are distracted.
Enjoy. I’m tempted to cross the Iraqi border later this week. Maybe go to Erbil. Just to say “I’ve been to Iraq”
I have a friend working their *in special circumstances*. He has the most incredible job: hunting down art thieves and traffickers around the world. Stupidly glamorous and exciting. And well paid. Ex Territorial SAS
"CorrectHorseBattery"Calling Starmer Ed 2.0 has to be one of the laziest criticisms .
I agree Ed was pretty poor but at least he offered alternative ideas when he was leader. Starmer hasn't really done that. Ed was also wise enough not to give David Lammy a senior shadow cabinet position. Cmpared to Starmer Ed was a giant.
Lammy has been consistently making sense ever since, I have to keep reminding myself of Marie Antoinette as the discoverer of radium
speaking of which, if Putin has thyroid cancer it's quite possible he is having radioactive iodine therapy in which case it's very likely he is on corticosteroids for side effects, hence the moon face
Lammy is a changed man. He was once basically laughing stock, but he's far from that now. Well done David Lammy!
Time and wind have conspired to make him look a little haggered though. Maybe he can translate that to statesman-like.
Time and WIND?
Do you mean his own or that which he has had to weather?
I think I may have meant 'time and tide'. However I'm laughing, and that's fine!
Had a corking day at an event in town yesterday. Hundreds there. No masking (well okay I saw two masks all day, amid the multitude) then off to a busy bar then a busy restaurant. No masks on the Tube or bus. It’s like covid never happened in London - assume (outside Godalming) it’s like that in other towns and cities?
https://twitter.com/b_nishanov/status/1509913543507947526 “Russia wants us to support them but we don’t recognize Crimea, or Donbas. Yes, we are in a union with Russia but it doesn’t apply to this situation. We won’t help Russia avoid US and EU sanctions.” - Deputy chair of the presidential administration in Kazakhstan. This is huge.
The chances of the Georgians being pro-Russian is approximately zero. I guess they now feel more confident piling in with sanctions and have worked out the Russians aren't a threat.
Had a corking day at an event in town yesterday. Hundreds there. No masking (well okay I saw two masks all day, amid the multitude) then off to a busy bar then a busy restaurant. No masks on the Tube or bus. It’s like covid never happened in London - assume (outside Godalming) it’s like that in other towns and cities?
London is absolutely bustling at the mo. Full of verve and excited young people
The summer should be amazing if it isn’t fucked up by war/plague/famine/global poverty/Armageddon
Five hours delay at a Turkish airport due to check-in meltdown. Not recommended
My Azerbaijan trip is finally on for the 14th. And I have the Ukrainians to thank for there being no threat of a Russian invasion there while I'm in-country. Although the Azeris might seek to do something against the Armenians while the Russians are distracted.
Enjoy. I’m tempted to cross the Iraqi border later this week. Maybe go to Erbil. Just to say “I’ve been to Iraq”
I have a friend working their *in special circumstances*. He has the most incredible job: hunting down art thieves and traffickers around the world. Stupidly glamorous and exciting. And well paid. Ex Territorial SAS
Flew in once, literally under the radar, from Turkey (Diyarbakir) to Zakho and thence by road to Dohuk. Not sure what was the scariest - flying into Iraq without permissions, finding the UN mission closed, sandbagged and surrounded by razor wire, the drive to Dohuk unaccompanied and unarmed, or just the driving of our driver. Scratch that, I am sure. It was the driving ...
Had a corking day at an event in town yesterday. Hundreds there. No masking (well okay I saw two masks all day, amid the multitude) then off to a busy bar then a busy restaurant. No masks on the Tube or bus. It’s like covid never happened in London - assume (outside Godalming) it’s like that in other towns and cities?
Unusual to see masks in Cannock and generally only among older people.
Scotland Yard has issued the first fixed penalty notices for breaches of lockdown rules to officials who attended a “raucous” Cabinet Office leaving party.
The fines have been issued by email to 20 people, many of whom attended a gathering to mark the departure of Hannah Young, a home affairs policy adviser. It was held on June 18, 2020, a fortnight before the first broad easing of lockdown rules. Lord Sedwill, who was head of the civil service, briefly attended the gathering but was not fined, The Times has been told.
The event is one of 12 subject to police investigation. One government source described it as “raucous” but it is thought to be one of the less significant breaches of lockdown laws, fuelling concern in Whitehall that the number of fines could be far higher than expected. Scotland Yard has issued more than 100 questionnaires.
Had a corking day at an event in town yesterday. Hundreds there. No masking (well okay I saw two masks all day, amid the multitude) then off to a busy bar then a busy restaurant. No masks on the Tube or bus. It’s like covid never happened in London - assume (outside Godalming) it’s like that in other towns and cities?
Unusual to see masks in Cannock and generally only among older people.
Just before the local elections, Boris is riding around Kyiv with Zelensky on a captured Russian tank, half a dozen Ukranians with NLAWS beside them. Zelensky says to the camera "We could not have done it without this guy. What a dude..."
And a bunch of people go "You know what...he's a clown. But he's a clown who got the biggest call in decades right. When Germany and France were telling Ukraine they should throw in the towel, Boris said f*ck that - have our latest weapons to fight for freedom...."
A month is a monstrous long time in politics....
Total fantasy, even brain dead morons are not that stupid
Had a corking day at an event in town yesterday. Hundreds there. No masking (well okay I saw two masks all day, amid the multitude) then off to a busy bar then a busy restaurant. No masks on the Tube or bus. It’s like covid never happened in London - assume (outside Godalming) it’s like that in other towns and cities?
Unusual to see masks in Cannock and generally only among older people.
Love nick and a lot of time for him, but was it him who lied about his canvassing in 2019 to cheer himself up or something? Is he telling porkies about Godalming mask wearing too? Apologies @NickPalmer if I have that wrong, just can’t square your reports with almost everywhere else.
Just before the local elections, Boris is riding around Kyiv with Zelensky on a captured Russian tank, half a dozen Ukranians with NLAWS beside them. Zelensky says to the camera "We could not have done it without this guy. What a dude..."
And a bunch of people go "You know what...he's a clown. But he's a clown who got the biggest call in decades right. When Germany and France were telling Ukraine they should throw in the towel, Boris said f*ck that - have our latest weapons to fight for freedom...."
A month is a monstrous long time in politics....
Total fantasy, even brain dead morons are not that stupid
And the past is heavily discounted in politics. (Smuts, Churchill, Bush Sr. ...)
Five hours delay at a Turkish airport due to check-in meltdown. Not recommended
My Azerbaijan trip is finally on for the 14th. And I have the Ukrainians to thank for there being no threat of a Russian invasion there while I'm in-country. Although the Azeris might seek to do something against the Armenians while the Russians are distracted.
Enjoy. I’m tempted to cross the Iraqi border later this week. Maybe go to Erbil. Just to say “I’ve been to Iraq”
I have a friend working their *in special circumstances*. He has the most incredible job: hunting down art thieves and traffickers around the world. Stupidly glamorous and exciting. And well paid. Ex Territorial SAS
Long way East, when "I've been to Syria" is probably at least as cool as Iraq atm.
A friend of mine went solo to Diyarbakir and said being a lone western female there was by a long way the most frightening thing ever to happen to her. Just for info.
Cases - DOWN. R is below 1. We should see this feeding through in the ONS numbers, soon, we hope. In Hospital - UP Admissions - UP. R stable at 1.1 or so MV beds - UP Deaths - UP
Case data from testing is meaningless now. I note the ONS had last week at over 5 million cases across the nation.
A curiosity in the first few days was obsessive half-asleep sense of urgent tasks - on the first night, I convinced myself that I needed to mediate in Ukraine before going to sleep; on the second night, to solve a complicated dday job task. I'm told this is a fairly common symptom, though I've not heard about it before.
I suppose if Covid were a software developer, it'd say "It's a feature, not a bug..."
They’d be more worrying symptoms in people for whom that wasn’t a normal afternoon.
Five hours delay at a Turkish airport due to check-in meltdown. Not recommended
My Azerbaijan trip is finally on for the 14th. And I have the Ukrainians to thank for there being no threat of a Russian invasion there while I'm in-country. Although the Azeris might seek to do something against the Armenians while the Russians are distracted.
Enjoy. I’m tempted to cross the Iraqi border later this week. Maybe go to Erbil. Just to say “I’ve been to Iraq”
I have a friend working their *in special circumstances*. He has the most incredible job: hunting down art thieves and traffickers around the world. Stupidly glamorous and exciting. And well paid. Ex Territorial SAS
Long way East, when "I've been to Syria" is probably at least as cool as Iraq atm.
A friend of mine went solo to Diyarbakir and said being a lone western female there was by a long way the most frightening thing ever to happen to her. Just for info.
I am going to Diyarbakir
I have already been to Syria
3 weeks all around the country, It was the most marvellous place. Aleppo was a jewel. Krak des Chevaliers. Palmyra!!!!
ISIS and the war have destroyed one of the greatest destinations on earth. So awful
Five hours delay at a Turkish airport due to check-in meltdown. Not recommended
My Azerbaijan trip is finally on for the 14th. And I have the Ukrainians to thank for there being no threat of a Russian invasion there while I'm in-country. Although the Azeris might seek to do something against the Armenians while the Russians are distracted.
Enjoy. I’m tempted to cross the Iraqi border later this week. Maybe go to Erbil. Just to say “I’ve been to Iraq”
I have a friend working their *in special circumstances*. He has the most incredible job: hunting down art thieves and traffickers around the world. Stupidly glamorous and exciting. And well paid. Ex Territorial SAS
Long way East, when "I've been to Syria" is probably at least as cool as Iraq atm.
A friend of mine went solo to Diyarbakir and said being a lone western female there was by a long way the most frightening thing ever to happen to her. Just for info.
I can confirm, Diyarbakir at night is no place for a lone Westerner, let alone a lone Western female.
Had a corking day at an event in town yesterday. Hundreds there. No masking (well okay I saw two masks all day, amid the multitude) then off to a busy bar then a busy restaurant. No masks on the Tube or bus. It’s like covid never happened in London - assume (outside Godalming) it’s like that in other towns and cities?
Unusual to see masks in Cannock and generally only among older people.
Love nick and a lot of time for him, but was it him who lied about his canvassing in 2019 to cheer himself up or something? Is he telling porkies about Godalming mask wearing too? Apologies @NickPalmer if I have that wrong, just can’t square your reports with almost everywhere else.
What’s the lying about canvassing reference? I don’t know anything about that.
His accounts of masking In Godalming are barely believable— but it is a very sleepy conservative sort of place. Has a Christian Science library. Anything is possible.
Five hours delay at a Turkish airport due to check-in meltdown. Not recommended
My Azerbaijan trip is finally on for the 14th. And I have the Ukrainians to thank for there being no threat of a Russian invasion there while I'm in-country. Although the Azeris might seek to do something against the Armenians while the Russians are distracted.
Enjoy. I’m tempted to cross the Iraqi border later this week. Maybe go to Erbil. Just to say “I’ve been to Iraq”
I have a friend working their *in special circumstances*. He has the most incredible job: hunting down art thieves and traffickers around the world. Stupidly glamorous and exciting. And well paid. Ex Territorial SAS
Long way East, when "I've been to Syria" is probably at least as cool as Iraq atm.
A friend of mine went solo to Diyarbakir and said being a lone western female there was by a long way the most frightening thing ever to happen to her. Just for info.
I can confirm, Diyarbakir at night is no place for a lone Westerner, let alone a lone Western female.
Really? I’ve been to a few Kurdish-Turkish cities and never felt threatened, ever (but I have not been to Diyarbakir)
Had a corking day at an event in town yesterday. Hundreds there. No masking (well okay I saw two masks all day, amid the multitude) then off to a busy bar then a busy restaurant. No masks on the Tube or bus. It’s like covid never happened in London - assume (outside Godalming) it’s like that in other towns and cities?
Unusual to see masks in Cannock and generally only among older people.
Love nick and a lot of time for him, but was it him who lied about his canvassing in 2019 to cheer himself up or something? Is he telling porkies about Godalming mask wearing too? Apologies @NickPalmer if I have that wrong, just can’t square your reports with almost everywhere else.
What’s the lying about canvassing reference? I don’t know anything about that.
His accounts of masking In Godalming are barely believable— but it is a very sleepy conservative sort of place. Has a Christian Science library. Anything is possible.
One of the labour posters kept saying how it was close on the doorsteps, when in reality it wasn’t, and they knew it. May not have been @NickPalmer.
Five hours delay at a Turkish airport due to check-in meltdown. Not recommended
My Azerbaijan trip is finally on for the 14th. And I have the Ukrainians to thank for there being no threat of a Russian invasion there while I'm in-country. Although the Azeris might seek to do something against the Armenians while the Russians are distracted.
Enjoy. I’m tempted to cross the Iraqi border later this week. Maybe go to Erbil. Just to say “I’ve been to Iraq”
I have a friend working their *in special circumstances*. He has the most incredible job: hunting down art thieves and traffickers around the world. Stupidly glamorous and exciting. And well paid. Ex Territorial SAS
Long way East, when "I've been to Syria" is probably at least as cool as Iraq atm.
A friend of mine went solo to Diyarbakir and said being a lone western female there was by a long way the most frightening thing ever to happen to her. Just for info.
I am going to Diyarbakir
I have already been to Syria
3 weeks all around the country, It was the most marvellous place. Aleppo was a jewel. Krak des Chevaliers. Palmyra!!!!
ISIS and the war have destroyed one of the greatest destinations on earth. So awful
Stayed a week with the Archbishop of Suwayda back in 1982. It boasted the biggest free-standing Roman amphitheatre in the world, and all the main drag, the houses and shops were built with looted Roman columns and friezes. So cool.
Had a corking day at an event in town yesterday. Hundreds there. No masking (well okay I saw two masks all day, amid the multitude) then off to a busy bar then a busy restaurant. No masks on the Tube or bus. It’s like covid never happened in London - assume (outside Godalming) it’s like that in other towns and cities?
Unusual to see masks in Cannock and generally only among older people.
Love nick and a lot of time for him, but was it him who lied about his canvassing in 2019 to cheer himself up or something? Is he telling porkies about Godalming mask wearing too? Apologies @NickPalmer if I have that wrong, just can’t square your reports with almost everywhere else.
Masks were at about 70 per cent in Sainsbury's last Wednesday but I was the only one masked in the fish and chip shop (admittedly from a sample of three). What was odd was one middle-aged couple where the woman was masked but the man was not.
Had a corking day at an event in town yesterday. Hundreds there. No masking (well okay I saw two masks all day, amid the multitude) then off to a busy bar then a busy restaurant. No masks on the Tube or bus. It’s like covid never happened in London - assume (outside Godalming) it’s like that in other towns and cities?
Unusual to see masks in Cannock and generally only among older people.
Love nick and a lot of time for him, but was it him who lied about his canvassing in 2019 to cheer himself up or something? Is he telling porkies about Godalming mask wearing too? Apologies @NickPalmer if I have that wrong, just can’t square your reports with almost everywhere else.
Masks were at about 70 per cent in Sainsbury's last Wednesday but I was the only one masked in the fish and chip shop (admittedly from a sample of three). What was odd was one middle-aged couple where the woman was masked but the man was not.
I don’t that last one is that odd - my wife is still wearing a mask in shops and I am not. We’d count as middle aged.
Had a corking day at an event in town yesterday. Hundreds there. No masking (well okay I saw two masks all day, amid the multitude) then off to a busy bar then a busy restaurant. No masks on the Tube or bus. It’s like covid never happened in London - assume (outside Godalming) it’s like that in other towns and cities?
Unusual to see masks in Cannock and generally only among older people.
Love nick and a lot of time for him, but was it him who lied about his canvassing in 2019 to cheer himself up or something? Is he telling porkies about Godalming mask wearing too? Apologies @NickPalmer if I have that wrong, just can’t square your reports with almost everywhere else.
What’s the lying about canvassing reference? I don’t know anything about that.
His accounts of masking In Godalming are barely believable— but it is a very sleepy conservative sort of place. Has a Christian Science library. Anything is possible.
One of the labour posters kept saying how it was close on the doorsteps, when in reality it wasn’t, and they knew it. May not have been @NickPalmer.
Ah, okay. I simply cannot imagine being so partisan that I would make up stories but several PBers are, regrettably.
Re: masking. I have only worn one once, for 20 minutes, in the last two months. This was because I was invited to the doctor’s surgery for a general check up and the lady on the phone asked me to bring one. I found one buried in the cupboard.
Five hours delay at a Turkish airport due to check-in meltdown. Not recommended
My Azerbaijan trip is finally on for the 14th. And I have the Ukrainians to thank for there being no threat of a Russian invasion there while I'm in-country. Although the Azeris might seek to do something against the Armenians while the Russians are distracted.
Enjoy. I’m tempted to cross the Iraqi border later this week. Maybe go to Erbil. Just to say “I’ve been to Iraq”
I have a friend working their *in special circumstances*. He has the most incredible job: hunting down art thieves and traffickers around the world. Stupidly glamorous and exciting. And well paid. Ex Territorial SAS
Long way East, when "I've been to Syria" is probably at least as cool as Iraq atm.
A friend of mine went solo to Diyarbakir and said being a lone western female there was by a long way the most frightening thing ever to happen to her. Just for info.
I can confirm, Diyarbakir at night is no place for a lone Westerner, let alone a lone Western female.
Really? I’ve been to a few Kurdish-Turkish cities and never felt threatened, ever (but I have not been to Diyarbakir)
Is Diyarbakir uniquely grim, for some reason?
Don't really know. I was there one night. We arrived after dark, the streets were deserted and we were warned not to leave the hotel. I have travelled to all sorts of places, and generally disregard grim warnings from Western officials. But this one just felt deserved.
Everyone we met looked grim, as did the entire town.
That was in 1994, and I believe the Turks had just completed one of their more crushing campaigns against Kurds and particularly small Kurdish villages.
https://twitter.com/b_nishanov/status/1509913543507947526 “Russia wants us to support them but we don’t recognize Crimea, or Donbas. Yes, we are in a union with Russia but it doesn’t apply to this situation. We won’t help Russia avoid US and EU sanctions.” - Deputy chair of the presidential administration in Kazakhstan. This is huge.
That man would have been shot several months ago but for Russian soldiers.
If Putin is losing Kazakhstan, Russia is really in trouble.
To be fair it has been clear from the start that Kazakhstan weren't going to get involved. They made it clear that they wouldn't send troops. How could the president afford to? Same with Lukashenko.
I've been wondering what the economic output figures were for the Soviet Union. Something like:
Had a corking day at an event in town yesterday. Hundreds there. No masking (well okay I saw two masks all day, amid the multitude) then off to a busy bar then a busy restaurant. No masks on the Tube or bus. It’s like covid never happened in London - assume (outside Godalming) it’s like that in other towns and cities?
Unusual to see masks in Cannock and generally only among older people.
Love nick and a lot of time for him, but was it him who lied about his canvassing in 2019 to cheer himself up or something? Is he telling porkies about Godalming mask wearing too? Apologies @NickPalmer if I have that wrong, just can’t square your reports with almost everywhere else.
Masks were at about 70 per cent in Sainsbury's last Wednesday but I was the only one masked in the fish and chip shop (admittedly from a sample of three). What was odd was one middle-aged couple where the woman was masked but the man was not.
Why is that odd, particularly? Married people are (or should be) capable of independent thought.
Had a corking day at an event in town yesterday. Hundreds there. No masking (well okay I saw two masks all day, amid the multitude) then off to a busy bar then a busy restaurant. No masks on the Tube or bus. It’s like covid never happened in London - assume (outside Godalming) it’s like that in other towns and cities?
Unusual to see masks in Cannock and generally only among older people.
Love nick and a lot of time for him, but was it him who lied about his canvassing in 2019 to cheer himself up or something? Is he telling porkies about Godalming mask wearing too? Apologies @NickPalmer if I have that wrong, just can’t square your reports with almost everywhere else.
What’s the lying about canvassing reference? I don’t know anything about that.
His accounts of masking In Godalming are barely believable— but it is a very sleepy conservative sort of place. Has a Christian Science library. Anything is possible.
One of the labour posters kept saying how it was close on the doorsteps, when in reality it wasn’t, and they knew it. May not have been @NickPalmer.
Ah, okay. I simply cannot imagine being so partisan that I would make up stories but several PBers are, regrettably.
Re: masking. I have only worn one once, for 20 minutes, in the last two months. This was because I was invited to the doctor’s surgery for a general check up and the lady on the phone asked me to bring one. I found one buried in the cupboard.
Sadly our uni has kept them for busy environments and I’ve had a lot of lab classes in the last 5 weeks. Up to 6 hours a day. The uni is supposed to be reviewing at the holidays, but no one is sure if that is Easter (one week away) or summer (9 weeks at least). Very little proper logic has been applied. I note that Oxford has dropped all mask requirements.
Five hours delay at a Turkish airport due to check-in meltdown. Not recommended
My Azerbaijan trip is finally on for the 14th. And I have the Ukrainians to thank for there being no threat of a Russian invasion there while I'm in-country. Although the Azeris might seek to do something against the Armenians while the Russians are distracted.
Enjoy. I’m tempted to cross the Iraqi border later this week. Maybe go to Erbil. Just to say “I’ve been to Iraq”
I have a friend working their *in special circumstances*. He has the most incredible job: hunting down art thieves and traffickers around the world. Stupidly glamorous and exciting. And well paid. Ex Territorial SAS
Long way East, when "I've been to Syria" is probably at least as cool as Iraq atm.
A friend of mine went solo to Diyarbakir and said being a lone western female there was by a long way the most frightening thing ever to happen to her. Just for info.
I can confirm, Diyarbakir at night is no place for a lone Westerner, let alone a lone Western female.
Really? I’ve been to a few Kurdish-Turkish cities and never felt threatened, ever (but I have not been to Diyarbakir)
Is Diyarbakir uniquely grim, for some reason?
Don't really know. I was there one night. We arrived after dark, the streets were deserted and we were warned not to leave the hotel. I have travelled to all sorts of places, and generally disregard grim warnings from Western officials. But this one just felt deserved.
Everyone we met looked grim, as did the entire town.
That was in 1994, and I believe the Turks had just completed one of their more crushing campaigns against Kurds and particularly small Kurdish villages.
Perhaps it is different now.
That’s quite a long time ago. Kurdistan is always restive but the violence comes and goes. Hmm
Had a corking day at an event in town yesterday. Hundreds there. No masking (well okay I saw two masks all day, amid the multitude) then off to a busy bar then a busy restaurant. No masks on the Tube or bus. It’s like covid never happened in London - assume (outside Godalming) it’s like that in other towns and cities?
Unusual to see masks in Cannock and generally only among older people.
Love nick and a lot of time for him, but was it him who lied about his canvassing in 2019 to cheer himself up or something? Is he telling porkies about Godalming mask wearing too? Apologies @NickPalmer if I have that wrong, just can’t square your reports with almost everywhere else.
What’s the lying about canvassing reference? I don’t know anything about that.
His accounts of masking In Godalming are barely believable— but it is a very sleepy conservative sort of place. Has a Christian Science library. Anything is possible.
One of the labour posters kept saying how it was close on the doorsteps, when in reality it wasn’t, and they knew it. May not have been @NickPalmer.
Ah, okay. I simply cannot imagine being so partisan that I would make up stories but several PBers are, regrettably.
Re: masking. I have only worn one once, for 20 minutes, in the last two months. This was because I was invited to the doctor’s surgery for a general check up and the lady on the phone asked me to bring one. I found one buried in the cupboard.
Sadly our uni has kept them for busy environments and I’ve had a lot of lab classes in the last 5 weeks. Up to 6 hours a day. The uni is supposed to be reviewing at the holidays, but no one is sure if that is Easter (one week away) or summer (9 weeks at least). Very little proper logic has been applied. I note that Oxford has dropped all mask requirements.
I find it totally bizarre that some universities have retained them when they are no longer required (and rarely worn) in schools, shops, pubs, restaurants, buses, tubes or trains. It’s irrational: what exactly is the point?
Had a corking day at an event in town yesterday. Hundreds there. No masking (well okay I saw two masks all day, amid the multitude) then off to a busy bar then a busy restaurant. No masks on the Tube or bus. It’s like covid never happened in London - assume (outside Godalming) it’s like that in other towns and cities?
London is absolutely bustling at the mo. Full of verve and excited young people
The summer should be amazing if it isn’t fucked up by war/plague/famine/global poverty/Armageddon
Or by a creeping sense of gloom that Boris Johnson is still PM.
https://twitter.com/b_nishanov/status/1509913543507947526 “Russia wants us to support them but we don’t recognize Crimea, or Donbas. Yes, we are in a union with Russia but it doesn’t apply to this situation. We won’t help Russia avoid US and EU sanctions.” - Deputy chair of the presidential administration in Kazakhstan. This is huge.
That man would have been shot several months ago but for Russian soldiers.
If Putin is losing Kazakhstan, Russia is really in trouble.
To be fair it has been clear from the start that Kazakhstan weren't going to get involved. They made it clear that they wouldn't send troops. How could the president afford to? Same with Lukashenko.
I've been wondering what the economic output figures were for the Soviet Union. Something like:
Russia 65% Ukraine 18% Kazakhstan 4%
I don't have the figures to hand but given the petrochemical resources of Kazakhstan that seems a bit unlikely.
Five hours delay at a Turkish airport due to check-in meltdown. Not recommended
My Azerbaijan trip is finally on for the 14th. And I have the Ukrainians to thank for there being no threat of a Russian invasion there while I'm in-country. Although the Azeris might seek to do something against the Armenians while the Russians are distracted.
Enjoy. I’m tempted to cross the Iraqi border later this week. Maybe go to Erbil. Just to say “I’ve been to Iraq”
I have a friend working their *in special circumstances*. He has the most incredible job: hunting down art thieves and traffickers around the world. Stupidly glamorous and exciting. And well paid. Ex Territorial SAS
Long way East, when "I've been to Syria" is probably at least as cool as Iraq atm.
A friend of mine went solo to Diyarbakir and said being a lone western female there was by a long way the most frightening thing ever to happen to her. Just for info.
I can confirm, Diyarbakir at night is no place for a lone Westerner, let alone a lone Western female.
Really? I’ve been to a few Kurdish-Turkish cities and never felt threatened, ever (but I have not been to Diyarbakir)
Is Diyarbakir uniquely grim, for some reason?
Don't really know. I was there one night. We arrived after dark, the streets were deserted and we were warned not to leave the hotel. I have travelled to all sorts of places, and generally disregard grim warnings from Western officials. But this one just felt deserved.
Everyone we met looked grim, as did the entire town.
That was in 1994, and I believe the Turks had just completed one of their more crushing campaigns against Kurds and particularly small Kurdish villages.
Perhaps it is different now.
That’s quite a long time ago. Kurdistan is always restive but the violence comes and goes. Hmm
Let us know what it is like now. I'd be very interested if it is a bustling and friendly place.
Five hours delay at a Turkish airport due to check-in meltdown. Not recommended
My Azerbaijan trip is finally on for the 14th. And I have the Ukrainians to thank for there being no threat of a Russian invasion there while I'm in-country. Although the Azeris might seek to do something against the Armenians while the Russians are distracted.
Enjoy. I’m tempted to cross the Iraqi border later this week. Maybe go to Erbil. Just to say “I’ve been to Iraq”
I have a friend working their *in special circumstances*. He has the most incredible job: hunting down art thieves and traffickers around the world. Stupidly glamorous and exciting. And well paid. Ex Territorial SAS
Long way East, when "I've been to Syria" is probably at least as cool as Iraq atm.
A friend of mine went solo to Diyarbakir and said being a lone western female there was by a long way the most frightening thing ever to happen to her. Just for info.
I am going to Diyarbakir
I have already been to Syria
3 weeks all around the country, It was the most marvellous place. Aleppo was a jewel. Krak des Chevaliers. Palmyra!!!!
ISIS and the war have destroyed one of the greatest destinations on earth. So awful
ISIS was to Syria what thatcher was to working class northern communities.
Five hours delay at a Turkish airport due to check-in meltdown. Not recommended
My Azerbaijan trip is finally on for the 14th. And I have the Ukrainians to thank for there being no threat of a Russian invasion there while I'm in-country. Although the Azeris might seek to do something against the Armenians while the Russians are distracted.
Enjoy. I’m tempted to cross the Iraqi border later this week. Maybe go to Erbil. Just to say “I’ve been to Iraq”
I have a friend working their *in special circumstances*. He has the most incredible job: hunting down art thieves and traffickers around the world. Stupidly glamorous and exciting. And well paid. Ex Territorial SAS
Long way East, when "I've been to Syria" is probably at least as cool as Iraq atm.
A friend of mine went solo to Diyarbakir and said being a lone western female there was by a long way the most frightening thing ever to happen to her. Just for info.
I can confirm, Diyarbakir at night is no place for a lone Westerner, let alone a lone Western female.
Really? I’ve been to a few Kurdish-Turkish cities and never felt threatened, ever (but I have not been to Diyarbakir)
Is Diyarbakir uniquely grim, for some reason?
Don't really know. I was there one night. We arrived after dark, the streets were deserted and we were warned not to leave the hotel. I have travelled to all sorts of places, and generally disregard grim warnings from Western officials. But this one just felt deserved.
Everyone we met looked grim, as did the entire town.
That was in 1994, and I believe the Turks had just completed one of their more crushing campaigns against Kurds and particularly small Kurdish villages.
Perhaps it is different now.
That’s quite a long time ago. Kurdistan is always restive but the violence comes and goes. Hmm
Let us know what it is like now. I'd be very interested if it is a bustling and friendly place.
It’s still on the FCO “essential travel only” list but they are famously cautious. I see Sweden has just lifted its advisory against travel there
Maybe I’ll go to cappadoccia instead. Never been there either.
Internal flights in Turkey are madly cheap right now. You can cross the entire county - and it’s big - for £40
Had a corking day at an event in town yesterday. Hundreds there. No masking (well okay I saw two masks all day, amid the multitude) then off to a busy bar then a busy restaurant. No masks on the Tube or bus. It’s like covid never happened in London - assume (outside Godalming) it’s like that in other towns and cities?
Unusual to see masks in Cannock and generally only among older people.
Love nick and a lot of time for him, but was it him who lied about his canvassing in 2019 to cheer himself up or something? Is he telling porkies about Godalming mask wearing too? Apologies @NickPalmer if I have that wrong, just can’t square your reports with almost everywhere else.
Masks were at about 70 per cent in Sainsbury's last Wednesday but I was the only one masked in the fish and chip shop (admittedly from a sample of three). What was odd was one middle-aged couple where the woman was masked but the man was not.
No, I don't make stuff up, though like all politicians I can do spin. I'm mildly in favour of caution but certainly not to the extent of inventing reports of masks in one random shop on a blog - what would I get out of it? I think it's just patchy, and if people see a lot of masks they put one on, and if they don't they don't. I've not been in a shop for 10 days, though, so no idea what's happening at the moment.
As for 2009, I remember I used to be accused of making stuff up, but I predicted I had a good chance in 2010, and so it proved - I lost by 0.7%, well below the national swing. It's a long time ago now and I may well have had some optimism bias in my canvassing too, but I don't think I ever invented anything
Edit: I see you're referring to 2019, not 2009! I was engaged in Portsmouth South then, which Labour held against various predictions. Not especially through my efforts! - but I do remember saying the LibDems were claiming they were better-placed to bea tthe Tories, but people weren't buying it (seeing as how there was a sitting Labour MP). That's quite recent and I'm sure I didn't say anything misleading.
Generally, no. Prolly best I PM you daily rather than clutter up the site.
NCAYWS gets literally zero Google hits (of any significance)
Has PB developed a new slang…. And I missed out??
*sad face*
Nobody cares about your wor[l]dle score
Ah. But that’s wrong, Alistair cared, or at least he cared enough to belittle me with a much better score. I’ll take that
When you complete a cryptic crossword do you wave it around for all to see then go on the internet to brag about it?
I’ve still got three hours 20 minutes til my (totally fucked up) internal Turkish flight. So, yeah, I probably would, right now
I tried to read THE DAWN OF EVERYTHING that much praised early human history, but no one told me it was quasi-Marxist drivel, full of howling errors, and written in the most cringeworthy *first person plural* style
Appalling nonsense. So here I am on PB. Soz boz apolibobs
The first line of the Amazon description was enough to put me off...
Renowned activist and public intellectual David Graeber teams up with professor of comparative archaeology David Wengrow
There's nothing I find more tedious that renowned activists, public intellectuals and professors of comparative archaeology.
https://twitter.com/b_nishanov/status/1509913543507947526 “Russia wants us to support them but we don’t recognize Crimea, or Donbas. Yes, we are in a union with Russia but it doesn’t apply to this situation. We won’t help Russia avoid US and EU sanctions.” - Deputy chair of the presidential administration in Kazakhstan. This is huge.
The chances of the Georgians being pro-Russian is approximately zero. I guess they now feel more confident piling in with sanctions and have worked out the Russians aren't a threat.
General Staff: Russia transfers 2,000 troops from occupied parts of Georgia to Ukraine.
According to Ukraine’s military, 5 battalion tactical groups were sent from military bases in Russian-occupied South Ossetia and Abkhazia to strengthen the Russian army attacking Ukraine. https://twitter.com/KyivIndependent/status/1509061779195928576
Five hours delay at a Turkish airport due to check-in meltdown. Not recommended
My Azerbaijan trip is finally on for the 14th. And I have the Ukrainians to thank for there being no threat of a Russian invasion there while I'm in-country. Although the Azeris might seek to do something against the Armenians while the Russians are distracted.
Enjoy. I’m tempted to cross the Iraqi border later this week. Maybe go to Erbil. Just to say “I’ve been to Iraq”
I have a friend working their *in special circumstances*. He has the most incredible job: hunting down art thieves and traffickers around the world. Stupidly glamorous and exciting. And well paid. Ex Territorial SAS
Long way East, when "I've been to Syria" is probably at least as cool as Iraq atm.
A friend of mine went solo to Diyarbakir and said being a lone western female there was by a long way the most frightening thing ever to happen to her. Just for info.
I think @Leon already knows the effect he has on women.
Had a corking day at an event in town yesterday. Hundreds there. No masking (well okay I saw two masks all day, amid the multitude) then off to a busy bar then a busy restaurant. No masks on the Tube or bus. It’s like covid never happened in London - assume (outside Godalming) it’s like that in other towns and cities?
Unusual to see masks in Cannock and generally only among older people.
Love nick and a lot of time for him, but was it him who lied about his canvassing in 2019 to cheer himself up or something? Is he telling porkies about Godalming mask wearing too? Apologies @NickPalmer if I have that wrong, just can’t square your reports with almost everywhere else.
What’s the lying about canvassing reference? I don’t know anything about that.
His accounts of masking In Godalming are barely believable— but it is a very sleepy conservative sort of place. Has a Christian Science library. Anything is possible.
One of the labour posters kept saying how it was close on the doorsteps, when in reality it wasn’t, and they knew it. May not have been @NickPalmer.
Ah, okay. I simply cannot imagine being so partisan that I would make up stories but several PBers are, regrettably.
Re: masking. I have only worn one once, for 20 minutes, in the last two months. This was because I was invited to the doctor’s surgery for a general check up and the lady on the phone asked me to bring one. I found one buried in the cupboard.
Sadly our uni has kept them for busy environments and I’ve had a lot of lab classes in the last 5 weeks. Up to 6 hours a day. The uni is supposed to be reviewing at the holidays, but no one is sure if that is Easter (one week away) or summer (9 weeks at least). Very little proper logic has been applied. I note that Oxford has dropped all mask requirements.
I find it totally bizarre that some universities have retained them when they are no longer required (and rarely worn) in schools, shops, pubs, restaurants, buses, tubes or trains. It’s irrational: what exactly is the point?
Where I work appears to be threatening to keep 2m social distancing of desks and masks when moving about, even after Scotland's legal mask mandates expire. Joy.
I hope they are planning to review further and are just being cautious until the governments give up their caution, but I really don't trust them not to continue with their own over-caution.
Five hours delay at a Turkish airport due to check-in meltdown. Not recommended
My Azerbaijan trip is finally on for the 14th. And I have the Ukrainians to thank for there being no threat of a Russian invasion there while I'm in-country. Although the Azeris might seek to do something against the Armenians while the Russians are distracted.
Enjoy. I’m tempted to cross the Iraqi border later this week. Maybe go to Erbil. Just to say “I’ve been to Iraq”
I have a friend working their *in special circumstances*. He has the most incredible job: hunting down art thieves and traffickers around the world. Stupidly glamorous and exciting. And well paid. Ex Territorial SAS
Long way East, when "I've been to Syria" is probably at least as cool as Iraq atm.
A friend of mine went solo to Diyarbakir and said being a lone western female there was by a long way the most frightening thing ever to happen to her. Just for info.
I am going to Diyarbakir
I have already been to Syria
3 weeks all around the country, It was the most marvellous place. Aleppo was a jewel. Krak des Chevaliers. Palmyra!!!!
ISIS and the war have destroyed one of the greatest destinations on earth. So awful
Stayed a week with the Archbishop of Suwayda back in 1982. It boasted the biggest free-standing Roman amphitheatre in the world, and all the main drag, the houses and shops were built with looted Roman columns and friezes. So cool.
Funny how the memory tricks you. The Roman Theatre I was sure was in Suwayda is in fact about 10 miles south in the village of Busra.
Generally, no. Prolly best I PM you daily rather than clutter up the site.
NCAYWS gets literally zero Google hits (of any significance)
Has PB developed a new slang…. And I missed out??
*sad face*
Nobody cares about your wor[l]dle score
Ah. But that’s wrong, Alistair cared, or at least he cared enough to belittle me with a much better score. I’ll take that
When you complete a cryptic crossword do you wave it around for all to see then go on the internet to brag about it?
I’ve still got three hours 20 minutes til my (totally fucked up) internal Turkish flight. So, yeah, I probably would, right now
I tried to read THE DAWN OF EVERYTHING that much praised early human history, but no one told me it was quasi-Marxist drivel, full of howling errors, and written in the most cringeworthy *first person plural* style
Appalling nonsense. So here I am on PB. Soz boz apolibobs
The first line of the Amazon description was enough to put me off...
Renowned activist and public intellectual David Graeber teams up with professor of comparative archaeology David Wengrow
There's nothing I find more tedious that renowned activists, public intellectuals and professors of comparative archaeology.
It’s genuinely terrible. Like; OMFG bad
It makes crass errors from page 1. I am unusually well read on human prehistory but still. These were GCSE fail mistakes
Had a corking day at an event in town yesterday. Hundreds there. No masking (well okay I saw two masks all day, amid the multitude) then off to a busy bar then a busy restaurant. No masks on the Tube or bus. It’s like covid never happened in London - assume (outside Godalming) it’s like that in other towns and cities?
Unusual to see masks in Cannock and generally only among older people.
Love nick and a lot of time for him, but was it him who lied about his canvassing in 2019 to cheer himself up or something? Is he telling porkies about Godalming mask wearing too? Apologies @NickPalmer if I have that wrong, just can’t square your reports with almost everywhere else.
What’s the lying about canvassing reference? I don’t know anything about that.
His accounts of masking In Godalming are barely believable— but it is a very sleepy conservative sort of place. Has a Christian Science library. Anything is possible.
One of the labour posters kept saying how it was close on the doorsteps, when in reality it wasn’t, and they knew it. May not have been @NickPalmer.
Ah, okay. I simply cannot imagine being so partisan that I would make up stories but several PBers are, regrettably.
Re: masking. I have only worn one once, for 20 minutes, in the last two months. This was because I was invited to the doctor’s surgery for a general check up and the lady on the phone asked me to bring one. I found one buried in the cupboard.
Sadly our uni has kept them for busy environments and I’ve had a lot of lab classes in the last 5 weeks. Up to 6 hours a day. The uni is supposed to be reviewing at the holidays, but no one is sure if that is Easter (one week away) or summer (9 weeks at least). Very little proper logic has been applied. I note that Oxford has dropped all mask requirements.
I find it totally bizarre that some universities have retained them when they are no longer required (and rarely worn) in schools, shops, pubs, restaurants, buses, tubes or trains. It’s irrational: what exactly is the point?
The rationale is to avoid disruption from staff and students being off. We’ve had a fair number of colleagues off. Some content they have been able to deliver from home or from previous recordings, other sessions have been covered (as I have done a lot of this last few weeks). I don’t believe the half arsed masking in some places but not others on campus has made any difference, but sadly I don’t make the call...
Had a corking day at an event in town yesterday. Hundreds there. No masking (well okay I saw two masks all day, amid the multitude) then off to a busy bar then a busy restaurant. No masks on the Tube or bus. It’s like covid never happened in London - assume (outside Godalming) it’s like that in other towns and cities?
Unusual to see masks in Cannock and generally only among older people.
Love nick and a lot of time for him, but was it him who lied about his canvassing in 2019 to cheer himself up or something? Is he telling porkies about Godalming mask wearing too? Apologies @NickPalmer if I have that wrong, just can’t square your reports with almost everywhere else.
Masks were at about 70 per cent in Sainsbury's last Wednesday but I was the only one masked in the fish and chip shop (admittedly from a sample of three). What was odd was one middle-aged couple where the woman was masked but the man was not.
No, I don't make stuff up, though like all politicians I can do spin. I'm mildly in favour of caution but certainly not to the extent of inventing reports of masks in one random shop on a blog - what would I get out of it? I think it's just patchy, and if people see a lot of masks they put one on, and if they don't they don't. I've not been in a shop for 10 days, though, so no idea what's happening at the moment.
As for 2009, I remember I used to be accused of making stuff up, but I predicted I had a good chance in 2010, and so it proved - I lost by 0.7%, well below the national swing. It's a long time ago now and I may well have had some optimism bias in my canvassing too, but I don't think I ever invented anything
Edit: I see you're referring to 2019, not 2009! I was engaged in Portsmouth South then, which Labour held against various predictions. Not especially through my efforts! - but I do remember saying the LibDems were claiming they were better-placed to bea tthe Tories, but people weren't buying it (seeing as how there was a sitting Labour MP). That's quite recent and I'm sure I didn't say anything misleading.
Five hours delay at a Turkish airport due to check-in meltdown. Not recommended
My Azerbaijan trip is finally on for the 14th. And I have the Ukrainians to thank for there being no threat of a Russian invasion there while I'm in-country. Although the Azeris might seek to do something against the Armenians while the Russians are distracted.
Enjoy. I’m tempted to cross the Iraqi border later this week. Maybe go to Erbil. Just to say “I’ve been to Iraq”
I have a friend working their *in special circumstances*. He has the most incredible job: hunting down art thieves and traffickers around the world. Stupidly glamorous and exciting. And well paid. Ex Territorial SAS
Long way East, when "I've been to Syria" is probably at least as cool as Iraq atm.
A friend of mine went solo to Diyarbakir and said being a lone western female there was by a long way the most frightening thing ever to happen to her. Just for info.
I am going to Diyarbakir
I have already been to Syria
3 weeks all around the country, It was the most marvellous place. Aleppo was a jewel. Krak des Chevaliers. Palmyra!!!!
ISIS and the war have destroyed one of the greatest destinations on earth. So awful
Stayed a week with the Archbishop of Suwayda back in 1982. It boasted the biggest free-standing Roman amphitheatre in the world, and all the main drag, the houses and shops were built with looted Roman columns and friezes. So cool.
Funny how the memory tricks you. The Roman Theatre I was sure was in Suwayda is in fact about 10 miles south in the village of Busra.
Have you been to cappadoccia? I know it’s a tourist cliche but I’ve never been and I have spare days at the end of my Knappers Gazette assignment. Shame to waste them somewhere boring (or boringly dangerous)
I could go anywhere in Turkey! Oooh
I’ve always been tempted by Trebizond just because of the romantic name, but I’ve heard it’s quite dull
Five hours delay at a Turkish airport due to check-in meltdown. Not recommended
My Azerbaijan trip is finally on for the 14th. And I have the Ukrainians to thank for there being no threat of a Russian invasion there while I'm in-country. Although the Azeris might seek to do something against the Armenians while the Russians are distracted.
Enjoy. I’m tempted to cross the Iraqi border later this week. Maybe go to Erbil. Just to say “I’ve been to Iraq”
I have a friend working their *in special circumstances*. He has the most incredible job: hunting down art thieves and traffickers around the world. Stupidly glamorous and exciting. And well paid. Ex Territorial SAS
Long way East, when "I've been to Syria" is probably at least as cool as Iraq atm.
A friend of mine went solo to Diyarbakir and said being a lone western female there was by a long way the most frightening thing ever to happen to her. Just for info.
I can confirm, Diyarbakir at night is no place for a lone Westerner, let alone a lone Western female.
Really? I’ve been to a few Kurdish-Turkish cities and never felt threatened, ever (but I have not been to Diyarbakir)
Is Diyarbakir uniquely grim, for some reason?
Don't really know. I was there one night. We arrived after dark, the streets were deserted and we were warned not to leave the hotel. I have travelled to all sorts of places, and generally disregard grim warnings from Western officials. But this one just felt deserved.
Everyone we met looked grim, as did the entire town.
That was in 1994, and I believe the Turks had just completed one of their more crushing campaigns against Kurds and particularly small Kurdish villages.
Perhaps it is different now.
That’s quite a long time ago. Kurdistan is always restive but the violence comes and goes. Hmm
Let us know what it is like now. I'd be very interested if it is a bustling and friendly place.
It’s still on the FCO “essential travel only” list but they are famously cautious. I see Sweden has just lifted its advisory against travel there
Maybe I’ll go to cappadoccia instead. Never been there either.
Internal flights in Turkey are madly cheap right now. You can cross the entire county - and it’s big - for £40
Some prices are still absurdly cheap. I flew to Albania recently for less than £50 return and I'm looking at Poland in June and you can get flights for £20 each way.
Generally, no. Prolly best I PM you daily rather than clutter up the site.
NCAYWS gets literally zero Google hits (of any significance)
Has PB developed a new slang…. And I missed out??
*sad face*
Nobody cares about your wor[l]dle score
Ah. But that’s wrong, Alistair cared, or at least he cared enough to belittle me with a much better score. I’ll take that
When you complete a cryptic crossword do you wave it around for all to see then go on the internet to brag about it?
I’ve still got three hours 20 minutes til my (totally fucked up) internal Turkish flight. So, yeah, I probably would, right now
I tried to read THE DAWN OF EVERYTHING that much praised early human history, but no one told me it was quasi-Marxist drivel, full of howling errors, and written in the most cringeworthy *first person plural* style
Appalling nonsense. So here I am on PB. Soz boz apolibobs
The first line of the Amazon description was enough to put me off...
Renowned activist and public intellectual David Graeber teams up with professor of comparative archaeology David Wengrow
There's nothing I find more tedious that renowned activists, public intellectuals and professors of comparative archaeology.
I found it really interesting, with lots of offbeat and alternative ideas about societies. Indeed the whole thrust of the book is that the linear model of history favoured by Marxists is wrong. Graeber is an anarchist, not a Marxist.
Its philosophical musing on the three essenial elements of freedom are quite the alternative view.
Generally, no. Prolly best I PM you daily rather than clutter up the site.
NCAYWS gets literally zero Google hits (of any significance)
Has PB developed a new slang…. And I missed out??
*sad face*
Nobody cares about your wor[l]dle score
Ah. But that’s wrong, Alistair cared, or at least he cared enough to belittle me with a much better score. I’ll take that
When you complete a cryptic crossword do you wave it around for all to see then go on the internet to brag about it?
I’ve still got three hours 20 minutes til my (totally fucked up) internal Turkish flight. So, yeah, I probably would, right now
I tried to read THE DAWN OF EVERYTHING that much praised early human history, but no one told me it was quasi-Marxist drivel, full of howling errors, and written in the most cringeworthy *first person plural* style
Appalling nonsense. So here I am on PB. Soz boz apolibobs
The first line of the Amazon description was enough to put me off...
Renowned activist and public intellectual David Graeber teams up with professor of comparative archaeology David Wengrow
There's nothing I find more tedious that renowned activists, public intellectuals and professors of comparative archaeology.
I found it really interesting, with lots of offbeat and alternative ideas about societies. Indeed the whole thrust of the book is that the linear model of history favoured by Marxists is wrong. Graeber is an anarchist, not a Marxist.
Its philosophical musing on the three essenial elements of freedom are quite the alternative view.
Had a corking day at an event in town yesterday. Hundreds there. No masking (well okay I saw two masks all day, amid the multitude) then off to a busy bar then a busy restaurant. No masks on the Tube or bus. It’s like covid never happened in London - assume (outside Godalming) it’s like that in other towns and cities?
Unusual to see masks in Cannock and generally only among older people.
Love nick and a lot of time for him, but was it him who lied about his canvassing in 2019 to cheer himself up or something? Is he telling porkies about Godalming mask wearing too? Apologies @NickPalmer if I have that wrong, just can’t square your reports with almost everywhere else.
What’s the lying about canvassing reference? I don’t know anything about that.
His accounts of masking In Godalming are barely believable— but it is a very sleepy conservative sort of place. Has a Christian Science library. Anything is possible.
One of the labour posters kept saying how it was close on the doorsteps, when in reality it wasn’t, and they knew it. May not have been @NickPalmer.
Ah, okay. I simply cannot imagine being so partisan that I would make up stories but several PBers are, regrettably.
Re: masking. I have only worn one once, for 20 minutes, in the last two months. This was because I was invited to the doctor’s surgery for a general check up and the lady on the phone asked me to bring one. I found one buried in the cupboard.
Sadly our uni has kept them for busy environments and I’ve had a lot of lab classes in the last 5 weeks. Up to 6 hours a day. The uni is supposed to be reviewing at the holidays, but no one is sure if that is Easter (one week away) or summer (9 weeks at least). Very little proper logic has been applied. I note that Oxford has dropped all mask requirements.
I find it totally bizarre that some universities have retained them when they are no longer required (and rarely worn) in schools, shops, pubs, restaurants, buses, tubes or trains. It’s irrational: what exactly is the point?
Where I work appears to be threatening to keep 2m social distancing of desks and masks when moving about, even after Scotland's legal mask mandates expire. Joy.
I hope they are planning to review further and are just being cautious until the governments give up their caution, but I really don't trust them not to continue with their own over-caution.
It is completely irrational.
You see it on here: “I don’t always wear my mask but I might wear it on a train”. Why a train? And do you remove it to drink your coffee on said train? And if not how do you drink your coffee? And if you do remove it, why bother wearing it at all? And if you do wear it on the train, do you wear it in the pub? And when in the pub, how do drink your pint with a mask on?
I dare say the individual outcomes with sporadic masking versus no masking will be near identical.
Generally, no. Prolly best I PM you daily rather than clutter up the site.
NCAYWS gets literally zero Google hits (of any significance)
Has PB developed a new slang…. And I missed out??
*sad face*
Nobody cares about your wor[l]dle score
Ah. But that’s wrong, Alistair cared, or at least he cared enough to belittle me with a much better score. I’ll take that
When you complete a cryptic crossword do you wave it around for all to see then go on the internet to brag about it?
I’ve still got three hours 20 minutes til my (totally fucked up) internal Turkish flight. So, yeah, I probably would, right now
I tried to read THE DAWN OF EVERYTHING that much praised early human history, but no one told me it was quasi-Marxist drivel, full of howling errors, and written in the most cringeworthy *first person plural* style
Appalling nonsense. So here I am on PB. Soz boz apolibobs
The first line of the Amazon description was enough to put me off...
Renowned activist and public intellectual David Graeber teams up with professor of comparative archaeology David Wengrow
There's nothing I find more tedious that renowned activists, public intellectuals and professors of comparative archaeology.
I found it really interesting, with lots of offbeat and alternative ideas about societies. Indeed the whole thrust of the book is that the linear model of history favoured by Marxists is wrong. Graeber is an anarchist, not a Marxist.
Its philosophical musing on the three essenial elements of freedom are quite the alternative view.
NARRATOR, TRANSLATING
“Offbeat” = *wrong*
“Alternative” = *laughably wrong*
To people with closed minds, I am sure that is the case.
Five hours delay at a Turkish airport due to check-in meltdown. Not recommended
My Azerbaijan trip is finally on for the 14th. And I have the Ukrainians to thank for there being no threat of a Russian invasion there while I'm in-country. Although the Azeris might seek to do something against the Armenians while the Russians are distracted.
Enjoy. I’m tempted to cross the Iraqi border later this week. Maybe go to Erbil. Just to say “I’ve been to Iraq”
I have a friend working their *in special circumstances*. He has the most incredible job: hunting down art thieves and traffickers around the world. Stupidly glamorous and exciting. And well paid. Ex Territorial SAS
Long way East, when "I've been to Syria" is probably at least as cool as Iraq atm.
A friend of mine went solo to Diyarbakir and said being a lone western female there was by a long way the most frightening thing ever to happen to her. Just for info.
I can confirm, Diyarbakir at night is no place for a lone Westerner, let alone a lone Western female.
Really? I’ve been to a few Kurdish-Turkish cities and never felt threatened, ever (but I have not been to Diyarbakir)
Is Diyarbakir uniquely grim, for some reason?
Don't really know. I was there one night. We arrived after dark, the streets were deserted and we were warned not to leave the hotel. I have travelled to all sorts of places, and generally disregard grim warnings from Western officials. But this one just felt deserved.
Everyone we met looked grim, as did the entire town.
That was in 1994, and I believe the Turks had just completed one of their more crushing campaigns against Kurds and particularly small Kurdish villages.
Perhaps it is different now.
That’s quite a long time ago. Kurdistan is always restive but the violence comes and goes. Hmm
Let us know what it is like now. I'd be very interested if it is a bustling and friendly place.
It’s still on the FCO “essential travel only” list but they are famously cautious. I see Sweden has just lifted its advisory against travel there
Maybe I’ll go to cappadoccia instead. Never been there either.
Internal flights in Turkey are madly cheap right now. You can cross the entire county - and it’s big - for £40
Some prices are still absurdly cheap. I flew to Albania recently for less than £50 return and I'm looking at Poland in June and you can get flights for £20 each way.
It is a great time to travel, especially to unexpected places, as all the covid faff falls away
The entirety of covid red tape to get into Turkey is: 2 minutes filling in a health form online. That’s it
No tests no nothing no vaccine checks. Ditto on your return to the UK
Masks are quite common here (so far) but lots don’t wear them and no one seems to care. It’s like a less Nazi version of godalming, indeed I think the Turkish tourist board are now using that comparison as a selling point
Generally, no. Prolly best I PM you daily rather than clutter up the site.
NCAYWS gets literally zero Google hits (of any significance)
Has PB developed a new slang…. And I missed out??
*sad face*
Nobody cares about your wor[l]dle score
Ah. But that’s wrong, Alistair cared, or at least he cared enough to belittle me with a much better score. I’ll take that
When you complete a cryptic crossword do you wave it around for all to see then go on the internet to brag about it?
I’ve still got three hours 20 minutes til my (totally fucked up) internal Turkish flight. So, yeah, I probably would, right now
I tried to read THE DAWN OF EVERYTHING that much praised early human history, but no one told me it was quasi-Marxist drivel, full of howling errors, and written in the most cringeworthy *first person plural* style
Appalling nonsense. So here I am on PB. Soz boz apolibobs
The first line of the Amazon description was enough to put me off...
Renowned activist and public intellectual David Graeber teams up with professor of comparative archaeology David Wengrow
There's nothing I find more tedious that renowned activists, public intellectuals and professors of comparative archaeology.
I found it really interesting, with lots of offbeat and alternative ideas about societies. Indeed the whole thrust of the book is that the linear model of history favoured by Marxists is wrong. Graeber is an anarchist, not a Marxist.
Its philosophical musing on the three essenial elements of freedom are quite the alternative view.
NARRATOR, TRANSLATING
“Offbeat” = *wrong*
“Alternative” = *laughably wrong*
To people with closed minds, I am sure that is the case.
Trust me, I have the opposite of a closed mind. I think we might be being visited by alien drones FFS
But I also know a LOT of prehistory - it’s a personal passion - and I therefore know when someone is spouting wishful thinking bollocks about prehistory. Which is what that book largely consists of. Yearning hopeful nonsense
Wordle: got in 4, 2 last letter options, guessed right Quordle: 4,6,7,8. Happy with efficiency of guesses, I've guessed some right junk in the past and .improving in that respect. Not made lower than 8 yet though. Nerdle: fFirst time I've ended with about 4 equivalent digits to randomly guess from. Did a tie break guess, but 5 the worst I've done in a month. Wardle: Homed in quickly after my usual coastal first guess. Got in 3. Can't believe I didn't notice the arrows for a few weeks. Worldle: Thought, that looks like the sort of country that occurs in a particular area of the world, and then circled that region until landing on the 5th guess. Hard, a bit, but at least it wasn't the bloody Kergeulen Islands again. Globle: The usual triangle of countries approach once close yielded it in 5. Average dropping slowly, hoping to get sub 6 soon.
Sweardle, lewdle and the rest: sorry, swear engine too limited and not dialecty enough - they don't know half my words, I don't know half theirs. Sacked them off weeks ago.
Had a corking day at an event in town yesterday. Hundreds there. No masking (well okay I saw two masks all day, amid the multitude) then off to a busy bar then a busy restaurant. No masks on the Tube or bus. It’s like covid never happened in London - assume (outside Godalming) it’s like that in other towns and cities?
Unusual to see masks in Cannock and generally only among older people.
Love nick and a lot of time for him, but was it him who lied about his canvassing in 2019 to cheer himself up or something? Is he telling porkies about Godalming mask wearing too? Apologies @NickPalmer if I have that wrong, just can’t square your reports with almost everywhere else.
What’s the lying about canvassing reference? I don’t know anything about that.
His accounts of masking In Godalming are barely believable— but it is a very sleepy conservative sort of place. Has a Christian Science library. Anything is possible.
One of the labour posters kept saying how it was close on the doorsteps, when in reality it wasn’t, and they knew it. May not have been @NickPalmer.
Ah, okay. I simply cannot imagine being so partisan that I would make up stories but several PBers are, regrettably.
Re: masking. I have only worn one once, for 20 minutes, in the last two months. This was because I was invited to the doctor’s surgery for a general check up and the lady on the phone asked me to bring one. I found one buried in the cupboard.
Sadly our uni has kept them for busy environments and I’ve had a lot of lab classes in the last 5 weeks. Up to 6 hours a day. The uni is supposed to be reviewing at the holidays, but no one is sure if that is Easter (one week away) or summer (9 weeks at least). Very little proper logic has been applied. I note that Oxford has dropped all mask requirements.
I was at an awards dinner last night - hundreds of people, very busy space, lots of yelling to be heard, no masks.
Wordle: got in 4, 2 last letter options, guessed right Quordle: 4,6,7,8. Happy with efficiency of guesses, I've guessed some right junk in the past and .improving in that respect. Not made lower than 8 yet though. Nerdle: fFirst time I've ended with about 4 equivalent digits to randomly guess from. Did a tie break guess, but 5 the worst I've done in a month. Wardle: Homed in quickly after my usual coastal first guess. Got in 3. Can't believe I didn't notice the arrows for a few weeks. Worldle: Thought, that looks like the sort of country that occurs in a particular area of the world, and then circled that region until landing on the 5th guess. Hard, a bit, but at least it wasn't the bloody Kergeulen Islands again. Globle: The usual triangle of countries approach once close yielded it in 5. Average dropping slowly, hoping to get sub 6 soon.
Sweardle, lewdle and the rest: sorry, swear engine too limited and not dialecty enough - they don't know half my words, I don't know half theirs. Sacked them off weeks ago.
Wardle and worldle both in 1 today. Wordle in 3, nerdle in 5, same as you - could have been 3, could have been 6 cycling through the possibilities at the end. Quordle in 4, 5, 6, 9. Have you tried worgle? A 6 letter wordle, predating wordle2. Today's was a bugger - possibly just for April 1st, it doesn't normally pick such obscure words. I was prewarned it was obscure and quite proud to get it in 6. http://bronze-age.com/worgle/
Comments
https://twitter.com/b_nishanov/status/1509913543507947526
“Russia wants us to support them but we don’t recognize Crimea, or Donbas. Yes, we are in a union with Russia but it doesn’t apply to this situation. We won’t help Russia avoid US and EU sanctions.” - Deputy chair of the presidential administration in Kazakhstan. This is huge.
What's the current accepted wisdom on whether having just had the bug protects you against getting it again? My impression is "a bit", but any more concrete info would be helpful.
A curiosity in the first few days was obsessive half-asleep sense of urgent tasks - on the first night, I convinced myself that I needed to mediate in Ukraine before going to sleep; on the second night, to solve a complicated dday job task. I'm told this is a fairly common symptom, though I've not heard about it before.
I suppose if Covid were a software developer, it'd say "It's a feature, not a bug..."
Has PB developed a new slang…. And I missed out??
*sad face*
Time and wind have conspired to make him look a little haggered though. Maybe he can translate that to statesman-like.
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟨↗️
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🎉
https://worldle.teuteuf.fr
You need to travel more.
That’s bloody impressive. Chapeau
Especially as it isn’t classically you-know-what
Cases look to be dropping like a stone now but we should no more celebrate this than we should catastrophise when they are rising.
It needs to become background noise, like colds or flu. For many people it is already, but a substantial minority of the population remain preoccupied with covid in a way they are not with other bugs.
Never seen a photo, mind, so can't address your "haggard" point.
(except when it was greece because greece is bloody obvious)
Africa and the Pacific islands are my downfall
So many weird little countries in West Africa….
My finest achievement was getting Diego Garcia on the first go. It helped that it was in the news so I’d seen the map about 3 days before. But still
Wordle 286 4/6*
🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜🟨⬜🟨🟩
🟩⬜🟩⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
I honorably used neither print nor mouse as a first word, and I have 'hard' selected, so I can't do my two usual teary/louis start.
How have they ended up with a vulgar thug like Erdogan in charge?
https://tass.com/world/1430685?utm_source=google.com&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=google.com&utm_referrer=google.com
Putin, the master strategist, winning on all fronts:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/07/georgia-expedites-eu-application-in-policy-u-turn-russia-ukraine
If Putin is losing Kazakhstan, Russia is really in trouble.
15 point lead+ nailed on.
I tried to read THE DAWN OF EVERYTHING that much praised early human history, but no one told me it was quasi-Marxist drivel, full of howling errors, and written in the most cringeworthy *first person plural* style
Appalling nonsense. So here I am on PB. Soz boz apolibobs
Do you mean his own or that which he has had to weather?
Enjoy. I’m tempted to cross the Iraqi border later this week. Maybe go to Erbil. Just to say “I’ve been to Iraq”
I have a friend working their *in special circumstances*. He has the most incredible job: hunting down art thieves and traffickers around the world. Stupidly glamorous and exciting. And well paid. Ex Territorial SAS
Had a corking day at an event in town yesterday. Hundreds there. No masking (well okay I saw two masks all day, amid the multitude) then off to a busy bar then a busy restaurant. No masks on the Tube or bus. It’s like covid never happened in London - assume (outside Godalming) it’s like that in other towns and cities?
The summer should be amazing if it isn’t fucked up by war/plague/famine/global poverty/Armageddon
The fines have been issued by email to 20 people, many of whom attended a gathering to mark the departure of Hannah Young, a home affairs policy adviser. It was held on June 18, 2020, a fortnight before the first broad easing of lockdown rules. Lord Sedwill, who was head of the civil service, briefly attended the gathering but was not fined, The Times has been told.
The event is one of 12 subject to police investigation. One government source described it as “raucous” but it is thought to be one of the less significant breaches of lockdown laws, fuelling concern in Whitehall that the number of fines could be far higher than expected. Scotland Yard has issued more than 100 questionnaires.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/whitehall-staff-fined-over-lockdown-party-6zkd8vsqh
Apologies @NickPalmer if I have that wrong, just can’t square your reports with almost everywhere else.
A friend of mine went solo to Diyarbakir and said being a lone western female there was by a long way the most frightening thing ever to happen to her. Just for info.
I have already been to Syria
3 weeks all around the country, It was the most marvellous place. Aleppo was a jewel. Krak des Chevaliers. Palmyra!!!!
ISIS and the war have destroyed one of the greatest destinations on earth. So awful
His accounts of masking In Godalming are barely believable— but it is a very sleepy conservative sort of place. Has a Christian Science library. Anything is possible.
Is Diyarbakir uniquely grim, for some reason?
Re: masking. I have only worn one once, for 20 minutes, in the last two months. This was because I was invited to the doctor’s surgery for a general check up and the lady on the phone asked me to bring one. I found one buried in the cupboard.
Everyone we met looked grim, as did the entire town.
That was in 1994, and I believe the Turks had just completed one of their more crushing campaigns against Kurds and particularly small Kurdish villages.
Perhaps it is different now.
I've been wondering what the economic output figures were for the Soviet Union. Something like:
Russia 65%
Ukraine 18%
Kazakhstan 4%
Nothing like that down here. I don’t recognise that at all.
The uni is supposed to be reviewing at the holidays, but no one is sure if that is Easter (one week away) or summer (9 weeks at least). Very little proper logic has been applied. I note that Oxford has dropped all mask requirements.
You’re kidding. I got it first go.
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🎉
https://worldle.teuteuf.fr
Maybe I’ll go to cappadoccia instead. Never been there either.
Internal flights in Turkey are madly cheap right now. You can cross the entire county - and it’s big - for £40
As for 2009, I remember I used to be accused of making stuff up, but I predicted I had a good chance in 2010, and so it proved - I lost by 0.7%, well below the national swing. It's a long time ago now and I may well have had some optimism bias in my canvassing too, but I don't think I ever invented anything
Edit: I see you're referring to 2019, not 2009! I was engaged in Portsmouth South then, which Labour held against various predictions. Not especially through my efforts! - but I do remember saying the LibDems were claiming they were better-placed to bea tthe Tories, but people weren't buying it (seeing as how there was a sitting Labour MP). That's quite recent and I'm sure I didn't say anything misleading.
Renowned activist and public intellectual David Graeber teams up with professor of comparative archaeology David Wengrow
There's nothing I find more tedious that renowned activists, public intellectuals and professors of comparative archaeology.
According to Ukraine’s military, 5 battalion tactical groups were sent from military bases in Russian-occupied South Ossetia and Abkhazia to strengthen the Russian army attacking Ukraine.
https://twitter.com/KyivIndependent/status/1509061779195928576
I hope they are planning to review further and are just being cautious until the governments give up their caution, but I really don't trust them not to continue with their own over-caution.
https://www.arabnews.com/sites/default/files/styles/n_670_395/public/2018/11/24/1379061-1949902931.jpg?itok=7uOpXAKG
https://www.muslimheritage.com/ImageLibrary/Fig 3 The bastions and the ditch.jpg
It makes crass errors from page 1. I am unusually well read on human prehistory but still. These were GCSE fail mistakes
And the prose is stale and laboured and witless
I could go anywhere in Turkey! Oooh
I’ve always been tempted by Trebizond just because of the romantic name, but I’ve heard it’s quite dull
Its philosophical musing on the three essenial elements of freedom are quite the alternative view.
“Offbeat” = *wrong*
“Alternative” = *laughably wrong*
You see it on here: “I don’t always wear my mask but I might wear it on a train”. Why a train? And do you remove it to drink your coffee on said train? And if not how do you drink your coffee? And if you do remove it, why bother wearing it at all? And if you do wear it on the train, do you wear it in the pub? And when in the pub, how do drink your pint with a mask on?
I dare say the individual outcomes with sporadic masking versus no masking will be near identical.
https://youtu.be/74jS3dW0DtE
The entirety of covid red tape to get into Turkey is: 2 minutes filling in a health form online. That’s it
No tests no nothing no vaccine checks. Ditto on your return to the UK
Masks are quite common here (so far) but lots don’t wear them and no one seems to care. It’s like a less Nazi version of godalming, indeed I think the Turkish tourist board are now using that comparison as a selling point
But I also know a LOT of prehistory - it’s a personal passion - and I therefore know when someone is spouting wishful thinking bollocks about prehistory. Which is what that book largely consists of. Yearning hopeful nonsense
Wordle: got in 4, 2 last letter options, guessed right
Quordle: 4,6,7,8. Happy with efficiency of guesses, I've guessed some right junk in the past and .improving in that respect. Not made lower than 8 yet though.
Nerdle: fFirst time I've ended with about 4 equivalent digits to randomly guess from. Did a tie break guess, but 5 the worst I've done in a month.
Wardle: Homed in quickly after my usual coastal first guess. Got in 3. Can't believe I didn't notice the arrows for a few weeks.
Worldle: Thought, that looks like the sort of country that occurs in a particular area of the world, and then circled that region until landing on the 5th guess. Hard, a bit, but at least it wasn't the bloody Kergeulen Islands again.
Globle: The usual triangle of countries approach once close yielded it in 5. Average dropping slowly, hoping to get sub 6 soon.
Sweardle, lewdle and the rest: sorry, swear engine too limited and not dialecty enough - they don't know half my words, I don't know half theirs. Sacked them off weeks ago.
But there was ample BA airmiles availability, so we're all flying Club World.
Which was nice.
Have you tried worgle? A 6 letter wordle, predating wordle2. Today's was a bugger - possibly just for April 1st, it doesn't normally pick such obscure words. I was prewarned it was obscure and quite proud to get it in 6.
http://bronze-age.com/worgle/