Parliament’s sleaze watchdog has launched an investigation into Boris Johnson and the mystery over who funded his recent luxury Caribbean holiday, the Observer has learned.
Prompting fresh questions over the prime minister’s probity, the parliamentary commissioner for standards decided last week to pursue an official inquiry into Johnson amid unanswered questions over the identity of the donor who lent him a property on the island of Mustique over new year. It is the first time a serving prime minister has been investigated by the commissioner, who is responsible for regulating MPs’ conduct and propriety.
The development means that three high-level inquiries are under way into allegations surrounding Johnson’s conduct, including his relationship with US businesswoman Jennifer Arcuri. A source with intimate knowledge of the most recent inquiry, but who requested anonymity, said: “These are serious issues which need to be properly investigated.”
Boris being Boris
I am surprised that you accept such chicanery acceptable G, I thought better of you. Condoning graft and abuse in public office by just saying " oh that is just Boris" is unforgivable. The fish rots from the head right enough.
Parliament’s sleaze watchdog has launched an investigation into Boris Johnson and the mystery over who funded his recent luxury Caribbean holiday, the Observer has learned.
Prompting fresh questions over the prime minister’s probity, the parliamentary commissioner for standards decided last week to pursue an official inquiry into Johnson amid unanswered questions over the identity of the donor who lent him a property on the island of Mustique over new year. It is the first time a serving prime minister has been investigated by the commissioner, who is responsible for regulating MPs’ conduct and propriety.
The development means that three high-level inquiries are under way into allegations surrounding Johnson’s conduct, including his relationship with US businesswoman Jennifer Arcuri. A source with intimate knowledge of the most recent inquiry, but who requested anonymity, said: “These are serious issues which need to be properly investigated.”
Can one of the pb tories who regularly gargle Johnson's balls explain why he can't pay for his own holiday like everyone else?
Did Tony Blair pay for his overseas sunshine holidays?
For some reason, people think that letting the PM of the day with a big majority holiday with them might give them some very cheap access to the levers of power.
Parliament’s sleaze watchdog has launched an investigation into Boris Johnson and the mystery over who funded his recent luxury Caribbean holiday, the Observer has learned.
Prompting fresh questions over the prime minister’s probity, the parliamentary commissioner for standards decided last week to pursue an official inquiry into Johnson amid unanswered questions over the identity of the donor who lent him a property on the island of Mustique over new year. It is the first time a serving prime minister has been investigated by the commissioner, who is responsible for regulating MPs’ conduct and propriety.
The development means that three high-level inquiries are under way into allegations surrounding Johnson’s conduct, including his relationship with US businesswoman Jennifer Arcuri. A source with intimate knowledge of the most recent inquiry, but who requested anonymity, said: “These are serious issues which need to be properly investigated.”
Can one of the pb tories who regularly gargle Johnson's balls explain why he can't pay for his own holiday like everyone else?
Child support? The rich and powerful like a freebie and Boris follows a fine tradition that takes in Blair and Churchill. The Caribbean holiday looks like a storm in a tea-cup. Most likely no cash changed hands (hence the denial from the alleged donor) because the place would otherwise be empty anyway. The late paperwork on his book royalties also looks trivial.
Arcuri-gate (cybersecurity, pole-dancing and public funds) looks more serious.
If it is a storm in a tea cup it's all the more baffling to not just pay for his holidays himself as it causes at least some aggravation for no reason. Same goes for any PM - they get plenty of crap as it is, why invite more of it unnecessarily for a freebie holiday?
For those that don't know, this is Elon Musk's plan (being implemented right now) to provide internet access via LEO satellites.
The nature of the system is that it provides low latency bandwidth - the downside is a limit on the number of ground terminals that can be setup in a given area. This will not compete in cities.
However, what it is perfect for is providing the "Backhaul"* for cellphone tower and data cabinets. When combined with 5G the result is interesting.
A combined Starlink/5G cell tower would require only power, to provide high speed data access and cellphone calls in the locality.
The telecoms community is salivating at the possibilities of connecting up remote parts of the world... And possibly some not so far from us.
When the system is up and running, you will be able to provide high speed internet access to any location on the planet (outside say 10 degrees from the poles).
*Backhaul is the connection from local infrastructure to the rest of the world (kinda). The issue with rural broadband etc is about backhaul - connecting the remote areas.
Starlink is going to be a total and utter game changer for rural areas, they’ve got 300 satellites up already and are expecting to have trials running in the US and Canada by the end of this year. If it works as it should, it’ll be pretty much global next year.
Mr. Rook, that's a legitimate concern, as is the way the internet is affecting how people socialise in person and other related potential changes to human behaviour.
Parliament’s sleaze watchdog has launched an investigation into Boris Johnson and the mystery over who funded his recent luxury Caribbean holiday, the Observer has learned.
Prompting fresh questions over the prime minister’s probity, the parliamentary commissioner for standards decided last week to pursue an official inquiry into Johnson amid unanswered questions over the identity of the donor who lent him a property on the island of Mustique over new year. It is the first time a serving prime minister has been investigated by the commissioner, who is responsible for regulating MPs’ conduct and propriety.
The development means that three high-level inquiries are under way into allegations surrounding Johnson’s conduct, including his relationship with US businesswoman Jennifer Arcuri. A source with intimate knowledge of the most recent inquiry, but who requested anonymity, said: “These are serious issues which need to be properly investigated.”
Can one of the pb tories who regularly gargle Johnson's balls explain why he can't pay for his own holiday like everyone else?
Child support? The rich and powerful like a freebie and Boris follows a fine tradition that takes in Blair and Churchill. The Caribbean holiday looks like a storm in a tea-cup. Most likely no cash changed hands (hence the denial from the alleged donor) because the place would otherwise be empty anyway. The late paperwork on his book royalties also looks trivial.
Arcuri-gate (cybersecurity, pole-dancing and public funds) looks more serious.
Usual story. Question is who will intercept the (no doubt) flurry of Russian probes over a newly-independent Scotland. Will Scotland have its own air force or will the next question be who will pay for the English, Welsh and Northern Irish RAF to maintain air bases in Scotland?
They'll get an international air policing mission provided by the EU or NATO. Like Iceland, the Baltics, Montenegro, etc...
Isn't that just changing the names though, with planes still based at RAF Lossiemouth? Thus leaving open the question of who pays (and what the new air force is called).
It will be the RAF and England/NATO will pay, rent will be reasonable.
LOL, you want Westminster’s war machines flying over Scotland?
As long as they are paying per mile and renting infrastructure
I’m sure they’ll happily scoot between Berwick and Carlisle, but if you want them chasing away Bears any further north then expect a hefty pest control bill.
NATO will do it for free we will not need to pay any more bills for Westminster TAT.
Scotland would have to join NATO and pay membership fees if you want NATO to protect you
The idea this is free to Scotland is rather naive
A lot cheaper than what we currently pay to the robbers in Westminster and that is far from naive.
Anyway, tomorrow sees the start of Salmonds trial and an interesting period for the SNP
For sure , a clearout needed in near future for sure. Nicola's broken promises will mean her head will roll, she is pretty useless at her main purpose in life.
A good piece, Alastair, although I'm not succumbing to the attempt to rebrand the virus as Covid-19. No one cares about the technical correctness. It's coronavirus - the name stuck and it's with us for good.
I thought this was a really astute point: 'Fernand Braudel hypothesised that crises such as the South Sea Bubble and the Wall Street Crash marked the passing of the baton from one dominant economy to another.'
The US has been exposed by this and is heading for an absolute disaster. Those of us who know the country, by which I mean those of us not immunised inside our 4x4's: the real America, the one where down and outs are now the dominant population in city centres, where the social and healthcare structures have disintegrated, the one where a few are immensely successful at the expense of everyone else, those of us who know this America are now watching in horror as the edifice comes crashing down a thousand times more viscerally than the twin towers.
The problem is that “coronavirus” is inaccurate and positively misleading.
If you heard your cat is suffering from coronavirus the right response is to determine whether it has FIP. If so treat with Virbagen fast and it may live. If it only had FECV then it should require no treatment although symptomatic intervention may be chosen.
If your cat is COVID-19 that is much more worrying.
Parliament’s sleaze watchdog has launched an investigation into Boris Johnson and the mystery over who funded his recent luxury Caribbean holiday, the Observer has learned.
Prompting fresh questions over the prime minister’s probity, the parliamentary commissioner for standards decided last week to pursue an official inquiry into Johnson amid unanswered questions over the identity of the donor who lent him a property on the island of Mustique over new year. It is the first time a serving prime minister has been investigated by the commissioner, who is responsible for regulating MPs’ conduct and propriety.
The development means that three high-level inquiries are under way into allegations surrounding Johnson’s conduct, including his relationship with US businesswoman Jennifer Arcuri. A source with intimate knowledge of the most recent inquiry, but who requested anonymity, said: “These are serious issues which need to be properly investigated.”
Boris being Boris
I am surprised that you accept such chicanery acceptable G, I thought better of you. Condoning graft and abuse in public office by just saying " oh that is just Boris" is unforgivable. The fish rots from the head right enough.
I did not say I condone it, I responded with the likely public response, hence
Boris being Boris
And as for your last sentence lets see what happens in Scotland over the coming weeks
Parliament’s sleaze watchdog has launched an investigation into Boris Johnson and the mystery over who funded his recent luxury Caribbean holiday, the Observer has learned.
Prompting fresh questions over the prime minister’s probity, the parliamentary commissioner for standards decided last week to pursue an official inquiry into Johnson amid unanswered questions over the identity of the donor who lent him a property on the island of Mustique over new year. It is the first time a serving prime minister has been investigated by the commissioner, who is responsible for regulating MPs’ conduct and propriety.
The development means that three high-level inquiries are under way into allegations surrounding Johnson’s conduct, including his relationship with US businesswoman Jennifer Arcuri. A source with intimate knowledge of the most recent inquiry, but who requested anonymity, said: “These are serious issues which need to be properly investigated.”
Can one of the pb tories who regularly gargle Johnson's balls explain why he can't pay for his own holiday like everyone else?
Child support? The rich and powerful like a freebie and Boris follows a fine tradition that takes in Blair and Churchill. The Caribbean holiday looks like a storm in a tea-cup. Most likely no cash changed hands (hence the denial from the alleged donor) because the place would otherwise be empty anyway. The late paperwork on his book royalties also looks trivial.
Arcuri-gate (cybersecurity, pole-dancing and public funds) looks more serious.
I'd agree with that.
However the trend of a line of shady/dodgy dealings, lack of principles , etc shows his true mettle. A grasping greedy toerag out for himself and ill suited to running a country.
Parliament’s sleaze watchdog has launched an investigation into Boris Johnson and the mystery over who funded his recent luxury Caribbean holiday, the Observer has learned.
Prompting fresh questions over the prime minister’s probity, the parliamentary commissioner for standards decided last week to pursue an official inquiry into Johnson amid unanswered questions over the identity of the donor who lent him a property on the island of Mustique over new year. It is the first time a serving prime minister has been investigated by the commissioner, who is responsible for regulating MPs’ conduct and propriety.
The development means that three high-level inquiries are under way into allegations surrounding Johnson’s conduct, including his relationship with US businesswoman Jennifer Arcuri. A source with intimate knowledge of the most recent inquiry, but who requested anonymity, said: “These are serious issues which need to be properly investigated.”
Can one of the pb tories who regularly gargle Johnson's balls explain why he can't pay for his own holiday like everyone else?
Child support? The rich and powerful like a freebie and Boris follows a fine tradition that takes in Blair and Churchill. The Caribbean holiday looks like a storm in a tea-cup. Most likely no cash changed hands (hence the denial from the alleged donor) because the place would otherwise be empty anyway. The late paperwork on his book royalties also looks trivial.
Arcuri-gate (cybersecurity, pole-dancing and public funds) looks more serious.
If it is a storm in a tea cup it's all the more baffling to not just pay for his holidays himself as it causes at least some aggravation for no reason. Same goes for any PM - they get plenty of crap as it is, why invite more of it unnecessarily for a freebie holiday?
The most obvious change to make would be to reconsider the structure of the pharma industry.
Leaving aside the enormous profit margins, the incentives are wrong and we need a better system which gets us more research on the biggest health problems in a proactive fashion.
Such a good point
The problem is that government screwed the pooch.
They made antibiotic research unprofitable by reserving Tygacil and Ketek to be treatments of last resort. Many of the measures they have put in place to restart research are beginning to work but we lost a decade.
But pandemic economics are very difficult - it’s tender based bidding on an episodic basis for stockpiles. Although you can do campaign manufacturing, Pharma isn’t really set up for that. BARDA does some good work in the area but sprays money around like a drunken trader with a big bonus
One thing I am not clear on, and would be very interested in hearing more about, is the treatment of sufferers. So far, if you get it and are self-treating at home we've more or less been told ibuprofen and hot drinks. But yet we have also have people in intensive care with it. I think some demystification is needed.
The fever and cough need simple meds as above, but the serious phase seems to involve exudation within the lungs, and progressive breathlessness. This is the point that oxygen, iv fluids and other support are needed.
The key thing is a rising resting heart rate, respiratory rate and dropping oxygen levels in the bloodstream. At this point expert assessment is needed.
Add a pulse oximetry meter to your thermometer for home medical kit. I would add a peak flow meter too to monitor respiratory function, about £15 for a pulse oximetry on amazon and £10 for a peak flow meter. BP cuff too.
Parliament’s sleaze watchdog has launched an investigation into Boris Johnson and the mystery over who funded his recent luxury Caribbean holiday, the Observer has learned.
Prompting fresh questions over the prime minister’s probity, the parliamentary commissioner for standards decided last week to pursue an official inquiry into Johnson amid unanswered questions over the identity of the donor who lent him a property on the island of Mustique over new year. It is the first time a serving prime minister has been investigated by the commissioner, who is responsible for regulating MPs’ conduct and propriety.
The development means that three high-level inquiries are under way into allegations surrounding Johnson’s conduct, including his relationship with US businesswoman Jennifer Arcuri. A source with intimate knowledge of the most recent inquiry, but who requested anonymity, said: “These are serious issues which need to be properly investigated.”
Can one of the pb tories who regularly gargle Johnson's balls explain why he can't pay for his own holiday like everyone else?
For those that don't know, this is Elon Musk's plan (being implemented right now) to provide internet access via LEO satellites.
The nature of the system is that it provides low latency bandwidth - the downside is a limit on the number of ground terminals that can be setup in a given area. This will not compete in cities.
However, what it is perfect for is providing the "Backhaul"* for cellphone tower and data cabinets. When combined with 5G the result is interesting.
A combined Starlink/5G cell tower would require only power, to provide high speed data access and cellphone calls in the locality.
The telecoms community is salivating at the possibilities of connecting up remote parts of the world... And possibly some not so far from us.
When the system is up and running, you will be able to provide high speed internet access to any location on the planet (outside say 10 degrees from the poles).
*Backhaul is the connection from local infrastructure to the rest of the world (kinda). The issue with rural broadband etc is about backhaul - connecting the remote areas.
Starlink is going to be a total and utter game changer for rural areas, they’ve got 300 satellites up already and are expecting to have trials running in the US and Canada by the end of this year. If it works as it should, it’ll be pretty much global next year.
Can't come soon enough.
Although, the idea that pretty much every spot on the planet will have top end connectivity will mean there is no escape...
Parliament’s sleaze watchdog has launched an investigation into Boris Johnson and the mystery over who funded his recent luxury Caribbean holiday, the Observer has learned.
Prompting fresh questions over the prime minister’s probity, the parliamentary commissioner for standards decided last week to pursue an official inquiry into Johnson amid unanswered questions over the identity of the donor who lent him a property on the island of Mustique over new year. It is the first time a serving prime minister has been investigated by the commissioner, who is responsible for regulating MPs’ conduct and propriety.
The development means that three high-level inquiries are under way into allegations surrounding Johnson’s conduct, including his relationship with US businesswoman Jennifer Arcuri. A source with intimate knowledge of the most recent inquiry, but who requested anonymity, said: “These are serious issues which need to be properly investigated.”
Can one of the pb tories who regularly gargle Johnson's balls explain why he can't pay for his own holiday like everyone else?
Child support? The rich and powerful like a freebie and Boris follows a fine tradition that takes in Blair and Churchill. The Caribbean holiday looks like a storm in a tea-cup. Most likely no cash changed hands (hence the denial from the alleged donor) because the place would otherwise be empty anyway. The late paperwork on his book royalties also looks trivial.
Arcuri-gate (cybersecurity, pole-dancing and public funds) looks more serious.
If it is a storm in a tea cup it's all the more baffling to not just pay for his holidays himself as it causes at least some aggravation for no reason. Same goes for any PM - they get plenty of crap as it is, why invite more of it unnecessarily for a freebie holiday?
I suspect that the story is something along the lines of a late cancellation left the place empty but substantially paid for, so it was offered to Johnson by his old friend and no-one actually paid anything so didn’t see it as their liability. Genuinely nothing underhand going on.
The MP should know about declaring benefits in kind though, and it’s his job (and only his job) to make sure the relevant register of interests was completed properly.
You or I would, of course, be assessed for income tax on the price of the holiday, if we accepted such a benefit in kind from someone with whom we have a business relationship.
Parliament’s sleaze watchdog has launched an investigation into Boris Johnson and the mystery over who funded his recent luxury Caribbean holiday, the Observer has learned.
Prompting fresh questions over the prime minister’s probity, the parliamentary commissioner for standards decided last week to pursue an official inquiry into Johnson amid unanswered questions over the identity of the donor who lent him a property on the island of Mustique over new year. It is the first time a serving prime minister has been investigated by the commissioner, who is responsible for regulating MPs’ conduct and propriety.
The development means that three high-level inquiries are under way into allegations surrounding Johnson’s conduct, including his relationship with US businesswoman Jennifer Arcuri. A source with intimate knowledge of the most recent inquiry, but who requested anonymity, said: “These are serious issues which need to be properly investigated.”
Boris being Boris
I am surprised that you accept such chicanery acceptable G, I thought better of you. Condoning graft and abuse in public office by just saying " oh that is just Boris" is unforgivable. The fish rots from the head right enough.
I did not say I condone it, I responded with the likely public response, hence
Boris being Boris
And as for your last sentence lets see what happens in Scotland over the coming weeks
I hardly think the trial of an ex politician compares with a crooked PM of the UK, though unionists will be hoping the coverage reflects from the chicanery in Westminster so they can get some bad news buried. What happened to the 2017 enquiry into shedloads of Tory MP's and sexual offences, well buried it seems. Same with Scottish Tory politicians convictions or enquiries, they conveniently disappear or never get reported. The unionist press will be slavering at Salmond's trial, truth will matter not a jot.
20% of treasury workers to be moved to a new campus in the North of England
I was told by a civil servant of my acquaintance that moving "important" jobs out of London was "fascism".
I need to compile a list of things that are fascism, that you wouldn't suspect.
We should move the whole government out of London. That would cut the cost of government far more than losing a few MPs.
Always seems to be driven by gesture politics to me. Maybe there are benefits, but it starts from a place of 'let's move things from London' and works backward from there to reasoning.
For those that don't know, this is Elon Musk's plan (being implemented right now) to provide internet access via LEO satellites.
The nature of the system is that it provides low latency bandwidth - the downside is a limit on the number of ground terminals that can be setup in a given area. This will not compete in cities.
However, what it is perfect for is providing the "Backhaul"* for cellphone tower and data cabinets. When combined with 5G the result is interesting.
A combined Starlink/5G cell tower would require only power, to provide high speed data access and cellphone calls in the locality.
The telecoms community is salivating at the possibilities of connecting up remote parts of the world... And possibly some not so far from us.
When the system is up and running, you will be able to provide high speed internet access to any location on the planet (outside say 10 degrees from the poles).
*Backhaul is the connection from local infrastructure to the rest of the world (kinda). The issue with rural broadband etc is about backhaul - connecting the remote areas.
Starlink is going to be a total and utter game changer for rural areas, they’ve got 300 satellites up already and are expecting to have trials running in the US and Canada by the end of this year. If it works as it should, it’ll be pretty much global next year.
what sort of spped could one get in an area where BT offer(no give) , the offer is 3mps)) about 1mps?
Parliament’s sleaze watchdog has launched an investigation into Boris Johnson and the mystery over who funded his recent luxury Caribbean holiday, the Observer has learned.
Prompting fresh questions over the prime minister’s probity, the parliamentary commissioner for standards decided last week to pursue an official inquiry into Johnson amid unanswered questions over the identity of the donor who lent him a property on the island of Mustique over new year. It is the first time a serving prime minister has been investigated by the commissioner, who is responsible for regulating MPs’ conduct and propriety.
The development means that three high-level inquiries are under way into allegations surrounding Johnson’s conduct, including his relationship with US businesswoman Jennifer Arcuri. A source with intimate knowledge of the most recent inquiry, but who requested anonymity, said: “These are serious issues which need to be properly investigated.”
Boris being Boris
I am surprised that you accept such chicanery acceptable G, I thought better of you. Condoning graft and abuse in public office by just saying " oh that is just Boris" is unforgivable. The fish rots from the head right enough.
Remind me of your thoughts on Salmond's forthcoming trial?
On topic: the arguments in favour of homeworking have been around long enough that I don't see this scare as being the game changer argued for. All already priced in.
It doesn't work for me anyway. When I was doing my phd I found it paid to drive 30 miles to work in the university library, despite having no need whatever for its resources, because I work in a work environment better than a home one.
I find the opposite , get twice as much done from home and no tedious hours drive to and from office.
Spot on. I’ve recently moved to four days a week WFH. The productivity benefit is massive to the point I feel overworked!
Parliament’s sleaze watchdog has launched an investigation into Boris Johnson and the mystery over who funded his recent luxury Caribbean holiday, the Observer has learned.
Prompting fresh questions over the prime minister’s probity, the parliamentary commissioner for standards decided last week to pursue an official inquiry into Johnson amid unanswered questions over the identity of the donor who lent him a property on the island of Mustique over new year. It is the first time a serving prime minister has been investigated by the commissioner, who is responsible for regulating MPs’ conduct and propriety.
The development means that three high-level inquiries are under way into allegations surrounding Johnson’s conduct, including his relationship with US businesswoman Jennifer Arcuri. A source with intimate knowledge of the most recent inquiry, but who requested anonymity, said: “These are serious issues which need to be properly investigated.”
Can one of the pb tories who regularly gargle Johnson's balls explain why he can't pay for his own holiday like everyone else?
Fair comment and I look forward to the details
how many free holidays did Blair have?
That does not make it right, he was also a greedy unprincipled crook.
For those that don't know, this is Elon Musk's plan (being implemented right now) to provide internet access via LEO satellites.
The nature of the system is that it provides low latency bandwidth - the downside is a limit on the number of ground terminals that can be setup in a given area. This will not compete in cities.
However, what it is perfect for is providing the "Backhaul"* for cellphone tower and data cabinets. When combined with 5G the result is interesting.
A combined Starlink/5G cell tower would require only power, to provide high speed data access and cellphone calls in the locality.
The telecoms community is salivating at the possibilities of connecting up remote parts of the world... And possibly some not so far from us.
When the system is up and running, you will be able to provide high speed internet access to any location on the planet (outside say 10 degrees from the poles).
*Backhaul is the connection from local infrastructure to the rest of the world (kinda). The issue with rural broadband etc is about backhaul - connecting the remote areas.
Starlink is going to be a total and utter game changer for rural areas, they’ve got 300 satellites up already and are expecting to have trials running in the US and Canada by the end of this year. If it works as it should, it’ll be pretty much global next year.
On topic: the arguments in favour of homeworking have been around long enough that I don't see this scare as being the game changer argued for. All already priced in.
It doesn't work for me anyway. When I was doing my phd I found it paid to drive 30 miles to work in the university library, despite having no need whatever for its resources, because I work in a work environment better than a home one.
Yes. It is amazing how many things got fixed or cleaned on my occasional attempts to work from home. So easy to be distracted.
Agreed. The environment really impacts the work that is done for many people a lot more than proponents of home working think.
The only time I manage to motivate myself to do any work from home is at weekends or in the middle of the night ie. the only time i'm not actually being paid for doing it!
If you worked from home as a matter of course you would very quickly readjust. You have tasks to do, and you must do them, or lose your job. It’s remarkable how quickly you get used to home working.
I wonder if there's a significant introversion/extroversion effect on working from home, with introverts finding it easier without other people being around as much and extroverts finding it trickier.
For the record, there's an almost exact 50/50 split on introverts and extroverts in the general population.
I'm easily irritated/distracted by background noise. Having less of that at home is probably very helpful. Plus the flexibility of working as I like suits me too.
For those that don't know, this is Elon Musk's plan (being implemented right now) to provide internet access via LEO satellites.
The nature of the system is that it provides low latency bandwidth - the downside is a limit on the number of ground terminals that can be setup in a given area. This will not compete in cities.
However, what it is perfect for is providing the "Backhaul"* for cellphone tower and data cabinets. When combined with 5G the result is interesting.
A combined Starlink/5G cell tower would require only power, to provide high speed data access and cellphone calls in the locality.
The telecoms community is salivating at the possibilities of connecting up remote parts of the world... And possibly some not so far from us.
When the system is up and running, you will be able to provide high speed internet access to any location on the planet (outside say 10 degrees from the poles).
*Backhaul is the connection from local infrastructure to the rest of the world (kinda). The issue with rural broadband etc is about backhaul - connecting the remote areas.
Starlink is going to be a total and utter game changer for rural areas, they’ve got 300 satellites up already and are expecting to have trials running in the US and Canada by the end of this year. If it works as it should, it’ll be pretty much global next year.
Can't come soon enough.
Although, the idea that pretty much every spot on the planet will have top end connectivity will mean there is no escape...
The major issues Starlink will have to a totally global system are going to be political ones - certain governments banning the required equipment, incumbent nationalised telecoms refusing to provide downlink or monitoring and blocking certain traffic etc.
The biggest customers will be airlines, shipping and militaries, maybe even media to replace satellite broadcast links. The millions of rural dwellers are their icing on the cake.
(Count me among those who are really annoyed that we now have internet on planes).
On topic: the arguments in favour of homeworking have been around long enough that I don't see this scare as being the game changer argued for. All already priced in.
It doesn't work for me anyway. When I was doing my phd I found it paid to drive 30 miles to work in the university library, despite having no need whatever for its resources, because I work in a work environment better than a home one.
Yes. It is amazing how many things got fixed or cleaned on my occasional attempts to work from home. So easy to be distracted.
Agreed. The environment really impacts the work that is done for many people a lot more than proponents of home working think.
The only time I manage to motivate myself to do any work from home is at weekends or in the middle of the night ie. the only time i'm not actually being paid for doing it!
If you worked from home as a matter of course you would very quickly readjust. You have tasks to do, and you must do them, or lose your job. It’s remarkable how quickly you get used to home working.
Not likely. Nobody at work knows what i'm doing most of the time.
A good piece, Alastair, although I'm not succumbing to the attempt to rebrand the virus as Covid-19. No one cares about the technical correctness. It's coronavirus - the name stuck and it's with us for good.
I thought this was a really astute point: 'Fernand Braudel hypothesised that crises such as the South Sea Bubble and the Wall Street Crash marked the passing of the baton from one dominant economy to another.'
The US has been exposed by this and is heading for an absolute disaster. Those of us who know the country, by which I mean those of us not immunised inside our 4x4's: the real America, the one where down and outs are now the dominant population in city centres, where the social and healthcare structures have disintegrated, the one where a few are immensely successful at the expense of everyone else, those of us who know this America are now watching in horror as the edifice comes crashing down a thousand times more viscerally than the twin towers.
The problem is that “coronavirus” is inaccurate and positively misleading.
If you heard your cat is suffering from coronavirus the right response is to determine whether it has FIP. If so treat with Virbagen fast and it may live. If it only had FECV then it should require no treatment although symptomatic intervention may be chosen.
If your cat is COVID-19 that is much more worrying.
Although, the cat is likely to have a better chance of finding intensive care at the local vets than you are at your local hospital....
I wonder if there's a significant introversion/extroversion effect on working from home, with introverts finding it easier without other people being around as much and extroverts finding it trickier.
For the record, there's an almost exact 50/50 split on introverts and extroverts in the general population.
I’d certainly be an extrovert and I generally prefer it, but 3-4 days per fortnight are spent in the office or at client sites so I get a nice mix.
In a perfect world, one gazed upon with fondness by a benign and omnipotent being, a vaccine would be discovered tomorrow and it would turn out to be chocolate.
Update from front line on covid 19. Overall good week in UK as no major hot spot formed. Good news also from north Asia where outside Korea it appears to be getting under control. I spoke last week about Italy being worse than reported and this has now become evident. The same is true of the USA and that maybe the story of next week. Also watch out for France as it is getting bad there.
For those that don't know, this is Elon Musk's plan (being implemented right now) to provide internet access via LEO satellites.
The nature of the system is that it provides low latency bandwidth - the downside is a limit on the number of ground terminals that can be setup in a given area. This will not compete in cities.
However, what it is perfect for is providing the "Backhaul"* for cellphone tower and data cabinets. When combined with 5G the result is interesting.
A combined Starlink/5G cell tower would require only power, to provide high speed data access and cellphone calls in the locality.
The telecoms community is salivating at the possibilities of connecting up remote parts of the world... And possibly some not so far from us.
When the system is up and running, you will be able to provide high speed internet access to any location on the planet (outside say 10 degrees from the poles).
*Backhaul is the connection from local infrastructure to the rest of the world (kinda). The issue with rural broadband etc is about backhaul - connecting the remote areas.
Starlink is going to be a total and utter game changer for rural areas, they’ve got 300 satellites up already and are expecting to have trials running in the US and Canada by the end of this year. If it works as it should, it’ll be pretty much global next year.
what sort of spped could one get in an area where BT offer(no give) , the offer is 3mps)) about 1mps?
Much faster than that! The speed will vary inversely with population density (more people, slower speed), they’re targeting over 100Mbps for the rural American trials.
On topic: the arguments in favour of homeworking have been around long enough that I don't see this scare as being the game changer argued for. All already priced in.
It doesn't work for me anyway. When I was doing my phd I found it paid to drive 30 miles to work in the university library, despite having no need whatever for its resources, because I work in a work environment better than a home one.
Yes. It is amazing how many things got fixed or cleaned on my occasional attempts to work from home. So easy to be distracted.
Agreed. The environment really impacts the work that is done for many people a lot more than proponents of home working think.
The only time I manage to motivate myself to do any work from home is at weekends or in the middle of the night ie. the only time i'm not actually being paid for doing it!
If you worked from home as a matter of course you would very quickly readjust. You have tasks to do, and you must do them, or lose your job. It’s remarkable how quickly you get used to home working.
Not likely. Nobody at work knows what i'm doing most of the time.
It is worse because those of us with very mild ocd do vast amounts of free overtime checking dashboards, email, Slack messages and so on.
Anyhow, I see from last night’s thread that there was some bewilderment about how to cook pasta.
So this is the definitive Cyclefree’s Neapolitan Mamma’s guide to perfect pasta. Do not accept any substitutes, least of all from Jamie Oliver.
1. Get a BIG pan. The bigger the better. Not the sort you boil eggs in. The pasta needs space. 2. Put a handful of salt in. I mean a proper handful. You are not seasoning. The water has to be salty otherwise the pasta will be tasteless. 3. Boil the water. Properly boiling, not simmering or sort of hot. 4. Put in your pasta - about 100 grams per person if eaten as a first course, 80 grams if you’re dieting, as much as you want if you’re a hungry teenager. 5. Stir the pasta and KEEP STIRRING. Don’t faff about with oil or any of that nonsense. This doesn’t take long. 6. The pasta is ready when it is al dente ie with a bit of bite to it. If it is too soft you have made porridge. With experience you can tell by sight. If not try putting a fork in or tasting. 7. You will have prepared your serving bowl by now. Warm and large so that you can stir your sauce. 8. Get the pan and drain the pasta out then IMMEDIATELY put into the serving bowl and mix with your sauce or, if you are having it plain, with olive oil or butter. 9. Mix the pasta well with the sauce so that it is all lightly covered. 10. Eat and enjoy!
Do not serve some plain pasta with no sauce and a little bit put in top as a decoration; the cooked pasta will all stick together and be tasteless. Don’t wash through with cold water. Or leave to the side while you go off and do something else. Learn how to eat spaghetti. Scissors at table are not acceptable.
If there is any left over you can make a spaghetti frittata the following day.
Slightly different rules apply for gnocchi in that you don’t need to stir and as soon as they rise to the top of the pan they are ready to drain. Ditto with fresh filled pasta (ravioli / tortellini) as the cooking time is less.
Tortellini in brodo (broth - made from beef / veal bones) is superb. It is our family first course for Xmas lunch and if I am quarantined I intend surviving on it.
On topic: Alistair (and other people) alluded to mental health problems caused by the isolation of working alone. No one seems to have touched on another common issue - physical health.
Getting up and going to work enforces a schedule - get up at time xxx, arrive at work at 9am, leave at 5pm and get back. For many people they get some exercise but everyone gets to move around somewhat.
Working from home - the kitchen and the fridge is only a few footsteps away. You can even work from your bed. There will be many for whom their physical health suffers.
Parliament’s sleaze watchdog has launched an investigation into Boris Johnson and the mystery over who funded his recent luxury Caribbean holiday, the Observer has learned.
Prompting fresh questions over the prime minister’s probity, the parliamentary commissioner for standards decided last week to pursue an official inquiry into Johnson amid unanswered questions over the identity of the donor who lent him a property on the island of Mustique over new year. It is the first time a serving prime minister has been investigated by the commissioner, who is responsible for regulating MPs’ conduct and propriety.
The development means that three high-level inquiries are under way into allegations surrounding Johnson’s conduct, including his relationship with US businesswoman Jennifer Arcuri. A source with intimate knowledge of the most recent inquiry, but who requested anonymity, said: “These are serious issues which need to be properly investigated.”
Boris being Boris
I am surprised that you accept such chicanery acceptable G, I thought better of you. Condoning graft and abuse in public office by just saying " oh that is just Boris" is unforgivable. The fish rots from the head right enough.
Remind me of your thoughts on Salmond's forthcoming trial?
I have no idea other than the first court case which he won and was awarded huge costs, Scottish government folded rather than expose the information asked for so that suggests something fishy about the whole thing , talk of collusion , coaching , and other such stuff. One thing is for sure the whole Westminster establishment are against him so innocent or guilty he has little chance and they have managed to besmirch him whether he is innocent in any case. Their work is done and they can only hope they get Sturgeon in the same net.
For those that don't know, this is Elon Musk's plan (being implemented right now) to provide internet access via LEO satellites.
The nature of the system is that it provides low latency bandwidth - the downside is a limit on the number of ground terminals that can be setup in a given area. This will not compete in cities.
However, what it is perfect for is providing the "Backhaul"* for cellphone tower and data cabinets. When combined with 5G the result is interesting.
A combined Starlink/5G cell tower would require only power, to provide high speed data access and cellphone calls in the locality.
The telecoms community is salivating at the possibilities of connecting up remote parts of the world... And possibly some not so far from us.
When the system is up and running, you will be able to provide high speed internet access to any location on the planet (outside say 10 degrees from the poles).
*Backhaul is the connection from local infrastructure to the rest of the world (kinda). The issue with rural broadband etc is about backhaul - connecting the remote areas.
Starlink is going to be a total and utter game changer for rural areas, they’ve got 300 satellites up already and are expecting to have trials running in the US and Canada by the end of this year. If it works as it should, it’ll be pretty much global next year.
And you can kiss the night sky goodbye
It won’t be as bad as some people are making it out to be, but there will be the odd ‘shooting star’ go past. They’re experimenting with various different paints and coatings to minimise satellite reflection visibility from Earth.
I wonder if there's a significant introversion/extroversion effect on working from home, with introverts finding it easier without other people being around as much and extroverts finding it trickier.
For the record, there's an almost exact 50/50 split on introverts and extroverts in the general population.
Usual story. Question is who will intercept the (no doubt) flurry of Russian probes over a newly-independent Scotland. Will Scotland have its own air force or will the next question be who will pay for the English, Welsh and Northern Irish RAF to maintain air bases in Scotland?
They'll get an international air policing mission provided by the EU or NATO. Like Iceland, the Baltics, Montenegro, etc...
Isn't that just changing the names though, with planes still based at RAF Lossiemouth? Thus leaving open the question of who pays (and what the new air force is called).
It will be the RAF and England/NATO will pay, rent will be reasonable.
LOL, you want Westminster’s war machines flying over Scotland?
As long as they are paying per mile and renting infrastructure
I’m sure they’ll happily scoot between Berwick and Carlisle, but if you want them chasing away Bears any further north then expect a hefty pest control bill.
NATO will do it for free we will not need to pay any more bills for Westminster TAT.
Scotland would have to join NATO and pay membership fees if you want NATO to protect you
The idea this is free to Scotland is rather naive
A lot cheaper than what we currently pay to the robbers in Westminster and that is far from naive. You do realise we already pay as we are a member of NATO.
Scotland has a GDP of £150Bn approx - that's 3Bn in Nato contributions.
The 2% of GDP target is for spending on each nation's military - it's not a contribution to a NATO budget.
On topic: Alistair (and other people) alluded to mental health problems caused by the isolation of working alone. No one seems to have touched on another common issue - physical health.
Getting up and going to work enforces a schedule - get up at time xxx, arrive at work at 9am, leave at 5pm and get back. For many people they get some exercise but everyone gets to move around somewhat.
Working from home - the kitchen and the fridge is only a few footsteps away. You can even work from your bed. There will be many for whom their physical health suffers.
My only drawback is sitting in front of the computer too long and not moving about.
Mr. G, it's an understandable thing to think but introversion is not being shy. Shy people are quiet and would like to be more outgoing. Introverts are just content with their own company and, perhaps, annoyed when extroverts try and make them act more like they do.
For those that don't know, this is Elon Musk's plan (being implemented right now) to provide internet access via LEO satellites.
The nature of the system is that it provides low latency bandwidth - the downside is a limit on the number of ground terminals that can be setup in a given area. This will not compete in cities.
However, what it is perfect for is providing the "Backhaul"* for cellphone tower and data cabinets. When combined with 5G the result is interesting.
A combined Starlink/5G cell tower would require only power, to provide high speed data access and cellphone calls in the locality.
The telecoms community is salivating at the possibilities of connecting up remote parts of the world... And possibly some not so far from us.
When the system is up and running, you will be able to provide high speed internet access to any location on the planet (outside say 10 degrees from the poles).
*Backhaul is the connection from local infrastructure to the rest of the world (kinda). The issue with rural broadband etc is about backhaul - connecting the remote areas.
Starlink is going to be a total and utter game changer for rural areas, they’ve got 300 satellites up already and are expecting to have trials running in the US and Canada by the end of this year. If it works as it should, it’ll be pretty much global next year.
And you can kiss the night sky goodbye
It won’t be as bad as some people are making it out to be, but there will be the odd ‘shooting star’ go past. They’re experimenting with various different paints and coatings to minimise satellite reflection visibility from Earth.
Get a kiddie's globe and paint try painting 30,000 dots on it. Even worse, try painting 80,000 dots on it - 2 per square degree of sky
Usual story. Question is who will intercept the (no doubt) flurry of Russian probes over a newly-independent Scotland. Will Scotland have its own air force or will the next question be who will pay for the English, Welsh and Northern Irish RAF to maintain air bases in Scotland?
They'll get an international air policing mission provided by the EU or NATO. Like Iceland, the Baltics, Montenegro, etc...
Isn't that just changing the names though, with planes still based at RAF Lossiemouth? Thus leaving open the question of who pays (and what the new air force is called).
It will be the RAF and England/NATO will pay, rent will be reasonable.
LOL, you want Westminster’s war machines flying over Scotland?
As long as they are paying per mile and renting infrastructure
I’m sure they’ll happily scoot between Berwick and Carlisle, but if you want them chasing away Bears any further north then expect a hefty pest control bill.
NATO will do it for free we will not need to pay any more bills for Westminster TAT.
Scotland would have to join NATO and pay membership fees if you want NATO to protect you
The idea this is free to Scotland is rather naive
A lot cheaper than what we currently pay to the robbers in Westminster and that is far from naive. You do realise we already pay as we are a member of NATO.
Usual story. Question is who will intercept the (no doubt) flurry of Russian probes over a newly-independent Scotland. Will Scotland have its own air force or will the next question be who will pay for the English, Welsh and Northern Irish RAF to maintain air bases in Scotland?
They'll get an international air policing mission provided by the EU or NATO. Like Iceland, the Baltics, Montenegro, etc...
Isn't that just changing the names though, with planes still based at RAF Lossiemouth? Thus leaving open the question of who pays (and what the new air force is called).
It will be the RAF and England/NATO will pay, rent will be reasonable.
LOL, you want Westminster’s war machines flying over Scotland?
As long as they are paying per mile and renting infrastructure
I’m sure they’ll happily scoot between Berwick and Carlisle, but if you want them chasing away Bears any further north then expect a hefty pest control bill.
NATO will do it for free we will not need to pay any more bills for Westminster TAT.
Scotland would have to join NATO and pay membership fees if you want NATO to protect you
The idea this is free to Scotland is rather naive
A lot cheaper than what we currently pay to the robbers in Westminster and that is far from naive. You do realise we already pay as we are a member of NATO.
Scotland has a GDP of £150Bn approx - that's 3Bn in Nato contributions.
The 2% of GDP target is for spending on each nation's military - it's not a contribution to a NATO budget.
Mr. G, it's an understandable thing to think but introversion is not being shy. Shy people are quiet and would like to be more outgoing. Introverts are just content with their own company and, perhaps, annoyed when extroverts try and make them act more like they do.
True, it is nice to be happy with one's self and not be a needy git.
Mr. G, ha, a problem for me too, mildly exacerbated by slightly poor circulation.
I recently searched for info on good exercises to help with that. Walking at least 15 minutes thrice weekly, or squats (3-4 x 15, thrice weekly), were recommended.
The way I've structured my days with some slightly longer breaks also means I tend to move every couple of hours just by routine.
I'm a doctor and an Infectious Diseases Specialist. I've been at this for more than 20 years seeing sick patients on a daily basis....
I am not scared of Covid-19. I am concerned about the implications of a novel infectious agent that has spread the world over and continues to find new footholds in different soil. I am rightly concerned for the welfare of those who are elderly, in frail health or disenfranchised who stand to suffer mostly, and disproportionately, at the hands of this new scourge. But I am not scared of Covid-19.
What I am scared about is the loss of reason and wave of fear that has induced the masses of society into a spellbinding spiral of panic, stockpiling obscene quantities of anything that could fill a bomb shelter adequately in a post-apocalyptic world. I am scared of the N95 masks that are stolen from hospitals and urgent care clinics where they are actually needed for front line healthcare providers and instead are being donned in airports, malls, and coffee lounges, perpetuating even more fear and suspicion of others. I am scared that our hospitals will be overwhelmed with anyone who thinks they " probably don't have it but may as well get checked out no matter what because you just never know..." and those with heart failure, emphysema, pneumonia and strokes will pay the price for overfilled ER waiting rooms with only so many doctors and nurses to assess.
I am scared that travel restrictions will become so far reaching that weddings will be canceled, graduations missed and family reunions will not materialize. And well, even that big party called the Olympic Games...that could be kyboshed too. Can you even imagine?
I'm scared those same epidemic fears will limit trade, harm partnerships in multiple sectors, business and otherwise and ultimately culminate in a global recession.
But mostly, I'm scared about what message we are telling our kids when faced with a threat. Instead of reason, rationality, openmindedness and altruism, we are telling them to panic, be fearful, suspicious, reactionary and self-interested.
Covid-19 is nowhere near over. It will be coming to a city, a hospital, a friend, even a family member near you at some point. Expect it. Stop waiting to be surprised further. The fact is the virus itself will not likely do much harm when it arrives. But our own behaviors and "fight for yourself above all else" attitude could prove disastrous.
I implore you all. Temper fear with reason, panic with patience and uncertainty with education. We have an opportunity to learn a great deal about health hygiene and limiting the spread of innumerable transmissible diseases in our society. Let's meet this challenge together in the best spirit of compassion for others, patience, and above all, an unfailing effort to seek truth, facts and knowledge as opposed to conjecture, speculation and catastrophizing. Canadian Infectious Disease Specialist
For those that don't know, this is Elon Musk's plan (being implemented right now) to provide internet access via LEO satellites.
The nature of the system is that it provides low latency bandwidth - the downside is a limit on the number of ground terminals that can be setup in a given area. This will not compete in cities.
However, what it is perfect for is providing the "Backhaul"* for cellphone tower and data cabinets. When combined with 5G the result is interesting.
A combined Starlink/5G cell tower would require only power, to provide high speed data access and cellphone calls in the locality.
The telecoms community is salivating at the possibilities of connecting up remote parts of the world... And possibly some not so far from us.
When the system is up and running, you will be able to provide high speed internet access to any location on the planet (outside say 10 degrees from the poles).
*Backhaul is the connection from local infrastructure to the rest of the world (kinda). The issue with rural broadband etc is about backhaul - connecting the remote areas.
Starlink is going to be a total and utter game changer for rural areas, they’ve got 300 satellites up already and are expecting to have trials running in the US and Canada by the end of this year. If it works as it should, it’ll be pretty much global next year.
And you can kiss the night sky goodbye
It won’t be as bad as some people are making it out to be, but there will be the odd ‘shooting star’ go past. They’re experimenting with various different paints and coatings to minimise satellite reflection visibility from Earth.
Anyhow, I see from last night’s thread that there was some bewilderment about how to cook pasta.
So this is the definitive Cyclefree’s Neapolitan Mamma’s guide to perfect pasta. Do not accept any substitutes, least of all from Jamie Oliver.
1. Get a BIG pan. The bigger the better. Not the sort you boil eggs in. The pasta needs space. 2. Put a handful of salt in. I mean a proper handful. You are not seasoning. The water has to be salty otherwise the pasta will be tasteless. 3. Boil the water. Properly boiling, not simmering or sort of hot. 4. Put in your pasta - about 100 grams per person if eaten as a first course, 80 grams if you’re dieting, as much as you want if you’re a hungry teenager. 5. Stir the pasta and KEEP STIRRING. Don’t faff about with oil or any of that nonsense. This doesn’t take long. 6. The pasta is ready when it is al dente ie with a bit of bite to it. If it is too soft you have made porridge. With experience you can tell by sight. If not try putting a fork in or tasting. 7. You will have prepared your serving bowl by now. Warm and large so that you can stir your sauce. 8. Get the pan and drain the pasta out then IMMEDIATELY put into the serving bowl and mix with your sauce or, if you are having it plain, with olive oil or butter. 9. Mix the pasta well with the sauce so that it is all lightly covered. 10. Eat and enjoy!
Do not serve some plain pasta with no sauce and a little bit put in top as a decoration; the cooked pasta will all stick together and be tasteless. Don’t wash through with cold water. Or leave to the side while you go off and do something else. Learn how to eat spaghetti. Scissors at table are not acceptable.
If there is any left over you can make a spaghetti frittata the following day.
Slightly different rules apply for gnocchi in that you don’t need to stir and as soon as they rise to the top of the pan they are ready to drain. Ditto with fresh filled pasta (ravioli / tortellini) as the cooking time is less.
Tortellini in brodo (broth - made from beef / veal bones) is superb. It is our family first course for Xmas lunch and if I am quarantined I intend surviving on it.
Oh and Parmesan is not used on fish sauces.
You can thank me all later.
Agree with all that up to silly insistence on not using Parmesan with fish sauces. While I'd balk at Parmesan on a Vongole, it's perfectly fine for a sauce that includes smoked salmon, or where prawns are the main ingredient.
Anyhow, I see from last night’s thread that there was some bewilderment about how to cook pasta.
So this is the definitive Cyclefree’s Neapolitan Mamma’s guide to perfect pasta. Do not accept any substitutes, least of all from Jamie Oliver.
1. Get a BIG pan. The bigger the better. Not the sort you boil eggs in. The pasta needs space. 2. Put a handful of salt in. I mean a proper handful. You are not seasoning. The water has to be salty otherwise the pasta will be tasteless. 3. Boil the water. Properly boiling, not simmering or sort of hot. 4. Put in your pasta - about 100 grams per person if eaten as a first course, 80 grams if you’re dieting, as much as you want if you’re a hungry teenager. 5. Stir the pasta and KEEP STIRRING. Don’t faff about with oil or any of that nonsense. This doesn’t take long. 6. The pasta is ready when it is al dente ie with a bit of bite to it. If it is too soft you have made porridge. With experience you can tell by sight. If not try putting a fork in or tasting. 7. You will have prepared your serving bowl by now. Warm and large so that you can stir your sauce. 8. Get the pan and drain the pasta out then IMMEDIATELY put into the serving bowl and mix with your sauce or, if you are having it plain, with olive oil or butter. 9. Mix the pasta well with the sauce so that it is all lightly covered. 10. Eat and enjoy!
Do not serve some plain pasta with no sauce and a little bit put in top as a decoration; the cooked pasta will all stick together and be tasteless. Don’t wash through with cold water. Or leave to the side while you go off and do something else. Lear how to eat spaghetti. Scissors at table are not acceptable.
If there is any left over you can make a spaghetti frittata the following day.
Slightly different rules apply for gnocchi in that you don’t need to stir and as soon as they rise to the top of the pan they are ready to drain. Ditto with fresh filled pasta (ravioli / tortellini) the cooking time is less.
Tortellini in brodo (broth - made from beef / veal bones) is superb. It is our family first course for Xmas lunch and if I am quarantined I intend surviving on it.
Oh and Parmesan is not used on fish sauces.
You can thank me all later.
If you buy the microwaveable spaghetti pots rather than tinned spaghetti then you don't need to worry about pasta in saucepans but if you insist on it, PBers old enough to remember The Sweeney will recall Inspector Regan's tip that you can tell when pasta is cooked by throwing it at the wall to see if it sticks. Thank me later.
Anyhow, I see from last night’s thread that there was some bewilderment about how to cook pasta.
So this is the definitive Cyclefree’s Neapolitan Mamma’s guide to perfect pasta. Do not accept any substitutes, least of all from Jamie Oliver.
1. Get a BIG pan. The bigger the better. Not the sort you boil eggs in. The pasta needs space. 2. Put a handful of salt in. I mean a proper handful. You are not seasoning. The water has to be salty otherwise the pasta will be tasteless. 3. Boil the water. Properly boiling, not simmering or sort of hot. 4. Put in your pasta - about 100 grams per person if eaten as a first course, 80 grams if you’re dieting, as much as you want if you’re a hungry teenager. 5. Stir the pasta and KEEP STIRRING. Don’t faff about with oil or any of that nonsense. This doesn’t take long. 6. The pasta is ready when it is al dente ie with a bit of bite to it. If it is too soft you have made porridge. With experience you can tell by sight. If not try putting a fork in or tasting. 7. You will have prepared your serving bowl by now. Warm and large so that you can stir your sauce. 8. Get the pan and drain the pasta out then IMMEDIATELY put into the serving bowl and mix with your sauce or, if you are having it plain, with olive oil or butter. 9. Mix the pasta well with the sauce so that it is all lightly covered. 10. Eat and enjoy!
Do not serve some plain pasta with no sauce and a little bit put in top as a decoration; the cooked pasta will all stick together and be tasteless. Don’t wash through with cold water. Or leave to the side while you go off and do something else. Learn how to eat spaghetti. Scissors at table are not acceptable.
If there is any left over you can make a spaghetti frittata the following day.
Slightly different rules apply for gnocchi in that you don’t need to stir and as soon as they rise to the top of the pan they are ready to drain. Ditto with fresh filled pasta (ravioli / tortellini) as the cooking time is less.
Tortellini in brodo (broth - made from beef / veal bones) is superb. It is our family first course for Xmas lunch and if I am quarantined I intend surviving on it.
Oh and Parmesan is not used on fish sauces.
You can thank me all later.
Today is international women's day. Your strictures on pasta allow you to qualify as an international woman. So enjoy it!
Parliament’s sleaze watchdog has launched an investigation into Boris Johnson and the mystery over who funded his recent luxury Caribbean holiday, the Observer has learned.
Prompting fresh questions over the prime minister’s probity, the parliamentary commissioner for standards decided last week to pursue an official inquiry into Johnson amid unanswered questions over the identity of the donor who lent him a property on the island of Mustique over new year. It is the first time a serving prime minister has been investigated by the commissioner, who is responsible for regulating MPs’ conduct and propriety.
The development means that three high-level inquiries are under way into allegations surrounding Johnson’s conduct, including his relationship with US businesswoman Jennifer Arcuri. A source with intimate knowledge of the most recent inquiry, but who requested anonymity, said: “These are serious issues which need to be properly investigated.”
Boris being Boris
I am surprised that you accept such chicanery acceptable G, I thought better of you. Condoning graft and abuse in public office by just saying " oh that is just Boris" is unforgivable. The fish rots from the head right enough.
I did not say I condone it, I responded with the likely public response, hence
Boris being Boris
And as for your last sentence lets see what happens in Scotland over the coming weeks
I hardly think the trial of an ex politician compares with a crooked PM of the UK, though unionists will be hoping the coverage reflects from the chicanery in Westminster so they can get some bad news buried. What happened to the 2017 enquiry into shedloads of Tory MP's and sexual offences, well buried it seems. Same with Scottish Tory politicians convictions or enquiries, they conveniently disappear or never get reported. The unionist press will be slavering at Salmond's trial, truth will matter not a jot.
Much of the stuff was not even vaguely problematic - there is no law against affairs etc.
The strangest thing I remember is one now ex-Minister on WATO talking about it, whilst also being on the list as an 'aspirational husband stealer'. The individual concerned now has a new husband.
As to what happened, iirc Theresa May and the other party leaders set up an independent helpline, to which victims could report allegations.
A dearth of reports and consequences perhaps suggests a surfeit of rumours.
For those that don't know, this is Elon Musk's plan (being implemented right now) to provide internet access via LEO satellites.
The nature of the system is that it provides low latency bandwidth - the downside is a limit on the number of ground terminals that can be setup in a given area. This will not compete in cities.
However, what it is perfect for is providing the "Backhaul"* for cellphone tower and data cabinets. When combined with 5G the result is interesting.
A combined Starlink/5G cell tower would require only power, to provide high speed data access and cellphone calls in the locality.
The telecoms community is salivating at the possibilities of connecting up remote parts of the world... And possibly some not so far from us.
When the system is up and running, you will be able to provide high speed internet access to any location on the planet (outside say 10 degrees from the poles).
*Backhaul is the connection from local infrastructure to the rest of the world (kinda). The issue with rural broadband etc is about backhaul - connecting the remote areas.
Starlink is going to be a total and utter game changer for rural areas, they’ve got 300 satellites up already and are expecting to have trials running in the US and Canada by the end of this year. If it works as it should, it’ll be pretty much global next year.
And you can kiss the night sky goodbye
It won’t be as bad as some people are making it out to be, but there will be the odd ‘shooting star’ go past. They’re experimenting with various different paints and coatings to minimise satellite reflection visibility from Earth.
For those that don't know, this is Elon Musk's plan (being implemented right now) to provide internet access via LEO satellites.
The nature of the system is that it provides low latency bandwidth - the downside is a limit on the number of ground terminals that can be setup in a given area. This will not compete in cities.
However, what it is perfect for is providing the "Backhaul"* for cellphone tower and data cabinets. When combined with 5G the result is interesting.
A combined Starlink/5G cell tower would require only power, to provide high speed data access and cellphone calls in the locality.
The telecoms community is salivating at the possibilities of connecting up remote parts of the world... And possibly some not so far from us.
When the system is up and running, you will be able to provide high speed internet access to any location on the planet (outside say 10 degrees from the poles).
*Backhaul is the connection from local infrastructure to the rest of the world (kinda). The issue with rural broadband etc is about backhaul - connecting the remote areas.
Starlink is going to be a total and utter game changer for rural areas, they’ve got 300 satellites up already and are expecting to have trials running in the US and Canada by the end of this year. If it works as it should, it’ll be pretty much global next year.
And you can kiss the night sky goodbye
It won’t be as bad as some people are making it out to be, but there will be the odd ‘shooting star’ go past. They’re experimenting with various different paints and coatings to minimise satellite reflection visibility from Earth.
I wonder if there's a significant introversion/extroversion effect on working from home, with introverts finding it easier without other people being around as much and extroverts finding it trickier.
For the record, there's an almost exact 50/50 split on introverts and extroverts in the general population.
The 50/50 split is almost by definition, like the 50/50 split above and below the average on any bell-curved measure.
Anyhow, I see from last night’s thread that there was some bewilderment about how to cook pasta.
So this is the definitive Cyclefree’s Neapolitan Mamma’s guide to perfect pasta. Do not accept any substitutes, least of all from Jamie Oliver.
1. Get a BIG pan. The bigger the better. Not the sort you boil eggs in. The pasta needs space. 2. Put a handful of salt in. I mean a proper handful. You are not seasoning. The water has to be salty otherwise the pasta will be tasteless. 3. Boil the water. Properly boiling, not simmering or sort of hot. 4. Put in your pasta - about 100 grams per person if eaten as a first course, 80 grams if you’re dieting, as much as you want if you’re a hungry teenager. 5. Stir the pasta and KEEP STIRRING. Don’t faff about with oil or any of that nonsense. This doesn’t take long. 6. The pasta is ready when it is al dente ie with a bit of bite to it. If it is too soft you have made porridge. With experience you can tell by sight. If not try putting a fork in or tasting. 7. You will have prepared your serving bowl by now. Warm and large so that you can stir your sauce. 8. Get the pan and drain the pasta out then IMMEDIATELY put into the serving bowl and mix with your sauce or, if you are having it plain, with olive oil or butter. 9. Mix the pasta well with the sauce so that it is all lightly covered. 10. Eat and enjoy!
Do not serve some plain pasta with no sauce and a little bit put in top as a decoration; the cooked pasta will all stick together and be tasteless. Don’t wash through with cold water. Or leave to the side while you go off and do something else. Learn how to eat spaghetti. Scissors at table are not acceptable.
If there is any left over you can make a spaghetti frittata the following day.
Slightly different rules apply for gnocchi in that you don’t need to stir and as soon as they rise to the top of the pan they are ready to drain. Ditto with fresh filled pasta (ravioli / tortellini) as the cooking time is less.
Tortellini in brodo (broth - made from beef / veal bones) is superb. It is our family first course for Xmas lunch and if I am quarantined I intend surviving on it.
Oh and Parmesan is not used on fish sauces.
You can thank me all later.
I am a "rice" person. Pasta holds no attraction for me and nor does Italian food because cheese is an abomination
(a lot of French dishes are out for the same reason)
Anyhow, I see from last night’s thread that there was some bewilderment about how to cook pasta.
So this is the definitive Cyclefree’s Neapolitan Mamma’s guide to perfect pasta. Do not accept any substitutes, least of all from Jamie Oliver.
1. Get a BIG pan. The bigger the better. Not the sort you boil eggs in. The pasta needs space. 2. Put a handful of salt in. I mean a proper handful. You are not seasoning. The water has to be salty otherwise the pasta will be tasteless. 3. Boil the water. Properly boiling, not simmering or sort of hot. 4. Put in your pasta - about 100 grams per person if eaten as a first course, 80 grams if you’re dieting, as much as you want if you’re a hungry teenager. 5. Stir the pasta and KEEP STIRRING. Don’t faff about with oil or any of that nonsense. This doesn’t take long. 6. The pasta is ready when it is al dente ie with a bit of bite to it. If it is too soft you have made porridge. With experience you can tell by sight. If not try putting a fork in or tasting. 7. You will have prepared your serving bowl by now. Warm and large so that you can stir your sauce. 8. Get the pan and drain the pasta out then IMMEDIATELY put into the serving bowl and mix with your sauce or, if you are having it plain, with olive oil or butter. 9. Mix the pasta well with the sauce so that it is all lightly covered. 10. Eat and enjoy!
Do not serve some plain pasta with no sauce and a little bit put in top as a decoration; the cooked pasta will all stick together and be tasteless. Don’t wash through with cold water. Or leave to the side while you go off and do something else. Lear how to eat spaghetti. Scissors at table are not acceptable.
If there is any left over you can make a spaghetti frittata the following day.
Slightly different rules apply for gnocchi in that you don’t need to stir and as soon as they rise to the top of the pan they are ready to drain. Ditto with fresh filled pasta (ravioli / tortellini) the cooking time is less.
Tortellini in brodo (broth - made from beef / veal bones) is superb. It is our family first course for Xmas lunch and if I am quarantined I intend surviving on it.
Oh and Parmesan is not used on fish sauces.
You can thank me all later.
If you buy the microwaveable spaghetti pots rather than tinned spaghetti then you don't need to worry about pasta in saucepans but if you insist on it, PBers old enough to remember The Sweeney will recall Inspector Regan's tip that you can tell when pasta is cooked by throwing it at the wall to see if it sticks. Thank me later.
Your recipe for tortellini in brodo would also be much appreciated, Cyclefree (if it’s not a family secret). Though it would have to be an occasional treat as I have vegetarians in the family....
Cities and commuting shape modern life, and I don’t think for the better. So if society becomes more localised, and people spend more time with family and appreciating & looking after their own patch, I think it would be for the better.
Anyhow, I see from last night’s thread that there was some bewilderment about how to cook pasta.
So this is the definitive Cyclefree’s Neapolitan Mamma’s guide to perfect pasta. Do not accept any substitutes, least of all from Jamie Oliver.
1. Get a BIG pan. The bigger the better. Not the sort you boil eggs in. The pasta needs space. 2. Put a handful of salt in. I mean a proper handful. You are not seasoning. The water has to be salty otherwise the pasta will be tasteless. 3. Boil the water. Properly boiling, not simmering or sort of hot. 4. Put in your pasta - about 100 grams per person if eaten as a first course, 80 grams if you’re dieting, as much as you want if you’re a hungry teenager. 5. Stir the pasta and KEEP STIRRING. Don’t faff about with oil or any of that nonsense. This doesn’t take long. 6. The pasta is ready when it is al dente ie with a bit of bite to it. If it is too soft you have made porridge. With experience you can tell by sight. If not try putting a fork in or tasting. 7. You will have prepared your serving bowl by now. Warm and large so that you can stir your sauce. 8. Get the pan and drain the pasta out then IMMEDIATELY put into the serving bowl and mix with your sauce or, if you are having it plain, with olive oil or butter. 9. Mix the pasta well with the sauce so that it is all lightly covered. 10. Eat and enjoy!
Do not serve some plain pasta with no sauce and a little bit put in top as a decoration; the cooked pasta will all stick together and be tasteless. Don’t wash through with cold water. Or leave to the side while you go off and do something else. Learn how to eat spaghetti. Scissors at table are not acceptable.
If there is any left over you can make a spaghetti frittata the following day.
Slightly different rules apply for gnocchi in that you don’t need to stir and as soon as they rise to the top of the pan they are ready to drain. Ditto with fresh filled pasta (ravioli / tortellini) as the cooking time is less.
Tortellini in brodo (broth - made from beef / veal bones) is superb. It is our family first course for Xmas lunch and if I am quarantined I intend surviving on it.
While office based workers who can work at home will be encouraged to do so during the current climate, many of us already work at home at least 1 day a week anyway and it is part of flexible working. However I do not see it becoming the norm every day due to the need for meetings with fellow staff and managers etc and of course many non office based jobs e.g. plumbers, electricians, surgeons, barristers, transport workers, the police, cafe and hotel staff etc cannot work from.home
Anyhow, I see from last night’s thread that there was some bewilderment about how to cook pasta.
So this is the definitive Cyclefree’s Neapolitan Mamma’s guide to perfect pasta. Do not accept any substitutes, least of all from Jamie Oliver.
1. Get a BIG pan. The bigger the better. Not the sort you boil eggs in. The pasta needs space. 2. Put a handful of salt in. I mean a proper handful. You are not seasoning. The water has to be salty otherwise the pasta will be tasteless. 3. Boil the water. Properly boiling, not simmering or sort of hot. 4. Put in your pasta - about 100 grams per person if eaten as a first course, 80 grams if you’re dieting, as much as you want if you’re a hungry teenager. 5. Stir the pasta and KEEP STIRRING. Don’t faff about with oil or any of that nonsense. This doesn’t take long. 6. The pasta is ready when it is al dente ie with a bit of bite to it. If it is too soft you have made porridge. With experience you can tell by sight. If not try putting a fork in or tasting. 7. You will have prepared your serving bowl by now. Warm and large so that you can stir your sauce. 8. Get the pan and drain the pasta out then IMMEDIATELY put into the serving bowl and mix with your sauce or, if you are having it plain, with olive oil or butter. 9. Mix the pasta well with the sauce so that it is all lightly covered. 10. Eat and enjoy!
Do not serve some plain pasta with no sauce and a little bit put in top as a decoration; the cooked pasta will all stick together and be tasteless. Don’t wash through with cold water. Or leave to the side while you go off and do something else. Learn how to eat spaghetti. Scissors at table are not acceptable.
If there is any left over you can make a spaghetti frittata the following day.
Slightly different rules apply for gnocchi in that you don’t need to stir and as soon as they rise to the top of the pan they are ready to drain. Ditto with fresh filled pasta (ravioli / tortellini) as the cooking time is less.
Tortellini in brodo (broth - made from beef / veal bones) is superb. It is our family first course for Xmas lunch and if I am quarantined I intend surviving on it.
Oh and Parmesan is not used on fish sauces.
You can thank me all later.
Agree with all that up to silly insistence on not using Parmesan with fish sauces. While I'd balk at Parmesan on a Vongole, it's perfectly fine for a sauce that includes smoked salmon, or where prawns are the main ingredient.
The much more important point about parmesan is to grate it yourself.
Had a delicious smoked haddock risotto with MOUNTAINS of freshly grated parmesan last night.
A good piece, Alastair, although I'm not succumbing to the attempt to rebrand the virus as Covid-19. No one cares about the technical correctness. It's coronavirus - the name stuck and it's with us for good.
I thought this was a really astute point: 'Fernand Braudel hypothesised that crises such as the South Sea Bubble and the Wall Street Crash marked the passing of the baton from one dominant economy to another.'
The US has been exposed by this and is heading for an absolute disaster. Those of us who know the country, by which I mean those of us not immunised inside our 4x4's: the real America, the one where down and outs are now the dominant population in city centres, where the social and healthcare structures have disintegrated, the one where a few are immensely successful at the expense of everyone else, those of us who know this America are now watching in horror as the edifice comes crashing down a thousand times more viscerally than the twin towers.
Update from front line on covid 19. Overall good week in UK as no major hot spot formed. Good news also from north Asia where outside Korea it appears to be getting under control. I spoke last week about Italy being worse than reported and this has now become evident. The same is true of the USA and that maybe the story of next week. Also watch out for France as it is getting bad there.
Yes France is getting very concerning. The government needs to step up its response now or we will be the next Italy. There are still many people with their hands in the sand here. We aren't even working from home yet.
On topic: Alistair (and other people) alluded to mental health problems caused by the isolation of working alone. No one seems to have touched on another common issue - physical health.
Getting up and going to work enforces a schedule - get up at time xxx, arrive at work at 9am, leave at 5pm and get back. For many people they get some exercise but everyone gets to move around somewhat.
Working from home - the kitchen and the fridge is only a few footsteps away. You can even work from your bed. There will be many for whom their physical health suffers.
Discipline!
I have worked from home for years now, as 30k of posts here might suggest. The isolation is real, especially when I was single w no kids. But there is plenty of time to run, cycle, go to to the gym, and more freedom to switch to a healthy diet
When my parents retired I started going there most days for lunch and a cuppa. It is lovely to spend 2-3 afternoons a week with my folks rather than once a fortnight.
Anyhow, I see from last night’s thread that there was some bewilderment about how to cook pasta.
So this is the definitive Cyclefree’s Neapolitan Mamma’s guide to perfect pasta. Do not accept any substitutes, least of all from Jamie Oliver.
1. Get a BIG pan. The bigger the better. Not the sort you boil eggs in. The pasta needs space. 2. Put a handful of salt in. I mean a proper handful. You are not seasoning. The water has to be salty otherwise the pasta will be tasteless. 3. Boil the water. Properly boiling, not simmering or sort of hot. 4. Put in your pasta - about 100 grams per person if eaten as a first course, 80 grams if you’re dieting, as much as you want if you’re a hungry teenager. 5. Stir the pasta and KEEP STIRRING. Don’t faff about with oil or any of that nonsense. This doesn’t take long. 6. The pasta is ready when it is al dente ie with a bit of bite to it. If it is too soft you have made porridge. With experience you can tell by sight. If not try putting a fork in or tasting. 7. You will have prepared your serving bowl by now. Warm and large so that you can stir your sauce. 8. Get the pan and drain the pasta out then IMMEDIATELY put into the serving bowl and mix with your sauce or, if you are having it plain, with olive oil or butter. 9. Mix the pasta well with the sauce so that it is all lightly covered. 10. Eat and enjoy!
Do not serve some plain pasta with no sauce and a little bit put in top as a decoration; the cooked pasta will all stick together and be tasteless. Don’t wash through with cold water. Or leave to the side while you go off and do something else. Learn how to eat spaghetti. Scissors at table are not acceptable.
If there is any left over you can make a spaghetti frittata the following day.
Slightly different rules apply for gnocchi in that you don’t need to stir and as soon as they rise to the top of the pan they are ready to drain. Ditto with fresh filled pasta (ravioli / tortellini) as the cooking time is less.
Tortellini in brodo (broth - made from beef / veal bones) is superb. It is our family first course for Xmas lunch and if I am quarantined I intend surviving on it.
Oh and Parmesan is not used on fish sauces.
You can thank me all later.
Today is international women's day. Your strictures on pasta allow you to qualify as an international woman. So enjoy it!
Stick a veg stock cube in the water for salt and flavour
Japan seems to be quite bad - they're testing 150 people a day, 1/3rd coming back positive.
The big infection reduction effort - working from home, cancelling events, closing schools - started about 2 weeks ago, and it takes that long to show symptoms, so the big question is whether the rate of increase starts to drop over the next week or so. If that works, it can probably be replicated in other developed countries without completely destroying the economy. If it doesn't... well, that wouldn't be good...
Japan seems to be quite bad - they're testing 150 people a day, 1/3rd coming back positive.
That would be bad if they tested 150 random members of the public. More to be expected if they are testing the family of those who are already positive and in quarantine.
It's one reason why it is difficult to assess the state of the outbreak in the UK. If the new cases being reported daily are people who have returned from Italy, France, Iran, Korea, and are already self-isolated - or family members of the same - then that gives some comfort that maybe it can still be contained. We don't have the information. (Although that it is not being stated suggests there is no such comfort to be had.)
A big commitment but a damn sight cheaper than letting the economy tank. This is an area where student loans could work -- or to be more precise, low-interest loans with income-contingent repayments.
Creamy smoked salmon sauces on pasta is not something which was offered in Palazzo Cyclefree when I was growing up. I suspect it is like those Indian dishes that have nothing to do with India at all.
Pasta and fish is a wonderful combination with good olive oil. Cheese is unnecessary.
Fresh Parmesan with figs and prosciutto crude is magnificent. I simply could not live without cheese, Parmesan most of all.
Your recipe for tortellini in brodo would also be much appreciated, Cyclefree (if it’s not a family secret). Though it would have to be an occasional treat as I have vegetarians in the family....
Later.
We could put together the PoliticalBetting Quarantine CookBook......
Japan seems to be quite bad - they're testing 150 people a day, 1/3rd coming back positive.
That would be bad if they tested 150 random members of the public. More to be expected if they are testing the family of those who are already positive and in quarantine.
It's one reason why it is difficult to assess the state of the outbreak in the UK. If the new cases being reported daily are people who have returned from Italy, France, Iran, Korea, and are already self-isolated - or family members of the same - then that gives some comfort that maybe it can still be contained. We don't have the information. (Although that it is not being stated suggests there is no such comfort to be had.)
Initially at least they were releasing to the press how many cases were unconnected to recent travel or close contact to somebody with recent travel. Until a few days ago it was very small.
However, the change in tone of things, suggests now that isn't the case and they are seeing a lot more cases without that link.
Your recipe for tortellini in brodo would also be much appreciated, Cyclefree (if it’s not a family secret). Though it would have to be an occasional treat as I have vegetarians in the family....
Later.
We could put together the PoliticalBetting Quarantine CookBook......
Been stocking up on frozen spinach in case it becomes hard to get fresh.... for my stuffed cannelloni.
Some observations. Can’t name the source but came from part of the academic team working with the government via a well connected member of the HoL. This is a summary so any errors are mine 😉
1. It will get worse before it gets better. Government plan based on 20% infection rate. Derived from PHE/LSTHM modelling - but same team also wildly overestimated Ebola. Most likely case is 10-20% but government wanted to plan for the worst reasonable case
2. This is not done strange new superbug. Acting like other coronaviruses. Some elements are novel but all within the range
3. People with bronchial disorders are those at risk. Severity of infection depends entirely on ore-existing conditions and quality of symptomatic care
4. Transmission is *not* airborne but only by large droplets. “Unless some dip-shit sneezes in your face” it will be by surface transmission. Follow recommended mitigation procedures
5. Don’t touch your nose or mouth. Virus is harmless unless it gets to your lungs
6. Surfaces can be infected for up to about 7-9 days (some debate). All other coronaviruses hate hot and humid weather... summer should see it subside. They also dislike salty water/air
7. Zinc ( per @Foxy ) is good as it stops viruses multiplying in the nasal passages
8. There are specific reasons why China has been as hard hit as it has. Multiple families living in close proximity. Excessive spitting by makes. Population density and general hygiene issues. These are less significant issues in our culture.
While office based workers who can work at home will be encouraged to do so during the current climate, many of us already work at home at least 1 day a week anyway and it is part of flexible working. However I do not see it becoming the norm every day due to the need for meetings with fellow staff and managers etc and of course many non office based jobs e.g. plumbers, electricians, surgeons, barristers, transport workers, the police, cafe and hotel staff etc cannot work from.home
But it will highlight just how pointless so much of the office "meetings culture" is.
I was entertained by the Covid panic this week. I was at the Excel centre down in that London at a big international trade show. Lots of people. Lots of stands. Lots of nibbles goodness being offered to people going past so lots of opportunity for the usual bugs to spread.
An email comes in from Tesco. In their wisdom they decided to cancel all meetings and visitors to their Welwyn campus unless business critical. Y'know, because Covid19. As and when Tesco don't look like panicky worries and most businesses do the same, the impact onto the way this country operates will be profound.
Some observations. Can’t name the source but came from part of the academic team working with the government via a well connected member of the HoL. This is a summary so any errors are mine 😉
1. It will get worse before it gets better. Government plan based on 20% infection rate. Derived from PHE/LSTHM modelling - but same team also wildly overestimated Ebola. Most likely case is 10-20% but government wanted to plan for the worst reasonable case
2. This is not done strange new superbug. Acting like other coronaviruses. Some elements are novel but all within the range
3. People with bronchial disorders are those at risk. Severity of infection depends entirely on ore-existing conditions and quality of symptomatic care
4. Transmission is *not* airborne but only by large droplets. “Unless some dip-shit sneezes in your face” it will be by surface transmission. Follow recommended mitigation procedures
5. Don’t touch your nose or mouth. Virus is harmless unless it gets to your lungs
6. Surfaces can be infected for up to about 7-9 days (some debate). All other coronaviruses hate hot and humid weather... summer should see it subside. They also dislike salty water/air
7. Zinc ( per @Foxy ) is good as it stops viruses multiplying in the nasal passages
8. There are specific reasons why China has been as hard hit as it has. Multiple families living in close proximity. Excessive spitting by makes. Population density and general hygiene issues. These are less significant issues in our culture.
While office based workers who can work at home will be encouraged to do so during the current climate, many of us already work at home at least 1 day a week anyway and it is part of flexible working. However I do not see it becoming the norm every day due to the need for meetings with fellow staff and managers etc and of course many non office based jobs e.g. plumbers, electricians, surgeons, barristers, transport workers, the police, cafe and hotel staff etc cannot work from.home
But it will highlight just how pointless so much of the office "meetings culture" is.
Where I work it's not the "meetings culture" that would be missed. Most of that is completely pointless. However what would be missed is the "meeting" culture. Simply being around other people, casual conversations, overhearing what other people are doing, sharing information etc etc. This simply does not happen through home working. Not everything can be shared or solved via email.
Anyhow, I see from last night’s thread that there was some bewilderment about how to cook pasta.
So this is the definitive Cyclefree’s Neapolitan Mamma’s guide to perfect pasta. Do not accept any substitutes, least of all from Jamie Oliver.
1. Get a BIG pan. The bigger the better. Not the sort you boil eggs in. The pasta needs space. 2. Put a handful of salt in. I mean a proper handful. You are not seasoning. The water has to be salty otherwise the pasta will be tasteless. 3. Boil the water. Properly boiling, not simmering or sort of hot. 4. Put in your pasta - about 100 grams per person if eaten as a first course, 80 grams if you’re dieting, as much as you want if you’re a hungry teenager. 5. Stir the pasta and KEEP STIRRING. Don’t faff about with oil or any of that nonsense. This doesn’t take long. 6. The pasta is ready when it is al dente ie with a bit of bite to it. If it is too soft you have made porridge. With experience you can tell by sight. If not try putting a fork in or tasting. 7. You will have prepared your serving bowl by now. Warm and large so that you can stir your sauce. 8. Get the pan and drain the pasta out then IMMEDIATELY put into the serving bowl and mix with your sauce or, if you are having it plain, with olive oil or butter. 9. Mix the pasta well with the sauce so that it is all lightly covered. 10. Eat and enjoy!
Do not serve some plain pasta with no sauce and a little bit put in top as a decoration; the cooked pasta will all stick together and be tasteless. Don’t wash through with cold water. Or leave to the side while you go off and do something else. Learn how to eat spaghetti. Scissors at table are not acceptable.
If there is any left over you can make a spaghetti frittata the following day.
Slightly different rules apply for gnocchi in that you don’t need to stir and as soon as they rise to the top of the pan they are ready to drain. Ditto with fresh filled pasta (ravioli / tortellini) as the cooking time is less.
Tortellini in brodo (broth - made from beef / veal bones) is superb. It is our family first course for Xmas lunch and if I am quarantined I intend surviving on it.
Oh and Parmesan is not used on fish sauces.
You can thank me all later.
Agree with all that up to silly insistence on not using Parmesan with fish sauces. While I'd balk at Parmesan on a Vongole, it's perfectly fine for a sauce that includes smoked salmon, or where prawns are the main ingredient.
Creamy smoked salmon sauces on pasta is not something which was offered in Palazzo Cyclefree when I was growing up. I suspect it is like those Indian dishes that have nothing to do with India at all.
Pasta and fish is a wonderful combination with good olive oil. Cheese is unnecessary.
Fresh Parmesan with figs and prosciutto crude is magnificent. I simply could not live without cheese, Parmesan most of all.
Google testimony surgeon bergamo for a long first hand account of life in an Italian hospital overwhelmed by COVID victims. The most frightening single thing I have seen so far.
"I still remember my night shift a week ago spent without any rest, waiting for a call from the microbiology department. I was waiting for the results of a swab taken from the first suspect case in our hospital, thinking about what consequences it would have for us and the hospital. If I think about it, my agitation for one possible case seems almost ridiculous and unjustified, now that I have seen what is happening. Well, the situation is now nothing short of dramatic. No other words come to mind. The war has literally exploded and battles are uninterrupted day and night. One after the other, these unfortunate people come to the emergency room. They have far from the complications of a flu. Let's stop saying it's a bad flu. In my two years working in Bergamo, I have learned that the people here do not come to the emergency room for no reason. They did well this time too. They followed all the recommendations given: a week or ten days at home with a fever without going out to prevent contagion, but now they can't take it anymore. They don't breathe enough, they need oxygen. Drug therapies for this virus are few.
The course mainly depends on our organism. We can only support it when it can't take it anymore. It is mainly hoped that our body will eradicate the virus on its own, let's face it. Antiviral therapies are experimental on this virus and we learn its behavior day after day. Staying at home until the symptoms worsen does not change the prognosis of the disease. Now, however, that need for beds in all its drama has arrived. One after another, the departments that had been emptied are filling up at an impressive rate. The display boards with the names of the sicks, of different colors depending on the department they belong to, are now all red and instead of the surgical procedure, there is the diagnosis, which is always the same: bilateral interstitial pneumonia. Now, tell me which flu virus causes such a rapid tragedy.
Comments
For some reason, people think that letting the PM of the day with a big majority holiday with them might give them some very cheap access to the levers of power.
If you heard your cat is suffering from coronavirus the right response is to determine whether it has FIP. If so treat with Virbagen fast and it may live. If it only had FECV then it should require no treatment although symptomatic intervention may be chosen.
If your cat is COVID-19 that is much more worrying.
Boris being Boris
And as for your last sentence lets see what happens in Scotland over the coming weeks
They made antibiotic research unprofitable by reserving Tygacil and Ketek to be treatments of last resort. Many of the measures they have put in place to restart research are beginning to work but we lost a decade.
But pandemic economics are very difficult - it’s tender based bidding on an episodic basis for stockpiles. Although you can do campaign manufacturing, Pharma isn’t really set up for that. BARDA does some good work in the area but sprays money around like a drunken trader with a big bonus
Although, the idea that pretty much every spot on the planet will have top end connectivity will mean there is no escape...
The MP should know about declaring benefits in kind though, and it’s his job (and only his job) to make sure the relevant register of interests was completed properly.
You or I would, of course, be assessed for income tax on the price of the holiday, if we accepted such a benefit in kind from someone with whom we have a business relationship.
What happened to the 2017 enquiry into shedloads of Tory MP's and sexual offences, well buried it seems. Same with Scottish Tory politicians convictions or enquiries, they conveniently disappear or never get reported. The unionist press will be slavering at Salmond's trial, truth will matter not a jot.
So Labour can be expected to be "supportive" of any Govt. moves to suspend the local elections in May then!
For the record, there's an almost exact 50/50 split on introverts and extroverts in the general population.
The biggest customers will be airlines, shipping and militaries, maybe even media to replace satellite broadcast links. The millions of rural dwellers are their icing on the cake.
(Count me among those who are really annoyed that we now have internet on planes).
So this is the definitive Cyclefree’s Neapolitan Mamma’s guide to perfect pasta. Do not accept any substitutes, least of all from Jamie Oliver.
1. Get a BIG pan. The bigger the better. Not the sort you boil eggs in. The pasta needs space.
2. Put a handful of salt in. I mean a proper handful. You are not seasoning. The water has to be salty otherwise the pasta will be tasteless.
3. Boil the water. Properly boiling, not simmering or sort of hot.
4. Put in your pasta - about 100 grams per person if eaten as a first course, 80 grams if you’re dieting, as much as you want if you’re a hungry teenager.
5. Stir the pasta and KEEP STIRRING. Don’t faff about with oil or any of that nonsense. This doesn’t take long.
6. The pasta is ready when it is al dente ie with a bit of bite to it. If it is too soft you have made porridge. With experience you can tell by sight. If not try putting a fork in or tasting.
7. You will have prepared your serving bowl by now. Warm and large so that you can stir your sauce.
8. Get the pan and drain the pasta out then IMMEDIATELY put into the serving bowl and mix with your sauce or, if you are having it plain, with olive oil or butter.
9. Mix the pasta well with the sauce so that it is all lightly covered.
10. Eat and enjoy!
Do not serve some plain pasta with no sauce and a little bit put in top as a decoration; the cooked pasta will all stick together and be tasteless. Don’t wash through with cold water. Or leave to the side while you go off and do something else. Learn how to eat spaghetti. Scissors at table are not acceptable.
If there is any left over you can make a spaghetti frittata the following day.
Slightly different rules apply for gnocchi in that you don’t need to stir and as soon as they rise to the top of the pan they are ready to drain. Ditto with fresh filled pasta (ravioli / tortellini) as the cooking time is less.
Tortellini in brodo (broth - made from beef / veal bones) is superb. It is our family first course for Xmas lunch and if I am quarantined I intend surviving on it.
Oh and Parmesan is not used on fish sauces.
You can thank me all later.
Getting up and going to work enforces a schedule - get up at time xxx, arrive at work at 9am, leave at 5pm and get back. For many people they get some exercise but everyone gets to move around somewhat.
Working from home - the kitchen and the fridge is only a few footsteps away. You can even work from your bed. There will be many for whom their physical health suffers.
One thing is for sure the whole Westminster establishment are against him so innocent or guilty he has little chance and they have managed to besmirch him whether he is innocent in any case. Their work is done and they can only hope they get Sturgeon in the same net.
I exercise (less than I should, admittedly) and can do that easily, without interruption, by taking just a few steps from the computer.
I recently searched for info on good exercises to help with that. Walking at least 15 minutes thrice weekly, or squats (3-4 x 15, thrice weekly), were recommended.
The way I've structured my days with some slightly longer breaks also means I tend to move every couple of hours just by routine.
I am not scared of Covid-19. I am concerned about the implications of a novel infectious agent that has spread the world over and continues to find new footholds in different soil. I am rightly concerned for the welfare of those who are elderly, in frail health or disenfranchised who stand to suffer mostly, and disproportionately, at the hands of this new scourge. But I am not scared of Covid-19.
What I am scared about is the loss of reason and wave of fear that has induced the masses of society into a spellbinding spiral of panic, stockpiling obscene quantities of anything that could fill a bomb shelter adequately in a post-apocalyptic world. I am scared of the N95 masks that are stolen from hospitals and urgent care clinics where they are actually needed for front line healthcare providers and instead are being donned in airports, malls, and coffee lounges, perpetuating even more fear and suspicion of others. I am scared that our hospitals will be overwhelmed with anyone who thinks they " probably don't have it but may as well get checked out no matter what because you just never know..." and those with heart failure, emphysema, pneumonia and strokes will pay the price for overfilled ER waiting rooms with only so many doctors and nurses to assess.
I am scared that travel restrictions will become so far reaching that weddings will be canceled, graduations missed and family reunions will not materialize. And well, even that big party called the Olympic Games...that could be kyboshed too. Can you even imagine?
I'm scared those same epidemic fears will limit trade, harm partnerships in multiple sectors, business and otherwise and ultimately culminate in a global recession.
But mostly, I'm scared about what message we are telling our kids when faced with a threat. Instead of reason, rationality, openmindedness and altruism, we are telling them to panic, be fearful, suspicious, reactionary and self-interested.
Covid-19 is nowhere near over. It will be coming to a city, a hospital, a friend, even a family member near you at some point. Expect it. Stop waiting to be surprised further. The fact is the virus itself will not likely do much harm when it arrives. But our own behaviors and "fight for yourself above all else" attitude could prove disastrous.
I implore you all. Temper fear with reason, panic with patience and uncertainty with education. We have an opportunity to learn a great deal about health hygiene and limiting the spread of innumerable transmissible diseases in our society. Let's meet this challenge together in the best spirit of compassion for others, patience, and above all, an unfailing effort to seek truth, facts and knowledge as opposed to conjecture, speculation and catastrophizing. Canadian Infectious Disease Specialist
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/4804173/sex-pest-dossier-names-six-cabinet-ministers-and-senior-allies-of-pm/
Much of the stuff was not even vaguely problematic - there is no law against affairs etc.
The strangest thing I remember is one now ex-Minister on WATO talking about it, whilst also being on the list as an 'aspirational husband stealer'. The individual concerned now has a new husband.
As to what happened, iirc Theresa May and the other party leaders set up an independent helpline, to which victims could report allegations.
A dearth of reports and consequences perhaps suggests a surfeit of rumours.
https://twitter.com/YouGov/status/1236576630174289920?s=20
https://twitter.com/YouGov/status/1236576626823004161?s=20
(a lot of French dishes are out for the same reason)
Though it would have to be an occasional treat as I have vegetarians in the family....
Cities and commuting shape modern life, and I don’t think for the better. So if society becomes more localised, and people spend more time with family and appreciating & looking after their own patch, I think it would be for the better.
I on the other hand love smelly cheeses almost as much as my dog.
Almost. I won't actually beg for it.
*faints*
https://twitter.com/niall_gooch/status/1235190759613227008?s=21
Had a delicious smoked haddock risotto with MOUNTAINS of freshly grated parmesan last night.
I have worked from home for years now, as 30k of posts here might suggest. The isolation is real, especially when I was single w no kids. But there is plenty of time to run, cycle, go to to the gym, and more freedom to switch to a healthy diet
When my parents retired I started going there most days for lunch and a cuppa. It is lovely to spend 2-3 afternoons a week with my folks rather than once a fortnight.
It's one reason why it is difficult to assess the state of the outbreak in the UK. If the new cases being reported daily are people who have returned from Italy, France, Iran, Korea, and are already self-isolated - or family members of the same - then that gives some comfort that maybe it can still be contained. We don't have the information. (Although that it is not being stated suggests there is no such comfort to be had.)
Pasta alle vongole should not have Parmesan.
Creamy smoked salmon sauces on pasta is not something which was offered in Palazzo Cyclefree when I was growing up. I suspect it is like those Indian dishes that have nothing to do with India at all.
Pasta and fish is a wonderful combination with good olive oil. Cheese is unnecessary.
Fresh Parmesan with figs and prosciutto crude is magnificent. I simply could not live without cheese, Parmesan most of all.
We could put together the PoliticalBetting Quarantine CookBook......
However, the change in tone of things, suggests now that isn't the case and they are seeing a lot more cases without that link.
1. It will get worse before it gets better. Government plan based on 20% infection rate. Derived from PHE/LSTHM modelling - but same team also wildly overestimated Ebola. Most likely case is 10-20% but government wanted to plan for the worst reasonable case
2. This is not done strange new superbug. Acting like other coronaviruses. Some elements are novel but all within the range
3. People with bronchial disorders are those at risk. Severity of infection depends entirely on ore-existing conditions and quality of symptomatic care
4. Transmission is *not* airborne but only by large droplets. “Unless some dip-shit sneezes in your face” it will be by surface transmission. Follow recommended mitigation procedures
5. Don’t touch your nose or mouth. Virus is harmless unless it gets to your lungs
6. Surfaces can be infected for up to about 7-9 days (some debate). All other coronaviruses hate hot and humid weather... summer should see it subside. They also dislike salty water/air
7. Zinc ( per @Foxy ) is good as it stops viruses multiplying in the nasal passages
8. There are specific reasons why China has been as hard hit as it has. Multiple families living in close proximity. Excessive spitting by makes. Population density and general hygiene issues. These are less significant issues in our culture.
An email comes in from Tesco. In their wisdom they decided to cancel all meetings and visitors to their Welwyn campus unless business critical. Y'know, because Covid19. As and when Tesco don't look like panicky worries and most businesses do the same, the impact onto the way this country operates will be profound.
Labour are negligent in allowing him anywhere near power, the leadership should have concluded weeks ago
https://twitter.com/NAChristakis/status/1235963917433802755
Though there are some suggestions it persists on surfaces much less above 20C.
1,219 cases. One fatality (in Switzerland).
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/
"I still remember my night shift a week ago spent without any rest, waiting for a call from the microbiology department. I was waiting for the results of a swab taken from the first suspect case in our hospital, thinking about what consequences it would have for us and the hospital. If I think about it, my agitation for one possible case seems almost ridiculous and unjustified, now that I have seen what is happening. Well, the situation is now nothing short of dramatic. No other words come to mind. The war has literally exploded and battles are uninterrupted day and night. One after the other, these unfortunate people come to the emergency room. They have far from the complications of a flu. Let's stop saying it's a bad flu. In my two years working in Bergamo, I have learned that the people here do not come to the emergency room for no reason. They did well this time too. They followed all the recommendations given: a week or ten days at home with a fever without going out to prevent contagion, but now they can't take it anymore. They don't breathe enough, they need oxygen. Drug therapies for this virus are few.
The course mainly depends on our organism. We can only support it when it can't take it anymore. It is mainly hoped that our body will eradicate the virus on its own, let's face it. Antiviral therapies are experimental on this virus and we learn its behavior day after day. Staying at home until the symptoms worsen does not change the prognosis of the disease. Now, however, that need for beds in all its drama has arrived. One after another, the departments that had been emptied are filling up at an impressive rate. The display boards with the names of the sicks, of different colors depending on the department they belong to, are now all red and instead of the surgical procedure, there is the diagnosis, which is always the same: bilateral interstitial pneumonia. Now, tell me which flu virus causes such a rapid tragedy.
..."