Pfizer vaccine 95% effective and has cleared the safety requirements - no adverse effects, just headaches and fever that you would expect as side effects after a vaccine.
Excellent news. Pfizer applying for emergency authorisation.
I wonder how long until vaccination will start in the US? I read reports suggesting that the authorisation in the UK would be granted days after the trial was finished.
Dr Sanjay Gupta on CNN just now said vaccinations are likely to begin before Christmas.
The coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech appears to protect 94% of adults over 65 years old.
A couple of days ago we saw people asking "why didn't you idiots buy the Moderna vaccine?" What is the probability that we will now see people asking "why have you idiots ordered the Moderna vaccine we don't need?"
Hadn't Trump said that he wasn't going to allow the Moderna vaccine to be exported until Americans had received it first? Which is probably why nobody in Europe had bought that one unlike all the others.
Yeah but what he's said is irrelevant after 20th January.
The coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech appears to protect 94% of adults over 65 years old.
A couple of days ago we saw people asking "why didn't you idiots buy the Moderna vaccine?" What is the probability that we will now see people asking "why have you idiots ordered the Moderna vaccine we don't need?"
And if the Oxford one works, they will then be moaning why did we buy all these millions of doses of other vaccines that are way more expensive and problematic to administer.
There is plenty to criticize the government over their handling of COVID, but the reaction to the vaccine stuff has been ridiculous. Per head, the UK has one of the widest range of deals on a portfolio of vaccines, signed and sealed, not "agreements in principle" etc.
I read some claims about Covidshield, the Indian project using the Oxford vaccine, but with no source they are probably nonsense. Fingers crossed it is good, as that's the one that is likely to be most widely available in the near-term both here and in India.
I remember when all the media were screaming at the government why can't you buy any PPE, just buy some of it, from anywhere, anyhow, at any cost...
Yeah, there was undoubtedly going to be waste, although I agree that corruption should be investigated properly. Of course the media can have it both ways.
the xmas food adverts do feel to have started earlier than usual this year but could be my memory failing me.
am very disappointed with the John Lewis one. didn't even get close to a tear. thought last year's was superb.
These ads are all gruesome - why does anyone give two fucks about them? BBC = no ads, yeah.
BBC = plenty of ads for themselves. I find that and continuity announcers trying to be actorish more irritating than their pish news/politics coverage.
Yes I agree - their cloying self-congratulatory ones are the worst of all. At least with the others you occasionally see something you might want to buy.
Pfizer vaccine 95% effective and has cleared the safety requirements - no adverse effects, just headaches and fever that you would expect as side effects after a vaccine.
Excellent news. Pfizer applying for emergency authorisation.
I wonder how long until vaccination will start in the US? I read reports suggesting that the authorisation in the UK would be granted days after the trial was finished.
Dr Sanjay Gupta on CNN just now said vaccinations are likely to begin before Christmas.
Light at the end of the tunnel...
Meanwhile, in another tunnel no far away ...
Mink-COVID20?
A suave French bureaucrat and a dishevelled British lord ..
Pfizer vaccine 95% effective and has cleared the safety requirements - no adverse effects, just headaches and fever that you would expect as side effects after a vaccine.
Excellent news. Pfizer applying for emergency authorisation.
I wonder how long until vaccination will start in the US? I read reports suggesting that the authorisation in the UK would be granted days after the trial was finished.
Dr Sanjay Gupta on CNN just now said vaccinations are likely to begin before Christmas.
Light at the end of the tunnel...
Meanwhile, in another tunnel no far away ...
Mink-COVID20?
A suave French bureaucrat and a dishevelled British lord ..
Alan Coren used to say the sole purpose of Sainsburys was to keep the riffraff out of Waitrose.
For me Sainsbury's is the sweet spot - neither up itself like Waitrose or M&S nor cheap looking like Tesco or Asda. I just find the German discounters disorienting, although they have good stuff at low prices. Plus you can't get everything there, and for me the ability to go to one place once a fortnight and come home with everything you need within an hour is worth forking out a bit more for.
I’m now Occado all the way.
I forget fewer items when I go in person for some reason. We tried online shopping but never really took to it.
I wonder how many people have to mentally walk around their local Saunsburys when doing the online shopping, just so as not to forget things?
What I do when I go to the shops - Waitrose usually - is I do a "control total" in my head before I set off for what I plan to buy. So for example, and it's today's real one, if I'm getting pork chops, fishcakes, chicken breasts, round beans, broccoli, apples, bananas, hula hoops, bread, and milk - that's TEN. My control total is 10. Then as I walk towards the checkout I look into my basket and count the items. Did that today and there were just 9 items there. Tells me I'm missing one thing. The bread in this case. So I flipped around, went back to the bread section and got it - Hovis Granary Original just for completeness of everyone's mental picture - then back to the till and closed the deal.
Boris should point out that it was a labour government who said that devolution would kill nationalism.
Rather irrelevant to how to respond now though.
Starmer went big on Boris devolution remark, and made a mess of it. Boris came across very prime ministerial sat down in front of that background, and pressed all of the right buttons, such as his record as mayor on transport and housing. And that Blair supports his view. And polls of UK show the voters back Boris on his devolution remark.
If Labour do get rid of Starmer for someone more charismatic who might win next election, then who? They haven’t got anybody on their front bench remotely in that bracket except perhaps Milliband
The coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech appears to protect 94% of adults over 65 years old.
A couple of days ago we saw people asking "why didn't you idiots buy the Moderna vaccine?" What is the probability that we will now see people asking "why have you idiots ordered the Moderna vaccine we don't need?"
Hadn't Trump said that he wasn't going to allow the Moderna vaccine to be exported until Americans had received it first? Which is probably why nobody in Europe had bought that one unlike all the others.
Yeah but what he's said is irrelevant after 20th January.
Not necessarily if Moderna have indeed signed a contract to issue the American doses first before exporting then that contract would still be relevant after 20 January too.
The Pfizer vaccine is produced in Europe to my knowledge the Moderna one currently isn't, which is an issue for availability.
As for shopping why wouldn't you do it online? All the supermarkets remember what you bought so you can just add it all again to your trolley, they deliver - hoorah - and have constant offers (although none, I noted, on wine during the lockdown).
For the physical shop, it was known that Morrisons had a great fresh meat and fish counter - no idea if that is still the case. And the Waitrose in the King's Road was a great pick up joint.
Johnson's best victory in PMQs against Starmer yet - he was clearly very well prepared for the devolution question (though whether for Starmer or Blackford I'm not sure). If anything the background suited the PM more than normal PMQs does.
PA now at Biden +81K .. NV at +33K and Biden edging toward a 6M vote popular win with New York state still at 82% reporting and bits and bobs elsewhere including 2% from California.
As for shopping why wouldn't you do it online? All the supermarkets remember what you bought so you can just add it all again to your trolley, they deliver - hoorah - and have constant offers (although none, I noted, on wine during the lockdown).
For the physical shop, it was known that Morrisons had a great fresh meat and fish counter - no idea if that is still the case. And the Waitrose in the King's Road was a great pick up joint.
That is all.
Isn't variety the spice of life?
(Although I can't talk, I always buy the same thing despite going in to get it)
The coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech appears to protect 94% of adults over 65 years old.
A couple of days ago we saw people asking "why didn't you idiots buy the Moderna vaccine?" What is the probability that we will now see people asking "why have you idiots ordered the Moderna vaccine we don't need?"
Hadn't Trump said that he wasn't going to allow the Moderna vaccine to be exported until Americans had received it first? Which is probably why nobody in Europe had bought that one unlike all the others.
Yeah but what he's said is irrelevant after 20th January.
Not necessarily if Moderna have indeed signed a contract to issue the American doses first before exporting then that contract would still be relevant after 20 January too.
The Pfizer vaccine is produced in Europe to my knowledge the Moderna one currently isn't, which is an issue for availability.
PA now at Biden +81K .. NV at +33K and Biden edging toward a 6M vote popular win with New York state still at 82% reporting and bits and bobs elsewhere including 2% from California.
If America were a functional first world democracy capable of counting all votes on the night, instead of letting the narrative be set by early counting and Florida then evolving from there over weeks, then this would have been a simple and comprehensive victory for Biden.
Alan Coren used to say the sole purpose of Sainsburys was to keep the riffraff out of Waitrose.
For me Sainsbury's is the sweet spot - neither up itself like Waitrose or M&S nor cheap looking like Tesco or Asda. I just find the German discounters disorienting, although they have good stuff at low prices. Plus you can't get everything there, and for me the ability to go to one place once a fortnight and come home with everything you need within an hour is worth forking out a bit more for.
I won't say which supermarket I go to, but I'm clear about where I am in the pecking order: Everyone who goes to more downmarket supermarkets is scum Everyone who goes to more upmarket supermarkets is posh scum
The British class system in one sentence. You get to look downwards in all directions, even (especially) when you're looking upwards. What's not to like?
I would say it's like an Escher painting, but I once saw Escher leaving the Co-op in Hilversum, and since then I've come to regard him as essentially a degenerate.
Are you sure that you weren't actually in a pseudo non-degenerate Riemannian space? If so, he may actually have been entering Fortnum's.
He was buying wine in a klein bottle, and trying to work out how to open the damn thing.
The coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech appears to protect 94% of adults over 65 years old.
A couple of days ago we saw people asking "why didn't you idiots buy the Moderna vaccine?" What is the probability that we will now see people asking "why have you idiots ordered the Moderna vaccine we don't need?"
Hadn't Trump said that he wasn't going to allow the Moderna vaccine to be exported until Americans had received it first? Which is probably why nobody in Europe had bought that one unlike all the others.
Yeah but what he's said is irrelevant after 20th January.
Not necessarily if Moderna have indeed signed a contract to issue the American doses first before exporting then that contract would still be relevant after 20 January too.
The Pfizer vaccine is produced in Europe to my knowledge the Moderna one currently isn't, which is an issue for availability.
Hmm .. requisitionable.
The Biden administration won't requisition any vaccine legally purchased by the UK. Trump absolubtely would, and will. So we'll be getting it after the 20th.
Alan Coren used to say the sole purpose of Sainsburys was to keep the riffraff out of Waitrose.
For me Sainsbury's is the sweet spot - neither up itself like Waitrose or M&S nor cheap looking like Tesco or Asda. I just find the German discounters disorienting, although they have good stuff at low prices. Plus you can't get everything there, and for me the ability to go to one place once a fortnight and come home with everything you need within an hour is worth forking out a bit more for.
I won't say which supermarket I go to, but I'm clear about where I am in the pecking order: Everyone who goes to more downmarket supermarkets is scum Everyone who goes to more upmarket supermarkets is posh scum
The British class system in one sentence. You get to look downwards in all directions, even (especially) when you're looking upwards. What's not to like?
I would say it's like an Escher painting, but I once saw Escher leaving the Co-op in Hilversum, and since then I've come to regard him as essentially a degenerate.
Are you sure that you weren't actually in a pseudo non-degenerate Riemannian space? If so, he may actually have been entering Fortnum's.
He was buying wine in a klein bottle, and trying to work out how to open the damn thing.
I saw Francis Bacon in the Neros at Notting Hill Gate once. I didn't see what he was buying but hope to hell it wasn't a skinny decaf latte.
Alan Coren used to say the sole purpose of Sainsburys was to keep the riffraff out of Waitrose.
For me Sainsbury's is the sweet spot - neither up itself like Waitrose or M&S nor cheap looking like Tesco or Asda. I just find the German discounters disorienting, although they have good stuff at low prices. Plus you can't get everything there, and for me the ability to go to one place once a fortnight and come home with everything you need within an hour is worth forking out a bit more for.
I won't say which supermarket I go to, but I'm clear about where I am in the pecking order: Everyone who goes to more downmarket supermarkets is scum Everyone who goes to more upmarket supermarkets is posh scum
The British class system in one sentence. You get to look downwards in all directions, even (especially) when you're looking upwards. What's not to like?
I would say it's like an Escher painting, but I once saw Escher leaving the Co-op in Hilversum, and since then I've come to regard him as essentially a degenerate.
Are you sure that you weren't actually in a pseudo non-degenerate Riemannian space? If so, he may actually have been entering Fortnum's.
As for shopping why wouldn't you do it online? All the supermarkets remember what you bought so you can just add it all again to your trolley, they deliver - hoorah - and have constant offers (although none, I noted, on wine during the lockdown).
For the physical shop, it was known that Morrisons had a great fresh meat and fish counter - no idea if that is still the case. And the Waitrose in the King's Road was a great pick up joint.
That is all.
Isn't variety the spice of life?
(Although I can't talk, I always buy the same thing despite going in to get it)
Not for supermarket shops. What exactly can change? A different brand of butter or the own brand chocolate digestives instead of McVities?
The coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech appears to protect 94% of adults over 65 years old.
A couple of days ago we saw people asking "why didn't you idiots buy the Moderna vaccine?" What is the probability that we will now see people asking "why have you idiots ordered the Moderna vaccine we don't need?"
Hadn't Trump said that he wasn't going to allow the Moderna vaccine to be exported until Americans had received it first? Which is probably why nobody in Europe had bought that one unlike all the others.
Yeah but what he's said is irrelevant after 20th January.
Not necessarily if Moderna have indeed signed a contract to issue the American doses first before exporting then that contract would still be relevant after 20 January too.
The Pfizer vaccine is produced in Europe to my knowledge the Moderna one currently isn't, which is an issue for availability.
Hmm .. requisitionable.
The Biden administration won't requisition any vaccine legally purchased by the UK. Trump absolubtely would, and will. So we'll be getting it after the 20th.
Perhaps not but they seem fond of the concept of queues (or lines as they say).
Alan Coren used to say the sole purpose of Sainsburys was to keep the riffraff out of Waitrose.
For me Sainsbury's is the sweet spot - neither up itself like Waitrose or M&S nor cheap looking like Tesco or Asda. I just find the German discounters disorienting, although they have good stuff at low prices. Plus you can't get everything there, and for me the ability to go to one place once a fortnight and come home with everything you need within an hour is worth forking out a bit more for.
I won't say which supermarket I go to, but I'm clear about where I am in the pecking order: Everyone who goes to more downmarket supermarkets is scum Everyone who goes to more upmarket supermarkets is posh scum
The British class system in one sentence. You get to look downwards in all directions, even (especially) when you're looking upwards. What's not to like?
I would say it's like an Escher painting, but I once saw Escher leaving the Co-op in Hilversum, and since then I've come to regard him as essentially a degenerate.
Are you sure that you weren't actually in a pseudo non-degenerate Riemannian space? If so, he may actually have been entering Fortnum's.
That went over my head.
But I still looked down on it.
People have been sharing the Monty Python sketch on my news feeds for some days for some reason.
The coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech appears to protect 94% of adults over 65 years old.
A couple of days ago we saw people asking "why didn't you idiots buy the Moderna vaccine?" What is the probability that we will now see people asking "why have you idiots ordered the Moderna vaccine we don't need?"
Hadn't Trump said that he wasn't going to allow the Moderna vaccine to be exported until Americans had received it first? Which is probably why nobody in Europe had bought that one unlike all the others.
Yeah but what he's said is irrelevant after 20th January.
Not necessarily if Moderna have indeed signed a contract to issue the American doses first before exporting then that contract would still be relevant after 20 January too.
The Pfizer vaccine is produced in Europe to my knowledge the Moderna one currently isn't, which is an issue for availability.
As for shopping why wouldn't you do it online? All the supermarkets remember what you bought so you can just add it all again to your trolley, they deliver - hoorah - and have constant offers (although none, I noted, on wine during the lockdown).
For the physical shop, it was known that Morrisons had a great fresh meat and fish counter - no idea if that is still the case. And the Waitrose in the King's Road was a great pick up joint.
That is all.
Isn't variety the spice of life?
(Although I can't talk, I always buy the same thing despite going in to get it)
Not for supermarket shops. What exactly can change? A different brand of butter or the own brand chocolate digestives instead of McVities?
I mean buying different things to cook at home, rather than having the same thing each week.
I saw the Sainsbury's ad last night and thought it was one of the best Christmas ads I'd seen this year.
Didn't even think about skin colour or notice the fact they were black. That wasn't the relevant bit to me, for me it was a family having a 2020 Christmas talking about gravy etc - that some people see that and get offended is absolutely beyond me.
That's an interesting point - have other supermarkets/big retailers not featured black/other non-white families? I would assume they have (be a bit shocked if not) but I honestly can't remember. As you say, not really something that you notice particularly unless flagged up.
I do remember the Lloyds banking front page picture/ad being a couple of men getting engaged a few years back, but I'd seen that a few times before I twigged the significance (one of the first ads to feature an openly homosexual couple, I think).
Sainsbury’s are doing different ads featuring different races it seems. Maybe the third will be a mixture.
If they are trying to represent the countries demographic, it fails as BAME is a smallish minority, if they are trying to promote an ideal situation I think it fails too because it segregates the races. Racists would probably be pleased to have different ads for black and white families. Best not to go there, but as @Roy_G_Biv says it is almost certainly a part of the marketing strategy to provoke some fury
Yes probably. But such a strategy should fail due to the yawning lack of fury. If it works that is a worry. In particular you start speculating that if a gentle Christmas ad featuring a black family is enough to get lots of people angry what would their reaction be to something like a black PM. Would they start looking for somebody to make all that stop? Somebody to turn the clock back and MEGA. Exaggerating? Possibly I am. Hopefully I am. But this for me is the genuine point of concern not whether Sainsburys are too woke or being cynical. That is a very second order issue imo compared to hardcore racism.
Also certainly the creating outrage stuff will be part of the idea, with Sainsbury's making a stiff response and burning their credentials. Nothing wrong with that, it's earned media, Sainsbury's gets kudos and the ad gets more tractions (and views).
However, what does get me about advertisers is the mental gymnastics they go through to avoid giving offence. My wife is Black, I'm White. Do you know how few adverts out there featuring a mixed-race couple where the male is White and the female is Black? Very few, almost inevitably it is BAME male, White female. It's almost as though the advertisers are petrified that any advert with a Black/BAME woman and White male might be deemed to be offensive in some way to Black people
I spy with my little eye one of those "almost as ifs" that indicate it's what you think.
So with this assumption in place - why iyo would advertisers be terrified that showing a Black Woman White Man couple would offend Black people?
The coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech appears to protect 94% of adults over 65 years old.
A couple of days ago we saw people asking "why didn't you idiots buy the Moderna vaccine?" What is the probability that we will now see people asking "why have you idiots ordered the Moderna vaccine we don't need?"
Hadn't Trump said that he wasn't going to allow the Moderna vaccine to be exported until Americans had received it first? Which is probably why nobody in Europe had bought that one unlike all the others.
Yeah but what he's said is irrelevant after 20th January.
Not necessarily if Moderna have indeed signed a contract to issue the American doses first before exporting then that contract would still be relevant after 20 January too.
The Pfizer vaccine is produced in Europe to my knowledge the Moderna one currently isn't, which is an issue for availability.
Hmm .. requisitionable.
Like Macron did with the NHS's PPE early in the crisis....
Not often that Boris beats Starmer at PMQs (I think this is only third or fourth time I've said he has) but when he does its amusing how quiet this site is on the subject.
If Starmer is perceived to have gotten one up on Boris then there is a lot more discussion then.
The coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech appears to protect 94% of adults over 65 years old.
A couple of days ago we saw people asking "why didn't you idiots buy the Moderna vaccine?" What is the probability that we will now see people asking "why have you idiots ordered the Moderna vaccine we don't need?"
Hadn't Trump said that he wasn't going to allow the Moderna vaccine to be exported until Americans had received it first? Which is probably why nobody in Europe had bought that one unlike all the others.
Yeah but what he's said is irrelevant after 20th January.
Not necessarily if Moderna have indeed signed a contract to issue the American doses first before exporting then that contract would still be relevant after 20 January too.
The Pfizer vaccine is produced in Europe to my knowledge the Moderna one currently isn't, which is an issue for availability.
Hmm .. requisitionable.
The Biden administration won't requisition any vaccine legally purchased by the UK. Trump absolubtely would, and will. So we'll be getting it after the 20th.
Moderna has partners in Europe. There will be vaccine produced in Europe for Europe by them.
Meanwhile, the true believers over at lockdownsceptics believe that:
- False positives have spiked for some unknown reason, spreading almost like a virus - People are turning up at hospital with false positivity about ten days delayed from the spread of false positives - People are dying about twenty days after the increased spread in false positives, with the rate of dying continuing to climb and now very visible in excess deaths - People diagnosed with these false positives are dying within 28 days at a rate far, far faster than the normal rate of death (if they were dying just at the "normal" rate for someone picked at random dying within 28 days, the population of the UK would halve in a year)
And, with that amazing series of coincidences, it's actually happening around the world! Almost as if there's a pandemic of a real virus.
It's happening in Austria as well. In Belgium. In Croatia. In the Czech Republic (my God, is it happening in the Czech Republic!). In France. In Hungary. In Ireland. In Italy. In the Netherlands, except they seem to have got the false positives under control by pretending they're real and reacting as if they're real. In Poland. In Portugal. In Spain. In Slovakia (although they've brought it down by really pretending hard that it's real and testing their entire population and isolating all the false positives and for some reason this has prevented the false positives from spreading) In Sweden.
Over the the US, in Wisconsin, South Dakota, North Dakota, Georgia... all over the place.
And that's just Europe and the US. My God, how amazingly coincidental it's all been with these false positives magically happening like this?
Any idea why it is happening in the Czech Rep but not Slovakia?
Slovakia are about to enter their 3rd round of mass country wide testing and isolation.
And the positivity of the test results dropped by over a third between tests (Toby asks: "Or is it thirty-fold?"). Almost as if they were true positives rather than the false positives so many keep assuring us they all are.
Finished "The Crown". Enjoyable, superior soap opera, but at times drifted from "dramatic licence" into "Fake News". For example, suggesting that Thatcher was opposed to sanctions on South Africa because her son had business interests there (out by a decade, after Thatcher had left office) or that she was in favour of apartheid and Mandela against sanctions (he urged her to not lift them too quickly to maintain pressure on the regime). The most ludicrous bit was the suggestion that Thatcher asked the queen to dissolve parliament so she could hang on during the leadership challenge. The Charles and Diana bits are very soapy and Princess Margaret played for tragedy - ignoring the "good works" she did - for example with AIDS, long before Diana showed up with the cameras. It wasn't an accident that Margaret was the Royal Patron of The Lighthouse and the Terrence Higgins Trust.
Spoiler alert please!
Thatcher leaves office??
Nobody tell @justin124 - he was acting as if Thatcher was still PM and John Carlisle (RIP) was still an MP last night.
Not the point at all.Is it unreasonable to expect the current Tory leadership to condemn the likes of Carlisle and Dicks - and the failure of Thatcher and Major to have them removed from the parliamentary party?To this day very few Tories would refuse to criticise Archibald Ramsey - the Tory MP locked up for most of World War 2 on account of his clear Fascist sympathies. If Starmer is to be condemned for his action re-Corbyn, what does that say about the failure of Thatcher and Major to act against clear evil in their own ranks? The point can even be extended to Heath who failed to get rid of Tory MPs who were pro-Apartheid and supportive of the Smith regime in Rhodesia.
As for shopping why wouldn't you do it online? All the supermarkets remember what you bought so you can just add it all again to your trolley, they deliver - hoorah - and have constant offers (although none, I noted, on wine during the lockdown).
For the physical shop, it was known that Morrisons had a great fresh meat and fish counter - no idea if that is still the case. And the Waitrose in the King's Road was a great pick up joint.
That is all.
Isn't variety the spice of life?
(Although I can't talk, I always buy the same thing despite going in to get it)
Not for supermarket shops. What exactly can change? A different brand of butter or the own brand chocolate digestives instead of McVities?
I mean buying different things to cook at home, rather than having the same thing each week.
As for shopping why wouldn't you do it online? All the supermarkets remember what you bought so you can just add it all again to your trolley, they deliver - hoorah - and have constant offers (although none, I noted, on wine during the lockdown).
For the physical shop, it was known that Morrisons had a great fresh meat and fish counter - no idea if that is still the case. And the Waitrose in the King's Road was a great pick up joint.
That is all.
Isn't variety the spice of life?
(Although I can't talk, I always buy the same thing despite going in to get it)
Not for supermarket shops. What exactly can change? A different brand of butter or the own brand chocolate digestives instead of McVities?
I mean buying different things to cook at home, rather than having the same thing each week.
Alan Coren used to say the sole purpose of Sainsburys was to keep the riffraff out of Waitrose.
For me Sainsbury's is the sweet spot - neither up itself like Waitrose or M&S nor cheap looking like Tesco or Asda. I just find the German discounters disorienting, although they have good stuff at low prices. Plus you can't get everything there, and for me the ability to go to one place once a fortnight and come home with everything you need within an hour is worth forking out a bit more for.
I won't say which supermarket I go to, but I'm clear about where I am in the pecking order: Everyone who goes to more downmarket supermarkets is scum Everyone who goes to more upmarket supermarkets is posh scum
The British class system in one sentence. You get to look downwards in all directions, even (especially) when you're looking upwards. What's not to like?
I would say it's like an Escher painting, but I once saw Escher leaving the Co-op in Hilversum, and since then I've come to regard him as essentially a degenerate.
Are you sure that you weren't actually in a pseudo non-degenerate Riemannian space? If so, he may actually have been entering Fortnum's.
He was buying wine in a klein bottle, and trying to work out how to open the damn thing.
I saw Francis Bacon in the Neros at Notting Hill Gate once. I didn't see what he was buying but hope to hell it wasn't a skinny decaf latte.
I saw Salvador Dali coming out of Morrison’s, he had a fish and was hurrying because he was flat out of time.
Alan Coren used to say the sole purpose of Sainsburys was to keep the riffraff out of Waitrose.
For me Sainsbury's is the sweet spot - neither up itself like Waitrose or M&S nor cheap looking like Tesco or Asda. I just find the German discounters disorienting, although they have good stuff at low prices. Plus you can't get everything there, and for me the ability to go to one place once a fortnight and come home with everything you need within an hour is worth forking out a bit more for.
I won't say which supermarket I go to, but I'm clear about where I am in the pecking order: Everyone who goes to more downmarket supermarkets is scum Everyone who goes to more upmarket supermarkets is posh scum
The British class system in one sentence. You get to look downwards in all directions, even (especially) when you're looking upwards. What's not to like?
I would say it's like an Escher painting, but I once saw Escher leaving the Co-op in Hilversum, and since then I've come to regard him as essentially a degenerate.
Are you sure that you weren't actually in a pseudo non-degenerate Riemannian space? If so, he may actually have been entering Fortnum's.
That went over my head.
But I still looked down on it.
People have been sharing the Monty Python sketch on my news feeds for some days for some reason.
Not Monty Python is it? From memory I thought it was Morecambe and Wise? Guest starring with John Cleese.
The coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech appears to protect 94% of adults over 65 years old.
A couple of days ago we saw people asking "why didn't you idiots buy the Moderna vaccine?" What is the probability that we will now see people asking "why have you idiots ordered the Moderna vaccine we don't need?"
Hadn't Trump said that he wasn't going to allow the Moderna vaccine to be exported until Americans had received it first? Which is probably why nobody in Europe had bought that one unlike all the others.
Yeah but what he's said is irrelevant after 20th January.
Not necessarily if Moderna have indeed signed a contract to issue the American doses first before exporting then that contract would still be relevant after 20 January too.
The Pfizer vaccine is produced in Europe to my knowledge the Moderna one currently isn't, which is an issue for availability.
Hmm .. requisitionable.
The Biden administration won't requisition any vaccine legally purchased by the UK. Trump absolubtely would, and will. So we'll be getting it after the 20th.
Perhaps not but they seem fond of the concept of queues (or lines as they say).
It's a contract between the UK Gov't and Moderna, with any normal administration it's nothing to do with the US Gov't. Only a facist one like Trump's would think about requisitioning vaccine made in Switzerland destined for our market - won't happen with Biden.
Johnson's best victory in PMQs against Starmer yet - he was clearly very well prepared for the devolution question (though whether for Starmer or Blackford I'm not sure). If anything the background suited the PM more than normal PMQs does.
Bound to happen occasionally. Doesn't change the fact that Johnson is a shit leader and is crap at PMQs. The fact that Jeremy Corbyn used to occasionally "win", did nothing to change the fact that he was a shit leader and was crap at PMQs.
Johnson's best victory in PMQs against Starmer yet - he was clearly very well prepared for the devolution question (though whether for Starmer or Blackford I'm not sure). If anything the background suited the PM more than normal PMQs does.
Not Starmer's best performance by a long way, but if Johnson's performance is ever better than completely calamitous it is called as a massive win on here.
I must be reading the wrong political blog. The Boris zoomers are far less forthright on ConHome.
Have we ever had such a poor choice of leaders as Johnson and Starmer. No wonder the Scots prefer Sturgeon.
Yes, as recently as last year the choice was Corbyn or Johnson. That wasn't a difficult choice.
We had May or Corbyn for a distressing number of years. Made Cameron or Ed M look like Churchill v Attlee or Disraeli v Gladstone.
May was head and shoulders above Johnson and Corbyn at governing. Just because she was appallingly bad at electioneering and couldn't sell water in the Sahara doesn't change that.
The coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech appears to protect 94% of adults over 65 years old.
A couple of days ago we saw people asking "why didn't you idiots buy the Moderna vaccine?" What is the probability that we will now see people asking "why have you idiots ordered the Moderna vaccine we don't need?"
Hadn't Trump said that he wasn't going to allow the Moderna vaccine to be exported until Americans had received it first? Which is probably why nobody in Europe had bought that one unlike all the others.
Yeah but what he's said is irrelevant after 20th January.
Not necessarily if Moderna have indeed signed a contract to issue the American doses first before exporting then that contract would still be relevant after 20 January too.
The Pfizer vaccine is produced in Europe to my knowledge the Moderna one currently isn't, which is an issue for availability.
Hmm .. requisitionable.
The Biden administration won't requisition any vaccine legally purchased by the UK. Trump absolubtely would, and will. So we'll be getting it after the 20th.
Perhaps not but they seem fond of the concept of queues (or lines as they say).
It's a contract between the UK Gov't and Moderna, with any normal administration it's nothing to do with the US Gov't. Only a facist one like Trump's would think about requisitioning vaccine made in Switzerland destined for our market - won't happen with Biden.
Hope not. But do you consider Macron a fascist (cf. Carlotta's comment)?
Alan Coren used to say the sole purpose of Sainsburys was to keep the riffraff out of Waitrose.
For me Sainsbury's is the sweet spot - neither up itself like Waitrose or M&S nor cheap looking like Tesco or Asda. I just find the German discounters disorienting, although they have good stuff at low prices. Plus you can't get everything there, and for me the ability to go to one place once a fortnight and come home with everything you need within an hour is worth forking out a bit more for.
I won't say which supermarket I go to, but I'm clear about where I am in the pecking order: Everyone who goes to more downmarket supermarkets is scum Everyone who goes to more upmarket supermarkets is posh scum
The British class system in one sentence. You get to look downwards in all directions, even (especially) when you're looking upwards. What's not to like?
I would say it's like an Escher painting, but I once saw Escher leaving the Co-op in Hilversum, and since then I've come to regard him as essentially a degenerate.
Are you sure that you weren't actually in a pseudo non-degenerate Riemannian space? If so, he may actually have been entering Fortnum's.
That went over my head.
But I still looked down on it.
People have been sharing the Monty Python sketch on my news feeds for some days for some reason.
Not Monty Python is it? From memory I thought it was Morecambe and Wise? Guest starring with John Cleese.
Ah yes. You're right. That's exactly what it is. Ronnie Corbett imo doesn't (didn't) hold a candle to the other two.
Not often that Boris beats Starmer at PMQs (I think this is only third or fourth time I've said he has) but when he does its amusing how quiet this site is on the subject.
If Starmer is perceived to have gotten one up on Boris then there is a lot more discussion then.
Yeah, it’s like PMQs isn’t on today.
As Boris anger management reaping dividends, Starmer performances seem to be going backwards. He was better once than he is now. Boris avoiding defeat most weeks now, which is all PM needs to do.
The other mystery is why Tories leave Hoyle alone, he is biased and picky against them in every session. More so than the previous speaker, who was dealt tricky brexit hands.
Finished "The Crown". Enjoyable, superior soap opera, but at times drifted from "dramatic licence" into "Fake News". For example, suggesting that Thatcher was opposed to sanctions on South Africa because her son had business interests there (out by a decade, after Thatcher had left office) or that she was in favour of apartheid and Mandela against sanctions (he urged her to not lift them too quickly to maintain pressure on the regime). The most ludicrous bit was the suggestion that Thatcher asked the queen to dissolve parliament so she could hang on during the leadership challenge. The Charles and Diana bits are very soapy and Princess Margaret played for tragedy - ignoring the "good works" she did - for example with AIDS, long before Diana showed up with the cameras. It wasn't an accident that Margaret was the Royal Patron of The Lighthouse and the Terrence Higgins Trust.
Spoiler alert please!
Thatcher leaves office??
Nobody tell @justin124 - he was acting as if Thatcher was still PM and John Carlisle (RIP) was still an MP last night.
Not the point at all.Is it unreasonable to expect the current Tory leadership to condemn the likes of Carlisle and Dicks - and the failure of Thatcher and Major to have them removed from the parliamentary party?To this day very few Tories would refuse to criticise Archibald Ramsey - the Tory MP locked up for most of World War 2 on account of his clear Fascist sympathies. If Starmer is to be condemned for his action re-Corbyn, what does that say about the failure of Thatcher and Major to act against clear evil in their own ranks? The point can even be extended to Heath who failed to get rid of Tory MPs who were pro-Apartheid and supportive of the Smith regime in Rhodesia.
Yes, yes it is completely unreasonable.
It is reasonable for party leadership to be dealing with the issues of today and MPs of today like the Member of Parliament for Islington North - not the deceased members of the past.
I'm not bringing up any of Labour's disreputable members of the past, I could but its not relevant.
As for shopping why wouldn't you do it online? All the supermarkets remember what you bought so you can just add it all again to your trolley, they deliver - hoorah - and have constant offers (although none, I noted, on wine during the lockdown).
For the physical shop, it was known that Morrisons had a great fresh meat and fish counter - no idea if that is still the case. And the Waitrose in the King's Road was a great pick up joint.
That is all.
I gather you were on Marylebone High St yesterday in the middle of the afternoon. But I suppose you had a good reason.
Alan Coren used to say the sole purpose of Sainsburys was to keep the riffraff out of Waitrose.
For me Sainsbury's is the sweet spot - neither up itself like Waitrose or M&S nor cheap looking like Tesco or Asda. I just find the German discounters disorienting, although they have good stuff at low prices. Plus you can't get everything there, and for me the ability to go to one place once a fortnight and come home with everything you need within an hour is worth forking out a bit more for.
I went off Sainsbury's when I bought some fish from the fish counter. Good price I thought. When I got home I read the label. Apparently it might have been grown in either Greece or Turkey and may be processed in a facility that may contain nuts. FFS they have no idea where it comes from. Surprised they know what species it is. Back to Waitrose for fish (and it is 20% off on Fridays). Still, Sainsbury's is the closest supermarket to the office and I'm now going in once a week so it's good for the odd top-up item.
Of course Sainsbury's is now closing all these counters.
What was revealing during the horse meat scandal, Morrisons were the only major supermarket that could track all their meat from field to store.
I think Morrisons started life as a fishmonger.
I think they're higher than Sainsbury's in the pecking order now, which has definitely gone downhill in the last 20 years.
Alan Coren used to say the sole purpose of Sainsburys was to keep the riffraff out of Waitrose.
For me Sainsbury's is the sweet spot - neither up itself like Waitrose or M&S nor cheap looking like Tesco or Asda. I just find the German discounters disorienting, although they have good stuff at low prices. Plus you can't get everything there, and for me the ability to go to one place once a fortnight and come home with everything you need within an hour is worth forking out a bit more for.
I won't say which supermarket I go to, but I'm clear about where I am in the pecking order: Everyone who goes to more downmarket supermarkets is scum Everyone who goes to more upmarket supermarkets is posh scum
The British class system in one sentence. You get to look downwards in all directions, even (especially) when you're looking upwards. What's not to like?
I would say it's like an Escher painting, but I once saw Escher leaving the Co-op in Hilversum, and since then I've come to regard him as essentially a degenerate.
Are you sure that you weren't actually in a pseudo non-degenerate Riemannian space? If so, he may actually have been entering Fortnum's.
He was buying wine in a klein bottle, and trying to work out how to open the damn thing.
I saw Francis Bacon in the Neros at Notting Hill Gate once. I didn't see what he was buying but hope to hell it wasn't a skinny decaf latte.
Double espresso with a shot of human degradation and existential despair please, and make it snappy.
The coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech appears to protect 94% of adults over 65 years old.
A couple of days ago we saw people asking "why didn't you idiots buy the Moderna vaccine?" What is the probability that we will now see people asking "why have you idiots ordered the Moderna vaccine we don't need?"
Hadn't Trump said that he wasn't going to allow the Moderna vaccine to be exported until Americans had received it first? Which is probably why nobody in Europe had bought that one unlike all the others.
Yeah but what he's said is irrelevant after 20th January.
Not necessarily if Moderna have indeed signed a contract to issue the American doses first before exporting then that contract would still be relevant after 20 January too.
The Pfizer vaccine is produced in Europe to my knowledge the Moderna one currently isn't, which is an issue for availability.
Hmm .. requisitionable.
4D chess. Biden is sworn in and allows exports of the life-saving vaccine to leave the US. Republicans pivot from Covid-denial to outrage that American medicine is being sent offshore. Biden "relents", stops the exports, and everyone gets vaccinated.
Finished "The Crown". Enjoyable, superior soap opera, but at times drifted from "dramatic licence" into "Fake News". For example, suggesting that Thatcher was opposed to sanctions on South Africa because her son had business interests there (out by a decade, after Thatcher had left office) or that she was in favour of apartheid and Mandela against sanctions (he urged her to not lift them too quickly to maintain pressure on the regime). The most ludicrous bit was the suggestion that Thatcher asked the queen to dissolve parliament so she could hang on during the leadership challenge. The Charles and Diana bits are very soapy and Princess Margaret played for tragedy - ignoring the "good works" she did - for example with AIDS, long before Diana showed up with the cameras. It wasn't an accident that Margaret was the Royal Patron of The Lighthouse and the Terrence Higgins Trust.
Spoiler alert please!
Thatcher leaves office??
Nobody tell @justin124 - he was acting as if Thatcher was still PM and John Carlisle (RIP) was still an MP last night.
Not the point at all.Is it unreasonable to expect the current Tory leadership to condemn the likes of Carlisle and Dicks - and the failure of Thatcher and Major to have them removed from the parliamentary party?To this day very few Tories would refuse to criticise Archibald Ramsey - the Tory MP locked up for most of World War 2 on account of his clear Fascist sympathies. If Starmer is to be condemned for his action re-Corbyn, what does that say about the failure of Thatcher and Major to act against clear evil in their own ranks? The point can even be extended to Heath who failed to get rid of Tory MPs who were pro-Apartheid and supportive of the Smith regime in Rhodesia.
Well, certain Torties on PB keep bringing up the SNP MP who was arrested in WW2 - on false evidence from the Tories and promptly released on investigation, yet they don't mention Captain Ramsay. Very strange.
Where they've done as well as could be expected under the circumstances
- ramping up testing - increasing hospital capacity - being honest about the numbers of infections and dead. They don't seem to have massaged the figures, unlike some countries, nor have they particularly downplayed them. - ordering vaccines in advance. - social distancing. The approach has been broadly sensible, proportionate and consistent with international best practice, though we can all quibble about individual measures.
Where they've done badly
- quarantine. Obviously with 20-20 hindsight it would have been better to impose it in January or February and enforce it, though that probably wasn't politically feasible. But the current compromise of having a quarantine but not really enforcing it hasn't prevented a second wave from Europe but has destroyed the travel industry and been bad for civil liberties. - airport testing. Why do we still not have this, unlike so many other countries? - messaging. Presentation counts, and Boris has not been nearly as slick as, say, Nicola Sturgeon or Angela Merkel. In my view, he was overly gloomy in March, and too optimistic in the summer.
Where their performance defies rational explanation
- tracing, especially the app. I still don't understand why they trusted NHS-X not Apple and Google - moving NHS patients into care homes.
Where the jury is still out
- lockdowns. Do they prevent the spread or just complement social distancing measures already in force? But at least we have avoided the very strict lockdowns in France, Spain and Italy. - mask wearing. Was it necessary? Clearly it hasn't prevented a second wave, but it may have reduced it slightly. We'll probably never know for sure. - PPE procurement. Was it an urgent response to a desperate situation or a way to shovel millions to their mates? Or both? At least we haven't suffered from a shortage of this crucial equipment.
Angela Merkel is not slick. But that is why she is respected. It is because she comes accross as saying things she belives in, rather than making up things on the spot like covid level 3.5. She said yesterday that she was disappointed with the state health minister's meeting on Tuesday (on which she sits), that she was arguing for tightening the current rules. I cannot see Boris ever admitting that he has been overuled by a commitee
Alan Coren used to say the sole purpose of Sainsburys was to keep the riffraff out of Waitrose.
For me Sainsbury's is the sweet spot - neither up itself like Waitrose or M&S nor cheap looking like Tesco or Asda. I just find the German discounters disorienting, although they have good stuff at low prices. Plus you can't get everything there, and for me the ability to go to one place once a fortnight and come home with everything you need within an hour is worth forking out a bit more for.
I won't say which supermarket I go to, but I'm clear about where I am in the pecking order: Everyone who goes to more downmarket supermarkets is scum Everyone who goes to more upmarket supermarkets is posh scum
The British class system in one sentence. You get to look downwards in all directions, even (especially) when you're looking upwards. What's not to like?
I would say it's like an Escher painting, but I once saw Escher leaving the Co-op in Hilversum, and since then I've come to regard him as essentially a degenerate.
Are you sure that you weren't actually in a pseudo non-degenerate Riemannian space? If so, he may actually have been entering Fortnum's.
That went over my head.
But I still looked down on it.
People have been sharing the Monty Python sketch on my news feeds for some days for some reason.
Not Monty Python is it? From memory I thought it was Morecambe and Wise? Guest starring with John Cleese.
Ah yes. You're right. That's exactly what it is. Ronnie Corbett imo doesn't (didn't) hold a candle to the other two.
Of course Corbett! It was the Two Ronnies with Cleese not Morecambe and Wise.
The coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech appears to protect 94% of adults over 65 years old.
A couple of days ago we saw people asking "why didn't you idiots buy the Moderna vaccine?" What is the probability that we will now see people asking "why have you idiots ordered the Moderna vaccine we don't need?"
Hadn't Trump said that he wasn't going to allow the Moderna vaccine to be exported until Americans had received it first? Which is probably why nobody in Europe had bought that one unlike all the others.
Yeah but what he's said is irrelevant after 20th January.
Not necessarily if Moderna have indeed signed a contract to issue the American doses first before exporting then that contract would still be relevant after 20 January too.
The Pfizer vaccine is produced in Europe to my knowledge the Moderna one currently isn't, which is an issue for availability.
Hmm .. requisitionable.
4D chess. Biden is sworn in and allows exports of the life-saving vaccine to leave the US. Republicans pivot from Covid-denial to outrage that American medicine is being sent offshore. Biden "relents", stops the exports, and everyone gets vaccinated.
OK that's one narrative dimension. Three more to go.
PA now at Biden +81K .. NV at +33K and Biden edging toward a 6M vote popular win with New York state still at 82% reporting and bits and bobs elsewhere including 2% from California.
If America were a functional first world democracy capable of counting all votes on the night, instead of letting the narrative be set by early counting and Florida then evolving from there over weeks, then this would have been a simple and comprehensive victory for Biden.
America isn't a first world democracy any more? blimey.
As for shopping why wouldn't you do it online? All the supermarkets remember what you bought so you can just add it all again to your trolley, they deliver - hoorah - and have constant offers (although none, I noted, on wine during the lockdown).
For the physical shop, it was known that Morrisons had a great fresh meat and fish counter - no idea if that is still the case. And the Waitrose in the King's Road was a great pick up joint.
That is all.
I gather you were on Marylebone High St yesterday in the middle of the afternoon. But I suppose you had a good reason.
Alan Coren used to say the sole purpose of Sainsburys was to keep the riffraff out of Waitrose.
For me Sainsbury's is the sweet spot - neither up itself like Waitrose or M&S nor cheap looking like Tesco or Asda. I just find the German discounters disorienting, although they have good stuff at low prices. Plus you can't get everything there, and for me the ability to go to one place once a fortnight and come home with everything you need within an hour is worth forking out a bit more for.
I won't say which supermarket I go to, but I'm clear about where I am in the pecking order: Everyone who goes to more downmarket supermarkets is scum Everyone who goes to more upmarket supermarkets is posh scum
The British class system in one sentence. You get to look downwards in all directions, even (especially) when you're looking upwards. What's not to like?
I would say it's like an Escher painting, but I once saw Escher leaving the Co-op in Hilversum, and since then I've come to regard him as essentially a degenerate.
Are you sure that you weren't actually in a pseudo non-degenerate Riemannian space? If so, he may actually have been entering Fortnum's.
He was buying wine in a klein bottle, and trying to work out how to open the damn thing.
I saw Francis Bacon in the Neros at Notting Hill Gate once. I didn't see what he was buying but hope to hell it wasn't a skinny decaf latte.
Double espresso with a shot of human degradation and existential despair please, and make it snappy.
My hairdresser in Dartmouth has a painting of his dog done by Bacon.....
(He also did Bowie's hair and Tina Turner's wigs, before heading down here for the quieter life....Still has somebody who flies in from Brasil to get her colour done!)
Alan Coren used to say the sole purpose of Sainsburys was to keep the riffraff out of Waitrose.
For me Sainsbury's is the sweet spot - neither up itself like Waitrose or M&S nor cheap looking like Tesco or Asda. I just find the German discounters disorienting, although they have good stuff at low prices. Plus you can't get everything there, and for me the ability to go to one place once a fortnight and come home with everything you need within an hour is worth forking out a bit more for.
I won't say which supermarket I go to, but I'm clear about where I am in the pecking order: Everyone who goes to more downmarket supermarkets is scum Everyone who goes to more upmarket supermarkets is posh scum
The British class system in one sentence. You get to look downwards in all directions, even (especially) when you're looking upwards. What's not to like?
I would say it's like an Escher painting, but I once saw Escher leaving the Co-op in Hilversum, and since then I've come to regard him as essentially a degenerate.
Are you sure that you weren't actually in a pseudo non-degenerate Riemannian space? If so, he may actually have been entering Fortnum's.
He was buying wine in a klein bottle, and trying to work out how to open the damn thing.
I saw Francis Bacon in the Neros at Notting Hill Gate once. I didn't see what he was buying but hope to hell it wasn't a skinny decaf latte.
Double espresso with a shot of human degradation and existential despair please, and make it snappy.
PA now at Biden +81K .. NV at +33K and Biden edging toward a 6M vote popular win with New York state still at 82% reporting and bits and bobs elsewhere including 2% from California.
If America were a functional first world democracy capable of counting all votes on the night, instead of letting the narrative be set by early counting and Florida then evolving from there over weeks, then this would have been a simple and comprehensive victory for Biden.
America isn't a first world democracy any more? blimey.
I've said all year long that with voter suppression etc that America isn't a functioning first world democracy.
That some people spent over 10 hours queueing to get to the ballot box is not something that happens in a functioning first world democracy.
Have we ever had such a poor choice of leaders as Johnson and Starmer. No wonder the Scots prefer Sturgeon.
Yes, as recently as last year the choice was Corbyn or Johnson. That wasn't a difficult choice.
We had May or Corbyn for a distressing number of years. Made Cameron or Ed M look like Churchill v Attlee or Disraeli v Gladstone.
May was head and shoulders above Johnson and Corbyn at governing. Just because she was appallingly bad at electioneering and couldn't sell water in the Sahara doesn't change that.
Well, she wasn't because she couldn't make decisions fast enough and would go into a bubble of silence for weeks whilst she mulled it over - taking way too long to come to her view, which she'd then dictate.
She was smart and capable but just not agile or flexible enough in her style to work as PM.
I agree she'd rank *above* Johnson and Corbyn, but that's not saying very much.
Finished "The Crown". Enjoyable, superior soap opera, but at times drifted from "dramatic licence" into "Fake News". For example, suggesting that Thatcher was opposed to sanctions on South Africa because her son had business interests there (out by a decade, after Thatcher had left office) or that she was in favour of apartheid and Mandela against sanctions (he urged her to not lift them too quickly to maintain pressure on the regime). The most ludicrous bit was the suggestion that Thatcher asked the queen to dissolve parliament so she could hang on during the leadership challenge. The Charles and Diana bits are very soapy and Princess Margaret played for tragedy - ignoring the "good works" she did - for example with AIDS, long before Diana showed up with the cameras. It wasn't an accident that Margaret was the Royal Patron of The Lighthouse and the Terrence Higgins Trust.
Spoiler alert please!
Thatcher leaves office??
Nobody tell @justin124 - he was acting as if Thatcher was still PM and John Carlisle (RIP) was still an MP last night.
Not the point at all.Is it unreasonable to expect the current Tory leadership to condemn the likes of Carlisle and Dicks - and the failure of Thatcher and Major to have them removed from the parliamentary party?To this day very few Tories would refuse to criticise Archibald Ramsey - the Tory MP locked up for most of World War 2 on account of his clear Fascist sympathies. If Starmer is to be condemned for his action re-Corbyn, what does that say about the failure of Thatcher and Major to act against clear evil in their own ranks? The point can even be extended to Heath who failed to get rid of Tory MPs who were pro-Apartheid and supportive of the Smith regime in Rhodesia.
Well, certain Torties on PB keep bringing up the SNP MP who was arrested in WW2 - on false evidence from the Tories and promptly released on investigation, yet they don't mention Captain Ramsay. Very strange.
Donaldson was never actually an mp. He looms unnaturally large in the psyches of Unionists though.
Alan Coren used to say the sole purpose of Sainsburys was to keep the riffraff out of Waitrose.
For me Sainsbury's is the sweet spot - neither up itself like Waitrose or M&S nor cheap looking like Tesco or Asda. I just find the German discounters disorienting, although they have good stuff at low prices. Plus you can't get everything there, and for me the ability to go to one place once a fortnight and come home with everything you need within an hour is worth forking out a bit more for.
I won't say which supermarket I go to, but I'm clear about where I am in the pecking order: Everyone who goes to more downmarket supermarkets is scum Everyone who goes to more upmarket supermarkets is posh scum
The British class system in one sentence. You get to look downwards in all directions, even (especially) when you're looking upwards. What's not to like?
I would say it's like an Escher painting, but I once saw Escher leaving the Co-op in Hilversum, and since then I've come to regard him as essentially a degenerate.
Are you sure that you weren't actually in a pseudo non-degenerate Riemannian space? If so, he may actually have been entering Fortnum's.
That went over my head.
But I still looked down on it.
People have been sharing the Monty Python sketch on my news feeds for some days for some reason.
Not Monty Python is it? From memory I thought it was Morecambe and Wise? Guest starring with John Cleese.
Ah yes. You're right. That's exactly what it is. Ronnie Corbett imo doesn't (didn't) hold a candle to the other two.
Of course Corbett! It was the Two Ronnies with Cleese not Morecambe and Wise.
Ah yes sorry I also had a moment. Yes Two Ronnies. For some reason I don't think Eric & Ernie were that "aware" but I could be wrong.
There's got to be enormous pressure to unshutter the blinds on the Oxon/AZ now. They are probably only waiting on a handful of covidians in order to reach the requisite number of infected trialists.
Finished "The Crown". Enjoyable, superior soap opera, but at times drifted from "dramatic licence" into "Fake News". For example, suggesting that Thatcher was opposed to sanctions on South Africa because her son had business interests there (out by a decade, after Thatcher had left office) or that she was in favour of apartheid and Mandela against sanctions (he urged her to not lift them too quickly to maintain pressure on the regime). The most ludicrous bit was the suggestion that Thatcher asked the queen to dissolve parliament so she could hang on during the leadership challenge. The Charles and Diana bits are very soapy and Princess Margaret played for tragedy - ignoring the "good works" she did - for example with AIDS, long before Diana showed up with the cameras. It wasn't an accident that Margaret was the Royal Patron of The Lighthouse and the Terrence Higgins Trust.
Spoiler alert please!
Thatcher leaves office??
Nobody tell @justin124 - he was acting as if Thatcher was still PM and John Carlisle (RIP) was still an MP last night.
Not the point at all.Is it unreasonable to expect the current Tory leadership to condemn the likes of Carlisle and Dicks - and the failure of Thatcher and Major to have them removed from the parliamentary party?To this day very few Tories would refuse to criticise Archibald Ramsey - the Tory MP locked up for most of World War 2 on account of his clear Fascist sympathies. If Starmer is to be condemned for his action re-Corbyn, what does that say about the failure of Thatcher and Major to act against clear evil in their own ranks? The point can even be extended to Heath who failed to get rid of Tory MPs who were pro-Apartheid and supportive of the Smith regime in Rhodesia.
Well, certain Torties on PB keep bringing up the SNP MP who was arrested in WW2 - on false evidence from the Tories and promptly released on investigation, yet they don't mention Captain Ramsay. Very strange.
True - though no SNP MPs were elected until a by election in 1945. I assume you are thinking of Donaldson.
Alan Coren used to say the sole purpose of Sainsburys was to keep the riffraff out of Waitrose.
For me Sainsbury's is the sweet spot - neither up itself like Waitrose or M&S nor cheap looking like Tesco or Asda. I just find the German discounters disorienting, although they have good stuff at low prices. Plus you can't get everything there, and for me the ability to go to one place once a fortnight and come home with everything you need within an hour is worth forking out a bit more for.
I won't say which supermarket I go to, but I'm clear about where I am in the pecking order: Everyone who goes to more downmarket supermarkets is scum Everyone who goes to more upmarket supermarkets is posh scum
The British class system in one sentence. You get to look downwards in all directions, even (especially) when you're looking upwards. What's not to like?
I would say it's like an Escher painting, but I once saw Escher leaving the Co-op in Hilversum, and since then I've come to regard him as essentially a degenerate.
Are you sure that you weren't actually in a pseudo non-degenerate Riemannian space? If so, he may actually have been entering Fortnum's.
He was buying wine in a klein bottle, and trying to work out how to open the damn thing.
I saw Francis Bacon in the Neros at Notting Hill Gate once. I didn't see what he was buying but hope to hell it wasn't a skinny decaf latte.
Double espresso with a shot of human degradation and existential despair please, and make it snappy.
My hairdresser in Dartmouth has a painting of his dog done by Bacon.....
(He also did Bowie's hair and Tina Turner's wigs, before heading down here for the quieter life....Still has somebody who flies in from Brasil to get her colour done!)
PA now at Biden +81K .. NV at +33K and Biden edging toward a 6M vote popular win with New York state still at 82% reporting and bits and bobs elsewhere including 2% from California.
If America were a functional first world democracy capable of counting all votes on the night, instead of letting the narrative be set by early counting and Florida then evolving from there over weeks, then this would have been a simple and comprehensive victory for Biden.
America isn't a first world democracy any more? blimey.
We were forewarned of red mirage, public supported weeks wait in pre election polls. 99% of Republican presidents would not have played silly bugger exploiting moment of peak mirage, that’s the narrative.
PA now at Biden +81K .. NV at +33K and Biden edging toward a 6M vote popular win with New York state still at 82% reporting and bits and bobs elsewhere including 2% from California.
If America were a functional first world democracy capable of counting all votes on the night, instead of letting the narrative be set by early counting and Florida then evolving from there over weeks, then this would have been a simple and comprehensive victory for Biden.
America isn't a first world democracy any more? blimey.
I've said all year long that with voter suppression etc that America isn't a functioning first world democracy.
That some people spent over 10 hours queueing to get to the ballot box is not something that happens in a functioning first world democracy.
The Economist does this thing called the Democracy Index. There are four tiers of democraciness, the top two being "full" and "flawed". America is in the second of those two, and for good reason.
The other two levels are basically not democracies, "hybrid" and "authoritarian" is memory serves?
PA now at Biden +81K .. NV at +33K and Biden edging toward a 6M vote popular win with New York state still at 82% reporting and bits and bobs elsewhere including 2% from California.
If America were a functional first world democracy capable of counting all votes on the night, instead of letting the narrative be set by early counting and Florida then evolving from there over weeks, then this would have been a simple and comprehensive victory for Biden.
America isn't a first world democracy any more? blimey.
I've said all year long that with voter suppression etc that America isn't a functioning first world democracy.
That some people spent over 10 hours queueing to get to the ballot box is not something that happens in a functioning first world democracy.
If voter suppression is your yardstick I doubt America has ever been a first world democracy. Its surely as low now as its ever been.
PA now at Biden +81K .. NV at +33K and Biden edging toward a 6M vote popular win with New York state still at 82% reporting and bits and bobs elsewhere including 2% from California.
Alan Coren used to say the sole purpose of Sainsburys was to keep the riffraff out of Waitrose.
For me Sainsbury's is the sweet spot - neither up itself like Waitrose or M&S nor cheap looking like Tesco or Asda. I just find the German discounters disorienting, although they have good stuff at low prices. Plus you can't get everything there, and for me the ability to go to one place once a fortnight and come home with everything you need within an hour is worth forking out a bit more for.
I won't say which supermarket I go to, but I'm clear about where I am in the pecking order: Everyone who goes to more downmarket supermarkets is scum Everyone who goes to more upmarket supermarkets is posh scum
The British class system in one sentence. You get to look downwards in all directions, even (especially) when you're looking upwards. What's not to like?
I would say it's like an Escher painting, but I once saw Escher leaving the Co-op in Hilversum, and since then I've come to regard him as essentially a degenerate.
Are you sure that you weren't actually in a pseudo non-degenerate Riemannian space? If so, he may actually have been entering Fortnum's.
That went over my head.
But I still looked down on it.
People have been sharing the Monty Python sketch on my news feeds for some days for some reason.
Not Monty Python is it? From memory I thought it was Morecambe and Wise? Guest starring with John Cleese.
Ah yes. You're right. That's exactly what it is. Ronnie Corbett imo doesn't (didn't) hold a candle to the other two.
It’s from the Frost Report (1966). It’s John Cleese and the two Ronnies before they were famous.
Alan Coren used to say the sole purpose of Sainsburys was to keep the riffraff out of Waitrose.
For me Sainsbury's is the sweet spot - neither up itself like Waitrose or M&S nor cheap looking like Tesco or Asda. I just find the German discounters disorienting, although they have good stuff at low prices. Plus you can't get everything there, and for me the ability to go to one place once a fortnight and come home with everything you need within an hour is worth forking out a bit more for.
I won't say which supermarket I go to, but I'm clear about where I am in the pecking order: Everyone who goes to more downmarket supermarkets is scum Everyone who goes to more upmarket supermarkets is posh scum
The British class system in one sentence. You get to look downwards in all directions, even (especially) when you're looking upwards. What's not to like?
I would say it's like an Escher painting, but I once saw Escher leaving the Co-op in Hilversum, and since then I've come to regard him as essentially a degenerate.
Are you sure that you weren't actually in a pseudo non-degenerate Riemannian space? If so, he may actually have been entering Fortnum's.
He was buying wine in a klein bottle, and trying to work out how to open the damn thing.
I saw Francis Bacon in the Neros at Notting Hill Gate once. I didn't see what he was buying but hope to hell it wasn't a skinny decaf latte.
Double espresso with a shot of human degradation and existential despair please, and make it snappy.
Notting Hill Gate is in London. The human degradation and existential despair comes as standard, you don't need to ask for it.
Alan Coren used to say the sole purpose of Sainsburys was to keep the riffraff out of Waitrose.
For me Sainsbury's is the sweet spot - neither up itself like Waitrose or M&S nor cheap looking like Tesco or Asda. I just find the German discounters disorienting, although they have good stuff at low prices. Plus you can't get everything there, and for me the ability to go to one place once a fortnight and come home with everything you need within an hour is worth forking out a bit more for.
I won't say which supermarket I go to, but I'm clear about where I am in the pecking order: Everyone who goes to more downmarket supermarkets is scum Everyone who goes to more upmarket supermarkets is posh scum
The British class system in one sentence. You get to look downwards in all directions, even (especially) when you're looking upwards. What's not to like?
I would say it's like an Escher painting, but I once saw Escher leaving the Co-op in Hilversum, and since then I've come to regard him as essentially a degenerate.
Are you sure that you weren't actually in a pseudo non-degenerate Riemannian space? If so, he may actually have been entering Fortnum's.
That went over my head.
But I still looked down on it.
People have been sharing the Monty Python sketch on my news feeds for some days for some reason.
Not Monty Python is it? From memory I thought it was Morecambe and Wise? Guest starring with John Cleese.
Ah yes. You're right. That's exactly what it is. Ronnie Corbett imo doesn't (didn't) hold a candle to the other two.
It’s from the Frost Report (1966). It’s John Cleese and the two Ronnies before they were famous.
I wonder what made them pair up? Not a hugely obvious fit imo.
Alan Coren used to say the sole purpose of Sainsburys was to keep the riffraff out of Waitrose.
For me Sainsbury's is the sweet spot - neither up itself like Waitrose or M&S nor cheap looking like Tesco or Asda. I just find the German discounters disorienting, although they have good stuff at low prices. Plus you can't get everything there, and for me the ability to go to one place once a fortnight and come home with everything you need within an hour is worth forking out a bit more for.
I won't say which supermarket I go to, but I'm clear about where I am in the pecking order: Everyone who goes to more downmarket supermarkets is scum Everyone who goes to more upmarket supermarkets is posh scum
The British class system in one sentence. You get to look downwards in all directions, even (especially) when you're looking upwards. What's not to like?
I would say it's like an Escher painting, but I once saw Escher leaving the Co-op in Hilversum, and since then I've come to regard him as essentially a degenerate.
Are you sure that you weren't actually in a pseudo non-degenerate Riemannian space? If so, he may actually have been entering Fortnum's.
He was buying wine in a klein bottle, and trying to work out how to open the damn thing.
I saw Francis Bacon in the Neros at Notting Hill Gate once. I didn't see what he was buying but hope to hell it wasn't a skinny decaf latte.
Double espresso with a shot of human degradation and existential despair please, and make it snappy.
My hairdresser in Dartmouth has a painting of his dog done by Bacon.....
(He also did Bowie's hair and Tina Turner's wigs, before heading down here for the quieter life....Still has somebody who flies in from Brasil to get her colour done!)
Alan Coren used to say the sole purpose of Sainsburys was to keep the riffraff out of Waitrose.
For me Sainsbury's is the sweet spot - neither up itself like Waitrose or M&S nor cheap looking like Tesco or Asda. I just find the German discounters disorienting, although they have good stuff at low prices. Plus you can't get everything there, and for me the ability to go to one place once a fortnight and come home with everything you need within an hour is worth forking out a bit more for.
I’m now Occado all the way.
I forget fewer items when I go in person for some reason. We tried online shopping but never really took to it.
I wonder how many people have to mentally walk around their local Saunsburys when doing the online shopping, just so as not to forget things?
What I do when I go to the shops - Waitrose usually - is I do a "control total" in my head before I set off for what I plan to buy. So for example, and it's today's real one, if I'm getting pork chops, fishcakes, chicken breasts, round beans, broccoli, apples, bananas, hula hoops, bread, and milk - that's TEN. My control total is 10. Then as I walk towards the checkout I look into my basket and count the items. Did that today and there were just 9 items there. Tells me I'm missing one thing. The bread in this case. So I flipped around, went back to the bread section and got it - Hovis Granary Original just for completeness of everyone's mental picture - then back to the till and closed the deal.
That would never work for me. I go in with a list of about 10 items and come out with about 15, not always including everything on the original list. You sound way too organised.
Have we ever had such a poor choice of leaders as Johnson and Starmer. No wonder the Scots prefer Sturgeon.
After brexit, I think 'mainstream' parties will be under pressure. We will see BLM on the left and Reform/Reclaim on the right gain some ground.
I I heard an interesting comment this morning. The party that says it won;t take away your car might do quite well at the next election.
That will present a difficult choice for middle-of-the-road moderate types like you if our politics polarizes to that extent.
well I appreciate that continuing to own a car is somewhat 'niche' politically, given there are currently only 20 million or so motorists, but I reckon it will catch on..
Still, I;ve got some persuading to do, I grant you.
PA now at Biden +81K .. NV at +33K and Biden edging toward a 6M vote popular win with New York state still at 82% reporting and bits and bobs elsewhere including 2% from California.
Yes, it wasn't really that 'close' at all in the end was it?
Alan Coren used to say the sole purpose of Sainsburys was to keep the riffraff out of Waitrose.
For me Sainsbury's is the sweet spot - neither up itself like Waitrose or M&S nor cheap looking like Tesco or Asda. I just find the German discounters disorienting, although they have good stuff at low prices. Plus you can't get everything there, and for me the ability to go to one place once a fortnight and come home with everything you need within an hour is worth forking out a bit more for.
I won't say which supermarket I go to, but I'm clear about where I am in the pecking order: Everyone who goes to more downmarket supermarkets is scum Everyone who goes to more upmarket supermarkets is posh scum
The British class system in one sentence. You get to look downwards in all directions, even (especially) when you're looking upwards. What's not to like?
I would say it's like an Escher painting, but I once saw Escher leaving the Co-op in Hilversum, and since then I've come to regard him as essentially a degenerate.
Are you sure that you weren't actually in a pseudo non-degenerate Riemannian space? If so, he may actually have been entering Fortnum's.
That went over my head.
But I still looked down on it.
People have been sharing the Monty Python sketch on my news feeds for some days for some reason.
Not Monty Python is it? From memory I thought it was Morecambe and Wise? Guest starring with John Cleese.
Ah yes. You're right. That's exactly what it is. Ronnie Corbett imo doesn't (didn't) hold a candle to the other two.
Of course Corbett! It was the Two Ronnies with Cleese not Morecambe and Wise.
Ah yes sorry I also had a moment. Yes Two Ronnies. For some reason I don't think Eric & Ernie were that "aware" but I could be wrong.
Johnson's best victory in PMQs against Starmer yet - he was clearly very well prepared for the devolution question (though whether for Starmer or Blackford I'm not sure). If anything the background suited the PM more than normal PMQs does.
Tough negotiator. Award winning poet. Muscly torso. Good strong legs. Getting better at PMQs.
Comments
I I heard an interesting comment this morning. The party that says it won;t take away your car might do quite well at the next election.
Boris came across very prime ministerial sat down in front of that background, and pressed all of the right buttons, such as his record as mayor on transport and housing. And that Blair supports his view. And polls of UK show the voters back Boris on his devolution remark.
If Labour do get rid of Starmer for someone more charismatic who might win next election, then who? They haven’t got anybody on their front bench remotely in that bracket except perhaps Milliband
The Pfizer vaccine is produced in Europe to my knowledge the Moderna one currently isn't, which is an issue for availability.
For the physical shop, it was known that Morrisons had a great fresh meat and fish counter - no idea if that is still the case. And the Waitrose in the King's Road was a great pick up joint.
That is all.
(Although I can't talk, I always buy the same thing despite going in to get it)
Neither.
Trump absolubtely would, and will. So we'll be getting it after the 20th.
I'll stick with Starmer thanks.
But I still looked down on it.
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/11/18/what-are-the-big-challenges-to-mass-producing-a-coronavirus-vaccine.html
So with this assumption in place - why iyo would advertisers be terrified that showing a Black Woman White Man couple would offend Black people?
Like Macron did with the NHS's PPE early in the crisis....
If Starmer is perceived to have gotten one up on Boris then there is a lot more discussion then.
If Starmer is to be condemned for his action re-Corbyn, what does that say about the failure of Thatcher and Major to act against clear evil in their own ranks? The point can even be extended to Heath who failed to get rid of Tory MPs who were pro-Apartheid and supportive of the Smith regime in Rhodesia.
https://twitter.com/ExStrategist/status/1329039382163099652?s=20
Made Cameron or Ed M look like Churchill v Attlee or Disraeli v Gladstone.
I must be reading the wrong political blog. The Boris zoomers are far less forthright on ConHome.
As Boris anger management reaping dividends, Starmer performances seem to be going backwards. He was better once than he is now. Boris avoiding defeat most weeks now, which is all PM needs to do.
The other mystery is why Tories leave Hoyle alone, he is biased and picky against them in every session. More so than the previous speaker, who was dealt tricky brexit hands.
It is reasonable for party leadership to be dealing with the issues of today and MPs of today like the Member of Parliament for Islington North - not the deceased members of the past.
I'm not bringing up any of Labour's disreputable members of the past, I could but its not relevant.
I think they're higher than Sainsbury's in the pecking order now, which has definitely gone downhill in the last 20 years.
I went in there by accident about 9 month ago and.. Christ.
America isn't a first world democracy any more? blimey.
(He also did Bowie's hair and Tina Turner's wigs, before heading down here for the quieter life....Still has somebody who flies in from Brasil to get her colour done!)
That some people spent over 10 hours queueing to get to the ballot box is not something that happens in a functioning first world democracy.
She was smart and capable but just not agile or flexible enough in her style to work as PM.
I agree she'd rank *above* Johnson and Corbyn, but that's not saying very much.
Yes, my general response to this ad (and all Christmas ads) is the same: WTF cares?
I'll get my coat...
America is in the second of those two, and for good reason.
The other two levels are basically not democracies, "hybrid" and "authoritarian" is memory serves?
https://twitter.com/JuliaHB1/status/1329006860419076096
That is pretty clear as US elections go.
There wont be any new petrol models available from manufacturers by 2030.
Still, I;ve got some persuading to do, I grant you.
Yes, it wasn't really that 'close' at all in the end was it?
https://unherd.com/2020/11/why-its-time-to-prepare-for-english-independence/?tl_inbound=1&tl_groups[0]=18743&tl_period_type=3
(HY will note that it considers his options unrealistic)
Award winning poet.
Muscly torso.
Good strong legs.
Getting better at PMQs.
The list is growing.