I am in the curious position of disliking Brexit, as implemented by this government. But at the same time being very glad that I am not living in the EU given the petulant and dangerous way the EU and some of its governments are behaving over Covid and vaccines.
Not sure what group that puts me into.
Same box as me. Someone who has seen the light ...
Interesting. The news item says they are going to "hold steady" at 50% restaurant capacity and 50 people outdoors.
Yes. Compared to our lockdown of EVERYTHING they have the good life, even with this
I am so fucking bored of lockdowning
We have another three months lockdown as of yesterday. Of course things will change in the interim but to sit in a pub will be two months away.
Hence my cry of despair at the mere tiny possibility that lockdown might be extended due to a third wave (as Boris kinda vaguely hinted sorta).
I am done. I can't do any more of this. I will grind out the rest of Lockdown 3 but if it we get a 10th wave and they want lockdowns 4-6 then fuck it. I'd rather we took the risk as a society, let us make our own choices. This is not life. It is existence. And a drab existence at that, despite the spring sunshine
I am worn out. It is oddly exhausting, doing nothing, and going nowhere
Here's the thing. First off I agree with you. Although you have no option if they decide to extend the lockdown for a few more months, to be on the safe side and to guard against that third wave washing over us.
That is what we have given up over the past year. We have willingly accepted restriction after restriction, welcomed them indeed to the point now that the government will be applauded if they decide to err on the side of caution.
Forced lockdowns exist on a continuum with people determining their "breaking point" at different points. @contrarian, for example, I think it's fair to say is at the beginning. @SandyRentool and @FrancisUrquhart appear to be at the end.
But the genie is out. Lockdowns work because with transmissable disease preventing people meeting will cut that off. But my point has long been look at how these laws (now extended until October, btw) can be applied.
Of course the economy can't afford, and neither do politcians want to continue lockdown. But look at the tools they now have for so many other aspects of society. I'm thinking that that informed the protests against the new police bill.
Mike is of course completely correct but the real question is has this pendulum stopped swinging yet? Scotland would embarrass the average banana republic these days with a patent liar as FM who has used public funds in opposing a Judicial Review against external counsel's very blunt advice and the criminal justice system to attack her predecessor as well as anyone who tried to stand up for him and is being backed to the hilt by a civil service that has lost any scintilla of impartiality. The decision in the Craig Murray case, if confirmed, will be a very, very sad day for Scottish justice.
Surely some Scots are starting to wonder if a country run by this mob is a place they really want to live. They must also be wondering if joining those arrogant, blundering buffoons in the EU is such a smart idea, especially given we were not treated as badly as most of the small countries when the UK was a largish member of the gang.
We shall see but for the first time for a while I am hopeful.
I see your positive case for the Union thing is going well.
It is a positive case for the Union. If we are to retain the rule of law and restore accountability we are going to need external help from the Union, from the Supreme Court and from a Parliament that is not cowed into silence by Crown Office.
So what you're saying is that the SNP "Mob" is corrupt and so we need to bring in Tories from Westminster to restore some basics of integrity, the rule of law and high standards in public office.
You do know how funny that sounds to anyone who isn't a Scottish Tory don't you? The campaign against Nippie on corruption grounds would have some credibility if it wasn't your party bringing it. Have already heard interviews with Douglas Ross where this screaming hypocrisy is pointed out and his "no no no" denials don't cut it.
It isn't that what the SNP are doing is Good. Its that what the Tories in Westminster are doing is Worse.
I want the UK civil service to reimpose impartiality and a sense of public service to our civil service. I want the Supreme Court to make it clear that we don't lock up journalists in this country because we don't like what they say. I want Crown Office to be restored to an independent body that prosecutes in the public interest, not Nicola's interests. I want to be in a country where blatant lying by the FM is not just a matter for party loyalty.
I am not an unqualified fan of the Tory government. I think the Crime bill, for example, is seriously deficient in a variety of ways. Williamson is presumably only kept in office to make Swinny feel less bad about himself and his performance, no easy task. But I do not accept that what is going on in Scotland right now is even close to Westminster. We have gone down the rabbit hole, we really have.
I agree with your desire for an impartial machinery of government and for the rule of law. You MUST though recognise that such calls cannot with any credibility come from your party which actively acts to pervert the same institutions in England so that they operate in their own interests. When Scottish ministers are found to have acted illegally and aren't just accused of it, when Scottish senior law officers seek to bring the legal system into disrepute instead of just acting dubiously then Scotland will be on a par with England. You can't credibly call it the other way - its your partisan blinkers.
The solution to SNP corruption is not to vote for Tory corruption. I'm about to take delivery of bagfuls of LibDem leaflets to deliver so I am hardly a fanboi of the SNP. But I have to say what I see and what I see more is Tory hypocricy.
When Boris Johnson conspires for several years to get David Cameron jailed for a decade for rape, and when Boris Johnson recruits the entire Tory party, the English legal system, and the English civil service to assist him in this, and the subsequent cover-up, and when Boris Johnson simply ignores a Westminster inquiry set up to uncover the truth which SAYS he lied, then I will agree England is down there in the gutter with Scotland
Lol - I don't believe the Salmond conspiracy for a second. And here's the truth - neither do all the Tories who have called him an egotistical liar for decades who suddenly find Him to be the Truth and the Light. There is a burning bush fire in the workings of the Scottish government. Its because of incompetence not this vast conspiracy where a stack of women chose to lie and perjure and risk jail because of narrow calculations to boost one faction of the SNP over another.
Interesting. The news item says they are going to "hold steady" at 50% restaurant capacity and 50 people outdoors.
Yes. Compared to our lockdown of EVERYTHING they have the good life, even with this
I am so fucking bored of lockdowning
We have another three months lockdown as of yesterday. Of course things will change in the interim but to sit in a pub will be two months away.
Hence my cry of despair at the mere tiny possibility that lockdown might be extended due to a third wave (as Boris kinda vaguely hinted sorta).
I am done. I can't do any more of this. I will grind out the rest of Lockdown 3 but if it we get a 10th wave and they want lockdowns 4-6 then fuck it. I'd rather we took the risk as a society, let us make our own choices. This is not life. It is existence. And a drab existence at that, despite the spring sunshine
I am worn out. It is oddly exhausting, doing nothing, and going nowhere
Here's the thing. First off I agree with you. Although you have no option if they decide to extend the lockdown for a few more months, to be on the safe side and to guard against that third wave washing over us.
That is what we have given up over the past year. We have willingly accepted restriction after restriction, welcomed them indeed to the point now that the government will be applauded if they decide to err on the side of caution.
Forced lockdowns exist on a continuum with people determining their "breaking point" at different points. @contrarian, for example, I think it's fair to say is at the beginning. @SandyRentool and @FrancisUrquhart appear to be at the end.
But the genie is out. Lockdowns work because with transmissable disease preventing people meeting will cut that off. But my point has long been look at how these laws (now extended until October, btw) can be applied.
Of course the economy can't afford, and neither do politcians want to continue lockdown. But look at the tools they now have for so many other aspects of society. I'm thinking that that informed the protests against the new police bill.
Yawn.
The government in a desperate attempt to avoid lockdowns left the economy too open in the late Autumn, despite all the obvious evidence that there was a serious problem.
This resulted in more lockdowns than would otherwise have been the case.
It was not a desire for lockdowns, but a desire to avoid them, that caused the problems.
Interesting. The news item says they are going to "hold steady" at 50% restaurant capacity and 50 people outdoors.
You know, I'm going to say something very nice about California. After having been bloody useless early in the pandemic, they now have a very sensible set of tiers:
- stay at home order - red tier - orange tier - yellow tier - green tier
Essentially, "Stay at home" is full lockdown, "Red tier" is outdoor dining only, "Orange tier" is strict capacity limits on restaraunts, gyms and cinemas, "Yellow" is loose capacity limits, and "Green" is good to go.
They (now) have clearly defined in and out conditions for each tier, and the State is broken up by county.
I can therefore be reasonably confident that California will be exiting Red tier either this weekend or next, and will move to Yellow.
It's very nicely done.
Very sensible.
Looks like we will be in Red for another three months. With XX% of our population jabbed.
Its great to see remainers finally seeing the EU for what it is.
Only about decade after the average welder or hairdresser in the North of England, but there we are.
What about them? Leaving the EU isn't the thing that has done us the damage. Its leaving the EEA and CU that has done the damage. Saying "they are the same" runs into the minor problem that no matter how much youse all claim they are, they aren't.
We could be romping along with the vaccination programme, out of the EU, and NOT collapsing our imports and exports. Its not either/or. As I'm sure you and most of the other EU foamers are well aware.
I am in the curious position of disliking Brexit, as implemented by this government. But at the same time being very glad that I am not living in the EU given the petulant and dangerous way the EU and some of its governments are behaving over Covid and vaccines.
Not sure what group that puts me into.
Same box as me. Someone who has seen the light ...
That box being the one that takes the win the brexiteers fought for, but reserves the right to sneer at them at the same time.
Mike is of course completely correct but the real question is has this pendulum stopped swinging yet? Scotland would embarrass the average banana republic these days with a patent liar as FM who has used public funds in opposing a Judicial Review against external counsel's very blunt advice and the criminal justice system to attack her predecessor as well as anyone who tried to stand up for him and is being backed to the hilt by a civil service that has lost any scintilla of impartiality. The decision in the Craig Murray case, if confirmed, will be a very, very sad day for Scottish justice.
Surely some Scots are starting to wonder if a country run by this mob is a place they really want to live. They must also be wondering if joining those arrogant, blundering buffoons in the EU is such a smart idea, especially given we were not treated as badly as most of the small countries when the UK was a largish member of the gang.
We shall see but for the first time for a while I am hopeful.
I see your positive case for the Union thing is going well.
It is a positive case for the Union. If we are to retain the rule of law and restore accountability we are going to need external help from the Union, from the Supreme Court and from a Parliament that is not cowed into silence by Crown Office.
So what you're saying is that the SNP "Mob" is corrupt and so we need to bring in Tories from Westminster to restore some basics of integrity, the rule of law and high standards in public office.
You do know how funny that sounds to anyone who isn't a Scottish Tory don't you? The campaign against Nippie on corruption grounds would have some credibility if it wasn't your party bringing it. Have already heard interviews with Douglas Ross where this screaming hypocrisy is pointed out and his "no no no" denials don't cut it.
It isn't that what the SNP are doing is Good. Its that what the Tories in Westminster are doing is Worse.
I want the UK civil service to reimpose impartiality and a sense of public service to our civil service. I want the Supreme Court to make it clear that we don't lock up journalists in this country because we don't like what they say. I want Crown Office to be restored to an independent body that prosecutes in the public interest, not Nicola's interests. I want to be in a country where blatant lying by the FM is not just a matter for party loyalty.
I am not an unqualified fan of the Tory government. I think the Crime bill, for example, is seriously deficient in a variety of ways. Williamson is presumably only kept in office to make Swinny feel less bad about himself and his performance, no easy task. But I do not accept that what is going on in Scotland right now is even close to Westminster. We have gone down the rabbit hole, we really have.
I agree with your desire for an impartial machinery of government and for the rule of law. You MUST though recognise that such calls cannot with any credibility come from your party which actively acts to pervert the same institutions in England so that they operate in their own interests. When Scottish ministers are found to have acted illegally and aren't just accused of it, when Scottish senior law officers seek to bring the legal system into disrepute instead of just acting dubiously then Scotland will be on a par with England. You can't credibly call it the other way - its your partisan blinkers.
The solution to SNP corruption is not to vote for Tory corruption. I'm about to take delivery of bagfuls of LibDem leaflets to deliver so I am hardly a fanboi of the SNP. But I have to say what I see and what I see more is Tory hypocricy.
When Boris Johnson conspires for several years to get David Cameron jailed for a decade for rape, and when Boris Johnson recruits the entire Tory party, the English legal system, and the English civil service to assist him in this, and the subsequent cover-up, and when Boris Johnson simply ignores a Westminster inquiry set up to uncover the truth which SAYS he lied, then I will agree England is down there in the gutter with Scotland
Lol - I don't believe the Salmond conspiracy for a second. And here's the truth - neither do all the Tories who have called him an egotistical liar for decades who suddenly find Him to be the Truth and the Light. There is a burning bush fire in the workings of the Scottish government. Its because of incompetence not this vast conspiracy where a stack of women chose to lie and perjure and risk jail because of narrow calculations to boost one faction of the SNP over another.
I am not a Tory, but I am on the right, so no doubt you will dismiss my opinion
But I do not understand how anyone could look "objectively" at this case and not see a reeking conspiracy. It's close to the point where even Nats admit it, but then they say, Oh well Boris lies too, and she's our wee Nippy, and INDY and FREEDOM so everything else can be ignored
It's a shite state of affairs, and all the fresh air in the world won't make any fucking difference
Interesting. The news item says they are going to "hold steady" at 50% restaurant capacity and 50 people outdoors.
Yes. Compared to our lockdown of EVERYTHING they have the good life, even with this
I am so fucking bored of lockdowning
We have another three months lockdown as of yesterday. Of course things will change in the interim but to sit in a pub will be two months away.
Hence my cry of despair at the mere tiny possibility that lockdown might be extended due to a third wave (as Boris kinda vaguely hinted sorta).
I am done. I can't do any more of this. I will grind out the rest of Lockdown 3 but if it we get a 10th wave and they want lockdowns 4-6 then fuck it. I'd rather we took the risk as a society, let us make our own choices. This is not life. It is existence. And a drab existence at that, despite the spring sunshine
I am worn out. It is oddly exhausting, doing nothing, and going nowhere
Here's the thing. First off I agree with you. Although you have no option if they decide to extend the lockdown for a few more months, to be on the safe side and to guard against that third wave washing over us.
That is what we have given up over the past year. We have willingly accepted restriction after restriction, welcomed them indeed to the point now that the government will be applauded if they decide to err on the side of caution.
Forced lockdowns exist on a continuum with people determining their "breaking point" at different points. @contrarian, for example, I think it's fair to say is at the beginning. @SandyRentool and @FrancisUrquhart appear to be at the end.
But the genie is out. Lockdowns work because with transmissable disease preventing people meeting will cut that off. But my point has long been look at how these laws (now extended until October, btw) can be applied.
Of course the economy can't afford, and neither do politcians want to continue lockdown. But look at the tools they now have for so many other aspects of society. I'm thinking that that informed the protests against the new police bill.
Yawn.
The government in a desperate attempt to avoid lockdowns left the economy too open in the late Autumn, despite all the obvious evidence that there was a serious problem.
This resulted in more lockdowns than would otherwise have been the case.
It was not a desire for lockdowns, but a desire to avoid them, that caused the problems.
Yawn for me also. It is the laws, Robert. Not the lockdowns. The laws that they introduced and have now extended ("for furloughs") is the problem.
I keep coming back to Walter Wolfgang.
We get lockdowns anyway, as you note often. So a formal lockdown allows the govt to support businesses. But what's preventing the government supporting businesses anyway?
The degree to which we as a country have accepted unprecedented restrictions on our liberties has been truly frightening. And it has all been applauded by opinion polls and the rich old blokes on PB. Confucian doesn't begin to describe it.
Outdoor sports - amateur ones without massive crowds - are probably close to zero risk.
Yeah but it's the fact you can legally book a 5-a-side football pitch to play with 10 people from different households but you can't host the same football match in a park.
The transmission risk is exactly the same.
Obviously ignoring the fact everyone is already playing football with other households in the park regardless of the current rules.
Why is that funny? Ten people in a self-contained Powerleague pitch are surely less likely to spread disease than the same ten people in the park.
Are you being serious?
... yeah? Because in the former case, there are walls preventing them getting too close to anyone else.
What am I missing?
I mean those 'walls' are usually just wire mesh and usually people go out of their way to avoid getting in the way of a football match going on in the park.
I understand why the rules are like what they are for the sake of simplicity but it's still amusing.
I'm not convinced than January 2021 is a particularly typical month, so let's look again in six months shall we?
It isn't - but when you compare January with January it isn't really credible to dismiss industry data like this out of hand. The stockpiling prior to Christmas is credited, but doesn't eremotely explain such a cliff-edge fall.
Anyway, we know that the government has noticed as it has kicked into the long grass the phased introduction in checks that were supposed to be happening from April onwards. We have noticed that since they announced this, imports are coming in with only moderate delay instead of the previous catastrophic delays. Nice to be able to actually supply customers as opposed to receive the shipment and put it all straight in the bin.
Mike is of course completely correct but the real question is has this pendulum stopped swinging yet? Scotland would embarrass the average banana republic these days with a patent liar as FM who has used public funds in opposing a Judicial Review against external counsel's very blunt advice and the criminal justice system to attack her predecessor as well as anyone who tried to stand up for him and is being backed to the hilt by a civil service that has lost any scintilla of impartiality. The decision in the Craig Murray case, if confirmed, will be a very, very sad day for Scottish justice.
Surely some Scots are starting to wonder if a country run by this mob is a place they really want to live. They must also be wondering if joining those arrogant, blundering buffoons in the EU is such a smart idea, especially given we were not treated as badly as most of the small countries when the UK was a largish member of the gang.
We shall see but for the first time for a while I am hopeful.
I see your positive case for the Union thing is going well.
It is a positive case for the Union. If we are to retain the rule of law and restore accountability we are going to need external help from the Union, from the Supreme Court and from a Parliament that is not cowed into silence by Crown Office.
So what you're saying is that the SNP "Mob" is corrupt and so we need to bring in Tories from Westminster to restore some basics of integrity, the rule of law and high standards in public office.
You do know how funny that sounds to anyone who isn't a Scottish Tory don't you? The campaign against Nippie on corruption grounds would have some credibility if it wasn't your party bringing it. Have already heard interviews with Douglas Ross where this screaming hypocrisy is pointed out and his "no no no" denials don't cut it.
It isn't that what the SNP are doing is Good. Its that what the Tories in Westminster are doing is Worse.
I want the UK civil service to reimpose impartiality and a sense of public service to our civil service. I want the Supreme Court to make it clear that we don't lock up journalists in this country because we don't like what they say. I want Crown Office to be restored to an independent body that prosecutes in the public interest, not Nicola's interests. I want to be in a country where blatant lying by the FM is not just a matter for party loyalty.
I am not an unqualified fan of the Tory government. I think the Crime bill, for example, is seriously deficient in a variety of ways. Williamson is presumably only kept in office to make Swinny feel less bad about himself and his performance, no easy task. But I do not accept that what is going on in Scotland right now is even close to Westminster. We have gone down the rabbit hole, we really have.
I agree with your desire for an impartial machinery of government and for the rule of law. You MUST though recognise that such calls cannot with any credibility come from your party which actively acts to pervert the same institutions in England so that they operate in their own interests. When Scottish ministers are found to have acted illegally and aren't just accused of it, when Scottish senior law officers seek to bring the legal system into disrepute instead of just acting dubiously then Scotland will be on a par with England. You can't credibly call it the other way - its your partisan blinkers.
The solution to SNP corruption is not to vote for Tory corruption. I'm about to take delivery of bagfuls of LibDem leaflets to deliver so I am hardly a fanboi of the SNP. But I have to say what I see and what I see more is Tory hypocricy.
When Boris Johnson conspires for several years to get David Cameron jailed for a decade for rape, and when Boris Johnson recruits the entire Tory party, the English legal system, and the English civil service to assist him in this, and the subsequent cover-up, and when Boris Johnson simply ignores a Westminster inquiry set up to uncover the truth which SAYS he lied, then I will agree England is down there in the gutter with Scotland
Johnson put a contract out on a journalist. He's different gravy. An utterly vile individual.
I'm not convinced than January 2021 is a particularly typical month, so let's look again in six months shall we?
It isn't - but when you compare January with January it isn't really credible to dismiss industry data like this out of hand. The stockpiling prior to Christmas is credited, but doesn't eremotely explain such a cliff-edge fall.
The UK left the EU on 31st January 2020 for an 11 month (not 12 month) transition period. So "January with January" still compares a month of building of stockpiles with a month of running down of stockpiles. Only for such goods as can be stockpiled, of course.
Why is that funny? Ten people in a self-contained Powerleague pitch are surely less likely to spread disease than the same ten people in the park.
Are you being serious?
... yeah? Because in the former case, there are walls preventing them getting too close to anyone else.
What am I missing?
I mean those 'walls' are usually just wire mesh and usually people go out of their way to avoid getting in the way of a football match going on in the park.
I understand why the rules are like what they are for the sake of simplicity but it's still amusing.
Agreed, but it's hardly a "gotcha" moment.
Anyway I'm heartily sick of people on social media (not you, just generally - most of them seem to be teachers for some reason) thinking they've found some minor contradiction in the rules and using that to prove the government is comprised entirely of imbeciles.
Mike is of course completely correct but the real question is has this pendulum stopped swinging yet? Scotland would embarrass the average banana republic these days with a patent liar as FM who has used public funds in opposing a Judicial Review against external counsel's very blunt advice and the criminal justice system to attack her predecessor as well as anyone who tried to stand up for him and is being backed to the hilt by a civil service that has lost any scintilla of impartiality. The decision in the Craig Murray case, if confirmed, will be a very, very sad day for Scottish justice.
Surely some Scots are starting to wonder if a country run by this mob is a place they really want to live. They must also be wondering if joining those arrogant, blundering buffoons in the EU is such a smart idea, especially given we were not treated as badly as most of the small countries when the UK was a largish member of the gang.
We shall see but for the first time for a while I am hopeful.
I see your positive case for the Union thing is going well.
It is a positive case for the Union. If we are to retain the rule of law and restore accountability we are going to need external help from the Union, from the Supreme Court and from a Parliament that is not cowed into silence by Crown Office.
So what you're saying is that the SNP "Mob" is corrupt and so we need to bring in Tories from Westminster to restore some basics of integrity, the rule of law and high standards in public office.
You do know how funny that sounds to anyone who isn't a Scottish Tory don't you? The campaign against Nippie on corruption grounds would have some credibility if it wasn't your party bringing it. Have already heard interviews with Douglas Ross where this screaming hypocrisy is pointed out and his "no no no" denials don't cut it.
It isn't that what the SNP are doing is Good. Its that what the Tories in Westminster are doing is Worse.
I want the UK civil service to reimpose impartiality and a sense of public service to our civil service. I want the Supreme Court to make it clear that we don't lock up journalists in this country because we don't like what they say. I want Crown Office to be restored to an independent body that prosecutes in the public interest, not Nicola's interests. I want to be in a country where blatant lying by the FM is not just a matter for party loyalty.
I am not an unqualified fan of the Tory government. I think the Crime bill, for example, is seriously deficient in a variety of ways. Williamson is presumably only kept in office to make Swinny feel less bad about himself and his performance, no easy task. But I do not accept that what is going on in Scotland right now is even close to Westminster. We have gone down the rabbit hole, we really have.
I agree with your desire for an impartial machinery of government and for the rule of law. You MUST though recognise that such calls cannot with any credibility come from your party which actively acts to pervert the same institutions in England so that they operate in their own interests. When Scottish ministers are found to have acted illegally and aren't just accused of it, when Scottish senior law officers seek to bring the legal system into disrepute instead of just acting dubiously then Scotland will be on a par with England. You can't credibly call it the other way - its your partisan blinkers.
The solution to SNP corruption is not to vote for Tory corruption. I'm about to take delivery of bagfuls of LibDem leaflets to deliver so I am hardly a fanboi of the SNP. But I have to say what I see and what I see more is Tory hypocricy.
When Boris Johnson conspires for several years to get David Cameron jailed for a decade for rape, and when Boris Johnson recruits the entire Tory party, the English legal system, and the English civil service to assist him in this, and the subsequent cover-up, and when Boris Johnson simply ignores a Westminster inquiry set up to uncover the truth which SAYS he lied, then I will agree England is down there in the gutter with Scotland
Lol - I don't believe the Salmond conspiracy for a second. And here's the truth - neither do all the Tories who have called him an egotistical liar for decades who suddenly find Him to be the Truth and the Light. There is a burning bush fire in the workings of the Scottish government. Its because of incompetence not this vast conspiracy where a stack of women chose to lie and perjure and risk jail because of narrow calculations to boost one faction of the SNP over another.
I am not a Tory, but I am on the right, so no doubt you will dismiss my opinion
But I do not understand how anyone could look "objectively" at this case and not see a reeking conspiracy. It's close to the point where even Nats admit it, but then they say, Oh well Boris lies too, and she's our wee Nippy, and INDY and FREEDOM so everything else can be ignored
It's a shite state of affairs, and all the fresh air in the world won't make any fucking difference
Which conspiracy are you referring to? You suggest one - the objective - to fabricate a case against Alex Salmond and have him jailed to stop any resurgence of his faction. All of the other conspiracies - that Nippy has a selective memory, that the police were leaned on, that the Crown Office ignored the law and prosecution guidelines - are simply strategies pursued towards reaching the objective.
I do not believe there was a conspiracy to fabricate lies against Salmond to have him jailed for non-existent crimes. Without this objective core the rest of the tactical conspiracies involving the polis and crown office also fall apart.
I absolutely believe there has been collusion, both of silence within the SNP to conveniently forget who said what where, and with the increasingly botched HR investigation against Salmond as FM. I further believe that realisation of the chaos forced yet more tactical conspiracies to try and cover up what had happened. Lies tend to multiply and deepen. They did all that I am sure. They did not frame Salmond.
What we are left with is a botched investigation of a case brought by women who made claims against Salmond not believed by the Jury. Malfeasance and political cover-up. To which I hear Tory claims that the suitable response is to vote Tory and howl with laughter.
Wait, what. So this is the independent barrister whose report we are awaiting into the SNP/Sturgeon?
"He was appointed an independent advisor by SNP in 2013 and reappointed by Nicola Sturgeon in 2015. He was also appointed to the same role in the Welsh Government.
"James Hamilton is a former member of the Scottish National Party."
Mike is of course completely correct but the real question is has this pendulum stopped swinging yet? Scotland would embarrass the average banana republic these days with a patent liar as FM who has used public funds in opposing a Judicial Review against external counsel's very blunt advice and the criminal justice system to attack her predecessor as well as anyone who tried to stand up for him and is being backed to the hilt by a civil service that has lost any scintilla of impartiality. The decision in the Craig Murray case, if confirmed, will be a very, very sad day for Scottish justice.
Surely some Scots are starting to wonder if a country run by this mob is a place they really want to live. They must also be wondering if joining those arrogant, blundering buffoons in the EU is such a smart idea, especially given we were not treated as badly as most of the small countries when the UK was a largish member of the gang.
We shall see but for the first time for a while I am hopeful.
I see your positive case for the Union thing is going well.
It is a positive case for the Union. If we are to retain the rule of law and restore accountability we are going to need external help from the Union, from the Supreme Court and from a Parliament that is not cowed into silence by Crown Office.
So what you're saying is that the SNP "Mob" is corrupt and so we need to bring in Tories from Westminster to restore some basics of integrity, the rule of law and high standards in public office.
You do know how funny that sounds to anyone who isn't a Scottish Tory don't you? The campaign against Nippie on corruption grounds would have some credibility if it wasn't your party bringing it. Have already heard interviews with Douglas Ross where this screaming hypocrisy is pointed out and his "no no no" denials don't cut it.
It isn't that what the SNP are doing is Good. Its that what the Tories in Westminster are doing is Worse.
No. The SNP have suborned the civil service and much else. And they have a sense of entitlement and ownership which goes far beyond anything seen elsewhere. Sorry you can't see that. Those of us who are long-term residents here have watched the process with growing dismay over the years. Nationalism poisons everything.
I should say - in parenthesis - how remarkable it is how Unionist Scots, ie, those who value their British identities, are routinely ignored and rubbished. Their feelings and loyalties count for nothing, have no value, apparently.
Burgessian , you have to be joking re unionists, Labour were dire when they had the dictatorship for many more years than SNP has had it, they were as bent as three bob bits and looted and pillaged at will.
Wait, what. So this is the independent barrister whose report we are awaiting into the SNP/Sturgeon?
"He was appointed an independent advisor by SNP in 2013 and reappointed by Nicola Sturgeon in 2015. He was also appointed to the same role in the Welsh Government.
"James Hamilton is a former member of the Scottish National Party."
Don't worry Mike, on Saturday night I tweeted the same thing chastising the Sunday Times for their misreporting of swing.
So it isn't a grumpy old man thing it is also a grump young man thing as well because obviously 42 means I've got middle age to look forward to.
Maybe it's just a Quasi-Everton Fan thing?
Sunil you profess to love the English language yet you don't know what the word quasi means.
(Yes I am aware the word quasi is Latin but that's the joy of the English language, it isn't one language, but several languages masquerading as one language.)
I'm not convinced than January 2021 is a particularly typical month, so let's look again in six months shall we?
It isn't - but when you compare January with January it isn't really credible to dismiss industry data like this out of hand. The stockpiling prior to Christmas is credited, but doesn't eremotely explain such a cliff-edge fall.
The UK left the EU on 31st January 2020 for an 11 month (not 12 month) transition period. So "January with January" still compares a month of building of stockpiles with a month of running down of stockpiles. Only for such goods as can be stockpiled, of course.
There was no stockpiling needed in January 2020. As I keep pointing out to people., leaving the EU doesn't mean anything from a trading perspective. It is the EEA and CU that are relevant to trade, not the EU itself.
Wait, what. So this is the independent barrister whose report we are awaiting into the SNP/Sturgeon?
"He was appointed an independent advisor by SNP in 2013 and reappointed by Nicola Sturgeon in 2015. He was also appointed to the same role in the Welsh Government.
"James Hamilton is a former member of the Scottish National Party."
Wait, what. So this is the independent barrister whose report we are awaiting into the SNP/Sturgeon?
"He was appointed an independent advisor by SNP in 2013 and reappointed by Nicola Sturgeon in 2015. He was also appointed to the same role in the Welsh Government.
"James Hamilton is a former member of the Scottish National Party."
I am in the curious position of disliking Brexit, as implemented by this government. But at the same time being very glad that I am not living in the EU given the petulant and dangerous way the EU and some of its governments are behaving over Covid and vaccines.
Not sure what group that puts me into.
It puts you in that large group of people who wanted neither of the choices we were offered in the Brexit referendum.
Interesting. The news item says they are going to "hold steady" at 50% restaurant capacity and 50 people outdoors.
Yes. Compared to our lockdown of EVERYTHING they have the good life, even with this
I am so fucking bored of lockdowning
We have another three months lockdown as of yesterday. Of course things will change in the interim but to sit in a pub will be two months away.
Hence my cry of despair at the mere tiny possibility that lockdown might be extended due to a third wave (as Boris kinda vaguely hinted sorta).
I am done. I can't do any more of this. I will grind out the rest of Lockdown 3 but if it we get a 10th wave and they want lockdowns 4-6 then fuck it. I'd rather we took the risk as a society, let us make our own choices. This is not life. It is existence. And a drab existence at that, despite the spring sunshine
I am worn out. It is oddly exhausting, doing nothing, and going nowhere
Here's the thing. First off I agree with you. Although you have no option if they decide to extend the lockdown for a few more months, to be on the safe side and to guard against that third wave washing over us.
That is what we have given up over the past year. We have willingly accepted restriction after restriction, welcomed them indeed to the point now that the government will be applauded if they decide to err on the side of caution.
Forced lockdowns exist on a continuum with people determining their "breaking point" at different points. @contrarian, for example, I think it's fair to say is at the beginning. @SandyRentool and @FrancisUrquhart appear to be at the end.
But the genie is out. Lockdowns work because with transmissable disease preventing people meeting will cut that off. But my point has long been look at how these laws (now extended until October, btw) can be applied.
Of course the economy can't afford, and neither do politcians want to continue lockdown. But look at the tools they now have for so many other aspects of society. I'm thinking that that informed the protests against the new police bill.
Yawn.
The government in a desperate attempt to avoid lockdowns left the economy too open in the late Autumn, despite all the obvious evidence that there was a serious problem.
This resulted in more lockdowns than would otherwise have been the case.
It was not a desire for lockdowns, but a desire to avoid them, that caused the problems.
Yawn for me also. It is the laws, Robert. Not the lockdowns. The laws that they introduced and have now extended ("for furloughs") is the problem.
I keep coming back to Walter Wolfgang.
We get lockdowns anyway, as you note often. So a formal lockdown allows the govt to support businesses. But what's preventing the government supporting businesses anyway?
The degree to which we as a country have accepted unprecedented restrictions on our liberties has been truly frightening. And it has all been applauded by opinion polls and the rich old blokes on PB. Confucian doesn't begin to describe it.
The fear of the disease outweighed the fear of us drifting towards a police state. I'm less surprised about this than you are.
Wait, what. So this is the independent barrister whose report we are awaiting into the SNP/Sturgeon?
"He was appointed an independent advisor by SNP in 2013 and reappointed by Nicola Sturgeon in 2015. He was also appointed to the same role in the Welsh Government.
"James Hamilton is a former member of the Scottish National Party."
I'm not convinced than January 2021 is a particularly typical month, so let's look again in six months shall we?
It isn't - but when you compare January with January it isn't really credible to dismiss industry data like this out of hand. The stockpiling prior to Christmas is credited, but doesn't eremotely explain such a cliff-edge fall.
The UK left the EU on 31st January 2020 for an 11 month (not 12 month) transition period. So "January with January" still compares a month of building of stockpiles with a month of running down of stockpiles. Only for such goods as can be stockpiled, of course.
There was no stockpiling needed in January 2020. As I keep pointing out to people., leaving the EU doesn't mean anything from a trading perspective. It is the EEA and CU that are relevant to trade, not the EU itself.
I understand that. But parliament didn't vote for the agreement until 23rd Jan, and it wasn't ratified in the EU until 29th Jan. No one was stockpiling for the possibility of "no deal"? No deal would certainly have meant something from a trading perspective...
Sorry if this has been said before but the usually infallible Mike, while correctly calling out the ST error over swing, has then committed the error of confusing percentages and percentage points. It's not a 6% swing it's a 6 percentage point swing. The BBC does this all the time.
Don't worry Mike, on Saturday night I tweeted the same thing chastising the Sunday Times for their misreporting of swing.
So it isn't a grumpy old man thing it is also a grump young man thing as well because obviously 42 means I've got middle age to look forward to.
Maybe it's just a Quasi-Everton Fan thing?
Sunil you profess to love the English language yet you don't know what the word quasi means.
(Yes I am aware the word quasi is Latin but that's the joy of the English language, it isn't one language, but several languages masquerading as one language.)
You're the one who calls the Exhaustive Ballot "Quasi-AV" (see Sunday's thread!). So calling the EB "Quasi-AV" is a bit like calling TSE a "Quasi-Everton Fan"!
I preferred his cover of Common People. It was....memorable.
It was fantastic. Better than the original, and I speak as a big fan of Pulp. It featured at our wedding disco. The rest of that album (has-been) is also brilliant: by turns moving, laugh out loud funny, uplifting and reflective. The key to it, or course, is that Ben Folds wrote and arranged it and that Bill S doesn't even attempt to sing. It's all spoken word.
I preferred his cover of Common People. It was....memorable.
It was fantastic. Better than the original, and I speak as a big fan of Pulp. It featured at our wedding disco. The rest of that album (has-been) is also brilliant: by turns moving, laugh out loud funny, uplifting and reflective. The key to it, or course, is that Ben Folds wrote and arranged it and that Bill S doesn't even attempt to sing. It's all spoken word.
A detail that did not escape me when pressganged into a Karaoke night.
Don't worry Mike, on Saturday night I tweeted the same thing chastising the Sunday Times for their misreporting of swing.
So it isn't a grumpy old man thing it is also a grump young man thing as well because obviously 42 means I've got middle age to look forward to.
Maybe it's just a Quasi-Everton Fan thing?
Sunil you profess to love the English language yet you don't know what the word quasi means.
(Yes I am aware the word quasi is Latin but that's the joy of the English language, it isn't one language, but several languages masquerading as one language.)
You're the one who calls the Exhaustive Ballot "Quasi-AV" (see Sunday's thread!). So calling the EB "Quasi-AV" is a bit like calling TSE a "Quasi-Everton Fan"!
Since you're hiking up Mount Wrongness I'll leave you to it.
Don't worry Mike, on Saturday night I tweeted the same thing chastising the Sunday Times for their misreporting of swing.
So it isn't a grumpy old man thing it is also a grump young man thing as well because obviously 42 means I've got middle age to look forward to.
Maybe it's just a Quasi-Everton Fan thing?
Sunil you profess to love the English language yet you don't know what the word quasi means.
(Yes I am aware the word quasi is Latin but that's the joy of the English language, it isn't one language, but several languages masquerading as one language.)
You're the one who calls the Exhaustive Ballot "Quasi-AV" (see Sunday's thread!). So calling the EB "Quasi-AV" is a bit like calling TSE a "Quasi-Everton Fan"!
Yes, it's a bit like Quasi Kwarteng - I'm a big fan, but I keep wondering when the Real Kwarteng is going to put in an appearance.
Taken with the Israeli data, this suggests to me that once you hit over 30-40% of the population jabbed (esp the vulnerable) and you keep going up, then the disease drops away remarkably fast
Which only leaves horrible variants to worry about
Taken with the Israeli data, this suggests to me that once you hit over 30-40% of the population jabbed (esp the vulnerable) and you keep going up, then the disease drops away remarkably fast
Which only leaves horrible variants to worry about
Don't forget the what 15% that have had covid so have a level of immunity.
Don't worry Mike, on Saturday night I tweeted the same thing chastising the Sunday Times for their misreporting of swing.
So it isn't a grumpy old man thing it is also a grump young man thing as well because obviously 42 means I've got middle age to look forward to.
Maybe it's just a Quasi-Everton Fan thing?
Sunil you profess to love the English language yet you don't know what the word quasi means.
(Yes I am aware the word quasi is Latin but that's the joy of the English language, it isn't one language, but several languages masquerading as one language.)
You're the one who calls the Exhaustive Ballot "Quasi-AV" (see Sunday's thread!). So calling the EB "Quasi-AV" is a bit like calling TSE a "Quasi-Everton Fan"!
Yes, it's a bit like Quasi Kwarteng - I'm a big fan, but I keep wondering when the Real Kwarteng is going to put in an appearance.
I'm not convinced than January 2021 is a particularly typical month, so let's look again in six months shall we?
It isn't - but when you compare January with January it isn't really credible to dismiss industry data like this out of hand. The stockpiling prior to Christmas is credited, but doesn't eremotely explain such a cliff-edge fall.
The UK left the EU on 31st January 2020 for an 11 month (not 12 month) transition period. So "January with January" still compares a month of building of stockpiles with a month of running down of stockpiles. Only for such goods as can be stockpiled, of course.
There was no stockpiling needed in January 2020. As I keep pointing out to people., leaving the EU doesn't mean anything from a trading perspective. It is the EEA and CU that are relevant to trade, not the EU itself.
I understand that. But parliament didn't vote for the agreement until 23rd Jan, and it wasn't ratified in the EU until 29th Jan. No one was stockpiling for the possibility of "no deal"? No deal would certainly have meant something from a trading perspective...
If you look at the top 10 exports, most cannot be stockpiled. The food manufacturer I worked for at the time was stockpiling a few weeks of ingredients as were many who could find sufficient supplies, somewhere to store them and the cash to pay for them. That isn't where we are at now - The countries on the list can't have stockpiled meat and fish.
The border simply doesn't function properly for most of these sectors - as the government has realised in refusing to bring into effect the next stages in restrictions. Nor can other markets be found for fresh produce as it would have gone off by the time it was sold to Canada or wherever.
Yet the government seeks to renew emergency coronavirus powers for a further six months. I suppose these powers have to to extended to cover the road map out, but they shouldn't be extended past 21 June.
Taken with the Israeli data, this suggests to me that once you hit over 30-40% of the population jabbed (esp the vulnerable) and you keep going up, then the disease drops away remarkably fast
Which only leaves horrible variants to worry about
Which means we need to keep the borders sealed and quarantine anyone who comes back from overseas.
In Australia, what we would describe as a 2% swing is called a 4% swing. Interesting fact.
The Australians are a backward people when it comes to numbers, as you note they incorrectly report swing but much much worse, they put the wickets lost before the total team runs.
2/156 is against the laws of God and nature, it should be 156/2.
Taken with the Israeli data, this suggests to me that once you hit over 30-40% of the population jabbed (esp the vulnerable) and you keep going up, then the disease drops away remarkably fast
Which only leaves horrible variants to worry about
Which means we need to keep the borders sealed and quarantine anyone who comes back from overseas.
Yes, all borders should be sealed until late May, at the earliest
This also has to apply to Ireland, as their borders are basically open. So a suspension of the CTA
Test positivity rate today is below the original estimate for false positives on LFD. 5.3k positives from 1.9m tests. It was silly a few weeks ago, now it's utterly daft.
On the England data you can see LFD 'cases' making up an ever greater share of those being 'found', and an increasingly small proportion are ever verified by a PCR test.
Comments
https://twitter.com/AdamWagner1/status/1374016872270737412?s=20
That is what we have given up over the past year. We have willingly accepted restriction after restriction, welcomed them indeed to the point now that the government will be applauded if they decide to err on the side of caution.
Forced lockdowns exist on a continuum with people determining their "breaking point" at different points. @contrarian, for example, I think it's fair to say is at the beginning. @SandyRentool and @FrancisUrquhart appear to be at the end.
But the genie is out. Lockdowns work because with transmissable disease preventing people meeting will cut that off. But my point has long been look at how these laws (now extended until October, btw) can be applied.
Of course the economy can't afford, and neither do politcians want to continue lockdown. But look at the tools they now have for so many other aspects of society. I'm thinking that that informed the protests against the new police bill.
The government in a desperate attempt to avoid lockdowns left the economy too open in the late Autumn, despite all the obvious evidence that there was a serious problem.
This resulted in more lockdowns than would otherwise have been the case.
It was not a desire for lockdowns, but a desire to avoid them, that caused the problems.
Looks like we will be in Red for another three months. With XX% of our population jabbed.
https://twitter.com/AdamWagner1/status/1374018103416385537?s=20
The liberal world order has failed to usher in global peace
BY ARIS ROUSSINOS
https://unherd.com/2021/03/anarchy-is-coming/
We could be romping along with the vaccination programme, out of the EU, and NOT collapsing our imports and exports. Its not either/or. As I'm sure you and most of the other EU foamers are well aware.
https://twitter.com/HugoGye/status/1374011854759026690?s=20
But I do not understand how anyone could look "objectively" at this case and not see a reeking conspiracy. It's close to the point where even Nats admit it, but then they say, Oh well Boris lies too, and she's our wee Nippy, and INDY and FREEDOM so everything else can be ignored
It's a shite state of affairs, and all the fresh air in the world won't make any fucking difference
https://twitter.com/jamesmatthewsky/status/1374018353245908998?s=20
She's First Minister. She has meetings
Anyway, I must be off. Play nicely, everyone.
What am I missing?
I keep coming back to Walter Wolfgang.
We get lockdowns anyway, as you note often. So a formal lockdown allows the govt to support businesses. But what's preventing the government supporting businesses anyway?
The degree to which we as a country have accepted unprecedented restrictions on our liberties has been truly frightening. And it has all been applauded by opinion polls and the rich old blokes on PB. Confucian doesn't begin to describe it.
The transmission risk is exactly the same.
Obviously ignoring the fact everyone is already playing football with other households in the park regardless of the current rules.
So it isn't a grumpy old man thing it is also a grump young man thing as well because obviously 42 means I've got middle age to look forward to.
I understand why the rules are like what they are for the sake of simplicity but it's still amusing.
Anyway, we know that the government has noticed as it has kicked into the long grass the phased introduction in checks that were supposed to be happening from April onwards. We have noticed that since they announced this, imports are coming in with only moderate delay instead of the previous catastrophic delays. Nice to be able to actually supply customers as opposed to receive the shipment and put it all straight in the bin.
Go on - escalate.
Incorrectly labeled chart I suspect.
Anyway I'm heartily sick of people on social media (not you, just generally - most of them seem to be teachers for some reason) thinking they've found some minor contradiction in the rules and using that to prove the government is comprised entirely of imbeciles.
I do not believe there was a conspiracy to fabricate lies against Salmond to have him jailed for non-existent crimes. Without this objective core the rest of the tactical conspiracies involving the polis and crown office also fall apart.
I absolutely believe there has been collusion, both of silence within the SNP to conveniently forget who said what where, and with the increasingly botched HR investigation against Salmond as FM. I further believe that realisation of the chaos forced yet more tactical conspiracies to try and cover up what had happened. Lies tend to multiply and deepen. They did all that I am sure. They did not frame Salmond.
What we are left with is a botched investigation of a case brought by women who made claims against Salmond not believed by the Jury. Malfeasance and political cover-up. To which I hear Tory claims that the suitable response is to vote Tory and howl with laughter.
"He was appointed an independent advisor by SNP in 2013 and reappointed by Nicola Sturgeon in 2015. He was also appointed to the same role in the Welsh Government.
"James Hamilton is a former member of the Scottish National Party."
lol
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Hamilton_(barrister)
(Yes I am aware the word quasi is Latin but that's the joy of the English language, it isn't one language, but several languages masquerading as one language.)
https://twitter.com/DPJHodges/status/1373991100675948549
A post-truth world indeed
But this is why he built in shock absorbers into the roadmap for reopening.
"This song is dying...
"Let it die !!".
(with apologies to the Klingons)
Instead, its the facist Tory government causing this rioting, they are to blame. Kill the bill, kill the bill, kill the bill....
Has journalism become so pathetic
The rest of that album (has-been) is also brilliant: by turns moving, laugh out loud funny, uplifting and reflective. The key to it, or course, is that Ben Folds wrote and arranged it and that Bill S doesn't even attempt to sing. It's all spoken word.
Which only leaves horrible variants to worry about
Could date of deaths be even lower?
The border simply doesn't function properly for most of these sectors - as the government has realised in refusing to bring into effect the next stages in restrictions. Nor can other markets be found for fresh produce as it would have gone off by the time it was sold to Canada or wherever.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/germany-plans-to-vaccinate-10m-a-week-as-covid-19-cases-hit-critical-level-l70rrnfzl
This is something that I always need to stop and think about because of that.
2/156 is against the laws of God and nature, it should be 156/2.
This also has to apply to Ireland, as their borders are basically open. So a suspension of the CTA
On the England data you can see LFD 'cases' making up an ever greater share of those being 'found', and an increasingly small proportion are ever verified by a PCR test.