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May 17th – the day we have been waiting so long for – politicalbetting.com
May 17th – the day we have been waiting so long for – politicalbetting.com
My afternoon's work helping Daughter get pub/restaurant ready for reopening. Immensely proud of all her hard work at The Punchbowl Inn, The Green – https://t.co/fZibD06MlgWherever you are, please support local venues. Good luck to all opening tomorrow.#Millom #LakeDistrict pic.twitter.com/aSP4BRS4Og
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Still remember tooling along in my rental car in 2001 and, as the day was advancing and my energies were flagging, spotting a inn advertising rooms and stopped to check it out.
First thing I noticed was a wonderful smell wafting from the kitchen. Price was right (= cheap) for a basic but very satisfactory room (there were bunny rabbits running around right outside my window). Had a truly first-rate feed, and hung out a the bar (not my scene) chatting with the innkeeper and a few regulars. Was one of my most pleasant experiences in the UK on that or any visit.
See that Millom is right by the sea, on a very interesting coast. When I was in the Lake District, buzzed down the main drag (like everybody and his brother it seems) which frankly was ok but too crowded, I did not tarry. Would certainly like to check out the saltwater side of the Lake District some day.
Cyclefree - more power to your & your daughter's arm!!
You are 1000% correct re the thrill of going to a restaurant for the first time post-COVID, especially & particularly when you are sure that you are as safe as you be doing it thanks to the jab(s).
Not 1000% safe, or even one-tenth of it - but a damn sight better than without the vax!
And interestingly enough, the SECOND and THIRD times are pretty thrilling. May take you a while to become truly blase again about such a simple, human pleasure.
Maybe never.
Just looking forward now to being able to travel for work and hold on-site, in-person workshops.
Why the C.D.C. Changed Its Advice on Masks
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/14/health/cdc-masks-vaccines-variants.html?smid=tw-share
... One of the lingering concerns among scientists had been that even a vaccinated person might carry the virus — perhaps briefly, without symptoms — and spread it to others. But C.D.C. research, including the new study, has consistently found few infections among those who received the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines.
“This study, added to the many studies that preceded it, was pivotal to C.D.C. changing its recommendations for those who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19,” Dr. Walensky said in a statement on Friday.
Other recent studies confirm that people who are infected after vaccination carry too little virus to infect others, said Florian Krammer, a virologist at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
“It’s really hard to even sequence the virus sometimes because there’s very little virus, and it’s there for a short period of time,” he said...
Note to study relates to the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, as it’s from the US, but it’s quite likely the same is true of other effective vaccines such as AZN.
https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/1394003415429259270
(And am fairly optimistic regarding the Indian variant, FWIW.)
We need to get out of this vortex of fear and paranoia. It's going to take a long time and, just as the war and evacuation scarred a generation, unfortunately some people never will.
A great day today. Let's just hope that Boris doesn't allow a few panicking scientists to spook him into a flip-flop.
The decision to jab the most vulnerable first was clearly correct (so Labour including the King of the North were utterly wrong as usual) but I'm still conscious of the need to be sensitive. I've many younger friends who would love to be able to holiday abroad this summer etc. etc.
(FWIW I can see there perhaps being localised lockdowns with an accompanying vax-blitz, but not wide-spread national lockdowns. Fingers crossed.)
I'd hope that the UK will approve Pfizer for children next month, and then we really can put this entirely behind us.
I hope the opening up will not greatly impact the fall in infections, but it’s not silly for some people to decide they want to wait and see.
It's up to you but don't spread fear further. There's really absolutely no need. We have to get out of this vortex of fear.
We (you) have a choice now. Stay in a closed mindset of fear and paranoia or pull yourself up and out of it and get back to living.
"Protect the NHS" also required "close the borders". This was the second biggest mistake. Quite who was lobbying the Government to keep them open I will be most curious to discover when the Report finally comes out. If I live that long...
It's also how Pavlov's dogs were controlled.
Live life again. You really can.
That's quite a leap there.
Different people have different circumstances. As a double vaccinated person, around my double vaccinated parents, I would be quite relaxed.
But my parents are in good health and in their early to mid 70s.
If they were in poor health in their 80s, I'd be a bit more careful, because it only takes a mild infection at that age to cause potentiality life ending problems.
This isn't "giving in" to panic, it's recognizing that their risk reward is different to mine.
Pleased to see that the Punchbowl Inn serves pineapple pizza. I wonder if chocolate sprinkles on cappuccino are permitted...
I suspect we'll find there wasn't anyone in particular lobbying to keep them open. Boris would have been happy to uncritically accept the WHO advice as communicated to him via SAGE/Whitty/Valance as he has always wanted things to "carry on as normal" as much as possible.
How to get the nation to restrain itself and change its behaviour? By propagating a climate of fear and anxiety.
Perhaps this was justified. Perhaps it wasn't. There is undoubtedly a virus which, like the flu, is dangerous for 92 yr olds.
But it certainly achieved the aim of control. And continues to do so as people "freely" decide to maintain measures to assuage their anxiety. Was or is it dystopian? Each to their own.
Does anyone on here have plans to have themselves tested twice a week? Has anyone done so to date?
Running all those models at home while getting on with life and posting on PB must be exhausting.
(Honourable exception for @MaxPB who does seem to have done all those things.)
Hopefully the supply constraints of the last 2 months are now largely behind us. I want to see a series of 700k+ days in the next couple of weeks. As we vaccinate all known variants become less of an issue and less and less of a justification for any delay in removing the existing controls in June.
As a country we need to get back to work and back to play as well. Hopefully we also see some very positive GDP numbers over the next few months as The Punchbowl and countless other establishments get going again.
He has no conception about what life really is like. He had easy street by comparison to most people . I had a tough time with my father but I haven't spent 50 yrs bleating about it as Harry seems destined to do.
https://www.gov.uk/order-coronavirus-rapid-lateral-flow-tests
Of course, anyone you encounter is potentially unvaccinated so I guess that messaging might not be helpful.
https://twitter.com/europeelects/status/1394066367847010311?s=21
And the only reason that closing the borders wouldn't have made any difference was, er, because the advice to close the borders wasn't given soon enough. The sources of infection into the UK from 28th February to 29th March 2020 that gave us the first spike were from 1,300 separate sources - 33.6% from Spain, 28.5% from France and 14.4% from Italy.
0.1% came from China.
During mid-March 2020, 20,000 a day were travelling back from Spain.
We would still have had Covid in this country. Would it have affected as many people, caused as many deaths? A bolder Government - with better advice from experts than "it's too late now..." - would have discovered.
Mrs C and I are not going here, there and everywhere today; apart from anything else we try to have an alcohol free day on a Monday, and a meal's not a meal without wine!
So while we won't be going today to any of the quite large number of good to excellent local pub/restaurants, we will be pleased to hear about other's celebrations.
Especially, of course, those of Ms Cyclefree & her daughter. Like Mr MM, it's a long way from Essex to the Lakes, although we do have family not far away, so you never know.
On a serious note. I don't think UK, and indeed the world, is by any means out of trouble yet. Our family in Thailand is still locked down and there's little or no prospect of actually, as opposed to virtually, seeing our granddaughters there for a while. We were hoping for Christmas, but the apparent importation of cases from Myanmar may well have scuppered that. UK is an island and ought to have controllable borders, but that's unusual.
https://www.gov.uk/order-coronavirus-rapid-lateral-flow-tests
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/may/16/england-future-left-leaning-south-conservative-north
We're further behind the curve of the US and the UK in Australia on this re-alignment but it's coming through. At the last federal election the constituency I live in got rid of the right wing former Prime Minister (Abbott), and replaced him with a Independent who stood on climate change action. This in one of Sydney's wealthiest areas that has always voted Liberal (liberal being the party name rather than their position which is conservative).
As I’ve said before, the enquiry needs to be focussed primarily on understanding mistakes and not making them again, rather than any scapegoating or blaming of individuals. This is how, for example, transport accident enquiries are conducted.
He needs airtime.
But he’s nothing to say that people are interested in except slagging off his family.
It’s very sad for all of them, him especially
Off to the gym now; see you all later!
And yet we have India. Who absolutely could have been excluded from entry keeping their virulent new variant away from us.
Oh no, muses Liar. I am due to fly there to negotiate a new trade deal. So let's ignore the science for a few more weeks until the evidence is deafening and I am forced to act.
Again.
If this new pox starts ripping through the unvaccinated and he has to lock us down again it's entirely on him. What an utter utter wazzock
He is now in the world of US celebs.
So out of the frying pan into the frying pan.
As I always say just because it might be a first world problem doesn't mean it's not a problem.
https://www.reuters.com/technology/bitcoin-price-lower-after-musk-tweet-2021-05-16/
I get the appeal of California- no one knows (or cares) who I am. But I keep my head down while I’m over there precisely because I want to preserve that relative freedom.
He’s just shat the bed
I know the holiday companies have been banging the drum to try and win some business, but how many people can afford a 2 week holiday and then 10 days holed up at home afterwards? The cheapest pox text package seems to be £99 a person, so that's a fair wodge if you are a family.
Finally, has anyone noted what the 3rd country status we insisted on "winning" means when entering countries like France and Spain? When travel restarts I can see a lot of people barred entry by not having the required paperwork / proof of funds / insurance.
I also see early signs that a medium term fallout from the pandemic could be boosts for green parties.
The key question is whether and when a tipping point is reached that puts Tory dominance of the wider Home Counties seriously at risk.
On the island, the Tories' surprise against-the-trend loss of the council surely has more to do with it widely being seen as incompetent, rather than the effect of small numbers of incomers.
But he’s left them high and dry.
Conservative poll watchers now contemplate the vulnerability of a “blue wall”, mainly around London. In these areas, voters who are culturally alienated from Johnson’s party may be rallying behind the best-placed opposition party. Johnson’s new planning bill, announced this week, could be an explosive catalyst in this process. The forthcoming Chesham and Amersham byelection, in a traditionally solid Tory constituency astride the HS2 rail line, will be a good indicator, with the Lib Dems the principal challenger.
None of this is to pretend that Johnson does not dominate British politics right now. He does, and he should be taken more seriously. Nor is it to deny that a damaged Starmer has huge amounts to prove. That’s true, too. But, as the pandemic eases and more familiar politics resume, it is not just Labour that needs to clarify where it stands. Cracks in the Conservatives’ apparently commanding position show the Tories face a challenge of their own, too.
It's almost as if, deep down, they fear they may have made the wrong call in getting rid of our royalty and replacing it by Presidents like Bush and Trump.
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/78560754#/
Overnight in America “60 Minutes”, the oldest and one of the most sober current affairs shows in the US, broadcast this segment on UAPs (UFOs). Maybe 10 million Americans would have watched it as it aired, and it will now be bouncing around cyberspace to millions of others.
Everyone here tends to think they are on the bleeding edge of political and current affairs discussion. This topic is leaving you collectively behind. It’s almost certainly the most important one of the last 75 years (if it turns out to be China or US tech) but may also be the most important story in human history.
Sorry if that is unfair: I've not been following and do not really care if the Royal Family ends with Her Majesty or continues for another millennium.
Since Unionism is now all about gaming the system, who is whose little helpers, or is it more a daisy chain kinda thing?
From what I can see of 3rd country immigration rules in France and Spain (and likely others) you can't just drive off and pick somewhere to stay as you go. Unless you can show them that you have a stack of cash to sustain you and a return ticket to exit their country.
https://twitter.com/billboard/status/1391494439441469440?s=19
Two days a week gives you the option to live in most of England, with one night in an hotel in Town, whereas three days a week limits you to about 90’ on the train. (Roughly a circle around Salisbury, Bristol, Birmingham, Peterborough)
He’s chosen a certain path that has economic benefit but more risk.
Surely if he is right he should be praised and if he is wrong criticised?
Otherwise I might have to doubt your evenhandedness