Re: vaxing for children, what evidence is there, at least with AZN, Moderna or Pfizer, that getting jabbed at age 12-17, is any more risky than say 18-30?
Here in WA State we've been vaxing teenagers for a month or more.
Incidentally, here are current vax numbers from New York Times for King County (Seattle plus) Washington
Percent fully vaccinated all residents 58% age 12+ 67% age 18+ 70% age 65+ 84%
These are highest % in WA State, except for a few counties with sightly higher % of fully-vaxed geezers.
And without doing the math, they suggest that in King Co the vaccination rate among teens is close to or even higher than the rate for young adults?
German confidence in the European Union is waning in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, according to the findings of a new poll.
Fifty-five per cent of Germans now believe the EU’s political system is broken, the survey for the European Council for Foreign Relations (ECFR) found — a rise of 11 per cent compared to last November.
Only 36 per cent of Germans said they believe the EU’s political system is working, compared to more than half seven months ago.
And a third of Germans now believe European integration has gone too far, compared to 23 per cent last November.
No doubt the conclusion the EU men in grey suits will reach is that more Europe required ........
As I said this morning. All legal requirements such as social distancing and masks axed and replaced with guidance and recommendations based on one's vaccine status. It will appeal to Boris's instincts and the guidance just becomes irrelevant over the next 50-60 days as the vaccine scheme covers the last 8-9m people.
Gotta dash but re @contrarianI'm sure 87% of people criticising him and his perfectly consistent views which haven't changed much over the course of the pandemic are just doing so because they are scared that he is speaking much truth. Which to a very large extent he is.
But no people mock him for not wanting to put something into his body that the government says he should. Ponder that. Not wanting to inject something that was developed less than a year ago. That that is worthy of mockery no matter the good or bad reasons for doing so is extraordinary.
I don't agree with everything he says but I agree with a helluva lot of it. I have posted much about the freedom vs safety element and the imo egregious transgressions of the govt against our liberties but people on here (and in the UK it seems) are happy to swallow them all because they think they are being kept safe.
This may be so - but at what cost?
Utter nonsense on stilts. Phil Thompson, Anabobazina and MaxPB are arguing vociferously against further lockdown and they've all been vaccinated. Everyone I know pretty much except a few youngster shave had the vaccine and you know what, they're all fine. All of them. I know a couple of handfuls of people who've had Covid and some of them have become long coviders. It's just crackers to not bother with the vaccine.
They are arguing against further lockdown now. When it's too late. When we have already given the government permission, applauded them even, as they took liberty after liberty.
Just that previously people were thinking of the safety not the liberty element. Now they have deigned to think of liberty it's too late.
Its not too late.
If all legal restrictions are lifted on 21/6, as I advocate, then that's it over and done with.
That is true but who here doesn't look towards the upcoming flu season with some degree of trepidation?
They have given themselves the power over our freedom and can wield it whenever they see fit.
Again, I think that's why they'll hold on to mask mandates for dear life. Get us to the Autumn and they can use flu as an excuse to keep them (on the basis that Winter flu + Winter Covid = the collapse of Our Beloved NHS, of course.)
The problem is obviously that, unlike during the War, when the Draconian rules and the interference in people's lives were even worse, there seems to be a supreme reluctance to let go when the rules are patently no longer necessary. Having people sitting in a restaurant being made to strap a piece of cloth over their faces when they need to go for a piss is the approximate equivalent of keeping air raid patrols and blackout curtains going in 1947, on the off-chance that a squadron of Dornier bombers hidden in a secret Nazi holdout base up a fjord somewhere in Greenland might sweep down one night and pound Lerwick to rubble.
There is simply no need to keep imposing blanket restrictions on social contact on the population at this stage of the game. When nearly 80% of the adult population has had at least one jab, over half (implying practically all of the most vulnerable, who have previously accounted for 99% of all the deaths) have had two, and the ONS figures suggest that 80% of adults already had Covid antibodies three weeks ago, it's time to let go. Otherwise, the suspicion has to be that there will *never* be a time in the future at which the authorities are prepared to let go.
If your criterion for restrictions is that they have to continue because the vaccines are not 100% effective - i.e. that 80%, or 90%, or even 95% protection is insufficient - then you are, of course, setting an impossibly high bar and effectively writing the entire vaccination programme off as useless.
Yes. Either the vaccines work in which case set us free or they don't in which case it's going to be like this for some time.
Because after the 18-yr olds it's going to be 11-18 yr olds. And then ..
I took the vaccine - didn't even think twice - because the risks involved seemed tiny to me whereas the risks from Covid were greater than tiny.
However, what to do if the government starts recommending vaccinations for the 12-18 year olds?
My daughters are 15 and 17. I don't think I will be at all comfortable telling them to get vaccinated when the risk/reward equation for them is very different. I think my position will be to say "make your own minds up when you feel that you have sufficient information and don't feel pressured by anyone, perhaps wait until you are 18".
Is that reasonable?
My thirteen year old daughter has been double-vaxxed with Pfizer.
Why?
Because international travel is going to be next to impossible for those who aren't vaccinated
As soon as everyone’s been offered a vaccine, it’s going to be:
Vaccinated = Test on arrival, free after -ve result. Not vaccinated = Mandatory 10 day quarantine, three tests.
EU likely to treat Under 18s the same as vaccinated adults.
German confidence in the European Union is waning in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, according to the findings of a new poll.
Fifty-five per cent of Germans now believe the EU’s political system is broken, the survey for the European Council for Foreign Relations (ECFR) found — a rise of 11 per cent compared to last November.
Only 36 per cent of Germans said they believe the EU’s political system is working, compared to more than half seven months ago.
And a third of Germans now believe European integration has gone too far, compared to 23 per cent last November.
No doubt the conclusion the EU men in grey suits will reach is that more Europe required ........
Interesting to note a German challenge to the supremacy of EU law and the EU's response.
As I said this morning. All legal requirements such as social distancing and masks axed and replaced with guidance and recommendations based on one's vaccine status. It will appeal to Boris's instincts and the guidance just becomes irrelevant over the next 50-60 days as the vaccine scheme covers the last 8-9m people.
Yes. You might be right about that.
Interestingly the legislation actually expires on 30 June. So they would need to seek new legislation.
And this paragraph suggests they have got the memo about weddings - I suspect they don’t want wall to wall coverage of tearful brides on the broadcast news…
One cabinet minister said officials were “trying to find a solution that pleases the PM’s instincts” to reopen society, noting that allowing a tweak to regulations to allow larger weddings to go ahead would be “easy”, though nightclubs were not expected to open “for a while”.
As I said this morning. All legal requirements such as social distancing and masks axed and replaced with guidance and recommendations based on one's vaccine status. It will appeal to Boris's instincts and the guidance just becomes irrelevant over the next 50-60 days as the vaccine scheme covers the last 8-9m people.
- and my Smarkets bets pay out on 21 June being upheld!
I am definitely a red meat eater. But I did hear a stat yesterday that gave me a moment's pause - apparently it take 1800 gallons of water to grow 1lb of beef. I presume that is a US statistic, so it might be less elsewhere. But even so ...
As I said this morning. All legal requirements such as social distancing and masks axed and replaced with guidance and recommendations based on one's vaccine status. It will appeal to Boris's instincts and the guidance just becomes irrelevant over the next 50-60 days as the vaccine scheme covers the last 8-9m people.
Yes. You might be right about that.
Interestingly the legislation actually expires on 30 June. So they would need to seek new legislation.
And this paragraph suggests they have got the memo about weddings - I suspect they don’t want wall to wall coverage of tearful brides on the broadcast news…
One cabinet minister said officials were “trying to find a solution that pleases the PM’s instincts” to reopen society, noting that allowing a tweak to regulations to allow larger weddings to go ahead would be “easy”, though nightclubs were not expected to open “for a while”.
I think the remote Commons arrangements expire on the 21st so if there is not another vote then you could see MPs packing back in in contravention of Government guidance.
As I said this morning. All legal requirements such as social distancing and masks axed and replaced with guidance and recommendations based on one's vaccine status. It will appeal to Boris's instincts and the guidance just becomes irrelevant over the next 50-60 days as the vaccine scheme covers the last 8-9m people.
Yes. You might be right about that.
Interestingly the legislation actually expires on 30 June. So they would need to seek new legislation.
And this paragraph suggests they have got the memo about weddings - I suspect they don’t want wall to wall coverage of tearful brides on the broadcast news…
One cabinet minister said officials were “trying to find a solution that pleases the PM’s instincts” to reopen society, noting that allowing a tweak to regulations to allow larger weddings to go ahead would be “easy”, though nightclubs were not expected to open “for a while”.
I think the remote Commons arrangements expire on the 21st so if there is not another vote then you could see MPs packing back in in contravention of Government guidance.
Politico.com - Inside Biden and Manchin's Joemance Democratic senators say that only the president can convince the influential centrist to sign off on key parts of the party's agenda.
. . . . Four months after Biden helped secure Manchin’s vote for a party-line, $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief law, the president is taking a different approach with the West Virginia Democrat who's blocking multiple party priorities. Biden didn't sound pleased last week when, during a speech marking the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa massacre, he appeared to take a public swipe at Manchin and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) by citing two Democrats who frequently sided with Republicans.
But behind the scenes, the president — who spent nearly half his life in the Senate — is taking a more subtle approach to the senator.
In an interview, Manchin said Biden has not leaned on him to support the sweeping elections bill that the moderate Democrat publicly rejected over the weekend. Nor has Biden covertly asked Manchin to support another Democrat-only spending bill focused on jobs and the economy. Yet.
“The president respects the institution so much because he was here and knows it better than everyone else. He does not get involved,” Manchin said on Tuesday in the Capitol. “I already know where he is. I know the challenges he has, and I know basically the pressure he’s receiving all the time. We’re just trying to find a balance for it.”
Despite his jab at Manchin, Biden has largely remained quiet about the senator’s insistence that infrastructure bills be bipartisan and his opposition to both filibuster reform and the sweeping elections bill that expands voting access. Biden and his senior staff are regularly in touch with Manchin, according to a White House aide. And Biden appointed Manchin’s wife, Gayle, to the Appalachian Regional Commission. . . .
Without Manchin, Biden simply cannot win — and the ever-quotable senator says he’s committed to making the president successful. . . .
“There’s a personal relationship between the president and Sen. Manchin. I think that can make a difference,” said Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.). “He knows that he will have impact on Sen. Manchin. It would not be effective at this particular moment. But I think he’s waiting for that opportunity.”
Bipartisan talks are still playing out on infrastructure, for example, meaning it’s not yet time for Biden to secure Manchin’s vote on a more aggressive, partisan proposal. And the 50-member Senate Democratic majority lacks the votes to change the filibuster rules even if Manchin were to entirely reverse his hard stance against reforming it, making the West Virginian’s support for the sweeping elections bill a far less urgent matter for the White House. . . . .
As I said this morning. All legal requirements such as social distancing and masks axed and replaced with guidance and recommendations based on one's vaccine status. It will appeal to Boris's instincts and the guidance just becomes irrelevant over the next 50-60 days as the vaccine scheme covers the last 8-9m people.
- and my Smarkets bets pay out on 21 June being upheld!
If you've won a decent amount there I'd certainly like to hear of whether any withdrawals go smoothly.
It's a ridiculous interface, but if that's where the liquidity is then perhaps I'll entertain it.
"Donald Moss will discuss whiteness as a condition one first acquires and then one has--a malignant, parasitic-like condition to which “white” people have a particular susceptibility. He describes the condition as being foundational, generating characteristic ways of being in one’s body, in one’s mind, and in one’s world: Parasitic whiteness renders its hosts’ appetites voracious, insatiable, and perverse; these deformed appetites particularly target non-white people; and, once established, these appetites are nearly impossible to eliminate"
Not sure what that has got to do with black lives matter mate
Black Lives Matter, or is it Black Lives mAttEr, I dunno, is a Marxist organisation which aims to defund the police, deconstruct the family and destroy any self-respect white people have by instilling an intrinsic guilt about racism, which can never be erased. If you deny your racism you are a racist, if you admit you are racist, get down on your knees
Fuck it. It is loathsome. White people conquered the world, and invented modernity. I will never be ashamed of this, as a white person, because I didn't do it; in the end I will take pride in it, as a race, if necessary
Because that is the end of this hideous divisiveness: White Pride. Maybe that is what they want
Well, I was with you until the end of the first paragraph.
I think some of the fanatics behind this want racial strife in the same way the old lot wanted class strife, because they thought it'd bring about The Revolution.
That (white pride) is the elephant trap that they want you to fall in to, thus proving them right all along.
What is quite interesting is that it hasn't happened. There is no outburst of white pride. People agree with black lives matter because for the most part, they want to move on from racism. However, they have no real understanding of the post marxist agenda of the actual organisation, which is exploiting peoples sympathy towards getting rid of racism. Thats the problem. How to break the link.
Just for people's information I found out I had to go to Portugal after it went Amber. A bizarre situation to be going out as everyone else is flooding back and all completely out of the blue.
I have had very little sympathy with the plight of the holiday makers moaning. They knew the risk.
But I have to tell you the Government info and procedures are a shambles.
I need 4 tests. One before I go which I took today and is clear. One before I return and 2 on my return during the 10 days isolation. All this is ok and very efficient.
There are two forms to fill in re passenger location. One for Portugal and One for the UK. The Portugal one is fine. The UK one isn't. You go in convoluted circles. You have to book and pay for your tests for your return before you go, but neither myself nor the person I am going with have return tickets as we don't know when we will be coming back; we may not even need the tests. The person I am going with may be there for months; me probably a week, so not so much an issue for me. So I asked the Foreign Office for advice. I was told if I didn't have a return flight I must not book my tests before I go, yet it is a requirement of travel to do so! Complete contradiction in Govt info. As a consequence most tests would not let me book without my flight details back! I finally found one that would let me. I just booked it (£80) so that I wouldn't be stopped from travelling out and I am going to deal with any issues regarding returning when they occur. Fingers crossed the UK Passenger Location Form goes through when I plan to return and I have valid info to complete it. It can not be unusual for people to travel without return tickets.
Re: " I was told if I didn't have a return flight I must not book my tests before I go, yet it is a requirement of travel to do so! "
I don't think this is correct. It is a requirement to book the Day 2 and Day 8 (and Day 5 if you plan to escape quarantine early) before you return to the UK not before you depart from UK. And the UK Passenger Location Form cannot be completed outside of 48 hours of your date of return. All you need is a negative test result (PCR) within 72 hours of the time of your UK flight and a Portugal Passenger Locator Form (to satisfy Portuguese rules).
Yep that is absolutely true.
But if you read the Govt information page it is quite clear that you MUST have both booked and paid for a 2&8 day test before you leave the UK and you have to be able to prove this (so we were not willing to take the risk) which contradicts what you have said and what the F&C Office told me. All the testers (bar one fortunately) required your return details (which neither of us have) which would be consistent with what you have said. The UK Passenger Location Form I understand requires this also (Again consistent). But to be on the safe side we have both booked those tests even though we don't know when we will return and are crossing our fingers that it will still be valid when I get to book my flight home and fill in the Passenger Location Form. Neither of us were willing to take the risk of not being able to board the flight so each splashed the £80.
Calls to the testing companies was also not fruitful.
Is it this that you refer to?
"You must book your tests before you travel and leave enough time for them to be delivered to your address in England."
If so, where it says "before you travel" it is referring to your return flight not your outbound. It is saying that you must be able to show evidence that you have arranged and paid for (are are therefore really going to take them!) Day 2 and Day 8 tests for when you are back in England. If arranged while you are abroad then it is saying that you should allow sufficient time for them to be delivered to your UK address in time for Day 2.
No. It all appears to have changed now and I note it says under updates that it was updated on 8 June! Grrrgh
There were a list of things you had to do under the heading 'Before you leave the UK' one of which was that you had to have booked and have paid for a 2 and 8 day test and would need to have proof of this on leaving the UK. This all seems to have disappeared now.
Interesting as I emailed the F&C Office regarding this on 7/6 and they replied today (9/6).
As I said this morning. All legal requirements such as social distancing and masks axed and replaced with guidance and recommendations based on one's vaccine status. It will appeal to Boris's instincts and the guidance just becomes irrelevant over the next 50-60 days as the vaccine scheme covers the last 8-9m people.
Yes. You might be right about that.
Interestingly the legislation actually expires on 30 June. So they would need to seek new legislation.
And this paragraph suggests they have got the memo about weddings - I suspect they don’t want wall to wall coverage of tearful brides on the broadcast news…
One cabinet minister said officials were “trying to find a solution that pleases the PM’s instincts” to reopen society, noting that allowing a tweak to regulations to allow larger weddings to go ahead would be “easy”, though nightclubs were not expected to open “for a while”.
What would Labour do if there was a renewal of the emergency legislation, with a hundred Tory MPs prepared to vote against it, and a handful prepared to resign from government to do so?
The big one is the distancing requirement / capacity limit in pubs, theatres and function rooms. If that can go, then life is good.
The WFH guidance can remain, and companies like TfL might insist on masks on tube trains, but no compelling legislation.
Nightclubs are then the only issue left, maybe fudge that by requiring inspections regarding ventilation from local authorities before they reopen? Expect a run on portable HVAC equipment!
Looking at the rapid rise in cases... I'm wondering if govt might have to reintroduce some restrictions for a period. We just need to buy a bit more time until the vaccinations have kicked in.
For what purpose? To stop case numbers rising? We could stop case numbers rising by reducing testing with the same effect. What matters is hospitals and, as Chris Hobson pointed out, the profile and nature of people attending hospitals.
To reduce hospitalizations. I think they will grow over the next few weeks. If they don't - then I guess we are fine.
Growing is fine, so long as the number of people in hospital grows at only a modest rate.
10% week over week is an irrelevancy: it means it takes three months to quadruple the number of people in hospital and by that point everyone is double jabbed anyway.
Even 20% is quite manageable.
But you don't want to be at 30 or 40% a week.
Well said - and the virus is rapidly running out of people to infect. We're already at 80% of adults with antibodies and millions more vaccinated per week. The virus is going to burn out and hit a herd immunity wall very rapidly.
That's how it feels to me too, although this virus does keep surprising us. This is surely like that final jump scare scene in all good horror movies when the evil thing you thought was dead comes back for one final lunge before getting the wooden stake in the heart.
A curve like India has seen, on a per capita basis but with the benefits of vaccination, would see us with a month or two of exponential growth, flattening then sharp decline and possibly a max daily count of 30-40k but limited rises in deaths and the NHS never close to overwhelmed.
The Indian variant reminds of the V2 campaign near the end of World War 2.
Just as we thought we had Hitler beaten, he launched this super-weapon.
If he'd had this technology 2-3 years earlier, he might easily have won the war, especially if you add nukes. However it came too late, the Allies were overrunning occupied Europe and Hitler ran out of time, slaves. space, materials
The allies are the vaccines, overwhelming the virus, even as it shows this sting in the tail. We hope
2-3 years maybe. But on the whole - not really.
V2 was an astonishingly inefficient way of killing people.
The programme was a load on the German economy roughly equivalent to the Manhattan project on the allied ones. IMO an excellent example of the successful allied policy of not assassinating Hitler because Germany would be more damaged were he to stay alive.
Firstly as a weapon of terrorising, it was pretty effective?
Secondly, what an amazing counterfactual, allied assassination of Hitler late 43 into 44? What would have happened?
If the generals had taken over they may have sued for peace?
If the cabinet remained in charge, Gerbils? And business as usual?
Operation Foxley.
Precis of the argument on Wikipedia. It may be a slight stretch to call it a 'policy' .
I am definitely a red meat eater. But I did hear a stat yesterday that gave me a moment's pause - apparently it take 1800 gallons of water to grow 1lb of beef. I presume that is a US statistic, so it might be less elsewhere. But even so ...
Yes, but it's probably bollocks?
Industrialised intense beef-farming will be a world away from a grass-fed natural cow in Somerset drinking from a small trough or river a couple of times a day.
Just for people's information I found out I had to go to Portugal after it went Amber. A bizarre situation to be going out as everyone else is flooding back and all completely out of the blue.
I have had very little sympathy with the plight of the holiday makers moaning. They knew the risk.
But I have to tell you the Government info and procedures are a shambles.
I need 4 tests. One before I go which I took today and is clear. One before I return and 2 on my return during the 10 days isolation. All this is ok and very efficient.
There are two forms to fill in re passenger location. One for Portugal and One for the UK. The Portugal one is fine. The UK one isn't. You go in convoluted circles. You have to book and pay for your tests for your return before you go, but neither myself nor the person I am going with have return tickets as we don't know when we will be coming back; we may not even need the tests. The person I am going with may be there for months; me probably a week, so not so much an issue for me. So I asked the Foreign Office for advice. I was told if I didn't have a return flight I must not book my tests before I go, yet it is a requirement of travel to do so! Complete contradiction in Govt info. As a consequence most tests would not let me book without my flight details back! I finally found one that would let me. I just booked it (£80) so that I wouldn't be stopped from travelling out and I am going to deal with any issues regarding returning when they occur. Fingers crossed the UK Passenger Location Form goes through when I plan to return and I have valid info to complete it. It can not be unusual for people to travel without return tickets.
Sympathies - I know you said it was for a sad personal reason, so all the more frustrating. Good luck for no further hassle.
Very kind. As mentioned earlier I am providing support so although sad it is not me that is suffering and I am sure I will enjoy myself while out there. I am going because several others providing that support all had to withdraw because of the move from Green to Amber, whereas I have no issues with the 10 day quarantine so jumped in.
I am definitely a red meat eater. But I did hear a stat yesterday that gave me a moment's pause - apparently it take 1800 gallons of water to grow 1lb of beef. I presume that is a US statistic, so it might be less elsewhere. But even so ...
Yes, but it's probably bollocks?
Industrialised intense beef-farming will be a world away from a grass-fed natural cow in Somerset drinking from a small trough or river a couple of times a day.
Ha yes, ironically it’s the crap beef that will use all the water. The nice stuff won’t use a fraction of it.
German confidence in the European Union is waning in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, according to the findings of a new poll.
Fifty-five per cent of Germans now believe the EU’s political system is broken, the survey for the European Council for Foreign Relations (ECFR) found — a rise of 11 per cent compared to last November.
Only 36 per cent of Germans said they believe the EU’s political system is working, compared to more than half seven months ago.
And a third of Germans now believe European integration has gone too far, compared to 23 per cent last November.
No doubt the conclusion the EU men in grey suits will reach is that more Europe required ........
Interesting to note a German challenge to the supremacy of EU law and the EU's response.
As I said this morning. All legal requirements such as social distancing and masks axed and replaced with guidance and recommendations based on one's vaccine status. It will appeal to Boris's instincts and the guidance just becomes irrelevant over the next 50-60 days as the vaccine scheme covers the last 8-9m people.
Somebody asked upthread whether it would make any difference.
For schools, still operating under nearly insupportable restrictions, the answer is ‘fuck yes.’
If we can walk around classrooms again without the risk of being shouted at by some jumped up junkie from OFSTED our lives will be much easier and pleasanter.
And the quality of teaching will improve markedly.
If we keep these increasingly ludicrous restrictions in place until July, there’s a real risk they will still be in place in September and at that moment every teacher who can afford it will walk out and the education system will collapse.
What is the Union position on teachers who refuse to be vaccinated? Are they to be forced to resign or is that risk a good and proper one?
As I said this morning. All legal requirements such as social distancing and masks axed and replaced with guidance and recommendations based on one's vaccine status. It will appeal to Boris's instincts and the guidance just becomes irrelevant over the next 50-60 days as the vaccine scheme covers the last 8-9m people.
- and my Smarkets bets pay out on 21 June being upheld!
If you've won a decent amount there I'd certainly like to hear of whether any withdrawals go smoothly.
It's a ridiculous interface, but if that's where the liquidity is then perhaps I'll entertain it.
I prefer BF I agree.
I'll let you know. I actually think the bet will lose, but I'm only 60/40 sure about that. Yesterday I got 11.5 with Smarkets which is a steal when I consider the chance of adherence to 21/6 to be 40%.
I'd previously placed bets on "Yes" at smaller prices and my average odds are 5. I've bet about £150. You can get 5.6 now.
I'm sure you will agree that one should have accounts with all bookies to get best odds. I use BF, Smarkets and Betdaq.
With respect to COVID and protocols, just spoke with a senior manager at King Co Elections. They have NOT made any decision yet, but said it appears likely that the same basic health regime in place for last year's election - temperature check, masks, plexiglass screens, social distancing, hand sanitizer - will be in place for the August 2021.
Note these precautions helped the elections department avoid disruption due to COVID during the 2020 general election. Clearly the risks have lessened, in particular fact that many, indeed most staff AND observers (such as yours truly) are now fully vaccinated. But certainly NOT all.
Further note that hundreds of full-time and temporary workers were employed by King County, mostly in one large building, during the 2020 general. Numbers for the August primary will be less, but still considerable. So ensuring the health of workers AND their ability to do the job is a HIGH public priority.
As I said this morning. All legal requirements such as social distancing and masks axed and replaced with guidance and recommendations based on one's vaccine status. It will appeal to Boris's instincts and the guidance just becomes irrelevant over the next 50-60 days as the vaccine scheme covers the last 8-9m people.
Yes. You might be right about that.
Interestingly the legislation actually expires on 30 June. So they would need to seek new legislation.
And this paragraph suggests they have got the memo about weddings - I suspect they don’t want wall to wall coverage of tearful brides on the broadcast news…
One cabinet minister said officials were “trying to find a solution that pleases the PM’s instincts” to reopen society, noting that allowing a tweak to regulations to allow larger weddings to go ahead would be “easy”, though nightclubs were not expected to open “for a while”.
What would Labour do if there was a renewal of the emergency legislation, with a hundred Tory MPs prepared to vote against it, and a handful prepared to resign from government to do so?
The big one is the distancing requirement / capacity limit in pubs and theatres, if that can go, then life is good.
The WFH guidance can remain, and companies like TfL might insist on masks on tube trains, but no compelling legislation.
Nightclubs are then the only issue left, maybe fudge that by requiring inspections regarding ventilation from local authorities before they reopen? Expect a run on portable HVAC equipment!
The key obstacle to nightclubs reopening are mask mandates. You can make people going to the theatre sit in stupid masks (although many will baulk at the idea, and I'm certainly not going anywhere near a venue purporting to offer entertainment if I'm made to sit there wearing a gag all night,) but they're patently unworkable in a club.
Therefore, if the public health catastrophists are really insistent on keeping masks, then it is impossible for nightclubs to come back. Otherwise, it would be simply ridiculous to keep insisting on them in shops, at theatres, in sports stadiums or pretty much anywhere else, save possibly for public transport and healthcare settings. And if the mask wearing fetish is penned into trains, buses and the occasional visit to the GP then it'll become marginal, and quickly obvious that it's of very limited benefit once the hospitals stubbornly refuse to fill back up with new victims, and we should be able to kill the damned things off.
If they want to keep enforcing masks through until Autumn, and thence throughout the Winter and into 2022, then they need to keep the nightclubs shut indefinitely.
The counterpoint to nightclubs is the Scottish Government's inexplicable position on kid's soft play centres, also still shut with no real indication of when they will be allowed again.
As I said this morning. All legal requirements such as social distancing and masks axed and replaced with guidance and recommendations based on one's vaccine status. It will appeal to Boris's instincts and the guidance just becomes irrelevant over the next 50-60 days as the vaccine scheme covers the last 8-9m people.
Yes. You might be right about that.
Interestingly the legislation actually expires on 30 June. So they would need to seek new legislation.
And this paragraph suggests they have got the memo about weddings - I suspect they don’t want wall to wall coverage of tearful brides on the broadcast news…
One cabinet minister said officials were “trying to find a solution that pleases the PM’s instincts” to reopen society, noting that allowing a tweak to regulations to allow larger weddings to go ahead would be “easy”, though nightclubs were not expected to open “for a while”.
What would Labour do if there was a renewal of the emergency legislation, with a hundred Tory MPs prepared to vote against it, and a handful prepared to resign from government to do so?
The big one is the distancing requirement / capacity limit in pubs, theatres and function rooms. If that can go, then life is good.
The WFH guidance can remain, and companies like TfL might insist on masks on tube trains, but no compelling legislation.
Nightclubs are then the only issue left, maybe fudge that by requiring inspections regarding ventilation from local authorities before they reopen? Expect a run on portable HVAC equipment!
Could end up somewhere like that. I hadn’t realised the legislation expires on 30 June. I suspect the government would have a very difficult time applying for more: there would be a large rebellion, and it’s far from clear Labour would back it: Andy Burnham and Sadiq Khan are outside the house but very influential. Both have moved sharply against further lockdowns.
As I said this morning. All legal requirements such as social distancing and masks axed and replaced with guidance and recommendations based on one's vaccine status. It will appeal to Boris's instincts and the guidance just becomes irrelevant over the next 50-60 days as the vaccine scheme covers the last 8-9m people.
Yes. You might be right about that.
Interestingly the legislation actually expires on 30 June. So they would need to seek new legislation.
And this paragraph suggests they have got the memo about weddings - I suspect they don’t want wall to wall coverage of tearful brides on the broadcast news…
One cabinet minister said officials were “trying to find a solution that pleases the PM’s instincts” to reopen society, noting that allowing a tweak to regulations to allow larger weddings to go ahead would be “easy”, though nightclubs were not expected to open “for a while”.
What would Labour do if there was a renewal of the emergency legislation, with a hundred Tory MPs prepared to vote against it, and a handful prepared to resign from government to do so?
The big one is the distancing requirement / capacity limit in pubs and theatres, if that can go, then life is good.
The WFH guidance can remain, and companies like TfL might insist on masks on tube trains, but no compelling legislation.
Nightclubs are then the only issue left, maybe fudge that by requiring inspections regarding ventilation from local authorities before they reopen? Expect a run on portable HVAC equipment!
The key obstacle to nightclubs reopening are mask mandates. You can make people going to the theatre sit in stupid masks (although many will baulk at the idea, and I'm certainly not going anywhere near a venue purporting to offer entertainment if I'm made to sit there wearing a gag all night,) but they're patently unworkable in a club.
Therefore, if the public health catastrophists are really insistent on keeping masks, then it is impossible for nightclubs to come back. Otherwise, it would be simply ridiculous to keep insisting on them in shops, at theatres, in sports stadiums or pretty much anywhere else, save possibly for public transport and healthcare settings. And if the mask wearing fetish is penned into trains, buses and the occasional visit to the GP then it'll become marginal, and quickly obvious that it's of very limited benefit once the hospitals stubbornly refuse to fill back up with new victims, and we should be able to kill the damned things off.
If they want to keep enforcing masks through until Autumn, and thence throughout the Winter and into 2022, then they need to keep the nightclubs shut indefinitely.
In broad terms you need to keep closed anything younger people want to do while permitting activities retired want to do. Given one set has been forced to restrict themselves for the other and will find themselves taxed to beyond to pay for that set it seems rather inequitable.
I really wouldn’t want to be a university student at present. From what friends who lecture tell me, it’s really very shit indeed.
This is more encouraging over the medium term from Zoe...
That adds up to 11,908 in total, but only 5,765 on the Gov dashboard. I assume they are making estimates of total cases, Asymptomatic and not tested/reported?
Is based on their self reporting app that always has greater numbers, a) because people out it in the app as soon as if they feel iffy i.e. before having a test, whuch then takes a day or two to get into the system and b) self reporting, well you are always going to pick up those that think they have it when they sneeze once.
However, throughout the pandemic they have consistently shown the correct trends ahead of the official numbers.
As I said this morning. All legal requirements such as social distancing and masks axed and replaced with guidance and recommendations based on one's vaccine status. It will appeal to Boris's instincts and the guidance just becomes irrelevant over the next 50-60 days as the vaccine scheme covers the last 8-9m people.
Somebody asked upthread whether it would make any difference.
For schools, still operating under nearly insupportable restrictions, the answer is ‘fuck yes.’
If we can walk around classrooms again without the risk of being shouted at by some jumped up junkie from OFSTED our lives will be much easier and pleasanter.
And the quality of teaching will improve markedly.
If we keep these increasingly ludicrous restrictions in place until July, there’s a real risk they will still be in place in September and at that moment every teacher who can afford it will walk out and the education system will collapse.
What is the Union position on teachers who refuse to be vaccinated? Are they to be forced to resign or is that risk a good and proper one?
It’s interesting as well that they note employers do have the power to compel staff to be vaccinated. That may become an issue in the NHS although I think it’s much less likely to be a problem in schools.
Another issue that they don’t mention is, what will happen to employees who refuse to be vaccinated and then get infected? In teaching, I think they might find themselves on statutory sick pay. We’ve already been warned if we go abroad and are forced to isolate on returning any time during the term will be considered unpaid leave.
Looking at the rapid rise in cases... I'm wondering if govt might have to reintroduce some restrictions for a period. We just need to buy a bit more time until the vaccinations have kicked in.
For what purpose? To stop case numbers rising? We could stop case numbers rising by reducing testing with the same effect. What matters is hospitals and, as Chris Hobson pointed out, the profile and nature of people attending hospitals.
To reduce hospitalizations. I think they will grow over the next few weeks. If they don't - then I guess we are fine.
Growing is fine, so long as the number of people in hospital grows at only a modest rate.
10% week over week is an irrelevancy: it means it takes three months to quadruple the number of people in hospital and by that point everyone is double jabbed anyway.
Even 20% is quite manageable.
But you don't want to be at 30 or 40% a week.
Well said - and the virus is rapidly running out of people to infect. We're already at 80% of adults with antibodies and millions more vaccinated per week. The virus is going to burn out and hit a herd immunity wall very rapidly.
That's how it feels to me too, although this virus does keep surprising us. This is surely like that final jump scare scene in all good horror movies when the evil thing you thought was dead comes back for one final lunge before getting the wooden stake in the heart.
A curve like India has seen, on a per capita basis but with the benefits of vaccination, would see us with a month or two of exponential growth, flattening then sharp decline and possibly a max daily count of 30-40k but limited rises in deaths and the NHS never close to overwhelmed.
The Indian variant reminds of the V2 campaign near the end of World War 2.
Just as we thought we had Hitler beaten, he launched this super-weapon.
If he'd had this technology 2-3 years earlier, he might easily have won the war, especially if you add nukes. However it came too late, the Allies were overrunning occupied Europe and Hitler ran out of time, slaves. space, materials
The allies are the vaccines, overwhelming the virus, even as it shows this sting in the tail. We hope
2-3 years maybe. But on the whole - not really.
V2 was an astonishingly inefficient way of killing people.
The programme was a load on the German economy roughly equivalent to the Manhattan project on the allied ones. IMO an excellent example of the successful allied policy of not assassinating Hitler because Germany would be more damaged were he to stay alive.
Firstly as a weapon of terrorising, it was pretty effective?
Secondly, what an amazing counterfactual, allied assassination of Hitler late 43 into 44? What would have happened?
If the generals had taken over they may have sued for peace?
If the cabinet remained in charge, Gerbils? And business as usual?
On the terrorising point, I don't think it was.
The V1 went putt-putt-putt-putt-putt-silence-silence-silence-boom.
The V2 was doing about Mach 5, so no one heard it coming.
As I said this morning. All legal requirements such as social distancing and masks axed and replaced with guidance and recommendations based on one's vaccine status. It will appeal to Boris's instincts and the guidance just becomes irrelevant over the next 50-60 days as the vaccine scheme covers the last 8-9m people.
Yes. You might be right about that.
Interestingly the legislation actually expires on 30 June. So they would need to seek new legislation.
And this paragraph suggests they have got the memo about weddings - I suspect they don’t want wall to wall coverage of tearful brides on the broadcast news…
One cabinet minister said officials were “trying to find a solution that pleases the PM’s instincts” to reopen society, noting that allowing a tweak to regulations to allow larger weddings to go ahead would be “easy”, though nightclubs were not expected to open “for a while”.
What would Labour do if there was a renewal of the emergency legislation, with a hundred Tory MPs prepared to vote against it, and a handful prepared to resign from government to do so?
The big one is the distancing requirement / capacity limit in pubs, theatres and function rooms. If that can go, then life is good.
The WFH guidance can remain, and companies like TfL might insist on masks on tube trains, but no compelling legislation.
Nightclubs are then the only issue left, maybe fudge that by requiring inspections regarding ventilation from local authorities before they reopen? Expect a run on portable HVAC equipment!
Could end up somewhere like that. I hadn’t realised the legislation expires on 30 June. I suspect the government would have a very difficult time applying for more: there would be a large rebellion, and it’s far from clear Labour would back it: Andy Burnham and Sadiq Khan are outside the house but very influential. Both have moved sharply against further lockdowns.
The Labour mentality in the HoC has always seemed to be, “why didn’t you lock people up harder, earlier and for longer”, though.
As I said this morning. All legal requirements such as social distancing and masks axed and replaced with guidance and recommendations based on one's vaccine status. It will appeal to Boris's instincts and the guidance just becomes irrelevant over the next 50-60 days as the vaccine scheme covers the last 8-9m people.
I'm not huge on consciously dividing society between the vaccinated and the unvaccinated. It's basically the kind of risk segmentation some argued for months ago.
Now, the inevitable response will be something along the lines of why should the whole of society be held to ransom by those too "stupid" to have a vaccine and those of us who have been vaccinated should be able to go back to a "normal" life.
Yes, I get that and in essence what you are proposing isn't unreasonable but every individual must have the right to be as risk averse as they choose. If you choose to wear a mask on a train or in a shop and no one else does, that has to be your right and there cannot be any truck with any form of verbal or physical abuse against those who choose to be more cautious than the majority.
I don't really give a proverbial about Boris Johnson or his "instincts" - there's compelling evidence those instincts have made things worse not better at times in the last 15 months but that's a story for another day.
I'm also far from comfortable with the notion your rights (or should it be privileges) could be dependent on whether you have had a vaccination or two or not. If it's not mandatory to have a vaccination, why should it be mandatory to disclose whether you have had a vaccination or not?
It would seem a paradoxical notion for a Conservative who purports to believe in liberty and individual freedom to want to set up a system where your life is controlled by your vaccination status.
As I said this morning. All legal requirements such as social distancing and masks axed and replaced with guidance and recommendations based on one's vaccine status. It will appeal to Boris's instincts and the guidance just becomes irrelevant over the next 50-60 days as the vaccine scheme covers the last 8-9m people.
Somebody asked upthread whether it would make any difference.
For schools, still operating under nearly insupportable restrictions, the answer is ‘fuck yes.’
If we can walk around classrooms again without the risk of being shouted at by some jumped up junkie from OFSTED our lives will be much easier and pleasanter.
And the quality of teaching will improve markedly.
If we keep these increasingly ludicrous restrictions in place until July, there’s a real risk they will still be in place in September and at that moment every teacher who can afford it will walk out and the education system will collapse.
What is the Union position on teachers who refuse to be vaccinated? Are they to be forced to resign or is that risk a good and proper one?
It’s interesting as well that they note employers do have the power to compel staff to be vaccinated. That may become an issue in the NHS although I think it’s much less likely to be a problem in schools.
Another issue that they don’t mention is, what will happen to employees who refuse to be vaccinated and then get infected? In teaching, I think they might find themselves on statutory. We’ve already been warned if we go abroad and are forced to isolate on returning any time Kaiser will be considered unpaid leave.
Your final paragraph is what I was driving at, although not sure that the Prussian system is relevant.
As I said this morning. All legal requirements such as social distancing and masks axed and replaced with guidance and recommendations based on one's vaccine status. It will appeal to Boris's instincts and the guidance just becomes irrelevant over the next 50-60 days as the vaccine scheme covers the last 8-9m people.
Somebody asked upthread whether it would make any difference.
For schools, still operating under nearly insupportable restrictions, the answer is ‘fuck yes.’
If we can walk around classrooms again without the risk of being shouted at by some jumped up junkie from OFSTED our lives will be much easier and pleasanter.
And the quality of teaching will improve markedly.
If we keep these increasingly ludicrous restrictions in place until July, there’s a real risk they will still be in place in September and at that moment every teacher who can afford it will walk out and the education system will collapse.
What is the Union position on teachers who refuse to be vaccinated? Are they to be forced to resign or is that risk a good and proper one?
It’s interesting as well that they note employers do have the power to compel staff to be vaccinated. That may become an issue in the NHS although I think it’s much less likely to be a problem in schools.
Another issue that they don’t mention is, what will happen to employees who refuse to be vaccinated and then get infected? In teaching, I think they might find themselves on statutory. We’ve already been warned if we go abroad and are forced to isolate on returning any time Kaiser will be considered unpaid leave.
Your final paragraph is what I was driving at, although not sure that the Prussian system is relevant.
It isn’t, but autocorrect decided it knew better than I did.
the 9% in the US that 'don't know' what they eat is a bit surprising
I don't know, have you had Jack in the Box or Taco Bell in the US, is hard to tell what might or might not be in it.
You can have Taco Bell in the UK now, there's one in Woking (and I presume others)
Yeah your alright....i'll give it a miss....Five Guys on the other hand....when I finally get my 2nd jab, watch out, all those hours in the pain cave climbing virtual mountains on zwift are going to have all been for nothing.
As I said this morning. All legal requirements such as social distancing and masks axed and replaced with guidance and recommendations based on one's vaccine status. It will appeal to Boris's instincts and the guidance just becomes irrelevant over the next 50-60 days as the vaccine scheme covers the last 8-9m people.
I'm not huge on consciously dividing society between the vaccinated and the unvaccinated. It's basically the kind of risk segmentation some argued for months ago.
Now, the inevitable response will be something along the lines of why should the whole of society be held to ransom by those too "stupid" to have a vaccine and those of us who have been vaccinated should be able to go back to a "normal" life.
Yes, I get that and in essence what you are proposing isn't unreasonable but every individual must have the right to be as risk averse as they choose. If you choose to wear a mask on a train or in a shop and no one else does, that has to be your right and there cannot be any truck with any form of verbal or physical abuse against those who choose to be more cautious than the majority.
I don't really give a proverbial about Boris Johnson or his "instincts" - there's compelling evidence those instincts have made things worse not better at times in the last 15 months but that's a story for another day.
I'm also far from comfortable with the notion your rights (or should it be privileges) could be dependent on whether you have had a vaccination or two or not. If it's not mandatory to have a vaccination, why should it be mandatory to disclose whether you have had a vaccination or not?
It would seem a paradoxical notion for a Conservative who purports to believe in liberty and individual freedom to want to set up a system where your life is controlled by your vaccination status.
I think my answer would be, if you* want to refuse the vaccine that’s your decision, but you can stay locked down while the rest of us get back to normal.
*Not you personally but a hypothetical anti-vaxxer.
"Donald Moss will discuss whiteness as a condition one first acquires and then one has--a malignant, parasitic-like condition to which “white” people have a particular susceptibility. He describes the condition as being foundational, generating characteristic ways of being in one’s body, in one’s mind, and in one’s world: Parasitic whiteness renders its hosts’ appetites voracious, insatiable, and perverse; these deformed appetites particularly target non-white people; and, once established, these appetites are nearly impossible to eliminate"
Not sure what that has got to do with black lives matter mate
Black Lives Matter, or is it Black Lives mAttEr, I dunno, is a Marxist organisation which aims to defund the police, deconstruct the family and destroy any self-respect white people have by instilling an intrinsic guilt about racism, which can never be erased. If you deny your racism you are a racist, if you admit you are racist, get down on your knees
Fuck it. It is loathsome. White people conquered the world, and invented modernity. I will never be ashamed of this, as a white person, because I didn't do it; in the end I will take pride in it, as a race, if necessary
Because that is the end of this hideous divisiveness: White Pride. Maybe that is what they want
Well, I was with you until the end of the first paragraph.
I think some of the fanatics behind this want racial strife in the same way the old lot wanted class strife, because they thought it'd bring about The Revolution.
That (white pride) is the elephant trap that they want you to fall in to, thus proving them right all along.
What is quite interesting is that it hasn't happened. There is no outburst of white pride. People agree with black lives matter because for the most part, they want to move on from racism. However, they have no real understanding of the post marxist agenda of the actual organisation, which is exploiting peoples sympathy towards getting rid of racism. Thats the problem. How to break the link.
It is of course a common tactic of extremist organisations to attach themselves to, and try to parasite on, popular movements ("entryism"). The Socialist Workers Party did so in the Miner's Strike for instance, and Class War did with the poll tax riots. You got neo-Nazi groups trying to infilrate UKIP and the Conservative Party too.
That is their only tactic without significant popular support in this country, as we have an excellent voting system that ruthlessly punishes cranks and nutters, so they will never hold the balance of power in coalition governments, which is their other route to influence.
As I said this morning. All legal requirements such as social distancing and masks axed and replaced with guidance and recommendations based on one's vaccine status. It will appeal to Boris's instincts and the guidance just becomes irrelevant over the next 50-60 days as the vaccine scheme covers the last 8-9m people.
Yes. You might be right about that.
Interestingly the legislation actually expires on 30 June. So they would need to seek new legislation.
And this paragraph suggests they have got the memo about weddings - I suspect they don’t want wall to wall coverage of tearful brides on the broadcast news…
One cabinet minister said officials were “trying to find a solution that pleases the PM’s instincts” to reopen society, noting that allowing a tweak to regulations to allow larger weddings to go ahead would be “easy”, though nightclubs were not expected to open “for a while”.
What would Labour do if there was a renewal of the emergency legislation, with a hundred Tory MPs prepared to vote against it, and a handful prepared to resign from government to do so?
The big one is the distancing requirement / capacity limit in pubs, theatres and function rooms. If that can go, then life is good.
The WFH guidance can remain, and companies like TfL might insist on masks on tube trains, but no compelling legislation.
Nightclubs are then the only issue left, maybe fudge that by requiring inspections regarding ventilation from local authorities before they reopen? Expect a run on portable HVAC equipment!
Could end up somewhere like that. I hadn’t realised the legislation expires on 30 June. I suspect the government would have a very difficult time applying for more: there would be a large rebellion, and it’s far from clear Labour would back it: Andy Burnham and Sadiq Khan are outside the house but very influential. Both have moved sharply against further lockdowns.
The Labour mentality in the HoC has always seemed to be, “why didn’t you lock people up harder, earlier and for longer”, though.
I am definitely a red meat eater. But I did hear a stat yesterday that gave me a moment's pause - apparently it take 1800 gallons of water to grow 1lb of beef. I presume that is a US statistic, so it might be less elsewhere. But even so ...
I presume Labour won't push for the use of the 5 million dose stockpile, but continue to push for vaccinating young kids with vaccines magiced up out of nowhere.
As I said this morning. All legal requirements such as social distancing and masks axed and replaced with guidance and recommendations based on one's vaccine status. It will appeal to Boris's instincts and the guidance just becomes irrelevant over the next 50-60 days as the vaccine scheme covers the last 8-9m people.
I'm not huge on consciously dividing society between the vaccinated and the unvaccinated. It's basically the kind of risk segmentation some argued for months ago.
Now, the inevitable response will be something along the lines of why should the whole of society be held to ransom by those too "stupid" to have a vaccine and those of us who have been vaccinated should be able to go back to a "normal" life.
Yes, I get that and in essence what you are proposing isn't unreasonable but every individual must have the right to be as risk averse as they choose. If you choose to wear a mask on a train or in a shop and no one else does, that has to be your right and there cannot be any truck with any form of verbal or physical abuse against those who choose to be more cautious than the majority.
I don't really give a proverbial about Boris Johnson or his "instincts" - there's compelling evidence those instincts have made things worse not better at times in the last 15 months but that's a story for another day.
I'm also far from comfortable with the notion your rights (or should it be privileges) could be dependent on whether you have had a vaccination or two or not. If it's not mandatory to have a vaccination, why should it be mandatory to disclose whether you have had a vaccination or not?
It would seem a paradoxical notion for a Conservative who purports to believe in liberty and individual freedom to want to set up a system where your life is controlled by your vaccination status.
He’s not suggesting that though.
He’s saying the recommendations would be based on your vaccine status.
As I said this morning. All legal requirements such as social distancing and masks axed and replaced with guidance and recommendations based on one's vaccine status. It will appeal to Boris's instincts and the guidance just becomes irrelevant over the next 50-60 days as the vaccine scheme covers the last 8-9m people.
Yes. You might be right about that.
Interestingly the legislation actually expires on 30 June. So they would need to seek new legislation.
And this paragraph suggests they have got the memo about weddings - I suspect they don’t want wall to wall coverage of tearful brides on the broadcast news…
One cabinet minister said officials were “trying to find a solution that pleases the PM’s instincts” to reopen society, noting that allowing a tweak to regulations to allow larger weddings to go ahead would be “easy”, though nightclubs were not expected to open “for a while”.
What would Labour do if there was a renewal of the emergency legislation, with a hundred Tory MPs prepared to vote against it, and a handful prepared to resign from government to do so?
The big one is the distancing requirement / capacity limit in pubs, theatres and function rooms. If that can go, then life is good.
The WFH guidance can remain, and companies like TfL might insist on masks on tube trains, but no compelling legislation.
Nightclubs are then the only issue left, maybe fudge that by requiring inspections regarding ventilation from local authorities before they reopen? Expect a run on portable HVAC equipment!
Could end up somewhere like that. I hadn’t realised the legislation expires on 30 June. I suspect the government would have a very difficult time applying for more: there would be a large rebellion, and it’s far from clear Labour would back it: Andy Burnham and Sadiq Khan are outside the house but very influential. Both have moved sharply against further lockdowns.
It needs someone to lay down a firm policy before the opposition jump on the date.
But it is 3 weeks away, so quite a long way ahead for this Govt to plan day to day.
As I said this morning. All legal requirements such as social distancing and masks axed and replaced with guidance and recommendations based on one's vaccine status. It will appeal to Boris's instincts and the guidance just becomes irrelevant over the next 50-60 days as the vaccine scheme covers the last 8-9m people.
Yes. You might be right about that.
Interestingly the legislation actually expires on 30 June. So they would need to seek new legislation.
And this paragraph suggests they have got the memo about weddings - I suspect they don’t want wall to wall coverage of tearful brides on the broadcast news…
One cabinet minister said officials were “trying to find a solution that pleases the PM’s instincts” to reopen society, noting that allowing a tweak to regulations to allow larger weddings to go ahead would be “easy”, though nightclubs were not expected to open “for a while”.
What would Labour do if there was a renewal of the emergency legislation, with a hundred Tory MPs prepared to vote against it, and a handful prepared to resign from government to do so?
The big one is the distancing requirement / capacity limit in pubs and theatres, if that can go, then life is good.
The WFH guidance can remain, and companies like TfL might insist on masks on tube trains, but no compelling legislation.
Nightclubs are then the only issue left, maybe fudge that by requiring inspections regarding ventilation from local authorities before they reopen? Expect a run on portable HVAC equipment!
The key obstacle to nightclubs reopening are mask mandates. You can make people going to the theatre sit in stupid masks (although many will baulk at the idea, and I'm certainly not going anywhere near a venue purporting to offer entertainment if I'm made to sit there wearing a gag all night,) but they're patently unworkable in a club.
Therefore, if the public health catastrophists are really insistent on keeping masks, then it is impossible for nightclubs to come back. Otherwise, it would be simply ridiculous to keep insisting on them in shops, at theatres, in sports stadiums or pretty much anywhere else, save possibly for public transport and healthcare settings. And if the mask wearing fetish is penned into trains, buses and the occasional visit to the GP then it'll become marginal, and quickly obvious that it's of very limited benefit once the hospitals stubbornly refuse to fill back up with new victims, and we should be able to kill the damned things off.
If they want to keep enforcing masks through until Autumn, and thence throughout the Winter and into 2022, then they need to keep the nightclubs shut indefinitely.
Let venues decide for themselves what their behavioural rules will be, and let the punters decide if they wish to go there or not.
the 9% in the US that 'don't know' what they eat is a bit surprising
Depends on whether a Mackies counts as meat?
"Mackies"?
Assume this is reference to McDonalds, but have never heard or seen this particular term before now.
Ah well, living in a remote part of the world(!) you may not have done, but in the centre of the known universe (place called Staffs) that’s what we call them.
Seattle Times ($) - Can’t find your vaccine record for Washington state’s lottery? You’re probably already entered, health department says
If you’ve been stressing out about whether your name was entered into the vaccine prize lottery, the Washington state Department of Health has good news. Wednesday morning, DOH reported that 3.9 million names had been successfully entered into the lottery. The department is also working to address problems with the MyIR website, where Washingtonians can look up their vaccine records to confirm they’re counted for the lottery.
DOH also offered guidance for those whose vaccine records weren’t automatically entered. This group includes veterans, military personnel and others who received shots through federal institutions that do not share data with the state. In these cases, DOH is encouraging those who’ve been vaccinated to show their documents to their regular doctors, who can submit the information to the state on patients’ behalf.
Dr. Umair Shah, state secretary of health, said that while some people have had trouble verifying their COVID-19 vaccine through the MyIR website, the majority have had no issue. In response to frustrations over the online system, Shah said the department was operating a fully staffed helpline. . . .
Health officials said more than 3.9 million Washington residents have been entered into the lottery. The state also reported that 3.9 million Washington residents have been vaccinated.
Gov. Jay Inslee will announce the first round of winners Wednesday afternoon. The top prize this week is $250,000.
The state’s lottery program, announced last week, is intended to encourage vaccination among those who have yet to get their shots, with the aim of pushing the state to its goal of vaccinating at least 70% of residents 16 and older. Reaching that threshold could trigger a statewide reopening ahead of the planned June 30 reopening.
It’s too early to tell if the incentives have had the desired effect, said Lacy Fehrenbach, the state Department of Health’s deputy secretary for COVID-19 response, at a weekly news briefing Wednesday.
But anecdotally, she said, she’s heard that clinics are full and bookings are up. The numbers should be in by next week, the six-month anniversary of the state’s vaccine launch.
EDIT - Am now trying to confirm that I'm on the list.
I presume Labour won't push for the use of the 5 million dose stockpile, but continue to push for vaccinating young kids with vaccines magiced up out of nowhere.
Do we know how much of the AZ available to the Government is actually intended to cover imminent second jabs for the 40-49 group? I'm 45 and had my first dose in late April; if they're really intent on reducing the intervals then I ought to be called back in the next couple of weeks, and there'll presumably be no shortage of recipients ahead of me?
I think my answer would be, if you* want to refuse the vaccine that’s your decision, but you can stay locked down while the rest of us get back to normal.
*Not you personally but a hypothetical anti-vaxxer.
It's not mine - if we open society, we open it to all, both the vaccinated and the unvaccinated, equally.
There should be no checks or restrictions on those who choose not to be vaccinated - if people still feel risk averse and want to take precautions, that's entirely their right, it's their life and they should be allowed to live it as they choose not how the vaccinated choose for them to live.
We should continue to emphasise the value of vaccinations but those who choose to take greater precautions than the majority must not be stigmatised or subject to bullying or violence simply because they have chosen a more risk averse route.
I presume Labour won't push for the use of the 5 million dose stockpile, but continue to push for vaccinating young kids with vaccines magiced up out of nowhere.
Do we know how much of the AZ available to the Government is actually intended to cover imminent second jabs for the 40-49 group? I'm 45 and had my first dose in late April; if they're really intent on reducing the intervals then I ought to be called back in the next couple of weeks, and there'll presumably be no shortage of recipients ahead of me?
Well the supply of new AZN hasn't stopped, so there is still more arriving all the time, so I doubt a huge amount of that is having to be specially earmarked for 2nd doses.
The problem with earlier is the evidence is now 12 weeks appears like the optimal length to leave it between doses.
I think my answer would be, if you* want to refuse the vaccine that’s your decision, but you can stay locked down while the rest of us get back to normal.
*Not you personally but a hypothetical anti-vaxxer.
It's not mine - if we open society, we open it to all, both the vaccinated and the unvaccinated, equally.
There should be no checks or restrictions on those who choose not to be vaccinated - if people still feel risk averse and want to take precautions, that's entirely their right, it's their life and they should be allowed to live it as they choose not how the vaccinated choose for them to live.
We should continue to emphasise the value of vaccinations but those who choose to take greater precautions than the majority must not be stigmatised or subject to bullying or violence simply because they have chosen a more risk averse route.
Refusing a vaccine is not ‘risk averse.’ Quite the contrary.
But stand your position on its head. Why should the rest of us suffer because some people refuse to take a vaccine for a highly infectious lethal disease?
As I said this morning. All legal requirements such as social distancing and masks axed and replaced with guidance and recommendations based on one's vaccine status. It will appeal to Boris's instincts and the guidance just becomes irrelevant over the next 50-60 days as the vaccine scheme covers the last 8-9m people.
Yes. You might be right about that.
Interestingly the legislation actually expires on 30 June. So they would need to seek new legislation.
And this paragraph suggests they have got the memo about weddings - I suspect they don’t want wall to wall coverage of tearful brides on the broadcast news…
One cabinet minister said officials were “trying to find a solution that pleases the PM’s instincts” to reopen society, noting that allowing a tweak to regulations to allow larger weddings to go ahead would be “easy”, though nightclubs were not expected to open “for a while”.
What would Labour do if there was a renewal of the emergency legislation, with a hundred Tory MPs prepared to vote against it, and a handful prepared to resign from government to do so?
The big one is the distancing requirement / capacity limit in pubs and theatres, if that can go, then life is good.
The WFH guidance can remain, and companies like TfL might insist on masks on tube trains, but no compelling legislation.
Nightclubs are then the only issue left, maybe fudge that by requiring inspections regarding ventilation from local authorities before they reopen? Expect a run on portable HVAC equipment!
The key obstacle to nightclubs reopening are mask mandates. You can make people going to the theatre sit in stupid masks (although many will baulk at the idea, and I'm certainly not going anywhere near a venue purporting to offer entertainment if I'm made to sit there wearing a gag all night,) but they're patently unworkable in a club.
Therefore, if the public health catastrophists are really insistent on keeping masks, then it is impossible for nightclubs to come back. Otherwise, it would be simply ridiculous to keep insisting on them in shops, at theatres, in sports stadiums or pretty much anywhere else, save possibly for public transport and healthcare settings. And if the mask wearing fetish is penned into trains, buses and the occasional visit to the GP then it'll become marginal, and quickly obvious that it's of very limited benefit once the hospitals stubbornly refuse to fill back up with new victims, and we should be able to kill the damned things off.
If they want to keep enforcing masks through until Autumn, and thence throughout the Winter and into 2022, then they need to keep the nightclubs shut indefinitely.
Let venues decide for themselves what their behavioural rules will be, and let the punters decide if they wish to go there or not.
No use to the catastrophists. If the rules are all made voluntary then almost nobody (aside perhaps from a small number of little tea shoppes and social clubs catering to the extremely old and very frightened) will stick to them - and that's masks killed off immediately.
Hence no part of that fraction of scientific and political opinion that wants the masks to stay can possible advocate the reopening of nightclubs.
Looking at the rapid rise in cases... I'm wondering if govt might have to reintroduce some restrictions for a period. We just need to buy a bit more time until the vaccinations have kicked in.
For what purpose? To stop case numbers rising? We could stop case numbers rising by reducing testing with the same effect. What matters is hospitals and, as Chris Hobson pointed out, the profile and nature of people attending hospitals.
To reduce hospitalizations. I think they will grow over the next few weeks. If they don't - then I guess we are fine.
Growing is fine, so long as the number of people in hospital grows at only a modest rate.
10% week over week is an irrelevancy: it means it takes three months to quadruple the number of people in hospital and by that point everyone is double jabbed anyway.
Even 20% is quite manageable.
But you don't want to be at 30 or 40% a week.
Well said - and the virus is rapidly running out of people to infect. We're already at 80% of adults with antibodies and millions more vaccinated per week. The virus is going to burn out and hit a herd immunity wall very rapidly.
That's how it feels to me too, although this virus does keep surprising us. This is surely like that final jump scare scene in all good horror movies when the evil thing you thought was dead comes back for one final lunge before getting the wooden stake in the heart.
A curve like India has seen, on a per capita basis but with the benefits of vaccination, would see us with a month or two of exponential growth, flattening then sharp decline and possibly a max daily count of 30-40k but limited rises in deaths and the NHS never close to overwhelmed.
The Indian variant reminds of the V2 campaign near the end of World War 2.
Just as we thought we had Hitler beaten, he launched this super-weapon.
If he'd had this technology 2-3 years earlier, he might easily have won the war, especially if you add nukes. However it came too late, the Allies were overrunning occupied Europe and Hitler ran out of time, slaves. space, materials
The allies are the vaccines, overwhelming the virus, even as it shows this sting in the tail. We hope
2-3 years maybe. But on the whole - not really.
V2 was an astonishingly inefficient way of killing people.
The programme was a load on the German economy roughly equivalent to the Manhattan project on the allied ones. IMO an excellent example of the successful allied policy of not assassinating Hitler because Germany would be more damaged were he to stay alive.
Firstly as a weapon of terrorising, it was pretty effective?
Secondly, what an amazing counterfactual, allied assassination of Hitler late 43 into 44? What would have happened?
If the generals had taken over they may have sued for peace?
If the cabinet remained in charge, Gerbils? And business as usual?
Well, it was Hitler who swallowed the line that D-Day is a feint, and stopped Rommel coming north to where he might have seen off the invasion.
I am definitely a red meat eater. But I did hear a stat yesterday that gave me a moment's pause - apparently it take 1800 gallons of water to grow 1lb of beef. I presume that is a US statistic, so it might be less elsewhere. But even so ...
Probably tiny in comparison to the water required for a round of golf in the US...
I presume Labour won't push for the use of the 5 million dose stockpile, but continue to push for vaccinating young kids with vaccines magiced up out of nowhere.
Do we know how much of the AZ available to the Government is actually intended to cover imminent second jabs for the 40-49 group? I'm 45 and had my first dose in late April; if they're really intent on reducing the intervals then I ought to be called back in the next couple of weeks, and there'll presumably be no shortage of recipients ahead of me?
Well the supply of new AZN hasn't stopped, so there is still more arriving all the time, so I doubt a huge amount of that is having to be specially earmarked for 2nd doses.
The problem with earlier is the evidence is now 12 weeks appears like the optimal length to leave it between doses.
Of course, my mistake: the domestic production line churns out something like 1.5-2m doses per week, doesn't it?
I am, of course, well aware of the optimal dosing interval - which is why I shan't be pestering my GP for an appointment any time soon if I'm not actively offered one. Failing that, I shall wait until about the second week of July before attempting to arrange one for myself.
Looking at the rapid rise in cases... I'm wondering if govt might have to reintroduce some restrictions for a period. We just need to buy a bit more time until the vaccinations have kicked in.
For what purpose? To stop case numbers rising? We could stop case numbers rising by reducing testing with the same effect. What matters is hospitals and, as Chris Hobson pointed out, the profile and nature of people attending hospitals.
To reduce hospitalizations. I think they will grow over the next few weeks. If they don't - then I guess we are fine.
Growing is fine, so long as the number of people in hospital grows at only a modest rate.
10% week over week is an irrelevancy: it means it takes three months to quadruple the number of people in hospital and by that point everyone is double jabbed anyway.
Even 20% is quite manageable.
But you don't want to be at 30 or 40% a week.
Well said - and the virus is rapidly running out of people to infect. We're already at 80% of adults with antibodies and millions more vaccinated per week. The virus is going to burn out and hit a herd immunity wall very rapidly.
That's how it feels to me too, although this virus does keep surprising us. This is surely like that final jump scare scene in all good horror movies when the evil thing you thought was dead comes back for one final lunge before getting the wooden stake in the heart.
A curve like India has seen, on a per capita basis but with the benefits of vaccination, would see us with a month or two of exponential growth, flattening then sharp decline and possibly a max daily count of 30-40k but limited rises in deaths and the NHS never close to overwhelmed.
The Indian variant reminds of the V2 campaign near the end of World War 2.
Just as we thought we had Hitler beaten, he launched this super-weapon.
If he'd had this technology 2-3 years earlier, he might easily have won the war, especially if you add nukes. However it came too late, the Allies were overrunning occupied Europe and Hitler ran out of time, slaves. space, materials
The allies are the vaccines, overwhelming the virus, even as it shows this sting in the tail. We hope
2-3 years maybe. But on the whole - not really.
V2 was an astonishingly inefficient way of killing people.
The programme was a load on the German economy roughly equivalent to the Manhattan project on the allied ones. IMO an excellent example of the successful allied policy of not assassinating Hitler because Germany would be more damaged were he to stay alive.
Firstly as a weapon of terrorising, it was pretty effective?
Secondly, what an amazing counterfactual, allied assassination of Hitler late 43 into 44? What would have happened?
If the generals had taken over they may have sued for peace?
If the cabinet remained in charge, Gerbils? And business as usual?
Goering was Hitler’s designated successor, and even if he had been bypassed Himmler, as the second most powerful man in the government, would have been a more likely replacement than Goebbels (amused by the autocorrect, btw).
It is worth pointing out that even when Hitler did, in his final days, strip Himmler and Goering of their titles, although he made Goebbels the head of government it was Doenitz who was made Head of State and Bormann Party Leader. It looks as though Hitler didn’t think of Goebbels as a leader in his own right.
I think my answer would be, if you* want to refuse the vaccine that’s your decision, but you can stay locked down while the rest of us get back to normal.
*Not you personally but a hypothetical anti-vaxxer.
It's not mine - if we open society, we open it to all, both the vaccinated and the unvaccinated, equally.
There should be no checks or restrictions on those who choose not to be vaccinated - if people still feel risk averse and want to take precautions, that's entirely their right, it's their life and they should be allowed to live it as they choose not how the vaccinated choose for them to live.
We should continue to emphasise the value of vaccinations but those who choose to take greater precautions than the majority must not be stigmatised or subject to bullying or violence simply because they have chosen a more risk averse route.
A ludicrous post! Refusing a vaccine is not risk averse as you state.
You seem to pop up frequently as the antivaxxers’ advocate.
As I said this morning. All legal requirements such as social distancing and masks axed and replaced with guidance and recommendations based on one's vaccine status. It will appeal to Boris's instincts and the guidance just becomes irrelevant over the next 50-60 days as the vaccine scheme covers the last 8-9m people.
Yes. You might be right about that.
Interestingly the legislation actually expires on 30 June. So they would need to seek new legislation.
And this paragraph suggests they have got the memo about weddings - I suspect they don’t want wall to wall coverage of tearful brides on the broadcast news…
One cabinet minister said officials were “trying to find a solution that pleases the PM’s instincts” to reopen society, noting that allowing a tweak to regulations to allow larger weddings to go ahead would be “easy”, though nightclubs were not expected to open “for a while”.
What would Labour do if there was a renewal of the emergency legislation, with a hundred Tory MPs prepared to vote against it, and a handful prepared to resign from government to do so?
The big one is the distancing requirement / capacity limit in pubs and theatres, if that can go, then life is good.
The WFH guidance can remain, and companies like TfL might insist on masks on tube trains, but no compelling legislation.
Nightclubs are then the only issue left, maybe fudge that by requiring inspections regarding ventilation from local authorities before they reopen? Expect a run on portable HVAC equipment!
The key obstacle to nightclubs reopening are mask mandates. You can make people going to the theatre sit in stupid masks (although many will baulk at the idea, and I'm certainly not going anywhere near a venue purporting to offer entertainment if I'm made to sit there wearing a gag all night,) but they're patently unworkable in a club.
Therefore, if the public health catastrophists are really insistent on keeping masks, then it is impossible for nightclubs to come back. Otherwise, it would be simply ridiculous to keep insisting on them in shops, at theatres, in sports stadiums or pretty much anywhere else, save possibly for public transport and healthcare settings. And if the mask wearing fetish is penned into trains, buses and the occasional visit to the GP then it'll become marginal, and quickly obvious that it's of very limited benefit once the hospitals stubbornly refuse to fill back up with new victims, and we should be able to kill the damned things off.
If they want to keep enforcing masks through until Autumn, and thence throughout the Winter and into 2022, then they need to keep the nightclubs shut indefinitely.
Let venues decide for themselves what their behavioural rules will be, and let the punters decide if they wish to go there or not.
No use to the catastrophists. If the rules are all made voluntary then almost nobody (aside perhaps from a small number of little tea shoppes and social clubs catering to the extremely old and very frightened) will stick to them - and that's masks killed off immediately.
Hence no part of that fraction of scientific and political opinion that wants the masks to stay can possible advocate the reopening of nightclubs.
I think you’d be surprised. Most venues won’t just open up as they were before, there will be hand sanitisers around, staff in masks and gloves (they won’t want them off sick), maybe more tables and less standing for a while, maybe masks on dance floors. But all at the discretion of the venue, not from government.
I was chatting to a couple of twenty-somethings this morning. One had joined the crowd on the vaccination booking site yesterday and got herself an appointment while the other, who thought she wasn't eligible yet, called phoned by her GP surgery and invited to come for a jab.
My takeaway is that based on a sample size of two, young professional women are keen to get the jab.
Meanwhile someone else on the call said that she'd felt dog rough after her second shot of Pfizer, contrasting with no side effects after the first.
the 9% in the US that 'don't know' what they eat is a bit surprising
Depends on whether a Mackies counts as meat?
"Mackies"?
Assume this is reference to McDonalds, but have never heard or seen this particular term before now.
Ah well, living in a remote part of the world(!) you may not have done, but in the centre of the known universe (place called Staffs) that’s what we call them.
Is "Mackies" a Black Country thing? Or more generalized? "Mickey D's" is pretty common in USA.
Personally lived near one of the first Golden Arches east of the Mississippi, though it's been a looooong time since I've been to one.
Refusing a vaccine is not ‘risk averse.’ Quite the contrary.
But stand your position on its head. Why should the rest of us suffer because some people refuse to take a vaccine for a highly infectious lethal disease?
You and I don't know why people have refused vaccinations. It's easy to make assumptions but I suspect there are myriad reasons and there will be those who want to be vaccinated but for all manner of reasons can't or won't yet recognise the health risk to themselves.
It's easy to call those who aren't vaccinated "stupid" (and some may well be) but it's a generalisation which I think is unhelpful and doesn't fit the facts.
The fact so many are vaccinated and the fact we see how effective the vaccines are makes your notion absurd and indeed I'm NOT arguing for an extension of restrictions in any way, shape or form and I'm not sure how you have inferred that from my previous.
We can and should end restrictions but @MaxPB 's initial suggestion was to regulate access to society based on vaccination status and it is with that I am uncomfortable.
As I said this morning. All legal requirements such as social distancing and masks axed and replaced with guidance and recommendations based on one's vaccine status. It will appeal to Boris's instincts and the guidance just becomes irrelevant over the next 50-60 days as the vaccine scheme covers the last 8-9m people.
Yes. You might be right about that.
Interestingly the legislation actually expires on 30 June. So they would need to seek new legislation.
And this paragraph suggests they have got the memo about weddings - I suspect they don’t want wall to wall coverage of tearful brides on the broadcast news…
One cabinet minister said officials were “trying to find a solution that pleases the PM’s instincts” to reopen society, noting that allowing a tweak to regulations to allow larger weddings to go ahead would be “easy”, though nightclubs were not expected to open “for a while”.
What would Labour do if there was a renewal of the emergency legislation, with a hundred Tory MPs prepared to vote against it, and a handful prepared to resign from government to do so?
The big one is the distancing requirement / capacity limit in pubs, theatres and function rooms. If that can go, then life is good.
The WFH guidance can remain, and companies like TfL might insist on masks on tube trains, but no compelling legislation.
Nightclubs are then the only issue left, maybe fudge that by requiring inspections regarding ventilation from local authorities before they reopen? Expect a run on portable HVAC equipment!
Could end up somewhere like that. I hadn’t realised the legislation expires on 30 June. I suspect the government would have a very difficult time applying for more: there would be a large rebellion, and it’s far from clear Labour would back it: Andy Burnham and Sadiq Khan are outside the house but very influential. Both have moved sharply against further lockdowns.
The Labour mentality in the HoC has always seemed to be, “why didn’t you lock people up harder, earlier and for longer”, though.
Agreed. But the shift is on.
Possibly.
Any evidence for that? Particularly at the Starmer level. That is, FAOD, a real question.
I was chatting to a couple of twenty-somethings this morning. One had joined the crowd on the vaccination booking site yesterday and got herself an appointment while the other, who thought she wasn't eligible yet, called phoned by her GP surgery and invited to come for a jab.
My takeaway is that based on a sample size of two, young professional women are keen to get the jab.
Meanwhile someone else on the call said that she'd felt dog rough after her second shot of Pfizer, contrasting with no side effects after the first.
1 million people signed up yesterday, a daily record.
Looking at the rapid rise in cases... I'm wondering if govt might have to reintroduce some restrictions for a period. We just need to buy a bit more time until the vaccinations have kicked in.
For what purpose? To stop case numbers rising? We could stop case numbers rising by reducing testing with the same effect. What matters is hospitals and, as Chris Hobson pointed out, the profile and nature of people attending hospitals.
To reduce hospitalizations. I think they will grow over the next few weeks. If they don't - then I guess we are fine.
Growing is fine, so long as the number of people in hospital grows at only a modest rate.
10% week over week is an irrelevancy: it means it takes three months to quadruple the number of people in hospital and by that point everyone is double jabbed anyway.
Even 20% is quite manageable.
But you don't want to be at 30 or 40% a week.
Well said - and the virus is rapidly running out of people to infect. We're already at 80% of adults with antibodies and millions more vaccinated per week. The virus is going to burn out and hit a herd immunity wall very rapidly.
That's how it feels to me too, although this virus does keep surprising us. This is surely like that final jump scare scene in all good horror movies when the evil thing you thought was dead comes back for one final lunge before getting the wooden stake in the heart.
A curve like India has seen, on a per capita basis but with the benefits of vaccination, would see us with a month or two of exponential growth, flattening then sharp decline and possibly a max daily count of 30-40k but limited rises in deaths and the NHS never close to overwhelmed.
The Indian variant reminds of the V2 campaign near the end of World War 2.
Just as we thought we had Hitler beaten, he launched this super-weapon.
If he'd had this technology 2-3 years earlier, he might easily have won the war, especially if you add nukes. However it came too late, the Allies were overrunning occupied Europe and Hitler ran out of time, slaves. space, materials
The allies are the vaccines, overwhelming the virus, even as it shows this sting in the tail. We hope
2-3 years maybe. But on the whole - not really.
V2 was an astonishingly inefficient way of killing people.
The programme was a load on the German economy roughly equivalent to the Manhattan project on the allied ones. IMO an excellent example of the successful allied policy of not assassinating Hitler because Germany would be more damaged were he to stay alive.
Firstly as a weapon of terrorising, it was pretty effective?
Secondly, what an amazing counterfactual, allied assassination of Hitler late 43 into 44? What would have happened?
If the generals had taken over they may have sued for peace?
If the cabinet remained in charge, Gerbils? And business as usual?
Well, it was Hitler who swallowed the line that D-Day is a feint, and stopped Rommel coming north to where he might have seen off the invasion.
They weren't so far off. I doubt Rommel would have made a difference, and might have made things worse in the chaos of change of command. My view might be slightly influenced by by current reading material of Evelyn Waugh's Sword of Honour trilogy.
In hindsight the strategy was to throw a big weight west as that front had a limited hinterland. The outcome may well have been the same.
As I said this morning. All legal requirements such as social distancing and masks axed and replaced with guidance and recommendations based on one's vaccine status. It will appeal to Boris's instincts and the guidance just becomes irrelevant over the next 50-60 days as the vaccine scheme covers the last 8-9m people.
Yes. You might be right about that.
Interestingly the legislation actually expires on 30 June. So they would need to seek new legislation.
And this paragraph suggests they have got the memo about weddings - I suspect they don’t want wall to wall coverage of tearful brides on the broadcast news…
One cabinet minister said officials were “trying to find a solution that pleases the PM’s instincts” to reopen society, noting that allowing a tweak to regulations to allow larger weddings to go ahead would be “easy”, though nightclubs were not expected to open “for a while”.
What would Labour do if there was a renewal of the emergency legislation, with a hundred Tory MPs prepared to vote against it, and a handful prepared to resign from government to do so?
The big one is the distancing requirement / capacity limit in pubs and theatres, if that can go, then life is good.
The WFH guidance can remain, and companies like TfL might insist on masks on tube trains, but no compelling legislation.
Nightclubs are then the only issue left, maybe fudge that by requiring inspections regarding ventilation from local authorities before they reopen? Expect a run on portable HVAC equipment!
The key obstacle to nightclubs reopening are mask mandates. You can make people going to the theatre sit in stupid masks (although many will baulk at the idea, and I'm certainly not going anywhere near a venue purporting to offer entertainment if I'm made to sit there wearing a gag all night,) but they're patently unworkable in a club.
Therefore, if the public health catastrophists are really insistent on keeping masks, then it is impossible for nightclubs to come back. Otherwise, it would be simply ridiculous to keep insisting on them in shops, at theatres, in sports stadiums or pretty much anywhere else, save possibly for public transport and healthcare settings. And if the mask wearing fetish is penned into trains, buses and the occasional visit to the GP then it'll become marginal, and quickly obvious that it's of very limited benefit once the hospitals stubbornly refuse to fill back up with new victims, and we should be able to kill the damned things off.
If they want to keep enforcing masks through until Autumn, and thence throughout the Winter and into 2022, then they need to keep the nightclubs shut indefinitely.
Let venues decide for themselves what their behavioural rules will be, and let the punters decide if they wish to go there or not.
No use to the catastrophists. If the rules are all made voluntary then almost nobody (aside perhaps from a small number of little tea shoppes and social clubs catering to the extremely old and very frightened) will stick to them - and that's masks killed off immediately.
Hence no part of that fraction of scientific and political opinion that wants the masks to stay can possible advocate the reopening of nightclubs.
I think you’d be surprised. Most venues won’t just open up as they were before, there will be hand sanitisers around, staff in masks and gloves (they won’t want them off sick), maybe more tables and less standing for a while, maybe masks on dance floors. But all at the discretion of the venue, not from government.
I would be genuinely astonished. Who in the name of God would want to go clubbing with a bloody gag on? The mind boggles. And if you're not going to gag the punters when they're on the dancefloor then, even if you think that the masks are of any great facility at this stage in the game, there's certainly precious little point in using them anywhere else.
"Donald Moss will discuss whiteness as a condition one first acquires and then one has--a malignant, parasitic-like condition to which “white” people have a particular susceptibility. He describes the condition as being foundational, generating characteristic ways of being in one’s body, in one’s mind, and in one’s world: Parasitic whiteness renders its hosts’ appetites voracious, insatiable, and perverse; these deformed appetites particularly target non-white people; and, once established, these appetites are nearly impossible to eliminate"
Not sure what that has got to do with black lives matter mate
Black Lives Matter, or is it Black Lives mAttEr, I dunno, is a Marxist organisation which aims to defund the police, deconstruct the family and destroy any self-respect white people have by instilling an intrinsic guilt about racism, which can never be erased. If you deny your racism you are a racist, if you admit you are racist, get down on your knees
Fuck it. It is loathsome. White people conquered the world, and invented modernity. I will never be ashamed of this, as a white person, because I didn't do it; in the end I will take pride in it, as a race, if necessary
Because that is the end of this hideous divisiveness: White Pride. Maybe that is what they want
Well, I was with you until the end of the first paragraph.
I think some of the fanatics behind this want racial strife in the same way the old lot wanted class strife, because they thought it'd bring about The Revolution.
That (white pride) is the elephant trap that they want you to fall in to, thus proving them right all along.
What is quite interesting is that it hasn't happened. There is no outburst of white pride. People agree with black lives matter because for the most part, they want to move on from racism. However, they have no real understanding of the post marxist agenda of the actual organisation, which is exploiting peoples sympathy towards getting rid of racism. Thats the problem. How to break the link.
Spot on. I'd like a Britain where black, brown or white everyone is as patriotic and proud of this country as I am.
I don't give a shit about skin colour any more than I do hair colour.
At lunch with my Flint Sex Toy Agent today, she said she'd had a series of mediocre restaurant meals since the end of lockdown
My lunch was pleasant, today, hers WAS a bit rubbish
It's suddenly occurred to me: is this because of Brexit/Covid? Apparently 180,000 EU hospitality workers have left the country in the last year, and likely will not return. All restaurants, bars and hotels are desperate for staff, and often unable to find them
"Michel Roux Jr, chef patron of Le Gavroche, said it will only operate a evening service from June 14th due to the "incredibly frustrating and painful" labour shortage"
A lot of these will be waiters, maids, sommeliers, but a lot will be chefs, sous chefs, and the like. Not easily or quickly replaced. This will mean British restaurants will plunge in quality, as untrained and novice chefs try to learn to cook (or turn to ready meals)
This is the reason French restaurant food deteriorated so badly from about 1990 onwards. They didn't forget to cook, they couldn't afford enough staff because of strict French labour laws, so all the little bistros reverted to the microwave. Endless frozen confits de canard shipped down from a warehouse near Paris
I fear the UK restaurant scene faces the same fate
As I said this morning. All legal requirements such as social distancing and masks axed and replaced with guidance and recommendations based on one's vaccine status. It will appeal to Boris's instincts and the guidance just becomes irrelevant over the next 50-60 days as the vaccine scheme covers the last 8-9m people.
Yes. You might be right about that.
Interestingly the legislation actually expires on 30 June. So they would need to seek new legislation.
And this paragraph suggests they have got the memo about weddings - I suspect they don’t want wall to wall coverage of tearful brides on the broadcast news…
One cabinet minister said officials were “trying to find a solution that pleases the PM’s instincts” to reopen society, noting that allowing a tweak to regulations to allow larger weddings to go ahead would be “easy”, though nightclubs were not expected to open “for a while”.
What would Labour do if there was a renewal of the emergency legislation, with a hundred Tory MPs prepared to vote against it, and a handful prepared to resign from government to do so?
The big one is the distancing requirement / capacity limit in pubs and theatres, if that can go, then life is good.
The WFH guidance can remain, and companies like TfL might insist on masks on tube trains, but no compelling legislation.
Nightclubs are then the only issue left, maybe fudge that by requiring inspections regarding ventilation from local authorities before they reopen? Expect a run on portable HVAC equipment!
The key obstacle to nightclubs reopening are mask mandates. You can make people going to the theatre sit in stupid masks (although many will baulk at the idea, and I'm certainly not going anywhere near a venue purporting to offer entertainment if I'm made to sit there wearing a gag all night,) but they're patently unworkable in a club.
Therefore, if the public health catastrophists are really insistent on keeping masks, then it is impossible for nightclubs to come back. Otherwise, it would be simply ridiculous to keep insisting on them in shops, at theatres, in sports stadiums or pretty much anywhere else, save possibly for public transport and healthcare settings. And if the mask wearing fetish is penned into trains, buses and the occasional visit to the GP then it'll become marginal, and quickly obvious that it's of very limited benefit once the hospitals stubbornly refuse to fill back up with new victims, and we should be able to kill the damned things off.
If they want to keep enforcing masks through until Autumn, and thence throughout the Winter and into 2022, then they need to keep the nightclubs shut indefinitely.
Let venues decide for themselves what their behavioural rules will be, and let the punters decide if they wish to go there or not.
No use to the catastrophists. If the rules are all made voluntary then almost nobody (aside perhaps from a small number of little tea shoppes and social clubs catering to the extremely old and very frightened) will stick to them - and that's masks killed off immediately.
Hence no part of that fraction of scientific and political opinion that wants the masks to stay can possible advocate the reopening of nightclubs.
I think you’d be surprised. Most venues won’t just open up as they were before, there will be hand sanitisers around, staff in masks and gloves (they won’t want them off sick), maybe more tables and less standing for a while, maybe masks on dance floors. But all at the discretion of the venue, not from government.
I would be genuinely astonished. Who in the name of God would want to go clubbing with a bloody gag on? The mind boggles. And if you're not going to gag the punters when they're on the dancefloor then, even if you think that the masks are of any great facility at this stage in the game, there's certainly precious little point in using them anywhere else.
Well they won’t will they. There will be a mismatch between the rules (and who knows, perhaps the law) and reality. I’ve always felt it better that laws (and certainly criminal laws) match public behaviour and actions and don’t seek to try and force public opinion. Politicians invariably have a different approach.
I was chatting to a couple of twenty-somethings this morning. One had joined the crowd on the vaccination booking site yesterday and got herself an appointment while the other, who thought she wasn't eligible yet, called phoned by her GP surgery and invited to come for a jab.
My takeaway is that based on a sample size of two, young professional women are keen to get the jab.
Meanwhile someone else on the call said that she'd felt dog rough after her second shot of Pfizer, contrasting with no side effects after the first.
1 million people signed up yesterday, a daily record.
I think it was also yesterday morning that demand was so heavy it temporarily crashed the booking website, wasn't it? And thus, we have 80% of adults with antibodies, 77% already jabbed, 54% double-vaxxed, a bloody stampede of the young for appointments so huge that the IT systems can't cope, and vaccinations still motoring along at about half-a-million per day - and still there's massive uncertainty over June 21st. Go figure.
At lunch with my Flint Sex Toy Agent today, she said she'd had a series of mediocre restaurant meals since the end of lockdown
My lunch was pleasant, today, hers WAS a bit rubbish
It's suddenly occurred to me: is this because of Brexit/Covid? Apparently 180,000 EU hospitality workers have left the country in the last year, and likely will not return. All restaurants, bars and hotels are desperate for staff, and often unable to find them
"Michel Roux Jr, chef patron of Le Gavroche, said it will only operate a evening service from June 14th due to the "incredibly frustrating and painful" labour shortage"
A lot of these will be waiters, maids, sommeliers, but a lot will be chefs, sous chefs, and the like. Not easily or quickly replaced. This will mean British restaurants will plunge in quality, as untrained and novice chefs try to learn to cook (or turn to ready meals)
This is the reason French restaurant food deteriorated so badly from about 1990 onwards. They didn't forget to cook, they couldn't afford enough staff because of strict French labour laws, so all the little bistros reverted to the microwave. Endless frozen confits de canard shipped down from a warehouse near Paris
I fear the UK restaurant scene faces the same fate
At lunch with my Flint Sex Toy Agent today, she said she'd had a series of mediocre restaurant meals since the end of lockdown
My lunch was pleasant, today, hers WAS a bit rubbish
It's suddenly occurred to me: is this because of Brexit/Covid? Apparently 180,000 EU hospitality workers have left the country in the last year, and likely will not return. All restaurants, bars and hotels are desperate for staff, and often unable to find them
"Michel Roux Jr, chef patron of Le Gavroche, said it will only operate a evening service from June 14th due to the "incredibly frustrating and painful" labour shortage"
A lot of these will be waiters, maids, sommeliers, but a lot will be chefs, sous chefs, and the like. Not easily or quickly replaced. This will mean British restaurants will plunge in quality, as untrained and novice chefs try to learn to cook (or turn to ready meals)
This is the reason French restaurant food deteriorated so badly from about 1990 onwards. They didn't forget to cook, they couldn't afford enough staff because of strict French labour laws, so all the little bistros reverted to the microwave. Endless frozen confits de canard shipped down from a warehouse near Paris
I fear the UK restaurant scene faces the same fate
Looking at the rapid rise in cases... I'm wondering if govt might have to reintroduce some restrictions for a period. We just need to buy a bit more time until the vaccinations have kicked in.
For what purpose? To stop case numbers rising? We could stop case numbers rising by reducing testing with the same effect. What matters is hospitals and, as Chris Hobson pointed out, the profile and nature of people attending hospitals.
To reduce hospitalizations. I think they will grow over the next few weeks. If they don't - then I guess we are fine.
Growing is fine, so long as the number of people in hospital grows at only a modest rate.
10% week over week is an irrelevancy: it means it takes three months to quadruple the number of people in hospital and by that point everyone is double jabbed anyway.
Even 20% is quite manageable.
But you don't want to be at 30 or 40% a week.
Well said - and the virus is rapidly running out of people to infect. We're already at 80% of adults with antibodies and millions more vaccinated per week. The virus is going to burn out and hit a herd immunity wall very rapidly.
That's how it feels to me too, although this virus does keep surprising us. This is surely like that final jump scare scene in all good horror movies when the evil thing you thought was dead comes back for one final lunge before getting the wooden stake in the heart.
A curve like India has seen, on a per capita basis but with the benefits of vaccination, would see us with a month or two of exponential growth, flattening then sharp decline and possibly a max daily count of 30-40k but limited rises in deaths and the NHS never close to overwhelmed.
The Indian variant reminds of the V2 campaign near the end of World War 2.
Just as we thought we had Hitler beaten, he launched this super-weapon.
If he'd had this technology 2-3 years earlier, he might easily have won the war, especially if you add nukes. However it came too late, the Allies were overrunning occupied Europe and Hitler ran out of time, slaves. space, materials
The allies are the vaccines, overwhelming the virus, even as it shows this sting in the tail. We hope
2-3 years maybe. But on the whole - not really.
V2 was an astonishingly inefficient way of killing people.
The programme was a load on the German economy roughly equivalent to the Manhattan project on the allied ones. IMO an excellent example of the successful allied policy of not assassinating Hitler because Germany would be more damaged were he to stay alive.
Firstly as a weapon of terrorising, it was pretty effective?
Secondly, what an amazing counterfactual, allied assassination of Hitler late 43 into 44? What would have happened?
If the generals had taken over they may have sued for peace?
If the cabinet remained in charge, Gerbils? And business as usual?
Well, it was Hitler who swallowed the line that D-Day is a feint, and stopped Rommel coming north to where he might have seen off the invasion.
Nah, the Allies had a massive air supremacy on D-Day.
The Allies had something like 9,000 planes whilst the Germans had just over 300.
Those divisions that weren't released would have been smashed from the skies had they been released.
At lunch with my Flint Sex Toy Agent today, she said she'd had a series of mediocre restaurant meals since the end of lockdown
My lunch was pleasant, today, hers WAS a bit rubbish
It's suddenly occurred to me: is this because of Brexit/Covid? Apparently 180,000 EU hospitality workers have left the country in the last year, and likely will not return. All restaurants, bars and hotels are desperate for staff, and often unable to find them
"Michel Roux Jr, chef patron of Le Gavroche, said it will only operate a evening service from June 14th due to the "incredibly frustrating and painful" labour shortage"
A lot of these will be waiters, maids, sommeliers, but a lot will be chefs, sous chefs, and the like. Not easily or quickly replaced. This will mean British restaurants will plunge in quality, as untrained and novice chefs try to learn to cook (or turn to ready meals)
This is the reason French restaurant food deteriorated so badly from about 1990 onwards. They didn't forget to cook, they couldn't afford enough staff because of strict French labour laws, so all the little bistros reverted to the microwave. Endless frozen confits de canard shipped down from a warehouse near Paris
I fear the UK restaurant scene faces the same fate
Restaurants who laid off rather than furloughed staff probably did not help.
At lunch with my Flint Sex Toy Agent today, she said she'd had a series of mediocre restaurant meals since the end of lockdown
My lunch was pleasant, today, hers WAS a bit rubbish
It's suddenly occurred to me: is this because of Brexit/Covid? Apparently 180,000 EU hospitality workers have left the country in the last year, and likely will not return. All restaurants, bars and hotels are desperate for staff, and often unable to find them
"Michel Roux Jr, chef patron of Le Gavroche, said it will only operate a evening service from June 14th due to the "incredibly frustrating and painful" labour shortage"
A lot of these will be waiters, maids, sommeliers, but a lot will be chefs, sous chefs, and the like. Not easily or quickly replaced. This will mean British restaurants will plunge in quality, as untrained and novice chefs try to learn to cook (or turn to ready meals)
This is the reason French restaurant food deteriorated so badly from about 1990 onwards. They didn't forget to cook, they couldn't afford enough staff because of strict French labour laws, so all the little bistros reverted to the microwave. Endless frozen confits de canard shipped down from a warehouse near Paris
I fear the UK restaurant scene faces the same fate
If only any of this could have been foreseen.
They’ve gone because they’ve gone home given everywhere has been shut for fucking ever. What’s the point staying in a place which isn’t home in those circumstances. Give it a few months and then let’s see.
Refusing a vaccine is not ‘risk averse.’ Quite the contrary.
But stand your position on its head. Why should the rest of us suffer because some people refuse to take a vaccine for a highly infectious lethal disease?
You and I don't know why people have refused vaccinations. It's easy to make assumptions but I suspect there are myriad reasons and there will be those who want to be vaccinated but for all manner of reasons can't or won't yet recognise the health risk to themselves.
It's easy to call those who aren't vaccinated "stupid" (and some may well be) but it's a generalisation which I think is unhelpful and doesn't fit the facts.
The fact so many are vaccinated and the fact we see how effective the vaccines are makes your notion absurd and indeed I'm NOT arguing for an extension of restrictions in any way, shape or form and I'm not sure how you have inferred that from my previous.
We can and should end restrictions but @MaxPB 's initial suggestion was to regulate access to society based on vaccination status and it is with that I am uncomfortable.
No it wasn’t. He suggested different RECOMMENDATIONS based on vaccine status. A fundamental difference!
At lunch with my Flint Sex Toy Agent today, she said she'd had a series of mediocre restaurant meals since the end of lockdown
My lunch was pleasant, today, hers WAS a bit rubbish
It's suddenly occurred to me: is this because of Brexit/Covid? Apparently 180,000 EU hospitality workers have left the country in the last year, and likely will not return. All restaurants, bars and hotels are desperate for staff, and often unable to find them
"Michel Roux Jr, chef patron of Le Gavroche, said it will only operate a evening service from June 14th due to the "incredibly frustrating and painful" labour shortage"
A lot of these will be waiters, maids, sommeliers, but a lot will be chefs, sous chefs, and the like. Not easily or quickly replaced. This will mean British restaurants will plunge in quality, as untrained and novice chefs try to learn to cook (or turn to ready meals)
This is the reason French restaurant food deteriorated so badly from about 1990 onwards. They didn't forget to cook, they couldn't afford enough staff because of strict French labour laws, so all the little bistros reverted to the microwave. Endless frozen confits de canard shipped down from a warehouse near Paris
I fear the UK restaurant scene faces the same fate
Pay more. Train more.
Leon is on to something concerning the decline of French restaurants in London though. The original Boulestan closed around that time, and a few years after it was clear that French wasn't the way to go, and now I can't think of a decent French restaurant in London. (Maybe that romantic place in Covent Garden who's name I forget)
the 9% in the US that 'don't know' what they eat is a bit surprising
Depends on whether a Mackies counts as meat?
"Mackies"?
Assume this is reference to McDonalds, but have never heard or seen this particular term before now.
Ah well, living in a remote part of the world(!) you may not have done, but in the centre of the known universe (place called Staffs) that’s what we call them.
Is "Mackies" a Black Country thing? Or more generalized? "Mickey D's" is pretty common in USA.
Personally lived near one of the first Golden Arches east of the Mississippi, though it's been a looooong time since I've been to one.
I’ve no idea whether it’s a Black Country thing, I live in Staffs.
Here are prizes in WA State vaccination lottery (source Seattle Times):
The drawings take place every Tuesday in June. The drawing for the big jackpot of $1 million is July 13.
In addition to the $250,000 being given away each Tuesday, there will be merchandise prizes, like Xboxes and tickets to sporting events, for anyone 18 and older who is vaccinated.
On June 15 and June 22, vaccinated Washingtonians age 12 to 17 can win Guaranteed Education Tuition credits for college.
The vaccinated can also win:
2 free Alaska Airlines tickets 4 tickets to a Seattle Mariners game and one full suite prize 4 tickets to a Seattle Sounders game in August, plus two autographed jerseys 10 tickets to a Seattle Storm game 4 club-level seats at a Seattle Seahawks game, plus parking passes 4 OL Reign 2021 season tickets, plus a team-signed jersey Nintendo Switches, 100 Echo Dots and 25 Google Nests
The state is also giving $1 million to Washington’s four-year universities and two-year community and technical colleges to run their own drawings for assistance with tuition and books.
EDIT - In addition, the state has authorized marijuana stores to offer one free joint to anyone getting their 2nd jab at an in-store vax clinic. Believe there are similar offers of free drink by some bars.
I fear the UK restaurant scene faces the same fate
You knew what you were voting for...
It's not Brexit, per se, it's the unhappy and unforeseen combo of Brexit AND Covid. A lot of these staff left due to the plague, but now, because of Brexit, it will be very difficult to come back
HMG should maybe offer a 2 year visa for people aged 18-25 in this industry
As I said this morning. All legal requirements such as social distancing and masks axed and replaced with guidance and recommendations based on one's vaccine status. It will appeal to Boris's instincts and the guidance just becomes irrelevant over the next 50-60 days as the vaccine scheme covers the last 8-9m people.
Yes. You might be right about that.
Interestingly the legislation actually expires on 30 June. So they would need to seek new legislation.
And this paragraph suggests they have got the memo about weddings - I suspect they don’t want wall to wall coverage of tearful brides on the broadcast news…
One cabinet minister said officials were “trying to find a solution that pleases the PM’s instincts” to reopen society, noting that allowing a tweak to regulations to allow larger weddings to go ahead would be “easy”, though nightclubs were not expected to open “for a while”.
What would Labour do if there was a renewal of the emergency legislation, with a hundred Tory MPs prepared to vote against it, and a handful prepared to resign from government to do so?
The big one is the distancing requirement / capacity limit in pubs, theatres and function rooms. If that can go, then life is good.
The WFH guidance can remain, and companies like TfL might insist on masks on tube trains, but no compelling legislation.
Nightclubs are then the only issue left, maybe fudge that by requiring inspections regarding ventilation from local authorities before they reopen? Expect a run on portable HVAC equipment!
Could end up somewhere like that. I hadn’t realised the legislation expires on 30 June. I suspect the government would have a very difficult time applying for more: there would be a large rebellion, and it’s far from clear Labour would back it: Andy Burnham and Sadiq Khan are outside the house but very influential. Both have moved sharply against further lockdowns.
The Labour mentality in the HoC has always seemed to be, “why didn’t you lock people up harder, earlier and for longer”, though.
Agreed. But the shift is on.
Possibly.
Any evidence for that? Particularly at the Starmer level. That is, FAOD, a real question.
No, just the Sadiq and Burnham examples as I stated above. Fairly flimsy evidence granted but maybe straws in the wind.
At lunch with my Flint Sex Toy Agent today, she said she'd had a series of mediocre restaurant meals since the end of lockdown
My lunch was pleasant, today, hers WAS a bit rubbish
It's suddenly occurred to me: is this because of Brexit/Covid? Apparently 180,000 EU hospitality workers have left the country in the last year, and likely will not return. All restaurants, bars and hotels are desperate for staff, and often unable to find them
"Michel Roux Jr, chef patron of Le Gavroche, said it will only operate a evening service from June 14th due to the "incredibly frustrating and painful" labour shortage"
A lot of these will be waiters, maids, sommeliers, but a lot will be chefs, sous chefs, and the like. Not easily or quickly replaced. This will mean British restaurants will plunge in quality, as untrained and novice chefs try to learn to cook (or turn to ready meals)
This is the reason French restaurant food deteriorated so badly from about 1990 onwards. They didn't forget to cook, they couldn't afford enough staff because of strict French labour laws, so all the little bistros reverted to the microwave. Endless frozen confits de canard shipped down from a warehouse near Paris
I fear the UK restaurant scene faces the same fate
Pay more. Train more.
Leon is on to something concerning the decline of French restaurants in London though. The original Boulestan closed around that time, and a few years after it was clear that French wasn't the way to go, and now I can't think of a decent French restaurant in London. (Maybe that romantic place in Covent Garden who's name I forget)
It's not French restaurants in London that declined, I am talking about French restaurants in France, and they REALLY declined. Tho there may have been a knock on effect, in that it made French cuisine less innovative overall, which then spread to French restaurants worldwide
It's been a long time since French food felt like the cutting edge. Probably nouvelle cuisine in the 80s?
Refusing a vaccine is not ‘risk averse.’ Quite the contrary.
But stand your position on its head. Why should the rest of us suffer because some people refuse to take a vaccine for a highly infectious lethal disease?
You and I don't know why people have refused vaccinations. It's easy to make assumptions but I suspect there are myriad reasons and there will be those who want to be vaccinated but for all manner of reasons can't or won't yet recognise the health risk to themselves.
It's easy to call those who aren't vaccinated "stupid" (and some may well be) but it's a generalisation which I think is unhelpful and doesn't fit the facts.
The fact so many are vaccinated and the fact we see how effective the vaccines are makes your notion absurd and indeed I'm NOT arguing for an extension of restrictions in any way, shape or form and I'm not sure how you have inferred that from my previous.
We can and should end restrictions but @MaxPB 's initial suggestion was to regulate access to society based on vaccination status and it is with that I am uncomfortable.
I’m not in favour of compulsion either, but with respect you are completely missing the point. If people fail to get vaccinated we can’t open up. There wouldn’t be any queries about next week if it wasn’t for refuseniks. And yes, there may be valid reasons for refusing it but as we can see on these very boards far too many are just refusing it because they’re selfish, stupid and self-righteous.
It is either/or, and I am afraid that if they want to have (1) no vaccines (2) all their freedoms back and (3) treatment on the NHS if they get infected my answer is they can only have two of them.
If you make the choice not to be vaccinated, you make the choice to live with any consequences there may be.
At lunch with my Flint Sex Toy Agent today, she said she'd had a series of mediocre restaurant meals since the end of lockdown
My lunch was pleasant, today, hers WAS a bit rubbish
It's suddenly occurred to me: is this because of Brexit/Covid? Apparently 180,000 EU hospitality workers have left the country in the last year, and likely will not return. All restaurants, bars and hotels are desperate for staff, and often unable to find them
"Michel Roux Jr, chef patron of Le Gavroche, said it will only operate a evening service from June 14th due to the "incredibly frustrating and painful" labour shortage"
A lot of these will be waiters, maids, sommeliers, but a lot will be chefs, sous chefs, and the like. Not easily or quickly replaced. This will mean British restaurants will plunge in quality, as untrained and novice chefs try to learn to cook (or turn to ready meals)
This is the reason French restaurant food deteriorated so badly from about 1990 onwards. They didn't forget to cook, they couldn't afford enough staff because of strict French labour laws, so all the little bistros reverted to the microwave. Endless frozen confits de canard shipped down from a warehouse near Paris
I fear the UK restaurant scene faces the same fate
Pay more. Train more.
Not a quick fix for the haute cuisine end of the market, where skilled labour will, presumably, be finite and take a long time to replace. Result: shortened opening hours and higher prices.
Not so sure about the broader restaurant sector. Reports of some businesses struggling to recruit, but the establishments around here all seem to be back to operating at their pre-Plague hours and prices, and with no noticeable diminution in quality. The hotel is doing a marginally shorter menu (though its range of drinks has actually increased,) but that's about it.
People with money to burn may find they need to burn even more to pay for experiences at their favourite Michelin starred establishments, but I doubt that the rest of us will be reduced to reheated microwave meals any time soon.
The choice that Doug and others are presenting you of the 'safety' of lockdown, versus the 'risk' of freedom, is of course an utterly and completely false one.
Economically, staying in any form of lockdown whatever beyond 21 June is desperately reckless and risky gamble.
Its ahuge gamble with the lives and businesses of countless thousands in hospitality and other service industries in the short term.
In the long term its an utterly reckless and desperate gamble with the wider economy, as all lockdowns were and are.
I haven't begun to talk about the devastating effect on the morale and the mental health of very many of postponement. Or the potential threat to civil order as the contract between this government and its citizens starts to break down, as it manifestly IS starting to break down.
Carrying on lockdown after 21 June is an act of the insane, and only an insane and totally unhinged government would consider it.
Are you tempted to get the vaccine?
Genuine question. In your position, I would be quite scared right now.
Scared? I am off to a p8ss up in London tomorrow.
I am bitterly and completely opposed to everything the government has done except the initial lockdown to 'prepare the NHS' for COVID. Three weeks to flatten the curve.
Why on earth would I do anything a government that I abhor like no other has recommended. Anything I do not have to do?
Non-compliance where possible is my mantra. I do not want to be part of this game.
And I ask you. Where is playing the game getting you? The medical establishment is now moving us past the 'vaccines will set us free' stage.
The very definition of 'selfish'
You are always so polite that you have my admiration.
Looking at the rapid rise in cases... I'm wondering if govt might have to reintroduce some restrictions for a period. We just need to buy a bit more time until the vaccinations have kicked in.
For what purpose? To stop case numbers rising? We could stop case numbers rising by reducing testing with the same effect. What matters is hospitals and, as Chris Hobson pointed out, the profile and nature of people attending hospitals.
To reduce hospitalizations. I think they will grow over the next few weeks. If they don't - then I guess we are fine.
Growing is fine, so long as the number of people in hospital grows at only a modest rate.
10% week over week is an irrelevancy: it means it takes three months to quadruple the number of people in hospital and by that point everyone is double jabbed anyway.
Even 20% is quite manageable.
But you don't want to be at 30 or 40% a week.
Well said - and the virus is rapidly running out of people to infect. We're already at 80% of adults with antibodies and millions more vaccinated per week. The virus is going to burn out and hit a herd immunity wall very rapidly.
That's how it feels to me too, although this virus does keep surprising us. This is surely like that final jump scare scene in all good horror movies when the evil thing you thought was dead comes back for one final lunge before getting the wooden stake in the heart.
A curve like India has seen, on a per capita basis but with the benefits of vaccination, would see us with a month or two of exponential growth, flattening then sharp decline and possibly a max daily count of 30-40k but limited rises in deaths and the NHS never close to overwhelmed.
The Indian variant reminds of the V2 campaign near the end of World War 2.
Just as we thought we had Hitler beaten, he launched this super-weapon.
If he'd had this technology 2-3 years earlier, he might easily have won the war, especially if you add nukes. However it came too late, the Allies were overrunning occupied Europe and Hitler ran out of time, slaves. space, materials
The allies are the vaccines, overwhelming the virus, even as it shows this sting in the tail. We hope
2-3 years maybe. But on the whole - not really.
V2 was an astonishingly inefficient way of killing people.
The programme was a load on the German economy roughly equivalent to the Manhattan project on the allied ones. IMO an excellent example of the successful allied policy of not assassinating Hitler because Germany would be more damaged were he to stay alive.
Firstly as a weapon of terrorising, it was pretty effective?
Secondly, what an amazing counterfactual, allied assassination of Hitler late 43 into 44? What would have happened?
If the generals had taken over they may have sued for peace?
If the cabinet remained in charge, Gerbils? And business as usual?
Well, it was Hitler who swallowed the line that D-Day is a feint, and stopped Rommel coming north to where he might have seen off the invasion.
They weren't so far off. I doubt Rommel would have made a difference, and might have made things worse in the chaos of change of command. My view might be slightly influenced by by current reading material of Evelyn Waugh's Sword of Honour trilogy.
In hindsight the strategy was to throw a big weight west as that front had a limited hinterland. The outcome may well have been the same.
I read recently that a lot of the top German generals most feared was an invasion of Denmark, lots of open country around the beaches, making good terrain for Tank warfare compared to the small fields and lots of big hedges in Normandy, and the allies had a lot of tanks, and then able to push south in to Germany and Berlin, without having to cross so many big rivers, that make such good defensive obstacles.
There possibly would have been problems, I'm not sure how big the ports on the west side of Denmark are, but I don't know if the allies considered this as an option?
As I said this morning. All legal requirements such as social distancing and masks axed and replaced with guidance and recommendations based on one's vaccine status. It will appeal to Boris's instincts and the guidance just becomes irrelevant over the next 50-60 days as the vaccine scheme covers the last 8-9m people.
Yes. You might be right about that.
Interestingly the legislation actually expires on 30 June. So they would need to seek new legislation.
And this paragraph suggests they have got the memo about weddings - I suspect they don’t want wall to wall coverage of tearful brides on the broadcast news…
One cabinet minister said officials were “trying to find a solution that pleases the PM’s instincts” to reopen society, noting that allowing a tweak to regulations to allow larger weddings to go ahead would be “easy”, though nightclubs were not expected to open “for a while”.
What about sport stadia? When can they lift restrictions and fill up again? Will they go maskless this year?
At lunch with my Flint Sex Toy Agent today, she said she'd had a series of mediocre restaurant meals since the end of lockdown
My lunch was pleasant, today, hers WAS a bit rubbish
It's suddenly occurred to me: is this because of Brexit/Covid? Apparently 180,000 EU hospitality workers have left the country in the last year, and likely will not return. All restaurants, bars and hotels are desperate for staff, and often unable to find them
"Michel Roux Jr, chef patron of Le Gavroche, said it will only operate a evening service from June 14th due to the "incredibly frustrating and painful" labour shortage"
A lot of these will be waiters, maids, sommeliers, but a lot will be chefs, sous chefs, and the like. Not easily or quickly replaced. This will mean British restaurants will plunge in quality, as untrained and novice chefs try to learn to cook (or turn to ready meals)
This is the reason French restaurant food deteriorated so badly from about 1990 onwards. They didn't forget to cook, they couldn't afford enough staff because of strict French labour laws, so all the little bistros reverted to the microwave. Endless frozen confits de canard shipped down from a warehouse near Paris
I fear the UK restaurant scene faces the same fate
At lunch with my Flint Sex Toy Agent today, she said she'd had a series of mediocre restaurant meals since the end of lockdown
My lunch was pleasant, today, hers WAS a bit rubbish
It's suddenly occurred to me: is this because of Brexit/Covid? Apparently 180,000 EU hospitality workers have left the country in the last year, and likely will not return. All restaurants, bars and hotels are desperate for staff, and often unable to find them
"Michel Roux Jr, chef patron of Le Gavroche, said it will only operate a evening service from June 14th due to the "incredibly frustrating and painful" labour shortage"
A lot of these will be waiters, maids, sommeliers, but a lot will be chefs, sous chefs, and the like. Not easily or quickly replaced. This will mean British restaurants will plunge in quality, as untrained and novice chefs try to learn to cook (or turn to ready meals)
This is the reason French restaurant food deteriorated so badly from about 1990 onwards. They didn't forget to cook, they couldn't afford enough staff because of strict French labour laws, so all the little bistros reverted to the microwave. Endless frozen confits de canard shipped down from a warehouse near Paris
I fear the UK restaurant scene faces the same fate
Pay more. Train more.
Not a quick fix for the haute cuisine end of the market, where skilled labour will, presumably, be finite and take a long time to replace. Result: shortened opening hours and higher prices.
Not so sure about the broader restaurant sector. Reports of some businesses struggling to recruit, but the establishments around here all seem to be back to operating at their pre-Plague hours and prices, and with no noticeable diminution in quality. The hotel is doing a marginally shorter menu (though its range of drinks has actually increased,) but that's about it.
People with money to burn may find they need to burn even more to pay for experiences at their favourite Michelin starred establishments, but I doubt that the rest of us will be reduced to reheated microwave meals any time soon.
I have a lot of friends in the restaurant business. They are all desperate for staff. They have loads of bookings, not enough chefs de partie
This is mainly London, however. Where the number of EU workers was striking. Maybe it is better elsewhere
Comments
Here in WA State we've been vaxing teenagers for a month or more.
Incidentally, here are current vax numbers from New York Times for King County (Seattle plus) Washington
Percent fully vaccinated
all residents 58%
age 12+ 67%
age 18+ 70%
age 65+ 84%
These are highest % in WA State, except for a few counties with sightly higher % of fully-vaxed geezers.
And without doing the math, they suggest that in King Co the vaccination rate among teens is close to or even higher than the rate for young adults?
Fifty-five per cent of Germans now believe the EU’s political system is broken, the survey for the European Council for Foreign Relations (ECFR) found — a rise of 11 per cent compared to last November.
Only 36 per cent of Germans said they believe the EU’s political system is working, compared to more than half seven months ago.
And a third of Germans now believe European integration has gone too far, compared to 23 per cent last November.
No doubt the conclusion the EU men in grey suits will reach is that more Europe required ........
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2021/06/09/brussels-sues-germany-defying-european-court-justice-ruling/
Of course there have been many such spats in the past, and Germany has always rolled over. But this time may, of course, be different.
https://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/boundaries2023.html
Interestingly the legislation actually expires on 30 June. So they would need to seek new legislation.
And this paragraph suggests they have got the memo about weddings - I suspect they don’t want wall to wall coverage of tearful brides on the broadcast news…
One cabinet minister said officials were “trying to find a solution that pleases the PM’s instincts” to reopen society, noting that allowing a tweak to regulations to allow larger weddings to go ahead would be “easy”, though nightclubs were not expected to open “for a while”.
Democratic senators say that only the president can convince the influential centrist to sign off on key parts of the party's agenda.
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/06/09/biden-manchin-democrat-agenda-492193
. . . . Four months after Biden helped secure Manchin’s vote for a party-line, $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief law, the president is taking a different approach with the West Virginia Democrat who's blocking multiple party priorities. Biden didn't sound pleased last week when, during a speech marking the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa massacre, he appeared to take a public swipe at Manchin and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) by citing two Democrats who frequently sided with Republicans.
But behind the scenes, the president — who spent nearly half his life in the Senate — is taking a more subtle approach to the senator.
In an interview, Manchin said Biden has not leaned on him to support the sweeping elections bill that the moderate Democrat publicly rejected over the weekend. Nor has Biden covertly asked Manchin to support another Democrat-only spending bill focused on jobs and the economy. Yet.
“The president respects the institution so much because he was here and knows it better than everyone else. He does not get involved,” Manchin said on Tuesday in the Capitol. “I already know where he is. I know the challenges he has, and I know basically the pressure he’s receiving all the time. We’re just trying to find a balance for it.”
Despite his jab at Manchin, Biden has largely remained quiet about the senator’s insistence that infrastructure bills be bipartisan and his opposition to both filibuster reform and the sweeping elections bill that expands voting access. Biden and his senior staff are regularly in touch with Manchin, according to a White House aide. And Biden appointed Manchin’s wife, Gayle, to the Appalachian Regional Commission. . . .
Without Manchin, Biden simply cannot win — and the ever-quotable senator says he’s committed to making the president successful. . . .
“There’s a personal relationship between the president and Sen. Manchin. I think that can make a difference,” said Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.). “He knows that he will have impact on Sen. Manchin. It would not be effective at this particular moment. But I think he’s waiting for that opportunity.”
Bipartisan talks are still playing out on infrastructure, for example, meaning it’s not yet time for Biden to secure Manchin’s vote on a more aggressive, partisan proposal. And the 50-member Senate Democratic majority lacks the votes to change the filibuster rules even if Manchin were to entirely reverse his hard stance against reforming it, making the West Virginian’s support for the sweeping elections bill a far less urgent matter for the White House. . . . .
It's a ridiculous interface, but if that's where the liquidity is then perhaps I'll entertain it.
What is quite interesting is that it hasn't happened. There is no outburst of white pride. People agree with black lives matter because for the most part, they want to move on from racism. However, they have no real understanding of the post marxist agenda of the actual organisation, which is exploiting peoples sympathy towards getting rid of racism. Thats the problem. How to break the link.
There were a list of things you had to do under the heading 'Before you leave the UK' one of which was that you had to have booked and have paid for a 2 and 8 day test and would need to have proof of this on leaving the UK. This all seems to have disappeared now.
Interesting as I emailed the F&C Office regarding this on 7/6 and they replied today (9/6).
The big one is the distancing requirement / capacity limit in pubs, theatres and function rooms. If that can go, then life is good.
The WFH guidance can remain, and companies like TfL might insist on masks on tube trains, but no compelling legislation.
Nightclubs are then the only issue left, maybe fudge that by requiring inspections regarding ventilation from local authorities before they reopen? Expect a run on portable HVAC equipment!
Precis of the argument on Wikipedia. It may be a slight stretch to call it a 'policy'
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Foxley
Industrialised intense beef-farming will be a world away from a grass-fed natural cow in Somerset drinking from a small trough or river a couple of times a day.
I'll let you know. I actually think the bet will lose, but I'm only 60/40 sure about that. Yesterday I got 11.5 with Smarkets which is a steal when I consider the chance of adherence to 21/6 to be 40%.
I'd previously placed bets on "Yes" at smaller prices and my average odds are 5. I've bet about £150. You can get 5.6 now.
I'm sure you will agree that one should have accounts with all bookies to get best odds. I use BF, Smarkets and Betdaq.
Note these precautions helped the elections department avoid disruption due to COVID during the 2020 general election. Clearly the risks have lessened, in particular fact that many, indeed most staff AND observers (such as yours truly) are now fully vaccinated. But certainly NOT all.
Further note that hundreds of full-time and temporary workers were employed by King County, mostly in one large building, during the 2020 general. Numbers for the August primary will be less, but still considerable. So ensuring the health of workers AND their ability to do the job is a HIGH public priority.
Therefore, if the public health catastrophists are really insistent on keeping masks, then it is impossible for nightclubs to come back. Otherwise, it would be simply ridiculous to keep insisting on them in shops, at theatres, in sports stadiums or pretty much anywhere else, save possibly for public transport and healthcare settings. And if the mask wearing fetish is penned into trains, buses and the occasional visit to the GP then it'll become marginal, and quickly obvious that it's of very limited benefit once the hospitals stubbornly refuse to fill back up with new victims, and we should be able to kill the damned things off.
If they want to keep enforcing masks through until Autumn, and thence throughout the Winter and into 2022, then they need to keep the nightclubs shut indefinitely.
I really wouldn’t want to be a university student at present. From what friends who lecture tell me, it’s really very shit indeed.
However, throughout the pandemic they have consistently shown the correct trends ahead of the official numbers.
https://neu.org.uk/advice/vaccination
It’s interesting as well that they note employers do have the power to compel staff to be vaccinated. That may become an issue in the NHS although I think it’s much less likely to be a problem in schools.
Another issue that they don’t mention is, what will happen to employees who refuse to be vaccinated and then get infected? In teaching, I think they might find themselves on statutory sick pay. We’ve already been warned if we go abroad and are forced to isolate on returning any time during the term will be considered unpaid leave.
The V1 went putt-putt-putt-putt-putt-silence-silence-silence-boom.
The V2 was doing about Mach 5, so no one heard it coming.
Now, the inevitable response will be something along the lines of why should the whole of society be held to ransom by those too "stupid" to have a vaccine and those of us who have been vaccinated should be able to go back to a "normal" life.
Yes, I get that and in essence what you are proposing isn't unreasonable but every individual must have the right to be as risk averse as they choose. If you choose to wear a mask on a train or in a shop and no one else does, that has to be your right and there cannot be any truck with any form of verbal or physical abuse against those who choose to be more cautious than the majority.
I don't really give a proverbial about Boris Johnson or his "instincts" - there's compelling evidence those instincts have made things worse not better at times in the last 15 months but that's a story for another day.
I'm also far from comfortable with the notion your rights (or should it be privileges) could be dependent on whether you have had a vaccination or two or not. If it's not mandatory to have a vaccination, why should it be mandatory to disclose whether you have had a vaccination or not?
It would seem a paradoxical notion for a Conservative who purports to believe in liberty and individual freedom to want to set up a system where your life is controlled by your vaccination status.
*Not you personally but a hypothetical anti-vaxxer.
Assume this is reference to McDonalds, but have never heard or seen this particular term before now.
That is their only tactic without significant popular support in this country, as we have an excellent voting system that ruthlessly punishes cranks and nutters, so they will never hold the balance of power in coalition governments, which is their other route to influence.
Possibly.
https://www.beefcentral.com/news/does-it-really-take-20000l-of-water-to-produce-1kg-of-beef/
It is likely to include eg all the water to grow the fodder, so may eg assume no rain. Which does not apply here :-) .
He’s saying the recommendations would be based on your vaccine status.
But it is 3 weeks away, so quite a long way ahead for this Govt to plan day to day.
If you’ve been stressing out about whether your name was entered into the vaccine prize lottery, the Washington state Department of Health has good news. Wednesday morning, DOH reported that 3.9 million names had been successfully entered into the lottery. The department is also working to address problems with the MyIR website, where Washingtonians can look up their vaccine records to confirm they’re counted for the lottery.
DOH also offered guidance for those whose vaccine records weren’t automatically entered. This group includes veterans, military personnel and others who received shots through federal institutions that do not share data with the state. In these cases, DOH is encouraging those who’ve been vaccinated to show their documents to their regular doctors, who can submit the information to the state on patients’ behalf.
Dr. Umair Shah, state secretary of health, said that while some people have had trouble verifying their COVID-19 vaccine through the MyIR website, the majority have had no issue. In response to frustrations over the online system, Shah said the department was operating a fully staffed helpline. . . .
Health officials said more than 3.9 million Washington residents have been entered into the lottery. The state also reported that 3.9 million Washington residents have been vaccinated.
Gov. Jay Inslee will announce the first round of winners Wednesday afternoon. The top prize this week is $250,000.
The state’s lottery program, announced last week, is intended to encourage vaccination among those who have yet to get their shots, with the aim of pushing the state to its goal of vaccinating at least 70% of residents 16 and older. Reaching that threshold could trigger a statewide reopening ahead of the planned June 30 reopening.
It’s too early to tell if the incentives have had the desired effect, said Lacy Fehrenbach, the state Department of Health’s deputy secretary for COVID-19 response, at a weekly news briefing Wednesday.
But anecdotally, she said, she’s heard that clinics are full and bookings are up. The numbers should be in by next week, the six-month anniversary of the state’s vaccine launch.
EDIT - Am now trying to confirm that I'm on the list.
There should be no checks or restrictions on those who choose not to be vaccinated - if people still feel risk averse and want to take precautions, that's entirely their right, it's their life and they should be allowed to live it as they choose not how the vaccinated choose for them to live.
We should continue to emphasise the value of vaccinations but those who choose to take greater precautions than the majority must not be stigmatised or subject to bullying or violence simply because they have chosen a more risk averse route.
The problem with earlier is the evidence is now 12 weeks appears like the optimal length to leave it between doses.
But stand your position on its head. Why should the rest of us suffer because some people refuse to take a vaccine for a highly infectious lethal disease?
Hence no part of that fraction of scientific and political opinion that wants the masks to stay can possible advocate the reopening of nightclubs.
I am, of course, well aware of the optimal dosing interval - which is why I shan't be pestering my GP for an appointment any time soon if I'm not actively offered one. Failing that, I shall wait until about the second week of July before attempting to arrange one for myself.
It is worth pointing out that even when Hitler did, in his final days, strip Himmler and Goering of their titles, although he made Goebbels the head of government it was Doenitz who was made Head of State and Bormann Party Leader. It looks as though Hitler didn’t think of Goebbels as a leader in his own right.
You seem to pop up frequently as the antivaxxers’ advocate.
Why?
I was chatting to a couple of twenty-somethings this morning. One had joined the crowd on the vaccination booking site yesterday and got herself an appointment while the other, who thought she wasn't eligible yet, called phoned by her GP surgery and invited to come for a jab.
My takeaway is that based on a sample size of two, young professional women are keen to get the jab.
Meanwhile someone else on the call said that she'd felt dog rough after her second shot of Pfizer, contrasting with no side effects after the first.
Personally lived near one of the first Golden Arches east of the Mississippi, though it's been a looooong time since I've been to one.
It's easy to call those who aren't vaccinated "stupid" (and some may well be) but it's a generalisation which I think is unhelpful and doesn't fit the facts.
The fact so many are vaccinated and the fact we see how effective the vaccines are makes your notion absurd and indeed I'm NOT arguing for an extension of restrictions in any way, shape or form and I'm not sure how you have inferred that from my previous.
We can and should end restrictions but @MaxPB 's initial suggestion was to regulate access to society based on vaccination status and it is with that I am uncomfortable.
In hindsight the strategy was to throw a big weight west as that front had a limited hinterland. The outcome may well have been the same.
I don't give a shit about skin colour any more than I do hair colour.
Why would I?
At lunch with my Flint Sex Toy Agent today, she said she'd had a series of mediocre restaurant meals since the end of lockdown
My lunch was pleasant, today, hers WAS a bit rubbish
It's suddenly occurred to me: is this because of Brexit/Covid? Apparently 180,000 EU hospitality workers have left the country in the last year, and likely will not return. All restaurants, bars and hotels are desperate for staff, and often unable to find them
"Michel Roux Jr, chef patron of Le Gavroche, said it will only operate a evening service from June 14th due to the "incredibly frustrating and painful" labour shortage"
https://twitter.com/Telegraph/status/1400190063070388240?s=20
A lot of these will be waiters, maids, sommeliers, but a lot will be chefs, sous chefs, and the like. Not easily or quickly replaced. This will mean British restaurants will plunge in quality, as untrained and novice chefs try to learn to cook (or turn to ready meals)
This is the reason French restaurant food deteriorated so badly from about 1990 onwards. They didn't forget to cook, they couldn't afford enough staff because of strict French labour laws, so all the little bistros reverted to the microwave. Endless frozen confits de canard shipped down from a warehouse near Paris
I fear the UK restaurant scene faces the same fate
A @mollie_malone1 film https://twitter.com/SamCoatesSky/status/1402711112462782467/video/1
The Allies had something like 9,000 planes whilst the Germans had just over 300.
Those divisions that weren't released would have been smashed from the skies had they been released.
Hadn’t heard it before I came here though.
The drawings take place every Tuesday in June. The drawing for the big jackpot of $1 million is July 13.
In addition to the $250,000 being given away each Tuesday, there will be merchandise prizes, like Xboxes and tickets to sporting events, for anyone 18 and older who is vaccinated.
On June 15 and June 22, vaccinated Washingtonians age 12 to 17 can win Guaranteed Education Tuition credits for college.
The vaccinated can also win:
2 free Alaska Airlines tickets
4 tickets to a Seattle Mariners game and one full suite prize
4 tickets to a Seattle Sounders game in August, plus two autographed jerseys
10 tickets to a Seattle Storm game
4 club-level seats at a Seattle Seahawks game, plus parking passes
4 OL Reign 2021 season tickets, plus a team-signed jersey
Nintendo Switches, 100 Echo Dots and 25 Google Nests
The state is also giving $1 million to Washington’s four-year universities and two-year community and technical colleges to run their own drawings for assistance with tuition and books.
EDIT - In addition, the state has authorized marijuana stores to offer one free joint to anyone getting their 2nd jab at an in-store vax clinic. Believe there are similar offers of free drink by some bars.
HMG should maybe offer a 2 year visa for people aged 18-25 in this industry
It's been a long time since French food felt like the cutting edge. Probably nouvelle cuisine in the 80s?
It is either/or, and I am afraid that if they want to have (1) no vaccines (2) all their freedoms back and (3) treatment on the NHS if they get infected my answer is they can only have two of them.
If you make the choice not to be vaccinated, you make the choice to live with any consequences there may be.
Now *that* is libertarianism.
Not so sure about the broader restaurant sector. Reports of some businesses struggling to recruit, but the establishments around here all seem to be back to operating at their pre-Plague hours and prices, and with no noticeable diminution in quality. The hotel is doing a marginally shorter menu (though its range of drinks has actually increased,) but that's about it.
People with money to burn may find they need to burn even more to pay for experiences at their favourite Michelin starred establishments, but I doubt that the rest of us will be reduced to reheated microwave meals any time soon.
There possibly would have been problems, I'm not sure how big the ports on the west side of Denmark are, but I don't know if the allies considered this as an option?
I don't think that's right - we should be treated the same and how you live should be your decision, not based on Government "recommendation".
Give me a Yorkshire pudding any day.
This is mainly London, however. Where the number of EU workers was striking. Maybe it is better elsewhere