The last thing we needed was to follow the US in being obsessed with this topic, but it looks like it's going to happen anyway.
Cheer up. If Wokeness enters the mainstream it can only be bad for the Left. When people begin to understand Wokery, most of them begin to dislike it. The more they know of Woke, the more they detest. See what happened to feminism, encountering Wokeism in the trans debate. An early UK skirmish.
The Left will soon be in retreat in the culture wars, after decades of stealthy advance
There are a miniscule amount of idiots on the left who are woke who annoy a number on the right who think the numbers are greater than they are and who are just as woke at the other end of the scale (eg imperial measures, anthems, pledge of allegiance, etc, etc).
The rest of us are normal and don't give a toss either way and think both groups are prats.
Like many on here, you are utterly clueless as to the extent Wokeness has penetrated into education, law, government, charities, the arts. It now spreads into corporate culture like the fungus it is
The people who minimize or dismiss Woke generally only do it because they have not been impacted by it. Yet
The alternative is that they are too old or dim to comprehend
Well there is nothing like jumping in feet first with total arrogance and ignorance is there. You have no idea if I have expertise in any of a wide range of areas you have covered (Education, Law, Government, Charities, Arts and now Corporate). I mean with that list it is quite likely I am involved in one or more and it is pretty well impossible for you to be involved in all of them or come to that many of them. Yet apparently I am clueless and you are not. I would try looking into a mirror if I were you.
And the really nutty thing is I agree with you re wokeness, in particular if you read my posts you would know I have a real hang up about jobs worth attitudes and bureaucracy which wokeness tend to create.
I think you have shown by your enormous leaps to conclusions based upon no evidence about me I don't think we can rely on your knowledge on the amount of wokeness that exists either.
“Well there is nothing like jumping in feet first with total arrogance and ignorance is there”
Bro, this is what I DO. It’s my motto and my lodestar, which is why I’m sitting on a balcony drinking red wine in the midday Majorcan sun rather than doing something sensible like work in a small room in England in the drizzle
Well I love that response 'Leon'; it has style.
Most of us however don't put out holiday snaps on PB. Would you like to see mine of Portugal from 2 weeks ago?
@Cookie nah everyone hates wearing masks, even the most vegan wokeista
Yes, that's my impression. So I think the numbers who actually keep wearing masks even when they're not compelled to will be rather lower than those who say that they will.
There is definitely a divide between maskers and non-maskers in my experience ... perfectly rational people, who ought to know better, are still terrified. It's not as obvious as Remainers versus Leavers but that's as close a proxy as any. Call it Collectivism versus Individualism - those who believe in big government and are happy to be ordered around versus those who don't.
If you terrify the population, they will tend toward big government for protection. As I've said before, unterrifying the population after 18 months of relentless doom-mongering is going to be very, very hard ... and I'm not even sure the government wants to do it, not really - they have got used to a cowed and compliant populace, which is awfully convenient when you have unpopular climate change restrictions to impose (not to mention tax rises to pay for COVID). No, I reckon the government will be quite happy to have a collectivist, all-in-it-together mindset around for quite a while.
I was glad to see finally some discussion on here last night about the devastating, insidious impact of the behavioural psychologists during COVID ... they really have grasped the opportunity for relevance and power and they are not going to give it up easily - we need to shine a light much more harshly on who they are and what they are up to. The fact we have far-left political activists in an official capacity advising the government on how to make people comply with COVID restrictions is extremely worrying.
I've recommended Laura Dodsworth's book before and I do it again. It is a sickening read.
You're over-politicising it. There's a rational discussion (much of which we've seen on PB) about the right balance between enjoyment and risk-taking, and the Government has a difficult choice in steering us through, as to be fair would any Government.
I'm not a fan of the Government, but nor am I convinced they are motivated by collectivism (Boris Johnson??? Pull the other one), control-freakery or anything on those lines. The risk of relaxing too quickly is that you get a lot of illness and later end up having to tighten up again. The risk of relaxing too slowly is that you inhibit normal life and the economy more than you needed to. All the stuff about wanting a cowed population is frankly irrelevant paranoia.
As for the obsession with Susan Michie's political views, she's been asked to do a professional job advising on behaviourism, which is her profession. She's not been asked to advise on politics, nor is she doing so. We shouldn't care how she or anyone on SAGE votes.
The last thing we needed was to follow the US in being obsessed with this topic, but it looks like it's going to happen anyway.
Cheer up. If Wokeness enters the mainstream it can only be bad for the Left. When people begin to understand Wokery, most of them begin to dislike it. The more they know of Woke, the more they detest. See what happened to feminism, encountering Wokeism in the trans debate. An early UK skirmish.
The Left will soon be in retreat in the culture wars, after decades of stealthy advance
There are a miniscule amount of idiots on the left who are woke who annoy a number on the right who think the numbers are greater than they are and who are just as woke at the other end of the scale (eg imperial measures, anthems, pledge of allegiance, etc, etc).
The rest of us are normal and don't give a toss either way and think both groups are prats.
Like many on here, you are utterly clueless as to the extent Wokeness has penetrated into education, law, government, charities, the arts. It now spreads into corporate culture like the fungus it is
The people who minimize or dismiss Woke generally only do it because they have not been impacted by it. Yet
The alternative is that they are too old or dim to comprehend
Well there is nothing like jumping in feet first with total arrogance and ignorance is there. You have no idea if I have expertise in any of a wide range of areas you have covered (Education, Law, Government, Charities, Arts and now Corporate). I mean with that list it is quite likely I am involved in one or more and it is pretty well impossible for you to be involved in all of them or come to that many of them. Yet apparently I am clueless and you are not. I would try looking into a mirror if I were you.
And the really nutty thing is I agree with you re wokeness, in particular if you read my posts you would know I have a real hang up about jobs worth attitudes and bureaucracy which wokeness tend to create.
I think you have shown by your enormous leaps to conclusions based upon no evidence about me I don't think we can rely on your knowledge on the amount of wokeness that exists either.
“Well there is nothing like jumping in feet first with total arrogance and ignorance is there”
Bro, this is what I DO. It’s my motto and my lodestar, which is why I’m sitting on a balcony drinking red wine in the midday Majorcan sun rather than doing something sensible like work in a small room in England in the drizzle
Well I love that response 'Leon'; it has style.
Most of us however don't put out holiday snaps on PB. Would you like to see mine of Portugal from 2 weeks ago?
Actually, yes. I like holiday snaps! Especially rn when we have been so starved of travel
It may not seem obvious but this trip to Spain has done absolute wonders for my mental health. I feel calmer, happier, freer, kinder, even physically fitter - swimming and hiking. And, after a year of deathly pallor to match my inner mood, I have a tan. It’s a good vibe
My last two lockdowns, of the three, were grim. Deeply grim. But if really feels like we are out of the worst now
Outside of public transport, I have always been a bit sceptical of how much if an impact mask wearing is making (especially when we allow gyms, pubs, restaurants maskless) and given most people spend more time fiddling with their mask and very very few wear a mask of any real quality / protection (both inward and outward).
Is there much research in regardless to say for instance how much more dangerous a supermarket where people have had to wear masks vs say a gym where people don't?
This report demonstrates how effective standard masks are.
That was just in a clincal setting. So unsurprising very high level of covid, you need a high quality mask.
But i honestly don't have any idea of supermarket (masked) vs pub / restaurant / gym (unmasked).
I know, but when a standard medical mask leaves you 47 times more likely to catch covid than someone not in that position, it does demonstrate how ineffective that mask is, especially when compared to a FFP3 mask.
Standard surgical masks - or gaiters - are only effective if almost EVERYONE wears one. They are no good at stopping infection from others but they are effective at stopping others being infected by YOU.
But if mask wearing drops significantly then you need ffp2 or even ffp3 to protect yourself.
I have always been a bit sceptical of the claim about paper / fabric masks. In lab conditions this might be true, but in the real world i just see people spending their whole time taking them off / putting them on / have them slip down and readjusting them. How much protection are they actually providing, when a huge proportion of the time they aren't actually covering a persons mouth and nose, thus allowing virus to be escaping all over the place.
And now we have moved to supermarket need mask, go to the gym and breath heavily, no mask..or the pub or a restaurant. How performative is it compared to actually reducing spread?
Public transport where you are in an enclosed metal tube for often hours, i can see that, but again i think you need proper masks.
I agree wholeheartedly with this article. The 3 most important lessons for Tories in by-elections must be: 1. Select good local candidate if possible. 2. Do not be complacent but put every effort in 3. Significantly improve your GOTV operation
I expect more LD gains in any by-election in places where they were second to Con in GE2019
Marginal Lab/Con by-elections in North and Midlands should be most interesting if we have any over the next 30 months.
I know its a bit crazy leftfield but also have some policies that are small state and fiscally balanced rather than nannying government and huge spending of money the government actually hasn't got.
Offer that policy and Labour will start recovering some of their Red Wall seats.
Indeed, the best the Tories could get on a small state and fiscally balanced platform would be back to 2015 Cameron levels and a majority of 12 compared to the current majority Boris has of 80.
However most likely they would lose their majority as some of the seats they held then eg Enfield Southgate, St Albans, Oxford West and Abingdon, Warwick and Leamington, Richmond Park, Twickenham, Bath etc were strong Remain seats and are now Labour and LD held and unlikely to go back to the Tories post Brexit anytime soon.
Therefore to win another majority with Corbyn gone and Brexit now delivered, Boris and the Tories have to remain relatively fiscally populist as in 2019 and not push austerity
The speaker said same time was ok, he just didn't want a press conference, then ministers coming to the house hours / days later. As with a lot the current speaker does, he comes up with a sensible comprise.
I read Boris was due at 5pm as well.
What are the chances of BoJo ballsing it up and contradicting Javid?
Outside of public transport, I have always been a bit sceptical of how much if an impact mask wearing is making (especially when we allow gyms, pubs, restaurants maskless) and given most people spend more time fiddling with their mask and very very few wear a mask of any real quality / protection (both inward and outward).
Is there much research in regardless to say for instance how much more dangerous a supermarket where people have had to wear masks vs say a gym where people don't?
This report demonstrates how effective standard masks are.
That was just in a clincal setting. So unsurprising very high level of covid, you need a high quality mask.
But i honestly don't have any idea of supermarket (masked) vs pub / restaurant / gym (unmasked).
I know, but when a standard medical mask leaves you 47 times more likely to catch covid than someone not in that position, it does demonstrate how ineffective that mask is, especially when compared to a FFP3 mask.
But that isn't the position is it. It is 47 times more risky than someone nowhere near a bloody patient isn't it and not 47 times more risky than someone not wearing a mask carrying out the same duties? That is a big difference.
So lets see if you can answer the following which I put to you the other day and you ignored:
a) Do you agree that the patients needed looking after?
I assume you do.
b) To look after the patients using the available PPE at the time put the doctors and nurses at 47 times the risk than not looking after them i.e. being elsewhere.
c) The fact that is not available is you don't have the risk of looking after them without any PPE.
If a) is unacceptable and if c) > b) then you have no alternative but to do b)
I suspect the Tories would have taken B & S but for moron Matt Hancock. How many years have I been saying the guy was an idiot and a liability on here?
GIN knew...
I can't see Starmer beating Boris in a general election and suspect the Conservatives will be returned at the next general election with a reduced majority. It'll be 1992/2005 all over again...
Boris goes a couple of years after the next election and Labour wins in 2028/2029.
2030's may well be a Labour decade! Hang in there PB lefties
Mancock was hardly the stand out moron in the cabinet. Several of them have lied and broken the ministerial code and not followed their own guidance and and and...
As for the PM his challenge is going to be coping with 2022 and 2023 not being the big party he hoped for. The economy has been ravaged by Covid and that means belt-tightening. At the very least he won't be spending the promised cash in the red wall, at the very worst we're back to austerity cuts.
Unlike his predecessors he is shit at spinning positives out of bad news, so if they aren't going to bin him off at the first sign of the polls softening it will be fun to watch.
Im not sure you are right on the economy, I think 2022/2023 will be boom years, people have a lot of money to spend.
I struggle to see how your optimism translates into reality. We've had to tip a bonfire of money away to stop a massive contraction becoming a permanent reduction. We need to generate economic growth to manage that away and we're in a more isolated position than we were before it started.
The way out of not just this mess but the significant structural imbalances in the economy built up over decades is to invest heavily in the new economy. Which means looking at our needs in the next decade - this lot seem fixated on tomorrow's headlines.
The optimism is based on the fact that people have repaid their debts at rates never seen before over the past 18 months. Also individual savings have increased markedly.
That includes all debts and not especially relevant to card and other pernicious high interest debts.
The bulk of that household debt is mortgage debts and since people have been buying houses at higher prices its unsurprising that there's more household debt in aggregate, but they're not necessarily in net debt because they've got the house to show for it.
Card debts, loan sharks, payday loans etc are a much more pernicious type of debt and really need to be looked at separate to mortgage debts.
I agree that we have had a real problem with short term debt and Ocean Finance style loans. But if the cash going out of your bank is long term rather than short term it is still cash going out of your bank. Which I assume is why the OBR uses the debt to income measure?
If you were previously paying a landlord rent every month and now you're paying your bank your mortgage every month, are you in more debt or less in real terms?
With a mortgage you are gradually acquiring an asset, the capital portion of your monthly payment. Not so with rent.
You are probably helping somebody else acquire an asset by renting, in fact
That was what my mother always said - "Buy a house and you are paying for a house. Rent a house and you are paying for someone else's house."
Our last landlord before we bought our first house said the same when we handed in our notice. Seemed genuinely pleased for us.
Outside of public transport, I have always been a bit sceptical of how much if an impact mask wearing is making (especially when we allow gyms, pubs, restaurants maskless) and given most people spend more time fiddling with their mask and very very few wear a mask of any real quality / protection (both inward and outward).
Is there much research in regardless to say for instance how much more dangerous a supermarket where people have had to wear masks vs say a gym where people don't?
This report demonstrates how effective standard masks are.
That was just in a clincal setting. So unsurprising very high level of covid, you need a high quality mask.
But i honestly don't have any idea of supermarket (masked) vs pub / restaurant / gym (unmasked).
I know, but when a standard medical mask leaves you 47 times more likely to catch covid than someone not in that position, it does demonstrate how ineffective that mask is, especially when compared to a FFP3 mask.
Standard surgical masks - or gaiters - are only effective if almost EVERYONE wears one. They are no good at stopping infection from others but they are effective at stopping others being infected by YOU.
But if mask wearing drops significantly then you need ffp2 or even ffp3 to protect yourself.
I have always been a bit sceptical of the claim about paper / fabric masks. In lab conditions this might be true, but in the real world i just see people spending their whole time taking them off / putting them on / have them slip down and readjusting them. How much protection are they actually providing, when a huge proportion of the time they aren't actually covering a persons mouth and nose, thus allowing virus to be escaping all over the place.
The claims make total sense to me. With rampant infection any type of face covering is better than none. Sure you will get some refuseniks, some who don’t cover the nose, some who constantly fiddle with them. This increases the risk to these people, but as long as, say 80% wear them and 70% of them do it correctly you can exert a serious downwards pressure on infection rates, because you are still trapping trillions of aerosols that would otherwise escape
The key is, as always, to see mask wearing as altruistic rather than egotistic
@RobDotHutton The entire thing is now Spinal Tap. "You can't fucking concentrate because of your fucking wife! Simple as that, alright? It's your fucking wife!" "She's not my wife!" "Well whatever fuck she is, alright? You can't concentrate!” https://twitter.com/MarinaHyde/status/1412011466861973506
@Cookie nah everyone hates wearing masks, even the most vegan wokeista
Yes, that's my impression. So I think the numbers who actually keep wearing masks even when they're not compelled to will be rather lower than those who say that they will.
There is definitely a divide between maskers and non-maskers in my experience ... perfectly rational people, who ought to know better, are still terrified. It's not as obvious as Remainers versus Leavers but that's as close a proxy as any. Call it Collectivism versus Individualism - those who believe in big government and are happy to be ordered around versus those who don't.
If you terrify the population, they will tend toward big government for protection. As I've said before, unterrifying the population after 18 months of relentless doom-mongering is going to be very, very hard ... and I'm not even sure the government wants to do it, not really - they have got used to a cowed and compliant populace, which is awfully convenient when you have unpopular climate change restrictions to impose (not to mention tax rises to pay for COVID). No, I reckon the government will be quite happy to have a collectivist, all-in-it-together mindset around for quite a while.
I was glad to see finally some discussion on here last night about the devastating, insidious impact of the behavioural psychologists during COVID ... they really have grasped the opportunity for relevance and power and they are not going to give it up easily - we need to shine a light much more harshly on who they are and what they are up to. The fact we have far-left political activists in an official capacity advising the government on how to make people comply with COVID restrictions is extremely worrying.
I've recommended Laura Dodsworth's book before and I do it again. It is a sickening read.
You're over-politicising it. There's a rational discussion (much of which we've seen on PB) about the right balance between enjoyment and risk-taking, and the Government has a difficult choice in steering us through, as to be fair would any Government.
I'm not a fan of the Government, but nor am I convinced they are motivated by collectivism (Boris Johnson??? Pull the other one), control-freakery or anything on those lines. The risk of relaxing too quickly is that you get a lot of illness and later end up having to tighten up again. The risk of relaxing too slowly is that you inhibit normal life and the economy more than you needed to. All the stuff about wanting a cowed population is frankly irrelevant paranoia.
As for the obsession with Susan Michie's political views, she's been asked to do a professional job advising on behaviourism, which is her profession. She's not been asked to advise on politics, nor is she doing so. We shouldn't care how she or anyone on SAGE votes.
Would you be as sanguine if any of sage were BNP voters?
I'm pretty uneasy that the government have sought the advice on how to change behaviours from someone who wants to fundamentally reshape society in a direction I think is wholly malign.
I think all were agreed when Boris became PM that one of his features was that he tended to delegate and defer to expertise. No Gordon Brown he. This one of many acceptable strategies. But when the people he advise him want a fundamentally different sort of society it should ring some alarm bells. Now this is fine if they are advising him on very narrow matters such as, for example, how to spot clinical depression (was the example someone gave earlier, I think). But when it is how you get large numbers of innocent and healthy people to change their behaviours that becomes a bit more worrying.
Maybe she is right, maybe she is entirely innocent. But the fact that she actively wants capitalism to collapse and freedom to be severely curtailed should worry us when she is providing advice whose implementation would be highly injurious to freedom and wealth.
I suspect the Tories would have taken B & S but for moron Matt Hancock. How many years have I been saying the guy was an idiot and a liability on here?
GIN knew...
I can't see Starmer beating Boris in a general election and suspect the Conservatives will be returned at the next general election with a reduced majority. It'll be 1992/2005 all over again...
Boris goes a couple of years after the next election and Labour wins in 2028/2029.
2030's may well be a Labour decade! Hang in there PB lefties
Mancock was hardly the stand out moron in the cabinet. Several of them have lied and broken the ministerial code and not followed their own guidance and and and...
As for the PM his challenge is going to be coping with 2022 and 2023 not being the big party he hoped for. The economy has been ravaged by Covid and that means belt-tightening. At the very least he won't be spending the promised cash in the red wall, at the very worst we're back to austerity cuts.
Unlike his predecessors he is shit at spinning positives out of bad news, so if they aren't going to bin him off at the first sign of the polls softening it will be fun to watch.
Im not sure you are right on the economy, I think 2022/2023 will be boom years, people have a lot of money to spend.
I struggle to see how your optimism translates into reality. We've had to tip a bonfire of money away to stop a massive contraction becoming a permanent reduction. We need to generate economic growth to manage that away and we're in a more isolated position than we were before it started.
The way out of not just this mess but the significant structural imbalances in the economy built up over decades is to invest heavily in the new economy. Which means looking at our needs in the next decade - this lot seem fixated on tomorrow's headlines.
The optimism is based on the fact that people have repaid their debts at rates never seen before over the past 18 months. Also individual savings have increased markedly.
That includes all debts and not especially relevant to card and other pernicious high interest debts.
The bulk of that household debt is mortgage debts and since people have been buying houses at higher prices its unsurprising that there's more household debt in aggregate, but they're not necessarily in net debt because they've got the house to show for it.
Card debts, loan sharks, payday loans etc are a much more pernicious type of debt and really need to be looked at separate to mortgage debts.
I agree that we have had a real problem with short term debt and Ocean Finance style loans. But if the cash going out of your bank is long term rather than short term it is still cash going out of your bank. Which I assume is why the OBR uses the debt to income measure?
If you were previously paying a landlord rent every month and now you're paying your bank your mortgage every month, are you in more debt or less in real terms?
With a mortgage you are gradually acquiring an asset, the capital portion of your monthly payment. Not so with rent.
You are probably helping somebody else acquire an asset by renting, in fact
That was what my mother always said - "Buy a house and you are paying for a house. Rent a house and you are paying for someone else's house."
Our last landlord before we bought our first house said the same when we handed in our notice. Seemed genuinely pleased for us.
Edit: Or pleased to get rid of us, of course. We had negotiated the advertised rent down before agreeing to the contract, so maybe that was it!
Edit: 'Edit' was not an edit of course, I can't operate buttons today
‘Pfizer vaccine efficacy drops in Israel as delta variant spreads Health authorities in Israel will consider whether to recommend a third booster shot’
Outside of public transport, I have always been a bit sceptical of how much if an impact mask wearing is making (especially when we allow gyms, pubs, restaurants maskless) and given most people spend more time fiddling with their mask and very very few wear a mask of any real quality / protection (both inward and outward).
Is there much research in regardless to say for instance how much more dangerous a supermarket where people have had to wear masks vs say a gym where people don't?
This report demonstrates how effective standard masks are.
That was just in a clincal setting. So unsurprising very high level of covid, you need a high quality mask.
But i honestly don't have any idea of supermarket (masked) vs pub / restaurant / gym (unmasked).
I know, but when a standard medical mask leaves you 47 times more likely to catch covid than someone not in that position, it does demonstrate how ineffective that mask is, especially when compared to a FFP3 mask.
Standard surgical masks - or gaiters - are only effective if almost EVERYONE wears one. They are no good at stopping infection from others but they are effective at stopping others being infected by YOU.
But if mask wearing drops significantly then you need ffp2 or even ffp3 to protect yourself.
I have always been a bit sceptical of the claim about paper / fabric masks. In lab conditions this might be true, but in the real world i just see people spending their whole time taking them off / putting them on / have them slip down and readjusting them. How much protection are they actually providing, when a huge proportion of the time they aren't actually covering a persons mouth and nose, thus allowing virus to be escaping all over the place.
And now we have moved to supermarket need mask, go to the gym and breath heavily, no mask..or the pub or a restaurant. How performative is it compared to actually reducing spread?
Public transport where you are in an enclosed metal tube for often hours, i can see that, but again i think you need proper masks.
From having used masks "in anger" for stainless welding and other things, I agree about the effectiveness of such masks in medical setting, at least.
If I was UnDictator of the UK, I would be running a massive parallel trial of re-useable, fitted systems, with provision for everything from simple face mask up to complete space suit, for NHS use.
To be ready for the next time a SeanT finds the exotic food menu...
The last thing we needed was to follow the US in being obsessed with this topic, but it looks like it's going to happen anyway.
Cheer up. If Wokeness enters the mainstream it can only be bad for the Left. When people begin to understand Wokery, most of them begin to dislike it. The more they know of Woke, the more they detest. See what happened to feminism, encountering Wokeism in the trans debate. An early UK skirmish.
The Left will soon be in retreat in the culture wars, after decades of stealthy advance
There are a miniscule amount of idiots on the left who are woke who annoy a number on the right who think the numbers are greater than they are and who are just as woke at the other end of the scale (eg imperial measures, anthems, pledge of allegiance, etc, etc).
The rest of us are normal and don't give a toss either way and think both groups are prats.
Like many on here, you are utterly clueless as to the extent Wokeness has penetrated into education, law, government, charities, the arts. It now spreads into corporate culture like the fungus it is
The people who minimize or dismiss Woke generally only do it because they have not been impacted by it. Yet
The alternative is that they are too old or dim to comprehend
Well there is nothing like jumping in feet first with total arrogance and ignorance is there. You have no idea if I have expertise in any of a wide range of areas you have covered (Education, Law, Government, Charities, Arts and now Corporate). I mean with that list it is quite likely I am involved in one or more and it is pretty well impossible for you to be involved in all of them or come to that many of them. Yet apparently I am clueless and you are not. I would try looking into a mirror if I were you.
And the really nutty thing is I agree with you re wokeness, in particular if you read my posts you would know I have a real hang up about jobs worth attitudes and bureaucracy which wokeness tend to create.
I think you have shown by your enormous leaps to conclusions based upon no evidence about me I don't think we can rely on your knowledge on the amount of wokeness that exists either.
“Well there is nothing like jumping in feet first with total arrogance and ignorance is there”
Bro, this is what I DO. It’s my motto and my lodestar, which is why I’m sitting on a balcony drinking red wine in the midday Majorcan sun rather than doing something sensible like work in a small room in England in the drizzle
Well I love that response 'Leon'; it has style.
Most of us however don't put out holiday snaps on PB. Would you like to see mine of Portugal from 2 weeks ago?
Actually, yes. I like holiday snaps! Especially rn when we have been so starved of travel
It may not seem obvious but this trip to Spain has done absolute wonders for my mental health. I feel calmer, happier, freer, kinder, even physically fitter - swimming and hiking. And, after a year of deathly pallor to match my inner mood, I have a tan. It’s a good vibe
My last two lockdowns, of the three, were grim. Deeply grim. But if really feels like we are out of the worst now
Did it feel like escaping a prison when you flew off?
‘Pfizer vaccine efficacy drops in Israel as delta variant spreads Health authorities in Israel will consider whether to recommend a third booster shot’
Need to be a bit careful, law of small numbers. UK data is based on much bigger data set and has efficacy at a higher level (albeit it down from original variant). Remember initial UK data and the 1/3 double vaxxed died number...all because law of small numbers.
But...."The ministry’s data shows the vaccine’s efficacy in preventing hospitalisation was 93 per cent from June 6 to July 3, compared to a 98 per cent rate in the previous period."
That still very high, and remember UK initial data on Indian variant was much lower too, but now they say 98/99%.
‘Pfizer vaccine efficacy drops in Israel as delta variant spreads Health authorities in Israel will consider whether to recommend a third booster shot’
But the vaccine is still conferring strong protection against severe symptoms of the virus, with hospitalisation rates remaining low. The ministry’s data shows the vaccine’s efficacy in preventing hospitalisation was 93 per cent from June 6 to July 3, compared to a 98 per cent rate in the previous period.
The last thing we needed was to follow the US in being obsessed with this topic, but it looks like it's going to happen anyway.
Cheer up. If Wokeness enters the mainstream it can only be bad for the Left. When people begin to understand Wokery, most of them begin to dislike it. The more they know of Woke, the more they detest. See what happened to feminism, encountering Wokeism in the trans debate. An early UK skirmish.
The Left will soon be in retreat in the culture wars, after decades of stealthy advance
There are a miniscule amount of idiots on the left who are woke who annoy a number on the right who think the numbers are greater than they are and who are just as woke at the other end of the scale (eg imperial measures, anthems, pledge of allegiance, etc, etc).
The rest of us are normal and don't give a toss either way and think both groups are prats.
Like many on here, you are utterly clueless as to the extent Wokeness has penetrated into education, law, government, charities, the arts. It now spreads into corporate culture like the fungus it is
The people who minimize or dismiss Woke generally only do it because they have not been impacted by it. Yet
The alternative is that they are too old or dim to comprehend
Well there is nothing like jumping in feet first with total arrogance and ignorance is there. You have no idea if I have expertise in any of a wide range of areas you have covered (Education, Law, Government, Charities, Arts and now Corporate). I mean with that list it is quite likely I am involved in one or more and it is pretty well impossible for you to be involved in all of them or come to that many of them. Yet apparently I am clueless and you are not. I would try looking into a mirror if I were you.
And the really nutty thing is I agree with you re wokeness, in particular if you read my posts you would know I have a real hang up about jobs worth attitudes and bureaucracy which wokeness tend to create.
I think you have shown by your enormous leaps to conclusions based upon no evidence about me I don't think we can rely on your knowledge on the amount of wokeness that exists either.
“Well there is nothing like jumping in feet first with total arrogance and ignorance is there”
Bro, this is what I DO. It’s my motto and my lodestar, which is why I’m sitting on a balcony drinking red wine in the midday Majorcan sun rather than doing something sensible like work in a small room in England in the drizzle
Well I love that response 'Leon'; it has style.
Most of us however don't put out holiday snaps on PB. Would you like to see mine of Portugal from 2 weeks ago?
Actually, yes. I like holiday snaps! Especially rn when we have been so starved of travel
It may not seem obvious but this trip to Spain has done absolute wonders for my mental health. I feel calmer, happier, freer, kinder, even physically fitter - swimming and hiking. And, after a year of deathly pallor to match my inner mood, I have a tan. It’s a good vibe
My last two lockdowns, of the three, were grim. Deeply grim. But if really feels like we are out of the worst now
Did it feel like escaping a prison when you flew off?
Pretty close, yes. Maybe the better analogy is like being released from serfdom
The last thing we needed was to follow the US in being obsessed with this topic, but it looks like it's going to happen anyway.
Cheer up. If Wokeness enters the mainstream it can only be bad for the Left. When people begin to understand Wokery, most of them begin to dislike it. The more they know of Woke, the more they detest. See what happened to feminism, encountering Wokeism in the trans debate. An early UK skirmish.
The Left will soon be in retreat in the culture wars, after decades of stealthy advance
There are a miniscule amount of idiots on the left who are woke who annoy a number on the right who think the numbers are greater than they are and who are just as woke at the other end of the scale (eg imperial measures, anthems, pledge of allegiance, etc, etc).
The rest of us are normal and don't give a toss either way and think both groups are prats.
Like many on here, you are utterly clueless as to the extent Wokeness has penetrated into education, law, government, charities, the arts. It now spreads into corporate culture like the fungus it is
The people who minimize or dismiss Woke generally only do it because they have not been impacted by it. Yet
The alternative is that they are too old or dim to comprehend
Well there is nothing like jumping in feet first with total arrogance and ignorance is there. You have no idea if I have expertise in any of a wide range of areas you have covered (Education, Law, Government, Charities, Arts and now Corporate). I mean with that list it is quite likely I am involved in one or more and it is pretty well impossible for you to be involved in all of them or come to that many of them. Yet apparently I am clueless and you are not. I would try looking into a mirror if I were you.
And the really nutty thing is I agree with you re wokeness, in particular if you read my posts you would know I have a real hang up about jobs worth attitudes and bureaucracy which wokeness tend to create.
I think you have shown by your enormous leaps to conclusions based upon no evidence about me I don't think we can rely on your knowledge on the amount of wokeness that exists either.
“Well there is nothing like jumping in feet first with total arrogance and ignorance is there”
Bro, this is what I DO. It’s my motto and my lodestar, which is why I’m sitting on a balcony drinking red wine in the midday Majorcan sun rather than doing something sensible like work in a small room in England in the drizzle
Well I love that response 'Leon'; it has style.
Most of us however don't put out holiday snaps on PB. Would you like to see mine of Portugal from 2 weeks ago?
Actually, yes. I like holiday snaps! Especially rn when we have been so starved of travel
It may not seem obvious but this trip to Spain has done absolute wonders for my mental health. I feel calmer, happier, freer, kinder, even physically fitter - swimming and hiking. And, after a year of deathly pallor to match my inner mood, I have a tan. It’s a good vibe
My last two lockdowns, of the three, were grim. Deeply grim. But if really feels like we are out of the worst now
I'm really pleased it has made you feel better. I have been lucky as I have a very large garden and a decent sized house so lockdown hasn't been too bad for me, but I feel for people stuck in flats and in particular young people.
I'm still not putting my holiday snaps on PB though.
The last thing we needed was to follow the US in being obsessed with this topic, but it looks like it's going to happen anyway.
Cheer up. If Wokeness enters the mainstream it can only be bad for the Left. When people begin to understand Wokery, most of them begin to dislike it. The more they know of Woke, the more they detest. See what happened to feminism, encountering Wokeism in the trans debate. An early UK skirmish.
The Left will soon be in retreat in the culture wars, after decades of stealthy advance
There are a miniscule amount of idiots on the left who are woke who annoy a number on the right who think the numbers are greater than they are and who are just as woke at the other end of the scale (eg imperial measures, anthems, pledge of allegiance, etc, etc).
The rest of us are normal and don't give a toss either way and think both groups are prats.
Like many on here, you are utterly clueless as to the extent Wokeness has penetrated into education, law, government, charities, the arts. It now spreads into corporate culture like the fungus it is
The people who minimize or dismiss Woke generally only do it because they have not been impacted by it. Yet
The alternative is that they are too old or dim to comprehend
Well there is nothing like jumping in feet first with total arrogance and ignorance is there. You have no idea if I have expertise in any of a wide range of areas you have covered (Education, Law, Government, Charities, Arts and now Corporate). I mean with that list it is quite likely I am involved in one or more and it is pretty well impossible for you to be involved in all of them or come to that many of them. Yet apparently I am clueless and you are not. I would try looking into a mirror if I were you.
And the really nutty thing is I agree with you re wokeness, in particular if you read my posts you would know I have a real hang up about jobs worth attitudes and bureaucracy which wokeness tend to create.
I think you have shown by your enormous leaps to conclusions based upon no evidence about me I don't think we can rely on your knowledge on the amount of wokeness that exists either.
“Well there is nothing like jumping in feet first with total arrogance and ignorance is there”
Bro, this is what I DO. It’s my motto and my lodestar, which is why I’m sitting on a balcony drinking red wine in the midday Majorcan sun rather than doing something sensible like work in a small room in England in the drizzle
Well I love that response 'Leon'; it has style.
Most of us however don't put out holiday snaps on PB. Would you like to see mine of Portugal from 2 weeks ago?
Depends what sort of holiday snaps they are.
You're safe I can never work out how to put the bloody pictures up anyway. Done it before, but have forgotten.
The last thing we needed was to follow the US in being obsessed with this topic, but it looks like it's going to happen anyway.
Cheer up. If Wokeness enters the mainstream it can only be bad for the Left. When people begin to understand Wokery, most of them begin to dislike it. The more they know of Woke, the more they detest. See what happened to feminism, encountering Wokeism in the trans debate. An early UK skirmish.
The Left will soon be in retreat in the culture wars, after decades of stealthy advance
There are a miniscule amount of idiots on the left who are woke who annoy a number on the right who think the numbers are greater than they are and who are just as woke at the other end of the scale (eg imperial measures, anthems, pledge of allegiance, etc, etc).
The rest of us are normal and don't give a toss either way and think both groups are prats.
Like many on here, you are utterly clueless as to the extent Wokeness has penetrated into education, law, government, charities, the arts. It now spreads into corporate culture like the fungus it is
The people who minimize or dismiss Woke generally only do it because they have not been impacted by it. Yet
The alternative is that they are too old or dim to comprehend
Well there is nothing like jumping in feet first with total arrogance and ignorance is there. You have no idea if I have expertise in any of a wide range of areas you have covered (Education, Law, Government, Charities, Arts and now Corporate). I mean with that list it is quite likely I am involved in one or more and it is pretty well impossible for you to be involved in all of them or come to that many of them. Yet apparently I am clueless and you are not. I would try looking into a mirror if I were you.
And the really nutty thing is I agree with you re wokeness, in particular if you read my posts you would know I have a real hang up about jobs worth attitudes and bureaucracy which wokeness tend to create.
I think you have shown by your enormous leaps to conclusions based upon no evidence about me I don't think we can rely on your knowledge on the amount of wokeness that exists either.
“Well there is nothing like jumping in feet first with total arrogance and ignorance is there”
Bro, this is what I DO. It’s my motto and my lodestar, which is why I’m sitting on a balcony drinking red wine in the midday Majorcan sun rather than doing something sensible like work in a small room in England in the drizzle
Well I love that response 'Leon'; it has style.
Most of us however don't put out holiday snaps on PB. Would you like to see mine of Portugal from 2 weeks ago?
Actually, yes. I like holiday snaps! Especially rn when we have been so starved of travel
It may not seem obvious but this trip to Spain has done absolute wonders for my mental health. I feel calmer, happier, freer, kinder, even physically fitter - swimming and hiking. And, after a year of deathly pallor to match my inner mood, I have a tan. It’s a good vibe
My last two lockdowns, of the three, were grim. Deeply grim. But if really feels like we are out of the worst now
I'm really pleased it has made you feel better. I have been lucky as I have a very large garden and a decent sized house so lockdown hasn't been too bad for me, but I feel for people stuck in flats and in particular young people.
I'm still not putting my holiday snaps on PB though.
Lockdown has been much easier on certain psychological types, as well. It’s not just having a garden, big house, age, and so on
For introverts (probably the majority on PB?) lockdown has been almost a blessing. No pressure to socialise, no stigma about staying in, the geek shall inherit the earth
In much more of an extrovert (prone to solitude, but still an extrovert). I like going out, exploring, meeting, all of that. Lockdown has been fucking miserable. Plus I live in a one bed flat. Yuk
There is data backing this up. Extroverts have suffered more
Mr. Sandpit, apparently it comes from 'number used only once'.
They've got stiff competition from arch-rivals 'crypto universal technologies'.
Nah.
1) Philharmonic Orchestra of Florida
2) Microsoft introduced something called the 'Critical Update Notification Tool' shortly afterwards they renamed it the 'Critical Updated Notification Utility.'
@Cookie nah everyone hates wearing masks, even the most vegan wokeista
Yes, that's my impression. So I think the numbers who actually keep wearing masks even when they're not compelled to will be rather lower than those who say that they will.
There is definitely a divide between maskers and non-maskers in my experience ... perfectly rational people, who ought to know better, are still terrified. It's not as obvious as Remainers versus Leavers but that's as close a proxy as any. Call it Collectivism versus Individualism - those who believe in big government and are happy to be ordered around versus those who don't.
If you terrify the population, they will tend toward big government for protection. As I've said before, unterrifying the population after 18 months of relentless doom-mongering is going to be very, very hard ... and I'm not even sure the government wants to do it, not really - they have got used to a cowed and compliant populace, which is awfully convenient when you have unpopular climate change restrictions to impose (not to mention tax rises to pay for COVID). No, I reckon the government will be quite happy to have a collectivist, all-in-it-together mindset around for quite a while.
I was glad to see finally some discussion on here last night about the devastating, insidious impact of the behavioural psychologists during COVID ... they really have grasped the opportunity for relevance and power and they are not going to give it up easily - we need to shine a light much more harshly on who they are and what they are up to. The fact we have far-left political activists in an official capacity advising the government on how to make people comply with COVID restrictions is extremely worrying.
I've recommended Laura Dodsworth's book before and I do it again. It is a sickening read.
You're over-politicising it. There's a rational discussion (much of which we've seen on PB) about the right balance between enjoyment and risk-taking, and the Government has a difficult choice in steering us through, as to be fair would any Government.
I'm not a fan of the Government, but nor am I convinced they are motivated by collectivism (Boris Johnson??? Pull the other one), control-freakery or anything on those lines. The risk of relaxing too quickly is that you get a lot of illness and later end up having to tighten up again. The risk of relaxing too slowly is that you inhibit normal life and the economy more than you needed to. All the stuff about wanting a cowed population is frankly irrelevant paranoia.
As for the obsession with Susan Michie's political views, she's been asked to do a professional job advising on behaviourism, which is her profession. She's not been asked to advise on politics, nor is she doing so. We shouldn't care how she or anyone on SAGE votes.
Would you be as sanguine if any of sage were BNP voters?
I'm pretty uneasy that the government have sought the advice on how to change behaviours from someone who wants to fundamentally reshape society in a direction I think is wholly malign.
I think all were agreed when Boris became PM that one of his features was that he tended to delegate and defer to expertise. No Gordon Brown he. This one of many acceptable strategies. But when the people he advise him want a fundamentally different sort of society it should ring some alarm bells. Now this is fine if they are advising him on very narrow matters such as, for example, how to spot clinical depression (was the example someone gave earlier, I think). But when it is how you get large numbers of innocent and healthy people to change their behaviours that becomes a bit more worrying.
Maybe she is right, maybe she is entirely innocent. But the fact that she actively wants capitalism to collapse and freedom to be severely curtailed should worry us when she is providing advice whose implementation would be highly injurious to freedom and wealth.
I'd be uneasy with a BNP member/current voter being involved as I don't think you could be a BNP voter/member without being racist, which has implications for working with others etc etc...
If Nigel Farage was an expert in a field that needed advice, I'd be happy to see him on SAGE. I can go that far. (He could have had a role in campaigning issues, maybe. So too Cummings, potentially).
‘Pfizer vaccine efficacy drops in Israel as delta variant spreads Health authorities in Israel will consider whether to recommend a third booster shot’
iirc HMG is already planning booster shots in the autumn. Yes, there it is in the press conference press release posted earlier.
The government is ensuring preparations are in place to offer third “booster” doses to everyone aged over 50 and the most vulnerable to boost their immunity over the winter months, based on interim advice from the JCVI. Final advice is expected in the coming months. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/prime-minister-to-set-out-plans-ahead-of-step-4
ETA of course the Israeli evidence will need to be studied before the big un-lockdown on the 19th.
@Cookie nah everyone hates wearing masks, even the most vegan wokeista
Yes, that's my impression. So I think the numbers who actually keep wearing masks even when they're not compelled to will be rather lower than those who say that they will.
There is definitely a divide between maskers and non-maskers in my experience ... perfectly rational people, who ought to know better, are still terrified. It's not as obvious as Remainers versus Leavers but that's as close a proxy as any. Call it Collectivism versus Individualism - those who believe in big government and are happy to be ordered around versus those who don't.
If you terrify the population, they will tend toward big government for protection. As I've said before, unterrifying the population after 18 months of relentless doom-mongering is going to be very, very hard ... and I'm not even sure the government wants to do it, not really - they have got used to a cowed and compliant populace, which is awfully convenient when you have unpopular climate change restrictions to impose (not to mention tax rises to pay for COVID). No, I reckon the government will be quite happy to have a collectivist, all-in-it-together mindset around for quite a while.
I was glad to see finally some discussion on here last night about the devastating, insidious impact of the behavioural psychologists during COVID ... they really have grasped the opportunity for relevance and power and they are not going to give it up easily - we need to shine a light much more harshly on who they are and what they are up to. The fact we have far-left political activists in an official capacity advising the government on how to make people comply with COVID restrictions is extremely worrying.
I've recommended Laura Dodsworth's book before and I do it again. It is a sickening read.
You're over-politicising it. There's a rational discussion (much of which we've seen on PB) about the right balance between enjoyment and risk-taking, and the Government has a difficult choice in steering us through, as to be fair would any Government.
I'm not a fan of the Government, but nor am I convinced they are motivated by collectivism (Boris Johnson??? Pull the other one), control-freakery or anything on those lines. The risk of relaxing too quickly is that you get a lot of illness and later end up having to tighten up again. The risk of relaxing too slowly is that you inhibit normal life and the economy more than you needed to. All the stuff about wanting a cowed population is frankly irrelevant paranoia.
As for the obsession with Susan Michie's political views, she's been asked to do a professional job advising on behaviourism, which is her profession. She's not been asked to advise on politics, nor is she doing so. We shouldn't care how she or anyone on SAGE votes.
Would you be as sanguine if any of sage were BNP voters?
I'm pretty uneasy that the government have sought the advice on how to change behaviours from someone who wants to fundamentally reshape society in a direction I think is wholly malign.
I think all were agreed when Boris became PM that one of his features was that he tended to delegate and defer to expertise. No Gordon Brown he. This one of many acceptable strategies. But when the people he advise him want a fundamentally different sort of society it should ring some alarm bells. Now this is fine if they are advising him on very narrow matters such as, for example, how to spot clinical depression (was the example someone gave earlier, I think). But when it is how you get large numbers of innocent and healthy people to change their behaviours that becomes a bit more worrying.
Maybe she is right, maybe she is entirely innocent. But the fact that she actively wants capitalism to collapse and freedom to be severely curtailed should worry us when she is providing advice whose implementation would be highly injurious to freedom and wealth.
What I really don't understand is how someone who is an expert on human behaviour can be in favour of communism?
I’m observing Dominic Cummings’s “Ask Me Anything” so that PBers don’t have to.
Fan of Tony Blair’s it seems:
Obviously he'd (Tony Blair) have done a much better job - he wd at least read papers, chair meetings, understand how gvt machine works, not trolley around all day... And my impression is since losing on Brexit he's jumped ahead of almost all MPs in understanding that science and technology must be the future orientation for UK...
Mr. Sandpit, apparently it comes from 'number used only once'.
They've got stiff competition from arch-rivals 'crypto universal technologies'.
Nah.
1) Philharmonic Orchestra of Florida
2) Microsoft introduced something called the 'Critical Update Notification Tool' shortly afterwards they renamed it the 'Critical Updated Notification Utility.'
And I will repeat again
City University of Newcastle upon Tyne (which rapidly became Northumbria Uni).
I might update my report on NFTs with the headline 'Nonces use NFTs!'
Clearly an American thought Prince Andrew was authorised to give Royal Warrants of Appointment.
Well.....
Prince Andrew and a former Coutts managing director have set up a joint venture together, despite the latter’s role at the centre of sexual harassment allegations.
Harry Keogh, who left Coutts in March 2018, was accused of making unwanted physical contact and lewd comments toward female colleagues at the bank.
An eight-year veteran of the firm, he had been a managing director of its London private wealth division and a member of its private banking executive committee. Keogh sued the bank for unfair dismissal in 2019.
The last thing we needed was to follow the US in being obsessed with this topic, but it looks like it's going to happen anyway.
Cheer up. If Wokeness enters the mainstream it can only be bad for the Left. When people begin to understand Wokery, most of them begin to dislike it. The more they know of Woke, the more they detest. See what happened to feminism, encountering Wokeism in the trans debate. An early UK skirmish.
The Left will soon be in retreat in the culture wars, after decades of stealthy advance
There are a miniscule amount of idiots on the left who are woke who annoy a number on the right who think the numbers are greater than they are and who are just as woke at the other end of the scale (eg imperial measures, anthems, pledge of allegiance, etc, etc).
The rest of us are normal and don't give a toss either way and think both groups are prats.
Like many on here, you are utterly clueless as to the extent Wokeness has penetrated into education, law, government, charities, the arts. It now spreads into corporate culture like the fungus it is
The people who minimize or dismiss Woke generally only do it because they have not been impacted by it. Yet
The alternative is that they are too old or dim to comprehend
Well there is nothing like jumping in feet first with total arrogance and ignorance is there. You have no idea if I have expertise in any of a wide range of areas you have covered (Education, Law, Government, Charities, Arts and now Corporate). I mean with that list it is quite likely I am involved in one or more and it is pretty well impossible for you to be involved in all of them or come to that many of them. Yet apparently I am clueless and you are not. I would try looking into a mirror if I were you.
And the really nutty thing is I agree with you re wokeness, in particular if you read my posts you would know I have a real hang up about jobs worth attitudes and bureaucracy which wokeness tend to create.
I think you have shown by your enormous leaps to conclusions based upon no evidence about me I don't think we can rely on your knowledge on the amount of wokeness that exists either.
“Well there is nothing like jumping in feet first with total arrogance and ignorance is there”
Bro, this is what I DO. It’s my motto and my lodestar, which is why I’m sitting on a balcony drinking red wine in the midday Majorcan sun rather than doing something sensible like work in a small room in England in the drizzle
Well I love that response 'Leon'; it has style.
Most of us however don't put out holiday snaps on PB. Would you like to see mine of Portugal from 2 weeks ago?
Actually, yes. I like holiday snaps! Especially rn when we have been so starved of travel
It may not seem obvious but this trip to Spain has done absolute wonders for my mental health. I feel calmer, happier, freer, kinder, even physically fitter - swimming and hiking. And, after a year of deathly pallor to match my inner mood, I have a tan. It’s a good vibe
My last two lockdowns, of the three, were grim. Deeply grim. But if really feels like we are out of the worst now
I'm really pleased it has made you feel better. I have been lucky as I have a very large garden and a decent sized house so lockdown hasn't been too bad for me, but I feel for people stuck in flats and in particular young people.
I'm still not putting my holiday snaps on PB though.
Lockdown has been much easier on certain psychological types, as well. It’s not just having a garden, big house, age, and so on
For introverts (probably the majority on PB?) lockdown has been almost a blessing. No pressure to socialise, no stigma about staying in, the geek shall inherit the earth
In much more of an extrovert (prone to solitude, but still an extrovert). I like going out, exploring, meeting, all of that. Lockdown has been fucking miserable. Plus I live in a one bed flat. Yuk
There is data backing this up. Extroverts have suffered more
Something occurred to me this morning. There are no passport controls twixt Ireland and the UK as I understand it (I haven’t been for years but I don’t recall any, and isn’t that the point of the CTA?)
So if you want to work in the UK undocumented as an EU citizen you just fly to Dublin then to london, Glasgow, Manchester wherever, or get a ferry to wales, or an Uber to Belfast.
Of course EU citizens have always been able to do this, but it just wasn’t necessary before, as we were in the EU and they had freedom of movement. But after Brexit this is a huge and open back door
I don't think there's any way to cross from the island of Ireland to the island of Britain without showing photo ID, so if you aren't Irish or British then the issue of visa, etc, would come up.
I suppose if you really wanted to then you could drive into Northern Ireland and take a private boat across from NI to Scotland, but you couldn't do it on a commercial service.
The last thing we needed was to follow the US in being obsessed with this topic, but it looks like it's going to happen anyway.
Cheer up. If Wokeness enters the mainstream it can only be bad for the Left. When people begin to understand Wokery, most of them begin to dislike it. The more they know of Woke, the more they detest. See what happened to feminism, encountering Wokeism in the trans debate. An early UK skirmish.
The Left will soon be in retreat in the culture wars, after decades of stealthy advance
There are a miniscule amount of idiots on the left who are woke who annoy a number on the right who think the numbers are greater than they are and who are just as woke at the other end of the scale (eg imperial measures, anthems, pledge of allegiance, etc, etc).
The rest of us are normal and don't give a toss either way and think both groups are prats.
Like many on here, you are utterly clueless as to the extent Wokeness has penetrated into education, law, government, charities, the arts. It now spreads into corporate culture like the fungus it is
The people who minimize or dismiss Woke generally only do it because they have not been impacted by it. Yet
The alternative is that they are too old or dim to comprehend
Well there is nothing like jumping in feet first with total arrogance and ignorance is there. You have no idea if I have expertise in any of a wide range of areas you have covered (Education, Law, Government, Charities, Arts and now Corporate). I mean with that list it is quite likely I am involved in one or more and it is pretty well impossible for you to be involved in all of them or come to that many of them. Yet apparently I am clueless and you are not. I would try looking into a mirror if I were you.
And the really nutty thing is I agree with you re wokeness, in particular if you read my posts you would know I have a real hang up about jobs worth attitudes and bureaucracy which wokeness tend to create.
I think you have shown by your enormous leaps to conclusions based upon no evidence about me I don't think we can rely on your knowledge on the amount of wokeness that exists either.
“Well there is nothing like jumping in feet first with total arrogance and ignorance is there”
Bro, this is what I DO. It’s my motto and my lodestar, which is why I’m sitting on a balcony drinking red wine in the midday Majorcan sun rather than doing something sensible like work in a small room in England in the drizzle
Well I love that response 'Leon'; it has style.
Most of us however don't put out holiday snaps on PB. Would you like to see mine of Portugal from 2 weeks ago?
Actually, yes. I like holiday snaps! Especially rn when we have been so starved of travel
It may not seem obvious but this trip to Spain has done absolute wonders for my mental health. I feel calmer, happier, freer, kinder, even physically fitter - swimming and hiking. And, after a year of deathly pallor to match my inner mood, I have a tan. It’s a good vibe
My last two lockdowns, of the three, were grim. Deeply grim. But if really feels like we are out of the worst now
I'm really pleased it has made you feel better. I have been lucky as I have a very large garden and a decent sized house so lockdown hasn't been too bad for me, but I feel for people stuck in flats and in particular young people.
I'm still not putting my holiday snaps on PB though.
Lockdown has been much easier on certain psychological types, as well. It’s not just having a garden, big house, age, and so on
For introverts (probably the majority on PB?) lockdown has been almost a blessing. No pressure to socialise, no stigma about staying in, the geek shall inherit the earth
In much more of an extrovert (prone to solitude, but still an extrovert). I like going out, exploring, meeting, all of that. Lockdown has been fucking miserable. Plus I live in a one bed flat. Yuk
There is data backing this up. Extroverts have suffered more
Cummings also thinks Boris “sold fishing out”, that Keir is “useless” and “can’t build a team”, and that Javid will just “do what officials tell him”.
Contra to the last point, he believes the July 19 freedoms are a mistake.
Lol, Cummings has completely lost it hasn't he. It really was like that scene out of Jerry Maguire when he walks out of the office and no one gives a fuck. Now all he can do is carp from the sidelines but no one's listening.
I’m observing Dominic Cummings’s “Ask Me Anything” so that PBers don’t have to.
Fan of Tony Blair’s it seems:
Obviously he'd (Tony Blair) have done a much better job - he wd at least read papers, chair meetings, understand how gvt machine works, not trolley around all day... And my impression is since losing on Brexit he's jumped ahead of almost all MPs in understanding that science and technology must be the future orientation for UK...
Seems that Dom is testing the loyalty of the Brexity Tories - that deep down Dom's a good egg no matter what anyone says - to absolute destruction.
Something occurred to me this morning. There are no passport controls twixt Ireland and the UK as I understand it (I haven’t been for years but I don’t recall any, and isn’t that the point of the CTA?)
So if you want to work in the UK undocumented as an EU citizen you just fly to Dublin then to london, Glasgow, Manchester wherever, or get a ferry to wales, or an Uber to Belfast.
Of course EU citizens have always been able to do this, but it just wasn’t necessary before, as we were in the EU and they had freedom of movement. But after Brexit this is a huge and open back door
I don't think there's any way to cross from the island of Ireland to the island of Britain without showing photo ID, so if you aren't Irish or British then the issue of visa, etc, would come up.
I suppose if you really wanted to then you could drive into Northern Ireland and take a private boat across from NI to Scotland, but you couldn't do it on a commercial service.
Do you have to show a photo id to get on a ferry? I don’t remember doing so when I last went UK-Eire by sea but it was yonks ago so I might misremember
As for a plane I get that the airline would want to see your passport but that’s very different from customs and the UKBA
Are you noted by anyone apart from the airline as entering the UK from Ireland? I doubt it. Ultimately you could be traced by, say, police, but you’re not a migration statistic
Cummings also thinks Boris “sold fishing out”, that Keir is “useless” and “can’t build a team”, and that Javid will just “do what officials tell him”.
Contra to the last point, he believes the July 19 freedoms are a mistake.
Lol, Cummings has completely lost it hasn't he. It really was like that scene out of Jerry Maguire when he walks out of the office and no one gives a fuck. Now all he can do is carp from the sidelines but no one's listening.
This is what happens when you're the smartest person in the room and nobody listens to you.
You just have to yell into the void.
@Chris has probably more of experience of it than me.
I'm fortunate as I'm always the smartest person in the room and everyone listens to what I say.
‘Pfizer vaccine efficacy drops in Israel as delta variant spreads Health authorities in Israel will consider whether to recommend a third booster shot’
iirc HMG is already planning booster shots in the autumn. Yes, there it is in the press conference press release posted earlier.
The government is ensuring preparations are in place to offer third “booster” doses to everyone aged over 50 and the most vulnerable to boost their immunity over the winter months, based on interim advice from the JCVI. Final advice is expected in the coming months. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/prime-minister-to-set-out-plans-ahead-of-step-4
ETA of course the Israeli evidence will need to be studied before the big un-lockdown on the 19th.
My son had pfizer, is double jabbed and has previously had covid
Currently feeling sorry for himself with covid delta variant
The last thing we needed was to follow the US in being obsessed with this topic, but it looks like it's going to happen anyway.
Cheer up. If Wokeness enters the mainstream it can only be bad for the Left. When people begin to understand Wokery, most of them begin to dislike it. The more they know of Woke, the more they detest. See what happened to feminism, encountering Wokeism in the trans debate. An early UK skirmish.
The Left will soon be in retreat in the culture wars, after decades of stealthy advance
There are a miniscule amount of idiots on the left who are woke who annoy a number on the right who think the numbers are greater than they are and who are just as woke at the other end of the scale (eg imperial measures, anthems, pledge of allegiance, etc, etc).
The rest of us are normal and don't give a toss either way and think both groups are prats.
Like many on here, you are utterly clueless as to the extent Wokeness has penetrated into education, law, government, charities, the arts. It now spreads into corporate culture like the fungus it is
The people who minimize or dismiss Woke generally only do it because they have not been impacted by it. Yet
The alternative is that they are too old or dim to comprehend
Well there is nothing like jumping in feet first with total arrogance and ignorance is there. You have no idea if I have expertise in any of a wide range of areas you have covered (Education, Law, Government, Charities, Arts and now Corporate). I mean with that list it is quite likely I am involved in one or more and it is pretty well impossible for you to be involved in all of them or come to that many of them. Yet apparently I am clueless and you are not. I would try looking into a mirror if I were you.
And the really nutty thing is I agree with you re wokeness, in particular if you read my posts you would know I have a real hang up about jobs worth attitudes and bureaucracy which wokeness tend to create.
I think you have shown by your enormous leaps to conclusions based upon no evidence about me I don't think we can rely on your knowledge on the amount of wokeness that exists either.
“Well there is nothing like jumping in feet first with total arrogance and ignorance is there”
Bro, this is what I DO. It’s my motto and my lodestar, which is why I’m sitting on a balcony drinking red wine in the midday Majorcan sun rather than doing something sensible like work in a small room in England in the drizzle
Well I love that response 'Leon'; it has style.
Most of us however don't put out holiday snaps on PB. Would you like to see mine of Portugal from 2 weeks ago?
Actually, yes. I like holiday snaps! Especially rn when we have been so starved of travel
It may not seem obvious but this trip to Spain has done absolute wonders for my mental health. I feel calmer, happier, freer, kinder, even physically fitter - swimming and hiking. And, after a year of deathly pallor to match my inner mood, I have a tan. It’s a good vibe
My last two lockdowns, of the three, were grim. Deeply grim. But if really feels like we are out of the worst now
I'm really pleased it has made you feel better. I have been lucky as I have a very large garden and a decent sized house so lockdown hasn't been too bad for me, but I feel for people stuck in flats and in particular young people.
I'm still not putting my holiday snaps on PB though.
Lockdown has been much easier on certain psychological types, as well. It’s not just having a garden, big house, age, and so on
For introverts (probably the majority on PB?) lockdown has been almost a blessing. No pressure to socialise, no stigma about staying in, the geek shall inherit the earth
In much more of an extrovert (prone to solitude, but still an extrovert). I like going out, exploring, meeting, all of that. Lockdown has been fucking miserable. Plus I live in a one bed flat. Yuk
There is data backing this up. Extroverts have suffered more
I was just thinking how lookdown hasn't really bothered me one iota. Thanks for explaining why.
‘Pfizer vaccine efficacy drops in Israel as delta variant spreads Health authorities in Israel will consider whether to recommend a third booster shot’
iirc HMG is already planning booster shots in the autumn. Yes, there it is in the press conference press release posted earlier.
The government is ensuring preparations are in place to offer third “booster” doses to everyone aged over 50 and the most vulnerable to boost their immunity over the winter months, based on interim advice from the JCVI. Final advice is expected in the coming months. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/prime-minister-to-set-out-plans-ahead-of-step-4
ETA of course the Israeli evidence will need to be studied before the big un-lockdown on the 19th.
My son had pfizer, is double jabbed and has previously had covid
Currently feeling sorry for himself with covid delta variant
Jeez. How bad is it? I’m now hearing lots of anecdotes of double jabbed types getting delta. Pff. No one in hospital but definitely laid up in bed
‘Pfizer vaccine efficacy drops in Israel as delta variant spreads Health authorities in Israel will consider whether to recommend a third booster shot’
iirc HMG is already planning booster shots in the autumn. Yes, there it is in the press conference press release posted earlier.
The government is ensuring preparations are in place to offer third “booster” doses to everyone aged over 50 and the most vulnerable to boost their immunity over the winter months, based on interim advice from the JCVI. Final advice is expected in the coming months. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/prime-minister-to-set-out-plans-ahead-of-step-4
ETA of course the Israeli evidence will need to be studied before the big un-lockdown on the 19th.
The Israeli data is interesting to watch and analyse because they were so ahead in terms of getting jabs into people at the start. We also still don't know how long immunity really lasts from these jabs so to see the nation that was ahead in terms of the calendar year when it comes to vaccinations will be interesting.
These are amazing vaccines, especially the Pfizer one so I have confidence they will hold up really well going forward.
The last thing we needed was to follow the US in being obsessed with this topic, but it looks like it's going to happen anyway.
Cheer up. If Wokeness enters the mainstream it can only be bad for the Left. When people begin to understand Wokery, most of them begin to dislike it. The more they know of Woke, the more they detest. See what happened to feminism, encountering Wokeism in the trans debate. An early UK skirmish.
The Left will soon be in retreat in the culture wars, after decades of stealthy advance
There are a miniscule amount of idiots on the left who are woke who annoy a number on the right who think the numbers are greater than they are and who are just as woke at the other end of the scale (eg imperial measures, anthems, pledge of allegiance, etc, etc).
The rest of us are normal and don't give a toss either way and think both groups are prats.
Like many on here, you are utterly clueless as to the extent Wokeness has penetrated into education, law, government, charities, the arts. It now spreads into corporate culture like the fungus it is
The people who minimize or dismiss Woke generally only do it because they have not been impacted by it. Yet
The alternative is that they are too old or dim to comprehend
Well there is nothing like jumping in feet first with total arrogance and ignorance is there. You have no idea if I have expertise in any of a wide range of areas you have covered (Education, Law, Government, Charities, Arts and now Corporate). I mean with that list it is quite likely I am involved in one or more and it is pretty well impossible for you to be involved in all of them or come to that many of them. Yet apparently I am clueless and you are not. I would try looking into a mirror if I were you.
And the really nutty thing is I agree with you re wokeness, in particular if you read my posts you would know I have a real hang up about jobs worth attitudes and bureaucracy which wokeness tend to create.
I think you have shown by your enormous leaps to conclusions based upon no evidence about me I don't think we can rely on your knowledge on the amount of wokeness that exists either.
“Well there is nothing like jumping in feet first with total arrogance and ignorance is there”
Bro, this is what I DO. It’s my motto and my lodestar, which is why I’m sitting on a balcony drinking red wine in the midday Majorcan sun rather than doing something sensible like work in a small room in England in the drizzle
Well I love that response 'Leon'; it has style.
Most of us however don't put out holiday snaps on PB. Would you like to see mine of Portugal from 2 weeks ago?
Actually, yes. I like holiday snaps! Especially rn when we have been so starved of travel
It may not seem obvious but this trip to Spain has done absolute wonders for my mental health. I feel calmer, happier, freer, kinder, even physically fitter - swimming and hiking. And, after a year of deathly pallor to match my inner mood, I have a tan. It’s a good vibe
My last two lockdowns, of the three, were grim. Deeply grim. But if really feels like we are out of the worst now
I'm really pleased it has made you feel better. I have been lucky as I have a very large garden and a decent sized house so lockdown hasn't been too bad for me, but I feel for people stuck in flats and in particular young people.
I'm still not putting my holiday snaps on PB though.
Lockdown has been much easier on certain psychological types, as well. It’s not just having a garden, big house, age, and so on
For introverts (probably the majority on PB?) lockdown has been almost a blessing. No pressure to socialise, no stigma about staying in, the geek shall inherit the earth
In much more of an extrovert (prone to solitude, but still an extrovert). I like going out, exploring, meeting, all of that. Lockdown has been fucking miserable. Plus I live in a one bed flat. Yuk
There is data backing this up. Extroverts have suffered more
Mr. Sandpit, apparently it comes from 'number used only once'.
They've got stiff competition from arch-rivals 'crypto universal technologies'.
Yes, a nonce is usually a generated random number used to prevent someone capturing the encrypted version of a password and re-using that encrypted representation to gain access (a so-called replay attack). By using a nonce in the process the encrypted representation is never the same twice.
Nothing to do with not being allowed to go round the Mulberry tree in Wakefield prison (which was sadly cut down recently).
Cummings also thinks Boris “sold fishing out”, that Keir is “useless” and “can’t build a team”, and that Javid will just “do what officials tell him”.
Contra to the last point, he believes the July 19 freedoms are a mistake.
Lol, Cummings has completely lost it hasn't he. It really was like that scene out of Jerry Maguire when he walks out of the office and no one gives a fuck. Now all he can do is carp from the sidelines but no one's listening.
This is what happens when you're the smartest person in the room and nobody listens to you.
You just have to yell into the void.
@Chris has probably more of experience of it than me.
I'm fortunate as I'm always the smartest person in the room and everyone listens to what I say.
‘Pfizer vaccine efficacy drops in Israel as delta variant spreads Health authorities in Israel will consider whether to recommend a third booster shot’
Nonsense. Freedom Day is a fixed mark, an irreversible removal of restrictions as there is absolutely no risk at all to the massive delta spike we are all now enjoying.
Cummings also thinks Boris “sold fishing out”, that Keir is “useless” and “can’t build a team”, and that Javid will just “do what officials tell him”.
Contra to the last point, he believes the July 19 freedoms are a mistake.
Lol, Cummings has completely lost it hasn't he. It really was like that scene out of Jerry Maguire when he walks out of the office and no one gives a fuck. Now all he can do is carp from the sidelines but no one's listening.
This is what happens when you're the smartest person in the room and nobody listens to you.
You just have to yell into the void.
@Chris has probably more of experience of it than me.
I'm fortunate as I'm always the smartest person in the room and everyone listens to what I say.
You must find PB a considerable wrench then.
Absolutely, though the biggest wrench for me is seeing so many lovers of pineapple on pizza on this site
Something occurred to me this morning. There are no passport controls twixt Ireland and the UK as I understand it (I haven’t been for years but I don’t recall any, and isn’t that the point of the CTA?)
So if you want to work in the UK undocumented as an EU citizen you just fly to Dublin then to london, Glasgow, Manchester wherever, or get a ferry to wales, or an Uber to Belfast.
Of course EU citizens have always been able to do this, but it just wasn’t necessary before, as we were in the EU and they had freedom of movement. But after Brexit this is a huge and open back door
I don't think there's any way to cross from the island of Ireland to the island of Britain without showing photo ID, so if you aren't Irish or British then the issue of visa, etc, would come up.
I suppose if you really wanted to then you could drive into Northern Ireland and take a private boat across from NI to Scotland, but you couldn't do it on a commercial service.
Do you have to show a photo id to get on a ferry? I don’t remember doing so when I last went UK-Eire by sea but it was yonks ago so I might misremember
As for a plane I get that the airline would want to see your passport but that’s very different from customs and the UKBA
Are you noted by anyone apart from the airline as entering the UK from Ireland? I doubt it. Ultimately you could be traced by, say, police, but you’re not a migration statistic
Yep - it is quite common for the Army to be sat at Stranraer or Belfast to collect a "deserter"...
I thought I was an introvert when I was younger and I realised over time that I was very much not, just didn't have a lot of social skills.
But like any other skill, practice and time can improve anything. I am now at a point where I can see the benefits, certainly in software engineering I progress a lot faster with those skills.
I was initially very happy WFH but over the last few months I have become tired of it and I want to go back to the office and see people. The pub is getting me through.
I am sold on WFH + office but I am not sold on WFH forever.
Cummings also thinks Boris “sold fishing out”, that Keir is “useless” and “can’t build a team”, and that Javid will just “do what officials tell him”.
Contra to the last point, he believes the July 19 freedoms are a mistake.
Lol, Cummings has completely lost it hasn't he. It really was like that scene out of Jerry Maguire when he walks out of the office and no one gives a fuck. Now all he can do is carp from the sidelines but no one's listening.
This is what happens when you're the smartest person in the room and nobody listens to you.
You just have to yell into the void.
@Chris has probably more of experience of it than me.
I'm fortunate as I'm always the smartest person in the room and everyone listens to what I say.
You must find PB a considerable wrench then.
Absolutely, though the biggest wrench for me is seeing so many lovers of pineapple on pizza on this site
What have you got against our national dish (after we lose to Italy on Sunday)..
I notice on Saturday a number of English footballers were all embracing / hugging Ukranian players / management...you would think after Mount incident they would learn...
‘Pfizer vaccine efficacy drops in Israel as delta variant spreads Health authorities in Israel will consider whether to recommend a third booster shot’
iirc HMG is already planning booster shots in the autumn. Yes, there it is in the press conference press release posted earlier.
The government is ensuring preparations are in place to offer third “booster” doses to everyone aged over 50 and the most vulnerable to boost their immunity over the winter months, based on interim advice from the JCVI. Final advice is expected in the coming months. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/prime-minister-to-set-out-plans-ahead-of-step-4
ETA of course the Israeli evidence will need to be studied before the big un-lockdown on the 19th.
The Israeli data is interesting to watch and analyse because they were so ahead in terms of getting jabs into people at the start. We also still don't know how long immunity really lasts from these jabs so to see the nation that was ahead in terms of the calendar year when it comes to vaccinations will be interesting.
These are amazing vaccines, especially the Pfizer one so I have confidence they will hold up really well going forward.
The slight fall in antibodies can be seen in the data from the ONS survey
I notice on Saturday a number of English footballers were all embracing / hugging Ukranian players / management...you would think after Mount incident they would learn...
So long as they constrain their hug to no more than 14 minutes and 59 seconds they're completely fine though.
Cummings also thinks Boris “sold fishing out”, that Keir is “useless” and “can’t build a team”, and that Javid will just “do what officials tell him”.
Contra to the last point, he believes the July 19 freedoms are a mistake.
Lol, Cummings has completely lost it hasn't he. It really was like that scene out of Jerry Maguire when he walks out of the office and no one gives a fuck. Now all he can do is carp from the sidelines but no one's listening.
This is what happens when you're the smartest person in the room and nobody listens to you.
You just have to yell into the void.
@Chris has probably more of experience of it than me.
I'm fortunate as I'm always the smartest person in the room and everyone listens to what I say.
I am by no means a Wizard of Wazza world expert on everything. But I have acquired some expertise and experience in 20 years in the industry, and have twice now walked into a business, clocked something that seemed at best inefficient and at worst downright stupid and asked what feel like very basic questions and received blank looks.
"The 'Am I speaking Martian?' question" is the way I have passed this experience onto my various teams over the years. Just because the organisation is functioning and the people in it appear to know what they are doing don't assume that is any more than muscle memory. It is very easy to get caught up in an institutionalised group think mass stupidity movement.
‘Pfizer vaccine efficacy drops in Israel as delta variant spreads Health authorities in Israel will consider whether to recommend a third booster shot’
Nonsense. Freedom Day is a fixed mark, an irreversible removal of restrictions as there is absolutely no risk at all to the massive delta spike we are all now enjoying.
Okay, what would you do if you had to make the final decision? Would you open up, would you delay again, or would you slap on more restrictions?
Treat the answer as if you are the person in power, and you had to make the decision based on the information we have at hand.
Cummings also thinks Boris “sold fishing out”, that Keir is “useless” and “can’t build a team”, and that Javid will just “do what officials tell him”.
Contra to the last point, he believes the July 19 freedoms are a mistake.
Lol, Cummings has completely lost it hasn't he. It really was like that scene out of Jerry Maguire when he walks out of the office and no one gives a fuck. Now all he can do is carp from the sidelines but no one's listening.
Lost it my ass! He's just getting going. He got rid of Hancock within 2 weeks of starting his campaign and Johnson's in his sights. The man's taking the dark arts of marketing to a new level.
At this rate the advertising industry will be awarded a Victoria Cross.
I thought I was an introvert when I was younger and I realised over time that I was very much not, just didn't have a lot of social skills.
But like any other skill, practice and time can improve anything. I am now at a point where I can see the benefits, certainly in software engineering I progress a lot faster with those skills.
I was initially very happy WFH but over the last few months I have become tired of it and I want to go back to the office and see people. The pub is getting me through.
I am sold on WFH + office but I am not sold on WFH forever.
Interesting idea.
What social skills did you develop, and how did you go about developing them?
‘Pfizer vaccine efficacy drops in Israel as delta variant spreads Health authorities in Israel will consider whether to recommend a third booster shot’
iirc HMG is already planning booster shots in the autumn. Yes, there it is in the press conference press release posted earlier.
The government is ensuring preparations are in place to offer third “booster” doses to everyone aged over 50 and the most vulnerable to boost their immunity over the winter months, based on interim advice from the JCVI. Final advice is expected in the coming months. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/prime-minister-to-set-out-plans-ahead-of-step-4
ETA of course the Israeli evidence will need to be studied before the big un-lockdown on the 19th.
My son had pfizer, is double jabbed and has previously had covid
Currently feeling sorry for himself with covid delta variant
Jeez. How bad is it? I’m now hearing lots of anecdotes of double jabbed types getting delta. Pff. No one in hospital but definitely laid up in bed
Nephew, at Durham, had Covid a few months ago. Got it again last week. In bed but as he himself says, probably suffering more from beer than Covid.
Other friend's daughter at Cambridge, everyone's got it there, also. She was in bed feeling horrible for a week. So horrible but she's fine now.
Well, if they had charged the full cost, the number of shipping companies that would have called their insurance agents, done some maths and stopped using the Suez canal would have been.... interesting....
Cummings also thinks Boris “sold fishing out”, that Keir is “useless” and “can’t build a team”, and that Javid will just “do what officials tell him”.
Contra to the last point, he believes the July 19 freedoms are a mistake.
Lol, Cummings has completely lost it hasn't he. It really was like that scene out of Jerry Maguire when he walks out of the office and no one gives a fuck. Now all he can do is carp from the sidelines but no one's listening.
Lost it my ass! He's just getting going. He got rid of Hancock within 2 weeks of starting his campaign and he's got Johnson in his sights. The man is taking the dark arts of marketing to a new level.
At this rate the advertising industry might be awarded a George Cross.
Lol, as if was Cummings that got rid of Hancock. Cummings is in the lockdown forever camp, the Hancock scheme came from the anti-lockdown crowd. Isabelle Oakeshott was the first journalist to get eyes on.
Cummings is howling into the night. He might have become your hero but he's always been a complete c**t.
I’m observing Dominic Cummings’s “Ask Me Anything” so that PBers don’t have to.
Fan of Tony Blair’s it seems:
Obviously he'd (Tony Blair) have done a much better job - he wd at least read papers, chair meetings, understand how gvt machine works, not trolley around all day... And my impression is since losing on Brexit he's jumped ahead of almost all MPs in understanding that science and technology must be the future orientation for UK...
The irony is that Tony and Dom are stuck in the same boat now.
Blair threw his lot in with GWB, and that destroyed him. Cummings threw his lot in with Johnson (despite knowing who he was dealing with) and...
(Talking of which, this line from Dom's latest blog was intriguing; "If we win the election then he tries to move us out of No10, we can try to move him out of No10 — two can play at that game". Despite knowing that BoJo is capable of being utterly ruthless when his position is under threat.)
They may well be righter than a lot of the people currently in charge. But their histories mean that nobody is going to listen to them, except for laughs.
I'm not sure what's worse: the lucky February coincidence or that they've not even had to wait six months before copping the big'un.
Isn't there a conspiracy theory that bonds purchased more recently do better? I haven't bothered buying any, but if interest rates don't go back to something like pre-COVID by Christmas then I might. But then I guess there has to be a real chance that the government slashes NS&I rates.
had a £1000 worth for seven years and did not win a thing. The odds on that were about 2% . Whilst I get that ERNIE does not select tickets as such but numbers that are then matched to current bonds list , with that apparent luck I had doubts in my mid my numbers were active so sold out. Probably irrational as maybe I was just very unlucky but no point in playing something if you are not convinced yourself you are in the game!
I was given £5 worth when I was born, 43 years ago. Still got £5 worth. Haven't won a dickie bird. Might as well just let it sit there and continue to depreciate. I think I've got more chance of being struck by lightning than winning anything.
I have the max and get something every month, usually a 25 or 2 X 25. Spookily this year I've had a 1000 and a 100 despite payout rates having allegedly reduced. The system seems rigged in favour of those who can max out.
I was gifted a few pounds worth at birth. Then, when I was 8, I had a win. £25 which was massive then, esp for an 8 yo. Instead of buying a years supply of sweets or a top notch train set - which I could have done - I opted to reinvest the whole sum in more premium bonds. Sort of boy I was. The sort to make his parents proud. Have not had a win since.
‘Pfizer vaccine efficacy drops in Israel as delta variant spreads Health authorities in Israel will consider whether to recommend a third booster shot’
Nonsense. Freedom Day is a fixed mark, an irreversible removal of restrictions as there is absolutely no risk at all to the massive delta spike we are all now enjoying.
Okay, what would you do if you had to make the final decision? Would you open up, would you delay again, or would you slap on more restrictions?
Treat the answer as if you are the person in power, and you had to make the decision based on the information we have at hand.
1. Listen to the fucking experts. The NHS are doing their nut at the "throw your mask away" advice as voiced by Jenrick 2. Consider that pox isn't interested in politics. "We will never again lock down" or indeed reimpose any restrictions is bloody stupid 3. Take it in steps. Yes we want to let you do more. Yes it is encouraging that deaths and hospitalisations aren't currently following the big spike in cases like last time. But we do have a big spike in cases and have to adjust plans accordingly. Please continue to social distance. You need to keep wearing a mask. You should consider the wellbeing of yourselves and others before going into crowded places.
Lets put it this way. Am far happier to be north of the wall with a be more patient approach than south of it.
‘Pfizer vaccine efficacy drops in Israel as delta variant spreads Health authorities in Israel will consider whether to recommend a third booster shot’
iirc HMG is already planning booster shots in the autumn. Yes, there it is in the press conference press release posted earlier.
The government is ensuring preparations are in place to offer third “booster” doses to everyone aged over 50 and the most vulnerable to boost their immunity over the winter months, based on interim advice from the JCVI. Final advice is expected in the coming months. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/prime-minister-to-set-out-plans-ahead-of-step-4
ETA of course the Israeli evidence will need to be studied before the big un-lockdown on the 19th.
My son had pfizer, is double jabbed and has previously had covid
Currently feeling sorry for himself with covid delta variant
Jeez. How bad is it? I’m now hearing lots of anecdotes of double jabbed types getting delta. Pff. No one in hospital but definitely laid up in bed
His sats went down to 89 and he was feeling sorry for himself - temperature a little high but not too bad.
Nights he says are awful with sweating, shaking spells.
I convinced him to talk to NHS once it got below 90 and they just seem to be saying keep an eye on it (he is, Sats at 94 earlier today)
I’m observing Dominic Cummings’s “Ask Me Anything” so that PBers don’t have to.
Fan of Tony Blair’s it seems:
Obviously he'd (Tony Blair) have done a much better job - he wd at least read papers, chair meetings, understand how gvt machine works, not trolley around all day... And my impression is since losing on Brexit he's jumped ahead of almost all MPs in understanding that science and technology must be the future orientation for UK...
The irony is that Tony and Dom are stuck in the same boat now.
Blair threw his lot in with GWB, and that destroyed him. Cummings threw his lot in with Johnson (despite knowing who he was dealing with) and...
(Talking of which, this line from Dom's latest blog was intriguing; "If we win the election then he tries to move us out of No10, we can try to move him out of No10 — two can play at that game". Despite knowing that BoJo is capable of being utterly ruthless when his position is under threat.)
They may well be righter than a lot of the people currently in charge. But their histories mean that nobody is going to listen to them, except for laughs.
Honestly, all of you are fooling yourselves by believing Cummings has got any sense of anything other than being a bitter ex wanting to takedown his former partner.
I thought I was an introvert when I was younger and I realised over time that I was very much not, just didn't have a lot of social skills.
But like any other skill, practice and time can improve anything. I am now at a point where I can see the benefits, certainly in software engineering I progress a lot faster with those skills.
I was initially very happy WFH but over the last few months I have become tired of it and I want to go back to the office and see people. The pub is getting me through.
I am sold on WFH + office but I am not sold on WFH forever.
Our Dean of Faculty put it really well: the problem arises when WFH becomes living at work. And it does.
My anecdotal is that a couple of times in the past week I’ve heard people repeatedly coughing indoors with no-one in the vicinity being phased by it. The fear of covid seems to have largely gone.
Phased?
You mean like in Star Trek and their phasers?
Or do you mean fazed?
FYI - I've decided to blame all my typos etc on my social media team, works every time.
Very off topic, the LASER was nearly caller the LOSER - Light Oscillated by Stimulated Emission of Radiation (rather than amplified). I feel sad that in Sci-Fi we don't "Fire all losers..."
Sensible bloke on WatO saying a good comparator would be flu for this as a respiratory disease. Deaths as we know fluctuate greatly. Another comparator would be deaths from air pollution (25-30,000 deaths) as an "upper ceiling" of what we should be able to tolerate from any particular disease/condition.
50 deaths a day is, of course...pause....calculator...18,250/year.
Any idea when Boris is meant to speak today about what's going on with lifting lockdown? If it is today?
Will it be to Parliament or a press conference? After Hoyle got upset last time I'm guessing Parliament?
Seemingly they are doing it simultaneously at 5pm. Not sure that is what Holye requires...
Thank you.
It is what was agreed with Hoyle actually. Which I think was a mistake by Hoyle - the media will go full on with the Prime Minister and the questions the media asks him, while the Health Secretary and the Opposition and MPs scrutiny of him will get much less attention.
Better I would think for Parliament to be done at a separate time, even if it was later rather than first.
Call me old-fashioned, but major government announcements really should always be made to Parliament in the first instance.
Oh, and after the performance of the media in the past 18 months, putting them to the back of the queue would be a nice bonus!
There's a new opportunity - what if they say different things?
I would say Tories have lost 1-2% over the past month. Labour, who knows, as they bounce around anywhere from 30%-36%.
Not a lot of comfort for Labour. They are not holding on the Remain voters not least because no-one knows what Labour's long term aims for a post Brexit world are. If it is the same as the Tories you may as well vote for the real thing, if it is different the Remain voters are entitled to be given a clue what it is. And they are not winning in the south outside London very quickly.
The last thing we needed was to follow the US in being obsessed with this topic, but it looks like it's going to happen anyway.
Cheer up. If Wokeness enters the mainstream it can only be bad for the Left. When people begin to understand Wokery, most of them begin to dislike it. The more they know of Woke, the more they detest. See what happened to feminism, encountering Wokeism in the trans debate. An early UK skirmish.
The Left will soon be in retreat in the culture wars, after decades of stealthy advance
There are a miniscule amount of idiots on the left who are woke who annoy a number on the right who think the numbers are greater than they are and who are just as woke at the other end of the scale (eg imperial measures, anthems, pledge of allegiance, etc, etc).
The rest of us are normal and don't give a toss either way and think both groups are prats.
Like many on here, you are utterly clueless as to the extent Wokeness has penetrated into education, law, government, charities, the arts. It now spreads into corporate culture like the fungus it is
The people who minimize or dismiss Woke generally only do it because they have not been impacted by it. Yet
The alternative is that they are too old or dim to comprehend
Well there is nothing like jumping in feet first with total arrogance and ignorance is there. You have no idea if I have expertise in any of a wide range of areas you have covered (Education, Law, Government, Charities, Arts and now Corporate). I mean with that list it is quite likely I am involved in one or more and it is pretty well impossible for you to be involved in all of them or come to that many of them. Yet apparently I am clueless and you are not. I would try looking into a mirror if I were you.
And the really nutty thing is I agree with you re wokeness, in particular if you read my posts you would know I have a real hang up about jobs worth attitudes and bureaucracy which wokeness tend to create.
I think you have shown by your enormous leaps to conclusions based upon no evidence about me I don't think we can rely on your knowledge on the amount of wokeness that exists either.
“Well there is nothing like jumping in feet first with total arrogance and ignorance is there”
Bro, this is what I DO. It’s my motto and my lodestar, which is why I’m sitting on a balcony drinking red wine in the midday Majorcan sun rather than doing something sensible like work in a small room in England in the drizzle
Well I love that response 'Leon'; it has style.
Most of us however don't put out holiday snaps on PB. Would you like to see mine of Portugal from 2 weeks ago?
Actually, yes. I like holiday snaps! Especially rn when we have been so starved of travel
It may not seem obvious but this trip to Spain has done absolute wonders for my mental health. I feel calmer, happier, freer, kinder, even physically fitter - swimming and hiking. And, after a year of deathly pallor to match my inner mood, I have a tan. It’s a good vibe
My last two lockdowns, of the three, were grim. Deeply grim. But if really feels like we are out of the worst now
I'm really pleased it has made you feel better. I have been lucky as I have a very large garden and a decent sized house so lockdown hasn't been too bad for me, but I feel for people stuck in flats and in particular young people.
I'm still not putting my holiday snaps on PB though.
Lockdown has been much easier on certain psychological types, as well. It’s not just having a garden, big house, age, and so on
For introverts (probably the majority on PB?) lockdown has been almost a blessing. No pressure to socialise, no stigma about staying in, the geek shall inherit the earth
In much more of an extrovert (prone to solitude, but still an extrovert). I like going out, exploring, meeting, all of that. Lockdown has been fucking miserable. Plus I live in a one bed flat. Yuk
There is data backing this up. Extroverts have suffered more
Not quite your average hen hut one bedroom flat though?
I agree wholeheartedly with this article. The 3 most important lessons for Tories in by-elections must be: 1. Select good local candidate if possible. 2. Do not be complacent but put every effort in 3. Significantly improve your GOTV operation
I expect more LD gains in any by-election in places where they were second to Con in GE2019
Marginal Lab/Con by-elections in North and Midlands should be most interesting if we have any over the next 30 months.
I know its a bit crazy leftfield but also have some policies that are small state and fiscally balanced rather than nannying government and huge spending of money the government actually hasn't got.
Offer that policy and Labour will start recovering some of their Red Wall seats.
and to that i would say " so what? " I mean it does not matter to me if a high spending high nannying politician calls himself a tory or Labour (actually its probably more honest of them to cal themselves Labour) they are still a high spending high nannying politician
Indeed.
Let's stop distorting the housing market with subsidies.
Abolish the CGT main dwelling exemption loophole now.
£30bn every year to spend on proper care in old age, and a more orderly housing market, and less artificial ramping of house prices.
I’m observing Dominic Cummings’s “Ask Me Anything” so that PBers don’t have to.
Fan of Tony Blair’s it seems:
Obviously he'd (Tony Blair) have done a much better job - he wd at least read papers, chair meetings, understand how gvt machine works, not trolley around all day... And my impression is since losing on Brexit he's jumped ahead of almost all MPs in understanding that science and technology must be the future orientation for UK...
The irony is that Tony and Dom are stuck in the same boat now.
Blair threw his lot in with GWB, and that destroyed him. Cummings threw his lot in with Johnson (despite knowing who he was dealing with) and...
(Talking of which, this line from Dom's latest blog was intriguing; "If we win the election then he tries to move us out of No10, we can try to move him out of No10 — two can play at that game". Despite knowing that BoJo is capable of being utterly ruthless when his position is under threat.)
They may well be righter than a lot of the people currently in charge. But their histories mean that nobody is going to listen to them, except for laughs.
Honestly, all of you are fooling yourselves by believing Cummings has got any sense of anything other than being a bitter ex wanting to takedown his former partner.
That's what this is, no more, no less.
He is annoyingly intent on restoring his “reputation” but it is interesting anyway to question directly the man who was essentially leading the government until 6 months ago.
The care minister Helen Whately has said she would probably carry on wearing a facemask in crowded places and on public transport once restrictions are lifted.
In the first sign of a difference of emphasis within government about how to interpret Boris Johnson’s shift towards personal responsibility in dealing with the virus, Whately said she would not be “ditching” her mask after July 19 although she would be wearing it less.
But senior NHS leaders insisted this morning that people should carry on wearing masks “as much as possible”, saying it was “keeping us safe and well”.
I think it is consistent. Some people want to continue wearing them, others won't. That's entirely the point of it being a personal choice.
It isn't consistent. The NHS are saying wear "as much as possible", while the minister is saying "she would be wearing it less" (i.e. not as much as possible).
If they are not going to mandate - and I can see the logic on that - there does need to be a clear steer on what best practice and behaving as a responsible citizen looks like.
The minister (think it was Whately) was incredibly wishy-washy on this in terms of wearing a mask as a care home visitor. People know they won't be prevented from hugging granny sans mask from 19th, but the interview left me no clearer as to what the advice was to someone who wants to do the right thing.
The whole point is that people will choose for themselves. People will take that responsibility. The right thing is whatever the person considers to be the right thing. After more than a year of being spoonfed it might be a shock to system but ultimately the onus is now on us. Anyone can walk in and get a vaccine, that shifts the burden of responsibility onto the individual, not the state.
This totally misses the point.
There are plenty of areas, particularly in health, where there isn't a mandate but there is a recognition that most people are not medical experts, and there is a communications job to be done on what is best practice. We're not in receipt of the full medical advice as members of the public, and clear advice would be useful (whether or not everyone choses to follow it).
Government messaging needs to be joined up on this. Whateley was unable to answer simple questions about what, as care minister, she'd advise in those settings. That needs sorting out.
Sensible bloke on WatO saying a good comparator would be flu for this as a respiratory disease. Deaths as we know fluctuate greatly. Another comparator would be deaths from air pollution (25-30,000 deaths) as an "upper ceiling" of what we should be able to tolerate from any particular disease/condition.
50 deaths a day is, of course...pause....calculator...18,250/year.
All death figures are relative. 50 a day if it were 5 year olds would be fall of government time. 50 a day with average age of 82 - that's just part of normality. 1800 die every day and not much can be done about it.
Cummings also thinks Boris “sold fishing out”, that Keir is “useless” and “can’t build a team”, and that Javid will just “do what officials tell him”.
Contra to the last point, he believes the July 19 freedoms are a mistake.
Lol, Cummings has completely lost it hasn't he. It really was like that scene out of Jerry Maguire when he walks out of the office and no one gives a fuck. Now all he can do is carp from the sidelines but no one's listening.
Lost it my ass! He's just getting going. He got rid of Hancock within 2 weeks of starting his campaign and he's got Johnson in his sights. The man is taking the dark arts of marketing to a new level.
At this rate the advertising industry might be awarded a George Cross.
Lol, as if was Cummings that got rid of Hancock. Cummings is in the lockdown forever camp, the Hancock scheme came from the anti-lockdown crowd. Isabelle Oakeshott was the first journalist to get eyes on.
Cummings is howling into the night. He might have become your hero but he's always been a complete c**t.
I am no fan of Cummings, but I think to suggest he had no hand in getting rid of Hancock seems a little naïve. It is likely that Hancock would have survived the snogging video if it hadn't already been revealed that Bozo thought he was "fucking useless". One also has to ask whether it was a coincidence that said video was leaked after Hancock became a liability to no.10. It didn't look terribly good that Bozo thought he was "fucking useless" and yet was too weak to sack him. I suspect the video might never have come to light had Cummings not undermined Hancock in the first place.
‘Pfizer vaccine efficacy drops in Israel as delta variant spreads Health authorities in Israel will consider whether to recommend a third booster shot’
Nonsense. Freedom Day is a fixed mark, an irreversible removal of restrictions as there is absolutely no risk at all to the massive delta spike we are all now enjoying.
Okay, what would you do if you had to make the final decision? Would you open up, would you delay again, or would you slap on more restrictions?
Treat the answer as if you are the person in power, and you had to make the decision based on the information we have at hand.
Easy as it is fcukwit Johnson you would go ahead and have all sorts of fudge deployed, any sane person who had not trashed their reputation as being useless and a serial liar would have a measured removal and retain any necessary restrictions based on sound scientific knowledge.
Sensible bloke on WatO saying a good comparator would be flu for this as a respiratory disease. Deaths as we know fluctuate greatly. Another comparator would be deaths from air pollution (25-30,000 deaths) as an "upper ceiling" of what we should be able to tolerate from any particular disease/condition.
50 deaths a day is, of course...pause....calculator...18,250/year.
And we are about half of that at the moment. Another way of looking at it is that there are about 1665 deaths a day in the UK of which roughly 30 are currently with COVID.
I'm getting pretty tired of this editorial line. There have been three (relevant - the one in Scotland doesn't count) by-election tests this year - the Tories have won one, drawn one and lost one. It's not their fault the betting markets predicted two of them wrong. Put that together with a solid set of local election results, and everything is basically fine and as it was.
@Cookie nah everyone hates wearing masks, even the most vegan wokeista
Yes, that's my impression. So I think the numbers who actually keep wearing masks even when they're not compelled to will be rather lower than those who say that they will.
There is definitely a divide between maskers and non-maskers in my experience ... perfectly rational people, who ought to know better, are still terrified. It's not as obvious as Remainers versus Leavers but that's as close a proxy as any. Call it Collectivism versus Individualism - those who believe in big government and are happy to be ordered around versus those who don't.
If you terrify the population, they will tend toward big government for protection. As I've said before, unterrifying the population after 18 months of relentless doom-mongering is going to be very, very hard ... and I'm not even sure the government wants to do it, not really - they have got used to a cowed and compliant populace, which is awfully convenient when you have unpopular climate change restrictions to impose (not to mention tax rises to pay for COVID). No, I reckon the government will be quite happy to have a collectivist, all-in-it-together mindset around for quite a while.
I was glad to see finally some discussion on here last night about the devastating, insidious impact of the behavioural psychologists during COVID ... they really have grasped the opportunity for relevance and power and they are not going to give it up easily - we need to shine a light much more harshly on who they are and what they are up to. The fact we have far-left political activists in an official capacity advising the government on how to make people comply with COVID restrictions is extremely worrying.
I've recommended Laura Dodsworth's book before and I do it again. It is a sickening read.
You're over-politicising it. There's a rational discussion (much of which we've seen on PB) about the right balance between enjoyment and risk-taking, and the Government has a difficult choice in steering us through, as to be fair would any Government.
I'm not a fan of the Government, but nor am I convinced they are motivated by collectivism (Boris Johnson??? Pull the other one), control-freakery or anything on those lines. The risk of relaxing too quickly is that you get a lot of illness and later end up having to tighten up again. The risk of relaxing too slowly is that you inhibit normal life and the economy more than you needed to. All the stuff about wanting a cowed population is frankly irrelevant paranoia.
As for the obsession with Susan Michie's political views, she's been asked to do a professional job advising on behaviourism, which is her profession. She's not been asked to advise on politics, nor is she doing so. We shouldn't care how she or anyone on SAGE votes.
+1 on that, Nick. Totally valid and interesting bickers to be had about the individual's balance between risk aversion and lust for life, the government's balance in its covid response between guidance and law, the nation's health vs the nation's economy, the price of freedom etc, but all of this stuff about the government deliberately cowing us, sucking our spirit, just generally loving bossing us around, aided and abetted by a cabal of mad marxist scientists, it really is the most frightful tosh.
The last thing we needed was to follow the US in being obsessed with this topic, but it looks like it's going to happen anyway.
Cheer up. If Wokeness enters the mainstream it can only be bad for the Left. When people begin to understand Wokery, most of them begin to dislike it. The more they know of Woke, the more they detest. See what happened to feminism, encountering Wokeism in the trans debate. An early UK skirmish.
The Left will soon be in retreat in the culture wars, after decades of stealthy advance
There are a miniscule amount of idiots on the left who are woke who annoy a number on the right who think the numbers are greater than they are and who are just as woke at the other end of the scale (eg imperial measures, anthems, pledge of allegiance, etc, etc).
The rest of us are normal and don't give a toss either way and think both groups are prats.
Like many on here, you are utterly clueless as to the extent Wokeness has penetrated into education, law, government, charities, the arts. It now spreads into corporate culture like the fungus it is
The people who minimize or dismiss Woke generally only do it because they have not been impacted by it. Yet
The alternative is that they are too old or dim to comprehend
Well there is nothing like jumping in feet first with total arrogance and ignorance is there. You have no idea if I have expertise in any of a wide range of areas you have covered (Education, Law, Government, Charities, Arts and now Corporate). I mean with that list it is quite likely I am involved in one or more and it is pretty well impossible for you to be involved in all of them or come to that many of them. Yet apparently I am clueless and you are not. I would try looking into a mirror if I were you.
And the really nutty thing is I agree with you re wokeness, in particular if you read my posts you would know I have a real hang up about jobs worth attitudes and bureaucracy which wokeness tend to create.
I think you have shown by your enormous leaps to conclusions based upon no evidence about me I don't think we can rely on your knowledge on the amount of wokeness that exists either.
“Well there is nothing like jumping in feet first with total arrogance and ignorance is there”
Bro, this is what I DO. It’s my motto and my lodestar, which is why I’m sitting on a balcony drinking red wine in the midday Majorcan sun rather than doing something sensible like work in a small room in England in the drizzle
Well I love that response 'Leon'; it has style.
Most of us however don't put out holiday snaps on PB. Would you like to see mine of Portugal from 2 weeks ago?
Actually, yes. I like holiday snaps! Especially rn when we have been so starved of travel
It may not seem obvious but this trip to Spain has done absolute wonders for my mental health. I feel calmer, happier, freer, kinder, even physically fitter - swimming and hiking. And, after a year of deathly pallor to match my inner mood, I have a tan. It’s a good vibe
My last two lockdowns, of the three, were grim. Deeply grim. But if really feels like we are out of the worst now
I'm really pleased it has made you feel better. I have been lucky as I have a very large garden and a decent sized house so lockdown hasn't been too bad for me, but I feel for people stuck in flats and in particular young people.
I'm still not putting my holiday snaps on PB though.
Lockdown has been much easier on certain psychological types, as well. It’s not just having a garden, big house, age, and so on
For introverts (probably the majority on PB?) lockdown has been almost a blessing. No pressure to socialise, no stigma about staying in, the geek shall inherit the earth
In much more of an extrovert (prone to solitude, but still an extrovert). I like going out, exploring, meeting, all of that. Lockdown has been fucking miserable. Plus I live in a one bed flat. Yuk
There is data backing this up. Extroverts have suffered more
My wife is definitely an introvert who likes reading a lot in front of the TV and a bit of crafting. No great need to socialise, say maybe a couple of times a month and she is happy. She found lockdown pretty easy. I'm a bit more social, and regular cricket plus beers is my thing, but I've not struggled too much over the winter as nothing much goes on for me in those months either. It must have been hell for extroverts.
‘Pfizer vaccine efficacy drops in Israel as delta variant spreads Health authorities in Israel will consider whether to recommend a third booster shot’
Nonsense. Freedom Day is a fixed mark, an irreversible removal of restrictions as there is absolutely no risk at all to the massive delta spike we are all now enjoying.
Okay, what would you do if you had to make the final decision? Would you open up, would you delay again, or would you slap on more restrictions?
Treat the answer as if you are the person in power, and you had to make the decision based on the information we have at hand.
1. Listen to the fucking experts. The NHS are doing their nut at the "throw your mask away" advice as voiced by Jenrick 2. Consider that pox isn't interested in politics. "We will never again lock down" or indeed reimpose any restrictions is bloody stupid 3. Take it in steps. Yes we want to let you do more. Yes it is encouraging that deaths and hospitalisations aren't currently following the big spike in cases like last time. But we do have a big spike in cases and have to adjust plans accordingly. Please continue to social distance. You need to keep wearing a mask. You should consider the wellbeing of yourselves and others before going into crowded places.
Lets put it this way. Am far happier to be north of the wall with a be more patient approach than south of it.
I asked you for a decision. Open up, delay, or retreat? A couple of words will do it.
As for your comments: 1) They are listening to the experts. The problem is, which experts? Too many people seem to want to listen to experts that back their views.
2) The pox isn't interested in politics, but too many people are willing to play politics with the pox.
3) They have been taking it in steps. What you have said here is individual guidance, not rules. What can open up, what can stay closed?
So, open up, delay or retreat? Go on, make a decision...
I thought I was an introvert when I was younger and I realised over time that I was very much not, just didn't have a lot of social skills.
But like any other skill, practice and time can improve anything. I am now at a point where I can see the benefits, certainly in software engineering I progress a lot faster with those skills.
I was initially very happy WFH but over the last few months I have become tired of it and I want to go back to the office and see people. The pub is getting me through.
I am sold on WFH + office but I am not sold on WFH forever.
Our Dean of Faculty put it really well: the problem arises when WFH becomes living at work. And it does.
I certainly found in the early days how difficult it is to "switch off".
I have to force myself to bunk off now and to go for a run, lift some heavy weights etc otherwise work takes over.
‘Pfizer vaccine efficacy drops in Israel as delta variant spreads Health authorities in Israel will consider whether to recommend a third booster shot’
Nonsense. Freedom Day is a fixed mark, an irreversible removal of restrictions as there is absolutely no risk at all to the massive delta spike we are all now enjoying.
Okay, what would you do if you had to make the final decision? Would you open up, would you delay again, or would you slap on more restrictions?
Treat the answer as if you are the person in power, and you had to make the decision based on the information we have at hand.
Easy as it is fcukwit Johnson you would go ahead and have all sorts of fudge deployed, any sane person who had not trashed their reputation as being useless and a serial liar would have a measured removal and retain any necessary restrictions based on sound scientific knowledge.
I'm not sure what's worse: the lucky February coincidence or that they've not even had to wait six months before copping the big'un.
Isn't there a conspiracy theory that bonds purchased more recently do better? I haven't bothered buying any, but if interest rates don't go back to something like pre-COVID by Christmas then I might. But then I guess there has to be a real chance that the government slashes NS&I rates.
had a £1000 worth for seven years and did not win a thing. The odds on that were about 2% . Whilst I get that ERNIE does not select tickets as such but numbers that are then matched to current bonds list , with that apparent luck I had doubts in my mid my numbers were active so sold out. Probably irrational as maybe I was just very unlucky but no point in playing something if you are not convinced yourself you are in the game!
I was given £5 worth when I was born, 43 years ago. Still got £5 worth. Haven't won a dickie bird. Might as well just let it sit there and continue to depreciate. I think I've got more chance of being struck by lightning than winning anything.
I have the max and get something every month, usually a 25 or 2 X 25. Spookily this year I've had a 1000 and a 100 despite payout rates having allegedly reduced. The system seems rigged in favour of those who can max out.
I was gifted a few pounds worth at birth. Then, when I was 8, I had a win. £25 which was massive then, esp for an 8 yo. Instead of buying a years supply of sweets or a top notch train set - which I could have done - I opted to reinvest the whole sum in more premium bonds. Sort of boy I was. The sort to make his parents proud. Have not had a win since.
£25 at that sort of time (I'm guessing)? You could certainly get a decent Hornby Dublo set. And look what happens.
You'd have been better buying the train set, putting it unused in the attic, and selling it on the collector's market today.
I’m observing Dominic Cummings’s “Ask Me Anything” so that PBers don’t have to.
Fan of Tony Blair’s it seems:
Obviously he'd (Tony Blair) have done a much better job - he wd at least read papers, chair meetings, understand how gvt machine works, not trolley around all day... And my impression is since losing on Brexit he's jumped ahead of almost all MPs in understanding that science and technology must be the future orientation for UK...
The irony is that Tony and Dom are stuck in the same boat now.
Blair threw his lot in with GWB, and that destroyed him. Cummings threw his lot in with Johnson (despite knowing who he was dealing with) and...
(Talking of which, this line from Dom's latest blog was intriguing; "If we win the election then he tries to move us out of No10, we can try to move him out of No10 — two can play at that game". Despite knowing that BoJo is capable of being utterly ruthless when his position is under threat.)
They may well be righter than a lot of the people currently in charge. But their histories mean that nobody is going to listen to them, except for laughs.
Honestly, all of you are fooling yourselves by believing Cummings has got any sense of anything other than being a bitter ex wanting to takedown his former partner.
That's what this is, no more, no less.
That Cummings is a bitter ex? No question.
That he has the same relationship to the Johnson premiership that Frankenstein had to his monster? No doubt, and that ought to limit how much respect we pay him. If Cummings really thought he could ride that particular tiger, he was an utter fool.
But even "what is the most convincing yarn that an embittered ex with a track record of dishonesty can spin?" can yield answers that are of interest.
And if he spends the rest of his life not being believed by people, that's only a downpayment on what a properly Karmic universe will extract from him.
@Cookie nah everyone hates wearing masks, even the most vegan wokeista
Yes, that's my impression. So I think the numbers who actually keep wearing masks even when they're not compelled to will be rather lower than those who say that they will.
There is definitely a divide between maskers and non-maskers in my experience ... perfectly rational people, who ought to know better, are still terrified. It's not as obvious as Remainers versus Leavers but that's as close a proxy as any. Call it Collectivism versus Individualism - those who believe in big government and are happy to be ordered around versus those who don't.
If you terrify the population, they will tend toward big government for protection. As I've said before, unterrifying the population after 18 months of relentless doom-mongering is going to be very, very hard ... and I'm not even sure the government wants to do it, not really - they have got used to a cowed and compliant populace, which is awfully convenient when you have unpopular climate change restrictions to impose (not to mention tax rises to pay for COVID). No, I reckon the government will be quite happy to have a collectivist, all-in-it-together mindset around for quite a while.
I was glad to see finally some discussion on here last night about the devastating, insidious impact of the behavioural psychologists during COVID ... they really have grasped the opportunity for relevance and power and they are not going to give it up easily - we need to shine a light much more harshly on who they are and what they are up to. The fact we have far-left political activists in an official capacity advising the government on how to make people comply with COVID restrictions is extremely worrying.
I've recommended Laura Dodsworth's book before and I do it again. It is a sickening read.
You're over-politicising it. There's a rational discussion (much of which we've seen on PB) about the right balance between enjoyment and risk-taking, and the Government has a difficult choice in steering us through, as to be fair would any Government.
I'm not a fan of the Government, but nor am I convinced they are motivated by collectivism (Boris Johnson??? Pull the other one), control-freakery or anything on those lines. The risk of relaxing too quickly is that you get a lot of illness and later end up having to tighten up again. The risk of relaxing too slowly is that you inhibit normal life and the economy more than you needed to. All the stuff about wanting a cowed population is frankly irrelevant paranoia.
As for the obsession with Susan Michie's political views, she's been asked to do a professional job advising on behaviourism, which is her profession. She's not been asked to advise on politics, nor is she doing so. We shouldn't care how she or anyone on SAGE votes.
The problem with Michie isn't her political views per se. There are plenty of people on the panels who you don't have to look hard to find aren't fans of the government or Brexit.
The problem is that she
a) sits on another committee who spend all their time trashing the government's approach to everything. So she goes into one committee, they come up with advice for the government, and 2 mins later she is on another one saying well that's all wrong. Information from the SAGE committee she sits on have leaked as well....now some people might wonder where that sensitive information has come from.
b) she has been very vocal way above and beyond her own specialism. She has literally called for a total reshaping of the whole of society as THE only solution to this pandemic and to protect against future one.
At the very very least it is incredibly unprofessional to agree to assist the government, then spend half your time trying to discredit its every move and she has used her evaluated platform to push for a radical reshaping of our society. That's political. Nothing to do with child behavioural science.
In contrast a number of other SAGE member have been very careful about crossing the line between the expertise and having anything to do with the politics e.g. Ferguson for instance, we know he is left leaning, not a government fan, nor of Brexit....but when interviewed as soon as any interviewer tries to get into politics, he basically say no, not talking about that. I will talk about modelling and that's it.
Comments
https://twitter.com/Daniel_Sugarman/status/1412013197226299396
Ahem.
I'm not a fan of the Government, but nor am I convinced they are motivated by collectivism (Boris Johnson??? Pull the other one), control-freakery or anything on those lines. The risk of relaxing too quickly is that you get a lot of illness and later end up having to tighten up again. The risk of relaxing too slowly is that you inhibit normal life and the economy more than you needed to. All the stuff about wanting a cowed population is frankly irrelevant paranoia.
As for the obsession with Susan Michie's political views, she's been asked to do a professional job advising on behaviourism, which is her profession. She's not been asked to advise on politics, nor is she doing so. We shouldn't care how she or anyone on SAGE votes.
It may not seem obvious but this trip to Spain has done absolute wonders for my mental health. I feel calmer, happier, freer, kinder, even physically fitter - swimming and hiking. And, after a year of deathly pallor to match my inner mood, I have a tan. It’s a good vibe
My last two lockdowns, of the three, were grim. Deeply grim. But if really feels like we are out of the worst now
And now we have moved to supermarket need mask, go to the gym and breath heavily, no mask..or the pub or a restaurant. How performative is it compared to actually reducing spread?
Public transport where you are in an enclosed metal tube for often hours, i can see that, but again i think you need proper masks.
However most likely they would lose their majority as some of the seats they held then eg Enfield Southgate, St Albans, Oxford West and Abingdon, Warwick and Leamington, Richmond Park, Twickenham, Bath etc were strong Remain seats and are now Labour and LD held and unlikely to go back to the Tories post Brexit anytime soon.
Therefore to win another majority with Corbyn gone and Brexit now delivered, Boris and the Tories have to remain relatively fiscally populist as in 2019 and not push austerity
Matches my anecdotal experience.
So lets see if you can answer the following which I put to you the other day and you ignored:
a) Do you agree that the patients needed looking after?
I assume you do.
b) To look after the patients using the available PPE at the time put the doctors and nurses at 47 times the risk than not looking after them i.e. being elsewhere.
c) The fact that is not available is you don't have the risk of looking after them without any PPE.
If a) is unacceptable and if c) > b) then you have no alternative but to do b)
The key is, as always, to see mask wearing as altruistic rather than egotistic
https://twitter.com/RobDotHutton/status/1412010825355771906
@RobDotHutton The entire thing is now Spinal Tap. "You can't fucking concentrate because of your fucking wife! Simple as that, alright? It's your fucking wife!" "She's not my wife!" "Well whatever fuck she is, alright? You can't concentrate!”
https://twitter.com/MarinaHyde/status/1412011466861973506
I'm pretty uneasy that the government have sought the advice on how to change behaviours from someone who wants to fundamentally reshape society in a direction I think is wholly malign.
I think all were agreed when Boris became PM that one of his features was that he tended to delegate and defer to expertise. No Gordon Brown he. This one of many acceptable strategies. But when the people he advise him want a fundamentally different sort of society it should ring some alarm bells. Now this is fine if they are advising him on very narrow matters such as, for example, how to spot clinical depression (was the example someone gave earlier, I think). But when it is how you get large numbers of innocent and healthy people to change their behaviours that becomes a bit more worrying.
Maybe she is right, maybe she is entirely innocent. But the fact that she actively wants capitalism to collapse and freedom to be severely curtailed should worry us when she is providing advice whose implementation would be highly injurious to freedom and wealth.
Edit: 'Edit' was not an edit of course, I can't operate buttons today
‘Pfizer vaccine efficacy drops in Israel as delta variant spreads
Health authorities in Israel will consider whether to recommend a third booster shot’
https://apple.news/AkNCofUYiSOumNCJ1RxyhNw
If I was UnDictator of the UK, I would be running a massive parallel trial of re-useable, fitted systems, with provision for everything from simple face mask up to complete space suit, for NHS use.
To be ready for the next time a SeanT finds the exotic food menu...
But...."The ministry’s data shows the vaccine’s efficacy in preventing hospitalisation was 93 per cent from June 6 to July 3, compared to a 98 per cent rate in the previous period."
That still very high, and remember UK initial data on Indian variant was much lower too, but now they say 98/99%.
I'm still not putting my holiday snaps on PB though.
They've got stiff competition from arch-rivals 'crypto universal technologies'.
For introverts (probably the majority on PB?) lockdown has been almost a blessing. No pressure to socialise, no stigma about staying in, the geek shall inherit the earth
In much more of an extrovert (prone to solitude, but still an extrovert). I like going out, exploring, meeting, all of that. Lockdown has been fucking miserable. Plus I live in a one bed flat. Yuk
There is data backing this up. Extroverts have suffered more
1) Philharmonic Orchestra of Florida
2) Microsoft introduced something called the 'Critical Update Notification Tool' shortly afterwards they renamed it the 'Critical Updated Notification Utility.'
If Nigel Farage was an expert in a field that needed advice, I'd be happy to see him on SAGE. I can go that far. (He could have had a role in campaigning issues, maybe. So too Cummings, potentially).
The government is ensuring preparations are in place to offer third “booster” doses to everyone aged over 50 and the most vulnerable to boost their immunity over the winter months, based on interim advice from the JCVI. Final advice is expected in the coming months.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/prime-minister-to-set-out-plans-ahead-of-step-4
ETA of course the Israeli evidence will need to be studied before the big un-lockdown on the 19th.
Fan of Tony Blair’s it seems:
Obviously he'd (Tony Blair) have done a much better job - he wd at least read papers, chair meetings, understand how gvt machine works, not trolley around all day... And my impression is since losing on Brexit he's jumped ahead of almost all MPs in understanding that science and technology must be the future orientation for UK...
City University of Newcastle upon Tyne (which rapidly became Northumbria Uni).
Prince Andrew and a former Coutts managing director have set up a joint venture together, despite the latter’s role at the centre of sexual harassment allegations.
Harry Keogh, who left Coutts in March 2018, was accused of making unwanted physical contact and lewd comments toward female colleagues at the bank.
An eight-year veteran of the firm, he had been a managing director of its London private wealth division and a member of its private banking executive committee. Keogh sued the bank for unfair dismissal in 2019.
Keogh and Coutts were contacted for comment.
https://www.fnlondon.com/articles/disgraced-coutts-financier-goes-into-business-with-prince-andrew-20210427
Contra to the last point, he believes the July 19 freedoms are a mistake.
I suppose if you really wanted to then you could drive into Northern Ireland and take a private boat across from NI to Scotland, but you couldn't do it on a commercial service.
As for a plane I get that the airline would want to see your passport but that’s very different from customs and the UKBA
Are you noted by anyone apart from the airline as entering the UK from Ireland? I doubt it. Ultimately you could be traced by, say, police, but you’re not a migration statistic
You just have to yell into the void.
@Chris has probably more of experience of it than me.
I'm fortunate as I'm always the smartest person in the room and everyone listens to what I say.
Currently feeling sorry for himself with covid delta variant
These are amazing vaccines, especially the Pfizer one so I have confidence they will hold up really well going forward.
Nothing to do with not being allowed to go round the Mulberry tree in Wakefield prison (which was sadly cut down recently).
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/05/ever-given-ship-that-blocked-the-suez-canal-to-be-released-after-settlement-agreed
But like any other skill, practice and time can improve anything. I am now at a point where I can see the benefits, certainly in software engineering I progress a lot faster with those skills.
I was initially very happy WFH but over the last few months I have become tired of it and I want to go back to the office and see people. The pub is getting me through.
I am sold on WFH + office but I am not sold on WFH forever.
https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/conditionsanddiseases/bulletins/coronaviruscovid19infectionsurveyantibodyandvaccinationdatafortheuk/latest#percentage-of-adults-testing-positive-for-covid-19-antibodies-by-single-year-of-age-in-england-wales-northern-ireland-and-scotland
see Figure 4: The percentages testing positive for COVID-19 antibodies by single year of age in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland
direct link is https://www.ons.gov.uk/visualisations/dvc1434/syoa/index.html
Science, innit?
"The 'Am I speaking Martian?' question" is the way I have passed this experience onto my various teams over the years. Just because the organisation is functioning and the people in it appear to know what they are doing don't assume that is any more than muscle memory. It is very easy to get caught up in an institutionalised group think mass stupidity movement.
Treat the answer as if you are the person in power, and you had to make the decision based on the information we have at hand.
Starmer's numbers are improving. Polling parity soon
At this rate the advertising industry will be awarded a Victoria Cross.
Lab: 31% (+1)
Lib Dem: 10% (+1)
Green: 6% (-1)
SNP: 5% (n/c)
Reform UK: 3% (-1)
I would say Tories have lost 1-2% over the past month. Labour, who knows, as they bounce around anywhere from 30%-36%.
What social skills did you develop, and how did you go about developing them?
Other friend's daughter at Cambridge, everyone's got it there, also. She was in bed feeling horrible for a week. So horrible but she's fine now.
Cummings is howling into the night. He might have become your hero but he's always been a complete c**t.
Blair threw his lot in with GWB, and that destroyed him. Cummings threw his lot in with Johnson (despite knowing who he was dealing with) and...
(Talking of which, this line from Dom's latest blog was intriguing;
"If we win the election then he tries to move us out of No10, we can try to move him out of No10 — two can play at that game". Despite knowing that BoJo is capable of being utterly ruthless when his position is under threat.)
They may well be righter than a lot of the people currently in charge. But their histories mean that nobody is going to listen to them, except for laughs.
2. Consider that pox isn't interested in politics. "We will never again lock down" or indeed reimpose any restrictions is bloody stupid
3. Take it in steps. Yes we want to let you do more. Yes it is encouraging that deaths and hospitalisations aren't currently following the big spike in cases like last time. But we do have a big spike in cases and have to adjust plans accordingly. Please continue to social distance. You need to keep wearing a mask. You should consider the wellbeing of yourselves and others before going into crowded places.
Lets put it this way. Am far happier to be north of the wall with a be more patient approach than south of it.
Nights he says are awful with sweating, shaking spells.
I convinced him to talk to NHS once it got below 90 and they just seem to be saying keep an eye on it (he is, Sats at 94 earlier today)
That's what this is, no more, no less.
https://order-order.com/2021/07/05/furlough-scrounging-bercow-signs-up-to-new-reality-business-show/
What does Bercow know about business / start-ups?
50 deaths a day is, of course...pause....calculator...18,250/year.
Let's stop distorting the housing market with subsidies.
Abolish the CGT main dwelling exemption loophole now.
£30bn every year to spend on proper care in old age, and a more orderly housing market, and less artificial ramping of house prices.
What's not to like?
There are plenty of areas, particularly in health, where there isn't a mandate but there is a recognition that most people are not medical experts, and there is a communications job to be done on what is best practice. We're not in receipt of the full medical advice as members of the public, and clear advice would be useful (whether or not everyone choses to follow it).
Government messaging needs to be joined up on this. Whateley was unable to answer simple questions about what, as care minister, she'd advise in those settings. That needs sorting out.
It must have been hell for extroverts.
As for your comments:
1) They are listening to the experts. The problem is, which experts? Too many people seem to want to listen to experts that back their views.
2) The pox isn't interested in politics, but too many people are willing to play politics with the pox.
3) They have been taking it in steps. What you have said here is individual guidance, not rules. What can open up, what can stay closed?
So, open up, delay or retreat? Go on, make a decision...
I have to force myself to bunk off now and to go for a run, lift some heavy weights etc otherwise work takes over.
The Springboks have suspended all training after Lood de Jager tested positive for Covid-19.
Because of his close contact with a number of squad members, the entire squad has now gone into isolation.
The entire Springboks group will undergo more PCR testing and the testing data will be reviewed by SA Rugby's medical advisory group.
It's the second time in eight days that the Boks have had to suspend training due to Covid-19.
https://twitter.com/Murray_Kinsella/status/1412023674786484228
You'd have been better buying the train set, putting it unused in the attic, and selling it on the collector's market today.
That he has the same relationship to the Johnson premiership that Frankenstein had to his monster? No doubt, and that ought to limit how much respect we pay him. If Cummings really thought he could ride that particular tiger, he was an utter fool.
But even "what is the most convincing yarn that an embittered ex with a track record of dishonesty can spin?" can yield answers that are of interest.
And if he spends the rest of his life not being believed by people, that's only a downpayment on what a properly Karmic universe will extract from him.
The problem is that she
a) sits on another committee who spend all their time trashing the government's approach to everything. So she goes into one committee, they come up with advice for the government, and 2 mins later she is on another one saying well that's all wrong. Information from the SAGE committee she sits on have leaked as well....now some people might wonder where that sensitive information has come from.
b) she has been very vocal way above and beyond her own specialism. She has literally called for a total reshaping of the whole of society as THE only solution to this pandemic and to protect against future one.
At the very very least it is incredibly unprofessional to agree to assist the government, then spend half your time trying to discredit its every move and she has used her evaluated platform to push for a radical reshaping of our society. That's political. Nothing to do with child behavioural science.
In contrast a number of other SAGE member have been very careful about crossing the line between the expertise and having anything to do with the politics e.g. Ferguson for instance, we know he is left leaning, not a government fan, nor of Brexit....but when interviewed as soon as any interviewer tries to get into politics, he basically say no, not talking about that. I will talk about modelling and that's it.