I still haven't had a satisfactory answer my poser yesterday.
Why would anyone in their right mind retain the app on their phone?
Because no-one (== hardly anyone) ever (== almost never) uninstalls apps from their phones. They just stop using them, and, sometimes, don't reinstall when they change phones (if it didn't migrate it automatically for them).
ETA: unless they install it and uninstall it almost immediately
I've not been following the pandemic in any sort of detail. Just listening to the news and government spokespeople. While our vaccine program was purring like a Ferrari Europe's were limping along like a Lada Riva with a puncture. Tory poster's on here have been crowing about our ingenuity and delighting in our good fortune at being-dare I say it-BRITISH!
1. FIRST in Europe for total number of cases. 2. FIRST in Europe for total number of deaths. 3. FIRST in Europe for total of NEW cases. 4. FIRST in Europe for total number of NEW deaths.
Roger, this is just total nonsense. 1. France and Russia have both had more cases 2. Russia has more deaths, on a per million analysis there are a host of countries ahead of us. 3. Russia has more new cases. And we do massively more testing than anyone else. 4. Total rubbish. In the last 7 days Italy, Germany and France (as well as Russia) have all had more deaths than us.
Why do you write this stuff?
I should perhaps have replaced 'Europe' with 'EU'. Had I done so the only number which is incorrect on YESTERDAY'S figures is France which had marginally more total cases than us.
Which would also have been laughably wrong. We’re not in the EU. Perhaps you missed that evolution, as you fumbled with your Blackberry under your tartan blanket, trying to tune into the Home Service
I think what Roger means is 'we did worse than Germany'. Because surely he can't be expecting that Bulgaria, Slovenia, Croatia, Poland, Hungary, Czechia and so forth had more deaths than us in absolute terms. No-one who has even an ounce of maths in their body would expect that.
So, fair point Roger - the UK has had more covid than Germany.
Downthread someone suggested ‘Germany’ as an example of a country that handled the pandemic (so far) “really well”
Wtf?
Germany is the 19th largest country in the world by population
Going by Worldometer (flawed but indicative) Germany is 12th in the world for total cases and also 12th for total deaths. Bad.
Their economy in 2020 shrank by 5%. Also bad. And they still have Delta to come
Germany did better than some European countries (the UK for one) but worse than others. Globally it is nowhere near the top rank and is no kind of model
South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore are models. Perhaps oz and nz (but they have new issues now)
In Europe maybe Denmark? You soon run out of exemplars
Of the G7 nations Germany and Japan did the best, Germany locked down relatively early, certainly compared to the USA and us, had an effective track and trace and has a far better vaccination rate now than say New Zealand, Australia and France.
Though globally Singapore is probably the best example, amongst the top nations in terms of vaccination rate and has had just 6 Covid deaths per million, compared to a global rate of 514
Japan did waaaaay better than Germany healthwise. 15,000 deaths compared to 90,000 and with a bigger, older population
Not so good on vaccines tho. We’ve yet to see if that bites them
Think they're getting their vaccine act together.
Japan’s superior performance on deaths might just be a function of their very low obesity rates. It is likely that is a factor around the world - see the horrors in fairly-obese Latin America
Incidentally, I’m sitting in a beach bar in Majorca watching Europe waddle past. All nations. It is clear lots of people have put on lots of weight. Brits among the worst, and we were already fat
God knows what the USA is like
In my long trip around the States a couple of years back I was surprised not to see more of the obese people for which it is renowned. But I concluded they weren’t likely to be out as much, and insofar as they did venture out probably frequented mostly places that I was unlikely to be visiting.
I spent a lot of time in the US and they are definitely there! And as with so much about the US, its the extremes. The fit and healthy are super fit and healthy, the same the other way.
It is also something i really notice when i go and visit my home town of Stoke, people are noticeably much fatter than the affluent part of the country I live in. You can't miss it, and again so often it isn't a bit of dad bod, it is really obese.
In Jasper, for example, I remember observing that 50% were racing snakes just gagging to sprint up the next mountain, and 50% were huge fatties.
I've not been following the pandemic in any sort of detail. Just listening to the news and government spokespeople. While our vaccine program was purring like a Ferrari Europe's were limping along like a Lada Riva with a puncture. Tory poster's on here have been crowing about our ingenuity and delighting in our good fortune at being-dare I say it-BRITISH!
1. FIRST in Europe for total number of cases. 2. FIRST in Europe for total number of deaths. 3. FIRST in Europe for total of NEW cases. 4. FIRST in Europe for total number of NEW deaths.
Roger, this is just total nonsense. 1. France and Russia have both had more cases 2. Russia has more deaths, on a per million analysis there are a host of countries ahead of us. 3. Russia has more new cases. And we do massively more testing than anyone else. 4. Total rubbish. In the last 7 days Italy, Germany and France (as well as Russia) have all had more deaths than us.
Why do you write this stuff?
I should perhaps have replaced 'Europe' with 'EU'. Had I done so the only number which is incorrect on YESTERDAY'S figures is France which had marginally more total cases than us.
Which would also have been laughably wrong. We’re not in the EU. Perhaps you missed that evolution, as you fumbled with your Blackberry under your tartan blanket, trying to tune into the Home Service
I am surprised that Brexiteers haven't insisted we go back to calling Radio 2 "The Home Service", which they can listen to on their new fangled "wireless", particularly enjoying the sublime commentary of John Arlott. When the odd run is scored they will applaud politely and mutter "hear hear" with their pipe of baccy clenched between their teeth, whilst thinking it is all jolly good that we are back in the 1950s with ration books and good old navy blue passports.
I’ve met millions of Brexiteers of all stripes. From lunatic eco-Leavers to stereotypical chav Leavers to super-posh ducal Leavers. I’ve never met the archetype you describe here. Not once. I’m sure they exist outside your head, but they are rare
The stereotype you do constantly encounter is the middle class, BBC watching, London based, Tuscany-going Remoaner who has been slightly unhinged by Brexit. You encounter them constantly and you can spot them a mile off. However they may be so conspicuous just because they are so hysterical on Twitter
Clearly left your sense of humour by the pool today. I expected a wittier repost than that. Disappointing.
Your somewhat desperate attempt to disassociate yourself from the BNP gorilla type leaver is understandable. What you can't get away from is that Farage (the person that convinced so many of you that we were being overrun by a tidal wave of immigrants - remember him?), fits that stereotype perfectly. You have probably overlooked that I used to be a Tory activist. I have met masses of them and there are sadly even more of them in the Tory party now as entryists from UKIP. Reactionary old farts who would love the UK to go back to the 1950s of their parents' youth. The obsession with navy blue passports was only one example of their stupidity. You are simply in denial. You know I am right. Perhaps you have a tweed jacket and a pipe yourself that you only use at weekends.
Oh. You were trying to be FUNNY. Sorry
Because it wasn’t remotely funny, as you have no sense of humour, it’s quite difficult to respond correctly, in these circumstances. Sorry
In future perhaps you could start your ‘funny’ comments with some kind of clown face emoji, so I know to read your ‘funny’ remarks with a rictus grin of embarrassment on your behalf, before coughing up a tiny, forced little laugh like a lizard boaking a boll-weevil
Oh dear, touched a raw nerve. Is the latest poor man's Dan Brown effort not going so well today? Had an unpleasant alien visitation on the khazi this morning, or is it that the realisation that in fact my caricature was in reality close to the bone regarding the company you keep? What a pathetically thin skin you uber-leave obsessives have, but then I guess it goes with the angry nationalist type personality. Keep taking the tablets Sean.
By Netflix. Telling me there is a film I might like - Once upon a Time in Hollywood.
I think it is a rule that any film with "Hollywood" in its name, or which is for the film industry self-referential (eg. Mank) is just rubbish.
It's quite good fun - and knowing the horrific true story I enjoyed the "Hollywood ending"!
Hmmm maybe I will have to watch it. Perhaps I could pretend it is a box set of five 30min episodes and then I would binge watch all of them in one sitting to fool my brain I'm not sitting down for a 2hr 40mins film.
It flies by. It’s highly entertaining. Cool ending
He really is a cracking movie-maker. He suffers (like Orson Welles, another prodigy) from having made his absolute masterpiece at the beginning of his career
I still haven't had a satisfactory answer my poser yesterday.
Why would anyone in their right mind retain the app on their phone?
Because no-one (== hardly anyone) ever (== almost never) uninstalls apps from their phones. They just stop using them, and, sometimes, don't reinstall when they change phones (if it didn't migrate it automatically for them).
ETA: unless they install it and uninstall it almost immediately
(And for extra nuance - of those that *are* uninstalled after that time, the principal reason given is that the app has been spamming them. So an app that sits quietly in the background and didn't get uninstalled within the first 30 days is likely to stay forever.)
I've not been following the pandemic in any sort of detail. Just listening to the news and government spokespeople. While our vaccine program was purring like a Ferrari Europe's were limping along like a Lada Riva with a puncture. Tory poster's on here have been crowing about our ingenuity and delighting in our good fortune at being-dare I say it-BRITISH!
1. FIRST in Europe for total number of cases. 2. FIRST in Europe for total number of deaths. 3. FIRST in Europe for total of NEW cases. 4. FIRST in Europe for total number of NEW deaths.
Roger, this is just total nonsense. 1. France and Russia have both had more cases 2. Russia has more deaths, on a per million analysis there are a host of countries ahead of us. 3. Russia has more new cases. And we do massively more testing than anyone else. 4. Total rubbish. In the last 7 days Italy, Germany and France (as well as Russia) have all had more deaths than us.
Why do you write this stuff?
I should perhaps have replaced 'Europe' with 'EU'. Had I done so the only number which is incorrect on YESTERDAY'S figures is France which had marginally more total cases than us.
Which would also have been laughably wrong. We’re not in the EU. Perhaps you missed that evolution, as you fumbled with your Blackberry under your tartan blanket, trying to tune into the Home Service
I think what Roger means is 'we did worse than Germany'. Because surely he can't be expecting that Bulgaria, Slovenia, Croatia, Poland, Hungary, Czechia and so forth had more deaths than us in absolute terms. No-one who has even an ounce of maths in their body would expect that.
So, fair point Roger - the UK has had more covid than Germany.
Downthread someone suggested ‘Germany’ as an example of a country that handled the pandemic (so far) “really well”
Wtf?
Germany is the 19th largest country in the world by population
Going by Worldometer (flawed but indicative) Germany is 12th in the world for total cases and also 12th for total deaths. Bad.
Their economy in 2020 shrank by 5%. Also bad. And they still have Delta to come
Germany did better than some European countries (the UK for one) but worse than others. Globally it is nowhere near the top rank and is no kind of model
South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore are models. Perhaps oz and nz (but they have new issues now)
In Europe maybe Denmark? You soon run out of exemplars
Of the G7 nations Germany and Japan did the best, Germany locked down relatively early, certainly compared to the USA and us, had an effective track and trace and has a far better vaccination rate now than say New Zealand, Australia and France.
Though globally Singapore is probably the best example, amongst the top nations in terms of vaccination rate and has had just 6 Covid deaths per million, compared to a global rate of 514
Japan did waaaaay better than Germany healthwise. 15,000 deaths compared to 90,000 and with a bigger, older population
Not so good on vaccines tho. We’ve yet to see if that bites them
Canada to be fair to Trudeau has also done relatively well, a lower death rate than the US, us and most of Europe and a vaccination rate now ahead of the US and most of Europe too and only slightly behind the UK
Canada another country where social distancing is a way of life not just for Coronavirus.
Canada's population density is less than 1% of England's.
The distancing even in cities like Edmonton is nothing like anything you'd see anywhere in England.
Yes but the majority of Canada's population lives in just 2 of its 10 provinces (and 3 territories), Ontario and Quebec.
Toronto alone has a population of 5 million which is 14% of the entire Canadian population, even London has only 12% of the UK population
I've not been following the pandemic in any sort of detail. Just listening to the news and government spokespeople. While our vaccine program was purring like a Ferrari Europe's were limping along like a Lada Riva with a puncture. Tory poster's on here have been crowing about our ingenuity and delighting in our good fortune at being-dare I say it-BRITISH!
1. FIRST in Europe for total number of cases. 2. FIRST in Europe for total number of deaths. 3. FIRST in Europe for total of NEW cases. 4. FIRST in Europe for total number of NEW deaths.
Roger, this is just total nonsense. 1. France and Russia have both had more cases 2. Russia has more deaths, on a per million analysis there are a host of countries ahead of us. 3. Russia has more new cases. And we do massively more testing than anyone else. 4. Total rubbish. In the last 7 days Italy, Germany and France (as well as Russia) have all had more deaths than us.
Why do you write this stuff?
I should perhaps have replaced 'Europe' with 'EU'. Had I done so the only number which is incorrect on YESTERDAY'S figures is France which had marginally more total cases than us.
Which would also have been laughably wrong. We’re not in the EU. Perhaps you missed that evolution, as you fumbled with your Blackberry under your tartan blanket, trying to tune into the Home Service
I think what Roger means is 'we did worse than Germany'. Because surely he can't be expecting that Bulgaria, Slovenia, Croatia, Poland, Hungary, Czechia and so forth had more deaths than us in absolute terms. No-one who has even an ounce of maths in their body would expect that.
So, fair point Roger - the UK has had more covid than Germany.
Downthread someone suggested ‘Germany’ as an example of a country that handled the pandemic (so far) “really well”
Wtf?
Germany is the 19th largest country in the world by population
Going by Worldometer (flawed but indicative) Germany is 12th in the world for total cases and also 12th for total deaths. Bad.
Their economy in 2020 shrank by 5%. Also bad. And they still have Delta to come
Germany did better than some European countries (the UK for one) but worse than others. Globally it is nowhere near the top rank and is no kind of model
South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore are models. Perhaps oz and nz (but they have new issues now)
In Europe maybe Denmark? You soon run out of exemplars
Of the G7 nations Germany and Japan did the best, Germany locked down relatively early, certainly compared to the USA and us, had an effective track and trace and has a far better vaccination rate now than say New Zealand, Australia and France.
Though globally Singapore is probably the best example, amongst the top nations in terms of vaccination rate and has had just 6 Covid deaths per million, compared to a global rate of 514
Japan did waaaaay better than Germany healthwise. 15,000 deaths compared to 90,000 and with a bigger, older population
Not so good on vaccines tho. We’ve yet to see if that bites them
Canada to be fair to Trudeau has also done relatively well, a lower death rate than the US, us and most of Europe and a vaccination rate now ahead of the US and most of Europe too and only slightly behind the UK
Canada another country where social distancing is a way of life not just for Coronavirus.
Canada's population density is less than 1% of England's.
The distancing even in cities like Edmonton is nothing like anything you'd see anywhere in England.
Yes but the majority of Canada's population lives in just 2 of its 10 provinces (and 3 territories), Ontario and Quebec.
Toronto alone has a population of 5 million which is 14% of the entire Canadian population, even London has only 12% of the UK population
That's relevant. But also relevant is that Canadians just don't get that close to one another. In my limited experience, conversation with Canadians tends to be shouted from several feet away. While Italians get slightly closer than is comfortable for a Brit.
Even if you say Canada has the same population density advantage New Zealand does and a natural social distancing, there is no denying that Trudeau has vaccinated more than Ardern.
I've not been following the pandemic in any sort of detail. Just listening to the news and government spokespeople. While our vaccine program was purring like a Ferrari Europe's were limping along like a Lada Riva with a puncture. Tory poster's on here have been crowing about our ingenuity and delighting in our good fortune at being-dare I say it-BRITISH!
1. FIRST in Europe for total number of cases. 2. FIRST in Europe for total number of deaths. 3. FIRST in Europe for total of NEW cases. 4. FIRST in Europe for total number of NEW deaths.
Roger, this is just total nonsense. 1. France and Russia have both had more cases 2. Russia has more deaths, on a per million analysis there are a host of countries ahead of us. 3. Russia has more new cases. And we do massively more testing than anyone else. 4. Total rubbish. In the last 7 days Italy, Germany and France (as well as Russia) have all had more deaths than us.
Why do you write this stuff?
I should perhaps have replaced 'Europe' with 'EU'. Had I done so the only number which is incorrect on YESTERDAY'S figures is France which had marginally more total cases than us.
Which would also have been laughably wrong. We’re not in the EU. Perhaps you missed that evolution, as you fumbled with your Blackberry under your tartan blanket, trying to tune into the Home Service
I think what Roger means is 'we did worse than Germany'. Because surely he can't be expecting that Bulgaria, Slovenia, Croatia, Poland, Hungary, Czechia and so forth had more deaths than us in absolute terms. No-one who has even an ounce of maths in their body would expect that.
So, fair point Roger - the UK has had more covid than Germany.
Downthread someone suggested ‘Germany’ as an example of a country that handled the pandemic (so far) “really well”
Wtf?
Germany is the 19th largest country in the world by population
Going by Worldometer (flawed but indicative) Germany is 12th in the world for total cases and also 12th for total deaths. Bad.
Their economy in 2020 shrank by 5%. Also bad. And they still have Delta to come
Germany did better than some European countries (the UK for one) but worse than others. Globally it is nowhere near the top rank and is no kind of model
South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore are models. Perhaps oz and nz (but they have new issues now)
In Europe maybe Denmark? You soon run out of exemplars
Of the G7 nations Germany and Japan did the best, Germany locked down relatively early, certainly compared to the USA and us, had an effective track and trace and has a far better vaccination rate now than say New Zealand, Australia and France.
Though globally Singapore is probably the best example, amongst the top nations in terms of vaccination rate and has had just 6 Covid deaths per million, compared to a global rate of 514
Japan did waaaaay better than Germany healthwise. 15,000 deaths compared to 90,000 and with a bigger, older population
Not so good on vaccines tho. We’ve yet to see if that bites them
Think they're getting their vaccine act together.
Japan’s superior performance on deaths might just be a function of their very low obesity rates. It is likely that is a factor around the world - see the horrors in fairly-obese Latin America
Incidentally, I’m sitting in a beach bar in Majorca watching Europe waddle past. All nations. It is clear lots of people have put on lots of weight. Brits among the worst, and we were already fat
God knows what the USA is like
It's hard to imagine the French and Italians being fat. Both are very obviously slimmer than the average here. Has your trip to Majorca revealed some Gallic guts and Tuscan tummies?
By Netflix. Telling me there is a film I might like - Once upon a Time in Hollywood.
I think it is a rule that any film with "Hollywood" in its name, or which is for the film industry self-referential (eg. Mank) is just rubbish.
It's quite good fun - and knowing the horrific true story I enjoyed the "Hollywood ending"!
Hmmm maybe I will have to watch it. Perhaps I could pretend it is a box set of five 30min episodes and then I would binge watch all of them in one sitting to fool my brain I'm not sitting down for a 2hr 40mins film.
It flies by. It’s highly entertaining. Cool ending
He really is a cracking movie-maker. He suffers (like Orson Welles, another prodigy) from having made his absolute masterpiece at the beginning of his career
He was on Joe Rogan recently, extremely interesting guy. I wouldn't advise anyone to listen/or watch the interview as it does touch a bit on the film, so best to avoid spoilers.
I've not been following the pandemic in any sort of detail. Just listening to the news and government spokespeople. While our vaccine program was purring like a Ferrari Europe's were limping along like a Lada Riva with a puncture. Tory poster's on here have been crowing about our ingenuity and delighting in our good fortune at being-dare I say it-BRITISH!
1. FIRST in Europe for total number of cases. 2. FIRST in Europe for total number of deaths. 3. FIRST in Europe for total of NEW cases. 4. FIRST in Europe for total number of NEW deaths.
Roger, this is just total nonsense. 1. France and Russia have both had more cases 2. Russia has more deaths, on a per million analysis there are a host of countries ahead of us. 3. Russia has more new cases. And we do massively more testing than anyone else. 4. Total rubbish. In the last 7 days Italy, Germany and France (as well as Russia) have all had more deaths than us.
Why do you write this stuff?
I should perhaps have replaced 'Europe' with 'EU'. Had I done so the only number which is incorrect on YESTERDAY'S figures is France which had marginally more total cases than us.
Which would also have been laughably wrong. We’re not in the EU. Perhaps you missed that evolution, as you fumbled with your Blackberry under your tartan blanket, trying to tune into the Home Service
I think what Roger means is 'we did worse than Germany'. Because surely he can't be expecting that Bulgaria, Slovenia, Croatia, Poland, Hungary, Czechia and so forth had more deaths than us in absolute terms. No-one who has even an ounce of maths in their body would expect that.
So, fair point Roger - the UK has had more covid than Germany.
Downthread someone suggested ‘Germany’ as an example of a country that handled the pandemic (so far) “really well”
Wtf?
Germany is the 19th largest country in the world by population
Going by Worldometer (flawed but indicative) Germany is 12th in the world for total cases and also 12th for total deaths. Bad.
Their economy in 2020 shrank by 5%. Also bad. And they still have Delta to come
Germany did better than some European countries (the UK for one) but worse than others. Globally it is nowhere near the top rank and is no kind of model
South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore are models. Perhaps oz and nz (but they have new issues now)
In Europe maybe Denmark? You soon run out of exemplars
Of the G7 nations Germany and Japan did the best, Germany locked down relatively early, certainly compared to the USA and us, had an effective track and trace and has a far better vaccination rate now than say New Zealand, Australia and France.
Though globally Singapore is probably the best example, amongst the top nations in terms of vaccination rate and has had just 6 Covid deaths per million, compared to a global rate of 514
Japan did waaaaay better than Germany healthwise. 15,000 deaths compared to 90,000 and with a bigger, older population
Not so good on vaccines tho. We’ve yet to see if that bites them
Think they're getting their vaccine act together.
Japan’s superior performance on deaths might just be a function of their very low obesity rates. It is likely that is a factor around the world - see the horrors in fairly-obese Latin America
Incidentally, I’m sitting in a beach bar in Majorca watching Europe waddle past. All nations. It is clear lots of people have put on lots of weight. Brits among the worst, and we were already fat
God knows what the USA is like
It's hard to imagine the French and Italians being fat. Both are very obviously slimmer than the average here. Has your trip to Majorca revealed some Gallic guts and Tuscan tummies?
Those are quite amazing stats, in a bad way. I had no idea so much of Europe was so podgy
Countries I assume are all bicycling and healthy are not. Eg the Netherlands, more than half of men are overweight
Striking
Yes, of the major European nations France and Italy have the slimmest women and the slimmest men. (Yet Frenchwomen and Italian women are notably slimmer than Frenchmen and Italian men).
Dutchmen are the slimmest men of all Europeans yet still more than half are obese!
I am not sure the government is dealing with perverse incentives here.
I for one would feel more confident to commute and travel about in London if masks were compulsory on the tube. The free for all make me more inclined to stay put. The tube is nasty at the best of times, but with CV19, nah no thanks.
A continuation of the incremental approach may have been wiser and helped the economy and society more.
There’s nothing to stop TfL insisting on masks on the Tube if they wish, but that’s up to TfL and the Mayor.
I still haven't had a satisfactory answer my poser yesterday.
Why would anyone in their right mind retain the app on their phone?
Because no-one (== hardly anyone) ever (== almost never) uninstalls apps from their phones. They just stop using them, and, sometimes, don't reinstall when they change phones (if it didn't migrate it automatically for them).
ETA: unless they install it and uninstall it almost immediately
(And for extra nuance - of those that *are* uninstalled after that time, the principal reason given is that the app has been spamming them. So an app that sits quietly in the background and didn't get uninstalled within the first 30 days is likely to stay forever.)
I have taken off almost all the apps which came with my phone; the only ones I use are google chrome, Whatsapp (grudgingly) and text/phone. Oh, and clock and camera. I also disable location settings, though I don't know how 'real' that is. Anything which can't get done through Google chrome gets done on my home computer. I'm not an expert - I may have left holes open. But I'm frankly astonished at how ready people are to install apps at the drop of a hat that not only have access to your data but that know where you are. I find the concept horrific. But it appears I am in a minority.
Data out soon will give hope that Covid cases fall in AUGUST. A real turning point in pandemic. It has big political implications. At #PMQs , @Keir_Starmer gambled that Freedom Day is too soon, & @BorisJohnson banked on cases peaking.
“The modelling will give a more accurate indication of when a peak will occur,” said a source. “Mid-August is broadly where we believe it will come. It will run through the unvaccinated and the single-dosed, but because such vast numbers of people now have antibodies and can resist it, it will then start falling off because it will run out of people to infect.” So far Britain has vaccinated 64.3 per cent of over-18s with two doses, which give around 92 per cent protection against serious illness, and delivered at least one dose to a total of 86.2 per cent.
"Heading for a summer of chaos and confusion" is remarkably mild language from SKS. Is he still thinking he's in court? Judges prefer not to accept proposals that lead to chaos and confusion. Many tabloid readers just want to go down the pub and breathe all over each other at the bar. SKS is Neil Kinnock maybe - greatest achievement in domestic politics being the party's survival in some kind of shape.
There seems to be some kind of parallel between 2020 and 2021 even despite the difference with regard to vaccination.
I don’t think Boris had a good PMQs but I do think there is something in the fact that SKS doesn’t really know who he’s pitching to or what he wants. He seems to agree with unlocking but not with the ending of wearing face masks (and the jury is still out on quite how effective they are), seems to be concerned about the number of people self isolating but not willing to reach for the obvious logical solution to that (decrease transmission rates, I.e continuing restrictions). He makes some good points but there’s no coherent thrust of what he actually wants to achieve.
This is him trying to go the “I told you so” route again. But that didn’t seem to have tremendous cut-through back last year… I think the narrowing in the polls had much more to do with how mightily the Tories were naffing things up at the time rather than anyone giving any credit to Labour.
"Heading for a summer of chaos and confusion" is remarkably mild language from SKS. Is he still thinking he's in court? Judges prefer not to accept proposals that lead to chaos and confusion. Many tabloid readers just want to go down the pub and breathe all over each other at the bar. SKS is Neil Kinnock maybe - greatest achievement in domestic politics being the party's survival in some kind of shape.
There seems to be some kind of parallel between 2020 and 2021 even despite the difference with regard to vaccination.
After 18 months of glum certainty, chaos and confusion sounds quite attractive to me.
I still haven't had a satisfactory answer my poser yesterday.
Why would anyone in their right mind retain the app on their phone?
Because no-one (== hardly anyone) ever (== almost never) uninstalls apps from their phones. They just stop using them, and, sometimes, don't reinstall when they change phones (if it didn't migrate it automatically for them).
ETA: unless they install it and uninstall it almost immediately
(And for extra nuance - of those that *are* uninstalled after that time, the principal reason given is that the app has been spamming them. So an app that sits quietly in the background and didn't get uninstalled within the first 30 days is likely to stay forever.)
I have taken off almost all the apps which came with my phone; the only ones I use are google chrome, Whatsapp (grudgingly) and text/phone. Oh, and clock and camera. I also disable location settings, though I don't know how 'real' that is. Anything which can't get done through Google chrome gets done on my home computer. I'm not an expert - I may have left holes open. But I'm frankly astonished at how ready people are to install apps at the drop of a hat that not only have access to your data but that know where you are. I find the concept horrific. But it appears I am in a minority.
glad to see you dont use the utter misery making NHS test and trace . Does anyone think we would have more cases than we do without it currently? Yet is it causing huge disruption that ranges from irritating to devastating for individuals - for no reason - and the government FFS want to extend its life
I just don’t understand South Korea (not that I’ve done any investigating). Somehow they have managed to produce consistently 4-700 cases for months, never falling below, but never growing, and deaths consistently less than 5 (but never zero!). It seems to me that something doesn’t compute.
How can they have that tight control over it over such a long period, without it falling to vanishingly low levels? And the no zero deaths thing is really strange.
By Netflix. Telling me there is a film I might like - Once upon a Time in Hollywood.
I think it is a rule that any film with "Hollywood" in its name, or which is for the film industry self-referential (eg. Mank) is just rubbish.
It's quite good fun - and knowing the horrific true story I enjoyed the "Hollywood ending"!
Hmmm maybe I will have to watch it. Perhaps I could pretend it is a box set of five 30min episodes and then I would binge watch all of them in one sitting to fool my brain I'm not sitting down for a 2hr 40mins film.
The 1997 Titanic was marketed as '2 hours 86 minutes"......
I've not been following the pandemic in any sort of detail. Just listening to the news and government spokespeople. While our vaccine program was purring like a Ferrari Europe's were limping along like a Lada Riva with a puncture. Tory poster's on here have been crowing about our ingenuity and delighting in our good fortune at being-dare I say it-BRITISH!
1. FIRST in Europe for total number of cases. 2. FIRST in Europe for total number of deaths. 3. FIRST in Europe for total of NEW cases. 4. FIRST in Europe for total number of NEW deaths.
Roger, this is just total nonsense. 1. France and Russia have both had more cases 2. Russia has more deaths, on a per million analysis there are a host of countries ahead of us. 3. Russia has more new cases. And we do massively more testing than anyone else. 4. Total rubbish. In the last 7 days Italy, Germany and France (as well as Russia) have all had more deaths than us.
Why do you write this stuff?
I should perhaps have replaced 'Europe' with 'EU'. Had I done so the only number which is incorrect on YESTERDAY'S figures is France which had marginally more total cases than us.
Which would also have been laughably wrong. We’re not in the EU. Perhaps you missed that evolution, as you fumbled with your Blackberry under your tartan blanket, trying to tune into the Home Service
I am surprised that Brexiteers haven't insisted we go back to calling Radio 2 "The Home Service", which they can listen to on their new fangled "wireless", particularly enjoying the sublime commentary of John Arlott. When the odd run is scored they will applaud politely and mutter "hear hear" with their pipe of baccy clenched between their teeth, whilst thinking it is all jolly good that we are back in the 1950s with ration books and good old navy blue passports.
I’ve met millions of Brexiteers of all stripes. From lunatic eco-Leavers to stereotypical chav Leavers to super-posh ducal Leavers. I’ve never met the archetype you describe here. Not once. I’m sure they exist outside your head, but they are rare
The stereotype you do constantly encounter is the middle class, BBC watching, London based, Tuscany-going Remoaner who has been slightly unhinged by Brexit. You encounter them constantly and you can spot them a mile off. However they may be so conspicuous just because they are so hysterical on Twitter
Clearly left your sense of humour by the pool today. I expected a wittier repost than that. Disappointing.
Your somewhat desperate attempt to disassociate yourself from the BNP gorilla type leaver is understandable. What you can't get away from is that Farage (the person that convinced so many of you that we were being overrun by a tidal wave of immigrants - remember him?), fits that stereotype perfectly. You have probably overlooked that I used to be a Tory activist. I have met masses of them and there are sadly even more of them in the Tory party now as entryists from UKIP. Reactionary old farts who would love the UK to go back to the 1950s of their parents' youth. The obsession with navy blue passports was only one example of their stupidity. You are simply in denial. You know I am right. Perhaps you have a tweed jacket and a pipe yourself that you only use at weekends.
Oh. You were trying to be FUNNY. Sorry
Because it wasn’t remotely funny, as you have no sense of humour, it’s quite difficult to respond correctly, in these circumstances. Sorry
In future perhaps you could start your ‘funny’ comments with some kind of clown face emoji, so I know to read your ‘funny’ remarks with a rictus grin of embarrassment on your behalf, before coughing up a tiny, forced little laugh like a lizard boaking a boll-weevil
Oh dear, touched a raw nerve. Is the latest poor man's Dan Brown effort not going so well today? Had an unpleasant alien visitation on the khazi this morning, or is it that the realisation that in fact my caricature was in reality close to the bone regarding the company you keep? What a pathetically thin skin you uber-leave obsessives have, but then I guess it goes with the angry nationalist type personality. Keep taking the tablets Sean.
"Poor man's Dan Brown" strikes me as harsh. I don't think I've ever read a more poorly-written book than the Da Vinci Code (it made Jeffrey Archer look like Dickens). Should PB's resident dildo-botherer ever turn his hands to literature I am sure he would be able to turn in a superior product.
Data out soon will give hope that Covid cases fall in AUGUST. A real turning point in pandemic. It has big political implications. At #PMQs , @Keir_Starmer gambled that Freedom Day is too soon, & @BorisJohnson banked on cases peaking.
“The modelling will give a more accurate indication of when a peak will occur,” said a source. “Mid-August is broadly where we believe it will come. It will run through the unvaccinated and the single-dosed, but because such vast numbers of people now have antibodies and can resist it, it will then start falling off because it will run out of people to infect.” So far Britain has vaccinated 64.3 per cent of over-18s with two doses, which give around 92 per cent protection against serious illness, and delivered at least one dose to a total of 86.2 per cent.
I still haven't had a satisfactory answer my poser yesterday.
Why would anyone in their right mind retain the app on their phone?
Because no-one (== hardly anyone) ever (== almost never) uninstalls apps from their phones. They just stop using them, and, sometimes, don't reinstall when they change phones (if it didn't migrate it automatically for them).
ETA: unless they install it and uninstall it almost immediately
(And for extra nuance - of those that *are* uninstalled after that time, the principal reason given is that the app has been spamming them. So an app that sits quietly in the background and didn't get uninstalled within the first 30 days is likely to stay forever.)
I have taken off almost all the apps which came with my phone; the only ones I use are google chrome, Whatsapp (grudgingly) and text/phone. Oh, and clock and camera. I also disable location settings, though I don't know how 'real' that is. Anything which can't get done through Google chrome gets done on my home computer. I'm not an expert - I may have left holes open. But I'm frankly astonished at how ready people are to install apps at the drop of a hat that not only have access to your data but that know where you are. I find the concept horrific. But it appears I am in a minority.
glad to see you dont use the utter misery making NHS test and trace . Does anyone think we would have more cases than we do without it currently? Yet is it causing huge disruption that ranges from irritating to devastating to individuals - for no reason - and the government FFS want to extend its life
I asked this question earlier but don’t know if I got a response. How does the “check in” feature of the app even work? Some times I check into venues for about 5 minutes (but don’t bother to check out). I barely come into contact with anyone. If I was told, based on an alert alone, that I might have to self isolate, I would feel quite comfortable in ignoring it unless there was a way of finding out a bit more about what triggered it.
By Netflix. Telling me there is a film I might like - Once upon a Time in Hollywood.
I think it is a rule that any film with "Hollywood" in its name, or which is for the film industry self-referential (eg. Mank) is just rubbish.
It's quite good fun - and knowing the horrific true story I enjoyed the "Hollywood ending"!
Hmmm maybe I will have to watch it. Perhaps I could pretend it is a box set of five 30min episodes and then I would binge watch all of them in one sitting to fool my brain I'm not sitting down for a 2hr 40mins film.
Not great, too long, dubious taste.
Death of Stalin and No Country for Old Men are on Netflix atm.
I've not been following the pandemic in any sort of detail. Just listening to the news and government spokespeople. While our vaccine program was purring like a Ferrari Europe's were limping along like a Lada Riva with a puncture. Tory poster's on here have been crowing about our ingenuity and delighting in our good fortune at being-dare I say it-BRITISH!
1. FIRST in Europe for total number of cases. 2. FIRST in Europe for total number of deaths. 3. FIRST in Europe for total of NEW cases. 4. FIRST in Europe for total number of NEW deaths.
Roger, this is just total nonsense. 1. France and Russia have both had more cases 2. Russia has more deaths, on a per million analysis there are a host of countries ahead of us. 3. Russia has more new cases. And we do massively more testing than anyone else. 4. Total rubbish. In the last 7 days Italy, Germany and France (as well as Russia) have all had more deaths than us.
Why do you write this stuff?
I should perhaps have replaced 'Europe' with 'EU'. Had I done so the only number which is incorrect on YESTERDAY'S figures is France which had marginally more total cases than us.
Which would also have been laughably wrong. We’re not in the EU. Perhaps you missed that evolution, as you fumbled with your Blackberry under your tartan blanket, trying to tune into the Home Service
I think what Roger means is 'we did worse than Germany'. Because surely he can't be expecting that Bulgaria, Slovenia, Croatia, Poland, Hungary, Czechia and so forth had more deaths than us in absolute terms. No-one who has even an ounce of maths in their body would expect that.
So, fair point Roger - the UK has had more covid than Germany.
Downthread someone suggested ‘Germany’ as an example of a country that handled the pandemic (so far) “really well”
Wtf?
Germany is the 19th largest country in the world by population
Going by Worldometer (flawed but indicative) Germany is 12th in the world for total cases and also 12th for total deaths. Bad.
Their economy in 2020 shrank by 5%. Also bad. And they still have Delta to come
Germany did better than some European countries (the UK for one) but worse than others. Globally it is nowhere near the top rank and is no kind of model
South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore are models. Perhaps oz and nz (but they have new issues now)
In Europe maybe Denmark? You soon run out of exemplars
Of the G7 nations Germany and Japan did the best, Germany locked down relatively early, certainly compared to the USA and us, had an effective track and trace and has a far better vaccination rate now than say New Zealand, Australia and France.
Though globally Singapore is probably the best example, amongst the top nations in terms of vaccination rate and has had just 6 Covid deaths per million, compared to a global rate of 514
Japan did waaaaay better than Germany healthwise. 15,000 deaths compared to 90,000 and with a bigger, older population
Not so good on vaccines tho. We’ve yet to see if that bites them
Think they're getting their vaccine act together.
Japan’s superior performance on deaths might just be a function of their very low obesity rates. It is likely that is a factor around the world - see the horrors in fairly-obese Latin America
Incidentally, I’m sitting in a beach bar in Majorca watching Europe waddle past. All nations. It is clear lots of people have put on lots of weight. Brits among the worst, and we were already fat
God knows what the USA is like
It's hard to imagine the French and Italians being fat. Both are very obviously slimmer than the average here. Has your trip to Majorca revealed some Gallic guts and Tuscan tummies?
Those are quite amazing stats, in a bad way. I had no idea so much of Europe was so podgy
Countries I assume are all bicycling and healthy are not. Eg the Netherlands, more than half of men are overweight
Striking
Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. Weak men create hard times.
How hard is it for people to look in a mirror and then decide to eat less?
There’s a couple right next to me as I write. Both extremely obese. And British, I fear (certainly Northern European)
They’ve ordered an enormous lunch. Several starters. Huge main courses. And it’s not quality food - its huge plates of burgers and chips. Which don’t seem to satisfy them
It’s actually quite distressing to see. Like watching a smack addict with a death pallor seeking one last uncollapsed vein to inject. In public
I've not been following the pandemic in any sort of detail. Just listening to the news and government spokespeople. While our vaccine program was purring like a Ferrari Europe's were limping along like a Lada Riva with a puncture. Tory poster's on here have been crowing about our ingenuity and delighting in our good fortune at being-dare I say it-BRITISH!
1. FIRST in Europe for total number of cases. 2. FIRST in Europe for total number of deaths. 3. FIRST in Europe for total of NEW cases. 4. FIRST in Europe for total number of NEW deaths.
Roger, this is just total nonsense. 1. France and Russia have both had more cases 2. Russia has more deaths, on a per million analysis there are a host of countries ahead of us. 3. Russia has more new cases. And we do massively more testing than anyone else. 4. Total rubbish. In the last 7 days Italy, Germany and France (as well as Russia) have all had more deaths than us.
Why do you write this stuff?
I should perhaps have replaced 'Europe' with 'EU'. Had I done so the only number which is incorrect on YESTERDAY'S figures is France which had marginally more total cases than us.
Which would also have been laughably wrong. We’re not in the EU. Perhaps you missed that evolution, as you fumbled with your Blackberry under your tartan blanket, trying to tune into the Home Service
I am surprised that Brexiteers haven't insisted we go back to calling Radio 2 "The Home Service", which they can listen to on their new fangled "wireless", particularly enjoying the sublime commentary of John Arlott. When the odd run is scored they will applaud politely and mutter "hear hear" with their pipe of baccy clenched between their teeth, whilst thinking it is all jolly good that we are back in the 1950s with ration books and good old navy blue passports.
I’ve met millions of Brexiteers of all stripes. From lunatic eco-Leavers to stereotypical chav Leavers to super-posh ducal Leavers. I’ve never met the archetype you describe here. Not once. I’m sure they exist outside your head, but they are rare
The stereotype you do constantly encounter is the middle class, BBC watching, London based, Tuscany-going Remoaner who has been slightly unhinged by Brexit. You encounter them constantly and you can spot them a mile off. However they may be so conspicuous just because they are so hysterical on Twitter
Clearly left your sense of humour by the pool today. I expected a wittier repost than that. Disappointing.
Your somewhat desperate attempt to disassociate yourself from the BNP gorilla type leaver is understandable. What you can't get away from is that Farage (the person that convinced so many of you that we were being overrun by a tidal wave of immigrants - remember him?), fits that stereotype perfectly. You have probably overlooked that I used to be a Tory activist. I have met masses of them and there are sadly even more of them in the Tory party now as entryists from UKIP. Reactionary old farts who would love the UK to go back to the 1950s of their parents' youth. The obsession with navy blue passports was only one example of their stupidity. You are simply in denial. You know I am right. Perhaps you have a tweed jacket and a pipe yourself that you only use at weekends.
Oh. You were trying to be FUNNY. Sorry
Because it wasn’t remotely funny, as you have no sense of humour, it’s quite difficult to respond correctly, in these circumstances. Sorry
In future perhaps you could start your ‘funny’ comments with some kind of clown face emoji, so I know to read your ‘funny’ remarks with a rictus grin of embarrassment on your behalf, before coughing up a tiny, forced little laugh like a lizard boaking a boll-weevil
Oh dear, touched a raw nerve. Is the latest poor man's Dan Brown effort not going so well today? Had an unpleasant alien visitation on the khazi this morning, or is it that the realisation that in fact my caricature was in reality close to the bone regarding the company you keep? What a pathetically thin skin you uber-leave obsessives have, but then I guess it goes with the angry nationalist type personality. Keep taking the tablets Sean.
"Poor man's Dan Brown" strikes me as harsh. I don't think I've ever read a more poorly-written book than the Da Vinci Code (it made Jeffrey Archer look like Dickens). Should PB's resident dildo-botherer ever turn his hands to literature I am sure he would be able to turn in a superior product.
OK, it probably was a little harsh. Poor man's Jeffrey Archer perhaps?
Chris Whitty contradicting what he said at the presser.
Not half. Although probably we need the full exchange.
Whitty was adamant on Monday that getting the exit wave out of the way in summer was best plan. How does that square with hell for leather suppression (which implies total lockdown based on their previous thinking)?
To be honest, Delta looks so infectious that I think only the most severe lockdowns would control it. Minor measures look pointless.
Why have cases fallen off a cliff in India? There is no way a severe lockdown is possible there
Herd immunity against the delta variant perhaps ? I think the UK had perhaps achieved herd immunity against the alpha variant but with the single jab breakthrough and greater infectiousness of the delta the wall didn't hold. We don't have herd immunity against delta yet, it will be achieved via further vaccination (2nd jab catchup), nightclub (un & partially vaccinated 18-30) and school spread (5 - 17)
The following things have been observed in multiple countries, when COVID is allowed to spread
- it dies back, apparently by itself. - contrary to some early reports, antibody survey do not show that even a majority of people in the effected areas got it - after such waves, it takes a considerable time for another wave, despite people returning to normal(ish) behaviour quite rapidly
We had not achieved herd immunity against the alpha variant - what we had was an R below 1 with a combination of vaccines and the restrictions at the time.
The idea that a wave of Covid will die back by itself is defintely hard for people to comprehend. I think its human nature to think there to be a human controlled reason for something happening.
We tend not to understand how people connect and are also not connected. I come to the Uni and interact with the same few people everyday, not the whole University (at least in the sense of being likely to be infected). There are networks of people, some vast, some tiny. An infectious strain like covid will rip through a network, but will then run out of links.
Wasn't that a plot point in A Very Peculiar Practice? An embarrassing disease spreading through the university; iirc the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies was linking and cross-infecting different networks. Sorry for the spoiler of an iconic 1980s television series but I've probably misremembered anyway.
Steven Reicher, social psychologist, may well be right that long Covid is about to become an even bigger issue than it is already. Long Covid includes symptoms such as chronic fatigue, poor memory, poor concentration, and insomnia, as well as chest pain, heart palpitations, and laboured breathing.
For some of these symptoms it seems hard to near-impossible to assess the relative contributions of
1) a previous SARSCoV2 infection - which may have been asymptomatic and completely unnoticed - and
2) the emotional stress of lockdown.
Chris Whitty is treated like some kind of god, but I have no idea why after he says he thinks we'll get "a significant amount" of long Covid, he says "particularly in the younger age [group] where the vaccination rates are currently much lower".
Does vaccination reduce the risk of long Covid then? Cite please.
"The chances of having long-term symptoms does not seem to be linked to how ill you are when you first get COVID-19."
So if what does not "seem" to be not true here [sic] actually is true then if vaccination does reduce the risk of long Covid it must achieve that effect by some other means than reducing the severity of standard Covid symptoms. We seem to be well into the territory of advanced speculation here. What does the "data" say? This is what journalists and MPs should be asking.
You may think that the NHS advice on long Covid obviously excludes asymptomatic cases of SARSCov2 infection, because it clearly says "Covid-19" and not "SARSCoV2", and "Covid-19" cannot exist with zero symptoms because it is precisely a collection of symptoms. But the same page also talks of a "COVID-19 infection", so that interpretation would be mistaken.
The context of long Covid is perhaps the best example of why the confusion between Covid and SARSCoV2 is so deplorable. This is not pedantry. What is a person supposed to do if they have never had Covid but they have started to suffer from chronic fatigue and terrible concentration? Should they have a drink at the pub on "Freedom Day" and hope the symptoms go away? Or should they form the view that it's probably long Covid and seek medical attention before they start to get chest pains and difficulties breathing?
Reicher's figure of 40% of those INFECTED getting long Covid is cause for concern, to put it mildly. That could soon be millions of people.
Final point: there may be good reasons for the whole "will we, won't we" thing, but it can feel like a case of Skinnerian "variable reward schedule" behavioural conditioning. A reversal before 19 July is likely to have some unpleasant mass-psychological effects.
The metaphor I use is long covid a moor fire. People do the isolating, feel better, get back to it, but it’s still burning inside them. Not just vascular but cardiovascular and other organs.
To protect the economy in long run we need to limit peak working age infections in short term.
It was estimated before the advent of the vaccine programme that between 30-40% of Brits had been infected by the virus. So 40% of 40% times the UK population is give or take 10 million people who are already suffering from long covid according to these stats. However we interpret the term. Do we have 10 million formerly healthy people cascading into the NHS system because of insufferable medical symptoms? Or even mild ones?
I don't want to do down long covid as a condition, I know one or two people who have been variously affected. But hard to avoid the conclusion that this is just the latest bullet being wildly fired by the lockdown fanatics, who have now lost the argument about excess death and ICUs collapsing, due to the success of the vaccine programme.
I largely agree it’s a bullet being fired by scientists. But to call them lockdown fanatics, is that not your brain being too binary? Freedom Day fanatics on one side, zerocovididiots on the other?
Vaccines have broken the link between infection and NHS unable to cope. Now putting the politics aside, is there no scientific argument for still limiting the number of infections at this stage. If the answer is no, there is current government policy. If the answer is yes, then what effectively achieves both that and further easing of restrictions.
Perhaps yes. But I am reminded of when Obama was resisting a troop surge in Afghanistan and was criticised for it by the general. Don't remember which one. Obama replied that if all he was focused on achieving was defeating the Taliban, then he'd back the troop surge. But he had a far wider mandate that might be jeopardised by it.
I always try and remember that when those up the chain at work make what look like perplexing strategic decisions. They probably have more info than I do but they certainly have a wider mandate and set of stakeholders to consider.
I think the same is true here. Ask people who only have a mandate in public health (indeed one narrow area of public health!) what to do and they will always say it's better to be on the safe side. But there's a broader mandate to be followed than that. Interesting Witty, who oversees all pubic health considerations in his brief, now seems to believe his mandate is best fulfilled by ending mandatory restrictions.
Indeed. The Economy.
Do we truly know just how much deep shit UK economy is in? Like you said, we have to presume the people up the chain do, and can’t actually tell us.
I think it is possible if the inflation rate has a Nigel Lawson blipping session, we will be in a 1977 position, needing IMF to pay key bills. I think people get confused between wealth and cash flow. You are wealthy because you are in big stately home with estate, but you don’t have the income to pay staff and electric bill.
The inflation rate is key, if it goes up, as you would expect with exciting bounce back growth, then the cost of borrowing goes up hence hit on what is in the housekeeping jug.
So I agree with you, about steering through the wider remit. But do you agree, in their more narrow remit the scientists are not necessary wrong, so there is too much trashing of them scientifically and personally on PB?
I've not been following the pandemic in any sort of detail. Just listening to the news and government spokespeople. While our vaccine program was purring like a Ferrari Europe's were limping along like a Lada Riva with a puncture. Tory poster's on here have been crowing about our ingenuity and delighting in our good fortune at being-dare I say it-BRITISH!
1. FIRST in Europe for total number of cases. 2. FIRST in Europe for total number of deaths. 3. FIRST in Europe for total of NEW cases. 4. FIRST in Europe for total number of NEW deaths.
Roger, this is just total nonsense. 1. France and Russia have both had more cases 2. Russia has more deaths, on a per million analysis there are a host of countries ahead of us. 3. Russia has more new cases. And we do massively more testing than anyone else. 4. Total rubbish. In the last 7 days Italy, Germany and France (as well as Russia) have all had more deaths than us.
Why do you write this stuff?
I should perhaps have replaced 'Europe' with 'EU'. Had I done so the only number which is incorrect on YESTERDAY'S figures is France which had marginally more total cases than us.
Which would also have been laughably wrong. We’re not in the EU. Perhaps you missed that evolution, as you fumbled with your Blackberry under your tartan blanket, trying to tune into the Home Service
I am surprised that Brexiteers haven't insisted we go back to calling Radio 2 "The Home Service", which they can listen to on their new fangled "wireless", particularly enjoying the sublime commentary of John Arlott. When the odd run is scored they will applaud politely and mutter "hear hear" with their pipe of baccy clenched between their teeth, whilst thinking it is all jolly good that we are back in the 1950s with ration books and good old navy blue passports.
I’ve met millions of Brexiteers of all stripes. From lunatic eco-Leavers to stereotypical chav Leavers to super-posh ducal Leavers. I’ve never met the archetype you describe here. Not once. I’m sure they exist outside your head, but they are rare
The stereotype you do constantly encounter is the middle class, BBC watching, London based, Tuscany-going Remoaner who has been slightly unhinged by Brexit. You encounter them constantly and you can spot them a mile off. However they may be so conspicuous just because they are so hysterical on Twitter
Clearly left your sense of humour by the pool today. I expected a wittier repost than that. Disappointing.
Your somewhat desperate attempt to disassociate yourself from the BNP gorilla type leaver is understandable. What you can't get away from is that Farage (the person that convinced so many of you that we were being overrun by a tidal wave of immigrants - remember him?), fits that stereotype perfectly. You have probably overlooked that I used to be a Tory activist. I have met masses of them and there are sadly even more of them in the Tory party now as entryists from UKIP. Reactionary old farts who would love the UK to go back to the 1950s of their parents' youth. The obsession with navy blue passports was only one example of their stupidity. You are simply in denial. You know I am right. Perhaps you have a tweed jacket and a pipe yourself that you only use at weekends.
Oh. You were trying to be FUNNY. Sorry
Because it wasn’t remotely funny, as you have no sense of humour, it’s quite difficult to respond correctly, in these circumstances. Sorry
In future perhaps you could start your ‘funny’ comments with some kind of clown face emoji, so I know to read your ‘funny’ remarks with a rictus grin of embarrassment on your behalf, before coughing up a tiny, forced little laugh like a lizard boaking a boll-weevil
Oh dear, touched a raw nerve. Is the latest poor man's Dan Brown effort not going so well today? Had an unpleasant alien visitation on the khazi this morning, or is it that the realisation that in fact my caricature was in reality close to the bone regarding the company you keep? What a pathetically thin skin you uber-leave obsessives have, but then I guess it goes with the angry nationalist type personality. Keep taking the tablets Sean.
"Poor man's Dan Brown" strikes me as harsh. I don't think I've ever read a more poorly-written book than the Da Vinci Code (it made Jeffrey Archer look like Dickens). Should PB's resident dildo-botherer ever turn his hands to literature I am sure he would be able to turn in a superior product.
Despite what the govt (and indeed the ‘system’) is saying, it feels hard to be confident the nhs can deal with what is already being thrown at it, never mind what’s likely to come over the next few weeks. Alarm bells are going off all over the place. https://twitter.com/JenWilliamsMEN/status/1412766076073611267
I've not been following the pandemic in any sort of detail. Just listening to the news and government spokespeople. While our vaccine program was purring like a Ferrari Europe's were limping along like a Lada Riva with a puncture. Tory poster's on here have been crowing about our ingenuity and delighting in our good fortune at being-dare I say it-BRITISH!
1. FIRST in Europe for total number of cases. 2. FIRST in Europe for total number of deaths. 3. FIRST in Europe for total of NEW cases. 4. FIRST in Europe for total number of NEW deaths.
Roger, this is just total nonsense. 1. France and Russia have both had more cases 2. Russia has more deaths, on a per million analysis there are a host of countries ahead of us. 3. Russia has more new cases. And we do massively more testing than anyone else. 4. Total rubbish. In the last 7 days Italy, Germany and France (as well as Russia) have all had more deaths than us.
Why do you write this stuff?
I should perhaps have replaced 'Europe' with 'EU'. Had I done so the only number which is incorrect on YESTERDAY'S figures is France which had marginally more total cases than us.
Which would also have been laughably wrong. We’re not in the EU. Perhaps you missed that evolution, as you fumbled with your Blackberry under your tartan blanket, trying to tune into the Home Service
I think what Roger means is 'we did worse than Germany'. Because surely he can't be expecting that Bulgaria, Slovenia, Croatia, Poland, Hungary, Czechia and so forth had more deaths than us in absolute terms. No-one who has even an ounce of maths in their body would expect that.
So, fair point Roger - the UK has had more covid than Germany.
Downthread someone suggested ‘Germany’ as an example of a country that handled the pandemic (so far) “really well”
Wtf?
Germany is the 19th largest country in the world by population
Going by Worldometer (flawed but indicative) Germany is 12th in the world for total cases and also 12th for total deaths. Bad.
Their economy in 2020 shrank by 5%. Also bad. And they still have Delta to come
Germany did better than some European countries (the UK for one) but worse than others. Globally it is nowhere near the top rank and is no kind of model
South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore are models. Perhaps oz and nz (but they have new issues now)
In Europe maybe Denmark? You soon run out of exemplars
Of the G7 nations Germany and Japan did the best, Germany locked down relatively early, certainly compared to the USA and us, had an effective track and trace and has a far better vaccination rate now than say New Zealand, Australia and France.
Though globally Singapore is probably the best example, amongst the top nations in terms of vaccination rate and has had just 6 Covid deaths per million, compared to a global rate of 514
Japan did waaaaay better than Germany healthwise. 15,000 deaths compared to 90,000 and with a bigger, older population
Not so good on vaccines tho. We’ve yet to see if that bites them
Think they're getting their vaccine act together.
Japan’s superior performance on deaths might just be a function of their very low obesity rates. It is likely that is a factor around the world - see the horrors in fairly-obese Latin America
Incidentally, I’m sitting in a beach bar in Majorca watching Europe waddle past. All nations. It is clear lots of people have put on lots of weight. Brits among the worst, and we were already fat
God knows what the USA is like
It's hard to imagine the French and Italians being fat. Both are very obviously slimmer than the average here. Has your trip to Majorca revealed some Gallic guts and Tuscan tummies?
Those are quite amazing stats, in a bad way. I had no idea so much of Europe was so podgy
Countries I assume are all bicycling and healthy are not. Eg the Netherlands, more than half of men are overweight
Striking
Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. Weak men create hard times.
How hard is it for people to look in a mirror and then decide to eat less?
There’s a couple right next to me as I write. Both extremely obese. And British, I fear (certainly Northern European)
They’ve ordered an enormous lunch. Several starters. Huge main courses. And it’s not quality food - its huge plates of burgers and chips. Which don’t seem to satisfy them
It’s actually quite distressing to see. Like watching a smack addict with a death pallor seeking one last uncollapsed vein to inject. In public
We need to start teaching Stoic Philosophy in schools.
How can they have that tight control over it over such a long period, without it falling to vanishingly low levels? And the no zero deaths thing is really strange.
South Korea does contact tracing by data mining private data souces, like the records of mobile carriers, transport records, and payments data. A real Big Brother approach to the problem.
I've not been following the pandemic in any sort of detail. Just listening to the news and government spokespeople. While our vaccine program was purring like a Ferrari Europe's were limping along like a Lada Riva with a puncture. Tory poster's on here have been crowing about our ingenuity and delighting in our good fortune at being-dare I say it-BRITISH!
1. FIRST in Europe for total number of cases. 2. FIRST in Europe for total number of deaths. 3. FIRST in Europe for total of NEW cases. 4. FIRST in Europe for total number of NEW deaths.
Roger, this is just total nonsense. 1. France and Russia have both had more cases 2. Russia has more deaths, on a per million analysis there are a host of countries ahead of us. 3. Russia has more new cases. And we do massively more testing than anyone else. 4. Total rubbish. In the last 7 days Italy, Germany and France (as well as Russia) have all had more deaths than us.
Why do you write this stuff?
I should perhaps have replaced 'Europe' with 'EU'. Had I done so the only number which is incorrect on YESTERDAY'S figures is France which had marginally more total cases than us.
Which would also have been laughably wrong. We’re not in the EU. Perhaps you missed that evolution, as you fumbled with your Blackberry under your tartan blanket, trying to tune into the Home Service
I am surprised that Brexiteers haven't insisted we go back to calling Radio 2 "The Home Service", which they can listen to on their new fangled "wireless", particularly enjoying the sublime commentary of John Arlott. When the odd run is scored they will applaud politely and mutter "hear hear" with their pipe of baccy clenched between their teeth, whilst thinking it is all jolly good that we are back in the 1950s with ration books and good old navy blue passports.
I’ve met millions of Brexiteers of all stripes. From lunatic eco-Leavers to stereotypical chav Leavers to super-posh ducal Leavers. I’ve never met the archetype you describe here. Not once. I’m sure they exist outside your head, but they are rare
The stereotype you do constantly encounter is the middle class, BBC watching, London based, Tuscany-going Remoaner who has been slightly unhinged by Brexit. You encounter them constantly and you can spot them a mile off. However they may be so conspicuous just because they are so hysterical on Twitter
Clearly left your sense of humour by the pool today. I expected a wittier repost than that. Disappointing.
Your somewhat desperate attempt to disassociate yourself from the BNP gorilla type leaver is understandable. What you can't get away from is that Farage (the person that convinced so many of you that we were being overrun by a tidal wave of immigrants - remember him?), fits that stereotype perfectly. You have probably overlooked that I used to be a Tory activist. I have met masses of them and there are sadly even more of them in the Tory party now as entryists from UKIP. Reactionary old farts who would love the UK to go back to the 1950s of their parents' youth. The obsession with navy blue passports was only one example of their stupidity. You are simply in denial. You know I am right. Perhaps you have a tweed jacket and a pipe yourself that you only use at weekends.
Oh. You were trying to be FUNNY. Sorry
Because it wasn’t remotely funny, as you have no sense of humour, it’s quite difficult to respond correctly, in these circumstances. Sorry
In future perhaps you could start your ‘funny’ comments with some kind of clown face emoji, so I know to read your ‘funny’ remarks with a rictus grin of embarrassment on your behalf, before coughing up a tiny, forced little laugh like a lizard boaking a boll-weevil
Oh dear, touched a raw nerve. Is the latest poor man's Dan Brown effort not going so well today? Had an unpleasant alien visitation on the khazi this morning, or is it that the realisation that in fact my caricature was in reality close to the bone regarding the company you keep? What a pathetically thin skin you uber-leave obsessives have, but then I guess it goes with the angry nationalist type personality. Keep taking the tablets Sean.
"Poor man's Dan Brown" strikes me as harsh. I don't think I've ever read a more poorly-written book than the Da Vinci Code (it made Jeffrey Archer look like Dickens). Should PB's resident dildo-botherer ever turn his hands to literature I am sure he would be able to turn in a superior product.
Indeed. Although what Dan Brown could/can do - and millions of writers can't - is come up with an exciting story. So much fiction is so very dull/implausible/dull and implausible. Often this is masked by a beautiful turn of phrase. But people who can turn a good phrase - or at least turn a phrase more elegantly than Dan Brown - are ten a penny. There are a fair few on this site. Very, very few people can think up a story worth reading.
It will never be over, Covid cases will always be with us like flu.
However once the vast majority of us have been double jabbed we can treat it like flu, especially winter flu, with vastly lower numbers of deaths and hospitalisations than was the case a few months ago
The British & Irish Lions have been hit by a positive Covid-19 test, throwing Wednesday night’s match against the Sharks into jeopardy and raising even more doubt over the remainder of the tour of South Africa.
One member of the tourists’ staff has recorded a positive result following a lateral flow test and that they and four others – including two players – have been forced into isolation. The Lions are waiting on the results of further tests before making a call on the match against the Sharks but the kick-off time has already been delayed by one hour to 7pm BST.
The announcement came shortly after confirmation that South Africa’s match against Georgia on Friday is off after Covid-19 outbreaks in both camps. The Lions match against the Bulls – scheduled to take place on Saturday – has already been postponed and there is now considerable doubt over whether the Test series against the Springboks, due to begin on 24 July, will take place.
I've not been following the pandemic in any sort of detail. Just listening to the news and government spokespeople. While our vaccine program was purring like a Ferrari Europe's were limping along like a Lada Riva with a puncture. Tory poster's on here have been crowing about our ingenuity and delighting in our good fortune at being-dare I say it-BRITISH!
1. FIRST in Europe for total number of cases. 2. FIRST in Europe for total number of deaths. 3. FIRST in Europe for total of NEW cases. 4. FIRST in Europe for total number of NEW deaths.
Roger, this is just total nonsense. 1. France and Russia have both had more cases 2. Russia has more deaths, on a per million analysis there are a host of countries ahead of us. 3. Russia has more new cases. And we do massively more testing than anyone else. 4. Total rubbish. In the last 7 days Italy, Germany and France (as well as Russia) have all had more deaths than us.
Why do you write this stuff?
I should perhaps have replaced 'Europe' with 'EU'. Had I done so the only number which is incorrect on YESTERDAY'S figures is France which had marginally more total cases than us.
Which would also have been laughably wrong. We’re not in the EU. Perhaps you missed that evolution, as you fumbled with your Blackberry under your tartan blanket, trying to tune into the Home Service
I think what Roger means is 'we did worse than Germany'. Because surely he can't be expecting that Bulgaria, Slovenia, Croatia, Poland, Hungary, Czechia and so forth had more deaths than us in absolute terms. No-one who has even an ounce of maths in their body would expect that.
So, fair point Roger - the UK has had more covid than Germany.
Downthread someone suggested ‘Germany’ as an example of a country that handled the pandemic (so far) “really well”
Wtf?
Germany is the 19th largest country in the world by population
Going by Worldometer (flawed but indicative) Germany is 12th in the world for total cases and also 12th for total deaths. Bad.
Their economy in 2020 shrank by 5%. Also bad. And they still have Delta to come
Germany did better than some European countries (the UK for one) but worse than others. Globally it is nowhere near the top rank and is no kind of model
South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore are models. Perhaps oz and nz (but they have new issues now)
In Europe maybe Denmark? You soon run out of exemplars
Of the G7 nations Germany and Japan did the best, Germany locked down relatively early, certainly compared to the USA and us, had an effective track and trace and has a far better vaccination rate now than say New Zealand, Australia and France.
Though globally Singapore is probably the best example, amongst the top nations in terms of vaccination rate and has had just 6 Covid deaths per million, compared to a global rate of 514
Japan did waaaaay better than Germany healthwise. 15,000 deaths compared to 90,000 and with a bigger, older population
Not so good on vaccines tho. We’ve yet to see if that bites them
Think they're getting their vaccine act together.
Japan’s superior performance on deaths might just be a function of their very low obesity rates. It is likely that is a factor around the world - see the horrors in fairly-obese Latin America
Incidentally, I’m sitting in a beach bar in Majorca watching Europe waddle past. All nations. It is clear lots of people have put on lots of weight. Brits among the worst, and we were already fat
God knows what the USA is like
It's hard to imagine the French and Italians being fat. Both are very obviously slimmer than the average here. Has your trip to Majorca revealed some Gallic guts and Tuscan tummies?
Those are quite amazing stats, in a bad way. I had no idea so much of Europe was so podgy
Countries I assume are all bicycling and healthy are not. Eg the Netherlands, more than half of men are overweight
Striking
Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. Weak men create hard times.
How hard is it for people to look in a mirror and then decide to eat less?
There’s a couple right next to me as I write. Both extremely obese. And British, I fear (certainly Northern European)
They’ve ordered an enormous lunch. Several starters. Huge main courses. And it’s not quality food - its huge plates of burgers and chips. Which don’t seem to satisfy them
It’s actually quite distressing to see. Like watching a smack addict with a death pallor seeking one last uncollapsed vein to inject. In public
We need to start teaching Stoic Philosophy in schools.
Some great life lessons can be gained from this. Early pandemic I did a fair bit of reading in this field and found it very useful.
Best wishes to James Brokenshire who has had to step down as security minister because his recovery from lung cancer is taking longer than he'd hoped. I hope to see him back in office once he's fully in shape again.
I've not been following the pandemic in any sort of detail. Just listening to the news and government spokespeople. While our vaccine program was purring like a Ferrari Europe's were limping along like a Lada Riva with a puncture. Tory poster's on here have been crowing about our ingenuity and delighting in our good fortune at being-dare I say it-BRITISH!
1. FIRST in Europe for total number of cases. 2. FIRST in Europe for total number of deaths. 3. FIRST in Europe for total of NEW cases. 4. FIRST in Europe for total number of NEW deaths.
Roger, this is just total nonsense. 1. France and Russia have both had more cases 2. Russia has more deaths, on a per million analysis there are a host of countries ahead of us. 3. Russia has more new cases. And we do massively more testing than anyone else. 4. Total rubbish. In the last 7 days Italy, Germany and France (as well as Russia) have all had more deaths than us.
Why do you write this stuff?
I should perhaps have replaced 'Europe' with 'EU'. Had I done so the only number which is incorrect on YESTERDAY'S figures is France which had marginally more total cases than us.
Which would also have been laughably wrong. We’re not in the EU. Perhaps you missed that evolution, as you fumbled with your Blackberry under your tartan blanket, trying to tune into the Home Service
I am surprised that Brexiteers haven't insisted we go back to calling Radio 2 "The Home Service", which they can listen to on their new fangled "wireless", particularly enjoying the sublime commentary of John Arlott. When the odd run is scored they will applaud politely and mutter "hear hear" with their pipe of baccy clenched between their teeth, whilst thinking it is all jolly good that we are back in the 1950s with ration books and good old navy blue passports.
Radio 2 would be The Light Programme I think; Radio 4 is the old Home Service.
I still haven't had a satisfactory answer my poser yesterday.
Why would anyone in their right mind retain the app on their phone?
Because no-one (== hardly anyone) ever (== almost never) uninstalls apps from their phones. They just stop using them, and, sometimes, don't reinstall when they change phones (if it didn't migrate it automatically for them).
ETA: unless they install it and uninstall it almost immediately
(And for extra nuance - of those that *are* uninstalled after that time, the principal reason given is that the app has been spamming them. So an app that sits quietly in the background and didn't get uninstalled within the first 30 days is likely to stay forever.)
I have taken off almost all the apps which came with my phone; the only ones I use are google chrome, Whatsapp (grudgingly) and text/phone. Oh, and clock and camera. I also disable location settings, though I don't know how 'real' that is. Anything which can't get done through Google chrome gets done on my home computer. I'm not an expert - I may have left holes open. But I'm frankly astonished at how ready people are to install apps at the drop of a hat that not only have access to your data but that know where you are. I find the concept horrific. But it appears I am in a minority.
You are absolutely right on all counts.
The amount of data we send people is horrific.
All I do is
a) install apps from reputable sources [that doesn't include the Facebook family of companies so no WhatsApp for me ] and b) manually stop them from running in the background.
By Netflix. Telling me there is a film I might like - Once upon a Time in Hollywood.
I think it is a rule that any film with "Hollywood" in its name, or which is for the film industry self-referential (eg. Mank) is just rubbish.
It's quite good fun - and knowing the horrific true story I enjoyed the "Hollywood ending"!
Hmmm maybe I will have to watch it. Perhaps I could pretend it is a box set of five 30min episodes and then I would binge watch all of them in one sitting to fool my brain I'm not sitting down for a 2hr 40mins film.
Not great, too long, dubious taste.
Death of Stalin and No Country for Old Men are on Netflix atm.
Yes - both very good. I am savouring Black Mirror and rewatching Top Boy atm.
I think I'm on S4 of five of BM. Probably the best drama of recent times imo.
And Top Boy to relax. I think they are currently filming S3 (of the new series).
Sadly I also warned about this, that some nations would take the piss when Boris Johnson surrendered to UEFA over quarantine rules.
The Danish Football Association has ignored the UK's strict Covid rules by allowing 40 of its fans to travel for tonight’s match against England on the plane carrying its official delegation.
The DFA announced that the fans had been selected for having the greatest number of loyalty points and will travel on a plane with the partners of the footballers and other officials.
They are all members of the official Denmark football team supporters’ group and were selected for having the highest number of loyalty points from attending matches at home and abroad.
Under current rules, Denmark is on the amber list meaning anyone travelling to the UK from the country must quarantine for ten days. This has resulted in no fans officially coming to the England for the match.
But they are using a loophole that allows VIPs from a national football federation to travel to Wembley from Copenhagen without needing to quarantine.
Bukayo Saka is expected to start Wednesday's Euro 2020 semi-final with Denmark in place of Jadon Sancho. It is expected to be the only change in Gareth Southgate's starting line-up
I've not been following the pandemic in any sort of detail. Just listening to the news and government spokespeople. While our vaccine program was purring like a Ferrari Europe's were limping along like a Lada Riva with a puncture. Tory poster's on here have been crowing about our ingenuity and delighting in our good fortune at being-dare I say it-BRITISH!
1. FIRST in Europe for total number of cases. 2. FIRST in Europe for total number of deaths. 3. FIRST in Europe for total of NEW cases. 4. FIRST in Europe for total number of NEW deaths.
Roger, this is just total nonsense. 1. France and Russia have both had more cases 2. Russia has more deaths, on a per million analysis there are a host of countries ahead of us. 3. Russia has more new cases. And we do massively more testing than anyone else. 4. Total rubbish. In the last 7 days Italy, Germany and France (as well as Russia) have all had more deaths than us.
Why do you write this stuff?
I should perhaps have replaced 'Europe' with 'EU'. Had I done so the only number which is incorrect on YESTERDAY'S figures is France which had marginally more total cases than us.
Which would also have been laughably wrong. We’re not in the EU. Perhaps you missed that evolution, as you fumbled with your Blackberry under your tartan blanket, trying to tune into the Home Service
I am surprised that Brexiteers haven't insisted we go back to calling Radio 2 "The Home Service", which they can listen to on their new fangled "wireless", particularly enjoying the sublime commentary of John Arlott. When the odd run is scored they will applaud politely and mutter "hear hear" with their pipe of baccy clenched between their teeth, whilst thinking it is all jolly good that we are back in the 1950s with ration books and good old navy blue passports.
I’ve met millions of Brexiteers of all stripes. From lunatic eco-Leavers to stereotypical chav Leavers to super-posh ducal Leavers. I’ve never met the archetype you describe here. Not once. I’m sure they exist outside your head, but they are rare
The stereotype you do constantly encounter is the middle class, BBC watching, London based, Tuscany-going Remoaner who has been slightly unhinged by Brexit. You encounter them constantly and you can spot them a mile off. However they may be so conspicuous just because they are so hysterical on Twitter
Clearly left your sense of humour by the pool today. I expected a wittier repost than that. Disappointing.
Your somewhat desperate attempt to disassociate yourself from the BNP gorilla type leaver is understandable. What you can't get away from is that Farage (the person that convinced so many of you that we were being overrun by a tidal wave of immigrants - remember him?), fits that stereotype perfectly. You have probably overlooked that I used to be a Tory activist. I have met masses of them and there are sadly even more of them in the Tory party now as entryists from UKIP. Reactionary old farts who would love the UK to go back to the 1950s of their parents' youth. The obsession with navy blue passports was only one example of their stupidity. You are simply in denial. You know I am right. Perhaps you have a tweed jacket and a pipe yourself that you only use at weekends.
Oh. You were trying to be FUNNY. Sorry
Because it wasn’t remotely funny, as you have no sense of humour, it’s quite difficult to respond correctly, in these circumstances. Sorry
In future perhaps you could start your ‘funny’ comments with some kind of clown face emoji, so I know to read your ‘funny’ remarks with a rictus grin of embarrassment on your behalf, before coughing up a tiny, forced little laugh like a lizard boaking a boll-weevil
Oh dear, touched a raw nerve. Is the latest poor man's Dan Brown effort not going so well today? Had an unpleasant alien visitation on the khazi this morning, or is it that the realisation that in fact my caricature was in reality close to the bone regarding the company you keep? What a pathetically thin skin you uber-leave obsessives have, but then I guess it goes with the angry nationalist type personality. Keep taking the tablets Sean.
"Poor man's Dan Brown" strikes me as harsh. I don't think I've ever read a more poorly-written book than the Da Vinci Code (it made Jeffrey Archer look like Dickens). Should PB's resident dildo-botherer ever turn his hands to literature I am sure he would be able to turn in a superior product.
Indeed. Although what Dan Brown could/can do - and millions of writers can't - is come up with an exciting story. So much fiction is so very dull/implausible/dull and implausible. Often this is masked by a beautiful turn of phrase. But people who can turn a good phrase - or at least turn a phrase more elegantly than Dan Brown - are ten a penny. There are a fair few on this site. Very, very few people can think up a story worth reading.
Well, you might well be right, though Dan Brown is to the mind what Macdonald's is to one's waistline.
I've not been following the pandemic in any sort of detail. Just listening to the news and government spokespeople. While our vaccine program was purring like a Ferrari Europe's were limping along like a Lada Riva with a puncture. Tory poster's on here have been crowing about our ingenuity and delighting in our good fortune at being-dare I say it-BRITISH!
1. FIRST in Europe for total number of cases. 2. FIRST in Europe for total number of deaths. 3. FIRST in Europe for total of NEW cases. 4. FIRST in Europe for total number of NEW deaths.
Roger, this is just total nonsense. 1. France and Russia have both had more cases 2. Russia has more deaths, on a per million analysis there are a host of countries ahead of us. 3. Russia has more new cases. And we do massively more testing than anyone else. 4. Total rubbish. In the last 7 days Italy, Germany and France (as well as Russia) have all had more deaths than us.
Why do you write this stuff?
I should perhaps have replaced 'Europe' with 'EU'. Had I done so the only number which is incorrect on YESTERDAY'S figures is France which had marginally more total cases than us.
Which would also have been laughably wrong. We’re not in the EU. Perhaps you missed that evolution, as you fumbled with your Blackberry under your tartan blanket, trying to tune into the Home Service
I am surprised that Brexiteers haven't insisted we go back to calling Radio 2 "The Home Service", which they can listen to on their new fangled "wireless", particularly enjoying the sublime commentary of John Arlott. When the odd run is scored they will applaud politely and mutter "hear hear" with their pipe of baccy clenched between their teeth, whilst thinking it is all jolly good that we are back in the 1950s with ration books and good old navy blue passports.
I’ve met millions of Brexiteers of all stripes. From lunatic eco-Leavers to stereotypical chav Leavers to super-posh ducal Leavers. I’ve never met the archetype you describe here. Not once. I’m sure they exist outside your head, but they are rare
The stereotype you do constantly encounter is the middle class, BBC watching, London based, Tuscany-going Remoaner who has been slightly unhinged by Brexit. You encounter them constantly and you can spot them a mile off. However they may be so conspicuous just because they are so hysterical on Twitter
Clearly left your sense of humour by the pool today. I expected a wittier repost than that. Disappointing.
Your somewhat desperate attempt to disassociate yourself from the BNP gorilla type leaver is understandable. What you can't get away from is that Farage (the person that convinced so many of you that we were being overrun by a tidal wave of immigrants - remember him?), fits that stereotype perfectly. You have probably overlooked that I used to be a Tory activist. I have met masses of them and there are sadly even more of them in the Tory party now as entryists from UKIP. Reactionary old farts who would love the UK to go back to the 1950s of their parents' youth. The obsession with navy blue passports was only one example of their stupidity. You are simply in denial. You know I am right. Perhaps you have a tweed jacket and a pipe yourself that you only use at weekends.
Oh. You were trying to be FUNNY. Sorry
Because it wasn’t remotely funny, as you have no sense of humour, it’s quite difficult to respond correctly, in these circumstances. Sorry
In future perhaps you could start your ‘funny’ comments with some kind of clown face emoji, so I know to read your ‘funny’ remarks with a rictus grin of embarrassment on your behalf, before coughing up a tiny, forced little laugh like a lizard boaking a boll-weevil
Oh dear, touched a raw nerve. Is the latest poor man's Dan Brown effort not going so well today? Had an unpleasant alien visitation on the khazi this morning, or is it that the realisation that in fact my caricature was in reality close to the bone regarding the company you keep? What a pathetically thin skin you uber-leave obsessives have, but then I guess it goes with the angry nationalist type personality. Keep taking the tablets Sean.
"Poor man's Dan Brown" strikes me as harsh. I don't think I've ever read a more poorly-written book than the Da Vinci Code (it made Jeffrey Archer look like Dickens). Should PB's resident dildo-botherer ever turn his hands to literature I am sure he would be able to turn in a superior product.
Indeed. Although what Dan Brown could/can do - and millions of writers can't - is come up with an exciting story. So much fiction is so very dull/implausible/dull and implausible. Often this is masked by a beautiful turn of phrase. But people who can turn a good phrase - or at least turn a phrase more elegantly than Dan Brown - are ten a penny. There are a fair few on this site. Very, very few people can think up a story worth reading.
But the dV Code theory was floating around for yonks before he nicked it. It is not of course plausible, but the san greal/sang real thing is a genius bit of textual criticism because wtf actually is a grail? Did anyone ever drink a grail of beer or wine or tea?
I've not been following the pandemic in any sort of detail. Just listening to the news and government spokespeople. While our vaccine program was purring like a Ferrari Europe's were limping along like a Lada Riva with a puncture. Tory poster's on here have been crowing about our ingenuity and delighting in our good fortune at being-dare I say it-BRITISH!
1. FIRST in Europe for total number of cases. 2. FIRST in Europe for total number of deaths. 3. FIRST in Europe for total of NEW cases. 4. FIRST in Europe for total number of NEW deaths.
Roger, this is just total nonsense. 1. France and Russia have both had more cases 2. Russia has more deaths, on a per million analysis there are a host of countries ahead of us. 3. Russia has more new cases. And we do massively more testing than anyone else. 4. Total rubbish. In the last 7 days Italy, Germany and France (as well as Russia) have all had more deaths than us.
Why do you write this stuff?
I should perhaps have replaced 'Europe' with 'EU'. Had I done so the only number which is incorrect on YESTERDAY'S figures is France which had marginally more total cases than us.
Which would also have been laughably wrong. We’re not in the EU. Perhaps you missed that evolution, as you fumbled with your Blackberry under your tartan blanket, trying to tune into the Home Service
I think what Roger means is 'we did worse than Germany'. Because surely he can't be expecting that Bulgaria, Slovenia, Croatia, Poland, Hungary, Czechia and so forth had more deaths than us in absolute terms. No-one who has even an ounce of maths in their body would expect that.
So, fair point Roger - the UK has had more covid than Germany.
Downthread someone suggested ‘Germany’ as an example of a country that handled the pandemic (so far) “really well”
Wtf?
Germany is the 19th largest country in the world by population
Going by Worldometer (flawed but indicative) Germany is 12th in the world for total cases and also 12th for total deaths. Bad.
Their economy in 2020 shrank by 5%. Also bad. And they still have Delta to come
Germany did better than some European countries (the UK for one) but worse than others. Globally it is nowhere near the top rank and is no kind of model
South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore are models. Perhaps oz and nz (but they have new issues now)
In Europe maybe Denmark? You soon run out of exemplars
Of the G7 nations Germany and Japan did the best, Germany locked down relatively early, certainly compared to the USA and us, had an effective track and trace and has a far better vaccination rate now than say New Zealand, Australia and France.
Though globally Singapore is probably the best example, amongst the top nations in terms of vaccination rate and has had just 6 Covid deaths per million, compared to a global rate of 514
Japan did waaaaay better than Germany healthwise. 15,000 deaths compared to 90,000 and with a bigger, older population
Not so good on vaccines tho. We’ve yet to see if that bites them
Think they're getting their vaccine act together.
Japan’s superior performance on deaths might just be a function of their very low obesity rates. It is likely that is a factor around the world - see the horrors in fairly-obese Latin America
Incidentally, I’m sitting in a beach bar in Majorca watching Europe waddle past. All nations. It is clear lots of people have put on lots of weight. Brits among the worst, and we were already fat
God knows what the USA is like
It's hard to imagine the French and Italians being fat. Both are very obviously slimmer than the average here. Has your trip to Majorca revealed some Gallic guts and Tuscan tummies?
Those are quite amazing stats, in a bad way. I had no idea so much of Europe was so podgy
Countries I assume are all bicycling and healthy are not. Eg the Netherlands, more than half of men are overweight
Striking
Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. Weak men create hard times.
How hard is it for people to look in a mirror and then decide to eat less?
There’s a couple right next to me as I write. Both extremely obese. And British, I fear (certainly Northern European)
They’ve ordered an enormous lunch. Several starters. Huge main courses. And it’s not quality food - its huge plates of burgers and chips. Which don’t seem to satisfy them
It’s actually quite distressing to see. Like watching a smack addict with a death pallor seeking one last uncollapsed vein to inject. In public
Little wonder that the French, Italians and Spanish continue to believe the complete outdated notion that the food in England is dire.
They see scenes like the above whenever they go on holiday and conclude that the myth that the English are a nation of gastro-barbarians is entirely true.
I've not been following the pandemic in any sort of detail. Just listening to the news and government spokespeople. While our vaccine program was purring like a Ferrari Europe's were limping along like a Lada Riva with a puncture. Tory poster's on here have been crowing about our ingenuity and delighting in our good fortune at being-dare I say it-BRITISH!
1. FIRST in Europe for total number of cases. 2. FIRST in Europe for total number of deaths. 3. FIRST in Europe for total of NEW cases. 4. FIRST in Europe for total number of NEW deaths.
Roger, this is just total nonsense. 1. France and Russia have both had more cases 2. Russia has more deaths, on a per million analysis there are a host of countries ahead of us. 3. Russia has more new cases. And we do massively more testing than anyone else. 4. Total rubbish. In the last 7 days Italy, Germany and France (as well as Russia) have all had more deaths than us.
Why do you write this stuff?
Does the UK do *massively* more testing than *anyone* else?
I can't find national figures but Berlin (4.3% of population) has a capacity of 4.7 million antigen tests a week, and press reports are complaining that there has been a massive drop in tests carried out to just 700000 last week in Berlin - because people no longer need a current test to do things like eat inside a restaurant etc (because the incidence rate is so low). But back of the envelope calculation suggests that even this much reduced testing is much *more* testing than in the UK. But the myth of the UK doing massively more tests than anyone else refuses to die no matter how often debunked.
Myth?
Why don't you try getting some national per capita data and comparing them? Because the data is out there.
Or if you're struggling to find Germany in amongst the other countries its mixed in with then try this head to head comparison.
Who's spreading myths?
You, as I have explained many times.
How many antigen tests have been done in Germany? Can you answer that question?
A tiny fraction of the amount the UK is doing quite clearly given the data!
The UK is doing about 14x the tests per capita than Germany is.
Over a third of the UK's tests are antigen PCR tests.
So even if you exclude all British non-PCR test and count all German tests of any type at all, then the UK is still doing about 5x the tests per capita that Germany is.
You are just wrong,, show me a link (not world in data which is only counting PCR tests) with the total number of tests done in Germany.
Here is a news report claiming the week before last the average number of tests (not including PCR tests) per day done in Berlin was over 100000. Berlin is less than a twentieth of Germany's population. Given the article is complaining about test centres having to close in Berlin because of reduced demand, then 2 million antigen tests a day in Germany in recent weeks is probably an underestimate. So not only not a "tiny fraction", but I think actually more than in the UK
which shows a 7 day average of about a million tests a day in recent weeks
It may be similar numbers of tests overall per capita are happening, but my ballpark figure for Germany would only include the so-called Bürgertests, and not the twice-weekly tests that have also been happening in schools and kindergartens here (which are mostly on summer holiday now, though large numbers continue to go to the holiday Betreuung and so are still tested), nor the widespread workplace testing.
So I would still guess more testing here, but with no national figures for Germany and it seems like partial figures for the UK, it's impossible to be sure. But it's sure that the UK isn't doing 12 times or 5 times as many tests.
You can find some local numbers in local news. Eg locally just over a fifth of the population had a Bürgertest last week. Scaled up that would be well over 2 million a day nationally, BEFORE you start counting testing done in schools (which were open til Friday), workplaces, hospitals etc.
I’ve recorded my tests with the school, but not on the NHS site. I think most people are not bothering unless it is positive.
I think the UK figures don’t include most (or perhaps any) LFT tests.
I've not been following the pandemic in any sort of detail. Just listening to the news and government spokespeople. While our vaccine program was purring like a Ferrari Europe's were limping along like a Lada Riva with a puncture. Tory poster's on here have been crowing about our ingenuity and delighting in our good fortune at being-dare I say it-BRITISH!
1. FIRST in Europe for total number of cases. 2. FIRST in Europe for total number of deaths. 3. FIRST in Europe for total of NEW cases. 4. FIRST in Europe for total number of NEW deaths.
Roger, this is just total nonsense. 1. France and Russia have both had more cases 2. Russia has more deaths, on a per million analysis there are a host of countries ahead of us. 3. Russia has more new cases. And we do massively more testing than anyone else. 4. Total rubbish. In the last 7 days Italy, Germany and France (as well as Russia) have all had more deaths than us.
Why do you write this stuff?
I should perhaps have replaced 'Europe' with 'EU'. Had I done so the only number which is incorrect on YESTERDAY'S figures is France which had marginally more total cases than us.
Which would also have been laughably wrong. We’re not in the EU. Perhaps you missed that evolution, as you fumbled with your Blackberry under your tartan blanket, trying to tune into the Home Service
I think what Roger means is 'we did worse than Germany'. Because surely he can't be expecting that Bulgaria, Slovenia, Croatia, Poland, Hungary, Czechia and so forth had more deaths than us in absolute terms. No-one who has even an ounce of maths in their body would expect that.
So, fair point Roger - the UK has had more covid than Germany.
Downthread someone suggested ‘Germany’ as an example of a country that handled the pandemic (so far) “really well”
Wtf?
Germany is the 19th largest country in the world by population
Going by Worldometer (flawed but indicative) Germany is 12th in the world for total cases and also 12th for total deaths. Bad.
Their economy in 2020 shrank by 5%. Also bad. And they still have Delta to come
Germany did better than some European countries (the UK for one) but worse than others. Globally it is nowhere near the top rank and is no kind of model
South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore are models. Perhaps oz and nz (but they have new issues now)
In Europe maybe Denmark? You soon run out of exemplars
Of the G7 nations Germany and Japan did the best, Germany locked down relatively early, certainly compared to the USA and us, had an effective track and trace and has a far better vaccination rate now than say New Zealand, Australia and France.
Though globally Singapore is probably the best example, amongst the top nations in terms of vaccination rate and has had just 6 Covid deaths per million, compared to a global rate of 514
Japan did waaaaay better than Germany healthwise. 15,000 deaths compared to 90,000 and with a bigger, older population
Not so good on vaccines tho. We’ve yet to see if that bites them
Think they're getting their vaccine act together.
Japan’s superior performance on deaths might just be a function of their very low obesity rates. It is likely that is a factor around the world - see the horrors in fairly-obese Latin America
Incidentally, I’m sitting in a beach bar in Majorca watching Europe waddle past. All nations. It is clear lots of people have put on lots of weight. Brits among the worst, and we were already fat
God knows what the USA is like
It's hard to imagine the French and Italians being fat. Both are very obviously slimmer than the average here. Has your trip to Majorca revealed some Gallic guts and Tuscan tummies?
Those are quite amazing stats, in a bad way. I had no idea so much of Europe was so podgy
Countries I assume are all bicycling and healthy are not. Eg the Netherlands, more than half of men are overweight
Striking
Yes, of the major European nations France and Italy have the slimmest women and the slimmest men. (Yet Frenchwomen and Italian women are notably slimmer than Frenchmen and Italian men).
Dutchmen are the slimmest men of all Europeans yet still more than half are obese!
Wasn't there some fascinating stat that in the west we actually consumer rather fewer calories than we did in the fifties and sixties? What has changed is that we don't burn them. We sit on our arses all day at a computer. Nowadays we don't even have the half hour of getting between home and office to do that. From my window I can see three very much non-obese workmen laying a path in my garden. I am making them frequent hot drinks. As always, I get a frisson of middle-class transgression when putting to my tastes improbable amounts of sugar in them. Almost no-one I know who doesn't do a manual job has sugar in their hot drinks. Yet I am by some way the fattest of the four of us. (That said, at least two of them do not look pictures of health, frankly.)
Sadly I also warned about this, that some nations would take the piss when Boris Johnson surrendered to UEFA over quarantine ruls.
The Danish Football Association has ignored the UK's strict Covid rules by allowing 40 of its fans to travel for tonight’s match against England on the plane carrying its official delegation.
The DFA announced that the fans had been selected for having the greatest number of loyalty points and will travel on a plane with the partners of the footballers and other officials.
They are all members of the official Denmark football team supporters’ group and were selected for having the highest number of loyalty points from attending matches at home and abroad.
Under current rules, Denmark is on the amber list meaning anyone travelling to the UK from the country must quarantine for ten days. This has resulted in no fans officially coming to the England for the match.
But they are using a loophole that allows VIPs from a national football federation to travel to Wembley from Copenhagen without needing to quarantine.
I've not been following the pandemic in any sort of detail. Just listening to the news and government spokespeople. While our vaccine program was purring like a Ferrari Europe's were limping along like a Lada Riva with a puncture. Tory poster's on here have been crowing about our ingenuity and delighting in our good fortune at being-dare I say it-BRITISH!
1. FIRST in Europe for total number of cases. 2. FIRST in Europe for total number of deaths. 3. FIRST in Europe for total of NEW cases. 4. FIRST in Europe for total number of NEW deaths.
Roger, this is just total nonsense. 1. France and Russia have both had more cases 2. Russia has more deaths, on a per million analysis there are a host of countries ahead of us. 3. Russia has more new cases. And we do massively more testing than anyone else. 4. Total rubbish. In the last 7 days Italy, Germany and France (as well as Russia) have all had more deaths than us.
Why do you write this stuff?
I should perhaps have replaced 'Europe' with 'EU'. Had I done so the only number which is incorrect on YESTERDAY'S figures is France which had marginally more total cases than us.
Which would also have been laughably wrong. We’re not in the EU. Perhaps you missed that evolution, as you fumbled with your Blackberry under your tartan blanket, trying to tune into the Home Service
I am surprised that Brexiteers haven't insisted we go back to calling Radio 2 "The Home Service", which they can listen to on their new fangled "wireless", particularly enjoying the sublime commentary of John Arlott. When the odd run is scored they will applaud politely and mutter "hear hear" with their pipe of baccy clenched between their teeth, whilst thinking it is all jolly good that we are back in the 1950s with ration books and good old navy blue passports.
I’ve met millions of Brexiteers of all stripes. From lunatic eco-Leavers to stereotypical chav Leavers to super-posh ducal Leavers. I’ve never met the archetype you describe here. Not once. I’m sure they exist outside your head, but they are rare
The stereotype you do constantly encounter is the middle class, BBC watching, London based, Tuscany-going Remoaner who has been slightly unhinged by Brexit. You encounter them constantly and you can spot them a mile off. However they may be so conspicuous just because they are so hysterical on Twitter
Clearly left your sense of humour by the pool today. I expected a wittier repost than that. Disappointing.
Your somewhat desperate attempt to disassociate yourself from the BNP gorilla type leaver is understandable. What you can't get away from is that Farage (the person that convinced so many of you that we were being overrun by a tidal wave of immigrants - remember him?), fits that stereotype perfectly. You have probably overlooked that I used to be a Tory activist. I have met masses of them and there are sadly even more of them in the Tory party now as entryists from UKIP. Reactionary old farts who would love the UK to go back to the 1950s of their parents' youth. The obsession with navy blue passports was only one example of their stupidity. You are simply in denial. You know I am right. Perhaps you have a tweed jacket and a pipe yourself that you only use at weekends.
Oh. You were trying to be FUNNY. Sorry
Because it wasn’t remotely funny, as you have no sense of humour, it’s quite difficult to respond correctly, in these circumstances. Sorry
In future perhaps you could start your ‘funny’ comments with some kind of clown face emoji, so I know to read your ‘funny’ remarks with a rictus grin of embarrassment on your behalf, before coughing up a tiny, forced little laugh like a lizard boaking a boll-weevil
Oh dear, touched a raw nerve. Is the latest poor man's Dan Brown effort not going so well today? Had an unpleasant alien visitation on the khazi this morning, or is it that the realisation that in fact my caricature was in reality close to the bone regarding the company you keep? What a pathetically thin skin you uber-leave obsessives have, but then I guess it goes with the angry nationalist type personality. Keep taking the tablets Sean.
"Poor man's Dan Brown" strikes me as harsh. I don't think I've ever read a more poorly-written book than the Da Vinci Code (it made Jeffrey Archer look like Dickens). Should PB's resident dildo-botherer ever turn his hands to literature I am sure he would be able to turn in a superior product.
Indeed. Although what Dan Brown could/can do - and millions of writers can't - is come up with an exciting story. So much fiction is so very dull/implausible/dull and implausible. Often this is masked by a beautiful turn of phrase. But people who can turn a good phrase - or at least turn a phrase more elegantly than Dan Brown - are ten a penny. There are a fair few on this site. Very, very few people can think up a story worth reading.
Well, you might well be right, though Dan Brown is to the mind what Macdonald's is to one's waistline.
I've not been following the pandemic in any sort of detail. Just listening to the news and government spokespeople. While our vaccine program was purring like a Ferrari Europe's were limping along like a Lada Riva with a puncture. Tory poster's on here have been crowing about our ingenuity and delighting in our good fortune at being-dare I say it-BRITISH!
1. FIRST in Europe for total number of cases. 2. FIRST in Europe for total number of deaths. 3. FIRST in Europe for total of NEW cases. 4. FIRST in Europe for total number of NEW deaths.
Roger, this is just total nonsense. 1. France and Russia have both had more cases 2. Russia has more deaths, on a per million analysis there are a host of countries ahead of us. 3. Russia has more new cases. And we do massively more testing than anyone else. 4. Total rubbish. In the last 7 days Italy, Germany and France (as well as Russia) have all had more deaths than us.
Why do you write this stuff?
I should perhaps have replaced 'Europe' with 'EU'. Had I done so the only number which is incorrect on YESTERDAY'S figures is France which had marginally more total cases than us.
Which would also have been laughably wrong. We’re not in the EU. Perhaps you missed that evolution, as you fumbled with your Blackberry under your tartan blanket, trying to tune into the Home Service
I am surprised that Brexiteers haven't insisted we go back to calling Radio 2 "The Home Service", which they can listen to on their new fangled "wireless", particularly enjoying the sublime commentary of John Arlott. When the odd run is scored they will applaud politely and mutter "hear hear" with their pipe of baccy clenched between their teeth, whilst thinking it is all jolly good that we are back in the 1950s with ration books and good old navy blue passports.
I’ve met millions of Brexiteers of all stripes. From lunatic eco-Leavers to stereotypical chav Leavers to super-posh ducal Leavers. I’ve never met the archetype you describe here. Not once. I’m sure they exist outside your head, but they are rare
The stereotype you do constantly encounter is the middle class, BBC watching, London based, Tuscany-going Remoaner who has been slightly unhinged by Brexit. You encounter them constantly and you can spot them a mile off. However they may be so conspicuous just because they are so hysterical on Twitter
Clearly left your sense of humour by the pool today. I expected a wittier repost than that. Disappointing.
Your somewhat desperate attempt to disassociate yourself from the BNP gorilla type leaver is understandable. What you can't get away from is that Farage (the person that convinced so many of you that we were being overrun by a tidal wave of immigrants - remember him?), fits that stereotype perfectly. You have probably overlooked that I used to be a Tory activist. I have met masses of them and there are sadly even more of them in the Tory party now as entryists from UKIP. Reactionary old farts who would love the UK to go back to the 1950s of their parents' youth. The obsession with navy blue passports was only one example of their stupidity. You are simply in denial. You know I am right. Perhaps you have a tweed jacket and a pipe yourself that you only use at weekends.
Oh. You were trying to be FUNNY. Sorry
Because it wasn’t remotely funny, as you have no sense of humour, it’s quite difficult to respond correctly, in these circumstances. Sorry
In future perhaps you could start your ‘funny’ comments with some kind of clown face emoji, so I know to read your ‘funny’ remarks with a rictus grin of embarrassment on your behalf, before coughing up a tiny, forced little laugh like a lizard boaking a boll-weevil
Oh dear, touched a raw nerve. Is the latest poor man's Dan Brown effort not going so well today? Had an unpleasant alien visitation on the khazi this morning, or is it that the realisation that in fact my caricature was in reality close to the bone regarding the company you keep? What a pathetically thin skin you uber-leave obsessives have, but then I guess it goes with the angry nationalist type personality. Keep taking the tablets Sean.
"Poor man's Dan Brown" strikes me as harsh. I don't think I've ever read a more poorly-written book than the Da Vinci Code (it made Jeffrey Archer look like Dickens). Should PB's resident dildo-botherer ever turn his hands to literature I am sure he would be able to turn in a superior product.
Indeed. Although what Dan Brown could/can do - and millions of writers can't - is come up with an exciting story. So much fiction is so very dull/implausible/dull and implausible. Often this is masked by a beautiful turn of phrase. But people who can turn a good phrase - or at least turn a phrase more elegantly than Dan Brown - are ten a penny. There are a fair few on this site. Very, very few people can think up a story worth reading.
I'm not sure I agree with that. I think a compelling plot is the least of your worries if you're looking to write a decent novel. Writing it so it reads well is harder I think. Conveying character and emotion convincingly is hardest of all. I don't remember the Da Vinci Code having a particularly gripping plot either to be honest, it mostly seemed to consist of people running around. But I tend not to remember much about books, even good ones, after I've read them. They are a transitory pleasure for me. So all I really remember about the Da Vinci code was that it was shit.
I've not been following the pandemic in any sort of detail. Just listening to the news and government spokespeople. While our vaccine program was purring like a Ferrari Europe's were limping along like a Lada Riva with a puncture. Tory poster's on here have been crowing about our ingenuity and delighting in our good fortune at being-dare I say it-BRITISH!
1. FIRST in Europe for total number of cases. 2. FIRST in Europe for total number of deaths. 3. FIRST in Europe for total of NEW cases. 4. FIRST in Europe for total number of NEW deaths.
Roger, this is just total nonsense. 1. France and Russia have both had more cases 2. Russia has more deaths, on a per million analysis there are a host of countries ahead of us. 3. Russia has more new cases. And we do massively more testing than anyone else. 4. Total rubbish. In the last 7 days Italy, Germany and France (as well as Russia) have all had more deaths than us.
Why do you write this stuff?
I should perhaps have replaced 'Europe' with 'EU'. Had I done so the only number which is incorrect on YESTERDAY'S figures is France which had marginally more total cases than us.
Which would also have been laughably wrong. We’re not in the EU. Perhaps you missed that evolution, as you fumbled with your Blackberry under your tartan blanket, trying to tune into the Home Service
I think what Roger means is 'we did worse than Germany'. Because surely he can't be expecting that Bulgaria, Slovenia, Croatia, Poland, Hungary, Czechia and so forth had more deaths than us in absolute terms. No-one who has even an ounce of maths in their body would expect that.
So, fair point Roger - the UK has had more covid than Germany.
Downthread someone suggested ‘Germany’ as an example of a country that handled the pandemic (so far) “really well”
Wtf?
Germany is the 19th largest country in the world by population
Going by Worldometer (flawed but indicative) Germany is 12th in the world for total cases and also 12th for total deaths. Bad.
Their economy in 2020 shrank by 5%. Also bad. And they still have Delta to come
Germany did better than some European countries (the UK for one) but worse than others. Globally it is nowhere near the top rank and is no kind of model
South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore are models. Perhaps oz and nz (but they have new issues now)
In Europe maybe Denmark? You soon run out of exemplars
Of the G7 nations Germany and Japan did the best, Germany locked down relatively early, certainly compared to the USA and us, had an effective track and trace and has a far better vaccination rate now than say New Zealand, Australia and France.
Though globally Singapore is probably the best example, amongst the top nations in terms of vaccination rate and has had just 6 Covid deaths per million, compared to a global rate of 514
Japan did waaaaay better than Germany healthwise. 15,000 deaths compared to 90,000 and with a bigger, older population
Not so good on vaccines tho. We’ve yet to see if that bites them
Think they're getting their vaccine act together.
Japan’s superior performance on deaths might just be a function of their very low obesity rates. It is likely that is a factor around the world - see the horrors in fairly-obese Latin America
Incidentally, I’m sitting in a beach bar in Majorca watching Europe waddle past. All nations. It is clear lots of people have put on lots of weight. Brits among the worst, and we were already fat
God knows what the USA is like
It's hard to imagine the French and Italians being fat. Both are very obviously slimmer than the average here. Has your trip to Majorca revealed some Gallic guts and Tuscan tummies?
Those are quite amazing stats, in a bad way. I had no idea so much of Europe was so podgy
Countries I assume are all bicycling and healthy are not. Eg the Netherlands, more than half of men are overweight
Striking
Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. Weak men create hard times.
How hard is it for people to look in a mirror and then decide to eat less?
There’s a couple right next to me as I write. Both extremely obese. And British, I fear (certainly Northern European)
They’ve ordered an enormous lunch. Several starters. Huge main courses. And it’s not quality food - its huge plates of burgers and chips. Which don’t seem to satisfy them
It’s actually quite distressing to see. Like watching a smack addict with a death pallor seeking one last uncollapsed vein to inject. In public
Little wonder that the French, Italians and Spanish continue to believe the complete outdated notion that the food in England is dire.
They see scenes like the above whenever they go on holiday and conclude that the myth that the English are a nation of gastro-barbarians is entirely true.
There is a difference between the food in the top English restaurants which can be top quality and the food in the local pub and cafe which can still be basic fare and lots of it
Chris Whitty contradicting what he said at the presser.
Not half. Although probably we need the full exchange.
Whitty was adamant on Monday that getting the exit wave out of the way in summer was best plan. How does that square with hell for leather suppression (which implies total lockdown based on their previous thinking)?
To be honest, Delta looks so infectious that I think only the most severe lockdowns would control it. Minor measures look pointless.
Why have cases fallen off a cliff in India? There is no way a severe lockdown is possible there
Herd immunity against the delta variant perhaps ? I think the UK had perhaps achieved herd immunity against the alpha variant but with the single jab breakthrough and greater infectiousness of the delta the wall didn't hold. We don't have herd immunity against delta yet, it will be achieved via further vaccination (2nd jab catchup), nightclub (un & partially vaccinated 18-30) and school spread (5 - 17)
The following things have been observed in multiple countries, when COVID is allowed to spread
- it dies back, apparently by itself. - contrary to some early reports, antibody survey do not show that even a majority of people in the effected areas got it - after such waves, it takes a considerable time for another wave, despite people returning to normal(ish) behaviour quite rapidly
We had not achieved herd immunity against the alpha variant - what we had was an R below 1 with a combination of vaccines and the restrictions at the time.
The idea that a wave of Covid will die back by itself is defintely hard for people to comprehend. I think its human nature to think there to be a human controlled reason for something happening.
We tend not to understand how people connect and are also not connected. I come to the Uni and interact with the same few people everyday, not the whole University (at least in the sense of being likely to be infected). There are networks of people, some vast, some tiny. An infectious strain like covid will rip through a network, but will then run out of links.
Wasn't that a plot point in A Very Peculiar Practice? An embarrassing disease spreading through the university; iirc the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies was linking and cross-infecting different networks. Sorry for the spoiler of an iconic 1980s television series but I've probably misremembered anyway.
"Engineers, you'll be interested to know, have a very low rate of sexual activity. Singing about it in the bar would appear to be their only outlet. And Physical Sciences hardly troubled the scorer."
Despite what the govt (and indeed the ‘system’) is saying, it feels hard to be confident the nhs can deal with what is already being thrown at it, never mind what’s likely to come over the next few weeks. Alarm bells are going off all over the place. https://twitter.com/JenWilliamsMEN/status/1412766076073611267
Sadly I also warned about this, that some nations would take the piss when Boris Johnson surrendered to UEFA over quarantine ruls.
The Danish Football Association has ignored the UK's strict Covid rules by allowing 40 of its fans to travel for tonight’s match against England on the plane carrying its official delegation.
The DFA announced that the fans had been selected for having the greatest number of loyalty points and will travel on a plane with the partners of the footballers and other officials.
They are all members of the official Denmark football team supporters’ group and were selected for having the highest number of loyalty points from attending matches at home and abroad.
Under current rules, Denmark is on the amber list meaning anyone travelling to the UK from the country must quarantine for ten days. This has resulted in no fans officially coming to the England for the match.
But they are using a loophole that allows VIPs from a national football federation to travel to Wembley from Copenhagen without needing to quarantine.
And? Is it that you don't approve of match going supporters being treated as VIPs? Seems reasonable to me.
40 fans is hardly going to break the country! If anything 40is the complete opposite of taking the piss! Hopefully they’ll be far more Danish fans there anyway - via U.K. residency etc. Makes for a better atmosphere.
I've not been following the pandemic in any sort of detail. Just listening to the news and government spokespeople. While our vaccine program was purring like a Ferrari Europe's were limping along like a Lada Riva with a puncture. Tory poster's on here have been crowing about our ingenuity and delighting in our good fortune at being-dare I say it-BRITISH!
1. FIRST in Europe for total number of cases. 2. FIRST in Europe for total number of deaths. 3. FIRST in Europe for total of NEW cases. 4. FIRST in Europe for total number of NEW deaths.
Roger, this is just total nonsense. 1. France and Russia have both had more cases 2. Russia has more deaths, on a per million analysis there are a host of countries ahead of us. 3. Russia has more new cases. And we do massively more testing than anyone else. 4. Total rubbish. In the last 7 days Italy, Germany and France (as well as Russia) have all had more deaths than us.
Why do you write this stuff?
I should perhaps have replaced 'Europe' with 'EU'. Had I done so the only number which is incorrect on YESTERDAY'S figures is France which had marginally more total cases than us.
Which would also have been laughably wrong. We’re not in the EU. Perhaps you missed that evolution, as you fumbled with your Blackberry under your tartan blanket, trying to tune into the Home Service
I think what Roger means is 'we did worse than Germany'. Because surely he can't be expecting that Bulgaria, Slovenia, Croatia, Poland, Hungary, Czechia and so forth had more deaths than us in absolute terms. No-one who has even an ounce of maths in their body would expect that.
So, fair point Roger - the UK has had more covid than Germany.
Downthread someone suggested ‘Germany’ as an example of a country that handled the pandemic (so far) “really well”
Wtf?
Germany is the 19th largest country in the world by population
Going by Worldometer (flawed but indicative) Germany is 12th in the world for total cases and also 12th for total deaths. Bad.
Their economy in 2020 shrank by 5%. Also bad. And they still have Delta to come
Germany did better than some European countries (the UK for one) but worse than others. Globally it is nowhere near the top rank and is no kind of model
South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore are models. Perhaps oz and nz (but they have new issues now)
In Europe maybe Denmark? You soon run out of exemplars
Of the G7 nations Germany and Japan did the best, Germany locked down relatively early, certainly compared to the USA and us, had an effective track and trace and has a far better vaccination rate now than say New Zealand, Australia and France.
Though globally Singapore is probably the best example, amongst the top nations in terms of vaccination rate and has had just 6 Covid deaths per million, compared to a global rate of 514
Japan did waaaaay better than Germany healthwise. 15,000 deaths compared to 90,000 and with a bigger, older population
Not so good on vaccines tho. We’ve yet to see if that bites them
Think they're getting their vaccine act together.
Japan’s superior performance on deaths might just be a function of their very low obesity rates. It is likely that is a factor around the world - see the horrors in fairly-obese Latin America
Incidentally, I’m sitting in a beach bar in Majorca watching Europe waddle past. All nations. It is clear lots of people have put on lots of weight. Brits among the worst, and we were already fat
God knows what the USA is like
It's hard to imagine the French and Italians being fat. Both are very obviously slimmer than the average here. Has your trip to Majorca revealed some Gallic guts and Tuscan tummies?
Those are quite amazing stats, in a bad way. I had no idea so much of Europe was so podgy
Countries I assume are all bicycling and healthy are not. Eg the Netherlands, more than half of men are overweight
Striking
Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. Weak men create hard times.
How hard is it for people to look in a mirror and then decide to eat less?
There’s a couple right next to me as I write. Both extremely obese. And British, I fear (certainly Northern European)
They’ve ordered an enormous lunch. Several starters. Huge main courses. And it’s not quality food - its huge plates of burgers and chips. Which don’t seem to satisfy them
It’s actually quite distressing to see. Like watching a smack addict with a death pallor seeking one last uncollapsed vein to inject. In public
Little wonder that the French, Italians and Spanish continue to believe the complete outdated notion that the food in England is dire.
They see scenes like the above whenever they go on holiday and conclude that the myth that the English are a nation of gastro-barbarians is entirely true.
There is a difference between the food in the top English restaurants which can be top quality and the food in the local pub and cafe which can still be basic fare and lots of it
What, you telling me that in cafe's of Toulouse, Seville and Florence they don't serve double espressos in Sports Direct Mega Mugs along with full English breakfasts?
I've not been following the pandemic in any sort of detail. Just listening to the news and government spokespeople. While our vaccine program was purring like a Ferrari Europe's were limping along like a Lada Riva with a puncture. Tory poster's on here have been crowing about our ingenuity and delighting in our good fortune at being-dare I say it-BRITISH!
1. FIRST in Europe for total number of cases. 2. FIRST in Europe for total number of deaths. 3. FIRST in Europe for total of NEW cases. 4. FIRST in Europe for total number of NEW deaths.
Roger, this is just total nonsense. 1. France and Russia have both had more cases 2. Russia has more deaths, on a per million analysis there are a host of countries ahead of us. 3. Russia has more new cases. And we do massively more testing than anyone else. 4. Total rubbish. In the last 7 days Italy, Germany and France (as well as Russia) have all had more deaths than us.
Why do you write this stuff?
I should perhaps have replaced 'Europe' with 'EU'. Had I done so the only number which is incorrect on YESTERDAY'S figures is France which had marginally more total cases than us.
Which would also have been laughably wrong. We’re not in the EU. Perhaps you missed that evolution, as you fumbled with your Blackberry under your tartan blanket, trying to tune into the Home Service
I am surprised that Brexiteers haven't insisted we go back to calling Radio 2 "The Home Service", which they can listen to on their new fangled "wireless", particularly enjoying the sublime commentary of John Arlott. When the odd run is scored they will applaud politely and mutter "hear hear" with their pipe of baccy clenched between their teeth, whilst thinking it is all jolly good that we are back in the 1950s with ration books and good old navy blue passports.
I’ve met millions of Brexiteers of all stripes. From lunatic eco-Leavers to stereotypical chav Leavers to super-posh ducal Leavers. I’ve never met the archetype you describe here. Not once. I’m sure they exist outside your head, but they are rare
The stereotype you do constantly encounter is the middle class, BBC watching, London based, Tuscany-going Remoaner who has been slightly unhinged by Brexit. You encounter them constantly and you can spot them a mile off. However they may be so conspicuous just because they are so hysterical on Twitter
Clearly left your sense of humour by the pool today. I expected a wittier repost than that. Disappointing.
Your somewhat desperate attempt to disassociate yourself from the BNP gorilla type leaver is understandable. What you can't get away from is that Farage (the person that convinced so many of you that we were being overrun by a tidal wave of immigrants - remember him?), fits that stereotype perfectly. You have probably overlooked that I used to be a Tory activist. I have met masses of them and there are sadly even more of them in the Tory party now as entryists from UKIP. Reactionary old farts who would love the UK to go back to the 1950s of their parents' youth. The obsession with navy blue passports was only one example of their stupidity. You are simply in denial. You know I am right. Perhaps you have a tweed jacket and a pipe yourself that you only use at weekends.
Oh. You were trying to be FUNNY. Sorry
Because it wasn’t remotely funny, as you have no sense of humour, it’s quite difficult to respond correctly, in these circumstances. Sorry
In future perhaps you could start your ‘funny’ comments with some kind of clown face emoji, so I know to read your ‘funny’ remarks with a rictus grin of embarrassment on your behalf, before coughing up a tiny, forced little laugh like a lizard boaking a boll-weevil
Oh dear, touched a raw nerve. Is the latest poor man's Dan Brown effort not going so well today? Had an unpleasant alien visitation on the khazi this morning, or is it that the realisation that in fact my caricature was in reality close to the bone regarding the company you keep? What a pathetically thin skin you uber-leave obsessives have, but then I guess it goes with the angry nationalist type personality. Keep taking the tablets Sean.
"Poor man's Dan Brown" strikes me as harsh. I don't think I've ever read a more poorly-written book than the Da Vinci Code (it made Jeffrey Archer look like Dickens). Should PB's resident dildo-botherer ever turn his hands to literature I am sure he would be able to turn in a superior product.
Indeed. Although what Dan Brown could/can do - and millions of writers can't - is come up with an exciting story. So much fiction is so very dull/implausible/dull and implausible. Often this is masked by a beautiful turn of phrase. But people who can turn a good phrase - or at least turn a phrase more elegantly than Dan Brown - are ten a penny. There are a fair few on this site. Very, very few people can think up a story worth reading.
Verily
It seems to mystify many: why Dan Brown is so rich, when he writes so ‘badly’
It’s like asking why Lewis Hamilton the sportsman is so well-paid, when there are millions of men who are faster, bigger, stronger, more athletic than him; indeed many on this site (not Nigel Formain, obvs) could probably best Hamilton at arm wrestling
However, Lewis Hamilton can do one thing exceptionally well: drive a high performance car very fast without crashing. And lots of people will pay to watch that, but they won’t pay to watch arm-wrestling
I've not been following the pandemic in any sort of detail. Just listening to the news and government spokespeople. While our vaccine program was purring like a Ferrari Europe's were limping along like a Lada Riva with a puncture. Tory poster's on here have been crowing about our ingenuity and delighting in our good fortune at being-dare I say it-BRITISH!
1. FIRST in Europe for total number of cases. 2. FIRST in Europe for total number of deaths. 3. FIRST in Europe for total of NEW cases. 4. FIRST in Europe for total number of NEW deaths.
Roger, this is just total nonsense. 1. France and Russia have both had more cases 2. Russia has more deaths, on a per million analysis there are a host of countries ahead of us. 3. Russia has more new cases. And we do massively more testing than anyone else. 4. Total rubbish. In the last 7 days Italy, Germany and France (as well as Russia) have all had more deaths than us.
Why do you write this stuff?
I should perhaps have replaced 'Europe' with 'EU'. Had I done so the only number which is incorrect on YESTERDAY'S figures is France which had marginally more total cases than us.
Which would also have been laughably wrong. We’re not in the EU. Perhaps you missed that evolution, as you fumbled with your Blackberry under your tartan blanket, trying to tune into the Home Service
I am surprised that Brexiteers haven't insisted we go back to calling Radio 2 "The Home Service", which they can listen to on their new fangled "wireless", particularly enjoying the sublime commentary of John Arlott. When the odd run is scored they will applaud politely and mutter "hear hear" with their pipe of baccy clenched between their teeth, whilst thinking it is all jolly good that we are back in the 1950s with ration books and good old navy blue passports.
I’ve met millions of Brexiteers of all stripes. From lunatic eco-Leavers to stereotypical chav Leavers to super-posh ducal Leavers. I’ve never met the archetype you describe here. Not once. I’m sure they exist outside your head, but they are rare
The stereotype you do constantly encounter is the middle class, BBC watching, London based, Tuscany-going Remoaner who has been slightly unhinged by Brexit. You encounter them constantly and you can spot them a mile off. However they may be so conspicuous just because they are so hysterical on Twitter
Clearly left your sense of humour by the pool today. I expected a wittier repost than that. Disappointing.
Your somewhat desperate attempt to disassociate yourself from the BNP gorilla type leaver is understandable. What you can't get away from is that Farage (the person that convinced so many of you that we were being overrun by a tidal wave of immigrants - remember him?), fits that stereotype perfectly. You have probably overlooked that I used to be a Tory activist. I have met masses of them and there are sadly even more of them in the Tory party now as entryists from UKIP. Reactionary old farts who would love the UK to go back to the 1950s of their parents' youth. The obsession with navy blue passports was only one example of their stupidity. You are simply in denial. You know I am right. Perhaps you have a tweed jacket and a pipe yourself that you only use at weekends.
Oh. You were trying to be FUNNY. Sorry
Because it wasn’t remotely funny, as you have no sense of humour, it’s quite difficult to respond correctly, in these circumstances. Sorry
In future perhaps you could start your ‘funny’ comments with some kind of clown face emoji, so I know to read your ‘funny’ remarks with a rictus grin of embarrassment on your behalf, before coughing up a tiny, forced little laugh like a lizard boaking a boll-weevil
Oh dear, touched a raw nerve. Is the latest poor man's Dan Brown effort not going so well today? Had an unpleasant alien visitation on the khazi this morning, or is it that the realisation that in fact my caricature was in reality close to the bone regarding the company you keep? What a pathetically thin skin you uber-leave obsessives have, but then I guess it goes with the angry nationalist type personality. Keep taking the tablets Sean.
"Poor man's Dan Brown" strikes me as harsh. I don't think I've ever read a more poorly-written book than the Da Vinci Code (it made Jeffrey Archer look like Dickens). Should PB's resident dildo-botherer ever turn his hands to literature I am sure he would be able to turn in a superior product.
Indeed. Although what Dan Brown could/can do - and millions of writers can't - is come up with an exciting story. So much fiction is so very dull/implausible/dull and implausible. Often this is masked by a beautiful turn of phrase. But people who can turn a good phrase - or at least turn a phrase more elegantly than Dan Brown - are ten a penny. There are a fair few on this site. Very, very few people can think up a story worth reading.
I'm not sure I agree with that. I think a compelling plot is the least of your worries if you're looking to write a decent novel. Writing it so it reads well is harder I think. Conveying character and emotion convincingly is hardest of all. I don't remember the Da Vinci Code having a particularly gripping plot either to be honest, it mostly seemed to consist of people running around. But I tend not to remember much about books, even good ones, after I've read them. They are a transitory pleasure for me. So all I really remember about the Da Vinci code was that it was shit.
The Da Vinci code got millions of people reading and learning about history, geography and art more than they would have done without reading it. Isn't that a good thing ?
I've not been following the pandemic in any sort of detail. Just listening to the news and government spokespeople. While our vaccine program was purring like a Ferrari Europe's were limping along like a Lada Riva with a puncture. Tory poster's on here have been crowing about our ingenuity and delighting in our good fortune at being-dare I say it-BRITISH!
1. FIRST in Europe for total number of cases. 2. FIRST in Europe for total number of deaths. 3. FIRST in Europe for total of NEW cases. 4. FIRST in Europe for total number of NEW deaths.
Roger, this is just total nonsense. 1. France and Russia have both had more cases 2. Russia has more deaths, on a per million analysis there are a host of countries ahead of us. 3. Russia has more new cases. And we do massively more testing than anyone else. 4. Total rubbish. In the last 7 days Italy, Germany and France (as well as Russia) have all had more deaths than us.
Why do you write this stuff?
I should perhaps have replaced 'Europe' with 'EU'. Had I done so the only number which is incorrect on YESTERDAY'S figures is France which had marginally more total cases than us.
Which would also have been laughably wrong. We’re not in the EU. Perhaps you missed that evolution, as you fumbled with your Blackberry under your tartan blanket, trying to tune into the Home Service
I think what Roger means is 'we did worse than Germany'. Because surely he can't be expecting that Bulgaria, Slovenia, Croatia, Poland, Hungary, Czechia and so forth had more deaths than us in absolute terms. No-one who has even an ounce of maths in their body would expect that.
So, fair point Roger - the UK has had more covid than Germany.
Downthread someone suggested ‘Germany’ as an example of a country that handled the pandemic (so far) “really well”
Wtf?
Germany is the 19th largest country in the world by population
Going by Worldometer (flawed but indicative) Germany is 12th in the world for total cases and also 12th for total deaths. Bad.
Their economy in 2020 shrank by 5%. Also bad. And they still have Delta to come
Germany did better than some European countries (the UK for one) but worse than others. Globally it is nowhere near the top rank and is no kind of model
South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore are models. Perhaps oz and nz (but they have new issues now)
In Europe maybe Denmark? You soon run out of exemplars
Of the G7 nations Germany and Japan did the best, Germany locked down relatively early, certainly compared to the USA and us, had an effective track and trace and has a far better vaccination rate now than say New Zealand, Australia and France.
Though globally Singapore is probably the best example, amongst the top nations in terms of vaccination rate and has had just 6 Covid deaths per million, compared to a global rate of 514
Japan did waaaaay better than Germany healthwise. 15,000 deaths compared to 90,000 and with a bigger, older population
Not so good on vaccines tho. We’ve yet to see if that bites them
Think they're getting their vaccine act together.
Japan’s superior performance on deaths might just be a function of their very low obesity rates. It is likely that is a factor around the world - see the horrors in fairly-obese Latin America
Incidentally, I’m sitting in a beach bar in Majorca watching Europe waddle past. All nations. It is clear lots of people have put on lots of weight. Brits among the worst, and we were already fat
God knows what the USA is like
It's hard to imagine the French and Italians being fat. Both are very obviously slimmer than the average here. Has your trip to Majorca revealed some Gallic guts and Tuscan tummies?
Those are quite amazing stats, in a bad way. I had no idea so much of Europe was so podgy
Countries I assume are all bicycling and healthy are not. Eg the Netherlands, more than half of men are overweight
Striking
Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. Weak men create hard times.
How hard is it for people to look in a mirror and then decide to eat less?
There’s a couple right next to me as I write. Both extremely obese. And British, I fear (certainly Northern European)
They’ve ordered an enormous lunch. Several starters. Huge main courses. And it’s not quality food - its huge plates of burgers and chips. Which don’t seem to satisfy them
It’s actually quite distressing to see. Like watching a smack addict with a death pallor seeking one last uncollapsed vein to inject. In public
We need to start teaching Stoic Philosophy in schools.
Some great life lessons can be gained from this. Early pandemic I did a fair bit of reading in this field and found it very useful.
I keep trying to get through M Aurelius, but it's a slog.
I've not been following the pandemic in any sort of detail. Just listening to the news and government spokespeople. While our vaccine program was purring like a Ferrari Europe's were limping along like a Lada Riva with a puncture. Tory poster's on here have been crowing about our ingenuity and delighting in our good fortune at being-dare I say it-BRITISH!
1. FIRST in Europe for total number of cases. 2. FIRST in Europe for total number of deaths. 3. FIRST in Europe for total of NEW cases. 4. FIRST in Europe for total number of NEW deaths.
Roger, this is just total nonsense. 1. France and Russia have both had more cases 2. Russia has more deaths, on a per million analysis there are a host of countries ahead of us. 3. Russia has more new cases. And we do massively more testing than anyone else. 4. Total rubbish. In the last 7 days Italy, Germany and France (as well as Russia) have all had more deaths than us.
Why do you write this stuff?
I should perhaps have replaced 'Europe' with 'EU'. Had I done so the only number which is incorrect on YESTERDAY'S figures is France which had marginally more total cases than us.
Which would also have been laughably wrong. We’re not in the EU. Perhaps you missed that evolution, as you fumbled with your Blackberry under your tartan blanket, trying to tune into the Home Service
I am surprised that Brexiteers haven't insisted we go back to calling Radio 2 "The Home Service", which they can listen to on their new fangled "wireless", particularly enjoying the sublime commentary of John Arlott. When the odd run is scored they will applaud politely and mutter "hear hear" with their pipe of baccy clenched between their teeth, whilst thinking it is all jolly good that we are back in the 1950s with ration books and good old navy blue passports.
I’ve met millions of Brexiteers of all stripes. From lunatic eco-Leavers to stereotypical chav Leavers to super-posh ducal Leavers. I’ve never met the archetype you describe here. Not once. I’m sure they exist outside your head, but they are rare
The stereotype you do constantly encounter is the middle class, BBC watching, London based, Tuscany-going Remoaner who has been slightly unhinged by Brexit. You encounter them constantly and you can spot them a mile off. However they may be so conspicuous just because they are so hysterical on Twitter
Clearly left your sense of humour by the pool today. I expected a wittier repost than that. Disappointing.
Your somewhat desperate attempt to disassociate yourself from the BNP gorilla type leaver is understandable. What you can't get away from is that Farage (the person that convinced so many of you that we were being overrun by a tidal wave of immigrants - remember him?), fits that stereotype perfectly. You have probably overlooked that I used to be a Tory activist. I have met masses of them and there are sadly even more of them in the Tory party now as entryists from UKIP. Reactionary old farts who would love the UK to go back to the 1950s of their parents' youth. The obsession with navy blue passports was only one example of their stupidity. You are simply in denial. You know I am right. Perhaps you have a tweed jacket and a pipe yourself that you only use at weekends.
Oh. You were trying to be FUNNY. Sorry
Because it wasn’t remotely funny, as you have no sense of humour, it’s quite difficult to respond correctly, in these circumstances. Sorry
In future perhaps you could start your ‘funny’ comments with some kind of clown face emoji, so I know to read your ‘funny’ remarks with a rictus grin of embarrassment on your behalf, before coughing up a tiny, forced little laugh like a lizard boaking a boll-weevil
Oh dear, touched a raw nerve. Is the latest poor man's Dan Brown effort not going so well today? Had an unpleasant alien visitation on the khazi this morning, or is it that the realisation that in fact my caricature was in reality close to the bone regarding the company you keep? What a pathetically thin skin you uber-leave obsessives have, but then I guess it goes with the angry nationalist type personality. Keep taking the tablets Sean.
"Poor man's Dan Brown" strikes me as harsh. I don't think I've ever read a more poorly-written book than the Da Vinci Code (it made Jeffrey Archer look like Dickens). Should PB's resident dildo-botherer ever turn his hands to literature I am sure he would be able to turn in a superior product.
Indeed. Although what Dan Brown could/can do - and millions of writers can't - is come up with an exciting story. So much fiction is so very dull/implausible/dull and implausible. Often this is masked by a beautiful turn of phrase. But people who can turn a good phrase - or at least turn a phrase more elegantly than Dan Brown - are ten a penny. There are a fair few on this site. Very, very few people can think up a story worth reading.
I'm not sure I agree with that. I think a compelling plot is the least of your worries if you're looking to write a decent novel. Writing it so it reads well is harder I think. Conveying character and emotion convincingly is hardest of all. I don't remember the Da Vinci Code having a particularly gripping plot either to be honest, it mostly seemed to consist of people running around. But I tend not to remember much about books, even good ones, after I've read them. They are a transitory pleasure for me. So all I really remember about the Da Vinci code was that it was shit.
You're not the only literary critic with that verdict. I have happy memories of seeing this next to Rosslyn Chapel (one of the key venues in the book, I understand):
I still haven't had a satisfactory answer my poser yesterday.
Why would anyone in their right mind retain the app on their phone?
Because no-one (== hardly anyone) ever (== almost never) uninstalls apps from their phones. They just stop using them, and, sometimes, don't reinstall when they change phones (if it didn't migrate it automatically for them).
ETA: unless they install it and uninstall it almost immediately
(And for extra nuance - of those that *are* uninstalled after that time, the principal reason given is that the app has been spamming them. So an app that sits quietly in the background and didn't get uninstalled within the first 30 days is likely to stay forever.)
I have taken off almost all the apps which came with my phone; the only ones I use are google chrome, Whatsapp (grudgingly) and text/phone. Oh, and clock and camera. I also disable location settings, though I don't know how 'real' that is. Anything which can't get done through Google chrome gets done on my home computer. I'm not an expert - I may have left holes open. But I'm frankly astonished at how ready people are to install apps at the drop of a hat that not only have access to your data but that know where you are. I find the concept horrific. But it appears I am in a minority.
glad to see you dont use the utter misery making NHS test and trace . Does anyone think we would have more cases than we do without it currently? Yet is it causing huge disruption that ranges from irritating to devastating for individuals - for no reason - and the government FFS want to extend its life
I do think it's hard a marginal downward pressure on spread. Whether that justifies the cost to the public purse or the inconvenience to users is another matter entirely.
I've not been following the pandemic in any sort of detail. Just listening to the news and government spokespeople. While our vaccine program was purring like a Ferrari Europe's were limping along like a Lada Riva with a puncture. Tory poster's on here have been crowing about our ingenuity and delighting in our good fortune at being-dare I say it-BRITISH!
1. FIRST in Europe for total number of cases. 2. FIRST in Europe for total number of deaths. 3. FIRST in Europe for total of NEW cases. 4. FIRST in Europe for total number of NEW deaths.
Roger, this is just total nonsense. 1. France and Russia have both had more cases 2. Russia has more deaths, on a per million analysis there are a host of countries ahead of us. 3. Russia has more new cases. And we do massively more testing than anyone else. 4. Total rubbish. In the last 7 days Italy, Germany and France (as well as Russia) have all had more deaths than us.
Why do you write this stuff?
I should perhaps have replaced 'Europe' with 'EU'. Had I done so the only number which is incorrect on YESTERDAY'S figures is France which had marginally more total cases than us.
Which would also have been laughably wrong. We’re not in the EU. Perhaps you missed that evolution, as you fumbled with your Blackberry under your tartan blanket, trying to tune into the Home Service
I am surprised that Brexiteers haven't insisted we go back to calling Radio 2 "The Home Service", which they can listen to on their new fangled "wireless", particularly enjoying the sublime commentary of John Arlott. When the odd run is scored they will applaud politely and mutter "hear hear" with their pipe of baccy clenched between their teeth, whilst thinking it is all jolly good that we are back in the 1950s with ration books and good old navy blue passports.
I’ve met millions of Brexiteers of all stripes. From lunatic eco-Leavers to stereotypical chav Leavers to super-posh ducal Leavers. I’ve never met the archetype you describe here. Not once. I’m sure they exist outside your head, but they are rare
The stereotype you do constantly encounter is the middle class, BBC watching, London based, Tuscany-going Remoaner who has been slightly unhinged by Brexit. You encounter them constantly and you can spot them a mile off. However they may be so conspicuous just because they are so hysterical on Twitter
Clearly left your sense of humour by the pool today. I expected a wittier repost than that. Disappointing.
Your somewhat desperate attempt to disassociate yourself from the BNP gorilla type leaver is understandable. What you can't get away from is that Farage (the person that convinced so many of you that we were being overrun by a tidal wave of immigrants - remember him?), fits that stereotype perfectly. You have probably overlooked that I used to be a Tory activist. I have met masses of them and there are sadly even more of them in the Tory party now as entryists from UKIP. Reactionary old farts who would love the UK to go back to the 1950s of their parents' youth. The obsession with navy blue passports was only one example of their stupidity. You are simply in denial. You know I am right. Perhaps you have a tweed jacket and a pipe yourself that you only use at weekends.
Sort of blokes who say, "She's a damn fine looking woman."
I've not been following the pandemic in any sort of detail. Just listening to the news and government spokespeople. While our vaccine program was purring like a Ferrari Europe's were limping along like a Lada Riva with a puncture. Tory poster's on here have been crowing about our ingenuity and delighting in our good fortune at being-dare I say it-BRITISH!
1. FIRST in Europe for total number of cases. 2. FIRST in Europe for total number of deaths. 3. FIRST in Europe for total of NEW cases. 4. FIRST in Europe for total number of NEW deaths.
Roger, this is just total nonsense. 1. France and Russia have both had more cases 2. Russia has more deaths, on a per million analysis there are a host of countries ahead of us. 3. Russia has more new cases. And we do massively more testing than anyone else. 4. Total rubbish. In the last 7 days Italy, Germany and France (as well as Russia) have all had more deaths than us.
Why do you write this stuff?
I should perhaps have replaced 'Europe' with 'EU'. Had I done so the only number which is incorrect on YESTERDAY'S figures is France which had marginally more total cases than us.
Which would also have been laughably wrong. We’re not in the EU. Perhaps you missed that evolution, as you fumbled with your Blackberry under your tartan blanket, trying to tune into the Home Service
I am surprised that Brexiteers haven't insisted we go back to calling Radio 2 "The Home Service", which they can listen to on their new fangled "wireless", particularly enjoying the sublime commentary of John Arlott. When the odd run is scored they will applaud politely and mutter "hear hear" with their pipe of baccy clenched between their teeth, whilst thinking it is all jolly good that we are back in the 1950s with ration books and good old navy blue passports.
I’ve met millions of Brexiteers of all stripes. From lunatic eco-Leavers to stereotypical chav Leavers to super-posh ducal Leavers. I’ve never met the archetype you describe here. Not once. I’m sure they exist outside your head, but they are rare
The stereotype you do constantly encounter is the middle class, BBC watching, London based, Tuscany-going Remoaner who has been slightly unhinged by Brexit. You encounter them constantly and you can spot them a mile off. However they may be so conspicuous just because they are so hysterical on Twitter
Clearly left your sense of humour by the pool today. I expected a wittier repost than that. Disappointing.
Your somewhat desperate attempt to disassociate yourself from the BNP gorilla type leaver is understandable. What you can't get away from is that Farage (the person that convinced so many of you that we were being overrun by a tidal wave of immigrants - remember him?), fits that stereotype perfectly. You have probably overlooked that I used to be a Tory activist. I have met masses of them and there are sadly even more of them in the Tory party now as entryists from UKIP. Reactionary old farts who would love the UK to go back to the 1950s of their parents' youth. The obsession with navy blue passports was only one example of their stupidity. You are simply in denial. You know I am right. Perhaps you have a tweed jacket and a pipe yourself that you only use at weekends.
Oh. You were trying to be FUNNY. Sorry
Because it wasn’t remotely funny, as you have no sense of humour, it’s quite difficult to respond correctly, in these circumstances. Sorry
In future perhaps you could start your ‘funny’ comments with some kind of clown face emoji, so I know to read your ‘funny’ remarks with a rictus grin of embarrassment on your behalf, before coughing up a tiny, forced little laugh like a lizard boaking a boll-weevil
Oh dear, touched a raw nerve. Is the latest poor man's Dan Brown effort not going so well today? Had an unpleasant alien visitation on the khazi this morning, or is it that the realisation that in fact my caricature was in reality close to the bone regarding the company you keep? What a pathetically thin skin you uber-leave obsessives have, but then I guess it goes with the angry nationalist type personality. Keep taking the tablets Sean.
"Poor man's Dan Brown" strikes me as harsh. I don't think I've ever read a more poorly-written book than the Da Vinci Code (it made Jeffrey Archer look like Dickens). Should PB's resident dildo-botherer ever turn his hands to literature I am sure he would be able to turn in a superior product.
Indeed. Although what Dan Brown could/can do - and millions of writers can't - is come up with an exciting story. So much fiction is so very dull/implausible/dull and implausible. Often this is masked by a beautiful turn of phrase. But people who can turn a good phrase - or at least turn a phrase more elegantly than Dan Brown - are ten a penny. There are a fair few on this site. Very, very few people can think up a story worth reading.
I'm not sure I agree with that. I think a compelling plot is the least of your worries if you're looking to write a decent novel. Writing it so it reads well is harder I think. Conveying character and emotion convincingly is hardest of all. I don't remember the Da Vinci Code having a particularly gripping plot either to be honest, it mostly seemed to consist of people running around. But I tend not to remember much about books, even good ones, after I've read them. They are a transitory pleasure for me. So all I really remember about the Da Vinci code was that it was shit.
The Da Vinci code got millions of people reading and learning about history, geography and art more than they would have done without reading it. Isn't that a good thing ?
The Enid Blyton defence. And, no, I highly doubt it makes any long term difference to anything other than the number of timewasting wankers in the Louvre.
I've not been following the pandemic in any sort of detail. Just listening to the news and government spokespeople. While our vaccine program was purring like a Ferrari Europe's were limping along like a Lada Riva with a puncture. Tory poster's on here have been crowing about our ingenuity and delighting in our good fortune at being-dare I say it-BRITISH!
1. FIRST in Europe for total number of cases. 2. FIRST in Europe for total number of deaths. 3. FIRST in Europe for total of NEW cases. 4. FIRST in Europe for total number of NEW deaths.
Roger, this is just total nonsense. 1. France and Russia have both had more cases 2. Russia has more deaths, on a per million analysis there are a host of countries ahead of us. 3. Russia has more new cases. And we do massively more testing than anyone else. 4. Total rubbish. In the last 7 days Italy, Germany and France (as well as Russia) have all had more deaths than us.
Why do you write this stuff?
I should perhaps have replaced 'Europe' with 'EU'. Had I done so the only number which is incorrect on YESTERDAY'S figures is France which had marginally more total cases than us.
Which would also have been laughably wrong. We’re not in the EU. Perhaps you missed that evolution, as you fumbled with your Blackberry under your tartan blanket, trying to tune into the Home Service
I am surprised that Brexiteers haven't insisted we go back to calling Radio 2 "The Home Service", which they can listen to on their new fangled "wireless", particularly enjoying the sublime commentary of John Arlott. When the odd run is scored they will applaud politely and mutter "hear hear" with their pipe of baccy clenched between their teeth, whilst thinking it is all jolly good that we are back in the 1950s with ration books and good old navy blue passports.
I’ve met millions of Brexiteers of all stripes. From lunatic eco-Leavers to stereotypical chav Leavers to super-posh ducal Leavers. I’ve never met the archetype you describe here. Not once. I’m sure they exist outside your head, but they are rare
The stereotype you do constantly encounter is the middle class, BBC watching, London based, Tuscany-going Remoaner who has been slightly unhinged by Brexit. You encounter them constantly and you can spot them a mile off. However they may be so conspicuous just because they are so hysterical on Twitter
Clearly left your sense of humour by the pool today. I expected a wittier repost than that. Disappointing.
Your somewhat desperate attempt to disassociate yourself from the BNP gorilla type leaver is understandable. What you can't get away from is that Farage (the person that convinced so many of you that we were being overrun by a tidal wave of immigrants - remember him?), fits that stereotype perfectly. You have probably overlooked that I used to be a Tory activist. I have met masses of them and there are sadly even more of them in the Tory party now as entryists from UKIP. Reactionary old farts who would love the UK to go back to the 1950s of their parents' youth. The obsession with navy blue passports was only one example of their stupidity. You are simply in denial. You know I am right. Perhaps you have a tweed jacket and a pipe yourself that you only use at weekends.
Oh. You were trying to be FUNNY. Sorry
Because it wasn’t remotely funny, as you have no sense of humour, it’s quite difficult to respond correctly, in these circumstances. Sorry
In future perhaps you could start your ‘funny’ comments with some kind of clown face emoji, so I know to read your ‘funny’ remarks with a rictus grin of embarrassment on your behalf, before coughing up a tiny, forced little laugh like a lizard boaking a boll-weevil
Oh dear, touched a raw nerve. Is the latest poor man's Dan Brown effort not going so well today? Had an unpleasant alien visitation on the khazi this morning, or is it that the realisation that in fact my caricature was in reality close to the bone regarding the company you keep? What a pathetically thin skin you uber-leave obsessives have, but then I guess it goes with the angry nationalist type personality. Keep taking the tablets Sean.
"Poor man's Dan Brown" strikes me as harsh. I don't think I've ever read a more poorly-written book than the Da Vinci Code (it made Jeffrey Archer look like Dickens). Should PB's resident dildo-botherer ever turn his hands to literature I am sure he would be able to turn in a superior product.
Indeed. Although what Dan Brown could/can do - and millions of writers can't - is come up with an exciting story. So much fiction is so very dull/implausible/dull and implausible. Often this is masked by a beautiful turn of phrase. But people who can turn a good phrase - or at least turn a phrase more elegantly than Dan Brown - are ten a penny. There are a fair few on this site. Very, very few people can think up a story worth reading.
I'm not sure I agree with that. I think a compelling plot is the least of your worries if you're looking to write a decent novel. Writing it so it reads well is harder I think. Conveying character and emotion convincingly is hardest of all. I don't remember the Da Vinci Code having a particularly gripping plot either to be honest, it mostly seemed to consist of people running around. But I tend not to remember much about books, even good ones, after I've read them. They are a transitory pleasure for me. So all I really remember about the Da Vinci code was that it was shit.
The best paid writers are those who can produce good plots. It’s as simple as that. Pure capitalism
There are ‘writers’ who can ONLY plot, their prose is so bad (beyond Dan brown mediocrity) they are not allowed anywhere near a printer
However they go on to be script doctors or show runners or producers in Hollywood and they make vast sums of cash
I've not been following the pandemic in any sort of detail. Just listening to the news and government spokespeople. While our vaccine program was purring like a Ferrari Europe's were limping along like a Lada Riva with a puncture. Tory poster's on here have been crowing about our ingenuity and delighting in our good fortune at being-dare I say it-BRITISH!
1. FIRST in Europe for total number of cases. 2. FIRST in Europe for total number of deaths. 3. FIRST in Europe for total of NEW cases. 4. FIRST in Europe for total number of NEW deaths.
Roger, this is just total nonsense. 1. France and Russia have both had more cases 2. Russia has more deaths, on a per million analysis there are a host of countries ahead of us. 3. Russia has more new cases. And we do massively more testing than anyone else. 4. Total rubbish. In the last 7 days Italy, Germany and France (as well as Russia) have all had more deaths than us.
Why do you write this stuff?
I should perhaps have replaced 'Europe' with 'EU'. Had I done so the only number which is incorrect on YESTERDAY'S figures is France which had marginally more total cases than us.
Which would also have been laughably wrong. We’re not in the EU. Perhaps you missed that evolution, as you fumbled with your Blackberry under your tartan blanket, trying to tune into the Home Service
I am surprised that Brexiteers haven't insisted we go back to calling Radio 2 "The Home Service", which they can listen to on their new fangled "wireless", particularly enjoying the sublime commentary of John Arlott. When the odd run is scored they will applaud politely and mutter "hear hear" with their pipe of baccy clenched between their teeth, whilst thinking it is all jolly good that we are back in the 1950s with ration books and good old navy blue passports.
I’ve met millions of Brexiteers of all stripes. From lunatic eco-Leavers to stereotypical chav Leavers to super-posh ducal Leavers. I’ve never met the archetype you describe here. Not once. I’m sure they exist outside your head, but they are rare
The stereotype you do constantly encounter is the middle class, BBC watching, London based, Tuscany-going Remoaner who has been slightly unhinged by Brexit. You encounter them constantly and you can spot them a mile off. However they may be so conspicuous just because they are so hysterical on Twitter
Clearly left your sense of humour by the pool today. I expected a wittier repost than that. Disappointing.
Your somewhat desperate attempt to disassociate yourself from the BNP gorilla type leaver is understandable. What you can't get away from is that Farage (the person that convinced so many of you that we were being overrun by a tidal wave of immigrants - remember him?), fits that stereotype perfectly. You have probably overlooked that I used to be a Tory activist. I have met masses of them and there are sadly even more of them in the Tory party now as entryists from UKIP. Reactionary old farts who would love the UK to go back to the 1950s of their parents' youth. The obsession with navy blue passports was only one example of their stupidity. You are simply in denial. You know I am right. Perhaps you have a tweed jacket and a pipe yourself that you only use at weekends.
Oh. You were trying to be FUNNY. Sorry
Because it wasn’t remotely funny, as you have no sense of humour, it’s quite difficult to respond correctly, in these circumstances. Sorry
In future perhaps you could start your ‘funny’ comments with some kind of clown face emoji, so I know to read your ‘funny’ remarks with a rictus grin of embarrassment on your behalf, before coughing up a tiny, forced little laugh like a lizard boaking a boll-weevil
Oh dear, touched a raw nerve. Is the latest poor man's Dan Brown effort not going so well today? Had an unpleasant alien visitation on the khazi this morning, or is it that the realisation that in fact my caricature was in reality close to the bone regarding the company you keep? What a pathetically thin skin you uber-leave obsessives have, but then I guess it goes with the angry nationalist type personality. Keep taking the tablets Sean.
"Poor man's Dan Brown" strikes me as harsh. I don't think I've ever read a more poorly-written book than the Da Vinci Code (it made Jeffrey Archer look like Dickens). Should PB's resident dildo-botherer ever turn his hands to literature I am sure he would be able to turn in a superior product.
Indeed. Although what Dan Brown could/can do - and millions of writers can't - is come up with an exciting story. So much fiction is so very dull/implausible/dull and implausible. Often this is masked by a beautiful turn of phrase. But people who can turn a good phrase - or at least turn a phrase more elegantly than Dan Brown - are ten a penny. There are a fair few on this site. Very, very few people can think up a story worth reading.
I'm not sure I agree with that. I think a compelling plot is the least of your worries if you're looking to write a decent novel. Writing it so it reads well is harder I think. Conveying character and emotion convincingly is hardest of all. I don't remember the Da Vinci Code having a particularly gripping plot either to be honest, it mostly seemed to consist of people running around. But I tend not to remember much about books, even good ones, after I've read them. They are a transitory pleasure for me. So all I really remember about the Da Vinci code was that it was shit.
The Da Vinci code got millions of people reading and learning about history, geography and art more than they would have done without reading it. Isn't that a good thing ?
World War Two provided millions with the opportunity for foreign travel and an exciting change of career, but that doesn't make it a good thing.
I've not been following the pandemic in any sort of detail. Just listening to the news and government spokespeople. While our vaccine program was purring like a Ferrari Europe's were limping along like a Lada Riva with a puncture. Tory poster's on here have been crowing about our ingenuity and delighting in our good fortune at being-dare I say it-BRITISH!
1. FIRST in Europe for total number of cases. 2. FIRST in Europe for total number of deaths. 3. FIRST in Europe for total of NEW cases. 4. FIRST in Europe for total number of NEW deaths.
Roger, this is just total nonsense. 1. France and Russia have both had more cases 2. Russia has more deaths, on a per million analysis there are a host of countries ahead of us. 3. Russia has more new cases. And we do massively more testing than anyone else. 4. Total rubbish. In the last 7 days Italy, Germany and France (as well as Russia) have all had more deaths than us.
Why do you write this stuff?
I should perhaps have replaced 'Europe' with 'EU'. Had I done so the only number which is incorrect on YESTERDAY'S figures is France which had marginally more total cases than us.
Which would also have been laughably wrong. We’re not in the EU. Perhaps you missed that evolution, as you fumbled with your Blackberry under your tartan blanket, trying to tune into the Home Service
I am surprised that Brexiteers haven't insisted we go back to calling Radio 2 "The Home Service", which they can listen to on their new fangled "wireless", particularly enjoying the sublime commentary of John Arlott. When the odd run is scored they will applaud politely and mutter "hear hear" with their pipe of baccy clenched between their teeth, whilst thinking it is all jolly good that we are back in the 1950s with ration books and good old navy blue passports.
Such ignorance is shocking.
Radio Four was the Home Service.
Radio Two was the Light Programme.
Damn, damn, damn. I was just about to post that. Might as well point out although far too late that Radio 3 was the Third Programme.
I thought that was ITV? Although my mother always called it the third channel, so maybe not.
So you are not really an oldie then?
Why would she call it the 3rd channel when there were only 2? Ian I'm starting to think you must be a real whipper snapper if your mum is so young she is post BBC2 when the 3rd channel came along.
Netherlands reports 3,688 new coronavirus cases, an increase of 482% compared to last week. Government seeking advice to determine if measures are needed
I've not been following the pandemic in any sort of detail. Just listening to the news and government spokespeople. While our vaccine program was purring like a Ferrari Europe's were limping along like a Lada Riva with a puncture. Tory poster's on here have been crowing about our ingenuity and delighting in our good fortune at being-dare I say it-BRITISH!
1. FIRST in Europe for total number of cases. 2. FIRST in Europe for total number of deaths. 3. FIRST in Europe for total of NEW cases. 4. FIRST in Europe for total number of NEW deaths.
Roger, this is just total nonsense. 1. France and Russia have both had more cases 2. Russia has more deaths, on a per million analysis there are a host of countries ahead of us. 3. Russia has more new cases. And we do massively more testing than anyone else. 4. Total rubbish. In the last 7 days Italy, Germany and France (as well as Russia) have all had more deaths than us.
Why do you write this stuff?
I should perhaps have replaced 'Europe' with 'EU'. Had I done so the only number which is incorrect on YESTERDAY'S figures is France which had marginally more total cases than us.
Which would also have been laughably wrong. We’re not in the EU. Perhaps you missed that evolution, as you fumbled with your Blackberry under your tartan blanket, trying to tune into the Home Service
I am surprised that Brexiteers haven't insisted we go back to calling Radio 2 "The Home Service", which they can listen to on their new fangled "wireless", particularly enjoying the sublime commentary of John Arlott. When the odd run is scored they will applaud politely and mutter "hear hear" with their pipe of baccy clenched between their teeth, whilst thinking it is all jolly good that we are back in the 1950s with ration books and good old navy blue passports.
I’ve met millions of Brexiteers of all stripes. From lunatic eco-Leavers to stereotypical chav Leavers to super-posh ducal Leavers. I’ve never met the archetype you describe here. Not once. I’m sure they exist outside your head, but they are rare
The stereotype you do constantly encounter is the middle class, BBC watching, London based, Tuscany-going Remoaner who has been slightly unhinged by Brexit. You encounter them constantly and you can spot them a mile off. However they may be so conspicuous just because they are so hysterical on Twitter
Clearly left your sense of humour by the pool today. I expected a wittier repost than that. Disappointing.
Your somewhat desperate attempt to disassociate yourself from the BNP gorilla type leaver is understandable. What you can't get away from is that Farage (the person that convinced so many of you that we were being overrun by a tidal wave of immigrants - remember him?), fits that stereotype perfectly. You have probably overlooked that I used to be a Tory activist. I have met masses of them and there are sadly even more of them in the Tory party now as entryists from UKIP. Reactionary old farts who would love the UK to go back to the 1950s of their parents' youth. The obsession with navy blue passports was only one example of their stupidity. You are simply in denial. You know I am right. Perhaps you have a tweed jacket and a pipe yourself that you only use at weekends.
Oh. You were trying to be FUNNY. Sorry
Because it wasn’t remotely funny, as you have no sense of humour, it’s quite difficult to respond correctly, in these circumstances. Sorry
In future perhaps you could start your ‘funny’ comments with some kind of clown face emoji, so I know to read your ‘funny’ remarks with a rictus grin of embarrassment on your behalf, before coughing up a tiny, forced little laugh like a lizard boaking a boll-weevil
Oh dear, touched a raw nerve. Is the latest poor man's Dan Brown effort not going so well today? Had an unpleasant alien visitation on the khazi this morning, or is it that the realisation that in fact my caricature was in reality close to the bone regarding the company you keep? What a pathetically thin skin you uber-leave obsessives have, but then I guess it goes with the angry nationalist type personality. Keep taking the tablets Sean.
"Poor man's Dan Brown" strikes me as harsh. I don't think I've ever read a more poorly-written book than the Da Vinci Code (it made Jeffrey Archer look like Dickens). Should PB's resident dildo-botherer ever turn his hands to literature I am sure he would be able to turn in a superior product.
Indeed. Although what Dan Brown could/can do - and millions of writers can't - is come up with an exciting story. So much fiction is so very dull/implausible/dull and implausible. Often this is masked by a beautiful turn of phrase. But people who can turn a good phrase - or at least turn a phrase more elegantly than Dan Brown - are ten a penny. There are a fair few on this site. Very, very few people can think up a story worth reading.
I'm not sure I agree with that. I think a compelling plot is the least of your worries if you're looking to write a decent novel. Writing it so it reads well is harder I think. Conveying character and emotion convincingly is hardest of all. I don't remember the Da Vinci Code having a particularly gripping plot either to be honest, it mostly seemed to consist of people running around. But I tend not to remember much about books, even good ones, after I've read them. They are a transitory pleasure for me. So all I really remember about the Da Vinci code was that it was shit.
You're not the only literary critic with that verdict. I have happy memories of seeing this next to Rosslyn Chapel (one of the key venues in the book, I understand):
Fifteen or so years ago, I stayed at a North Yorkshire B&B. I hadn't read the Da Vinci Code, and was very sniffy about it (*). They had a late-teenage daughter who, at breakfast, had her nose deep in the book. As we chatted, she said it was the first book she had ever read, she was gripped, and she wanted to read more books.
Yes, it is crummy. Yes, it is poorly written. But if it acts as a gateway to literature for people put off from reading at school, then it's brilliant.
(*) In fact, the first time I ever read a Dan Brown book was when I picked up a copy at a remote bothy; I read it, and left it at another bothy a few days later.
I've not been following the pandemic in any sort of detail. Just listening to the news and government spokespeople. While our vaccine program was purring like a Ferrari Europe's were limping along like a Lada Riva with a puncture. Tory poster's on here have been crowing about our ingenuity and delighting in our good fortune at being-dare I say it-BRITISH!
1. FIRST in Europe for total number of cases. 2. FIRST in Europe for total number of deaths. 3. FIRST in Europe for total of NEW cases. 4. FIRST in Europe for total number of NEW deaths.
Roger, this is just total nonsense. 1. France and Russia have both had more cases 2. Russia has more deaths, on a per million analysis there are a host of countries ahead of us. 3. Russia has more new cases. And we do massively more testing than anyone else. 4. Total rubbish. In the last 7 days Italy, Germany and France (as well as Russia) have all had more deaths than us.
Why do you write this stuff?
I should perhaps have replaced 'Europe' with 'EU'. Had I done so the only number which is incorrect on YESTERDAY'S figures is France which had marginally more total cases than us.
Which would also have been laughably wrong. We’re not in the EU. Perhaps you missed that evolution, as you fumbled with your Blackberry under your tartan blanket, trying to tune into the Home Service
I am surprised that Brexiteers haven't insisted we go back to calling Radio 2 "The Home Service", which they can listen to on their new fangled "wireless", particularly enjoying the sublime commentary of John Arlott. When the odd run is scored they will applaud politely and mutter "hear hear" with their pipe of baccy clenched between their teeth, whilst thinking it is all jolly good that we are back in the 1950s with ration books and good old navy blue passports.
I’ve met millions of Brexiteers of all stripes. From lunatic eco-Leavers to stereotypical chav Leavers to super-posh ducal Leavers. I’ve never met the archetype you describe here. Not once. I’m sure they exist outside your head, but they are rare
The stereotype you do constantly encounter is the middle class, BBC watching, London based, Tuscany-going Remoaner who has been slightly unhinged by Brexit. You encounter them constantly and you can spot them a mile off. However they may be so conspicuous just because they are so hysterical on Twitter
Clearly left your sense of humour by the pool today. I expected a wittier repost than that. Disappointing.
Your somewhat desperate attempt to disassociate yourself from the BNP gorilla type leaver is understandable. What you can't get away from is that Farage (the person that convinced so many of you that we were being overrun by a tidal wave of immigrants - remember him?), fits that stereotype perfectly. You have probably overlooked that I used to be a Tory activist. I have met masses of them and there are sadly even more of them in the Tory party now as entryists from UKIP. Reactionary old farts who would love the UK to go back to the 1950s of their parents' youth. The obsession with navy blue passports was only one example of their stupidity. You are simply in denial. You know I am right. Perhaps you have a tweed jacket and a pipe yourself that you only use at weekends.
Oh. You were trying to be FUNNY. Sorry
Because it wasn’t remotely funny, as you have no sense of humour, it’s quite difficult to respond correctly, in these circumstances. Sorry
In future perhaps you could start your ‘funny’ comments with some kind of clown face emoji, so I know to read your ‘funny’ remarks with a rictus grin of embarrassment on your behalf, before coughing up a tiny, forced little laugh like a lizard boaking a boll-weevil
Oh dear, touched a raw nerve. Is the latest poor man's Dan Brown effort not going so well today? Had an unpleasant alien visitation on the khazi this morning, or is it that the realisation that in fact my caricature was in reality close to the bone regarding the company you keep? What a pathetically thin skin you uber-leave obsessives have, but then I guess it goes with the angry nationalist type personality. Keep taking the tablets Sean.
"Poor man's Dan Brown" strikes me as harsh. I don't think I've ever read a more poorly-written book than the Da Vinci Code (it made Jeffrey Archer look like Dickens). Should PB's resident dildo-botherer ever turn his hands to literature I am sure he would be able to turn in a superior product.
Indeed. Although what Dan Brown could/can do - and millions of writers can't - is come up with an exciting story. So much fiction is so very dull/implausible/dull and implausible. Often this is masked by a beautiful turn of phrase. But people who can turn a good phrase - or at least turn a phrase more elegantly than Dan Brown - are ten a penny. There are a fair few on this site. Very, very few people can think up a story worth reading.
I'm not sure I agree with that. I think a compelling plot is the least of your worries if you're looking to write a decent novel. Writing it so it reads well is harder I think. Conveying character and emotion convincingly is hardest of all. I don't remember the Da Vinci Code having a particularly gripping plot either to be honest, it mostly seemed to consist of people running around. But I tend not to remember much about books, even good ones, after I've read them. They are a transitory pleasure for me. So all I really remember about the Da Vinci code was that it was shit.
If you want to sell a lot of books, a convincing plot should be your #1 objective; possibly even your #2, #3 and #4 objectives. The critics will love you if you can use words that make them feel clever. Readers will love you if you entertain them. Though in all honesty I haven't read more than 10 chapters of a Dan Brown book. It wasn't the Da Vinci code. It was one set in the Arctic. I got frustrated that the plot (or at least the first ten chapters of it) seemed to match exactly Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow. And I had already read that.
This afternoon, @PHE_uk has announced that Brazil, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, and Pakistan will be the first countries to receive genomic sequencing support through its New Variant Assessment Platform (NVAP).
I've not been following the pandemic in any sort of detail. Just listening to the news and government spokespeople. While our vaccine program was purring like a Ferrari Europe's were limping along like a Lada Riva with a puncture. Tory poster's on here have been crowing about our ingenuity and delighting in our good fortune at being-dare I say it-BRITISH!
1. FIRST in Europe for total number of cases. 2. FIRST in Europe for total number of deaths. 3. FIRST in Europe for total of NEW cases. 4. FIRST in Europe for total number of NEW deaths.
Roger, this is just total nonsense. 1. France and Russia have both had more cases 2. Russia has more deaths, on a per million analysis there are a host of countries ahead of us. 3. Russia has more new cases. And we do massively more testing than anyone else. 4. Total rubbish. In the last 7 days Italy, Germany and France (as well as Russia) have all had more deaths than us.
Why do you write this stuff?
I should perhaps have replaced 'Europe' with 'EU'. Had I done so the only number which is incorrect on YESTERDAY'S figures is France which had marginally more total cases than us.
Which would also have been laughably wrong. We’re not in the EU. Perhaps you missed that evolution, as you fumbled with your Blackberry under your tartan blanket, trying to tune into the Home Service
I am surprised that Brexiteers haven't insisted we go back to calling Radio 2 "The Home Service", which they can listen to on their new fangled "wireless", particularly enjoying the sublime commentary of John Arlott. When the odd run is scored they will applaud politely and mutter "hear hear" with their pipe of baccy clenched between their teeth, whilst thinking it is all jolly good that we are back in the 1950s with ration books and good old navy blue passports.
I’ve met millions of Brexiteers of all stripes. From lunatic eco-Leavers to stereotypical chav Leavers to super-posh ducal Leavers. I’ve never met the archetype you describe here. Not once. I’m sure they exist outside your head, but they are rare
The stereotype you do constantly encounter is the middle class, BBC watching, London based, Tuscany-going Remoaner who has been slightly unhinged by Brexit. You encounter them constantly and you can spot them a mile off. However they may be so conspicuous just because they are so hysterical on Twitter
Clearly left your sense of humour by the pool today. I expected a wittier repost than that. Disappointing.
Your somewhat desperate attempt to disassociate yourself from the BNP gorilla type leaver is understandable. What you can't get away from is that Farage (the person that convinced so many of you that we were being overrun by a tidal wave of immigrants - remember him?), fits that stereotype perfectly. You have probably overlooked that I used to be a Tory activist. I have met masses of them and there are sadly even more of them in the Tory party now as entryists from UKIP. Reactionary old farts who would love the UK to go back to the 1950s of their parents' youth. The obsession with navy blue passports was only one example of their stupidity. You are simply in denial. You know I am right. Perhaps you have a tweed jacket and a pipe yourself that you only use at weekends.
Oh. You were trying to be FUNNY. Sorry
Because it wasn’t remotely funny, as you have no sense of humour, it’s quite difficult to respond correctly, in these circumstances. Sorry
In future perhaps you could start your ‘funny’ comments with some kind of clown face emoji, so I know to read your ‘funny’ remarks with a rictus grin of embarrassment on your behalf, before coughing up a tiny, forced little laugh like a lizard boaking a boll-weevil
Oh dear, touched a raw nerve. Is the latest poor man's Dan Brown effort not going so well today? Had an unpleasant alien visitation on the khazi this morning, or is it that the realisation that in fact my caricature was in reality close to the bone regarding the company you keep? What a pathetically thin skin you uber-leave obsessives have, but then I guess it goes with the angry nationalist type personality. Keep taking the tablets Sean.
"Poor man's Dan Brown" strikes me as harsh. I don't think I've ever read a more poorly-written book than the Da Vinci Code (it made Jeffrey Archer look like Dickens). Should PB's resident dildo-botherer ever turn his hands to literature I am sure he would be able to turn in a superior product.
Indeed. Although what Dan Brown could/can do - and millions of writers can't - is come up with an exciting story. So much fiction is so very dull/implausible/dull and implausible. Often this is masked by a beautiful turn of phrase. But people who can turn a good phrase - or at least turn a phrase more elegantly than Dan Brown - are ten a penny. There are a fair few on this site. Very, very few people can think up a story worth reading.
I'm not sure I agree with that. I think a compelling plot is the least of your worries if you're looking to write a decent novel. Writing it so it reads well is harder I think. Conveying character and emotion convincingly is hardest of all. I don't remember the Da Vinci Code having a particularly gripping plot either to be honest, it mostly seemed to consist of people running around. But I tend not to remember much about books, even good ones, after I've read them. They are a transitory pleasure for me. So all I really remember about the Da Vinci code was that it was shit.
The Da Vinci code got millions of people reading and learning about history, geography and art more than they would have done without reading it. Isn't that a good thing ?
The Enid Blyton defence. And, no, I highly doubt it makes any long term difference to anything other than the number of timewasting wankers in the Louvre.
“Time-wasting wankers”??
So, you go to the Louvre to expand your elevated mind in a noble pursuit of enlightenment, people who are a bit poorer than you, or less well-educated, they go to the Louvre because they are “time-wasting wankers”. Right?
That’s quite a classic of the genre. Worthy of the great A C Grayling
I've not been following the pandemic in any sort of detail. Just listening to the news and government spokespeople. While our vaccine program was purring like a Ferrari Europe's were limping along like a Lada Riva with a puncture. Tory poster's on here have been crowing about our ingenuity and delighting in our good fortune at being-dare I say it-BRITISH!
1. FIRST in Europe for total number of cases. 2. FIRST in Europe for total number of deaths. 3. FIRST in Europe for total of NEW cases. 4. FIRST in Europe for total number of NEW deaths.
Roger, this is just total nonsense. 1. France and Russia have both had more cases 2. Russia has more deaths, on a per million analysis there are a host of countries ahead of us. 3. Russia has more new cases. And we do massively more testing than anyone else. 4. Total rubbish. In the last 7 days Italy, Germany and France (as well as Russia) have all had more deaths than us.
Why do you write this stuff?
I should perhaps have replaced 'Europe' with 'EU'. Had I done so the only number which is incorrect on YESTERDAY'S figures is France which had marginally more total cases than us.
Which would also have been laughably wrong. We’re not in the EU. Perhaps you missed that evolution, as you fumbled with your Blackberry under your tartan blanket, trying to tune into the Home Service
I am surprised that Brexiteers haven't insisted we go back to calling Radio 2 "The Home Service", which they can listen to on their new fangled "wireless", particularly enjoying the sublime commentary of John Arlott. When the odd run is scored they will applaud politely and mutter "hear hear" with their pipe of baccy clenched between their teeth, whilst thinking it is all jolly good that we are back in the 1950s with ration books and good old navy blue passports.
I’ve met millions of Brexiteers of all stripes. From lunatic eco-Leavers to stereotypical chav Leavers to super-posh ducal Leavers. I’ve never met the archetype you describe here. Not once. I’m sure they exist outside your head, but they are rare
The stereotype you do constantly encounter is the middle class, BBC watching, London based, Tuscany-going Remoaner who has been slightly unhinged by Brexit. You encounter them constantly and you can spot them a mile off. However they may be so conspicuous just because they are so hysterical on Twitter
Clearly left your sense of humour by the pool today. I expected a wittier repost than that. Disappointing.
Your somewhat desperate attempt to disassociate yourself from the BNP gorilla type leaver is understandable. What you can't get away from is that Farage (the person that convinced so many of you that we were being overrun by a tidal wave of immigrants - remember him?), fits that stereotype perfectly. You have probably overlooked that I used to be a Tory activist. I have met masses of them and there are sadly even more of them in the Tory party now as entryists from UKIP. Reactionary old farts who would love the UK to go back to the 1950s of their parents' youth. The obsession with navy blue passports was only one example of their stupidity. You are simply in denial. You know I am right. Perhaps you have a tweed jacket and a pipe yourself that you only use at weekends.
Oh. You were trying to be FUNNY. Sorry
Because it wasn’t remotely funny, as you have no sense of humour, it’s quite difficult to respond correctly, in these circumstances. Sorry
In future perhaps you could start your ‘funny’ comments with some kind of clown face emoji, so I know to read your ‘funny’ remarks with a rictus grin of embarrassment on your behalf, before coughing up a tiny, forced little laugh like a lizard boaking a boll-weevil
Oh dear, touched a raw nerve. Is the latest poor man's Dan Brown effort not going so well today? Had an unpleasant alien visitation on the khazi this morning, or is it that the realisation that in fact my caricature was in reality close to the bone regarding the company you keep? What a pathetically thin skin you uber-leave obsessives have, but then I guess it goes with the angry nationalist type personality. Keep taking the tablets Sean.
"Poor man's Dan Brown" strikes me as harsh. I don't think I've ever read a more poorly-written book than the Da Vinci Code (it made Jeffrey Archer look like Dickens). Should PB's resident dildo-botherer ever turn his hands to literature I am sure he would be able to turn in a superior product.
Indeed. Although what Dan Brown could/can do - and millions of writers can't - is come up with an exciting story. So much fiction is so very dull/implausible/dull and implausible. Often this is masked by a beautiful turn of phrase. But people who can turn a good phrase - or at least turn a phrase more elegantly than Dan Brown - are ten a penny. There are a fair few on this site. Very, very few people can think up a story worth reading.
I'm not sure I agree with that. I think a compelling plot is the least of your worries if you're looking to write a decent novel. Writing it so it reads well is harder I think. Conveying character and emotion convincingly is hardest of all. I don't remember the Da Vinci Code having a particularly gripping plot either to be honest, it mostly seemed to consist of people running around. But I tend not to remember much about books, even good ones, after I've read them. They are a transitory pleasure for me. So all I really remember about the Da Vinci code was that it was shit.
You're not the only literary critic with that verdict. I have happy memories of seeing this next to Rosslyn Chapel (one of the key venues in the book, I understand):
Fifteen or so years ago, I stayed at a North Yorkshire B&B. I hadn't read the Da Vinci Code, and was very sniffy about it (*). They had a late-teenage daughter who, at breakfast, had her nose deep in the book. As we chatted, she said it was the first book she had ever read, she was gripped, and she wanted to read more books.
Yes, it is crummy. Yes, it is poorly written. But if it acts as a gateway to literature for people put off from reading at school, then it's brilliant.
(*) In fact, the first time I ever read a Dan Brown book was when I picked up a copy at a remote bothy; I read it, and left it at another bothy a few days later.
In fairness that is also true.
I can't bear Harry Potter - there is something that creeps me out utterly about it (perhaps more to do with me tbf). I bought the first book by mistake, so to speak (trying out a new local writer back in 1995 or so), and dumped it on a friend. Who was absolutely delighted with me for giving her little girl so much enjoyment. More generally I've been told by other friends it has helped encourage childrten to read.
I've not been following the pandemic in any sort of detail. Just listening to the news and government spokespeople. While our vaccine program was purring like a Ferrari Europe's were limping along like a Lada Riva with a puncture. Tory poster's on here have been crowing about our ingenuity and delighting in our good fortune at being-dare I say it-BRITISH!
1. FIRST in Europe for total number of cases. 2. FIRST in Europe for total number of deaths. 3. FIRST in Europe for total of NEW cases. 4. FIRST in Europe for total number of NEW deaths.
Roger, this is just total nonsense. 1. France and Russia have both had more cases 2. Russia has more deaths, on a per million analysis there are a host of countries ahead of us. 3. Russia has more new cases. And we do massively more testing than anyone else. 4. Total rubbish. In the last 7 days Italy, Germany and France (as well as Russia) have all had more deaths than us.
Why do you write this stuff?
Does the UK do *massively* more testing than *anyone* else?
I can't find national figures but Berlin (4.3% of population) has a capacity of 4.7 million antigen tests a week, and press reports are complaining that there has been a massive drop in tests carried out to just 700000 last week in Berlin - because people no longer need a current test to do things like eat inside a restaurant etc (because the incidence rate is so low). But back of the envelope calculation suggests that even this much reduced testing is much *more* testing than in the UK. But the myth of the UK doing massively more tests than anyone else refuses to die no matter how often debunked.
Myth?
Why don't you try getting some national per capita data and comparing them? Because the data is out there.
Or if you're struggling to find Germany in amongst the other countries its mixed in with then try this head to head comparison.
Who's spreading myths?
You, as I have explained many times.
How many antigen tests have been done in Germany? Can you answer that question?
A tiny fraction of the amount the UK is doing quite clearly given the data!
The UK is doing about 14x the tests per capita than Germany is.
Over a third of the UK's tests are antigen PCR tests.
So even if you exclude all British non-PCR test and count all German tests of any type at all, then the UK is still doing about 5x the tests per capita that Germany is.
You are just wrong,, show me a link (not world in data which is only counting PCR tests) with the total number of tests done in Germany.
Here is a news report claiming the week before last the average number of tests (not including PCR tests) per day done in Berlin was over 100000. Berlin is less than a twentieth of Germany's population. Given the article is complaining about test centres having to close in Berlin because of reduced demand, then 2 million antigen tests a day in Germany in recent weeks is probably an underestimate. So not only not a "tiny fraction", but I think actually more than in the UK
which shows a 7 day average of about a million tests a day in recent weeks
It may be similar numbers of tests overall per capita are happening, but my ballpark figure for Germany would only include the so-called Bürgertests, and not the twice-weekly tests that have also been happening in schools and kindergartens here (which are mostly on summer holiday now, though large numbers continue to go to the holiday Betreuung and so are still tested), nor the widespread workplace testing.
So I would still guess more testing here, but with no national figures for Germany and it seems like partial figures for the UK, it's impossible to be sure. But it's sure that the UK isn't doing 12 times or 5 times as many tests.
You can find some local numbers in local news. Eg locally just over a fifth of the population had a Bürgertest last week. Scaled up that would be well over 2 million a day nationally, BEFORE you start counting testing done in schools (which were open til Friday), workplaces, hospitals etc.
Aiui, the DoH thinks that only around 10% of LFTs are currently being registered based on the number they're sending out on a weekly basis. I've heard it suggested that the UK is doing something ridiculous like 8m tests per day at the moment.
OK if the 8 million per day you've heard suggested is right I guess that is more than in Germany per capita. But as I understand the figures there about 1 million tests registered done each day average, and about 600,000 LFT, which would be about 6.5 million a day if 10% is about right (which might fit with 8 million on a weekday if less is happening at the weekends), call it around 46 million a week
There are apparently 12 million children in schools and kindergartens in Germany, and over a million staff so that would get to maybe 26 million tests a week (before the school holidays), plus my guess 15 million Bürgertests, at least a million routine LFTs of hospital and care home staff, a million PCR tests. And an unknown number of routine workplace LFTs - judging by the number of people I know who have to go into work in a few different kinds of workplaces it could be quite a lot a few million, you probably get to about the same number. Which would make the UK number higher per capita, but nowhere near the 14 times as many or 5 times as many or whatever silly number Philip_Thompson for some reason wants to believe.
Anyway, the UK and Germany have followed a bit different testing strategies, although in some ways similar, so a comparison could be interesting, but it's difficult to do make any useful comparisons if people repeatedly make silly claims like "we're doing 14 times as many tests", or "no wonder numbers are so low in Germany because they aren't doing any testing"
I've not been following the pandemic in any sort of detail. Just listening to the news and government spokespeople. While our vaccine program was purring like a Ferrari Europe's were limping along like a Lada Riva with a puncture. Tory poster's on here have been crowing about our ingenuity and delighting in our good fortune at being-dare I say it-BRITISH!
1. FIRST in Europe for total number of cases. 2. FIRST in Europe for total number of deaths. 3. FIRST in Europe for total of NEW cases. 4. FIRST in Europe for total number of NEW deaths.
Roger, this is just total nonsense. 1. France and Russia have both had more cases 2. Russia has more deaths, on a per million analysis there are a host of countries ahead of us. 3. Russia has more new cases. And we do massively more testing than anyone else. 4. Total rubbish. In the last 7 days Italy, Germany and France (as well as Russia) have all had more deaths than us.
Why do you write this stuff?
I should perhaps have replaced 'Europe' with 'EU'. Had I done so the only number which is incorrect on YESTERDAY'S figures is France which had marginally more total cases than us.
Which would also have been laughably wrong. We’re not in the EU. Perhaps you missed that evolution, as you fumbled with your Blackberry under your tartan blanket, trying to tune into the Home Service
I am surprised that Brexiteers haven't insisted we go back to calling Radio 2 "The Home Service", which they can listen to on their new fangled "wireless", particularly enjoying the sublime commentary of John Arlott. When the odd run is scored they will applaud politely and mutter "hear hear" with their pipe of baccy clenched between their teeth, whilst thinking it is all jolly good that we are back in the 1950s with ration books and good old navy blue passports.
I’ve met millions of Brexiteers of all stripes. From lunatic eco-Leavers to stereotypical chav Leavers to super-posh ducal Leavers. I’ve never met the archetype you describe here. Not once. I’m sure they exist outside your head, but they are rare
The stereotype you do constantly encounter is the middle class, BBC watching, London based, Tuscany-going Remoaner who has been slightly unhinged by Brexit. You encounter them constantly and you can spot them a mile off. However they may be so conspicuous just because they are so hysterical on Twitter
Clearly left your sense of humour by the pool today. I expected a wittier repost than that. Disappointing.
Your somewhat desperate attempt to disassociate yourself from the BNP gorilla type leaver is understandable. What you can't get away from is that Farage (the person that convinced so many of you that we were being overrun by a tidal wave of immigrants - remember him?), fits that stereotype perfectly. You have probably overlooked that I used to be a Tory activist. I have met masses of them and there are sadly even more of them in the Tory party now as entryists from UKIP. Reactionary old farts who would love the UK to go back to the 1950s of their parents' youth. The obsession with navy blue passports was only one example of their stupidity. You are simply in denial. You know I am right. Perhaps you have a tweed jacket and a pipe yourself that you only use at weekends.
Oh. You were trying to be FUNNY. Sorry
Because it wasn’t remotely funny, as you have no sense of humour, it’s quite difficult to respond correctly, in these circumstances. Sorry
In future perhaps you could start your ‘funny’ comments with some kind of clown face emoji, so I know to read your ‘funny’ remarks with a rictus grin of embarrassment on your behalf, before coughing up a tiny, forced little laugh like a lizard boaking a boll-weevil
Oh dear, touched a raw nerve. Is the latest poor man's Dan Brown effort not going so well today? Had an unpleasant alien visitation on the khazi this morning, or is it that the realisation that in fact my caricature was in reality close to the bone regarding the company you keep? What a pathetically thin skin you uber-leave obsessives have, but then I guess it goes with the angry nationalist type personality. Keep taking the tablets Sean.
"Poor man's Dan Brown" strikes me as harsh. I don't think I've ever read a more poorly-written book than the Da Vinci Code (it made Jeffrey Archer look like Dickens). Should PB's resident dildo-botherer ever turn his hands to literature I am sure he would be able to turn in a superior product.
Indeed. Although what Dan Brown could/can do - and millions of writers can't - is come up with an exciting story. So much fiction is so very dull/implausible/dull and implausible. Often this is masked by a beautiful turn of phrase. But people who can turn a good phrase - or at least turn a phrase more elegantly than Dan Brown - are ten a penny. There are a fair few on this site. Very, very few people can think up a story worth reading.
I'm not sure I agree with that. I think a compelling plot is the least of your worries if you're looking to write a decent novel. Writing it so it reads well is harder I think. Conveying character and emotion convincingly is hardest of all. I don't remember the Da Vinci Code having a particularly gripping plot either to be honest, it mostly seemed to consist of people running around. But I tend not to remember much about books, even good ones, after I've read them. They are a transitory pleasure for me. So all I really remember about the Da Vinci code was that it was shit.
The Da Vinci code got millions of people reading and learning about history, geography and art more than they would have done without reading it. Isn't that a good thing ?
The Enid Blyton defence. And, no, I highly doubt it makes any long term difference to anything other than the number of timewasting wankers in the Louvre.
“Time-wasting wankers”??
So, you go to the Louvre to expand your elevated mind in a noble pursuit of enlightenment, people who are a bit poorer than you, or less well-educated, they go to the Louvre because they are “time-wasting wankers”. Right?
That’s quite a classic of the genre. Worthy of the great A C Grayling
Unlike you to come over all man of the people.
How are those ghastly northern european burger-munching fatties doing?
I've not been following the pandemic in any sort of detail. Just listening to the news and government spokespeople. While our vaccine program was purring like a Ferrari Europe's were limping along like a Lada Riva with a puncture. Tory poster's on here have been crowing about our ingenuity and delighting in our good fortune at being-dare I say it-BRITISH!
1. FIRST in Europe for total number of cases. 2. FIRST in Europe for total number of deaths. 3. FIRST in Europe for total of NEW cases. 4. FIRST in Europe for total number of NEW deaths.
Roger, this is just total nonsense. 1. France and Russia have both had more cases 2. Russia has more deaths, on a per million analysis there are a host of countries ahead of us. 3. Russia has more new cases. And we do massively more testing than anyone else. 4. Total rubbish. In the last 7 days Italy, Germany and France (as well as Russia) have all had more deaths than us.
Why do you write this stuff?
I should perhaps have replaced 'Europe' with 'EU'. Had I done so the only number which is incorrect on YESTERDAY'S figures is France which had marginally more total cases than us.
Which would also have been laughably wrong. We’re not in the EU. Perhaps you missed that evolution, as you fumbled with your Blackberry under your tartan blanket, trying to tune into the Home Service
I think what Roger means is 'we did worse than Germany'. Because surely he can't be expecting that Bulgaria, Slovenia, Croatia, Poland, Hungary, Czechia and so forth had more deaths than us in absolute terms. No-one who has even an ounce of maths in their body would expect that.
So, fair point Roger - the UK has had more covid than Germany.
Downthread someone suggested ‘Germany’ as an example of a country that handled the pandemic (so far) “really well”
Wtf?
Germany is the 19th largest country in the world by population
Going by Worldometer (flawed but indicative) Germany is 12th in the world for total cases and also 12th for total deaths. Bad.
Their economy in 2020 shrank by 5%. Also bad. And they still have Delta to come
Germany did better than some European countries (the UK for one) but worse than others. Globally it is nowhere near the top rank and is no kind of model
South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore are models. Perhaps oz and nz (but they have new issues now)
In Europe maybe Denmark? You soon run out of exemplars
Of the G7 nations Germany and Japan did the best, Germany locked down relatively early, certainly compared to the USA and us, had an effective track and trace and has a far better vaccination rate now than say New Zealand, Australia and France.
Though globally Singapore is probably the best example, amongst the top nations in terms of vaccination rate and has had just 6 Covid deaths per million, compared to a global rate of 514
Japan did waaaaay better than Germany healthwise. 15,000 deaths compared to 90,000 and with a bigger, older population
Not so good on vaccines tho. We’ve yet to see if that bites them
Canada to be fair to Trudeau has also done relatively well, a lower death rate than the US, us and most of Europe and a vaccination rate now ahead of the US and most of Europe too and only slightly behind the UK
Canada another country where social distancing is a way of life not just for Coronavirus.
Canada's population density is less than 1% of England's.
The distancing even in cities like Edmonton is nothing like anything you'd see anywhere in England.
Yes but the majority of Canada's population lives in just 2 of its 10 provinces (and 3 territories), Ontario and Quebec.
Toronto alone has a population of 5 million which is 14% of the entire Canadian population, even London has only 12% of the UK population
That's relevant. But also relevant is that Canadians just don't get that close to one another. In my limited experience, conversation with Canadians tends to be shouted from several feet away. While Italians get slightly closer than is comfortable for a Brit.
Even if you say Canada has the same population density advantage New Zealand does and a natural social distancing, there is no denying that Trudeau has vaccinated more than Ardern.
I've not been following the pandemic in any sort of detail. Just listening to the news and government spokespeople. While our vaccine program was purring like a Ferrari Europe's were limping along like a Lada Riva with a puncture. Tory poster's on here have been crowing about our ingenuity and delighting in our good fortune at being-dare I say it-BRITISH!
1. FIRST in Europe for total number of cases. 2. FIRST in Europe for total number of deaths. 3. FIRST in Europe for total of NEW cases. 4. FIRST in Europe for total number of NEW deaths.
Roger, this is just total nonsense. 1. France and Russia have both had more cases 2. Russia has more deaths, on a per million analysis there are a host of countries ahead of us. 3. Russia has more new cases. And we do massively more testing than anyone else. 4. Total rubbish. In the last 7 days Italy, Germany and France (as well as Russia) have all had more deaths than us.
Why do you write this stuff?
I should perhaps have replaced 'Europe' with 'EU'. Had I done so the only number which is incorrect on YESTERDAY'S figures is France which had marginally more total cases than us.
Which would also have been laughably wrong. We’re not in the EU. Perhaps you missed that evolution, as you fumbled with your Blackberry under your tartan blanket, trying to tune into the Home Service
I am surprised that Brexiteers haven't insisted we go back to calling Radio 2 "The Home Service", which they can listen to on their new fangled "wireless", particularly enjoying the sublime commentary of John Arlott. When the odd run is scored they will applaud politely and mutter "hear hear" with their pipe of baccy clenched between their teeth, whilst thinking it is all jolly good that we are back in the 1950s with ration books and good old navy blue passports.
I’ve met millions of Brexiteers of all stripes. From lunatic eco-Leavers to stereotypical chav Leavers to super-posh ducal Leavers. I’ve never met the archetype you describe here. Not once. I’m sure they exist outside your head, but they are rare
The stereotype you do constantly encounter is the middle class, BBC watching, London based, Tuscany-going Remoaner who has been slightly unhinged by Brexit. You encounter them constantly and you can spot them a mile off. However they may be so conspicuous just because they are so hysterical on Twitter
Clearly left your sense of humour by the pool today. I expected a wittier repost than that. Disappointing.
Your somewhat desperate attempt to disassociate yourself from the BNP gorilla type leaver is understandable. What you can't get away from is that Farage (the person that convinced so many of you that we were being overrun by a tidal wave of immigrants - remember him?), fits that stereotype perfectly. You have probably overlooked that I used to be a Tory activist. I have met masses of them and there are sadly even more of them in the Tory party now as entryists from UKIP. Reactionary old farts who would love the UK to go back to the 1950s of their parents' youth. The obsession with navy blue passports was only one example of their stupidity. You are simply in denial. You know I am right. Perhaps you have a tweed jacket and a pipe yourself that you only use at weekends.
Oh. You were trying to be FUNNY. Sorry
Because it wasn’t remotely funny, as you have no sense of humour, it’s quite difficult to respond correctly, in these circumstances. Sorry
In future perhaps you could start your ‘funny’ comments with some kind of clown face emoji, so I know to read your ‘funny’ remarks with a rictus grin of embarrassment on your behalf, before coughing up a tiny, forced little laugh like a lizard boaking a boll-weevil
Oh dear, touched a raw nerve. Is the latest poor man's Dan Brown effort not going so well today? Had an unpleasant alien visitation on the khazi this morning, or is it that the realisation that in fact my caricature was in reality close to the bone regarding the company you keep? What a pathetically thin skin you uber-leave obsessives have, but then I guess it goes with the angry nationalist type personality. Keep taking the tablets Sean.
"Poor man's Dan Brown" strikes me as harsh. I don't think I've ever read a more poorly-written book than the Da Vinci Code (it made Jeffrey Archer look like Dickens). Should PB's resident dildo-botherer ever turn his hands to literature I am sure he would be able to turn in a superior product.
Indeed. Although what Dan Brown could/can do - and millions of writers can't - is come up with an exciting story. So much fiction is so very dull/implausible/dull and implausible. Often this is masked by a beautiful turn of phrase. But people who can turn a good phrase - or at least turn a phrase more elegantly than Dan Brown - are ten a penny. There are a fair few on this site. Very, very few people can think up a story worth reading.
I'm not sure I agree with that. I think a compelling plot is the least of your worries if you're looking to write a decent novel. Writing it so it reads well is harder I think. Conveying character and emotion convincingly is hardest of all. I don't remember the Da Vinci Code having a particularly gripping plot either to be honest, it mostly seemed to consist of people running around. But I tend not to remember much about books, even good ones, after I've read them. They are a transitory pleasure for me. So all I really remember about the Da Vinci code was that it was shit.
You're not the only literary critic with that verdict. I have happy memories of seeing this next to Rosslyn Chapel (one of the key venues in the book, I understand):
Fifteen or so years ago, I stayed at a North Yorkshire B&B. I hadn't read the Da Vinci Code, and was very sniffy about it (*). They had a late-teenage daughter who, at breakfast, had her nose deep in the book. As we chatted, she said it was the first book she had ever read, she was gripped, and she wanted to read more books.
Yes, it is crummy. Yes, it is poorly written. But if it acts as a gateway to literature for people put off from reading at school, then it's brilliant.
(*) In fact, the first time I ever read a Dan Brown book was when I picked up a copy at a remote bothy; I read it, and left it at another bothy a few days later.
PS What really annoyed me about Mr Brown was making Rosslyn Chapel into a mass tourist flypaper - when I had loved taking visiting friends to it when it was nice and quiet beside the river valley.
but in fairness that got it a lot of money for some serious refurb of late.
Despite what the govt (and indeed the ‘system’) is saying, it feels hard to be confident the nhs can deal with what is already being thrown at it, never mind what’s likely to come over the next few weeks. Alarm bells are going off all over the place. https://twitter.com/JenWilliamsMEN/status/1412766076073611267
I've not been following the pandemic in any sort of detail. Just listening to the news and government spokespeople. While our vaccine program was purring like a Ferrari Europe's were limping along like a Lada Riva with a puncture. Tory poster's on here have been crowing about our ingenuity and delighting in our good fortune at being-dare I say it-BRITISH!
1. FIRST in Europe for total number of cases. 2. FIRST in Europe for total number of deaths. 3. FIRST in Europe for total of NEW cases. 4. FIRST in Europe for total number of NEW deaths.
Roger, this is just total nonsense. 1. France and Russia have both had more cases 2. Russia has more deaths, on a per million analysis there are a host of countries ahead of us. 3. Russia has more new cases. And we do massively more testing than anyone else. 4. Total rubbish. In the last 7 days Italy, Germany and France (as well as Russia) have all had more deaths than us.
Why do you write this stuff?
I should perhaps have replaced 'Europe' with 'EU'. Had I done so the only number which is incorrect on YESTERDAY'S figures is France which had marginally more total cases than us.
Which would also have been laughably wrong. We’re not in the EU. Perhaps you missed that evolution, as you fumbled with your Blackberry under your tartan blanket, trying to tune into the Home Service
I am surprised that Brexiteers haven't insisted we go back to calling Radio 2 "The Home Service", which they can listen to on their new fangled "wireless", particularly enjoying the sublime commentary of John Arlott. When the odd run is scored they will applaud politely and mutter "hear hear" with their pipe of baccy clenched between their teeth, whilst thinking it is all jolly good that we are back in the 1950s with ration books and good old navy blue passports.
I’ve met millions of Brexiteers of all stripes. From lunatic eco-Leavers to stereotypical chav Leavers to super-posh ducal Leavers. I’ve never met the archetype you describe here. Not once. I’m sure they exist outside your head, but they are rare
The stereotype you do constantly encounter is the middle class, BBC watching, London based, Tuscany-going Remoaner who has been slightly unhinged by Brexit. You encounter them constantly and you can spot them a mile off. However they may be so conspicuous just because they are so hysterical on Twitter
Clearly left your sense of humour by the pool today. I expected a wittier repost than that. Disappointing.
Your somewhat desperate attempt to disassociate yourself from the BNP gorilla type leaver is understandable. What you can't get away from is that Farage (the person that convinced so many of you that we were being overrun by a tidal wave of immigrants - remember him?), fits that stereotype perfectly. You have probably overlooked that I used to be a Tory activist. I have met masses of them and there are sadly even more of them in the Tory party now as entryists from UKIP. Reactionary old farts who would love the UK to go back to the 1950s of their parents' youth. The obsession with navy blue passports was only one example of their stupidity. You are simply in denial. You know I am right. Perhaps you have a tweed jacket and a pipe yourself that you only use at weekends.
Oh. You were trying to be FUNNY. Sorry
Because it wasn’t remotely funny, as you have no sense of humour, it’s quite difficult to respond correctly, in these circumstances. Sorry
In future perhaps you could start your ‘funny’ comments with some kind of clown face emoji, so I know to read your ‘funny’ remarks with a rictus grin of embarrassment on your behalf, before coughing up a tiny, forced little laugh like a lizard boaking a boll-weevil
Oh dear, touched a raw nerve. Is the latest poor man's Dan Brown effort not going so well today? Had an unpleasant alien visitation on the khazi this morning, or is it that the realisation that in fact my caricature was in reality close to the bone regarding the company you keep? What a pathetically thin skin you uber-leave obsessives have, but then I guess it goes with the angry nationalist type personality. Keep taking the tablets Sean.
"Poor man's Dan Brown" strikes me as harsh. I don't think I've ever read a more poorly-written book than the Da Vinci Code (it made Jeffrey Archer look like Dickens). Should PB's resident dildo-botherer ever turn his hands to literature I am sure he would be able to turn in a superior product.
Indeed. Although what Dan Brown could/can do - and millions of writers can't - is come up with an exciting story. So much fiction is so very dull/implausible/dull and implausible. Often this is masked by a beautiful turn of phrase. But people who can turn a good phrase - or at least turn a phrase more elegantly than Dan Brown - are ten a penny. There are a fair few on this site. Very, very few people can think up a story worth reading.
I'm not sure I agree with that. I think a compelling plot is the least of your worries if you're looking to write a decent novel. Writing it so it reads well is harder I think. Conveying character and emotion convincingly is hardest of all. I don't remember the Da Vinci Code having a particularly gripping plot either to be honest, it mostly seemed to consist of people running around. But I tend not to remember much about books, even good ones, after I've read them. They are a transitory pleasure for me. So all I really remember about the Da Vinci code was that it was shit.
You're not the only literary critic with that verdict. I have happy memories of seeing this next to Rosslyn Chapel (one of the key venues in the book, I understand):
Fifteen or so years ago, I stayed at a North Yorkshire B&B. I hadn't read the Da Vinci Code, and was very sniffy about it (*). They had a late-teenage daughter who, at breakfast, had her nose deep in the book. As we chatted, she said it was the first book she had ever read, she was gripped, and she wanted to read more books.
Yes, it is crummy. Yes, it is poorly written. But if it acts as a gateway to literature for people put off from reading at school, then it's brilliant.
(*) In fact, the first time I ever read a Dan Brown book was when I picked up a copy at a remote bothy; I read it, and left it at another bothy a few days later.
Harry Potter probably put a dent in that particular teenage type.
I've not been following the pandemic in any sort of detail. Just listening to the news and government spokespeople. While our vaccine program was purring like a Ferrari Europe's were limping along like a Lada Riva with a puncture. Tory poster's on here have been crowing about our ingenuity and delighting in our good fortune at being-dare I say it-BRITISH!
1. FIRST in Europe for total number of cases. 2. FIRST in Europe for total number of deaths. 3. FIRST in Europe for total of NEW cases. 4. FIRST in Europe for total number of NEW deaths.
Roger, this is just total nonsense. 1. France and Russia have both had more cases 2. Russia has more deaths, on a per million analysis there are a host of countries ahead of us. 3. Russia has more new cases. And we do massively more testing than anyone else. 4. Total rubbish. In the last 7 days Italy, Germany and France (as well as Russia) have all had more deaths than us.
Why do you write this stuff?
I should perhaps have replaced 'Europe' with 'EU'. Had I done so the only number which is incorrect on YESTERDAY'S figures is France which had marginally more total cases than us.
Which would also have been laughably wrong. We’re not in the EU. Perhaps you missed that evolution, as you fumbled with your Blackberry under your tartan blanket, trying to tune into the Home Service
I am surprised that Brexiteers haven't insisted we go back to calling Radio 2 "The Home Service", which they can listen to on their new fangled "wireless", particularly enjoying the sublime commentary of John Arlott. When the odd run is scored they will applaud politely and mutter "hear hear" with their pipe of baccy clenched between their teeth, whilst thinking it is all jolly good that we are back in the 1950s with ration books and good old navy blue passports.
I’ve met millions of Brexiteers of all stripes. From lunatic eco-Leavers to stereotypical chav Leavers to super-posh ducal Leavers. I’ve never met the archetype you describe here. Not once. I’m sure they exist outside your head, but they are rare
The stereotype you do constantly encounter is the middle class, BBC watching, London based, Tuscany-going Remoaner who has been slightly unhinged by Brexit. You encounter them constantly and you can spot them a mile off. However they may be so conspicuous just because they are so hysterical on Twitter
Clearly left your sense of humour by the pool today. I expected a wittier repost than that. Disappointing.
Your somewhat desperate attempt to disassociate yourself from the BNP gorilla type leaver is understandable. What you can't get away from is that Farage (the person that convinced so many of you that we were being overrun by a tidal wave of immigrants - remember him?), fits that stereotype perfectly. You have probably overlooked that I used to be a Tory activist. I have met masses of them and there are sadly even more of them in the Tory party now as entryists from UKIP. Reactionary old farts who would love the UK to go back to the 1950s of their parents' youth. The obsession with navy blue passports was only one example of their stupidity. You are simply in denial. You know I am right. Perhaps you have a tweed jacket and a pipe yourself that you only use at weekends.
Oh. You were trying to be FUNNY. Sorry
Because it wasn’t remotely funny, as you have no sense of humour, it’s quite difficult to respond correctly, in these circumstances. Sorry
In future perhaps you could start your ‘funny’ comments with some kind of clown face emoji, so I know to read your ‘funny’ remarks with a rictus grin of embarrassment on your behalf, before coughing up a tiny, forced little laugh like a lizard boaking a boll-weevil
Oh dear, touched a raw nerve. Is the latest poor man's Dan Brown effort not going so well today? Had an unpleasant alien visitation on the khazi this morning, or is it that the realisation that in fact my caricature was in reality close to the bone regarding the company you keep? What a pathetically thin skin you uber-leave obsessives have, but then I guess it goes with the angry nationalist type personality. Keep taking the tablets Sean.
"Poor man's Dan Brown" strikes me as harsh. I don't think I've ever read a more poorly-written book than the Da Vinci Code (it made Jeffrey Archer look like Dickens). Should PB's resident dildo-botherer ever turn his hands to literature I am sure he would be able to turn in a superior product.
Indeed. Although what Dan Brown could/can do - and millions of writers can't - is come up with an exciting story. So much fiction is so very dull/implausible/dull and implausible. Often this is masked by a beautiful turn of phrase. But people who can turn a good phrase - or at least turn a phrase more elegantly than Dan Brown - are ten a penny. There are a fair few on this site. Very, very few people can think up a story worth reading.
I'm not sure I agree
The Da Vinci code got millions of people reading and learning about history, geography and art more than they would have done without reading it. Isn't that a good thing ?
The Enid Blyton defence. And, no, I highly doubt it makes any long term difference to anything other than the number of timewasting wankers in the Louvre.
I've not been following the pandemic in any sort of detail. Just listening to the news and government spokespeople. While our vaccine program was purring like a Ferrari Europe's were limping along like a Lada Riva with a puncture. Tory poster's on here have been crowing about our ingenuity and delighting in our good fortune at being-dare I say it-BRITISH!
1. FIRST in Europe for total number of cases. 2. FIRST in Europe for total number of deaths. 3. FIRST in Europe for total of NEW cases. 4. FIRST in Europe for total number of NEW deaths.
Roger, this is just total nonsense. 1. France and Russia have both had more cases 2. Russia has more deaths, on a per million analysis there are a host of countries ahead of us. 3. Russia has more new cases. And we do massively more testing than anyone else. 4. Total rubbish. In the last 7 days Italy, Germany and France (as well as Russia) have all had more deaths than us.
Why do you write this stuff?
I should perhaps have replaced 'Europe' with 'EU'. Had I done so the only number which is incorrect on YESTERDAY'S figures is France which had marginally more total cases than us.
Which would also have been laughably wrong. We’re not in the EU. Perhaps you missed that evolution, as you fumbled with your Blackberry under your tartan blanket, trying to tune into the Home Service
I am surprised that Brexiteers haven't insisted we go back to calling Radio 2 "The Home Service", which they can listen to on their new fangled "wireless", particularly enjoying the sublime commentary of John Arlott. When the odd run is scored they will applaud politely and mutter "hear hear" with their pipe of baccy clenched between their teeth, whilst thinking it is all jolly good that we are back in the 1950s with ration books and good old navy blue passports.
I’ve met millions of Brexiteers of all stripes. From lunatic eco-Leavers to stereotypical chav Leavers to super-posh ducal Leavers. I’ve never met the archetype you describe here. Not once. I’m sure they exist outside your head, but they are rare
The stereotype you do constantly encounter is the middle class, BBC watching, London based, Tuscany-going Remoaner who has been slightly unhinged by Brexit. You encounter them constantly and you can spot them a mile off. However they may be so conspicuous just because they are so hysterical on Twitter
Clearly left your sense of humour by the pool today. I expected a wittier repost than that. Disappointing.
Your somewhat desperate attempt to disassociate yourself from the BNP gorilla type leaver is understandable. What you can't get away from is that Farage (the person that convinced so many of you that we were being overrun by a tidal wave of immigrants - remember him?), fits that stereotype perfectly. You have probably overlooked that I used to be a Tory activist. I have met masses of them and there are sadly even more of them in the Tory party now as entryists from UKIP. Reactionary old farts who would love the UK to go back to the 1950s of their parents' youth. The obsession with navy blue passports was only one example of their stupidity. You are simply in denial. You know I am right. Perhaps you have a tweed jacket and a pipe yourself that you only use at weekends.
Oh. You were trying to be FUNNY. Sorry
Because it wasn’t remotely funny, as you have no sense of humour, it’s quite difficult to respond correctly, in these circumstances. Sorry
In future perhaps you could start your ‘funny’ comments with some kind of clown face emoji, so I know to read your ‘funny’ remarks with a rictus grin of embarrassment on your behalf, before coughing up a tiny, forced little laugh like a lizard boaking a boll-weevil
Oh dear, touched a raw nerve. Is the latest poor man's Dan Brown effort not going so well today? Had an unpleasant alien visitation on the khazi this morning, or is it that the realisation that in fact my caricature was in reality close to the bone regarding the company you keep? What a pathetically thin skin you uber-leave obsessives have, but then I guess it goes with the angry nationalist type personality. Keep taking the tablets Sean.
"Poor man's Dan Brown" strikes me as harsh. I don't think I've ever read a more poorly-written book than the Da Vinci Code (it made Jeffrey Archer look like Dickens). Should PB's resident dildo-botherer ever turn his hands to literature I am sure he would be able to turn in a superior product.
Indeed. Although what Dan Brown could/can do - and millions of writers can't - is come up with an exciting story. So much fiction is so very dull/implausible/dull and implausible. Often this is masked by a beautiful turn of phrase. But people who can turn a good phrase - or at least turn a phrase more elegantly than Dan Brown - are ten a penny. There are a fair few on this site. Very, very few people can think up a story worth reading.
I'm not sure I agree with that. I think a compelling plot is the least of your worries if you're looking to write a decent novel. Writing it so it reads well is harder I think. Conveying character and emotion convincingly is hardest of all. I don't remember the Da Vinci Code having a particularly gripping plot either to be honest, it mostly seemed to consist of people running around. But I tend not to remember much about books, even good ones, after I've read them. They are a transitory pleasure for me. So all I really remember about the Da Vinci code was that it was shit.
The Da Vinci code got millions of people reading and learning about history, geography and art more than they would have done without reading it. Isn't that a good thing ?
The Enid Blyton defence. And, no, I highly doubt it makes any long term difference to anything other than the number of timewasting wankers in the Louvre.
“Time-wasting wankers”??
So, you go to the Louvre to expand your elevated mind in a noble pursuit of enlightenment, people who are a bit poorer than you, or less well-educated, they go to the Louvre because they are “time-wasting wankers”. Right?
That’s quite a classic of the genre. Worthy of the great A C Grayling
No, you can tell them because they go into the Louvre, queue up to take selfies with one small, dingy and overrated oil painting, and fuck off again. Anyone who looks at anything else while they are there is exempt from the criticism.
Large swathes of our adult population is functionally illiterate and/or innumerate.
1 in 5 adults struggle to read and write, missing out on the wonders of literature. Shakespeare, Dickens, Austen, Dahl, Eliot, Bronte, Knox go unknown to them.
Anything that can get them reading is brilliant.
(BTW, I still think the levels of innumeracy and illiteracy in this country are a national shame, and on that is not talked about enough.)
Despite what the govt (and indeed the ‘system’) is saying, it feels hard to be confident the nhs can deal with what is already being thrown at it, never mind what’s likely to come over the next few weeks. Alarm bells are going off all over the place. https://twitter.com/JenWilliamsMEN/status/1412766076073611267
I've not been following the pandemic in any sort of detail. Just listening to the news and government spokespeople. While our vaccine program was purring like a Ferrari Europe's were limping along like a Lada Riva with a puncture. Tory poster's on here have been crowing about our ingenuity and delighting in our good fortune at being-dare I say it-BRITISH!
1. FIRST in Europe for total number of cases. 2. FIRST in Europe for total number of deaths. 3. FIRST in Europe for total of NEW cases. 4. FIRST in Europe for total number of NEW deaths.
Roger, this is just total nonsense. 1. France and Russia have both had more cases 2. Russia has more deaths, on a per million analysis there are a host of countries ahead of us. 3. Russia has more new cases. And we do massively more testing than anyone else. 4. Total rubbish. In the last 7 days Italy, Germany and France (as well as Russia) have all had more deaths than us.
Why do you write this stuff?
I should perhaps have replaced 'Europe' with 'EU'. Had I done so the only number which is incorrect on YESTERDAY'S figures is France which had marginally more total cases than us.
Which would also have been laughably wrong. We’re not in the EU. Perhaps you missed that evolution, as you fumbled with your Blackberry under your tartan blanket, trying to tune into the Home Service
I think what Roger means is 'we did worse than Germany'. Because surely he can't be expecting that Bulgaria, Slovenia, Croatia, Poland, Hungary, Czechia and so forth had more deaths than us in absolute terms. No-one who has even an ounce of maths in their body would expect that.
So, fair point Roger - the UK has had more covid than Germany.
Downthread someone suggested ‘Germany’ as an example of a country that handled the pandemic (so far) “really well”
Wtf?
Germany is the 19th largest country in the world by population
Going by Worldometer (flawed but indicative) Germany is 12th in the world for total cases and also 12th for total deaths. Bad.
Their economy in 2020 shrank by 5%. Also bad. And they still have Delta to come
Germany did better than some European countries (the UK for one) but worse than others. Globally it is nowhere near the top rank and is no kind of model
South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore are models. Perhaps oz and nz (but they have new issues now)
In Europe maybe Denmark? You soon run out of exemplars
Of the G7 nations Germany and Japan did the best, Germany locked down relatively early, certainly compared to the USA and us, had an effective track and trace and has a far better vaccination rate now than say New Zealand, Australia and France.
Though globally Singapore is probably the best example, amongst the top nations in terms of vaccination rate and has had just 6 Covid deaths per million, compared to a global rate of 514
Japan did waaaaay better than Germany healthwise. 15,000 deaths compared to 90,000 and with a bigger, older population
Not so good on vaccines tho. We’ve yet to see if that bites them
Think they're getting their vaccine act together.
Japan’s superior performance on deaths might just be a function of their very low obesity rates. It is likely that is a factor around the world - see the horrors in fairly-obese Latin America
Incidentally, I’m sitting in a beach bar in Majorca watching Europe waddle past. All nations. It is clear lots of people have put on lots of weight. Brits among the worst, and we were already fat
God knows what the USA is like
It's hard to imagine the French and Italians being fat. Both are very obviously slimmer than the average here. Has your trip to Majorca revealed some Gallic guts and Tuscan tummies?
The odds on Ivana Bacik (Labour) in tomorrow's Dublin Bay South by-election (1.33/1.4 Betfair Sports/PP or Ladbrokes) look too short to me. The value IMO is James Geoghegan (Fine Gael) at around 3.0.
Always hard to assess Irish elections with their five or six rounds of counting of transfers, but the market seems to have over-reacted to the one poll which has been conducted, and even that had Geoghegan in the lead.
I've not been following the pandemic in any sort of detail. Just listening to the news and government spokespeople. While our vaccine program was purring like a Ferrari Europe's were limping along like a Lada Riva with a puncture. Tory poster's on here have been crowing about our ingenuity and delighting in our good fortune at being-dare I say it-BRITISH!
1. FIRST in Europe for total number of cases. 2. FIRST in Europe for total number of deaths. 3. FIRST in Europe for total of NEW cases. 4. FIRST in Europe for total number of NEW deaths.
Roger, this is just total nonsense. 1. France and Russia have both had more cases 2. Russia has more deaths, on a per million analysis there are a host of countries ahead of us. 3. Russia has more new cases. And we do massively more testing than anyone else. 4. Total rubbish. In the last 7 days Italy, Germany and France (as well as Russia) have all had more deaths than us.
Why do you write this stuff?
I should perhaps have replaced 'Europe' with 'EU'. Had I done so the only number which is incorrect on YESTERDAY'S figures is France which had marginally more total cases than us.
Which would also have been laughably wrong. We’re not in the EU. Perhaps you missed that evolution, as you fumbled with your Blackberry under your tartan blanket, trying to tune into the Home Service
I am surprised that Brexiteers haven't insisted we go back to calling Radio 2 "The Home Service", which they can listen to on their new fangled "wireless", particularly enjoying the sublime commentary of John Arlott. When the odd run is scored they will applaud politely and mutter "hear hear" with their pipe of baccy clenched between their teeth, whilst thinking it is all jolly good that we are back in the 1950s with ration books and good old navy blue passports.
I’ve met millions of Brexiteers of all stripes. From lunatic eco-Leavers to stereotypical chav Leavers to super-posh ducal Leavers. I’ve never met the archetype you describe here. Not once. I’m sure they exist outside your head, but they are rare
The stereotype you do constantly encounter is the middle class, BBC watching, London based, Tuscany-going Remoaner who has been slightly unhinged by Brexit. You encounter them constantly and you can spot them a mile off. However they may be so conspicuous just because they are so hysterical on Twitter
Clearly left your sense of humour by the pool today. I expected a wittier repost than that. Disappointing.
Your somewhat desperate attempt to disassociate yourself from the BNP gorilla type leaver is understandable. What you can't get away from is that Farage (the person that convinced so many of you that we were being overrun by a tidal wave of immigrants - remember him?), fits that stereotype perfectly. You have probably overlooked that I used to be a Tory activist. I have met masses of them and there are sadly even more of them in the Tory party now as entryists from UKIP. Reactionary old farts who would love the UK to go back to the 1950s of their parents' youth. The obsession with navy blue passports was only one example of their stupidity. You are simply in denial. You know I am right. Perhaps you have a tweed jacket and a pipe yourself that you only use at weekends.
Oh. You were trying to be FUNNY. Sorry
Because it wasn’t remotely funny, as you have no sense of humour, it’s quite difficult to respond correctly, in these circumstances. Sorry
In future perhaps you could start your ‘funny’ comments with some kind of clown face emoji, so I know to read your ‘funny’ remarks with a rictus grin of embarrassment on your behalf, before coughing up a tiny, forced little laugh like a lizard boaking a boll-weevil
Oh dear, touched a raw nerve. Is the latest poor man's Dan Brown effort not going so well today? Had an unpleasant alien visitation on the khazi this morning, or is it that the realisation that in fact my caricature was in reality close to the bone regarding the company you keep? What a pathetically thin skin you uber-leave obsessives have, but then I guess it goes with the angry nationalist type personality. Keep taking the tablets Sean.
"Poor man's Dan Brown" strikes me as harsh. I don't think I've ever read a more poorly-written book than the Da Vinci Code (it made Jeffrey Archer look like Dickens). Should PB's resident dildo-botherer ever turn his hands to literature I am sure he would be able to turn in a superior product.
Indeed. Although what Dan Brown could/can do - and millions of writers can't - is come up with an exciting story. So much fiction is so very dull/implausible/dull and implausible. Often this is masked by a beautiful turn of phrase. But people who can turn a good phrase - or at least turn a phrase more elegantly than Dan Brown - are ten a penny. There are a fair few on this site. Very, very few people can think up a story worth reading.
I'm not sure I agree with that. I think a compelling plot is the least of your worries if you're looking to write a decent novel. Writing it so it reads well is harder I think. Conveying character and emotion convincingly is hardest of all. I don't remember the Da Vinci Code having a particularly gripping plot either to be honest, it mostly seemed to consist of people running around. But I tend not to remember much about books, even good ones, after I've read them. They are a transitory pleasure for me. So all I really remember about the Da Vinci code was that it was shit.
The Da Vinci code got millions of people reading and learning about history, geography and art more than they would have done without reading it. Isn't that a good thing ?
The Enid Blyton defence. And, no, I highly doubt it makes any long term difference to anything other than the number of timewasting wankers in the Louvre.
“Time-wasting wankers”??
So, you go to the Louvre to expand your elevated mind in a noble pursuit of enlightenment, people who are a bit poorer than you, or less well-educated, they go to the Louvre because they are “time-wasting wankers”. Right?
That’s quite a classic of the genre. Worthy of the great A C Grayling
Unlike you to come over all man of the people.
How are those ghastly northern european burger-munching fatties doing?
I’ve just checked A C Grayling’s Twitter-feed for the first time in many months
Jesus. He’s as bad as ever. He tweets something histrionic and furious every hour or two, 24/7 (does he sleep?!) - all the tweets are bitterly anti-Boris and he tries to shoe-horn Brexit into as many as possible. When he’s not doing his own manic tweets he retweets all the usuals, james O’Brien, david Schneider, Mike Galsworthy, the FBPE weirdos.
What’s the point? He’s not persuading anyone any more. He is literally ranting at clouds.
I met him before Brexit and he was wry, cultured and witty, nothing like this. It is rather sad
I've not been following the pandemic in any sort of detail. Just listening to the news and government spokespeople. While our vaccine program was purring like a Ferrari Europe's were limping along like a Lada Riva with a puncture. Tory poster's on here have been crowing about our ingenuity and delighting in our good fortune at being-dare I say it-BRITISH!
1. FIRST in Europe for total number of cases. 2. FIRST in Europe for total number of deaths. 3. FIRST in Europe for total of NEW cases. 4. FIRST in Europe for total number of NEW deaths.
Roger, this is just total nonsense. 1. France and Russia have both had more cases 2. Russia has more deaths, on a per million analysis there are a host of countries ahead of us. 3. Russia has more new cases. And we do massively more testing than anyone else. 4. Total rubbish. In the last 7 days Italy, Germany and France (as well as Russia) have all had more deaths than us.
Why do you write this stuff?
I should perhaps have replaced 'Europe' with 'EU'. Had I done so the only number which is incorrect on YESTERDAY'S figures is France which had marginally more total cases than us.
Which would also have been laughably wrong. We’re not in the EU. Perhaps you missed that evolution, as you fumbled with your Blackberry under your tartan blanket, trying to tune into the Home Service
I am surprised that Brexiteers haven't insisted we go back to calling Radio 2 "The Home Service", which they can listen to on their new fangled "wireless", particularly enjoying the sublime commentary of John Arlott. When the odd run is scored they will applaud politely and mutter "hear hear" with their pipe of baccy clenched between their teeth, whilst thinking it is all jolly good that we are back in the 1950s with ration books and good old navy blue passports.
I’ve met millions of Brexiteers of all stripes. From lunatic eco-Leavers to stereotypical chav Leavers to super-posh ducal Leavers. I’ve never met the archetype you describe here. Not once. I’m sure they exist outside your head, but they are rare
The stereotype you do constantly encounter is the middle class, BBC watching, London based, Tuscany-going Remoaner who has been slightly unhinged by Brexit. You encounter them constantly and you can spot them a mile off. However they may be so conspicuous just because they are so hysterical on Twitter
Clearly left your sense of humour by the pool today. I expected a wittier repost than that. Disappointing.
Your somewhat desperate attempt to disassociate yourself from the BNP gorilla type leaver is understandable. What you can't get away from is that Farage (the person that convinced so many of you that we were being overrun by a tidal wave of immigrants - remember him?), fits that stereotype perfectly. You have probably overlooked that I used to be a Tory activist. I have met masses of them and there are sadly even more of them in the Tory party now as entryists from UKIP. Reactionary old farts who would love the UK to go back to the 1950s of their parents' youth. The obsession with navy blue passports was only one example of their stupidity. You are simply in denial. You know I am right. Perhaps you have a tweed jacket and a pipe yourself that you only use at weekends.
Oh. You were trying to be FUNNY. Sorry
Because it wasn’t remotely funny, as you have no sense of humour, it’s quite difficult to respond correctly, in these circumstances. Sorry
In future perhaps you could start your ‘funny’ comments with some kind of clown face emoji, so I know to read your ‘funny’ remarks with a rictus grin of embarrassment on your behalf, before coughing up a tiny, forced little laugh like a lizard boaking a boll-weevil
Oh dear, touched a raw nerve. Is the latest poor man's Dan Brown effort not going so well today? Had an unpleasant alien visitation on the khazi this morning, or is it that the realisation that in fact my caricature was in reality close to the bone regarding the company you keep? What a pathetically thin skin you uber-leave obsessives have, but then I guess it goes with the angry nationalist type personality. Keep taking the tablets Sean.
"Poor man's Dan Brown" strikes me as harsh. I don't think I've ever read a more poorly-written book than the Da Vinci Code (it made Jeffrey Archer look like Dickens). Should PB's resident dildo-botherer ever turn his hands to literature I am sure he would be able to turn in a superior product.
Indeed. Although what Dan Brown could/can do - and millions of writers can't - is come up with an exciting story. So much fiction is so very dull/implausible/dull and implausible. Often this is masked by a beautiful turn of phrase. But people who can turn a good phrase - or at least turn a phrase more elegantly than Dan Brown - are ten a penny. There are a fair few on this site. Very, very few people can think up a story worth reading.
I'm not sure I agree with that. I think a compelling plot is the least of your worries if you're looking to write a decent novel. Writing it so it reads well is harder I think. Conveying character and emotion convincingly is hardest of all. I don't remember the Da Vinci Code having a particularly gripping plot either to be honest, it mostly seemed to consist of people running around. But I tend not to remember much about books, even good ones, after I've read them. They are a transitory pleasure for me. So all I really remember about the Da Vinci code was that it was shit.
You're not the only literary critic with that verdict. I have happy memories of seeing this next to Rosslyn Chapel (one of the key venues in the book, I understand):
Fifteen or so years ago, I stayed at a North Yorkshire B&B. I hadn't read the Da Vinci Code, and was very sniffy about it (*). They had a late-teenage daughter who, at breakfast, had her nose deep in the book. As we chatted, she said it was the first book she had ever read, she was gripped, and she wanted to read more books.
Yes, it is crummy. Yes, it is poorly written. But if it acts as a gateway to literature for people put off from reading at school, then it's brilliant.
(*) In fact, the first time I ever read a Dan Brown book was when I picked up a copy at a remote bothy; I read it, and left it at another bothy a few days later.
I've read the Da Vinci Code (OK, yes, it is not great) but couldn't get through much in the way of Thomas Hardy, despite encouragement from the spouse. Does that make me a bad person?
I'm intrigued as to which bothy now. I don't have it as a book for Bob Scott's or the Tarf Hotel. Definitely Sourlies in the rain or perhaps even Kervaig.
I've not been following the pandemic in any sort of detail. Just listening to the news and government spokespeople. While our vaccine program was purring like a Ferrari Europe's were limping along like a Lada Riva with a puncture. Tory poster's on here have been crowing about our ingenuity and delighting in our good fortune at being-dare I say it-BRITISH!
1. FIRST in Europe for total number of cases. 2. FIRST in Europe for total number of deaths. 3. FIRST in Europe for total of NEW cases. 4. FIRST in Europe for total number of NEW deaths.
Roger, this is just total nonsense. 1. France and Russia have both had more cases 2. Russia has more deaths, on a per million analysis there are a host of countries ahead of us. 3. Russia has more new cases. And we do massively more testing than anyone else. 4. Total rubbish. In the last 7 days Italy, Germany and France (as well as Russia) have all had more deaths than us.
Why do you write this stuff?
I should perhaps have replaced 'Europe' with 'EU'. Had I done so the only number which is incorrect on YESTERDAY'S figures is France which had marginally more total cases than us.
Which would also have been laughably wrong. We’re not in the EU. Perhaps you missed that evolution, as you fumbled with your Blackberry under your tartan blanket, trying to tune into the Home Service
I am surprised that Brexiteers haven't insisted we go back to calling Radio 2 "The Home Service", which they can listen to on their new fangled "wireless", particularly enjoying the sublime commentary of John Arlott. When the odd run is scored they will applaud politely and mutter "hear hear" with their pipe of baccy clenched between their teeth, whilst thinking it is all jolly good that we are back in the 1950s with ration books and good old navy blue passports.
I’ve met millions of Brexiteers of all stripes. From lunatic eco-Leavers to stereotypical chav Leavers to super-posh ducal Leavers. I’ve never met the archetype you describe here. Not once. I’m sure they exist outside your head, but they are rare
The stereotype you do constantly encounter is the middle class, BBC watching, London based, Tuscany-going Remoaner who has been slightly unhinged by Brexit. You encounter them constantly and you can spot them a mile off. However they may be so conspicuous just because they are so hysterical on Twitter
Clearly left your sense of humour by the pool today. I expected a wittier repost than that. Disappointing.
Your somewhat desperate attempt to disassociate yourself from the BNP gorilla type leaver is understandable. What you can't get away from is that Farage (the person that convinced so many of you that we were being overrun by a tidal wave of immigrants - remember him?), fits that stereotype perfectly. You have probably overlooked that I used to be a Tory activist. I have met masses of them and there are sadly even more of them in the Tory party now as entryists from UKIP. Reactionary old farts who would love the UK to go back to the 1950s of their parents' youth. The obsession with navy blue passports was only one example of their stupidity. You are simply in denial. You know I am right. Perhaps you have a tweed jacket and a pipe yourself that you only use at weekends.
Oh. You were trying to be FUNNY. Sorry
Because it wasn’t remotely funny, as you have no sense of humour, it’s quite difficult to respond correctly, in these circumstances. Sorry
In future perhaps you could start your ‘funny’ comments with some kind of clown face emoji, so I know to read your ‘funny’ remarks with a rictus grin of embarrassment on your behalf, before coughing up a tiny, forced little laugh like a lizard boaking a boll-weevil
Oh dear, touched a raw nerve. Is the latest poor man's Dan Brown effort not going so well today? Had an unpleasant alien visitation on the khazi this morning, or is it that the realisation that in fact my caricature was in reality close to the bone regarding the company you keep? What a pathetically thin skin you uber-leave obsessives have, but then I guess it goes with the angry nationalist type personality. Keep taking the tablets Sean.
"Poor man's Dan Brown" strikes me as harsh. I don't think I've ever read a more poorly-written book than the Da Vinci Code (it made Jeffrey Archer look like Dickens). Should PB's resident dildo-botherer ever turn his hands to literature I am sure he would be able to turn in a superior product.
Indeed. Although what Dan Brown could/can do - and millions of writers can't - is come up with an exciting story. So much fiction is so very dull/implausible/dull and implausible. Often this is masked by a beautiful turn of phrase. But people who can turn a good phrase - or at least turn a phrase more elegantly than Dan Brown - are ten a penny. There are a fair few on this site. Very, very few people can think up a story worth reading.
I'm not sure I agree with that. I think a compelling plot is the least of your worries if you're looking to write a decent novel. Writing it so it reads well is harder I think. Conveying character and emotion convincingly is hardest of all. I don't remember the Da Vinci Code having a particularly gripping plot either to be honest, it mostly seemed to consist of people running around. But I tend not to remember much about books, even good ones, after I've read them. They are a transitory pleasure for me. So all I really remember about the Da Vinci code was that it was shit.
You're not the only literary critic with that verdict. I have happy memories of seeing this next to Rosslyn Chapel (one of the key venues in the book, I understand):
Fifteen or so years ago, I stayed at a North Yorkshire B&B. I hadn't read the Da Vinci Code, and was very sniffy about it (*). They had a late-teenage daughter who, at breakfast, had her nose deep in the book. As we chatted, she said it was the first book she had ever read, she was gripped, and she wanted to read more books.
Yes, it is crummy. Yes, it is poorly written. But if it acts as a gateway to literature for people put off from reading at school, then it's brilliant.
(*) In fact, the first time I ever read a Dan Brown book was when I picked up a copy at a remote bothy; I read it, and left it at another bothy a few days later.
In fairness that is also true.
I can't bear Harry Potter - there is something that creeps me out utterly about it (perhaps more to do with me tbf). I bought the first book by mistake, so to speak (trying out a new local writer back in 1995 or so), and dumped it on a friend. Who was absolutely delighted with me for giving her little girl so much enjoyment. More generally I've been told by other friends it has helped encourage childrten to read.
It's much better than Blyton or Brown. I read it to my sons as it came out, but disjointedly (because other people were reading it to them) so as with the film Dr Zhivago I've probably seen the whole thing, but never in sequence.
I am astonished at its success, I thought the market for drivel about fantasy boarding school life was dead as a dodo by the time orwell wrote about it.
I've not been following the pandemic in any sort of detail. Just listening to the news and government spokespeople. While our vaccine program was purring like a Ferrari Europe's were limping along like a Lada Riva with a puncture. Tory poster's on here have been crowing about our ingenuity and delighting in our good fortune at being-dare I say it-BRITISH!
1. FIRST in Europe for total number of cases. 2. FIRST in Europe for total number of deaths. 3. FIRST in Europe for total of NEW cases. 4. FIRST in Europe for total number of NEW deaths.
Roger, this is just total nonsense. 1. France and Russia have both had more cases 2. Russia has more deaths, on a per million analysis there are a host of countries ahead of us. 3. Russia has more new cases. And we do massively more testing than anyone else. 4. Total rubbish. In the last 7 days Italy, Germany and France (as well as Russia) have all had more deaths than us.
Why do you write this stuff?
I should perhaps have replaced 'Europe' with 'EU'. Had I done so the only number which is incorrect on YESTERDAY'S figures is France which had marginally more total cases than us.
Which would also have been laughably wrong. We’re not in the EU. Perhaps you missed that evolution, as you fumbled with your Blackberry under your tartan blanket, trying to tune into the Home Service
I am surprised that Brexiteers haven't insisted we go back to calling Radio 2 "The Home Service", which they can listen to on their new fangled "wireless", particularly enjoying the sublime commentary of John Arlott. When the odd run is scored they will applaud politely and mutter "hear hear" with their pipe of baccy clenched between their teeth, whilst thinking it is all jolly good that we are back in the 1950s with ration books and good old navy blue passports.
I’ve met millions of Brexiteers of all stripes. From lunatic eco-Leavers to stereotypical chav Leavers to super-posh ducal Leavers. I’ve never met the archetype you describe here. Not once. I’m sure they exist outside your head, but they are rare
The stereotype you do constantly encounter is the middle class, BBC watching, London based, Tuscany-going Remoaner who has been slightly unhinged by Brexit. You encounter them constantly and you can spot them a mile off. However they may be so conspicuous just because they are so hysterical on Twitter
Clearly left your sense of humour by the pool today. I expected a wittier repost than that. Disappointing.
Your somewhat desperate attempt to disassociate yourself from the BNP gorilla type leaver is understandable. What you can't get away from is that Farage (the person that convinced so many of you that we were being overrun by a tidal wave of immigrants - remember him?), fits that stereotype perfectly. You have probably overlooked that I used to be a Tory activist. I have met masses of them and there are sadly even more of them in the Tory party now as entryists from UKIP. Reactionary old farts who would love the UK to go back to the 1950s of their parents' youth. The obsession with navy blue passports was only one example of their stupidity. You are simply in denial. You know I am right. Perhaps you have a tweed jacket and a pipe yourself that you only use at weekends.
Oh. You were trying to be FUNNY. Sorry
Because it wasn’t remotely funny, as you have no sense of humour, it’s quite difficult to respond correctly, in these circumstances. Sorry
In future perhaps you could start your ‘funny’ comments with some kind of clown face emoji, so I know to read your ‘funny’ remarks with a rictus grin of embarrassment on your behalf, before coughing up a tiny, forced little laugh like a lizard boaking a boll-weevil
Oh dear, touched a raw nerve. Is the latest poor man's Dan Brown effort not going so well today? Had an unpleasant alien visitation on the khazi this morning, or is it that the realisation that in fact my caricature was in reality close to the bone regarding the company you keep? What a pathetically thin skin you uber-leave obsessives have, but then I guess it goes with the angry nationalist type personality. Keep taking the tablets Sean.
"Poor man's Dan Brown" strikes me as harsh. I don't think I've ever read a more poorly-written book than the Da Vinci Code (it made Jeffrey Archer look like Dickens). Should PB's resident dildo-botherer ever turn his hands to literature I am sure he would be able to turn in a superior product.
Indeed. Although what Dan Brown could/can do - and millions of writers can't - is come up with an exciting story. So much fiction is so very dull/implausible/dull and implausible. Often this is masked by a beautiful turn of phrase. But people who can turn a good phrase - or at least turn a phrase more elegantly than Dan Brown - are ten a penny. There are a fair few on this site. Very, very few people can think up a story worth reading.
I'm not sure I agree with that. I think a compelling plot is the least of your worries if you're looking to write a decent novel. Writing it so it reads well is harder I think. Conveying character and emotion convincingly is hardest of all. I don't remember the Da Vinci Code having a particularly gripping plot either to be honest, it mostly seemed to consist of people running around. But I tend not to remember much about books, even good ones, after I've read them. They are a transitory pleasure for me. So all I really remember about the Da Vinci code was that it was shit.
You're not the only literary critic with that verdict. I have happy memories of seeing this next to Rosslyn Chapel (one of the key venues in the book, I understand):
Fifteen or so years ago, I stayed at a North Yorkshire B&B. I hadn't read the Da Vinci Code, and was very sniffy about it (*). They had a late-teenage daughter who, at breakfast, had her nose deep in the book. As we chatted, she said it was the first book she had ever read, she was gripped, and she wanted to read more books.
Yes, it is crummy. Yes, it is poorly written. But if it acts as a gateway to literature for people put off from reading at school, then it's brilliant.
(*) In fact, the first time I ever read a Dan Brown book was when I picked up a copy at a remote bothy; I read it, and left it at another bothy a few days later.
In fairness that is also true.
I can't bear Harry Potter - there is something that creeps me out utterly about it (perhaps more to do with me tbf). I bought the first book by mistake, so to speak (trying out a new local writer back in 1995 or so), and dumped it on a friend. Who was absolutely delighted with me for giving her little girl so much enjoyment. More generally I've been told by other friends it has helped encourage childrten to read.
Supply teaching at a particularly rough Manchester comp c, 2001. Year 7 English.30 kids reading Harry Potter, as assigned. No talking, or pissing about winding up the supply. There was an audible groan when the bell went too. I could not believe it. Until I had my own kids.
I've not been following the pandemic in any sort of detail. Just listening to the news and government spokespeople. While our vaccine program was purring like a Ferrari Europe's were limping along like a Lada Riva with a puncture. Tory poster's on here have been crowing about our ingenuity and delighting in our good fortune at being-dare I say it-BRITISH!
1. FIRST in Europe for total number of cases. 2. FIRST in Europe for total number of deaths. 3. FIRST in Europe for total of NEW cases. 4. FIRST in Europe for total number of NEW deaths.
Roger, this is just total nonsense. 1. France and Russia have both had more cases 2. Russia has more deaths, on a per million analysis there are a host of countries ahead of us. 3. Russia has more new cases. And we do massively more testing than anyone else. 4. Total rubbish. In the last 7 days Italy, Germany and France (as well as Russia) have all had more deaths than us.
Why do you write this stuff?
I should perhaps have replaced 'Europe' with 'EU'. Had I done so the only number which is incorrect on YESTERDAY'S figures is France which had marginally more total cases than us.
Which would also have been laughably wrong. We’re not in the EU. Perhaps you missed that evolution, as you fumbled with your Blackberry under your tartan blanket, trying to tune into the Home Service
I think what Roger means is 'we did worse than Germany'. Because surely he can't be expecting that Bulgaria, Slovenia, Croatia, Poland, Hungary, Czechia and so forth had more deaths than us in absolute terms. No-one who has even an ounce of maths in their body would expect that.
So, fair point Roger - the UK has had more covid than Germany.
Downthread someone suggested ‘Germany’ as an example of a country that handled the pandemic (so far) “really well”
Wtf?
Germany is the 19th largest country in the world by population
Going by Worldometer (flawed but indicative) Germany is 12th in the world for total cases and also 12th for total deaths. Bad.
Their economy in 2020 shrank by 5%. Also bad. And they still have Delta to come
Germany did better than some European countries (the UK for one) but worse than others. Globally it is nowhere near the top rank and is no kind of model
South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore are models. Perhaps oz and nz (but they have new issues now)
In Europe maybe Denmark? You soon run out of exemplars
Of the G7 nations Germany and Japan did the best, Germany locked down relatively early, certainly compared to the USA and us, had an effective track and trace and has a far better vaccination rate now than say New Zealand, Australia and France.
Though globally Singapore is probably the best example, amongst the top nations in terms of vaccination rate and has had just 6 Covid deaths per million, compared to a global rate of 514
Japan did waaaaay better than Germany healthwise. 15,000 deaths compared to 90,000 and with a bigger, older population
Not so good on vaccines tho. We’ve yet to see if that bites them
Think they're getting their vaccine act together.
Japan’s superior performance on deaths might just be a function of their very low obesity rates. It is likely that is a factor around the world - see the horrors in fairly-obese Latin America
Incidentally, I’m sitting in a beach bar in Majorca watching Europe waddle past. All nations. It is clear lots of people have put on lots of weight. Brits among the worst, and we were already fat
God knows what the USA is like
It's hard to imagine the French and Italians being fat. Both are very obviously slimmer than the average here. Has your trip to Majorca revealed some Gallic guts and Tuscan tummies?
Those are quite amazing stats, in a bad way. I had no idea so much of Europe was so podgy
Countries I assume are all bicycling and healthy are not. Eg the Netherlands, more than half of men are overweight
Striking
Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. Weak men create hard times.
How hard is it for people to look in a mirror and then decide to eat less?
There’s a couple right next to me as I write. Both extremely obese. And British, I fear (certainly Northern European)
They’ve ordered an enormous lunch. Several starters. Huge main courses. And it’s not quality food - its huge plates of burgers and chips. Which don’t seem to satisfy them
It’s actually quite distressing to see. Like watching a smack addict with a death pallor seeking one last uncollapsed vein to inject. In public
Little wonder that the French, Italians and Spanish continue to believe the complete outdated notion that the food in England is dire.
They see scenes like the above whenever they go on holiday and conclude that the myth that the English are a nation of gastro-barbarians is entirely true.
There is a difference between the food in the top English restaurants which can be top quality and the food in the local pub and cafe which can still be basic fare and lots of it
What, you telling me that in cafe's of Toulouse, Seville and Florence they don't serve double espressos in Sports Direct Mega Mugs along with full English breakfasts?
As well as the continentals may do food - and, for example, I don't think I have ever eaten badly in Italy after 11am - they just refuse to even try with breakfast. It is baffling. A tiny mug of strong coffee, some dry bread and maybe a slice of continental ham or cheese - and perhaps a yoghurt - does not cut it.
I've not been following the pandemic in any sort of detail. Just listening to the news and government spokespeople. While our vaccine program was purring like a Ferrari Europe's were limping along like a Lada Riva with a puncture. Tory poster's on here have been crowing about our ingenuity and delighting in our good fortune at being-dare I say it-BRITISH!
1. FIRST in Europe for total number of cases. 2. FIRST in Europe for total number of deaths. 3. FIRST in Europe for total of NEW cases. 4. FIRST in Europe for total number of NEW deaths.
Roger, this is just total nonsense. 1. France and Russia have both had more cases 2. Russia has more deaths, on a per million analysis there are a host of countries ahead of us. 3. Russia has more new cases. And we do massively more testing than anyone else. 4. Total rubbish. In the last 7 days Italy, Germany and France (as well as Russia) have all had more deaths than us.
Why do you write this stuff?
I should perhaps have replaced 'Europe' with 'EU'. Had I done so the only number which is incorrect on YESTERDAY'S figures is France which had marginally more total cases than us.
Which would also have been laughably wrong. We’re not in the EU. Perhaps you missed that evolution, as you fumbled with your Blackberry under your tartan blanket, trying to tune into the Home Service
I am surprised that Brexiteers haven't insisted we go back to calling Radio 2 "The Home Service", which they can listen to on their new fangled "wireless", particularly enjoying the sublime commentary of John Arlott. When the odd run is scored they will applaud politely and mutter "hear hear" with their pipe of baccy clenched between their teeth, whilst thinking it is all jolly good that we are back in the 1950s with ration books and good old navy blue passports.
I’ve met millions of Brexiteers of all stripes. From lunatic eco-Leavers to stereotypical chav Leavers to super-posh ducal Leavers. I’ve never met the archetype you describe here. Not once. I’m sure they exist outside your head, but they are rare
The stereotype you do constantly encounter is the middle class, BBC watching, London based, Tuscany-going Remoaner who has been slightly unhinged by Brexit. You encounter them constantly and you can spot them a mile off. However they may be so conspicuous just because they are so hysterical on Twitter
Clearly left your sense of humour by the pool today. I expected a wittier repost than that. Disappointing.
Your somewhat desperate attempt to disassociate yourself from the BNP gorilla type leaver is understandable. What you can't get away from is that Farage (the person that convinced so many of you that we were being overrun by a tidal wave of immigrants - remember him?), fits that stereotype perfectly. You have probably overlooked that I used to be a Tory activist. I have met masses of them and there are sadly even more of them in the Tory party now as entryists from UKIP. Reactionary old farts who would love the UK to go back to the 1950s of their parents' youth. The obsession with navy blue passports was only one example of their stupidity. You are simply in denial. You know I am right. Perhaps you have a tweed jacket and a pipe yourself that you only use at weekends.
Oh. You were trying to be FUNNY. Sorry
Because it wasn’t remotely funny, as you have no sense of humour, it’s quite difficult to respond correctly, in these circumstances. Sorry
In future perhaps you could start your ‘funny’ comments with some kind of clown face emoji, so I know to read your ‘funny’ remarks with a rictus grin of embarrassment on your behalf, before coughing up a tiny, forced little laugh like a lizard boaking a boll-weevil
Oh dear, touched a raw nerve. Is the latest poor man's Dan Brown effort not going so well today? Had an unpleasant alien visitation on the khazi this morning, or is it that the realisation that in fact my caricature was in reality close to the bone regarding the company you keep? What a pathetically thin skin you uber-leave obsessives have, but then I guess it goes with the angry nationalist type personality. Keep taking the tablets Sean.
"Poor man's Dan Brown" strikes me as harsh. I don't think I've ever read a more poorly-written book than the Da Vinci Code (it made Jeffrey Archer look like Dickens). Should PB's resident dildo-botherer ever turn his hands to literature I am sure he would be able to turn in a superior product.
Indeed. Although what Dan Brown could/can do - and millions of writers can't - is come up with an exciting story. So much fiction is so very dull/implausible/dull and implausible. Often this is masked by a beautiful turn of phrase. But people who can turn a good phrase - or at least turn a phrase more elegantly than Dan Brown - are ten a penny. There are a fair few on this site. Very, very few people can think up a story worth reading.
I'm not sure I agree with that. I think a compelling plot is the least of your worries if you're looking to write a decent novel. Writing it so it reads well is harder I think. Conveying character and emotion convincingly is hardest of all. I don't remember the Da Vinci Code having a particularly gripping plot either to be honest, it mostly seemed to consist of people running around. But I tend not to remember much about books, even good ones, after I've read them. They are a transitory pleasure for me. So all I really remember about the Da Vinci code was that it was shit.
You're not the only literary critic with that verdict. I have happy memories of seeing this next to Rosslyn Chapel (one of the key venues in the book, I understand):
Fifteen or so years ago, I stayed at a North Yorkshire B&B. I hadn't read the Da Vinci Code, and was very sniffy about it (*). They had a late-teenage daughter who, at breakfast, had her nose deep in the book. As we chatted, she said it was the first book she had ever read, she was gripped, and she wanted to read more books.
Yes, it is crummy. Yes, it is poorly written. But if it acts as a gateway to literature for people put off from reading at school, then it's brilliant.
(*) In fact, the first time I ever read a Dan Brown book was when I picked up a copy at a remote bothy; I read it, and left it at another bothy a few days later.
In fairness that is also true.
I can't bear Harry Potter - there is something that creeps me out utterly about it (perhaps more to do with me tbf). I bought the first book by mistake, so to speak (trying out a new local writer back in 1995 or so), and dumped it on a friend. Who was absolutely delighted with me for giving her little girl so much enjoyment. More generally I've been told by other friends it has helped encourage childrten to read.
Supply teaching at a particularly rough Manchester comp c, 2001. Year 7 English.30 kids reading Harry Potter, as assigned. No talking, or pissing about winding up the supply. There was an audible groan when the bell went too. I could not believe it. Until I had my own kids.
Our kids are very meh about Harry Potter. I've never read them so don't care either way.
Large swathes of our adult population is functionally illiterate and/or innumerate.
1 in 5 adults struggle to read and write, missing out on the wonders of literature. Shakespeare, Dickens, Austen, Dahl, Eliot, Bronte, Knox go unknown to them.
Anything that can get them reading is brilliant.
(BTW, I still think the levels of innumeracy and illiteracy in this country are a national shame, and on that is not talked about enough.)
Not a problem, as all the classics are getting cancelled anyway....
Top school will stop teaching To Kill A Mockingbird and Of Mice and Men in a bid to 'decolonise' the curriculum
Comments
ETA: unless they install it and uninstall it almost immediately
Take Back ControlWho knew Brexit meant relaxing road safety rules for HGV drivers? #takingbackcontrol
https://twitter.com/Simon_Nixon/status/1412761432765124612
https://twitter.com/grantshapps/status/1412745388730245120
*My in-laws, for example, will have it until one of their children or me thinks to or is asked to uninstall it.
He really is a cracking movie-maker. He suffers (like Orson Welles, another prodigy) from having made his absolute masterpiece at the beginning of his career
69% of Canadians have now had 1 dose and 38% have had both doses, compared to just 16% of New Zealanders who have had 1 dose and a mere 10% who have had both doses
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/world/covid-vaccinations-tracker.html
South Korea had its highest number of cases yesterday since the pandemic began (1,212), yet another indicator that it's far from over
https://twitter.com/EricTopol/status/1412762028242989057?s=20
How hard is it for people to look in a mirror and then decide to eat less?
Dutchmen are the slimmest men of all Europeans yet still more than half are obese!
I'm not an expert - I may have left holes open. But I'm frankly astonished at how ready people are to install apps at the drop of a hat that not only have access to your data but that know where you are. I find the concept horrific. But it appears I am in a minority.
A real turning point in pandemic.
It has big political implications. At #PMQs ,
@Keir_Starmer gambled that Freedom Day is too soon, &
@BorisJohnson banked on cases peaking.
https://twitter.com/JoeMurphyLondon/status/1412763582941564932?s=20
Story:
“The modelling will give a more accurate indication of when a peak will occur,” said a source. “Mid-August is broadly where we believe it will come. It will run through the unvaccinated and the single-dosed, but because such vast numbers of people now have antibodies and can resist it, it will then start falling off because it will run out of people to infect.” So far Britain has vaccinated 64.3 per cent of over-18s with two doses, which give around 92 per cent protection against serious illness, and delivered at least one dose to a total of 86.2 per cent.
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/boris-johnson-august-covid-virus-fall-exclusive-b944552.html
This is him trying to go the “I told you so” route again. But that didn’t seem to have tremendous cut-through back last year… I think the narrowing in the polls had much more to do with how mightily the Tories were naffing things up at the time rather than anyone giving any credit to Labour.
How can they have that tight control over it over such a long period, without it falling to vanishingly low levels? And the no zero deaths thing is really strange.
Not the Times and Guardian journalists who were sticking their rulers through the trendlines of the data yesterday......
The Bluetooth thing is a bit different.
Death of Stalin and No Country for Old Men are on Netflix atm.
They’ve ordered an enormous lunch. Several starters. Huge main courses. And it’s not quality food - its huge plates of burgers and chips. Which don’t seem to satisfy them
It’s actually quite distressing to see. Like watching a smack addict with a death pallor seeking one last uncollapsed vein to inject. In public
Do we truly know just how much deep shit UK economy is in? Like you said, we have to presume the people up the chain do, and can’t actually tell us.
I think it is possible if the inflation rate has a Nigel Lawson blipping session, we will be in a 1977 position, needing IMF to pay key bills. I think people get confused between wealth and cash flow. You are wealthy because you are in big stately home with estate, but you don’t have the income to pay staff and electric bill.
The inflation rate is key, if it goes up, as you would expect with exciting bounce back growth, then the cost of borrowing goes up hence hit on what is in the housekeeping jug.
So I agree with you, about steering through the wider remit. But do you agree, in their more narrow remit the scientists are not necessary wrong, so there is too much trashing of them scientifically and personally on PB?
https://twitter.com/JenWilliamsMEN/status/1412766076073611267
https://twitter.com/shaunlintern/status/1412742990456659969
Although what Dan Brown could/can do - and millions of writers can't - is come up with an exciting story.
So much fiction is so very dull/implausible/dull and implausible. Often this is masked by a beautiful turn of phrase. But people who can turn a good phrase - or at least turn a phrase more elegantly than Dan Brown - are ten a penny. There are a fair few on this site. Very, very few people can think up a story worth reading.
However once the vast majority of us have been double jabbed we can treat it like flu, especially winter flu, with vastly lower numbers of deaths and hospitalisations than was the case a few months ago
The British & Irish Lions have been hit by a positive Covid-19 test, throwing Wednesday night’s match against the Sharks into jeopardy and raising even more doubt over the remainder of the tour of South Africa.
One member of the tourists’ staff has recorded a positive result following a lateral flow test and that they and four others – including two players – have been forced into isolation. The Lions are waiting on the results of further tests before making a call on the match against the Sharks but the kick-off time has already been delayed by one hour to 7pm BST.
The announcement came shortly after confirmation that South Africa’s match against Georgia on Friday is off after Covid-19 outbreaks in both camps. The Lions match against the Bulls – scheduled to take place on Saturday – has already been postponed and there is now considerable doubt over whether the Test series against the Springboks, due to begin on 24 July, will take place.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/jul/07/lions-match-and-tour-in-jeopardy-after-two-players-forced-to-isolate
https://twitter.com/MichaelLCrick/status/1412766394740088833?s=20
The amount of data we send people is horrific.
All I do is
a) install apps from reputable sources [that doesn't include the Facebook family of companies so no WhatsApp for me
b) manually stop them from running in the background.
And I feel like I'm abnormally paranoid!
I think I'm on S4 of five of BM. Probably the best drama of recent times imo.
And Top Boy to relax. I think they are currently filming S3 (of the new series).
The Danish Football Association has ignored the UK's strict Covid rules by allowing 40 of its fans to travel for tonight’s match against England on the plane carrying its official delegation.
The DFA announced that the fans had been selected for having the greatest number of loyalty points and will travel on a plane with the partners of the footballers and other officials.
They are all members of the official Denmark football team supporters’ group and were selected for having the highest number of loyalty points from attending matches at home and abroad.
Under current rules, Denmark is on the amber list meaning anyone travelling to the UK from the country must quarantine for ten days. This has resulted in no fans officially coming to the England for the match.
But they are using a loophole that allows VIPs from a national football federation to travel to Wembley from Copenhagen without needing to quarantine.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9764527/Danish-swerves-Covid-rules-allowing-40-fans-travel-England-Euros-semi-final.html
I know someone who had one. Antibodies showed up, even though that person is not vaccinated and has never been ill.
Or at least, not ill since December 2019/January 2020.......(the person is not me by the way).
They see scenes like the above whenever they go on holiday and conclude that the myth that the English are a nation of gastro-barbarians is entirely true.
I think the UK figures don’t include most (or perhaps any) LFT tests.
From my window I can see three very much non-obese workmen laying a path in my garden. I am making them frequent hot drinks. As always, I get a frisson of middle-class transgression when putting to my tastes improbable amounts of sugar in them. Almost no-one I know who doesn't do a manual job has sugar in their hot drinks. Yet I am by some way the fattest of the four of us.
(That said, at least two of them do not look pictures of health, frankly.)
Also segment where Len plays bad acting and then good acting shows off his divine talent.
https://twitter.com/SkyNews/status/1412723063830024192?s=20
It seems to mystify many: why Dan Brown is so rich, when he writes so ‘badly’
It’s like asking why Lewis Hamilton the sportsman is so well-paid, when there are millions of men who are faster, bigger, stronger, more athletic than him; indeed many on this site (not Nigel Formain, obvs) could probably best Hamilton at arm wrestling
However, Lewis Hamilton can do one thing exceptionally well: drive a high performance car very fast without crashing. And lots of people will pay to watch that, but they won’t pay to watch arm-wrestling
https://www.alamy.com/horse-manure-for-sale-in-farm-beside-rosslyn-chapel-using-da-vinci-image6906998.html
There are ‘writers’ who can ONLY plot, their prose is so bad (beyond Dan brown mediocrity) they are not allowed anywhere near a printer
However they go on to be script doctors or show runners or producers in Hollywood and they make vast sums of cash
Wetherspoons today announced it will hike food prices by 40p when lockdown ends as it blasted the Government's 'Monty Python' VAT rule.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9763879/Wetherspoons-slams-Government-Monty-Python-VAT-rules.html
It’s like watching a slice of true history built from a thousand anecdotes.
Fifteen or so years ago, I stayed at a North Yorkshire B&B. I hadn't read the Da Vinci Code, and was very sniffy about it (*). They had a late-teenage daughter who, at breakfast, had her nose deep in the book. As we chatted, she said it was the first book she had ever read, she was gripped, and she wanted to read more books.
Yes, it is crummy. Yes, it is poorly written. But if it acts as a gateway to literature for people put off from reading at school, then it's brilliant.
(*) In fact, the first time I ever read a Dan Brown book was when I picked up a copy at a remote bothy; I read it, and left it at another bothy a few days later.
Though in all honesty I haven't read more than 10 chapters of a Dan Brown book. It wasn't the Da Vinci code. It was one set in the Arctic. I got frustrated that the plot (or at least the first ten chapters of it) seemed to match exactly Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow. And I had already read that.
Flag of England 71,524 1st doses / 109,148 2nd doses
Flag of Scotland 10,718 / 17,831
Flag of Wales 1,584 / 18,504
NI 1,985 / 7,643
https://twitter.com/fact_covid/status/1412771118658772997?s=20
So, you go to the Louvre to expand your elevated mind in a noble pursuit of enlightenment, people who are a bit poorer than you, or less well-educated, they go to the Louvre because they are “time-wasting wankers”. Right?
That’s quite a classic of the genre. Worthy of the great A C Grayling
I can't bear Harry Potter - there is something that creeps me out utterly about it (perhaps more to do with me tbf). I bought the first book by mistake, so to speak (trying out a new local writer back in 1995 or so), and dumped it on a friend. Who was absolutely delighted with me for giving her little girl so much enjoyment. More generally I've been told by other friends it has helped encourage childrten to read.
But as I understand the figures there about 1 million tests registered done each day average, and about 600,000 LFT, which would be about 6.5 million a day if 10% is about right (which might fit with 8 million on a weekday if less is happening at the weekends), call it around 46 million a week
There are apparently 12 million children in schools and kindergartens in Germany, and over a million staff so that would get to maybe 26 million tests a week (before the school holidays), plus my guess 15 million Bürgertests, at least a million routine LFTs of hospital and care home staff, a million PCR tests. And an unknown number of routine workplace LFTs - judging by the number of people I know who have to go into work in a few different kinds of workplaces it could be quite a lot a few million, you probably get to about the same number. Which would make the UK number higher per capita, but nowhere near the 14 times as many or 5 times as many or whatever silly number Philip_Thompson for some reason wants to believe.
Anyway, the UK and Germany have followed a bit different testing strategies, although in some ways similar, so a comparison could be interesting, but it's difficult to do make any useful comparisons if people repeatedly make silly claims like "we're doing 14 times as many tests", or "no wonder numbers are so low in Germany because they aren't doing any testing"
How are those ghastly northern european burger-munching fatties doing?
Even if you say Canada has the same population density advantage New Zealand does and a natural social distancing, there is no denying that Trudeau has vaccinated more than Ardern.
69% of Canadians have now had 1 dose and 38% have had both doses, compared to just 16% of New Zealanders who have had 1 dose and a mere 10% who have had both doses
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/world/covid-vaccinations-tracker.html
My son and daughter in law in Vancouver have their second doses tomorrow
but in fairness that got it a lot of money for some serious refurb of late.
But it will be all be fine, because vaccines.
TESCO has been accused of pouring “salt in the wounds” of Scottish football fans after playing an English supporters’ anthem from the store tannoy.
https://www.thenational.scot/news/19424576.tesco-rubs-salt-wounds-scotland-football-fans-english-anthem/
1 in 5 adults struggle to read and write, missing out on the wonders of literature. Shakespeare, Dickens, Austen, Dahl, Eliot, Bronte, Knox go unknown to them.
Anything that can get them reading is brilliant.
(BTW, I still think the levels of innumeracy and illiteracy in this country are a national shame, and on that is not talked about enough.)
Duh.
The odds on Ivana Bacik (Labour) in tomorrow's Dublin Bay South by-election (1.33/1.4 Betfair Sports/PP or Ladbrokes) look too short to me. The value IMO is James Geoghegan (Fine Gael) at around 3.0.
Always hard to assess Irish elections with their five or six rounds of counting of transfers, but the market seems to have over-reacted to the one poll which has been conducted, and even that had Geoghegan in the lead.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dublin_Bay_South_(Dáil_constituency)#2021_by-election
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_Dublin_Bay_South_by-election
https://www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/commentanalysis/arid-40330868.html
Usual disclaimers!
Jesus. He’s as bad as ever. He tweets something histrionic and furious every hour or two, 24/7 (does he sleep?!) - all the tweets are bitterly anti-Boris and he tries to shoe-horn Brexit into as many as possible. When he’s not doing his own manic tweets he retweets all the usuals, james O’Brien, david Schneider, Mike Galsworthy, the FBPE weirdos.
What’s the point? He’s not persuading anyone any more. He is literally ranting at clouds.
I met him before Brexit and he was wry, cultured and witty, nothing like this. It is rather sad
I'm intrigued as to which bothy now. I don't have it as a book for Bob Scott's or the Tarf Hotel. Definitely Sourlies in the rain or perhaps even Kervaig.
I am astonished at its success, I thought the market for drivel about fantasy boarding school life was dead as a dodo by the time orwell wrote about it.
Year 7 English.30 kids reading Harry Potter, as assigned. No talking, or pissing about winding up the supply. There was an audible groan when the bell went too.
I could not believe it. Until I had my own kids.
Top school will stop teaching To Kill A Mockingbird and Of Mice and Men in a bid to 'decolonise' the curriculum
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9757805/Top-school-stop-teaching-Kill-Mockingbird-Mice-Men.html