Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, "Go, pour out the seven bowls of God's wrath on the earth."
The first angel went and poured out his bowl on the land, and ugly and painful sores broke out on the people who had the mark of the beast and worshiped his image.
The second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it turned into blood like that of a dead man, and every living thing in the sea died.
The third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood.
Then I heard the angel in charge of the waters say: "You are just in these judgments, you who are and who were, the Holy One, because you have so judged.
In the short term she has gambled and won massively, and on the back of that deserves her electoral victory. Because it could have gone a lot worse. However it is not actually difficult to see how in the longer term she has created a massive problem for New Zealand, certainly without a successful vaccine - and in fact even possibly with a vaccine, so massively has she succeeded in 'beating' Coronavirus.
Because effectively the policy in New Zealand is to respond to any untraceable community detected cases with city wide lockdowns. It is very similar (although differently implemented) to what is happening in China (such that we can work out given the secrecy). Under this policy they simply CANNOT open their borders to anyone, and cannot relax their quarantine protocols at all.
Given that a vaccine is unlikely to be totally effective they are in a position of effectively having to accept a level of deaths to pivot to a position of opening up. Maybe this will not be so difficult to sell as the economic effects seriously feed through, but it is a political risk.
If there is no reasonably effective vaccine - it is not at all clear where they go at all.
However, not having to socially distance, being able to watch sports, the arts, go to the pub, attempt to engage in casual sex, travel the country freely, work and shop normally, etc.,etc., are serious counter balances. The Telegraph seems determined to become clickbait rather than a serious news organisation.
Foreign holidays are not a big thing for most Kiwis, but the domestic tourist industry must be a big economic hit in parts. Opening up probably wouldn't help much economically, as tourism is on its back everywhere else.
A good place to be at the moment.
Yup. Summer on the way too.
Ms Adern was dealt a good hand but played it brilliantly re Covid. Fair play top marks. Her landslide was inevitable from a grateful nation.
Go to Nevada. Las Vegas is open. You can go and stay at the Bellagio or the Wynn or the Ritz Carlton (all Five Star hotels) for $120 a night. You can gamble and drink in bars and eat good food. And you can fly to Vegas for a fraction of the normal price.
The Vegas occupancy rate is normally 89%.
Yet it's a ghost town right now. People simply aren't going to Vegas (no matter how cheap it is) because they're scared of catching CV19. Irrespective of government diktat, behaviour is changed.
No we can't. America's borders are closed to the British.
As to why Americans aren't going to Vegas, that's a different question. Much of the weekend traffic comes from CA and from more conservative parts of the country - people come to Vegas to do what they can't do at home.
On my way back from Santa Fe, I went via Barstow. That's traditionally the halfway stop between Vegas and LA, where one stops for an In'n'Out Burger and to stretch one's legs. Sunday, 3pm, it's usually heaving as the weekend crew head back from Vegas. When we were passing through three weeks ago, it was dead.
Californians aren't doing the weekend trip.
It is, of course, where the drugs began to take hold...
I've never read Fear and Loathing,
Should I?
Fck me, yes. PG Wodehouse at his best level of funny.
ETA and the only opening line which will ever be competitive with "Call me Ishmael."
I'm trying to read David Bowie's 100 favourite books before all this is more or less over. I'm on the Iliad and have decided Homer needed a good editor. The endless battle scenes in the middle....I love a good war story as much as the next man but....urgh....
Know what you mean. But for me the episode towards its end when Priam petitions Achilles for the body of his dead son, Hector, is one of the most moving moments in all literature.
I'm not qualified to judge the evidence here, but it looks like pretty shameful conduct. There are too many incentives for bad behaviour in science, and few disincentives.
(Google Mohamed El Naschie for an egregious case, one I remember well from when it first broke.)
Go to Nevada. Las Vegas is open. You can go and stay at the Bellagio or the Wynn or the Ritz Carlton (all Five Star hotels) for $120 a night. You can gamble and drink in bars and eat good food. And you can fly to Vegas for a fraction of the normal price.
The Vegas occupancy rate is normally 89%.
Yet it's a ghost town right now. People simply aren't going to Vegas (no matter how cheap it is) because they're scared of catching CV19. Irrespective of government diktat, behaviour is changed.
No we can't. America's borders are closed to the British.
As to why Americans aren't going to Vegas, that's a different question. Much of the weekend traffic comes from CA and from more conservative parts of the country - people come to Vegas to do what they can't do at home.
On my way back from Santa Fe, I went via Barstow. That's traditionally the halfway stop between Vegas and LA, where one stops for an In'n'Out Burger and to stretch one's legs. Sunday, 3pm, it's usually heaving as the weekend crew head back from Vegas. When we were passing through three weeks ago, it was dead.
Californians aren't doing the weekend trip.
It is, of course, where the drugs began to take hold...
I've never read Fear and Loathing,
Should I?
Fck me, yes. PG Wodehouse at his best level of funny.
ETA and the only opening line which will ever be competitive with "Call me Ishmael."
I'm trying to read David Bowie's 100 favourite books before all this is more or less over. I'm on the Iliad and have decided Homer needed a good editor. The endless battle scenes in the middle....I love a good war story as much as the next man but....urgh....
You could always amuse yourself by spotting glitches in the matrix of oral composition. One of the best is the occurrence of the exact same long sequence of kills on two occasions in the Iliad (1 Greek, 1 Trojan, 1 Greek, 3 Trojans, 1 Greek, 24 Trojans). Both build up to the aristeia of a Greek hero (Patroclus, Achilles), and culminate in the killing of a major Trojan champion (Sarpedon, Hector), with both sequences initiated by the death of an obscure Greek bearing the same name - Schedios - who is twice killed by the same Trojan, Hector...
iirc Ferguson's model (still being used by SAGE as far as I know, and the basis for the Whitty graph of doom graph) is based on a IFR an order of magnitude higher.
Hang on am I understanding this correctly?
We're closing down the country for an illness that kills 0.23% of people it infects...is that really what the figures say?
That can't be right.
It’s not. That’s rather the point.
However, those who want to believe it will believe it with total credulousness. I mean, look at how they continue to unquestioningly follow Gupta.
Fair enough, what is wrong with that report and what are the correct figures?
There's a summary of a bunch of estimates here:
As with all scientific findings, there's a lot of fuzziness between different studies. None of them are pointing towards Ioaniddis's numbers, though.
The outcomes in Italy, Spain, Arizona, Brazil, New York, and a whole bunch of areas around the world don't march with an IFR of 0.05% in all under 70s.
He cherry-picks studies that aren't representative of the population. He deliberately excludes healthcare workers from his findings, for some reason. His search strategy was inadequate and incomplete (and then excluded, by as little as one day outside his range in a couple of cases, data that was completely divergent with his conclusion) He underestimated the number of deaths in the studies he did use (by such things as taking cases where the outcome was not yet complete and reporting only deaths that had happened so far, and not deaths that occurred after the original time of writing from the same infections)
Stuff like that (and all of the above was raised by reviewers in previous attempts to get it published)
So if I am reading those graphs correctly after several glasses of wine then it is around 8x worse than flu on average for all age profiles.
Not that the comparison to flu really matters, we know it is worse. The important thing to consider is whether it is bad enough to destroy the economy over.
If it is really <1% IFR then come on...it's crazy isn't it?</p>
I think this is a reasonable discussion to have, but I also think you're underestimating the societal impact of say 1% fatality in the population. We can assume that at least that many go through hospital (probably 5 times as many) and so we're looking at patients piled up on trolleys throughout hospitals and outside in makeshift tents, makeshift morgues, and not enough time or space to bury the dead. It would be more deaths than WW2, in a much shorter space of time.
I think it really is quite sensible to take drastic action to avoid this, *if* one is confident that treatments or a vaccine are coming, so that the actions are temporary. My view is that they are indeed coming. But I accept that reasonable people can disagree on this.
--AS
Well there are no good moves from here, each decision is going to cost something, lives or economy or both..
Also I am assuming it will be less than 1% deaths and also it will be spread over 3-4 years. I am thinking 0.5% overall of those that catch it will die and around 50% of the population in total getting it at all.
So we're looking at around 0.25% of the total population dying over 4 years, so around 40k people per year.
There's about 600k deaths on average in the UK every year, so it will be around a 6.7% rise for a few years. That's assuming many of those that die would not have done anyway, so maybe take a few percentage off for that....so it will be around 5% extra a year for a few years.
It's bad yes, but should we shut everything down for this hoping for a vaccine? I don't know.
It's quite macabre totting up the numbers like this, but I think in the current situation some analysis of the numbers is needed.
Yes, I see what you mean, but I think 40k a year is significantly too optimistic, considering that more than that have already died this year despite strong social restrictions in Apr-May, and ongoing to a lesser degree. Also consider that immunity may be short-lived (we just don't know yet, it could go either way) in which case it would keep rolling on year after year. And Robert's point, made well and often here, that such deaths would change behaviour in an economically-ruinous way, even if there's no official lockdown.
It's certainly something to weigh carefully, but all in all it seems fairly clearly to land on the side of social restrictions and damaging the economy (some of it permanent damage, and certainly some unfortunate people will have livelihoods ruined, but with luck most of the damage is reversible), until a vaccine arrives. If no vaccine is coming, the calculation surely has to be at least somewhat different, but immunologists seem pretty confident that this is a vaccine-susceptible virus.
--AS
Yes my numbers could be massively out, it's just a back of the packet of fags calculation.
If we've already had 40k this year purely from COVID in people that wouldn't have died anyway then yes the numbers are too optimistic.
Perhaps it is so contagious that we'd have the 160k extra deaths, but all in one year and then it would be finished. I would be interested to see how areas like Bergamo do with a second wave, perhaps they have already had enough cases to have herd immunity already. I see London is doing better this time around for example.
I take issue with the idea that people changing their behaviour themselves or be dictated to by governments have the same cost financially and personally.
Millions of people weighing up the risk/reward themselves is preferable to the state deciding it all for us. Like central planning versus the free market, but with health thrown in to the mix.
Isn't that graphic from a Trafalgar press release?
Might as well be.
Thing that surprises me is NOT that someone would falsify research, but that the vetting process for Nobel nominations and awards would NOT detect what is (apparently) obvious on the face of the docs referenced in the tweet.
Go to Nevada. Las Vegas is open. You can go and stay at the Bellagio or the Wynn or the Ritz Carlton (all Five Star hotels) for $120 a night. You can gamble and drink in bars and eat good food. And you can fly to Vegas for a fraction of the normal price.
The Vegas occupancy rate is normally 89%.
Yet it's a ghost town right now. People simply aren't going to Vegas (no matter how cheap it is) because they're scared of catching CV19. Irrespective of government diktat, behaviour is changed.
No we can't. America's borders are closed to the British.
As to why Americans aren't going to Vegas, that's a different question. Much of the weekend traffic comes from CA and from more conservative parts of the country - people come to Vegas to do what they can't do at home.
On my way back from Santa Fe, I went via Barstow. That's traditionally the halfway stop between Vegas and LA, where one stops for an In'n'Out Burger and to stretch one's legs. Sunday, 3pm, it's usually heaving as the weekend crew head back from Vegas. When we were passing through three weeks ago, it was dead.
Californians aren't doing the weekend trip.
It is, of course, where the drugs began to take hold...
I've never read Fear and Loathing,
Should I?
Fck me, yes. PG Wodehouse at his best level of funny.
ETA and the only opening line which will ever be competitive with "Call me Ishmael."
I'm trying to read David Bowie's 100 favourite books before all this is more or less over. I'm on the Iliad and have decided Homer needed a good editor. The endless battle scenes in the middle....I love a good war story as much as the next man but....urgh....
Know what you mean. But for me the episode towards its end when Priam petitions Achilles for the body of his dead son, Hector, is one of the most moving moments in all literature.
The dog Argos recognizing Odysseus after 20 years.
Go to Nevada. Las Vegas is open. You can go and stay at the Bellagio or the Wynn or the Ritz Carlton (all Five Star hotels) for $120 a night. You can gamble and drink in bars and eat good food. And you can fly to Vegas for a fraction of the normal price.
The Vegas occupancy rate is normally 89%.
Yet it's a ghost town right now. People simply aren't going to Vegas (no matter how cheap it is) because they're scared of catching CV19. Irrespective of government diktat, behaviour is changed.
No we can't. America's borders are closed to the British.
As to why Americans aren't going to Vegas, that's a different question. Much of the weekend traffic comes from CA and from more conservative parts of the country - people come to Vegas to do what they can't do at home.
On my way back from Santa Fe, I went via Barstow. That's traditionally the halfway stop between Vegas and LA, where one stops for an In'n'Out Burger and to stretch one's legs. Sunday, 3pm, it's usually heaving as the weekend crew head back from Vegas. When we were passing through three weeks ago, it was dead.
Californians aren't doing the weekend trip.
It is, of course, where the drugs began to take hold...
I've never read Fear and Loathing,
Should I?
Fck me, yes. PG Wodehouse at his best level of funny.
ETA and the only opening line which will ever be competitive with "Call me Ishmael."
I'm trying to read David Bowie's 100 favourite books before all this is more or less over. I'm on the Iliad and have decided Homer needed a good editor. The endless battle scenes in the middle....I love a good war story as much as the next man but....urgh....
Know what you mean. But for me the episode towards its end when Priam petitions Achilles for the body of his dead son, Hector, is one of the most moving moments in all literature.
The dog Argos recognizing Odysseus after 20 years.
I have gone through something similar. We all find our own ways of holding on. For me it has been the need to look after my children. What has made these last months so difficult is that I have been separated from some of them and have been unable to help, indeed, have felt like the problem.
Hence pouring out some of my worries about Daughter on here.
I hope you find the help you need. But there are lots of us here who wish you better, whatever other differences we have. And I hope that will be of some help.
Fascinating to hear all these stories, from The Union Divvie to Doug Seal to Northern Monkey, Beverly d (spelling?), NigelB, Foxy, and Casino, and on, and everyone. My sincere thanks. This is genuinely appreciated and you are genuinely helping a newt painter in a crisis, So, thankyou, from me. I have been down before, even nihilistic - for years - but this odd desire to glug a tankard of hemlock is scary and new.
Another weird symptom is this: that I keep falling asleep at the weirdest moments. Not just late afternoon or after dinner, like some average old bint, but at 11.30am or just now. Like the body wants to switch off, just in case.
Very peculiar.
One upside: I've been similarly honest on Whatsapp and the most unexpected of friends (who seems entirely fortunate and in control) has just messaged back saying Yes, this last week he has been the same. Bizarre, frightening moments of suicidality.
!!
It kinda helps. I hope I have helped him in return.
We really are all in this together, and I trust, even though this sounds trite, that together we really will all pull through.
Fascinating to hear all these stories, from The Union Divvie to Doug Seal to Northern Monkey, Beverly d (spelling?), NigelB, Foxy, and Casino, and on, and everyone. My sincere thanks. This is genuinely appreciated and you are genuinely helping a newt painter in a crisis, So, thankyou, from me. I have been down before, even nihilistic - for years - but this odd desire to glug a tankard of hemlock is scary and new.
Another weird symptom is this: that I keep falling asleep at the weirdest moments. Not just late afternoon or after dinner, like some average old bint, but at 11.30am or just now. Like the body wants to switch off, just in case.
Very peculiar.
One upside: I've been similarly honest on Whatsapp and the most unexpected of friends (who seems entirely fortunate and in control) has just messaged back saying Yes, this last week he has been the same. Bizarre, frightening moments of suicidality.
!!
It kinda helps. I hope I have helped him in return.
We really are all in this together, and I trust, even though this sounds trite, that together we really will all pull through.
How about travelling around the country with socially distanced meetings with other PBers.
There might even be a book in it for one of your associates - a modern day Daniel Defoe experience.
Go to Nevada. Las Vegas is open. You can go and stay at the Bellagio or the Wynn or the Ritz Carlton (all Five Star hotels) for $120 a night. You can gamble and drink in bars and eat good food. And you can fly to Vegas for a fraction of the normal price.
The Vegas occupancy rate is normally 89%.
Yet it's a ghost town right now. People simply aren't going to Vegas (no matter how cheap it is) because they're scared of catching CV19. Irrespective of government diktat, behaviour is changed.
No we can't. America's borders are closed to the British.
As to why Americans aren't going to Vegas, that's a different question. Much of the weekend traffic comes from CA and from more conservative parts of the country - people come to Vegas to do what they can't do at home.
On my way back from Santa Fe, I went via Barstow. That's traditionally the halfway stop between Vegas and LA, where one stops for an In'n'Out Burger and to stretch one's legs. Sunday, 3pm, it's usually heaving as the weekend crew head back from Vegas. When we were passing through three weeks ago, it was dead.
Californians aren't doing the weekend trip.
It is, of course, where the drugs began to take hold...
I've never read Fear and Loathing,
Should I?
Fck me, yes. PG Wodehouse at his best level of funny.
ETA and the only opening line which will ever be competitive with "Call me Ishmael."
I'm trying to read David Bowie's 100 favourite books before all this is more or less over. I'm on the Iliad and have decided Homer needed a good editor. The endless battle scenes in the middle....I love a good war story as much as the next man but....urgh....
You could always amuse yourself by spotting glitches in the matrix of oral composition. One of the best is the occurrence of the exact same long sequence of kills on two occasions in the Iliad (1 Greek, 1 Trojan, 1 Greek, 3 Trojans, 1 Greek, 24 Trojans). Both build up to the aristeia of a Greek hero (Patroclus, Achilles), and culminate in the killing of a major Trojan champion (Sarpedon, Hector), with both sequences initiated by the death of an obscure Greek bearing the same name - Schedios - who is twice killed by the same Trojan, Hector...
Perhaps different guys with same name, like Pliny/Pitt/Bush the Elder & Younger?
How's THAT for uninformed commentary . . . in best PB tradition!
Go to Nevada. Las Vegas is open. You can go and stay at the Bellagio or the Wynn or the Ritz Carlton (all Five Star hotels) for $120 a night. You can gamble and drink in bars and eat good food. And you can fly to Vegas for a fraction of the normal price.
The Vegas occupancy rate is normally 89%.
Yet it's a ghost town right now. People simply aren't going to Vegas (no matter how cheap it is) because they're scared of catching CV19. Irrespective of government diktat, behaviour is changed.
No we can't. America's borders are closed to the British.
As to why Americans aren't going to Vegas, that's a different question. Much of the weekend traffic comes from CA and from more conservative parts of the country - people come to Vegas to do what they can't do at home.
On my way back from Santa Fe, I went via Barstow. That's traditionally the halfway stop between Vegas and LA, where one stops for an In'n'Out Burger and to stretch one's legs. Sunday, 3pm, it's usually heaving as the weekend crew head back from Vegas. When we were passing through three weeks ago, it was dead.
Californians aren't doing the weekend trip.
It is, of course, where the drugs began to take hold...
I've never read Fear and Loathing,
Should I?
Fck me, yes. PG Wodehouse at his best level of funny.
ETA and the only opening line which will ever be competitive with "Call me Ishmael."
I'm trying to read David Bowie's 100 favourite books before all this is more or less over. I'm on the Iliad and have decided Homer needed a good editor. The endless battle scenes in the middle....I love a good war story as much as the next man but....urgh....
Know what you mean. But for me the episode towards its end when Priam petitions Achilles for the body of his dead son, Hector, is one of the most moving moments in all literature.
The dog Argos recognizing Odysseus after 20 years.
Fascinating to hear all these stories, from The Union Divvie to Doug Seal to Northern Monkey, Beverly d (spelling?), NigelB, Foxy, and Casino, and on, and everyone. My sincere thanks. This is genuinely appreciated and you are genuinely helping a newt painter in a crisis, So, thankyou, from me. I have been down before, even nihilistic - for years - but this odd desire to glug a tankard of hemlock is scary and new.
Another weird symptom is this: that I keep falling asleep at the weirdest moments. Not just late afternoon or after dinner, like some average old bint, but at 11.30am or just now. Like the body wants to switch off, just in case.
Very peculiar.
One upside: I've been similarly honest on Whatsapp and the most unexpected of friends (who seems entirely fortunate and in control) has just messaged back saying Yes, this last week he has been the same. Bizarre, frightening moments of suicidality.
!!
It kinda helps. I hope I have helped him in return.
We really are all in this together, and I trust, even though this sounds trite, that together we really will all pull through.
I was once told by a GP, during one of my periodic crises, that suicidal ideation was not uncommon.
Fascinating to hear all these stories, from The Union Divvie to Doug Seal to Northern Monkey, Beverly d (spelling?), NigelB, Foxy, and Casino, and on, and everyone. My sincere thanks. This is genuinely appreciated and you are genuinely helping a newt painter in a crisis, So, thankyou, from me. I have been down before, even nihilistic - for years - but this odd desire to glug a tankard of hemlock is scary and new.
Another weird symptom is this: that I keep falling asleep at the weirdest moments. Not just late afternoon or after dinner, like some average old bint, but at 11.30am or just now. Like the body wants to switch off, just in case.
Very peculiar.
One upside: I've been similarly honest on Whatsapp and the most unexpected of friends (who seems entirely fortunate and in control) has just messaged back saying Yes, this last week he has been the same. Bizarre, frightening moments of suicidality.
!!
It kinda helps. I hope I have helped him in return.
We really are all in this together, and I trust, even though this sounds trite, that together we really will all pull through.
How about travelling around the country with socially distanced meetings with other PBers.
There might even be a book in it for one of your associates - a modern day Daniel Defoe experience.
There is something in that. I am already planning a road trip next week - out of town - thank F - to see some friends and family I haven't seen since Covid began in March.
I think one of my problems is that I am used to a life of endless travel and movement.
I don't mind solitude, I even like it (within reason) but the sense of being stuck, with no obvious route out, is quite desolating, in an unexpected way. We are all jailed, however benignly.
I nearly kicked a pigeon to death today. I didn't do it, obviously. I am civilised. But this stupid ugly filthy pointless rat of a bird was squatting in my way and I got this upwelling of near-impotent violence.
Fascinating to hear all these stories, from The Union Divvie to Doug Seal to Northern Monkey, Beverly d (spelling?), NigelB, Foxy, and Casino, and on, and everyone. My sincere thanks. This is genuinely appreciated and you are genuinely helping a newt painter in a crisis, So, thankyou, from me. I have been down before, even nihilistic - for years - but this odd desire to glug a tankard of hemlock is scary and new.
Another weird symptom is this: that I keep falling asleep at the weirdest moments. Not just late afternoon or after dinner, like some average old bint, but at 11.30am or just now. Like the body wants to switch off, just in case.
Very peculiar.
One upside: I've been similarly honest on Whatsapp and the most unexpected of friends (who seems entirely fortunate and in control) has just messaged back saying Yes, this last week he has been the same. Bizarre, frightening moments of suicidality.
!!
It kinda helps. I hope I have helped him in return.
We really are all in this together, and I trust, even though this sounds trite, that together we really will all pull through.
How about travelling around the country with socially distanced meetings with other PBers.
There might even be a book in it for one of your associates - a modern day Daniel Defoe experience.
There is something in that. I am already planning a road trip next week - out of town - thank F - to see some friends and family I haven't seen since Covid began in March.
I think one of my problems is that I am used to a life of endless travel and movement.
I don't mind solitude, I even like it (within reason) but the sense of being stuck, with no obvious route out, is quite desolating, in an unexpected way. We are all jailed, however benignly.
I nearly kicked a pigeon to death today. I didn't do it, obviously. I am civilised. But this stupid ugly filthy pointless rat of a bird was squatting in my way and I got this upwelling of near-impotent violence.
Lucky bastard waddled off just in time.
O Tempora, O Mores.
Perhaps the pigeon was going though its own crisis? You could be birds of a feather!
Go to Nevada. Las Vegas is open. You can go and stay at the Bellagio or the Wynn or the Ritz Carlton (all Five Star hotels) for $120 a night. You can gamble and drink in bars and eat good food. And you can fly to Vegas for a fraction of the normal price.
The Vegas occupancy rate is normally 89%.
Yet it's a ghost town right now. People simply aren't going to Vegas (no matter how cheap it is) because they're scared of catching CV19. Irrespective of government diktat, behaviour is changed.
No we can't. America's borders are closed to the British.
As to why Americans aren't going to Vegas, that's a different question. Much of the weekend traffic comes from CA and from more conservative parts of the country - people come to Vegas to do what they can't do at home.
On my way back from Santa Fe, I went via Barstow. That's traditionally the halfway stop between Vegas and LA, where one stops for an In'n'Out Burger and to stretch one's legs. Sunday, 3pm, it's usually heaving as the weekend crew head back from Vegas. When we were passing through three weeks ago, it was dead.
Californians aren't doing the weekend trip.
It is, of course, where the drugs began to take hold...
I've never read Fear and Loathing,
Should I?
Fck me, yes. PG Wodehouse at his best level of funny.
ETA and the only opening line which will ever be competitive with "Call me Ishmael."
I'm trying to read David Bowie's 100 favourite books before all this is more or less over. I'm on the Iliad and have decided Homer needed a good editor. The endless battle scenes in the middle....I love a good war story as much as the next man but....urgh....
You could always amuse yourself by spotting glitches in the matrix of oral composition. One of the best is the occurrence of the exact same long sequence of kills on two occasions in the Iliad (1 Greek, 1 Trojan, 1 Greek, 3 Trojans, 1 Greek, 24 Trojans). Both build up to the aristeia of a Greek hero (Patroclus, Achilles), and culminate in the killing of a major Trojan champion (Sarpedon, Hector), with both sequences initiated by the death of an obscure Greek bearing the same name - Schedios - who is twice killed by the same Trojan, Hector...
Perhaps different guys with same name, like Pliny/Pitt/Bush the Elder & Younger?
How's THAT for uninformed commentary . . . in best PB tradition!
They are the sons of different fathers (though both are Phocians), so our oral poet has that get-out clause. But given that this is the only occasion in the poem where the same hero kills a warrior of the same name more than once and initiates a multi-book narratological pattern, we are entitled to be a bit sceptical. The poet probably had a story sequence in mind that went something like 'Hector ascendant – Greek aristeia coming – major Greek hero kills major Trojan’, and he happened to choose the insignificant Schedios to kick it off. Then when he reached a point in the story for the pattern to repeat itself, he thought ‘How does that one begin again? Ah, that's right, “Hector kills Schedios” ... oh bugger!’
If everything goes great we might be able to go to Cornwall on holiday next year (with masks) & by Christmas 2021 have the family around....
Appreciate you are being a bit sarcastic but to respond seriously, we have just had a great week in Cornwall.
I can confirm that Covid-19 has had no effect whatsoever on the beauty of the beaches. Mask use where required was 100% from all we saw. We had a great meal at St Petroc's Bistro in Padstow.
Go to Nevada. Las Vegas is open. You can go and stay at the Bellagio or the Wynn or the Ritz Carlton (all Five Star hotels) for $120 a night. You can gamble and drink in bars and eat good food. And you can fly to Vegas for a fraction of the normal price.
The Vegas occupancy rate is normally 89%.
Yet it's a ghost town right now. People simply aren't going to Vegas (no matter how cheap it is) because they're scared of catching CV19. Irrespective of government diktat, behaviour is changed.
No we can't. America's borders are closed to the British.
As to why Americans aren't going to Vegas, that's a different question. Much of the weekend traffic comes from CA and from more conservative parts of the country - people come to Vegas to do what they can't do at home.
On my way back from Santa Fe, I went via Barstow. That's traditionally the halfway stop between Vegas and LA, where one stops for an In'n'Out Burger and to stretch one's legs. Sunday, 3pm, it's usually heaving as the weekend crew head back from Vegas. When we were passing through three weeks ago, it was dead.
Californians aren't doing the weekend trip.
It is, of course, where the drugs began to take hold...
I've never read Fear and Loathing,
Should I?
Fck me, yes. PG Wodehouse at his best level of funny.
ETA and the only opening line which will ever be competitive with "Call me Ishmael."
I'm trying to read David Bowie's 100 favourite books before all this is more or less over. I'm on the Iliad and have decided Homer needed a good editor. The endless battle scenes in the middle....I love a good war story as much as the next man but....urgh....
You could always amuse yourself by spotting glitches in the matrix of oral composition. One of the best is the occurrence of the exact same long sequence of kills on two occasions in the Iliad (1 Greek, 1 Trojan, 1 Greek, 3 Trojans, 1 Greek, 24 Trojans). Both build up to the aristeia of a Greek hero (Patroclus, Achilles), and culminate in the killing of a major Trojan champion (Sarpedon, Hector), with both sequences initiated by the death of an obscure Greek bearing the same name - Schedios - who is twice killed by the same Trojan, Hector...
Perhaps different guys with same name, like Pliny/Pitt/Bush the Elder & Younger?
How's THAT for uninformed commentary . . . in best PB tradition!
They are the sons of different fathers (though both are Phocians), so our oral poet has that get-out clause. But given that this is the only occasion in the poem where the same hero kills a warrior of the same name more than once and initiates a multi-book narratological pattern, we are entitled to be a bit sceptical. The poet probably had a story sequence in mind that went something like 'Hector ascendant – Greek aristeia coming – major Greek hero kills major Trojan’, and he happened to choose the insignificant Schedios to kick it off. Then when he reached a point in the story for the pattern to repeat itself, he thought ‘How does that one begin again? Ah, that's right, “Hector kills Schedios” ... oh bugger!’
Well, I saw Lon Chaney walking with the Queen Doing the Werewolves of London I saw Lon Chaney, Jr. walking with the Queen Doing the Werewolves of London
(Cf. the 28.6% chance they gave him just ahead of the 2016 election).
What happens when a populist becomes unpopular.
Ask the ghost of Joe McCarthy.
Anyway, Trumpsky says he may move out of US if he loses (YEAH) and given his "love" of Scotland - or rather Scottish real estate - would guess that he just might end up seeking asylum with his good pal the PM.
(Cf. the 28.6% chance they gave him just ahead of the 2016 election).
What happens when a populist becomes unpopular.
Ask the ghost of Joe McCarthy.
Anyway, Trumpsky says he may move out of US if he loses (YEAH) and given his "love" of Scotland - or rather Scottish real estate - would guess that he just might end up seeking asylum with his good pal the PM.
(Cf. the 28.6% chance they gave him just ahead of the 2016 election).
What happens when a populist becomes unpopular.
Anyway, Trumpsky says he may move out of US if he loses (YEAH).
Even trying to picture it from the point of view of someone who likes him, I cannot imagine why he would possibly say such a thing. If he weren't joking he looks petty and bitter, transactional even in love of country, and if he was joking where's the humour in the idea for his supporters?
Folk have existed on Earth for thousands of generations. Earth is something like 4 or 5 billion years old. But the star which it orbits is made of leftovers from previous generations of stars. So we are made of stardust. Dark matter and dark energy contribute very much more to the energy in the universe than matter as we know it. Slowly by fits and starts this hugeness has, over a long time. contrived to produce homo sapiens, and probably other self-aware creatures. Each of us manifests a high degree of order with a concomitant brief existence. We are infinitesimal really, but given faculties we can do things. It's almost as if there is a God who is so omnipotent that he set in motion the possibility that homo saps should get down and dirty, muck about, and messily experience the vasty vastness he set in motion.
He should already be filing VAT for sales in EU. And when it comes to VAT, the EU has the most stupid rules, especially for digital goods.
Anybody who sells digital goods in the EU will tell you they managed to come with the worst possible system ever, supposedly to combat the likes of Amazon, but all they screwed were the little man.
I have gone through something similar. We all find our own ways of holding on. For me it has been the need to look after my children. What has made these last months so difficult is that I have been separated from some of them and have been unable to help, indeed, have felt like the problem.
Hence pouring out some of my worries about Daughter on here.
I hope you find the help you need. But there are lots of us here who wish you better, whatever other differences we have. And I hope that will be of some help.
You are not alone.
It really does disturb me for both of you and many others
Please stay the course and seek professional help through the Samaritans or your GP
It is very close to home in so far as my eldest is in crisis with somatoform and PTSD, so much so that he has stopped work, driving and living any kind of life without these awful daily shadows of mental health
He is under one of the leading mental health professionals in Canada and has been offered ECT which is a very controversial treatment but we can only pray he finds a way through.
There are so many mental health issues it is frightening and everybody involved in mental care has my full support and understanding
(Cf. the 28.6% chance they gave him just ahead of the 2016 election).
What happens when a populist becomes unpopular.
Anyway, Trumpsky says he may move out of US if he loses (YEAH).
Even trying to picture it from the point of view of someone who likes him, I cannot imagine why he would possibly say such a thing. If he weren't joking he looks petty and bitter, transactional even in love of country, and if he was joking where's the humour in the idea for his supporters?
Best thing is remembering how back in 2001, Republicans had fun laughing their asses off at dipshit Democrats who moaned about how they were gonna move to Canada.
NOW we've got THE great horses ass of the early 20th century moaning about how he'll move if he loses.
Which proves just what a loser he really is, regardless of how the election turns out.
If everything goes great we might be able to go to Cornwall on holiday next year (with masks) & by Christmas 2021 have the family around....
Appreciate you are being a bit sarcastic but to respond seriously, we have just had a great week in Cornwall.
I can confirm that Covid-19 has had no effect whatsoever on the beauty of the beaches. Mask use where required was 100% from all we saw. We had a great meal at St Petroc's Bistro in Padstow.
Don't wait until next year, go now, is my advice!
It might have sounded sarcastic, but that is actually what the article says.
Yes, I read that. It’s interesting, but I think the Politico one better. The Democrats seem to be beginning to get their act together at the state level, and this is part of it. Both that, and demographics in the Latino electorate will magnify the effect over the next couple of electoral cycles, probably.
"The discontent successfully exploited by the Conservatives during last year’s general election in areas like this didn’t vanish when the polls closed and it was certainly apparent this week.
“It’s been slowly brewing for decades,” says one official of the resentment that has erupted in the past few days, a sentiment by no means unique to Greater Manchester.
IF the Republic of the North gets off the ground AND confederates with Cornwall plus East Cornwall Co-Prosperity Sphere THEN Boris Johnson fiefdom will be reduced to East Anglia, (most of) the Home Counties and the Great Wen of London.
(Cf. the 28.6% chance they gave him just ahead of the 2016 election).
What happens when a populist becomes unpopular.
Ask the ghost of Joe McCarthy.
Anyway, Trumpsky says he may move out of US if he loses (YEAH) and given his "love" of Scotland - or rather Scottish real estate - would guess that he just might end up seeking asylum with his good pal the PM.
They can both sod off to Moscow. I wonder if Philby & Burgess's flats are still available?
"The discontent successfully exploited by the Conservatives during last year’s general election in areas like this didn’t vanish when the polls closed and it was certainly apparent this week.
“It’s been slowly brewing for decades,” says one official of the resentment that has erupted in the past few days, a sentiment by no means unique to Greater Manchester.
“Covid has really been the last straw.” "
There are plenty of southerners on here who do not realise that we are heading towards a very divided country.
Greater Manc population is almost the same as Wales with a much larger economy.
We are not far from an anti-south party doing very very very well around here,
IF the Republic of the North gets off the ground AND confederates with Cornwall plus East Cornwall Co-Prosperity Sphere THEN Boris Johnson fiefdom will be reduced to East Anglia, (most of) the Home Counties and the Great Wen of London.
Which would probably make a lot of his supporters very happy indeed as the True England would be reborn
Fascinating to hear all these stories, from The Union Divvie to Doug Seal to Northern Monkey, Beverly d (spelling?), NigelB, Foxy, and Casino, and on, and everyone. My sincere thanks. This is genuinely appreciated and you are genuinely helping a newt painter in a crisis, So, thankyou, from me. I have been down before, even nihilistic - for years - but this odd desire to glug a tankard of hemlock is scary and new.
Another weird symptom is this: that I keep falling asleep at the weirdest moments. Not just late afternoon or after dinner, like some average old bint, but at 11.30am or just now. Like the body wants to switch off, just in case.
Very peculiar.
One upside: I've been similarly honest on Whatsapp and the most unexpected of friends (who seems entirely fortunate and in control) has just messaged back saying Yes, this last week he has been the same. Bizarre, frightening moments of suicidality.
!!
It kinda helps. I hope I have helped him in return.
We really are all in this together, and I trust, even though this sounds trite, that together we really will all pull through.
Suicide ideation and sleeping a lot are classic symptoms of depression, unfortunately. Definitely get on the blower to your GP asap.
There’ll be thousands of people in the same boat. But you can get through it.
"The discontent successfully exploited by the Conservatives during last year’s general election in areas like this didn’t vanish when the polls closed and it was certainly apparent this week.
“It’s been slowly brewing for decades,” says one official of the resentment that has erupted in the past few days, a sentiment by no means unique to Greater Manchester.
“Covid has really been the last straw.” "
There are plenty of southerners on here who do not realise that we are heading towards a very divided country.
Greater Manc population is almost the same as Wales with a much larger economy.
We are not far from an anti-south party doing very very very well around here,
Perhaps people do not see that because the same two parties as always continue to dominate as they have for 100 years. Sure, that doesn't mean they will continue to do so, but electorally where's the sign people are yearning for an anti-south party, or for one of the big ones to be more explicitly anti-south? They seem to be rewarding the same old shower.
It feels like how some used to insist people were becoming less and less engaged in politics even as turnout went up 4 GEs in a row (from a very low ebb, yes, but still a sign people were not becoming less engaged), or how sick they were of the big two when, outside Scotland, their share of the vote was going up.
"The discontent successfully exploited by the Conservatives during last year’s general election in areas like this didn’t vanish when the polls closed and it was certainly apparent this week.
“It’s been slowly brewing for decades,” says one official of the resentment that has erupted in the past few days, a sentiment by no means unique to Greater Manchester.
“Covid has really been the last straw.” "
There are plenty of southerners on here who do not realise that we are heading towards a very divided country.
Greater Manc population is almost the same as Wales with a much larger economy.
We are not far from an anti-south party doing very very very well around here,
It is similar up in the NE. Although we are avoiding confrontation thus far. This has been bubbling under for decades.
"The discontent successfully exploited by the Conservatives during last year’s general election in areas like this didn’t vanish when the polls closed and it was certainly apparent this week.
“It’s been slowly brewing for decades,” says one official of the resentment that has erupted in the past few days, a sentiment by no means unique to Greater Manchester.
“Covid has really been the last straw.” "
There are plenty of southerners on here who do not realise that we are heading towards a very divided country.
Greater Manc population is almost the same as Wales with a much larger economy.
We are not far from an anti-south party doing very very very well around here,
Perhaps people do not see that because the same two parties as always continue to dominate as they have for 100 years. Sure, that doesn't mean they will continue to do so, but electorally where's the sign people are yearning for an anti-south party, or for one of the big ones to be more explicitly anti-south?
Brexit.
Definitely driven in part by resentment and anger from being left behind.
"The discontent successfully exploited by the Conservatives during last year’s general election in areas like this didn’t vanish when the polls closed and it was certainly apparent this week.
“It’s been slowly brewing for decades,” says one official of the resentment that has erupted in the past few days, a sentiment by no means unique to Greater Manchester.
“Covid has really been the last straw.” "
There are plenty of southerners on here who do not realise that we are heading towards a very divided country.
Greater Manc population is almost the same as Wales with a much larger economy.
We are not far from an anti-south party doing very very very well around here,
Perhaps people do not see that because the same two parties as always continue to dominate as they have for 100 years. Sure, that doesn't mean they will continue to do so, but electorally where's the sign people are yearning for an anti-south party, or for one of the big ones to be more explicitly anti-south?
Brexit.
Definitely driven in part by resentment and anger from being left behind.
"Red Wall" also. A rejection of a deeply Londoncentric Labour which failed to heed the north. From which the Tories, (not their new found Northern Mps), but the Johnson/Cummings clique, appear to be drawing all the wrong lessons.
"The discontent successfully exploited by the Conservatives during last year’s general election in areas like this didn’t vanish when the polls closed and it was certainly apparent this week.
“It’s been slowly brewing for decades,” says one official of the resentment that has erupted in the past few days, a sentiment by no means unique to Greater Manchester.
“Covid has really been the last straw.” "
There are plenty of southerners on here who do not realise that we are heading towards a very divided country.
Greater Manc population is almost the same as Wales with a much larger economy.
We are not far from an anti-south party doing very very very well around here,
Perhaps people do not see that because the same two parties as always continue to dominate as they have for 100 years. Sure, that doesn't mean they will continue to do so, but electorally where's the sign people are yearning for an anti-south party, or for one of the big ones to be more explicitly anti-south?
Brexit.
Definitely driven in part by resentment and anger from being left behind.
"Red Wall" also. A rejection of a deeply Londoncentric Labour which failed to heed the north. From which the Tories, (not their new found Northern Mps), but the Johnson/Cummings clique, appear to be drawing all the wrong lessons.
Yep. It is not just Scotland that is becoming a disunited kingdom.
"The discontent successfully exploited by the Conservatives during last year’s general election in areas like this didn’t vanish when the polls closed and it was certainly apparent this week.
“It’s been slowly brewing for decades,” says one official of the resentment that has erupted in the past few days, a sentiment by no means unique to Greater Manchester.
“Covid has really been the last straw.” "
There are plenty of southerners on here who do not realise that we are heading towards a very divided country.
Greater Manc population is almost the same as Wales with a much larger economy.
We are not far from an anti-south party doing very very very well around here,
Perhaps people do not see that because the same two parties as always continue to dominate as they have for 100 years. Sure, that doesn't mean they will continue to do so, but electorally where's the sign people are yearning for an anti-south party, or for one of the big ones to be more explicitly anti-south?
Brexit.
Definitely driven in part by resentment and anger from being left behind.
"Red Wall" also. A rejection of a deeply Londoncentric Labour which failed to heed the north. From which the Tories, (not their new found Northern Mps), but the Johnson/Cummings clique, appear to be drawing all the wrong lessons.
Yep. It is not just Scotland that is becoming a disunited kingdom.
But the real question is who is going to get there first?
And well done to Labor in New Zealand, this will be the start of a centre-left resurgence continuing with Labour getting back into Government here in 2024
Some people (not on PB) seem to be saying that a national lockdown is a good idea simply because it wouldn't make those living in particular areas feel "singled out" so to speak. I have to say this is the most stupid argument I've ever heard in my life.
Belated sympathies to Lady G (I've been off the forum most of the day) - I agree with the comments that talking to your GP is a preiority. In a perhaps very limited way, I wonder if the wide circle of people here who enjoy your style and wish you well may help (nothing to do with disagreeing with opinions). You enrich the site and we appreciate you.
Lady G, sorry you have been feeling so down. It is pretty grim right now. I hope you feel better soon, with the support of loved ones. We all need to look out for each other.
Some people (not on PB) seem to be saying that a national lockdown is a good idea simply because it wouldn't make those living in particular areas feel "singled out" so to speak. I have to say this is the most stupid argument I've ever heard in my life.
Speaking from the Northwest I 100% agree.
On the other hand if we are to be locked down then during the lockdown period full lockdown support should be given to those banned by law from temporarily working.
And well done to Labor in New Zealand, this will be the start of a centre-left resurgence continuing with Labour getting back into Government here in 2024
I don't know if you've noticed, but the LOESS smooth on Wikipedia of GB opinion polls now has Labour and Tory as currently tied.
Comments
The first angel went and poured out his bowl on the land, and ugly and painful sores broke out on the people who had the mark of the beast and worshiped his image.
The second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it turned into blood like that of a dead man, and every living thing in the sea died.
The third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood.
Then I heard the angel in charge of the waters say: "You are just in these judgments, you who are and who were, the Holy One, because you have so judged.
(One of last year’s laureates for medicine.)
https://twitter.com/FredrikJutfelt/status/1316992237939658753
We are self isolating anyway, even tho' our risk is apparently "medium".
Ms Adern was dealt a good hand but played it brilliantly re Covid. Fair play top marks. Her landslide was inevitable from a grateful nation.
(Google Mohamed El Naschie for an egregious case, one I remember well from when it first broke.)
--AS
We've had thousands, possibly tens of thousands of students infected, in recent weeks.
How many have required medical treatment / hospitalised / died ?
At least no one from PHE hasn't left the entire dataset on a memory stick on a train yet.
If we've already had 40k this year purely from COVID in people that wouldn't have died anyway then yes the numbers are too optimistic.
Perhaps it is so contagious that we'd have the 160k extra deaths, but all in one year and then it would be finished. I would be interested to see how areas like Bergamo do with a second wave, perhaps they have already had enough cases to have herd immunity already. I see London is doing better this time around for example.
I take issue with the idea that people changing their behaviour themselves or be dictated to by governments have the same cost financially and personally.
Millions of people weighing up the risk/reward themselves is preferable to the state deciding it all for us. Like central planning versus the free market, but with health thrown in to the mix.
I have gone through something similar. We all find our own ways of holding on. For me it has been the need to look after my children. What has made these last months so difficult is that I have been separated from some of them and have been unable to help, indeed, have felt like the problem.
Hence pouring out some of my worries about Daughter on here.
I hope you find the help you need. But there are lots of us here who wish you better, whatever other differences we have. And I hope that will be of some help.
You are not alone.
Fascinating to hear all these stories, from The Union Divvie to Doug Seal to Northern Monkey, Beverly d (spelling?), NigelB, Foxy, and Casino, and on, and everyone. My sincere thanks. This is genuinely appreciated and you are genuinely helping a newt painter in a crisis, So, thankyou, from me. I have been down before, even nihilistic - for years - but this odd desire to glug a tankard of hemlock is scary and new.
Another weird symptom is this: that I keep falling asleep at the weirdest moments. Not just late afternoon or after dinner, like some average old bint, but at 11.30am or just now. Like the body wants to switch off, just in case.
Very peculiar.
One upside: I've been similarly honest on Whatsapp and the most unexpected of friends (who seems entirely fortunate and in control) has just messaged back saying Yes, this last week he has been the same. Bizarre, frightening moments of suicidality.
!!
It kinda helps. I hope I have helped him in return.
We really are all in this together, and I trust, even though this sounds trite, that together we really will all pull through.
There might even be a book in it for one of your associates - a modern day Daniel Defoe experience.
How's THAT for uninformed commentary . . . in best PB tradition!
Germany is still single figures isn't it, with the 90m population
So, you are certainly not alone.
But deffo talk to your GP next week.
I think one of my problems is that I am used to a life of endless travel and movement.
I don't mind solitude, I even like it (within reason) but the sense of being stuck, with no obvious route out, is quite desolating, in an unexpected way. We are all jailed, however benignly.
I nearly kicked a pigeon to death today. I didn't do it, obviously. I am civilised. But this stupid ugly filthy pointless rat of a bird was squatting in my way and I got this upwelling of near-impotent violence.
Lucky bastard waddled off just in time.
O Tempora, O Mores.
I can confirm that Covid-19 has had no effect whatsoever on the beauty of the beaches. Mask use where required was 100% from all we saw. We had a great meal at St Petroc's Bistro in Padstow.
Don't wait until next year, go now, is my advice!
https://twitter.com/WilliamShatner/status/1316887009198141441
What an uplifting place PB can be sometimes!
Hats off to Smithson Snr and Jnr and to TSE and others for providing this place.
(Cf. the 28.6% chance they gave him just ahead of the 2016 election).
Doing the Werewolves of London
I saw Lon Chaney, Jr. walking with the Queen
Doing the Werewolves of London
NYTimes
Any chance of a NoJam prediction contest for POTUS, The prize being bragging rights?
Anyway, Trumpsky says he may move out of US if he loses (YEAH) and given his "love" of Scotland - or rather Scottish real estate - would guess that he just might end up seeking asylum with his good pal the PM.
(The sentiment, rather than the ad itself, though it is rather good.)
https://twitter.com/ProjectLincoln/status/1317195767036186625
https://twitter.com/clairecmc/status/1315691917817139206?s=19
Anybody who sells digital goods in the EU will tell you they managed to come with the worst possible system ever, supposedly to combat the likes of Amazon, but all they screwed were the little man.
Please stay the course and seek professional help through the Samaritans or your GP
It is very close to home in so far as my eldest is in crisis with somatoform and PTSD, so much so that he has stopped work, driving and living any kind of life without these awful daily shadows of mental health
He is under one of the leading mental health professionals in Canada and has been offered ECT which is a very controversial treatment but we can only pray he finds a way through.
There are so many mental health issues it is frightening and everybody involved in mental care has my full support and understanding
My best wishes to both of you
NOW we've got THE great horses ass of the early 20th century moaning about how he'll move if he loses.
Which proves just what a loser he really is, regardless of how the election turns out.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2020/10/17/tony-blair-accused-breaking-quarantine-rules-us-trip/
But, Tony Blair looks good, tanned and suave. I expect he is indestructible.
https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/northern-republic-now-defiant-banner-19122041
I seem to recall a bit of a fuss when Blair turned up at PMQs with glasses back in the day.
The point that Trump is exporting (probably not with great success) his Florida messaging to other states is an interesting one.
Healthcare is an exceptionally important issue.
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/10/17/voto-latino-interview-2020-election-429857
FWIW, I’ve been very impressed by the quality of Politicos’s stuff this cycle.
Not sustainable
Viva Le Republic de Mancunia
https://twitter.com/TheAtlantic/status/1317483745721671688?s=19
https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/we-can-understand-anger-behind-19115349
The Democrats seem to be beginning to get their act together at the state level, and this is part of it.
Both that, and demographics in the Latino electorate will magnify the effect over the next couple of electoral cycles, probably.
Texas is the big prize.
https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/melodrama-melancholy-madness-inside-greater-19122824
"The discontent successfully exploited by the Conservatives during last year’s general election in areas like this didn’t vanish when the polls closed and it was certainly apparent this week.
“It’s been slowly brewing for decades,” says one official of the resentment that has erupted in the past few days, a sentiment by no means unique to Greater Manchester.
“Covid has really been the last straw.” "
https://twitter.com/MsHelicat/status/1317579650353319936?s=19
I claim dibs on Graham getting the boot - if only as I’ve been foolish enough to put a bit of cash on it, at less than stellar odds.
They can both sod off to Moscow. I wonder if Philby & Burgess's flats are still available?
Greater Manc population is almost the same as Wales with a much larger economy.
We are not far from an anti-south party doing very very very well around here,
There’ll be thousands of people in the same boat. But you can get through it.
It feels like how some used to insist people were becoming less and less engaged in politics even as turnout went up 4 GEs in a row (from a very low ebb, yes, but still a sign people were not becoming less engaged), or how sick they were of the big two when, outside Scotland, their share of the vote was going up.
Definitely driven in part by resentment and anger from being left behind.
From which the Tories, (not their new found Northern Mps), but the Johnson/Cummings clique, appear to be drawing all the wrong lessons.
And well done to Labor in New Zealand, this will be the start of a centre-left resurgence continuing with Labour getting back into Government here in 2024
On the other hand if we are to be locked down then during the lockdown period full lockdown support should be given to those banned by law from temporarily working.
https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Opinion_polling_for_the_next_United_Kingdom_general_election_after_2019_(LOESS).svg