Westministenders: A Year of Johnson

[RedToothBrush]

So having given the benefit of the doubt...

... whats your reflections?

Good (and yes do have some thoughts on the positive - challenge yourself on this one as its important) and the bad (and yes this is the easy bit but keep it within reason)?

Further to the shops and shortages; ASDA have just cancelled my order for this afternoon "due to unforseen circumstances"

It's dd's b.day soon so it looks like we will be venturing out to get supplies in person after the tip run. A little more activity in town than I would like if I'm honest and in the heat.

Seems "Our Tommeh" isn't going to Spain now . I wonder if someone has explained how his criminal record may make Spanish residency now difficult?

www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/tommy-robinson-u-turn-spain-22450281

We’re all on edge. The next year is going to be a nightmare. What’s obvious is that all the chickens are coming home to roost and we’re going to be paying for the mismanagement of the UKs sociological conditions and increasing inequality over the last 40 years. Good luck to all and sundry.

Re ‘our Tommeh’, when this story broke I predicted that he had just gone on holiday and needed a bit of publicity to pay for his full English and Stella on the beach front.

I did think that 'Our Tommeh' would soon do something to break the law and get kicked out anyway.

Yesterday was hard.
I think it was the realisation that August is going to grind on just like the last few months.

BUT
My climbing french beans are now ripening
as are the tomatoes
aubergines are setting
as are squash
I'm going to have to pickle the courgettes as I have so many

Life goes on
just with less planes in the sky

Yes, I think most of us thought that it would be for a couple of months whereas now it looks as though it's going to be six months at least.

@ListeningQuietly spotted my first squash set today too. My salad potatoes in bags and my lettuce have been a hot weather meal life saver (even in Scotland!).

There's reason for optimism on the science front. The consortium I'm working with has a large number of papers in the publishing pipeline, and we're starting to understand more about how the virus attacks cells in different parts of the body. The vaccine efforts worldwide are so impressive too, though it's not my field and I can only rely on voices I've learned to trust. Cheer on the scientists, we've made huge strides in opening our data and methods in the last 6 months. All things that needed to happen and were happening slowly, but the crisis has been a catalyst and we've all learned new better ways of doing science that are becoming good habits.

Not all of us will leave due to Brexit either. I've been mulling it over for ages and we're not quite ready to go back to Canada. None of my team are leaving either, and 2/3rds of us have either dual or non British citizenship.

On the other hand
news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-millions-of-over-50s-could-be-told-to-stay-at-home-to-avoid-second-nationwide-lockdown-12040780

I am healthier and fitter and leaner than many youngsters
I'm damned if I'll stay at home thank you

@ListeningQuietly

On the other hand news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-millions-of-over-50s-could-be-told-to-stay-at-home-to-avoid-second-nationwide-lockdown-12040780

I am healthier and fitter and leaner than many youngsters
I'm damned if I'll stay at home thank you

Make that two.

On Matt Ashton and the local Liverpool public health initiative there was this good article a little while ago www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jul/15/englands-covid-19-frontlines-the-race-to-prevent-local-lockdowns?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

I certainly get a sense that local public health officials in the places that have locked down have more trust, and influence, and can therefore be more effective, than central government.

Sort of serendipity but the BBC drama about the public health response to the Salisbury bombings must have helped with that a little?

@ListeningQuietly

On the other hand news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-millions-of-over-50s-could-be-told-to-stay-at-home-to-avoid-second-nationwide-lockdown-12040780

I am healthier and fitter and leaner than many youngsters
I'm damned if I'll stay at home thank you

Maybe we need to find a way to move unnoticed throughout the land ?

Pretty certain we can knock up some everyday sexism outfits ? Unless someone has perfected the Someone Elses Problem field generator ?

That article basically says that Dim and Dishy have been kicking some ideas around including giving every over 50 a health risk assessment and locking down everything within the M25. Are we to assume that mind bending drugs were involved? They couldn’t even work out who needed shielding in the first place, I have a few friends who were sprung from shielding when their GPs got involved, at least two hospital trusts organised for shielding letters to be sent to everyone who had ever had Cancer even if it was years ago and they were fully recovered. And we are far from understanding what puts you at risk from Covid? I like the idea of border controls at the M25 though, after all London voted to remain, could we then declare independence and stay part of the EU.......

Sorry, rejoin the EU

Eid went ahead socially distanced www.asiansunday.co.uk/in-pictures-despite-short-notice-lockdown-rules-bradford-muslims-celebrate-eid-displaying-peace-unity-and-social-distancing/

[quote Emilyontmoor]Eid went ahead socially distanced www.asiansunday.co.uk/in-pictures-despite-short-notice-lockdown-rules-bradford-muslims-celebrate-eid-displaying-peace-unity-and-social-distancing/[/quote]
I'm not sure this tells the whole story though? Where are the women when men are praying?

Presumably there's more to Eid than men going to the mosque to pray.

Where are the women when men are praying?

Unless my knowledge is way out of whack, men and women pray separately in mosques, and Islam generally. No idea where men that identify as women go though.

Yes there are separate men’s and women’s prayer areas. I am not up for defending Islam as practised in many places with inbuilt cultural misogyny and homophobia and no doubt transphobia (none of which I am told by moderate Muslims is justified by the words of Mohammed in the Koran, ) However when politicians are saying the BAME community are not following the guidelines it does not hurt to give another perspective.

Many over 50s are valuable employees in key roles; there's a lot of people 50-67 in work:
businesses and public services would struggle if they stayed home

e.g. schools won't be ft if a significant number of over-50s stay home.

I don't need explain here, but I do sometimes on other threads:
new teachers, doctors, most professionals would require recruitment and then years of training; hence would not be available before the COVID crisis has passed

If the idea is the over-50s should go out to work, then straight home and stay there, from now until next spring ....
I expect the 2nd word of that reply would be "off"

All of the monotheistic religions are sexist
but Islam has the big problem of fatalism
the view that people will die when Allah determines it
which has made proactive changes very hard to implement

Its why I remain ultra ULTRA angry
that local public health teams who have the trust of and contacts with local community groups
were cut out of the COVID response
FFS the Leeds/Bradford team are finding ways to deal with the impact of cousin marriages
sensitive does not get tougher than that

but Hancock announces shit via twitter late at night

Too many who are religious still have the gullible nutter gene, which expresses itself in other perverse ways

and some of these people are in positions of power & influence

www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-53627888

Egypt has invited billionaire Elon Musk to visit the country and see for himself that its famous pyramids were not built by aliens.

Oops
Too many who are NOT religious still have the gullible nutter gene

Hence all the claims and demonstrations by fuckwits that COVID is a hoax created by Bill Gates / Soros / any Jews / the Left / alien lizards to microchip everyone by pretending it's a vaccination

The Nazis in the 1930s successfully spread the gross slander in Germany that vaccinations were a conspiracy by Jews to poison the German people

Unfortunately it took hold, especially in the former East, where the Communists encouraged conspiracy theories about external enemies as a distraction.
A significiant & vocal minority here still believe that all vaccines are part of a dangerous conspiracy to poison or microchip people,
even if - like my normally highly respectable NDN - not all of them blame Jews.

MMR takeup here has been so low that last year Parliament made it mandatory - I'm not sure if that will work, but the rise in measles had made it a major public health issue
Hence the fear stirred up by protestors that any COVID vaccine would also be compulsory

@ListeningQuietly

On the other hand news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-millions-of-over-50s-could-be-told-to-stay-at-home-to-avoid-second-nationwide-lockdown-12040780

I am healthier and fitter and leaner than many youngsters
I'm damned if I'll stay at home thank you

I saw someone on twitter suggesting, jokingly of course, that they should do the oof test. If you say oof when you get up from a chair you should be shielding, if you don't then you're ok.

I'm only 40 and I've oofed for a while, so can I offer my under 50 spot as a swap?

In reality my dmil is nearly 80 and she's a whole world fitter than the rest of the family put together! She'd be majorly pissed off if they went ahead with that.

Covid has really bought the gullible nutters out to play. Quite shocking how people you would think would know better are coming out with all these conspiracy theories. I had to point out to a friend of a friend that Swine flu was not a Corona virus and the people who caught it were mainly young because the rest of the population had developed immunity as a result of exposure to previous influenza viruses. Didn’t go in though, he is still spreading the it’s only flu, anti vaccs rubbish. He is a retired GP!

There was news coverage of a survey that said only 1 in 6 would accept a COVID vaccination, perhaps there is a gullible nutter pandemic going on as well as COVID?