Westministenders: Don't forget to stockpile. Again.

[RedToothBrush]

The government is telling pharmacists and drug manufactures to stockpile drugs ahead of the end of transition on 31st December.

In the middle of a pandemic.

What could go wrong?

and ...

and from my other homeland ... (apologies for poor formatting).

www.repubblica.it/esteri/2020/08/09/news/sir_nicholas_soames_this_is_the_worst_cabinet_in_my_36_years_and_boris_will_never_be_churchill_-264279283/

Interviewer: After what Cummings did on that occasion, among the public the perception of respecting the rules apparently changed a lot, as a recent study noted.
Sir Nicholas Soames: “It was deeply damaging to the government's message. It was extremely damaging to the Prime minister. The PM is extremely loyal, he knew that if he let Dominic Cummings go, that would be the end of it. So you'll never see him let anyone go. I mean, Jenrick, frankly, he should have gone. In any other administration, he would have been made to go, Robert Jenrick. I like Robert very much, he's a very good man, but he committed a serious error of judgment. We all commit errors of judgement, but when you are a minister of the Crown, you can't do that”.
...
Interviewer: Maybe there is a kind of “gang culture" in the government?
SNS: “Well, I saw a minister this morning who's a very good friend of mine. I said: “What’s it like working for the government?”. The response was: “It's very interesting, I’m loving my job, but every decision that any minister has taken has to all be referred back to number 10… it is absolutely insane”. And this is the grip, the iron grip of the number 10 policy thing. It's very damaging to a government that professes to want to devolve power very widely dispersed through the country. I think they are going to do so, but it sort of sends the wrong message. It is a very average government. I've never seen such an absolutely dismal cabinet. It’s the worst cabinet in my 36 years, also elected solely for the purpose of facing Brexit to get it done. It’s got some very average people. I don't see how you really challenge and you can't really challenge anything. That's the trouble”.
...
Interviewer: Have you ever seen in your long career such a powerful figure in a British government like Dominic Cummings?
SNS: “No. Look, I have got nothing personal against Dominic Cummings. I've only met him once: that was on the day that Boris sacked me and 21 others from the Tory Party for voting against the Brexit thing. I met him in the anteroom at Number 10. I went up and introduced myself to him and no one else was talking and he was extremely civil. We had a very nice talk. I know his family a little bit. I have nothing against him at all, but he's aggressive… his whole mode is like something I've never seen in government before. People always used to say that of Charles Powell, Margaret Thatcher's private secretary, not like Cummings’ stuff, but like “He’s got too much influence, etc”. This is absolute rubbish. Charles used his influence and power extremely judiciously in the interests of his boss, the Prime minister. Dominic Cummings, a lot of what he does, is very interesting and very good. But a lot of the other stuff he does is not interesting and not good. Alastair Campbell, quite rightly said: “When you become the news, that's the time to go””.

@SabrinaThwaite

DGR the amendment was to prevent MP's arrests being made public (announced in the House) at the point of arrest (which was the old system) to being at the point of charge, unless the MP consents.

Shrug

the chamber of the House of Commons is a unique space in the universe. Only it's own laws apply there. The confluence of constitutional, civil and criminal law in such circumstances is probably not easily discussed in headlines ...

That wasn't from the headlines, that was from Hansard.

In other news for Brexit pets, some more hoops to jump through

www.gov.uk/guidance/pet-travel-to-europe-after-brexit

Thanks for the hint about Dutch, @Pepperwort. I have been refreshing my embarrassing levels of French on Duolingo and I hold out a faint hope of visiting the Netherlands in the future, once we have something approaching a diplomatic relationship, again.

The entire Government of Lebanon is set to resign - that actually surprised me. Is this what the corruption looks like when hitting rock-bottom?

.

Scotland doesn't need a peace bribe though

MP for Rye having her arse handed to her on Channel 4 news . Clutching at her pearls and talking about the illegal immigrants and saying we should work with the EU to solve the problem🤔I mean ffs can't she see her hypocrisy

Dutch is a good shout as well @Pepperwort . I did it as a third optional language at uni but struggled with the pronunciation.
I can recommend Duolingo for basics at least. I currently have Spanish, Norwegian and Polish on the go.

I've found it very useful that I can figure out written Dutch

• just by knowing German and English, with the help of the bits of Latin & French I can remember from school and never used.

[quote quiteathome]@DGRossetti

Friends and I have chatted about the fact that Covid will probably become endemic and something like flu, which people get a yearly vaccination for.

Although I wonder how countries like New Zealand will cope. As they can't remain closed off forever.

I suppose it is still fairly early days.[/quote]
....
Many scientists have been saying for months that COVID is likely to be an annual jab (like flu !)
I don't think any of them claimed immunity would be lifelong / longterm

Fauci was saying that even an early vaccination would probably give > 50% immunity, which would be a gamechanger,
especially as a lot of the other 50% would probably have less severe symptoms

Also said that it could be > 70 % especially for the later vaccines
Since the mutlitude of COVID variants don't seem to change its characteristics significantly, vaccines would be continually refined and improved

We can live with COVID if we have a vaccination that gives even 50% immunity, as it would drastically reduce effective R0 and increase public confidence
All the while, the treatments would be improved too

I assume NZ and all other countries would open up to vaccinated travellers

There are some countries that demand a vac certificate for a couple of endemic illnesses, so there is precedent for requiring this documentation before entry

I do find it ridiculous that pupils with a very poor grasp of English (reading ages of approx 8 years not uncommon among teenagers)

By about age 8 many students with English as their first language have reached the limits of the vocabulary available in their own home environments.

By about age 8 many students with English as their first language have reached the limits of the vocabulary available in their own home environments.

That is utterly depressing. I know it's true but still. I wish it didn't have to be.

So if you can't read properly you can't expand your vocabulary?

I’d say that the majority of children I’ve taught have rarely had a meaningful conversation with an adult outside school, let alone read a book of any sort. Most domestic discourse is entirely trivia.

Dutch is also fun because no Dutchman expects anyone, English in particular to speak it, yet every Dutch speaks at least 3 languages. I think the Dutch sense of humour is possibly the closest, of the mainland Europeans to that of the English. (I worked with a team at Fokker for a few years - loved that the Dutch slang for an English an on holiday translated as lobster.)

I often wonder what other families talk about. Dd and I have no secrets (impossible tbh as she is like my shadow, particularly in this pandemic) and I found myself explaining prostitution to her and the pros and cons of legalisation a couple of days ago. It's the kind of thing that seems to happen organically (this was sparked by something on the radio) but then I will worry that other 9yr olds probably don't know that and does she need to? Would teachers worry if she suddenly came out with something about the Red Light District? I try, in as non-depressing way as I can make it sound - to live as if I might die next week; any topic which she might need to know about if I wasn't here I want to go over. Maybe it's to do with my mum dying fairly young but I'd hate for her to not have someone to explain things. She's at an age where she is starting to research for herself, but if she can ask me she will, which I like.

I think attitude is all here. You either hear a word you've never heard and look it up or you don't. And if you're going to snigger at "dictionary" and wonder if a thesaurus would beat a tyrannosaurus then the fact you can know any word in milliseconds in 2020 is going to be an irrelevance.

Remember: in England, it's the sin of swots to use "big words"

I still love using Roget's Thesauraus (the book ) because of the rabbit holes of suggestions, synonyms and antonyms it can send you down

www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2020/08/sugar/

Fascinating look at the sugar situation - with a note that developing countries look set to stop exporting raw materials for a pittance, and look to move into exporting finished materials - getting to keep the premium added when they are processed in the developed word.

Dd's favourite discovery as an 8yr old was plumbum. Queen Elizabeth had plumbum on her face, etc.

Ooh, DGR:
what year say !