andrewmcleod
Well-known member
I can only assume they ignore the scientific advice until the screaming from the offices of SAGE becomes too loud to bear.
The Eyam Spirit???
- Thread starter Roger W
- Start date
AR
Well-known member
This article (https://www.theregister.com/2020/12/21/thinktank_report/) from El Reg yesterday covering a thinktank's critique of the government's use of science is worth reading. All I will say is that if Boris is "following the science", then he needs to stop playing at being a leader, and put the scientists in the driving seat...
?Following the science? would have entailed 90% of the population being told never to leave their house for 1-2 years on pain of summary execution. It would clearly work. They actually did this in Spain pretty much for a while.
So, given that the population were highly unlikely to go along with this, it comes down to how many have to die so you can go out to the shops. 10,000?, 100,000? Anyone want to take a punt on ?acceptable losses??
In a similar vein, it is already clear that ?track and trace? has failed in every Western democracy. People don?t comply because they don?t have to. The police won?t enforce any lockdown because they know they will get slapped down.
Or you can live in China, where they do these things.
So, given that the population were highly unlikely to go along with this, it comes down to how many have to die so you can go out to the shops. 10,000?, 100,000? Anyone want to take a punt on ?acceptable losses??
In a similar vein, it is already clear that ?track and trace? has failed in every Western democracy. People don?t comply because they don?t have to. The police won?t enforce any lockdown because they know they will get slapped down.
Or you can live in China, where they do these things.
Mrs Trellis
Well-known member
I don't understand why track and trace failed so many times. Everyone knows where Mickey Mouse and Snow White live.
pwhole
Well-known member
Boris Johnson is just an awful caricature of the whole situation and a perfect demonstration to the world of our fundamental problem. Much of this country's infrastructure and social setups are actually almost broken - we just can't admit it as a country - yet. I'm supposed to qualify for a free flu vaccine this year. Total silence from my GP. Where is it? The TV ads tell me to talk to my pharmacist first, then my GP. Is that because my GP doesn't know I exist? My dentist hasn't been in touch for over a year about my twice-annual check-up. I appreciate they're busy, but - maybe an email to their customer list might be possible? Laughable.
We had the virus almost under control in August and then totally lost the plot over the need to be seen eating in restaurants and going on holiday. Now we're doing it again over 'Christmas' - which is an imaginary construct if ever there were one. Considering how much money is in this country it's a national embarrassment that we can't get it together to sort this out. Our general state of unfitness and poor health doesn't help either. Brexit is another national embarrassment - totally avoidable and totally stupid, and now kicking in at the worst possible time. All we have to do to fix this is not do it...
This is what happens when, amongst other things, you prioritise 'comfortable' middle-aged middle-class values over common sense, and maximise pension returns and house values instead of investing in the future of the country. And now we're sacrificing the future of the next generation to further protect the savings of the last two generations, even though they won't be around long enough to spend it. If I was 25 I would probably just be getting on with my life, as they are no doubt trying to do. And having sex with foreigners, ideally. Each street block of the City of London holds about a billion pounds-worth of property, which is now empty and unnecessary office-space. Flog it off for housing, now.
We're supposed to be building moon bases, eradicating poverty and drastically improving the lives of everyone worldwide so we can colonise everywhere, but we're actually obsessed with Strictly Come Dancing and Bake Off. The most painful bit of writing this for me is the 'we' bit - but I'm altruistic - and technically catholic, so I'm used to not getting what I want
We had the virus almost under control in August and then totally lost the plot over the need to be seen eating in restaurants and going on holiday. Now we're doing it again over 'Christmas' - which is an imaginary construct if ever there were one. Considering how much money is in this country it's a national embarrassment that we can't get it together to sort this out. Our general state of unfitness and poor health doesn't help either. Brexit is another national embarrassment - totally avoidable and totally stupid, and now kicking in at the worst possible time. All we have to do to fix this is not do it...
This is what happens when, amongst other things, you prioritise 'comfortable' middle-aged middle-class values over common sense, and maximise pension returns and house values instead of investing in the future of the country. And now we're sacrificing the future of the next generation to further protect the savings of the last two generations, even though they won't be around long enough to spend it. If I was 25 I would probably just be getting on with my life, as they are no doubt trying to do. And having sex with foreigners, ideally. Each street block of the City of London holds about a billion pounds-worth of property, which is now empty and unnecessary office-space. Flog it off for housing, now.
We're supposed to be building moon bases, eradicating poverty and drastically improving the lives of everyone worldwide so we can colonise everywhere, but we're actually obsessed with Strictly Come Dancing and Bake Off. The most painful bit of writing this for me is the 'we' bit - but I'm altruistic - and technically catholic, so I'm used to not getting what I want
Laurie
Active member
It's not just the politics.
Please remember those tens of thousands who've lost someone dear.
This was my Christmas card this year.....
I couldn't bring myself to produce my usual Land Rover related cards this year. I'll be celebrating (that's not really the word) Christmas apart from my lovely wife. Helena was taken from me on April the fifth by that horrible virus from the east. We were forced apart by the thing three weeks before that day and I was prevented from being anywhere near her from that day on. I was given no chance to say "Goodbye" or to be with her at the end. In fact I was never told how seriously ill she was.
Helena had taken a fall at home in February and broken her pelvis. After a brief stay in hospital she'd been removed to the local Intermediate Care Unit conveniently close to home, in Lewes. By mid-March the pandemic loomed and my daily visits came to a halt. I was reduced to regular phone calls to enquire of her condition. On the last day of March I contracted the virus and was removed to the Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath where I remained for the next three weeks. Mine was a reasonably light illness and I was able to continue my frequent phone calls to the Lewes Unit to enquire about Helena. On April the Second they told me that Helena also had also contracted the virus. "Never mind, she'll be fine" I was told, "She'll be home by the time you're recovered." I believed it, every time I phoned it was the same story, "No problems, she's doing fine, nothing to worry about."
On the morning of the fifth of April I overheard a voice on the nearby Ward Sister's mobile phone. Helena had slipped away in the early hours. My wife and my love and my friend of forty years was gone. No chance to see her, no chance to hold her, no chance to even say goodbye. Just gone.
Three weeks later, in the midst of Lockdown, an ambulance returned me to an unbelievably empty home.
I sincerely wish you the happiest of Christmases that the current clime will allow and my very best wishes for a better coming year.
Lord knows, we all need it.
I'm sorry if you had to read this twice to make any sense of it but nothing I do seems to make much sense any more.
Merry Christmas....
I had intended to spend Christmas and the new year with a few friends at the MNRS as my wife and I have done for the last 25+ years.
I internded to take my wife's ashes down for one last visit.....
Please remember those tens of thousands who've lost someone dear.
This was my Christmas card this year.....
I couldn't bring myself to produce my usual Land Rover related cards this year. I'll be celebrating (that's not really the word) Christmas apart from my lovely wife. Helena was taken from me on April the fifth by that horrible virus from the east. We were forced apart by the thing three weeks before that day and I was prevented from being anywhere near her from that day on. I was given no chance to say "Goodbye" or to be with her at the end. In fact I was never told how seriously ill she was.
Helena had taken a fall at home in February and broken her pelvis. After a brief stay in hospital she'd been removed to the local Intermediate Care Unit conveniently close to home, in Lewes. By mid-March the pandemic loomed and my daily visits came to a halt. I was reduced to regular phone calls to enquire of her condition. On the last day of March I contracted the virus and was removed to the Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath where I remained for the next three weeks. Mine was a reasonably light illness and I was able to continue my frequent phone calls to the Lewes Unit to enquire about Helena. On April the Second they told me that Helena also had also contracted the virus. "Never mind, she'll be fine" I was told, "She'll be home by the time you're recovered." I believed it, every time I phoned it was the same story, "No problems, she's doing fine, nothing to worry about."
On the morning of the fifth of April I overheard a voice on the nearby Ward Sister's mobile phone. Helena had slipped away in the early hours. My wife and my love and my friend of forty years was gone. No chance to see her, no chance to hold her, no chance to even say goodbye. Just gone.
Three weeks later, in the midst of Lockdown, an ambulance returned me to an unbelievably empty home.
I sincerely wish you the happiest of Christmases that the current clime will allow and my very best wishes for a better coming year.
Lord knows, we all need it.
I'm sorry if you had to read this twice to make any sense of it but nothing I do seems to make much sense any more.
Merry Christmas....
I had intended to spend Christmas and the new year with a few friends at the MNRS as my wife and I have done for the last 25+ years.
I internded to take my wife's ashes down for one last visit.....
tony from suffolk
Well-known member
A touch of reductio ad absurdum there. We could be New Zealand, or South Korea. The society we've now evolved to worships perceived freedom, but of course that's always at the expense of others.Fjell said:
Getting people to comply has been made a damn sight more difficult by Johnson allowing his henchman to get away with a flagrant breach of covid regulations, giving the opportunity for the irresponsible to think that gives them carte blanche to act in the same way.
Duck ditch
New member
Thank you Laurie for your heartfelt Christmas card post. All the best for the coming year. It must be hard hearing the covid word and argument on a daily basis.
Duck ditch
New member
I couldn?t agree with you more Laurie about the uniqueness of the caving community.
I obviously have differences of opinion to some people on this site. However the love of caving binds us all.
There is nothing better to clear your mind of all other thoughts and problems than to enter a cave and traverse it in the best possible style your team can achieve.. working together, Immersing yourself in the environment of the cave.
I walk mostly these days and your mind can wander back to the problems you face from time to time. It never does in caves, even when you are waiting for your turn to descend pitch.
I love reading caving stories. You can?t get enough of those. I?m sorry I can?t contribute to that core part of this site.
I think that?s why the friendships formed underground are so strong.
I obviously have differences of opinion to some people on this site. However the love of caving binds us all.
There is nothing better to clear your mind of all other thoughts and problems than to enter a cave and traverse it in the best possible style your team can achieve.. working together, Immersing yourself in the environment of the cave.
I walk mostly these days and your mind can wander back to the problems you face from time to time. It never does in caves, even when you are waiting for your turn to descend pitch.
I love reading caving stories. You can?t get enough of those. I?m sorry I can?t contribute to that core part of this site.
I think that?s why the friendships formed underground are so strong.
pwhole
Well-known member
Oh what lovely people. I seem to remember skiers brought it back from their last winter holidays. Now this lot are on the run. So will they be allowed back in? Can we get their names and addresses? Perhaps a public flogging on The One Show might be appropriate?
bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-55465079
bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-55465079
pwhole
Well-known member
Meanwhile - from the almost empty space that occupies Michael O'Leary's head - apart from the tiny corner dedicated to shafting everyone - 'Jab And Go!':
https://www.ryanair.com/gb/en
Needless to say most of the happy young people on the ad currently saturating Sky News won't even have been vaccinated by the time their 'summer holiday' comes around. That's assuming any of the countries featured in the ad will let UK visitors enter by then. Anyway, it's not going down too well it seems - anywhere.
https://www.ryanair.com/gb/en
Needless to say most of the happy young people on the ad currently saturating Sky News won't even have been vaccinated by the time their 'summer holiday' comes around. That's assuming any of the countries featured in the ad will let UK visitors enter by then. Anyway, it's not going down too well it seems - anywhere.
pwhole
Well-known member
Funnily enough the media, especially the BBC, seemed to be doing their best to avoid mentioning this skiing story other than as a 'News in Brief', especially given the 'ambiguities' about how they got there, where they've gone to, how they're getting home and who will meet them when they do. I wonder why, given it's of huge importance in a pandemic? Could it possibly because some of their friends and colleagues are there? Perhaps their sons and daughters are currently beach-partying in Sydney?
We're not doing very well at promoting the 'New Way' of post-Brexit Britain around the world, are we?
We're not doing very well at promoting the 'New Way' of post-Brexit Britain around the world, are we?
