Another very cold day in Yorkshire. The birds were singing and their notes were falling out the sky like snowflakes.
We set off to walk into Driffield but it was too slippery underfoot so we put it off until tomorrow!! I was thinking about all those people in Alaska, Norway, Grimsby and Sweden who are used to this level of cold all the time and think nothing of it. But I’m an English wimp with tropical blood. These people from colder climes get themselves prepared. They say stuff like ‘It’s all a matter of clothing’. I’m sitting here in twelve jumpers and three pairs of jeans and I’m still cold (plus I can’t move!). I imagine that in Alaska a day without five feet of snow and above -15 C is considered balmy. But then they do have specialised equipment. They have heated boots that melt the snow as their foot comes down so they never slip and fall on their arse. Their trousers are equipped with snowploughs for deeper snow. Their glasses are equipped with laser beams.
I just want to move to Africa!!
Anyway, the sun has shone all day. It supposedly has a surface temperature in excess of 6,000 degrees, but I couldn’t feel it!! It looks around the same size as in Summer and that can scorch the skin off you like some paint stripper. I’ll never understand Physics.
In lieu of outside exercise I’ve been working on my room, moving stuff around, sorting out more shelves, putting up posters. Still a way to go but it is beginning to come together. It’ll be good when it’s done. I can start forgetting where everything is all over again!
Meanwhile, out in Coronaland, Johnson didn’t have to worry about organising his room; he just got Lulu in to smarm everything in breathtakingly grotesque fluorescent crap. I think having decor as gaudy as that must do your head in. No wonder he can’t think right. He’s being blitzed with Lulu’s extremely expensive, extravagant, bright and showy mindblitz. Enough to make anyone SHOUT!!
That clearly demonstrates that being extremely rich and entitled does not provide you with taste. It also shows that a fool is easily parted from his money. I mean, £840 a roll for wallpaper that looks like a bad acid trip!
Anyway, Lulu has made enough out of it that she can give up her singing career!! At least something good has come out of it!!
Not that Johnson ever intended to pay for any of it himself. He had his backhanders sorted, didn’t he? Wallpaper for great exhibitions! Favours for cash. That’s the way a sleazy government works.
What did they all get in return for all those sleazy untendered contracts??
When are we ever going to have anyone looking into all of this ‘criminal’ activity??
So, yesterday, there were another 179,731 new cases with 231 deaths!!
The virus is spreading into the older, more vulnerable groups. Nurses and doctors are dropping like flies, but that’s OK. The cleaners are taking over primary care. The collapse of the NHS is all part of the Tory plan.
The army is taking over until such time as the US firms can get set up to take over! They’ll soon be more than enough beds for all who can afford it.
I had to laugh at the plight of Novax Jokeovic. Being rich and famous should surely mean that you are exempt from all the laws the minions have to follow?? It works for Johnson, Trump and Bolsonaro! Being able to hit a ball better than other people means you should be free to spread the virus to all those who are not as good at hitting a ball!!
As the workers drop out with Covid and the NHS slowly sinks Javid says ‘We’re in for a rocky few weeks’. (That’s political speak for – a lot of you plebs are going to die! A lot of you nurses and doctors are going to suffer PTS, exhaustion and going to crack up). When asked about Plan B Johnson says: ‘ Err, golly gosh, err, do you like, er blah, my new wallpaper?? Oh blithering buggery, I didn’t mean to mention that!’ Novax Jokea vic said: ‘Covid? What Covid?’ Rees-Mogg says: ‘It’s all in hand. There’s no crisis. My companies have bought up lots of shares in US Medical Companies. They are poised. They’ll be plenty of beds for anyone who can afford them!’
So the sun slowly sets on another day in Tory Britain. The classrooms are covered by childminders, the hospitals by anyone and the army, hungry children are wondering when daddy’s going to get in from his third zero-hours job of the day and why Mummy is spending so much time out late in those high heels, people are turning off the central heating and saving up for a gallon of petrol, and Tory MPs are checking out their stocks and shares and looking where to invest the latest windfall from their successful lobbying while lying back in the Caribbean sun.
Stay safe!
Like you Opher, the U.K’s temperamental weather doesn’t really suit my predilection for sunshine, and I’ve never been a fan of winter per se.
Regards BoJo’s paid-for flat refurbishment, I read this morning that the U.K’s Data Watchdog has launched an investigation into the Cabinet Office after a complaint that it failed to release WhatsApp messages exchanged between Boris Johnson and the Tory peer who financed his flat renovation, David Brownlow. What bite this body has is anyone’s guess, but it is very pleasing indeed to know the clown is being kept under pressure…with party-gate inquiries still to come! I’d also like to see Angela Rayner continue to push the sleaze and corruption narrative (in his face) at every conceivable opportunity: she is like an attack-dog at PMQ’s.
According to this report from Skwawkbox (1), the self-effacing Tories are not the only political party with designs on continuing privatization of the NHS. In breach of Starmer’s leadership-promise to put public services in public hands, Labour will outsource medical treatments to the private sector on the basis of reducing the austerity driven patient back-log and waiting times. Quite possibly the Tories are not the only politicians with desire to put their snouts in the gravy trough.
Have you seen the video of an NHS doctor challenging Sajid Javid over compulsory vaccines for healthcare workers? In the video, he is telling the health secretary: “I’ve not had a vaccination; I don’t want to have a vaccination.” (2) The doctor’s reasoning is based on the fact they’ve had Covid and hence have naturally acquired antibodies and do not need the vaccine. It is essentially the same argument Novax Djokovic is using: an argument that satisfied the Australian Fed Government. It seems society is now divided between those who have had jabs and those who don’t. Mandates made by governments for compulsory vaccination are being challenged in the courts. It will be interesting to hear what the courts conclude.
DN
(1) – https://skwawkbox.org/2022/01/07/starmer-completes-another-campaign-betrayal-as-streeting-commits-to-more-private-nhs/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=starmer-completes-another-campaign-betrayal-as-streeting-commits-to-more-private-nhs
(2) – https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-sajid-javid-directly-challenged-on-mandatory-coronavirus-jabs-by-unvaccinated-nhs-doctor-12511224
I suspect that all of the sleazy goings-on, parties, wallpaper, donations and all those lobbying, law-breaking and second jobs will be swept under the carpet. I’ll be very surprised if anything comes of it.
Starmer is a watered-down Tory but anything is better than the ERG. I’m enjoying Angela Rayner’s attacks. She is ballsy!!
I don’t understand why anybody would want to avoid a jab that increases their immune response (whether they’ve had Covid or not). I’d go for a fourth jab if it was available. It appears that the immune response against covid is short-lived. But enforcing it is another matter.
Novax is on dodgy ground. The criteria in Australia are quite clear. I think he was fed misinformation by the tennis confederation.
Well I doubt very much that I’ll be the only person to hope the greasy piglet gets all that is due to him. The media are turning against him, public opinion of him is at an all time low, back-benches have him on the ropes, and he’s a global embarrassment to the U.K. He can’t stay teflon-coated forever.
‘Starmer is a watered-down Tory but anything is better than the ERG.’ Not if Labour don’t disassociate themselves from Blairism, Thatcherism, and propping-up the Tories. Under Starmer, Labour are no longer a socialist party. In fact it isn’t easy at all to know just what Starmer stands for or what policies he does have. Personally I’m not sure I’d vote for any politician who drapes themselves in the union flag whilst banging on about patriotism.
The fact that vaccine efficacy diminishes after a short-period would suggest regular boosters will become the norm. However, this is not realistic, efficient, cost-effective, or economically viable on a global basis. I have read suggestion that because the Omicron mutation is less severe a disease (though far more transmissible) than Delta, there is possibility that future mutations will also follow this trend and be less impacting…hence calls by some to end a regime of boosters and jabs. Not being a scientist I have no idea if this line of reasoning has any merit. But if it does then learning to live with Covid in much the same way as we live with flu will become the norm.
Despite suggestion the Oz government have tried to delay the court hearing, Novax’s court case is on Monday, with Australian Tennis making selections on Tuesday or Wednesday. His timeline is very tight, and the court decision must be rapid. Tennis fans and anti-vaxers wait to see what transpires, but should the outcome be favorable, who knows how such a ruling might affect government policy around the world. These are rapidly changing times.
Have a good weekend.
DN
In a first past the post it is always the lesser of two evils. In order to get elected (owing to the stupidity of the British public who, susceptible to the propaganda of the tabloid press are extremely right-wing) the Labour Party seems to have to lurch to the right.
Hopefully, at some time, we can get a sensible democratic system that will result in coalitions and accountability.
Even Blair did a lot of good things.
Looking ahead to the virus. I think we will find it fades away to become a seasonal virus rather like flu. They’ll be boosters for the vulnerable and everyone else will just get ill every now and again. It’s hard to tell if future variants will less or more severe. Mutation and evolution is arbitrary. We’ll see. I’m hoping that a more benign variant that provides immunity against nastier strains will prevail but………………
I reckon they’ll just kick Novax out. From my limited understanding, the national policy is clear. The Tennis Federation got it wrong. But……..
You have a good weekend too Dewin!!
FPTP – the lesser of two right-wing evils – good grief, what a fundamentally limited – and ideologically constricted – choice will be on offer at the next GE!! It’s all quite depressing really.
As it stands, the immune response of people infected with Omicron appears to increase protection against Delta more than fourfold. If that trend in new variants persists the future would be far less bleak for most people. Only time will tell.
DN
Lol Dewin – rarely has it been anything other than a choice between two evils! Whenever we have a real choice the propaganda machine kicks in. It makes any anti-establishment party unelectable.
The only way out of that is to go for proportional representation. Will any party promote that? The lust for power is great!!
The sooner we get out of this pandemic the better!