What Do You Think Today?

[Skyweir]

Absolutely right

But it will be held in Qatar

[StevieG]

What do I think? I think I need to think and knuckle down and get this Tender out of the way which is due in 2 hours

I think I need to get off this forum and stop procrastinating

[Skyweir]

I think you should continue to procrastinate your tender submission unless it would mean you’ll be in Melbourne in August/September lol

[StevieG]

I just submitted it - 45 minutes ahead of time! I normally cut it way finer than that

[Skyweir]

Well done you!!! haha

You like living on the edge I see lol

[peter]

Lying in the bath yesterday, I heard the sound of a wood pigeon (I think - definitely a pigeon or dove of some sort) outside my bathroom window.

"Croo Croo cro, Croo Croo cro," it went - a soft and pleasing sound and one I'm sure most of us have heard at some point.

Shortly afterward I heard the "Brraagh Brraagh" of a crow, not unpleasant but neither having the euphony of the pigeon song I'd heard moments before. One, the first, being a soft sound entirely in keeping with the harmless nature of the bird it belongs to (in terms of it's docility and unthreatening nature), the other raucous and blaring on the ear - again in keeping with the boorish manner it adopts and it's reputation as a feeder on carrion and offal.

I got to wondering, how was it that those birds got just the right sound in respect of their nature's and why the one sound was pleasing to hear while the other discordant? What if the particular calls each one has had been reversed? Would I now find the "Brraagh Brraagh" the pleasant sound and the other the cacophonous one? How did nature come to give each the sound that would (to me) seem in keeping with its character, or have we formed our liking of the one sound on the basis of the particular bird it is attached to?

Curious, no?

[sgt.null]

We have a Cowbird (Greater Egret) that now seems to live in our backyard.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_egret

[Skyweir]

I love wood pigeons how lovely.

Nothing better than having wildlife take shelter in your yard.

I’m not sure nature devised bird song for humans benefit or entertainment.

And I am sure there are folk out there that do not inexplicably find pleasure in bird song

It’s a weird ass world - fortunately you take pleasure in the natural world - it’s hard to imagine anyone that does not, isn’t it?

[peter]

I'm just interested as to why the innocuous bird makes the pleasant (to me) sound and the aggressive, the discordant one.

Perhaps it has to do with the long association between man and doves; the sound of doves cooing away quite happily might be hardwired into our system as one that satisfies us, because it meant our birds were safe.....or something.

[Skyweir]

Well it is an interesting question.

[peter]

Why, on the advent of the much anticipated 'Freedom Day', do I get the feeling that I have woken up in some kind of Orwellian dystopia where a pale simulacrum of the world I knew (and took for granted) is being presented as a 'return to normality', when it is in truth anything but.

The heady promise that we were presented with a few short weeks ago has gradually been eroded away; the scientists and 'experts' have done their job in the media, the fear has been ramped up again, and it is now taken as an almost given that the easing of restrictions (irreversible by Johnson's original promises) will, as infection rates increase, once again be removed in but a short period of time.

The debate now seems to have shifted to the wearing of masks. Multiple businesses have made it known that they will continue to require both their staff and patrons to wear them, and to be seen to exercise ones choice in the matter and go maskless, even where not required to wear one, is seemingly to declare oneself as being a 'bad person'. Neil Oliver has made the observation of a creepy trend of association of mask wearing with compassion. Wear one and you are a good responsible person: choose not to do so and you are signaling your somehow deficient inner self. Wear-mask good; no-mask bad.

This is all profoundly depressing to anyone who mourns the loss of what we once had - who vainly hoped for a brief short period that we could put all of this behind us. But that was a chimera that has been snatched away and strangled at birth. The freedom to get on a plane and go where you choose is gone and shows no sign of returning. The system of quarantine and shifting of countries from zone to ever more complex zone (new ones are introduced in a seemingly arbitrary fashion almost on a whim), makes the process of going abroad on holiday an almost impossibility for the average Joe in the street. The NHS track and trace system is unleashing a "pingdemic" on the country with people being instructed to isolate if even their nextdoor neighbors through the walls have tested positive. The police and Covid wardens arrive with boring regularity at the doors of people who have returned from abroad (a twelve year old girl was reportedly visited three times, causing her significant distress) to ensure their compliance with the quarantine requirements. Businesses are closing in their droves through staff shortages and even food deliveries to the supermarkets are being affected (though the brexit induced exodus of drivers is also a factor here. The very Prime Minister himself is shut up in his country retreat in isolation and his chief ministers likewise - and this is freedom day. I seriously don't know whether to laugh or cry.

So forgive me if I don't put out the bunting, don't go out into the street and throw my hat (or should it be mask) up into the air. Because like so much else in our shallow and grabby, grubby world, freedom day is a fake. It is a fake event, pushed to the hilt by a fake media and trumpeted by a fake Prime Minister and his fake administration. It's as fake as friends on Facebook, as likes on Twitter and the worlds of a gaming console. But at least in the case of the latter they don't pretend otherwise.

[Skyweir]

Welcome to the rocky horror picture show lol

You’re health minister clearly hasn’t followed health policies and BoJo has to isolate

But just cuz that’s irrefutably all kinds of fucked up doesn’t mean everything is fake.

[peter]

We could discuss the state of our society until the cows come home to no end Sky. Your views about it's fake nature and mine don't chime and never will.

On the issue of masks, it was both unwise and cowardly in the extreme of Johnson to lift the mandatory requirement for their wearing (citing personal choice as the reason for this), but at the same time tell people that they expected them to continue to do so. Such mixed messaging allows for the kind of association I refer to in the above post to proliferate and provides fertile ground for division to fester between people of different mindsets. So much division has already been sown in our society that to add further fuel to the bonfire is just asking for trouble. Better that they had kept the mandatory status of masks in place until it could have been lifted wholesale and without reservation. Johnson is trying to ride two horses in the same race and failing miserably to control either.

The chaotic response of Downing Street to the news that Sajid Javid (the replacement Health Secretary) had tested positive to Covid was indicative of the chaos that has pervaded the whole lifting of restrictions and entry into what was supposed to be the endgame of the pandemic. Announcing the news of javid's test, No 10 first issued a statement that the PM and Chancellor (with whom Javid had been in close contact) would not have to isolate because they were taking part in a 'pilot scheme' of daily testing instead of isolation. An immediate outcry of 'one rule for them, another for the rest of us' on social media and the wider news networks caused them to backtrack (it took about 90 minutes from the initial announcement) and say that the PM had actually received the contact alerting 'ping' while at Chequers (his country retreat where conveniently he has acres of ground, wine cellars, gourmet kitchens and health spa's) and so would be isolating after all. (Sunak would be as well, but in the more pokey surroundings of No 11 Downing Street.)

Later a disheveled looking Johnson (and that's saying something given his low-bar on the appearance stakes) posted a tweet in which he said he had "considered" taking part in the pilot scheme, but had decided against it on the basis that what was good for the people was good for him (and his Ministers) as well. Thus was a bit of on the spot revisionism carried out in the hope that perhaps no-one would notice.

This kind of malarkey just makes the PM and Downing Street look ridiculous and completely out of touch with the populace and is illustrative of the whole debacle of the so called freedom day that was supposed to be yesterday. If Johnson, Sunak and Javid were committed to the lifting of restrictions and the kick-starting of the economy, then they should have had the courage of their convictions and spelt out their message in unequivocal fashion. Instead of this they panicked, thrown into a blue funk by the (completely predictable) backlash in the media (from those with either vested interest in undermining the Government, or vested interest in presentation of the worst-case scenario) and began backtracking. Over the couple of weeks from Javid's promotion, the conviction formerly on display was gradually eroded - first the irreversible nature of the lifting of restrictions went, then it became not a time to be "de-mob happy", then the onus for making sure restrictions were not reimposed was placed on us and our moderation of our own behaviour - until it became clear that it was altogether gone and replaced by a sitting on the fence of indecision and fear of a political backlash.

So her we are; in a sort of never-never land of freedom/not-freedom. Where you don't have to go around masked, except where you do have to go around masked. Where you can go where you like, except where you can't go where you like. Where you don't have to isolate, except where you do have to isolate. Oh - and the passports that were never going to be introduced are going to be introduced (in order that the age group who have not been vaccinated can go to nightclubs - but only if they can prove they've been vaccinated).

Confused? Surely not!

[Skyweir]

lol

Strange times

[peter]

The story of the day seems to be the interview, aired on the BBC last night, in which political editor Laura Kuenssberg put questions to former Downing Street spad Dominic Cummings relating to his period in Number 10 and subsequent 'downfall'.

I'm going to confess to not having seen the interview, but from this morning's press I think I can get the salient points.

Notorious for his fued with the PM's squeeze - sorry, wife - Carrie Symonds (as was), which saw him flounce from Downing Street, box in hand, and his ongoing attempts to undermine his former boss (who, he himself was responsible for putting into the top job) from this time onwards, last night was (apparently) more of the same. It's worth quoting a passage from the interview, printed in this morning's Times.

Before even mid-January (Johnson had been elected in the previous July and on the 1st of January had taken the UK out of the EU) we were having meetings in Number 10 saying it's clear that Carrie wants rid of all of us. At that point we were already saying that by summer either we'll all have gone from here, or we'll be in the process of trying to get rid of him and get someone else in as Prime Minister. He doesn't have a plan, he doesn't know how to be Prime Minister and we only got him in there because we had to solve a specific problem, not because he was the right person to be running the country.

Later in the interview he says, "Carrie's view was, and is, the Prime Minister doesn't have a plan and he doesn't know how Whitehall works. Someone is going to settle the agenda. It can either be the civil service or it can be Dominic and the Vote Leave Campaign members..."

Now clearly Cummings has a very large chip on his shoulder and a very large axe to grind; this cannot be ignored. But nevertheless his words have entirely a ring of truth about them in respect of the hapless Johnson and his complete unsuitability for the role, so long sought, which he (in my opinion) undeservedly won. But as with all of these things, you have to look for the motivation behind what he is doing in coming out like this, guns blazing, in a clear attempt to undermine the man who he formerly worked for. We know that Cummings and the Minister for the Duchy of Lancaster, Michael Gove are as thick as thieves, and that if Johnson is unseated then it will be Gove who will at least be in the frame as a possible replacement. Gove is as slippery as a grease coated eel and has long entertained ideas of nabbing the top job for himself (I bet he hates Sunak and his rise to prominence), and I'm betting that behind the scenes he and Cummings are still working in tandem toward that end. Cummings must also known that until PM Symonds, sorry Johnson is out of Downing Street, he himself will never get to the centre of things again - and this is absolutely where he wants to be. To this end Johnson must fall (and he will - like prizefighters, they all do) and Cummings interview was just another step in pursuit of speeding up the process.

Behind the scenes the Tories are doing what they do best, stabbing each other in the back - and screwing up the country it has to be said, in the process. I agree with Cummings that Johnson is a useless ***t, that Symonds used the one thing that he will always respond to in order to get him twisted around her finger and that the sooner the pair of them are consigned to the dustbin of history the better - but I'm not sure I relish the idea of him (Cummings) getting back into the frame, particularly with Gove (an altogether more intelligent and dangerous man than Johnson) in the driving seat and with the current levels of central control due to the Covid situation in their hands to play with. No - I don't fancy that at all!

(Edit; I do agree with Cummings also, that anyone who thinks they are sure that Brexit was the right thing has got a "screw loose". He readily concedes it is a gamble that no-one can predict what the result of which will be.)

(2nd Edit: I've now seen the whole thing and I don't think it materialy effects what I said above. Cummings was up front that his purpose in giving the interview was to undermine Johnson who he repeatedly said was unfit to hold the office he occupies. He described him as a 'shopping trolley' who can be pushed this way or that, according to the person who is holding his handle, and justified his having had discussions about removing the PM so early into his premiership (mere days after his election in fact) on the grounds of "Well, this is politics. We were in the line for being got rid of, so we considered how we could respond to this." Accused by Kuenssberg of egregious arrogance in his thinking he merely shrugged it off with an insouciant "We were thinking of the good of the country, which demanded a more fit leader for the very difficult position the country found itself in."

Kuenssberg in fact seemed singularly incapable of penetrating his carapace of self-belief, the best she could come up with being to continually ask "How do you think this sounds to the millions of people who voted for Johnson in the campaign which you yourself orchestrated, and which put him in Number 10." I really don't think she got it. Cummings couldn't give a flying fuck about what the people think of him; he is playing a much bigger game which she at last seemed to cotton on to after he had virtually spelled it out to her, by saying that his goal was no less than seeing a root and branch overhaul of the entire British political system, both electoral and administrative. "You're not done?", she eventually said and to which a smug Cummings replied, "I'm thinking about things - working out how the system can be made to work better."

He went on to say that either you had to form a new party to sweep aside the old established ones, or you had to get inside one or other of the two big parties and effect change from within, or lastly you could find a new means of networking power from without, that would effectively neuter the existing power structures and replace them with something else. I believe that this was all smokescreen stuff to cover up the fact that he is working hand in glove with people already in the Westminster bubble......... and I'll put money on it that amongst those people is Michael Gove.)

[peter]

Can we be clear about two things that have featured large in the UK news over the last couple of days, both of which have been presented in a manner that gives only a partial understanding of the facts.

Firstly, regarding the shortages of labour that are causing disruption in the food supply chain from factory to shop floor and in the hospitality sector, these being reported as resulting from the 'pingdemic' of individuals being told to self-isolate by the NHS test and trace ap. There is no doubt that this is having a significant effect on the problem - but the effect of it (and this is what is not being made clear) is merely to exacerbate an existing problem, far more serious in it's disruptive effect, of the loss of workers from EU countries who are either no longer able to come into this country to work, or who have had to leave due to the ending of their right to stay here, the date for which recently passed. Both the food supply chain in respect of factory workers and delivery drivers, and the hospitality industry, in terms of restaurant and hotel staff, have long been staffed at high percentages from this bank of workers who are suddenly no longer available.

Secondly, the deterioration of the situation in respect of the Northern Ireland Protocol that has featured large in the last couple of days is not, as Lord Frost would have us believe, because of EU intransigence over the operation of the said protocol, but rather because he drew up (and the Prime Minister signed) an agreement that they fully knew that they would never adhere to, for no other purpose than that the Prime Minister could be seen to keep his promise that he would 'get Brexit done' by December 31 2019. They decided that they would sign up to any agreement that they could get the EU to agree to, and hang the consequences, simply to get brexit over the line. They would worry about the fallout from this (ie, what we are seeing today - and what is being absolutely avoided from being said in any of the media coverage, printed or otherwise) when the time came. And here we are.

Now when you have a media - this includes the BBC, Sky and all of the national press, they are all guilty of failing to spell these things out - that only ever presents news in a 'sanitised' version that suits the administration of the day, you are in my opinion, in deep water indeed. Both of these situations are heavily influenced by the Brexit situation, the one by virtue of a failure to either comprehend (or to spell out truthfully) what the consequences of the loss of freedom of movement would be to our infrastructure, the other by simple mendacity of dealing in order to secure the exigencies of the day (at the cost of any other considerations) - and for the public to not be made clearly aware of it is a failure both of journalistic responsibility and of political honesty. This does not bode well for our future. The people deserve both to know the consequences of their decisions and the culpability of those currently holding the reins of power, in the situation we face. It will get worse before it gets better.

[peter]

Is it just me, or does the world seem to have gone to hell in a hand-cart with incredible rapidly since (I don't know), the UK referendum or the election of Donald Trump (whichever came first). I'm not saying that these things are responsible for it, I'm just trying to fix a point in my mind where all of a sudden the certainties of the world seemed to begin to look shaky. Not that I'm sure they ever did, but somehow it seemed that politicians could lie, twist the truth, spin facts to present a narrative that suited their particular interest, with much more impunity than had hitherto been the case.

As the referendum campaign progressed (or it might have been just after it, I can't recall exactly, a woman came into the shop and said "Something is going to happen: I can feel it in the air." I, like her, couldn't put my finger on what it was - but I knew exactly what she meant. It was like there were subterranean movements afoot that were almost, but not quite, perceptible. From this time forth in this country at least, we never seem to have found our solid footing again. There has been the brexit leaving process, the remain vs leave divisions, the left-right divisions and then the overturning of the established political order with the breaking of the 'red wall' and election of Johnson. The leaving of the EU, the arrival of the virus, the lockdowns, the pandemic the wall-to-wall obsession of the media, the Government, everybody and his mother with this pestilential virus...... the list just goes on.

Now here we are with our economy shot to pieces, freedoms torn up and discarded as if they meant nothing, politicians who you would not trust to hold your wallet while you went for a piss and to cap it all the food is running out on the shelves as we speak. The political relationship with our closest neighbors is getting worse by the day and we threaten to be thrust back into the seventies in respect of the situation on the ground in Northern Ireland.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but all of this looks like a right fuck up to me. Can we just rewind the clock back to the decision of David Cameron to promise a referendum to the people on membership of the EU in order to bribe dissatisfied Tories not to vote UKIP in that election. How much of what has happened since has hung on that fateful decision, and how much anguish might have been avoided had he not made that promise - Oh, and somebody shut the door on that lab in Wuhan on the way out will you?

[Avatar]

Ah Peter, it was a desire to wind back the clock in the first place that got us here.

As to your previous post, I think the Brexit labour issue has been quite downplayed...have been seeing rumblings of it for a long time, think the reduction in cheap European labour is going to have quite an impact.

--A

[Damelon]

We have at least a pair of Sandhill Cranes in the neighborhood. They have an unmistakable call.

[wayfriend]

I'm just trying to fix a point in my mind where all of a sudden the certainties of the world seemed to begin to look shaky.

The advent of social media. That's the point at which we made a hard turn towards insane. It allows all the wrong people too much influence.