United Kingdom VII: Taking Pride in Your Success

[Lebowski]

hate to repost and bang the same drum but Aleksandr Dugin wrote a playbook on how Russia can rule the world, first published in 1997, it all seems to be coming to pass, things like

The Ukraine should be annexed by Russia, England should be cut off from Europe and Russia should "introduce geopolitical disorder into internal American activity, encouraging all kinds of separatism and ethnic, social and racial conflicts, actively supporting all dissident movements – extremist, racist, and sectarian groups, thus destabilizing internal political processes in the U.S.

any of this sound familiar to anyone? coincidence or sting pulling we already know we had Russian interference in our brexit vote and all we needed was a little push to dig our own hole, trump pushing America the way he did over the last 4 years is exactly what Russia wanted to happen that cant just be a crazy coincidence especially when so much dirt has been dug up that links Trump to being in Putins pocket.

https://www.ft.com/content/ad9598a1-b916-48e4-9cd7-9f3ff0030949

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foundations_of_Geopolitics

[wakka]

Banging the same drum doesn't make things better either - same politics, different colour, the difference measured in gnat danglies.

Yes, I agree - I'm quite pessimistic though and think that the best we can hope for is the lesser of two evils I'm afraid.

[nakamura]

Same. Big remainer here but Starmer is right.

[QualityChimp]

I feel totally adrift, politically.

The Tories have cracked the code to staying in power and now exploiting it.

Our very own PM has said sexist and racist things and just this week, it's been confirmed his extra-marital lover was given Government contracts.

They've been accused of bullying, back-hander PPE contracts, mishandled a pandemic and denied racism, yet not a one has tendered their resignation. There is no honour.

An easy target for the "opposition", but Starmer remains unimpressive:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/mar/29/keir-starmer-year-labour-poll-ratings

At present, the biggest selling point of Labour is that they're the most prominent party that aren't the Conservatives.

[Dogg Thang]

And that alone should be enough. But it's not and that's the real issue here - the stuff the Tories are doing right down to rebranding slavery as the "Caribbean experience" are things far too many people are fine with. The stuff they are peddling may be total nonsense but people are buying it.

[Protocol Penguin]

In response to Asura: Yeah, I also think it's the right call. The Tories want to keep the leaver/remoaner thing going because they thrive on division. It's unhelpful and it's unconstructive but it works to get them in power.

I could see us rejoining the EU somewhere down the line, but not for a long, long time.

TBH, I’m so angry that my partner’s had her right to vote taken away, I’m not voting ever again unless, or until, there’s an anti-Brexit option. Until then it’s just a selection of Brexiteers with different colour rosettes, and I will rather not vote at all than vote to endorse any of that. I won’t vote this May.

(If I lived in Scotland or Wales I’d vote, but only for the main pro-independence parties, FWIW.)

[Protocol Penguin]

And that alone should be enough. But it's not and that's the real issue here - the stuff the Tories are doing right down to rebranding slavery as the "Caribbean experience" are things far too many people are fine with. The stuff they are peddling may be total nonsense but people are buying it.

My main problem with *spit* Labour is that they offer me nothing positive as someone who has a partner who is a EU citizen. They don’t want to realign in any subtle way with the EU or EEA, so that party is just as much a threat to her future wellbeing as the Tories. And seeing as Labour seems to be agreeing with the Tories with everything else anyway, that’s a strong reason for me to never vote for them. For all you can say negative about the US Democratic Party, they at least opposed Trump, not just offered Trumpism with different party colours. Labour are just the Tories B-Ark.

[Neon Ignition]

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/apr/01/no-10-race-adviser-resigns-day-after-uk-structural-racism-report-published

No10's Race Advisor has quit

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/01/experts-cited-in-no-10s-race-report-claim-they-were-not-properly-consulted

The experts cited in the Race Report have said they weren't properly consulted

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/01/pfizer-vaccine-has-91-efficacy-for-up-to-six-months-trial-shows

Pfizer vaccine is 91% effective six months after dosing, if the second dose is administered after 3 weeks.

[Cassius_Smoke]

The opening blurb before the actual story really hits it home.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/its-mystery-how-bare-faced-23848078

[Neon Ignition]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/05/easing-of-england-lockdown-next-week-highly-unlikely-to-overwhelm-nhs

April 12 easing confirmed to be going ahead but SAGE has warned the Government that a Third Wave of comparable size to January or just under is possible by July.

[Dogg Thang]

How? You guys seem to be so far ahead in your vaccines and it’s only April.

I mean... I could probably read the article...

Edit: okay, reading it and it seems to be based on the vaccines being less effective than we thought but everything I’ve been reading recently suggests the opposite is the case. Unless we have more mutations, which is guess is possible.

[Cassius_Smoke]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...-overwhelm-nhs
April 12 easing confirmed to be going ahead but SAGE has warned the Government that a Third Wave of comparable size to January or just under is possible by July.

I'm not one to defend the government, but how can we have a wave as big as January when over 40% of the adult population now has a vaccination?

[Neon Ignition]

Presumably a lot of it is based on how fast as well COVID has shown it can spread, say we reach a point where 40% haven't been vaccinated then that still means around 20m susceptible people and during the peak at around 50,000+ cases a day there's immense wiggle room for a third wave there. That is ignoring tons of other factors though.

Essentially we're gold unless we needlessly rush things.

[SuperDanX]

I read the article, where are these figures coming from? 31%? I just can’t see a third wave of that size happening in the summer?

The figures used, I’ve never seen mentioned anywhere before.. the modelling seems pretty flawed but what do I know?

“The model assumes that two shots of the AstraZeneca vaccine reduces the risk of infection by only 31% and the risk of symptomatic infection by 85%.

[Neon Ignition]

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/apr/06/keir-starmer-likely-to-oppose-covid-status-certificates-if-put-to-vote

Labour look set to vote against COVID Passports if it comes to vote

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/apr/06/piers-morgan-claims-he-has-universal-support-of-the-british-public

And Piers embraces his inner Trump