Day: 19 June 2020

British Public No Longer on Double Secret Probation; Just Probation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tfK_3XK4CI Okay, it's an Animal House joke and those who aren't of my vintage might not get it. But at one point, when Dean Vernon is trying to think of ways to nobble Delta House, he says, "There is a little known codicil in the Faber College constitution which gives the Dean unlimited power to preserve order in time of campus emergency." On this basis, he puts the unruly fraternity on "double secret probation". The "alert level" was lowered today from "Level 4" to "Level 3". The UK Government's press release about it is full of "the science" – "The Joint Biosecurity Centre has recommended that... blah, blah, blah." Apparently, the definition of Level 4 is "a COVID-19 epidemic is in general circulation; transmission is high or rising exponentially" and the definition of Level 3 is "a COVID-19 epidemic is in general circulation". Transmission hasn't been "rising exponentially" since around March 18th, according to best estimates, so why has the Government left it until now to lower the "alert level" to 3? They really are making it up as they go along. Presumably, this charade is so Boris can say he's abandoning the absurd two-metre social distancing rule because of "the science". Incidentally, according to the eagle-eyed reader keeping a beady ...