A Date That Will Live in Infamy
So today is mask day, a new low in the lockdown era. But rather than depress readers by linking to the BBC’s ridiculously upbeat guide to face coverings, I thought I’d confine myself to a few glimmers of hope. For instance, some supermarkets and coffee shops have said they won’t enforce the new rules. According to the Mail:
Sainsbury’s, Asda and Costa Coffee have said they will not police new coronavirus laws which force customers to wear face masks in all shops from today.
The major retailers say they have no intention of enforcing new rules which will punish people who refuse to cover their faces with a £100 fine.
In addition, the director of public affairs at Co-Op has said it isn’t the job of the supermarket chain’s employees to enforce the rules and the Association of Convenience Stores has advised its members not to challenge any customers without face coverings.
Meanwhile, the Telegraph has a list of places where masks are not required:
- Restaurants and pubs with table service
- Hairdressers and treatment salons unless specified by the venue
- Gyms and leisure centres
- Cinemas, concert halls and theatres
- Museums
- Heritage sites
- Dentists
- Opticians
- If you are exempt from wearing a mask
And here’s the Telegraph‘s list of who’s exempt:
- A child under the age of 11
- An employee of the transport operator, when they are acting in the course of their employment
- A constable or police community support officer acting in the course of their duty
- An emergency response member of staff, such as a paramedic or fire officer acting in the course of their duty
- An official such as a border force officer, acting in the course of their duties
- If you are on board public transport but remain in your own vehicle, such as a car ferry
- Other legitimate exemptions listed include those with a disability or a physical or mental illness, and anyone travelling with a deaf person who relies on lip reading to communicate.
- Wearers are also permitted to remove them if it is necessary to avoid harm or injury, as well as to eat or drink if required, to take medication, or if a police officer or other official requests you to do so.
- Customers in shops will also be allowed to remove them if they are required to present identification for purchasing alcohol and other age-restricted products.
And for four-eyed folks like me, here’s the Telegraph‘s advice on stopping your glasses steaming up if you’re wearing a mask.
Wales Bans Newspapers on Public Transport
Determined not to be outdone by England’s draconian mask rules, the Welsh Government has gone one step further. According to its recent public transport guidance, not only will travellers have to wear face masks from July 27th, they won’t be able to chat on the phone, eat or drink, must remain in “relative silence” and cannot read newspapers! Who knew reading newspapers could spread the virus? Oh, and you’re not allowed to run for the bus because the virus can be transmitted by “breathing heavily”.
The lunatics really have taken over the asylum in Wales.
Another Victory for the Free Speech Union
The Free Speech Union has helped a victim of cancel culture get his job back. Here’s the story, as reported by Guido Fawkes yesterday.
Nick Buckley MBE, who was ousted as chief executive of his own charity last month following some mild criticisms of the Black Lives Matter manifesto, is back in charge thanks to the Free Speech Union. As of today, the trustees who fired him have all resigned, new trustees have been appointed and Nick has been re-appointed as CEO of Mancunian Way, the award-winning charity he founded in 2011. Nick was sacked after an article he posted on Linked-In attracted controversy, including a Change.org petition demanding his head. In spite of the fact that the petition only attracted 465 signatures – and Nick himself founded Mancunian Way – the trustees terminated the charity’s service level agreement with Nick’s company within a week of the petition being launched.
Luckily, Nick is a member of the Free Speech Union. It got behind a counter-petition, which has attracted over 17,500 signatures, and found Nick a top flight solicitor in the form of Keystone Law’s Geoffrey Davies, an expert on charity law. After Geoffrey discovered some irregularities in the process the trustees had followed, and pointed these out to them, they agreed to resign. They have now been replaced by three new trustees, appointed by Nick. And Nick is now back at the helm.
Toby Young, General Secretary of the FSU, tells Guido: “I’m delighted Nick has been reappointed to the charity that he founded and which has done so much to help disadvantaged young people in Manchester. No one should lose their livelihood at the behest of a left-wing outrage mob. Nick’s sacking was an example of cancel culture at its worst and I’m pleased that the FSU and Geoffrey Davies have been able to get him his job back.”
And they would have got away with if it wasn’t for that pesky Free Speech Union.
If you’d like to join the Free Speech Union, click here. And if you’d like to contribute to our Litigation Fund here.
Lord Sumption: Why Have Human Rights Organisations Said Nothing?
In the recent Prospect webinar in which Lord Sumption admitted to breaking lockdown rules, the patron saint of lockdown sceptics also criticised Britain’s human rights organisations for being “extraordinarily silent” on the Government’s wholesale suspension of our liberties.
A case in point is 38 Degrees, a lobby group that describes itself as “progressive” and claims to “campaign for fairness, defend rights, promote peace, preserve the planet and deepen democracy in the UK”. You’d expect a group that “defends rights” to object to the fact that the UK Government has placed 67 million people under virtual house arrest, but not a bit of it. Like most “progressive” organisations it has enthusiastically sided with the lockdown zealots, giving its unequivocal support to our beloved leader. Indeed, it has just made a special offer to its members – a mask that has your support for the NHS emblazoned across the front (see above). A reader, who’s also a member of 38 Degrees, received this “special offer” via email yesterday:
From this weekend we’ll all be required to wear a face mask. It’s a great way to keep our friends, family and neighbours safe from coronavirus.
But why settle for a plain mask, when you could get one that sends an important message? Today, thousands of us are buying this new mask that helps reduce the spread of Coronavirus and shows our support for the NHS.
Masks like this one usually cost over £9. But you can get one for just a fiver to cover the costs! And if thousands of us buy one and wear it, our message will be clear for all to see: we, the public, love the NHS and want to protect it.
So there you have it folks. If you’re concerned that wearing a face nappy doesn’t send a clear enough message that you’ve abandoned your dignity and are submitting to Britain’s dictatorial regime, you can make it even clearer by wearing a mask emblazoned with pro-NHS propaganda. All courtesy of a human rights organisation that “campaigns for fairness”.
I wonder if, for a little extra money, 38 Degrees could create a mask that administers an electric shock to its wearers if they don’t burst into applause every time Matt Hancock appears on television?
More Dodgy Data?
A lecturer in neuroscience (and a reader of Lockdown Sceptics) has got in touch to point out there’s something a bit fishy about Scotland and Wales’s Covid hospital admissions data:
I noticed that Covid hospital admissions in Wales are not falling as one might expect, while those in Scotland have dropped to zero. Currently, Covid admissions to hospitals in Wales are running at a similar level to those in England, which is strange given the very different populations (and reported deaths).
Admissions figures for patients suspected of having COVID-19 for every nation in the UK are updated daily here. You can infer the length of stay for Covid patients in the different nations by comparing patient totals with daily admissions. Discharges are equal to the change in numbers of patients minus any admissions, and the average length of the stays is approximately equal to (discharged per day)/patients.
For England, the average length of a hospital stay for a Covid patient is just under nine days since the start of the lockdown. This seems reasonable and has been relatively constant.
For Scotland, the data are less current because it stopped reporting admissions after July 9th. Based on the older data, the equivalent calculation gives an average of 40 days. That cannot be right.
For Wales, the data are up-to-date, and give an average stay before discharge of five days. However, this has been falling and for July the average was just 2.6 days.
There are two possible explanations. One is that Scotland has a particularly debilitating and long-lasting form of the virus – COVID-19+ – while Wales has a very short-acting one. On the other hand, Occam would suggest that Covid admissions and patients are being counted differently in the two nations. I suspect that Wales is counting anyone arriving at hospital with an elevated temperature and cough as a “Covid admission”, but only counting patients with a positive Covid test. In contrast, Scotland seems to be significantly undercounting admissions, perhaps by only including patients who arrive with a positive Covid test.
I am sure that it is a complete coincidence that these happen to play into the particular political narratives of the two First Ministers: Sturgeon’s line is “Covid has been banished but we may have to close the border to keep it out”, and Drakeford’s is “Covid is much much worse over here, so we have to keep everything shut”.
Anyway, I thought it was curious, although admittedly not of the jaw-dropping “count everyone as a Covid death whatever they actually died of” PHE variety.
This is curious, to put it mildly. I know it’s hard to compare Covid hospital admissions and fatalities in the UK with those in other countries because of different recording methods, and in some countries, such as the United States, it’s hard to compare regions for the same reason. But I wasn’t aware that the different UK nations used different methods. Is it possible that the Welsh and Scottish governments are choosing to record Covid hospital admissions differently to suit their particular agendas? If any readers can throw more light on this anomaly, please email me here.
More Under-25 Year-Olds Died From Influenza in a 16 Weeks in 2014/15 Than COVID-19 This Year
I’m grateful to a reader for pointing out that I used the wrong table from the Winton Centre for Risk and Evidence Communication when comparing deaths from Covid in 2020 with deaths from other causes in previous years a couple of days ago. The table I used compared deaths to July 3rd in 2020 with deaths from other causes in England and Wales over a year, when the table I should have used was the one above, comparing deaths to July 3rd with deaths in England and Wales over a typical 16-week period in previous years.
The data is still pretty startling. For instance, it shows that more under-49 year-olds died of suicide and injury/poisonings in a typical 16-week period in 2018 than Covid in 2020 and fewer under-25 year-olds have died from Covid than from road traffic accidents in a typical 16-week period in previous years.
Round-Up
Here’s a round-up of all the stories I’ve noticed, or which have been been brought to my attention, in the last 24 hours:
- ‘People with treatable cancers will die due to Government scaremongering, warns NHS nurse‘ – A district nurse tells the Telegraph‘s Planet Normal podcast there is “no reason” why routine treatments were paused through lockdown
- ‘Coronavirus lockdown ‘made no difference to number of deaths‘ – The Evening Standard reports on the recent study in the Lancet that I flagged yesterday showing lockdowns around the world had no impact on Covid mortality
- ‘Lockdowns DON’T work, study claims‘ – Ditto, this time in the Mail
- ‘Coronavirus school closures could hit pupils’ earnings for the next FIFTY years, report says‘ – A new report from the Royal Society says the effects of coronavirus school closures could last 50 years
- ‘British tourists are warned air bridges could collapse at short notice leaving them facing 14-day quarantine on return to UK‘ – Yikes! I’m still in Italy
- ‘Why should we be forced to pay for a BBC that portrays Winston Churchill as a mass murdering racist?‘ – Dominic Sandbrook in the Mail poses a good question
- ‘How long will we have to wear masks for?‘ – James Forsyth in the Spectator says no one in the Government has a clue
- ‘Cancel culture takes the fun out of life, says comedian John Cleese‘ – Timely reminder from the great British comedian
- ‘Warning of “cancer deaths tsunami” as disease claims almost 1,000 more lives at home in lockdown‘ – The Telegraph reports on the catastrophic impact of postponing 400,000 cancer checks during lockdown
- ‘We can learn a lot from Amsterdam, where life is blissfully normal‘ – Nice travel piece in the Telegraph. I think I know where I’m going for my next holiday
Theme Tune Suggestions by Readers
Only one today: “Roni Got me Stressed Out” by Chromeo.
Small Businesses That Have Re-Opened
A couple of months ago, Lockdown Sceptics launched a searchable directory of open businesses across the UK. The idea is to celebrate those retail and hospitality businesses that have re-opened, as well as help people find out what has opened in their area. But we need your help to build it, so we’ve created a form you can fill out to tell us about those businesses that have opened near you.
Now that non-essential shops have re-opened – or most of them, anyway – we’re now focusing on pubs, bars, clubs and restaurants, as well as other social venues. As of July 4th, many of them have re-opened too, but not all. Please visit the page and let us know about those brave folk who are doing their bit to get our country back on its feet – particularly if they’re not insisting on face masks! Don’t worry if your entries don’t show up immediately – we need to approve them once you’ve entered the data.
Note to the Good Folk Below the Line
I enjoy reading all your comments and I’m glad I’ve created a “safe space” for lockdown sceptics to share their frustrations and keep each other’s spirits up. But please don’t copy and paste whole articles from papers that are behind paywalls in the comments. I work for some of those papers and if they don’t charge for premium content they won’t survive.
We created some Lockdown Sceptics Forums, but they became a magnet for spam (apologies for mixed metaphor) so we’ve temporarily closed them. However, we can open them again if some readers volunteer to be moderators. If you’d like to do this, please email Ian Rons, the Lockdown Sceptics webmaster, here.
Gone Fishin’
Thanks as always to those of you who made a donation recently to pay for the upkeep of this site. If you feel like donating, however small the sum, please click here. I’m on holiday in Italy until tomorrow and won’t be doing my usual amount of work on the site until I return. If you want to flag up any stories or links I should include in future updates, email me here.
Salem 2.0
I thought I’d give my readers something to chew on while I’m away: Salem 2.0: The Return of the Religious Police to the Public Square. This is a book about cancel culture that I’ve been working on for a while now, but which took a back seat during the coronavirus crisis. Hoping to get back to it as the crisis recedes – although that’s happening more slowly than any of us hoped. It’s a work in progress, so don’t expect too much.
Discussion
Comments
This week across the site:
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Who’d have thunk this would happen, colour me unsurprised:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jun/08/more-masks-than-jellyfish-coronavirus-waste-ends-up-in-ocean
There’s an amusing thread on TripAdvisor with the usual subtext that if anyone questions the evidence for face masks and whether they should be mandatory then they’re some kind of moral degenerate:
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowTopic-g1-i10702-k13353335-Face_mask_exemptions_when_flying_to_from_the_UK-Air_Travel.html
Its weird that there are hardly any media or political dissenters. Friend in NZ tells me that they had 5 escapee’s last night from an isolation facility. Fortunately the ‘Guard’ spotted them and with others gave chase, where they were ‘captured’ and will appear in court today. She also tells me that although it has an infection rate of 1%, it has wreaked ‘havoc’. Which it actually hasnt in NZ. The power of the propaganda and the gullible is truly amazing
If my mask saves you then you may as well have it – here ya go – all yours – doin’ my bit for the worriers :0)
I was surprised to be asked why I didn’t have a mask on when I went in my local takeaway last night,they have always been sceptical of all the CV crap and I told them that I would never wear a mask when we were talking a couple of weeks ago.The conversation went,
‘sorry,you need a mask‘.
‘no,I am exempt’
‘oh,okay,exempt,didn’t know about exemptions,why are you exempt ?‘,
‘I don’t have to give you a reason or proof of a reason’
‘Okay,that’s fine with us,no problem‘
To be fair to them they weren’t pushy and I have known them quite a while so,afterwards,even though I didn’t need to,I did explain my genuine health reason for not wearing a mask as well as my conscientious objection to being forcibly muzzled and I did show them the exemption card I had in my pocket.
They were very interested as they didn’t know much about exemptions and how to react to someone who claims exemption,in fact it turns out one of the chaps wives has a severe disability and has been struggling badly with wearing a mask so he was pleased he could now tell her she didn’t need to wear one.
I… Read more »
Saturdays page is here
https://dailysceptic.org/2020/07/25/latest-news-84/#comments
Just back from asda…….foot fall right down,handful of shoppers in a large shop that is normally heaving.
On line shopping and boycotting is noticeable.Whilst on line shopping not for me,I will do my bit by shopping mask less…..feeling a bit more hopeful now,and incidentally had no trouble whatsoever.
Kelly did you wear a lanyard, badge or something else to say you exempt or just no mask?
Important as this information gives others courage to venture out shopping, once they know other have gone before them.
This morning,no one at Asda on the door,no one in store asked,or seem to care!
Yesterday at Morrisons,I told the *guard* I was exempt and that I did not have to prove it,was let in,no trouble.
No lanyard,badge etc.Frankly I refuse to wear such things……..but everyone must find their own way on this.
Not quite on subject, but this advert spotted in today’s Times made old Ethelred chuckle…
Knee supports for Coppers….😂
😁
Curious that the ICNARC website has gone down. Perhaps they don’t want us to see just how few “Covid positive” people are being admitted to intensive care now, just as mandatory face masks are rolled out! The media had already stopped focusing on so-called Covid-related deaths because the numbers are just too low to scare anyone. Now too few hospitalisation I suspect. So let’s just focus on “cases”, despite most being completely asymptomatic, and the tests themselves being highly inaccurate. And as so-called cases are also getting too few, let’s focus on the second wave that hasn’t happened yet except for in some people’s imaginations. We can go back to talking about “tsunamis”. Deja vu anybody?
My nephew’s girl friend had her nose pierced and a ring fitted just before the lock down. This was to compliment her nice array of body tattoos and other fashion accessories. They are both fully paid up members of the ‘hip’set (would that be the right description coming from an oldie?) and both sport ear rings, nose rings, tattoos and eye wateringly expensive clobber the cost of which would have been a deposit on a house back in the day.
Now, it seems, they are both embracing the mask but I would think more of a fashion accessory rather than a precaution against a non existent virus. I can’t imagine the dilemma my nephew’s girl friend faces each morning when she is looking in the mirror and deciding her look for the day. Mask with hidden nose ring, or no mask with nose ring for all the world to see. Or maybe she’ll be one of those who wear an eye catching mask but pulled down below her nose, that way she gets to display both and presents herself as a real ‘dedicated follower of fashion’—–now who sung that I wonder?
Speaking as some one who is “nuts”, I think we can safely say the pro-vaccine propaganda is under way, ably assisted by its coercive cousin, mandatory masking. It’s quite clear the intention is to release us from mask-wearing on condition we agree to the vaccine. The DM is today trying to shame doctors who question the safety of vaccines: all part of the softening up for the combined wisdom of Alok Sharma and Boris Johnson.
Any one who distrusts the establishment is labelled a conspiracy theorist. Over the last few years, there is hardly a British institution which hasn’t been exposed to scandal. Cash for questions, parliamentary expenses, Hillsborough, Middlesborough, Rochdale, the Dodgy Dossier, major charities involved in sex scandals, statins. Why should we believe them now about a rushed through vaccine programme?
Plus Primodos, vaginal mesh, blood transfusions, which are perhaps, even more relevant to the discussion on vaccines. What surprises me most, given the former two directly affected women, is why any woman would be prepared to accept a vaccine that had not gone through rigorous clinical trials and regulatory approval.
Propaganda and psychological warfare increasing daily in leaps and bounds.
Tony Heller explains: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htClxyZKp1Y
Irish guys featured at 3:50: “They need visible evidence of terror that they want to keep in the people”.
Over the last couple of years I have woken up, prior to that I used to accept what the media & government told me., I never thought The BBC would deliberately lie, to me a British citizen!
Then something clicked, looking back at world events I saw much was not as it seemed, I supposed the “weapons on mass destruction” fiasco should have been the turning point but it wasn’t, I had too much other stuff going on and even after we all found out TB was lying, I did not pay much attention.
Those in control spin a narrative, so that we, the people, virtually beg them to follow the agenda that they are already going to follow, but with the power of the people behind them.
This time they seem to be pushing for a world wide vaccine, and the masses just accept it.
Bugle you are not alone in being “nuts”, “conspiracy theorist” seems to be in very common use these last few months, indeed when Toby’s blog started a few months ago, a few people on here were told they are “conspiracy theorists”, not too much of that now.
There’s a woman called Lara Crabb who’s building up quite a high profile on Twitter and has been featured in the Daily Mail and Evening Standard.
Boy does she have a balls of steel. But I worry what all the Twitter trolls are doing to her mental health. Not sure how she finds the strength. Twitter is a toxic environment full of some nasty, hateful people.
God bless her for standing up for our rights though.
Twitter is horrid at the moment. I try to stay well clear of it. Sad, it used to be a nice place for friendly discussions.
It’s been mentioned some people are struggling with the conflicts caused by differing views about current matters. James Corbett has recently put out a shirt video specifically covering his thoughts and reflections about the problem. Not prescriptive, some may find it helpful to listen to intelligent comment.
https://youtu.be/Am89xV1ROQo
Also worth seeking out at Corbett Report is the recent report Your Body Their Choice.
This was from April 14th 2020:
https://wmbriggs.com/post/30300/
We now know what way the politicians went.
There is clearly a reason why under 11s are exempt from masks. Just seen a kid of about 8 pull her mask down to her chin before picking up and then putting down several “fresh” pizzas in Sainsburys. I know that there is no evidence of an adult catching Covid from a child but it does make you laugh out loud at the idiocy.
They say you never appreciate what you had until it’s gone. I really, really miss my freedom. My freedom to go where I want on a whim. My freedom to browse book shops with no specific aim. My freedom to smile at a passing stranger who, for no known reason smiled at me. My freedom josh with staff in restaurants and pubs. Freedom to play with words in that British way we do during daily interactions – that Americans find very difficult to understand – even without a mask. It’s the oil that allows the wheels of daily life to turn without grinding quite so much. The politicians have thrown sand in the wheels, and it hurts. I will have my revenge, preferably in this world, not the next.
The only mechanism for political revenge that I can see will be to support new and non-mainstream parties,at every opportunity, even if you don’t necessarily like all their policies or views, to take away legitimacy from the mainstream politicians who have betrayed us and failed in their most basic responsibilities.
Most importantly – don’t let them “move on” and persuade us that we have to accept what they have done because new things become more urgent and important. That’s why my mantra is: Never forget. Never forgive.
What they most want is for us to forget about all this and vote for them again, because they are saying something we want to hear or (more likely) because it’s “necessary” to prevent some other group getting into power, a few years down the line.
Yes Mark. But don’t you find it strange that there are NO political voices being raised at this cataclysmic change to our centuries-old freedoms? None? Civil Wars have started for less – and faster.
No ‘political’ voices perhaps, but alternative sites like this are flourishing. I know there’s not much to feel bright about at present, but look at what Toby Young has achieved here: a mixture of objective reporting, accessible commentary, citizen journalism by contributors plus a forum for criticism and commiseration. This is the future.
Until ‘the authorities’ decree that free exchange of information is ‘dangerous’ and force social media companies and ISPs to block such material.
Yes it was definitely strange in the beginning…now it is quite chilling as there does not appear anyone in Parliament who is willing to question the government on its actions or hold it to account.
Where have the independent, brave politicians not afraid to speak their minds gone? They were always relatively few in number but they did exist and made their voices heard. What has happened?
As Simon Heffer has pointed out, Boris has a talent for avoiding scrutiny. The refusal to interviewed by Andrew Neil, the attempted prorogation of parliament, avoiding Sir Graham Brady, the institution of a socially distanced and virtual parliament, virtual press conferences which deflect awkward questions: these things are of a piece.
According to the Spectator, the Red Wall recent intake of MPs is causing problems for Boris over Huawei. We just need to encourage them to cause him problems over Covid policy.
But of course, the magician has just rushed through some of the most illiberal measures in history and slipped from the stage.
Good luck with that! Red Wall constituents absolutely love masks and lockdown. I live in a working class strongly pro Brexit constituency and I honestly think if Boris told us to smear our faces with cow pat, wear a traffic cone on our heads and sing “Dancing Queen” to ward of covid 99.9% of people here would do it with enthusiasm. Don’t make the mistake of thinking people vote for Brexit because they are libertarians; I have learnt most people just wanted the wearer of the jackboot pressing on their neck to be worn by a Brit.
We live in a heavily conformist society that has been increasingly intolerant of dissent for decades now (that’s what “political correctness” and “hate speech” has all been about, though those are reflections of an underlying reality rather than driving forces). In such a society, it’s probably not particularly strange that we have a political elite that reflects that intolerance of dissent and is itself conformist and politically narrow.
As to why this has happened, that’s a much bigger question, though I think Peter Hitchens has been making good points for many years about how massive a force for conformism television was, and tv has in recent years been surpassed in that regard by the immensely more toxic social media.
I live in a society in which my own views have become “extremist” over the course of my own lifetime without changing much, as my society’s collective culture has been shifted radically to the left in just a few decades. So while I do indeed share your surprise at the pace of events and the particulars of the pretexts used, I am perhaps not as shocked by the underlying revelations s others might be.
The straws in the wind for tyrannising… Read more »
That is very strange – but I would say the problem may be outlets for the dissenting Politicians (and by the law of averages there must be some) to get their message out.
James you’re right – I’m amazed how there is no political opposition to this shambles, except on sites like this. I’m not especially political but right now i’m politically homeless. If there was a credible, charismatic person with sensible, logical, common sense policies/manifesto i reckon they would gain a lot of support and votes. I thought the Brexit party were going to re-launch and switch focus – maybe they’ll fill the void but i’m not sure Nigel Farage is the man to lead the new charge, as although he talks a lot of sense to the people in the street, i wonder if he’s had his day.
“The only mechanism for political revenge that I can see will be to support new and non-mainstream parties,at every opportunity, even if you don’t necessarily like all their policies or views”
I think this is key. At least one is there if you look, and they are not in favour of masks, lockdown, net zero, green new deals and sustainability, and all the other cheeks of the same arse. Wake up folks!
I agree with you, but, it still depends on where you go and what you do. I refuse to go to shops, I do click and collect, I go to the coast, walk and sit in the cafe’s, where even yesterday, not a mask to be seen, even on the staff, who were cheery and welcoming. They go through the rigmarole of serving through a hatch etc but its all done in the same manner. Also if I need anything it will be online. Its a pity because its helping the non cash and multinationals in the main but will try my local shops next week, without a mask.. I will never vote mainstream again and will refuse to follow their madness.
Found this picture online, thought you all might like it.
Nervous – Needed to pick up a Hoover from Argos this morning. Deep breathing exercises before I left. Walked around a little because I was early, surprised everyone wearing a mask going into local Tesco – local butchers looked hopeful! Anyway down to Sainsburys – 8am and not busy – walked straight in and asked two members of staff(wearing masks) what time Argos(inside store) opened “8am” “Thank You” – Walked down to Argos Section – all good so far, lady came to serve me – not wearing a mask Hurray! Nice chat about hoovers etc – Smiled at each other walked out with my Shark Hoover. Mission accomplished! Co op later for my parents.
I’m bracing myself for the Co-Op, too.
Off topic but just listened to Chopper’s Politics Podcast from the Telegraph. He interviewed an utterly cretinous Tory MP for Stoke on the obesity “crisis”. Not only did she suggest we all need to be eating a “plant based” diet, the corollary of what she said had me screaming at the radio. Her argument followed to its logical conclusion would be that everyone should be banned from buying or preparing their own food. We should all get a “nutritious” meal prepared and delivered to our door by the state (she didn’t actually say that but it was the logical conclusion of what she did say). And she claimed her approach wasn’t nanny statist and that Boris should get 10/10 for his first year. Un-f-ing believable!
And we are supposed to believe these people are meaningfully “conservative”!?
(Let alone “far right” as some deluded types seem to believe!)
“Conservative” – perhaps not in any meaningful sense
“Far Right” definitely – like the fascists. The fact that Stalinism was just as repulsive doesn’t alter the fact; this lot come from the other extreme.
I think you confuse “authoritarian” with far right. You can be either left or right and be authoritarian. The distinction between left and right is fundamentally one of radicalism versus conservatism, not as it tends to be viewed by those whose views were formed by the socialism/Thatcher decades in this country, merely big government versus big business. In reality, big business can be either left or right, as can be clearly seen from the actions of many big businesses and super-rich individuals recently. .
You really are a joke…I am sure you would find Novara media more to your liking. And Ash Sarkar is very easy on the eye too.
I wonder who you are referring to there lol.
the mushroom approach .. kept in the dark and fed on sh*t
So ridiculous. We absolutely cannot trust any nutrition advice by the Government. They still use the outdated food pyramid. At the bottom of the pyramid they recommend that we stuff ourselves with a lot of carbohydrates. They even recommend low fat diets that have been debunked. We need good quality fats in our diet and good quality proteins (the building blocks of our bodies).
We are all different and our bodies react differently to different foods – it is not as simple as calories in and out. Some people are very sensitive to carbohydrates and gain weight weight quickly.
I have a feeling ration cards won’t be too long before they are mentioned, can only buy food with “approved” cards and so on.
Part of the new green agenda being pushed.
And you can only have a ration card if you have your immunity pass.
One of the objectives of the “Sustainability” agenda being pushed/planned by the UN/WEF and their supporter/controllers is to abolish meat consumption altogether (dairy/cattle farms are ‘not sustainable’ because they take up too much land and resources).
They will sing the praises of a ‘plant-based’ diet but in reality it is food created in a lab – much more ‘efficient’ than farms. So the end result will be to sever the connection between people and the consumption of natural foods.
Watch out for more and more articles appearing in MSM praising ‘plant-based’ diets, bemoaning the consumption and production of meat and linking it to the proliferation of viruses, etc
Here’s one in today’s Telegraph:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/food-and-drink/features/do-need-stop-eating-meat/
Some good reading here, for anyone interested. A bit more balanced than headlines.
https://sustainablefoodtrust.org/articles/?category=food-systems-2
Bill Gates headlines an all-star list of investors pumping $75 million into meatless burgers
https://qz.com/1044498/bill-gates-impossible-foods-investment-increases-in-meatless-burger-funding-round/
How revolting.
I suspect that elite will continue t eat the best beef and lamb and fish available. It will be the rest of us who get the synthetic equivalent of an airline meal delivered daily by the block kapo.
Like I always say- it’s plant-based because it’s made in a plant and plant is another word for factory. Funny how the people who 15 years ago were bleating on about additives and GM crops are the same ones advocating we eat an increasingly synthetic diet.
It’s not off topic. It’s another case of politicians and media channels, regurgitating the opinions of a few. Most of the real evidence for healthy eating, that can also feed the whole planet, points to non selective diets.
I’d love to see her suggest her food plan to my wife’s face – she’s passionate about home-cooking healthy meals every day – I fear that MP will not come out well from the confrontation (my wife’s a fiery red-headed ginger ninja).
Did she also suggest what we could do with the elderly population – what she would undoubtedly term the ‘useless eaters’? Soylent Green anyone?
I don’t think this is off-topic at all. It’s all part of the same lunatic mentality that got us into this mess in the first place.
Yes thats the reality of the collapse of the ‘red wall’ They have still got Labour MPs standing on Tory colours. Many of the new Tory MPs would not know a conservative principle from a communist one.
How long do you think this is going to go on for ? I’m seriously thinking of looking for work in Sweden and to move out there, I’ve literally had enough of the covid fear that is in this country. I’m arguing with family who are normally well balanced people but are now “Covid Karen’s” and acting in ways I’ve never seen before. I want to live a life but not like this..
I have a nephew who moved there about seven years ago. He found it hard to get work, although admittedly he was moving in a narrow field…music teaching and performance. Sweden doesn’t always recognise British qualifications. However, if you can get through that aspect, then it seems to be a nice place; obviously very uncrowded; but everywhere is cashless, lots of things very liberal, and so on. Analyse carefully before jumping.
The Old Sweden has also been changed by a very large muslim intake and parts of the big cities are seen as no go zones for women after dark. The liberal nature of the Swedes has made it difficult for them to deal with this new manace.
Sorry to put a dampner on things but as far as I can see this madness is everywhere. Us Sceptics need to stick together and fight back.
Agree. The grass is not always greener on the other side.
I agree. Running away will not solve the problem. Mass non-violent resistance will.
I’ve recently purchased an “I Love Sweden’ T-shirt to wear in public as often as I can. Raises a few eyebrows. I can’t believe “I Love Sweden” is now a political statement!
please can I come with you?
i think sweden is a very “liberal” society and probably very nice but they have a stack of their own issues too. They have taken in a lot of refugees which are creating issues in the cities and there have been increase in rapes, and bombings in recent years etc – none of this ever gets into the msm as it doesn’t fit their agenda – google it.
there seem to be a few swedes on this forum who can probably give you a balanced view. But i would think a little wooden hut couple hundred miles away in the forest would be absolutely ideal right now…
To quote my husband. He has just coined a term for our present situation called ‘The Chain of Bollocks’. It begins with a Government that doesn’t know what it is doing but trying to avoid the blame. A bunch of Marxists on the Left looking to overthrow democracy. The media looking to sensationalise every statistic (death). Public sector that doesn’t want to go to work. The rest of us totally disenfranchised. Did he miss anything, he asks?
The civil servants refusing to return to work need to be careful. I’ve noticed the country is still ticking over, the streets are still cleaned, waste is being taken away. Do we actually need these people who are staying off work? We do need every penny we can lay our hands on now.
County Hall car park is on a main road into town, everyone can see it remains empty weeks after the rest of us went back to work.
Those not wanting to return to work need to watch their step; there are huge numbers of applicants now for average jobs, from unemployed, desperate highly qualified people; don’t wanna work? we can easily replace you.
If 50% of public sector workers disappeared now life could be a lot better.
I’m fascinated by the emergence of this sort of bollocks as an diversion for a mess entirely owned by a bunch of dim right-wing nutters feeding the demands of big private finance!
You seem to live in a fantasy world where the people driving this – the BBC, big media, social media zealots and senior medical “experts” are all somehow krypto-fascist enablers, when in objective reality these groups are all more or less openly admitted as heavily left-leaning supporters of (in the UK) the Labour and LibDem parties.
Where are these “far right” people and where is a single party with a single objectively “far right” political policy?
I’d like to know, so that I can have someone to vote for again.
Very good point….with a few notable exceptions such as Paul Embery the main opposition has come from the Right including the creator of this sight and key figures such as Peter Hitchens and James Delingpole. I have not seen any left wing equivalents of this site which is why the left who oppose lockdown have had to come on here even though they are probably not keen on its ancestry.
That being the banking sector that is about to be replenishing ‘bucket 3’ of post Financial Crisis bad debt provisions when the inevitable credit event happens in the commercial property sector? Agree there are some dubious big business-related interests behind this fiasco, plus a Big Pharma industry that has totally captured the regulators, but last time I looked, most of the money supporting the virus bandwagon aligns to left-leaning interests. In the UK, who and where are the ‘right wing nutters’?
My husband is a civil servant – HMRC inspector – he’s worked all through – as has the whole of his department. They’ve mostly worked from home where their hours are logged into the system. Many of them, like him, do over their contracted hours.
The self-appointed, censorious, authoritarian block Kapos on every street and in every village naming and shaming on social media.
Plenty of detail to add, but I think he’s covered the basics pretty well.
You missed Climate Activists who see the grounding of the airlines and the collapse of capitalism as good – you know, ‘there were pigeons in the fountain on the high street, nature is healing herself’. Curtain twitching stasi informers feeling emboldened, and having a lovely time, comfortable at last that someone is indulging their dependent personality disorder. Scientists just making stuff up now to protect their reputations and their funding, and pharmaceutical corporate interests, who in the midst of this chaos, who have spotted a whopping opportunity for profiteering, and an NHS who at last gets to take revenge for funding cuts by doing sweet fanny adams for four months, and taking a bow.
And demanding care packages/money off/ free food
Yes lots of that where I live even though they are on full pay for doing very little in many cases.
He missed the toxic proliferation of social media which makes politicians feel public opinion all the more acutely, favours and amplifies hysteria and emotion over rationality and facts, as well as its (ab)use as an incredibly powerful propaganda tool to spread fear. Can you imagine how Stalin and Hitler would have used social media had it existed in their time? Perhaps we are getting a taste now.
“ A bunch of Marxists on the Left looking to overthrow democracy.”
I’m more worried about a bunch of proto-fascists on the Tory free-market right who *have* overthrown democratic principles. Inventing straw men from political obsessions won’t alter that.
The only Tory free marketeers still alive are in a tiny minority in The Lords – Peter Lilley being a notable one. If you think Boris and his Cabinet of all star intellects such as Williamson and Sharma are free marketeers and right wing, I fear you are mistaken.
You are deluded….in so far as the Tories have gone along with this its because they are now part of the left and the cultural revolution. Any free market person would not want to see private capitalism destroyed and the NHS turned into a state religion. They would leave that to the likes of you.
Breakfast in Spanish hotel. Buffet is behind glass screens and served to you by waiters-aptly named because whatever you queue for involves a long wait! All Spanish are well masked up. No problem with saying we are exempt.
Virus does not attack the fresh orange juice machine, nor the coffee or toast machines. You are completely safe by the cereal dispensers and the jams, spreads etc but it is extremely dangerous by the fruit, hot breakfasts and breads. There is a one way system around a large central island which gives you your morning exercise as it’s always a long walk back to your table!
I would say the hotel is only a quarter full and with these measures in place is unlikely to get any fuller this summer.
If they don’t get substantially fuller – and pretty quickly at that – it is hard to see how they can keep going!
Are you enjoying Jail España?
It’s fine for us thanks Annie (as long as we don’t get one that is) We lived here for a long time and have friends here so are used to the ways of the Spanish-but it does take so much of the joy out of being on holiday.
Whilst the incompetent cretins running the UK shit show are bad enough the Spanish are in a competition to see how much self destructive stupidity they can get away with…
Costa del Sol are proudly the first to mandate face nappies for exercising like running along the beach, some areas that includes cycling along the boardwalk.
Currently no genuine evidence that the cough spreads out in the open air (30C and plenty of strong UV ‘del sol’) or that masks do anything other than make people look stupid while not being able to breath properly.
Their ‘cases’ are rising in line with increased testing but their daily death rate is stubbornly flat-lined down near fuck all – what could that mean????
Sounds like you are further north…
that sounds hideous – “please sir may i have some more bangers?!” or “hey Miguel mate fling us another chipola por favore” 🙂
Not exactly the relaxing holiday experience IMHO but try and enjoy it! 🙂
Tescos Ealing yesterday. Masked queue supervisor fiddles with own mask then hands out masks to customers without mask before letting them in. Thus creating transmission route which did not exist before. This will be happening all over the country.
Stop, you’re thinking logically, that’s not allowed in 2020!
It won’t make much difference right now as there’s not a lot of virus to transmit. If there’s a resurgence in winter it may become an issue though. By then the improper use of masks will become second nature.
Agreed – I posted this on one of my local web forums earlier
“Question for the mask enthusiasts.
When can we stop wearing them? Given that both the rates of new cases and deaths have tailed off in recent weeks, there is no current reason to wear them. The danger is that if there is an increase in the Autumn, there may be “mask fatigue” by then.
I am in favour of targeted interventions such as distancing, hygiene and possibly mask use where and when justified, but right now, given that mask use, even if beneficial has only marginal effect it seems we are using a tool that should be saved for a more urgent time.
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/uk/“
Compulsory mask wearing has little to do with anything apart from being an integral part of the psy-op. Total mind fuckery.
It’s clear that a rise of infection in the autumn winter will be the engineered story.
This is obvious from the ‘Second Wave’ being touted as a certainty rather than one possible outcome. We also, of course have another unsupported idea that Lock-Ups and masks make a difference. Not to mention the need to flog vaccines.
“Follow the Science”? Of course not. Follow the pre-determined propaganda narrative.
Watch out for a pretty ordinary ‘flu epidemic being touted again as Armageddon.
The Black Shorts have played with their toys and like the look of them : more for Christmas?
Well tried to be compliant. Put mask on outside Tesco in view of girl at door, strap promptly broke, showed her the broken strap and went in. 100% masks with customers but 50% staff maskless. Joined queue at checkout and joked to (masked) woman in front about the useless masks and she kindly let me go in front of her. Don’t expect that trick to work next time. Not an enjoyable shop.
Why did you try to be compliant?
‘tried to be compliant’? what on earth for? Just relax.
Hold up didn’t Tescos say they wouldn’t be enforcing this?
I said “letting them in” perhaps implying he might not have let them in. Badly worded – they may well have been not enforcing, just handing out masks. I’ll pop along this morning to see how they react to an exemption claim.
well, apart from the fact that there is no virus to start with so nothing really to transmit.
Somebody posted this on Twitter. I’ve only had a quick skim through it but seems to suggest little risk of passing it on after 6 days. Some other interesting stuff in there too:
Duration of Isolation and Precautions for Adults with COVID-19
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/duration-isolation.html
A large contact tracing study demonstrated that high-risk household and hospital contacts did not develop infection if their exposure to a case patient started 6 days or more after the case patient’s illness onset (Cheng et al., 2020).
Interesting read. I also looked at their advice on masks and read through their supporting articles. Lots of ‘potentially could’, ‘perhaps reduce’ etc. They have clearly cherry picked the most supportive pieces as there are many that do not support mask wearing such as this one:
https://journals.viamedica.pl/cardiology_journal/article/view/CJ.a2020.0054/50906
Cloth masks are an absolute health hazard.
Saw a waitress yesterday, adjust her mask at the mouth area with her free hand. She then used that hand to pass the plate. Not blaming the poor girl, she was just doing her job.
Helen Whately, the Care Minister, said that the Government will be “encouraging” people to wear a mask but they were “not expecting the police to be called every time someone isn’t wearing a face mask, that would be inappropriate”.
Why inappropriate? I thought that non-mask wearers were effectively killing people? Why wouldn’t you phone the phone for that? If the police won’t say that this law is unenforceable, then they should be expected to enforce it. And if that means the public making hundreds of thousands of 999 calls every day, swamping the system, then so be it.
I think the government is trying to be all things to all people. “Wear a mask or be fined! But if you don’t want to don’t. But then again it might save lives. But maybe not. It’s important that healthy people cover up. But the most vulnerable – who we locked up for 12 weeks – are exempt”. It’s a total unscientific, focus group driven, dogs breakfast.
My dog wouldn’t go near it.
Nor my 4!
That had not occurred to me, the very same ‘vulnerable’ people who self isolated for three months are the most likely to claim exemption from masks, if they dare.
The irony hasn’t escaped me. I don’t consider myself vulnerable and I’m pretty fit but I do have hyperthyroidism and that makes my heart beat very fast and I have a very high demand for oxygen when my meds are out of kilter or if I get stressed. As my last two blood tests and consultant appointments were cancelled due to covid that is starting to happen again and I’m starting to get a bit of hand tremor. On the down side heading into thyrotoxicosis territory again but on the upside legit reason not mask up.
If anybody dares to ‘shame’ you, show ’em the disability discrimination bit that imposes fines of up to £9000 for harassment.
If they dare indeed. I met my local propaganda delivery man yesterday, he is elderly and had told me a while ago that he has respiratory issues. I asked him why he was wearing a mask (he had it on his chin), he said the shop where he collects the papers wouldn
t let him in without one. I explained that he can claim exemption with his condition. He looked very pleased. I wonder if people dont know that they can be exempt?I see people comparing mask wearing to wearing a seat belt.
This could be a more valid comparison if seatbelts were only compulsory at certain speeds or driving in certain areas.
And if the evidence they stopped you flying through the windscreen in event of a crash was weak or non existent
And uf you had to wear thrm in cities but not tiwns, A roads but not B roads.
Seatbelts must be to stop you flying into other people after exiting via the windscreen. My seatbelt protects you, your seatbelt protects me.
The most dangerous thing for a car driver is the unbelted passenger behind.
Oh joy, the waitresses in my usual cafe have abandoned their muzzled today.
Is that an England day two event or a Scotland day 14 or whatever?
How long did the waitresses stick it out for?
Good to get an idea of how long patience lasts.
This is a CRUCIAL factor.
Second day of takeaway customers ignoring mask edict was probably the final straw.
England from when cafes reopened July 4th.
Or if seatbelts were not made and tested to strict criteria, and you could just make your own…
It’s a perfectly valid comparison. The idea, which has become institutionalised, that you’re a criminal if you don’t wear a seatbelt or a motorcycle helmet is in itself a basic assault on freedom. The safety benefits may be proven, but if we want to be unsafe, bearing in mind be pose a risk to no one but ourselves, that is our prerogative and not for the government to interfere with.
See J. S Mill: “The only purpose for which power can rightfully be exercised over any member of a civilised community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others.”
“ a basic assault on freedom”
Nonsense. It’s a balanced measure where the harm is far less than the benefit in a public realm. It isn’t a constraint except for restless spoiled children. ‘Freedom’ never was unconstrained in any society deserving of the name.
This current situation is far different, even if the fake arguments might mimic the rationality of the use of seat belts. Democracy has always required a balancing of demands between the individual and the crowd – that’s it’s very essence of a concept where the unconstrained dominance of either results in totalitarianism.
“It’s a balanced measure where the harm is far less than the benefit in a public realm. It isn’t a constraint except for restless spoiled children. ‘Freedom’ never was unconstrained in any society deserving of the name.”
Now you are revealing your own inner totalitarian.
How is it “balanced”? What benefit do you give to an individual to counteract the cost of restricting his basic liberty (and worse, establishing structures and principles that will be used to further restrict his freedom)?
Reduction to a personal risk that they have already chosen to run for the precise benefit you are now taking away? Inherently absurd.
Some supposed trivial reduction in collectivised healthcare costs? Of course, it was never explained when such collectivisation was brought in that it would mean the end of any liberty to choose what personal risks to run.
What arrogance! To airily assume the right to dictate to others what their liberties are worth!
There’s no honest comparison with wearing a seatbelt, because the two justifications (rationalisations, actually) are apples and oranges.
The mask law is rationalised based upon the pretence that wearing a mask “saves [other people’s] lives”. There is, of course, no evidence for this, but it is what people tend o believe based mostly upon the propaganda to which they are regularly exposed. Thus, it’s more similar, ethically, to drink driving laws, except with no evidence base to support it.
The seatbelt law is simple safety/health tyranny – it’s based upon using the law to force people to protect their own lives against a risk they would otherwise choose to run for themselves. The dishonest or deluded use an additional, spurious rationalisation that claims that because we have collectivised healthcare people supposedly shouldn’t be allowed to run such risks any more (because “everyone” pays for the healthcare costs”), but that is transparently dishonest because it is not applied remotely consistently, only where the person arguing for legal coercion wants to see such coercion applied. The people who use that argument, such as commenter “Boney Knee” here, are just dishonest on the issue, unless they are simply too stupid to understand… Read more »
You could argue that the best way to save other people’s lives when driving would be not to drive at all. That should be especially applied to my father in law! 🤣
Of course. Life necessarily involves risks, and the issue can never be how to eliminate all risks, but only how to manage risks by balancing effectiveness versus hazard.
A society like ours, that becomes over-fearful (cultural cowardice, basically) becomes ineffectual.
Indeed. I’m a horsewoman and my husband rides a motorbike (I’m
Learning) and the inability of other riders to judge risk has dumbfounded me. I do endurance which involves cross country riding over Long distances often at speed. All events remain cancelled because riders have told our governing body they are afraid of covid 19. We ride 700kg of unpredictable horseflesh at high speed over uneven ground in an activity known to result in deaths and serious injury yet we are worried about a virus that has caused virtually no deaths in our demographic (fit, largely female, under 60, white).
Mental. I have noticed that gliding, hang-gliding, paragliding,wing-walking, scuba diving, mountain climbing, bicycle racing, motorbike racing, and base jumping activities have been seriously curtailed for fear of spreading the Rona too.
When you participate in sky diving the most important thing is that you socially distance yourself from other skydivers….even though you are 10,000 feet in the air!
I think it is about fear of the unknown. We think we are better able to judge risk doing things that we regularly do, and put to the back of our minds how dangerous equestrian sports can be. After all, we probably all know of someone killed or badly injured jumping and being kicked and bitten can also cause serious injury, but because we love horses that doesn’t stop us from wanting to ride or to handle them because the majority of our horsey encounters are very very positive. However fear of unknown viruses is far less easy for people to deal with. It is a cognitive dissonance, but I can understand how it occurs given the human brain.
What I am trying to say is that it is pointless expecting people to be logical when fear is a driving factor. It is pointless expecting the majority to be logical in any circumstances. Our brains are not wired for it.
Absolutely agree AngloWelshDragon. I keep horses, and it is far more dangerous handling and riding half a ton of living breathing horse that quite rightly has a mind of its’ own. I believe it is considered by insurance companies to be a high risk activity. So like you I am well used to weighing up risk versus living! I used to event in my younger days but decided that at my age, my bones break far too easily now, so I stick to more gentle types of riding and handling. But I would never give up my horses “just in case” I may have an accident. That’s not living, that’s just existing. The virus pales into insignificance compared to other things I willingly do in my life.
You are absolutely right that the assessment of risk is essential in any situation.
My son and myself were talking about the teaching of mathematics the other day, and were totally agreed that key areas like estimation and the nature of probability (I don’t mean in a highly technical sense) are neglected for mickey-mouse computational exercises.
To ‘follow the science” in essence means to assess the evidence in terms of probabilities and risk. Rational enquiry.
We see this lack of risk awareness critically in this situation, where people are conned into thinking (a) that a disappearing mild infection is a major threat and (b) that wearing a mask has a significant probability, in this situation, of having any significant real-world effect.
But then we come to other aspects of this situation, where a psychological war has been actively waged to use fear as a means of distorting rational assessment (assuming it exists) for political ends.The victims have been deliberately targeted by studied distortion aimed at amplifying their lack of knowledge.
There is no way for people to learn how to assess risk if they never expose themselves to risk. It’s a slippery slope and we’re already halfway down.
I am a maths tutor and I find that people are incapable of quantifying risks. Indeed their understanding of the idea of mathematical probability is non existent. It all helps to explain why they are easy prey to the fear mongers.
This objective has been partially met with a high degree of compliance. The roads are still relatively quiet. No more commuters, no more schools runs, much less traffic in towns. Just wait until they ban internal combustion engines.
Only people with huge amounts of cash will be able to drive and service the lease on the vehicles battery.
John Adams has great data about the impact of wearing seat belts on road deaths. Declining curves plateau once they are introduced. So wearing selt belts does not appear to cause futher decline in deaths. in fact in some cases it appears to keep deaths at a certain level.
The reason is due to our perception of risk and the way we adjust behaviour to suit. The mask thing is pertinent. The more you touch it the less effective (if effective at all) it becomes. Very quickly you have a bug rag on your face. A face nappy.
But try telling someone that it’s better to take it off once this happens and most won’t, because they associate the risk with not wearing it.
Local effects versus systematic effects. The same goes for theorists and modelling.
Some good comments at the end as well:
https://www.express.co.uk/comment/columnists/frederick-forsyth/1313685/coronavirus-crisis-measures-UK-boris-johnson-latest
An unmasked man tried to stop a mugger yesterday but unfortunately the suspect ran into a nearby supermarket. Customer services phoned the police but the suspect could not be identified on shop camera footage. The police and shop staff thanked the man for his efforts. The man decided to do some shopping “Don’t forget your mask!!!! you are breaking the law”
We are living through the decline and fall of Britain. All empires fall in the end. The fall cannot be paused or halted. This is my last post
You lot are always leaving dramatic declarations of imminent retirement from this board only to reappear a couple of days later.
More comebacks than Frank Sinatra.
fuck off mate no one likes you
Or Tina Turner
Ta ra.
Have they put you in the slammer?
The Irish Independent (paywall so no link) reports that a pub worker in Dublin is suing her employer after falling down stairs at work as the visor her employer told her to wear made it difficult to see.
Hope she gets huge compensation.