Member Info for big-blue

Treacle, most wards are not suitable to handle covid patients, hospitals have been configured with dedicated covid zones, the other 80% of the hospital is unaffected. That is why the Nightingale hospitals were closed. There are now a range of treatments those with the worst symptoms can be given releasing them from hospital in hours. You still seem to have the original panic image used to qualify the initial restrictions on civil liberties of hospitals being overwhelmed and the dead piled high in the corridors. That was all based on the collapse of the Italian system in the very early days. Things have not quite padded out like that. You are exposed to the daily statistics in isolation and therefore are being fed a very misleading image. If all the data and deaths and their causes were put out with those actually caused BY covid not just testing positive, then there would be a perspective. The same argument of the NHS being overwhelmed has been trotted out every single year for winter since I can remember back in the 80s. And when omicron came along, the exact same argument was immediately deployed with the exact same calls for ever more money. There is no overwhelming of the NHS, there isn't going to be one and there was never going to be one. If that was the case then the Nightingale hospitals would be rebuilt now! The biggest impact is all the people testing positive with no symptoms stopping them from doing their jobs but being told to quarantine themselves. Imagine precovid if everybody had to be tested for flu, irrespective if they had symptoms, and had to isolate for 10 days if they tested positive. It would have been regarded as a completely unacceptable policy because of the major economic and social damage that would be caused. But that is the policy now, testing for covid rather than flu. And that is where the real problem for the NHS will come from, people who would otherwise been fit to work now being forced into quarantine. Look what is happening in show business now, all the productions being cancelled. Not because of sick people unable to work, but because of testing positive. In sport all the football matches are being cancelled.

I have an issue Treacle with people being spooked into believing the snuffle or weak cough they have might be some crippling covid and end up overloading A&E and refusing to accept what the triage nurse is telling them because they have heads full of TV hysteria. The Nightingale hospitals were pulled down for a reason. And there is always something somewhere delaying operations [not being a card carrying member of a trade union doesn't help - oh yes one of the biggest scandals around that has no attention or publicity anywhere]. And I love your parroting of the established narrative on Trump. Put a 50p in the slot in the back of your head and out comes the monotonous identical speech as all the others that just soaked up the narrative without question. I don't know much about Trump, but I have been fascinated by the reaction to him and how people have been programmed to respond as a default position.

"In December 2019, another strain of SARSr-CoV was identified", it is not new it is a variant of what was discovered in 2002.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SARS

Be very careful Glenhos at being taken in by a news story that has clearly been prepared and organised and held back for a certain window of opportunity. There were no 'parties' in the sense you have been directed to imagine. And the 'gatherings' were no more than happening all over where 'teams' working together were making the best of it amongst a load of covid rules. Everything is focused exclusively on the Tories to the exclusion of absolutely everybody else. I would be interested to know just how far a deep sweep of picture deleting has been taking place in all the other political parties, in the council offices, quangos, wards and other institutions and companies. The degree that the gatherings have had to be twisted was such the met didn't even waste their time investigating. The story was a deliberate spin campaign and specifically engineered to get the desired effect at the by-election, gifted to the team running the campaign. In Westminster speak this is an organised campaign to cause maximum damage with a single word tigger parties, just like the single word, Barnard!!!! Come election time, these keywords will be fired off to 'remind' people to be angry just long enough for their voting pencil to be pushed into the desired box for a cross. Be careful you do not end up as one of the 20% of the population that will have been hypnotised to vote for the wrong side.

Treacle, so what if people 'get it'? Nobody fretted too much about colds and flus to this extent before. An irrational hysteria has taken over people that they are going to be crippled by a bug. This is not a new thing that has come along, it is a variation of SARS that has been with humans from day one. The failure to report covid alongside cold and flu cases is such now that I think it is very deliberate. The human lab rats are being gnome sequenced on a vast scale and I can tell you now there are a number in the scientific community who see this as a unique opportunity to gather all sorts of population disease data despite people's lives being absolutely wrecked by the consequences of the restrictions. Those scientists feed into the advisory networks and unfortunately we have a load of hapless politicians failing to challenge or question what is being said to them. I can tell you one thing for sure, this would be a very different situation if Trump had won. At the very least he would have crossed his arms, sat back in the chair and then challenged what was being said to him. A lot of people in the US media and around the career US government hated that, but it would have been a very useful thing to have had when omicron struck.

jotom, the casualty of covid when it has all been shaken out, will be the very 'empathy' that you espouse. Where I am expected to stand aside, giveway, take second place, pay for, bow head, doff cap, prostrate, stay tight lipped, not want, or anything else that give any indication of selfishness for my own pleasure or satisfaction. That is what all the world's religions used to do to control the people. As this latest new age cult is exposed and identified it too will be rejected and pushed away and individual freedoms and liberties will return. People all around the world reject being suppressed by whatever the means. And before you spout some old socialist anti-Thatcher anti-Trump crap, individuals with individual freedoms also submit more willingly to individual responsibility because they are in control of their own actions and naturally tend towards cooperation as required for the greater good. It has been borne out throughout all the left/right tussels. Leftward leaning societies always end up with a problem of compliance, rightward leaning always tend to a more cooperative and altruistic behaviour [generalised and the Nazies were national socialists before you chip in on that one]. It makes good sense to move with the market, hence better cooperation with the right and individual responsibility. Initially with covid there was a rapid switch to full cooperation to some extremely draconian restrictions based on not knowing what was going to happen next. The vaccines came along. But the restrictions have remained. Now, those who have taken individual responsibilities are having to live under restrictions. Part of the issue is those who will not take the vaccine, but people are a great deal wiser now, much has been learned, reality is now the name of the game and omicron has exposed that the original saviours have lost their way and have appointed themselves our new masters using the governments as their puppets and this is against the desire for individual freedom and responsibility and this is being rejected on a growing scale. You may wish to submit to a new master, but around you the overwhelming majority will not submit. An analogy is the knee taking by footballers. It is forced on players who have done some research about what the black lives matter movement is all about and they don't like it and are starting to push back against it. They want their personal freedom back.

A quick 360.....
So far, no other EU country seems to be following France's lead. Looks like they have struck out on their own and left isolated. There is very significant backlash in the ski resorts, Brits made up a very significant slice of the industry and cancellations are coming in thick and fast for the season post new year. Marcon may have completely misread this. He assumes everybody shares his attitude of hate towards Brits, but finds out it doesn't exist except in his own head.

I was in two minds when I turned up for my pre-booked booster. I expected boosters, have had them for a load of other vaccines in the past so nothing of concern here. I'm also on the annual flu jab list now too. What made me hesitate was being handed an information leaflet that didn't even name Moderna, it was about something called spikex or some such and was a double dose vaccine leaflet - being handed out for the booster. I found that off putting so I spent some time interrogating the 'jabber'. My concern was that in rushing the booster, mistakes could be made and batches mixed up and the wrong jab delivered, including expired doses. After seeing the bottle date and so on I accepted the booster as I expect it will be part of the new world covid vac pass required for travel [like other vaccine certs for certain locations]. Also, if I tried to rebook, I might end up not having a complete pass and not able to fly off to the States on a whim.

This empathy religion has come over form the States. I remember seeing the growth of the phenomena over there some years ago. It was essentially a way for the left to score social points over everybody else, look at how much more caring we are than everybody else. It has grown into a philosophy and a weapon to use against people not following the narrative of the eco left. I have empathy, but only for those who deserve it, not for political or for show reasons. Biden is supposed to a great saviour because he supposed to 'show' empathy. First thing he did in office is since hundreds of executive orders completely bypassing Capitol Hill to the point his own supports were asking would he ever present a bill to the Hill. And it was all on the basis of his empathy with the people.

Wear a thong [on your face]!

Thongs to replace face masks. In the same way the mask was used as an anti-Trump symbol, people are now fighting back by showing contempt for the mask. Get your hands on a thong and show your contempt, join the revolution....

https://www.asiaone.com/world/barely-covered-man-us-kicked-flight-wearing-red-thong-face-mask

Noticeable on the BBC, the status of Whittey being questioned. He has been painted as the saviour saint, mainly because he has been in step with broadcasting narrative and tends to read out what the the gods of TV want to hear and how they want it said. The lockdown lobby war in Downing St has resulted in Whittey taking a political position. I think for most of the pandemic, SAGE has also been taking political positions and taken advantage of the naivety of politicians faced with pandemic science. But the mask has been slipping and with omicron, the mask has fallen off. Diametrically opposing well sourced and highly credible information from SA simply dismissed and instead the 'advisors' bumping the politicians into re-running the pandemic again. This time round though people are a lot wiser and the plebs have been one foot ahead. Mass media and the rest of the Ivory tower residents are now slowly having to pay catch up. They need to speed up and start lifting ALL restrictions because significant damage is being done to key industry sectors. And those bloody masks, they have done absolutely nothing except act as virus sponges to allow superspreading on an industrial scale. Madness.

As far as the by-election is concerned. The labour vote is why they didn't go for the no confidence vote - they have the wrong leader. The libdems like to think they are important and people vote for them as libdems, something which those inside the Westminster bubble always found amusing because the libdems are simply used as protest vote and nothing else. R4 kept referring to a 'Brexit' voting constituency now voting for the libdems as if the Brexit vote was overturned. If that association had been suggested at anytime before the vote, then a different party would have had the protest vote, monster raving loony for example. The protest is complex, part anti-Boris, but from my friends it was mainly returning to lockdown as a result of being to easily influenced by the advisors. It is the ease with which Boris and his merry men were influenced and did not take in the 360 that is the main issue. The party business, despite very significant promotion by the gods of TV, was a very small part - possibly because it was well overplayed and a lot of it emerged as team gatherings rather than the false picture painted.

For travel, well the hope will be that downing St will stop being so easily influenced by the advisors, even put distance between them now, and thereby abandon the lockdowns and all the useless testing for travel for the UK and give a global lead on that one. Downing St is terrified of being attacked by the TV gods for going against the advisors but as the advisors are now being seen to have political positions, and with the feedback on the street from the by-election, somebody might stand up and get a grip at last.

Thing is, we all knew here in the fist few days what the truth was. We were being told immediately from SA the exact same things. But the information from SA was completely ignored. Through a combination of bigotry and vanity, the northern hemisphere community wanted to keep the whip hand on the narrative. They have come to enjoy the limelight and omicron looked like a great one to get called up by the TV gods and have the ego stroked. I think these same people have known for a more than a week they have massively overplayed it. There are still attempts to create a narrative to qualify the grotesque over reaction.

But one thing, irrespective of the numbers, if everybody is only displaying mild symptoms why would they be taken into hospital? The numbers will be far less than previous variants assuming the hospitals don't start filling up their space with mild cases to save face. Oh yes, that is a big possibility. So many have said it is going to happen, big money reserves and budgets are being deployed and as for the overtime bill!!!!!! Big chunks of the NHS will follow through and play out the scenario for the money. Unless somebody gets a grip on the this madness and steps in. This is an utterly ridiculous mess and we must be extricated from it and fast because very serious damage is going to done otherwise.

Fugazi, shut up, it is getting very boring.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/major-airline-ceos-say-aircraft-safest-place-you-can-be-masks-dont-add-much-to-cabin-environment_4160813.html

A rare voice questioning the holy grail of masks.... will this get the ball rolling and kick of some real world debate like we know about omicron or will the cover-up [pardon the pun] continue. One thing is for sure, the spread of Omicron only really took off when mask wearing was enforced again in shops. Will the link finally be admitted??

https://ajot.com/news/virgin-atlantic-partners-with-easyjet-to-feed-manchester-flights

Another competitor, another hub arrangement. Meanwhile, back at BA's Heathrow hub,

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/dec/16/passengers-face-fare-rises-after-37-hike-in-heathrow-landing-fees

They are putting up the cost.

BA and IAG have competition and that should never be forgotton.

Play might be based in Iceland, but now they will be able to offer stop over on route to US. A lot of people have Iceland on the bucket list and can frankley do most of the key bits in 2 or 3 days. It's like doing a layover in Beijing and getting a free 48hr visa to have a snoop around. As Play expands to more US destinations, it is another airline taking business. It will also be a hub, a bit more west than your average EU/UK hub admittedly, routing EU and UK to Keflavik then to the US but it will be able on the same principle as say, Schiphol. It is competition and there are a few of new startups rising from the ashes of a few defunct airlines. I remember people on this board celebrating the demise of those carriers and expecting IAG to pick up the business. Not so, Joe!

Not sure I'm impressed with that. Why was there an additional 35 million added on. If the original termination was 40 million, why has it been increased.

Something up my nose on that one, and it aint a lateral flow test!

More competition. Whilst a few here think the budget carriers are of no consequence, any competition is of consequence. The hole left by Norwegian has been quickly filled.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/larryolmsted/2021/12/16/new-low-cost-airline-flying-to-23-european-cities-cheap-tickets-on-sale-today/?sh=51edad4c24b8

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/manchester-airport-covid-measures-masks-22469302

Living with covid, with these attitudes? A lot of people have locked in to a normal. And this is the next problem, lockdown and mask lobbies campaigning non-stop to stay in the new safe space of their new normal. We've seen all over the planet violent protests hitting back against this. You are seeing an extraordinary propaganda war trying to fool us into believing there are going to be a million infections a day, hospital overrun, and mass breakdown of society, yet the real world reports are completely different. We need leadership, attack the mask wearing, abandon lockdowns and civil restriction, live with all the viruses. It is the only way to go.

This French red list is entirely political and you can bet Marcon is on the phone doing everything he can to get others on board. The commission, looking for any opportunity to kick the UK, will most likely come on board and attempt to force another 'unity' policy.

What will be interesting is to see the reaction of the east EU states as they are totally fed up of being bullied by the commission and may well react to stand in allegiance with those in the UK opposing France - a number in power will be supporting France operating internally with the UK to cause as much trouble as possible as part of the never ending campaign to force the UK back into Europe - don't forget that.

And Ireland, what will they do. This is going to be a significant test for Ireland because this might be the defining moment that it sides with the EU or decides like the east EUs that it can't risk isolating it's biggest market. All we have to do is place a tariff on Irish meat and produce and Ireland is sunk. And I mean sunk.

So the pro EU anti UK will be salivating on yet another direct soft attack on the UK, this one though may have consequences. Another step closer to live ammunition being used. The commission is playing with fire acting with Marcon.

Come anywhere near my local Chinese takeaway and you'll find the brick well and truly stuffed down your throat!!!!

Same goes for the kebab shop and Indian. I don't care much for the pizza or Italian restaurants, yuckie pasta, so fill your boots on the other side of the high street.