Wednesday 12th August 2020

[refitman]

Morning all.

[frog222]

£ and human costs of Faragist immigration policy ---

https://bylinetimes.com/2020/08/11/the- ... animosity/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[GetYou]

In the USA, children represented 9.1% (380,174/4,159,947) of all cases in states reporting cases by age:

https://services.aap.org/en/pages/2019- ... ta-report/

[frog222]

Lightning Alert on my phone ! Overcast ............. wind freshening !

On the most general level imaginable, we are seeing the evil effects of unthinking uncaring? privatisation of essential activity .

EX In Victoria, people were quarantined in hotels , as in Greece . OK

But in OZ they contracted out security to a private firm, which further sub-contracted it to a company which gave as little as five minutes of training . Cost = AUD Billions .
In England the first drive-in Serco testcentres even employed some warm bodies with very little English, like G4S doing 'security' for the Olympics IIRC ? .

UK Environment regs have been relaxed even further, YIPPEE ! Monbiot --

"" The Wye itself is dying at astonishing, heartbreaking speed. When I canoed it 10 years ago, the stones were clean. Now they are so slimy that you can scarcely stand up. In hot weather, the entire river stinks of chicken shit, from the 10 million birds being reared in the catchment. We made the mistake of swimming in it: I almost gagged when I smelled the water. The free-range farms are the worst: the birds carpet the fields with their highly reactive dung, which is then washed into the catchment by rain. Several times a year, algal blooms now turn the clear river cloudy. The fish gasp for breath. Aquatic insects suffocate.

Similar disasters are happening across Britain. In the east of the country, the main issues are human sewage and water extraction. The privatised water companies, granted local monopolies on supply, extract vast dividends and salaries while not investing enough in pipes, sewage systems, reservoirs and pollution control. Instead of stopping leaks or discouraging overconsumption, they draw down the groundwater that feeds our rivers. Many now run dry for part of the year. There are only 225 chalk streams in the world, and 85% are in England. Yet several of these rare and precious ecosystems could disappear altogether. ""

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... -companies" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[GetYou]

That is very distressing, I also canoed it about 10 years ago and it was one the most beautiful rivers I've had the pleasure of travelling along.

[frog222]

That is very distressing, I also canoed it about 10 years ago and it was one the most beautiful rivers I've had the pleasure of travelling along.

Can't remember if you saw this lovely Monbiot from last night, but recced for everyone who missed it !!!

" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[gilsey]

£ and human costs of Faragist immigration policy ---

https://bylinetimes.com/2020/08/11/the- ... animosity/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Something else it would be nice to hear about from Labour.

Instead it's Ben & Jerry's providing the opposition.
Priti, you're arguing with ice-cream.

[citizenJA]

£ and human costs of Faragist immigration policy ---

https://bylinetimes.com/2020/08/11/the- ... animosity/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Something else it would be nice to hear about from Labour.

Instead it's Ben & Jerry's providing the opposition.
Priti, you're arguing with ice-cream.

counterproductive Labour sounding off right now
fundamental irrational reaction is exploited through psychological manipulation

[citizenJA]

We're in danger, everyone
COVID-19
the heatwave
hopefully, people at risk of heatstroke are already staying in or otherwise prevented from inevitable death caused by this extreme weather event
regardless, I'm sure healthcare professionals have calculated when and how much damage is done
drink plenty of water, stay in
I was unable to persuade Mr citizen from going into work for a couple hours today

[citizenJA]

Good morning, everyone.

[frog222]

£ and human costs of Faragist immigration policy ---
https://bylinetimes.com/2020/08/11/the- ... animosity/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Something else it would be nice to hear about from Labour.
Instead it's Ben & Jerry's providing the opposition.
Priti, you're arguing with ice-cream.

counterproductive Labour sounding off right now
fundamental irrational reaction is exploited through psychological manipulation

Agreed CJA. It's magic thinking to rely on the LP saying stuff , ALONE, to suddenly change the climate of opinion, in a country with a very large Thatcherised and Murdochised reactionary minority.

[citizenJA]

slipped his fetters
coot awa’

[citizenJA]

Director Konrad Steffen tragically died in an accident
Saturday, August 8, 2020, our director Konrad Steffen was tragically killed in an accident during field work in Greenland.

Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research
https://www.wsl.ch/en/2020/08/director- ... ident.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Konrad Steffen Swiss researcher on climate change, has died in an accident in Greenland.

The 68-year-old was killed in an accident at a weather station, known as Swiss camp, at the weekend, officials said on Monday. He fell into a crevasse full of water when the snow gave way beneath him, some 100 metres from the camp.

Steffen, a dual Swiss/American who headed the Federal Office for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research since 2012, has conducted research into climate change in the Arctic and Antarctic for more than 40 years.

https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/leading-sw ... t/45959190" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I seem disproportionately upset about this event. He startlingly resembles my brother and father. It made me gasp.
https://www.wsl.ch/fileadmin/_processed ... b18896.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[citizenJA]

Leading climate change scientist is dead due to our increasingly unpredictable, destabilised environment

[citizenJA]

slipped his fetters
coot awa’

didn't use sunscreen or wear a hat

[RogerOThornhill]

Morning all.

James O'Brien
@mrjamesob
·
3h
The largest recession in the G7, the highest excess death rate in Europe, A-Levels in meltdown, unemployment rocketing, catastrophic Brexit imminent and *government ministers* are shouting at ice cream on Twitter.

The fuss over the A level results. It's a bit unfair really - it's not like they've had nearly 5 months to think about the consequences of cancelling exams...

[AnatolyKasparov]

B..but the BBC portrayed Dishi Rishi as SUPERMAN!!

[gilsey]

counterproductive Labour sounding off right now
fundamental irrational reaction is exploited through psychological manipulation

Agreed CJA. It's magic thinking to rely on the LP saying stuff , ALONE, to suddenly change the climate of opinion, in a country with a very large Thatcherised and Murdochised reactionary minority.

Principles and 'sounding off' don't need to come into it, I just think it's odd that the PM can say something incorrect in law and the Leader of the Opposition, former Human Rights lawyer and DPP, doesn't point it out.

I certainly don't think making it a matter of govt competence helps at all.

Sienna Rodgers
@siennamarla
Asked for comment on migrant boat crossings, Labour’s shadow immigration minister Holly Lynch said: “The Immigration Minister's emergency visit today to France today shows the lack of grip and competence shown by the government on this issue...

Is this forgotten?

6. Defend migrants’ rights
Full voting rights for EU nationals. Defend free movement as we leave the EU. An immigration system based on compassion and dignity. End indefinite detention and call for the closure of centres such as Yarl’s Wood.

It's about cheering up his own troops, not single-handedly trying to change the climate of opinion.

[AnatolyKasparov]

I agree with frog that simply expecting Labour to say "this is bad", and thinking this will itself magically sway a significantly if not largely hostile public, is naive.

However it is possible to criticise the government on "pragmatic" grounds without appearing to suggest the government's main fault is that it isn't being nasty enough efficiently enough, as Holly Lynch came close to doing yesterday (and as Cooper too often used to do when shadowing May)

Stella Creasy showed how to do it whilst maintaining a moral compass IMO (knew there was a reason why I used to like her)

[GetYou]

James Felton
@JimMFelton
3h
If I'd spent £16 million on coronavirus tests that didn’t work and £12m on a failed app and £150 million buying 50 million unusable masks from an offshore banker with no history of supplying medical equipment I'd probably keep my trap shut about some ice-cream being overpriced

[citizenJA]

I sometimes feel like Truman in The Truman Show

[Willow904]

A slightly swifter response from Starmer:

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2 ... p-minister" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Keir Starmer condemns last-minute A-level changes in England
Labour leader says late concession to allow appeals based on results in mock exams is ‘fiasco’

We had letters from school months ago explaining in detail exactly what was happening with predicted grades, appeals and retakes. It's been a strange experience for all involved but at least there was clarity about how GCSEs and A levels would be handled. Then, with just a couple of days to go, Gavin Williamson lobs a hand grenade into that certainty and plunges the whole system into chaos. And definitely not in student's favour as far as I can see. Mocks are not standardised, not taken by everyone and occur several months before the actual exams, so are likely to be lower grades than a student's real potential, if completed at all (most schools only do partial or old papers & don't always "grade" them just give marks out of 100). They are not going to be a fair and consistent alternative for a teacher's considered prediction, which the Scottish government has come to accept. This smacks of a figleaf to me for some very harsh and disappointing moderated grades which, unlike Scotland, the English government looks set to insist will stand. I really hope I'm wrong but I'm now extremely nervous about the pending results. Though mostly I'm just furious that the government thinks it's ok to dick vulnerable 16 and 18 year olds around at the 11th hour over something so pivotal to their entire futures. Why wasn't this sorted weeks/months ago?

[Willow904]

We're in danger, everyone
COVID-19
the heatwave
hopefully, people at risk of heatstroke are already staying in or otherwise prevented from inevitable death caused by this extreme weather event
regardless, I'm sure healthcare professionals have calculated when and how much damage is done
drink plenty of water, stay in
I was unable to persuade Mr citizen from going into work for a couple hours today

I'm keeping a close eye on our elderly guinea pig. They don't tolerate temperatures over 28°C very well. Usually it's just a case of keeping him inside away from direct sun but today it's 33°C out and 30°C in. so roll on the thunderstorms. We haven't had any yet but are supposedly finally due some today.

[AnatolyKasparov]

Of course, Sturgeon has just had to do a genuinely humiliating u-turn over the exam "results" in Scotland.

Odds of the same happening south of the border in due course must be non-negligible.

[frog222]

" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Last week, I spoke to @Freedland who asked me whether I thought the Ayanda contract was corrupt. That was not then a word I was prepared to use (https://theguardian.com/commentisfree/2 ... -of-sleaze" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;).

But here's why I now think, on the available evidence, the Ayanda contract was corrupt. THREAD
7:42 AM · Aug 12, 2020

[AnatolyKasparov]

Nick Thomas-Symonds - Labour's shadow to Priti Awful - has issued a detailed statement on the channel migrants kerfuffle.

Its actually OK.

[RogerOThornhill]

Front pages don't make happy reading for the PM or Williamson...

https://news.sky.com/story/thursdays-na ... s-12048067" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[frog222]

A levels chaos versus 10 or twenty thousand dead people ?

That's a really difficult one Bryan .

I mean, which way did they vote ?

The children of bexiteers in RedWail constituencies may justifiably FEEL disenboblified when their own sprogs may POSSIBLY have , just a little, lost out out in the hamster - rush for Guaranteed Success in Tory England . Quelle horrreur !