Friday 27th November 2020

[refitman]

Morrning all.

[AnatolyKasparov]

Good morning all, noticeable that a few regulars were missing yesterday?

[RogerOThornhill]

Morning all.

Had a morning walk in the local park with 'er inoutdoors and fed some gulls, geese and whatnot.

Oh dear, really?

Exclusive: No.10 'Demanded UK Flag Be Printed On Oxford Vaccine Doses'

https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/ ... H-8YphhIVy" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Downing Street has attempted to get doses of the Oxford University coronavirus vaccine labelled with Union Jacks.

HuffPost UK understands No.10′s newly-formed “Union unit”, tasked with fighting calls for Scottish independence and other campaigns to break up the UK, wanted injection kits to bear the flag.

[RogerOThornhill]

And I saw this yesterday.

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Best for Britain
@BestForBritain
Asked why he didn't even mention Brexit - by far, the biggest known economic risk in the coming years - in his statement, the Chancellor responded that he's "an optimistic guy" and is "hopeful" it won't be too bad.

Should I laugh, cry, or both? -AA

[PorFavor]

Huge wealth of Rishi Sunak's family not declared in ministerial register

Akshata Murty, Sunak’s wife, holds multimillion-pound portfolio making her richer than the Queen

The chancellor, Rishi Sunak, is facing questions over the transparency of his financial affairs after a Guardian investigation established that his wife and her family hold a multimillion-pound portfolio of shareholdings and directorships that are not declared in the official register of ministers’ interests.(Guardian)

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... l-register

[AnatolyKasparov]

Well our PM apparently thinks a slightly more granular breakdown of areas into Tier 2/Tier 3 would be "too complicated" for people to understand.

About the kindest thing I can say is "patronising git"

[PorFavor]

No 10 reportedly wanted union flag on Oxford coronavirus vaccine kits

No 10’s newly formed “Union unit”, which is tasked with combating calls for Scottish independence and other campaigns to break up the UK, had wanted injection kits to bear the flag, according to the Huffington Post.

The government’s vaccine taskforce was asked to ensure that manufacturers of the vaccine – developed alongside the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca – used the UK flag, according to the report.
Covid vaccine tracker: when will a coronavirus vaccine be ready?
Read more

Boris Johnson’s official spokesman denied there were plans to put a flag on the vaccines, but did not deny there had been an attempt to do so. (Guardian)

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... ccine-kits

[AnatolyKasparov]

Concentrating on the really vital stuff as usual, then.

[RogerOThornhill]

Rishi doesn't appear to be wanting to be asked difficult questions...

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[RogerOThornhill]

More bits of chumocracy...

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This bit is probably known to people who keep more of a careful eye open for this tuff than I.

NickFlag of United KingdomFlag of European Union
@nicktolhurst
·
10h
3/

Carrie Symonds has held a grudge against Iain Carter ever since her usage of taxis under false names of junior members of staff was exposed.

Symonds used taxis for her commuting & trips to bars & restaurants costing CCHQ thousands of pounds annually.

Oops.

[AnatolyKasparov]

Two local council byelections yesterday:

Perth and Kinross - two vacancies in different wards were filled, the first saw an SNP hold on the first count with over 60% of the vote in a division that split 2Nat/1C in its previous election in this form in 2017. That was a double figure increase for the SNP since then, and a modest decrease for the second placed Tories. Labour were able to get people elected in 2007 and 2012 for the larger four member predecessor division, but their vote fell away markedly three years ago and continued that decline now as they fell six points to less than 10%. LibDems edged up to 4%, not far ahead of the Greens who stood in this area for the first time since 2007 (and polled much the same as then) The other contest was rather different however as the LibDems triumphed in a close three way contest to gain a seat from the SNP after transfers, in a division that split 1LD/2Nat/1C in 2017 (again after boundary changes) To illustrate how tight things were the SNP led with 33% of first preferences whilst the third placed Tories (who had held their seat narrowly in a previous byelection in late 2017) got 29% thus leaving the other parties also-rans - Labour actually sneaked the last of the four seats here in the previous similar division in 2012, but have fallen steadily since and got less that 4% now. Greens got 2% (about half of what they managed in 2012) and UKIP - yes they are still, just about, going - got just 18 first choices which equated to a mighty 0.3% of the overall vote.

And that's it in electoral terms for 2020. The next definite contests are scheduled for March in Scotland, though there *may* be some in Wales before then.

[Sky'sGoneOut]

Hmmm...so Princess Nuts Nuts is an entitled expense cheat is she? Who'd have thought a woman prepared to have sex with a serial adulterer nearly twice her age and 20 times her bodyweight for money, prestige and influence would turn out to be a wrong 'un? She's just Anna Nicole Smith in a posh frock.

[Sky'sGoneOut]

No 10 reportedly wanted union flag on Oxford coronavirus vaccine kits.

No 10’s newly formed “Union unit”, which is tasked with combating calls for Scottish independence and other campaigns to break up the UK, had wanted injection kits to bear the flag.

If they want to impress the Scots by branding their medication with the Union flag they'd be better of putting it on Buckfast bottles.

[Sky'sGoneOut]

So I'm trying to plan a family Christmas at my parents house, I wouldn't be going if my Mum didn't have late stage Alzheimer's and neither would my brother but for obvious reasons it's something we don't feel we should miss and our Dad agrees. We all know the risks and have accepted them.

This is proving to be a logistical nightmare, including working out when to get tested, how long to go into isolation for, buying train tickets in the hope of never using them, it's ridiculously complicated, and all because my brother is a teacher. He doesn't break up until the 18'th, so has to wait a couple of days after that (incubation period) before getting tested, then another day for the results, so it won't be until the 22'nd that we know for sure what's happening, and if he's positive he's screwed. This could all be avoided if they broke schools up a week early, which is what teachers and students and Unions are calling for but so far that plea is being ignored in England, Scotland and Wales.

I can see why they're reluctant to make that concession, keeping schools open is the justification for keeping a lot of other stuff closed or restricted, but to say it's OK to visit your family at Christmas (however misguided that advice may be) while not allowing adequate time for teachers and pupils to get tested and isolate if they're infected seems absurd and will only encourage them not to bother.

[Sky'sGoneOut]

Maybe I'll try and have a word with Nicola.

[youtube]HNvWj9OPA7k[/youtube]

[tinyclanger2]

genuinely cheered me up (albeit briefly)

[tinyclanger2]

might get a clickety pen

[Sky'sGoneOut]

Critics attack Pretty Little Thing's 8p Black Friday dress deal

https://www.theguardian.com/business/20 ... dress-deal

Boohoo, which owns Pretty Little Thing alongside brands including Nasty Gal and Karen Millen, also offered up to 80% off all of their products, with skirts for as little as £1.60.

I'm sure all those worked to a Covid death in Leicester sweat shops would be proud to see the fruits of their labour sold off for a pittance.

We've all bought cheap clothes knowing they're probably made by exploited workers, I try not to but I'm no saint and have bought questionable things on Ebay and Amazon, but at least there used to be a distance to it, a pitiful justification that maybe I was actually helping these poor Malaysian women by keeping them in a job. But here we have a UK company, using UK manufacturers who are so flagrantly taking the piss that they're able to emulate third world costs dumping their excess stock for pennies to people who apparently will only wear them once.

Everything about that is fucked up.

[Sky'sGoneOut]

And relax.

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[Sky'sGoneOut]

genuinely cheered me up (albeit briefly)

High praise indeed.

[Sky'sGoneOut]

Shit I put the whole album on by mistake, oh well, it's all good.

[PorFavor]

Shit I put the whole album on by mistake, oh well, it's all good.

As it said on the sleeve, in fact.

[Sky'sGoneOut]

I read a story last week about the first landing on Mars, the bloke descending the ladder missed the last rung as he was climbing down so the first word spoken by humans on Mars was 'shit'.

[Sky'sGoneOut]

[youtube]AJvSm5MeCn4[/youtube]

[Sky'sGoneOut]

[youtube]EVXV8Z-IEWA[/youtube]

[Sky'sGoneOut]

John Lydon may have gone on to be a dick but his early PIL stuff is worth a listen.