Brexit, for once some facts.

[flecc]

flecc, someone on the link below bought a Nissan Leaf and has done some costings when compared against a Ford Focus take a look and let me know what you think.
Monevator - Make more money, invest profitably, retire early

Thanks Nev, that's a very fair assessment of two second hand cars. As yet new e-cars still start at a disadvantage on purchase price due to the included battery and the fact that the makers generally very high spec them to help justify the price.

On financial grounds I couldn't possibly have justified my one due to low mileages in retirement, but for me it was worth it for several reasons. Firstly knowing the sheer superiority of electric drive, first established in the 1900s but defeated by the batteries of that time. Second that it would be my last chance to own one due to my age. Third the environmental consideration as a lifelong environmentalist. My low mileages mean that last one is little justified by the actual advantage, but is by setting an example to encourage others to switch. The more they are seen on the road, the more they'll be bought since only a minority are first adopters.

Since I bought one three years ago two more BEVs have appeared in the adjacent road, plus one plug in hybrid, so that seems to be working.
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[oyster]

Just noticed an advertising vehicle trying to get EU citizens to apply for settled status - a bit late being the last day to apply. But also a bit, umm, Libya. The web address displayed is:

bit.ly/EUSettled

I can't for the life of me think why they couldn't use a gov.uk version - whether a URL shortener or a real address - such as gov.uk/EUSettled. After all, other parts of the government and technology people/companies keep telling us not to visit sites we don't recognise - and we simply can't know where these shortened links might take us.

 

[flecc]

Just noticed an advertising vehicle trying to get EU citizens to apply for settled status - a bit late being the last day to apply. But also a bit, umm, Libya. The web address displayed is:

bit.ly/EUSettled

I can't for the life of me think why they couldn't use a gov.uk version - whether a URL shortener or a real address - such as gov.uk/EUSettled. After all, other parts of the government and technology people/companies keep telling us not to visit sites we don't recognise - and we simply can't know where these shortened links might take us.

Easy to memorise as the vehicle drove past I suppose. Long URLs and email addresses are a problem of the modern internet.
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[oyster]

Easy to memorise as the vehicle drove past I suppose. Long URLs and email addresses are a problem of the modern internet.
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But my suggested link is exactly the same length!

 

[flecc]

But my suggested link is exactly the same length!

Agreed if they did that, but gov.uk addresses are typically longer, for examples:

https://www.gov.uk/ government/organisations/driver-and-vehicle-licensing-agency

https://www.gov.uk/ government/organisations/environment-agency

They don't seem to like their obvious short URLs, like gov.uk/DVLA and gov.uk/EA !

N.B. I've gapped those URLs to display them in full in this site.
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[Woosh]

But Israel reinstituted mask wearing after discovering delta plus reduce vaccine efficiency (which was 88%, 60% for delta with Pfizer, az)

rightly so.
BJ is obsessed with face masks.
He'll be forced to do a u-turn soon enough, when the kids go back to schools.

 

[oyster]

He'll be forced to do a u-turn soon enough

He'll be forced to do yet another u-turn soon enough

 

[flecc]

He'll be forced to do a u-turn soon enough, when the kids go back to schools.

He'll be forced to do yet another u-turn soon enough

He might take a cue from Thatcher:

"U turn if you want to, the man's not for turning".
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[Woosh]

BJ's approach to to accept that his government can't beat covid and the conservative rich supporters don't want the government to continue keeping their businesses shut. So he passes the buck to the individuals.

 

[Woosh]

same as with the Spanish flu, we have two serious variants a year. The one that appears in the summer will kill a lot more people in the following winter.

The Spanish flu died out when its victims died too quickly to continue transmission.
Covid does not kill enough to stop transmission.
Let's fast forward to Christmas. How will the NHS cope with 1500 deaths a day?

 

[flecc]

How will the NHS cope with 1500 deaths a day?

Easily, privatise them.

Charge undertakers a collection fee of £500, plus £200 a day cold storage charge. They can easily afford it from their fat profits and it will help finance the NHS.
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[Jesus H Christ]

same as with the Spanish flu, we have two serious variants a year. The one that appears in the summer will kill a lot more people in the following winter.

The Spanish flu died out when its victims died too quickly to continue transmission.
Covid does not kill enough to stop transmission.
Let's fast forward to Christmas. How will the NHS cope with 1500 deaths a day?

Johnson knows that his announcement yesterday will unnecessarily kill thousands of people, but it’s a sacrifice he’s willing to make.

 

[Jesus H Christ]

Does anybody know someone who can’t wait to tear off their face mask and catch a crowded bus to a pub?

All of my friends and acquaintances think the proposals for July 19 are insane. The only people who seem enthusiastic are those who think COVID is a hoax, the illness is caused by 5G phone masts, the vaccine makes you Bluetooth enabled and the Queen is a lizard. The Downing Street calculation must be that the latter form a majority.

 

[oldgroaner]

 

[Nev]

All of my friends and acquaintances think the proposals for July 19 are insane.

Although there are exceptions, I would say the remainer type people I know think its too soon to lift all restrictions but the Brexitier type are all for it. That seems to be the case with people in the public eye, the ones who can't wait to throw away their masks eg. Robert Jenrik, Andrew Bridgen and Camilla Tominey are all Brexity/ libertarian types.

The ERG group in parliament who have now morphed into another group that I forget their name have put pressure on the government all the way through the pandemic to not enforce lock downs or lift them too soon. They must be responsible for many thousands of deaths but they get away with it. No one in the press or media ever goes after these people in fact they get nothing but praise and support form people like the Mail and Telegraph.

 

[Jesus H Christ]

Although there are exceptions, I would say the remainer type people I know think its too soon to lift all restrictions but the Brexitier type are all for it. That seems to be the case with people in the public eye, the ones who can't wait to throw away their masks eg. Robert Jenrik, Andrew Bridgen and Camilla Tominey are all Brexity/ libertarian types.

The ERG group in parliament who have now morphed into another group that I forget their name have put pressure on the government all the way through the pandemic to not enforce lock downs or lift them too soon. They must be responsible for many thousands of deaths but they get away with it. No one in the press or media ever goes after these people in fact they get nothing but praise and support form people like the Mail and Telegraph.

Those people you name won’t be the ones driving the busses, serving drinks in a bar or caring for the dying. They will be hundreds of miles behind the front line counting their extra money.

 

[jonathan.agnew]

same as with the Spanish flu, we have two serious variants a year. The one that appears in the summer will kill a lot more people in the following winter.

The Spanish flu died out when its victims died too quickly to continue transmission.
Covid does not kill enough to stop transmission.
Let's fast forward to Christmas. How will the NHS cope with 1500 deaths a day?

Recent ONS research show 13.7% (of all infections) develop long covid, and it effects mainly 35 to 68 year olds (and that's before considering delta/delta plus cause more severe symptoms). Letting it RIP could have far greater consequences than deaths in the long run.

 

[oyster]

Agreed if they did that, but gov.uk addresses are typically longer, for examples:

https://www.gov.uk/ government/organisations/driver-and-vehicle-licensing-agency

https://www.gov.uk/ government/organisations/environment-agency

They don't seem to like their obvious short URLs, like gov.uk/DVLA and gov.uk/EA !

N.B. I've gapped those URLs to display them in full in this site.
.

www.gov.uk/dvla also works!

 

[Woosh]

Letting it RIP could have far greater consequences than deaths in the long run.

our government claims to follow the science but when the holiday season is here, it forgets prudence.
It bets the farm on current low case fatality rate.

 

[flecc]

www.gov.uk/dvla also works!

Just shows what a perverse lot we have in government, but then we knew that anyway.

It's like getting access to one's online HMRC account now after the latest security changes. It's necessary to answer two questions from a choice of three subjects or be locked out. The subjects are:

A question about one's credit account. OK most of us have one at least.

A question about one's passport. Over 11 millions of us don't have a passport.

A question about one's Northern Ireland driving licence. Over 97% of us don't have one.

Since two of the three must be chosen, it follows that around 20% of us cannot access our online account any more.

I'm one of them, having switched to online communications some while ago, so I now cannot see my tax code or what I owe for the previous tax year, so can't pay it. They email me that the tax code has changed but wont include what it is. Likewise tax owing. They will email that I owe some but not how much that is, so I don't know what to pay!

The answer of course is to switch back to paper communications in which they will tell me these things, but I can only do that online through my online account that I cannot access.

So I've asked them to switch me to that, but they repeatedly say they cannot do it, only I can be permitted to do it online. So presumably 441,120 full-time HMRC civil servants can know my tax code and how much I owe, but for me it's a state secret akin to being subject to the official secrets act.

I'm now on the eleventh written "answer" from them but still with no resolution, since they only answer my problem by repeating my problem. I actually feel sorry for the staff since the idiotic system forces them to act as though they are as thick as two short planks, when it's clear from a couple of verbal communications that they fully understand the problem but are as frustrated as me by it.
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