dog-days Posted May 13, 2021 Share Posted May 13, 2021 I've spent way too long watching bits of the oaths and affirmations ceremony from the Scottish parliament. It's embarrassing and a bit sweet at the time time. No one is introduced by their party, just their name and constituency, so it's possible to play guessing games. Red tie? Labour. Kilt? SNP. Chuni and plaid? Conservative. The women were way more interesting than the men, in the sense that there was much more differentiation of dress and expression. This year was notable for having someone say their oath in Welsh. (I also heard Arabic and Gaelic, and there were apparently other languages used too.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polishgenius Posted May 13, 2021 Share Posted May 13, 2021 From the spontaneous protest that arose in Glasgow to stop immigration taking a couple guys away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanteGabriel Posted May 13, 2021 Share Posted May 13, 2021 47 minutes ago, polishgenius said: From the spontaneous protest that arose in Glasgow to stop immigration taking a couple guys away. Wow, emergency responders won't drive over a protester. What's that like? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mormont Posted May 13, 2021 Share Posted May 13, 2021 On 5/12/2021 at 10:44 AM, mormont said: So if the measures in the Queen's Speech all become law, then social media companies will have a duty to 'act on content that is lawful but still harmful such as abuse that falls below the threshold of a criminal offence' and may be fined if they don't. But universities, colleges and students' unions will have a duty to permit such speech or they may be sued. You could be invited to speak at my workplace and we'd have to allow it, but we wouldn't be allowed to post clips of the event on Twitter. Make sense of that. So, going back to this, the Universities Minister was interviewed and it was put to her that since Holocaust denial is legal speech in the UK, if a university refused to allow a Holocaust denier to speak at their campus, under the government proposals, that speaker could sue. She agreed. https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/tory-minister-says-universities-face-24102126 The Prime Minister and Education Minister then went on record to insist that this was not the case, and that they would never ever permit Holocaust denial on campuses. https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/kate-green-gavin-williamson-charlotte-nichols-education-secretary-higher-education-b934963.html This means one of two things: either the government are about to make Holocaust denial illegal - unlikely, since they've said nothing about it in their manifesto or the Queen's Speech - or they haven't thought their 'free speech' proposal through and are only now realising what it actually means. (Much more likely as Johnson has form on not considering the implications of his policies.) I look forward to the government's detailed guidance on exactly what legal speech we have to permit and what legal speech we are under no circumstances to permit, and how to tell the difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polishgenius Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 10 hours ago, DanteGabriel said: Wow, emergency responders won't drive over a protester. What's that like? I know right? Sadly I get the feeling that our current Home Secretary would dearly love it if they had. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derfel Cadarn Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 33 minutes ago, polishgenius said: I know right? Sadly I get the feeling that our current Home Secretary would dearly love it if they had. Coming so soon after the Scottish election, there’s suspicion it was an attempt by Westminster to flex their muscles in Scotland. If so, it backfired Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polishgenius Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 I assume this would be pretty bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soylent Brown Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 Hehe, Poots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mormont Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 7 hours ago, polishgenius said: I assume this would be pretty bad. Well, he lost so it's a moot point: but the fact that Poots says he doesn't want to be First Minister isn't a great sign either. It suggests he also wants to be free of obligations, perhaps to cause strife. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williamjm Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 8 hours ago, polishgenius said: I assume this would be pretty bad. It is worrying when the Young Earth Creationist in the leadership race starts to seem the more sensible candidate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raja Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 A little worrying. I really cannot work through another surge. NHS staff are running on fumes. Quote It is therefore highly likely that this variant is more transmissible than B.1.1.7 (high confidence), and it is a realistic possibility that it is as much as 50% more transmissible. There are also plausible biological reasons as to why some of the mutations present could make this variant more transmissible. If this variant were to have a 40% to 50% transmission advantage nationally compared to B.1.1.7, sensitivity analyses in the modelling of the roadmap in England (SAGE 88) indicate that it is likely that progressing with Step 3 alone (with no other local, regional, or national changes to measures) would lead to a substantial resurgence of hospitalisations (similar to, or larger than, previous peaks). Progressing with both Steps 3 and 4 at the earliest dates could lead to a much larger peak. Smaller transmission advantage would lead to smaller peaks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mormont Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 Has Johnson shot himself (and all the rest of us) in the foot yet again? He kept travel to India open for political reasons and now we have the Indian variant causing problems after a rush to open up. He really just does not ever learn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derfel Cadarn Posted May 15, 2021 Share Posted May 15, 2021 Matt Hancock has sent a tweet from the future, standing in front of “one of the 40 new hospitals that we are going to build.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polishgenius Posted May 15, 2021 Share Posted May 15, 2021 The Times just published a piece openly calling for ethnic cleansing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spockydog Posted May 15, 2021 Share Posted May 15, 2021 On 5/15/2021 at 12:31 PM, polishgenius said: The Times just published a piece openly calling for ethnic cleansing. An absolutely disgusting piece. Matthew Parris, another Tory fascist that Hitler would be proud of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derfel Cadarn Posted May 15, 2021 Share Posted May 15, 2021 15 hours ago, mormont said: Has Johnson shot himself (and all the rest of us) in the foot yet again? He kept travel to India open for political reasons and now we have the Indian variant causing problems after a rush to open up. He really just does not ever learn. That we’re still getting variants coming into this country over a year since the pandemic started is unforgivable. There should be enforced isolation for anyone entering the country, and India should have been added to the red list when the variant there became known. Hopefully the vaccines will still work, but I’m reading of concerns they’re less effective against the Indian variant. If it spreads and the vaccines don’t stop it, we’re facing full lockdown again. With no respite in sight, until modified vaccines are made, approved and rolled out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Which Tyler Posted May 15, 2021 Share Posted May 15, 2021 https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/may/14/wales-to-launch-universal-basic-income-pilot-scheme Quote Wales to launch pilot universal basic income scheme Campaigners hail ‘huge moment’ as first minister commits to trials of payments to cover living costs A pilot universal basic income (UBI) scheme is to be launched in Wales, the first minister, Mark Drakeford, has revealed. The new minister for social justice, Jane Hutt, a close ally of Drakeford’s, will be asked to work on the pilot. ...article continues Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williamjm Posted May 15, 2021 Share Posted May 15, 2021 In somewhat better Covid-related news the number of patients in hospital has apparently dipped below 1000 for the first time since September. It would be nice if it stayed on that side of 1000, but that might be too much to hope for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derfel Cadarn Posted May 15, 2021 Share Posted May 15, 2021 17 minutes ago, williamjm said: In somewhat better Covid-related news the number of patients in hospital has apparently dipped below 1000 for the first time since September. It would be nice if it stayed on that side of 1000, but that might be too much to hope for. Glasgow’s fucked. Won’t affect me immediately as I’m in East Renfrewshire, but will likely spread. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-57127094 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heartofice Posted May 16, 2021 Share Posted May 16, 2021 Being in london yesterday thinking it was interesting how many people were there for the Palestine protest, only to realise it was mostly an anti lockdown March Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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