The Artful Dodger

People who like to tell tales on their neighbours and look down on people for ‘breaking rules’. England is absolutely full of them.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/dec/09/cdc-chief-omicron-mild-early-data-us-spread-variant The evidence is piling up now, much to the palpable disappointment of the curtain twitchers. This variant becoming dominant is a good thing.

I'm not asking you to 'take notice', merely exchanging opinions. The lockdown lovers are every bit as bad as the anti vaxxers. Middle class, well off people who can sit comfortably in their nice homes without a care for what lockdown really means. Well they will do in 5-10 years when the result of what we've done really becomes apparent.

Partially, but not totally or not anywhere near to the extent made out. Viruses are viruses, they are unbeatable, that's why AIDs* is still so strong. Blaming this on a minority of loons helps nobody, I realise we need scapegoats and people to feel superior but nature is greater than human beings. I think we've forgotten than, we're at its whim to even be alive in the first place. The answer is not to cower and not live life, the road we're on is a terrible one where we're whipped up every other month into frenzy. *Incidentally a far, far worse disease than COVID could ever hope to be but it effected Africans and Homosexuals so nothing was done about it.

'Suffer for their ignorance'...What????? It's not anybody's fault. this is a virus, it can jump anywhere, anytime. We are social beings and virus transmission is inevitable, it cannot be prevented. Human beings do not control the world in the way we think we do and we are subject to nature just as every animal is. I know this is big shock to people here who think we're owed a 100% germ free world. Anti-vaxxers are largely deluded, lonely people but blaming the spread of a virus on them is ridiculous. The virus will mutate and mutate again, so it can spread and evade vaccines. BUt, it will be like the cold. That's where the cold comes from, it's a very close relation.

Every healthy society priorities children over everyone else, that's the way life should be. However, we're different. This is Liberalism, 'I am more important than anyone else' attitude. What we've done is unforgivable, you're going to have a generation of children with barely any schooling because of this nonsense. The resultant social problems will be catastrophic.

Lockdown at the start was necessary, yes. In fact should have been done quicker, but disease, I'm sorry for you to hear is a fact of life. We can't just wish it away. It's always going to be here and will always will, sadly, kill some people. They are now threatening to lockdown again when the disease is clearly waning in severity. The negatives of Lockdowns is now not clearly outbalance by the positives. You can't run from this forever. It will be just another virus, but this hyper, rolling news culture makes us think we're living in some kind of plague ridden society. We are not. Do you think the thousands of children who died because of the COVID disruption in Africa was worth it? Lockdowns kill as well.

I'm not saying it is, as we are currently, but the signs are that it is waning and will become just like that. COVID has never been the Plague it's made out to be though. It's only because it effects some rich Westerners that it's even cared about, if it was confined to the poorer continents it wouldn't be given a shit about. We've destroyed the lives of millions of children for this. Human beings thinking they can control and manipulate a virus like this is the height of hubris. I'm pro-vax, pro-masks but this weird desire for my fellow citizens to see further lockdowns just smacks of people totally unaware of what lockdown causes. We're destroying the futures of our children for what?

Imagine someone called Allegra being a twat?

The Premier League rolled over for Manchester City so I suppose the precedent is set.

Just realised I said 'when the Tories get booted out'...I thought I'd gotten rid of every last vestige of hope from my body. There must be some delusion left.

Starmer has been pretty piss poor, I wouldn't vote Labour (for the first time in my life) at the next General Election. But I'd still have to and have a few pints when the Tories get booted out. They are utterly loathsome, the whole mood of the country changes with them in power, the soul has been sucked out, the back broken. Just walk around our city centres, thousands of homeless people. That happens because of Tory policies. Labour would be no quick fix and leave a lot to be desire, the radicalism needed to actually change things seems to be being ushered out the door...but it'd be a great night if the Tories are out.

Probably not, but we are in strange times where you can barely get a calm, cogent piece of news from anywhere. He should go though, it’s untenable.

Starmer can table one, but as I say I think it would mean a general election? Which means Tory MPs won’t vote for it for fear of losing their seats in this whole scandal. Could be wrong about that though. As in meaning a general election, I’m definitely not wrong about MPs grasping hold of their seats.

There can be a vote of no confidence in him, but I think that triggers a general election? More likely is Tory MPs oust him like they did Thatcher and then we end up with someone equally as bad like Gove. In fact he's even more sinister than Johnson.

Absolute madness to introduce vaccine passports. I'm inclined to think they're trying bury the bad news about this party. With the reports from South Africa increasingly positive this strange mindset that COVID is this horrific threat needs to be banished. We are now dealing with something potentially no more threatening than the common cold, in fact this is what many people predicted because it is so closely related to the cold virus. Many of the cold viruses we have today would have started off as stronger, more virulent viruses and then weakened.

Also some good date from Norway showing that a real mixture of ages caught it, and all showed very mild symptoms. Still early and I don't see any reason to abandon mask wearing etc but hopefully this is the future direction of the disease.

France have had the backbone to nick one of the murders of Khassogi, what's the betting on those utter gimps in Newcastle attacking the French Police like they did Amnesty International?

Russia/Ukraine looking like it could kick off. I think it might just step back this time but Russia's aggression is clear. However, I do think it is irresponsible for the USA to be saying Ukraine could a member of NATO. Imagine a hostile state on the border of the USA...would never happen.

Leaked recording shows Downing Street staff joking about Christmas party in No.10 | The Independent This is pretty damning. Now we all know this is coming from Cummings, and we all know lots of people met up at Christmas. We are human beings but it's the hypocrisy which is killer. I think Johnson may well be ousted in the New Year, which may sound like good news but Gove is hovering in the wings and he is an appalling man.

Evidence seems to be confirming that this becoming a progressively milder disease. If so, by spring we should be able to stop this hyper focus on a disease which is, yes, nasty at times but really not the plague that it's made out to be. Let's try and salvage what we can, the social issues that will come from this will be horrific. We need to start rectifying it now.

Like Man City last year, want a bit of a rest. Just shout COVID!!

Yeah, I don't get the passport idea at all. Oscar and Harold will just do their beak in their Hampstead apartment rather than St Tropez.

Tommy Fury pulls out of the Jake Paul fight. All round embarrassment for boxing, firstly that it was agreed but now that the 'boxer' has pulled out.

I'm torn on this one. Cocaine is a pretty horrible drug. We tend to paint it as 'evil drug dealers flooding the place with these evil drugs against our will', but ultimately there is supply because there is demand. Now I'm not saying you should be slung in jail for one offence, or have your career prospects ruined but I'd enforce some sort of two strikes and you're going to court. I'm talking about causal users here, obviously people with addiction issues need serious help too. I'm pretty soft on other drugs in terms of legalisation but I really do think cocaine is drug which can only change people for the worse. There's a larger point here too, what sort of society produces a majority which have to get out of their head to either enjoy themselves or forget themselves? I certainly include myself in that but perhaps it's not the pinnacle of human life that we're led to believe and we should focus on making fundamental changes to how we live.