Party like it’s 2021…l

Don’t you just love leadership …. Or lack of.

Looking at all the facts Omicrom is not as lethal as Delta (the virus NOT the airline) but it does spread more rapidly….although 320 deaths yesterday says that we should still be concerned. 

It is amazing in our divided society that leaders can look at the same data and come to different conclusions. Scotland , Wales and Ireland have all closed up shop for the New Year.

The other is Boris and the fact that in England, you can party “cautiously”….. how does one party cautiously?

I understand that “the show must go on” but the numbers are growing. This time what we need to be aware of is the amount of people who will not be hospitalised but will have to isolate if found positive.

But what short term effects will it have on the NHS, the Police, Teachers, all jobs that can’t work from home. We need to avoid overload here so that we are unable to provide the services that we require to function.

……an oxymoron from a poxy moron

Dicks with guns

….why America is a problem that can never be solved

Left Right Left Right ….. anyone for the middle?

I had always thought that we were all heading towards a world that was more tolerant and inclusive as we learned more from our history and past experiences

…. but sadly no…..

We now live in a world where beliefs are so black or white that nobody notices what’s in the middle.

Brexit -Remain

Covid vaccine - antivaxers/deniers.

BLM - Proud Boys

Taking the knee against racism - online /face to face systemic racial hatred.

We live in a world where rather than learn from our mistakes and make a better world we want to change history rather than change the future.

This week we find that kids books and tv programs are deemed politically incorrect because they reinforce stereotypes of gender inequality and inappropriate role models

Judith Kerrs “The Tiger who came to tea” has been in the firing line. A book that has been entertaining children for 50 years can “encourage rape and harassment”.

And here’s me worrying that it could encourage little girls to open the door to a variety of big cats and just be eaten.

I live in a world where I have never seen a “soap box” and certainly never seen one used for the use of avoiding prosecution for treason by saying something whilst your feet were still on the ground and thus prosecutable.

I guess that the internet is the new soapbox where people think that they have a right to free speech no matter whether their opinions are true or untrue.

COVID - United we stand - divided we …. become idiots…..

….and still they argue. After a summer of to holiday or not to holiday -Red list or Green list (or worst -the dreaded Amber plus list) 

Good news in the UK that our percentage of fully vaccinated us now at 74% you would think that we are nearly beating this thing …. But no!

Here we have anti-Vaxers trying to “storm” the BBC 

I have the right to get vaccinated-you have the right to NOT get vaccinated……yet you want the right to NOT have a vaccine passports. 

Here’s my thought for the day.  Have a double vaccine ….. feel free to go out and live your life with others…. If you don’t want the vaccine ….. stay at home…. So you don’t need a passport either …..

Antivaxers- you have the right to not have the vaccine but you also have the right to win Darwin awards for doing so.

….. but you’re not listening ….. well not to us fully vaccinated … until it’s too late…… cos your off for your day trip to storm the BBC …. Home of Jonathan Van Tam and Chris Whitby……????

…….Taxi!!

You couldn’t make it up….. so. In this apocalyptic world we now live in, kids now get a free coffee or an Uber discount to get a live saving vaccine…

They used to get a lollipop from the dentist for being a “brave little soldier” and having no tooth cavities.

Where’s my benefit for attending two vaccinations, following protocol for 16 months and trying my hardest NOT to get an illness which may kill me or at least cause me to be a massive burden on the NHS?

No! Nothing?

Discount on my taxes since I wasn’t out using all the services that I’d paid for during lockdown….. a Netflix voucher as I’d spent all my time at home NOT going out and following guidelines.

So. Ever feel like the kid in the class who works tirelessly to move forward yet finds plaudits going to the exceptionally able kids (fine-merited) and the naughty kids who get awards for NOT misbehaving!!

Seriously! You get a reward for doing something you should have done that most others have already done as it is their communal civic duty!!!

….. gone to hell on a handcart ….

Trolls and snowflakes…

….and here we go again.

Dont you just yearn for the day when trolls used to hide under bridges in fairy tails and snowflakes filled the Disney screen in Frozen.

Can anyone tell me the point in either.

The internet was supposed to be a thing of beauty that brought a distant world into our own homes. Now we have the snowflakes who are upset by everything ….. so much so that not only daddy bears hot porridge and mummy bears cold porridge would be nothing compared to the poor consistency of baby bears imported porridge from a non fair trade country that exploits its staff and trolls who just want to upset everyone. Surely they should follow The ethos of Thumper from Bambi ….”if you can’t say something nice -don’t say nothing at all” ….. very deep for a baby rabbit.

Just read an article about the rebranding and naming of movies that have been now deemed dated, outmoded, sexist, racist or to have “looked at a cinema goer in a funny way”

People.

Get a life

History is not to be changed but learned from. Just deal with it!

Covid. The truth, the whole truth and nothing but a bunch of untruths.

So. 

We’ve had waves and lockdowns, hospitalisation and unnecessary deaths, yet still here we are with the graphy thing having troughed out and starting to curve upward again.

So what exactly is the truth? How do we find the truth? How do we know what we find is actually the truth.

Do we do to the media (and I use the word media in the loosest possible sense whilst utilising an unedited page from the online daily mail.

Rishi is going to delay freedom day but a week or two….. hold on … Freedom day? Nelson Mandela had freedom day after over 25 years in captivity and thus Freedom day for him was entirely merited. 

We have been in our own homes with our own belongings and as much Amazon prime deliveries and Netflix as we could possibly need.

…. The reasons NOT to delay freedom day in the very next news item….. a contrary tale that takes us in the opposite direction….

….passengers NOT allowed ashore in Greenock …. Scotland is STIll part of the UK but seems to hold a higher standard to prevent the spread of any of the new variants.

…. “New variant in India gives people gangrene …. Well there’s an unexpected turn that I didn’t see coming!!

Every second article veers between all’s well and we’re all going to die…. No wonder we are a country that is divided by polar opposites in so many areas.

I do think that this is a good analogy for the UK for the last year.

Too many deaths “run to the right” and have lockdown ….. our civil liberties are being infringed “we have rights” “run to the left”  …. Says that we are 

Focusing  on not capsizing the boat by changing the balance by running left or right …….when the focus  SHOULD be moving the ship safely forward. 

Oh to be a teacher ....

....it took less than two weeks of lockdown and homeschooling to get parents to appreciate the role of the teacher.

“I can’t get my kids to do any work” .... so how do you think we feel when we say the same thing to you at parents evening ... if you bother to turn up.

For weeks we rode high on the tidal wave of parental support. Then the Government used their postcode lottery exam algorithm to give grades ....until they decided that teachers knew the kids best so we were back on top again ..... until the predicted grades came in.....

..... but your child has never got a grade better than a two, does no homework and didn’t participate in online learning ....that’s why I didn’t project a 4.

Teachers unions refusing to return to school due to safety fears ..... but we don’t need to wear masks because the Government says so .... back down in the eyes of thdd we public once more.

Lockdown 2 bypassed the teaching profession as we taught through it watching large swathes of students removed from school as each positive case was recorded. 

Mixing classes and online live lessons became the norm. 

Lockdown 3 produced the online and hybrid lessons where we were in school doing online lessons with key workers children in the room.

Now we have no exams, but we must assess the children so we do exams.....but now we have to write the exams, mark the exams, moderate the marking of the exams and get external moderated approval for the exams .........as well as teaching the kids, running Impact anc intervention sessions ....

And now CAGs (Centre Assessed Grades) have become TAGs) the same but for Teachers this time ..... like the government wanted you to know that it was the NHS Test and Trace program (even though it wasn’t)

It’s exhausting.

And it’s not over yet. 

Now the exam Boards have given Grade Descriptors for us to use ..... rather than exam scores based on previous papers that we have already got the children to sit ....

Like changing to the rules of Tennis at half time at Wembley during the cup final.

Help!

A pint, a pint, no Covid passport for a pint!

Well here we are. 

A year after lockdown 1 started. 127,000 deaths (so far) I know that numbers are decreasing but nothing has gone away. 

The fact that we talk about deaths being 30% down on the previous week .... the use of maths doesn’t hide the pain of the families who have lost loved ones. 

We have looked at graphs and charts of actual numbers , deaths per 100,000 population, comparisons with other countries in a rainbow of coloured line graphs and bar charts .....looking forward to these being integrated into future GCSE exams ...as opposed to little Johnny did a survey in his class to ask people what their favourite flavour of crisp was .....

How come everything is down to whether or not our right to go out to the pub and get trollied for three nights at the weekend is being infringed?

The “Kill the Bill” ( or kill the Old Bill more like) protesters are out and about again violently protesting against the removal of our rights to peacefully protest ???

Golden retriever in chief (BoJo) has said that he is looking forward to going out for a pint. (Does he know what a pint is or is he trying to be a lad?) 

We are already  seeing people herding together (without herd immunity) in large groups in open spaces. It seems that we all want to get “back to normal” and get out but are upset about the idea of a vaccination passport. Many think that it is an identity card by stealth. 72 MPs have said that the concept is “divisive” ...... isn’t that the point? There are those who have diligently “stayed indoors, washed hands and protected the NHS” and those who have frequently flouted lockdown. 

Those of us who have followed the rules and want the right to go out and enjoy ourselves V’s those who have been out doing it for the last year without close contact from those who don’t care. Remember figures on vaccine effectiveness are still only coming in at 70%-compared to all the 90+% that we heard in the beginning. 

A vaccination does not give you superpowers or immunity. If we used 70% effectiveness in other situations...you have a 70% success rate of not catching an STD, our flights have a 70% success rate in landing successfully. The rate would increase if those of us who wanted vaccination passports didn’t have to be on a plane with Johnny “ not bovvered” “it’s against my human rights” will be used ..... and we don’t want to upset people.

We’ve been told that vaccine passports won’t be “ready” in time before we are all back in pubs as of April 12th..... why? The roadmap out of lockdown is quite simple.

Roll out an effective vaccination program

Follow the rules of social distancing

Twice weekly testing for self awareness. 

Vaccination passport to check that you are in Covid free events.

Surely the passport could have been sorted out months ago by giving yet more billions to some Tory ministers dog Walker to develop?

How about we allow places to choose  whether they are VP friendly ..... like smoking or non smoking venues ..... too controversial?

There will still be “Tommy two lines” who will test positive on a Friday night but still demand the right to go out and share with his mates .....and everyone else because of his right to a pint of beer.

Fashion....

......and I’m not talking about the song by David Bowie..... now there was a man who knew how to dress and reinvent himself... even his Aladdin Sane or his Ziggy Stardust moments caught your eye. Personally I always preferred him about the time that he and Jagger were “dancing in the street”

.....but I digress.

What is fashion? If something is “fashionable” it is something that is popular or something that someone has said loudly (and to many people) that this is the “must have” fashion item of the season..... a phrase that automatically gets me to turn round and head in the opposite direction . Like the person who tells you how really really funny a joke is before they actually tell it!

We live in a world where “influencer” is a career choice...... yeah.... I know!

If Kim Kardashian puts a fresh steaming cow pat on her head in the next season of KUWTK and tells everyone how great it looks - how many teens will follow her and do likewise .... too many too mention. 

.... by the way Kim’s cow pat wouldn’t be an ordinary cow pat. It would have been from a free range cow that had had an organic diet and blah blah blah ....

I’m a bit like the kid in the street watching the Emperor go past in his “see through” clothes ..... can you all hear the melodious tones of Danny Kaye “ the king is in the altogether ....” for those of us of a certain age....... but look -he’s naked!!!

The weather has been warm-ish for the last couple of days in March .... (known as Fools summer as it makes us think that we need to get out our summer wardrobe but we all know that there is snow just around the corner....

So, as a man with a fluctuating waistline (large but getting smaller ..... slowly) you think “ must get a new pair of shorts” ....and not the horrible sporty ones that I wear everywhere .... walking, working in the garden .... to bed ......

...so to Amazon it is .... and after a quick browse through the first page of men’s cargo shorts ....where as a middle aged man you gave to appreciate a large pocket for all those “things” that you just need a baggy external pocket or two for .... your eyes ate drawn to the rag at the bottom that says 3/4 length .... and so you press the button .....

.....why? Just why? If one spends all of ones working day in a trouser and one years for the end of the day when one can slide gently into a short but one isn’t sure if one should but one can’t make ones mind up .... then here is the ideal solution ..... NO! 

It’s like the fashion idiots who about 5 years ago thought that wearing one trouser leg full length and the other at 3/4 length was cool and tried to make it “a thing.”

I keep seeing young ladies with trousers that DON’T go all the way to their ankles and that is supposed to be fashion..... NO it just looks like you went to the shops to buy some clothes but couldn’t get an item in your size but liked it so much anyway that you still bought it ....... or that it was fashionable 3 years ago but you have since had a “growth spurt” and can’t bear to throw them away ..... eldest daughter did once have a Minnie Mouse nightie that eventually became a t-shirt and a pair of pyjama bottoms that turned into shorts but that’s just a cute child thing.

OK -I may be a fashion “dinosaur” trapped in the 80’s where a white t-shirt, leather jacket and faded jeans will NEVER go out of style. .... Now is that the difference?

Fashion is temporary, style is permanent. 

If so then I’m looking forward to being the most stylish old man in the care home