Michael W

A peaceful protest would be sufficient, no need to take it to extremes.

A ban on gatherings of more than 2 after 6pm. It really is alarming that advanced, liberal democracies have stooped to this level and it's just accepted without pushback.

Wighton probably would've gotten away with simply being an afterthought had he not missed a total sitter at 3-0 in that Dumbarton game that we bottled. End result was a 3-3 draw and an alarming slide on form off the back of it. But yeah, he wasn't very good for us, which is always a danger when you loan young players.

The US didn't lift the ban on the Schengen Zone either, which was quite revealing. Clearly, they are not bothered, even for fully vaccinated passengers. I get that they want to keep the Delta variant out, but that ship looks to have sailed for them. The only way to stop it is vaccination and they seem to have hit a massive brick wall there. It's the testing that puts me off more than anything, tbf. It's just too much hassle and additional cost - perhaps tolerable for a fortnight away somewhere, but short breaks can forget it. The tests will cost more than the flights.

"Independent" SAGE's entire shtick is that the actual SAGE, which advises the government, is essentially compromised by its government advisory work. In other words, they simply back up what the government tells them to. They are therefore, at least in their own heads, there to provide opposition to the government by forming some sort of shadow governance body. The naming was a deliberate attempt to mislead the public, and I have seen a few slippages in the media where they have inadvertently called this group "SAGE". The "Independent" label is nothing other than an insult to actual SAGE in an attempt to discredit them. It's fine that people want to have alternative opinions, but this lots are essentially a pressure group that have been afforded far too much air time. For an organisation that is set up to be critical towards the government and its advisory group, iSAGE, or at least some of its members (particularly Gurdasani), are also very sensitive to being criticised. If you're going to dish it out and make all sorts of accusations, you need to take the heat when it comes back at you.

Looks like double vaccinated non-UK travellers to the UK will be able to avoid quarantine from next month. Good. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2021/07/27/freedom-double-jabbed-uk-opens-world/?WT.mc_id=tmgliveapp_iosshare_AxhH3yZ4t8dC Saying this, the yanks can f**k off until they lift the proclamation.

England has fallen somewhat behind on first doses recently so there's ground to be made up.

The most effective way of keeping Covid out the office is to ensure that people displaying symptoms of it don't come in. Sanitising your hands on entry is a marginal gain at best. Weird if it's being insisted upon tbh. Certainly isn't in my office but it's there at the entry points if you want it. I'm actually the opposite from Inanimate Carbon Rod and prefer the sanitiser to the soap and water - a lot of the soaps used in public/communal toilets dry out my skin after repeated use, whereas hand sanitiser is usually fine.

Yes, clownshoes is probably right. All those people crowding onto trains and watching the games in a pub or their mate's house this weekend are definitely going to set off another spike. Ah wait, none of that is happening, is it?

Would be pretty funny if it turned out those men weren't British. Edit: Well well well. That'll be the Trumpton fan ostracised from the #FBPE community for racist stereotyping of Europeans.

The creator of the chart isn't best pleased with Topol's observations.

There is clearly an issue with first doses at the moment across the UK - the numbers are tiny. I'm sure that the recent case level will have had an impact particularly given the age groups affected, but perhaps the ceiling isn't far off. The failure to offer benefits of being vaccinated can't be helping either. Can you go on holiday? Yes, if the government agrees your destination is safe. You'll still be needing at least two tests, through. And at any minute, the government can screw you, even going so far as inventing new categories of restriction to hit you with. Been pinged? We'll you'd best be isolating then, whether you're ill or not. Unless you are a critical worker, in which case you might not have to. This is being addressed in a few weeks time, but it is an issue now. I can only hope that the nonsense about vaccine passports is some cynical attempt to increase uptake and nothing else. Classic punish everyone tactics, which it must be noted the Leader of the Opposition thinks isn't strict enough.

Getting my vaccination yesterday and seen 2 people turned away from drop in centre vaccination as wasn't quite 8 weeks. Just get it done in my opinion. Those people may not bother now and 2 down. Will be happening all over. That Times journalist has a lot to answer for.

The thought of continuing to pay for something forevermore doesn't appeal to me at all. I'm not some money bags that can buy a car outright, but I can tolerate 4 years or whatever of finance/loan payments and then that's it gone, rather than 50 years or whatever of continuous payments. Similarly I'm not fussed about having a new car every three years. The only time I'd consider leasing a vehicle would be if I were self employed so I could deduct my leasing costs on my tax return. Would be daft not to, tbh.

Never forget.