And we meet again

We have met up with people!  Yesterday we had Isobel and Tony round for a meet up.  It was great for my wife to see people face to face.  Do not get me wrong, it was great to see the two for me, but I have the advantage at work of being able to chat with people I like.  My wife has more issues with those at her work and also is more of a social animal than me who is more introverted.  Lockdown and social isolation have not been good for her as she does thrive meeting people.  

I had spend yesterday in the day mowing the lawn.  I was to try to take down the playhouse my children have had for years, but I did not get the time to do so.  I guess if I had pushed myself harder, I could have done it, but I was tired from a hard week at work (not as hard as my first week back though).  I have been racking up the miles walking Leia, who Isobel and Tony loved, but have not been on my bike as much as I would like.

The kids are doing well, my daughter is preparing for her Religious Education GCSE and my son is back to working and doing well in his assessments as well as meeting up with friends on a face to face basis.  

Anyway, I need to get to doing some paperwork so I will sign off for today.

RIP Phil The Greek

I am sure that there will be some who are offended by the title of this post.

But, despite his racist comments (which I suspect were not meant to cause as much offence as they did), I do think that it is important to remember what this man, an immigrant to our nation, did for it.

He was a war hero serving, like many (Ralph Miliband included) during World War Two.  In wartime, promoting an officer beyond their ability means death, and this was the case during the Second World War.

He created the Duke of Edinburgh awards and I know people who are grateful for the opportunities this offered to those who would not have had them.  

He was not perfect, but he reflects the multicultural heritage of our nation.  His son, the man who is most likely to be the next Monarch is the son of an immigrant, an issue that The Far Right cannot be seen to be against, despite the hostility seen towards those from Eastern Europe.

Left Behind

Do not watch this film.  It is awful.  It has to be compared to This Is The End which is a much better film.

It has terrible effects, matched only by the way this film is put together. This Is The End has much more humour, and horror, as well as decent acting.

The premise of both is the end of the world, and the higher power lifting up the souls of those worthy.  While This Is The End focuses on good deeds, this focuses on belief in Jesus being our saviour.  From a philosophical standpoint, it seems to indicate that all Christians go to heaven, be they Catholic, Mormon etc, which leads to the question of does it matter which branch of Christianity a person belongs to?  In the film, it does not matter if a heathen is a good person or not as they will not ascend to heaven, as seen with a Muslim man on the plane.  One woman, who unknowingly is having an affair with a married man, saves others.  True it is part of her job, but would that not deserve recognition by a higher power? Or those working in a hospital where one scene of the film is set (or even those working in the police or ambulance services).  

There is only one target audience for this film, that being Christians, and I am sure many would not like this film anyway.

Do COVID vaccines work?

The answer to this question is yes and no.

Tucker Carlson, the man who has spread racist conspiracy theories, has questioned why, if the vaccines work, we have to use face masks.  

He has raised concerns about vaccines, but has stated an opinion that will sway people towards not getting vaccinated.

First of all, he is right in that there may be more blood clots than science is aware of associated with vaccination of COVID.  Governments taking action to look at this in more detail is not hiding an issue (which he has claimed), but rather is taking appropriate action.

He also has asked why people have to wear masks even if they have been vaccinated suggesting that the vaccines may not work.  A man of his supposed intelligence either knows the answer, or he is just not that smart.  No vaccine is 100% effective, and this is the case with COVID vaccinations, being both after one or two doses.  Also when it comes to variants, we know that the current vaccinations are not as effective against them as we would like.  We do not know how long immunity from vaccination will last as well.

So does being vaccinated against any illness offer a 100% success that the recipient is immune?  No.  And this is also the case with vaccines targeting COVID.

Does vaccination against COVID work to save lives?  Yes.

Thanks to Tucker Carlson, there will be more people not being vaccinated.  Some of them will catch COVID and die and some will catch COVID and spread it to others who will die.  

Trump and double standards.

Really, the title should read, Trump, and double standards, yet again.

Georgia has ‘improved’ the system of voting in the USA with changes designed to reduce voter fraud, such as stopping people waiting to vote from being offered refreshments.  Many do not think that this is fair, and some corporations have decided to act.  And this has created problems amongst the right.  They are happy for corporations to be involved in politics in the form of funding political candidates, but they are against corporations taking business away from states where allegations of voter suppression occur.  Remember, states such as Georgia, have introduced changes in the past to reduce voter fraud, but still lost the state to Biden in 2020.

Trump called for a boycott of Coca Cola, among other companies, but has been found to be drinking a beverage made by a company he has called to boycott.  Not just any beverage, but one of the most famous ones.  I guess Pepsi failed The Pepsi Challenge.

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Poverty in times of COVID and why this needs to be tackled

First of all, the reason that poverty needs to be tackled is that it is wrong for a G7 nation to have so much poverty, this being an issue before COVID.

Despite much government hype, people are suffering despite having universal credit over this time.

The system is designed to encourage people to find jobs, but we are living in times when there are less jobs to find.

One of the factors linked to not adhering to the need for testing and isolation is financial hardship.

If we are to tackle this, we need to ensure that those in most need are offered help when it comes to isolating so that they do not suffer.  The government have the harsh view that giving money to people who are hard up will make them less likely to work, but this does not apply when it comes to tax for the wealthy.    

The idea of keeping the current system that is failing so many is wrong.  In a time when there are jobs, it could be argued that more money going into it would help people.  I would say that in a time when there are less jobs available, that it is time to consider a basic income.  Also called a citizens income, it has been tried in the past abroad before COVID, and can be argued, that Trump used it in the form of stimulus checks during COVID.  

Basically, the options are to do nothing, or to do something when it comes to poverty in the UK. As someone who knows what a childhood on benefits was when I was growing up, I am of the view that we should do something to help those in most need.

Something Borrowed

First of all, the family.  They are well, though due to the hours I worked yesterday, I only got to see my wife as the kids were still asleep when I left and were back to bed when I got back home.  Today, they have been lovely, though I did not get to do much with them having worked in the vaccination hub in the morning and was knackered afterwards.  

Saying that, I had asked my son if he wanted to go with me to walk Leia in the afternoon, but he declined.  I took her to Spring Lane Park.  She had been taken here by my wife and daughter in the past, and she loved the return here.  Saying that, she would love going to any outdoor park really.  Gave me some much needed exercise though.

He had surprised my daughter today.  It was dark, she was going down the stairs.  He waited in the dark and when she got to the bottom said hello.  Not boo, just hello.  She did not appreciate it.  Made me smile when I heard about it though (if I laughed, she might have thumped me).

Our film today was Something Borrowed.  I would have been annoyed if I had paid to watch this film.  My son gave up on the film first, followed by my wife.  My daughter and I had to watch it just to see how it ended.  To be fair to the film, it was not so bad that I did not care about the end, but overall, this is a film I would not go out of my way to watch.  The plot was sweet enough, but the character Dex, played by Colin Egglesfield, was more wet and pathetic than Rachel, played by Ginnifer Goodwin.  I tend not to like the characters played by her in films, and this almost made me like her character.  Rachel in this film had a spine at least which is more than can be said for Dex.  Overall, like with many RomCom's the plot was predictable, but the journey from the beginning to the end was mostly boring, the excitement being when there was a big plot hole, this being because my daughter and I would complain about how the characters would have really reacted.  

Apparently a sequel had been planned.  Thankfully, it has not been produced. 

Anyway, I have done this before I go to bed.  I will take Leia out for a quick garden wee before so, but as you can see from the picture, I will have to wake her up first.