Taking bribes

Tommy Corbyn has said it best.  I cannot believe that a prominent member of the anti-vaccination movement would take a bribe when the movement is alleging corruption amongst the medical profession for vaccinating people.  

There is no excuse for what Piers Corbyn did.  I am not allowed to take bribes in my job (which is quite right), in fact I cannot think of a job, or cause where it is right to take a bribe.  And while many will argue that this was a donation, it was not.     

Just a reminder if there is any doubt about COVID.

 1 - COVID kills. I have treated people who survived as well as too many who died. A nursing home I am involved in looking after has yet to become full again after COVID killed many of the residents there last year. I have seen nothing that killed so many so quickly before. 

 2 - Face masks save lives. Not just by reducing the risk of spreading it if you have no symptoms, but as seen by those working in healthcare, myself included, face masks prevented many from catching this when treating those with COVID. 

 3 - Funeral homes were overwhelmed over the wave of infections seen in the winter surge of infections. I know as I had to visit a few. One had issues coping despite the increased capacity that they had built. Speaking to someone who works in a funeral home, they said that they had never been busier during the winter wave. 

 4 - People with no symptoms can spread COVID. We saw that with the super spreader events held by President Trump last year. 

 5 - Just because Boris has dropped restrictions, this does not mean that we can act like we did in 2019. Our local hospital is under pressure again, though not let to the point like they were this winter when things were limited to life and death operations only. 

 6 - Vaccines work. We have seen that in the USA. The states where vaccination rates are lower have the highest numbers of COVID.

 7 - There are those who have spoken out against vaccinating people who have changed their minds once infected. 

Ashes to Ashes

Today was interesting. We travelled to London to spread the ashes of my father.  We met my mother and brothers and instead of travelling to South London, we drove around trying to find somewhere to spread them. We did find one place, but the tide was out which meant that the water was too far away.

Tempers were an issue in our car but in the end we arrived in our original destination of Woolwich and got to release the ashes of my father in the Thames.

It is ironic, as this is where I lived when I was younger.  The down sides of this was that my mother wished my brothers and I to forgive him before his ashes were spread.  My father the atheist I doubt would have cared what we thought, but she managed to get some religious elements in his departing.  My son was instructed to help spread his ashes but apparently my daughter was not good enough to do so, which begged the question of why she had to be there.  

The thing is, my father who had three sons wanted a daughter and if he met my children now, as amazing my son is, I suspect that he would favour my daughter just because he never had one.

The kids are with my mother-in-law (and father-in-law) for a few days.  After the television incident, we felt that we needed a few days with them.

The Fox and the Cockapoo

I forgot to mention last night that on taking Leia out for her evening walk (no one else will do it), she saw a fox across the road from us.  The fox was probably bigger than she is, but she was off like a shot and ran across the road, the lead I was holding taken out of my hand before I had a chance to react!

This morning, on the walk, the first thing she did was to investigate where she had last seen it.  If she had got it, I am not sure what would have happened considering that it was bigger than her.  Mind you, it did not wish to find out as it ran away as fast as it could!

Can we trust our children?

This evening, my wife and I went out on a date.  We had not been there long before I got called by my daughter.

While we were away, an argument took place. My son did not listen to his older sister and the end result was that my daughter broke our television when in a scuffle with my son.

I have no idea how to punish them for this…

Lust and the American Right.

Saw this video where Seth Rogen talks about how he learned that Donald Trump had sex with Stormy Daniels before he started his presidential run.  It is interesting as it talks about him cheating on his wife before he became a political force.  I have discussed the double standards of those on the right about the family values they claim to hold dear, but this was before allegations about Matt Gaetz, sex outside marriage, drug use and of course, the allegation that he had sex with someone under age.  One day, someone will explain they those concerned about family values vote and admire those who just pay lip service to them.   

13 Reasons Why; The Smile at the End of the Dock

This is my least favourite episode from series two.  It is still a good series, but not as good as the first. This episode undoes or rewrites a major issue from the first series.  Taken alone, ignoring the first series, this is a good episode, but it is not meant to be watched in isolation really as its context is lost.  The best bit of this episode is that the series is not as bad now, and also that I got to watch it with my son again!

Vaccine trials

Apparently, I need to go on trial.  Yesterday, I was mixing Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines for the vaccination clinic that was being run.  Sadly, the take up for COVID vaccines has not been as good as before, but people are still coming.  We had a few no-shows, mostly those who had booked in for their first vaccines, but surprisingly, there were some who had their first dose who did not come for the second.

I guess risk perception is a factor here.  But it is frustrating.  We managed to use all the doses in the last vial which is a good thing.

However, I now know that apparently, I should be put on trial and hung for preventing the spread of this dangerous disease.  A friend sent me this tweet and we discussed it soon after.  I told him that I felt these people were being opportunist and were deliberately distorting the truth for their own ends.

He later won the argument by sharing what else was discussed in the demonstration

a) - The presence of a conductor in the vaccine.  Technically, water will conduct electricity (with a high enough voltage).  Does that mean that we are conductors as well?

b) - Face-masks cause pneumonia.  Face-masks have been used for ages in medicine and has not been associated with an increased incidence of pneumonia. 

c) - 5G is an energy weapon.  There have been concerns about the safety of mobile phone masts and electricity substations (and powerlines) but nothing conclusive has been proven.  Remember that 5G is present in New Zealand which has a low rate of COVID and is not as prevalent in nations like Brazil and India which suffered greatly due to this.

d) - The virus is a hoax. It is not. It is all too real.

Just a reminder if there is any doubt about COVID...

 1 - COVID kills. I have treated people who survived as well as too many who died. A nursing home I am involved in looking after has yet to become full again after COVID killed many of the residents there last year.  I have seen nothing that killed so many so quickly before. 

 2 - Face masks save lives. Not just by reducing the risk of spreading it if you have no symptoms, but as seen by those working in healthcare, myself included, face masks prevented many from catching this when treating those with COVID. 

 3 - Funeral homes were overwhelmed over the wave of infections seen in the winter surge of infections. I know as I had to visit a few. One had issues coping despite the increased capacity that they had built.  Speaking to someone who works in a funeral home, they said that they had never been busier during the winter wave. 

 4 - People with no symptoms can spread COVID. We saw that with the super spreader events held by President Trump last year. 

 5 - Just because Boris has dropped restrictions, this does not mean that we can act like we did in 2019. Our local hospital is under pressure again, though not let to the point like they were this winter when things were limited to life and death operations only. 

 6- Vaccines work.  We have seen that in the USA. The states where vaccination rates are lower have the highest numbers of COVID.