Covid 

I’ve recently read 2 books on the handling of Covid in the UK:-

1. Failure of State is a useful chronicle of the many mistakes of a government led by a nonchalant, negligent and duplicitous Boris Johnson. Who will surely fight to delay and minimise an official inquiry into his handing of the pandemic. 

2. In The Year the World Went Mad, the author argues that lockdowns are not only an admission of failure but, mer importantly, avoidable. While not endorsing the line of those who signed the Great Barrington Declaration, he does believe that earlier, better measures would have significantly reduced cases and deaths. Worth a read.

And here’s a Guardian article headed The claim that the NHS ‘coped’ with Covid is not true. First para: Of all the deplorable claims made about Covid, the most brazen was one of the earliest, by Boris Johnson. In April 2020, he said “We succeeded in the first and most important task”, because “at no stage has our NHS been overwhelmed. No patient went without a ventilator. No patient was deprived of intensive care . . . We avoided an uncontrollable and catastrophic epidemic”. The truth is Covid caused a collapse of healthcare in both the first and subsequent waves.

It’s impossible to believe that even such an inveterate liar and hypocrite as Johnson really thought his assertion was true. No politician who leads his country is a saint but if – saved by the Ukraine crisis – Johnson remains Prime Minister, he’ll be the man the public deserves. Or most of it anyway.

Question arising . .  Can I give up my British nationality and stick with the Irish one I’ve now got?

Cosas de España/Galiza

First the truckers, and now the fishermen. Belt-tightening times. Especially as the non-avalability of sunflower oil from Ukraine will mean no pastries, preserves, sauces and fried foods in month or so.

Spanish Fishermen Also Go On Strike

Here’s a guide to the changes to road traffic laws. I’m not confident we’ll see fewer maniacs on e-scooters speeding through pedestrian areas. Though some of them might well be wearing helmets now.

The new driving rules and fines of Spain’s updated Road Traffic Act

And here’s another one.

Thanks to all that Saharan sand, Andalucía’s famed white villages are now sort of orangey. Money has naturally been sought from the local government to pay for cleaning them up.

Russia  

Russian black humour?  At the very last minute, Moscow has put in a bid to host the 2028 European Cup. Apparently, this will cost Uefa  €12m. No idea why the pre-rejection processing costs will be so high. It’s a lot of dinners in Moscow. Though it might redound to the benefit of malleable Committee members who will eventually have to decide between the 2 candidates.

The Way of the World 

This is a very valuable contribution to the debate on transgenderism and, particularly, trans-activism. Tasters:-

– Children’s bodies are being used as props in adult dramas they have no way of properly understanding until it’s too late for them.

– Detrans Subreddit has 27K members, mostly young, and many of whom talk frankly about the harms to their bodies and minds caused by premature transition. Some of those who post there are desperate for help, and their testimonies are truly shocking. You might well wonder: Why don’t those in the progressive media report on the phenomenon more unambiguously? For this is a medical scandal unfolding in plain sight.

One day – possibly not far off – we will surely look back on this episode in human history and ask ourselves how on earth it could have happened. And I speak as a father whose daughter went through a crisis at 15, when shrinks were still sane.

English

From the blog Futility Closet recommended by a friend:-

Unusual words used in Antarctica, from Bernadette Hince’s The Antarctic Dictionary:

antarcticitis: a yearning for Antarctica

beachmastership: the territorial dominance of a breeding seal

degomble: to disencumber of snow

diomedeicide: the killing of an albatross

dogloo: an igloo for a dog

fingee: “fucking new guy”

frozen chosen: those who work in Antarctica

ice widow: a woman whose husband is in Antarctica

pinnipedophage: one who eats seal meat

polar ennui: a darkness of the soul in the polar night

snotsicle: a thread of frozen mucus suspended from the nose

sphenisciphile: a lover of penguins

unweka’d: unaffected by weka birds

whale-sick: depressed by a lack of whales to hunt

Some entries are almost moving: greenout is “the overwhelming sensation induced by seeing and smelling trees and other plants after spending some time in antarctic regions.”

Finally . . .

I read that Ash Barty, the world No 1 female tennis player, has announced her retirement from the sport. This would have meant more to me if I’d ever heard of her. Not a tennis buff, then.

For new reader(s): If you’ve landed here looking for info on Galicia or Pontevedra, try here. If you’re passing through Pontevedra on the Camino, you’ll find a guide to the city there.