Well, there was frost everywhere again this morning. It was another bright crisp morning. By midday, however, the cloud had moved in and the frost had all disappeared. According to my weather app the temperature has gone up to a massive 4°. That still feels very cold to me. I did remember to fill my hot water bottle before going to bed last night. Consequently I slept better as my cold feet were warmed up.
Now, here’s a thing by Michael Rosen on the Covid enquiry”
“Sir Patrick Vallance's notes from 'Guardian'
“PM meeting – begins to argue for letting it all rip. Saying yes there will be more casualties but so be it – ‘they have had a good innings’,” before later saying: “DC says ‘Rishi thinks just let people die and that’s okay’.
Out of bedrooms and wards
long lines of the dead
walk towards you
asking you,
'Who were you to decide that
our innings was over?
Who gave you the umpire's white coat
and upraised finger?
Did you think we would never speak
from the graves you gave us? “
Thinking about things medical, it seems that cases of measles are still increasing. When I was a child measles was just one of those things that most children went through. I don’t think we realised quite how dangerous it could be but on the whole we tried not to catch it. German measles - rubella - was a different kettle of fish. Mothers would try to ensure that their daughters were infected if there was a case in the neighbourhood, as a preventive measure. Everyone knew that German measles in the early stages of pregnancy could cause problems for the unborn baby. It was also a commonly accepted belief that you couldn’t catch German measles twice. So if a girl had German measles in childhood she wouldn’t have to worry about catching it as a pregnant adult some time in the future.
Then along came the MMR (Measles, Mumps, Rubella) vaccine and all three stopped being part of childhood’s background scenario. Except that now some people are refusing to have their children vaccinated. As with everything else these days, you can “verify” the scientific view of things by looking stuff up on the internet. And so, whereas I asked my doctor’s advice on vaccination when my children were small, now young mothers go to Dr Google and all sort of motherhood chat sites:
“Just trying to learn about it all and make the right decisions. Thank you in advance,” writes one young mother. In return she receives replies like this: “No no no. Avoid them all. Once they’re injected into the bloodstream, the metals and toxins have access to the brain and every organ!” That sounds very scientific, I don’t think!
And that nuisance-ridden NHS will insist on sending reminders via local clinics, letting people know it’s time their small people were given protection. “I keep getting letters for all my kids. It’s scaremongering. I’ve threatened my surgery with harassment if they don’t stop sending me letters,” another person says.
Some people may need to think about the meaning of harassment. I think we need more harassment from doctors!
Racism and anti-immigration come into it as well. Apparently the increase in cases of measles has nothing to do with whether or not children are vaccinated. “It’s coming from the small boat invasion,” one person wrote.
The human race does not necessarily improve with age.
Meanwhile, here are some things a friend of mine has posted,:
“Temporary "ceasefire" à la Israel:
"Here is the Palestine Red Crescent Society statement about the killing of a farmer in Gaza by Israeli forces earlier on Sunday. It said:
The association’s ambulance crews dealt with two cases a short while ago east of Al-Maghazi camp, east of the central governorate. Although the humanitarian calm has entered its third day, the Israeli occupation forces recently targeted two farmers east of Al-Maghazi camp, which led to the death of one of them and the wounding of the other."
(Guardian update 10:29 am)”
Notice there is new terminology in there. A “ceasefire” or a “pause” becomes a “humanitarian calm”. But not a calm for everyone. My frind also posted this:
“In the meantime, while the temporary "ceasefire" continues in Gaza, more Palestinians get killed (and arrested) in the West Bank, taking the Palestinian death toll since 7th October to 203 (and the number of Palestinians arrested in that period to over 3,100)!
"Israeli troops killed six Palestinians in the occupied West Bank on Saturday, the Palestinian ministry of health said. A 25-year-old doctor was killed early in the morning outside his home in Qabatiya, near Jenin, it said. Another Palestinian was killed in el-Bireh, near Ramallah. Four people were also killed by Israeli army fire in Jenin, during an incursion by a large number of armoured vehicles into the town. Witnesses told Agence France-Presse on Saturday that the Israeli army was surrounding Jenin’s public hospital and the Ibn Sina clinic, and that soldiers were searching ambulances. They also reported heavy fighting with automatic weapons."
(Guardian update)
P.S. The figues above are outdated already: It's at least 8 Palestinians killed in the West Bank last night and 239 killed since 7th October in total.
This is how it reads "in IDF language":
"Israel’s military has issued a statement about its activity in Jenin in the occupied West Bank overnight. In a post to social media, it said:
In the operation commanded by the 646th Reserve Brigade, five terrorists were eliminated, 21 wanted persons were arrested, a cargo laboratory was destroyed and an aircraft attacked from the air an armed terrorist squad that endangered the IDF forces."
They might just as well say: "Anybody who stands in our way will get killed ("eliminated") or arrested"”
Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!
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