Can someone tell me what’s going on? I have been reading a lot of the press from the countries which have stopped the vaccination and I am none the wiser.
It would appear, reading between the lines, that some (maybe only one) batches are not up to standard. This has been implied, very carefully, I might add in the Italian press.
These decisions are certainly not political alone but follow warnings issued by different national health institutes in the countries concerned at the moment. In Germany for instance, where vaccinations with the vaccine will no longer be given for the time being, the Federal Government has suspended vaccinations as a precautionary measure following a recent recommendation by the Paul Ehrlich Institute (PEI).
These scientist do not play games for sure.
All I know is that there is never smoke without fire and I have a whole load of that vaccine in me. So the quicker we get data and facts and the vaccinations back on track, the better.
Low-cost carrier Ryanair launched its Covid-19 travel passport on 10 March. Available only on the Ryanair app, this digital passport (“Travel Wallet”) allows each passenger to upload tests, vaccinations and other Covid documents that may be required to travel this summer on the Ryanair network.
The Irish airline says it is confident that the vaccinations will be rolled out and that the current travel restrictions will be removed. But it also believes that governments in the European Union and neighbouring countries are unlikely to have a vaccine passport in place by this summer and will instead require additional documentation. Hence this “Travel Wallet” which allows each customer to centrally and securely store any Covid documents that may be required.
After a 4 weeks (or so) break in my non-drinking and diet, I have decided to “bite the bullet” once more so to speak and start another detox, strict diet and no alcohol period probably for the next 3 months.
Almost all my medical follow-ups and blood analysis were very good as a result of the past 2 detox periods within the past 12 months that it seems obvious I should carry on.
The word “March” comes from the Roman “Martius”. This was originally the first month of the Roman calendar and was named after Mars, the god of war. We changed to the “New Style” or “Gregorian” calendar in 1752 and it is only since then that the year begins on January 1st.
Among other things, March is famous for St Patrick’s day on the 17th
On a beautiful spring like day although only at the end of February, we went for a long walk on the Plateau de Leucate. This plateau, bordered by a spectacular cliff, is an overhang into the sea that dominates the whole coastline: the beaches, the lagoons. Long occupied by man, it offers an astonishing landscape composed of a veritable maze of low stone walls. Now cultivated for the vines, it constitutes a unique terroir. This limestone plateau is covered with a mosaic of dry natural environments: dry lawns, scrublands, woods and groves, cliffs, hanging dunes… These environments are home to species of birds, reptiles, insects and a typically Mediterranean flora such as the Pipit rousseline, the Traquet oreillard, the ocellated lizard…The eastern part of the plateau where dry grasslands dominate is a Natura 2000 site which aims to preserve its biodiversity.
Is it possible to share posts with LinkedIn? The answer appears to be YES. LinkedIn which I use to use for business contacts is the only remaining social platform I trust.
I have give up a long time ago on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter etc. And I do not miss it in the slightest.
Published on 20/01/2021 This is the Belgian story, but not necessarily funny, of a giant cluster launched by a mother who went skiing in Switzerland. She contaminated her daughter, who contaminated her classmates, who in turn contaminated her classmates, who in turn contaminated her…
The affair revealed by the Belgian media 7 sur 7 and relayed by the Capital website goes back to the end of last year, during the Christmas period. A Belgian mother living in Edegem took advantage of the holidays to go skiing in Switzerland. She returns from her alpine getaway with the coronavirus, a British variant, in her luggage. Of course, it would seem that this carefree mother did not respect the instructions concerning the “red zones” identified by Belgium, i.e. to respect an isolation period of 7 days, nor did she deign to carry out the recommended PCR tests. A carefree attitude with incredible consequences.
The snowball effect. After a few days, she presents the first symptoms and performs an initial test, which turns out to be negative. The second test, carried out a week later, confirms that the mother is infected. Of course, her daughter did not escape it, but she has already returned to school and to her father’s house. All contaminated and forced to quarantine. But the story doesn’t end there, and like dominoes, the contaminations follow one another. The little girl infected a classmate, who infected her mother, a teacher, who transmitted the virus to her pupils… The snowball effect now concerns two Belgian schools, both forced to close as a precautionary measure. On arrival, from pupils to teachers, parents to children, the virus brought back from a short trip to Switzerland infected 5000 people, including the mayor of Edegem: “We agreed not to argue. But if everyone respected the rules, we wouldn’t be in such a situation. Thousands of people have to remain in quarantine because of the negligence of some,” said the elected representative, who fears that the epidemic could soar again in his commune, which has been placed under quarantine this week.
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▫️Vaccinations report
The end of January 1 Million target has already been reached.
Daily vaccinationsPercentage of the population vaccinated by region / territoryCummulative v target which now includes the end of Feb target of 2.5 Million vaccinations
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▫️ Diet Coke
As soon as Joe Biden’s suitcases are placed in the White House, he already removes all traces of Donald Trump. Two days after his inauguration, the new president got rid of the “Diet Coke” button used by his predecessor in the Oval Office.
On Twitter, American journalist Tom Newton Dunn explained that Donald Trump used the button to get a Diet Coke to him as soon as possible. “President Biden has removed the Diet Coke button. When we interviewed Donald Trump in 2019, we were fascinated by this little red button. At one point, Trump pressed it, and a butler quickly brought him a Diet Coke on a silver tray. The button has now disappeared,” he wrote.
▫️ Vendée Globe
There has been, yet again, a change of leader overnight but only a handfull of miles separated the 4 boats at the front.
▫️ World Endurance Championship
Many of you are possibly aware that I am a fan of Endurance racing and in particular the Le Mans 24 hours which I started attending in 1969. I have not missed many June trips to Le Mans over the years. Last year ws cancelled in June and postponned to Septembre but without spectators. Thank you Corona Virus. Nobody really knows what will happen this year but some how I am getting in the mood and have started updating my web page on the championship with the latest news.
▫️ Robert Burns day
I think last year’s Burn’s celebration was the last time before the 1st confinement was announced.
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All this chat about Robert Burns makes me think that I need to replenish. The end of the detox period is almost upon us.
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France
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Actual v Original Targets for December 15th Targets
It is better to look at the 7 days rolling average which is still on an upward trend
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Occitanie
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185,67
Incidence rate is back in the Red
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Below is the table, as a reminder, of the main parameters
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Glossary
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Latest info on PCR Tests
On paper, more than half of the population has been tested
Not many tests yesterday for some unknow reason
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Meteo – What happened to the extremely mild, almost warm temperatures at the end of the week? We probably will not be allowed to spend much time out anyway.
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🔹Top 15 countries according to the new daily cases as of yesterday
Unusual hight numbers in Germany
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Improve your French
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🔹 Overseas titbits
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🇺🇸 There is so much insanity going on right now over the pond🇺🇸
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🔹Walks / Hikes/ Places visited
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That was the planyesterday afternoon
But we ended up on a different path. Not too worry, turned around and got home after a fairly fast 8.9km in time to avoid the rain.
For info, below is the exact location where I was, the Temple of the Equator
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Daily snapshot
🔹 There is no real good news regarding the pandemic. Quite on the contrary. It is far too early to notice any positive effects of the vaccination campaign. Thsi will take months, at least till the end of the summer.
🔹 The new variant of Covid-19, which emerged in south-east England last September, would cause “a higher degree of mortality”, according to the government advisory group on new and emerging respiratory virus threats, which advises Boris Johnson’s team. The “B.1.1.7” strain, already known for its high transmissibility, would increase the mortality rate by 30 to 40%.
🔹 The hypothesis of a third containment is more and more likely in France, a government source told AFP Friday, quoting projections released by Inserm and the Pasteur Institute which predict an exponential rise in the epidemic because of its English variant, which is more contagious.
I would think and soemhow hope it will start at the beginning of February and in time for the so-called “Winter School Holidays” which are scheduled as follows:
▸ Zone A (académies de Besançon, Bordeaux, Clermont-Ferrand, Dijon, Grenoble, Limoges, Lyon, Poitiers) from February 6th to 22nd
▸ Zone B (académies d’Aix-Marseille, Amiens, Caen, Lille, Nancy-Metz, Nantes, Nice, Orléans-Tours, Reims, Rennes, Rouen, Strasbourg) from February 20th to March 8th
▸ Zone C (académies de Créteil, Montpellier, Paris, Toulouse, Versailles) From February 13th to March 1st
🔹 Vaccinations report
The governement is keeping to the target of 1 Million by the end of January and added a target of 2,5 Million by the end of Feb
It is good to see that the number of vaccinations has caught up with the original target. Let us hope that the announced vaccin short deliveries will not affect this too much.
To get rid of the “Week-End” effect it is worth looking the daily rolling 7 day average which clearly still shows a slow but steady increase in the data.
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Occitanie
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Aude
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Number of PCR Tests
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Top 15 countries according to the daily number of new casesas of yesterday
🔹 Rates for sending a package according to its weight via the Post Office?
I have experienced that the Post Office is the reliable and efficient for shipments within France and reasonably priced.
🔹 Road conditions
The usual speed traps and some closed and difficult roads due to snow and ice. There are also a couple of roads closed due to debris and electric cables which fell as a result of the high winds last night.
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🔹Meteo
Could / should be colder at this time of year. I am not complaining. Could do without the rain though.
🔹 Vendée Globe
Half of the fleet is now in the northern Atlantic and approaching, in the case of the leaders, the European waters.
1 leg of lamb of 1,3 kg 3 tablespoons of pomegranate molasses (or balsamic vinegar) 2 tablespoons of olive oil 1 good pinch of salt 1 large clove of garlic 1 tablespoon of zaatar (or a teaspoon of thyme plus a teaspoon of sesame seeds)
🔸Method
Peel the garlic clove and squeeze it into a small bowl. Add the olive oil, pomegranate molasses, salt and zaatar. Mix together.
Put the leg of lamb in an ovenproof dish. Brush each side with the molasses mixture.
Add 2 tablespoons of water to the bottom of the dish and bake in a non-preheated oven. Bake for 1 hour at 160°C, rotating heat.
Take out of the oven of the oven, let rest 15 minutes under an aluminium foil then cut out and serve!
WASHINGTON —In what the network described as “the bombshell of the century,” Fox News Channel has obtained a damning video of President-elect Joe Biden talking to scientists.
The video, which the Fox host Tucker Carlson warned viewers was “almost too disturbing to air,” was reportedly taped on Monday, during a video conference with the President-elect.
“If authentic, this video could be grounds for Biden’s impeachment,” Carlson said. “Talking to scientists, most legal scholars would agree, is a high crime under the United States Constitution.”
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Latest from the crazy country
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Our friends in Pennsylvania gave me, a while ago, a link to a daily post from a certain Heather Cox Richardson who is a history teacher. I find her postings quite interesting and would like to share today’s issue below. You can find it on the internet if you follow this link and subscribe to get a daily email.
For all that the news has gotten much calmer and more straightforward since Wednesday, we did indeed get an old-fashioned (or at least a past-administration typical) news dump tonight.
It turns out that, in the last, desperate days of his attempt to keep his grip on the presidency, Trump plotted with a lawyer in the Department of Justice, Jeffrey Clark, to oust the acting attorney general. The plan was to replace Jeffrey A. Rosen, who replaced Attorney General William Barr when he left on December 23, with Clark himself. Clark would then press Trump’s attacks on the election results.
A story by Katie Benner in the New York Times explains that as soon as Rosen replaced Barr, Trump began to pressure Rosen to challenge the election results, appoint special counsels to investigate disproven voter fraud, and look into irregularities in the Dominion voting machines (Dominion is now suing pro-Trump lawyer Sidney Powell for defamation). Rosen refused. He told Trump the Justice Department had found no evidence of anything that would have changed the election results.
Trump complained about Rosen and moved to replace him with Clark, who promised to stop Congress from counting the certified Electoral College votes on January 6. This struggle came to a crisis on Sunday, January 3, 2021, when the news broke that Trump had called Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to pressure him to “find” the votes Trump needed to win the state. That evening, the senior officials at the Department of Justice agreed to resign as a group if Trump put Clark in as the new acting attorney general.
The vow that the leaders of the Department of Justice would quit if Trump tried to demote Rosen and put Clark in his place made Trump back off from his plan to pervert the Department of Justice. Three days later, rioters stormed the Capitol.
In addition to this bombshell story, there is more news about the Capitol attack. Court documents filed on Tuesday reveal that some of the rioters had made plans ahead of time to attack the Capitol, and had planned to “arrest” lawmakers on charges of “treason” and “election fraud.”
An investigation by NPR reveals that nearly 1 in 5 of the rioters charged so far have a history of serving in the military (only about 7% of Americans in general are military veterans). Prosecutors have indicated they are planning to bring charges of seditious conspiracy against some of the suspects, charges that, if proven, bring up to 20-year jail terms.
President Biden has asked new Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines to assess the dangers of domestic violent extremism. Press Secretary Jen Psaki today said of the effort: “We are committed to developing policies and strategies based on facts, on objective and rigorous analysis and on our respect for constitutionally protected free speech and political activities.”
Congress today set the calendar for the impeachment trial of the former president for incitement of insurrection. The House will formally deliver the article of impeachment to the Senate on Monday evening. The senators will be sworn in as jurors on Tuesday, and then the Senate will turn to confirming Biden’s nominees and considering the coronavirus stimulus package Biden wants while Trump’s lawyers and the House impeachment managers prepare their briefs and arguments. The trial will begin February 9, and is expected to be shorter than Trump’s first impeachment trial, since the charges are simpler and the evidence clearer.
At stake in this impeachment trial is more than the fate of Donald Trump, who is, after all, no longer president. At stake is, in part, the fate of the Republican Party. A number of Republicans who themselves egged on the rioters by claiming to distrust the election results are trying to discredit the trial and say it is pointless.
This wing of the party is led by former chair of the Judiciary Committee Lindsey Graham, who is especially eager to have the issue go away since one of its charges reflects on him. The article of impeachment notes that Trump had tried “to subvert and obstruct the certification of the results of the 2020 Presidential election” with, among other things, “a phone call on January 2, 2021, during which President Trump urged the secretary of state of Georgia, Brad Raffensperger, to ‘find’ enough votes to overturn the Georgia Presidential election results and threatened Secretary Raffensperger if he failed to do so.”
We know about that phone call because Raffensperger recorded it, and Raffensperger said he did so because Lindsey Graham had made a similar call. Raffensperger said he wanted some insurance in case Trump misrepresented his call as Graham had.
As pro-Trump Republicans are defending the former president and downplaying the attempted coup, along with their own role in the discrediting of Biden’s victory, other party members would very much like to see the party purged of the Trump element. With his speech condemning Trump for feeding lies to the rioters and provoking them, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) seems to be trying to lead his party away from the Trump personality cult.
Meanwhile, the Senate still has not begun to organize since McConnell is insisting on a promise from Democrats that they will not end the filibuster. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) says that proposal is unacceptable.
Press Secretary Psaki reiterated today that Biden’s position on the filibuster hasn’t changed; he does not want to end it. But she tied that declaration to his desire to get a coronavirus relief package through Congress on a bipartisan basis. There is a carrot and a stick in that statement: the carrot is that Biden is offering to share the credit for such a package with Republicans; the stick is that if they block such a measure entirely, Biden will likely back whatever Schumer does to get a bill through.
There are two places where lawmakers have agreed lately, though. Last night, the leadership of the Capitol Police abruptly moved National Guard soldiers to a garage for their break time. These troops are deployed to protect Washington, D.C., against domestic insurrectionists and have worked grueling hours. When news of the soldiers lying down in parking spaces reached lawmakers of both parties, they rushed to get the service members back indoors.
This morning, First Lady Dr. Jill Biden visited the troops bearing chocolate chip cookies. This move was reminiscent of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt’s 1933 visit to the Bonus Marchers after the Herbert Hoover administration had tried to destroy their encampment with troops. Dr. Biden thanked the soldiers and recalled her son Beau’s time with the Delaware Army National Guard in Iraq. “The National Guard always holds a special place in the hearts of all the Bidens,” she told them. Dr. Biden’s visit was an important indicator of the tenor of this White House.
In another bipartisan move, lawmakers of both parties have introduced measures in both houses of Congress to award Officer Eugene Goodman a Congressional Gold Medal. Goodman is the Capitol Police officer who led rioters away from the Senate chamber on January 6 and thus bought enough time for the senators there to escape to safety. The Congressional Gold Medal is one of the two highest civilian awards in the United States. In our history, only 163 of them have been cast.
The Senate bill reads: “By putting his own life on the line and successfully, singlehandedly leading insurrectionists away from the floor of the Senate Chamber, Officer Eugene Goodman performed his duty to protect the Congress with distinction, and by his actions Officer Goodman left an indelible mark on American history.”
