theGman

  Yes, exactly! Brexit as we, the voters and the campaigners mostly understood it was for not coming out of the single market or customs union, NI wasn't, in principle, at risk. This all come afterwards. There was an inherent risk, because Brexit wasn't officially defined and nobody knew for sure what it would end up but, I would argue that, at the time, those risks to Ireland were seen and understood to be small.   Now we know that the ERG types were lying through their teeth and they wanted are harder Brexit all along. Those people are complicit for sure.

  Ah, okay, so that's where we disagree. For me Brexit was totally what you describe as a package. It could have meant any number of things. There was a huge range of possible Brexits. That was to be decided by the politicians after the vote and that's what happened. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but it was in no way obvious what was going to actually happen in NI. A possibility, yes, but what eventually happened with Cameron quitting, Theresa coming in and then her red lines, the ERG, Johnson.  There was only a single question on the ballot, yes or no, Trump or Biden, BJ or Corbyn. People campaigned and voted for the UK to leave a political and economic union, that was it.

  I doubt it is much vaccine related, not enough vaccines given out for that yet. I assumed it was mostly lockdown related.   Just add Germany to the comparison in your link. The UK winter peak was huge, the 7-day incidence was well into the hundreds (UK data). That was the Kent variant doing it's thing. The UK then went into a really hard lockdown for a long time and got their numbers down. As far as I know, the opening up now is still based somewhat on hope that the good weather and vaccination rates will keep the numbers relatively low until everyone is fully inoculated.   In comparison, Germany has never lockdowned that hard and rules have been constantly fluctuating. But that's been OK because we hadn't had the the Kent variant to deal with...until now. I think that's what the experts here are shit scared of, that Germany is about to go into the Kent variant spiral. A huge third wave like the UK's second wave. Maybe summer will help us. Maybe, with luck, a massive ramp up in vaccination rates will help keep things at bay. If not, it's lockdown time.

  Again, for the sake of argument. People who voted for Biden knew there was a risk he would continue with the plans to withdraw US troops out of Afghanistan. That now seems set to happen and there is the very real possibility of there being deaths (possibly even full on civil war) as a result. Will those who voted and/or campaign for Biden complicit in those deaths? Will they have blood on their hands?   * Just a reminder, complicit: involved with others in an activity that is unlawful or morally wrong

  Rightly or wrongly a voter may believe that Brexit will be good for them, their family, their job, their town. Should they then not vote for it because it might cause problems somewhere hundreds of miles away? An MP is supposed to serve their constituents, if that MP believes Brexit is the best thing for them, should they not campaign for it? Anyone else who campaigned or voted for it and decided it was worth the risk for them...is that not ok?   Boris is the leader of the country, it is his problem he and should be held accountable . Nigel Farage and the ERG types who lied throughout, they should also be held accountable. But everyone else? I struggle to appoint accountability. As long as they were honest in their beliefs.

  Well, I think it's a tough one. Depending on your news sources and depending on your ability/desire to analyse the consequences of your decisions then that could apply to anyone who voted for Brexit. It was, at least to me (many of us), an obvious potential consequence of Brexit. For that reason alone it was a stupid decision. Buuuttt, I also think people have to be free to vote for what is best for them. I could argue that anyone who doesn't vote for a green party / green policies will have blood on their hands in the future. Every vote has potentially life threatening consequences depending on what the immigration, healthcare, defence etc outfall will be.   I am enjoying the Brexit bashing as much as the next guy, I'm just trying to reign in the rhetoric a bit.

Captures my thoughts exactly. It's not my area of expertise but it feels like Bitcoin is not "the best" but it's just refusing to die and is maybe harming crypto currencies in general. Technology has a long history of "best" does not always win.

  I've seen stories in the media of people surviving shark attacks, lightening strikes and even falling out of planes without a parachute. But I would still be shit scared of going through either of those things. Just as a 104 year old should be shit scared of getting covid...twice.

Is there a longtime place in the world for multiple cryptocurrencies? If not, and there's only space for one longterm, then hasn't Bitcoin already won? It's just too much bigger than the others already isn't it?

  Her having had the jabs though, in principle, give her the protection, not whether you have had the jabs or not. Although it is looking likely, it is still not proven that having the jabs prevents you form being able to pass the virus on to others. So it's a slightly flawed logic. But for sure, it's a personal decision that everyone will have to make.

  Does everybody that voted for Brexit (17.4m people) have blood on their hands? People vote for what is best for them. Every vote has consequences, that's the nature of voting. Sure, we should hold MP's and those of power and influence to task. But saying that an insurance salesman from Durham has blood on his hands for voting for the UK to leave the European Union is neither fair nor correct.

  Well, whilst I look forward to getting inoculated at some point, my main goal is to visit my family and have them visit us. At this point in time, vaccination passports are a bit of a doubt and I think that chances to travel may be more based on case levels and vaccination rates of the countries themselves, rather than whether I have personally had the jab or not. At least with regards to the UK and Germany anyhow.

Now we're talking. Those are fighting talk numbers. Hopefully they continue. Hope of being able to see the family in the summer is rising again...

  Although we can trawl the media and pick out cases of schadenfreude of people who voted for Brexit and now are facing problems as a result (Spanish expats, fishing etc), I would assume that most Brexit voters have felt no such regret. Probably never will. My family members who voted for Brexit had very little skin in the game. They voted for mostly xenophobic reasons as far as I can tell. They thought that the areas they were living in were turning to shitholes due to eastern europeans moving in (they've always been shithole areas). There was also a bit of "why not?", they have no perceived connection to the EU, why not try going it alone. They're just dock workers from nowheresville. Maybe the poles will leave, maybe they won't. They don't care about Spanish expats. The vaccination program seems to be going well, which is a Brexit benefit as far as they are concerned. Honestly, for most people on the ground, Brexit or not, life is going on as normal.

  Off the top of my head, that was Pfizer. My mum was advised to get AZ for that reason. Whereas my Dad got Pfizer.