Blah Blah

Go Ape are very good at what they do and that might not be a bad idea. Crazy golf could work but no-one is going to do that in the winter when it is cold and wet. So I think it could be a seasonal use and the equipment can be stored in winter. There are a wide range of lawn games that could be tried out at other times of the year. And there is also no reason why it couldn't be different things on different days either, attracting a variety of groups and clubs using the facility. So if a bowls team wanted to say use it on Tuesday afternoon, they could. Crazy golf could come out at the weekends etc.

It is a mixed picture at the moment. Immunity appears to significantly drop off after a few months. But we have this with influenza and rhinoviruses, so this is not an unprecedented scenario. We have just become used to having vaccines for everything that was an epidemic problem until the recent past. The good news is that so much more is understood than six months ago. The two antiviral drugs that seem to have a significant impact are reducing deaths by 20-40 percent and there are better processes for managing ICU patients. BUT an here is the but, there are aspects to this virus that are particularly challenging for management. The long incubation period for example. Influenza shows symptoms with 2-3 days of infection by comparison. Another area of ongoing research is the damage done in those who recover. People who have genuine flu or pneumonia and recover, often struggle with things like ongoing fatigue for months afterwards as it takes much longer for the body to repair the damage done after the immune system defeats the virus. Covid is looking to behave in the same way, but covid attacks more than just the respiratory system because those ACE2 receptors are everywhere. So there is still a lot to be understood, that will take time to understand, and this can have other consequences for longer term public health resources. At some point though, we have to learn to live with it. And this is where the difficult decisions for government lie. As individuals however, we can do a lot of things for ourselves, to stay healthy and minimise the risks of infection.

Sorry Artful Dogger, but you only have to look at the hoards of empty flats on new developments to see that this is a bonkers way to address housing need in London. Build the housing LONDONERS need at rents they can afford, or prices they can afford to buy at. We do not need more empty investments for overseas investors.

Your thuggish threats didn't work Shrieker, so now you resort to infantile sneers. Grow up

Given the fashion is for devolved government, probably yes.

Shrieker Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > You've of told me to move or turn the speakers > off?! i dont think you would have mate. You would > have regretted it, knowing my lot you would most > likely have ended up in one of the ponds lol. Yes I would have and had you or your plastic trolls assaulted me, I would have seen you all in troll court. Grow up.

Dogkennelhillbilly Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I don't want to go down the rabbit hole too much, > but are you saying you live near a tennis court > now and the sound of balls being hit and bouncing > is annoying, or are you saying that you imagine it > would be annoying to live near a tennis court? Neither. I am making the case for any use being in proportion to what immediately surrounds the space - namely tranquil gardens. There are other parts of the park dedicated for sport and noisier activities. I think it is perfectly reasonable to protect the quieter spaces where they exist.

No-one at the oxford vaccine research is claiming any part of the Covid RNA is synthetic. Synthetic in simple terms, means created in a lab. What happens during vaccine research, is that the RNA of the live virus is adapted to remove the part that tells it to replicate. Only the part that induces an immune response is used. In the case of the Oxford vaccine, they are not using Covid per se, but an Adenovirus. The reason for that is because an Adenovirus leaves a stronger immune system memory than Covid (which leaves a weak imprint that starts to significantly drop off after six months). And this can be done because the only part that matters is the attack on ACE 2 receptors performed by the Covid virus. Any virus that can produce a strong antibody response to mitigate that particular protein behaviour can be used to develop a vaccine for Covid in theory. It is possible that the associate is confusing this standard vaccine research method with the idea that some aspect of the virus is synthetic.

Shrieker Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > > Tennis balls breaking the peace? Dont be silly. On > several occasions this summer me and my mates have > sat in the gardens with cans of beer and loud > speakers, and no one seemed to be too fussed about > our presence. Not even a dirty look. So, why when > 5 or so loud, tipsy friends gathering with music > in the gardens is not a problem, why would the > noise of a tennis ball be? Tennis balls being hit all day every day in that area of the park is not only a poor use of the space numbers wise, but also is a disturbance to the surrounding gardens. Had I passed you with loudspeakers, I would have asked you to move or turn them off. The truth is that most people would be afraid to ask a group of people disturbing the peace and quiet to move or cease. So don't presume to know what anyone actually thought about your disregard for others. I suspect you are trolling anyway and it never happened ;)

first mate Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I had suggested sessions of yoga, tai- chi, etc.. > in summer? Quite a few people already go to this > area to do this anyway so that could be developed > for the community on a pay as you go basis? The > ?club? house could be used for massage, physio and > perhaps yoga in winter? Perhaps I am way off base > but it just feels a natural fit and could benefit > all ages. I like this suggestion. There is no reason why it can not be a multi-use facility (makes perfect sense) for relatively quiet activities that fit in with the surrounding ambience. There is plenty of space elsewhere around the park for noisier sports. And just to add, that even crazy golf, doesn't have to be a permanent use. Crazy golf apparatus can be brought out and stored at will.

Actually seenbeen, TFLs debt was reducing under Khan, until the pandemic hit. All the figures are online for you to see for yourself. The money he now wants, is to offset the loss of income from massively reduced passengers due to the pandemic. You might also want to look at the part the government are playing in fueling that debt too ;)

It was only a matter of time before something like this happened. This is the consequence of unenforceable policy. The same is true of shops. If no-one has the power to enforce the law (apart from Police), then lots of people are going to ignore it.

The problem with tennis courts is that it limits the number of people that can use the space at any one time. Even if fully booked, it doesn't seem like a good use of the space. Also, do we really want the noise of tennis balls breaking through the peace of the Japanese and Sexby Gardens?

NewWave, just for future reference, if someone is jabbing you with their elbow, that is assault. All buses have cameras, so do not be afraid to report someone assaulting you to the driver. At the very least, a driver can ask someone to leave the bus. Easier said than done if you feel bullied I know, but if we do nothing to challenge inconsiderate (or worse) behaviour, then nothing will change.

They basically have no answers to the border issues, and they are real issues, and that is about the sum of it. And anyone that tries to navigate the issues is 'the other side' or 'project fear'. Now the time has come to answer for all those false claims and the best we can get is Keano saying, 'have no border customs checks and waive everything through'! Bonkers! How many illegal migrants will be in those lorries Keano, that you so blindly want to waive through? Have a think about that.

Not true at all Hjohn as has been pointed out numerous times. Covid19 has killed more people globally in six months than Influenza kills annually.

Indeed Lemming. Methinks any effort to educate PJ Cleaning about the nuances of racism would fall on deaf ears. We too have a vax ;)

Plagues that spread freely in the past, went away because they ran out of people to infect and kill. But that was when the earth's population was half the size it is now, and billions of us did not live in megacities, consuming all kinds of animals. What has changed, is our ability to develop vaccines. That is what has stopped waves of measles, tb, polio etc. We even now have a vaccine for Ebola. Global pandemics will continue to happen and we have to get much better at working with nations to eradicate risky farming and food production.

I think it is clear what the PJ Cleaning person was referring to in his/ her description of the party smells. No-one is fooled by that. Not a business I would ever want to employ as a result.

And that is a very good point Seenbeen. People do not understand that masks trap the saliva we exhale. Why does that help? Because saliva particles can hold hundreds of viral particles, and viral load can affect how ill a person gets. This is why front line nurses and doctors are particularly susceptible. This has been understood for a hundred years at least. But it is also true to say, that it is the natural reaction of a person to fiddle with their mask, so there has to be a certain level of retraining ourselves to do this in ways that are effective. There is also one study that now suggests that wearing masks helps immunity too. Placing a barrier between airborne particles works. That is all a mask is, and that is the message that needs to be hammered home.

Now you are conflating different issues. Numbers absolutely do matter when it comes to public health policy. You are splitting hairs on unknowns, in order to ignore the real challenge of this global pandemic, which is not over by a long way yet. On PCR tests, I would agree that they are not accurate enough. Antigen blood tests are far more accurate. I completely dismiss your claim that fear has been manufactured and misused but can no longer be bothered to explain the science, figures and evidence to you again. The cognitive dissonance is found in the rabbit hole you inhabit.

Are you seriously arguing that we should potentially allow millions to die so that we can avoid 100,000 deaths from other things? As for figures, the data is already there. Between 3 and 10 percent of confirmed cases end in death. That has been adapted for unknowns, like true rates of infection, down to 0.3 percent. That is still 30 times the mortality percentage of global flu deaths. So obfuscate all you like, the fact remains that we would be talking of millions of deaths, 30x the base level of flu, if the virus were allowed to spread freely. The data for that is already there, which is why governments are not messing about with this thing.

The test and trace system is going to implode if we don't ramp up laboratory capacity to process the tests. Government were warned about this months ago. They built extra hospital capacity (the Nightingale) but did little to build extra laboratory capacity at the same time.

rahrahrah Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > It's good to hear that a special exemption is > being granted to people hunting with guns. They > can meet in groups up to 30. 😒 Yes, this was trending across social media yesterday. It typifies the elitist thinking of Boris and his ilk. One rule for them and another for the rest of us.

And there you go again TE44, failing to answer the question. How many deaths is too many? Clearly nearly 1 million in just six months is not enough for you, so I am genuinely curious as to what point you understand the benchmark of a global pandemic to be. That you won't answer it tells me that deep down, you know there is no good answer to that question that can save your incoherent non evidence based arguments. So you run out into the sunshine, but not before you try to have the last word again. I will keep asking you until you answer it, how many deaths above the million already counted, is too many? We can then compare notes in December, when the northern hemisphere is in the middle of cold and flu season.