It's been a weird celebration for me, but I put more thought into it than usual and spent more time on the phone with friends and relatives than on any other year, so it wasn't bad at all.
And I hadn't made any DIY decorations for a Christmas tree in more than 20 years, but now I have a whole collection of them
I hope everyone here made the best of it too and that you're enjoying the holidays!
Also, Shan, I'm sorry that we gave you a hard time with the Adira situation in the other thread
We generally keep our holiday celebrations pretty small and low key to begin with. Last year was an exception, which means I'm about to hit the one year anniversary of seeing anyone on my side of the family in person. Certainly puts things into perspective.
It's been over a year for my wife's side of the family (last seen Thanksgiving), and they live lot closer. We do have a camping trip planned with them for next summer, since it looks like we should all be vaccinated by then.
Six degrees in Inter-species Veterinary Medicine. Treating all manner of critters, from Tribbles to Humans.
Some people never learn, even with all that happened.
This weekend, the police put an end to a massive and illegal rave in Catalonia where around 300 people (some of them come from France and other European countries) had already been partying for over 40 hours. Of course without mask and without any regard for social distancing or safety restrictions, and consuming alcohol and drugs.
Here the number of infections have increased a lot in the last days, and the vaccination campaign going really slow, much more than expected, specially in Madrid and Catalonia.
By the way, Catalonia have regional elections in a month (February 14), and it's more than possible the result would be a total chaos.
Some people never learn, even with all that happened.
This weekend, the police put an end to a massive and illegal rave in Catalonia where around 300 people (some of them come from France and other European countries) had already been partying for over 40 hours. Of course without mask and without any regard for social distancing or safety restrictions, and consuming alcohol and drugs.
Here the number of infections have increased a lot in the last days, and the vaccination campaign going really slow, much more than expected, specially in Madrid and Catalonia.
By the way, Catalonia have regional elections in a month (February 14), and it's more than possible the result would be a total chaos.
That's sad I know that similar things happened in other countries too though. There was one huge rave in France and there were smaller ones in a lot of other places too. And here there are people who apparently give false names and wrong phone numbers for contact tracing
Some of the pics I've seen look amazing, I wish we had some snow too!
I mean, I guess it's creating a lot of problems (here in Italy it almost never snows heavily, but when it does, it's a mess) but it's nice to see that people find ways to enjoy it
Yeah, there are a lot of problems. Madrid airport closed, thousand of people trapped in their cars in many roads (all of them have been already rescued), the emergency services that can't reach the people because the ambulances can't drive, the Emergency Unit of the Army deployed in Madrid to quit the snow... The government asked the people to stay home.
Anyway, I see other curious and funny things on Twitter. Because it does't matter what happens, here everything could be used to joke around and play around.
We've been several days with about 40.000 new infections per day (that's about the 0,1% population of Spain), but we've a lot of scandals regarding the vaccination plan. Many mayors of little towns and other public officials (like the health advisor from one region), hospital's directors and such, had already been vaccinated despite not being part of the groups of priority immunization. Right now, the only ones been vaccinated should be health workers and people in retirement homes.
But the worst is something that came up yesterday. The Chief of the Defence Staff and other high-ranked military commanders had already getting the vaccine violating the vaccination plan. He resigned today, but... I mean, even if the highest-ranking officer of Spain's Armed Forces do this, I don't know what to expect anymore...
We've been several days with about 40.000 new infections per day (that's about the 0,1% population of Spain), but we've a lot of scandals regarding the vaccination plan. Many mayors of little towns and other public officials (like the health advisor from one region), hospital's directors and such, had already been vaccinated despite not being part of the groups of priority immunization. Right now, the only ones been vaccinated should be health workers and people in retirement homes.
But the worst is something that came up yesterday. The Chief of the Defence Staff and other high-ranked military commanders had already getting the vaccine violating the vaccination plan. He resigned today, but... I mean, even if the highest-ranking officer of Spain's Armed Forces do this, I don't know what to expect anymore...
Corruption is all part of the human condition. All we can do is try to call it out every time it is seen. The problem is that the watchers are eating from the same buffet.
Yeah, corruption is something that we know very well (and I'm sure @Emperor Borg Drone can say the same about Italy). By the way, today have come up new corruption cases regarding the vaccination, including a hundred of public officials from Andalusia and the bishop from Majorca.
But the news of the other day involves the army, and well... the army here is a complicated thing due to our recent past (we had three military coups in the last 100 years, one lead to a military dictatorship, another to a civil war and another dictatorship, and the last one was a failure, fortunately).
In early December, in a chat of retired military officers, a retired Major General said, about the (political) problems of Spain, "As a good fascist, I have read it, and if what it says is true (I believe it is) there is no choice but to start shooting 26 million of son of bit****", and sorry for the bad word, but that's what he said (he was talking about a book defending Franco's coup and dictatorship).
Yeah, corruption is something that we know very well (and I'm sure @Emperor Borg Drone can say the same about Italy). By the way, today have come up new corruption cases regarding the vaccination, including a hundred of public officials from Andalusia and the bishop from Majorca.
But the news of the other day involves the army, and well... the army here is a complicated thing due to our recent past (we had three military coups in the last 100 years, one lead to a military dictatorship, another to a civil war and another dictatorship, and the last one was a failure, fortunately).
In early December, in a chat of retired military officers, a retired Major General said, about the (political) problems of Spain, "As a good fascist, I have read it, and if what it says is true (I believe it is) there is no choice but to start shooting 26 million of son of bit****", and sorry for the bad word, but that's what he said (he was talking about a book defending Franco's coup and dictatorship).
So here, anything so serious involving the armed forces is really disturbing and concerning.
Oh, and 93 thousand new cases last weekend (almost 2,6 millions in total). This set a new record here.
Yeah, I mean, so far it's going fairly well with the vaccinations here, even though there have been some complaints about doctors who are not public employees not having priority for them. Or something similar. And a couple of isolated cases where hospital staff stole 2 or 3 doses to vaccinate their family.
But yeah, normally we do have our issues with crazy bureaucracy, nepotism, corruption and a lot of grey zones that can be taken advantage of, but for now it doesn't seem to affect the vaccination plan.
And after reading about the scandal that hit the Dutch government I feel better about living in a southern country I feel like that kind of sistematic institutional abuse of regulations at the expense of the most vulnerable groups of society is less likely to happen here. In my experience, one of the good things about Mediterranean countries is that they are less classist and less inclined to determine someone's value as a person based on their achievements only (and I'm saying that as someone who is originally from a northern country).
That being said, with the government crisis we're going through and the delay in the supply of vaccines, it's not looking great either. Also, it's fun to read articles about elite clubs in the UK that offer luxury vacations to India with an included Covid vaccine, while most healthcare workers in the world still aren't able to get one. The pandemic definitely didn't make this world a better place.
]
Yeah, I mean, so far it's going fairly well with the vaccinations here, even though there have been some complaints about doctors who are not public employees not having priority for them. Or something similar. And a couple of isolated cases where hospital staff stole 2 or 3 doses to vaccinate their family.
But yeah, normally we do have our issues with crazy bureaucracy, nepotism, corruption and a lot of grey zones that can be taken advantage of, but for now it doesn't seem to affect the vaccination plan.
And after reading about the scandal that hit the Dutch government I feel better about living in a southern country I feel like that kind of sistematic institutional abuse of regulations at the expense of the most vulnerable groups of society is less likely to happen here. In my experience, one of the good things about Mediterranean countries is that they are less classist and less inclined to determine someone's value as a person based on their achievements only (and I'm saying that as someone who is originally from a northern country).
That being said, with the government crisis we're going through and the delay in the supply of vaccines, it's not looking great either. Also, it's fun to read articles about elite clubs in the UK that offer luxury vacations to India with an included Covid vaccine, while most healthcare workers in the world still aren't able to get one. The pandemic definitely didn't make this world a better place.
With the Dutch scandal I couldn't help to remember how they were fiercely against the agreement for the EU recovery plan, and what "beautiful" things of Spain and Italy said the members of the Dutch government and how morally superior they felt.
]
Yeah, I mean, so far it's going fairly well with the vaccinations here, even though there have been some complaints about doctors who are not public employees not having priority for them. Or something similar. And a couple of isolated cases where hospital staff stole 2 or 3 doses to vaccinate their family.
But yeah, normally we do have our issues with crazy bureaucracy, nepotism, corruption and a lot of grey zones that can be taken advantage of, but for now it doesn't seem to affect the vaccination plan.
And after reading about the scandal that hit the Dutch government I feel better about living in a southern country I feel like that kind of sistematic institutional abuse of regulations at the expense of the most vulnerable groups of society is less likely to happen here. In my experience, one of the good things about Mediterranean countries is that they are less classist and less inclined to determine someone's value as a person based on their achievements only (and I'm saying that as someone who is originally from a northern country).
That being said, with the government crisis we're going through and the delay in the supply of vaccines, it's not looking great either. Also, it's fun to read articles about elite clubs in the UK that offer luxury vacations to India with an included Covid vaccine, while most healthcare workers in the world still aren't able to get one. The pandemic definitely didn't make this world a better place.
With the Dutch scandal I couldn't help to remember how they were fiercely against the agreement for the EU recovery plan, and what "beautiful" things of Spain and Italy said the members of the Dutch government and how morally superior they felt.
Our puppy and lambs are quite curious about each other. The puppy would very much like to play with her sheep friends, but the lambs are nearly 4x larger than her, and lamb games are rambunctious and tend to involve a lot of head-butting.
More often, we keep them on either side of the fencing. Here's such a visit from before all of our snow. The puppy wanted to know what the big deal was with all of this grass eating.
Six degrees in Inter-species Veterinary Medicine. Treating all manner of critters, from Tribbles to Humans.
Anyway, I share with you the controversy caused by one judge from the region of Euskadi (Basque Country).
"In the Basque Country, a recent decision by a judge to allow bars and restaurants to reopen provisionally despite a closure order by the regional government has turned into a public wrangle involving epidemiologists, policitians and the legal profession.
The Basque government’s legal services are considering whether to request the recusal of judge Luis Ángel Garrido of the regional High Court, on the basis that he may lack the necessary impartiality to oversee a case brought by Basque restaurateurs challenging their closure.
In his decision granting provisional authorization to reopen while the case makes its way through the courts, Garrido said that there was no evidence that bars and restaurants pose a clear threat as spreaders of the coronavirus. A day earlier, he had made statements to the effect that epidemiologists are “family doctors who have taken a course” and held that their advice brings “very little added value.”
“Telling us that to reduce the virus we need to stay home, not talk to anyone, not go to the theater... people already knew this back in the Middle Ages, and even earlier in the Arab countries,” he said in a radio talk show. The government of Iñigo Urkullu has been very critical of the judge’s decision to let establishments reopen, and may appeal the move."
Anyway, I share with you the controversy caused by one judge from the region of Euskadi (Basque Country).
"In the Basque Country, a recent decision by a judge to allow bars and restaurants to reopen provisionally despite a closure order by the regional government has turned into a public wrangle involving epidemiologists, policitians and the legal profession.
The Basque government’s legal services are considering whether to request the recusal of judge Luis Ángel Garrido of the regional High Court, on the basis that he may lack the necessary impartiality to oversee a case brought by Basque restaurateurs challenging their closure.
In his decision granting provisional authorization to reopen while the case makes its way through the courts, Garrido said that there was no evidence that bars and restaurants pose a clear threat as spreaders of the coronavirus. A day earlier, he had made statements to the effect that epidemiologists are “family doctors who have taken a course” and held that their advice brings “very little added value.”
“Telling us that to reduce the virus we need to stay home, not talk to anyone, not go to the theater... people already knew this back in the Middle Ages, and even earlier in the Arab countries,” he said in a radio talk show. The government of Iñigo Urkullu has been very critical of the judge’s decision to let establishments reopen, and may appeal the move."
Comments
It's been a weird celebration for me, but I put more thought into it than usual and spent more time on the phone with friends and relatives than on any other year, so it wasn't bad at all.
And I hadn't made any DIY decorations for a Christmas tree in more than 20 years, but now I have a whole collection of them
I hope everyone here made the best of it too and that you're enjoying the holidays!
Also, Shan, I'm sorry that we gave you a hard time with the Adira situation in the other thread
It's been over a year for my wife's side of the family (last seen Thanksgiving), and they live lot closer. We do have a camping trip planned with them for next summer, since it looks like we should all be vaccinated by then.
Starport
Air hugs all around, with good air flow
This weekend, the police put an end to a massive and illegal rave in Catalonia where around 300 people (some of them come from France and other European countries) had already been partying for over 40 hours. Of course without mask and without any regard for social distancing or safety restrictions, and consuming alcohol and drugs.
https://www.spainenglish.com/2021/01/03/catalan-police-rave-llinars-arrest-organisers/
Oh, and Catalonia has announced today a perimetral lockdown in all the municipalities of the region.
https://english.elpais.com/society/2021-01-04/catalonia-imposes-perimetral-lockdown-in-municipalities-in-bid-to-slow-coronavirus-spread.html
Here the number of infections have increased a lot in the last days, and the vaccination campaign going really slow, much more than expected, specially in Madrid and Catalonia.
By the way, Catalonia have regional elections in a month (February 14), and it's more than possible the result would be a total chaos.
That's sad
But on a lighter note, I really admire you for the way you deal with unexpected weather stuff in Spain
https://www.thelocal.es/20210109/more-snow-on-the-way-as-skiiers-hit-central-madrid
It's the worst storm in 40 years, specially in Madrid.
This was yesterday morning.
This was today.
This was in Campo de Criptana, a village of Castile La Mancha, the land of Don Quixote!
Some of the pics I've seen look amazing, I wish we had some snow too!
I mean, I guess it's creating a lot of problems (here in Italy it almost never snows heavily, but when it does, it's a mess) but it's nice to see that people find ways to enjoy it
Anyway, I see other curious and funny things on Twitter. Because it does't matter what happens, here everything could be used to joke around and play around.
Another video of the Madrid T-Rex, stuck in the street (the comments of the people are the best xD)
Proud member of Patterns of Force
Captain Level 99
Played since January 2017
TP: Do better!!!
Not even a week, but it feels like ages.
But we just adopted a dog from the shelter, so she's been keeping us pleasantly distracted.
Starport
Aww welcome new doggo, and thank you for rescuing - pic?
At five month's old she has a lot of puppy energy, which our cat is especially not thrilled about. But she's a very sweet girl.
Starport
Oh my cuteness.
She's adorable
She is so sweet-looking!
But the worst is something that came up yesterday. The Chief of the Defence Staff and other high-ranked military commanders had already getting the vaccine violating the vaccination plan. He resigned today, but... I mean, even if the highest-ranking officer of Spain's Armed Forces do this, I don't know what to expect anymore...
https://digismak.com/miguel-angel-villarroya-the-chief-of-defense-staff-resigns-after-being-vaccinated-against-the-coronavirus-earlier-than-the-protocols-established-spain/
I am more worried about the new strains at this time but all the vaccine roll out issues are concerning as well.
Corruption is all part of the human condition. All we can do is try to call it out every time it is seen. The problem is that the watchers are eating from the same buffet.
But the news of the other day involves the army, and well... the army here is a complicated thing due to our recent past (we had three military coups in the last 100 years, one lead to a military dictatorship, another to a civil war and another dictatorship, and the last one was a failure, fortunately).
In early December, in a chat of retired military officers, a retired Major General said, about the (political) problems of Spain, "As a good fascist, I have read it, and if what it says is true (I believe it is) there is no choice but to start shooting 26 million of son of bit****", and sorry for the bad word, but that's what he said (he was talking about a book defending Franco's coup and dictatorship).
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/12/04/what-d04.html
So here, anything so serious involving the armed forces is really disturbing and concerning.
Oh, and 93 thousand new cases last weekend (almost 2,6 millions in total). This set a new record here.
Yeah, I mean, so far it's going fairly well with the vaccinations here, even though there have been some complaints about doctors who are not public employees not having priority for them. Or something similar. And a couple of isolated cases where hospital staff stole 2 or 3 doses to vaccinate their family.
But yeah, normally we do have our issues with crazy bureaucracy, nepotism, corruption and a lot of grey zones that can be taken advantage of, but for now it doesn't seem to affect the vaccination plan.
And after reading about the scandal that hit the Dutch government I feel better about living in a southern country
That being said, with the government crisis we're going through and the delay in the supply of vaccines, it's not looking great either. Also, it's fun to read articles about elite clubs in the UK that offer luxury vacations to India with an included Covid vaccine, while most healthcare workers in the world still aren't able to get one. The pandemic definitely didn't make this world a better place.
With the Dutch scandal I couldn't help to remember how they were fiercely against the agreement for the EU recovery plan, and what "beautiful" things of Spain and Italy said the members of the Dutch government and how morally superior they felt.
Yeah... that came to my mind too
I approve of this message
Our puppy and lambs are quite curious about each other. The puppy would very much like to play with her sheep friends, but the lambs are nearly 4x larger than her, and lamb games are rambunctious and tend to involve a lot of head-butting.
More often, we keep them on either side of the fencing. Here's such a visit from before all of our snow. The puppy wanted to know what the big deal was with all of this grass eating.
Starport
Goats are in the long term plan!
Starport
Anyway, I share with you the controversy caused by one judge from the region of Euskadi (Basque Country).
"In the Basque Country, a recent decision by a judge to allow bars and restaurants to reopen provisionally despite a closure order by the regional government has turned into a public wrangle involving epidemiologists, policitians and the legal profession.
The Basque government’s legal services are considering whether to request the recusal of judge Luis Ángel Garrido of the regional High Court, on the basis that he may lack the necessary impartiality to oversee a case brought by Basque restaurateurs challenging their closure.
In his decision granting provisional authorization to reopen while the case makes its way through the courts, Garrido said that there was no evidence that bars and restaurants pose a clear threat as spreaders of the coronavirus. A day earlier, he had made statements to the effect that epidemiologists are “family doctors who have taken a course” and held that their advice brings “very little added value.”
“Telling us that to reduce the virus we need to stay home, not talk to anyone, not go to the theater... people already knew this back in the Middle Ages, and even earlier in the Arab countries,” he said in a radio talk show. The government of Iñigo Urkullu has been very critical of the judge’s decision to let establishments reopen, and may appeal the move."
https://english.elpais.com/spanish_news/2021-02-11/who-advises-spain-not-to-relax-coronavirus-restrictions-too-soon.html
So here we didn't have enough with our politics in this COVID times, we also have to endure this kind of judges.
Well, we just got a new government that's a mix of all past governments