Afternoon music
Tweets seen today
Reminiscent of the passage in Anna Karenina when Levin watches the peasants on his country estate cut fields using large scythes, Levin then joining them, in order to experience such work, while cleansing his soul.
“In the very heat of the day the mowing did not seem such hard work to him. The perspiration with which he was drenched cooled him, while the sun, that burned his back, his head, and his arms, bare to the elbow, gave a vigour and dogged energy to his labour; and more and more often now came those moments of unconsciousness, when it was possible not to think what one was doing. The scythe cut of itself. These were happy moments. Still more delightful were the moments where they reached the stream where the rows ended, and the old man rubbed his scythe with the wet, thick grass, rinsed its blade in the fresh water of the stream, ladled out a little in a tin dipper, and offered Levin a drink…
…“And truly Levin had never drunk any liqueur so good as this warm water with green bits floating in it, and a taste of rust from the tin dipper. And immediately after this came the delicious, slow saunter, with his hand on the scythe, during which he could wipe away the streaming sweat, take deep breaths of air, and look about at the long string of mowers and at what was happening around in the forest and the country.
The longer Levin mowed, the oftener he felt the moments of unconsciousness in which it seemed not his hands that swung the scythe, but the scythe mowing of itself, a body full of life and consciousness of its own, and as though by magic, without thinking of it, the work turned out regular and well-finished of itself. These were the most blissful moments.” [Tolstoy, Anna Karenina: https://www.bartleby.com/316/305.html]
More music
More tweets
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laverstoke_Park_Farm; https://www.laverstokepark.co.uk/
My own result was similar (29,701, top 0.18%…might have done better had I concentrated properly at the start).
Beat John Rentoul this week, scoring 7/10 as against his 5 and a half. I did not know the answers to questions 3, 4, and 8.
More music
Late tweets
Those behind “the Great Reset” will make sure of that, as 2022 approaches…
Exactly (both tweets). Completely correct. Trouble is, those very accurate tweets do not fit the propaganda narrative that had millions of idiots standing outside their houses, clapping, in 2020.
Late music
Ian Robert Millard 
Another top notch blog post! A heady mix tape of high culture, observation and truth.
LikeLike
DJF:
Thank you very much.
These are increasingly worrying times. Still, they present a possible opportunity, or do they? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_word_for_%22crisis%22
LikeLike
Bob Moran or should that be far more accurately Bob MORON? Chris Whitty deserves a knighthood far more than scumbags like you ever will!
At least he has been trying his best to control this worldwide viral pandemic albeit it with his hands tied behind his back by globalist open border supporting evil idiots like Boris The Killer Clown and his despicable Home Secretary who both refused to impose ultra-tough travel restrictions to this country when they were needed most ie FROM MARCH 2020 ONWARDS something that they and their party should NEVER be forgiven for and which has undoubtedly led to many avoidable deaths and severe illness.🤬😡🙄🙄🙄
For God’s sake, even the world’s former most prominent Covid-19 denier, ex President Trump, even made a stab at proper border and travel controls early on last year!🙄🙄🙄
Funnily enough, effective Covid-19 deniers and libertarian extremists on this issue like you and Peter Hitchens don’t mention this factor in their rants against the restrictions. I wonder why?🙄🙄🙄🙄
Yes, globalist open borders during a pandemic KILLS and Priti and her fellow MURDERER the PM are responsible here!
Un-cooperative effective Covid-19 denying people like you should be denied the vaccine and given this US injection instead:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lethal_injection
Come on! I promise THOSE jabs won’t hurt!🙄🙄🙄😂😂😂😂😄😄😄😷😷😷😷😎😎😎😎
LikeLike
Apparently, that libertarian extremist Simon Dolan who you have often featured ranting about the restrictions lives in Monaco!
Ha, you really couldn’t make it up with these scumbags could you?🙄🙄🙄
I wonder if lives there to take advantage of the Principality’s famously low tax regime?🙄🙄🙄
Well, Monaco is certainly a good place to live to get way from he all encompassing state that their libertarian ideology hates. Certainly, the Monegasque state has a ‘light touch’ when it comes to their tax policies for rich people!🙄
On the other hand, Prince Albert and his government doesn’t have any problem with state power when it comes to the size of the police force there as Monaco has one of the world’s biggest on a population ratio basis:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_enforcement_in_Monaco
Or in trying to protect public health in a pandemic:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_pandemic_in_Monaco
LikeLike
M’Lord of Essex:
As you know, in the world as a whole, only ONE person out of 4,000 has been killed by (or “with”) this virus; in the UK, the figures are more serious, but still only about ONE person out of ONE THOUSAND inhabitants.
On that basis, it was mad to shut down the society, economy and, yes, *much of the NHS as well*. The fallout in terms of life, health, civil rights, economy etc has been terribly damaging.
LikeLike
WItHOUT those lockdowns and social distancing measures MORE people would have died or fallen seriously ill!
Covid-19 is an infectious disease that is all too easily spread in the community by community transmission hence measures to reduce social interaction between human beings.
Thank God we have vaccines now as this country in particular thanks to Boris and his goon squad idiots listening TOO MUCH rather than too little to libertarian extremists like Hitchens, Julie Hartley-Brewer, the MP for Wycombe etc would have had an even more disgraceful death rate.
The REALITY of an infectious viral pandemic for the hard of understanding ie Hitchens etc:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_pandemic
The countries which have performed best are those who implemented strict border/travel controls ie Norway and didn’t give much of a damm about civil liberties like South Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam.
LikeLike
So there Simon Dolan sits in his nice Monegasque apartment ranting about the necessary Covid-19 restrictions in the United Kingdom whilst enjoying Monegasque libertarian low to non existent taxes for rich people whilst also benefitting from the responsible policies of Prince Albert and his government when it comes to the decidedly non libertarian measures on law and order and Covid-19 in that tiny Mediterranean state.
Prince Albert’s government takes a hardline on crime at the best of times and his very large police force has been strictly enforcing tough Covid-19 restrictions there with the mass use of compulsory facial mask wearing earlier than we had it ext.
LikeLike