Britons are enraged at Bogus Johnson for lying to excuse an aide, Cummings, who drove for hours to meet his parents, breaching anti-contagion guidelines that have been presented in very rigid terms.

For the most part, separation practices are wise practices because they reduce transmission of Covid-19. In Massachusetts, they are mostly not mandatory, but I don't care — I practice them nearly all the time anyway.

However, there is no reason to practice them with a stupid robot's rigidity regardless of how small a risk would be avoided.

I go to a supermarket once or twice a week, because that is the only way I can get food while not being identified by the store. I define "safe" in terms of my freedom and my privacy as well as my health; keeping safe calls for estimating the various risks.

I also need to take the subway to my bank occasionally to deposit checks.

Once in a while I get take-out from a restaurant or get ice cream. I don't need to do that, but there is no reason to make a fuss about it, because the added risk of this is small compared with the risk of the rest.

I wear a mask when I go out, not because some places say it is required, but because I want to avoid the chance of possibly infecting anyone. Rule or no rule, it is the right thing to do.

The British separation rules are, in overall, treated too rigidly, but they are good rules for the most part. They should be a little less rigid for everyone, but not specially for a few politically important people.

Nothing can excuse Johnson's history of lies.

*[Changes due to global heating] in deep oceans could be seven times faster by middle of century, report says.*

Bolsonaro is getting punished for letting Covid-19 spread in Brazil almost unrestrained. His mentor, the bullshitter, has imposed a travel ban on people who have recently been in Brazil.

US citizens: call on Congress to pass HR 6579, which would repeal a large tax cut for the rich.

The Capitol Switchboard numbers are 202-224-3121, 888-818-6641 and 888-355-3588.

If you call spread the word!

US citizens: call on state election officials to stand up to the bully's threats of illegal shutoffs of federal funds.