Politics Today

[IndoMike]

The moral being don't think you are safe anywhere in public to talk about sensitive things. Mobile phones are everywhere.

Big Brother is watching us, Geoff ..

 

[IndoMike]

A good read Stuffers Two great men who worked together despite their differences. An example of a PM who kept on an advisor who would robustly challenge his own views. Churchill was an inspirational wartime leader but no great military strategist. Alanbrooke understood military and strategic issues but not always the bigger political picture. Teamwork.

True dat.

 

[IndoMike]

Apparently Johnson and the entire Govt. is livid with China. He says China has been hiding the truth about the number of cases in China : one of his experts says there could be 15 up to 40 times more cases than the Chinese admitted. If China is in a much worse condition how come they are sending a lot of equipment to various other countries ; wouldn't they need it themselves
To be honest, I don' t see how it really matters how many cases they have. We'd still need to procure all the required equipment for our doctors, nurses etc.
And he complains that China is helping certain countries in order to financially colonize them. Well, he is the bloke who wants to cut overseas aid , even before Corona.
I can assure you the countries being helped are very grateful. Even a Spanish friend of mine in Spain says they are grateful.
This smacks to me of an unprepared,. Incompetent P.M. trying to deflect criticism away from himself and he is threatening repercussions. Looks like he has a good read of the Trump Handbook.
Get over your virus, Johnson, and focking pull your finger out! Stop trying to squirm out of your complacent and lazy response to a virus which we knew was dangerous 2 months ago!

 

[Alistair20000]

Apparently Johnson and the entire Govt. is livid with China. He says China has been hiding the truth about the number of cases in China : one of his experts says there could be 15 up to 40 times more cases than the Chinese admitted. If China is in a much worse condition how come they are sending a lot of equipment to various other countries ; wouldn't they need it themselves
To be honest, I don' t see how it really matters how many cases they have. We'd still need to procure all the required equipment for our doctors, nurses etc.
And he complains that China is helping certain countries in order to financially colonize them. Well, he is the bloke who wants to cut overseas aid , even before Corona.
I can assure you the countries being helped are very grateful. Even a Spanish friend of mine in Spain says they are grateful.
This smacks to me of an unprepared,. Incompetent P.M. trying to deflect criticism away from himself and he is threatening repercussions. Looks like he has a good read of the Trump Handbook.
Get over your virus, Johnson, and focking pull your finger out! Stop trying to squirm out of your complacent and lazy response to a virus which we knew was dangerous 2 months ago!

Good morning Indo

Who knows if China has been covering up or not ?

Do remember though that in authoritarian regimes life is cheap and the needs of the state or party override human considerations.

Think Chernobyl.

 

[IndoMike]

Good morning Indo

Who knows if China has been covering up or not ?

Do remember though that in authoritarian regimes life is cheap and the needs of the state or party override human considerations.

Think Chernobyl.

Good afternoon, Ali.
Let me get this straight. There is no doubt that local authorities covered up the initial outbreak and a lot of time was wasted. And China should have cooperated much more : for example they didn't send samples of the virus to the WHO for a long time. They definitely bear a lot of responsibility.
But the fact is by February it was clear that this was an endemic virus that could become pandemic, considering the huge numbers of Chinese that travel abroad, do business abroad, study abroad etc.
So.my criticism of Johnson and Hancock is
1. They reacted too late
2. I don't see the logic of herd immunity
3. They have kept promising to provide the essential PPE for health workers but are still struggling to do that
4. S. Korea (and Germany?) showed the way by testing hundreds of thousands of their people and by tracing their recent activity
5. Johnson insisted on shaking hands with colleagues and others and not adhering to the minimum 2- metre distance rule. This was a bad example to set and irresponsible for a bloke whose lady is pregnant.

Of course I don't blame Johnson and Hancock for the outbreak: I criticise them for not acting quickly enough and for not being honest about the status of the provision of equipment.
Since parliament has been shut down the people's opinions cannot be expressed through the proper channels, i.e via through their MP and P.M. questions, so we have to resort to social media.
Finally, I realize that this is one helluva problem which requires politicians with strong communication and organizational skills. I would give the current Govt a generous 6/10 score.

 

[Oldsmobile-88]

Good morning Indo

Who knows if China has been covering up or not ?

Do remember though that in authoritarian regimes life is cheap and the needs of the state or party override human considerations.

Think Chernobyl.

Aye...The Chinese doctor in Wuhan who tried to alert everyone about the human to human transmission was arrested,he has since died reportedly from the virus(who knows ?)

The WHO(not Townsend & Daltury) took the Chinese officials at their word in Jan that there was not mass transmissions between humans...They are as culpable too.

 

[geoffwp]

Well I hereby vow that in protest I will never eat another beef with green pepper in black bean sauce, or mushroom fu yung, ...hmm.....or szechuan chicken? gulp ..or......kung po chicken??...
*decides to temporarily suspend protest*

 

[Stuffy]

I can't comment on nor have any particular opinions about Mountbatten : all I know is that he had a great influence on Charles.

There it is then, best mates with King Edward VIII, latched onto King George VI and then Queen Elizabeth's son Charles. If you read my link you will see he was instrumental in getting the House of Windsor name changed to that of Mountbatten-Windsor.

The Royal Baby's Last Name Has Some Serious Drama Behind It

"Mountbatten-Windsor" caused major problems back in the day.

www.goodhousekeeping.com

 

[IndoMike]

There it is then, best mates with King Edward VIII, latched onto King George VI and then Queen Elizabeth's son Charles. If you read my link you will see he was instrumental in getting the House of Windsor name changed to that of Mountbatten-Windsor.

The Royal Baby's Last Name Has Some Serious Drama Behind It

"Mountbatten-Windsor" caused major problems back in the day.

www.goodhousekeeping.com

I recall that Mountbatten definitely tried to promote his name.
Didn't Harry include the name Mountbatten in his son's name, or was it William who did?

 

[elginCity]

2. I don't see the logic of herd immunity

The claim (at the time) was that a policy of allowing unrestricted, exponential viral growth within a community, with minimal testing, would also enable a 'flattening of the sombrero' (aka protecting the NHS from being overrun) ? Totally illogical, of course, but the Journos never questioned that logic, since revised.

Cynics have argued it's a wrecking ball strategy, a relatively speedy carnage for the NHS and elderly, but resulting in large scale immunity (hopefully) providing the shield for the elderly and vulnerable in future, and a speedy return to economic productivity.

Herd immunity was a strategic gamble, putting the economy before the people, once that became evident, cue the outcry. Now it's being done by stealth. Minimal testing ? Lack of PPE ? Still a partial lockdown ?