I feel obliged to tell you that I have never lived in Shropshire.
You may never have lived in Shropshire, Telford. But everyone living in Telford has.
What has that got to do with me.
*Looks up the screen a little.*
*Looks down.*
*Looks up.*
*Bangs head against keyboard.*
You need to get a grip.
What I would like is for you to be able to hold multiple lines of thought in your head, to the point where you can at least understand why anyone would mention a town named Telford even if that's not the reason that you named yourself Telford, without acting as if it's a complete mystery why anyone would mention a town named Telford.
I mean, I'd never heard of either the town or the man before, not being from the UK, but I could figure out the reference within 30 seconds.
Still, we can't always get what we would like. So I guess I will settle for what I have: a perfectly functional keyboard, plus a sufficient level of imagination to envisage banging my head against it without necessarily having to actually perform the action.
It is interesting, though, that your general mode of operation seems to be to cry "why doesn't anyone understand me?", while simultaneously demonstrating a complete inability to understand other people, to the point that when someone mentions a town called Telford you ask "What has that got to do with me?" (only you didn't bother with a question mark).
Telford's Change only ran to one series because that is the way it was designed. It had a beginning, a middle, and an end. Being Dovorian in part, naturally I watched it.
There's rarely much worse than a TV show or movie which has a natural end and someone produces a sequel.
A few months of a Johnson lead government should have had a natural end. The inexplicable result of the December election produced the worst sequel in history.
I feel obliged to tell you that I have never lived in Shropshire.
You may never have lived in Shropshire, Telford. But everyone living in Telford has.
What has that got to do with me.
*Looks up the screen a little.*
*Looks down.*
*Looks up.*
*Bangs head against keyboard.*
You need to get a grip.
What I would like is for you to be able to hold multiple lines of thought in your head, to the point where you can at least understand why anyone would mention a town named Telford even if that's not the reason that you named yourself Telford, without acting as if it's a complete mystery why anyone would mention a town named Telford.
I mean, I'd never heard of either the town or the man before, not being from the UK, but I could figure out the reference within 30 seconds.
Still, we can't always get what we would like. So I guess I will settle for what I have: a perfectly functional keyboard, plus a sufficient level of imagination to envisage banging my head against it without necessarily having to actually perform the action.
It is interesting, though, that your general mode of operation seems to be to cry "why doesn't anyone understand me?", while simultaneously demonstrating a complete inability to understand other people, to the point that when someone mentions a town called Telford you ask "What has that got to do with me?" (only you didn't bother with a question mark).
Brexit was, to a great extent, a cry from ignored parts of the country. Like mine. I saw it happening before my eyes, neglect and more neglect. We still have pacer trains for goodness sake (the body of an ancient bus with a train wheels). Now HS2 takes even more money for no benefit whatsoever.
But that opportunity (for de Pfeffel) won’t come again. His support is fading, even in the t*ry party.
Back to the backbenches, then retire from politics so he can publish his memoirs (which he'll write just before the publisher gives up on the idea) and the after-dinner speaking circuit (imagine that, "Hey Bill, I went to that dinner where Boris Johnson gave the after dinner speech", "how was it?", "the dinner was great, but the speech was an incoherent ramble. But it was former PM Boris Johnson, what a privilege to here him speak" - there are more than enough idiot willing to pay for that).
Brexit was, to a great extent, a cry from ignored parts of the country. Like mine. I saw it happening before my eyes, neglect and more neglect. We still have pacer trains for goodness sake (the body of an ancient bus with a train wheels). Now HS2 takes even more money for no benefit whatsoever.
But that opportunity (for de Pfeffel) won’t come again. His support is fading, even in the t*ry party.
What next for him?
I predicted back in December that whilst I was deeply upset about the Tory win, I didn't anticipate Johnson lasting 5 years. Sadly, as I also noted the damage was mostly done in 5 weeks (getting the Withdrawal Agreement (sic) through Parliament).
It is now a slow-motion car-crash and unless something really miraculous happens, it's faily irrelevant when Mr Johnson goes.
Yes, and the bumbling nitwit would only be replaced by an equally useless nitwit, so It Is What It Is until the next election (unless Cummings abolishes elections).
He'll eventually get booted onto the conference and after dinner circuit, and the Tories will just double down on the culture war the next time around, as they have no way of fixing any of the economic ills that afflict these areas given the course they are charting.
I feel obliged to tell you that I have never lived in Shropshire.
You may never have lived in Shropshire, Telford. But everyone living in Telford has.
What has that got to do with me.
*Looks up the screen a little.*
*Looks down.*
*Looks up.*
*Bangs head against keyboard.*
You need to get a grip.
What I would like is for you to be able to hold multiple lines of thought in your head, to the point where you can at least understand why anyone would mention a town named Telford even if that's not the reason that you named yourself Telford, without acting as if it's a complete mystery why anyone would mention a town named Telford.
I mean, I'd never heard of either the town or the man before, not being from the UK, but I could figure out the reference within 30 seconds.
Still, we can't always get what we would like. So I guess I will settle for what I have: a perfectly functional keyboard, plus a sufficient level of imagination to envisage banging my head against it without necessarily having to actually perform the action.
It is interesting, though, that your general mode of operation seems to be to cry "why doesn't anyone understand me?", while simultaneously demonstrating a complete inability to understand other people, to the point that when someone mentions a town called Telford you ask "What has that got to do with me?" (only you didn't bother with a question mark).
Or to put it another way; obnoxious.
I object MOST STRONGLY to that and require that you WITHDRAW your insulting remark IMMEDIATELY.
I feel obliged to tell you that I have never lived in Shropshire.
You may never have lived in Shropshire, Telford. But everyone living in Telford has.
What has that got to do with me.
*Looks up the screen a little.*
*Looks down.*
*Looks up.*
*Bangs head against keyboard.*
You need to get a grip.
What I would like is for you to be able to hold multiple lines of thought in your head, to the point where you can at least understand why anyone would mention a town named Telford even if that's not the reason that you named yourself Telford, without acting as if it's a complete mystery why anyone would mention a town named Telford.
I mean, I'd never heard of either the town or the man before, not being from the UK, but I could figure out the reference within 30 seconds.
Still, we can't always get what we would like. So I guess I will settle for what I have: a perfectly functional keyboard, plus a sufficient level of imagination to envisage banging my head against it without necessarily having to actually perform the action.
It is interesting, though, that your general mode of operation seems to be to cry "why doesn't anyone understand me?", while simultaneously demonstrating a complete inability to understand other people, to the point that when someone mentions a town called Telford you ask "What has that got to do with me?" (only you didn't bother with a question mark).
What I would like is for people to just use my chosen name.
I object MOST STRONGLY to that and require that you WITHDRAW your insulting remark IMMEDIATELY.
I'm sorry but I can't withdraw that comment because I believe it to be true.
You have a consistent posting style:
1) post an assertion
2) refuse to support that assertion when challenged on it
3) play the victim when people express annoyance at 1 or 2 (or 3)
4) sometimes engage with the substance partially but move the goalposts
5) some of your posts (my Windrush thread, the Refugee thread for example) are callous in their disregard for the people effected. That's actually forgivable but for
6) when people disagree with you and are relatively forthright because they feel strongly (inevitably with such subjects) you claim they are bullying you.
I believe the above is an accurate description of your posts. I also believe that such is obnoxious.
If you can I show me I'm wrong on either of these, I will apologise immediately and without reservation.
You can also call me to Hell if you wish. I've waited 17 years for my first Hell call.
He'll eventually get booted onto the conference and after dinner circuit, and the Tories will just double down on the culture war the next time around, as they have no way of fixing any of the economic ills that afflict these areas given the course they are charting.
More than likely. I clearly move in the ‘wrong’ circles. I don’t know anyone who would go to see him speak - never mind pay for the torture.
I hope our areas become more and more self sufficient - ignoring the ‘markets’ and making our own economies. There are certainly signs of this happening with bartering, swapping, selling locally and sharing at an all time high.
I object MOST STRONGLY to that and require that you WITHDRAW your insulting remark IMMEDIATELY.
I'm sorry but I can't withdraw that comment because I believe it to be true.
You have a consistent posting style:
1) post an assertion
2) refuse to support that assertion when challenged on it
3) play the victim when people express annoyance at 1 or 2 (or 3)
4) sometimes engage with the substance partially but move the goalposts
5) some of your posts (my Windrush thread, the Refugee thread for example) are callous in their disregard for the people effected. That's actually forgivable but for
6) when people disagree with you and are relatively forthright because they feel strongly (inevitably with such subjects) you claim they are bullying you.
I believe the above is an accurate description of your posts. I also believe that such is obnoxious.
If you can I show me I'm wrong on either of these, I will apologise immediately and without reservation.
You can also call me to Hell if you wish. I've waited 17 years for my first Hell call.
AFZ
You didn't really need to post all that nonsense. I never expected an apology from you.
Back to the backbenches, then retire from politics so he can publish his memoirs (which he'll write just before the publisher gives up on the idea) and the after-dinner speaking circuit (imagine that, "Hey Bill, I went to that dinner where Boris Johnson gave the after dinner speech", "how was it?", "the dinner was great, but the speech was an incoherent ramble. But it was former PM Boris Johnson, what a privilege to here him speak" - there are more than enough idiot willing to pay for that).
I think he'd be better giving a speech where he's meant to be entertaining rather than truthful or putting out well-thought argument (things we expect from a national political leader). He'd have at least the outline written down, with references to amusing quotes or anecdotes and could probably deliver it competently, as long as everyone is with him and there's no hint of hostility.
I was thinking how he speaks when answering questions and he has his politics hat on: the opening few seconds while his brain tries to find some words which are relevant and won't display too much embarrassing ignorance or thoughtlessness) are reminicent of how Judoon* talk.
*Judoon are a rhino-like Doctor Who race whose language comprises gutteral monosyllabic utterances which would need translation to discern any meaning.
I feel obliged to tell you that I have never lived in Shropshire.
You may never have lived in Shropshire, Telford. But everyone living in Telford has.
What has that got to do with me.
*Looks up the screen a little.*
*Looks down.*
*Looks up.*
*Bangs head against keyboard.*
You need to get a grip.
What I would like is for you to be able to hold multiple lines of thought in your head, to the point where you can at least understand why anyone would mention a town named Telford even if that's not the reason that you named yourself Telford, without acting as if it's a complete mystery why anyone would mention a town named Telford.
I mean, I'd never heard of either the town or the man before, not being from the UK, but I could figure out the reference within 30 seconds.
Still, we can't always get what we would like. So I guess I will settle for what I have: a perfectly functional keyboard, plus a sufficient level of imagination to envisage banging my head against it without necessarily having to actually perform the action.
It is interesting, though, that your general mode of operation seems to be to cry "why doesn't anyone understand me?", while simultaneously demonstrating a complete inability to understand other people, to the point that when someone mentions a town called Telford you ask "What has that got to do with me?" (only you didn't bother with a question mark).
Or to put it another way; obnoxious.
I object MOST STRONGLY to that and require that you WITHDRAW your insulting remark IMMEDIATELY.
Copying and pasting my post, and publishing it as your own, might be regarded as the sincerest form of flattery.
OTOH, it might be regarded as plagiarism, and infringing copyright.
He'll eventually get booted onto the conference and after dinner circuit, and the Tories will just double down on the culture war the next time around, as they have no way of fixing any of the economic ills that afflict these areas given the course they are charting.
More than likely. I clearly move in the ‘wrong’ circles. I don’t know anyone who would go to see him speak - never mind pay for the torture.
<snip>
Same here. Only the remnants of the Party Faithful (most of whom don't have enough brain cells each to qualify as a Pot Plant) would pay to go and listen to the bumbling idiot...
I feel obliged to tell you that I have never lived in Shropshire.
You may never have lived in Shropshire, Telford. But everyone living in Telford has.
What has that got to do with me.
*Looks up the screen a little.*
*Looks down.*
*Looks up.*
*Bangs head against keyboard.*
You need to get a grip.
What I would like is for you to be able to hold multiple lines of thought in your head, to the point where you can at least understand why anyone would mention a town named Telford even if that's not the reason that you named yourself Telford, without acting as if it's a complete mystery why anyone would mention a town named Telford.
I mean, I'd never heard of either the town or the man before, not being from the UK, but I could figure out the reference within 30 seconds.
Still, we can't always get what we would like. So I guess I will settle for what I have: a perfectly functional keyboard, plus a sufficient level of imagination to envisage banging my head against it without necessarily having to actually perform the action.
It is interesting, though, that your general mode of operation seems to be to cry "why doesn't anyone understand me?", while simultaneously demonstrating a complete inability to understand other people, to the point that when someone mentions a town called Telford you ask "What has that got to do with me?" (only you didn't bother with a question mark).
Or to put it another way; obnoxious.
I object MOST STRONGLY to that and require that you WITHDRAW your insulting remark IMMEDIATELY.
Copying and pasting my post, and publishing it as your own, might be regarded as the sincerest form of flattery.
OTOH, it might be regarded as plagiarism, and infringing copyright.
My People will be In Touch with Your People.
I am too poor to have any people. Please consider it as flattery.
He'll eventually get booted onto the conference and after dinner circuit, and the Tories will just double down on the culture war the next time around, as they have no way of fixing any of the economic ills that afflict these areas given the course they are charting.
More than likely. I clearly move in the ‘wrong’ circles. I don’t know anyone who would go to see him speak - never mind pay for the torture.
You have a consistent posting style:
1) post an assertion
...
There's certainly an element of sea-lioning going on.
I had to look that one up. I am torn because I do not think Telford is actually a Troll, and hence my engagement. I also think the claims of bullying are totally misplaced and are refuted by the fact that many of us respond with detailed explanations. Repeatedly.
You have a consistent posting style:
1) post an assertion
...
There's certainly an element of sea-lioning going on.
I had to look that one up. I am torn because I do not think Telford is actually a Troll, and hence my engagement. I also think the claims of bullying are totally misplaced and are refuted by the fact that many of us respond with detailed explanations. Repeatedly.
"Rhetorically, sealioning fuses persistent questioning—often about basic information, information easily found elsewhere, or unrelated or tangential points—with a loudly-insisted-upon commitment to reasonable debate. It disguises itself as a sincere attempt to learn and communicate. Sealioning thus works both to exhaust a target's patience, attention, and communicative effort, and to portray the target as unreasonable. "
This seems to cover the facts of the case, the purpose of a system is what it does.
You have a consistent posting style:
1) post an assertion
...
There's certainly an element of sea-lioning going on.
I had to look that one up. I am torn because I do not think Telford is actually a Troll, and hence my engagement. I also think the claims of bullying are totally misplaced and are refuted by the fact that many of us respond with deWho are you on about ? re attempt to learn and communicate. Sealioning thus works both to exhaust a target's patience, attention, and communicative effort, and to portray the target as unreasonable. "
This seems to cover the facts of the case, the purpose of a system is what it does.
You have a consistent posting style:
1) post an assertion
...
There's certainly an element of sea-lioning going on.
I had to look that one up. I am torn because I do not think Telford is actually a Troll, and hence my engagement. I also think the claims of bullying are totally misplaced and are refuted by the fact that many of us respond with detailed explanations. Repeatedly.
Hey Ho
AFZ
No need to be torn. I am not a troll. I am someone who makes mistakes, someone who is a bit old fashioned and someone who is determined not to offend anyone even though I appear to do so.
de Pfeffel’s ‘moonshot’ announcement was exciting, hopeful, moral boosting and utterly unrealistic and pointless.
As my Mum often said “If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.”
Why do both tRump and de Pfeffel make vague hopes into podium announcements?
Toddler wishes should not make policy - I hope this ‘moonshot’ doesn’t take money and capacity from the present overworked test, track and trace system.
I feel obliged to tell you that I have never lived in Shropshire.
You may never have lived in Shropshire, Telford. But everyone living in Telford has.
What has that got to do with me.
*Looks up the screen a little.*
*Looks down.*
*Looks up.*
*Bangs head against keyboard.*
You need to get a grip.
What I would like is for you to be able to hold multiple lines of thought in your head, to the point where you can at least understand why anyone would mention a town named Telford even if that's not the reason that you named yourself Telford, without acting as if it's a complete mystery why anyone would mention a town named Telford.
I mean, I'd never heard of either the town or the man before, not being from the UK, but I could figure out the reference within 30 seconds.
Still, we can't always get what we would like. So I guess I will settle for what I have: a perfectly functional keyboard, plus a sufficient level of imagination to envisage banging my head against it without necessarily having to actually perform the action.
It is interesting, though, that your general mode of operation seems to be to cry "why doesn't anyone understand me?", while simultaneously demonstrating a complete inability to understand other people, to the point that when someone mentions a town called Telford you ask "What has that got to do with me?" (only you didn't bother with a question mark).
What I would like is for people to just use my chosen name.
The test & trace system should be routine work. The "moonshot" will require significant research and development, utilising the skills of top research groups who are over-qualified to be doing the routine work. It will impact other research work they're doing though, working on new diagnostic tests for other diseases etc. It's difficult to even know how a "moonshot" test would work - the current swab test needs lab preparation and a sophisticated (but widely used and standard) piece of lab equipment because the swab contains a lot of material with only a very small proportion of that being the virus particles, and the test looks for specific parts of the virus. That's not something that can be easily miniaturised for portable use, nor how to cut out the preparation time.
Other instant results tests look for something specific and present in relative high quantities in the sample. Alcohol isn't usually present in breath or blood in high concentrations, and is chemically very different from other things present so it's relatively easy to detect. Glucose in blood is also different from other chemicals present and thus easy to detect. Urine and blood would include lots of hormones, but they all have specific receptors so if you have something they bind to they can be detected easily. It's probably not too much of a stretch to develop something that antibodies bind to, which would give an anti-body test that could work in minutes from a blood sample - but that doesn't answer the "have I got the virus?" question.
Back when the government were trumpeting the app that was about to be trialled on the Isle of Wight, without any apparent attempt to restart (much less boost) the PHE/local authority track and trace capability I said that the only reasonable approach was to do what's known to work as best as possible (in that case track and trace based on talking to people about where they've been and who they've been with, in this case the current test), and in parallel without detracting from that look at new approaches which could mean you could do that better. The "moonshot" is in the same category.
The 'Moonshot' seems to be a typical Boris big project akin to garden bridges and airports in the Thames Estuary and we know what happened to them.
It ain't going to happen any time soon.
The 'Moonshot' seems to be a typical Boris big project akin to garden bridges and airports in the Thames Estuary and we know what happened to them.
It ain't going to happen any time soon.
Yes!
I knew it reminded me of something.
It’s cheerful, hopeful, forward looking and utterly pointless. He’s the wrong man for these times. He has a knack of firing people up, but what’s needed is a steady hand, not an unstable wannabe astronaught.
The 'Moonshot' seems to be a typical Boris big project akin to garden bridges and airports in the Thames Estuary and we know what happened to them.
It ain't going to happen any time soon.
Yes!
I knew it reminded me of something.
It’s cheerful, hopeful, forward looking and utterly pointless. He’s the wrong man for these times. He has a knack of firing people up, but what’s needed is a steady hand, not an unstable wannabe astronaught.
That is a damn good typo.
Nonetheless, shooting him into space does have a certain appeal.
The 'Moonshot' seems to be a typical Boris big project akin to garden bridges and airports in the Thames Estuary and we know what happened to them.
It ain't going to happen any time soon.
I think they are addicted to exceptionalism, they would rather try to "solve" the COVID issue via One Wierd Trick, than doing anything as prosaic as follow best practice from elsewhere.
He's trying to channel JFK (promising to get an American on the moon by the end of the decade even though none of the technology needed was even on the drawing board). Possibly by reference to a respected US President he might deflect attention away from the impact of ignoring inconvenient laws on how negotiations for a trade deal might go (what with US officials saying that disregard for international law would make it less likely that there'd be a US-UK deal).
Our poor, dear Lord Protector doesn't look well, and I was reminded of a line from The Scottish Play:
The devil damn thee black, thou cream-faced loon! Where got'st thou that goose look?
BTW, what the hell is a 'moonshot', anyway?
I believe it's a reference to JFK's "we will go to the moon" speech and the decade of effort and the awesome success of Apollo 11 that followed.
Johnson's in love with bold declarations. He is not remotely interested in delivering anything. As others has mentioned his track record on this is perfect. No exceptions: the estuary airport, the garden bridge... he never succeeds.
Two key points about JFK's announcement: while there was a lot of science to do, and a helluva lot to learn, NASA had two key things necessary for success; an organisation that did rockets and space fight with the ability to bring in whatever expertise they needed and more importantly an effectively unlimited budget...
Johnson makes grand declarations. That is his only capability.
It'll all be OK, as long as we don't have to cross the garden bridge, or go to the estuary airport, or travel by trains of two different gauges across the sea to NI, in order to get our dust injections...
It almost makes The Mad God-King's bleach suggestion look sensible!
de Pfeffel’s ‘moonshot’ announcement was exciting, hopeful, moral boosting and utterly unrealistic and pointless.
As my Mum often said “If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.”
Why do both tRump and de Pfeffel make vague hopes into podium announcements
The papers play along, it's announced as a fait accomplit.
"Boris 's bridge cuts commute time by 90%!!". The first subtitle makes it clear that it will do, the second one that experts say, the body that it's actually Boris who said it.
Our poor, dear Lord Protector doesn't look well, and I was reminded of a line from The Scottish Play:
The devil damn thee black, thou cream-faced loon! Where got'st thou that goose look?
BTW, what the hell is a 'moonshot', anyway?
I believe it's a reference to JFK's "we will go to the moon" speech and the decade of effort and the awesome success of Apollo 11 that followed.
Johnson's in love with bold declarations. He is not remotely interested in delivering anything. As others has mentioned his track record on this is perfect. No exceptions: the estuary airport, the garden bridge... he never succeeds.
Two key points about JFK's announcement: while there was a lot of science to do, and a helluva lot to learn, NASA had two key things necessary for success; an organisation that did rockets and space fight with the ability to bring in whatever expertise they needed and more importantly an effectively unlimited budget...
Johnson makes grand declarations. That is his only capability.
Our poor, dear Lord Protector doesn't look well, and I was reminded of a line from The Scottish Play:
The devil damn thee black, thou cream-faced loon! Where got'st thou that goose look?
BTW, what the hell is a 'moonshot', anyway?
I believe it's a reference to JFK's "we will go to the moon" speech and the decade of effort and the awesome success of Apollo 11 that followed.
Johnson's in love with bold declarations. He is not remotely interested in delivering anything. As others has mentioned his track record on this is perfect. No exceptions: the estuary airport, the garden bridge... he never succeeds.
Two key points about JFK's announcement: while there was a lot of science to do, and a helluva lot to learn, NASA had two key things necessary for success; an organisation that did rockets and space fight with the ability to bring in whatever expertise they needed and more importantly an effectively unlimited budget...
Johnson makes grand declarations. That is his only capability.
"Get Brexit Done" sounds like a grand declaration to me.
The only difference between that and his other declarations is that rather than just try and do something stupid and achieving nothing, he's done the stupid and achieved a total dogs breakfast of it.
It's probably not too much of a stretch to develop something that antibodies bind to, which would give an anti-body test that could work in minutes from a blood sample - but that doesn't answer the "have I got the virus?" question.
You're right that PCR is neither instant, or really field-deployable. The solution for an "instant" test is an antigen test that binds to (probably) spike proteins on SARS-CoV-2. Rapid antigen tests exist for SARS-CoV-2. They aren't as sensitive as PCR tests, but it's possible that that's actually what you want (because PCR is so sensitive, you get positive results even when a person isn't really infectious any more.) For mass screenings, something that mostly identifies the dangerous people is probably a good match to what you need.
Comments
What I would like is for you to be able to hold multiple lines of thought in your head, to the point where you can at least understand why anyone would mention a town named Telford even if that's not the reason that you named yourself Telford, without acting as if it's a complete mystery why anyone would mention a town named Telford.
I mean, I'd never heard of either the town or the man before, not being from the UK, but I could figure out the reference within 30 seconds.
Still, we can't always get what we would like. So I guess I will settle for what I have: a perfectly functional keyboard, plus a sufficient level of imagination to envisage banging my head against it without necessarily having to actually perform the action.
It is interesting, though, that your general mode of operation seems to be to cry "why doesn't anyone understand me?", while simultaneously demonstrating a complete inability to understand other people, to the point that when someone mentions a town called Telford you ask "What has that got to do with me?" (only you didn't bother with a question mark).
A few months of a Johnson lead government should have had a natural end. The inexplicable result of the December election produced the worst sequel in history.
Or to put it another way; obnoxious.
Brexit was, to a great extent, a cry from ignored parts of the country. Like mine. I saw it happening before my eyes, neglect and more neglect. We still have pacer trains for goodness sake (the body of an ancient bus with a train wheels). Now HS2 takes even more money for no benefit whatsoever.
But that opportunity (for de Pfeffel) won’t come again. His support is fading, even in the t*ry party.
What next for him?
I predicted back in December that whilst I was deeply upset about the Tory win, I didn't anticipate Johnson lasting 5 years. Sadly, as I also noted the damage was mostly done in 5 weeks (getting the Withdrawal Agreement (sic) through Parliament).
It is now a slow-motion car-crash and unless something really miraculous happens, it's faily irrelevant when Mr Johnson goes.
AFZ
He'll eventually get booted onto the conference and after dinner circuit, and the Tories will just double down on the culture war the next time around, as they have no way of fixing any of the economic ills that afflict these areas given the course they are charting.
But this is Hell
I object MOST STRONGLY to that and require that you WITHDRAW your insulting remark IMMEDIATELY.
What I would like is for people to just use my chosen name.
I'm sorry but I can't withdraw that comment because I believe it to be true.
You have a consistent posting style:
1) post an assertion
2) refuse to support that assertion when challenged on it
3) play the victim when people express annoyance at 1 or 2 (or 3)
4) sometimes engage with the substance partially but move the goalposts
5) some of your posts (my Windrush thread, the Refugee thread for example) are callous in their disregard for the people effected. That's actually forgivable but for
6) when people disagree with you and are relatively forthright because they feel strongly (inevitably with such subjects) you claim they are bullying you.
I believe the above is an accurate description of your posts. I also believe that such is obnoxious.
If you can I show me I'm wrong on either of these, I will apologise immediately and without reservation.
You can also call me to Hell if you wish. I've waited 17 years for my first Hell call.
AFZ
More than likely. I clearly move in the ‘wrong’ circles. I don’t know anyone who would go to see him speak - never mind pay for the torture.
I hope our areas become more and more self sufficient - ignoring the ‘markets’ and making our own economies. There are certainly signs of this happening with bartering, swapping, selling locally and sharing at an all time high.
You didn't really need to post all that nonsense. I never expected an apology from you.
I was thinking how he speaks when answering questions and he has his politics hat on: the opening few seconds while his brain tries to find some words which are relevant and won't display too much embarrassing ignorance or thoughtlessness) are reminicent of how Judoon* talk.
*Judoon are a rhino-like Doctor Who race whose language comprises gutteral monosyllabic utterances which would need translation to discern any meaning.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judoon
Apparently they have yellow blood.
Copying and pasting my post, and publishing it as your own, might be regarded as the sincerest form of flattery.
OTOH, it might be regarded as plagiarism, and infringing copyright.
My People will be In Touch with Your People.
Same here. Only the remnants of the Party Faithful (most of whom don't have enough brain cells each to qualify as a Pot Plant) would pay to go and listen to the bumbling idiot...
After seeing May’s wooden election performance you would have assumed that no one would have paid for her to speak, but there we go: https://inews.co.uk/news/theresa-may-cash-lecture-circuit-speeches-424155
I assume that part of the function of such fees is a signal to those who follow of the rewards for taking the correct line.
There's certainly an element of sea-lioning going on.
I had to look that one up. I am torn because I do not think Telford is actually a Troll, and hence my engagement. I also think the claims of bullying are totally misplaced and are refuted by the fact that many of us respond with detailed explanations. Repeatedly.
Hey Ho
AFZ
I'm sure another poster called Telford 'troll' (it wasn't me, Guv), but it's hard to tell if he was right.
"Rhetorically, sealioning fuses persistent questioning—often about basic information, information easily found elsewhere, or unrelated or tangential points—with a loudly-insisted-upon commitment to reasonable debate. It disguises itself as a sincere attempt to learn and communicate. Sealioning thus works both to exhaust a target's patience, attention, and communicative effort, and to portray the target as unreasonable. "
This seems to cover the facts of the case, the purpose of a system is what it does.
As my Mum often said “If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.”
Why do both tRump and de Pfeffel make vague hopes into podium announcements?
Toddler wishes should not make policy - I hope this ‘moonshot’ doesn’t take money and capacity from the present overworked test, track and trace system.
They did.
Other instant results tests look for something specific and present in relative high quantities in the sample. Alcohol isn't usually present in breath or blood in high concentrations, and is chemically very different from other things present so it's relatively easy to detect. Glucose in blood is also different from other chemicals present and thus easy to detect. Urine and blood would include lots of hormones, but they all have specific receptors so if you have something they bind to they can be detected easily. It's probably not too much of a stretch to develop something that antibodies bind to, which would give an anti-body test that could work in minutes from a blood sample - but that doesn't answer the "have I got the virus?" question.
Back when the government were trumpeting the app that was about to be trialled on the Isle of Wight, without any apparent attempt to restart (much less boost) the PHE/local authority track and trace capability I said that the only reasonable approach was to do what's known to work as best as possible (in that case track and trace based on talking to people about where they've been and who they've been with, in this case the current test), and in parallel without detracting from that look at new approaches which could mean you could do that better. The "moonshot" is in the same category.
It ain't going to happen any time soon.
Yes!
I knew it reminded me of something.
It’s cheerful, hopeful, forward looking and utterly pointless. He’s the wrong man for these times. He has a knack of firing people up, but what’s needed is a steady hand, not an unstable wannabe astronaught.
That is a damn good typo.
Nonetheless, shooting him into space does have a certain appeal.
The entire thing seems to be premised on some variant of 'if we build it, they will come' (perhaps "If we build the organisation, the science will happen").
I think they are addicted to exceptionalism, they would rather try to "solve" the COVID issue via One Wierd Trick, than doing anything as prosaic as follow best practice from elsewhere.
The devil damn thee black, thou cream-faced loon! Where got'st thou that goose look?
BTW, what the hell is a 'moonshot', anyway?
I believe it's a reference to JFK's "we will go to the moon" speech and the decade of effort and the awesome success of Apollo 11 that followed.
Johnson's in love with bold declarations. He is not remotely interested in delivering anything. As others has mentioned his track record on this is perfect. No exceptions: the estuary airport, the garden bridge... he never succeeds.
Two key points about JFK's announcement: while there was a lot of science to do, and a helluva lot to learn, NASA had two key things necessary for success; an organisation that did rockets and space fight with the ability to bring in whatever expertise they needed and more importantly an effectively unlimited budget...
Johnson makes grand declarations. That is his only capability.
AFZ
It'll all be OK, as long as we don't have to cross the garden bridge, or go to the estuary airport, or travel by trains of two different gauges across the sea to NI, in order to get our dust injections...
It almost makes The Mad God-King's bleach suggestion look sensible!
The papers play along, it's announced as a fait accomplit.
"Boris 's bridge cuts commute time by 90%!!". The first subtitle makes it clear that it will do, the second one that experts say, the body that it's actually Boris who said it.
That, I'm afraid, is only too true.
Apart from getting Brexit done.
No sign of the promised "Oven ready deal".
The only difference between that and his other declarations is that rather than just try and do something stupid and achieving nothing, he's done the stupid and achieved a total dogs breakfast of it.
If, in fact, there is a comprehensible meaning, I think we should be told. Enquiring minds need to know.
Which is, of course, Bonkers, but easier to say...
You're right that PCR is neither instant, or really field-deployable. The solution for an "instant" test is an antigen test that binds to (probably) spike proteins on SARS-CoV-2. Rapid antigen tests exist for SARS-CoV-2. They aren't as sensitive as PCR tests, but it's possible that that's actually what you want (because PCR is so sensitive, you get positive results even when a person isn't really infectious any more.) For mass screenings, something that mostly identifies the dangerous people is probably a good match to what you need.
Here's the CDC on the subject.