The Political Thread

[Professor Bear]

If you think in purely economic terms, the spread of this infection will help governments around the world with their surplus population problem, as well as providing a great excuse for the predicted market crash that will allow the return of quantitative easing and negative interest rates (for the rich), as well as drastic austerity measures (for the poor).  A cynic might suggest there's a reason that the inbred psychopaths running our countries are dragging their feet on doing anything useful.

[paddykafka]

If there's no capacity to properly treat the relatively low percentage that become seriously ill, that 2% mortality rate looks very optimistic. This really emphasises that this thing needs to be delayed and spread out as long as possible, to give the Health Service any chance of coping, or its going to be absolutely brutal on the elderly and compromised.

Well now, given my experiences of the poxy excuse that passes for a Health Service in the Emerald Isle, and the fact that I already have COPD, that's me well and truly fucked. I would have more faith in the bloody Tooth Fairy to manage this situation in a competent manner, as opposed to the half-wits currently installed in positions of management within said so-called service and their political masters.

[Tjm86]

A cynic might suggest there's a reason that the inbred psychopaths running our countries are dragging their feet on doing anything useful.

Maybe but I think the late, great Sir Terry P put it best when he raised the question of government conspiracies and their general inability to do much of anything right ...

[Professor Bear]

If the last few years have taught us anything, it's that our governments are perfectly capable of letting disasters happen and then using the aftermath to their advantage.  Kind of like a cockroach couldn't organise a nuclear war, but it certainly knows how to eat a corpse.

And at the risk of contradicting myself a bit: as much as I love Pterry, he's wrong about government conspiracies.  Boris Johnson took money from the Russians and used it to fund Brexit propaganda and now he's prime minister and we Brexit next year, while Priti Patel committed treason and got another high-level government job for it rather than being shot against a wall.  For a bunch of people bad at doing a conspiracy, their lives and careers seem to be working out okay.

[Funt Solo]

A cynic might suggest there's a reason that the inbred psychopaths running our countries are dragging their feet on doing anything useful.

Maybe but I think the late, great Sir Terry P put it best when he raised the question of government conspiracies and their general inability to do much of anything right ...

I think the late, great Sir Terry W put it best when he said "Hold on. Be Strong. Just cling to the wreckage. It'll be over soon."

[shaolin_monkey]

He also said:

There is a curse.
They say:
May you live in interesting times.

[M.I.K.]

He also said:

There is a curse.
They say:
May you live in interesting times.

Terry P didn't come up with that one...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_you_live_in_interesting_times

[shaolin_monkey]

Apt, all the same, don't you think?

[JayzusB.Christ]

Yaxley-Lennon's been arrested again, I see. I'm not quite sure why he's so well known in the first place anyway.

[Rately]

Yaxley-Lennon's been arrested again, I see. I'm not quite sure why he's so well known in the first place anyway.

The scary thing is, I work in an Office with a few people who think he is just the best thing ever.

Really scraping a barrel to think of him in any terms other than scummy grifter, as so many of these racists are. Mind you, I'm assuming once he has sorted his legal troubles, he will be a member of Boris' Cabinet before long.

God knows, Northern Ireland has enough of them at the moment.

[TordelBack]

I have the distinct feeling that Ireland's response to Covid-19 has been directed by Dan Francisco, and no-one listened to Dredd. I'm in that stadium near the end, and they're playing hand-washing videos on loop and we're all eyeing each other nervously, and any minute now the judges are going to lock the doors.

[IndigoPrime]

I just learned today that one of our local secondaries sent a load of kids on a school trip to Italy on Monday. Parents apparently were against cancelling because they'd lose 600 quid. And I realise Italy is a big place, but, well, what the actual fuck? Apple won't let engineers go to Italy unless they get sign-off from a VP. A corporate I work with has similar precautions in place. But, sure, let school children head to a country known to be having big problems. I don't even.

[Dark Jimbo]

I just learned today that one of our local secondaries sent a load of kids on a school trip to Italy on Monday. Parents apparently were against cancelling because they'd lose 600 quid. And I realise Italy is a big place, but, well, what the actual fuck? Apple won't let engineers go to Italy unless they get sign-off from a VP.

Apple can afford to take the hit. I don't know many parents who can afford to shrug off £600!

[Hawkmumbler]

Surely the school could pursue reimbursement under the circumstances?

[IndigoPrime]

My point isn't about money – it's about the fact a range of large corporations with the funds to do solid risk assessment are banning most staff from travel to Italy, unless it is of vital importance. Apple is just one example – there are dozens of others, some of which are British companies. That a school would just allow children to travel to Italy during an outbreak baffles me.