COVid19-What's wrong with UK?

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Matt Mackenzie
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Re: COVid19-What's wrong with UK?

Post by Matt Mackenzie » Tue Mar 16, 2021 1:47 pm

The government has at least as much to worry about in any independent inquiry as do "officials" IMO.
"Set up your attacks so that when the fire is out, it isn't out!" (H N Pillsbury)

NickFaulks
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Re: COVid19-What's wrong with UK?

Post by NickFaulks » Tue Mar 16, 2021 6:53 pm

Matt Mackenzie wrote:
Tue Mar 16, 2021 1:47 pm
The government has at least as much to worry about in any independent inquiry as do "officials" IMO.
Depends how independent it is.
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Mick Norris
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Re: COVid19-What's wrong with UK?

Post by Mick Norris » Mon Mar 22, 2021 4:16 pm

Covid: The countries that nailed it, and what we can learn from them
I have reported on Covid for the past year - now my mission was to find out from global leaders and senior health officials across four continents what their priorities were in tackling the virus.

What has emerged strongly for me are four key areas which have been most effective in containing the spread of the virus and preventing deaths.
  • Early and effective action to control borders and monitoring of arrivals
  • Testing, tracking and tracing everyone suspected of being infected
  • Welfare support for those in quarantine to contain the virus
  • Effective leadership and consistent and timely public messaging
No-one can claim to have got everything right. But the steps listed below highlight some policies from around the world that have proved effective. Piece them together and you have the blueprint for a "pandemic playbook" - a manual for managing future infectious disease outbreaks.
Any postings on here represent my personal views

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Jon Tait
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Re: COVid19-What's wrong with UK?

Post by Jon Tait » Fri Apr 09, 2021 9:33 pm

Just finished "Failures of State" by Sunday Times journalists Jonathan Calvert & George Arbuthnott. 400 pages of investigative journalism cataloguing the utter uselessness of Boris Johnson and his government's handling of the pandemic. Essential reading for anyone who still has any doubts whatsoever about that.
blog inspired by Bronstein's book, but using my own games: http://200opengames.blogspot.co.uk/

John McKenna

Re: COVid19-What's wrong with UK?

Post by John McKenna » Sat Apr 10, 2021 5:28 pm

Jon Tait wrote:
Fri Apr 09, 2021 9:33 pm
Just finished "Failures of State" by Sunday Times journalists Jonathan Calvert & George Arbuthnott. 400 pages of investigative journalism cataloguing the utter uselessness of Boris Johnson and his government's handling of the pandemic. Essential reading for anyone who still has any doubts whatsoever about that.
Thanks for the pointer to a revealing read

Could be followed by reading Sir Alan Duncan's new book The Thick Of It.

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Jon Tait
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Re: COVid19-What's wrong with UK?

Post by Jon Tait » Sun Apr 11, 2021 1:56 pm

John McKenna wrote:
Sat Apr 10, 2021 5:28 pm
Could be followed by reading Sir Alan Duncan's new book The Thick Of It.
That looks as if it might be entertaining. I always liked Alan Clark's diaries :)
blog inspired by Bronstein's book, but using my own games: http://200opengames.blogspot.co.uk/

NickFaulks
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Re: COVid19-What's wrong with UK?

Post by NickFaulks » Sun Apr 11, 2021 2:27 pm

Based on the excerpts we have seen, Duncan would seem to be a lightweight version of Clark. There should be more to political diaries than repetitiously saying things along the lines of "the PM really is terribly dim".
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Matt Mackenzie
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Re: COVid19-What's wrong with UK?

Post by Matt Mackenzie » Sun Apr 11, 2021 3:29 pm

His dismissal of the present PM with a single four letter expletive is entertaining, though.
"Set up your attacks so that when the fire is out, it isn't out!" (H N Pillsbury)

NickFaulks
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Re: COVid19-What's wrong with UK?

Post by NickFaulks » Sun Apr 11, 2021 3:57 pm

Matt Mackenzie wrote:
Sun Apr 11, 2021 3:29 pm
His dismissal of the present PM with a single four letter expletive is entertaining, though.
Hardly original, not worth buying the book for. The truth is that Alan Duncan was never going to be of any signifcance and he is the only person who cannot see why that was. Perhaps Clark wasn't either, but he had a keener eye for the reasons.

Back to the main topic, other countries such as Iran have apparently handled their vaccination programs poorly and their people are allowed to play chess. We have handled ours in brilliant world-beating fashion ( in fact we have now reached the point previously defined as herd immunity ) and we're not allowed do a darned thing.

Why would I not prefer to live in a country whose vaccination program has failed? Or is it that other governments, such as the Iranians', are by nature less repressive than ours.
If you want a picture of the future, imagine a QR code stamped on a human face — forever.

J T Melsom
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Re: COVid19-What's wrong with UK?

Post by J T Melsom » Sun Apr 11, 2021 6:36 pm

I have seen no reports that Iran permits the playing of chess at present. I have seen reports today that Iran is entering another period of lockdown because deaths are increasing. I am also aware that there are restrictions on Iranian citizens which impact who can play chess, the permitted dress for playing, and the nations they can play against. But UK is more repressive than Iran. I guess the net migration figures show this as well :roll:

John Moore
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Re: COVid19-What's wrong with UK?

Post by John Moore » Sun Apr 11, 2021 6:47 pm

You heard it here first - Iran has a less repressive Government than the UK.

NickFaulks
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Re: COVid19-What's wrong with UK?

Post by NickFaulks » Sun Apr 11, 2021 7:04 pm

J T Melsom wrote:
Sun Apr 11, 2021 6:36 pm
I have seen no reports that Iran permits the playing of chess at present.
FIDE rated OTB events, including their national championships, are currently taking place. I assume you mean, apart from those.
Last edited by NickFaulks on Sun Apr 11, 2021 7:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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J T Melsom
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Re: COVid19-What's wrong with UK?

Post by J T Melsom » Sun Apr 11, 2021 7:09 pm

I wasn't aware of the national championships taking place. Thanks for that information That isn't sufficient to justify describing Iran as less repressive than the UK. There is a difference between hyperbole and nonsense.

John Moore
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Re: COVid19-What's wrong with UK?

Post by John Moore » Sun Apr 11, 2021 7:23 pm

Perhaps Nick would like to withdraw what he said on the subject as well.

NickFaulks
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Re: COVid19-What's wrong with UK?

Post by NickFaulks » Sun Apr 11, 2021 7:27 pm

J T Melsom wrote:
Sun Apr 11, 2021 7:09 pm
I wasn't aware of the national championships taking place. Thanks for that information That isn't sufficient to justify describing Iran as less repressive than the UK. There is a difference between hyperbole and nonsense.
I'm evidence based. They're playing chess, we're not. Of course there are ways in which the Iranian government is unsatisfactory, but I am struggling to see any single way in which the current UK Government is satisfactory.
If you want a picture of the future, imagine a QR code stamped on a human face — forever.

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