Rather better, evidently, than some of the myopic white men on here.
I only spent 6 years living there, California, Texas and North Carolina apart from business trips so very myopic indeed, sure your week in Disneyland or weekend shopping in NYC makes you much better qualified.
No doubt Dominic Cummings sees Covid-19 as a Darwinian opportunity. Hopefully, he is being kept as far away from response planning as is humanly possible!
“No doubt Jeremy is hoping lots of Jews catch it”
Good game this projection lark...
Bad night, mate?
No - it was this morning reading bulldung on here from you about Conservatives rubbing their hands with glee about people dying blah blah.
Why do you post such nonsense ?
Not Conservatives. It was an observation about a particular person who has a fondness for theories relating to natural selection. I am sorry that you did not understand that.
But you spent H2 of 2019 posting outlandish claims that Boris will do this that and the other in a hard Brexit which he secretly wants.
Perhaps focus on reality not the projections of your prejudices?
No doubt Dominic Cummings sees Covid-19 as a Darwinian opportunity. Hopefully, he is being kept as far away from response planning as is humanly possible!
“No doubt Jeremy is hoping lots of Jews catch it”
Good game this projection lark...
Bad night, mate?
No - it was this morning reading bulldung on here from you about Conservatives rubbing their hands with glee about people dying blah blah.
Why do you post such nonsense ?
Not Conservatives. It was an observation about a particular person who has a fondness for theories relating to natural selection. I am sorry that you did not understand that.
If there is one thing Dominic Cummings is definitely not, it is a Conservative. He’s more of a nihilist than Emmanuel Shinwell.
No doubt Dominic Cummings sees Covid-19 as a Darwinian opportunity. Hopefully, he is being kept as far away from response planning as is humanly possible!
“No doubt Jeremy is hoping lots of Jews catch it”
Good game this projection lark...
Bad night, mate?
No - it was this morning reading bulldung on here from you about Conservatives rubbing their hands with glee about people dying blah blah.
Why do you post such nonsense ?
Not Conservatives. It was an observation about a particular person who has a fondness for theories relating to natural selection. I am sorry that you did not understand that.
it must be tough for you SO... Tories in power probably for another 10 yrs, Labour leaders on offer vary from not very good to utter shite, so what can you do. Just chuck as much shite as you can to make yourself feel better.. as you have done since 2010. I don't like Boris as much as you don't , but as George Osborne [pointed out so succinctly, it was the Labour Party (by its policies and having Corbyn as leader) that put the Tories in. Suck it up mate.. for the next 10 yrs or so.
Interestingly his grandmother recovered much more rapidly.
Always some tosser whining about how bad their man flu was. Some people are really ill on a daily basis and just have to get on with it. Now we are surrounded by snowflakes and arses panicking about something that is just slightly worse than flu for 99% of the people. Get a F***ing grip you wimpy gits.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/journal-plague-year-180965222/ What proved even more deadly was the government policy toward the truth. When the United States entered the war, Woodrow Wilson demanded that “the spirit of ruthless brutality...enter into the very fibre of national life.” So he created the Committee on Public Information, which was inspired by an adviser who wrote, “Truth and falsehood are arbitrary terms....The force of an idea lies in its inspirational value. It matters very little if it is true or false.”
No doubt Dominic Cummings sees Covid-19 as a Darwinian opportunity. Hopefully, he is being kept as far away from response planning as is humanly possible!
“No doubt Jeremy is hoping lots of Jews catch it”
Good game this projection lark...
Bad night, mate?
No - it was this morning reading bulldung on here from you about Conservatives rubbing their hands with glee about people dying blah blah.
Why do you post such nonsense ?
Not Conservatives. It was an observation about a particular person who has a fondness for theories relating to natural selection. I am sorry that you did not understand that.
But you spent H2 of 2019 posting outlandish claims that Boris will do this that and the other in a hard Brexit which he secretly wants.
Perhaps focus on reality not the projections of your prejudices?
What makes you think those claims have been falsified?
Interestingly his grandmother recovered much more rapidly.
Always some tosser whining about how bad their man flu was. Some people are really ill on a daily basis and just have to get on with it. Now we are surrounded by snowflakes and arses panicking about something that is just slightly worse than flu for 99% of the people. Get a F***ing grip you wimpy gits.
Interestingly his grandmother recovered much more rapidly.
Always some tosser whining about how bad their man flu was. Some people are really ill on a daily basis and just have to get on with it. Now we are surrounded by snowflakes and arses panicking about something that is just slightly worse than flu for 99% of the people. Get a F***ing grip you wimpy gits.
You’re in a right grump this morning, malcolm.
Some of the posts from Mystic and SO would spoil anyone’s cup of Earl Grey and Fortnam and Masons marmalade on toast.
No doubt Dominic Cummings sees Covid-19 as a Darwinian opportunity. Hopefully, he is being kept as far away from response planning as is humanly possible!
“No doubt Jeremy is hoping lots of Jews catch it”
Good game this projection lark...
Bad night, mate?
No - it was this morning reading bulldung on here from you about Conservatives rubbing their hands with glee about people dying blah blah.
Why do you post such nonsense ?
Not Conservatives. It was an observation about a particular person who has a fondness for theories relating to natural selection. I am sorry that you did not understand that.
it must be tough for you SO... Tories in power probably for another 10 yrs, Labour leaders on offer vary from not very good to utter shite, so what can you do. Just chuck as much shite as you can to make yourself feel better.. as you have done since 2010. I don't like Boris as much as you don't , but as George Osborne [pointed out so succinctly, it was the Labour Party (by its policies and having Corbyn as leader) that put the Tories in. Suck it up mate.. for the next 10 yrs or so.
George Osborne was absolutely correct. Even a stopped clock is twice a day. But my guess is that over the next five years the electorate will grow tired of having a bone idle chancer as PM and will decide a grown-up in the role is preferable. If I am wrong, though, so be it. I am rich enough to move to where I wish. You really don't need to worry about me.
No doubt Dominic Cummings sees Covid-19 as a Darwinian opportunity. Hopefully, he is being kept as far away from response planning as is humanly possible!
“No doubt Jeremy is hoping lots of Jews catch it”
On a more serious note, if/when Covid-19 gets into the Gaza strip its going to be a horror show.
Interestingly his grandmother recovered much more rapidly.
Always some tosser whining about how bad their man flu was. Some people are really ill on a daily basis and just have to get on with it. Now we are surrounded by snowflakes and arses panicking about something that is just slightly worse than flu for 99% of the people. Get a F***ing grip you wimpy gits.
You’re in a right grump this morning, malcolm.
Some of the posts from Mystic and SO would spoil anyone’s cup of Earl Grey and Fortnam and Masons marmalade on toast.
I don’t know, I quite enjoy reading hysterical death porn.
“ Robert Shiller, the Nobel laureate, spends his book Narrative Economics exploring how narratives like these, often false, develop and the real consequences they have.
Heavy users of news, such as financial markets*, are most susceptible, he says, and, sure enough, in explaining what has been moving prices, one asset manager said yesterday: “We are being buffeted every few hours by the news flow.” Italy’s foreign minister called it an “infodemic” and appealed for calm.”
No doubt Dominic Cummings sees Covid-19 as a Darwinian opportunity. Hopefully, he is being kept as far away from response planning as is humanly possible!
“No doubt Jeremy is hoping lots of Jews catch it”
Good game this projection lark...
Bad night, mate?
No - it was this morning reading bulldung on here from you about Conservatives rubbing their hands with glee about people dying blah blah.
Why do you post such nonsense ?
Not Conservatives. It was an observation about a particular person who has a fondness for theories relating to natural selection. I am sorry that you did not understand that.
But you spent H2 of 2019 posting outlandish claims that Boris will do this that and the other in a hard Brexit which he secretly wants.
Perhaps focus on reality not the projections of your prejudices?
Yep, I observed that he is a bone idle chancer who does everything in his power to avoid detailed scrutiny, who will deliver a hard Brexit and who will seek to concentrate as much power as possible in the hands of the executive while removing many of the current ways in which it can be held accountable. Looks like I was pretty much spot on, doesn't it?
No doubt Dominic Cummings sees Covid-19 as a Darwinian opportunity. Hopefully, he is being kept as far away from response planning as is humanly possible!
“No doubt Jeremy is hoping lots of Jews catch it”
Good game this projection lark...
Bad night, mate?
No - it was this morning reading bulldung on here from you about Conservatives rubbing their hands with glee about people dying blah blah.
Why do you post such nonsense ?
Not Conservatives. It was an observation about a particular person who has a fondness for theories relating to natural selection. I am sorry that you did not understand that.
But you spent H2 of 2019 posting outlandish claims that Boris will do this that and the other in a hard Brexit which he secretly wants.
Perhaps focus on reality not the projections of your prejudices?
Yep, I observed that he is a bone idle chancer who does everything in his power to avoid detailed scrutiny, who will deliver a hard Brexit and who will seek to concentrate as much power as possible in the hands of the executive while removing many of the current ways in which it can be held accountable. Looks like I was pretty much spot on, doesn't it?
You repeatedly posted there would be no WA and a hard Brexit a month ago - “ because Boris..”
Can’t complain when readers zone out at the same posts backdated a year.
Interestingly his grandmother recovered much more rapidly.
Always some tosser whining about how bad their man flu was. Some people are really ill on a daily basis and just have to get on with it. Now we are surrounded by snowflakes and arses panicking about something that is just slightly worse than flu for 99% of the people. Get a F***ing grip you wimpy gits.
I spoke to a health professional recently who was utterly damning of 111.
"You're better off not calling them at all" was his verdict.
Have to say I have only used them once and they got an ambulance enroute pretty quickly. May just have been lucky.
Like all systems, sometimes it’s good, sometimes not. I’ve found them at various times very helpful and utterly useless. Much of it comes down to simple resource constraints, I guess.
New cases in Washington. Adolescent, initially wasn't tested due to not being in contact with a diagnosed victim. Returned to school before being pulled out after a positive test.
The US seems remarkably stingy in its testing - looks like the U.K. tests anyone that might be possibly infected while in the US there are multiple criteria to be satisfied before a test is carried out. Yesterday alone the U.K. carried out nearly twice the number of tests that the US has conducted since the start of the outbreak. If the US was testing at the same rate as the U.K. they would have carried out over 45,000 tests, not the 455 they have done.
The US is absolutely fucked. As a country it stinks. Sorry to Robert, but I really think that. I was appalled on my last trip: just a complete disintegration in anything resembling a decent society.
I tend to agree. It's a country I have visited three or four times a year since the early 1990s, and the sharp decline into public squalor has been very quick. It is a country without pity, though it is also one of a thousand small private kindnesses. There is so much to admire and cherish there, but at an institutional and political level, and at a broad social one, it is utterly buggered. I do not see a way back. It is absolutely clear to me that Europe, including the UK, has found a much better way of delivering a level of comfort, calm and security for most of its citizens. America is a great place in which to be wealthy. It is horrible otherwise.
Recently had a trip to New York - saw little evidence of poverty on the streets which seemed safe. The horrednous thing for us were the prices - which were much higher than we expected. Fun trip but would not be tempted back.
Interestingly his grandmother recovered much more rapidly.
Always some tosser whining about how bad their man flu was. Some people are really ill on a daily basis and just have to get on with it. Now we are surrounded by snowflakes and arses panicking about something that is just slightly worse than flu for 99% of the people. Get a F***ing grip you wimpy gits.
You’re in a right grump this morning, malcolm.
Nigel I have spent last two months with someone desperately ill, so all this whining from some soft southern fannies about something that in 99% of cases is like a cold/flu is most annoying. All those clowns clogging up the NHS whilst there are really ill people unable to get treated, fecking shocking. last week at hospital they had notice up saying 97 people in january had not even bothered to turn up for their x-ray appointments, yet people cannot get treated, the people in this country are ungrateful shits, wax lyrical about free NHS etc but treat it like crap. Now needing to see a cardiologist and it is a 12 week waiting time to get an appointment, yet there will be hundreds not turning up for the appointments. Luckily I can just go private for my wife and get instant treatment rather than her being ill for months to come.
Interestingly his grandmother recovered much more rapidly.
Always some tosser whining about how bad their man flu was. Some people are really ill on a daily basis and just have to get on with it. Now we are surrounded by snowflakes and arses panicking about something that is just slightly worse than flu for 99% of the people. Get a F***ing grip you wimpy gits.
Interestingly his grandmother recovered much more rapidly.
Always some tosser whining about how bad their man flu was. Some people are really ill on a daily basis and just have to get on with it. Now we are surrounded by snowflakes and arses panicking about something that is just slightly worse than flu for 99% of the people. Get a F***ing grip you wimpy gits.
You’re in a right grump this morning, malcolm.
Nigel I have spent last two months with someone desperately ill, so all this whining from some soft southern fannies about something that in 99% of cases is like a cold/flu is most annoying. All those clowns clogging up the NHS whilst there are really ill people unable to get treated, fecking shocking. last week at hospital they had notice up saying 97 people in january had not even bothered to turn up for their x-ray appointments, yet people cannot get treated, the people in this country are ungrateful shits, wax lyrical about free NHS etc but treat it like crap. Now needing to see a cardiologist and it is a 12 week waiting time to get an appointment, yet there will be hundreds not turning up for the appointments. Luckily I can just go private for my wife and get instant treatment rather than her being ill for months to come.
Fair enough. I’d understood your wife is on the mend - I hope that’s still the case ?
Interestingly his grandmother recovered much more rapidly.
Always some tosser whining about how bad their man flu was. Some people are really ill on a daily basis and just have to get on with it. Now we are surrounded by snowflakes and arses panicking about something that is just slightly worse than flu for 99% of the people. Get a F***ing grip you wimpy gits.
You’re in a right grump this morning, malcolm.
Nigel I have spent last two months with someone desperately ill, so all this whining from some soft southern fannies about something that in 99% of cases is like a cold/flu is most annoying. All those clowns clogging up the NHS whilst there are really ill people unable to get treated, fecking shocking. last week at hospital they had notice up saying 97 people in january had not even bothered to turn up for their x-ray appointments, yet people cannot get treated, the people in this country are ungrateful shits, wax lyrical about free NHS etc but treat it like crap. Now needing to see a cardiologist and it is a 12 week waiting time to get an appointment, yet there will be hundreds not turning up for the appointments. Luckily I can just go private for my wife and get instant treatment rather than her being ill for months to come.
I am sorry to hear your news, and hope she gets treated and recovers well.
I was worrying you might have been looking at your share portfolio.
I doubt it will make much difference. The electoral maths heavily favours Trump as far as I can see. Theabsolutely key in a close election. And it is much easier to prevent the wrong people voting.
_————————
This whole culture war thing. It must be repeated. It wasn’t disenfranchised not doing well people outside of big cities that started the culture wars, or even looked like they were winning any of the skirmishes. It was certainly a one way battle. Brexit was the first victory against a one way battle, and trump was the second.
What’s extraordinary, in losing these first two battles, the response from the left has been to double down, if not double down again in top of that.
How else could we explain a mainstream candidate for labour leadership thinking that male rapists and child sex offenders who self identify as women should be put in a women’s prison? Or having watered down racist to an overused meaningless word with little power, now bizarrely ‘white supremacy’ is thrown around as a fact , and that ‘whiteness’ is a problem endemic in all white people and right wing supporting none white people.
No doubt Dominic Cummings sees Covid-19 as a Darwinian opportunity. Hopefully, he is being kept as far away from response planning as is humanly possible!
“No doubt Jeremy is hoping lots of Jews catch it”
Good game this projection lark...
Bad night, mate?
No - it was this morning reading bulldung on here from you about Conservatives rubbing their hands with glee about people dying blah blah.
Why do you post such nonsense ?
Not Conservatives. It was an observation about a particular person who has a fondness for theories relating to natural selection. I am sorry that you did not understand that.
But you spent H2 of 2019 posting outlandish claims that Boris will do this that and the other in a hard Brexit which he secretly wants.
Perhaps focus on reality not the projections of your prejudices?
Yep, I observed that he is a bone idle chancer who does everything in his power to avoid detailed scrutiny, who will deliver a hard Brexit and who will seek to concentrate as much power as possible in the hands of the executive while removing many of the current ways in which it can be held accountable. Looks like I was pretty much spot on, doesn't it?
You repeatedly posted there would be no WA and a hard Brexit a month ago - “ because Boris..”
Can’t complain when readers zone out at the same posts backdated a year.
It is true that I did not anticipate Johnson's complete capitulation. But that only seems to have delayed things - unless he capitulates again, of course.
No doubt Dominic Cummings sees Covid-19 as a Darwinian opportunity. Hopefully, he is being kept as far away from response planning as is humanly possible!
“No doubt Jeremy is hoping lots of Jews catch it”
Good game this projection lark...
Bad night, mate?
No - it was this morning reading bulldung on here from you about Conservatives rubbing their hands with glee about people dying blah blah.
Why do you post such nonsense ?
Not Conservatives. It was an observation about a particular person who has a fondness for theories relating to natural selection. I am sorry that you did not understand that.
But you spent H2 of 2019 posting outlandish claims that Boris will do this that and the other in a hard Brexit which he secretly wants.
Perhaps focus on reality not the projections of your prejudices?
Yep, I observed that he is a bone idle chancer who does everything in his power to avoid detailed scrutiny, who will deliver a hard Brexit and who will seek to concentrate as much power as possible in the hands of the executive while removing many of the current ways in which it can be held accountable. Looks like I was pretty much spot on, doesn't it?
You repeatedly posted there would be no WA and a hard Brexit a month ago - “ because Boris..”
Can’t complain when readers zone out at the same posts backdated a year.
Interestingly his grandmother recovered much more rapidly.
Always some tosser whining about how bad their man flu was. Some people are really ill on a daily basis and just have to get on with it. Now we are surrounded by snowflakes and arses panicking about something that is just slightly worse than flu for 99% of the people. Get a F***ing grip you wimpy gits.
You’re in a right grump this morning, malcolm.
Nigel I have spent last two months with someone desperately ill, so all this whining from some soft southern fannies about something that in 99% of cases is like a cold/flu is most annoying. All those clowns clogging up the NHS whilst there are really ill people unable to get treated, fecking shocking. last week at hospital they had notice up saying 97 people in january had not even bothered to turn up for their x-ray appointments, yet people cannot get treated, the people in this country are ungrateful shits, wax lyrical about free NHS etc but treat it like crap. Now needing to see a cardiologist and it is a 12 week waiting time to get an appointment, yet there will be hundreds not turning up for the appointments. Luckily I can just go private for my wife and get instant treatment rather than her being ill for months to come.
Good morning Malc.
You are spot on over the number of missed appointments by patients and it is unforgiveable. It does have an effect on the rest of us who keep appointments or make sure they are cancelled in good time
I hope both yourself and your good lady are continuing to recover from your health issues and are seeing a full recovery. I have had a nasty infection over the last four weeks requiring two courses of antibiotics and it does leave you drained
New cases in Washington. Adolescent, initially wasn't tested due to not being in contact with a diagnosed victim. Returned to school before being pulled out after a positive test.
The US seems remarkably stingy in its testing - looks like the U.K. tests anyone that might be possibly infected while in the US there are multiple criteria to be satisfied before a test is carried out. Yesterday alone the U.K. carried out nearly twice the number of tests that the US has conducted since the start of the outbreak. If the US was testing at the same rate as the U.K. they would have carried out over 45,000 tests, not the 455 they have done.
The US is absolutely fucked. As a country it stinks. Sorry to Robert, but I really think that. I was appalled on my last trip: just a complete disintegration in anything resembling a decent society.
I tend to agree. It's a country I have visited three or four times a year since the early 1990s, and the sharp decline into public squalor has been very quick. It is a country without pity, though it is also one of a thousand small private kindnesses. There is so much to admire and cherish there, but at an institutional and political level, and at a broad social one, it is utterly buggered. I do not see a way back. It is absolutely clear to me that Europe, including the UK, has found a much better way of delivering a level of comfort, calm and security for most of its citizens. America is a great place in which to be wealthy. It is horrible otherwise.
Recently had a trip to New York - saw little evidence of poverty on the streets which seemed safe. The horrednous thing for us were the prices - which were much higher than we expected. Fun trip but would not be tempted back.
Wow. Take a walk through Penn station next time then. It will blow your world apart. Seriously.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/journal-plague-year-180965222/ What proved even more deadly was the government policy toward the truth. When the United States entered the war, Woodrow Wilson demanded that “the spirit of ruthless brutality...enter into the very fibre of national life.” So he created the Committee on Public Information, which was inspired by an adviser who wrote, “Truth and falsehood are arbitrary terms....The force of an idea lies in its inspirational value. It matters very little if it is true or false.”
Thanks - fascinating read - this did not fill me with confidence, in particular in the US:
......the most important lesson from 1918 is to tell the truth. Though that idea is incorporated into every preparedness plan I know of, its actual implementation will depend on the character and leadership of the people in charge when a crisis erupts.
New cases in Washington. Adolescent, initially wasn't tested due to not being in contact with a diagnosed victim. Returned to school before being pulled out after a positive test.
The US seems remarkably stingy in its testing - looks like the U.K. tests anyone that might be possibly infected while in the US there are multiple criteria to be satisfied before a test is carried out. Yesterday alone the U.K. carried out nearly twice the number of tests that the US has conducted since the start of the outbreak. If the US was testing at the same rate as the U.K. they would have carried out over 45,000 tests, not the 455 they have done.
The US is absolutely fucked. As a country it stinks. Sorry to Robert, but I really think that. I was appalled on my last trip: just a complete disintegration in anything resembling a decent society.
You have been going to the wrong places then .
The USA is a wonderful country full of The entries spectrum of different kinds people just like the Uk.
I'm afraid it really isn't. And if you call the wrong places major states and NYC then there's not a lot of the US left.
It's utterly fucked.al inequality where 'the American Dream is benefiting from someone else's misfortune' (John Green). The amount of homeless has rocketed. The middle classes try to have them bused out of the suburbs into the town centres so that the WASPS don't have to see them - which is probably why you think it's all rosy.
I compare it to how the white South Africans viewed their country during apartheid: oblivious to the real human tragedy and social disintegration going on around them.
America's one saving grace is that its people are quite lovely. Apart from the idiot in the White House.
We get it - you don’t like America or Americans -
Which part of 'Americans are lovely' did you not read? They're fabulous people.
America is absolutely fucked though. Go to NYC. Walk around. Open your eyes. Heck, do the same thing Upstate. Go to supposedly middle class places like Hartford CT and, again, walk around ... if you dare.
The country is in a god-awful absolute shithole mess.
Yes I can see you have travelled extensively within a ... checks notes ... 100 mile radius of a country 3000 miles wide and 1,500 North to South.
You should change your moniker to Mystic Judith Chalmers.
Drove 2800 miles in the USA this year alone. A place of wonder and spirit. Maybe losing the edge it had. But that’s everywhere in the west with maybe the exception of London.
No doubt Dominic Cummings sees Covid-19 as a Darwinian opportunity. Hopefully, he is being kept as far away from response planning as is humanly possible!
“No doubt Jeremy is hoping lots of Jews catch it”
Good game this projection lark...
Bad night, mate?
No - it was this morning reading bulldung on here from you about Conservatives rubbing their hands with glee about people dying blah blah.
Why do you post such nonsense ?
Not Conservatives. It was an observation about a particular person who has a fondness for theories relating to natural selection. I am sorry that you did not understand that.
it must be tough for you SO... Tories in power probably for another 10 yrs, Labour leaders on offer vary from not very good to utter shite, so what can you do. Just chuck as much shite as you can to make yourself feel better.. as you have done since 2010. I don't like Boris as much as you don't , but as George Osborne [pointed out so succinctly, it was the Labour Party (by its policies and having Corbyn as leader) that put the Tories in. Suck it up mate.. for the next 10 yrs or so.
George Osborne was absolutely correct. Even a stopped clock is twice a day. But my guess is that over the next five years the electorate will grow tired of having a bone idle chancer as PM and will decide a grown-up in the role is preferable. If I am wrong, though, so be it. I am rich enough to move to where I wish. You really don't need to worry about me.
I have far too many other things to worry about than you SO. If you are rich enough, it still will not alter the fact that its going to stick in your craw for the next 10 yrs or so, and even if you move abroad, you will still be looking to home. You cannot escape it.
Even if Boris gets ditched, it does not mean its going to be a Labour Govt, it really doesn't.
Interestingly his grandmother recovered much more rapidly.
Always some tosser whining about how bad their man flu was. Some people are really ill on a daily basis and just have to get on with it. Now we are surrounded by snowflakes and arses panicking about something that is just slightly worse than flu for 99% of the people. Get a F***ing grip you wimpy gits.
You’re in a right grump this morning, malcolm.
Some of the posts from Mystic and SO would spoil anyone’s cup of Earl Grey and Fortnam and Masons marmalade on toast.
I don’t know, I quite enjoy reading hysterical death porn.
“ Robert Shiller, the Nobel laureate, spends his book Narrative Economics exploring how narratives like these, often false, develop and the real consequences they have.
Heavy users of news, such as financial markets*, are most susceptible, he says, and, sure enough, in explaining what has been moving prices, one asset manager said yesterday: “We are being buffeted every few hours by the news flow.” Italy’s foreign minister called it an “infodemic” and appealed for calm.”
The incubation period of influenza is two to three days. Two days after the parade, Krusen (Philadelphia public health director) conceded that the epidemic “now present in the civilian population was...assuming the type found in” Army camps. Still, he cautioned not to be “panic stricken over exaggerated reports.”
...
Krusen finally and belatedly ordered all schools closed and banned all public gatherings—yet a newspaper nonsensically said the order was not “a public health measure” and “there is no cause for panic or alarm.”
There was plenty of cause. At its worst, the epidemic in Philadelphia would kill 759 people...in one day. Priests drove horse-drawn carts down city streets, calling upon residents to bring out their dead; many were buried in mass graves. More than 12,000 Philadelphians died—nearly all of them in six weeks."
"Most rumours are false" does not imply "all rumours are false." "The ship has hit an iceberg and is sinking" is sometimes true. Talk of "hysterical death porn" at this stage is as responsible and as intelligent as Trump talking about fake news and hoaxes.
New cases in Washington. Adolescent, initially wasn't tested due to not being in contact with a diagnosed victim. Returned to school before being pulled out after a positive test.
The US seems remarkably stingy in its testing - looks like the U.K. tests anyone that might be possibly infected while in the US there are multiple criteria to be satisfied before a test is carried out. Yesterday alone the U.K. carried out nearly twice the number of tests that the US has conducted since the start of the outbreak. If the US was testing at the same rate as the U.K. they would have carried out over 45,000 tests, not the 455 they have done.
The US is absolutely fucked. As a country it stinks. Sorry to Robert, but I really think that. I was appalled on my last trip: just a complete disintegration in anything resembling a decent society.
You have been going to the wrong places then .
The USA is a wonderful country full of The entries spectrum of different kinds people just like the Uk.
I'm afraid it really isn't. And if you call the wrong places major states and NYC then there's not a lot of the US left.
I
I compare it to how the white South Africans viewed their country during apartheid: oblivious to the real human tragedy and social disintegration going on around them.
America's one saving grace is that its people are quite lovely. Apart from the idiot in the White House.
We get it - you don’t like America or Americans -
Which part of 'Americans are lovely' did you not read? They're fabulous people.
America is absolutely fucked though. Go to NYC. Walk around. Open your eyes. Heck, do the same thing Upstate. Go to supposedly middle class places like Hartford CT and, again, walk around ... if you dare.
The country is in a god-awful absolute shithole mess.
Yes I can see you have travelled extensively within a ... checks notes ... 100 mile radius of a country 3000 miles wide and 1,500 North to South.
You should change your moniker to Mystic Judith Chalmers.
Drove 2800 miles in the USA this year alone. A place of wonder and spirit. Maybe losing the edge it had. But that’s everywhere in the west with maybe the exception of London.
I did 6,088 miles, and I'd echo that. It's strange how the assumptions you make about people's attitudes, which mostly fly in Europe, don't always seem to fit in the US. People there are quite different, but very friendly.
Interestingly his grandmother recovered much more rapidly.
Always some tosser whining about how bad their man flu was. Some people are really ill on a daily basis and just have to get on with it. Now we are surrounded by snowflakes and arses panicking about something that is just slightly worse than flu for 99% of the people. Get a F***ing grip you wimpy gits.
You’re in a right grump this morning, malcolm.
Some of the posts from Mystic and SO would spoil anyone’s cup of Earl Grey and Fortnam and Masons marmalade on toast.
Is there really any need for that kind of personalised insult?
I don't see how or why you should determine that criticising the current social inequalities in the US are evidence of 'snobbery.' It's the absolute opposite of that, and no it's not borne of metropolitan elitism. I have seen what's going on there with my own eyes and it's not pretty. But then, as a bestselling author (Sean's not the only one on here) it's my job to scratch beneath the tourist veneer.
This is, normally, a good forum with decent debate and some banter. Just because someone disagrees with you doesn't mean it's right to be personally insulting. Take that bile across to Guido Fawkes where you will find a ready market.
New cases in Washington. Adolescent, initially wasn't tested due to not being in contact with a diagnosed victim. Returned to school before being pulled out after a positive test.
The US seems remarkably stingy in its testing - looks like the U.K. tests anyone that might be possibly infected while in the US there are multiple criteria to be satisfied before a test is carried out.
The US is absolutely fucked. As a country it stinks. Sorry to Robert, but I really think that. I was appalled on my last trip: just a complete disintegration in anything resembling a decent society.
You have been going to the wrong places then .
The USA is a wonderful country full of The entries spectrum of different kinds people just like the Uk.
I'm afraid it really isn't. And if you call the wrong places major states and NYC then there's not a lot of the US left.
I
I compare it to how the white South Africans viewed their country during apartheid: oblivious to the real human tragedy and social disintegration going on around them.
America's one saving grace is that its people are quite lovely. Apart from the idiot in the White House.
We get it - you don’t like America or Americans -
Which part of 'Americans are lovely' did you not read? They're fabulous people.
America is absolutely fucked though. Go to NYC. Walk around. Open your eyes. Heck, do the same thing Upstate. Go to supposedly middle class places like Hartford CT and, again, walk around ... if you dare.
The country is in a god-awful absolute shithole mess.
Yes I can see you have travelled extensively within a ... checks notes ... 100 mile radius of a country 3000 miles wide and 1,500 North to South.
You should change your moniker to Mystic Judith Chalmers.
Drove 2800 miles in the USA this year alone. A place of wonder and spirit. Maybe losing the edge it had. But that’s everywhere in the west with maybe the exception of London.
I did 6,088 miles, and I'd echo that. It's strange how the assumptions you make about people's attitudes, which mostly fly in Europe, don't always seem to fit in the US. People there are quite different, but very friendly.
The people of the US are very different and always refer to visitors from the UK as English !!!!
Interestingly his grandmother recovered much more rapidly.
Always some tosser whining about how bad their man flu was. Some people are really ill on a daily basis and just have to get on with it. Now we are surrounded by snowflakes and arses panicking about something that is just slightly worse than flu for 99% of the people. Get a F***ing grip you wimpy gits.
You’re in a right grump this morning, malcolm.
Nigel I have spent last two months with someone desperately ill, so all this whining from some soft southern fannies about something that in 99% of cases is like a cold/flu is most annoying. All those clowns clogging up the NHS whilst there are really ill people unable to get treated, fecking shocking. last week at hospital they had notice up saying 97 people in january had not even bothered to turn up for their x-ray appointments, yet people cannot get treated, the people in this country are ungrateful shits, wax lyrical about free NHS etc but treat it like crap. Now needing to see a cardiologist and it is a 12 week waiting time to get an appointment, yet there will be hundreds not turning up for the appointments. Luckily I can just go private for my wife and get instant treatment rather than her being ill for months to come.
Fair enough. I’d understood your wife is on the mend - I hope that’s still the case ?
Yes she is still improving but the pneumonia has caused atrial flutter so she needs to get that sorted, saw specialist yesterday and he was very positive and reckons he will sort it out.
Interestingly his grandmother recovered much more rapidly.
Always some tosser whining about how bad their man flu was. Some people are really ill on a daily basis and just have to get on with it. Now we are surrounded by snowflakes and arses panicking about something that is just slightly worse than flu for 99% of the people. Get a F***ing grip you wimpy gits.
You’re in a right grump this morning, malcolm.
Nigel I have spent last two months with someone desperately ill, so all this whining from some soft southern fannies about something that in 99% of cases is like a cold/flu is most annoying. All those clowns clogging up the NHS whilst there are really ill people unable to get treated, fecking shocking. last week at hospital they had notice up saying 97 people in january had not even bothered to turn up for their x-ray appointments, yet people cannot get treated, the people in this country are ungrateful shits, wax lyrical about free NHS etc but treat it like crap. Now needing to see a cardiologist and it is a 12 week waiting time to get an appointment, yet there will be hundreds not turning up for the appointments. Luckily I can just go private for my wife and get instant treatment rather than her being ill for months to come.
Good morning Malc.
You are spot on over the number of missed appointments by patients and it is unforgiveable. It does have an effect on the rest of us who keep appointments or make sure they are cancelled in good time
I hope both yourself and your good lady are continuing to recover from your health issues and are seeing a full recovery. I have had a nasty infection over the last four weeks requiring two courses of antibiotics and it does leave you drained
Take care
Cheers G, I am as fit as a butchers dog , was just a virus for me so cleared up with antibiotics. Wife is on the mend, even if slowly. Look forward to spring and some decent weather. Hope you are well soon.
Interestingly his grandmother recovered much more rapidly.
Always some tosser whining about how bad their man flu was. Some people are really ill on a daily basis and just have to get on with it. Now we are surrounded by snowflakes and arses panicking about something that is just slightly worse than flu for 99% of the people. Get a F***ing grip you wimpy gits.
You’re in a right grump this morning, malcolm.
Some of the posts from Mystic and SO would spoil anyone’s cup of Earl Grey and Fortnam and Masons marmalade on toast.
Is there really any need for that kind of personalised insult?
I don't see how or why you should determine that criticising the current social inequalities in the US are evidence of 'snobbery.' It's the absolute opposite of that, and no it's not borne of metropolitan elitism. I have seen what's going on there with my own eyes and it's not pretty. But then, as a bestselling author (Sean's not the only one on here) it's my job to scratch beneath the tourist veneer.
This is, normally, a good forum with decent debate and some banter. Just because someone disagrees with you doesn't mean it's right to be personally insulting. Take that bile across to Guido Fawkes where you will find a ready market.
When people accuse politicians they disagree with of all manner of awful, untrue things, and their closed minds assume bad intentions at all times, it creates a bad atmosphere.
New cases in Washington. Adolescent, initially wasn't tested due to not being in contact with a diagnosed victim. Returned to school before being pulled out after a positive test.
The US seems remarkably stingy in its testing - looks like the U.K. tests anyone that might be possibly infected while in the US there are multiple criteria to be satisfied before a test is carried out.
The US is absolutely fucked. As a country it stinks. Sorry to Robert, but I really think that. I was appalled on my last trip: just a complete disintegration in anything resembling a decent society.
You have been going to the wrong places then .
The USA is a wonderful country full of The entries spectrum of different kinds people just like the Uk.
America's one saving grace is that its people are quite lovely. Apart from the idiot in the White House.
We get it - you don’t like America or Americans -
Which part of 'Americans are lovely' did you not read? They're fabulous people.
America is absolutely fucked though. Go to NYC. Walk around. Open your eyes. Heck, do the same thing Upstate. Go to supposedly middle class places like Hartford CT and, again, walk around ... if you dare.
The country is in a god-awful absolute shithole mess.
Yes I can see you have travelled extensively within a ... checks notes ... 100 mile radius of a country 3000 miles wide and 1,500 North to South.
You should change your moniker to Mystic Judith Chalmers.
Drove 2800 miles in the USA this year alone. A place of wonder and spirit. Maybe losing the edge it had. But that’s everywhere in the west with maybe the exception of London.
I did 6,088 miles, and I'd echo that. It's strange how the assumptions you make about people's attitudes, which mostly fly in Europe, don't always seem to fit in the US. People there are quite different, but very friendly.
The people of the US are very different and always refer to visitors from the UK as English !!!!
I was disappointed that not one person asked me if I knew the Queen. Particularly as I had a photo of my meeting her on my phone, and never got the excuse to show it to anyone.
No doubt Dominic Cummings sees Covid-19 as a Darwinian opportunity. Hopefully, he is being kept as far away from response planning as is humanly possible!
“No doubt Jeremy is hoping lots of Jews catch it”
Good game this projection lark...
Bad night, mate?
No - it was this morning reading bulldung on here from you about Conservatives rubbing their hands with glee about people dying blah blah.
Why do you post such nonsense ?
Not Conservatives. It was an observation about a particular person who has a fondness for theories relating to natural selection. I am sorry that you did not understand that.
it must be tough for you SO... Tories in power probably for another 10 yrs, Labour leaders on offer vary from not very good to utter shite, so what can you do. Just chuck as much shite as you can to make yourself feel better.. as you have done since 2010. I don't like Boris as much as you don't , but as George Osborne [pointed out so succinctly, it was the Labour Party (by its policies and having Corbyn as leader) that put the Tories in. Suck it up mate.. for the next 10 yrs or so.
George Osborne was absolutely correct. Even a stopped clock is twice a day. But my guess is that over the next five years the electorate will grow tired of having a bone idle chancer as PM and will decide a grown-up in the role is preferable. If I am wrong, though, so be it. I am rich enough to move to where I wish. You really don't need to worry about me.
I have far too many other things to worry about than you SO. If you are rich enough, it still will not alter the fact that its going to stick in your craw for the next 10 yrs or so, and even if you move abroad, you will still be looking to home. You cannot escape it.
Even if Boris gets ditched, it does not mean its going to be a Labour Govt, it really doesn't.
Really, you don't say? But I get pleasure and consolation from your belief there are no grown-ups in the Conservative Party.
Interestingly his grandmother recovered much more rapidly.
Always some tosser whining about how bad their man flu was. Some people are really ill on a daily basis and just have to get on with it. Now we are surrounded by snowflakes and arses panicking about something that is just slightly worse than flu for 99% of the people. Get a F***ing grip you wimpy gits.
You’re in a right grump this morning, malcolm.
Nigel I have spent last two months with someone desperately ill, so all this whining from some soft southern fannies about something that in 99% of cases is like a cold/flu is most annoying. All those clowns clogging up the NHS whilst there are really ill people unable to get treated, fecking shocking. last week at hospital they had notice up saying 97 people in january had not even bothered to turn up for their x-ray appointments, yet people cannot get treated, the people in this country are ungrateful shits, wax lyrical about free NHS etc but treat it like crap. Now needing to see a cardiologist and it is a 12 week waiting time to get an appointment, yet there will be hundreds not turning up for the appointments. Luckily I can just go private for my wife and get instant treatment rather than her being ill for months to come.
I am sorry to hear your news, and hope she gets treated and recovers well.
I was worrying you might have been looking at your share portfolio.
LOL, certainly caused a few raised heartbeats for me last week, just keep telling myself it will all come back in near future. Sure they will be panicking that they are not invested enough soon and buying like mad.
Interestingly his grandmother recovered much more rapidly.
Always some tosser whining about how bad their man flu was. Some people are really ill on a daily basis and just have to get on with it. Now we are surrounded by snowflakes and arses panicking about something that is just slightly worse than flu for 99% of the people. Get a F***ing grip you wimpy gits.
You’re in a right grump this morning, malcolm.
Nigel I have spent last two months with someone desperately ill, so all this whining from some soft southern fannies about something that in 99% of cases is like a cold/flu is most annoying. All those clowns clogging up the NHS whilst there are really ill people unable to get treated, fecking shocking. last week at hospital they had notice up saying 97 people in january had not even bothered to turn up for their x-ray appointments, yet people cannot get treated, the people in this country are ungrateful shits, wax lyrical about free NHS etc but treat it like crap. Now needing to see a cardiologist and it is a 12 week waiting time to get an appointment, yet there will be hundreds not turning up for the appointments. Luckily I can just go private for my wife and get instant treatment rather than her being ill for months to come.
Fair enough. I’d understood your wife is on the mend - I hope that’s still the case ?
Yes she is still improving but the pneumonia has caused atrial flutter so she needs to get that sorted, saw specialist yesterday and he was very positive and reckons he will sort it out.
New cases in Washington. Adolescent, initially wasn't tested due to not being in contact with a diagnosed victim. Returned to school before being pulled out after a positive test.
The US seems remarkably stingy in its testing - looks like the U.K. tests anyone that might be possibly infected while in the US there are multiple criteria to be satisfied before a test is carried out. Yesterday alone the U.K. carried out nearly twice the number of tests that the US has conducted since the start of the outbreak. If the US was testing at the same rate as the U.K. they would have carried out over 45,000 tests, not the 455 they have done.
The US is absolutely fucked. As a country it stinks. Sorry to Robert, but I really think that. I was appalled on my last trip: just a complete disintegration in anything resembling a decent society.
You have been going to the wrong places then .
The USA is a wonderful country full of The entries spectrum of different kinds people just like the Uk.
I'm afraid it really isn't. And if you call the wrong places major states and NYC then there's not a lot of the US left.
I
I cthem.
America's one saving grace is that its people are quite lovely. Apart from the idiot in the White House.
We get it - you don’t like America or Americans -
Which part of 'Americans are lovely' did you not read? They're fabulous people.
America is absolutely fucked though. Go to NYC. Walk around. Open your eyes. Heck, do the same thing Upstate. Go to supposedly middle class places like Hartford CT and, again, walk around ... if you dare.
The country is in a god-awful absolute shithole mess.
Yes I can see you have travelled extensively within a ... checks notes ... 100 mile radius of a country 3000 miles wide and 1,500 North to South.
You should change your moniker to Mystic Judith Chalmers.
Drove 2800 miles in the USA this year alone. A place of wonder and spirit. Maybe losing the edge it had. But that’s everywhere in the west with maybe the exception of London.
I did 6,088 miles, and I'd echo that. It's strange how the assumptions you make about people's attitudes, which mostly fly in Europe, don't always seem to fit in the US. People there are quite different, but very friendly.
The US is the only place in the world where I feel actively European!
New cases in Washington. Adolescent, initially wasn't tested due to not being in contact with a diagnosed victim. Returned to school before being pulled out after a positive test.
The US is absolutely fucked. As a country it stinks. Sorry to Robert, but I really think that. I was appalled on my last trip: just a complete disintegration in anything resembling a decent society.
You have been going to the wrong places then .
The USA is a wonderful country full of The entries spectrum of different kinds people just like the Uk.
I'm afraid it really isn't. And if you call the wrong places major states and NYC then there's not a lot of the US left.
I
I compare it to how the white South Africans viewed their country during apartheid: oblivious to the real human tragedy and social disintegration going on around them.
America's one saving grace is that its people are quite lovely. Apart from the idiot in the White House.
We get it - you don’t like America or Americans -
Which part of 'Americans are lovely' did you not read? They're fabulous people.
America is absolutely fucked though. Go to NYC. Walk around. Open your eyes. Heck, do the same thing Upstate. Go to supposedly middle class places like Hartford CT and, again, walk around ... if you dare.
The country is in a god-awful absolute shithole mess.
Yes I can see you have travelled extensively within a ... checks notes ... 100 mile radius of a country 3000 miles wide and 1,500 North to South.
You should change your moniker to Mystic Judith Chalmers.
Drove 2800 miles in the USA this year alone. A place of wonder and spirit. Maybe losing the edge it had. But that’s everywhere in the west with maybe the exception of London.
People there are quite different, but very friendly.
It still comes as a surprise - despite first having gone there nearly 40 years ago - though we speak the same language and are very aware of their culture through movies & TV - they are very different.
Surprisingly hierarchical too - I worked in a US Corporation and the difference in attitude to commands from on high was striking - Boss says something - US manager response - "Lets get it done", UK manager response "What's the old fool said now and how do we get round it?".
No doubt Dominic Cummings sees Covid-19 as a Darwinian opportunity. Hopefully, he is being kept as far away from response planning as is humanly possible!
“No doubt Jeremy is hoping lots of Jews catch it”
Good game this projection lark...
Bad night, mate?
No - it was this morning reading bulldung on here from you about Conservatives rubbing their hands with glee about people dying blah blah.
Why do you post such nonsense ?
Not Conservatives. It was an observation about a particular person who has a fondness for theories relating to natural selection. I am sorry that you did not understand that.
it must be tough for you SO... Tories in power probably for another 10 yrs, Labour leaders on offer vary from not very good to utter shite, so what can you do. Just chuck as much shite as you can to make yourself feel better.. as you have done since 2010. I don't like Boris as much as you don't , but as George Osborne [pointed out so succinctly, it was the Labour Party (by its policies and having Corbyn as leader) that put the Tories in. Suck it up mate.. for the next 10 yrs or so.
George Osborne was absolutely correct. Even a stopped clock is twice a day. But my guess is that over the next five years the electorate will grow tired of having a bone idle chancer as PM and will decide a grown-up in the role is preferable. If I am wrong, though, so be it. I am rich enough to move to where I wish. You really don't need to worry about me.
I have far too many other things to worry about than you SO. If you are rich enough, it still will not alter the fact that its going to stick in your craw for the next 10 yrs or so, and even if you move abroad, you will still be looking to home. You cannot escape it.
Even if Boris gets ditched, it does not mean its going to be a Labour Govt, it really doesn't.
Really, you don't say? But I get pleasure and consolation from your belief there are no grown-ups in the Conservative Party.
New cases in Washington. Adolescent, initially wasn't tested due to not being in contact with a diagnosed victim. Returned to school before being pulled out after a positive test.
.
You have been going to the wrong places then .
The USA is a wonderful country full of The entries spectrum of different kinds people just like the Uk.
I'm af
America's one saving grace is that its people are quite lovely. Apart from the idiot in the White House.
We get it - you don’t like America or Americans -
Which part of 'Americans are lovely' did you not read? They're fabulous people.
America is absolutely and, again, walk around ... if you dare.
The country is in a god-awful absolute shithole mess.
Yes I can see you have travelled extensively within a ... checks notes ... 100 mile radius of a country 3000 miles wide and 1,500 North to South.
You should change your moniker to Mystic Judith Chalmers.
Drove 2800 miles in the USA this year alone. A place of wonder and spirit. Maybe losing the edge it had. But that’s everywhere in the west with maybe the exception of London.
People there are quite different, but very friendly.
It still comes as a surprise - despite first having gone there nearly 40 years ago - though we speak the same language and are very aware of their culture through movies & TV - they are very different.
Surprisingly hierarchical too - I worked in a US Corporation and the difference in attitude to commands from on high was striking - Boss says something - US manager response - "Lets get it done", UK manager response "What's the old fool said now and how do we get round it?".
Yes, that's astute. There seems to be a conformity - at least among what we would call the middle classes - that goes well beyond what we are used to. Even down to stuff like having to cut your lawn and paint your fence. Everyone thinks money and working are good things and don't really understand why someone might prioritise other things. They don't delight in subverting authority like we do, and when you make a humorous comment along those lines, they just look puzzled. They are proud of similarity and we of differences.
Yet on the other hand, when you meet an eccentric, there are no limits.
I spoke to a health professional recently who was utterly damning of 111.
"You're better off not calling them at all" was his verdict.
I would disagree, at least in respect of Coronavirus. A key part of managing suspected cases is directing people to appropriately equipped units. People with it randomly turning up in GP surgeries and emergency departments will spread the virus like wildfire.
Don't be gits, follow the instructions for everybody's sake.
Interestingly his grandmother recovered much more rapidly.
Always some tosser whining about how bad their man flu was. Some people are really ill on a daily basis and just have to get on with it. Now we are surrounded by snowflakes and arses panicking about something that is just slightly worse than flu for 99% of the people. Get a F***ing grip you wimpy gits.
You’re in a right grump this morning, malcolm.
Nigel I have spent last two months with someone desperately ill, so all this whining from some soft southern fannies about something that in 99% of cases is like a cold/flu is most annoying. All those clowns clogging up the NHS whilst there are really ill people unable to get treated, fecking shocking. last week at hospital they had notice up saying 97 people in january had not even bothered to turn up for their x-ray appointments, yet people cannot get treated, the people in this country are ungrateful shits, wax lyrical about free NHS etc but treat it like crap. Now needing to see a cardiologist and it is a 12 week waiting time to get an appointment, yet there will be hundreds not turning up for the appointments. Luckily I can just go private for my wife and get instant treatment rather than her being ill for months to come.
Good morning Malc.
You are spot on over the number of missed appointments by patients and it is unforgiveable. It does have an effect on the rest of us who keep appointments or make sure they are cancelled in good time
I hope both yourself and your good lady are continuing to recover from your health issues and are seeing a full recovery. I have had a nasty infection over the last four weeks requiring two courses of antibiotics and it does leave you drained
Take care
Cheers G, I am as fit as a butchers dog , was just a virus for me so cleared up with antibiotics. Wife is on the mend, even if slowly. Look forward to spring and some decent weather. Hope you are well soon.
Thanks Malc. Yes spring is coming and good to see your wife is on the mend
New cases in Washington. Adolescent, initially wasn't tested due to not being in contact with a diagnosed victim. Returned to school before being pulled out after a positive test.
The US seems remarkably stingy in its testing - looks like the U.K. tests anyone that might be possibly infected while in the US there are multiple criteria to be satisfied before a test is carried out. Yesterday alone the U.K. carried out nearly twice the number of tests that the US has conducted since the start of the outbreak. If the US was testing at the same rate as the U.K. they would have carried out over 45,000 tests, not the 455 they have done.
The US is absolutely fucked. As a country it stinks. Sorry to Robert, but I really think that. I was appalled on my last trip: just a complete disintegration in anything resembling a decent society.
I tend to agree. It's a country I have visited three or four times a year since the early 1990s, and the sharp decline into public squalor has been very quick. It is a country without pity, though it is also one of a thousand small private kindnesses. There is so much to admire and cherish there, but at an institutional and political level, and at a broad social one, it is utterly buggered. I do not see a way back. It is absolutely clear to me that Europe, including the UK, has found a much better way of delivering a level of comfort, calm and security for most of its citizens. America is a great place in which to be wealthy. It is horrible otherwise.
Recently had a trip to New York - saw little evidence of poverty on the streets which seemed safe. The horrednous thing for us were the prices - which were much higher than we expected. Fun trip but would not be tempted back.
Wow. Take a walk through Penn station next time then. It will blow your world apart. Seriously.
Those people aren't destitute. They are just typical train spotters.
New cases in Washington. Adolescent, initially wasn't tested due to not being in contact with a diagnosed victim. Returned to school before being pulled out after a positive test.
The US seems remarkably stingy in its testing - looks like the U.K. tests anyone that might be possibly infected while in the US there are multiple criteria to be satisfied before a test is carried out.
The US is absolutely fucked. As a country it stinks. Sorry to Robert, but I really think that. I was appalled on my last trip: just a complete disintegration in anything resembling a decent society.
You have been going to the wrong places then .
The USA is a wonderful country full of The entries spectrum of different kinds people just like the Uk.
America's one saving grace is that its people are quite lovely. Apart from the idiot in the White House.
We get it - you don’t like America or Americans -
Which part of 'Americans are lovely' did you not read? They're fabulous people.
America is absolutely fucked though. Go to NYC. Walk around. Open your eyes. Heck, do the same thing Upstate. Go to supposedly middle class places like Hartford CT and, again, walk around ... if you dare.
The country is in a god-awful absolute shithole mess.
Yes I can see you have travelled extensively within a ... checks notes ... 100 mile radius of a country 3000 miles wide and 1,500 North to South.
You should change your moniker to Mystic Judith Chalmers.
Drove 2800 miles in the USA this year alone. A place of wonder and spirit. Maybe losing the edge it had. But that’s everywhere in the west with maybe the exception of London.
I did 6,088 miles, and I'd echo that. It's strange how the assumptions you make about people's attitudes, which mostly fly in Europe, don't always seem to fit in the US. People there are quite different, but very friendly.
The people of the US are very different and always refer to visitors from the UK as English !!!!
I was disappointed that not one person asked me if I knew the Queen. Particularly as I had a photo of my meeting her on my phone, and never got the excuse to show it to anyone.
I spoke to a health professional recently who was utterly damning of 111.
"You're better off not calling them at all" was his verdict.
I would disagree, at least in respect of Coronavirus. A key part of managing suspected cases is directing people to appropriately equipped units. People with it randomly turning up in GP surgeries and emergency departments will spread the virus like wildfire.
Don't be gits, follow the instructions for everybody's sake.
Hmmm... When my wife rang 111 when I was ill they told us to wait till 8.30 and call the GP, who told us to call an ambulance immediately... which took 40 mins to show up.
Interestingly his grandmother recovered much more rapidly.
Always some tosser whining about how bad their man flu was. Some people are really ill on a daily basis and just have to get on with it. Now we are surrounded by snowflakes and arses panicking about something that is just slightly worse than flu for 99% of the people. Get a F***ing grip you wimpy gits.
You’re in a right grump this morning, malcolm.
Nigel I have spent last two months with someone desperately ill, so all this whining from some soft southern fannies about something that in 99% of cases is like a cold/flu is most annoying. All those clowns clogging up the NHS whilst there are really ill people unable to get treated, fecking shocking. last week at hospital they had notice up saying 97 people in january had not even bothered to turn up for their x-ray appointments, yet people cannot get treated, the people in this country are ungrateful shits, wax lyrical about free NHS etc but treat it like crap. Now needing to see a cardiologist and it is a 12 week waiting time to get an appointment, yet there will be hundreds not turning up for the appointments. Luckily I can just go private for my wife and get instant treatment rather than her being ill for months to come.
Good morning Malc.
You are spot on over the number of missed appointments by patients and it is unforgiveable. It does have an effect on the rest of us who keep appointments or make sure they are cancelled in good time
I hope both yourself and your good lady are continuing to recover from your health issues and are seeing a full recovery. I have had a nasty infection over the last four weeks requiring two courses of antibiotics and it does leave you drained
Take care
Cheers G, I am as fit as a butchers dog , was just a virus for me so cleared up with antibiotics. Wife is on the mend, even if slowly. Look forward to spring and some decent weather. Hope you are well soon.
Thanks Malc. Yes spring is coming and good to see your wife is on the mend
Have you got severe chest pain? (yes = we'll send an ambulance) Have you got a fever? (yes = go to the hospital)(edit/soon to be = stay in bed) Do you feel really ill? (yes = go to the doctor) No = take a paracetamol.
I spoke to a health professional recently who was utterly damning of 111.
"You're better off not calling them at all" was his verdict.
I would disagree, at least in respect of Coronavirus. A key part of managing suspected cases is directing people to appropriately equipped units. People with it randomly turning up in GP surgeries and emergency departments will spread the virus like wildfire.
Don't be gits, follow the instructions for everybody's sake.
111 is patchy at best. I'd be curious to know what advice they are giving out to people calling thinking they might have COVID-19. When they know it will most likely be flu, cold or man flu on the other end of the line.
Interestingly his grandmother recovered much more rapidly.
Always some tosser whining about how bad their man flu was. Some people are really ill on a daily basis and just have to get on with it. Now we are surrounded by snowflakes and arses panicking about something that is just slightly worse than flu for 99% of the people. Get a F***ing grip you wimpy gits.
You’re in a right grump this morning, malcolm.
Nigel I have spent last two months with someone desperately ill, so all this whining from some soft southern fannies about something that in 99% of cases is like a cold/flu is most annoying. All those clowns clogging up the NHS whilst there are really ill people unable to get treated, fecking shocking. last week at hospital they had notice up saying 97 people in january had not even bothered to turn up for their x-ray appointments, yet people cannot get treated, the people in this country are ungrateful shits, wax lyrical about free NHS etc but treat it like crap. Now needing to see a cardiologist and it is a 12 week waiting time to get an appointment, yet there will be hundreds not turning up for the appointments. Luckily I can just go private for my wife and get instant treatment rather than her being ill for months to come.
Good morning Malc.
You are spot on over the number of missed appointments by patients and it is unforgiveable. It does have an effect on the rest of us who keep appointments or make sure they are cancelled in good time
I hope both yourself and your good lady are continuing to recover from your health issues and are seeing a full recovery. I have had a nasty infection over the last four weeks requiring two courses of antibiotics and it does leave you drained
Take care
Cheers G, I am as fit as a butchers dog , was just a virus for me so cleared up with antibiotics. Wife is on the mend, even if slowly. Look forward to spring and some decent weather. Hope you are well soon.
Thanks Malc. Yes spring is coming and good to see your wife is on the mend
AFAIK antibiotics are useless on viruses.....
They are - but sometimes the damage viruses do lets bacteria in on the illness and antibiotics can take them out.
Interestingly his grandmother recovered much more rapidly.
Always some tosser whining about how bad their man flu was. Some people are really ill on a daily basis and just have to get on with it. Now we are surrounded by snowflakes and arses panicking about something that is just slightly worse than flu for 99% of the people. Get a F***ing grip you wimpy gits.
You’re in a right grump this morning, malcolm.
Some of the posts from Mystic and SO would spoil anyone’s cup of Earl Grey and Fortnam and Masons marmalade on toast.
Is there really any need for that kind of personalised insult?
I don't see how or why you should determine that criticising the current social inequalities in the US are evidence of 'snobbery.' It's the absolute opposite of that, and no it's not borne of metropolitan elitism. I have seen what's going on there with my own eyes and it's not pretty. But then, as a bestselling author (Sean's not the only one on here) it's my job to scratch beneath the tourist veneer.
This is, normally, a good forum with decent debate and some banter. Just because someone disagrees with you doesn't mean it's right to be personally insulting. Take that bile across to Guido Fawkes where you will find a ready market.
Go there yourself you pompous arse, you are a recent newcomer, you come on here sneering and looking down your nose thinking you are something special. You sound far more like Billy Liar, you chop and change daily apart from your pompous sneering nastiness. Don't bump your arse on the way out. Now you are a bestselling author , pull the other one it plays bells. Prove it.
New cases in Washington. Adolescent, initially wasn't tested due to not being in contact with a diagnosed victim. Returned to school before being pulled out after a positive test.
The US seems remarkably stingy in its testing - looks like the U.K. tests anyone that might be possiblyeak. If the US was testing at the same rate as the U.K. they would have carried out over 45,000 tests, not the 455 they have done.
The US is absolutely fucked. As a country it stinks. Sorry to Robert, but I really think that. I was appalled on my last trip: just a complete disintegration in anything resembling a decent society.
You have been going to the wrong places then .
The USA is a wonderful country full of The entries spectrum of different kinds people just like the Uk.
I'm afraid it really isn't. And if you call the wrong places major states and NYC then there's not a lot of the US left.
I
I compare it to how theiot in the White House.
We get it - you don’t like America or Americans -
Which part of 'Americans are lovely' did you not read? They're fabulous people.
America is absolutelyess.
Yes I can see you have travelled extensively within a ... checks notes ... 100 mile radius of a country 3000 miles wide and 1,500 North to South.
You should change your moniker to Mystic Judith Chalmers.
Drove 2800 miles in the USA this year alone. A place of wonder and spirit. Maybe losing the edge it had. But that’s everywhere in the west with maybe the exception of London.
I did 6,088 miles, and I'd echo that. It's strange how the assumptions you make about people's attitudes, which mostly fly in Europe, don't always seem to fit in the US. People there are quite different, but very friendly.
There’s a real sense of warmth to British visitors. Once you leave the big urban areas the politeness and courtesy is slightly disarming. Children and teenagers will call you sir as they hold the door open for you or address you. Without an ounce of sarcasm.
Interestingly his grandmother recovered much more rapidly.
Always some tosser whining about how bad their man flu was. Some people are really ill on a daily basis and just have to get on with it. Now we are surrounded by snowflakes and arses panicking about something that is just slightly worse than flu for 99% of the people. Get a F***ing grip you wimpy gits.
You’re in a right grump this morning, malcolm.
Nigel I have spent last two months with someone desperately ill, so all this whining from some soft southern fannies about something that in 99% of cases is like a cold/flu is most annoying. All those clowns clogging up the NHS whilst there are really ill people unable to get treated, fecking shocking. last week at hospital they had notice up saying 97 people in january had not even bothered to turn up for their x-ray appointments, yet people cannot get treated, the people in this country are ungrateful shits, wax lyrical about free NHS etc but treat it like crap. Now needing to see a cardiologist and it is a 12 week waiting time to get an appointment, yet there will be hundreds not turning up for the appointments. Luckily I can just go private for my wife and get instant treatment rather than her being ill for months to come.
Good morning Malc.
You are spot on over the number of missed appointments by patients and it is unforgiveable. It does have an effect on the rest of us who keep appointments or make sure they are cancelled in good time
I hope both yourself and your good lady are continuing to recover from your health issues and are seeing a full recovery. I have had a nasty infection over the last four weeks requiring two courses of antibiotics and it does leave you drained
Take care
Cheers G, I am as fit as a butchers dog , was just a virus for me so cleared up with antibiotics. Wife is on the mend, even if slowly. Look forward to spring and some decent weather. Hope you are well soon.
Thanks Malc. Yes spring is coming and good to see your wife is on the mend
New cases in Washington. Adolescent, initially wasn't tested due to not being in contact with a diagnosed victim. Returned to school before being pulled out after a positive test.
The US
The US is absolutely fucked. As a country it stinks. Sorry to Robert, but I really think that. I was appalled on my last trip: just a complete disintegration in anything resembling a decent society.
You have been going to the wrong places then .
The USA is a wonderful country full of The entries spectrum of different kinds people just like the Uk.
I'm afraid it really isn't. And if you call the wrong places major states and NYC then there's not a lot of the US left.
I
I cthem.
America's one saving grace is that its people are quite lovely. Apart from the idiot in the White House.
We get it - you don’t like America or Americans -
Which part of 'Americans are lovely' did you not read? They're fabulous people.
America is absolutely fucked though. Go to NYC. Walk around. Open your eyes. Heck, do the same thing Upstate. Go to supposedly middle class places like Hartford CT and, again, walk around ... if you dare.
The country is in a god-awful absolute shithole mess.
Yes I can see you have travelled extensively within a ... checks notes ... 100 mile radius of a country 3000 miles wide and 1,500 North to South.
You should change your moniker to Mystic Judith Chalmers.
Drove 2800 miles in the USA this year alone. A place of wonder and spirit. Maybe losing the edge it had. But that’s everywhere in the west with maybe the exception of London.
I did 6,088 miles, and I'd echo that. It's strange how the assumptions you make about people's attitudes, which mostly fly in Europe, don't always seem to fit in the US. People there are quite different, but very friendly.
The US is the only place in the world where I feel actively European!
I'm almost surprised that I agree with you.
Mind you, I didn't feel that way in Canada where I felt I was amongst kindred spirits.
Being an author means you have skills in making stuff up. Apart from that - not much...
SeanT struggled even with the former. If by skill you mean credibly.
Wow. Having a go at Sean Thomas for being a highly successful author now?
To write great fiction you have to study people and places. Not simply driving in your air conditioned 4x4 down the Interstate. I mean, really get down and dirty with people. And that, my friend, is not fiction.
I spoke to a health professional recently who was utterly damning of 111.
"You're better off not calling them at all" was his verdict.
I would disagree, at least in respect of Coronavirus. A key part of managing suspected cases is directing people to appropriately equipped units. People with it randomly turning up in GP surgeries and emergency departments will spread the virus like wildfire.
Don't be gits, follow the instructions for everybody's sake.
Hmmm... When my wife rang 111 when I was ill they told us to wait till 8.30 and call the GP, who told us to call an ambulance immediately... which took 40 mins to show up.
Yes I think you have to be very careful with symptoms. When I had ambulance arrive the paramedics were miffed as they had been told it was cardiac and were suggesting we call a GP etc. After some remonstrating they did ECG and as it was not normal they said it needed hospital, if I had just let it go and waited to get a GP who knows what outcome would have been. You even have receptionists deciding if you can see GP nowadays, when I recently called and said I had cough for 3 weeks and ill they said under new protocol that I should go to pharmacist for a cough. Only when I asked if pharmacist could cure breathlessness did they give me an appointment.
PS: Have to add the NHS treatment once in hospital was superb, the staff in the HDU were really brilliant and shows the NHS at its best, just a pity it is patchy at the outer edges when not emergency. People really do abuse the system and cause a lot of that though , they should be made to pay for it.
Interestingly his grandmother recovered much more rapidly.
Always some tosser whining about how bad their man flu was. Some people are really ill on a daily basis and just have to get on with it. Now we are surrounded by snowflakes and arses panicking about something that is just slightly worse than flu for 99% of the people. Get a F***ing grip you wimpy gits.
You’re in a right grump this morning, malcolm.
Nigel I have spent last two months with someone desperately ill, so all this whining from some soft southern fannies about something that in 99% of cases is like a cold/flu is most annoying. All those clowns clogging up the NHS whilst there are really ill people unable to get treated, fecking shocking. last week at hospital they had notice up saying 97 people in january had not even bothered to turn up for their x-ray appointments, yet people cannot get treated, the people in this country are ungrateful shits, wax lyrical about free NHS etc but treat it like crap. Now needing to see a cardiologist and it is a 12 week waiting time to get an appointment, yet there will be hundreds not turning up for the appointments. Luckily I can just go private for my wife and get instant treatment rather than her being ill for months to come.
Fair enough. I’d understood your wife is on the mend - I hope that’s still the case ?
Yes she is still improving but the pneumonia has caused atrial flutter so she needs to get that sorted, saw specialist yesterday and he was very positive and reckons he will sort it out.
Being an author means you have skills in making stuff up. Apart from that - not much...
SeanT struggled even with the former. If by skill you mean credibly.
Wow. Having a go at Sean Thomas for being a highly successful author now?
To write great fiction you have to study people and places. Not simply driving in your air conditioned 4x4 down the Interstate. I mean, really get down and dirty with people. And that, my friend, is not fiction.
As a newbie I think you misunderstand. I know nothing of his fiction, except what has been presented to us here as disguise, which failed hopelessly.
New cases in Washington. Adolescent, initially wasn't tested due to not being in contact with a diagnosed victim. Returned to school before being pulled out after a positive test.
The US
The US is absolutely fucked. As a country it stinks. Sorry to Robert, but I really think that. I was appalled on my last trip: just a complete disintegration in anything resembling a decent society.
You have been going to the wrong places then .
The USA is a wonderful country full of The entries spectrum of different kinds people just like the Uk.
I'm afraid it really isn't. And if you call the wrong places major states and NYC then there's not a lot of the US left.
I
I cthem.
America's one saving grace is that its people are quite lovely. Apart from the idiot in the White House.
We get it - you don’t like America or Americans -
Which part of 'Americans are lovely' did you not read? They're fabulous people.
America is absolutely fucked though. Go to NYC. Walk around. Open your eyes. Heck, do the same thing Upstate. Go to supposedly middle class places like Hartford CT and, again, walk around ... if you dare.
The country is in a god-awful absolute shithole mess.
Yes I can see you have travelled extensively within a ... checks notes ... 100 mile radius of a country 3000 miles wide and 1,500 North to South.
You should change your moniker to Mystic Judith Chalmers.
Drove 2800 miles in the USA this year alone. A place of wonder and spirit. Maybe losing the edge it had. But that’s everywhere in the west with maybe the exception of London.
I did 6,088 miles, and I'd echo that. It's strange how the assumptions you make about people's attitudes, which mostly fly in Europe, don't always seem to fit in the US. People there are quite different, but very friendly.
The US is the only place in the world where I feel actively European!
I didn't feel that way in Canada where I felt I was amongst kindred spirits.
Agree - I found myself in a food court in a Toronto mall and thought "this could almost be Dundee" - the other country that feels remarkably similar is New Zealand. Which may help explain why the Anglosphere, despite no freedom of movement is the most popular choice for British expats and emigrants.
New cases in Washington. Adolescent, initially wasn't tested due to not being in contact with a diagnosed victim. Returned to school before being pulled out after a positive test.
The US
The US is absolutely fucked. As a country it stinks. Sorry to Robert, but I really think that. I was appalled on my last trip: just a complete disintegration in anything resembling a decent society.
You have been going to the wrong places then .
The USA is a wonderful country full of The entries spectrum of different kinds people just like the Uk.
I'm afraid it really isn't. And if you call the wrong places major states and NYC then there's not a lot of the US left.
I
I cthem.
America's one saving grace is that its people are quite lovely. Apart from the idiot in the White House.
We get it - you don’t like America or Americans -
Which part of 'Americans are lovely' did you not read? They're fabulous people.
America is absolalk around ... if you dare.
The country is in a god-awful absolute shithole mess.
Yes I can see you have travelled extensively within a ... checks notes ... 100 mile radius of a country 3000 miles wide and 1,500 North to South.
You should change your moniker to Mystic Judith Chalmers.
Drove 2800 miles in the USA this year alone. A place of wonder and spirit. Maybe losing the edge it had. But that’s everywhere in the west with maybe the exception of London.
I did 6,088 miles, and I'd echo that. It's strange how the assumptions you make about people's attitudes, which mostly fly in Europe, don't always seem to fit in the US. People there are quite different, but very friendly.
The US is the only place in the world where I feel actively European!
I didn't feel that way in Canada where I felt I was amongst kindred spirits.
Agree - I found myself in a food court in a Toronto mall and thought "this could almost be Dundee" - the other country that feels remarkably similar is New Zealand. Which may help explain why the Anglosphere, despite no freedom of movement is the most popular choice for British expats and emigrants.
And in Australia they have many British characteristics more extremely (except pessimism), especially in humour.
Have you got severe chest pain? (yes = we'll send an ambulance) Have you got a fever? (yes = go to the hospital)(edit/soon to be = stay in bed) Do you feel really ill? (yes = go to the doctor) No = take a paracetamol.
New cases in Washington. Adolescent, initially wasn't tested due to not being in contact with a diagnosed victim. Returned to school before being pulled out after a positive test.
The US seems remarkably stingy in its testing - looks like the U.K. tests anyone that might be possibly infected while in the US there are multiple criteria to be satisfied before a test is carried out.
The US is absolutely fucked. As a country it stinks. Sorry to Robert, but I really think that. I was appalled on my last trip: just a complete disintegration in anything resembling a decent society.
You have been going to the wrong places then .
The USA is a wonderful country full of The entries spectrum of different kinds people just like the Uk.
America's one saving grace is that its people are quite lovely. Apart from the idiot in the White House.
We get it - you don’t like America or Americans -
Which part of 'Americans are lovely' did you not read? They're fabulous people.
America is absolutely fucked though. Go to NYC. Walk around. Open your eyes. Heck, do the same thing Upstate. Go to supposedly middle class places like Hartford CT and, again, walk around ... if you dare.
The country is in a god-awful absolute shithole mess.
Yes I can see you have travelled extensively within a ... checks notes ... 100 mile radius of a country 3000 miles wide and 1,500 North to South.
You should change your moniker to Mystic Judith Chalmers.
Drove 2800 miles in the USA this year alone. A place of wonder and spirit. Maybe losing the edge it had. But that’s everywhere in the west with maybe the exception of London.
I did 6,088 miles, and I'd echo that. It's strange how the assumptions you make about people's attitudes, which mostly fly in Europe, don't always seem to fit in the US. People there are quite different, but very friendly.
The people of the US are very different and always refer to visitors from the UK as English !!!!
I was disappointed that not one person asked me if I knew the Queen. Particularly as I had a photo of my meeting her on my phone, and never got the excuse to show it to anyone.
I always feel I should do something special on 29th February, something I wouldn't normally do. Went and fed otters at the local sanctuary four years ago. Anybody doing anything of note?
No doubt Dominic Cummings sees Covid-19 as a Darwinian opportunity. Hopefully, he is being kept as far away from response planning as is humanly possible!
“No doubt Jeremy is hoping lots of Jews catch it”
On a more serious note, if/when Covid-19 gets into the Gaza strip its going to be a horror show.
The Uyghurs as well may well be in for a tough time.
New cases in Washington. Adolescent, initially wasn't tested due to not being in contact with a diagnosed victim. Returned to school before being pulled out after a positive test.
The US seems remarkably stingy in its testing - looks like the U.K. tests anyone that might be possibly infected while in the US there are multiple criteria to be satisfied before a test is carried out. Yesterday alone the U.K. carried out nearly twice the number of tests that the US has conducted since the start of the outbreak. If the US was testing at the same rate as the U.K. they would have carried out over 45,000 tests, not the 455 they have done.
The US is absolutely fucked. As a country it stinks. Sorry to Robert, but I really think that. I was appalled on my last trip: just a complete disintegration in anything resembling a decent society.
You have been going to the wrong places then .
The USA is a wonderful country full of The entries spectrum of different kinds people just like the Uk.
I'm afraid it really isn't. And if you call the wrong places major states and NYC then there's not a lot of the US left.
It's utterly fucked. A dystopian nightmare of social inequality where 'the American Dream is benefiting from someone else's misfortune' (John Green). The amount of homeless has rocketed. The middle classes try to have them bused out of the suburbs into the town centres so that the WASPS don't have to see them - which is probably why you think it's all rosy.
I compare it to how the white South Africans viewed their country during apartheid: oblivious to the real human tragedy and social disintegration going on around them.
America's one saving grace is that its people are quite lovely. Apart from the idiot in the White House.
The severe homelessness and poverty in US downtowns is utterly harrowing. In Atlanta, I saw amputees wheeling around with begging bowls, daily. Perhaps a dose of ‘socialism‘ (ie basic healthcare and state decency) might be good for the country.
Reminds me of my experience on jury service (in central London). Case nearly done by Friday lunchtime, come 2pm the judge says "Im sure we all have our homes in the country to head to so lets adjourn for the weekend". Everyone has to come back for an hour on Monday. I was flabbergasted.
New cases in Washington. Adolescent, initially wasn't tested due to not being in contact with a diagnosed victim. Returned to school before being pulled out after a positive test.
The US seems remarkably stingy in its testing - looks like the U.K. tests anyone that might be possibly infected while in the US there are multiple criteria to be satisfied before a test is carried out. Yesterday alone the U.K. carried out nearly twice the number of tests that the US has conducted since the start of the outbreak. If the US was testing at the same rate as the U.K. they would have carried out over 45,000 tests, not the 455 they have done.
The US is absolutely fucked. As a country it stinks. Sorry to Robert, but I really think that. I was appalled on my last trip: just a complete disintegration in anything resembling a decent society.
You have been going to the wrong places then .
The USA is a wonderful country full of The entries spectrum of different kinds people just like the Uk.
I'm afraid it really isn't. And if you call the wrong places major states and NYC then there's not a lot of the US left.
It's utterly fucked. A dystopian nightmare of social inequality where 'the American Dream is benefiting from someone else's misfortune' (John Green). The amount of homeless has rocketed. The middle classes try to have them bused out of the suburbs into the town centres so that the WASPS don't have to see them - which is probably why you think it's all rosy.
I compare it to how the white South Africans viewed their country during apartheid: oblivious to the real human tragedy and social disintegration going on around them.
America's one saving grace is that its people are quite lovely. Apart from the idiot in the White House.
The severe homelessness and poverty in US downtowns is utterly harrowing. In Atlanta, I saw amputees wheeling around with begging bowls, daily. Perhaps a dose of ‘socialism‘ (ie basic healthcare and state decency) might be good for the country.
New cases in Washington. Adolescent, initially wasn't tested due to not being in contact with a diagnosed victim. Returned to school before being pulled out after a positive test.
The US
The US is absolutely fucked. As a country it stinks. Sorry to Robert, but I really think that. I was appalled on my last trip: just a complete disintegration in anything resembling a decent society.
You have been going to the wrong places then .
The USA is a wonderful country full of The entries spectrum of different kinds people just like the Uk.
I'm afraid it really isn't. And if you call the wrong places major states and NYC then there's not a lot of the US left.
I
I cthem.
America's one saving grace is that its people are quite lovely. Apart from the idiot in the White House.
We get it - you don’t like America or Americans -
Ws.
Yes I can see you have travelled extensively within a ... checks notes ... 100 mile radius of a country 3000 miles wide and 1,500 North to South.
You should change your moniker to Mystic Judith Chalmers.
Drove 2800 miles in the USA this year alone. A place of wonder and spirit. Maybe losing the edge it had. But that’s everywhere in the west with maybe the exception of London.
I did 6,088 miles, and I'd echo that. It's strange how the assumptions you make about people's attitudes, which mostly fly in Europe, don't always seem to fit in the US. People there are quite different, but very friendly.
The US is the only place in the world where I feel actively European!
I didn't feel that way in Canada where I felt I was amongst kindred spirits.
Agree - I found myself in a food court in a Toronto mall and thought "this could almost be Dundee" - the other country that feels remarkably similar is New Zealand. Which may help explain why the Anglosphere, despite no freedom of movement is the most popular choice for British expats and emigrants.
It helps that you feel they're on your side.
Most Canadians outside Quebec have some British or Irish ancestry and when I went there (during the world cup) they were all supporting England.
I always feel I should do something special on 29th February, something I wouldn't normally do. Went and fed otters at the local sanctuary four years ago. Anybody doing anything of note?
New cases in Washington. Adolescent, initially wasn't tested due to not being in contact with a diagnosed victim. Returned to school before being pulled out after a positive test.
The US
The US is absolutely fucked. As a country it stinks. Sorry to Robert, but I really think that. I was appalled on my last trip: just a complete disintegration in anything resembling a decent society.
You have been going to the wrong places then .
The USA is a wonderful country full of The entries spectrum of different kinds people just like the Uk.
I'm afraid it really isn't. And if you call the wrong places major states and NYC then there's not a lot of the US left.
I
I cthem.
America's one saving grace is that its people are quite lovely. Apart from the idiot in the White House.
We get it - you don’t like America or Americans -
Which part of 'Americans are lovely' did you not read? They're fabulous people.
America is absolutely fucked though. Go to NYC. Walk around. Open your eyes. Heck, do the same thing Upstate. Go to supposedly middle class places like Hartford CT and, again, walk around ... if you dare.
The country is in a god-awful absolute shithole mess.
Yes I can see you have travelled extensively within a ... checks notes ... 100 mile radius of a country 3000 miles wide and 1,500 North to South.
You should change your moniker to Mystic Judith Chalmers.
Drove 2800 miles in the USA this year alone. A place of wonder and spirit. Maybe losing the edge it had. But that’s everywhere in the west with maybe the exception of London.
Snip
The US is the only place in the world where I feel actively European!
I didn't feel that way in Canada where I felt I was amongst kindred spirits.
——popular choice for British expats and emigrants.
I find the comparison with NZ hugely overstated; bar the similar language and weather.
NZ has great landscapes but is culturally deathly boring. Endless faceless towns with barely a decent pub or restaurant between them; mundane architecture; crap beer; rampant newness.
It’s really nothing like England, which is one of the loveliest, cosiest, countries on Earth.
Comments
Perhaps focus on reality not the projections of your prejudices?
I don't like Boris as much as you don't , but as George Osborne [pointed out so succinctly, it was the Labour Party (by its policies and having Corbyn as leader) that put the Tories in. Suck it up mate.. for the next 10 yrs or so.
His granny wore a mask. She got it.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/journal-plague-year-180965222/
What proved even more deadly was the government policy toward the truth. When the United States entered the war, Woodrow Wilson demanded that “the spirit of ruthless brutality...enter into the very fibre of national life.” So he created the Committee on Public Information, which was inspired by an adviser who wrote, “Truth and falsehood are arbitrary terms....The force of an idea lies in its inspirational value. It matters very little if it is true or false.”
“ Robert Shiller, the Nobel laureate, spends his book Narrative Economics exploring how narratives like these, often false, develop and the real consequences they have.
Heavy users of news, such as financial markets*, are most susceptible, he says, and, sure enough, in explaining what has been moving prices, one asset manager said yesterday: “We are being buffeted every few hours by the news flow.” Italy’s foreign minister called it an “infodemic” and appealed for calm.”
*or users of political message boards, perhaps.
Can’t complain when readers zone out at the same posts backdated a year.
Much of it comes down to simple resource constraints, I guess.
All those clowns clogging up the NHS whilst there are really ill people unable to get treated, fecking shocking. last week at hospital they had notice up saying 97 people in january had not even bothered to turn up for their x-ray appointments, yet people cannot get treated, the people in this country are ungrateful shits, wax lyrical about free NHS etc but treat it like crap.
Now needing to see a cardiologist and it is a 12 week waiting time to get an appointment, yet there will be hundreds not turning up for the appointments. Luckily I can just go private for my wife and get instant treatment rather than her being ill for months to come.
I’d understood your wife is on the mend - I hope that’s still the case ?
I was worrying you might have been looking at your share portfolio.
I doubt it will make much difference. The electoral maths heavily favours Trump as far as I can see. Theabsolutely key in a close election. And it is much easier to prevent the wrong people voting.
_————————
This whole culture war thing. It must be repeated. It wasn’t disenfranchised not doing well people outside of big cities that started the culture wars, or even looked like they were winning any of the skirmishes. It was certainly a one way battle. Brexit was the first victory against a one way battle, and trump was the second.
What’s extraordinary, in losing these first two battles, the response from the left has been to double down, if not double down again in top of that.
How else could we explain a mainstream candidate for labour leadership thinking that male rapists and child sex offenders who self identify as women should be put in a women’s prison?
Or having watered down racist to an overused meaningless word with little power, now bizarrely ‘white supremacy’ is thrown around as a fact , and that ‘whiteness’ is a problem endemic in all white people and right wing supporting none white people.
You are spot on over the number of missed appointments by patients and it is unforgiveable. It does have an effect on the rest of us who keep appointments or make sure they are cancelled in good time
I hope both yourself and your good lady are continuing to recover from your health issues and are seeing a full recovery. I have had a nasty infection over the last four weeks requiring two courses of antibiotics and it does leave you drained
Take care
......the most important lesson from 1918 is to tell the truth. Though that idea is incorporated into every preparedness plan I know of, its actual implementation will depend on the character and leadership of the people in charge when a crisis erupts.
If you are rich enough, it still will not alter the fact that its going to stick in your craw for the next 10 yrs or so, and even if you move abroad, you will still be looking to home. You cannot escape it.
Even if Boris gets ditched, it does not mean its going to be a Labour Govt, it really doesn't.
The incubation period of influenza is two to three days. Two days after the parade, Krusen (Philadelphia public health director) conceded that the epidemic “now present in the civilian population was...assuming the type found in” Army camps. Still, he cautioned not to be “panic stricken over exaggerated reports.”
...
Krusen finally and belatedly ordered all schools closed and banned all public gatherings—yet a newspaper nonsensically said the order was not “a public health measure” and “there is no cause for panic or alarm.”
There was plenty of cause. At its worst, the epidemic in Philadelphia would kill 759 people...in one day. Priests drove horse-drawn carts down city streets, calling upon residents to bring out their dead; many were buried in mass graves. More than 12,000 Philadelphians died—nearly all of them in six weeks."
"Most rumours are false" does not imply "all rumours are false." "The ship has hit an iceberg and is sinking" is sometimes true. Talk of "hysterical death porn" at this stage is as responsible and as intelligent as Trump talking about fake news and hoaxes.
I don't see how or why you should determine that criticising the current social inequalities in the US are evidence of 'snobbery.' It's the absolute opposite of that, and no it's not borne of metropolitan elitism. I have seen what's going on there with my own eyes and it's not pretty. But then, as a bestselling author (Sean's not the only one on here) it's my job to scratch beneath the tourist veneer.
This is, normally, a good forum with decent debate and some banter. Just because someone disagrees with you doesn't mean it's right to be personally insulting. Take that bile across to Guido Fawkes where you will find a ready market.
so she needs to get that sorted, saw specialist yesterday and he was very positive and reckons he will sort it out.
Hope you are well soon.
Surprisingly hierarchical too - I worked in a US Corporation and the difference in attitude to commands from on high was striking - Boss says something - US manager response - "Lets get it done", UK manager response "What's the old fool said now and how do we get round it?".
Yet on the other hand, when you meet an eccentric, there are no limits.
Don't be gits, follow the instructions for everybody's sake.
I wore it with pride.
Have you got severe chest pain? (yes = we'll send an ambulance)
Have you got a fever? (yes = go to the hospital)(edit/soon to be = stay in bed)
Do you feel really ill? (yes = go to the doctor)
No = take a paracetamol.
Deny as much as you like but Eadric was right.
Mind you, I didn't feel that way in Canada where I felt I was amongst kindred spirits.
To write great fiction you have to study people and places. Not simply driving in your air conditioned 4x4 down the Interstate. I mean, really get down and dirty with people. And that, my friend, is not fiction.
You even have receptionists deciding if you can see GP nowadays, when I recently called and said I had cough for 3 weeks and ill they said under new protocol that I should go to pharmacist for a cough.
Only when I asked if pharmacist could cure breathlessness did they give me an appointment.
PS: Have to add the NHS treatment once in hospital was superb, the staff in the HDU were really brilliant and shows the NHS at its best, just a pity it is patchy at the outer edges when not emergency.
People really do abuse the system and cause a lot of that though , they should be made to pay for it.
They are able to book an appointment with your GP within 24 hours. That is easier and quicker doing it yourself
21 today?
Quite like that from Stephen King.
"Still a man hears what he wants to hear
And disregards the rest..."
Most Canadians outside Quebec have some British or Irish ancestry and when I went there (during the world cup) they were all supporting England.
Glad to hear you and your wife are feeling better mate.
Top Home Office civil servant Sir Philip Rutnam resigns, and intends to sue government for constructive dismissal
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-51687287
NZ has great landscapes but is culturally deathly boring. Endless faceless towns with barely a decent pub or restaurant between them; mundane architecture; crap beer; rampant newness.
It’s really nothing like England, which is one of the loveliest, cosiest, countries on Earth.