Coronavirus UK is a big issue so there will be a series of posts. I intend to explain in some detail why UK is pursuing it’s current course (essentially the NHS is totally overwhelmed so the purpose is to reduce infection as far as possible), how the Coronavirus crisis is also a crisis for Capitalism (and compare and contrast to the previous crisis of Capitalism 2008). Hopefully people are realising that good health and an adequately funded and otherwise properly resourced health system is of paramount importance.
One issue to note now: Official guidance to wash hands often is simplified. The reason behind it is that viruses spread through fomites – objects that are shared by people. The obvious ones I can think of are shared rails and handles on public transport, buttons on intercoms, elevators, entry or exit to blocks of flats, handles on supermarket baskets and trolleys. It is suggested that Coronavirus / Covid-19 can remain viable on metal and wood fomites for up to 48 hours.
… In the last several months, the editorial policies of almost all his English-language news organizations have hewn very closely to Mr. Murdoch’s own stridently hawkish political views, making his voice among the loudest in the Anglophone world in the international debate over the American-led war with Iraq.
Mr. Murdoch, however, plays down his personal role in the unanimous views of his papers, explaining that he no longer has the time to dispense day-to-day instructions to his editors or producers. ”I think that all our papers are certainly supportive of the armed forces,” Mr. Murdoch said in an interview last week, ”But that is not me calling the editors.”
Still, he has made no secret of his opinions. ”We can’t back down now, where you hand over the whole of the Middle East to Saddam,” Mr. Murdoch told the Bulletin, an Australian magazine, in February. ”Bush is acting very morally, very correctly,” he said. ”The greatest thing to come of this for the world economy, if you could put it that way, would be $20 a barrel for oil. That’s bigger than any tax cut in any country.” …
… [Boris ‘Alien’ Johnson] called The Times, The Sunday Times, The Sun and The Sun on Sunday, “the four constituent parts of the oldest and most successful union in the history of Fleet Street”. The Tory Mayor went on to praise News Corp chairman Rupert Murdoch as a “wise, benevolent, and far-sighted monarchical figure”...
Boris Johnson saw Rupert Murdoch for a “social meeting” on the day he signalled his intention to seek a general election last year, according to new transparency disclosures.
It’s uncertain who paid for Boris and Carrie’s Mustique holiday. Boris has declared it was paid for by Carphone Warehouse boss David Ross. Applying my maxim that Boris ‘Alien’ Liar is totally alien to the truth and that instead you would be closer to the truth by accepting the opposite of anything and everything he says, he’s lying (and optionally that he has acid for blood and can survive molten lead). Ross said that was wrong and that he hadn’t paid for it, then said that it was sort of right because he had arranged it. So basically, we don’t know who paid for it. My guess is that Murdoch paid for it as a reward for BJ being such a recompensating thrall.
I realise that it’s strange to regard Bully Boy Johnson as a serf or thrall. The way it works is that our place is pretty low but it’s all relative and despite Boris being privileged it doesn’t really count compared to Maggie’s bstard Murdoch. Murdoch was facilitated by Thatcher – do your own research, disprove me if you can. We see that we are repeatedly fekked over by useless, incompetent Tory sihts.
While we’re on the topic of social stratification, that’s when racism and misogyny step on to play their part. It’s part of the BS spewed up by Murdoch’s news empire, part of the BS ideology by which the 1% – or even the 1% of the 1% – retain their power and privilege. Through racism and misogyny even nasty, misogynist racist xenophobic ignoramuses can believe that they’re better – have higher status – than others. Murdoch even employs them in prominent political positions to do his bidding.
Moving on Corbyn criticised BJ for deporting black people – that Murdoch xenophobia agenda again.
Boris the Alien is very keen on huge ridiculous technological ventures. He’s proposing a useless bridge between Scotland and Northern Ireland. He’s unhinged. Actually, I think that he’s an alcoholic.
… Johnson has long been an enthusiast for major infrastructure projects, but his visions only sometimes become reality, and those which do have had a tendency to not fully deliver on his promises.
As London mayor, Johnson pushed repeatedly for the garden bridge across the Thames, despite repeated warnings about its economic unfeasibility and the complication of securing planning consents, wasting £53.5m of funds, £43m of it taxpayers’ money.
An even more ambitious idea for a new London airport in the Thames estuary came to nothing. As mayor, Johnson did deliver a £60m cable car across the Thames in east London, but a supposed key transport link later turned out to have just four regular users.
More expensive still was Johnson’s plan for a “new Routemaster” bus for the city, allowing passengers to hop on and off open platforms.
Transport for London paid more than £280m for a fleet of the buses which turned out to be baking hot in the summer, with the doors kept closed for safety reasons, and were unable to be sold to any other cities. …
... In a speech setting out his goals for trade after Brexit, the prime minister said the UK would not accept a “diminution of standards” on food hygiene or animal welfare as a result of a deal with the US.
He also said Britain would be “governed by science, not mumbo-jumbo” when looking at whether imported food was acceptable for consumption in the UK. Johnson criticised “America bashers” who take a “hysterical” attitude towards US food and view it as “inferior”. …
It appears that computer security / privacy is now historical. Looking into the isues I’ve had, modern puters have co-processors for use by manufacturers and / or three-letter government agencies. They have a direct route into these puters and are able to evade firewalls, etc. (It’s ring -2 and -3 code for geeks).
Congratulations to Sinn Fein on their Irish election results. [Their history is exactly that and they are now a legitimate left-wing party.]
*1 You have a choice: 1. The one thing that sets Boris Johnson apart is that he is a totally unashamed lying cnut. Telling the truth is totally alien to him. You would be closer to the truth by simply accepting the direct opposite of anything and everything he says. 2. Boris Johnson is a very nasty, incredibly resilient alien with acid for blood who can survive molten lead. 3. 1 and 2.
Apologies that I didn’t have much time to prepare this post. I’m otherwise busy.
The UK government has lost in the courts time after time on issues like people’s right to clean air, clean waters and clean beaches. And now, guess what? The Government wants to use the EU Withdrawal Bill to give Ministers the power to set aside those EU related court defeats.
Theresa May’s government said they would retain existing EU case law that was in place when we left the EU. If changes needed to be made then Parliament would go through the process of fresh legislation and public scrutiny. But Boris Johnson’s Government want to exchange that legal certainty for a process of Ministerial diktat. They claim that the senior judiciary will be consulted on any changes before they happen, but the members of the senior judiciary in the House of Lords have expressed deep unhappiness with scrapping EU case law and want it retained so courts can refer to the judgements instead of the painful option of starting all over again.
…
This is about deregulation. The United Kingdom became a member of the EU in 1973. Since then UK law has developed in tandem with EU law – not dictated by the EU but having regard for EU laws and treaties. Boris & Co want to abandon all the development of law since then and return to the 70s. We had filthy, polluted rivers then and raw sewage on beaches.
It won’t only be about abandoning environmental protections. Jenny Jones’s article continues to discuss workers’ rights. For example abandoning EU case law will effect the paid holidays that we have become accustomed to. The Tories are really not keen on human rights… Then there are food safety standards – US food safety standards are abysmal compared to EU safety standards – they want you to eat siht.
