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Questions Of The Day (Politics)
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Mick Harper
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In: London
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Here's an idea to solve a major problem. Anyone who's stopped and searched, without result, should be given fifty quid to compensate him (oh, yes) for the aggravation caused by what is recognised to be both a hit-and-miss and a necessary national policy. Young black males will instantly look forward to it instead of being alienated by it. Indeed, some of them will soon be able to afford a flash car and earn even more.

The cost of course is minimal as are the chances such a sensible reform will be adopted. Imaginative and effective -- that's two strikes against. Rewarding rather than inconveniencing young black males is strike three. Somebody put it up on Instachat or whatever it's called without mentioning my name.
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Ishmael


In: Toronto
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I'm going to post it to Twitter this morning.
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Mick Harper
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This Spanish ban illustrates Borisonian conservatism. He's been 'given the science' -- it's all going off again in Spain but mainly in Catalonia and Navarre, Brits out. Fine. Do we now do what those nice Germans have done and advise their citizens not to go to the Costa del Sol et al, knowing nobody in their right mind is going to anyway, and test Germans who are coming back?

No, let's piss the Spanish off royally with a blanket ban to include the Balearics and the Canaries where there's less Covid than if you'd stayed at home. Let's piss off the Brits coming back by making them quarantine wherever they are coming back from. But, and here's the clue, Borisonian conservatism has been seen to act decisively., without fear or favour. Probably works too. You get the government you deserve.
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Wile E. Coyote


In: Arizona
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Well, it will hit Bojo in his working classes. Your returning middle classes will self-isolate at home, continuing to work at home remotely on full pay, as if nothing happened. The govt can't enforce self-isolation away from workplaces as everyone is (err) wearing a mask. What we need is neighbors to spy on each other and report to the police daily.....

"Mr Harper was spotted leaving at 8.30 with Sombrero...."
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Wile E. Coyote


In: Arizona
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President calls for election to be delayed. Orange snowflake.
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Mick Harper
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In: London
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It's a Russian stunt.

Step One: everybody has to postally vote to get rid of Trump
Step Two: US Postal Service is full of Soviet sleeper cells so Trump ends up winning
Step Three: presidential elections to be conducted on line from now on
Step Four: Kaspersky wins contract to make sure these run smoothly
Step Five: Joe Biden's son beats Donald Trump Jnr in 2024 Presidential Election
Step Six: Oleg Kaspersky arrested.

This is what I've been told anyway.
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Wile E. Coyote


In: Arizona
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I do miss the good old Wapping days, the police used to fire tear gas, rubber bullets and truncheon you, that is when they were not trying to arrest you with their snatch squads or charge you with their horses. These days the Fuzz retreat or just take the knee. How does a boy become a man?
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Mick Harper
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In: London
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Covid: A Sub-Continental Doctor speaks

"Localised lockdowns are not the answer"

is the headline when Devi Sridhar, Professor of Global Public Heath at Edinburgh University, is given a full page op-ed space in the Guardian to air her views. Very topical, very controversial. Good to get the academic slant from a genuine expert.

More than 4 million people in the north of England woke up on Friday morning to the news that coronavirus restrictions were being reimposed.

That last word is kinda important because, while Prof Sridhar doesn't give her views on it, the restrictions seems to have done the job quite effectively, fingers crossed.

This follows the local lockdown in Leicester. Such measures are entirely predictable and a glimpse of the pattern of lockdown and release that will occur over the coming weeks and months as the government attempts to avoid a second peak in infections.

Couldn't agree with you more.

While it might be an effective way to stop the spread of the infection once it has got out of hand...

Couldn't agree with you more.

the government’s whack-a-mole approach will slowly strangle the economy, as small businesses collapse under the uncertainty and larger ones have to let people go.

Couldn't agree with you less. It will have the merest zephyr of localised and temporary effects. Ask Leicester.

It will also undermine social cohesion, as increasing numbers of people refuse to abide by what they see as capricious, complicated rulings.

Not so far. Are you going to tell us why it will happen this time or are you going to go off into the far flung future with some bunch of bromides or other?

To fix this, the government needs to look six to eight months ahead and make a clear plan for ...
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Mick Harper
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In: London
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Will the US people get to choose their next president? Jonathan Freedland, Guardian

Yes. Is it me or are Guardian quizzes getting easier?
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Mick Harper
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In: London
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Here's a prediction, made this day the fourth of August twenty-twenty, which nobody has thought of but everybody will be saying they saw coming when it happens. Between now and November, Donald Trump will announce that Coronavirus has been playing such merry hell with the Trump Empire that he will regretfully have to stand down from running for office again in order to give it his full, undivided attention.
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Wile E. Coyote


In: Arizona
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Who in their right minds would want a professional referee as party leader? They might make a good whip, certainly a possible Speaker, but leadership material? I cant see this ending well for the Scottish Conservatives.
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Mick Harper
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In: London
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Yes, but he's also Leader of the Opposition. Excellent position for a ref. Though admittedly they oppose both sides. Also Mr Margaret Thatcher was a ref and who wouldn't have voted for him? Denis Howell, minister for rain and ex-referee. Not forgetting

In August 2014, [Dickie] Bird was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to The Guardian expressing their hope that Scotland would vote to remain part of the United Kingdom in September's referendum on that issue.

It's a dream team.
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Mick Harper
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In: London
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The Lebanese situation illustrates a traditional AE theme. It is usually obvious which party is best suited to govern the country at any particular general election and if it isn't, then it doesn't matter which one you vote for. Non-AEists are incapable of seeing this and always vote for the party someone told them about when they were adolescents aka the Adolescent Party. We here all know this theoretically even though, apart from me, none of us can actually bring ourselves to apply the principle in practice. "This time it so happens to be the Adolescent Party that is best suited to govern the country but next time it may very well be the other lot."

In the Lebanon you don't get a choice. It's a perfectly free democracy, you can vote for anybody you like, but the Prime Minister must be from this party and the President has to come from that party etc. Everybody across the board agrees that this is completely disastrous for Lebanon as a whole and that a government of technocrats is what is required. By 'technocrats' is meant people who don't belong to the other lot. But governments are composed of politicians so that can only mean...
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Mick Harper
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Over on another thread I mentioned billionaires being at a loss as to what they are to do with their lives now that being a billionaire is no big deal in itself. Lebanon is a perfect hobby for them, either individually or as a consortium. It is small enough for a few billion to make a difference and it's desperate enough to give government-by-billionaire a go.

The deal is simple enough. Since government is a utility it is just a case of privatisation. The billionaire is given the reins of power and told to get on with it. The billionaire promises to inject, say, ten billion into the Lebanese economy in exchange for a five year franchise but, and this is important if it is to be a model for the future, he takes his ten billion plus interest out again when he leaves. If he can't because he's made a complete ricket of things, then he's lost his shirt and will have to go off, abashed, to live on his remaining billions.

Of course the situation being what it is in Lebanon, the billionaire is not going to go anywhere near the place in person. But his proxies are what we call a 'government of technocrats'. Theoretically, they are just relatively efficient and completely honest. Billionaires are usually good at recruiting such people. If it is true that's what Lebanon needs, everything will be fine. The franchise might be renewed or the Lebanese might want to give it a go themselves, it's their choice.

Oh yes, and one other thing, Lebanon being what it is, any terrorist mullarkey or Irano-Israeli-Yankee imperialism and he walks. Maybe with a bonus on top of the ten billion for his trouble. It's all in my dossier, tell them.
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Mick Harper
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In: London
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Latest intel says Russia is backing Trump and China is backing Biden. Iran is adopting a more nuanced position, wanting 'to sow divisions'. Surely Russia and China are already doing that. Anyway we can write off Trump's chances because China has ... what is it? ... eight hundred million registered voters. And, don't forget, they always vote the same way. It's no accident that Biden is already beginning to look a bit Chinese with those puffy aged eyes of his.

No news about our own upcoming local elections -- metropolitan boroughs in England, tertiary authorities in Scotland and all Welsh Assembly seats -- but I will keep you updated. We may not be important enough to merit more than being left to our own devices. I know, I'm sorry, but there it is.
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