FlyTheNest

Walt Whitman wrote:The spotted hawk swoops by and accuses me, he complains of my gab and my loitering.

I too am not a bit tamed, I too am untranslatable,
I sound my barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world.

The last scud of day holds back for me,
It flings my likeness after the rest and true as any on the shadow'd wilds,

It coaxes me to the vapor and the dusk.

I depart as air, I shake my white locks at the runaway sun,
I effuse my flesh in eddies, and drift it in lacy jags.

I bequeath myself to the dirt to grow from the grass I love,
If you want me again look for me under your boot-soles.

You will hardly know who I am or what I mean,
But I shall be good health to you nevertheless,
And filter and fibre your blood.

Failing to fetch me at first keep encouraged,
Missing me one place search another,
I stop somewhere waiting for you.

Song of Myself
https://poets.org/poem/song-myself-52" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

citizenJA wrote:Look alive, people!
Wake up, please.

The vast majority of people think large private firms should be stripped of their test and trace contract and the job handed to town halls, says a new poll.

The Survation survey, shared exclusively with HuffPost UK, shows 74% want local public health teams, rather than Serco and Sitel, to run NHS Test and Trace.

Just 14% want the vital service to be run by a private company, the poll commissioned by We Own It and shared exclusively with HuffPost revealed.

It comes as the government’s testing regime was in chaos, with figures last week showing three quarters of a million Covid test requests are going unanswered every day.

Several reports also showed that in many cases, where someone could book a test, they were forced to travel long distances and wait in queues to get checks.

The national track and trace system in England is largely managed by outsourcing giant Serco and call centre company Sitel.

Willow904 wrote:How is it people keep voting Tory and then keep being surprised

Willow904 wrote:How is it people keep voting Tory and then keep being surprised they privatise everything - badly - as if that isn't the exact same thing they've been doing for the last 40 years.

In a way I guess it's a function of people feeling "powerless" in that they seem endlessly unable to accept they get what they vote for - tax cuts and penny pinching = crap public services.

The public in England will once again be asked to work from home if they can, Michael Gove has said, signalling a U-turn in government advice to combat the spread of coronavirus that he said could help “avert the need for more serious action in the future”.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/ ... chael-gove" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

AnatolyKasparov wrote:Just weeks -WEEKS - since their media outriders were given the go-ahead to shout "GET BACK TO YOUR OFFICES NOW, YOU LAZY PLEBS!!"

"God made the world round so we would never be able to see too far down the road."
- Isak Dinesen

frog222 wrote:

AnatolyKasparov wrote:Just weeks -WEEKS - since their media outriders were given the go-ahead to shout "GET BACK TO YOUR OFFICES NOW, YOU LAZY PLEBS!!"

I'm losing count, which U-Turn is this ?

James Felton
@JimMFelton
·
4h
"Stay at home"
*Stays at home*
"What the fuck are you doing"
"I-"
"GET BACK TO WORK"
"But-"
"BUY A FUCKING SANDWICH"
*Goes back to work*
"Oh you've really gone and done it now, you assholes, you morons-"

Tim Reardon, the head of EU exit at the port, said the government was “cutting it quite tight” with just 100 days to go before Brexit is implemented on 1 January.

“The government has a funding scheme which is due to open for application later this month. Clearly that’s cutting it quite tight for stuff to be actually delivered and in place, when significant civil works are involved, by early next year,” he told MPs on the Treasury select committee on Tuesday morning.

The money needed to be “issued rather than talked about”, he said.

AnatolyKasparov wrote:Starmer's speech - what say you?

gilsey wrote:

AnatolyKasparov wrote:Starmer's speech - what say you?

There’s a line to tread between attracting the people who didn’t vote Labour last time and pissing off the ones who did, I’m not sure he’s got it right yet.

After Sir Keir Starmer’s speech was over, CCHQ sent out an email to supporters asking for donations which described Starmer as “just more of the same old Labour”. It says:

Sir Keir Starmer proclaimed himself Labour’s ‘new leadership’, in his first conference speech this morning.

But nothing could be further from reality. Sir Keir’s leadership is just more of the same old Labour.

He’s advanced Corbyn’s far-left economic plans and continually shown he doesn’t respect the views of ordinary people on crime, immigration and regaining our independence now we’ve left the EU.

citizenJA wrote:

The public in England will once again be asked to work from home if they can, Michael Gove has said, signalling a U-turn in government advice to combat the spread of coronavirus that he said could help “avert the need for more serious action in the future”.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/ ... chael-gove" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Mr citizen, please exit your current location and make your way home quickly.

gilsey wrote:He's right about tax though.

Concede the principle that we need tax rises and it'll just encourage the tories to come up with something that can be spun to be progressive but will actually hit the poorest hardest. VAT rise anyone? That's their favourite.
Let's face it, they're not going to come up with a wealth tax before hell freezes over.

AnatolyKasparov wrote:

gilsey wrote:

AnatolyKasparov wrote:Starmer's speech - what say you?

There’s a line to tread between attracting the people who didn’t vote Labour last time and pissing off the ones who did, I’m not sure he’s got it right yet.

Fair comment.

Part of it is that the snippets that are excitedly briefed to the hacks often aren't representative of the speech as a whole*. There was quite a lot in there to reassure people who voted Labour last time actually thinking their programme was decent (if not perfect)
(*see also Dodds yesterday)

People in parts of Birmingham have been told to get a coronavirus test regardless of whether they have symptoms in a significant break from government policy.

The UK government said earlier this month that people who do not have Covid-19 symptoms should not get tested because the system is struggling to keep up with demand. The same applies to Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

However, there has been concern among scientists and public health leaders that this means countless coronavirus cases were being missed and that it hindered their ability to track the disease.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/ ... ymptomatic" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

citizenJA wrote:Have we made any progress on securing our lair?