Westminstenders: The Tunnel or Bridge

[RedToothBrush]

Apparently negotiations are in the black hole of the EU tunnel or should that be on the back of the fantasy of the Boris Bridge?

Another week closer to complete meltdown.

I'm guessing that our world beating customs solution will be based on blackboard and chalk.

Trump has it

He's a walking biological weapon, infecting the WH, top politicos and the top military

He endangers the secret service and the military, plus of course the ordinary staff doing the cleaning etc

If he really has it, everyone presumably accepts that he's entitled to break all the rules and to infect whoever he wants?
I doubt he has it. It's much too convenient, and if he did have it, at his age is it likely that he would get better in a day or two? I think it's a strategy.

Trump’s playbook - downplay the effect of Covid and then claim he’s pioneered a miracle cure that he’ll make available to everyone for free.

Jam tomorrow.

@Legit

If he really has it, everyone presumably accepts that he's entitled to break all the rules and to infect whoever he wants? I doubt he has it. It's much too convenient, and if he did have it, at his age is it likely that he would get better in a day or two? I think it's a strategy.

I'm betwixt and between on this one. He doesn't like to look weak and I'm not sure his ego would allow him to pretend to be sick which, to him, equates with weakness.

On the other hand he has zero moral compunction about using and abusing anyone and everyone to get what he wants.

If he has it, he has had every drug possible thrown at him. The steroids would give him an artificial boost so that could explain his apparent health. Many older people get hammered a week or so into it so it's early days yet.

On the other hand (I'm in octopus territory with hands now) he is a 74 year old clinically obese man so even with the drugs, his apparent health is surprising.

If this was anyone else, I would say his disregard for infecting others suggests he's faking. But that doesn't susprise me. I would expect it from him.

Liam Fox never had a chance at the WTO.
I am pleased with the final two choices.
Either of them will get it back to life
to protect vulnerable countries
like the post Brexit UK

Trump seems to be more orange than usual?

@Legit

If he really has it, everyone presumably accepts that he's entitled to break all the rules and to infect whoever he wants? I doubt he has it. It's much too convenient, and if he did have it, at his age is it likely that he would get better in a day or two? I think it's a strategy.

... It was far too embarassing for him politically, getting this disease so many Trumpers claim is a hoax and it exposed his recklessness and selfishness, exposing so many around him to infection

He thinks anyone who gets ill from anything is a "loser"
So he has come back when still not fully recovered

That's OK with the WH medical facilities if he just needs convalescence,
but it is about day 8-14 that cases start to turn serious, if they are going to - doesn't normally happen in the first week.

He does look more orange. Almost as if he's spent the last couple of days receiving spa treatments.

The first week of symptoms are normally mild
(what doctors call mild, which may not be what the lay person would !)

• about what he's had so far

It is from day 8 onwards that symptoms sometimes worsen and become much more serious

He is BMI 30.4, only just into obese, so stats indicate his weight will have v little if any effect

At his age of 74, the average man would have a 3-4% chance of dying, but he'd have the best medical attention, which would help a lot

However, with all the spin about his health, he could have early dementia - quite likely - T2, lung or kidney problems,
any of which would increase his risk

So we don't really know

Or I suppose he could be jaundiced? I haven't heard of it affecting the liver, but I imagine that in an overweight unfit man, it could do.

Johnson was supposed to be getting better and then he took a turn for the worse.

I actually think that he looks quite pallid underneath that orangeness

I see he is refusing to do the next debate if it were virtual as it would be a "waste of his time"

Just goes to prove that he isn't interested in a real debate of ideas and visions via words and proper argument: he just wants to be able to physically intimidate his opponent and to shout over him - both of which would be more difficult if it were virtual.

If we are playing armchair diagnoses, can I put $1 on liver ?

prettybird I think the reason he is refusing to do the debate is because the people in charge have decided it would have to be virtual - probably because of the COVID risk. That means a lot more tech, and a lot more control over his constant interruptions. He knows this and realises he would be less able to play Billy Big Balls to his cult.

He wants to be able to intimidate by spraying his spittle over Biden and the moderator

@pointythings

prettybird I think the reason he is refusing to do the debate is because the people in charge have decided it would have to be virtual - probably because of the COVID risk. That means a lot more tech, and a lot more control over his constant interruptions. He knows this and realises he would be less able to play Billy Big Balls to his cult.

Saw a meme float by on FB that he won't allow a mute button. It could have been from the Daily Mail or Daily Mash at this point.

Pence was reportedly very pissed about the perspex separation between him and Harris
but the Biden / Harris camp stood firm and the TV bods backed them up, for safety reasons

@Legit

“We’re going to have a great vaccine very, very shortly,” Trump said. “I think we should have it before the election but frankly the politics gets involved and that’s OK. They want to play their games. It’s going to be right after the election.” So the Trump strategy appears to be - pretend to get Covid, say that you have taken an experimental US produced drug and that is has cured you of Covid in a day, promise that if you are re-elected all Americans who have Covid will get the (extremely expensive) drug for free (but otherwise won't). Win the election. I can imagine this working.

@Legit - I think you've hit the nail on the head there!

@Legit

“We’re going to have a great vaccine very, very shortly,” Trump said. “I think we should have it before the election but frankly the politics gets involved and that’s OK. They want to play their games. It’s going to be right after the election.” So the Trump strategy appears to be - pretend to get Covid, say that you have taken an experimental US produced drug and that is has cured you of Covid in a day, promise that if you are re-elected all Americans who have Covid will get the (extremely expensive) drug for free (but otherwise won't). Win the election. I can imagine this working.

I'd be more sceptical - that's unlikely to appeal to the anti vaxxers that are Trumps natural prey. In fact it might actively dissuade them ...

It's all pretty irrelevant at this stage though. We - or rather the people of the US - are merely choosing the style of the go-faster stripes on our Nantucket sleighride to hell. Do we want Trump bold or Biden comic sans ?

Some more from U.K. gov on frictionless trade. From my initial scanning, they appear to have misplaced one of the borders - can you guess which one?

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/925140/BordersOpModel.pdf#page71

@Legit

“We’re going to have a great vaccine very, very shortly,” Trump said. “I think we should have it before the election but frankly the politics gets involved and that’s OK. They want to play their games. It’s going to be right after the election.” So the Trump strategy appears to be - pretend to get Covid, say that you have taken an experimental US produced drug and that is has cured you of Covid in a day, promise that if you are re-elected all Americans who have Covid will get the (extremely expensive) drug for free (but otherwise won't). Win the election. I can imagine this working.

I would agree with pretending (that was my first reaction too) if some many people aorund him actually hadn't been testing positive too. All of them following a meeting at the white house too.

However, I think he is milkimg it as much as possible.

@DGRossetti

"It's all pretty irrelevant at this stage though. We - or rather the people of the US - are merely choosing the style of the go-faster stripes on our Nantucket sleighride to hell. Do we want Trump bold or Biden comic sans ? "

That's very good!! (well, not really 'good' but you know what I mean!)

I think Trump looks grey under the orange veneer. They’ve probably sprayed it on extra thick to try to hide the fact that he’s not a well man.

@pointythings

prettybird I think the reason he is refusing to do the debate is because the people in charge have decided it would have to be virtual - probably because of the COVID risk. That means a lot more tech, and a lot more control over his constant interruptions. He knows this and realises he would be less able to play Billy Big Balls to his cult.

That's what I was meaning when I said he wouldn't be able to intimidate either physically or by talking over Biden. He wouldn't be able to do that as easily if it were virtual and wouldn't be able to claim that he was being silenced by his mike being turned off if the technology only allowed for one at a time. He would lose the "control" that he thinks he has by just ignoring the moderator. Heaven forfend that he abide by the rules

Goes off to play "Mountain" very loud and reminisce about watching "Weekend World" on Sundays with DM. I wouldn't say we were an overtly political family. But we were well informed.

Maybe we could have a "squirrel of the day" theme to offset the CnPing ? In which case I humbly submit Moby Dick. Call me Ishmael.

(Ponders the viability of an "educated" CAPTCHA product that not only excludes bots and artificial intelligence, but needs an IQ of 140 to pass ... no more helping Googles vision AI project for free with little squares, but cryptic crossword clues . Capital in Czechoslovakia being my favourite ... )

BCF I'm actually really surprised that the Nobel committee chose only those two for the award. There's a massive patent litigation going on in the USA right now regarding CRISPR, and the male scientist at the Broad Institute whose team actually did a fair chunk of the work first has so far won almost every stage. I think it's unfortunate that the Nobel committee decided to go for a "first" instead of equally acknowledging a third person as they have done many times in the past. It cheapens the award.

My husband hasn't stopped moaning about it. His gripe is that he says they're not chemists, they're biologists. He's a chemist so takes this as a personal insult.