Our country is on its knee's

[Steve1956]

Lot of talk about "conspiracy theories" on this thread. Does anyone have any going spare ? I've used all mine up. They became reality......

Have you ever turned your hand to dry stone walling?

[dougcollins]

'I don't recall any boasts about the track and trace system. Ministers spoke in defence of the system (and the amounts of tax payer's money they spaffed on it) but I genuinely don't recall anyone claiming it was a world-beating system.'

Johnson said exactly that in one of his diminishing 5 pm appearances. Though I do accept it was impossible to know when he was speaking the truth.

(Sorry, something went awry with the quote thing. In reply to Rowls)

[Lancasterclaret]

Anyway, football is on and he might get on this time!

[Carport]

It's been pointed out Carport,I'm blaming predictive text....do you believe me?

Yep

[Rowls]

It has everything to do with qualifications and experience

You are telling people that they need self reflection

We all do if we believe that experts in viral diseases don't know more than Frank from accounts

Then why were the eminently qualified scientists who put forward the Great Barrington Declaration ignored, ridiculed and censored? Does Dr. Jay Bhattacharya only know as much as "Frank from accounts"?

Why did the UK policy suddenly change overnight?

Why weren't the voices of qualifed people such as Swedish epidemiologist Johan Giesecke listened to? Do his numerous qualifications count for nothing? Have you heard what he had to say about the scientific advice presented to the UK government?

The fact is, these scientists were suggesting a wide degree of techniques to tackle the pandemic. Unfortunately for us, we only listened to one of them - our very own Professor Neil Ferguson.

Why only listen to the man who was making the Chicken Licken predictions?

And here's an interesting question to pose: Does Professor Neil Ferguson have a track record of making ominous (and incorrect) predictions that fail to materialize?

Here's another interesting question: Professor Neil Ferguson was pushing for another lockdown in December 2021 and January 2022. Boris Johnson finally found the courage to disregard Ferguson's advice. What were the predictions that Ferguson made about deaths from Omicron if the UK "failed to lockdown", which it didn't?

[Aclaret]

I'm just watching "Beyond the Yorkshire Farm"
Clive is building a dry stone wall....I bet none of you clever buggers dissing my use of an apostrophe could build one of those....but then again they will probably say they could.

I can pal, Stonework is my job. ...and I hate apostraphe's'

[Spijed]

A good number of the biggest contracts were awarded to people who didn't own PPE companies, Rowls, they went to shameless opportunists who literally created brand new companies from scratch in order to act as a middleman for the import of PPE, at an obscene markup.

The fact that some of these people were well connected to government ministers shows the level of corruption at work. They basically stole billions of pounds (collectively) from the British tax payer. Rishi Sunak as Chancellor conceded there was no way for the Treasury to recover around £9 billion lost to fraud during the contract award process.

It's disgraceful. He's in no position to lecture the public about what can and can't be afforded.

And it's this in a nutshell

[Steve1956]

I can pal, Stonework is my job. ...and I hate apostraphe's'

From our days at Burstall the Builder...I knew you as a apprentice brickie...your not stretching the boundaries of your profession to dry stone walling are you,you will start the rest of them off buddy

Burstall the Builder
I hated telling anyone where I worked back in the day...just used to say Fat Harry's

[Steve1956]

I can pal, Stonework is my job. ...and I hate apostraphe's'

Oh FFs you have a spelling mistake ....your doomed

[dougcollins]

You're.

[milkcrate_mosh]

Then why were the eminently qualified scientists who put forward the Great Barrington Declaration ignored, ridiculed and censored? Does Dr. Jay Bhattacharya only know as much as "Frank from accounts"?

We'll rue the day we ignored Dr Johnny Bananas, Harold Shipman and Prof. Cominic Dumings

[Steve1956]

You're.

Is that aimed at me
"You're a spelling mistake"

[dougcollins]

Frank from accounts is a brilliant epidemiologist.

By all accounts.

[Steve1956]

Frank from accounts is a brilliant epidemiologist.

By all accounts.

What's Factual's curret username anyone know?

[Rowls]

What's Factual's curret username anyone know?

It's a secret. FACT.

[ecc]

Those power stations use interior foam for fuel?

You learn something everyday on this site

LOL!

[Stanbill05]

I’ve genuinely got no desire to join the arguments but can’t help make a correction. It was test and trace not track and trace, the very expensive bit, test, was world class by anyones measure. The trace bit was shite. Plenty of things available to criticise without needing to misrepresent. Dodgy deals and PPE cash for pals should lead to jail sentences but won’t, for example.

[Lancasterclaret]

Rowls, the Great Barrington declaration is pure conspiracy theory b*****t

I'm sorry, talking about lockdowns being on too long, or not needed for the 2nd and 3rd waves after the vulnerable had the vaccine, happy to accept that stuff could have been done differently but that is as far as I'm willing to go

[Rowls]

I’ve genuinely got no desire to join the arguments but can’t help make a correction. It was test and trace not track and trace, the very expensive bit, test, was world class by anyones measure. The trace bit was shite. Plenty of things available to criticise without needing to misrepresent. Dodgy deals and PPE cash for pals should lead to jail sentences but won’t, for example.

There's a distinction to be drawn between profiteering and fraud.

Fraud will deserve prosecution and appropriate sentencing.

Profiteering, no matter how repugnant it is, breaks no laws. If you want to stop profiteering you have to remove or limit the conditions whereby profiteering can prosper.

[dougcollins]

Selling something not fit for purpose surely falls more to fraud than profiteering.

[fatboy47]

From our days at Burstall the Builder...I knew you as a apprentice brickie...your not stretching the boundaries of your profession to dry stone walling are you,you will start the rest of them off buddy

Burstall the Builder
I hated telling anyone where I worked back in the day...just used to say Fat Harry's

Didn't know you worked at Fat Harry's Steve.. What year was that? I used to be a mate of both Fat Harry's lads.

[Rowls]

Selling something not fit for purpose surely falls more to fraud than profiteering.

None of the PPE that was sold in the covid panic actually provides any effective protection.

Some was found to be substandard but the stuff that was of "required standard" doesn't work anyway.

So whose fault is it? The company for selling their product or the government for buying it?

None of this counts as fraud.

[Steve1956]

Didn't know you worked at Fat Harry's Steve.. What year was that? I used to be a mate of both Fat Harry's lads.

77 till 82 roundabout buddy,great craic worked on Krazy Kuts conversion,then Salford I was Tom Benson's lacky when we worked in Salford,always sent me in Asda for his Bell's

[Aclaret]

From our days at Burstall the Builder...I knew you as a apprentice brickie...your not stretching the boundaries of your profession to dry stone walling are you,you will start the rest of them off buddy

Burstall the Builder
I hated telling anyone where I worked back in the day...just used to say Fat Harry's

Sadly, too numb to stretch any further ......yeah Fat Harry's it is

[Steve1956]

Sadly, too numb to stretch any further ......yeah Fat Harry's it is

Can you remember Tony Burstall climbing a ladder at Krazy Kuts and someone dropping a brick on his head ?

[Aclaret]

Can you remember Tony Burstall climbing a ladder at Krazy Kuts and someone dropping a brick on his head ?

That someone was you ?...45 years ago I reckon, blimey wheres it gone ?
I seem to remember I'd been to Millwall and on the Monday there was a phone call to that phone box behind Krazy Kuts with you reckoning to be Cockney plod and you needed to question me ...

[Spijed]

Profiteering, no matter how repugnant it is, breaks no laws. If you want to stop profiteering you have to remove or limit the conditions whereby profiteering can prosper.

And it's clear it was deliberately allowed to happen so some 'friends' in high places could make millions. Why would they stop profiteering when money is to be made from various scams?

[Rowls]

And it's clear it was deliberately allowed to happen so some 'friends' in high places could make millions. Why would they stop profiteering when money is to be made from various scams?

I don't think this is clear, Spijed.

Networking and contacts is how business works.

What is clear is that because of the fear and panic the government had generated to justify their lockdown policy, they were under enormous pressure to purchase PPE - even at stupid prices.

In case you've quickly forgotten the mass panic and pressure that was heaped on the government to buy this useless kit, here's a reminder:

[Lancasterclaret]

I'm not sure the hundreds of key workers who lost their lives would agree with you Rowls on that one

[Rowls]

I'm not sure the hundreds of key workers who lost their lives would agree with you Rowls on that one

Agree with me on what?

That there wasn't a mass panic to purchase PPE?

That flimsy plastic masks do somehow protect against covid? (They don't)

[Spijed]

I don't think this is clear, Spijed.

Networking and contacts is how business works.

What is clear is that because of the fear and panic the government had generated to justify their lockdown policy, they were under enormous pressure to purchase PPE - even at stupid prices.

In case you've quickly forgotten the mass panic and pressure that was heaped on the government to buy this useless kit, here's a reminder:

Do you really think people cared when they were making millions?

[Rowls]

Do you really think people cared when they were making millions?

No. I suspect they were ecstatic to raking it in.

That's my point, in case you hadn't realised.

If you don't want a repeat of this, it's best to look into what caused it. If you're happy for the government to spaff money on useless kit and are happy to have your economy wrecked and your civil liberties and basic human rights shredded and torn up then you'll be happy to call for another lockdown. I'm not. I'm still livid about what was allowed to happen.

And what was the main cause of the mass panic? The main cause of the mass panic was the government scaring the population half to death every day in an attempt to justify their excessive lockdown policy.

[Bosscat]

This threads fun isn't it ... a poor chap is awaiting a sofa delivery and its descended into this hey ho typical UTC

Nobody has answered Steves "can anyone dry stone wall" question

[Rowls]

Yes, I'm sorry Bosscat.

I'm going to take every possible opportunity to hammer home the wrong-headed of our lockdown mistake whenever I can.

It's too important not to. We lost so much and we're going to pay such a heavy price for it, for many years.

And we did it to ourselves by copying Chines Communist Party policy. It was madness.

Back to the dry stone walling

[Steve1956]

Dry stone walling is a tremendous skill,you only need to visit the Lakes to see what an art form it is.

[Steve1956]

My dry stone walling intervention on this thread was just an attempt to divert it away from the usual dross...it failed,obviously arguing about politics/covid is a more intresting subject than dry stone walling.

[TheFamilyCat]

This threads fun isn't it ... a poor chap is awaiting a sofa delivery and its descended into this hey ho typical UTC

Nobody has answered Steves "can anyone dry stone wall" question

I wasn't sure if dry stone walling was a euphemism or not.

[Bosscat]

I wasn't sure if dry stone walling was a euphemism or not.

[Bosscat]

Dry stone walling is a tremendous skill,you only need to visit the Lakes to see what an art form it is.

Also round here ... Malhamdales walls were built by Monks hundreds of years ago ... transporting the stone by horse and cart

[Steve1956]

Just as a heads up a programme worth your attention "Clive & Reuben's beyond the Yorkshire farm"
It's a wonderful programme Reuben's a lovely hard working kid(unusual in today's crop) and his father looks really well now he got rid of Amanda,maybe it's not having to bang her every night he's looking more sprightly
A feelgood programme well worth a look,with a bit of dry stone walling thrown in.

[Bosscat]

https://www.dalesdiscoveries.com/more-i ... maintained.

[Steve1956]

That someone was you ?...45 years ago I reckon, blimey wheres it gone ?
I seem to remember I'd been to Millwall and on the Monday there was a phone call to that phone box behind Krazy Kuts with you reckoning to be Cockney plod and you needed to question me ...

He had blood spurting out of the gash...he just carried on like nothing had happened
I wonder what happened to Tony & Sylvia?

[Lancasterclaret]

Sorry, are we allowed to talk about acts of economic madness now?

Good to know

[Damo]

Sorry, are we allowed to talk about acts of economic madness now?

Good to know

If its Brexit that you are referring to, then yes, you are allowed.
Surely you didn't think you have gotten away with bleating about it every other post for this long, if talk of it was banned?

[Lancasterclaret]

If its Brexit that you are referring to, then yes, you are allowed.
Surely you didn't think you have gotten away with bleating about it every other post for this long, if talk of it was banned?

Great

Hug that blue passport Damo!

All going well isn't it?

[Lancasterclaret]

Have we found anyone who can dry stone wall build yet?

[claretonthecoast1882]

Great

Hug that blue passport Damo!

All going well isn't it?

Jesus lancaster most of your posts are sound but a hint of brexit has you coming across as someone who is allowing it to control your life, I am fairly sure that you like the vast majority of the country will have noticed no difference in their day to day life since the day of the result.

Do comments like hug that blue passport achieve anything ? If you are continually going to blame anything and everything on brexit you will end up very bitter, life is way too short for that

[ClaretDiver]

Dry stone walling is a tremendous skill,you only need to visit the Lakes to see what an art form it is.

My next door neighbour is genuinely a dry stone Waller, works for his cousin who has been doing it for years!

[Stanbill05]

There's a distinction to be drawn between profiteering and fraud.

Fraud will deserve prosecution and appropriate sentencing.

Profiteering, no matter how repugnant it is, breaks no laws. If you want to stop profiteering you have to remove or limit the conditions whereby profiteering can prosper.

I was referring to the corruption not the profiteering. People are free to quote what they want. The problem was bypassing procurement regulations (justified by circumstance) to place large contracts with friends with no experience in the field.

[Hapag Lloyd]

Have we found anyone who can dry stone wall build yet?

No not yet, probably down to you know what.