Brexit, for once some facts.

[oyster]

Priti should be in the dock, not office:

Asylum seeker removed by Priti Patel must be brought back to UK
High court says home secretary must bring back Sudanese man so his trafficking and torture claims can be investigated

 

[Jesus H Christ]

our government claims to follow the science but when the holiday season is here, it forgets prudence.
It bets the farm on current low case fatality rate.

I knew exactly where this was heading when Boris Johnson said that unlocking would be determined entirely on the basis of infection / hospitalisation data and definitely not on calendar dates. His next sentence was to announce four milestone dates for unlocking.

 

[oyster]

our government claims to follow the science but when the holiday season is here, it forgets prudence.
It bets the farm on current low case fatality rate.

Prudence disappeared when Gordon Brown left...

 

[oyster]

It's like getting access to one's online HMRC account now after the latest security changes.

Just tried it in order to check - absolutely no change since last time I used it.

A couple of years or so ago, I elected for 2FA using an authenticator app. And that is what lets me in (account and password already having been entered as always).

 

[flecc]

Just tried it in order to check - absolutely no change since last time I used it.

A couple of years or so ago, I elected for 2FA using an authenticator app. And that is what lets me in (account and password already having been entered as always).

I'm not sure what you mean by no change since last time, my access has certainly been changed since last year when i had no problem.

They offer two other authentification routes, one seemingly for business and the other through the Post Office which is even more bonkers. To get into it requires them to phone me with an access code to verfy my phone number. No problem I thought, others do that too.

But it's unusable since all I get when it rings is an electronic American female voice gabbling an unintelligible number at an impossibly fast pace to either write or type it. The first two attempts I had no chance, but at the third I managed to hear this, typed verbally so you'll know what I heard:

Five seventy nine three hundred two thousand forty two

That of course makes no sense in English, but nonetheless I entered it in the various ways possible only for it to get rejected each time.

So I've concluded that HMRC has taken leave of its senses.

I have a 12 character alpha-numeric User ID.

I have a 10 character UTR. (Unique Tax Reference)

I have an 11 character alpha-numeric password with HMRC.

All three are unique to me, but no, they say those are no longer enough, so they demand I answer the impossible questions in addition.

Why the one on the Northern Ireland driving licence that 97% of us don't have? They tell me that cannot access the DVLA to check UK ones, apparently they are getting a dose of their own medicine from that other government department not letting them in.

Honestly one couldn't make up a situation as insane as this.
.

 

[oyster]

I'm not sure what you mean by no change since last time, my access has certainly been changed since last year when i had no problem.

I just went to my browser, used the username (reference?) and password I have used for quite some time - at least a couple of years. The two factor code came up instantly within the Authenticator app on my phone, I typed that in and was fully logged in.

Hence, I entirely avoided the need to use or even think about any other code distribution method.

Although I don't like the absolute need to have a working phone available, in practice this works OK and I have a number of things routed through the Authenticator app.

'Tis bonkers that you can't get in.

It isn't something really silly like having a setting which reads out SMS messages, is it?

 

[oldgroaner]

Eva Stumm@EvaMariaAnna
·Replying to
@DrEricDing
Head of the health department in Trier (Germany): "In England, the #LambdaVariant has just emerged with just under ten cases. And there are individual indications that perhaps the vaccine is not so effective after all." https://bit.ly/3jN0LgA

 

[flecc]

'Tis bonkers that you can't get in.

It isn't something really silly like having a setting which reads out SMS messages, is it?

No, nothing like that they've repeatedly confirmed that this is now the normal way to access every time.

I have three replies saying this:

To access the online service, it is mandatory for customers to verify their identity by answering verification questions from 2 identity sources.

As you do not meet the current verification criteria, you cannot access the online account via Government Gateway.

Another reply tells me this which is false:

If your circumstances do not meet the current verification criteria, you cannot use online services, however this does not exclude you from using the service. You can still use webchat, phone and postal services to check/manage your details.

This is false because for security reasons they cannot inform me of my tax code or my tax owing amount by either of those first two methods and they are refusing to switch me to postal paper service, saying only I can authorise that online, which I can't access.
.

 

[Woosh]

Eva Stumm@EvaMariaAnna
·Replying to
@DrEricDing
Head of the health department in Trier (Germany): "In England, the #LambdaVariant has just emerged with just under ten cases. And there are individual indications that perhaps the vaccine is not so effective after all." https://bit.ly/3jN0LgA

BJ wants to remove his mask, oh dear...
Our current vaccines won't work on the new Lambda variant.

“The Lambda originated from Peru, with the highest mortality rate in the world.” Some scientists are worried lambda may be “more infectious than Delta variant”.

 

[oyster]

BJ wants to remove his mask, oh dear...
Our current vaccines won't work on the new Lambda variant.

Will a combination of prior infection with an early form followed by AZ vaccination protect 57 year-old males who don't want to wear masks? Or any 51 year old males?

 

[oldgroaner]

Will a combination of prior infection with an early form followed by AZ vaccination protect 57 year-old males who don't want to wear masks? Or any 51 year old males?

You forgot to ask the most important question
"Will I be able to play the piano afterwards?"

To which the likely answer is
perhaps not,
Have you considered a Harp?

 

[sjpt]

our government claims to follow the science

'Follow the science' means following lots of scientists on Twitter or similar till you find one who says what you want.

 

[oyster]

You forgot to ask the most important question
"Will I be able to play the piano afterwards?"

To which the likely answer is
perhaps not,
Have you considered a Harp?

That is of course, a key measurement.

Lambda denotes the growth rate of a population. Hope the lambda for lambda isn't that high!

 

[oldgroaner]

Replying to
@drgauravchandra
#LambdaVariant has 7 "unusual"mutations, responsible for 80% of Peru’s cases. University of Chile Santiago data suggests that #mutations confer escape to neutralizing antibodies & increased infectivity.Stop chasing mutations target immutable sites & focus on CURE #ENZC #mab #AI

 

[Jesus H Christ]

Why won’t the government say how much they’ve paid Vauxhall to allow us to screw electric van kits together in the U.K.?

Just seen government minister Qashqai Kwiksave bragging about it.

 

[oldgroaner]

Peru unique situation
"
In Peru, there could be a mutagenic animal reservoir (as for mink farms): it is the small family farms of Cuy (Guinea Pig) that the peasants raise to make up for the lack of protein in their diet ...
And Peruvians are 99% O ...

 

[oyster]

Now just which government ministers have mates in Southern Water?

Keith Lough was at Ofgem.

https://www.southernwater.co.uk/our-story/our-governance/our-board-of-directors

They can't even keep a chair - Bill Tame left early - did he know what was coming?

Southern Water dumped raw sewage into sea for years
Company awaits sentencing after admitting 51 violations in biggest-ever Environment Agency investigation
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jul/06/southern-water-dumped-raw-sewage-into-sea-for-years

Effectively fraud compounded by wanton polluting. But surely no chance of gaol - as there damn well should be.

 

[flecc]

Why won’t the government say how much they’ve paid Vauxhall to allow us to screw electric van kits together in the U.K.?

Just seen government minister Qashqai Kwiksave bragging about it.

I'm a bit suspicious about this announcement since their van factory is at Luton and the current Vauxhall e-cars, the e-Corse and e-Mokka are made in Spain and are in any case Peugeot e-car based with body changes for the rebadging.

Still my forecast long ago that the Astra production at Ellesmere Port would cease has come true, it was inevitable once GM sold the Vauxhall and Opel brands to PSA (Peugeot-Citroen). Since then PSA has merged with Stellantis who also control FCA (FIAT-Chrysler). That makes them the fourth largest car group in the world behind only Toyota, Volkswagen and the Renault-Nissan Alliance.
.

 

[oyster]

Government Channel 4 flog off. Would Netflix competing with Netflix be competition at all?

Potential purchasers include major US television groups such as Discovery, while the culture minister, John Whittingdale, has not ruled out a purchase by the likes of Netflix or Amazon.

The government has argued strongly in favour of privatising the broadcaster, arguing that it urgently needs outside investment and changes to its remit in order to grow and compete with the likes of Netflix.

 

[oldgroaner]

Government Channel 4 flog off. Would Netflix competing with Netflix be competition at all?

Potential purchasers include major US television groups such as Discovery, while the culture minister, John Whittingdale, has not ruled out a purchase by the likes of Netflix or Amazon.

The government has argued strongly in favour of privatising the broadcaster, arguing that it urgently needs outside investment and changes to its remit in order to grow and compete with the likes of Netflix.

When it's real agenda is to turn a channel inclined to be critical of them into a propaganda channel for them.