Spat between Chief Minister and Dr Glover

[John Wright]

@BenFairfax is English not your mother tongue? You write staccato, use wrong tenses, number and gender. Miss words out, some odd spelling.

[Declan]

8 minutes ago, John Wright said:

@BenFairfax is English not your mother tongue?

I think he just speaks mathematician.

[paswt]

38 minutes ago, BenFairfax said:

Policy should have been handled behind closed doors and people paid to deal with general public for example MHKs should have performed that role. Dr Glover ideally should never have been in public domain. Now she has to face random insults from random people on social media. 

 

13 minutes ago, John Wright said:

@BenFairfax is English not your mother tongue? You write staccato, use wrong tenses, number and gender. Miss words out, some odd spelling.

 

4 minutes ago, Declan said:

I think he just speaks mathematician.

Facing random insults from random people  seems to be rife on this site as well despite the assurances from the moderators that it won't be tolerated , pity really because some of the offenders occasionally make a pertinent/valid contribution . S'pose it must be the law of averages 

[wrighty]

22 minutes ago, Declan said:

I think he just speaks mathematician.

I speak fluent English and am a fluent Mathematician, and I don't know what that means.  What language are you speaking Declan?

[wrighty]

33 minutes ago, John Wright said:

@BenFairfax is English not your mother tongue? You write staccato, use wrong tenses, number and gender. Miss words out, some odd spelling.

Sentence fragment.  Consider revising. [\Grammar Checker]

[quilp]

8 minutes ago, wrighty said:

I speak fluent English and am a fluent Mathematician, and I don't know what that means.  What language are you speaking Declan?

I feel the same, it doesn't add up... 

[Declan]

4 minutes ago, wrighty said:

I speak fluent English and am a fluent Mathematician, and I don't know what that means.  What language are you speaking Declan?

Abstract-Linguistics.

I'm not sure explaining a joke helps. You either get it or you don't, but here goes...

I was taking the piss out of John. Ben's clearly said in another thread English is his only language. For some reason he's got under John's skin and  I think it's a culture clash between John's florid legalese and Ben's staccato statistical style.

 

[Andy Onchan]

50 minutes ago, John Wright said:

@BenFairfax is English not your mother tongue? You write staccato, use wrong tenses, number and gender. Miss words out, some odd spelling.

Speech to text app?

[wrighty]

1 minute ago, Declan said:

Abstract-Linguistics.

I'm not sure explaining a joke helps. You either get it or you don't, but here goes...

I was taking the piss out of John. Ben's clearly said in another thread English is his only language. For some reason he's got under John's skin and  I think it's a culture clash between John's florid legalese and Ben's staccato statistical style.

 

I didn't get it.  Still don't.  I thought you were joining in with John in dissing Ben's English, which I can understand but feel is probably unnecessary here.

[Declan]

That's ok. Apology accepted. It  only made sense to me because I read this post -

immediately before John's and had it my head they were in the same thread.

 

[Barlow]

1 hour ago, Declan said:

I think he just speaks mathematician.

Then of course there is Ben's PhD maths

[rachomics]

17 hours ago, buncha wankas said:

Rachael Glover. Was it you who submitted the FOI?   Why are you bothered.  Do you think it beyond realm of possibilities that someone you worked with may be fed up of your opinion and receive negativity and demoralised in the work place.  If I had written to the Minister I would be made up that he binned my letter before rats started running up the drainpipe looking for something to munch on, or someone!! 

Nope, the FOI was nothing to do with me.

The people I work(ed) with were angry that someone would a write a letter like that as it didn't match their experience of me. The head of the lab has had to reassure me multiple times that what was written in that letter wasn't true and couldn't have been written by anyone I've worked with.

17 hours ago, buncha wankas said:

I think she is enjoying the adulation and 5 minutes of fame to care much about others.   Next she will suddenly stand for election as the people’s saviour.   Bitches gonna bitch.  
 

There are thousands of hard working front line staff who are in the front line army who saved lives this year, imagine if they all stood up to claim their job importance!   Whether a nurse, bin man, shop server or science worker like Gobby Glover , they are all equal-in service. 

Have you seen the abuse I take online for having volunteered my expertise to help with COVID-19? Then there's the people like you who spout all kinds of vitriolic nonsense about someone you don't know anything about. I haven't approached the press to offer stories, nor have they approached me before running something hyperbolic. I agreed to Paul Moulton's debate show because it was unedited, although I have no control over what press outlets lift from that and run stories about. A few people have told me I should run for MHK but I have no intention of doing so. I've got a company to run and that's more interesting to me than debating potholes on the prom. 

Call me what you like but without my expertise (brought in from the private sector) there would be no on-Island testing and you'd be waiting a week for a COVID19 test result to come back from PHE right now. Whether you care about the impact of that turnaround time tells me whether you really have any idea how the NHS works or the impact of certain roles. 

Edited November 24, 2020 by rachomics

[Barlow]

  

41 minutes ago, rachomics said:

The people I work(ed) with were angry that someone would a write a letter like that as it didn't match their experience of me. The head of the lab has had to reassure me multiple times that what was written in that letter wasn't true and couldn't have been written by anyone I've worked with.

This is another problem with Minister David Ashford reading out the letter with no attribution. There must be people wondering who it was? It causes dissent and distrust. That can't be good for morale.

It was a huge mistake to read the letter out. It is to all intents and purposes an anonymous letter. We will never know.

It was a huge mistake to destroy it, declaring unilaterally that it had served it's purpose.

It was and is a huge mistake not to recognise those mistakes.

 

I do wonder where we would be if tests remained having to be sent away, with 3+ days to get a result. The Isle of Man, as far as Covid-19 is concerned, would be a Little England or worse. Folk should think about that.
 

Anyway . . . I'm off for a dander down the Street. I might meet up with some friends and  go for a relaxed coffee or a pint.

 

 

Edited November 24, 2020 by Barlow

[Roger Mexico]

8 hours ago, Declan said:

What's unfair about [buncha wankas'] comments about Dr Glover, is that her comments aren't aimed at the ordinary front-line staff. Her "beef" is that the politicians and senior leaders didn't draw on her expertise when formulating testing policy.

I'd correct that slightly in that I didn't get the impression that that Rachel's complaint was just about her own expertise being ignored, rather she felt it was all scientific advice that was being ignored or at least filtered through various bureaucratic intermediaries who were not always reporting it well.

And we know that is true because of the way it was reported in Tynwald that Ewart has been ignored and attempts by Watterson to get information from others has been blocked.  To then tell Rachel that she wouldn't be listened to because she wasn't a 'proper' employee was then so ridiculous as an excuse and revealing as to how they thought advice should be obtained (don't ask people who know - just ask your mates) that it wasn't so much an insult to her as to everyone on the Island.

Similarly the business with the 'letter' could never have been expected to convince anyone (which is why most of us on here greeted it with jaw-dropped disbelief).  And Ashcroft destroying and then claiming that was his normal practice just added to the general impression of corrupt incompetence.  It made him sound like a small-time businessman who thinks he can get away with fiddling his VAT by destroying all his records.  And his telling Moulton that this was normal practice, shows you the contempt he must hold his constituents in.  As if he was saying: ""I've solved that problem - I don't need to keep any evidence of it".

Edited November 24, 2020 by Roger Mexico
Clarity

[rachomics]

Thanks Roger.

One of the hilarious points that hasn't been picked up on yet is that I'm one of David Ashford's constituents. Literally live 100 yards away from him.