MP with stake in giant health insurer lobbied for ‘Australian-style’ care insurance
Exclusive: Tory MP Marcus Fysh ‘wrong’ not to mention interest in insurance firm when proposing insurance-friendly amendment to care levy, says ex-standards committee chair
"MP with stake in giant health insurer that does not operate in the UK..." doesn't have quite the same sensationalist ring to it, does it?
This is the claim:
Alistair Graham, former chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, told openDemocracy that Fysh’s actions were “quite wrong” and, in his view, a breach of the parliamentary code of conduct.
Graham said: “The rules of procedure would clearly require him to explain what his interest is in the matter, so, yes, I think that would be a breach of the code. Particularly where he’s seeking with an amendment to influence the policy of the government, then he’s duty-bound to declare any interest he has in the matter.”
Graham acknowledged that AIA does not currently operate in the UK, but added: “They might in the future, mightn’t they, and presumably all this questioning is that he anticipates that they will and he’ll make a big shot of money when they do that.”
Somewhere, there is a sensible place to draw all these lines.
The ECB is investigating why an allegation made to the governing body in 2018 about a racially offensive term used by John Faragher — the chairman of Essex who has resigned — was not acted upon.
Faragher “strongly denies” the allegations that he made the comment during an Essex committee meeting in 2017, but he has stepped down with immediate effect. The Times understands that the alleged phrase used was “N***** in the woodpile” although this has not been confirmed either by Essex or the ECB.
The matter was raised with the ECB three years ago but was not investigated further or acted upon at the time. The allegation against Faragher was reported to the governing body again recently whereby the ECB immediately opened an investigation. A meeting of the Essex board on Thursday evening led to the resignation of Faragher with immediate effect.
The ECB is now investigating how the allegation was raised with it in 2018 and what processes were followed.
The sarcasm is strong in this one - it was essentially a Jedi mind trick. Still, there is something impressive in the way he asserted that MPs breaking the rules should be investigated and punished barely days after having whipped his MPs into voting for the precise opposite for the errant Mr Paterson. That really is taking his famous lack of attention to detail to another level.
Jes Staley exchanged 1,200 emails with Jeffrey Epstein over a four-year period with content that included unexplained terms such as “snow white”, according to people familiar with the correspondence between the former Barclays chief executive and the convicted sex offender.
Staley resigned from Barclays last week after seeing preliminary conclusions of an investigation by UK regulators, which examined whether he had mischaracterised his relationship with Epstein as purely professional. He has said he will contest the findings.
Central to the probe was a cache of emails first provided to US regulators by JPMorgan, where Staley worked for more than 30 years in various roles including head of the private bank where Epstein was a client.
Epstein died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial on charges that he sex-trafficked underage girls.
Neither the extent of the email traffic between the two men nor any of its content has been made public until now.
Many of the emails, sent between 2008 and 2012, were matter of fact — for example, discussing news articles or arranging to meet up for drinks — but showed a close relationship between the two men, according to the people familiar with the contents.
However, regulators have highlighted certain terms that do not have an obvious meaning. The “snow white” reference was written in a short, two-message exchange referring to a conversation the men had previously had in person, one of the people familiar with the matter said. Regulators at the Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority are yet to draw conclusions over the phrase, a second person said.
Kathleen Harris, a lawyer for Staley, said: “We wish to make it expressly clear that our client had no involvement in any of the alleged crimes committed by Mr Epstein, and codewords were never used by Mr Staley in any communications with Mr Epstein, ever.” She said all the emails were innocuous.
Barclays pointed to an earlier statement that said “the investigation makes no findings that Mr Staley saw, or was aware of, any of Mr Epstein’s alleged crimes”. JPMorgan declined to comment.
The ECB is investigating why an allegation made to the governing body in 2018 about a racially offensive term used by John Faragher — the chairman of Essex who has resigned — was not acted upon.
Faragher “strongly denies” the allegations that he made the comment during an Essex committee meeting in 2017, but he has stepped down with immediate effect. The Times understands that the alleged phrase used was “N***** in the woodpile” although this has not been confirmed either by Essex or the ECB.
The matter was raised with the ECB three years ago but was not investigated further or acted upon at the time. The allegation against Faragher was reported to the governing body again recently whereby the ECB immediately opened an investigation. A meeting of the Essex board on Thursday evening led to the resignation of Faragher with immediate effect.
The ECB is now investigating how the allegation was raised with it in 2018 and what processes were followed.
I think the reason for the "precious guardians of the data" is that when people are using data to bash other places it probably helps that the data is accurate. Its easy to say "its spiking elsewhere, we got it right". But when its going up here as well...?
It's more about not using ridiculous metrics, like one day of data from Germany. Where the reporting day data is so spiky that it is close too meaningless.
It's all very nice to be the first to run down the street with your hair on fire etc. But waiting to see what the actual reality is, is to be recommended.
I know, we should all shut up until you strain and puff and do you enormous daily data dump, in the potty of PB
Oh, I don't think he minds them looking at stuff - it's the finding of stuff he has a problem with. It's just unfair the way people can respond at length multiple times, and challenge the findings before a committee, it's like having no input.
Urban dictionary offers a couple of options. Didn't realise snow whiting is a verb.
Yes, the verb form is quite alarming in this context.
Snow White does put me in mind of "Creative Loafing" in Atlanta, who always did great cinema reviews. It went something like this.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarves: An abused teenage girl shacks up with seven men, but when they cannot satisfy her, runs off with the first real stud she encounters. Disney makes it all seem so innocent.
Regarding Covid specimen vs. reported date debate, I'm not quite sure why it gets people so excited:
1) Both have weekly cycles that means certain days of the week are higher than others (i.e. you have to compare to 7/14 days ago for a fair comparison)
2) Specimen date may be more accurate, but any trends picked up in reported date data will feed through to the specimen date in any case.
So really you have one measure that is more accurate in the long-term (specimen date) and another measure that is far more useful is identifying potential changes in trends more quickly (reported date). I don't think the difference statistically that important when you have other better measures (ONS survey) available for the rear view mirror perspective.
For most people reported date (and changes in 7-day average) are easiest.
Regarding Covid specimen vs. reported date debate, I'm not quite sure why it gets people so excited:
1) Both have weekly cycles that means certain days of the week are higher than others (i.e. you have to compare to 7/14 days ago for a fair comparison)
2) Specimen date may be more accurate, but any trends picked up in reported date data will feed through to the specimen date in any case.
So really you have one measure that is more accurate in the long-term (specimen date) and another measure that is far more useful is identifying potential changes in trends more quickly (reported date). I don't think the difference statistically that important when you have other better measures (ONS survey) available for the rear view mirror perspective.
For most people reported date (and changes in 7-day average) are easiest.
It depends on whether you are trying to make political points about the rise / fall of Covid.
Regarding Covid specimen vs. reported date debate, I'm not quite sure why it gets people so excited:
1) Both have weekly cycles that means certain days of the week are higher than others (i.e. you have to compare to 7/14 days ago for a fair comparison)
2) Specimen date may be more accurate, but any trends picked up in reported date data will feed through to the specimen date in any case.
So really you have one measure that is more accurate in the long-term (specimen date) and another measure that is far more useful is identifying potential changes in trends more quickly (reported date). I don't think the difference statistically that important when you have other better measures (ONS survey) available for the rear view mirror perspective.
For most people reported date (and changes in 7-day average) are easiest.
It depends on whether you are trying to make political points about the rise / fall of Covid.
We fall victim to the thing we despair of others doing - obsessing over the minutiae of case data. The numbers that matter are admissions and those in hospital. Hopefully the boosters are having the required effect. But we do need to move on. Covid is endemic. It’s going nowhere. Most people who get it will be fine, thanks to the vaccines, and previous infection. Do we need the huge surveillance now, or would we be better just testing on admission to hospital? There are other ways to monitor the local/national picture, such as sewage sampling. Time to stop pointless lateral flows for the kids.
Latvia bans unvaccinated lawmakers from voting, becoming the first country to adopt such a measure
That's pretty outrageous. That's like banning people who have certain views from being able to vote.
Is it though? I can believe that vaccines are unnecessary or ineffective yet still get vaccinated. It is not the same as banning people who do not support (or who do support) a new lockdown.
That was Wednesaday. A lot has happened since then.
He's currently reading text messages on his iPhone as the prosecution is making aural arguments to him. He has not switched off hos ringer and the phone keeps going off.
He lead a round of applause for a defence witness yesterday (jury was present).
Today he's lament that he cannot remembr exactly what Rittemhoise said in his sworn testimony on Wednesday - he's sittong right next to the court stenographer.
That scary Spiegel article is now up, and in English
"Nobody really wanted to listen to him in the last few months. He was seen as a killjoy, dragging down the mood. That annoying guy from Berlin's Charité University Hospital. German politicians also studiously ignored his warnings of a difficult fourth epidemic wave – of a deadly corona autumn. But here we are. Because as it happens, Germany’s best-known virologist, Christian Drosten, in concert with many of his fellow scientists, had been spot on."
Doesn't mince words:
"Meanwhile, a large population of the feebleminded have continued to ignore the dangers presented by the virus and refuse to be vaccinated."
MP with stake in giant health insurer lobbied for ‘Australian-style’ care insurance
Exclusive: Tory MP Marcus Fysh ‘wrong’ not to mention interest in insurance firm when proposing insurance-friendly amendment to care levy, says ex-standards committee chair
"MP with stake in giant health insurer that does not operate in the UK..." doesn't have quite the same sensationalist ring to it, does it?
This is the claim:
Alistair Graham, former chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, told openDemocracy that Fysh’s actions were “quite wrong” and, in his view, a breach of the parliamentary code of conduct.
Graham said: “The rules of procedure would clearly require him to explain what his interest is in the matter, so, yes, I think that would be a breach of the code. Particularly where he’s seeking with an amendment to influence the policy of the government, then he’s duty-bound to declare any interest he has in the matter.”
Graham acknowledged that AIA does not currently operate in the UK, but added: “They might in the future, mightn’t they, and presumably all this questioning is that he anticipates that they will and he’ll make a big shot of money when they do that.”
Somewhere, there is a sensible place to draw all these lines.
When I worked for an international megacorps, we had to declare outside interests, and iirc part of the justification was to avoid competing with our employer, but part was to avoid competing in areas where our employer might want to operate in future. The Australian insurer who might one day open a London office sounds like the latter.
Looking at Fysh's list of interests, maybe it would be simpler to ask MPs not to buy and sell shares but to place their investments into a blind trust.
Regarding Covid specimen vs. reported date debate, I'm not quite sure why it gets people so excited:
1) Both have weekly cycles that means certain days of the week are higher than others (i.e. you have to compare to 7/14 days ago for a fair comparison)
2) Specimen date may be more accurate, but any trends picked up in reported date data will feed through to the specimen date in any case.
So really you have one measure that is more accurate in the long-term (specimen date) and another measure that is far more useful is identifying potential changes in trends more quickly (reported date). I don't think the difference statistically that important when you have other better measures (ONS survey) available for the rear view mirror perspective.
For most people reported date (and changes in 7-day average) are easiest.
The problem with the report day data is the variation in the delay in reporting. It isn't just 2 days or 3 days or 5 days. So you can see apparent falls and rises that simply due to how fast someone uploaded data into the system.
Specimen day data removes a layer of random noise.
The ONS data is better overall, but is a couple of weeks behind, and doesn't have the detail breakdowns that the specimen day data does.
Regarding Covid specimen vs. reported date debate, I'm not quite sure why it gets people so excited:
1) Both have weekly cycles that means certain days of the week are higher than others (i.e. you have to compare to 7/14 days ago for a fair comparison)
2) Specimen date may be more accurate, but any trends picked up in reported date data will feed through to the specimen date in any case.
So really you have one measure that is more accurate in the long-term (specimen date) and another measure that is far more useful is identifying potential changes in trends more quickly (reported date). I don't think the difference statistically that important when you have other better measures (ONS survey) available for the rear view mirror perspective.
For most people reported date (and changes in 7-day average) are easiest.
Ultimately, they are both reporting the same total number.
That was Wednesaday. A lot has happened since then.
He's currently reading text messages on his iPhone as the prosecution is making aural arguments to him. He has not switched off hos ringer and the phone keeps going off.
He lead a round of applause for a defence witness yesterday (jury was present).
Today he's lament that he cannot remembr exactly what Rittemhoise said in his sworn testimony on Wednesday - he's sittong right next to the court stenographer.
If Rittenhouse gets acquitted - which he should do on the evidence presented so far - it’s not because of the judge.
It’s because there is video evidence of him being chased down the street by people obviously looking to cause harm.
It’s because one of the chief prosecution witnesses has admitted that that Rittenhouse only pointed a gun at him when the witness aimed a gun at him, a clear case of self defence
It’s because another prosecution witness said that one of those killed made it clear he wanted to kill Rittenhouse and used his skateboard in a manner obviously meant to cause the most serious harm.
It’s because Wisconsin has a law regarding self defence which makes it clear that the prosecution has to make it very clear it was not self defence.
It’s also because the prosecutor has been totally inept.
You don’t like Rittenhouse for his politics. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t have rights, like that d1ck Jeffries - who is considered a f**king contender to replace Pelosi - suggested. And yes my reaction would be the same if it was a BLM supporter shooting some Trumpsters in exactly the same circumstances.
Regarding Covid specimen vs. reported date debate, I'm not quite sure why it gets people so excited:
1) Both have weekly cycles that means certain days of the week are higher than others (i.e. you have to compare to 7/14 days ago for a fair comparison)
2) Specimen date may be more accurate, but any trends picked up in reported date data will feed through to the specimen date in any case.
So really you have one measure that is more accurate in the long-term (specimen date) and another measure that is far more useful is identifying potential changes in trends more quickly (reported date). I don't think the difference statistically that important when you have other better measures (ONS survey) available for the rear view mirror perspective.
For most people reported date (and changes in 7-day average) are easiest.
Ultimately, they are both reporting the same total number.
Hardly something to froth about.
If you wait long enough, they are - but for that you would have to ignore the daily reporting day numbers and stick to longer term averages.
That was Wednesaday. A lot has happened since then.
He's currently reading text messages on his iPhone as the prosecution is making aural arguments to him. He has not switched off hos ringer and the phone keeps going off.
He lead a round of applause for a defence witness yesterday (jury was present).
Today he's lament that he cannot remembr exactly what Rittemhoise said in his sworn testimony on Wednesday - he's sittong right next to the court stenographer.
If Rittenhouse gets acquitted - which he should do on the evidence presented so far - it’s not because of the judge.
It’s because there is video evidence of him being chased down the street by people obviously looking to cause harm.
It’s because one of the chief prosecution witnesses has admitted that that Rittenhouse only pointed a gun at him when the witness aimed a gun at him, a clear case of self defence
It’s because another prosecution witness said that one of those killed made it clear he wanted to kill Rittenhouse and used his skateboard in a manner obviously meant to cause the most serious harm.
It’s because Wisconsin has a law regarding self defence which makes it clear that the prosecution has to make it very clear it was not self defence.
It’s also because the prosecutor has been totally inept.
You don’t like Rittenhouse for his politics. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t have rights, like that d1ck Jeffries - who is considered a f**king contender to replace Pelosi - suggested. And yes my reaction would be the same if it was a BLM supporter shooting some Trumpsters in exactly the same circumstances.
I think several people have suggested the case probably was going the way of the defence anyway, but that doesn't prevent criticism of the judge if it is warranted.
Why has HMG made buying Bitcoin a phenomenal hassle?
try www.bitstamp.net They have UK faster payments. I prefer binance but you are blocked sending GBP there but not receiving it from most UK banks. I had to send a brokerage statement to bitstamp to get coin out which I was not happy about.
All the Baltic armed forces have gone on alert. NATO is expecting something very bad.
Once there is an attack on one of them the Baltic forces include all those of the USA, UK and France and bits and pieces from elsewhere as well. Finland and Sweden can sit it out with the RoI. The EU is a curious bunch when it comes to defence. But the Turks will be along with their yatagans
That was Wednesaday. A lot has happened since then.
He's currently reading text messages on his iPhone as the prosecution is making aural arguments to him. He has not switched off hos ringer and the phone keeps going off.
He lead a round of applause for a defence witness yesterday (jury was present).
Today he's lament that he cannot remembr exactly what Rittemhoise said in his sworn testimony on Wednesday - he's sittong right next to the court stenographer.
If Rittenhouse gets acquitted - which he should do on the evidence presented so far - it’s not because of the judge.
It’s because there is video evidence of him being chased down the street by people obviously looking to cause harm.
It’s because one of the chief prosecution witnesses has admitted that that Rittenhouse only pointed a gun at him when the witness aimed a gun at him, a clear case of self defence
It’s because another prosecution witness said that one of those killed made it clear he wanted to kill Rittenhouse and used his skateboard in a manner obviously meant to cause the most serious harm.
It’s because Wisconsin has a law regarding self defence which makes it clear that the prosecution has to make it very clear it was not self defence.
It’s also because the prosecutor has been totally inept.
You don’t like Rittenhouse for his politics. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t have rights, like that d1ck Jeffries - who is considered a f**king contender to replace Pelosi - suggested. And yes my reaction would be the same if it was a BLM supporter shooting some Trumpsters in exactly the same circumstances.
Lol, if a judge led a round of apllause for a BLM defence witness you would be losing your shit on here. And rightly so.
Aren't the rising covid cases last couple of days just the bonfire party affect washing out? I know the bonfires are outside, but there will have been a lot of intergenerational and friends mixing indoors afterwards once it gets too cold to stand outside.
That was Wednesaday. A lot has happened since then.
He's currently reading text messages on his iPhone as the prosecution is making aural arguments to him. He has not switched off hos ringer and the phone keeps going off.
He lead a round of applause for a defence witness yesterday (jury was present).
Today he's lament that he cannot remembr exactly what Rittemhoise said in his sworn testimony on Wednesday - he's sittong right next to the court stenographer.
If Rittenhouse gets acquitted - which he should do on the evidence presented so far - it’s not because of the judge.
It’s because there is video evidence of him being chased down the street by people obviously looking to cause harm.
It’s because one of the chief prosecution witnesses has admitted that that Rittenhouse only pointed a gun at him when the witness aimed a gun at him, a clear case of self defence
It’s because another prosecution witness said that one of those killed made it clear he wanted to kill Rittenhouse and used his skateboard in a manner obviously meant to cause the most serious harm.
It’s because Wisconsin has a law regarding self defence which makes it clear that the prosecution has to make it very clear it was not self defence.
It’s also because the prosecutor has been totally inept.
You don’t like Rittenhouse for his politics. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t have rights, like that d1ck Jeffries - who is considered a f**king contender to replace Pelosi - suggested. And yes my reaction would be the same if it was a BLM supporter shooting some Trumpsters in exactly the same circumstances.
Lol, if a judge led a round of apllause for a BLM defence witness you would be losing your shit on here. And rightly so.
Actually I wouldn’t. I might make a comment (I think I did when Stacey Abrams’s sister - who is a judge in Georgia - make a ruling that was clearly biased after refusing to recuse herself). But my view of the US legal system is that it is inherently biased one way or the other.
However, the fact remains. You can’t bang on about due rights and Trump is destroying democracy and then claim Rittenhouse and his ilk has no rights. That is what Jeffries effectively said in his tweet. Everyone has rights, regardless of their politics. But if you will show me one of my posts where I have argued differently, I will happily climb down from the high horse.
That was Wednesaday. A lot has happened since then.
He's currently reading text messages on his iPhone as the prosecution is making aural arguments to him. He has not switched off hos ringer and the phone keeps going off.
He lead a round of applause for a defence witness yesterday (jury was present).
Today he's lament that he cannot remembr exactly what Rittemhoise said in his sworn testimony on Wednesday - he's sittong right next to the court stenographer.
If Rittenhouse gets acquitted - which he should do on the evidence presented so far - it’s not because of the judge.
It’s because there is video evidence of him being chased down the street by people obviously looking to cause harm.
It’s because one of the chief prosecution witnesses has admitted that that Rittenhouse only pointed a gun at him when the witness aimed a gun at him, a clear case of self defence
It’s because another prosecution witness said that one of those killed made it clear he wanted to kill Rittenhouse and used his skateboard in a manner obviously meant to cause the most serious harm.
It’s because Wisconsin has a law regarding self defence which makes it clear that the prosecution has to make it very clear it was not self defence.
It’s also because the prosecutor has been totally inept.
You don’t like Rittenhouse for his politics. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t have rights, like that d1ck Jeffries - who is considered a f**king contender to replace Pelosi - suggested. And yes my reaction would be the same if it was a BLM supporter shooting some Trumpsters in exactly the same circumstances.
I think several people have suggested the case probably was going the way of the defence anyway, but that doesn't prevent criticism of the judge if it is warranted.
Agreed and I actually would agree his conduct - if what @Alistair said is correct - is wrong. However, there seems to be a growing movement to claim Rittenhouse will get off because the judge is biased. That’s crap. The case is shit.
All the Baltic armed forces have gone on alert. NATO is expecting something very bad.
Once there is an attack on one of them the Baltic forces include all those of the USA, UK and France and bits and pieces from elsewhere as well. Finland and Sweden can sit it out with the RoI. The EU is a curious bunch when it comes to defence. But the Turks will be along with their yatagans
Seriously, Putin is looking and is giving serious consideration to the view that “now is when I can strike.” He thrives on weakness. He did it in 2014 in the Crimea. He knew Obama would do nothing and he was right. He thinks Biden will do nothing and he is probably right too. So chances are he will try something.
That was Wednesaday. A lot has happened since then.
He's currently reading text messages on his iPhone as the prosecution is making aural arguments to him. He has not switched off hos ringer and the phone keeps going off.
He lead a round of applause for a defence witness yesterday (jury was present).
Today he's lament that he cannot remembr exactly what Rittemhoise said in his sworn testimony on Wednesday - he's sittong right next to the court stenographer.
If Rittenhouse gets acquitted - which he should do on the evidence presented so far - it’s not because of the judge.
It’s because there is video evidence of him being chased down the street by people obviously looking to cause harm.
It’s because one of the chief prosecution witnesses has admitted that that Rittenhouse only pointed a gun at him when the witness aimed a gun at him, a clear case of self defence
It’s because another prosecution witness said that one of those killed made it clear he wanted to kill Rittenhouse and used his skateboard in a manner obviously meant to cause the most serious harm.
It’s because Wisconsin has a law regarding self defence which makes it clear that the prosecution has to make it very clear it was not self defence.
It’s also because the prosecutor has been totally inept.
You don’t like Rittenhouse for his politics. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t have rights, like that d1ck Jeffries - who is considered a f**king contender to replace Pelosi - suggested. And yes my reaction would be the same if it was a BLM supporter shooting some Trumpsters in exactly the same circumstances.
Lol, if a judge led a round of apllause for a BLM defence witness you would be losing your shit on here. And rightly so.
Actually I wouldn’t. I might make a comment (I think I did when Stacey Abrams’s sister - who is a judge in Georgia - make a ruling that was clearly biased after refusing to recuse herself). But my view of the US legal system is that it is inherently biased one way or the other.
However, the fact remains. You can’t bang on about due rights and Trump is destroying democracy and then claim Rittenhouse and his ilk has no rights. That is what Jeffries effectively said in his tweet. Everyone has rights, regardless of their politics. But if you will show me one of my posts where I have argued differently, I will happily climb down from the high horse.
I literally have said nothing about the guilt or not of Rittenhouse. My comments are entirely about the judge.
All the Baltic armed forces have gone on alert. NATO is expecting something very bad.
Once there is an attack on one of them the Baltic forces include all those of the USA, UK and France and bits and pieces from elsewhere as well. Finland and Sweden can sit it out with the RoI. The EU is a curious bunch when it comes to defence. But the Turks will be along with their yatagans
Seriously, Putin is looking and is giving serious consideration to the view that “now is when I can strike.” He thrives on weakness. He did it in 2014 in the Crimea. He knew Obama would do nothing and he was right. He thinks Biden will do nothing and he is probably right too. So chances are he will try something.
Putin's polling quite low at the moment. The Crimean war did his polling a whole load of good.
Also, if you like numbers, the Georgian war was in 2008. Six years later, in 2014, he invaded the Crimea. 2020 was taken up with Covid. Will Russia go to war in 2021?
Comments
Alistair Graham, former chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, told openDemocracy that Fysh’s actions were “quite wrong” and, in his view, a breach of the parliamentary code of conduct.
Graham said: “The rules of procedure would clearly require him to explain what his interest is in the matter, so, yes, I think that would be a breach of the code. Particularly where he’s seeking with an amendment to influence the policy of the government, then he’s duty-bound to declare any interest he has in the matter.”
Graham acknowledged that AIA does not currently operate in the UK, but added: “They might in the future, mightn’t they, and presumably all this questioning is that he anticipates that they will and he’ll make a big shot of money when they do that.”
Somewhere, there is a sensible place to draw all these lines.
Admit I have never been there.
It’s an odd place, all art nouveau architecture and shops selling mobility scooters.
Anyway, I think it’s simply shocking to effectively lock the unvaccinated inside.
Belarus and Russia doing military manoeuvres alongside sending migrants to the borders is rather incendiary.
The ECB is investigating why an allegation made to the governing body in 2018 about a racially offensive term used by John Faragher — the chairman of Essex who has resigned — was not acted upon.
Faragher “strongly denies” the allegations that he made the comment during an Essex committee meeting in 2017, but he has stepped down with immediate effect. The Times understands that the alleged phrase used was “N***** in the woodpile” although this has not been confirmed either by Essex or the ECB.
The matter was raised with the ECB three years ago but was not investigated further or acted upon at the time. The allegation against Faragher was reported to the governing body again recently whereby the ECB immediately opened an investigation. A meeting of the Essex board on Thursday evening led to the resignation of Faragher with immediate effect.
The ECB is now investigating how the allegation was raised with it in 2018 and what processes were followed.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/john-faragher-ecb-was-told-about-racism-claim-against-essex-chairman-in-2018-lm9925pm8
Still, there is something impressive in the way he asserted that MPs breaking the rules should be investigated and punished barely days after having whipped his MPs into voting for the precise opposite for the errant Mr Paterson. That really is taking his famous lack of attention to detail to another level.
https://twitter.com/AFP/status/1459198331826151427
"Blue horseshoe loves Anacot Steel"
WAR
The reality is that if the only way you can get people to be vaccinated is to make their life hell, you need to make their life hell.
Snow White does put me in mind of "Creative Loafing" in Atlanta, who always did great cinema reviews. It went something like this.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarves: An abused teenage girl shacks up with seven men, but when they cannot satisfy her, runs off with the first real stud she encounters. Disney makes it all seem so innocent.
1) Both have weekly cycles that means certain days of the week are higher than others (i.e. you have to compare to 7/14 days ago for a fair comparison)
2) Specimen date may be more accurate, but any trends picked up in reported date data will feed through to the specimen date in any case.
So really you have one measure that is more accurate in the long-term (specimen date) and another measure that is far more useful is identifying potential changes in trends more quickly (reported date). I don't think the difference statistically that important when you have other better measures (ONS survey) available for the rear view mirror perspective.
For most people reported date (and changes in 7-day average) are easiest.
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/11/judge-bruce-schroeder-rittenhouse-trial-villain.html
But we do need to move on. Covid is endemic. It’s going nowhere. Most people who get it will be fine, thanks to the vaccines, and previous infection. Do we need the huge surveillance now, or would we be better just testing on admission to hospital? There are other ways to monitor the local/national picture, such as sewage sampling. Time to stop pointless lateral flows for the kids.
That was Wednesaday. A lot has happened since then.
He's currently reading text messages on his iPhone as the prosecution is making aural arguments to him. He has not switched off hos ringer and the phone keeps going off.
He lead a round of applause for a defence witness yesterday (jury was present).
Today he's lament that he cannot remembr exactly what Rittemhoise said in his sworn testimony on Wednesday - he's sittong right next to the court stenographer.
"Nobody really wanted to listen to him in the last few months. He was seen as a killjoy, dragging down the mood. That annoying guy from Berlin's Charité University Hospital. German politicians also studiously ignored his warnings of a difficult fourth epidemic wave – of a deadly corona autumn. But here we are. Because as it happens, Germany’s best-known virologist, Christian Drosten, in concert with many of his fellow scientists, had been spot on."
Doesn't mince words:
"Meanwhile, a large population of the feebleminded have continued to ignore the dangers presented by the virus and refuse to be vaccinated."
https://www.spiegel.de/international/coronavirus-in-deutschland-wenn-impfverweigerer-auf-ein-land-ohne-politische-fuehrung-treffen-1636729575-a-1495255a-25af-4b8e-9727-4ea7f26db55f?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter#ref=rss
Looking at Fysh's list of interests, maybe it would be simpler to ask MPs not to buy and sell shares but to place their investments into a blind trust.
My entertainment tonight is England V Albania on the normal telly.
Catch you all tomorrow.
Specimen day data removes a layer of random noise.
The ONS data is better overall, but is a couple of weeks behind, and doesn't have the detail breakdowns that the specimen day data does.
Hardly something to froth about.
Dutch scenes
Zeke Miller
@ZekeJMiller
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1m
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Dutch government announces three-week partial lockdown amid surging COVID-19 cases.
It’s because there is video evidence of him being chased down the street by people obviously looking to cause harm.
It’s because one of the chief prosecution witnesses has admitted that that Rittenhouse only pointed a gun at him when the witness aimed a gun at him, a clear case of self defence
It’s because another prosecution witness said that one of those killed made it clear he wanted to kill Rittenhouse and used his skateboard in a manner obviously meant to cause the most serious harm.
It’s because Wisconsin has a law regarding self defence which makes it clear that the prosecution has to make it very clear it was not self defence.
It’s also because the prosecutor has been totally inept.
You don’t like Rittenhouse for his politics. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t have rights, like that d1ck Jeffries - who is considered a f**king contender to replace Pelosi - suggested. And yes my reaction would be the same if it was a BLM supporter shooting some Trumpsters in exactly the same circumstances.
However, the fact remains. You can’t bang on about due rights and Trump is destroying democracy and then claim Rittenhouse and his ilk has no rights. That is what Jeffries effectively said in his tweet. Everyone has rights, regardless of their politics. But if you will show me one of my posts where I have argued differently, I will happily climb down from the high horse.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/896181/putin-approval-rating-russia/
Also, if you like numbers, the Georgian war was in 2008. Six years later, in 2014, he invaded the Crimea. 2020 was taken up with Covid. Will Russia go to war in 2021?
https://www.rferl.org/a/putin-poll-trust-lowest-levels/31497686.html