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On Smarkets its a 55% chance that Scotland will vote for Independence – politicalbetting.com

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  • CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758
    rcs1000 said:

    Charles said:

    MaxPB said:

    rcs1000 said:

    The pharmaceuticals manufacturer Novavax has begun work on a new version of its Covid-19 vaccine, aimed at targeting the Omicron variant.

    It says it hopes the vaccine will be ready for testing and manufacturing within a matter of weeks.

    Did Novavax actually managed to get their previous Covid vaccine actually manufactured?
    No. Significant manufacturing difficulties. The shareholders were very upset.
    *buffs nails*

    Don’t say I didn’t warn you about NovaVax over a year ago

    I thought you warned us about No Vax :lol:
    My company got the ticker VAXX 👻
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 116,709

    HYUFD said:

    Leon said:

    HYUFD said:

    Andy_JS said:

    "Steerpike
    Mind the gap: striking Tube drivers on up to £100,000"

    https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/mind-the-gap-striking-tube-drivers-on-up-to-100k

    The politics of envy?
    Fine if they work for it, not fine when they are on strike like today and holding up commuters from getting to work while still pocketing 6 figure salaries
    Read the article linked to. No tube drivers are 'pocketing 6 figure salaries'.
    No Tube drivers should be pocketing any salaries. The entire network could be automated and made driverless tomorrow. No more strikes. It is only union power that means they cling on, like the print workers in Fleet Street in the 70s
    Gosh. A union looking after the interests of its members.

    How very dare they.
    I have a right-wing Tory friend who says cheerfully that if he'd been a Tube driver he's have voted for Bob Crow - "He understands how the free market works - not his job to be popular but to make his members rich."
    Crow was born in Epping but fortunately his family moved to Hainault shortly after.

    As well as being a Communist strike leader on a large salary, he also got on well with Farage surprisingly as both were anti EU
    Hopefully, the good citizens of Epping think that you moving to the town was a good swap for Bob Crow moving out.
    Depeche Mode's Dave Gahan was also born in Epping. (though he moved to Basildon when he was a young boy).
    That’s another bonus for Epping!
    As was Ben Shepherd, Philip Hammond, the children's author Jill Barklem and the actor Jason Merrells and Griff Rhys Jones went to primary school in Epping. Winston Churchill was of course Epping's former MP
  • JonathanJonathan Posts: 20,901
    Just been watching classic seventies sci-fi The Omicron Variant. Or was it Newsnight? Hard to tell these days.
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 31,274
    edited November 2021

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    kinabalu said:

    Roger said:

    Most impressive French spokeswoman on BBC News. It really is time this country rid itself of this quite dreadful Prime Minister and Home Secretary. They are well beyond embarrassing.

    Macron and Boris are equally dreadful and both are embarrassing
    Thank goodness you could only vote for one of them otherwise the embarrassment would be excruciating.
    Just accidentally caught Neil Oliver on GBNews. Rocking the double denim.
    Definite whiff of occupant of cult compound under siege by the FBI about him nowadays.
    He’s an arse. What is it about historians? Oliver, Sharkey!
    Oi!
    Are you an historian?

    I read a proper history book about the real Merlin by Gordon Strachan, and was a very wise man, but also apparently a bit haughty though could be very light and funny too.

    And I have also looked up you name “ydoethur “ in an old book.

    https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=1jnBa3UwmgwC&pg=RA3-PA121&lpg=RA3-PA121&dq=doethur+similar+words+in+welsh&source=bl&ots=aYw8Y2921t&sig=ACfU3U3qO11WtqpXw50xDzc5fAKIFUIufw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjAucaKqKD0AhUO_KQKHa0KAiEQ6AF6BAgTEAM#v=onepage&q=doethur similar words in welsh&f=false

    So I have done the detective work and put two and two together. Have I outed a big secret hidden in your name?

    Are you in fact a descendant of Merlin?
    No, I'm a PhD in History and a former lecturer before I went into teaching.
    I was wrong then. 😕

    But being a teacher is still good though, 👍🏻

    What would you say is your specialism?

    Fun history fact: did you know God made the earth design all the churches based on the curves of the female nude?
    His main specialism is puns. Some history teaching as a hobby...
    Lol. I will have to watch out for them. Maybe I should have asked what is specialism in puns, not in history.

    PS. Shh - he still might be a Merlin just denying it
    Witch would be amusing in its own way.
    So your specialism is spelling?
    No, puntuation.

    And according to @MoonRabbit also gramarye.
    I was bottom of the class for punctuation and spalling and gramarye always, and they tested me for dyslexia twice in two different schools and both times said no, not that, you’re just rubbish.
    And one teacher gave me a book on Venice by Ruskin, do you know it, and said read this and what he is doing with punctuation and gramarye will subconscious sink in. And the first thing I noticed was he would use every punctuation excuse not to use a full stop.
    But that didn’t work either.
    Look in this example, whole paragraphs and no full stops. https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Two_Paths/Lecture_V
    Why the private profile? I've neverseen anyone else on PB elect to have a private profile.

    Why did I notice? I was looking to see if it was you that posted the same Ruskin lecture a day or so ago... Assuming it was, why the obsession with this Ruskin lecture?
    Yes. Me. Last night before bed. Yesterday we were talking about geology, someone said they come here to talk geology so I posted it. If it wasn’t for rust the landscape wouldn’t look as it does, and paintings wouldn’t look as they do. That’s a bit of geology I know from art. But truth is it is good writing as well as good knowledge isn’t it? Are there any better examples of how to write than Ruskin?

    I don’t know about private profile or not when I set up just pressed buttons. Should I go back and unpress it now if it helps?
    Well, it feels a bit unfriendly.

    It's sometimes nice to be able to look back at an indivudual's previous posts and you markng your profile as private prevents that.

    Click on you name where it appears against any post, clikc the settings wheel, edit profile, uncheck the private profile box.

    As I say, I have not come across anyone else who has a private profile on PB.
    I think that’s done now Ben 🙂
    Indeed it is, much appreciated.

    Edit: I have sent you a private message.
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 20,812
    RIP Stephen Sondheim.

    Spielberg’s remake of West Side Story is out at Xmas.
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 47,080
    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    dixiedean said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:



    Even £56,496 puts them in the top 10% of earners and most Tory MPs have to work part of the weekend on constituency visits as well as often long days and part of the evening in the House in the week.

    Plus 'Transport for London has now admitted that Tube staff are paid up to £100k a year in salary, pension contributions, allowances and perks including season ticket reimbursements' so in total some earn more than Tory MPs do

    I dare you to commission Survation to add a question to their next poll (it doesn't cost much): "Who should earn more - Tube drivers or Conservative MPs?"
    The country would miss tube drivers. Conservative MPs, not so much.
    Would they? I was supposed to go into London today but couldn't because they were on strike while Tory MPs were still working for their constituents in the Commons as they will work in their constituencies tomorrow
    You could have taken the bus to Harlow and taken Greater Anglia into Liverpool Street, you know!
    The strike included between Liverpool Street and White City and I needed to get to Oxford Circus
    Unable to get to where you want by public transport?
    Welcome to everyday rural life.
    Most people in villages now are pensioners or farmers, not commuters
    They used to be miners in the villages in County Durham. I don't think many of them turned to farming.
    So past tense then, the former miners will be pensioners now if still alive
    Dead or voting Tory, what a choice.
  • Evening all. Hope that Arwen isn't treating you too badly - the best/worst storm I can remember. Have only ever heard wind roar on tornado chaser programs until tonight, now I have video of it outside my house.

    There is something primal about the power of nature. I have some treasured memories of storms, such as 1987, and also of the best snowfalls. Hope you are well and no damage to your house!
    Lost at least one roof slate, will assess the rest in the morning. Its not pretty out there, trees down everywhere and loads of garages with roofs off.
    All the best - where are you incidentally?
    New Pitsligo
    Ah, Aberdeenshire. I was in Aberdeen visiting relatives just before the first lockdown. Managed to do the Aberdeen to Inverness rail line.
    Did you get to The Kyle of Lochalsh?
    Sadly, no! And I didn't get to do the Thurso/Wick line either! If it weren't for the pandemic, I would have done those some time during spring or summer 2020.
    I’m slightly surprised to have been to a UK station you have missed!
  • maaarshmaaarsh Posts: 3,391
    IanB2 said:

    maaarsh said:

    IanB2 said:

    Carnival Corp down nearly 11% in one day.....

    Yes, and with US trading truncated due to the holiday.

    If you think this new variant will prove a storm in a teacup - perhaps infectious but not harmful - then buying CCL might be a good play.

    But maybe not just yet.
    Invest generically enough and you still win even if it's horrific. Anyone buying an S&P 500 tracker after the first sell off has doubled their money now.
    We’re hardly in that territory - a 1000 self off with probably the same tomorrow barely takes the US back a few weeks, given how high the market is. Many think a correction overdue and if this variant is more dangerous, who knows…
    Oh quite, it's not a buying opportunity yet. Just amused that we hit all time highs within 12 months of the market losing half it's value - leaves you wondering who the mopes are taking part in the sell offs once they've got going.
  • SandyRentoolSandyRentool Posts: 20,393

    Evening all. Hope that Arwen isn't treating you too badly - the best/worst storm I can remember. Have only ever heard wind roar on tornado chaser programs until tonight, now I have video of it outside my house.

    There is something primal about the power of nature. I have some treasured memories of storms, such as 1987, and also of the best snowfalls. Hope you are well and no damage to your house!
    Lost at least one roof slate, will assess the rest in the morning. Its not pretty out there, trees down everywhere and loads of garages with roofs off.
    All the best - where are you incidentally?
    New Pitsligo
    Ah, Aberdeenshire. I was in Aberdeen visiting relatives just before the first lockdown. Managed to do the Aberdeen to Inverness rail line.
    Did you get to The Kyle of Lochalsh?
    Sadly, no! And I didn't get to do the Thurso/Wick line either! If it weren't for the pandemic, I would have done those some time during spring or summer 2020.
    You'll need to go to Oakhampton now too. Then Portishead. Then Ashington. It never ends!
  • Jonathan said:

    Just been watching classic seventies sci-fi The Omicron Variant. Or was it Newsnight? Hard to tell these days.

    If/when they get that far I think it would be a good idea to skip Omega and go for aleph or something similar.
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 27,835
    I know we shouldn't focus on cases, etc.
    But 50k feels like a milestone to me.
    With this and Omicron will be fascinating to see how folk react.
  • Trevor Bedford
    @trvrb There have been a number of overview threads on the emerging variant designated as
    @PangoNetwork lineage B.1.1.529, @nextstrain clade 21K and @WHO
    Variant of Concern Omicron. I'm not going to attempt to be comprehensive here, but will highlight a few aspects of the data. 1/16


    "I believe we're looking at a variant that potentially has significant immune evasion and that appears to be spreading rapidly."
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 47,080
    edited November 2021
    maaarsh said:

    IanB2 said:

    maaarsh said:

    IanB2 said:

    Carnival Corp down nearly 11% in one day.....

    Yes, and with US trading truncated due to the holiday.

    If you think this new variant will prove a storm in a teacup - perhaps infectious but not harmful - then buying CCL might be a good play.

    But maybe not just yet.
    Invest generically enough and you still win even if it's horrific. Anyone buying an S&P 500 tracker after the first sell off has doubled their money now.
    We’re hardly in that territory - a 1000 self off with probably the same tomorrow barely takes the US back a few weeks, given how high the market is. Many think a correction overdue and if this variant is more dangerous, who knows…
    Oh quite, it's not a buying opportunity yet. Just amused that we hit all time highs within 12 months of the market losing half it's value - leaves you wondering who the mopes are taking part in the sell offs once they've got going.
    A lot of people are in the market for want of any other way to earn income from their savings, and are ready to pull their money out if there’s a sniff of a downturn. Hence the potential for a big correction is there if the bad virus news continues into next week.
  • EabhalEabhal Posts: 5,781
    Apparently an entire barn has taken flight and landed on the Edinburgh - Glasgow line.
  • Jonathan said:

    Just been watching classic seventies sci-fi The Omicron Variant. Or was it Newsnight? Hard to tell these days.

    Is it like the Andromeda strain?
  • RIP Stephen Sondheim.

    Spielberg’s remake of West Side Story is out at Xmas.

    That reminds me: I showed a class this xkcd today


    I then said it was as if an opera buff would assume that most people could only name a few operas by composers such as Mozart or Wagner.

    They said “what’s an opera?”
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 31,274
    Eabhal said:

    Apparently an entire barn has taken flight and landed on the Edinburgh - Glasgow line.

    Barnstorming?
  • LeonLeon Posts: 46,237

    Jonathan said:

    Just been watching classic seventies sci-fi The Omicron Variant. Or was it Newsnight? Hard to tell these days.

    If/when they get that far I think it would be a good idea to skip Omega and go for aleph or something similar.
    No. Next it has to be ancient religious demons

    THE CHORONZON MUTATION

  • FairlieredFairliered Posts: 3,869

    Evening all. Hope that Arwen isn't treating you too badly - the best/worst storm I can remember. Have only ever heard wind roar on tornado chaser programs until tonight, now I have video of it outside my house.

    There is something primal about the power of nature. I have some treasured memories of storms, such as 1987, and also of the best snowfalls. Hope you are well and no damage to your house!
    Lost at least one roof slate, will assess the rest in the morning. Its not pretty out there, trees down everywhere and loads of garages with roofs off.
    All the best - where are you incidentally?
    New Pitsligo
    Ah, Aberdeenshire. I was in Aberdeen visiting relatives just before the first lockdown. Managed to do the Aberdeen to Inverness rail line.
    Did you get to The Kyle of Lochalsh?
    Not from Aberdeenshire I expect.
    The one time I went I thought it was via Inverness. I am probably mistaken.
    You were not mistaken. Hope you enjoyed it.
  • What with Arwen and Omicron I must say they're picking some epic names for absolute carnage events.
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 20,812
    edited November 2021

    RIP Stephen Sondheim.

    Spielberg’s remake of West Side Story is out at Xmas.

    That reminds me: I showed a class this xkcd today


    I then said it was as if an opera buff would assume that most people could only name a few operas by composers such as Mozart or Wagner.

    They said “what’s an opera?”
    Haha. But a bit sad. Don’t kids do music these days?
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 27,835

    Jonathan said:

    Just been watching classic seventies sci-fi The Omicron Variant. Or was it Newsnight? Hard to tell these days.

    Is it like the Andromeda strain?
    Didn't that almost set off a nuclear weapon?
    Frankly unlikely. Though I wouldn't put it past the blighter.
  • Evening all. Hope that Arwen isn't treating you too badly - the best/worst storm I can remember. Have only ever heard wind roar on tornado chaser programs until tonight, now I have video of it outside my house.

    There is something primal about the power of nature. I have some treasured memories of storms, such as 1987, and also of the best snowfalls. Hope you are well and no damage to your house!
    Lost at least one roof slate, will assess the rest in the morning. Its not pretty out there, trees down everywhere and loads of garages with roofs off.
    All the best - where are you incidentally?
    New Pitsligo
    Ah, Aberdeenshire. I was in Aberdeen visiting relatives just before the first lockdown. Managed to do the Aberdeen to Inverness rail line.
    Did you get to The Kyle of Lochalsh?
    Sadly, no! And I didn't get to do the Thurso/Wick line either! If it weren't for the pandemic, I would have done those some time during spring or summer 2020.
    You'll need to go to Oakhampton now too. Then Portishead. Then Ashington. It never ends!
    I've been to Oakhampton on a GWR Class 150. Back in August 2019.

    But I also need the Trafford Centre branch on Metrolink!
  • OK. BBC saying it is oh-me-cron.

    What happened to Nu?
    Too easily confused with "new" was what I read.
    And what does "nu" mean in French? (innocent face).
  • FairlieredFairliered Posts: 3,869
    IanB2 said:

    maaarsh said:

    IanB2 said:

    maaarsh said:

    IanB2 said:

    Carnival Corp down nearly 11% in one day.....

    Yes, and with US trading truncated due to the holiday.

    If you think this new variant will prove a storm in a teacup - perhaps infectious but not harmful - then buying CCL might be a good play.

    But maybe not just yet.
    Invest generically enough and you still win even if it's horrific. Anyone buying an S&P 500 tracker after the first sell off has doubled their money now.
    We’re hardly in that territory - a 1000 self off with probably the same tomorrow barely takes the US back a few weeks, given how high the market is. Many think a correction overdue and if this variant is more dangerous, who knows…
    Oh quite, it's not a buying opportunity yet. Just amused that we hit all time highs within 12 months of the market losing half it's value - leaves you wondering who the mopes are taking part in the sell offs once they've got going.
    A lot of people are in the market for want of any other way to earn income from their savings, and are ready to pull their money out if there’s a sniff of a downturn. Hence the potential for a big correction is there if the bad virus news continues into next week.
    Shares are the only things that most people buy dear and sell cheap.
  • Leon said:

    Jonathan said:

    Just been watching classic seventies sci-fi The Omicron Variant. Or was it Newsnight? Hard to tell these days.

    If/when they get that far I think it would be a good idea to skip Omega and go for aleph or something similar.
    No. Next it has to be ancient religious demons

    THE CHORONZON MUTATION

    They could use Greek nymphs. There were hundreds. It might be a bit embarrassing to die from the Doris variant though.
  • Eabhal said:

    Apparently an entire barn has taken flight and landed on the Edinburgh - Glasgow line.

    Barnstorming?
    There wasn’t a Wicked Witch underneath was there?
  • FairlieredFairliered Posts: 3,869

    Leon said:

    Jonathan said:

    Just been watching classic seventies sci-fi The Omicron Variant. Or was it Newsnight? Hard to tell these days.

    If/when they get that far I think it would be a good idea to skip Omega and go for aleph or something similar.
    No. Next it has to be ancient religious demons

    THE CHORONZON MUTATION

    They could use Greek nymphs. There were hundreds. It might be a bit embarrassing to die from the Doris variant though.
    Fora moment I thought you said the Boris variant. That would be really embarrassing.
  • Evening all. Hope that Arwen isn't treating you too badly - the best/worst storm I can remember. Have only ever heard wind roar on tornado chaser programs until tonight, now I have video of it outside my house.

    There is something primal about the power of nature. I have some treasured memories of storms, such as 1987, and also of the best snowfalls. Hope you are well and no damage to your house!
    Lost at least one roof slate, will assess the rest in the morning. Its not pretty out there, trees down everywhere and loads of garages with roofs off.
    All the best - where are you incidentally?
    New Pitsligo
    Ah, Aberdeenshire. I was in Aberdeen visiting relatives just before the first lockdown. Managed to do the Aberdeen to Inverness rail line.
    Did you get to The Kyle of Lochalsh?
    Not from Aberdeenshire I expect.
    The one time I went I thought it was via Inverness. I am probably mistaken.
    You were not mistaken. Hope you enjoyed it.
    I did: I got to go on a boat over the sea to Skye.
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 27,835

    OK. BBC saying it is oh-me-cron.

    What happened to Nu?
    Too easily confused with "new" was what I read.
    And what does "nu" mean in French? (innocent face).
    It also approximately equals woman in Chinese.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 46,237
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 76,274
    edited November 2021

    .


    Eric Feigl-Ding
    @DrEricDing
    ·
    44m
    ⚠️FIRST #OmicronVariant EUROPE CASE DID **NOT** TRAVEL TO SOUTHERN AFRICA—Tracing details of the Belgium #B11529 case reveals only travel to Egypt🇪🇬 & Turkey 🇹🇷—but not Sub-Saharan Africa at all. I’m concerned #Omicron is global 🌍 already—very worried. 🧵

    Already been posted....individual was neither vaccinated nor previously infected...but allowed to travel...shakes head.

    It was also 11 days after their return they developed symptoms, so it might not be from their travels.
    Unvaccinated person catches Covid. 😱
    I was under the misapprehension that you couldn't even go into bars or restaurants without a covid passport in Europe, let alone go jollying off to the Middle East.....
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 27,835
    dixiedean said:

    OK. BBC saying it is oh-me-cron.

    What happened to Nu?
    Too easily confused with "new" was what I read.
    And what does "nu" mean in French? (innocent face).
    It also approximately equals woman in Chinese.
    And cow.
  • How many weeks until we get the "Boris Variant" nonsense again?
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 76,274
    edited November 2021
    Israel has identified four cases of the B.1.1.529 variant, all recent travellers. One case, a 32-year-old woman returning from South Africa, was triple vaccinated with Pfizer and had her 3rd dose just two months ago.

    Another, a hotel worker from Malawi, had her second dose of AZ in mid-July. A third had her second J&J dose two months ago.

    No reports yet if these people are suffering from any symptoms at all; all travelers are screened with PCR tests on arrival, which is how they were identified.

    https://twitter.com/ariehkovler/status/1464190991204859919?s=20
  • Fysics_TeacherFysics_Teacher Posts: 6,060
    edited November 2021

    RIP Stephen Sondheim.

    Spielberg’s remake of West Side Story is out at Xmas.

    That reminds me: I showed a class this xkcd today


    I then said it was as if an opera buff would assume that most people could only name a few operas by composers such as Mozart or Wagner.

    They said “what’s an opera?”
    Haha. But a bit sad. Don’t kids do music these days?
    Yes, but most schools aren’t exactly up to putting on a groundbreaking version of The Ring Cycle. Musicals, yes, but actual opera is much harder to do.

    Having said that when I was their age I had been to three or four operas via school trips (including one at the Bolshoi), something this lot have not had the chance to do for the last couple of years. I’m sure if there had been any A-level music students in the class they would have known a few (or at last what an opera is) but we don’t get more than a dozen or so each year and not many of them also do Physics.
  • AslanAslan Posts: 1,673
    Wasn't Omicron the bad guy in the original Transformers movie? The one voiced by Orson Welles?
  • kamskikamski Posts: 4,199

    .


    Eric Feigl-Ding
    @DrEricDing
    ·
    44m
    ⚠️FIRST #OmicronVariant EUROPE CASE DID **NOT** TRAVEL TO SOUTHERN AFRICA—Tracing details of the Belgium #B11529 case reveals only travel to Egypt🇪🇬 & Turkey 🇹🇷—but not Sub-Saharan Africa at all. I’m concerned #Omicron is global 🌍 already—very worried. 🧵

    Already been posted....individual was neither vaccinated nor previously infected...but allowed to travel...shakes head.

    It was also 11 days after their return they developed symptoms, so it might not be from their travels.
    Unvaccinated person catches Covid. 😱
    I was under the misapprehension that you couldn't even go into bars or restaurants without a covid passport in Europe, let alone go jollying off to the Middle East.....
    Some people even say "Europe" is made up of several different countries.
  • SelebianSelebian Posts: 7,256

    RIP Stephen Sondheim.

    Spielberg’s remake of West Side Story is out at Xmas.

    That reminds me: I showed a class this xkcd today


    I then said it was as if an opera buff would assume that most people could only name a few operas by composers such as Mozart or Wagner.

    They said “what’s an opera?”
    Haha. But a bit sad. Don’t kids do music these days?
    Yes, but most schools aren’t exactly up to putting on a groundbreaking version of The Ring Cycle. Musicals, yes, but actual opera is much harder to do.

    Having said that when I was their age I had been to three or four operas via school trips (including one at the Bolshoi), something this lot have not had the chance to do for the last couple of years. I’m sure if there had been any A-level music students in the class they would have known a few (or at last what an opera is) but we don’t get more than a dozen or so each year and not many of them also do Physics.
    Which in some ways isn't odd at all, but also maybe is when you consider that music and its generation is all physics.

    A couple of decades back I worked with a guy who won a science communication competition, using guitar to explain waves, I think. His surname was Looney or similar spelling, so one of the papers (or maybe ch4 website, they sponsored it, I think) had the immortal headline "Axe wielding Looney cleans up at science contest", or something like that
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 27,835
    Selebian said:

    RIP Stephen Sondheim.

    Spielberg’s remake of West Side Story is out at Xmas.

    That reminds me: I showed a class this xkcd today


    I then said it was as if an opera buff would assume that most people could only name a few operas by composers such as Mozart or Wagner.

    They said “what’s an opera?”
    Haha. But a bit sad. Don’t kids do music these days?
    Yes, but most schools aren’t exactly up to putting on a groundbreaking version of The Ring Cycle. Musicals, yes, but actual opera is much harder to do.

    Having said that when I was their age I had been to three or four operas via school trips (including one at the Bolshoi), something this lot have not had the chance to do for the last couple of years. I’m sure if there had been any A-level music students in the class they would have known a few (or at last what an opera is) but we don’t get more than a dozen or so each year and not many of them also do Physics.
    Which in some ways isn't odd at all, but also maybe is when you consider that music and its generation is all physics.

    A couple of decades back I worked with a guy who won a science communication competition, using guitar to explain waves, I think. His surname was Looney or similar spelling, so one of the papers (or maybe ch4 website, they sponsored it, I think) had the immortal headline "Axe wielding Looney cleans up at science contest", or something like that
    The Brian Cox Brian May crossover. Wasn't Borodin a professor of chemistry?
    Or didn't I dream that?
  • Selebian said:

    RIP Stephen Sondheim.

    Spielberg’s remake of West Side Story is out at Xmas.

    That reminds me: I showed a class this xkcd today


    I then said it was as if an opera buff would assume that most people could only name a few operas by composers such as Mozart or Wagner.

    They said “what’s an opera?”
    Haha. But a bit sad. Don’t kids do music these days?
    Yes, but most schools aren’t exactly up to putting on a groundbreaking version of The Ring Cycle. Musicals, yes, but actual opera is much harder to do.

    Having said that when I was their age I had been to three or four operas via school trips (including one at the Bolshoi), something this lot have not had the chance to do for the last couple of years. I’m sure if there had been any A-level music students in the class they would have known a few (or at last what an opera is) but we don’t get more than a dozen or so each year and not many of them also do Physics.
    Which in some ways isn't odd at all, but also maybe is when you consider that music and its generation is all physics.

    A couple of decades back I worked with a guy who won a science communication competition, using guitar to explain waves, I think. His surname was Looney or similar spelling, so one of the papers (or maybe ch4 website, they sponsored it, I think) had the immortal headline "Axe wielding Looney cleans up at science contest", or something like that
    There are alway some that do both (though maths is a more common addition to music than physics, with a few doing both).
  • Leon said:
    He's talking about the mutations on the virus. So maybe we will be ok if vax still deals with them. Maybe even t-cells alone will be enough.

    This is my optimistic mode.
  • dixiedean said:

    Selebian said:

    RIP Stephen Sondheim.

    Spielberg’s remake of West Side Story is out at Xmas.

    That reminds me: I showed a class this xkcd today


    I then said it was as if an opera buff would assume that most people could only name a few operas by composers such as Mozart or Wagner.

    They said “what’s an opera?”
    Haha. But a bit sad. Don’t kids do music these days?
    Yes, but most schools aren’t exactly up to putting on a groundbreaking version of The Ring Cycle. Musicals, yes, but actual opera is much harder to do.

    Having said that when I was their age I had been to three or four operas via school trips (including one at the Bolshoi), something this lot have not had the chance to do for the last couple of years. I’m sure if there had been any A-level music students in the class they would have known a few (or at last what an opera is) but we don’t get more than a dozen or so each year and not many of them also do Physics.
    Which in some ways isn't odd at all, but also maybe is when you consider that music and its generation is all physics.

    A couple of decades back I worked with a guy who won a science communication competition, using guitar to explain waves, I think. His surname was Looney or similar spelling, so one of the papers (or maybe ch4 website, they sponsored it, I think) had the immortal headline "Axe wielding Looney cleans up at science contest", or something like that
    The Brian Cox Brian May crossover. Wasn't Borodin a professor of chemistry?
    Or didn't I dream that?
    Don’t forget this guy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Herschel
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 76,274
    edited November 2021
    O-Mike-Ron....its the mika-wavey all over again.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lkui_uQqFWQ
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 53,767

    RIP Stephen Sondheim.

    Spielberg’s remake of West Side Story is out at Xmas.

    That reminds me: I showed a class this xkcd today


    I then said it was as if an opera buff would assume that most people could only name a few operas by composers such as Mozart or Wagner.

    They said “what’s an opera?”
    It's a type of browser with an integrated VPN that the kids use to evade geoblocks.

    Everyone knows this.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 46,237

    Leon said:
    He's talking about the mutations on the virus. So maybe we will be ok if vax still deals with them. Maybe even t-cells alone will be enough.

    This is my optimistic mode.
    I just told a friend that I wobble between fragile optimism, frank despair, and drunken fuck-it nihilism

    She said she was similar. Everyone has been so battered by 2 years of this shit, the prospect of another 2 years (or more? a decade?) pushes us all to the edge. At some point we will just say to hell with it, let it kill, the rest of us need to live. I reckon Europeans are quite close to that
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 53,767

    Israel has identified four cases of the B.1.1.529 variant, all recent travellers. One case, a 32-year-old woman returning from South Africa, was triple vaccinated with Pfizer and had her 3rd dose just two months ago.

    Another, a hotel worker from Malawi, had her second dose of AZ in mid-July. A third had her second J&J dose two months ago.

    No reports yet if these people are suffering from any symptoms at all; all travelers are screened with PCR tests on arrival, which is how they were identified.

    https://twitter.com/ariehkovler/status/1464190991204859919?s=20

    Without the whole symptomatic/asymptomatic thing, the information is basically useless.
  • Aslan said:

    Wasn't Omicron the bad guy in the original Transformers movie? The one voiced by Orson Welles?

    Unicron.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 61,571
    Charles said:

    MaxPB said:

    rcs1000 said:

    The pharmaceuticals manufacturer Novavax has begun work on a new version of its Covid-19 vaccine, aimed at targeting the Omicron variant.

    It says it hopes the vaccine will be ready for testing and manufacturing within a matter of weeks.

    Did Novavax actually managed to get their previous Covid vaccine actually manufactured?
    No. Significant manufacturing difficulties. The shareholders were very upset.
    *buffs nails*

    Don’t say I didn’t warn you about NovaVax over a year ago

    Isn’t UK approval now expected, though ?
    (Or not ?)
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,056
    IanB2 said:

    maaarsh said:

    IanB2 said:

    maaarsh said:

    IanB2 said:

    Carnival Corp down nearly 11% in one day.....

    Yes, and with US trading truncated due to the holiday.

    If you think this new variant will prove a storm in a teacup - perhaps infectious but not harmful - then buying CCL might be a good play.

    But maybe not just yet.
    Invest generically enough and you still win even if it's horrific. Anyone buying an S&P 500 tracker after the first sell off has doubled their money now.
    We’re hardly in that territory - a 1000 self off with probably the same tomorrow barely takes the US back a few weeks, given how high the market is. Many think a correction overdue and if this variant is more dangerous, who knows…
    Oh quite, it's not a buying opportunity yet. Just amused that we hit all time highs within 12 months of the market losing half it's value - leaves you wondering who the mopes are taking part in the sell offs once they've got going.
    A lot of people are in the market for want of any other way to earn income from their savings, and are ready to pull their money out if there’s a sniff of a downturn. Hence the potential for a big correction is there if the bad virus news continues into next week.
    Probably an upwards bounce on Monday. My portfolio down about 4% today. Ouch.

    I do still have a good whack in cash in the portfolio, so may look out for some bargains.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 61,571
    Leon said:

    Leon said:
    He's talking about the mutations on the virus. So maybe we will be ok if vax still deals with them. Maybe even t-cells alone will be enough.

    This is my optimistic mode.
    I just told a friend that I wobble between fragile optimism, frank despair, and drunken fuck-it nihilism …
    Wasn’t that the case pre pandemic, though ?

    I’m moderately optimistic - though that was probably me pre-pandemic, too.
    Seeing a pattern here….
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,056
    Leon said:

    Leon said:
    He's talking about the mutations on the virus. So maybe we will be ok if vax still deals with them. Maybe even t-cells alone will be enough.

    This is my optimistic mode.
    I just told a friend that I wobble between fragile optimism, frank despair, and drunken fuck-it nihilism

    She said she was similar. Everyone has been so battered by 2 years of this shit, the prospect of another 2 years (or more? a decade?) pushes us all to the edge. At some point we will just say to hell with it, let it kill, the rest of us need to live. I reckon Europeans are quite close to that
    No need to seek it out. Vaccines probably give some protection even with spike mutations, but also the protease and other drugs are on their way. Their mechanism of action makes resistance very difficult.

    Restaurants in Leicester looked busy tonight.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 46,237
    Nigelb said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:
    He's talking about the mutations on the virus. So maybe we will be ok if vax still deals with them. Maybe even t-cells alone will be enough.

    This is my optimistic mode.
    I just told a friend that I wobble between fragile optimism, frank despair, and drunken fuck-it nihilism …
    Wasn’t that the case pre pandemic, though ?

    I’m moderately optimistic - though that was probably me pre-pandemic, too.
    Seeing a pattern here….
    You’re missing out on drunken fuck-it nihilism. It has served me well. It’s fun. I don’t recommend frank despair
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 76,274
    edited November 2021
    This thread has mutated and created a new vaccine escape variant....
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 27,835
    Leon said:

    Leon said:
    He's talking about the mutations on the virus. So maybe we will be ok if vax still deals with them. Maybe even t-cells alone will be enough.

    This is my optimistic mode.
    I just told a friend that I wobble between fragile optimism, frank despair, and drunken fuck-it nihilism

    She said she was similar. Everyone has been so battered by 2 years of this shit, the prospect of another 2 years (or more? a decade?) pushes us all to the edge. At some point we will just say to hell with it, let it kill, the rest of us need to live. I reckon Europeans are quite close to that
    I'm the same. However many continue to insist it hasn't affected them much.
    Are people with a history of acknowledged mental health issues weirdly more able to cope?
    Just a little theory of mine which would explain the suicide figures.
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 27,835
    edited November 2021
    Storm isn't abating. Hail now. Fortunate to have no power outage like much of the NE.
  • How many weeks until we get the "Boris Variant" nonsense again?

    Mad Bullingdon Disease?
  • MaxPBMaxPB Posts: 37,603
    Nigelb said:

    Charles said:

    MaxPB said:

    rcs1000 said:

    The pharmaceuticals manufacturer Novavax has begun work on a new version of its Covid-19 vaccine, aimed at targeting the Omicron variant.

    It says it hopes the vaccine will be ready for testing and manufacturing within a matter of weeks.

    Did Novavax actually managed to get their previous Covid vaccine actually manufactured?
    No. Significant manufacturing difficulties. The shareholders were very upset.
    *buffs nails*

    Don’t say I didn’t warn you about NovaVax over a year ago

    Isn’t UK approval now expected, though ?
    (Or not ?)
    Yes, but how many they actually deliver is definitely an unknown.
This discussion has been closed.