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Shropshire North should be a certain CON hold but…. – politicalbetting.com

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  • Freedom loving Tory MPs who value liberty above all else are disgusted about people having to take covid tests before going to big events, but have no problem in supporting the state's right to take away someone's UK citizenship without telling them and banning peaceful protest. It's almost as if they are hypocritical shysters who care about their freedom to do as they want but do not give a monkey's bollock for anyone else's.

    You've met them then?
    I had a strange one just yesterday - someone declared that my wanting Begum put on trial for war crimes was "nasty and disgusting".

    The context was that I didn't think her citizenship should have been removed. But that she should be tried for the crimes she committed.
    I entirely agree. Begum is a British citizen accused of crimes. So lets try her, not wash our hands of her.
  • Recently back from my PCR test which was significantly busier than last week's PCR test at the same site on the same day / time. Still personally feeling fine and enjoying personal lockdown with hope of a brief release before it goes national.

    Someone mentioned above that Covid appears to be everywhere. My train travel on Saturday (Inverurie - York and back having had to can the London trip whilst en-route) was impacted by Covid. Lack of staff on trains causing issues. On work issues DHL are having a mare at the moment with Covid hitting multiple depots staff. And we have various football teams starting to fall.

    Given that (a) we were all vaccinated against it and (b) haven't caught it despite 40k cases per day for months, my guess is that the strain that has hit my household is Omega. Mrs RP is vaxxed but its still absolutely clobbered her. Roasting hot alternating with freezing cold. Hacking cough alternating with "its like breathing glue". Raging headaches that no pills hit the sides of. Vivid nightmares alternated with no energy but can't sleep.

    OK so she isn't in hospital (and lets hope it stays that way). But as with my 10 year-old daughter last week I have never seen her this ill.

    The symptoms you describe are very similar to my daughter who tested positive a month ago. She is better but is still fatigued though as she works from home she is able to continue in her role but has taken some time out on occasions

    This is a nasty virus and I hope your good lady recovers soon
  • NickPalmerNickPalmer Posts: 21,531
    edited December 2021
    Cyclefree said:

    Scott_xP said:

    Keir Starmer will make an address to the nation at 7pm, responding to the Prime Minister’s statement last night.
    https://twitter.com/PaulBrandITV/status/1470347875083341831

    What's he going to say...get a jab? That he will vote for vaccine passports, but he doesn't want them, but only two months ago vaccine passports didn't go far enough and we needed vaccine passport+++, where everybody took a LFT before every pub visit?
    If I were writing Starmer's statement, I'd make it statesmanlike and focused on dealing with the pandemic, almost as though he were PM. I'd slip in a few barbs making it clear that the fact that we are saddled with a mendacious clown in No 10, who doesn't follow his own rules, isn't a reason to ignore the advice or flout the regulations. Pretty much the message that Labour, and in particular Wes Streeting, has been putting out, with the framing that Boris is an irrelevance.
    Very sensible advice. But why does Starmer get a broadcast at all? Are we going to get one from Ed Davey as well? What is the point?
    It's a tradition since forever that the PM has the right to commandeer time on the BBC for a statement, but if he does then the LOTO gets an equal slot the next day. The alternative for the PM is to make a statement for journalists and take his chances at getting on the news (as he always will), but that has much more potential to go wrong if the journalist asks an awkward question and the PM stutters in reply.
  • If Johnson is athletic I’m Usain Bolt

    Online dating fiftysomething bloke says he is quite athletic and someone of Johnsons physique turns up. Is the lady happy with the description?
  • MattWMattW Posts: 23,217

    @Philip_Thompson said BoJo was quite athletic. Are you having a laugh

    Quite happy doing 14 miles on a bike iirc, apparently.
  • kinabalu said:

    For @CorrectHorseBattery as I got it on the last thread too late -

    I remember when @Philip_Thompson told us that Johnson wasn't fat but just really muscular.

    I never said that.

    I said I found it entirely believable he was 17.5 stone when @kinabalu was saying there was no way he was that heavy.
    That's not what you meant and we both know it
    What was actually said -

    "@kinabalu said:
    BoJo was NOT seventeen and a half stone (!) before the virus He's only 5 ft 8 inches tall. If he had weighed that much he would have looked like Mr Creosote.

    Is he spinning yet another self-serving yarn?"

    "@Philip_Thompson said:

    17 and a half stone isn't anywhere near as much as that!

    Besides he's quite athletic as well as being on the heavy side. Remember that muscle is heavier by volume than fat so two people of the same volume can weigh quite different amounts."
    15 May 2020

    https://vf.politicalbetting.com/discussion/comment/2856928/#Comment_2856928

    This was followed by 18 months of @kinabalu claiming Phil had said Boris was "mainly muscle"
    Great news you've unearthed the source material since it shows that - my horsing around aside - there is a solid basis to the scandal.

    It started with me casting doubt on Johnson's claim to have been 17.5 stone pre Covid. The suspicion (of mine) was he'd exaggerated this in order to exaggerate his weight loss due to his illness. To in turn exaggerate how serious it'd been for him.

    I still have this suspicion but this is not the point. The point is that Philip Thompson leapt in and opined that the MMM could easily have been that heavy despite being quite short and that the reason he wouldn't have looked like Danny DeVito is that he is of 'athletic build' with a 'high muscle to fat ratio'.

    So there we are. I dropped it ages ago but I make no apology for running with it for a while. It merited that. It was peak PT BJ adoration. A real moment in time.
    Sorry but you're talking absolute bollocks. I never said he has a 'high muscle to fat ratio', that's literally not in the quote. You're inventing your own words.

    I said he is 'athletic' as well as 'on the heavy side' and he is.

    17.5 stone is nothing that special for someone 5'8" its entirely believable and not remotely Mr Creosote.

    If you're 5' 8" and 17.5 stone, you are morbidly obese and running huge risks with your health - from diabetes, through cancer to heart failure. Johnson no doubt believes he is indestructible. Maybe he is, but he's six stones overweight - at least. And you can see from his pudgy face that he is carrying a lot of fat as opposed to being all muscled up.

  • eekeek Posts: 28,390

    dixiedean said:

    dixiedean said:

    Have we done this?
    Just read there are now 30 million eligible for a jab.
    Getting them done before New Year is going to be some task in 18 days. With many Bank Holidays.
    Over promise again.

    Just watching the BBC the queue at one London hospital drop in is enormous with over 2 hour wait but everyone promised they will receive their dose

    It has also been reported that the 15 minute wait post the dose is to be tweaked to help the throughput of people
    It isn't 30 million.

    It's less than 20 million, as of today.

    This is because, in order to have your booster, you have to have had a second vaccination. Even in you have your first shot now, you won't get your second till the New Year
    Thanks for that. Three things. Firstly, that's still a lot with New Year as a target.
    Secondly. You can't have a booster within four weeks of a positive test. So that's a fair few more out. Me for one.
    Finally. Many thanks for all your stat collection and on the ball figures. It really is invaluable for the interested non-expert.
    Indeed.

    The above number are the reason why people are talking about 1 million plus per day...
    I've just spent the last hour shifting the booster jab appointments my wife and I had from Wednesday to early January to make sure there is more than 1 month between the Mrs having covid (and I probably having it) and our jabs.

    December 31st and January 2nd were both possible dates, I went for the 2nd, the Mrs for the 5th as her work now gives her time off for it.
  • kinabalu said:

    kinabalu said:

    For @CorrectHorseBattery as I got it on the last thread too late -

    I remember when @Philip_Thompson told us that Johnson wasn't fat but just really muscular.

    I never said that.

    I said I found it entirely believable he was 17.5 stone when @kinabalu was saying there was no way he was that heavy.
    That's not what you meant and we both know it
    What was actually said -

    "@kinabalu said:
    BoJo was NOT seventeen and a half stone (!) before the virus He's only 5 ft 8 inches tall. If he had weighed that much he would have looked like Mr Creosote.

    Is he spinning yet another self-serving yarn?"

    "@Philip_Thompson said:

    17 and a half stone isn't anywhere near as much as that!

    Besides he's quite athletic as well as being on the heavy side. Remember that muscle is heavier by volume than fat so two people of the same volume can weigh quite different amounts."
    15 May 2020

    https://vf.politicalbetting.com/discussion/comment/2856928/#Comment_2856928

    This was followed by 18 months of @kinabalu claiming Phil had said Boris was "mainly muscle"
    Great news you've unearthed the source material since it shows that - my horsing around aside - there is a solid basis to the scandal.

    It started with me casting doubt on Johnson's claim to have been 17.5 stone pre Covid. The suspicion (of mine) was he'd exaggerated this in order to exaggerate his weight loss due to his illness. To in turn exaggerate how serious it'd been for him.

    I still have this suspicion but this is not the point. The point is that Philip Thompson leapt in and opined that the MMM could easily have been that heavy despite being quite short and that the reason he wouldn't have looked like Danny DeVito is that he is of 'athletic build' with a 'high muscle to fat ratio'.

    So there we are. I dropped it ages ago but I make no apology for running with it for a while. It merited that. It was peak PT BJ adoration. A real moment in time.
    Sorry but you're talking absolute bollocks. I never said he has a 'high muscle to fat ratio', that's literally not in the quote. You're inventing your own words.

    I said he is 'athletic' as well as 'on the heavy side' and he is.

    17.5 stone is nothing that special for someone 5'8" its entirely believable and not remotely Mr Creosote.
    "He's quite athletic as well as being on the heavy side. Remember that muscle is heavier by volume than fat so two people of the same volume can weigh quite different amounts."

    That's the quote in its full and unadorned state.

    Do I seriously misrepresent it with "of athletic build with a high muscle to fat ratio"?

    I think not but I'm happy for the select band of those interested to make up their own mind.

    Whole thing is ancient history anyway. We have a by-election this week and what I'm wondering is, how much have you lumped on the 'nailed on' LibDems?
    You repeatedly lying by actually quoting PT as having said "mostly muscle" - and various other 'quotes' he never said - was what leapt out at me from from my brief vanilla searches.
  • Freedom loving Tory MPs who value liberty above all else are disgusted about people having to take covid tests before going to big events, but have no problem in supporting the state's right to take away someone's UK citizenship without telling them and banning peaceful protest. It's almost as if they are hypocritical shysters who care about their freedom to do as they want but do not give a monkey's bollock for anyone else's.

    You've met them then?
    I had a strange one just yesterday - someone declared that my wanting Begum put on trial for war crimes was "nasty and disgusting".

    The context was that I didn't think her citizenship should have been removed. But that she should be tried for the crimes she committed.
    I entirely agree. Begum is a British citizen accused of crimes. So lets try her, not wash our hands of her.
    Try her and lock her up for life if that is the handed sentence. We’re a nation proud of criminal justice, we do not wash our hands of our criminals
  • dixiedean said:

    Recently back from my PCR test which was significantly busier than last week's PCR test at the same site on the same day / time. Still personally feeling fine and enjoying personal lockdown with hope of a brief release before it goes national.

    Someone mentioned above that Covid appears to be everywhere. My train travel on Saturday (Inverurie - York and back having had to can the London trip whilst en-route) was impacted by Covid. Lack of staff on trains causing issues. On work issues DHL are having a mare at the moment with Covid hitting multiple depots staff. And we have various football teams starting to fall.

    Given that (a) we were all vaccinated against it and (b) haven't caught it despite 40k cases per day for months, my guess is that the strain that has hit my household is Omega. Mrs RP is vaxxed but its still absolutely clobbered her. Roasting hot alternating with freezing cold. Hacking cough alternating with "its like breathing glue". Raging headaches that no pills hit the sides of. Vivid nightmares alternated with no energy but can't sleep.

    OK so she isn't in hospital (and lets hope it stays that way). But as with my 10 year-old daughter last week I have never seen her this ill.

    Sounds like omicron. Had all the same. Except the cough.
    All the best luck with it.
    Did you get a letter back saying "you have Omicron" or are we both putting 1 and 1 together and getting 2?
  • @Philip_Thompson said BoJo was quite athletic. Are you having a laugh

    No. He's a cyclist, not a couch potato.

    I find the idea that he's 17.5 stone entirely plausible.
    He’s not a cyclist. This is utterly hilarious
    He certainly used to be. He once hurtled past me having made a speedy exit from lights on Piccadilly. And there was a kerfuffle during one of the lockdowns that he had gone too far from home to cycle.
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 28,378

    @Philip_Thompson said BoJo was quite athletic. Are you having a laugh

    No. He's a cyclist, not a couch potato.

    I find the idea that he's 17.5 stone entirely plausible.
    Indeed, muscle is heavier than fat.

    (Snigger).
  • NickPalmerNickPalmer Posts: 21,531

    Recently back from my PCR test which was significantly busier than last week's PCR test at the same site on the same day / time. Still personally feeling fine and enjoying personal lockdown with hope of a brief release before it goes national.

    Someone mentioned above that Covid appears to be everywhere. My train travel on Saturday (Inverurie - York and back having had to can the London trip whilst en-route) was impacted by Covid. Lack of staff on trains causing issues. On work issues DHL are having a mare at the moment with Covid hitting multiple depots staff. And we have various football teams starting to fall.

    Given that (a) we were all vaccinated against it and (b) haven't caught it despite 40k cases per day for months, my guess is that the strain that has hit my household is Omega. Mrs RP is vaxxed but its still absolutely clobbered her. Roasting hot alternating with freezing cold. Hacking cough alternating with "its like breathing glue". Raging headaches that no pills hit the sides of. Vivid nightmares alternated with no energy but can't sleep.

    OK so she isn't in hospital (and lets hope it stays that way). But as with my 10 year-old daughter last week I have never seen her this ill.

    That sounds grim - is she getting the medical support she needs?

    And yes, I think it's biting into delays eveywhere. I had a fault message on my car dashboard and called the garage on Sunday. They could only offer me a slot on Wednesday week, due to staff absences.
  • Can’t imagine this would be the length of queue if it was announced today in parliament as opposed to prime time last night...

    Shaun Lintern @ShaunLintern
    Current wait at the Guys Hospital London Bridge walk-in centre is over 4hrs.


    https://twitter.com/ThatRyanChap/status/1470369292390699015?s=20

    https://twitter.com/ACunninghamMP/status/1470373477777489923

    "Hundreds of people queuing for jab at St Thomas's hospital in London. Not so many in my Q maybe about 60 but my appointment was 1220. I'll be lucky to get in by 1400. Our NHS staff are doing their best but there just aren't enough of them these days."
  • StockyStocky Posts: 10,219

    kinabalu said:

    kinabalu said:

    For @CorrectHorseBattery as I got it on the last thread too late -

    I remember when @Philip_Thompson told us that Johnson wasn't fat but just really muscular.

    I never said that.

    I said I found it entirely believable he was 17.5 stone when @kinabalu was saying there was no way he was that heavy.
    That's not what you meant and we both know it
    What was actually said -

    "@kinabalu said:
    BoJo was NOT seventeen and a half stone (!) before the virus He's only 5 ft 8 inches tall. If he had weighed that much he would have looked like Mr Creosote.

    Is he spinning yet another self-serving yarn?"

    "@Philip_Thompson said:

    17 and a half stone isn't anywhere near as much as that!

    Besides he's quite athletic as well as being on the heavy side. Remember that muscle is heavier by volume than fat so two people of the same volume can weigh quite different amounts."
    15 May 2020

    https://vf.politicalbetting.com/discussion/comment/2856928/#Comment_2856928

    This was followed by 18 months of @kinabalu claiming Phil had said Boris was "mainly muscle"
    Great news you've unearthed the source material since it shows that - my horsing around aside - there is a solid basis to the scandal.

    It started with me casting doubt on Johnson's claim to have been 17.5 stone pre Covid. The suspicion (of mine) was he'd exaggerated this in order to exaggerate his weight loss due to his illness. To in turn exaggerate how serious it'd been for him.

    I still have this suspicion but this is not the point. The point is that Philip Thompson leapt in and opined that the MMM could easily have been that heavy despite being quite short and that the reason he wouldn't have looked like Danny DeVito is that he is of 'athletic build' with a 'high muscle to fat ratio'.

    So there we are. I dropped it ages ago but I make no apology for running with it for a while. It merited that. It was peak PT BJ adoration. A real moment in time.
    Sorry but you're talking absolute bollocks. I never said he has a 'high muscle to fat ratio', that's literally not in the quote. You're inventing your own words.

    I said he is 'athletic' as well as 'on the heavy side' and he is.

    17.5 stone is nothing that special for someone 5'8" its entirely believable and not remotely Mr Creosote.
    "He's quite athletic as well as being on the heavy side. Remember that muscle is heavier by volume than fat so two people of the same volume can weigh quite different amounts."

    That's the quote in its full and unadorned state.

    Do I seriously misrepresent it with "of athletic build with a high muscle to fat ratio"?

    I think not but I'm happy for the select band of those interested to make up their own mind.

    Whole thing is ancient history anyway. We have a by-election this week and what I'm wondering is, how much have you lumped on the 'nailed on' LibDems?
    You repeatedly lying by actually quoting PT as having said "mostly muscle" - and various other 'quotes' he never said - was what leapt out at me from from my brief vanilla searches.
    Yes but it made for a funny back-and-forth
  • PT said muscle weighs more than fat hence Johnson’s weight is believable. The implication there is that Johnson is highly/very muscular as opposed to fat.

    I can totally see how @kinabalu got to his point.

    The whole thing about Johnson being muscular at all and not just overweight is the laughable thing and makes @Philip_Thompson look ridiculous.
  • MattW said:

    @Philip_Thompson said BoJo was quite athletic. Are you having a laugh

    Quite happy doing 14 miles on a bike iirc, apparently.
    I have ridden a (non stationary) bike about five times in 20 years, two of those were for 15-20 miles without difficulty, not sure that makes me a cyclist or quite athletic, I am neither.
  • Big_G_NorthWalesBig_G_NorthWales Posts: 63,100
    edited December 2021

    @Philip_Thompson said BoJo was quite athletic. Are you having a laugh

    No. He's a cyclist, not a couch potato.

    I find the idea that he's 17.5 stone entirely plausible.
    He’s not a cyclist. This is utterly hilarious
    Some years ago I was in London and Boris passed me on his bike. He does seem to be a regular cyclist
  • El_CapitanoEl_Capitano Posts: 4,239
    MattW said:

    @Philip_Thompson said BoJo was quite athletic. Are you having a laugh

    Quite happy doing 14 miles on a bike iirc, apparently.
    I'd heard it suggested that he cycled up until becoming PM, but was then told by the security staff it was henceforth verboten. Certainly he regularly cycled as London Mayor:

    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/boris-johnson-finally-responds-to-cyclist-who-gave-him-the-middle-finger-a6745501.html

    (rather confusing that the old Twitter posts are still there but the username has been changed, so it looks like Khan was the one tweeting..)
  • maaarshmaaarsh Posts: 3,590

    Good news incoming:


    Tom Calver
    @tomhcalver
    ·
    29m
    South Africa's case fatality rate falls again to 0.5%. The theory that Omicron causes milder symptoms is becoming very hard to ignore...

    Meanwhile we seem to have found a death - must be a bonus coming for whoever managed that. If we've got deaths already the growth curve will need revising.
  • felixfelix Posts: 15,164
    Spain Update: Boosters. The rollout is far less well organised than the system for doses 1 & 2. All eligible get Pfizer or Moderna - good news for me after my 2 initial AZs. However, instead of well advertised info and auto text appointments it is somewhat shambolic. I'm 5 months since jab 2 but the Andalucia website now says I'm eligible for my booster after 3 months. At the w/e I tried both the app and telephone to make
    an appointment - both methods produced the same 'we cannot offer appointments at this time'. However, this morning I went to my local health centre - explained my status and then got an immediate slot for 6pm this afternoon. Great for me - my Spanish is competent and I am persistent - most people are not. I've no idea why they're making such a dog's dinner of this as the figures are now rising quickly - I'm 67 so there are many millions behind me for boosters a high proportion of which are now at risk.
  • MattWMattW Posts: 23,217
    edited December 2021

    MattW said:

    @Philip_Thompson said BoJo was quite athletic. Are you having a laugh

    Quite happy doing 14 miles on a bike iirc, apparently.
    I have ridden a (non stationary) bike about five times in 20 years, two of those were for 15-20 miles without difficulty, not sure that makes me a cyclist or quite athletic, I am neither.
    Boris was dragging 17.5 stones of weight around :smile: . Like you with some blocks on a trailer.

    Depends on your definition of the terms. 14 miles on a bike at a decent pace is reasonable aerobic fitness.

    TBF he has cycled around London for a lot of years, which leaves a legacy.
  • NickPalmerNickPalmer Posts: 21,531

    dixiedean said:

    Have we done this?
    Just read there are now 30 million eligible for a jab.
    Getting them done before New Year is going to be some task in 18 days. With many Bank Holidays.
    Over promise again.

    Just watching the BBC the queue at one London hospital drop in is enormous with over 2 hour wait but everyone promised they will receive their dose

    It has also been reported that the 15 minute wait post the dose is to be tweaked to help the throughput of people
    It isn't 30 million.

    It's less than 20 million, as of today.

    This is because, in order to have your booster, you have to have had a second vaccination. Even in you have your first shot now, you won't get your second till the New Year
    I had a serious try yesterday at persuading my landlady that she and her elderly husband should finally get vaccinated. They absolutely won't, because they've heard of possible side-effects, and anyway they take vitamin D pills and echinacea so they'll be fine...

  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,486
    Guess Boris' Weight

    Again?

    Really?

    FFS.
  • MoonRabbitMoonRabbit Posts: 13,512
    On topic. Totally agree with Mike Smithson - the current price for Libdems in Salop North is not value. 😞

    But the 3-1 I got on last month certainly is! 😃

    There’s two subsets I am now considering. Firstly, every Conservative voter in Salop North must surely now be pinging around their brain cells, both of them, if they themselves can actually give their party a better leader and put their party in a better place by killing off Boris. To quote directory from Shakespeare, Salop North is the dagger Boris sees before him. Second subset is PBers who live in the constituency very much considering voting for the conservatives knowing they won’t hear the last of it if I win my bet having been told by them it’s a loser 😝
  • I didn't say Johnson doesn't cycle, I said he wasn't a cyclist. The context of this is clearly that he's athletic, when he evidently isn't.

    The whole point of this is that one user is pretending that he's actually healthy, when he isn't. He's clearly overweight and not in the best of health.

    I commend him for doing something about that, I really do. But pretending he isn't unhealthy just is absurd
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 42,672

    MattW said:

    @Philip_Thompson said BoJo was quite athletic. Are you having a laugh

    Quite happy doing 14 miles on a bike iirc, apparently.
    I have ridden a (non stationary) bike about five times in 20 years, two of those were for 15-20 miles without difficulty, not sure that makes me a cyclist or quite athletic, I am neither.
    My little 'un only learnt to properly ride this year, and he can do ten miles, including a decent climb. In fact, we did one on Saturday. Great father-son bonding time.

    Although he has absolutely no road sense at junctions; which makes it a little more fraught than I'd like. I try to plan the routes to have as few junctions as possible, and along quiet roads...
  • maaarshmaaarsh Posts: 3,590

    PT said muscle weighs more than fat hence Johnson’s weight is believable. The implication there is that Johnson is highly/very muscular as opposed to fat.

    I can totally see how @kinabalu got to his point.

    The whole thing about Johnson being muscular at all and not just overweight is the laughable thing and makes @Philip_Thompson look ridiculous.

    He just looked morbidly obese in the crime week raid photo shoot

    https://www.liverpoolworld.uk/jpim-static/image/2021/12/06/11/newFile.jpg?width=2048&enable=upscale
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 29,410
    edited December 2021

    dixiedean said:

    Recently back from my PCR test which was significantly busier than last week's PCR test at the same site on the same day / time. Still personally feeling fine and enjoying personal lockdown with hope of a brief release before it goes national.

    Someone mentioned above that Covid appears to be everywhere. My train travel on Saturday (Inverurie - York and back having had to can the London trip whilst en-route) was impacted by Covid. Lack of staff on trains causing issues. On work issues DHL are having a mare at the moment with Covid hitting multiple depots staff. And we have various football teams starting to fall.

    Given that (a) we were all vaccinated against it and (b) haven't caught it despite 40k cases per day for months, my guess is that the strain that has hit my household is Omega. Mrs RP is vaxxed but its still absolutely clobbered her. Roasting hot alternating with freezing cold. Hacking cough alternating with "its like breathing glue". Raging headaches that no pills hit the sides of. Vivid nightmares alternated with no energy but can't sleep.

    OK so she isn't in hospital (and lets hope it stays that way). But as with my 10 year-old daughter last week I have never seen her this ill.

    Sounds like omicron. Had all the same. Except the cough.
    All the best luck with it.
    Did you get a letter back saying "you have Omicron" or are we both putting 1 and 1 together and getting 2?
    The latter.
    From the symptoms, and how I caught it (99% certain) I can't see how it could be owt else.
    Plus, the questions asked by Test and Trace and their reaction to them.
    Told to isolate for 10 days from positive. Not first symptoms.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 42,200
    edited December 2021

    Recently back from my PCR test which was significantly busier than last week's PCR test at the same site on the same day / time. Still personally feeling fine and enjoying personal lockdown with hope of a brief release before it goes national.

    Someone mentioned above that Covid appears to be everywhere. My train travel on Saturday (Inverurie - York and back having had to can the London trip whilst en-route) was impacted by Covid. Lack of staff on trains causing issues. On work issues DHL are having a mare at the moment with Covid hitting multiple depots staff. And we have various football teams starting to fall.

    Given that (a) we were all vaccinated against it and (b) haven't caught it despite 40k cases per day for months, my guess is that the strain that has hit my household is Omega. Mrs RP is vaxxed but its still absolutely clobbered her. Roasting hot alternating with freezing cold. Hacking cough alternating with "its like breathing glue". Raging headaches that no pills hit the sides of. Vivid nightmares alternated with no energy but can't sleep.

    OK so she isn't in hospital (and lets hope it stays that way). But as with my 10 year-old daughter last week I have never seen her this ill.

    Best wishes for that clearing up very soon and I hope you dodge it.

    These reports (of which there are plenty) make me less than overjoyed about the notion we are all bound to get it at some point.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,873
    edited December 2021
    kinabalu said:

    kinabalu said:

    For @CorrectHorseBattery as I got it on the last thread too late -

    I remember when @Philip_Thompson told us that Johnson wasn't fat but just really muscular.

    I never said that.

    I said I found it entirely believable he was 17.5 stone when @kinabalu was saying there was no way he was that heavy.
    That's not what you meant and we both know it
    What was actually said -

    "@kinabalu said:
    BoJo was NOT seventeen and a half stone (!) before the virus He's only 5 ft 8 inches tall. If he had weighed that much he would have looked like Mr Creosote.

    Is he spinning yet another self-serving yarn?"

    "@Philip_Thompson said:

    17 and a half stone isn't anywhere near as much as that!

    Besides he's quite athletic as well as being on the heavy side. Remember that muscle is heavier by volume than fat so two people of the same volume can weigh quite different amounts."
    15 May 2020

    https://vf.politicalbetting.com/discussion/comment/2856928/#Comment_2856928

    This was followed by 18 months of @kinabalu claiming Phil had said Boris was "mainly muscle"
    Great news you've unearthed the source material since it shows that - my horsing around aside - there is a solid basis to the scandal.

    It started with me casting doubt on Johnson's claim to have been 17.5 stone pre Covid. The suspicion (of mine) was he'd exaggerated this in order to exaggerate his weight loss due to his illness. To in turn exaggerate how serious it'd been for him.

    I still have this suspicion but this is not the point. The point is that Philip Thompson leapt in and opined that the MMM could easily have been that heavy despite being quite short and that the reason he wouldn't have looked like Danny DeVito is that he is of 'athletic build' with a 'high muscle to fat ratio'.

    So there we are. I dropped it ages ago but I make no apology for running with it for a while. It merited that. It was peak PT BJ adoration. A real moment in time.
    Sorry but you're talking absolute bollocks. I never said he has a 'high muscle to fat ratio', that's literally not in the quote. You're inventing your own words.

    I said he is 'athletic' as well as 'on the heavy side' and he is.

    17.5 stone is nothing that special for someone 5'8" its entirely believable and not remotely Mr Creosote.
    "He's quite athletic as well as being on the heavy side. Remember that muscle is heavier by volume than fat so two people of the same volume can weigh quite different amounts."

    That's the quote in its full and unadorned state.

    Do I seriously misrepresent it with "of athletic build with a high muscle to fat ratio"?

    I think not but I'm happy for the select band of those interested to make up their own mind.

    Whole thing is ancient history anyway. We have a by-election this week and what I'm wondering is, how much have you lumped on the 'nailed on' LibDems?
    Hmmmmm. Density of muscle tissue is about 1.1 tonne per cubic metre. Adipose tissue, 0.9. But for visual impact one wants the inverses, which are helpfully 0.9 and 1.1 cu m per tonne. The implication is that a Mr Johnson composed solely of muscle (except for, guessing, 50% for all the rest, skeleton, innards, blood, skin etc.) is going to have about a tenth of the volume of one composed solely of blubber. But that is volume so one wants the 2/3 root of that to get the area ie visual impact. And then knock half off as it only applies to half of him. Is something like a 3% smaller BJ going to make enough difference to resolve the argument either way?
  • maaarsh said:

    PT said muscle weighs more than fat hence Johnson’s weight is believable. The implication there is that Johnson is highly/very muscular as opposed to fat.

    I can totally see how @kinabalu got to his point.

    The whole thing about Johnson being muscular at all and not just overweight is the laughable thing and makes @Philip_Thompson look ridiculous.

    He just looked morbidly obese in the crime week raid photo shoot

    https://www.liverpoolworld.uk/jpim-static/image/2021/12/06/11/newFile.jpg?width=2048&enable=upscale
    @Philip_Thompson will insist that is mostly muscle
  • StockyStocky Posts: 10,219

    PT said muscle weighs more than fat hence Johnson’s weight is believable. The implication there is that Johnson is highly/very muscular as opposed to fat.

    I can totally see how @kinabalu got to his point.

    The whole thing about Johnson being muscular at all and not just overweight is the laughable thing and makes @Philip_Thompson look ridiculous.

    #borisripped
  • MattW said:

    @Philip_Thompson said BoJo was quite athletic. Are you having a laugh

    Quite happy doing 14 miles on a bike iirc, apparently.
    I have ridden a (non stationary) bike about five times in 20 years, two of those were for 15-20 miles without difficulty, not sure that makes me a cyclist or quite athletic, I am neither.
    My little 'un only learnt to properly ride this year, and he can do ten miles, including a decent climb. In fact, we did one on Saturday. Great father-son bonding time.

    Although he has absolutely no road sense at junctions; which makes it a little more fraught than I'd like. I try to plan the routes to have as few junctions as possible, and along quiet roads...
    The routes were pretty flat, I don't like climbing! Flat quiet roads, no rain, no cars and moderate temperature and I would be keen to cycle more. Not going to happen in London though!
  • PT said muscle weighs more than fat hence Johnson’s weight is believable. The implication there is that Johnson is highly/very muscular as opposed to fat.

    I can totally see how @kinabalu got to his point.

    The whole thing about Johnson being muscular at all and not just overweight is the laughable thing and makes @Philip_Thompson look ridiculous.

    Philip Thompson is ridiculous, or at least his posts on here generally are. He was the leading fanboy of Johnson on here for a very long time. He said this morning that Johnson is one of the *best* PMs in his lifetime (39 years old). Not his favourite, character, but *best*! Ridiculous is too kind.
  • @RochdalePioneers Sending you all my very best wishes.
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 82,080
    edited December 2021
    Boris post covid health kick didn't last long....like a lot of Peleton customers.
  • MattW said:

    @Philip_Thompson said BoJo was quite athletic. Are you having a laugh

    Quite happy doing 14 miles on a bike iirc, apparently.
    I have ridden a (non stationary) bike about five times in 20 years, two of those were for 15-20 miles without difficulty, not sure that makes me a cyclist or quite athletic, I am neither.
    My little 'un only learnt to properly ride this year, and he can do ten miles, including a decent climb. In fact, we did one on Saturday. Great father-son bonding time.

    Although he has absolutely no road sense at junctions; which makes it a little more fraught than I'd like. I try to plan the routes to have as few junctions as possible, and along quiet roads...
    I used to love riding my bike with my Dad, we always used to avoid the roads which in the countryside was quite easy. It was as you say, great bonding time and we'd often stop off at the pub half-way.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,348

    Freedom loving Tory MPs who value liberty above all else are disgusted about people having to take covid tests before going to big events, but have no problem in supporting the state's right to take away someone's UK citizenship without telling them and banning peaceful protest. It's almost as if they are hypocritical shysters who care about their freedom to do as they want but do not give a monkey's bollock for anyone else's.

    You've met them then?
    I had a strange one just yesterday - someone declared that my wanting Begum put on trial for war crimes was "nasty and disgusting".

    The context was that I didn't think her citizenship should have been removed. But that she should be tried for the crimes she committed.
    I entirely agree. Begum is a British citizen accused of crimes. So lets try her, not wash our hands of her.
    Try her and lock her up for life if that is the handed sentence. We’re a nation proud of criminal justice, we do not wash our hands of our criminals
    It is interesting that I've had the same response from several people in the legal/human rights line - prosecuting non-state actors under war crimes law is apparently "immoral"

    Despite the laws in question being quite specific about classifying non-state actors, the crimes they can be charged with, and how they should be treated.

    Mention that the Hague conventions was drawn up with a large amount of participation by British officers who'd served in Afghanistan and was specifically concerned with issue regarding Francs-tireurs that came out of the 1870 war.... well that causes them to get really upset.

    Why is this?

    My point is that if you protect people such a Begum from the consequences of their actions, then bad ideas will be found as how to punish them.....
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 29,410

    PT said muscle weighs more than fat hence Johnson’s weight is believable. The implication there is that Johnson is highly/very muscular as opposed to fat.

    I can totally see how @kinabalu got to his point.

    The whole thing about Johnson being muscular at all and not just overweight is the laughable thing and makes @Philip_Thompson look ridiculous.

    Given his addiction to cosplay...I can see him oiled in budgie smugglers at Mr Universe.
    Please. Make it stop.
  • Boris post covid health kick didn't last long....like a lot of Peleton customers.

    The most ridiculous thing for @Philip_Thompson is that BoJo himself - I think - even said he was trying to be more healthy and lose weight. Why would he do that if it were all muscle?
  • tlg86tlg86 Posts: 26,176
    https://mobile.twitter.com/JoshTaylorBoxer/status/1470368576934711300

    Josh Taylor
    @JoshTaylorBoxer
    May 22nd 2021. First person In the UK to become undisputed world boxing champion in the 4 belt era & hold all the championship belts. #HistoryMaker shove yer SPOTY right up arse
  • maaarsh said:

    PT said muscle weighs more than fat hence Johnson’s weight is believable. The implication there is that Johnson is highly/very muscular as opposed to fat.

    I can totally see how @kinabalu got to his point.

    The whole thing about Johnson being muscular at all and not just overweight is the laughable thing and makes @Philip_Thompson look ridiculous.

    He just looked morbidly obese in the crime week raid photo shoot

    https://www.liverpoolworld.uk/jpim-static/image/2021/12/06/11/newFile.jpg?width=2048&enable=upscale
    I guess he has put on 2 stone since the original discussion. In that photo he does look around 17 stone, but not through muscle or athleticism. Last year I dont think he was as much as 17 stone, although probably had been at some point before then too.
  • NickPalmerNickPalmer Posts: 21,531
    Calling @Cyclefree = "In the Commons a Home Office minister will respond to an urgent question from Labour’s Dame Margaret Hodge at 3.30pm about the Met failings in the Stephen Port case."
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 82,080
    edited December 2021
    The most incredible thing about Peleton, they lost money during the pandemic.....apparently they kept advertising to such a crazy extent, such their customer acquisition costs were so high they never making it back.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,348

    @Philip_Thompson said BoJo was quite athletic. Are you having a laugh

    No. He's a cyclist, not a couch potato.

    I find the idea that he's 17.5 stone entirely plausible.
    He’s not a cyclist. This is utterly hilarious
    This is one of PB's more ridiculous conversations. What makes someone a cyclist? Going out on your bike once a year? Once a month? Once a week? Doing a quarter-mile to the local shop or back, or doing 60 miles at a pace that sets off speed cameras? Someone who pootles around as I do on my heavy bike, or one of the Peparami in Lycra crowd on their multi-thousand quid carbon-fibre thief-magnets?

    Since there was a minor scandal last year when BJ was seen cycling away from his home area (how could he!) I'd say he was a cyclist. Perhaps not a frequent one, but he does cycle.
    It's about gate keeping. "I am a real cyclist. I ride 100Km at Mach 0.11"

    There is always someone better/faster

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AyHH9G9et0

  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 42,983

    10 Downing St says there is no shortage of lateral flow tests, but the maximum daily number of postal delivery slots (somewhere in the 100,000s) has been exceeded today. There should still be LF tests available at pharmacies, and more will be available to order online tomorrow.

    https://twitter.com/HugoGye/status/1470372451515346944?s=20

    Its bog roll and petrol shortage again....people cause a panic, plenty of bog rolls, but if everybody tries to buy them all at the same time, you can't restock the shelves fast enough.

    Have the media ever apologised over causing the petrol panic via fake news?
    Numpty.

    Govt says you must test to do stuff. Tests run out.

    Where is the media's culpability in that?
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 42,672

    I didn't say Johnson doesn't cycle, I said he wasn't a cyclist. The context of this is clearly that he's athletic, when he evidently isn't.

    (Snip)

    This is ridiculous. What makes someone a 'cyclist'? What level of lycra-clad shitbaggery do I need to fulfil to become a 'cyclist'?

    I hate it when these terms are used to create clubs, to exclude others. If you ride a bike, you are a cyclist. If you drive a car, you are a driver. If you go for a leisurely walk, you are a walker.

    I once got told I was not a 'proper' walker because I don't walk fast enough; despite having walked nearly 20,000 miles in the UK. Someone had set their idea of what a 'walker' is, and excluded anyone who did not meet his definition - which, of course, he passed.
  • maaarshmaaarsh Posts: 3,590
    tlg86 said:

    https://mobile.twitter.com/JoshTaylorBoxer/status/1470368576934711300

    Josh Taylor
    @JoshTaylorBoxer
    May 22nd 2021. First person In the UK to become undisputed world boxing champion in the 4 belt era & hold all the championship belts. #HistoryMaker shove yer SPOTY right up arse

    At least he doesn't mind.
  • The most incredible thing about Peleton, they lost money during the pandemic.....

    Peloton has no appeal to me whatsoever, I'm afraid I simply don't get it
  • Dura_AceDura_Ace Posts: 13,677

    @Philip_Thompson said BoJo was quite athletic. Are you having a laugh

    No. He's a cyclist, not a couch potato.

    I find the idea that he's 17.5 stone entirely plausible.
    He's not a cyclist. He is a fat fuck who occasionally rides an offensively shit bike.
  • Can we all stop having a pop at Boris for being fat? Having chonked weight over the last 18 months I'm not going to attack someone else who has done the same. Being a cyclist is not incompatible with being fat.

    What the man needs is to buy some clothes that fit him and have a haircut. Anyway, half the blokes on here are only jealous because he is demonstrably getting more sex than they are...
  • tlg86tlg86 Posts: 26,176
    The replies to that Taylor Tweet suggest he is an anti-vaxxer, which might not have helped his cause, though Novak Djokovic was nominated for the world award.
  • Freedom loving Tory MPs who value liberty above all else are disgusted about people having to take covid tests before going to big events, but have no problem in supporting the state's right to take away someone's UK citizenship without telling them and banning peaceful protest. It's almost as if they are hypocritical shysters who care about their freedom to do as they want but do not give a monkey's bollock for anyone else's.

    You've met them then?
    I had a strange one just yesterday - someone declared that my wanting Begum put on trial for war crimes was "nasty and disgusting".

    The context was that I didn't think her citizenship should have been removed. But that she should be tried for the crimes she committed.
    I entirely agree. Begum is a British citizen accused of crimes. So lets try her, not wash our hands of her.
    Try her and lock her up for life if that is the handed sentence. We’re a nation proud of criminal justice, we do not wash our hands of our criminals
    It is interesting that I've had the same response from several people in the legal/human rights line - prosecuting non-state actors under war crimes law is apparently "immoral"

    Despite the laws in question being quite specific about classifying non-state actors, the crimes they can be charged with, and how they should be treated.

    Mention that the Hague conventions was drawn up with a large amount of participation by British officers who'd served in Afghanistan and was specifically concerned with issue regarding Francs-tireurs that came out of the 1870 war.... well that causes them to get really upset.

    Why is this?

    My point is that if you protect people such a Begum from the consequences of their actions, then bad ideas will be found as how to punish them.....
    That sounds complicated. She is clearly a traitor.
  • CyclefreeCyclefree Posts: 25,312

    Cyclefree said:

    Scott_xP said:

    Keir Starmer will make an address to the nation at 7pm, responding to the Prime Minister’s statement last night.
    https://twitter.com/PaulBrandITV/status/1470347875083341831

    What's he going to say...get a jab? That he will vote for vaccine passports, but he doesn't want them, but only two months ago vaccine passports didn't go far enough and we needed vaccine passport+++, where everybody took a LFT before every pub visit?
    If I were writing Starmer's statement, I'd make it statesmanlike and focused on dealing with the pandemic, almost as though he were PM. I'd slip in a few barbs making it clear that the fact that we are saddled with a mendacious clown in No 10, who doesn't follow his own rules, isn't a reason to ignore the advice or flout the regulations. Pretty much the message that Labour, and in particular Wes Streeting, has been putting out, with the framing that Boris is an irrelevance.
    Very sensible advice. But why does Starmer get a broadcast at all? Are we going to get one from Ed Davey as well? What is the point?
    It's a tradition since forever that the PM has the right to commandeer time on the BBC for a statement, but if he does then the LOTO gets an equal slot the next day. The alternative for the PM is to make a statement for journalists and take his chances at getting on the news (as he always will), but that has much more potential to go wrong if the journalist asks an awkward question and the PM stutters in reply.
    Ah, thanks. Had no idea. Have never seen any of the replies. Didn't see Boris's one yesterday and will give Keir a miss too.

    I'm sure you'll all fill me in.
  • @Philip_Thompson said BoJo was quite athletic. Are you having a laugh

    No. He's a cyclist, not a couch potato.

    I find the idea that he's 17.5 stone entirely plausible.
    Indeed, muscle is heavier than fat.

    (Snigger).
    I believe he is 5'9'', which would give him a BMI of over 36!!!! That is seriously obese territory. If he does climb aboard a bike I hope it has good shock absorbers (must be a metaphor in there!)
  • eekeek Posts: 28,390

    dixiedean said:

    Have we done this?
    Just read there are now 30 million eligible for a jab.
    Getting them done before New Year is going to be some task in 18 days. With many Bank Holidays.
    Over promise again.

    Just watching the BBC the queue at one London hospital drop in is enormous with over 2 hour wait but everyone promised they will receive their dose

    It has also been reported that the 15 minute wait post the dose is to be tweaked to help the throughput of people
    It isn't 30 million.

    It's less than 20 million, as of today.

    This is because, in order to have your booster, you have to have had a second vaccination. Even in you have your first shot now, you won't get your second till the New Year
    I had a serious try yesterday at persuading my landlady that she and her elderly husband should finally get vaccinated. They absolutely won't, because they've heard of possible side-effects, and anyway they take vitamin D pills and echinacea so they'll be fine...

    Given the time frames and the infection rates of Omicron, I think even if they did get vaccinated it would be too little too late.

    Plus just queuing for the vaccination could be enough to catch it given the rate of transmission and the way things seem to be accelerating.
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 82,080
    edited December 2021

    The most incredible thing about Peleton, they lost money during the pandemic.....

    Peloton has no appeal to me whatsoever, I'm afraid I simply don't get it
    Well's that also a bit of a problem with their strategy during the pandemic, they convinced themselves everybody did want one, it was just they didn't know about Peleton yet.
  • @Philip_Thompson said BoJo was quite athletic. Are you having a laugh

    No. He's a cyclist, not a couch potato.

    I find the idea that he's 17.5 stone entirely plausible.
    He’s not a cyclist. This is utterly hilarious
    This is one of PB's more ridiculous conversations. What makes someone a cyclist? Going out on your bike once a year? Once a month? Once a week? Doing a quarter-mile to the local shop or back, or doing 60 miles at a pace that sets off speed cameras? Someone who pootles around as I do on my heavy bike, or one of the Peparami in Lycra crowd on their multi-thousand quid carbon-fibre thief-magnets?

    Since there was a minor scandal last year when BJ was seen cycling away from his home area (how could he!) I'd say he was a cyclist. Perhaps not a frequent one, but he does cycle.
    We are in a health crisis and we end up arguing whether Boris is fat and/or a cyclist and the definition of both

    There are far more important issues then this trivia
  • I didn't say Johnson doesn't cycle, I said he wasn't a cyclist. The context of this is clearly that he's athletic, when he evidently isn't.

    (Snip)

    This is ridiculous. What makes someone a 'cyclist'? What level of lycra-clad shitbaggery do I need to fulfil to become a 'cyclist'?

    I hate it when these terms are used to create clubs, to exclude others. If you ride a bike, you are a cyclist. If you drive a car, you are a driver. If you go for a leisurely walk, you are a walker.

    I once got told I was not a 'proper' walker because I don't walk fast enough; despite having walked nearly 20,000 miles in the UK. Someone had set their idea of what a 'walker' is, and excluded anyone who did not meet his definition - which, of course, he passed.
    Again, the implication is clearly that he's athletic, when he's not.

    I'm happy to have a discussion around whether he qualifies as a cyclist but that really is irrelevant in terms of whether he's healthy and athletic or not. He is not to any impartial observer.
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 28,378

    kinabalu said:

    For @CorrectHorseBattery as I got it on the last thread too late -

    I remember when @Philip_Thompson told us that Johnson wasn't fat but just really muscular.

    I never said that.

    I said I found it entirely believable he was 17.5 stone when @kinabalu was saying there was no way he was that heavy.
    That's not what you meant and we both know it
    What was actually said -

    "@kinabalu said:
    BoJo was NOT seventeen and a half stone (!) before the virus He's only 5 ft 8 inches tall. If he had weighed that much he would have looked like Mr Creosote.

    Is he spinning yet another self-serving yarn?"

    "@Philip_Thompson said:

    17 and a half stone isn't anywhere near as much as that!

    Besides he's quite athletic as well as being on the heavy side. Remember that muscle is heavier by volume than fat so two people of the same volume can weigh quite different amounts."
    15 May 2020

    https://vf.politicalbetting.com/discussion/comment/2856928/#Comment_2856928

    This was followed by 18 months of @kinabalu claiming Phil had said Boris was "mainly muscle"
    Great news you've unearthed the source material since it shows that - my horsing around aside - there is a solid basis to the scandal.

    It started with me casting doubt on Johnson's claim to have been 17.5 stone pre Covid. The suspicion (of mine) was he'd exaggerated this in order to exaggerate his weight loss due to his illness. To in turn exaggerate how serious it'd been for him.

    I still have this suspicion but this is not the point. The point is that Philip Thompson leapt in and opined that the MMM could easily have been that heavy despite being quite short and that the reason he wouldn't have looked like Danny DeVito is that he is of 'athletic build' with a 'high muscle to fat ratio'.

    So there we are. I dropped it ages ago but I make no apology for running with it for a while. It merited that. It was peak PT BJ adoration. A real moment in time.
    Sorry but you're talking absolute bollocks. I never said he has a 'high muscle to fat ratio', that's literally not in the quote. You're inventing your own words.

    I said he is 'athletic' as well as 'on the heavy side' and he is.

    17.5 stone is nothing that special for someone 5'8" its entirely believable and not remotely Mr Creosote.

    If you're 5' 8" and 17.5 stone, you are morbidly obese and running huge risks with your health - from diabetes, through cancer to heart failure. Johnson no doubt believes he is indestructible. Maybe he is, but he's six stones overweight - at least. And you can see from his pudgy face that he is carrying a lot of fat as opposed to being all muscled up.

    Yes, I am the same height and age- a little older-as Johnson and around 13 stone. I look more like a backrow forward than an outside-half. If Johnson is 17.5 stones he is not the racing snake that Phil would have us believe.

    As for the notion Johnson is a cyclist, I occasionally run for the train but that doesn't make me a sprinter.
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 42,983
    kinabalu said:

    kinabalu said:

    For @CorrectHorseBattery as I got it on the last thread too late -

    I remember when @Philip_Thompson told us that Johnson wasn't fat but just really muscular.

    I never said that.

    I said I found it entirely believable he was 17.5 stone when @kinabalu was saying there was no way he was that heavy.
    That's not what you meant and we both know it
    What was actually said -

    "@kinabalu said:
    BoJo was NOT seventeen and a half stone (!) before the virus He's only 5 ft 8 inches tall. If he had weighed that much he would have looked like Mr Creosote.

    Is he spinning yet another self-serving yarn?"

    "@Philip_Thompson said:

    17 and a half stone isn't anywhere near as much as that!

    Besides he's quite athletic as well as being on the heavy side. Remember that muscle is heavier by volume than fat so two people of the same volume can weigh quite different amounts."
    15 May 2020

    https://vf.politicalbetting.com/discussion/comment/2856928/#Comment_2856928

    This was followed by 18 months of @kinabalu claiming Phil had said Boris was "mainly muscle"
    Great news you've unearthed the source material since it shows that - my horsing around aside - there is a solid basis to the scandal.

    It started with me casting doubt on Johnson's claim to have been 17.5 stone pre Covid. The suspicion (of mine) was he'd exaggerated this in order to exaggerate his weight loss due to his illness. To in turn exaggerate how serious it'd been for him.

    I still have this suspicion but this is not the point. The point is that Philip Thompson leapt in and opined that the MMM could easily have been that heavy despite being quite short and that the reason he wouldn't have looked like Danny DeVito is that he is of 'athletic build' with a 'high muscle to fat ratio'.

    So there we are. I dropped it ages ago but I make no apology for running with it for a while. It merited that. It was peak PT BJ adoration. A real moment in time.
    Sorry but you're talking absolute bollocks. I never said he has a 'high muscle to fat ratio', that's literally not in the quote. You're inventing your own words.

    I said he is 'athletic' as well as 'on the heavy side' and he is.

    17.5 stone is nothing that special for someone 5'8" its entirely believable and not remotely Mr Creosote.
    "He's quite athletic as well as being on the heavy side. Remember that muscle is heavier by volume than fat so two people of the same volume can weigh quite different amounts."

    That's your notorious quote in its full and unadorned state.

    Do I seriously misrepresent it with "of athletic build with a high muscle to fat ratio"?

    I think not but I'm happy for the select band of those interested to make up their own mind.

    Whole thing is ancient history anyway. We have a by-election this week and what I'm wondering is, how much have you lumped on the 'nailed on' LibDems?
    Don't put stuff in quotes unless it is a quote.
  • I'm not having a go at BoJo for being overweight, I'm having a go at PT who accused me of being hyper-partisan despite the ridiculous things he has posted about BoJo.

    I commend BoJo for trying to lose weight, good for him. I actually thought when he made a public deal out of it, that was very commendable and one of the better things he's done.
  • Boris post covid health kick didn't last long....like a lot of Peleton customers.

    The most ridiculous thing for @Philip_Thompson is that BoJo himself - I think - even said he was trying to be more healthy and lose weight. Why would he do that if it were all muscle?
    I never said it was all muscle dipshit! In fact I said he was "quite heavy".

    A 17.5 stone 5'8" man with 25% body fat, and a 17.5 stone 5'8" man with 30% body fat will have very different outlines.

    I find it very easy to believe that he's been 17.5 stone. In fact, I'd guess at his heaviest he's easily been more than that!
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 42,200

    kinabalu said:

    kinabalu said:

    For @CorrectHorseBattery as I got it on the last thread too late -

    I remember when @Philip_Thompson told us that Johnson wasn't fat but just really muscular.

    I never said that.

    I said I found it entirely believable he was 17.5 stone when @kinabalu was saying there was no way he was that heavy.
    That's not what you meant and we both know it
    What was actually said -

    "@kinabalu said:
    BoJo was NOT seventeen and a half stone (!) before the virus He's only 5 ft 8 inches tall. If he had weighed that much he would have looked like Mr Creosote.

    Is he spinning yet another self-serving yarn?"

    "@Philip_Thompson said:

    17 and a half stone isn't anywhere near as much as that!

    Besides he's quite athletic as well as being on the heavy side. Remember that muscle is heavier by volume than fat so two people of the same volume can weigh quite different amounts."
    15 May 2020

    https://vf.politicalbetting.com/discussion/comment/2856928/#Comment_2856928

    This was followed by 18 months of @kinabalu claiming Phil had said Boris was "mainly muscle"
    Great news you've unearthed the source material since it shows that - my horsing around aside - there is a solid basis to the scandal.

    It started with me casting doubt on Johnson's claim to have been 17.5 stone pre Covid. The suspicion (of mine) was he'd exaggerated this in order to exaggerate his weight loss due to his illness. To in turn exaggerate how serious it'd been for him.

    I still have this suspicion but this is not the point. The point is that Philip Thompson leapt in and opined that the MMM could easily have been that heavy despite being quite short and that the reason he wouldn't have looked like Danny DeVito is that he is of 'athletic build' with a 'high muscle to fat ratio'.

    So there we are. I dropped it ages ago but I make no apology for running with it for a while. It merited that. It was peak PT BJ adoration. A real moment in time.
    Sorry but you're talking absolute bollocks. I never said he has a 'high muscle to fat ratio', that's literally not in the quote. You're inventing your own words.

    I said he is 'athletic' as well as 'on the heavy side' and he is.

    17.5 stone is nothing that special for someone 5'8" its entirely believable and not remotely Mr Creosote.
    "He's quite athletic as well as being on the heavy side. Remember that muscle is heavier by volume than fat so two people of the same volume can weigh quite different amounts."

    That's the quote in its full and unadorned state.

    Do I seriously misrepresent it with "of athletic build with a high muscle to fat ratio"?

    I think not but I'm happy for the select band of those interested to make up their own mind.

    Whole thing is ancient history anyway. We have a by-election this week and what I'm wondering is, how much have you lumped on the 'nailed on' LibDems?
    You repeatedly lying by actually quoting PT as having said "mostly muscle" - and various other 'quotes' he never said - was what leapt out at me from from my brief vanilla searches.
    I think when I stretch it to phrases such as 'muscly magnificence' and 'surely the next Bond' most people realize we are in horsing around territory. But - again - it was good of you to confirm the essential underlying veracity from the original exchange. I'll bear you in mind for future work of this type.
  • CyclefreeCyclefree Posts: 25,312

    MattW said:

    @Philip_Thompson said BoJo was quite athletic. Are you having a laugh

    Quite happy doing 14 miles on a bike iirc, apparently.
    I have ridden a (non stationary) bike about five times in 20 years, two of those were for 15-20 miles without difficulty, not sure that makes me a cyclist or quite athletic, I am neither.
    My little 'un only learnt to properly ride this year, and he can do ten miles, including a decent climb. In fact, we did one on Saturday. Great father-son bonding time.

    Although he has absolutely no road sense at junctions; which makes it a little more fraught than I'd like. I try to plan the routes to have as few junctions as possible, and along quiet roads...
    The routes were pretty flat, I don't like climbing! Flat quiet roads, no rain, no cars and moderate temperature and I would be keen to cycle more. Not going to happen in London though!
    I cycled for decades round London. Have the scars and knee ops to prove it. Despite all this, the sporting injuries and the time spent with sports physios, my physique is not quite as sporting as I would like. This is most unfair I feel.
  • kinabalu said:

    kinabalu said:

    kinabalu said:

    For @CorrectHorseBattery as I got it on the last thread too late -

    I remember when @Philip_Thompson told us that Johnson wasn't fat but just really muscular.

    I never said that.

    I said I found it entirely believable he was 17.5 stone when @kinabalu was saying there was no way he was that heavy.
    That's not what you meant and we both know it
    What was actually said -

    "@kinabalu said:
    BoJo was NOT seventeen and a half stone (!) before the virus He's only 5 ft 8 inches tall. If he had weighed that much he would have looked like Mr Creosote.

    Is he spinning yet another self-serving yarn?"

    "@Philip_Thompson said:

    17 and a half stone isn't anywhere near as much as that!

    Besides he's quite athletic as well as being on the heavy side. Remember that muscle is heavier by volume than fat so two people of the same volume can weigh quite different amounts."
    15 May 2020

    https://vf.politicalbetting.com/discussion/comment/2856928/#Comment_2856928

    This was followed by 18 months of @kinabalu claiming Phil had said Boris was "mainly muscle"
    Great news you've unearthed the source material since it shows that - my horsing around aside - there is a solid basis to the scandal.

    It started with me casting doubt on Johnson's claim to have been 17.5 stone pre Covid. The suspicion (of mine) was he'd exaggerated this in order to exaggerate his weight loss due to his illness. To in turn exaggerate how serious it'd been for him.

    I still have this suspicion but this is not the point. The point is that Philip Thompson leapt in and opined that the MMM could easily have been that heavy despite being quite short and that the reason he wouldn't have looked like Danny DeVito is that he is of 'athletic build' with a 'high muscle to fat ratio'.

    So there we are. I dropped it ages ago but I make no apology for running with it for a while. It merited that. It was peak PT BJ adoration. A real moment in time.
    Sorry but you're talking absolute bollocks. I never said he has a 'high muscle to fat ratio', that's literally not in the quote. You're inventing your own words.

    I said he is 'athletic' as well as 'on the heavy side' and he is.

    17.5 stone is nothing that special for someone 5'8" its entirely believable and not remotely Mr Creosote.
    "He's quite athletic as well as being on the heavy side. Remember that muscle is heavier by volume than fat so two people of the same volume can weigh quite different amounts."

    That's the quote in its full and unadorned state.

    Do I seriously misrepresent it with "of athletic build with a high muscle to fat ratio"?

    I think not but I'm happy for the select band of those interested to make up their own mind.

    Whole thing is ancient history anyway. We have a by-election this week and what I'm wondering is, how much have you lumped on the 'nailed on' LibDems?
    You repeatedly lying by actually quoting PT as having said "mostly muscle" - and various other 'quotes' he never said - was what leapt out at me from from my brief vanilla searches.
    I think when I stretch it to phrases such as 'muscly magnificence' and 'surely the next Bond' most people realize we are in horsing around territory. But - again - it was good of you to confirm the essential underlying veracity from the original exchange. I'll bear you in mind for future work of this type.
    Heh

  • StockyStocky Posts: 10,219

    dixiedean said:

    Have we done this?
    Just read there are now 30 million eligible for a jab.
    Getting them done before New Year is going to be some task in 18 days. With many Bank Holidays.
    Over promise again.

    Just watching the BBC the queue at one London hospital drop in is enormous with over 2 hour wait but everyone promised they will receive their dose

    It has also been reported that the 15 minute wait post the dose is to be tweaked to help the throughput of people
    It isn't 30 million.

    It's less than 20 million, as of today.

    This is because, in order to have your booster, you have to have had a second vaccination. Even in you have your first shot now, you won't get your second till the New Year
    I had a serious try yesterday at persuading my landlady that she and her elderly husband should finally get vaccinated. They absolutely won't, because they've heard of possible side-effects, and anyway they take vitamin D pills and echinacea so they'll be fine...

    Vitamin D and Zinc supplementation is still best practice as far as I know to keep your immune system tip top. Foxy recommended it here at the start of the pandemic.
  • tlg86tlg86 Posts: 26,176
    Looking at Twitter, most anger is about Cavendish not being nominated.
  • PT said muscle weighs more than fat hence Johnson’s weight is believable. The implication there is that Johnson is highly/very muscular as opposed to fat.

    I can totally see how @kinabalu got to his point.

    The whole thing about Johnson being muscular at all and not just overweight is the laughable thing and makes @Philip_Thompson look ridiculous.

    Philip Thompson is ridiculous, or at least his posts on here generally are. He was the leading fanboy of Johnson on here for a very long time. He said this morning that Johnson is one of the *best* PMs in his lifetime (39 years old). Not his favourite, character, but *best*! Ridiculous is too kind.
    Mainly because the others have been so shit.

    Thatcher has been the only good PM of my lifetime.

    Boris rates better than May, Brown, Blair and Major but more due to the latter's failures than his successes.
  • Johnson rates better than Blair?

    You cannot be serious. FFS
  • RobDRobD Posts: 59,930

    kinabalu said:

    For @CorrectHorseBattery as I got it on the last thread too late -

    I remember when @Philip_Thompson told us that Johnson wasn't fat but just really muscular.

    I never said that.

    I said I found it entirely believable he was 17.5 stone when @kinabalu was saying there was no way he was that heavy.
    That's not what you meant and we both know it
    What was actually said -

    "@kinabalu said:
    BoJo was NOT seventeen and a half stone (!) before the virus He's only 5 ft 8 inches tall. If he had weighed that much he would have looked like Mr Creosote.

    Is he spinning yet another self-serving yarn?"

    "@Philip_Thompson said:

    17 and a half stone isn't anywhere near as much as that!

    Besides he's quite athletic as well as being on the heavy side. Remember that muscle is heavier by volume than fat so two people of the same volume can weigh quite different amounts."
    15 May 2020

    https://vf.politicalbetting.com/discussion/comment/2856928/#Comment_2856928

    This was followed by 18 months of @kinabalu claiming Phil had said Boris was "mainly muscle"
    Great news you've unearthed the source material since it shows that - my horsing around aside - there is a solid basis to the scandal.

    It started with me casting doubt on Johnson's claim to have been 17.5 stone pre Covid. The suspicion (of mine) was he'd exaggerated this in order to exaggerate his weight loss due to his illness. To in turn exaggerate how serious it'd been for him.

    I still have this suspicion but this is not the point. The point is that Philip Thompson leapt in and opined that the MMM could easily have been that heavy despite being quite short and that the reason he wouldn't have looked like Danny DeVito is that he is of 'athletic build' with a 'high muscle to fat ratio'.

    So there we are. I dropped it ages ago but I make no apology for running with it for a while. It merited that. It was peak PT BJ adoration. A real moment in time.
    Sorry but you're talking absolute bollocks. I never said he has a 'high muscle to fat ratio', that's literally not in the quote. You're inventing your own words.

    I said he is 'athletic' as well as 'on the heavy side' and he is.

    17.5 stone is nothing that special for someone 5'8" its entirely believable and not remotely Mr Creosote.

    If you're 5' 8" and 17.5 stone, you are morbidly obese and running huge risks with your health - from diabetes, through cancer to heart failure. Johnson no doubt believes he is indestructible. Maybe he is, but he's six stones overweight - at least. And you can see from his pudgy face that he is carrying a lot of fat as opposed to being all muscled up.

    Yes, I am the same height and age- a little older-as Johnson and around 13 stone. I look more like a backrow forward than an outside-half. If Johnson is 17.5 stones he is not the racing snake that Phil would have us believe.

    As for the notion Johnson is a cyclist, I occasionally run for the train but that doesn't make me a sprinter.
    Does that analogy even work? He clearly does it for recreation/leisure, and not just out of necessity.
  • MoonRabbitMoonRabbit Posts: 13,512

    HYUFD said:

    Earlier this morning, Mrs Fairliered successfully ordered a pack of LFTs. An hour later, I got the message saying they were out of stock. I wonder if she got the last one?

    LFTs are mainly to protect the unvaccinated.

    The more people get double vaccinated and get their boosters, the more LFTs will have zero real impact on hospitalisation levels
    We test ourselves as a courtesy to others, who may or may not be vaccinated.
    Which Wizard of Oz character is FUDHY?

    Is he missing a heart, brain or courage?
    He's the Wizard.

    The moral from the Wizard of Oz is that they always had the heart, brain or courage - but pull back the sheet and there was nothing there for the Wizard.
    If you can have courage you can be big beast in the jungle. 🙂

    Where do you stand on Dark Side of Oz Philip did they didn’t they? They still vehemently deny it. Yet it’s very odd how much smoothly match.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtExVJlgEC0
  • The most incredible thing about Peleton, they lost money during the pandemic.....apparently they kept advertising to such a crazy extent, such their customer acquisition costs were so high they never making it back.

    Lost 16% market cap last week because they authorised Sex and the City to use their name but did not enquire about the plot. It was to kill off Mr Big with a heart attack.
  • Can we all stop having a pop at Boris for being fat? Having chonked weight over the last 18 months I'm not going to attack someone else who has done the same. Being a cyclist is not incompatible with being fat.

    What the man needs is to buy some clothes that fit him and have a haircut. Anyway, half the blokes on here are only jealous because he is demonstrably getting more sex than they are...

    Not all fat people are lazy and incompetent, but Boris Johnson definitely fits the stereotype.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 71,192
    Cyclefree said:

    MattW said:

    @Philip_Thompson said BoJo was quite athletic. Are you having a laugh

    Quite happy doing 14 miles on a bike iirc, apparently.
    I have ridden a (non stationary) bike about five times in 20 years, two of those were for 15-20 miles without difficulty, not sure that makes me a cyclist or quite athletic, I am neither.
    My little 'un only learnt to properly ride this year, and he can do ten miles, including a decent climb. In fact, we did one on Saturday. Great father-son bonding time.

    Although he has absolutely no road sense at junctions; which makes it a little more fraught than I'd like. I try to plan the routes to have as few junctions as possible, and along quiet roads...
    The routes were pretty flat, I don't like climbing! Flat quiet roads, no rain, no cars and moderate temperature and I would be keen to cycle more. Not going to happen in London though!
    I cycled for decades round London. Have the scars and knee ops to prove it. Despite all this, the sporting injuries and the time spent with sports physios, my physique is not quite as sporting as I would like. This is most unfair I feel.
    Falstaff: Banish plump Jack, and banish all the world.
    Prince Henry: I do, I will.
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 28,378

    Guess Boris' Weight

    Again?

    Really?

    FFS.

    Because it defines the Emperor's New Clothes elements of Johnson's character.

    According to PT Johnson is a svelte athlete, which corresponds with his assertion that Johnson is Britain's greatest post-war Prime Minister.
  • CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758
    Farooq said:

    Farooq said:

    Really, really struggling to get excited about the umpteenth Lib Dem by election hype of my lifetime. Used to find these things scintillating, but bitter experience has taught me that they mean diddly squat in the great scheme of things.

    The Lib Dems need a mission, not this idiotic “We’re not as bad as them!” positioning.

    It's a little difficult for a smallish centrist party. They could decide to go all in on a particular policy platform and then find one of the two bigger parties steals their clothes, and in a few months' everyone's back saying "well what's the point of the Lib Dems, they're just saying the same thing as Con/Lab".
    Ukip and its descendants show that you can get somewhere with a message that other parties don't want to touch. In other words, you need to be unhinged to break in.
    But I don’t think the Lib Dems need a “message” (let alone an unhinged one). I think they need a mission. What do they want to do? I mean, really, really, really want to do? What is their passion? Their desire? Their lust? Their golden upland? Their Jerusalem?

    (Please don’t say local income tax, dog-poo-free pavements or proportional representation. I want to retain some faith in humanity by the end of the day.)
    Local income tax, dog-poo-free pavements and proportional representation.

    It's better for you now to lose any misplaced faith ;)
    I was going with local dog poo, proportional income tax and free representation…
  • CyclefreeCyclefree Posts: 25,312

    Calling @Cyclefree = "In the Commons a Home Office minister will respond to an urgent question from Labour’s Dame Margaret Hodge at 3.30pm about the Met failings in the Stephen Port case."

    She's the MP for Barking where the murders happened.

    We could play the bingo card - "lessons will be learned", "review" etc. Fill yer boots with the usual cliches .....
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 82,080
    edited December 2021

    The most incredible thing about Peleton, they lost money during the pandemic.....apparently they kept advertising to such a crazy extent, such their customer acquisition costs were so high they never making it back.

    Lost 16% market cap last week because they authorised Sex and the City to use their name but did not enquire about the plot. It was to kill off Mr Big with a heart attack.
    The management sounds like they are totally incompetent.

    Apparently their profit margin on each bike is hardly anything, so they need the subscriptions. The advertising spend they did during the pandemic, they literally kept doubling down, to the extent where they needed to be converting new customers at rates they have never achieved before and for them to become members for lengths like they have never managed, for a niche product that costs £2k to start and then £40 / month...so its not like you are flogging stuff in a pound shop. The number of people in the world who can even afford their product is seriously capped.
  • stodgestodge Posts: 13,889

    On topic. Totally agree with Mike Smithson - the current price for Libdems in Salop North is not value. 😞

    But the 3-1 I got on last month certainly is! 😃

    There’s two subsets I am now considering. Firstly, every Conservative voter in Salop North must surely now be pinging around their brain cells, both of them, if they themselves can actually give their party a better leader and put their party in a better place by killing off Boris. To quote directory from Shakespeare, Salop North is the dagger Boris sees before him. Second subset is PBers who live in the constituency very much considering voting for the conservatives knowing they won’t hear the last of it if I win my bet having been told by them it’s a loser 😝

    Paddy Power is 4/9 LDs 11/8 Conservatives.

    I've not been there and don't know anyone in any of the campaigns so playing in such a market is silly.

    That said, 11/8 and 7/4 a party which won 63% of the vote last time and has a majority of 23,000 over the second place party and 30,000 over the third place party which is now 4/9 looks incredible value.

    That said, although the LDs need a 26.5% swing to take the seat, that's not exceptional. It ranks between Orpington (1962) and Hodge Hill (2004). The latter saw Liam Byrne scrape home by 460 votes and saw the LDs reduce the gap over them from 56 points to just two.
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,346

    @Philip_Thompson said BoJo was quite athletic. Are you having a laugh

    The guy is barking
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,348
    edited December 2021

    Freedom loving Tory MPs who value liberty above all else are disgusted about people having to take covid tests before going to big events, but have no problem in supporting the state's right to take away someone's UK citizenship without telling them and banning peaceful protest. It's almost as if they are hypocritical shysters who care about their freedom to do as they want but do not give a monkey's bollock for anyone else's.

    You've met them then?
    I had a strange one just yesterday - someone declared that my wanting Begum put on trial for war crimes was "nasty and disgusting".

    The context was that I didn't think her citizenship should have been removed. But that she should be tried for the crimes she committed.
    I entirely agree. Begum is a British citizen accused of crimes. So lets try her, not wash our hands of her.
    Try her and lock her up for life if that is the handed sentence. We’re a nation proud of criminal justice, we do not wash our hands of our criminals
    It is interesting that I've had the same response from several people in the legal/human rights line - prosecuting non-state actors under war crimes law is apparently "immoral"

    Despite the laws in question being quite specific about classifying non-state actors, the crimes they can be charged with, and how they should be treated.

    Mention that the Hague conventions was drawn up with a large amount of participation by British officers who'd served in Afghanistan and was specifically concerned with issue regarding Francs-tireurs that came out of the 1870 war.... well that causes them to get really upset.

    Why is this?

    My point is that if you protect people such a Begum from the consequences of their actions, then bad ideas will be found as how to punish them.....
    That sounds complicated. She is clearly a traitor.
    Someone (effectively) abolished treason.

    In one such discussion, someone was going on about the Human Right to chose allegiance - which they interpreted as the right to go a fight against your own country if you feel like it.

    I asked if, in that case, if I was OK starting the first Rondas Campesinas in West London and "rm -rf" the... inconvenient?
  • PT said muscle weighs more than fat hence Johnson’s weight is believable. The implication there is that Johnson is highly/very muscular as opposed to fat.

    I can totally see how @kinabalu got to his point.

    The whole thing about Johnson being muscular at all and not just overweight is the laughable thing and makes @Philip_Thompson look ridiculous.

    Philip Thompson is ridiculous, or at least his posts on here generally are. He was the leading fanboy of Johnson on here for a very long time. He said this morning that Johnson is one of the *best* PMs in his lifetime (39 years old). Not his favourite, character, but *best*! Ridiculous is too kind.
    Mainly because the others have been so shit.

    Thatcher has been the only good PM of my lifetime.

    Boris rates better than May, Brown, Blair and Major but more due to the latter's failures than his successes.
    That is a ridiculous analysis, but also contradictory of your complete deification of the fat/muscular(delete as approp) Johnson on this forum. You would have more credibility if you simply said: "I, Philip Thompson, very frequent of this parish) got it wrong on Johnson"; he is a calamity/shit/useless/incompetent (again delete as approp)
  • CyclefreeCyclefree Posts: 25,312
    Nigelb said:

    Cyclefree said:

    MattW said:

    @Philip_Thompson said BoJo was quite athletic. Are you having a laugh

    Quite happy doing 14 miles on a bike iirc, apparently.
    I have ridden a (non stationary) bike about five times in 20 years, two of those were for 15-20 miles without difficulty, not sure that makes me a cyclist or quite athletic, I am neither.
    My little 'un only learnt to properly ride this year, and he can do ten miles, including a decent climb. In fact, we did one on Saturday. Great father-son bonding time.

    Although he has absolutely no road sense at junctions; which makes it a little more fraught than I'd like. I try to plan the routes to have as few junctions as possible, and along quiet roads...
    The routes were pretty flat, I don't like climbing! Flat quiet roads, no rain, no cars and moderate temperature and I would be keen to cycle more. Not going to happen in London though!
    I cycled for decades round London. Have the scars and knee ops to prove it. Despite all this, the sporting injuries and the time spent with sports physios, my physique is not quite as sporting as I would like. This is most unfair I feel.
    Falstaff: Banish plump Jack, and banish all the world.
    Prince Henry: I do, I will.
    Hamlet: "Oh that this too too solid flesh would melt"
  • The most incredible thing about Peleton, they lost money during the pandemic.....apparently they kept advertising to such a crazy extent, such their customer acquisition costs were so high they never making it back.

    Lost 16% market cap last week because they authorised Sex and the City to use their name but did not enquire about the plot. It was to kill off Mr Big with a heart attack.
    The management sounds like they are totally incompetent. Apparently their profit margin on each bike is hardly anything, so they need the subscriptions. The advertising spend they did during the pandemic, they literally kept doubling down, to the extent where they needed to be converting new customers like they had never done before and for them to become members for lengths like they have never achieved......
    It sounded to me like a fad for the rich to show how much money they have, which is not a bad business model if you can keep the fad going forever like the luxury brands.

    From an exercise and motivation point of view can get the same for 10% of the cost elsewhere.
  • maaarshmaaarsh Posts: 3,590
    tlg86 said:

    Looking at Twitter, most anger is about Cavendish not being nominated.

    Cycling lobby are an angry bunch in general. Never their fault.
  • CyclefreeCyclefree Posts: 25,312
    Charles said:

    Farooq said:

    Farooq said:

    Really, really struggling to get excited about the umpteenth Lib Dem by election hype of my lifetime. Used to find these things scintillating, but bitter experience has taught me that they mean diddly squat in the great scheme of things.

    The Lib Dems need a mission, not this idiotic “We’re not as bad as them!” positioning.

    It's a little difficult for a smallish centrist party. They could decide to go all in on a particular policy platform and then find one of the two bigger parties steals their clothes, and in a few months' everyone's back saying "well what's the point of the Lib Dems, they're just saying the same thing as Con/Lab".
    Ukip and its descendants show that you can get somewhere with a message that other parties don't want to touch. In other words, you need to be unhinged to break in.
    But I don’t think the Lib Dems need a “message” (let alone an unhinged one). I think they need a mission. What do they want to do? I mean, really, really, really want to do? What is their passion? Their desire? Their lust? Their golden upland? Their Jerusalem?

    (Please don’t say local income tax, dog-poo-free pavements or proportional representation. I want to retain some faith in humanity by the end of the day.)
    Local income tax, dog-poo-free pavements and proportional representation.

    It's better for you now to lose any misplaced faith ;)
    I was going with local dog poo, proportional income tax and free representation…
    Or even local pavements and income tax for dogs.
  • Surely the problem with Peloton is that you buy the bike and then you never buy one again, I get they try to work around that with subscriptions but it's not like a phone, or a car that you have to replace.

    It's a bike you sit on and ride - and people keep bikes for a long time
  • MoonRabbitMoonRabbit Posts: 13,512

    Guess Boris' Weight

    Again?

    Really?

    FFS.

    Because it defines the Emperor's New Clothes elements of Johnson's character.

    According to PT Johnson is a svelte athlete, which corresponds with his assertion that Johnson is Britain's greatest post-war Prime Minister.
    Hamsters make great cyclists. Hamsters look great on bikes.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 42,200
    edited December 2021
    Carnyx said:

    kinabalu said:

    kinabalu said:

    For @CorrectHorseBattery as I got it on the last thread too late -

    I remember when @Philip_Thompson told us that Johnson wasn't fat but just really muscular.

    I never said that.

    I said I found it entirely believable he was 17.5 stone when @kinabalu was saying there was no way he was that heavy.
    That's not what you meant and we both know it
    What was actually said -

    "@kinabalu said:
    BoJo was NOT seventeen and a half stone (!) before the virus He's only 5 ft 8 inches tall. If he had weighed that much he would have looked like Mr Creosote.

    Is he spinning yet another self-serving yarn?"

    "@Philip_Thompson said:

    17 and a half stone isn't anywhere near as much as that!

    Besides he's quite athletic as well as being on the heavy side. Remember that muscle is heavier by volume than fat so two people of the same volume can weigh quite different amounts."
    15 May 2020

    https://vf.politicalbetting.com/discussion/comment/2856928/#Comment_2856928

    This was followed by 18 months of @kinabalu claiming Phil had said Boris was "mainly muscle"
    Great news you've unearthed the source material since it shows that - my horsing around aside - there is a solid basis to the scandal.

    It started with me casting doubt on Johnson's claim to have been 17.5 stone pre Covid. The suspicion (of mine) was he'd exaggerated this in order to exaggerate his weight loss due to his illness. To in turn exaggerate how serious it'd been for him.

    I still have this suspicion but this is not the point. The point is that Philip Thompson leapt in and opined that the MMM could easily have been that heavy despite being quite short and that the reason he wouldn't have looked like Danny DeVito is that he is of 'athletic build' with a 'high muscle to fat ratio'.

    So there we are. I dropped it ages ago but I make no apology for running with it for a while. It merited that. It was peak PT BJ adoration. A real moment in time.
    Sorry but you're talking absolute bollocks. I never said he has a 'high muscle to fat ratio', that's literally not in the quote. You're inventing your own words.

    I said he is 'athletic' as well as 'on the heavy side' and he is.

    17.5 stone is nothing that special for someone 5'8" its entirely believable and not remotely Mr Creosote.
    "He's quite athletic as well as being on the heavy side. Remember that muscle is heavier by volume than fat so two people of the same volume can weigh quite different amounts."

    That's the quote in its full and unadorned state.

    Do I seriously misrepresent it with "of athletic build with a high muscle to fat ratio"?

    I think not but I'm happy for the select band of those interested to make up their own mind.

    Whole thing is ancient history anyway. We have a by-election this week and what I'm wondering is, how much have you lumped on the 'nailed on' LibDems?
    Hmmmmm. Density of muscle tissue is about 1.1 tonne per cubic metre. Adipose tissue, 0.9. But for visual impact one wants the inverses, which are helpfully 0.9 and 1.1 cu m per tonne. The implication is that a Mr Johnson composed solely of muscle (except for, guessing, 50% for all the rest, skeleton, innards, blood, skin etc.) is going to have about a tenth of the volume of one composed solely of blubber. But that is volume so one wants the 2/3 root of that to get the area ie visual impact. And then knock half off as it only applies to half of him. Is something like a 3% smaller BJ going to make enough difference to resolve the argument either way?
    Ah well that's a different strand to the debate. When Philip says a man could be 5 foot 8 and 17.5 stone and yet not look fat due to being a muscly athletic type, is this in and of itself a viable assertion? That's what you're asking here. The answer would need some research.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,348
    Cyclefree said:

    Charles said:

    Farooq said:

    Farooq said:

    Really, really struggling to get excited about the umpteenth Lib Dem by election hype of my lifetime. Used to find these things scintillating, but bitter experience has taught me that they mean diddly squat in the great scheme of things.

    The Lib Dems need a mission, not this idiotic “We’re not as bad as them!” positioning.

    It's a little difficult for a smallish centrist party. They could decide to go all in on a particular policy platform and then find one of the two bigger parties steals their clothes, and in a few months' everyone's back saying "well what's the point of the Lib Dems, they're just saying the same thing as Con/Lab".
    Ukip and its descendants show that you can get somewhere with a message that other parties don't want to touch. In other words, you need to be unhinged to break in.
    But I don’t think the Lib Dems need a “message” (let alone an unhinged one). I think they need a mission. What do they want to do? I mean, really, really, really want to do? What is their passion? Their desire? Their lust? Their golden upland? Their Jerusalem?

    (Please don’t say local income tax, dog-poo-free pavements or proportional representation. I want to retain some faith in humanity by the end of the day.)
    Local income tax, dog-poo-free pavements and proportional representation.

    It's better for you now to lose any misplaced faith ;)
    I was going with local dog poo, proportional income tax and free representation…
    Or even local pavements and income tax for dogs.
    Tax dog poo, proportional dogs and free pavements?
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 42,672
    Cyclefree said:

    MattW said:

    @Philip_Thompson said BoJo was quite athletic. Are you having a laugh

    Quite happy doing 14 miles on a bike iirc, apparently.
    I have ridden a (non stationary) bike about five times in 20 years, two of those were for 15-20 miles without difficulty, not sure that makes me a cyclist or quite athletic, I am neither.
    My little 'un only learnt to properly ride this year, and he can do ten miles, including a decent climb. In fact, we did one on Saturday. Great father-son bonding time.

    Although he has absolutely no road sense at junctions; which makes it a little more fraught than I'd like. I try to plan the routes to have as few junctions as possible, and along quiet roads...
    The routes were pretty flat, I don't like climbing! Flat quiet roads, no rain, no cars and moderate temperature and I would be keen to cycle more. Not going to happen in London though!
    I cycled for decades round London. Have the scars and knee ops to prove it. Despite all this, the sporting injuries and the time spent with sports physios, my physique is not quite as sporting as I would like. This is most unfair I feel.
    I've done at least one run every day this year, and am at 2,643 miles run. I am the same weight as I was last December. Technically overweight according to BMI. Although my thigh muscles are massive and my buttocks could crack walnuts. ;)

    Your body gets used to regular exercise, and it has less effect.
  • In more sporting controversy, CL draw is void as they drew the wrong teams out.
  • Cyclefree said:

    Cyclefree said:

    Scott_xP said:

    Keir Starmer will make an address to the nation at 7pm, responding to the Prime Minister’s statement last night.
    https://twitter.com/PaulBrandITV/status/1470347875083341831

    What's he going to say...get a jab? That he will vote for vaccine passports, but he doesn't want them, but only two months ago vaccine passports didn't go far enough and we needed vaccine passport+++, where everybody took a LFT before every pub visit?
    If I were writing Starmer's statement, I'd make it statesmanlike and focused on dealing with the pandemic, almost as though he were PM. I'd slip in a few barbs making it clear that the fact that we are saddled with a mendacious clown in No 10, who doesn't follow his own rules, isn't a reason to ignore the advice or flout the regulations. Pretty much the message that Labour, and in particular Wes Streeting, has been putting out, with the framing that Boris is an irrelevance.
    Very sensible advice. But why does Starmer get a broadcast at all? Are we going to get one from Ed Davey as well? What is the point?
    It's a tradition since forever that the PM has the right to commandeer time on the BBC for a statement, but if he does then the LOTO gets an equal slot the next day. The alternative for the PM is to make a statement for journalists and take his chances at getting on the news (as he always will), but that has much more potential to go wrong if the journalist asks an awkward question and the PM stutters in reply.
    Ah, thanks. Had no idea. Have never seen any of the replies. Didn't see Boris's one yesterday and will give Keir a miss too.

    I'm sure you'll all fill me in.
    We could probably write the reviews now......
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 82,080
    edited December 2021

    The most incredible thing about Peleton, they lost money during the pandemic.....apparently they kept advertising to such a crazy extent, such their customer acquisition costs were so high they never making it back.

    Lost 16% market cap last week because they authorised Sex and the City to use their name but did not enquire about the plot. It was to kill off Mr Big with a heart attack.
    The management sounds like they are totally incompetent. Apparently their profit margin on each bike is hardly anything, so they need the subscriptions. The advertising spend they did during the pandemic, they literally kept doubling down, to the extent where they needed to be converting new customers like they had never done before and for them to become members for lengths like they have never achieved......
    It sounded to me like a fad for the rich to show how much money they have, which is not a bad business model if you can keep the fad going forever like the luxury brands.

    From an exercise and motivation point of view can get the same for 10% of the cost elsewhere.
    I get it as a niche product. If you really really into spin classes, it is worth it, especially if you have kids etc, that means fitting in the gym is a pain. But their advertising spend was comparable to those trying to flog you coke cola or shampoo i.e. everybody who can afford a few pounds every week on that.

    Now, I like a good spin class and am fortunate that I could afford it, but even I wasn't really that tempted, as I like a wider range of exercise classes. I went with the static bike / Zwift setup in the end.
  • MoonRabbitMoonRabbit Posts: 13,512
    stodge said:

    On topic. Totally agree with Mike Smithson - the current price for Libdems in Salop North is not value. 😞

    But the 3-1 I got on last month certainly is! 😃

    There’s two subsets I am now considering. Firstly, every Conservative voter in Salop North must surely now be pinging around their brain cells, both of them, if they themselves can actually give their party a better leader and put their party in a better place by killing off Boris. To quote directory from Shakespeare, Salop North is the dagger Boris sees before him. Second subset is PBers who live in the constituency very much considering voting for the conservatives knowing they won’t hear the last of it if I win my bet having been told by them it’s a loser 😝

    Paddy Power is 4/9 LDs 11/8 Conservatives.

    I've not been there and don't know anyone in any of the campaigns so playing in such a market is silly.

    That said, 11/8 and 7/4 a party which won 63% of the vote last time and has a majority of 23,000 over the second place party and 30,000 over the third place party which is now 4/9 looks incredible value.

    That said, although the LDs need a 26.5% swing to take the seat, that's not exceptional. It ranks between Orpington (1962) and Hodge Hill (2004). The latter saw Liam Byrne scrape home by 460 votes and saw the LDs reduce the gap over them from 56 points to just two.
    Outside or nut nut, dilyn and Boris, who on earth is voting Boris this week?

    I’m going to win, I’m going to win big 😆
  • I am 6' 1" and 57 years old. I have managed to shift around five stone in the last 18 months. It has involved a complete change of lifestyle and a load more exercise to lose the weight and to keep it off. If Johnson is trying he has my sympathy as at our age it is incredibly tough to do. If you are PM, bone idle and the father of young kids I suspect it is next to impossible.
This discussion has been closed.