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Revisiting Covid – politicalbetting.com

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  • Options
    JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 39,003

    eek said:

    Sky F1 trying to justify £lots to watch with endless pointless camera options. Just show the race and scrap the Brundle grid walk of shame and I will be happy.

    Or save a fortune and watch the race on f1tv pro via a vpn connecting to the Netherlands.

    Watching it in 4k with the f1 commentary team (David coulthard and Jolyon Palmer)
    No.

    I used to love F1, and do everything I wanted to watch it. But if it costs too much (according to your definition of 'too much') then you have a choice: to pay or not to pay. I chose not to, and use my time for more productive things: like arguing on PB. ;)

    Not paying for something like this is theft. Yes, it may be theft from a large corporation, but still theft. If F1 matters that much to you, pay for it. If it does not, don't - and the cost will eventually come down.

    And if you say: "But it's a large corporation!", ask yourself what level you wouldn't steal it at.
    It isn't theft - he is paying for a subscription. F1 are not allowed to provide the full package in the UK because they have given that up to Sky. But you are paying for it regardless.
    Not the full amount.
  • Options
    eekeek Posts: 24,981

    eek said:

    Sky F1 trying to justify £lots to watch with endless pointless camera options. Just show the race and scrap the Brundle grid walk of shame and I will be happy.

    Or save a fortune and watch the race on f1tv pro via a vpn connecting to the Netherlands.

    Watching it in 4k with the f1 commentary team (David coulthard and Jolyon Palmer)
    No.

    I used to love F1, and do everything I wanted to watch it. But if it costs too much (according to your definition of 'too much') then you have a choice: to pay or not to pay. I chose not to, and use my time for more productive things: like arguing on PB. ;)

    Not paying for something like this is theft. Yes, it may be theft from a large corporation, but still theft. If F1 matters that much to you, pay for it. If it does not, don't - and the cost will eventually come down.

    And if you say: "But it's a large corporation!", ask yourself what level you wouldn't steal it at.
    It isn't theft - he is paying for a subscription. F1 are not allowed to provide the full package in the UK because they have given that up to Sky. But you are paying for it regardless.
    That's a very odd definition of "It isn't theft".

    "I didn't steal these cigarettes. I paid for them from a bloke who smuggled them into the country."
    Hey f1 are allowing me to purchase their service using a credit card with a uk address. So it’s clear they re happy with what I’m doing as otherwise I would be seeing an error message and not the race.

    I also get to choice what to watch - I’ve switched to Alonso’s camera trying to overtake Hamilton.
  • Options
    LeonLeon Posts: 47,215
    The Sunday Times insight team should do an in depth expose into the whole debunked “the Earth is Round” hypothesis

    “After months of ceaseless and often dangerous investigation, we have discovered that you can indeed go all the way to the horizon and you don’t fall off. More on pages 19-38”
  • Options

    eek said:

    Sky F1 trying to justify £lots to watch with endless pointless camera options. Just show the race and scrap the Brundle grid walk of shame and I will be happy.

    Or save a fortune and watch the race on f1tv pro via a vpn connecting to the Netherlands.

    Watching it in 4k with the f1 commentary team (David coulthard and Jolyon Palmer)
    No.

    I used to love F1, and do everything I wanted to watch it. But if it costs too much (according to your definition of 'too much') then you have a choice: to pay or not to pay. I chose not to, and use my time for more productive things: like arguing on PB. ;)

    Not paying for something like this is theft. Yes, it may be theft from a large corporation, but still theft. If F1 matters that much to you, pay for it. If it does not, don't - and the cost will eventually come down.

    And if you say: "But it's a large corporation!", ask yourself what level you wouldn't steal it at.
    It isn't theft - he is paying for a subscription. F1 are not allowed to provide the full package in the UK because they have given that up to Sky. But you are paying for it regardless.
    Not the full amount.
    He is paying the full amount *to F1*. Sky lose out. Bless them.
  • Options
    kinabalukinabalu Posts: 39,225
    Leon said:

    A real puzzler from the Sunday Times Insight team here. Morons across the world are reduced to bemused frowns. @Nigelb @turbotubbs @kinabalu and @IanB2 are stroking their chins and scratching their tiny pin-like heads


    I did say it's all to play for, Lab Leak and Natural neck & neck, Lab Leak with the Mo.

    This, I suggest, is a fair and dispassionate assessment of where we are.
  • Options
    rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 53,995
    Leon said:

    A real puzzler from the Sunday Times Insight team here. Morons across the world are reduced to bemused frowns. @Nigelb @turbotubbs @kinabalu and @IanB2 are stroking their chins and scratching their tiny pin-like heads




    We all know it probably came from a lab.

    None of this is new evidence.
  • Options
    LeonLeon Posts: 47,215
    rcs1000 said:

    Leon said:

    A real puzzler from the Sunday Times Insight team here. Morons across the world are reduced to bemused frowns. @Nigelb @turbotubbs @kinabalu and @IanB2 are stroking their chins and scratching their tiny pin-like heads




    We all know it probably came from a lab.

    None of this is new evidence.
    That’s my point. DUHHH


    A fucking brain damaged dead donkey with microcephaly knew it came from the lab by late 2020 if not before
  • Options
    rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 53,995

    eek said:

    Sky F1 trying to justify £lots to watch with endless pointless camera options. Just show the race and scrap the Brundle grid walk of shame and I will be happy.

    Or save a fortune and watch the race on f1tv pro via a vpn connecting to the Netherlands.

    Watching it in 4k with the f1 commentary team (David coulthard and Jolyon Palmer)
    No.

    I used to love F1, and do everything I wanted to watch it. But if it costs too much (according to your definition of 'too much') then you have a choice: to pay or not to pay. I chose not to, and use my time for more productive things: like arguing on PB. ;)

    Not paying for something like this is theft. Yes, it may be theft from a large corporation, but still theft. If F1 matters that much to you, pay for it. If it does not, don't - and the cost will eventually come down.

    And if you say: "But it's a large corporation!", ask yourself what level you wouldn't steal it at.
    It isn't theft - he is paying for a subscription. F1 are not allowed to provide the full package in the UK because they have given that up to Sky. But you are paying for it regardless.
    That's a very odd definition of "It isn't theft".

    "I didn't steal these cigarettes. I paid for them from a bloke who smuggled them into the country."
    Isn't it technically breach of terms of service, rather than theft? There is no "intent to permanently deprive".

    Would you consider grey market importing of prescription drugs to be theft?
  • Options
    Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 25,433
    rcs1000 said:

    Leon said:

    A real puzzler from the Sunday Times Insight team here. Morons across the world are reduced to bemused frowns. @Nigelb @turbotubbs @kinabalu and @IanB2 are stroking their chins and scratching their tiny pin-like heads




    We all know it probably came from a lab.

    None of this is new evidence.
    It is the most dreadful piece of negligence in recorded history. The US Government should be sued, just like BP after an oil spill. So should the Chinese. Those directly involved should be wearing suits with arrows on them and digging ditches. Which is far more lenient than what happened to many of the victims of their experiment.
  • Options
    MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 44,405

    eek said:

    Sky F1 trying to justify £lots to watch with endless pointless camera options. Just show the race and scrap the Brundle grid walk of shame and I will be happy.

    Or save a fortune and watch the race on f1tv pro via a vpn connecting to the Netherlands.

    Watching it in 4k with the f1 commentary team (David coulthard and Jolyon Palmer)
    No.

    I used to love F1, and do everything I wanted to watch it. But if it costs too much (according to your definition of 'too much') then you have a choice: to pay or not to pay. I chose not to, and use my time for more productive things: like arguing on PB. ;)

    Not paying for something like this is theft. Yes, it may be theft from a large corporation, but still theft. If F1 matters that much to you, pay for it. If it does not, don't - and the cost will eventually come down.

    And if you say: "But it's a large corporation!", ask yourself what level you wouldn't steal it at.
    It isn't theft - he is paying for a subscription. F1 are not allowed to provide the full package in the UK because they have given that up to Sky. But you are paying for it regardless.
    That's a very odd definition of "It isn't theft".

    "I didn't steal these cigarettes. I paid for them from a bloke who smuggled them into the country."
    That’s grey import, not theft.

    Or is that gray import?
  • Options
    eekeek Posts: 24,981
    edited March 2023
    The f1 feed also has a rear view camera I’m currently watching Hamilton try to attack alonso at the moment.
  • Options
    kinabalukinabalu Posts: 39,225

    rcs1000 said:

    Leon said:

    A real puzzler from the Sunday Times Insight team here. Morons across the world are reduced to bemused frowns. @Nigelb @turbotubbs @kinabalu and @IanB2 are stroking their chins and scratching their tiny pin-like heads




    We all know it probably came from a lab.

    None of this is new evidence.
    It is the most dreadful piece of negligence in recorded history. The US Government should be sued, just like BP after an oil spill. So should the Chinese. Those directly involved should be wearing suits with arrows on them and digging ditches. Which is far more lenient than what happened to many of the victims of their experiment.
    Too lenient on the bat, this, for me.
  • Options
    LeonLeon Posts: 47,215

    rcs1000 said:

    Leon said:

    A real puzzler from the Sunday Times Insight team here. Morons across the world are reduced to bemused frowns. @Nigelb @turbotubbs @kinabalu and @IanB2 are stroking their chins and scratching their tiny pin-like heads




    We all know it probably came from a lab.

    None of this is new evidence.
    It is the most dreadful piece of negligence in recorded history. The US Government should be sued, just like BP after an oil spill. So should the Chinese. Those directly involved should be wearing suits with arrows on them and digging ditches. Which is far more lenient than what happened to many of the victims of their experiment.
    You’re not entirely wrong

    Twenty million dead

    And we know FOR A FACT they tried to cover up the possibility of a lab leak, for a year (even if you are still mulishly opposed to the lab leak theory itself)

    This is undisputed and incontrovertible. Why are these people not on trial? Everyone who signed that Lancet letter? From Horton and Daszak and Farrar down? They knowingly lied and set back investigation of the virus and probably caused thousands or millions of deaths and untold economic damage
  • Options
    Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 25,433
    kinabalu said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Leon said:

    A real puzzler from the Sunday Times Insight team here. Morons across the world are reduced to bemused frowns. @Nigelb @turbotubbs @kinabalu and @IanB2 are stroking their chins and scratching their tiny pin-like heads




    We all know it probably came from a lab.

    None of this is new evidence.
    It is the most dreadful piece of negligence in recorded history. The US Government should be sued, just like BP after an oil spill. So should the Chinese. Those directly involved should be wearing suits with arrows on them and digging ditches. Which is far more lenient than what happened to many of the victims of their experiment.
    Too lenient on the bat, this, for me.
    The bat already paid the ultimate price.
  • Options
    ydoethurydoethur Posts: 67,242

    eek said:

    Sky F1 trying to justify £lots to watch with endless pointless camera options. Just show the race and scrap the Brundle grid walk of shame and I will be happy.

    Or save a fortune and watch the race on f1tv pro via a vpn connecting to the Netherlands.

    Watching it in 4k with the f1 commentary team (David coulthard and Jolyon Palmer)
    No.

    I used to love F1, and do everything I wanted to watch it. But if it costs too much (according to your definition of 'too much') then you have a choice: to pay or not to pay. I chose not to, and use my time for more productive things: like arguing on PB. ;)

    Not paying for something like this is theft. Yes, it may be theft from a large corporation, but still theft. If F1 matters that much to you, pay for it. If it does not, don't - and the cost will eventually come down.

    And if you say: "But it's a large corporation!", ask yourself what level you wouldn't steal it at.
    It isn't theft - he is paying for a subscription. F1 are not allowed to provide the full package in the UK because they have given that up to Sky. But you are paying for it regardless.
    That's a very odd definition of "It isn't theft".

    "I didn't steal these cigarettes. I paid for them from a bloke who smuggled them into the country."
    That’s grey import, not theft.

    Or is that gray import?
    Perhaps she'll Sue?
  • Options
    CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 39,759
    Carnyx said:

    As well as shame for Mancock, the other fun aspect of the Oakeshott slime is that there is a lot of coverage of all the worst aspects of the Covid period. None of which is helpful to Sunak, and demolishes whatever whiff of good news had been created by the Windsor Framework.

    Bit unfair. Slime is useful and important stuff - with interesting properties arising from its mucopolysaccharide structure.
    ON which: I have got fed up with the job I am doing and am going off the screen. Here is a nice Sunday Teatime Movie about Slime.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5PGZRxhAyU
  • Options
    MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 44,405
    jonny83 said:

    Lockdown 1 - yes necessary

    Lockdowns 2 and 3 - not sure although the public health exposure remained high as we were essentially in a mass pre vaccine environment

    Masks, curfews, substantial meal rules, cordoning off seats, one way systems - cost a lot to businesses in particular, reduced public confidence and were a complete waste of time!

    Vaccines - excellent! 👍👍👍

    I totally agree on vaccines. The vaccines created in 2020 were a modern miracle. ;)

    On masks: I have an issues with your statement. Personally I *think* (though not conclusively) that they helped stop the virus spreading. Incidentally, not just directly, but indirectly: the mere wearing of a mask sends a message to others that might limit the spread.

    In addition, we did not, and still don't, know the effectiveness. There're studies both ways on the effectiveness of masks wrt Covid 19, especially the initial variants. And much relies on the type and the wearing. We may never actually now for sure, and anyone citing certainty is a fool.

    But there's also another issue here. The anti-vaxer and anti-mask shits (*) are creating a situation where, when another pandemic occurs, vast numbers of people won't take appropriate action. Because they've been told it was all a con in 2020. That's a real worry for the future.

    (*) And that's a nice word for them.
    Totally agree on that and we do have H5N1 on the horizon (a random mutation or two away) that could be that next one, with devastating consequences.
    We don’t seem to have looked at the possibility that the next bug will be properly airborne.

    In which case the patchwork of protective bits the medics wear will not work.

    We should definitely look into non disposable masks that can integrate (as required) with full protective suits. These things exist right now.

    The chemicals to clean such systems would be easier to stock pile than disposable PPE.
  • Options
    JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 39,003
    rcs1000 said:

    eek said:

    Sky F1 trying to justify £lots to watch with endless pointless camera options. Just show the race and scrap the Brundle grid walk of shame and I will be happy.

    Or save a fortune and watch the race on f1tv pro via a vpn connecting to the Netherlands.

    Watching it in 4k with the f1 commentary team (David coulthard and Jolyon Palmer)
    No.

    I used to love F1, and do everything I wanted to watch it. But if it costs too much (according to your definition of 'too much') then you have a choice: to pay or not to pay. I chose not to, and use my time for more productive things: like arguing on PB. ;)

    Not paying for something like this is theft. Yes, it may be theft from a large corporation, but still theft. If F1 matters that much to you, pay for it. If it does not, don't - and the cost will eventually come down.

    And if you say: "But it's a large corporation!", ask yourself what level you wouldn't steal it at.
    It isn't theft - he is paying for a subscription. F1 are not allowed to provide the full package in the UK because they have given that up to Sky. But you are paying for it regardless.
    That's a very odd definition of "It isn't theft".

    "I didn't steal these cigarettes. I paid for them from a bloke who smuggled them into the country."
    Isn't it technically breach of terms of service, rather than theft? There is no "intent to permanently deprive".

    Would you consider grey market importing of prescription drugs to be theft?
    That would depend. Are you saying all 'grey market importing' isn't theft, or that it sometimes can be?
  • Options
    CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 39,759

    Maybe part of him (the part he's learned to ignore) knows this is unlikely to work. The narrative of his brilliant life demands he tries it, but it's unlikely to work.

    The wheel is still spinning, but the hamster is dead.
    'Bang to rights' - reminds me of what they said about Sturgeon's witness stand performance before the Salmond enquiry. She managed to bullshit herself successfully out of
    that. Will Boris's comittee evidence be televised? It will be compulsive viewing.
    It should be, and it has potential. And if BoJo can survive, he will do his damnedest.

    But.

    The format doesn't play to his strengths. He needs an audience to play off, and doesn't always think well on his feet. And the PMQs tactic of not answering the question five times and doing a rousing clip for the evening news at the end won't work. See what happened with the liaison committee, or his interview with Brillo.

    It could very well be the moment when the country pulls back the curtain on the Wizard of Oz.
    I think these days admiration for Boris comes only to those with a heavy emotional investment in the Boris Johnson mythology. To everyone else he comes across more and more as a smug, entitled twit.
    That's a massive understatement, on both sides of the matter. Though good taste on your part, I must say.
  • Options
    kinabalukinabalu Posts: 39,225

    kinabalu said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Leon said:

    A real puzzler from the Sunday Times Insight team here. Morons across the world are reduced to bemused frowns. @Nigelb @turbotubbs @kinabalu and @IanB2 are stroking their chins and scratching their tiny pin-like heads




    We all know it probably came from a lab.

    None of this is new evidence.
    It is the most dreadful piece of negligence in recorded history. The US Government should be sued, just like BP after an oil spill. So should the Chinese. Those directly involved should be wearing suits with arrows on them and digging ditches. Which is far more lenient than what happened to many of the victims of their experiment.
    Too lenient on the bat, this, for me.
    The bat already paid the ultimate price.
    We don't know this. It hasn't been found. It could be living it up, laughing its socks off, like some Ray Winstone type on the Costa del Sol.
  • Options
    Carnyx said:

    Carnyx said:

    As well as shame for Mancock, the other fun aspect of the Oakeshott slime is that there is a lot of coverage of all the worst aspects of the Covid period. None of which is helpful to Sunak, and demolishes whatever whiff of good news had been created by the Windsor Framework.

    Bit unfair. Slime is useful and important stuff - with interesting properties arising from its mucopolysaccharide structure.
    ON which: I have got fed up with the job I am doing and am going off the screen. Here is a nice Sunday Teatime Movie about Slime.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5PGZRxhAyU
    Yes yes. Isobel Oakeshott is her stage name. Real name is Hagfish Slime.
  • Options
    CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 39,759

    Carnyx said:

    The previous thread header was about YouGov preaching clear, neutral wording… yet the example given in this thread header is an absolute stinker.

    “The government” ?!?
    How are Welsh or Scottish respondents meant to answer that one?

    And NI. At least when the DUP pick up their toys and get back in the pram.
    The Welsh and Scottish governments were very heavily involved in all the Covid decisions. NI was under Direct Rule
    Ta, I had got a bit muddled over the dates of toy-flinging - they are hard to keep up with.
  • Options
    MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 44,405
    edited March 2023
    ydoethur said:

    eek said:

    Sky F1 trying to justify £lots to watch with endless pointless camera options. Just show the race and scrap the Brundle grid walk of shame and I will be happy.

    Or save a fortune and watch the race on f1tv pro via a vpn connecting to the Netherlands.

    Watching it in 4k with the f1 commentary team (David coulthard and Jolyon Palmer)
    No.

    I used to love F1, and do everything I wanted to watch it. But if it costs too much (according to your definition of 'too much') then you have a choice: to pay or not to pay. I chose not to, and use my time for more productive things: like arguing on PB. ;)

    Not paying for something like this is theft. Yes, it may be theft from a large corporation, but still theft. If F1 matters that much to you, pay for it. If it does not, don't - and the cost will eventually come down.

    And if you say: "But it's a large corporation!", ask yourself what level you wouldn't steal it at.
    It isn't theft - he is paying for a subscription. F1 are not allowed to provide the full package in the UK because they have given that up to Sky. But you are paying for it regardless.
    That's a very odd definition of "It isn't theft".

    "I didn't steal these cigarettes. I paid for them from a bloke who smuggled them into the country."
    That’s grey import, not theft.

    Or is that gray import?
    Perhaps she'll Sue?
    She might take an Oakeshott at it, but would it work?
  • Options
    Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 25,433
    Leon said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Leon said:

    A real puzzler from the Sunday Times Insight team here. Morons across the world are reduced to bemused frowns. @Nigelb @turbotubbs @kinabalu and @IanB2 are stroking their chins and scratching their tiny pin-like heads




    We all know it probably came from a lab.

    None of this is new evidence.
    It is the most dreadful piece of negligence in recorded history. The US Government should be sued, just like BP after an oil spill. So should the Chinese. Those directly involved should be wearing suits with arrows on them and digging ditches. Which is far more lenient than what happened to many of the victims of their experiment.
    You’re not entirely wrong

    Twenty million dead

    And we know FOR A FACT they tried to cover up the possibility of a lab leak, for a year (even if you are still mulishly opposed to the lab leak theory itself)

    This is undisputed and incontrovertible. Why are these people not on trial? Everyone who signed that Lancet letter? From Horton and Daszak and Farrar down? They knowingly lied and set back investigation of the virus and probably caused thousands or millions of deaths and untold economic damage
    It's the fact that they sited this research in China (and in other countries) after it was banned in the US as unsafe - the sheer wickedness of that; of it being too unsafe for American people, but fine for Johnny Foreigner, especially in an authoritarian regime where they can't do anything about it. And then to choose China - didn’t care that China would then know how to make a more dangerous version of Coronavirus? Any shred of 'benefit' to the research is demolished there and then.
  • Options
    CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 39,759

    Carnyx said:

    Carnyx said:

    As well as shame for Mancock, the other fun aspect of the Oakeshott slime is that there is a lot of coverage of all the worst aspects of the Covid period. None of which is helpful to Sunak, and demolishes whatever whiff of good news had been created by the Windsor Framework.

    Bit unfair. Slime is useful and important stuff - with interesting properties arising from its mucopolysaccharide structure.
    ON which: I have got fed up with the job I am doing and am going off the screen. Here is a nice Sunday Teatime Movie about Slime.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5PGZRxhAyU
    Yes yes. Isobel Oakeshott is her stage name. Real name is Hagfish Slime.
    Oh dear, hadn't thought of that! Unfortunate double entendre - too misogynistic for me.

    Scrub the hagfish This is better.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZxHxBtDCUM
  • Options
    MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 44,405
    kinabalu said:

    kinabalu said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Leon said:

    A real puzzler from the Sunday Times Insight team here. Morons across the world are reduced to bemused frowns. @Nigelb @turbotubbs @kinabalu and @IanB2 are stroking their chins and scratching their tiny pin-like heads




    We all know it probably came from a lab.

    None of this is new evidence.
    It is the most dreadful piece of negligence in recorded history. The US Government should be sued, just like BP after an oil spill. So should the Chinese. Those directly involved should be wearing suits with arrows on them and digging ditches. Which is far more lenient than what happened to many of the victims of their experiment.
    Too lenient on the bat, this, for me.
    The bat already paid the ultimate price.
    We don't know this. It hasn't been found. It could be living it up, laughing its socks off, like some Ray Winstone type on the Costa del Sol.
    Until @Leon turns up to get all Ben Kingsley on it’s ass.
  • Options
    OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 31,990
    kinabalu said:

    kinabalu said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Leon said:

    A real puzzler from the Sunday Times Insight team here. Morons across the world are reduced to bemused frowns. @Nigelb @turbotubbs @kinabalu and @IanB2 are stroking their chins and scratching their tiny pin-like heads




    We all know it probably came from a lab.

    None of this is new evidence.
    It is the most dreadful piece of negligence in recorded history. The US Government should be sued, just like BP after an oil spill. So should the Chinese. Those directly involved should be wearing suits with arrows on them and digging ditches. Which is far more lenient than what happened to many of the victims of their experiment.
    Too lenient on the bat, this, for me.
    The bat already paid the ultimate price.
    We don't know this. It hasn't been found. It could be living it up, laughing its socks off, like some Ray Winstone type on the Costa del Sol.
    Didn’t Leon see it enjoying the flesh-pots of Bangkok?
  • Options
    Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 25,433

    kinabalu said:

    kinabalu said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Leon said:

    A real puzzler from the Sunday Times Insight team here. Morons across the world are reduced to bemused frowns. @Nigelb @turbotubbs @kinabalu and @IanB2 are stroking their chins and scratching their tiny pin-like heads




    We all know it probably came from a lab.

    None of this is new evidence.
    It is the most dreadful piece of negligence in recorded history. The US Government should be sued, just like BP after an oil spill. So should the Chinese. Those directly involved should be wearing suits with arrows on them and digging ditches. Which is far more lenient than what happened to many of the victims of their experiment.
    Too lenient on the bat, this, for me.
    The bat already paid the ultimate price.
    We don't know this. It hasn't been found. It could be living it up, laughing its socks off, like some Ray Winstone type on the Costa del Sol.
    Until @Leon turns up to get all Ben Kingsley on it’s ass.
    No no no no no no no no NO.
  • Options
    boulayboulay Posts: 3,929
    kinabalu said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Leon said:

    A real puzzler from the Sunday Times Insight team here. Morons across the world are reduced to bemused frowns. @Nigelb @turbotubbs @kinabalu and @IanB2 are stroking their chins and scratching their tiny pin-like heads




    We all know it probably came from a lab.

    None of this is new evidence.
    It is the most dreadful piece of negligence in recorded history. The US Government should be sued, just like BP after an oil spill. So should the Chinese. Those directly involved should be wearing suits with arrows on them and digging ditches. Which is far more lenient than what happened to many of the victims of their experiment.
    Too lenient on the bat, this, for me.
    Where does this leave the bat in the league table of mass killers? Above Pol Pot, Mao, Hitler and what were the Bat’s politics so we can calculate whether the left or right are more evil?
  • Options
    Carnyx said:

    Carnyx said:

    Carnyx said:

    As well as shame for Mancock, the other fun aspect of the Oakeshott slime is that there is a lot of coverage of all the worst aspects of the Covid period. None of which is helpful to Sunak, and demolishes whatever whiff of good news had been created by the Windsor Framework.

    Bit unfair. Slime is useful and important stuff - with interesting properties arising from its mucopolysaccharide structure.
    ON which: I have got fed up with the job I am doing and am going off the screen. Here is a nice Sunday Teatime Movie about Slime.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5PGZRxhAyU
    Yes yes. Isobel Oakeshott is her stage name. Real name is Hagfish Slime.
    Oh dear, hadn't thought of that! Unfortunate double entendre - too misogynistic for me.

    Scrub the hagfish This is better.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZxHxBtDCUM
    I'm not attacking it because female. I'm attacking it because a bloody horrible person. I did enjoy the Cathy Neuman interview where Slime's posturing and ranting was met by Neuman grinning her head off.
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    Thank you to everyone who posted good wishes.

    Apologies - missed your previous post. Keep smiling as best you can!
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    darkagedarkage Posts: 4,796
    I've decided to vote labour, I am actually contemplating rejoining the labour party.

    Even though I support the Conservative party in most areas, they have completely lost the plot on housing and generational inequality. This is now by far the biggest problem facing the country in my view.
    Two things have heavily influenced me over the past few weeks.

    1. It is incomprehensible that pensioners, including very wealthy pensioners, get a 10% increase in the state pension whereas public sector workers get below inflation pay rises, and have to lose pay going on strike just to get that. Public sector workers now need to be repaid for the money they lost whilst going on strike and get their pay readjusted for 10 years of austerity to catch up with inflation; only Labour are going to do that.

    2. The housebuilding industry is starting to collapse. New consents for housing have halved. This is largely due to the pensioner lobby trying to freeze time and stop all housebuilding. The Tories have just fallen for this looking for short term political wins, and it is an absolutely disastrous situation which they aren't doing anything about.

    I am a high rate taxpayer and I know I will have to pay more tax. But someone needs to fix the above otherwise it seems like we are heading in to a complete nightmare.

  • Options
    CiceroCicero Posts: 2,222
    For those that care, there is now just over 90 minutes until polls finally close in the Estonian general election. There have been a couple of interesting records already broken: Highest online participation in Estonian history, and quite likely a very high turnout overall. It seems like the voters have polarized between the Reform party and the populist EKRE, with both the Centre (SociaL Liberal) and Isamaa (Conservatives) likely to lose quite a few seats.

    We will get a sense of the straws in the wind pretty quickly after the polls close.
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    kinabalukinabalu Posts: 39,225

    kinabalu said:

    kinabalu said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Leon said:

    A real puzzler from the Sunday Times Insight team here. Morons across the world are reduced to bemused frowns. @Nigelb @turbotubbs @kinabalu and @IanB2 are stroking their chins and scratching their tiny pin-like heads




    We all know it probably came from a lab.

    None of this is new evidence.
    It is the most dreadful piece of negligence in recorded history. The US Government should be sued, just like BP after an oil spill. So should the Chinese. Those directly involved should be wearing suits with arrows on them and digging ditches. Which is far more lenient than what happened to many of the victims of their experiment.
    Too lenient on the bat, this, for me.
    The bat already paid the ultimate price.
    We don't know this. It hasn't been found. It could be living it up, laughing its socks off, like some Ray Winstone type on the Costa del Sol.
    Until @Leon turns up to get all Ben Kingsley on it’s ass.
    Winstone wouldn't like having Leon on his ass. "Whatcha doing pal?" he'd say, in a tone that brooked no levity.
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    glwglw Posts: 9,549

    WillG said:

    Andy_JS said:

    The 37% who replied not strict enough baffle me.

    They are the ones who believe if we’d locked down early enough (2019, probably) and kept borders closed (impossible) we would have had zero deaths. The ones who say the Tories killed 200,000 people, conveniently forgetting death tolls in non Tory regions, like Germany, France and Italy.
    They are also probably still wearing masks and getting angry at those who don’t.
    The death toll in Germany was much lower than here.
    Define much lower. I don’t want this to be a pissing contest - the point is all western governments lost hundreds of thousands.
    One version of the numbers here:

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_pandemic_death_rates_by_country

    UK 3250 per million
    France 2434 per million
    Germany 2019 per million

    We can, should, investigate how comparable those numbers really are before leaping on culpability, but those seem to be the numbers.
    Those figures are not much use because those are for reported cases. So if a country has poor testing, or even no testing, they appear to do better than in reality. Just to give you one example India's excess deaths are estimated to be somewhere between 4 to 16 times higher than the official figures, between 2 to 8 million deaths.
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    OnlyLivingBoyOnlyLivingBoy Posts: 15,114
    The joys of having a son who plays in a Southeast London and Kent under 14 football league... Team from Orpington spent the entire game effing and blinding, culminating in one of their players tearing his shirt off and trying to punch the ref while calling him a "sp*stic c*nt"... When he got sent off they tried to put another player on in his place. This is why I don't like leaving London!
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    dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 27,970
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    kinabalukinabalu Posts: 39,225

    kinabalu said:

    kinabalu said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Leon said:

    A real puzzler from the Sunday Times Insight team here. Morons across the world are reduced to bemused frowns. @Nigelb @turbotubbs @kinabalu and @IanB2 are stroking their chins and scratching their tiny pin-like heads




    We all know it probably came from a lab.

    None of this is new evidence.
    It is the most dreadful piece of negligence in recorded history. The US Government should be sued, just like BP after an oil spill. So should the Chinese. Those directly involved should be wearing suits with arrows on them and digging ditches. Which is far more lenient than what happened to many of the victims of their experiment.
    Too lenient on the bat, this, for me.
    The bat already paid the ultimate price.
    We don't know this. It hasn't been found. It could be living it up, laughing its socks off, like some Ray Winstone type on the Costa del Sol.
    Didn’t Leon see it enjoying the flesh-pots of Bangkok?
    If he did he'd cover it up because it contradicts the beloved lab leak.
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    HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 117,007

    The joys of having a son who plays in a Southeast London and Kent under 14 football league... Team from Orpington spent the entire game effing and blinding, culminating in one of their players tearing his shirt off and trying to punch the ref while calling him a "sp*stic c*nt"... When he got sent off they tried to put another player on in his place. This is why I don't like leaving London!

    Orpington has always been the rougher end of the Borough of Bromley, my parents grew up there and my sister lives in Beckenham, looks like little has changed!
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    stodgestodge Posts: 12,855
    Cicero said:

    For those that care, there is now just over 90 minutes until polls finally close in the Estonian general election. There have been a couple of interesting records already broken: Highest online participation in Estonian history, and quite likely a very high turnout overall. It seems like the voters have polarized between the Reform party and the populist EKRE, with both the Centre (SociaL Liberal) and Isamaa (Conservatives) likely to lose quite a few seats.

    We will get a sense of the straws in the wind pretty quickly after the polls close.

    My reading of the polls is the current coalition will get a small majority (maybe 51-53 seats) in the Riigikogu. I just wonder if you see E200 as a potential coalition partner for Reform - my guess is E200 will win 10-12 seats.
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    turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 15,200
    Leon said:

    A real puzzler from the Sunday Times Insight team here. Morons across the world are reduced to bemused frowns. @Nigelb @turbotubbs @kinabalu and @IanB2 are stroking their chins and scratching their tiny pin-like heads




    There was a piece in the Saturday times on a similar theme yesterday.
    The answer - no one knows. It could be a lab leak, but as I keep saying, which kind? It could be a natural virus like, oh SARS, MERS and all the other natural viruses that crop up from time to time.

    I’m not sure you’ve ‘won’ anything, but if it makes you happy, you go on bragging on an obscure political betting forum.
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    JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 39,003
    dixiedean said:
    Whilst I agree with the sentiment that the man and his mother trying it on, the the Guardian's write-up sounds so much like a lefty version of the Daily Mail.

    "a Lamborghini-driving onetime pub landlord"

    And later: "a plasterer turned publican"

    Why does the car he owns matter if he's earnt the money lawfully? Why is an ex-occupation relevant? (I could be called an ex-labourer).

    The Guardian really are middle-class shits.
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    DougSealDougSeal Posts: 11,138

    The joys of having a son who plays in a Southeast London and Kent under 14 football league... Team from Orpington spent the entire game effing and blinding, culminating in one of their players tearing his shirt off and trying to punch the ref while calling him a "sp*stic c*nt"... When he got sent off they tried to put another player on in his place. This is why I don't like leaving London!

    Orpington is in the London Borough of Bromley so it’s in the SE London side of your son’s league. I’m sure all the kids from Kent are, conversely, angels who regularly help old ladies cross the street.
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    JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 39,003

    dixiedean said:
    Whilst I agree with the sentiment that the man and his mother trying it on, the the Guardian's write-up sounds so much like a lefty version of the Daily Mail.

    "a Lamborghini-driving onetime pub landlord"

    And later: "a plasterer turned publican"

    Why does the car he owns matter if he's earnt the money lawfully? Why is an ex-occupation relevant? (I could be called an ex-labourer).

    The Guardian really are middle-class shits.
    And looking into the area a little further:

    GMP yesterday (Thursday 2 March 2023) secured charges for 10 men linked to an investigation into child sexual exploitation between 2016 and 2018 in the Blackrod area of Bolton."

    https://www.gmp.police.uk/news/greater-manchester/news/news/2023/march/ten-men-are-charged-with-over-50-offences-relating-to-child-sexual-exploitation-cse-in-bolton/
  • Options
    turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 15,200
    Leon said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Leon said:

    A real puzzler from the Sunday Times Insight team here. Morons across the world are reduced to bemused frowns. @Nigelb @turbotubbs @kinabalu and @IanB2 are stroking their chins and scratching their tiny pin-like heads




    We all know it probably came from a lab.

    None of this is new evidence.
    It is the most dreadful piece of negligence in recorded history. The US Government should be sued, just like BP after an oil spill. So should the Chinese. Those directly involved should be wearing suits with arrows on them and digging ditches. Which is far more lenient than what happened to many of the victims of their experiment.
    You’re not entirely wrong

    Twenty million dead

    And we know FOR A FACT they tried to cover up the possibility of a lab leak, for a year (even if you are still mulishly opposed to the lab leak theory itself)

    This is undisputed and incontrovertible. Why are these people not on trial? Everyone who signed that Lancet letter? From Horton and Daszak and Farrar down? They knowingly lied and set back investigation of the virus and probably caused thousands or millions of deaths and untold economic damage
    I don’t think that the ‘cover up’ as you call it had any impact at all on research into the virus. Once we had all too many cases to play with, science got to work and produced vaccines and best practice for treatment.

    I think you have a point re the lancet letter and the attempts to steer the narrative. I’m not sure what trial you are after for that though? Personally shutting the lancet down would be enough, as applicable now as after the Wakefield scandal. (Private Eye winces at this point too).
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    dixiedean said:
    An absolute non-story. Can we please focus on the real criminal here? Which is @eek stealing F1 by paying for it.
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    FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,641
    rcs1000 said:

    Leon said:

    A real puzzler from the Sunday Times Insight team here. Morons across the world are reduced to bemused frowns. @Nigelb @turbotubbs @kinabalu and @IanB2 are stroking their chins and scratching their tiny pin-like heads




    We all know it probably came from a lab.

    None of this is new evidence.
    Indeed the head of the FBI cites no evidence, and is involved with US internal security rather than external espionage. What reason is there to believe he knows anything more than the Average Joe?
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    darkagedarkage Posts: 4,796
    dixiedean said:
    I get the impression that these childrens homes are a scandal waiting be unearthed. They seem to be quite easy to set up, lightly regulated, and the money in it is vast.
  • Options
    DougSealDougSeal Posts: 11,138
    Covid may have leaked from a lab but I don’t think Covid started in a Chinese lab. I think it began in the Laboratoire Garnier as a result of a failed experiment to produce a new formula for ultimate blends glowing lengths pineapple & alma hair food.
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    HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 117,007
    DougSeal said:

    The joys of having a son who plays in a Southeast London and Kent under 14 football league... Team from Orpington spent the entire game effing and blinding, culminating in one of their players tearing his shirt off and trying to punch the ref while calling him a "sp*stic c*nt"... When he got sent off they tried to put another player on in his place. This is why I don't like leaving London!

    Orpington is in the London Borough of Bromley so it’s in the SE London side of your son’s league. I’m sure all the kids from Kent are, conversely, angels who regularly help old ladies cross the street.
    Indeed Orpington is in London technically not Kent now. Tunbridge Wells and Sevenoaks for example, which are in Kent, are rather posher than Orpington is
  • Options
    LeonLeon Posts: 47,215

    Leon said:

    A real puzzler from the Sunday Times Insight team here. Morons across the world are reduced to bemused frowns. @Nigelb @turbotubbs @kinabalu and @IanB2 are stroking their chins and scratching their tiny pin-like heads




    There was a piece in the Saturday times on a similar theme yesterday.
    The answer - no one knows. It could be a lab leak, but as I keep saying, which kind? It could be a natural virus like, oh SARS, MERS and all the other natural viruses that crop up from time to time.

    I’m not sure you’ve ‘won’ anything, but if it makes you happy, you go on bragging on an obscure political betting forum.
    I come here for fun. As do we all. Also I like to taunt stupid people. I guess that bit is harder for you. Ah well
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    DougSealDougSeal Posts: 11,138
    Foxy said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Leon said:

    A real puzzler from the Sunday Times Insight team here. Morons across the world are reduced to bemused frowns. @Nigelb @turbotubbs @kinabalu and @IanB2 are stroking their chins and scratching their tiny pin-like heads




    We all know it probably came from a lab.

    None of this is new evidence.
    Indeed the head of the FBI cites no evidence, and is involved with US internal security rather than external espionage. What reason is there to believe he knows anything more than the Average Joe?
    He may be privy to intelligence that is not available to the Average Joe. Post 9/11 I’d hope the various US agencies have become s bit more joined up in their thinking and sharing.
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    HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 117,007
    HYUFD said:

    The joys of having a son who plays in a Southeast London and Kent under 14 football league... Team from Orpington spent the entire game effing and blinding, culminating in one of their players tearing his shirt off and trying to punch the ref while calling him a "sp*stic c*nt"... When he got sent off they tried to put another player on in his place. This is why I don't like leaving London!

    Orpington has always been the rougher end of the Borough of Bromley, my parents grew up there and my sister lives in Beckenham, looks like little has changed!
    Generally speaking Chislehurst is the posh end of Bromley Borough, Beckenham and Bromley Town Centre are in the middle and Orpington is the rough end
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    RobDRobD Posts: 58,967
    DougSeal said:

    Foxy said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Leon said:

    A real puzzler from the Sunday Times Insight team here. Morons across the world are reduced to bemused frowns. @Nigelb @turbotubbs @kinabalu and @IanB2 are stroking their chins and scratching their tiny pin-like heads




    We all know it probably came from a lab.

    None of this is new evidence.
    Indeed the head of the FBI cites no evidence, and is involved with US internal security rather than external espionage. What reason is there to believe he knows anything more than the Average Joe?
    He may be privy to intelligence that is not available to the Average Joe. Post 9/11 I’d hope the various US agencies have become s bit more joined up in their thinking and sharing.
    Especially if he was asked to write a report on the matter! You’d bloody hope that he knows more than the average joe.
  • Options
    glwglw Posts: 9,549
    Foxy said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Leon said:

    A real puzzler from the Sunday Times Insight team here. Morons across the world are reduced to bemused frowns. @Nigelb @turbotubbs @kinabalu and @IanB2 are stroking their chins and scratching their tiny pin-like heads




    We all know it probably came from a lab.

    None of this is new evidence.
    Indeed the head of the FBI cites no evidence, and is involved with US internal security rather than external espionage. What reason is there to believe he knows anything more than the Average Joe?
    Well for one thing he will be privy to intelligence shared amongst the intelligence community, particularly via the FBI's Intelligence Branch, and the FBI would investigate things overseas if they suspected a criminal act has taken place. I know one thing he will know more than anyone who asks "What reason is there to believe he knows anything more than the Average Joe?"

  • Options
    darkagedarkage Posts: 4,796

    dixiedean said:
    Whilst I agree with the sentiment that the man and his mother trying it on, the the Guardian's write-up sounds so much like a lefty version of the Daily Mail.

    "a Lamborghini-driving onetime pub landlord"

    And later: "a plasterer turned publican"

    Why does the car he owns matter if he's earnt the money lawfully? Why is an ex-occupation relevant? (I could be called an ex-labourer).

    The Guardian really are middle-class shits.
    Reading through the article, and the guardian's earlier work, I think they have more than substantiated their concerns in this case.
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    kamskikamski Posts: 4,255
    rcs1000 said:

    Leon said:

    A real puzzler from the Sunday Times Insight team here. Morons across the world are reduced to bemused frowns. @Nigelb @turbotubbs @kinabalu and @IanB2 are stroking their chins and scratching their tiny pin-like heads




    We all know it probably came from a lab.

    None of this is new evidence.
    Do we? I've not heard any evidence except the coincidence of the lab being in Wuhan. Which is fairly striking. But it has to be set against the coincidence of the earliest cases of lineages a and b both seeming to be clustered around the market, some distance away from the lab. So I'm not sure how you've figured out which is more likely.
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    Sad to read about the impending closure of the National Glass Centre in Sunderland. As the place I got married have a very happy memory of the place. And then subsequent visits back.
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    JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 39,003
    DougSeal said:

    Foxy said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Leon said:

    A real puzzler from the Sunday Times Insight team here. Morons across the world are reduced to bemused frowns. @Nigelb @turbotubbs @kinabalu and @IanB2 are stroking their chins and scratching their tiny pin-like heads




    We all know it probably came from a lab.

    None of this is new evidence.
    Indeed the head of the FBI cites no evidence, and is involved with US internal security rather than external espionage. What reason is there to believe he knows anything more than the Average Joe?
    He may be privy to intelligence that is not available to the Average Joe. Post 9/11 I’d hope the various US agencies have become s bit more joined up in their thinking and sharing.
    In this case, the message becomes the evidence, and you may wonder why the USA might want to put a little pressure on China at the moment. Note: he does not say it happened; just that it is 'most likely'. Which in itself is relatively meaningless, especially without evidence.

    Now, if it was the CIA saying it, I'd listen a little more. But the FBI fairly strictly operates inside the USA only.

    So if you claim that he's privy to intelligence on this, why would he be, as head of the FBI? And what is the FBI's expertise to say this?
  • Options
    turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 15,200
    edited March 2023
    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    A real puzzler from the Sunday Times Insight team here. Morons across the world are reduced to bemused frowns. @Nigelb @turbotubbs @kinabalu and @IanB2 are stroking their chins and scratching their tiny pin-like heads




    There was a piece in the Saturday times on a similar theme yesterday.
    The answer - no one knows. It could be a lab leak, but as I keep saying, which kind? It could be a natural virus like, oh SARS, MERS and all the other natural viruses that crop up from time to time.

    I’m not sure you’ve ‘won’ anything, but if it makes you happy, you go on bragging on an obscure political betting forum.
    I come here for fun. As do we all. Also I like to taunt stupid people. I guess that bit is harder for you. Ah well
    It’s nice to be called stupid for having a different and totally plausible response…

    You love to dox yourself with the Sean Thomas links. You are clearly an excellent writer. I’m a scientist with no level of fame or reputation, beyond 50+ published (peer reviewed) papers. I’m not stupid and I suspect I know more about science than a glorified travel hack who gets his views from randoms on twitter.
  • Options
    FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,641
    glw said:

    Foxy said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Leon said:

    A real puzzler from the Sunday Times Insight team here. Morons across the world are reduced to bemused frowns. @Nigelb @turbotubbs @kinabalu and @IanB2 are stroking their chins and scratching their tiny pin-like heads




    We all know it probably came from a lab.

    None of this is new evidence.
    Indeed the head of the FBI cites no evidence, and is involved with US internal security rather than external espionage. What reason is there to believe he knows anything more than the Average Joe?
    Well for one thing he will be privy to intelligence shared amongst the intelligence community, particularly via the FBI's Intelligence Branch, and the FBI would investigate things overseas if they suspected a criminal act has taken place. I know one thing he will know more than anyone who asks "What reason is there to believe he knows anything more than the Average Joe?"

    It is still proof by an authority rather than any actual evidence.

    If he had any evidence then what would prevent him releasing it, or at least describing its nature?

    Without that it is not evidence, it is anecdote.
  • Options
    turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 15,200
    kamski said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Leon said:

    A real puzzler from the Sunday Times Insight team here. Morons across the world are reduced to bemused frowns. @Nigelb @turbotubbs @kinabalu and @IanB2 are stroking their chins and scratching their tiny pin-like heads




    We all know it probably came from a lab.

    None of this is new evidence.
    Do we? I've not heard any evidence except the coincidence of the lab being in Wuhan. Which is fairly striking. But it has to be set against the coincidence of the earliest cases of lineages a and b both seeming to be clustered around the market, some distance away from the lab. So I'm not sure how you've figured out which is more likely.
    Don’t worry, he just ‘knows’. Therefore there’s no point discussing it further.
  • Options
    kinabalukinabalu Posts: 39,225
    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    A real puzzler from the Sunday Times Insight team here. Morons across the world are reduced to bemused frowns. @Nigelb @turbotubbs @kinabalu and @IanB2 are stroking their chins and scratching their tiny pin-like heads




    There was a piece in the Saturday times on a similar theme yesterday.
    The answer - no one knows. It could be a lab leak, but as I keep saying, which kind? It could be a natural virus like, oh SARS, MERS and all the other natural viruses that crop up from time to time.

    I’m not sure you’ve ‘won’ anything, but if it makes you happy, you go on bragging on an obscure political betting forum.
    I come here for fun. As do we all. Also I like to taunt stupid people. I guess that bit is harder for you. Ah well
    Overrating the significance of coincidence is quite a strong sign of stupidity as it happens.
  • Options
    JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 39,003
    darkage said:

    dixiedean said:
    Whilst I agree with the sentiment that the man and his mother trying it on, the the Guardian's write-up sounds so much like a lefty version of the Daily Mail.

    "a Lamborghini-driving onetime pub landlord"

    And later: "a plasterer turned publican"

    Why does the car he owns matter if he's earnt the money lawfully? Why is an ex-occupation relevant? (I could be called an ex-labourer).

    The Guardian really are middle-class shits.
    Reading through the article, and the guardian's earlier work, I think they have more than substantiated their concerns in this case.
    Indeed. But their framing of it is terrible, especially given the direction the Guardian is supposed to be coming from. Sneering little shits.
  • Options
    DougSealDougSeal Posts: 11,138

    DougSeal said:

    Foxy said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Leon said:

    A real puzzler from the Sunday Times Insight team here. Morons across the world are reduced to bemused frowns. @Nigelb @turbotubbs @kinabalu and @IanB2 are stroking their chins and scratching their tiny pin-like heads




    We all know it probably came from a lab.

    None of this is new evidence.
    Indeed the head of the FBI cites no evidence, and is involved with US internal security rather than external espionage. What reason is there to believe he knows anything more than the Average Joe?
    He may be privy to intelligence that is not available to the Average Joe. Post 9/11 I’d hope the various US agencies have become s bit more joined up in their thinking and sharing.
    In this case, the message becomes the evidence, and you may wonder why the USA might want to put a little pressure on China at the moment. Note: he does not say it happened; just that it is 'most likely'. Which in itself is relatively meaningless, especially without evidence.

    Now, if it was the CIA saying it, I'd listen a little more. But the FBI fairly strictly operates inside the USA only.

    So if you claim that he's privy to intelligence on this, why would he be, as head of the FBI? And what is the FBI's expertise to say this?
    Because external threats can become internal ones eg 9/11 and Covid. There’s no point in the CIA finding intelligence about a threat that night find its way to the US if they don’t tell the FBI about it. According to Wikipedia-

    Despite its domestic focus, the FBI also maintains a significant international footprint, operating 60 Legal Attache (LEGAT) offices and 15 sub-offices in U.S. embassies and consulates across the globe. These foreign offices exist primarily for the purpose of coordination with foreign security services and do not usually conduct unilateral operations in the host countries.[8] The FBI can and does at times carry out secret activities overseas,[9] just as the CIA has a limited domestic function; these activities generally require coordination across government agencies.

  • Options
    Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 60,983
    Good evening, everyone.

    F1: race a little underwhelming, but had its moments.

    Oddly aggrieved the Albon bet didn't come off. Got lucky with others, but still.

    Writing some manner of post, though I'm off for tea imminently.
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    DougSealDougSeal Posts: 11,138
    edited March 2023
    Why are we obsessing about the lab leak when HYUFD is kindly educating us about the relative niceness of various parts of the London Borough of Bromley?
  • Options
    FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,641
    edited March 2023
    darkage said:

    dixiedean said:
    I get the impression that these childrens homes are a scandal waiting be unearthed. They seem to be quite easy to set up, lightly regulated, and the money in it is vast.
    It is a scandal that we choose to ignore, but actually know all about. Mostly because it would cost too much to sort out, financially and in terms of self-analysis as a society. It is a skeleton that we want to leave in the cupboard.

  • Options
    kinabalukinabalu Posts: 39,225
    darkage said:

    dixiedean said:
    I get the impression that these childrens homes are a scandal waiting be unearthed. They seem to be quite easy to set up, lightly regulated, and the money in it is vast.
    The profit motive sits uneasily with things like this imo. Then again, I see the risks of it being an arm of the state.
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    Good evening, everyone.

    F1: race a little underwhelming, but had its moments.

    Oddly aggrieved the Albon bet didn't come off. Got lucky with others, but still.

    Writing some manner of post, though I'm off for tea imminently.

    Indycar just about to start. Grosjean on pole.
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    Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 60,983
    Mr. Pioneers, how's Grosjean doing in Indycar? Can't say I follow any motorsport but F1.
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    LeonLeon Posts: 47,215

    kamski said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Leon said:

    A real puzzler from the Sunday Times Insight team here. Morons across the world are reduced to bemused frowns. @Nigelb @turbotubbs @kinabalu and @IanB2 are stroking their chins and scratching their tiny pin-like heads




    We all know it probably came from a lab.

    None of this is new evidence.
    Do we? I've not heard any evidence except the coincidence of the lab being in Wuhan. Which is fairly striking. But it has to be set against the coincidence of the earliest cases of lineages a and b both seeming to be clustered around the market, some distance away from the lab. So I'm not sure how you've figured out which is more likely.
    Don’t worry, he just ‘knows’. Therefore there’s no point discussing it further.
    Oh god you’re all so fucking dumb

    The latest evidence points to the Wuhan CDC not the WIV




    Ok, what is the Wuhan CDC? Ah….



    But where is this Wuhan CDC?? Oh


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    JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 39,003

    Sad to read about the impending closure of the National Glass Centre in Sunderland. As the place I got married have a very happy memory of the place. And then subsequent visits back.

    Thanks for that. I'd never heard of them, but on the face of it, it sounds interesting. It is closing because of long-term structural issues; i.e. glass has started cracking, which will cost millions to fix.

    It opened in 1998.

    https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/mar/05/outcry-sunderland-national-glass-centre-shut

    In a similar manner, Southampton Central police station is shutting this year for extensive renovations that last between months and a year, after problems have been found. It opened around 2011.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-60660967

    How can an 11/12 year old building be so decrepit that it needs to be shut for a year for 'refurbishment' ? The National Glass Centre is older, but I bet it's stated design life is more than 25 years.

    Modern architecture - especially signature architecture - has issues.
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    FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,641
    kinabalu said:

    darkage said:

    dixiedean said:
    I get the impression that these childrens homes are a scandal waiting be unearthed. They seem to be quite easy to set up, lightly regulated, and the money in it is vast.
    The profit motive sits uneasily with things like this imo. Then again, I see the risks of it being an arm of the state.
    Like health and social care, private provision is no guarantee of quality, particularly when the clients are not in a position to raise concerns, and the real customer is the state.
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    kinabalukinabalu Posts: 39,225
    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    The joys of having a son who plays in a Southeast London and Kent under 14 football league... Team from Orpington spent the entire game effing and blinding, culminating in one of their players tearing his shirt off and trying to punch the ref while calling him a "sp*stic c*nt"... When he got sent off they tried to put another player on in his place. This is why I don't like leaving London!

    Orpington has always been the rougher end of the Borough of Bromley, my parents grew up there and my sister lives in Beckenham, looks like little has changed!
    Generally speaking Chislehurst is the posh end of Bromley Borough, Beckenham and Bromley Town Centre are in the middle and Orpington is the rough end
    And then there's the slightly enigmatic Purley.
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    Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 60,983
    Mr. Jessop, aye. Compare it to the Pantheon.
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    JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 39,003
    DougSeal said:

    DougSeal said:

    Foxy said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Leon said:

    A real puzzler from the Sunday Times Insight team here. Morons across the world are reduced to bemused frowns. @Nigelb @turbotubbs @kinabalu and @IanB2 are stroking their chins and scratching their tiny pin-like heads




    We all know it probably came from a lab.

    None of this is new evidence.
    Indeed the head of the FBI cites no evidence, and is involved with US internal security rather than external espionage. What reason is there to believe he knows anything more than the Average Joe?
    He may be privy to intelligence that is not available to the Average Joe. Post 9/11 I’d hope the various US agencies have become s bit more joined up in their thinking and sharing.
    In this case, the message becomes the evidence, and you may wonder why the USA might want to put a little pressure on China at the moment. Note: he does not say it happened; just that it is 'most likely'. Which in itself is relatively meaningless, especially without evidence.

    Now, if it was the CIA saying it, I'd listen a little more. But the FBI fairly strictly operates inside the USA only.

    So if you claim that he's privy to intelligence on this, why would he be, as head of the FBI? And what is the FBI's expertise to say this?
    Because external threats can become internal ones eg 9/11 and Covid. There’s no point in the CIA finding intelligence about a threat that night find its way to the US if they don’t tell the FBI about it. According to Wikipedia-

    (Snip)
    Well, yes. In which case you would expect the FBI to talk about everything, wouldn't you - because virtually everything *could* become a threat to the US.

    File this FBI intervention under sussy.
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    JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 39,003

    Mr. Jessop, aye. Compare it to the Pantheon.

    Survivor's bias. ;)
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    LeonLeon Posts: 47,215

    DougSeal said:

    Foxy said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Leon said:

    A real puzzler from the Sunday Times Insight team here. Morons across the world are reduced to bemused frowns. @Nigelb @turbotubbs @kinabalu and @IanB2 are stroking their chins and scratching their tiny pin-like heads




    We all know it probably came from a lab.

    None of this is new evidence.
    Indeed the head of the FBI cites no evidence, and is involved with US internal security rather than external espionage. What reason is there to believe he knows anything more than the Average Joe?
    He may be privy to intelligence that is not available to the Average Joe. Post 9/11 I’d hope the various US agencies have become s bit more joined up in their thinking and sharing.
    In this case, the message becomes the evidence, and you may wonder why the USA might want to put a little pressure on China at the moment. Note: he does not say it happened; just that it is 'most likely'. Which in itself is relatively meaningless, especially without evidence.

    Now, if it was the CIA saying it, I'd listen a little more. But the FBI fairly strictly operates inside the USA only.

    So if you claim that he's privy to intelligence on this, why would he be, as head of the FBI? And what is the FBI's expertise to say this?
    The Department of Energy has shifted to “lab leak”

    What is their expertise?


  • Options
    DougSealDougSeal Posts: 11,138
    kinabalu said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    The joys of having a son who plays in a Southeast London and Kent under 14 football league... Team from Orpington spent the entire game effing and blinding, culminating in one of their players tearing his shirt off and trying to punch the ref while calling him a "sp*stic c*nt"... When he got sent off they tried to put another player on in his place. This is why I don't like leaving London!

    Orpington has always been the rougher end of the Borough of Bromley, my parents grew up there and my sister lives in Beckenham, looks like little has changed!
    Generally speaking Chislehurst is the posh end of Bromley Borough, Beckenham and Bromley Town Centre are in the middle and Orpington is the rough end
    And then there's the slightly enigmatic Purley.
    What’s our position on Mottingham?
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    Mr. Pioneers, how's Grosjean doing in Indycar? Can't say I follow any motorsport but F1.

    He's the Danny Ric of Indycar. An endless smile, a lot of talent, everyone loves him, competitive but not competitive enough.
  • Options

    Sad to read about the impending closure of the National Glass Centre in Sunderland. As the place I got married have a very happy memory of the place. And then subsequent visits back.

    Thanks for that. I'd never heard of them, but on the face of it, it sounds interesting. It is closing because of long-term structural issues; i.e. glass has started cracking, which will cost millions to fix.

    It opened in 1998.

    https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/mar/05/outcry-sunderland-national-glass-centre-shut

    In a similar manner, Southampton Central police station is shutting this year for extensive renovations that last between months and a year, after problems have been found. It opened around 2011.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-60660967

    How can an 11/12 year old building be so decrepit that it needs to be shut for a year for 'refurbishment' ? The National Glass Centre is older, but I bet it's stated design life is more than 25 years.

    Modern architecture - especially signature architecture - has issues.
    It is ironic that all the glass cracking will be the end of the National Glass Centre. And it is all glass - a huge glass wall facing out onto the river, and a glass roof...
  • Options
    LeonLeon Posts: 47,215

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    A real puzzler from the Sunday Times Insight team here. Morons across the world are reduced to bemused frowns. @Nigelb @turbotubbs @kinabalu and @IanB2 are stroking their chins and scratching their tiny pin-like heads




    There was a piece in the Saturday times on a similar theme yesterday.
    The answer - no one knows. It could be a lab leak, but as I keep saying, which kind? It could be a natural virus like, oh SARS, MERS and all the other natural viruses that crop up from time to time.

    I’m not sure you’ve ‘won’ anything, but if it makes you happy, you go on bragging on an obscure political betting forum.
    I come here for fun. As do we all. Also I like to taunt stupid people. I guess that bit is harder for you. Ah well
    It’s nice to be called stupid for having a different and totally plausible response…

    You love to dox yourself with the Sean Thomas links. You are clearly an excellent writer. I’m a scientist with no level of fame or reputation, beyond 50+ published (peer reviewed) papers. I’m not stupid and I suspect I know more about science than a glorified travel hack who gets his views from randoms on twitter.
    You’re just dumb. Is all
  • Options
    OnlyLivingBoyOnlyLivingBoy Posts: 15,114
    DougSeal said:

    The joys of having a son who plays in a Southeast London and Kent under 14 football league... Team from Orpington spent the entire game effing and blinding, culminating in one of their players tearing his shirt off and trying to punch the ref while calling him a "sp*stic c*nt"... When he got sent off they tried to put another player on in his place. This is why I don't like leaving London!

    Orpington is in the London Borough of Bromley so it’s in the SE London side of your son’s league. I’m sure all the kids from Kent are, conversely, angels who regularly help old ladies cross the street.
    Yes I always forget how far the borough of Bromley extends! I've always thought of Orpington as being in Kent. It's quite interesting the variety of teams that play in the league, generally the further out the dirtier they play although some of the Deptford teams are a bit iffy too.
  • Options
    noneoftheabovenoneoftheabove Posts: 20,744
    kamski said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Leon said:

    A real puzzler from the Sunday Times Insight team here. Morons across the world are reduced to bemused frowns. @Nigelb @turbotubbs @kinabalu and @IanB2 are stroking their chins and scratching their tiny pin-like heads




    We all know it probably came from a lab.

    None of this is new evidence.
    Do we? I've not heard any evidence except the coincidence of the lab being in Wuhan. Which is fairly striking. But it has to be set against the coincidence of the earliest cases of lineages a and b both seeming to be clustered around the market, some distance away from the lab. So I'm not sure how you've figured out which is more likely.
    Are you suggesting Leon deeming it so is insufficient?
  • Options
    kinabalukinabalu Posts: 39,225
    edited March 2023
    Foxy said:

    kinabalu said:

    darkage said:

    dixiedean said:
    I get the impression that these childrens homes are a scandal waiting be unearthed. They seem to be quite easy to set up, lightly regulated, and the money in it is vast.
    The profit motive sits uneasily with things like this imo. Then again, I see the risks of it being an arm of the state.
    Like health and social care, private provision is no guarantee of quality, particularly when the clients are not in a position to raise concerns, and the real customer is the state.
    Rationally you want all the fees going into provision, so public = better. But you also want accountability and responsiveness - I'm not sure what type of model is best for that.
  • Options
    turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 15,200
    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    A real puzzler from the Sunday Times Insight team here. Morons across the world are reduced to bemused frowns. @Nigelb @turbotubbs @kinabalu and @IanB2 are stroking their chins and scratching their tiny pin-like heads




    There was a piece in the Saturday times on a similar theme yesterday.
    The answer - no one knows. It could be a lab leak, but as I keep saying, which kind? It could be a natural virus like, oh SARS, MERS and all the other natural viruses that crop up from time to time.

    I’m not sure you’ve ‘won’ anything, but if it makes you happy, you go on bragging on an obscure political betting forum.
    I come here for fun. As do we all. Also I like to taunt stupid people. I guess that bit is harder for you. Ah well
    It’s nice to be called stupid for having a different and totally plausible response…

    You love to dox yourself with the Sean Thomas links. You are clearly an excellent writer. I’m a scientist with no level of fame or reputation, beyond 50+ published (peer reviewed) papers. I’m not stupid and I suspect I know more about science than a glorified travel hack who gets his views from randoms on twitter.
    You’re just dumb. Is all
    That’s all you’ve got? Name calling? Genius at work…
  • Options

    Mr. Pioneers, how's Grosjean doing in Indycar? Can't say I follow any motorsport but F1.

    He's the Danny Ric of Indycar. An endless smile, a lot of talent, everyone loves him, competitive but not competitive enough.
    Of course, being Murica, the race has a prayer before the hand on heart tossery that is their national anthem. Which is growled by some cundry music star who is a bloke called Tracey.
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    Richard_TyndallRichard_Tyndall Posts: 30,945
    edited March 2023
    DougSeal said:

    Why are we obsessing about the lab leak when HYUFD is kindly educating us about the relative niceness of various parts of the London Borough of Bromley?

    To be honest the most interesting news I have heard over the last 24 hours was retired Colonel Hamish Stephen de Bretton-Gordon, former head of the Joint Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Regiment saying it was his firm belief that the Russian nuclear arsenal was in no better state than the rest of their forces and NATO should stop being put off by the threat of a nuclear response.

    Not sure if I was reassured or worried by that.
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    LeonLeon Posts: 47,215
    The dwindling but still determined band of halfwit PB zoo-originators, AKA @kamski @turbotubbs @foxy et al, is now reduced to saying that the head of the FBI “knows nothing more than the average Joe”, having spent the last three years literally appealing to authorities like the FBI to support their “hypothesis”

    I’m not sure this is within the realms of parody. So I bid you goodnight
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    DougSealDougSeal Posts: 11,138

    DougSeal said:

    Why are we obsessing about the lab leak when HYUFD is kindly educating us about the relative niceness of various parts of the London Borough of Bromley?

    To be honest the most interesting news I have heard over the last 24 hours was retired Colonel Hamish Stephen de Bretton-Gordon, former head of the Joint Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Regiment saying it was his firm belief that the Russian nuclear arsenal was in no better state than the rest of their forces and NATO should stop being put off by the threat of a nuclear response.

    Not sure if I was reassured or worried by that.
    Not a hypothesis I would want to test TBH
  • Options
    noneoftheabovenoneoftheabove Posts: 20,744
    kinabalu said:

    darkage said:

    dixiedean said:
    I get the impression that these childrens homes are a scandal waiting be unearthed. They seem to be quite easy to set up, lightly regulated, and the money in it is vast.
    The profit motive sits uneasily with things like this imo. Then again, I see the risks of it being an arm of the state.
    Fund them much better but to avoid it being siphoned off by owners, set a special minimum wage of 1.5x NMW and 2x NMW for night shifts to attract quality staff and improve retention/motivation.
  • Options
    Richard_TyndallRichard_Tyndall Posts: 30,945
    DougSeal said:

    DougSeal said:

    Why are we obsessing about the lab leak when HYUFD is kindly educating us about the relative niceness of various parts of the London Borough of Bromley?

    To be honest the most interesting news I have heard over the last 24 hours was retired Colonel Hamish Stephen de Bretton-Gordon, former head of the Joint Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Regiment saying it was his firm belief that the Russian nuclear arsenal was in no better state than the rest of their forces and NATO should stop being put off by the threat of a nuclear response.

    Not sure if I was reassured or worried by that.
    Not a hypothesis I would want to test TBH
    Agree entirely. And I am not sure that a lot of failing nuclear missiles in the hands of a seemingly third rate and thoroughly corrupt military is any less worrying than a lot of well maintained and workable ones in the hands of a well trained, disciplined military. The latter having been the basis of 40 odd years of MAD doctrine.
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    DougSealDougSeal Posts: 11,138
    edited March 2023
    Now Leon’s gone we can concentrate on the more important topic. Is his output more like Judith Chalmers or Chris Kelly off Wish You Were Here? While Kelly also wrote novels I have to say I find Leon’s turn of phrase more akin to the great Chalmers.
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    kinabalukinabalu Posts: 39,225

    DougSeal said:

    The joys of having a son who plays in a Southeast London and Kent under 14 football league... Team from Orpington spent the entire game effing and blinding, culminating in one of their players tearing his shirt off and trying to punch the ref while calling him a "sp*stic c*nt"... When he got sent off they tried to put another player on in his place. This is why I don't like leaving London!

    Orpington is in the London Borough of Bromley so it’s in the SE London side of your son’s league. I’m sure all the kids from Kent are, conversely, angels who regularly help old ladies cross the street.
    Yes I always forget how far the borough of Bromley extends! I've always thought of Orpington as being in Kent. It's quite interesting the variety of teams that play in the league, generally the further out the dirtier they play although some of the Deptford teams are a bit iffy too.
    I still do think of Orpington as being in Kent. And Bromley. And Beckenham. For me it's about having a London postcode or not and these don't. But (eg) Penge does - SE20 - so Penge I think of as proper Sarf London. Ditto the likes of Anerley, Norwood, Crystal Palace etc. You have to have that London postcode.
This discussion has been closed.