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  • mattmatt Posts: 3,789
    edited March 2020

    Just back from my trip to Tesco Royston tonight, and the rate of hoarding is definitely accelerating. Here's a list of stock levels that I observed (non-exhaustive, but I did go around quite a lot of the store looking for stuff, some of which I couldn't find...)

    Bog rolls: 0%
    Kitchen paper: 20%
    Bin bags: 20%
    Washing up liquid: 1%
    Tissues: 0%
    Tinned tomatoes: 1%
    Tinned spaghetti: 5%
    Baked beans: 1%
    Tinned tuna: 0%
    Other tins (meat, soup, fruit): 30%
    Flour: 0%
    Sunflower oil: 0%
    Olive oil: 10%
    Fruit squash: 5%
    Beer: 20%

    It wasn't exactly the end of days - levels of fresh and frozen food looked reasonable, given that this was after the post-work cavalry charge - but if this goes on for any length of time then people are going to struggle to get hold of some basic supplies. Notably, I managed to fill in the gaps in my shop by going to the little Morrisons in town, but there was absolutely no bog paper there either. Anybody in this area who's run out of it is going to be wiping their arse with the Daily Mail for the time being.

    People will shortly run out of space to store their 10000p loo rolls and tins of beans so the panic has a natural end date. I suspect that by the end of the year we’ll be seeing C5 Programmes like , “My hoarding partner” and “Britons who only eat value dried pasta”.
  • MightyAlexMightyAlex Posts: 1,660
    edited March 2020

    welshowl said:

    White House press conference: weird, very weird.

    Give them credit for adding some innocent merriment to our lives.
    It read like a stock market pump to me.... Here are the CEO's for Walmart and Walgreens, oh and Roche are providing their experience. TeleDoc is brilliant, Google have made a website etc etc etc Might as well have waved an A1 S&P banner instead of the flow chart.
  • tlg86 said:

    tlg86 said:

    stodge said:

    Evening all :)

    Just one trifling question - presumably even though the elections are delayed, they are still the 2020 elections and the winners will serve until 2024?

    I ask because I think it probable the 2024 London mayoral election contest will take place on the same day as the next GE.

    Surely they won't allow elections with different systems on the same day?
    Allowed it in 2004 in London.

    About five different voting systems
    Is there a reason why it hasn't been repeated? Wasn't there a bit of trouble in Scotland in 2007?
    Yeah the Scots were too thick vote in multiple elections on the same day in 2007, something the English have regularly managed without issue.
  • not_on_firenot_on_fire Posts: 4,449

    All Labour Party meetings and campaign activities have been suspended.

    Hasn’t the Labour Party been suspended since 2015?
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,424

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    My wife is a teacher. She has really struggled with motivating herself to do all the pathetic garbage at school which even at the best of times is pathetic garbage. We are hoping the education establishment sees sense

    Blimey. We are having multiple religious experiences right now. That’s asking for a miracle on a par with the raising of Lazarus.
    If you've seen Ofsted's statement to Schoolsweek this afternoon, I wouldn't be optimistic. It's shameful stuff.
    I haven’t, but I find it all too easy to imagine.
    https://twitter.com/Rosemarycalm/status/1238539833330581504
    OFSTED has literally caused the deaths of headteachers in the past. Why would anyone be surprised that they don’t care?

    A more pertinent point, one that hare brained lowlife failure Spielmann seems not to have thought of, is that if a senior teacher dies of a
    Covid-19 then the school will have to close for cleaning, so there will be nothing to inspect.
    The whole statement is much worse, the tone is appalling.

    And yes, I've worked in a school where a key staff member died 24 hours before inspection. It was one of the worst experiences of my life.
    Never had that happen, but have heard of it happening.

    The sensible thing to do would be to suspend inspections. Leaving aside the fact that the inspectors may be spreading the disease, no school is going to be at its best if multiple staff go into isolation. How would they make any sort of meaningful judgement?

    But this is Spielman. She is a liar, a fool, a bully and a total failure in every job she has ever had. She has also repeatedly demonstrated that through ignorance alone she is a risk to children. Yet she is still in post. Why would coronavirus shift her or improve her?
  • ydoethur said:

    My son and his partner have had colds this week and we have agreed they will keep away for 14 days and also our grandchildren. Will use whats app and phones

    Ah, the glories of WhatsApp in this situation. Ideal for medical isolation.

    It should be called the WhatsApp Doc.
    Bravo, sir.
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 42,992
    ydoethur said:

    Just back from my trip to Tesco Royston tonight, and the rate of hoarding is definitely accelerating. Here's a list of stock levels that I observed (non-exhaustive, but I did go around quite a lot of the store looking for stuff, some of which I couldn't find...)

    Bog rolls: 0%
    Kitchen paper: 20%
    Bin bags: 20%
    Washing up liquid: 1%
    Tissues: 0%
    Tinned tomatoes: 1%
    Tinned spaghetti: 5%
    Baked beans: 1%
    Tinned tuna: 0%
    Other tins (meat, soup, fruit): 30%
    Flour: 0%
    Sunflower oil: 0%
    Olive oil: 10%
    Fruit squash: 5%
    Beer: 20%

    It wasn't exactly the end of days - levels of fresh and frozen food looked reasonable, given that this was after the post-work cavalry charge - but if this goes on for any length of time then people are going to struggle to get hold of some basic supplies. Notably, I managed to fill in the gaps in my shop by going to the little Morrisons in town, but there was absolutely no bog paper there either. Anybody in this area who's run out of it is going to be wiping their arse with the Daily Mail for the time being.

    Well, if you will go to a peasant emporium.

    I'm enjoying fresh plaice from the Waitrose fishmonger tonight.

    Delicious.
    I was really annoyed with all these bloody hoarders. They had taken so much there were only 26 ready meals left for me.
    Supplies news update: Ocado drivers no longer bringing shopping inside, are leaving it at the door and not taking bags back.

    Have everything, that said. Bog roll, hand sanitiser...
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 82,119
    edited March 2020
    I have never done psychedelic drugs, I think I know what the experience is like and have no desire of repeating it.
  • glwglw Posts: 9,908
    edited March 2020

    welshowl said:

    White House press conference: weird, very weird.

    Give them credit for adding some innocent merriment to our lives.
    It read like a stock market pump to me.... Here are the CEO's for Walmart and Walgreens, oh and Roche are providing their experience. TeleDoc is brilliant, Google have made a website etc etc etc Might as well have waved an A1 S&P banner instead of the flow chart.
    Considering that very large numbers of Americans may well die it was unbelievably tone-deaf.

    It Trump went to a wake the first words out of his mouth to the grieving relatives would be an offer to buy any property that had belonged to the deceased.
  • ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    My wife is a teacher. She has really struggled with motivating herself to do all the pathetic garbage at school which even at the best of times is pathetic garbage. We are hoping the education establishment sees sense

    Blimey. We are having multiple religious experiences right now. That’s asking for a miracle on a par with the raising of Lazarus.
    If you've seen Ofsted's statement to Schoolsweek this afternoon, I wouldn't be optimistic. It's shameful stuff.
    I haven’t, but I find it all too easy to imagine.
    https://twitter.com/Rosemarycalm/status/1238539833330581504
    OFSTED has literally caused the deaths of headteachers in the past. Why would anyone be surprised that they don’t care?

    A more pertinent point, one that hare brained lowlife failure Spielmann seems not to have thought of, is that if a senior teacher dies of a
    Covid-19 then the school will have to close for cleaning, so there will be nothing to inspect.
    The whole statement is much worse, the tone is appalling.

    And yes, I've worked in a school where a key staff member died 24 hours before inspection. It was one of the worst experiences of my life.
    Never had that happen, but have heard of it happening.

    The sensible thing to do would be to suspend inspections. Leaving aside the fact that the inspectors may be spreading the disease, no school is going to be at its best if multiple staff go into isolation. How would they make any sort of meaningful judgement?

    But this is Spielman. She is a liar, a fool, a bully and a total failure in every job she has ever had. She has also repeatedly demonstrated that through ignorance alone she is a risk to children. Yet she is still in post. Why would coronavirus shift her or improve her?
    I'm in total agreement. She is useless.

    Having inspection teams moving between schools at a time like this is grossly irresponsible, to say the least.

    But a miracle has happened, and they have just issued an apology on Twitter, and updated the advice.
  • nichomarnichomar Posts: 7,483
    You can’t ask him a question that he doesn’t want to answer are the US press Corp stupid? No scrutiny, no challenge no honesty it’s a disgrace, nobody would ask the muppets behind him for advice
  • Richard_TyndallRichard_Tyndall Posts: 32,570

    Foss said:

    eadric said:
    Has this actually been confirmed? 'DiscloseTV' appear to be the only people reporting it.
    Germany seems to be working from a very similar model to us which is slightly reassuring.
    According to my Sister in Law in Melbourne, so is Australia.
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 49,868
    “Hopefully it will run out in eight, nine weeks, but I can’t give you a number....”
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 28,385

    All Labour Party meetings and campaign activities have been suspended.

    Does that mean Jeremy remains leader indefinitely? Or is April 4 set in stone?
    The conference was already binned. Presumably Jenny Formby just announces the result on a webcam.
    Thanks.

    I hope Jenny doesn't get to thinking that means she can choose the new leader unilaterally.
  • Time_to_LeaveTime_to_Leave Posts: 2,547

    Now I remember what that White House flowchart reminded me of, we're all doomed.


    Nothing for a pair...
  • matt said:

    Just back from my trip to Tesco Royston tonight, and the rate of hoarding is definitely accelerating. Here's a list of stock levels that I observed (non-exhaustive, but I did go around quite a lot of the store looking for stuff, some of which I couldn't find...)

    Bog rolls: 0%
    Kitchen paper: 20%
    Bin bags: 20%
    Washing up liquid: 1%
    Tissues: 0%
    Tinned tomatoes: 1%
    Tinned spaghetti: 5%
    Baked beans: 1%
    Tinned tuna: 0%
    Other tins (meat, soup, fruit): 30%
    Flour: 0%
    Sunflower oil: 0%
    Olive oil: 10%
    Fruit squash: 5%
    Beer: 20%

    It wasn't exactly the end of days - levels of fresh and frozen food looked reasonable, given that this was after the post-work cavalry charge - but if this goes on for any length of time then people are going to struggle to get hold of some basic supplies. Notably, I managed to fill in the gaps in my shop by going to the little Morrisons in town, but there was absolutely no bog paper there either. Anybody in this area who's run out of it is going to be wiping their arse with the Daily Mail for the time being.

    People will shortly run out of space to store their 10000p loo rolls and tins of beans so the panic has a natural end date. I suspect that by the end of the year we’ll be seeing C5 Programmes like , “My hoarding partner” and “Britons who only eat value dried pasta”.

    I'm not so sure. If the economies of the world are sufficiently crippled to affect food production and distribution, we could be looking at actual shortages later in the year.
  • nichomarnichomar Posts: 7,483
    Cut this off it’s a waste of time
  • Richard_TyndallRichard_Tyndall Posts: 32,570
    So a question for all you psychology types out there in PB land.

    Does Trump actually believe the BS he spouts - I mean the real obvious outright falsehoods - or is he just plain old fashioned lying.

    Mad or Bad?

    Both of course could be the answer.

    Neither is not an acceptable response.
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,601
    Scandinavia/Nordic countries are putting up a valiant battle: 3,000 cases and just 2 fatalities.
  • nichomar said:

    Cut this off it’s a waste of time

    It is a stark moment in the incompetence and disgraceful Presidency of Trump

  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 21,298

    So a question for all you psychology types out there in PB land.

    Does Trump actually believe the BS he spouts - I mean the real obvious outright falsehoods - or is he just plain old fashioned lying.

    Mad or Bad?

    Both of course could be the answer.

    Neither is not an acceptable response.

    I believe both.
  • mattmatt Posts: 3,789

    So a question for all you psychology types out there in PB land.

    Does Trump actually believe the BS he spouts - I mean the real obvious outright falsehoods - or is he just plain old fashioned lying.

    Mad or Bad?

    Both of course could be the answer.

    Neither is not an acceptable response.

    He’s, at heart, a real estate developer. Assume lying until proved otherwise. And still count fingers after hand shaking.
  • noneoftheabovenoneoftheabove Posts: 22,838

    So a question for all you psychology types out there in PB land.

    Does Trump actually believe the BS he spouts - I mean the real obvious outright falsehoods - or is he just plain old fashioned lying.

    Mad or Bad?

    Both of course could be the answer.

    Neither is not an acceptable response.

    Im not sure he has a concept of the truth. Alternative facts was not a throwaway concept, it goes to the heart of his approach. Shape the world to benefit him, believe in that and then sell it to everyone else (or at least enough people around him) for it to work.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 52,609

    FFS, the Amazon algorithm is clearly quite sophisticated. This is what it just recommended for me :frowning: :

    1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed (Turning Points in Ancient History)

    The Al Gore Rhythms have now developed a wicked sense of humour.

    Fuck it, they are openly mocking us!
  • So a question for all you psychology types out there in PB land.

    Does Trump actually believe the BS he spouts - I mean the real obvious outright falsehoods - or is he just plain old fashioned lying.

    Mad or Bad?

    Both of course could be the answer.

    Neither is not an acceptable response.

    He is a dangerous narcissist who blusters and hasn't a clue in what he is saying
  • AlastairMeeksAlastairMeeks Posts: 30,340
    My mother and I agreed this evening not to meet tomorrow. Boris Johnson’s speech yesterday had a big impact on her. She’s not self-isolating but she’s reducing her social contacts, just as the experts would wish her to. As someone who travels on trains and works in central London, we agreed I was a high risk person for her to meet just now.
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 60,491
    It's probably undercooked. But 130k cases of Covid-19 out of a population of 7.7 billion is statistically insignificant.

    Even if it's out by a factor of ten, which it probably is, then only 0.017% of the global population have it.
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 49,868

    A flow chart, fucking hell.

    > Do you feel ill? YES

    > Have you got a cough? YES

    > Go for a test!

    They’ve been working on it all week.
  • TimTTimT Posts: 6,468

    My mother and I agreed this evening not to meet tomorrow. Boris Johnson’s speech yesterday had a big impact on her. She’s not self-isolating but she’s reducing her social contacts, just as the experts would wish her to. As someone who travels on trains and works in central London, we agreed I was a high risk person for her to meet just now.

    I hope you find ways to stay connected with her so that she, despite her cutting back on social contacts, does not feel socially isolated.
  • alex_alex_ Posts: 7,518

    Foss said:

    eadric said:
    Has this actually been confirmed? 'DiscloseTV' appear to be the only people reporting it.
    Germany seems to be working from a very similar model to us which is slightly reassuring.
    According to my Sister in Law in Melbourne, so is Australia.
    Which is interesting because if anywhere could shut it down, after it’s escaped containment, you’d think it was Australia. New Zealand seems good at the moment, but they have escaped any dangerous level of infection.

    The countries that are going for eradication are basically either relying on the development of a vaccine or committing to cut themselves off from the world indefinitely.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 52,609

    My mother and I agreed this evening not to meet tomorrow. Boris Johnson’s speech yesterday had a big impact on her. She’s not self-isolating but she’s reducing her social contacts, just as the experts would wish her to. As someone who travels on trains and works in central London, we agreed I was a high risk person for her to meet just now.

    As long as she still knows you love her just as much, I'm sure she'll be fine.

    (Working assumption, that you love your mother!)
  • tlg86tlg86 Posts: 26,176

    My mother and I agreed this evening not to meet tomorrow. Boris Johnson’s speech yesterday had a big impact on her. She’s not self-isolating but she’s reducing her social contacts, just as the experts would wish her to. As someone who travels on trains and works in central London, we agreed I was a high risk person for her to meet just now.

    I live with mine - I'd move out if I could stop my dad going to the pub and mum going to the shops. I can't.
  • mattmatt Posts: 3,789
    edited March 2020

    My mother and I agreed this evening not to meet tomorrow. Boris Johnson’s speech yesterday had a big impact on her. She’s not self-isolating but she’s reducing her social contacts, just as the experts would wish her to. As someone who travels on trains and works in central London, we agreed I was a high risk person for her to meet just now.

    Nudge in action? Allowing people to reach their own decisions and remain in control.

    That said, if this sensible behaviour were infectious, I would be putting my mother in the firing line. “I was a doctor and I know better.....”
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 62,767
    US numbers predicted.

    NYT:

    Between 160 million and 214 million people in the U.S. could be infected over the course of the epidemic, according to one projection. That could last months or even over a year, with infections concentrated in shorter periods, staggered across time in different communities, experts said. As many as 200,000 to 1.7 million people could die.


    https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/13/us/coronavirus-deaths-estimate.html?action=click&module=Spotlight&pgtype=Homepage
  • numbertwelvenumbertwelve Posts: 6,814

    So a question for all you psychology types out there in PB land.

    Does Trump actually believe the BS he spouts - I mean the real obvious outright falsehoods - or is he just plain old fashioned lying.

    Mad or Bad?

    Both of course could be the answer.

    Neither is not an acceptable response.

    The Trumpian Law:

    Anything Donald Trump does: great, fantastic, smart, beautiful, yuge, perfect, bigly, incredible.

    Anything people other than Donald Trump do: fake, terrible, small, stupid, lies, pathetic, low energy.

    The words in between are just to connect the dots and are of little consequence.
  • AlastairMeeksAlastairMeeks Posts: 30,340
    TimT said:

    My mother and I agreed this evening not to meet tomorrow. Boris Johnson’s speech yesterday had a big impact on her. She’s not self-isolating but she’s reducing her social contacts, just as the experts would wish her to. As someone who travels on trains and works in central London, we agreed I was a high risk person for her to meet just now.

    I hope you find ways to stay connected with her so that she, despite her cutting back on social contacts, does not feel socially isolated.
    We spent a long time talking about striking a balance and still living her life. She’s not going to lock herself away but she’s going to take prudent precautions. We’re going to talk a lot on the phone, as we did tonight.
  • alex_alex_ Posts: 7,518
    tlg86 said:

    My mother and I agreed this evening not to meet tomorrow. Boris Johnson’s speech yesterday had a big impact on her. She’s not self-isolating but she’s reducing her social contacts, just as the experts would wish her to. As someone who travels on trains and works in central London, we agreed I was a high risk person for her to meet just now.

    I live with mine - I'd move out if I could stop my dad going to the pub and mum going to the shops. I can't.
    Same here I think. But my mum’s a 73 year old GP :(
  • SandyRentoolSandyRentool Posts: 22,037
    TimT said:

    My mother and I agreed this evening not to meet tomorrow. Boris Johnson’s speech yesterday had a big impact on her. She’s not self-isolating but she’s reducing her social contacts, just as the experts would wish her to. As someone who travels on trains and works in central London, we agreed I was a high risk person for her to meet just now.

    I hope you find ways to stay connected with her so that she, despite her cutting back on social contacts, does not feel socially isolated.
    She should join PB!
  • alex_alex_ Posts: 7,518

    TimT said:

    My mother and I agreed this evening not to meet tomorrow. Boris Johnson’s speech yesterday had a big impact on her. She’s not self-isolating but she’s reducing her social contacts, just as the experts would wish her to. As someone who travels on trains and works in central London, we agreed I was a high risk person for her to meet just now.

    I hope you find ways to stay connected with her so that she, despite her cutting back on social contacts, does not feel socially isolated.
    She should join PB!
    For balance? ;)
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 49,868
    edited March 2020

    US numbers predicted.

    NYT:

    Between 160 million and 214 million people in the U.S. could be infected over the course of the epidemic, according to one projection. That could last months or even over a year, with infections concentrated in shorter periods, staggered across time in different communities, experts said. As many as 200,000 to 1.7 million people could die.


    https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/13/us/coronavirus-deaths-estimate.html?action=click&module=Spotlight&pgtype=Homepage

    Divide by five for the size difference and those numbers for deaths are in line with our government’s own predictions (if anything slightly below), and well below those of the panic brigade.
  • Sorry to hear you've had to make a tough decision, Alastair. My mum is 71 and in fair health except for high blood pressure, but I'll consider suggesting that she not visit - I'd never forgive myself if I was the cause of something awful.

    Worth bearing in mind that this may still be ongoing in a year's time, though.
  • Time_to_LeaveTime_to_Leave Posts: 2,547
    Out of interest, anyone on here do telecoms for a living? I was wondering whether, if the lions’ share of those who can do so work from home, the residential network will cope?
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,424

    TimT said:

    My mother and I agreed this evening not to meet tomorrow. Boris Johnson’s speech yesterday had a big impact on her. She’s not self-isolating but she’s reducing her social contacts, just as the experts would wish her to. As someone who travels on trains and works in central London, we agreed I was a high risk person for her to meet just now.

    I hope you find ways to stay connected with her so that she, despite her cutting back on social contacts, does not feel socially isolated.
    She should join PB!
    We can’t have her cramping Alastair’s style. How would we cope without reluctant Turkish conscripts and sneaky fuckers?
  • CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    My wife is a teacher. She has really struggled with motivating herself to do all the pathetic garbage at school which even at the best of times is pathetic garbage. We are hoping the education establishment sees sense

    Blimey. We are having multiple religious experiences right now. That’s asking for a miracle on a par with the raising of Lazarus.
    If you've seen Ofsted's statement to Schoolsweek this afternoon, I wouldn't be optimistic. It's shameful stuff.
    I haven’t, but I find it all too easy to imagine.
    https://twitter.com/Rosemarycalm/status/1238539833330581504
    Policy papers are supposed to be clear and straightforward. Do you want to beat around the bush so there could be confusion?
  • RobDRobD Posts: 59,935

    TimT said:

    My mother and I agreed this evening not to meet tomorrow. Boris Johnson’s speech yesterday had a big impact on her. She’s not self-isolating but she’s reducing her social contacts, just as the experts would wish her to. As someone who travels on trains and works in central London, we agreed I was a high risk person for her to meet just now.

    I hope you find ways to stay connected with her so that she, despite her cutting back on social contacts, does not feel socially isolated.
    She should join PB!
    PB is NOT ready for my mum.
    What are her views on pineapple pizza?
  • alex_alex_ Posts: 7,518

    Out of interest, anyone on here do telecoms for a living? I was wondering whether, if the lions’ share of those who can do so work from home, the residential network will cope?

    Apparently kids being at home in Italy is putting severe strain on the network. Especially when an upgrade to whatever game they are playing comes up. Shares in the best networks will be valuable...
  • Charles said:

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    My wife is a teacher. She has really struggled with motivating herself to do all the pathetic garbage at school which even at the best of times is pathetic garbage. We are hoping the education establishment sees sense

    Blimey. We are having multiple religious experiences right now. That’s asking for a miracle on a par with the raising of Lazarus.
    If you've seen Ofsted's statement to Schoolsweek this afternoon, I wouldn't be optimistic. It's shameful stuff.
    I haven’t, but I find it all too easy to imagine.
    https://twitter.com/Rosemarycalm/status/1238539833330581504
    Policy papers are supposed to be clear and straightforward. Do you want to beat around the bush so there could be confusion?
    Given that Ofsted have just apologised and acknowledged that this was inappropriate, maybe dial down the jumping down people's throats, eh?

    You have no idea what schools are having to deal with at present.
  • kyf_100kyf_100 Posts: 4,951
    IanB2 said:

    US numbers predicted.

    NYT:

    Between 160 million and 214 million people in the U.S. could be infected over the course of the epidemic, according to one projection. That could last months or even over a year, with infections concentrated in shorter periods, staggered across time in different communities, experts said. As many as 200,000 to 1.7 million people could die.


    https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/13/us/coronavirus-deaths-estimate.html?action=click&module=Spotlight&pgtype=Homepage

    Divide by five for the size difference and those numbers for deaths are in line with our government’s own predictions (if anything slightly below), and well below those of the panic brigade.
    Keep calm and carry on.
  • MikeLMikeL Posts: 7,708
    No deaths in the US so far today - per worldometer.
  • IshmaelZIshmaelZ Posts: 21,830

    It's probably undercooked. But 130k cases of Covid-19 out of a population of 7.7 billion is statistically insignificant.

    Even if it's out by a factor of ten, which it probably is, then only 0.017% of the global population have it.

    You don't mean statistical significance, which is about samples, not whole populations. And if you take "statistical" out of it your claim is meaningless. "Only" 4,000 odd people died on 9/11, and one solitary individual was assassinated on 23 11 63. Were those numbers insignificant?
  • NickPalmerNickPalmer Posts: 21,533

    So a question for all you psychology types out there in PB land.

    Does Trump actually believe the BS he spouts - I mean the real obvious outright falsehoods - or is he just plain old fashioned lying.

    Mad or Bad?

    Both of course could be the answer.

    Neither is not an acceptable response.

    I'm not sure he greatly cares - he's found he can say any old stuff and remain popular with his fans (in which he resembles some British figures).

    i do recognise a certain rough charm - he's generally courteous and level-spoken to questioners, and trots out patriotic phrases at random moments. If you're an absent-minded patriot glancing at the news without bothering with the details, I can see you concluding that he's a good guy.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 62,767
    Trump is now, narrowly, BF fav for POTUS vs Biden.

    He wasn't a couple of hours ago.
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 54,609

    nichomar said:

    Hotels in Madrid to be converted to hospitals!

    This place used to be a hospital...

    https://www.oetkercollection.com/hotels/the-lanesborough/
    It did. My father worked there when it was a hospital in the '70s. Very nice place for afternoon tea these days.
  • Time_to_LeaveTime_to_Leave Posts: 2,547
    alex_ said:

    Out of interest, anyone on here do telecoms for a living? I was wondering whether, if the lions’ share of those who can do so work from home, the residential network will cope?

    Apparently kids being at home in Italy is putting severe strain on the network. Especially when an upgrade to whatever game they are playing comes up. Shares in the best networks will be valuable...
    Heh, hadn’t thought of that. Getting old...
  • Richard_TyndallRichard_Tyndall Posts: 32,570
    Charles said:

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    My wife is a teacher. She has really struggled with motivating herself to do all the pathetic garbage at school which even at the best of times is pathetic garbage. We are hoping the education establishment sees sense

    Blimey. We are having multiple religious experiences right now. That’s asking for a miracle on a par with the raising of Lazarus.
    If you've seen Ofsted's statement to Schoolsweek this afternoon, I wouldn't be optimistic. It's shameful stuff.
    I haven’t, but I find it all too easy to imagine.
    https://twitter.com/Rosemarycalm/status/1238539833330581504
    Policy papers are supposed to be clear and straightforward. Do you want to beat around the bush so there could be confusion?
    The point is Charles it is not even a question that should arise for so many reasons. It is not the clarity that is at fault, it is the basic premise.
  • AndrewAndrew Posts: 2,900

    Out of interest, anyone on here do telecoms for a living? I was wondering whether, if the lions’ share of those who can do so work from home, the residential network will cope?

    Some services for collaborative stuff might break, but there are plenty of alternative options. Network capacity itself should be fine - at worst people might need to watch youtube cat videos at 720p rather than Ultra-HD.

  • TimTTimT Posts: 6,468

    So a question for all you psychology types out there in PB land.

    Does Trump actually believe the BS he spouts - I mean the real obvious outright falsehoods - or is he just plain old fashioned lying.

    Mad or Bad?

    Both of course could be the answer.

    Neither is not an acceptable response.

    He is a dangerous narcissist who blusters and hasn't a clue in what he is saying
    There is a very interesting book on Trust, of which truthfulness is of course a major component. Basically, trust is the default human condition, as we need, as social animals, to rely on others to survive, and trust is the sine qua non of cooperation. I have to trust that, if I help you now, you'll help me in like manner later.

    Thus mutual assistance relies on people being both trusting, and trustworthy (and being truthful as a part of that).

    However, unlike our hunter gatherer forebears in whom these mechanisms of social cooperation evolved, modern homo sapiens can accrue sufficient wealth to no longer, in many ways, have to depend on others. Thus, and this has been documented, truly wealthy people are both less trusting and less trustworthy - they don't need to be. So they have less need to be truthful. It is just is not that important to them.

    Obviously, one cannot generalize for all individuals and there will be a bellcurve like distribution of how marked this tendency is across individuals. Trump clearly is at the outlier end of the curve.
  • BalrogBalrog Posts: 207

    Out of interest, anyone on here do telecoms for a living? I was wondering whether, if the lions’ share of those who can do so work from home, the residential network will cope?

    I would guess that the loading due to additional work is less than 1% of netflix and other video streaming. Work is mainly email, some intranet browsing and the odd video or teleconference.

    People trapped at home watching films all day rather than being at work is a bigger risk.
  • justin124justin124 Posts: 11,527

    I’m intrigued by the legal position. But then I suppose, absent a written constitution, Parliament can defer any election for as long as it likes.

    Not the most important issue right now, but this is a godsend for Labour, you’d think.

    Unlikely that the Tories would have polled as strongly this May as some polls have suggested.In May 2017 when polls were pointing to a massive Tory win for Theresa May , the Tory lead turned out to be 11% rather than in excess of 20% suggested. Starmer's election would also be likely to boost Labour and limit any Tory gains.
    More significant is that by deferring Mayoral elections to May 2021 Labour is likely to be better placed to win in areas such as the West Midlands and Teeside - and make gains to reverse losses suffered in the May 2017 County Council elections.
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 54,609
    ydoethur said:

    My son and his partner have had colds this week and we have agreed they will keep away for 14 days and also our grandchildren. Will use whats app and phones

    Ah, the glories of WhatsApp in this situation. Ideal for medical isolation.

    It should be called the WhatsApp Doc.
    Except that it's Facebook.

    Signal is a similar product that isn't Facebook.
  • BarnesianBarnesian Posts: 8,604
    The Dow rose 9.4% on Trump's speech. That is very similar to the drop last time. Both speeches were similar so why the difference in response?

    The drop last time must have been very embarrassing for Trump and he's probably taken steps to ensure it didn't happen this time. It will be interesting to see who the purchasers were during his speech. It's obviously big money to move the market that way. I suspect it is coordinated corporate share buybacks.
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 49,868
    Braemar update: having been refused port at the Bahamas, the ship is still offshore there while the captain tries to negotiate disembarkation for his passengers. I guess a key consideration is that the Americans on board won’t want to be dropped back in Europe.
  • Time_to_LeaveTime_to_Leave Posts: 2,547
    Andrew said:

    Out of interest, anyone on here do telecoms for a living? I was wondering whether, if the lions’ share of those who can do so work from home, the residential network will cope?

    Some services for collaborative stuff might break, but there are plenty of alternative options. Network capacity itself should be fine - at worst people might need to watch youtube cat videos at 720p rather than Ultra-HD.

    I admire your optimism that it’s cat videos....
  • TimT said:

    So a question for all you psychology types out there in PB land.

    Does Trump actually believe the BS he spouts - I mean the real obvious outright falsehoods - or is he just plain old fashioned lying.

    Mad or Bad?

    Both of course could be the answer.

    Neither is not an acceptable response.

    He is a dangerous narcissist who blusters and hasn't a clue in what he is saying
    There is a very interesting book on Trust, of which truthfulness is of course a major component. Basically, trust is the default human condition, as we need, as social animals, to rely on others to survive, and trust is the sine qua non of cooperation. I have to trust that, if I help you now, you'll help me in like manner later.

    Thus mutual assistance relies on people being both trusting, and trustworthy (and being truthful as a part of that).

    However, unlike our hunter gatherer forebears in whom these mechanisms of social cooperation evolved, modern homo sapiens can accrue sufficient wealth to no longer, in many ways, have to depend on others. Thus, and this has been documented, truly wealthy people are both less trusting and less trustworthy - they don't need to be. So they have less need to be truthful. It is just is not that important to them.

    Obviously, one cannot generalize for all individuals and there will be a bellcurve like distribution of how marked this tendency is across individuals. Trump clearly is at the outlier end of the curve.
    Interesting
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 62,767

    So a question for all you psychology types out there in PB land.

    Does Trump actually believe the BS he spouts - I mean the real obvious outright falsehoods - or is he just plain old fashioned lying.

    Mad or Bad?

    Both of course could be the answer.

    Neither is not an acceptable response.

    I'm not sure he greatly cares - he's found he can say any old stuff and remain popular with his fans (in which he resembles some British figures).

    i do recognise a certain rough charm - he's generally courteous and level-spoken to questioners, and trots out patriotic phrases at random moments. If you're an absent-minded patriot glancing at the news without bothering with the details, I can see you concluding that he's a good guy.
    Will the good old boys still be saying Trump is a good guy when Mom is no longer on the porch because she got the virus and no one came?
  • BluestBlueBluestBlue Posts: 4,556
    Sandpit said:

    nichomar said:

    Hotels in Madrid to be converted to hospitals!

    This place used to be a hospital...

    https://www.oetkercollection.com/hotels/the-lanesborough/
    It did. My father worked there when it was a hospital in the '70s. Very nice place for afternoon tea these days.
    I always loved the Library Bar for its cosy pretentiousness. I think I'll plan a celebration there when this is all over...
  • CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758

    Charles said:

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    My wife is a teacher. She has really struggled with motivating herself to do all the pathetic garbage at school which even at the best of times is pathetic garbage. We are hoping the education establishment sees sense

    Blimey. We are having multiple religious experiences right now. That’s asking for a miracle on a par with the raising of Lazarus.
    If you've seen Ofsted's statement to Schoolsweek this afternoon, I wouldn't be optimistic. It's shameful stuff.
    I haven’t, but I find it all too easy to imagine.
    https://twitter.com/Rosemarycalm/status/1238539833330581504
    Policy papers are supposed to be clear and straightforward. Do you want to beat around the bush so there could be confusion?
    Given that Ofsted have just apologised and acknowledged that this was inappropriate, maybe dial down the jumping down people's throats, eh?

    You have no idea what schools are having to deal with at present.
    You have no idea what I am dealing with right now
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 54,609
    To be fair, today's announcements are a dramatic improvement on what's happened in the USA up until now, which was on a scale from denial to apathy.
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 49,868

    Trump is now, narrowly, BF fav for POTUS vs Biden.

    He wasn't a couple of hours ago.

    Assuming the election happens, the Dems are going to have to pick a careful path balancing criticism of Trump’s shambles while still being onside and patriotic.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 52,609
    MikeL said:

    No deaths in the US so far today - per worldometer.

    Just an uptick in "random" shootings.....
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 54,609

    Foss said:

    eadric said:
    Has this actually been confirmed? 'DiscloseTV' appear to be the only people reporting it.
    Germany seems to be working from a very similar model to us which is slightly reassuring.
    According to my Sister in Law in Melbourne, so is Australia.
    Australia were desperate to get the Grand Prix off this weekend, only to be scuppered by this damn virus going around one of the participants.
  • GallowgateGallowgate Posts: 19,468

    Ch4 News reported that a UK company have a 10 min test, which will all be able to in Pharmacies from next week. Although, it seems initially it will just to test pharmacy staff, but plan is within next 3 weeks to the public.

    Great news. Now let’s flog it around the world.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 62,767
    IanB2 said:

    Trump is now, narrowly, BF fav for POTUS vs Biden.

    He wasn't a couple of hours ago.

    Assuming the election happens, the Dems are going to have to pick a careful path balancing criticism of Trump’s shambles while still being onside and patriotic.
    Teh. Difficult. I am optimistic Biden is the one who can do that.
  • Charles said:

    Charles said:

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    My wife is a teacher. She has really struggled with motivating herself to do all the pathetic garbage at school which even at the best of times is pathetic garbage. We are hoping the education establishment sees sense

    Blimey. We are having multiple religious experiences right now. That’s asking for a miracle on a par with the raising of Lazarus.
    If you've seen Ofsted's statement to Schoolsweek this afternoon, I wouldn't be optimistic. It's shameful stuff.
    I haven’t, but I find it all too easy to imagine.
    https://twitter.com/Rosemarycalm/status/1238539833330581504
    Policy papers are supposed to be clear and straightforward. Do you want to beat around the bush so there could be confusion?
    Given that Ofsted have just apologised and acknowledged that this was inappropriate, maybe dial down the jumping down people's throats, eh?

    You have no idea what schools are having to deal with at present.
    You have no idea what I am dealing with right now
    I expressed sympathy on a previous posting - perhaps you should extend that courtesy to others dealing with difficult situations.

    I have family in northern Italy, but I'm not lashing out at others.
  • mattmatt Posts: 3,789

    Andrew said:

    Out of interest, anyone on here do telecoms for a living? I was wondering whether, if the lions’ share of those who can do so work from home, the residential network will cope?

    Some services for collaborative stuff might break, but there are plenty of alternative options. Network capacity itself should be fine - at worst people might need to watch youtube cat videos at 720p rather than Ultra-HD.

    I admire your optimism that it’s cat videos....
    https://www.pcmag.com/news/pornhub-is-giving-italians-free-premium-access-during-coronavirus-quarantine
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 82,119
    edited March 2020

    Ch4 News reported that a UK company have a 10 min test, which will all be able to in Pharmacies from next week. Although, it seems initially it will just to test pharmacy staff, but plan is within next 3 weeks to the public.

    Great news. Now let’s flog it around the world.
    Apparently there are 15 companies doing this.

    Again, makes head scratching why UK government appears to have decided testing isn't a good idea. Even if they think it is wasting resources to have nurses do it, could we not have drive up and use of this staffed by others. This is the South Korea approach. You get one of these quick ones done, and if you are positive you get funnelled into the system.
  • nichomarnichomar Posts: 7,483
    Morocco has closed its land borders (the Spanish enclaves In Africa ) with Spain today!
  • CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758
    Barnesian said:

    The Dow rose 9.4% on Trump's speech. That is very similar to the drop last time. Both speeches were similar so why the difference in response?

    The drop last time must have been very embarrassing for Trump and he's probably taken steps to ensure it didn't happen this time. It will be interesting to see who the purchasers were during his speech. It's obviously big money to move the market that way. I suspect it is coordinated corporate share buybacks.

    Share buybacks don’t move prices
  • mattmatt Posts: 3,789

    So a question for all you psychology types out there in PB land.

    Does Trump actually believe the BS he spouts - I mean the real obvious outright falsehoods - or is he just plain old fashioned lying.

    Mad or Bad?

    Both of course could be the answer.

    Neither is not an acceptable response.

    I'm not sure he greatly cares - he's found he can say any old stuff and remain popular with his

    i do recognise a certain rough charm - he's generally courteous and level-spoken to questioners, and trots out patriotic phrases at random moments. If you're an absent-minded patriot glancing at the news without bothering with the details, I can see you concluding that he's a good guy.
    Will the good old boys still be saying Trump is a good guy when Mom is no longer on the porch because she got the virus and no one came?
    I’m more interested in the “(in which he resembles some British figures)” comment. I’ve no doubt. Corbyn is not one of them.
  • GallowgateGallowgate Posts: 19,468

    Ch4 News reported that a UK company have a 10 min test, which will all be able to in Pharmacies from next week. Although, it seems initially it will just to test pharmacy staff, but plan is within next 3 weeks to the public.

    Great news. Now let’s flog it around the world.
    Apparently there are 15 companies doing this.

    Again, makes head scratching why UK government appears to have decided testing isn't a good idea. Even if they think it is wasting resources to have nurses do it, could we not have drive up and use of this staffed by others. This is the South Korea approach. You get one of these quick ones done, and if you are positive you get funnelled into the system.
    You’d think that “more data” would be useful to our “science-led” approach??
  • matt said:

    Andrew said:

    Out of interest, anyone on here do telecoms for a living? I was wondering whether, if the lions’ share of those who can do so work from home, the residential network will cope?

    Some services for collaborative stuff might break, but there are plenty of alternative options. Network capacity itself should be fine - at worst people might need to watch youtube cat videos at 720p rather than Ultra-HD.

    I admire your optimism that it’s cat videos....
    https://www.pcmag.com/news/pornhub-is-giving-italians-free-premium-access-during-coronavirus-quarantine
    So Italy really is about to suffer a bog roll shortage.
  • TimTTimT Posts: 6,468

    TimT said:

    So a question for all you psychology types out there in PB land.

    Does Trump actually believe the BS he spouts - I mean the real obvious outright falsehoods - or is he just plain old fashioned lying.

    Mad or Bad?

    Both of course could be the answer.

    Neither is not an acceptable response.

    He is a dangerous narcissist who blusters and hasn't a clue in what he is saying
    There is a very interesting book on Trust, of which truthfulness is of course a major component. Basically, trust is the default human condition, as we need, as social animals, to rely on others to survive, and trust is the sine qua non of cooperation. I have to trust that, if I help you now, you'll help me in like manner later.

    Thus mutual assistance relies on people being both trusting, and trustworthy (and being truthful as a part of that).

    However, unlike our hunter gatherer forebears in whom these mechanisms of social cooperation evolved, modern homo sapiens can accrue sufficient wealth to no longer, in many ways, have to depend on others. Thus, and this has been documented, truly wealthy people are both less trusting and less trustworthy - they don't need to be. So they have less need to be truthful. It is just is not that important to them.

    Obviously, one cannot generalize for all individuals and there will be a bellcurve like distribution of how marked this tendency is across individuals. Trump clearly is at the outlier end of the curve.
    Interesting
    "The Truth about Trust: How It Determines Success in Life, Love, Learning, and More" by David DeSteno
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 52,609

    Ch4 News reported that a UK company have a 10 min test, which will all be able to in Pharmacies from next week. Although, it seems initially it will just to test pharmacy staff, but plan is within next 3 weeks to the public.

    Great news. Now let’s flog it around the world.
    They'll only ever sell it on e-bay....
  • matt said:

    Andrew said:

    Out of interest, anyone on here do telecoms for a living? I was wondering whether, if the lions’ share of those who can do so work from home, the residential network will cope?

    Some services for collaborative stuff might break, but there are plenty of alternative options. Network capacity itself should be fine - at worst people might need to watch youtube cat videos at 720p rather than Ultra-HD.

    I admire your optimism that it’s cat videos....
    https://www.pcmag.com/news/pornhub-is-giving-italians-free-premium-access-during-coronavirus-quarantine
    So Italy really is about to suffer a bog roll shortage.
    The shops around Milan have sold out of dildos, I am reliably infomed.
  • CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758

    Charles said:

    Charles said:

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    My wife is a teacher. She has really struggled with motivating herself to do all the pathetic garbage at school which even at the best of times is pathetic garbage. We are hoping the education establishment sees sense

    Blimey. We are having multiple religious experiences right now. That’s asking for a miracle on a par with the raising of Lazarus.
    If you've seen Ofsted's statement to Schoolsweek this afternoon, I wouldn't be optimistic. It's shameful stuff.
    I haven’t, but I find it all too easy to imagine.
    https://twitter.com/Rosemarycalm/status/1238539833330581504
    Policy papers are supposed to be clear and straightforward. Do you want to beat around the bush so there could be confusion?
    Given that Ofsted have just apologised and acknowledged that this was inappropriate, maybe dial down the jumping down people's throats, eh?

    You have no idea what schools are having to deal with at present.
    You have no idea what I am dealing with right now
    I expressed sympathy on a previous posting - perhaps you should extend that courtesy to others dealing with difficult situations.

    I have family in northern Italy, but I'm not lashing out at others.
    I disagreed with Rosemary Burke. I didn’t think you posted any commentary
  • Time_to_LeaveTime_to_Leave Posts: 2,547
    matt said:

    Andrew said:

    Out of interest, anyone on here do telecoms for a living? I was wondering whether, if the lions’ share of those who can do so work from home, the residential network will cope?

    Some services for collaborative stuff might break, but there are plenty of alternative options. Network capacity itself should be fine - at worst people might need to watch youtube cat videos at 720p rather than Ultra-HD.

    I admire your optimism that it’s cat videos....
    https://www.pcmag.com/news/pornhub-is-giving-italians-free-premium-access-during-coronavirus-quarantine
    Is this why there’s a run on tissues?
  • MyBurningEarsMyBurningEars Posts: 3,651
    edited March 2020
    TimT said:

    So a question for all you psychology types out there in PB land.

    Does Trump actually believe the BS he spouts - I mean the real obvious outright falsehoods - or is he just plain old fashioned lying.

    Mad or Bad?

    Both of course could be the answer.

    Neither is not an acceptable response.

    He is a dangerous narcissist who blusters and hasn't a clue in what he is saying
    There is a very interesting book on Trust, of which truthfulness is of course a major component. Basically, trust is the default human condition, as we need, as social animals, to rely on others to survive, and trust is the sine qua non of cooperation. I have to trust that, if I help you now, you'll help me in like manner later.

    Thus mutual assistance relies on people being both trusting, and trustworthy (and being truthful as a part of that).

    However, unlike our hunter gatherer forebears in whom these mechanisms of social cooperation evolved, modern homo sapiens can accrue sufficient wealth to no longer, in many ways, have to depend on others. Thus, and this has been documented, truly wealthy people are both less trusting and less trustworthy - they don't need to be. So they have less need to be truthful. It is just is not that important to them.

    Obviously, one cannot generalize for all individuals and there will be a bellcurve like distribution of how marked this tendency is across individuals. Trump clearly is at the outlier end of the curve.
    @TimT, ages ago (at least a couple of years, possibly 5 or more!) we were having a discussion about game theory and you asked if I knew any good reference works that covered a fairly niche topic (an analysis of situations where "burning money" to reduce the value of certain options to you can actually be advantageous, IIRC). Anyway, I didn't find one, but while brushing up on my game theory recently I saw a reference to a book which sounds absolutely up your street professionally! "Compliance Quantified" (1996, Cambridge University Press) by Rudolf Avenhaus, University of the Federal Armed Forces, Hamburg, and Morton John Canty, Juelich Research Center.

    It's a mathematically fairly dense, operational research/game theoretic approach to arms control verification. Quite possible that you're either very well aware of it, or the content is old hat by now, but to a non-specialist on biochemical/nuclear proliferation, the excerpts I can see in Google Books look very interesting!
  • YBarddCwscYBarddCwsc Posts: 7,172
    edited March 2020

    Ch4 News reported that a UK company have a 10 min test, which will all be able to in Pharmacies from next week. Although, it seems initially it will just to test pharmacy staff, but plan is within next 3 weeks to the public.

    Great news. Now let’s flog it around the world.
    Apparently there are 15 companies doing this.

    Again, makes head scratching why UK government appears to have decided testing isn't a good idea. Even if they think it is wasting resources to have nurses do it, could we not have drive up and use of this staffed by others. This is the South Korea approach. You get one of these quick ones done, and if you are positive you get funnelled into the system.
    You’d think that “more data” would be useful to our “science-led” approach??
    You probably need to know something about the reliability of the test.

    For example if the test has a 10 per cent false positive rate, and a million people test themselves, then that is 100,000 panicking individuals, wanting medical treatment & there is nothing wrong with them.

    Even 1 per cent false positives will be a significant problem.
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 54,609

    Out of interest, anyone on here do telecoms for a living? I was wondering whether, if the lions’ share of those who can do so work from home, the residential network will cope?

    Generally yes, although there may be some local issues in smaller villages with limited bandwidth, and some ISPs will need to adjust their load-balancing in favour of residential rather than business customers during working days. The bigger issue will come if everyone 'working from home' start streaming Netflix all day.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 71,225
    So this is how Trump gets them to pay for a wall ?
  • MortimerMortimer Posts: 14,127
    RobD said:

    TimT said:

    My mother and I agreed this evening not to meet tomorrow. Boris Johnson’s speech yesterday had a big impact on her. She’s not self-isolating but she’s reducing her social contacts, just as the experts would wish her to. As someone who travels on trains and works in central London, we agreed I was a high risk person for her to meet just now.

    I hope you find ways to stay connected with her so that she, despite her cutting back on social contacts, does not feel socially isolated.
    She should join PB!
    PB is NOT ready for my mum.
    What are her views on pineapple pizza?
    Interestingly it was the No 10 presser (albeit the earlier one this week) that finally convinced my parents, who are nearly 70 but don't consider themselves elderly, to restrict their exposure to the outside world. I suspect that they're working with the audience for which they're intended.
  • TimTTimT Posts: 6,468

    TimT said:

    So a question for all you psychology types out there in PB land.

    Does Trump actually believe the BS he spouts - I mean the real obvious outright falsehoods - or is he just plain old fashioned lying.

    Mad or Bad?

    Both of course could be the answer.

    Neither is not an acceptable response.

    He is a dangerous narcissist who blusters and hasn't a clue in what he is saying
    There is a very interesting book on Trust, of which truthfulness is of course a major component. Basically, trust is the default human condition, as we need, as social animals, to rely on others to survive, and trust is the sine qua non of cooperation. I have to trust that, if I help you now, you'll help me in like manner later.

    Thus mutual assistance relies on people being both trusting, and trustworthy (and being truthful as a part of that).

    However, unlike our hunter gatherer forebears in whom these mechanisms of social cooperation evolved, modern homo sapiens can accrue sufficient wealth to no longer, in many ways, have to depend on others. Thus, and this has been documented, truly wealthy people are both less trusting and less trustworthy - they don't need to be. So they have less need to be truthful. It is just is not that important to them.

    Obviously, one cannot generalize for all individuals and there will be a bellcurve like distribution of how marked this tendency is across individuals. Trump clearly is at the outlier end of the curve.
    @TimT, ages ago (at least a couple of years, possibly 5 or more!) we were having a discussion about game theory and you asked if I knew any good reference works that covered a fairly niche topic (an analysis of situations where "burning money" to reduce the value of certain options to you can actually be advantageous, IIRC). Anyway, I didn't find one, but while brushing up on my game theory recently I saw a reference to a book which sounds absolutely up your street professionally! "Compliance Quantified" (1996, Cambridge University Press) by Rudolf Avenhaus, University of the Federal Armed Forces, Hamburg, and Morton John Canty, Juelich Research Center.

    It's a mathematically fairly dense, operational research/game theoretic approach to arms control verification. Quite possible that you're either very well aware of it, or the content is old hat by now, but to a non-specialist on biochemical/nuclear proliferation, the excerpts I can see in Google Books look very interesting!
    Thanks much. I was not aware of this work, so will have to check it out.
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 49,868
    Trump saying they are considering adding the UK to tonight’s travel ban (not clear when)
  • Beibheirli_CBeibheirli_C Posts: 8,163
    IanB2 said:

    Trump saying they are considering adding the UK to tonight’s travel ban (not clear when)

    The sooner the better...
This discussion has been closed.