Similarly we have no problem with James Bond having a Scots, English, Irish or indeed Australian accent, having brown or blue eyes, chest hair or no chest hair, but if a black actor is ever cast in the role we all know how the usual suspects will react.
Probably the same as if a man played Miss/Mr Marple.
Or Hugh Grant played Robert Mugabe.
For clarity, however, I think that James Bond, a fictional character, as someone has noted similarly to Dr Who, could be played by anyone and should be played by Idris Elba and should absofuckinglutely not be played by Tom Hiddleston.
Idris would be brilliant. Hard as nails and a British icon.
James Bond in films bears little relation to the James Bond of the Books (except in From Russia with Love).
If he were true to his book counterpart, I think he would have to be white and Scottish.
Jackson Carlaw, Leader of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party. twisting the knife into BoZo’s belly just now on BBC Radio Scotland. He says, repeatedly, that he is “not wholly convinced” by Dominic Cummings’ explanation for his actions.
Classic code for “the man’s a liar”.
Astonishingly, Carlaw has not spoken to his boss BoZo in months. They have only exchanged two text messages since The Clown was released from hospital.
Carlaw sounds like a drowning man, unable to affect either his opponents nor his (supposed) allies.
The Milton Keynes appointee is a real kick in the groin.
MK? *googles for land of concrete coos* Ah - now I see. Blood is sure thicker than residence when it comes to Tories. But what a dunt in the baws to the actual Scottish Tories. Remiunds me of the day when the Scottish Office was run by a MP from Weston-Super-Mare IIRC.
I will defer to our actual Scottish posters on this (and we can always rely on Malc for a fair and balanced appraisal of the situation), but right now it looks to me as if the Conservatives are going to get absolutely, utterly, walloped in the Holyrood elections next year. As in a panda-level event.
I would say Tories in Scotland have solid bedrock of 20%, who are the "British rather than Scottish" crowd. More than panda-level. The Tories have nothing to offer the other 80% however. The Ruth Davidson brand of unionism has been comprehensively trashed by the Brexit Party insurgency, aka the Conservative Party.
It has never been successfully explained to me why people can't be both British and Scottish.
Ask HYUFD why he can’t be both European and British.
And there are the folk who are British and Irish by law and treaty, whose Irishness is being denied by the government Mr HYUFD supports.
Professor Karl Friston is a computer modelling expert, world-renowned for his contributions to neuroscience. He has been applying his "dynamic causal modelling" approach to the Covid-19 pandemic, and has reached some startling results.
- The differences between countries are not primarily down to government actions, but due to 'intrinsic' differences in the populations
- We don't yet fully understand what is driving it, although there are theories ranging from levels of vitamin D to genetic differences
- In each country, there appears to be a portion of the population that is 'not even in the game' - that is, not susceptible to Covid-19. This varies hugely between countries
- In the UK, Professor Friston estimates that portion to be at least 50%, and probably more like 80%
- The similar mortality results between Sweden (no lockdown) and the UK (lockdown) are best explained by the fact that in reality there was no difference - the impact of the legal lockdown in Professor Friston's models "literally goes away".
If it turns out that "The differences between countries are not primarily down to government actions, but due to 'intrinsic' differences in the populations", the criticism of our governments actions by people who were sure they knew best will age particularly badly
The idea that a fictional character character can't interchange racially over time is ridiculous.
Unless the race of the character is integral to the story. For example, Atticus Finch must be white.
He must also be Gregory Peck imo but that is probably just me.
Well it's central to that version of the story, but TKAM could be made with a Hindu Finch and Muslim or Sikh Tom? The only aspect that needs to remain for the story to make sense is a difference between Tom and the rest
For me that would be a work "inspired by" rather than the real thing. But I take the point.
Cummings drove somewhere due to a family emergency
The emergency being that neither he nor his wife were too sick to drive, or look after their child...
What do you think about Hyde Park and the potential public health impacts Scott? I think we've probably got a fair picture of your 'staunch' views on non-essential travel, so I await your onslaught on the organisers, enablers and attendees of the BLM protests with interest.
What apology? One part of one sentence. It should be I am sorry, I made the wrong decision, period, we must all continue to follow the rules. We can campaign against racism online.
Really he just excuses his behaviour as I didn't have coronavirus (which is irrelevant) and the killing of George Floyd I have an obligation to fight racism which trumps social distancing.
It's considerably better than "I acted as I saw fit in the best interests of myself and my family and I will not mark myself down for that."
No it isn't. Cummings drove somewhere due to a family emergency (the severity of which is obviously a matter of dispute). Gardiner made an entirely unnecessary decision to join a mass protest, on foot. No mask. He did so publicly, and boasted about it. By every objective measure, his actions were more reprehensible.
Haha
"DID CUMMINGS STOP ON THE WAY TO OR FROM DURHAM AND USE PUBLIC SERVICES?!!!"
*Turns and looks the other way*
"Nothing wrong with Gardiner going to a rally with thousands of people screaming in his face"
Professor Karl Friston is a computer modelling expert, world-renowned for his contributions to neuroscience. He has been applying his "dynamic causal modelling" approach to the Covid-19 pandemic, and has reached some startling results.
- The differences between countries are not primarily down to government actions, but due to 'intrinsic' differences in the populations
- We don't yet fully understand what is driving it, although there are theories ranging from levels of vitamin D to genetic differences
- In each country, there appears to be a portion of the population that is 'not even in the game' - that is, not susceptible to Covid-19. This varies hugely between countries
- In the UK, Professor Friston estimates that portion to be at least 50%, and probably more like 80%
- The similar mortality results between Sweden (no lockdown) and the UK (lockdown) are best explained by the fact that in reality there was no difference - the impact of the legal lockdown in Professor Friston's models "literally goes away".
If it turns out that "The differences between countries are not primarily down to government actions, but due to 'intrinsic' differences in the populations", the criticism of our governments actions by people who were sure they knew best will age particularly badly
I have always felt that praise for Governments where Covid 19 had not really attacked was daft at this stage. This is a disease we know so little about. There are a number of countries where Covid should have spread widely in the population before anyone had even heard of Covid and yet it didn't. There has to be a reason for this.
Cummings drove somewhere due to a family emergency
The emergency being that neither he nor his wife were too sick to drive, or look after their child...
What do you think about Hyde Park and the potential public health impacts Scott? I think we've probably got a fair picture of your 'staunch' views on non-essential travel, so I await your onslaught on the organisers, enablers and attendees of the BLM protests with interest.
It has certainly led to a spike in whataboutery, as well as confirming the predictions of those who forecast that Cummings' comings and goings would lead to others breaking the rules using their own judgement.
The idea that a fictional character character can't interchange racially over time is ridiculous.
Unless the race of the character is integral to the story. For example, Atticus Finch must be white.
He must also be Gregory Peck imo but that is probably just me.
Well it's central to that version of the story, but TKAM could be made with a Hindu Finch and Muslim or Sikh Tom? The only aspect that needs to remain for the story to make sense is a difference between Tom and the rest
For me that would be a work "inspired by" rather than the real thing. But I take the point.
If Finch is non-white, the story would need considerable changes to reflect the reality of what the character Finch has to deal with and the difference to the narrator (his daughter) of his different social position.
Jackson Carlaw, Leader of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party. twisting the knife into BoZo’s belly just now on BBC Radio Scotland. He says, repeatedly, that he is “not wholly convinced” by Dominic Cummings’ explanation for his actions.
Classic code for “the man’s a liar”.
Astonishingly, Carlaw has not spoken to his boss BoZo in months. They have only exchanged two text messages since The Clown was released from hospital.
Carlaw sounds like a drowning man, unable to affect either his opponents nor his (supposed) allies.
The Milton Keynes appointee is a real kick in the groin.
MK? *googles for land of concrete coos* Ah - now I see. Blood is sure thicker than residence when it comes to Tories. But what a dunt in the baws to the actual Scottish Tories. Remiunds me of the day when the Scottish Office was run by a MP from Weston-Super-Mare IIRC.
People who think that James Bond is, er, not real and can be played by an actor of any size, flavour, ethnicity, colour = not Star Wars groupies.
People who think James Bond must be played by someone whose father was Scottish, mother was Swiss and was brought up in Kent, etc = Star Wars groupies.
Please confirm.
It's a continuum. Would you like a female Bond? Perhaps. Would you like an American Bond? Perhaps. But then everything just becomes meaningless brand extension, and Bond just becomes a name, like Virgin, to be plastered over anything.
What apology? One part of one sentence. It should be I am sorry, I made the wrong decision, period, we must all continue to follow the rules. We can campaign against racism online.
Really he just excuses his behaviour as I didn't have coronavirus (which is irrelevant) and the killing of George Floyd I have an obligation to fight racism which trumps social distancing.
It's considerably better than "I acted as I saw fit in the best interests of myself and my family and I will not mark myself down for that."
'I just had to go signal my virtue at a mass protest and encourage others to do the same, and public health can go fuck itself' is better than 'I was afraid my wife and I would get seriously ill and be unable to provide childcare so I drove to my in-laws'?
Only on the Planet of the Woke, I'm afraid.
But his response is surely better than the Johnson/Cummings farago. Surprised that anybody would disagree with this. Well, apart from you obviously.
Cummings drove somewhere due to a family emergency
The emergency being that neither he nor his wife were too sick to drive, or look after their child...
What do you think about Hyde Park and the potential public health impacts Scott? I think we've probably got a fair picture of your 'staunch' views on non-essential travel, so I await your onslaught on the organisers, enablers and attendees of the BLM protests with interest.
It has certainly led to a spike in whataboutery, as well as confirming the predictions of those who forecast that Cummings' comings and goings would lead to others breaking the rules using their own judgement.
Similarly we have no problem with James Bond having a Scots, English, Irish or indeed Australian accent, having brown or blue eyes, chest hair or no chest hair, but if a black actor is ever cast in the role we all know how the usual suspects will react.
Probably the same as if a man played Miss/Mr Marple.
Or Hugh Grant played Robert Mugabe.
For clarity, however, I think that James Bond, a fictional character, as someone has noted similarly to Dr Who, could be played by anyone and should be played by Idris Elba and should absofuckinglutely not be played by Tom Hiddleston.
Idris would be brilliant. Hard as nails and a British icon.
James Bond in films bears little relation to the James Bond of the Books (except in From Russia with Love).
If he were true to his book counterpart, I think he would have to be white and Scottish.
Fleming famously said he envisioned him looking like Hoagy Carmichael.
What apology? One part of one sentence. It should be I am sorry, I made the wrong decision, period, we must all continue to follow the rules. We can campaign against racism online.
Really he just excuses his behaviour as I didn't have coronavirus (which is irrelevant) and the killing of George Floyd I have an obligation to fight racism which trumps social distancing.
It's considerably better than "I acted as I saw fit in the best interests of myself and my family and I will not mark myself down for that."
No it isn't. Cummings drove somewhere due to a family emergency (the severity of which is obviously a matter of dispute). Gardiner made an entirely unnecessary decision to join a mass protest, on foot. No mask. He did so publicly, and boasted about it. By every objective measure, his actions were more reprehensible.
Haha
"DID CUMMINGS STOP ON THE WAY TO OR FROM DURHAM AND USE PUBLIC SERVICES?!!!"
*Turns and looks the other way*
"Nothing wrong with Gardiner going to a rally with thousands of people screaming in his face"
The obscene hypocrisy of the Cummings witch-hunters has been exposed in the most embarrassing fashion...
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/06/james-mattis-denounces-trump-protests-militarization/612640/ IN UNION THERE IS STRENGTH I have watched this week’s unfolding events, angry and appalled. The words “Equal Justice Under Law” are carved in the pediment of the United States Supreme Court. This is precisely what protesters are rightly demanding. It is a wholesome and unifying demand—one that all of us should be able to get behind. We must not be distracted by a small number of lawbreakers. The protests are defined by tens of thousands of people of conscience who are insisting that we live up to our values—our values as people and our values as a nation.
When I joined the military, some 50 years ago, I swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution. Never did I dream that troops taking that same oath would be ordered under any circumstance to violate the Constitutional rights of their fellow citizens—much less to provide a bizarre photo op for the elected commander-in-chief, with military leadership standing alongside. We must reject any thinking of our cities as a “battlespace” that our uniformed military is called upon to “dominate.” At home, we should use our military only when requested to do so, on very rare occasions, by state governors. Militarizing our response, as we witnessed in Washington, D.C., sets up a conflict—a false conflict—between the military and civilian society. It erodes the moral ground that ensures a trusted bond between men and women in uniform and the society they are sworn to protect, and of which they themselves are a part. Keeping public order rests with civilian state and local leaders who best understand their communities and are answerable to them.
James Madison wrote in Federalist 14 that “America united with a handful of troops, or without a single soldier, exhibits a more forbidding posture to foreign ambition than America disunited, with a hundred thousand veterans ready for combat.” We do not need to militarize our response to protests. We need to unite around a common purpose. And it starts by guaranteeing that all of us are equal before the law....
He's a good writer.
Another thing for the semi-literate goon squatting in The White House to get enraged about.
BTW, the owl picture was taken with a compact Canon SX730HS. It has a great macro facility - but the zoom is pretty damned good too. This female broad-bodied chaser dragonfly was taken from about 9 feet: hand-held, no tripod:
That is amazing quality. I recently had serviced my ancient Nikon FE2 and am trying to get used to using it. Or rather, trying to get used to carrying it around which is a culture shock vs my smart phone.
Yes, when I took my full frame camera on holiday last time I decided to dump Canon and switch to Sony. Carrying around a 5Diii and a pretty heavy lens all day is something I've realised I didn't want to do any more.
Switched to the A7iii last year. It's legitimately amazing for the size, the interface is quite terrible but once I customised it I've been taking some amazing pics with it. I did a series of "Desolate London" shoots with my wife when the proper lockdown was on which was great fun. Again, can't imagine having to lug around the 5D and two heavy full frame lenses. I got the Zeiss Batis 85mm for it recently which is probably the star buy for my use, I've also got the cheap Sony 28mm which is surprisingly decent.
If you're sick of lugging around a giant camera but still want the best pictures then the A7iii is amazing value for money and the lens selection is ace. I sold all of my Canon gear over the last few weeks (finally had time during furlough) and I'm actually quids in despite buying a camera, flash, a Zeiss lens, two Sony lenses and a shoulder strap.
Thanks I will def take a look. I only have the 50mm Nikkor on it at the moment but was def thinking of lensing up! I bought it 30 yrs ago and at the time it was one of the more expensive cameras on the market if you can believe it (I had only gone out looking for an Olympus OM10). So despite the sentimental value I am not averse to getting rid and starting again.
There is a half-finished roll of b&w film in there began pre-lockdown.
The FE2 can be picked up for about £150 these days. Very nice film camera.
I've never had a Nikon, but I've several old Nikkors that I use on adapters - you could do the same with any of the new mirrorless cameras like the Sony.
The idea that a fictional character character can't interchange racially over time is ridiculous.
Unless the race of the character is integral to the story. For example, Atticus Finch must be white.
He must also be Gregory Peck imo but that is probably just me.
Well it's central to that version of the story, but TKAM could be made with a Hindu Finch and Muslim or Sikh Tom? The only aspect that needs to remain for the story to make sense is a difference between Tom and the rest
For me that would be a work "inspired by" rather than the real thing. But I take the point.
If Finch is non-white, the story would need considerable changes to reflect the reality of what the character Finch has to deal with and the difference to the narrator (his daughter) of his different social position.
It depends where it is set. If it were an adaption set in modern India for instance a Hindu Finch and Muslim Tom could make more sense.
People who think that James Bond is, er, not real and can be played by an actor of any size, flavour, ethnicity, colour = not Star Wars groupies.
People who think James Bond must be played by someone whose father was Scottish, mother was Swiss and was brought up in Kent, etc = Star Wars groupies.
Please confirm.
It's a continuum. Would you like a female Bond? Perhaps. Would you like an American Bond? Perhaps. But then everything just becomes meaningless brand extension, and Bond just becomes a name, like Virgin, to be plastered over anything.
In the chronology of the books he would be in his late nineties by now, maybe even a centenarian. Perhaps Col. Tom Moore could play him next time out to ensure maximum faithfulness to the original character.
People who think that James Bond is, er, not real and can be played by an actor of any size, flavour, ethnicity, colour = not Star Wars groupies.
People who think James Bond must be played by someone whose father was Scottish, mother was Swiss and was brought up in Kent, etc = Star Wars groupies.
Please confirm.
It's a continuum. Would you like a female Bond? Perhaps. Would you like an American Bond? Perhaps. But then everything just becomes meaningless brand extension, and Bond just becomes a name, like Virgin, to be plastered over anything.
True. Not sure James Bond would be the ideal brand fit for Virgin though.
.... Only by adopting a new path—which means, in truth, returning to the original path of our founding ideals—will we again be a country admired and respected at home and abroad.
That paragraph is particularly good; it applies more widely, both in the US and to a lesser extent here.
What apology? One part of one sentence. It should be I am sorry, I made the wrong decision, period, we must all continue to follow the rules. We can campaign against racism online.
Really he just excuses his behaviour as I didn't have coronavirus (which is irrelevant) and the killing of George Floyd I have an obligation to fight racism which trumps social distancing.
It's considerably better than "I acted as I saw fit in the best interests of myself and my family and I will not mark myself down for that."
No it isn't. Cummings drove somewhere due to a family emergency (the severity of which is obviously a matter of dispute). Gardiner made an entirely unnecessary decision to join a mass protest, on foot. No mask. He did so publicly, and boasted about it. By every objective measure, his actions were more reprehensible.
Haha
"DID CUMMINGS STOP ON THE WAY TO OR FROM DURHAM AND USE PUBLIC SERVICES?!!!"
*Turns and looks the other way*
"Nothing wrong with Gardiner going to a rally with thousands of people screaming in his face"
I know. PB Miss Marples investigating the fuel tank capacity of Cummings Landrover. Hoping and praying some dozy cashier at the Wild Bean cafe remembers serving a couple of lattes and a capri sun to an agitated bald man.
Thousands walk on to the street (and to and from on public transport) because they're pissed off at the American police - not a sausage.
Cummings drove somewhere due to a family emergency
The emergency being that neither he nor his wife were too sick to drive, or look after their child...
What do you think about Hyde Park and the potential public health impacts Scott? I think we've probably got a fair picture of your 'staunch' views on non-essential travel, so I await your onslaught on the organisers, enablers and attendees of the BLM protests with interest.
It has certainly led to a spike in whataboutery, as well as confirming the predictions of those who forecast that Cummings' comings and goings would lead to others breaking the rules using their own judgement.
Considering others using their own judgement was already occurring before Cummings story reached the news and was happening more and more already (see eg VE weekend) then I think that forecast is a post hoc, ergo proctor hoc fallacy.
Jackson Carlaw, Leader of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party. twisting the knife into BoZo’s belly just now on BBC Radio Scotland. He says, repeatedly, that he is “not wholly convinced” by Dominic Cummings’ explanation for his actions.
Classic code for “the man’s a liar”.
Astonishingly, Carlaw has not spoken to his boss BoZo in months. They have only exchanged two text messages since The Clown was released from hospital.
Carlaw sounds like a drowning man, unable to affect either his opponents nor his (supposed) allies.
The Milton Keynes appointee is a real kick in the groin.
MK? *googles for land of concrete coos* Ah - now I see. Blood is sure thicker than residence when it comes to Tories. But what a dunt in the baws to the actual Scottish Tories. Remiunds me of the day when the Scottish Office was run by a MP from Weston-Super-Mare IIRC.
The new Scottish office minister was born in Hamilton and went to school in Glasgow.
He is Scottish, he just represents an English seat
Your lot howled when Labour and LD MPs from Scotland voted on English matters (a sentiment the SNP entirely sympathise with).
Also - do you think race/genetics/blood rather than voter representation is more important?
That's a point. Presumably the new under-assistant, deputy panjandrum won't be voting on the Scotland only matters that he's supposed to be helping to formulate?
People who think that James Bond is, er, not real and can be played by an actor of any size, flavour, ethnicity, colour = not Star Wars groupies.
People who think James Bond must be played by someone whose father was Scottish, mother was Swiss and was brought up in Kent, etc = Star Wars groupies.
Please confirm.
It's a continuum. Would you like a female Bond? Perhaps. Would you like an American Bond? Perhaps. But then everything just becomes meaningless brand extension, and Bond just becomes a name, like Virgin, to be plastered over anything.
American is out. If Bond was American it would destroy the relevance of Felix Leiter.
The idea that a fictional character character can't interchange racially over time is ridiculous.
Unless the race of the character is integral to the story. For example, Atticus Finch must be white.
He must also be Gregory Peck imo but that is probably just me.
Well it's central to that version of the story, but TKAM could be made with a Hindu Finch and Muslim or Sikh Tom? The only aspect that needs to remain for the story to make sense is a difference between Tom and the rest
For me that would be a work "inspired by" rather than the real thing. But I take the point.
If Finch is non-white, the story would need considerable changes to reflect the reality of what the character Finch has to deal with and the difference to the narrator (his daughter) of his different social position.
It depends where it is set. If it were an adaption set in modern India for instance a Hindu Finch and Muslim Tom could make more sense.
A play with a white Tom and black Atticus in a setting where whites are treated as a lower class of human would be interesting to watch, and challenge the audience to think about some of the realities and absurdities of racism.
Re the thread, yes I agree that the Government's reaction to the virus will probably be one of those traumatic events that will remain with voters for years and will impact on the outcome of the next election. The parallel which the Tories will fear is that of Black Wednesday in 1992 which served to undermine their claims to economic competence all the way up to the 1997 general election. The response to the virus is undermining any possible idea that Johnson runs a generally competent government, such has been the shambles witnessed on multiple fronts.
In political terms, the impact will get worse for Johnson. There is a deep recession on the horizon and the question is whether the Conservatives will be blamed for its depth not least on account of their mistakes having led to the UK being late out of the lockdown.
Yesterday saw another 359 deaths confirmed by testing in the UK. That was more than the total recorded for the rest of Europe combined.
OK, if it makes you feel any better I'm not really bothered to argue with the nuance of that point. It would still means that the UK's total of daily deaths was yesterday "only" nearly as high as the total that should have been recorded for the rest of Europe combined. Ahem indeed.
What I'm not prepared to accept is that the death statistics as a whole including those on excess deaths do anything other than support the claim that the UK's response to the virus has led to outcomes worse than anywhere else in Europe.
Which is consistent with the Conservative retaining a double-digit lead.
Overall, most governments would be be happy with these kinds of ratings, six months after an election.
Not as strong a position as Labour enjoyed six months post the 1997 and 2001 elections.Thatcher had a bigger lead at the end of 1987 too - as did Wilson in Autumn 1966.In the past, Sully's polls have tended to slightly understate Labour's position in Wales - though not by a big margin.
Professor Karl Friston is a computer modelling expert, world-renowned for his contributions to neuroscience. He has been applying his "dynamic causal modelling" approach to the Covid-19 pandemic, and has reached some startling results.
- The differences between countries are not primarily down to government actions, but due to 'intrinsic' differences in the populations
- We don't yet fully understand what is driving it, although there are theories ranging from levels of vitamin D to genetic differences
- In each country, there appears to be a portion of the population that is 'not even in the game' - that is, not susceptible to Covid-19. This varies hugely between countries
- In the UK, Professor Friston estimates that portion to be at least 50%, and probably more like 80%
- The similar mortality results between Sweden (no lockdown) and the UK (lockdown) are best explained by the fact that in reality there was no difference - the impact of the legal lockdown in Professor Friston's models "literally goes away".
If it turns out that "The differences between countries are not primarily down to government actions, but due to 'intrinsic' differences in the populations", the criticism of our governments actions by people who were sure they knew best will age particularly badly
I will be properly surprised if that sentence doesn't turn out to be true but perhaps only many years down the line.
What we are still seeing is the first stages of a new disease. The rate of new infections will be determined by connectivity and range, how well it spreads within the country by lived population density. Governments can put a lid on it but that's too late for Western Europe now.
People who think that James Bond is, er, not real and can be played by an actor of any size, flavour, ethnicity, colour = not Star Wars groupies.
People who think James Bond must be played by someone whose father was Scottish, mother was Swiss and was brought up in Kent, etc = Star Wars groupies.
Please confirm.
It's a continuum. Would you like a female Bond? Perhaps. Would you like an American Bond? Perhaps. But then everything just becomes meaningless brand extension, and Bond just becomes a name, like Virgin, to be plastered over anything.
In the chronology of the books he would be in his late nineties by now, maybe even a centenarian. Perhaps Col. Tom Moore could play him next time out to ensure maximum faithfulness to the original character.
He would also have been killed a number of times from the tens of thousands of bullets trained assassins have fired at him.
By any measure the UK government has failed totally in its response to the virus .
It had much more time than other European countries to prepare , the exceptionalism which has gone through the roof since Brexit suggested the virus would stop at Calais and say oh they’re special so I just won’t bother.
People who think that James Bond is, er, not real and can be played by an actor of any size, flavour, ethnicity, colour = not Star Wars groupies.
People who think James Bond must be played by someone whose father was Scottish, mother was Swiss and was brought up in Kent, etc = Star Wars groupies.
Please confirm.
It's a continuum. Would you like a female Bond? Perhaps. Would you like an American Bond? Perhaps. But then everything just becomes meaningless brand extension, and Bond just becomes a name, like Virgin, to be plastered over anything.
In the chronology of the books he would be in his late nineties by now, maybe even a centenarian. Perhaps Col. Tom Moore could play him next time out to ensure maximum faithfulness to the original character.
Vera Lynn painted gold in the role of his love interest. I'd love that.
What apology? One part of one sentence. It should be I am sorry, I made the wrong decision, period, we must all continue to follow the rules. We can campaign against racism online.
Really he just excuses his behaviour as I didn't have coronavirus (which is irrelevant) and the killing of George Floyd I have an obligation to fight racism which trumps social distancing.
It's considerably better than "I acted as I saw fit in the best interests of myself and my family and I will not mark myself down for that."
No it isn't. Cummings drove somewhere due to a family emergency (the severity of which is obviously a matter of dispute). Gardiner made an entirely unnecessary decision to join a mass protest, on foot. No mask. He did so publicly, and boasted about it. By every objective measure, his actions were more reprehensible.
Haha
"DID CUMMINGS STOP ON THE WAY TO OR FROM DURHAM AND USE PUBLIC SERVICES?!!!"
*Turns and looks the other way*
"Nothing wrong with Gardiner going to a rally with thousands of people screaming in his face"
I know. PB Miss Marples investigating the fuel tank capacity of Cummings Landrover. Hoping and praying some dozy cashier at the Wild Bean cafe remembers serving a couple of lattes and a capri sun to an agitated bald man.
Thousands walk on to the street (and to and from on public transport) because they're pissed off at the American police - not a sausage.
Why are you still banging on about big Dom? He was found not guilty so he wasn't even required to apologise. We have all moved on, keep up!
What apology? One part of one sentence. It should be I am sorry, I made the wrong decision, period, we must all continue to follow the rules. We can campaign against racism online.
Really he just excuses his behaviour as I didn't have coronavirus (which is irrelevant) and the killing of George Floyd I have an obligation to fight racism which trumps social distancing.
It's considerably better than "I acted as I saw fit in the best interests of myself and my family and I will not mark myself down for that."
No it isn't. Cummings drove somewhere due to a family emergency (the severity of which is obviously a matter of dispute). Gardiner made an entirely unnecessary decision to join a mass protest, on foot. No mask. He did so publicly, and boasted about it. By every objective measure, his actions were more reprehensible.
By any measure the UK government has failed totally in its response to the virus .
It had much more time than other European countries to prepare , the exceptionalism which has gone through the roof since Brexit suggested the virus would stop at Calais and say oh they’re special so I just won’t bother.
Arguing by hyperbole is fairly pointless, it will convince virtually no-one who disagrees with you and will even switch those who have sympathy for your position away from it.
"Failed totally" is such a ridiculous exaggeration that it forces critics of the government to support them for balance.
Professor Karl Friston is a computer modelling expert, world-renowned for his contributions to neuroscience. He has been applying his "dynamic causal modelling" approach to the Covid-19 pandemic, and has reached some startling results.
- The differences between countries are not primarily down to government actions, but due to 'intrinsic' differences in the populations
- We don't yet fully understand what is driving it, although there are theories ranging from levels of vitamin D to genetic differences
- In each country, there appears to be a portion of the population that is 'not even in the game' - that is, not susceptible to Covid-19. This varies hugely between countries
- In the UK, Professor Friston estimates that portion to be at least 50%, and probably more like 80%
- The similar mortality results between Sweden (no lockdown) and the UK (lockdown) are best explained by the fact that in reality there was no difference - the impact of the legal lockdown in Professor Friston's models "literally goes away".
If it turns out that "The differences between countries are not primarily down to government actions, but due to 'intrinsic' differences in the populations", the criticism of our governments actions by people who were sure they knew best will age particularly badly
Why do I get the distinct feeling that Professor Karl Friston (UCL) is about to join Professor Sunetra Gupta (Oxon) in the PB smear tank?
The idea that a fictional character character can't interchange racially over time is ridiculous.
Unless the race of the character is integral to the story. For example, Atticus Finch must be white.
He must also be Gregory Peck imo but that is probably just me.
Well it's central to that version of the story, but TKAM could be made with a Hindu Finch and Muslim or Sikh Tom? The only aspect that needs to remain for the story to make sense is a difference between Tom and the rest
For me that would be a work "inspired by" rather than the real thing. But I take the point.
If Finch is non-white, the story would need considerable changes to reflect the reality of what the character Finch has to deal with and the difference to the narrator (his daughter) of his different social position.
I think it would need to transfer to another place and time entirely. The story drips in USA dixie 1950s slavery ambience. You could do something equivalent but not the same set somewhere else with a different pair of oppressor oppressed groupings.
Which is consistent with the Conservative retaining a double-digit lead.
Overall, most governments would be be happy with these kinds of ratings, six months after an election.
Not as strong a position as Labour enjoyed six months post the 1997 and 2001 elections.Thatcher had a bigger lead at the end of 1987 too - as did Wilson in Autumn 1966.In the past, Sully's polls have tended to slightly understate Labour's position in Wales - though not by a big margin.
The Plaid vote is up quite a bit since the GE. That looks to be significant.
People who think that James Bond is, er, not real and can be played by an actor of any size, flavour, ethnicity, colour = not Star Wars groupies.
People who think James Bond must be played by someone whose father was Scottish, mother was Swiss and was brought up in Kent, etc = Star Wars groupies.
Please confirm.
It's a continuum. Would you like a female Bond? Perhaps. Would you like an American Bond? Perhaps. But then everything just becomes meaningless brand extension, and Bond just becomes a name, like Virgin, to be plastered over anything.
In the chronology of the books he would be in his late nineties by now, maybe even a centenarian. Perhaps Col. Tom Moore could play him next time out to ensure maximum faithfulness to the original character.
Vera Lynn painted gold in the role of his love interest. I'd love that.
I hope you mean love the concept rather than the actualité.
The idea that a fictional character can't interchange racially over time is ridiculous. This is a bit of a racial stereotyping really, but James Bond is a smooth, cool kind of guy, and black men are generally cooler and smoother than white men anyway. Probably a perfect fit
Can you think of an Asian actor who has been suggested for the role?
Another 3,574 people have been confirmed as having coronavirus in Iran over the last 24 hours, its health ministry has announced - the highest daily figure since the outbreak began in February. This is also the fourth day running that the number of new cases has been higher than 3,000.
Reopening the mosques - the JRM conga line of decisions.
.... Only by adopting a new path—which means, in truth, returning to the original path of our founding ideals—will we again be a country admired and respected at home and abroad.
That paragraph is particularly good; it applies more widely, both in the US and to a lesser extent here.
I think the US is perhaps in need of Lincoln's 'more perfect union', rather than a straightforward return to the founding ideals...
Jackson Carlaw, Leader of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party. twisting the knife into BoZo’s belly just now on BBC Radio Scotland. He says, repeatedly, that he is “not wholly convinced” by Dominic Cummings’ explanation for his actions.
Classic code for “the man’s a liar”.
Astonishingly, Carlaw has not spoken to his boss BoZo in months. They have only exchanged two text messages since The Clown was released from hospital.
Carlaw sounds like a drowning man, unable to affect either his opponents nor his (supposed) allies.
The Milton Keynes appointee is a real kick in the groin.
MK? *googles for land of concrete coos* Ah - now I see. Blood is sure thicker than residence when it comes to Tories. But what a dunt in the baws to the actual Scottish Tories. Remiunds me of the day when the Scottish Office was run by a MP from Weston-Super-Mare IIRC.
I will defer to our actual Scottish posters on this (and we can always rely on Malc for a fair and balanced appraisal of the situation), but right now it looks to me as if the Conservatives are going to get absolutely, utterly, walloped in the Holyrood elections next year. As in a panda-level event.
I would say Tories in Scotland have solid bedrock of 20%, who are the "British rather than Scottish" crowd. More than panda-level. The Tories have nothing to offer the other 80% however. The Ruth Davidson brand of unionism has been comprehensively trashed by the Brexit Party insurgency, aka the Conservative Party.
It has never been successfully explained to me why people can't be both British and Scottish.
Ask HYUFD why he can’t be both European and British.
Certainly. @HYUFD, why can't you be European and British?
Jackson Carlaw, Leader of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party. twisting the knife into BoZo’s belly just now on BBC Radio Scotland. He says, repeatedly, that he is “not wholly convinced” by Dominic Cummings’ explanation for his actions.
Classic code for “the man’s a liar”.
Astonishingly, Carlaw has not spoken to his boss BoZo in months. They have only exchanged two text messages since The Clown was released from hospital.
Carlaw sounds like a drowning man, unable to affect either his opponents nor his (supposed) allies.
The Milton Keynes appointee is a real kick in the groin.
MK? *googles for land of concrete coos* Ah - now I see. Blood is sure thicker than residence when it comes to Tories. But what a dunt in the baws to the actual Scottish Tories. Remiunds me of the day when the Scottish Office was run by a MP from Weston-Super-Mare IIRC.
I will defer to our actual Scottish posters on this (and we can always rely on Malc for a fair and balanced appraisal of the situation), but right now it looks to me as if the Conservatives are going to get absolutely, utterly, walloped in the Holyrood elections next year. As in a panda-level event.
I would say Tories in Scotland have solid bedrock of 20%, who are the "British rather than Scottish" crowd. More than panda-level. The Tories have nothing to offer the other 80% however. The Ruth Davidson brand of unionism has been comprehensively trashed by the Brexit Party insurgency, aka the Conservative Party.
It has never been successfully explained to me why people can't be both British and Scottish.
Ask HYUFD why he can’t be both European and British.
Certainly. @HYUFD, why can't you be European and British?
Canada is in the continent of North America, Scotland is on the island of Great Britain, as is Wales, but describing people there as "American" or "British" respectively will land you a smack in the face in some parts of each.
The idea that a fictional character character can't interchange racially over time is ridiculous.
Unless the race of the character is integral to the story. For example, Atticus Finch must be white.
He must also be Gregory Peck imo but that is probably just me.
Well it's central to that version of the story, but TKAM could be made with a Hindu Finch and Muslim or Sikh Tom? The only aspect that needs to remain for the story to make sense is a difference between Tom and the rest
For me that would be a work "inspired by" rather than the real thing. But I take the point.
If Finch is non-white, the story would need considerable changes to reflect the reality of what the character Finch has to deal with and the difference to the narrator (his daughter) of his different social position.
I think it would need to transfer to another place and time entirely. The story drips in USA dixie 1950s slavery ambience. You could do something equivalent but not the same set somewhere else with a different pair of oppressor oppressed groupings.
Some reflections on TKAM in this interesting tweet.
People who think that James Bond is, er, not real and can be played by an actor of any size, flavour, ethnicity, colour = not Star Wars groupies.
People who think James Bond must be played by someone whose father was Scottish, mother was Swiss and was brought up in Kent, etc = Star Wars groupies.
Please confirm.
It's a continuum. Would you like a female Bond? Perhaps. Would you like an American Bond? Perhaps. But then everything just becomes meaningless brand extension, and Bond just becomes a name, like Virgin, to be plastered over anything.
Jackson Carlaw, Leader of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party. twisting the knife into BoZo’s belly just now on BBC Radio Scotland. He says, repeatedly, that he is “not wholly convinced” by Dominic Cummings’ explanation for his actions.
Classic code for “the man’s a liar”.
Astonishingly, Carlaw has not spoken to his boss BoZo in months. They have only exchanged two text messages since The Clown was released from hospital.
Carlaw sounds like a drowning man, unable to affect either his opponents nor his (supposed) allies.
The Milton Keynes appointee is a real kick in the groin.
MK? *googles for land of concrete coos* Ah - now I see. Blood is sure thicker than residence when it comes to Tories. But what a dunt in the baws to the actual Scottish Tories. Remiunds me of the day when the Scottish Office was run by a MP from Weston-Super-Mare IIRC.
I will defer to our actual Scottish posters on this (and we can always rely on Malc for a fair and balanced appraisal of the situation), but right now it looks to me as if the Conservatives are going to get absolutely, utterly, walloped in the Holyrood elections next year. As in a panda-level event.
I would say Tories in Scotland have solid bedrock of 20%, who are the "British rather than Scottish" crowd. More than panda-level. The Tories have nothing to offer the other 80% however. The Ruth Davidson brand of unionism has been comprehensively trashed by the Brexit Party insurgency, aka the Conservative Party.
It has never been successfully explained to me why people can't be both British and Scottish.
Ask HYUFD why he can’t be both European and British.
Certainly. @HYUFD, why can't you be European and British?
Jackson Carlaw, Leader of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party. twisting the knife into BoZo’s belly just now on BBC Radio Scotland. He says, repeatedly, that he is “not wholly convinced” by Dominic Cummings’ explanation for his actions.
Classic code for “the man’s a liar”.
Astonishingly, Carlaw has not spoken to his boss BoZo in months. They have only exchanged two text messages since The Clown was released from hospital.
Carlaw sounds like a drowning man, unable to affect either his opponents nor his (supposed) allies.
The Milton Keynes appointee is a real kick in the groin.
MK? *googles for land of concrete coos* Ah - now I see. Blood is sure thicker than residence when it comes to Tories. But what a dunt in the baws to the actual Scottish Tories. Remiunds me of the day when the Scottish Office was run by a MP from Weston-Super-Mare IIRC.
I will defer to our actual Scottish posters on this (and we can always rely on Malc for a fair and balanced appraisal of the situation), but right now it looks to me as if the Conservatives are going to get absolutely, utterly, walloped in the Holyrood elections next year. As in a panda-level event.
I would say Tories in Scotland have solid bedrock of 20%, who are the "British rather than Scottish" crowd. More than panda-level. The Tories have nothing to offer the other 80% however. The Ruth Davidson brand of unionism has been comprehensively trashed by the Brexit Party insurgency, aka the Conservative Party.
It has never been successfully explained to me why people can't be both British and Scottish.
Ask HYUFD why he can’t be both European and British.
I never said you can't, I have a British passport and voted Remain
Love the Tawny by the way. Our resident woodpeckers have a youngster this year and doing a lot more ground feeding than usual with the youngster
We've had the same. Usually we see green woodpeckers a lot, but this year they've been around very little. On the other hand, we usually don't see the spotted woodpeckers very much (although we can hear them in the woods), but this year we had a pair coming every day for around three weeks, non-stop, to forage in the grass under a weeping willow tree near our pond. It seemed very unusual behaviour for a species which usually sticks to the woods.
People who think that James Bond is, er, not real and can be played by an actor of any size, flavour, ethnicity, colour = not Star Wars groupies.
People who think James Bond must be played by someone whose father was Scottish, mother was Swiss and was brought up in Kent, etc = Star Wars groupies.
Please confirm.
It's a continuum. Would you like a female Bond? Perhaps. Would you like an American Bond? Perhaps. But then everything just becomes meaningless brand extension, and Bond just becomes a name, like Virgin, to be plastered over anything.
In the chronology of the books he would be in his late nineties by now, maybe even a centenarian. Perhaps Col. Tom Moore could play him next time out to ensure maximum faithfulness to the original character.
He would also have been killed a number of times from the tens of thousands of bullets trained assassins have fired at him.
Bullets? The 100 a day high tar, no filter, cigarette habit Fleming described would have got him first. And thats before the alcohol consumption and the risk of STDs.
People who think that James Bond is, er, not real and can be played by an actor of any size, flavour, ethnicity, colour = not Star Wars groupies.
People who think James Bond must be played by someone whose father was Scottish, mother was Swiss and was brought up in Kent, etc = Star Wars groupies.
Please confirm.
It's a continuum. Would you like a female Bond? Perhaps. Would you like an American Bond? Perhaps. But then everything just becomes meaningless brand extension, and Bond just becomes a name, like Virgin, to be plastered over anything.
Stop getting Bond wrong!
A female Bond has already been done - Atomic Blonde.
Help needed please. I am trying to post a picture/video. Never done it before. Went into my profile, activity, cut and pasted it in and shared it. It is sitting there under my activity but doesn't get posted to the forum. Clearly I don't know what I am doing. Help please?
Jackson Carlaw, Leader of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party. twisting the knife into BoZo’s belly just now on BBC Radio Scotland. He says, repeatedly, that he is “not wholly convinced” by Dominic Cummings’ explanation for his actions.
Classic code for “the man’s a liar”.
Astonishingly, Carlaw has not spoken to his boss BoZo in months. They have only exchanged two text messages since The Clown was released from hospital.
Carlaw sounds like a drowning man, unable to affect either his opponents nor his (supposed) allies.
The Milton Keynes appointee is a real kick in the groin.
MK? *googles for land of concrete coos* Ah - now I see. Blood is sure thicker than residence when it comes to Tories. But what a dunt in the baws to the actual Scottish Tories. Remiunds me of the day when the Scottish Office was run by a MP from Weston-Super-Mare IIRC.
I will defer to our actual Scottish posters on this (and we can always rely on Malc for a fair and balanced appraisal of the situation), but right now it looks to me as if the Conservatives are going to get absolutely, utterly, walloped in the Holyrood elections next year. As in a panda-level event.
I would say Tories in Scotland have solid bedrock of 20%, who are the "British rather than Scottish" crowd. More than panda-level. The Tories have nothing to offer the other 80% however. The Ruth Davidson brand of unionism has been comprehensively trashed by the Brexit Party insurgency, aka the Conservative Party.
It has never been successfully explained to me why people can't be both British and Scottish.
Ask HYUFD why he can’t be both European and British.
And there are the folk who are British and Irish by law and treaty, whose Irishness is being denied by the government Mr HYUFD supports.
Far from it, the government has avoided a hard border with the Republic of Ireland while keeping Northern Ireland in the UK
Help needed please. I am trying to post a picture/video. Never done it before. Went into my profile, activity, cut and pasted it in and shared it. It is sitting there under my activity but doesn't get posted to the forum. Clearly I don't know what I am doing. Help please?
The idea that a fictional character character can't interchange racially over time is ridiculous.
Unless the race of the character is integral to the story. For example, Atticus Finch must be white.
He must also be Gregory Peck imo but that is probably just me.
Well it's central to that version of the story, but TKAM could be made with a Hindu Finch and Muslim or Sikh Tom? The only aspect that needs to remain for the story to make sense is a difference between Tom and the rest
For me that would be a work "inspired by" rather than the real thing. But I take the point.
If Finch is non-white, the story would need considerable changes to reflect the reality of what the character Finch has to deal with and the difference to the narrator (his daughter) of his different social position.
It depends where it is set. If it were an adaption set in modern India for instance a Hindu Finch and Muslim Tom could make more sense.
A play with a white Tom and black Atticus in a setting where whites are treated as a lower class of human would be interesting to watch, and challenge the audience to think about some of the realities and absurdities of racism.
There was that TV drama series recently which was just this. Did not watch it myself but I heard it worked well.
Help needed please. I am trying to post a picture/video. Never done it before. Went into my profile, activity, cut and pasted it in and shared it. It is sitting there under my activity but doesn't get posted to the forum. Clearly I don't know what I am doing. Help please?
The idea that a fictional character character can't interchange racially over time is ridiculous.
Unless the race of the character is integral to the story. For example, Atticus Finch must be white.
He must also be Gregory Peck imo but that is probably just me.
Well it's central to that version of the story, but TKAM could be made with a Hindu Finch and Muslim or Sikh Tom? The only aspect that needs to remain for the story to make sense is a difference between Tom and the rest
For me that would be a work "inspired by" rather than the real thing. But I take the point.
If Finch is non-white, the story would need considerable changes to reflect the reality of what the character Finch has to deal with and the difference to the narrator (his daughter) of his different social position.
I think it would need to transfer to another place and time entirely. The story drips in USA dixie 1950s slavery ambience. You could do something equivalent but not the same set somewhere else with a different pair of oppressor oppressed groupings.
Some reflections on TKAM in this interesting tweet.
Michael Portillo has a programme that is critical of the British Empire each Friday night at the moment on Ch5. So far it has covered India, the Caribbean and South Africa, well worth a watch.
What bothers me is that the people negatively impacted by immigration tend to be the poor in the country emigrated to - the establishment in England still live off the riches gained from exploiting the commonwealth subjects, while those who never did have to compete with their descendants for jobs and state services. New housing estates and hospitals that the growing population require should be built on the land and funded by the money that went to the profiteers of the slave trade.
The idea that a fictional character character can't interchange racially over time is ridiculous.
Unless the race of the character is integral to the story. For example, Atticus Finch must be white.
He must also be Gregory Peck imo but that is probably just me.
Well it's central to that version of the story, but TKAM could be made with a Hindu Finch and Muslim or Sikh Tom? The only aspect that needs to remain for the story to make sense is a difference between Tom and the rest
For me that would be a work "inspired by" rather than the real thing. But I take the point.
If Finch is non-white, the story would need considerable changes to reflect the reality of what the character Finch has to deal with and the difference to the narrator (his daughter) of his different social position.
It depends where it is set. If it were an adaption set in modern India for instance a Hindu Finch and Muslim Tom could make more sense.
A play with a white Tom and black Atticus in a setting where whites are treated as a lower class of human would be interesting to watch, and challenge the audience to think about some of the realities and absurdities of racism.
There was that TV drama series recently which was just this. Did not watch it myself but I heard it worked well.
In psychology class at college we studied Jane Elliott's "blue eyes/brown eyes" experiment - that puts the absurdities of racism across quite well, as does the song "War" by Bob Marley.
Professor Karl Friston is a computer modelling expert, world-renowned for his contributions to neuroscience. He has been applying his "dynamic causal modelling" approach to the Covid-19 pandemic, and has reached some startling results.
- The differences between countries are not primarily down to government actions, but due to 'intrinsic' differences in the populations
- We don't yet fully understand what is driving it, although there are theories ranging from levels of vitamin D to genetic differences
- In each country, there appears to be a portion of the population that is 'not even in the game' - that is, not susceptible to Covid-19. This varies hugely between countries
- In the UK, Professor Friston estimates that portion to be at least 50%, and probably more like 80%
- The similar mortality results between Sweden (no lockdown) and the UK (lockdown) are best explained by the fact that in reality there was no difference - the impact of the legal lockdown in Professor Friston's models "literally goes away".
So what are the intrinsic differences between Swedes, Norwegians, and Danes?
Jackson Carlaw, Leader of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party. twisting the knife into BoZo’s belly just now on BBC Radio Scotland. He says, repeatedly, that he is “not wholly convinced” by Dominic Cummings’ explanation for his actions.
Classic code for “the man’s a liar”.
Astonishingly, Carlaw has not spoken to his boss BoZo in months. They have only exchanged two text messages since The Clown was released from hospital.
Carlaw sounds like a drowning man, unable to affect either his opponents nor his (supposed) allies.
The Milton Keynes appointee is a real kick in the groin.
MK? *googles for land of concrete coos* Ah - now I see. Blood is sure thicker than residence when it comes to Tories. But what a dunt in the baws to the actual Scottish Tories. Remiunds me of the day when the Scottish Office was run by a MP from Weston-Super-Mare IIRC.
I will defer to our actual Scottish posters on this (and we can always rely on Malc for a fair and balanced appraisal of the situation), but right now it looks to me as if the Conservatives are going to get absolutely, utterly, walloped in the Holyrood elections next year. As in a panda-level event.
I would say Tories in Scotland have solid bedrock of 20%, who are the "British rather than Scottish" crowd. More than panda-level. The Tories have nothing to offer the other 80% however. The Ruth Davidson brand of unionism has been comprehensively trashed by the Brexit Party insurgency, aka the Conservative Party.
It has never been successfully explained to me why people can't be both British and Scottish.
Ask HYUFD why he can’t be both European and British.
I never said you can't, I have a British passport and voted Remain
You said only a few days ago that Britain was not part of Europe.
Help needed please. I am trying to post a picture/video. Never done it before. Went into my profile, activity, cut and pasted it in and shared it. It is sitting there under my activity but doesn't get posted to the forum. Clearly I don't know what I am doing. Help please?
I am not qualified to comment on the mathematics but is what he is doing simply showing that if there is a pre-disposition to the virus (due to lack of immunity) then "waves" will be created by seasonality in that at some points it will suppress the level of infection and at others increase it? The problem with that is his assumption that vulnerability to the virus in fact remains constant. There have been a number of studies now suggesting that an increasing (if still modest) share of society is immune through the presence of anti-bodies or may be immune period for other reasons we don't understand. There is also the fact that the death rate amongst the most vulnerable is such that there are fewer of these going forward.
He may well be right but I think stating that a second wave is "inevitable" is overstating it. We don't even know for sure that this virus has seasonality factors in the same way that flu has (although, in fairness, that is probable).
Jackson Carlaw, Leader of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party. twisting the knife into BoZo’s belly just now on BBC Radio Scotland. He says, repeatedly, that he is “not wholly convinced” by Dominic Cummings’ explanation for his actions.
Classic code for “the man’s a liar”.
Astonishingly, Carlaw has not spoken to his boss BoZo in months. They have only exchanged two text messages since The Clown was released from hospital.
Carlaw sounds like a drowning man, unable to affect either his opponents nor his (supposed) allies.
The Milton Keynes appointee is a real kick in the groin.
MK? *googles for land of concrete coos* Ah - now I see. Blood is sure thicker than residence when it comes to Tories. But what a dunt in the baws to the actual Scottish Tories. Remiunds me of the day when the Scottish Office was run by a MP from Weston-Super-Mare IIRC.
The new Scottish office minister was born in Hamilton and went to school in Glasgow.
He is Scottish, he just represents an English seat
Your lot howled when Labour and LD MPs from Scotland voted on English matters (a sentiment the SNP entirely sympathise with).
Also - do you think race/genetics/blood rather than voter representation is more important?
That's a point. Presumably the new under-assistant, deputy panjandrum won't be voting on the Scotland only matters that he's supposed to be helping to formulate?
HY is a blood and soil nationalist.
You gotta laugh at Tories. Remember when they screamed their heads off at a jock being their prime minister.
Professor Karl Friston is a computer modelling expert, world-renowned for his contributions to neuroscience. He has been applying his "dynamic causal modelling" approach to the Covid-19 pandemic, and has reached some startling results.
- The differences between countries are not primarily down to government actions, but due to 'intrinsic' differences in the populations
- We don't yet fully understand what is driving it, although there are theories ranging from levels of vitamin D to genetic differences
- In each country, there appears to be a portion of the population that is 'not even in the game' - that is, not susceptible to Covid-19. This varies hugely between countries
- In the UK, Professor Friston estimates that portion to be at least 50%, and probably more like 80%
- The similar mortality results between Sweden (no lockdown) and the UK (lockdown) are best explained by the fact that in reality there was no difference - the impact of the legal lockdown in Professor Friston's models "literally goes away".
If it turns out that "The differences between countries are not primarily down to government actions, but due to 'intrinsic' differences in the populations", the criticism of our governments actions by people who were sure they knew best will age particularly badly
Why do I get the distinct feeling that Professor Karl Friston (UCL) is about to join Professor Sunetra Gupta (Oxon) in the PB smear tank?
For the same reason that he'll join the icons of the "I don't want to be locked down" cheerleaders?
Got to say, the explanation for the differences between Norway and Sweden that the tenfold extra death rate in Sweden is down to innate intrinsic differences between Norwegians and Swedes rather than Government action is a little hard to swallow.
Jackson Carlaw, Leader of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party. twisting the knife into BoZo’s belly just now on BBC Radio Scotland. He says, repeatedly, that he is “not wholly convinced” by Dominic Cummings’ explanation for his actions.
Classic code for “the man’s a liar”.
Astonishingly, Carlaw has not spoken to his boss BoZo in months. They have only exchanged two text messages since The Clown was released from hospital.
Carlaw sounds like a drowning man, unable to affect either his opponents nor his (supposed) allies.
The Milton Keynes appointee is a real kick in the groin.
MK? *googles for land of concrete coos* Ah - now I see. Blood is sure thicker than residence when it comes to Tories. But what a dunt in the baws to the actual Scottish Tories. Remiunds me of the day when the Scottish Office was run by a MP from Weston-Super-Mare IIRC.
The new Scottish office minister was born in Hamilton and went to school in Glasgow.
He is Scottish, he just represents an English seat
Your lot howled when Labour and LD MPs from Scotland voted on English matters (a sentiment the SNP entirely sympathise with).
Also - do you think race/genetics/blood rather than voter representation is more important?
That's a point. Presumably the new under-assistant, deputy panjandrum won't be voting on the Scotland only matters that he's supposed to be helping to formulate?
HY is a blood and soil nationalist.
You gotta laugh at Tories. Remember when they screamed their heads off at a jock being their prime minister.
The idea that a fictional character character can't interchange racially over time is ridiculous.
Unless the race of the character is integral to the story. For example, Atticus Finch must be white.
He must also be Gregory Peck imo but that is probably just me.
Well it's central to that version of the story, but TKAM could be made with a Hindu Finch and Muslim or Sikh Tom? The only aspect that needs to remain for the story to make sense is a difference between Tom and the rest
For me that would be a work "inspired by" rather than the real thing. But I take the point.
If Finch is non-white, the story would need considerable changes to reflect the reality of what the character Finch has to deal with and the difference to the narrator (his daughter) of his different social position.
I think it would need to transfer to another place and time entirely. The story drips in USA dixie 1950s slavery ambience. You could do something equivalent but not the same set somewhere else with a different pair of oppressor oppressed groupings.
Some reflections on TKAM in this interesting tweet.
Jackson Carlaw, Leader of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party. twisting the knife into BoZo’s belly just now on BBC Radio Scotland. He says, repeatedly, that he is “not wholly convinced” by Dominic Cummings’ explanation for his actions.
Classic code for “the man’s a liar”.
Astonishingly, Carlaw has not spoken to his boss BoZo in months. They have only exchanged two text messages since The Clown was released from hospital.
Carlaw sounds like a drowning man, unable to affect either his opponents nor his (supposed) allies.
The Milton Keynes appointee is a real kick in the groin.
MK? *googles for land of concrete coos* Ah - now I see. Blood is sure thicker than residence when it comes to Tories. But what a dunt in the baws to the actual Scottish Tories. Remiunds me of the day when the Scottish Office was run by a MP from Weston-Super-Mare IIRC.
The new Scottish office minister was born in Hamilton and went to school in Glasgow.
He is Scottish, he just represents an English seat
Your lot howled when Labour and LD MPs from Scotland voted on English matters (a sentiment the SNP entirely sympathise with).
Also - do you think race/genetics/blood rather than voter representation is more important?
That's a point. Presumably the new under-assistant, deputy panjandrum won't be voting on the Scotland only matters that he's supposed to be helping to formulate?
HY is a blood and soil nationalist.
You gotta laugh at Tories. Remember when they screamed their heads off at a jock being their prime minister.
Jackson Carlaw, Leader of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party. twisting the knife into BoZo’s belly just now on BBC Radio Scotland. He says, repeatedly, that he is “not wholly convinced” by Dominic Cummings’ explanation for his actions.
Classic code for “the man’s a liar”.
Astonishingly, Carlaw has not spoken to his boss BoZo in months. They have only exchanged two text messages since The Clown was released from hospital.
Carlaw sounds like a drowning man, unable to affect either his opponents nor his (supposed) allies.
The Milton Keynes appointee is a real kick in the groin.
MK? *googles for land of concrete coos* Ah - now I see. Blood is sure thicker than residence when it comes to Tories. But what a dunt in the baws to the actual Scottish Tories. Remiunds me of the day when the Scottish Office was run by a MP from Weston-Super-Mare IIRC.
The new Scottish office minister was born in Hamilton and went to school in Glasgow.
He is Scottish, he just represents an English seat
Your lot howled when Labour and LD MPs from Scotland voted on English matters (a sentiment the SNP entirely sympathise with).
Also - do you think race/genetics/blood rather than voter representation is more important?
That's a point. Presumably the new under-assistant, deputy panjandrum won't be voting on the Scotland only matters that he's supposed to be helping to formulate?
HY is a blood and soil nationalist.
You gotta laugh at Tories. Remember when they screamed their heads off at a jock being their prime minister.
I think it was him being Labour that caused that.
What, not him being a 'one-eyed Scottish idiot'?
You think the main reason for them supposedly "screaming their heads off" was because he was Scottish?
The idea that a fictional character character can't interchange racially over time is ridiculous.
Unless the race of the character is integral to the story. For example, Atticus Finch must be white.
He must also be Gregory Peck imo but that is probably just me.
Well it's central to that version of the story, but TKAM could be made with a Hindu Finch and Muslim or Sikh Tom? The only aspect that needs to remain for the story to make sense is a difference between Tom and the rest
For me that would be a work "inspired by" rather than the real thing. But I take the point.
If Finch is non-white, the story would need considerable changes to reflect the reality of what the character Finch has to deal with and the difference to the narrator (his daughter) of his different social position.
It depends where it is set. If it were an adaption set in modern India for instance a Hindu Finch and Muslim Tom could make more sense.
A play with a white Tom and black Atticus in a setting where whites are treated as a lower class of human would be interesting to watch, and challenge the audience to think about some of the realities and absurdities of racism.
Recently something fairly similar was done in Noughts and Crosses.
Jackson Carlaw, Leader of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party. twisting the knife into BoZo’s belly just now on BBC Radio Scotland. He says, repeatedly, that he is “not wholly convinced” by Dominic Cummings’ explanation for his actions.
Classic code for “the man’s a liar”.
Astonishingly, Carlaw has not spoken to his boss BoZo in months. They have only exchanged two text messages since The Clown was released from hospital.
Carlaw sounds like a drowning man, unable to affect either his opponents nor his (supposed) allies.
The Milton Keynes appointee is a real kick in the groin.
MK? *googles for land of concrete coos* Ah - now I see. Blood is sure thicker than residence when it comes to Tories. But what a dunt in the baws to the actual Scottish Tories. Remiunds me of the day when the Scottish Office was run by a MP from Weston-Super-Mare IIRC.
I will defer to our actual Scottish posters on this (and we can always rely on Malc for a fair and balanced appraisal of the situation), but right now it looks to me as if the Conservatives are going to get absolutely, utterly, walloped in the Holyrood elections next year. As in a panda-level event.
I would say Tories in Scotland have solid bedrock of 20%, who are the "British rather than Scottish" crowd. More than panda-level. The Tories have nothing to offer the other 80% however. The Ruth Davidson brand of unionism has been comprehensively trashed by the Brexit Party insurgency, aka the Conservative Party.
It has never been successfully explained to me why people can't be both British and Scottish.
Ask HYUFD why he can’t be both European and British.
I never said you can't, I have a British passport and voted Remain
You said only a few days ago that Britain was not part of Europe.
Of course Britain is part of Europe. Not wanting to belong to a political organisation doesn't change the geography.
Professor Karl Friston is a computer modelling expert, world-renowned for his contributions to neuroscience. He has been applying his "dynamic causal modelling" approach to the Covid-19 pandemic, and has reached some startling results.
- The differences between countries are not primarily down to government actions, but due to 'intrinsic' differences in the populations
- We don't yet fully understand what is driving it, although there are theories ranging from levels of vitamin D to genetic differences
- In each country, there appears to be a portion of the population that is 'not even in the game' - that is, not susceptible to Covid-19. This varies hugely between countries
- In the UK, Professor Friston estimates that portion to be at least 50%, and probably more like 80%
- The similar mortality results between Sweden (no lockdown) and the UK (lockdown) are best explained by the fact that in reality there was no difference - the impact of the legal lockdown in Professor Friston's models "literally goes away".
So what are the intrinsic differences between Swedes, Norwegians, and Danes?
Those numbers from Friston on the UK are very interesting. 80% 'not in the game' that's an even bigger dark matter estimate than Professor Gupta's
Jackson Carlaw, Leader of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party. twisting the knife into BoZo’s belly just now on BBC Radio Scotland. He says, repeatedly, that he is “not wholly convinced” by Dominic Cummings’ explanation for his actions.
Classic code for “the man’s a liar”.
Astonishingly, Carlaw has not spoken to his boss BoZo in months. They have only exchanged two text messages since The Clown was released from hospital.
Carlaw sounds like a drowning man, unable to affect either his opponents nor his (supposed) allies.
The Milton Keynes appointee is a real kick in the groin.
MK? *googles for land of concrete coos* Ah - now I see. Blood is sure thicker than residence when it comes to Tories. But what a dunt in the baws to the actual Scottish Tories. Remiunds me of the day when the Scottish Office was run by a MP from Weston-Super-Mare IIRC.
The new Scottish office minister was born in Hamilton and went to school in Glasgow.
He is Scottish, he just represents an English seat
Your lot howled when Labour and LD MPs from Scotland voted on English matters (a sentiment the SNP entirely sympathise with).
Also - do you think race/genetics/blood rather than voter representation is more important?
That's a point. Presumably the new under-assistant, deputy panjandrum won't be voting on the Scotland only matters that he's supposed to be helping to formulate?
HY is a blood and soil nationalist.
You gotta laugh at Tories. Remember when they screamed their heads off at a jock being their prime minister.
I think it was him being Labour that caused that.
Nonsense. The air was thick with ant-Scottish venom.
Comments
If he were true to his book counterpart, I think he would have to be white and Scottish.
"DID CUMMINGS STOP ON THE WAY TO OR FROM DURHAM AND USE PUBLIC SERVICES?!!!"
*Turns and looks the other way*
"Nothing wrong with Gardiner going to a rally with thousands of people screaming in his face"
Also - do you think race/genetics/blood rather than voter representation is more important?
https://flemingsbond.com/hoagy-carmichael/
Another thing for the semi-literate goon squatting in The White House to get enraged about.
I've never had a Nikon, but I've several old Nikkors that I use on adapters - you could do the same with any of the new mirrorless cameras like the Sony.
It is depressing to hear those on the right back Cummings and shame Gardiner, whilst those on the left shame Cummings and back Gardiner.
Thousands walk on to the street (and to and from on public transport) because they're pissed off at the American police - not a sausage.
What I'm not prepared to accept is that the death statistics as a whole including those on excess deaths do anything other than support the claim that the UK's response to the virus has led to outcomes worse than anywhere else in Europe.
What we are still seeing is the first stages of a new disease. The rate of new infections will be determined by connectivity and range, how well it spreads within the country by lived population density. Governments can put a lid on it but that's too late for Western Europe now.
https://twitter.com/pmdfoster/status/1268508116381024257
It had much more time than other European countries to prepare , the exceptionalism which has gone through the roof since Brexit suggested the virus would stop at Calais and say oh they’re special so I just won’t bother.
https://twitter.com/DFisman/status/1267966535500521474
WELSH POLL KLAXON
WELSH POLL KLAXON
"Failed totally" is such a ridiculous exaggeration that it forces critics of the government to support them for balance.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_United_Kingdom_general_election_in_Wales
Reopening the mosques - the JRM conga line of decisions.
Given that Britain is in Europe (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europe) how can someone be British and not European?
https://twitter.com/PoliticsJOE_UK/status/1268264740171759616
https://politicalbetting.vanillacommunity.com/discussion
On Vanilla there is a handy button just above where you type a comment.
https://politicalbetting.vanillacommunity.com/profile
By the way I really enjoyed your response to me yesterday. made me laugh.
What bothers me is that the people negatively impacted by immigration tend to be the poor in the country emigrated to - the establishment in England still live off the riches gained from exploiting the commonwealth subjects, while those who never did have to compete with their descendants for jobs and state services. New housing estates and hospitals that the growing population require should be built on the land and funded by the money that went to the profiteers of the slave trade.
https://politicalbetting.vanillacommunity.com/discussion/8761/politicalbetting-com-blog-archive-a-big-challenge-for-johnson-and-his-minsters-is-that-their-rat
The problem with that is his assumption that vulnerability to the virus in fact remains constant. There have been a number of studies now suggesting that an increasing (if still modest) share of society is immune through the presence of anti-bodies or may be immune period for other reasons we don't understand. There is also the fact that the death rate amongst the most vulnerable is such that there are fewer of these going forward.
He may well be right but I think stating that a second wave is "inevitable" is overstating it. We don't even know for sure that this virus has seasonality factors in the same way that flu has (although, in fairness, that is probable).
You gotta laugh at Tories. Remember when they screamed their heads off at a jock being their prime minister.
Got to say, the explanation for the differences between Norway and Sweden that the tenfold extra death rate in Sweden is down to innate intrinsic differences between Norwegians and Swedes rather than Government action is a little hard to swallow.
https://twitter.com/gordonrayner/status/1268517155332591617
Professor Karl Friston (UCL)
Professor Sunetra Gupta (Oxon)
Professor Carl Heneghan (Oxon)
•••
Is the Boffin' Boffin currently a GOOD or BAD scientist?
It's hard to keep up!!
Quite an interesting idea.
Still on BBC iplayer BTW.
https://twitter.com/pforpaddy/status/1268418629252546565?s=20
Obviously hope not.