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The final debate: Trump better than last time but this was no game-changer – politicalbetting.com

SystemSystem Posts: 11,017
edited October 2020 in General
imageThe final debate: Trump better than last time but this was no game-changer – politicalbetting.com

I did not stay up to watch the debate but from the reactions I’ve managed to collate it is clear that Trump did better than the first debate but he scored no knockout blows against Biden.

Read the full story here

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    ClippPClippP Posts: 1,684
    First?
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    TimTTimT Posts: 6,328
    My one thought about who won the debate is that the immediate polls, and the pundits in particular, are often very wrong based on the actual impact a debate has a few days/week down the road.

    My bet is that this has not changed the narrative, but might marginally have helped Trump.
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    IanB2IanB2 Posts: 47,263
    Fourth
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    TimT said:

    My one thought about who won the debate is that the immediate polls, and the pundits in particular, are often very wrong based on the actual impact a debate has a few days/week down the road.

    My bet is that this has not changed the narrative, but might marginally have helped Trump.

    This was a good night's work for Trump. He seemed more presidential now that he was not heckling Biden, and this may have removed the objection held by the anti-Trump Republicans.

    To toot my own horn, as predicted, Biden's frailty was exposed without Trump jumping into fill the gaps whenever Biden hesitated or lost his train of thought, and this also made Trump seem more presidential.
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    brokenwheelbrokenwheel Posts: 3,352
    I think the fairest comment is that the Trump camp seem quite pleased with how tonight went, the Biden camp less so.
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    rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 53,960

    I think the fairest comment is that the Trump camp seem quite pleased with how tonight went, the Biden camp less so.

    I didn't see the debate, but my reading of the tea leaves is that is pretty much spot on...

    But I'd be surprised if this changed many minds. History suggests debates have little impact on voting patterns.
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    MysticroseMysticrose Posts: 4,688
    It's all over for Trump.

    They had one remaining hope: a massive gaffe by Biden and / or senility. So, barring infection by covid, Biden is going to win the election. He will get more than 350 electoral college votes.
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    PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 75,917
    Didn't watch. Debate poll numbers more or less match VI though, so sounds like a draw. Which is good for Biden
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    edmundintokyoedmundintokyo Posts: 17,150
    edited October 2020
    Trump was more coherent than usual, and Biden didn't really nail him on anything, but Biden also put up a competent defence on the Hunter business which was the main remaining risk.

    Biden was a bit of a mess on fossil fuels, and I think he got his phaseout dates mixed up, so there's a good news cycle there for the GOP if they can avoid distractions.
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    MysticroseMysticrose Posts: 4,688
    edited October 2020
    Amazing to think that by the time of 'election day' more than 2/3rds of votes may have been cast already (currently over 1/3rd).
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    MysticroseMysticrose Posts: 4,688
    I suspect these numbers will be close to the actual voting outcome of the election:

    https://twitter.com/Politics_Polls/status/1319497720244162560?s=20
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    MysticroseMysticrose Posts: 4,688
    Betting post.

    Two of those three polls have Trump's share below 40%. If you believe, as I do, that they reflect how people are voting (because the debates no longer matter much) then there's a tasty little number on betfair.

    You can get 10/1 that Trump polls below 40%.

    I put it into the fun flutter camp and I've bet a small amount accordingly.
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    eristdooferistdoof Posts: 4,890
    HYUFD said:

    Barnesian said:

    HYUFD said:

    Barnesian said:

    This is very hard to watch. Not very illuminating. Jumbled sentences from both of them. I don't think it will change many votes. I don't think Trump will actually lose votes this time, but nor will he gain them. It is not the game changer that Trump needs.

    If you believe Trafalgar or Rasmussen and IBID/TIPP he does not need a game changer, just not to lose any support tonight
    If you believe the poll modellers like The Economist or Nate Silver, he most certainly does need a game changer.
    If Nate Silver was right in 2016 Hillary Clinton would have won over 300 EC votes and now be President
    How many times.....?
    Nate Silver's group was 28% right, which was more pro Trump than any of the other groups giving probability predictions for the 2016 election.



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    kamskikamski Posts: 4,245
    eristdoof said:

    HYUFD said:

    Barnesian said:

    HYUFD said:

    Barnesian said:

    This is very hard to watch. Not very illuminating. Jumbled sentences from both of them. I don't think it will change many votes. I don't think Trump will actually lose votes this time, but nor will he gain them. It is not the game changer that Trump needs.

    If you believe Trafalgar or Rasmussen and IBID/TIPP he does not need a game changer, just not to lose any support tonight
    If you believe the poll modellers like The Economist or Nate Silver, he most certainly does need a game changer.
    If Nate Silver was right in 2016 Hillary Clinton would have won over 300 EC votes and now be President
    How many times.....?
    Nate Silver's group was 28% right, which was more pro Trump than any of the other groups giving probability predictions for the 2016 election.



    Or to put it another way, Biden is in a much better position in the polling than Clinton was 4 years ago and has been for months. If HYUFD really believes Trump should be favorite it's not based on any evidence.
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    ydoethurydoethur Posts: 67,186
    DavidL said:

    Amazing to think that by the time of 'election day' more than 2/3rds of votes may have been cast already (currently over 1/3rd).

    And by December many of them will have been counted.
    Or accidentally put in the wrong pile.
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    PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 75,917

    Betting post.

    Two of those three polls have Trump's share below 40%. If you believe, as I do, that they reflect how people are voting (because the debates no longer matter much) then there's a tasty little number on betfair.

    You can get 10/1 that Trump polls below 40%.

    I put it into the fun flutter camp and I've bet a small amount accordingly.

    Montana, South Carolina and Alaska drop if Trump does that badly
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    DavidLDavidL Posts: 51,235

    I suspect these numbers will be close to the actual voting outcome of the election:

    https://twitter.com/Politics_Polls/status/1319497720244162560?s=20

    You think somewhere between 7 and 11% are going to vote for someone else? Sort of like the Lib Dems? These 2 candidates are going to get 97%+ between them and Trump, in a divided America, will get more than 40% but that doesn't rule out an EC landslide for Biden.
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    JonathanJonathan Posts: 20,901
    kamski said:

    eristdoof said:

    HYUFD said:

    Barnesian said:

    HYUFD said:

    Barnesian said:

    This is very hard to watch. Not very illuminating. Jumbled sentences from both of them. I don't think it will change many votes. I don't think Trump will actually lose votes this time, but nor will he gain them. It is not the game changer that Trump needs.

    If you believe Trafalgar or Rasmussen and IBID/TIPP he does not need a game changer, just not to lose any support tonight
    If you believe the poll modellers like The Economist or Nate Silver, he most certainly does need a game changer.
    If Nate Silver was right in 2016 Hillary Clinton would have won over 300 EC votes and now be President
    How many times.....?
    Nate Silver's group was 28% right, which was more pro Trump than any of the other groups giving probability predictions for the 2016 election.



    Or to put it another way, Biden is in a much better position in the polling than Clinton was 4 years ago and has been for months. If HYUFD really believes Trump should be favorite it's not based on any evidence.
    Experience. Few predicted 2016 result.
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    FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,594
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    AlistairAlistair Posts: 23,670
    Shocking new revelations in the Biden China shock story greatest scandal of the millennium

    https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1319474905407107075?s=19
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    AlistairAlistair Posts: 23,670
    The actual winner of the debate was Trump by a clear margin.

    Every God dam American pundit has gone with "A more sombre, serious, presidential display" bullshit take.

    What's that? The President of the United States didn't act like a complete fucking baby? And you want to give him credit for vaguely acting like a normal human being? Take a look at yourself.

    I strongly suspect that debate polls will be underweight certain Trump favourable demographics.
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    not_on_firenot_on_fire Posts: 4,341
    Alistair said:

    The actual winner of the debate was Trump by a clear margin.

    Every God dam American pundit has gone with "A more sombre, serious, presidential display" bullshit take.

    What's that? The President of the United States didn't act like a complete fucking baby? And you want to give him credit for vaguely acting like a normal human being? Take a look at yourself.

    I strongly suspect that debate polls will be underweight certain Trump favourable demographics.

    In the context of the race, any result that was not Biden fainting on stage or making an enormous gaffe was a loss for Trump.
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    MysticroseMysticrose Posts: 4,688
    Alistair said:

    The actual winner of the debate was Trump by a clear margin.

    A view completely rubbished by every opinion poll taken during and after.

    A case of believing what you wish to.
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    PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 75,917
    Don't get why he wants to use revenge porn laws about a man tucking his shirt in ?

    https://twitter.com/JackPosobiec/status/1318975230119940103

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    MysticroseMysticrose Posts: 4,688
    edited October 2020
    Jonathan said:

    kamski said:

    eristdoof said:

    HYUFD said:

    Barnesian said:

    HYUFD said:

    Barnesian said:

    This is very hard to watch. Not very illuminating. Jumbled sentences from both of them. I don't think it will change many votes. I don't think Trump will actually lose votes this time, but nor will he gain them. It is not the game changer that Trump needs.

    If you believe Trafalgar or Rasmussen and IBID/TIPP he does not need a game changer, just not to lose any support tonight
    If you believe the poll modellers like The Economist or Nate Silver, he most certainly does need a game changer.
    If Nate Silver was right in 2016 Hillary Clinton would have won over 300 EC votes and now be President
    How many times.....?
    Nate Silver's group was 28% right, which was more pro Trump than any of the other groups giving probability predictions for the 2016 election.



    Or to put it another way, Biden is in a much better position in the polling than Clinton was 4 years ago and has been for months. If HYUFD really believes Trump should be favorite it's not based on any evidence.
    Experience. Few predicted 2016 result.
    Experience should teach you not to fall into the normalcy bias mistake. It happened with me in 2019 when I assumed Corbyn would repeat 2015.

    The circumstances this time around are vastly, viscerally, different from 2016. The polls don't lie. They didn't in 2019 and they're not in 2020. But it's much more than that. The GOP have distanced themselves from their President. They know they've lost.

    And lost big.
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    AlistairAlistair Posts: 23,670

    Alistair said:

    The actual winner of the debate was Trump by a clear margin.

    A view completely rubbished by every opinion poll taken during and after.

    A case of believing what you wish to.
    I'm not talking about the opinion polls (where Biden won, no argument there) - I'm talking about the mood music. For the next 48 hours the American media of all stripes will be "Debate night was the night Trump became President" guff. It will be enough to get some embarrassed GOP supporters to vote Trump rather than sit on their hand.

    The American media is shameless and craven.

    I want a fucking landslide, I do not want the media giving Trump training wheels to help him closer to the line.
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    MysticroseMysticrose Posts: 4,688
    Alistair said:

    greatest scandal of the millennium

    ROFL :smiley:
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    nico679nico679 Posts: 4,790
    Trump needed a big win. He didn’t get it .

    Biden made a few gaffes but this is priced in and people aren’t going to be duped by one more normal performance by Trump as he’ll quickly return to his twitter meltdowns.
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    MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 25,150
    Alistair said:

    Alistair said:

    The actual winner of the debate was Trump by a clear margin.

    A view completely rubbished by every opinion poll taken during and after.

    A case of believing what you wish to.
    I'm not talking about the opinion polls (where Biden won, no argument there) - I'm talking about the mood music. For the next 48 hours the American media of all stripes will be "Debate night was the night Trump became President" guff. It will be enough to get some embarrassed GOP supporters to vote Trump rather than sit on their hand.

    The American media is shameless and craven.

    I want a fucking landslide, I do not want the media giving Trump training wheels to help him closer to the line.
    It was all about expectations. Trump exceeded expectations by a considerable margin. Biden did not.

    So the result was a score draw, but it felt like a big Trump win.
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    MysticroseMysticrose Posts: 4,688
    We have two posts below relying on 'felt like' and 'mood music.'

    If that's the standard of rationale for betting slips then ...

    I know it's hard to believe for people who aren't sharp enough to realise time stands still for no man, but you need to watch what is actually happening in America right now. Not what happened four years ago.

    Have a good day everyone. Joe is.
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    TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 41,283
    FWIW (nothing) the BBC 3-min montage clip presented Trump as the better candidate.
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    PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 75,917
    nico679 said:

    Trump needed a big win. He didn’t get it .

    Biden made a few gaffes but this is priced in and people aren’t going to be duped by one more normal performance by Trump as he’ll quickly return to his twitter meltdowns.

    Obamacare 60 minutes blunder to be played out next.
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    MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 25,150

    We have two posts below relying on 'felt like' and 'mood music.'

    If that's the standard of rationale for betting slips then ...

    I know it's hard to believe for people who aren't sharp enough to realise time stands still for no man, but you need to watch what is actually happening in America right now. Not what happened four years ago.

    Have a good day everyone. Joe is.

    Trump exceeded very low expectations. I couldn't say for sure but it "felt like" it to me.
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    OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 31,974

    We have two posts below relying on 'felt like' and 'mood music.'

    If that's the standard of rationale for betting slips then ...

    I know it's hard to believe for people who aren't sharp enough to realise time stands still for no man, but you need to watch what is actually happening in America right now. Not what happened four years ago.

    Have a good day everyone. Joe is.

    I hope you're right. And that he will be having several in a fortnight's time.
    And Good Morning to one and all.
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    LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 15,199

    Amazing to think that by the time of 'election day' more than 2/3rds of votes may have been cast already (currently over 1/3rd).

    That's of the 2016 turnout. I hope that 2020 turnout will be up, so the proportion who have already voted could well be a lot lower.

    It does raise the question of how to properly compare opinion polls with election outcomes.
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    nico679nico679 Posts: 4,790
    Once again huge gender gaps in how people saw the debate. In the CNN poll women gave it to Biden by 60 to 35 . In men it was 47 to 44 . Luckily for Biden more women vote than men.
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    DavidL said:

    Amazing to think that by the time of 'election day' more than 2/3rds of votes may have been cast already (currently over 1/3rd).

    And by December many of them will have been counted.
    And with luck, by January the courts might even have ruled which ones are valid.
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    DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 24,341
    edited October 2020
    nico679 said:

    Trump needed a big win. He didn’t get it .

    Biden made a few gaffes but this is priced in and people aren’t going to be duped by one more normal performance by Trump as he’ll quickly return to his twitter meltdowns.

    Keeping Trump off Twitter for a few days might be key but it is undeniable that Trump did look more presidential compared to the shitshow that was the first debate. That will enable reluctant Trump supporters to hold their noses.

    Now, we know from the polls that is not enough for Trump to turn it round but it underlines the risk for Biden in relying solely on the message that Trump's an arse.
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    AlistairAlistair Posts: 23,670
    nico679 said:

    Once again huge gender gaps in how people saw the debate. In the CNN poll women gave it to Biden by 60 to 35 . In men it was 47 to 44 . Luckily for Biden more women vote than men.

    That's the kind of polling I want to see.
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    OllyTOllyT Posts: 4,913

    TimT said:

    My one thought about who won the debate is that the immediate polls, and the pundits in particular, are often very wrong based on the actual impact a debate has a few days/week down the road.

    My bet is that this has not changed the narrative, but might marginally have helped Trump.

    This was a good night's work for Trump. He seemed more presidential now that he was not heckling Biden, and this may have removed the objection held by the anti-Trump Republicans.

    To toot my own horn, as predicted, Biden's frailty was exposed without Trump jumping into fill the gaps whenever Biden hesitated or lost his train of thought, and this also made Trump seem more presidential.
    Having watched Trump for the last 4 years I doubt many will be convinced that he acts "presidentially" based on a single performance, particularly when that one performance was constrained by him being physically unable to heckle and yell at his opponent.
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    nico679nico679 Posts: 4,790

    nico679 said:

    Trump needed a big win. He didn’t get it .

    Biden made a few gaffes but this is priced in and people aren’t going to be duped by one more normal performance by Trump as he’ll quickly return to his twitter meltdowns.

    Keeping Trump off Twitter for a few days might be key but it is undeniable that Trump did look more presidential compared to the shitshow that was the first debate. That will enable reluctant Trump supporters to hold their noses.

    Now, we know from the polls that is not enough for Trump to turn it round but it underlines the risk for Biden in relying solely on the message that Trump's an arse.
    We saw the same in 2016 with Trump improving in the final debate but the big difference this time is Biden has a net plus in terms of favourability , Clinton was always under water on that front.
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    RogerRoger Posts: 18,891

    I suspect these numbers will be close to the actual voting outcome of the election:

    https://twitter.com/Politics_Polls/status/1319497720244162560?s=20

    It wouldn't be surprising. It's like watching a football match and being asked to judge the result. You'd choose your team every time. I'd be surprised if the result of a post debate poll is far away from the predicted poll result of 50/40. Opinions are never formed over an hour and a half or advertisers would have an easy life.
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    Roy_G_BivRoy_G_Biv Posts: 998
    edited October 2020
    theProle said:

    Roy_G_Biv said:

    For @CorrectHorseBattery

    https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2011/oct/28/mortality-statistics-causes-death-england-wales-2010#data

    It’s a bit out of date but there are lots of causes of death which could be prevented if we completely stopped doing stuff

    If we banned all motor transport there would be a significant drop in vehicle related deaths. A significant number of people die of medical complications - perhaps we should ban all medical procedures. Some people are electrocuted - are you proposing that we go off grid?
    A small number of women die in childbirth - should we prevent all births? Oh wait we’ve already cancelled all medical procedures above.

    Locking down the economy was supposed to be a temporary measure to allow NHS capacity to increase, and to allow time to assess the impact. Before the initial lockdown, and part of the delay was the advice that people only have a certain capacity for being locked down, and the scientists didn’t want to start it too soon

    Depends what you mean by "lockdown". Driving is highly regulated. There's a huge list of rules, you have to get your car checked for roadworthiness each year, and you aren't allowed to go whatever speed you like. In fact, the speed you're allowed to go depends on not just where you are, but what conditions are like.
    Similarly safety regulations on medical procedures, retail and industrial electrical goods are there to minimise deaths.
    In all of the above cases, we find a balance. Nobody is proposing banning all economic activity, and nor is anybody with the slightest shred of decency advocating just letting it rip.

    So now that we've established where we are, somewhere between those two end members, we need to find the right place. And like the speed limit, it's perfectly sensible to suggest that as conditions change, so should the rules.
    Now, are the kinds of lockdowns experienced and/or proposed by some people going too far one way? Is the loosening proposed by others going too far the other way? Perhaps, you can make your own mind up. In truth, I can see both sides of the argument and I'm not ready to commit. I'm glad I don't have to decide.
    But please don't go around pretending that temporary lockdowns are the same as "banning all motor transport". That's attacking a straw man and doesn't help convince persuadables like me.
    The current Welsh option has to be up there as pretty close to banning all motor transport for a fortnight.
    Its likely to have a similar effect on the numbers - transmission will probably fall, but as the fundamental state of play won't have changed at the end of it, it won't be long before the numbers are back where they are now again - very much like banning driving for a fortnight would cut road deaths for a couple of weeks, but won't make a lot of difference in the long run.

    The fundamental problem with lockdowns is the total absence of a coherent endgame.
    Unless there is some way out of this which doesn't involve everyone getting the disease, lockdowns are pointless but expensive can kicking (rather like the endless Brexit extensions - they only postponed exactly the same issues as everyone started with).

    There isn't a silver bullet on the horizon. A vaccine isn't going to be enough (you can tell this from the way that governments are starting to talk about this going on all next year).

    At some point lockdowns will stop working entirely, if that hasn't already happened. Based on what's happened in say Boulton over the summer, where various levels lockdown have made almost no difference to case numbers, it's quite possible that point has already pretty much been reached.

    People have had enough (I'm honest, I'm one of them), and aren't taking a blind bit of notice of the rules if they even know what they are, so the only practical outworking of the restrictions is the ruination of the businesses forced to close (mind you what a time to own an off licence! It's an ill wind... ).

    I read a post on Facebook today which linked to a petition for partners to be allowed to attend scans and all of labour for pregnant women (I think it covered Wales - I don't know the current English rules). Some of the stories in the comments below the post were truly heartbreaking; Women having miscarriages and stillbirths alone with their husbands sat waiting in the carpark. It's hard to explain how angry I felt after reading a few posts, and how outraged I was at the sheer barbarity of the current rules. My sister is currently heavily pregnant and under these rules in Ceredigion, which has a case rate of something like 22 per 100k. Its utterly mad, the more so given that presumably as most women live with their partners, if one has it, they probably both do anyway.

    I think we should shield the vulnerable as best we can, then let it go, because the reality is that otherwise its going to go anyway sooner or later, but with the vulnerable unprotected.

    As someone else has posted upthread, by January (it's bleak enough in a normal year) the public will be in open rebellion everywhere (lots of them aren't far off now), and nothing the politicians can do then will allow them to regain control. All that's occuring now is just adding extra pointless misery to that which will come from the ravages of the disease when the public mood breaks.
    The devil is in the detail. You say we should "shield the vulnerable" but provide zero detail. Vulnerable people still need to eat, still need to access medical care. How do they get to the supermarket if the bus is full of people spewing out virus particles without catching it? How can they sit in a waiting room at the doctor's with coronavirus in the air, and not die from it?
    And even if some unspecified measures are put in place that will magically keep the vulnerable separate, how do you stop that becoming overwhelmed with people who just don't really want to get sick?

    The "shield the vulnerable" mantra reminds me of communism... nice in theory but it doesn't work.

    As a side note, I've noticed a LOT that people read something on Facebook or Twitter and get outraged. When I used to be on both platforms I was permanently of the opinion that the country was about to break out into insurrection because LOOK AT THIS CUTE CHILD HE DIED BECAUSE OF AUSTERITY/MUSLIMS/VACCINES/ISRAEL. The sad truth is, it's always a mix of the chronically angry, distillations of real things that happened that may or may not share the context you're talking about, liars, propagandists, and well-meaning idiots. And it's all wrapped up into a nice newsfeed that specifically designed to maximise your outrage, because that's what keeps you coming back for more. You see it in some of the people on here. They've become furious ideologues, certain of the righteousness of their cause and their cause alone. Then they find themselves on here, one of the many interfaces between their clan and another, and they go absolutely mad because "here are some filthy apostates who have been duped by the other clan, how can they be so stupidly partisan all the time?!"

    Ok, so my side note ended up longer than my main point. Sorry about that. Just to tie it up, I'm not saying you're wrong about lockdowns, but nor am I saying you're right. But I have a sneaking suspicion that you think it's more clear cut than it really is, and one clue to that is this:
    you replied to a post recommending we take better care when wielding rhetorical devices, and by the sixth paragraph you were talking about dead babies. That kind of escalation doesn't happen in conversations unless at least one of them is furiously certain about something that is so very clearly uncertain enough that they need to have a conversation about it.
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    rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 58,204
    It seems we can all breathe a sign this morning. No gaffes from Biden and so no change on the trajectories.

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    rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 58,204
    Alistair said:

    nico679 said:

    Once again huge gender gaps in how people saw the debate. In the CNN poll women gave it to Biden by 60 to 35 . In men it was 47 to 44 . Luckily for Biden more women vote than men.

    That's the kind of polling I want to see.
    Suburban woman will sink Trump.



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    MrEdMrEd Posts: 5,578
    Didn't watch the debate but, to echo others here, the mood music appears to be that Trump didn't create any major new gaffes and restrained himself. As others have said, that will probably be enough for more reluctant Republicans or even some independents to vote for him, especially given some of the issues at stake.

    Funnily enough, the main thing that seemed to trend on social media was Joe Biden's reference to Hitler.
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    kjhkjh Posts: 10,620
    eristdoof said:

    HYUFD said:

    Barnesian said:

    HYUFD said:

    Barnesian said:

    This is very hard to watch. Not very illuminating. Jumbled sentences from both of them. I don't think it will change many votes. I don't think Trump will actually lose votes this time, but nor will he gain them. It is not the game changer that Trump needs.

    If you believe Trafalgar or Rasmussen and IBID/TIPP he does not need a game changer, just not to lose any support tonight
    If you believe the poll modellers like The Economist or Nate Silver, he most certainly does need a game changer.
    If Nate Silver was right in 2016 Hillary Clinton would have won over 300 EC votes and now be President
    How many times.....?
    Nate Silver's group was 28% right, which was more pro Trump than any of the other groups giving probability predictions for the 2016 election.



    @HYUFD to repeat my post from yesterday does that mean if I throw a dice then nothing will appear because the odds of any number appearing is only just over 16%?
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    PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 75,917
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    JonathanJonathan Posts: 20,901
    Everyone is snug and happy within their bubbles.
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    rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 58,204
    edited October 2020
    Tim Stanley joins the Niall Ferguson Club:

    "I had ruled him out. Now, I'm not so sure. Mr Trump won in this debate, maybe he can win in 12 days' time?"

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/10/23/us-presidential-debate-won-trump-biden/

    (Telegraph)
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    OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 31,974
    Roy_G_Biv said:

    theProle said:

    Roy_G_Biv said:

    For @CorrectHorseBattery

    https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2011/oct/28/mortality-statistics-causes-death-england-wales-2010#data

    It’s a bit out of date but there are lots of causes of death which could be prevented if we completely stopped doing stuff

    If we banned all motor transport there would be a significant drop in vehicle related deaths. A significant number of people die of medical complications - perhaps we should ban all medical procedures. Some people are electrocuted - are you proposing that we go off grid?
    A small number of women die in childbirth - should we prevent all births? Oh wait we’ve already cancelled all medical procedures above.

    Locking down the economy was supposed to be a temporary measure to allow NHS capacity to increase, and to allow time to assess the impact. Before the initial lockdown, and part of the delay was the advice that people only have a certain capacity for being locked down, and the scientists didn’t want to start it too soon

    Depends what you mean by "lockdown". Driving is highly regulated. There's a huge list of rules, you have to get your car checked for roadworthiness each year, and you aren't allowed to go whatever speed you like. In fact, the speed you're allowed to go depends on not just where you are, but what conditions are like.
    Similarly safety regulations on medical procedures, retail and industrial electrical goods are there to minimise deaths.
    In all of the above cases, we find a balance. Nobody is proposing banning all economic activity, and nor is anybody with the slightest shred of decency advocating just letting it rip.

    So now that we've established where we are, somewhere between those two end members, we need to find the right place. And like the speed limit, it's perfectly sensible to suggest that as conditions change, so should the rules.
    Now, are the kinds of lockdowns experienced and/or proposed by some people going too far one way? Is the loosening proposed by others going too far the other way? Perhaps, you can make your own mind up. In truth, I can see both sides of the argument and I'm not ready to commit. I'm glad I don't have to decide.
    But please don't go around pretending that temporary lockdowns are the same as "banning all motor transport". That's attacking a straw man and doesn't help convince persuadables like me.
    The current Welsh option has to be up there as pretty close to banning all motor transport for a fortnight.
    Its likely to have a similar effect on the numbers - transmission will probably fall, but as the fundamental state of play won't have changed at the end of it, it won't be long before the numbers are back where they are now again - very much like banning driving for a fortnight would cut road deaths for a couple of weeks, but won't make a lot of difference in the long run.

    The fundamental problem with lockdowns is the total absence of a coherent endgame.
    Unless there is some way out of this which doesn't involve everyone getting the disease, lockdowns are pointless but expensive can kicking (rather like the endless Brexit extensions - they only postponed exactly the same issues as everyone started with).

    There isn't a silver bullet on the horizon. A vaccine isn't going to be enough (you can tell this from the way that governments are starting to talk about this going on all next year).

    At some point lockdowns will stop working entirely, if that hasn't already happened. Based on what's happened in say Boulton over the summer, where various levels lockdown have made almost no difference to case numbers, it's quite possible that point has already pretty much been reached.

    People have had enough (I'm honest, I'm one of them), and aren't taking a blind bit of notice of the rules if they even know what they are, so the only practical outworking of the restrictions is the ruination of the businesses forced to close (mind you what a time to own an off licence! It's an ill wind... ).

    I read a post on Facebook today which linked to a petition for partners to be allowed to attend scans and all of labour for pregnant women (I think it covered Wales - I don't know the current English rules). Some of the stories in the comments below the post were truly heartbreaking; Women having miscarriages and stillbirths alone with their husbands sat waiting in the carpark. It's hard to explain how angry I felt after reading a few posts, and how outraged I was at the sheer barbarity of the current rules. My sister is currently heavily pregnant and under these rules in Ceredigion, which has a case rate of something like 22 per 100k. Its utterly mad, the more so given that presumably as most women live with their partners, if one has it, they probably both do anyway.

    I think we should shield the vulnerable as best we can, then let it go, because the reality is that otherwise its going to go anyway sooner or later, but with the vulnerable unprotected.

    As someone else has posted upthread, by January (it's bleak enough in a normal year) the public will be in open rebellion everywhere (lots of them aren't far off now), and nothing the politicians can do then will allow them to regain control. All that's occuring now is just adding extra pointless misery to that which will come from the ravages of the disease when the public mood breaks.
    The devil is in the detail. You say we should "shield the vulnerable" but provide zero detail. Vulnerable people still need to eat, still need to access medical care. How do they get to the supermarket if the bus is full of people spewing out virus particles without catching it? How can they sit in a waiting room at the doctor's with coronavirus in the air, and not die from it?
    And even if some unspecified measures are put in place that will magically keep the vulnerable separate, how do you stop that becoming overwhelmed with people who just don't really want to get sick?

    The "shield the vulnerable" mantra reminds me of communism... nice in theory but it doesn't work.

    As a side note, I've noticed a LOT that people read something on Facebook or Twitter and get outraged. When I used to be on both platforms I was permanently of the opinion that the country was about to break out into insurrection because LOOK AT THIS CUTE CHILD HE DIED BECAUSE OF AUSTERITY/MUSLIMS/VACCINES/ISRAEL. The sad truth is, it's always a mix of the chronically angry, distillations of real things that happened that may or may not share the context you're talking about, liars, propagandists, and well-meaning idiots. And it's all wrapped up into a nice newsfeed that specifically designed to maximise your outrage, because that's what keeps you coming back for more. You see it in some of the people on here. They've become furious ideologues, certain of the righteousness of their cause and their cause alone. Then they find themselves on here, one of the many interfaces between their clan and another, and they go absolutely mad because "here are some filthy apostates who have been duped by the other clan, how can they be so stupidly partisan all the time?!"

    Ok, so my side note ended up longer than my main point. Sorry about that. Just to tie it up, I'm not saying you're wrong about lockdowns, but nor am I saying you're right. But I have a sneaking suspicion that you think it's more clear cut than it really is, and one clue to that is this:
    you replied to a post recommending we take better care when wielding rhetorical devices, and by the sixth paragraph you were talking about dead babies. That kind of escalation doesn't happen in conversations unless at least one of them is furiously certain about something that is so very clearly uncertain enough that they need to have a conversation about it.
    Two thoughts, and I'm sure Big G had similar experiences. When my children were born I was shooed out of the labour ward; father's only arrived after the baby had been born and the mother cleaned up. I, and most of my age-group can tell tales of sitting outside, waiting for the midwife to appear and tell us what sex the child was.
    And when I was a student pubs closed at 10pm. We just started earlier!
  • Options
    StockyStocky Posts: 9,718
    How many votes will be cast? 130m in 2016. Some say as high at 160m this time. I`m going with 148m. If Trump wins 42.5% of the vote, multiplying this out gives Trump 62.9m votes.

    This sits nicely in the 60-64.999 band in BF`s "Trump Popular vote tally" market.

    So I`ve had a few quid at 3.5.
  • Options
    rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 58,204
    MrEd said:

    Didn't watch the debate but, to echo others here, the mood music appears to be that Trump didn't create any major new gaffes and restrained himself. As others have said, that will probably be enough for more reluctant Republicans or even some independents to vote for him, especially given some of the issues at stake.

    Funnily enough, the main thing that seemed to trend on social media was Joe Biden's reference to Hitler.

    https://twitter.com/FrankLuntz/status/1319480022747336704
  • Options
    Big_G_NorthWalesBig_G_NorthWales Posts: 60,280
    edited October 2020
    Roy_G_Biv said:

    theProle said:

    Roy_G_Biv said:

    For @CorrectHorseBattery

    https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2011/oct/28/mortality-statistics-causes-death-england-wales-2010#data

    It’s a bit out of date but there are lots of causes of death which could be prevented if we completely stopped doing stuff

    If we banned all motor transport there would be a significant drop in vehicle related deaths. A significant number of people die of medical complications - perhaps we should ban all medical procedures. Some people are electrocuted - are you proposing that we go off grid?
    A small number of women die in childbirth - should we prevent all births? Oh wait we’ve already cancelled all medical procedures above.

    Locking down the economy was supposed to be a temporary measure to allow NHS capacity to increase, and to allow time to assess the impact. Before the initial lockdown, and part of the delay was the advice that people only have a certain capacity for being locked down, and the scientists didn’t want to start it too soon

    Depends what you mean by "lockdown". Driving is highly regulated. There's a huge list of rules, you have to get your car checked for roadworthiness each year, and you aren't allowed to go whatever speed you like. In fact, the speed you're allowed to go depends on not just where you are, but what conditions are like.
    Similarly safety regulations on medical procedures, retail and industrial electrical goods are there to minimise deaths.
    In all of the above cases, we find a balance. Nobody is proposing banning all economic activity, and nor is anybody with the slightest shred of decency advocating just letting it rip.

    So now that we've established where we are, somewhere between those two end members, we need to find the right place. And like the speed limit, it's perfectly sensible to suggest that as conditions change, so should the rules.
    Now, are the kinds of lockdowns experienced and/or proposed by some people going too far one way? Is the loosening proposed by others going too far the other way? Perhaps, you can make your own mind up. In truth, I can see both sides of the argument and I'm not ready to commit. I'm glad I don't have to decide.
    But please don't go around pretending that temporary lockdowns are the same as "banning all motor transport". That's attacking a straw man and doesn't help convince persuadables like me.
    The current Welsh option has to be up there as pretty close to banning all motor transport for a fortnight.
    Its likely to have a similar effect on the numbers - transmission will probably fall, but as the fundamental state of play won't have changed at the end of it, it won't be long before the numbers are back where they are now again - very much like banning driving for a fortnight would cut road deaths for a couple of weeks, but won't make a lot of difference in the long run.

    The fundamental problem with lockdowns is the total absence of a coherent endgame.
    Unless there is some way out of this which doesn't involve everyone getting the disease, lockdowns are pointless but expensive can kicking (rather like the endless Brexit extensions - they only postponed exactly the same issues as everyone started with).

    There isn't a silver bullet on the horizon. A vaccine isn't going to be enough (you can tell this from the way that governments are starting to talk about this going on all next year).

    At some point lockdowns will stop working entirely, if that hasn't already happened. Based on what's happened in say Boulton over the summer, where various levels lockdown have made almost no difference to case numbers, it's quite possible that point has already pretty much been reached.

    People have had enough (I'm honest, I'm one of them), and aren't taking a blind bit of notice of the rules if they even know what they are, so the only practical outworking of the restrictions is the ruination of the businesses forced to close (mind you what a time to own an off licence! It's an ill wind... ).

    I read a post on Facebook today which linked to a petition for partners to be allowed to attend scans and all of labour for pregnant women (I think it covered Wales - I don't know the current English rules). Some of the stories in the comments below the post were truly heartbreaking; Women having miscarriages and stillbirths alone with their husbands sat waiting in the carpark. It's hard to explain how angry I felt after reading a few posts, and how outraged I was at the sheer barbarity of the current rules. My sister is currently heavily pregnant and under these rules in Ceredigion, which has a case rate of something like 22 per 100k. Its utterly mad, the more so given that presumably as most women live with their partners, if one has it, they probably both do anyway.

    I think we should shield the vulnerable as best we can, then let it go, because the reality is that otherwise its going to go anyway sooner or later, but with the vulnerable unprotected.

    As someone else has posted upthread, by January (it's bleak enough in a normal year) the public will be in open rebellion everywhere (lots of them aren't far off now), and nothing the politicians can do then will allow them to regain control. All that's occuring now is just adding extra pointless misery to that which will come from the ravages of the disease when the public mood breaks.
    The devil is in the detail. You say we should "shield the vulnerable" but provide zero detail. Vulnerable people still need to eat, still need to access medical care. How do they get to the supermarket if the bus is full of people spewing out virus particles without catching it? How can they sit in a waiting room at the doctor's with coronavirus in the air, and not die from it?
    And even if some unspecified measures are put in place that will magically keep the vulnerable separate, how do you stop that becoming overwhelmed with people who just don't really want to get sick?

    The "shield the vulnerable" mantra reminds me of communism... nice in theory but it doesn't work.

    As a side note, I've noticed a LOT that people read something on Facebook or Twitter and get outraged. When I used to be on both platforms I was permanently of the opinion that the country was about to break out into insurrection because LOOK AT THIS CUTE CHILD HE DIED BECAUSE OF AUSTERITY/MUSLIMS/VACCINES/ISRAEL. The sad truth is, it's always a mix of the chronically angry, distillations of real things that happened that may or may not share the context you're talking about, liars, propagandists, and well-meaning idiots. And it's all wrapped up into a nice newsfeed that specifically designed to maximise your outrage, because that's what keeps you coming back for more. You see it in some of the people on here. They've become furious ideologues, certain of the righteousness of their cause and their cause alone. Then they find themselves on here, one of the many interfaces between their clan and another, and they go absolutely mad because "here are some filthy apostates who have been duped by the other clan, how can they be so stupidly partisan all the time?!"

    Ok, so my side note ended up longer than my main point. Sorry about that. Just to tie it up, I'm not saying you're wrong about lockdowns, but nor am I saying you're right. But I have a sneaking suspicion that you think it's more clear cut than it really is, and one clue to that is this:
    you replied to a post recommending we take better care when wielding rhetorical devices, and by the sixth paragraph you were talking about dead babies. That kind of escalation doesn't happen in conversations unless at least one of them is furiously certain about something that is so very clearly uncertain enough that they need to have a conversation about it.
    On your first paragraph my wife and I (81 & 77) have no problem shielding nor with the surgery

    We have a weekly Asda delivery and our son or daughter pick up our medication from the chemist and leave it in our porch

    Since March our surgery has moved to online triage and it has been a great success together with a ban on anyone calling direct at the surgery. When we have had to see either the doctor/nurse we wait in the car park in our car and the doctor/nurse calls us directly into their consulting room passing through the empty waiting areas

    Here in Wales Drakeford has stopped supermarkets selling non essential food and terminal ill non covid elderly patients have to choose which child they want to nominate to be at their bedside in their final hours

    This is morally bankrupt and of course banning the sale of non essenitial goods drives Amazon and online shopping demand at the further expense of local shopping

    Drakeford insists closing down the whole of Wales is only for 17 days and is a one off event, but as we have been in the equivalent of tier 3 ourselves for the last month I expect Drakeford will return us to tier 3 again

    He is experimenting with Wales and believe you me both here in Wales and the rest of the UK a moment is fast approaching when the cry will go out 'enough'

    It is notable that Scotland has introduced tiering, notwithstanding 2 additional levels, confirming that even Sturgeon is not favour of a national shutdown
  • Options
    FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,594
    @Roy_G_Biv and @theProle make valid points as did the poster last night on visiting restrictions in Hospices.

    The problem is that "shielding the vulnerable" requires just those sort of measures. Cancer patients and pregnant women are in the vulnerable groups, and open visiting is the direct opposite of shielding.

    Indeed even these visiting rules are too lax if the "herd immunity" enthusiasts of the Great Barrington Declaration get their way.
  • Options
    IshmaelZIshmaelZ Posts: 21,830
    Jonathan said:

    Everyone is snug and happy within their bubbles.

    We think of the key, each in his prison
    Thinking of the key, each confirms a prison
    Only at nightfall, aetherial rumours
    Revive for a moment a broken Coriolanus.
  • Options

    nico679 said:

    Trump needed a big win. He didn’t get it .

    Biden made a few gaffes but this is priced in and people aren’t going to be duped by one more normal performance by Trump as he’ll quickly return to his twitter meltdowns.

    Keeping Trump off Twitter for a few days might be key but it is undeniable that Trump did look more presidential compared to the shitshow that was the first debate. That will enable reluctant Trump supporters to hold their noses.

    Now, we know from the polls that is not enough for Trump to turn it round but it underlines the risk for Biden in relying solely on the message that Trump's an arse.
    I don't think Biden has been relying on that, he and his team has been talking a fair amount of policy throughout the campaign, hence Trump's campaign only now just using it to scare people (taxes, green energy etc). However Trump being Trump dominates the news and is a valuable tool for his opponents.
    In fact now I think about it Trump's team have been the ones lacking almost anything policy wise, not even a white elephant policy like the wall.
  • Options
    isamisam Posts: 40,916
    Why can’t these journalists pretend it’s a country other than Sweden doing these things? Then people who have set up their stall to criticise anything the Swedish authorities do might consider the ideas

    https://twitter.com/frasernelson/status/1319402003609624583?s=21
  • Options
    PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 75,917
    edited October 2020

    MrEd said:

    Didn't watch the debate but, to echo others here, the mood music appears to be that Trump didn't create any major new gaffes and restrained himself. As others have said, that will probably be enough for more reluctant Republicans or even some independents to vote for him, especially given some of the issues at stake.

    Funnily enough, the main thing that seemed to trend on social media was Joe Biden's reference to Hitler.

    https://twitter.com/FrankLuntz/status/1319480022747336704
    Frank Luntz's polling groups reflect him I think - out and out GOP hacks masquerading as "undecideds"
  • Options
    MaxPBMaxPB Posts: 37,607
    Foxy said:

    @Roy_G_Biv and @theProle make valid points as did the poster last night on visiting restrictions in Hospices.

    The problem is that "shielding the vulnerable" requires just those sort of measures. Cancer patients and pregnant women are in the vulnerable groups, and open visiting is the direct opposite of shielding.

    Indeed even these visiting rules are too lax if the "herd immunity" enthusiasts of the Great Barrington Declaration get their way.

    Surely scaling up rapid antigen testing is the answer here. The nanopore machines have bandwidth for hundreds of simultaneous tests and give results within 20 minutes. I don't understand why one hasn't been put in every single hospital in the country with staff, patients and visitors tested daily.
  • Options
    TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 41,283
    isam said:
    I think that's probably true but what a boring PB that would be.

    :smile:
  • Options
    nichomarnichomar Posts: 7,483

    nico679 said:

    Trump needed a big win. He didn’t get it .

    Biden made a few gaffes but this is priced in and people aren’t going to be duped by one more normal performance by Trump as he’ll quickly return to his twitter meltdowns.

    Keeping Trump off Twitter for a few days might be key but it is undeniable that Trump did look more presidential compared to the shitshow that was the first debate. That will enable reluctant Trump supporters to hold their noses.

    Now, we know from the polls that is not enough for Trump to turn it round but it underlines the risk for Biden in relying solely on the message that Trump's an arse.
    I don't think Biden has been relying on that, he and his team has been talking a fair amount of policy throughout the campaign, hence Trump's campaign only now just using it to scare people (taxes, green energy etc). However Trump being Trump dominates the news and is a valuable tool for his opponents.
    In fact now I think about it Trump's team have been the ones lacking almost anything policy wise, not even a white elephant policy like the wall.
    Valuable tool ? Just tool will do
  • Options
    Wulfrun_PhilWulfrun_Phil Posts: 4,600

    I suspect these numbers will be close to the actual voting outcome of the election:

    https://twitter.com/Politics_Polls/status/1319497720244162560?s=20

    Also this looks good at face value for Biden, it's difficult to judge these directly in the absence of knowing the methodology (i.e. how representative are the debate watchers?). However, we can at least make comparisons with the results last time on the reasonable assumption that the methodology was broadly the same from each pollster.

    Using the same question, CBS had Biden winning the first debate by 48 to 41. This time it's 53 to 39.

    So Biden's performance relative to Trump improved since last time, in the judgement of those watching that CBS polled. That seems pretty definitive to me.
  • Options
    nichomar said:

    nico679 said:

    Trump needed a big win. He didn’t get it .

    Biden made a few gaffes but this is priced in and people aren’t going to be duped by one more normal performance by Trump as he’ll quickly return to his twitter meltdowns.

    Keeping Trump off Twitter for a few days might be key but it is undeniable that Trump did look more presidential compared to the shitshow that was the first debate. That will enable reluctant Trump supporters to hold their noses.

    Now, we know from the polls that is not enough for Trump to turn it round but it underlines the risk for Biden in relying solely on the message that Trump's an arse.
    I don't think Biden has been relying on that, he and his team has been talking a fair amount of policy throughout the campaign, hence Trump's campaign only now just using it to scare people (taxes, green energy etc). However Trump being Trump dominates the news and is a valuable tool for his opponents.
    In fact now I think about it Trump's team have been the ones lacking almost anything policy wise, not even a white elephant policy like the wall.
    Valuable tool ? Just tool will do
    how about "complete tool"?
  • Options
    Andy_CookeAndy_Cooke Posts: 4,816
    Foxy said:

    @Roy_G_Biv and @theProle make valid points as did the poster last night on visiting restrictions in Hospices.

    The problem is that "shielding the vulnerable" requires just those sort of measures. Cancer patients and pregnant women are in the vulnerable groups, and open visiting is the direct opposite of shielding.

    Indeed even these visiting rules are too lax if the "herd immunity" enthusiasts of the Great Barrington Declaration get their way.

    It also requires splitting up families where one or more members are vulnerable and others are not (or the non-vulnerable of those also shielding), removing anyone with vulnerability from the workforce (depending on how "vulnerable" is defined: over sixties, those with obesity, those with diabetes, those with asthma are all a lot more vulnerable and there are millions of these in the workforce), and those vulnerable to have someone do their shopping and any essential actions for them.

    And somehow having segregated and isolated surgeries and hospitals (as the vulnerable inevitably use these more than anyone, anyway - should the non-vulnerable simply give up using hospitals or surgeries for the duration)?

    Unscrambling the egg has defeated everyone so far, which is why no country has successfully managed to pull off shielding the vulnerable without also shielding everyone else.

    If we ignore the problem in frustration and handwave a bit, maybe it will just go away.
  • Options
    OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 31,974
    isam said:
    I wondered about that. I thought the cut off was 28 days, though.
  • Options
    IanB2IanB2 Posts: 47,263

    nichomar said:

    nico679 said:

    Trump needed a big win. He didn’t get it .

    Biden made a few gaffes but this is priced in and people aren’t going to be duped by one more normal performance by Trump as he’ll quickly return to his twitter meltdowns.

    Keeping Trump off Twitter for a few days might be key but it is undeniable that Trump did look more presidential compared to the shitshow that was the first debate. That will enable reluctant Trump supporters to hold their noses.

    Now, we know from the polls that is not enough for Trump to turn it round but it underlines the risk for Biden in relying solely on the message that Trump's an arse.
    I don't think Biden has been relying on that, he and his team has been talking a fair amount of policy throughout the campaign, hence Trump's campaign only now just using it to scare people (taxes, green energy etc). However Trump being Trump dominates the news and is a valuable tool for his opponents.
    In fact now I think about it Trump's team have been the ones lacking almost anything policy wise, not even a white elephant policy like the wall.
    Valuable tool ? Just tool will do
    how about "complete tool"?
    Like one of those Swiss knives?
  • Options
    nichomarnichomar Posts: 7,483
    I’m thinking of organizing a family Christmas in the canaries, with no quarantine when the children get back and much more relaxed mixing rules up to ten people, restaurants and bars open but well controlled. Apart from the cost and any risks getting there it seems a better option than us sitting in mainland Spain and the kids not able to get together in the UK
  • Options
    MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 25,150

    Roy_G_Biv said:

    theProle said:

    Roy_G_Biv said:

    For @CorrectHorseBattery

    https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2011/oct/28/mortality-statistics-causes-death-england-wales-2010#data

    It’s a bit out of date but there are lots of causes of death which could be prevented if we completely stopped doing stuff

    If we banned all motor transport there would be a significant drop in vehicle related deaths. A significant number of people die of medical complications - perhaps we should ban all medical procedures. Some people are electrocuted - are you proposing that we go off grid?
    A small number of women die in childbirth - should we prevent all births? Oh wait we’ve already cancelled all medical procedures above.

    Locking down the economy was supposed to be a temporary measure to allow NHS capacity to increase, and to allow time to assess the impact. Before the initial lockdown, and part of the delay was the advice that people only have a certain capacity for being locked down, and the scientists didn’t want to start it too soon

    Depends what you mean by "lockdown". Driving is highly regulated. There's a huge list of rules, you have to get your car checked for roadworthiness each year, and you aren't allowed to go whatever speed you like. In fact, the speed you're allowed to go depends on not just where you are, but what conditions are like.
    Similarly safety regulations on medical procedures, retail and industrial electrical goods are there to minimise deaths.
    In all of the above cases, we find a balance. Nobody is proposing banning all economic activity, and nor is anybody with the slightest shred of decency advocating just letting it rip.

    So now that we've established where we are, somewhere between those two end members, we need to find the right place. And like the speed limit, it's perfectly sensible to suggest that as conditions change, so should the rules.
    Now, are the kinds of lockdowns experienced and/or proposed by some people going too far one way? Is the loosening proposed by others going too far the other way? Perhaps, you can make your own mind up. In truth, I can see both sides of the argument and I'm not ready to commit. I'm glad I don't have to decide.
    But please don't go around pretending that temporary lockdowns are the same as "banning all motor transport". That's attacking a straw man and doesn't help convince persuadables like me.
    The current Welsh option has to be up there as pretty close to banning all motor transport for a fortnight.
    Its likely to have a similar effect on the numbers - transmission will probably fall, but as the fundamental state of play won't have changed at the end of it, it won't be long before the numbers are back where they are now again - very much like banning driving for a fortnight would cut road deaths for a couple of weeks, but won't make a lot of difference in the long run.

    The fundamental problem with lockdowns is the total absence of a coherent endgame.
    Unless there is some way out of this which doesn't involve everyone getting the disease, lockdowns are pointless but expensive can kicking (rather like the endless Brexit extensions - they only postponed exactly the same issues as everyone started with).

    There isn't a silver bullet on the horizon. A vaccine isn't going to be enough (you can tell this from the way that governments are starting to talk about this going on all next year).

    At some point lockdowns will stop working entirely, if that hasn't already happened. Based on what's happened in say Boulton over the summer, where various levels lockdown have made almost no difference to case numbers, it's quite possible that point has already pretty much been reached.

    People have had enough (I'm honest, I'm one of them), and aren't taking a blind bit of notice of the rules if they even know what they are, so the only practical outworking of the restrictions is the ruination of the businesses forced to close (mind you what a time to own an off licence! It's an ill wind... ).

    I read a post on Facebook today which linked to a petition for partners to be allowed to attend scans and all of labour for pregnant women (I think it covered Wales - I don't know the current English rules). Some of the stories in the comments below the post were truly heartbreaking; Women having miscarriages and stillbirths alone with their husbands sat waiting in the carpark. It's hard to explain how angry I felt after reading a few posts, and how outraged I was at the sheer barbarity of the current rules. My sister is currently heavily pregnant and under these rules in Ceredigion, which has a case rate of something like 22 per 100k. Its utterly mad, the more so given that presumably as most women live with their partners, if one has it, they probably both do anyway.

    I think we should shield the vulnerable as best we can, then let it go, because the reality is that otherwise its going to go anyway sooner or later, but with the vulnerable unprotected.

    As someone else has posted upthread, by January (it's bleak enough in a normal year) the public will be in open rebellion everywhere (lots of them aren't far off now), and nothing the politicians can do then will allow them to regain control. All that's occuring now is just adding extra pointless misery to that which will come from the ravages of the disease when the public mood breaks.
    The devil is in the detail. You say we should "shield the vulnerable" but provide zero detail. Vulnerable people still need to eat, still need to access medical care. How do they get to the supermarket if the bus is full of people spewing out virus particles without catching it? How can they sit in a waiting room at the doctor's with coronavirus in the air, and not die from it?
    And even if some unspecified measures are put in place that will magically keep the vulnerable separate, how do you stop that becoming overwhelmed with people who just don't really want to get sick?

    The "shield the vulnerable" mantra reminds me of communism... nice in theory but it doesn't work.

    As a side note, I've noticed a LOT that people read something on Facebook or Twitter and get outraged. When I used to be on both platforms I was permanently of the opinion that the country was about to break out into insurrection because LOOK AT THIS CUTE CHILD HE DIED BECAUSE OF AUSTERITY/MUSLIMS/VACCINES/ISRAEL. The sad truth is, it's always a mix of the chronically angry, distillations of real things that happened that may or may not share the context you're talking about, liars, propagandists, and well-meaning idiots. And it's all wrapped up into a nice newsfeed that specifically designed to maximise your outrage, because that's what keeps you coming back for more. You see it in some of the people on here. They've become furious ideologues, certain of the righteousness of their cause and their cause alone. Then they find themselves on here, one of the many interfaces between their clan and another, and they go absolutely mad because "here are some filthy apostates who have been duped by the other clan, how can they be so stupidly partisan all the time?!"

    Ok, so my side note ended up longer than my main point. Sorry about that. Just to tie it up, I'm not saying you're wrong about lockdowns, but nor am I saying you're right. But I have a sneaking suspicion that you think it's more clear cut than it really is, and one clue to that is this:
    you replied to a post recommending we take better care when wielding rhetorical devices, and by the sixth paragraph you were talking about dead babies. That kind of escalation doesn't happen in conversations unless at least one of them is furiously certain about something that is so very clearly uncertain enough that they need to have a conversation about it.
    On your first paragraph my wife and I (81 & 77) have no problem shielding nor with the surgery

    We have a weekly Asda delivery and our son or daughter pick up our medication from the chemist and leave it in our porch

    Since March our surgery has moved to online triage and it has been a great success together with a ban on anyone calling direct at the surgery. When we have had to see either the doctor/nurse we wait in the car park in our car and the doctor/nurse calls us directly into their consulting room passing through the empty waiting areas

    Here in Wales Drakeford has stopped supermarkets selling non essential food and terminal ill non covid elderly patients have to choose which child they want to nominate to be at their bedside in their final hours

    This is morally bankrupt and of course banning the sale of non essenitial goods drives Amazon and online shopping demand at the further expense of local shopping

    Drakeford insists closing down the whole of Wales is only for 17 days and is a one off event, but as we have been in the equivalent of tier 3 ourselves for the last month I expect Drakeford will return us to tier 3 again

    He is experimenting with Wales and believe you me both here in Wales and the rest of the UK a moment is fast approaching when the cry will go out 'enough'

    It is notable that Scotland has introduced tiering, notwithstanding 2 additional levels, confirming that even Sturgeon is not favour of a national shutdown
    You didn't read Foxy's response to your comments last night then. (Forgive me Foxy if I have misinterpreted via my précis)

    1.Non-essentials is a device to deter unnecessary shopping.

    2. Your end of life visiting issues are an edict from the Westminster Government.

    I can't say I am pleased at not working for two weeks, however if it allows me the opportunity to work unhindered for the following six weeks to eight weeks I will give it a shot.
  • Options
    IanB2 said:

    nichomar said:

    nico679 said:

    Trump needed a big win. He didn’t get it .

    Biden made a few gaffes but this is priced in and people aren’t going to be duped by one more normal performance by Trump as he’ll quickly return to his twitter meltdowns.

    Keeping Trump off Twitter for a few days might be key but it is undeniable that Trump did look more presidential compared to the shitshow that was the first debate. That will enable reluctant Trump supporters to hold their noses.

    Now, we know from the polls that is not enough for Trump to turn it round but it underlines the risk for Biden in relying solely on the message that Trump's an arse.
    I don't think Biden has been relying on that, he and his team has been talking a fair amount of policy throughout the campaign, hence Trump's campaign only now just using it to scare people (taxes, green energy etc). However Trump being Trump dominates the news and is a valuable tool for his opponents.
    In fact now I think about it Trump's team have been the ones lacking almost anything policy wise, not even a white elephant policy like the wall.
    Valuable tool ? Just tool will do
    how about "complete tool"?
    Like one of those Swiss knives?
    Well he did Trump university so why not Trump complete army knives?
  • Options
    LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 15,199

    Jonathan said:

    kamski said:

    eristdoof said:

    HYUFD said:

    Barnesian said:

    HYUFD said:

    Barnesian said:

    This is very hard to watch. Not very illuminating. Jumbled sentences from both of them. I don't think it will change many votes. I don't think Trump will actually lose votes this time, but nor will he gain them. It is not the game changer that Trump needs.

    If you believe Trafalgar or Rasmussen and IBID/TIPP he does not need a game changer, just not to lose any support tonight
    If you believe the poll modellers like The Economist or Nate Silver, he most certainly does need a game changer.
    If Nate Silver was right in 2016 Hillary Clinton would have won over 300 EC votes and now be President
    How many times.....?
    Nate Silver's group was 28% right, which was more pro Trump than any of the other groups giving probability predictions for the 2016 election.



    Or to put it another way, Biden is in a much better position in the polling than Clinton was 4 years ago and has been for months. If HYUFD really believes Trump should be favorite it's not based on any evidence.
    Experience. Few predicted 2016 result.
    Experience should teach you not to fall into the normalcy bias mistake. It happened with me in 2019 when I assumed Corbyn would repeat 2015.

    The circumstances this time around are vastly, viscerally, different from 2016. The polls don't lie. They didn't in 2019 and they're not in 2020. But it's much more than that. The GOP have distanced themselves from their President. They know they've lost.

    And lost big.
    I'm going to use 538 and compare Trump's popular vote forecast lead with that of the Republican candidate in the closest Senate races.
    IA Trump +0.3 GOP -1.0
    GA Trump 0.0 GOP +2.6
    NC Trump -2.3 GOP -2.9
    MT Trump +10.2 GOP +3.0
    ME Trump -12.1 GOP -3.0
    KS Trump +10.6 GOP +4.9
    SC Trump +7.9 GOP +5.2
    AZ Trump -2.9 GOP -6.0
    AL Trump +19.2 GOP +6.2
    AK Trump +7.4 GOP +6.3
    MI Trump -7.9 GOP -6.4
    CO Trump -11.7 GOP -7.7
    TX Trump +2.1 GOP +8.1
    MS Trump +13.2 GOP +9.1
    MN Trump -7.7 GOP -12.0
    KY Trump +19.1 GOP +13.4
    ----
    Mean Trump +2.8 GOP +1.2

    I don't want this to be true, but Trump still looks like he is an electoral asset for the Republicans. I want American voters to judge him so badly that he drags the whole GOP down with him. But the numbers don't show that story.

    Otherwise Republican Senate candidates should be outperforming Trump.
  • Options
    felixfelix Posts: 15,124

    Foxy said:

    @Roy_G_Biv and @theProle make valid points as did the poster last night on visiting restrictions in Hospices.

    The problem is that "shielding the vulnerable" requires just those sort of measures. Cancer patients and pregnant women are in the vulnerable groups, and open visiting is the direct opposite of shielding.

    Indeed even these visiting rules are too lax if the "herd immunity" enthusiasts of the Great Barrington Declaration get their way.

    It also requires splitting up families where one or more members are vulnerable and others are not (or the non-vulnerable of those also shielding), removing anyone with vulnerability from the workforce (depending on how "vulnerable" is defined: over sixties, those with obesity, those with diabetes, those with asthma are all a lot more vulnerable and there are millions of these in the workforce), and those vulnerable to have someone do their shopping and any essential actions for them.

    And somehow having segregated and isolated surgeries and hospitals (as the vulnerable inevitably use these more than anyone, anyway - should the non-vulnerable simply give up using hospitals or surgeries for the duration)?

    Unscrambling the egg has defeated everyone so far, which is why no country has successfully managed to pull off shielding the vulnerable without also shielding everyone else.

    If we ignore the problem in frustration and handwave a bit, maybe it will just go away.
    I fear this virus has exposed how poor social and other media is when dealing with complex issues.
  • Options
    OllyTOllyT Posts: 4,913
    Pulpstar said:

    MrEd said:

    Didn't watch the debate but, to echo others here, the mood music appears to be that Trump didn't create any major new gaffes and restrained himself. As others have said, that will probably be enough for more reluctant Republicans or even some independents to vote for him, especially given some of the issues at stake.

    Funnily enough, the main thing that seemed to trend on social media was Joe Biden's reference to Hitler.

    https://twitter.com/FrankLuntz/status/1319480022747336704
    Frank Luntz's polling groups reflect him I think - out and out GOP hacks masquerading as "undecideds"
    His focus groups always seem to come to the opposite conclusion to the pollsters. Not impossible but highly suspicious given his role as a GOP strategist. I'd bet that the 3 polls are giving a more accurate reflection, particularly as all 3 give a remarkably similar result.
  • Options
    IanB2IanB2 Posts: 47,263
    CNN: An examination of publicly released internal Republican and conservative group polling reveals they're also showing Trump clearly underperforming his 2016 showing.

    Partisans don't want to release polls that are bad for their side. That means the polls sponsored by a party, candidate or partisan organization tend to be biased in favor of the side releasing the poll. That's why it was amazing to find that on average, Trump was doing 5 points worse than he did in 2016 in the states and districts in released Republican and conservative polls.

    But remember: These are only the polls conservatives and Republicans were willing to put into the public sphere. There's good reason to believe it's worse for Trump in the numbers they're not releasing.

    Indeed, one of the more interesting aspects of the internal polls so far put out by Republicans is how few of them there are. As I noted back in the summer, the number of internal polls each side releases publicly is usually a good indicator of how their side is doing. If one side is doing well, they're more likely to release internal polling than if they're doing poorly.

    The bottom line is that there's really no reason to think that the Republicans have some secret polling putting Trump in a better position than the public polling does. The signs, in fact, point in the opposite direction.
  • Options
    isamisam Posts: 40,916
    TOPPING said:

    isam said:
    I think that's probably true but what a boring PB that would be.

    :smile:
    Actually I think it would be a lot better. When do you ever read a comment on the lines of ‘Actually I hadn’t thought of that, what a thoughtful post’? It is the constant trolling, point scoring and refusal to agree with someone on any subject if they disagree on Brexit/Indy/Boris etc that is boring, because it’s the same every day, and doesn’t seem to me to be borne out of anything other than stubbornness or spite
  • Options

    Roy_G_Biv said:

    theProle said:

    Roy_G_Biv said:

    For @CorrectHorseBattery

    https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2011/oct/28/mortality-statistics-causes-death-england-wales-2010#data

    It’s a bit out of date but there are lots of causes of death which could be prevented if we completely stopped doing stuff

    If we banned all motor transport there would be a significant drop in vehicle related deaths. A significant number of people die of medical complications - perhaps we should ban all medical procedures. Some people are electrocuted - are you proposing that we go off grid?
    A small number of women die in childbirth - should we prevent all births? Oh wait we’ve already cancelled all medical procedures above.

    Locking down the economy was supposed to be a temporary measure to allow NHS capacity to increase, and to allow time to assess the impact. Before the initial lockdown, and part of the delay was the advice that people only have a certain capacity for being locked down, and the scientists didn’t want to start it too soon

    Depends what you mean by "lockdown". Driving is highly regulated. There's a huge list of rules, you have to get your car checked for roadworthiness each year, and you aren't allowed to go whatever speed you like. In fact, the speed you're allowed to go depends on not just where you are, but what conditions are like.
    Similarly safety regulations on medical procedures, retail and industrial electrical goods are there to minimise deaths.
    In all of the above cases, we find a balance. Nobody is proposing banning all economic activity, and nor is anybody with the slightest shred of decency advocating just letting it rip.

    So now that we've established where we are, somewhere between those two end members, we need to find the right place. And like the speed limit, it's perfectly sensible to suggest that as conditions change, so should the rules.
    Now, are the kinds of lockdowns experienced and/or proposed by some people going too far one way? Is the loosening proposed by others going too far the other way? Perhaps, you can make your own mind up. In truth, I can see both sides of the argument and I'm not ready to commit. I'm glad I don't have to decide.
    But please don't go around pretending that temporary lockdowns are the same as "banning all motor transport". That's attacking a straw man and doesn't help convince persuadables like me.
    The current Welsh option has to be up there as pretty close to banning all motor transport for a fortnight.
    Its likely to have a similar effect on the numbers - transmission will probably fall, but as the fundamental state of play won't have changed at the end of it, it won't be long before the numbers are back where they are now again - very much like banning driving for a fortnight would cut road deaths for a couple of weeks, but won't make a lot of difference in the long run.

    The fundamental problem with lockdowns is the total absence of a coherent endgame.
    Unless there is some way out of this which doesn't involve everyone getting the disease, lockdowns are pointless but expensive can kicking (rather like the endless Brexit extensions - they only postponed exactly the same issues as everyone started with).

    There isn't a silver bullet on the horizon. A vaccine isn't going to be enough (you can tell this from the way that governments are starting to talk about this going on all next year).

    At some point lockdowns will stop working entirely, if that hasn't already happened. Based on what's happened in say Boulton over the summer, where various levels lockdown have made almost no difference to case numbers, it's quite possible that point has already pretty much been reached.

    People have had enough (I'm honest, I'm one of them), and aren't taking a blind bit of notice of the rules if they even know what they are, so the only practical outworking of the restrictions is the ruination of the businesses forced to close (mind you what a time to own an off licence! It's an ill wind... ).

    I read a post on Facebook today which linked to a petition for partners to be allowed to attend scans and all of labour for pregnant women (I think it covered Wales - I don't know the current English rules). Some of the stories in the comments below the post were truly heartbreaking; Women having miscarriages and stillbirths alone with their husbands sat waiting in the carpark. It's hard to explain how angry I felt after reading a few posts, and how outraged I was at the sheer barbarity of the current rules. My sister is currently heavily pregnant and under these rules in Ceredigion, which has a case rate of something like 22 per 100k. Its utterly mad, the more so given that presumably as most women live with their partners, if one has it, they probably both do anyway.

    I think we should shield the vulnerable as best we can, then let it go, because the reality is that otherwise its going to go anyway sooner or later, but with the vulnerable unprotected.

    As someone else has posted upthread, by January (it's bleak enough in a normal year) the public will be in open rebellion everywhere (lots of them aren't far off now), and nothing the politicians can do then will allow them to regain control. All that's occuring now is just adding extra pointless misery to that which will come from the ravages of the disease when the public mood breaks.
    The devil is in the detail. You say we should "shield the vulnerable" but provide zero detail. Vulnerable people still need to eat, still need to access medical care. How do they get to the supermarket if the bus is full of people spewing out virus particles without catching it? How can they sit in a waiting room at the doctor's with coronavirus in the air, and not die from it?
    And even if some unspecified measures are put in place that will magically keep the vulnerable separate, how do you stop that becoming overwhelmed with people who just don't really want to get sick?

    The "shield the vulnerable" mantra reminds me of communism... nice in theory but it doesn't work.

    As a side note, I've noticed a LOT that people read something on Facebook or Twitter and get outraged. When I used to be on both platforms I was permanently of the opinion that the country was about to break out into insurrection because LOOK AT THIS CUTE CHILD HE DIED BECAUSE OF AUSTERITY/MUSLIMS/VACCINES/ISRAEL. The sad truth is, it's always a mix of the chronically angry, distillations of real things that happened that may or may not share the context you're talking about, liars, propagandists, and well-meaning idiots. And it's all wrapped up into a nice newsfeed that specifically designed to maximise your outrage, because that's what keeps you coming back for more. You see it in some of the people on here. They've become furious ideologues, certain of the righteousness of their cause and their cause alone. Then they find themselves on here, one of the many interfaces between their clan and another, and they go absolutely mad because "here are some filthy apostates who have been duped by the other clan, how can they be so stupidly partisan all the time?!"

    Ok, so my side note ended up longer than my main point. Sorry about that. Just to tie it up, I'm not saying you're wrong about lockdowns, but nor am I saying you're right. But I have a sneaking suspicion that you think it's more clear cut than it really is, and one clue to that is this:
    you replied to a post recommending we take better care when wielding rhetorical devices, and by the sixth paragraph you were talking about dead babies. That kind of escalation doesn't happen in conversations unless at least one of them is furiously certain about something that is so very clearly uncertain enough that they need to have a conversation about it.
    Two thoughts, and I'm sure Big G had similar experiences. When my children were born I was shooed out of the labour ward; father's only arrived after the baby had been born and the mother cleaned up. I, and most of my age-group can tell tales of sitting outside, waiting for the midwife to appear and tell us what sex the child was.
    And when I was a student pubs closed at 10pm. We just started earlier!
    I agree and it was only when my youngest was born in 1975, 9 years and 5 years after his elder brother and sister, that I was actually allowed to be present at his birth
  • Options
    IanB2IanB2 Posts: 47,263

    Jonathan said:

    kamski said:

    eristdoof said:

    HYUFD said:

    Barnesian said:

    HYUFD said:

    Barnesian said:

    This is very hard to watch. Not very illuminating. Jumbled sentences from both of them. I don't think it will change many votes. I don't think Trump will actually lose votes this time, but nor will he gain them. It is not the game changer that Trump needs.

    If you believe Trafalgar or Rasmussen and IBID/TIPP he does not need a game changer, just not to lose any support tonight
    If you believe the poll modellers like The Economist or Nate Silver, he most certainly does need a game changer.
    If Nate Silver was right in 2016 Hillary Clinton would have won over 300 EC votes and now be President
    How many times.....?
    Nate Silver's group was 28% right, which was more pro Trump than any of the other groups giving probability predictions for the 2016 election.



    Or to put it another way, Biden is in a much better position in the polling than Clinton was 4 years ago and has been for months. If HYUFD really believes Trump should be favorite it's not based on any evidence.
    Experience. Few predicted 2016 result.
    Experience should teach you not to fall into the normalcy bias mistake. It happened with me in 2019 when I assumed Corbyn would repeat 2015.

    The circumstances this time around are vastly, viscerally, different from 2016. The polls don't lie. They didn't in 2019 and they're not in 2020. But it's much more than that. The GOP have distanced themselves from their President. They know they've lost.

    And lost big.
    I'm going to use 538 and compare Trump's popular vote forecast lead with that of the Republican candidate in the closest Senate races.
    IA Trump +0.3 GOP -1.0
    GA Trump 0.0 GOP +2.6
    NC Trump -2.3 GOP -2.9
    MT Trump +10.2 GOP +3.0
    ME Trump -12.1 GOP -3.0
    KS Trump +10.6 GOP +4.9
    SC Trump +7.9 GOP +5.2
    AZ Trump -2.9 GOP -6.0
    AL Trump +19.2 GOP +6.2
    AK Trump +7.4 GOP +6.3
    MI Trump -7.9 GOP -6.4
    CO Trump -11.7 GOP -7.7
    TX Trump +2.1 GOP +8.1
    MS Trump +13.2 GOP +9.1
    MN Trump -7.7 GOP -12.0
    KY Trump +19.1 GOP +13.4
    ----
    Mean Trump +2.8 GOP +1.2

    I don't want this to be true, but Trump still looks like he is an electoral asset for the Republicans. I want American voters to judge him so badly that he drags the whole GOP down with him. But the numbers don't show that story.

    Otherwise Republican Senate candidates should be outperforming Trump.
    If he loses and other Republicans do worse, so much the better ;)
  • Options
    IanB2IanB2 Posts: 47,263

    Roy_G_Biv said:

    theProle said:

    Roy_G_Biv said:

    For @CorrectHorseBattery

    https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2011/oct/28/mortality-statistics-causes-death-england-wales-2010#data

    It’s a bit out of date but there are lots of causes of death which could be prevented if we completely stopped doing stuff

    If we banned all motor transport there would be a significant drop in vehicle related deaths. A significant number of people die of medical complications - perhaps we should ban all medical procedures. Some people are electrocuted - are you proposing that we go off grid?
    A small number of women die in childbirth - should we prevent all births? Oh wait we’ve already cancelled all medical procedures above.

    Locking down the economy was supposed to be a temporary measure to allow NHS capacity to increase, and to allow time to assess the impact. Before the initial lockdown, and part of the delay was the advice that people only have a certain capacity for being locked down, and the scientists didn’t want to start it too soon

    Depends what you mean by "lockdown". Driving is highly regulated. There's a huge list of rules, you have to get your car checked for roadworthiness each year, and you aren't allowed to go whatever speed you like. In fact, the speed you're allowed to go depends on not just where you are, but what conditions are like.
    Similarly safety regulations on medical procedures, retail and industrial electrical goods are there to minimise deaths.
    In all of the above cases, we find a balance. Nobody is proposing banning all economic activity, and nor is anybody with the slightest shred of decency advocating just letting it rip.

    So now that we've established where we are, somewhere between those two end members, we need to find the right place. And like the speed limit, it's perfectly sensible to suggest that as conditions change, so should the rules.
    Now, are the kinds of lockdowns experienced and/or proposed by some people going too far one way? Is the loosening proposed by others going too far the other way? Perhaps, you can make your own mind up. In truth, I can see both sides of the argument and I'm not ready to commit. I'm glad I don't have to decide.
    But please don't go around pretending that temporary lockdowns are the same as "banning all motor transport". That's attacking a straw man and doesn't help convince persuadables like me.
    The current Welsh option has to be up there as pretty close to banning all motor transport for a fortnight.
    Its likely to have a similar effect on the numbers - transmission will probably fall, but as the fundamental state of play won't have changed at the end of it, it won't be long before the numbers are back where they are now again - very much like banning driving for a fortnight would cut road deaths for a couple of weeks, but won't make a lot of difference in the long run.

    The fundamental problem with lockdowns is the total absence of a coherent endgame.
    Unless there is some way out of this which doesn't involve everyone getting the disease, lockdowns are pointless but expensive can kicking (rather like the endless Brexit extensions - they only postponed exactly the same issues as everyone started with).

    There isn't a silver bullet on the horizon. A vaccine isn't going to be enough (you can tell this from the way that governments are starting to talk about this going on all next year).

    At some point lockdowns will stop working entirely, if that hasn't already happened. Based on what's happened in say Boulton over the summer, where various levels lockdown have made almost no difference to case numbers, it's quite possible that point has already pretty much been reached.

    People have had enough (I'm honest, I'm one of them), and aren't taking a blind bit of notice of the rules if they even know what they are, so the only practical outworking of the restrictions is the ruination of the businesses forced to close (mind you what a time to own an off licence! It's an ill wind... ).

    I read a post on Facebook today which linked to a petition for partners to be allowed to attend scans and all of labour for pregnant women (I think it covered Wales - I don't know the current English rules). Some of the stories in the comments below the post were truly heartbreaking; Women having miscarriages and stillbirths alone with their husbands sat waiting in the carpark. It's hard to explain how angry I felt after reading a few posts, and how outraged I was at the sheer barbarity of the current rules. My sister is currently heavily pregnant and under these rules in Ceredigion, which has a case rate of something like 22 per 100k. Its utterly mad, the more so given that presumably as most women live with their partners, if one has it, they probably both do anyway.

    I think we should shield the vulnerable as best we can, then let it go, because the reality is that otherwise its going to go anyway sooner or later, but with the vulnerable unprotected.

    As someone else has posted upthread, by January (it's bleak enough in a normal year) the public will be in open rebellion everywhere (lots of them aren't far off now), and nothing the politicians can do then will allow them to regain control. All that's occuring now is just adding extra pointless misery to that which will come from the ravages of the disease when the public mood breaks.
    The devil is in the detail. You say we should "shield the vulnerable" but provide zero detail. Vulnerable people still need to eat, still need to access medical care. How do they get to the supermarket if the bus is full of people spewing out virus particles without catching it? How can they sit in a waiting room at the doctor's with coronavirus in the air, and not die from it?
    And even if some unspecified measures are put in place that will magically keep the vulnerable separate, how do you stop that becoming overwhelmed with people who just don't really want to get sick?

    The "shield the vulnerable" mantra reminds me of communism... nice in theory but it doesn't work.

    As a side note, I've noticed a LOT that people read something on Facebook or Twitter and get outraged. When I used to be on both platforms I was permanently of the opinion that the country was about to break out into insurrection because LOOK AT THIS CUTE CHILD HE DIED BECAUSE OF AUSTERITY/MUSLIMS/VACCINES/ISRAEL. The sad truth is, it's always a mix of the chronically angry, distillations of real things that happened that may or may not share the context you're talking about, liars, propagandists, and well-meaning idiots. And it's all wrapped up into a nice newsfeed that specifically designed to maximise your outrage, because that's what keeps you coming back for more. You see it in some of the people on here. They've become furious ideologues, certain of the righteousness of their cause and their cause alone. Then they find themselves on here, one of the many interfaces between their clan and another, and they go absolutely mad because "here are some filthy apostates who have been duped by the other clan, how can they be so stupidly partisan all the time?!"

    Ok, so my side note ended up longer than my main point. Sorry about that. Just to tie it up, I'm not saying you're wrong about lockdowns, but nor am I saying you're right. But I have a sneaking suspicion that you think it's more clear cut than it really is, and one clue to that is this:
    you replied to a post recommending we take better care when wielding rhetorical devices, and by the sixth paragraph you were talking about dead babies. That kind of escalation doesn't happen in conversations unless at least one of them is furiously certain about something that is so very clearly uncertain enough that they need to have a conversation about it.
    On your first paragraph my wife and I (81 & 77) have no problem shielding nor with the surgery

    We have a weekly Asda delivery and our son or daughter pick up our medication from the chemist and leave it in our porch

    Since March our surgery has moved to online triage and it has been a great success together with a ban on anyone calling direct at the surgery. When we have had to see either the doctor/nurse we wait in the car park in our car and the doctor/nurse calls us directly into their consulting room passing through the empty waiting areas

    Here in Wales Drakeford has stopped supermarkets selling non essential food and terminal ill non covid elderly patients have to choose which child they want to nominate to be at their bedside in their final hours

    This is morally bankrupt and of course banning the sale of non essenitial goods drives Amazon and online shopping demand at the further expense of local shopping

    Drakeford insists closing down the whole of Wales is only for 17 days and is a one off event, but as we have been in the equivalent of tier 3 ourselves for the last month I expect Drakeford will return us to tier 3 again

    He is experimenting with Wales and believe you me both here in Wales and the rest of the UK a moment is fast approaching when the cry will go out 'enough'

    It is notable that Scotland has introduced tiering, notwithstanding 2 additional levels, confirming that even Sturgeon is not favour of a national shutdown
    You didn't read Foxy's response to your comments last night then. (Forgive me Foxy if I have misinterpreted via my précis)

    1.Non-essentials is a device to deter unnecessary shopping.

    2. Your end of life visiting issues are an edict from the Westminster Government.

    I can't say I am pleased at not working for two weeks, however if it allows me the opportunity to work unhindered for the following six weeks to eight weeks I will give it a shot.
    On 1, isn't it a political move to assuage the discontent of smaller non-essential retailers closed down but watching the supermarkets open and selling the very same stuff?
  • Options
    PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 75,917
    No Florida senate race helps Joe Biden, Marco Rubio I think will hold in 2022 and would possibly have dragged Trump up a bit.
  • Options
    FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,594
    Pulpstar said:

    MrEd said:

    Didn't watch the debate but, to echo others here, the mood music appears to be that Trump didn't create any major new gaffes and restrained himself. As others have said, that will probably be enough for more reluctant Republicans or even some independents to vote for him, especially given some of the issues at stake.

    Funnily enough, the main thing that seemed to trend on social media was Joe Biden's reference to Hitler.

    https://twitter.com/FrankLuntz/status/1319480022747336704
    Frank Luntz's polling groups reflect him I think - out and out GOP hacks masquerading as "undecideds"
    His group were completely wrong about the first debate and its impact.
  • Options
    MaxPBMaxPB Posts: 37,607
    IanB2 said:

    Roy_G_Biv said:

    theProle said:

    Roy_G_Biv said:

    For @CorrectHorseBattery

    https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2011/oct/28/mortality-statistics-causes-death-england-wales-2010#data

    It’s a bit out of date but there are lots of causes of death which could be prevented if we completely stopped doing stuff

    If we banned all motor transport there would be a significant drop in vehicle related deaths. A significant number of people die of medical complications - perhaps we should ban all medical procedures. Some people are electrocuted - are you proposing that we go off grid?
    A small number of women die in childbirth - should we prevent all births? Oh wait we’ve already cancelled all medical procedures above.

    Locking down the economy was supposed to be a temporary measure to allow NHS capacity to increase, and to allow time to assess the impact. Before the initial lockdown, and part of the delay was the advice that people only have a certain capacity for being locked down, and the scientists didn’t want to start it too soon

    Depends what you mean by "lockdown". Driving is highly regulated. There's a huge list of rules, you have to get your car checked for roadworthiness each year, and you aren't allowed to go whatever speed you like. In fact, the speed you're allowed to go depends on not just where you are, but what conditions are like.
    Similarly safety regulations on medical procedures, retail and industrial electrical goods are there to minimise deaths.
    In all of the above cases, we find a balance. Nobody is proposing banning all economic activity, and nor is anybody with the slightest shred of decency advocating just letting it rip.

    So now that we've established where we are, somewhere between those two end members, we need to find the right place. And like the speed limit, it's perfectly sensible to suggest that as conditions change, so should the rules.
    Now, are the kinds of lockdowns experienced and/or proposed by some people going too far one way? Is the loosening proposed by others going too far the other way? Perhaps, you can make your own mind up. In truth, I can see both sides of the argument and I'm not ready to commit. I'm glad I don't have to decide.
    But please don't go around pretending that temporary lockdowns are the same as "banning all motor transport". That's attacking a straw man and doesn't help convince persuadables like me.
    The current Welsh option has to be up there as pretty close to banning all motor transport for a fortnight.
    Its likely to have a similar effect on the numbers - transmission will probably fall, but as the fundamental state of play won't have changed at the end of it, it won't be long before the numbers are back where they are now again - very much like banning driving for a fortnight would cut road deaths for a couple of weeks, but won't make a lot of difference in the long run.

    The fundamental problem with lockdowns is the total absence of a coherent endgame.
    Unless there is some way out of this which doesn't involve everyone getting the disease, lockdowns are pointless but expensive can kicking (rather like the endless Brexit extensions - they only postponed exactly the same issues as everyone started with).

    There isn't a silver bullet on the horizon. A vaccine isn't going to be enough (you can tell this from the way that governments are starting to talk about this going on all next year).

    At some point lockdowns will stop working entirely, if that hasn't already happened. Based on what's happened in say Boulton over the summer, where various levels lockdown have made almost no difference to case numbers, it's quite possible that point has already pretty much been reached.

    People have had enough (I'm honest, I'm one of them), and aren't taking a blind bit of notice of the rules if they even know what they are, so the only practical outworking of the restrictions is the ruination of the businesses forced to close (mind you what a time to own an off licence! It's an ill wind... ).

    I read a post on Facebook today which linked to a petition for partners to be allowed to attend scans and all of labour for pregnant women (I think it covered Wales - I don't know the current English rules). Some of the stories in the comments below the post were truly heartbreaking; Women having miscarriages and stillbirths alone with their husbands sat waiting in the carpark. It's hard to explain how angry I felt after reading a few posts, and how outraged I was at the sheer barbarity of the current rules. My sister is currently heavily pregnant and under these rules in Ceredigion, which has a case rate of something like 22 per 100k. Its utterly mad, the more so given that presumably as most women live with their partners, if one has it, they probably both do anyway.

    I think we should shield the vulnerable as best we can, then let it go, because the reality is that otherwise its going to go anyway sooner or later, but with the vulnerable unprotected.

    As someone else has posted upthread, by January (it's bleak enough in a normal year) the public will be in open rebellion everywhere (lots of them aren't far off now), and nothing the politicians can do then will allow them to regain control. All that's occuring now is just adding extra pointless misery to that which will come from the ravages of the disease when the public mood breaks.
    The devil is in the detail. You say we should "shield the vulnerable" but provide zero detail. Vulnerable people still need to eat, still need to access medical care. How do they get to the supermarket if the bus is full of people spewing out virus particles without catching it? How can they sit in a waiting room at the doctor's with coronavirus in the air, and not die from it?
    And even if some unspecified measures are put in place that will magically keep the vulnerable separate, how do you stop that becoming overwhelmed with people who just don't really want to get sick?

    The "shield the vulnerable" mantra reminds me of communism... nice in theory but it doesn't work.

    As a side note, I've noticed a LOT that people read something on Facebook or Twitter and get outraged. When I used to be on both platforms I was permanently of the opinion that the country was about to break out into insurrection because LOOK AT THIS CUTE CHILD HE DIED BECAUSE OF AUSTERITY/MUSLIMS/VACCINES/ISRAEL. The sad truth is, it's always a mix of the chronically angry, distillations of real things that happened that may or may not share the context you're talking about, liars, propagandists, and well-meaning idiots. And it's all wrapped up into a nice newsfeed that specifically designed to maximise your outrage, because that's what keeps you coming back for more. You see it in some of the people on here. They've become furious ideologues, certain of the righteousness of their cause and their cause alone. Then they find themselves on here, one of the many interfaces between their clan and another, and they go absolutely mad because "here are some filthy apostates who have been duped by the other clan, how can they be so stupidly partisan all the time?!"

    Ok, so my side note ended up longer than my main point. Sorry about that. Just to tie it up, I'm not saying you're wrong about lockdowns, but nor am I saying you're right. But I have a sneaking suspicion that you think it's more clear cut than it really is, and one clue to that is this:
    you replied to a post recommending we take better care when wielding rhetorical devices, and by the sixth paragraph you were talking about dead babies. That kind of escalation doesn't happen in conversations unless at least one of them is furiously certain about something that is so very clearly uncertain enough that they need to have a conversation about it.
    On your first paragraph my wife and I (81 & 77) have no problem shielding nor with the surgery

    We have a weekly Asda delivery and our son or daughter pick up our medication from the chemist and leave it in our porch

    Since March our surgery has moved to online triage and it has been a great success together with a ban on anyone calling direct at the surgery. When we have had to see either the doctor/nurse we wait in the car park in our car and the doctor/nurse calls us directly into their consulting room passing through the empty waiting areas

    Here in Wales Drakeford has stopped supermarkets selling non essential food and terminal ill non covid elderly patients have to choose which child they want to nominate to be at their bedside in their final hours

    This is morally bankrupt and of course banning the sale of non essenitial goods drives Amazon and online shopping demand at the further expense of local shopping

    Drakeford insists closing down the whole of Wales is only for 17 days and is a one off event, but as we have been in the equivalent of tier 3 ourselves for the last month I expect Drakeford will return us to tier 3 again

    He is experimenting with Wales and believe you me both here in Wales and the rest of the UK a moment is fast approaching when the cry will go out 'enough'

    It is notable that Scotland has introduced tiering, notwithstanding 2 additional levels, confirming that even Sturgeon is not favour of a national shutdown
    You didn't read Foxy's response to your comments last night then. (Forgive me Foxy if I have misinterpreted via my précis)

    1.Non-essentials is a device to deter unnecessary shopping.

    2. Your end of life visiting issues are an edict from the Westminster Government.

    I can't say I am pleased at not working for two weeks, however if it allows me the opportunity to work unhindered for the following six weeks to eight weeks I will give it a shot.
    On 1, isn't it a political move to assuage the discontent of smaller non-essential retailers closed down but watching the supermarkets open and selling the very same stuff?
    So now they see Amazon win more shoppers?
  • Options

    Roy_G_Biv said:

    theProle said:

    Roy_G_Biv said:

    For @CorrectHorseBattery

    https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2011/oct/28/mortality-statistics-causes-death-england-wales-2010#data

    It’s a bit out of date but there are lots of causes of death which could be prevented if we completely stopped doing stuff

    If we banned all motor transport there would be a significant drop in vehicle related deaths. A significant number of people die of medical complications - perhaps we should ban all medical procedures. Some people are electrocuted - are you proposing that we go off grid?
    A small number of women die in childbirth - should we prevent all births? Oh wait we’ve already cancelled all medical procedures above.

    Locking down the economy was supposed to be a temporary measure to allow NHS capacity to increase, and to allow time to assess the impact. Before the initial lockdown, and part of the delay was the advice that people only have a certain capacity for being locked down, and the scientists didn’t want to start it too soon

    Depends what you mean by "lockdown". Driving is highly regulated. There's a huge list of rules, you have to get your car checked for roadworthiness each year, and you aren't allowed to go whatever speed you like. In fact, the speed you're allowed to go depends on not just where you are, but what conditions are like.
    Similarly safety regulations on medical procedures, retail and industrial electrical goods are there to minimise deaths.
    In all of the above cases, we find a balance. Nobody is proposing banning all economic activity, and nor is anybody with the slightest shred of decency advocating just letting it rip.

    So now that we've established where we are, somewhere between those two end members, we need to find the right place. And like the speed limit, it's perfectly sensible to suggest that as conditions change, so should the rules.
    Now, are the kinds of lockdowns experienced and/or proposed by some people going too far one way? Is the loosening proposed by others going too far the other way? Perhaps, you can make your own mind up. In truth, I can see both sides of the argument and I'm not ready to commit. I'm glad I don't have to decide.
    But please don't go around pretending that temporary lockdowns are the same as "banning all motor transport". That's attacking a straw man and doesn't help convince persuadables like me.
    The current Welsh option has to be up there as pretty close to banning all motor transport for a fortnight.
    Its likely to have a similar effect on the numbers - transmission will probably fall, but as the fundamental state of play won't have changed at the end of it, it won't be long before the numbers are back where they are now again - very much like banning driving for a fortnight would cut road deaths for a couple of weeks, but won't make a lot of difference in the long run.

    The fundamental problem with lockdowns is the total absence of a coherent endgame.
    Unless there is some way out of this which doesn't involve everyone getting the disease, lockdowns are pointless but expensive can kicking (rather like the endless Brexit extensions - they only postponed exactly the same issues as everyone started with).

    There isn't a silver bullet on the horizon. A vaccine isn't going to be enough (you can tell this from the way that governments are starting to talk about this going on all next year).

    At some point lockdowns will stop working entirely, if that hasn't already happened. Based on what's happened in say Boulton over the summer, where various levels lockdown have made almost no difference to case numbers, it's quite possible that point has already pretty much been reached.

    People have had enough (I'm honest, I'm one of them), and aren't taking a blind bit of notice of the rules if they even know what they are, so the only practical outworking of the restrictions is the ruination of the businesses forced to close (mind you what a time to own an off licence! It's an ill wind... ).

    I read a post on Facebook today which linked to a petition for partners to be allowed to attend scans and all of labour for pregnant women (I think it covered Wales - I don't know the current English rules). Some of the stories in the comments below the post were truly heartbreaking; Women having miscarriages and stillbirths alone with their husbands sat waiting in the carpark. It's hard to explain how angry I felt after reading a few posts, and how outraged I was at the sheer barbarity of the current rules. My sister is currently heavily pregnant and under these rules in Ceredigion, which has a case rate of something like 22 per 100k. Its utterly mad, the more so given that presumably as most women live with their partners, if one has it, they probably both do anyway.

    I think we should shield the vulnerable as best we can, then let it go, because the reality is that otherwise its going to go anyway sooner or later, but with the vulnerable unprotected.

    As someone else has posted upthread, by January (it's bleak enough in a normal year) the public will be in open rebellion everywhere (lots of them aren't far off now), and nothing the politicians can do then will allow them to regain control. All that's occuring now is just adding extra pointless misery to that which will come from the ravages of the disease when the public mood breaks.
    The devil is in the detail. You say we should "shield the vulnerable" but provide zero detail. Vulnerable people still need to eat, still need to access medical care. How do they get to the supermarket if the bus is full of people spewing out virus particles without catching it? How can they sit in a waiting room at the doctor's with coronavirus in the air, and not die from it?
    And even if some unspecified measures are put in place that will magically keep the vulnerable separate, how do you stop that becoming overwhelmed with people who just don't really want to get sick?

    The "shield the vulnerable" mantra reminds me of communism... nice in theory but it doesn't work.

    As a side note, I've noticed a LOT that people read something on Facebook or Twitter and get outraged. When I used to be on both platforms I was permanently of the opinion that the country was about to break out into insurrection because LOOK AT THIS CUTE CHILD HE DIED BECAUSE OF AUSTERITY/MUSLIMS/VACCINES/ISRAEL. The sad truth is, it's always a mix of the chronically angry, distillations of real things that happened that may or may not share the context you're talking about, liars, propagandists, and well-meaning idiots. And it's all wrapped up into a nice newsfeed that specifically designed to maximise your outrage, because that's what keeps you coming back for more. You see it in some of the people on here. They've become furious ideologues, certain of the righteousness of their cause and their cause alone. Then they find themselves on here, one of the many interfaces between their clan and another, and they go absolutely mad because "here are some filthy apostates who have been duped by the other clan, how can they be so stupidly partisan all the time?!"

    Ok, so my side note ended up longer than my main point. Sorry about that. Just to tie it up, I'm not saying you're wrong about lockdowns, but nor am I saying you're right. But I have a sneaking suspicion that you think it's more clear cut than it really is, and one clue to that is this:
    you replied to a post recommending we take better care when wielding rhetorical devices, and by the sixth paragraph you were talking about dead babies. That kind of escalation doesn't happen in conversations unless at least one of them is furiously certain about something that is so very clearly uncertain enough that they need to have a conversation about it.
    On your first paragraph my wife and I (81 & 77) have no problem shielding nor with the surgery

    We have a weekly Asda delivery and our son or daughter pick up our medication from the chemist and leave it in our porch

    Since March our surgery has moved to online triage and it has been a great success together with a ban on anyone calling direct at the surgery. When we have had to see either the doctor/nurse we wait in the car park in our car and the doctor/nurse calls us directly into their consulting room passing through the empty waiting areas

    Here in Wales Drakeford has stopped supermarkets selling non essential food and terminal ill non covid elderly patients have to choose which child they want to nominate to be at their bedside in their final hours

    This is morally bankrupt and of course banning the sale of non essenitial goods drives Amazon and online shopping demand at the further expense of local shopping

    Drakeford insists closing down the whole of Wales is only for 17 days and is a one off event, but as we have been in the equivalent of tier 3 ourselves for the last month I expect Drakeford will return us to tier 3 again

    He is experimenting with Wales and believe you me both here in Wales and the rest of the UK a moment is fast approaching when the cry will go out 'enough'

    It is notable that Scotland has introduced tiering, notwithstanding 2 additional levels, confirming that even Sturgeon is not favour of a national shutdown
    You didn't read Foxy's response to your comments last night then. (Forgive me Foxy if I have misinterpreted via my précis)

    1.Non-essentials is a device to deter unnecessary shopping.

    2. Your end of life visiting issues are an edict from the Westminster Government.

    I can't say I am pleased at not working for two weeks, however if it allows me the opportunity to work unhindered for the following six weeks to eight weeks I will give it a shot.
    1) Does not work as it drives on line shopping

    2) Health and visiting is a Wales NHS decision
  • Options
    Northern_AlNorthern_Al Posts: 7,540
    isam said:

    TOPPING said:

    isam said:
    I think that's probably true but what a boring PB that would be.

    :smile:
    Actually I think it would be a lot better. When do you ever read a comment on the lines of ‘Actually I hadn’t thought of that, what a thoughtful post’? It is the constant trolling, point scoring and refusal to agree with someone on any subject if they disagree on Brexit/Indy/Boris etc that is boring, because it’s the same every day, and doesn’t seem to me to be borne out of anything other than stubbornness or spite
    I agree, and look forward to you cutting back on your relentless Starmer is boring/has no personality posts!
  • Options
    FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,594
    MaxPB said:

    Foxy said:

    @Roy_G_Biv and @theProle make valid points as did the poster last night on visiting restrictions in Hospices.

    The problem is that "shielding the vulnerable" requires just those sort of measures. Cancer patients and pregnant women are in the vulnerable groups, and open visiting is the direct opposite of shielding.

    Indeed even these visiting rules are too lax if the "herd immunity" enthusiasts of the Great Barrington Declaration get their way.

    Surely scaling up rapid antigen testing is the answer here. The nanopore machines have bandwidth for hundreds of simultaneous tests and give results within 20 minutes. I don't understand why one hasn't been put in every single hospital in the country with staff, patients and visitors tested daily.
    Out T and T can only get 1/7 of results back in 24 hours.

    Small steps are needed before a Moonshot.
  • Options
    MrEdMrEd Posts: 5,578
    IanB2 said:

    CNN: An examination of publicly released internal Republican and conservative group polling reveals they're also showing Trump clearly underperforming his 2016 showing.

    Partisans don't want to release polls that are bad for their side. That means the polls sponsored by a party, candidate or partisan organization tend to be biased in favor of the side releasing the poll. That's why it was amazing to find that on average, Trump was doing 5 points worse than he did in 2016 in the states and districts in released Republican and conservative polls.

    But remember: These are only the polls conservatives and Republicans were willing to put into the public sphere. There's good reason to believe it's worse for Trump in the numbers they're not releasing.

    Indeed, one of the more interesting aspects of the internal polls so far put out by Republicans is how few of them there are. As I noted back in the summer, the number of internal polls each side releases publicly is usually a good indicator of how their side is doing. If one side is doing well, they're more likely to release internal polling than if they're doing poorly.

    The bottom line is that there's really no reason to think that the Republicans have some secret polling putting Trump in a better position than the public polling does. The signs, in fact, point in the opposite direction.

    That really doesn't make much sense as

    (1) If these polls are so poor, why release any of them? The campaigns are not under an obligation to do so;

    (2) I might be wrong but I haven't seen any internal Democrat polling released so, by CNN's logic, Biden must be doing badly as well or, at least, not as well as the polls
  • Options
    IanB2 said:

    Roy_G_Biv said:

    theProle said:

    Roy_G_Biv said:

    For @CorrectHorseBattery

    https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2011/oct/28/mortality-statistics-causes-death-england-wales-2010#data

    It’s a bit out of date but there are lots of causes of death which could be prevented if we completely stopped doing stuff

    If we banned all motor transport there would be a significant drop in vehicle related deaths. A significant number of people die of medical complications - perhaps we should ban all medical procedures. Some people are electrocuted - are you proposing that we go off grid?
    A small number of women die in childbirth - should we prevent all births? Oh wait we’ve already cancelled all medical procedures above.

    Locking down the economy was supposed to be a temporary measure to allow NHS capacity to increase, and to allow time to assess the impact. Before the initial lockdown, and part of the delay was the advice that people only have a certain capacity for being locked down, and the scientists didn’t want to start it too soon

    Depends what you mean by "lockdown". Driving is highly regulated. There's a huge list of rules, you have to get your car checked for roadworthiness each year, and you aren't allowed to go whatever speed you like. In fact, the speed you're allowed to go depends on not just where you are, but what conditions are like.
    Similarly safety regulations on medical procedures, retail and industrial electrical goods are there to minimise deaths.
    In all of the above cases, we find a balance. Nobody is proposing banning all economic activity, and nor is anybody with the slightest shred of decency advocating just letting it rip.

    So now that we've established where we are, somewhere between those two end members, we need to find the right place. And like the speed limit, it's perfectly sensible to suggest that as conditions change, so should the rules.
    Now, are the kinds of lockdowns experienced and/or proposed by some people going too far one way? Is the loosening proposed by others going too far the other way? Perhaps, you can make your own mind up. In truth, I can see both sides of the argument and I'm not ready to commit. I'm glad I don't have to decide.
    But please don't go around pretending that temporary lockdowns are the same as "banning all motor transport". That's attacking a straw man and doesn't help convince persuadables like me.
    The current Welsh option has to be up there as pretty close to banning all motor transport for a fortnight.
    Its likely to have a similar effect on the numbers - transmission will probably fall, but as the fundamental state of play won't have changed at the end of it, it won't be long before the numbers are back where they are now again - very much like banning driving for a fortnight would cut road deaths for a couple of weeks, but won't make a lot of difference in the long run.

    The fundamental problem with lockdowns is the total absence of a coherent endgame.
    Unless there is some way out of this which doesn't involve everyone getting the disease, lockdowns are pointless but expensive can kicking (rather like the endless Brexit extensions - they only postponed exactly the same issues as everyone started with).

    There isn't a silver bullet on the horizon. A vaccine isn't going to be enough (you can tell this from the way that governments are starting to talk about this going on all next year).

    At some point lockdowns will stop working entirely, if that hasn't already happened. Based on what's happened in say Boulton over the summer, where various levels lockdown have made almost no difference to case numbers, it's quite possible that point has already pretty much been reached.

    People have had enough (I'm honest, I'm one of them), and aren't taking a blind bit of notice of the rules if they even know what they are, so the only practical outworking of the restrictions is the ruination of the businesses forced to close (mind you what a time to own an off licence! It's an ill wind... ).

    I read a post on Facebook today which linked to a petition for partners to be allowed to attend scans and all of labour for pregnant women (I think it covered Wales - I don't know the current English rules). Some of the stories in the comments below the post were truly heartbreaking; Women having miscarriages and stillbirths alone with their husbands sat waiting in the carpark. It's hard to explain how angry I felt after reading a few posts, and how outraged I was at the sheer barbarity of the current rules. My sister is currently heavily pregnant and under these rules in Ceredigion, which has a case rate of something like 22 per 100k. Its utterly mad, the more so given that presumably as most women live with their partners, if one has it, they probably both do anyway.

    I think we should shield the vulnerable as best we can, then let it go, because the reality is that otherwise its going to go anyway sooner or later, but with the vulnerable unprotected.

    As someone else has posted upthread, by January (it's bleak enough in a normal year) the public will be in open rebellion everywhere (lots of them aren't far off now), and nothing the politicians can do then will allow them to regain control. All that's occuring now is just adding extra pointless misery to that which will come from the ravages of the disease when the public mood breaks.
    The devil is in the detail. You say we should "shield the vulnerable" but provide zero detail. Vulnerable people still need to eat, still need to access medical care. How do they get to the supermarket if the bus is full of people spewing out virus particles without catching it? How can they sit in a waiting room at the doctor's with coronavirus in the air, and not die from it?
    And even if some unspecified measures are put in place that will magically keep the vulnerable separate, how do you stop that becoming overwhelmed with people who just don't really want to get sick?

    The "shield the vulnerable" mantra reminds me of communism... nice in theory but it doesn't work.

    As a side note, I've noticed a LOT that people read something on Facebook or Twitter and get outraged. When I used to be on both platforms I was permanently of the opinion that the country was about to break out into insurrection because LOOK AT THIS CUTE CHILD HE DIED BECAUSE OF AUSTERITY/MUSLIMS/VACCINES/ISRAEL. The sad truth is, it's always a mix of the chronically angry, distillations of real things that happened that may or may not share the context you're talking about, liars, propagandists, and well-meaning idiots. And it's all wrapped up into a nice newsfeed that specifically designed to maximise your outrage, because that's what keeps you coming back for more. You see it in some of the people on here. They've become furious ideologues, certain of the righteousness of their cause and their cause alone. Then they find themselves on here, one of the many interfaces between their clan and another, and they go absolutely mad because "here are some filthy apostates who have been duped by the other clan, how can they be so stupidly partisan all the time?!"

    Ok, so my side note ended up longer than my main point. Sorry about that. Just to tie it up, I'm not saying you're wrong about lockdowns, but nor am I saying you're right. But I have a sneaking suspicion that you think it's more clear cut than it really is, and one clue to that is this:
    you replied to a post recommending we take better care when wielding rhetorical devices, and by the sixth paragraph you were talking about dead babies. That kind of escalation doesn't happen in conversations unless at least one of them is furiously certain about something that is so very clearly uncertain enough that they need to have a conversation about it.
    On your first paragraph my wife and I (81 & 77) have no problem shielding nor with the surgery

    We have a weekly Asda delivery and our son or daughter pick up our medication from the chemist and leave it in our porch

    Since March our surgery has moved to online triage and it has been a great success together with a ban on anyone calling direct at the surgery. When we have had to see either the doctor/nurse we wait in the car park in our car and the doctor/nurse calls us directly into their consulting room passing through the empty waiting areas

    Here in Wales Drakeford has stopped supermarkets selling non essential food and terminal ill non covid elderly patients have to choose which child they want to nominate to be at their bedside in their final hours

    This is morally bankrupt and of course banning the sale of non essenitial goods drives Amazon and online shopping demand at the further expense of local shopping

    Drakeford insists closing down the whole of Wales is only for 17 days and is a one off event, but as we have been in the equivalent of tier 3 ourselves for the last month I expect Drakeford will return us to tier 3 again

    He is experimenting with Wales and believe you me both here in Wales and the rest of the UK a moment is fast approaching when the cry will go out 'enough'

    It is notable that Scotland has introduced tiering, notwithstanding 2 additional levels, confirming that even Sturgeon is not favour of a national shutdown
    You didn't read Foxy's response to your comments last night then. (Forgive me Foxy if I have misinterpreted via my précis)

    1.Non-essentials is a device to deter unnecessary shopping.

    2. Your end of life visiting issues are an edict from the Westminster Government.

    I can't say I am pleased at not working for two weeks, however if it allows me the opportunity to work unhindered for the following six weeks to eight weeks I will give it a shot.
    On 1, isn't it a political move to assuage the discontent of smaller non-essential retailers closed down but watching the supermarkets open and selling the very same stuff?
    It is but it will not work

    Amazon will be even busier
  • Options
    IanB2IanB2 Posts: 47,263
    MaxPB said:

    IanB2 said:

    Roy_G_Biv said:

    theProle said:

    Roy_G_Biv said:

    For @CorrectHorseBattery

    https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2011/oct/28/mortality-statistics-causes-death-england-wales-2010#data

    It’s a bit out of date but there are lots of causes of death which could be prevented if we completely stopped doing stuff

    If we banned all motor transport there would be a significant drop in vehicle related deaths. A significant number of people die of medical complications - perhaps we should ban all medical procedures. Some people are electrocuted - are you proposing that we go off grid?
    A small number of women die in childbirth - should we prevent all births? Oh wait we’ve already cancelled all medical procedures above.

    Locking down the economy was supposed to be a temporary measure to allow NHS capacity to increase, and to allow time to assess the impact. Before the initial lockdown, and part of the delay was the advice that people only have a certain capacity for being locked down, and the scientists didn’t want to start it too soon

    Depends what you mean by "lockdown". Driving is highly regulated. There's a huge list of rules, you have to get your car checked for roadworthiness each year, and you aren't allowed to go whatever speed you like. In fact, the speed you're allowed to go depends on not just where you are, but what conditions are like.
    Similarly safety regulations on medical procedures, retail and industrial electrical goods are there to minimise deaths.
    In all of the above cases, we find a balance. Nobody is proposing banning all economic activity, and nor is anybody with the slightest shred of decency advocating just letting it rip.

    So now that we've established where we are, somewhere between those two end members, we need to find the right place. And like the speed limit, it's perfectly sensible to suggest that as conditions change, so should the rules.
    Now, are the kinds of lockdowns experienced and/or proposed by some people going too far one way? Is the loosening proposed by others going too far the other way? Perhaps, you can make your own mind up. In truth, I can see both sides of the argument and I'm not ready to commit. I'm glad I don't have to decide.
    But please don't go around pretending that temporary lockdowns are the same as "banning all motor transport". That's attacking a straw man and doesn't help convince persuadables like me.
    The current Welsh option has to be up there as pretty close to banning all motor transport for a fortnight.
    Its likely to have a similar effect on the numbers - transmission will probably fall, but as the fundamental state of play won't have changed at the end of it, it won't be long before the numbers are back where they are now again - very much like banning driving for a fortnight would cut road deaths for a couple of weeks, but won't make a lot of difference in the long run.

    The fundamental problem with lockdowns is the total absence of a coherent endgame.
    Unless there is some way out of this which doesn't involve everyone getting the disease, lockdowns are pointless but expensive can kicking (rather like the endless Brexit extensions - they only postponed exactly the same issues as everyone started with).

    There isn't a silver bullet on the horizon. A vaccine isn't going to be enough (you can tell this from the way that governments are starting to talk about this going on all next year).

    At some point lockdowns will stop working entirely, if that hasn't already happened. Based on what's happened in say Boulton over the summer, where various levels lockdown have made almost no difference to case numbers, it's quite possible that point has already pretty much been reached.

    People have had enough (I'm honest, I'm one of them), and aren't taking a blind bit of notice of the rules if they even know what they are, so the only practical outworking of the restrictions is the ruination of the businesses forced to close (mind you what a time to own an off licence! It's an ill wind... ).

    I read a post on Facebook today which linked to a petition for partners to be allowed to attend scans and all of labour for pregnant women (I think it covered Wales - I don't know the current English rules). Some of the stories in the comments below the post were truly heartbreaking; Women having miscarriages and stillbirths alone with their husbands sat waiting in the carpark. It's hard to explain how angry I felt after reading a few posts, and how outraged I was at the sheer barbarity of the current rules. My sister is currently heavily pregnant and under these rules in Ceredigion, which has a case rate of something like 22 per 100k. Its utterly mad, the more so given that presumably as most women live with their partners, if one has it, they probably both do anyway.

    I think we should shield the vulnerable as best we can, then let it go, because the reality is that otherwise its going to go anyway sooner or later, but with the vulnerable unprotected.

    As someone else has posted upthread, by January (it's bleak enough in a normal year) the public will be in open rebellion everywhere (lots of them aren't far off now), and nothing the politicians can do then will allow them to regain control. All that's occuring now is just adding extra pointless misery to that which will come from the ravages of the disease when the public mood breaks.
    The devil is in the detail. You say we should "shield the vulnerable" but provide zero detail. Vulnerable people still need to eat, still need to access medical care. How do they get to the supermarket if the bus is full of people spewing out virus particles without catching it? How can they sit in a waiting room at the doctor's with coronavirus in the air, and not die from it?
    And even if some unspecified measures are put in place that will magically keep the vulnerable separate, how do you stop that becoming overwhelmed with people who just don't really want to get sick?

    The "shield the vulnerable" mantra reminds me of communism... nice in theory but it doesn't work.

    As a side note, I've noticed a LOT that people read something on Facebook or Twitter and get outraged. When I used to be on both platforms I was permanently of the opinion that the country was about to break out into insurrection because LOOK AT THIS CUTE CHILD HE DIED BECAUSE OF AUSTERITY/MUSLIMS/VACCINES/ISRAEL. The sad truth is, it's always a mix of the chronically angry, distillations of real things that happened that may or may not share the context you're talking about, liars, propagandists, and well-meaning idiots. And it's all wrapped up into a nice newsfeed that specifically designed to maximise your outrage, because that's what keeps you coming back for more. You see it in some of the people on here. They've become furious ideologues, certain of the righteousness of their cause and their cause alone. Then they find themselves on here, one of the many interfaces between their clan and another, and they go absolutely mad because "here are some filthy apostates who have been duped by the other clan, how can they be so stupidly partisan all the time?!"

    Ok, so my side note ended up longer than my main point. Sorry about that. Just to tie it up, I'm not saying you're wrong about lockdowns, but nor am I saying you're right. But I have a sneaking suspicion that you think it's more clear cut than it really is, and one clue to that is this:
    you replied to a post recommending we take better care when wielding rhetorical devices, and by the sixth paragraph you were talking about dead babies. That kind of escalation doesn't happen in conversations unless at least one of them is furiously certain about something that is so very clearly uncertain enough that they need to have a conversation about it.
    On your first paragraph my wife and I (81 & 77) have no problem shielding nor with the surgery

    We have a weekly Asda delivery and our son or daughter pick up our medication from the chemist and leave it in our porch

    Since March our surgery has moved to online triage and it has been a great success together with a ban on anyone calling direct at the surgery. When we have had to see either the doctor/nurse we wait in the car park in our car and the doctor/nurse calls us directly into their consulting room passing through the empty waiting areas

    Here in Wales Drakeford has stopped supermarkets selling non essential food and terminal ill non covid elderly patients have to choose which child they want to nominate to be at their bedside in their final hours

    This is morally bankrupt and of course banning the sale of non essenitial goods drives Amazon and online shopping demand at the further expense of local shopping

    Drakeford insists closing down the whole of Wales is only for 17 days and is a one off event, but as we have been in the equivalent of tier 3 ourselves for the last month I expect Drakeford will return us to tier 3 again

    He is experimenting with Wales and believe you me both here in Wales and the rest of the UK a moment is fast approaching when the cry will go out 'enough'

    It is notable that Scotland has introduced tiering, notwithstanding 2 additional levels, confirming that even Sturgeon is not favour of a national shutdown
    You didn't read Foxy's response to your comments last night then. (Forgive me Foxy if I have misinterpreted via my précis)

    1.Non-essentials is a device to deter unnecessary shopping.

    2. Your end of life visiting issues are an edict from the Westminster Government.

    I can't say I am pleased at not working for two weeks, however if it allows me the opportunity to work unhindered for the following six weeks to eight weeks I will give it a shot.
    On 1, isn't it a political move to assuage the discontent of smaller non-essential retailers closed down but watching the supermarkets open and selling the very same stuff?
    So now they see Amazon win more shoppers?
    For sure. It's likely to simply be "do something" politics. But I guess you could argue that online shoppers might return to physical shopping after the lockdown, but getting them in the habit of physically shopping somewhere else is worse for smaller retailers.
  • Options
    MrEdMrEd Posts: 5,578
    OllyT said:

    Pulpstar said:

    MrEd said:

    Didn't watch the debate but, to echo others here, the mood music appears to be that Trump didn't create any major new gaffes and restrained himself. As others have said, that will probably be enough for more reluctant Republicans or even some independents to vote for him, especially given some of the issues at stake.

    Funnily enough, the main thing that seemed to trend on social media was Joe Biden's reference to Hitler.

    https://twitter.com/FrankLuntz/status/1319480022747336704
    Frank Luntz's polling groups reflect him I think - out and out GOP hacks masquerading as "undecideds"
    His focus groups always seem to come to the opposite conclusion to the pollsters. Not impossible but highly suspicious given his role as a GOP strategist. I'd bet that the 3 polls are giving a more accurate reflection, particularly as all 3 give a remarkably similar result.
    If you don't think a CNN poll might be biased, I have a bridge to sell you
  • Options
    IanB2IanB2 Posts: 47,263
    MrEd said:

    IanB2 said:

    CNN: An examination of publicly released internal Republican and conservative group polling reveals they're also showing Trump clearly underperforming his 2016 showing.

    Partisans don't want to release polls that are bad for their side. That means the polls sponsored by a party, candidate or partisan organization tend to be biased in favor of the side releasing the poll. That's why it was amazing to find that on average, Trump was doing 5 points worse than he did in 2016 in the states and districts in released Republican and conservative polls.

    But remember: These are only the polls conservatives and Republicans were willing to put into the public sphere. There's good reason to believe it's worse for Trump in the numbers they're not releasing.

    Indeed, one of the more interesting aspects of the internal polls so far put out by Republicans is how few of them there are. As I noted back in the summer, the number of internal polls each side releases publicly is usually a good indicator of how their side is doing. If one side is doing well, they're more likely to release internal polling than if they're doing poorly.

    The bottom line is that there's really no reason to think that the Republicans have some secret polling putting Trump in a better position than the public polling does. The signs, in fact, point in the opposite direction.

    That really doesn't make much sense as

    (1) If these polls are so poor, why release any of them? The campaigns are not under an obligation to do so;

    (2) I might be wrong but I haven't seen any internal Democrat polling released so, by CNN's logic, Biden must be doing badly as well or, at least, not as well as the polls
    The full article does mention a lot of Democrat polls being released - a similar level to last time.

    I take the point to be that Reps are releasing polls where their candidate is clearly ahead - but comparing these with the same districts in 2016 reveal a falling vote share.
  • Options
    AlistairAlistair Posts: 23,670
    isam said:
    When is that video from?

    The current reporting standard is 28 days after diagnosis.
  • Options
    rkrkrkrkrkrk Posts: 7,908
    MaxPB said:

    Foxy said:

    @Roy_G_Biv and @theProle make valid points as did the poster last night on visiting restrictions in Hospices.

    The problem is that "shielding the vulnerable" requires just those sort of measures. Cancer patients and pregnant women are in the vulnerable groups, and open visiting is the direct opposite of shielding.

    Indeed even these visiting rules are too lax if the "herd immunity" enthusiasts of the Great Barrington Declaration get their way.

    Surely scaling up rapid antigen testing is the answer here. The nanopore machines have bandwidth for hundreds of simultaneous tests and give results within 20 minutes. I don't understand why one hasn't been put in every single hospital in the country with staff, patients and visitors tested daily.
    Have they got regulatory approval though? There are all kinds of manufacturers claiming 99% specificity and sensitivity on their tests but these claims often turn out not true...

    Ultimately that's where we are going I think, although I think the govt wants a saliva test rather than swab...
  • Options
    AlistairAlistair Posts: 23,670
    Alistair said:

    isam said:
    When is that video from?

    The current reporting standard is 28 days after diagnosis.
    Pretty Certain the FTSE hasn't been at 6238 for a good while.
  • Options
    MaxPBMaxPB Posts: 37,607
    IanB2 said:

    MaxPB said:

    IanB2 said:

    Roy_G_Biv said:

    theProle said:

    Roy_G_Biv said:

    For @CorrectHorseBattery

    https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2011/oct/28/mortality-statistics-causes-death-england-wales-2010#data

    It’s a bit out of date but there are lots of causes of death which could be prevented if we completely stopped doing stuff

    If we banned all motor transport there would be a significant drop in vehicle related deaths. A significant number of people die of medical complications - perhaps we should ban all medical procedures. Some people are electrocuted - are you proposing that we go off grid?
    A small number of women die in childbirth - should we prevent all births? Oh wait we’ve already cancelled all medical procedures above.

    Locking down the economy was supposed to be a temporary measure to allow NHS capacity to increase, and to allow time to assess the impact. Before the initial lockdown, and part of the delay was the advice that people only have a certain capacity for being locked down, and the scientists didn’t want to start it too soon

    Depends what you mean by "lockdown". Driving is highly regulated. There's a huge list of rules, you have to get your car checked for roadworthiness each year, and you aren't allowed to go whatever speed you like. In fact, the speed you're allowed to go depends on not just where you are, but what conditions are like.
    Similarly safety regulations on medical procedures, retail and industrial electrical goods are there to minimise deaths.
    In all of the above cases, we find a balance. Nobody is proposing banning all economic activity, and nor is anybody with the slightest shred of decency advocating just letting it rip.

    So now that we've established where we are, somewhere between those two end members, we need to find the right place. And like the speed limit, it's perfectly sensible to suggest that as conditions change, so should the rules.
    Now, are the kinds of lockdowns experienced and/or proposed by some people going too far one way? Is the loosening proposed by others going too far the other way? Perhaps, you can make your own mind up. In truth, I can see both sides of the argument and I'm not ready to commit. I'm glad I don't have to decide.
    But please don't go around pretending that temporary lockdowns are the same as "banning all motor transport". That's attacking a straw man and doesn't help convince persuadables like me.
    The current Welsh option has to be up there as pretty close to banning all motor transport for a fortnight.
    Its likely to have a similar effect on the numbers - transmission will probably fall, but as the fundamental state of play won't have changed at the end of it, it won't be long before the numbers are back where they are now again - very much like banning driving for a fortnight would cut road deaths for a couple of weeks, but won't make a lot of difference in the long run.

    The fundamental problem with lockdowns is the total absence of a coherent endgame.
    Unless there is some way out of this which doesn't involve everyone getting the disease, lockdowns are pointless but expensive can kicking (rather like the endless Brexit extensions - they only postponed exactly the same issues as everyone started with).

    There isn't a silver bullet on the horizon. A vaccine isn't going to be enough (you can tell this from the way that governments are starting to talk about this going on all next year).

    At some point lockdowns will stop working entirely, if that hasn't already happened. Based on what's happened in say Boulton over the summer, where various levels lockdown have made almost no difference to case numbers, it's quite possible that point has already pretty much been reached.

    People have had enough (I'm honest, I'm one of them), and aren't taking a blind bit of notice of the rules if they even know what they are, so the only practical outworking of the restrictions is the ruination of the businesses forced to close (mind you what a time to own an off licence! It's an ill wind... ).

    I read a post on Facebook today which linked to a petition for partners to be allowed to attend scans and all of labour for pregnant women (I think it covered Wales - I don't know the current English rules). Some of the stories in the comments below the post were truly heartbreaking; Women having miscarriages and stillbirths alone with their husbands sat waiting in the carpark. It's hard to explain how angry I felt after reading a few posts, and how outraged I was at the sheer barbarity of the current rules. My sister is currently heavily pregnant and under these rules in Ceredigion, which has a case rate of something like 22 per 100k. Its utterly mad, the more so given that presumably as most women live with their partners, if one has it, they probably both do anyway.

    I think we should shield the vulnerable as best we can, then let it go, because the reality is that otherwise its going to go anyway sooner or later, but with the vulnerable unprotected.

    As someone else has posted upthread, by January (it's bleak enough in a normal year) the public will be in open rebellion everywhere (lots of them aren't far off now), and nothing the politicians can do then will allow them to regain control. All that's occuring now is just adding extra pointless misery to that which will come from the ravages of the disease when the public mood breaks.
    The devil is in the detail. You say we should "shield the vulnerable" but provide zero detail. Vulnerable people still need to eat, still need to access medical care. How do they get to the supermarket if the bus is full of people spewing out virus particles without catching it? How can they sit in a waiting room at the doctor's with coronavirus in the air, and not die from it?
    And even if some unspecified measures are put in place that will magically keep the vulnerable separate, how do you stop that becoming overwhelmed with people who just don't really want to get sick?

    The "shield the vulnerable" mantra reminds me of communism... nice in theory but it doesn't work.

    As a side note, I've noticed a LOT that people read something on Facebook or Twitter and get outraged. When I used to be on both platforms I was permanently of the opinion that the country was about to break out into insurrection because LOOK AT THIS CUTE CHILD HE DIED BECAUSE OF AUSTERITY/MUSLIMS/VACCINES/ISRAEL. The sad truth is, it's always a mix of the chronically angry, distillations of real things that happened that may or may not share the context you're talking about, liars, propagandists, and well-meaning idiots. And it's all wrapped up into a nice newsfeed that specifically designed to maximise your outrage, because that's what keeps you coming back for more. You see it in some of the people on here. They've become furious ideologues, certain of the righteousness of their cause and their cause alone. Then they find themselves on here, one of the many interfaces between their clan and another, and they go absolutely mad because "here are some filthy apostates who have been duped by the other clan, how can they be so stupidly partisan all the time?!"

    Ok, so my side note ended up longer than my main point. Sorry about that. Just to tie it up, I'm not saying you're wrong about lockdowns, but nor am I saying you're right. But I have a sneaking suspicion that you think it's more clear cut than it really is, and one clue to that is this:
    you replied to a post recommending we take better care when wielding rhetorical devices, and by the sixth paragraph you were talking about dead babies. That kind of escalation doesn't happen in conversations unless at least one of them is furiously certain about something that is so very clearly uncertain enough that they need to have a conversation about it.
    On your first paragraph my wife and I (81 & 77) have no problem shielding nor with the surgery

    We have a weekly Asda delivery and our son or daughter pick up our medication from the chemist and leave it in our porch

    Since March our surgery has moved to online triage and it has been a great success together with a ban on anyone calling direct at the surgery. When we have had to see either the doctor/nurse we wait in the car park in our car and the doctor/nurse calls us directly into their consulting room passing through the empty waiting areas

    Here in Wales Drakeford has stopped supermarkets selling non essential food and terminal ill non covid elderly patients have to choose which child they want to nominate to be at their bedside in their final hours

    This is morally bankrupt and of course banning the sale of non essenitial goods drives Amazon and online shopping demand at the further expense of local shopping

    Drakeford insists closing down the whole of Wales is only for 17 days and is a one off event, but as we have been in the equivalent of tier 3 ourselves for the last month I expect Drakeford will return us to tier 3 again

    He is experimenting with Wales and believe you me both here in Wales and the rest of the UK a moment is fast approaching when the cry will go out 'enough'

    It is notable that Scotland has introduced tiering, notwithstanding 2 additional levels, confirming that even Sturgeon is not favour of a national shutdown
    You didn't read Foxy's response to your comments last night then. (Forgive me Foxy if I have misinterpreted via my précis)

    1.Non-essentials is a device to deter unnecessary shopping.

    2. Your end of life visiting issues are an edict from the Westminster Government.

    I can't say I am pleased at not working for two weeks, however if it allows me the opportunity to work unhindered for the following six weeks to eight weeks I will give it a shot.
    On 1, isn't it a political move to assuage the discontent of smaller non-essential retailers closed down but watching the supermarkets open and selling the very same stuff?
    So now they see Amazon win more shoppers?
    For sure. It's likely to simply be "do something" politics. But I guess you could argue that online shoppers might return to physical shopping after the lockdown, but getting them in the habit of physically shopping somewhere else is worse for smaller retailers.
    I don't think it's been shown that online shoppers go back to the shops. It's almost like a ratchet with product classes people are willing to buy online. After they've done it once they don't mind doing it again.
  • Options
    LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 15,199
    IanB2 said:

    Roy_G_Biv said:

    theProle said:

    Roy_G_Biv said:

    For @CorrectHorseBattery

    https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2011/oct/28/mortality-statistics-causes-death-england-wales-2010#data

    It’s a bit out of date but there are lots of causes of death which could be prevented if we completely stopped doing stuff

    If we banned all motor transport there would be a significant drop in vehicle related deaths. A significant number of people die of medical complications - perhaps we should ban all medical procedures. Some people are electrocuted - are you proposing that we go off grid?
    A small number of women die in childbirth - should we prevent all births? Oh wait we’ve already cancelled all medical procedures above.

    Locking down the economy was supposed to be a temporary measure to allow NHS capacity to increase, and to allow time to assess the impact. Before the initial lockdown, and part of the delay was the advice that people only have a certain capacity for being locked down, and the scientists didn’t want to start it too soon

    Depends what you mean by "lockdown". Driving is highly regulated. There's a huge list of rules, you have to get your car checked for roadworthiness each year, and you aren't allowed to go whatever speed you like. In fact, the speed you're allowed to go depends on not just where you are, but what conditions are like.
    Similarly safety regulations on medical procedures, retail and industrial electrical goods are there to minimise deaths.
    In all of the above cases, we find a balance. Nobody is proposing banning all economic activity, and nor is anybody with the slightest shred of decency advocating just letting it rip.

    So now that we've established where we are, somewhere between those two end members, we need to find the right place. And like the speed limit, it's perfectly sensible to suggest that as conditions change, so should the rules.
    Now, are the kinds of lockdowns experienced and/or proposed by some people going too far one way? Is the loosening proposed by others going too far the other way? Perhaps, you can make your own mind up. In truth, I can see both sides of the argument and I'm not ready to commit. I'm glad I don't have to decide.
    But please don't go around pretending that temporary lockdowns are the same as "banning all motor transport". That's attacking a straw man and doesn't help convince persuadables like me.
    The current Welsh option has to be up there as pretty close to banning all motor transport for a fortnight.
    Its likely to have a similar effect on the numbers - transmission will probably fall, but as the fundamental state of play won't have changed at the end of it, it won't be long before the numbers are back where they are now again - very much like banning driving for a fortnight would cut road deaths for a couple of weeks, but won't make a lot of difference in the long run.

    The fundamental problem with lockdowns is the total absence of a coherent endgame.
    Unless there is some way out of this which doesn't involve everyone getting the disease, lockdowns are pointless but expensive can kicking (rather like the endless Brexit extensions - they only postponed exactly the same issues as everyone started with).

    There isn't a silver bullet on the horizon. A vaccine isn't going to be enough (you can tell this from the way that governments are starting to talk about this going on all next year).

    At some point lockdowns will stop working entirely, if that hasn't already happened. Based on what's happened in say Boulton over the summer, where various levels lockdown have made almost no difference to case numbers, it's quite possible that point has already pretty much been reached.

    People have had enough (I'm honest, I'm one of them), and aren't taking a blind bit of notice of the rules if they even know what they are, so the only practical outworking of the restrictions is the ruination of the businesses forced to close (mind you what a time to own an off licence! It's an ill wind... ).

    I read a post on Facebook today which linked to a petition for partners to be allowed to attend scans and all of labour for pregnant women (I think it covered Wales - I don't know the current English rules). Some of the stories in the comments below the post were truly heartbreaking; Women having miscarriages and stillbirths alone with their husbands sat waiting in the carpark. It's hard to explain how angry I felt after reading a few posts, and how outraged I was at the sheer barbarity of the current rules. My sister is currently heavily pregnant and under these rules in Ceredigion, which has a case rate of something like 22 per 100k. Its utterly mad, the more so given that presumably as most women live with their partners, if one has it, they probably both do anyway.

    I think we should shield the vulnerable as best we can, then let it go, because the reality is that otherwise its going to go anyway sooner or later, but with the vulnerable unprotected.

    As someone else has posted upthread, by January (it's bleak enough in a normal year) the public will be in open rebellion everywhere (lots of them aren't far off now), and nothing the politicians can do then will allow them to regain control. All that's occuring now is just adding extra pointless misery to that which will come from the ravages of the disease when the public mood breaks.
    The devil is in the detail. You say we should "shield the vulnerable" but provide zero detail. Vulnerable people still need to eat, still need to access medical care. How do they get to the supermarket if the bus is full of people spewing out virus particles without catching it? How can they sit in a waiting room at the doctor's with coronavirus in the air, and not die from it?
    And even if some unspecified measures are put in place that will magically keep the vulnerable separate, how do you stop that becoming overwhelmed with people who just don't really want to get sick?

    The "shield the vulnerable" mantra reminds me of communism... nice in theory but it doesn't work.

    As a side note, I've noticed a LOT that people read something on Facebook or Twitter and get outraged. When I used to be on both platforms I was permanently of the opinion that the country was about to break out into insurrection because LOOK AT THIS CUTE CHILD HE DIED BECAUSE OF AUSTERITY/MUSLIMS/VACCINES/ISRAEL. The sad truth is, it's always a mix of the chronically angry, distillations of real things that happened that may or may not share the context you're talking about, liars, propagandists, and well-meaning idiots. And it's all wrapped up into a nice newsfeed that specifically designed to maximise your outrage, because that's what keeps you coming back for more. You see it in some of the people on here. They've become furious ideologues, certain of the righteousness of their cause and their cause alone. Then they find themselves on here, one of the many interfaces between their clan and another, and they go absolutely mad because "here are some filthy apostates who have been duped by the other clan, how can they be so stupidly partisan all the time?!"

    Ok, so my side note ended up longer than my main point. Sorry about that. Just to tie it up, I'm not saying you're wrong about lockdowns, but nor am I saying you're right. But I have a sneaking suspicion that you think it's more clear cut than it really is, and one clue to that is this:
    you replied to a post recommending we take better care when wielding rhetorical devices, and by the sixth paragraph you were talking about dead babies. That kind of escalation doesn't happen in conversations unless at least one of them is furiously certain about something that is so very clearly uncertain enough that they need to have a conversation about it.
    On your first paragraph my wife and I (81 & 77) have no problem shielding nor with the surgery

    We have a weekly Asda delivery and our son or daughter pick up our medication from the chemist and leave it in our porch

    Since March our surgery has moved to online triage and it has been a great success together with a ban on anyone calling direct at the surgery. When we have had to see either the doctor/nurse we wait in the car park in our car and the doctor/nurse calls us directly into their consulting room passing through the empty waiting areas

    Here in Wales Drakeford has stopped supermarkets selling non essential food and terminal ill non covid elderly patients have to choose which child they want to nominate to be at their bedside in their final hours

    This is morally bankrupt and of course banning the sale of non essenitial goods drives Amazon and online shopping demand at the further expense of local shopping

    Drakeford insists closing down the whole of Wales is only for 17 days and is a one off event, but as we have been in the equivalent of tier 3 ourselves for the last month I expect Drakeford will return us to tier 3 again

    He is experimenting with Wales and believe you me both here in Wales and the rest of the UK a moment is fast approaching when the cry will go out 'enough'

    It is notable that Scotland has introduced tiering, notwithstanding 2 additional levels, confirming that even Sturgeon is not favour of a national shutdown
    You didn't read Foxy's response to your comments last night then. (Forgive me Foxy if I have misinterpreted via my précis)

    1.Non-essentials is a device to deter unnecessary shopping.

    2. Your end of life visiting issues are an edict from the Westminster Government.

    I can't say I am pleased at not working for two weeks, however if it allows me the opportunity to work unhindered for the following six weeks to eight weeks I will give it a shot.
    On 1, isn't it a political move to assuage the discontent of smaller non-essential retailers closed down but watching the supermarkets open and selling the very same stuff?
    The other thing that came to mind was how many different types of tins of shortbread, fudge, etc, would you have to sell to qualify as opening as a food retailer, who just happened to sell all this other stuff as well.

    The reason the rule is absurd is because the whole situation is absurd, but if your choice is between absurdity and mass death, then you've clearly wasted the last seven months in failing to come up with a better alternative.
  • Options
    MrEdMrEd Posts: 5,578
    FYI - Jon Rolston in Nevada. Despite the tables he posted on his second most recent tweet, it's clear from the last update, he still thinks Nevada is an open race.
This discussion has been closed.