On topic (why do I have to say that): I don't think Biden will run again, although I think it's a bit more than the 20-25% chance currently available. But if he doesn't, then I think Harris almost certainly will - why wouldn't she? And then I don't see how she can be stopped by a fellow member of her administration.
Under those circumstances, Buttigieg has two basic options. He can say she was crap as VP - in which case why did he happily serve alongside her for four years as Transport Sec? Or he can go after her previous record, which is unlikely to stick. Attacking her personality and character after four years in the White House is unlikely to be effective, in my view. And Buttigieg has absolutely no need to challenge in 2024, as he will have loads more chances down the line and plenty of space to build up his CV before he does. So, no deal at 5%.
My guess is that the only likely challenge to Harris (if Biden doesn't stand again) comes from the Sanders wing of the party, claiming that Biden wasn't radical enough and Harris won't be either. Warren might fancy one last shot - I think it will be very difficult for anyone but another woman to beat Harris as the optics would be awful.
Edit: I should add: unless there's an economic (or other) catastrophe between now and then. In which case all bets are off, but most likely it takes Buttigieg out the reckoning just as much as anyone else.
AOC would challenge Harris and Buttigieg if Biden did not run again in 2024 certainly
She is certainly the obvious one right now. And she has a huge and dedicated following, at least on social media. They're probably concentrated in the wrong places to really help her win the nomination. I doubt she'd make much headway in the Southern states that refused to vote for anyone but Biden this time around, and I cannot see the wider Democrat party being dumb enough to pick her.
No but AOC would pick up the torch of the Democratic left from Sanders.
If she won the nomination and Pence won the GOP nomination, Pence would arguably then be the moderate candidate against her.
AOC won't stand in 2024 - she would only just be 35.
If and when AOC stands it will be far later 2032 or 2036.
I agree. And I expect her to be President by one of those years - she's genuinely charismatic and appealing. And by 2032 or 2036, you can bet that she will have moderated some of what many perceive as her current excesses; she is very ambitious.
Super sharp and savvy. I have never heard her in a debate she doesn't win.
BT Sport have picked up the rights to international cricket in New Zealand and The West Indies for the next few years, so England tours of those countries in the next few years will air BT Sport, starting with England's tour of the Windies next year.
No, they've got England's home series locked up as well at the ICC tournaments for the foreseeable future, I suspect since Sky have wholesaled BT Sport they aren't that fussed.
Sky's big thing is keeping the Premier League rights, the tender for the 2022/25 seasons is out and bids should be finalised soon.
Now that Comcast are in charge, they aren't following Rupert Murdoch's bid for everything strategy.
They're trying to make savings in the content budget, but because of pressure from online streaming the price of content has gone up significantly. I've spoken to people from Disney who are laughing their arses off about Comcast buying Sky becuase of Sky's huge reliance on external content providers includingg Disney/Fox and WB who are looking at whether to release their own streaming product in Europe because they need to a distribution channel for movies.
I do wonder whether they will eventually be allowed to have the PL monopoly again now that we're out of the EU.
The monopoly thing was an EU thing but OFCOM and the PL have an agreement to sell to more than one broadcaster.
The PL won't go back to a monopoly broadcaster, they've earned more since, although the domestic broadcaster deals did drop in the recent rights deal.
Sky are under huge pressure right now, the other aspect people forget is Sky Movies generally premiere a big movie once a week 9 months after it debuts at the cinema, they probably won't have much new content on Sky Movies in 2021.
Now, you can watch Disney+, Amazon Prime, and Netflix on a Sky Q, the latter intrigues me, before it became part of Sky On Demand I was paying £9.99 a month, when I added it Sky On Demand, my bill went up £2, so I made a net saving of £8 a month.
Yeah, Comcast are taking a massive bath on Netflix subscriptions in order to stay relevant to young people who get their media from streaming. I've done the same as well, with my 4k Sky subscription I get Netflix basically for free, hoping they add D+ as well now that it has Star. Doubt they could do Prime though.
Every few weeks I get an email/text from Sky literally offering me broadband for basically free, I suspect that is to do with the o2/virgin merger going ahead this year and o2 will be offering free/heavily reduced virgin stuff.
Just prior to the phone hacking stuff, I did know that Sky were looking at buying o2, I wonder how things would have panned out then.
As for Disney+ I've had it nearly a year and not paid for it yet, o2 keep on giving it to me for free.
Disney+ is changing later on this month when they add Star which allow them to show their more adult themed shows and films.
Wife duly vaccinated. I think I erroneously said she was group 6 yesterday - total brain fart, she is group 4.
My wife had her Pride of England AZ shot earlier this week. She was quite ill for about a day but is now up and about catching up on her Dura Ace bollocking backlog.
I'm not liking all the "feel crook for 48 hours" reportage. Might not have it now. Big side benefit of that is I will accrue immense moral authority to argue for a global priority for the vaccine. People will have to sit up and listen.
Your jab won't be heading off to some 85 year old in Manaus that needs it, it'll go into the bin. And you'll have set back both the UK's and the world's herd immunity efforts.
Hang on a sec. I'm only one person so it will be a tiny near zero impact on the big picture. This set against a really quite considerable accrual of gravitas and a slam dunk rebuttal to people saying to me "You get yourself sorted and then seek to deny other Brits. You utterly repulsive hypocrite!"
That's the trade off here.
It's true. I mean, we'll still be able to judge you entirely wrong, shun you for refusing to assist the collective immunity of your fellow citizens, and gently rib you for your self-inflicted martyrdom, but we won't be able to call you a hypocrite.
That'll be a big win for you
That's fine. It's the hypocrite badge I seek to bin. Free of that, I'm confident I can win the argument from both the ethics and pragmatism angle.
Even better, I might have the jab but under duress from you guys. That places me beyond reproach and in an impeccable position.
You've fairly set off the collectivist communitarians that believe in society.
White over-80s are almost twice as likely to have had the coronavirus vaccine than elderly black Britons, a report has found.
The research comes amid fears that Covid-19 vaccine refusal rates are highest among black, Asian and ethnic minority (BAME) Britons.
Figures showed that 48 per cent of black Britons, a total of 5,012, over-80 in England had their first dose by January 27, compared to 82 per cent, 650,664, of white elderly Britons.
The data, collated by OpenSAFELY on behalf of NHS England, also revealed that 62 per cent of South Asian over-80s, 16,814, had received the Covid jab, followed by 59 per cent, 1,645, of elderly people of mixed ethnicity.
There’s some huge differences between ethnic groups, really hope that they can be persuaded that vaccination is a good thing for everyone.
I saw one video last week of MPs from various ethnic groups, all encouraging people to get jabbed, hopefully we can see more of the same.
The vaccine passport thing will be err... interesting.
Denying people flights would be one thing.
What if the implementation is, say, time limited (changes every 3o seconds) QR codes on your smartphone. Simple bit of crypto work, really. So anyone can validate the you have had the vaccination (without getting any of your personal information), by checkin the QR code against the validating site. Trivial little app to write.
So anyone can prove they had the vaccination and anyone can check it.
Lovely.
Then Sainsbury's says - no vaccination, no entry. The pub....
So it would basically force everyone who can have to get it whether they like it or not?
Not seeing the downside here...
You can't see the slight problem in, in effect, having a sign outside the pub that says "No x here"?
Because that is how it will be seen.
Well, no, because they can resolve it by GETTING THE FRICKING VACCINE. It’s not like a racial characteristic where you can’t change it, is it?
It’s no different from saying ‘must be wearing clothes.’ If you want to come in, put a shirt on.
Totally agree. No one is being excluded becuase they are Asian or black, they are being excluded because they've chosen to be dickheads and not take the vaccine.
Before I have to go back to work, I’ll say here and now I believe people have the right to make choices, on pretty well anything.
But that comes with the freedom to take the consequences.
You want to do no work? Fine. Live with the consequence of no money.
You want to be an arsehole to everyone you meet? Fine. Accept nobody will want to talk to you.
You want to refuse a vaccine for a virus that’s cratered the world economy? Fine. Accept you will be in permanent lockdown as a result.
And if you don’t want to take those consequences - make different choices!
But these days everything bad is someone else's fault. Everyone has rights, no-one has duties.
Personal responsibility is a nineteenth-century, crypto-Imperialist, neo-Fascist, Social Darwinist concept which privileged, old white men invented to perpepuate their economic dominance.
White over-80s are almost twice as likely to have had the coronavirus vaccine than elderly black Britons, a report has found.
The research comes amid fears that Covid-19 vaccine refusal rates are highest among black, Asian and ethnic minority (BAME) Britons.
Figures showed that 48 per cent of black Britons, a total of 5,012, over-80 in England had their first dose by January 27, compared to 82 per cent, 650,664, of white elderly Britons.
The data, collated by OpenSAFELY on behalf of NHS England, also revealed that 62 per cent of South Asian over-80s, 16,814, had received the Covid jab, followed by 59 per cent, 1,645, of elderly people of mixed ethnicity.
There’s some huge differences between ethnic groups, really hope that they can be persuaded that vaccination is a good thing for everyone.
I saw one video last week of MPs from various ethnic groups, all encouraging people to get jabbed, hopefully we can see more of the same.
The vaccine passport thing will be err... interesting.
Denying people flights would be one thing.
What if the implementation is, say, time limited (changes every 3o seconds) QR codes on your smartphone. Simple bit of crypto work, really. So anyone can validate the you have had the vaccination (without getting any of your personal information), by checkin the QR code against the validating site. Trivial little app to write.
So anyone can prove they had the vaccination and anyone can check it.
Lovely.
Then Sainsbury's says - no vaccination, no entry. The pub....
So it would basically force everyone who can have to get it whether they like it or not?
Not seeing the downside here...
You can't see the slight problem in, in effect, having a sign outside the pub that says "No x here"?
Because that is how it will be seen.
Well, no, because they can resolve it by GETTING THE FRICKING VACCINE. It’s not like a racial characteristic where you can’t change it, is it?
It’s no different from saying ‘must be wearing clothes.’ If you want to come in, put a shirt on.
Totally agree. No one is being excluded becuase they are Asian or black, they are being excluded because they've chosen to be dickheads and not take the vaccine.
Before I have to go back to work, I’ll say here and now I believe people have the right to make choices, on pretty well anything.
But that comes with the freedom to take the consequences.
You want to do no work? Fine. Live with the consequence of no money.
You want to be an arsehole to everyone you meet? Fine. Accept nobody will want to talk to you.
You want to refuse a vaccine for a virus that’s cratered the world economy? Fine. Accept you will be in permanent lockdown as a result.
And if you don’t want to take those consequences - make different choices!
But if you have a medical reason why you cannot take the vaccine, and you are barred from all social activities because you don't have a vaccination card ...?
Wouldn't those people who have that just be authorised under the app anyway? That's the whole point of making it digital so that people can't claim they are exempt to bypass restrictions as they clearly do for mask wearing.
Region of Residence 1st dose 2nd dose Cumulative Total Doses to Date Total 388,426 2,611 391,037 East Of England 46,072 368 46,440 London 44,787 367 45,154 Midlands 77,052 396 77,448 North East And Yorkshire 59,868 672 60,540 North West 51,747 363 52,110 South East 61,444 325 61,769 South West 45,639 116 45,755
On topic (why do I have to say that): I don't think Biden will run again, although I think it's a bit more than the 20-25% chance currently available. But if he doesn't, then I think Harris almost certainly will - why wouldn't she? And then I don't see how she can be stopped by a fellow member of her administration.
Under those circumstances, Buttigieg has two basic options. He can say she was crap as VP - in which case why did he happily serve alongside her for four years as Transport Sec? Or he can go after her previous record, which is unlikely to stick. Attacking her personality and character after four years in the White House is unlikely to be effective, in my view. And Buttigieg has absolutely no need to challenge in 2024, as he will have loads more chances down the line and plenty of space to build up his CV before he does. So, no deal at 5%.
My guess is that the only likely challenge to Harris (if Biden doesn't stand again) comes from the Sanders wing of the party, claiming that Biden wasn't radical enough and Harris won't be either. Warren might fancy one last shot - I think it will be very difficult for anyone but another woman to beat Harris as the optics would be awful.
Edit: I should add: unless there's an economic (or other) catastrophe between now and then. In which case all bets are off, but most likely it takes Buttigieg out the reckoning just as much as anyone else.
AOC would challenge Harris and Buttigieg if Biden did not run again in 2024 certainly
She is certainly the obvious one right now. And she has a huge and dedicated following, at least on social media. They're probably concentrated in the wrong places to really help her win the nomination. I doubt she'd make much headway in the Southern states that refused to vote for anyone but Biden this time around, and I cannot see the wider Democrat party being dumb enough to pick her.
No but AOC would pick up the torch of the Democratic left from Sanders.
If she won the nomination and Pence won the GOP nomination, Pence would arguably then be the moderate candidate against her.
AOC won't stand in 2024 - she would only just be 35.
If and when AOC stands it will be far later 2032 or 2036.
I agree. And I expect her to be President by one of those years - she's genuinely charismatic and appealing. And by 2032 or 2036, you can bet that she will have moderated some of what many perceive as her current excesses; she is very ambitious.
Super sharp and savvy. I have never heard her in a debate she doesn't win.
She lives in my daughter's apartment building and is very normal and friendly when you share an elevator.
White over-80s are almost twice as likely to have had the coronavirus vaccine than elderly black Britons, a report has found.
The research comes amid fears that Covid-19 vaccine refusal rates are highest among black, Asian and ethnic minority (BAME) Britons.
Figures showed that 48 per cent of black Britons, a total of 5,012, over-80 in England had their first dose by January 27, compared to 82 per cent, 650,664, of white elderly Britons.
The data, collated by OpenSAFELY on behalf of NHS England, also revealed that 62 per cent of South Asian over-80s, 16,814, had received the Covid jab, followed by 59 per cent, 1,645, of elderly people of mixed ethnicity.
There’s some huge differences between ethnic groups, really hope that they can be persuaded that vaccination is a good thing for everyone.
I saw one video last week of MPs from various ethnic groups, all encouraging people to get jabbed, hopefully we can see more of the same.
The vaccine passport thing will be err... interesting.
Denying people flights would be one thing.
What if the implementation is, say, time limited (changes every 3o seconds) QR codes on your smartphone. Simple bit of crypto work, really. So anyone can validate the you have had the vaccination (without getting any of your personal information), by checkin the QR code against the validating site. Trivial little app to write.
So anyone can prove they had the vaccination and anyone can check it.
Lovely.
Then Sainsbury's says - no vaccination, no entry. The pub....
So it would basically force everyone who can have to get it whether they like it or not?
Not seeing the downside here...
You can't see the slight problem in, in effect, having a sign outside the pub that says "No x here"?
Because that is how it will be seen.
Well, no, because they can resolve it by GETTING THE FRICKING VACCINE. It’s not like a racial characteristic where you can’t change it, is it?
It’s no different from saying ‘must be wearing clothes.’ If you want to come in, put a shirt on.
No shoes, no shirt, no jab, no service.
No shoes, no shirt, no jab (afaik), no masks, plenty of service and a pat on their shiny big heads.
On topic (why do I have to say that): I don't think Biden will run again, although I think it's a bit more than the 20-25% chance currently available. But if he doesn't, then I think Harris almost certainly will - why wouldn't she? And then I don't see how she can be stopped by a fellow member of her administration.
Under those circumstances, Buttigieg has two basic options. He can say she was crap as VP - in which case why did he happily serve alongside her for four years as Transport Sec? Or he can go after her previous record, which is unlikely to stick. Attacking her personality and character after four years in the White House is unlikely to be effective, in my view. And Buttigieg has absolutely no need to challenge in 2024, as he will have loads more chances down the line and plenty of space to build up his CV before he does. So, no deal at 5%.
My guess is that the only likely challenge to Harris (if Biden doesn't stand again) comes from the Sanders wing of the party, claiming that Biden wasn't radical enough and Harris won't be either. Warren might fancy one last shot - I think it will be very difficult for anyone but another woman to beat Harris as the optics would be awful.
Edit: I should add: unless there's an economic (or other) catastrophe between now and then. In which case all bets are off, but most likely it takes Buttigieg out the reckoning just as much as anyone else.
AOC would challenge Harris and Buttigieg if Biden did not run again in 2024 certainly
She is certainly the obvious one right now. And she has a huge and dedicated following, at least on social media. They're probably concentrated in the wrong places to really help her win the nomination. I doubt she'd make much headway in the Southern states that refused to vote for anyone but Biden this time around, and I cannot see the wider Democrat party being dumb enough to pick her.
No but AOC would pick up the torch of the Democratic left from Sanders.
If she won the nomination and Pence won the GOP nomination, Pence would arguably then be the moderate candidate against her.
AOC won't stand in 2024 - she would only just be 35.
If and when AOC stands it will be far later 2032 or 2036.
I agree. And I expect her to be President by one of those years - she's genuinely charismatic and appealing. And by 2032 or 2036, you can bet that she will have moderated some of what many perceive as her current excesses; she is very ambitious.
Super sharp and savvy. I have never heard her in a debate she doesn't win.
The subtle, nuanced political judgment of HYUFD has decided that she's the US Corbyn, so let there be an end to it.
White over-80s are almost twice as likely to have had the coronavirus vaccine than elderly black Britons, a report has found.
The research comes amid fears that Covid-19 vaccine refusal rates are highest among black, Asian and ethnic minority (BAME) Britons.
Figures showed that 48 per cent of black Britons, a total of 5,012, over-80 in England had their first dose by January 27, compared to 82 per cent, 650,664, of white elderly Britons.
The data, collated by OpenSAFELY on behalf of NHS England, also revealed that 62 per cent of South Asian over-80s, 16,814, had received the Covid jab, followed by 59 per cent, 1,645, of elderly people of mixed ethnicity.
There’s some huge differences between ethnic groups, really hope that they can be persuaded that vaccination is a good thing for everyone.
I saw one video last week of MPs from various ethnic groups, all encouraging people to get jabbed, hopefully we can see more of the same.
The vaccine passport thing will be err... interesting.
Denying people flights would be one thing.
What if the implementation is, say, time limited (changes every 3o seconds) QR codes on your smartphone. Simple bit of crypto work, really. So anyone can validate the you have had the vaccination (without getting any of your personal information), by checkin the QR code against the validating site. Trivial little app to write.
So anyone can prove they had the vaccination and anyone can check it.
Lovely.
Then Sainsbury's says - no vaccination, no entry. The pub....
So it would basically force everyone who can have to get it whether they like it or not?
Not seeing the downside here...
You can't see the slight problem in, in effect, having a sign outside the pub that says "No x here"?
Because that is how it will be seen.
Well, no, because they can resolve it by GETTING THE FRICKING VACCINE. It’s not like a racial characteristic where you can’t change it, is it?
It’s no different from saying ‘must be wearing clothes.’ If you want to come in, put a shirt on.
Totally agree. No one is being excluded becuase they are Asian or black, they are being excluded because they've chosen to be dickheads and not take the vaccine.
Before I have to go back to work, I’ll say here and now I believe people have the right to make choices, on pretty well anything.
But that comes with the freedom to take the consequences.
You want to do no work? Fine. Live with the consequence of no money.
You want to be an arsehole to everyone you meet? Fine. Accept nobody will want to talk to you.
You want to refuse a vaccine for a virus that’s cratered the world economy? Fine. Accept you will be in permanent lockdown as a result.
And if you don’t want to take those consequences - make different choices!
But if you have a medical reason why you cannot take the vaccine, and you are barred from all social activities because you don't have a vaccination card ...?
If a medical determination has genuinely been made that you are unable to have the vaccination, you should get the same "vaccinated" rights as others. It's the refuseniks that need clamping down - those genuinely medically unable will be a very small proportion. I expect the current advice to pregnant women will change when medical professionals that have had the jab have normal pregnancies too eliminating a largish future group that's currently excluded.
Wife duly vaccinated. I think I erroneously said she was group 6 yesterday - total brain fart, she is group 4.
My wife had her Pride of England AZ shot earlier this week. She was quite ill for about a day but is now up and about catching up on her Dura Ace bollocking backlog.
I'm not liking all the "feel crook for 48 hours" reportage. Might not have it now. Big side benefit of that is I will accrue immense moral authority to argue for a global priority for the vaccine. People will have to sit up and listen.
Your jab won't be heading off to some 85 year old in Manaus that needs it, it'll go into the bin. And you'll have set back both the UK's and the world's herd immunity efforts.
Hang on a sec. I'm only one person so it will be a tiny near zero impact on the big picture. This set against a really quite considerable accrual of gravitas and a slam dunk rebuttal to people saying to me "You get yourself sorted and then seek to deny other Brits. You utterly repulsive hypocrite!"
That's the trade off here.
It's true. I mean, we'll still be able to judge you entirely wrong, shun you for refusing to assist the collective immunity of your fellow citizens, and gently rib you for your self-inflicted martyrdom, but we won't be able to call you a hypocrite.
That'll be a big win for you
That's fine. It's the hypocrite badge I seek to bin. Free of that, I'm confident I can win the argument from both the ethics and pragmatism angle.
Even better, I might have the jab but under duress from you guys. That places me beyond reproach and in an impeccable position.
Although anyone who isn't a loonytune Novara Media fanatic knows the pragmatic thing to do is finish vaccinating the whole of the UK, remove our restrictions and be able to better fund more vaccines by the end of the year for the rest of the world.
Your plan would mean less support for the rest of the world. Why would you do that?
If Biden did not seek a second term, at what point would he (realistically) need to confirm it? Presumably some time before the Jan 2024 Iowa caucuses? Just trying to understand how long I'd be locking up money in a lay Biden bet.
If he is sensible he would not confirm he was not seeking re election until autumn 2023, otherwise he would be a lame duck and that seems to be the strategy he is pursuing.
It will be incredibly difficult, if not impossible, for him to leave it that long.
Other Democrats will be looking to form exploratory committees, raise funds, and get out there in the early states. The pressure from his deputy and presumed preferred successor will be immense as that happens, because she will be tied until he formalises the position.
My bet would be an announcement on 20th November, 2022. That would follow the midterms and be his 80th birthday.
If those midterms go badly for the Democrats, Biden is a lame duck anyway - his domestic agenda is over. If they go well then Harris is probably unbeatable in the primaries and can take charge of the domestic agenda two years early.
It will certainly not be as early as November 2022, that would leave Biden a lame duck for the second half of his term and he is too shrewd to allow that.
The first primaries and caucuses are not until January 2024, plenty of time to announce in autumn 2023.
I'd be happy to have a side bet with you, HYFUD.
Say even money, with you saying Biden announces nearer to his 81st birthday, and I nearer to his 80th? It's probably a broadly fair bet. I see your argument but think he's either a lame duck anyway after the midterms, or he'll be under immense pressure from his VP to p1ss or get off the pot before rivals get a jump on her.
As I think the GOP will retake the House in 2022 and Biden might then decide to run for re election as the stronger candidate than Harris, I am afraid I will not be betting on that at present.
Okay - so alternative bet, the same except it's void if Biden runs again - so I win if he announces he WON'T stand nearer to his 80th birthday, you if he announces he WON'T stand nearer to his 81st birthday, and neither of us if he announces he will stand at any time.
BT Sport have picked up the rights to international cricket in New Zealand and The West Indies for the next few years, so England tours of those countries in the next few years will air BT Sport, starting with England's tour of the Windies next year.
No, they've got England's home series locked up as well at the ICC tournaments for the foreseeable future, I suspect since Sky have wholesaled BT Sport they aren't that fussed.
Sky's big thing is keeping the Premier League rights, the tender for the 2022/25 seasons is out and bids should be finalised soon.
Now that Comcast are in charge, they aren't following Rupert Murdoch's bid for everything strategy.
They're trying to make savings in the content budget, but because of pressure from online streaming the price of content has gone up significantly. I've spoken to people from Disney who are laughing their arses off about Comcast buying Sky becuase of Sky's huge reliance on external content providers includingg Disney/Fox and WB who are looking at whether to release their own streaming product in Europe because they need to a distribution channel for movies.
I do wonder whether they will eventually be allowed to have the PL monopoly again now that we're out of the EU.
The monopoly thing was an EU thing but OFCOM and the PL have an agreement to sell to more than one broadcaster.
The PL won't go back to a monopoly broadcaster, they've earned more since, although the domestic broadcaster deals did drop in the recent rights deal.
Sky are under huge pressure right now, the other aspect people forget is Sky Movies generally premiere a big movie once a week 9 months after it debuts at the cinema, they probably won't have much new content on Sky Movies in 2021.
Now, you can watch Disney+, Amazon Prime, and Netflix on a Sky Q, the latter intrigues me, before it became part of Sky On Demand I was paying £9.99 a month, when I added it Sky On Demand, my bill went up £2, so I made a net saving of £8 a month.
Yeah, Comcast are taking a massive bath on Netflix subscriptions in order to stay relevant to young people who get their media from streaming. I've done the same as well, with my 4k Sky subscription I get Netflix basically for free, hoping they add D+ as well now that it has Star. Doubt they could do Prime though.
Every few weeks I get an email/text from Sky literally offering me broadband for basically free, I suspect that is to do with the o2/virgin merger going ahead this year and o2 will be offering free/heavily reduced virgin stuff.
Just prior to the phone hacking stuff, I did know that Sky were looking at buying o2, I wonder how things would have panned out then.
As for Disney+ I've had it nearly a year and not paid for it yet, o2 keep on giving it to me for free.
Disney+ is changing later on this month when they add Star which allow them to show their more adult themed shows and films.
The Sky/O2 merger had been on and off for ages, loads of Sky people I knew from back then still see it as the big missed opportunity to take the fight to BT by becoming an infrastructure owner rather than infrastructure renter. Back then the plan was to use O2's eventual 5G signal to replace satellite dishes entirely and be able to offer Sky as a proper IPTV service to everyone without needing BT at all.
It never got off the ground because Sky were offering an all share takeover of O2 UK/Ire/DE but Telefonica wanted cash to reduce their huge legacy of debt.
White over-80s are almost twice as likely to have had the coronavirus vaccine than elderly black Britons, a report has found.
The research comes amid fears that Covid-19 vaccine refusal rates are highest among black, Asian and ethnic minority (BAME) Britons.
Figures showed that 48 per cent of black Britons, a total of 5,012, over-80 in England had their first dose by January 27, compared to 82 per cent, 650,664, of white elderly Britons.
The data, collated by OpenSAFELY on behalf of NHS England, also revealed that 62 per cent of South Asian over-80s, 16,814, had received the Covid jab, followed by 59 per cent, 1,645, of elderly people of mixed ethnicity.
There’s some huge differences between ethnic groups, really hope that they can be persuaded that vaccination is a good thing for everyone.
I saw one video last week of MPs from various ethnic groups, all encouraging people to get jabbed, hopefully we can see more of the same.
The vaccine passport thing will be err... interesting.
Denying people flights would be one thing.
What if the implementation is, say, time limited (changes every 3o seconds) QR codes on your smartphone. Simple bit of crypto work, really. So anyone can validate the you have had the vaccination (without getting any of your personal information), by checkin the QR code against the validating site. Trivial little app to write.
So anyone can prove they had the vaccination and anyone can check it.
Lovely.
Then Sainsbury's says - no vaccination, no entry. The pub....
So it would basically force everyone who can have to get it whether they like it or not?
Not seeing the downside here...
You can't see the slight problem in, in effect, having a sign outside the pub that says "No x here"?
Because that is how it will be seen.
Well, no, because they can resolve it by GETTING THE FRICKING VACCINE. It’s not like a racial characteristic where you can’t change it, is it?
It’s no different from saying ‘must be wearing clothes.’ If you want to come in, put a shirt on.
Totally agree. No one is being excluded becuase they are Asian or black, they are being excluded because they've chosen to be dickheads and not take the vaccine.
Is it possible that, under human rights law as it currently stands, that doesn’t matter, and that blocking unvaccinated people is indirectly racist becuase black and Asian people are less likely to be vaccinated?
Obviously not my view, but have seen similar silly arguments put forward in human rights cases previously.
Then rewrite the legislation. I'm Asian and intend to take the vaccine as soon as it is offered to me, my parents have both had it, all of my family members are taking it as soon as they have it offered. We will be free to go to any place which places restrictions on vaccines being necessary.
Stupidity isn't a protected characteristic under legislation.
Oh exactly, but I doubt we were ever fans of an overarching Human Rights Act in the first place. A silly ruling from an activist judge could be a popular trigger to scrap it though.
I’d love to see someone get more data breakdowns on vaccine sentiment and ethnicity.
The vast majority of people I know, of all and any ethnicities, are lining up to get jabbed, so is it certain sub-groups in particular that we need to target, say by social class, education, religion or household arrangement?
White over-80s are almost twice as likely to have had the coronavirus vaccine than elderly black Britons, a report has found.
The research comes amid fears that Covid-19 vaccine refusal rates are highest among black, Asian and ethnic minority (BAME) Britons.
Figures showed that 48 per cent of black Britons, a total of 5,012, over-80 in England had their first dose by January 27, compared to 82 per cent, 650,664, of white elderly Britons.
The data, collated by OpenSAFELY on behalf of NHS England, also revealed that 62 per cent of South Asian over-80s, 16,814, had received the Covid jab, followed by 59 per cent, 1,645, of elderly people of mixed ethnicity.
There’s some huge differences between ethnic groups, really hope that they can be persuaded that vaccination is a good thing for everyone.
I saw one video last week of MPs from various ethnic groups, all encouraging people to get jabbed, hopefully we can see more of the same.
The vaccine passport thing will be err... interesting.
Denying people flights would be one thing.
What if the implementation is, say, time limited (changes every 3o seconds) QR codes on your smartphone. Simple bit of crypto work, really. So anyone can validate the you have had the vaccination (without getting any of your personal information), by checkin the QR code against the validating site. Trivial little app to write.
So anyone can prove they had the vaccination and anyone can check it.
Lovely.
Then Sainsbury's says - no vaccination, no entry. The pub....
So it would basically force everyone who can have to get it whether they like it or not?
Not seeing the downside here...
You can't see the slight problem in, in effect, having a sign outside the pub that says "No x here"?
Because that is how it will be seen.
Well, no, because they can resolve it by GETTING THE FRICKING VACCINE. It’s not like a racial characteristic where you can’t change it, is it?
It’s no different from saying ‘must be wearing clothes.’ If you want to come in, put a shirt on.
Totally agree. No one is being excluded becuase they are Asian or black, they are being excluded because they've chosen to be dickheads and not take the vaccine.
Before I have to go back to work, I’ll say here and now I believe people have the right to make choices, on pretty well anything.
But that comes with the freedom to take the consequences.
You want to do no work? Fine. Live with the consequence of no money.
You want to be an arsehole to everyone you meet? Fine. Accept nobody will want to talk to you.
You want to refuse a vaccine for a virus that’s cratered the world economy? Fine. Accept you will be in permanent lockdown as a result.
And if you don’t want to take those consequences - make different choices!
But if you have a medical reason why you cannot take the vaccine, and you are barred from all social activities because you don't have a vaccination card ...?
Wouldn't those people who have that just be authorised under the app anyway? That's the whole point of making it digital so that people can't claim they are exempt to bypass restrictions as they clearly do for mask wearing.
I think social attitudes are more fickle and elusive than that. We quickly get to an equation "No vaccination = bad" and from that to social stigma for those without vaccination, regardless of the small print or the technology.
This is a serious issue, and I think it needs a full public discussion, rather than a centrally imposed rule. I personally think that those in healthcare and education provision should be required to be vaccinated, unless there is a medical reason not to be. I also agree that kids should be vaccinated if they are to access state-funded schools. But I think we'd get better compliance and buy in to whatever policy is decided if the public is involved, not ordered.
On topic (why do I have to say that): I don't think Biden will run again, although I think it's a bit more than the 20-25% chance currently available. But if he doesn't, then I think Harris almost certainly will - why wouldn't she? And then I don't see how she can be stopped by a fellow member of her administration.
Under those circumstances, Buttigieg has two basic options. He can say she was crap as VP - in which case why did he happily serve alongside her for four years as Transport Sec? Or he can go after her previous record, which is unlikely to stick. Attacking her personality and character after four years in the White House is unlikely to be effective, in my view. And Buttigieg has absolutely no need to challenge in 2024, as he will have loads more chances down the line and plenty of space to build up his CV before he does. So, no deal at 5%.
My guess is that the only likely challenge to Harris (if Biden doesn't stand again) comes from the Sanders wing of the party, claiming that Biden wasn't radical enough and Harris won't be either. Warren might fancy one last shot - I think it will be very difficult for anyone but another woman to beat Harris as the optics would be awful.
Buttigieg may be a VP choice for Harris of course.
One key question is whether it looks like Trump (or one of kids) is going to be the GOP nominee.
At the moment it looks like Pence will be the GOP nominee, assuming Trump does not run again
Wife duly vaccinated. I think I erroneously said she was group 6 yesterday - total brain fart, she is group 4.
My wife had her Pride of England AZ shot earlier this week. She was quite ill for about a day but is now up and about catching up on her Dura Ace bollocking backlog.
I'm not liking all the "feel crook for 48 hours" reportage. Might not have it now. Big side benefit of that is I will accrue immense moral authority to argue for a global priority for the vaccine. People will have to sit up and listen.
Your jab won't be heading off to some 85 year old in Manaus that needs it, it'll go into the bin. And you'll have set back both the UK's and the world's herd immunity efforts.
Hang on a sec. I'm only one person so it will be a tiny near zero impact on the big picture. This set against a really quite considerable accrual of gravitas and a slam dunk rebuttal to people saying to me "You get yourself sorted and then seek to deny other Brits. You utterly repulsive hypocrite!"
That's the trade off here.
It's true. I mean, we'll still be able to judge you entirely wrong, shun you for refusing to assist the collective immunity of your fellow citizens, and gently rib you for your self-inflicted martyrdom, but we won't be able to call you a hypocrite.
That'll be a big win for you
That's fine. It's the hypocrite badge I seek to bin. Free of that, I'm confident I can win the argument from both the ethics and pragmatism angle.
Even better, I might have the jab but under duress from you guys. That places me beyond reproach and in an impeccable position.
No duress from me, don't worry - it's up to the individual to determine just how much that moral high ground is really worth to them when it's their neck on the line.
But what are they going to say at the end of Feb when the UK starts doing second doses at a rapid rate as well, it will be a matter of 10-20 days until that ~500k becomes 5m second doses done.
Wife duly vaccinated. I think I erroneously said she was group 6 yesterday - total brain fart, she is group 4.
My wife had her Pride of England AZ shot earlier this week. She was quite ill for about a day but is now up and about catching up on her Dura Ace bollocking backlog.
I'm not liking all the "feel crook for 48 hours" reportage. Might not have it now. Big side benefit of that is I will accrue immense moral authority to argue for a global priority for the vaccine. People will have to sit up and listen.
Your jab won't be heading off to some 85 year old in Manaus that needs it, it'll go into the bin. And you'll have set back both the UK's and the world's herd immunity efforts.
Hang on a sec. I'm only one person so it will be a tiny near zero impact on the big picture. This set against a really quite considerable accrual of gravitas and a slam dunk rebuttal to people saying to me "You get yourself sorted and then seek to deny other Brits. You utterly repulsive hypocrite!"
That's the trade off here.
If you tell us you refused the vaccine, we'll switch to accusing you of selfishness for not contributing to herd immunity in your local area.
I don't think you can win here, because I think you're as wrong as Professor Wrong, Chief of Wrongness studies at Wrong University.
I'll come back and make the argument with a new ID for whom no personal details are known. The messenger will then not get in the way of the message.
Those might be automated replies. A lot of big companies use sentiment analysis for customer support functions. So if the BA Twitter bot sees a positive tweet it responds in order to make sure more people see it. Both of those accounts appear to be using services that support sentiment analysis. Of course automating this kind of stuff can backfire.
White over-80s are almost twice as likely to have had the coronavirus vaccine than elderly black Britons, a report has found.
The research comes amid fears that Covid-19 vaccine refusal rates are highest among black, Asian and ethnic minority (BAME) Britons.
Figures showed that 48 per cent of black Britons, a total of 5,012, over-80 in England had their first dose by January 27, compared to 82 per cent, 650,664, of white elderly Britons.
The data, collated by OpenSAFELY on behalf of NHS England, also revealed that 62 per cent of South Asian over-80s, 16,814, had received the Covid jab, followed by 59 per cent, 1,645, of elderly people of mixed ethnicity.
There’s some huge differences between ethnic groups, really hope that they can be persuaded that vaccination is a good thing for everyone.
I saw one video last week of MPs from various ethnic groups, all encouraging people to get jabbed, hopefully we can see more of the same.
The vaccine passport thing will be err... interesting.
Denying people flights would be one thing.
What if the implementation is, say, time limited (changes every 3o seconds) QR codes on your smartphone. Simple bit of crypto work, really. So anyone can validate the you have had the vaccination (without getting any of your personal information), by checkin the QR code against the validating site. Trivial little app to write.
So anyone can prove they had the vaccination and anyone can check it.
Lovely.
Then Sainsbury's says - no vaccination, no entry. The pub....
So it would basically force everyone who can have to get it whether they like it or not?
Not seeing the downside here...
You can't see the slight problem in, in effect, having a sign outside the pub that says "No x here"?
Because that is how it will be seen.
Well, no, because they can resolve it by GETTING THE FRICKING VACCINE. It’s not like a racial characteristic where you can’t change it, is it?
It’s no different from saying ‘must be wearing clothes.’ If you want to come in, put a shirt on.
Totally agree. No one is being excluded becuase they are Asian or black, they are being excluded because they've chosen to be dickheads and not take the vaccine.
Before I have to go back to work, I’ll say here and now I believe people have the right to make choices, on pretty well anything.
But that comes with the freedom to take the consequences.
You want to do no work? Fine. Live with the consequence of no money.
You want to be an arsehole to everyone you meet? Fine. Accept nobody will want to talk to you.
You want to refuse a vaccine for a virus that’s cratered the world economy? Fine. Accept you will be in permanent lockdown as a result.
And if you don’t want to take those consequences - make different choices!
But if you have a medical reason why you cannot take the vaccine, and you are barred from all social activities because you don't have a vaccination card ...?
Wouldn't those people who have that just be authorised under the app anyway? That's the whole point of making it digital so that people can't claim they are exempt to bypass restrictions as they clearly do for mask wearing.
I think social attitudes are more fickle and elusive than that. We quickly get to an equation "No vaccination = bad" and from that to social stigma for those without vaccination, regardless of the small print or the technology.
This is a serious issue, and I think it needs a full public discussion, rather than a centrally imposed rule. I personally think that those in healthcare and education provision should be required to be vaccinated, unless there is a medical reason not to be. I also agree that kids should be vaccinated if they are to access state-funded schools. But I think we'd get better compliance and buy in to whatever policy is decided if the public is involved, not ordered.
I agree - I expect this to happen. And the debate to be... "intense"
For the medically exempt, it would be fairly trivial to add them, so that they get a thumbs up when queried.
If Biden did not seek a second term, at what point would he (realistically) need to confirm it? Presumably some time before the Jan 2024 Iowa caucuses? Just trying to understand how long I'd be locking up money in a lay Biden bet.
If he is sensible he would not confirm he was not seeking re election until autumn 2023, otherwise he would be a lame duck and that seems to be the strategy he is pursuing.
It will be incredibly difficult, if not impossible, for him to leave it that long.
Other Democrats will be looking to form exploratory committees, raise funds, and get out there in the early states. The pressure from his deputy and presumed preferred successor will be immense as that happens, because she will be tied until he formalises the position.
My bet would be an announcement on 20th November, 2022. That would follow the midterms and be his 80th birthday.
If those midterms go badly for the Democrats, Biden is a lame duck anyway - his domestic agenda is over. If they go well then Harris is probably unbeatable in the primaries and can take charge of the domestic agenda two years early.
It will certainly not be as early as November 2022, that would leave Biden a lame duck for the second half of his term and he is too shrewd to allow that.
The first primaries and caucuses are not until January 2024, plenty of time to announce in autumn 2023.
I'd be happy to have a side bet with you, HYFUD.
Say even money, with you saying Biden announces nearer to his 81st birthday, and I nearer to his 80th? It's probably a broadly fair bet. I see your argument but think he's either a lame duck anyway after the midterms, or he'll be under immense pressure from his VP to p1ss or get off the pot before rivals get a jump on her.
As I think the GOP will retake the House in 2022 and Biden might then decide to run for re election as the stronger candidate than Harris, I am afraid I will not be betting on that at present.
Okay - so alternative bet, the same except it's void if Biden runs again - so I win if he announces he WON'T stand nearer to his 80th birthday, you if he announces he WON'T stand nearer to his 81st birthday, and neither of us if he announces he will stand at any time.
you can actually pinpoint the exact moment when their heart rips in half
Some other good moments:
2:47.00 when the presenter’s partner nails the problem, and Ellie May O’Hagen, somebody so wealthy she can play at being a journalist despite being unpaid, says she’s not posh;
6:17 when they gloat over Swinson’s defeat and are then poleaxed when Pidcock loses.
Typical left-wing labour attitude. We're right and f**k the rest, even non-tories as well. And they say the Tories are "entitled"
But what are they going to say at the end of Feb when the UK starts doing second doses at a rapid rate as well, it will be a matter of 10-20 days until that ~500k becomes 5m second doses done.
It'll be "first doses administered since beginning of March".......
you can actually pinpoint the exact moment when their heart rips in half
Some other good moments:
2:47.00 when the presenter’s partner nails the problem, and Ellie May O’Hagen, somebody so wealthy she can play at being a journalist despite being unpaid, says she’s not posh;
6:17 when they gloat over Swinson’s defeat and are then poleaxed when Pidcock loses.
Typical left-wing labour attitude. We're right and f**k the rest, even non-tories as well. And they say the Tories are "entitled"
But God had told them They Are Right. Therefore all who oppose them are heretics and we all know how we help heretics, don't we, children?
It's a very off defence, especially for countries like Germany, France, Spain and Italy who have got the ability to go and get their own vaccines without needing EU help or Belgium which has a large domestic pharma sector that could contribute.
White over-80s are almost twice as likely to have had the coronavirus vaccine than elderly black Britons, a report has found.
The research comes amid fears that Covid-19 vaccine refusal rates are highest among black, Asian and ethnic minority (BAME) Britons.
Figures showed that 48 per cent of black Britons, a total of 5,012, over-80 in England had their first dose by January 27, compared to 82 per cent, 650,664, of white elderly Britons.
The data, collated by OpenSAFELY on behalf of NHS England, also revealed that 62 per cent of South Asian over-80s, 16,814, had received the Covid jab, followed by 59 per cent, 1,645, of elderly people of mixed ethnicity.
There’s some huge differences between ethnic groups, really hope that they can be persuaded that vaccination is a good thing for everyone.
I saw one video last week of MPs from various ethnic groups, all encouraging people to get jabbed, hopefully we can see more of the same.
The vaccine passport thing will be err... interesting.
Denying people flights would be one thing.
What if the implementation is, say, time limited (changes every 3o seconds) QR codes on your smartphone. Simple bit of crypto work, really. So anyone can validate the you have had the vaccination (without getting any of your personal information), by checkin the QR code against the validating site. Trivial little app to write.
So anyone can prove they had the vaccination and anyone can check it.
Lovely.
Then Sainsbury's says - no vaccination, no entry. The pub....
So it would basically force everyone who can have to get it whether they like it or not?
Not seeing the downside here...
You can't see the slight problem in, in effect, having a sign outside the pub that says "No x here"?
Because that is how it will be seen.
Well, no, because they can resolve it by GETTING THE FRICKING VACCINE. It’s not like a racial characteristic where you can’t change it, is it?
It’s no different from saying ‘must be wearing clothes.’ If you want to come in, put a shirt on.
No shoes, no shirt, no jab, no service.
No shoes, no shirt, no jab (afaik), no masks, plenty of service and a pat on their shiny big heads.
But what are they going to say at the end of Feb when the UK starts doing second doses at a rapid rate as well, it will be a matter of 10-20 days until that ~500k becomes 5m second doses done.
I've just realised why Nick Clegg joined Facebook - he gave them their awesome bar chart technology.
But what are they going to say at the end of Feb when the UK starts doing second doses at a rapid rate as well, it will be a matter of 10-20 days until that ~500k becomes 5m second doses done.
It'll be "first doses administered since beginning of March".......
He'll pivot to Astra not being authorised elsewhere for over 65s I think.
But what are they going to say at the end of Feb when the UK starts doing second doses at a rapid rate as well, it will be a matter of 10-20 days until that ~500k becomes 5m second doses done.
It'll be "first doses administered since beginning of March".......
I'm sure they'll find something like "people called Wilhelm".
But what are they going to say at the end of Feb when the UK starts doing second doses at a rapid rate as well, it will be a matter of 10-20 days until that ~500k becomes 5m second doses done.
It'll be "first doses administered since beginning of March".......
He'll pivot to Astra not being authorised elsewhere for over 65s I think.
By then the data is going to be overwhelming, the MHRA has said it's received the next batch of data and real world results which are hugely positive for the over 65s.
Those might be automated replies. A lot of big companies use sentiment analysis for customer support functions. So if the BA Twitter bot sees a positive tweet it responds in order to make sure more people see it. Both of those accounts appear to be using services that support sentiment analysis. Of course automating this kind of stuff can backfire.
Seems odd that an algorithm would sign themselves 'Anthony'..
Wife duly vaccinated. I think I erroneously said she was group 6 yesterday - total brain fart, she is group 4.
My wife had her Pride of England AZ shot earlier this week. She was quite ill for about a day but is now up and about catching up on her Dura Ace bollocking backlog.
I'm not liking all the "feel crook for 48 hours" reportage. Might not have it now. Big side benefit of that is I will accrue immense moral authority to argue for a global priority for the vaccine. People will have to sit up and listen.
A real problem for your "global priority" crusade: what do you say if, as an example, China decides that rather than vaccinate the Uighurs it'll buy a couple more small African countries not already in its portfolio with the vaccines instead? Easy for me: I say there's a moral imperative to look after your own before you look after others. What do you say, that doesn't license countries less nice than us to leave their own poor and disadvantaged without state protection?
It's clever, Ishmael, but I escape thus. The need to channel vaccines to where the Covid need is greatest there bumps up against the need to keep racial (or religious) discrimination entirely out of it. And the latter prevails.
Leaving the ball entirely in the Chineses court to determine where the need (on medical grounds only, honest!) is greater.
Appalling what seems to be happening there. But assuming ivory tower pure theory territory, my argument is that for maximum anti-Covid efficiency AND ethics the vaccination would be driven by relative needs at the global level. Of course in the real world, money and politics and national capabilities and priorities are in the box seat. It will be interesting how the factors play out and a balance is struck as the rollout proceeds throughout this year and beyond.
Wife duly vaccinated. I think I erroneously said she was group 6 yesterday - total brain fart, she is group 4.
My wife had her Pride of England AZ shot earlier this week. She was quite ill for about a day but is now up and about catching up on her Dura Ace bollocking backlog.
I'm not liking all the "feel crook for 48 hours" reportage. Might not have it now. Big side benefit of that is I will accrue immense moral authority to argue for a global priority for the vaccine. People will have to sit up and listen.
A real problem for your "global priority" crusade: what do you say if, as an example, China decides that rather than vaccinate the Uighurs it'll buy a couple more small African countries not already in its portfolio with the vaccines instead? Easy for me: I say there's a moral imperative to look after your own before you look after others. What do you say, that doesn't license countries less nice than us to leave their own poor and disadvantaged without state protection?
It's clever, Ishmael, but I escape thus. The need to channel vaccines to where the Covid need is greatest there bumps up against the need to keep racial (or religious) discrimination entirely out of it. And the latter prevails.
Leaving the ball entirely in the Chineses court to determine where the need (on medical grounds only, honest!) is greater.
Appalling what seems to be happening there. But assuming ivory tower pure theory territory, my argument is that for maximum anti-Covid efficiency AND ethics the vaccination would be driven by relative needs at the global level. Of course in the real world, money and politics and national capabilities and priorities are in the box seat. It will be interesting how the factors play out and a balance is struck as the rollout proceeds throughout this year and beyond.
If I ruled the world, the global effort would be targeted, not nobody above 20% before everyone at 20%. We'd target countries/regions where new mutations are known to be arising - Brazil and South Africa - and aim to get beyond herd immunity there asap. And then move on to the next worst hotspot, and so on.
Wife duly vaccinated. I think I erroneously said she was group 6 yesterday - total brain fart, she is group 4.
My wife had her Pride of England AZ shot earlier this week. She was quite ill for about a day but is now up and about catching up on her Dura Ace bollocking backlog.
I'm not liking all the "feel crook for 48 hours" reportage. Might not have it now. Big side benefit of that is I will accrue immense moral authority to argue for a global priority for the vaccine. People will have to sit up and listen.
A real problem for your "global priority" crusade: what do you say if, as an example, China decides that rather than vaccinate the Uighurs it'll buy a couple more small African countries not already in its portfolio with the vaccines instead? Easy for me: I say there's a moral imperative to look after your own before you look after others. What do you say, that doesn't license countries less nice than us to leave their own poor and disadvantaged without state protection?
It's clever, Ishmael, but I escape thus. The need to channel vaccines to where the Covid need is greatest there bumps up against the need to keep racial (or religious) discrimination entirely out of it. And the latter prevails.
Leaving the ball entirely in the Chineses court to determine where the need (on medical grounds only, honest!) is greater.
Appalling what seems to be happening there. But assuming ivory tower pure theory territory, my argument is that for maximum anti-Covid efficiency AND ethics the vaccination would be driven by relative needs at the global level. Of course in the real world, money and politics and national capabilities and priorities are in the box seat. It will be interesting how the factors play out and a balance is struck as the rollout proceeds throughout this year and beyond.
If I ruled the world, the global effort would be targeted, not nobody above 20% before everyone at 20%. We'd target countries/regions where new mutations are known to be arising - Brazil and South Africa - and aim to get beyond herd immunity there asap. And then move on to the next worst hotspot, and so on.
What is the Covax strategy going to be, do we know yet?
There will be political pressures both to go around the world by age/risk groups, and to target hotspots and mutations - and possibly not initially sufficient numbers of vaccines to do both together.
Where the hell are Right Said Tw@ts flying to? Who is booking washed up 90s bands for live shows at the moment? The likes of the Canary Islands isn't open.
Those might be automated replies. A lot of big companies use sentiment analysis for customer support functions. So if the BA Twitter bot sees a positive tweet it responds in order to make sure more people see it. Both of those accounts appear to be using services that support sentiment analysis. Of course automating this kind of stuff can backfire.
Seems odd that an algorithm would sign themselves 'Anthony'..
Maybe, although not necessarily as pretending there's a real person is part of the act, but I think you give BA customer support too much credit if you think they are carefully reading and replying to tweets, there is a lot of automation and scripting in this field.
Oxford University researchers who developed the vaccine say it has a similar efficacy against the variant first detected in Kent and the South East of the UK, compared to the original strain of Covid-19 that it was tested against.
Wife duly vaccinated. I think I erroneously said she was group 6 yesterday - total brain fart, she is group 4.
My wife had her Pride of England AZ shot earlier this week. She was quite ill for about a day but is now up and about catching up on her Dura Ace bollocking backlog.
I'm not liking all the "feel crook for 48 hours" reportage. Might not have it now. Big side benefit of that is I will accrue immense moral authority to argue for a global priority for the vaccine. People will have to sit up and listen.
A real problem for your "global priority" crusade: what do you say if, as an example, China decides that rather than vaccinate the Uighurs it'll buy a couple more small African countries not already in its portfolio with the vaccines instead? Easy for me: I say there's a moral imperative to look after your own before you look after others. What do you say, that doesn't license countries less nice than us to leave their own poor and disadvantaged without state protection?
It's clever, Ishmael, but I escape thus. The need to channel vaccines to where the Covid need is greatest there bumps up against the need to keep racial (or religious) discrimination entirely out of it. And the latter prevails.
Leaving the ball entirely in the Chineses court to determine where the need (on medical grounds only, honest!) is greater.
Appalling what seems to be happening there. But assuming ivory tower pure theory territory, my argument is that for maximum anti-Covid efficiency AND ethics the vaccination would be driven by relative needs at the global level. Of course in the real world, money and politics and national capabilities and priorities are in the box seat. It will be interesting how the factors play out and a balance is struck as the rollout proceeds throughout this year and beyond.
If I ruled the world, the global effort would be targeted, not nobody above 20% before everyone at 20%. We'd target countries/regions where new mutations are known to be arising - Brazil and South Africa - and aim to get beyond herd immunity there asap. And then move on to the next worst hotspot, and so on.
What is the Covax strategy going to be, do we know yet?
There will be political pressures both to go around the world by age/risk groups, and to target hotspots and mutations - and possibly not initially sufficient numbers of vaccines to do both together.
"...COVAX anticipates being able to provide participating economies doses of safe and effective vaccines – enough to protect health care and other frontline workers as well as some high-risk individuals – beginning in Q1 2021. The aim is to protect at least 20% of each participating population by the end of the year – unless a participant has requested a lower percentage of doses. At least 1.3 billion of these doses will be made available to the 92 economies eligible for the Gavi COVAX AMC by the end of 2021."
Those might be automated replies. A lot of big companies use sentiment analysis for customer support functions. So if the BA Twitter bot sees a positive tweet it responds in order to make sure more people see it. Both of those accounts appear to be using services that support sentiment analysis. Of course automating this kind of stuff can backfire.
Seems odd that an algorithm would sign themselves 'Anthony'..
Maybe, although not necessarily as pretending there's a real person is part of the act, but I think you give BA customer support too much credit if you think they are carefully reading and replying to tweets, there is a lot of automation and scripting in this field.
I'm not giving them credit for anything. If their 'customer centred' social media is revealed as a big fat lie and their Covid safety regs shown as absolutely useless, I think that's dandy.
Those might be automated replies. A lot of big companies use sentiment analysis for customer support functions. So if the BA Twitter bot sees a positive tweet it responds in order to make sure more people see it. Both of those accounts appear to be using services that support sentiment analysis. Of course automating this kind of stuff can backfire.
Seems odd that an algorithm would sign themselves 'Anthony'..
I spoke to a call centre guy who said his name was Arthur.
Wife duly vaccinated. I think I erroneously said she was group 6 yesterday - total brain fart, she is group 4.
My wife had her Pride of England AZ shot earlier this week. She was quite ill for about a day but is now up and about catching up on her Dura Ace bollocking backlog.
I'm not liking all the "feel crook for 48 hours" reportage. Might not have it now. Big side benefit of that is I will accrue immense moral authority to argue for a global priority for the vaccine. People will have to sit up and listen.
A real problem for your "global priority" crusade: what do you say if, as an example, China decides that rather than vaccinate the Uighurs it'll buy a couple more small African countries not already in its portfolio with the vaccines instead? Easy for me: I say there's a moral imperative to look after your own before you look after others. What do you say, that doesn't license countries less nice than us to leave their own poor and disadvantaged without state protection?
It's clever, Ishmael, but I escape thus. The need to channel vaccines to where the Covid need is greatest there bumps up against the need to keep racial (or religious) discrimination entirely out of it. And the latter prevails.
Leaving the ball entirely in the Chineses court to determine where the need (on medical grounds only, honest!) is greater.
Appalling what seems to be happening there. But assuming ivory tower pure theory territory, my argument is that for maximum anti-Covid efficiency AND ethics the vaccination would be driven by relative needs at the global level. Of course in the real world, money and politics and national capabilities and priorities are in the box seat. It will be interesting how the factors play out and a balance is struck as the rollout proceeds throughout this year and beyond.
But you're wrong and have been demonstrated to be wrong. Your logic is the EUs logic. We'll sort it out together according to need together. So nobody gets vaccinated.
The UK has the right attitude. We will sort ourselves out and once done have the capacity and capabilities to help others in volume.
Global quantity delivered matters far more than prioritising global need.
Given we've had shows about parish councils before, as has been noted for Vicar of Dibley (despite the common misconception about their status), why not indeed?
In Dibley that is likely to be the Parochial Church Council, which is a different animal, unless you know better.
eg Parish Council's do not deal with church music or flowers. A PCC is the organising committee for the charity which is the church (approx.).
No it was a parish council in Dibley. They were pretty clear on that several times. That's why I said misconception. I think it was probably meant to be a PCC, but that's not what they were in the show. Blame the writer
Oxford University researchers who developed the vaccine say it has a similar efficacy against the variant first detected in Kent and the South East of the UK, compared to the original strain of Covid-19 that it was tested against.
But what are they going to say at the end of Feb when the UK starts doing second doses at a rapid rate as well, it will be a matter of 10-20 days until that ~500k becomes 5m second doses done.
Its also dumb since hes trying to imply the first dose is basically pointless.
Those might be automated replies. A lot of big companies use sentiment analysis for customer support functions. So if the BA Twitter bot sees a positive tweet it responds in order to make sure more people see it. Both of those accounts appear to be using services that support sentiment analysis. Of course automating this kind of stuff can backfire.
Seems odd that an algorithm would sign themselves 'Anthony'..
Maybe, although not necessarily as pretending there's a real person is part of the act, but I think you give BA customer support too much credit if you think they are carefully reading and replying to tweets, there is a lot of automation and scripting in this field.
They seem to trust the bot more than the intern in marketing or customer service who usuallly does this sort of job.
But what are they going to say at the end of Feb when the UK starts doing second doses at a rapid rate as well, it will be a matter of 10-20 days until that ~500k becomes 5m second doses done.
Its also dumb since hes trying to imply the first dose is basically pointless.
White over-80s are almost twice as likely to have had the coronavirus vaccine than elderly black Britons, a report has found.
The research comes amid fears that Covid-19 vaccine refusal rates are highest among black, Asian and ethnic minority (BAME) Britons.
Figures showed that 48 per cent of black Britons, a total of 5,012, over-80 in England had their first dose by January 27, compared to 82 per cent, 650,664, of white elderly Britons.
The data, collated by OpenSAFELY on behalf of NHS England, also revealed that 62 per cent of South Asian over-80s, 16,814, had received the Covid jab, followed by 59 per cent, 1,645, of elderly people of mixed ethnicity.
There’s some huge differences between ethnic groups, really hope that they can be persuaded that vaccination is a good thing for everyone.
I saw one video last week of MPs from various ethnic groups, all encouraging people to get jabbed, hopefully we can see more of the same.
The vaccine passport thing will be err... interesting.
Denying people flights would be one thing.
What if the implementation is, say, time limited (changes every 3o seconds) QR codes on your smartphone. Simple bit of crypto work, really. So anyone can validate the you have had the vaccination (without getting any of your personal information), by checkin the QR code against the validating site. Trivial little app to write.
So anyone can prove they had the vaccination and anyone can check it.
Lovely.
Then Sainsbury's says - no vaccination, no entry. The pub....
So it would basically force everyone who can have to get it whether they like it or not?
Not seeing the downside here...
You can't see the slight problem in, in effect, having a sign outside the pub that says "No x here"?
Because that is how it will be seen.
Well, no, because they can resolve it by GETTING THE FRICKING VACCINE. It’s not like a racial characteristic where you can’t change it, is it?
It’s no different from saying ‘must be wearing clothes.’ If you want to come in, put a shirt on.
No shoes, no shirt, no jab, no service.
No shoes, no shirt, no jab (afaik), no masks, plenty of service and a pat on their shiny big heads.
Those might be automated replies. A lot of big companies use sentiment analysis for customer support functions. So if the BA Twitter bot sees a positive tweet it responds in order to make sure more people see it. Both of those accounts appear to be using services that support sentiment analysis. Of course automating this kind of stuff can backfire.
Seems odd that an algorithm would sign themselves 'Anthony'..
Maybe, although not necessarily as pretending there's a real person is part of the act, but I think you give BA customer support too much credit if you think they are carefully reading and replying to tweets, there is a lot of automation and scripting in this field.
I'm not giving them credit for anything. If their 'customer centred' social media is revealed as a big fat lie and their Covod safety regs shown as absolutely useless, I think that's dandy.
Essentially every large company operating any kind of customer support on social media is lying to you by your standards. This kind of customer support role is a low paid crappy job, and there is a lot of work to deal with. Companies automate the service to make it tractable; they will filter out abuse, give automated responses to queries that are informational in nature, and try to triage queries to filter the ones that can receive a boilerplate response ("have a good holiday") from the ones that actually matter ("there is an unattended package in a terminal building") and need someone competent to deal with them. You are not receiving personal attention from some high-paid exec at the company, though they'd love you to think that.
Oxford University researchers who developed the vaccine say it has a similar efficacy against the variant first detected in Kent and the South East of the UK, compared to the original strain of Covid-19 that it was tested against.
There was also an update on the efficacy amongst the oldies earlier.
Oxford University researchers who developed the vaccine say it has a similar efficacy against the variant first detected in Kent and the South East of the UK, compared to the original strain of Covid-19 that it was tested against.
There was also an update on the efficacy amongst the oldies earlier.
Those might be automated replies. A lot of big companies use sentiment analysis for customer support functions. So if the BA Twitter bot sees a positive tweet it responds in order to make sure more people see it. Both of those accounts appear to be using services that support sentiment analysis. Of course automating this kind of stuff can backfire.
Seems odd that an algorithm would sign themselves 'Anthony'..
Nope to make it human you would add a random selection of names to the end of some tweets
It sounds as though the French are finally getting their act together, which is very good news, even if it will slightly reduce our opportunity to gloat:
Oxford University researchers who developed the vaccine say it has a similar efficacy against the variant first detected in Kent and the South East of the UK, compared to the original strain of Covid-19 that it was tested against.
There was also an update on the efficacy amongst the oldies earlier.
But what are they going to say at the end of Feb when the UK starts doing second doses at a rapid rate as well, it will be a matter of 10-20 days until that ~500k becomes 5m second doses done.
Its also dumb since hes trying to imply the first dose is basically pointless.
Exactly. In reality the first dose delivers most of the protection, and certainly in the near term that is what matters most, not getting a boost that makes you marginally less likely to be infected.
It sounds as though the French are finally getting their act together, which is very good news, even if it will slightly reduce our opportunity to gloat:
Wife duly vaccinated. I think I erroneously said she was group 6 yesterday - total brain fart, she is group 4.
My wife had her Pride of England AZ shot earlier this week. She was quite ill for about a day but is now up and about catching up on her Dura Ace bollocking backlog.
I'm not liking all the "feel crook for 48 hours" reportage. Might not have it now. Big side benefit of that is I will accrue immense moral authority to argue for a global priority for the vaccine. People will have to sit up and listen.
A real problem for your "global priority" crusade: what do you say if, as an example, China decides that rather than vaccinate the Uighurs it'll buy a couple more small African countries not already in its portfolio with the vaccines instead? Easy for me: I say there's a moral imperative to look after your own before you look after others. What do you say, that doesn't license countries less nice than us to leave their own poor and disadvantaged without state protection?
It's clever, Ishmael, but I escape thus. The need to channel vaccines to where the Covid need is greatest there bumps up against the need to keep racial (or religious) discrimination entirely out of it. And the latter prevails.
Leaving the ball entirely in the Chineses court to determine where the need (on medical grounds only, honest!) is greater.
Appalling what seems to be happening there. But assuming ivory tower pure theory territory, my argument is that for maximum anti-Covid efficiency AND ethics the vaccination would be driven by relative needs at the global level. Of course in the real world, money and politics and national capabilities and priorities are in the box seat. It will be interesting how the factors play out and a balance is struck as the rollout proceeds throughout this year and beyond.
But you're wrong and have been demonstrated to be wrong. Your logic is the EUs logic. We'll sort it out together according to need together. So nobody gets vaccinated.
The UK has the right attitude. We will sort ourselves out and once done have the capacity and capabilities to help others in volume.
Global quantity delivered matters far more than prioritising global need.
Yes, and we've just struck another manufacturing deal with CureVac that adds to UK (and global) capacity to beat this thing.
Kinabalu is looking at this from a lefty point of view of everyone deserving a proportional slice of the same pie, we're looking at it from a right wing perspective of having a larger pie so that everyone benefits. UK efforts have seen us go from having almost no manufacturing capacity for vaccines to having at least 600m with deals still in the pipeline to increase that to 1bn. That benefits us and the whole world, given our level of commitment it is only right that UK taxpayers benefit first from UK taxpayer subsidies.
Those might be automated replies. A lot of big companies use sentiment analysis for customer support functions. So if the BA Twitter bot sees a positive tweet it responds in order to make sure more people see it. Both of those accounts appear to be using services that support sentiment analysis. Of course automating this kind of stuff can backfire.
Seems odd that an algorithm would sign themselves 'Anthony'..
Nope to make it human you would add a random selection of names to the end of some tweets
Bet it's not random. You won't get a nice wee sign off from Wayne or Ryan.
Those might be automated replies. A lot of big companies use sentiment analysis for customer support functions. So if the BA Twitter bot sees a positive tweet it responds in order to make sure more people see it. Both of those accounts appear to be using services that support sentiment analysis. Of course automating this kind of stuff can backfire.
Seems odd that an algorithm would sign themselves 'Anthony'..
Nope to make it human you would add a random selection of names to the end of some tweets
Bet it's not random. You won't get a nice wee sign off from Wayne or Ryan.
Presumably random from a shorter list of focus group-tested names.
Wife duly vaccinated. I think I erroneously said she was group 6 yesterday - total brain fart, she is group 4.
My wife had her Pride of England AZ shot earlier this week. She was quite ill for about a day but is now up and about catching up on her Dura Ace bollocking backlog.
I'm not liking all the "feel crook for 48 hours" reportage. Might not have it now. Big side benefit of that is I will accrue immense moral authority to argue for a global priority for the vaccine. People will have to sit up and listen.
A real problem for your "global priority" crusade: what do you say if, as an example, China decides that rather than vaccinate the Uighurs it'll buy a couple more small African countries not already in its portfolio with the vaccines instead? Easy for me: I say there's a moral imperative to look after your own before you look after others. What do you say, that doesn't license countries less nice than us to leave their own poor and disadvantaged without state protection?
It's clever, Ishmael, but I escape thus. The need to channel vaccines to where the Covid need is greatest there bumps up against the need to keep racial (or religious) discrimination entirely out of it. And the latter prevails.
Leaving the ball entirely in the Chineses court to determine where the need (on medical grounds only, honest!) is greater.
Appalling what seems to be happening there. But assuming ivory tower pure theory territory, my argument is that for maximum anti-Covid efficiency AND ethics the vaccination would be driven by relative needs at the global level. Of course in the real world, money and politics and national capabilities and priorities are in the box seat. It will be interesting how the factors play out and a balance is struck as the rollout proceeds throughout this year and beyond.
But you're wrong and have been demonstrated to be wrong. Your logic is the EUs logic. We'll sort it out together according to need together. So nobody gets vaccinated.
The UK has the right attitude. We will sort ourselves out and once done have the capacity and capabilities to help others in volume.
Global quantity delivered matters far more than prioritising global need.
Yes, and we've just struck another manufacturing deal with CureVac that adds to UK (and global) capacity to beat this thing.
Kinabalu is looking at this from a lefty point of view of everyone deserving a proportional slice of the same pie, we're looking at it from a right wing perspective of having a larger pie so that everyone benefits. UK efforts have seen us go from having almost no manufacturing capacity for vaccines to having at least 600m with deals still in the pipeline to increase that to 1bn. That benefits us and the whole world, given our level of commitment it is only right that UK taxpayers benefit first from UK taxpayer subsidies.
It also fits in the right wing 'agency' vs left wing 'entitlement' perspectives.
It sounds as though the French are finally getting their act together, which is very good news, even if it will slightly reduce our opportunity to gloat:
At the rate some European countries will have completed R1 of vaccinations, forget what mutations will have come along with COVID, we will probably be on SARS 3.
They seem to trust the bot more than the intern in marketing or customer service who usuallly does this sort of job.
For certain types of query a bot will beat a person any day. For example, if someone is asking about flight times, terminals, gates, baggage allowances, for those sort of things the bot is best. It would be nuts to have a person responding to such queries when a bot is going to be near perfect and very fast to respond. Of course you have to have to be able to deal with the 1 in 10 queries that doesn't fit a pigeon hole, and you had better have someone who really knows what's what for the 1 in a million when getting it wrong could spell real trouble.
Comments
Just prior to the phone hacking stuff, I did know that Sky were looking at buying o2, I wonder how things would have panned out then.
As for Disney+ I've had it nearly a year and not paid for it yet, o2 keep on giving it to me for free.
Disney+ is changing later on this month when they add Star which allow them to show their more adult themed shows and films.
Personal responsibility is a nineteenth-century, crypto-Imperialist, neo-Fascist, Social Darwinist concept which privileged, old white men invented to perpepuate their economic dominance.
Region of Residence 1st dose 2nd dose Cumulative Total Doses to Date
Total 388,426 2,611 391,037
East Of England 46,072 368 46,440
London 44,787 367 45,154
Midlands 77,052 396 77,448
North East And Yorkshire 59,868 672 60,540
North West 51,747 363 52,110
South East 61,444 325 61,769
South West 45,639 116 45,755
I expect the current advice to pregnant women will change when medical professionals that have had the jab have normal pregnancies too eliminating a largish future group that's currently excluded.
https://twitter.com/HugoGye/status/1357690735986941952?s=20
Your plan would mean less support for the rest of the world. Why would you do that?
It never got off the ground because Sky were offering an all share takeover of O2 UK/Ire/DE but Telefonica wanted cash to reduce their huge legacy of debt.
I’d love to see someone get more data breakdowns on vaccine sentiment and ethnicity.
The vast majority of people I know, of all and any ethnicities, are lining up to get jabbed, so is it certain sub-groups in particular that we need to target, say by social class, education, religion or household arrangement?
This is a serious issue, and I think it needs a full public discussion, rather than a centrally imposed rule. I personally think that those in healthcare and education provision should be required to be vaccinated, unless there is a medical reason not to be. I also agree that kids should be vaccinated if they are to access state-funded schools. But I think we'd get better compliance and buy in to whatever policy is decided if the public is involved, not ordered.
https://twitter.com/DaveKeating/status/1357684281695469570?s=20
For the medically exempt, it would be fairly trivial to add them, so that they get a thumbs up when queried.
https://twitter.com/james_barr/status/1357680598144462851?s=21
Who could have foreseen and suggested that in the past?
Makes sense that the EU has access to it.
I took my shirt off for my jab because the sleeve was a bit tight and it made it easier for the nurses.
Surprisingly, none of them swooned.
There will be political pressures both to go around the world by age/risk groups, and to target hotspots and mutations - and possibly not initially sufficient numbers of vaccines to do both together.
https://www.who.int/news/item/22-01-2021-covax-announces-new-agreement-plans-for-first-deliveries
She's an accredited journalist and nominated for prestigious awards but Brom on PB knows better.
The UK has the right attitude. We will sort ourselves out and once done have the capacity and capabilities to help others in volume.
Global quantity delivered matters far more than prioritising global need.
https://twitter.com/john_lichfield/status/1357690261833400322
4m a month, 2 doses, 2 million people a month....they are still going to take forever to get their population vaccinated.
Kinabalu is looking at this from a lefty point of view of everyone deserving a proportional slice of the same pie, we're looking at it from a right wing perspective of having a larger pie so that everyone benefits. UK efforts have seen us go from having almost no manufacturing capacity for vaccines to having at least 600m with deals still in the pipeline to increase that to 1bn. That benefits us and the whole world, given our level of commitment it is only right that UK taxpayers benefit first from UK taxpayer subsidies.
Tissue Price has gone rogue, he's gone full lefty.
Aaron Bell: Tories should scrap hated Council Tax in the wake of Covid crisis
As Rishi Sunak seeks to restore the public finances, a fairer property tax system should be part of the answer
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2021/02/04/tories-should-scrap-hated-council-tax-wake-covid-crisis/