Editorial in the Swedish business newspaper Dagens industri: "Corona vaccination is the first global crisis where the British system has competed with the EU. Britain won. That's just the beginning." https://twitter.com/NilssonPM/status/1360986331917254658
The UK has done a brilliant job of jabbing its overseas territories. The Caymans, Bermuda, Turks and Caicos, Anguilla, Gibraltar, Falklands, etc, are all world leading in Jabs-per-tricep.
The source I'm relying on in this case does not suggest that the Falklands are underway just yet, but does indicate that most of the overseas territories and all of the crown dependencies are. Indeed, it is possible that some of them (the British Virgin Islands are another example) just haven't got around to reporting any numbers yet.
Gibraltar, the Caymans, the Turks & Caicos, Bermuda, Jersey and the Isle of Man are all currently running ahead of the United States in per capita terms.
You stick with the UK; you get the benefits.
Why are we sending our vaccines to them? What have they done for us other than enable a load of companies of to dodge a load of tax that could have gone to the NHS?
Because they are dependencies of the United Kingdom. The clue is in the name.
Editorial in the Swedish business newspaper Dagens industri: "Corona vaccination is the first global crisis where the British system has competed with the EU. Britain won. That's just the beginning." https://twitter.com/NilssonPM/status/1360986331917254658
The UK has done a brilliant job of jabbing its overseas territories. The Caymans, Bermuda, Turks and Caicos, Anguilla, Gibraltar, Falklands, etc, are all world leading in Jabs-per-tricep.
The source I'm relying on in this case does not suggest that the Falklands are underway just yet, but does indicate that most of the overseas territories and all of the crown dependencies are. Indeed, it is possible that some of them (the British Virgin Islands are another example) just haven't got around to reporting any numbers yet.
Gibraltar, the Caymans, the Turks & Caicos, Bermuda, Jersey and the Isle of Man are all currently running ahead of the United States in per capita terms.
You stick with the UK; you get the benefits.
Why are we sending our vaccines to them? What have they done for us other than enable a load of companies of to dodge a load of tax that could have gone to the NHS?
The UK has done a brilliant job of jabbing its overseas territories. The Caymans, Bermuda, Turks and Caicos, Anguilla, Gibraltar, Falklands, etc, are all world leading in Jabs-per-tricep.
The source I'm relying on in this case does not suggest that the Falklands are underway just yet, but does indicate that most of the overseas territories and all of the crown dependencies are. Indeed, it is possible that some of them (the British Virgin Islands are another example) just haven't got around to reporting any numbers yet.
Gibraltar, the Caymans, the Turks & Caicos, Bermuda, Jersey and the Isle of Man are all currently running ahead of the United States in per capita terms.
You stick with the UK; you get the benefits.
Why are we sending our vaccines to them? What have they done for us other than enable a load of companies of to dodge a load of tax that could have gone to the NHS?
This is exactly what I was told by an Israeli client last week
Something something marathon not sprint. In fairness they are hitting people with the top grade stuff, and second doses...
Interesting, that increase just after vaccination began. Did people relax before it could take effect, or did they start the programme just as something was kicking off, or what?
Not sure why he's split his video up into so many discrete chunks that are so short though. I do like the shots of reading and highlighting contracts however, makes for a more dynamic video than merely a statement.
Though given all the incoming doses, not sure they would see a need to follow some of his suggestions for renegotiation.
Confession: I have a soft spot for Guy Verhoefsdtattdat. (sp?)
He seems rather amusing, and he is an honest Federalist. He wants a united Europe, under one democratic government. I believe that is Utopian, but it is an honourable cause, much better than the evil anti-democratic, crypto-technocratic EU that has, so far, been constructed, with no apparent prospect of real reform.
Apparently he is, like Juncker, a drinking buddy of Farage. It would not surprise me.
He is also right in his criticisms, even if he elides EU/Europe. The vaccine programme is such a major EU fuck up I am not sure it will be forgotten that quickly, even if the market floods with jabs in the summer. People will remember.
Whether that leaves EU citizens wanting more EU or less, I have no idea.
What I have noted in myself is that I am now referring to Europe when I mean "Europe minus the UK" - ie the Continent. Mentally, I used to think of the UK as part of "Europe". I no longer do so. Of course logically, geographically, culturally, we are and always will be a hugely important part of Europe. But as a shorthand, for me, the concept "Europe" no longer automatically includes the UK. It is the "UK & Europe".
To give a concrete example. If a non-European asked me, "well, what do they do in Europe?", I would not reflexively answer, "well this is what we do in Britain, part of Europe". That has already gone.
I tend to think he - along with Barnier - are honest Europhiles, with a sincere desire for a united democratic Europe. I may think they are mistaken, but I don't think they are evil, and one could have a sensible conversation with them.
That's my point. I agree with the honest europhiles, inasmuch as I honour the nobility of their project: a true, united, federal, democratic EU, with an elected president and Commission, and the various states having about the same autonomy as US states today.
There is nothing wrong with that as an ambition. The problems are 1: the EU is trying to achieve this by stealth (cf the absolute mortifying horror of the Lisbon Constitution, sorry Treaty) and 2. I am not at all sure the EU can ever have a people, an electorate, a "demos", able to speak truth to power via elections and a free media. The languages and culture are so vastly different across the continent. Without a demos, no democracy.
But at least people like Verhoefstadt are candid about what they want. Skulking British europhiles who wanted the same, but were too scared, cowed or ashamed to admit it, got what they deserved with Brexit. THEY are the evil ones. From jovial Ken Clarke to that nice Nick Clegg to lovely Tony Blair, et al.
You are absolutely correct that some people are snakes; who want EU integration but don't want to admit it, and follow the salami slicing principle.
But there are also others - like Mrs Thatcher was for a long-time - who was not a committed Europhile, but also saw the case for greater integration in certain areas.
Reading Charles Moore's second and third biographies of her is fascinating in this respect.
Basically, she was always eurosceptic but saw the community as a way to extend market economics and inhibit socialism here in the UK by regulating it out; in other words, she was pursuing internationalist methods solely for national ends.
Once that illusion became so obviously unsustainable she turned decisively against it, because she ultimately didn't agree with its federalist vision.
I think this is a bit of post hoc rationalisation. Mrs Thatcher wore a frickin' ugly EEC jumper for the referendum. She didn't just meekly support, she actively went out there with the "modernisers" calling for Britain to be a member.
Later, though, and particularly when Jacques Delors become Commission President and she spent more time with Sir Alan Walters, she became increasingly Eurosceptic.
The EEC may have changed names, but it became - instead of a driver of modernisation - an entity stuck in the past, and an obstacle to change. And so Mrs Thatcher moved on.
The UK has done a brilliant job of jabbing its overseas territories. The Caymans, Bermuda, Turks and Caicos, Anguilla, Gibraltar, Falklands, etc, are all world leading in Jabs-per-tricep.
The source I'm relying on in this case does not suggest that the Falklands are underway just yet, but does indicate that most of the overseas territories and all of the crown dependencies are. Indeed, it is possible that some of them (the British Virgin Islands are another example) just haven't got around to reporting any numbers yet.
Gibraltar, the Caymans, the Turks & Caicos, Bermuda, Jersey and the Isle of Man are all currently running ahead of the United States in per capita terms.
You stick with the UK; you get the benefits.
Why are we sending our vaccines to them? What have they done for us other than enable a load of companies of to dodge a load of tax that could have gone to the NHS?
Because they are dependencies of the United Kingdom. The clue is in the name.
I think they are called British Overseas Territories* now instead dependencies. But the name hardly matters when they are British citizens.
Editorial in the Swedish business newspaper Dagens industri: "Corona vaccination is the first global crisis where the British system has competed with the EU. Britain won. That's just the beginning." https://twitter.com/NilssonPM/status/1360986331917254658
This is exactly what I was told by an Israeli client last week
Crisis in Israel as Covid hopsitalisations now increasingly of younger folk.
Does that mean that more younger people are getting it more seriously than before, or that there are more beds available to younger ill patients who would previously have had to stay at home, or something else?
Edited to change or what, used in two comments in a row.
Except that the governing party will base its election campaign almost entirely around independence and near enough half the population will vote for it. We all know it's true.
'Near enough half' may indeed vote SNP in the election in 2021.
But in any independence vote which may follow, the vote for independence will be less than 50%. Just like last time.
Don't count on it. If independence was as peripheral an issue as this duff poll suggests then they wouldn't keep voting over and over and over again for politicians who care about nothing else.
There needs to be an independent, coherent Unionist party to counter them. I think there will be in a decade or so.
Except that the governing party will base its election campaign almost entirely around independence and near enough half the population will vote for it. We all know it's true.
That's true, but in E & W people kept on voting for Remain parties and only near enough half the people voted for Remain. The rest voted for Remain parties because they didn't have much choice.
The feeling of no choice covers dislike of other parties as well.
Editorial in the Swedish business newspaper Dagens industri: "Corona vaccination is the first global crisis where the British system has competed with the EU. Britain won. That's just the beginning." https://twitter.com/NilssonPM/status/1360986331917254658
Oh Sweden, I want to have your babies.....
Is it possible to sexually harrass a country?
I was thinking that picture of Boris might have suggested it was on his mind....
News Flash - a special commando of the Irish Health Service (Seirbhís Sláinte na hÉireann) has been dispatched to Rockall and has already vaccinated the resident population.
"Twas a shitty job, but someone had to do it," said junior birdman Taig mac Éan from Muff, Donegal.
"We jabbed our feathered friends - and stuck it to the English!"
Editorial in the Swedish business newspaper Dagens industri: "Corona vaccination is the first global crisis where the British system has competed with the EU. Britain won. That's just the beginning." https://twitter.com/NilssonPM/status/1360986331917254658
That'd be nice to think.
Apart from the abject terror it would inspire in Rejoiners.....
Not sure why he's split his video up into so many discrete chunks that are so short though. I do like the shots of reading and highlighting contracts however, makes for a more dynamic video than merely a statement.
Though given all the incoming doses, not sure they would see a need to follow some of his suggestions for renegotiation.
Confession: I have a soft spot for Guy Verhoefsdtattdat. (sp?)
He seems rather amusing, and he is an honest Federalist. He wants a united Europe, under one democratic government. I believe that is Utopian, but it is an honourable cause, much better than the evil anti-democratic, crypto-technocratic EU that has, so far, been constructed, with no apparent prospect of real reform.
Apparently he is, like Juncker, a drinking buddy of Farage. It would not surprise me.
He is also right in his criticisms, even if he elides EU/Europe. The vaccine programme is such a major EU fuck up I am not sure it will be forgotten that quickly, even if the market floods with jabs in the summer. People will remember.
Whether that leaves EU citizens wanting more EU or less, I have no idea.
What I have noted in myself is that I am now referring to Europe when I mean "Europe minus the UK" - ie the Continent. Mentally, I used to think of the UK as part of "Europe". I no longer do so. Of course logically, geographically, culturally, we are and always will be a hugely important part of Europe. But as a shorthand, for me, the concept "Europe" no longer automatically includes the UK. It is the "UK & Europe".
To give a concrete example. If a non-European asked me, "well, what do they do in Europe?", I would not reflexively answer, "well this is what we do in Britain, part of Europe". That has already gone.
Having watched the vids, he hasn't really got a handle on the strategic issues with the EC approach, and is furiously blaming Big Pharma.
I think there's some spin as well such as "EU is the vaccine production centre of the world". In volume (which is what he implies), I would say it is India. Maybe in creation, but I don't really believe that either.
To give them some credit, two of the three mRNA vaccine companies are EU-based: BioNTech and CureVac.
But only one of the ten vaccines with any sort of authorization in the world have anything to do with an EU country.
Edit: anything to do with is too harsh: were not invented in an EU country.
The Western vaccines to have completed Phase 3 are:
Plus there's probably CureVac (Belgium) and Valneva (France) to add to the list, so scientists in the EU have done a reasonable amount of work here.
Edit to add: actually, CureVac is German, isn't it?
My point was not to denigrate the EU countries' efforts, but to point out that they are not as dominant in COVID vaccine research as Guy de V would have viewers believe. There are about 58 global vaccine efforts still underway at various stages. And as I posted earlier, the technology is now such that you can design your own vaccine at home. The barrier to entry is basically clinical trials and mass production.
For COVID vaccines, I very much doubt that the EU will end up as the largest mass producer, let alone a globally dominant one.
This is exactly what I was told by an Israeli client last week
Crisis in Israel as Covid hopsitalisations now increasingly of younger folk.
Does that mean that more younger people are getting it more seriously than before, or that there are more beds available to younger ill patients who would previously have had to stay at home, or something else?
Edited to change or what, used in two comments in a row.
If this Bastard Bug is as sentient as it sometimes appears, it would turn its attention away from the jabbed oldies and start attacking the very young..... Let's hope not.
Re: Washington State Congresswoman Jaime Herrera-Beutler, note that
> in WA there is no party registration NOR party primary. Instead, voters can vote for any one candidate for US House in the August primary, with the top-two vote-getters advancing (regardless of party) to the general election ballot.
> thus while it's virtually certain that JHB will draw a pro-Trumpsky challenger from the Putinist wing of the Republican Party, she still has a good chance of making it through to the November 2022 ballot, especially IF she gets significant primary support from Democrats and Independent.
> redistricting MAY help JHB; note that in WA it's done by semi-independent commission, plus population growth in Clark Co since 2010 means her current 3rd Congressional District will likely loose some super-GOP turf in eastern (and maybe western) WA.
Perhaps the adoption by Alaska of ranked choice voting could give Murkowski the chance of running successfully as an independent if kicked off by the GOP extremists.
Not sure why he's split his video up into so many discrete chunks that are so short though. I do like the shots of reading and highlighting contracts however, makes for a more dynamic video than merely a statement.
Though given all the incoming doses, not sure they would see a need to follow some of his suggestions for renegotiation.
Confession: I have a soft spot for Guy Verhoefsdtattdat. (sp?)
He seems rather amusing, and he is an honest Federalist. He wants a united Europe, under one democratic government. I believe that is Utopian, but it is an honourable cause, much better than the evil anti-democratic, crypto-technocratic EU that has, so far, been constructed, with no apparent prospect of real reform.
Apparently he is, like Juncker, a drinking buddy of Farage. It would not surprise me.
He is also right in his criticisms, even if he elides EU/Europe. The vaccine programme is such a major EU fuck up I am not sure it will be forgotten that quickly, even if the market floods with jabs in the summer. People will remember.
Whether that leaves EU citizens wanting more EU or less, I have no idea.
What I have noted in myself is that I am now referring to Europe when I mean "Europe minus the UK" - ie the Continent. Mentally, I used to think of the UK as part of "Europe". I no longer do so. Of course logically, geographically, culturally, we are and always will be a hugely important part of Europe. But as a shorthand, for me, the concept "Europe" no longer automatically includes the UK. It is the "UK & Europe".
To give a concrete example. If a non-European asked me, "well, what do they do in Europe?", I would not reflexively answer, "well this is what we do in Britain, part of Europe". That has already gone.
Having watched the vids, he hasn't really got a handle on the strategic issues with the EC approach, and is furiously blaming Big Pharma.
I think there's some spin as well such as "EU is the vaccine production centre of the world". In volume (which is what he implies), I would say it is India. Maybe in creation, but I don't really believe that either.
To give them some credit, two of the three mRNA vaccine companies are EU-based: BioNTech and CureVac.
But only one of the ten vaccines with any sort of authorization in the world have anything to do with an EU country.
Edit: anything to do with is too harsh: were not invented in an EU country.
The Western vaccines to have completed Phase 3 are:
Plus there's probably CureVac (Belgium) and Valneva (France) to add to the list, so scientists in the EU have done a reasonable amount of work here.
Edit to add: actually, CureVac is German, isn't it?
My point was not to denigrate the EU countries' efforts, but to point out that they are not as dominant in COVID vaccine research as Guy de V would have viewers believe. There are about 58 global vaccine efforts still underway at various stages. And as I posted earlier, the technology is now such that you can design your own vaccine at home. The barrier to entry is basically clinical trials and mass production.
For COVID vaccines, I very much doubt that the EU will end up as the largest mass producer, let alone a globally dominant one.
PS From what I can see, the J&J vaccine was designed at Harvard with BARDA money using an adenovirus vector developed by Janssen for the Ebola vaccine.
BTW, it is (still) Presidents Day in the USA. Combo federal holiday for birthday's of Washington (Tue Feb 15) and Lincoln (Fri Feb 12)
Here in Seattle, the massive snowpile (7 inches plus on my porch, way more further inland) that's fallen since Friday evening has been slowly but surely melting all day. Slowly is good to limit potential for flooding, of rivers AND basements.
Vaccination appointments were mostly cancelled Saturday & Sunday, but mostly ok today. Have one friend whose Saturday apt for jab #2 has been resched for next Sat; another was sched for today also 2nd, she went & got it.
Big story in Seattle Times this weekend about significant mismanagement - or rather glaring lack of adequate planning - by Washington State Department of Health, which is agency directly under Gov. Jay Inslee.
In stark contrast to West Virginia. A state most Washingtonians tend to look down upon, when they think of it at all. Which has had great success in vaccinating high percent (by US standard) of population, limited only by the general shortage of vaccine(s) right now.
Interesting that the Seattle TImes story detailing this did NOT mention the Governor by name.
BUT have to think most folks are gonna figure out (if they don't already know) that his fingerprints are all over THIS fine mess.
Not sure why he's split his video up into so many discrete chunks that are so short though. I do like the shots of reading and highlighting contracts however, makes for a more dynamic video than merely a statement.
Though given all the incoming doses, not sure they would see a need to follow some of his suggestions for renegotiation.
Confession: I have a soft spot for Guy Verhoefsdtattdat. (sp?)
He seems rather amusing, and he is an honest Federalist. He wants a united Europe, under one democratic government. I believe that is Utopian, but it is an honourable cause, much better than the evil anti-democratic, crypto-technocratic EU that has, so far, been constructed, with no apparent prospect of real reform.
Apparently he is, like Juncker, a drinking buddy of Farage. It would not surprise me.
He is also right in his criticisms, even if he elides EU/Europe. The vaccine programme is such a major EU fuck up I am not sure it will be forgotten that quickly, even if the market floods with jabs in the summer. People will remember.
Whether that leaves EU citizens wanting more EU or less, I have no idea.
What I have noted in myself is that I am now referring to Europe when I mean "Europe minus the UK" - ie the Continent. Mentally, I used to think of the UK as part of "Europe". I no longer do so. Of course logically, geographically, culturally, we are and always will be a hugely important part of Europe. But as a shorthand, for me, the concept "Europe" no longer automatically includes the UK. It is the "UK & Europe".
To give a concrete example. If a non-European asked me, "well, what do they do in Europe?", I would not reflexively answer, "well this is what we do in Britain, part of Europe". That has already gone.
Having watched the vids, he hasn't really got a handle on the strategic issues with the EC approach, and is furiously blaming Big Pharma.
I think there's some spin as well such as "EU is the vaccine production centre of the world". In volume (which is what he implies), I would say it is India. Maybe in creation, but I don't really believe that either.
To give them some credit, two of the three mRNA vaccine companies are EU-based: BioNTech and CureVac.
But only one of the ten vaccines with any sort of authorization in the world have anything to do with an EU country.
Edit: anything to do with is too harsh: were not invented in an EU country.
The Western vaccines to have completed Phase 3 are:
Plus there's probably CureVac (Belgium) and Valneva (France) to add to the list, so scientists in the EU have done a reasonable amount of work here.
Edit to add: actually, CureVac is German, isn't it?
My point was not to denigrate the EU countries' efforts, but to point out that they are not as dominant in COVID vaccine research as Guy de V would have viewers believe. There are about 58 global vaccine efforts still underway at various stages. And as I posted earlier, the technology is now such that you can design your own vaccine at home. The barrier to entry is basically clinical trials and mass production.
For COVID vaccines, I very much doubt that the EU will end up as the largest mass producer, let alone a globally dominant one.
PS From what I can see, the J&J vaccine was designed at Harvard with BARDA money using an adenovirus vector developed by Janssen for the Ebola vaccine.
Hey Tim, have you had a chance to speak with your buddy who went to Wuhan?
Except that the governing party will base its election campaign almost entirely around independence and near enough half the population will vote for it. We all know it's true.
'Near enough half' may indeed vote SNP in the election in 2021.
But in any independence vote which may follow, the vote for independence will be less than 50%. Just like last time.
Don't count on it. If independence was as peripheral an issue as this duff poll suggests then they wouldn't keep voting over and over and over again for politicians who care about nothing else.
There needs to be an independent, coherent Unionist party to counter them. I think there will be in a decade or so.
Labour should do it as they have (virtually) nothing to lose. I think I would use the 'Co-operative Party' mantle solely north of the border to underline that it was a real change. 'We do not seek the breakup of the United Kingdom, but we will put Scotland's interests first, only entering coalition with partners if they're prepared to align with and support our vision for Scotland.'
The UK has done a brilliant job of jabbing its overseas territories. The Caymans, Bermuda, Turks and Caicos, Anguilla, Gibraltar, Falklands, etc, are all world leading in Jabs-per-tricep.
The source I'm relying on in this case does not suggest that the Falklands are underway just yet, but does indicate that most of the overseas territories and all of the crown dependencies are. Indeed, it is possible that some of them (the British Virgin Islands are another example) just haven't got around to reporting any numbers yet.
Gibraltar, the Caymans, the Turks & Caicos, Bermuda, Jersey and the Isle of Man are all currently running ahead of the United States in per capita terms.
You stick with the UK; you get the benefits.
Why are we sending our vaccines to them? What have they done for us other than enable a load of companies of to dodge a load of tax that could have gone to the NHS?
Because they are dependencies of the United Kingdom. The clue is in the name.
I think they are called British Overseas Territories* now instead dependencies. But the name hardly matters when they are British citizens.
*(probably so Tories was in the name)
I rather like the idea of the British Overseas Terror Tories. I think a few post here.... 😉
Re: Washington State Congresswoman Jaime Herrera-Beutler, note that
> in WA there is no party registration NOR party primary. Instead, voters can vote for any one candidate for US House in the August primary, with the top-two vote-getters advancing (regardless of party) to the general election ballot.
> thus while it's virtually certain that JHB will draw a pro-Trumpsky challenger from the Putinist wing of the Republican Party, she still has a good chance of making it through to the November 2022 ballot, especially IF she gets significant primary support from Democrats and Independent.
> redistricting MAY help JHB; note that in WA it's done by semi-independent commission, plus population growth in Clark Co since 2010 means her current 3rd Congressional District will likely loose some super-GOP turf in eastern (and maybe western) WA.
Perhaps the adoption by Alaska of ranked choice voting could give Murkowski the chance of running successfully as an independent if kicked off by the GOP extremists.
She effectively did just that already in 2010, with the added disadvantage of not actually being on the ballot!
She's a shoo-in for 2022 with the ranked choice change too. Not very much Trump and Co can do about it - just have to suck it up.
Re: Washington State Congresswoman Jaime Herrera-Beutler, note that
> in WA there is no party registration NOR party primary. Instead, voters can vote for any one candidate for US House in the August primary, with the top-two vote-getters advancing (regardless of party) to the general election ballot.
> thus while it's virtually certain that JHB will draw a pro-Trumpsky challenger from the Putinist wing of the Republican Party, she still has a good chance of making it through to the November 2022 ballot, especially IF she gets significant primary support from Democrats and Independent.
> redistricting MAY help JHB; note that in WA it's done by semi-independent commission, plus population growth in Clark Co since 2010 means her current 3rd Congressional District will likely loose some super-GOP turf in eastern (and maybe western) WA.
Perhaps the adoption by Alaska of ranked choice voting could give Murkowski the chance of running successfully as an independent if kicked off by the GOP extremists.
Reckon so, since she managed the same trick as a general-election write-in (edit) ten years ago.
Alaska natives are strong for her (like they were for her daddy, the late Sen. Frank Murkowski) and they form a significant voting bloc. Plus Democrats did NOT back the Dem nominee to the hilt in 2016 against his daughter, and quite possible history will repeat itself in that respect in 2022.
Another senator on the other side of the aisle, but in somewhat similar position, is Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) who is not up for re-election until 2024. IF he runs, has at least a fighting chance of holding on in the (now) highly-Republican Mountain State, even in a presidential year.
Re: Washington State Congresswoman Jaime Herrera-Beutler, note that
> in WA there is no party registration NOR party primary. Instead, voters can vote for any one candidate for US House in the August primary, with the top-two vote-getters advancing (regardless of party) to the general election ballot.
> thus while it's virtually certain that JHB will draw a pro-Trumpsky challenger from the Putinist wing of the Republican Party, she still has a good chance of making it through to the November 2022 ballot, especially IF she gets significant primary support from Democrats and Independent.
> redistricting MAY help JHB; note that in WA it's done by semi-independent commission, plus population growth in Clark Co since 2010 means her current 3rd Congressional District will likely loose some super-GOP turf in eastern (and maybe western) WA.
Perhaps the adoption by Alaska of ranked choice voting could give Murkowski the chance of running successfully as an independent if kicked off by the GOP extremists.
She effectively did just that already in 2010, with the added disadvantage of not actually being on the ballot!
She's a shoo-in for 2022 with the ranked choice change too. Not very much Trump and Co can do about it - just have to suck it up.
Native American voters generally have rotten turnout, for a variety of reasons.
However, IF they are TRULY convinced that a candidate, especially an incumbent, is their friend, they will make a point of showing up on Election Day to help you out, and bringing along some kinfolk and neighbors besides.
They were the voters who re-elected Sen. Tim Johnson (D-South Dakota) in his last hurrah; I knew the guy (a Boston Irishman) who organized the Get-Out-The-Vote for Johnson on the Rosebud Sioux Reservation. The same people who did NOT turn out for then-majority leader Sen. Tom Dashle (D-SD) when he bit the big weenie a few years later, precisely because they did NOT consider him a genuine friend.
In Alaska, for the most part native people have been pro-Murkowski, and I'm guessing they mostly still are.
Not sure why he's split his video up into so many discrete chunks that are so short though. I do like the shots of reading and highlighting contracts however, makes for a more dynamic video than merely a statement.
Though given all the incoming doses, not sure they would see a need to follow some of his suggestions for renegotiation.
Confession: I have a soft spot for Guy Verhoefsdtattdat. (sp?)
He seems rather amusing, and he is an honest Federalist. He wants a united Europe, under one democratic government. I believe that is Utopian, but it is an honourable cause, much better than the evil anti-democratic, crypto-technocratic EU that has, so far, been constructed, with no apparent prospect of real reform.
Apparently he is, like Juncker, a drinking buddy of Farage. It would not surprise me.
He is also right in his criticisms, even if he elides EU/Europe. The vaccine programme is such a major EU fuck up I am not sure it will be forgotten that quickly, even if the market floods with jabs in the summer. People will remember.
Whether that leaves EU citizens wanting more EU or less, I have no idea.
What I have noted in myself is that I am now referring to Europe when I mean "Europe minus the UK" - ie the Continent. Mentally, I used to think of the UK as part of "Europe". I no longer do so. Of course logically, geographically, culturally, we are and always will be a hugely important part of Europe. But as a shorthand, for me, the concept "Europe" no longer automatically includes the UK. It is the "UK & Europe".
To give a concrete example. If a non-European asked me, "well, what do they do in Europe?", I would not reflexively answer, "well this is what we do in Britain, part of Europe". That has already gone.
Having watched the vids, he hasn't really got a handle on the strategic issues with the EC approach, and is furiously blaming Big Pharma.
I think there's some spin as well such as "EU is the vaccine production centre of the world". In volume (which is what he implies), I would say it is India. Maybe in creation, but I don't really believe that either.
To give them some credit, two of the three mRNA vaccine companies are EU-based: BioNTech and CureVac.
But only one of the ten vaccines with any sort of authorization in the world have anything to do with an EU country.
Edit: anything to do with is too harsh: were not invented in an EU country.
The Western vaccines to have completed Phase 3 are:
Plus there's probably CureVac (Belgium) and Valneva (France) to add to the list, so scientists in the EU have done a reasonable amount of work here.
Edit to add: actually, CureVac is German, isn't it?
My point was not to denigrate the EU countries' efforts, but to point out that they are not as dominant in COVID vaccine research as Guy de V would have viewers believe. There are about 58 global vaccine efforts still underway at various stages. And as I posted earlier, the technology is now such that you can design your own vaccine at home. The barrier to entry is basically clinical trials and mass production.
For COVID vaccines, I very much doubt that the EU will end up as the largest mass producer, let alone a globally dominant one.
PS From what I can see, the J&J vaccine was designed at Harvard with BARDA money using an adenovirus vector developed by Janssen for the Ebola vaccine.
Is that not what the Russian Sputnik vaccine was based on as well?
AMARILLO BY MORNING by P Fraser & T Stafford, made a hit by George Strait
Amarillo by mornin' Up from San Antone Everything that I got Is just what I've got on When that Sun is high In that Texas sky I'll be buckin' at the county fair Amarillo by mornin' Amarillo I'll be there
They took my saddle in Houston Broke my leg in Santa Fe Lost my wife and a girlfriend Somewhere along the way But I'll be lookin' for eight When they pull that gate And I hope that Judge ain't blind Amarillo by mornin' Amarillo's on my mind
Amarillo by mornin' Up from San Antone Everything that I got Is just what I've got on I ain't got a dime But what I've got is mine I ain't rich But Lord, I'm free Amarillo by mornin' Amarillo's where I'll be Amarillo by mornin' Amarillo's where I'll be
Not sure why he's split his video up into so many discrete chunks that are so short though. I do like the shots of reading and highlighting contracts however, makes for a more dynamic video than merely a statement.
Though given all the incoming doses, not sure they would see a need to follow some of his suggestions for renegotiation.
Confession: I have a soft spot for Guy Verhoefsdtattdat. (sp?)
He seems rather amusing, and he is an honest Federalist. He wants a united Europe, under one democratic government. I believe that is Utopian, but it is an honourable cause, much better than the evil anti-democratic, crypto-technocratic EU that has, so far, been constructed, with no apparent prospect of real reform.
Apparently he is, like Juncker, a drinking buddy of Farage. It would not surprise me.
He is also right in his criticisms, even if he elides EU/Europe. The vaccine programme is such a major EU fuck up I am not sure it will be forgotten that quickly, even if the market floods with jabs in the summer. People will remember.
Whether that leaves EU citizens wanting more EU or less, I have no idea.
What I have noted in myself is that I am now referring to Europe when I mean "Europe minus the UK" - ie the Continent. Mentally, I used to think of the UK as part of "Europe". I no longer do so. Of course logically, geographically, culturally, we are and always will be a hugely important part of Europe. But as a shorthand, for me, the concept "Europe" no longer automatically includes the UK. It is the "UK & Europe".
To give a concrete example. If a non-European asked me, "well, what do they do in Europe?", I would not reflexively answer, "well this is what we do in Britain, part of Europe". That has already gone.
Having watched the vids, he hasn't really got a handle on the strategic issues with the EC approach, and is furiously blaming Big Pharma.
I think there's some spin as well such as "EU is the vaccine production centre of the world". In volume (which is what he implies), I would say it is India. Maybe in creation, but I don't really believe that either.
To give them some credit, two of the three mRNA vaccine companies are EU-based: BioNTech and CureVac.
But only one of the ten vaccines with any sort of authorization in the world have anything to do with an EU country.
Edit: anything to do with is too harsh: were not invented in an EU country.
The Western vaccines to have completed Phase 3 are:
Plus there's probably CureVac (Belgium) and Valneva (France) to add to the list, so scientists in the EU have done a reasonable amount of work here.
Edit to add: actually, CureVac is German, isn't it?
My point was not to denigrate the EU countries' efforts, but to point out that they are not as dominant in COVID vaccine research as Guy de V would have viewers believe. There are about 58 global vaccine efforts still underway at various stages. And as I posted earlier, the technology is now such that you can design your own vaccine at home. The barrier to entry is basically clinical trials and mass production.
For COVID vaccines, I very much doubt that the EU will end up as the largest mass producer, let alone a globally dominant one.
PS From what I can see, the J&J vaccine was designed at Harvard with BARDA money using an adenovirus vector developed by Janssen for the Ebola vaccine.
Hey Tim, have you had a chance to speak with your buddy who went to Wuhan?
Thanks for reminding me. No. I need to track him down.
End of April for over 50s requires an average of 368,338 jabs per day. With 10.92 million second jabs needed in the mix
It has to be much more than 10.92 million isn't it? It is surely over 14 million?
Not by the end of April though
Why not? He announced today they'd be done by end of April didn't he?
Only 2nd doses required by end of April are those that had first jabs by end of Jan. surely.
As I said on the day Mrs BJO had her jab she was told her 2nd one "could be up to 20 weeks" after first one.
I have had mine in February and been given a date of 4.5.21 for 2nd one
Whoever told you that was being overly pessimistic.
Its been officially confirmed a few times since then they're sticking with a 12 week timescale and unless I misheard Boris committed tonight that all of the 1-4 group second doses will be completed by 30 April. So even if someone got their first jab on 13 February, the second jab is now due by 30 April.
I won't be: I'm booked in for the 1st of May...
Interesting. Which group are you in if you don't mind me asking?
End of April for over 50s requires an average of 368,338 jabs per day. With 10.92 million second jabs needed in the mix
It has to be much more than 10.92 million isn't it? It is surely over 14 million?
Not by the end of April though
Why not? He announced today they'd be done by end of April didn't he?
Only 2nd doses required by end of April are those that had first jabs by end of Jan. surely.
As I said on the day Mrs BJO had her jab she was told her 2nd one "could be up to 20 weeks" after first one.
I have had mine in February and been given a date of 4.5.21 for 2nd one
Whoever told you that was being overly pessimistic.
Its been officially confirmed a few times since then they're sticking with a 12 week timescale and unless I misheard Boris committed tonight that all of the 1-4 group second doses will be completed by 30 April. So even if someone got their first jab on 13 February, the second jab is now due by 30 April.
I won't be: I'm booked in for the 1st of May...
Interesting. Which group are you in if you don't mind me asking?
Group 4. I was offered a range of dates and picked a Saturday so I would not need time off work, so I would probably count as having been offered one by the 30th of April.
Thanks for the header, Philip. In 1985, I went on a young European diplomats course in Brussels to learn more about the various parts of the EEC as it transitioned, under l'Acte Unique, into the EU with a Single Market. The main topic of conversation outside the lectures was the 'democratic deficit' across the system. Plus ca change ...
Comments
They're our tax dodger enablers though.
Impressive drop, isn't it?
Later, though, and particularly when Jacques Delors become Commission President and she spent more time with Sir Alan Walters, she became increasingly Eurosceptic.
The EEC may have changed names, but it became - instead of a driver of modernisation - an entity stuck in the past, and an obstacle to change. And so Mrs Thatcher moved on.
*(probably so Tories was in the name)
Edited to change or what, used in two comments in a row.
The feeling of no choice covers dislike of other parties as well.
"Twas a shitty job, but someone had to do it," said junior birdman Taig mac Éan from Muff, Donegal.
"We jabbed our feathered friends - and stuck it to the English!"
For COVID vaccines, I very much doubt that the EU will end up as the largest mass producer, let alone a globally dominant one.
Here in Seattle, the massive snowpile (7 inches plus on my porch, way more further inland) that's fallen since Friday evening has been slowly but surely melting all day. Slowly is good to limit potential for flooding, of rivers AND basements.
Vaccination appointments were mostly cancelled Saturday & Sunday, but mostly ok today. Have one friend whose Saturday apt for jab #2 has been resched for next Sat; another was sched for today also 2nd, she went & got it.
Big story in Seattle Times this weekend about significant mismanagement - or rather glaring lack of adequate planning - by Washington State Department of Health, which is agency directly under Gov. Jay Inslee.
In stark contrast to West Virginia. A state most Washingtonians tend to look down upon, when they think of it at all. Which has had great success in vaccinating high percent (by US standard) of population, limited only by the general shortage of vaccine(s) right now.
Interesting that the Seattle TImes story detailing this did NOT mention the Governor by name.
BUT have to think most folks are gonna figure out (if they don't already know) that his fingerprints are all over THIS fine mess.
She's a shoo-in for 2022 with the ranked choice change too. Not very much Trump and Co can do about it - just have to suck it up.
Alaska natives are strong for her (like they were for her daddy, the late Sen. Frank Murkowski) and they form a significant voting bloc. Plus Democrats did NOT back the Dem nominee to the hilt in 2016 against his daughter, and quite possible history will repeat itself in that respect in 2022.
Another senator on the other side of the aisle, but in somewhat similar position, is Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) who is not up for re-election until 2024. IF he runs, has at least a fighting chance of holding on in the (now) highly-Republican Mountain State, even in a presidential year.
However, IF they are TRULY convinced that a candidate, especially an incumbent, is their friend, they will make a point of showing up on Election Day to help you out, and bringing along some kinfolk and neighbors besides.
They were the voters who re-elected Sen. Tim Johnson (D-South Dakota) in his last hurrah; I knew the guy (a Boston Irishman) who organized the Get-Out-The-Vote for Johnson on the Rosebud Sioux Reservation. The same people who did NOT turn out for then-majority leader Sen. Tom Dashle (D-SD) when he bit the big weenie a few years later, precisely because they did NOT consider him a genuine friend.
In Alaska, for the most part native people have been pro-Murkowski, and I'm guessing they mostly still are.
by P Fraser & T Stafford, made a hit by George Strait
Amarillo by mornin'
Up from San Antone
Everything that I got
Is just what I've got on
When that Sun is high
In that Texas sky
I'll be buckin' at the county fair
Amarillo by mornin'
Amarillo I'll be there
They took my saddle in Houston
Broke my leg in Santa Fe
Lost my wife and a girlfriend
Somewhere along the way
But I'll be lookin' for eight
When they pull that gate
And I hope that
Judge ain't blind
Amarillo by mornin'
Amarillo's on my mind
Amarillo by mornin'
Up from San Antone
Everything that I got
Is just what I've got on
I ain't got a dime
But what I've got is mine
I ain't rich
But Lord, I'm free
Amarillo by mornin'
Amarillo's where I'll be
Amarillo by mornin'
Amarillo's where I'll be
I was offered a range of dates and picked a Saturday so I would not need time off work, so I would probably count as having been offered one by the 30th of April.