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Even if Boris’s No 10 apartment refurbishment is funded by a charity a large slice of it will effect

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  • CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 60,216
    "Go big or go home" - two new lines; Liverpool-Manchester and Manchester-Bradford-Leeds as well as re-openings and upgrades:

    https://twitter.com/Transport4North/status/1366671665514631169?s=20
  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 17,438

    isam said:

    I see we've had the Boris is responsible for 10s of thousands of deaths brigade on here again today. For the life of me I cannot see how this is possible - and I give him very little credit for vaccines either. Unless there was a meeting where someone said for example 'if we discharge all these oldies into care homes we risk spreading the virus into a vulnerable group'. I would be very very very surprised if this is the case and expect that in general advice from scientific advisers was followed. Isn't this just s case of people making decisions with the best available information?

    Apparently it is the decision to send old people with Covid back to care homes, where it spread quickly and killed lots of other residents. This was at a time when no one knew much about Covid I guess.

    What puzzles me is what would have happened if those people had not been sent back to their care homes, but stayed in hospital - wouldn't they have spread it like wildfire there and killed lots of other patients? I dont see how people say "it has caused x amount of deaths" without considering what would have happened had the covid carriers stayed in hospital
    They knew precisely what would happen when they discharged Covid suspect patients into care homes untested - that evidence has already been made public. The alternative was to test them first before release - only send in the negative ones. Yes, some would have been false negatives, but it would have both reduced infection rates and shown that they gave a shit.

    Or, just come clean. "The NHS was at risk of collapse. We had no alternative but to clear the hospitals, it was a hard decision, we took it in good faith, it was the least worst option". That would be fine. Instead we initially get utter denial, then "yes we did it, perfectly safe", then "you can't blame us".

    Yes we can blame you.
    I think the 'they' in this will be key. I suspect an awful lot of NHS (hospital) managers were involved. I suspect there was pressure from above to make sure hospitals had capacity. I don't believe Matt Hancock went round the wards and personally turfed out the bed blockers. It pays to remember the times. The scenes from Italy were very fresh in the mind. The hospitals had to be emptied. We also didn't have the covid testing capacity that we do now. Tests were rationed. That's no-one fault - this is a new disease. In hindsight, this pandemic story will be about the triumph of science.
  • MaxPBMaxPB Posts: 38,865

    Brom said:



    Was my least favourite MP after her unlikely journey from 'pro Brexit backbencher' to EU flag waving FBPE spokesperson a week before the vote. That choice really didn't work out for her career.

    The accolade of My Least Favourite MP in the 2017-2019 Parliament is not an easy one to decide.

    I don't much like Sarah for the reasons you say, but she may not even make the top 50 in my list of least favourite MPs in the 2017-2019 Parliament.

    I think Dominic Grieve might be one of my least favourite MPs in the 2017-2019 Parliament -- serial & gratuitous lying dressed up as smarmy principle. Perhaps not top, but he's certainly in the Hateful Eight.
    My favourite memory is how the media used to characterise Grieve and the rest of them as "moderates" despite holding one of the most extreme EUphile positions possible.
  • JohnLilburneJohnLilburne Posts: 6,258
    MattW said:

    The one that has been baffling me this week has been the "Irishman and a Dead Horse" story.

    A bloke perched on a recently dead horse whilst he was making a phone call, as there was nowhere else to perch.

    And ...?

    Yet the entire industry has put on dust and ashes, and gone into pre-emptive self-hating meltdown like a deranged sociology lecturer.

    Huh?

    Maybe he was phoning his butcher (although I don't see anything too wrong in thst either, it will presumably and up as pet food)
  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 17,438

    Whilst we're talking internal decor, it was a relief that there is nothing in the Palace of RP that is so awful as to need swift replacement. However, I note with some amusement that shared comments about the (electric) shower not being much cop now has Mrs RP getting quotes for a new bathroom...

    What I am most exercised about is the fekking boiler which appears to have drunk about £250 of oil in just under a month. Fault in the control system means it needs to be manually switched on and off in the external boiler house and with its age it's probably got the same thermal efficiency as a string vest on a Bigg Market drunken night out.

    Looking at replacement ideas have stumbled upon biomass. Apparently I can get over £18k of funding to install a biomass boiler! Sounds fab...

    Unsolicited advice, but here goes - consider ground source heat pump. Advised my uncle to get it for his new build near Elgin - they love it, house always warm. I'd make sure you have a real fire somewhere (I believe you may have posted that you do) for when the leccy fails...
    However a ground source heat pump is a terrible idea for an older property without good insulation, which I believe @RochdalePioneers's home is.
    But I would argue so is an oil boiler that burns though £250 of oil a month... Yes - probably needs to sort the insulation too!
  • Philip_ThompsonPhilip_Thompson Posts: 65,826

    Boris in positive territory in today's poll - 44/36 = +8

    The sun is shining, a new dawn is breaking, the long dark winter is over and hope springs eternal.

    It would take a complete sourpuss to begrudge that things are better now than they've been in a while. So where is Roger?
  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 17,438

    Are these Sunday's numbers? In England they're up 12,784 in total 5,496 first/ 7,288 second on a week ago
    They are slightly less shite than last week, but that's in the context of last week being a particularly shite return by recent standards.

    Now, I hope and fully expect that things will rapidly improve (as we have been told). But, they have not improved yet and there is no sense in presenting today's return as anything other than underwhelming.

    It's poor, even controlling for the day of the week effect.
    And yet we've vaccinated over 20 million people since the start. Its not that long ago that some were suggesting vaccines were the next nuclear fusion - (always 30 years away). I will admit to obsessing over data, and checking cases etc every day at 4, but I really do think that the weekend effect is huge in these numbers, so worrying that a number is poor is over the top. The total for the week would be my minimum sample size.
    Its like the BBC constantly comparing one days cases and deaths to the previous day, rather than the week. I think that they are starting to get this right now, but its taken a year.
    Indeed, but it's worth noting that the last couple of weeks are a good chalk off where we need to be.

    Again (and I know you are not saying this) I am happy to forecast a sharp uptick – yet keeping a note of the daily and weekly numbers is instructive. We do need to get cracking.
    I know what you mean, and no-one is more anxious than me to see greater numbers. I do think though that when we look back on 1st April, the rate WILL have picked up hugely.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,710
    felix said:

    MaxPB said:

    MaxPB said:

    AnneJGP said:

    You can never be woke enough....you think you are, but you aren't.....

    Streaming platform Twitch has backtracked on a new policy to change its spelling of "women" after criticism from transgender communities.

    The company had said it would use the term "womxn" in order to be more gender neutral in its language.

    But LGBT communities online called the change transphobic because it suggested trans women were not women.

    https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-56251452

    The only solution to this kind of incompatibility, it just to rip up the whole English language and start again from scratch.

    How are countries with highly gender-dependent languages coping with this sort of thing?
    Just ignoring it all, as we should do.
    The problem is big companies are buying into this shit. Coke, with their be less white, Twitch with womxn, Mr / Mrs Potato-head gone.
    The Mr/Mrs potato head is weird because they are two different toys.
    Also, you can make them anything you want already....Mr Potato head can be trans if you want, be a man, a woman, a womxn. Up to you, just stick a different hair / eyes / mouth etc on it.
    Exactly - you can 'mash' it up as you see fit!
    Nah, Potatohead has had its chips.
  • GallowgateGallowgate Posts: 19,468
    edited March 2021

    Whilst we're talking internal decor, it was a relief that there is nothing in the Palace of RP that is so awful as to need swift replacement. However, I note with some amusement that shared comments about the (electric) shower not being much cop now has Mrs RP getting quotes for a new bathroom...

    What I am most exercised about is the fekking boiler which appears to have drunk about £250 of oil in just under a month. Fault in the control system means it needs to be manually switched on and off in the external boiler house and with its age it's probably got the same thermal efficiency as a string vest on a Bigg Market drunken night out.

    Looking at replacement ideas have stumbled upon biomass. Apparently I can get over £18k of funding to install a biomass boiler! Sounds fab...

    Unsolicited advice, but here goes - consider ground source heat pump. Advised my uncle to get it for his new build near Elgin - they love it, house always warm. I'd make sure you have a real fire somewhere (I believe you may have posted that you do) for when the leccy fails...
    However a ground source heat pump is a terrible idea for an older property without good insulation, which I believe @RochdalePioneers's home is.
    But I would argue so is an oil boiler that burns though £250 of oil a month... Yes - probably needs to sort the insulation too!
    The kind of insulation needed for the efficient use of a GSHP would be significant. We're talking lining the inside walls and floors with insulation (assuming they're pure stone) which will reduce the size of the rooms not insignificantly.

    And then on top of that you'd also likely need to replace all your radiators whereas a biomass heating system can use the existing radiators.

    You're probably talking around 20k at least.
  • Philip_ThompsonPhilip_Thompson Posts: 65,826
    MaxPB said:

    Brom said:



    Was my least favourite MP after her unlikely journey from 'pro Brexit backbencher' to EU flag waving FBPE spokesperson a week before the vote. That choice really didn't work out for her career.

    The accolade of My Least Favourite MP in the 2017-2019 Parliament is not an easy one to decide.

    I don't much like Sarah for the reasons you say, but she may not even make the top 50 in my list of least favourite MPs in the 2017-2019 Parliament.

    I think Dominic Grieve might be one of my least favourite MPs in the 2017-2019 Parliament -- serial & gratuitous lying dressed up as smarmy principle. Perhaps not top, but he's certainly in the Hateful Eight.
    My favourite memory is how the media used to characterise Grieve and the rest of them as "moderates" despite holding one of the most extreme EUphile positions possible.
    Absolutely this.

    I recall referring to Grieve here as an extremist which was met with apoplexy by some.

    Grieve was every bit if not more of an extremist than IDS, Cash, Bone or anyone like that. At least the latter knew they'd need to win a referendum to get what they wanted.
  • JohnLilburneJohnLilburne Posts: 6,258

    isam said:

    I see we've had the Boris is responsible for 10s of thousands of deaths brigade on here again today. For the life of me I cannot see how this is possible - and I give him very little credit for vaccines either. Unless there was a meeting where someone said for example 'if we discharge all these oldies into care homes we risk spreading the virus into a vulnerable group'. I would be very very very surprised if this is the case and expect that in general advice from scientific advisers was followed. Isn't this just s case of people making decisions with the best available information?

    Apparently it is the decision to send old people with Covid back to care homes, where it spread quickly and killed lots of other residents. This was at a time when no one knew much about Covid I guess.

    What puzzles me is what would have happened if those people had not been sent back to their care homes, but stayed in hospital - wouldn't they have spread it like wildfire there and killed lots of other patients? I dont see how people say "it has caused x amount of deaths" without considering what would have happened had the covid carriers stayed in hospital
    They knew precisely what would happen when they discharged Covid suspect patients into care homes untested - that evidence has already been made public. The alternative was to test them first before release - only send in the negative ones. Yes, some would have been false negatives, but it would have both reduced infection rates and shown that they gave a shit.

    Or, just come clean. "The NHS was at risk of collapse. We had no alternative but to clear the hospitals, it was a hard decision, we took it in good faith, it was the least worst option". That would be fine. Instead we initially get utter denial, then "yes we did it, perfectly safe", then "you can't blame us".

    Yes we can blame you.
    The alternative would have been to find somewhere else to warehouse possibly infectious old people on their way back to care homes. The beds were needed in hospital, and I believe it is usual to move frail old people back into care homes ASAP as they tend to do badly if left in hospital longer than necessary
  • CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 60,216
    Yikes! Some of our neighbours not out of the woods yet!

    https://twitter.com/ianjamesparsley/status/1366777577487159299?s=20
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 21,298

    MaxPB said:

    Brom said:



    Was my least favourite MP after her unlikely journey from 'pro Brexit backbencher' to EU flag waving FBPE spokesperson a week before the vote. That choice really didn't work out for her career.

    The accolade of My Least Favourite MP in the 2017-2019 Parliament is not an easy one to decide.

    I don't much like Sarah for the reasons you say, but she may not even make the top 50 in my list of least favourite MPs in the 2017-2019 Parliament.

    I think Dominic Grieve might be one of my least favourite MPs in the 2017-2019 Parliament -- serial & gratuitous lying dressed up as smarmy principle. Perhaps not top, but he's certainly in the Hateful Eight.
    My favourite memory is how the media used to characterise Grieve and the rest of them as "moderates" despite holding one of the most extreme EUphile positions possible.
    Absolutely this.

    I recall referring to Grieve here as an extremist which was met with apoplexy by some.

    Grieve was every bit if not more of an extremist than IDS, Cash, Bone or anyone like that. At least the latter knew they'd need to win a referendum to get what they wanted.
    What precisely was “extreme” about Grieve’s position.

    I don’t remember him, for example, lying to the Queen and attempting to prorogue Parliament.
  • MattWMattW Posts: 23,237
    Lennon said:

    MattW said:

    The one that has been baffling me this week has been the "Irishman and a Dead Horse" story.

    A bloke perched on a recently dead horse whilst he was making a phone call, as there was nowhere else to perch.

    And ...?

    Yet the entire industry has put on dust and ashes, and gone into pre-emptive self-hating meltdown like a deranged sociology lecturer.

    Huh?

    WTAF? Is that really all that story is about? I have to say that I totally assumed he'd been shooting the horse whilst on the phone, or got caught saying 'yeah I'm just sending Red Rum to the glue factory - useless piece of sh*t, wasn't ever going to win anything' or something like that. At which point the reaction is a bit over the top (in my opinion) but understandable.
    Horse was a racehorse that died of a heart attack on the gallops.

    I think it's about the alleged and callousness concerning the welfare of horses, and insufficient dignity accorded to the noble animal etc.

    I was hoping to smoke out some animal rights types to find out. I'm rather unemotional about pet dogs and so on, and was quite happy that my cat lived in the shed rather than in a scented cat divan.

    He's even had his Racing License suspended "whilst we investigate". The charge is "bringing racing into disrepute".

    I can see that sanctions would be appropriate if he had been horsing around. But afaics he wasn't. The only thing I can see is the peace sign with the other hand.
  • CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 60,216
    Positivity falling quickly too now:


  • Philip_ThompsonPhilip_Thompson Posts: 65,826

    MaxPB said:

    Brom said:



    Was my least favourite MP after her unlikely journey from 'pro Brexit backbencher' to EU flag waving FBPE spokesperson a week before the vote. That choice really didn't work out for her career.

    The accolade of My Least Favourite MP in the 2017-2019 Parliament is not an easy one to decide.

    I don't much like Sarah for the reasons you say, but she may not even make the top 50 in my list of least favourite MPs in the 2017-2019 Parliament.

    I think Dominic Grieve might be one of my least favourite MPs in the 2017-2019 Parliament -- serial & gratuitous lying dressed up as smarmy principle. Perhaps not top, but he's certainly in the Hateful Eight.
    My favourite memory is how the media used to characterise Grieve and the rest of them as "moderates" despite holding one of the most extreme EUphile positions possible.
    Absolutely this.

    I recall referring to Grieve here as an extremist which was met with apoplexy by some.

    Grieve was every bit if not more of an extremist than IDS, Cash, Bone or anyone like that. At least the latter knew they'd need to win a referendum to get what they wanted.
    What precisely was “extreme” about Grieve’s position.

    I don’t remember him, for example, lying to the Queen and attempting to prorogue Parliament.
    Despite losing the referendum he rejected not just Theresa May's Brexit but any and all Brexit options. He decided damn the referendum we need to remain anyway. That is extreme.
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 28,380

    Brom said:



    Was my least favourite MP after her unlikely journey from 'pro Brexit backbencher' to EU flag waving FBPE spokesperson a week before the vote. That choice really didn't work out for her career.

    The accolade of My Least Favourite MP in the 2017-2019 Parliament is not an easy one to decide.

    I don't much like Sarah for the reasons you say, but she may not even make the top 50 in my list of least favourite MPs in the 2017-2019 Parliament.

    I think Dominic Grieve might be one of my least favourite MPs in the 2017-2019 Parliament -- serial & gratuitous lying dressed up as smarmy principle. Perhaps not top, but he's certainly in the Hateful Eight.
    Why Grieve, when for starters, one could select from the following: Philip Davies, Andrew Bridgen, Christopher Chope, Owen Patterson, Andrew Rossindale, Andrea Jenkyns, Jeremy Corbyn, John McDonnell, Laura Pidcock, Chris Williamson, Richard Burgon and Ian Lavery?

  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 17,438

    Yikes! Some of our neighbours not out of the woods yet!

    https://twitter.com/ianjamesparsley/status/1366777577487159299?s=20

    Bit thick here - what doubling rate? Cases? Deaths?
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 52,598
    Rolling daily average of deaths for the past week now at a low of 284. Racing down.
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 21,298

    MaxPB said:

    Brom said:



    Was my least favourite MP after her unlikely journey from 'pro Brexit backbencher' to EU flag waving FBPE spokesperson a week before the vote. That choice really didn't work out for her career.

    The accolade of My Least Favourite MP in the 2017-2019 Parliament is not an easy one to decide.

    I don't much like Sarah for the reasons you say, but she may not even make the top 50 in my list of least favourite MPs in the 2017-2019 Parliament.

    I think Dominic Grieve might be one of my least favourite MPs in the 2017-2019 Parliament -- serial & gratuitous lying dressed up as smarmy principle. Perhaps not top, but he's certainly in the Hateful Eight.
    My favourite memory is how the media used to characterise Grieve and the rest of them as "moderates" despite holding one of the most extreme EUphile positions possible.
    Absolutely this.

    I recall referring to Grieve here as an extremist which was met with apoplexy by some.

    Grieve was every bit if not more of an extremist than IDS, Cash, Bone or anyone like that. At least the latter knew they'd need to win a referendum to get what they wanted.
    What precisely was “extreme” about Grieve’s position.

    I don’t remember him, for example, lying to the Queen and attempting to prorogue Parliament.
    Despite losing the referendum he rejected not just Theresa May's Brexit but any and all Brexit options. He decided damn the referendum we need to remain anyway. That is extreme.
    Perhaps he was in support of something EFTA which had a plurality of voter support at one stage.

    Grieve-haters just reveal themselves as...impatient with parliamentary procedure.
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,350
    Labour and Tories smell blood, just a case if they can get past the patsies making up the SNP side, in end it will come down to whether the ex-green now independent member props up the SNP.
  • contrariancontrarian Posts: 5,818

    Positivity falling quickly too now:


    Why are patient admissions so out of date?
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 29,410
    Out of interest was checking the papers from this day last year.
    Guardian leading on 13 cases of coronavirus. Hancock musing on the possibility of closing sporting events, pubs and schools. The PM preparing to host a COBRA on the subject for the very first time.
    Happy days.
  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 17,438
    MattW said:

    Lennon said:

    MattW said:

    The one that has been baffling me this week has been the "Irishman and a Dead Horse" story.

    A bloke perched on a recently dead horse whilst he was making a phone call, as there was nowhere else to perch.

    And ...?

    Yet the entire industry has put on dust and ashes, and gone into pre-emptive self-hating meltdown like a deranged sociology lecturer.

    Huh?

    WTAF? Is that really all that story is about? I have to say that I totally assumed he'd been shooting the horse whilst on the phone, or got caught saying 'yeah I'm just sending Red Rum to the glue factory - useless piece of sh*t, wasn't ever going to win anything' or something like that. At which point the reaction is a bit over the top (in my opinion) but understandable.
    Horse was a racehorse that died of a heart attack on the gallops.

    I think it's about the alleged and callousness concerning the welfare of horses, and insufficient dignity accorded to the noble animal etc.

    I was hoping to smoke out some animal rights types to find out. I'm rather unemotional about pet dogs and so on, and was quite happy that my cat lived in the shed rather than in a scented cat divan.

    He's even had his Racing License suspended "whilst we investigate". The charge is "bringing racing into disrepute".

    I can see that sanctions would be appropriate if he had been horsing around. But afaics he wasn't. The only thing I can see is the peace sign with the other hand.
    Its just a wierd story all round. I can't think why he would sit on the dead horse, or why someone would take a picture of it. I also think he has done nothing wrong, certainly nothing to prevent him doing his job as a trainer. And yet Tiger Roll is out of the grand national now.
  • isamisam Posts: 41,118
    edited March 2021
    ...
    rcs1000 said:

    isam said:

    Boris in positive territory in today's poll - 44/36 = +8

    Sir Keir has 31 Gross Positives.

    Very close to Ed Miliband at the same stage of his leadership

    Boris' 44 is pretty similar to Cameron

    I guess if the result at the next GE were the same as Dave vs Ed, Labour would consider that progress though
    Of course: if they took the Conservative majority from 80 to 10, that would be enormous progress. Not enough, admittedly to get into number 10, but enough to make the Conservatives life very interesting.
    If after Brexit and Covid, supposedly both handled horrifically by Boris, he won a majority of more than ten at the next GE, which would be the best for the Tories (other than 2019) in 30 odd years, I think he should be pretty pleased with it. 2017 and 2019 were unique GE's really, as they were all about the referendum fallout
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 52,598

    Positivity falling quickly too now:


    Why are patient admissions so out of date?
    NHS wants you to think they are still busy?
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 21,298
    malcolmg said:

    Labour and Tories smell blood, just a case if they can get past the patsies making up the SNP side, in end it will come down to whether the ex-green now independent member props up the SNP.
    Each day seems to bring new batshittery from the Scottish government.

    From afar, Swinney seems to be deliberately provoking a no confidence vote.
  • Philip_ThompsonPhilip_Thompson Posts: 65,826

    MaxPB said:

    Brom said:



    Was my least favourite MP after her unlikely journey from 'pro Brexit backbencher' to EU flag waving FBPE spokesperson a week before the vote. That choice really didn't work out for her career.

    The accolade of My Least Favourite MP in the 2017-2019 Parliament is not an easy one to decide.

    I don't much like Sarah for the reasons you say, but she may not even make the top 50 in my list of least favourite MPs in the 2017-2019 Parliament.

    I think Dominic Grieve might be one of my least favourite MPs in the 2017-2019 Parliament -- serial & gratuitous lying dressed up as smarmy principle. Perhaps not top, but he's certainly in the Hateful Eight.
    My favourite memory is how the media used to characterise Grieve and the rest of them as "moderates" despite holding one of the most extreme EUphile positions possible.
    Absolutely this.

    I recall referring to Grieve here as an extremist which was met with apoplexy by some.

    Grieve was every bit if not more of an extremist than IDS, Cash, Bone or anyone like that. At least the latter knew they'd need to win a referendum to get what they wanted.
    What precisely was “extreme” about Grieve’s position.

    I don’t remember him, for example, lying to the Queen and attempting to prorogue Parliament.
    Despite losing the referendum he rejected not just Theresa May's Brexit but any and all Brexit options. He decided damn the referendum we need to remain anyway. That is extreme.
    Perhaps he was in support of something EFTA which had a plurality of voter support at one stage.

    Grieve-haters just reveal themselves as...impatient with parliamentary procedure.
    That was an option in the indicative votes - he voted against.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,126
    edited March 2021

    MaxPB said:

    Brom said:



    Was my least favourite MP after her unlikely journey from 'pro Brexit backbencher' to EU flag waving FBPE spokesperson a week before the vote. That choice really didn't work out for her career.

    The accolade of My Least Favourite MP in the 2017-2019 Parliament is not an easy one to decide.

    I don't much like Sarah for the reasons you say, but she may not even make the top 50 in my list of least favourite MPs in the 2017-2019 Parliament.

    I think Dominic Grieve might be one of my least favourite MPs in the 2017-2019 Parliament -- serial & gratuitous lying dressed up as smarmy principle. Perhaps not top, but he's certainly in the Hateful Eight.
    My favourite memory is how the media used to characterise Grieve and the rest of them as "moderates" despite holding one of the most extreme EUphile positions possible.
    Absolutely this.

    I recall referring to Grieve here as an extremist which was met with apoplexy by some.

    Grieve was every bit if not more of an extremist than IDS, Cash, Bone or anyone like that. At least the latter knew they'd need to win a referendum to get what they wanted.
    What precisely was “extreme” about Grieve’s position.

    I don’t remember him, for example, lying to the Queen and attempting to prorogue Parliament.
    You're making the classic mistake of not liking one position so making the opposite moderate by default. Thats complete nonsense.

    Grieve had a very fanatical and uncompromising position, accepting no compromise whatsoever. People might think that was right and correct, lets say for sake of argument that it was, but it was an extreme position within the chamber and politics.

    People end up using moderate or extreme as a synonym for good or bad, but that's not the case. MaxPB clearly takes Grieves extremism as bad, but others loved his extreme position as good, even as some sought compromise like Clarke (no less an EU supporter).

    He held an extreme position in the context of the debate, I think its absurd to deny that, whether one thought he was right or wrong.

    I switched to backing a second ref and remain position, but that doesn't magically make Grieve a moderate on the Brexit debates. His intellect and creative use of arcane procedure doesnt change that, and I think it very petty people refuse to accept the man was an outlier, in context an extreme position holder.
  • MaxPBMaxPB Posts: 38,865

    Positivity falling quickly too now:


    Why are patient admissions so out of date?
    No data from Scotland since the 24th onwards. Better to look at the England only data which is down to 624 new hospitalisations per day and just under 11k currently in hospital.
  • TimTTimT Posts: 6,468
    If Pfizer, Moderna and J&J can keep to delivery schedules, the US should be in a good position vaccine-wise by the end of July. Now it's just the 'simple' task of getting people to want it:

    https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/01/health/covid-vaccines-coming-when-trnd/index.html

    The story shows month by month delivery expectations per vaccine producer.
  • CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 60,216

    Yikes! Some of our neighbours not out of the woods yet!

    https://twitter.com/ianjamesparsley/status/1366777577487159299?s=20

    Bit thick here - what doubling rate? Cases? Deaths?
    Cases. You want a big number, getting bigger, not the reverse.
  • YBarddCwscYBarddCwsc Posts: 7,172
    edited March 2021

    Brom said:



    Was my least favourite MP after her unlikely journey from 'pro Brexit backbencher' to EU flag waving FBPE spokesperson a week before the vote. That choice really didn't work out for her career.

    The accolade of My Least Favourite MP in the 2017-2019 Parliament is not an easy one to decide.

    I don't much like Sarah for the reasons you say, but she may not even make the top 50 in my list of least favourite MPs in the 2017-2019 Parliament.

    I think Dominic Grieve might be one of my least favourite MPs in the 2017-2019 Parliament -- serial & gratuitous lying dressed up as smarmy principle. Perhaps not top, but he's certainly in the Hateful Eight.
    Why Grieve, when for starters, one could select from the following: Philip Davies, Andrew Bridgen, Christopher Chope, Owen Patterson, Andrew Rossindale, Andrea Jenkyns, Jeremy Corbyn, John McDonnell, Laura Pidcock, Chris Williamson, Richard Burgon and Ian Lavery?

    Well done, MexicanPete. 🤩

    There are some truly outstanding names on that list for the Hateful Eight from the 2017-2019 Parly.

    Not Jeremy, though. I always had a soft spot for allotment gardeners, just like my grandfather In Llanelli.
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 29,410
    edited March 2021
    Duplicate
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 29,410
    edited March 2021

    MattW said:

    Lennon said:

    MattW said:

    The one that has been baffling me this week has been the "Irishman and a Dead Horse" story.

    A bloke perched on a recently dead horse whilst he was making a phone call, as there was nowhere else to perch.

    And ...?

    Yet the entire industry has put on dust and ashes, and gone into pre-emptive self-hating meltdown like a deranged sociology lecturer.

    Huh?

    WTAF? Is that really all that story is about? I have to say that I totally assumed he'd been shooting the horse whilst on the phone, or got caught saying 'yeah I'm just sending Red Rum to the glue factory - useless piece of sh*t, wasn't ever going to win anything' or something like that. At which point the reaction is a bit over the top (in my opinion) but understandable.
    Horse was a racehorse that died of a heart attack on the gallops.

    I think it's about the alleged and callousness concerning the welfare of horses, and insufficient dignity accorded to the noble animal etc.

    I was hoping to smoke out some animal rights types to find out. I'm rather unemotional about pet dogs and so on, and was quite happy that my cat lived in the shed rather than in a scented cat divan.

    He's even had his Racing License suspended "whilst we investigate". The charge is "bringing racing into disrepute".

    I can see that sanctions would be appropriate if he had been horsing around. But afaics he wasn't. The only thing I can see is the peace sign with the other hand.
    Its just a wierd story all round. I can't think why he would sit on the dead horse, or why someone would take a picture of it. I also think he has done nothing wrong, certainly nothing to prevent him doing his job as a trainer. And yet Tiger Roll is out of the grand national now.
    Isn't Tiger Roll out in a dispute over handicapping?
  • Philip_ThompsonPhilip_Thompson Posts: 65,826

    Positivity falling quickly too now:


    Below 1%

    Fantastic news. This wave is now well behind us as far as I'm concerned that. I say while waiting for my own result LOL.
  • DougSealDougSeal Posts: 12,541
    edited March 2021
    DougSeal said:
    This is actually quite big if it turns out to be the case. The working hypothesis has been that T-Cell immunity would remain strong even where variants began to evade antibodies and this, I think, is the first paper that has varified it. It hasn't been reviewed yet but it does give a lot of hope that vaccines and prior infection will help beat this thing.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 52,598
    kle4 said:

    MaxPB said:

    Brom said:



    Was my least favourite MP after her unlikely journey from 'pro Brexit backbencher' to EU flag waving FBPE spokesperson a week before the vote. That choice really didn't work out for her career.

    The accolade of My Least Favourite MP in the 2017-2019 Parliament is not an easy one to decide.

    I don't much like Sarah for the reasons you say, but she may not even make the top 50 in my list of least favourite MPs in the 2017-2019 Parliament.

    I think Dominic Grieve might be one of my least favourite MPs in the 2017-2019 Parliament -- serial & gratuitous lying dressed up as smarmy principle. Perhaps not top, but he's certainly in the Hateful Eight.
    My favourite memory is how the media used to characterise Grieve and the rest of them as "moderates" despite holding one of the most extreme EUphile positions possible.
    Absolutely this.

    I recall referring to Grieve here as an extremist which was met with apoplexy by some.

    Grieve was every bit if not more of an extremist than IDS, Cash, Bone or anyone like that. At least the latter knew they'd need to win a referendum to get what they wanted.
    What precisely was “extreme” about Grieve’s position.

    I don’t remember him, for example, lying to the Queen and attempting to prorogue Parliament.
    You're making the classic mistake of not liking one position so making the opposite moderate by default. Thats complete nonsense.

    Grieve had a very fanatical and uncompromising position, accepting no compromise whatsoever. People might think that was right and correct, lets say for sake of argument that it was, but it was an extreme position within the chamber and politics.

    People end up using moderate or extreme as a synonym for good or bad, but that's not the case. MaxPB clearly takes Grieves extremism as bad, but others loved his extreme position as good, even as some sought compromise like Clarke (no less an EU supporter).

    He held an extreme position in the context of the debate, I think its absurd to deny that, whether one thought he was right or wrong.

    I switched to backing a second ref and remain position, but that doesn't magically make Grieve a moderate on the Brexit debates. His intellect and creative use of arcane procedure doesnt change that, and I think it very petty people refuse to accept the man was an outlier, in context an extreme position holder.
    Grieve got so convoluted in his smart-arse efforts to kill Brexit, he even ended up voting against his own motion.

    His efforts owed nothing to protecting democracy. Good riddance.
  • TimTTimT Posts: 6,468
    DougSeal said:

    That is very good news on T-cell mediated immunity.

    Interesting that it is not just antibody epitopes (binding points on the virus), but also the T-cell epitopes, that seem highly constrained and highly conserved. Also very good news.
  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 17,438

    Yikes! Some of our neighbours not out of the woods yet!

    https://twitter.com/ianjamesparsley/status/1366777577487159299?s=20

    Bit thick here - what doubling rate? Cases? Deaths?
    Cases. You want a big number, getting bigger, not the reverse.
    OK - quite a weird stat for something that is so variable. Could they just post the weekly rate of change to show the same thing?
  • MaxPBMaxPB Posts: 38,865

    MaxPB said:

    Brom said:



    Was my least favourite MP after her unlikely journey from 'pro Brexit backbencher' to EU flag waving FBPE spokesperson a week before the vote. That choice really didn't work out for her career.

    The accolade of My Least Favourite MP in the 2017-2019 Parliament is not an easy one to decide.

    I don't much like Sarah for the reasons you say, but she may not even make the top 50 in my list of least favourite MPs in the 2017-2019 Parliament.

    I think Dominic Grieve might be one of my least favourite MPs in the 2017-2019 Parliament -- serial & gratuitous lying dressed up as smarmy principle. Perhaps not top, but he's certainly in the Hateful Eight.
    My favourite memory is how the media used to characterise Grieve and the rest of them as "moderates" despite holding one of the most extreme EUphile positions possible.
    Absolutely this.

    I recall referring to Grieve here as an extremist which was met with apoplexy by some.

    Grieve was every bit if not more of an extremist than IDS, Cash, Bone or anyone like that. At least the latter knew they'd need to win a referendum to get what they wanted.
    What precisely was “extreme” about Grieve’s position.

    I don’t remember him, for example, lying to the Queen and attempting to prorogue Parliament.
    Despite losing the referendum he rejected not just Theresa May's Brexit but any and all Brexit options. He decided damn the referendum we need to remain anyway. That is extreme.
    Perhaps he was in support of something EFTA which had a plurality of voter support at one stage.

    Grieve-haters just reveal themselves as...impatient with parliamentary procedure.
    Nah, he voted against that. His goal was to tie up the referendum result indefinitely so that the UK didn't leave the EU. That was very plainly obvious. Boris kicking him and the rest out of the party was a good move.
  • Philip_ThompsonPhilip_Thompson Posts: 65,826

    kle4 said:

    MaxPB said:

    Brom said:



    Was my least favourite MP after her unlikely journey from 'pro Brexit backbencher' to EU flag waving FBPE spokesperson a week before the vote. That choice really didn't work out for her career.

    The accolade of My Least Favourite MP in the 2017-2019 Parliament is not an easy one to decide.

    I don't much like Sarah for the reasons you say, but she may not even make the top 50 in my list of least favourite MPs in the 2017-2019 Parliament.

    I think Dominic Grieve might be one of my least favourite MPs in the 2017-2019 Parliament -- serial & gratuitous lying dressed up as smarmy principle. Perhaps not top, but he's certainly in the Hateful Eight.
    My favourite memory is how the media used to characterise Grieve and the rest of them as "moderates" despite holding one of the most extreme EUphile positions possible.
    Absolutely this.

    I recall referring to Grieve here as an extremist which was met with apoplexy by some.

    Grieve was every bit if not more of an extremist than IDS, Cash, Bone or anyone like that. At least the latter knew they'd need to win a referendum to get what they wanted.
    What precisely was “extreme” about Grieve’s position.

    I don’t remember him, for example, lying to the Queen and attempting to prorogue Parliament.
    You're making the classic mistake of not liking one position so making the opposite moderate by default. Thats complete nonsense.

    Grieve had a very fanatical and uncompromising position, accepting no compromise whatsoever. People might think that was right and correct, lets say for sake of argument that it was, but it was an extreme position within the chamber and politics.

    People end up using moderate or extreme as a synonym for good or bad, but that's not the case. MaxPB clearly takes Grieves extremism as bad, but others loved his extreme position as good, even as some sought compromise like Clarke (no less an EU supporter).

    He held an extreme position in the context of the debate, I think its absurd to deny that, whether one thought he was right or wrong.

    I switched to backing a second ref and remain position, but that doesn't magically make Grieve a moderate on the Brexit debates. His intellect and creative use of arcane procedure doesnt change that, and I think it very petty people refuse to accept the man was an outlier, in context an extreme position holder.
    Grieve got so convoluted in his smart-arse efforts to kill Brexit, he even ended up voting against his own motion.

    His efforts owed nothing to protecting democracy. Good riddance.
    Dominic Grieve twinned with Mitch McConnell.
  • contrariancontrarian Posts: 5,818
    MaxPB said:

    Positivity falling quickly too now:


    Why are patient admissions so out of date?
    No data from Scotland since the 24th onwards. Better to look at the England only data which is down to 624 new hospitalisations per day and just under 11k currently in hospital.
    Cool thanks
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 28,380

    Brom said:



    Was my least favourite MP after her unlikely journey from 'pro Brexit backbencher' to EU flag waving FBPE spokesperson a week before the vote. That choice really didn't work out for her career.

    The accolade of My Least Favourite MP in the 2017-2019 Parliament is not an easy one to decide.

    I don't much like Sarah for the reasons you say, but she may not even make the top 50 in my list of least favourite MPs in the 2017-2019 Parliament.

    I think Dominic Grieve might be one of my least favourite MPs in the 2017-2019 Parliament -- serial & gratuitous lying dressed up as smarmy principle. Perhaps not top, but he's certainly in the Hateful Eight.
    Why Grieve, when for starters, one could select from the following: Philip Davies, Andrew Bridgen, Christopher Chope, Owen Patterson, Andrew Rossindale, Andrea Jenkyns, Jeremy Corbyn, John McDonnell, Laura Pidcock, Chris Williamson, Richard Burgon and Ian Lavery?

    Well done, MexicanPete. 🤩

    There are some truly outstanding names on that list for the Hateful Eight from the 20172019 Parly.

    Not Jeremy, though. I always had a soft spot for allotment gardeners, just like my grandfather In Llanelli.
    Sadly there is no room for Alun (I doubt he makes the top 100 despicables) but I am ashamed of myself for missing out IDS!
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,876

    isam said:

    I see we've had the Boris is responsible for 10s of thousands of deaths brigade on here again today. For the life of me I cannot see how this is possible - and I give him very little credit for vaccines either. Unless there was a meeting where someone said for example 'if we discharge all these oldies into care homes we risk spreading the virus into a vulnerable group'. I would be very very very surprised if this is the case and expect that in general advice from scientific advisers was followed. Isn't this just s case of people making decisions with the best available information?

    Apparently it is the decision to send old people with Covid back to care homes, where it spread quickly and killed lots of other residents. This was at a time when no one knew much about Covid I guess.

    What puzzles me is what would have happened if those people had not been sent back to their care homes, but stayed in hospital - wouldn't they have spread it like wildfire there and killed lots of other patients? I dont see how people say "it has caused x amount of deaths" without considering what would have happened had the covid carriers stayed in hospital
    They knew precisely what would happen when they discharged Covid suspect patients into care homes untested - that evidence has already been made public. The alternative was to test them first before release - only send in the negative ones. Yes, some would have been false negatives, but it would have both reduced infection rates and shown that they gave a shit.

    Or, just come clean. "The NHS was at risk of collapse. We had no alternative but to clear the hospitals, it was a hard decision, we took it in good faith, it was the least worst option". That would be fine. Instead we initially get utter denial, then "yes we did it, perfectly safe", then "you can't blame us".

    Yes we can blame you.
    As you are in Scotland is your comment directed at Sturgeon whose record on nursing homes is abymissal
    Much better in recent months than south of the border, though, on crude stats, which is interesting. Not least because the Kent strain is also known in Scotland. Will need a lot of sorting out to see what was going on.
  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 17,438
    DougSeal said:

    DougSeal said:
    This is actually quite big if it turns out to be the case. The working hypothesis has been that T-Cell immunity would remain strong even where variants began to evade antibodies and this, I think, is the first paper that has varified it. It hasn't been reviewed yet but it does give a lot of hope that vaccines and prior infection will help beat this thing.
    Its funny how many 'experts' have weighed in about vaccine evasion, and re-infection etc, yet the real immunologists have almost all quietly been confident based on T-cells. Same effect in SARS, even 20 years after infection. I'm not saying there is not need to be concerned about variants, but some of the hyperbole has been ridiculous.
  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 17,438
    dixiedean said:

    Duplicate

    Possibly - I may have conflated the two stories.
  • CookieCookie Posts: 13,823

    Positivity falling quickly too now:


    Below 1%

    Fantastic news. This wave is now well behind us as far as I'm concerned that. I say while waiting for my own result LOL.
    This is very interesting: it's the first time I've seen the rate of decrease accelerate - and even while the number of tests carried out is sky high. This must be the vaccine effect finally kicking in.

    The line showing deaths has also remained surprisingly straight for a long time - another week of this and we'll be at zero (albeit that we'll still be reporting historical deaths).
  • MattWMattW Posts: 23,237
    edited March 2021

    Positivity falling quickly too now:


    Why are patient admissions so out of date?
    NHS wants you to think they are still busy?
    They are busy.

    Facilities are still set aside for far larger than normal ICUs, and they still need to be ready for a resurgence. And they are trying to get other services back rolling eg most routine diabetic service consultations will have been by phone for the last year. Need to be face to face. And some services have really slowed down.

    I viisited the local DH yesterday for a blood extraction. And had a phone appointment with a Nurse Consultant today. Discussed NHS status on both occasions.
  • DougSealDougSeal Posts: 12,541

    DougSeal said:

    DougSeal said:
    This is actually quite big if it turns out to be the case. The working hypothesis has been that T-Cell immunity would remain strong even where variants began to evade antibodies and this, I think, is the first paper that has varified it. It hasn't been reviewed yet but it does give a lot of hope that vaccines and prior infection will help beat this thing.
    Its funny how many 'experts' have weighed in about vaccine evasion, and re-infection etc, yet the real immunologists have almost all quietly been confident based on T-cells. Same effect in SARS, even 20 years after infection. I'm not saying there is not need to be concerned about variants, but some of the hyperbole has been ridiculous.
    Paging @Leon
  • NerysHughesNerysHughes Posts: 3,375

    DougSeal said:

    DougSeal said:
    This is actually quite big if it turns out to be the case. The working hypothesis has been that T-Cell immunity would remain strong even where variants began to evade antibodies and this, I think, is the first paper that has varified it. It hasn't been reviewed yet but it does give a lot of hope that vaccines and prior infection will help beat this thing.
    Its funny how many 'experts' have weighed in about vaccine evasion, and re-infection etc, yet the real immunologists have almost all quietly been confident based on T-cells. Same effect in SARS, even 20 years after infection. I'm not saying there is not need to be concerned about variants, but some of the hyperbole has been ridiculous.
    The hyperbole is purely to scare people
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,356
    UK cases by specimen date

    image
  • Philip_ThompsonPhilip_Thompson Posts: 65,826
    HYUFD said:

    Excellent work by Alliance for Unity in promoting tactical voting to beat the SNP

    Yeah right, I bet it has every bit as much success as the Lib Dem/Green/Plaid Cymru tactical voting strategy.

    People don't do tactical voting. Its BS losers scream about to convince themselves they're not on a losing ticket.

    As probably will be all those lost regional list votes.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,356
    UK cases by specimen date and scaled to 100K population

    image
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,710
    MattW said:

    Positivity falling quickly too now:


    Why are patient admissions so out of date?
    NHS wants you to think they are still busy?
    They are busy.

    Facilities are still set aside for far larger than normal ICUs, and they still need to be ready for a resurgence. And they are trying to get other services back rolling eg most routine diabetic service consultations will have been by phone for the last year. Need to be face to face. And some services have really slowed down.

    I viisited the local DH yesterday for a blood extraction. And had a phone appointment with a Nurse Consultant today. Discussed NHS status on both occasions.
    Our ICU are over capacity, and also taking capacity transfers from elsewhere in the Midlands. Not as bad as a month ago though.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,356
    UK local R

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  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,356
    UK case summary

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  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,356
    UK hospitals

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  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,356
    UK deaths

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  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 29,410
    MattW said:

    Lennon said:

    MattW said:

    The one that has been baffling me this week has been the "Irishman and a Dead Horse" story.

    A bloke perched on a recently dead horse whilst he was making a phone call, as there was nowhere else to perch.

    And ...?

    Yet the entire industry has put on dust and ashes, and gone into pre-emptive self-hating meltdown like a deranged sociology lecturer.

    Huh?

    WTAF? Is that really all that story is about? I have to say that I totally assumed he'd been shooting the horse whilst on the phone, or got caught saying 'yeah I'm just sending Red Rum to the glue factory - useless piece of sh*t, wasn't ever going to win anything' or something like that. At which point the reaction is a bit over the top (in my opinion) but understandable.
    Horse was a racehorse that died of a heart attack on the gallops.

    I think it's about the alleged and callousness concerning the welfare of horses, and insufficient dignity accorded to the noble animal etc.

    I was hoping to smoke out some animal rights types to find out. I'm rather unemotional about pet dogs and so on, and was quite happy that my cat lived in the shed rather than in a scented cat divan.

    He's even had his Racing License suspended "whilst we investigate". The charge is "bringing racing into disrepute".

    I can see that sanctions would be appropriate if he had been horsing around. But afaics he wasn't. The only thing I can see is the peace sign with the other hand.
    More dead horse antics here.
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/horse-racing/56250379

    The whole thing is most bizarre. The actions, the filming, the ludicrous reaction, the acres of coverage.
    Is this behaviour common?
    And if so why? At the least it is unhygienic.
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 29,410
    MattW said:

    Lennon said:

    MattW said:

    The one that has been baffling me this week has been the "Irishman and a Dead Horse" story.

    A bloke perched on a recently dead horse whilst he was making a phone call, as there was nowhere else to perch.

    And ...?

    Yet the entire industry has put on dust and ashes, and gone into pre-emptive self-hating meltdown like a deranged sociology lecturer.

    Huh?

    WTAF? Is that really all that story is about? I have to say that I totally assumed he'd been shooting the horse whilst on the phone, or got caught saying 'yeah I'm just sending Red Rum to the glue factory - useless piece of sh*t, wasn't ever going to win anything' or something like that. At which point the reaction is a bit over the top (in my opinion) but understandable.
    Horse was a racehorse that died of a heart attack on the gallops.

    I think it's about the alleged and callousness concerning the welfare of horses, and insufficient dignity accorded to the noble animal etc.

    I was hoping to smoke out some animal rights types to find out. I'm rather unemotional about pet dogs and so on, and was quite happy that my cat lived in the shed rather than in a scented cat divan.

    He's even had his Racing License suspended "whilst we investigate". The charge is "bringing racing into disrepute".

    I can see that sanctions would be appropriate if he had been horsing around. But afaics he wasn't. The only thing I can see is the peace sign with the other hand.
    More dead horse antics here.
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/horse-racing/56250379

    The whole thing is most bizarre. The actions, the filming, the ludicrous reaction, the acres of coverage.
    Is this behaviour common?
    And if so why? At the least it is unhygienic.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,356
    UK R

    from case data

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    from hospital admissions

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  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,356
    Age related data - unadjusted

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  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 123,111
    edited March 2021

    HYUFD said:

    Excellent work by Alliance for Unity in promoting tactical voting to beat the SNP

    Yeah right, I bet it has every bit as much success as the Lib Dem/Green/Plaid Cymru tactical voting strategy.

    People don't do tactical voting. Its BS losers scream about to convince themselves they're not on a losing ticket.

    As probably will be all those lost regional list votes.
    Did have a few successes eg St Albans, Richmond Park. It also was a major factor in Labour and LD gains in 1997 and 2001.

    Plus it is more relevant at Holyrood where just a few constituency seats lost by the SNP could lose them their majority as the Unionist parties will win most of the list seats, with Alliance for Unity picking up any list seats where the Unionists make constituency gains thanks to tactical voting
  • MangoMango Posts: 1,019
    Phil said:

    MaxPB said:

    MaxPB said:

    AnneJGP said:

    You can never be woke enough....you think you are, but you aren't.....

    Streaming platform Twitch has backtracked on a new policy to change its spelling of "women" after criticism from transgender communities.

    The company had said it would use the term "womxn" in order to be more gender neutral in its language.

    But LGBT communities online called the change transphobic because it suggested trans women were not women.

    https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-56251452

    The only solution to this kind of incompatibility, it just to rip up the whole English language and start again from scratch.

    How are countries with highly gender-dependent languages coping with this sort of thing?
    Just ignoring it all, as we should do.
    The problem is big companies are buying into this shit. Coke, with their be less white, Twitch with womxn, Mr / Mrs Potato-head gone.
    The Mr/Mrs potato head is weird because they are two different toys.
    Also, you can make them anything you want already....Mr Potato head can be trans if you want, be a man, a woman, a womxn. Up to you, just stick a different hair / eyes / mouth etc on it.
    The woke people I happen to follow on Twitter thought the womxn thing was hilarious. Not a term they would have chosen in a million years (IIRC it has a 70s RadFem heritage - taking "men" out of the name for "women" etc etc).

    Meanwhile I’m sure the Mr/Mrs Potato-Head thing is a subtle bit of right-wing trolling by the relevant brand managers: what better way to get your product into the press (for free!) right now than a spot of gender re-branding to trigger the right-wing press? It’s perfect.
    The technical term is an O'Leary.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,356
    Age related data - scaled to 100k per group

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  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,356
    UK vaccinations

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  • Philip_ThompsonPhilip_Thompson Posts: 65,826
    edited March 2021
    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    Excellent work by Alliance for Unity in promoting tactical voting to beat the SNP

    Yeah right, I bet it has every bit as much success as the Lib Dem/Green/Plaid Cymru tactical voting strategy.

    People don't do tactical voting. Its BS losers scream about to convince themselves they're not on a losing ticket.

    As probably will be all those lost regional list votes.
    Did have a few successes eg St Albans, Richmond Park. It also was a major factor in Labour and LD gains in 1997 and 2001.

    Plus it is more relevant at Holyrood where just a few constituency seats lost by the SNP could lose them their majority as the Unionist parties will win most of the list seats, with Alliance for Unity picking up any list seats where the Unionists make constituency gains thanks to tactical voting
    Yeah right.

    Remind me what percentage share of the vote you need to get to pick up a list vote? What percentage of the vote are Alliance for Unity currently polling that you expect them to be picking up multiple seats?
  • Philip_ThompsonPhilip_Thompson Posts: 65,826
    edited March 2021
    The best tactical thing "Alliance for Unity" could do is to disband never to be heard of again.

    In 2016 UKIP got 2% of the List vote and a grand total of 0 seats. Great job. The opinion polls don't put the vanity project Alliance for Unity ahead of where UKIP was. Anyone voting on the List for Alliance for Unity are throwing away their vote making it more likely the SNP or Greens take the seat instead.
  • HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    Excellent work by Alliance for Unity in promoting tactical voting to beat the SNP

    Yeah right, I bet it has every bit as much success as the Lib Dem/Green/Plaid Cymru tactical voting strategy.

    People don't do tactical voting. Its BS losers scream about to convince themselves they're not on a losing ticket.

    As probably will be all those lost regional list votes.
    Did have a few successes eg St Albans, Richmond Park. It also was a major factor in Labour and LD gains in 1997 and 2001.

    Plus it is more relevant at Holyrood where just a few constituency seats lost by the SNP could lose them their majority as the Unionist parties will win most of the list seats, with Alliance for Unity picking up any list seats where the Unionists make constituency gains thanks to tactical voting
    St Albans was one of the seats with both Lib Dem and Green candidates. Daisy still won nevertheless.
  • MattWMattW Posts: 23,237
    dixiedean said:

    MattW said:

    Lennon said:

    MattW said:

    The one that has been baffling me this week has been the "Irishman and a Dead Horse" story.

    A bloke perched on a recently dead horse whilst he was making a phone call, as there was nowhere else to perch.

    And ...?

    Yet the entire industry has put on dust and ashes, and gone into pre-emptive self-hating meltdown like a deranged sociology lecturer.

    Huh?

    WTAF? Is that really all that story is about? I have to say that I totally assumed he'd been shooting the horse whilst on the phone, or got caught saying 'yeah I'm just sending Red Rum to the glue factory - useless piece of sh*t, wasn't ever going to win anything' or something like that. At which point the reaction is a bit over the top (in my opinion) but understandable.
    Horse was a racehorse that died of a heart attack on the gallops.

    I think it's about the alleged and callousness concerning the welfare of horses, and insufficient dignity accorded to the noble animal etc.

    I was hoping to smoke out some animal rights types to find out. I'm rather unemotional about pet dogs and so on, and was quite happy that my cat lived in the shed rather than in a scented cat divan.

    He's even had his Racing License suspended "whilst we investigate". The charge is "bringing racing into disrepute".

    I can see that sanctions would be appropriate if he had been horsing around. But afaics he wasn't. The only thing I can see is the peace sign with the other hand.
    More dead horse antics here.
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/horse-racing/56250379

    The whole thing is most bizarre. The actions, the filming, the ludicrous reaction, the acres of coverage.
    Is this behaviour common?
    And if so why? At the least it is unhygienic.
    Uniform hostility on the H&H forum:

    https://forums.horseandhound.co.uk/threads/gordon-elliott.802123/

    And there's another one. Rob James.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/horse-racing/56250379
  • Philip_ThompsonPhilip_Thompson Posts: 65,826

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    Excellent work by Alliance for Unity in promoting tactical voting to beat the SNP

    Yeah right, I bet it has every bit as much success as the Lib Dem/Green/Plaid Cymru tactical voting strategy.

    People don't do tactical voting. Its BS losers scream about to convince themselves they're not on a losing ticket.

    As probably will be all those lost regional list votes.
    Did have a few successes eg St Albans, Richmond Park. It also was a major factor in Labour and LD gains in 1997 and 2001.

    Plus it is more relevant at Holyrood where just a few constituency seats lost by the SNP could lose them their majority as the Unionist parties will win most of the list seats, with Alliance for Unity picking up any list seats where the Unionists make constituency gains thanks to tactical voting
    St Albans was one of the seats with both Lib Dem and Green candidates. Daisy still won nevertheless.
    Almost as if pacts and "tactical voting" don't matter.

    Having candidates or parties popular in the local area is what matters.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 71,216
    Selebian said:

    Selebian said:

    I am afraid that I’ve actually been to Pontin’s. Circa 1993.

    Was an abomination.

    I went to one (Somerset) in mid 2000s and it actually wasn't that bad, accommodation wise (at least, the bit we stayed in). It all looked quite new, maybe it was. I've stayed in worse hotels. Should note that this was an ATP festival in closed season (April?) so it was not particularly busy and devoid of usual customers, just some drunk/stoned indie kids wandering around and Nick Cave sitting outside his chalet looking grumpy (think that's just his normal expression, so his accommodation might have been fine too).

    I wouldn't have wanted to go in summer, any kind of resort place for a holiday is my idea of hell.
    There is a festival dedicated to Adenosine triphosphate? Cool.
    Well, I always assumed that was what it stood for. What else could it have been? Don't think it was advanced train protection.

    Although, you might have thought they would have invited a livelier lineup... Not a great deal of energy on display.
    Advanced Turbo-Prop... three decades or so back.
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,486
    MattW said:

    Lennon said:

    MattW said:

    The one that has been baffling me this week has been the "Irishman and a Dead Horse" story.

    A bloke perched on a recently dead horse whilst he was making a phone call, as there was nowhere else to perch.

    And ...?

    Yet the entire industry has put on dust and ashes, and gone into pre-emptive self-hating meltdown like a deranged sociology lecturer.

    Huh?

    WTAF? Is that really all that story is about? I have to say that I totally assumed he'd been shooting the horse whilst on the phone, or got caught saying 'yeah I'm just sending Red Rum to the glue factory - useless piece of sh*t, wasn't ever going to win anything' or something like that. At which point the reaction is a bit over the top (in my opinion) but understandable.
    Horse was a racehorse that died of a heart attack on the gallops.

    I think it's about the alleged and callousness concerning the welfare of horses, and insufficient dignity accorded to the noble animal etc.

    I was hoping to smoke out some animal rights types to find out. I'm rather unemotional about pet dogs and so on, and was quite happy that my cat lived in the shed rather than in a scented cat divan.

    He's even had his Racing License suspended "whilst we investigate". The charge is "bringing racing into disrepute".

    I can see that sanctions would be appropriate if he had been horsing around. But afaics he wasn't. The only thing I can see is the peace sign with the other hand.
    I found the story distasteful, as it is disrespectful to the horse, which deserves to be afforded dignity in death.

    That said, I suspect it has gone too far. The jockey is obviously contrite and it was a stupid act photographing the incident in the first place. If he apologises, that should be the end of it, I think.
  • BurgessianBurgessian Posts: 2,752

    The best tactical thing "Alliance for Unity" could do is to disband never to be heard of again.

    In 2016 UKIP got 2% of the List vote and a grand total of 0 seats. Great job. The opinion polls don't put the vanity project Alliance for Unity ahead of where UKIP was. Anyone voting on the List for Alliance for Unity are throwing away their vote making it more likely the SNP or Greens take the seat instead.

    It's a vanity trip by Galloway with the usual gang of waifs and strays who can't make it in one of the recognised parties. He adds to the gaiety of nations, I suppose. But what I don't understand is why he, himself, isn't standing for the list in Glasgow which is the one region where he might conceivably get somewhere.
  • MattWMattW Posts: 23,237
    edited March 2021
    theProle said:

    MattW said:

    theProle said:

    Charles said:

    TOPPING said:

    Nigelb said:

    TOPPING said:

    There is a pot into which the following should be put: public heritage buildings, obligation to remain faithful to the vernacular, modern day living arrangements and tastes, the necessity or custom for PMs to live at No.10, public and private living areas.

    But frankly I am too busy today to work it all out.

    tl/dr? There is a case for the public purse to pay for some upkeep and redecoration of No.10 or it would still be wattle and daub. In conjunction with heritage organisations, perhaps.

    But a charity? Sounds very shady. Are we sure that's what has happened?

    FPT, there is apparently a £30k pa budget.
    Ah thanks. Wouldn't that be more appropriate for a mid-terrace house in Harlow?

    I mean this is a bit of the why does the PM fly by PJ/first class thing. Because he is the PM. Because it's No.10 - an iconic building, etc...
    To put it in perspective I redid my study last year - a new built in bookcase a d chest of drawers, stone floor, some electrics. Cost £20k.

    It’s nice but doesn’t look flashy.

    £30k doesn’t go far in London prices
    Ouch. I gutted my entire northern 3 bed house (pretty much reduced it to a brick shell), moved several stud walls, re-plastered every wall, overboarded or replaced all the ceilings, full rewire, new double glazed windows, new kitchen and bathroom, new (expensive) laminate flooring for all downstairs, redecorated everything, and it cost about £40k all up.
    Nothing structural, them.

    And the bonus of keeping the existing central heating :smile: .
    Kept the boiler and radiators, but re-plumbed it all, relocated the boiler, and put a extra radiator in the bathroom.

    I'm a bit puzzled why this should cost so much more down South - the materials should cost about the same. Presumably trademans rates are higher (because of the cost of housing?), but it still seems long way adrift!

    I also only paid £90k for the house about 8 years ago, so it's cost me about £130k all up (it was done up about 2 years ago after I decided it really was beyond DIY level to do properly). Why anyone in their right mind lives in the SE I've no idea...!
    They are more expensive, but there are reasons at least for some of it. In London it is because of travel time, parking passes, parking ticket, congestion charge, scaffolding on pavement licences, skip prices and licences, and so on.

    And because they often have more money to throw around, and less time, so perhaps do not negotiate or the "I am better earning more money to pay someone earning less" thing has a different balance.

    There are accepted regional price variations as a multiplier on estimates. If you look in SPONS (Architect's Bible) it has a table. This is an example from a couple of years ago:

    Outer London (Spon’s 2016) 1.00
    Inner London 1.06
    South East 1.04
    South West 0.95
    East of England 0.95
    East Midlands 0.90
    West Midlands 0.88
    Northern 0.94
    North West 0.92
    Yorkshire and Humberside 0.91
    Wales 0.95

  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 28,477

    MaxPB said:

    AnneJGP said:

    You can never be woke enough....you think you are, but you aren't.....

    Streaming platform Twitch has backtracked on a new policy to change its spelling of "women" after criticism from transgender communities.

    The company had said it would use the term "womxn" in order to be more gender neutral in its language.

    But LGBT communities online called the change transphobic because it suggested trans women were not women.

    https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-56251452

    The only solution to this kind of incompatibility, it just to rip up the whole English language and start again from scratch.

    How are countries with highly gender-dependent languages coping with this sort of thing?
    Just ignoring it all, as we should do.
    The problem is big companies are buying into this shit. Coke, with their be less white, Twitch with womxn, Mr / Mrs Potato-head gone.
    I don't know what Twitch is, I am not a frequent purchaser of Mr Potato head products, and I can't remember the last time I had a can of cancer juice from the Coca Cola family. The way to sort it is to ignore their shitty products.
  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 28,477
    edited March 2021
    dupe
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,486

    Yikes! Some of our neighbours not out of the woods yet!

    https://twitter.com/ianjamesparsley/status/1366777577487159299?s=20

    Bit thick here - what doubling rate? Cases? Deaths?
    I don't understand that list either.
  • CookieCookie Posts: 13,823
    HYUFD said:

    Voters can be so frustrating sometimes.
    What do we want? Free stuff! Who should pay for it? Someone else!
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 71,216
    rcs1000 said:

    MaxPB said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Completely off topic, Merck has agreed a deal with J&J to manufacture the Janssens vaccine under license. This will more than double the number of J&J doses manufactured this year to around a billion. The first vaccines should roll off the production line in May.

    This means that Moderna, Pfizer, AstraZeneca and J&J are all expecting to produce around a billion (or more doses) this year.

    Completely off topic (number two). Moderna expects to make $18bn in revenue from CV19 vaccines this year. This is from a company that had never sold a product before.

    AZ just made $1bn from selling their Moderna stake!

    Good news about Merck licencing the J&J vaccine for production. I do wonder whether J&J mixed with AZ for two doses might be absolutely brilliant because there will be no vector immunity.
    That's a very interesting idea - albeit not one I know enough about. My gut (dangerous thing, guts) tells me that showing the immune system two slightly different invaders is probably a better idea than showing them two of the same.
    I suspect you could mix any two of the approved vaccines in that way, to good effect.
    They're doing at least one trial (AZN/Pfizer), and no doubt there will be more.

    The scale and breadth of mass analytic techniques being brought to the pandemic are unlike anything seen before, so we will learn a huge amount, and not just about vaccines.
  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 17,438

    Yikes! Some of our neighbours not out of the woods yet!

    https://twitter.com/ianjamesparsley/status/1366777577487159299?s=20

    Bit thick here - what doubling rate? Cases? Deaths?
    I don't understand that list either.
    Its a stupid stat to use with such data. Weekly or monthly trend would make more sense.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 123,111
    edited March 2021

    The best tactical thing "Alliance for Unity" could do is to disband never to be heard of again.

    In 2016 UKIP got 2% of the List vote and a grand total of 0 seats. Great job. The opinion polls don't put the vanity project Alliance for Unity ahead of where UKIP was. Anyone voting on the List for Alliance for Unity are throwing away their vote making it more likely the SNP or Greens take the seat instead.

    Wrong.

    Not only are they encouraging tactical voting which is pivotal to beat the SNP on the constituency vote, as they are not standing on the constituency vote but only on the list they may also take list seats that might otherwise go to the Greens or Independence for Scotland Party who are also only standing on the list
This discussion has been closed.