Given the pentathlon disciplines are based in the military requirements of Victorian times, what events would make more sense for a truly modern pentathlon ?
Hacking the secured email server of the other athlete's governing bodies.
Not exactly the most compelling viewing, though. Each discipline needs both utility and crowd appeal.
Drone Quidditch.
Mortar bowls.
Rally driving.
Rib racing.
Add a tuk tuk event, and you might be onto something.
Tuk tuk polo? (Oddly not as fun as it sounds)
Or bar crawl, with different rounds to be consumed at each stop.
Militarily relevant, as EMP could take out GPS etc, and this would test navigational skills under stress conditions.
Global Thermonuclear War.
No half measures.
A guaranteed medal for New Zealand, though.
There was black comedy in the fact that, after the Cold War, it was revealed that USSR thought that NZ anti-nuclear stance was just a fake, or wouldn't be held to in a war.
So, since they had plenty of nukes, they planned on destroying NZ completely. Not just a couple of nuke on the main cities, but a 20 odd warheads to make absolutely sure....
"[In a hung parliament, the SNP] would find themselves with no influence in the making of a government. Because the SNP... have absolutely ruled out ever propping up a Conservative government in Westminster, they would have to allow a minority Labour government to take office. There need be no deals or coalitions. ... And Sturgeon would have surprisingly little leverage to force the [independence referendum] issue."
Scientist announce from Downing Street all 16-17 year olds to be offered covid vaccine
Which is ridiculous given that just two weeks ago they said that it's less safe for 16/17 year olds to get vaccinated than to get COVID.
Completely agree with your header @Pulpstar the JCVI are another one of those advisory bodies who look at this in complete isolation. Vaccination is the way out of the idiotic school bubbles permanently. That system has done more harm to kids than Pfizer or Moderna, given that we can (and probably should) give advice of a 48h rest period after each dose for under 30s.
The head of JCVI was asked that specific question and did provide a response, but to be honest it was beyond my competence to comment on
Iranians stormed an asphalt tanker and tried to take it to their home country but the crew sabotaged the engines of the vessel so it could not move, according to UK government sources." …..
'...“Then US and Omani warships turned up and the Iranians got into some boats and went off.” The source said the crew were safe and no one was injured'
"[In a hung parliament, the SNP] would find themselves with no influence in the making of a government. Because the SNP... have absolutely ruled out ever propping up a Conservative government in Westminster, they would have to allow a minority Labour government to take office. There need be no deals or coalitions. ... And Sturgeon would have surprisingly little leverage to force the [independence referendum] issue."
She can cause the government to collapse. Which is what happened to Callaghan.
True, but that either leads to the same situation (what then? repeat? eventually you get one of the other options instead) a Con majority (SNP enabled via the election) or a Lab* majority (SNP lose influence).
Much the same in 2015 and one of Labour's failings was not driving home this point.
"[In a hung parliament, the SNP] would find themselves with no influence in the making of a government. Because the SNP... have absolutely ruled out ever propping up a Conservative government in Westminster, they would have to allow a minority Labour government to take office. There need be no deals or coalitions. ... And Sturgeon would have surprisingly little leverage to force the [independence referendum] issue."
She can cause the government to collapse. Which is what happened to Callaghan.
True, but that either leads to the same situation (what then? repeat? eventually you get one of the other options instead) a Con majority (SNP enabled via the election) or a Lab* majority (SNP lose influence).
Much the same in 2015 and one of Labour's failings was not driving home this point.
*or Lab-Lib, not needing SNP anyway
Big differences are
(a) constitutional setup is different (b) but Tories have or will withdraw EVEL
She can cause the government to collapse. Which is what happened to Callaghan.
Possibly, but what does that buy them? Another election with three possible outcomes: 1. Another hung parliament, so no change; 2. A Conservative government, like last time they played that game. 3. A Labour majority government. Whatever happens, they get no more leverage.
Update on my Olympic medal bets I felt very much in two minds about: The 538 forecast has dropped the US to 110 medals forecast, the first time they have been below both betting lines I took (and thus implying I may win with both bookies). That's including the double medal in the Mens' 200m.
On a separate Olympic note, which I didn't bet on: the 200m is another narrowly missed gold for America. China really are going to top the Gold/Silver/Bronze medal table aren't they?
Indeed. US having a bit of a mare in these Games. Michael Johnson making the point many of their athletes don't seem to have prepared that well.
Educated guess here but I think there is going to be some blowback in the US on this, if not politically then in the realms of public opinion. China comprehensively thrashing the US on Golds will be seen as an apt metaphor for the rise of China over the States. While they did it in Beijing, they don't have home advantage in these Games.
I though USA won the most golds in 2016
They did but that was in Rio. Was referring to China winning most golds in Beijing in 2008.
Spectator clutching at whatever straw they think will stop the Natz nr. 7,932
They’re a weird bunch at the Spectator. A lot of soiled nappies and frothing at the mouth.
Yep, that recent piece on the Speccie's influence on uk politics which I annoyingly can't find a link to was spot on. To paraphrase, some good writers but none with a genuine political idea or particle of nous between their ears.
There's Taki. He knows how the world works.
"I can tell you about my life" ... if you get my drift.
"[In a hung parliament, the SNP] would find themselves with no influence in the making of a government. Because the SNP... have absolutely ruled out ever propping up a Conservative government in Westminster, they would have to allow a minority Labour government to take office. There need be no deals or coalitions. ... And Sturgeon would have surprisingly little leverage to force the [independence referendum] issue."
She can cause the government to collapse. Which is what happened to Callaghan.
True, but that either leads to the same situation (what then? repeat? eventually you get one of the other options instead) a Con majority (SNP enabled via the election) or a Lab* majority (SNP lose influence).
Much the same in 2015 and one of Labour's failings was not driving home this point.
*or Lab-Lib, not needing SNP anyway
It's a threat. As such, its value is in not being used. It's like prison ("Prison works?" Really? How come they are there and what crime did prison prevent?), or an industrial strike. On the premise that Sturgeon doesn't care whether Labour or the Conservatives are in power in Westminster but does care about whether Scotland is independent, it's a reasonable threat to make.
Given the pentathlon disciplines are based in the military requirements of Victorian times, what events would make more sense for a truly modern pentathlon ?
Hacking the secured email server of the other athlete's governing bodies.
Not exactly the most compelling viewing, though. Each discipline needs both utility and crowd appeal.
Drone Quidditch.
Mortar bowls.
Rally driving.
Rib racing.
Add a tuk tuk event, and you might be onto something.
Tuk tuk polo? (Oddly not as fun as it sounds)
Or bar crawl, with different rounds to be consumed at each stop.
Militarily relevant, as EMP could take out GPS etc, and this would test navigational skills under stress conditions.
Global Thermonuclear War.
No half measures.
A guaranteed medal for New Zealand, though.
There was black comedy in the fact that, after the Cold War, it was revealed that USSR thought that NZ anti-nuclear stance was just a fake, or wouldn't be held to in a war.
So, since they had plenty of nukes, they planned on destroying NZ completely. Not just a couple of nuke on the main cities, but a 20 odd warheads to make absolutely sure....
Good grief, I didn't know that. That really was Cold War paranoia.
Update on my Olympic medal bets I felt very much in two minds about: The 538 forecast has dropped the US to 110 medals forecast, the first time they have been below both betting lines I took (and thus implying I may win with both bookies). That's including the double medal in the Mens' 200m.
On a separate Olympic note, which I didn't bet on: the 200m is another narrowly missed gold for America. China really are going to top the Gold/Silver/Bronze medal table aren't they?
Indeed. US having a bit of a mare in these Games. Michael Johnson making the point many of their athletes don't seem to have prepared that well.
Educated guess here but I think there is going to be some blowback in the US on this, if not politically then in the realms of public opinion. China comprehensively thrashing the US on Golds will be seen as an apt metaphor for the rise of China over the States. While they did it in Beijing, they don't have home advantage in these Games.
I though USA won the most golds in 2016
They did but that was in Rio. Was referring to China winning most golds in Beijing in 2008.
"[In a hung parliament, the SNP] would find themselves with no influence in the making of a government. Because the SNP... have absolutely ruled out ever propping up a Conservative government in Westminster, they would have to allow a minority Labour government to take office. There need be no deals or coalitions. ... And Sturgeon would have surprisingly little leverage to force the [independence referendum] issue."
She can cause the government to collapse. Which is what happened to Callaghan.
True, but that either leads to the same situation (what then? repeat? eventually you get one of the other options instead) a Con majority (SNP enabled via the election) or a Lab* majority (SNP lose influence).
Much the same in 2015 and one of Labour's failings was not driving home this point.
*or Lab-Lib, not needing SNP anyway
It's a threat. As such, its value is in not being used. It's like prison ("Prison works?" Really? How come they are there and what crime did prison prevent?), or an industrial strike. On the premise that Sturgeon doesn't care whether Labour or the Conservatives are in power in Westminster but does care about whether Scotland is independent, it's a reasonable threat to make.
This small week-on-week increase in cases will no doubt generate headlines, but important to wait and see if this is becomes an established trend rather than a blip.
Remember it was always anticipated there would be *some* increase in cases once everything opened up for Step 4.
Given the pentathlon disciplines are based in the military requirements of Victorian times, what events would make more sense for a truly modern pentathlon ?
Hacking the secured email server of the other athlete's governing bodies.
Not exactly the most compelling viewing, though. Each discipline needs both utility and crowd appeal.
Drone Quidditch.
Mortar bowls.
Rally driving.
Rib racing.
Add a tuk tuk event, and you might be onto something.
Tuk tuk polo? (Oddly not as fun as it sounds)
Or bar crawl, with different rounds to be consumed at each stop.
Militarily relevant, as EMP could take out GPS etc, and this would test navigational skills under stress conditions.
Global Thermonuclear War.
No half measures.
A guaranteed medal for New Zealand, though.
There was black comedy in the fact that, after the Cold War, it was revealed that USSR thought that NZ anti-nuclear stance was just a fake, or wouldn't be held to in a war.
So, since they had plenty of nukes, they planned on destroying NZ completely. Not just a couple of nuke on the main cities, but a 20 odd warheads to make absolutely sure....
Good grief, I didn't know that. That really was Cold War paranoia.
How did we ever survive?
No one was going to implement their plans until they had to. That is what Mutually Assured Destruction is about.
Bit like Israel - when they got nukes, they told everyone they were at war with (in the Arab world, being in a permanent state of war with Israel was a thing) that if Israel was destroyed, they would be nuked. In the case of Egypt, a nuke on the Aswan dam would destroy Egypt fairly completely..... They also told the Russians, that as prime backers of the anti-israeli cause, they would take out Moscow as well, in that event.
Sounds harsh, but it focused some minds on the idea of having to live with Israel....
For really black humour, when JFK forced the US Air force and Navy to come up with a single set of nuclear war plans (SIOP), they found stuff like 4 nukes (to be sure) aimed at the same telephone exchange building in Moscow. Another 4 nukes were aimed at the one across the road.....
Scientist announce from Downing Street all 16-17 year olds to be offered covid vaccine
Sensible call, I think.
But what about the point that rich countries are vaccinating young people before much of the poorer world has received supplies for their elderly and high risk?
Is this not sub-optimal from the big picture point of view? Not so much morally, that's a tricky one, but just logistically. Prolonging the global pandemic with an inefficient vaccine rollout.
"[In a hung parliament, the SNP] would find themselves with no influence in the making of a government. Because the SNP... have absolutely ruled out ever propping up a Conservative government in Westminster, they would have to allow a minority Labour government to take office. There need be no deals or coalitions. ... And Sturgeon would have surprisingly little leverage to force the [independence referendum] issue."
She can cause the government to collapse. Which is what happened to Callaghan.
True, but that either leads to the same situation (what then? repeat? eventually you get one of the other options instead) a Con majority (SNP enabled via the election) or a Lab* majority (SNP lose influence).
Much the same in 2015 and one of Labour's failings was not driving home this point.
*or Lab-Lib, not needing SNP anyway
It's a threat. As such, its value is in not being used. It's like prison ("Prison works?" Really? How come they are there and what crime did prison prevent?), or an industrial strike. On the premise that Sturgeon doesn't care whether Labour or the Conservatives are in power in Westminster but does care about whether Scotland is independent, it's a reasonable threat to make.
Yep, but it has to be credible to work as a threat. Prison is a credible threat, because people do indeed go to prison. The SNP might bring down a minority Labour government, but how that plays in the following election is uncertain, so would they actually do it? I'm not sure.
As Carnyx says, there's some fun to be had with the absence of EVEL, potentially, not bringing down a Labour government but inflicting defeat after defeat. But that, again, would require voting with the Tories a lot - abstaining not enough if Labour or a Labour coalition were larger than Tories.
It's a threat. As such, its value is in not being used. It's like prison ("Prison works?" Really? How come they are there and what crime did prison prevent?), or an industrial strike. On the premise that Sturgeon doesn't care whether Labour or the Conservatives are in power in Westminster but does care about whether Scotland is independent, it's a reasonable threat to make.
But it's not a threat since she's ruled out doing anything other than effectively supporting Labour. If she wants leverage to get a referendum and doesn't care which party forms the government, she needs to sell herself (metaphorically, you understand!) to whichever is prepared to offer one.
It's the same fundamental contradiction which goes right through the SNP's position in Westminster.
Off to ConHome for @Sandpit for causing this England collapse.
I only said well done Root. And he’s still there. It was @Nigelb who mentioned collapse.
You are clearly unacquainted with the infallible principle that any post which is even slightly optimistic about England's prospects leads to inevitable disaster.
Admittedly no fully blinded trials have been conducted, but otherwise, the evidence is unassailable.
Scientist announce from Downing Street all 16-17 year olds to be offered covid vaccine
Sensible call, I think.
But what about the point that rich countries are vaccinating young people before much of the poorer world has received supplies for their elderly and high risk?
Is this not sub-optimal from the big picture point of view? Not so much morally, that's a tricky one, but just logistically. Prolonging the global pandemic with an inefficient vaccine rollout.
The WHO stated today that all booster vaccines should be suspended until vaccination has happened across the third world
The problem is that governments first duty is to protect their citizens and I think it is simplistic to expect this to happen, though of course morally it is justified
Given the pentathlon disciplines are based in the military requirements of Victorian times, what events would make more sense for a truly modern pentathlon ?
Hacking the secured email server of the other athlete's governing bodies.
Not exactly the most compelling viewing, though. Each discipline needs both utility and crowd appeal.
Drone Quidditch.
Mortar bowls.
Rally driving.
Rib racing.
Add a tuk tuk event, and you might be onto something.
Tuk tuk polo? (Oddly not as fun as it sounds)
Or bar crawl, with different rounds to be consumed at each stop.
Militarily relevant, as EMP could take out GPS etc, and this would test navigational skills under stress conditions.
Global Thermonuclear War.
No half measures.
A guaranteed medal for New Zealand, though.
There was black comedy in the fact that, after the Cold War, it was revealed that USSR thought that NZ anti-nuclear stance was just a fake, or wouldn't be held to in a war.
So, since they had plenty of nukes, they planned on destroying NZ completely. Not just a couple of nuke on the main cities, but a 20 odd warheads to make absolutely sure....
Good grief, I didn't know that. That really was Cold War paranoia.
How did we ever survive?
Daniel Ellsberg — the Pentagon Papers chap — wrote an excellent recent book The Doomsday Machine about US nuclear posture in the 50s and 60s, he had been given carte blance to reasearch the topic at the time and was horrified by what he found. He had wanted to release the information before the Pentagon Papers came out, but his cache of documents was lost and so he never revealed what he found until decades later.
One eye-opening thing was that prior to the Single Integrated Operational Plan, which Ellsberg worked on, it was US policy to go from a battalion scale conflict directly between US and Soviet forces to a full scale nuclear attack, and on the assumption that China would get dragged in the US would also launch a full scale nuclear attack on China as well. So all it would have taken for WWIII kicking off was a relatively small fight between the US and Soviet forces, the sort of thing that might even happen by accident in a border area.
The book is well worth reading, and has all sorts of other interesting things like predelegated authority to launch nuclear weapons in the Pacific theatre, the laughable authentication procedures for orders, the de facto basing of nuclear weapons in Japan, and much more.
My view is that the only reason we are still here is that the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics is correct, and we are in one of the rare universes where WWIII is yet to occur.
Off to ConHome for @Sandpit for causing this England collapse.
I only said well done Root. And he’s still there. It was @Nigelb who mentioned collapse.
You are clearly unacquainted with the infallible principle that any post which is even slightly optimistic about England's prospects leads to inevitable disaster.
Admittedly no fully blinded trials have been conducted, but otherwise, the evidence is unassailable.
Ah explains something that was confusing me.
Just so I know and don't offend, is this just a PB cricket quirk or for England in anything?
Scientist announce from Downing Street all 16-17 year olds to be offered covid vaccine
Sensible call, I think.
But what about the point that rich countries are vaccinating young people before much of the poorer world has received supplies for their elderly and high risk?
Is this not sub-optimal from the big picture point of view? Not so much morally, that's a tricky one, but just logistically. Prolonging the global pandemic with an inefficient vaccine rollout.
The WHO stated today that all booster vaccines should be suspended until vaccination has happened across the third world
The problem is that governments first duty is to protect their citizens and I think it is simplistic to expect this to happen, though of course morally it is justified
Western governments, led by the US and UK, have funded massive expansion in vaccine production worldwide to get the world out of the pandemic. They’re also the largest contributors to Covax.
Getting their own economies back to a future normal, enables more efforts to be focussed on developing economies as soon as possible.
Scientist announce from Downing Street all 16-17 year olds to be offered covid vaccine
Sensible call, I think.
But what about the point that rich countries are vaccinating young people before much of the poorer world has received supplies for their elderly and high risk?
Is this not sub-optimal from the big picture point of view? Not so much morally, that's a tricky one, but just logistically. Prolonging the global pandemic with an inefficient vaccine rollout.
The WHO stated today that all booster vaccines should be suspended until vaccination has happened across the third world
The problem is that governments first duty is to protect their citizens and I think it is simplistic to expect this to happen, though of course morally it is justified
Yes, I guess. But I more meant the self-interest angle. Everyone benefits from the earliest possible end to the global pandemic.
I assume Kyle expects HMG to ignore the advice of JCVI who provided an explanation in today's Downing St conference alongside JVT and the head of the MHRA
There's a distinct whiff of drift about the entire vaccination program right now. Where are the prem footballers queueing up for jabs to encourage the youth ?
I'll check when I get home but I think this hews pretty close to my half arsed model.
No cases by sample date are yet reporting higher than the previous week - that coincidentally last happened for 19/7 vs 12/7. So we are not on an upswing just yet, but I feel like the end of August will likely have slightly higher case rates than now - ticked up a little further by the restart of the Premier League and the likely relaxation of international holiday regulations - and those extra pub and plane opportunities to breathe other peoples' exhalates.
I assume Kyle expects HMG to ignore the advice of JCVI who provided an explanation in today's Downing St conference alongside JVT and the head of the MHRA
You are aware the JCVI are given their terms of reference by the Gov't ?
I assume Kyle expects HMG to ignore the advice of JCVI who provided an explanation in today's Downing St conference alongside JVT and the head of the MHRA
You are aware the JCVI are given their terms of reference by the Gov't ?
Leaving aside different points in cycle etc, on a 7 day basis, Spain and France are very comparable to UK according to OWID. OWID also suggests Spain and France reporting is massively variable on a single day basis.
It's a nonsense stat anyway, to make any kind of point about how well countries are doing. But taking a single day (with likely different reporting lags between countries) speaks of dubious motivation.
I assume Kyle expects HMG to ignore the advice of JCVI who provided an explanation in today's Downing St conference alongside JVT and the head of the MHRA
In this case I think, yes, he does and he's right. The MHRA approved the Pfizer jab for 16- and 17-year olds back in December. The point Peter Kyle makes (and made back in June) is effectively that we don't have the luxury of ignoring the time constraints of the school year. So, working backwards from the start of the next term, there was a considerable degree of urgency to get this cohort fully jabbed up in time, which meant starting a few weeks ago.
We now are in the rather absurd and distinctly sub-optimal position of deciding to jab them, but too late to get the full benefit.
Off to ConHome for @Sandpit for causing this England collapse.
I only said well done Root. And he’s still there. It was @Nigelb who mentioned collapse.
You are clearly unacquainted with the infallible principle that any post which is even slightly optimistic about England's prospects leads to inevitable disaster.
Admittedly no fully blinded trials have been conducted, but otherwise, the evidence is unassailable.
As major currents of philosophical thought go, is "don't jinx it" a universal human concept, or something particularly British?
'La incidencia acumulada cae este martes casi 20 puntos hasta los 654 casos. El Ministerio de Sanidad ha notificado este martes 20.327 nuevos contagios y 130 muertes.' Official figures from the Spanish ministry of Health.
Gigo from Scottn'Paste. Figures are off their peak in Spain but not to that level.
As I have said to you on multiple occasions, there are ways of criticising this shower of a Government without posting inaccurate data. It destroys your credibility.
As I have said to you on multiple occasions, there are ways of criticising this shower of a Government without posting inaccurate data. It destroys your credibility.
Brexit / Boris derangement syndrome on full view this afternoon...you don't need to be a mathematical genius plugged into the matrix to see those fake news numbers and think hmmm they don't seem right....
I assume Kyle expects HMG to ignore the advice of JCVI who provided an explanation in today's Downing St conference alongside JVT and the head of the MHRA
You are aware the JCVI are given their terms of reference by the Gov't ?
Not sure what you are implying to be honest
JVCI are a bit like NICE.
They have to take into account things other than medical effectiveness when making their decisions.
There’s a political decision to be made re: the costs and benefits of vaccinating children, prioritising children over boosters for vulnerable groups, and issues like the one-in-ten-million death of a teenager becoming front page news.
Although its the BBC, so they are probably wrong. And when they say pfizer, they normally mean an mRNA, i.e. pfizer or moderna, as they are effectively interchangeable.
Leaving aside different points in cycle etc, on a 7 day basis, Spain and France are very comparable to UK according to OWID. OWID also suggests Spain and France reporting is massively variable on a single day basis.
It's a nonsense stat anyway, to make any kind of point about how well countries are doing. But taking a single day (with likely different reporting lags between countries) speaks of dubious motivation.
Scott'n paste orgasms whenever he senses gloom and doom for the UK v EU. Notice how he's avoiding the Olympic Medal table.
I assume Kyle expects HMG to ignore the advice of JCVI who provided an explanation in today's Downing St conference alongside JVT and the head of the MHRA
In this case I think, yes, he does and he's right. The MHRA approved the Pfizer jab for 16- and 17-year olds back in December. The point Peter Kyle makes (and made back in June) is effectively that we don't have the luxury of ignoring the time constraints of the school year. So, working backwards from the start of the next term, there was a considerable degree of urgency to get this cohort fully jabbed up in time, which meant starting a few weeks ago.
We now are in the rather absurd and distinctly sub-optimal position of deciding to jab them, but too late to get the full benefit.
Kyle's comments concluded with
'Such a programme can happen only if the government start to plan now and are ready to act the moment the JCVI issues it's guidance'
Leaving aside different points in cycle etc, on a 7 day basis, Spain and France are very comparable to UK according to OWID. OWID also suggests Spain and France reporting is massively variable on a single day basis.
It's a nonsense stat anyway, to make any kind of point about how well countries are doing. But taking a single day (with likely different reporting lags between countries) speaks of dubious motivation.
Scott'n paste orgasms whenever he senses gloom and doom for the UK v EU. Notice how he's avoiding the Olympic Medal table.
Didn't someone post on this before and note that the EU are way ahead of us on medals?
I assume Kyle expects HMG to ignore the advice of JCVI who provided an explanation in today's Downing St conference alongside JVT and the head of the MHRA
In this case I think, yes, he does and he's right. The MHRA approved the Pfizer jab for 16- and 17-year olds back in December. The point Peter Kyle makes (and made back in June) is effectively that we don't have the luxury of ignoring the time constraints of the school year. So, working backwards from the start of the next term, there was a considerable degree of urgency to get this cohort fully jabbed up in time, which meant starting a few weeks ago.
We now are in the rather absurd and distinctly sub-optimal position of deciding to jab them, but too late to get the full benefit.
Surely it's much easier to jab them once they're back in school?
Comments
So, since they had plenty of nukes, they planned on destroying NZ completely. Not just a couple of nuke on the main cities, but a 20 odd warheads to make absolutely sure....
Knew you would do it.
'...“Then US and Omani warships turned up and the Iranians got into some boats and went off.” The source said the crew were safe and no one was injured'
https://twitter.com/shashj/status/1422932385981779970?s=20
Much the same in 2015 and one of Labour's failings was not driving home this point.
*or Lab-Lib, not needing SNP anyway
(a) constitutional setup is different
(b) but Tories have or will withdraw EVEL
https://www.pro-lapse.com/category/software/
https://twitter.com/BNODesk/status/1422706081336283137
"I can tell you about my life" ... if you get my drift.
How did we ever survive?
Pant’s on fire.
It was @Nigelb who mentioned collapse.
Remember it was always anticipated there would be *some* increase in cases once everything opened up for Step 4.
https://twitter.com/fact_covid/status/1422936547301658624?s=20
England are going to get pounded like a dockside hooker in the Ashes.
Bit like Israel - when they got nukes, they told everyone they were at war with (in the Arab world, being in a permanent state of war with Israel was a thing) that if Israel was destroyed, they would be nuked. In the case of Egypt, a nuke on the Aswan dam would destroy Egypt fairly completely..... They also told the Russians, that as prime backers of the anti-israeli cause, they would take out Moscow as well, in that event.
Sounds harsh, but it focused some minds on the idea of having to live with Israel....
For really black humour, when JFK forced the US Air force and Navy to come up with a single set of nuclear war plans (SIOP), they found stuff like 4 nukes (to be sure) aimed at the same telephone exchange building in Moscow. Another 4 nukes were aimed at the one across the road.....
But what about the point that rich countries are vaccinating young people before much of the poorer world has received supplies for their elderly and high risk?
Is this not sub-optimal from the big picture point of view? Not so much morally, that's a tricky one, but just logistically. Prolonging the global pandemic with an inefficient vaccine rollout.
As Carnyx says, there's some fun to be had with the absence of EVEL, potentially, not bringing down a Labour government but inflicting defeat after defeat. But that, again, would require voting with the Tories a lot - abstaining not enough if Labour or a Labour coalition were larger than Tories.
It's the same fundamental contradiction which goes right through the SNP's position in Westminster.
Admittedly no fully blinded trials have been conducted, but otherwise, the evidence is unassailable.
The problem is that governments first duty is to protect their citizens and I think it is simplistic to expect this to happen, though of course morally it is justified
Here’s how we compare to other countries:
🇬🇧 UK - 29,312
🇫🇷 FRANCE - 1,996
🇩🇪 GERMANY - 1,776
🇪🇸 SPAIN - 4,954
🇮🇹 ITALY - 3,185
🇺🇸 USA - 15,081
🇧🇷 BRAZIL - 20,503
🇮🇳 INDIA - 30,549
🇮🇩 INDONESIA - 33,900
(Data: @who)
https://twitter.com/mrmikecowan/status/1422939172902514688
One eye-opening thing was that prior to the Single Integrated Operational Plan, which Ellsberg worked on, it was US policy to go from a battalion scale conflict directly between US and Soviet forces to a full scale nuclear attack, and on the assumption that China would get dragged in the US would also launch a full scale nuclear attack on China as well. So all it would have taken for WWIII kicking off was a relatively small fight between the US and Soviet forces, the sort of thing that might even happen by accident in a border area.
The book is well worth reading, and has all sorts of other interesting things like predelegated authority to launch nuclear weapons in the Pacific theatre, the laughable authentication procedures for orders, the de facto basing of nuclear weapons in Japan, and much more.
My view is that the only reason we are still here is that the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics is correct, and we are in one of the rare universes where WWIII is yet to occur.
Offering vaccines to 16-17 year old is too late to make a difference to education when terms starts next month.
Government have squandered the opportunity summer offered.
https://twitter.com/peterkyle/status/1422837146625396736
Just so I know and don't offend, is this just a PB cricket quirk or for England in anything?
Getting their own economies back to a future normal, enables more efforts to be focussed on developing economies as soon as possible.
And this is a BBC journalist....f##king morons in the media again.
Which might still be the timescale for 12-15 year olds.
It's a nonsense stat anyway, to make any kind of point about how well countries are doing. But taking a single day (with likely different reporting lags between countries) speaks of dubious motivation.
We now are in the rather absurd and distinctly sub-optimal position of deciding to jab them, but too late to get the full benefit.
Gigo from Scottn'Paste. Figures are off their peak in Spain but not to that level.
https://dashboard.covid19.data.gouv.fr/vue-d-ensemble?location=FRA
Spain recorded 20,273 -
https://www.mscbs.gob.es/profesionales/saludPublica/ccayes/alertasActual/nCov/documentos/Actualizacion_432_COVID-19.pdf
As I have said to you on multiple occasions, there are ways of criticising this shower of a Government without posting inaccurate data. It destroys your credibility.
Also parental permission is not required apparently
Under 16 more of a grey area, depends on child's competence. For healthcare, 16 is adult.
They have to take into account things other than medical effectiveness when making their decisions.
There’s a political decision to be made re: the costs and benefits of vaccinating children, prioritising children over boosters for vulnerable groups, and issues like the one-in-ten-million death of a teenager becoming front page news.
https://twitter.com/burgwedel99/status/1422944202527232000
Mpryor
@burgwedel99
Replying to
@mrmikecowan
and
@WHO
So France has gone from 26829 yesterday,to1996.
I call bollocks.Spains fall is also dramatic.
4:35 pm · 4 Aug 20
(also, as far as I can see, France is comparable right now - 26.8k cases yesterday - not like ScottNPaste to be ... oh)
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-58091693
Although its the BBC, so they are probably wrong. And when they say pfizer, they normally mean an mRNA, i.e. pfizer or moderna, as they are effectively interchangeable.
That should be warning enough of a lack of verisimilitude
'Such a programme can happen only if the government start to plan now and are ready to act the moment the JCVI issues it's guidance'
That guidance has only been issued today
Oh. Wait.
I hope someone flags the guy to Twitter for such obvious misinformation.
HONK HONK