politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » Joe Biden’s VP pick – the case for Amy Klobuchar
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Indeed. However as the Primaries were not completed due to the Pandemic the DNC have more of a fig-leaf than normal for interfering and putting in the candidate they want.HYUFD said:
No Democratic candidate in the primaries met those criteriaMalmesbury said:RochdalePioneers said:Biden vs Trump is America asking the world to quarantine them until 2025. Can't we have the one on the left as the Presidential nominee and the one on the right as Veep?
https://twitter.com/BarackObama/status/1260955716644470784
The one on the left has no qualifications for political office, apart from being First Lady. Hillary Clinton says Hi.
The one on the right is ineligible for the Presidency.
What the Democrats needed was -
- 45ish
- 2 term, state Govenor
- Fit
- Articulate
- Moderate with some interesting policy ideas
- Good relationship with minorities
- Good relationship with the unions
Andrew Cuomo vs Donald Trump has already been a road test for how the campaign would go. Take all of the clever Biden campaign staffers, keep doing the "look what a wazzock Trump is" videos but with Cuomo on the end. The exact same process SAW did with Nothing Can Divide Us, erase the Rick Astley vocals and add in Jason Donovan...0 -
The government is chucking £2 billion at pop-up cycle lanes and similar measures. The downside may be increased pollution by slowing ministerial limos and other cars but who knows?Jonathan said:
If ministers want people to change their habits, they will need to be seen to lead the way.BannedinnParis said:
If it's bikes they want, then ditch the ministerial limos and make the roads safe for cyclists.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/2-billion-package-to-create-new-era-for-cycling-and-walking0 -
Indeed. I don’t recall where but I read someone somewhere calling it out as utter horseshit. Seems they were right to do so.DavidL said:
I queried this last Sunday. I can say it was Sunday because the BBC spent most of the day reporting that a relaxation of the lockdown had caused a spike in cases in Germany in anticipation of a Boris’s address for the nation. Just trying to be helpful no doubt but I couldn’t see any evidence of a spike in the worldometer data. It appears that there still isn’t.TGOHF666 said:0 -
Exactly. The number of times I have encountered senior people who go with whatever the latest article in a gloss mag says...Socky said:
I think that fashion plays a much bigger role in all decision making than we admit.Malmesbury said:
In the case in question, the MBAs were reading the report.
It was written by ignorant fools* who only had experience in setting up and running industrial plants in various countries.
Outsourcing has been very fashionable.0 -
Mr. JohnL, if there's one thing Boris Johnson can do, it's piss away taxpayers' money chasing headlines.0
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An SNP MP is arrested and charged and it barely creates a mention. Interesting times.0
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There does seem to be at least potential responses to the lockdown so far as health is concerned. One leads to the Coronastone. A good friend of mine claims that he plans to sue Ikea because his new wardrobe has shrunk all his suits. The other is a slightly frantic attempt to improve fitness. Another friend was of the view that coming up behind some new joggers in Edinburgh and coughing might significantly reduce the medium term demands on the NHS.
But overall if the UK does end up with a slightly higher fatality rate than average (which seems likely) our pre-existing obesity issues, with their consequences in diabetes, is likely to have played a major part and it is just possible that the message that modern medicine can't do everything and that we are responsible for our own health can be usefully reinforced.0 -
What I find in IT is that a lot of management hate non management people earning more than them.Malmesbury said:
Exactly. The number of times I have encountered senior people who go with whatever the latest article in a gloss mag says...Socky said:
I think that fashion plays a much bigger role in all decision making than we admit.Malmesbury said:
In the case in question, the MBAs were reading the report.
It was written by ignorant fools* who only had experience in setting up and running industrial plants in various countries.
Outsourcing has been very fashionable.
One prime example was a bank who couldn't understand why their IT department had less staff than an entire subsidiary but the budget was twice as much.1 -
If there is one thing the PM should not be accused of, it is not acting to make roads safer for cyclists. He has probably done as much as anyone to have increased the numbers and improved safety.Jonathan said:
If ministers want people to change their habits, they will need to be seen to lead the way.BannedinnParis said:
If it's bikes they want, then ditch the ministerial limos and make the roads safe for cyclists.0 -
Mr. Shark, what's the arrest about?0
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"It's alright for you thinnies" Lol you can imagine Bozza yelling this to Hancock.0
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Very true - so they outsource it too a shed in Mumbai and wonder why 10x the staff on a fraction of the money ending up being less productive.eek said:
What I find in IT is that a lot of management hate non management people earning more than them.Malmesbury said:
Exactly. The number of times I have encountered senior people who go with whatever the latest article in a gloss mag says...Socky said:
I think that fashion plays a much bigger role in all decision making than we admit.Malmesbury said:
In the case in question, the MBAs were reading the report.
It was written by ignorant fools* who only had experience in setting up and running industrial plants in various countries.
Outsourcing has been very fashionable.
One prime example was a bank who couldn't understand why their IT department had less staff than an entire subsidiary but the budget was twice as much.
This is part of the reason contracting became so fashionable - you could pay someone the going rate as a contractor, but you couldn't have a report on a higher salary than the manager, due to banding.
There is also a general fear of the technically qualified - the generalist managers are being heavily chopped, these days.1 -
If only he'd known that Health was going to become absolutely central to the government's entire program...OldKingCole said:
If that's his main advantage......HYUFD said:
Hunt's main advantage is he was Boris' main opponent in the leadership election and refused to serve in the Boris Cabinet.OldKingCole said:
Can't see the appeal of Hunt. He didn't do a great job at Health; anyone who sets out to antagonise the medics isn't well advised, and he was one of the people who buried Cygnus.HYUFD said:
If Trump loses could be Romney as the next president after Biden in 2024.Philip_Thompson said:
I hope so.Richard_Tyndall said:Interesting question.
Is Biden, in making this pick, effectively although unknowingly, picking the next President of the United States? It is a long time since I saw a presidential candidate who looked so likely to fail to complete his term due to ill health in which case Biden is going to be deciding who the next POTUS is sometime over the next couple of months.
The alternative is either Trump winning another four years or four years of dementia Biden followed by the GOP regaining the White House (since the Veep would be overwhelming favourite for DNC in 2024). Neither is an appealing scenario.
Romney is the anti Trump in the GOP as Hunt is the anti Boris here in the Tory Party
So like Romney is not contaminated by Trump if Trump loses having voted to impeach him, Hunt is not contaminated by Boris if Boris loses either
If he refused to serve in Boris Govt., then that does suggest some common sense somewhere. Although TBH I thought he didn't fancy the job he was offered. Didn't he want to b Foreign Sec and was offered Health? Stand to be corrected, of course.1 -
Tackling obesity should be right up there in the govt long term agenda. In the top 10 policy objectives, maybe top 5. It will make a real difference to peoples lives.Pulpstar said:"It's alright for you thinnies" Lol you can imagine Bozza yelling this to Hancock.
And unlike most other objectives it can be delivered cheaply and then go on to reduce costs in health and care, whilst improving the economy and productivity.0 -
Given the mistakes the current Health minister has made (thinking partly as much about having to carry the can for mistakes rather than making them himself) Hunt may still get a second chance.DavidL said:
If only he'd known that Health was going to become absolutely central to the government's entire program...OldKingCole said:
If that's his main advantage......HYUFD said:
Hunt's main advantage is he was Boris' main opponent in the leadership election and refused to serve in the Boris Cabinet.OldKingCole said:
Can't see the appeal of Hunt. He didn't do a great job at Health; anyone who sets out to antagonise the medics isn't well advised, and he was one of the people who buried Cygnus.HYUFD said:
If Trump loses could be Romney as the next president after Biden in 2024.Philip_Thompson said:
I hope so.Richard_Tyndall said:Interesting question.
Is Biden, in making this pick, effectively although unknowingly, picking the next President of the United States? It is a long time since I saw a presidential candidate who looked so likely to fail to complete his term due to ill health in which case Biden is going to be deciding who the next POTUS is sometime over the next couple of months.
The alternative is either Trump winning another four years or four years of dementia Biden followed by the GOP regaining the White House (since the Veep would be overwhelming favourite for DNC in 2024). Neither is an appealing scenario.
Romney is the anti Trump in the GOP as Hunt is the anti Boris here in the Tory Party
So like Romney is not contaminated by Trump if Trump loses having voted to impeach him, Hunt is not contaminated by Boris if Boris loses either
If he refused to serve in Boris Govt., then that does suggest some common sense somewhere. Although TBH I thought he didn't fancy the job he was offered. Didn't he want to b Foreign Sec and was offered Health? Stand to be corrected, of course.
I note (without surprise) that NHS Scotland have had to take control of an HCOne care home. I'm awaiting the subsequent report that it was a resident discharged by NHS Scotland who was patient zero.0 -
Is that enough? My wife assures me that I can be really annoying.OldKingCole said:2 -
IIRC the Prudential Vitality scheme (private health insurer rewarding fitness) has been a very interesting success.DavidL said:There does seem to be at least potential responses to the lockdown so far as health is concerned. One leads to the Coronastone. A good friend of mine claims that he plans to sue Ikea because his new wardrobe has shrunk all his suits. The other is a slightly frantic attempt to improve fitness. Another friend was of the view that coming up behind some new joggers in Edinburgh and coughing might significantly reduce the medium term demands on the NHS.
But overall if the UK does end up with a slightly higher fatality rate than average (which seems likely) our pre-existing obesity issues, with their consequences in diabetes, is likely to have played a major part and it is just possible that the message that modern medicine can't do everything and that we are responsible for our own health can be usefully reinforced.2 -
Unfortunately there is a conflict of interest in the population.DavidL said:
Very rare that I agree with Fraser Nelson these days but I think we are going to have to try some sort of regional controls here. Even in Scotland if you are not in a care home the risk of CV seems pretty minimal outside greater Glasgow. That might not always be the case but there are a lot of people isolated from family and friends, struggling with depression and the multiple side effects of that or in need of treatment for unrelated conditions who are being locked down and are at minimal risk. And there are some who want to go back to work too. People whose wages are not being paid by the State in the main.HYUFD said:
Those working for the public sector (like me) with a guaranteed income and pension are, relatively, content with the lockdown and have no problem with it being extended. Why should we? Safety first and all that. Scotland, of course, has a huge host of comfortably-off middle-class white collar public sector workers who dominate the political system.
My thoughts are with the poor blighters who are in the private sector, are self-employed, who run small businesses, and have mortgages to pay. This situation must seem horrific to them. No-one is clapping for them at 8pm on a Thursday. But I suspect their interests will simply be ignored by the priviligentsia.
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Yep so that might be personal enough.OldKingCole said:
Also you can race llama for those desperate for a bet. They even do hurdles, although in fairness the hurdles are about 30 cm high and they still fail badly.0 -
Interesting piece from Fraser Nelson.
I’m not a fan; but that’s thoughtful and well-argued.0 -
Mr. Above, more likely it'll be a self-righteous drive to grab taxes and drive up living costs whilst delivering moralising sermons.
Cutting obesity is a good thing but can only happen through individual action. People have personal responsibility, our diets aren't dictated by the state, and Acts of Parliament won't stop chocolate being tasty.
Not to mention it's entirely possible to be thin and unfit (I speak from experience) or fat and fit (gladiators tended to be chubbier than the modern day stereotype).0 -
I refuse to believe that cycling in London with its pollution levels can be good for anyone's health, even if you don't get flattened. It must be the equivalent of smoking 40 a day.noneoftheabove said:
If there is one thing the PM should not be accused of, it is not acting to make roads safer for cyclists. He has probably done as much as anyone to have increased the numbers and improved safety.Jonathan said:
If ministers want people to change their habits, they will need to be seen to lead the way.BannedinnParis said:
If it's bikes they want, then ditch the ministerial limos and make the roads safe for cyclists.0 -
Mr. Malmesbury, sounds almost like the black box that car insurers use to measure driving behaviour and alter premiums accordingly (lower for safer drivers).0
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That is exactly how I feel when I hear NIcola saying safety first. My income is down about 80%.Burgessian said:
Unfortunately there is a conflict of interest in the population.DavidL said:
Very rare that I agree with Fraser Nelson these days but I think we are going to have to try some sort of regional controls here. Even in Scotland if you are not in a care home the risk of CV seems pretty minimal outside greater Glasgow. That might not always be the case but there are a lot of people isolated from family and friends, struggling with depression and the multiple side effects of that or in need of treatment for unrelated conditions who are being locked down and are at minimal risk. And there are some who want to go back to work too. People whose wages are not being paid by the State in the main.HYUFD said:
Those working for the public sector (like me) with a guaranteed income and pension are, relatively, content with the lockdown and have no problem with it being extended. Why should we? Safety first and all that. Scotland, of course, has a huge host of comfortably-off middle-class white collar public sector workers who dominate the political system.
My thoughts are with the poor blighters who are in the private sector, are self-employed, who run small businesses, and have mortgages to pay. This situation must seem horrific to them. No-one is clapping for them at 8pm on a Thursday. But I suspect their interests will simply be ignored by the priviligentsia.0 -
Hunt was Foreign Sec. I think he was offered Defence which would have been a demotion.OldKingCole said:
If that's his main advantage......HYUFD said:
Hunt's main advantage is he was Boris' main opponent in the leadership election and refused to serve in the Boris Cabinet.OldKingCole said:
Can't see the appeal of Hunt. He didn't do a great job at Health; anyone who sets out to antagonise the medics isn't well advised, and he was one of the people who buried Cygnus.HYUFD said:
If Trump loses could be Romney as the next president after Biden in 2024.Philip_Thompson said:
I hope so.Richard_Tyndall said:Interesting question.
Is Biden, in making this pick, effectively although unknowingly, picking the next President of the United States? It is a long time since I saw a presidential candidate who looked so likely to fail to complete his term due to ill health in which case Biden is going to be deciding who the next POTUS is sometime over the next couple of months.
The alternative is either Trump winning another four years or four years of dementia Biden followed by the GOP regaining the White House (since the Veep would be overwhelming favourite for DNC in 2024). Neither is an appealing scenario.
Romney is the anti Trump in the GOP as Hunt is the anti Boris here in the Tory Party
So like Romney is not contaminated by Trump if Trump loses having voted to impeach him, Hunt is not contaminated by Boris if Boris loses either
If he refused to serve in Boris Govt., then that does suggest some common sense somewhere. Although TBH I thought he didn't fancy the job he was offered. Didn't he want to b Foreign Sec and was offered Health? Stand to be corrected, of course.0 -
Wait, you mean there's still such a thing as personal responsibility in the UK? Could have fooled me last Sunday when everyone shat the bed because Boris didn't list all 34 Millon different scenarios of what is and isn't possible.DavidL said:There does seem to be at least potential responses to the lockdown so far as health is concerned. One leads to the Coronastone. A good friend of mine claims that he plans to sue Ikea because his new wardrobe has shrunk all his suits. The other is a slightly frantic attempt to improve fitness. Another friend was of the view that coming up behind some new joggers in Edinburgh and coughing might significantly reduce the medium term demands on the NHS.
But overall if the UK does end up with a slightly higher fatality rate than average (which seems likely) our pre-existing obesity issues, with their consequences in diabetes, is likely to have played a major part and it is just possible that the message that modern medicine can't do everything and that we are responsible for our own health can be usefully reinforced.2 -
Mr. L, if only they realised where their salaries came from...1
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I am not saying there is. I am saying that there should be. It's a subtle difference, right enough.MaxPB said:
Wait, you mean there's still such a thing as personal responsibility in the UK? Could have fooled me last Sunday when everyone shat the bed because Boris didn't list all 34 Millon different scenarios of what is and isn't possible.DavidL said:There does seem to be at least potential responses to the lockdown so far as health is concerned. One leads to the Coronastone. A good friend of mine claims that he plans to sue Ikea because his new wardrobe has shrunk all his suits. The other is a slightly frantic attempt to improve fitness. Another friend was of the view that coming up behind some new joggers in Edinburgh and coughing might significantly reduce the medium term demands on the NHS.
But overall if the UK does end up with a slightly higher fatality rate than average (which seems likely) our pre-existing obesity issues, with their consequences in diabetes, is likely to have played a major part and it is just possible that the message that modern medicine can't do everything and that we are responsible for our own health can be usefully reinforced.0 -
Absolute nonsense.Morris_Dancer said:Mr. Above, more likely it'll be a self-righteous drive to grab taxes and drive up living costs whilst delivering moralising sermons.
Cutting obesity is a good thing but can only happen through individual action. People have personal responsibility, our diets aren't dictated by the state, and Acts of Parliament won't stop chocolate being tasty.
Not to mention it's entirely possible to be thin and unfit (I speak from experience) or fat and fit (gladiators tended to be chubbier than the modern day stereotype).
If the govt mass produced super sized burgers and gave them out free the country would get much fatter.
If the govt offered free gym, sports and healthy food and promoted a healthy lifestyle from the start of school the country would get a lot healthier.
So govts can influence how healthy we are and weight is a big part of that. In real life we are not looking at either extreme, but we would be a happier, healthier and richer country if we take health more seriously.0 -
Neighbourly dispute over a flag. Scotland.Morris_Dancer said:Mr. Shark, what's the arrest about?
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Interesting, Tangerine Dream 19 minutes into Phaedra and Pink Floyd 6:30 into Dark side of the moon. Have a listen..0
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I read running in central London improves your health in the winter but is a net negative in summer because of higher air pollution. Hopefully not the case this year with lower traffic.DavidL said:
I refuse to believe that cycling in London with its pollution levels can be good for anyone's health, even if you don't get flattened. It must be the equivalent of smoking 40 a day.noneoftheabove said:
If there is one thing the PM should not be accused of, it is not acting to make roads safer for cyclists. He has probably done as much as anyone to have increased the numbers and improved safety.Jonathan said:
If ministers want people to change their habits, they will need to be seen to lead the way.BannedinnParis said:
If it's bikes they want, then ditch the ministerial limos and make the roads safe for cyclists.0 -
Yes - in the Vitality scheme, they subsidise the purchase of fitness items. They heavily encourage you to purchase a watch type fitness tracker (you can get the rewards without it, but it's fiddly). You link that through to their systems.Morris_Dancer said:Mr. Malmesbury, sounds almost like the black box that car insurers use to measure driving behaviour and alter premiums accordingly (lower for safer drivers).
The rewards included massive discounts on some airline flights (ha!), free cinema tickets (ha!) on a weekly basis and other reasonably valuable stuff
All based on *sustained* levels of activity - points towards levels (sliver, gold etc)1 -
"Best endeavours.....good faith....."
https://twitter.com/SamuelMarcLowe/status/1261204096817737730?s=203 -
Rat Eyes might have actually been ok at that. Better than Ben "Swain" Abbott anyway.Burgessian said:
Hunt was Foreign Sec. I think he was offered Defence which would have been a demotion.OldKingCole said:
If that's his main advantage......HYUFD said:
Hunt's main advantage is he was Boris' main opponent in the leadership election and refused to serve in the Boris Cabinet.OldKingCole said:
Can't see the appeal of Hunt. He didn't do a great job at Health; anyone who sets out to antagonise the medics isn't well advised, and he was one of the people who buried Cygnus.HYUFD said:
If Trump loses could be Romney as the next president after Biden in 2024.Philip_Thompson said:
I hope so.Richard_Tyndall said:Interesting question.
Is Biden, in making this pick, effectively although unknowingly, picking the next President of the United States? It is a long time since I saw a presidential candidate who looked so likely to fail to complete his term due to ill health in which case Biden is going to be deciding who the next POTUS is sometime over the next couple of months.
The alternative is either Trump winning another four years or four years of dementia Biden followed by the GOP regaining the White House (since the Veep would be overwhelming favourite for DNC in 2024). Neither is an appealing scenario.
Romney is the anti Trump in the GOP as Hunt is the anti Boris here in the Tory Party
So like Romney is not contaminated by Trump if Trump loses having voted to impeach him, Hunt is not contaminated by Boris if Boris loses either
If he refused to serve in Boris Govt., then that does suggest some common sense somewhere. Although TBH I thought he didn't fancy the job he was offered. Didn't he want to b Foreign Sec and was offered Health? Stand to be corrected, of course.0 -
Something like the Vitality points for exercise scheme would have half the population jogging in 10 minutes. Without having to close the country....Morris_Dancer said:Mr. Above, more likely it'll be a self-righteous drive to grab taxes and drive up living costs whilst delivering moralising sermons.
Cutting obesity is a good thing but can only happen through individual action. People have personal responsibility, our diets aren't dictated by the state, and Acts of Parliament won't stop chocolate being tasty.
Not to mention it's entirely possible to be thin and unfit (I speak from experience) or fat and fit (gladiators tended to be chubbier than the modern day stereotype).0 -
Mr. Malmesbury, sounds sensible.0
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Interesting article on Warren.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/05/elizabeth-warren-biden-vice-president/611497/
I hadn't realised she recently lost a brother to the virus.0 -
Well, maybe she and her mates will show solidarity and donate 80% of their income to a good cause.DavidL said:
That is exactly how I feel when I hear NIcola saying safety first. My income is down about 80%.Burgessian said:
Unfortunately there is a conflict of interest in the population.DavidL said:
Very rare that I agree with Fraser Nelson these days but I think we are going to have to try some sort of regional controls here. Even in Scotland if you are not in a care home the risk of CV seems pretty minimal outside greater Glasgow. That might not always be the case but there are a lot of people isolated from family and friends, struggling with depression and the multiple side effects of that or in need of treatment for unrelated conditions who are being locked down and are at minimal risk. And there are some who want to go back to work too. People whose wages are not being paid by the State in the main.HYUFD said:
Those working for the public sector (like me) with a guaranteed income and pension are, relatively, content with the lockdown and have no problem with it being extended. Why should we? Safety first and all that. Scotland, of course, has a huge host of comfortably-off middle-class white collar public sector workers who dominate the political system.
My thoughts are with the poor blighters who are in the private sector, are self-employed, who run small businesses, and have mortgages to pay. This situation must seem horrific to them. No-one is clapping for them at 8pm on a Thursday. But I suspect their interests will simply be ignored by the priviligentsia.1 -
Maybe, but they're still very much bit part players in a market dominated by Bupa and AXA.Malmesbury said:
IIRC the Prudential Vitality scheme (private health insurer rewarding fitness) has been a very interesting success.DavidL said:There does seem to be at least potential responses to the lockdown so far as health is concerned. One leads to the Coronastone. A good friend of mine claims that he plans to sue Ikea because his new wardrobe has shrunk all his suits. The other is a slightly frantic attempt to improve fitness. Another friend was of the view that coming up behind some new joggers in Edinburgh and coughing might significantly reduce the medium term demands on the NHS.
But overall if the UK does end up with a slightly higher fatality rate than average (which seems likely) our pre-existing obesity issues, with their consequences in diabetes, is likely to have played a major part and it is just possible that the message that modern medicine can't do everything and that we are responsible for our own health can be usefully reinforced.0 -
Is visiting your hairdressers house to pick up hair dye an essential trip when your message to your country is 'stay home, save lives'?0
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I worked as a private medical insurance broker for 20 years and Vitality made a big difference to peoples attitudes. The other insurers had to fall in line but none offer the benefits of the Vitality programme.Malmesbury said:
Something like the Vitality points for exercise scheme would have half the population jogging in 10 minutes. Without having to close the country....Morris_Dancer said:Mr. Above, more likely it'll be a self-righteous drive to grab taxes and drive up living costs whilst delivering moralising sermons.
Cutting obesity is a good thing but can only happen through individual action. People have personal responsibility, our diets aren't dictated by the state, and Acts of Parliament won't stop chocolate being tasty.
Not to mention it's entirely possible to be thin and unfit (I speak from experience) or fat and fit (gladiators tended to be chubbier than the modern day stereotype).
To start with my youngest lives in Putney, her gym membership was £78 a month but as she had a Vitality policy it was halved.
Speaking personally my BMI is 33, I don't have room for gym equipment at home so I will be joining a gym as soon as they reopen.0 -
It annoys me when these things are referred to as a one way request, some sort of 'gift' we have asked for. Presumably we also suggested EU goods for export to Britain could be tested in EU labs? They export more to us than we do to them ffs.CarlottaVance said:"Best endeavours.....good faith....."
https://twitter.com/SamuelMarcLowe/status/1261204096817737730?s=202 -
They will have a vote next year though and if they lose their jobs and incomes they will not be voting SNPBurgessian said:
Unfortunately there is a conflict of interest in the population.DavidL said:
Very rare that I agree with Fraser Nelson these days but I think we are going to have to try some sort of regional controls here. Even in Scotland if you are not in a care home the risk of CV seems pretty minimal outside greater Glasgow. That might not always be the case but there are a lot of people isolated from family and friends, struggling with depression and the multiple side effects of that or in need of treatment for unrelated conditions who are being locked down and are at minimal risk. And there are some who want to go back to work too. People whose wages are not being paid by the State in the main.HYUFD said:
Those working for the public sector (like me) with a guaranteed income and pension are, relatively, content with the lockdown and have no problem with it being extended. Why should we? Safety first and all that. Scotland, of course, has a huge host of comfortably-off middle-class white collar public sector workers who dominate the political system.
My thoughts are with the poor blighters who are in the private sector, are self-employed, who run small businesses, and have mortgages to pay. This situation must seem horrific to them. No-one is clapping for them at 8pm on a Thursday. But I suspect their interests will simply be ignored by the priviligentsia.0 -
In principle you're somewhat right. In practise the Government doesn't have a clue what constitutes healthy food, or indeed healthy people. As Governments always do, they would get it wrong, and inflict more harm than good.noneoftheabove said:
Absolute nonsense.Morris_Dancer said:Mr. Above, more likely it'll be a self-righteous drive to grab taxes and drive up living costs whilst delivering moralising sermons.
Cutting obesity is a good thing but can only happen through individual action. People have personal responsibility, our diets aren't dictated by the state, and Acts of Parliament won't stop chocolate being tasty.
Not to mention it's entirely possible to be thin and unfit (I speak from experience) or fat and fit (gladiators tended to be chubbier than the modern day stereotype).
If the govt mass produced super sized burgers and gave them out free the country would get much fatter.
If the govt offered free gym, sports and healthy food and promoted a healthy lifestyle from the start of school the country would get a lot healthier.
So govts can influence how healthy we are and weight is a big part of that. In real life we are not looking at either extreme, but we would be a happier, healthier and richer country if we take health more seriously.0 -
Do you have a sense for what proportion of the market is individual policies versus group schemes via people's employers? One of the issues is that, if people just get moved around between providers on the whim of their HR/procurement department, there's potentially a lot of people who have the Vitality benefits but don't use them, and more who would use them but can't get access.backinthedhss said:
I worked as a private medical insurance broker for 20 years and Vitality made a big difference to peoples attitudes. The other insurers had to fall in line but none offer the benefits of the Vitality programme.Malmesbury said:
Something like the Vitality points for exercise scheme would have half the population jogging in 10 minutes. Without having to close the country....Morris_Dancer said:Mr. Above, more likely it'll be a self-righteous drive to grab taxes and drive up living costs whilst delivering moralising sermons.
Cutting obesity is a good thing but can only happen through individual action. People have personal responsibility, our diets aren't dictated by the state, and Acts of Parliament won't stop chocolate being tasty.
Not to mention it's entirely possible to be thin and unfit (I speak from experience) or fat and fit (gladiators tended to be chubbier than the modern day stereotype).
To start with my youngest lives in Putney, her gym membership was £78 a month but as she had a Vitality policy it was halved.
Speaking personally my BMI is 33, I don't have room for gym equipment at home so I will be joining a gym as soon as they reopen.0 -
Romney needs Trump to lose in November, ideally by a landslide, to have a chance of being GOP nominee again in 2024Burgessian said:
Mitt Romney would be a reassuring figure in the White House. But has probably burnt too many boats so far as Republican Party is concerned. He voted to impeach Trump - admirably principled, but surely more than enough to create a host of bitter enemies.OldKingCole said:
Can't see the appeal of Hunt. He didn't do a great job at Health; anyone who sets out to antagonise the medics isn't well advised, and he was one of the people who buried Cygnus.HYUFD said:
If Trump loses could be Romney as the next president after Biden in 2024.Philip_Thompson said:
I hope so.Richard_Tyndall said:Interesting question.
Is Biden, in making this pick, effectively although unknowingly, picking the next President of the United States? It is a long time since I saw a presidential candidate who looked so likely to fail to complete his term due to ill health in which case Biden is going to be deciding who the next POTUS is sometime over the next couple of months.
The alternative is either Trump winning another four years or four years of dementia Biden followed by the GOP regaining the White House (since the Veep would be overwhelming favourite for DNC in 2024). Neither is an appealing scenario.
Romney is the anti Trump in the GOP as Hunt is the anti Boris here in the Tory Party0 -
I guess if Biden wins Texas, then he has probably already won without Texas. But should still be a Dem long-shot target.Gallowgate said:
Or Texas...HYUFD said:
He doesn't need a Hispanic, Hillary won Nevada, New Mexico and Colorado unless he picks someone from Arizona, the only western swing state Trump won.MrEd said:
Whitmer is likely to be too controversial given the reaction to her lock down policies, which have been seen as hard line. I think it is too risky for Biden. She could easily mobilise opposition in Michigan.HYUFD said:I think either Klobuchar or Whitmer would be the best VP picks for Biden. Both relatively young and represent key Midwest swing states Biden has to win to win the Electoral College
Klobuchar is a better pick for the Mid-West but I'm not sure she adds much beyond protecting Minnesota and possibly helping in Iowa.
Re whether Biden will go for a African-American VP pick, he doesn't really need to - his support in that constituency is high and Harris didn't do particularly well there. Plus Harris' record as a AG is fairly controversial so it wouldn't help him much I suspect.
I think where the surprise might come for the VP pick is that he picks a Hispanic VP. There are some signs in the polling that the Democrats may be seeing more leakage from the Hispanic vote than the AA vote. If that's the case, you have two candidates, Catherine Cortez (Nevada Senator) and Michelle Lujan (New Mexico Governor). Both would help in the SW, particularly with Arizona and possibly in Texas as well, as well as the general Hispanic vote; both are low risk (Nevada's Governor is a Democrat and NM's Lt-Gov is a Democrat); and both are generally well regarded. Cortez is at 16/1 and Lujan at 50/1 as the VP pick with Ladbrokes but I think Lujan may be the better bet - Cortez apparently doesn't speak Spanish (but understands it) and there are question marks whether she wants the job
He needs the Midwest
I think Biden wins with the states Clinton won plus Florida and Georgia. Or Florida and Arizona. Or Florida and North Carolina. And some other less likely combinations are also possible. So it's tougher, but even if Trump holds on to all of Penn, Michigan, Wisconsin and Ohio, Biden could still win. If Sanders had been the candidate I guess it would be a lot less likely (Sanders never looked like beating Trump in Florida).1 -
Given that nurses, care workers, doctors, bus drivers, policemen, supermarket staff etc have been carrying on putting themselves at risk for 2 months now through the worst of this first wave, I wonder if the public are soon going to become resentful of teachers saying they refuse to go back to work until they decide they are safe.Burgessian said:
Unfortunately there is a conflict of interest in the population.DavidL said:
Very rare that I agree with Fraser Nelson these days but I think we are going to have to try some sort of regional controls here. Even in Scotland if you are not in a care home the risk of CV seems pretty minimal outside greater Glasgow. That might not always be the case but there are a lot of people isolated from family and friends, struggling with depression and the multiple side effects of that or in need of treatment for unrelated conditions who are being locked down and are at minimal risk. And there are some who want to go back to work too. People whose wages are not being paid by the State in the main.HYUFD said:
Those working for the public sector (like me) with a guaranteed income and pension are, relatively, content with the lockdown and have no problem with it being extended. Why should we? Safety first and all that. Scotland, of course, has a huge host of comfortably-off middle-class white collar public sector workers who dominate the political system.
My thoughts are with the poor blighters who are in the private sector, are self-employed, who run small businesses, and have mortgages to pay. This situation must seem horrific to them. No-one is clapping for them at 8pm on a Thursday. But I suspect their interests will simply be ignored by the priviligentsia.
I appreciate some teachers will have been carrying on and there are serious issues at stake but at times it comes across as though teachers believe they are somehow special compared to everyone else, thank goodness nurses and care workers didn't have the same attitude. Perhaps it's just the union bods that seem totally out of touch with what everyone else is going through.3 -
Interesting how this same issue is presented in differing ways depending on political outlook. For the right - cossetted public sector vs exposed private sector. For the left - privileged middle class professionals vs the exploited working class.Burgessian said:
Unfortunately there is a conflict of interest in the population.DavidL said:
Very rare that I agree with Fraser Nelson these days but I think we are going to have to try some sort of regional controls here. Even in Scotland if you are not in a care home the risk of CV seems pretty minimal outside greater Glasgow. That might not always be the case but there are a lot of people isolated from family and friends, struggling with depression and the multiple side effects of that or in need of treatment for unrelated conditions who are being locked down and are at minimal risk. And there are some who want to go back to work too. People whose wages are not being paid by the State in the main.HYUFD said:
Those working for the public sector (like me) with a guaranteed income and pension are, relatively, content with the lockdown and have no problem with it being extended. Why should we? Safety first and all that. Scotland, of course, has a huge host of comfortably-off middle-class white collar public sector workers who dominate the political system.
My thoughts are with the poor blighters who are in the private sector, are self-employed, who run small businesses, and have mortgages to pay. This situation must seem horrific to them. No-one is clapping for them at 8pm on a Thursday. But I suspect their interests will simply be ignored by the priviligentsia.
Here is Owen Jones with the latter take -
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/may/12/boris-johnson-working-class-good-luck0 -
True but they forced Bupa and AXA to offer fitness incentives to their offeringEndillion said:
Maybe, but they're still very much bit part players in a market dominated by Bupa and AXA.Malmesbury said:
IIRC the Prudential Vitality scheme (private health insurer rewarding fitness) has been a very interesting success.DavidL said:There does seem to be at least potential responses to the lockdown so far as health is concerned. One leads to the Coronastone. A good friend of mine claims that he plans to sue Ikea because his new wardrobe has shrunk all his suits. The other is a slightly frantic attempt to improve fitness. Another friend was of the view that coming up behind some new joggers in Edinburgh and coughing might significantly reduce the medium term demands on the NHS.
But overall if the UK does end up with a slightly higher fatality rate than average (which seems likely) our pre-existing obesity issues, with their consequences in diabetes, is likely to have played a major part and it is just possible that the message that modern medicine can't do everything and that we are responsible for our own health can be usefully reinforced.0 -
Yes - IF we insist on them testing goods in British labs to ensure they meet (in all likelihood, identical) British standards - then they will face a barrier to their own trade. Perhaps we'll reinstate the "British Standard" that was dropped as part of no-deal planning.Luckyguy1983 said:
It annoys me when these things are referred to as a one way request, some sort of 'gift' we have asked for. Presumably we also suggested EU goods for export to Britain could be tested in EU labs? They export more to us than we do to them ffs.CarlottaVance said:"Best endeavours.....good faith....."
https://twitter.com/SamuelMarcLowe/status/1261204096817737730?s=201 -
Either way the private sector working class are being hit hardest at the moment and the public sector middle class surviving best economically the impact of the lockdownkinabalu said:
Interesting how this same issue is presented in differing ways depending on political outlook. For the right - cossetted public sector vs exposed private sector. For the left - privileged middle class professionals vs the exploited working class.Burgessian said:
Unfortunately there is a conflict of interest in the population.DavidL said:
Very rare that I agree with Fraser Nelson these days but I think we are going to have to try some sort of regional controls here. Even in Scotland if you are not in a care home the risk of CV seems pretty minimal outside greater Glasgow. That might not always be the case but there are a lot of people isolated from family and friends, struggling with depression and the multiple side effects of that or in need of treatment for unrelated conditions who are being locked down and are at minimal risk. And there are some who want to go back to work too. People whose wages are not being paid by the State in the main.HYUFD said:
Those working for the public sector (like me) with a guaranteed income and pension are, relatively, content with the lockdown and have no problem with it being extended. Why should we? Safety first and all that. Scotland, of course, has a huge host of comfortably-off middle-class white collar public sector workers who dominate the political system.
My thoughts are with the poor blighters who are in the private sector, are self-employed, who run small businesses, and have mortgages to pay. This situation must seem horrific to them. No-one is clapping for them at 8pm on a Thursday. But I suspect their interests will simply be ignored by the priviligentsia.
Here is Owen Jones with the latter take -
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/may/12/boris-johnson-working-class-good-luck1 -
Charles Grant on the challenges Covid-19 poses the EU:
https://www.cer.eu/insights/coronavirus-pushing-eu-new-and-undesirable-directions0 -
The take up when HR buys the Vitality package is very high -Endillion said:
Do you have a sense for what proportion of the market is individual policies versus group schemes via people's employers? One of the issues is that, if people just get moved around between providers on the whim of their HR/procurement department, there's potentially a lot of people who have the Vitality benefits but don't use them, and more who would use them but can't get access.backinthedhss said:
I worked as a private medical insurance broker for 20 years and Vitality made a big difference to peoples attitudes. The other insurers had to fall in line but none offer the benefits of the Vitality programme.Malmesbury said:
Something like the Vitality points for exercise scheme would have half the population jogging in 10 minutes. Without having to close the country....Morris_Dancer said:Mr. Above, more likely it'll be a self-righteous drive to grab taxes and drive up living costs whilst delivering moralising sermons.
Cutting obesity is a good thing but can only happen through individual action. People have personal responsibility, our diets aren't dictated by the state, and Acts of Parliament won't stop chocolate being tasty.
Not to mention it's entirely possible to be thin and unfit (I speak from experience) or fat and fit (gladiators tended to be chubbier than the modern day stereotype).
To start with my youngest lives in Putney, her gym membership was £78 a month but as she had a Vitality policy it was halved.
Speaking personally my BMI is 33, I don't have room for gym equipment at home so I will be joining a gym as soon as they reopen.
- Get premium stuff - Apple Watches, Garmin, Polar, Brompton etc at big discounts.
- If you then do a moderate amount of exercise, collect freebies on a weekly basis.0 -
I'll be disappointed if Texas doesn't go Dem this time. I think it's ripe.kamski said:
I guess if Biden wins Texas, then he has probably already won without Texas. But should still be a Dem long-shot target.Gallowgate said:
Or Texas...HYUFD said:
He doesn't need a Hispanic, Hillary won Nevada, New Mexico and Colorado unless he picks someone from Arizona, the only western swing state Trump won.MrEd said:
Whitmer is likely to be too controversial given the reaction to her lock down policies, which have been seen as hard line. I think it is too risky for Biden. She could easily mobilise opposition in Michigan.HYUFD said:I think either Klobuchar or Whitmer would be the best VP picks for Biden. Both relatively young and represent key Midwest swing states Biden has to win to win the Electoral College
Klobuchar is a better pick for the Mid-West but I'm not sure she adds much beyond protecting Minnesota and possibly helping in Iowa.
Re whether Biden will go for a African-American VP pick, he doesn't really need to - his support in that constituency is high and Harris didn't do particularly well there. Plus Harris' record as a AG is fairly controversial so it wouldn't help him much I suspect.
I think where the surprise might come for the VP pick is that he picks a Hispanic VP. There are some signs in the polling that the Democrats may be seeing more leakage from the Hispanic vote than the AA vote. If that's the case, you have two candidates, Catherine Cortez (Nevada Senator) and Michelle Lujan (New Mexico Governor). Both would help in the SW, particularly with Arizona and possibly in Texas as well, as well as the general Hispanic vote; both are low risk (Nevada's Governor is a Democrat and NM's Lt-Gov is a Democrat); and both are generally well regarded. Cortez is at 16/1 and Lujan at 50/1 as the VP pick with Ladbrokes but I think Lujan may be the better bet - Cortez apparently doesn't speak Spanish (but understands it) and there are question marks whether she wants the job
He needs the Midwest
I think Biden wins with the states Clinton won plus Florida and Georgia. Or Florida and Arizona. Or Florida and North Carolina. And some other less likely combinations are also possible. So it's tougher, but even if Trump holds on to all of Penn, Michigan, Wisconsin and Ohio, Biden could still win. If Sanders had been the candidate I guess it would be a lot less likely (Sanders never looked like beating Trump in Florida).0 -
The daily limit on points for Vitality is a bit low, and you can game it if you like but it's a decent enough program. Got all my vitals checked before Covid hit to push me up to gold !0
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patagonia.com the go to site surely?Jonathan said:Amazon Prime have run out of Llamas. Trying Argos.
0 -
I had a few clients that were on Platinum, the rewards for reaching that far are brilliantPulpstar said:The daily limit on points for Vitality is a bit low, and you can game it if you like but it's a decent enough program. Got all my vitals checked before Covid hit to push me up to gold !
0 -
Are the anti-devolutionists converts to the cause for London or do they think it should be enacted by HMG fiat?HYUFD said:0 -
Hilarious seeing former Head of the Civil Service who has since worked with Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell criticising the government for not defending the civil service as being impartial.1
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Amy Klobuchar might help carry some swing states. More importantly, she has a Cruella De Ville vibe that would allow her to knife Donald Trump effectively while allowing Joe Biden to stay more above the fray. She would be a good choice.0
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I've not seen much to suggest that cases are falling (in % terms) faster in London than elsewhere. Indeed there was a very pretty graph that suggests a pretty similar picture nationwide.Theuniondivvie said:
Are the anti-devolutionists converts to the cause for London or do they think it should be enacted by HMG fiat?HYUFD said:0 -
Broadly true, I'd say. I side with the "class" take on things - but of course there is overlap because most low paid workers are in the private sector and a great many relatively affluent middle class professionals are in the public sector. Which allows that competing narrative to be constructed too.HYUFD said:
Either way the private sector working class are being hit hardest at the moment and the public sector middle class surviving best economically the impact of the lockdownkinabalu said:
Interesting how this same issue is presented in differing ways depending on political outlook. For the right - cossetted public sector vs exposed private sector. For the left - privileged middle class professionals vs the exploited working class.Burgessian said:
Unfortunately there is a conflict of interest in the population.DavidL said:
Very rare that I agree with Fraser Nelson these days but I think we are going to have to try some sort of regional controls here. Even in Scotland if you are not in a care home the risk of CV seems pretty minimal outside greater Glasgow. That might not always be the case but there are a lot of people isolated from family and friends, struggling with depression and the multiple side effects of that or in need of treatment for unrelated conditions who are being locked down and are at minimal risk. And there are some who want to go back to work too. People whose wages are not being paid by the State in the main.HYUFD said:
Those working for the public sector (like me) with a guaranteed income and pension are, relatively, content with the lockdown and have no problem with it being extended. Why should we? Safety first and all that. Scotland, of course, has a huge host of comfortably-off middle-class white collar public sector workers who dominate the political system.
My thoughts are with the poor blighters who are in the private sector, are self-employed, who run small businesses, and have mortgages to pay. This situation must seem horrific to them. No-one is clapping for them at 8pm on a Thursday. But I suspect their interests will simply be ignored by the priviligentsia.
Here is Owen Jones with the latter take -
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/may/12/boris-johnson-working-class-good-luck0 -
I wonder how smart all the Remainers who voted down May's soft Brexit deal are feeling now?CarlottaVance said:1 -
Ubiquitous, cheap, and very low bandwidth face recognition is on the way very shortly:HYUFD said:
Sony unveils first built-in AI image sensors
https://techxplore.com/news/2020-05-sony-unveils-built-in-ai-image.html
After the experience of this pandemic, how many governments will resist its use ?1 -
I can suggest a good cause if they are looking for one!Burgessian said:
Well, maybe she and her mates will show solidarity and donate 80% of their income to a good cause.DavidL said:
That is exactly how I feel when I hear NIcola saying safety first. My income is down about 80%.Burgessian said:
Unfortunately there is a conflict of interest in the population.DavidL said:
Very rare that I agree with Fraser Nelson these days but I think we are going to have to try some sort of regional controls here. Even in Scotland if you are not in a care home the risk of CV seems pretty minimal outside greater Glasgow. That might not always be the case but there are a lot of people isolated from family and friends, struggling with depression and the multiple side effects of that or in need of treatment for unrelated conditions who are being locked down and are at minimal risk. And there are some who want to go back to work too. People whose wages are not being paid by the State in the main.HYUFD said:
Those working for the public sector (like me) with a guaranteed income and pension are, relatively, content with the lockdown and have no problem with it being extended. Why should we? Safety first and all that. Scotland, of course, has a huge host of comfortably-off middle-class white collar public sector workers who dominate the political system.
My thoughts are with the poor blighters who are in the private sector, are self-employed, who run small businesses, and have mortgages to pay. This situation must seem horrific to them. No-one is clapping for them at 8pm on a Thursday. But I suspect their interests will simply be ignored by the priviligentsia.0 -
Not ours considering facial recognition trials have already begun in Airstrip One.Nigelb said:
Ubiquitous, cheap, and very low bandwidth face recognition is on the way very shortly:HYUFD said:
Sony unveils first built-in AI image sensors
https://techxplore.com/news/2020-05-sony-unveils-built-in-ai-image.html
After the experience of this pandemic, how many governments will resist its use ?0 -
Prepare to be disappointed.kinabalu said:
I'll be disappointed if Texas doesn't go Dem this time. I think it's ripe.kamski said:
I guess if Biden wins Texas, then he has probably already won without Texas. But should still be a Dem long-shot target.Gallowgate said:
Or Texas...HYUFD said:
He doesn't need a Hispanic, Hillary won Nevada, New Mexico and Colorado unless he picks someone from Arizona, the only western swing state Trump won.MrEd said:
Whitmer is likely to be too controversial given the reaction to her lock down policies, which have been seen as hard line. I think it is too risky for Biden. She could easily mobilise opposition in Michigan.HYUFD said:I think either Klobuchar or Whitmer would be the best VP picks for Biden. Both relatively young and represent key Midwest swing states Biden has to win to win the Electoral College
Klobuchar is a better pick for the Mid-West but I'm not sure she adds much beyond protecting Minnesota and possibly helping in Iowa.
Re whether Biden will go for a African-American VP pick, he doesn't really need to - his support in that constituency is high and Harris didn't do particularly well there. Plus Harris' record as a AG is fairly controversial so it wouldn't help him much I suspect.
I think where the surprise might come for the VP pick is that he picks a Hispanic VP. There are some signs in the polling that the Democrats may be seeing more leakage from the Hispanic vote than the AA vote. If that's the case, you have two candidates, Catherine Cortez (Nevada Senator) and Michelle Lujan (New Mexico Governor). Both would help in the SW, particularly with Arizona and possibly in Texas as well, as well as the general Hispanic vote; both are low risk (Nevada's Governor is a Democrat and NM's Lt-Gov is a Democrat); and both are generally well regarded. Cortez is at 16/1 and Lujan at 50/1 as the VP pick with Ladbrokes but I think Lujan may be the better bet - Cortez apparently doesn't speak Spanish (but understands it) and there are question marks whether she wants the job
He needs the Midwest
I think Biden wins with the states Clinton won plus Florida and Georgia. Or Florida and Arizona. Or Florida and North Carolina. And some other less likely combinations are also possible. So it's tougher, but even if Trump holds on to all of Penn, Michigan, Wisconsin and Ohio, Biden could still win. If Sanders had been the candidate I guess it would be a lot less likely (Sanders never looked like beating Trump in Florida).1 -
They wouldn't admit they were wrong then, how likely do you think they'll consider themselves wrong now?Philip_Thompson said:
I wonder how smart all the Remainers who voted down May's soft Brexit deal are feeling now?CarlottaVance said:1 -
-
Given how abject the government's project management of Covid-19 has been, in a sane world one would wonder why they were so aroused by the prospect of more chaos, pain and suffering.CarlottaVance said:
Sadly, in this world, we don't wonder. We know that it is the chaos, pain and suffering that they desire.1 -
Only a crazed zealot would consider Theresa May's deal a soft Brexit deal.Philip_Thompson said:
I wonder how smart all the Remainers who voted down May's soft Brexit deal are feeling now?CarlottaVance said:
Oh, it's you.0 -
Had you ever worked in a school you might appreciate the utter impossibility of social distancing even at a fraction of full capacity.OllyT said:
Given that nurses, care workers, doctors, bus drivers, policemen, supermarket staff etc have been carrying on putting themselves at risk for 2 months now through the worst of this first wave, I wonder if the public are soon going to become resentful of teachers saying they refuse to go back to work until they decide they are safe.Burgessian said:
Unfortunately there is a conflict of interest in the population.DavidL said:
Very rare that I agree with Fraser Nelson these days but I think we are going to have to try some sort of regional controls here. Even in Scotland if you are not in a care home the risk of CV seems pretty minimal outside greater Glasgow. That might not always be the case but there are a lot of people isolated from family and friends, struggling with depression and the multiple side effects of that or in need of treatment for unrelated conditions who are being locked down and are at minimal risk. And there are some who want to go back to work too. People whose wages are not being paid by the State in the main.HYUFD said:
Those working for the public sector (like me) with a guaranteed income and pension are, relatively, content with the lockdown and have no problem with it being extended. Why should we? Safety first and all that. Scotland, of course, has a huge host of comfortably-off middle-class white collar public sector workers who dominate the political system.
My thoughts are with the poor blighters who are in the private sector, are self-employed, who run small businesses, and have mortgages to pay. This situation must seem horrific to them. No-one is clapping for them at 8pm on a Thursday. But I suspect their interests will simply be ignored by the priviligentsia.
I appreciate some teachers will have been carrying on and there are serious issues at stake but at times it comes across as though teachers believe they are somehow special compared to everyone else, thank goodness nurses and care workers didn't have the same attitude. Perhaps it's just the union bods that seem totally out of touch with what everyone else is going through.
Closing schools early, together with closing pubs/restaurants and banning mass gatherings, was found to have been a significant factor associated with countries which contained the disease more effectively in lockdown.
https://www.itv.com/news/anglia/2020-05-11/uea-research-finds-closing-schools-most-effective-lockdown-measure/
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0
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I had the halving time for deaths from peak as ten days in London compared to 14 nationwide. We'll see in the fullness of time though how it all shakes out.TheWhiteRabbit said:
I've not seen much to suggest that cases are falling (in % terms) faster in London than elsewhere. Indeed there was a very pretty graph that suggests a pretty similar picture nationwide.Theuniondivvie said:
Are the anti-devolutionists converts to the cause for London or do they think it should be enacted by HMG fiat?HYUFD said:0 -
It's an IT project - see my post earlier about management being unwilling to pay IT people their value.Andy_JS said:
Then multiply it by 20 as you see how little the NHS pay their IT staff.2 -
But it will be fully sovereign pain and suffering, Alastair. You are still not getting it.AlastairMeeks said:
Given how abject the government's project management of Covid-19 has been, in a sane world one would wonder why they were so aroused by the prospect of more chaos, pain and suffering.CarlottaVance said:
Sadly, in this world, we don't wonder. We know that it is the chaos, pain and suffering that they desire.0 -
Yes but she would mainly be seen as up against Mike Pence where I think the De Ville look would be less effective. As said, she helps Minnesota, maybe Iowa and Wisconsin but cannot see much else (but have placed a bet on her)AlastairMeeks said:Amy Klobuchar might help carry some swing states. More importantly, she has a Cruella De Ville vibe that would allow her to knife Donald Trump effectively while allowing Joe Biden to stay more above the fray. She would be a good choice.
0 -
Difficult to tell who will be more enraged, the Yoons or the Wingers.
https://twitter.com/HTScotPol/status/1261181009418215424?s=200 -
It will be self inflicted fully sovereign pain and suffering. That's the bit people are forgetting.kinabalu said:
But it will be fully sovereign pain and suffering, Alastair. You are still not getting it.AlastairMeeks said:
Given how abject the government's project management of Covid-19 has been, in a sane world one would wonder why they were so aroused by the prospect of more chaos, pain and suffering.CarlottaVance said:
Sadly, in this world, we don't wonder. We know that it is the chaos, pain and suffering that they desire.0 -
They will just switch to Starmer and his pro single market stancePhilip_Thompson said:
I wonder how smart all the Remainers who voted down May's soft Brexit deal are feeling now?CarlottaVance said:0 -
HMG said some time ago that contact tracing was a necessary requirement for controlling the virus after the lockdown. How's that going?
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/15/uk-minister-admits-less-than-10-of-contact-tracers-recruited
"Only 1,500 of the 18,000 people the government wants to recruit as contact tracers have been appointed"
Let's see how our neighbour Ireland is doing, a country with about 1/14th the population.
https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/6a6e32-covid-19-contact-tracing-centres/
"There are over 1,500 people trained to work in contact tracing centres."
Yet again the UK response is slow, really disastrously slow, not judged by some impossible standard, but by the standard set by our flawed peers.
There's masses of debate as to whether the lockdown strategy was right, or necessary, but I'm coming to think that the strategy matters less than the competence with which it is implemented.
The UK has done really badly and it is continuing to do really badly, because we're not capable of implementing the plans we make, and this is why we are having bad outcomes - not because one strategy was better than another.0 -
Funnily enough, from my experience, the biggest supporters of a draconian, as long as it takes lockdown have been middle class public sector professionals whose wages and pensions are not impacted currently by the crisisHYUFD said:
Either way the private sector working class are being hit hardest at the moment and the public sector middle class surviving best economically the impact of the lockdownkinabalu said:
Interesting how this same issue is presented in differing ways depending on political outlook. For the right - cossetted public sector vs exposed private sector. For the left - privileged middle class professionals vs the exploited working class.Burgessian said:
Unfortunately there is a conflict of interest in the population.DavidL said:
Very rare that I agree with Fraser Nelson these days but I think we are going to have to try some sort of regional controls here. Even in Scotland if you are not in a care home the risk of CV seems pretty minimal outside greater Glasgow. That might not always be the case but there are a lot of people isolated from family and friends, struggling with depression and the multiple side effects of that or in need of treatment for unrelated conditions who are being locked down and are at minimal risk. And there are some who want to go back to work too. People whose wages are not being paid by the State in the main.HYUFD said:
Those working for the public sector (like me) with a guaranteed income and pension are, relatively, content with the lockdown and have no problem with it being extended. Why should we? Safety first and all that. Scotland, of course, has a huge host of comfortably-off middle-class white collar public sector workers who dominate the political system.
My thoughts are with the poor blighters who are in the private sector, are self-employed, who run small businesses, and have mortgages to pay. This situation must seem horrific to them. No-one is clapping for them at 8pm on a Thursday. But I suspect their interests will simply be ignored by the priviligentsia.
Here is Owen Jones with the latter take -
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/may/12/boris-johnson-working-class-good-luck4 -
I'm aiming for the stars (Trump thrashed) in order to secure the moon (Trump out).DavidL said:
Prepare to be disappointed.kinabalu said:
I'll be disappointed if Texas doesn't go Dem this time. I think it's ripe.kamski said:
I guess if Biden wins Texas, then he has probably already won without Texas. But should still be a Dem long-shot target.Gallowgate said:
Or Texas...HYUFD said:
He doesn't need a Hispanic, Hillary won Nevada, New Mexico and Colorado unless he picks someone from Arizona, the only western swing state Trump won.MrEd said:
Whitmer is likely to be too controversial given the reaction to her lock down policies, which have been seen as hard line. I think it is too risky for Biden. She could easily mobilise opposition in Michigan.HYUFD said:I think either Klobuchar or Whitmer would be the best VP picks for Biden. Both relatively young and represent key Midwest swing states Biden has to win to win the Electoral College
Klobuchar is a better pick for the Mid-West but I'm not sure she adds much beyond protecting Minnesota and possibly helping in Iowa.
Re whether Biden will go for a African-American VP pick, he doesn't really need to - his support in that constituency is high and Harris didn't do particularly well there. Plus Harris' record as a AG is fairly controversial so it wouldn't help him much I suspect.
I think where the surprise might come for the VP pick is that he picks a Hispanic VP. There are some signs in the polling that the Democrats may be seeing more leakage from the Hispanic vote than the AA vote. If that's the case, you have two candidates, Catherine Cortez (Nevada Senator) and Michelle Lujan (New Mexico Governor). Both would help in the SW, particularly with Arizona and possibly in Texas as well, as well as the general Hispanic vote; both are low risk (Nevada's Governor is a Democrat and NM's Lt-Gov is a Democrat); and both are generally well regarded. Cortez is at 16/1 and Lujan at 50/1 as the VP pick with Ladbrokes but I think Lujan may be the better bet - Cortez apparently doesn't speak Spanish (but understands it) and there are question marks whether she wants the job
He needs the Midwest
I think Biden wins with the states Clinton won plus Florida and Georgia. Or Florida and Arizona. Or Florida and North Carolina. And some other less likely combinations are also possible. So it's tougher, but even if Trump holds on to all of Penn, Michigan, Wisconsin and Ohio, Biden could still win. If Sanders had been the candidate I guess it would be a lot less likely (Sanders never looked like beating Trump in Florida).0 -
Ps I have also found them the worst for not paying their cleaners, dog walkers etc during the crisis as wellMrEd said:
Funnily enough, from my experience, the biggest supporters of a draconian, as long as it takes lockdown have been middle class public sector professionals whose wages and pensions are not impacted currently by the crisisHYUFD said:
Either way the private sector working class are being hit hardest at the moment and the public sector middle class surviving best economically the impact of the lockdownkinabalu said:
Interesting how this same issue is presented in differing ways depending on political outlook. For the right - cossetted public sector vs exposed private sector. For the left - privileged middle class professionals vs the exploited working class.Burgessian said:
Unfortunately there is a conflict of interest in the population.DavidL said:
Very rare that I agree with Fraser Nelson these days but I think we are going to have to try some sort of regional controls here. Even in Scotland if you are not in a care home the risk of CV seems pretty minimal outside greater Glasgow. That might not always be the case but there are a lot of people isolated from family and friends, struggling with depression and the multiple side effects of that or in need of treatment for unrelated conditions who are being locked down and are at minimal risk. And there are some who want to go back to work too. People whose wages are not being paid by the State in the main.HYUFD said:
Those working for the public sector (like me) with a guaranteed income and pension are, relatively, content with the lockdown and have no problem with it being extended. Why should we? Safety first and all that. Scotland, of course, has a huge host of comfortably-off middle-class white collar public sector workers who dominate the political system.
My thoughts are with the poor blighters who are in the private sector, are self-employed, who run small businesses, and have mortgages to pay. This situation must seem horrific to them. No-one is clapping for them at 8pm on a Thursday. But I suspect their interests will simply be ignored by the priviligentsia.
Here is Owen Jones with the latter take -
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/may/12/boris-johnson-working-class-good-luck0 -
These are the measures that likely keep R(t) below 1 I reckon.Wulfrun_Phil said:
Had you ever worked in a school you might appreciate the utter impossibility of social distancing even at a fraction of full capacity.OllyT said:
Given that nurses, care workers, doctors, bus drivers, policemen, supermarket staff etc have been carrying on putting themselves at risk for 2 months now through the worst of this first wave, I wonder if the public are soon going to become resentful of teachers saying they refuse to go back to work until they decide they are safe.Burgessian said:
Unfortunately there is a conflict of interest in the population.DavidL said:
Very rare that I agree with Fraser Nelson these days but I think we are going to have to try some sort of regional controls here. Even in Scotland if you are not in a care home the risk of CV seems pretty minimal outside greater Glasgow. That might not always be the case but there are a lot of people isolated from family and friends, struggling with depression and the multiple side effects of that or in need of treatment for unrelated conditions who are being locked down and are at minimal risk. And there are some who want to go back to work too. People whose wages are not being paid by the State in the main.HYUFD said:
Those working for the public sector (like me) with a guaranteed income and pension are, relatively, content with the lockdown and have no problem with it being extended. Why should we? Safety first and all that. Scotland, of course, has a huge host of comfortably-off middle-class white collar public sector workers who dominate the political system.
My thoughts are with the poor blighters who are in the private sector, are self-employed, who run small businesses, and have mortgages to pay. This situation must seem horrific to them. No-one is clapping for them at 8pm on a Thursday. But I suspect their interests will simply be ignored by the priviligentsia.
I appreciate some teachers will have been carrying on and there are serious issues at stake but at times it comes across as though teachers believe they are somehow special compared to everyone else, thank goodness nurses and care workers didn't have the same attitude. Perhaps it's just the union bods that seem totally out of touch with what everyone else is going through.
Closing schools early, together with closing pubs/restaurants and banning mass gatherings, was found to have been a significant factor associated with countries which contained the disease more effectively in lockdown.
https://www.itv.com/news/anglia/2020-05-11/uea-research-finds-closing-schools-most-effective-lockdown-measure/0 -
Neither side wants a deal enough to do one. We would all be much better off accepting that and getting on with preparing for the consequences.CarlottaVance said:
0 -
Speaking personally I had as many individual clients as company schemes, but the company policies had anything up to 200 employees on them. In terms of annual premium my individual book made up about 15%.Malmesbury said:
The take up when HR buys the Vitality package is very high -Endillion said:
Do you have a sense for what proportion of the market is individual policies versus group schemes via people's employers? One of the issues is that, if people just get moved around between providers on the whim of their HR/procurement department, there's potentially a lot of people who have the Vitality benefits but don't use them, and more who would use them but can't get access.backinthedhss said:
I worked as a private medical insurance broker for 20 years and Vitality made a big difference to peoples attitudes. The other insurers had to fall in line but none offer the benefits of the Vitality programme.Malmesbury said:
Something like the Vitality points for exercise scheme would have half the population jogging in 10 minutes. Without having to close the country....Morris_Dancer said:Mr. Above, more likely it'll be a self-righteous drive to grab taxes and drive up living costs whilst delivering moralising sermons.
Cutting obesity is a good thing but can only happen through individual action. People have personal responsibility, our diets aren't dictated by the state, and Acts of Parliament won't stop chocolate being tasty.
Not to mention it's entirely possible to be thin and unfit (I speak from experience) or fat and fit (gladiators tended to be chubbier than the modern day stereotype).
To start with my youngest lives in Putney, her gym membership was £78 a month but as she had a Vitality policy it was halved.
Speaking personally my BMI is 33, I don't have room for gym equipment at home so I will be joining a gym as soon as they reopen.
- Get premium stuff - Apple Watches, Garmin, Polar, Brompton etc at big discounts.
- If you then do a moderate amount of exercise, collect freebies on a weekly basis.
You are correct about HR moving schemes around, finance directors in particular would look for the cheapest option. If I had a company scheme with a Vitality policy I would try to get my Vitality account manager to come and do a presentation to the employees about the Vitality programme, that would get more employees to engage in the programme.
As a broker I would carry out a whole of market review, one year the UK head of HR for my biggest client (£100k premium), who had been with Vitality for a long time, asked me to doctor the review so that Vitality came out cheapest. The reason being that finance was based in the USA, and they would move to the cheapest premium on offer, but the UK employees loved Vitality and did not want to move.
One problem with the PMI market is that brokers earn much more commission by switching the policy at renewal. In the PMI market initial commission is often double the renewal commission, on individual policies it is at least ten times.
Hence a lot of brokers will move a policy at renewal every chance they get. Personally I did not do that, in fact in over 20 years I never had one single complaint, which when you consider the claims aspect is something that I am very proud of.
By doing things the honest way I retained my clients each year, and when I came to retirement and sold my book it was worth more money as it was deemed to be solid business2 -
Victoria line train!HYUFD said:https://twitter.com/FraserNelson/status/1261187709244264449?s=20
//twitter.com/FraserNelson/status/1261188079794245632?s=201 -
There's a lot of truth in that. The EU has higher priorities and the self-radicalisation conveyor belt of Leavers has not been halted by Covid-19.SouthamObserver said:
Neither side wants a deal enough to do one. We would all be much better off accepting that and getting on with preparing for the consequences.CarlottaVance said:0 -
A great day for Little Scotlanders.
SNP MP arrested and charged over a dispute about a flag.
Sturgeon breaks her own Stay Home message by visiting her hairdresser to get hair dye
30,000 test results are missing going back to mid-April. No wonder infection rate is so high.
Shambolic. But Little Scotlanders still have confidence.0 -
Which only adds to the thrill, I suppose, for those with a taste for it.eek said:
It will be self inflicted fully sovereign pain and suffering. That's the bit people are forgetting.kinabalu said:
But it will be fully sovereign pain and suffering, Alastair. You are still not getting it.AlastairMeeks said:
Given how abject the government's project management of Covid-19 has been, in a sane world one would wonder why they were so aroused by the prospect of more chaos, pain and suffering.CarlottaVance said:
Sadly, in this world, we don't wonder. We know that it is the chaos, pain and suffering that they desire.0 -
Cheers for this; interesting stuff. Dishonest brokers with perverse sales incentives is a wider problem than just health insurance.backinthedhss said:
Speaking personally I had as many individual clients as company schemes, but the company policies had anything up to 200 employees on them. In terms of annual premium my individual book made up about 15%.Malmesbury said:
The take up when HR buys the Vitality package is very high -Endillion said:
Do you have a sense for what proportion of the market is individual policies versus group schemes via people's employers? One of the issues is that, if people just get moved around between providers on the whim of their HR/procurement department, there's potentially a lot of people who have the Vitality benefits but don't use them, and more who would use them but can't get access.backinthedhss said:
I worked as a private medical insurance broker for 20 years and Vitality made a big difference to peoples attitudes. The other insurers had to fall in line but none offer the benefits of the Vitality programme.Malmesbury said:
Something like the Vitality points for exercise scheme would have half the population jogging in 10 minutes. Without having to close the country....Morris_Dancer said:Mr. Above, more likely it'll be a self-righteous drive to grab taxes and drive up living costs whilst delivering moralising sermons.
Cutting obesity is a good thing but can only happen through individual action. People have personal responsibility, our diets aren't dictated by the state, and Acts of Parliament won't stop chocolate being tasty.
Not to mention it's entirely possible to be thin and unfit (I speak from experience) or fat and fit (gladiators tended to be chubbier than the modern day stereotype).
To start with my youngest lives in Putney, her gym membership was £78 a month but as she had a Vitality policy it was halved.
Speaking personally my BMI is 33, I don't have room for gym equipment at home so I will be joining a gym as soon as they reopen.
- Get premium stuff - Apple Watches, Garmin, Polar, Brompton etc at big discounts.
- If you then do a moderate amount of exercise, collect freebies on a weekly basis.
You are correct about HR moving schemes around, finance directors in particular would look for the cheapest option. If I had a company scheme with a Vitality policy I would try to get my Vitality account manager to come and do a presentation to the employees about the Vitality programme, that would get more employees to engage in the programme.
As a broker I would carry out a whole of market review, one year the UK head of HR for my biggest client (£100k premium), who had been with Vitality for a long time, asked me to doctor the review so that Vitality came out cheapest. The reason being that finance was based in the USA, and they would move to the cheapest premium on offer, but the UK employees loved Vitality and did not want to move.
One problem with the PMI market is that brokers earn much more commission by switching the policy at renewal. In the PMI market initial commission is often double the renewal commission, on individual policies it is at least ten times.
Hence a lot of brokers will move a policy at renewal every chance they get. Personally I did not do that, in fact in over 20 years I never had one single complaint, which when you consider the claims aspect is something that I am very proud of.
By doing things the honest way I retained my clients each year, and when I came to retirement and sold my book it was worth more money as it was deemed to be solid business1 -
Looking forwards to our obese PM leading the war on fat.0
-
We have been promised a golden tomorrow. It's time to deliver.AlastairMeeks said:
There's a lot of truth in that. The EU has higher priorities and the self-radicalisation conveyor belt of Leavers has not been halted by Covid-19.SouthamObserver said:
Neither side wants a deal enough to do one. We would all be much better off accepting that and getting on with preparing for the consequences.CarlottaVance said:
0 -
As I said, Whitmer is controversial in her state. There is a risk picking her ends up boosting turnout for Trump in Michigan more than it gets the Democrats voters. John James is also a strong Republican senatorial candidate in Michigan this year so it may be too much of an issue. Klobuchar is better but how much do you think Kloubuchar helps in PA or MI?HYUFD said:
He doesn't need a Hispanic, Hillary won Nevada, New Mexico and Colorado unless he picks someone from Arizona, the only western swing state Trump won.MrEd said:
Whitmer is likely to be too controversial given the reaction to her lock down policies, which have been seen as hard line. I think it is too risky for Biden. She could easily mobilise opposition in Michigan.HYUFD said:I think either Klobuchar or Whitmer would be the best VP picks for Biden. Both relatively young and represent key Midwest swing states Biden has to win to win the Electoral College
Klobuchar is a better pick for the Mid-West but I'm not sure she adds much beyond protecting Minnesota and possibly helping in Iowa.
Re whether Biden will go for a African-American VP pick, he doesn't really need to - his support in that constituency is high and Harris didn't do particularly well there. Plus Harris' record as a AG is fairly controversial so it wouldn't help him much I suspect.
I think where the surprise might come for the VP pick is that he picks a Hispanic VP. There are some signs in the polling that the Democrats may be seeing more leakage from the Hispanic vote than the AA vote. If that's the case, you have two candidates, Catherine Cortez (Nevada Senator) and Michelle Lujan (New Mexico Governor). Both would help in the SW, particularly with Arizona and possibly in Texas as well, as well as the general Hispanic vote; both are low risk (Nevada's Governor is a Democrat and NM's Lt-Gov is a Democrat); and both are generally well regarded. Cortez is at 16/1 and Lujan at 50/1 as the VP pick with Ladbrokes but I think Lujan may be the better bet - Cortez apparently doesn't speak Spanish (but understands it) and there are question marks whether she wants the job
He needs the Midwest
Wrong about the Hispanic vote. It plays a surprisingly important part in states such as WI and IA and helps across the US in general, especially if there is a perception Biden will step down which would lead to the election of the first Hispanic President0 -
People like doctors, you mean?MrEd said:
Funnily enough, from my experience, the biggest supporters of a draconian, as long as it takes lockdown have been middle class public sector professionals whose wages and pensions are not impacted currently by the crisisHYUFD said:
Either way the private sector working class are being hit hardest at the moment and the public sector middle class surviving best economically the impact of the lockdownkinabalu said:
Interesting how this same issue is presented in differing ways depending on political outlook. For the right - cossetted public sector vs exposed private sector. For the left - privileged middle class professionals vs the exploited working class.Burgessian said:
Unfortunately there is a conflict of interest in the population.DavidL said:
Very rare that I agree with Fraser Nelson these days but I think we are going to have to try some sort of regional controls here. Even in Scotland if you are not in a care home the risk of CV seems pretty minimal outside greater Glasgow. That might not always be the case but there are a lot of people isolated from family and friends, struggling with depression and the multiple side effects of that or in need of treatment for unrelated conditions who are being locked down and are at minimal risk. And there are some who want to go back to work too. People whose wages are not being paid by the State in the main.HYUFD said:
Those working for the public sector (like me) with a guaranteed income and pension are, relatively, content with the lockdown and have no problem with it being extended. Why should we? Safety first and all that. Scotland, of course, has a huge host of comfortably-off middle-class white collar public sector workers who dominate the political system.
My thoughts are with the poor blighters who are in the private sector, are self-employed, who run small businesses, and have mortgages to pay. This situation must seem horrific to them. No-one is clapping for them at 8pm on a Thursday. But I suspect their interests will simply be ignored by the priviligentsia.
Here is Owen Jones with the latter take -
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/may/12/boris-johnson-working-class-good-luck
0
This discussion has been closed.