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What’s Trump really up to? – politicalbetting.com

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  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 76,479

    Certainly been a bit of a PR disaster for AZ and Oxford. You cannot blame the BBC for reporting the line they have been given by AZ or Oxford (most likely the latter).

    So here is the reality, the AZ/Oxford news is REALLY good news. Even if it is 70% efficacious that is still very good, and we should not have issues with supply. If we can vaccinate most of the population with a 70% effective vaccine it is game over for Mr. Covid. As the great woman once said "Just rejoice at that news"!
    Probably as they were prioritising getting the results out as fast as possible, rather than spending time on how best to spin them. It's a minor problem rather than a disaster.

    And there will be further announcements as the rest of the data is processed (and as more results come in - remember they will still be recording any cases which happened after the cutoff date on the 4th November for this report).
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 31,182

    Eco data shows we are heading for a double dip recession, brought on by the second lockdown

    The 'Boris breakdown?'
    Eclipsed by the Rishi Revival!
  • kjhkjh Posts: 12,487
    Stocky said:

    If it`s 62%, that`s fine, just give me a bit extra to top me up to 90%.
    :smiley: Think that is the plan.
  • HYUFD said:

    Given Corbyn led Labour to its worst defeat since 1935 last year we can probably safely say that an increase in Labour membership is inversely correlated to its appeal to swing voters, so that might actually be good news for Starmer
    One day hopefully the Tories might find a way to get rid of their own swiveleyed entryists from the BNP/UKIP/Brexit parties and we might see a return to a choice between two parties that are actually serious about competent government.
  • No doubt he is no focussing his attention on the next Scottish Independence referendum. He just loves you Nats and your divisive agendas! How useful are you feeling?
    'Cameron's plea to Putin: help me stop Salmond'

    https://tinyurl.com/y2bqodrh
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 83,356
    edited November 2020
    Nigelb said:

    Probably as they were prioritising getting the results out as fast as possible, rather than spending time on how best to spin them. It's a minor problem rather than a disaster.

    And there will be further announcements as the rest of the data is processed (and as more results come in - remember they will still be recording any cases which happened after the cutoff date on the 4th November for this report).
    I really really hope they have drilled Boris to not use the 70% figure this afternoon. Make it clear the regime that will be applied is 90% and covers even asymptotic cases, which the other two previous ones we don't know about.

    Anybody from government looking in on here, go bash this into your boss....please.
  • MaxPBMaxPB Posts: 39,801
    Nigelb said:

    Probably as they were prioritising getting the results out as fast as possible, rather than spending time on how best to spin them. It's a minor problem rather than a disaster.

    And there will be further announcements as the rest of the data is processed (and as more results come in - remember they will still be recording any cases which happened after the cutoff date on the 4th November for this report).
    And since the 4th the second wave has been at its peak so there are probably quite a few more events in both trial modes.
  • Actually first weaker dose, the Johnson Jab, the full strength one, the Boris Booster...
    Now that would be a big PR disaster. "Boris" is already a byword for massive overbilling prior to application and subsequent inactivity and failure thereafter.
  • The journalist who wrote that supposedly has a degree in Biology....face palm. Obviously missed the modules that covered reading scientific papers of real world medical trials.
    Blame AZ's PR department for not writing clear press releases, not the BBC or other news organisations. What AZ says in scientific papers is not the issue here.

    https://www.astrazeneca.com/media-centre/press-releases/2020/azd1222hlr.html
  • kjhkjh Posts: 12,487

    Evidence that would hold up in court, came there none....
    Pot and kettle.
  • I don't care what colour they are, they are all idiots!
    Aren't these people of all opinions who are skint now in lockdown economics and so aren't renewing?
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 83,356
    edited November 2020

    Blame AZ's PR department for not writing clear press releases, not the BBC or other news organisations. What AZ says in scientific papers is not the issue here.

    https://www.astrazeneca.com/media-centre/press-releases/2020/azd1222hlr.html
    The job of the media is to find and report the facts not copy and pasta press releases.
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 43,223
    edited November 2020

    You find it difficult to believe Russia doesn;t interfere with foreign elections, even though there isn;t much evidence.

    I find it difficult to believe a total no-mark candidate got ten million more votes than the brilliant and charismatic first black president of America, even though right now there isn;t much evidence.
    Your double negatives and misuse of semi colons is making your stuff even more unreadable than usual. The idea of you thinking Obama is brillant and charismatic is a good laff tho'.
  • It sounds to me that both Frost and Barnier are negotiating hard, but slowly inching together towards a Deal.

    Good. That's what's needed on both sides for it to stick.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 76,479
    .

    Evidence that would hold up in court, came there none....
    Fake news.
    Quite a bit of evidence did indeed hold up in court.
    https://www.businessinsider.com/who-has-been-charged-in-russia-investigation-mueller-trump-2017-12?r=US&IR=T#13-russian-nationals-and-three-russian-companies-9

    The only court which could adjudicate evidence against Trump - the Senate - was perhaps not the most unbiased of institutions.
  • LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 19,151
    MaxPB said:

    It's just so infuriating. We have a potentially incredible vaccine designed and manufactured in the UK and the BBC are completely fucking it up.

    I'm really looking forwards to seeing the final data readouts from it and if that 90% figure holds up and what proportion of those who recorded infections were asymptomatic.
    I'm particularly reassured that they did weekly testing of the trial participants, which gives me a lot more confidence than with the other vaccines.

    I fear that the 70% figure will stick, and the idea that we're being given a substandard vaccine will spread, when it might actually be more effective than the others if you do a like-for-like comparison.
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 31,182

    Aren't these people of all opinions who are skint now in lockdown economics and so aren't renewing?
    Possibly, but I suspect Corbyn engaged the swivel-eyed in a way that Starmer cannot.
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 83,356
    edited November 2020

    I'm particularly reassured that they did weekly testing of the trial participants, which gives me a lot more confidence than with the other vaccines.

    I fear that the 70% figure will stick, and the idea that we're being given a substandard vaccine will spread, when it might actually be more effective than the others if you do a like-for-like comparison.
    Top of the summary on BBC News website...still...

    "A coronavirus vaccine developed by the University of Oxford stops 70% of people from developing symptoms, a large-scale trial shows. Other vaccines showed 95% protection but the Oxford jab is cheaper and easier to store and distribute."

    WRONG, WRONG, MFing WRONG on several counts in 2 f##king sentences.
  • kjhkjh Posts: 12,487
    Nigelb said:

    Probably as they were prioritising getting the results out as fast as possible, rather than spending time on how best to spin them. It's a minor problem rather than a disaster.

    And there will be further announcements as the rest of the data is processed (and as more results come in - remember they will still be recording any cases which happened after the cutoff date on the 4th November for this report).
    That was my thought as I said early this morning and hopefully it will be the 90% figure.

    But you would have thought someone at the BBC would have grasped this by now wouldn't you?
  • Aren't these people of all opinions who are skint now in lockdown economics and so aren't renewing?
    Also worth noting that through Corbyn's tenure it always felt like the UK or Labour could be on the brink of either another election or leadership election.

    Now for the first time in half a decade there are no significant elections expected for a good few years.
  • glwglw Posts: 10,349
    edited November 2020

    Evidence that would hold up in court, came there none....

    And yet something like 30 odd people with 200 odd charges have resulted from the Special Counsel's investigation despite the across the board obstruction of justice from the Whitehouse, which is something that Mueller has said Trump could be charged with once he ceases to be President. Imagine what they might have found if the DOJ had allowed a full investigation and if Trump and his associates had testified in court.
  • contrariancontrarian Posts: 5,818

    One day hopefully the Tories might find a way to get rid of their own swiveleyed entryists from the BNP/UKIP/Brexit parties and we might see a return to a choice between two parties that are actually serious about competent government.
    We've had two gargantuan recessions in the space of not much more than a decade. 2008 and 2020. In both cases both mainstream parties more or less agreed with the policies that led to these, completely free of entryism.

    Entryism is thriving because of the regular giant pile-ups so called 'competent government' is creating. As Trump himself said, I am here because you guys messed up so badly.
  • Carnyx said:

    There is always the option of a minimal wedding now and have a party much later when the dust has settled (which also saves on the specifically wedding-related costs of the latter event, which is also now much easier to organise at shorter notice). Like the common small wedding plus bigger party, just not on the same day.

    I know a pair who got married with just the celebrant and two witnesses on that principle, and went straight home afterward. They didn't want to wait, for good reasons, but equally they didn't want to put anyone at risk. Their wedding had already been scrapped in the first lockdown, and they had no idea when things would settle (and how).
    I also know a couple who did that, and livestreamed their wedding to friends and relatives who'd normally have been there. Next year they will hold a traditional wedding celebration once the country has been reopened.
  • "All UK adults could be vaccinated by the Spring" just quoted on BBC News.

    Spring ends on 21 June next year, so sounds plausible (it wont be all, but all who want it and can be bothered to turn up on time, and arent excluded for some reason). Spring as in around April time which is when most associate it with, seems unlikely.
  • We've had two gargantuan recessions in the space of not much more than a decade. 2008 and 2020. In both cases both mainstream parties more or less agreed with the policies that led to these, completely free of entryism.

    Entryism is thriving because of the regular giant pile-ups so called 'competent government' is creating. As Trump himself said, I am here because you guys messed up so badly.
    The government did not create COVID19.
  • contrariancontrarian Posts: 5,818

    Your double negatives and misuse of semi colons is making your stuff even more unreadable than usual. The idea of you thinking Obama is brillant and charismatic is a good laff tho'.
    I am a busy person, sorry. I save my best grammar for those who pay me.
  • MaxPBMaxPB Posts: 39,801

    I'm particularly reassured that they did weekly testing of the trial participants, which gives me a lot more confidence than with the other vaccines.

    I fear that the 70% figure will stick, and the idea that we're being given a substandard vaccine will spread, when it might actually be more effective than the others if you do a like-for-like comparison.
    Yes, we could, because of idiots at the BBC, end up with a situation where the AZ/Ox vaccine is actually the best for preventing symptoms and spread of the virus but sees reluctance among the wider population because the reporting of it has been atrocious. The asymptomatic testing is absolutely key in all of this and I've seen The Times and Guardian talk about it, but the BBC are sticking with this idiotic 70% reduction in symptoms line which is actually fake news because in those 131 events there will have been people who tested positive asymptomatically in the vaccine group.
  • contrariancontrarian Posts: 5,818

    The government did not create COVID19.
    Indeed but it created the response to it. And it still does. The UK will shrink by 11% this year, probably. Many countries will get away with a smaller rate of contraction.

  • 'Cameron's plea to Putin: help me stop Salmond'

    https://tinyurl.com/y2bqodrh
    Haha, a very dodgy quotation from Tass is pretty par for the course for evidence from a nationalist. It has been well known for years that Putin wishes to see the breakup of UK, so why on earth would Cameron make such you a request? Just be honest you must love Putin. He is a nationalist, and he has no doubt been using his methods to con the gullible north of the border since the advent of social media. He loves you just as much as he loves Brexiteers; you are all the same to him, Useful Idiots with simplistic answers to complex questions that are great to manipulate to his satisfaction. He is on your side and you are on his.
  • BluestBlueBluestBlue Posts: 4,556
    edited November 2020

    We've had two gargantuan recessions in the space of not much more than a decade. 2008 and 2020. In both cases both mainstream parties more or less agreed with the policies that led to these, completely free of entryism.

    Entryism is thriving because of the regular giant pile-ups so called 'competent government' is creating. As Trump himself said, I am here because you guys messed up so badly.
    And now he's gone because he messed up so badly. This was a thoroughly winnable election for him, but he committed one unforced error after another this year.

    Not to mention that his pro-Wall Street staff and policies are indistinguishable from those that led to the 2008 crash, so I'm not sure how things would have been different under him.
  • RobDRobD Posts: 60,336

    Top of the summary on BBC News website...still...

    "A coronavirus vaccine developed by the University of Oxford stops 70% of people from developing symptoms, a large-scale trial shows. Other vaccines showed 95% protection but the Oxford jab is cheaper and easier to store and distribute."

    WRONG, WRONG, MFing WRONG on several counts in 2 f##king sentences.
    *adjust mic*... *sniffs*... WRONG. :D
  • MaxPBMaxPB Posts: 39,801

    Top of the summary on BBC News website...still...

    "A coronavirus vaccine developed by the University of Oxford stops 70% of people from developing symptoms, a large-scale trial shows. Other vaccines showed 95% protection but the Oxford jab is cheaper and easier to store and distribute."

    WRONG, WRONG, MFing WRONG on several counts in 2 f##king sentences.
    That's actually fake news on the BBC. The trial tested for asymptomatic infection as well and symptomatic. Honestly, this is completely undermining what should be a massive piece of good news in the fight against the virus here and elsewhere in the world.
  • At some point pretty soon the Treasury has to assert itself over the believers in the Magic Money Tree. If it doesn’t, then we will all have to become reacquainted with the delights of funny money.

    telegraph
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 83,356
    edited November 2020
    MaxPB said:

    That's actually fake news on the BBC. The trial tested for asymptomatic infection as well and symptomatic. Honestly, this is completely undermining what should be a massive piece of good news in the fight against the virus here and elsewhere in the world.
    The thing is as well, it won't get corrected and will get shared via social media like the £42bn on moonshot bollocks....and because of it being so cheap and easy to store, this will be THE vaccine for places like Africa, and it will be all too easy for anti-vax fake news to be spread using real links to the likes of the BBC.
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 31,182

    'Cameron's plea to Putin: help me stop Salmond'

    https://tinyurl.com/y2bqodrh
    Salmond's plea to Putin "Gi's a job!" And he duly obliged.
  • MaxPBMaxPB Posts: 39,801

    The thing is as well, it won't get corrected and will get shared via social media like the £42bn on moonshot bollocks....and the thing is because of it being so cheap and easy to store, this will be THE vaccine for places like Africa, and it will be all too easy for anti-vax fake news to be spread using real links to the likes of the BBC.
    They seem to want to push the narrative of this being a less good but cheaper vaccine. That's the sense I get from reading their coverage of it. It's incredibly irresponsible and the DG needs to be summoned to Downing Street to explain what they're thinking.
  • Indeed but it created the response to it. And it still does. The UK will shrink by 11% this year, probably. Many countries will get away with a smaller rate of contraction.

    The 11% is rather disingenuous given the way it is measured it is largely a statistical anomaly that much will bounce back from next year.

    No country has gone without an economic impact and the ones with the least impact seem to be those who locked down the virus harder and faster which is not what I recall you advising.

    Can you name any economy following policies you endorse that hasn't been hit economically?
  • IshmaelZIshmaelZ Posts: 21,830
    edited November 2020
    MaxPB said:

    But the half/full mode is statistically significant and it will be submitted for regulatory approval. I don't understand what point you're trying to make here.
    That you are, bluntly, making up the facts while giving it large about how hopelessly unscientific the rest of the world is. "Excitingly, we’ve found that one of our dosing regimens may be around 90% effective and if this dosing regime is used, more people could be vaccinated with planned vaccine supply." Pollard. "The vaccine that will come to market will be based on the 90% efficacy mode." You. Are those saying the same thing or different things?
  • RobDRobD Posts: 60,336
    IshmaelZ said:

    That you are, bluntly, making up the facts while giving it large about how hopelessly unscientific the rest of the world is. "Excitingly, we’ve found that one of our dosing regimens may be around 90% effective and if this dosing regime is used, more people could be vaccinated with planned vaccine supply." Pollard. "The vaccine that will come to market will be based on the 90% efficacy mode." You. Are those saying the same thing or different things?
    Given that they are submitting the 1.5 dose regimen for approval it seems as though they are the same thing.
  • paulyork64paulyork64 Posts: 2,507

    The government did not create COVID19.
    Not the UK government anyway.
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 83,356
    edited November 2020
    MaxPB said:

    They seem to want to push the narrative of this being a less good but cheaper vaccine. That's the sense I get from reading their coverage of it. It's incredibly irresponsible and the DG needs to be summoned to Downing Street to explain what they're thinking.
    My guess would be is they think are spinning this positively, saying hey its still 70% and dead cheap and loads of it. When in fact they are wrong and as you say spreading a message that it is inferior. There are going to be loads of people turn up and demand the good one from America, that not that shit one.
  • contrariancontrarian Posts: 5,818

    And now he's gone because he messed up so badly. This was a thoroughly winnable election for him, but he committed one unforced error after another this year.

    Not to mention that his pro-Wall Street staff and policies are indistinguishable from those that led to the 2008 crash, so I'm not sure how things would have been different under him.
    Our economy will shrink ten per cent plus this year and our debt will soar. We will bear the scars for decades.

    America are looking at a three per cent contraction.


  • Haha, arglefarglebargle
    You'll never get over being on the same side as Nigel Farage, Nick Griffin, George Galloway, Boris Johnson and all the other British Nationalists, will you?
  • IshmaelZ said:

    That you are, bluntly, making up the facts while giving it large about how hopelessly unscientific the rest of the world is. "Excitingly, we’ve found that one of our dosing regimens may be around 90% effective and if this dosing regime is used, more people could be vaccinated with planned vaccine supply." Pollard. "The vaccine that will come to market will be based on the 90% efficacy mode." You. Are those saying the same thing or different things?
    Yes it may be 90% though there is a confidence interval around that. 🤦🏻‍♂️

    The 90% is what is being submitted to the MHRA for approval.
  • kamskikamski Posts: 6,319

    Evidence that would hold up in court, came there none....

    Evidence that would hold up in court, came there none....
    Of course that's not true. Do you really believe the crap you write or are you just a wind-up merchant?
  • Just a little prick, you say?
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 83,356
    edited November 2020
    Is it...I didn't know that....you can tell I am a regular shopper there.
  • RobDRobD Posts: 60,336

    Just a little prick, you say?
    A little one followed by a slightly bigger one was found to be more effective.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 44,617

    Salmond's plea to Putin "Gi's a job!" And he duly obliged.
    That's Scouser, not Scots.

    I have my own views on the matter, as fanmously does Ms Sturgeon, but in fairness that was after he had left government and elected office. And also he did not get a job. His firm provided the show to RT to broadcast. Not the same thing.
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 83,356
    edited November 2020
    The world’s top surgical glove maker has had to shut factories due to coronavirus. The Malaysian company, Top Glove, will close over half of its factories after a surge in cases among workers, authorities said Monday.

    But there has been a cluster of virus outbreaks among Top Glove employees – many of whom are low-paid migrant workers – at factories in an industrial area near the capital, Kuala Lumpur. More than 1,000 cases were recorded Monday, prompting the government to order the plants to close.
  • Philip_ThompsonPhilip_Thompson Posts: 65,826
    edited November 2020

    Our economy will shrink ten per cent plus this year and our debt will soar. We will bear the scars for decades.

    America are looking at a three per cent contraction.




    That's not true. America measures its GDP differently to how we do but actually the data available so far appears to indicate the real economic data is quite comparable.

    Our debt hasn't soared either. Our QE has soared but we don't pay interest on that. If you want to talk about soaring debt you might want to look at how debt levels have changed in the USA under Trump's whole term.
  • GallowgateGallowgate Posts: 20,103

    Is it...I didn't know that....you can tell I am a regular shopper there.
    It is yes, but couldn't resist the opportunity to ruin your joke, sorry not sorry. :D
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 83,356
    edited November 2020
    Is "despite being 70%" going to be the new "because of / despite Brexit"....
  • MaxPBMaxPB Posts: 39,801
    IshmaelZ said:

    That you are, bluntly, making up the facts while giving it large about how hopelessly unscientific the rest of the world is. "Excitingly, we’ve found that one of our dosing regimens may be around 90% effective and if this dosing regime is used, more people could be vaccinated with planned vaccine supply." Pollard. "The vaccine that will come to market will be based on the 90% efficacy mode." You. Are those saying the same thing or different things?
    That's because of the CI, even the 62% mode has a CI.

    The ~90% mode is being submitted for regulatory approval, any vaccine product that comes to market will be based on it. Again, I don't understand what point you're trying to make here. Prof Pollard literally said this morning that the half/full dose mode is what will be taken to the MHRA, the AZ vaccine product that gets approval will be a half dose then a full dose four weeks later which has been shown to have ~90% efficacy.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 54,450

    I am a busy person, sorry. I save my best grammar for those who pay me.
    Ditto for my puns.....
  • RobD said:

    A little one followed by a slightly bigger one was found to be more effective.
    Boris Johnson to add minister for vaccinations to his capacious portfolio?
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 79,204
    Some mind blowing false equivalence from @MrEd here today. The long and the short of it is there is no senate supermajority to impeach Biden with. The same as for Trump.
    Half of the USA believes the GOP are bad faith actors anyway, so there's absolutely no reason for anyone to hold back on anything Trump related based off of some vague notion of the GOP striking back somehow, they'd do it anyway.
    Trump is currently losing support within the GOP too - it's already a senate majority that believes Biden is rightfully president elect. The situation with GOP governors is even worse for Trump than that.
  • contrariancontrarian Posts: 5,818
    kamski said:

    Of course that's not true. Do you really believe the crap you write or are you just a wind-up merchant?
    Its demonstrably true. If it weren't and there was demonstrable hard evidence, Trump would not be president.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 44,617

    You'll never get over being on the same side as Nigel Farage, Nick Griffin, George Galloway, Boris Johnson and all the other British Nationalists, will you?
    Did you see the latest news about HM the Q in 2014? Apparently the D of Y let the cat out of the bag rather.
  • BluestBlueBluestBlue Posts: 4,556
    edited November 2020

    Our economy will shrink ten per cent plus this year and our debt will soar. We will bear the scars for decades.

    America are looking at a three per cent contraction.


    Trump has added $3.1 trillion to the US national debt since he took office, so soaring debt doesn't seem to be a concern of his. Let's see what happens once the vaccines are deployed and normal economic activity resumes before we write the UK economy off forever.
  • You'll never get over being on the same side as Nigel Farage, Nick Griffin, George Galloway, Boris Johnson and all the other British Nationalists, will you?
    He's a nasty intolerant closed minded bigot. Just ignore him.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 44,617
    HYUFD said:
    Henry VIII should never have privatised the monasteries.
  • paulyork64paulyork64 Posts: 2,507
    There was horrible shop tv footage shown on bbc last week of a woman who pulled all the wine off shelves in a coop after being asked to use the one way system. Bury I think it was. Said she got off with a caution.
  • RH1992RH1992 Posts: 788

    Is "despite being 70%" going to be the new "because of / despite Brexit"....

    At this rate we'll have a good chunk of population immunised using the half/full measure technique, and the BBC will be reporting "the population is 70% immune".
  • contrariancontrarian Posts: 5,818



    That's not true. America measures its GDP differently to how we do but actually the data available so far appears to indicate the real economic data is quite comparable.

    Our debt hasn't soared either. Our QE has soared but we don't pay interest on that. If you want to talk about soaring debt you might want to look at how debt levels have changed in the USA under Trump's whole term.
    I'm with Heneghan. The epidemic ended in June and what we have seen since is nothing more than a giant exercise to vindicate the government's policies and those of its utterly discredited sage team.

    An exercise that has seen massive and unnecessary damage to our economy.

    Of course there was always a big economic hit. But its far, far larger than it needed to be.
  • GallowgateGallowgate Posts: 20,103

    I'm with Heneghan. The epidemic ended in June and what we have seen since is nothing more than a giant exercise to vindicate the government's policies and those of its utterly discredited sage team.

    An exercise that has seen massive and unnecessary damage to our economy.

    Of course there was always a big economic hit. But its far, far larger than it needed to be.
    The state of this take...
  • Carnyx said:

    Did you see the latest news about HM the Q in 2014? Apparently the D of Y let the cat out of the bag rather.
    Is that the interview with Lionel Barber? If what he said is true HMQ goes very much down in my estimation, the rest are of course still mediocre no marks, or worse in Andrew's case.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 126,878
    Carnyx said:

    Henry VIII should never have privatised the monasteries.
    He argues academics are the new clergy, tech executives the new nobility and almost everyone else back to being the third estate
  • Lots of talk about the UK foreign aid budget recently. I'd suggest using the 2021 aid budget to offer the UK vaccine free to any country in the world who wants it instead of how it is normally distributed. Would be fantastic PR for the UK and probably make a bigger difference than normal foreign aid spend.
  • kjhkjh Posts: 12,487

    Its demonstrably true. If it weren't and there was demonstrable hard evidence, Trump would not be president.
    What nonsense.

    a) An election is not a court. Trump lies daily and people believe him. Trump being elected does not demonstrate what you purport it to do.

    b) Lots of this stuff was known about post the election.

    See you have given up touting the weekend USA death figures by the way. Not so proud of how your hero is doing now I'm guessing.
  • Lots of talk about the UK foreign aid budget recently. I'd suggest using the 2021 aid budget to offer the UK vaccine free to any country in the world who wants it instead of how it is normally distributed. Would be fantastic PR for the UK and probably make a bigger difference than normal foreign aid spend.

    Good idea, but the cynic in me thinks BJ wants a cheap win with the 'giving money to furriners is bad' brigade.
  • Pulpstar said:

    Some mind blowing false equivalence from @MrEd here today. The long and the short of it is there is no senate supermajority to impeach Biden with. The same as for Trump.
    Half of the USA believes the GOP are bad faith actors anyway, so there's absolutely no reason for anyone to hold back on anything Trump related based off of some vague notion of the GOP striking back somehow, they'd do it anyway.
    Trump is currently losing support within the GOP too - it's already a senate majority that believes Biden is rightfully president elect. The situation with GOP governors is even worse for Trump than that.

    I've heard a few people say a majority of the Senate recognises Biden as President Elect, I heard someone else mention 5 GOP Senators doing so, but the only one I've explicitly heard confirm it is Romney. Has anyone else who is a GOP Senator explicitly recognised Biden as POTUS elect?
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 29,905

    The state of this take...
    Better tell all those slackers in ICU.
    "Take up your bed and walk. And get back to work!"
  • Andy_CookeAndy_Cooke Posts: 5,045

    I'm with Heneghan. The epidemic ended in June and what we have seen since is nothing more than a giant exercise to vindicate the government's policies and those of its utterly discredited sage team.

    An exercise that has seen massive and unnecessary damage to our economy.

    Of course there was always a big economic hit. But its far, far larger than it needed to be.
    Out of curiosity, what do you think killed the 15,000-odd people who have died since the start of July within 28 days of a positive result?
  • RobDRobD Posts: 60,336

    Lots of talk about the UK foreign aid budget recently. I'd suggest using the 2021 aid budget to offer the UK vaccine free to any country in the world who wants it instead of how it is normally distributed. Would be fantastic PR for the UK and probably make a bigger difference than normal foreign aid spend.

    Yeah, and given how cheap it is it probably wouldn't take up a huge fraction of the budget.
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 29,905
    HYUFD said:

    He argues academics are the new clergy, tech executives the new nobility and almost everyone else back to being the third estate
    And none too convincingly.

  • BluestBlueBluestBlue Posts: 4,556

    I'm with Heneghan. The epidemic ended in June and what we have seen since is nothing more than a giant exercise to vindicate the government's policies and those of its utterly discredited sage team.

    An exercise that has seen massive and unnecessary damage to our economy.

    Of course there was always a big economic hit. But its far, far larger than it needed to be.
    Ok, so the UK government, SAGE, and hundreds of governments around the world were all in a conspiracy to tank their own economies just so that the public wouldn't find out that the pandemic had in fact ended.

    Said pandemic ended in June, so all the people who have been infected, hospitalized, and who died since never actually existed.

    And if we hadn't taken any public health measures at all, the economy would have been just fine because everyone would have willingly exposed themselves to the virus and lived life exactly as normal.


    This is just reality denial, and honestly it drives me round the bend. If we succumb to this kind of fantasy thinking, it makes politics virtually pointless and the making of public policy almost impossible.
  • GallowgateGallowgate Posts: 20,103
    edited November 2020

    I've heard a few people say a majority of the Senate recognises Biden as President Elect, I heard someone else mention 5 GOP Senators doing so, but the only one I've explicitly heard confirm it is Romney. Has anyone else who is a GOP Senator explicitly recognised Biden as POTUS elect?
    Collins - https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/susan-collins-congratulates-president-elect-biden-breaking-most-senate-gop-n1247154

    Murkowski - https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-election-2020/senator-murkowski-trump-transition-election-results-biden-b1760133.html

    Toomey - https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/republican-senator-pat-toomey-trump-biden-b1759915.html

    Rubio - https://www.npr.org/sections/biden-transition-updates/2020/11/16/935594118/sen-rubio-joins-small-group-of-republican-senators-calling-biden-president-elect?t=1606138607943
  • RobD said:

    Yeah, and given how cheap it is it probably wouldn't take up a huge fraction of the budget.
    If the whole world took it, it pretty much matches the budget.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 76,479
    RobD said:

    A little one followed by a slightly bigger one was found to be more effective.
    Yes, but no one’s going to volunteer for a Gove followed by a Johnson.
  • GaussianGaussian Posts: 831
    Chris said:

    I'm afraid that still makes no sense to me. There are two regimens, and results have been given for both of them. It's possible the difference is owing to chance, but it doesn't look very likely to me, because there's a relatively small overlap between the confidence intervals.

    Certainly you can't say "the vaccine has 90%" efficacy, any more than you can say it has 62% efficacy. But you can say that about the two regimens separately - though as I already said, they should give confidence intervals to reflect the statistical uncertainty.
    Okay, let me try a slightly different tack.

    Two coins, hundred throws each. For each one, the expected heads is 50. But due to random variation, when doing hundred throws each and then picking out the one with more heads, the expected value actually is a bit higher. Not sure about the exact number, but maybe 55.

    In other words, by running two experiments in parallel and picking out the better one, you introduce a bit of bias compared to just running one.

    I'm not saying that's an invalid thing to do. I am saying it needs to be taken into account in the statistical analysis of the picked-out subsample.
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 29,905

    Collins - https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/susan-collins-congratulates-president-elect-biden-breaking-most-senate-gop-n1247154

    Murkowski - https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-election-2020/senator-murkowski-trump-transition-election-results-biden-b1760133.html

    Toomey - https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/republican-senator-pat-toomey-trump-biden-b1759915.html

    Rubio - https://www.npr.org/sections/biden-transition-updates/2020/11/16/935594118/sen-rubio-joins-small-group-of-republican-senators-calling-biden-president-elect?t=1606138607943
    Sasse of Nebraska has too. ISTR.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 73,350
    dixiedean said:

    And none too convincingly.

    Academics are certainly anything but celibate. In fact in my experience the problem is too many of them don't know to keep their hands off their students.

    Not that I would go bail for medieval clerics either...
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 51,130
    Andy_JS said:

    "Labour has lost members at a rate of nearly 250 a day since Sir Keir Starmer was elected last spring, with supporters of Jeremy Corbyn leading an exodus from the party.

    Membership fell by just under 57,000 people, or 10 per cent, between April and November, according to official figures from its internal elections.

    It is the first time that party figures have shown Labour’s membership falling below half a million since 2016, when Mr Corbyn’s leadership prompted a surge of new members."

    (£)

    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/labour-exodus-in-protest-at-suspension-of-jeremy-corbyn-cnnkzqp97

    It is going to be harder for the Corbynites to recapture the party, particularly if "Join to vote" is not permitted next time.
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 31,182
    Carnyx said:

    That's Scouser, not Scots.

    I have my own views on the matter, as fanmously does Ms Sturgeon, but in fairness that was after he had left government and elected office. And also he did not get a job. His firm provided the show to RT to broadcast. Not the same thing.
    Gi' us a wee jobbie? Or does that mean something different?
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 73,350

    Boris Johnson to add minister for vaccinations to his capacious portfolio?
    He would be ideal, given how many women he's inserted a little prick into.
  • IshmaelZIshmaelZ Posts: 21,830
    RobD said:

    Given that they are submitting the 1.5 dose regimen for approval it seems as though they are the same thing.
    What is your source for that? My understanding is that all the data from the whole trial get submitted, not just one "regimen." Are you saying that approval for the 62% version is not being sought?
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 55,115
    Chris said:

    I am only a mathematician, not a statistician, so don't take this as gospel, but the figures I get (assuming the splits were 3-30 and 27-71) are:
    Half-full: expected efficacy: 87%, confidence interval (95%): 69-97%
    Full-full: expected efficacy: 61%, confidence interval (95%): 41-76%

    On those figures the choice of regimen looks like a "no-brainer".
    No, no, I want more. Full-full has more so its got to better. I will not be cheated with half doses. Do they not have enough? etc etc.
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 55,115

    The government did not create COVID19.
    Well our government didn't.
  • FlatlanderFlatlander Posts: 4,913
    RobD said:

    Yeah, and given how cheap it is it probably wouldn't take up a huge fraction of the budget.
    They can have it if they give us a trade deal.. :)

    Seriously though, it would be the best use of any aid budget we have.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 44,617

    Is that the interview with Lionel Barber? If what he said is true HMQ goes very much down in my estimation, the rest are of course still mediocre no marks, or worse in Andrew's case.
    Yep. Don't quite know what to make of it - the story of DoY in front of a diplomat from another country. It does rather shake the fiction of HM being above politics.

    https://www.thenational.scot/news/18889691.queen-prepared-intervene-2014-indyref-panic-westminster/
  • BarnesianBarnesian Posts: 9,058

    I've heard a few people say a majority of the Senate recognises Biden as President Elect, I heard someone else mention 5 GOP Senators doing so, but the only one I've explicitly heard confirm it is Romney. Has anyone else who is a GOP Senator explicitly recognised Biden as POTUS elect?
    Ben Sasse has:

    https://edition.cnn.com/politics/live-news/election-results-and-news-11-09-20/h_468c195f84bf818304fdf41761bb254e
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 54,087
    DavidL said:

    No, no, I want more. Full-full has more so its got to better. I will not be cheated with half doses. Do they not have enough? etc etc.
    Do you want broth with that? broth + bleach?
  • Collins - https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/susan-collins-congratulates-president-elect-biden-breaking-most-senate-gop-n1247154

    Murkowski - https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-election-2020/senator-murkowski-trump-transition-election-results-biden-b1760133.html

    Toomey - https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/republican-senator-pat-toomey-trump-biden-b1759915.html

    Rubio - https://www.npr.org/sections/biden-transition-updates/2020/11/16/935594118/sen-rubio-joins-small-group-of-republican-senators-calling-biden-president-elect?t=1606138607943
    Thanks!
This discussion has been closed.