Howdy, Stranger!

It looks like you're new here. Sign in or register to get started.

Are we rushing to premature conclusions about the latest COVID figures? – politicalbetting.com

1235789

Comments

  • DougSealDougSeal Posts: 12,746
    Stocky said:

    Is surface-to-surface transmission still a thing?

    This morning our carpet fitter insisted on the elbow bump thing while speaking directly to me from about a metre.

    More Covid-theatre absurdity as far as I'm concerned.
    Ironically the same car dealership and I had a bit of a row in May when they insisted I use the one way system in their emply showroom which would have involved me spending more time indoors and thus placing myself at greater risk. Ah well. Rome wasn't built in a day.
  • AslanAslan Posts: 1,673
    Sean_F said:

    LOL!. Does she actually believe the rubbish she writes?
    England's run of success in the Euros really revealed how bitter the European journalist class is over Brexit. They are like a jilted ex-girlfriend, always obsessively criticizing the man that ruined their life.
  • LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 19,163
    I can't see the full error on the other thread, but it's not accepting any of my excellent and interesting comments.
  • alex_alex_ Posts: 7,518
    Stocky said:

    Is surface-to-surface transmission still a thing?

    This morning our carpet fitter insisted on the elbow bump thing while speaking directly to me from about a metre.

    More Covid-theatre absurdity as far as I'm concerned.
    If it’s absurdity you want...

    https://www.news.com.au/sport/nrl/nrl-hands-down-punishment-to-james-roberts-over-quarantine-breach/news-story/621300cb876dd9d82f834381595e3787

    Now I get that “rules are rules” but... “gaffer tapes sealing windows and door shut” - for a virus where ventilation and fresh air are the main weapon?
  • CookieCookie Posts: 14,835
    DougSeal said:

    Broken sunshine here after some rain. Not as nice as last week but not bad either. Probably won’t risk a barbecue but I think it’s warm enough to go swimming.
    For the last five days, the forecast has been very wet: the reality has been pleasant and breezy with the odd shower. If it stays like this for my holiday in the west country next week I will be very happy.

    I'm actually looking forward to my holiday this year, rather than, as last year, dreading its last minute cancellation or its being rendered utterly joyless due to the sudden imposition of arbitrary restrictions. God last year was awful. My mental health is so much better now than it was in 2020.
  • CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 60,422
    Excl: New head of NHS England will be confirmed by Boris Johnson today - Amanda Pritchard, deputy to current chief Simon Stevens, due to get the nod.

    Will be seen as sign of continuity as the NHS attempts to recover from the pandemic


    https://twitter.com/Smyth_Chris/status/1420339572412715012?s=20
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 73,575

    Scottish Government sparks online debate by referring to pregnant ‘people’ – not pregnant ‘women’

    https://twitter.com/ChrisMusson/status/1420320724951216133?s=20

    It is symbolic of their struggle against oppression...
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 44,825
    Dura_Ace said:

    It was only £100m when Johnson started wanking off over it.

    Meanwhile the RN are down to one functional air warfare destroyer (Defender) and that's in the South China Sea while Diamond is broken in (ironically) Taranto, Daring and Duncan are in deep maintenance, Dauntless is getting a power system upgrade so they can plug the kettle in when it's more than 25 deg C and Dragon is in pre-deployment maintenance.

    That's tory defence priorities for you.
    All our ships start with a D then? I didn't realize that. Defender, Diamond, Daring, Dauntless, Dragon and ... fair enough ... Duncan.
  • LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 19,163
    "The cost of this donation has been funded through UK Overseas Development Assistance, and will come over and above the ODA spending target of 0.5% of GNI if needed."

    They could have kept the 0.7% target and spent 0.2% on delivering vaccines and it would have been the same, but I guess they wouldn't have been able to fight a skirmish in the culture war over it.
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 79,235
    Data too long for column 'Name' at row 1|Gdn_Database|Query|insert `GDN_Discussion` (`InsertUserID`, `DateInserted`, `DateUpdated`, `CategoryID`, `ForeignID`, `Type`, `Name`, `Body`, `Format`, `Attributes`) values (:InsertUserID, :DateInserted, :DateUpdated, :CategoryID, :ForeignID, :Type, :Name, :Body, :Format, :Attributes) hmm
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 43,355
    edited July 2021

    Not hugging people is one of the few upsides of the pandemic.
    But coming to PB is like one great big virtual hug, n'est-ce pas?
  • DougSealDougSeal Posts: 12,746
    Pulpstar said:

    Data too long for column 'Name' at row 1|Gdn_Database|Query|insert `GDN_Discussion` (`InsertUserID`, `DateInserted`, `DateUpdated`, `CategoryID`, `ForeignID`, `Type`, `Name`, `Body`, `Format`, `Attributes`) values (:InsertUserID, :DateInserted, :DateUpdated, :CategoryID, :ForeignID, :Type, :Name, :Body, :Format, :Attributes) hmm

    Never read a post I agreed with as much as this one. I want to 'like' it twice.
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 79,235
    alex_ said:

    If it’s absurdity you want...

    https://www.news.com.au/sport/nrl/nrl-hands-down-punishment-to-james-roberts-over-quarantine-breach/news-story/621300cb876dd9d82f834381595e3787

    Now I get that “rules are rules” but... “gaffer tapes sealing windows and door shut” - for a virus where ventilation and fresh air are the main weapon?
    If you could catch covid by walking under his balcony the virus would have an r0 of about 90 and the entire planet would be infected within a couple of weeks.
  • DougSealDougSeal Posts: 12,746
    Cookie said:

    For the last five days, the forecast has been very wet: the reality has been pleasant and breezy with the odd shower. If it stays like this for my holiday in the west country next week I will be very happy.

    I'm actually looking forward to my holiday this year, rather than, as last year, dreading its last minute cancellation or its being rendered utterly joyless due to the sudden imposition of arbitrary restrictions. God last year was awful. My mental health is so much better now than it was in 2020.
    I hope you have a great time! My wife is over in the States at the moment visiting her family and, even though I didn't go, it's great to know for so many people the worst of this nightmare is (fingers crossed) coming to an end.
  • LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 19,163
    kinabalu said:

    All our ships start with a D then? I didn't realize that. Defender, Diamond, Daring, Dauntless, Dragon and ... fair enough ... Duncan.
    All the different classes of ship have some sort of naming theme. The destroyers all start with a "D", the Trident-armed subs all start with a "V", a class of smallish patrol ships are all named after rivers (Mersey, Clyde, etc).
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 98,601
    Leon said:

    I am happy - nay, delighted - to report that the great Ready Flaked Parmesan Emergency has finally, after hours of widespread and harrowing deprivation, where people were forced to do home flaking with their bare hands and a grater, has now abated

    That's great, but I'm not sure any of us will ever be the same again after this.

  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 30,222

    Yes, they might make be interesting outlines. In the plot outline I have, the Kriegsmarine defeat the Royal Navy in the Channel, and it is a battle for the Home Fleet to fight its way down from Scarpa Flow. And yes, I have German paratroopers playing a major part.

    I have written some; from memory, the first scene is of a nineteen year old boy watching the German invasion fleet come in as planes bomb the battery he has volunteered in. One strand of the book follows him during the retreat and then the fightback. As I'm a modern sort of person, another strand is from the viewpoint of a German sailor who gets stranded on the mainland. And that's the part I have a problem with, as I found it very hard to write from that viewpoint ...

    I am not a writer (tm). :)
    The ahistorical problem with that scenario is that in the summer of 1940 the Kriegsmarine had almost no operational ships so could never have defeated the Royal Navy. Perhaps if you posit a Pearl Harbor-like attack on the fleet at Scapa Flow. Though come to think of it, even that would not work because we'd have recalled the RN Mediterranean Fleet.
  • IshmaelZIshmaelZ Posts: 21,830
    DougSeal said:

    Never read a post I agreed with as much as this one. I want to 'like' it twice.
    I'm happy with that. ForeignID is what we voted against, dammit.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 44,825
    Stocky said:

    Is surface-to-surface transmission still a thing?

    This morning our carpet fitter insisted on the elbow bump thing while speaking directly to me from about a metre.

    More Covid-theatre absurdity as far as I'm concerned.
    The elbow bump is a bit silly, and it feels a bit silly doing it, but for that same reason it's likely to retain its popularity for a while. It naturally creates an air of self-conscious clowning jocularity between the people doing it, and this can act as ice-breaker. Watch how Head Clown himself, Johnson, clearly loves doing it.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 98,601

    Late to this nonsense. If you want an eu team, they only get a limited number of athletes in each event. You can’t have it both ways.
    It's such an obvious point that it renders the initial claim an obvious troll, since I don't believe Stuart is silly enough to not realise the above. I think trolling needs to be believable to be really funny.
  • DougSealDougSeal Posts: 12,746
    kle4 said:

    It's such an obvious point that it renders the initial claim an obvious troll, since I don't believe Stuart is silly enough to not realise the above. I think trolling needs to be believable to be really funny.
    He's an obvious troll all right.
  • Dura_AceDura_Ace Posts: 14,333
    kinabalu said:

    All our ships start with a D then? I didn't realize that. Defender, Diamond, Daring, Dauntless, Dragon and ... fair enough ... Duncan.
    All the T45s begin with a D. HMS Duncan is a storied ship name in the RN which goes back to the 18th C.
  • DougSealDougSeal Posts: 12,746

    "The cost of this donation has been funded through UK Overseas Development Assistance, and will come over and above the ODA spending target of 0.5% of GNI if needed."

    They could have kept the 0.7% target and spent 0.2% on delivering vaccines and it would have been the same, but I guess they wouldn't have been able to fight a skirmish in the culture war over it.
    The culture war is like a permanent revolution because no side can ever actually "win".
  • FossFoss Posts: 1,397
    edited July 2021

    All the different classes of ship have some sort of naming theme. The destroyers all start with a "D", the Trident-armed subs all start with a "V", a class of smallish patrol ships are all named after rivers (Mersey, Clyde, etc).
    The WW2 Flower Class Corvettes had some less than intimidating names.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 44,825
    edited July 2021
    Dura_Ace said:

    All the T45s begin with a D. HMS Duncan is a storied ship name in the RN which goes back to the 18th C.
    Is it perchance named after the same guy as the famous Soho gay pub?
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 43,355
    Dura_Ace said:

    All the T45s begin with a D. HMS Duncan is a storied ship name in the RN which goes back to the 18th C.
    Named after the same cove as the Admiral Duncan pub of somewhat unhappy memory?
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 43,355
    kinabalu said:

    Is it perchance named after the same guy as the famous Soho gay pub?
    Ha, snap!
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 44,825

    Named after the same cove as the Admiral Duncan pub of somewhat unhappy memory?
    Ha. Talk about a lightening one two!
  • IshmaelZIshmaelZ Posts: 21,830

    All the different classes of ship have some sort of naming theme. The destroyers all start with a "D", the Trident-armed subs all start with a "V", a class of smallish patrol ships are all named after rivers (Mersey, Clyde, etc).
    There was a hunt (as in pack of foxhounds) class destroyer in ww2. Probably not going to be reprised
  • LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 19,163

    All the different classes of ship have some sort of naming theme. The destroyers all start with a "D", the Trident-armed subs all start with a "V", a class of smallish patrol ships are all named after rivers (Mersey, Clyde, etc).
    Ooops, there isn't an HMS Clyde, but there is an HMS Forth.

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_active_Royal_Navy_ships
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 44,825
    A one two three four even :smile:
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 98,601
    DougSeal said:

    He's an obvious troll all right.
    I'm far from opposed to trolling, it can be a fun time, but it's a fine line and no one wants to be the next Piers Morgan seeking to provoke outrage.
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 30,222
    IanB2 said:

    I've been watching the documentary on iPlayer about the turnaround in UK Olympic sport between Atlanta and London 2012. An amusing snippet is that when the IOC inspection team visited London early in the bidding process, it had been pre-arranged with TfL that traffic lights would switch to green as the IOC coach approached each junction.
    Brilliant planning by Mayor Boris. Shocking underhandedness from Ken.
  • IshmaelZIshmaelZ Posts: 21,830
    Foss said:

    The WW2 Flower Class Corvettes had some less than intimidating names.
    Were they real, or just in The Cruel Sea?
  • DougSealDougSeal Posts: 12,746
    IshmaelZ said:

    There was a hunt (as in pack of foxhounds) class destroyer in ww2. Probably not going to be reprised
    Yes, I was very suprrised to find there had been an "HMS Blean" - Blean is the name of the tiny village between Canterbury and Whitstable my folks live in, but it was in fact named after the Blean Hunt. It's a diving wreck off the coast of North Africa now IIUC.
  • LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 19,163
    edited July 2021
    IshmaelZ said:

    There was a hunt (as in pack of foxhounds) class destroyer in ww2. Probably not going to be reprised
    The Hunt class ships look like the oldest ones still in service (besides Victory).

    Ledbury, Cattistock, etc.

    Minehunters appropriately enough. Clearly an irresistible association.
  • FossFoss Posts: 1,397
    IshmaelZ said:

    Were they real, or just in The Cruel Sea?
    The ship in the Cruel Sea was fictitious but the Flower Class itself was real.
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 45,399

    The ahistorical problem with that scenario is that in the summer of 1940 the Kriegsmarine had almost no operational ships so could never have defeated the Royal Navy. Perhaps if you posit a Pearl Harbor-like attack on the fleet at Scapa Flow. Though come to think of it, even that would not work because we'd have recalled the RN Mediterranean Fleet.
    That was one of the alterations at the start of the scenario: the Kriegsmarine had more surface ships and fewer submarines, and managed to lay minefields either side of their invasion route across the channel.

    It didn't happen, and probably wouldn't have happened that way, but it's the sort of thing you need to alter to make any German invasion even remotely feasible.

    One counterfactual I quite like is Hitler and Churchill meeting in the Munich hotel in 1932, and them hating each other so much that Hitler decides that the UK is a main threat to his project, and he builds up accordingly. Yes, I know Churchill wasn't PM at the time of Sealion, but I like the idea that he'd upset Hitler that much. ;)
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 79,235
    Jessica von Bredow-Werndl - must be the most 'definitely in the european aristocracy' sounding olympian ever.
    Bet her Dad has a massive castle somewhere in Bavaria.
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 43,355
    IshmaelZ said:

    Were they real, or just in The Cruel Sea?
    They were real alright, 100s of 'em. HMS Pansy (re-named to Heartsease) is the one everyone remembers. I always wonder if it was the staunch shipbuilders of Harland and Wolff that demanded the re-naming.
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 30,222
    OT Sainsbury's have had a delivery since last week but there are still (or again) big gaps on the shelves. Customers all masked up, along with some staff, including all on tills and customer service.
  • CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 60,422
    Remember when inflight movies meant a screen at the front of the cabin and the speakers were in the armrest you had to listened to through tube earphones?

    https://twitter.com/Birdseed501/status/1420344089963233284?s=20
  • noneoftheabovenoneoftheabove Posts: 24,280
    Pulpstar said:

    Jessica von Bredow-Werndl - must be the most 'definitely in the european aristocracy' sounding olympian ever.
    Bet her Dad has a massive castle somewhere in Bavaria.

    Prince Hubertus of Hohenlohe-Langenburg deserves a mention here. Slalom skiier at the Olympics into his mid fifties and still competing in the world championships at the age of 61 this year. How? He founded the Mexican Ski Federation and is its only regular competitor!
  • maaarshmaaarsh Posts: 3,592
    Putting the buk of the pandemic behind us by October isn't a remotely complaisant or bold claim though, is it.

    Not even the biggest zero covid loon would suggest we have more cases and deaths in the future than in the past (at least on a reasonable timescale rather than 25 years worth of endemic low level activity).
  • maaarshmaaarsh Posts: 3,592

    OT Sainsbury's have had a delivery since last week but there are still (or again) big gaps on the shelves. Customers all masked up, along with some staff, including all on tills and customer service.

    Most stores have a delivery everyday. Even convenience are normally 5 days a week. Product turnover is much quicker than many seem to assume, and the recent gaps are as much about a heatwave sales spike as anything else - same thing happens every Summer, but this year people are projecting their politics on to it.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 54,247
    DougSeal said:

    Tell the media that. They’ll be clutching their pearls at 4.05 this PM.
    Professor Peston FRS, DipSHit

    The gift that keeps on giving.
  • Dura_AceDura_Ace Posts: 14,333

    All the different classes of ship have some sort of naming theme. The destroyers all start with a "D", the Trident-armed subs all start with a "V", a class of smallish patrol ships are all named after rivers (Mersey, Clyde, etc).
    The planned T31 frigates (if the tories don't bin them) all appear to be named at random: Active, Bulldog, Campbeltown, Formidable and Venturer.
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 45,399
    edited July 2021
    IshmaelZ said:

    Were they real, or just in The Cruel Sea?
    Real: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flower-class_corvette

    We nearly had an 'HMS Pansy'
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Heartsease_(K15)

    edit; beaten to it ...
  • MaxPBMaxPB Posts: 39,823
    I don't know what I'm watching, it looks like there's a horse dancing on the TV. Very confusing.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 54,247

    That was one of the alterations at the start of the scenario: the Kriegsmarine had more surface ships and fewer submarines, and managed to lay minefields either side of their invasion route across the channel.

    It didn't happen, and probably wouldn't have happened that way, but it's the sort of thing you need to alter to make any German invasion even remotely feasible.

    One counterfactual I quite like is Hitler and Churchill meeting in the Munich hotel in 1932, and them hating each other so much that Hitler decides that the UK is a main threat to his project, and he builds up accordingly. Yes, I know Churchill wasn't PM at the time of Sealion, but I like the idea that he'd upset Hitler that much. ;)
    A fun WI - Churchill goes with his original decision and turns up at Gallipoli on the first day.

    Given his ActionThisDay style, and the fact that at several point in the campaign, just pushing forward (especially in the early naval phase) would have worked....
  • DougSeal said:

    it's great to know for so many people the worst of this nightmare is (fingers crossed) coming to an end.
    How exactly does that tie-in with the ridiculous offensive message you posted back to me this morning? You chastised me, erroneously, for wanting more vaccinations in the UK at the expense of the rest of the world. The diatribe from you all about we shouldn't be so English-centric and how the rest of the world is suffering from lack of vaccination is entirely at variance with this post.

    Perhaps you were hacked. Or asleep when you wrote it.
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 30,222

    That was one of the alterations at the start of the scenario: the Kriegsmarine had more surface ships and fewer submarines, and managed to lay minefields either side of their invasion route across the channel.

    It didn't happen, and probably wouldn't have happened that way, but it's the sort of thing you need to alter to make any German invasion even remotely feasible.

    One counterfactual I quite like is Hitler and Churchill meeting in the Munich hotel in 1932, and them hating each other so much that Hitler decides that the UK is a main threat to his project, and he builds up accordingly. Yes, I know Churchill wasn't PM at the time of Sealion, but I like the idea that he'd upset Hitler that much. ;)
    Here is an excellent summary of the problems in a 15-minute Youtube video by an Austrian military historian. References are given if you want to follow anything up.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnPo7V03nbY
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 76,795

    Late to this nonsense. If you want an eu team, they only get a limited number of athletes in each event. You can’t have it both ways.
    The Pan Pacific Partnership is doing pretty well, too...
  • Sean_FSean_F Posts: 38,521
    The warship whose name most amused me was HMS Caligula. On it were painted the words “Oderint dum metuant”, “Let them hate me, so long as they fear me.”
  • DougSealDougSeal Posts: 12,746
    Scott Beasley
    @SkyScottBeasley
    SyringeNEW: A large real world study (over one million people) of AstraZeneca & Pfizer vaccines looking at blood clotting disorders

    White heavy check mark Confirms safety profiles of both vaccines are similar

    Open book You can read the study (Lancet preprint) here: https://bit.ly/3zJnz5r
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 79,235
    MaxPB said:

    I don't know what I'm watching, it looks like there's a horse dancing on the TV. Very confusing.

    I don't think it'll beat either of the germans gone so far.
  • DougSeal said:

    He's an obvious troll all right.
    And calling a seasoned poster on here a troll just really shows how pathetic and pea-brained you are. Grow up.
  • MaxPBMaxPB Posts: 39,823
    Pulpstar said:

    I don't think it'll beat either of the germans gone so far.
    You were right.
  • DougSealDougSeal Posts: 12,746

    How exactly does that tie-in with the ridiculous offensive message you posted back to me this morning? You chastised me, erroneously, for wanting more vaccinations in the UK at the expense of the rest of the world. The diatribe from you all about we shouldn't be so English-centric and how the rest of the world is suffering from lack of vaccination is entirely at variance with this post.

    Perhaps you were hacked. Or asleep when you wrote it.
    The weather's cooler but still a bit warm for our snowflake contingent.
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 79,235
    Pulpstar said:

    I don't think it'll beat either of the germans gone so far.
    Well the dressage is easier to score by eye than a close judo contest anyway.
  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 18,631
    Stocky said:

    Is surface-to-surface transmission still a thing?

    This morning our carpet fitter insisted on the elbow bump thing while speaking directly to me from about a metre.

    More Covid-theatre absurdity as far as I'm concerned.
    Not really no. I have no issue with washing your hands fairly often, and definitely before food, but the idea that shaking hands is a big vector for Covid is false.
  • Cocky_cockneyCocky_cockney Posts: 760
    edited July 2021
    Alas, my other friends, I fear we are by no means out of the woods on this.

    At the moment 45% of our population are not protected by double vaccines. Even when they have their second jabs we will still have 1/3rd of our population unvaccinated, thanks in part to our refusal to vaccinate under-18's and piss poor take up recently amongst the young.

    We are creating a potentially perfect petri dish for variants to spawn.

    When you factor in that 40% of those hospitalised with the Delta variant are double vaccinated the situation we are in is NOT rosy.

    The complacency is remarkable.
  • LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 19,163
    Dura_Ace said:

    The planned T31 frigates (if the tories don't bin them) all appear to be named at random: Active, Bulldog, Campbeltown, Formidable and Venturer.
    At least they haven't decided to name one Thatcher yet.
  • DougSealDougSeal Posts: 12,746

    And calling a seasoned poster on here a troll just really shows how pathetic and pea-brained you are. Grow up.
    Whit knighting Mr Dickson? I'm sure he'll be delighted.
  • maaarshmaaarsh Posts: 3,592
    I wonder if confecting boring arguments is a good way for astroturf operatives to up their productivity if they're paid per post.
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 54,860
    Pulpstar said:

    I don't think it'll beat either of the germans gone so far.
    I'm not really surprised that a German can dance better than a horse.
  • DougSealDougSeal Posts: 12,746

    Alas, my other friends, I fear we are by no means out of the woods on this.

    At the moment 45% of our population are not protected by double vaccines. Even when they have their second jabs we will still have 1/3rd of our population unvaccinated, thanks in part to our refusal to vaccinate under-18's and piss poor take up recently amongst the young.

    We are creating a potentially perfect petri dish for variants to spawn.

    When you factor in that 40% of those hospitalised with the Delta variant are double vaccinated the situation we are in is NOT rosy.

    The complacency is remarkable.

    Yeah - you said that this morning. And as I pointed out then you keep making stuff up. This claim you continuously repeat was contained in an open letter from 1,200 people (many of whom are not scientists, one of whom is stated to be a WHO adviser) not the WHO. The letter was organised by The Citizens, Carol Cadwalladr’s organisation.

    Again, I’m not a Tory, never voted for them, but their many faults can be exposed without manipulating the truth as you do on this board consistently.

    The "petri dish for variant" line is snappy, and maybe appropriate for some countries in the world, just not the UK.
  • Andy_CookeAndy_Cooke Posts: 5,045

    Huh? The EU has won 63 medals so far, including 16 golds, easily beating China, Japan, England etc.
    Wait - are we saying that the EU should be treated as a single entity that's allowed to enter 27 separate teams into every event? Hardly a level playing field. Should the US be allowed to enter 50 teams (one for each state)?
    Or at least 27 teams to be fair.
    The UK as well?
    Should every country be allowed 27 entries?
  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 18,631
    kinabalu said:

    The elbow bump is a bit silly, and it feels a bit silly doing it, but for that same reason it's likely to retain its popularity for a while. It naturally creates an air of self-conscious clowning jocularity between the people doing it, and this can act as ice-breaker. Watch how Head Clown himself, Johnson, clearly loves doing it.
    Cricket has embraced the fist bump way more, and I kind of like it. Not averse to hand shakes though.
  • DougSealDougSeal Posts: 12,746

    Wait - are we saying that the EU should be treated as a single entity that's allowed to enter 27 separate teams into every event? Hardly a level playing field. Should the US be allowed to enter 50 teams (one for each state)?
    Or at least 27 teams to be fair.
    The UK as well?
    Should every country be allowed 27 entries?
    I think Dickson was trolling by this point in the discussion.
  • CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 60,422

    Alas, my other friends, I fear we are by no means out of the woods on this.

    At the moment 45% of our population are not protected by double vaccines. Even when they have their second jabs we will still have 1/3rd of our population unvaccinated, thanks in part to our refusal to vaccinate under-18's and piss poor take up recently amongst the young.

    We are creating a potentially perfect petri dish for variants to spawn.

    When you factor in that 40% of those hospitalised with the Delta variant are double vaccinated the situation we are in is NOT rosy.

    The complacency is remarkable.

    And yet…..

    In England, it is estimated that around 9 in 10 adults, or 91.9% of the adult population (95% credible interval: 90.5% to 93.0%) would have tested positive for antibodies against coronavirus (COVID-19) - SARS-CoV-2 - on a blood test in the week beginning 28 June 2021, suggesting they had the infection in the past or have been vaccinated.

    https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/conditionsanddiseases/bulletins/coronaviruscovid19infectionsurveyantibodyandvaccinationdatafortheuk/latest
  • MaxPBMaxPB Posts: 39,823

    Alas, my other friends, I fear we are by no means out of the woods on this.

    At the moment 45% of our population are not protected by double vaccines. Even when they have their second jabs we will still have 1/3rd of our population unvaccinated, thanks in part to our refusal to vaccinate under-18's and piss poor take up recently amongst the young.

    We are creating a potentially perfect petri dish for variants to spawn.

    When you factor in that 40% of those hospitalised with the Delta variant are double vaccinated the situation we are in is NOT rosy.

    The complacency is remarkable.

    You keep repeating that falsehood which shows you have got no understanding of what environment variants are most likely to arise.

    It's veering into fake news bullshit at this point in time.
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 55,195
    Pulpstar said:

    Jessica von Bredow-Werndl - must be the most 'definitely in the european aristocracy' sounding olympian ever.
    Bet her Dad has a massive castle somewhere in Bavaria.

    Princess Anne?
  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 18,631

    OT Sainsbury's have had a delivery since last week but there are still (or again) big gaps on the shelves. Customers all masked up, along with some staff, including all on tills and customer service.

    Waitrose mostly still masked up and screens, but there ha# never been a one way route. Local butchers have stopped wearing masks themselves and I suspect are happy for customers to do so too. Certainly removed their Covid notices. Bakers are asking customers to wear masks, but some staff are not. So mixed bag, which may take a while to ease, probably linked to cases.
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 79,235
    Bronze for Pumpkin at his first olympics :D
  • MaxPBMaxPB Posts: 39,823
    Pulpstar said:

    Bronze for Pumpkin at his first olympics :D

    Favourite for 2024?
  • LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 19,163
    Dura_Ace said:

    The planned T31 frigates (if the tories don't bin them) all appear to be named at random: Active, Bulldog, Campbeltown, Formidable and Venturer.
    Wikipedia suggests that there is a theme for those names, however tenuous. I wonder how many hobnobs the naming committee had to go through to come up with that?

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_31_frigate

    "The names were selected to represent key themes of the future plans of the Royal Navy and Royal Marines."
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 79,235
    MaxPB said:

    Favourite for 2024?
    Gio should improve for Paris, yes.
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 54,860
    +7,630 cases in Japan, which is close to their all time peak.
  • maaarshmaaarsh Posts: 3,592
    Carl Hester gets a silver in the mens comp, right...?
  • MattWMattW Posts: 26,681

    Scottish Government sparks online debate by referring to pregnant ‘people’ – not pregnant ‘women’

    What are they trying to distract attention from today?
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 44,825

    Cricket has embraced the fist bump way more, and I kind of like it. Not averse to hand shakes though.
    Yes, I don't mind the fist bump. Its advantage over the handshake is you don't have to worry either about your own or the other person's palm being clammy.

    But my favourite is the little bow with hands clasped in front of you. It sets a nice tone, so long as you don't go all performative with it.
  • Richard_NabaviRichard_Nabavi Posts: 30,822
    Apologies if this has already been noted:

    NEW: A large real world study (over one million people) of AstraZeneca & Pfizer vaccines looking at blood clotting disorders

    Confirms safety profiles of both vaccines are similar


    https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3886421

    Not yet peer-reviewed (Lancet preprint), but's it's a serious-looking study.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 65,570
    Scott Beasley
    @SkyScottBeasley
    SyringeNEW: A large real world study (over one million people) of AstraZeneca & Pfizer vaccines looking at blood clotting disorders

    Confirms safety profiles of both vaccines are similar

    You can read the study (Lancet preprint) here: https://bit.ly/3zJnz5r
  • MattWMattW Posts: 26,681

    Real: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flower-class_corvette

    We nearly had an 'HMS Pansy'
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Heartsease_(K15)

    edit; beaten to it ...
    There could be a Red Wall theme to it :smile:

    Previous HMS Active was associated with Burnley:

    Active was the adopted ship of the town of Burnley in Lancashire, North-West England. The ship and its crew were granted the freedom of the town in 1989. Part of the town's inner ring-road between Westgate and the traffic lights at the Church Street junction with Colne Road is called Active Way. One of Active's anchors is displayed at the Anchor Retail Park next to Active Way.


  • TimTTimT Posts: 6,468

    Wikipedia suggests that there is a theme for those names, however tenuous. I wonder how many hobnobs the naming committee had to go through to come up with that?

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_31_frigate

    "The names were selected to represent key themes of the future plans of the Royal Navy and Royal Marines."
    What is the theme? That they are all recycled HMS names?

    Campbelltown of course was rammed into the dry dock gates during the St Nazaire raid, saving the Allies from having to face the German's battleships in the Atlantic in perhaps one of the most idiotically brave, and successful actions of the war.
  • Sean_FSean_F Posts: 38,521

    Alas, my other friends, I fear we are by no means out of the woods on this.

    At the moment 45% of our population are not protected by double vaccines. Even when they have their second jabs we will still have 1/3rd of our population unvaccinated, thanks in part to our refusal to vaccinate under-18's and piss poor take up recently amongst the young.

    We are creating a potentially perfect petri dish for variants to spawn.

    When you factor in that 40% of those hospitalised with the Delta variant are double vaccinated the situation we are in is NOT rosy.

    The complacency is remarkable.

    Why do you keep repeating that rubbish?
  • MattWMattW Posts: 26,681

    At least they haven't decided to name one Thatcher yet.
    Thatcher would be an Icebreaker, and named "Iron Lady".
  • theProletheProle Posts: 1,303

    It was a combination - the primary channel were the German agents in Britain. Who were all working for MI6.....

    What was interesting was that they didn't misreport hits - they actually reported a skewed sample of the actual hits.
    IIRC what they did was particularly subtle - they provided accurately the approximate times and locations of impact - but for different V1s. They matched the times of impact for the ones which had fallen short to the locations of the ones which had gone long.

    Both of these peices of information were relatively easy for the Germans to verify (they knew the launch times and approximate flight time and could take ariel photos of the bomb sites), which added to their agent's veracity.

    The combined effect was to make it look if the bombs which had been set to run the shortest had tended to go long - and the Germans had no way to discover this was in fact entirely untrue.

    If one is interested in both how we did intelligence and attempted countermeasures against the Germans, particularly on new technology, R V Jones "Most Secret War" is worth a read (he was one of the scientists in the "scientific intelligence" unit involved with a lot of this stuff).
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 79,235

    Apologies if this has already been noted:

    NEW: A large real world study (over one million people) of AstraZeneca & Pfizer vaccines looking at blood clotting disorders

    Confirms safety profiles of both vaccines are similar


    https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3886421

    Not yet peer-reviewed (Lancet preprint), but's it's a serious-looking study.

    Dr John Campbell reckons it's related to accidentally jabbing a vein rather than a muscle (Which could be solved by aspiration)
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 54,247

    Wikipedia suggests that there is a theme for those names, however tenuous. I wonder how many hobnobs the naming committee had to go through to come up with that?

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_31_frigate

    "The names were selected to represent key themes of the future plans of the Royal Navy and Royal Marines."
    HMS Campbeltown suggests that ramming France is a plan....
  • DougSealDougSeal Posts: 12,746

    Wait till you see how many teams 'Oxford' and 'Cambridge' are allowed to enter into University Challenge!
    As an Oxford graduate myself this is a fair point.
  • tlg86tlg86 Posts: 26,538

    Wait till you see how many teams 'Oxford' and 'Cambridge' are allowed to enter into University Challenge!
    I reckon Oxford or Cambridge would win Uni Challenge every year if they entered single teams.
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 83,550

    Apologies if this has already been noted:

    NEW: A large real world study (over one million people) of AstraZeneca & Pfizer vaccines looking at blood clotting disorders

    Confirms safety profiles of both vaccines are similar


    https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3886421

    Not yet peer-reviewed (Lancet preprint), but's it's a serious-looking study.

    How many 100,000s of extra people are going to be dead because of fake news around AZN vaccine?
  • CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 60,422
    Would the following individuals have performed better, worse, or about the same as Boris Johnson if they had been Prime Minister during the pandemic?

    Jeremy Corbyn: 48% worse
    Rishi Sunak: 39% about the same
    Theresa May: 36% worse
    Tony Blair: 33% worse




    https://twitter.com/RedfieldWilton/status/1420353762733043714?s=20
This discussion has been closed.