politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » Damian McBride wonders why there’s been no official denial
Comments
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It's a way of implementing what needs to be implemented, namely allowing the Eurozone to integrate should they so wish (and the Greek crisis suggests they haven't got much choice), whilst allowing us to gently disengage and keeping up the face-saving pretence that the EU is not going backwards.JEO said:It would be laughable if we were sold an "associate member" status that is virtually identical from what we have now. You'd have to be top level spin man to sell that with a straight face!.
Of course this pure speculation at the moment - we don't have the faintest idea how the actual negotiations are going - but Farage's view is interesting, if the report is accurate.0 -
We might have Carlo Ancelotti as our manager by the weekend.Scrapheap_as_was said:
Surely it's a heinz on Carlisle & Gooners tonight, City & Villa at the weekend then Monaco & Sion next?TheScreamingEagles said:
Can you do me a favour. Stick some money on Carlisle beating Liverpool tonight and I'll do the same on Arsenal beating SpursScrapheap_as_was said:Yawn of a thread except:
1. This image damage has massive implications for the 2015 General Election.
oh.
2. It has serious implications for DC being re-elected as PM in 2020.
oh.0 -
I know this site is full of Tories who hate the Guardian but you really ought to read Rafael Behr's piece on Britain and China.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/sep/22/george-osborne-china-chancellor-britain-economy
The fact that this is all happening without a hint of political debate in this country only tells you how sick the current system is. A great liberal nation that now just pimps itself to the highest bidder.0 -
The grant of a patent does not give the exclusive right to sell a product though. It may lead to that or it may not. The patent gives the right to exclude. The rest is down to the patent owner.JEO said:
Monopolies are not about "solutions", they are about products and services. If I had the exclusive right to sell sugar, I would have a legal monopoly even though there are other solutions to sweeten food, such as honey or artificial sweeteners.SouthamObserver said:
London black cabs do not have a legal monopoly. They are one solution.JEO said:
I agree that it's not a monopoly over a solution. But that's like saying London's black cabs don't have a legal monopoly because there are other ways of getting from A to B. A patent grants a monopoly on a specific product.SouthamObserver said:
It's not a monopoly over a solution is what I mean. So when you get a patent for a drug designed to cure the common cold you do not get the monopoly on cures for the common cold.JEO said:
It's a monopoly right to produce the patented invention. No one else is allowed to make it, and no one is allowed to buy it from anyone else but you. How is that not a monopoly right?SouthamObserver said:
Patents are not a monopoly right, they are a right to exclude; ie, the right to prevent unauthorised use of the patented invention. It's a very different thing. There are 27,000 US patents covering cures for the common cold currently in force.JEO said:
The idea of patents lasting 70 years is quite ridiculous. The purpose of the patent system is that we grant a legal monopoly on something to encourage research. But who makes research decisions on profits earned 70 years hence? I think patent terms should be cut drastically.Beverley_C said:
I agree. It reminds me of the stories of US companies that tried to patent business methods to bankrupt their competitors. One lot even tried to patent putting milk on breakfast cereal so it could licence breakfast to eateries, hotels and restaurants.JEO said:This hedge fund manager who upped the price of AIDS drugs is a pretty disgusting story
Besides, how come a 70 year old drug is still in patent? My understanding is it was developed in the 1940s and, like many drugs, they found other uses for it.
What is being granted is the right to exclude. It is then up to you to decide how you use that right. You can use it to create a monopoly if you choose and if the invention is strong enough, or you can use it in other ways. A lot of patent owners produce very little. See ARM, for example.
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A insufficiently contrite apology, to my mind. May I refer you to my effort the other day?Morris_Dancer said:Mr. G, it's the nature of bets to be hit and miss. Don't worry about it (I've offered more losing tips than I've followed this year
).
There is something I need to address. I often give tips on this site, always with the best of intentions. But if anyone has lost money as a result - and clearly some have - then that is of course a cause for huge regret. I'm truly saddened by it. But if I hadn't given the tips, then perhaps the bookmakers would not have offered such markets in future. If just one more market were offered, then maybe my losing tips were worth it. But I will take your criticism on board and only tip winners in the future. Thank you.0 -
This is the only victory in Australia that has ever mattered.Alistair said:
And when we beat Australia Home and Away in 2009 & 2012 which is more than Wales have achieved in the last 7 years.TheScreamingEagles said:
Ok. Three decent performances in twenty five yearsAlistair said:
Hey, we had a great performance in 2010 to smash Ireland in Dublin.TheScreamingEagles said:
This is the Scottish rugby team you're talking about. Their last two great performances were in 2000 and 1990 when they upped their game to deny L'Angleterre the five nations.Morris_Dancer said:Anyway, more important than a disgraced spin doctor's utterances is today's Scotland Vs Japan rugby match. Will the Brave Blossoms continue their superb form? Will Scotland potentially put themselves in position to top the group?
If Japan win, they could win the group themselves. It could be a cracker.
Also today is Australia Vs Fiji, and the less competitive France Vs Romania.
We're talking about a side that regularly puts up the most embarrassingly inept performance against any Italian side since the Battle of Zama
http://youtu.be/weSB8ZmNNi80 -
When you first said that, I questioned what the distinction was, and you started talking about solutions. When I demonstrated that it was not solutions that matter but products and services, you have just gone back to your original argument. The right to exclude others from selling a product is the exclusive right to sell a product. The word "exclusive" is the give away.SouthamObserver said:
The grant of a patent does not give the exclusive right to sell a product though. It may lead to that or it may not. The patent gives the right to exclude. The rest is down to the patent owner.0 -
Gloves off
Refugee crisis shows folly of open borders, says Cameron http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/politics/article4565184.ece0 -
Rafael Bahr is always an excellent read, and that article is a good example. PBers shouldn't be put off it by your last paragraph.FrankBooth said:I know this site is full of Tories who hate the Guardian but you really ought to read Rafael Behr's piece on Britain and China.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/sep/22/george-osborne-china-chancellor-britain-economy
The fact that this is all happening without a hint of political debate in this country only tells you how sick the current system is. A great liberal nation that now just pimps itself to the highest bidder.
(And the article's first paragraph on the LibDems is a humdinger!)0 -
Indeed, the old 'control' and rapid buttal simply doesn't work.SouthamObserver said:
The key point is that in the last six years social media has exploded. McBride never had to deal with Twitter and the rest. In the same way, previous regimes did not have to deal with the Internet or the 24 hour news cycle.flightpath01 said:Once you respond to one accusation you then fall into responding to every one of them - and when they are clearly part of a character assassination plot then you will be bouncing up and down all week. Cameron did comment in a speech that l think - it's not as if he totally ignored it. The response was qute apposite as well - 'stabbed in the back' - as well as typically a bit more humorous than McBride is even on a good day.
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I read that piece sympathetic to the concern about Chinese involvement but he did not seem to make any practical arguments about why this deal was a mistake, beyond "China bad".FrankBooth said:I know this site is full of Tories who hate the Guardian but you really ought to read Rafael Behr's piece on Britain and China.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/sep/22/george-osborne-china-chancellor-britain-economy
The fact that this is all happening without a hint of political debate in this country only tells you how sick the current system is. A great liberal nation that now just pimps itself to the highest bidder.0 -
Thanks for that Mr Navabi - but l am not sure l can be fussed reading the Spectator these days. However the premise as l understand it might well be plausible. The EEA is basically 'associate membership' but with no votes (however with the added advantage of not having to elect pointless MEPs).Richard_Nabavi said:On a more substantive matter, this is a very interesting article on the EU renegotiation and on tactics of the Out campaign:
http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/2015/09/will-david-cameron-deliver-associate-membership-of-the-eu-for-britain/
Apologies if it's already been noted.
Given the emergence of the Euro group and the inevitable ever closer union of Euro members then there has to be some change from our point of view.
There would be one presumes some demarcation rules and different voting rights but unlike the EEA there would at least be some voting rights. But this wider orbit around the central EU/Eurozone would not in truth be much different than being in the EEA and whatever happens the EU/Euro is not going to go away.
There seems little point however speculating about anything at the moment when we see the chaos over the migrant situation.
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Ouch
The Liberal Democrat conference in Bournemouth this week felt like the political equivalent of a convention for model railway enthusiasts. The policy debates were a fine technical replica of the issues facing a full-scale government, but none of it seemed relevant to the people elsewhere, heading to work on real trains.
Richard_Nabavi said:
Rafael Bahr is always an excellent read, and that article is a good example. PBers shouldn't be put off it by your last paragraph.FrankBooth said:I know this site is full of Tories who hate the Guardian but you really ought to read Rafael Behr's piece on Britain and China.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/sep/22/george-osborne-china-chancellor-britain-economy
The fact that this is all happening without a hint of political debate in this country only tells you how sick the current system is. A great liberal nation that now just pimps itself to the highest bidder.
(And the article's first paragraph on the LibDems is a humdinger!)0 -
It tells me that the Labour party are a spectacularly useless opposition.FrankBooth said:
The fact that this is all happening without a hint of political debate in this country only tells you how sick the current system is. .0 -
Ditto Lib Dems, Ukip etc.TGOHF said:
It tells me that the Labour party are a spectacularly useless opposition.FrankBooth said:
The fact that this is all happening without a hint of political debate in this country only tells you how sick the current system is. .0 -
FWIW I think the half-denial was a mistake - "Mr Cameron says he does not recognise the description" or words to that effect. Ignoring it totally except to say we don't bother with comments on anonymous allegations in books would have been better. But the story is essentially froth and has now pretty much died.0
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And don't forget the SNP..FrankBooth said:
Ditto Lib Dems, Ukip etc.TGOHF said:
It tells me that the Labour party are a spectacularly useless opposition.FrankBooth said:
The fact that this is all happening without a hint of political debate in this country only tells you how sick the current system is. .
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A bit late on thread this morning.
Wouldn't an outright denial have given the story legs by dignifying it with a response?0 -
Yes.Hertsmere_Pubgoer said:
A bit late on thread this morning.
Wouldn't an outright denial have given the story legs by dignifying it with a response?0 -
I agree with those that think that Damian McBride is out of date in the age of twitter. Once this story was out there, nothing was going to stop the photo mock-ups, the puns and the pithy one-liners. An official denial, however, would have opened up a detailed investigation of David Cameron's university years which I'm quite sure he would not relish.
I have read through the latest extracts in the Mail. Lord Ashcroft needs to learn that you knife someone most effectively if you conceal the stiletto. The biography seems very one-note. That uncharismatic not-all-that-bright lazy man seems to have done remarkably well. An exploration of his virtues would have been helpful. Or an acknowledgement that that caricature is just that - a caricature.0 -
Which tip is thisTissue_Price said:
A insufficiently contrite apology, to my mind. May I refer you to my effort the other day?Morris_Dancer said:Mr. G, it's the nature of bets to be hit and miss. Don't worry about it (I've offered more losing tips than I've followed this year
).
There is something I need to address. I often give tips on this site, always with the best of intentions. But if anyone has lost money as a result - and clearly some have - then that is of course a cause for huge regret. I'm truly saddened by it. But if I hadn't given the tips, then perhaps the bookmakers would not have offered such markets in future. If just one more market were offered, then maybe my losing tips were worth it. But I will take your criticism on board and only tip winners in the future. Thank you.
Have to say Zac is doing better than Chelsea at the moment
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At which point will you pull the pin from the grenade strapped to your chest? The BBC have a photo of a crying teenage suicide bomber embarking on his ... er ... first mission.John_M said:
ISIL are not wrong. I intend to take my Yorkipoo on a hike and brutally trample grass all along the Wye. Afterwards I may very well drink tea and eat a biscuit - it depends how decadent I'm feeling.SouthamObserver said:European leaders bent on dissuading Syrian refugees from fleeing to their countries have found an unlikely ally in Islamic State. The militant group has released a flurry of propaganda videos urging those thinking of heading to Europe to reconsider and join them instead.
At least ten videos appeared on ISIS social media accounts within 24 hours, depicting the self-declared caliphate as an earthly paradise and Europe as a den of sin and brutality.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/islamic-state-begs-migrants-come-to-caliphate/story-fnb64oi6-1227540562334
lt is of course no joke the pictures are painful and tragic.0 -
And also McBride's lack of competence as a spin doctor. He is just implying that no denial means that it is true in one of his characteristic lowlife smears.watford30 said:
Perhaps the thread header should have mentioned McBride's shaming and resignation. It helps to give a measure of the man, his moral code, and thought processes.Cyclefree said:"McBride, of course, worked for Gordon Brown and had a lot of experience of situations like this. "
This would be the Damian McBride who was behind the smears against Cameron's wife and child and Osborne's wife. That Damian McBride, yes?
I think Dave has managed it well. It has added to the gaity of the nation, and cast Lord Ashcroft into the darkness, not too much to frighten the horses.0 -
Labour seem to be in hiding this week - conference preparation ?NickPalmer said:FWIW I think the half-denial was a mistake - "Mr Cameron says he does not recognise the description" or words to that effect. Ignoring it totally except to say we don't bother with comments on anonymous allegations in books would have been better. But the story is essentially froth and has now pretty much died.
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Yeah Chelsea not so good, though Saturday helped a bit. But the Andy Murray SPOTY advice is looking solid.Pulpstar said:
Which tip is thisTissue_Price said:
A insufficiently contrite apology, to my mind. May I refer you to my effort the other day?Morris_Dancer said:Mr. G, it's the nature of bets to be hit and miss. Don't worry about it (I've offered more losing tips than I've followed this year
).
There is something I need to address. I often give tips on this site, always with the best of intentions. But if anyone has lost money as a result - and clearly some have - then that is of course a cause for huge regret. I'm truly saddened by it. But if I hadn't given the tips, then perhaps the bookmakers would not have offered such markets in future. If just one more market were offered, then maybe my losing tips were worth it. But I will take your criticism on board and only tip winners in the future. Thank you.
Have to say Zac is doing better than Chelsea at the moment0 -
I suppose the only thing that really matters is whether or not Mr Cameron had his top button fastened whilst greeting the porker.
Anyway, I am looking forward to Tim Farron's speech...
...ending.
Any chance he will yell "Victory to the Farronite 451!"?0 -
558k migrants to this country last year shows that Cameron is full of shit.Plato_Says said:Gloves off
Refugee crisis shows folly of open borders, says Cameron http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/politics/article4565184.ece
A quote from the OECD report is apropos to the discussion we had the other day:
"Apart from the United States, Britain was the most popular destination for foreign-born medics.
“The United Kingdom is the second country of destination for doctors, receiving 14 per cent of all foreign-born doctors who practise in OECD countries, followed by Germany (9 per cent).
“This ranking is reversed for nurses, with Germany in second place (12 per cent) followed by the United Kingdom (10 per cent).”
Britain also saw the “greatest swing” in the number of foreign-born doctors working here, from 2000-01 to 2010-11, the OECD report said."
Meanwhile, our doctors are emigrating to Australia. Well played Tories, well played.0 -
Lately, McBride's twitter feed seems to have been a desperate plea for Corbyn to hire him. He's got lots of political wisdom and insight but is rightly unemployable. And he's wrong about PigGate, as others have noted.0
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Yes how not very bright of Cameron to have ignored the mega brilliant political and campaigning skills of Ashcroft and gone instead for that jumped up Aussie Crosby. (Did Ashcroft's polling achieve anything? And just what was the real point of it anyway??)antifrank said:I agree with those that think that Damian McBride is out of date in the age of twitter. Once this story was out there, nothing was going to stop the photo mock-ups, the puns and the pithy one-liners. An official denial, however, would have opened up a detailed investigation of David Cameron's university years which I'm quite sure he would not relish.
I have read through the latest extracts in the Mail. Lord Ashcroft needs to learn that you knife someone most effectively if you conceal the stiletto. The biography seems very one-note. That uncharismatic not-all-that-bright lazy man seems to have done remarkably well. An exploration of his virtues would have been helpful. Or an acknowledgement that that caricature is just that - a caricature.0 -
The best advice Farron could give would be "go back to your constituencies and prepare for boundary changes."SandyRentool said:I suppose the only thing that really matters is whether or not Mr Cameron had his top button fastened whilst greeting the porker.
Anyway, I am looking forward to Tim Farron's speech...
...ending.
Any chance he will yell "Victory to the Farronite 451!"?0 -
I had a quick scan and came to the same conclusion. It's so biased that I wondered how he'd become PM more than once...antifrank said:
I have read through the latest extracts in the Mail. Lord Ashcroft needs to learn that you knife someone most effectively if you conceal the stiletto. The biography seems very one-note. That uncharismatic not-all-that-bright lazy man seems to have done remarkably well. An exploration of his virtues would have been helpful. Or an acknowledgement that that caricature is just that - a caricature.0 -
Indeed. Why would Labour want to reemploy a washed up smear merchant.Tissue_Price said:Lately, McBride's twitter feed seems to have been a desperate plea for Corbyn to hire him. He's got lots of political wisdom and insight but is rightly unemployable. And he's wrong about PigGate, as others have noted.
Looks like McBride's stuck with merely Tweeting from pub quizzes for the foreseeable future.0 -
In follow up to Rafael Behr's piece the Guardian's editorial is rather good too.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/sep/22/guardian-view-on-george-osborne-economic-strategy-china
Nice to see as I've been worried the Graun might be slipping lately.0 -
The Lib Dem national polling 6%? was it!? seems a bit at odds with their modest success/swings in recent local by-elections. If their fortunes modestly dip, Farron could be joining the Greens and UKIP with 3 seats amongst the lot of them.Tissue_Price said:
The best advice Farron could give would be "go back to your constituencies and prepare for boundary changes."SandyRentool said:I suppose the only thing that really matters is whether or not Mr Cameron had his top button fastened whilst greeting the porker.
Anyway, I am looking forward to Tim Farron's speech...
...ending.
Any chance he will yell "Victory to the Farronite 451!"?0 -
What is McBride up to these days, apart from hawking his opinions for free on CIF?Tissue_Price said:Lately, McBride's twitter feed seems to have been a desperate plea for Corbyn to hire him. He's got lots of political wisdom and insight but is rightly unemployable. And he's wrong about PigGate, as others have noted.
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Amusing to see the Guardian in full-on Little Englander mode, wanting to shut those nasty little foreigners and their tawdry investment out of the country.FrankBooth said:In follow up to Rafael Behr's piece the Guardian's editorial is rather good too.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/sep/22/guardian-view-on-george-osborne-economic-strategy-china
Nice to see as I've been worried the Graun might be slipping lately.0 -
But in the real world - ??Richard_Nabavi said:
Rafael Bahr is always an excellent read, and that article is a good example. PBers shouldn't be put off it by your last paragraph.FrankBooth said:I know this site is full of Tories who hate the Guardian but you really ought to read Rafael Behr's piece on Britain and China.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/sep/22/george-osborne-china-chancellor-britain-economy
The fact that this is all happening without a hint of political debate in this country only tells you how sick the current system is. A great liberal nation that now just pimps itself to the highest bidder.
(And the article's first paragraph on the LibDems is a humdinger!)
China has a seat on the UN Security Council. Who is the pimp?? Where would some trade boycott of China get us?
And just look at the real world where we are better and possibly being more moral doing business with China than Russia.0 -
Head of media for CAFOD.SimonStClare said:
What is McBride up to these days, apart from hawking his opinions for free on CIF?Tissue_Price said:Lately, McBride's twitter feed seems to have been a desperate plea for Corbyn to hire him. He's got lots of political wisdom and insight but is rightly unemployable. And he's wrong about PigGate, as others have noted.
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McBride was being interviewed by Galloway on Sputnik at the weekend, and said that he would like to work for Corbyn, but wasn't anticipating a call.
Surely I'm not the only PBer who watches Sputnik?0 -
I have seen two basic arguments used in David Cameron's defence: (1) He didn't do it. (2) Who cares? We all did things in our youth we wouldn't want to own now, but it doesn't stop us being responsible adults.
The second defence is superfluous if the first one applies. It looks like the second is the telling argument, however. None of us know if David Cameron had oral sex with a dead pig, but it may not matter whether he actually did. I agree with Damien Bride that the denials don't seem very emphatic and David Cameron's anecdote about the "little prick" and "stab in the back" seems more like a complaint about telling tales out of school than moral outrage at a dirty lie.
To my surprise the British public appear to be supremely unfazed by the _Idea_ of our prime minister indulging in activities that are so outlandish that they could be made for the Jerry Springer Show. Regardless of whether the event actually happened, they believe it could have done in David Cameron's case. This may be the Bullingdon toff factor for once acting in Cameron's favour. The public think this is the sort of thing they would do, even if it never crossed their own minds in their own much less misspent youth.
I admit I misread this one.0 -
He'll probably spontaneously combust if so.SandyRentool said:I suppose the only thing that really matters is whether or not Mr Cameron had his top button fastened whilst greeting the porker.
Anyway, I am looking forward to Tim Farron's speech...
...ending.
Any chance he will yell "Victory to the Farronite 451!"?0 -
Whadya mean?DecrepitJohnL said:Plan A has not worked.
Corbyn is still in post, bedding in nicely
Its worked perfectly (tho not as any of those immediately involved might have eanticipated...).....0 -
Send all the immigrants to Manchester?
An Iranian immigrant has been arrested after walking into a police station in Manchester and demanding to be put on a flight home because he's fed up with the city.
The man turned up at the station on Monday night asking to be deported having lived in the city for the past 10 years.
http://ind.pn/1iLGsgO0 -
Are Spurs taking the cup seriously? Surely the temptation to give Arsenal a pounding is irresistable?Scrapheap_as_was said:Yawn of a thread except:
1. This image damage has massive implications for the 2015 General Election.
oh.
2. It has serious implications for DC being re-elected as PM in 2020.
oh.
Could I put in a request for extra time and some red cards as we host the Gunners on Saturday?0 -
Actually, I recall him saying on some interview or other at the weekend that if he was advising Corbyn he'd tell him not to employ Damian McBride.Tissue_Price said:Lately, McBride's twitter feed seems to have been a desperate plea for Corbyn to hire him. He's got lots of political wisdom and insight but is rightly unemployable. And he's wrong about PigGate, as others have noted.
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That's probably because you don't seem to have understood the silly story which, even in the extremely unlikely event that it is true, is not what you seem to think it is.FF43 said:I admit I misread this one.
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That's alright - they can 'deport' him toTheScreamingEagles said:Send all the immigrants to Manchester?
An Iranian immigrant has been arrested after walking into a police station in Manchester and demanding to be put on a flight home because he's fed up with the city.
The man turned up at the station on Monday night asking to be deported having lived in the city for the past 10 years.
http://ind.pn/1iLGsgOBradfordYorkshire - that'll learn him.0 -
'An Iranian immigrant has been arrested after walking into a police station in Manchester and demanding to be put on a flight home because he's fed up with the city.'
Who can blame him ?0 -
He'll be typecast if not careful - as a spin doctor for dark sinister undemocratic organisations led by demagogues with a thin veneer of "doing good" but ultimately about spreading their discredited ideology and enriching the top brass.watford30 said:
Head of media for CAFOD.SimonStClare said:
What is McBride up to these days, apart from hawking his opinions for free on CIF?Tissue_Price said:Lately, McBride's twitter feed seems to have been a desperate plea for Corbyn to hire him. He's got lots of political wisdom and insight but is rightly unemployable. And he's wrong about PigGate, as others have noted.
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Indeed, suprised he lasted 10 years....john_zims said:'An Iranian immigrant has been arrested after walking into a police station in Manchester and demanding to be put on a flight home because he's fed up with the city.'
Who can blame him ?0 -
If British doctors are going to Australia in search of lucre and we get replacements happy with existing pay here that shows the market works. Win, win. and btw they won't be the first expats to discover that the grass isn't always greener, etcJohn_M said:
558k migrants to this country last year shows that Cameron is full of shit.Plato_Says said:Gloves off
Refugee crisis shows folly of open borders, says Cameron http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/politics/article4565184.ece
A quote from the OECD report is apropos to the discussion we had the other day:
"Apart from the United States, Britain was the most popular destination for foreign-born medics.
“The United Kingdom is the second country of destination for doctors, receiving 14 per cent of all foreign-born doctors who practise in OECD countries, followed by Germany (9 per cent).
“This ranking is reversed for nurses, with Germany in second place (12 per cent) followed by the United Kingdom (10 per cent).”
Britain also saw the “greatest swing” in the number of foreign-born doctors working here, from 2000-01 to 2010-11, the OECD report said."
Meanwhile, our doctors are emigrating to Australia. Well played Tories, well played.0 -
Doubtless this has been proposed before: is it a feint by the Tories to deflect attention from their important vandalism initiatives?0
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Patents are often granted many years before products emerge. A pharma company receiving a patent covering, say, a cure for the common cold has no right to sell anything until it receives FDA clearance. That will be an extensive process involving many separate processes. But it does have the right to exclude others from using its patent.JEO said:
When you first said that, I questioned what the distinction was, and you started talking about solutions. When I demonstrated that it was not solutions that matter but products and services, you have just gone back to your original argument. The right to exclude others from selling a product is the exclusive right to sell a product. The word "exclusive" is the give away.SouthamObserver said:
The grant of a patent does not give the exclusive right to sell a product though. It may lead to that or it may not. The patent gives the right to exclude. The rest is down to the patent owner.
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It just diminishes an already diminishing leader. Having ruled himself out of the next election, he is fast becoming an insignificance, and this prediliction for the pigsty is simply making the water around the plughole circle a little faster.FF43 said:I have seen two basic arguments used in David Cameron's defence: (1) He didn't do it. (2) Who cares? We all did things in our youth we wouldn't want to own now, but it doesn't stop us being responsible adults.
The second defence is superfluous if the first one applies. It looks like the second is the telling argument, however. None of us know if David Cameron had oral sex with a dead pig, but it may not matter whether he actually did. I agree with Damien Bride that the denials don't seem very emphatic and David Cameron's anecdote about the "little prick" and "stab in the back" seems more like a complaint about telling tales out of school than moral outrage at a dirty lie.
To my surprise the British public appear to be supremely unfazed by the _Idea_ of our prime minister indulging in activities that are so outlandish that they could be made for the Jerry Springer Show. Regardless of whether the event actually happened, they believe it could have done in David Cameron's case. This may be the Bullingdon toff factor for once acting in Cameron's favour. The public think this is the sort of thing they would do, even if it never crossed their own minds in their own much less misspent youth.
I admit I misread this one.0 -
Felix..wait until those fleeing medics find out what portion of their salary is hived off for persona indemnity insurance..and the hours they have to work which.. will include.. ahem..weekends..I have friends who did the run some years ago.. they are back now.0
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I don't have an issue with doctors coming here, and I don't really have much of an issue with nurses. My problem is that the majority of those half million coming here do not have a tertiary education at all. The latest immigration bill seems to have run out of ideas in limiting legal immigration. I don't see why we don't bring back the primary purpose rule.John_M said:
558k migrants to this country last year shows that Cameron is full of shit.Plato_Says said:Gloves off
Refugee crisis shows folly of open borders, says Cameron http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/politics/article4565184.ece
A quote from the OECD report is apropos to the discussion we had the other day:
"Apart from the United States, Britain was the most popular destination for foreign-born medics.
“The United Kingdom is the second country of destination for doctors, receiving 14 per cent of all foreign-born doctors who practise in OECD countries, followed by Germany (9 per cent).
“This ranking is reversed for nurses, with Germany in second place (12 per cent) followed by the United Kingdom (10 per cent).”
Britain also saw the “greatest swing” in the number of foreign-born doctors working here, from 2000-01 to 2010-11, the OECD report said."
Meanwhile, our doctors are emigrating to Australia. Well played Tories, well played.0 -
Absolute rubbish - He has won two elections and is generally popular - Most everyone did silly things at University and his 'posh ness' is long established by the public. Of course those that dislike him will play this to their own advantage as they see it but it will be forgotten in no time. In a recent poll it was significant that more women than men thought any of it was signifcantLuckyguy1983 said:
It just diminishes an already diminishing leader. Having ruled himself out of the next election, he is fast becoming an insignificance, and this prediliction for the pigsty is simply making the water around the plughole circle a little faster.FF43 said:I have seen two basic arguments used in David Cameron's defence: (1) He didn't do it. (2) Who cares? We all did things in our youth we wouldn't want to own now, but it doesn't stop us being responsible adults.
The second defence is superfluous if the first one applies. It looks like the second is the telling argument, however. None of us know if David Cameron had oral sex with a dead pig, but it may not matter whether he actually did. I agree with Damien Bride that the denials don't seem very emphatic and David Cameron's anecdote about the "little prick" and "stab in the back" seems more like a complaint about telling tales out of school than moral outrage at a dirty lie.
To my surprise the British public appear to be supremely unfazed by the _Idea_ of our prime minister indulging in activities that are so outlandish that they could be made for the Jerry Springer Show. Regardless of whether the event actually happened, they believe it could have done in David Cameron's case. This may be the Bullingdon toff factor for once acting in Cameron's favour. The public think this is the sort of thing they would do, even if it never crossed their own minds in their own much less misspent youth.
I admit I misread this one.0 -
Among some in finance. This guy has "form" shall we say. Unhappy investors in his hedge fund; sacked as CEO of his last company.JEO said:This hedge fund manager who upped the price of AIDS drugs is a pretty disgusting story. His response to the legitimate criticism just makes it worse. There is a very ugly me-me-me attitude in finance, with no respect for the common good, which is what you get when you throw vast amounts of money at young immature men. As with the interview of that Dutch financial journalist from the other day, it shows that we have just put a sticking plaster over the problems in the banking sector. We need root and branch cultural reform of finance, and to do that we need to change the incentive system.
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The fallout from yesterday's EU vote on the movement of refugees will be worth following. This was a huge moment and there are a lot of fences to be mended. Right now it doesn't look like anyone has any intention of doing any mending of fences.
This has been portrayed as good for David Cameron's renegotiation, the idea being that the recalcitrant countries may now be more sympathetic to British concerns. More likely, the disintegration of consensus will mean that British demands get caught up in crossfire.0 -
Is it still in patent? I thought it was just that no one else bothered to make it because the sales were too low and the margins were too smallBeverley_C said:
I agree. It reminds me of the stories of US companies that tried to patent business methods to bankrupt their competitors. One lot even tried to patent putting milk on breakfast cereal so it could licence breakfast to eateries, hotels and restaurants.JEO said:This hedge fund manager who upped the price of AIDS drugs is a pretty disgusting story
Besides, how come a 70 year old drug is still in patent? My understanding is it was developed in the 1940s and, like many drugs, they found other uses for it.0 -
Mr. Antifrank, I concur with your view on disintegration.
I'd be greatly surprised if the EU falls over the migrant business. Could be the pebble that starts the landslide, though.0 -
That is the reason. Although pharma companies seeking to evergreen their patents, or paying off generics to delay entering the post-patent market, is not unknown ;-)Charles said:
Is it still in patent? I thought it was just that no one else bothered to make it because the sales were too low and the margins were too smallBeverley_C said:
I agree. It reminds me of the stories of US companies that tried to patent business methods to bankrupt their competitors. One lot even tried to patent putting milk on breakfast cereal so it could licence breakfast to eateries, hotels and restaurants.JEO said:This hedge fund manager who upped the price of AIDS drugs is a pretty disgusting story
Besides, how come a 70 year old drug is still in patent? My understanding is it was developed in the 1940s and, like many drugs, they found other uses for it.
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O/T A surprise "hush hush" guest speaker is promised at the UKIP conference.
Another defection? Danzcuk would seem the most likely. Any market on this?0 -
Fun - and wholly irrelevant - fact for the day: in Corbyn's constituency, there is a Corbyn Street.
Is our Jezza a secret Ozymandias?0 -
I am sure you are.SandyRentool said:McBride was being interviewed by Galloway on Sputnik at the weekend, and said that he would like to work for Corbyn, but wasn't anticipating a call.
Surely I'm not the only PBer who watches Sputnik?
McBride said the same on R4 some 3 weeks ago so Sputnik appears - as its name implies - rather behind the times :-)0 -
Meanwhile, UKIP have come up with another way to repel voters:
"Former UKIP election candidates have said allowing high profile figures from outside Wales to apply to stand in the assembly election will put off voters.
Ex-MPs Mark Reckless and Neil Hamilton, and Nigel Farage's head of media Alexandra Phillips are all applying to stand as regional list candidates.
Ken Beswick, UKIP's general election candidate in Torfaen, said Welsh members should run the party in Wales."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-34329069
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I wish I were as stupid as Cameron and got a First Class Degree from Oxford..antifrank said:I agree with those that think that Damian McBride is out of date in the age of twitter. Once this story was out there, nothing was going to stop the photo mock-ups, the puns and the pithy one-liners. An official denial, however, would have opened up a detailed investigation of David Cameron's university years which I'm quite sure he would not relish.
I have read through the latest extracts in the Mail. Lord Ashcroft needs to learn that you knife someone most effectively if you conceal the stiletto. The biography seems very one-note. That uncharismatic not-all-that-bright lazy man seems to have done remarkably well. An exploration of his virtues would have been helpful. Or an acknowledgement that that caricature is just that - a caricature.0 -
Who?TheScreamingEagles said:The other aspect to this story.
Neither Mike or I have done a single thread on the Lib Dem conference.0 -
There's another obvious possibility.PrinceofTaranto said:O/T A surprise "hush hush" guest speaker is promised at the UKIP conference.
Another defection? Danzcuk would seem the most likely. Any market on this?
*glances at the Daily Mail*0 -
Apparently we give out almost 20,000 of these visas each year:
https://www.gov.uk/domestic-workers-in-a-private-household-visa/overview
That seems like something that should be immediately closed off.0 -
Prince of Taranto, couldn't see one n Ladbrokes.0
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You mean the pig has joined UKIP?antifrank said:
There's another obvious possibility.PrinceofTaranto said:O/T A surprise "hush hush" guest speaker is promised at the UKIP conference.
Another defection? Danzcuk would seem the most likely. Any market on this?
*glances at the Daily Mail*0 -
Vernon Bogdanor's assessment of David Cameron's abilities was very different from the image of his abilities portrayed in the extracts in the Mail:madasafish said:
I wish I were as stupid as Cameron and got a First Class Degree from Oxford..antifrank said:I agree with those that think that Damian McBride is out of date in the age of twitter. Once this story was out there, nothing was going to stop the photo mock-ups, the puns and the pithy one-liners. An official denial, however, would have opened up a detailed investigation of David Cameron's university years which I'm quite sure he would not relish.
I have read through the latest extracts in the Mail. Lord Ashcroft needs to learn that you knife someone most effectively if you conceal the stiletto. The biography seems very one-note. That uncharismatic not-all-that-bright lazy man seems to have done remarkably well. An exploration of his virtues would have been helpful. Or an acknowledgement that that caricature is just that - a caricature.
http://www.theguardian.com/education/2009/feb/17/vernon-bogdanor
" "David was one of the nicest and ablest students I ever taught," Bogdanor says."
Maybe it's in the book somewhere.0 -
Yes that also occurred.he has been making one or two pro UKIP comments recently eg regarding non-allocation of peers.antifrank said:
There's another obvious possibility.PrinceofTaranto said:O/T A surprise "hush hush" guest speaker is promised at the UKIP conference.
Another defection? Danzcuk would seem the most likely. Any market on this?
*glances at the Daily Mail*
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I'd be a layer: has Simon Danczuk ever proposed leaving Europe?PrinceofTaranto said:O/T A surprise "hush hush" guest speaker is promised at the UKIP conference.
Another defection? Danzcuk would seem the most likely. Any market on this?0 -
@LukwesaBurak: Slovakia Prime Minister Robert Fico says will go to court to challenge quotas for distributing asylum-seekers approved by EU ministers0
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Who cares what a filth merchant like McBride thinks?0
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It'd fit with his wholesale burning of bridges with almost all Tory card-carriers. Who'd be seen dead in his company now?
Launch a revenge fueled tirade, then jump ship.PrinceofTaranto said:
Yes that also occurred.he has been making one or two pro UKIP comments recently eg regarding non-allocation of peers.antifrank said:
There's another obvious possibility.PrinceofTaranto said:O/T A surprise "hush hush" guest speaker is promised at the UKIP conference.
Another defection? Danzcuk would seem the most likely. Any market on this?
*glances at the Daily Mail*0 -
@LukwesaBurak: "We will go in 2 directions, 1st, we'll file charge at court in Luxembourg, 2nd, we won't implement decision of interior ministers," - Fico0
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Bloody silly to force a country to take people it doesn't want. What the hell will that do for social harmony?Scott_P said:@LukwesaBurak: "We will go in 2 directions, 1st, we'll file charge at court in Luxembourg, 2nd, we won't implement decision of interior ministers," - Fico
Rather than fence-mending there will be fence-building. The new Europe, eh?!
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McBride or Cashcroft? Either would fit in at UKIP.antifrank said:
There's another obvious possibility.PrinceofTaranto said:O/T A surprise "hush hush" guest speaker is promised at the UKIP conference.
Another defection? Danzcuk would seem the most likely. Any market on this?
*glances at the Daily Mail*0 -
Peppawatford30 said:
McBride or Cashcroft?antifrank said:
There's another obvious possibility.PrinceofTaranto said:O/T A surprise "hush hush" guest speaker is promised at the UKIP conference.
Another defection? Danzcuk would seem the most likely. Any market on this?
*glances at the Daily Mail*0 -
If you extend the licence you get a new patent. The drug was origionally a TB drug, but if they ran trials and found it had an effect on AIDS then they can get a new patent.SouthamObserver said:
That is the reason. Although pharma companies seeking to evergreen their patents, or paying off generics to delay entering the post-patent market, is not unknown ;-)Charles said:
Is it still in patent? I thought it was just that no one else bothered to make it because the sales were too low and the margins were too smallBeverley_C said:
I agree. It reminds me of the stories of US companies that tried to patent business methods to bankrupt their competitors. One lot even tried to patent putting milk on breakfast cereal so it could licence breakfast to eateries, hotels and restaurants.JEO said:This hedge fund manager who upped the price of AIDS drugs is a pretty disgusting story
Besides, how come a 70 year old drug is still in patent? My understanding is it was developed in the 1940s and, like many drugs, they found other uses for it.0 -
Well quite. And they won't stay there either.Cyclefree said:
Bloody silly to force a country to take people it doesn't want. What the hell will that do for social harmony?Scott_P said:@LukwesaBurak: "We will go in 2 directions, 1st, we'll file charge at court in Luxembourg, 2nd, we won't implement decision of interior ministers," - Fico
Rather than fence-mending there will be fence-building. The new Europe, eh?!0 -
It would have had more impact the other way around, if that's what he planned. And he's retired from the House of Lords which would be odd if he were going to defect to UKIP, which is underrepresented in the Lords.Plato_Says said:It'd fit with his wholesale burning of bridges with almost all Tory card-carriers. Who'd be seen dead in his company now?
Launch a revenge fueled tirade, then jump ship.PrinceofTaranto said:
Yes that also occurred.he has been making one or two pro UKIP comments recently eg regarding non-allocation of peers.antifrank said:
There's another obvious possibility.PrinceofTaranto said:O/T A surprise "hush hush" guest speaker is promised at the UKIP conference.
Another defection? Danzcuk would seem the most likely. Any market on this?
*glances at the Daily Mail*0 -
I'd agree with that. It would be more than a little ironic if the consequence of the migrants row (and various other problems, notably the Eurozone) prompted a serious reform but because it was a serious reform it couldn't be voted on in the referendum as it'd take more than the time available.antifrank said:The fallout from yesterday's EU vote on the movement of refugees will be worth following. This was a huge moment and there are a lot of fences to be mended. Right now it doesn't look like anyone has any intention of doing any mending of fences.
This has been portrayed as good for David Cameron's renegotiation, the idea being that the recalcitrant countries may now be more sympathetic to British concerns. More likely, the disintegration of consensus will mean that British demands get caught up in crossfire.0 -
Especially since the migrants don't want to go there either.Cyclefree said:Bloody silly to force a country to take people it doesn't want.
This is a bureaucratic allocation by numbers which cannot possibly work. Having said that, I'm not sure that anyone has come up with any better ideas.0 -
Relegation worries thenTheScreamingEagles said:
We might have Carlo Ancelotti as our manager by the weekend.Scrapheap_as_was said:
Surely it's a heinz on Carlisle & Gooners tonight, City & Villa at the weekend then Monaco & Sion next?TheScreamingEagles said:
Can you do me a favour. Stick some money on Carlisle beating Liverpool tonight and I'll do the same on Arsenal beating SpursScrapheap_as_was said:Yawn of a thread except:
1. This image damage has massive implications for the 2015 General Election.
oh.
2. It has serious implications for DC being re-elected as PM in 2020.
oh.0 -
At the risk of sounding like Owen Jones on a 38 degrees rally, we should be careful that TTIP doesn't put extra pressures and risks on the NHS with nonsense like this.0
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He's desperately interested in politics - and exiled himself, who's left to talk with/influence as a Party?antifrank said:
It would have had more impact the other way around, if that's what he planned. And he's retired from the House of Lords which would be odd if he were going to defect to UKIP, which is underrepresented in the Lords.Plato_Says said:It'd fit with his wholesale burning of bridges with almost all Tory card-carriers. Who'd be seen dead in his company now?
Launch a revenge fueled tirade, then jump ship.PrinceofTaranto said:
Yes that also occurred.he has been making one or two pro UKIP comments recently eg regarding non-allocation of peers.antifrank said:
There's another obvious possibility.PrinceofTaranto said:O/T A surprise "hush hush" guest speaker is promised at the UKIP conference.
Another defection? Danzcuk would seem the most likely. Any market on this?
*glances at the Daily Mail*0 -
'I was simply helping Madame Gazelle back to her hotel room, as she had a sore leg...'Pulpstar said:
Peppawatford30 said:
McBride or Cashcroft?antifrank said:
There's another obvious possibility.PrinceofTaranto said:O/T A surprise "hush hush" guest speaker is promised at the UKIP conference.
Another defection? Danzcuk would seem the most likely. Any market on this?
*glances at the Daily Mail*
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If the MP who told this story was a Tory MP in 2014 and was an Oxford contemporary of Cameron, then these are, as far as I can make out, the suspects..
Jane Ellison
Mark Field
Damian Hinds
Nick Boles
Phillip Hollobone
Jacob Rees-Mogg
Jeremy Hunt
Michael Gove
Ed Vaizey
Jonathan Lord0 -
Why would the MP have to have been an Oxford contemporary?JonnyJimmy said:If the MP who told this story was a Tory MP in 2014 and was an Oxford contemporary of Cameron, then these are, as far as I can make out, the suspects..
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Didn't they claim to have seen it happen?Richard_Nabavi said:
Why would the MP have to have been an Oxford contemporary?JonnyJimmy said:If the MP who told this story was a Tory MP in 2014 and was an Oxford contemporary of Cameron, then these are, as far as I can make out, the suspects..
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If the male,pale and stale LibDems want to move on,Kirsty Williams at 16-1 looks a more attractive option,not tainted by coalition and would mark an end to sexual harassment,gender bias etc which has been the cloud hanging over the LibDems.0
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No. Surely we've been through all this. The claim was that someone else had a photo. It's hearsay.JonnyJimmy said:
Didn't they claim to have seen it happen?Richard_Nabavi said:
Why would the MP have to have been an Oxford contemporary?JonnyJimmy said:If the MP who told this story was a Tory MP in 2014 and was an Oxford contemporary of Cameron, then these are, as far as I can make out, the suspects..
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The question did not arise - he may have been accused of being a degenerate, but he's not a barbarian.SandyRentool said:I suppose the only thing that really matters is whether or not Mr Cameron had his top button fastened whilst greeting the porker.
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