I was surprised at how radical some of Biden's initial policies were. I wonder if age has something to do with it. A lot of political leaders have one eye on setting up a career for themselves after their brief time running the nation ends, whereas there isn't much chance that Biden will launch a business career after his time as president is done. Similar for Trump, he already had his business empire set up, he didn't need to pander to anyone else.


--


If you look up into the sky, then all of the white light (light of every colour) is still there. Our light comes from the sun, and as you say Rayleigh scattering causes the sky to appear blue... so when we look at the sun, we are looking at all of the light that hasn't been scattered, which causes the sun to appear yellow (or red in the evenings, when there is more atmosphere for the light to penetrate). If you look at the sky you see blue; if you look at the sun you see everything else.

Same with the Covid vaccine. All of the information is there; you're just looking in the wrong place.

His worth is different to different clubs. He's definitely worth £100 million to Villa. They aren't holding out for more money, they just don't want to sell him at all, and want to raise the price to the level where City will give up.

Think about it, Villa have ludicrously rich owners and don't need the money. If they lose Grealish and get another £100m, then it's not like they could entice another player of Grealish's ability to join them. They would struggle to get even 2x £50m players to join, particularly as losing Grealish would mark them down in the eyes of prospective joiners as a club who can't hold onto their best assets... which is probably why Villa are trying to get all their big incoming transfers done early, before Grealish leaves. Players of that standard all want to play Champions League. To City he's a decent addition to the squad, to Villa he's irreplaceable.

You obviously live a healthy lifestyle, and are to be commended for that. It's indisputable that this does confer health benefits. It is likely it would also improve your outcome, should you catch Covid. I'll agree to all that.

But it doesn't make you immune or super-human. If everyone lived as healthily as you, we probably wouldn't have had 4 million deaths... but we would still have had a huge number. And your ancedotal evidence of a few individuals in a global pandemic is also irrelevant. My own anecdotal evidence contradicts yours. I know plenty of people who've had the vaccine, all of whom have experienced minor or no side effects. I also know several young, healthy people who've died from Covid... as well as a nursing home just up the road where everybody died.

Living as healthily as you can is a great idea. So are vaccines. These are not either/or options.

In nations where overall vaccination rates are high, data are starting to appear on the difference between relatively high and relatively low vaccination areas. The US is an example. The patterns in the image below are startlingly clear.

The start could be very interesting, with Verstappen on the softs. It's been said that softs give you probably an extra 5 metres going into turn 1... so if Verstappen gets away well off the line, then he could overtake both Mercs for a sensational beginning to the race. Not sure how likely it is, but it's possible. It would perhaps have been very likely if only he'd managed to sneak P2 and get a front row place.

It's not as simple as people who do anything the government wants, and people who don't.
Obviously this varies from country to country... but I don't trust my government at all, I think they are incompetent and entirely self-serving, with zero concern for the welfare of the population... they are interested solely in enriching themselves and their friends, and couldn't care less what happens to ordinary people.
But I've been vaccinated, and I still wear a mask in public, even though the government has said that we don't need to wear them.

I don't follow the government, and I don't believe they have my best interests at heart. But I have a scientific background, and I follow the data. I started taking precautions and switched to working from home as soon as I saw that this thing would start to roll in from Italy and Spain. And I'll continue making decisions based on the facts, rather than any government propaganda. Those grasping fools don't understand how exponential progression works, and they wouldn't care even if they did... they're happy to let people die so long as their own economic interests don't take too much of a hit.

I know he's after the grand slam record, but the Olympics must still be hugely important to him, as he's not won before. I'm sure he must have tried as hard as he could... but also he knows this was probably his last chance, as it would be asking a lot even for him to remain a contender in 2024. It's weird that of the top four players of the last decade, it's Andy Murray, who only won a couple of slams, who has two Olympic golds... Nadal also has one, but both Federer and Djokovic don't.

Tennis is one of those sports where the Olympics isn't the main thing... but still, in every 4 years there are 16 chances to win a grand slam event, but only 1 chance to win the Olympics. It's still a big deal.

Yeah, of course. I just meant that whilst the official investigation is over, the fallout from the crash will no doubt continue for a while. I'm very interested to see how Max responds this weekend, and whether he takes a more measured approach the next time he comes head to head with Lewis.
Max is of course still the championship favourite, but he could become destabilised as the sport is mental as well as physical; he does seem to still be fixated on the incident, and feels aggrieved. This weekend is key. For him to maintain his championship advantage, he needs to remain cool. He is more mature now than a few years ago, but this is a crucial learning point in his first championship fight. It may get nasty, as with Hamilton/Rosberg.

Yeah, it's difficult to debate with these people, when they don't even try to build an argument.


Yes, Jet Cash is not representative of the usual anti-vaxxer response... he does always try to build an argument. I disagree with him completely, but at least we can have a bit of a discussion.


This is the best summary I've seen, and is demonstrated quite well in some of the responses in this thread

Thanks for your devastating insight and laser-sharp perspicacity. Your arguments are logical and well-constructed, and have certainly helped to move the debate forward.
And in case of any doubt: /s

Who's up next?

^{[CITATION NEEDED]}
Please supply evidence to support this statement.


Vaccines trigger an immune response. They help our immune system understand how to fight potential infections. Your argument is analogous to saying that a fire hose doesn't help to fight a fire, because it's the firefighter not the hose who puts the fire out.


A pattern is emerging in the US, as I've linked to in other threads. There is a strong correlation between states with high case numbers and states with low vaccination rates, as we might expect. No doubt the pattern will become even more pronounced as time progresses.


It is not given to infected people. I appreciate you wouldn't know this if you've not been vaccinated, but one of the screening questions is "Do you have current symptoms of COVID-19 or have you tested positive for COVID-19 in the last month?"


^{[CITATION NEEDED]}
Variants arise through mutation due to copying errors, and natural selection. The more people that are unvaccinated and carry the virus, the more mutations there will be. This is basic science. A vaccine does not 'create' variants.


Our bodies create vitamin D from sunlight, not from social interaction. You get more vitamin D standing alone outside in your garden than you do inside a crowded pub.


If someone stands in front of you and coughs in your face, you'd genuinely prefer them not to be wearing a mask? Or is it just that the idea of someone telling you personally to wear a mask is an outrageous imposition?


Meaning the vaccines are new, so there is no data on the long-term. Absence of evidence is not evidence, particularly when the evidence you demand is impossible to obtain. That's not a compelling argument. Without new things, we'd still be living in caves.


But thanks anyway for replying to the thread. I genuinely did not expect an anti-vaxxer to respond.

Yeah, that's what's happening in the south-eastern US.

No, I don't. Normally when I post data and statistical analyses in the anti-vax threads, they just ignore my posts and carry on with the baseless ranting, never trying to substantiate anything, and ignoring anything that doesn't fit their preconceived conclusions. This thread was more of an experiment, I wanted to see if any of them might be coaxed into responding - or whether their eyes simply slide right off the thread title without seeing it, due to some immense psychological block.

Just wondering, is a ConspiracyPRO — presumably short for Conspiracy Professional — someone who is paid to peddle conspiracy theories, and does so as an occupation?

Having one coronavirus doesn't make you immune to all of them. Having one cold doesn't mean you never get another in your lifetime. Even having SARS-CoV-2 doesn't make you immune in perpetuity to all variants that will arise.


If you contract SARS-CoV-2, then you are helping towards herd immunity, yes, agreed. It's just that the other route towards herd immunity, taking the vaccine, means you don't have to contract the virus first.


The 'GMO trans-humans' bit is just silly, and undermines any attempt you might make at a serious argument. The idea that those who have been vaccinated are now 'super-spreaders' is baseless conjecture. Vaccinating the population reduces cases, hopsitalisations, and deaths.
Have you seen this thread? I ask because sometimes anti-vaxxers seem to have trouble seeing evidence, almost as if their eyes glance right off anything that might invalidate their faith-based conclusions.


The more of the virus there is in the world, the more variants emerge. This is simply evolution through mutation and natural selection. If you are saying that vaccines can apply selection pressure, then well, yes, of course. But the idea that there are zero errors in virus replication until vaccines emerge and that there were 'no variants' is unscientific nonsense. The current variant of concern, 'delta', arose in unvaccinated India.

Yes, as expected there was no new evidence, and the appeal was dismissed. Red Bull aren't stupid and must have known this would happen... in which case, why do it? Perhaps they were trying mind games on Hamilton, or just trying to support Max. It didn't seem to work on Hamilton, who remained uninvolved and seems more focused on Hungary's gender/homosexuality laws this week.

The whole response has been weird. Hamilton was judged 'predominantly' to blame by the stewards when it happened... they are very precise with their wording, and predominantly is not wholly. It was perfectly evident to anyone watching that Max simply tried to take Lewis out. There have been many other overtakes at this corner, and no other driver does this kamikaze cut in. Foolishness is an important word, too. Regardless of the extent to which Hamilton was judged at fault, the fact remains that Max could have avoided the crash, protected his championship lead, and in all probability have overtaken Lewis later on to even win the race. Instead he refused to give an inch, and decided that he would take the racing line regardless of whether or not there was already another car in his way. Even if the stewards had said Lewis was totally to blame, Max could still have chosen to avoid the crash.



I'm not sure it is over. I don't think Max is mature enough to let this go. He's a great driver, and very fast, but this weekend will be a big test of his professionalism.

I'm not sure. I think they are both symptoms of the same underlying issue. The centrist consensus of the last few decades resulted in mainstream political parties being almost indistinguishable from one another. This led to a widespread feeling of disenfranchisement amongst the general public, millions of people who felt that no-one represented them, and that it didn't matter which party won, the result for their own everyday lives was always the same.

There are people to the right of centre who feel unrepresented, and people to the left of centre who feel exactly the same. The rise in the US of politicians such as Trump and Sanders is mirrored in other nations. Here in the UK, we had Jeremy Corbyn on the left, branded an extremist by his own party, and the pro-Brexit faction on the right, previously extremists within their own party, but now running the country... sorry, 'running' the country.

Public Health England (PHE) has just published a new vaccine surveillance report, here.

As anyone might reasonably have expected, the vaccination programme has had a huge effect. Estimates suggest that the vaccine has prevented 60,000 deaths and 22 million cases of infection. And this is just in England. Given that the population of England is c.56 million, these numbers are undeniably* impressive.

Every adult in England has now been offered the vaccine. Unfortunately there is still a degree of vaccine hesitancy... if the anti-vaxxers were a bit more open to changing their minds based on data, then the figures would be even better. Charts and tables sourced from the link above.









_{* undeniable by anyone who has even a rudimentary grasp of mathematics.}

I think the teams that came up will struggle, as usual. Norwich looked great last year - but they've lost Buendia now, and go into the Premier League without one of the key players they had in the Championship.
I can't see beyond Man City for the title, particularly if they get Kane. Grealish is perhaps not so important for them, and would be a squad player. Man U look to have improved, but are not on City's level... and I think Liverpool are some way behind, too.

Villa don't need the money; they have some of the richest owners in the league. But they do need their best player. He's under a long-term contract, so they don't have to sell him unless he wants to go. He's a Villa fan, and has been there his entire career. Villa are also reportedly considering raising his salary to £200k per week. I don't know where the "remain at their respective teams against their will" part comes from? Kane has said he wants to leave Spurs, but Grealish has not said he wants to leave Villa. It's a difficult decision for him, Man City are a better team and play in the Champions League and fight for titles... but he'd probably be an impact sub for them, similar to his role recently for England... whereas at Villa he starts every game.