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The Coronavirus Discussion Thread.

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So many busy lapping up the posts from TiRed without question when it is pretty obvious he is just a paid government shill.

Aside from polemic, do you have any points to make? I’m always happy to address factual arguments.

For example, what’s 0.5% of 66M people? And that’s deaths only. What’s 5% for longer lasting morbidity?

And for the record, I have not in the past, and will never accept a single penny from HMG and have provided my time and analytic efforts on top of my usual tax-paying employment.


 
Posted : 21/12/2020 11:38 am
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Thanks, again, TiRed.


 
Posted : 21/12/2020 11:40 am
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Don’t confuse the point with your “facts” Kryton!

Oh sorry. I'm still reeling from arsebiscuits expose that is that the Daily Mail is heavily censored.


 
Posted : 21/12/2020 11:42 am
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and have provided my time and analytic efforts on top of my usual tax-paying employment

And it's been massively appreciated! Thank you.


 
Posted : 21/12/2020 11:43 am
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Contender for “best first post” surely?

Sounded similar to another recent "first post" we had on here a little while back.

I don't even bother engaging until they produce some facts to back their points up. Otherwise it's just pointless waffle


 
Posted : 21/12/2020 11:44 am
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And for the record, I have not in the past, and will never accept a single penny from HMG and have provided my time and analytic efforts on top of my usual tax-paying employment.

Exactly what a shill in the pay of the government would say. It's so obvious to me now, thanks arsebiscuits, the scales are falling from my eyes!

Now, where's that cup of kool aid. Nuts and bananas flavoured for me.


 
Posted : 21/12/2020 11:47 am
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And it’s been massively appreciated! Thank you.

Completely agree - thank you!


 
Posted : 21/12/2020 11:49 am
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Festive bubble question - confused.com

So if son lives with partner.

Partner needs to go home to elderly mother to form a support bubble.

That leaves son alone.

A/ Can he then come home to form a support bubble at his parents home not mixing.
B/ Can this be for multiple days as its a bubble or only Christmas Day?

The rules seem difficult to fully understand the term Bubble and even the Gov website contains old info.


 
Posted : 21/12/2020 11:51 am
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arsebiscuits
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My neighbour and friend died of Covid last night. On behalf of all his friends and family, go **** yourself you stupid ****.


 
Posted : 21/12/2020 11:52 am
 dazh
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but genuinely it’s a thought process that is out there and I have no idea where to start with debunking it.

Unlike many on here, I reckon ignoring them or ridiculing them is exactly the sort of action which results in things like brexit, Boris as PM, and probably the failure of any rational plan to deal with covid. These views are indeed out there, and not as isolated as many think. Ignorance breeds ignorance, and dismissing the people who hold these views only entrenches and amplfies their views which results in more people agreeing with them. Utlimately calliing someone an idiot and not engaging with them is the easy way out, and it solves bugger all.


 
Posted : 21/12/2020 12:01 pm
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That's terrine dark-side, I'm sorry

A/ Can he then come home to form a support bubble at his parents home not mixing.
B/ Can this be for multiple days as its a bubble or only Christmas Day?

The rules seem difficult to fully understand the term Bubble and even the Gov website contains old info.

Almost everyone I know seems to be using the support bubble to justify having parents or kids home for Xmas period
I think lockdown fatigue + the last minute rule changes have left many people in a similar position & just opting to use 'common sense'


 
Posted : 21/12/2020 12:06 pm
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dismissing the people who hold these views only entrenches and amplfies their views which results in more people agreeing with them

There's truth in that... but engaging can result in mainstreaming... and the media do engage with the ideas these people are pushing.... but it's never enough... any move to giving balance between truth and lies only results in those lies not going far enough for their audience... and ideas and positions even more distant from the truth fight for attention.

TLDR: give them an inch, and even when they take a mile, it's still not enough


 
Posted : 21/12/2020 12:06 pm
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Utlimately calliing someone an idiot and not engaging with them is the easy way out, and it solves bugger all.

Daz can you honestly say you think someone who signed up just to troll the thread is worth engaging with, he's obviously just going to shitpost & run


 
Posted : 21/12/2020 12:08 pm
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Anyone made the mistake of engaging with "flat earthers"...? Try it... see how it goes...


 
Posted : 21/12/2020 12:10 pm
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Try it… see how it goes…

I'm guessing the conversation goes around in circles.


 
Posted : 21/12/2020 12:12 pm
 dazh
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Daz can you honestly say you think someone who signed up just to troll the thread is worth engaging with

No. I'm not talking about him in particular, more the fact that these widespread irrational views of the world are a big problem which need to be engaged with. Dismissing them out of hand, ignoring them, and ridiculing those who voice them is not going to make them go away.


 
Posted : 21/12/2020 12:15 pm
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Festive bubble question – confused.com
So if son lives with partner.

Partner needs to go home to elderly mother to form a support bubble.

That leaves son alone.

A/ Can he then come home to form a support bubble at his parents home not mixing.
B/ Can this be for multiple days as its a bubble or only Christmas Day?

The rules seem difficult to fully understand the term Bubble and even the Gov website contains old info.

Does the elderly mother live alone - i.e. is she the single to their 'family' in a support bubble setup? And is this a permanent move for her or just for a few days, it's not clear from the way you type.

Your son does not usually live alone - he can't be the strap on single to another household to make a 'support bubble'. He could come to your house for the day. That's it.

But millions will ignore so make of it what you will.


 
Posted : 21/12/2020 12:17 pm
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dazh +1

But I can't work out how. Shouting "idiot!!" doesn't work. Engaging with facts doesn't work. I just don't know.


 
Posted : 21/12/2020 12:17 pm
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Dismissing them out of hand

Go ahead. Find a way of not dismissing them, without legitimising them. It can be done face to face, given plenty of time, and support, sometimes... but trying to do so "on the internet" is a mugs game... you're welcome to try... best of luck.

these widespread irrational views of the world

That sounds quite dismissive.


 
Posted : 21/12/2020 12:18 pm
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No. I’m not talking about him in particular, more the fact that these widespread irrational views of the world are a big problem which need to be engaged with. Dismissing them out of hand, ignoring them, and ridiculing those who voice them is not going to make them go away.

sooooooooo....... how would you do that then? Got an example here - have at it


 
Posted : 21/12/2020 12:19 pm
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Anyone made the mistake of engaging with “flat earthers“

I went to a great Skeptics in the Pub talk by Michael Marshall who did exactly that including going to the UK’s first ever Flat Earth convention. He said they were very well informed and had credible but wrong arguments to counter e.g. ship disappearing over the horizon. In itself that's a good argument for not engaging unless you're fully prepared (a Brexit example of someone well enough prepared is Femi Oluwole).

Not sure that it's possible to change someone's mind with facts once it's become a "belief".


 
Posted : 21/12/2020 12:22 pm
 dazh
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how would you do that then? Got an example here – have at it

Well you can't do it on an internet forum for a start. You need to speak to them in person. Listen, ask them questions, get to the bottom of whatever underlying reason they have for holding those views. I've had long involved conversations with everyone from white supremacist brexiteers, flat earthers and 'evolution is just a theory' christian fundamentalists, and I got on with all them without needing to insult or ridicule them. I'm not saying I changed their views but they at least listened to mine, because I did the same, and that's where a solution starts.


 
Posted : 21/12/2020 12:27 pm
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Well you can’t do it on an internet forum for a start.

I agree.


 
Posted : 21/12/2020 12:28 pm
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I read https://lockdownsceptics.org/ daily. The position pieces are normally reasonable, sometimes salient. Today's is a good example - "show us the evidence", basically. With a bit of grandstanding from Carl Henegan. The comments range from scientific debate (now much rarer, sadly) to "The Great Reset" and microchips in the vaccine stuff. I tend not to bother much any more. Science is sceptical by nature. But there are now some pretty clear foundations. There is of course, a lot of ignorance and misinformation too. I'm always happy to point people in the direction of the correct information, where available (and almost everything is in the public domain).


 
Posted : 21/12/2020 12:30 pm
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I can't avoid the person entirely, that's not possible. I can't find it in a search, but has this thread dealt with 'The Great Barrington Declaration'? That's the root cause of the conversation I'm stuck with, though I think it's grown tentacles.

https://gbdeclaration.org/


 
Posted : 21/12/2020 12:30 pm
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so face to face..... lots of time, effort etc, but ultimately no difference.

But this is what we have to do yes? But not on an Internet forum obviously


 
Posted : 21/12/2020 12:30 pm
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has this thread dealt with ‘The Great Barrington Declaration’?

Yes... we have... I suggest "Independent Sage" for articles and videos discussing that.

https://www.independentsage.org

They work hard at getting their contributions onto national media though... so if you're engaging with the "mainstream media and scientists are colluding against us" type, they'll probably be dismissive about what this, or any, group of experts are attempting to inform the public about.


 
Posted : 21/12/2020 12:32 pm
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Whilst Mr biscuits is obviously having a troll it does make me think what kind of **** thinks it's appropriate to do that on a topic such as this..

I guess they are most probably a fairly unloved character, a bit bitter at the world. If so stands to reason they don't care about their elderly parents dying of covid, as they probably abandoned him as a child, or worse still subjected him to years of abuse.

My guess is that despite all the bravado he's not left the house in 9 months, not because he's scared, but because he's got nothing better to do with his time. I imagine he probably had his dick in his hand as he frantically typed that message out...bursting with excitement at the though of the attention it'll generate, attention he's been so starved off throughout his miserable life..

Then again, he may just be a cxxx..


 
Posted : 21/12/2020 12:43 pm
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I don't want to engage with the troll but I have to make a point on this:

So many busy lapping up the posts from TiRed without question when it is pretty obvious he is just a paid government shill.

Aside from polemic, do you have any points to make? I’m always happy to address factual arguments.

For example, what’s 0.5% of 66M people? And that’s deaths only. What’s 5% for longer lasting morbidity?

And for the record, I have not in the past, and will never accept a single penny from HMG and have provided my time and analytic efforts on top of my usual tax-paying employment.

When this thread was just starting to get into it's stride and TiRed first started to provide analysis and insight into what was going on I was not aware of who he is and what weight his comments carried. To make sure I wasn't being 'brainwashed' or just getting duff information I did a bit of general digging and researched the figures myself. It all checked out as much as I could tell, every time new info was posted here for months on end so I knew I could trust what he was posting. When the further info about who he worked for and the subsequent award came out I knew beyond doubt that we, as a group on here, were very privileged to have someone who knew what they were talking about dedicating their free time to helping us understand the situation, even responding and engaging in debate about his findings and actively helping others increase their knowledge on how to analyse the data themselves. For that I an and continue to be grateful. So to come on here and call him a govt shill is a bit of a dick move.

As for the cancer treatments being stopped? My dad is one of those patients so I have first-hand knowledge of what is happening. He has had treatments delayed at times but only when he is coping reasonably well. Whenever he has been suffering he has been seen immediately. He may have had the odd appointment bumped back a few days when they have had to prioritise other patients who are worse off but that happens anyway. It's also coming into the winter season that always pushes the NHS to full stretch so delays around now are normal. The only time my dad has had a major delay in treatment was back in June where the team treating him switched hospitals so had a 2 week period of isolation as they were moving from a hospital that had covid cases to a new one that was covid-free, a completely understandable and correct decision.

So this is speaking directly to aresbiscuit: You're wrong on both of these counts, by a ridiculous margin. Please just don't post any more as you are only making yourself look like an idiot. Any other posts you make will be ignored by me and many others on here.


 
Posted : 21/12/2020 12:51 pm
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I’m guessing the Arsebiscuits post is simply a trolling post from an existing user.

Can this please be moved to another thread - an “is the coronavirus real” or similar as this thread has just gone from an intelligent discussion on a serious issue to a load of nonesense.


 
Posted : 21/12/2020 12:54 pm
 dazh
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lots of time, effort etc

It's just talking to people. Maybe that's the root problem. No one talks to anyone any more, we just assign a label and move on, happy in our bubbles. I don't know about you but I find that pretty boring.


 
Posted : 21/12/2020 12:59 pm
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No one talks to anyone any more

Yes, we do... now let this thread get back on topic, please.


 
Posted : 21/12/2020 1:03 pm
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It’s funny, a few new 1st time posters in the last few weeks all spouting the same guff. I wonder what tub thumping forum they are on that has discovered a new enemy in STW?

No doubt he believes every word Giuliani & Powell spout about the US election too.


 
Posted : 21/12/2020 1:10 pm
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If so stands to reason they don’t care about their elderly parents dying of covid

Well lots of people will not feel so involved if they don't have elderly parents.
Lots of people have lost their incomes and ability to feed their own children.


 
Posted : 21/12/2020 1:18 pm
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It’s funny, a few new 1st time posters in the last few weeks all spouting the same guff. I wonder what tub thumping forum they are on that has discovered a new enemy in STW?

why would another forum care (unless its a personal attack on TiRed).

I think its an existing user who has made a new profile. exsee was rallying quite vocally about the "establishment" and "know it alls" only a few days ago, and while the language is slightly different, its the same basic sentiment.


 
Posted : 21/12/2020 1:20 pm
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When the further info about who he worked for and the subsequent award came out

Tell me.


 
Posted : 21/12/2020 1:26 pm
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It is somewhere in the thread, but he is a senior fellow at gsk, is involved (a high level I believe) in the spi-m modelling group advising the government and sage and was awarded an award during the queen's latest honours (I believe an mbe - but apologies to tired as I can't remember).


 
Posted : 21/12/2020 1:40 pm
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Indeed. Him having these credentials actually helped me persuade my dad to take extra care over the summer as he was 'fed up about hearing what I had read on a stupid bike forum'. Once I explained to him who the person suppling us with information was dad started to take it more seriously, looking at what is happening now I am so glad it had this effect.


 
Posted : 21/12/2020 1:45 pm
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Dr Daren Austin PhD OBE
Senior Fellow
GlaxoSmithKline

I'm on linkedin if you want to chase me. I'm on Facebook and (shudder) twitter, but seldom post there. My day job is developing new medicines in multiple therapeutic areas. One of those potential medicines is an antibody for COVID19. I don't work on vaccines, but follow them closely, along with all other COVID19 therapies. I also don't post anonymously. I sit on SPI-M but only post public information.

I'm also back on a bike - two hours on Zwift so far this week has been an experience - an FTP of 175W is a long way to go...Rollers today.

‘The Great Barrington Declaration’? That’s the root cause of the conversation I’m stuck with

Hannah, the challenge with the GBD is that "protect the elderly" sounds attractive, but in a nation that regularly fails to do so, why would we expect to be any different for a new pathogen? If this was Norway, which seldom has excess influenza mortality year-on-year, there might be a sensible discussion. The UK is a country that does not fare well from influenza, and does not fare well from COVID. It is a non-starter. The debate has moved on. the long-promised "immunity" has not emerged with the speed that proponents suggested. The null hypothesis assumptions look valid still - very transmissible, low existing immunity, pathogenic, significant hospital burden for those over 45, high mortality in the elderly. it's not flu.


 
Posted : 21/12/2020 1:47 pm
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No doubt he believes every word Giuliani & Powell spout about the US election too.

He? Could easily be a she...


 
Posted : 21/12/2020 2:35 pm
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Many thanks.


 
Posted : 21/12/2020 2:47 pm
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and the bed-wetter types

Others can give you polite rebuttals to some of your points. I think you should come out from behind your cowardly new forum name and engage with us. Only then should we indulge you with the attention you crave. You are a scared little coward.


 
Posted : 21/12/2020 3:04 pm
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I think the correct phrase is 'cowering behind your pathetic new forum name'.

Could be wrong, but I've a fair idea who this is.


 
Posted : 21/12/2020 3:14 pm
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People are going round cowering behind pathetic masks that don’t even work, and behaving like Covid is going to kill us all, when in reality it’s not that much worse than seasonal flu. Oh and where has that seasonal flu gone by the way? Have masks and social distancing magically stopped it’s transmission but somehow not stopped the transmission of Covid?

good lord theres some idiocy and contradiction in this series of sentences.


 
Posted : 21/12/2020 3:16 pm
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If you are going to argue with people like TiRed you need to do a lot better than a childish foul mouthed tirade. Everyone knows the link between lockdown and mental health. Everyone knows the lockdown will have long lasting economic effects. But as has been explained very patiently on here, if you do nothing then the NHS is overwhelmed to the point that people will die from easily treatable illnesses and injuries. Many of these people will be economically active. It's not just a question of keeping old people alive at the cost of poverty for the young.

I would also like to thank TiRed for his very clearly written and easily understandable posts. It's been very reassuring to have information from someone who knows what he's talking about and I have also used his information to convince others of the need to adhere to the rules and persuade some to be positive rather than sceptical about the vaccine. Your input on here is invaluable and very much appreciated.


 
Posted : 21/12/2020 3:26 pm
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