Off Topic Politics Thread

[Osvaldorama]

“Genuinely hope you’re right and I’m wrong”

You see, that’s nonsense, Os. You are desperate to be right, to the degree you regularly just ignore better informed posts that refute your more speculative theories, and plough on regardless. You’re happy to continually believe any source that backs up what you feel, and ignore any source that goes against it. To the degree that you’ll actually put people on automatic ignore that can be arsed to deconstruct this stuff.

The worrying thing to me is the fact you would actually far rather the world was as messed up as it seems to be in your head, so that you can be right and say ‘told you so’., as evidenced by the ‘gotcha’ posts (that never are).

Not at all.

Im not desperate to be right. I’m desperate to make the world better. And to speak the truth as I see it.

My world view is self responsibility. Don’t trust, verify. I don’t trust the government. And I dont trust the media from the right or the left. I believe that a smaller government with less power would make the world better.

You and few more on here trust the government and the left leaning media. And that’s fine. The problem is you don’t realise that your sources are just as biased as mine.

At least I can see my potential biases and acknowledge them.

The only reason I have posted a couple of gotcha posts is because of the vitriol posted here against me for not agreeing. You all called me crazy, and now there is proof of what I was saying.

 

[Le Tissier's Laces]

Not at all.

My world view is self responsibility. Don’t trust, verify. I don’t trust the government. And I dont trust the media from the right or the left. I believe that a smaller government with less power would make the world better.

You and few more on here trust the government and the left leaning media. And that’s fine. The problem is you don’t realise that your sources are just as biased as mine.

The only reason I have posted a couple of gotcha posts is because of the vitriol posted here against me for choosing to believe that humans have a divine right to freedom and what to put in their body.

I don’t trust the government as far as I can throw them. I also don’t entirely trust the media.

But saying “your sources are just as biased as mine” is at least a tacit acknowledgment that your sources are equally bollocks. So there is that!

Anyhow, I promised myself I’d not get into these. Back to football.

 

[Osvaldorama]

I don’t trust the government as far as I can throw them. I also don’t entirely trust the media.

But saying “your sources are just as biased as mine” is at least a tacit acknowledgment that your sources are equally bollocks. So there is that!

Anyhow, I promised myself I’d not get into these. Back to football.

Of course they are. We are all just relying on information.

Which is my exact reason for saying the social media censorship is a huge deal

 

[Osvaldorama]

- Child exploitation and pornography was allowed to propagate on Twitter.

- Victims complained, but the content was left up

So basically Twitter was more concerned with shadow banning people for their opinions than stopping child porn.

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Since musk came in, this has ended and he has made it his #1 priority. Just listened to a Twitter spaces where he dropped in to chat to people about this. Not gonna lie. The hate he gets is wrong and he is doing a lot of good.

Also, they’re just releasing part 3; what happened around January 6th :

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[Schad]

Can someone ask Os whether these:

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Are his follows?

Because those three individuals are:

- Jack Posobiec, one of the biggest pushers of the Pizzagate conspiracy. https://twitter.com/JackPosobiec

Has strong ties to white supremacist groups: https://www.splcenter.org/splc-inve...osobiecs-rise-tied-white-supremacist-movement

- Libertas, a 'crypto influencer' and conspiracy peddler. https://twitter.com/CryptoHustle

- Stirling Cooper, the "World's Number One Sex Coach for Men". https://twitter.com/StirlingWisdom


If this is Os' media environment, it is trivially easy to see how he got to this point. You'd be hard-pressed to come up with a better trio of grifters to represent the right wing ecosystem that has sprung up to prey on the insecurities and vulnerabilities of people like Os.

 

[Schad]

Not that Os is alone in that. Elon himself is in a similar predicament, taking validation and adopting the views of a bunch of conspiracy theorists and hate-peddlers. Here he is, responding positively to someone who recently got banned from one of the most conservative media outlets in the country (significantly to the right of Fox News), for breaking out the ol' anti-Semitic blood libel:

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[Archers Road]

You called me unhinged.

I don’t trust any media blindly, left or right.

I trust Musk in this instance because he literally posted proof with screenshots.

The one being inconsistent is you. You are applying political narratives to a post which was simply information sharing

I strongly advise against this policy.

 

[Gregm1988]

Can someone ask Os whether these:

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Are his follows?

Because those three individuals are:

- Jack Posobiec, one of the biggest pushers of the Pizzagate conspiracy. https://twitter.com/JackPosobiec

Has strong ties to white supremacist groups: https://www.splcenter.org/splc-inve...osobiecs-rise-tied-white-supremacist-movement

- Libertas, a 'crypto influencer' and conspiracy peddler. https://twitter.com/CryptoHustle

- Stirling Cooper, the "World's Number One Sex Coach for Men". https://twitter.com/StirlingWisdom


If this is Os' media environment, it is trivially easy to see how he got to this point. You'd be hard-pressed to come up with a better trio of grifters to represent the right wing ecosystem that has sprung up to prey on the insecurities and vulnerabilities of people like Os.

Aren’t those “Eliza’s” followers? I don’t fully understand Twitter displays

Stirling is clearly a grifter. How people can take advice in that sphere from someone who is so clearly an outlier I will never understand

 

[Schad]

Aren’t those “Eliza’s” followers? I don’t fully understand Twitter displays

Stirling is clearly a grifter. How people can take advice in that sphere from someone who is so clearly an outlier I will never understand

Twitter displays when the people you are following are also following that account. So those would be people that are followed by whoever took the screenshot.

 

[Osvaldorama]

I strongly advise against this policy.

You advise against trusting election proof with evidence?

What do you advise then?

 

[Schad]

Here's the account Os quoted previous, going full QAnon:

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And here's Elon today, approvingly citing the account that is going full QAnon, and suggesting that the (well-respected!) former head of Trust & Safety at Twitter is a ****phile:

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[Archers Road]

You advise against trusting election proof with evidence?

What do you advise then?

I advise you climb out of the rabbit hole you appear to be falling into

 

[SaintInKuwait]

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This is our stable, capitalist genius.

In fact, any more than a brief look at the timeline of Elon Musk reveals that he is actually a charlatan of the highest order who only has interest in using money as a tool to shape both his image and that of the around him. Those hurt in the process do not matter. He wants people to see him as this renegade, Tony Stark-lite wunderkind who can solve the worlds problems through investment, technology and (other people’s) hard work. In reality, he’s a nitwit.

 

[Archers Road]

He’s a snake oil salesman, a narcissistic con artist.

 

[San Tejón]

More concerns for NHS funding, as in the potential for drug costs to rocket.
The last sentence claims that the Trade Secretary won’t agree any deal that hits the NHS, but there again he’s a Tory. What they say and what they do are normally at polar opposites, with regards to things that would benefit the country.


MEDICS are fighting plans which would mean the NHS paying higher prices for drugs.

They say a proposed trade deal with India would stifle competition and allow big pharma companies to charge more.

A course of leukaemia drugs could rocket from £556 a year to £27,200.

A quarter of NHS medicines come from India.

Now the British Medical Association has united with 35 other groups here and in India against it.

The BMA’s Dr Latifa Patel said: “The NHS is under more pressure than ever. A rise in drug costs would be unforgivable.”

International Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch – off to India tomorrow – has vowed not to agree any deal that hits the NHS.

 

[San Tejón]

More concerns for NHS funding, as in the potential for drug costs to rocket.
The last sentence claims that the Trade Secretary won’t agree any deal that hits the NHS, but there again he’s a Tory. What they say and what they do are normally at polar opposites, with regards to things that would benefit the country.


MEDICS are fighting plans which would mean the NHS paying higher prices for drugs.

They say a proposed trade deal with India would stifle competition and allow big pharma companies to charge more.

A course of leukaemia drugs could rocket from £556 a year to £27,200.

A quarter of NHS medicines come from India.

Now the British Medical Association has united with 35 other groups here and in India against it.

The BMA’s Dr Latifa Patel said: “The NHS is under more pressure than ever. A rise in drug costs would be unforgivable.”

International Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch – off to India tomorrow – has vowed not to agree any deal that hits the NHS.

And then there are stories like this that brings hope, although you wonder if this is one treatment that could be priced out of the NHS if drug costs are allowed to massively increase.


A TEEN diagnosed with terminal leukaemia is free of cancer after being the first patient in the world to take part in a pioneering trial.

Alyssa had been told doctors could do no more for her after chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant failed to rid her of the cruel disease.

The 13-year-old was diagnosed with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (T-ALL) in May 2021.

T-ALL is the most common cancer in kids and young people, affecting 500 each year, and the survival rate for those whose T-ALL has relapsed is just 10%.

But now the world-first use of base-edited T-cells to treat her leukaemia at Great Ormond Street Hospital will give hope to hundreds of families.

Consultant Dr Robert Chiesa said Alyssa was cancer-free after the CD7 CAR T-cell therapy and a second bone marrow transplant.

He said: “This is quite remarkable, although it is still a preliminary result, which needs to be monitored and confirmed over the next few months. The entire team here at GOSH are extremely happy for Alyssa and her family.

“We have been very impressed by how brave she is and nothing makes me happier than seeing her outside the hospital, going back to a more normal type of life.”

Alyssa had been told there were no other options after chemo and her transplant, and was put on palliative care. Mum Kiona, from Leicester, said: “When you’re at the end of the road of ‘normal’ it starts to feel very bleak.

“We were doing our research and attending appointments but there just wasn’t anything we could do.”

Then the schoolgirl’s doctors heard about the clinical trial at London’s GOSH and referred her for the groundbreaking experimental treatment.

Donated cells were edited using new technology and fitted with a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) to allow them to hunt down and kill cancerous T-cells without attacking each other.

Alyssa received her base-edited CAR T-cells on May 4 after a final round of chemotherapy to reduce her leukaemia as much as possible.

Dad James said: “We called it ‘Cell Day’. We were all so grateful for the hope that the treatment gave, but at the same time quite nervous that there were so many unknowns.”

Tests 28 days later showed the teen was in remission and she went on to receive a second bone marrow transplant to restore her immune system. Six months later, she is recovering at home and still cancer-free.

James added: “We know we are not out of the woods yet, but Alyssa just battles on with the same warrior spirit and resilience she has always had.”

Kiona said: “We’re on a strange cloud nine. It’s amazing to be home. Hopefully this can prove that the research works and they can offer it to more children.”

The TvT clinical trial, funded by the Medical Research Council, aims to recruit nine more children aged six months to 16 years with T-cell leukaemia that has relapsed or which is not responding to chemotherapy over the next 12 to 18 months.

Professor Waseem Qasim, consultant immunologist at GOSH, said: “This is a great demonstration of how, with expert teams and infrastructure, we can link cutting edge technologies in the lab with real results in the hospital for patients.

“It’s our most sophisticated cell engineering so far and paves the way for other new treatments and ultimately better futures for sick children.”

 

[San Tejón]

And the cost of hiring agency doctors over the last four years is £3.7 billion. That is mind boggling.
With regards to the last line about the numbers employed. The government need to be challenged on their figures and made to reveal how many have left in that same period, just as they should be when they tell us how many police officers have quit/retired etc.


NHS bosses have forked out nearly £3.7billion to hire private agencydoctors in the last four years.

That works out at almost £1billion a year – enough to pay the salaries of more than 30,000 new junior doctors.

The figures were uncovered by Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting, who said: “Taxpayers are picking up the bill for the Conservatives’ failure to train enough doctors and nurses over the past 12 years.”

He vowed: “Labour will train 7,500 more doctors and 10,000 more nurses a year, paid for by abolishing the non-dom tax status.”

In September, there were 9,000 vacant doctor posts in secondary care.

A British Medical Association survey also found nearly half of senior hospital doctors in England plan to leave the NHS or take a break from it next year. Meanwhile, newly qualified foreign GPs are being driven out of the NHS over deportation fears.

Immigration rules state they must stay in the skilled worker visa scheme for at least five years before they can stay indefinitely.

But GPs finish training after three years – leaving a two-year gap where those from abroad must secure sponsorship to stay.

UNDERVALUED

Dr Emma Runswick, BMA council deputy chair, said: “The NHS wouldn’t need to pay out such large amounts to agency staff if there were enough doctors in the first place.

“We have 130,000 vacancies – a direct result of staff being undervalued too long.”

The Department of Health said it had “reduced agency spending by a third between 2016 and 2021”. It added: “The NHS has almost 4,000 more doctors and over 9,300 more nurses compared to September 2021.”

 

[StJabbo1]

He’s a snake oil salesman, a narcissistic con artist.

And that's just his good side.

 

[Onionman]

I advise you climb out of the rabbit hole you appear to be falling into

The problem with rabbit holes is you can't see that you're down one when you're in it. You think you're the reasonable one and that everyone else is wrong and utterly gullible about the real truth of the situation.

People affected don't realise they only follow like-minded people and don't actually listen to opposing views. They hear opposing views, filter them and dismiss with pejorative terms like "woke" or "left". The labels are part of the rabbit hole. Both extremes are guilty of it and we're all susceptible. You become part of an in-group that knows "the truth". Anyone not in that group is stupid or ill-informed or can't see the bigger pricture.

It can affect anyone. For example, some people down a different rabbit hole might think the USA is responsible for Russia's land invasion of a neighbouring democracy. The challenge is exactly the same. They can see the conspiracy that none of the out-group can see. Here the terms are "right" or "neocon". They alone see the big picture and don't swallow the media narrative (though they swallow other like-minded people's narratives). It's an identical position to the person down the right-wing rabbit hole.

The solution? If you're going to go on social media, follow people whose views oppose your own. Read what they have to say. Consider their viewpoint. A good question is "If there was any truth in what they have to say, where might it be"?

Or do what I do. If you find yourself annoyed online, switch off your internet and read a book or chat with your partner or go and see a friend for a cup of tea. Such a good idea that I'm off to do the last one now.

Vin

 

[San Tejón]

More than £5000 paid to one locum, to work one shift.


AN NHS hospital shelled out £5,234 for a locum doctor to cover a single shift as the staffing crisis in the health service deepens.

One in three trusts paid an agency more than £3,000 for just one doctor’s shift last year.

The most expensive was the £5,234 paid by the Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust, which runs hospitals in Salford, Oldham, Rochdale and Bury, Greater Manchester.

The Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust spent £4,464 on one shift, the Isle of Wight NHS Trust £4,087, the Wye Valley NHS Trust £3,976 and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn NHS Foundation Trust £3,911.

Labour’s Wes Streeting said: “The Conservatives have failed to train enough doctors and nurses. It is infuriating.”

The Department of Health said it has “reduced agency spending by a third between 2016 and 2021”.