O/T:- ⚠️Impressed with the leadership [The UK Party Politics Thread]

[macstop]

I watched it and formed my own opinion which is that it is a right-wing echo chamber. At least I watched to find out.

So does this make our moderator a leftie then?

[SwalePie]

So does this make our moderator a leftie then?

I don't think we have a moderator yet, but personally I like to think I'm slightly left of centre these days.

[macstop]

I don't think we have a moderator yet, but personally I like to think I'm slightly left of centre these days.

That's fair enough, but in the video there were no mention of left or right politics, you might as well say he was a racist, but of cause there was no mention of racism, instead why don't you just say he was right or wrong that's a better argument.

[SwalePie]

That's fair enough, but in the video there were no mention of left or right politics, you might as well say he was a racist, but of cause there was no mention of racism, instead why don't you just say he was right or wrong that's a better argument.

What video? I was simply pointing out that I have watched GB News and made up my own mind about it. Who is a racist? I'm rather confused now...

[Mud Pie]

I'd say some big players in tech and security have been waiting for something like this to seize on the opportunity, the evidence is apparently out there that they were talking about this kind of thing before Covid happened, but exponential advance in bio-technology (ability to download and reproduce a virus sequences in relatively cheap labs in rogue states) was always likely to throw something like this up eventually and a bio-terrorist attack or bio-warfare can't be ruled out in future, though you'd now have the "Cry Wolf" problem because they pushed it way too far with Covid-19.

this makes total sense to me until the bolded they that assumes there was definitely, unequivocally, a conscious conspiracy planned between [...] to profit from covid. I mean, it's not like some people need incentive to capitalize on all things, even awful things like PPE in a pandemic, is it Magpies59?

By focusing on the govts, pfizer WHO, Bill Gates et al, you seem to be saying 1. they prepared to profit from a pandemic and did so, and 2. that the spontaneous urge to profit from covid is not as bad as a planned response to a pandemic. Am I reading you right?

[macstop]

What video? I was simply pointing out that I have watched GB News and made up my own mind about it. Who is a racist? I'm rather confused now...

My apologies my friend i thought you was talking about the vid i posted

[Newish Pie]

More expected crap replies from the lefties. If you won't watch it how can you form an opinion. The presenters may have their hearts to the right but they have guests on to give the other side of the argument. I would be better off talking to a brick wall I guess.

They don't just have their "hearts to the right", they're some of the most hard-right wing figures within mainstream politics. You can have your own political views and still be thoughtful and fair-minded, but there's nothing in that cast of characters' background that would give that impression. There are not trained journalists.

I'm sceptical both about (a) whether left wing guests do actually appear, who they are, and whether they're any good; and (b) whether they're treated fairly/given equal airtime. It's absolute madness having sitting Tory MPs (including recent ministers) presenting news and current affairs programmes. How can that be right or fair? It's such a conflict of interest.

Imagine a left wing version of GB "News". Instead of Farage, we have Corbyn. Instead of Wooton, we sub in Owen Jones, instead of Rees Mogg we have John O'Donnell. I don't really know enough about Dewberry... perhaps Gina Miller? Parallels don't need to be exact.

Would you watch that? Would you trust that? I'm left wing, and I wouldn't watch that... not as a news channel anyway. Without neutral presenters and interviewers (or as near as we can get), there's no balance and no challenge. It's the definition of an echo chamber.

[Newish Pie]

.
I totally agree with NewishPie that a manufactured pandemic for profit would take a high number of morally crippled people suffering from weapons grade psychopathy to pull off. That doesn't make it fake either, just highly unlikely.

Yeah, it's partly the level of psychopathy it would need, partly the level of organisational discipline and competence, but mainly it's that even if you are that kind of weapons-grade psychopathic organisational genius, it's not in your interests to even try it because the risks just aren't worth the rewards.

[Elite_Pie]

More expected crap replies from the lefties. If you won't watch it how can you form an opinion. The presenters may have their hearts to the right but they have guests on to give the other side of the argument. I would be better off talking to a brick wall I guess.

I think even the brick wall would laugh at you on this one!

[upthemaggies]

this makes total sense to me until the bolded they that assumes there was definitely, unequivocally, a conscious conspiracy planned between [...] to profit from covid. I mean, it's not like some people need incentive to capitalize on all things, even awful things like PPE in a pandemic, is it Magpies59?

By focusing on the govts, pfizer WHO, Bill Gates et al, you seem to be saying 1. they prepared to profit from a pandemic and did so, and 2. that the spontaneous urge to profit from covid is not as bad as a planned response to a pandemic. Am I reading you right?

Any crisis presents an opportunity to make money and leverage power, all of the big players would have foreseen this and were ready to jump on an opportunity that presented itself. It would have reached the point where they 'sort of' wanted it, and once you're there, decisions start being made that compromise security.

I think it's similar to 9/11, I don't believe for a moment that those attacks were planned and set up by the west, but they knew something was coming and maybe those in a position to make the final decisions to intervene dithered knowing in the back of their minds that some sort of attack on America would be a very convenient pretext for what ultimately followed.

[upthemaggies]

Well, my understanding that it's at least possible that the virus escaped from a lab but as you say, there's no evidence for that.

I think it's widely accepted now that it did come out of a lab, aside from the New York Times running a story earlier this year based on a garbage paper that's been thoroughly debunked as totally unscientific.
To have a virus of this type occur in nature and move from animal to human and then immediately spread like wildfire with no evolutionary process involved is apparently ridiculously low, that's why they've been doing the gain of function research, to speed that process up, in the area of China that hardly anybody disagrees this virus arose from, naturally or otherwise. I've listened to discussions on this and I'm quite satisfied that the nature theory was an attempt at a cover up. It's now a question of how it got out the lab, not if.

[Magpies1959]

It makes a change to watch a news channel where both sides of the story are heard, in a sensible debate, and the public can have their views heard as well. It is no wonder the lefties on here don't like it, as if they hear anything they don't agree with they will try and cancel it.

As I have said on here before, I have no political allegiance, left and right both have good and bad ideas, but in my eyes GB News has brought some balance to the reporting of news and tells some news stories that the BBC, ITV and Sky would want to keep hush hushed.

They also have a light hearted programme looking at the news headlines, which takes the p*ss out of both Tory and Labour, very refreshing. A bit like Have I Got News for You, before it became a bash the Tories vehicle.

[Newish Pie]

I think it's widely accepted now that it did come out of a lab, aside from the New York Times running a story earlier this year based on a garbage paper that's been thoroughly debunked as totally unscientific.
To have a virus of this type occur in nature and move from animal to human and then immediately spread like wildfire with no evolutionary process involved is apparently ridiculously low, that's why they've been doing the gain of function research, to speed that process up, in the area of China that hardly anybody disagrees this virus arose from, naturally or otherwise. I've listened to discussions on this and I'm quite satisfied that the nature theory was an attempt at a cover up. It's now a question of how it got out the lab, not if.

No, it's not widely accepted among reputable scientists that the virus came from a lab. That's absolutely not the scientific consensus.

[Bushwacka]

I see NCM's own Brendan Clarke-Smith has been cited amongst a group of MP's (the usual suspects, Dorries, Rees-Mogg, Fabricant, Goldsmith etc.) accused of intimidation and interference into an official Commons investigation (Johnson's lying to Parliament).

Why do these people hate our country so much?

[drillerpie]

No, it's not widely accepted among reputable scientists that the virus came from a lab. That's absolutely not the scientific consensus.

I think anyone who doesn't consider it a serious possibility is burying their heads in the sand.

Even the Guardian has backpedalled from calling it 'Donald Trump's racist conspiracy theory' to talking about it as a very realistic hypothesis.

I don't have time to look for it now but if anyone can post a link to Sam Harris's podcast from a few months ago on the topic, it makes a very compelling case.

In case anyone wants to head that off by saying the sources are not credible, Sam Harris is a pro-vaccine ultra rationalist and one of his guests is an acclaimed science writer and ex member of the House of Lords who sat on scientific select committees.