Biden still trails in the WH2020 betting in spite of opening double digit poll leads over Trump
By far the biggest development so far in WH2020 has been Trump’s comment a few days ago that people could inject themselves with bleach to fight the the coronavirus. This has been widely ridiculed and there have been reports from many parts of the US of people actually ingesting bleach and other such liquids and having to be treated by the emergency services. Of all the crazy things that this President has said so far during the campaign this is…
Behind all the terrible COVID-19 statistics a story of two women that really touched me
The above was painted by my daughter-in-law, Lucille Smithson, who is a professional portrait painter based in Los Angeles and is producing a number of works relating to the coronavirus pandemic. This is what she wrote about this painting: This is Nicola and Gwen. Nicola is an advanced nurse practitioner on a #covid-19 ward in Edinburgh. Gwen who is her grandmother, tragically passed away on the same ward last month from coronavirus. Yvonne, Nicola’s mother, reached out to me here…
Great polling numbers for those who got on the PB 250/1 Sunak for next PM bet
Back in November PBer Philip Thompson had a great guest slot here in which he suggested that the 200/1 then being offered by Ladbrokes was was great value bet. It came during the GE2019 campaign shortly after Rishi Sunak had been chosen by Johnson to act as the Tory rep on one of the set piece debates. The bet in fact was better than that. Ladbrokes was offering an odds boost which made this a 250/1 shot not a 200/1…
The vibes are that the lockdown could be set to be eased
It was inevitable that there was going to be a more positive mood emanating from Downing Street following the return of the prime minister, Boris Johnson. Most of the front pages reflect this although a move at this stage to relax the lockdown could be a very big gamble and cost thousands of lives. Certainly the latest numbers of the total fatalities are down sharply and if this does indicate a trend then clearly the time might be right for…
The Monday night PB Nighthawks cafe with some positive news about a vaccine
As just about the whole world waits for a vaccine to be available there’s some positive news tonight about what’s going on in Oxford in the New York Times. The report notes that: “…scientists at the university’s Jenner Institute had a running start on a vaccine, having proved in previous trials that similar inoculations — including one last year against an earlier coronavirus — were harmless to humans. That has enabled them to leap ahead and schedule tests of their…
Boris is back but there’ll be no premature move to ease the lockdown
But still no lockdown betting markets It has been inevitable given what a commanding figure Johnson is that him being out of the picture recovering from the coronavirus has exposed the relative weakness of his cabinet team. Raab never really convinced as the official nominated stand-in while HealthSec Hancock is lumbered by his commitment to 100k tests a day by the end of the month. A fit Boris, surely, would have stopped such an announcement being made. It appears a…
Can You Guess Which Country It is Yet?
It is not as obvious as it seems Imagine a European country. A militarily successful one. One which, however annoying – and, oh, did it make a nuisance of itself in many varied ways – could not be ignored. One led by a self-regarding, popular leader (with a penchant for mistresses) around whom government revolved. A leader who, after a period of stasis, took action, to the delight of those around him. A leader who seemed set fair to revive…