Off Topic The Politics Thread

I can understand your distaste. The generics industry is cut throat we spend hundreds of millions fending off lawsuits from them every year as they challenge patents, so they can cash in on products we have taken all the risks on. I am 'ethically challenged' sometimes in my job, but I am such a well practiced and unconscious hypocrite I can get away with it with just the odd explosion to a very understanding boss ( included in his job description is calming me down before I get to the CEO). But I'd struggle in the generics industry (lots of price fixing there too). By coincidence we were 'scenario planning' for a product we have a few weeks ago, and Teva will also be launching something in that area - branded not generic, a first for them I think - and our conclusion was we would do anything legal to **** them up, in view of the grief they cause us.

Of course it could be easily fixed by extending patent life, which would allow us to have lower prices as we have a longer period to make our investment back and start making some profit. But you can't take my word for it, I'm biased.

 

agreed and that resource should be easy to get operational ... Politics aside The world needs to unite on this so the rats think twice

 

Interesting stuff in the news this morning. Paddy Ashdown and Jeremy Bowen (head and shoulders the best broadcast journalist in the country) very good on Syria. Ashdown strong on the need to stop funding from the Gulf states to Daesh, and sowing seeds of doubt re willingness of Cameron to confront the governments concerned to do this.

But my favourite item in the paper was the comprehensive demonstration by archaeologists and historians that in 1184 monks at Glastonbury made up the links of the place with King Arthur (including digging a hole and claiming it was his grave), and Joseph of Aramethea and Jesus visiting. All because their abbey had burnt down and they were short of cash so wanted to attract pilgrimage shillings. They even built a fake old looking wooden church and claimed that Joseph of Aramathea had founded it. Brilliant, early marketing that worked, in a few years they were the second richest abbey in the country.

Glastonbury is a very sad place now, packed full of crappy shops which sell cheap crystals, brightly coloured Indian textiles and candles.

 

I find it hard to take Pantsdown seriously. He speaks with the calm measured authority of a second rate politician who genuinely believes that any of us take him seriously, is happy to jump on any passing bandwagon and then proclaim the virtues of the Lib Dem position. A bit like my pet hate, Jack Straw a man who grows a backbone of principle which he can easily shed and replace with a spangly new one whenever he picks up the Sun.

 

So it seems Seb Coe is corrupt too. Well what should we expect from a Tory peer. Blatter's mini-me.

 

Or, if you read the stories, it's a declared conflict of interests based on his prior working relationship with Nike. He should leave that role - probably should have done so far earlier than now - but as everything is declared and he's made no personal financial gain, where's the corruption?

 

He makes six figures a year from his relationship with Nike, so there is definitely financial gain involved. Agree he should obviously cut ties with all commercial organisations with an interest in sport, including those which act as sponsors. It may be above board all the way, but either or both stupidity and naivity have put him in a difficult position when he has an enormous job on his hands.

 

The fact Nike sponsor several athletes who are proven drug cheats should make it obvious to Coe, unfortunately, he is such an arrogant tosser he thought he could get away with it. However, with the Russian test results scandal now engulfing him he is beginning to realise he's up to his neck in it. His 'declaration of war on my sport' reply to the original allegations were politics to get elected but he's realising now people see him for what he really is, a greedy opportunist. It couldn't happen to a 'nicer chap'...

 

Shame about Coe with regards to the corruption scandal. He was a fantastic athlete in his day. His duals with Ovett and Cram were something else.

 

Heard a Chinese lady on the Today programme saying how upset she was about McDonnell's use of the Little Red Book yesterday, seeing as she and her parents has suffered in camps through the Cultural Revolution. Now, Mao was a monster on a par with Hitler and Stalin, but McDonnell's only crime was to fail to either make his point effectively (something about the Tories selling the country to China, I think) or be funny (not sure he really gets humour), while at the same time laying himself open to having the piss taken out of him.

I have a huge amount of respect and sympathy for all those who have suffered under totalitarian regimes, political or religious, but here's the thing. You have the right to take offence, but YOU DO NOT HAVE THE RIGHT NOT TO BE OFFENDED. Because if you did that would imply people do not have the right to express themselves openly, however cretinous, banal or vile their thoughts may be, because then you would be back in a totalitarian regime. And if you do take offence you have the right to talk about it, or cause offence back but not to attempt to shut the person/people up through violence (not that the Chinese lady was advocating this). Because that would make you a facist bigot. This is one of the many reasons why we are engaged in a terminal (for them, eventually) struggle with a moronic death cult.

Rant over, I thank you. And **** off Today programme for trying to make something out of nothing.

 

It escaped some notice that George Osborne also rightly announced steps to stop crooked whiplash claims. Hopefully, that will kill the vile and almost exclusively bent (in my opinion) claims industry which actively encourages insurance fraud. Of course, the cynic in me suspects that the estimated savings of £40-50 per policy will not actually filter from the insurer's increased profits to the average policyholder.

 

Lads they are all at it … Coe
I agree re claims … Insurance is this country is dreadful … I should know I design the bloody marketing to disguise it.
Everyone is queueing up to cash in …this year I have done 24 banks all trying to sell Home Insurance now

Here's the rub … All of them spend more setting up anti claims departments

 

Of course, insurance companies primary business function is not paying out on claims

 

Quite a hysterical over-reaction in the media to what was plainly a joke, albeit a failed one. McDonnell's defence of his action was that shadow chancellors' responses are rarely remembered and that maybe this one would be. He has a point, though, about selling out to the Chinese. Do we really want the Chinese building our nuclear power stations and running our air traffic control? He also had quite a good line in 'this is not just selling the family silver, it's selling the furniture'.

 

Interesting insights from you both. As you will both know, what really throws a spanner into the works is that as we move into an era of personalised biologic medicines as 'norm', we are going to face a whole raft of contrasting issues. Whereas generics may cost 20% of the originator (hypothetically), alleviating payer budgets and making room for budgets to pay for new innovative treatments (thereby incentivising innovation), biosimilars are going to cost 80% of the originator. I question how sustainable the whole system will become at this point, and I'm not convinced extending patent lengths is the answer. Happy to be convinced however!

(I know I haven't put forward what I think the answer is. I'm happy to admit I'm not sure what the answer is..)

 

massive airforce airstrikes predicted i thought we learnt all of our mistakes in the IRA problems its hard to believe that we are considering bombing syria this will massively inflate the hatred against us

 

We're all infidels so it won't make any difference...

 

but why dont we let america deal with these problems just one of there ten supercarriers carry 100 planes enough to wipe out the whole of syria our politicions are doing a margerate thatcher in the falklands islands.,we should not get involved or let the french get involved,i can see any point in us infuriating a already insane situation

 

Can this be merged with the politics thread?

 

The idea isn't to bomb Syria in general it's to bomb Isis targets there and Isis hate us anyway, why would bombing them make it worse? They are a bigger threat to us then to the USA, suggesting leaving it to them is just shirking responsibility. A number of the Paris attackers trained in camps there and came directly from there hiding amoungst refugees, they need to be dealt with at the source and airstrikes are the only viable option!