william becker

[william becker @wcbecker]

@RestIsPolitics @RoryStewartUK @campbellclaret Michael Gove went to the Brexit Conference without telling No 10, as he went as a governor of Ditchley. I see Mr Stewart is also a governor! What is it, what does he do as part of it and should Gove have gone under its aegis without telling his boss?

[william becker @wcbecker]

@terrorising_a @BorisJohnson He's dishonest, unconcerned about people generally and seems in it for prestige rather than helping people. I could forgive all that though if he had good policy and was good at implementing it. But he doesn't nor surround himself with people who do. He's just reactive!

[william becker @wcbecker]

@dkellam @stratechery Problem with that article is its conclusion is "smart people should be able to know the difference" which doesn't seems like a workable solution for tech companies...

[william becker @wcbecker]

@dkellam It's true normally but when you are in a war footing then misinformation = information harmful to your side. I guess during a pandemic you are at war with a disease...

[william becker @wcbecker]

@dkellam Like social networks are hard, mmkay?

[william becker @wcbecker]

@dkellam But I think the answer is probably sometimes it's worse than the alternative

[william becker @wcbecker]

@ezraklein @EmmaMAshford @JohnHMcWhorter:I was listening to this and the interviewee has an odd (to my ear!) emphasis on the third syllable of necessarily (and a couple other words). What is happening here? Is it a regional American thing?

[william becker @wcbecker]

@dkellam It also may have completely different effects on people. In the meantime, it makes sense to treat it as an entirely new disease which escapes vaccines to a large degree. If the world had treated the initial outbreak similarly we may not be our current state.

[william becker @wcbecker]

@dkellam Think "insane" is hyperbole. They can both be right. There is a new variant going around, which may effectively be a new disease. Some have been hoping for a while that a variant will come around that is more contagious but has less severe effects. It may be this one, anecdotally

[william becker @wcbecker]

@dkellam Don't read it then and be happier! Did you ever read the glass bead game?

[william becker @wcbecker]

@dkellam Not really... It's the nightmare scenario the health department here has been worried about for months. And it's the kind of thing that could potentially stop everything happening back where you are. We don't know yet, but it's no joke

[william becker @wcbecker]

@dkellam @JamesMerlinoMP Maybe look at a recent proper meta-analysis if you really are concerned about this, like https://t.co/WGzjOsCcjX?

[william becker @wcbecker]

@dkellam @JamesMerlinoMP An article "published by the CDC" is actually an article by a post-doc from the Uni of Hong Kong in one of their journals - https://t.co/KFKRjdjDP1

It seems like its just cherry-picking results that mesh with their worldview, not actually engaging with science generally.

[william becker @wcbecker]

@dkellam We have a lot of experience with them and they are super effective and with mRNA ones in particular can adapt them super quickly to new variants if they escape. They came in so quickly because a lot of people were thrown at the trials early because they were expected to be safe.

[william becker @wcbecker]

@dkellam The difference I guess is we understand exactly how vaccines work. They generate an immune response such as you would get from getting the disease, but is done by faking it. There are the fancy new mrna ways of doing it, but sinovac is an inactivated one as well.