[Edit: I seem to have posted in the wrong section. Could somebody move this for me please?]

Copied the below over from Sky Poker forum. A very worthy cause. OP is a very reputable player.

Thread : https://www.skypoker.com/secure/poker/sky_lobby/community/forums#/discussion/178025/covid-19-ppe-production-for-nhs-staff-help

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Good afternoon all, I don't usually post on here so not sure if I am breaking any rules or posting in the right area, however here goes!

A good friend on mine and his girlfriend are engineers who have a 3D printer at home, and along with a few more local engineers who also have 3D printers have been trying to help the NHS in the North West by producing Face Sheilds.

As im sure you will have seen on the news over recent weeks the demand for PPE in the NHS is still not being met by the government, only today we hear of the death of Dr Abdul Chowdhury who on the 18th March he wrote a message to Boris Johnson asking him to "urgently" ensure personal protective equipment for "each and every NHS worker in the UK"

Earlier this week they received a request to ramp up production, however increasing production means an increase in costs, so they have decided to set up a GoFundMe page, they have a target of £10k and so far have raised £4k, all money raised is going into the production of the Face Shields for our NHS workers.

If any of you guys could be kind enough to help out, (especially the guys who I donate to on a regular basis!) it would go a long way to helping a great cause, the link is below...

Thanks in advance!

https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/3d-printed-face-visor-covid19?utm_id=106&utm_term=WKWj6v72q&fbclid=IwAR03SVwAvOkYXt05K_8Ts1Qri1ShyplSWTaLCQNw0JGbsVuTlDfAWp5XAxk

Edit: I seem to have posted in the wrong section. Could somebody move this for me please?

[Non League has apparently been cancelled]

What's going to happen to the football? Non League has apparently been cancelled and it must set a precedent.

This non-existing season would be Wednesday's best in recent year. Sheffield United missing out on Europe, Liverpool on the league and Leeds on promotion

Under National league right?

[All the little local independent shops around me still have plenty of everything no problem, everyone seems to be hitting the supermarket......]

Everyone says "don't panic buy food" but it's getting really difficult to get even basics.

The earliest available slots for online supermarket shopping are 2 to 3 weeks away.

Habitually, I go to my local Tesco at 8am each morning & get when I need. This week the queue awaiting opening time at 8am has been round the block, & once inside the shelves are, quite literally, empty. Standing in a queue outside a supermarket every morning is not exactly good social-distancing either.

I've been fairly laid back about the whole thing, & as I live alone I'm used to self isolating, it's my normal lifestyle & I'm completely fine with it. The enormity of it all is dawning on me now & it's seriously scary. And that's before we start worrying about the economic Armageddon that is waiting in the wings.

And if you can manage a "heavy" read, here's a report by Imperial College which scares the life out of me. In the absence of MANTIS I need someone solid & sensible like The Evil Pie,  Dooobs, JonMW or Science Wife to poo poo it to make me feel better.


 https://www.imperial.ac.uk/media/imperial-college/medicine/sph/ide/gida-fellowships/Imperial-College-COVID19-NPI-modelling-16-03-2020.pdf

I wandered down to my local Asda yesterday afternoon just to see what it was like - didn't really need much but had in mind to get a paper and buy a few ingredients to make fish cakes.

Loads of shelves empty - most fresh fruit and veg gone, not a potato in site, but you could get Leeks Apples - no problem with Parsley so I got some of that.

Nearly all fresh meat gone bar their more expensive steaks but plenty of sausages, bacon, black pudding - just along from there are pies and stuff - quite a few of those and, having switched to comfort eating mode based on the scenes before me I picked up a couple of scotch eggs.

Kipling cakes and biscuits seemed quite plentiful so I picked up a few of those. Got breadcrumbs, frozen mushy peas, frozen fish, frozen prawns. Fortunately I still have a few potatoes here so fishcakes can be made

Most tea and coffee had gone, eggs gone and quite a few other aisles looked pretty empty but tbf, because I can cook a bit, unless they are absolutely empty of everything, like Doobs, we may have to vary what we eat but feels like we'll be alright.

No way am I joining a queue to go to a supermarket at any point (could be famous last words) - I don't have young kids at home so this takes a lot of pressure off the feeling of having to have stuff to provide your family.

All the little local independent shops around me still have plenty of everything no problem, everyone seems to be hitting the supermarket......

This. Today I've been to a Texaco (Spar) garage and a local shop.

Spar had everything (including a near full shelf of loo roll) minus bread. Local store had everything.

It's funny how daft people seem to be in general. Crowding into supermarkets where everything is in short supply yet completely forgetting about smaller stores.

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1236029449042198528

Amazing heart from Trump to claw that back. Seemed like he was done at 5-3.

Click to see full-size image.

Is stuff like this common? Any chance they reopen the account?

(This email was sent to me last year).

Nigel Bond 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/snooker/50636280

AWB was getting so much space going forward, he really  needed to do better. If he’d have had more confidence and quality on the day we could have really punished Liverpool’s dreadful first half performance.

Fred and Perrera really put a shift in and played just about as well as I think it’s possible for them to play. McT unfortunately didn’t have his best game, especially when he could have rolled James in 1v1 in the first half but had a game shot from edge of 18 yard box instead.

Defence was solid, Young especially played very well. Cops for some very unnecessary flack a lot of times.

Great to see Rashford on the scoresheet. That will do his confidence a world of good. Now if only he would stop jumping and ducking when the ball gets near his head we might have a player.

James was class again. A real buzz when he gets the ball. He really is so quick but unlike rashford used to he can actually take the ball with him and not run past. Quality end product from him too.. he’ll have w great future.

The obvious negative was that united probably played somewhere around their peak vs a Liverpool team firing at 3/10 and we still only scraped a draw. If the game goes on 5-10 mins longer we concede another, maybe more. It’s apparent how big the gulf in class is but end of the day we took a point  and stopped their win streak. Good day.

Seems like a terrible call

I couldn't have written a better 'detailed' summary than that myself.  I certainly couldn't have typed that in ten minutes either.   If ii was going to have 3 bets they would be the three you suggested.   I pretty much agree on everything you have stated on people who can't win as well.  

Anton and Maura somehow get together and have an celtic couple up and win.   The early days run bad endears them to the public.  

Twist I can see coming in the future is Elma getting thrown back in the villa. Anton x Elma couple would romp home imo. She was extremely unfortunate to be eliminated last time but had to go ahead of Anton.

Anything to back this up? Or just a guess?

A complete guess based on what has happened previous years (producers reintroducing people). Elma going in makes complete sense to me, especially because she was so unfortunate to be removed in the first place. Give Anton a few days with Belle and bam, throw her into the mix.

If you were going to oppose the favs (tommy top boy/Molly top girl) it has to be molly really.  She is 'all in' on Tommy effectively.  Tommy has the 'run it twice' option of the surfer chick should Molly and him not work out.   Of the top favs i would much rather oppose Molly and think Molly should be a bigger price than Tommy for the top sex markets for this reason.  Don't think this has been factored in either.

I disagree. I think tommy is in same situation. I also don’t think lucie can win. Regardless, based on your scenario wouldn’t it be better to throw  a saver on tommy/lucie @ 66s oppose tommy with two picks we agree have odds which are way ool rather than a wide open woman’s field?

[Anna for next female elimination @ 7/1 looks massive.]

I couldn't have written a better 'detailed' summary than that myself.  I certainly couldn't have typed that in ten minutes either.   If ii was going to have 3 bets they would be the three you suggested.   I pretty much agree on everything you have stated on people who can't win as well.  

Anton and Maura somehow get together and have an celtic couple up and win.   The early days run bad endears them to the public.  

Maybe 15 mins then  

Twist I can see coming in the future is Elma getting thrown back in the villa. Anton x Elma couple would romp home imo. She was extremely unfortunate to be eliminated last time but had to go ahead of Anton.

Maura x Jordan couple could potentially work well. Feels like they're well suited. Would have liked to have an interest in Jordan making it deep in the competition as he seems pretty well rounded, but seeing as his only love interest has been Anna I can't see him getting anywhere close unless things change drastically.

On a side note I think theres a lot of value to be found in the 'next elimination' markets. Anna for next female elimination @ 7/1 looks massive. Not a cert by any means as we don't know how people are going to be eliminated but I'd go as far as to say if there was a public vote within the next few days shes verging on being a lock to get the boot seeing as Amy has the sympathy vote atm and Amber still has a big part to play.

Also, Anna getting the boot would completely expose Amber/Amy, which would make for great TV... See how they (especially Amber) handle things on their own without the foghorn backing them up.... I don't really think being single makes you particularly vulnerable at the moment, especially with the Villa / Casa Amor merging. Would make much more sense to boot a couple (Anna/Ovie) over the singles as having single folk in at this stage creates havoc (which is great TV). IMO there are so many arguments for producers pushing for Anna to get the boot. Her race seems ran.

[Love Island]

Love Island

Just checked oddschecker and puked when I saw Molly/Tommy winning couple @ 2/7... Immediately looked to oppose. To me, this looks like a massive market overreaction to the soppy re-coupling scene. I'm firmly of the opinion Molly is completely fake and an attention seeker and up until the last few days (where shes been quiet/ has had relatively little air time due to not being bothered about the others in Casa Amor) shes come across very badly. I see this ridic short price holding for a couple of days due to all the shit going off around them but after this has settled expect a reversion back to the mean for her, especially now everybody is in one place.

Wheres the value?

Best place to start is eliminating people who just cant win.

Girls:
- Amy (needy/bitchy/comes across badly)
- Lucie* (confirmed fake)
- Amber (too much of a bitch)
- Jourdan (incredibly smug/seems genuinely happy to have caused havoc)
- Anna (massive twat)

Boys:
- George (too quiet after a week)
- Danny (originally liked him and thought he was a potential winner. Actions have done too much damage to endear him to public)
- Ovie (coupled with Anna + comes across badly with her... acts like a nodding dog)

This leaves us with 3 couples to oppose Tommy/Molly with:

Anton + Belle @ 8/1
Michael + Joanna @ 14/1
Maura + Marvin @ 20/1

Belle / Marvin have had barely any airtime yet (I suspect Marvin is too quiet to win). Joanna's time has been limited but she come across well (also think she suits Michael + may bring out the best in him), but is still an unknown quantity at this point. For these reasons I think its best to find value in the 'top boy' + 'top girl' markets (plus there are less variables and the price only gets shaved slightly). We should be looking to choose a character who is already established as its extremely unlikely the winning couple is made up of two latecomers.

Michael (top boy) @ 12/1 with William Hill - I like this a lot. The re-coupling episode + tonights ep has made him come across badly leading to a significant drift (he was touching EVS pre Casa Amor). Another overreaction IMO. Hes intelligent and has a good personality. This new partner may also bring out the best in him as she seems down to earth + more mature. VERY happy to take 12/s here.

Anton (top boy) @ 5/1 everywhere - Terrible luck so far, hopefully the new girl is a good egg and can turn this around for him. Worth mentioning that the Anton/Lucie friendship couple were in the top 3 most popular via public vote, beating established couples. This was the same week Lucie was crying her eyes out over Joe threatening to walk so I dare say that the vote was for Anton rather than the couple. Very confident, comes across extremely well and has a good head on him. Public are also deff routing for him to find someone VERY happy to take here.

Maura (top girl) @ 20/1 with Unibet - May not be everyones cup of tea but I think people are warming to her in general. Rough around the edges and came in all guns blazing however a sensitive side has since been exposed. Fiesty, funny and sensitive. New partner will make / break this. I'm thinking since hes quiet, she will lead a lot of the discussions, get lots of air time and be involved in a lot of drama. I hope it goes well for her. Wouldn't put you off at 20s. Don't see this price lasting long. She's either going to drop a clanger and be out of the running or get pretty short pretty quickly IMO.

Note: can't believe I've just spent 10 mins typing a love island post  

😮

Bitcoin doesn't work as a 'currency' for many reasons... Its more likened to gold.

How can anything with a finite supply be expected to be a currency? A capped supply is a disincentive people from using it as a currency, and is also so contrary to how fiat currencies work. Imagine if every year your employer gave you a cost of living pay cut. Your debts get bigger in real terms every year even though the balance stayed the same.

Slight inflation is an incentive to spend 'money', which drives GDP growth.... Bitcoin does not do this.

People who are accepting Bitcoin for their goods / services SHOULD be doing it purely from a speculative point of view and making sure they're in a financial position to do so.... If this isn't the reason / they aren't in a financial position to speculate with the amounts of Bitcoin they're receiving then they need to educate themselves more. 

There is a fantastic book called the Bitcon standard. Despite the name, bitcoin is only discussed in the last two chapters. Bitcoin is currently mined at a faster rate than Gold, but by 2025 it will be overtaken as it gets closer to its hard cap. The purpose of money is to be sound and if it can be artificially inflated then it becomes quickly unsound. Why would we want to spend bitcoin if we live in a such a consumer hungry world that is promoted by the ever devaulaing scale of our unsound fiat currencies?

The thing most people on earth consider as money is the stuff that is issued by the banks. The concept of money has changed many times over the past thousands of years, with fiat currencies being a blip on that scale. Whenever money has proven itself to no longer be sound due to ease of artificial inflation, we have seen the same story. Almost every single money in history has suffered the same fate, it is foolish to think that fiat currencies will one day not cease to exist in their current form. They break rule number 1: Money has to be sound. The only form of money that has failed to break any of the rules is Gold. Unfortunately, it is not practical in this digital age and even FIAT currencies are a better form of money.

On one hand people say bitcoin is dead, yet at the same time say it cannot work as a currency because of the hard cap- price is expected to continue to rise if it is considered a safe storage of value. It is cognitive dissonance at its finest.

I completely understand what Bitcoin is and does, I'm a huge advocate of it + I certainly never said it was dead. Anyway, none of this is the point I was making.

Something with a finite supply surely cannot be considered to be 'money' as this is a huge disincentive for people to spend it + would damage economies. The world's leading economists tend to agree that a small + consistent amount of inflation is a good thing because it makes spending OK.

Others technologies are better placed to be 'money'.