56 thoughts on “Thursday’s Papers

    1. Nullzero

      Do you work for a pharmaceutical company or something? Bloody hell, it’s non stop with you.

        1. Nullzero

          You do like to feel like the smartest person in the room at all times it would appear.

          1. Nullzero

            Meow!

            Do you really mean to tell me that after six hours that was the only arrow in your quiver?

          2. Nullzero

            It was if you’re a fan of a “I know you are but what am I?” style of counter argument.

      1. Haroo

        Actually far more than vaccines, Qanon, jet fuel can’t melt steel beams, flat earthers etc. I find the whole thing of conspiracy theorists fascinating.

        To me it comes down to uncertainty and a desire to feel special. Conspiracy theories seem to increase during times of turmoil and uncertainty. It is almost like a need to make sense of something in terms simple enough to understand instead of engaging with jargon/esoteric subject matter, accepting the root of a phenomenon/situation can have various sources and interacting variables and a refusal to accept that sometimes we just have to acknowledge we are dealing with the as-of-yet unknown and discovery takes time and can lead to new methods of enquiry. Instead the conspiracy theorist rejects this in favour of a fantastical explanation that belongs in the Bourne movies. Easier to understand that they are not public health measures (lockdowns and restrictions) aimed at stemming a virus. It is not an emergency vaccine roll out. It is not an effort to get back to normal ASAP. It is a quest to undermine society and civil liberties and increase control on populations. Completely ignoring the fact that the only way to control this pandemic, protect healthcare capacities and vulnerable members of society was to enforce restrictions on normal life to prevent the spread. You can interpret that as an erosion of your civil liberties (which it is) or you could actually look at the intent behind these restrictions: protect people and health systems. Because some people will not act in the interest of society we have to introduce restrictions. Some situations require a stronger hand. But then of course the easy question is: who decides when and in what circumstances can civil liberties be suspended/restricted. My answer is I am not the arbiter and it would be on a case by case basis but when certain people are dying, when healthcare staff and capacities are being overrun and when we need to control a situation for people’s safety, well these would be good indicators that restrictions might be justified.

        On the other hand I also think people want to feel special. They may feel they have fallen short or they may have landed on hard times and look for explanations that allow them to assign blame. However, it feeds their desire to feel special as they are part of the enlightened few who see through the smoke and mirrors and are able to discern what is really going on. Then they tend to attach themselves to these things and see themselves as “freedom fighters” or “crusaders” or “guardians of the truth”.

        Instead of normal scientific enquiry or debate whereby you make an assertion which has to stand up to logic/reason and experiment they reverse the whole bloody thing on its head. They put the burden of proof on you. They don’t provide the evidence, they expect you to disprove them. But their assertions are not grounded in observed reality. It is all inklings, unseen and unprovable connections (because those with ulterior motives are too careful to leave any traces) etc.

        They rely on the fact that in the past there have been those who were working on schemes and plots and were exposed thus proving it can happen. But miss the point (or ignore it) that just because it can happen does not mean it is always happening. If there is tangible evidence to suggest something is awry then of course we all want to know but a feeling, inkling or in many cases a desire for something to be not quite right is not tantamount to something going on. Specious and beguiling connections are not proof.

        But their “gotcha” moment is when not every single detail stacks up. E.g. the vaccines. Is there risk involved – yes. Are they 100% beyond all doubt tried and tested and the long-term effects are known – no. BOOM, they are right. We are all lab rats. The vaccines have a more nefarious intent (population control, movement tracking, something else). Instead of actually looking at the situation we find ourselves in. A global pandemic with a virus that is highly communicable that showed it was able to overwhelm global healthcare capacities (ICU) and risk of death was substantial among certain age groups. And then they compare vaccines to past vaccines and point to whatever issues arose in the past ignoring the fact that medical science and technology have advanced leaps and bounds and will continue to do so. Never before have so many resources (time, money, people) gone into the research of a vaccine. But why push vaccines? Is it because we are lab rats? Or is it because vaccines depend on a critical mass of a population to take the vaccine for it to be truly effective. Is this an emergency roll out – absolutely, things would not be done in this way if it were not an emergency and because this pandemic is costing states so much. FFS, we even have the beginnings of a global tax deal on corporates to underline how desperate we are for revenue.

        From the WHO website “Vaccine hesitancy – the reluctance or refusal to vaccinate despite the availability of vaccines – threatens to reverse progress made in tackling vaccine-preventable diseases. Vaccination is one of the most cost-effective ways of avoiding disease – it currently prevents 2-3 million deaths a year, and a further 1.5 million could be avoided if global coverage of vaccinations improved” (this is not in relation to the covid vaccines by the way, it was published in 2019). See also the reemergence of measles and other previously nearly eradicated diseases in the US and France due to vaccine hesitancy.

        The reality is measures will be lifted in time, special powers will be rescinded and life will eventually go back to normal. Will our behaviour change and will we all be wearing masks permanently and social distancing? Well very little was fundamentally changed to the world financial system after “the great crash”. We will just learn the same lessons all over again. And when something else happens we will have the Jim Corrs of this world telling us it is the Americans with their weather control weapons etc.

        1. I am not a Russian spy

          @ Haroo …
          You should write a very long essay about it,
          Nobody will have enough time to read it but you’ll feel better..

          Blame it on Jim Corr. at the end, because you’re obviously not ridiculous..

          …oh wait…
          You actually did do that?
          I should’ve read it until the end.

          1. Haroo

            Glad you both disagree with the length rather than the content.

            No need to reply, I will assume it was something vaguely witty and about how you couldn’t read it because of the length.

        2. Mr T

          Rabble rabble rabble, debunked Freudian “pop psychiatry”, we have bigger crises to worry about, rabble rabble, nothing to worry about everything will go back to normal just trust me

          There, tl;dr for anyone interested

          1. Verbatim

            Agree, good on you Haroo for writing all that and I look on in wonderment at your sense of ‘reality’. Unfortunately, once you ‘see’ how the world really turns, there’s no going back!

    2. GiggidyGoo

      Have you reported that establishment that let yourself and others (maybe 100+) inside for drinks without checking documentation? You know, the documentation that’s supposed to confirm your vaccine status and your identity (photo id)?

      Or don’t you care that they weren’t towing the line? Or by your acceptance of their actions, are you in fact a closet conspiraloon?
      https://www.broadsheet.ie/2021/07/27/we-just-cant-get-people-to-work-for-us/#comment-2334674

      1. Daisy Chainsaw

        Two comments 30 minutes apart saying the same thing. They scanned my vaccine cert, I’m a regular so they know who I am. Not everything is a big conspiracy to get you!

        1. GiggidyGoo

          Sometimes comments don’t appear until minutes later.

          We’re at the ‘Don’t you know who I am – I’m a regular’ argument now?. They didn’t follow the instructions. You didn’t correct them. Shameful :-)

          1. Daisy Chainsaw

            What’s shameful is your obsession over me getting to drink inside. Their hostelry, their rules, which I followed. Had they asked me for photo ID, I had that to hand.

            The “don’t you know who I am?” argument is a figment of your imagination. They know who I am and have known for years.

  1. goldenbrown

    normally I do my best to keep myself to myself and try to be considerate but I’ve reached the end of my tether.
    are people seriously buying this Karina Butler wan?
    errr emmmm “the benefits of vaccination exceed any risk”
    for a normal healthy 12 year old? hello?
    “long covid, anxiety and eating disorders”
    whaaat the fupp is going on here??
    lol, I think this vaccine must have lobotomised anyone who is actually buying into this industrial scale obvious obvious propaganda campaign for herd immunity, lol I loved the misinformation redalert, etc. I’m sorry but this is such utter kak. and ye’re all caught up in the minutiae of jab versions, statistics and various C19 paraphernalia and arguing over whether a 12 y/o is a good candidate for it and yet Africa has barely seen so much as a box of the stuff? what happened to Mike Ryan’s “none of us are safe until all of us are safe” logic? did I miss the memo? sorry lads but this is car crash. I’m not buying. suit yourselves.

    1. Joe

      Do you work for Big Conspiraloon?

      Have a read of Daisy’s post it really suits you! ( Thanks Daisy)

      1. goldenbrown

        yes Joe I do, I work at Brass Eye’s Marketing Dept. where we work on campaigns to get people to do all sorts of mad stuff like shovel drugs into their small children for completely vague and floaty reasons like “anxiety” for example

        in fact I must ask the GP next time I’m down for the yearly checkup if he has any vaccines I could try out for the bitta eating disorder I have (I put on a stone over the last lockdown with them oul takeaways, twas definitely the curry chips, ridiculous, but maybe one of them mrna yokes could get me back on track)

        LOL

        1. Fez

          I’m assuming it’s just poorly written or communicated and that they mean anxiety and eating disorders from lockdowns etc, because I’ve seen a fair amount of that this past 18 months.

          1. goldenbrown

            Fez, imho it’s more like the kind of babble a highly trained & decorated professional in their field vomits up when they’re suddenly confronted with having to come up with some kak to defend the indefensible

            watch now as this story gets refined and finessed over the coming days into some sort of reasonable argument that the likes of Brendan O’Connor can win your Acceptance with on Sunday

          2. Mr T

            So in NIACs heads- the solution to pandemic/lockdown induced anxiety in children is to vaccinate children?

          3. Micko

            Hehehe. “Anxiety Mr T? There’s a vaccine for that!”

            That’s Science baby yeah!!!!

            Honestly, I think the thing that’s going to come of the worst from this whole Covid mess – IS science. Or at least peoples trust in it.

            So many contradictory opinions from scientists.

            Most people I talk to about this, are now of the opinion that they don’t know what the hell to believe anymore about Covid.

            I expect to see a MASSIVE resurgence in religious / spiritual beliefs in the near future, as some folks clamour for something that feels old and familiar to them.

            (Incidentally and completely unrelated, I am starting my own church. We worship a giant rat and lick its feet five times a day. We also take 30% of your annual income. Anyone in?) ;p

  2. Rosette of Sirius

    Olympic gold! Nice! Late night all the same and though I can’t do caffeine to stay up late like I used to, hitting the red wine with gusto around 7pm works. As in fall into a stupor around 10ish, wake a little confused of my bearings around 1ish and I’m good until dawn.

    Thank Christ sporting events in awkward time zones only come every three or four years. Otherwise it could become a bit of a problem.

    1. goldenbrown

      really fab seeing us nailing a gold medal! tho there’s a small tinge of sadness in there that it’s not the 2x brothers at it but I’m sure they had their reasons hence Gold

      it’s stealing my sleep but have to admit I’m enjoying these olympics so far – was glued to the Fencing last nite…I’d probably watch televised Jenga…looking forwards to the BMX competition on Saturday!

  3. GiggidyGoo

    Mushroom Michéal. Keep him in the dark, and feed him s…
    The chap can’t even see that Varadkar and Coveney are having one of the longest laughs of their careers at his expense. Such a fun guy.

  4. Des

    So yet again nphet, and specifically Philip Nolan, have been proved to be absolutely uselss at virus modelling.

  5. Redundant Proofreaders Society

    Delighted for the rowing teams on their gold and bronze medals. They have trained so hard, sacrificed so much and their success is aptly deserved. This will also the boost the entire team in Tokyo.

    However, news channels are reporting from the respective communities back home with “[Olympian] is from a lovely family”, “I coached [Olympian] when they were ten”, the sport of rowing “needs more government funding” and “all the facilities are up in Dublin”.

    Eye-roll.

    Why can’t we celebrate true success without all this parochial nonsense?

      1. SOQ

        He made the point himself about mental illness and asks- does it not count anymore?

        He also states that his concerns come from the information published on the manufacturer’s websites.

        I know a number of people who have had it and were very stressed out afterwards. The problem is, some people cannot handle that level of stress- especially as the long term side effects are not known at this stage.

        1. Cian

          Is this is the level of “evidence” you are now reduced too…. did you watch the other video?

          He *said* his concerns came from the information published on the manufacturer’s websites (but didn’t divulge what specifically they were).. And he also said that the anti-chirst has horns like a lamb. so what can you say?

          ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

          Yeah, some people can’t handle stress. But which is worse? the long-term low-level stress of the possibility of getting Covid or the short-term higher-level stress of actually getting the jab?

          I would add that the anti-vaxxers lies are responsible for a lot of the stress that people experience.

          1. SOQ

            Some people believe these vaccines are the mark of the beast- that is their religious belief and to be injected with such would cause great distress. This guy infers if not admits to having problems and has explained how such will affect his mental health.

            We’ve had years of mental health campaigns battling such stigmas, all to be thrown out the window now is it? I just think people should try and be a little more understanding is all.

          2. Cian

            The anxiety and stress aren’t caused by the vaccine.

            The anxiety and stress are caused by the fear, uncertainty, and doubt spread by the anti-vaxxers.

          3. SOQ

            People aren’t stupid, they know there are risks.

            I myself had a family member who had to go thorough a series of blood tests and scans because of headaches for a full month after the second dose. She was very stressed about- and understandably so.

            It say people’s concerns are because of ‘anti vaxers’ is just being dismissive, because it is an uncomfortable truth.

    1. OnlyFoolsAndHorses

      “And who is responsible for all his anxiety? The people that spread all the anti-vaxx nonsense.”

      Like Bodger retweeting this antivax nonsense this morning https://twitter.com/AI_Clayton/status/1420420061748252673

      Who is Toby Rogers you may ask. He does have a PhD in economics but he’s another Fat Emperor type who blocks people who challenge his claims. Twitter removed his account for spreading misinformation.

      https://vaxopedia.org/2020/09/26/who-is-toby-rogers/

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