67 thoughts on “Friday’s Papers

  1. Ringsend Incinerator

    Torygraph coming out with more BS and spin = “Just 24 cases per day”. “Just”

    33 thousand dead in the UK; that’s more than the Luftwaffe killed in the London Blitz. Good man Boris!

    1. Daisy Chainsaw

      And Nicola Sturgeon’s hair! Leads a country, but is a chick, so all she’s good for is hair styling gossip. I await similar articles on BoJo and Starmer.

      1. Chuckenstein

        Her short hair is a bit of a trademark and it’s not as though BJ’s hair doesn’t attract comment. In fact, the new baby’s hair drew comparison. Give Kier a while. He’s in the job only 5 minutes.

  2. f_lawless

    In the absence of much, if any, lockdown-sceptic journalism in the Irish media, I’m having to content myself with pieces from the UK and relating it to Ireland.

    This is a wry piece from Lionel Shriver, US author, living in England (wrote ‘We Need to Talk About Kevin)

    “I am steeped in dread. I foresee months, if not years, of inane gesturing towards ‘safety’ that makes no appreciable difference to the nation’s health, but does manage to 1) ruin everyone’s enjoyment; 2) perpetuate the socially poisonous notion that one’s neighbour is a threat to one’s very life; 3) maintain an atmosphere of the extraordinary, in which the state may violate civil rights at will; 4) lay waste to what little might otherwise have remained of this country’s economy..

    …We’re told that to get into a sparsely populated lift, we may have to make a reservation on an app. But never fear. I guess we could always throw ourselves off the balcony instead. Why, with the masky, glovey, get-away-from-me future we’re all facing, taking that shortest route to the pavement starts to appeal.”

    https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/this-is-not-a-natural-disaster-but-a-manmade-one

      1. SOQ

        Actually no- f_lawless is very much an anti Karen.

        A ‘Karen’ would be the sort to make sarky comments when they really have nothing to say- ring any bells?

    1. Birdie

      Good post.

      I don’t know how accurate the images from France are if wee kids playing in their own squares (taped on playground) but it made me despair.

      So many children will be totally messed up mentally because of this. I thought the goal was to flatten the curve, which we have right?

      Then the next goal is to protect our most vulnerable members of society whilst giving them some independence.

      It’s been shown so far that kids aren’t vectors so I’m sad when I see these approaches to socially distance them. It’s so abnormal.

      Then there are the parents of children which special needs that have just been left to fend by themselves.

      It seems a patchwork of disjointed thinking and a woefully thought out strategy, for example crèches.

      At this stage of the game they just need to test everyone that will be allowed to return to work. Then anyone that tests positive, contact trace. We are a small country, they can do it.

      The way they are going we will have a society with chronic mental health issues.

      1. SOQ

        The whole thing doesn’t make sense.

        We have no idea how many people died from CoVid-19, only with, meanwhile those who passed from other diseases has plummeted.

        Elderly should have been the FIRST to be protected yet they were ignored until it was too late.

        The only scientific argument for face concealment is to prevent YOU from spreading the virus, not the other way around and even that is only within small enclosed spaces.

        Airports wide open while natives under house arrest to the point where they couldn’t even go for a walk without being harassed by police.

        Useless testing unless they also include anti bodies because most people will have cleared it within two weeks without any symptoms.

        High end dissenting professional voices banned and censored like they were common criminals. If someone like Dolores Cahill is wrong then why are they not rushing to prove it?

      2. f_lawless

        https://thewallwillfall.org/2020/05/14/covid-19-back-to-school-the-new-normal-is-to-traumatise-children/
        Good post on how the measures may affect childrens psychosocial development

        “Research shows social interaction is not only crucial for psychosocial development but also crucial for cognitive development. Psychosocial development influences healthy adult personality.

        There are different stages during a child’s upbringing according to psychoanalyst Erik Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development. During each stage a child needs to overcome a psychosocial challenge/crisis.

        For example, during the Industry vs. Inferiority stage of children between ages 5-12, schools and teachers influence the child’s development the most and the basic virtue of the child is to achieve competence.

        If children are offered recognition for what they can achieve they will feel industrious and become hard workers. If they receive negative feedback and/or held back then they can feel inferior and lose motivation, leading to developmental inertia.

        In the 5th stage of Ego Identity vs. Role Confusion, the adolescent learns the many social roles they are a part of (i.e., friend, student, citizen, etc). If the adolescent is encouraged to go out and explore they can form identity.

        If they’re pressured to confirm to beliefs of others or held back then they can develop role confusion, feel lost and an identity crisis. If they do not overcome this crisis successfully then leading into the next stage of Intimacy vs. Isolation (18-40 years), they may not be able to form intimate relationships with others and are at risk of falling into isolation and feeling lonely.”

    2. class wario

      the inclusion of your opinion in the spectator is surely evidence enough that it is terrible

    3. Nigel

      If you need to scratch that contrarian-for-the-sake-of-it itch there are always those curiously well-funded and well- publicised demonstrations in the US with heavily-armed pro-Trump militia protesting Trump’s lockdown by hanging state governors in effigy and demanding low-paid workers risk their lives by going back to work providing them services that they feel opressed without.

  3. jamesjoist

    Isn’t it ironic all the same that Irish women may have to wear yashmaks in public . After years of struggle to shrug off the yoke of conservative Catholicism they might find themselves having to wear a yoke of conservative Islam .

    1. george

      No, Alanis. The face covering are to prevent the spread of droplets and have nothing to do with Islam.

      It would be ironic if islamophobes were claiming that God sent the virus to punish muslims for “forcing” women to cover their faces and then themselves got the virus due lack of face coverings.

      1. jamesjoist

        Satire . Politicians had a heated debate about males wearing face masks , some were of the opinion that wearing kohl and mascara and fluttering eyelids at passers by should be made a criminal offence . Also satire

    2. Janet, I ate my avatar

      will it end the scourge of over applied orange foundation forever ? see an increase in mascara sales …

  4. GiggidyGoo

    HSE’s Reid ‘deeply disappointed’ in Holohan. Well, there’s a turn up for the books. Notably, Holohan says there were disagreements during the meetings. Really? Not mentioned in the minutes that are provided (eventually).

    And the ‘At a glance’ section of the Examiner informs us ‘A large number of new cases reported yesterday were from one hospital, occurred over a period of time, and were reported in one group’. Utter waffle.

      1. Andrew

        It’s ok, I found it.The Examiner.
        On another note, Paul Reid seems quite active on Twitter these days. The Simon Harris school of humble-bragging approach. I don’t know where he finds the time.Am I wrong to bristle about his spelling of privileged and read more in to that?

        https://twitter.com/paulreiddublin/status/1260837843578097665
        “This day last year, I joined the HSE as CEO. I expected it would be tough but I never planned on a Pandemic. I said then, that I wanted to strengthen the public trust in the HSE. We have lots to do but I hope we have made some progress. Feeling priviliged.
        @HSELive
        #COVID19”

        1. george

          He clearly thinks communicating with the public is an important part of his job. You make time for things that are important and it doesn’t take long to write a tweet.

  5. GiggidyGoo

    Banks predict 12% fall in house prices.
    I’d predict that over the next three years, house prices will have fallen by at least 30%. Keep an eye on the Allsop site for an indication. The House Price register will be another interesting read over the coming years.

    1. Janet, I ate my avatar

      Already seeing a positive effect on the rental market as Airbnb gougers bite the dust.

  6. bisted

    …I have been mystified by what motivates commenters to perpetuate dangerous health myths…although still a work in progress, Dr David Robert Grimes is an Oxford based Dubliner who has profiled some of the types:
    Epistemic – Health conspiracies offer simple narratives to complex phenomena and provide a perverse sense of security against uncertainty for believers.
    Egotistic – More narcisstic individuals are more likely to be conspiracy theorists, and the illusion of having special knowledge rendering one superior to others can be alluring.

    …recognise anyone?

    1. f_lawless

      Not that charlatan again. Here’s an insightful critique. He’s what the author dubs a “dogmatic skeptic” beholden to establishment consensus.
      http://objectiveskeptic.blogspot.com/2018/01/the-ugly-face-of-science-david-robert.html

      A couple of quotes:

      ‘(David) Grimes, Gorski, and Novella are what The Ethical Skeptic would call “fake skeptics” and “authority credulists”. They represent an Orwellian inversion of true science and real skepticism – part of what Nassim Taleb terms the ‘intellectual yet idiot’ (IYI) class of the establishment elite. They are endorsed by – and beholden to – corporate and industry interests (whilst proclaiming and virtue signalling the exact opposite), lodged within – and incentivized by – what Eric Weinstein calls the Gated Institutional Narrative.

      They enact a weaponised type of skepticism that – whether or not they are cognizant of it – has been exploited by the propaganda arm of corporations, industry lobby groups, and astroturfing think tanks.

      They are masters in sophistry – pumping out clever arguments yet which, ultimately, turn out to be false, misleading, or dumb rhetoric. Sophistry has no place in medicine or public health journalism.

      This isn’t just an affront to true science and real skepticism — it is a danger to public health, social harmony, the spirit of free society, and to finding pragmatic and genuinely sustainable solutions to the problems facing people and the Earth. ‘…

      ..’Of course, Grimes’ first delusion – that the dissenting public are angry at him because they are ‘anti-science’ – feeds into and reinforces his second delusion, that, by shooting down those that express outrage, he’s ‘standing up for science’. Grimes’ public identity and role is a false narrative based upon one logical non-sequitur piled on top of another which, unfortunately, makes him feel self-entitled to act out the narcissistic dysfunction of seeing oneself as both victim and hero – a dysfunction which today increasingly erupts forth from the toxic epicentre at the intersection of twitter, Facebook and the corporately-owned online media. Out of hundreds or even thousands of criticisms from the public, Grimes fails to develop an internal witness or ‘Daemon’ to self-reflect on his behaviour and errors in scientific thinking. Simultaneously, he accepts praise for being open to criticism and self-correction. Bizarre behaviour. It is the grandiosity of a psychopath, and this personality disorder is of heightened prevalence in some professions – such as media.’

      1. bisted

        …looks like Dr Grimes may have to develop a new grouping to encompass those given to complex narrative and verbosity…

          1. sidhe

            that’s the one

            i think it came out earlier this year. picked it up on a recommendation from a friend and found it an enjoyable read

            very relevant in today’s world of internet sources and false information, I thought

          1. f_lawless

            not religious. just a joke made in resigned acceptance that I’m probably wasting my time engaging at all

  7. Fintan Frobisher

    FT: Nissan lifts hope with thousands of jobs boost for Sunderland

    Ah, those halcyon days of Project Fear.

    1. bisted

      …surely, its much bigger news that there are going to be customs checks at ports and airports in the north after all…heh x 3…

    2. GiggidyGoo

      Nissan has described the reports as “speculative”. Moving production from an EU – based location in Spain to a UK (non-EU) based location = duties + taxes on what is basically originally a French car (Renault) coming into the EU.

    3. scottser

      ‘in talks’
      you’re a few weeks too early, seonín. premature ejaculation seems to be a thing with you..

  8. george

    A very irresponsible headline by the Irish Independent. There is no change to the lockdown rules until Monday and most lockdown measures remain in place.

  9. Charlie

    Have a nice weekend y’all and remember, life is short. Make sure you spend as much time as possible on the internet arguing with strangers.

          1. sidhe

            what are you? twelve years old? is name calling all that your mental faculties allow?

            is it that hard to imagine that more than one person disagrees with the pure tripe you post?

    1. ReproBertie

      Fighting a vaccine that doesn’t exist yet? Are there no windmills round her way?

    2. sidhe

      more later on alternative facts, keeping an open mind and outright conspiracy with our special correspondent, some old queen

      1. SOQ

        The woman is providing an alternative viewpoint- nothing fake or conspiratorial about it. And she is not the only one so unless you can challenge her at her level then maybe you could just think ‘oh that is interesting’- no?

        1. Daisy Chainsaw

          An alternative to reality? She’s a member of An Pairtí Nazí, hows that for an alternative?

          1. SOQ

            So if she was speaking professionally and also lets say, a member of the DUP- would you feel the same?

          2. Daisy Chainsaw

            I don’t care if she’s speaking in a professional or amateur capacity. She aligns herself with racists, homophobes and conspiraloons.

        2. Lilly

          I watched her video, SOQ, and she claims that anyone who has had Covid-19 is immune for life. No basis for that claim whatsoever.

          1. ReproBertie

            We don’t know if a vaccine will work for Covid 19. We don’t know how long it will take to get a vaccine manufactured and tested, assuming one works. We don’t know if a vaccine will even be necessary as we can’t predict what the future of the virus is.

            But that doesn’t matter because here’s someone willing to resist mandatory vaccination against Covid 19 and you must take them seriously because they have qualifications.

            In the old AD&D days we often discussed the difference between Intelligence and Wisdom. This strikes me as a perfect example of high Intelligence and low Wisdom.

          2. SOQ

            Yes I expect that was dumbed down for the yanks.

            She has said elsewhere that at minimum 1 year immunity but probably life which is the rule with other corona viruses- is she right in stating that?

            I don’t know- do you?

            If she is right then it is up to those promoting this doomsday scenario to at the very least explain how CoVid-19 is challenging their collective scientific knowledge about the group of viruses known as corona.

          3. Lilly

            My understanding is that the medical community simply doesn’t know. They don’t know if having had it protects people, or for how long, yet she states confidently that it provides immunity for life. It makes me doubt the veracity of the rest of what she says.

          4. ReproBertie

            We don’t yet know if recovering from Covid 19 provides immunity.

            “Immune warriors known as T cells help us fight some viruses, but their importance for battling SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, has been unclear. Now, two studies reveal infected people harbor T cells that target the virus—and may help them recover. Both studies also found some people never infected with SARS-CoV-2 have these cellular defenses, most likely because they were previously infected with other coronaviruses.

            “This is encouraging data,” says virologist Angela Rasmussen of Columbia University. Although the studies don’t clarify whether people who clear a SARS-CoV-2 infection can ward off the virus in the future, both identified strong T cell responses to it, which “bodes well for the development of long-term protective immunity,” Rasmussen says.”

            https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/05/t-cells-found-covid-19-patients-bode-well-long-term-immunity#

          5. SOQ

            Deliberate white noise is hard to get through on broasheet.ie but if your risk of getting run down by a bus was reduced by wearing a mask all day- would you do it? That is what Leo- a gay man- is saying today.

            My partner died of AIDS back when little of what we now know as the science was available but we took risks- we used condoms and we also most definitely held hands- we loved each other. I am, to my knowledge, to this day, HIV negative.

            So now ‘fear’ is mainstream except herself aged 75 at number 41 and himself aged 83 at number 21 is out and about and YOU are the one clutching the pearls through the window as they walk by.

            They don’t care anymore- so why should you?

          6. Cian

            SOQ – sorry to hear about you partner.
            Out of curiosity did they die of AIDS or with AIDS?

          7. SOQ

            @ Cian- Believe it or not I don’t know- long story- battle with the family who never spoke to him for twenty odd years beforehand- there was money involved- isn’t there always? I never bothered to check to be honest.

            My point is that most of the hysterical nonsense about HIV and AIDS was based on bad science and I can see the same pattern repeating itself now- people wearing masks on the street for example.

            It is the reason I picked up on the Judy Mikovits story because at that time, Act UP activists had to smuggle drugs from Mexico into the US just to try and keep people alive.

            And just like back then- that media propagated fear and ignorance is going to do more damage to communities and society than the virus ever will.

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