43 thoughts on “Friday’s Papers

    1. bisted

      …In the absence of Charger can I remind you that the UK have voted twice to leave the EU…they will accept a deal if the EU give them all they demand, otherwise no deal…why does this continue to surprise you?

      1. Formerly known as @ireland.com

        @Bisted – fair call. I am still struggling to understand how a majority voted for Brexit, then for Bozo. I guess I over estimated the intelligence of the population.

  1. scottser

    We’re all for free speech, freedom of the press and all that but the express? I mean real newspapers are going to the wall all the time, how come that rag survives?

  2. scottser

    Paul Pogba has the nocraic virus. Who’s going to buy the useless dose now? Still holding for a Messi on a loan deal to united, fingers crossed.

    1. Bertie Theodore Alphege Blenkinsop

      There’s a possibility he’ll rock up in Manchester (with Pep), still can’t picture him anywhere other than Barca though.

    2. goldenbrown

      reckon it’s all politics
      he’s bigger than the club
      who would want that wage bill?
      also I doubt his crew would wish to live out the rest of his career in some Wimpey-built gaff anywhere remotely near cold wet windy Alderley Edge for any money. or Pep.
      nah.

  3. Steph Pinker

    Where’s the wee Setanta when you need him? On the front page of The Star, there’s Seagull hell 50 miles from the sea! (it doesn’t stipulate as to the location of which sea though).

  4. SOQ

    Ronan McGreevy in the Irish Times reluctantly attempts to answer his own question- Covid-19: Why are deaths and hospitalisations falling so dramatically?

    And fails miserably.

    He talks about older people cocooning but ignores the fact that the elderly are out and about more than at any time since the whole thing started- and why wouldn’t they? Speculation about herd immunity without ever defining what that actually means and a weaker strain without any evidence it even exists.

    Ignoring one elephant in the room could be a mistake but ignoring two is downright deliberate.

    The first is the PCR test has a margin of error of up to 5% in laboratory settings so higher outside and that our infection rate has for quite some time sat under 2%- which is well within a conservative margin of error. And, that it cannot distinguish between live infections and previous remnants for an unknown period of time.

    So in a nut shell, more tests equals more false positives and we currently have the highest number of tests per day since the whole thing started.

    The second is that there is clear evidence that Sars-Cov-2 was seasonal. In country after country it has followed the exact same pattern and masks and lockdowns have not made a blind bit of difference. This is not modelling or projections, it is real data- it is over and no, there will be no second wave because there never was one before.

    1. Cian

      So in a nut shell, more tests equals more false positives and we currently have the highest number of tests per day since the whole thing started.

      WRONG

      In Ireland between July 6 and 30 Ireland was doing between 6,000 and 7,300 tests per day; and getting between 13 and 18 positives.
      There was a DROP in the testing between July 31 and Aug 14 – down to 3,300 but there was a huge increase in positive tests raising from 29 up to 80!
      (Since then testing has ramped back up around the 8,000s and positives has continued to rise up to the low 100s)

      https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus-data-explorer?zoomToSelection=true&time=2020-07-04..latest&country=~IRL&testsMetric=true&interval=smoothed&smoothing=7&pickerMetric=total_deaths_per_million&pickerSort=desc

        1. SOQ

          Sorry no that is wrong- August projected is 191051 because today’s data would not be included, so the drop is around 1100.

        2. Cian

          Did you look at the Confirmed Cases in Hospitals in your link? .I.e. how many people are hospitalised with COVID.

          From 8th July through 14th Aug it has fluctuated between 10 and 14; it even dropped to 7 on 30th July!

          In the last two weeks it has doubled to 32 (this morning)! So the number of hospitalisations is on the increase… a week after the number of positives increased.

          1. SOQ

            My point is the drop in testing is roughly only 1100 down from its July peak of 202000 so I was wrong- but not by much.

            https://covid19ireland-geohive.hub.arcgis.com/pages/hospitals-icu–testing says 4 admitted to hospital and 2 discharged so not sure how that correlates with an extra 10 admissions btw.

            Either way those figures are absolutely minuscule in comparison to peak. There will be minor fluctuations but unless Ireland is to behave completely differently to other European countries- including Sweden- they will be nothing more than that.

          2. Cian

            You said “more tests equals more false positives and we currently have the highest number of tests per day since the whole thing started. ” and other days you have implied that the number of daily tests has been constantly increasing which is causing the additional positives.

            You are completely wrong. We are not doing more tests. We are doing a similar numbers of tests now that are producing 500-800% more positives than July.

            I see in Spain (this is from 10 Aug) their hospital admissions is up 400%:
            This rise in infections has led to an increase in serious cases that require hospitalization. If, at the beginning of July, there were around 150 Covid-19 patients receiving hospital treatment with an admission date within the previous seven days, this figure is now around 650 – 677 on Friday, the last day that data was released – which is more than four times higher.
            https://english.elpais.com/society/2020-08-10/coronavirus-hospitalizations-in-spain-quadruple-in-a-month-due-to-spike-in-cases.html

          3. SOQ

            More tests DO equal more false positives- given the margin of error- how could they not?

            As for increase in testing July was the HIGHEST month since it started and August is only marginally below that so how can you say the amount of testing has not risen?

            This virus, like all before it, did not arrive with a bang and will not leave with one either. There will be small peaks and troughs because that is exactly what happened in places way further down the line than here.

            The objective of this nonsense was to flatten the curve remember? Zero elimination is not an option.

    2. Junkface

      SOQ
      “In country after country it has followed the exact same pattern and masks and lockdowns have not made a blind bit of difference”

      I dare you to go to North Italy, Lombardy region and talk like that to the relatives of 35,000 + dead. Or to the doctors and nurses who were overwhelmed, and who many of died! There is video evidence of all of these events on European News channels, they all have youtube channels.

      Conspiracy theories are brain poison.

        1. Junkface

          I’m not going to believe this one guys theories over the many other experts I have watched discussing this. Why would anyone just believe this guy? Why are you always pushing this one guys opinions? Is he Jesus or some sort of super intelligent being that has powers beyond the comprehension of the rest of the Science community?

          No. He is just confirming paranoid viewpoints of the people who go looking for answers that already existed in their heads. Its all a false flag operation! Or its a giant hoax!

          This is what happens when a Pandemic is brought under control, because an absolute disaster was avoided people now think that it did not exist.

          Sometimes you can’t win with a proportion of the public. It has more to do with Social media and misinformation than anything else. Where were these guys during SARS? Where were the giant conspiracy theories then?

  5. Birdie

    I wonder does The Star have “The Knowledge” type test for would be staff except it’s to test your pun ability. Maybe they always talk in puns amongst themselves?

    1. Cian

      Hmm… Dr. Marcus De Brun says “ask Prof ONeill about Sitryx and It’s 30M in funding from GSK”.
      But the Irish Times says:
      “The Series A funding came from an international syndicate that included SV Health Investors, Sofinnova Partners, Longwood Fund and pharma giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK)” (my emphasis)

      So one of them is wrong.

      Does Professor Luke O’Neill have links to GSK? yes.
      “Mr O’Neill has a longstanding relationship with GSK, having taken a sabbatical to work at the company’s research labs in Stevenage, UK.

      “I’m delighted that my sabbatical in GSK has resulted in the formation of this new company in what is a tremendously exciting area,” he said in a statement.”

      Should O’Neill declare conflict of interest? yes – when applicable.
      But equally, any time you quote De Brun you should also add a warning that he misleads his twitter followers! ;-)

      1. Frilly Keane, Rebooted, Live and Dangerous

        Has Luke O’Neill received 30m?
        Has Luke O’Neill declared that as a Conflict to his Independence when his Professional Opinion is call upon?

        And congrats by the way –
        Didn’t know you could read minds as well Cian
        Even the mislead ones
        You’re wasted here bhoy

        And sure
        Yes I will post a health warning if I quote directly from other sources

        I now expect you to do the same

        Feic
        Don’t really know why I care tbh

        Tis like planting some roses around a slurry pit

        1. Cian

          Has Luke O’Neill received 30m?
          Yes. But that isn’t want De Brun said, he said ” 30M in funding from GSK”. Can you see the difference?

          Has Luke O’Neill declared that as a Conflict to his Independence when his Professional Opinion is call upon?
          I don’t know. He isn’t hiding that he has a company that received funding. And so far his opinions haven’t been related to “Big Pharma” – if GSK (or indeed any of his funders) introduce a vaccine/cure, then he would need to be very careful how he presents his expert opinion, but until then I don’t see the conflict.

          1. Frilly Keane, Rebooted, Live and Dangerous

            Nit comb your way through it all you like C!an
            I know how spin works, always happy to help the needy

            The receipt of 30 million is the Conflict that needs to be declared

            The % stumped up per head is merely background
            And so is, btw, so is what it’s spent on

            He could be mad for the online blackjack and loose the lot of it for all I care

            It doesn’t remove the risk of being influenced he comes with

          2. Cian

            De Brun’s tweet is factually incorrect.

            I acknowledged that his overall point of the €30m, and possible conflict, was correct.

            If *you* want to cast aspersions at Luke O’Neill the least *you* could do is be accurate.

          3. Frilly Keane, Rebooted, Live and Dangerous

            If the Conflict is present
            And you’ve even said so yourself that the risk was there

            Then there are no aspersions

            That’s why board rooms are supposed to keep a Conflict of Inerest register along with the Minute Book
            and it’s an standing item on any agenda – supposed to be anyway,
            An Invitation to Directors to disclose anything before they proceed any further

            So no aspersions C!an
            Just identifying and clarifying proper transparency beheavior
            Evidently you didn’t recognise it
            Hardly a surprise

            Now how’s that for an actual aspersion

      2. GiggidyGoo

        Cian, I can’t believe you posted “But equally, any time you quote De Brun you should also add a warning that he misleads his twitter followers! ;-)” when your own goal here is to attempt deflection, distraction and misleading.

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