106 thoughts on “Sunday’s Papers

  1. Cú Chulainn

    From a wry, slight angle to the universe, comment section, to full blown nut job meets constant angry irritability .. if BS is in any way reflective of greater society, then we are heading into a long difficult winter.. stay calm and stay safe..

  2. Formerly known as @ireland.com

    Another nutter you are. The virus is highly contagious. Hospitals have limited capacity. If it killed nobody, there would still be a need to limit its impact on hospitals. Don’t nitpick the stat that suits your simplistic argument. Say hi to SOQ.

    1. E'Matty

      Highly contagious, though only marginally more fatal than the annual flu and the respiratory viruses we see every few years. Cases are irrelevant. Only hospitalisations and deaths matter, and even with those being greatly exaggerated, the numbers are tiny. There is no statistically significant rise in deaths this year compared to the past 10 years.

      You’re not a nutter, you’re just an innocent naive ordinary person with no real understanding of the kind of the world you actually live in, as opposed to the one you’ve been conditioned to perceive. You actually believe people in power, at a global level, are looking out for your interests. If it wasn’t so dangerous for us all, your childlike innocence would be quite charming.

      Despite the fact people like you are destroying the country due to your inability to comprehend basic statistics and logic, you do so from a place of innocence, ignorance and fear so I wish you a lovely bank holiday Sunday. We actually are in this all together more than most realise and even if most don’t actually properly understand what ‘this’ is.

      1. Formerly known as @ireland.com

        Thanks. We all in this together. However, governments the world over are taking action against this virus. They are not all stupid, or part of a conspiracy. This is a serious virus. I am far from innocent naive. I can see the facts. I hope you can post us some pics from your ays of volunteering at your local ICU or Covid ward. That is the real test.

        1. E'Matty

          “However, governments the world over are taking action against this virus.” Nope. Governments all over the world are following a global agenda they are all part of whether wittingly or unwittingly, the World Economic Forum agenda of The Great Reset, which was not just dreamt up since Covid hit. The measures being imposed are to a) destroy the SME sector b) strengthen the major coprorates and in particular the online players, c) move the entire economy into the Digital world, d) have the people accept a much more authoritarian and controlled society (for their own good of course), e) break up all social and community bonds in the physical world and move them online to a controlled space, life is to be virtual going forward in the digital age, f) push large portions of the population into an economically useless position and subsequent State dependancy (UBI talk to increase now), g) move the education of children into online platforms where eventually AI will be teaching our kids, etc.. all happening before our very eyes.

          The same financial interests who control the WEF, are the dominant global players across all of the major agenda setting organisations. Government representatives attending these conferences are told what the agenda is. It is the agenda settters who actually rule the world not the governments who come and go, and follow the instructions passed down from above whilst in office. The idea that anyone still believes governments are the top level of global power, especially after the 2008 economic collpase and its aftermath, is laughable really.

          Our Irish politcians are doing what they always do, obeying their betters. When Trichet in the ECB and Greenspan in the Fed said deregulate your financial sector, what did they do? When the reckless lending followed and collapsed our entire banking system, what did the Irish politicians do? Obeyed their betters and guaranteed the bondholders. Many of them foolishly think this is a necessary period of pain to avoid a much worse pain. A required transformation of society to move into the digital age and not be left behind by “progress”. Or, perhaps some think the changes to society are neeeded to face global warming, whatever threat they have been induced into fearing. In the end, what will emerge will be the most controlled global society in human history. A digital web one cannot escape from. You should really do some research on what it is global power actually does. It’s dark dark stuff, and then maybe you might not so trusting and believing that they are looking out for your interests. These are the most competitive, self interested and ruthless people in the world, and they see the opportunity to grasp something such people have always craved and desired but has never been possible, that is until now….

        2. Nigel

          I guess logically this means Trump is the model for resisting this dystopian takeover by the New World Ordder.

        3. bisted

          …it’s like reading one of those Ben Elton novels…without the humour…pity Janet withdrew that comment from you Mattie because I thought it fitted quite well…in fact, of all the horsemen of the apocalypse that comment here you are truly the most…

          1. Pat Mustard

            Getting tetchy now bisted, a true sign of desperation.. And says way more about you than anyone else..

        4. E'Matty

          @ Nige – Trump is just another face of the same agenda. He is pure theatre, there to pull those rightly disillusioned with the status quo into his tribe and thereby controlled, some foolishly believing he is their saviour, or at the very least, an opposing force to this insane globalist agenda. Dive and rule is all he is. The same agenda marches on unimpeded.

          1. Nigel

            So politicians pushing for and politicians pushing against pandemic responses are part of the same agenda. You’re boxing yourself into a corner by trying to have it all ways.

          2. E'Matty

            @Nige – “So politicians pushing for and politicians pushing against pandemic responses are part of the same agenda” yup. This is kindergarten level in understanding power. Oh, you thought voters have a “choice”? They do, just from a selection of “suitable” candidates decided for them. Follow the money…

          3. Nigel

            Making you believe you don’t have a choice is the cleverest trick they ever pulled. Well, not that clever, it mostly seems to work on people who think they’re clever.

        5. E'Matty

          @ Bisted – you never really seem to have anything of actual substance to say. Always just kind of sneery comments with no real content. People like you wouldn’t have even heard of the Great Reset if it weren’t for people like me. Even now, your own ignorance has you blinded to its significance. You probably don’t even really know who or what the WEF is, and why it is a significant organisation. You think the world is as it is presented to you by the mainstream media, political class and global establishment bodies. With childlike innocence you believe you live in a world where the most powerful people are not ruthless, ultra competitive and elitist minded sociopaths, but instead, kindly, generous and benign. You simply do not understand power or the psychology of power. It’s this simplemindedness, this innocence, and preference for delusion over reality that encourages the predator class to view you as nothing better than a lowly instinctive animal. What do you matter when the “progress of mankind” is involved? Nothing more than collateral damage, a minor cost of doing business. You’ll make for one of the less interesting “things” in the Internet of Things, if you make it that far.

      1. Janet, dreams of warm feet

        that’s not directed at you Matty , every day the same poo stiring obnoxious poo from a new name , same troll

    2. V #RepealTheSeal

      D’ye know what’s also highly contagious
      Well, you couldn’t walk past someone without catching a dose
      And requires a special treatment
      As well as some elements of quarantine

      Lice

      And there’s always doses going around every school
      And public hospitals
      Always

      There’s always someone else walking in the doors of a school and a hospital with a fresh batch

      But they don’t shut down the school
      Or limit access to the Hospital
      Or playgrounds, or ban parties, or Communions, or stop them getting on a plane
      Or going to work

      We won’t get fined for not wearing hats, or forgetting to run a nit comb over our heads on the second treatment, or for not even bothering with the first one, or for not isolating until they’re all dead and down the drain

      Lice doesn’t discriminate on age, or take a shortcut through an underlying condition, or care whether you’ve been drinking n’ dancing
      Or whether you’ve washed your hair

      Gimme a dose of this ‘rona thing
      Anyday
      Than deal with those dirty mangy £úckers coming into the house again

        1. V #RepealTheSeal

          Only pointing out that there’s plenty other unwanted contagious stuff out there
          That doesn’t require a complete seizure of the public services, and a private sector shutdown

          I’m going to be very specific about this for the foreseeable future C!an – so let them know back in the office

          The permanent + pensionables + increments + sick pay + Flexi + overtime + shift allowances etc are getting to carry on as usual
          + Special Advisors & Oireachtas Payrise
          Of all these, not one has felt a pinch more severe than having a holiday or a wedding reception cancelled

          And have insisted, now with fines to boot, everything not them as in essential and budgets in the mega millions, must Shut Down
          Shut Up
          And stay at home

          Because we’re the ones stopping them from doing their jobs

          What’ll be the next excuse – that we’re mean to ye on the internet

        2. Nigel

          And when lice appear, approriate public health measures are taken – notices sent around and treatments recommended that rely on the public taking responsibilty for the good of themselves as well as the greaer community. It’s a proportionate response designed to curtail infestations before they become serious health risks. People need to stop acting as if covid is the first instance of widespread public health measures, ever. Our entire society is built around public health measures. Safety belts in cars. Sewage systems. Water processing plants. Ventilation. Hair caps and plastic gloves in delicatessens. Covering your mouth when you cough or sneeze. You just don’t notice them because you take them for granted. This pandemic response is an extension of that principle on a global scale. The same principle has to be applied to global warming.

          1. Oro

            Foot and mouth disease had implications for access to public spaces and wasn’t even a human borne virus.

        3. V #RepealTheSeal

          And there Nigel
          You’ve just posted loads of other examples of the direct and personal responsibility we assume as citizens in a functioning – well let’s pretend tis, society

          Why, even after 10 months and billions in additional spending, is the only response another Lockdown imposed on the Private Sector – in particular the *SME sector
          Because that’s what it is

          *And it’s not just the owners of pubs and beauty salons
          Or the single person enterprises
          It’s all the employees

          The only private sector group hiring and growing in Ireland at the moment
          Are the Private Equity Funds

          Well played Fine Gael

        4. Nigel

          Well I don’t understand why people keep voting for FG/FF and the economic and social policies that come witrh them, but there you go, they did, and here we are. There’s a degree of personal responsibility in that, as well. You don’t go into a pandemic with the economy and politicians you wish you had, you go in with the ones you have, and enough people voted for them so that they could take power. But according to some posters here, the makeup of the government is irrelevant, it’s all part of a global takeover, and actual competence and ethical policies in the politicial response would actually just speed it along.

          1. Nigel

            The opposite, actually. More people need to be engaged politically and more people need to vote. Cyncism is killing us.

          2. Nigel

            This is how cyncism serves long-serving hacks – politics as a profession is deeply unattractive by reputation and association.

  3. bisted

    …I’ve asked many times from the pro-sickness and anti lockdown proponents here what they consider to be an acceptable level of deaths in pursuit of their objective of herd immunity from letting Covid-19 spread…nobody has ventured a figure beyond which it’s too high a price to pay and most argue that the most vulnerable would be protected.
    This week a figure emerged which seemed to indicate the level of new cases per day at which the protections around care homes would be breached…that figure was 1000…this was the daily figure recorded when the home in Galway declared that most of their staff and residents had contracted coronavirus.
    If the politicians had gambled another week before adopting the advice of NPHET the number of new cases would have risen to over 2000 per day and there would certainly have been more Galways…
    Have the courage to call this for what it is…a cull…a purge…

    1. deluded

      Why are people using the term “herd immunity”?
      There is no herd immunity to the regular flu, nor to mumps, measles, polio, smallpox etc.
      I thought herd immunity is a result of (near) universal vaccinations- have I missed something?

      1. Cian

        Actually there is hard immunity to these things, albeit temporary herd immunity.

        Before the measles vaccination there was a well-defined pattern of waves of infections over the years.

        Effectively there would be a breakout infecting lots of people. Then there would be no measles for the next few years – from the breakout enough people had immunity to prevent it spreading. Then 5-10 years later there would be another epidemic – the older people were mostly immune but the younger weren’t. In turn they would gain immunity (or die) and there would be another 10 years without measles.

        The longer the breaks between outbreaks the worse they hit.

    2. NotHysterical

      Nope, it’s not a purge.

      It’s more akin to an accounting scandal.

      The daily cases figure is nonsense, a fiction. This is due to the test not actually testing for anything. This is stated clearly on the test leaflet. It reports on tiny fragments of virus, which may indicate covid (or the common cold). For discussions sake, lets ignore that and focus on the meat and potatoes; hostpital admissions and deaths. After all this is a pandemic, we should have very clear and obvious evidence of this.

      Every year, approaching Christmas, we have grannies piled-up on trolleys for 18-24 hours at a time, sometimes passing before being seen to. The INMO collects this admission and bed occupancy data. The INMO is reporting a little over half of the usual admissions. An explanation for this can be seen from the example of cervical cancer checks. In the past three months 110k invites were sent, but only about 12k people made the appointment. People are avoiding hostpitals. The hospitals are not stretched, they are not near breaking point. Please continue to go to hospital if required.

      Deaths: the deaths reported are people dying WITH covid, rather than FROM covid. People continue to die from things that people normally die from, at the same stage in life. This includes stage 4 cancer patients, car crash victims and heart attacks. Week ending 16th Oct there were 24 people who died with covid. All trgedies. We must bear in mind, the test has such a high false positive rate, that most people who are admitted (who mostly have weakened immune systems) are more likely to pick up some sort of respiratory disease.

      Consider this: imagine in previous years if we reported on peolpe who died WITH tiny fragmnents of influenza, even if the primary cuase of death was cardiovascular disease, or cancer of traffic accidents. What would figures look like? 24 in one week?

      This is not a pandemic by any stretch of the imagination.

          1. GiggidyGoo

            @Pat Mustard.
            It’s forced overtime at the minute. Hence the Bank Holiday Weekend meltdowns by the pawns

        1. E'Matty

          People in their 80’s and 90’s dying of chronic heart disease, chronic neurological diseases (Parkinsons, MS and Alzheimers), chronic respiratory diseases, cancer and diabetes are being counted as Covid deaths as well even where we have no indication that Covid played any part in their passing. Annual deaths (with the stats we have to date) show no statistical increase on other years. What we are witnessing now is the normal rise in deaths amongst the very elderly and already ill as we head into winter, and these are being presented as Covid deaths to induce a state of fear in the population. The inconsistent measures being imposed in an authoritarian fashion on the entire populace, are not evidence based but politically motivated and highly destructive. These SOBs are going along with a global agenda of restructuring our economies and socitieties. It is an anti democratic agenda that will leave huge portions of the population behind forever. Of course, the richest and most powerful people in the world are made much richer and infinitely more powerful by these actions. People simply do not understand global power.

          1. Daisy Chainsaw

            Old people are stupid and useless and are more trouble than they’re worth, a drain on finances and resources, so why can’t we just let covid kill them off? A bit of natural selection will save businesses and mean we can get back to the 12 pubs before it’s ruined by sick people.

          2. bisted

            …wouldn’t you think that people who die from loneliness at the present time are as much a victim of corona virus as those who contract the disease?

    3. Micko

      @bisted “what the acceptable level of death?”

      That’s a daft question that you’ve asked many times.

      A question loaded to give you the higher ground in moral superiority, as any answer allows you to paint someone who answers as a murderous psychopath.

      But let me ask you the reverse to see if you can answer.

      How much of our society, economy, our lives, our children’s lives and our general freedoms and autonomy are you willing to sacrifice to keep EVERYONE alive?

      Because you’re asking the impossible.

      Stop death Jesus wept…

    1. Janet, dreams of warm feet

      it’s a gorgeous day, I’m actually over the bickering, the prodding, the name calling,
      people like SOQ are right to ask questions if only based on the track record alone of people in power in this country being less than transparent, it’s a site for discussion ffs,
      no one knows what people are going through, the name callers probably are those feeling the worst of it but it doesn’t help anyone or win anyone over to your argument imo,
      anyway,
      I’m off down the canal to enjoy nature’s autumn colours, there’s still a whole world out there, have a great day folks

      1. Janet, dreams of warm feet

        I realized I also used the word nutter in relation to our namechanging troll another reason to go for a nice walk, too easy to get sucked into the negativity

  4. GiggidyGoo

    And not a word about Virapro, which is still being pushed on the maxxcare.global website.
    The two Irish addresses for this product, and Maxxcare are:

    Portfolio House,
    Kilbarrack Ind Est
    Raheny
    Dublin 5 D05TF86
    and
    Unit 6, Rathenraw Ind Est.,
    Antrim,
    Co. Antrim
    BT41 2SJ

    Both of which are ‘workspaces’ owned by Calibro Workspace Ltd.

    Handy to have an address to turn over €9m+ over 2-3 months.

    Virapro isn’t a company but is referred to as such by the media
    Maxxgroup doesn’t seem to be a company
    PFG Brand Attraction Seems to be a company – Portfolio Group

    From The Examiner.
    “Freedom of Information documents seen by this newspaper detailing the HSE’s Covid-19 expenditure show that it paid PFG Brand Attraction EU Ltd €9,160,046 from February to April this year.
    The HSE did not respond to queries put to it about how much of this spend relates to the recalled hand sanitiser.”

    Does PFG group have a medical background? Hard to know as their last contract with the state was with Horse Racing Ireland for the supply of…….trophies. Contract references, via EU Tender website
    https://irl.eu-supply.com/ctm/Supplier/PublicTenders/ViewNotice/213973

    1. V #RepealTheSeal

      Not a word about the M+B archiving either

      BTW as far as we can tell, President Higgins hasn’t signed it ……

      Three bills were sent over to the Áras Friday Evening
      Only two were signed

        1. V #RepealTheSeal

          Open to correction
          which I’m sure I will be
          Given the Broadsheet population ATM
          Largely sharing the same views of a pair that insist the Tuam Septic Tank discovery is a pack of lies

          President Higgins will convene the Council of State first
          And take it from there

          I myself don’t think its going to make it into the Statute Books, not permanently (or till it’s own time cap dissolves) anyway

          BS.tv other night, focused mainly on its incompatibility with various Personal Data laws and regulations that we can all rely on now.
          Which take precedence

          Europe with definitely squash it anyway

          Beginning to think the whole thing is just a jaunt of sorts

          1. Cian

            Unless the bill is unconstitutional (or possibly unconstitutional) there is nothing Higgins can do. That is the only reason he can refuse to sign a bill. He can send it to the Supremes, but if they say it doesn’t breach the constitution it goes straight back to Higgins to sign.

            Personal I don’t like it and wish it hasn’t passed.

    2. NotHysterical

      If they cannot do due dilligence on handwash, how to we trust a rushed vaccine?

      And I’ve forked-out for plenty of optional vaccines for travel etc.

      1. V #RepealTheSeal

        Well there’s most definitely minimum standards required to be met
        Enforced by HIQA as well
        All hospital purchasing departments have strict rules on all sorts of ‘ household’ or facilities say, purchases

        Seems to me that a certain cohort of friendlies got election thank yous from the acting Government under Pandemic Emergency Contracts and panic buying Purchasing / Tenders

        Hidden inside that Budget Deficit last week are several Billions in wasted Pandemic panic buying from people they are very friendly with

  5. Gabby

    Bloody minded comments are highly contagious. There are two ways to curtail them. a) Ask people to shut up online & listen to calming music. b) Send their comments to an isolation chamber that automatically deletes after 30 days.

  6. Charger Salmons

    Of course things could be worse.
    In Wales they no longer consider books to be essential items available for purchase.
    What else are the boyos going to do on those long winter nights when their sheep are snowed in on high ground ?

  7. Nigel

    Someone in the deleted comments called the pandemic an accounting scandal. They might not be wrong:

    https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/covid-testing-technical-issue-excel-spreadsheet-a4563616.html

    ‘People may have caught Covid-19 because an Excel spreadsheet failure stopped nearly 16,000 cases being transferred swiftly to the test-and-trace system, a Cabinet minister admitted today.’

    https://twitter.com/ZevShalev/status/1320129459136155648

    ‘Donald Trump, his key backer Peter Thiel, and Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House Covid coordinator are directly linked to nationwide under-reporting of Covid-19 cases and deaths. We learned this morning the data was flawed.’

    1. V #RepealTheSeal

      That’s not an Accounting Scandal

      That’s a data entry / formula – human error stuff. Maybe it was intended – fair enough. But it’s still not an Accounting Scandal.

      An Accounting Scandal is getting a friendly lend of 50 million in December
      Having it appear on your 31st December Bank Statement
      And posted in your Bank Rec as say Income
      have the external Auditor sign it off as Cash in hand for the purposes of the current assets on the Balance Sheet

      And sending it back to your pal, a bank CEO by Paddys Day

      There’s always the oul fake sales / contracts in WIP that need financing ……

      Or posting the building of an extension on the boss’ girlfriend’s gaff and charging it to new air conditioning in the staff canteen. And getting a capital allowance out of it to boot.

  8. Charger Salmons

    I say, what a gorgeous late Autumn day.
    I’m sat on the main terrace here at Chateau Charger admiring the spendid work of our Slovakian gardener and Lady Charger just popped out with an early sharpener ( Bombay Sapphire + tonic ) while she’s busy in the kitchens preparing dinner (roasted lamb, roasted vegetables and colcannon with something covered in custard for dessert ) ) and we both agreed life really isn’t too bad after all considering these unusual times.
    It’s important not to let the vicissitudes of the Covid-19 debate get you down so much that you resort to endless online fights with total strangers over the need or otherwise to wear masks.
    Step back, open a night bottle of wine ( a 2018 Pessac-Léognan from Ch. Haut Bailly in my case ) and enjoy the positive things in life.
    Marvellous.

    1. benblack

      Don’t forget to keep your phone to hand, however, because you’ll never know when the urge may come to rejoin the endless banality.

      Cheers!

      1. Charger Salmons

        News update – we’re having home-made Yorkshires with the lamb and no-one makes Yorkshires as good as Lady Charger.
        That and her enduring enthusiasm in the boudoir is why I give thanks for my success in seducing her on that sultry Bali night.
        Lucky girl.
        Isn’t life grand ?

        1. benblack

          A homemade Balinese Yorkshire pudding – in, wait for it, Ireland!

          Bon appetit!

          The wine looks good, though.

    2. bisted

      …uncanny, I may be turning into a Charger on the eating and drinking front…just poured myself a Bombay Sapphire…thumb carefully over the famine queen on the label…bottle of claret opened…you might as well indulge now as the French stuff will be of the menu soon…it’ll be all saki and sashimi come January…

        1. bisted

          …of course there are…sure haven’t you got loads of British Fizz…not quite Champagne or vintage Cava…but sure you only pour it over racing drivers anyway…

    3. Charlie

      “Something covered in custard…” would that be the Birds Jelly. As for the 2018 Pessac-Léognan. You’re wasting it. It more like iron filings at this point. Leave it another 3/4 years and you’ll then enjoy the smoky, earthy & tobaccos aromas. Ask the missus to go fetch one of your cider cans from under the sink(next to the Vim).

  9. f_lawless

    This comment is a test.
    I’ve tried more than once today to post a comment but each time it’s simply disappeared after clicking the post button

        1. benblack

          In the IoT, a pubic IP address is the most severe manifestation.

          Not known to be lethal, but they’re working on it.

          Anyone else think it odd that malicious self-replicating computer code – of human design – are called viruses. Anthropomorphism, or just prescient AI planning.

          1. benblack

            Another gripe/observation, when did keyboards/mouse, etc, become HIDs? Human input devices as opposed to non-Human Input Devices?

            Voice input still originates from a human, same as a keyboard, etc.

            Is it to differentiate sensor input from standard traditional input methods?

            Also, the volume and scope of drivers in a basic Windows installation seems a tad futuristic for my basic machine.
            IR scanner drivers, UV drivers, more Bluetooth drivers than I thought possible and Kernel drivers that appear not to be native.

            But, then again, weren’t they – knowingly – handing out Cholera etc laced blankets to the unsuspecting over 500 years’ ago, too, in the New World.

            Tinfoil hat firmly secured.

  10. f_lawless

    I wonder could the moderator(s) shed any light on it? The comment disappeared instantaneously when I posted it a few hours ago. I tried to do so again about 15 mins ago and the same thing happened. There was no offensive language in it.; just a link to a blog post criticising the UK government’s ‘Behavioural Insights’ approach to policy-making during the pandemic – and me pointing out that the same thing has been happening here.

    The blog post is a well-referenced piece, often linking directly to UK government websites.to back up the points argued.

    Does Broadsheet keep a list of blacklisted sites it won’t allow to be linked to in the comment section? I can understand porn sites, etc or a sites with some verifiably false information but to block this particular site doesn’t seem in keeping with their stance up until now.

    https://www.broadsheet.ie/2020/10/24/sundays-papers-56/#comment-2257785

      1. f_lawless

        I tried your suggestion. The same thing happened.Instantly vanished after clicking ‘post comment’

  11. Charger Salmons

    Congratulations to Britain’s Lewis Hamilton whose victory in Portugal today made him F1’s most successful driver ever as he passed Schumacher’s record of wins.
    Flying the flag from Monaco.
    Good man.

  12. Charger Salmons

    Tao Geoghegan Hart.
    A good British name to remember for the future.
    A great win in the Giro d’Italia.

    1. Charlie

      Fantastic achievement for the lad with the Scottish/Irish blood. Also, great excitement with Ireland topping the table in the six nations. A bonus points win in Paris and they can’t be caught. A highly unlikely outcome though. A simple penalty kick for England in Rome next weekend might just be the anti climax to the championship

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