A Courageous, brutally honest and often brilliant journalist.
benblack
+ 1
Truth seeker extraordinaire.
911, legitimacy of Iraq invasion for oil 2003 – Plus the 1 Million human beings who protested against said invasion in London – loved to have been there.
A proud British/human moment.
Gabby
I didn’t need to join 1 million in London protesting against the notorious 2003 US-led attack on Iraq. Instead, and saving an airfare, I joined 100,000 protesting in Dublin the same weekend.
benblack
You do understand that I was directing that comment at the local squire and foreign landlord, Gabby.
Still, though, a great moment of British history where the ruling elite ignore the will of the people.
What could possibly go wrong?
They called it democracy then, what’s it called now?
Cú Chulainn
Here’s one for you Salmons:
Pity the nation that is full of beliefs and empty of religion.
Pity the nation that wears a cloth it does not weave
and eats a bread it does not harvest.
Pity the nation that acclaims the bully as hero,
and that deems the glittering conqueror bountiful.
Pity a nation that despises a passion in its dream,
yet submits in its awakening.
Pity the nation that raises not its voice
save when it walks in a funeral,
boasts not except among its ruins,
and will rebel not save when its neck is laid
between the sword and the block.
Pity the nation whose statesman is a fox,
whose philosopher is a juggler,
and whose art is the art of patching and mimicking
Pity the nation that welcomes its new ruler with trumpeting,
and farewells him with hooting,
only to welcome another with trumpeting again.
Pity the nation whose sages are dumb with years
and whose strongmen are yet in the cradle.
Pity the nation divided into fragments,
each fragment deeming itself a nation.
Charger Salmons
PARKLIFE !
Brother Barnabas
always lost with me the first line reference to religion, Cú
so, with that, I offer you ferlinghetti’s retelling of it (which, incidentally, far better speaks to the little englanders with the giddy fawning over the likes of Farage):
Pity the nation whose people are sheep
And whose shepherds mislead them
Pity the nation whose leaders are liars
Whose sages are silenced
And whose bigots haunt the airwaves
Pity the nation that raises not its voice
Except to praise conquerers
And acclaim the bully as hero
And aims to rule the world
With force and by torture
Pity the nation that knows
No other language but its own
And no other culture but its own
Pity the nation whose breath is money
And sleeps the sleep of the too well fed
Pity the nation oh pity the people
who allow their rights to erode
and their freedoms to be washed away
Charger Salmons
Grasshopper …
Brother Barnabas
that knows no other language but its own
and no other culture but its own
Cú Chulainn
Thank you BB. Never liked the religion part either.. a great loss to humanity..
Janet, dreams of a steamed clootie
excellent version, most rousing
Formerly known as @ireland.com
Terrible news. He was one of the best journalists in the World. He would explain the Middle East in a way that nobody could or would. RIP.
Charger Salmons
The Faragemeister spots an opportunity …
” There is no political voice opposing this new national lockdown in England. I think that may change very soon. ”
He could be polling at 30% by Christmas …
Correct – “opportunity”.
He is desperately seeking attention. He knows he will be on breakfast TV for the next 12 months.
I am comfortable with my view, knowing that Farage is on that side of the lockdown debate. Nobody wants lockdowns (in case the usual suspects start name calling) but in the real world, when you have limited hospital/ICU/medical staff capacity, you have to respond to a new virus that does not behave like the flu.
Victoria has gone from 725 cases a day, 650 in hospital, to zero cases over the weekend and a handful in hospital. Two weeks supervised quarantine for all international arrivals will suppress the virus here.
benblack
@Formerly
As stated in your answer to SOQ, you have not been financially disadvantaged by the Lockdown Down Under.
If the Lockdown affected your income level to say 30% of your normal take home pay, would you still hold the strong views that you have expressed here regarding the efficacy of Lockdowns?
Serious question.
You’re going to have to imagine that reality and the fact that there is no official end date for that reality.
I hope your imagination is up to it.
SOQ
+1
It is easy to ignore the sacrifices being made when it is not you making them.
Lockdowns hurt and kill the poorest and most vulnerable in society at a disproportionate rate and yet- apart from Sunetra Gupta, not one left wing political voice to be heard.
Primarily because they themselves are not the poorest and most vulnerable of course.
“…It is easy to ignore the sarcrifices being made when it is not you making them”
-finally…talking about a thing you know something about…
benblack
Growing up in the South – during the eighties – (all we wanted to do was to be of age and emigrate) was hard enough, growing up in the North and the challenges SOQ must have faced earns him the right to know what he’s talking about, bisted.
Formerly known as @ireland.com
I see all the pseudonyms are out. I had decided to stop wasting my time with you.
Let me see, only people who lose their income can have an opinion?
As I have stated, the greater good is what counts. I see medical people turning up to ICU wards. Why don’t they resign and let someone else do it? They are exposing themselves to serious danger. Do you question why they do it?
The lockdowns are needed for the greater good. I can see that. I pay my taxes so that everyone can have the opportunity to get through this. Nobody enjoys lockdown, nobody wants lockdown but sometimes they are the best or only option.
I am not the problem, here. My view doesn’t actually matter. The virus needs to be beaten.
Are you telling me that if your income was still OK, you would be happ with lockdowns? That seems to be the implication.
As for the poorest – they suffer most from the virus, not from the lockdowns – In Ireland and Australia, anyway. The social welfare system can and should provide for them. Homeless people in Melbourne are still in hotels. The dole in Australia was doubled as part of the national response to the virus.
Obviously, some people have their minds made up. I have been through 112 days of harsh lockdown and now we have had three days in a row with zero cases and zero deaths. Bye.
benblack
The greater good?
Antipodean immaturity.
Mature Europe has learned from her mistakes.
benblack
And, no, I’m not referring to Covid.
SOQ
‘We are all in this together’ and ”for the greater good’ platitudes mean little when savings are at a record high while others are about to become homeless.
Lockdowns hurt and kill the poorest and most vulnerable in society at a disproportionate rate- this is fact- and, children from such backgrounds are suffering most.
Lockdowns kill way more than they save.
Janet, dreams of a steamed clootie
+1 SOQ
Johnny
Ffs your a single man,with way too much time on his hands,almost everything you’ve posted is or has been proven wrong,this is junk,rubbisih,made up,no facts none just disinformation.
The suffering children really,I mean cmon give it a rest….ffs.
SOQ
So because I don’t have children I shouldn’t be concerned then is it?
…..in case you haven’t noticed death is a fairly big sacrifice,the bodies are piling up,again due in many ways to “experts” like yourself,spreading disinformation.
…so what evidence do you have to support once again another wild claim….
“ Lockdowns hurt and kill the poorest and most vulnerable in society at a disproportionate rate and yet- apart from Sunetra Gupta,”
By how much .
Or just another hunch.
Oh the children,the children the last refuge of cranks,witch doctors and spoofers the kids oh think of the children….
SOQ
That’s the point- the bodies are NOT piling up. Overall fatality rates are well within the average range this year. Sorry to burst your fear bubble but that is the truth- from official Irish government stats- so no room for misinterpretation.
See link above from Emma Kenny in the UK for your ‘how much’ question- but you can be certain it is exactly the same here in Ireland.
As for your last comment-
Is Dr. Sunetra Gupta, professor of epidemiology at Oxford University- who leads a team of infectious disease epidemiologists a crank?
Is Carl Heneghan, Professor of Evidence-Based Medicine at Oxford University a spoofer?
So you have no actual metrics,numbers or facts just flooding the zone with emotional rubbish about the suffering children,which you don’t have any of yourself….is this like moms and dads against lockdowns now….
“Lockdowns hurt and kill the poorest and most vulnerable in society at a disproportionate rate- this is fact- and, children from such backgrounds are suffering most.“
This is hunch,a feeling,not a fact as you have provided zero evidence,none.
Brother Barnabas
^^^ pathological narcissism in full flow, folks ^^^
benblack
FFS, Johnny, just go out and vote.
Johnny
Folks?
Triggered again bro…….
Brother Barnabas
making an observation on your evident personality disorder isnt being ‘triggered’, johnny
it’s just that: an observation
devoid of emotion or investment
I’m like the piano player on the Plaça de Catalunya
Janet, dreams of a steamed clootie
he’s just admitted he’s off his tittizs on most threads Brother , you can’t take any of it seriously
Janet, dreams of a steamed clootie
although I have heard that regular use of mind altering substances can lead to unfortunate personality disorders/changes particularly if used on the still developing mind
Cian
@SOQ
That’s the point- the bodies are NOT piling up. Overall fatality rates are well within the average range this year. Sorry to burst your fear bubble but that is the truth- from official Irish government stats- so no room for misinterpretation.
Wrong in the UK anyway. The UK has better weekly data for all deaths, although it is from 3 weeks ago.
There have been 1821 Covid deaths in the last 7 days (of ~10,000 expected deaths) or a frightening 18% of deaths were Covid related (although probably a lower percentage since the total number of deaths is probably higher due to covid).
Johnny
Boring absentee landlord who likes make observations,fleeing your country for lower tax hm…why aren’t you resident in Ireland and pay tax in Ireland,aren’t you loving your dream in Spain,the absentee irish landlord,strolling the streets at lunchtime,on your way local bar not a care in the world,that irish rent huh,waving to the locals,,rent every month from your irish tenants,sunshine ..,.im simply traveling around states for few years,what’s your excuse?
Brother Barnabas
you’re fantasizing about me now, johnny
I’m not a landlord – absentee or otherwise
and I pay 80% of my tax in ireland
I live in Ireland 3 or 4 months a year, between spain and Portugal another 3 or 4 months a year and – wait for it – in NY the rest of the time
and that’s not for tax-dodging reasons – it’s due to work, family and personal preference
but links to video refuting the UK government’s predictions.
I am talking about what actually happened last week in the UK. 1,821 Covid deaths.
You seem incapable or unable to look at the trends (both here and the UK). The numbers of positive tests, hospitalisations, ICU, deaths have all been rising for the last 8-10 weeks and if nothing is done would these numbers would continue to rise!
In Ireland:
– Confirmed Cases in ICU: 44, the highest since 28 May!
– Over 310 people in hospital for the last. two weeks. It peaked at 354 last week, the highest since 20th May!
Deaths in August: 14
Deaths in September: 29
Deaths in October: 109
Deaths in November: ????
Janet, dreams of a steamed clootie
A friend of mines mother recently died in Scotland of a heart attack, yet cause of death was given as covid ? I don’t think it was the asymptomatic covid that finished her off ?
I’m sure if a province in Ireland was locked down for a 100 days with Draconian attacks on civil liberties we could get the infection rate down to zero.
Australia is heading into its summer and just like here the infections drop dramatically.
Let’s see if you’re so smug next Spring when the second wave hits.
Charger Salmons
Some cure for Covid -19.
Today’s Telegraph, behind a paywall.
A warning from Australia: Boris Johnson’s cure is worse than the disease
“The state of Victoria is a shell of the vibrant place it was, and its people live in constant fear. Britain is about to follow the same path.
Streets that once boasted the country’s best culture and nightlife are empty.
Victoria has become famous for using lockdowns to ‘defeat coronavirus.’ Dr Anthony Fauci mentioned Australia as a country that did “quite well”. We haven’t defeated the virus. The virus is at bay but the only thing truly defeated is Victoria and Victorians.
The state last week got out of its second lockdown of the year. Just like you were told yours will only last one month, we were told it would last six weeks. It lasted 112 days.
Like Brits are about to re-experience, all non-essential retail and hospitality have been closed, businesses have been shuttered and we have been cut off from friends and family. At the lockdown’s peak we were only allowed out of our homes for one hour a day between 5am and 9pm.
Cases have come down, but what has exploded is a mental health and economic crisis that will take this state decades to recover from.
Melbourne has been declared the world’s most liveable city six out of the last seven years by the Economist Intelligence Unit. Now look at what 112 days of lockdown has done to this city and the state.
Victoria lost more than 1,000 jobs a day through this second lockdown. Since lockdown strategies began in March, 696,000 jobs have been destroyed in Victoria, according to Institute of Public Affairs research. Given that 3.3 million Victorians are employed, those job losses are equivalent to 21% of the Victorian workforce.
One in five residents has lost their job
Streets that once boasted the country’s best culture and nightlife are empty. Shops that displayed cutting-edge fashion, antique goods or any matter of personality now simply hang ‘For Lease’ signs.
The mental health figures are just as concerning. Victorians have been cut off from so many things that make life worth living these 112 days. We have been banned from seeing friends who live further than five kilometres away from us (it’s now ‘only’ 25 kilometres), we could not visit family or friends in their homes, or walk in groups of more than two – and even then only once per day. The effects have been devastating.
In the last two months calls to the mental health support hotline Beyond Blue are 77% higher in Victoria than in the rest of the country. Most disturbing, hospitalisations for attempted suicides are up 6% from last year – and for those aged 17 and under the increase is 31.3%.
Now that the state is finally starting to take steps towards opening up, a new fear has come forward: the deep fear that we will return to lockdown again.
This is a fear we share. Boris Johnson promised that Britain would never return to lockdown – that promise is now broken. He has promised this new lockdown is only for a month, but how can Britons believe that now?
Victoria’s freedom relies on our state’s contract tracing team, whose incompetence meant the government did not feel it was safe to ease restrictions even when daily new cases was as low as seven per day. There will be another outbreak in the state, it is inevitable. If the team fails, we go back to lockdown.
Our two countries are destined to spiral in and out of lockdown until a vaccine arrives, always fearful that at any time the government can take away our livelihoods.
This is the warning from Victoria. This state is a shell of the vibrant place it was, and its people live in constant fear. Britain is about to follow the same path.
Morning George
Ireland – England ,know the difference Salmond.
Charger Salmons
Salmons – Salmond.
Know the difference Boy George.
Psst Ciarán @De ‘Xaminer
Patrick O’ Donovan is a Fine Gael TD
Charger Salmons
Heeeeeeeeeeee’s back.
” The Brexit Party is to be relaunched as an anti-lockdown party called Reform UK, in a move which could alarm Conservative MPs jittery about Covid-19 policy.
Plans to change the name of the Brexit Party to Reform UK were submitted to the Electoral Commission last week. ” https://twitter.com/christopherhope/status/1323015019534163969
Charger Salmons
Think what you like about him, he knows a political opportunity when it’s staring him in the face.
Brexit will be done and dusted by Christmas and he could be polling at 30% by then if the lockdown drags on.
Local elections next Spring.
He single-handedly raised the issue of the big increase in illegal migrant crossing of the English Channel this summer when the MSM wouldn’t touch it.
Good to see the old dog back in the headlines again.
Still the most effective political operator of his generation and without whom Brexit would never have happened. https://twitter.com/Nigel_Farage/status/1322967894544830479
SOQ
I seen that interview yesterday. He is correct of course and if the left is not going to do anything then the nationalistic right will seize the opportunity.
He should just call it ‘The Bandwagon Party’ and be done.
Charger Salmons
Yes, God forbid any politician who wants to campaign on behalf of those voters who have grievances against the political establishment.
SOQ
I really don’t understand what the term ‘popularist’ actually means- it is Orwellian double speak- don’t all politicians want to be popular?
Need to be popular even.
benblack
Does anyone in England think it a tad coincidental that Brexit preceded the Great Plaque that is Covid-19?
England could never be excluded from the Great Reset.
Such a shame for, a once, great country with great aspirations, to wag the tail of another dog.
*PityTheBulldog*
benblack
Is that a ‘q’ or is that a ‘g’?
*Plague*
Shayna
On a much graver note, Tyrone won’t be seen this year at GAA HQ. Donegal officials managed to plough the half of the pitch that lent onto the town and also narrowed the field, with white lines. Declan Bonner’s intentions were clear – run Tyrone down the middle – the pitch is so narrow, there’s no other option. Typical Donegal! (Shayna is joking) Atrocious conditions, altogether – Peter Canavan’s son, Darragh got a goal and a point on his debut (18ish). Not sour grapes, at all – The Championship should have been suspended this year, in my humble opinion. But whoever wins Sam this year – in the history books of the GAA, there won’t be an asterix marking 2020 as The Covid Year – they’ll be All-Ireland Champions.
We didn’t make a great start either
But shur’ twas the same conditions for the Blahs
One thing’s for sure
All the players
In all the matches over the weekend
Showed they were bursting to get out onto the field
Save the excuses for the club house Shayna
GiggidyGoo
Gas, the riddling with deflections that Varadkar and Tuathail (Not Another Gaeler P….) are attempting. The SCU Members are very quiet
Phil Hogan resigned for leaking a budget – the details of which were ‘largely finalized’ and already in the public domain. He was lucky it wasn’t brought any further.
We have Tuathail saying ‘We could not adopt a position on the programme for chronic disease management as a union, without full access to the details that it contained‘. They weren’t a union. They were trying to team up with UNITE for representation.
Tick tock.
benblack
@GiggidyGoo
The lady’s not for turning.
Charger Salmons
Of all the Monday morning quarterbacks in rugby I find Gavin Cummiskey far more honest that his Irish Times colleague and IRFU stoolie Gerry Thornley.
Ireland were brutal on Saturday, temper tantrum Sexton largely ineffectual, Murray a busted flush and Stockdale just embarrassing.
England were average too but did just enough to secure the title.
France are the coming team in Europe – great half-backs, a winger with blistering speed and a solid defence coached by the best in the business Shaun Edwards.
The next world cup in France will be a cracker but Ireland need drastic surgery to avoid choking yet again.
“France are the coming team in Europe”. Coming to what? Be marginally better than all those other three that matter? They’re good but no great shakes. They’re just as likely to spit the dummy as they are to be sinbinned. Step away from the hype machine.
Formerly known as @ireland.com
It is great to see Jacinda Adern do things her way. If only more countries had leaders like her.
Charger Salmons
If only more countries were islands thousands of miles from anywhere with a rural population willing to accept undemocratic measures with all the obedience of the sheep they tend.
Some people think euthanasia is more important than getting stoned.
Slightly Bemused
I am not sure where to put his, so I am putting it here
A man passed away. This happens, and often without any notice.
This man was not a paragon of virtue, but few are. I certainly am not.
When any of us are sitting down trying to figure out what we did with out lives, how many will say they drove a bus in reverse around Ireland? How many will have pushed a bog barrow down the lanes and highways of the country?
Actually, I do know the answer, and it was not me.
I got thirteen stitches in a place that is now home to a facility that cares for those who cannot easily care for themselves. It was always called the doctor’s house because, well, that was where the doctor was.
But the doctor moved, and a house now empty became a beacon for those who had nowhere to go.
A man worked with my mother to try and ensure there was somewhere to go when everywhere else was not available.
We probably threw health and safety out the window with that industrial lift on the side of that same bus. He drove us the length and breath of the country. Broke his finger one time off a bannister rail.
And today I heard of his passing. Two titans have now passed
RIP Robert Fisk.
The best.
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/veteran-journalist-and-author-robert-fisk-dies-aged-74-1.4397069#.X58jcaJqkPo.twitter
+1
A Courageous, brutally honest and often brilliant journalist.
+ 1
Truth seeker extraordinaire.
911, legitimacy of Iraq invasion for oil 2003 – Plus the 1 Million human beings who protested against said invasion in London – loved to have been there.
A proud British/human moment.
I didn’t need to join 1 million in London protesting against the notorious 2003 US-led attack on Iraq. Instead, and saving an airfare, I joined 100,000 protesting in Dublin the same weekend.
You do understand that I was directing that comment at the local squire and foreign landlord, Gabby.
Still, though, a great moment of British history where the ruling elite ignore the will of the people.
What could possibly go wrong?
They called it democracy then, what’s it called now?
Here’s one for you Salmons:
Pity the nation that is full of beliefs and empty of religion.
Pity the nation that wears a cloth it does not weave
and eats a bread it does not harvest.
Pity the nation that acclaims the bully as hero,
and that deems the glittering conqueror bountiful.
Pity a nation that despises a passion in its dream,
yet submits in its awakening.
Pity the nation that raises not its voice
save when it walks in a funeral,
boasts not except among its ruins,
and will rebel not save when its neck is laid
between the sword and the block.
Pity the nation whose statesman is a fox,
whose philosopher is a juggler,
and whose art is the art of patching and mimicking
Pity the nation that welcomes its new ruler with trumpeting,
and farewells him with hooting,
only to welcome another with trumpeting again.
Pity the nation whose sages are dumb with years
and whose strongmen are yet in the cradle.
Pity the nation divided into fragments,
each fragment deeming itself a nation.
PARKLIFE !
always lost with me the first line reference to religion, Cú
so, with that, I offer you ferlinghetti’s retelling of it (which, incidentally, far better speaks to the little englanders with the giddy fawning over the likes of Farage):
Pity the nation whose people are sheep
And whose shepherds mislead them
Pity the nation whose leaders are liars
Whose sages are silenced
And whose bigots haunt the airwaves
Pity the nation that raises not its voice
Except to praise conquerers
And acclaim the bully as hero
And aims to rule the world
With force and by torture
Pity the nation that knows
No other language but its own
And no other culture but its own
Pity the nation whose breath is money
And sleeps the sleep of the too well fed
Pity the nation oh pity the people
who allow their rights to erode
and their freedoms to be washed away
Grasshopper …
that knows no other language but its own
and no other culture but its own
Thank you BB. Never liked the religion part either.. a great loss to humanity..
excellent version, most rousing
Terrible news. He was one of the best journalists in the World. He would explain the Middle East in a way that nobody could or would. RIP.
The Faragemeister spots an opportunity …
” There is no political voice opposing this new national lockdown in England. I think that may change very soon. ”
He could be polling at 30% by Christmas …
https://twitter.com/Nigel_Farage/status/1322967894544830479
Correct – “opportunity”.
He is desperately seeking attention. He knows he will be on breakfast TV for the next 12 months.
I am comfortable with my view, knowing that Farage is on that side of the lockdown debate. Nobody wants lockdowns (in case the usual suspects start name calling) but in the real world, when you have limited hospital/ICU/medical staff capacity, you have to respond to a new virus that does not behave like the flu.
Victoria has gone from 725 cases a day, 650 in hospital, to zero cases over the weekend and a handful in hospital. Two weeks supervised quarantine for all international arrivals will suppress the virus here.
@Formerly
As stated in your answer to SOQ, you have not been financially disadvantaged by the Lockdown Down Under.
If the Lockdown affected your income level to say 30% of your normal take home pay, would you still hold the strong views that you have expressed here regarding the efficacy of Lockdowns?
Serious question.
You’re going to have to imagine that reality and the fact that there is no official end date for that reality.
I hope your imagination is up to it.
+1
It is easy to ignore the sacrifices being made when it is not you making them.
Lockdowns hurt and kill the poorest and most vulnerable in society at a disproportionate rate and yet- apart from Sunetra Gupta, not one left wing political voice to be heard.
Primarily because they themselves are not the poorest and most vulnerable of course.
“…It is easy to ignore the sarcrifices being made when it is not you making them”
-finally…talking about a thing you know something about…
Growing up in the South – during the eighties – (all we wanted to do was to be of age and emigrate) was hard enough, growing up in the North and the challenges SOQ must have faced earns him the right to know what he’s talking about, bisted.
I see all the pseudonyms are out. I had decided to stop wasting my time with you.
Let me see, only people who lose their income can have an opinion?
As I have stated, the greater good is what counts. I see medical people turning up to ICU wards. Why don’t they resign and let someone else do it? They are exposing themselves to serious danger. Do you question why they do it?
The lockdowns are needed for the greater good. I can see that. I pay my taxes so that everyone can have the opportunity to get through this. Nobody enjoys lockdown, nobody wants lockdown but sometimes they are the best or only option.
I am not the problem, here. My view doesn’t actually matter. The virus needs to be beaten.
Are you telling me that if your income was still OK, you would be happ with lockdowns? That seems to be the implication.
As for the poorest – they suffer most from the virus, not from the lockdowns – In Ireland and Australia, anyway. The social welfare system can and should provide for them. Homeless people in Melbourne are still in hotels. The dole in Australia was doubled as part of the national response to the virus.
Obviously, some people have their minds made up. I have been through 112 days of harsh lockdown and now we have had three days in a row with zero cases and zero deaths. Bye.
The greater good?
Antipodean immaturity.
Mature Europe has learned from her mistakes.
And, no, I’m not referring to Covid.
‘We are all in this together’ and ”for the greater good’ platitudes mean little when savings are at a record high while others are about to become homeless.
Lockdowns hurt and kill the poorest and most vulnerable in society at a disproportionate rate- this is fact- and, children from such backgrounds are suffering most.
Lockdowns kill way more than they save.
+1 SOQ
Ffs your a single man,with way too much time on his hands,almost everything you’ve posted is or has been proven wrong,this is junk,rubbisih,made up,no facts none just disinformation.
The suffering children really,I mean cmon give it a rest….ffs.
So because I don’t have children I shouldn’t be concerned then is it?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5YVxHa7aHY
To whom are you referring, Johnny?
Just to be clear.
Please, for clarity, be specific.
…..in case you haven’t noticed death is a fairly big sacrifice,the bodies are piling up,again due in many ways to “experts” like yourself,spreading disinformation.
…so what evidence do you have to support once again another wild claim….
“ Lockdowns hurt and kill the poorest and most vulnerable in society at a disproportionate rate and yet- apart from Sunetra Gupta,”
By how much .
Or just another hunch.
Oh the children,the children the last refuge of cranks,witch doctors and spoofers the kids oh think of the children….
That’s the point- the bodies are NOT piling up. Overall fatality rates are well within the average range this year. Sorry to burst your fear bubble but that is the truth- from official Irish government stats- so no room for misinterpretation.
See link above from Emma Kenny in the UK for your ‘how much’ question- but you can be certain it is exactly the same here in Ireland.
As for your last comment-
Is Dr. Sunetra Gupta, professor of epidemiology at Oxford University- who leads a team of infectious disease epidemiologists a crank?
Is Carl Heneghan, Professor of Evidence-Based Medicine at Oxford University a spoofer?
And another one- Lord Sumption. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-_E3fQDfpI
Now would he be a crank or a spoofer?
So you have no actual metrics,numbers or facts just flooding the zone with emotional rubbish about the suffering children,which you don’t have any of yourself….is this like moms and dads against lockdowns now….
“Lockdowns hurt and kill the poorest and most vulnerable in society at a disproportionate rate- this is fact- and, children from such backgrounds are suffering most.“
This is hunch,a feeling,not a fact as you have provided zero evidence,none.
^^^ pathological narcissism in full flow, folks ^^^
FFS, Johnny, just go out and vote.
Folks?
Triggered again bro…….
making an observation on your evident personality disorder isnt being ‘triggered’, johnny
it’s just that: an observation
devoid of emotion or investment
I’m like the piano player on the Plaça de Catalunya
he’s just admitted he’s off his tittizs on most threads Brother , you can’t take any of it seriously
although I have heard that regular use of mind altering substances can lead to unfortunate personality disorders/changes particularly if used on the still developing mind
@SOQ
That’s the point- the bodies are NOT piling up. Overall fatality rates are well within the average range this year. Sorry to burst your fear bubble but that is the truth- from official Irish government stats- so no room for misinterpretation.
Wrong in the UK anyway. The UK has better weekly data for all deaths, although it is from 3 weeks ago.
If you look at figure 2 here:
https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/deathsregisteredweeklyinenglandandwalesprovisional/weekending16october2020#deaths-registered-by-week
you will see that since March there have been excess deaths in most weeks… and that Covid deaths makes up most of these excess deaths.
There have been 1821 Covid deaths in the last 7 days (of ~10,000 expected deaths) or a frightening 18% of deaths were Covid related (although probably a lower percentage since the total number of deaths is probably higher due to covid).
Boring absentee landlord who likes make observations,fleeing your country for lower tax hm…why aren’t you resident in Ireland and pay tax in Ireland,aren’t you loving your dream in Spain,the absentee irish landlord,strolling the streets at lunchtime,on your way local bar not a care in the world,that irish rent huh,waving to the locals,,rent every month from your irish tenants,sunshine ..,.im simply traveling around states for few years,what’s your excuse?
you’re fantasizing about me now, johnny
I’m not a landlord – absentee or otherwise
and I pay 80% of my tax in ireland
I live in Ireland 3 or 4 months a year, between spain and Portugal another 3 or 4 months a year and – wait for it – in NY the rest of the time
and that’s not for tax-dodging reasons – it’s due to work, family and personal preference
@ Cian- I’ll leave it to an expert to respond.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0vL0281s5c
@SOQ “I’ll leave it to an expert to respond. “…
but links to video refuting the UK government’s predictions.
I am talking about what actually happened last week in the UK. 1,821 Covid deaths.
You seem incapable or unable to look at the trends (both here and the UK). The numbers of positive tests, hospitalisations, ICU, deaths have all been rising for the last 8-10 weeks and if nothing is done would these numbers would continue to rise!
In Ireland:
– Confirmed Cases in ICU: 44, the highest since 28 May!
– Over 310 people in hospital for the last. two weeks. It peaked at 354 last week, the highest since 20th May!
Deaths in August: 14
Deaths in September: 29
Deaths in October: 109
Deaths in November: ????
A friend of mines mother recently died in Scotland of a heart attack, yet cause of death was given as covid ? I don’t think it was the asymptomatic covid that finished her off ?
https://off-guardian.org/2020/09/05/australian-govts-own-website-admits-covid-tests-are-totally-unreliable/
I’m sure if a province in Ireland was locked down for a 100 days with Draconian attacks on civil liberties we could get the infection rate down to zero.
Australia is heading into its summer and just like here the infections drop dramatically.
Let’s see if you’re so smug next Spring when the second wave hits.
Some cure for Covid -19.
Today’s Telegraph, behind a paywall.
A warning from Australia: Boris Johnson’s cure is worse than the disease
“The state of Victoria is a shell of the vibrant place it was, and its people live in constant fear. Britain is about to follow the same path.
Streets that once boasted the country’s best culture and nightlife are empty.
Victoria has become famous for using lockdowns to ‘defeat coronavirus.’ Dr Anthony Fauci mentioned Australia as a country that did “quite well”. We haven’t defeated the virus. The virus is at bay but the only thing truly defeated is Victoria and Victorians.
The state last week got out of its second lockdown of the year. Just like you were told yours will only last one month, we were told it would last six weeks. It lasted 112 days.
Like Brits are about to re-experience, all non-essential retail and hospitality have been closed, businesses have been shuttered and we have been cut off from friends and family. At the lockdown’s peak we were only allowed out of our homes for one hour a day between 5am and 9pm.
Cases have come down, but what has exploded is a mental health and economic crisis that will take this state decades to recover from.
Melbourne has been declared the world’s most liveable city six out of the last seven years by the Economist Intelligence Unit. Now look at what 112 days of lockdown has done to this city and the state.
Victoria lost more than 1,000 jobs a day through this second lockdown. Since lockdown strategies began in March, 696,000 jobs have been destroyed in Victoria, according to Institute of Public Affairs research. Given that 3.3 million Victorians are employed, those job losses are equivalent to 21% of the Victorian workforce.
One in five residents has lost their job
Streets that once boasted the country’s best culture and nightlife are empty. Shops that displayed cutting-edge fashion, antique goods or any matter of personality now simply hang ‘For Lease’ signs.
The mental health figures are just as concerning. Victorians have been cut off from so many things that make life worth living these 112 days. We have been banned from seeing friends who live further than five kilometres away from us (it’s now ‘only’ 25 kilometres), we could not visit family or friends in their homes, or walk in groups of more than two – and even then only once per day. The effects have been devastating.
In the last two months calls to the mental health support hotline Beyond Blue are 77% higher in Victoria than in the rest of the country. Most disturbing, hospitalisations for attempted suicides are up 6% from last year – and for those aged 17 and under the increase is 31.3%.
Now that the state is finally starting to take steps towards opening up, a new fear has come forward: the deep fear that we will return to lockdown again.
This is a fear we share. Boris Johnson promised that Britain would never return to lockdown – that promise is now broken. He has promised this new lockdown is only for a month, but how can Britons believe that now?
Victoria’s freedom relies on our state’s contract tracing team, whose incompetence meant the government did not feel it was safe to ease restrictions even when daily new cases was as low as seven per day. There will be another outbreak in the state, it is inevitable. If the team fails, we go back to lockdown.
Our two countries are destined to spiral in and out of lockdown until a vaccine arrives, always fearful that at any time the government can take away our livelihoods.
This is the warning from Victoria. This state is a shell of the vibrant place it was, and its people live in constant fear. Britain is about to follow the same path.
Ireland – England ,know the difference Salmond.
Salmons – Salmond.
Know the difference Boy George.
Salmond – Scotland
Psst Ciarán @De ‘Xaminer
Patrick O’ Donovan is a Fine Gael TD
Heeeeeeeeeeee’s back.
” The Brexit Party is to be relaunched as an anti-lockdown party called Reform UK, in a move which could alarm Conservative MPs jittery about Covid-19 policy.
Plans to change the name of the Brexit Party to Reform UK were submitted to the Electoral Commission last week. ”
https://twitter.com/christopherhope/status/1323015019534163969
Think what you like about him, he knows a political opportunity when it’s staring him in the face.
Brexit will be done and dusted by Christmas and he could be polling at 30% by then if the lockdown drags on.
Local elections next Spring.
He single-handedly raised the issue of the big increase in illegal migrant crossing of the English Channel this summer when the MSM wouldn’t touch it.
Good to see the old dog back in the headlines again.
Still the most effective political operator of his generation and without whom Brexit would never have happened.
https://twitter.com/Nigel_Farage/status/1322967894544830479
I seen that interview yesterday. He is correct of course and if the left is not going to do anything then the nationalistic right will seize the opportunity.
https://twitter.com/Nigel_Farage/status/1322967894544830479
He should just call it ‘The Bandwagon Party’ and be done.
Yes, God forbid any politician who wants to campaign on behalf of those voters who have grievances against the political establishment.
I really don’t understand what the term ‘popularist’ actually means- it is Orwellian double speak- don’t all politicians want to be popular?
Need to be popular even.
Does anyone in England think it a tad coincidental that Brexit preceded the Great Plaque that is Covid-19?
England could never be excluded from the Great Reset.
Such a shame for, a once, great country with great aspirations, to wag the tail of another dog.
*PityTheBulldog*
Is that a ‘q’ or is that a ‘g’?
*Plague*
On a much graver note, Tyrone won’t be seen this year at GAA HQ. Donegal officials managed to plough the half of the pitch that lent onto the town and also narrowed the field, with white lines. Declan Bonner’s intentions were clear – run Tyrone down the middle – the pitch is so narrow, there’s no other option. Typical Donegal! (Shayna is joking) Atrocious conditions, altogether – Peter Canavan’s son, Darragh got a goal and a point on his debut (18ish). Not sour grapes, at all – The Championship should have been suspended this year, in my humble opinion. But whoever wins Sam this year – in the history books of the GAA, there won’t be an asterix marking 2020 as The Covid Year – they’ll be All-Ireland Champions.
Ye were just crap
We didn’t make a great start either
But shur’ twas the same conditions for the Blahs
One thing’s for sure
All the players
In all the matches over the weekend
Showed they were bursting to get out onto the field
Save the excuses for the club house Shayna
Gas, the riddling with deflections that Varadkar and Tuathail (Not Another Gaeler P….) are attempting. The SCU Members are very quiet
Phil Hogan resigned for leaking a budget – the details of which were ‘largely finalized’ and already in the public domain. He was lucky it wasn’t brought any further.
We have Tuathail saying ‘We could not adopt a position on the programme for chronic disease management as a union, without full access to the details that it contained‘. They weren’t a union. They were trying to team up with UNITE for representation.
Tick tock.
@GiggidyGoo
The lady’s not for turning.
Of all the Monday morning quarterbacks in rugby I find Gavin Cummiskey far more honest that his Irish Times colleague and IRFU stoolie Gerry Thornley.
Ireland were brutal on Saturday, temper tantrum Sexton largely ineffectual, Murray a busted flush and Stockdale just embarrassing.
England were average too but did just enough to secure the title.
France are the coming team in Europe – great half-backs, a winger with blistering speed and a solid defence coached by the best in the business Shaun Edwards.
The next world cup in France will be a cracker but Ireland need drastic surgery to avoid choking yet again.
https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/the-offload-soft-ireland-acquiring-an-unwanted-reputation-1.4397005
“France are the coming team in Europe”. Coming to what? Be marginally better than all those other three that matter? They’re good but no great shakes. They’re just as likely to spit the dummy as they are to be sinbinned. Step away from the hype machine.
It is great to see Jacinda Adern do things her way. If only more countries had leaders like her.
If only more countries were islands thousands of miles from anywhere with a rural population willing to accept undemocratic measures with all the obedience of the sheep they tend.
Germany did once?
So I can legally now kill myself in NZ but I’m not allowed smoke weed while doing it…..
She made a uncharacteristically poor decision here..
https://apnews.com/article/referendums-marijuana-elections-euthanasia-new-zealand-0023a13c7bcfdd431c353adbf284e28b
Some people think euthanasia is more important than getting stoned.
I am not sure where to put his, so I am putting it here
A man passed away. This happens, and often without any notice.
This man was not a paragon of virtue, but few are. I certainly am not.
When any of us are sitting down trying to figure out what we did with out lives, how many will say they drove a bus in reverse around Ireland? How many will have pushed a bog barrow down the lanes and highways of the country?
Actually, I do know the answer, and it was not me.
I got thirteen stitches in a place that is now home to a facility that cares for those who cannot easily care for themselves. It was always called the doctor’s house because, well, that was where the doctor was.
But the doctor moved, and a house now empty became a beacon for those who had nowhere to go.
A man worked with my mother to try and ensure there was somewhere to go when everywhere else was not available.
We probably threw health and safety out the window with that industrial lift on the side of that same bus. He drove us the length and breath of the country. Broke his finger one time off a bannister rail.
And today I heard of his passing. Two titans have now passed