Is it time to give the nutters more publicity?

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Peanuts20

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Fascinating article on the front page of this weekends Sunday Times. The journalist spoke to 2 protestors on Saturday who seem to believe that 7000 people in Ireland went missing last year and that some of them are buried underneath RTE in Donnybrook so their bodies can be used to create a ************************** to keep RTE personalities looking younger. They said it was on a website so obviously it must be true !!

The likes of RTE don't report these theories but should they?. Most people are sane and rational and all myself and herself on Sunday morning could do is burst out laughing when we read it. So here is my question, rather the shoving these theories under the carpet, should the mainstream media tell the nation what these nutters believe so that people can see that they really shouldn't be taken seriously?

Just a thought? I can see both side -no such thing as bad publicity but at the same time..........
 
If that kind of stuff appears in mainstream media it will be taken out of context and claimed to be fact (even RTE reported on it) or some people might misunderstand it and believe it as fact...
 
I understand the argument that exposing the mad theories shows them to be crazy. But given the experience of the last 5 or 6 years, I think that putting a crazy theory on the same platform as reality gives them equal treatment - so you fall for the nonsense of false balance where a scientist with a PHD is forced to debate science with Eammon from Clontarf who believes the vaccine alters your DNA because he saw a YouTube video

It reminds of the time Newsnight had the ex Head of the WTO debating WTO rules with a Brexit supporter because they had to have balance on the show
 
Peanuts20 said:
Just a thought? I can see both side -no such thing as bad publicity but at the same time..........
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There is a cohort of very stupid people out there. We shouldn't think that we don't have a stock of people in the same mould as the QAnon/Flat Earther/Creationist/Bill Gates-Lizard people-Illuminate/MAGA Trump supporting knuckle-dragging racists in America. They will think that stuff is real. Remember most of us were raised to believe in three-in-one Sky Fairies who could walk on water and rise from the dead.
 
You would've thought Darwin's theory of evolution would have weeded these nutjobs from civilisation at this stage but it seems not..
 
Merowig said:
I still do and wonder if that slander was necessary for making your point.
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I think so, yes. I think they are intrinsically linked.
If there is a god and he/she created this vast universe and everything in it I have to believe that they don't suffer from low self esteem. Therefore on that basis I'm comfortable ignoring the first three of the ten commandments.
 
It would be nice to have a time machine and go back to the past and neuter their mothers. Solve a lot of things
 
john luc said:
It would be nice to have a time machine and go back to the past and neuter their mothers. Solve a lot of things
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You mean like Hitler did that's the danger of all this talk. When you castigate one side as nutters and ban from debate because not "experts " or whatever you very quickly go down a dangerous road thats already been travelled. Their are extremists and nutjobs on both sides.
 
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joe sod said:
When you castigate one side as nutters and ban from debate because not "experts " or whatever you very quickly go down a dangerous road thats already been travelled. Their are extremists and nutjobs on both sides.
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You absolutely can say that someone who has no expertise in a field (e.g. vaccines) does not get to have equal treatment as people with expertise. You don't have the weather forecast followed by a Psychic "for balance".

There isn't a "both sides" on the question of virus "sceptics", 5G sceptics, QAnon etc.
 
If you are having a discussion about the technicalities of vaccines or of viruses etc well then yes your argument holds EmmDee that only experts should be in the discussion. However this is being used as the thin edge of the wedge to censor rigorous debate on for example lockdowns. Therefore experts on viruses that were in favour of "zero covid " which has much wider societal and economic impacts far outside the technicalities of virus transmission. You use that basis to censor opponents to zero covid that may not be narrow virus experts. In any case experts like sam McConkey have been wide off the mark in his pessimism with regards to vaccine rollout and his lack.of understanding of the logistics of trying to implement zero covid in Ireland with the border with northern Ireland , the predominance of us multinationals especially in the pharma sector who need liberal access to us, UK and Europe in.order to run their complex operations. We seem to only value experts that are confined to labs in universities and not really fully engaged with the realities on the ground
 
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EmmDee said:
You absolutely can say that someone who has no expertise in a field (e.g. vaccines) does not get to have equal treatment as people with expertise. You don't have the weather forecast followed by a Psychic "for balance".

There isn't a "both sides" on the question of virus "sceptics", 5G sceptics, QAnon etc.
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I agree but a virologist is not an epidemiologist and neither are qualified as experts on issues such as lockdowns, zero covid etc. as they have a wider societal and social impact. I'd go so far as to say that neither are qualified to offer judgements on the totality of the Public Health impacts of the disease or the efforts to limit the infection rates within the wider community.
Neither have expertise in mental health, educational outcomes, addiction, domestic abuse, the impact of cancelled outpatient appointments, delayed diagnosis, the longer term impact of reductions in future investment in healthcare and education due to the economic cost of the pandemic and lockdowns.

They are qualified to advise the government and the government, for all its failings, is far more qualified to make decisions in the broader context of balanced societal needs. That doesn't mean they will make the right decisions rather they are far better placed to make the right decisions.
 
There are clearly some crackpots out there but it's important not to tar all protesters with the same brush. Some do have relevant civil liberties arguments that deserve to be heard and that should help inform government policy during Covid. For example, provided all protocols regarding testing and quarantine are being observed, I'm not sure the near-blanket travel ban is justified given how severely it interferes with people's basic constitutional rights. The media's tendency to depict all dissenters as QAnon-type nutters is not helpful.
 
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Purple said:
Remember most of us were raised to believe in three-in-one Sky Fairies who could walk on water and rise from the dead.
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I now feel that I had a deprived childhood because I never heard of that. Is there some way I can sue someone ?
 
Prosper said:
I now feel that I had a deprived childhood because I never heard of that. Is there some way I can sue someone ?
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You can find it in any church or religious place of worship. The older ones are called religions. The newer ones are called cults but they are pretty much the same thing.
I don't think you can sue anyone but if you do let me know; I went to the Christian Brothers and they never touched me. It had a terrible effect on my self esteem.
 
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