Category Archive For "Current Affairs"
Astrazeneca and Johnson and Johnson Vaccines Pose No Risk and Will Save Lives
I am still astonished by people who claim COVID-19 is “just the flu” or even worse, “the whole thing is made up.” To believe this, you have to believe that every government in the world, every university and medical research foundation, and almost every medical practitioner, are either stupid, or involved in a conspiracy to …
Hating Bill Gates
Bill Gates has been the Emmanuel Goldstein of the anti-vaccination movement for years. But why are so many other people suddenly jumping in? Boy that Bill Gates is an evil dude. Or so you might think if all you read is Facebook and Twitter. US commentator Candace Owens (whom I otherwise like and admire) has …
More from the Anti-vax Tinfoil Hat Brigade
It was interesting to see a few hundred tin foil hatters turn out to the million people anti-mandatory-vaccinations comedy sessions around the country. Void of purpose from the start, since no COVID-19 vaccine in Australia is mandatory. Bu of course, the “I’m not anti-vax, but…” crowd are not really about objections to mandatory vaccination, they …
Google, Facebook, and Mainstream Media Madness
I am no fan of either Google or Facebook. Google has a long history of distortion of news and of down-grading results from websites it disagrees with. Facebook does the same, while at the same time happily continuing to profit from the publication of anti-semitism and anti-vax paranoia, both are which are counter-factual and dangerous …
COVID-19: Health Matters. Life Matters
If one million people are vaccinated with the new COVID-19 vaccine over the next year, this is what we can expect: 4500 will develop an invasive cancer. 1600 will die from cancer. About 250 will develop Bell’s Palsy (facial paralysis). 1,000 will be diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. About 500 will suffer from Encephalitis (brain inflammation). …
Christine Holgate and the Righteous Fury of the Mediocre
Christine Holgate is the CEO of Australia Post. She has been in the news for the last couple of days after harsh criticism from Australian politicians and being told by the Prime Minister to stand down. Christine is from the North of England. She is not from a privileged background. When she was fifteen she …
Black Lives Matter. Just not to BLM.
Sometimes it is not only reasonable, but morally imperative, to point out that the lives of a particular group of people matter. It would have been right in Turkey in 1915 to shout as loudly as possible that Armenian lives mattered. In Germany in 1944 that Jewish lives mattered. Or today in South Africa that …
COVID19, Wuhan, Coronavirus, the Chinese Virus – the case for a Lockdown
As at this morning, 1st April, there have been 855,941 cases of novel Coronavirus around the world. Of those, 636,964 are still active, and 218,977 have run their course either to recovery or death. Of these, 42,069 (19%) ended with the death of the patient. The infectiousness of this disease, combined with this frighteningly high …
On the Vilification of Prime Minister Scott Morrison
There has always been an unpleasant edge to public discussion of politics. It is much easier to vilify people who see things differently from you, than to engage with them and to see this engagement as an opportunity to learn. The rise of Facebook and Twitter have exacerbated this tendency to personal insult and hasty …
Australia, Freedom of Speech and Freedom of the Press
The free flow of information is a vital characteristic of a free society. There is a strong correlation between freedom of speech and a free press, and individual freedom and prosperity. But the “public’s right to know” has never been without limits. For example, the public has no right to know the content of your …
Cardinal Pell. The Appeal.
I have so far refrained from any comment on the outcome of Cardinal Pell’s appeal. To say I was disappointed with the outcome would be an understatement. I have written extensively about this case here: and here: The prosecution case was based entirely on the evidence of a single person, some twenty years after the …
Cardinal Pell – The Media and Judiciary’s Disgrace
I have been frustrated by news stories today suggesting that “disgraced” Cardinal George Pell has broken the law by posting material to social media. Firstly, Cardinal Pell is not “disgraced.” It is the media and the Australian judicial system which are disgraced by the verdict against him, which was based on the evidence of a …
Fear, Faith and Folau
Freedom of speech is an essential characteristic of any successful society. If people are not free to say what they believe, there can be no testing of ideas against each other and against reality. Without that, there can be no progress in science, in art, in literature, in education, in society and policy. But the …
Israel Folau and the Hateful Intolerance of the Lovingly Inclusive
A few days ago, rugby player and Wallabies team member Israel Folau posted a quote from 1 Corinthians 6:9 and 10 on Twitter and Instagram. Qantas CEO Alan Joyce immediately claimed this was homophobic, and threatened to withdraw Qantas’s sponsorship of the ARU unless Folau’s contract was terminated. The ARU caved instantly: “We want to …
Christchurch Terror
It is important to try to understand the mass murder in Christchurch, but it is just too early to make any sound or meaningful assessment. Despite the manifesto, we do not know enough about Tarrant’s background and thoughts, and we know nothing about any of the others who may have been involved. That hasn’t stopped …
Qohel Blog Author Peter Wales
