You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
Radiographers (my wife is one) get into massive shit for accidentally over-exposing a patient, for example by x-raying a dopey patient twice in a hectic shift.
The dose of radiation is so low nowadays (unless you are doing something like a full skeletal survey) that it really won't make a rat's arse of difference to anything.
The said patient then may well go ape shit at the hospital and there is an incident etc. Loads of form filling.
That patient will then very probably expose themselves to more radiation by going on a plane for their holiday in the sun where they will pickle their liver and fry their skin with IR/UV until they can't walk it is so sore.
People are ignorant in the main. Slightly intelligent and manipulative people have a lot of easy pickings.
Bringing this up to date a bit, we now have our own groups of protesters ranting about 5G, anti-vaxx, c19 conspiracy, etc, one of their leaders is Piers Corbyn, brother of the former Labour leader. I wonder what Jeremy thinks about his brother spouting this sort of inflammatory crap?
Piers Corbyn
Mentalist.
Motion Made to Arrest Bill Gates in Italian Parliament
What the actual eff has Bill Gates got to do with anything? He like literally gives money away. People do realise he's not been in charge of Microsoft for well over a decade now, right?
We're doomed as a species. We're the most reliant on communication systems than we've ever been in the history of ever and people are tearing down phone masts. If there's anyone left to write our history I doubt it will be favourable.
In other "abject moron" news, this popped up on Facebook today:
https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/news/local-news/one-three-anti-lockdown-protesters-18263368?
Parks that in the same location as British MP blames flooding on homosexuality.
What the actual eff has Bill Gates got to do with anything?
His philanthropy is heavy on donating to immunise poorer nations against diseases that are killing them in massive numbers. Therefore for the anti vaxers he is the devil incarnate controlling populations by injecting them with mind control drugs and micro chips.
And while that sounds strange, at least it is a few lunatics, think of the damage the christian church has done in stopping aid to countries unless they abandon contraceptives and family planning clinics. Some conspiracy's are real.
I had someone tell me that I'm type 1 diabetic because of vaccinations that I was given because of Bill Gates. What, in 1985?
That Armstrong Economics site is fantastic though. It sort of looks sane, then suddenly says something like "separation of church and state means that socialism is illegal because it's against the 10 commandments".
The guy behind it is a convicted fraudster, just seperating more fools from their money.
Turns out the whole 5G thing could actually be quite profitable. Just need to get me a container load of USB sticks and some red stickers and I'm away!
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-52810220
Unbelievable how gullible idiots are, though I'm not massively surprised it's some dolt from Glastonbury who has been taken to the cleaners (again). Crystal Chakra realigning Pawnee dreamcatchers anyone?
The guy behind it is a convicted fraudster, just separating more fools from their money.
Or separating more tools from their money..
Good news though is that COVID-19 is actually all about taxes - https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/world-news/taxes/how-taxes-will-make-covid-19-vanish/
Which is a relief, as given the gargantuan tax burden this country is going to have to swallow to pay for this mess, at least we can rest happy in the knowledge that the disease will just disappear*
* When I say "disappear" it's obvs meant in the Trumpian sense of "Will become a bigger exceptional killer of Yanks than the Vietnam and Korean wars combined"..
Worth reading this article I read today about the effect it’s having on engineers working on broadband installations being physically harassed and attacked by ignorant fools driven by these pathetic conspiracy theories.
https://www.theverge.com/2020/6/3/21276912/5g-conspiracy-theories-coronavirus-uk-telecoms-engineers-attacks-abuse
They'll be able to transfer government agents from the chem trails program now that's on hiatus to maintain the 5G death rays.
I have the perfect counter-conspiracy theory conspiracy theory.
The notion that vaccines are bad and 5G towers should be destroyed is a Russian disinformation project to destabilise the West, making its population more susceptible to life-threatening illnesses and disrupting its communication network.
Sadly, this one has a degree of truth to it.
They’ll be able to transfer government agents from the chem trails program now that’s on hiatus to maintain the 5G death rays.
🤣
Sadly, this one has a degree of truth to it.
You’re not wrong.
I have the perfect counter-conspiracy theory conspiracy theory.
The notion that vaccines are bad and 5G towers should be destroyed is a Russian disinformation project to destabilise the West, making its population more susceptible to life-threatening illnesses and disrupting its communication network.
Sadly, this one has a degree of truth to it.
Yup x2. If not Russia then certainly someone, aided and abetted by useful idiots.
You realise attributing some of these conspiracy theories to shadowy state actors is in itself a conspiracy theory?
I really enjoyed this little book that sets out the psychology of conspiracy theories.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Psychology-Conspiracy-Theories-Everything/dp/1138696102
In attributing this 5G and vaccine conspiracy theories to shadowy state actors you could be falling foul to the biases that make people believe in those. Firstly you need to believe that highly organised, malevolent and fantastically resourced state actors are actively working untroubled by our own security services.
Scary and confusing things are happening - in this case people believing in 5G death rays. Your brain's natural instinct to assign agency to things kicks in.
There seems to be lots of these scary things happening. Your brain's instinct to look for patterns kicks in.
Boom. You believe the Russians are brainwashing the American public into believing in vaccine poisons and 5g death rays.
I bumped into someone I used to work with when I was a student yesterday.
I got the full Covid conspiracy theory bullshit bingo - 5G, Bill Gates, NHS track and trace (which apparently is going to involve putting an electronic tag on you...) It was properly barking.
Otherwise a seemingly reasonable person, too. Frightening.
How do you even go about engaging with that? My primary instinct was to simply get the hell out of there, though in hindsight I should perhaps have tried to sow a few seeds of doubt.
You can't engage with the substance of them.
With conspiracy theories the word "believe" does the heavy lifting.
"I believe Bill Gates..."
"I believe that Vaccines are mind control poison"
They are beliefs and utterly immune to facts. See also religious belief.
You can try and point out some of the glaring logical flaws. Probably the only way to combat them is through education (and I mean from an early age) so folk understand cognitive biases better.
You can see posts on this page where folk hate a particular theory more because it conflicts with their beliefs, rather than hating the flawed reasoning behind it.
There is nothing inherently Trumpian or right wing about conspiracy theories. They exist in all groups, societies and time periods.
Boom. You believe the Russians are brainwashing the American public into believing in vaccine poisons and 5g death rays.
Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you!
It’s established fact that state actors are using these techniques to deliberately influence people, so there are genuine conspiracies; the real problem is distinguishing between what’s real, what’s QAnon garbage, and what’s been made up to scare and influence gullible people.
You realise attributing some of these conspiracy theories to shadowy state actors is in itself a conspiracy theory?
I have the perfect counter-conspiracy theory conspiracy theory.
Yes.
However, with the amount of involvement of state actors in other social media influencing and general cyber attacks its not really that far fetched. Plus your Alex Jones' and David Icke's of the world - who is funding them? Who would benefit from disruption to our national infrastructure? Occams razor and all that.
The difference between them and myself though is that I realise my theory has no proof and is just that. Do I believe its a possibility? Of course. Am I going to shout about it without proof? No. You're absolutely right that it's an attempt to rationalise it and assign agency but that doesn't automatically invalidate it.
Cougar - what if your counter-conspiracy theory conspiracy theory is, in fact, a double counter bluff with an added soupçon side order of deep-state interference?
That, I think, tells you exactly where we are.
Based on that, are you a tory?
Has anyone mentioned the latest 6G WiFi.
Yeah that's right brain control (in your home) followed by brain shrinkage, then freeze dried for aliens to use as coffee!
However, with the amount of involvement of state actors in other social media influencing and general cyber attacks its not really that far fetched. Plus your Alex Jones’ and David Icke’s of the world – who is funding them? Who would benefit from disruption to our national infrastructure? Occams razor and all that.
Occams razor would direct you to the explanation that Alex Jones publishes things for money, which his followers happily pay him.
Once you add in the assumption that there's shadowy government involvement and some sort of strategic plan (which by the was is happening in plan sight of our own government) you're at least 3 big assumptions away from the minimum number of assumptions needed to explain what Alex Jones does.
Ah balls I'm arguing with a conspiracy theorist. May as well go off and chat with the ducks in the park.
I never said it was a perfect theory or that it could withstand much in the way of scrutiny. Like I said, I have zero proof for thinking it's a possibility and I'm not going to push it.
I would however appreciate it if you could be a bit more civil and not start flinging insults out.
How do you even go about engaging with that?
Its seems the best thing is no engage
“Repeating lies, even to debunk them, helps spread and strengthen them.”
When we discuss a conspiracy theory, we often end up rewarding the very behavior we are trying to stop. That is because attention — even negative attention — from others tends to be highly pleasurable, conferring a sense of importance and power to the person being attended to.
A couple of articles on how disinformation is being spread, with Angry Tinkerbell’s connivance...
https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/06/10/1002934/protest-propaganda-is-riding-on-the-success-of-pandemic-hoaxes/
https://boingboing.net/2020/06/09/trump-tweets-that-buffalo-prot.html
Reports the Daily Beast, OANN employs Kremlin media operatives in Russia:
If the stories broadcast by the Trump-endorsed One America News Network sometimes look like outtakes from a Kremlin trolling operation, there may be a reason. One of the on-air reporters at the 24-hour network is a Russian national on the payroll of the Kremlin’s official propaganda outlet, Sputnik.
He is citing a disinformation segment from the right-wing and Russia-connected disinfo TV channel OANN, based on some bullshit written on a conspiracy theory blog funded by who knows who.
Garbage in, garbage out.
Conspiracies - if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks loudly, there’s generally only one conclusion to draw...