One of the most baffling things about the Katherine Zappone cock-up (let’s call it what it is) is that it ever got this far. Politicians spend millions of our euros every year on a veritable army of special advisors, many of them ex-journalists, precisely so that they can be advised how to avoid banana skins […]
Politicians and Governments have had it in for cash for quite a while, for a whole range of reasons, but one above all others: It is, by and large, untraceable. This makes it perfect if you want to hide your wealth from the Government, or engage in crime, or avoid taxes like VAT, or do […]
If you go on to the HSE’s information page about abortion services in Ireland, and into the section advising people about what to expect after an abortion, one of the first lines you will read advises you that “around 2 or 3 out of every 100 people who have an abortion at less than 9 […]
As always, it is useful to begin these stories by noting what Michael Osterholm, senior Covid advisor to President Biden, and expert in infectious diseases, is not saying in the clip below. He is not saying that all facemasks are useless. Nor is he saying that we should all stop wearing them. What he is […]
The American Medical Association is not some sort of pound-shop outfit. If you have never heard of it, then know this: It is the largest association of doctors and medical practitioners in the United States. It has almost a quarter of a million members, and annual revenue of about $350million. For decades, it has been […]
This is one of those stories that functions as an almost perfect Rorschach test: If you side with Donnelly here, chances are you’re not a fan of the church and would cheer almost anything said about them. Because there is literally no other reason to indulge this nonsense: “When you’re dealing with a deadly virus, […]
The Pandemic has been very bad news for some people – restaurateurs, publicans, students, anybody working part time in hospitality, and so on, but it has been absolutely superb news for some others. Mainly, of course, the media: Our subscriber numbers jumped by nearly 50 per cent last year to 126,000 – a great performance, […]
Fascinating, and interesting, on a number of levels, this story: Mercedes Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton suffered from dizziness after the Hungarian Grand Prix and said “everything got a bit blurry on the podium”. The seven-time world champion said he was “just so exhausted afterwards” and said it was “one of the weirdest experiences I’ve […]
Fun thought experiment: Imagine for a second what would happen if a columnist with the Times of London declared that Ireland was a country “awash with ignorance and squalor”, and, as Fergus Finlay goes on to say, “riven with racism, and led by irresponsible charlatans”. How would we react, if that was written about Ireland? […]
You know what? Hands up. At the very beginning of the vaccine rollout, we at Gript were very critical of how slow and poorly co-ordinated it was. We ended up having a rollout that was significantly slower than that in the UK and Northern Ireland, and there was, indeed, much to criticise. But it would […]
“Death free” is obviously an exaggeration, since yes, some people are still dying. But take a good look at this chart. The red line is deaths, the grey line is cases. In every previous wave, deaths surged about two weeks after cases surged. This time? Not happening: COVID deaths lag confirmed COVID cases by 2 […]
It is very important that people do not misunderstand what the headline above means, so let’s be absolutely clear. First, this is a report, albeit one from NBC news, which means that it should be taken seriously. But it is also not 100% fact, or anything like that. Second, their sources are good, but their […]