The Age of Confusion

There have been a few nice videos recently where Dr John Campbell is talking to Professor Robert Clancy, while he is visiting the UK. In this one they are discussing some history, the various ages of man, neolithic etc all the way to the age of enlightenment.

Towards the end of the interview John asks Robert what age of man he thinks we are in now? Robert sagely says, it might be the “Age of Confusion”.

I have been pondering over this the last few days. There is no doubt we have reason to be confused.

Confusion from Western Australia

Many readers will be following the events after the Port Hedland Council Meeting. The TGA has come out and said that DNA contamination in the mRNA vaccines is misinformation. Press release here.

The Australian government broadcaster, ABC, has also come out swinging. Reporting that the  WA Premier says the council should “stick to its knitting”.

Well that’s helpful. But scan down the page and you’ll find this sneaky sidebar titled:

How to spot when you’re thinking like a conspiracy theorist

This is provided just in case the reader is confused about how there could be over 100 times the DNA contamination acceptable in sample vials tested by some of the worlds leading specialists in this field. But I thought the the government said….

The confused reader needs to go no further into the original article and divert to this link to find out if they are becoming a conspiracy theorist. I thought maybe I am getting confused, so I clicked it and it goes to another ABC website page titled:

From coronavirus to 5G, uncertainty breeds conspiratorial thinking. Here's how it happens

Of course, any article on conspiracy theories wouldn’t be complete without a picture of Donald Trump. The article includes information from some US Professor of conspiracy theories who has developed has a mnemonic to help you run a checklist in your mind. Guess what it is?

CONSPIR

Yes really. He mustn’t been able to think of something starting with E. You must keep this in your mind just like ABC for Airway Breathing Circulation for dealing with a heart attack (somewhere along the line that’s become more complicated DRSABCD but I digress). From the article:

• R in CONSPIR is for "reinterpreting randomness" — connecting the dots where there is nothing to connect.

This last idea, of seeing patterns where there isn't one, has been prominent during the pandemic.

Reinterpreting randomness. I learn something every day. Yes, that’s right. Excess mortality started a trend upwards, prior to COVID being prevalent in Australia and there has been the highest ever number of reports of adverse events and deaths for a medicine in Australia, but any concern over this must be “reinterpretation of randomness”.

No wonder the reader is confused. The TGA has quickly come out with a media release about this misinformation:

To date, neither the TGA nor any international regulator has established a causal link between COVID-19 vaccines and any type of cancer….

Evidence from the more than 13 billion vaccine doses given worldwide shows that COVID-19 vaccines have a very good safety profile in all age groups. The benefits of the approved vaccines far outweigh the possible risks.

Very reassuring.

Robert Clancy is correct it is the age of confusion or perhaps maybe the age of keeping people confused.

More Confusion

Last weekend I came across an article on my news feed that cremations were causing climate change. Wait what?

Article is behind paywall so I bought an actual newspaper with the article, weekend before last, to find out what was going on.

Apparently, the number of cremations is increasing and a cremation is “producing more than 240kW of carbon dioxide of excess energy” (I’m not sure that that expression actually makes sense).

The article says from 182,038 deaths last year there were about 145,000 cremations. As the population of Australia increases, deaths and therefore cremations will increase.

Apparently: “natural burials, in which remains are wrapped in shrouds or laid to rest in coffins made of natural materials including cardboard and wicker, with no embalming fluids and in a natural setting, are increasingly mainstream options.”

Maybe I’m confused but years ago “natural burials” were frowned up because of all the space they take up. The biggest cemetery in Sydney, called Rookwood, is so large it has its own postcode. It was running out of space. So cremations were encouraged.

But now climate change and cremations are bad. Confusing.

Still More Confusion

For those who are concerned about mRNA technology there is an alternative. In this article Queensland’s infectious disease expert fills us in.

Article is behind a paywall but I was able to read it for you on my Apple News subscription. Regarding this vaccine being trialled the article states:

“It may be more appealing to those who snub mRNA vaccines because they teach cells how to make a small piece of the virus to trigger an immune response”

And they definitely don’t have any DNA contamination resulting from the manufacturing process. It turns out it is a Novavax dual COVID Flu shot.

Our infectious disease expert is the principal investigator on the trial. At a court case I was a witness (for a worker unfairly stood down), this infection disease expert appeared for the government side and was presented data from the Cleveland Clinic trial showing the more shots one has the more likely one is to get infected. I won’t forget the response. The study was apparently “unsophisticated”.

Unsophisticated studies lead to confusion.

At the end of the article it says the trial was starting the Monday after the 13^th October and was to run for three weeks. I suppose that must be a long term safety trial.

Hmmm. Then last weeks news reported trials of a dual Novavax COVID/Flu vaccine were halted last week in the USA by the FDA because of an adverse neuropathy reaction of a trial participant.

Looks like in the confusion mRNA is the solution.

Ultimate Confusion

The state of Victoria had the longest lockdown anywhere in the world, the state economy is a wreck, it had the highest rate of COVID deaths in the country. It dumped the Commonwealth games because it couldn’t afford it.

So what do we expect for the lately retired leader of the state? Yes, a while back the former Premier was awarded the King’s highest honour for an Australian.

Then news came out of a statue to be commissioned.

This was an opportunity for people to suggest what the statue should be. Some of the suggestions can’t be displayed here. But to news this weekend. Dan Andrew’s has been given the role as chair of youth mental health service.

It is not surprising that this has upset people who lost loved ones to suicide contributed to by lockdowns. While the other awards don’t surprise us this is probably the most offensive award.

Wrap up on Confusion

I have several other stories confusing me lined up but that’s enough for now. I need to stand up and stretch. Oh no, this article last week from University of Sydney study. Standing causing health problems.

For an article not behind paywall see here.

Confusion and Delay

In the confusion I’m reminded of Thomas the Tank Engine and the Fat Controller that I watch now with my grandson. The Fat Controller is always chastising the engines for causing “Confusion and Delay”. From the Thomas wiki, in one episode the Fat Controller himself got caught up in confusion.

“This is all my fault, I didn't get a good night's sleep and I ended up causing confusion and delay!”

― The Fat Controller

Get a good night’s sleep all.

God Bless.