Of course it is, because its makes no sense. Its not like we need a defensive minded mid to play on superstar mids that the opposition has..... oh wait. *facepalm*
Well, at the risk of seeming like a smarty pants, I suspected Hewett or Cerra. Balance. Plus Hewett was a little slow last week and would be a good replacement for a tired (or injured) mid when some of the early heat has gone out of the game.
The issue is that the data used to support both sets of numbers were used to paint a picture.
The adverse reactions to the vaccines under reported as coincidences. Likewise the number of people significantly impacted by covid were over stated.
The vaccine companies (all) made wide sweeping shonky claims afmbout efficacy to go with it and you end up with a scenario where most people questioned what the best outcome was going to be.
When you strip it all bare, covid was no walk in the park. It isn't the killer it was made out to be either but it left the general public questioning what was the lesser of two evils and real doctors were silenced on the matter and it became politicised.
Where you sit in any of it is subjective and largely determined by personal choices but I saw some extremely autocratic behaviour which I'm hoping never gets repeated.
I think there is a fair bit of hindsight going on, 3 Leos. At the time, we just didn't know. Worst case scenario seemed plausible and frightening. Science and pollies were all on the back foot and unsure, and most were doing their best. I don't recall any vaccine manufacturer claiming 100% safety; they spoke of the potential -- albeit low -- risk for some people, hence staying in surgeries/pharmacies for 15 minutes after the innoculation before leaving. But as troubling as it was to know, there was a low risk for some folks, as there is with every medication/vaccine. In hindsight some pollies overreacted and some under-reacted. Few got it right - in hindsight.
I think they can come across like that, but it's mostly a defence mechanism, particularly if they are late career scientists and engineers.
Maybe those who seem to be a touch on a spectrum, which is often more common than you might think, can have a very myopic approach being heavily focussed on one specific area, and that can leave others thinking they are dismissive or arrogant. It's more common than you might suspect, little eccentricities that annoy everyday folk.
On the issue of genuine arrogance, I find that it's very rare a good scientist is arrogant, in most cases the very good scientists doubt and question everything even their own work, which is actually the default scientific process.
I think I understand where you're coming from, Spotted One... so a point of clarification. When I use the word 'arrogant' pertaining to scientists/engineers/physicists and so on, I don't see it as a negative but rather a necessity for someone pursuing their goal provided it is often balanced with humility (but not so much you get walked over) and that humility often shows itself in questioning whatever they're doing and the way they're doing it, which you mention.
Right on the money when you bring in the 'spectrum' and how these folks may appear... their people skills are often not their strong suit. Not too many amazing scientific discoveries made by people who aren't/weren't bi-polar, Asperger... etc.
A common stress for the scientists and engineers is driven by doubt, that is the "imposter syndrome", they get bashed by the media and social media fakers and start to worry, this has a real world effect just like the PTSD you describe, and much of this doubt is seeded for profit, to sell adverting, newspapers or to beg for donations / subscriptions.
Strange, but most of the scientists and engineers I know couldn't give a fig about social media, in fact their confidence borders on arrogance... which is necessary to further their work.
I suspect you might like the work of Eric Weinstein. He dissects brilliantly the challenges facing modern day innovators/thinkers/creatives/physicists/mathematicians... He's no slouch in speaking out -- and has done for decades -- about the modern day blocks and stupidity of politicians to these invaluable folks.
Further to what the Spotted One, accurately, pointed out above...
Anecdotal, yes, but indicative: I recall when joining the Navy in '72 joining lines of young men and women to get our 'jabs'... Yellow Fever, TB... etc., etc. About 5 in all. In the 3 months of basic training I witnessed hundreds and hundreds get their jabs. Invariably, there was always 2 or 3 in that, say, 100 who had adverse reactions. Every now and then, severe.
There is barely a vaccine, indeed medication, that does not have side-effects. Generally effecting, adversely, around 2% of the population.
In time, medical science will perfect tests that will give better insight into any individuals likelihood to have adverse or on the other side of the coin, ineffectual results, to vaccines and prescription medication... and I speak from very recent experience. Only in the past 6 weeks I underwent blood tests, prescribed by my Psychiatrist (a cool and progressive dude), still in the very early stages of development to screen for, crudely put, my suitability to various PTSD medications. It was a comprehensive bank of blood tests not yet approved or funded by Medicare but forking out a coupla hundred seemed a reasonable investment. I think I've mentioned previously that I have volunteered myself for these experimentations.
And the results came in Tuesday this week! My blood work revealed suitability to some PTSD meds and not to others... obviously. Now I won't go into the complexities of what the blood work analyzed/revealed, but crudely the results showed how my liver and other organs dealt with certain meds, how my individual systems (lots of letters and numbers) dealt with the blood/brain barrier and other pathways, how I metabolised certain meds. And so on.
Results: Over the decades I've tried a number of PTSD meds and only ever had really bad reactions to 2 -- Zoloft & Prozac -- and my individual blood work revealed these two to be virtually toxic for me! I metabolized them poorly, with resultant build up. However 2 showed up as being well metabolized and tolerated giving them a good chance to do their jobs, with minimal side-effects (Escitalopram/Lexapro & Paroxetine/Aropax)... and I'm on a low / moderate dose of one of them to good effect.
Another fascinating result was my individual reaction to the benzo family (Valium, Xanax, Ativan, etc). I metabolize these really well, too well - very healthy liver. So if needed (rarely these days), I have to take a higher dose to get the required result - 5mg Valium for me? Might as well eat a tic tac... 15mg? That'll work for me like 2mg tabs work for others.
Point is, despite the best efforts from the medical folks (which has been the case over decades), some vaccines and medications will be toxic to a small % of folks, but with improved future diagnostics this will gradually be addressed right down to individual suitability.
Shameful how the media beats up panic over AZ. You can bet there are similar results -- known only behind closed doors -- showing Pfizer & Moderna to be very adverse for a small minority of folks. Bottom line: AZ/Pfizer & Moderna worked well for the greater majority of the population and saved millions of lives and prevented millions from developing severe Covid symptoms. The anti-vaxxers will have an hysterical field day with the AZ information, and the shallow end of the media will feed this hysteria.
I wonder how many of us are kind of nervous about the announcement of our team for tomorrow night? I know I am. What will the MC do? Gulp. If I see Fantasia in the 23 I'll implode.
Fingers crossed for Chugga in the starting 22, Martin in & Kemp in.
I will do my best to answer any questions. Give me a little time to collect my thoughts please. I am In the process of selling my house. My deepest apologies.
Nothing to apologize for, Green Stick. Sharing your trauma/pain with us is gutsy stuff, mate. And healing. You know I work in mental health... never hesitate to PM me for a chin wag. It would be a privilege to support you in any way I can.
FB Nic Newman Jacob Weitering Jordan Boyd HB Brodie Kemp Mitch McGovern Caleb Marchbank C Blake Acres Patrick Cripps Oliver Hollands HF Matt Cottrell Charlie Curnow David Cuningham FF Tom De Koning Harry McKay Matt Owies F Marc Pittonet Adam Cerra Sam Walsh INT George Hewett Matthew Kennedy Elijah Hollands Corey Durdin SUB Lachlan Cowan or Alex Cincotta
IN McGovern Kemp Marchbank Hollands OUT Williams Fantasia Young Cowan or Cincotta
Completely new HB line Ollie back in on a wing We played the two rucks, no Harry and won that epic final. We had Doc and Saady though. Durdin Cunningham Elijah, consider yourselves lucky. Voss might not be as kind to you.
Like it, GTC... however... no way would I bring in Marchbank until he's regained match form in the Magoos. I'd back Cincotta and Cowan down back, but give them license to run-off their opponents.
Kemp for moi is a quandary. I love his attack and offensive game. Too good to be in the Magoos. Stubbornly refusing to try him elsewhere on the ground may be an issue.
Agree with no Young in your side. Too limited and one-dimensional. Understand including him because of his height, and he competes quite well in that regard, but he offers little else.
Ollie Hollands didn't front up for the Magoos game... if he does come in on the wing, perhaps a defensive role on Ed? Must say I prefer Acres and Cotters on the wings.
Yes, one goal in the four games BP and and five in the four WP games is a fair improvement.
I tend to agree that we're not doing too much wrong and a tweak here and there should get us back on the winning list. However, I do think that our personnel comes into it too. We've gone about as far as we can go with the "next man up" and need to start replacing some of those next men with the likes of Martin, McGovern and Motlop.
Agree... and disagree to a degree, David.
There was a reasonable expectation that after 33% of the season played we'd find ourselves in the top 4. Yes, the season is still young. But we find ourselves hanging on in 8th place with 2 real tough games ahead.
If we zoom out and be objective, we're a much better side than recent years, but any papered over cracks our now obvious. We've not taken the next step... yet. We have it in us. As an aside, it was a very strange feeling being in the crowd last Friday evening. Bagger fans were strangely pensive. Like a collective unconscious doubt. I couldn't feel any optimism. Others around me had the same feeling. None of us were surprised we lost. Weird.
We have the personnel, no doubt - players and coaches (though I still firmly believe we need a coaching influence on game day from someone with strong strategic ability - Hodge? Ratts?). But we still have a midfield, forward line connection issue. Not helped by 'bombing' onto the heads of H / Charles... not kicking to where they're leading to or should be. Lacking efficiency - over possessing/stuffing around with the aggot.
Seeing Martin & Motlop as being the Messiah's is fraught with danger. Though the absence of Fantasia would be a positive step. We can't afford the luxury of carrying anyone. Last Friday evening seeing Fantasia in the starting 22 ...again, along with Martin on the last line and Chugga being the emergency were absolute howlers. And most of us knew just that before the ball was bounced to start the game.
I still firmly believe that going into the Go Dees game on Thursday evening with a strong, committed and ruthless mindset of being the 'hunters' (for all 120 minutes) will resolve many an issue.
Courageous stuff to share that with us, Green Stick. A horror story. Similar stories only too often happening behind closed doors around the nation... world. I have little doubt you've ended up with PTSD. I hope you've support and help for this, assuming you have PTSD... regardless, that level of trauma is abhorrent and lasting. I'm also concerned for your sister, for a number of reasons.
Expecting politicians to effectively address the issue of domestic violence is worrisome, to say the least. They've centuries of being ineffectual, even contributory, in this area. I saw an episode of Q & A on the ABC where a Criminologist summarized the issue sharply and succinctly - https://www.youtube.com/shorts/d0lHA-zDBdg He mentioned in this 'patient dumping'... a cruel and critical cause/issue at the core of domestic violence (not a fan of using the acronym for domestic violence... subtle sanitizing). Expecting families (often already under difficulty) to deal with mentally ill and drug fkd family members is cruel and absurd.
