A Dishonest World

Lies, damned lies, and life today. How much can you believe?

Adrian Arnold
5 min readOct 15, 2021
Photo by Tingey Injury Law Firm on Unsplash

Statistics are so ‘last year’ — who believes them anyway? 50% of ten is five while the same percentage of 10,000 is 5000. One answer carries more significance than the other.

They all seem to kill 99.9% of all known germs.

Statistics are dangerous beasts in the hands of the unscrupulous. Have you ever wondered what bacterium forms the 0.1% not killed by the majority of household disinfectants, bathroom cleaners, and hand wipes advertised on our television screens? They all seem to kill 99.9% of all known germs.

Is that glamorous blonde with snow-white teeth really a qualified dentist?

Reviews of cars, properties, holiday destinations, and toothpaste are written by experts who owe their wages to the companies they review. Is that glamorous blonde with snow-white teeth really a qualified dentist? It is common knowledge that ‘big pharma’ sponsors scientific papers to promote their products

“Experts” predicted that the Brexit poll would leave Britain in the EU — by a margin of 150 experts to 55. They predicted a dead heat in the UK 2015 election, yet the Conservatives won 37.8% of the vote to Labour’s 31.2%.

Their predictions were even worse in the 1992 election, where they predicted a Labour majority. In the event, John Major led the Conservatives to a victory with 7.6% more votes, and got things completely wrong in the US Presidential election of 2016.

1,632 deaths resulting from Covid vaccination.

But enough of figures — or not quite. The Conservative MP, Sir Christopher Chope claimed that ‘vaccine damage’ had caused 35,000 cases of menstrual disorder and 1,632 deaths resulting from Covid vaccination. The fact-checking website, Full Facts, an independent body, showed these figures to be dangerously wrong. Sir Christopher has yet to reply to their questions concerning his assertions. These comments must have provided a feast for the anti-vaxxers.

A photo of a burnt-out police van circulated on social media outlets pointed out that the vehicle carried an expired MoT certificate. Police vehicles do not require MoT certificates.

Talking with my doctor two weeks ago, I quoted a paper from the Mayo Clinic of Rochester, New York, one of the most prestigious medical centres in the world. He dismissed the conclusions of the paper, saying that most American scientific papers are sponsored by the big drug companies to come up with the answer they require and should not be trusted.

My IT guru, who has worked on both sides of the Atlantic, recounted the time when he worked in the offices of a leading computing magazine. The editor had been visited by a senior executive of Norton Antivirus, following an article that put them in fourth place behind their competitors. He suggested that, perhaps, a contribution to the’ magazine’ might encourage them to write a further review in the next month’s issue which endorsed his own company’s product. This is all third-hand, but I have no reason to doubt the story.

Did Satkosy reveal a contempt for the rule of law in France?

President Sarkozy of France has been found guilty of misappropriation of campaign funds — 22.5 million Euros to be exact — and received a sentence of one year in jail. He is allowed to serve this sentence in his own home while wearing a security bracelet and entertaining his friends in lavish style! It is interesting to note that he declined to appear in court for the sentencing. Did this reveal his contempt for the rule of law in France?

Forty-seven women have been murdered in the last six months following the murder of Sarah Everard by a Metropolitan police officer. The Metropolitan Police’s advice to single women walking the streets of London was to “wave down a passing bus.”

He has willfully tried to dupe the scientific community.

Academia is not squeaky clean either, regarding its professional research papers. A geologist of international repute, Dr. Vuswa Jit Gupta of Washington State University, produced several scientific papers to prove that kangaroos came from Kashmir in India, and rhinoceroses were native to Rio de Janeiro. Subsequent investigation proved that Dr. Gupta had based his research on rock samples bought in Rock Shop in New York State. His University colleague, Dr Gary Webster, finally stated that ‘’it leaves every paper that Gupta has ever authored in question. He has willfully tried to dupe the scientific community.’’

Manipulation of events and facts is not a modern phenomenon. For example, the ‘revered’ BBC was found guilty of encouraging young children to throw homemade bombs at British troops during the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

And it goes on and on. Boris Johnson, our leader, wrote in the Daily Telegraph defining his reasons for supporting Bexit, “… and yes — once we have settled our accounts, we will take back control of roughly £350 million per week. It would be a fine thing, as many of us have pointed out, if a lot of that money went on the NHS”.

Unfortunately, the FullFacts website states that — “This is wrong. It is more like £250 million a week. In any case, the impact on the economy from changes to trade after leaving the EU is likely to be far bigger than savings from the UK’s membership fee. We have never paid the EU £350 million a week, and we have never owed the EU £350 million a week.”
This is the man who is, for want of a better word, is leading our country.

Newspapers are notorious for getting the facts wrong. For example, on 3rd September 2021, the London Evening Standard and The Independent — together with Sky News — advised us that Public Health England showed that 9,472 people were admitted to hospital with coronavirus infection in the week up to 23rd August.
Fortunately, Reaction.Life, a British news commentary organization, pointed out that the figure of 9,472 people referred to the previous seven months — not seven days.

We are being manipulated

These facts are all very interesting, but what do they mean? They mean that we are misinformed, misled, and ill-advised by mainstream news media, social media websites, the advertising industry, and the government.

You express an interest in a second-hand car, ask about the side effects of an anti-depressant drug or order a cookery book by a celebrity chef on your smartphone, tablet, or computer — and what happens? You will be gently “influenced” by pop-up windows, Instagram notifications, and side-bar ads offering you the most attractive deals. These would cover small second-hand cars, subscriptions to “wellness” sites, and the best kitchen appliances. They already know that you are of pensionable age from your personal profile, so you will probably get information about the benefits of care homes in your area.

Not only are we fed misleading information, we are also being manipulated.

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Adrian Arnold
Adrian Arnold

Written by Adrian Arnold

Retired veterinary surgeon now a collector of trivia. Married to a wonderful wife, four children and four grandchildren. Author of A Veterinary Life on Amazon.