Etienne Botha

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@PaulivW @becsplanb Agreed, #CyrilRamaphosa 's response is so far fetched that it is comical

The report which may end the political career of #CyrilRamaphosa is strange — in parts comical. It’s possible it could be challenged in court. But it also highlights undeniable problems with CR's account of what happened at #PhalaPhala. - @becsplanb dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-1…

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@eksjurg @Batisrmc @dkahts @bowse89 @Hilmar275 @Joggienho @bambam182 @wybrand100 Nou is my bucket list super lank....

@Batisrmc @dkahts @bowse89 @Hilmar275 @Joggienho @bambam182 @wybrand100 @vetto070

@WesternCapeGov @WestCapeHealth Can you please provide the source dataset for these numbers?

As this data from @WestCapeHealth clearly shows, COVID-19 vaccines provide excellent protection against severe COVID-19 and COVID-19 related death. ▶ For vaccine resources, visit our website: coronavirus.westerncape.gov.za/vaccine/.

To my followers outside of South Africa; here is a thread for you to better understand what is currently going on in the country. As would be expected some of the reporting has been solid but much of it has been sensationalist or simply off the mark.

@Armstrongideas @RobynPorteous @mynameisjerm @kateomega @Billbobbird @Clinton_Nortje @real411 @Real411orgza @AfricaCheck 2/2 3. False equivalence with the condoms and masks 4. Lowering expectations (Mask work - Mask work 80% of the time) 5. Cherry picking (only believing CDC and Government run organization instead of private institutions that have skin in the game)

@Armstrongideas @RobynPorteous @mynameisjerm @kateomega @Billbobbird @Clinton_Nortje @real411 @Real411orgza @AfricaCheck strange, I am neither a Trump supporter nor have ever watched Fox a day in my life, however you and Robyn have lobbed several of these FLICC tactics against me: 1. Claiming I have Nefarious intent with my questions 2. Immune to evidence I have presented of infections 1/2

@Billbobbird I have a few questions about the op-ed posted on DM the other day. Hoping we can engage constructively on it. 1.) Why does @real411 have an inherent bias? It isn't a newspaper or individual with a particular voice or life experience - it is a fact checking org.

@Armstrongideas @RobynPorteous @mynameisjerm @kateomega @Billbobbird @Clinton_Nortje @real411 @Real411orgza @AfricaCheck Healthy virus sources. Wearing a mask would probably intercept droplets containing the virus. According to the paper the problem is that masks are reused without cleaning and disposable masks are disposed of after use

@vetto070 @RobynPorteous @mynameisjerm @kateomega @Billbobbird @Clinton_Nortje @real411 @Real411orgza @AfricaCheck I'm confused... para 3: "Routine wearing of disposable masks by everyone as a public health intervention, would probably intercept the transmission link and prevent these apparently healthy infectious sources"...?

@Armstrongideas @RobynPorteous @mynameisjerm @kateomega @Billbobbird @Clinton_Nortje @real411 @Real411orgza @AfricaCheck Not according to this peer review journal journals.viamedica.pl/cardiology_jou…

@vetto070 @RobynPorteous @mynameisjerm @kateomega @Billbobbird @Clinton_Nortje @real411 @Real411orgza @AfricaCheck (There isn't... There is a 0% chance a mask could cause an infection...) But... using your slightly bizarre logic... if there was a small chance taking a medicine would give you a negative side effect, but a much larger chance it would work... what would you do?

@Armstrongideas @RobynPorteous @mynameisjerm @kateomega @Billbobbird @Clinton_Nortje @real411 @Real411orgza @AfricaCheck I am always careful when someone says that a majority of scientists/researchers agree as it is again people expressing opinions and not facts (leading scientists all agreed at a time that the earth was flat)

@vetto070 @RobynPorteous @mynameisjerm @kateomega @Billbobbird @Clinton_Nortje @real411 @Real411orgza @AfricaCheck 2. (cont). in that all of the respected researchers agree on the issue, but then the politicians go and find shitty or unethical researchers who are willing to say things that misleading or untrue. Claims that corona isn't real or masks don't work are political, not medical.

@RobynPorteous @Armstrongideas @mynameisjerm @kateomega @Billbobbird @Clinton_Nortje @real411 @Real411orgza @AfricaCheck And what if there was a small chance that wearing a mask could cause an infection that could take a life? Stop arguing with feelings and stick to the facts

@Armstrongideas @vetto070 @mynameisjerm @kateomega @Billbobbird @Clinton_Nortje @real411 @Real411orgza @AfricaCheck If there were even just a small chance that wearing a mask could somehow save a life, that seems to me like 100% enough of reason to wear one.

@Armstrongideas @RobynPorteous @mynameisjerm @kateomega @Billbobbird @Clinton_Nortje @real411 @Real411orgza @AfricaCheck I can agree with thoae 100%, especially where cloth masks are used. In my OPINION it gives wearers a false confidence that they are save when they are in fact inadequate bmj.com/content/369/bm… acpjournals.org/doi/abs/10.732… ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…

@vetto070 @RobynPorteous @mynameisjerm @kateomega @Billbobbird @Clinton_Nortje @real411 @Real411orgza @AfricaCheck "The science supports that face coverings are saving lives during the coronavirus pandemic, and yet the debate trundles on... " "To be clear, the science supports using masks..." "But being more definitive about how well they work or when to use them gets complicated"

@Armstrongideas @RobynPorteous @mynameisjerm @kateomega @Billbobbird @Clinton_Nortje @real411 @Real411orgza @AfricaCheck I do think your 100% confidence in stating that Jerm's tweet is false is bold when all the studies (ones you listed and ones I read on my own) claim that their has not been sufficient evidence for or against mask use (those claiming otherwise are clearly cherry picking)

@RobynPorteous @vetto070 @mynameisjerm @kateomega @Billbobbird @Clinton_Nortje @real411 @Real411orgza @AfricaCheck He might be a moment... Cherry-picking is a slow process ;) I'm 50/50 on his account representing an actual individual. There's a growing network of right-wing Trump-style accounts on SA Twitter, he may be part of that network.

@Armstrongideas @mynameisjerm @kateomega @Billbobbird @RobynPorteous @Clinton_Nortje @real411 @Real411orgza @AfricaCheck Can you please give me your data on why masks work? I have already listened to the Epidemiologist from Johns Hopkins and would like evidence on your argument

@mynameisjerm @kateomega @Billbobbird @vetto070 @RobynPorteous @Clinton_Nortje @real411 @Real411orgza @AfricaCheck As a professional fake news researcher I can 100% confirm that this tweet is fake news. As is your misleading misrepresentation of the masks the virus. Stop that silliness.

@Armstrongideas @RobynPorteous @Billbobbird @Clinton_Nortje @real411 That is why docters practice on an evidence based medicine basis. Evidence will definitely change over time and we can only make decisions based on the current evidence that is available. If the evidence shows us the truth it should not matter what the rest of the panel thinks

@vetto070 @RobynPorteous @Billbobbird @Clinton_Nortje @real411 There is competing information for almost everything. You can find a moron doctor to tell you that colloidal silver will cure cancer. It doesn't mean that it's correct. This process requires the 'scientific method', where you evaluate information critically and draw conclusions.

@RobynPorteous @Billbobbird @Clinton_Nortje @real411 @Real411orgza I am merely trying to find the truth for myself. I am not a journalist or a panel that is presenting opinions as facts. Why is it that you can not just present the facts in an honest manner and to let the people decide for themselves?

@vetto070 @Billbobbird @Clinton_Nortje @real411 @Real411orgza And how, might I ask, are YOU equipped to be the final judge on what is or is not true?

@RobynPorteous @Billbobbird @Clinton_Nortje @real411 @Real411orgza I am sorry if you think I am asking questions with nefarious intentions. I am merely trying to find the truth

@vetto070 @Billbobbird @Clinton_Nortje @real411 @Real411orgza I've also advised why I, myself, won't be answering your question given it's clear and nefarious intentions, so we can be done here if it's the only thing you're going to keep asking.

@RobynPorteous @Billbobbird @Clinton_Nortje @real411 I am just checking my facts to ensure that you are a reliable source for the truth. I am going to hammer on this question until I get a straight answer, what will happen if one person finds the actual truth and the other 2 reviewers dont? Will it be labeled disinformation?

@vetto070 @Billbobbird @Clinton_Nortje @real411 Except that we do find evidence, Etienne. As and when required, we do. And nothing you say refutes that. What is it about Real411 that's so upsetting to you exactly? It can't just be that some people you admire got reported and found to be problematic? Or is it *that* lame?

@RobynPorteous @Billbobbird @Clinton_Nortje @real411 Please then state that you are just giving your opinion in your website and not actually finding evidence to support/dispute the facts that are submitted to you

@vetto070 @Billbobbird @Clinton_Nortje @real411 No, because we don't see the evidence each person provides to substantiate the reasons why they have or have not ruled something as complaint with the criteria. There is also such a thing as evidence-based opinions, Etienne. But you're getting obsessed with semantics.

@RobynPorteous @Billbobbird @Clinton_Nortje @real411 Facts do not care about my or your feelings, you are presenting yourself as fact checkers where in reality you are just voicing your opinion to facts

@vetto070 @Billbobbird @Clinton_Nortje @real411 Interestingly, you're finding fault with the 'human element; of the review process - but aren't acknowledging your own human bias in doing so. So, four/five 'fact checkers' are worthy of criticism, but you, as an individual, are objective and impartial enough to be above it? Hmm.