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Greta Thunberg - brave campaigner or deeply disturbed?

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Matthew Best

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Matthew Best
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Someone called Andrew Bolt is in the news today for apparently attacking Greta Thunberg, the teenage climate change campaigner (who, I was surprised to note) has not been mentioned on this forum before - at least searching for "Thunberg" gives no results).

Unfortunately Bolt's column is behind a paywall, so I can't see exactly what he said, beyond his opening few paragraphs, which include:

"No teenager is more freakishly influential than Greta Thunberg, the deeply disturbed messiah of the global warming movement.

...

I have never seen a girl so young and with so many mental disorders treated by so many adults as a guru."

So, Thunberg - a force for much-needed change, or a mentally ill "pig-tailed soothsayer". Or something else?
 
Matthew Best said:
Someone called Andrew Bolt is in the news today for apparently attacking Greta Thunberg, the teenage climate change campaigner (who, I was surprised to note) has not been mentioned on this forum before - at least searching for "Thunberg" gives no results).

Unfortunately Bolt's column is behind a paywall, so I can't see exactly what he said, beyond his opening few paragraphs, which include:

"No teenager is more freakishly influential than Greta Thunberg, the deeply disturbed messiah of the global warming movement.

...

I have never seen a girl so young and with so many mental disorders treated by so many adults as a guru."

So, Thunberg - a force for much-needed change, or a mentally ill "pig-tailed soothsayer". Or something else?
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First of all, Andrew Bolt is a denier known for being wrong about pretty much everything. He's an arch-conservative racist as well.

Greta Thunberg is inspiring because she's young and has aspergers, and despite these drawbacks manage to upset deniers by virtue of energizing people into action on climate change. I get why the deniers are afraid of her. I hope she has someone thinking about her personal safety, because she's dangerous enough for them to go after her, or at least use the right wing radicalization channels to get one of the loonies to do it.
 
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Matthew Best said:
Someone called Andrew Bolt is in the news today
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At this point, if your're familiar with Bolt. you can stop reading. He's a right-wing wackjob who's made numerous assertions that are at variance with factual reality (i.e. lies). These include:
1. He accuses a magistrate (a low level judge) of hugging and congratulating two freed drug traffickers. She was awarded damaged for defamation.
2. Ionising radiation has #health benefits'. He parroted Coulter's drivel.#
3. There was no 'Stolen Generation' in Australia. He's been comprehensively refuted on this lie.
4. Climate change isn't real. He's described it as a "pagan cult", "neo-pagan gospel", "giddiest ideology of all" and "great sham".

He's also been convicted of racism ('[racial vilification') and is a regular defended of convicted cild molesting cardinal Pell. Ignore his rantings.

Even John Birmingham considers his an idiot and an "oxygen thief". Other colleagues in the Australian journalistic coimmity have described him as "champion of the overdog" and "self-parodying buffoon".

Matthew Best said:
So, Thunberg - a force for much-needed change, or a mentally ill "pig-tailed soothsayer". Or something else?
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Something else.
 
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Robin said:
I knew she was autistic, I am autistic too. It is not really what I would call a mental illness.
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It's not what anyone competent would call a mental illness, in fact. Asperger's Syndrome is a developmental disorder - the normal processes of the brain are somewhat different in a person with AS than in one without - rather than a mental illness, in which the normal processes of the brain for that individual are impaired or temporarily disordered. And it's unwarranted for Bolt to refer to "so many mental disorders" when in fact Thunberg is known to have only one, and one that many people have found not to prevent them having an enjoyable and productive life.

There's also a rather subtle hedas-I-win, tails-you-lose in play in the column. Remember how Emma Thompson was recently criticised for flying to New York after saying people should fly less? Now Thunberg is being criticised for sailing to the US because (a) it's too uncompromising and (b) it looks like a publicity stunt. So apparently it's wrong either to compromise or not to compromise.

Andrew Bolt's not a member, is he? Just thought I'd check in case I want to say what I really think of him.

Dave
 
My favorite Greta picture:

qgK26Iy.jpg


She's 16 years old, btw.
 
Dave Rogers said:
It's not what anyone competent would call a mental illness, in fact. Asperger's Syndrome is a developmental disorder - the normal processes of the brain are somewhat different in a person with AS than in one without - rather than a mental illness, in which the normal processes of the brain for that individual are impaired or temporarily disordered. And it's unwarranted for Bolt to refer to "so many mental disorders" when in fact Thunberg is known to have only one, and one that many people have found not to prevent them having an enjoyable and productive life.

There's also a rather subtle hedas-I-win, tails-you-lose in play in the column. Remember how Emma Thompson was recently criticised for flying to New York after saying people should fly less? Now Thunberg is being criticised for sailing to the US because (a) it's too uncompromising and (b) it looks like a publicity stunt. So apparently it's wrong either to compromise or not to compromise.

Andrew Bolt's not a member, is he? Just thought I'd check in case I want to say what I really think of him.

Dave
Click to expand...

He's a public figure, so shouldn't matter.

Bolt's a dolt.
 
Robin said:
I knew she was autistic, I am autistic too. It is not really what I would call a mental illness.
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Neuroatypical is the preferred tern now.
However Dolt neither understands this nor cares, is an AGW denying cretin, wants to stir up believers and is employed by Murdoch.
 
Puppycow said:
Maybe we can stop right there?

So this Andrew Bolt fellow is some kind of religious nut who hates America.
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Dolt claims not to be an xian; however he's a vehement defender of convicted child molester Pell.
 
catsmate said:
Dolt claims not to be an xian; however he's a vehement defender of convicted child molester Pell.
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I realized that I misinterpreted that bit. He meant "heathen" in the ironic sense, not the literal one. Like she is a kind of missionary going to convert the "heathens" to the religion of global warming. But that means that he sees it as on par with a religion, and not a valid scientific theory.
 
I don’t think there’s any justification for sneering at Greta thunberg.

Now, sneering at a society that takes complex policy advice from children... yeah,, maybe so.
 
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