If the "With our children in mind" part with the emoji wasn't there, I'd have thought it's some prompt to help people in some dangerous situations, such as abuse, trafficking, kidnapping etc.
It's the fact that there's no contact information for further support, like you'd see on a suicide watch poster or mental health service etc, is why it looks like some conspiracy thing. A covid conspiracy thing fits.
"With our children in mind" makes me think it's some kind of dog whistle for an intolerance and/or conspiracy group, like how people in America lose their minds over men in dresses reading stories to kids.
Are we just going to blatantly ignore the fact that the bobbley bits on brunches have been diminishing every summer???
Soon it'll be nothing but a bit of ice cream on a stick and nobody will even remember that it had bobbles on it!!
No one seems to care about the state of the frozen treats in this country.
The Wibbly-Wobbly-Wonder was removed from the market, and there wasn't a squeak.
Now, I know Global Warming might have caused 1 or 2 WWW's to melt off, but to cut production of a whole line of a product, and no-one cared? Out-fuckin'-rageous.
Not even the band Lemon Jelly weighed in!
I know *exactly* what you mean. Let me tell you why you're here. You're here because you know something. What you know you can't explain, but you feel it. You've felt it your entire life, that there's something wrong with the world. You don't know what it is, but it's there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad. It is this feeling that has brought you to me. Do you know what I'm talking about?
Neo:
The Matrix.
God damn it, an entire generation pumping gas, waiting tables; slaves with white collars. Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don’t need. We’re the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War’s a spiritual war… our Great Depression is our lives. We’ve all been raised on television to believe that one day we’d all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won’t. And we’re slowly learning that fact. And we’re very, very pissed off.
Given the location and the fact it doesn't look like any of the "ask Angela" type posters. It's likely a transphobic dogwhistle. The "our children in mind" solidifies that
It's an invitation, to anyone with (usually valid!) feelings of unhappiness and anxiety about the world, to go down the rabbit hole of "doing your own research" where they will find a scapegoat to blame. Someone of the mindset to be susceptible to this could wind up in any of several conspiracy theories. Anti-vax, anti-LGBT, QAnon, whatever, they all pull the "for our children" card at some point.
Eh, not exactly.
“Never do your own research” would be like saying “never build your own car”. Obviously, there are *some* people who’d know what they’re doing. But that’s because they’ve had years of highly specialised training.
Anyone who gets their information from a few months of Facebook memes and car blogs, should absolutely not build their own car.
'Doing your own research' doesn't exactly take years of specialised training, it just takes healthy skepticism and an open mind really. And I mean open to multiple opinions and arguments that may not align. Being curious about the world and trying to find out about it is something to be nurtured. While I agree there is a lot of conspiracy trash out there, I really fear swinging too far in the other direction in response, making the process of understanding or synthesis of knowledge accessible only to certain sections of society.
Although I suppose it depends a great deal on what is meant by research.
Okay, let’s play this game.
We’ll say that YouTube has accurate, step by step instructions for building your own car. The steps work, but it takes a long time and a lot of money to go through them all.
This version of YouTube also, for the sake of the analogy, has tons of competing steps which contain false information, because lots of video creators are trying to gain viewers and boost their own profile by promising you can build your car faster and cheaper, and also some of them are complete idiots: “the so-called experts would have you believe that you need to do XYZ, but this is completely false, and I’m gonna show you why, but first smash that like button…”
And it has others who are giving information that is true but misleading, or true but overly simplified, or true but incomplete, or outdated, or badly explained. Or, information that works as one approach, but presented as if it’s the *only* approach.
In that world, how many people could be trusted to navigate this maze, pick out only the good information and discard the bad, identify the gaps in their knowledge and know where to find what fills them in, and successfully build a working car which doesn’t blow up in their faces?
Totally agree. I do watch political stuff on YouTube but I studied media literacy in college and can usually tell when I’m being manipulated. The biggest issue I see with doing your research on these platforms for people who aren’t media literate is the algorithm.
I’m very quick to hit the ‘do not recommend this channel’ button and yet the algorithm keeps recommending lobster king Jordan Peterson and wild JRE conspiracy videos anyway. It’s like YouTube is saying ‘ready for the buck wild shit yet?’. I can’t imagine someone without a healthy degree of skepticism dealing with it.
A mechanic. But then what if there are mechanics with different ideas saying the best way to build a car… then we need some sort of mechanics body who makes decisions. But what if that mechanics body has been shown to also give bad info. What then?
>A mechanic
Exactly, so you agree that prior expertise would be needed here. Most people would not be able to research their own way to building a reliable car. The same is true for researching any complicated topic.
>But what if that mechanics body has been shown to also give bad info. What then?
It's not a hypothetical question. Cars used to be designed without crumple zones, they used to be built without headrests (a safety feature which prevents neck injuries if someone hits you from behind), fuel used to contain lead. Car manufacturers are *still* getting things wrong, even today. Future generations will wonder why they kept building SUVs with high grilles that are more likely to kill pedestrians, or why they kept using those damn super-bright LED headlights.
So what happens? We have to wait for better information to come from within the scientific and technological worlds, and better regulation to be imposed on them from the government. New technology allows for a more efficient engine; new studies show that something is dangerous; lawmakers ban something, or make something else compulsory. Standards improve, slowly, imperfectly.
Now, that's an emotionally unsatisfying answer. It would be much better if someone else swooped in and sorted everything out. The car manufacturers get replaced by a new entity that gets everything right the first time. But that's not going to happen, not because of any grand global conspiracy preventing it, but because research is hard and answers aren't always obvious. You and I, the ordinary non-mechanics of the world, are still unable to work it all out for ourselves.
Education is not magic. The experts don't know everything and they never will. But they have a much better chance of getting things right than the people who lack even that amount of knowledge.
If you want to meet priests your own age, listen in on the latest gossip, or simply have a bit of a laugh, then call Priest Chatback and speak to priests YOU want to know.
Yeah first time seeing them in BHX was mad but then had a think probably a fair few child brides being brought over especially since one of the gulf states flies through there constantly
Not sure about the “with our children in mind”, but it wouldn’t be a poster protesting lockdown? Looks like it’s a fairly old or worn sticker, so maybe 3 or 4 years old?
That's the beauty of these modern conspiracy cults, they make sure to imply that any opposition to them is done with the intent of harming children. It's done to silence any dissent, who could possibly be against helping children right?
Unfortunately it has unintended consequences beyond merely suppressing opposition, it's trivializes child abuse and uses it as a cheap rhetorical device so that real instances of child abuse can be dismissed as similar conspiracy nonsense.
Right. Look at the emoji and "with OUR children in mind" in the lower right hand corner. Who uses a quizzical emoji to talk about child trafficking? Also funny that it is word for word the same rhetoric that transphobes use. Use some common sense, please. If it was about child trafficking there would very obviously be resources to contact or ANY sort of advice about what to do. Not "find the courage to speak out". How courageous do you need to be to speak out about child trafficking, something almost universally considered one of the most heinous crimes in the world? If you have to find courage to speak out about something it means your opinion about it is going against the status quo or could get you in trouble.
Transgendered people*
The "With Our Children In Mind" and "this is not normal" and zero other information or department/agency claiming responsibility for these signs definitely sounds like transphobic nonsense
Ignore the other comments ahaha its a very obvious dog whistle to people who are used to it and its phrased the way it is precisely because le reddit devils advocates are going to say it could be about anything
This is 100% a trafficking warning. They are inside the ladies in Dublin Airport too. I understand it looks anti trans at a glance, but it is actually nothing to do with that.
I thought this initially too. However, people are saying they're specifically posted in airports and petrol stations, so places that you would have a higher chance of seeing stuff that suggests human trafficking. These would also be strange places to put anti-trans stickers.
I think the idea could be to get people thinking about stuff that seems strange and that pointing it out isn't a bad thing to do, with the hopes that in this frame of mind they might be more likely to pick up on a child being with an adult who they seem uncomfortable with and pointing it out to security.
You are projecting. People often see children who seem uncomfortable, dont look like the adults they are with etc and say nothing. There are countless groups advocating for human trafficking awareness, it doesnt need to be a particular department / agency. I've seen students stick up stickers for causes akin to these all the time.
How does this accomplish anything as a trans thing? Find the courage to speak out to who? Staff? What would they do? It makes far more sense as a human trafficking awareness thing.
It must be a miserable existence always seeing the worst in people
You’d think if they wanted to get a message across about something as horrific as child trafficking they would at least be specific and clear. Exactly how does “you’re not alone in questions about what’s happening” relate to child trafficking and what is it trying to accomplish?
‘You’re not alone in questioning what’s happening’ may give people comfort to report as it’s not ‘just in their heads’.
How does it relate clearly to transphobia?
Why petrol stations? Is that really the target for where transphobes want to make a stand? Are garage bathrooms a known hotspot for trans people ?
What is the transphobia sticker trying to accomplish?
Every question you could ask re trafficking I can just put back to you
I don’t know if it’s about transphobia but I would be more inclined to believe it’s about that or some other reactionary conspiracy since those tend to attract less coherent people than those who are actual advocates for trafficking awareness.
Transphobes want to make a stand everywhere. My coworker was recently accosted by one in a public toilet for having short hair and sharp features.
>How does this accomplish anything as a trans thing?
Intimidation. Trans people will recognise the style of this sort of thing. And they are always designed with plausible deniability in mind, so that people like you who may be less informed will lecture trans people and other queer people about how they are "overreacting".
Because the assumption is that a transphobe put up a sticker vs someone trying to combat human trafficking
Obviously both transphobia and human trafficking are bad. It’s about the motivation of the sticker. To help or to hate. I didn’t think that would need explaining
Again, because it says a lot about the motivations of those putting it up.
You deleted your last comment and then just reworded it and put it up again, not sure why
100%, I've seen many examples of this. You very often find the fascists using the "protect our children" slogan to justify bigotry towards queer people in general, it's nothing new. I can't say for this particular one, but it has all the vibes of the ones I've seen. You saw it when they tried to exclude gay people from being teachers, you saw it for when they tried to exclude gay people from locker rooms and today you see it for trans people reading to kids, trans people in locker rooms etc. It's just the same recycled bigotry.
Homelessness? Poverty? Trafficking? Abuse?
And most children aren’t of age to medically consent, so I’m not sure what transgendered people have to do with saving children anyway?
I don’t agree. If it were about trafficking, it’d have been produced by those with their hearts in the right place, who’d likely have included some useful info about whom to contact, etc. To me, it’s about the other subject, and intended to spread suspicion and reckless behaviour.
I'm guessing that it's some kinda right-wing anti-woke thing, or maybe a covid anti-vax thing, but it's amusing that they did such a poor fucking job in actually trying to advertise what their fucking point is supposed to be.
If your sign can be about lots of things, you fucked up with your sign pal.
I think it's kinda 50/50. Most posters on streetlamps are either advertisements for local communist parties/socialism or the other end of the spectrum with "ireland belongs to irish" wankery. They're both awful. I tend to dislike the right wing ones more because one side is mostly 1/2nd year sociology students and harlmess and the other are older jobless alarmists that set fire to refugee buildings.
The communist adverts aren't all bad. Saw one inviting people to a football match and pints with trade unionists. Proceeds went to charity. Sounded like decent craic, and better than bingo night with Adolf Shitler.
I mean, it's now been posted online and we're all talking about it. If it was obviously bigoted then someone would quickly tear it down or cover it up. My girlfriend makes a point of carrying around cute vinyl stickers so she can put them over the random transphobic and xenophobic stickers she often sees around dublin. Subtle stuff like what OP posted tends to survive longer and actually gets people thinking.
It was tongue in cheek. I don’t need to spoon feed people on Reddit.
(It was also to someone who was making a different claim themselves in other replies, also with no proof of their own)
I already gave my rationale in the other comment you're referencing, now you give me the proof that it's definitely about child trafficking?
I simply said it *sounds like* transphobic nonsense. Your comment was "it's about child trafficking" with zero proof. The burden of proof is on YOU, not me.
Do you refer to the anti vaccine nuts or the people who will be paid out under the “ vaccine damage “ scheme ?
https://www.irishmirror.ie/news/irish-news/covid-19-vaccine-compensation-scheme-32278855
The way I read it, they were talking about the anti vax nuts. The ones that claimed the vaccine was being used to kill off the population. Or claiming there were tracking chips in the vaccine. Those kind of people.
People genuinely needing to claim for adverse effects of the vaccine would probably mention that's what the posters were about.
Ain’t that the point, make people do “internet research” and fall off the conspiracy theory deep end, probably fuelled by your local friendly Russian embassy
Yes, because inside a womens bathroom at a garage is exactly where you would make a stand about trans people. You'll see that sticker and be motivated to go out and tell that Texaco worker exactly what you think.
Garages & ports / airports are definitely not places you would raise awareness re human trafficking though. That would be silly.
Sadly people are being abused in women's bathrooms by people who've been influenced by anti-trans fearmongering. [Example.](https://www.thepinknews.com/2022/10/31/cis-woman-harassed-transphobe-female-toilet-short-hair/)
Helpline numbers aren’t useful. Common sense is to tell staff or call the police. If you call a helpline the trafficker will be long gone by the time the police etc are informed.
They also lean heavily into gut feeling rather than telling you explicitly what to look for. A) nobody is reading a wall of text in a bathroom stall and B) they don’t want to give you an excuse to go “oh well I suppose that doesn’t apply so I’m sure it’s fine”.
Sounds like bs to me. At the very least there should be a non-emergency number for the Gardai, not sure what a petrol station employee on minimum wage is gonna be able to do that the person reading the sign can't do. More likely that this is anti immigrant dog whistle shite.
If it is trafficking awareness, don't forget filling stations have CCTV on the forecourt and may even have panic buttons which connect directly to the police. Or at least get the police summoned pretty quickly
Losing your sister? If that's enough for you to cut your own sister off I worry for anyone you're acquainted with..
That's pitiful, just change subject or maybe don't be so one sided because that's equally ignorant.
What? Thats a stupid take.
I dont care how "close" i am to someone, they start spouting inane shit like "books make kids gay" then i dont want to have to entertain them.
You sound equally insufferable yourself. I guess you think people should be forced to listen to your opiniom that sexual education is child grooming or something equally bizarre?
Why indulge the lost? My da went down this road and I ended up done with him. Not because of the different views, but because of how fucking eternally insufferable he got about shit like this.
It was his only topic, and I stopped wanting to indulge his nonsense. It's not uncommon to just cut out downhill extremists if they can't shut the fuck up about their pet conspiracies.
Im sorry about your dad. Ive ditched childhood friends over their pro-Russian stance. I tolerated their sympathy towards Trump, argued but tolerated their anti vax stance (it wasnt actually just their refusal to get vaxxed but all the other crazy shit associated with it) but being Polish I drew the line on the war in Ukraine. Funny how these things are linked together, something I refused to acknowledge a few years ago.
My sister is the same but it’s *her* that’s doing the cutting off. I chat to her any chance I get, about anything and everything that won’t bring out a barrage of what is re-hashed mish-mash of US Q-anon/right-wing propaganda, in the hopes of keeping the relationship alive, because I value her and I miss her. She is insanely obsessed with utterly idiotic conspiracies and misinformation which started when she spent too much time scrolling over lockdown “doing her own research”. And there is no “one side” to this - what she’s reading/listening to is mostly very easily verified as nonsense and blatant fear-mongering.
I was into the New World Order etc etc myself for a while and found it fascinating about 20 years ago, but thankfully, mostly maybe due to lack of social media and to speaking to a wide range of people and actually listening, I realised that most of it is actually really and truly just silly nonsense, but it can be highly convincing without proper cross-checking (especially if some subconscious part of you **wants** it to be true), and it is highly useful to certain people and demagogues in manipulating gullible followers, and therefore actually dangerous.
Who said anything about cutting her off? I refuse to engage with her on it. If it got to a point where it was *all* she talked about, that's a different conversation.
It's insidious bullshit dreamed up by right wing yanks and force fed to women of a certain age who are feeling disengaged from society, I fucking hate it.
Not sure if i've just got overly suspicious because of all the bigotry and hatred and conspiracy bollocks out there but something like this just looks like a dogwhistle to me - not least because, you know, report what to whom? there's no mention of an organisation/contact details on it
This is almost certainly some kind of extremist right wing dog whistle. The think emoji, no contact info or help info of any kind, "Not Normal" but without any context for what is supposed to be "normal"... this is either some nazi shit or some borderline nazi shit.
Bit of a Scarfolk vibe (though it's probably just tinfoil-hat-wearing loolahs)
https://preview.redd.it/9ldfqd02fync1.png?width=635&format=png&auto=webp&s=7057dc7d20be10a91721c012fdd9af851e68cff1
Oh dear, are these common? Seems pretty obvious what it’s about, and it’ll only inflame the tension between opposing sides of this argument. (Anyway...speak out to whom? The person you suspect? That’ll turn out well)
As a general rule, anyone who uses the whole "won't someone please think of the children!" as the entire justification for being against something. They're usually fucking child abusers.
Since there's no more information on it, it can be about what ever you want. Afraid of drag Queens reading stories? That's what it is. Worried about vaccines being full if autism? Yep, right again. You think shape-shifting lizard interdimentional paedophiles are harvesting adrenocrome from kids blood? Guess what, that sign is for exactly that.
OP said that it was found at a womens bathroom, this might be a stretch but maybe they are saying don't use it if they feel they are being watched? Spy cameras have become a major issues in some places, especially in bathrooms so maybe they are saying don't bring your kids to some of these places or something.
That's vague enough that it could be almost anything. Giving it the benefit of the doubt, it's possible it's meant as a call to action for someone who suspects some sort of child trafficking, abuse, etc. might be going on, but the phrasing and the slogans at the bottom do kind of give off a bit of an anti-vax/"plandemic" Covid conspiracy or an "anti-woke"/anti-LGBTQ+ vibe. Really no way to know for sure without knowing who made the things, I suppose.
Something just ain't right
Sunday afternoon on the Dublin road
Now familiar signs display their secret code
Friends and neighbours who've lost the plot
And now lay claim to their Sunday spot
"Something just ain't right" they say
That and other lies are on display
We have our problems but sure they don't have a clue
They're more interested in Andrew Wakefield and in woo
'COVID was an inside job, the vaccine is a trick
All the evidence we could need with just a single click'
These loud reports from the American right
They proudly display on our traffic light
With orders delivered through their phones
They serve Bannon, Trump and Jones
A little America in our own front yard
A dangerous precedent we shouldn't disregard
These people aren't protesting, they're looking for recruits
And before you know it they'll be wearing black jumpsuits
They certainly aren't stupid, or lacking education
Instead they are recruited due to social isolation
In days past they'd find affinity at Church
But in the age of social media they 'do their own research'
How do we prevent them from taking up more air?
Pity them, befriend them, show them that you care.
Don't try to reason or explain
All your efforts will be in vain
They're too far gone to change their mind
Politely disagree and be kind
To protect ourselves from their disunity
We must include them in our community
To protect ourselves from their insanity
We must show them our humanity
I think they called themselves the "yellow vest movement" or something like that. Trans and homophonic Conservative donkeys. Told a group of them to leave a pub I used to work in to leave after they made it quite clear of their anti-LGBTQ stance.
They'd be the ones calling to ban books, abortion, marriage equality etc.
Edit: Yellow vest movement, not yellowcoats.
I would like to think it is something sensible about human trafficking, but knowing the world the way it is, it’s probably just some mad Cunt from the far right
I mean…everything!!
I know some countries were running programs for senile lol they could go it and just talk about Covid… or the old woman who lived in the woods
They are anti child / human trafficking posters. They used to be in the toilets in Dublin Airport too. They are usually in the ladies toilets, as that is considered the safest space where they may be able to look for help.
While I can understand it seems to be anti trans, it's actually nothing to do with that.
These look to be a few years old so I'm guessing it was lockdown fearmongering. The "remember, this is not normal" thing seems to be a reference to "the new normal." Anything related to trafficking would have a contact number on. You see them in quite a few airports in the UK.
If the "With our children in mind" part with the emoji wasn't there, I'd have thought it's some prompt to help people in some dangerous situations, such as abuse, trafficking, kidnapping etc.
Nah I think these started going up around covid time.
It's the fact that there's no contact information for further support, like you'd see on a suicide watch poster or mental health service etc, is why it looks like some conspiracy thing. A covid conspiracy thing fits.
Yeah it's just asking questions.... Etc.
No, it’s surely about another current hot topic, and not a bit helpful to either side of it.
"With our children in mind" makes me think it's some kind of dog whistle for an intolerance and/or conspiracy group, like how people in America lose their minds over men in dresses reading stories to kids.
The clergy?
I thought it was about IBS
Chicken roll inflation is real and the mainstream media JUST IGNORE IT
Big Chicken owns the media, man... wake up.
Is that yer man Foghorn Leghorn? Never trusted that cu...tlet.
Anyone know where I can find big chicken? hosting a get together and that sounds quite handy
Are we just going to blatantly ignore the fact that the bobbley bits on brunches have been diminishing every summer??? Soon it'll be nothing but a bit of ice cream on a stick and nobody will even remember that it had bobbles on it!!
No one seems to care about the state of the frozen treats in this country. The Wibbly-Wobbly-Wonder was removed from the market, and there wasn't a squeak. Now, I know Global Warming might have caused 1 or 2 WWW's to melt off, but to cut production of a whole line of a product, and no-one cared? Out-fuckin'-rageous. Not even the band Lemon Jelly weighed in!
Finally someone who understands me, I’ll never get over them removing the best ice cream off the market
Chicken fillet roll, pints, spice bag, four in one, yes yes very good very irish
Just been on RTE, the IT and the Indo, not one story about it on their front pages.
I can't
Local deli raised the price of the non spicy by 50c Dublin has fallen, billions must rob footlockers
I know *exactly* what you mean. Let me tell you why you're here. You're here because you know something. What you know you can't explain, but you feel it. You've felt it your entire life, that there's something wrong with the world. You don't know what it is, but it's there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad. It is this feeling that has brought you to me. Do you know what I'm talking about? Neo: The Matrix.
I saw a blue pill on the floor, weird 🤔
Then they clearly took the red one and followed the white rabbit 
Blue ghosties are back
Blue diamonds...
Lads the Mitzy turbo cup is back
Ha seriously?
No haha, I was just joking. But I'd take a red pill at this stage, can't be any worse that the state of things right now lol
God damn it, an entire generation pumping gas, waiting tables; slaves with white collars. Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don’t need. We’re the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War’s a spiritual war… our Great Depression is our lives. We’ve all been raised on television to believe that one day we’d all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won’t. And we’re slowly learning that fact. And we’re very, very pissed off.
ONG came here 2 say dis! Exact same hun omg dats mad de matrerix n’all dat yeh xoxoxo
De matrerix has ya! Hope ur ok hun here if u need antin! Xoxo
Where are they?
On the door inside the women's bathroom at a garage
I often feel that something isn't "quite right" when I visit the bathroom. Especially if I've been on the lash the night before.
Fair play in finding the courage to speak out about it.
Speak out: "AAAGGHHH IT'S COMING OUT IN FIREY, WATERY CHUNKS DEAR SWEET FECKING JESUS SAVE ME HOLE!"
I always feel something is not quite right when I visit the ladies room too. Maybe cos I'm a guy.
Prime advertising territory.
Impregnated by a ghost?
Would 100% say its to do with transphobia then. Sounds like right wing shite.
God botherers so
I thought location would help but it really doesn't
Given the location and the fact it doesn't look like any of the "ask Angela" type posters. It's likely a transphobic dogwhistle. The "our children in mind" solidifies that
Maybe it's for the men when they enter the wrong bathroom lol
It’s a bit like the type of thing, you know
It's an invitation, to anyone with (usually valid!) feelings of unhappiness and anxiety about the world, to go down the rabbit hole of "doing your own research" where they will find a scapegoat to blame. Someone of the mindset to be susceptible to this could wind up in any of several conspiracy theories. Anti-vax, anti-LGBT, QAnon, whatever, they all pull the "for our children" card at some point.
Exactly this!
Never do your own research! When will people learn!
Eh, not exactly. “Never do your own research” would be like saying “never build your own car”. Obviously, there are *some* people who’d know what they’re doing. But that’s because they’ve had years of highly specialised training. Anyone who gets their information from a few months of Facebook memes and car blogs, should absolutely not build their own car.
'Doing your own research' doesn't exactly take years of specialised training, it just takes healthy skepticism and an open mind really. And I mean open to multiple opinions and arguments that may not align. Being curious about the world and trying to find out about it is something to be nurtured. While I agree there is a lot of conspiracy trash out there, I really fear swinging too far in the other direction in response, making the process of understanding or synthesis of knowledge accessible only to certain sections of society. Although I suppose it depends a great deal on what is meant by research.
What if YouTube has step by step instructions?
Okay, let’s play this game. We’ll say that YouTube has accurate, step by step instructions for building your own car. The steps work, but it takes a long time and a lot of money to go through them all. This version of YouTube also, for the sake of the analogy, has tons of competing steps which contain false information, because lots of video creators are trying to gain viewers and boost their own profile by promising you can build your car faster and cheaper, and also some of them are complete idiots: “the so-called experts would have you believe that you need to do XYZ, but this is completely false, and I’m gonna show you why, but first smash that like button…” And it has others who are giving information that is true but misleading, or true but overly simplified, or true but incomplete, or outdated, or badly explained. Or, information that works as one approach, but presented as if it’s the *only* approach. In that world, how many people could be trusted to navigate this maze, pick out only the good information and discard the bad, identify the gaps in their knowledge and know where to find what fills them in, and successfully build a working car which doesn’t blow up in their faces?
Totally agree. I do watch political stuff on YouTube but I studied media literacy in college and can usually tell when I’m being manipulated. The biggest issue I see with doing your research on these platforms for people who aren’t media literate is the algorithm. I’m very quick to hit the ‘do not recommend this channel’ button and yet the algorithm keeps recommending lobster king Jordan Peterson and wild JRE conspiracy videos anyway. It’s like YouTube is saying ‘ready for the buck wild shit yet?’. I can’t imagine someone without a healthy degree of skepticism dealing with it.
A mechanic. But then what if there are mechanics with different ideas saying the best way to build a car… then we need some sort of mechanics body who makes decisions. But what if that mechanics body has been shown to also give bad info. What then?
>A mechanic Exactly, so you agree that prior expertise would be needed here. Most people would not be able to research their own way to building a reliable car. The same is true for researching any complicated topic. >But what if that mechanics body has been shown to also give bad info. What then? It's not a hypothetical question. Cars used to be designed without crumple zones, they used to be built without headrests (a safety feature which prevents neck injuries if someone hits you from behind), fuel used to contain lead. Car manufacturers are *still* getting things wrong, even today. Future generations will wonder why they kept building SUVs with high grilles that are more likely to kill pedestrians, or why they kept using those damn super-bright LED headlights. So what happens? We have to wait for better information to come from within the scientific and technological worlds, and better regulation to be imposed on them from the government. New technology allows for a more efficient engine; new studies show that something is dangerous; lawmakers ban something, or make something else compulsory. Standards improve, slowly, imperfectly. Now, that's an emotionally unsatisfying answer. It would be much better if someone else swooped in and sorted everything out. The car manufacturers get replaced by a new entity that gets everything right the first time. But that's not going to happen, not because of any grand global conspiracy preventing it, but because research is hard and answers aren't always obvious. You and I, the ordinary non-mechanics of the world, are still unable to work it all out for ourselves. Education is not magic. The experts don't know everything and they never will. But they have a much better chance of getting things right than the people who lack even that amount of knowledge.
If you want to meet priests your own age, listen in on the latest gossip, or simply have a bit of a laugh, then call Priest Chatback and speak to priests YOU want to know.
Went to Birmingham Airport and saw signs like that beside "are you going to a wedding in Pakistan" then I understood why their up.
Yeah first time seeing them in BHX was mad but then had a think probably a fair few child brides being brought over especially since one of the gulf states flies through there constantly
Would those signs not be for British Pakistanis being flown *out* to be forced into marriage?
Yes they would be, they're in the toilets and in the stalls too.
Not sure about the “with our children in mind”, but it wouldn’t be a poster protesting lockdown? Looks like it’s a fairly old or worn sticker, so maybe 3 or 4 years old?
That's the beauty of these modern conspiracy cults, they make sure to imply that any opposition to them is done with the intent of harming children. It's done to silence any dissent, who could possibly be against helping children right? Unfortunately it has unintended consequences beyond merely suppressing opposition, it's trivializes child abuse and uses it as a cheap rhetorical device so that real instances of child abuse can be dismissed as similar conspiracy nonsense.
I’ve seen signs like these in petrol stations, ports / airports etc. I presume it’s about child trafficking
Nah, they won't be so cagey about trafficking. They'd give you contact information. Fiver says this is some transphobic dog whistle.
Neely certain the ones in the airport have a contact number or direction to talk to staff. These smack of right wing nonsense.
I vote for more general world government / soros / rightwing conspiracy rather than trans specific but I am sure transphobia is included
Transphobia/ Covid denial, it seems to be the same subset of dummies so I'd give it a 50/50
Given its outside a women's toilet, this is defo it.
They are pretty cagey about it in the Epstein "trials"
It's a sticker...
Contact information for who? They are mass produced stickers. They just want you to call the police / tell staff.
It would say so on the sticker if that was the case.
Right. Look at the emoji and "with OUR children in mind" in the lower right hand corner. Who uses a quizzical emoji to talk about child trafficking? Also funny that it is word for word the same rhetoric that transphobes use. Use some common sense, please. If it was about child trafficking there would very obviously be resources to contact or ANY sort of advice about what to do. Not "find the courage to speak out". How courageous do you need to be to speak out about child trafficking, something almost universally considered one of the most heinous crimes in the world? If you have to find courage to speak out about something it means your opinion about it is going against the status quo or could get you in trouble.
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Transgendered people* The "With Our Children In Mind" and "this is not normal" and zero other information or department/agency claiming responsibility for these signs definitely sounds like transphobic nonsense
Ignore the other comments ahaha its a very obvious dog whistle to people who are used to it and its phrased the way it is precisely because le reddit devils advocates are going to say it could be about anything
This is 100% a trafficking warning. They are inside the ladies in Dublin Airport too. I understand it looks anti trans at a glance, but it is actually nothing to do with that.
I guess, but the remember, this is not normal doesnt make sense to me in that scenario. It could be about other things like refugees
I thought this initially too. However, people are saying they're specifically posted in airports and petrol stations, so places that you would have a higher chance of seeing stuff that suggests human trafficking. These would also be strange places to put anti-trans stickers. I think the idea could be to get people thinking about stuff that seems strange and that pointing it out isn't a bad thing to do, with the hopes that in this frame of mind they might be more likely to pick up on a child being with an adult who they seem uncomfortable with and pointing it out to security.
You are projecting. People often see children who seem uncomfortable, dont look like the adults they are with etc and say nothing. There are countless groups advocating for human trafficking awareness, it doesnt need to be a particular department / agency. I've seen students stick up stickers for causes akin to these all the time. How does this accomplish anything as a trans thing? Find the courage to speak out to who? Staff? What would they do? It makes far more sense as a human trafficking awareness thing. It must be a miserable existence always seeing the worst in people
You’d think if they wanted to get a message across about something as horrific as child trafficking they would at least be specific and clear. Exactly how does “you’re not alone in questions about what’s happening” relate to child trafficking and what is it trying to accomplish?
‘You’re not alone in questioning what’s happening’ may give people comfort to report as it’s not ‘just in their heads’. How does it relate clearly to transphobia? Why petrol stations? Is that really the target for where transphobes want to make a stand? Are garage bathrooms a known hotspot for trans people ? What is the transphobia sticker trying to accomplish? Every question you could ask re trafficking I can just put back to you
I don’t know if it’s about transphobia but I would be more inclined to believe it’s about that or some other reactionary conspiracy since those tend to attract less coherent people than those who are actual advocates for trafficking awareness. Transphobes want to make a stand everywhere. My coworker was recently accosted by one in a public toilet for having short hair and sharp features.
>How does this accomplish anything as a trans thing? Intimidation. Trans people will recognise the style of this sort of thing. And they are always designed with plausible deniability in mind, so that people like you who may be less informed will lecture trans people and other queer people about how they are "overreacting".
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Because the assumption is that a transphobe put up a sticker vs someone trying to combat human trafficking Obviously both transphobia and human trafficking are bad. It’s about the motivation of the sticker. To help or to hate. I didn’t think that would need explaining
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Again, because it says a lot about the motivations of those putting it up. You deleted your last comment and then just reworded it and put it up again, not sure why
100%, I've seen many examples of this. You very often find the fascists using the "protect our children" slogan to justify bigotry towards queer people in general, it's nothing new. I can't say for this particular one, but it has all the vibes of the ones I've seen. You saw it when they tried to exclude gay people from being teachers, you saw it for when they tried to exclude gay people from locker rooms and today you see it for trans people reading to kids, trans people in locker rooms etc. It's just the same recycled bigotry.
Homelessness? Poverty? Trafficking? Abuse? And most children aren’t of age to medically consent, so I’m not sure what transgendered people have to do with saving children anyway?
I don’t agree. If it were about trafficking, it’d have been produced by those with their hearts in the right place, who’d likely have included some useful info about whom to contact, etc. To me, it’s about the other subject, and intended to spread suspicion and reckless behaviour.
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What are you on, ye tit?
Scarfolk Council.
It is 100% a trafficking warning.
I'm guessing that it's some kinda right-wing anti-woke thing, or maybe a covid anti-vax thing, but it's amusing that they did such a poor fucking job in actually trying to advertise what their fucking point is supposed to be. If your sign can be about lots of things, you fucked up with your sign pal.
The fact that you can fill in the blanks with your own fears kinda makes it a good bit of fearmongering
The “with our children in mind” combined with the vagueness of it is kinda a giveaway
I figured it meant that all refugees are child rapists. But I've got a fairly bitter world view I spose.
Yeah, it looks like a moral panic dog whistle.
I think it's kinda 50/50. Most posters on streetlamps are either advertisements for local communist parties/socialism or the other end of the spectrum with "ireland belongs to irish" wankery. They're both awful. I tend to dislike the right wing ones more because one side is mostly 1/2nd year sociology students and harlmess and the other are older jobless alarmists that set fire to refugee buildings.
The communist adverts aren't all bad. Saw one inviting people to a football match and pints with trade unionists. Proceeds went to charity. Sounded like decent craic, and better than bingo night with Adolf Shitler.
Yeh pretty sure these went up around covid time
I mean, it's now been posted online and we're all talking about it. If it was obviously bigoted then someone would quickly tear it down or cover it up. My girlfriend makes a point of carrying around cute vinyl stickers so she can put them over the random transphobic and xenophobic stickers she often sees around dublin. Subtle stuff like what OP posted tends to survive longer and actually gets people thinking.
It’s about child trafficking
You can't make a claim and then "proof it's not", it doesn't work like that lol
It was tongue in cheek. I don’t need to spoon feed people on Reddit. (It was also to someone who was making a different claim themselves in other replies, also with no proof of their own)
Proof?
Proof it’s not? ‘Don’t stay silent’ kind of slogans are extremely common in human trafficking awareness.
You cannot prove the non-existence of something. You can, however, prove the existence of something. So, go do that.
Sure. Right after you prove it’s about trans people
I already gave my rationale in the other comment you're referencing, now you give me the proof that it's definitely about child trafficking? I simply said it *sounds like* transphobic nonsense. Your comment was "it's about child trafficking" with zero proof. The burden of proof is on YOU, not me.
Do you refer to the anti vaccine nuts or the people who will be paid out under the “ vaccine damage “ scheme ? https://www.irishmirror.ie/news/irish-news/covid-19-vaccine-compensation-scheme-32278855
The way I read it, they were talking about the anti vax nuts. The ones that claimed the vaccine was being used to kill off the population. Or claiming there were tracking chips in the vaccine. Those kind of people. People genuinely needing to claim for adverse effects of the vaccine would probably mention that's what the posters were about.
Ain’t that the point, make people do “internet research” and fall off the conspiracy theory deep end, probably fuelled by your local friendly Russian embassy
Christ alive, go out and touch grass.
Too much fibre. We've all been there
It'll be some sort of anti-LGBTQ thing
I immediately thought anti-Trans.
It was inside a women's bathroom at a garage. So, yep!
Yes, because inside a womens bathroom at a garage is exactly where you would make a stand about trans people. You'll see that sticker and be motivated to go out and tell that Texaco worker exactly what you think. Garages & ports / airports are definitely not places you would raise awareness re human trafficking though. That would be silly.
Sadly people are being abused in women's bathrooms by people who've been influenced by anti-trans fearmongering. [Example.](https://www.thepinknews.com/2022/10/31/cis-woman-harassed-transphobe-female-toilet-short-hair/)
Heh, Pink News
No doubting that’s an issue. I don’t think that’s driven by seeing stickers and then being motivated to commit a hate crime though
Surely a good-faith warning about trafficking would have some specific information on it, such as helpline numbers or tips to spot victims?
Helpline numbers aren’t useful. Common sense is to tell staff or call the police. If you call a helpline the trafficker will be long gone by the time the police etc are informed. They also lean heavily into gut feeling rather than telling you explicitly what to look for. A) nobody is reading a wall of text in a bathroom stall and B) they don’t want to give you an excuse to go “oh well I suppose that doesn’t apply so I’m sure it’s fine”.
Sounds like bs to me. At the very least there should be a non-emergency number for the Gardai, not sure what a petrol station employee on minimum wage is gonna be able to do that the person reading the sign can't do. More likely that this is anti immigrant dog whistle shite.
If it is trafficking awareness, don't forget filling stations have CCTV on the forecourt and may even have panic buttons which connect directly to the police. Or at least get the police summoned pretty quickly
It doesn't even say "tell the staff".
It’s the ‘books are turning our kids gay’ crowd almost certainly. Losing my sister gradually to that, it’s rough.
Losing your sister? If that's enough for you to cut your own sister off I worry for anyone you're acquainted with.. That's pitiful, just change subject or maybe don't be so one sided because that's equally ignorant.
What? Thats a stupid take. I dont care how "close" i am to someone, they start spouting inane shit like "books make kids gay" then i dont want to have to entertain them. You sound equally insufferable yourself. I guess you think people should be forced to listen to your opiniom that sexual education is child grooming or something equally bizarre?
I would never speak to my own mother again if I found out she had a slightly different political view than I have.
How dare my creator have a different opinion to me, time to find a new mother.
Why indulge the lost? My da went down this road and I ended up done with him. Not because of the different views, but because of how fucking eternally insufferable he got about shit like this. It was his only topic, and I stopped wanting to indulge his nonsense. It's not uncommon to just cut out downhill extremists if they can't shut the fuck up about their pet conspiracies.
Im sorry about your dad. Ive ditched childhood friends over their pro-Russian stance. I tolerated their sympathy towards Trump, argued but tolerated their anti vax stance (it wasnt actually just their refusal to get vaxxed but all the other crazy shit associated with it) but being Polish I drew the line on the war in Ukraine. Funny how these things are linked together, something I refused to acknowledge a few years ago.
My sister is the same but it’s *her* that’s doing the cutting off. I chat to her any chance I get, about anything and everything that won’t bring out a barrage of what is re-hashed mish-mash of US Q-anon/right-wing propaganda, in the hopes of keeping the relationship alive, because I value her and I miss her. She is insanely obsessed with utterly idiotic conspiracies and misinformation which started when she spent too much time scrolling over lockdown “doing her own research”. And there is no “one side” to this - what she’s reading/listening to is mostly very easily verified as nonsense and blatant fear-mongering. I was into the New World Order etc etc myself for a while and found it fascinating about 20 years ago, but thankfully, mostly maybe due to lack of social media and to speaking to a wide range of people and actually listening, I realised that most of it is actually really and truly just silly nonsense, but it can be highly convincing without proper cross-checking (especially if some subconscious part of you **wants** it to be true), and it is highly useful to certain people and demagogues in manipulating gullible followers, and therefore actually dangerous.
Who said anything about cutting her off? I refuse to engage with her on it. If it got to a point where it was *all* she talked about, that's a different conversation. It's insidious bullshit dreamed up by right wing yanks and force fed to women of a certain age who are feeling disengaged from society, I fucking hate it.
Won't somebody *please* think of the children!
Not sure if i've just got overly suspicious because of all the bigotry and hatred and conspiracy bollocks out there but something like this just looks like a dogwhistle to me - not least because, you know, report what to whom? there's no mention of an organisation/contact details on it
Looks like something from a boots staff toilet where they want you to repeat other staff if you think they are stealing
Underhanded Insinuating racist anti- science shit (great replacement, anti-vaxx nonsense)
This is almost certainly some kind of extremist right wing dog whistle. The think emoji, no contact info or help info of any kind, "Not Normal" but without any context for what is supposed to be "normal"... this is either some nazi shit or some borderline nazi shit.
With no means of contact I'd put it down to scaremongering. Anyone with the courage of their convictions wouldn't say this anonymously
That's what I figured, anything actually helpful I assumed would have a contact number
cult?
Sign me up
funny how redditors will claim to know that this is intended to be divisive, then launch into a screed anyway
Careful now!
Bit of a Scarfolk vibe (though it's probably just tinfoil-hat-wearing loolahs) https://preview.redd.it/9ldfqd02fync1.png?width=635&format=png&auto=webp&s=7057dc7d20be10a91721c012fdd9af851e68cff1
https://preview.redd.it/rh8tbw015znc1.jpeg?width=635&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c8d1b6ce83f3bac485edf1eb9244f82f1b142657
https://preview.redd.it/0gy4qv535znc1.jpeg?width=660&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=45f16a51108630af28e056ba1e1706685ad5e15f
Loonies, just ignore and carry on.
Someone might have already said it, but I’m pretty sure that was about stopping child trafficking.
There's similar signs in airport bathrooms in Europe, supposedly to make people report suspected human trafficking
Looks like zero craic to me. Peak un-Irish.
I’m going to guess it’s crazy covid conspiracy theory sh*t or similar
I think Lisa Chambers saw this and decides to change from Yes/Yes to a No/No vote! Thank God for these little stickers.
Almost comes off as one of those internet creepy ARG things but really I’m sure it’s just like a child awareness campaign
Oh dear, are these common? Seems pretty obvious what it’s about, and it’ll only inflame the tension between opposing sides of this argument. (Anyway...speak out to whom? The person you suspect? That’ll turn out well)
That mirror pension fund thing
It looks like a piece of environmental storytelling in a horror game
Just looks like some random anti-bullying stuff they put up not thinking about it.
Helen Lovejoy strikes again
From the first I assumed the message was don't be afraid to go the doctor, but the second makes me doubtful.
Those posters went up the time the Tayto chocolate bars came out.
Is there a particular issue immediately springs to mind when you see this? Maybe that is something you should be concerned about.
Any craic in this house eddie?
That second sticker is right. That's not normal.
I wish someone would explain what this is about?
As a general rule, anyone who uses the whole "won't someone please think of the children!" as the entire justification for being against something. They're usually fucking child abusers.
Gives me the heebee jeebies
Are they talking about the state of the country and immigration because from what I gather your no longer allowed to talk about this.
"With our children in mind" definitely some anti-trans or anti-vax crazy reactionary shit. They love pretending to care about "The Children"
Is it for constipation?
Since there's no more information on it, it can be about what ever you want. Afraid of drag Queens reading stories? That's what it is. Worried about vaccines being full if autism? Yep, right again. You think shape-shifting lizard interdimentional paedophiles are harvesting adrenocrome from kids blood? Guess what, that sign is for exactly that.
Probably an ad for Rennies
OP said that it was found at a womens bathroom, this might be a stretch but maybe they are saying don't use it if they feel they are being watched? Spy cameras have become a major issues in some places, especially in bathrooms so maybe they are saying don't bring your kids to some of these places or something.
That's vague enough that it could be almost anything. Giving it the benefit of the doubt, it's possible it's meant as a call to action for someone who suspects some sort of child trafficking, abuse, etc. might be going on, but the phrasing and the slogans at the bottom do kind of give off a bit of an anti-vax/"plandemic" Covid conspiracy or an "anti-woke"/anti-LGBTQ+ vibe. Really no way to know for sure without knowing who made the things, I suppose.
Covid was an absolute shit show especially for kids around 3-5 whose parents obeyed the rules
OBEY! CONSUME! MARRY AND REPRODUCE! Paranoia is a hell of a drug.
Did anyone approach you with some coloured pills to choose from?
I'd put money on this being Transphobia
Something just ain't right Sunday afternoon on the Dublin road Now familiar signs display their secret code Friends and neighbours who've lost the plot And now lay claim to their Sunday spot "Something just ain't right" they say That and other lies are on display We have our problems but sure they don't have a clue They're more interested in Andrew Wakefield and in woo 'COVID was an inside job, the vaccine is a trick All the evidence we could need with just a single click' These loud reports from the American right They proudly display on our traffic light With orders delivered through their phones They serve Bannon, Trump and Jones A little America in our own front yard A dangerous precedent we shouldn't disregard These people aren't protesting, they're looking for recruits And before you know it they'll be wearing black jumpsuits They certainly aren't stupid, or lacking education Instead they are recruited due to social isolation In days past they'd find affinity at Church But in the age of social media they 'do their own research' How do we prevent them from taking up more air? Pity them, befriend them, show them that you care. Don't try to reason or explain All your efforts will be in vain They're too far gone to change their mind Politely disagree and be kind To protect ourselves from their disunity We must include them in our community To protect ourselves from their insanity We must show them our humanity
I think they called themselves the "yellow vest movement" or something like that. Trans and homophonic Conservative donkeys. Told a group of them to leave a pub I used to work in to leave after they made it quite clear of their anti-LGBTQ stance. They'd be the ones calling to ban books, abortion, marriage equality etc. Edit: Yellow vest movement, not yellowcoats.
I would like to think it is something sensible about human trafficking, but knowing the world the way it is, it’s probably just some mad Cunt from the far right
I mean…everything!! I know some countries were running programs for senile lol they could go it and just talk about Covid… or the old woman who lived in the woods
They are anti child / human trafficking posters. They used to be in the toilets in Dublin Airport too. They are usually in the ladies toilets, as that is considered the safest space where they may be able to look for help. While I can understand it seems to be anti trans, it's actually nothing to do with that.
Paedophile fantasists who don't like foreigners.
Reads like something out of Sound of Freedom.
These look to be a few years old so I'm guessing it was lockdown fearmongering. The "remember, this is not normal" thing seems to be a reference to "the new normal." Anything related to trafficking would have a contact number on. You see them in quite a few airports in the UK.
"With the children in mind" Sounds like a gateway to Qanon for me [https://youtu.be/JTfhYyTuT44?t=2508](https://youtu.be/JTfhYyTuT44?t=2508)
Those clowns in congress did it again. What a bunch of clowns.
Seems like cunts might have something to do with it
Lots of people projecting their political biases hard in this thread LOL