Relaxation of Restrictions, Part XII *Read OP For Mod Warnings*

As I've said before, the goalposts moved from "protecting people" to "protecting the HSE" long ago - and I don't mean A&E and hospital wards, but rather the execs and middle/upper management who have pissed away 20 billion a year for well over a decade and yet still haven't delivered a service that can handle even a modest increase in demand.

Let's not forget here - Hospitals have been "on the brink of collapse" EVERY winter for years here.

What Tony (who has also been using it to push his anti-alcohol crusade.. Never let a good "crisis" go to waste!) and the HSE have been at is deflecting from the questions that in my view MUST follow - "What exactly HAVE you spent the money on??!"

Except no one considered that to be a conspiracy theory.

What is it with people on this thread stating that 'we were right all along' and saying 'we were told it was a conspiracy theory'...when, most of the time, it didn't happen?

I'll admit, there were things deemed to be CT that have now come to pass...but not everything!

Remember when multiple posters got angry with me because I said we would be restricted in October?

'Why are you always on the internet spreading doom and gloom!'

What people miss is that there is a political dimension to these restrictions. They aren't something that just happens like the weather. It isn't like waiting for the Spring to arrive.

If you've spent the last two years defending the government and rationalising restrictions then YOU have helped to provide the political cover for these restrictions (albeit your influence as an individual is statistically nil but the huge support from the public in aggregate is significant).

If you don't like being restricted come and protest instead of making excuses for restrictions and paradoxically getting angry with people who don't accept those excuses.

The fact that restrictions are simply political decisions is important, and one that people often seem to conflate as being something imposed by a virus, rather than by politicians in lockstep with public health officials. Nothing ever happens in a political vacuum, including 'the science', and it would be great if people could wise up to that. There is also an assumption by some people that public health officials give advice simply 'in the interests of public health', when we can surely see that bureaucrats are subject to massive internal/external biases and pressures that affect their advice and decision making.

Yes thank you.

It would be better to see the political situation as a negotiation I think. If you withhold concessions and demand a better deal for yourself that's not 'being mean' its just acting in your self-interest.

The government have shown that public opinion is a factor and they sometimes bend to demands, e.g. Christmas 2020 or water charges for a non-covid example

Many Irish people have a 'corporate employee' mentality, where the way to get by is to just do everything you're told and even outshine others in obedience and voluntarily doing extra work.

This is how Paul Reid frames it in his public comments. He thanks the public for being reasonable, accepting and following the corporate direction decided by the top layer of management of public institutions.

But we don't work for Paul Reid. We're citizens, with rights we can claim back if we want them back.

Absolutely and also means there is a very shaky basis at best for ongoing restrictions today, let alone waiting until the end of January to review them.

That is roughly how it works, yes. To add, the way a consensus or a consent is manufactured (in a way) is that health officials, politicians and heads of state broadcasters get together when there is an emergency. In order to spread a particular message it is important that the issue is framed in the right way and to set the right parameters in which a discussion is allowed to take place. In the case of RTE, the usual above mentioned parties take their 'seat'. The way the discussion is set up make the people of the country think that is the general view and their views will align accordingly. The importance of the state broadcaster cannot be underestimated. It is not about what each individual thinks but what each individual thinks the others are thinking. As they in general take RTE as being representative of this they will stay within 'reasonable' lines with the fringe outcasted. Since there usually are those on the fringe with very dubious and clearly unreasonable views it is easy pickings for officialdom to highlight how right the consensus is. It is a feedback loop. The discussions on platforms like Boards do not make any difference. It is when there is enough pushback within political parties when thing start to change. However, for that to happen there has to be overwhelming evidence of the consensus being wrong within society.

The latter.

Ask Tony last week and its about 950

Ask Tony this week and its probably 700

Ask Tony next week, it will probably be still 700, but this time he will glare at you for asking and make some STARK WARNINGS

Ask the HSE last week and they apparently have no idea.

Ask the HSE this week and they'll probably agree with Tony and whatever he says.

Ask the minister for health and he'll play bullsh*t bingo and avoid the question.

Ask the Taoiseach and he will probably set up an advisory board to investigate the question, with about 10 people on it, each earning about 100k per year.

Look to international numbers being reported, and its probably about 500.

So to give it the NPHET answer, we aren't really sure but we can definitely confirm its somewhere between 1 and 1000. Our best guess is that its probably 995 and we should keep restrictions in place until we better understand these things that other countries and international data have been telling us for months.

Just two more weeks, hold firm.

I agree with this except that I could imagine a large demonstration of people outwith party support would also work, if it could come about in the first place somehow and obviously it could not be spearheaded by Gemma O'Doherty or Justin Barrett. Though if such a thing were gaining popularity then one or more mainstream parties could latch onto it.

They always have been. It’s been called out here for nearly 2 years. People are only realising now because the MSM have said so.

England to scrap WFH and Covid passes from the end of January

What is bringing about the change in the MSM now? Is it because of the German and Danish papers printing an apology and they are trying to get out ahead of the backlash against them? Feargel Bowers over the last few weeks has put up a couple to tweets saying that he asked the question of the HSE and politicians all through this pandemic.

It's even beyond that. Asymptomatic patients in hospital for something else but who happen to have a positive test, are included in the Covid patient numbers also.

They are trying to get ahead of what's coming, Other media starting to apologise for the way they went about it. I am not being dramatic but I hope RTE goes bust & they all lose their job along with most of the media who have piggybacked on the back of this namely Richard Chambers