Kicking Against The Pricks

at

Last night.

Good times.

Meanwhile…

The latest Regulations ease the COVID-19 restrictions in limited but important ways. The Government continues to blur the distinction between law and public health advice in a way that is likely to mislead citizens as to the extent of their legal obligations.

In most respects, the law is less strict than what the Government presents. In relation to meetings between vaccinated people and some construction work, the law is more strict than what the Government presents. For the reasons that have been advanced repeatedly, this offends the rule of law and corrodes public trust.

April 2021 Easing of COVID-19 Restrictions: Law and Guidance (Covid19 Law And Human Rights Observatory)

Sponsored Link

79 thoughts on “Kicking Against The Pricks

  1. U N M U T U A L

    Freedoms are not given or taken away,
    they are either inherent or acquiesced…
    Liberties can only be infringed upon.

    It seems… Some prigs are more equal than others…

    1. bisted

      …talking about David…and how dismissive he is of the Racing papers…and for the weekend that’s in it…I too met Beckett in the early eighties…we spoke about horseracing…

  2. wearnicehats

    No problem with this. It lets older people and the people who have isolated the most or been in contact with the worst get on with their lives. Civil liberties mehole – get over yourselves, it’s only in someone’s house ffs. Most of the people crying about this have been ignoring the guidelines anyway

    1. K. Cavan

      Get out your & jackboots & start marching up & down your street, right away. You don’t have to pretend to be normal, anymore, this is YOUR time.

  3. jungleman

    Constitutional rights aside, it seems only fair that those most likely to have been locked away for the past year should be the first members of our society to be allowed to go out and enjoy normal life again.

    I can’t see why anyone other than cranks would take issue with this.

    As for the supposed inequality, it is clearly proportionate in the interests of our economy.

    The ICCL should be a bit more selective in their battles if they want to be taken seriously.

      1. jungleman

        I addressed the constitutional aspect in my third paragraph. I’m assuming you missed it because you are not familiar with the principle of proportionality in constitutional law..

        1. E'Matty

          You clearly aren’t. These measures have been completely excessive and disproportionate to the risk posed by this virus. You seem to think any measure is just fine so long as the government claim it has some impact on virus transmission, no evidence of this is required. You are the mob we have been warned about throughout history.

          1. Nigel

            No. Governments are taking measures because if they don’t and too many people die, they will be blamed, but at the same time, they are doing it badly because commerical interests are suffering and constantly pulling at them to let up, and because they’re just bad at their job, of course. I guess demands for nuance and understanding only go one way.

          2. jungleman

            Says you Ematty but you are just some random punter on the internet who demonstrates daily that he doesn’t like his freedoms being limited in any way. The government on the other hand are advised by qualified medical and scientific experts.

          3. jungleman

            Also, how exactly am I the mob? I get up every morning and do my job, pay my taxes and do my best for my family. What is it that I’m doing that makes me the mob? Is it because I expressed a view contrary to your own? Or is it because the view I express is shared by a majority of society that I am the mob?

    1. U N M U T U A L

      ‘allowed to’…

      An bhfuil cead agam, much?

      The Children of Lir live on – Faith brings freedom from suffering…

      1. jungleman

        “Fascism is a form of far-right, authoritarian ultranationalism characterized by dictatorial power, forcible suppression of opposition and strong regimentation of society and of the economy which came to prominence in early 20th-century Europe.”

        Bit harsh, no?

          1. jungleman

            That’s the Wikipedia definition, I’m just making the point that it’s ludicrous to go around throwing “fascist” at anyone you disagree with.. I expressed the view that it is proportionate to allow for vaccinated people to do things that non-vaccinated people cannot do in the interests of the economy and also in the interests of those who are vaccinated. This is a basic principle in constitutional law – the balance between various rights and interests of a constitutional society. For expressing that view I get branded a fascist..

        1. E'Matty

          Fascism is essentially a totalitarian system where corporatism and the state are seen as functionally equivalent. Kind of like the new buzz phrase you’re all going to become very familiar with in the coming years, Stakeholder Capitalism. Centralisation of power and authoritarian rule over society also key elements, something it shares with Communism. The Far Right label is a media creation and blatant attempt to demonise, vilify and delegitimise ALL voices who dare oppose any element of their insane hysteria riddled reporting. Plenty of people from the “Left” oppose this Lockdown authoritarianism too.

          In truth, we’re facing a technocratic ideology being super charged by rapid technology advances.

          1. Nigel

            You’re quite right, people from the right and the left are expressing a reckless disregard for public health just because a bunch of online 8chan edgelords somehow managed to tap their hatreds, flatter their intelligence and fan their paranoia.

  4. Joe

    A fair idea but a law that in the real world is totally unenforceable.
    Of course the anti vax loons will of course jump up and down screaming freedumbs! As they knuckle drag themselves to their next protest.

    1. JoeisCharlieisJungleman

      Is there any government line you and your other hand don’t slavishly parrot.

      1. jungleman

        I’ve been commenting on BS for many years and never used any alias other than jungleman.

    2. eoin

      +50 social credits to you for your use of the officially mandated term ‘anti vax’. See if you can shoehorn ‘conspiracy theorist’ in your next boot licking, drivel post.

      1. dav

        “social credits” looks like eoin has stumbled upon another buzz term from his alt-right boards..

      1. Nigel

        I’d say they feel delighted that so much of their ‘Plandemic’ and anti-vaxx misinformation and conspiracy theories have taken root and inspired so many people to attack and undermine pandemic responses.

          1. General Public

            In what way does he sound great? The introduction of death panels or the removal of the hipocratic oath?

          2. Nigel

            Sorry, I just assumed your hit-site stripped all nuance and context from those quotes and they misrepresented something a bit more thoughtful and interesting. Then I followed the links and I was not dissuaded otherwise. Death panels, wow, that goes back to the debate around Obamacare, I think?

        1. U N M U T U A L

          @ cousin nigel…

          ‘pandemic responses’

          It’s a knee jerk circle jerk…
          Pull the other one, will ya!

          1. Nigel

            My heart goes out to the poor suffering souls in the field of crisis management dealing with this bizarre experts-are-out-to-subjugate-us paranoia.

    3. E'Matty

      Joe, can you perhaps tell us what Constitutional rights and freedoms you would not support being infringed upon to deal with this virus?

  5. Optimus Grime

    Short term I have no problem with this. Exceptional times etc. However, long term where does this go? When does the tiered freedom thing end? I’m just a little concerned about the precedent that is being set.

    1. max

      We have always had a tiered freedom system
      Montjoy
      bail
      freedom to wear a tracksuit into a night club…

  6. Des

    interesting to read the comments here. It seems like if you are ‘OK’ with this legislation you are a mainstream, rights hating FG voting sociopath who cares little for individual freedoms, if you are ‘against’ it then you are a raving anti vaxxer who sees controversy in everything.

    Maybe theres a middle ground that people could be on?
    For me I’m neither of the above but this does concern me. It creates very valid questions around personal freedoms, rights to associate and the role of the state in managing those rights or interactions. Its pretty far reaching and could be seen as an infringement on personal rights under the guise of ‘public health’.

    What does anyone else think?

    1. Micko

      +1 Des

      As usual, the truth is somewhere in the middle of two opposing views.

      By ignoring the nuances and complexities of the situation and also the opposing sides opinions, we are in fact being tyrannical to each other.

      Not good

    2. U N M U T U A L

      Everything around this whole emergency turned bi partisan very early on…
      Which is what made me smell a rat…
      I’d rather discuss nuances of the issue whilst being un noosed…

    3. scottser

      i think you’d be surprised what you’d get away with once you don’t make a song and dance about it.

      1. U N M U T U A L

        @Scottser
        Too true…, like a winter ‘Hejira’ for example…
        the refuge of the roads.

        1. K. Cavan

          Those lines are not the hexagram of the heavens nor the strings of your guitar, they’re barbed wire on the outskirts of a “Medical Isolation Facility” for people suspected of refusing to believe the barely cogent, fact-free, slogan-heavy narrative of sickness ‘n’ death put together by fanatics & weirdos.

          1. U N M U T U A L

            @ K C

            how’s this for a belief structure,
            I’ve decided to identify as immune/vaccinated,
            depending on the situation…
            Currently Transmedicated…

      2. Lilly

        ‘i think you’d be surprised what you’d get away with once you don’t make a song and dance about it.’

        As any middle child will tell you.

    4. Junkface

      +1
      I don’t trust politicians with much to be honest. They’re not the best lately on leadership, deciphering scientific data or decision making. Groupthink is not healthy though, you’re right there. We need to learn how to compromise again, as a society, or at least agree to disagree.

    5. K. Cavan

      Like it or not, there are very few nuances involved. You either have the oul fascist tendencies or not, you either believe in personal freedom or not. The fake pandemic is our Reichstag Fire. People who sat on the fence, sorting through the nuances, as the NSDA seized power, soon found themselves cheering Herr Hitler, loudly, or their position viz-a-viz the fence changed, quite dramatically. The Government have been, at the behest of their overlords, testing us to see how much shit we’ll take. The answer, so far, has been All Of It.

      1. Nigel

        Is this just a new iteration of that guy who used to do the ‘literally Hitler’ comments?

    6. Charger Salmons

      Personally Des I’m happy to accept short-term measures like this because vaccinations are the only way to get on top of this virus.
      If Israel is anything to go by things like vaccine passports are VERY short-term. I read reports that people there are hardly ever asked for them.
      I’m all in favour of a permanent ID card too. It’s comforting while travelling on the continent these days to see cops diligently checking them at railway and bus stations, particularly with the skanky-looking characters who are always hanging around.
      On the odd occasion I have been asked to produce ID I’ve always found the production of my UK passport instantly improves the atmosphere for both sides.
      ” Her Britannic Majesty’s Secretary of State and Requests and requires in the Name of Her Majesty all those whome it may concern to allow the bearer to pass freely without let or hindrance and to afford the bearer such assistance and protection as may be necessary. ”
      I remember once reading that out to a grim-looking border guard in Botswana to break the ice and then got him onto how much I loathed Manchester United and suddenly we were bonding like old friends.
      I even have a picture ready for my ID card – I’m wearing my favourite red smoking jacket and a rather colourful fez I bought on a whim whilst three sheets to the wind in a Morocco souk. I hope the Sobranie Gold I have between my teeth in the pearl cigarette holder doesn’t disqualify me.
      On a general point I always find it droll when I meet those people who are delighted their entire life,credit cards and bank details are handily stored on their ‘phone and which can be tracked at any time but baulk at the thought carrying a piece of plastic with their name and address on.
      With freedom comes responsibility – Eleanor Roosevelt.

  7. Des

    @Micko
    Thanks. I find the whole Govt handling of this really strange. Running roughshod over civil liberties without an attempt to debate it.

    1. Micko

      I think there can be no debate now as public opinion has spun us down this road.

      I 100% think that if it wasn’t for social media and the governments monitoring of it to gauge public opinion, that none of this massive overreaction would have happened.

      And now it in the hands of businesses and governments that are making a fortune from it. They never want it to end.

      It’s the only game in town.

      1. U N M U T U A L

        @ micko… re social media

        Ripe for the picking when you consider,
        The planking, tide pods and ice water boarding phaze…
        We are responding thru these challenging times indeed…

        1. U N M U T U A L

          Nope,
          Just commenting on the go along paradigm…
          Clinton said it best…
          … Give the people what they want when they want
          and they wants it all the time…

          1. Nigel

            I was responding to Micko, actually. Most of your comments are too incomprehensible or obtuse to warrant a response.

        2. Micko

          14.1 million to my good pal Robert Quirke of ROQU says I’m right Nigel.

          Sure Robbie only has experience in putting on gigs, but he’s my pal and sure this massive HSE budget has to go somewhere. And the kickbacks will be mighty in the future.

          Plenty of lads making plenty of dosh off this alright.

          While you’re stuck in your gaff like good dog, double masked, washing your hands every 47 seconds, telling yourself you’re akin to a WW2 veteran “saving lives” while simultaneously thinking about how you can suck your 80 year old neighbours vaccine out of his eyeballs.

          Good boy. Have a bikkie.

          https://www.google.ie/amp/s/www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-40209599.html%3ftype=amp

          1. Nigel

            We live in a capitalist society. People making profit out of others people’s misery is a feature, not a conspiracy theory. But sure, they’re prolonging it just to annoy you.

  8. Termagant

    OK
    so give me a vaccine, I’d like a vaccine please
    what do you mean you don’t have a vaccine for me?

    1. K. Cavan

      No vaccines for anybody, there are no vaccines for The Common Cold. You can have a failed mRNA Oncology Therapy, that do? It might work, pigs might fly, who knows, place your bets.

  9. K. Cavan

    Can’t Happen Here, right? Vaccine passports? Conspiracy theory, right? Bro, you’re in for a shock.

  10. Daisy Chainsaw

    So many angry ratlickers howling at the moon. ლ(ಠ益ಠლ)

    This is better than the free coffee I got earlier.

Comments are closed.

Sponsored Link
Broadsheet.ie