Guilt Free Railing 18

[WouldBeGood]

Will it ever end?

Everyone I’ve spoken to hates the masks.

Scotsnet revolt!!

I’ve seen police at train stations stopping people and telling them to put masks on, so feel like I’d get told off immediately next time I went anywhere

(Funny thing is that under the rules of some other countries I won’t name but let’s say one of them rhymes with Bingland, I could have claimed a mask exemption from the start. But I was very good and followed the Scottish rules and did my bit. Idiot that I am.)

I just can't believe masks in classrooms are still being kept. I'm sure last week she said that they were being kept because cases in the youngest age range (some of who didn't have masks) were high, proving that cases spread in maskless children and the masks were therefore working. But now cases in that age range have fallen, and cases in the older children are on the rise, so we have to keep masks because cases are high. WTF... The kids must feel so helpless. I know I'm beginning to understand what it feels like to be a toddler. "No, you can't do whatever it is you want to do, BECAUSE I SAY SO. And there's nothing you can do about it because I'm in charge and you wouldnt understand why, so I'm not going to tell you and, no, you don't know better than me, so don't argue" ...

Bloody furious about masks. Again.

I really cannot see how she dares to stand up there (mask less) while continuing to expect teachers to conduct full lessons wearing masks.

Total pile of absolute shite. Makes my blood boil.

And the meeting about masks AFTER the update. WTF? They have absolutely no idea at all.

No, I’d hope for masks to go preferably in schools if not all.

Has any laptops or tablets been given out yet? Could have missed the update.

@GoldenOmber is it not also just self-declaring exemption in Scotland as well? If not oops. Lol.

I'm starting to think that the SG will never actually reach a point where they are brave enough to drop the mask mandate. As above, what exactly has to happen before we get rid of them? We know that the link between cases and severe disease is broken, so the sky high numbers of 'cases' should be met with a collective shrug of the shoulders and a 'so what' as it has been in some other countries already (and not just big bad England). If we're waiting for cases to fall we will literally be waiting forever. All the while the evidence of harm, particularly to children in educational settings, continues to stack up, but then they're the wrong kind of 'vulnerable' aren't they? Apparently totally expendable. It seems fairly obvious that it's doing very little as peaks have risen and fallen in the presence or absence of the bloody things, but they are a visible symbol and make people feel like they're in control I suppose, so on we go. Like a giant comfort blanket for those still scared of COVID. Perhaps people do need to just stop complying with it all. We'll never be given the freedom to ditch them, so just take it.

It is self declaring here @Scianel

Everyone needs to stop wearing the masks.

It’s time to say enough is enough

We are what a week into February, they'll be gone in 8 weeks tops, Before the May elections, and the 16 year old use their voting powers.

Freedom day for me tomorrow! Thankfully tested negative.

The masks are bullshit. If I see one more MSP at a big gathering without one I may scream.

I really just want them to get back to running the country. So much is going to absolute shit whilst they obsess over covid. Even Devi is advocating taking them off school kids.

[quote Scianel]@GoldenOmber is it not also just self-declaring exemption in Scotland as well? If not oops. Lol.[/quote]
Yes it’s self-declaring, but I mean people who’ve seen me wear one for the past 18 months are going to be a bit if I suddenly now declare myself exempt now.

Oh right yes. Bugger.

@GoldenOmber I’ve just done that. I struggled to force myself to wear a mask but now just out as freaked by it

I feel extremely sorry for secondary kids used as a bit of a pawn to appease people's fears to the detriment of their own learning (with studies very much backing up that it is detrimental to them!)

Scotland has experienced the highest number of extra deaths from all causes during the pandemic compared with other parts of the UK, according to Times analysis.

From the news today. I’ll just leave this here.

@OnceUponAWhine

Scotland has experienced the highest number of extra deaths from all causes during the pandemic compared with other parts of the UK, according to Times analysis.

From the news today. I’ll just leave this here.

Well there's a fucking surprise.

The longest and harshest restrictions of anywhere.

We have a government prepared to throw aside 350 years worth of fire safety laws and improvements cause of covid.

I still can't get over that stupid suggestion. It's so blatantly obvious that fire doors can't be cut. And clearly shows how irrational they are being with covid.

I still can't get over that stupid suggestion. It's so blatantly obvious that fire doors can't be cut

It’s right up there with Trump and his bleach solution!!

@OnceUponAWhine and still they don’t listen

@OnceUponAWhine

Scotland has experienced the highest number of extra deaths from all causes during the pandemic compared with other parts of the UK, according to Times analysis.

From the news today. I’ll just leave this here.

I can't see the full article, but from the introduction:

"With an average of 23.9 excess deaths per million people every week since the spring of 2020, the surge in mortality was worse than Wales on 22.9, England on 18.6 and Northern Ireland on 18.8. As mortality rates and hospital admissions from Covid are lower north of the border, it is thought that people dying from other illnesses are behind the toll."

So we have traded slightly fewer COVID deaths (on average, across the pandemic) for even more deaths in general. Sadly this is not in the least surprising, and likely directly related to the longer/harsher restrictions in Scotland than in rUK (and particularly compared to England who have generally taken the lead in easing restrictions and getting life back to more normality). Even when the letter of the law wasn't that different, the tone up here was very much gloomier, and the laws have been very different for the last 6 months or so. Every piece of good news qualified with dire warnings about how COVID hasn't gone away and we need to be careful, the implications that all were at significant risk (never true) and sometimes pure gaslighting when talking about the risks to children.

We never got rid of the mask mandate so have never had the psychological boost of feeling that we were coming out of it, quite the opposite. Even when reluctantly admitting that the impact of COVID is now very much smaller than it was we're told that masks will remain with no end date in sight. There's no hope, it's totally relentless. Scots were already in poorer general health (very well documented), and the physical impact of constant stress and vigilance shouldn't be underestimated. It isn't just 'nice' to be able to relax, people need to do this for the sake of their health.

Then of course there are the behavioural impacts of this constant messaging. People will have stayed in their homes a lot more, been more sedentary, ate/drank more and avoided getting help when they needed it. In fact, because of the restrictions that have been in place on the health service, even if you did want to get a niggle checked out, chances are you were 'persuaded' by a receptionist that it wasn't an emergency and couldn't get help anyway. South Lanarkshire had no non-emergency provision at all for about a month, and patients aren't qualified to tell what is an 'emergency'. Tayside has no provision for cancer radiotherapy. This truly is third world level of service, if you can't afford to go private. These things can all be tracked back either to the extremely poor state of Scotland's NHS (the SNP have been warned for years about this) or the excessive fear and 'caution' with regards to COVID at the expense of literally everything else (see fire doors). The most frustrating thing is that despite all this, Nicola will make some excuse about powers or the 'global pandemic', ignore that things are better elsewhere in the UK, and her followers will lap it up and they will get away with it. And they know they will, so nothing will change.

I'd forgotten about Trump and his bleach! What was he thinking?

These things are funny if it wasn't for the fact some eijit will try it. Both the bleach and the doors.

I remember going into a house as a kid who'd swapped the kitchen door for a set of ranch swing, louver doors, right out a cowboy film so the dog could get in and out the kitchen.
I can hear something thinking, yeah cut the door increase ventilation and that will make life better for cat, dog, etc

Encouraging data thread from Alasdair Munro showing the improving state of the pandemic in the UK despite removing almost all restrictions a couple of weeks ago. Almost as if the virus is going to do it's thing no matter what restrictions you put in place. I particularly like post 4: "Despite a lot of concern about children with omicron, hospitalisation ratios for children remain low. Since Dec there have been 1,610,178 cases and 6241 hospital admissions (

Well said Y0uCann0tBeSer10us. The doomy messaging and the utter endlessness of it all is bad for people, and it’s bad for public trust and public resilience. But we’re stuck on this idea that ‘taking the virus seriously’ means taking nothing else as seriously, and the opposition are useless so here we stay.

I also find the SNP’s position that Scotland is best placed to make its own decisions somewhat at odds with the idea that Scotland’s people aren’t best placed to make ours. Just stop hanging over our shoulders constantly nitpicking every aspect of our lives FFS!

I was looking over the government guidelines for religious services again recently for a church thing, and even now, with the omicron wave receding and ICU cases back to last summer’s levels, it’s still full of ‘encourage physical distancing’ and put up signage and get people to check for Test and Protect and here’s how close to stand to people for communion communion and here’s how much water to use during baptisms and here’s how you should make services shorter. Pick pick pick pick pick. It’s like some kind of institutional compulsive behaviour at this point.

Such a good summary @Y0uCann0tBeSer10us 👏🏼