The lady standing at the podium was the second most senior civil servant in the Department of the Taoiseach, Elizabeth Canavan. She was there to deliver an important update on the Government’s advice to the public on the first day of the easing of the restrictions which had kept most of the country housebound for […]
The ideal situation in any pandemic or catastrophe is that after the fact, the predictive models showing the worst-case scenario should look terrible. That’s actually a great outcome, because it means that either your worst fears were unfounded, or that your response to the crisis was so effective that the worst-case scenario (which could have […]
One part of staying safe is staying sane. It’s heartbreaking to see so many good people so badly divided. We don’t know what’s real anymore, or who to trust or what to believe. We seem to be holding onto our own version of reality like our life depends on it. Probably because it does. Maybe, […]
Defending the Swedish government’s more lenient approach to the virus, he said the UK was an example of where lockdowns had failed to achieve lower death rates than his own country.
Like rivets popping on the hull of the sinking Titanic, the stresses of the pandemic are revealing unexpected weaknesses in our societies. Suddenly we’ve realised that it wasn’t a great idea to source protective masks from China, that warehousing the elderly is dangerous, that we need check-out chicks more than we need managers, and so on. But […]
Europe biggest newspaper, Germany’s Das Bild, has said the Covid-19 lockdown was a ‘huge mistake’. Critics featured in the newspaper feature said that it was important during a public crisis that people had the right to continue “warning, doubting and arguing” especially when fundamental rights of citizens were being suppressed. Prof. Klaus Püschel, a pathologist […]
Honestly, did we all miss the bit where Bill Gates headed off to university and spent a decade studying to become the world’s leading expert on infectious diseases? Because it sure seems that way. As Tim points out this morning, there’s an unfortunate habit in the press of giving more space to non-scientists who support […]
Cahill’s presentation and grasp of the problem would certainly ruffle feathers among those who have put Ireland’s eggs in the WHO’s basket, but, if she is right, it might also serve the deeper purpose of making sure the right people are held to account when the dust settles.
Timely and relevant, one might argue, given events in this jurisdiction over the past 24 hours: MADISON – The Wisconsin Supreme Court has struck down Gov. Tony Evers’ order shutting down daily life to limit the spread of coronavirus — marking the first time a statewide order of its kind has been knocked down by […]
It’s a time for questions; answers not so much. Some questions are personal and come more from a sense of entitlement than obvious deprivation. My version of the above might substitute Belgrade for Paris because I have two young grandchildren there and like many grandparents at this time, there is a sense, as weeks grow into […]
If you think you’re going around the twist at home now, be thankful (for maybe the first time in your life) that you don’t live in sunny California, with its lovely weather and scenery and friendly bears wandering around the place: “Los Angeles County’s stay-at-home orders will “with all certainty” be extended for the next […]
There has been a noticeably greater opposition to the Covid lockdown in recent weeks. Alejo Sison claims that the state is “bent on turning us into just one more of the herd,” and having “segued into Leviathans” is intent on taking over civil society. Sison says that the state has dismissed the initiative of citizens […]