Open Thread – Thursday 12 August 2021

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3,003 Responses to Open Thread – Thursday 12 August 2021

  1. Steve trickler says:

    Tom says:
    August 13, 2021 at 3:46 am
    What’s this “Report comment” nonsense?

    —-

    Chill dude. The host is feeling the waters.


    Report comment
  2. win says:

    Tom noooooooo. Do not forsake us oh my Darling at 4am today.
    What is this nonsense that has upset Tom with the report comment button?


    Report comment
  3. Steve trickler says:

    Finally going to bed. Falling asleep will be a challenge.

    Have fun.

    * Classic Rock * Supertramp – My Kind Of Lady


    Report comment
  4. Top Ender says:

    Tom! Come back lad!


    Report comment
  5. struth says:

    Language is so important and so abused by the left.
    No stone unturned is dictator speak for zere vill be no escape.


    moderated
  6. Knuckle Dragger says:

    Brumble?

    Mr. Brumble?


    Report comment
  7. 132andBush says:

    chrisl says:
    August 12, 2021 at 7:42 pm

    In canola news it is at $800 per tonne and heading towards $1000
    And in a good year it yields 1 tonne per acre
    And it’s a very good year in northern Victoria

    Yes.
    I’ve just skipped through the latest USDA report which says things are a touch worse than already thought in the US and Canada.
    This confluence of high prices and an excellent season (not over yet) is perhaps a one in twenty year event.


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  8. gafa says:

    Happy Birthday johanna. Hope you have a great day.
    Good luck with all the moving.


    Report comment
  9. Knuckle Dragger says:

    It seems to me the new webmaster is taking the piss and treating us like children.

    Tom,

    The new webmaster potentially doesn’t have the time to hover over the top 24/7 to cleanse the joint of Birdstein et al. In all likelihood Sinc’s inbox was permanently jammed full of detailed requests for X, Y and Z to be banned along with several hundred words of rationale behind each and every request.

    If this was the case, then a simple ‘report’ function here lets Doomlord II be alerted about something something without having to read seven chapters of why. He takes a look when he gets the chance, and if he think it’s deserved – it’s smiteorama.

    It’s not about treating everyone like children. The topic was well-discussed when this opportunity came our way. It’s a valid self-protection mechanism for people who have gone well out of their way and have, unsolicited, managed to provide a nationwide vehicle for discussion which I believe is excellent.


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  10. Knuckle Dragger says:

    Dilbert #2.

    Outstanding.


    moderated
  11. Mater says:

    The latest ‘Covid-19 Australia: Epidemiology Report’ is out (period ending 1 Aug 21).
    It has this to say under ‘Covid deaths’:

    In the reporting fortnight, there were 11 deaths associated with COVID-19, all from New South Wales. The overall crude case fatality rate (CFR) since the start of the epidemic was 2.71% (Table 7). The ratio of deaths to cases in the year to date has decreased in comparison to this time last year, noting substantially lower case numbers this year and the difference in age distribu- tions of those infected in 2021 versus 2020.

    .

    Weasel words. It’s what they don’t highlight, that is interesting. They love to throw around the 2.71% (the entire epidemic) because it’s scary. Let’s look at the table they refer to see what the virus is actually doing in 2021:

    Case Fatality Rate:

    Epidemic to date (1 Jan 2020 – 1 Aug 2021): 2.71%
    Year to date in 2020 (1 Jan 2020 – 1 Aug 2020): 2.75%
    Year to date in 2021 (1 Jan 2021 – 1 Aug 2021): 0.28%

    And yet Gladys is losing her proverbial shit.
    Isn’t the weaking of a virus what we expect? Shouldn’t we be adjusting accordingly?

    The figures are NOT demonstrating the Delta virus to be more deadly. Not by a long shot.

    The 2009 Influenza had a Case Fatality Rate of 0.51% – nearly twice the rate. Did they lock us down?

    https://www1.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/1D03BCB527F40C8BCA258503000302EB/$File/covid_19_australia_epidemiology_report_47_reporting_period_ending_1_august_2021.pdf


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  12. struth says:

    Can anyone in a lock down area describe the situation regards behavior of other prisoners?


    Report comment
  13. Knuckle Dragger says:

    Disclaimer:

    I don’t know Adam D. As far as I am aware.

    There’s a chance he might be a fellow known as Trevor the Rubbish Warrior (Yoogle him if you like), but it’s a slim chance at best.


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  14. Professor Higgins says:

    Tom.
    Proof is in the pudding, as m0nty would say.
    Reporting button appears and Bird’s vile rants disappear (or at least revert to some obscure Bird-code that only his fucked up mind comprehends).


    Report comment
  15. calli says:

    Happy Birthday, Johanna!

    And Tom, come back tomorrow. You know why.


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  16. Knuckle Dragger says:

    And yet Gladys is losing her proverbial shit.

    Her equally frumpy northern neighbour isn’t far behind her. If it wasn’t for the destruction of economies and the impact of people’s undiagnosed health issues it would be highly entertaining.


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  17. Mater says:

    I mean, shit, they’ve locked down the Walgett LGA!
    Don’t get me wrong, Walgett should’ve been locked down decades ago…but for this virus? Really!


    Report comment
  18. Entropy says:

    132andBush says:
    August 13, 2021 at 7:00 am
    chrisl says:
    August 12, 2021 at 7:42 pm

    In canola news it is at $800 per tonne and heading towards $1000
    And in a good year it yields 1 tonne per acre
    And it’s a very good year in northern Victoria

    Yes.
    I’ve just skipped through the latest USDA report which says things are a touch worse than already thought in the US and Canada.
    This confluence of high prices and an excellent season (not over yet) is perhaps a one in twenty year event.

    Yes, but if the forecasts for the next six months are true, it will be too bloody wet to harvest. And I expect the availability of grain dryers to be extremely constrained.

    Ps, I haven’t even seen forecasts like that at this time of year since 2010.

    /Hanrahan


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  19. 132andBush says:

    If CFR is 0.28%, how low must IFR be?

    Not even in severe flu territory, merely mild flu at best.


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  20. Mater says:

    LOL!
    A FB post from an Afghanistan Veteran living in Sydney this morning:

    What will happen first. Taliban retake Kabul or Sydney to come out of lockdown? Unfortunately I think the Taliban will achieve their goal first as they seem to be better organised.


    Report comment
  21. johannna says:

    Thanks for birthday wishes. 🙂

    This is one I won’t forget – Friday 13th too!

    Packers arriving soon. I should be ensconced in my motel room by lunchtime.

    Oh, and Tom, wot was said above about the report comment thing. It’s a mechanism for purging anti-semitic rubbish. Nothing sinister.


    Report comment
  22. Mother Lode says:

    In the reporting fortnight, there were 11 deaths associated with COVID-19, all from New South Wales.

    That reads like the author was a proper scientist of the old mold, using the word ‘associated’ because direct and unique causation had not been established in those cases.


    Report comment
  23. Rockdoctor says:

    Chatter overnight about funeral attendances. Would love to see the exemptions list leaked for Quarantine. Janette Young has lots of form on this. Queensland and to a lesser extent WA are probably the stand outs with inconsistent standards. Another one in WA recently and News Ltd the only one to highlight it:

    https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/health-safety/authorities-in-wa-grant-londonbased-hedge-fund-manager-hilton-nathanson-a-quarantine-leave-pass/news-story/d32c866de850fc783f6d1e1735cd2873

    People may be swayed by the protect the community line but preferential treatment of some over others will only go so far…


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  24. Professor Higgins says:

    Packers arriving soon. 

    Name dropper.


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  25. Mater says:

    That reads like the author was a proper scientist of the old mold, using the word ‘associated’ because direct and unique causation had not been established in those cases.

    And, yet, they can still only scratch together a CFR of 0.28%.
    They need to consult Biden’s campaign team for tips.


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  26. Rockdoctor says:

    Entrophy, was on the North Tropical Coast of Queensland in April and again towards the end of May. I thought same, was too warm and humid for that time of year. Know the IOD is negative, will have to see what the Southern Annular Mode does closer to summer…


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  27. Mother Lode says:

    “We are ensuring that no stone is left unturned,” the premier said.

    Those stones are our lives despotic old trout.


    Report comment
  28. calli says:

    The Report Comment button appears to have nipped a certain mania in the bud. Like Tom, it surprised me but appears to be remarkably effective.

    Reflections on wall-to-wall media Covid.

    It was contained last year due to the US election – a means to an end. I don’t think you can separate the pandemic from the presidential race, as they are so intertwined. It enjoyed top billing with Trump – an increasingly handy tool and was used as such. It gave much-needed distraction from Biden’s appalling campaign and subsequent electoral changes that allowed the greatest electoral fraud of all time.

    This year it’s Top Dog. In the US, it distracts from the disastrous illegitimate presidency, and is ushering in once unthinkable attacks on personal freedom there. The media, teeth sharpened and all aglow with their absolute power, are pretty much all on board.

    Here, it’s worse. We don’t have a strong culture of authoritarian distrust – we think we do, but that’s a mirage. We obey, because that’s what we’re like. Our media no longer has Trump to bash, and won’t go near Biden for patently obvious reasons. A vacuum exists, and what to fill it? Covid.

    So we have hourly reports and graphs and masked opinionistas, all grinding and re-grinding the same grist to a powder so fine it has seeped into people’s brains. Compared to the rest of the world, our response to the obviously seasonal outbreak has been nothing short of manic. Our Premiers, brimming with hubris and drunk with power, run the country, with the PM a convenient whipping boy for anything that goes wrong.

    Our second-rate media have all fallen into line. Those we thought might pipe up for freedom have been either silenced by their employers or done so voluntarily. The endless cacophony over Trump has been replaced with Covid. Just as his supporters were reluctant to go against the flow of invective, so now is anyone who challenges the received wisdom on Covid.

    What will be the circuit breaker? The Covid Industry is in full swing and will soon peak and begin to wane. Something has to take its place. Watch out for it, for it will surely come – the media’s Event Addiction must be fed ever increasing doses for clicks.


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  29. Tom says:

    Happy birthday, Johanna!

    PS: today’s ‘toons were mostly shit anyway.

    I don’t understand the latest anti-Birdstrike software, but that’s just me.


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  30. min says:

    Adam thanks for managing this site and keeping most of us sane .
    Another suggestion observed on jonova , two little boxes at end of comment , a thumbs up and thumbs down much less intrusive than the blue report comment . Checked the thumbs down seems to work . Still hoping for a remember me box also.


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  31. calli says:

    Whoops. Spoke to soon.

    Someone’s shoes must have been nicked in the night.


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  32. Indolent says:

    Attorney Thomas Renz Drops BOMBS! Hospital Administrators Killing For Cash, Threatening Docs

    https://rumble.com/vl22xf-attorney-thomas-renz-drops-bombs-hospital-administrators-killing-for-cash-t.html


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  33. Mater says:

    For Melbournites, I’ve been made aware that there is a Doctor in the Western suburbs who is currently proscribing Ivermectin.
    Word is getting around, and he (apparently) already has a two week waiting list for an appointment.


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  34. calli says:

    Wow. The barefoot one is also a true freedom lover.

    Who would have thought it?


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  35. Professor Higgins says:

    The King of Naziland could hold out no longer.


    Report comment
  36. H B Bear says:

    Joe Biden is going to need some new whitewash capacity for the Afghanistan pullout.

    That should get America working again. Unless he goes with Made in China whitewash.


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  37. JohnJJJ says:

    I’ve been trying to figure out the logic and actions of the health bureaucrats. From what I can gather it goes like this:
    1. Based on precedent, total vaccination is the only way.
    2 From the frontline doctor’s reports Ivermectin, NAC, quinine.. probably work.
    3. We can’t say that as it will lead to less vaccinations.
    Greg Hunt has taken the obvious path of a canny politician.
    If the logic is correct there is no conspiracy, just well meaning bureaucratic actions.


    Report comment
  38. calli says:

    Oddly enough, I’m not inclined to report anyone for anything.

    Apart from endless garden talk. Then I’ll report me.


    Report comment
  39. Indolent says:

    Blood clots associated with AstraZeneca vaccine are ‘rare but devastating,’ study says –

    https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/12/blood-clots-linked-to-astrazeneca-shot-have-22percent-mortality-rate-study.html

    …….
    The Massachusetts Medical Society’s study used data from 294 patients who presented to U.K. hospitals between March 22 and June 6. Of those, 170 definite and 50 probable cases of the rare clotting — which scientists referred to as vaccine-induced immune thrombocytopenia and thrombosis — were identified.

    All of those patients had been given their first dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca shot, and went to the hospital with symptoms between five and 48 days after their vaccination. The median time between patients receiving their vaccination and going to the hospital was 14 days, the findings showed.

    The overall mortality rate for VITT in the study was 22%.
    ………

    22% dead and they are still injecting people with this poison.


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  40. Indolent says:

    For Melbournites, I’ve been made aware that there is a Doctor in the Western suburbs who is currently proscribing Ivermectin.
    ******
    I hope you mean prescribing.


    Report comment
  41. Tom says:

    We don’t have a strong culture of authoritarian distrust – we think we do, but that’s a mirage. We obey, because that’s what we’re like…Our Premiers, brimming with hubris and drunk with power, run the country, with the PM a convenient whipping boy for anything that goes wrong.

    Brilliant post, Calli at 7.55am. Sadly you’re right about Australians. We just want to be left alone, but have our head in the sand about the fragility of freedom, under constant attack by the internal forces of fascism, and we’re not prepared to fight for it.

    PS: Attention, Adam D — the latest attempt to contain Bird doesn’t work. He’s back and gloating about how much smarter than you he is.


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  42. min says:

    Calli the circuit breaker I have been predicting is China doing more than rattling . The floods impacting on the food chain may hinder them somewhat .


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  43. Bushkid says:

    Entropy says:
    August 13, 2021 at 7:35 am
    ….

    Ps, I haven’t even seen forecasts like that at this time of year since 2010.

    /Hanrahan
    —————

    Late 2010-early 2011 here in eastern central and SE Qld were VERY wet.

    Things have been pretty dry here for the past few years, even if there is green around the creeks are still dry and dams mostly not filling from what rain we have had. Green drought. 2015 was the last big rain, with Cyclone Marcia.

    But the wheel turns…


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  44. Mater says:

    Oddly enough, I’m not inclined to report anyone for anything.

    Me neither, but if the insanity drives good commenters from this site, I know who I’d prefer to lose.


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  45. Wally Dalí says:

    Thoughtful post, calli.
    The recent running acts of the Mediapocalypse- first Catastrophic Climate Change, then the God Emperor Presidency, then WZV, then BLM- were certainly accelerating- slowish CCC, medium P45, next week WZV, tonight on the street BLM.
    The media’s only solution to all four horsepeople was a Great Leap Forward, basically abolishing fossil fuels for renewables, impeaching P45 for existing, enforcing a police state for WZV and enforcing gang rule for BLM.
    I thought that BLM was the last dice, and no American would stand for it, with main streets on fire and kindergarteners forced to kneel. It’s still strong in the intelligensia.
    But what could be more instantly destructive than the race war of BLM?
    I suspect that the answer might be a Holy War- ie J!had- against God, ie the constitution, law, truth, assumption of innocence and all the stuffy virtues like Modesty and Prudence. It’s a cold war already, but it might just go hot.


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  46. rickw says:

    Really nice story of someone renovating the house their Great Grandfather built:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjKkhlHqt60


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  47. Indolent says:

    1. Based on precedent, total vaccination is the only way.
    2 From the frontline doctor’s reports Ivermectin, NAC, quinine.. probably work.
    3. We can’t say that as it will lead to less vaccinations.
    **************
    You might have had a point here if the vaccines actually worked. But not only do they not prevent infection, they also don’t prevent spread – and this is now well known. On top of which, of course, there’s the issue of the risk of serious injury from the vaccines themselves.

    You can try to explain their motivation because I certainly can’t see any benign reason for the path being taken.


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  48. rickw says:

    Can anyone in a lock down area describe the situation regards behavior of other prisoners?

    Two streams. Prisoners still scared and compliant. Prisoners not scared and defiant.


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  49. Professor Higgins says:

    PS: Attention, Adam D — the latest attempt to contain Bird doesn’t work. He’s back and gloating about how much smarter than you he is.

    Without full-on moderation, it’s no better or worse than Sinc’s bird control.


    Report comment
  50. calli says:

    I should have attributed “Event Addiction”. That was C.L. and described the media to a “T”.

    Min, I too, have been thinking about China and food and other resources. Our last little trip took us across the Liverpool Plains and then over the top to the granite belt. Vast, fertile tracts of land, unpolluted under a wide blue sky. And largely undefended.

    We are ripe, juicy and irresistible. Our politicians have already been bought in one way or another (Turnbull and Rudd just this week), it just remains how the thing will be done, openly or by stealth.


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  51. Ruprecht says:

    Hey Prof, I notice Humpty Numpty isn’t around either


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  52. H B Bear says:

    Is this Bird self-reporting thing working? I has me doubts.

    Have we tried a briar patch?


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  53. Professor Higgins says:

    Humpty Numpty?
    You mean Don Quixote’s pony?


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  54. Professor Higgins says:

    Oh, sorry.
    Yes, the Doxxer-in-chief has quietly slunk away.
    Probably got a very important meeting with his dealer.


    Report comment
  55. Ruprecht says:

    No. Scrambles, omelette boy


    Report comment
  56. H B Bear says:

    Are we missing The Doomlord yet? Might even overlook that Potential Greatness thing too.


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  57. Professor Higgins says:

    Yeah, gotcha.
    Bit slow this morning.
    Both have disappeared for some reason or other.
    I wonder if one had yet another near-death experience with the ban-hammer after the antics the other night.
    Or (nearly) died of shame.


    Report comment
  58. calli says:

    I don’t think you have to worry about eggsly. He’s rather observant, which might be a bit discombobulating. And sometimes he attaches the wrong string to the right target.

    There are worse hereabouts. Much…much worse.


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  59. Professor Higgins says:

    Last I saw of egg_ he was rambling (scrambling?) about someone demanding Arky show up for a meeting in person and Arky not attending.
    As if Arky should jump and run to a face-to-face meeting because someone on a blog clicks their fingers.


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  60. Megan says:

    No ‘toons? My day is already discombobulated. 😭


    Report comment
  61. Professor Higgins says:

    Scouring private email lists to attempt to dox someone?
    Someone once described that as “a dog act”.
    And it is.


    Report comment
  62. Zulu Kilo Two Alpha says:

    “Taliban offered a share of power to end fighting in Afghanistan’
    Hugh Tomlinson, Haroon Janjua
    Thursday August 12 2021, 5.00pm BST, The Times
    United States
    GULABUDDIN AMIRI/AP
    Share
    Save

    Afghan government negotiators have offered the Taliban a power-sharing deal in return for a halt to the violence that has engulfed the country, as the insurgents advanced to within 90 miles of Kabul, seizing their tenth major city in a week.

    Afghan and Taliban officials confirmed that the embattled government of President Ghani had made an offer to share power with the Islamist group, if the militants agreed to a permanent ceasefire. Taliban representatives said they had rejected the deal, however.

    The US embassy in Kabul meanwhile instructed its citizens to leave Afghanistan as soon as possible using any commercial flights available. The notice followed similar advice from Germany and the British foreign office.

    Details of the deal proposed by negotiators in Qatar, where renewed efforts are under way to revive deadlocked peace talks between the two sides, have not been made public. Ghulam Farooq Majrooh, a negotiator for the Ghani administration, said the Taliban had been offered the chance to form a “government of peace” but gave no specifics.

    Zabiullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Taliban, said the movement rejected the government’s call for a ceasefire and insisted that the insurgents would only agree to the restoration of an Islamic emirate.

    The group has always rejected Ghani’s legitimacy, dismissing the president as an American “puppet”. The government rejected a power-sharing deal proposed by the US earlier this year, and Ghani’s latest offer is certain to be seen by the Taliban as a sign of desperation after a string of devastating military defeats as the insurgents close on Kabul.

    “The Taliban will not accept the Kabul power-sharing offer and a ceasefire. Our target is to end foreign intervention and an Islamic government will be formed in this country,” Mujahid said. “If they accept this offer, we are ready for a ceasefire and if Kabul is not ready to accept our demands then it is not difficult for us to fight and continue our jihad [holy war].”


    Report comment
  63. Boambee John says:

    Perry the Very Tedious One

    In the same way as other families have done baby Mia’s family will cope.

    And if you wish to blame anyone for it then you should start and finish with the NSW Government. It is their incompetence that has caused the spread of the Delta variant throughout this state. It is not the fault of other states who are attempting to protect their citizens.

    The case under discussion is in Queensland. AFAIK, Gladys is not the premier of that state, but one of your (self-proclaimed) brilliance might have greater insight.


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  64. calli says:

    Yay! I’m reported.

    Notoriety at last.

    * sounds of rotors off-stage *


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  65. jupes says:

    Here, it’s worse. We don’t have a strong culture of authoritarian distrust – we think we do, but that’s a mirage. We obey, because that’s what we’re like. Our media no longer has Trump to bash, and won’t go near Biden for patently obvious reasons. A vacuum exists, and what to fill it? Covid.

    Superb comment Calli.

    Deserves it’s own post.


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  66. calli says:

    Anyone else notice a difference in mood between this Lockdown and the first? I have.

    The first was a grit-your-teeth and endure it – maybe get a heap of stuff done around the house, take up a new hobby, get out and about exercising, chin up and get in with it.

    This time, it’s sit and gaze out the window, waiting for it to end. Just chatting to neighbours and friends – they are demoralised, they don’t see an end in sight. Why, oh why don’t people just get vaccinated and it will end, they say. Completely won over by the carrot dangling at the end of the stick. They see the recalcitrant as the the reason the carrot is never attained, not the hands that continually lengthen that stick.

    I’m usually upbeat but even I don’t think this will end well.


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  67. jupes says:

    Afghan and Taliban officials confirmed that the embattled government of President Ghani had made an offer to share power with the Islamist group, if the militants agreed to a permanent ceasefire. Taliban representatives said they had rejected the deal, however.

    No shit. Why would you accept a draw if you are winning?


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  68. Mike Hunt says:

    Still people are confused about why this is happening which leads one to conclude… they’ve been living under rocks these last eighteen months.


    Report comment
  69. Boambee John says:

    Via Mater

    In the reporting fortnight, there were 11 deaths associated with COVID-19, all from New South Wales.

    Note the weasel words “associated with”. Were any of those 11 “associated with” vaccines?


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  70. Professor Higgins says:

    Perry Tedium logic.
    “It makes perfect sense that an extended family can’t attend a funeral in Paris because there is an outbreak of flu in Berlin”.


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  71. jupes says:

    If they accept this offer, we are ready for a ceasefire and if Kabul is not ready to accept our demands then it is not difficult for us to fight and continue our jihad [holy war]

    No no. Jihad doesn’t mean holy war. It’s all about personal development or some such.

    Doesn’t the Taliban know anything about Islam?


    Report comment
  72. JC says:

    Rones

    Honest question. Should we add Taliban Tourette’s to the list of ailments? What do you think?


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  73. lotocoti says:

    all grinding and re-grinding the same grist to a powder so fine it has seeped into people’s brains.

    Never mind the quality, feel the width.
    Remember the good old days, when the news came
    with the paper thumping in the front yard.
    AM on our ABC or GMA on the tele.
    A 30 minute main bulletin with dinner
    and perhaps Clive Robertson after 10.


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  74. min says:

    Calli it is said one has to think like the enemy . Thus viewing world events at the moment, Covid numbers up around the world , and I don’t think China has escaped but thousands dead won’t bother them, Afghanistan in a mess, Biden lost his way figuratively and literally , plus all the other minor ructions going on in that neck of the woods contributing to a general malaise what would Ji do ? Takeover Taiwan. ? I think he has his eye on more than those beautiful Liverpool plains.


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  75. Franx says:

    Even if we wanted to be defiant, there are very few ways.
    The main one would be to be rid of the mask – the mark of the beast.
    An insidious sign of fearful compliance.
    The mask is a corollary of the lockdown.
    Without the mask, there can be no lockdown.
    There were no mask worn at the Melbourne protests.
    CL is right – time to take to the streets.
    But that means abandoning the keyboard.
    After all, satire should lead to more than entertainment.


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  76. Mother Lode says:

    What’s this “Report comment” nonsense?

    I am guessing it is Adam’s way of being alerted to birdstrike and anything else similarly noxious.

    You see this on other open blogs etc, but they are normally formatted as a button, which is likely why it appears odd.


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  77. Struth says:

    Associated with covid means the victim’s half brother once removed worked with a bloke who had a mate that had learned his ex-wife caught a cold in 1988 and the doctor diagnosed hypocondria but now she’s sure it was covid.


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  78. JD says:

    I am curious. Why are the Taliban is particular and the Afghan not affected by Covid! The rest of the great militaries of the world are cowering at the unseen enemy and here we have a bunch of guys with lead shots. Wonder what the CFR is!


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  79. Struth says:

    Min, min min.
    Covid propaganda regards numbers is ongoing.
    Covid numbers are not up at all.


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  80. Terry Pedersen says:

    Onya Tom.

    David Rowe


    moderated
  81. jo says:

    Megan I thought you were going to flounce or did you mean to wear that frilly dress you look so good in. Ha


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  82. jupes says:

    I am curious. Why are the Taliban is particular and the Afghan not affected by Covid! The rest of the great militaries of the world are cowering at the unseen enemy …

    Nor do they have climate change or diversity policies.

    Curious.


    Report comment
  83. rosie says:

    I suspect the relationship Australians have with government is we have a long history of being a high trust society.

    I’m not going to glance admiringly at the behaviour of people who come from low trust societies because just this once, it suits my agenda.

    In the end they’ll drag us down to their level, all of the time.

    It won’t be pretty and it won’t be fun.

    For all us chaffing, we’ll all get to have our say at the ballot box.

    State of emergency powers need to go and so do the governments that abused them.

    If they don’t, we’ll lump it.


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  84. Tom says:

    Biden lost his way figuratively and literally

    Biden never “lost his way”. He was chosen by the Democratic Party’s loony left activists (after they stole the November election with hundreds of thousands of fake vote in swing states) to run the communist transformation of America precisely because he had no agenda, was senile and could be programmed to sign the right executive orders – the perfect fake president because the millennial loonies thought a grandfatherly geriatric would be acceptable to the American middle class.

    Americans didn’t vote for the destruction of America – but that’s exactly what the’re getting. Biden is a useful idiot designed to delay the coming civil war.


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  85. amortiser says:

    Saying this variant has an Ro of up to 5.7 I’d demonstrably wrong.

    The Cairns taxi driver was infectious in the community for at least 10 days before the lockdown was imposed. With an Ro of 5.7 by day 7 there would have been almost 200,000 infections – more than the entire population of the Cairns region.

    In the days following the lockdown at least 4260 tests were conducted which turned up precisely zero positives.

    Maths isn’t their strong point.


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  86. Gab says:

    ”Afghan government negotiators have offered the Taliban a power-sharing deal ”

    Yes, go ahead and make a deal with the devil, that’ll fix it all.

    Idiots.


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  87. rosie says:

    And with 90 turning up at the Melbourne extension rally because of the 5km restrictions I’d say the chances of seeing tens of thousands turning out to protest lockdowns in the near future are slim to none.


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  88. thefrollickingmole says:

    Well worth a 5 minute read.

    Could not put it better.

    Why Don’t They Believe Us?
    You’re struggling to understand where all this vaccine hesitancy comes from. Let me help you.
    BY
    KONSTANTIN KISIN
    https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/vaccines-konstantin-kisin


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  89. H B Bear says:

    Hell would be being locked down in Canberra.


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  90. rosie says:

    Melbourne has been in lockdown for a total of what 198 days to date.

    It’s just a new way of living except for the businesses that are going broke.

    So bizarre. I spoke to local bakery owner yesterday. Never had any dine in but with so many local schools and businesses closed he’s having trouble paying the rent but dandontcare


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  91. Struth says:

    Can somebody tell me if there have been tyrannies in history that have done to their people…in millions..what people like Gladys are doing.. imprisoning millions in their homes?
    People will break soon..
    Even Australians.
    I don’t know this for sure because never in the history of the world has there been a more compliant people than those of Hivizestan.


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  92. Bar Beach Swimmer says:

    I don’t know why Sky has journalists(?) on the desk. They seldom push their interlocutor to answer any of their questions. Of course, it is the politicians’ job not to answer anything. But the journalist already knows that so they should be ready for a bit of sparring. Yet nothing; no pushing for clarification or for more information.

    Just on Sky was Simon Birmingham, the Minister for Finance, being asked by “Tom somebody” why the Government seems to be only interested in what the health bureaucrats, specifically ATAGI, has to say.

    “What about how this is all playing out across the many other facets of life – the economy, livelihoods, mental health…?” he asked. To which the “Minister” [edit: low value individual] replied that he was sure that the CMO and the CHOs were taking all that into account and discussing all that stuff.

    On and on he went with “Tom” giving up without getting anything. “Tom” couldn’t even ask the most obvious follow up: “how do you know that they’re actually doing that?”

    No skin in the game so f-all interest.


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