Christmas Weekend Links, December 25-27

By in Links, Miscellaneous

| 437 comments

‘Australia Felix’ Arthur Streeton, 1907, Art Gallery of  South Australia

 

Macro & Markets

Americas

Asia

Europa

Terra Specufestor

…and furthemore…

…and Covid….

 

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Comments

    • Mining BoganMEMBER

      AFR probably ran that so their readers can point and laugh. Not too many there would agree with Dick.

    • Totes BeWokeMEMBER

      “Australia’s wealthiest 1 per cent owned more than the 17 million Aussies (70 per cent) who were the least wealthy. Almost 5 million of the poorest were living from pay cheque to pay cheque, without any savings at all”

      Take out the people on welfare, and that’s a tragedy. Australia’s lowest paid workers should have a claim on that money.

    • Totes BeWokeMEMBER

      DS is a champion.

      Australia’s modern version of DS is some wnker owning a climate business and donating to CC Independents. It stinks of self interest, and I’m betting it is.

      Australians have lost their sole.

      Then again, it’s just psychology. Put too many rats in the cage, and we’re going to eat each other.

      “tragedy of the commons” ….If I don’t do it, they will.

    • reusachtigeMEMBER

      Yeah I love Dick! A good patriot. But I’ll always buy the most cost effective products so as to maintain as much of my profits as I can.

  3. ErmingtonPlumbingMEMBER

    I only took 6 beers to old mates yesterday arvo at around 3.30pm but ended up drinking about 12 or 13.
    ‘Twas a good Christmas Eve drink but the missus and sister in-laws (who we’re invited) weren’t impressed with my late arrival home.
    Anyway I’ve just retrieved the car and I’m now behind schedule preparing for Christmas lunch.
    Sill clearing the space in the garage for one of the cookers.
    3 Pork roasts and a Honey glazed ham coming right up.
    Merry Christmas y’all

      • ErmingtonPlumbingMEMBER

        Were invited ,…obviously,…you cheeky pr!ck.
        Merry Christmas anyway to ya.
        All the meat is cooked (crackling is perfect) and the veggies but most of the in-laws still haven’t turned up!

        There’re won’t be much crackling left if they don’t get here soon.
        Gunna Crack me first beer open right now.
        Cheers all. 🍺

    • Know IdeaMEMBER

      Good grief! Have a very meaty Christmas.

      Or, as Doug Mulray suggested: get some meat into you babe.

    • drsmithyMEMBER

      I only took 6 beers to old mates yesterday arvo at around 3.30pm but ended up drinking about 12 or 13.

      Reminds me of how I met my wife.

      Took a 6-pack of *light* beer and *drove* to a mates place for a quiet evening reflecting the previous and oncoming years. Quiet, because a few nights earlier had been the day before Christmas Eve and we’d all been out until the wee hours, and the next day we were heading over to Keppel Island for the usual New Year’s festivities.

      Anyway, a couple of hours after I get there a few other blokes roll up and before we know it we’re through both my 6-pack, and the carton my mate had in the fridge, and the carton they brought with them. His mum was kind enough to drive down to the bottleo and get us some more.

      About a dozen or so more beers later, another mate shows up with a few girls in tow, they’d just come from some family get-togethers. He gets met at the door with “if you think you’ve got any chance with any of them, turn around now because there’s half a dozen pissed lads up here and they’re all single”.

      I must confess my memory of the rest of the night is quite foggy, but apparently I’m quite charming when I’m utterly plastered. The girls ended up over at Keppel with us for New Year’s, one thing led to another, and twenty years later (thirteen married) here we are.

  5. Totes BeWokeMEMBER

    Award for most tautological comment of 2021, goes to smith….”Immigration isn’t a core problem. It’s a multiplier of other problems.”

    Award for most pedantic comment of 2021, goes to smith….”Immigration isn’t a core problem. It’s a multiplier of other problems.”

    Award for most woke comment of 2021, goes to smith….”Immigration isn’t a core problem. It’s a multiplier of other problems.”

    Award for most ridiculous comment of 2021, goes to smith….”Immigration isn’t a core problem. It’s a multiplier of other problems.”

    Like last year, and all the years before it, Smith has again cleaned up. Well done smith.

      • Totes BeWokeMEMBER

        For an extreme leftist, for sure. This is the kind of stuff we expect from these idiots.

        It’s been proven, they miss 4 of the 7 aspects of any given issue. That means they should never be in positions of influence, never trusted with anything that matters.

        It’s why we don’t let them anywhere near power.

        The tragedy is people and the environment are being hurt because of them.

        They are the reason we’ve got an LNP government. That’s obvious to anyone but the people thinking…”Immigration isn’t a core problem. It’s a multiplier of other problems.”….is a rational statement that defends support for immigration.

          • Totes BeWokeMEMBER

            I’m the most chilled person you’d ever meet. If I were any more chilled, I’d be sleeping all day. Had a dozen beers celebrating Christmas with friends last night, and won’t be drinking until 6 tonight after the family things we can still do thanks to the fking virus.

            Chilled but angry. Oxymoron I know, rare, I know, but that’s me.

  6. Hugh PavletichMEMBER

    Omicron reality …

    … essential reading …

    Omicron’s cold-like symptoms mean UK guidance ‘needs urgent update … Ricard Adams … The Guardian

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/dec/24/omicron-covid-symptoms-uk-guidance-zoe-study

    Lead scientist on Zoe Covid study calls official advice ‘misinformation’ in light of data about new variant

    The most widespread symptoms of the Omicron variant now match those of common colds, with calls for the government to update its public health messaging to include a wider number of likely Covid symptoms.

    The most common symptoms reported among users of the Zoe Covid app have been a running nose, headaches, fatigue, sneezing and sore throats, according to the study’s most recent analysis of confirmed cases in London. …

    … concluding …

    … Openshaw said it would be “sensible” to update the list of Covid symptoms: “The semi-lockdown has been terrible for colds, they are struggling to survive. So if you have a cold at the moment, there’s about a 50% chance that it is actually Covid.”

  7. Ronin8317MEMBER

    NSW has 6288 cases today.

    Wish everyone a Merry Christmas, and a happy self-isolation period.

    • footsore

      That’s got to be the most handsome man in Australia. That’s what other men think they look like after they’ve been to the gym, run into a fire to save some puppies, changed a tyre on a truck and then do a gigantic line of coke just after hitting a hole in one on a par four.

      • The Traveling Wilbur 🙉🙈🙊

        You forgot pulling a snake out of a dishwasher, finishing a load of washing and changing a nappy. Otherwise, ticketyboo.

  9. reusachtigeMEMBER

    Have a good one blokes! And may your covid infection happen at the most convenient of times. Cheers!

  11. Totes BeWokeMEMBER

    Biggest bet for me since lay betting Incentivise in the MCup, tomorrow….Coolangatta, R6 Doomben at $1.44. It’d have to come out of the barrier backwards to lose.

      • Totes BeWokeMEMBER

        Of course. Labor would set out to make the barriers more inclusive and diverse, a more humane approach to barriers, and leave one (or more) facing backwards, or maybe even sideways, not seeing, considering or even understanding what barriers are intended for, and the unintended consequences on race day.

        So, yes, if Coolangatta loses, I’ll be blaming Labor….but won’t despair because I should pick up quite a bit when they lose yet another unlosable election in May.

    • The Traveling Wilbur 🙉🙈🙊

      You’ll have to narrow that down a bit. I’ve looked up the form guide and all I found was this and can’t tell which one you’re backing:

      1. Put ’em Last. W:10000.00 P:1.44
      2. Can’t be Trusted. W:10000.00 P:1.44
      3. Pivot to China. W:10000.00 P:1.44
      4. You’d Have to be Braindamaged. W:10000.00 P:1.44
      5. No matter the policy Their’s is worst. W:10000.00 P:1.44
      6. Hasn’t got a clue. W:10000.00 P:1.44
      7. They’ll just Give it Away. W:10000.00 P:1.44
      8. Pointless voting for Loosers. W:10000.00 P:1.44
      9. Couldn’t find One safe pair of hands. W:10000.00 P:1.44
      10. Feels over Reals. W:10000.00 P:1.44
      11. That’ll be Labors fault. W:10000.00 P:1.44
      12. Everything is and always shall be, Labor’s fault. W:10000.00 P:1.44

      Mark Latham was going to run, and drew 13., but scratched itself this Morning. It was quite a show.

    • Totes BeWokeMEMBER

      You forgot the emergencies…

      14. Never again
      15. Lost Borders
      16. BER
      17. Batts
      18. Topboxes
      19. MRRT
      20. Failure after Failure (stand out favourite)
      21. Another Extreme left coalition…

  14. boomengineeringMEMBER

    Woman (school teacher) brought her Dyson vacuum from Canberra for me to fix yesterday ( they were staying up the road ). Told them beforehand that they needed to go to a retired handyman as those sort of jobs cost more to fix than buying a new one. The husband said she doesn’t like the new ones.
    Knew what I was getting into but the don’t call me “roll over” for nothing.
    Thought I was on a winner despite the tamperproof bolts, hidden tricks to dismantle and sealed units as the slip rings were contaminated creating open circuit. Success perfect continuity.
    This mornings fire up, still no sign of life. Direct power to motor and test revealed another open circuit. Removed motor revealed commutator worn out . Just texted her explaining that the motor could be disassembled and repaired on my lathe but that would cost more than the under $100 cost of new. motor. My labour costs so far would be double the cost of a complete new one. As previously stated I knew what I was getting into and don’t expect any forthcoming remuneration now that I’ve finally stopped wasting my time.
    .
    Hey the son just finished work, rang, and is coming over for a feast. Looks like we may have a proper un- dysfunctional Chrissy after all.

    • TheRedEconomistMEMBER

      My Nanna’s 30 year old Hoover stopped working. I took it to Godfrey’s at Castle Hill and the young Indian customer service guy said they would not look at it due to being older than 10 years. He then tried to flog a $2k german machine on AfterPay.

      Can’t throw the old one away. Any ideas whom could fix it?

      • boomengineeringMEMBER

        I’ll fix it for free, (MBers special). You may have to buy new brushes after I tell you which and where (rather than me make them).
        The obese son’s older Thai girlfriend keeps asking him for money, I think its over $40K or more so far. He worked today and will do tomorrow as well. He hasn’t been able to save for 2 years since paying his small unit off. We want to but haven’t met her yet.
        btw pigged out on many crayfish, prawns etc they are cheap atm as China not buying.

        • TheRedEconomistMEMBER

          Hey Boom.. I know you are on the beaches.

          Next time I am over toward Manly in the new year is it ok to drop by your North Manly address which I can see when I google you?

    • Osiris

      Pulled apart a milwaukee m18 worksite radio couple days ago.
      Flashy class D 30W stereo amp taking audio from a *very* crappy radio circuit. 50cent radio in a $200 box. Typical when highly integrated but mediocre solutions are available. Instead of making a decent radio which needs some expertise, the know nothing intern can bang in the minimal recommended crappy design using the highly integrated part. No tuned circuits *anywhere*

      • Frostilicus

        You used to be able to tune a circuit, but you couldn’t tuna fish. Nowadays, can’t tuna ‘nyone ‘nymore!

      • dodgy as

        I recently took a deep dive into the Radio circuit in a cheap cell phone and found that the “front end” was simply a 10 fold oversampled 2nd order Sigma Delta ADC. Sample clock was from a Ghz Xtal locked PLL, radio itself was 100% software defined.
        And this is what you get in a cheap cell phone FM radio. Crazy that this approach must be cheaper than some sort of simple down shifting diode demodulation with a bandpass LC filter… but it’s what’s happening.

        • Osiris

          Didn’t know they did that. Thought they’d used some I/Q quadrature mixer down conversion. The wide band radio dongles must be a wideband ADC to be able to show the waterfall spectrum display.

          Atleast oversampling is a form of mixer downconversion, so the ADC can be much more narrowband.

          • dodgy as

            Yep I was expecting a simple I/Q demod with baseband ADC but they opted to digitize the whole band from DC to 150Mhz. I guess the value is in being able to do any type of radio with the same front end just different software.
            Idk it’s crazy that this works but I guess silicon is just that fast and processing that cheap that this idea is not simply technically possible, it’s apparently also the cheapest solution.
            Sometimes it sucks when the art of radio design dies because this sort of solution exists…bit like the Sewing machine I mentioned above art gets killed by tech…sad

          • Osiris

            Fast DSP hogs current but they get away with it because of big batteries and the rest of the system hogs current too.
            Doesn’t feel right when a receiver uses 2 amps (transceivers in general).
            Phones don’t need much dynamic range because the transmit power from both ends is dynamically variable iirc (for gsm 20yrs ago, don’t know about the current systems)

        • LSWCHPMEMBER

          Digital is cheap, good and comes pre-packaged. Just plug the module into your circuit. What’s not to like?

          • Osiris

            Current draw, dynamic range, interference rejection, independence from foreign IC manufacturers especially when they go t1ts up and you’re a manufacturer.
            Most users just go ho hum and look at facebook if their $2 chinese radio dongle stops working from being overloaded by RFI from LED lights.
            I’d rather have something that’s worth keeping and have a schematic for.
            Only drawback is size and flexible wideband tuning.
            Like to make stuff that would be achievable after ww3

          • dodgy as

            I don’t have any religion on radio circuits but there’s a unique beauty to the sort of black-magic of a well designed super-het front end compared to the “just digitize” the whole band VHF band and throw algorithms at the tuning problem. You can get a good result either way but there’s just no beauty in the digital solution

          • Osiris

            That’s what i find with the modern stuff, no analog beauty.
            RF amp with tracking mechanical preselector.
            PLL vfo is ok. Modern digital NCOs can be used if the numerous spurious outputs are avoided.

      • GingerMEMBER

        There’s the thing. I’ve actually looked for a quality AM/FM/SW/digital (or combinations of some of these) radio and could not find one. Need quality tuning, quality amp and speakers, nothing flash but robust. Needs to be battery and electric and portable, optional but also good to have usb and other connections to devices. Panasonic, Grundig etc nada. Maybe I’m looking in the wrong places.

        • Osiris

          On my todo list one day.
          A good thing to have is external antenna input options and options for external speakers.

          • Osiris

            If it was made in batches using non asian sourced cheap parts and everything done locally, probably $100 to $200 production cost, assuming cost for tooling was priced into the long term. Depends on metal or plastic case, how big, number of internal mechanical components etc. Also assuming tooling is done in house. The end result wouldn’t be cheap throwaway crap and would last til the end of time. Could have pc control port on it too. Things should come with a schematic in the manual, and be upgradeable such as when new DAB standards evolve. I’ve got too much stuff to do til i get around to it, tho I’m aiming in that direction.

          • haroldusMEMBER

            The funny thing is, I haven’t really enjoyed listening to music through any form of speakers for ages.

            I’ve got some pretty good studio monitors, but they seem a bit off in the mix.

            And I’ve got a Charge 4 which is loud and clear, but also doesn’t seem to match what I listen to, which is guitar-based rock.

            When I want to enjoy a rock song/album, I use Marshall Monitors. But when I want to break down the part I use my AKG K712s.

            I wonder what the best bluetooth device to listen to ACCADACCA on is.

          • dodgy as

            Best bluetooth headset to listen to music on ….that’d be a joke right
            I’m an oldie so it’s hard to beat good quality monitor headphones like your AKG’s coupled to a good high quality headphone amp. As for the DAC, I’m still a sucker for the old Burr Brown devices ran at 192khz, there’s something musical about the sound that’s missing with modern DAC’s . Isn’t it weird that a 25 year old DAC can sound better than a modern one ….maybe it’s only my even older ears that just like the sound of these devices.

    • dodgy as

      Yeah I know what you’re talking about
      My wife likes to do some little sewing projects and absolutely loves her old Bernina sewing machine (early 1970’s model she got from her mum). She inherited the machine, I inherited the privilege of maintaining it. All the fancy stiches etc are done with interlocking mechanical systems. It is truly a work of art just how they squeezed all this functionality into a normal sized compact sewing machine. All it normally needs is a few drops of thin machine oil and a good clean up than it’s ready for another year.
      There’s no way it is “worth” the trouble to maintain, when you can buy a new sewing machine for say $100 ( that probably has all the same functionality), but putting a smile on my wife’s face is priceless, so that’s my reward.
      These older Swiss machines were definitely made for different era and different expectations. I’ve tried to interest my kids in this sort of thing\, but they’re firmly in the “why would I bother” club. Sometimes I wonder what knowledge is dying with us oldies.

      • Frostilicus

        Sadly, this is the way of the world. Throw it out, get another one.

        Hell, even an irreparable broken item has a value in its death if you take it apart, see how it’s made and don’t make the same mistake twice, and you look for a better built one.

        But no, nothing is learned, wasted opportunities.

        Looking at these “antiques shows”: do you think any of those trinkets will have *any* value in 20 years? How about 30? 50?

        • Osiris

          Pulled apart a clam type sandwich toaster binned at work.
          Wiring had a blown thermal fuse in series with the element wiring. Even jaycar had a matching part. Learnt something new, but wasn’t worth fixing (tho I’d do it if it was mine)

        • dodgy as

          It’s funny that some things can become “antique” but most things just become “old”
          I watched a recent summary of a guy who restored an old Steel Trawler
          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lI7u6DIN5g&ab_channel=DangarMarine
          In the end, after at least two years work and who knows how many dollars, he is the proud owner of “an old steel boat” worth at least twice what he paid for it and half what he owes on it.
          I used to collect old computers but they’re also basically worthless
          I still have a fully working DEC Alpha, I guess that’s my “old steel boat”. I had a DEC PDP-9 but I gave that away years ago…I’m just happy that it went to a good home.

          • Osiris

            I save older radios 📻 from the bin.
            Atleast I’ve figured out how to design new ones in the old style of few transistors and low current draw. Just need to make the old mechanical tuning components. Permeability tuners are a fun thing to make.
            I have to watch resto YouTubes at 2x speed coz there’s too many. Computer history museum is good to watch

      • drsmithyMEMBER

        I probably don’t need to tell you that you’d be buying another $100 machine every couple of years as they fell apart.

        What really sh!ts me though – and as alluded to by a few comments above – is there’s no way to know whether or not you’re buying something that’s well made, until you buy it and it either lasts well or falls apart.

        Kind of like that thing about weeds: “How do you know if a plant is a weed ? Try and pull it out, if it comes out easily, it’s not a weed.”

        Back in the day you could reasonably make an estimate based on price – more expensive nearly always meant higher quality. This is no longer an even remotely predictable measure.

        • dodgy as

          there are certain brands that are committed to delivering quality almost regardless of the price point that the product is targetted at.
          Shimano comes to mind, they produce a lot of high end fine mechanical products but even their rubbish consumer stuff is relatively good quality (suited for the job). Similarly priced stuff from other manufactures can be complete plastic rubbish that’s just waiting to be thrown in the bin.
          Plastic gears on an electric hammer drill, comes to mind (like wtf) of course it broke the first time anyone tried to drill concrete, but as you ask how can you tell this when you’re at the store.
          we’ve all been there, the most annoying is when it’s an expensive brand name but the quality is just MIA

          • boomengineeringMEMBER

            My roller door had a plastic gear that broke. Tried to buy one, but superceeded model. I made one of aluminum and showed them a pic. Wow you could be a product provider ( no thanks)
            That was years ago and it’s lasted longer than the original.

        • GavinMEMBER

          @,Smithy that’s why I repair my old cars. I know the stuff was well made. I’m restoring the old electric antennas. Just gunk up with dirt.

          The skills are dying out, but YouTube will keep them alive if you post how to fix tutorials etc.. people think what I do is some kind of black art, but it’s just being inquisitive and willing to give it a go.

          I’m restored old radios, clocks, antennas, repaired my Xbox (wife bought me in 2004) after lightning strike. Fixed LCD TV after same thing.

          It’s incredibly satisfying to repair/fix things. Lots of old farmers are very good like that out of necessity. I believe the world will be forced to change at some point. We can’t keep producing the waste we do.

    • Ronin8317MEMBER

      A broken clock is correct twice a day too.

      The only thing that matters now is Omicron. If it is mild, then ScoMo will survive. If it goes OMGWTFBBQ, then ScoMo is toasted.

    • reusachtigeMEMBER

      Nope. Youse commies are the idiocracies! Scomo will win for sure. No one I know would ever vote for that homo looking Labor commie ever. Scomo has it in the bag (and not an Albo man bag but a ball bag).

    • Totes BeWokeMEMBER

      Labor need to urgently make Plibersek leader.

      Only she can implement the gender pay equality and superannuation gender disparity issues the electorate are dying to vote for. It is wrong that women are paid less to work far fewer hours.

      https://imgflip.com/i/5yy1ih

      Plibersek needs to take the party further left, to give Labor the best chance.

    • drsmithyMEMBER

      But on balance he is preferred because Labor’s Anthony Albanese is not seen as an inspiring leader.

      ‘Still people see him (Mr Morrison) as a better leader,’ Professor Stantic explained.

      Mind -> blown.

      • Mining BoganMEMBER

        Going on what I heard today he is a certainty.

        They got really annoyed when I said Queenslanders should be able to decide what happens in Queensland.

        • reusachtigeMEMBER

          If a state becomes too commie like WA and QLD they should be acquired by the Federal government just like state governments acquire corrupt councils that aren’t implementing development plans properly!

          • reusachtigeMEMBER

            100%. For the reasons you jest about Labor politicians. They’re farkt! Real blokes don’t want to have to grow t1ts and be trans-accepted.

          • Mining BoganMEMBER

            Well, I think it had more to do with towing caravans over borders but yeah, I suppose having to cut one’s dick off could sway a vote or two.

      • The Traveling Wilbur 🙉🙈🙊

        Well he did get us all through the pandemic singlehandedly with barely even a scratch.

        Edit: From Hawaii The Footy anywhere but Canberra during a lockdown.

        </sarc>

      • kierans777MEMBER

        Hmm. I wonder why.

        Actually I don’t wonder, I know. Because the MSM constantly puts Albo down. Even the ABC is in on the act cutting from Albo’s pressers to report some wishy washy “breaking news”. If you watch Albo on YouTube you see a guy who is far more inspiring than the LiarFromTheShire. But how many of your average punters do that?

        It doesn’t matter what Labor does if the media tells people a different story.

        • WhatcouldgowrongMEMBER

          Yes it was originally a rather pointed comment and I decided to keep it to myself. I think I’m going to make getting less frustrated with this cluster fk situation my new year’s resolution..

    • GavinMEMBER

      I honestly agree that Labor will lose again and that Anthony Albanese being a do nothing opposition leader is part of the reason. How can you vote for someone who doesn’t have any cojones?

  17. Counterfiat

    The mOronic blues

    When I teach in-person, students often laugh at my jokes.

    When I teach the same students onlinr they don’t laugh at all, so I asked them why.

    They replied “Because your jokes aren’t remotely funny

    • haroldusMEMBER

      So a politician was visiting a mental health facility, and was being shown around by the director.

      They came to the recreation room, and one of the inmates stood up and yelled out “47” and the group cracked up, tears in their eyes. Another stood up and yelled “69”, to howls of laughter.

      Worried, the politician asked “What’s going on?”.

      The director replied “These guys have heard the same jokes so may times over and over, so now they just number them to save time.”

      The politician thought this was pretty smart, and said “Can I have a go?”

      Sure!

      He stood up and shouted “25”.

      Silence, crickets, and the crowd looked at him with not a little hostility.

      Shaken, he turned to the director and hissed “What’s wrong?”

      “Well”, he replied…….
      ……..
      ……..
      “It’s the way you tell them.”

  18. skippyMEMBER

    Lead author Dr Zoe Leviston, from the ANU Research School of Psychology, said ACT residents were among the most likely to give their neighbours unfair assessments.

    She said the results reflected a social phenomenon known as the “better-than-average” effect.
    ADVERTISING

    “This is our tendency to think that we’re better than others on a whole range of attributes,” Dr Leviston said.

    “We expected to see this effect whereby we think we’re better than others when it comes to complying with COVID restrictions.”

    https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7562986/canberrans-among-the-most-covid-judgemental/

  19. M

    Will the Left be wedged by a collapsing fear narrative and an angry, impoverished working class?
    Public support for lockdown measures is disintegrating – a new approach is needed
    Owen Jones, Guardian UK, 23rd Dec

    The false dichotomy between harsh authoritarian measures or mass death must be abandoned for good. But that will require the government to fund and support more targeted measures. A new consensus must be built around such an approach because the public are beginning to snap, and nearly two years on from the outbreaks of mysterious pneumonia-like cases in Wuhan, our suffocated reality is no longer sustainable.

  21. Totes BeWokeMEMBER

    “Climate change is only one of many symptoms of an out-of-control disease…”

    “Climate change is not the biggest threat to the world’s environment – we
    are.”

    “Climate change didn’t do that. Way too many people did that”

    “You don’t hear climate change activists talking about overpopulation, either. It’s too dangerous a subject, too painful a reality. It permanently occupies the ‘too hard’ basket”

    “So, I would patiently urge all climate-change activists to direct their environmental concerns at those who really deserve it. They can start with the economists, developers and politicians who blissfully believe that the status quo of ‘perpetual growth’ still works. They can then move on to the religious zealots who still spout the mantra of ‘man’s dominion over nature’ and abhor the idea of contraceptives”

    https://www.dicksmithfairgo.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Population-booklet-Tony-Gordon-COMPRESSED.pdf

    Zali and all the other pro immigration, fake environmentalists like the Greens and Labor, should be left dead last.

    • RomulusMEMBER

      Now it’s the Indi’s fault as well? PHON has had multiple terms where she has held the balance of power for govt legislation but nothing done one immigration. It’s all for show. I guess have her last as well?

      • Totes BeWokeMEMBER

        Yes. She should go last/2nd last, whatever.

        Leave all the incumbents last in the order of the voters choosing is by far the best strategy to fix our country. In fact, it’s the only way we can fix our country.

        As opposed to giving pro immigration candidates a pass to the luxury of public office. Zali’s a joke. So are all the other single issue CC MP’s sticking their heads up from the elite corners of Sydney.

        Punish them all.

        Or don’t. And watch them end up in publicly funded security gated communities, while your offspring fight for food and water.

        • Janet

          “Don’t look up!” (a political satire of the finest order)
          If you are looking for another Disaster movie, then you’ll give this 1/10. But substitute any obviously predictable event; be that climate change, over population or the unpayable debt we’ve created, and you’ll give this 10/10.
          https://tinyurl.com/2p98d7fw

          • Totes BeWokeMEMBER

            We watched it last night after a big day…It is awesome.

            What a great movie. Cannot believe it is on Binge a week after it released on the big screen.

            Great movie. Great actors. Great acting. Quirky. 10/10. Entertaining. Thought provoking.

            I’m sure you picked up the (often…sometimes blatant) subtle metaphors/intonations pointing to Trump and Musk.

            I hope people (Americans/Australians/world/voters) can see where this is all going and start making a difference.

            It is ours to change. We have the tools. ESPECIALLY in Australia.

          • ErmingtonPlumbingMEMBER

            The ending wouldn’t have been so depressing if Bruce Willis had been in that movie.

            Good to see your still around Janet.

        • RomulusMEMBER

          The reality is everyone will need to make their choice of least worst and preferences will end up going to Lab or Lib or Indis if you have one running.
          Indis at least are not party affiliated which is a huge step forward in my books.

          • Totes BeWokeMEMBER

            Assign points to each candidate.

            pro immigration = 10 points
            lawyer = 9 points

            inverse points for position on list.

            If Pauline and Zali were competing in the same seat, Zali would be further down the list. Keeping lawyers out of parliament is a great start to fixing Australia.

            Why do lawyers think they should become politicians? WTF? There’s public servants to advise on policy and legislation. Lawyers are the exact wrong people to have running our county.

            “Indis at least are not party affiliated which is a huge step forward in my books.”

            Couldn’t agree more.

            Though I’d limit that to LNP, Labor and Greens.

            Belongs to a LNP, Labor Greens (or smells like they do) = 1000000000 points

          • Totes BeWokeMEMBER

            The base case message every sensible Australian should be spreading to the lazy, uninterested and dumb, IS VOTE BELOW THE LINE….and….LEAVE THE 3 MAJORS LAST

            VOTE BELOW THE LINE…and….LEAVE THE 3 MAJORS LAST

            As long as we go from LNP to Labor to LNP to Labor the establishment thrive and we get bent over.

          • RomulusMEMBER

            So faking and doing nothing on immigration when you run on that policy when you have power to push for legislation on it ranks PHON higher than Zali ‘coz she’s a lawyer?’. Totes makes sense….
            Jeez when put like that PHONs performance is almost worse than Lab.

          • Totes BeWokeMEMBER

            It’s a race for the bottom. They both stink. Zali, Pauline. Doesn’t matter, neither are in the interests of Australia.

            My point is, lawyers are toxic, dangerous, and should never be given any more than the obscene charges they make us pay.

            What kind of idiot voters fill a parliament with these people?

        • skippyMEMBER

          The entire world is populated with immigrants from somewhere else, at a given time, including you and yours, so the argument is moot. Yet this is the same mob that wailed over boat people whilst they were flying in by the 10s of thousands for decades. That level of ignorance is breath taking and indicates a lack of intelligence in discerning reality by which to shape future policy, so why would anyone want to listen to them.

          BTW the same things playing out with immigrant labour was occurring long before, OZ on oz, so it would seem the issue is more fundamental. Its just been industrialized to a whole new level where before it was more parochial, not that 2nd 3rd gen offspring have career plans for manual labour due to class issues, remember Howards push for people to enter trades and not Uni …

          • Totes BeWokeMEMBER

            “The entire world is populated with immigrants from somewhere else, at a given time, including you and yours, so the argument is moot”

            There are still borders. It is not moot.

            “Yet this is the same mob that wailed over boat people whilst they were flying in by the 10s of thousands for decades”

            Who?

            “That level of ignorance is breath taking and indicates a lack of intelligence in discerning reality by which to shape future policy, so why would anyone want to listen to them”

            The authors of that paper? Don’t think so skip.

            You’re writing your own narrative, then unleashing on the script you wrote.

            I’m sticking to one issue. Overall numbers in Australia. What the mix is matters little.

          • skippyMEMBER

            Whats boarders have to do with laws that dictate immigration.

            If you have to ask who then what else are you ignorant about.

            The free market posse has been pushing both immigration and cramming down wages/bargaining power under the guise of hyper inflation for decades tote, ALP went thirdway with Keating so this whole lefty thing is a sham. If you think providing more “Opportunity” in the market place by the ALP is some sorta socialist agenda … wow ..

            Look market totalitarianism was exported [globalism] until it ran out of gas and has now inverted AKA inverted totalitarianism, the faithful were fine with it until the got a dose of it and now covid has exposed all its flaws … so I guess a strawman needs construction to distract from blame of past agendas gone bad …

          • Totes BeWokeMEMBER

            You’re conflating a thousand things there skip.

            There is no international law I’m aware of (not that I’d give a fk if there were…break it) that says we have to accept 400k migrants a year.

            The sham is that the left still vote Labor. The sham is that the left pretend to support the environment, plebs and workers…AND….mass immigration.

            Everyone take it nice and easy on Boxing day. No point in getting bogged down in claim and counter claim on Boxing day with retail going ape, now is there?

            ….Mr Totes. at 0945 on Boxing day, out of 150 comments on the Christmas weekend links, 18, or 12%, are yours.

            For all your spam management queries by all means feel free to send an email to [email protected]

            Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and a Happy Festive Season from everyone at Spambot Comment Engagement and Management Services International

          • skippyMEMBER

            Again the immigration thing is orders after all the other things I’ve pointed out – and there is a lot more.

            The Strawman is this idea of some – left – at all, when you have two market base political parties with some fringe bolt ons voting for some socialistic social order.

            Spammy it can be all verified and its not put forth in an aggressive manner e.g. ignorance is the lack of information and not indicative of potential. Per se tagging Smithy as a lefty when in the past they were pro the disruptive [creative destruction] roll out with Uber [sharing/gig economy] et al from the monopoly of the government free market mindset. That is not a leftist position.

            Very relaxed, great BBQ on the new big Webber and just back from a relaxing walk with the two beasties …

    • SpiManMEMBER

      Totally agree.

      Sir Peter Scott, founder of the WWF (World Wildlife Fund, not the World Wrestling Federation)…. “‘You know, when we started the World Wildlife Fund its objective was to save endangered species from extinction, and I am now near the end of my career and we have failed completely. We haven’t saved a single endangered species. And if we’d put all that money we had collected into condoms, we might have done some good”

      And contained in the 2014 “Living Planet Report” by said WWF…..”With another 2.4 billion people to be added to the human population by 2050, the challenge of providing everyone with the food, water and energy they need is already a daunting prospect. Unless we take significant steps to reduce the pressures we are placing on the planet’s climate and natural processes, it could prove impossible”

      And Sir David Attenborough…”All environmental problems become harder – and ultimately impossible – to solve with ever more people”

      But it starts with us….we can say “No” to that new, sparkly iPhone or “No” to the latest gimmicky vehicle featuring disco lights and especially to the LNP/ALP monopoly. Vote Independents.

      • skippyMEMBER

        Decades ago all those sort of NGOs like the Sierra Club were infiltrated and re-administered as for profit enterprises with links to Corporatists. Same timeline as MSM or any other social good that was not yet privatized/monetized.

      • Totes BeWokeMEMBER

        “We can say no”

        Very difficult. We spend what we’ve got and more. All of us. Then add “Tragedy of the commons”

        Individual human nature is destroying humans. The only thing we can do is vote against more people getting access to wealth. Cruel but necessary, and the only solution to save us from ourselves.

        The left want to do the opposite because they’re idiots. The wealthy want to do it because it enriches them.

        • SpiManMEMBER

          Mate, I agree with you. As David Attemborough says, there are only two solutions possible. Reduce the birth rate or don’t put the brakes on the death rate. In the meantime, we have the ability to choose. We can say “No” to unnecessary spending. No one’s holding a knife to our throats to consume for the sake of it. And yeah…..sustainable immigration.

      • drsmithyMEMBER

        But it starts with us….we can say “No” to that new, sparkly iPhone or “No” to the latest gimmicky vehicle featuring disco lights […]

        No. “Individual action” can’t do anything. It’s a lie designed to maintain inaction.

        Change must be top-down and mandated by law.

  22. skippyMEMBER

    BTW spammy I thought the link to IM Doc was a social good and backed up by my own daughters work experience here in Qld.

  27. Hugh PavletichMEMBER

    China: Why is the Western media failing to report the 15 – 30% pay cuts of public servants in China ? …

    … When can we expect Western governments to follow suit and deal with public sector bloat / excessive wages ? …

    China experts explain problems with the Chinese economy and unemployment … Lei’s Real Talk … Youtube

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmXC1xeBu-8&t=6s

    China’s finances are so tight! The storm of back taxes is coming/Civil servants take pay cuts … China Insights … Youtube

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpG-x9onxo0&t=3s

    • ZuluMEMBER

      Yes, going to get worse in 2022 I suspect. I’m thinking there is about an 80% chance Putin invades on new years day, and Xi by the end of 2022 (even though it’s probably a few years earlier than he planned) with the economy likely to be weak he might need a diversion sooner rather than later. If they both do invade will we sanction them too, will the world economy split in two? Even if neither invade I think it’s going to be a tough decade, slow Chinese growth & developed economies debt & corruption (in some, which China also has) & then there is more countries becoming dictatorial & siding with China/Russia. Though if world economy splits it might be great as we’ll have to build everything back incl supply chains & then there will be Putin & Xi vying for leadership of the dictator block, which won’t end well, but Chinese people would benefit hugely as they would get to keep more of the spoils of their own labor as no more Chinese mercantilism, at least against the democratic block. Or am I being too optimistic for both blocks?

      • ZAMEMBER

        Optimistic. You left out the ongoing pandemic, climate change, resource depletion including water shortages, inflation and a strong media system to keep distracting the public from your point and mine….

    • Frostilicus

      If he didn’t mention his token wife and the 2 token daughters along side with hopes and prayers, I don’t wanna know!

    • GavinMEMBER

      TikTok is mostly Gen Z and Alpha. Nobody on there would notice. But I’ll bet Anthony Albanese thinks TikTok is a clock app.

      • Mining BoganMEMBER

        I dunno, there’s a few Labor types using it quite effectively. The sit down boofhead went viral on it. Seemed to me that’s why Scummo has now jumped on it after bagging it out for years.

        Still won’t have any effect though, not when his social media followers are mostly Indians.

    • M

      Maybe we could slow the spread of Omicron by locking down the vaccinated. Following the latest scientific evidence out of Denmark, and the principle of abundance of caution, of course. Just two weeks should be enough while we await further evidence and reassess the situation.

        • M

          Death is like the movement of the tides, it is a fact of life, it will happen whether a society accepts it or not. The question is whether a society can make logical responses to it. Lockdown has failed both in effectiveness and in the equitable distribution of the burden.
          The models are not predictors of likelihood.
          And there are well-worn logical pitfalls in extrapolation.
          https://xkcd.com/605/

        • Fishing72MEMBER

          Why don’t you google global omicron fatalities. Go on. It’s been five weeks, millions of cases and over a hundred countries.

          Surely there must be lots of deaths……unless it’s just a cold.

          #noteventheflubro

          • Fishing72MEMBER

            I’ve been speaking to multiple people who have it or have recently had it….just a cold. Mostly a headache.

          • reusachtigeMEMBER

            ^^ Yep, the amount of people I know getting it is growing rapidly and every single one of them have said it’s a nothing-burger with many now questioning whether or not it’s all now just a media beat-up.

            I’m trying so hard to catch it but it’s just not happening. Fingers crossed I will have it soon.

          • skippyMEMBER

            Because you still have to contend with long covid even if symptoms are mild [not in hospital] and the fact that rampant infection speeds up mutations, not to mention it would take more than a month before any serious morbidity or death aspects became apparent.

            Additionally even with a mild strain the amount of people out of work whilst sick has a huge impact of any number of industries and services.

          • skippyMEMBER

            BTW you have to be careful with global numbers for various reasons like median age – S.A. is 27 vs about 40 in the U.K. or other factors like the high comorbidity numbers in the U.S. Its not just some cookie cutter observation, needs all the factors applied so one can discern what is real going on. Yet one can be reinfected time and time again with in less than a year or two, especially with new variants.

            Sounds risky to base a view off some ideological notions [beliefs] and then triggered when it conforms to ones bias, without any medical knowledge what so ever. These events take years to unfold and being a novel virus means everyone is starting from almost scratch in figuring it out.

          • M

            LOL Skippy it’s been nearly 2 years and you’re still ruminating ominously, trying to scare people into staying hidden under the doona. If you think the threat is so severe do you discourage your family working on the frontline in the healthcare industry? Or do they accept the risk that you’re trying to persuade others here is so serious? One rule for your family and another for everyone else’s? I looked up NakedCapitalism to see where you’re getting your thoughts from, and it’s a smorgasbord of perpetually alarmist, elite- and pharma-industrial-complex-connected mouthpieces and think tanks ranging from discredited Imperial College London (China) to Fauci’s mate Eric Feigl Ding, to elimination fantasist Yaneer Bar-Yam. Talk about ideological bias – and medical knowledge? You’ve previously quoted the chapter number of a textbook as if that demonstrates some medical wizardry.
            Are you seriously suggesting another lockdown? Again – for others, but not for you and yours?

          • skippyMEMBER

            M …

            Where have I suggested fear, please show exactly where and when.

            I have my own sources/network, Great GF was head of UofC medical, GF was a surgeon/MD GM was MD, I did medical training in the military as part of working in elite units et al, NC is not the only one, although NC is nothing like you suggest and seems you just had a cursory look and maid up your mind. BTW NC has a habit of posting stuff for readers to rip apart and not in agreement just because its posted. Also it does not engage in HALO effect [look it up], something you seem afflicted with anything outside your environmental biases.

            It would be better if you could actually deal with the information presented and if you think any of its is false and show your work.

            Look M its not hard to have watched the wild variant sweep around the globe and then some said its done and dusted only to have Delta whack an already struggling system and then on top of it Omni, so do you think its logical or reasonable to suggest its all over with now and people should just pretend other variants might not surface. Its just plain old science M, how political/ideological minded mangle it is another topic.

            On the topic of choice[tm] that can only happen with factual information or are you suggesting lies and misinformation don’t effect choices, not to mention you don’t seem to understand the concept of positive and negative freedoms, nor that the term freedoms or liberty are quite watery [means many things to many people] e.g. are they gifted by watery tarts in a lake?

          • M

            “long covid” “rampant infection” “speeds up mutations” foreshadowing “serious morbidity or death”, “huge impact of any number of industries and services” ‘multiple re-infections’, “novel virus” (it’s SARS-2). It’s fear mongering.
            Skippy you talk in the tongue of someone who can see through cults and ideology and ‘halo effects’, but link Naked Capitalism like Yves St Laurent is some sort of cyber prophet. Maybe heed the lessons of Matthew 7:3-5 about wood in your eye. And don’t tell me about choice in the absence of incomplete information – did you take the jab before waiting for the clinical trials to be finalised? Or did you choose a level of acceptable risk?

          • skippyMEMBER

            @M …

            Again you fail to refute anything I put under your nose and resort to some rhetorical question based on some notion of atomistic individualism like it is relevant when its not. I understand that might pass in your belief system, but not in mine, all it does is identify where you got it from.

            BTW – U.S. airlines scrap nearly 1,000 Christmas Day flights due to Omicron – https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-airlines-scrap-hundreds-christmas-day-flights-due-omicron-2021-12-25/

            All made by private businesses without any force from the government, now where is your freedom.

          • M

            Airlines should have the freedom to go out of business over runny noses and a mild cough. It’s their choice. Consumers should have the option to select a carrier that won’t ruin their Christmas if they choose to accept the risk of contracting a runny nose a mild cough that may also cause long-term catastrophic endothelial dysfunction or other unknown soft tumour horrors. Because at some point, which ‘Experts(TM)’ at the AHPPC agree we’ve reached, we have to live (or die) with this sh!t. It’s the lockdown and vax segregation that has hit the end of the road with Omicron – the rationale, flimsy as it ever was, is gone – vaccinated ARE the superspreaders.

          • skippyMEMBER

            Businesses should have freedoms you say, suggesting they are natural[tm] born humans are we. Like I said you can identify the ideological groupthink behind its believers rhetoric, which is highlighted in the link I gave – in your case. This is the same rhetoric used by the corporatist in the SCOTUS Citizens United decision.

        • M

          Skippy how can you be so woke on corporatism but so asleep to regulatory capture of the FDA/CDC by Big Pharma and GI/GO modelling to effect this climate of fear Stalinist TINA lockdown jabs til you bleed ‘public health’ that is all about making Gates and Pharma not just citizens but demigods? The mind boggles.

    • AaronMEMBER

      Best book I’ve read this year on money laundering is “Wilful Blindness” by Sam Cooper (a Canadian journalist). Gripping read. Although it’s called the Vancouver Model it is precisely what is at play here in Oz.

      Here’s a 1 hour book launch to get you started. Recommended to just listen to, no need to watch. https://youtu.be/i3EI1j3Wa6c

  33. Mining BoganMEMBER

    I don’t like where I live. Boxing day and all I hear is power tools and leaf blowers.

    Why aren’t all these f#ckers hungover on the couch in front of the cricket like an advanced society?

    • reusachtigeMEMBER

      Yeah that’s a good idea. Only a Liberal Nationalist government would be brave enough to do this right thing that needs to be done.

  40. GavinMEMBER

    So though it would be interesting to share my Xmas day experience. Went to wife’s side of family yesterday evening for dinner.

    1 family had Covid last year, likely the Alpha strain. They all got it, all had mild symptoms.

    Anyway we saw them yesterday and the husband wasn’t feeling too good. Said he ate too much at his cousins before hand.

    Today we get a call he’s tested positive again for Covid. He’s been pretty Blaise about Covid since he figured after catching it he will have stronger immunity.

    So he’s stopped wearing a mask etc..

    Anyway, my sister in law got tested today, she’s come back negative. My wife took a rapid PCR test and came back negative. I haven’t tested myself yet because I don’t feel any different and if the wife hasn’t got it yet, I probsbly don’t either.

    Our son is not vaccinated 1.5 years old but appear normal too.

    So it appears even herd immunity may not work if you can keep re-catching it. But how bad is it? Any long term effects? I guess we don’t yet know, but thankfully we spent most time with him outside, but I did shake hands when I saw him.

    This will be the second time I’ve had close encounter with people who are sick with Covid and didn’t catch it off them (if I don’t get sick in next few days). Last time the inlaws were unwell and babysitting in my house.

    But if he’s caught Omnicron I would have thought we all would be sick immediately with the way the media is reporting on it and case numbers.

    Rules are funny, we are social contacts, not close contacts so don’t have to be tested or isolate. Go figure.

    • skippyMEMBER

      How many times Gav … no such thing as herd immunity with coronavirus due to rapid mutations e.g. scientifically impossible. I think you might also need to read up on T cells in this scenario.

    • ZAMEMBER

      What is Rapid pcr test? I think you mean rapid antigen test.

      Also the incubation period is up to 14 days with the next 3 days most likely.

      Be willing to retest again in a few days.

      • GavinMEMBER

        Yes that’s why I didn’t test myself yet. Because unless I’ve got symptoms it seems a waste of a test kit and we had to ring around many places to find 1. Seems they are all sold out.

    • FUDINTHENUD

      A lot of people seem to have this idea with Covid they want to “get it over with”. Ie. Get infected and you’ll never be infected again and be impervious in future.

      Not true. Immunity wanes and Covid viruses will keep on virusing and evade immunity. Plus if a previous infection has done you irreparable cell damage (because turning your cells into viral pinatas is what viruses do), you’re gonna be worse off coming into a future infection. What doesn’t kill you, doesn’t necessarily make you stronger, in this instance.

    • csfnMEMBER

      I think it’s fine. Equally the doctor should be able to put a sign on the wall saying

      “Get on the scales Fatty! Why?
      -obesity increases the risk of type-2 diabetes
      -obesity increases the risk of heart disease
      -etc”

  44. ErmingtonPlumbingMEMBER

    Dontcha hate it when you whole hearted agrees with people you despise.
    Well I’ve actually meet John Alaxander a few times and he seems not a bad bloke but here 43 mins in he and that gargoyle Alan Jones talk sense on Infrastructure spending being funded by a kinda “super profits tax” on land banking speculators who benefit from Re Zoneing/Taxpayer funded infrastructure announcements.
    Who woulda thunk conservative shills would support a 75% windfall tax!
    https://youtu.be/QzIN3EgBIHg

    • Frostilicus

      That’s going to turn out to be a ‘programming error’ as soon as the developer lobby hears about it and makes them an fer they couldn’t refuse.

    • GavinMEMBER

      Yes I think proposer dot org managed to get that through in Victoria.

      Re: Alan Jones can’t stand the Kent. So understand how you feel MB haha.

    • skippyMEMBER

      EP … its as bad as the democrats game of how do we pay for it walk back on BBB et al … its all a scam …

    • skippyMEMBER

      UK data: Omicron is as severe as Delta for cases that would be infected by Delta, and infects people who would not be infected by Delta (due to immunity of prior infection or vaccination). Those cases are less severe. By Simpsons paradox Omicron seems less severe, but is more. 1/

      Yaneer Bar-Yam
      @yaneerbaryam
      ·
      Dec 24
      Replying to
      @yaneerbaryam
      Also the medical definition of “mild” continues to mean “not hospitalized”.

      Both so-called mild cases and long covid that can follow can be devastating and life changing.

      Dr K Fearnley
      @fearnley_k
      · Dec 19
      A word of warning. I’ve had Long Covid for 12mths and counting. In this time, I’ve been diagnosed with neurological sleep apnoea, encephalitis, sensorineural hearing loss, tinnitus dysautomnia and POTs, and myopericarditis. I was never hospitalised. My case is mild.

      https://twitter.com/yaneerbaryam/status/1474091037861761026

      It just gets more absurd by the day … everyone hoping the bad goes away …

      • SweeperMEMBER

        Those symptoms are the norm for long covid.
        The vax rate is still far too low and children need to be vaxxed.

    • Ronin8317MEMBER

      NSW is about 6.3k again, which is a very low peak. Hospitalization is still around 1%. 2 more months and it’ll be all over.

      • SnappedUpSavvyMEMBER

        This wave could be peaking now with these restrictions
        Maybe some can stop posting from under the bed

        • skippyMEMBER

          The idea that one variant is the final curtain is not supported by any science dude … BTW this universe was not put here for your personal needs or beliefs.

          • Fishing72MEMBER

            And your fantasy of perpetual viral threat always trending towards more death and disease is also unsupported by any evidence.

            You’re a Henny Penny bloke. You may self- impress with your use of 100 words to express the sentiment but the message remains the same “ The sky is falling!”.

          • skippyMEMBER

            Your rhetorical pejoratives used to paint some occasion that does not exist anywhere else but in – your – mind is not a counter argument. I’m not fearful or scared nor do I suggest anyone else “feel” that way.

            Yet I don’t ignore the issues at hand and modify my behavior accordingly for my own personal safety and those I come into contact with. The best way to do that is with the best available information and not those spewing some ideological dogs breakfast or trying to make packet off it all …

  48. SweeperMEMBER

    I give it 3 wks most before NSW is back in full lockdown.
    The Premier is incredibly reckless allowing the unvaxxed back into civilisation. He has clearly ignored health advice. The WHO just came out and said they still don’t know if Omicron is milder than Delta.

    • skippyMEMBER

      The WHO is just as Compromised as the CDC or have you forgotten the intransigence on aerosols whilst pushing the largest PHASE III Trial ever conducted in human history. And it has been under no supervision of an IRB in any way shape or form as has been done for decades.

    • Fishing72MEMBER

      You’d better be careful bloke. There will be a reckoning for your divisive and hateful persecution of the parts of our community. The vaccinated spread omicron across the globe and into every country in which its now a concern, yet you’re still screaming for the segregation of a tiny percentage of our population who are not in any way, shape or form responsible for the omicron situation.

      You’re obviously not smart enough to recognise when you’re making a noisy fool of yourself but surely you’re a decent enough person to recognise when you’re acting like a vicious coward?

      • kiwikarynMEMBER

        My local pub just got declared a location of interest. Funny that, considering only vaccinated people are allowed in there.

        • Fishing72MEMBER

          I’m honestly bewildered the way creeps like the above can continue to maintain the delusion that this has anything at all do do with the politically confected vaccinated / unvaccinated class war. I really couldn’t give a toss except that their hatred for the “filthy mud blood unvaccinated “ is just a reveal for the serious character deficiencies which would have come to the fore under any slight amount of social pressure. Those who harbour and nurture the utterly unjustified hatred for the unvaccinated would be the same people demanding the j3ws get on the train. It’s awful to see it exposed within Australia. I’d held out hope that our community was better than that.

        • yokelMEMBER

          Tick, tick and tick.
          But given WW11 atrocities have been raised, I can see (some) relevance with regard to the COVID denialists/anti-vaxxers and their utter disregard for a population segment – the aged, the ill and the immunologically suppressed. Speaks of a certain callous indifference to both the lives affected, and the complexity of societal responses required in novel circumstances. Not deep thinking going on there.

          • Fishing72MEMBER

            Yeah right. Great point.

            I keep forgetting there’s a deeply consequential difference between the tens of thousands of vaccinated spreading the virus and someone who is unvaccinated spreading the virus. Ideology is so important to the virus, the covid found in the unvaccinated is so much bolder and certain in its transmission due to the confidence derived from the succour shown by its host.

            Sarcasm alert!

          • GingerMEMBER

            Very good point. Fishing and KK and others, libertarian eugenicists and ma freedumbs. It reminds me of the joke early in the piece about bogan armchair experts squawking away about a highly specialised and complex situation.

          • drsmithyMEMBER

            Very good point. Fishing and KK and others, libertarian eugenicists and ma freedumbs.

            Well, until it affects them personally. Then it’s all Very Serious Business.

          • M

            Pretty ironic considering The Proceedings of the 2nd International Congress of the Eugenics Society was the lead article of Science journal 100 years ago. Now they accuse those who deny The Science of what their own Institutions are historically guilty of promulgating, with catastrophic and very real consequences. And to use the slur ‘denialist’. Disgraceful and shameful.
            Talk about denying ‘The Science’.

            https://bioedge.org/enhancement/eugenics/science-apologises-for-complicity-in-spreading-the-philosophy-of-eugenics/

    • FUDINTHENUD

      Yeh NSW lockdown (in all but name) baked-in by early Jan (because hospitals). The amount of times I’ve seen governments/”leaders” declare “freedom day”/”we’re never locking down again” and then get undone by their own hubris is astounding. (see Netherlands, Denmark, UK, Biden ect ect ect ect)

      History shows again and again. How nature points out the folly of men..

      • Mining BoganMEMBER

        It’s like watching WW1 Generals in the mud in Europe. Keep sending troops over the top hoping for a different result, with a number of casualties in your head that can be spun as acceptable losses.

    • SnappedUpSavvyMEMBER

      The WHO only say what China let’s them say and Xi is loving this virus and the controls it gives him

    • yokelMEMBER

      Nah…..it’s just The Heartburn.
      My sister-in-law’s half-brother through an uncle’s illicit liaison assured her that their Swami insists it can be prevented by ingesting Eno while standing in the Crane position.
      But don’t worry too much, coz only the fat, weak-stomached or people who were going to die sometime anyway will perish from it. I would also avoid eating chicken, as I read someone on MB claiming it put’s you under the bed, which may or may not be wet from an overly anxious person recumbent therein.
      I also heard that if you moan about your Heartburn long enough, someone in the same room can also catch it; but I’m gonna call BS on that one.

  51. Fishing72MEMBER

    A little heads up to how terribly, indiscriminate and existentially ruinous the covid virus truly is. Here’s the statistics up till June 2021 before the vaccines saved all those healthy young people-especially the vulnerable children- from the equal opportunity disease which hunted down the unvaccinated!

    COVID-19 mortality by age and sex
    Females had a higher number of registered deaths (474) due to COVID-19 than males (446 deaths).

    The highest number of COVID-19 deaths occurred among those aged 80-89 years (381). This was true for both males and females.

    Males aged under 80 years had a higher number of deaths than females (144 compared with 77).

    The median age for those who died from COVID-19 was 86.9 years (85.2 years for males, 88.4 years for females).

    • boomengineeringMEMBER

      You realize when all this is finished the now pro vaxers will say so what we all know/knew that and won’t admit they took the poison.

      • Anders Andersen

        No, you’re wrong but you’re just too Krugered to realise it.

        The number of people here commenting outside their area of knowledge is astounding.

  52. BillsMEMBER

    Seems to me that we get a much more civilised commentary compared to the click bait Murduck press. Though their commentary saves me money cause I’m never giving to give money to a local charity in case some of it ends up with an Oz reader!!

    • footsore

      Doom with a chance of catastrophe according to the initial reading of the runes. More info coming once the goat entrails have been divined.

    • boomengineeringMEMBER

      Just had a RE agent (regional) ring to ask when the crash was coming. Quite a few months ago when I was sprouting Bcnich’s message. The missus said she was having a dig but I think it more likely she’s (RE agent) seeing a slight downturn and may want heads up. (no rude jokes reqd).

      • reusachtigeMEMBER

        Nah bloke, she was having a dig at your ridiculousness in believing that rubbish that once again has been proven to be arse dribble.

        By the way, I love that guy. Wish he was still around. The rule is, never be ashamed by who you are. I learnt that a long time ago

    • Fishing72MEMBER

      The whole pseudo- lockdown test and isolate strategy is a way to pander to the voting block of the irrational chicken sh1t softc0cks and create the illusion the government is doing something, whilst allowing the Mass immigration Ponzi to reboot unimpeded by a genuine lockdown. This also allows the government to keep the population mentally unbalanced and still maintain the option of turning the Wuflu restrictions back up to 11 anytime they want.

      It’s hard to conceive of a better way to run an economy into the ground without actually having to provide government financial aid.

    • alwaysanonMEMBER

      That’s exactly what they were doing in the US / NY – charging USD$99/PCR Test and then you could “claim it back on your insurance” which was a PITA that many didn’t do. As you’d expect, testing numbers that were like 1/10th the numbers we see here from that – pushing people to the at-home tests which were $~15/each. The other reason for the at-home tests were that if you test positive on the lab PCR test you got reported to the health dept who’d call and say you had to self-isolate for 10 days – and ask for your close contacts to call them too (though they’d just get told to get a test and monitor for symptoms if vaxed not to isolate – though unvaxed, of which there are many more there, were ordered to isolate too) – but the at-home test you didn’t. I actually heard people use that as a reason for at-home “it is both cheaper – and it doesn’t rat me out to the health department”

      • kiwikarynMEMBER

        They are charging $140 for a PCR test in NZ now. Not surprisingly, testing numbers have fallen off a cliff.

  55. The Claw

    The vax rate is still far too low and children need to be vaxxed.
    Sweeper

    The Premier is incredibly reckless allowing the unvaxxed back into civilisation.
    Sweeper

    Hey Sweeper,

    Why don’t you and a few likeminded blokes get together one night, wear some dark coloured shirts, and go around smashing all the windows of unvaccinated peoples houses and businesses? You could be part of the final solution to the virus problem.

    • M

      LOL have a gander at the study, they looked at 6 people with COVID, one in their 20s with insulin dependent diabetes and the other 5 were practically the walking dead before they got the cough. No wonder they had erectile dysfunction.
      The Conversation is such a rich vein of low quality pro-Establishment Science information.

      • GingerMEMBER

        Posted for the lols even from the trolls Clearly comprehension is not a prerequisite for your gig. How well do you think you rank as an Influencer?

        • M

          The fact that you feel the need to call me names rather than argue a point is just more evidence to add to the growing pile that the pro-jab camp is morally and scientifically busted. All it has left to rely on is fear, lies and heavy-handed coercion.

          • skippyMEMBER

            “The fact that you feel the need to call me names” – look in mirror.

            Anywhooo like I said you can define individuals and groups by its rhetorical devices … this is the one when a aficionado of such a group has no qualms about spewing emotive terms and phrases … take umbrage when they get a does of it too close to home and then pin it all on the perceived antagonist e.g. one huge rhetorical game play.

          • M

            Two responses devoid of any point. Skippy you called me a moron not so long ago, don’t tell me to look in the mirror you hypocrite.

      • Anders Andersen

        Did you read the article? Sure, only six but I’m pretty certain he’s aware of that and because of what he’s observed his experience (and that of his co-workers) is the reason for his call on this.

        This comment here: “I have no knowledge of the medical issues involved here … my interest is in proofs and how to apply them. In this case, the evidence is compelling but from a rigorous standpoint, not convincing.”

    • skippyMEMBER

      Are you suggesting Reusa is really Kath’s ex navy butcher husband and does the silly walk in gaudy action wear – ?????

      Explains a lot

  60. reusachtigeMEMBER

    If I get forced by contact tracing to have a China Virus test that may mean I have to lock away I’m going to St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney to have it done!

    • TailorTrashMEMBER

      Do they let povos in the door there now ?…….just as well you got all that rental income ….

    • skippyMEMBER

      As my Daughter said and I relayed here on MB … but Efficiencies as dictated by the orthodox economists and their wind ups the MBA’s. All the data entry[E-health records] is so it can facilitate insurance billing and policy directive from the businesses management, extreme examples are the private equity health extraction model in the U.S. where you have ***Access*** to industrialized health providers* and not a – Right – to Public Health Care …

    • RobotSensei

      Nah it’s well over now. I don’t see any real point to testing anymore; time frames are irrelevant, variant too contagious, etc.

      This isn’t all bad IMO. The overall national “strategy” was to get multiple jabs in arms and then let it happen. This isn’t the worst variant out there to let go blazing through the population. And the criticism of PCR testing being wasted on interstate travel holds plenty of merit.

      Whilst that Reddit thread makes point of the short-staffing (which I’ll entirely attest to), having it break out during school holidays actually isn’t a bad idea either. At least it allows parents to look after kids and vice-versa, and not panic about missing education.

      I think overall the national strategy went pretty well as far as avoiding the alpha/delta variants. But I think we all want it to end, and if omicron is the way out, so be it.

      • skippyMEMBER

        And that takes in new variants and the perception management by governments which sets everyone up for the potential of another case of wrong on all accounts – ????

        That is going to set up an interesting dynamic IMO – what is lost can not be gained back on top of everything else falling apart.

        • RobotSensei

          Therein lies the rub overall: the ones who make the stupid strategic decisions aren’t the ones having to clean the mess up. Anyone could see from a mile away that pathology testing was going to crumble in the face of hundreds of thousands of punters/day lining up (I think some of the state mandates were dumb – why test a whole stack of asymptomatic people if you’re not going to reintroduce restrictions on social mobility? Anyway…)

          The optimist in me at least looks at our healthcare staff who haven’t been beaten to a pulp unlike their US/UK counterparts who’ve only just gotten over cleaning up the delta mess and now get omicron to sift through over the new year. New bodies should be arriving on the front line in February. It’ll be like enlisting on D-day for the new grads.

      • Ronin8317MEMBER

        If that’s the plan, the government should have done away with the PCR testing requirements and the self-isolation rules. What’s the point of achieving 95% vaccination otherwise?

        • GavinMEMBER

          None of it makes sense from a logic perspective. Why self isolate if getting vaccinated meant we could open up and live our lives?

  62. HoodyMEMBER

    I’m holidaying in the Bay area, and the one thing that has really stood out on the whole is that as a nation we are seriously overweight. We can scream until we are blue in the face about Vaxs, but until we actually address the underlying issue of a serious overweight society it’s all just pissing in the wind.

        • drsmithyMEMBER

          Probably already made numerous attempts to lose it, are well aware of the consequences, and are sick of hearing about it.

          • drsmithyMEMBER

            Well hardly going to fix anything by ignoring it are theym

            Like I said, probably been trying to fix it for most of their lives without success. Constantly being told something you already know gets a bit tiresome (to say the least) after a lifetime of it.

          • The Traveling Wilbur 🙉🙈🙊

            Because telling people not to smoke, drink and drive, speed, drink while pregnant or to keep away from children is unnecessary and has never ever worked no matter how often or in what manner it’s been tried.

            Yawn…

          • drsmithyMEMBER

            The only one of those even remotely similar is quitting smoking, which is notoriously difficult – and judging by the failure rate of dieting, it’s probably just as hard.

      • Muttafukaburrasaurus.MEMBER

        Should be “not for resus” on the reverse side of the card.
        Be proud to be obese when your having crushing chest pains and about to croak.

    • LSWCHPMEMBER

      When I was at primary school in the 70s, I remember there was a fat kid in my year group, and he was nicknamed “Slobbachops”. Kids can be so cruel.

      The point being though, that he was the one and only fat kid in my year group.

      Yesterday I was out walking and saw a family coming towards me, all overweight, even the little boy about 6 with a great gut hanging over his pants. They looked disgusting, but unremarkable, because almost everybody is fat these days.

      And from that flows the diabetes and heart disease and every other malady afflicting the fat. But we dont want to mention it because that would be fat shaming?.

    • GingerMEMBER

      Note my strong language comments are meant to be about weight due to diet, not about the overweight person themselves. I know that for some people the dietary ‘choice’ is compulsive and is very, very difficult to manage on a sustainable basis. I would never intentionally fat-shame an individual. Apologies if I have.

      • haroldusMEMBER

        Thanks for that Ginger. I wouldn’t mind having a talk about this in a less fraught thread. Smithy also knows about this.

        Anyway the thing is, if it was easy, it would be easy. And it is easy for some people.

          • The Traveling Wilbur 🙉🙈🙊

            !!!!! harry’s comment was insightful and full of warmth, compassion and understanding. I don’t think you understand what’s going on here. His account has obviously been hacked and someone should let the MB team know immediately.

          • ErmingtonPlumbingMEMBER

            Good point Wilbur.
            Those Sentiments are definitely not what we’ve come to expect from Harry.
            I know where he lives and am going to drive over and do a Welfare check on him right now.
            I’ll keep you posted.

          • The Traveling Wilbur 🙉🙈🙊

            Good bloke. Make sure you knock on the neighbours’ doors too if there’s no answer at his place.

            Too good for the likes of us you are.

        • reusachtigeMEMBER

          You need to move your vices away from the unsociable addictions of food, p0rn, depressants, and video games to something more healthy like women (or blokes maybe), charging goods at energetic parties, and making profits. This will help build ambition.

    • skippyMEMBER

      I’m not part of any anti vaccine mob ninny … only pointing out the absurdity that it transfers any immunity, largest Phase III Trial ev’a without a IRB, complete mash up on aerosols, and public information management handed down from the Pharma industry.

      You on the other hand – you – say we should – all obey – the corporate health industry without question.

      The Sacklers et al … the company you keep …

      https://abcnews.go.com/Business/pfizer-fined-23-billion-illegal-marketing-off-label/story?id=8477617

      https://www.corpwatch.org/article/pfizer-admits-bribery-eight-countries

      Keeps going and going whilst it makes JPM Dimon look good because he’s just a conduit for illegal money scams ….

      • SweeperMEMBER

        I have merely pointed out the absurdity of judging any vaccine in terms of immunity.

        It is all about the de-compounding effect. remember the virus itself doesn’t present the threat. qty of hosts does.

        “You on the other hand – you – say we should – all obey – the corporate health industry without question”

        I modestly submit here that you may have – by spending so much time engaged in the debate – been fooled into believing that the neoliberal line on the omnipotence of the private sector has some credibility.
        Because you have this arse about. Big pharma for the purposes of vaccination has been completely requisitioned by the State.

        • skippyMEMBER

          Your biases are in over drive on this topic … vax vax vax is the neoliberal policy [Pharma C-corps] because it denies all the other tools available to the State in preserving capital. I know people with 30 years of experience in the relative disciplines that were gob smacked at younger doctors in the U.S. using social media to show them at large sporting events mask-less after first vaccination. Wanking on about freedom and how the un-vaccinated were social lepers like teenage boys and girls. On that topic you might want to refer to some social psychology about how that plays out in a country like the U.S. or Australia. Hint you get the opposite effect your looking for from those that are depicted as being – less – than human and doubling down on that failed strategy will have down the road consequences aka a two’fer.

          Geez … you can’t redress a multivariate problem with a one trick pony approach which does nothing to stop repeated infections and the mutations that come with that approach – decouple = anti scientific PR jargon. Why do you think a country like china that has fought several SARS out breaks with a zero policy approach e.g. experience.

          Per your quip about Jordan Peterson, he’s completely lost the plot and thinks himself a prophet of the creator now fighting for the side of light[tm – waves at 007].

          Yet I see you ignore all the dramas with the track record of the Pharma Corps and profits before peoples well being and health past and present e.g. why did they get blanket rule indemnity, no IRB [scientific approach], and what one could only call a Laissez-faire market based approach.

          PS. A layered defense is the only defense.

  64. Swampy

    Swam out at broken head today . Water temp 27z
    Fish going out tomoz for some waves

    I felt like saying, go Dees and also, toyata

  65. SweeperMEMBER

    Omicron may be bad, or it may mean the effective end of the pandemic.
    But if it is as mild (or even slightly less mild) as Delta.NSW hospitals are in real trouble and the State will have to go in to lockdown..
    What amazes me though are the comments above.
    I mean for a business site why are people commenting here who have no understanding of numbers?
    Or linear v exponential functions. A pandemic is just about numbers, and growth and constraints (like hospital beds)
    What motivates them to comment? Why does their ideology bring them to a business site? Two years in I see no evidence that they have graduated lesson 1.. yet they are so sure they are right.

    • skippyMEMBER

      A flurry of new laboratory studies indicate that vaccines, and especially booster shots, may offer protection against the worst outcomes from the fast-spreading Omicron coronavirus variant. The highly mutated virus, however, will still cause many breakthrough infections in vaccinated people and in those who have been infected with older versions of the virus, according to the research.

      At a World Health Organization meeting on Wednesday, scientists reported on several studies suggesting that T cells in vaccinated people can put up a strong defense against the variant, which could help prevent severe disease, hospitalization and death.

      https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/15/health/omicron-vaccine-severe-disease.html

      No immunity stated or implied and only a reduction in sever immediate outcomes which leaves out the effects from multiple infection or damaged immunity/organs down the road.

      About that autoimmune system Sweeper … are you aware of the scientific community concern that repeated vaccinations, in increasingly shorter intervals, can actually diminish or damage its function, which would not only open it up to covid, but all other illnesses and disease. So it seems your complaint about numbers and some narrow concept about business is wobbly at best.

      • kiwikarynMEMBER

        Even “The Science” is warning about rolling out a 4th shot. I love irony, so looking forward to when the vaccines start causing more people to die than those that chose to stay unvaccinated/unboosted.
        https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/23/world/middleeast/israel-vaccine-4th-dose.html
        “But some scientists warned that the plan could backfire, because too many shots might cause a sort of immune system fatigue, compromising the body’s ability to fight the coronavirus. A few members of the government’s advisory panel raised that concern with respect to the elderly, according to a written summary of the discussion obtained by The New York Times.”

    • skippyMEMBER

      “Critics say the Biden administration has been slow to act on testing, in part because it saw vaccination as the best pathway out of the pandemic. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention assured Americans early this summer that, once vaccinated, they could shed their masks and forgo testing. Those declarations quickly proved untrue as breakthrough infections have risen. ‘We put all our eggs in the vaccine basket and it’s not enough,’ Dr. Jay Wohlgemuth, chief medical officer at Quest Diagnostics, told Vanity Fair.”

      So its not like there is no evidence against your stance Sweeper and BTW economic number wang does not superseded medical science.

  66. Muttafukaburrasaurus.MEMBER

    around week beginning 10th of January, I’m expecting talk of lockdowns probably in VIC but then NSW also, “uncontrolled transmission” and “shortages” of toilet paper?
    Australia day as some form of “rallying point” vs “divisive wedge” to complicate issues… Messy.
    I’m expecting the new year to start with a bang… and betting the ASX will puke.

    • skippyMEMBER

      “So we are suckers if we keep watching” ***youtube infotainment videos*** I mean have you not read the Larry Summers memo preceding events or that C-Corp stampeded to China without it have any legal system of commerce law e.g. Libertarian free market wet dream meets its conclusion … yet again …

  68. skippyMEMBER

    https://wolfstreet.com/2021/12/27/my-wealth-effect-monitor-wealth-disparity-monitor-for-the-feds-money-printer-economy-december-update/

    According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the top 30 US billionaires are worth a total of $2.23 trillion. On average, that amounts to a wealth of $74.5 billion per billionaire among the top 30 richest US billionaires. Three months ago, each of the top 30 US billionaires at the time was worth on average $69.2 billion. So, over the three-month period, the average billionaire among the top 30 US billionaires each gained $5.3 billion in wealth.
    …

    • ErmingtonPlumbingMEMBER

      Anyone who thinks these cnts shouldn’t be taxed at 90 cents in the dollar (like they were under republican press Eisenhower) is either a dumb shyte or a toadying sycophant to power.
      This is the kinda out come you expect from Aristocracy not Democracy.
      An unacceptable and dangerous concentration of wealth and power that is leading the world back into feudalism.
      techno-feudalism
      https://youtu.be/Ghx0sq_gXK4

      • skippyMEMBER

        Were you not informed that one of the corner stones to neoliberalism was a two tier society like back in the good[tm] old days …

  69. skippyMEMBER

    Soooo I can highly recommend the netflix dark comedy ‘Don’t Look Up’ as a introspective which covers covid and so much more for a laugh fest during the holidays … enjoy as you might want …

    Everyone save pft007 …. because they will find it Joyless[tm]

    • kierans777MEMBER

      I haven’t laughed so hard since the Wolf of Wall Street, which of course had both Leo and Jonah Hill in it.

      Great movie.