nCoV 2019

[Lightspeed]

Originally Posted by Nich

Safety pause: Refusing to wear a mask is like strapping on a suicide vest.

https://twitter.com/arneduncan/statu...388100612?s=21

“ Have you noticed how strikingly similar both the mindsets and actions are between the suicide bombers at Kabul’s airport, and the anti-mask and anti-vax people here?
They both blow themselves up, inflict harm on those around them, and are convinced they are fighting for freedom.”

Not a bad analogy. Both are people convinced by others to act against their own interests, so a few can marginally increase their wealth and influence.

Imagine how shocked and appalled we would be by a conflict with the casualties we're seeing inflicted by covid, directly or indirectly.

Would there be similar calls to surrender? After all, there's already plenty of rape in the community, so if we give up and the victors get all rapey, won't be much difference, will there?

[Nich]

My daughter can see me do funny shit with my tongue because she wants me to copy what she's doing. So praise allah I guess.

[StN]

Wait... she can see through your mask?

[Nich]

No mask because I'm not going to go along with something that will slow her development, or cause her to believe she is a vector for disease all because some expert adults are too cowardly to sacrifice themselves so the next generation may prosper. Thankfully her school believes the same.

Yes, I am at the playground on the swings and flying fox, and yes I am seeking out playdates with other kids!

[Lightspeed]

That's your takeaway? People should fucking DIE so that your kid can see your face when you're out?

Is that what parenthood does to people? It burns away our ability to see beyond our own needs? Or is it just living in Australia?

Why are child development experts so trustworthy while epidemiologists are so untrustworthy? Why this set of experts over that? And... are you sure that's what child development experts are really concerned about? Is that the consensus amongst such experts? Of all the potential consequences of a pandemic, not being able to see parents' faces occasionally is the biggest concern?

[Lightspeed]

How did you toilet train your kid without them realising something that comes out of them is unwanted? How'd you navigate that?

[Lightspeed]

In other news, it's interesting see on reddit the community/moderator driven efforts to target covid misinformation that admins are apparently inadequately responding to.

This horse tranq meme is going full steam right now too. I'm not willing to make the effort to understand it properly, it's definitely coming from the wall of my bubble tho, cause I have no view of any other side of it.

[Nich]

Originally Posted by Lightspeed

That's your takeaway? People should fucking DIE so that your kid can see your face when you're out?

Is that what parenthood does to people? It burns away our ability to see beyond our own needs? Or is it just living in Australia?

Why are child development experts so trustworthy while epidemiologists are so untrustworthy? Why this set of experts over that? And... are you sure that's what child development experts are really concerned about? Is that the consensus amongst such experts? Of all the potential consequences of a pandemic, not being able to see parents' faces occasionally is the biggest concern?

My takeaway is we're optimizing for stopping virus and every other human need can get fucked.

[Ab]

Death cult

https://religionnews.com/2021/08/27/...vid-hesitancy/

[Lightspeed]

Originally Posted by Nich

My takeaway is we're optimizing for stopping virus and every other human need can get fucked.

Naw, we're optimized for economic productivity and every other human need can get fucked.

The pandemic is fucking with our economy, which is compelling a response.

You're willing to put your community at risk cause you're just figuring out it's not about you.

[Lightspeed]

Originally Posted by Ab

Death cult

https://religionnews.com/2021/08/27/...vid-hesitancy/

So creepy.

[StN]

Originally Posted by Nich

My takeaway is we're optimizing for stopping virus and every other human need can get fucked.

Yeah...

[Nich]

The population of our town is 4000. All big city tourist traffic has ceased. We haven't had a single case in the entire shire.

Yet, the playgrounds and schools are closed. My lifestyle is my anti-COVID precaution. I'm not killing anyone.

[Nich]

Originally Posted by Lightspeed

Naw, we're optimized for economic productivity and every other human need can get fucked.

My frustration is partly about this. The rhetoric is "saving lives", "stomping out virus" blah blah, but the actions and results don't match the stated goal. Australia (and Victoria especially), doesn't have effective quarantine facilities for new arrivals, no spinning up of excess reserve ICU's.

But yet, the AFL and Australian open went ahead. At the Australian Open, one of the athletes was COVID positive but flew in on their private jet straight to the hotel anyway.

I'm over it because we've been following the instructions as misguided as they may be, then shit like big sports days are given the go ahead which makes it all for nought. So fuck Dan Andrews and whoever is giving him advice.

[Ab]

As Herr Dutton so gleefully reminded us, quarantine is a border control and thus federal govt issue.

[crocos]

Originally Posted by Ab

As Herr Dutton so gleefully reminded us, quarantine is a border control and thus federal govt issue.

Yes... but execution is left up to the state (mainly because Feds... pissup... brewery)

[Ab]

I see QLD has just said “fuck this” and is putting in place its own quarantine rules in defiance of whatever the fuck the fed gov says from day to day.

[crocos]

Interesting, but given the utter ballsup that the Federal Govt have done, good on 'em.

Curious now - off to find some more info.

[crocos]

[LINK]

Due to hotel capacity issues, Queensland residents and those intending to relocate to Queensland who have been in a hotspot in the last 14 days or since the identified start date (whichever is shorter) will not be allowed to enter Queensland, without an exemption.

[...]

The Australian Capital Territory, the Jervis Bay Territory, New South Wales, and Victoria are declared hotspots.

International Arrivals[LINK]

As of 1am 19 August 2021 New Zealand has been removed as a safe travel zone country.

Not seeing anything I'd consider controversial other than the 3rd test at day 16/17 after leaving Hotel Quarantine.

[Ab]

e.g. https://www.skynews.com.au/australia...cd0b46a1effbdb

[Lightspeed]

Originally Posted by Nich

My frustration is partly about this. The rhetoric is "saving lives", "stomping out virus" blah blah, but the actions and results don't match the stated goal. Australia (and Victoria especially), doesn't have effective quarantine facilities for new arrivals, no spinning up of excess reserve ICU's.

Pretty much the same for mental health services in NZ. The story is of course we're improving services, but the effort is focused on convincing people not to worry, there is help. Putting in place services that can be pointed to so that if people are still struggling they obviously only have themselves to blame. Regardless of how effective or appropriate such services are.

And so many other things. The poorer you are, the more you know this, but you're poor so no one listens.

Not being aware of this is a function of privilege.

[StN]

Wow - just been waiting in the line at the chemist, dutifully masked and socially distanced with the rest of a cross section of the public all waiting for their scripts, and a bloke rocks up in a ute, driven by his lady friend. Kid in the from masked, but him and her not - he jumps out, marches past the peeps waiting, pokes his head in the door and yells out "I'm here....can you let her know I'm here?"

Waits a minute.

Whistles loudly - "Helloo...."

Chemist lady acknowledges him and he takes one step back and clogs the doorway - we all keep back.

Then he gets his methadone, jumps back in the ute, and is gone.

[Lightspeed]

If you're a hot mess before the pandemic, you still gonna be a hot mess during.

[Ab]

Originally Posted by Nich

My frustration is partly about this. The rhetoric is "saving lives", "stomping out virus" blah blah, but the actions and results don't match the stated goal.

In the first four months of 2021 we enjoyed a “COVID normal” life. Not one Australian died of COVID-19. But according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) death in Australia has increased 5.6 percent over our pre-pandemic, seasonally adjusted average.

Our concern that shutting down hospitals to “flatten the curve” would kill people was dismissed by the health establishment. They knew better. The ABS analysed every single doctor-certified death in Australia and compared it to the five years between 2015 and 2019. According to the ABS, cancer deaths are up by 8.9 percent. We sacrificed our businesses to protect the elderly in nursing homes. Dementia deaths are up 18.9 percent. The health establishment is taking victory laps over a reduction in influenza death thanks to our closed borders and social distancing. Deaths from respiratory diseases are up by 1.9 percent.

Doctors convinced us that our friends and family were dangerous to our health. Not one person died of COVID-19 and somehow our national mortality rate has increased from an average of 375.9 deaths per day to 378.4 deaths. COVID-Zero costs five Australians every two days from “natural causes.” The horrifying part of this dry statistic is that it doesn’t include suicide or self-harm.

There is a waiting list for the coroner to declare a death with “no suspicious circumstances” as a suicide. It will be at least two years before we know how many Australians died at their own hand for COVID-Zero. I doubt it will be good news.

Every Australian government official can’t wait to tell you about the record amounts of money they’re spending on mental health. And thank goodness the money is there. Calls to Lifeline are up 18.9 percent. On August 3rd 2021, Lifeline reached an all-time record for volume of calls in one day in 58 years. Beyond Blue calls are up 30.7 percent. Kids Helpline reports eight percent more children are calling to talk about self-harm and 33 percent more are calling about child abuse. The organisation also reports that teenage attempted suicide rates are up 184 percent—dispatching 53 ambulances a week for kids in Victoria who have attempted suicide.

https://quillette.com/2021/08/09/cov...s-it-worth-it/

[crocos]

Originally Posted by Ab

e.g. https://www.skynews.com.au/australia...cd0b46a1effbdb

Ta

[Nich]

Originally Posted by Ab

stats

There it is. Enough info to change tactics, if "saving lives" is a genuine concern.

[Lightspeed]

But it's not.

The figures show that a compassionate government might offer some support to those impacted by any response to the pandemic, but the impacts themselves can't be avoided.

Attempts to do better may very well lead to worse outcomes.

[fixed_truth]

Lockdowns are supposed to be a short term tool to control the spread of covid until such time that herd immunity is achieved. If for whatever reason that is bungled then the longer the lockdown goes on the more the negative impacts of locking down accumulate towards offsetting the benefits.

However, things like the prevalence of long covid and people (especially older) not going out much and spending money before herd immunity is reached makes the calculation of harm complex ie we can only speculate that a soft lockdown would be less harmful, especially as we can only choose one option.

[Ab]

Tell that to gladys

https://www.reddit.com/r/AusMemes/co..._who_did_this/

[fixed_truth]

Nzs hospitals are barely equipped to handle the level of infection we're seeing at the moment. With a soft lockdown these levels would be a lot higher.

Dr Michael Shepherd, the director of hospital services for ADHB, to told RNZ's Morning Report earlier this morning they are redirecting spinal cord patients to Christchurch to free up ICU capacity in Auckland. Shepherd said these patients usually require prolonged ICU stays.

Nurses were also being transferred and accommodated in Auckland to help with the demand. Shepherd said the costs of these temporary relocations would be covered by the health system, and they wouldn't be for long periods, rather two weeks or a month at a time.

Covid-19 live: Pressure on Auckland hospitals sees patients transferred to other centres

[crocos]

Originally Posted by Ab

Tell that to gladys

https://www.reddit.com/r/AusMemes/co..._who_did_this/

That's bloody perfect!

[crocos]

Meanwhile: The Andromeda Strain could be a real thing
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-h...alphabet-runs/

[Ab]

Originally Posted by crocos

That's bloody perfect!

It’s been a long time since anything on the internet made me burst out laughing like that did!

[Ab]

Originally Posted by Nich

There it is. Enough info to change tactics, if "saving lives" is a genuine concern.

I find it analogous in a way to the "compulsory bike helmets" issue. I consider wearing a helmet while riding a bike to be eminently sensible. But it's now compulsory in most places, because "public health".

The thing is, bike helmets are enough of an issue for some people that they decide to just not ride a bike at all. And the health problems that result from fewer people riding bikes outweigh the health problems that result from people not wearing bike helmets. So the "public health" angle is at the very least worthy of deeper discussion with reference to stats and expense. But no discussion happens, wear your fucking helmet or get fined, citizen.

[crocos]

Joe Rogan, Mr My Immune System can handle Everything / My BMI, diet, age and exercise means it's only a mild cold...

So why is he taking all the snake-oil "cures" like horse dewormer (ivermectin), monoclonal antibodies (no known evidence of effect) etc? Oh right - he's an idiot.
https://twitter.com/zachzachzach/sta...65332928032768

[Lightspeed]

Yeah he is. Love this clip of Bill Burr calling him out.

[fixed_truth]

An example of how money & power corrupts. It was only a few years ago that his podcasts were very mainstream & widely listened to. Now he's a joke.

[MadMax]

Originally Posted by Ab

Tell that to gladys

https://www.reddit.com/r/AusMemes/co..._who_did_this/

Aussies be like, perfect example of NZ vs Kiwi thinking

[Ab]

For most able-bodied adults, masks in public indoor settings pose only minor inconveniences. But children—who even amid the worrisome Delta-variant surge are experiencing serious outcomes from COVID-19 at far lower rates than people in older age groups are—have different needs and vulnerabilities than adults. Early childhood is a crucial period when humans develop cultural, language, and social skills, including the ability to detect emotion on other people’s faces. Social interactions with friends, parents, and caregivers are integral to fostering children’s growth and well-being.

https://apple.news/A44kot3GKQ8KD2oyrUIg_EA

Imagine what a cool world it’ll be when 2 years of teenagers are basically psychopaths with no empathy.

[crocos]

Ab: If I wanted an opinion on cancer treatment or blood issues, I'd talk to him - he's an hematologist and oncologist. He's not got any ECE or psychology qualifications, so I'd treat this at best as an opinion piece.

Originally Posted by MadMax

Aussies be like, perfect example of NZ vs Kiwi thinking

Nah, most Aussies are too busy taking the piss at her. She's like a semi-competent version of Judith Collins.