Thursday Open Thread

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247 comments to Thursday Open Thread

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    OldOzzie

    Republicans’ 2017 tax reform law benefited middle- and working-class Americans the most.

    In a report published by the Tax Foundation less than a week before President Trump signed the TCJA into law, the Tax Foundation noted, “The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act would reform the individual income tax code by lowering tax rates on wages, investment, and business income; broadening the tax base; and simplifying the tax code. The plan would lower the corporate income tax rate to 21 percent and move the United States from a worldwide to a territorial system of taxation.”[2]

    During the legislative debates that occurred prior to the bill’s passage, opponents of the legislation—especially congressional Democrats—argued that TCJA would disproportionately benefit wealthy households and businesses, at the expense of lower- and middle-income American families.

    For example, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, who now serves as the speaker of the House, said on November 6, 2017, “Despite Republicans’ empty promises to cut taxes for middle class working families, it’s clear that the GOP tax plan for the wealthiest is rich indeed.”

    More than four years after Pelosi’s dire statements, analysts now have the evidence needed to evaluate whether the TCJA truly was, as Pelosi suggested, nothing more than a “snake oil pitch.” The results are definitive and striking.

    According to data from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service comparing outcomes from 2017 to 2018—the first year the tax reform law went into effect—the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act reduced average effective income tax rates for filers in every one of the IRS’s income brackets, with the largest benefits going to lower- and middle-income households. (See Table 1 by clicking “Download the PDF” at the top of this page.)

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    OldOzzie

    Updated: 08 Dec 2021, 04:41 PM IST

    The head of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) on Tuesday said that it could soon approve the COVID-19 vaccine developed by US biotech company Novavax

    The head of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) on Tuesday said that it could soon approve the Covid-19 vaccine developed by US biotech company Novavax.

    “The vaccine from Novavax could be authorised in the very near future,” Emer Cooke told EU health ministers during a public session of a meeting in Brussels.

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    • #
      OldOzzie

      Meanwhile in Australia

      Top 3 COVID-19 vaccine questions – Myocarditis, likelihood of new COVID vaccines, and Omicron variant information

      Dr Lucas De Toca, COVID-19 Primary Care Response First Assistant Secretary, answers the Top Three questions across our channels.

      Date published: 7 December 2021 – Read the Transcript

      Which takes us to the second question which is, when are we going to get Novavax, what is the deal with Novavax, and are we going to get other vaccines in Australia? In Australia the approval for vaccines as for any other drug is undertaken by the Therapeutic Goods Administration, the TGA. The TGA assesses any new candidate that has applied for approval based on its effectiveness, its safety and its quality. Products need to be consistent and have highest quality and make sure they have quality controls in place, so that each different batch is equivalent. So, when there is approval for a product there is assurance that is consistent for the production. Products need to be effective, they need to provide a benefit and one that also stacks up with their claims. The products also need to be safe. The safety of that product needs to be so that if there is any issue or side effects, which as I said most drugs do have. Its exceeded by the benefits that it confers through its effectiveness.

      At the moment the Novavax candidate is being considered by the TGA. They have applied for approval and the TGA is going through all the data of their submission and anything from other international regulators that TGA frequently discusses things with, to assess whether it is appropriate, safe, effective and of high quality to be used in Australia. If the TGA provides approval, Australia has an advanced purchase agreement with Novavax.

      So we will have the vaccine available in the country if approved by the TGA to be used, and ATAGI, the Advisory Group on Immunisation will provide a recommendation to the government on how the vaccine could be integrated into our available vaccines portfolio. We understand there is a number of people, not big, because the majority of the country is vaccinated now which is fantastic. But there is a number of people may be waiting for Novavax because of a perception that a protein subunit technology is more traditional in a way than the novel mRNA or adenovirus technologies of the other vaccines we have here. It is important to know that there is decades of research behind MRNA vaccines they are not something that came out of thin air in the last couple of years.

      The important message is that we still don’t know if Novavax will get approved by regulators, including the TGA, and when the supply of Novavax will make it into the country. So, the best vaccine you can get is the one that is available right now. No vaccine gets approved in Australia that does not pass a rigorous assessment of safety, quality and effectiveness so I would strongly recommend not waiting for Novavax, and to get a vaccine that is available right now. So, you are protected as we have multiple outbreaks of Delta and increasing presence of Omicron in the country. Ultimately if TGA approves and the vaccine is produced at a large-scale internationally, we should have Novavax available in Australia next year to just add another tool to our toolbox of vaccines available here.

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      • #
        OldOzzie

        COVID is a Mild Disease (if you treat it!)

        COVID is one of those mild diseases that sends sick people over the edge because they don’t need much of a shove. But for healthy people to die of it, they must be kept away from effective drugs like IVM and HCQ. Having prevented treatment, the Quixotic Quislings of Quarantine can then claim that COVID is far worse than it actually is.

        With any of the proven protocols for those drugs, COVID is no worse than the flu. But the billions available in the COVID lottery are so large that it’s hard for anyone to remember that the task of a doctor is to treat the sick, not to keep them away from treatment because they didn’t get a shot that is less effective than the $8 India spent.

        Parting Thoughts

        The COVID pandemic is a man-caused disaster, and I’m not talking about how the bug was created. In the earliest days, we didn’t know how to treat it but within a couple of months effective HCQ protocols were available. Those protocols, though, contradicted the bureaucrats at NIH/CDC/LSD who were married to their own approach of lockdown, distance, and vaccinate – unless you are one of the elites. They were the smartest people in the room, and anyone who contradicted them was the spawn of the devil.

        We have extremely effective protocols that anyone who gets sick should be able to use, but those bureaucrats can punish anyone who prescribes one of them. In short, we are in a concentration camp from sea to shining sea. America the Beautiful is now COVIDia the Rapacious. We are cannon fodder at the command of those who know nothing but do not care.

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          Bright+Red

          Spot on OldOzzie
          “COVID is one of those mild diseases that sends sick people over the edge because they don’t need much of a shove“

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        lindsay samuel phillips

        Good morning,
        Just wondering?
        Re. the Covid Panic-demic & Vaccine mandates …
        1. If the vaccine is so good, how come there have been more deaths in 2021 than 2020?
        2. How come no-one in the media is addressing the elephant in the room??!! …
        Qld’s Fmr Chief Health Officer, Jeanette Young, is perhaps not as unbiased as the main-stream media would like us all to believe!! Her husband, Prof. Graeme Nimmo, is a consultant for Pfizer.
        Judges have the decency to recuse themselves when they have a vested interest, why didn’t Jeanette Young do the same.
        (Makes Jackie Trad look like a Sunday School teacher in comparison.)
        Doesn’t pass the “Pub Test” that she has since been made Governor.
        Our fore-bears fought for this country so we could continue to enjoy our freedoms, and yet our public servants want to bring in an irreversibly socialist regime. (Marx would be oh so proud of them.)
        We are a Commonwealth country, unlike Jamaica, and if our government will do nothing for our rights, perhaps it is time to appeal to the natural authority of a rapidly deteriorating dystopia, ie. Queen Elizabeth II.
        Warm regards, Lindsay Phillips

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          Graeme No.3

          I’ve just had a letter from our PM Morrison (+2 others) addressed to The Occupant.
          In it he says that Australia has done well because of the “vaccination” programs.
          Australia is over 80% vaccinated.
          That we should all get a booster when it is due.
          There is no need to get more than one booster jab, and we won’t be required to have any more.
          There won’t be a shortage as there are 151 MILLION DOSES in stock.

          My reaction is the same as the Englishman who entered a hotel just after the brawl finished and saw the publican flat out on the floor – “Look, a lying barstuard”.

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            Yes Graeme No.3, that letter was a string of lies. The central African nations are too poor to afford vaccines but have a very low rate of Covid cases and deaths. However they have been using Ivermectin to combat river blindness and hydroxychloroquinine for malaria for decades, both banned by our TGA, in their wisdom, for use against Covid.

            Nigeria has at least 3% of the population having had one jab and their death rate has been 14 deaths per 1 million persons. Australia with 78% at least one jab, have had a rate of 79 deaths per 1 million. Yet the population density of Nigeria is 75 times greater than that in Australia. So much for lockdowns, masks and social distancing.

            The second signatory on the letter ‘To the Householder’ was the Minister for Health, a member of the World Economic Forum and one time, their director of strategy. Their ambition is to reduce the world’s population from the current 7 billion to an ideal, they say, 1 billion persons. Have they organised the fake pandemic and fake vaccination to achieve that goal? Is this why our TGA approved the fake-vaccine for 5 year olds and upwards – simply infanticide!

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            • #
              RickWill

              Nigeria has at least 3% of the population having had one jab and their death rate has been 14 deaths per 1 million persons.

              The REPORTED Covid death rate is 14/M. Excess deaths since Covid began are 86k or 417/M.

              Life expectancy in Nigeria is 55 years. The number of Covid deaths in Australia among 55yo and younger is close to zero.

              Making comparisons between public health in Nigeria and Australia is a fool’s errand and pointless. The reason Australians have a life expectancy of 83 years is the result of having a good public health care system. The reasons Nigerians can expect to live to 55 years is the result of a not so effective public health care system.

              Median age in Nigeria is 18.6 years. Median age in Australia is 37 years. It is well known that Covid has higher mortality in older people. Even so Nigeria has not fared well as far as excess deaths go but they may not be all Covid related.

              I do not see too many Australians heading to Nigeria. In fact it is more often that Nigerians are heading to Australia.

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              • #

                So RickWill,
                what your saying is that the PM should not have made broad generalizations without quantifying which nations it was that he was comparing with Australia ?

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              • #
                Broadie

                The reason Australians have a life expectancy of 83 years is the result of having a good public health care system

                May want to check that one RickWill. My understanding is the increase in longevity is due to the access to potable water supplies and sewerage treatment.

                Our health system is in a state of collapse, broken , broke and about to have the coup de grace administered when the ‘Clot Shot’ mandates are imposed on the staff.

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              • #
                GlenM

                You neglect a lot of things unrelated to covid, namely sanitation and general water- borne diseases. A spurious correlation as they say. A poor effort.

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              • #
                Lucky

                Brodie is Correct!
                Very big benefit to humanity, health and longevity, from adequate supply of clean water to drink, and separation of waste from proximity to people.

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          • #
            Brenda Spence

            I returned it to the sender with a few comments on the back!

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          Ronin

          Young was rewarded for her sterling service in getting Palazxcxyz reelected for another 4 years.

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    • #
      OldOzzie

      Shock as Australia’s expert panel on immunisation reveals it NEVER recommended controversial Covid vaccine mandates be put in place

      . Australia’s expert immunisation panel says it didn’t recommend jab mandates
      . Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation grilled a hearing this week
      . Panel was asked the vaccine mandates still necessary if population vaccinated
      . Chair said how jabs were rolled out was up to the states’ public health orders

      Australia’s expert immunisation panel has distanced itself from state-enforced Covid-19 vaccine mandates and says it never recommended them.

      The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) insists no recommendation was made at any time to the states regarding mandatory vaccine rules, which have sparked widespread protests across the country.

      ATAGI has not provided a recommendation for mandates at any time,’ co-chair Dr Christopher Blyth replied.

      ‘We believe in the benefits and safety of vaccinations, and how they are implemented and rolled out is absolutely up to the states’ public health orders.’

      The revelation comes after the Therapeutic Goods Administration gave its approval for the Moderna vaccine to be used as a booster shot for over-18s.

      The final decision will be up to ATAGI and is expected to be revealed next week.

      Australians are expected to be able to decide between a Pfzier and Moderna booster ‘very, very shortly’.

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        ando

        So basically the nutjob CHOs and premiers with no experience in immunology, virology and epidemiology decided on their own to force people into poverty and segregate them from society, unless they got injected with a rushed out, experimental serum with huge number of deaths and serious side effects and no long term safety data.
        The same people claiming our hospitals would be overwhelmed, in 2 years built no new hospitals or extensions but managed to build several ‘quarantine’ camps.
        The same people who shut down entire states and held daily press conferences on the back of 2-3 cases, are now silent when there are over 1000 cases per day – which only started after the mass vaxx rollout.

        Makes sense.

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          Mark Allinson

          It absolutely astonishes me that even some intelligent people continue to believe that the “pandemic” response by authorities, not just here but all over the world, is about public health.

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          • #
            farmerbraun

            It should not surprise you in the least; apparently a majority believe that atmospheric CO2 levels control global av. temp. (however meaningless that metric may be).

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          farmerbraun

          “force people into poverty and segregate them from society, ”
          Hold on; that’s the plan right? Nobody intelligent thinks that a virus has anything to do with it.
          Dissidents have always to be quarantined.

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  • #
    Brenda Spence

    Long (3 hours) interview with Prof Nikolai Petrovski, expanding on his vaccine, mRNA and viral vector vaccines, govt funding and much more. The first hour is very informative. Host uses occasional bad language unfortunately but is continually gobsmacked by the things he hears.
    He exposes the shocking waste of money by the govt.Well worth the time if you have it! Eye-opening stuff.

    https://youtu.be/dBm1qp9uXHA

    This video came from an update in the crowdfunding.

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    • #
      Ross

      That bloke is way too honest. If he keeps that up, he will be marched to the naughty corner and he can kiss his vaccine approval goodbye. Early last year his opinion on COVID virus origins was that it had a manipulated structure ie. man made.

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      • #
        Ian

        “Early last year his opinion on COVID virus origins was that it had a manipulated structure ie. man made.”

        The jury is still out on that especially with the advent of Omicron which has 50+ mutations with 32 of them in the spike protein. A very recent article postulates several different ways in which these mutations may have occurred yet many still believe the mutations in the original virus could not have occurred naturally and must have been deliberately introduced. The Omicron mutations suggest they may be mistaken.

        https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-the-omicron-variant-got-so-many-scary-mutations-so-quickly/

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        • #
          OldOzzie

          Spike protein changes in previous variants, such as Delta and Alpha, are thought to have made the virus more infectious or more likely to evade the immune system and vaccines. It is not yet clear whether Omicron is more transmissible, or causes more severe disease than previous variants, or whether it will render the vaccines less effective. But a new pre-print study released by South African scientists on Thursday, which has been not yet been published in a scientific journal, suggests that Omicron is three times more likely to reinfect people.

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          Analitik

          Wow, someone thinks a polybasic insertion for zoonotic transfer while disabling the infectiousness on the “original” host is on the same level of probability as a bunch of random mutations that face selective pressure to optimise fitness for the current host.

          Some are informed but remain unknowing

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          TedM

          From the article: “The numerous changes in the coronavirus’s spike protein could have arisen in an isolated population or an immunocompromised person”
          Sounds like someone who has been vaccinated.

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          • #
            Analitik

            That is where I see the immune escape developing. Otherwise, there is no selection pressure for the spike protein mutations to be established in this manner.

            I love the fool’s “proof” are articles that only try to express uncertainly in whether the origin could have been a lab leak – they don’t “prove” in any way that it had to be zoonotic. Plus both publications are owned by the Springer Nature group, which in 2017 removed 1,000 articles deemed offensive by the CCP, so they can hardly be trusted as an impartial source.

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    • #
      Kalm Keith

      “Waste of money”?

      That “money”, aka our taxes and accumulated debt, is going somewhere very specific.

      Waste doesn’t come into it.

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    OldOzzie

    On Point: China and Russia: The Authoritarian-Imperialist Threat To World Peace

    Russia’s early December troop movements along its Ukraine border and China’s fall 2021 aerial and naval penetrations of Taiwanese territory are well-publicized displays of massed conventional armed forces poised to enter another nation’s sovereign territory and wage war.

    The displays demonstrate Moscow’s and Beijing’s military capabilities to launch peace-shattering offensive strikes with the goal of seizing territory they do not currently possess.

    My December bet: the military shows of force are really camera-ready feints to attract media attention and frighten spineless Western leaders — and unfortunately, we’ve too many of those.

    What we are witnessing in December 2021 are Russian and Chinese “power cocktails” mixing diplomacy with economic and military power.

    The cocktail goals: seeding moral weaknesses in democratic nations, exploiting sensational U.S. media, and manipulating the Biden administration.

    The wages of weakness: the Afghanistan bugout and debacle exposed the Biden administration as pompous, militarily ignorant and inept.

    Beyond December 2021? We will have to confront the troubling, deep history.

    Fact: Both Moscow and Beijing insistently tell the world they intend to dominate the nations they target. When the opportunity arises, they will both move beyond domination to annexation. Russia will annex Ukraine; China will absorb Taiwan.

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    • #
      OldOzzie

      Ukraine conflict ‘could be biggest since World War II’: British forces chief issues warning as Vladimir Putin’s troops massing in striking distance of Russia’s neighbour appear to be growing by the day

      . Russian invasion of Ukraine could trigger biggest conflict in Europe since WWII
      . At least 90,000 soldiers, backed by heavy artillery weapons and tanks, in place
      . Putin has also sought assurances from Nato that Ukraine, a former Soviet republic, would not be permitted to join the defence alliance, but to no avail.

      He has described such a scenario as a ‘red line’.

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        Graeme No.3

        Putin is a right B*st*rd but he thinks (and keeps agreements unlike the EU & the USA).
        1. Ukraine declares independence (including the Crimea which was given to them by Krushchev in 1957 as a reward for political support).
        2. Russia seeks (& gets) assurances from the USA that The Ukraine won’t be in NATO nor will NATO troops be stationed there.
        3. Russia reaches agreement with The Ukraine that the Crimea remain theirs, in return for The Ukraine giving up nuclear weapons and Russia continuing to station its Black Sea Fleet there.
        4. After an election which a pro-Russian President wins (thanks to poor performance by previous administrations) largely on the votes of the russian speaking eastern half.
        5. Rebellion formented by ?? but the EU definitely involved, in accordance with their expansion to the East in Europe (Poland, the Baltic States, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Rumania etc). President flees and new government announces pro-EU policy. Threat to port at Sebastopol?
        6. Russia seizes the Crimea prompting hostilities. Russia winds up controlling the (russian speaking) east of the Ukraine (including land route to the Crimea).
        7. Continual problems with the gas pipeline through The Ukraine with failure to pay for gas and disruption to supplies to the EU (note no problems with Poland).
        8. In 2011 Putin pointed out that shutting down coal and nuclear would mean Germany would be reduced to burning gas and wood chips (from Siberia?)
        9.Russia and Germany agree on building a new gas pipeline through the Baltic (Nord Stream2) which is now finished. Continued pressure against this by the USA.
        10. Germany short of gas but Nord Stream2 not allowed to supply (waiting authorisation). And EU wanting the Ukraine to have transit fees and cheap fuel which would disappear if the old pipeline were to shut down and send the Ukraine into even worse depression.
        11. Chancellor Merkel states that gas shortage wasn’t due to Russia as they had suppled ALL THAT WAS ORDERED. (Norway also sold less into the EU and the UK). Both Germany and The UK were relying on wind turbines which reduced supply drastically so both had to restart coal-fired plants.
        12. Increased comments in the USA, the UK and the EU about russian aggression (could these be distractions from their failures?)
        13. Putin moves troops to the Russian border and immediately there are squeals about an impending invasion.
        14. Russia is one of the few countries that can go to war in the middle of a bad winter, but why? They don’t want the rest of The Ukraine but they don’t want NATO troops there. Might it merely be pressure for the EU (and the USA) to keep their agreements.

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          mawm

          1. Qatar, Hillariy’s favourite sponsor, wants gas pipeline to Europe.
          2. Pipeline to run through Syria
          3. Syria not interested
          4. US bombs Syria to get rid of Bashar
          5. US does its best to stop Nordstream 2, ships gas to Europe
          6. US uses corrupt Ukraine to launder billions of US taxpayer dollars into Senators’ and congressmens’ pockets
          7 US ousts elected Ukranian president, installs new pres keen on money laundering for Biden US representatives
          8. US uses Ukraine to impeach Trump
          9 Putin smiles.

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          James Murphy

          I read, or saw somewhere, a story that the troop buildup is a response to Ukraine deciding to restrict water movement into Russia, or at least that was the story 6 or 7 months ago when the same agitation was occurring.

          Still, whatever the apparent cause, troops massing on a border is not exactly a sign of goodwill…

          As said in Yes Prime Minister, 800 fully armed paratroopers is an awful lot of goodwill…:
          https://youtu.be/1gjln4gaeeg

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      • #
        RickWill

        Biden has already threatened Putin that he will tell EU to stop buying his gas if he invades Ukraine. That’s funny! Can you imagine Putin having a giggle about Europeans freezing to death as he invades Ukraine.

        Taiwan is a Chinese Province. Any threat from the US regarding a CCP backed government in Taiwan is hollow.

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        • #
          Hanrahan

          Taiwan IS NOT a Chinese province.

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            GlenM

            Taiwan is not Ukraine and certainly not Crimea, who voted overwhelmingly for a return to Russia. A lesson in political history in order for some here may be in order, not some nonsense from conservatives in the US and NATO hawks who want hegemony in Crimea. Just blame the Russians. For the record I’m an admirer of Putin.We need some spine in our leadership.

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          Graeme No.3

          RickWill:
          All the history I can find shows that Taiwan wasn’t part of China except by default. Early on it was a refuge for people unhappy with the then current government in China.
          1400-1500 China believed the Island was full of savages until the early 1400s. Boatloads of immigrants from China’s Fujian province arrived in Taiwan at this time. These people were unhappy with the political troubles in their homeland.
          Hakka, another ethnic group in China left the mainland for Taiwan in great numbers.

          Between 1622 and 1662 it had Dutch (and some Spanish) rule. The Dutch were overwhelmed by an army fleeing the Manchu, but the Manchu took control in 1683 until 1894. The Manchu were regarded by theChinese as foreign conquerors.
          The Japanese had control from 1894 until 1945 when it was handed back to the Public of China, whose army (with around 1.2 million people) fled there.
          So basically the Chinese claim is based on them having control for 2 years out of the last 600.

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      OldOzzie

      Pentagon warns China is preparing for military campaign to take over Taiwan

      Taipei focusing on ‘asymmetric’ weapons to counter threat, officials tell Hill hearing

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        Bozotheclown

        Pentagon is mostly gurlz and bois these days.

        If there a ball (gonad) left in the pentagon then they better use it soon.

        Many of you know I’m American born and my father served in the Big War. I have no faith in the new generation of woke pseudo warriors. All of my ancestors some of whom were Vikings are spinning. If the end times are not very nearly upon us then we’ll suffer greatly

        To the world: If you thought you were safe because the US would be there for you? Sorry. The US was taken over sometime in the last 40 years. (a little over one climate ago)

        Good luck world.

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          Greg in NZ

          “… one climate ago.”

          Thank you sir, I shall make use of that new measurement of time. Brilliant.

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          Hanrahan

          All my immediate male family have served baring two shipwrights, dating back to the Great War [It is NOT WWI it was The War To End All Wars if you insist]

          But I see no resolute independence today. The cold war attitude that safety was only guaranteed by ICBMs prevails but today there is no confidence that the US would actually use them, ergo there is no “safety” for anyone, US included.

          I have no doubt that Zi Jinping thinks he could win a nuclear war. The MAD principle that kept me alive should be maintained absolutely.

          Sting wrote: Russians

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fq9FZ8e6d1Q

          Xi does not love his children Any deterrent must me far more direct, personal.

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          el+gordo

          ‘The US won’t fight to save Taiwan or Ukraine.

          ‘America is a superpower no more. Where dictators once quailed at the prospect of a firm US response to their territorial forays, now they mock the declining, ageing ex-imperial power.’ (Oz)

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    OldOzzie

    Capital Letters? Who uses them anymore?

    From a teacher — short and to the point:

    In the world of hi-tech gadgetry, I’ve noticed that more and more people who send text messages and e-mails have long forgotten the art of capital letters.

    For those of you who fall into this category, please take note of the following statement:

    “Capitalization is the difference between helping your Uncle Jack off a horse and helping your uncle jack off a horse.”

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      Analitik

      Punctuation can have the same effects and is similarly ignored by many of the texter/tweeter crowd

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      yarpos

      If the spellink and grammer checka doesnt put it in, it’s not needed (or kneeded maybe)

      Some people use it to indicate disrespect

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    beowulf

    Good Morning Britain TV show deletes poll after 89% of 42,000 respondents oppose mandatory vaccination.

    https://www.rt.com/uk/542507-mandatory-vaccine-poll-deleted/

    ITV breakfast television show ‘Good Morning Britain’ received backlash on social media after deleting a poll which showed a vast majority of respondents opposed mandatory Covid-19 vaccination.

    The poll, which asked viewers whether it was “time to make vaccines mandatory” in response to the spread of the Covid-19 Omicron variant, was posted to Twitter on Tuesday and soon received more than 42,000 votes.
    A whopping 89% of those who voted opposed any scheme to make vaccination mandatory, with just 11% in favour.

    After the poll went viral, however, social media users noticed that it had been deleted by the Good Morning Britain Twitter account and critics accused the program of trying to cover up the public consensus.

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      Dennis

      What is 42,000 as a percentage of the UK population?

      0.000000………?

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          Greg in NZ

          That’s higher than all the carbon dioxide in our atmosphere (0.04%). Sold! Move that motion… oh wait, it was ‘disappeared’?

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        beowulf

        What % of any population is any poll? What % of the UK population even bothers to vote? 42,000 is a good-sized sample Dennis, biased by viewership demographics, but a good size.

        If you want a poll of 100% of the adult population, you’ll have to wait for a plebiscite or a referendum . . . and then get only a 60% turnout if you’re lucky.

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          Dennis

          Supplementary question: What percentage of the UK population has now had at least one vaccination?

          Of course people remain opposed to being vaccinated but now in a small minority.

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            TdeF

            Then why make it mandatory?

            This is based on the proposition that the unvaccinated are a great danger to everyone else, which is not true. The unvaccinated are only at risk to themselves and they are prepared to take that risk. Remember when Transfats were made law in America? Giving governments the power to order medication is a slippery slope and completely unwarranted.

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            Great Aunt Janet

            I believe that what they are opposed to is ‘mandatory vaccination’. For example, as a old lady, I have had two jabs (they can bugger off with their booster though) and yet I am completely against mandatory vaccination for my young neighbours and their children. Completely against it. They should decide to weight the risks themselves and do what they feel is right – like any other medical decision.

            Don’t you think there are many others like me?

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              Ian

              “Don’t you think there are many others like me?

              Yeah. Too many

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                clarence.t

                Some people just need to be told what to do with their lives, don’t they.

                Other have the thinking ability to make their own decisions.

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                Ian

                “Some people just need to be told what to do with their lives, don’t they.

                Other have the thinking ability to make their own decisions.”

                Very true.

                I’m glad I’m in the latter group and I expect you wish you were too.

                But as you seem not to know when question marks are necessary and the plural form of other, I can understand why you’re not, as you clearly lack the “thinking ability” requirement.

                And just to help you for next time, the correct format of your comment should have been:

                Some people just need to be told what to do with their lives, don’t they?

                Others have the thinking ability to make their own decisions.

                No need to thank me Clarence. I’m only too happy to help those for whom English is not their first language. At least I presume it isn’t in your case else you would not have made such elementary errors.

                014

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                clarence.t

                Ian, you always go with the crowd. What the “polls” say.

                I have never seen any “thinking for yourself” ability in anything you type.

                Even your little post here, is nothing but an echo.

                00

              • #
        • #
          TdeF

          It’s so much better than most political polls, typically of only 1,000 people which claim accuracy of 3%, a figure which only applies to a single variant completely random population as normal distribution square root of 1,000 being 3.16%. Some even use the 0.16% bit!

          100

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      • #
        Hanrahan

        Most polls use a sample size of abt 1,000 and from that can tell you what “America” thinks.

        80

      • #
        Mark Kaiser

        Dennis wrote: “What is 42,000 as a percentage of the UK population?

        0.000000………?”

        Dennis you’ve totally missed the the concept of sample size. 42,000 is more than enough votes. The issue is true randomness of the voters which you could question in this case or with any online poll.
        https://www.qualtrics.com/experience-management/research/determine-sample-size/

        Still, 89% is a huge number regardless of left or right leaning voters/ or vaxed vs. unvaxed.

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        • #
          NuThink

          BBC has 22,219 (2021) employees, so if each one of those employees votes twice that would account for the number 42,000 votes which is within their margin of error.

          When flying into Chicago on United the following announcement was made (paraphrased).

          This crew has been voted the best crew in United Airlines. We just took the vote among us.

          Remember that quote attributed to Stalin but I read somewhere that it comes from someone else.

          It’s not the votes that count, but who counts the votes.

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    • #

      Can you clarify. Was it a poll or was it an opt in vote?

      020

      • #
        beowulf

        Only a typical opt-in TV viewers’ vote as far as we know, not a formal poll in that sense. The evidence has disappeared.

        140

        • #
          Ian

          “The evidence has disappeared”.

          Probably because it was thought useles. How many of the 42,000 TV viewers opted in >10 times?

          017

          • #
            clarence.t

            You know it was more likely because they didn’t like what the poll was showing, don’t you. !

            111

            • #
              Ian

              “You know it was more likely because they didn’t like what the poll was showing, don’t you”

              How could I know as it had disappeared? How did you know?

              012

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        Robert Swan

        Gee Aye,

        A Newspoll or the like is an opt-in thing too. They can’t force you to participate. Even the people who do participate may not give their true opinions.

        I *would* be interested to know how they count the people who decline their invitation.

        100

        • #

          True RS. They do try to correct for bias by collecting demographic data from the polled people and adjusting for the real world, but of course those people can lie about their age, voting intentions or whatever.

          214

      • #
        GlenM

        A bit like the 97% of climate scientists who believe in a load of old cobblers. Sorry gov’

        10

  • #
    another ian

    “Omicron has a unique, perhaps unnatural structure..”

    https://chiefio.wordpress.com/2021/11/26/w-o-o-d-24-november-2021/#comment-152921

    100

    • #
      OldOzzie

      Time-lapse I made of the genomic epidemiology of SARS-COV-2 since the 2020 Wuhan strain

      Notice that Omicron makes a sudden appearance inconsistent with the other variants, and contains the largest number of mutations

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    • #
      Analitik

      If it was bred/constructed in a lab, then that lab deserves a Nobel prize in medicine for
      a) creating a variant that is mild
      b) adding high tranmissibility so that it can become dominant
      c) adding immune escape to make the vaccines irrelevant

      110

      • #
        Ian

        “adding immune escape to make the vaccines irrelevant”

        It seems you do not know about innate immunity and trained immunity. Innate immune responses induce interferons and other cytokines and activate myeloid and lymphoid immune cells to provide protection against many pathogens. Epidemiological and biological evidence suggests that the live-attenuated vaccines induce protective innate immunity by a newly described form of immunological memory, trained immunity. The broad protection induced by live-attenuated vaccines wouldn’t be compromised by potential antigenic drift (immune escape) that can render viruses resistant to specific vaccines.

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        • #
          Kalm Keith

          But then in the real world,,,,

          100

        • #
          Analitik

          Which of the vaccines are live, attenauted? Almost all are single antigen (spike protein), where by RNA or DNA expression or direct introduction, and the others are deactivated, not live virus vaccines.

          For Australia and almost all western countries, your point is wholly irrelevant.

          20

    • #
      another ian

      In reply from Chiefio

      “@David A:

      What you have stepped in is a Big Controversy in evolution. Gradualism vs Punctuated Evolution.

      It’s all over the place too, not just in Viruses.

      Throughout evolutionary history there are Great Leaps Forward and “Missing Links”. What seems to be the case is that most (all?) of these can be explained via Punctuated Evolution and a bit of piercing the “Species Barrier” (that is really more of a species strong suggestion).

      So they (biologists) have finally figured out that the Red Wolf is really a Grey Wolf / Fox hybrid (IIRC). Similarly several other species have been found to be the result of “inter species” crossing. To deal with this they have defined inter species crosses as NOT being a valid species. Despite them being all over the place in evolutionary history. The “Triangle of Wu” (or “U”) is a great example:

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangle_of_U

      Basically three root species (a mustard, a turnip, and a cabbage) all crossed with each other and made 3 new families (with double the genes in each). From this we have hundreds of various food crops. ALL the cabbages and kales and turnips and “Asian Greens” of various sorts (Choy) along with cauliflower and broccoli and mustards in several colors and Collard Greens etc.

      Variations partially depending on just which genes get emphasized in each cross.

      Similarly, Indian Corn (Maize) has been shown to be the result of a crossing of Teosente (a primitive corn) with a wild grass relative. They have even repeated the cross (that is recorded in the genes as having happened about 5000+ years ago) with modern samples of each and in fact got a “corn plant”.

      So back at the virus: It has bits that look a LOT like “the common cold” that is a different Corona Virus. The thesis is that a person had Chinese Wuhan Covid and a “Common Cold” at the same time and some of the parts assembly did a bit of “mix and match”. Thus the high transmissibility and low damage levels. Also why it appears “suddenly” and with many changes at once. That’s how gene sharing works.

      Another example? Some large fraction of the modern European and Asian population have a Neanderthal gene for skull size / shape. It was preserved over that of other genes from the crossing between the two species as it has some advantage. (Perhaps large space for brains, or perhaps people just like the look…). So yes, Modern Humans are an interspecies hybrid that suddenly appears with a lot of different genes.”

      https://chiefio.wordpress.com/2021/11/26/w-o-o-d-24-november-2021/#comment-152929

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  • #
    Broadie

    An interesting ‘side effect’ after the ‘Jab’ appears to be clots in the hand. Has anyone else heard of this adverse reaction? We have seen the usual clots in legs and lungs, but the clot in a hand is something we do not normally see too many of.

    Another interesting reaction appears to be diagnosed as ‘sweat allergy’. Again is this a common reaction in the knowledge of Jo’s readers?

    60

    • #
      Analitik

      Clots can occur anywhere with the shots – I would expect that they are more common in the hand of the arm receiving the shot plus the arteries and veins in the hand would be finer than those further up the arm and in the legs so they may show up there for marginal cases.

      30

  • #
    OldOzzie

    Explosion In New Heart Conditions Dismissed As “Post Pandemic Stress Disorder”

    Experts in the UK say that an explosion in new heart illnesses in younger patients can be explained by a new condition called “post-pandemic stress disorder.”

    Yes, really.

    A London Evening Standard report quotes senior vascular surgeon Tahir Hussain, who works at an NHS hospital in London.

    “I’ve seen a big increase in thrombotic-related vascular conditions in my practice,” said Hussain.

    “Far younger patients are being admitted and requiring surgical and medical intervention than prior to the pandemic.”

    Hussain said that the cases are “a direct result of the increased stress and anxiety levels caused from the effects of PPSD (post-pandemic stress disorder).”

    He also said that people dying at home “from conditions such as pulmonary embolism and myocardial infarction” was down to them self-isolating and not seeking the medical care they need.

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    • #
      MrGrimNasty

      Along the same lines as BBC Radio5Live having an ‘expert’ on to discuss why being an elite athlete was the number 1 risk factor for dropping dead from sudden heart failure and that it’s all perfectly ‘normal’ and nothing to do with vaccinations.

      These stories are in themselves a sort of inoculation against the spread of the truth.

      As soon as someone mentions in conversation the possible heart problems associated with the covid vaccine, they will be instantly neutralised by several gullible people primed with the required response – ‘the BBC says it is normal’, ‘it is stress caused by the lockdown’, etc. etc.

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    another ian

    “Open speculation – given the demonising of the various quinine based anti malaria drugs for having the audacity to also be effective against ‘you-know-what’, is there any indication that the increase in cases has been due to a reduction in anti-malaria activities?”

    In comments at

    http://www.smalldeadanimals.com/2021/12/07/good-news-5/#comments

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  • #
    beowulf

    Twitter bans thousands of right wing users; GAB takes up the slack.

    https://nationalfile.com/twitter-purges-gab-surges-right-wing-twitter-accounts-purged-new-ceo-flood-alt-tech-new-users/

    Thousands of right wing users have been banned from Twitter, following Parag Agrawal’s appointment as CEO – many of them looking for a new home have fled to Gab, the free speech-based alternative.

    On Monday evening, a mass ban occurred of mostly anonymous right wing Twitter accounts.

    Many of those users informed National File that they were banned for allegedly violating Twitter rules regarding “platform manipulation and spam.”

    Breitbart’s Allum Bokhari, author of #DELETED, one of the most prominent books studying the phenomenon of Big Tech censorship, suggested that the ban wave happened due to “some kind of new banning algorithm” being deployed by Twitter, “probably using network analysis to suppress an entire cluster at once.”

    Bokhari noted that accounts that never even tweeted were banned, adding credence to the theory that “this purge is based on who you follow, not what you’ve tweeted.”

    Andrew Torba, the CEO and founder of Gab, tweeted that the site was getting “thousands of new sign ups per hour” after the ban wave. “When Twitter purges, Gab surges.”

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    • #

      Twitter doesn’t ban people based on right and left. It bans people who are knowingly spreading false information or being abusive. That they happen to be right wing is no surprise.

      In other news Barnaby has covid.

      258

      • #
        MP

        How do you know its misinformation if its deleted. Twitter knows best?

        In other news, Barnaby tests positive with the PCR brown standard.

        220

        • #
          MP

          Barnaby Joyce is fully vaxxed.

          180

          • #

            Fascinating. He still has it, with symptoms.

            317

            • #
              MP

              Yep, the Batccine appears to not be effective, or safe. Hang on just checked with twitter MD, that’s false information.

              250

            • #
              el+gordo

              At this rate I won’t be getting the booster.

              112

              • #
                MP

                May as well take it, you never took the first two for your health, you were pressured by family.
                Nothing has changed in that regard.

                100

              • #
                el+gordo

                Yeah, the big thing to take out of all this, influenza numbers are way down.

                41

              • #
                farmerbraun

                NZers were officially informed (RNZ) this morning that two shots won’t stop Omicron but a booster might do it.
                I read that as saying that a vax passport without a booster stamp is worthless .

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              • #
                Great Aunt Janet

                The hair on the back of my neck rose when we were informed that our Pfizer booster appointment had been handily made for us. Don’t worry about the mix and match regime (most of us older folk had AZ double shot), it’ll be fine, THE SCIENCE!

                130

              • #
                Greg in NZ

                “Aah En Zed” even played a 10-second audio of Abraham ‘Albert’ Bourla, pf!zzer CEO, suggesting just that. Thought ‘advertisements’ were banned on the state proper-gander broadcaster – then again, Chancellor Cinders did sign ‘that contract’ with the devil them.

                80

              • #
                Hanrahan

                Twitter hav vays! No booster – no account.

                80

              • #
                Kalm Keith

                “Yeah, the big thing to take out of all this, influenza numbers are way down.”

                Perhaps they have been “re-allocated”.

                90

              • #
                el+gordo

                ‘Coronavirus restrictions have thrown up double doughnuts of a different kind with no deaths nor hospitalisations in Australia from influenza flu this year.
                But a leading medical body warns thousands may die from the disease when international travel resumes.

                ‘Lockdowns, wearing masks, social distancing and shutting international borders have contributed to Australia recording 435 positive tests for influenza in 2021.’ (News.com)

                30

              • #
                MP

                Yep lock downs, masks, un-social distancing, sends one virus to zero and the other to 100 and this makes sense to you?
                Did the Batflu smother the annual flu with a pillow while you were hiding under your bed?

                Though logic is not one of your strong points. (China Daily)

                10

          • #
            Dennis

            Vaccination provides protection against the virus but not immunity from it.

            And as the Australian Federal Deputy Chief Medical Officer Coatsworth said recently on Credlin – Sky News, if a fully vaccinated person needs to be admitted to hospital they would be given “anti-viral treatments” and recover.

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            • #
              Analitik

              At least he also has the sense to state that if the Omicron variant continues to demonstrate the its effects are mild and that it displaces the Delta variant, then we should want to spread. Quite refreshing to see one of the establishment grasp the obvious

              “If this is milder than Delta, you actually want it to spread within your community,” Prof. Coatsworth said.

              “You want it to out compete Delta and become the predominant circulating virus.

              “It could be that we want Omicron to spread around the world as quickly as possible.”

              https://www.yourlifechoices.com.au/health/covid19/coatsworth-says-australia-should-welcome-new-covid-variant/

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            • #
              OldOzzie

              Jordan

              26 minutes ago

              Funny to see that some places are still mandating jabs, while on the very same day 40 vaccinated patrons in a pub are infected with COVID.

              190

            • #
              Chris

              Let me translate ,”Anti virals treatments ” equals Ivermectin. However if you are not vaccinated then you are unworthy of “antivirals treatments”.

              160

            • #
              Hanrahan

              I assume he never nominated just WHAT these “anti-viral treatments” were. If it is limited to [the expensive] remdisaver then nothing lost, possible gain.

              But a few weeks ago a Vic RN said that the vaxxed were being treated with IVN.

              Will all the liars take one pace forward?

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      • #

        How can they possibly know that someone does not believe false stuff? The world is full of disagreements so a lot of people must have false beliefs. Intent is almost impossible to detect in tweets. The concept is crazy.

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        Simon

        “It’s probably developing, I’m probably very much in the early stages — but I’m more worried about being in a room by myself to be honest.”
        I would be worried about being in a room alone with Barnaby too.
        “If I can just work out which channel has the cricket on it, I’ll be so much better.”
        Obviously not too busy at work then.

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        clarence.t

        ” spreading false information”

        False according to far-left fact checkers !

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  • #
    Richard+Jenkins

    I ask job applicants to apply in handwriting. It tells me a lot. (First question,”Did you write this yourself?”
    Most who use only uppercase don’t understand punctuation and think that hides their ignorance.
    We actually read word pictures and uppercase is not as easy to read. For example mother is a clearer picture than MOTHER .

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    beowulf

    Cinders wants to vaccinate Kiwis until they drop.
    Book your Christmas boosters now, she advertises.

    https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2021/12/nz.html

    New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern: ‘There’s Not Going To Be An Endpoint To This Vaccination Program’.

    pic.twitter.com/YdjZEIBGFx

    New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern has stated that she will not “ever be satisfied so long as there’s someone who hasn’t choosed [sic]” to take multiple vaccines and booster shots, and said of vaccinate people who have not taken boosters shots, “we really need them to come back or we’re going to go to them.”

    “So long as there’s people who are eligible who haven’t gotten vaccinated, we still have work to do,” Ardern said, later adding, “No, I don’t think I’ll ever be satisfied so long as there’s someone who hasn’t choosed [sic], who, you know, is eligible, and that’s what I said, there’s not going to be an endpoint to this vaccination program.”

    Ardern also appeared to hint that the government would go door-to-door forcing people who already received the vaccine to get booster shots, stating “we really need them to come back [to take the booster shot] or we’re going to go to them.”

    https://nationalfile.com/new-zealand-pm-jacinda-ardem-not-going-endpoint-vaccination-program/

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    • #
      John+R+Smith

      So strange.
      Seems a bizarre obsession.
      “or we’re going to go to them”
      “Go”?
      (She of course, will not be doing any of the ‘going’.)
      That would be messy here in the US.
      Guess we all know why.
      Watching Oz and NZ with great trepidation.
      Does anyone still pretend this is about public health save for the Government and Public Health Zombitrons?
      It isn’t going to end well here either.

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    • #
      Annie

      Disgusting beyond belief. Does Ardern know no modern history?

      130

      • #
        Sambar

        Oh Annie, Ms Ardern is just a simple ideologue with no appreciation for how real modern societies work.
        The New Zealand Prime Minister has decided to ban cigarette smoking

        “New Zealand has taken a major step in its plan to get its smoking population under five per cent by 2025, with the move meaning many children will never be able to legally buy cigarettes in the country.
        The new legislation means New Zealanders aged 14 or under will be banned from buying tobacco, even as adults.”

        Now while this cause might be quite noble, this ban is brought to you by the very same government that a week or two ago decided that it will legalize the testing of ILLEGAL drugs at music festivals. You know, to improve public health.

        Sometimes I just ” shakes me head’ in complete bewilderment, other times I just “shakes”!

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        • #
          OldOzzie

          Will Cannabis, also known as Marijuana be banned in NZ?

          50

        • #
          KP

          Ah, been in science fiction stories for decades, people buying weed at the grocery store while tobacco is highly illegal. Amazing how much SciFi is coming true these days.

          50

      • #
        another ian

        Can probably sing the official version of “The Red Flag”

        Not that other one

        40

    • #
      OldOzzie

      Senate passes bill to nullify Biden’s vaccine mandate for employers

      Vote kicks fight into narrowly divided House

      The Senate narrowly passed legislation Wednesday nullifying President Biden’s vaccine mandate on America’s employers, kicking the fight into the House where Republicans are eager to hand the administration a bipartisan rebuke.

      In a 52-48 vote, lawmakers voted to invoke the Congressional Review Act, an oversight tool that lets Congress repudiate federal regulations by a simple majority vote.

      Every single Republican voted for the measure alongside two moderate Democrats, Sens. Joe Manchin III of West Virginia and Jon Tester of Montana.

      “I am a survivor of childhood polio … trust me there is no bigger proponent of vaccination than I am,” said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican. “But here’s the thing, the United States of America is a free country … Elites in Washington cannot micromanage citizens’ personal choices without a legitimate basis in law and the constitution.”

      Republicans also argued the mandate, which demands that private sector companies with more than 100 employees require vaccination or risk financial penalties, would result in countless American workers losing their jobs.

      If the bill were to pass the House, Mr. Biden has pledged to veto it from becoming law.

      In making the decision, U.S. District Court Judge R. Stan Baker argued the mandate will have “a major impact on the economy at large … [and] vast economic and political significance.”

      Other federal judges have similarly halted the implementation of the mandate for medical workers at taxpayer-funded hospitals.

      Republicans say such rulings increase the chance the mandate will be struck down by the courts, regardless of what Congress ultimately does.

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      • #
        OldOzzie

        Tasmania mandates public service jabs

        Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein says his government will introduce a jab mandate for all public sector workers, requiring them to show proof of vaccination when the state eases its border restrictions on December 15.

        Mr Gutwein said the mandate would be broadly applied across the public service with “few exceptions”, indicating the Department of Treasury and Finance may be exempted from the rule.

        “We will be mandating vaccination broadly across the state service including statutory and state authorities where it’s determined that’s required,” he said.

        Tasmanian health authorities have estimated more than 97 per cent of the public service is already vaccinated.
        As of Wednesday, 89 per cent of Tasmanians aged over 16 have been fully vaccinated, while 95 per cent have received one dose.

        20

        • #
          KP

          “indicating the Department of Treasury and Finance may be exempted from the rule.”
          Maybe they put their foot down! No money for you if you force us to comply.. The rest of the parasites don’t count, no-one has power over the politicians like Treasury..

          60

    • #
      mawm

      There is going to be an endpoint. Jacinda is going to face an electoral backlash.

      80

  • #
    OldOzzie

    FDA Says It Now Needs 75 Years To Fully Release Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine Data

    The agency, known as the FDA, told the court it can work faster than its previously proposed 500-pages-per-month-rate. But it also said there are over 59,000 more pages than mentioned in an earlier filing.

    That discovery, and a desire to make sure it can work on other Freedom of Information Act requests at the same time, prompted the fresh request to the judge to allow production of roughly 12,000 pages by Jan. 31, 2022, and 500 pages per month thereafter.

    That timeline would take it until at least 2096, Aaron Siri, a lawyer working on the case, said in a blog post.

    “If you find what you are reading difficult to believe – that is because it is dystopian for the government to give Pfizer billions, mandate Americans to take its product, prohibit Americans from suing for harms, but yet refuse to let Americans see the data underlying its licensure,” Siri said.

    200

    • #
      OldOzzie

      Court Filing, FDA Wants to Wait Until Current Generation Dies Before Releasing Documents Detailing Vaccine Approval

      December 8, 2021 | Sundance | 268 Comments

      A simple question should be posed to the FDA about their vaccine authorization position:

      “How does a person give ‘informed consent‘ when the information is withheld?“

      Perhaps the judge in the case against the FDA will ask the question, perhaps not, but the question remains.

      The FDA took a grand total of 108 days to decide the Pfizer vaccine was safe, given the data shared with them by the pharmaceutical company. The same FDA is now saying they need 75 years to provide the public with the same data. This is not a confidence building position by a federal regulatory agency attempting to instill public confidence.

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        OldOzzie

        FDA Doubles Down: Asks Federal Judge to Grant it Until at Least the Year 2096 to Fully Release Pfizer’s COVID-19 Vaccine Data

        The fed gov’t gives Pfizer billions in taxpayer money + makes Americans take its product + won’t let Americans sue for harm + shields disclosure of its licensure documents = 1984

        A prior post explained that the FDA has asked a federal judge to make the public wait until the year 2076 to disclose all of the data and information it relied upon to license Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine. Literally, a 55-year delay. My firm, on behalf of PHMPT, asked that this information be disclosed in 108 days – the same amount of time it took for the FDA to review and license Pfizer’s vaccine.

        The Court ordered the parties to submit briefs in support of their respective positions by December 6, 2021. The FDA’s brief, incredibly, doubles down. It now effectively asks to have until at least 2096 to produce the Pfizer documents. Not a typo. A total of at least 75 years.

        60

    • #
      Gerry

      I’m sure they are having a lend ..scanning the documents for mentions of The Big Guy, Jim, Hunter, China and WHO can be done by computer in no time.

      20

  • #
    Analitik

    A bunch of stories about people’s adverse events that you think should be all over the news. But hey, CoViD “misinformation”

    Nurse is COVID recovered yet shunned by her peers. That makes no sense.
    Neighbor is proud to get vaxed; 4 weeks later loses both her husband and her baby
    School jabs kids over objection of parents
    Look what happens to you if you break the [hospital CoViD safety] rules… nothing
    Dead within 20 minutes after the jab
    Hospitals go from empty to full thanks to the safe vaccines
    Cancer back with a vengeance after vaccine
    Blood clots appear out of nowhere for no reason
    Fully vaccinated cruise ship has COVID outbreak

    https://stevekirsch.substack.com/p/stories-that-the-press-will-not-cover

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  • #
    ColA

    Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot blamed retailers for not making safety a priority amid a string of smash-and-grab thefts at retail stores in recent months.

    That’s the same Chicago (2.6M) with over 770 homicides this year! Imagine that headline for Brisbane (2.47M)?
    The leftard certainly knows all about law and order!!

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  • #
    OldOzzie

    AdBlue crisis to trigger dramas on food supply, emissions

    Robert Gottliebsen

    Once we are through the Christmas festivities, the big non-Covid Australian drama will be the shortage of the so called AdBlue – a crucial diesel exhaust fluid that is already in short supply and likely to run out around February.

    Once it runs out, it will cripple a large portion of the Australian truck fleet.

    In turn, this will lead to shortages of food in supermarkets, severely-restricted menus in restaurants, higher prices and a severe slowing of the Australian economy.

    Unless action is taken this month, supermarkets will consider introducing rationing in January which will be much more severe than the toilet roll curbs we saw in the Covid crisis.

    And this time, the shortages will be real.

    The software-controlled apparatus inserted into the trucks is constructed in a way that makes it almost impossible to drive the truck without using the AdBlue system.

    I understand it is not difficult to adjust the trucks so that they can run without the AdBlue system but, of course, there will be a lot more pollutant.

    That will understandably cause community outrage, but once severe food shortages and big price rises develop, that outrage is likely to swing towards the food situation.

    The big Australian transport companies and the individual truck owners will be very reluctant to disconnect the AdBlue system and lose their truck warranty because it could put them out of business very quickly.

    Mercedes, Volvo, Toyota and other large diesel truck makers will need to develop a policy or will be accused of holding the country to ransom.

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    • #
      OldOzzie

      Australian chemical manufacturers scramble, as AdBlue diesel shortage threatens national economy

      Thousands of Australian food and commodity-transporting trucks could be forced into storage within months, if local manufacturers fail to meet increased demand for AdBlue.

      Australian chemical manufacturers capable of producing AdBlue – a urea-based additive used in diesel vehicles to reduce the expulsion of dangerous emissions – are scrambling to boost production, as an international shortage threatens to slam the brakes on local trucking and logistical industries.

      Until last month China exported approximately 80 per cent the world’s refined urea, however recent market conditions have prompted the nation to redirect supply towards domestic agriculture (the chemical is widely used in synthetic fertilisers).

      Brisbane-based company Incitec Pivot currently operates the sole local plant manufacturing AdBlue from raw materials, and this facility currently accounts for approximately 10 per cent of Australian AdBlue demand.

      “While our ability to increase production is limited due to technical constraints, we are currently investigating increasing our AdBlue solution capacity, and will do all we can to increase supply over the next few months.”

      Drive understands multiple other chemical manufacturers are also looking to upscale production at various levels of the supply chain to meet demand.

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      • #

        If Adblue really does become in short supply, i would expect the authorities could take control of supplies to ensure transport takes priority over fertiliser manufacturing.
        My understanding is that transport use (diesel emissions) is minor (200 tonnes pa) compared to other industrial uses.

        100

        • #

          …To continue ?.
          Australian farms uses nearly 2.0 million tonnes of urea fertiliser, so losing 200 T would not be a big issue for them, ….even if only 5000T or so is made in Au !
          Also AdBlue is 70% water, so even a total lack of it would not stop the big diesels from running…….just use pure water ,…and upset the emissions checkers !🤭😱👍🚜

          90

      • #
        Destroyer D69

        Reading the BP data sheet for AdBlue it appears to be no more a complex mixture of 32.5% pure urea and water. blob:resource://pdf.js/5cf29483-2e73-4348-a851-25136eb0b17a does not seem too complicated for “home brewing”

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        • #

          It is not complicated but it is a highly purified complex mixture?

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          another ian

          DD 69

          The problem is in the first ingredient – “32.5% pure urea and water”.

          It is a grade above urea fertiliser so you can’t just knock off a couple of bags of that.

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            another ian

            Or I guess you could if you were prepared to add to the litany of problems already attached to the problems and costs all ready associated with those mandated modern “clean” diesel engines.

            On another blog a while back a bloke put up some costing figures.

            The step from Tier 0 to Tier 1 resulted in a 90% reduction and not a lot of cost.

            The step from Tier 1 to Tier 2 also resulted in a 90% reduction – of the 10% left over from the first step.

            Bang for buck went around the corner at about Tier 2.5 if you graphed it and it then rose like a Peking Pox infection graph

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          Tel

          … no more a complex mixture of 32.5% pure urea and water …

          Urea prices are through the roof this year.

          https://www.indexmundi.com/commodities/?commodity=urea&months=120

          I should point out that trucks do not require any AdBlue to move around and make deliveries … the purpose is only to slightly reduce NOX emissions, which is kind of nice but not as important as food on the table. Government could fix this in an instant by waiving the environmental requirements for 12 months … heck they have used “emergency powers” to waive human rights requirements, so you would think this would be a nothing burger.

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            another ian

            Tel

            IIRC without Adblue they are smart enough to go to limp home at best. I saw an article on getting them to run without and it ain’t simple.

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        Ross

        The single biggest use of Urea in Australia in agriculture should be canola pre sowing. That is usually from about mid March/early April 2022. Supplies on farm about 1 month prior. So Incitec would need to be upping their local production of AdBlue right now. This again shows the folly of being tied up to China for some of our essential needs. Its why we need cheap electricity to keep all a lot of production facilities here in Australia and to keep them functioning with high maintenance and upgrades. Incitec have struggled with high energy inputs for ages now. Forget Net Zero – our creed should be Cheap Energy.

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          Ronin

          Incitec have been struggling with ripoff gas prices, hence their decision to pull the pin next December.
          The shortage of Adblue is just another example of why we need to bring home some more manufacturing capability.

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          Klem

          When I was a kid, toothpaste came in the form of a powder that you would sprinkle on your toothbrush, the biggest brand at that time was Pepsodent. I remember seeing a banner across the front of the pepsodent container boasting ‘Now With Urea!’. I remember asking my dad what Urea was and he merely chuckled and told me I’d understand when I’m older. He was correct.

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          • #
            NuThink

            If Urea becomes scarce there will be a lot of dry heels around and the price will climb to the point where only the well-heeled will be able to afford it.

            Just a quick google and one heel balm has 20% Urea, another 25% and another 30% Urea.

            Heel Balm Platinum is a highly concentrated blend of ingredients containing 30% Urea, and the skin’s natural moisturising factors (NMF) which is the skin’s natural protection shield against dehydration. Combined within a rich emollient base, Dermal Therapy Heel Balm Platinum provides faster and more effective skin regeneration.

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    dinn, bob

    very fine video: the Winnepeg Pathogen-4 breach of 2019 recounted by Polly St. George https://balance10.blogspot.com/2021/12/st.html

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    OldOzzie

    Biden Team Hold Backroom Talks With National Media, Instructions to Put Positive Spin on Economic Reports

    December 8, 2021 Sundance

    According to media reports of the meetings, the people responsible for the Biden administration are instructing U.S. media outlets to report on the economy as if things are going well.
    Unfortunately, massive Biden spending programs, in combination with fiscal policy, monetary policy, energy policy and mandatory vaccination policy, have created a perfect storm of inflation. That storm is growing in scale and scope and is likely to get much worse before it stalls.

    The White House demands that media must ignore stunning price increases at the supermarket, jaw dropping home heating costs this winter, prices at the gas pumps that are 50 percent higher than last year, backlogs in the supply chain due to environmental regulation at West Coast ports, and a shortage of critical blue collar workers inside the U.S. Main Street economy due to the vaccine mandate. “Other than that, how did you like the play Mrs. Lincoln?”

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    Furiously+Curious

    Discussion of Novavax, and other alternatives. The Cuban vax having an impact!
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYW-IxUnPGA&t=42s

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    el+gordo

    During the first wave of the pandemic there were a few months when all Australians climbed out of poverty. The Feds are now tightening the screws on the unemployed and pensioners, Morrison’s fingerprints are all over this, trying to inject incentive into the populace.

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    another ian

    “WHOOT, THERE IT IS – Anthony Fauci Says “We are Prepared to Start Delivering Variant Specific Booster Vaccines”
    December 8, 2021 | Sundance | 8 Comments
    If you have purchased your ticket to ride the Ronacoaster, Dr. Anthony Fauci now delivers the statement all ticket-holders were waiting for. Ronacoaster 2.0 is under construction. Notice how Fauci uses the word “we”, and even quantifies the term “we” by saying himself “and the pharmaceutical companies”, are prepared to start delivering variant specific vaccines as soon as the political scientists call for them.

    This is the big tell, perhaps the biggest and most anticipated ‘tell’, that many were waiting to see.

    This means each time some opaque entity within the system of world health identifies a “variant” of COVID-19, the business end of the process will trigger a vaccine response to keep the Ronacoaster wheels greased with taxpayer funds.”

    More at

    https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2021/12/08/whoot-there-it-is-anthony-fauci-says-we-are-prepared-to-start-delivering-variant-specific-booster-vaccines/

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    OldOzzie

    Court decides Australian is bitcoin creator

    An Australian computer scientist has won a court case over a $AU69.82 billion bitcoin fortune after he claimed to be the sole creator of the cryptocurrency.

    The case in Miami marked the first legal recognition that Craig Wright, 51, is the man behind the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto, its originator.

    Wright, who lives in London, said that he was “relieved” and “vindicated” at the rejection of a former business partner’s claim to share the 1.1 million bitcoin trove, the focus of the dispute.

    He has yet to demonstrate control over the hoard, however, which would go a long way to proving to his many detractors that he is the creator. The cache, untouched since the early days of bitcoin, would make him the world’s 25th richest person at present values.

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    Neville

    Now Bloomberg wants China and India to spend a lazy 21 trillion $ to fight the best climate we’ve had since fully evolved Humans appeared on our planet.
    And this post they also quote the UN projections that we Humans would be 450% RICHER by 2100.
    BUT if we choose NOT to worry about the climate it would cost us a 2.6% reduction of that future wealth and we would only be 434% times richer compared to today.
    Shock, horror what a terrible choice, SARC. Are these people BARKING MAD?
    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2021/12/08/bloomberg-china-and-india-must-invest-21-trillion-on-green-energy/

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      farmerbraun

      An unvaccinated person who has had covid and recovered is no more a risk to anyone than any vaccinated person.
      Right?

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        Chris

        A person recovered from a natural infection is not a risk to anyone. However a vaccinated person can be a carrier and a spreader and not show any symptoms as the message surrounding the vaccines has stressed. The vaccine does not stop you catching nor passing on the virus, it just makes you less sick…. so we are told.

        The Omicron variant is showing up in the double vaxxed.

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    farmerbraun

    NZ “government” announced that unvaccinated now require a clear test to ride public transport.
    Using a test with (?)% false positives .
    LOL

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    John B

    The climate fraud continues.
    Rapidly Disappearing Ice.

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    John Connor II

    As I have lots of interests here’s something completely different I stumbled across yesterday.
    A triple jet powered Tesla!
    If you’re into cars, electronics, laser fab, CAD work, prototyping/inventing (as I am) or just want to see something crazy then this is for you.

    https://youtube.com/watch?v=6SYT0upjNac

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      Analitik

      It’s not so much “powering” the Tesla so much as reducing the drag by filling in the pressure void behind the car. Flame throwers would probably have a similar effect if you could had fans blowing air in to bring up the rate of combustion immediately behind the car

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        another ian

        JIC – goes wit #31.1

        Push that a bit further and we might even get to the jet engine?

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          Analitik

          I’m saying you don’t need directed thrust. Pressure reduction in all directions would work. The flamethrowers could be aimed upwards or downwards into the pressure void behind the car. It’s possible that the jets could work in these orientations as well.

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    PeterS

    Many are asking how come we still have the restrictions given the vaccination rates are so high, why people are getting angrier and the protests are becoming larger and more frequent yet Western governments are ignoring them. The simple answer is the governments couldn’t care less. It’s all about moving towards total tyranny and Schwab’s Great Reset. We can argue about the effectiveness and risks of the vaccines until the cows come home but it won’t make one iota of difference. The governments are hell bent on taking away all our freedoms. Whether they achieve that is up to how the people react over the coming months to years.

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      Kalm Keith

      Peter, the Catastrophic Anthropological Global Warming deceit is still unchallenged after all these years: what chance do we have against the COVIVAX scammers if we can’t confront the Global Warming Misinformation.

      Nothing short of a substantial revolution will change things.

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    PeterS

    Some are aware of what’s happening in Ukraine. Many Democrats and Republicans want a skirmish with Russia. That’s both stupid and risky as it can easily escalate to something very serious. Putin has made it clear he will not accept Western military intervention so close to Russia. This is no different to the US getting angry if Russia sent troops to Mexico.

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    Destroyer D69

    Qld just “Belled the Cat” on TV news. They are constructing a “Facility” to manufacture a covid medication patch , due for completion in 2023. This device has not, at this time been approved, but the manufacturing facility is already under construction with Qld Gov support funding. Indicates to me that there is to be NO end to mandatory voluntary treatments in the future plans for Queenslanders.

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    Furiously+Curious

    I’m not holding my breath for the TGA to give the tick to Novavax. Their record with HCQ, IVM, and especially Remdesivir, shows they have been completely captured. I doubt there will be any rush. Maybe a brown paper bag? We live in hope.

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      PeterS

      Given the outpouring of lies by our governments and health officials, can we trust them that when they do release Novavax, it’s the real deal and not one of the other vaccines?

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    Furiously+Curious

    On another topic. I finally heard someone saying the name Michelle Obama, in relation to the vice presidency. That is the move that can win in 2024! Really she is their only chance. The democrat baggage is the only thing that could stop her. Popularity, she wins it.

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    • #

      Every time someone posts this, ….i ask…
      …can an unelected individual be installed as VP in the USA ..?
      …… i have not seen an answer yet !

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        yarpos

        Tray a little self service. Search engines are a thing.

        “Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress.”

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        Chad I have directed you to the answer twice now. You never come back to see if you were answered.

        I answered another of your questions about water level drop in 2011-12. Did you read that?

        Ford was an unelected VP and he became president as well.

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    Steve of Cornubia

    This site is starting to sprout more trolls.

    You must be right over the target, Jo.

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      another ian

      Steve

      I think that Jo’s blog has been one of the biggest drains on Troll Central”s budget for quite a while

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        clarence.t

        It might help their cause if they actually sent someone with something a bit higher than primary school level science and physics.

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    • #
      el+gordo

      This place has a satirical edge, which opens the door to a wide range of people with contrarian views. Its a refreshing atmosphere and alternative viewpoints are welcome so that we can enjoy a lively debate and strengthen our bias.

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  • #

    For those wanting to know more about protein based COVID vaccines such as Novavax:

    https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-03025-0

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      OldOzzie

      Furiously+Curious
      December 9, 2021 at 6:27 pm · Reply

      I’m not holding my breath for the TGA to give the tick to Novavax. Their record with HCQ, IVM, and especially Remdesivir, shows they have been completely captured. I doubt there will be any rush. Maybe a brown paper bag? We live in hope.

      Sums up Federal Liberal ScoMo from Marketing and NSW Liberal Dom Perignon – totally beholden to Pfizer, Pharma Groups and Thugs Goons Administration

      When

      The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) insists no recommendation was made at any time to the states regarding mandatory vaccine rules, which have sparked widespread protests across the country.

      ATAGI has not provided a recommendation for mandates at any time,’ co-chair Dr Christopher Blyth replied.

      ‘We believe in the benefits and safety of vaccinations, and how they are implemented and rolled out is absolutely up to the states’ public health orders.’

      The revelation comes after the Therapeutic Goods Administration gave its approval for the Moderna vaccine to be used as a booster shot for over-18s.

      The final decision will be up to ATAGI and is expected to be revealed next week.

      Who is being paid by the Pharma Companies in OZ?

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      OldOzzie

      Active dad, 41, dies 11 days after having Covid vaccine

      A DAD described as the “life and soul of party” died of a haemorrhage likely to have been induced by the AstraZeneca vaccine, an inquest heard.

      Adam Bounds, 41, experienced vomiting and a headache after suffering a severe and rare reaction to the jab. His father eventually called for an ambulance when Adam described his pain score as “ten out of ten” and he was rushed to hospital.

      The keen footballer underwent a CT scan which revealed an acute right-frontal lobe haemorrhage, which caused compression of the brain stem, and he was transferred to Derriford Hospital in Plymouth, Devon, for neurosurgery.

      However during the operation, which noted that his brain had become “very swollen and very tense”, the surgeon found there was no improvement, despite the removal of the blood.

      A decision was then taken by the neurosurgeon not to continue with the craniotomy further “due to futility as to the appearance of the very swollen and very tense brain and the absence of response to the haematoma evacuation was associated with a negligible chance of survival and recovery.”

      A cause of death was given as intracerebral haemorrhage (operated), Devon Live reports.

      And, giving a narrative verdict at the Plymouth inquest yesterday, senior coroner Ian Arrow said: “On the balance of probabilities this created a vaccine-induced thrombocytopenia. That led to Adam having a low platelet count making him vulnerable to haemorrhage.

      “He was given platelets but sadly succumbed to a haemorrhage.”

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    clarence.t

    Oh dear, more data manipulation, causing faux-warming of course, brought to light.

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2021/12/09/__trashed-10/

    Its almost as if the “homogenisation” routines where designed just for that purpose. 😉

    Its certainly the end result in basically every case where its used…

    … building fake warming, by cooling the past.

    note, I don’t know why that link has such an odd name at the end, it is what comes up as the url.

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    John B

    The disappearing ice controversy continues (read comments as well):
    The DMI improved model

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    clarence.t

    LOL, as if we didn’t already know.

    Facebook admits their “fact check” is nothing by opinion, and nothing to do with actual fact.

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2021/12/09/bombshell-in-court-filing-facebook-admits-fact-checks-are-nothing-more-than-opinion/

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    clarence.t

    to CTS… fair enough.

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    clarence.t

    LOL.. John Cook programs an “artifical” to find information he doesn’t like.

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2021/12/08/john-cook-machine-learning-holds-a-key-to-combating-misinformation/

    97% wrong as usual. !

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    AEMO now forecasts as follows….
    ~ Electricity demand will DOUBLE by 2050..!
    ~ Coal generation will reduce by 14 GW by 2035. …( an increase from the 6 GW current plan !)
    ~ All coal generation will close by 2043.

    OK….. lets see how that works out. !

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    Furiously+Curious

    The Tony Heller revelations on the Danish Meteorology charts feel like a gut punch! These are charts and graphs that I have glanced at over a number of years, happy to have something of neutrality to go on, and now to see them gutted, in real time, brings home the futility of the fight. How much pressure can we put on the narrative, or will they be able to tough it out, like the email scandal? I’ve said several times here, that I’m just pretty much reconciled to watching the collapse of a civilisation, but when things like this happen in real time, in plain sight, I can fall into a litany of metaphors – having the rug pulled out, and falling through the looking glass, so we’re flying blind. We have a magic tool to see anything in the world, and they can control what is seen.
    Just on this tread there are several positive things, and jees I’d love to be wrong.

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    another ian

    “BOMBSHELL: In court filing, Facebook admits ‘fact checks’ are nothing more than opinion”

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2021/12/09/bombshell-in-court-filing-facebook-admits-fact-checks-are-nothing-more-than-opinion/

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    Neville

    Did the Human population drop to a few thousand between 50 to 100 thousand years ago?
    Many scientists say yes and others say no and others are not sure.
    But we’ve certainly bred up at a very fast rate over the last 200 years, from 1 bn then to 7.8bn in 2021.
    Of course in 1970 our pop was 3.7 bn and in just 50 years we’ve added another 4.1 bn people.
    You’d hope this would make our loonies start to THINK, but don’t hold your breath.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toba_catastrophe_theory

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    OldOzzie

    The Modern World today

    Amazon’s outage just locked people out of their homes, scrambled their refrigerators, and shut off their Christmas lights … I dunno, maybe this is a warning of some kind?

    The outage at Amazon.com Inc.’s cloud-computing arm left thousands of people in the U.S. without working fridges, roombas and doorbells, highlighting just how reliant people have become on the company as the Internet of Things proliferates across homes.

    The disruption, which began at about 10 a.m. Eastern time Tuesday, upended package deliveries, took down major streaming services, and prevented people from getting into Walt Disney Co.’s parks.

    Affected Amazon services included the voice assistant Alexa and Ring smart-doorbell unit. Irate device users tweeted their frustrations to Ring’s official account, with many complaining that they spent time rebooting or reinstalling their apps and devices before finding out on Twitter that there was a general Amazon Web Services outage. Multiple Ring users even said they weren’t able to get into their homes without access to the phone app, which was down.

    Others said they weren’t able to turn on their Christmas lights.

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    OldOzzie

    There’s an unspoken reason that Blacks are attacking Asian people

    Woom Sing Tse arrived in America from Communist China almost 50 years ago with $100 to his name and worked his way up to owning a successful restaurant. On Wednesday, a 23-year-old Black career criminal executed him on Chicago’s streets. Maybe a rival paid for this hit, or maybe this was yet another example of the Black community’s incredible hostility to Asians.

    The core story is awful:

    This is not the first Black-on-Asian attack to show up in the news. We read regularly about Blacks attacking Asians, whether it’s stories about beating them up, stabbing them, or shooting them. Back in August, the FBI reported that hate crimes against Asians had risen by 70% over the past year. The report does not mention that it’s mostly Blacks who are committing these crimes.

    But there’s another reason that few people like to talk about: Asians go from ghetto to suburbs in one generation and, often, from suburbs to chi-chi upper-class communities in just one or two generations. If you think about the fact that Asians came to America broke, speaking no English, and often facing substantial prejudice, their success puts the lie to Black claims that there’s no way Blacks can achieve success in a country as racist as America.

    Additionally, Asians, unlike Blacks with deep roots in America, but like Mr. Tse, arrived here relatively recently, broke, and unable to speak English. In that regard, one might say that Blacks have been better positioned for success.

    The real difference between the two groups is simple: education. Asians revere it. When I attended San Francisco’s Lowell High School, which requires an exam to enter, Asian students whom we called “FOBs,” or “fresh off the boats,” within a year or two were pulling higher grades than any native-born California kids. Just look at this chart at the left-wing Brookings website showing the homework difference between the races.

    Sadly, rather than seeing Asian behavior as something to imitate to achieve Asian success rates, too many Blacks see Asians as a group that needs to be destroyed, perhaps because they put the lie to Black narratives about generational failure in America.

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      Hanrahan

      Who remembers Frank Bainimarama? I barely can but I remember a little and can search to find more.

      Wiki says:
      In 1997, Bainimarama was appointed Chief of Staff of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces. In 1998, he was promoted to a Commodore and later became the commander of the Armed Forces in 1999. He relinquished command in 2014, and in recognition of his military service, he was promoted to Rear Admiral.

      So we have a well educated, powerful military man. From memory he rode a popular wave of anti-Chinese sentiment to become Fijian PM.

      As OO says above Chinese are successful and resented for it, the Pacific version of anti-semitism.

      I see the problem but don’t understand why. Mrs H was the “hands on” accountant for our town’s most successful Chinese restauranteur for decades. With Ming it didn’t matter if you supplied his eggs or accounting he reciprocated if you treated him well. You were part of the family in a non-Italian way. There has been a looong friendship between Ming, my Lady and the managing partner who still does his accounts after retirement from a major. In my business I found Chinese reliable to do biz with. They don’t nickel & dime you.

      The CCP and mainland Han Chinese are still evil. BTW

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    Neville

    It seems the Japanese are starting to WAKE UP and will build 22 new coal plants.
    Good for them and for us, but why don’t we do the same thing? Or at least put the case for reliable BASE_LOAD power and not build unreliable, TOXIC and definitely NOT RENEWABLE idiotic S & W.

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2021/12/09/japan-building-22-new-coal-power-plants/

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      but why don’t we do the same thing?….

      Because we are governed by weak leaders who are advised by fools and we have a electricity market that incentivises Wind and Solar.
      Latest AEMO future plan is zero coal by 2043, but with much of it gone by 2030 !

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    OldOzzie

    H/T Michael Smith News

    The free world’s in the very best of hands.

    Actually the Lil Abner Video Clip was very Prescient

    and

    He’s not well

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    el+gordo

    ‘Parts of eastern and southern Australia just had their cloudiest November in decades, reducing solar power generation across several states.

    ‘Last month was Australia’s wettest November on record and its coolest November in 22 years. It was also an exceptionally cloudy month for many parts of the country.’ (Weatherzone)

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    Fully sustainable , zero carbon, petrol/ diesel substitute .!
    Here we go,.. we can keep all our trucks , utes, cars, and vans , aircraft , etc running guilt free. !
    Synthetic petrol , diesel, Avagas, etc all possible using only sustainable products !,
    https://zeropetroleum.com/how-we-do-it/
    I wonder what the cost might be ? 🤔😱

    10

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    Strop

    Jussie Smollet found guilty of staging a hoax hate crime.

    Strange that in a country rumoured to be rampant with systemic racism that an activist has to resort to staging an incident to make his point instead of having numerous real examples to choose from.

    .
    https://edition.cnn.com/2021/12/09/us/jussie-smollett-trial-thursday-jury-deliberations/index.html

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      yarpos

      well I guess he wanted zero real risk and a very focussed look at me! look at me! which sort of worked , just not in the way he would have liked.

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      another ian

      Well I guess that puts a bigger dent in his prospects as an actor and probably totally wrecks any chance as a director

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    OldOzzie

    Bros., Lecce: We Eat at The Worst Michelin Starred Restaurant, Ever

    There is something to be said about a truly disastrous meal, a meal forever indelible in your memory because it’s so uniquely bad, it can only be deemed an achievement. The sort of meal where everyone involved was definitely trying to do something; it’s just not entirely clear what.

    What followed was a 27-course meal (note that “course” and “meal” and “27” are being used liberally here) which spanned 4.5 hours and made me feel like I was a character in a Dickensian novel. Because – I cannot impart this enough – there was nothing even close to an actual meal served. Some “courses” were slivers of edible paper. Some shots were glasses of vinegar. Everything tasted like fish, even the non-fish courses. And nearly everything, including these noodles, which was by far the most substantial dish we had, was served cold.

    Bros., Via degli Acaya, 2, 73100 Lecce LE, Italy

    Cost: a rather mortifying 130-200 Euros per person

    Recommendation: Do not eat here. I cannot express this enough. This was single-handedly one of the worse wastes of money in my entire food and travel writing career bwah ha ha ha ha ha ha oh my god

    From the Comments

    – well, this was one heck of a read.

    – It’s like a train wreck. It gets worse and worse the longer it goes on.

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      Strop

      Everyone knows less is more. More or less.

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      I have had a similar experience at Heston Bloominmad’s “Fat Duck” in Bray (UK)
      Lots of crazy weird dishes, some warm, some cold, some alcoholic, etc…all expensive and the whole experience dragged out for 4 hours !
      Cost about £$100 per hour , per person !😳
      Never again !

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        another ian

        Known as a SABENA experience –

        “Such A Bloody Experience – Never Again”

        (Heard from a South African way back in BC – his comment was about the airline)

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          Hanrahan

          I flew SABINA once, bought the T shirt: I flew SABINA and lived. An awful experience in the days QANTAS were standouts.

          I’ll never forget boarding QANTAS at Changi for the last leg and being handed a cool towel by a steward with an Aussie accent. He could have been as camp as a row of tents, I didn’t care. That was before the I still call Australia home ads but I felt I was home while still parked in Singapore.

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    el+gordo

    BoM massive fail on November temps.

    http://www.warwickhughes.com/blog/?p=6824

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    another ian

    For the record

    A comment at

    https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2021/12/alan-jones-direct-to-the-people.html#comments

    “Val said…

    Topher was discussing the possibility of a joint on line media venture with other freedom loving folk. The thought had occurred to me as well. Maybe a subscription based news and information channel. People such as Jennifer Marohasy and Jo Nova contributing, even Peter Ridd. Could help get the word out. Time could be sold to the IPA?

    Just venting here. Others may have better suggestions.

    Main purpose to counter the lying MSM.”

    00