COVID-19 Stuff Here

[Tex]

I tend to be the same. I rarely go straight to a link without having a heads up of what I'm looking at. I find myself actively avoiding clickbait titles too!

I went for a walk around the park on Saturday and there was some doss idiot with a sandwich board around his neck, microphone in his hand a portable speaker yelling at locals about how we were all going to hell because women are able to end a pregnancy.

When a friend posts batshit crazy stuff from some suckhole corner of the internet I try to remember that the talking head or producer behind the content is no different from the mad christian yelling about hell and damnation.

The only difference is the platform.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

Aint that ever the truth, Tex.

 

[Tex]

It's a simple thing but I'd never made the connection. It's so easy to filter out the loonies on the street but I've struggled with it on the internet; I either take the bait and get mad or try and rebut them.

Understanding that they're really no difference to the preachers and cranks on street corners has been very therapeutic!

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

Without wanting to go down the rabbit hole on this: agreed, but I've stopped engaging with people who clearly have some pretty out there opinions. It's a waste of my time and they enjoy it (a bit like wrestling a pig!).

 

[Tex]

Good covid numbers in Vic, down around 50 cases yesterday. The CMO is reporting low testing numbers which is a concern, particularly given how close we are to the proposed end of this stage 4 nonsense

 

[formerflanker]

I went for a walk around the park on Saturday and there was some doss idiot with a sandwich board around his neck, microphone in his hand a portable speaker yelling at locals about how we were all going to hell because women are able to end a pregnancy.

When a friend posts batshit crazy stuff from some suckhole corner of the internet I try to remember that the talking head or producer behind the content is no different from the mad christian yelling about hell and damnation.

The only difference is the platform.

The "doss idiot" believes that "ending a pregnancy" is actually the murder of an unborn child.
The "mad Christian" believes in protecting the most vulnerable of all.
It's ironic that you have used G&GR as your platform to denigrate Christianity and promote abortion; its surprising that arguments like these get given space here.

 

[Tex]

The "doss idiot" believes that "ending a pregnancy" is actually the murder of an unborn child.
The "mad Christian" believes in protecting the most vulnerable of all.
It's ironic that you have used G&GR as your platform to denigrate Christianity and promote abortion; its surprising that arguments like these get given space here.

Every time I choose to "see ignored content" you pop up and my decision to have you blocked is reinforced. FRO.

 

[Tex]

Bit of a backslide in case numbers today in Victoria. Not enough people are getting tested, apparently, which skews the sample.

Generally it feels like people are getting to the end of their patience with the harsh lockdown. It's due to expire in a week and a half but I have a feeling it's going to be a while before some of the travel restrictions are loosened, particularly those that keep us out of country areas.

Some of the agitators are planning a protest on saturday, certainly one to watch.

 

[Slim 293]

I have a friend on Facebook who has come out this year as a mad Covidiot conspiracy loon, sharing articles that cover everything from Bill Gates, 5G, forced vaccines, Covid 19 being a hoax, no worse than the flu etc......... when not writing abusive comments on Daniel Andrews and other MP (Moana Pasifika)’s posts.........

This week’s latest fad is to share articles that inflate the numbers from German anti-lockdown protests - apparently millions came out in Berlin, and all of the articles have great photos of huge crowds to accompany them........... except that there’s a thing called reverse image search, and all of them originate from stock photo websites of religious gatherings and political protests from other cities in Germany years ago.

At least it’s less harmful than subscribing to far right covidiot scumbag Avi Yemini, who also campaigns for men’s rights and was recently charged with assaulting his wife, and jokes about domestic violence in his videos.[/rant]

 

[stoff]

Bit of a backslide in case numbers today in Victoria. Not enough people are getting tested, apparently, which skews the sample.

Generally it feels like people are getting to the end of their patience with the harsh lockdown. It's due to expire in a week and a half but I have a feeling it's going to be a while before some of the travel restrictions are loosened, particularly those that keep us out of country areas.

Some of the agitators are planning a protest on saturday, certainly one to watch.

I think they really need to give us some hope, and should have been able to by now. A lack of confidence in the contact tracing system must be the thing that is holding them back. It just looks disorganised now. They have had the lockdown pretty under control from a rules perspective for a few weeks, and its not like there wasnt already a re-opening plan from last time (whcih incidentally worked apart from mismanaging infection control in quarantine).

 

[Up the Guts]

when not writing abusive comments on Daniel Andrews and other MP (Moana Pasifika)’s posts...

There's a radio show in Auckland that has an entertaining regular segment called 'the feedback line' where they read through these sorts of Facebook comments and rants on a variety of posts/pages. Not sure what people think they are achieving posting them.

 

[Tex]

I have a friend on Facebook who has come out this year as a mad Covidiot conspiracy loon, sharing articles that cover everything from Bill Gates, 5G, forced vaccines, Covid 19 being a hoax, no worse than the flu etc... when not writing abusive comments on Daniel Andrews and other MP (Moana Pasifika)’s posts...

This week’s latest fad is to share articles that inflate the numbers from German anti-lockdown protests - apparently millions came out in Berlin, and all of the articles have great photos of huge crowds to accompany them..... except that there’s a thing called reverse image search, and all of them originate from stock photo websites of religious gatherings and political protests from other cities in Germany years ago.

At least it’s less harmful than subscribing to far right covidiot scumbag Avi Yemini, who also campaigns for men’s rights and was recently charged with assaulting his wife, and jokes about domestic violence in his videos.[/rant]

Yeah I've got a few people teetering on the edge of that world. There's a great podcast called Rabbit Hole which tracks how these communities have developed and grown overtime, from the right and the left. Worth a listen.

In my groups at the shallower end it seems to be people sharing clips of agitators because they agree with the words, but not bothering to dig deeper into the background and likely intent of the person. Then there are a couple that have started on the "BILL GATES AND GEORGE SOROS CONTROL TEH WORLD!!!#!#" narrative, which is a massive red flag.

The trouble is, questioning them and those beliefs seems to just reinforce their position as the enlightened party. It seems to work similarly to the red pill MRA movements.

The common denominator is google/youtube and facebook, which is ironic given that many of these people have chosen to disengage from the mainstream media.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

I've blocked people at either end of the political spectrum on the basis of their nutty views in the recent past. I don't engage, as you say it just reinforces their righteousness and aint nobody got time for that.

 

[fatprop]

There is a challenge of questioning the governments response without going into some quite bizarre rabbit holes

Take this for instance, on what a lock down is for

In March, Imperial College London's dire projections influenced the White House, but a careful reading of the advice contained in the Imperial College report reveals that its authors knew lockdown alone could not eliminate any infections, only delay them: “The more successful a strategy is at temporary suppression,” it stated, “the larger the later epidemic is predicted to be in the absence of vaccination, due to lesser build-up of herd immunity.”
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention pandemic planning documents state non-pharmaceutical interventions such as social distancing are ineffective once a disease infects 1% of a region's population. Literature on this subject is unanimous worldwide. According to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control:

​

“There are no historical observations or scientific studies that support the confinement by quarantine of groups of possibly infected people for extended periods in order to slow the spread. It is hard to imagine that measures like those within the category of social distancing would not have some positive impact by reducing transmission of a human respiratory infection . . . However, the evidence base supporting each individual measure is often weak.”

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/a...yth_that_lockdowns_stop_pandemics_143899.html

 

[Dctarget]

I'm startled by a large portion of Australia's lack of empathy towards Victoria.

Our state lines are really coming out, thought it was "we're all in this together", apparently not.

Victorians, who took took the majority of international returning flights, are now suffering largely because of chance (plus a couple careless mistakes and the other states' success).

Really makes me depressed with our two party system that the opportunity to stick the boot in and score a few political points will always outweigh showing some fucking real leadership.

 

[Derpus]

I'm startled by a large portion of Australia's lack of empathy towards Victoria.

Our state lines are really coming out, thought it was "we're all in this together", apparently not.

Victorians, who took took the majority of international returning flights, are now suffering largely because of chance (plus a couple careless mistakes and the other states' success).

Really makes me depressed with our two party system that the opportunity to stick the boot in and score a few political points will always outweigh showing some fucking real leadership.

Faith in politics is at its lowest in Australian (human?) history.

Politics hasn't changed, though. Well i don't think it has. It's just suffering under constant exposure through the internet and the 24/7 news cycle.

 

[Rob42]

There is a challenge of questioning the governments response without going into some quite bizarre rabbit holes

Take this for instance, on what a lock down is for



https://www.realclearpolitics.com/a...yth_that_lockdowns_stop_pandemics_143899.html

The original lockdowns were explicitly about managing the rate of new infections, to avoid overloading hospitals - flattening the curve. Those lockdowns were so successful in some places, like NZ and much of Australia, that the intent crept over to elimination of the virus, which I think is still an unrealistic goal. But it's a goal that's very attractive to many governments, especially when it seems that we're only a few cases away from it.

 

[Rob42]

Faith in politics is at its lowest in Australian (human?) history.

Politics hasn't changed, though. Well i don't think it has. It's just suffering under constant exposure through the internet and the 24/7 news cycle.

Really? Looks like plenty of premiers have approval ratings at record highs. Possibly because they've been forced to focus on fixing one thing, in an area where they can receive good support from a competent public service. And hence been distracted from the endless arguments in areas where both parties really aren't all that different, and are mostly focused on perpetuating their own influence.

 

[fatprop]

The original lockdowns were explicitly about managing the rate of new infections, to avoid overloading hospitals - flattening the curve. Those lockdowns were so successful in some places, like NZ and much of Australia, that the intent crept over to elimination of the virus, which I think is still an unrealistic goal. But it's a goal that's very attractive to many governments, especially when it seems that we're only a few cases away from it.

It can't be eliminated, NZ has had more today, all they are doing is delaying infections to when it opens up

 

[Rob42]

It can't be eliminated, NZ has had more today, all they are doing is delaying infections to when it opens up

Correct. And I think we need to stop talking about "living with the virus until a vaccine comes along". In all likelihood, we will be living with this virus well beyond the arrival of even a good vaccine. We're still living with the Spanish Flu today - it's just that most of us have good immunity to it. We're still living with other seasonal flu viruses, despite good vaccines. IF a good vaccine comes out in the next 12 months, governments will need to work out how to react to new cases of COVID after most of the population has been vaccinated - because there will still be new cases.