Another week of the sillier-than-usual season goes by without a great deal to report, with the only new poll result I’m aware being a Painted Dog Research poll for The West Australian finding 81% out of 1224 WA respondents surveyed around a week ago believed Novak Djokovic should be deported. Lest anyone doubt the international reach of this particular story, a British poll by YouGov found 62% believed Djokovic should not be allowed to play in the open, with only 18% believing he should. (UPDATE: And now a national poll by Resolve Strategic for the Age/Herald finds 71% believe he “should not be allowed to stay and play”.)
The biggest preselection news of the week related to Gladys Berejiklian’s former seat of Willoughby, which I’m holding off on doing a post about until a date is set for state’s looming quartet of by-elections. At federal level, both the Nationals and the Liberals now have candidates for the rural Victorian seat of Nicholls, to be vacated with the retirement of Nationals member Damian Drum. These are, respectively, Sam Birrell, an agronomist and former chief executive of the Committee for Greater Shepparton, and Stephen Brooks, a Cobram high school teacher and farmer. Also in the field as an independent is Greater Shepparton deputy mayor Rob Priestly.
Jackol
Climate change was happening when the world population was a lot less than it is now so less production and consumption wont stop it.
(By “rebound” read “pass through each other.”)
Mexicanbeemer – that is entirely flawed logic.
bill @ 5:47 pm
LOL top review.
“WWP – there needs to be less stuff produced, less stuff consumed, however that happens.”
I agree, but I hate the framing as Economic degrowth. It can actually be a great thing. Now I love my current washing machine, but if the one we bought almost 30 years ago was still working and repairable I’d love it more than the 5 or so machines that have gone to land fill in that time.
We recently inherited a cabinet that is close to 100 years time, it is and looks better than the 4 generations of ikea trash that did the job for us over the last 30 years.
An energy revolution, with the kinds of changes we need can be really great for the mortgage belt, it will just be terrible for Saudi royalty and should be terrible for ikea shareholders.
Scrapping all intellectual property law and starting again with consumers in mind might be a good place to start the non energy revolution.
Scrapping the ACCC and replacing with something that stops effective monopolies forming might be good to. The ACCC seems to see its role as ensuring we don’t have any competitive markets left anywhere.
Jackol
The past is measurable and climate change has occurred despite there being less people and less production and consumption.
mikehilliard @ Monday, January 17, 2022 at 6:35 pm
I have a perverse desire to watch that movie that inspired such a wonderful review. Must resist!
Griff
Yeah, it would be like self flagellation.
Mexicanbeemer
Actually it’s probably about 1 billion years before the sun gets hot enough to boil of the oceans but that not really relevant to the current situation.
Yes the sun delivers more than enough energy to harvest, that’s not the limiting factor.
The limiting factor is the biosphere’s ability to absorb the waste products of our civilisation.
Slow traffic tonight, everyones Novaxed out.
watson watch says:
Monday, January 17, 2022 at 6:23 pm
unless you can find a source for your arguement, we going have to disagree.
https://www.mamamia.com.au/mullumbimby-vaccination/
August 22 2021.
Hi again all
I note the ongoing concern on PB and in some media circles about the continuing rapid spread of Omicron in Australia, and I completely accept that it is a risky thing for people with underlying health conditions (of whom I am one). And, yes, I too doubt that the coming peak – which we are possibly reaching now – will necessarily be the last one.
However I’ve been casting my eye over the global stats- and I don’t know if anyone else has mentioned this on PB because I’m only on here from time to time – but they seem to offer some glimmers of hope.
There was clearly a big jump in case numbers globally from around Christmas time: in terms of seven day moving averages, from around 600,000 per day in early December to over 2 million per day from January 6 onwards, reaching over 3.3 million on January 13. But the rate of daily deaths has remained relatively flat: remaining in the 6,000-7,000 range where it has been since early September. Sure, the rate of deaths is a lagging indicator, but it has failed to follow the trend in new cases for over a month now, which seems to me to be well and truly long enough for the lagging effect to have played out.
So the global evidence does seem to point towards Omicron being far less deadly that previous strains, with a death rate of less than 0.4 in 100 and quite possibly far less than that, given that there is likely to be significant under-reporting of new COVID cases.
Perhaps the Federal and State governments which removed most controls quickly might have done this better in a more controlled way. And perhaps there are grounds for particularly criticising the conservative side of politics for this. But, if we can put the political dimension to one side for a moment, the global trends are surely cause for some hope that humanity might be able to get out of this awful situation fairly soon and return to some sort of normal existence.
The prospect of which makes me a little happier.
”
The Chaser
@chaser
·
18h
Australia: We have the worst Prime Minister
Britain, whose Prime Minister has launched an investigation into himself to find out if he attended a party at his own house: Challenge accepted
”
I will put it a little differently
Australia: We have the worst Prime Minister
Britain BOJO says: Hold my beer
Out comes US: We made history by declaring on Jan6, 2021 that we want to cancel democracy.
mikehilliard @ #959 Monday, January 17th, 2022 – 6:53 pm
Nah. The AO has started. 🙂
Ven @ #963 Monday, January 17th, 2022 – 5:57 pm
Technically, only the Republicans declare that. And not quite all of them, even.
meher baba,
Not so quick.
1. Omicron has mutated again. Ba1 and Ba2. Now in Australia.
2. South Africa hasn’t seen the expected drop in the number of deaths that the modelling predicted.
As Julius Sumner Miller used to say, ‘Why is that so?’
3. As Dr Chant pointed out today, deaths are occurring in double vaccinated but not boosted people. What does that say to us?
It’s the Curate’s Egg of political parties – only despotic in parts?
How much lying can the Liar do?
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jan/17/pm-accused-of-outright-lie-after-claiming-detainees-in-melbourne-hotel-are-not-refugees
The Undertaker has spoken….
Stand strong & push through…. Farking brilliant…
C@tmomma @ #964 Monday, January 17th, 2022 – 6:59 pm
Ash Barty on court
“The limiting factor is the biosphere’s ability to absorb the waste products of our civilisation.”
True but unhelpful, got anything less specific to makers voters reject the very idea in even greater numbers?
Blatant lies from Morrison.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jan/17/pm-accused-of-outright-lie-after-claiming-detainees-in-melbourne-hotel-are-not-refugees
Jackolsays:
Monday, January 17, 2022 at 5:59 pm
So much of chicken production is disturbing whenever anyone gets a look at it – treatment of the animals welfare-wise, the cleanliness of their handling, poor treatment of workers – so much suffering to go around.
_____________________
It sure is. Will never forget the 1 day I worked in a chicken factory. Arrived back in London from travelling somewhere and answered an ad on the backpacker hostel noticeboard.
Farm Workers wanted in East Anglia.
Took a bus from London and was met at the station by a minibus full of Africans and Eastern Europeans.
Hesitated for a split second then jumped on board but had a really bad feeling about what I was getting into.
Taken to a house that was jam packed with workers. All little bedrooms full of bunk beds. Up at 4am and driven 2 hours away to the factory. Spent the next 9 hrs transferring chickens from one conveyor belt to another based on size. They had just been plucked and were all wet. Arrived back at the house dead tired and wet only to be told there was no hot water left for the showers.
Woke up the next morning, told the head guy it wasn’t for me then headed straight back to London.
C@tmomma @ #967 Monday, January 17th, 2022 – 6:59 pm
Novax was a welcome departure from the interminably sufferable and endlessly go-nowhere Greens flame wars. I suppose now that Djokovic has been deported PB will once again return to the usual groundhog day. 🙁
Yes Barrie, we should be better than this. Vote strategically at the next election.
C@tmomma
Not only are the deaths not easing at the same rate but there are also questions about the incidence of long Covid, with concerns that the lower hospitalisation and death rates are masking an increase in long term chronic conditions.
The least interesting news of the day. Barnaby says that if his 4 year ‘partner’ had refused his proposal of marriage he would have got drunk.
Tim Blair letting a cat out of the bag. Mind you you can’t blame them. The same public elected them in the first place.
Seems a bit ‘unDaily Telegraph’ though. A disturbance in the force ?
https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/novak-djokovic-affair-sadly-shows-what-pm-scott-morrison-thinks-of-aussies/news-story/48c79fd68a0bfbf712dcee0bd128e84f
Morrison isn’t lying in that he and the government does not accept they are refugees.
WeWantPaul
No, I suspect our civilisation will go the same way as previous civilisations. It will end and the survivors will pick up the pieces and start again but they won’t have access to the low entropy resources that we’ve enjoyed. There is no 200:1 energy return on energy invested oil left to harvest.
Then it’s up to voters to remove them from Govt by strategically placing the L/NP absolutely last on the ballot.
“Barrie Cassidy
@barriecassidy
·
13m
How can the PM of this country not know that most of the detainees being held in cruel conditions at the park hotel are genuine refugees? Not asylum seekers. We have totally lost our moral compass.”
Barry Barry Barry
We haven’t lost our moral compass – it has been deliberately destroyed over time by lies like Morrison’s today. Most of them deliberate lies told by Howard about fictional children overboard, uncritically echoed by Murdoch and then usually the ABC.
Even now Barry gives Morrison the benefit of the doubt he doesn’t deserve.
“WeWantPaul
No, I suspect our civilisation will go the same way as previous civilisations. It will end and the survivors will pick up the pieces and start again but they won’t have access to the low entropy resources that we’ve enjoyed. There is no 200:1 energy return on energy invested oil left to harvest.”
On this we are aligned.
Here’s a new insult. And it’s up there
“ Djokovic’s treatment by the Australian government and its ribbiting cane toad of a prime minister …”
The rest of the article is just a rehash of the Djokovic debate but I’m glad I read it for that line alone.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2022/jan/17/djokovic-circus-unleashes-toxic-chain-reaction-of-mistrust-and-resentment
Assantdj,
Yes, Long Covid. There was a very sad story in the media last week about a young woman who committed suicide due to having Long Covid. She had only had a mild case of COVID-19 but the Long Covid drove her into a deep depression. The symptoms that manifested after the initial infection were horrendous! Her husband described how she would get uncontrollable body shakes that just came on without warning. Among other things. She just could not take it anymore.
I tell you, I think this’advice’ that everyone is going to get it, is reckless in the extreme.
I have a great-nephew coming to stay with me for a few days. The problem is that although his mother has a Ph.D., she’s a rabid anti-vaxer, vegan, and to make it worse, a Green. I do hope her son has not followed in her footsteps but I fear he has. I’m getting my mask on as I post – just a precautionary measure, mind you.
C@tmomma @ #966 Monday, January 17th, 2022 – 6:02 pm
Variants will run basically forever. Too much virus active in too many hosts for some random mutations to not get up every once in awhile. And there’s no longer any real resistance to spreading the virus around each time a new one does.
Annual or perhaps even 6-monthly boosters will run basically forever too.
Long-covid is the real story. It’s coming for a shocking high proportion of us, boosted or no.
The smart play was just taking the hit with alpha and locking down everything everywhere for the 2-3 months it would have taken for the initial strain to burn itself out. But coordinated global efforts are too hard, about 40% of people are too stupid, and far too many of our politicians are happy to pander to them.
The Barty party in full swing.
6-0 in the first.
If there is one thing we know about SARS-CoV-2 is it likes to mutate. There are thousands of variants out there. So living with COVID is going to be a lot uglier than people think. There will be mutations that are less harmful and some that are more harmful. There will be some that infect people who have been vaccinated and some that don’t. The Omicron variant won’t be the last and is not looking like it gives very good immunity from even itself.
Zerlo,
Thanks for the link. It agrees with what I’ve been saying.
The article you linked to quotes Mandy Nolan:
“I live in Mullumbimby. Way before the global pandemic, we were famed for being the anti-vax capital of Australia.”
As proof it links to an article by Mandy Nolan claiming ‘Mullumbimby is the anti-vax capital of Australia’. https://www.mamamia.com.au/covid-anti-vax-capital-australia/
It looks to me like Mandy Nolan is the only source of the Mullumbimby anti-vaxxer claims.
Mavis
Good luck. It is so awkward when certain subjects are off limits in families and it seems that vaccinations are splitting a huge number. Even worse than voting intentions
watson watch says:
Monday, January 17, 2022 at 7:42 pm
Zerlo,
Thanks for the link. It agrees with what I’ve been saying.
The article you linked to quotes Mandy Nolan:
“I live in Mullumbimby. Way before the global pandemic, we were famed for being the anti-vax capital of Australia.”
As proof it links to an article by Mandy Nolan claiming ‘Mullumbimby is the anti-vax capital of Australia’. https://www.mamamia.com.au/covid-anti-vax-capital-australia/
____________
Um…isn’t she being critical of the anti-vax movement? That’s how I read it.
Rex Douglas:
Monday, January 17, 2022 at 7:41 pm
[‘The Barty party in full swing.
6-0 in the first.’]
Her prep for the AO looks like she’s the one to beat. Physically, she looks primed. No pressure, but I think she’ll do it – it’s been 43 years.
Can we get Jelena Dokic commentate the cricket instead of Warnie …?
(posted by Rex)
Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce says there is nothing the federal government can do to silence anti-vaxxers in its ranks | @michaelkoziol https://t.co/TQGUalJ0H6— The Sydney Morning Herald (@smh) January 17, 2022
Translation: Barnaby and SfM are dead scared of doing anything about the anti-vaxxers in their ranks or in parties who might preference them at election time.
At least there are some commentators who are not afraid to call out this massive display of hypocrisy.
I’m as bolshie about risking infection as anybody, and can’t wait ’til Thursday when my booster is due, but can we really afford to make national policy for 25,000,000 people based on one case, founded on anecdotal evidence?
How many are committing suicide due to persistence of Long COVID symptoms?
Lizzie:
Monday, January 17, 2022 at 7:48 pm
[‘Mavis
Good luck. It is so awkward when certain subjects are off limits in families and it seems that vaccinations are splitting a huge number. Even worse than voting intentions.’]
Thanks, Lizzie. My ever-cautious sister just rang informing me that given he works at Bunnings, he’s double-vaxxed. As for his voting intentions, he’s a work-in-progress.
PM accused of ‘outright lie’ after claiming detainees in Melbourne hotel are not refugees
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jan/17/pm-accused-of-outright-lie-after-claiming-detainees-in-melbourne-hotel-are-not-refugees
Mendacious Morrison ® …..
Actual ‘news’ would be Morrison not lying
RP @ #901 Monday, January 17th, 2022 – 5:22 pm
I have also pointed out at various times that we need better population, water management and other environmental policies. All that happens here when you do so is that you get called a Green, which seems to be the worst insult most people here can imagine.