Corona

[Glen]

1 hour ago, Geoff said:

Sorry to hear about your long covid thing. Hope it's better now and genuinely not trying to belittle your or anyone else's situation. I just personally don't know a single person who hasn't had covid (except me, possibly?) but I also don't know one single person who's got or had long covid, apart from you, I guess. And I have a tendency to believe what I see and experience first hand. 

I know loads of people with long covid. Just a few examples. 

Me lol - thankfully better now

My son lost his sense of smell for 9 months.

My work colleague has had long covid for 2 years. Suffers crushing exhaustion- cannot walk more than 400 yards without taking a rest.

My sons PE teacher has had no taste for over 12 months now

My mate at work daughter has had no smell for 6 months, not returned yet

But there are literally 100s of thousands of cases in the UK which is why I maintain this is a much worse issue than a few isolated cases of vaccine illness. 

[Glen]

2 hours ago, Geoff said:

But did they really have nothing in the UK like we did here? Where lockdowns wouldn't end until 90% of the population was vaccinated?  

no we didn't 

[Geoff]

3 minutes ago, Glen said:

I know loads of people with long covid. Just a few examples. 

Me lol - thankfully better now

My son lost his sense of smell for 9 months.

My work colleague has had long covid for 2 years. Suffers crushing exhaustion- cannot walk more than 400 yards without taking a rest.

My sons PE teacher has had no taste for over 12 months now

My mate at work daughter has had no smell for 6 months, not returned yet

But there are literally 100s of thousands of cases in the UK which is why I maintain this is a much worse issue than a few isolated cases of vaccine illness. 

So in this long covid thing just a UK thing? I guess I don't hear much of anything in mainstream circles, but far as I know it never comes up here in Australia? Or does it? I don't know. 

Depends what the vaccine "illnesses" turn out to be. There's some suggestive commentary around the continued high rates of excess deaths and what could be a contributing factor in some cases, but I guess at this point that's only hearsay. 

[Geoff]

8 minutes ago, Glen said:

no we didn't 

I guess that's why Australia was very rightly so considered one of the worst of the worst. I wonder if NZ and Canada had similar requirements. 

[AlphaMale]

This commercial plays every 15 minutes:

 

[auslander]

4 hours ago, AlphaMale said:

This commercial plays every 15 minutes:

 

Hahahahahaha wtf is that bullshit

[Geoff]

Pretty crazy, what's going on in China at the moment. Thank goodness you'd never see something like that happen in Austra- oh. Uh, as you were.

There must be plenty of videos like this out and about at the moment-

 

 

Edited December 1, 2022 by Geoff

[heavyharmonies]

The fundamental difference is that the mainstream media is now portraying the Chinese COVID protestors as glorious freedom fighters standing up for their inalienable human rights, where protesters in the U.S. and Canada were portrayed as terrorists, insurrectionists, and right-wing nazis by the very same mainstream media.

Fuckers.

I guess the current administration(s) have exhausted the money pit being diverted to Ukraine with respect to public approval, so now time to ratchet up somewhere else to send gobs of taxpayer money so that billions can be funneled back to the DNC via crypto...

[Geoff]

And in further news... pretty massive story, I reckon.

In a nutshell, more than half of all covid fines issued in NSW to be cancelled, including refunds for those already paid, with the possibility that all covid fines could be invalidated by early 2023. 

This is obviously a positive step, but what I'd like to see when all the fines are reversed, is that whomever authorised the issuing of all these fines must surely be held accountable. I don't see how something like this can not lead to a conclusion like that... but of course it won't.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-29/revenue-nsw-cancels-33-121-covid-19-fines/101710632

Revenue NSW cancels more than 33,000 COVID-19 fines after Supreme Court hearing
By Maryanne Taouk
Posted Tue 29 Nov 2022 at 1:09pmTuesday 29 Nov 2022 at 1:09pm, updated Wed 30 Nov 2022 at 9:23amWednesday 30 Nov 2022 at 9:23am
The NSW Supreme Court found two COVID-19 fines to be invalid.(ABC News: Bindi Bryce)
 

The NSW government will withdraw more than 33,000 COVID-19 fines after a Supreme Court hearing on Tuesday.

Key points:
The fines cancelled are about half of the 62,128 COVID-related infringements issued
Revenue NSW says that all sanctions on unpaid fines will now stop
They also said the remaining 29,017 fines would still be required to be paid
Earlier on Tuesday, Justice Dina Yehia SC was set to hear arguments that two fines for between $1,000 and $3,000, did not meet the requirements of section 20 under the Fines Act.

Barrister Katherine Richardson SC said the plaintiffs had in effect been forced to take the "extraordinary step" of going to the Supreme Court after other unsuccessful attempts to have the fines reviewed.

"It's only at the eleventh hour the Crown has finally accepted these were invalid," she said.

Within a matter of hours the government moved to withdraw more than half the infringements issued under NSW's COVID-19 restrictions.

The case centred on the technical basis the notices did not provide a sufficiently detailed description of the offence committed and were therefore invalid.

In a statement issued after the ruling, Revenue NSW confirmed it would withdraw 33,121 fines.

A total of 62,128 COVID-related infringements were issued in the state throughout the pandemic.

"Where fines are withdrawn, all sanctions, including drivers licence restrictions or garnishee order activity will be stopped," the statement read.

"Where a fine has been withdrawn and a customer has made a payment — either in part or in full — Revenue NSW will make contact to arrange a refund or credit the payment towards other outstanding debts."

a woman standing outside a court room talking
Solicitor Samantha Lee called the decision "extraordinary".(Facebook: Redfern Legal Centre)
The agency also noted it did "not mean the offences were not committed" and "the remaining 29,017 fines will still be required to be paid if not already resolved".

Scott Johnston from Revenue NSW said his decision was made in the interest of being "consistent and equitable", and refunding the close to $10 million that has already being paid, will start immediately.

"We'll be working through a process to contact everyone who's either made payments to discuss getting a refund as quickly as possible," Mr Johnston said.

"Or to those that haven't resolved those fines, there'll be nothing further for them to do, but we'll advise them as such."

About one third of people have already settled their fines, with others making part-payments while about 8,000 fines are overdue, according to Mr Johnston.

"We've got everyone's' details who's paid, we'll have to write to everyone to get their details so we can return the money to the right bank account ... we'll also have a hotline.

"We're ready to answer the calls that come, customer service is important to us and doing a good and fair job." 

a man standing outdoors and in front of microphones speaking to the media
Mr Johnston says staff at Revenue NSW are ready to answer queries about people's refunds.(ABC News: Harriet Tatham)
Earlier, David Kell SC, representing the NSW Commissioner of Fines Administration, warned the court the two infringements did not meet the act's requirements.

Mr Kell said the court should be "cautious" in throwing out the fines, as it would set a precedent in the area.

In a statement the Law Society of NSW welcomed the "common sense" decision but urged Revenue NSW to review the remaining COVID-19 related fines — especially any imposed on children. 

"Many of the top fifteen per-capita locations where fines were issued during the Delta outbreak have high Aboriginal populations," Law Society president Joanne van der Plaat said.

"These include the top three of Walgett, Brewarrina and Wilcannia. Eleven of these communities are counted among communities suffering the state's highest level of social disadvantage."

Data reveals NSW COVID fine hotspots
A combined total of $3.2 million in fines were issued across Mount Druitt, Liverpool and Dubbo from the start of the pandemic to October last year.

Mass cancellation
Brendan Beame and Teal Els's court challenge, brought by Redfern Legal Centre, was the catalyst for the mass cancellation.

Katherine Richardson SC, said more than 160 people had received an identical $3,000 fine as Ms Els, and more than 500 had fines with similar wording.

Ms Richardson said Ms Els had no idea what she was being fined for when she was approached by police while sitting in a park after exercising with her sister.

"How can she tell, for example, having no idea what offence she said to have committed with a penalty amount of $3,000, which is obviously a very significant amount of money to be imposed by notice procedure," Ms Richardson told the court.

"Our submission states they are entitled to a refund. They have been charged money invalidly and we are pressing for a full range of relief to be sought."

In July, Rohan Pank had his fine dismissed for sitting on a park bench in August 2021, during Sydney's lockdown.

Redfern Legal Centre represented the three plaintiffs who said they received little information and the fines lacked details about any public health orders breached.

The total amount of fines issued during the lockdown amounted to more than $33 million according to Revenue NSW.

Most common COVID-19 offences revealed
It's New South Wales's COVID-19 lockdown like you've never seen it before, a story not told by the number of cases, vaccines or venues of concern, but a new metric: fines.

Sydney faced a 107-day lockdown in mid to late 2021 as the Delta and Omicron waves spread through the city.

There were also 12 local government areas in Western Sydney that faced harsher lockdown restrictions including a nightly curfew. 

Outside court, Redfern Legal Centre's acting principal solicitor Samantha Lee said it was an "extraordinary" day for NSW.

"The state has conceded that the COVID fines brought to the court today are invalid," she said.

"We are going to ask the commissioner of fines to set up a mechanism to give the money back. They have no other means than to withdraw those fines. This case has set a precedent."

Ms Lee said the decisions today has the potential to invalidate all COVID-19 fines that were issued during the 2020 and 2021 lockdown.

Justice Yehia is expected to make a formal judgement in early 2023.

[Dead Planet]

11 hours ago, heavyharmonies said:

The fundamental difference is that the mainstream media is now portraying the Chinese COVID protestors as glorious freedom fighters standing up for their inalienable human rights, where protesters in the U.S. and Canada were portrayed as terrorists, insurrectionists, and right-wing nazis by the very same mainstream media.

Fuckers.

I guess the current administration(s) have exhausted the money pit being diverted to Ukraine with respect to public approval, so now time to ratchet up somewhere else to send gobs of taxpayer money so that billions can be funneled back to the DNC via crypto...

Not much of a comparison between what is happening in China and what happened in North America. China's covid restrictions are more like a prison where you can't leave the city you're in or even the house you're living in....and if you do you can be beaten and imprisoned....also the Chinese are protesting the overall lack of freedoms not just the draconian covid rules....if any of that had occurred in NA there would have been bloodshed in the streets.....no comparison at all except for those who see everything through a political lens......

[Geoff]

47 minutes ago, Dead Planet said:

Not much of a comparison between what is happening in China and what happened in North America. China's covid restrictions are more like a prison where you can't leave the city you're in or even the house you're living in....and if you do you can be beaten and imprisoned....also the Chinese are protesting the overall lack of freedoms not just the draconian covid rules....if any of that had occurred in NA there would have been bloodshed in the streets.....no comparison at all except for those who see everything through a political lens......

Sadly the same cannot be said for Australia. Nothing happening in China that didn't happen in Australia. Incredible to acknowledge that.

Right down to the moronic idiocy of chasing covid zero, Australia was there for all the worst the pandemic produced... or, I guess, produces, is more to the point. 

[auslander]

3 hours ago, Geoff said:

Sadly the same cannot be said for Australia. Nothing happening in China that didn't happen in Australia. Incredible to acknowledge that.

Right down to the moronic idiocy of chasing covid zero, Australia was there for all the worst the pandemic produced... or, I guess, produces, is more to the point. 

If what happened in China happened here people in the state of Victoria would destroy anyone who questions the policies and then vote the government back in. Wait, that actually happened...

[Geoff]

5 minutes ago, auslander said:

If what happened in China happened here people in the state of Victoria would destroy anyone who questions the policies and then vote the government back in. Wait, that actually happened...

Lol, yep. Inconceivable that anyone, let alone a majority of people, would allow it to happen. The worst thing is it was never in doubt either. Absolutely shameful. 

[Thomas/Coastline]

Fapping is not as good as before the Goddamn Communist-Dictatorship virus. Either i'm getting old or the virus has affected the Jizzing Machinery. (

 

 

[KarpetRydOFunk]

6 hours ago, Thomas/Coastline said:

Fapping is not as good as before the Goddamn Communist-Dictatorship virus. Either i'm getting old or the virus has affected the Jizzing Machinery. (

 

 

Gotta take care of the machinery. 

[Geoff]

7 hours ago, Thomas/Coastline said:

Fapping is not as good as before the Goddamn Communist-Dictatorship virus. Either i'm getting old or the virus has affected the Jizzing Machinery. (

 

Just when we thought Long Covid would end humankind, Flacid Covid comes along? 

[AlphaMale]

18 minutes ago, Geoff said:

Just when we thought Long Covid would end humankind, Flacid Covid comes along? 

You should see the commercials they are shoving down out throats starring a bunch of youing children "begging for the covid shot".

 

[Geoff]

26 minutes ago, AlphaMale said:

You should see the commercials they are shoving down out throats starring a bunch of youing children "begging for the covid shot".

Can’t fathom how that can be allowed to happen, but I guess the last few years have shown that where there’s a dollar to be made there’s no room for conscience. 

[AlphaMale]

1 hour ago, Geoff said:

Can’t fathom how that can be allowed to happen, but I guess the last few years have shown that where there’s a dollar to be made there’s no room for conscience. 

Trying to find it on the web with no luck.

 

[Geoff]

8 hours ago, AlphaMale said:

Trying to find it on the web with no luck.

 

I was trying to find the ad running here too, but also couldn't find it on the web. Some moronic thing about there being a new wave or strain or something so we should all wear masks indoors and crowded spaces. We even got a note from our school the other day that in order to go and watch a Christmas assembly the kids are doing, parents will be required to wear a mask now, because of an alleged surge of cases in the local area. 

What's become blatantly obvious to me in the last few years is that we are communicated to as if we're all absolute morons. Whether it's via our government or the media, we are spoken to like braindead pieces of shit. Sadly, in many cases they're spot on, hitting their target audience. But as someone with some semblance of a brain (and not even much of it, to be fair), I just simply don't get it. 

[AlphaMale]

7 hours ago, Geoff said:

I was trying to find the ad running here too, but also couldn't find it on the web. Some moronic thing about there being a new wave or strain or something so we should all wear masks indoors and crowded spaces. We even got a note from our school the other day that in order to go and watch a Christmas assembly the kids are doing, parents will be required to wear a mask now, because of an alleged surge of cases in the local area. 

What's become blatantly obvious to me in the last few years is that we are communicated to as if we're all absolute morons. Whether it's via our government or the media, we are spoken to like braindead pieces of shit. Sadly, in many cases they're spot on, hitting their target audience. But as someone with some semblance of a brain (and not even much of it, to be fair), I just simply don't get it. 

Ridiculous. Wait until you see the kids one I'm talking about. Appallingly untruthful.

[Geoff]

 

 

[Doggy]

My early Christmas presents

Edited December 13, 2022 by Doggy

[Darkstone]

5 hours ago, Doggy said:

My early Christmas presents

On a side note,

Have you seen "Jeremiah Johnson"?

Killer movie.

[Doggy]

27 minutes ago, Darkstone said:

On a side note,

Have you seen "Jeremiah Johnson"?

Killer movie.

No, I haven't seen it. Might try get it features one of favorite actors Robert Redford.