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covidnews

It's hard to believe it's only five days since NSW's COVID-19 response was called the "gold standard" and a full-on lockdown seemed unlikely.

For a government that has made avoiding lockdowns a point of pride, the economic recovery evident in last week’s state budget allowed New South Wales to boast even more about its approach to the pandemic.

“Gold standard testing, tracing, quarantine,” Treasurer Dominic Perrottet exclaimed while delivering his speech in parliament on Tuesday.

LIVE UPDATES: Read our blog for the latest news on the COVID-19 pandemic

And he pointed out that the NSW government had kept “our way of life more free” than other states.

That was five days ago.

A day after the budget, on Wednesday, the mood in the government had changed and tough restrictions came into force as the number of COVID cases linked to a Bondi cluster grew.

Residents in seven local government areas in Sydney had their movements restricted and were effectively barred from entering Queensland, New Zealand, South Australia, Western Australia and Victoria.

Yet some in the government — including Health Minister Brad Hazzard — were adamant there was no need to consider a lockdown.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-27/analysis-gladys-berejiklian-delayed-nsw-covid19-lockdown/100247422

By Gus Leonisky at 29 Jun 2021 - 7:05am
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not happy, scomo...

NSW’s frustration with the federal government’s vaccine roll-out has intensified as Premier Gladys Berejiklian demands a dramatic increase in the number of GPs to administer the Pfizer shot.

Only 140 GPs in NSW are signed up to administer Pfizer, which is the recommended vaccine for Australians under 60. While that figure will rise over the next three weeks, Ms Berejiklian warned there will not be enough GPs to “get jabs in arms” as the AstraZeneca vaccine is phased out...

https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/berejiklian-warns-nsw-cannot-deliver-pfizer-without-more-gps-20210628-p584yt.html

assangex

By Gus Leonisky at 29 Jun 2021 - 7:09am
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happy hour...

It was a wave that travelled the country.

In press conference after press conference, Australia's state premiers and chief ministers fronted the cameras to give announcements not seen in some areas of the country for a long time.

Masks, lockdowns, restrictions, infection controls, hotspots.

Experts have labelled this week a "critical moment" of the pandemic, while others say the country's on a "knife's edge", with two states and a territory — New South Wales, Western Australia and the Northern Territory — sitting in lockdown, while Queensland is in the midst of unfamiliar community transmission.

LIVE UPDATES: Read our blog for the latest news on the COVID-19 pandemic

And according to those experts, it all comes down to one element:

"[The Delta variant] is a particularly formidable enemy," UNSW epidemiologist Mary-Louise McLaws said.

"This is an enemy that has [got] around our armour and our war plan, and it is winning.

"It has learned how to be more infectious with less exposure."

Professor McLaws, a World Health Organization advisor, is one of a multitude of infectious disease experts imploring governments to act strong and act fast with the Delta variant.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-29/australias-new-covid-phase-as-delta-variant-spreads/100249444

FREE JULIAN ASSANGE NOW ™∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞@@@!

pub test

By Gus Leonisky at 29 Jun 2021 - 10:51am
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not playing the game...

A restaurant owner on the NSW Mid-North Coast has been left with facial injuries after he was allegedly attacked by a customer who refused to check in.

The brawl was captured on CCTV and broke out when a man and woman were asked to leave the Forster restaurant for allegedly not wearing masks indoors or checking in using the QR code.

When the couple were told they would have to leave the Anatolia Turkish Cuisine restaurant it is alleged the man picked up a bottle of water and threw it against a wall, smashing it.

The 34-year-old man was then escorted from the restaurant and allegedly punched the owner, Mostafa Jamalifard, on the street.

Mr Jamalifard said he was caught off guard when the man turned violent.

"I went up to them very nicely and said, 'What's the problem, how can I help you, you know the rules, especially at this tough time... I need you guys to sign in'."

"But the guy said 'I'm not going to follow anything ... that's all bullshit and I'm not going to do that for my personal reasons'.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-29/couple-refuse-to-sign-in-with-qr-code-assault-restaurant-owner/100253692

Why go to a restaurant "with personal reasons"? Staying incognito? Not paying the bill and do a runner? Revolutionary ideals against lockdowns? Being a lousy cook? Gas and electricity have been cut off? Appear like a "freedom fighter" in front of madam? Being a crook on the run? Fake ID? Not wanting the government to know where one is?... Being ashamed of not having a smartphone? Nor a smart brain? Being an out-of-towner? Gus understands...

assangex

By Gus Leonisky at 30 Jun 2021 - 6:42am
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pregnant pause...

A southern right whale in Wallis Lake, at Forster-Tuncurry on the NSW Mid North Coast, could be getting ready to give birth, according to those monitoring its wellbeing.

Key points:

The southern right whale was spotted entering Wallis Lake around 7:30am today
The whale looks to be pregnant and may have come into the lake to give birth
There are only about 300 southern right whales in south-east Australia

The Department of Environment, Planning and Industry sent officers to monitor the whale.

Matt Coombe is the skipper of a whale-watching boat and saw the mammal come into the lake early on Tuesday and head under a bridge that links the twin towns.

He said the lucky people on the boat with him were astounded.

"Just blown away, they could not believe it," he said.

"To see a whale in the lake system like this, that whale was probably 15 metres and maybe 50 or 60 tonne — it was just incredible to see something that big in our lake."

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-29/southern-right-whale-wallis-lake-mid-north-coast/100253100

Read from top.

FREE JULIAN ASSANGE NOW

By Gus Leonisky at 1 Jul 2021 - 9:13am
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self-distancing...

It has been 25 cartoons or so since we mentioned the war — the war on Covid that is. And we're not going to indulge in posting more on the front page in the immediate future. I call this "cartoon distancing". But perusing the net for ideas other than "Neurobiology of Novelty Seeking" in which the neurons of the subthalamic "zone of uncertainty" assign intrinsic value to novel experiences, which we have mentioned a lot without knowing the location of this vagary in the brain, we found this cartoon that explains a lot of things:

Meanwhile: August 5 2021…

guilt shifting...