Gorth

As mentioned previously (at least I think I mentioned it), the latest Honest Government Ads take on the Australian governments handling of the situation in Australia

This Not going to move existing posts (too much work on a phone *cough*), but please continue this subject in one of the other threads. Politics or Covid

Do we need to close the borders to space?

Or get used to having your annual covid vaccine shot for the next 300 years... Edit: I have no idea, but @Zoraptor may know some typical figures for how long it takes humans to adapt to new diseases and co-exist so to speak. No idea what the guy does for a living, but I suspect his knowledge of virology and dna/rna is more than just casual.

Can they issue the death penalty for politicians that deliberately kill people (outside of stuff like war etc.)? Edit: After all, if they are so keen on getting people killed, they should really appreciate experiencing it themselves.

Who said anything about masks outside? And please... not even going to click a link to daily fail. About as trustworthy as Fox News, which means not at all. If that is the source of your debunk that is, you need to find better. It's worked for 12 months without fail down under. The only reason it didn't work this time was because a local government decided to believe that kind of crap (the same position which also failed miserably in Sweden, hence why the other Nordic countries closed their borders to Sweden, no idea if they've reopened them since) More likely, but that's my own speculation, business interests pushed them to *not* do a lockdown this time, when the federal quarantine system failed yet again (something it's been doing at least once a month the last 12 months). The reason the lockdown didn't work this time was, they didn't do a lockdown. Only now, after the bird left the cage and it's to late to fix it easily, did they realize that their not so bright ideas might come back to bite them.

I can't link to any direct quotes, because they never said it directly (afaik). Just 12 months of constant criticism of the other state PM's in the media for enforcing mask rules and doing snap lockdowns (to prevent lengthy lockdowns down the road). If you repeat a message often enough, people think you actually stand for what you say and that forcing people to wear masks and do lockdowns is a bad idea. Edit: And yes, I the failure is first and foremost on a federal level because of the complete lack of a program to handle travelers entering Australia (something local state PM's have no jurisdiction over) and the completely ****ed up vaccine situation. But, unlike when Australia was burning down to the ground, there is no option for Scott Morrison to just put his family on a plane and flee to Hawaii (to go on "vacation" while things comes crashing down back home). Edit2: To compound the issue, there are not even *signs*, that the federal government is trying to fix any of their many mistakes. Neither the quarantine situation nor the vaccine situation.

So, just to recap. The quarantine arrangements, which are the federal governments responsibility has been shown to be completely not working for 12 months. Facilities are there, that could be used, but they aren't The vaccine supply and distribution is the responsibility of the federal government, has been shown to be completely not working for 12 months. Australia is currently rock bottom amongst OECD countries. This means, Australia is completely unable to handle a major outbreak one were to happen. Guess what? Yes, the federal governments local party branch in NSW has the "honour" of completely losing control of the situation and is now panicking. So is the federal government by the way. Not that they give a **** about Australians, but it will hopefully get them wiped off the map at the next election. The "geniouses" in the NSW government spent most of the last year mocking the other states for doing snap lockdowns of 5 days each, in order to cover for the federal governments constant **** ups. Most of their contributions being to tell other states how stupid they are and such measures aren't needed. Now they managed to completely lose control after it happened in their own backyard and nobody else in Australia has any sympathy for their plight. More like gloating, except people are now dying again because of their mismanagement. Besides the federal government wanting to seize what vaccines the other states have and redistribute them to their fellow party members, they are also digging into the national treasury to support NSW financially (something other states didn't get, when suffering from the federal governments constant failures). The NSW government's solution? Well, they have encouraged their own population very loudly so far, to resist lockdown measures, social distancing, mask wearing etc. and now they have decided to do a hard lockdown of an indeterminate duration. Not only that, because they "educated" the local population so well, nobody listens to them talking about lockdown measures, so now the army has been called in to keep them in check. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-58021718 "Covid in Sydney: Military deployed to help enforce lockdown" Way to go Liberal Party. I've mentioned it before, Australia is really a third world country in so many ways. Hard not to think of the term Banana Republic when describing it. That would be insulting to bananas though, and the QLD bananas are great... Honest Government Ads have made a new video about the subject, I'll see if I can find and share it when it becomes available to the public (currently available as an audio preview on their Patreon page)

I know the Italian police have a number of Lamborghinis (donated by Lamborghini btw.). But other countries police forces are no slouches either... https://topgear.com.my/these-are-the-worlds-best-police-cars Edit: "Dubai police Ferrari FF Announced on Twitter, Dubai’s police force admitted that yes, they had bought a V12-engined pursuit vehicle in the shape of the four-seat Ferrari FF. The four-wheel drive will doubtless prove vital for all those snow-and-ice police chases across the UAE."

Ah, the potential for gravity drives... Event Horizon one step closer to become a reality

Nostalgia time... some old German rock from my teenage years (when music was something you bought as vinyl records!)

Thunderstorms can be a bit crazy in Brisbane at times. Haven’t had good ones recently, (only noticeable one was 71.000 lightning strikes) but 6-7 years ago I managed to catch a few minutes of light show on video. It was non stop lightning over a weekend, from Friday night to Sunday night. 200.000+ lightning strikes in 48 hours over the city All of the state got to feel the static that year (from the news) @majestic look at the bright side, if ocean levels rise significantly, lots of Austria will suddenly become attractive beach properties

Ask Electronic Arts how much their reputation matters to them... Ok, just kidding. For some companies, it's all weighed up in their chart of accounts. Acceptable losses if other gains makes up for it. I must be getting soft. Sat up all night watching the GW2 live stream on twitch together with a lot of guildies on Discord. Got to bed around 4am Got some questions answered and some questions just got what I would consider teaser responses. From memory: Taking place in Cantha (already knew that). Adding a new mount. A two person mount this time, with one driver and one gunner. It's a siege turtle. Yes, Mad Max meet Aqua World. Also mentioned in passing as useable in a WvW context. Skiffs. Not only in the new area, but old areas to be retrofitted with the ability to sail around on your small boats. Fishing. Multiplayer fishing too. 200+ different fish species to be caught all over the world (retroactively adding catchable fish to existing areas) New guild hall. A small paradise like island with a distinct Asian theme. Lots of water features and lush greenery. DirectX 11 support to be beta tested and hopefully released before the expansion. Significant rework to how match ups works in WvW. The aim being to let players form alliances between their guilds and then pitch alliances against each other rather than the current server vs. server (the guild wars are truly coming). To be beta tested and hopefully released before the expansion. 9 new elite specializations. Only one was shown (a new Mesmer specialization). Four public beta test sessions scheduled, the first one in a few weeks time. Each of the first three sessions to test 3 specs each and the fourth to test all 9 together. New strike missions (think Raid 'Lite') and new encounter mechanics in general, scaling enemies by adding more abilities rather than turning then into hit point sponges with increased damage output. Five new mastery tracks, of which the first three are to improve your fishing, skiff piloting and siege turtle skills. The last two to be revealed later. I probably forgot a lot of details because it was a bit late and I haven't watched it again. Open for pre-purchase now. Release date currently February 2022. Edit: There was something too about the use of all that jade they have. When the human gods had a falling out with each other, one of the collateral damages was the ocean around Cantha got turned into solid jade (hence the name 'The Jade Sea'). Apparently this very magically charged jade has given rise to a new form for technology. An interesting scene towards the end of the new trailer shows a woman in something that looks like a server room, with a mix of magic, steam punk and green glowing jade everywhere.

Still nothing wrong with getting a wage that allows you and your partner to survive without slaving away at two jobs each, simultaneously and then have the bank seize your home when little George breaks his leg in a freak accident. The way it works at the moment, in many parts of the world (including parts of the US) is very similar to the feudal system, where you're completely at the mercy of your liege and their whims. Including financial institutions happily gambling your money away to get the bonus they need for their CEO's second yacht. Edit: I doubt the usual solution to this problem would be appreciated... Roll them in pitch and torch them or off to the Guillotine once enough is enough. Edit2: UBI is never going to work as a patch on the problem, it will only lead to explosive inflation and the top 1% getting richer still, while the rest keep getting poorer.

Guild Wars 2 live stream sometime today, with previews and info about the third expansion 'End of Dragons'... I'm mostly curious about the new elite class specializations atm, but that might of course change once we get to actually know something (like anything???) about what they have planned. So far, afaik, the only two things that are certain are it's in Cantha (a Far East inspired part of the game world) and there will be new elite specs. Personal guess is, a lot of the action is going to be underwater. Based on new skimmer (the aquatic mount) abilities, promised visual upgrades to legendary underwater weapons and last but not least, the last living Elder Dragon is supposedly an underwater dragon living in Cantha. Just a teaser trailer from a year ago (i.e. just a mood setter, no useful info)

I don't think WHO was the point of the article I linked to More an analysis of why there is no point in just throwing up manufacturing plants everywhere, as the existing ones are already competing for limited raw materials (some of which are used by all the current vaccines in production) and skilled labour to operate such plants. Putting up more buildings wont solve those particular bottlenecks. Edit: Not that I don't agree with your point.

Till Lindemann (Rammstein's lead singer) Fat

According to Goebbels it’s very effective. This sounds like someone wanting to pull a Turkey on people, cracking down on anyone not drooling, with a slack jawed expression and showing proper nationalist attitudes (or worse calling the murder of a million Armenians genocide)

That “obviously” was sarcasm, right??? edit: those who are not Trump cultists aren’t surprised and his cultists don’t care either way

Completely off topic, but I wonder how many people around here were active on Usenet? I sometimes participated in alt.rec.games.interplay and alt.rec.games.baldurs-gate not being too keen on this newfangled “forum” nonsense, which looked like an internet version of Fido net

Just an interesting little bit about why we don’t just mass produce vaccines here and now (and no, not actually blaming things like IP and patents) https://www.bbc.com/news/health-57024322

I got my first two speeding tickets in Australia while still having only my old Danish drivers license (with no English translations), but that didn't bother the Hertz car rental apparently. It also meant I couldn't get "penalty points" on my license. Australia has a point system, where driving offenses costs points. If a you drive badly enough, your license is void. I eventually did get a proper Australian drivers license, because I could get fully credited for my Danish license and get a full Australian license right away. No tests... not even a written one. Later I did enroll in a training course and got motorcycle added to my license (complete with driving/skill test). Edit: And yes, spent my first 12 months driving around on my motorcycle with that ugly 'L' sign on it ("Learner") and the restrictions associated with it

Sorry to hear that Raithe. All the best wishes to you and your family Regarding blood sugar levels, I sometimes have a bad conscience and feel like I'm squandering some precious gifts when it comes to health. Spent most of my 30's and early 40's being at times outright obese, living off junk food and cappuccino's. Only then did I get tired of always feeling tired and got my act together (now looking presentable in the bathroom mirror again). Despite decades of abusing my body, the latest blood tests showed the numbers of a healthy 30 year old. Whatever kills me some day is unlikely to be diabetes or cholesterol. Never mind lots of other things tried, hard at times, and failed. This cat is currently on its 10th+ life It will probably be something silly like a lightning strike or a tile falling off a roof in the city Which reminds me, I really should get officially registered as an organ donor and get a will done one of these days. Things you sometimes forget when you feel immortal... which usually last until you get very surprised.

Making octopuses high on Ecstasy makes otherwise very solitary creatures more sociable... https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2018-09-21/octopus-ecstasy-mdma-social-behaviour/10280706 "An object such as a flower pot was placed in the left chamber and another octopus trapped in the right. Without ecstasy, test octopuses spent significantly more time in the chamber with the object. But with ecstasy, they became more social, preferring the chamber with the other octopus in it. And the nature of the interactions between octopuses changed too. Before a dose of ecstasy, social interactions were "limited, usually to one extended arm", the scientists wrote in the paper. "After MDMA treatment, social interactions were characterised by extensive ventral surface contact, which appeared to be exploratory rather than aggressive in nature," they said." Edit: The article didn't say if it resulted in some kinky tentacle sex

I think it's time to dust off ye olde Lexx dvd's again... (got all seasons on dvd). Probably my favourite sci-fi show after Firefly