Bollocks

It would appear we have an unwelcome presence in town.

Positive wastewater results had been detected in Hamilton and Palmerston North on October 6 and 7.

There are 26 cases in hospital, seven of these are in ICU or high dependency units (HDU).

One of the people in hospital is in Palmerston North. The other hospitalised cases are spread around Auckland and Waikato – three at North Shore, 13 at Middlemore, eight at Auckland City, and one at Waikato Base Hospital. 

Presumably, the hospital case is either Palmy's Case Zero - the luckless truckie - or a close associate.

Ah well.  It was fun while it lasted.

COVID Clusterfuck

Well it has been fun living in the safest country in the world for a year and a half, but a combination of cynical politics from the right, and dithering incompetence from the left, and selfish sociopathy or ignorance on the part of the population , means New Zealand is very likely fucked.

Make no mistake. The economy - which we're being told is the reason we have to learn to 'live with' COVID - will be carpet-bombed because so many people will be isolating after contacts.  People will get sick.  People will die.  Hospitals will be smashed.

All this is known from experiences overseas.  All this can be confidently predicted.  All this could easily be avoided if people weren't willing to let themselves be duped by transparently stupidly false misinformation and if the government had the guts to stick to their sane and practical elimination strategy.

But hey, let's not worry, because we might all be rich by the middle of the week.

On Wednesday night, $23 million is up for grabs with Lotto Powerball. 

If won by a single player, the $23 million Powerball prize would be the largest prize won in New Zealand since February last year when two players shared a $50 million Powerball jackpot. The players, who were both from Auckland, each took home $25.1 million. 

According to Lotto, 15 New Zealanders have become multi-millionaires this year, including a man from Christchurch who won $22.5 million in February.

We all just lost big time.  Add the money and celebrity worshipping media to the list of shame above.  Wankers.

Unsurprising

Former rugby league star Manu Vatuvei has admitted importing methamphetamine. 

The Warriors icon was charged in December 2019 with possessing methamphetamine for supply and importing the Class A drug. 

He previously denied the charges and earlier this year said he would “fight for his innocence” after he outed himself as the sportsman behind the charges.

On Wednesday, Vatuvei appeared at Manukau District Court where he admitted a representative charge of importing methamphetamine. The remaining charges will be withdrawn, the Crown said.

When we treat grown adults who play games for a living as heroes and reward them with fame and stupid amounts of money - again FOR PLAYING A GAME - is it any surprise they act like spoiled, selfish, amoral knobs who think they are above the law?

It is only a shame they withdrew the other charges.  Sports professionals need to know they aren't above the law.

I am still here.

 I am still here.  I haven't gone away.  I'm just trying to shame you all into better behaviour through my disapproving silence.

Song for Georgia

 

Johnson back in hospital

So, Boris Johnson has been footering about in hospitals again.

 

We should be grateful, perhaps, that on this occasion the Clown-in-Chief is only (probably) getting in the way and causing distractions, rather than taking up a bed, vital equipment and resources and adding more strain and danger to exhausted staff.

Look at him, trying to look doctory - hands placed authoritatively on his hips, shoulders back, belly sucked in, tie tucked in, staring intently at the Very Absorbing Spectacle of someone getting an injection.

(You'd have thought a man with so many children would be familiar with the process of people getting jags, but maybe he left all that to the various mothers of his various children.)

I wonder if anyone was impolite enough to remind Boris - enfolded in his slick black mask and socially distanced - of his earlier, more caviler approach:

“I was at a hospital the other night where I think there were actually a few coronavirus patients and I shook hands with everybody, you’ll be pleased to know, and I continue to shake hands.”

Hay, Johnson!  Here's something that'll really help.  Get back in your fridge, or your tent - or anywhere else far removed from places where real people are making a real effort to save lives - and stay there.

COVID 19 - Double+ Ungood

The situation in the UK is looking catastrophic:

Hey, guys!  We've made another hockey stick!!

Note that the only bit where the trend line goes down consistently is during lockdown.

I wonder why? Did Covid get lazy? Or did closing down the economy for a few weeks, and restricting movement have a dramatic impact on the spread of the virus?

Comparison is an easy form of flattery. I mean, whoever would have thought we'd be looking back at the actions of the government in March and thinking, "They handled that pretty well, now you come to think about it."