Former Attorney General, Christian Porter’s tribulations with regard to silencing the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Four Corners and Louise Milligan by attempting to sue them for defamation have been well documented1, but his latest self-inflicted wound also demonstrates the extraordinary hypocrisy of this government.
As everyone knows, the Morrison government has now signed an agreement to have an agreement to think about designing a submarine which will contain a nuclear propulsion unit provided by the UK and/or US and which maybe someday replace the already ageing Collins class submarines1.
In 2016, the Turnbull government agreed to purchase a dozen Shortfin Barracuda class submarines to replace Australia’s six ageing Collins class submarines1. The Collins class were launched between 1993 and 2001 and were commissioned into the Royal Australian Navy between July, 1996, and March, 20032. The Shortfin Barracuda beat Germany’s Type 216 and Japan’s Soryu class offerings, and it was Australia’s biggest ever defence procurement deal.
As I related here a couple of weeks ago, I brought forward my second dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine to 9 weeks after the first dose1. While partial protection against Covid-19 can occur as soon as 12 days after the first dose, this protection is likely to be short-lived. After the second dose, it takes from 7 to 14 days, after which any individual should be fully protected2. I reach that 14 day mark on Wednesday (September 15).
The incredibly vacant and entitled Tony Abbott has been fined $500 dollars for not wearing a mask. A random law-abiding beachgoer grabbed her phone and took several photographs of Abbott when he was out and about maskless in Manly. Of course, he complained that he was “well within the law, reasonably interpreted”. Abbott, in all his magnanimity said he would not challenge the fine because it would waste police time1.
A month ago, I wrote piece mostly about the lag time between maximum daily new cases and the maximum daily deaths from Covid-19. I also noted that this lag time extends to just about everything that happens during this pandemic1. At the time I wrote the piece, the UK had reached the peak of its fourth wave (on July 21), two days after its Freedom Day. That peak of infection was at a seven-day moving average (SDMA) of 47,101 new cases per day2.
Achieving herd immunity against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, depends in part on how long the vaccines protect you against infection. If a vaccine continues to work well over a long period of time, it becomes easier to have a significant proportion of the population protected and to suppress or eliminate the virus1.
Antivaxxers (anti-vaccination activists) seem to be so deluded or gullible that they will believe anything despite it being clearly untrue and easily debunked1,2. Many of them refuse to have any Covid-19 vaccine, despite the fact that any adverse reactions to the various vaccines is miniscule compared to the risk of death or serious long-term illness from Covid-19.