I Promised Myself I Wouldn't Read This Article, But...
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Not that I would expect any of my limited audience to be avid listeners, fans, or supporters of Joe Rogan, but a little fact-checking of his latest podcast about Australia's Delta variant experience...
“There’s some crazy shit going on right now where the army is trying to keep people inside in Australia. They have full on government lockdowns where the government is flying helicopters over streets saying ‘go back indoors, you’re not allowed outside’.”
No - helicopters with loudspeakers are not overhead as I type this. And you are allowed outside for a number of reasons - food & essentials shopping, exercise, home-schooling sanity breaks... & essential workers, which kind of includes me, in a limited capacity. We're certainly not talking about a Chinese-style operation where people were literally shut inside. The helicopters have been used over some beach areas to encourage those not in any of the above categories to go home, but it's not a constant thing, nor a Sydney-wide, nor indeed a nation-wide practice
As to the army forcing people to stay at home, well... only if you're supposed to be there...
From Monday, some 300 army personnel will help police go door to door to ensure people who have tested positive are isolating, New South Wales police commissioner Mick Fuller told a news conference.
The military personnel will not be armed and will be under police command, he said.
In summary: No, we have not become a heavy-handed, authoritarian police state, nor is there any danger of a military coup. The people who have complained loudest about these restrictions, are the first ones to break them, resulting in necessarily stricter enforcement measures, which, of course, they complain about as well. It's a looooong way from storming government buildings in 2nd-hand combat fatigues, armed with assault rifles, just because you can't get a haircut... & more of a storm in a takeaway teacup - oolong, with almond milk & a dash of manuka honey
.
.
.
Not that I would expect any of my limited audience to be avid listeners, fans, or supporters of Joe Rogan, but a little fact-checking of his latest podcast about Australia's Delta variant experience...
“There’s some crazy shit going on right now where the army is trying to keep people inside in Australia. They have full on government lockdowns where the government is flying helicopters over streets saying ‘go back indoors, you’re not allowed outside’.”
No - helicopters with loudspeakers are not overhead as I type this. And you are allowed outside for a number of reasons - food & essentials shopping, exercise, home-schooling sanity breaks... & essential workers, which kind of includes me, in a limited capacity. We're certainly not talking about a Chinese-style operation where people were literally shut inside. The helicopters have been used over some beach areas to encourage those not in any of the above categories to go home, but it's not a constant thing, nor a Sydney-wide, nor indeed a nation-wide practice
As to the army forcing people to stay at home, well... only if you're supposed to be there...
From Monday, some 300 army personnel will help police go door to door to ensure people who have tested positive are isolating, New South Wales police commissioner Mick Fuller told a news conference.
The military personnel will not be armed and will be under police command, he said.
In summary: No, we have not become a heavy-handed, authoritarian police state, nor is there any danger of a military coup. The people who have complained loudest about these restrictions, are the first ones to break them, resulting in necessarily stricter enforcement measures, which, of course, they complain about as well. It's a looooong way from storming government buildings in 2nd-hand combat fatigues, armed with assault rifles, just because you can't get a haircut... & more of a storm in a takeaway teacup - oolong, with almond milk & a dash of manuka honey
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.