Off Topic Thread 5.0

Buer

errlloyd wrote: »

Didn't go, but it seemed a fair amount of it was protesting direct provision, which I think is a reasonable thing to protest against and a reasonable extension an anti racism initiative that is applicable to Ireland.

In fairness, I highly doubt many of those attending did so due to direct provision regardless of it was raised on the day. If they were so concerned with it, they've had years to protest against direct provision. This was a BLM march to the U.S. embassy and that's what generated the attendance owing to the coverage from events in America this week.

stephen_n

Buer wrote: »

In fairness, I highly doubt many of those attending did so due to direct provision regardless of it was raised on the day. If they were so concerned with it, they've had years to protest against direct provision. This was a BLM march to the U.S. embassy and that's what generated the attendance owing to the coverage from events in America this week.

There has been a lot of talk online about direct provision in relation to this incident. As well as Irish attitudes towards travelers. The demographic you are describing are exactly those who would be most active in campaigning against DP.

Also on RTE’s coverage a good deal of the crowd were POC. So it would be reasonable to assume a lot of those kids would have white friends.

prawnsambo

Former Former wrote: »

I'm not sure how a virus loses potency really.

I think the lockdown is working, that's all

Unless there are multiple strains doing the rounds, and then we've a whole other set of problems.

This is the virus load in infected patients. The general experience is that there is a rapidly increasing virus load and the really sick patients are riddled with it. This news seems to indicate that the virus isn't replicating as fast as it used to and could be (as awec says) a mutation.

Neil3030

prawnsambo wrote: »

This is the virus load in infected patients. The general experience is that there is a rapidly increasing virus load and the really sick patients are riddled with it. This news seems to indicate that the virus isn't replicating as fast as it used to and could be (as awec says) a mutation.

Or dosage effects.

I'm yet to see definitive data on this, but the disproportionate mortality risk amongst healthcare workers would suggest that not just exposure, but the amount of exposure may influence how severe a case becomes.

Squidgy Black

From photos of the crowd and livestreams from Twitter it definitely seemed to be a large cohort of POC and their white mates who accompanied them.

It definitely isn't great circumstances in terms of the whole lockdown but I can 100% see why people would want to show support for a movement like this, I think people are starting to look at things outside of just the bubble of the events over the past few weeks in America.

I had a lot of friends recalling moments from their past where they had abuse hurled at them etc despite being born and raised here. I think it's probably shifted more towards a generic anti-racism movement internationally than specifically the US events, but showing support at the same time if that makes sense.

Personally I'm torn on it, absolutely have no doubt people are incensed at what's gone on and a lot of people will be emotionally charged over something like this, regardless of the fact it's something than happened thousands of miles across the sea. But still slightly pissed that they've potentially gone and fúcked up our lockdown efforts even if it was for a cause.

Neil3030

I tell you these looters are bloody organized. Friends in LA tell me how they're operating down there:

Central command coordinates the whole thing from nearby safe houses, monitoring news feeds, police radio and various social media streams to pinpoint the exact location and movements of cops and protesters at all times.

Looters disguise themselves as protesters until the signal is sent to hit a specific location. Locations picked based on proximity to and movement of cops, and probability of a successful hit.

A specific looter on the ground will take point, receiving all instructions from central command. When the point moves, they all move.

Once the target is hit, the point will receive an escape route from central command. Block by block. My friend said you can literally see videos of escaping looters turning down certain streets, and it only makes sense a few blocks later when you see where the chasing cops would have been.

Looted goods are deposited in support vehicles that quickly enter and exit the area.

Looters disperse and mix back in with protesters. Cops would risk mayhem if they tried to go into the crowd after them.

antimatterx

Anyone else here working in tech? How are you finding WFH. I can't handle these zoom meetings anymore, they're wrecking my head.

Dave_The_Sheep

antimatterx wrote: »

Anyone else here working in tech? How are you finding WFH. I can't handle these zoom meetings anymore, they're wrecking my head.

I don't want to return to the office. I'd rather WFH for the rest of my life. It's not perfect, but it beats the **** out of the daily commute. Video meetings are fine. Sure, it's odd in a lot of ways, but I'll get over it.

Stheno

Is Trump about to declare martial law?

Stheno

Dave_The_Sheep wrote: »

I don't want to return to the office. I'd rather WFH for the rest of my life. It's not perfect, but it beats the **** out of the daily commute. Video meetings are fine. Sure, it's odd in a lot of ways, but I'll get over it.

Same here, couple of days a month in the office would be grand

Spent 90% of my time prior to this on conference calls so not that different

Stheno

antimatterx wrote: »

Anyone else here working in tech? How are you finding WFH. I can't handle these zoom meetings anymore, they're wrecking my head.

Did you work entirely face to face before?

Dave_The_Sheep

Stheno wrote: »

Is Trump about to declare martial law?

It's going to be really interesting seeing those 2nd Amendment supporting idiots over there suddenly disappear like a fart in the wind if he does.

Stheno

Dave_The_Sheep wrote: »

It's going to be really interesting seeing those 2nd Amendment supporting idiots over there suddenly disappear like a fart in the wind if he does.

Hes invoked some act from 1807 about civil insurrection just now

Squidgy Black

antimatterx wrote: »

Anyone else here working in tech? How are you finding WFH. I can't handle these zoom meetings anymore, they're wrecking my head.

I've been lucky enough to stamp out video calls unless it's social catch-ups and keep conference calls to a minimum, basically just replacing in person meetings like stand-ups etc, and other than that people seem to be sticking to just one on one calls or just IM so it hasn't been too bad. Definitely taken management a while to get to grips with it though.

I think some places are overly keen with the whole cameras on thing. Personally it makes meetings a hell of a lot more laborious compared to a standard call.

irishbucsfan

Stheno wrote: »

Hes invoked some act from 1807 about civil insurrection just now

That only came a few years after the 2nd amendment to be fair!

irishbucsfan

If this ends up with some National Guardsman shooting a protestor it's hard to see a way back from this, not sure if they'll be armed.

The National Guard of most states are predominantly made up of part time reserves isn't it...? History has seen this go badly before

Dave_The_Sheep

irishbucsfan wrote: »

If this ends up with some National Guardsman shooting a protestor it's hard to see a way back from this, not sure if they'll be armed.

Hasn't there already been a death via National Guard? Apparently they were 'returning fire'.

Buer

irishbucsfan wrote: »

If this ends up with some National Guardsman shooting a protestor it's hard to see a way back from this, not sure if they'll be armed.

The National Guard of most states are predominantly made up of part time reserves isn't it...? History has seen this go badly before

Correct but their training is largely military based, I understand. Therefore they have to exercise more control and rules of engagement than the police. Almost all clips I've seen of enforcement reactively shooting and/or spraying people have been the police.

Hard to know how long this can go on. Looting definitely appears to have escalated significantly now and is detracting from the whole purpose.

Bazzo

Dave_The_Sheep wrote: »

Hasn't there already been a death via National Guard? Apparently they were 'returning fire'.

The police chief in that town has been sacked and the man killed was a local business owner so we'll see what comes to light. "Returning fire" is the standard excuse, it'll be interesting to see if it holds up to scrutiny. Police and national guard both fired shots apparently so they're not sure (or haven't made public anyway) who actually shot him.

swiwi_

It’s good to see America great again.

irishbucsfan

Seems to have been more violent incidents right across the country. FBI saying they've intercepted communications from white supremacist groups calling for members to join the rally and instigate violence, and are collecting more evidence of it. A woman at a protest in California was shot by someone who drove up in a car and then disappeared from the scene. Hard to know how this ends without a lot more bloodshed. There's just so many guns and so many insane people.

swiwi_

I’m hearing Trump has decided to withdraw the USA from the USA. It’ll be henceforth known as the States of America. That’ll teach em.

Panda Killa

Looking at Facebook posts in Louisiana...
Feminists shouting no-body is saying "women's lives matter" and it's all a crock
Others blaming African-americans saying they are killing each other anyways...why should white people care.
Gun-owners jizzing because this is the very reason they need to own guns
Others saying that protester's standing in the road should be mown down....
And these aren't the worst examples I found from 2 mins of scrolling

Stheno

Stheno wrote: »

Thanks Squidge will give it a go, and remember my rule that the Oh is not to be let near anything DIY

on an entirely different topic, big protest in Dublin today supporting the George Floyd cause

Now while I do not in any way condone what happened to him, wtf are these morons thinking that they thought this was a good idea?

https://twitter.com/chloehanan/status/1267460515225272322?s=20

What a bunch of well intention'ed idiots.

swiwi_

Deleted User wrote: »

What a bunch of well intention'ed idiots.

I dunno, I'm hearing Trump is going to tweet that due a march in central Dublin in the weekend, he's taken note, and black lives do in fact matter.

Buer

Panda Killa wrote: »

Looking at Facebook posts in Louisiana...
Feminists shouting no-body is saying "women's lives matter" and it's all a crock
Others blaming African-americans saying they are killing each other anyways...why should white people care.
Gun-owners jizzing because this is the very reason they need to own guns
Others saying that protester's standing in the road should be mown down....
And these aren't the worst examples I found from 2 mins of scrolling

I don't know how half of that country gets up in the morning. There's such a divide and a significant element of people who just remain blissfully unaffected and protected from any such issues.

I've a brother living around the corner from the NYC protests which escalated further overnight. Luckily the ones near him were relatively peaceful but there's undeniable tension and fear on all sides which is leading to some ill thought out actions.

The most telling incident in recent times in many ways to me wasn't George Floyd or Breonna Taylor or Ahmaud Arbery but the one in Central Park where the woman called the police on a black birdwatcher. The casual manner in which she simply flicked on her racism knowing she was in an advantageous position was scary. It wasn't a high profile, violent incident like the others but was far more representative of how ingrained the gap between the races is. It was disturbing how comfortable she was at playing the game. It was like something from To Kill A Mockingbird.

swiwi_

swiwi_ wrote: »

I dunno, I'm hearing Trump is going to tweet that due a march in central Dublin in the weekend, he's taken note, and black lives do in fact matter.

I think it's a perfectly acceptable expression of empathy and lets not forget that a movement gaining international solidarity was a significant factor in how the Good Friday agreement was achieved. I've absolutely no problem with the sentiment and in fact I applaud it - I just think they've undermined themselves by going about it this way while social restrictions are still in place.

swiwi_

Deleted User wrote: »

I think it's a perfectly acceptable expression of empathy and lets not forget that a movement gaining international solidarity was a significant factor in how the Good Friday agreement was achieved. I've absolutely no problem with the sentiment and in fact I applaud it - I just think they've undermined themselves by going about it this way while social restrictions are still in place.

Yeah, nah. I doubt it makes a drop of differnence. Like Buer, I'm a sceptic when it comes to the real motivation of these people.

DGRulz

Buer wrote: »

I don't know how half of that country gets up in the morning. There's such a divide and a significant element of people who just remain blissfully unaffected and protected from any such issues.

I've a brother living around the corner from the NYC protests which escalated further overnight. Luckily the ones near him were relatively peaceful but there's undeniable tension and fear on all sides which is leading to some ill thought out actions.

The most telling incident in recent times in many ways to me wasn't George Floyd or Breonna Taylor or Ahmaud Arbery but the one in Central Park where the woman called the police on a black birdwatcher. The casual manner in which she simply flicked on her racism knowing she was in an advantageous position was scary. It wasn't a high profile, violent incident like the others but was far more representative of how ingrained the gap between the races is. It was disturbing how comfortable she was at playing the game. It was like something from To Kill A Mockingbird.

I've seen that video. The way she was instinctively able to turn his race into a weapon was scary. Unfortunately, while she definitely got a lot of hate on social media, it seems to have been lost in the shuffle or maybe over-shadowed is a better word. Many of the complaints I saw were complaining about how she was pulling her dog as much as the casual racism she exhibited.

On the current situation, with my conspiracy hat on, there's two thoughts in my mind at the moment. How much is Trump egging this on because he wants to incite full blown civil war as a means to cancel elections? He can't have many boxes left on the dictator checklist. And with so much happening in so many places, from so many different angels, I can't help but feel there's a massive watershed moment brewing in the background to all of this. Have seen a lot of FBI reports online of various white supremacist groups essentially putting out a call to arms and even some accounts of them posing as antifa to make it seem like they exist.

Also note how the news coverage has mostly stopped being about Trump's handling of the pandemic. Its been his MO since before he was elected i.e Don't like the story, make a new one for them to talk about.

Buer

Deleted User wrote: »

I think it's a perfectly acceptable expression of empathy and lets not forget that a movement gaining international solidarity was a significant factor in how the Good Friday agreement was achieved. I've absolutely no problem with the sentiment and in fact I applaud it - I just think they've undermined themselves by going about it this way while social restrictions are still in place.

It is an important movement and I think it's something that we're going to see become a real issue in Ireland in the coming years. We're very happy to sit in a bubble in Ireland and criticise our neighbours to the east and west but we simply haven't widely encountered it in Ireland yet due to the far smaller ethnic populations.

I think racism is going to be a real problem here in years to come and, as a population, I don't think we're much better than many in Britain or America. There's a huge element of casual or unspoken racism here. Many simply never encounter people from outside Europe in their daily lives.

My issue with the protests yesterday are twofold. Firstly I think it's pretty dumb in the current circumstances. They were in close proximity for a lengthy period and the bulk of those attending are young and healty so more likely to be spreaders rather than actually gravely impacted themselves.

Secondly, I'm a cynical grouch and I do believe there's a signficant element of boredom and day trippers attending yesterday who were just happy to be doing something. There have been BLM demonstrations in Dublin before which were attended by a small fraction of those who went yesterday. My issue is that I reckon a significant portion of those there yesterday won't be bothered to attend another one. Yes, it increases awareness and benefits the movement but if it simply loses momentum and fizzles out, it will achieves little.