Off Topic Thread 5.0

Zzippy

Deleted User wrote: »

You would wonder what is keeping Pence from ousting Trump, given his wife and child had to go into a secret secure location with him with a noose sitting outside the building with his name on it.

He would need a majority of the cabinet to back the move. A lot of cabinet secretaries are acting, so its not clear if their vote would count, but most are Trump appointees following the sacking of previous secretaries and may have more loyalty to Trump. Regardless of the above, I don't think Pence has the balls anyway.

Zzippy

Zzippy wrote: »

He would need a majority of the cabinet to back the move. A lot of cabinet secretaries are acting, so its not clear if their vote would count, but most are Trump appointees following the sacking of previous secretaries and may have more loyalty to Trump. Regardless of the above, I don't think Pence has the balls anyway.

DeVose and Chao resigning immediately was very telling in this regards.

I still think if Pence said that article 25 was appropriate and necessary then it pile pressure onto the cabinet. It might also force the Senate to convene and potentially convict. But as you said - he doesn't have the balls and with the rumours of Democrats withholding the articles of impeachment for a few months he may be happy to let the clock run out.

I'd imagine Trump is pretty neutered at this stage. If he did anything particularly bad before January 20 it would be problematic for Republicans so I'd say his powers are limited and with no social media his voice is also largely muted.

I do also wonder does Democratic leadership know what else is coming out in the coming months and think a delay will increase the likelihood of conviction!

Zzippy

Deleted User wrote: »

DeVose and Chao resigning immediately was very telling in this regards.

I still think if Pence said that article 25 was appropriate and necessary then it pile pressure onto the cabinet. It might also force the Senate to convene and potentially convict. But as you said - he doesn't have the balls and with the rumours of Democrats withholding the articles of impeachment for a few months he may be happy to let the clock run out.

I'd imagine Trump is pretty neutered at this stage. If he did anything particularly bad before January 20 it would be problematic for Republicans so I'd say his powers are limited and with no social media his voice is also largely muted.

I do also wonder does Democratic leadership know what else is coming out in the coming months and think a delay will increase the likelihood of conviction!

Trump is largely silenced alright, since he doesn't seem able to comprehend that he can just use the WH to issue a statement, give a briefing, press conference etc. He definitely doesn't have the balls to face the press and answer questions. Twitter suited him perfectly in that regard.

What I find astonishing is the total silence from federal agencies - DOJ, FBI, ATF etc that under any other admin would be holding twice daily briefings on what happened last week, and their investigations. Total. Radio, Silence! There is a complete leadership vacuum at the moment in Washington, like a state of paralysis.

Lost Ormond

Zzippy wrote: »

Trump is largely silenced alright, since he doesn't seem able to comprehend that he can just use the WH to issue a statement, give a briefing, press conference etc. He definitely doesn't have the balls to face the press and answer questions. Twitter suited him perfectly in that regard.

What I find astonishing is the total silence from federal agencies - DOJ, FBI, ATF etc that under any other admin would be holding twice daily briefings on what happened last week, and their investigations. Total. Radio, Silence! There is a complete leadership vacuum at the moment in Washington, like a state of paralysis.

I think its more stay quiet until after Biden is inaugurated as theyre still frightened what Trump may say even now after he's gone from Twitter.

They just want him gone. There does seem to be a vacuum but they dont care. They'll try ride these last few days out and try to move on

Zzippy

Zzippy wrote: »

Trump is largely silenced alright, since he doesn't seem able to comprehend that he can just use the WH to issue a statement, give a briefing, press conference etc. He definitely doesn't have the balls to face the press and answer questions. Twitter suited him perfectly in that regard.

What I find astonishing is the total silence from federal agencies - DOJ, FBI, ATF etc that under any other admin would be holding twice daily briefings on what happened last week, and their investigations. Total. Radio, Silence! There is a complete leadership vacuum at the moment in Washington, like a state of paralysis.

A fair few arrests have been made and there was reporting a while back that the intelligence community had significant and 'damaging' evidence against Trump which in a vacuum I had presumed was a threat (so he would stay quiet through the transition) but with nothing coming out it was either smoke, poor reporting or perhaps bad enough that the powers that be want him removed from office before going after him.

When you consider that most of the upper leadership in the FBI was fired or removed by Trump it's hard to speculate what their position is, especially with the Attorney General effectively making him immune from suit while President.

I do think ultimately he'll be left drift away from accountability and likely won't be as big a presence as he has been with social media switching him off. Would be highly entertaining if he winds up in serious criminal jeopardy.

Interested Observer

Parler, that cesspit these people have been using to organise, has been taken offline now and no providers (e.g. Amazon) are willing to touch it with a bargepole, but before it was taken down apparently it was hacked and basically every bit of information on the site including personal details, all messages, even all deleted messages etc have been archived. I would imagine there is a large amount of incriminating stuff on there.

I can't really believe the level of backlash against him. He's been totally immune to basically anything and everything up to this point. His entire tenure has been one outrage after the next.

Synode

Watched episodes 5 and 6 of The Expanse last night. What a show. Really like the tyandthatguy podcast/videocast too. Great hearing and seeing the actors and writers talk about each episode

FACECUTTR

Synode wrote: »

Watched episodes 5 and 6 of The Expanse last night. What a show. Really like the tyandthatguy podcast/videocast too. Great hearing and seeing the actors and writers talk about each episode

I binged on the first 2 Saturday night. What a show.

Neil3030

A lot of rats fleeing the ship, last minute, indeed.

But folks, come on. Take the few wins we get when we get them.

Better that the rats flee the ship last minute, and that the ship then sails straight for St. Helena, depositing the Captain Despot to live the rest of his years in penniless ignomy.

The alternative is the rats stay put, and Captain Despot plots a new assault in four years.

Not sure I agree with amazon removing hosting for Parler. An alternative to twitter should exist.

Clegg

Interested Observer wrote: »

Parler, that cesspit these people have been using to organise, has been taken offline now and no providers (e.g. Amazon) are willing to touch it with a bargepole, but before it was taken down apparently it was hacked and basically every bit of information on the site including personal details, all messages, even all deleted messages etc have been archived. I would imagine there is a large amount of incriminating stuff on there.

I can't really believe the level of backlash against him. He's been totally immune to basically anything and everything up to this point. His entire tenure has been one outrage after the next.

This thread gives a good breakdown of what's happened to Parler. The jist of it is a group of hackers gained admin access to it. To become a poster there you need to verify your identity. That meant uploading your picture and a copy of your driver's licence, address etc

The problem for Parler users is that obviously the site wasn't secure. So the FBI, DHS etc were also able to hack in, see evidence of the user's actual ID and then immediately out those guys on no fly lists. That's how we saw videos of these guys getting arrested at airports when they were trying to fly home. Feds already had them dead to rights.

Best part is a lot of these guys quickly realised that their actions at the Capitol Building could lead to extremely serious repercussions for them. So they deleted their posts on the site about planning to attend the invasion/posts if them actually being there. Except, Parler doesn't actually delete the post. It just makes it so you can't see it anymore. The security services were able to dredge up the data that wasn't showing, cross reference the poster username with the actual ID they'd provided to get access to the site and then out them all on a list to arrest.

They've really, really fecked themselves over. Parker is essentially an open book for the investigators to read.

https://twitter.com/bitburner/status/1348558563019427842?s=09

sydthebeat

Deleted User wrote: »

Not sure I agree with amazon removing hosting for Parler. An alternative to twitter should exist.

parler is a breeding ground for right wing extremists, becuase it its lack of moderation and / or rules

its not an alternative to twitter

Bazzo

Neil3030 wrote: »

A lot of rats fleeing the ship, last minute, indeed.

But folks, come on. Take the few wins we get when we get them.

Better that the rats flee the ship last minute, and that the ship then sails straight for St. Helena, depositing the Captain Despot to live the rest of his years in penniless ignomy.

The alternative is the rats stay put, and Captain Despot plots a new assault in four years.

Except Ted Cruz. Who seems to have the unusual natural instinct of a rat who has an overwhelming urge to board sinking ships.

Synode

Synode wrote: »

Watched episodes 5 and 6 of The Expanse last night. What a show. Really like the tyandthatguy podcast/videocast too. Great hearing and seeing the actors and writers talk about each episode

Yup it's absolutely top drawer this season and similarly have watched that podcast as a bridge between episodes !

Neil3030

Clegg wrote: »

This thread gives a good breakdown of what's happened to Parler. The jist of it is a group of hackers gained admin access to it. To become a poster there you need to verify your identity. That meant uploading your picture and a copy of your driver's licence, address etc

The problem for Parler users is that obviously the site wasn't secure. So the FBI, DHS etc were also able to hack in, see evidence of the user's actual ID and then immediately out those guys on no fly lists. That's how we saw videos of these guys getting arrested at airports when they were trying to fly home. Feds already had them dead to rights.

Best part is a lot of these guys quickly realised that their actions at the Capitol Building could lead to extremely serious repercussions for them. So they deleted their posts on the site about planning to attend the invasion/posts if them actually being there. Except, Parler doesn't actually delete the post. It just makes it so you can't see it anymore. The security services were able to dredge up the data that wasn't showing, cross reference the poster username with the actual ID they'd provided to get access to the site and then out them all on a list to arrest.

They've really, really fecked themselves over. Parker is essentially an open book for the investigators to read.

https://twitter.com/bitburner/status/1348558563019427842?s=09

How long before we see the QAnon conspiracy that Parler was a deep state trap all along? Probably coded up by Hillary and AOC in a pizzeria.

Interested Observer

Neil3030 wrote: »

How long before we see the QAnon conspiracy that Parler was a deep state trap all along? Probably coded up by Hillary and AOC in a pizzeria.

They've nowhere left to post **** like that.

Neil3030

They're communicating somehow.

Armed protests planned at all 50 state capitals (and DC) in the days leading up to Biden's inauguration.

The Inbetween is mine

Neil3030 wrote: »

They're communicating somehow.

Armed protests planned at all 50 state capitals (and DC) in the days leading up to Biden's inauguration.

Discord would be my guess

Neil3030

Reckon I might have found David Pocock's biological father:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ekplCVoekU

Good wide stance, core of steel, nice low body position. Faultless

swiwi_

I see Ireland currently has the worlds highest Covid infection rate! What is happening?

The Inbetween is mine

swiwi_ wrote: »

I see Ireland currently has the worlds highest Covid infection rate! What is happening?

Venjur's 40th birthday celebrations got waaayy out of hand

Dave_The_Sheep

Opening up everything (pretty much) for most of December leading to people feeling they can do whatever they want at Christmas will do that.

sydthebeat

Interested Observer wrote: »

They've nowhere left to post **** like that.

Haven't seen the conspiracy theory forum here then??

The Inbetween is mine

The Inbetween is mine wrote: »

Discord would be my guess

Apparently facebook groups are being made quicker than they can be deleted

swiwi_

swiwi_ wrote: »

I see Ireland currently has the worlds highest Covid infection rate! What is happening?

In my unqualified opinion I would say a combination of hubris, bad timing and stupidity.

Hubris in the sense that we've had a relatively low rate of infection to date and people expected this to continue regardless of our actions.

Bad timing in the sense that we saw numbers increase just as we came into the holidays but not so bad that people we're afraid to socialise en masse.

Throw in the arrival of a new variant which increased transmission rates and then add the final dash of stupidity. Too much ****e on social media downplaying the virus, too many people thinking that the vaccine meant it was all over. Can't be ignored that Northern Ireland exploded with cases in the weeks before things got bad here to the point that we were receiving patients from NI hospitals. We're a victim of the complete failure of governance in Stormont as well as the above no doubt.

So a perfect storm of a country with low levels of immunity (due to a pretty good management of the virus up until now) and occurrence of a major family / social holiday and a new variant arriving all at the same time. Community spread was already looking bad before the new variant took hold so mostly I just blame people for taking the piss. The shops were open but any I was in were orderly, had good distancing and people were aware enough. I suspect most of what is driving infection at the moment happened in houses over the last month.

molloyjh

[Deleted User] wrote: »

In my unqualified opinion I would say a combination of hubris, bad timing and stupidity.

Hubris in the sense that we've had a relatively low rate of infection to date and people expected this to continue regardless of our actions.

Bad timing in the sense that we saw numbers increase just as we came into the holidays but not so bad that people we're afraid to socialise en masse.

Throw in the arrival of a new variant which increased transmission rates and then add the final dash of stupidity. Too much ****e on social media downplaying the virus, too many people thinking that the vaccine meant it was all over.

So a perfect storm of a country with low levels of immunity (due to a pretty good management of the virus up until now) and occurrence of a major family / social holiday and a new variant arriving all at the same time. Community spread was already looking bad before the new variant took hold so mostly I just blame people for taking the piss. The shops were open but any I was in were orderly, had good distancing and people were aware enough. I suspect most of what is driving infection at the moment happened in houses over the last month.

Yep. People popping around to see a friend or two on top of their families etc. We were all told to keep our mixing to a minimum. Loads of people took that to mean you can meet up with a few people, just not loads. What it meant was meet up with the absolute bare minimum, not the bare minimum plus 3 or 4. Very few people really needed to meet up with friends. Yet they still did.

Tim Robbins

swiwi_ wrote: »

I see Ireland currently has the worlds highest Covid infection rate! What is happening?

I think relaxing restrictions around Christmas and the All Ireland all rolled into one was quite frankly - mega nuts.

Former Former Former

I don't think we really have the highest Covid infection rate.

We have the highest rate of reported cases, but we are doing far more testing than most countries as well. If we weren't doing so much testing, things would look a lot better by that metric...

But no harm to get a bit of fear back into people either, they might actually change their behaviours.

Burkie1203

Tim Robbins wrote: »

I think relaxing restrictions around Christmas and the All Ireland all rolled into one was quite frankly - mega nuts.

All Ireland had nothing to do with it. Relaxing restrictions had a little bit to do with it but it is largely down to huge numbers of people having large gatherings at home and 50-60k people allowed enter the country in the 10 days before Xmas and do whatever they wanted.

I saw a tweet on Sunday before Xmas from David Hall. He was in a coffee shop in town on a work break and a couple sat near him with their kid, telling their friend they arrived over from the UK the day before and were going for covid tests on Tuesday.

They should not have been let in without mandatory quarantine or a negative test.

In an alternative universe, the government listened to Tomás Ryan and we'd be lively relatively normal lives right now.