Off Topic Thread 5.0

bilston

bilston wrote: »

If you raise your head above the parapet on Twitter and say this you will probably face accusations of racism from some quarters.

An awful lot of the more hysterical stuff is undoubtedly coming from bot or fake accounts and trying to stir things.

I think the protests are a bad idea, but I can understand the disenfranchisement that is leading to them.

Civil unrest is very much a part of a pandemic life cycle, it's to be expected at some point - but the nature of these protests is a combination of a number of things all colliding at once. I hope that we're both over the worst of it - but I also hope that people are really paying attention to what is causing it.

Buer

It's far from ideal but credit to the organisers for providing PPE to those who didn't bring masks and trying to ensure those attending were as distanced as possible. Last week was ridiculous but infected numbers don't appear to have been significantly impacted.

I doubt we'll see much of a bump at all from this weekend.

Former Former

Buer wrote: »

It's far from ideal but credit to the organisers for providing PPE to those who didn't bring masks and trying to ensure those attending were as distanced as possible. Last week was ridiculous but infected numbers don't appear to have been significantly impacted.

I doubt we'll see much of a bump at all from this weekend.

You have to remember the incubation period is anywhere between 5 and 14 days. A protest last weekend will only start feeding into the infection figures from this week on. Also up to 50% of cases could be asymptomatic but still capable of transmission.

I don't see any real justification for these protests (in Ireland) to be honest.

irishbucsfan

It's not increases or decreases in infection figures across the entire country that anyone should be using to tell if people were infected in a specific place at a specific time. It's actual confirmed transmissions among people at the march.

Buer

Buer wrote: »

It's far from ideal but credit to the organisers for providing PPE to those who didn't bring masks and trying to ensure those attending were as distanced as possible. Last week was ridiculous but infected numbers don't appear to have been significantly impacted.

I doubt we'll see much of a bump at all from this weekend.

Hopefully no bump but its the message that's being sent. If a bunch of people in Dublin can march if they feel like, the rest of the country are going to do whatever they want.

Former Former

irishbucsfan wrote: »

It's not increases or decreases in infection figures across the entire country that anyone should be using to tell if people were infected in a specific place at a specific time. It's actual confirmed transmissions among people at the march.

Yeah, definitely. A national spike could be down to any number of things.

The problem is that as lockdown unwinds, confirming sources of infection is going to get harder and harder.

Neil3030

All eyes on the k number.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/01/k-number-what-is-coronavirus-metric-crucial-lockdown-eases

stephen_n

Former Former wrote: »

I don't see any real justification for these protests (in Ireland) to be honest.

Don’t think you are best placed to make that comment really.

prawnsambo

In another demonstration of the law of unexpected consequences, Trump's fence around the White House has become a poster wall for BLM signs and memorials to black people who have lost their lives to law enforcement.

Former Former

stephen_n wrote: »

Don’t think you are best placed to make that comment really.

Well, if we weren't trying to control a pandemic that has killed 1600 people, wrecked the economy and could flare up again very easily, I'd say have at it. I would still say it's pretty pointless but you're not hurting anyone.

Unfortunately, we are trying to control a pandemic so I think these protests were unjustified and pretty selfish.

Clegg

That stabbing incident in Carrigaline is pretty brutal. I recommend not seeking out the video.

It doesn't look good during a time when Black Lives Matters protests are occurring around the world. There's a lot of misinformation and photoshops floating about right now. How it's a group of racist black teens seeking out white people.to attack etc.

Also, a lot of the right wing politicos are seizing on it and trying to push their own racist agendas.

stephen_n

Former Former wrote: »

Well, if we weren't trying to control a pandemic that has killed 1600 people, wrecked the economy and could flare up again very easily, I'd say have at it. I would still say it's pretty pointless but you're not hurting anyone.

Unfortunately, we are trying to control a pandemic so I think these protests were unjustified and pretty selfish.

Again you are not in a position to judge what is and isn’t justified for those protesting. Unless you’re black or a traveler, which I’m pretty confident you’re neither. Then you are not in a position to comment on the effects of racism in this country. As I’m fairly certain you have never experienced them. The only people really qualified to speak about racism in Ireland are those that experience it. The timing is bad, but it’s also contributory. They looked at the mistakes of the first protest and took every step possible to mitigate them this time. The fact you think it’s pointless to express their anger only speaks of your own sense of privilege.

Former Former

stephen_n wrote: »

Again you are not in a position to judge what is and isn’t justified for those protesting. Unless you’re black or a traveler, which I’m pretty confident you’re neither. Then you are not in a position to comment on the effects of racism in this country. As I’m fairly certain you have never experienced them. The only people really qualified to speak about racism in Ireland are those that experience it. The timing is bad, but it’s also contributory. They looked at the mistakes of the first protest and took every step possible to mitigate them this time. The fact you think it’s pointless to express their anger only speaks of your own sense of privilege.

Jesus, did you just throw a "check your privilege" at me?

It's an awful millennial snowflake cliche to level at someone when you don't like their opinion.

Tell me this Stephen, are you black or a traveller?

Look, if these (mainly white Irish) people want to protest, great. The fact that they could do so in flagrant breach of lockdown laws without getting arrested, baton-charged or even told to move on tells you that they live in a freer society than probably 90% of the people on earth.

However, if they think they achieved anything, they're absolutely deluding themselves. Again, fine, people want to march, protest, whatever, knock themselves out. However, not in the middle of a pandemic when we've all had to make sacrifices, hundreds of thousands have lost their jobs and we're trying to get out of lockdown in the most sensible way possible.

Former Former

Former Former wrote: »

Unfortunately, we are trying to control a pandemic so I think these protests were unjustified and pretty selfish.

I think it's pretty unjustified that some communities spend generations in poverty, are over represented in prisons and fail to access the same opportunities as much of the rest of the population and in many circumstances the delineation is along racial lines.

We're all hurting from covid, but these restrictions are temporary - a lack of opportunity due to prejudice is a lifetime restriction for many.

I think the mobilisation of Governments has shown that when we need to - we can react strongly and yet we've tolerated decades of poverty and much of it targeting minorities.

I don't think it's a good idea to protest during a pandemic. I do think society needs to start working better for everyone and I can understand a desire to put this into the public consciousness whilst everyone is paying attention.

I think the real selfishness would be allowing things return to normal. I might not care because my version of 'normal' is pretty good - that's far from the case for everyone.

irishbucsfan

I’ve been asked about the protests in Dublin, in a business setting, on more than one occasion over the past week. I can’t remember the last time I was asked political questions so openly. I think it’s easy to forget there are Americans who believe Ireland is a very different place, with very different views on race and religion, than what it is in reality.

But I think in general the protests across Europe are absolutely a product of the lockdown. It’s been a very tough time to witness what’s happening over there, and also definitely people dying for a “good enough” excuse to get out. Not saying for a second that I think it’s not good enough, but I certainly think it would have helped with attendance figures. I think in reality the risk is fairly low now and the lockdown element will be forgotten soon enough.

irishbucsfan

irishbucsfan wrote: »

I’ve been asked about the protests in Dublin, in a business setting, on more than one occasion over the past week. I can’t remember the last time I was asked political questions so openly. I think it’s easy to forget there are Americans who believe Ireland is a very different place, with very different views on race and religion, than what it is in reality.

But I think in general the protests across Europe are absolutely a product of the lockdown. It’s been a very tough time to witness what’s happening over there, and also definitely people dying for a “good enough” excuse to get out. Not saying for a second that I think it’s not good enough, but I certainly think it would have helped with attendance figures. I think in reality the risk is fairly low now and the lockdown element will be forgotten soon enough.

I've had my American team lead asking what does the rest of the world think of Trump. That's gonna a nope from me. I'm not going near that question.

prawnsambo

Deleted User wrote: »

I've had my American team lead asking what does the rest of the world think of Trump. That's gonna a nope from me. I'm not going near that question.

Explain Google to them. Especially the fact that it works outside the US.

Squidgy Black

irishbucsfan wrote: »

I’ve been asked about the protests in Dublin, in a business setting, on more than one occasion over the past week. I can’t remember the last time I was asked political questions so openly. I think it’s easy to forget there are Americans who believe Ireland is a very different place, with very different views on race and religion, than what it is in reality.

But I think in general the protests across Europe are absolutely a product of the lockdown. It’s been a very tough time to witness what’s happening over there, and also definitely people dying for a “good enough” excuse to get out. Not saying for a second that I think it’s not good enough, but I certainly think it would have helped with attendance figures. I think in reality the risk is fairly low now and the lockdown element will be forgotten soon enough.

Should probably preface this by saying I 100% support the movement and amn't even really opposed to the protest here as I think support in global matters like this are definitely are worthwhile, but there's an AWFUL lot of people in my generation (early 20s) getting attached to this in an almost manic level on social media, with posts and ranting Instagram stories etc, and then latching on to the direct provision stuff as an offshoot. And these are people who would've been dead silent about anything like this before now, just your average middle class white young adult fresh out of college. And it's not even the stuff that you see about young Irish people speaking about their experiences and what they've faced, but purely the American side of things.

It sort of gives a pang of "I don't really have much else to do and jumping on a trend". But I guess that's the sort of environment things exist nowadays.

sydthebeat

https://play.acast.com/s/scrum-v/urn%3Abbc%3Apodcast%3Ap08g4q31

good discussing about racism in rugby / welsh rugby on Scrum V this week.
timely, and worth a listen.

guests are ashton hewitt and nathan brew, so the duration of personal experience is nearly 20 years long.

Neil3030

I just saw my boss exit vim with :q!

If you understand the significance of the above, you'll understand how heartbroken I am.

Squidgy Black

Neil3030 wrote: »

I just saw my boss exit vim with :q!

If you understand the significance of the above, you'll understand how heartbroken I am.

Does he use his delete folder as an archive in outlook and never saves his files in notepad++ but just guesses they'll still be there when he opens it again?

Neil3030

Squidgy Black wrote: »

Does he use his delete folder as an archive in outlook and never saves his files in notepad++ but just guesses they'll still be there when he opens it again?

Ah he knows what he's at, largely.

But not ZZing is unforgivable redundancy imo.

Zzippy

Neil3030 wrote: »

I just saw my boss exit vim with :q!

If you understand the significance of the above, you'll understand how heartbroken I am.

Squidgy Black wrote: »

Does he use his delete folder as an archive in outlook and never saves his files in notepad++ but just guesses they'll still be there when he opens it again?

Neil3030 wrote: »

Ah he knows what he's at, largely.

But not ZZing is unforgivable redundancy imo.

Lads, English is the working language of the forum, can you refrain from posting in other languages that the rest of us don't understand? Thanks!

stephen_n

Former Former wrote: »

Jesus, did you just throw a "check your privilege" at me?

It's an awful millennial snowflake cliche to level at someone when you don't like their opinion.

Tell me this Stephen, are you black or a traveller?

Look, if these (mainly white Irish) people want to protest, great. The fact that they could do so in flagrant breach of lockdown laws without getting arrested, baton-charged or even told to move on tells you that they live in a freer society than probably 90% of the people on earth.

However, if they think they achieved anything, they're absolutely deluding themselves. Again, fine, people want to march, protest, whatever, knock themselves out. However, not in the middle of a pandemic when we've all had to make sacrifices, hundreds of thousands have lost their jobs and we're trying to get out of lockdown in the most sensible way possible.

No I’m not black or a traveler, that’s why I don’t decide from a point of privilege what their lived experience in this country is. Something you are obviously quite willing to do. Maybe you should, I don’t know, listen to them? Then again, maybe not you can just tell them they’ve never had it so good.

They have achieved a huge amount already by increasing the focus on direct provision. That alone makes the protest worth while.

We will see in the next week if there is any spike due to these protests. If there is I’m sure we will hear plenty about it.

Neil3030

Zzippy wrote: »

Lads, English is the working language of the forum, can you refrain from posting in other languages that the rest of us don't understand? Thanks!

Emacs user: confirmed.

stephen_n

We don’t have any issues with racism in Ireland, best little country in the world.

https://twitter.com/buailtin/status/1269963688284426245?s=21

Have seen similar stories from Travelers playing football.

Neil3030

His Irish is almost as good as Jaco's!

thomond2006

stephen_n wrote: »

We don’t have any issues with racism in Ireland, best little country in the world.

https://twitter.com/buailtin/status/1269963688284426245?s=21

Have seen similar stories from Travelers playing football.

Who has said we don't have any issues with racism in Ireland?

pickarooney

stephen_n wrote: »

We don’t have any issues with racism in Ireland, best little country in the world.

https://twitter.com/buailtin/status/1269963688284426245?s=21

Have seen similar stories from Travelers playing football.

Can someone explain how Twitter works as an international media platform when videos on it are always geoblocked??

prawnsambo

pickarooney wrote: »

Can someone explain how Twitter works as an international media platform when videos on it are always geoblocked??

They're not always geo-blocked. It depends on the source. That's a TG4 clip, so likely they geo-blocked it and not Twitter.