Off Topic Thread 5.0

Dave_The_Sheep · 16-09-2020 10:00pm

Interested Observer wrote: »

When it comes to something like a referendum I thought that they did have to give equal time to either side. For Covid related topics they obviously don't.

Sure, but my understanding (which admittedly is based on something I vaguely remember hearing years back so may be incorrect) is that you don't have to have them on at the same time. Putting David Quinn or Ronan Mullen on the same discussion show as the head paediatrician in a country with their years of experience and education seems to give them both opinions same worth in the ears of the listener (depending on the listener of course). Which is obviously not the case.

swiwi_ · 18-09-2020 8:10pm

Watching the Netflix challenger documentary. That’s one event that marked my childhood, won’t forget it. Unless I get dementia.

mfceiling · 19-09-2020 7:15am

Watched 'The Social Dilemma' last night.

Wow. Should be made mandatory viewing in all secondary schools. The power these tech companies have and how they are manipulating the entire world population is incredible and I don't mean in a positive way.

kuang1 · 19-09-2020 8:34am

kuang1 wrote: »

Watched "the social dilemma" on netflix yesterday.
Brilliant watch.

I'm going to watch it again with my 11 year old.

Brilliant insights into the mechanisms of social media from some of the people who engineered it.

Will be doing this tonight after dinner.

errlloyd · 19-09-2020 9:24am

RBG has died. She was a pretty amazing person, but sadly her death is going to be the equivalent of throwing gasoline on an already stressful election burning out of control.

jacothelad · 19-09-2020 10:22am

errlloyd wrote: »

RBG has died. She was a pretty amazing person, but sadly her death is going to be the equivalent of throwing gasoline on an already stressful election burning out of control.

100%

Sadly, that poisonous Orange haemorrhoid will stick in some putrid fascist who gives him money.

jacothelad · 19-09-2020 10:35am

I'm just about to head off to the North West highlands for a week of Munro bagging mainly in the Torridon range. Beinn Alligin, Beinn Eighe and Liathach. Each of them has at least two summits over 3,000 feet. Beinn Eighe is a vast mountain, its crests and summits are almost entirely made of quartzite. The mountain boasts 7 peaks, two of which are afforded Munro status.....

My favourite however is An Teallach, meaning 'the Forge'. It is a dramatic and imposing sandstone mountain south-west of Ullapool. Winter sunsets on the snow-clad peaks are amazing It boasts 10 peaks, two of which are Munro summits. To bag the two Munros takes a mere hike from Dundonnell of around 5 hours. However, this misses the finest part of the ridge..... the circuit of the ridge above Loch Toll an Lochain, often referred to as the 'Classic Traverse'. This 'Classic Traverse' requires a good head for heights, scrambling skills and care, particularly on Corrag Bhuidhe.

I have decided to make this my last trip doing this stuff. I'm too old..:D:D
If you like mountains and haven't been to this part of these islands,,, put it on your bucket list. I go at this time of year (almost every year) to avoid the midges.

Neil3030 · 19-09-2020 12:15pm

Remember the rule on bears, Jaco:

if it's brown, lay down
if it's black, fight back
if it's white, good night

mfceiling · 19-09-2020 12:49pm

Neil3030 wrote: »

Remember the rule on bears, Jaco:

if it's brown, lay down
if it's black, fight back
if it's white, good night

If it's wearing a duffel coat and eating a marmalade sandwich it's lost.

[Deleted User] · 19-09-2020 12:54pm

errlloyd wrote: »

RBG has died. She was a pretty amazing person, but sadly her death is going to be the equivalent of throwing gasoline on an already stressful election burning out of control.

An incredible person, gifted intellect and an exceptional communicator.

After the Garland situation I think if a new candidate is forced through then the Democrats will absolutely retaliate by increasing the number of justices.

It's a messy situation that will now become part of the political drama surrounding Trump.

I don't think the Republican senate leader (McConnell) cares at all about any kind of fairness or decency in public life as highlighted by these two separate statements on the same topic:

The greatest ever crook in American politics. Disgraceful human being.

Neil3030 · 19-09-2020 2:37pm

Venjur wrote: »

An incredible person, gifted intellect and an exceptional communicator.

After the Garland situation I think if a new candidate is forced through then the Democrats will absolutely retaliate by increasing the number of justices.

It's a messy situation that will now become part of the political drama surrounding Trump.

I don't think the Republican senate leader (McConnell) cares at all about any kind of fairness or decency in public life as highlighted by these two separate statements on the same topic:

The greatest ever crook in American politics. Disgraceful human being.

Dems would need to win the Senate to do this, and I'm not sure if Trump (if reelected) could block it?

Zzippy · 19-09-2020 5:01pm

Jaco, post some photos when you get back, sounds great!

ClanofLams · 19-09-2020 5:05pm

Venjur wrote: »

An incredible person, gifted intellect and an exceptional communicator.

After the Garland situation I think if a new candidate is forced through then the Democrats will absolutely retaliate by increasing the number of justices.

.

That and ending the filibuster will be their response I think.DC and Puerto Rico 51st and 52nd states makes sense also (regardless of what happens with court vacancy, this would go some ways towards levelling up the inherent disadvantage Democrats face in Senate).

awec · 20-09-2020 7:45am

Watching the NRL this morning, good grief rugby league is hard to watch.

It’s like 13 Jamie roberts on each team. Bosh bosh bosh.

Zzippy · 20-09-2020 11:11am

ClanofLams wrote: »

That and ending the filibuster will be their response I think.DC and Puerto Rico 51st and 52nd states makes sense also (regardless of what happens with court vacancy, this would go some ways towards levelling up the inherent disadvantage Democrats face in Senate).

is this being seriously considered, or just a suggestion? (adding states)
I can see the rationale for PR, but DC is just a city and adding it as a state would surely just be to pack the Senate, there really is no other compelling reason to make a city a state.

irishbucsfan · 20-09-2020 11:15am

Zzippy wrote: »

is this being seriously considered, or just a suggestion? (adding states)
I can see the rationale for PR, but DC is just a city and adding it as a state would surely just be to pack the Senate, there really is no other compelling reason to make a city a state.

There's nearly a million people in Washington DC who don't have a senator. They surely deserve to be represented in the senate?

Zzippy · 20-09-2020 11:23am

irishbucsfan wrote: »

There's nearly a million people in Washington DC who don't have a senator. They surely deserve to be represented in the senate?

For that few it would make more sense to give them a vote in the Maryland or Virginia elections and be represented by the senators for those states. A senator for a million people would be an outlier, even in the massively unrepresentative Senate.

Bazzo · 20-09-2020 3:59pm

irishbucsfan wrote: »

There's nearly a million people in Washington DC who don't have a senator. They surely deserve to be represented in the senate?

Of course not, relatively small populations only deserve senate representation if they're likely to vote republican :pac:

Zzippy wrote: »

For that few it would make more sense to give them a vote in the Maryland or Virginia elections and be represented by the senators for those states. A senator for a million people would be an outlier, even in the massively unrepresentative Senate.

Wyoming, Vermont, Alaska, North + South Dakota would all have similar populations to DC

thomond2006 · 20-09-2020 9:39pm

The NFL was absolutely mad craic today.

errlloyd · 21-09-2020 10:19am

Zzippy wrote: »

is this being seriously considered, or just a suggestion? (adding states)
I can see the rationale for PR, but DC is just a city and adding it as a state would surely just be to pack the Senate, there really is no other compelling reason to make a city a state.

Making DC into a single state is definitely a questionable strategy.

Why stop at a simple senate majority when we can go for complete dominance and throw in enough state votes to amend the constitution as well. If we're gonna pack the union we should turn DC into at least 127 states.

Neil3030 · 21-09-2020 4:06pm

Dems have raised an incredible $100m since RBG's death.

To put that figure in context, Biden had been hoarding ~$300m for post-debate ads (be they damage limitation or otherwise!), so approx 1 month's TV budget.

The ads won't sway opinion as such, but that boosted spending power will have a huge effect on turnout.

Squidgy Black · 21-09-2020 6:25pm

thomond2006 wrote: »

The NFL was absolutely mad craic today.

As a chargers fan it was sickening to get that close and not clinch it, but Herbert looked decent, albeit one daft interception when he had a clear first down ahead of him.

swiwi_ · 22-09-2020 12:37pm

Neil3030 wrote: »

Remember the rule on bears, Jaco:

if it's brown, lay down
if it's black, fight back
if it's white, good night

If it's brown, you're ok
If it's black, you've got malena
If it's white, obstructive jaundice

Zzippy · 22-09-2020 1:52pm

swiwi_ wrote: »

If it's brown, you're ok
If it's black, you've got malena
If it's white, obstructive jaundice

I *was* enjoying my lunch. Must remember to browse another site next time...

The Parish King · 22-09-2020 6:54pm

Howdy good people - I’m having issues with broadband speed that I’m hoping someone could help with!

We live in a somewhat rural area (about 45 mins from Dublin), and although there is an exchange installed within 1km that should be able to provide fibre speeds, the main players (Sky, Eir and Vodafone), are saying that the ports for the exchange are all in use so we can only get 12MB broadband.

This sounds mad to me and being permanently on hold is slowly killing me....but I’m just wondering if anyone has experienced this before and managed to get it resolved?

Squidgy Black · 22-09-2020 7:34pm

The Parish King wrote: »

Howdy good people - I’m having issues with broadband speed that I’m hoping someone could help with!

We live in a somewhat rural area (about 45 mins from Dublin), and although there is an exchange installed within 1km that should be able to provide fibre speeds, the main players (Sky, Eir and Vodafone), are saying that the ports for the exchange are all in use so we can only get 12MB broadband.

This sounds mad to me and being permanently on hold is slowly killing me....but I’m just wondering if anyone has experienced this before and managed to get it resolved?

I've seen it happen a few times before in the past, I used to work for one of the providers. There's basically nothing you can do but constantly check back in (Eir are probably your best bet to be honest), and wait and see if someone cancels and moves to Virgin. They won't add extra capacity to the cabinet unless there was large demand in the area for new ports.

Alternatively, is Virgin an option? They work off a different infrastructure so wouldn't be working off the same cabinet.

Zzippy · 22-09-2020 9:15pm

Virgin isn't available outside urban centres though.
I feel your pain TPK. We could get a port but we're so far away from the cabinet that it's worse than useless, so we rely on Vodafone 4G, whose speeds are ... not great and not reliable. The planned fibre upgrade under the NBP literally stops less than 200 metres away from us - in both directions.

The Parish King · 22-09-2020 9:43pm

Cheers guys, makes sense that the demand to upgrade the infrastructure isn’t viable - albeit frustrating for those just missing out!

We’re looking in to the alternative options like Vodafone who provide the broadband by satellite...not sure how much better the speed will be but worth investigating!

Neil3030 · 24-09-2020 3:28pm

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/24/close-to-100-accuracy-airport-enlists-sniffer-dogs-to-test-for-covid-19

Dogs: Immune to covid. Able to reliably sniff out the disease from sweat samples before people show symptoms. Happy to do it.
Cats: Susceptible to Covid and possibly spread it. Couldn't be arsed helping even if they could.

Let there be not even one further whisper of doubt - fu*k cats.

jacothelad · 24-09-2020 5:21pm

Neil3030 wrote: »

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/24/close-to-100-accuracy-airport-enlists-sniffer-dogs-to-test-for-covid-19

Dogs: Immune to covid. Able to reliably sniff out the disease from sweat samples before people show symptoms. Happy to do it.
Cats: Susceptible to Covid and possibly spread it. Couldn't be arsed helping even if they could.

Let there be not even one further whisper of doubt - fu*k cats.

There used ro be an elephant in Belfast Zoo that fu*ked cats. It used to stamp on them. They were totally fu*ked after that.....:D

Actually I like cats but wouldn't want to own one. Dogs have been a constant in my life for almost 70 years. I am in the North West Highlands doing a bit of climbing / hill walking and Buddy is struggling a bit. He is a big Lab and while he still looks great he is almost 11. We have had a fabulous morning in Torridon on an easy ridge / hill but I think we are now retired. I have to admit I prefer the company of dogs to most humans. It is hard to face this but at my age, 71, Buddy will most likely be my last companion. I just can't imagine life without a Labrador by my side.

Off Topic Thread 5.0

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