Also in the News - Part 2

[Lionator]

2 hours ago, LiberalFox said:

I feel like it's perfectly reasonable for a young black girl to raise concerns about racial slurs in a book and to start a discussion about whether it's appropriate to include a book that contains them. It says more about each of us really in how we choose to react to it. 

Yep, would it really be that difficult that instead of banning it, you have a lesson before you start about the historical contexts of the book, racism and the language used in it. That’s far more educational and informative than banning it completely. 

[Wymsey]

20 minutes ago, Jon the Hat said:

Crashes seems like an overstatement here.  Drives slowly into would be more accurate.

For sure.

-

At least, as you'd expect, the police response timing was within seconds.

 

Imagine if he had detonated a bomb at the gates with many people around..

Edited 25 May 2023 by Wymsey

[Captain...]

17 minutes ago, Lionator said:

Yep, would it really be that difficult that instead of banning it, you have a lesson before you start about the historical contexts of the book, racism and the language used in it. That’s far more educational and informative than banning it completely. 

I would agree, but that's easy to say as a white guy. In an ideal world we should confront those prejudices of the past and have an open discussion about racism and racist language in an educational setting.

 

However, I have no idea what it would be like to be a 15 year old black kid in that situation. So when people who do know what that is like say this book "is problematic" we should listen. 

 

[yorkie1999]

Anyone see the video of the bloke rolling into the gates at Downing Street. Talk about sensationalism.

[Daggers]

35 minutes ago, Wymsey said:

Imagine if he had detonated a bomb at the gates with many people around..

Ok. Done that. The entire cabinet are toast and I’m currently opening a bottle of champagne. What next?

 

This is a great game, I’m having fun already. 

[leicsmac]

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-65651998

 

The leader of a far-right militia has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for his role in the US Capitol riot.

Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the Oath Keepers, was convicted on charges of seditious conspiracy and other crimes.

 

At a hearing on Thursday, Rhodes showed little remorse, claiming he was a "political prisoner" and insisting that the Oath Keepers were standing in opposition to people "who are destroying our country".

 

Yeah, bla bla bla, Mr "Political Prisoner". Now off you trot to the big house.

[ozleicester]

8 hours ago, Zear0 said:

Was it Suella? 

No.. this one was going below the speed limit  

[ozleicester]

6 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-65651998

 

The leader of a far-right militia has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for his role in the US Capitol riot.

Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the Oath Keepers, was convicted on charges of seditious conspiracy and other crimes.

 

At a hearing on Thursday, Rhodes showed little remorse, claiming he was a "political prisoner" and insisting that the Oath Keepers were standing in opposition to people "who are destroying our country".

 

Yeah, bla bla bla, Mr "Political Prisoner". Now off you trot to the big house.

Reading this at the moment... I didnt realise just how close the US came to losing evrything. The planning for Jan 6th went back... months......even years.

[leicsmac]

6 minutes ago, ozleicester said:

Reading this at the moment... I didnt realise just how close the US came to losing evrything. The planning for Jan 6th went back... months......even years.

For what it's worth I don't think the government itself would have fallen permanently if they had managed to get to where the members of Congress were, but there would have been a lot of high-profile deaths and I think for a while things would have been very unstable indeed...it could have been so much worse than it was. Thank luck and that one guard for that.

[ozleicester]

1 hour ago, leicsmac said:

For what it's worth I don't think the government itself would have fallen permanently if they had managed to get to where the members of Congress were, but there would have been a lot of high-profile deaths and I think for a while things would have been very unstable indeed...it could have been so much worse than it was. Thank luck and that one guard for that.

IMO and from what i can tell....It wasnt just about getting to congress/senate, it was part of a long term strategy to effectively install Trump as a dictator. Jan 6th was just the trigger point.

As to whether it would have fallen permanently, i guess we will never know, it seems very unlikely that an apparent "democracy" could fold so easily, but there was planning and a shit load of weaponry and Police/Army/Forces support... if the "follow the leader" types in power and militia managed to take over, its hard to know how the most docile and logical public would fight back. I could definitley envisage another civil war taking place.

Jan 6th was NOT just a moment, not just an enthusiastic uprising... it was a planned and organised attack with specific goals well beyond the day.

[leicsmac]

19 minutes ago, ozleicester said:

IMO and from what i can tell....It wasnt just about getting to congress/senate, it was part of a long term strategy to effectively install Trump as a dictator. Jan 6th was just the trigger point.

As to whether it would have fallen permanently, i guess we will never know, it seems very unlikely that an apparent "democracy" could fold so easily, but there was planning and a shit load of weaponry and Police/Army/Forces support... if the "follow the leader" types in power and militia managed to take over, its hard to know how the most docile and logical public would fight back. I could definitley envisage another civil war taking place.

Jan 6th was NOT just a moment, not just an enthusiastic uprising... it was a planned and organised attack with specific goals well beyond the day.

On that I would agree entirely.

[Phil Bowman]

1 hour ago, leicsmac said:

I could definitley envisage another civil war taking place.

In all honesty, I'm struggling to see how one doesn't take place in the next few years. The Jan 6th lot presumably haven't simply gone away, and it's hard to imagine them quietly accepting another lost election. And if Trump (or, god help us, a capable and efficient version of him) were to win, those who believe in democracy might have to (literally) fight for it.

 

That Chinese curse 'May you live in interesting times' makes a lot of sense these days...

[leicsmac]

1 hour ago, Phil Bowman said:

In all honesty, I'm struggling to see how one doesn't take place in the next few years. The Jan 6th lot presumably haven't simply gone away, and it's hard to imagine them quietly accepting another lost election. And if Trump (or, god help us, a capable and efficient version of him) were to win, those who believe in democracy might have to (literally) fight for it.

 

That Chinese curse 'May you live in interesting times' makes a lot of sense these days...

I really really hope it doesn't come to that for a couple of reasons. The first being the "other side" appear to be well armed and with more of a lack of compunction regarding killing and dehumanisation than those who "believe in democracy" and so such would play to their strengths and so they may well win, and secondly because even if such a conflict were to be "won", a lot of innocent and marginalised people are going to suffer and die in the process, because they will be the first targets as a matter of course.

 

Perhaps that's just me in denial as to the gravity of the issue, though.

[Lionator]

2 hours ago, Phil Bowman said:

In all honesty, I'm struggling to see how one doesn't take place in the next few years. The Jan 6th lot presumably haven't simply gone away, and it's hard to imagine them quietly accepting another lost election. And if Trump (or, god help us, a capable and efficient version of him) were to win, those who believe in democracy might have to (literally) fight for it.

 

That Chinese curse 'May you live in interesting times' makes a lot of sense these days...

Surely if Trump won, the democratic thing would be to accept that? You can’t call yourself a democrat and then start a war because your preferred candidate didn’t win. Sounds undemocratic to me. 

[Phil Bowman]

1 minute ago, Lionator said:

Surely if Trump won, the democratic thing would be to accept that? You can’t call yourself a democrat and then start a war because your preferred candidate didn’t win. Sounds undemocratic to me. 

I was thinking more of a reaction against what a modern-day far-right, Trumpish Republican adminstration might enact once in power, rather than an automatic response to an election result. I'm pretty sure there would be people in that setup who would be very keen to make sure, one way or another, that they could never lose another election. Whether they'd be the dominant force in the administration I don't know, but it's clearly a possibility.

[urban.spaceman]

Scandals under Miliband: Well, he looks really daft eating a bacon sandwich.

 

Scandals under Corbyn: We found yet another picture of him hanging around with dodgy people at a dodgy event.

 

Scandals under Starmer: He had a beer during lockdowns that we spent £100,000 of public money trying to ascertain whether or not a legal expert was telling the truth about adhering to the law. And:

 

 

 

[Phil Bowman]

10 minutes ago, urban.spaceman said:

Scandals under Miliband: Well, he looks really daft eating a bacon sandwich.

 

Scandals under Corbyn: We found yet another picture of him hanging around with dodgy people at a dodgy event.

 

Scandals under Starmer: He had a beer during lockdowns that we spent £100,000 of public money trying to ascertain whether or not a legal expert was telling the truth about adhering to the law. And:

 

 

 

Omg people are so right - there's literally no difference between the Tories and Labour; they're all just as bad as each other...

[Zear0]

41 minutes ago, urban.spaceman said:

Scandals under Miliband: Well, he looks really daft eating a bacon sandwich.

 

Scandals under Corbyn: We found yet another picture of him hanging around with dodgy people at a dodgy event.

 

Scandals under Starmer: He had a beer during lockdowns that we spent £100,000 of public money trying to ascertain whether or not a legal expert was telling the truth about adhering to the law. And:

 

 

 

Lock her up

[Lionator]

Meanwhile Johnson is currently up to a quarter of million pounds of taxpayer money fighting his various legal claims. 

[leicsmac]

Something a bit different:

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-65705276

 

"A man has been arrested for opening the emergency door of an Asiana Airlines flight as it was landing in South Korea. 

 

All 194 passengers survived the flight, which landed safely but with its door still open at Daegu International Airport on Friday."

 

Firstly, we do have some strange folk over here. Secondly, I wasn't aware that an airplane door lock could be overridden while it's still in the air, even with the emergency manual override.

[Zear0]

1 minute ago, leicsmac said:

Something a bit different:

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-65705276

 

"A man has been arrested for opening the emergency door of an Asiana Airlines flight as it was landing in South Korea. 

 

All 194 passengers survived the flight, which landed safely but with its door still open at Daegu International Airport on Friday."

 

Firstly, we do have some strange folk over here. Secondly, I wasn't aware that an airplane door lock could be overridden while it's still in the air, even with the emergency manual override.

Ever see Air Force One?  Harrison Ford did it successfully.

 

"Joking" aside, lucky it was at a relatively lower altitude to not asphyxiate those onboard and decompress the pressure hull of the plane.

[leicsmac]

23 minutes ago, Zear0 said:

Ever see Air Force One?  Harrison Ford did it successfully.

 

"Joking" aside, lucky it was at a relatively lower altitude to not asphyxiate those onboard and decompress the pressure hull of the plane.

 

Well, from what I know modern passenger aircraft are toughened against any decompression event from 0 to 40000 feet (for the exact reason described here, among others) and the pilots would have a few minutes of passenger oxygen time to get the aircraft down to a safe altitude if it did happen and they have been drilled on such a scenario, so I think things would have been OK at higher altitude too.

 

It's just puzzles me why there is a function that allows the aircraft door to be opened while it's in the air at all as I honestly cannot see a useful safety purpose for it. Perhaps it's just a consequence of having a completely redundant and independent manual override to open those doors (which is absolutely necessary on the ground).

[Dunge]

16 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

 

Well, from what I know modern passenger aircraft are toughened against any decompression event from 0 to 40000 feet (for the exact reason described here, among others) and the pilots would have a few minutes of passenger oxygen time to get the aircraft down to a safe altitude if it did happen and they have been drilled on such a scenario, so I think things would have been OK at higher altitude too.

 

It's just puzzles me why there is a function that allows the aircraft door to be opened while it's in the air at all as I honestly cannot see a useful safety purpose for it. Perhaps it's just a consequence of having a completely redundant and independent manual override to open those doors (which is absolutely necessary on the ground).

Maybe an electronic “fail safe” lock failed? Because if you’d want the ultimate fail safe to revert to being openable.

[leicsmac]

Just now, Dunge said:

Maybe an electronic “fail safe” lock failed? Because if you’d want the ultimate fail safe to revert to being openable.

Or you'd want a manual override that would open the door no matter the situation elsewhere, just in case everything is going wrong elsewhere and you have to open the door.

 

I'll have to look into this, I'm intrigued.

[Phil Bowman]

51 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

Something a bit different:

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-65705276

 

"A man has been arrested for opening the emergency door of an Asiana Airlines flight as it was landing in South Korea. 

 

All 194 passengers survived the flight, which landed safely but with its door still open at Daegu International Airport on Friday."

 

Firstly, we do have some strange folk over here. Secondly, I wasn't aware that an airplane door lock could be overridden while it's still in the air, even with the emergency manual override.

People used to do that on trains - hop off while it was still moving. Before political correctness went mad and they put locks on the doors.

 

 

Edited 26 May 2023 by Phil Bowman