Today's Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

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#3187555 28-Jan-2024 09:34

The whole British piano saga is a tale of unpleasant people on both sides (with the exception of an obese secondary piano player and a male police officer)

Here's a long video. Note it is heavily biased against the Chinese Communist party.

Something I think everyone missed, including the Youtube influencers, was the first song played by the pianist. I was confused when I heard it as an opener, because it was so unlike the boogie woogie and blues songs played later.

It was "Ching Cheng Hanji." It's an anti-Chinese Trope. I'm not going to post it here. You may search Youtube for "Tom Ching Cheng Hanji, but 4K 60fps" if you want to see it.

That and calling the Chinese Japanese tourists within earshot three times were both subtle digs.

This is the last I'm talking to talk about it.

Eva888

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#3187561 28-Jan-2024 10:01

Technofreak:

Eva888:

I only watched half the video because it irritated me and found the Brit racist and antagonistically trying to bait the Asians who were being polite and asking that their images were not recorded. It should have ended there. OK mate…I won’t record you was sufficient and a respectful way of closing the discussion. The piano playing however was brilliant.

I didn't see any racism.

There's other video online of the Chinese women being very friendly and talkative with the pianist prior to the confrontation.

Another video suggests that the "handler" didn't arc up until another woman arrived. The inference being he had to be seen to be taking charge or something to that effect.

This woman be seen lurking in the background talking to another person. She had been identified some time previously by the British authorities as a Chinese spy.

If the Asians were instead a group of blonde Swedes or Swiss waving their flag I doubt if the response from the pianist would have been the same. The pianist also would not have known what British Authorities knew about one of the women.

Telling anyone that they are now in Britain or NZ etc means you are in my country and my rules apply and 'infers' that if you don’t like it get out. Calling someone a communist is an assumption of their political belief based on their visible race.

I am friends with a few Asians who are gentle and polite doing voluntary work. I feel extremely ashamed at how they are singled out because of their obvious features and yelled at as commie baskets and go back to China comments while walking down the streets of Wellington. A few are not Chinese but actually Philippinos or Malaysian doing free work out of kindness and caring. I can vouch that they aren’t secret spies gathering intel on sick patients.

Watching that video personally made me feel very uncomfortable for the Asians especially at the escalation which in my opinion was provocatively exacerbated for an audience and smacked of the type of racism enacted by people who feel their race makes them superior to another.

frankv

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#3188114 29-Jan-2024 14:53

Eva888:

If the Asians were instead a group of blonde Swedes or Swiss waving their flag I doubt if the response from the pianist would have been the same.

...

Watching that video personally made me feel very uncomfortable for the Asians especially at the escalation which in my opinion was provocatively exacerbated for an audience and smacked of the type of racism enacted by people who feel their race makes them superior to another.

Of course it was a provocation. It would have been the same for Swiss or Swedes or whatever, because the whole point was to create an YouTube event. It was not about recording some public piano playing, or even about his rights to play the piano in public and record it. It was all about a confrontation and controversy. The question that springs to mind is whether the pianist knew ahead of time that the Chinese were going to be there, or whether it was just opportunistic.

ezbee

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#3188150 29-Jan-2024 17:42

It's getting crazy out there, even if you virtually give stuff away.

Abuse and threats force Porirua Free for All store to close
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/507849/abuse-and-threats-force-porirua-free-for-all-store-to-close

""
Free for All began out of Dee Glentworth's home nine years ago. The store gives away donated goods, appliances and clothing in exchange for a $5 entry fee to cover costs.

"It's like a dating agency for stuff. It's a large retail store but everything in it is free. Free for All creates an opportunity for people and items to be matched," Glentworth said.

For the past four years, the store had been operating out of a 400 sqm warehouse in Porirua - but repeated instances of abuse, intimidation and the dumping of waste at the store had left Glentworth uncertain how she can go on.

Glentworth posted a tear-filled message to her community this week saying that she could not keep going.

She said staff have had to call police six times in the three weeks since the store had reopened after Christmas.

They had also had property graffitied, the bins gone through and customers being disrespectful and dumping goods on the floor.
""

MadEngineer

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#3188203 29-Jan-2024 18:12

Classic Porirua.

You're not on Atlantis anymore, Duncan Idaho.

Jase2985

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#3188208 29-Jan-2024 18:36

And the thing is, those that genuinely need to use a place like that miss out.

It's probably people going in there, getting something for free and flicking it off on Facebook marketplace for a profit thats causing all the issues.

MadEngineer

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#3188258 29-Jan-2024 22:50

frankv:
Eva888:

If the Asians were instead a group of blonde Swedes or Swiss waving their flag I doubt if the response from the pianist would have been the same.

...

Watching that video personally made me feel very uncomfortable for the Asians especially at the escalation which in my opinion was provocatively exacerbated for an audience and smacked of the type of racism enacted by people who feel their race makes them superior to another.

Of course it was a provocation. It would have been the same for Swiss or Swedes or whatever, because the whole point was to create an YouTube event. It was not about recording some public piano playing, or even about his rights to play the piano in public and record it. It was all about a confrontation and controversy. The question that springs to mind is whether the pianist knew ahead of time that the Chinese were going to be there, or whether it was just opportunistic.

I’m reading that he has played this song on occasion before and was taught it by a Chinese girl?

You're not on Atlantis anymore, Duncan Idaho.

Behodar

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#3188468 30-Jan-2024 15:44

I just pushed the power button on my Xbox 360 controller and the PlayStation turned on. I'm not sure how that's even possible, as I believe the PS uses Bluetooth and I'm pretty sure the 360 doesn't!

SomeoneSomewhere

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#3188479 30-Jan-2024 16:27

HDMI CEC probably. Xbox turns on, turns TV on, TV turns PS on

neb

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#3188499 30-Jan-2024 17:25

SomeoneSomewhere: HDMI CEC probably. Xbox turns on, turns TV on, TV turns PS on

The PS is particularly obnoxious in this regard. You can get ARC and CEC blockers to deal with this braindamage.

SomeoneSomewhere

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#3188690 31-Jan-2024 00:42

And yet TV manufacturers still can't manage to make one that turns on and off with the attached PC, like computer monitors have had to do since like 2000.

kingdragonfly

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#3188896 31-Jan-2024 18:10

Land area for this single bathroom is ¾ of a typical parallel parking space, or ¾ of a standard adult soccer goal

New York Times: San Francisco Tried to Build a NZD $2.9 Million Toilet. It’s Still Not Done.

.. what San Francisco neighborhood Noe Valley still needs is a toilet.

Fifteen months after city officials were ready to throw a party in the Noe Valley Town Square to celebrate funding for a tiny bathroom with a toilet and sink, nothing but mulch remains in its place.

The toilet project broke down the minute taxpayers realized the city was planning an event to celebrate NZD $2.9 million in state funds that local politicians had secured for the lone 150-square-foot / 13 square meter structure. That’s enough to purchase a single-family home in San Francisco — with multiple bathrooms.

Even more confounding was the explanation that the tiny bathroom would take two to three years to install because of the city’s labyrinthine permitting and building process. City leaders quickly canceled their potty party, and Gov. Gavin Newsom of California took back the funds.

Late-night comedians skewered the city. Residents dubbed the saga “Toiletgate,” and the NZD $2.9 million toilet soon became the “it” costume at local Halloween parties that year.

For many residents, the episode has illustrated why San Francisco so often gets bogged down by inefficiency. If an army of more than 30,000 city employees with a NZD $23 billion annual budget cannot build a simple bathroom in a reasonable way, what hope is there that San Francisco can solve its housing shortage and fentanyl crisis?
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