Xanderl
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Not always very high value in terms of ticket yield or donations
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Post by Xanderl on Apr 15, 2019 16:27:43 GMT
If your heading to central London this evening worth bearing in mind a number of key landmarks are blockaded by Extinction Rebellion protests. Walked through Piccadilly Circus and it’s all very good natured and the traffic free streets are very pleasant. Of course not sure how things will go if the police start to clear the roads
But anyway, recommend travelling by tube or on foot rather than by bus
Here’s Shaftesbury Avenue earlier
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Post by alece10 on Apr 15, 2019 17:34:29 GMT
ITV London news talking to taxi drivers stuck in the traffic jams and complaining. Talk about pot kettle and black. How many times have taxi drivers brought the roads to a standstill over their disputes with TFL and Uber.
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Post by peelee on Apr 16, 2019 12:54:13 GMT
There was a protest and traffic was diverted and some bottlenecks developed. But taxi drivers didn't denounce this, as far as I know, and not if ITV London approached them in their black cabs presumably because media were looking for a reaction in order to make a side-story perhaps about cab drivers. Quite different had the taxi drivers federation, or other union-style body, say, issued a press release critical of the protest — then you might have been justified.
Over on BBC London TV News, or it could have been Sky News, drivers who'd been interviewed behind the wheels of their vehicles were no more than mildly resigned to delays, though up to one hour-long said one man. IIRC all said, 'Yes, delay, but however frustrating traffic is today, they've got a right to protest'. And there were a few understanding smiles from them as they spoke into the microphones that had been put before them. London cabbies work around the clock and will have seen far worse than this kind of delay.
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Post by poster J on Apr 16, 2019 21:57:47 GMT
I can't wait to tell them they are complete hypocrites if they try to stop me from getting into or out of the Tube station tomorrow...
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Post by Deleted on Apr 17, 2019 9:34:01 GMT
I understand the right to protest and if it is peaceful and hope that it has not been hijacked by any trouble making/anarchist type elements. But it does take up police resources and I wonder how many protesters might have moved on from the ongoing Brexit demonstrations in Parliament Square.
Telling more people to come down and be arrested could almost be seen as incitement to cause civil unrest or wasting police time.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 17, 2019 13:42:44 GMT
Also with people climbing on top of trains or gluing themselves on. I think the trains or buses should start up just to see the panic on the protesters faces.
Maybe our police are a bit too stand offish, I'm not advocating violence but in other countries they don't mess around and will get the water cannons out etc.
Maybe they should have got a fuel guzzling car to pump out fumes over the tree huggers.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 17, 2019 14:11:47 GMT
I can't wait to tell them they are complete hypocrites if they try to stop me from getting into or out of the Tube station tomorrow... I don't think that is lost on them to be perfectly honest. However, I think the movement sees causing maximum disruption (whatever means of transport one uses) and using that disruption to make people stop and take note of their message is the end goal really. And the message really is an important one.
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Post by poster J on Apr 17, 2019 14:24:21 GMT
I can't wait to tell them they are complete hypocrites if they try to stop me from getting into or out of the Tube station tomorrow... I don't think that is lost on them to be perfectly honest. However, I think the movement sees causing maximum disruption (whatever means of transport one uses) and using that disruption to make people stop and take note of their message is the end goal really. And the message really is an important one. The message is obviously important, but the way they are attempting to get it across is so misguided it's laughable. They are getting more publicity about how stupid they are being than anything else, and alienating the very people they should be trying to get on side - the ordinary general public. The government have got more important things to sort out (Brexit) before they will be in a position to do anything meaningful about climate change, and a couple of people climbing on top of a DLR train that was heading out of central London isn't going to change that. Neither are the number of pictures showing the amount of plastic being used by the camping protesters, the gas-guzzling lorry they have brought onto the bridge or the fact that many of them will have used non-environmentally friendly means of transport to get to the protests in the first place. They have the right to protest, obviously, but they clearly haven't thought this through at all, and so history is more likely to remember this (if it does at all) as the complete disaster it has been so far rather than anything else.
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Post by alece10 on Apr 17, 2019 14:27:50 GMT
Probably should be in the unpopular opinion thread but as a public transport user in London I would rather my journey delayed by these protesters than greedy tube drivers striking for more money.
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Post by n1david on Apr 17, 2019 14:30:59 GMT
The government have got more important things to sort out (Brexit) before they will be in a position to do anything meaningful about climate change, and a couple of people climbing on top of a DLR train that was heading out of central London isn't going to change that. I wouldn't say that Brexit was more important than climate change (sea levels will rise whether we're in the EU or not), but it's certainly true that no politicians are going to do anything about climate change until Brexit is sorted.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 17, 2019 14:36:06 GMT
I don't think that is lost on them to be perfectly honest. However, I think the movement sees causing maximum disruption (whatever means of transport one uses) and using that disruption to make people stop and take note of their message is the end goal really. And the message really is an important one. The message is obviously important, but the way they are attempting to get it across is so misguided it's laughable. They are getting more publicity about how stupid they are being than anything else, and alienating the very people they should be trying to get on side - the ordinary general public. The government have got more important things to sort out (Brexit) before they will be in a position to do anything meaningful about climate change, and a couple of people climbing on top of a DLR train that was heading out of central London isn't going to change that. Neither are the number of pictures showing the amount of plastic being used by the camping protesters, the gas-guzzling lorry they have brought onto the bridge or the fact that many of them will have used non-environmentally friendly means of transport to get to the protests in the first place. They have the right to protest, obviously, but they clearly haven't thought this through at all, and so history is more likely to remember this (if it does at all) as the complete disaster it has been so far rather than anything else. Well it's horses for courses I suppose and what one person thinks of as "laughable" or a "complete disaster", another will think the opposite. Personally, I think that on the whole they're actually rather brave people rather than stupid and I wish them every success in their endeavour.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 17, 2019 14:38:28 GMT
I'm on the side of those who think that tackling Brexit and Poverty etc are more important than some melting Ice Cap just because David Attenborough and William Windsor have got on their high horses about it. David is an icon and we all respect what he says but William's carbon footprint is probably bigger than most of ours and he is a hypocrite who hunts but then backs wildlife campaigns.
Adam Boulton really owned a snowflake millennial protester on Sky News today.
Like these rich kids who live in squats etc, I can understand the homeless squatting and think it is a sad state of affairs when they have to but the rich dropouts I have no time for. If you are rich enough not to work and can enjoy life then great but don't make out you are doing it for the cause or to try and make a difference.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 17, 2019 14:39:04 GMT
Whenever there's some kind of disruptive protest, I'm always amazed at how few people seem to understand that the disruption is the point. It's not much of a protest if you're quietly doing it in a small assigned zone where everyone can easily ignore you.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 17, 2019 14:45:26 GMT
Adam Boulton really owned a snowflake millennial protester on Sky News today. Adam Boulton didn't "own a snowflake millennial protester" at all. He played to the Daily Hate Mail crowd and was unprofessional and downright rude. So much for impartiality on the news. Adam Boulton is a dickwad.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 17, 2019 14:49:16 GMT
Adam Boulton really owned a snowflake millennial protester on Sky News today. Adam Boulton didn't "own a snowflake millennial protester" at all. He played to the Daily Hate Mail crowd and was unprofessional and downright rude. So much for impartiality on the news. Adam Boulton is a dickwad. The kid was probably some rich little entitled Tw*t who has never been questioned in his life, probably eats tofu.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 17, 2019 14:58:45 GMT
Adam Boulton didn't "own a snowflake millennial protester" at all. He played to the Daily Hate Mail crowd and was unprofessional and downright rude. So much for impartiality on the news. Adam Boulton is a dickwad. The kid was probably some rich little entitled Tw*t who has never been questioned in his life, probably eats tofu. Thanks Mr Farage. What does his financial state have to do with it? And Adam Boulton didn't question the young man at all, he merely insulted him and expected him to sit there and take it. I think that makes Adam Boulton the Tw*t, not the person he was "interviewing".
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Post by poster J on Apr 17, 2019 15:13:30 GMT
The government have got more important things to sort out (Brexit) before they will be in a position to do anything meaningful about climate change, and a couple of people climbing on top of a DLR train that was heading out of central London isn't going to change that. I wouldn't say that Brexit was more important than climate change (sea levels will rise whether we're in the EU or not), but it's certainly true that no politicians are going to do anything about climate change until Brexit is sorted. Yes, my point was that no-one in government will have any time to listen to them until Brexit is sorted - so in that sense sorting Brexit (or preferably cancelling it altogether) is absolutely more important right now. What it really means is that the timing of these protests couldn't be worse if they really want to have any positive impact on climate change action at all. If they had sense they would wait a few months until after the Brexit deadline. Though if they really had any sense these protests would have happened years ago...
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Post by poster J on Apr 17, 2019 15:17:37 GMT
Whenever there's some kind of disruptive protest, I'm always amazed at how few people seem to understand that the disruption is the point. It's not much of a protest if you're quietly doing it in a small assigned zone where everyone can easily ignore you. Please don't assume those of us who think this is ridiculous don't understand the point of it. I do, I just think that it achieves absolutely nothing. They haven't managed to get the Government to listen to them, they haven't managed to get a mass uprising of people in support of their cause (in fact they were on Twitter this morning begging for more people to join because their numbers are so low), the media is largely against them, and the methods they have chosen leave them open to valid criticisms of hypocrisy and doing more harm than good. That's not a successful protest, not by a long shot.
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Post by Jon on Apr 17, 2019 15:21:33 GMT
Having seen the Sky interview, no one came out of that well.
I am surprised people are willing to be arrested and potentially get a criminal record because that's something future employers frown upon.
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Post by Latecomer on Apr 17, 2019 16:48:47 GMT
I don’t see what’s wrong with ANYBODY protesting that not enough is being done to halt climate change.....that is obviously true to all of us? So what if they are old, young, white, black, rich, poor....we need to take action NOW and our government are not interested. If people are inconvenienced then that’s the whole point of it....I’ve been going to London for long enough to know that really large peaceful protests are ignored by the press (there is one every weekend but never see them on the news when I get home), so they needed to do something different to get press coverage. And when did it become Sky news policy to patronise the young? That’s twice in as many days!
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Post by Someone in a tree on Apr 17, 2019 18:45:12 GMT
The protesters are now glued to Jeremy Corbyn's fence. Where is he now going to sit?
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Post by The Matthew on Apr 17, 2019 19:56:10 GMT
I don’t see what’s wrong with ANYBODY protesting that not enough is being done to halt climate change.....that is obviously true to all of us? So what if they are old, young, white, black, rich, poor....we need to take action NOW and our government are not interested. I think the problem is that they're coming across like children throwing a tantrum, and that makes the protest counterproductive. People who aren't already convinced that we need to do something about climate change aren't going to have their minds changed by this, and people who are already convinced will now want to keep quiet because they won't want the protesters claiming their attitude only came about because of the protests. This action has done no good, and I fear the best we can hope for is that it's done no harm.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 17, 2019 20:41:12 GMT
The protesters are now glued to Jeremy Corbyn's fence. Where is he now going to sit? Indeed. Spot anything rather ironic? Perhaps some environment friendly, reusable bottled water may have been a better choice for refreshment.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 18, 2019 6:11:23 GMT
The kid was probably some rich little entitled Tw*t who has never been questioned in his life, probably eats tofu. Thanks Mr Farage. What does his financial state have to do with it? And Adam Boulton didn't question the young man at all, he merely insulted him and expected him to sit there and take it. I think that makes Adam Boulton the Tw*t, not the person he was "interviewing". The protesters’ financial status is important because people in that position - according to the Mail, this guy has an expensive private school education and takes numerous foreign holidays (I’m not even going to get started on the hypocrisy if that’s true) - can often rely on mummy and daddy to bankroll them. If they get arrested, it’s no big deal because often they end up working for daddy’s firm. Or a friend’s firm. Or not really ‘working’ at all. Yet they encourage others to protest and get arrested - people who, if they’re charged and found guilty, could face a serious risk to their future earning capacity if potential employers see a criminal record on their job application. I do have to laugh at these people who make out they’re open to debate, but when they’re actually asked to do that they flunk it. You see it so often these days, usually from the noisiest activists. Most of this lot couldn’t make a coherent argument if they tried. They’re not interested in debate, just in causing havoc.
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Apr 18, 2019 7:22:24 GMT
Had to smile at the actor being interviewed by LBC who said he had put his acting job on hold for a few days to come to London and join in the protest.
The job is in Malta. ✈️
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Post by alece10 on Apr 18, 2019 7:30:48 GMT
The shop owners in Oxford Street are saying they are losing millions in Revenue as people are staying away. However I would think it's the ideal time to go there. Traffic free street no buses and taxis so its practically pedestrianised. Hop on the tube and wander up and down the middle of the street. No fighting for pavement space whilst trying not to get run over by a bus.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 18, 2019 8:09:52 GMT
The protesters’ financial status is important because people in that position - according to the Mail, this guy has an expensive private school education and takes numerous foreign holidays (I’m not even going to get started on the hypocrisy if that’s true) - can often rely on mummy and daddy to bankroll them. If they get arrested, it’s no big deal because often they end up working for daddy’s firm. Or a friend’s firm. Or not really ‘working’ at all. I do think that's a bit of a generalisation personally. Not everyone who has had a private school education or has wealthy parents works for daddy's firm or a friend's firm or doesn't work at all. And the young man in question may end up becoming a philanthropist when he inherits daddy's money and give lots of money away, we just don't know.
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Post by kathryn on Apr 18, 2019 8:28:10 GMT
I wouldn't say that Brexit was more important than climate change (sea levels will rise whether we're in the EU or not), but it's certainly true that no politicians are going to do anything about climate change until Brexit is sorted. Yes, my point was that no-one in government will have any time to listen to them until Brexit is sorted - so in that sense sorting Brexit (or preferably cancelling it altogether) is absolutely more important right now. What it really means is that the timing of these protests couldn't be worse if they really want to have any positive impact on climate change action at all. If they had sense they would wait a few months until after the Brexit deadline. Though if they really had any sense these protests would have happened years ago... Of course, when they were organised these protests (which would have taken months) it was planned for after the Brexit deadline.... It's a bit rich to suggest they should have planned the protest for later in the same line that you say it should have happened years ago! It's not like people haven't been trying to get politicians to take action on climate change for years. I really don't understand why people spend so much effort accusing protestors of hypocrisy because they come from middle-class backgrounds and live in the modern world like the rest of us do. Are you only allowed to protest if you're a hippy living in a self-sufficient commune?! Because the point is that individual actions like re-using a water bottle or not flying actually have f***-all effect on the problem. What any one individual can do about their carbon footprint is a drop in the ocean compared to the overall scale of the problem. Action needs to be politically-driven to have the required impact, because it needs to be large-scale and systemic. It needs legislative power behind it. That plane flies to Malta regardless of whether that particular protestor is on it, as we all know. It's ridiculous to decide that we can ignore him because his job requires air travel when we're talking about the sustainability of our way of life on this planet long-term.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 18, 2019 8:34:49 GMT
I don't think it's fair to assume that people are being stupid or thoughtless when they go out and protest, not thinking about how they could get arrested and have all their future employment prospects ruined. The kind of people who go out and cause this kind of disruption are often the kind of people who go "look, I know this could ruin my employment prospects, but frankly the cause is way more important than that". And they've got a point; a few hundred people being unemployed for a few decades is absolutely nothing compared with the planet becoming uninhabitable to the point of hostility to all life forms, all because the people with the power to make the changes chose to put profit ahead of environmental responsibility.
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Post by andrew on Apr 18, 2019 8:36:47 GMT
The shop owners in Oxford Street are saying they are losing millions in Revenue as people are staying away. However I would think it's the ideal time to go there. Traffic free street no buses and taxis so its practically pedestrianised. Hop on the tube and wander up and down the middle of the street. No fighting for pavement space whilst trying not to get run over by a bus. I was there myself yesterday, and it was slightly quieter than usual. I emerged victorious with a rather fetching pair of pink shorts, so if you ever see me out and about in them you know you can thank (or indeed blame) climate change for their existence.
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