Bay 12 Games Forum

So… context required.

In 1998, the Good Friday Agreement was signed in an effort to bring to an end the Troubles - 30 years of political/religious conflict - in Northern Ireland. Among the bits and pieces of a complex agreement was that people born in Northern Ireland (perhaps only the Northern Irish, not wholly clear on it personally) could consider themselves Irish, British, or both. This extends to sports, and international competition.

The Commonwealth Games are similar to the Olympics, in that it has similar events and happens every four years, but is open only to members of the Commonwealth of Nations. One quirk of this is that the nations making up the United Kingdom - England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland - compete separately. Ireland is not a member of the Commonwealth, hasn’t been since 1949.

Even if someone from Northern Ireland competes for Ireland in other competitions (world or European championships, the Olympics) they have been able to represent Northern Ireland in the Commonwealth Games, because NI competes as part of the British team in other competitions.

The International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) has taken it upon themselves to ignore a landmark agreement and a quarter century of precedent to say that NI gymnasts that have represented Ireland cannot represent NI at the Commonwealth games. Their solution is that the affected athletes either change the nationality on their FIG registration, or the games themselves remove the gymnastics  as an FIG registered competition. Because apparently they know better how to handle sensitive topics like national identity that cause people to kill each other for decades.

TL;DR the Northern Irish are allowed to consider themselves Irish after 30 years of killing, but not according to world gymnastics bureaucrats.

“Whatever it is making that noise, it’s coming on the rails. Eyes peeled, Alrin.”

As I have heightened hearing, I was going to use that to at least figure out where the noise was coming from, then use the old peepers to hopefully see it.

((Maybe we need to figure out what that sound is))

A total of 13 phallus carvings have been found at the site, near Hexham, more than any other location along Hadrian’s Wall…

Aubergine, got it.

Quote from: McTraveller on May 25, 2022, 07:13:00 pm

What has changed in the past few years isn't a sudden increase in the availability of weapons; rather, it's an increase in isolation and dehumanization.

Except that's been happening all over the world, without similarly regular mass shootings, nevermind school ones. What's changed (to whatever extent it has) stateside is that... in an environment with copious firearm access.

e: uh, with similar energy, holy shit has anyone else noticed the onion?

https://www.theonion.com/

That is quite something.

I was moved. Also very angry.