
Drone Shows Thousands Filling Hong Kong Streets [video] - notjackma
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Q919bQOThvM#t=10
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STRML
Hong Kong was my home base for the last year and a half; I just missed these
protests. It is really a shock to see the main streets filled with people;
streets I used to walk or ride buses through nearly every day.

Hong Kong is a hugely underrated, beautiful, vibrant city with extraordinarily
friendly people, almost no crime, and one of the best transportation systems
in the world. There's almost no place you can stand within Hong Kong that
doesn't have an incredible view of something. It's also becoming a major hub
for technology businesses this decade.

I wish them the best of luck; it would truly be a shame if China is able to
exert more major control and turn HK into yet another unlivable Chinese
megacity.

~~~
Mikeb85
Don't forget that Hong Kong is also a major financial hub, with the 6th(?)
largest stock market in the world, and when the HK-Shanghai Stock Connect goes
live in the coming weeks it'll be the second largest exchange in the world.
Many western banks also do business in Hong Kong.

The worst thing that would happen to Hong Kong is for the financial sector to
leave - HK currently enjoys an average income 5X higher than mainland China,
and higher than many western cities even.

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Kenji
Awesome footage. I wasn't aware of the scale of this protest. My only nitpick,
if that drone malfunctions (or the batteries run out) and falls down, it'll
kill someone.

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jewel
It is irresponsible, but I think you're overstating the risk. This looks like
footage from a gopro (due to the wide angle shots). This only requires a small
drone to carry, like the DJI Phantom. The total weight for the phantom and
camera is going to be something like 2.5 lb, and that weight is spread across
a device that is rather large.

I wouldn't want to get hit on the head by one, of course, but I don't think it
would be possible to kill someone since its terminal velocity is going to be
pretty slow.

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robomartin
No, you are wrong. From that altitude it can do anything from severely
disfigure, paralyze or, yes, kill someone. Did you see that shot where it
flies right by that crane? Irresponsible doesn't quite describe it.

I've been deeply involved in RC flight for over 30 years. I cannot imagine how
these people think it OK to fly toy-grade products over people like that. A
DJI with a Gopro is a toy. I have $10,000 RC helicopters and planes. They are
fucking toys. Having seen the range of failure modes I have over the years I
can only characterize these people as irresponsible morons. I also say this
from the context of having designed and manufactured high quality electronic
products for the RC and military targetting drone industries.

~~~
ivanca
I'm just waiting for someone to create a (fail-safe) parachute for those
devices so we can just move on from the "it's gonna fall!" arguments.

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dosh
It's hard to grasp what's really happening over there over paragraphs and few
photos, but this video delivers the atmosphere in a very effective manner.

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lnanek2
Should be interesting to see if the Chinese government brings in the tanks
again, like Tiananmen Square.

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guard-of-terra
Hong Kong is an island and the part they occupy seems to be very inclined.
Even if they manage to bring tanks in somehow, all they'll get is many
expensive high-rises damaged, roads destroyed and many tanks lost (since
they're trivial to immobilize).

Will look like authoritarism fail.

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turar
First thought that occurred to me while watching. Even if Americans wanted to
march in a protest of similar scale, it would be physically difficult. There
would be nowhere to park all their cars.

~~~
robomartin
You are missing a very important cultural difference: something of this scale
in most American cities would be accompanied by theft, vandalism, murder,
rape, burglaries and all sorts of other displays by culturally deficient
members of our society.

I have been in large protests in other parts of the world where the cultural
contrast is nothing less than astonishing.

~~~
istjohn
I just want to point out that first, rioting does not occur more frequently in
America than it does in many other parts of the world, and second, those
"culturally deficient members of our society" you speak of are also generally
wealth, education, and opportunity deficient due to the apathy of our society
writ large.

~~~
robomartin
You are wrong. Wealth has nothing whatsoever to do with behaving as a
civilized member of society. Not one bit. I don't know about you but I have
travelled a bunch and feel pretty comfortable saying that we have huge
cultural holes others do not. I love my country enough to attempt to be honest
about who we are and who we are not.

Katrina vs. Japan Tsunami

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istjohn
You know what wasn't an element in the Japan Tsunami aftermath? A hugely
disproportionate impact on a demographic burdened with a history of 250 years
of slavery followed by 180 years of inequality under the law. Your statements
that there is a culturally deficient, uncivilized segment of our society reeks
of classism, elitism, and thinly veiled racism. Own the slum, the ghetto, the
failing inner-city schools. These are American institutions for which we are
all responsible for, elite and destitute alike. Class disparities are a
product of our institutions and policies. Our welfare programs create a
poverty trap. Our justice system breeds alienation. Our schools, ignorance. If
people are stupid and unhappy it is your fault and it is my fault. Since you
love your country so much, I'm sure you'll help me fix this mess.

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rayiner
The whitewashing of places like Hong Kong and Singapore among the globalist
set is shameful.

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tvanantwerp
I've lived in Hong Kong. It's a wonderful place full of wonderful people. To
express no sympathy for Hong Kong's people--and to imply that no sympathy is
deserved because some unnamed "globalist set" seems to like the place--is
shameful.

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rayiner
Globalists like Hong Kong as it is: where the government enforces laws to
enable the market, but where people cannot vote on other laws they want. Its
the globalists that lack sympathy for Hong Kong's people, not me.

~~~
Mikeb85
Do you know how many cities on earth would kill for HK's prosperity? How many
have more 'freedom' yet are ruined by ineffective governance, crime, and
corruption?

I'm not saying HK's protesters don't have a legit grievance, but some
perspective is required. They're getting democracy no matter what (the right
to vote, even amongst vetted candidates is something they didn't have before),
a more effectual way to go about it would be to prove to Beijing that
democracy works.

Not to ruin a great thing that they already have...

~~~
istjohn
HK's prosperity is a product of British rule, not of the relatively new
Chinese regime they are protesting now.

~~~
Mikeb85
It's a product of a free market system with Chinese entrepreneurial spirit.

Not every British colony was nearly as successful, most if not all were less
successful...

China's recent strategy has been to set up regions as 'tests' for future
policy. There's no doubt that with them granting HK an election (even if they
want to vet the candidates), they're looking to a soft transition to democracy
in the future; much like they've transitioned to a market economy.

And finally - keep in mind Hong Kong was never democratic under British
rule...

