UK British News Megathread - aka CWCissey's news thread

https://news.sky.com/story/row-over-new-greggs-vegan-sausage-rolls-heats-up-11597679 (https://archive.ph/5Ba6o)

A heated row has broken out over a move by Britain's largest bakery chain to launch a vegan sausage roll.

The pastry, which is filled with a meat substitute and encased in 96 pastry layers, is available in 950 Greggs stores across the country.

It was promised after 20,000 people signed a petition calling for the snack to be launched to accommodate plant-based diet eaters.


But the vegan sausage roll's launch has been greeted by a mixed reaction: Some consumers welcomed it, while others voiced their objections.

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spread happiness@p4leandp1nk
https://twitter.com/p4leandp1nk/status/1080767496569974785

#VEGANsausageroll thanks Greggs

7
10:07 AM - Jan 3, 2019
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Cook and food poverty campaigner Jack Monroe declared she was "frantically googling to see what time my nearest opens tomorrow morning because I will be outside".

While TV writer Brydie Lee-Kennedy called herself "very pro the Greggs vegan sausage roll because anything that wrenches veganism back from the 'clean eating' wellness folk is a good thing".

One Twitter user wrote that finding vegan sausage rolls missing from a store in Corby had "ruined my morning".

Another said: "My son is allergic to dairy products which means I can't really go to Greggs when he's with me. Now I can. Thank you vegans."

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pg often@pgofton
https://twitter.com/pgofton/status/1080772793774624768

The hype got me like #Greggs #Veganuary

42
10:28 AM - Jan 3, 2019
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TV presenter Piers Morgan led the charge of those outraged by the new roll.

"Nobody was waiting for a vegan bloody sausage, you PC-ravaged clowns," he wrote on Twitter.

Mr Morgan later complained at receiving "howling abuse from vegans", adding: "I get it, you're all hangry. I would be too if I only ate plants and gruel."

Another Twitter user said: "I really struggle to believe that 20,000 vegans are that desperate to eat in a Greggs."

"You don't paint a mustach (sic) on the Mona Lisa and you don't mess with the perfect sausage roll," one quipped.

Journalist Nooruddean Choudry suggested Greggs introduce a halal steak bake to "crank the fume levels right up to 11".

The bakery chain told concerned customers that "change is good" and that there would "always be a classic sausage roll".

It comes on the same day McDonald's launched its first vegetarian "Happy Meal", designed for children.

The new dish comes with a "veggie wrap", instead of the usual chicken or beef option.

It should be noted that Piers Morgan and Greggs share the same PR firm, so I'm thinking this is some serious faux outrage and South Park KKK gambiting here.

 

[Made In Wales]

you think the government won't ban those aswell, didn't the EU pass a law that made having encrypted drives illegal?

They can try, but do they understand the technical aspects of this?

Plus, coders can always make their devices safer with home-made products.

Ban VPN's - okay, Dark Web businesses for this will rocket.
Ban Proton - okay, Github or similar will have an open source for a cloned system.
Ban the Dark Web - HAHAHA! NEVER going to happen.

Starmer can stamp his feet and demand, but he's not a tech bro and doesn't understand that there are some things that he cannot do.

In a recent programme where Will Mellor was interviewing Phil Dewey (a Wales Online reporter) about the Lewis Edwards case (the nonce cop), Dewey mentioned that the Dark Web was like the sky - if a crime is committed in the sky, do you shut the sky down even though it's impossible to do so?

Starmer: 'SHUT DOWN THE SKY! I MUST WIN!'

The rest of humanity: 'His Dad was a toolmaker and he made such a tool when he had him!'

 

[AssignedEva]

Not really news to anyone who has eyes and ears, but still a nice little video reinforcing a well deserved cultural stereotype.....

Daily occurence at ALbrecht DIscount......

"You're taking the piss now......."

Gypsies are notorious for those big shoplifting skirts.

I don’t think this was the right thing to do, I think he’s right, but I’d have been much shorter saying it. Or maybe I wouldn’t have said anything at all. Because I’m a pleb and when I give my opinion in public I get smacked down hard for it

Here's to that. I've been taking pains to distance myself from those people, literally switching careers (sort of) to get away from the need to kowtow. Nuance is verboten.

In particular on this issue, I've noticed that anyone who suggests "Free Palestine but also what happened on October 7th was an atrocity, my thoughts are with those poor victims and I hope the hostages are released" or "Israel has a right to defend herself but they are going too far and they should not ethnically cleanse Gaza, my thoughts are with those poor people and I hope the conflict comes to an end" generally gets treated by one side as if they've only said the loud part and by the other side as if they've only said the quiet part. I think the issue on Israel/Palestine is that depending on situation "You're only criticising Israel as a mask for antisemitism" and "You're only claiming I'm being antisemetic to shut down criticism of Israel" can both be true. Having spent some time in Israel outside of the tourist hotspots I can say Israelis can be swivel eyed bloodthirsty Jingoists just as much as the Arabs are (although I wouldn't extend that to British Jews in general).

 

[Made In Wales]

Tesco stores to shut at 10pm and blames Rachel from Accounts for axing staff:

https://www.gbnews.com/money/tesco-opening-hours-change-rachel-reeves

The comment by 'Tress' is very telling:

'the more push back by retailers like this the better chance there will be an early general election. Labour supports business they said. Another lie.'

Hmm... well we certainly cannot last until 2029 at the current rate of Labour idiocy.

 

[Otterly]

a demand for total submission,

I say all this like I’m able to keep my gob shut 100% of the time and I can’t. I am usually pretty good at it in real life, but I got my knuckles rapped at work for something very mild that wasn’t a Correct Opinion and that was just not wetting myself with joy at the latest rounds of layoffs when pressed hard in a meeting about it. So yeah I get it. (I just could t fake the right level of ecstatic enjoyment that some good colleagues got laid off, I am usually miss poker face but I couldn’t lie outright like that, maybe a tiny ember of my soul still burns, I dunno.)
Well meaning people think that if they can just explain it well enough people will listen and it’ll all be ok.
Trouble is, it isn’t. They don’t want to listen, they want capitulation, like you say. And they’ll hurt you without blinking to get it.
When you’re famous, I’m sure people agree with you more because they want to get in your pants or hang out with you or they will benefit professionally or financially. So maybe they slap you down a lot less than when you’re a small, unimportant, well meaning female corporate drone, and so this lesson may be learned a little later.
Here is the lesson; you cannot reason with them. They do not want to listen, they want you crushed and if you’re someone with an audience after they crush you they’ll parade you round to capitulate in public.
Never, ever JADE (justify, apologise, defend or explain.) especially if you’ve got fuck-you money.

 

[BrightonAndHoveAlbion]

Another week, another fatal house fire. Nothing to see here. Stop nooooticing.

What's the story behind the house fires ?

 

[Tony Martin's Force Ghost]

If he bans VPNs, the tech sector will destroy him; most companies in tech strictly use VPNs now, and if they work connected to the government, it is mandatory. On top of that, the business sector just despises Reeves. I went to an accounting conference, and the disdain for the government was palpable. Basically, middling firms have had to up their pricing to small companies to cover costs, and the digital requirements make it awkward.

 

[Otterly]

Tesco stores to shut at 10pm and blames Rachel from Accounts for axing staff:

Does Rachel from customer services know how many British pensions have Tesco as a significant component? I wouldnt trust her to count my change.
@AssignedEva yeah I agree. I can criticise Israel and the Palestinians, and I think oct 7 was very very wrong and that bombing the shit out of Gaza is wrong too.
Ive worked with Israelis, I liked them. Everyone’s just human.
But nobody wants to change their opinion, they just want you to agree with them. That’s probably human nature but I feel personally things are a lot more polarised now than they were 25 years ago. That’s led to people being unable to even talk about things without just wanting to railroad people into submission. Trouble is that road leads only one place which is violence, and then in the end, when the gloves really come off (and they haven’t yet) only one side wins and that’s the side with the biggest stick.

 

[Crunkle]

If he bans VPNs, the tech sector will destroy him; most companies in tech strictly use VPNs now, and if they work connected to the government, it is mandatory. On top of that, the business sector just despises Reeves. I went to an accounting conference, and the disdain for the government was palpable. Basically, middling firms have had to up their pricing to small companies to cover costs, and the digital requirements make it awkward.

Funnily enough, the MPs themselves will be using VPNs. Either directly to protect themselves from foreign actors or mandated by Parliament's IT staff.

You cannot ban VPNs without degrading national security, business autonomy to keep their systems safe, and eroding freedom of speech (or at least what's left of it).

 

[FedPostalService]

Funnily enough, the MPs themselves will be using VPNs. Either directly to protect themselves from foreign actors or mandated by Parliament's IT staff.

You cannot ban VPNs without degrading national security, business autonomy to keep their systems safe, and eroding freedom of speech (or at least what's left of it).

They have tried to ban encryption without realising that's how all financial transactions occur. They are all retards who don't know how things work and refuse to learn how things work.

 

[Whoopsie Daisy]

Tesco stores to shut at 10pm and blames Rachel from Accounts for axing staff:

In the North east, not one supermarket is open past 10pm. The nearest ones are York and Newcastle. It's absurd.

What's the story behind the house fires ?

There are lots of them, almost weekly. The vast majority are fatal, very few are arson, though some are, and a decent portion are gas explosions.

House fires seemed to go the way of the dodo in the early-mid 2000s/2010s. Now they're back. Of course, we have a very good idea what the reason is, but we can't say because muh environment.

 

[Le b0wski]

There are lots of them, almost weekly. The vast majority are fatal, very few are arson, though some are, and a decent portion are gas explosions.

House fires seemed to go the way of the dodo in the early-mid 2000s/2010s. Now they're back. Of course, we have a very good idea what the reason is, but we can't say because muh environment.

Loads of stuff has been a huge step backwards on fire safety. All those random "factory/warehouse outlet" paki furniture shops I'm sure if tested every single thing in them would go up like those old 90s fire safety PSAs. Similar for all the stuff drop shipped from china. Pair that with carelessly shoving a lithium battery in just about everything and house flippers doing shoddy diy electrics everywhere and we have loads of fires.

Also I know London Fire Brigade put out that they respond to an ebike/scooter fire every two days in 2023 and if I had to guess it's gone up as owning them has gone up.

https://www.london-fire.gov.uk/safety/lithium-batteries/

 

[Made In Wales]

Loads of stuff has been a huge step backwards on fire safety. All those random "factory/warehouse outlet" paki furniture shops I'm sure if tested every single thing in them would go up like those old 90s fire safety PSAs. Similar for all the stuff drop shipped from china. Pair that with carelessly shoving a lithium battery in just about everything and house flippers doing shoddy diy electrics everywhere and we have loads of fires.

Also I know London Fire Brigade put out that they respond to an ebike/scooter fire every two days in 2023 and if I had to guess it's gone up as owning them has gone up.

https://www.london-fire.gov.uk/safety/lithium-batteries/

As I mentioned on a recent thread, there's an issue on certain new-build estates where the gas box is incorrectly fitted and has too many holes drilled in because of idiots who don't know their job.

If the gas meter is incorrectly fitted, then congratulations you have a bomb on your hands quite literally.

Charging points are also partial to combusting - three houses near me have suffered fire damage because of them going 'whooooosh!'

Some more items:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c771k58memno

Firefighters tackle blaze at Northampton Retail Park

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwyng2jvx4vo

Body found in the Thames, after young girl goes missing.

 

[>IMPLYING]

They can try, but do they understand the technical aspects of this?

This is the main niggle I had where people's response to the Ofcom letter was the idea the government would go after VPNs next, when the government can't even ban websites properly. Even in the Ofcom legislation they proposed things that weren't even technologically possible yet; they overestimate technology, because they're either genuinely illiterate when it comes to tech, or they need something to blame for issues that are primarily on them or the people they need votes from — it's very possibly, if not certainly, both. Regardless, anything that is primarily online they can't truly tackle, it's something they can only pay lip service to.

Seems like a non-sequitur, but the "Ninja sword ban" loses its teeth when you realise you can still easily buy them and any other such blade online, because of the specificity (or lack thereof) relating to the law. It says it will "punish" retailers that don't report "suspicious" purchases to the police. Nevermind that this won't matter to non-UK retailers, and what constitutes "suspicious" is so broad that you can plausibly argue why a purchase didn't appear suspicious at the time because how could a rando buying a single item be suspicious? That's ignoring the fact you only become culpable if you make yourself known to have supplied the blade, or if the retailer matters at all in the end if a crime was committed with said blade.

For instance, katanas were already banned in 2008, but if they're "handmade" (how do you even prove that?) you can still buy one. The new "Ronan's law" makes it "double illegal" to own one effectively, but the actual delivery of said sword isn't in anyway impeded. Delivery drivers must now carry out age verification checks according to the law, but if you ever ordered an item needing the verification before, you don't even need to show ID, just give a D.O.B, which drivers (at least over 90% of the time in my experience) do on their own so they can spend less time delivering a single item. My only personal experience with this check being carried out was when I bought a pizza cutter two weeks ago from BnM and the trainee at the till needed a second person to carry out the date of birth check. Lunacy.

Again, when they put the onus entirely on X with nebulous enough requirements, especially online, it becomes more of a scare tactic than an actual measure.

(Notice "handmade" and "It's in our terms and conditions (which you agree to when you buy a product) that you're over 18 (ergo not suspicious)." And how they make the phone call to verify your age as possibly skipped using "if". Banning this site specifically would need it to be both known by the government and a whole other involved process involving court orders, a new law specifically banning such sites, etcetera.)

Another big example is how they got the data-encryption option taken off of Iphones, but it was in fact simply the removal of an option that could be enabled in the settings. The option itself has been removed, but if you already had it activated before its removal, it's still on by default (lmao?), and the encryption is still present on all user-to-user services. You lose access to iCloud (Eventually, no date given there) but you can still use every other service.


Expect the worst from the government, but don't expect the best.

 

[Made In Wales]

'You're making a pizza?'

Have you got a loicence?

I will disavow the Prince Andrew jokes for now.

 

[Otterly]

If I wfh or away from an office I have to use VPN. They can’t ban them without pissing off business completely. They’re more likely to get backdoors put in.

 

[They were once men]

I'm ready for the great bogistan-firewall

 

[Whoopsie Daisy]

Pair that with carelessly shoving a lithium battery in just about everything

We have a winner. Chink-made lithium batteries - lithium being extremely volatile, have no QA testing and are haphazardly thrown together by children in chink sweatshops, end up in scooters, E-bikes and every other childs' toy. They don't automatically disconnect when full of charge and often over-charge and go pop.

Ebikes and E scooters should be banned, at least if they're manufactured outside of UK, but we can't have that.

 

[K-Hole]

This is the main niggle I had where people's response to the Ofcom letter was the idea the government would go after VPNs next, when the government can't even ban websites properly. Even in the Ofcom legislation they proposed things that weren't even technologically possible yet; they overestimate technology, because they're either genuinely illiterate when it comes to tech, or they need something to blame for issues that are primarily on them or the people they need votes from — it's very possibly, if not certainly, both. Regardless, anything that is primarily online they can't truly tackle, it's something they can only pay lip service to.

With regard to the whole banning VPN thing, well, they can try!

Remember the age verification for porn sites? Like you had to actually register a credit card or something equally insane. Yeah, right. That'll work. And of course, it didn't. Millions spent, and their buddies in ""Tech Consultancy"" getting fat, again, like failed apps for Covid, but I digress.

I'm not sure how much in good faith the whole register for porn sites thing was - they may have just been fucking with us, because as anyone who has been paying attention knows: they fuck with us on a regular basis over many many things. The propaganda in this country is so sophisticated those damned Russians can only sit and wonder and be envious.

Anyone who is tech literate knew the whole porn thing wouldn't work, but they tried it anyway. I mean, they have kinda implemented it in France. But again, if you use a VPN if you are in France you just have to dial in from whatever country of your choosing may be and that's that one sorted. I mean, what would you do if you lived in France and you wanted to watch porn, would you -

A: Give these scummy porn companies your Credit/Debit card details.

or

B: Pay less than 5 Euros a month for a proper VPN, plus have the benefit of being able to pirate and torrent to your heart's content without your name going on a list.

Mmm... lemme think aboud zat waarn monsieur....

It may be that they dropped the whole Porn ID thing because they finally woke up and came to realise that most people would just employ a VPN, and along with that, certain other hazards might come, like people feeling emboldened to shit-post or god forbid say what they really think on temp throw away X accounts or wtf.

I think it was probably a mixture of both: it was unworkable on a tech level, plus it would drive your average coomer in to the arms of the wonderful world of VPNs, thus rendering it all pointless anyway. Whatever.

But when it comes to VPNs people make this argument all the time: they can't ban VPNs because companies use them for work. Yeah, uh, duh, yeah they do, but that doesn't stop this over-reaching, inverted totalitarian government from still giving it a shot. I mean, I wouldn't put it past them.

It might work a little something like this: You inform all known and registered ISPs (Internet Service Providers) such as BT or Sky or Vodafone, that any DOMESTIC USER of their services that is found to be using tunneling and encryption from their point of service (i.e. using a VPN or Proxy) so that their browsing habits can not be observed and recorded, will be given a STERN REMINDER, that it is against their TOS (Terms of Service) and that they are in fact, breaking the law (BREAKING THE LAW!) and if they don't fucking cut it out fucking toot suite then their internet and phone line will be CUT OFF, not to mention they will be fined and put on a list, comrade!

Businesses unaffected, DOMESTIC USERS BTFO!!!

Of course they can't ban VPNs. That would be like trying to ban the internetz or some such thing as stupid, as like, ooh, I don't know, say a war on DRUGS, or god forbid, TERROR!

So yeah if they are fuck dumb enough to try stuff like that, then they are fuck dumb enough to try to ban VPNs for domestic users via their ISPs.

And again, even if they didn't actually mean to go through with this in good faith, I wouldn't be surprised if they did it just to fuck with us all a bit and see how we reacted. Because they are watching us, you know? And it would be good information for that time when they really did get serious about banning VPNs.

So yes, they could and they probably will at some point try to ban VPNs. Just don't be surprised. If you're not a registered company in the UK and on file at companies house as being a current going concern, then your name's not darn and yer not cooming in. Yer not gonna be coomin' at all by that point, as they'll probably just ban wanking next, and anyone who resists having a camera/microphone in their bedroom/toilet will be seen as a subversive and put on that very long list. I mean, they are already coming in to people's houses and microchipping people's doors with UUID barcodes - all in the name of ""Fire Safety"" you understand.

They are rolling that out to people in Social Housing first as they can't really say no or else they will be made homeless. But when a new law is passed it will apply to ALL homeowners all the same.

There is nothing this government won't do if it thinks it will benefit them and scare the masses in to submission, and if they think they will get away with it easy enough.

My ISP has no idea about the shit I pirate or the torrents I download or (allah forgive me) the porn I watch on a weak moment. They do however know that the reason for this is because I'm using a VPN. Once a law is passed that THEY will be punished for that for allowing that from a domestic user, they will come down on me like a tonne of bricks.

So never say 'nevah', I guess.

 

[FedPostalService]

Ebikes and E scooters should be banned, at least if they're manufactured outside of UK, but we can't have that.

It's the battery and not the scooter or bike.

 

[Whoopsie Daisy]

It's the battery and not the scooter or bike.

Aye, it is and that's what I meant. Poorly explained bi mi sen tho so it's or8 m8.

On the VPN topic, they can't ban them, but they can render them useless by paying a few companies to 'accidently leak all messages, viewed pages and password/personal information' in a 'cyber attack orchestrated by schroedinger's enemy; the Russians', who are simultaneously thick as pig-shit and master strategist, military techno-geniuses.