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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
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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.
 
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Intelligence agency GCHQ has cracked secret codes hidden by the man behind cult comedy character Frank Sidebottom.

Chris Sievey drew cryptic symbols in artwork around the borders of some of Frank's fan newsletters, football programmes and record and tape sleeves.

Sievey died in 2010 and the codes remained secret until the director of a new documentary took them to GCHQ.

A crack team of codebreakers revealed that the messages said things like: "Why does my nose hurt after concerts?"

That's a reference to the nose peg Sievey wore under Sidebottom's giant head to give the character his trademark nasal voice.

Frank Sidebottom's Radio Timperley cassette inlay
Image copyrightCHRIS SIEVEY
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Frank Sidebottom code
Image copyrightCHRIS SIEVEYImage captionThe border around this panel from a cassette inlay translates as: "Why does my nose hurt after concerts?"
Sievey, from Manchester, told friends and family he was hiding important messages in code.

Director Steve Sullivan, whose film Being Frank tells the story of Sievey and Sidebottom, took the rows of symbols to several codebreakers, but none could help.

Sullivan told BBC News: "My own attempts to crack it proved absolutely futile. I spent a while just looking at them going, 'What could he be saying, what could this mean?'

"But it was impossible to crack them, and it was entirely plausible that there wasn't a code there and that he was just winding people up."

Frank Sidebottom code
Image copyrightCHRIS SIEVEYImage captionThe border of Sidebottom's newsletter Com 13 translates as: "The Man From Fish EP is top secret"
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In an attempt to solve the mystery, Sullivan eventually turned to GCHQ.

The country's top codebreakers too seemed flummoxed until Sievey's son Stirling recalled how his dad would get the children to fill an outer row with random symbols, while Sievey would insert real code into the inner row.

"It meant the outer row triangles is a complete red herring," Sullivan said. "Not only did he put a mystery out there, he made it deliberately impossible to crack.

"By letting his kids add nonsense into the message, it deliberately obscures the chances of anybody - even top mathematicians - being able to crack it. So I reported back to GCHQ that the outer ring is a red herring and then had an email one day saying, 'Right, we've cracked it during a light-hearted training exercise.'

"I'm embarrassed to say, on the very next day Chris's very own code grid was found in the back of his address book. It was almost like Chris Sievey was going, 'There you go, now we've all had our fun, there's the explanation.'"

Chris Sievey
Image copyrightGETTY IMAGESImage captionChris Sievey: The man behind the mask
GCHQ told Sullivan that Sidebottom "had a small but dedicated following" among its staff. Noticing some repeated pairs of symbols - which represented letters - the first word cracked by GCHQ boffins was Sidebottom's favourite word, "bobbins".

The full messages didn't turn out to be crucial to national security. They were "a combination of slightly autobiographical statements and silly statements about Frank's world", Sullivan said.

As well as "Why does my nose hurt after concerts?", another typical code translated as: "The Man From Fish EP is top secret."

Sullivan said he has "absolutely no idea" what that means.

Sievey never told his fans about the existence of the codes, despite the fact that the symbols were inserted into newsletters, music sleeves and football programmes for Timperley Big Shorts, his Sunday league team.

"It was just an exercise in wilful absurdity, which is why he was doing it," Sullivan said. "But then all of his work was an exercise in wilful obscurity and absurdity. I think he loved the idea that he was putting communication out but people didn't even know he was communicating."

GCHQ
Image copyrightGCHQImage captionGCHQ is home to the UK's top codebreakers and other intelligence personnel
GCHQ had "a great sense of humour about the whole investigation", the director added.

A GCHQ spokesperson said: "As the national authority for cryptanalysis, we're sometimes sent codes which the team will test themselves with in their spare time.

"They provide us with a great challenge and help build the skills we need to keep the country safe.

"With its colourful drawings and striking patterns, this code caught our eye and it was satisfying to be able to break it."

All of Sidebottom's codes will be available for fans to work out for themselves when Being Frank is released on DVD on 29 April

So now we know what GCHQ are doing when they're not sending recipes for cupcakes to terrorists.
 
What kind of name is “Sidebottom”? It’s like side boob, but instead it’s an ass. I bet he got bullied a lot growing up because of his last name.
Not shitting you, one town over a guy with the last name "Sidebottom" is running for mayor. This is fucking weird, I was just laughing about this the other day.
 
So are they just not going to tell us what it all translates to, or ... ?
 
"I'm embarrassed to say, on the very next day Chris's very own code grid was found in the back of his address book. It was almost like Chris Sievey was going, 'There you go, now we've all had our fun, there's the explanation.'"

This reminds me of the typical Hollywood scene where the high tech thief is playing with the lock and the experienced thief takes the key from under the doormat.

Just to clarify, after years they suddenly found the diary, just after they also suddenly remembered that they used to fill in outer squares as kids, therefore massively reducing the variables after GCHQ was unable to crack it?

If they say so..
 
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/20...n-activists-threaten-bring-london-standstill/

Radical environmental protesters are preparing for arrests today as they attempt bring central London to a standstill by mounting 24-hour protests in the middle of key roads.
The Extinction Rebellion (XR) group are targeting Marble Arch, Oxford Circus, Waterloo Bridge, and Parliament Square with plans to block the routes “for as long as it takes,” making it inevitable that they will be arrested for obstruction.
Members of the group, which disrupted the Commons with a nude protest on April 1, will also be gluing or locking themselves to street furniture to delay police by forcing them to use chemicals to free them.
Waterloo Bridge was blocked in both directions shortly after 10am today as dozens of protesters gathered on the river crossing. The Extinction Rebellion Twitter account tweeted: "We have taken Waterloo bridge!"
XR, whose prime goal is to reduce carbon emissions to zero by 2025, claims between 3,000 and 6,000 supporters could take part in the protests. Last November, they blocked bridges across London to bring chaos to the capital.
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Sophie Cowen, an Oxford French graduate who joined the group in November and now acts as media co-ordinator, pledged non-violent civil disobedience: “It’s 100 per cent about obstructing traffic and making sure we bring it to a standstill. People are willing to be arrested.”
The Metropolitan Police said officers would be used from across the service to provide a “proportionate” response to the protests, which balanced the right to a peaceful protest while ensuring disruption to communities was kept to a minimum.
A spokesman urged travellers to allow extra journey time as road closures and disruptions to the travel network were expected.
It comes as part of attempts to force the Government to declare a climate emergency. Earlier this month, several activists stripped semi-naked in the House of Commons during a Brexit debate.
Activists stripped off in Parliament earlier this month in a previous protest

Activists stripped off in Parliament earlier this month in a previous protest CREDIT: JAMES HEAPPEY/PA
The movement has received support from actress and activist Dame Emma Thompson and former archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams.
Speaking at a meditation on the eve of the protests Dr Williams said humans had declared war on nature.
He said: "We are here tonight to declare that we do not wish to be at war. We wish to make peace with ourselves by making peace with our neighbour Earth and with our God."
Thompson has previously said of the demonstrations: "It is time to stand up and save our home."
Organisers said: "The International Rebellion begins and Extinction Rebellion will be bringing London to a standstill for up to two weeks.
"They will be blocking five of the city's busiest and most iconic locations in a non-violent, peaceful act of rebellion where they invite people to join them for several days of creative, artist-led resistance."
Demonstrators arrived at London's Hyde Park on Sunday, some having journeyed to the city on foot in recent weeks from various parts of the UK for what is described as an "International Rebellion".

I sincerely hope these hippies get ganked.
 
Thought the title said "extinction threatens to shut down london" and started getting my hopes up :(

Seriously, I love the physical city but I do kinda wish it could be walled off and a few vials of the rage virus dumped in the water supply so that by the end of the year I could visit the imperial war museum in peace
 
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Well when you've got people talking like the planet is literally going to erupt in flames NEXT WEEK if we don't return to the days of beating rocks together for entertainment, you'll have shit like this.

To think, these people ruined the perfectly lovely combination of "extinction" and "hippies". I'm with @Judge Holden on this one.
 
BigFatWitch said:
It didn't serve your individual purposes today. It was annoying. That doesn't mean it had no purpose. Non-men and everyone else understand that protest gave us our rights. And protest is all we have to get the attention of people who dgaf that we're all about to die.

Welp. Good to have it confirmed that only men work in London.
 
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