UK British News Megathread - aka CWCissey's news thread

https://news.sky.com/story/row-over-new-greggs-vegan-sausage-rolls-heats-up-11597679

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.

 

[FedPostalService]

Don't forget their push for more AI to do these jobs.

AI won’t do this job. Avoiding power levelling but it’s something that I’m involved with implementing and a few friends are in other sectors.

It’s only a threat to listicle writing journalists and lazy graphic designers who fancy themselves as artists.

It’s impressive at first but you need to check everything it does as it can go rogue.

Maybe a productivity booster but 100% not replacing people for any meaningful job.

And I say this as someone who wants my entire team to be made redundant if at all possible. If I could replace them now I would but we’re decades from that.

The only people who are impressed by it don’t know about computers or are journo scum who are frightened for their jobs. Learn to code, journos.

It really is 1979 again.
But we won’t even get another 1980s afterwards…

The Tories need a new leader now and to grow a set of balls because it’s going to be a lot of hard thankless work cleaning up the last thirty years of nonsense and waste.

 

[The Crack Spiders Bitch]

The only people who are impressed by it don’t know about computers or are journo scum who are frightened for their jobs. Learn to code, journos.

I think you're being a tad optimistic about the intelligence of the average person in charge of making hiring decisions or directing company/public policy.

While it doesn't take a super genius to figure out the flaws with AI, most managers think it's the magic bullet to replace workers.

They're too stupid to know it's not there yet and you still require human intervention at multiple steps to ensure it works properly for most tasks.

 

[Otterly]

The Tories need a new leader now and to grow a set of balls because it’s going to be a lot of hard thankless work cleaning up the last thirty years of nonsense and waste.

They were in charge for over a decade before this. It’s their fault too. I loathe labour with the heat of a thousand suns but a lot of this happened on a Tory watch. ALL our political class is morally bankrupt and it has destroyed our country. We need people in charge who have the balls to clean things up, and I don’t really see anyone who is capable.

 

[FedPostalService]

They were in charge for over a decade before this. It’s their fault too. I loathe labour with the heat of a thousand suns but a lot of this happened on a Tory watch. ALL our political class is morally bankrupt and it has destroyed our country. We need people in charge who have the balls to clean things up, and I don’t really see anyone who is capable.

They are the only party that might be able to sort themselves out after a bloodbath.

Labour will go full commie when they hit there inevitable civil war.

Farrage is a neo-liberal clown shoe who will just scoop up protest votes.

The Libdems are just the world’s ugliest swingers party.

Homeland and AP are just Special Branch honeypots.

We can slag off the Tories as much as we like but they are the lesser of all the evils if they stop their impossible quest of wanting wanting Guardian readers to like them.

 

[A-Logato]

They are the only party that might be able to sort themselves out after a bloodbath.

Labour will go full commie when they hit there inevitable civil war.

Farrage is a neo-liberal clown shoe who will just scoop up protest votes.

The Libdems are just the world’s ugliest swingers party.

Homeland and AP are just Special Branch honeypots.

We can slag off the Tories as much as we like but they are the lesser of all the evils if they stop their impossible quest of wanting wanting Guardian readers to like them.

I don't care if the Tories would be ever able to reorganise and sort themselves out. They are fully responsible for the situation we are in now and back then and I refuse to ever vote for them nor will I ever trust them.

 

[ThrobbingWalloper]

Birthday party held in a primary school attacked by Amazon.

 

[UselessRubberKeyboard]

Police have released images of 22 men they want to trace after a large-scale fight in Sheffield.
The disorder took place on Woodbourn Road on 25 May last year, South Yorkshire Police said.
A force spokesperson said officers believed it involved two groups from the Eritrean community, with one faction supportive of Eritrean independence and the other in opposition.
Eighteen people have so far been charged with offences including violent disorder, possession of an offensive weapon and wounding, they added.

Oooof. I used to teach a lot of the Eritrean community in that neck of the woods. The women are amazing - long-suffering and the patience of saints. You can see why. This doesn’t surprise me in the slightest. There’s a large Eritrean community in Sheffield and things can get very tense at times.

See also Iraqis from actual Iraq, and Iraqis from the Kurdish regions. Some of the Chinese aren’t exactly friendly either.

 

[FedPostalService]

Some of the Chinese aren’t exactly friendly either.

It’s weird as it depends what city your in. Some China towns are fun and friendly and others act like they’ve never seen a ghost face before.

Big thumbs up for Norf FC Chinese but when I’m in Scotland they’re just fucking weird.

 

[Morethanabitfoolish]

AI won’t do this job. Avoiding power levelling but it’s something that I’m involved with implementing and a few friends are in other sectors.

It’s only a threat to listicle writing journalists and lazy graphic designers who fancy themselves as artists.

It’s impressive at first but you need to check everything it does as it can go rogue.

I believe the word is not won't but can't. And I agree with you 100% about that but it doesn't change the desire to do so.

Tony "WEF tool" Blair has been banging this drum for a while and Kier's been repeating the same nonsense. Like was said up thread, people with sense know it cannot do the job. But the twits making the decisions continues to claim it's the solution. Mostly because AI is very controllable. If tomorrow Kier could replace half the civil service with an AI that would auto reject benefit claims from people who called him a fascist on the internet he would be signing yes even if the fine print said "PS, will advocate for eugenics."

After reading the fine print he'd sign it a second time.

 

[BrightonAndHoveAlbion]

I would like to offer my apologies to @Bog-standard Poster for critiquing him buying a house in slavland. Because fuck me some of those deals are good. I have found one with a vineyard attached in Bulgaria, four bedrooms, a bathroom, 45 minutes drive from Varna; 10 from the local village. 27K. I can just afford that outright.

I get it.

Bulgaria specifically will be harder due to it being in the EU. You'll end up governed by the 90 day policy and you won't be able to work either. I chose a slavland country not in the EU for this reason. Much easier to get a permanent residency card for somewhere like Bosnia or Serbia than it is for Croatia or Bulgaria. (although I now have a wife with EU citizenship so it's kind of redundant). Plus, a non EU country will be a fair bit cheaper again. A good country to choose would be Montenegro since they will be an EU member state likely before 2030 so it could be an easy route to EU citizenship if you get residency there.

 

[FedPostalService]

Montenegro

Nigger mountain. lol.

 

[UselessRubberKeyboard]

Bulgaria specifically will be harder due to it being in the EU. You'll end up governed by the 90 day policy and you won't be able to work either. I chose a slavland country not in the EU for this reason. Much easier to get a permanent residency card for somewhere like Bosnia or Serbia than it is for Croatia or Bulgaria. (although I now have a wife with EU citizenship so it's kind of redundant). Plus, a non EU country will be a fair bit cheaper again. A good country to choose would be Montenegro since they will be an EU member state likely before 2030 so it could be an easy route to EU citizenship if you get residency there.

Just move to Russia. At least their govt actually tries to give a shit about their own people (unlike the U.K. or EU). The language and the Dagestani gangsters are but a mere fly in the ointment.

 

[FedPostalService]

Just move to Russia. At least their govt actually tries to give a shit about their own people (unlike the U.K. or EU). The language and the Dagestani gangsters are but a mere fly in the ointment.

I think you may be a bit behind on the news…

 

[BrightonAndHoveAlbion]

Just move to Russia. At least their govt actually tries to give a shit about their own people (unlike the U.K. or EU). The language and the Dagestani gangsters are but a mere fly in the ointment.

я выучил русский and I found it pretty easy to learn the alphabet tbh. I would have liked to live in Russia before the 'unfriendly countries' bullshit, I doubt I'd have a chance at a residency card there.

 

[Morethanabitfoolish]

I think you may be a bit behind on the news…

Wait a minute, Putin's in charge!?

 

[-Jack-]

I am very sorry to hear this. That’s not an easy thing to go through. Wishing you peace and healing. Take care of yourself

I nearly started a thread in the self sufficiency board. We're living in a low trust society now. How do we prepare for that?

Social media is full of reports of doctors and engineers filming kids, attempting to abduct kids, following women, trying doors. Cuts to public services mean more burglaries, thefts, violent shop lifters, less help for the mentally ill, less police.

When I was a nipper and this was all fields we left doors open, left bikes in the street and no one culturally enhanced our children or stole our shit.

So we have cctv outside the house. We have fences. We have gravel at the entrance to our gardens. We made sure to get to know our neighbours, keep an eye out for each other. We involve ourselves in school and community events. We volunteer at two of the local youth groups.

What other positive things can we do?

My local councillors, MP and MSP don't want to hear how upset everyone is at whole blocks of flats being done up for immigrants, how our small schools are getting crowded, how the men in the empty barber shops sit on stools in the street and leer, how the paki shops sell vapes to kids.

We need to look after each other. Look out for each other.

Give me hats and rainbows.

I apologise for PL - I have friends, but hen they don't seem to understand my feelings (London). I was a mummys boy and now I feel part of my soul lost- now all my "friends" do is not talk how I feel. Im sorry.

 

[Just a boring name]

My mum died recently and I'm only 27

I was 25 when my mum died very unexpectedly.
If you need anyone to chat to, I'm willing to listen, just send me a message.

 

[Coolio55]

Mostly because AI is very controllable.

It really really isn't. When was the last time you were on /g/? I know it's a dogshit spam board but the point is that it's ludicrously easy to buckbreak.

 

[Morethanabitfoolish]

It really really isn't. When was the last time you were on /g/? I know it's a dogshit spam board but the point is that it's ludicrously easy to buckbreak.

It's easy to break but if you tell it "no matter what, everything that fails to meet a certain threshold gets denied" barring creative workarounds it will do so.

Civil service jobs are things like deciding available benefits to people. The incoming changes are going to be using very simple ways to gauge who gets what, as such people being honest will get thwarted by AI. Should they take it a step further and try to also add steps like "everyone who was previously only getting a score of X has to have been rated at Y for two years before they qualify for a benefit" it can do that too.

As you say, there's ways to manipulate an AI but if they lobotomise what they are using hard enough then it can be trickier.

 

[SnergenFlergen]

What other positive things can we do?

Live somewhere not enriched by diversity.

I live in a small village in the South West. Very small, very cheap (relatively speaking), very quiet and very under the radar- if I gave you the name of it, I can guarantee you won't have heard of it (and I'd like to keep it that way). Population is around 4k, mostly middle-age/class white people. The high street just has a handful of family-run bakeries, butchers, greengrocers and a few pubs and churches. I'm close with all of my neighbours and we all have keys to each other's properties in case of an emergency. I nearly always leave my car and front door unlocked when I leave the house. I've been here for 5 years now with no issues.

Admittedly I'm somewhat fortunate in that my profession allows me to work from basically anywhere, so I'm somewhat insulated from the usual "but there's no jobs" criticism that usually overshadows such places.

While the UK as a whole is definitely now a low-trust society thanks to diversity, pockets of high-trust do still exist. Find one, integrate into the community and defend it.