The UK thread

[Hotarubi]

That building's still there. I wonder why the artist left the second floor off.

[Abdul Alhazred]

Went to the local Polish market today and saw a pro-Brexit acquaintance in there hoovering up...well, everything really.

Was I wrong to point and laugh?

Polish?

So now a local death of kielbasa and kapusta in your part of the UK?

[Hotarubi]

The local one has a VERY good delicatessen.

And of course, I'm a little partial to Ogórek kiszony.

[Hotarubi]

Some genius wrote "Away with you" in big letters in yellow chalk on the road near my house.

Wasn't me.

[Witness]

(Ab)using the UK thread with Irish news:

Private hospitals will be made public for duration of coronavirus pandemic

PRIVATE HOSPITALS WILL act as part of the public health system for the duration of the coronavirus pandemic, the government has announced.

Some 2,000 beds, nine laboratories and thousands of staff have been drafted into the public system, Leo Varadkar said at a press conference today.

Speaking at the same press conference, Health Minister Simon Harris said “there can be no room for public versus private” when responding to the Covid-19 crisis.

“We must of course have equality of treatment, patients with this virus will be treated for free, and they’ll be treated as part of a single, national hospital service.

“For the duration of this crisis the State will take control of all private hospital facilities and manage all of the resources for the common benefit of all of our people. There can be no room for public versus private when it comes to pandemic,” Harris said.

https://www.thejournal.ie/private-hospi ... 4-Mar2020/

[Witness]

Britain asks it citizens to help pick fruit and vegetables

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain on Wednesday called on its citizens to help pick fruit and vegetables to ensure a supply of food during the global coronavirus crisis - work that would usually be largely carried out by migrant seasonal workers.

Britain’s agricultural sector is heavily dependent on seasonal workers, but the coronavirus pandemic has disrupted the flow of migrants into the country.

“We need to mobilize the British workforce to fill that gap and make sure our excellent fruit and vegetables are on people’s plates over the summer months,” environment minister George Eustice said in a statement.

“There are already brilliant recruitment efforts underway by industry and I would encourage as many people as possible to sign up.”

The supply of seasonal workers was already under pressure following Britain’s departure from the European Union.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-heal ... SKBN21C32F

[Hotarubi]

https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/je ... 6.html?amp

Finally the Indypants contains an article I agree with.

[Witness]

A page from the UK Ministry of Defence’s annual report 2018-2019, outlining some of the UK’s military spending over the next decade. (Source: MOD)

[Anaxagoras]

And now Boris Johnson has the corona. Crazy times.

[Anaxagoras]

The North Manchester General Hospital Infectious Diseases ward team urges people to stay home, in Manchester, England, on March 20, 2020.

They're not social distancing!!

More photos of the week

[Hotarubi]

[Witness]

Link: https://twitter.com/EleanorMargolis/status/1243573788920492037

[Hotarubi]

Shes using an aerosol on public property. Not allowed. Counts as graffiti. Oddly, a stick of chalk would have been fine.

Yeah. I know its dumb. But Dixon in this Instance is not wrong. Neither is she really.

Oh wait, she is.

Why didnt you put the message on your shop window, miss? Rather than public property?

[Giz]

Shes using an aerosol on public property. Not allowed. Counts as graffiti. Oddly, a stick of chalk would have been fine.

Yeah. I know its dumb. But Dixon in this Instance is not wrong. Neither is she really.

Oh wait, she is.

Why didnt you put the message on your shop window, miss? Rather than public property?

It appears the police disagree with you:

58FE6697-7036-4E79-9EB6-D3E8A45EE753.jpeg

[Hotarubi]

Wrong. The police did not disagree with me. They applied common sense as I indicated they should. Not the same thing.

Do not be in such a hurry to score points against people you keep losing to.

[Witness]

Shes using an aerosol on public property. Not allowed. Counts as graffiti.

Perhaps there really is a law specifically against aerosol, I don't know, but spray chalk definitely exists.

Oddly, a stick of chalk would have been fine.

Not necessarily: Police warned girl, 10, 'chalk hopscotch grid on path was criminal damage'.
Police dumbth knows no limits.

Why didnt you put the message on your shop window, miss? Rather than public property?

It's not a message, but marks to keep people "socially distant". We have them now too, in the form of yellow plastic stripes glued to the pavement. Apparently our cops don't see this as a "damage".

Subsidiary question, what about road workers spraying marks on the ground to know where to dig in?

Oh, and the story has an epilogue:

"The actions shown in this video do not reflect the current policing style that the MPS seeks to adopt.

"The officer has been spoken to and all staff on the borough will be reminded about using discretion where appropriate in these exceptional times."

https://www.mylondon.news/news/north-lo ... y-17997904

Seems his hierarchy didn't agree with your conclusions either.

Edit: hadn't seen Giz's post.

[Hotarubi]

Seems his hierarchy didn't agree with your conclusions either

They completely agreed with my conclusions. They applied common sense.

My question remains, why was the warning not written on her shop window. Maybe she's not committed to public safety after all.

Subsidiary question, what about road workers spraying marks on the ground to know where to dig in?

Public utility/infrastructure repair authorised by the council.

Not the smartest question I've ever seen you ask.

It's not a message, but marks to keep people "socially distant". We have them now too, in the form of yellow plastic stripes glued to the pavement. Apparently our cops don't see this as a "damage".

Unfortunately there is a message in the video. She is NOT allowed to do that under "normal"circumstances. It is graffiti.



Yes. We have stripes too. Fact is an over zealous Plod followed the law without applying common sense. All is well.

Oh, and:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-22489595

Google-fu run out? Wondering why you didnt spot that.

[Anaxagoras]

In hindsight, this was probably not wise:

Boris Johnson on coronavirus - 'I shook hands with everybody'

'I was at a hospital where there were a few coronavirus patients and I shook hands with everybody' says Boris Johnson.

That was published March 3rd. On March 27th, he announced that he had been diagnosed with the coronavirus.

Was it a good idea for the Prime Minister to be out there shaking hands with anybody, much less known coronavirus patients?

Oh well, hopefully the PM and his family and staff will be OK. Maybe it was inevitable anyway.

[Abdul Alhazred]

Object lesson, and at least he's owning it.

[Witness]

Coronavirus lockdown: police turn the Blue Lagoon... black



The enforcement of social distancing sank to new depths when Derbyshire police arrived at a beauty spot known as the Blue Lagoon and poured in dye to turn it black.

Alerted by reports that visitors were gathering in bright sunshine at the quarry pool in Buxton, police decided it should become the murky, dye-streaked black lagoon for the lockdown’s duration. “This type of gathering is in contravention of the current instruction of the UK government,” a police statement warned. “We used water dye to make the water look less appealing.”

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/coro ... -xqx626zqc