Minor News items - Not worth a thread of their own

[Piero]

There didn't used to be rules for paying in cash, but with the creeping agenda against cash, different countries now have different rules for paying for goods in cash, and taking cash between countries...

 

https://www.europe-consommateurs.eu/en/shopping-internet/cash-payment-limitations.html

 

[cemeterycrow]

Shopkeeper is stunned when police tell him to change sign calling shoplifters 'scumbags' because it may be offensive

 

Quote

 

His handmade note reads: 'Due to scumbags shoplifting, please ask for assistance to open cabinets.' 

But to his surprise, after months of frustration with the police, officers turned up to the shop - though only to tell him to remove the sign. 

 

 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14982569/Shopkeeper-police-change-sign-shoplifters-scumbags-offensive.html

 

Quote

 

He was told a member of the public had reported it to the force as it could be seen as 'provocative and offensive'.  

Mr Davies said: 'I just wonder if that person was a shoplifter who was offended as it was detrimental to their work?' 

 

 

Frustrated independent retailers have to invest in locked cabinets and are told not to offend criminals while the large corporations just let them get away with it and charge you for the losses they incur by increasing the prices

[Mazthehobo]

An interview with an AI clone of a young man who was killed in a mass shooting…

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/cly628xx6e9o

[Grumpy Owl]

On 8/9/2025 at 7:44 PM, cemeterycrow said:

Shopkeeper is stunned when police tell him to change sign calling shoplifters 'scumbags' because it may be offensive

 

 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14982569/Shopkeeper-police-change-sign-shoplifters-scumbags-offensive.html

 

 

Frustrated independent retailers have to invest in locked cabinets and are told not to offend criminals while the large corporations just let them get away with it and charge you for the losses they incur by increasing the prices

 

Fake Daily Mail click-bait headline. According to North Wales Police, in the BBC report, the shopkeeper has not been asked to remove the signs.

 

Quote

But despite what he described as a "positive reaction" and "huge amount of support" from locals, he says a police officer visited having been prompted by a member of the public claiming that the sign was "provocative and offensive".

North Wales Police, however, said it did not appear Mr Davies had committed any offence.

"It would be up to the shop owner to decide whether he displayed such a sign in his store," the force said.

from: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c7077dn8xryo

 

In my opinion, whoever it was that saw this sign and felt so offended by it that they had to report it to the police, needs to take a cold hard look at society around them, and then look themselves in the mirror and ask "why am I wasting police time with this?"

[cemeterycrow]

Butter made from carbon tastes like the real thing, gets backing from Bill Gates

 

Quote

 

A company in Batavia, Illinois is making butter in a way you've never seen before. No animals, no plants, no oils; this butter is made from carbon.

The sustainability-focused approach has the blessing and backing of Bill Gates.

 

 

https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/butter-carbon-bill-gates-batavia-illinois/

 

Quote

To put it in simple terms, Savor says they take carbon dioxide from the air and hydrogen from water, heat them up, oxidize them and get a final result that looks like candle wax but is in fact fat molecules like those in beef, cheese or vegetable oils. 

 

[cemeterycrow]

8 hours ago, Grumpy Owl said:

 

Fake Daily Mail click-bait headline. According to North Wales Police, in the BBC report, the shopkeeper has not been asked to remove the signs.

 

from: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c7077dn8xryo

 

In my opinion, whoever it was that saw this sign and felt so offended by it that they had to report it to the police, needs to take a cold hard look at society around them, and then look themselves in the mirror and ask "why am I wasting police time with this?"

No you are wrong.

 

An officer visited him after the complaint and suggested he re-word the sign as it could be seen as being offensive and a possible offence which the shopkeeper interpreted as being asked to remove it which is obviously what he was saying.

 

The BBC contacted the police force and gave the statement you are referring to afterwards after the press picked up on the story.

The police are doing this a lot its called a non crime hate incident.

Surprised you believe the BBC 

[Mr Crabtree]

12 hours ago, Grumpy Owl said:

 

Fake Daily Mail click-bait headline. According to North Wales Police, in the BBC report, the shopkeeper has not been asked to remove the signs.

 

from: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c7077dn8xryo

 

In my opinion, whoever it was that saw this sign and felt so offended by it that they had to report it to the police, needs to take a cold hard look at society around them, and then look themselves in the mirror and ask "why am I wasting police time with this?"

Well, I for one am deeply offended by the shopkeeper's sign, 'SCUMBAGS'? they are not, they are actually thieving, robbing scrotes who take the piss big style knowing full well that poorer, more honest, families with kids to feed have to resort to 'Food Banks' to survive because  these thieving lowlifes are the main reason food prices are at an all time high! The next big reason is that greedy companies would rather up the prices and pass that cost to the consumers than deal with the root cause I.E.= 'ROBBIN' SCROTES UNITED'!

Street beggars are rife in Brighton and they are prolific shoplifters, some have even turned to technology to help themselves get even more money,

If people are genuinely desperate, then maybe shoplifting is a necessity, but we still end up paying through the nose on way or another!

[Mazthehobo]

9 hours ago, Mr Crabtree said:

Well, I for one am deeply offended by the shopkeeper's sign, 'SCUMBAGS'? they are not, they are actually thieving, robbing scrotes who take the piss big style knowing full well that poorer, more honest, families with kids to feed have to resort to 'Food Banks' to survive because  these thieving lowlifes are the main reason food prices are at an all time high! The next big reason is that greedy companies would rather up the prices and pass that cost to the consumers than deal with the root cause I.E.= 'ROBBIN' SCROTES UNITED'!

Street beggars are rife in Brighton and they are prolific shoplifters, some have even turned to technology to help themselves get even more money,

If people are genuinely desperate, then maybe shoplifting is a necessity, but we still end up paying through the nose on way or another!

Im always amazed at how few green grocers are visited by shoplifters. Even in our local lidl and Tesco I never hear of a starving shoplifter stealing fruit and veg. 

Where I live most shoplifters are drug addicted scumbags who, when they are not stealing things from shops to sell on, target vulnerable people walking the street.

 

All they need to do is get together and invest in a dingy and head to the nearest beach and claim to be from Uzbekistan. 
 

FREE accommodation, FREE meals, the pick of the local young women and no questions asked!

 

 

[webtrekker]

9 hours ago, Mr Crabtree said:

Well, I for one am deeply offended by the shopkeeper's sign, 'SCUMBAGS'? they are not, they are actually thieving, robbing scrotes who take the piss big style knowing full well that poorer, more honest, families with kids to feed have to resort to 'Food Banks' to survive because  these thieving lowlifes are the main reason food prices are at an all time high! The next big reason is that greedy companies would rather up the prices and pass that cost to the consumers than deal with the root cause I.E.= 'ROBBIN' SCROTES UNITED'!

Street beggars are rife in Brighton and they are prolific shoplifters, some have even turned to technology to help themselves get even more money,

If people are genuinely desperate, then maybe shoplifting is a necessity, but we still end up paying through the nose on way or another!

 

 

[Mitochondrial Eve]

The Financial Times has published an analysis of American changes in personality over a ten year period from 2014 to 2024 including "a troubling decline in conscientiousness". Extroversion and trust have also plummeted whilst neuroticism has risen steeply.

 

The changes, linked to smartphone addiction, digital media and streaming services whilst coupled with less face to face interaction, are particularly marked in individuals under 40 years of age - especially Generation Z.

 

https://www.mediaite.com/opinion/alarming-new-study-finds-smartphones-ruining-our-brains-at-unprecedented-speed/

Alarming New Study Finds Smartphones Ruining Our Brains at Unprecedented Speed

 

On a personal level, I have certainly noticed changes in the people around me which has picked up pace over the last 5 years. In my current workplace, for example, communication is dominated by email and messaging apps such as Teams or Whatsapp rather than colleagues showing much inclination to catch up in person or pick up the phone. Relatively new to this place of work, it has come as a bit of a culture shock as team work (agreeableness) is lacking - never have I known such reluctance among colleagues to be helpful and nor have I witnessed such a lack of care especially to important details. Reading and understanding, critical thinking, problem solving ability, initiative and common sense are other traits which I am sure have suffered to the point that it's like spoon-feeding a dumbed down collective. I wonder if this is the norm now (which this analysis may point towards) or if it is just this particular workplace... My previous job was more of a boiling frog situation so perhaps the transition, whilst there, seemed less stark.

[Anti Facts Sir]

1 hour ago, Mazthehobo said:

Im always amazed at how few green grocers are visited by shoplifters. Even in our local lidl and Tesco I never hear of a starving shoplifter stealing fruit and veg. 

Where I live most shoplifters are drug addicted scumbags who, when they are not stealing things from shops to sell on, target vulnerable people walking the street.

Tories' crime commissioner reckons the public don't do enough to deter acts of shoplifting if they see it happen.

 

Yeah, right mate...like ANYONE in 2025 is going to risk being stabbed, shot or otherwise wounded and injured for the sake of a store's profits?

[Mazthehobo]

10 minutes ago, Anti Facts Sir said:

Tories' crime commissioner reckons the public don't do enough to deter acts of shoplifting if they see it happen.

 

Yeah, right mate...like ANYONE in 2025 is going to risk being stabbed, shot or otherwise wounded and injured for the sake of a store's profits?

Exactly…

The crime commissioner should be asking why all the police force are arrested people for holding a sign when street crimes go unnoticed.

 

I think if someone broke into my house now I’d call the police and explain that an intruder wearing a “Palestine Action” hoody has entered my property. 

[Chris P]

On 7/31/2025 at 8:19 PM, LoopOfHelicopterSounds said:

Anyone being forced to sign into YouTube in order to use it? 

 

Hi, this my first post in a while - ironically I couldn't log onto here due to issues with my VPN. 

 

I personally refuse to accept Google's "cookies", so the YouTube website doesn't work for me - normally get stuck in an endless loop of "recapcha" challenges. 

 

However if you've been asked specifically to sign in to YouTube, this is normally because a video has been flagged containing "adult" or "controversial" content. 

 

If you're using an Android phone there is an app called Seal - not available on the Play Store, but is on GitHub & F-Droid, the code is open source. 

 

Once Seal is installed there is no need to visit YouTube itself - you simply use your favourite search engine to source the video your looking for, then use the "share" button, or copy+paste the video link into Seal. You'll be prompted to select what resolution + format you want (or choose to download as an audio file) and Seal then converts + downloads it for you.

 

The best thing is once downloaded, it's safe on your device - ie to re-upload to more reliable hosting sites such as Rumble and BitChute (foreign VPN now needed ). 

 

Seal even works with those videos flagged as "adult" content - without your browser even needing to be logged into Google. I'm no tech whizz myself so not sure how anonymous this method is - but it's gotta be better than officially doxxing yourself by signing into Google. Seal app also keeps a log of your downloaded content along with the full URL of where it was downloaded from.

 

There is a bit of a learning curve but I've found it very useful. Works on many other video sharing sites, news sites etc also. 

 

Hope this helps

[1velocity7]

 

[RobinJ]

11 hours ago, Chris P said:

 

Hi, this my first post in a while - ironically I couldn't log onto here due to issues with my VPN. 

 

I personally refuse to accept Google's "cookies", so the YouTube website doesn't work for me - normally get stuck in an endless loop of "recapcha" challenges. 

 

However if you've been asked specifically to sign in to YouTube, this is normally because a video has been flagged containing "adult" or "controversial" content. 

 

If you're using an Android phone there is an app called Seal - not available on the Play Store, but is on GitHub & F-Droid, the code is open source. 

 

Once Seal is installed there is no need to visit YouTube itself - you simply use your favourite search engine to source the video your looking for, then use the "share" button, or copy+paste the video link into Seal. You'll be prompted to select what resolution + format you want (or choose to download as an audio file) and Seal then converts + downloads it for you.

 

The best thing is once downloaded, it's safe on your device - ie to re-upload to more reliable hosting sites such as Rumble and BitChute (foreign VPN now needed ). 

 

Seal even works with those videos flagged as "adult" content - without your browser even needing to be logged into Google. I'm no tech whizz myself so not sure how anonymous this method is - but it's gotta be better than officially doxxing yourself by signing into Google. Seal app also keeps a log of your downloaded content along with the full URL of where it was downloaded from.

 

There is a bit of a learning curve but I've found it very useful. Works on many other video sharing sites, news sites etc also. 

 

Hope this helps

I use YT all the time without the need to log in. Just turn off the auto login on Google or YT. While in settings go and turn off all the tracking and delete your visit history. And finally, use a browser like Brave, not the YT app to visit, then you have more control over adverts, except for those that creators use that they are embedded in speech such as sponsorship deals.

[1velocity7]

 

[Grumpy Owl]

5 hours ago, RobinJ said:

I use YT all the time without the need to log in. Just turn off the auto login on Google or YT. While in settings go and turn off all the tracking and delete your visit history. And finally, use a browser like Brave, not the YT app to visit, then you have more control over adverts, except for those that creators use that they are embedded in speech such as sponsorship deals.

 

This is the main reason why so many websites have an 'app' which they try to get users to use. 

 

It's all about 'advert delivery' and tracking. Not about 'convenience for users'.

 

If you use a website in your browser, depending on which browser you use and any extensions/plug-ins you have installed, you can be protected from tracking cookies and/or intrusive advertising.

 

Most 'apps' are just self-contained stripped-down browser containers, acting as an alternative front-end to a website. Through which, you can be tracked all you like, and have all manner of adverts thrown in your face, you don't have any option to block them. 

[northern star]

 

 

Its not up to Hillary Clinton to tell Russia what to do with its own territory, which is being infringed by NATO and aggressive forces.

How would she feel if there were Russian bases on the US border, taking over US territory?

But this is progress, so called left and right moving towards a deal.

 

There could also be a deal, that if all the child trafficking, abuse, porn and exploitation is brought to an end,  there could be some sort of an amnesty.

All of this is unlikely ofcourse - but a redemption is possibly the answer to this whole crisis.

 

Epstein could be purged on a fire of regret, humility and reformation, where the world could move forward, never to repeat this destructive cycle against the earth's children.

 

Those who do not repent and carry on with these activities will keep the wheels of their criminality and likewise the public's desire for justice thundering on...we wont give up!!

 

The ball is in the court of the criminal elite.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 16 by northern star

[RobinJ]

On 8/14/2025 at 1:24 PM, Grumpy Owl said:

 

This is the main reason why so many websites have an 'app' which they try to get users to use. 

 

It's all about 'advert delivery' and tracking. Not about 'convenience for users'.

 

If you use a website in your browser, depending on which browser you use and any extensions/plug-ins you have installed, you can be protected from tracking cookies and/or intrusive advertising.

 

Most 'apps' are just self-contained stripped-down browser containers, acting as an alternative front-end to a website. Through which, you can be tracked all you like, and have all manner of adverts thrown in your face, you don't have any option to block them. 

Yup. Good rule if thumb, never use the app, just use a browser. 

[Mazthehobo]

On 8/14/2025 at 6:47 AM, 1velocity7 said:

 

You could argue you were honking the horn to warn the jogger of imminent danger?

The danger being that there could be drivers about who want to cause harassment by honking their horn?

 

 

[Mr H]

WTF is this?

 

 

[Fruithunter]

Taoiseach: ‘Ireland faces cocaine epidemic’

https://www.christian.org.uk/news/taoiseach-ireland-faces-cocaine-epidemic/

[Fruithunter]

https://news.sky.com/story/ronnie-rondell-jr-veteran-hollywood-stuntman-set-on-fire-for-pink-floyd-album-cover-dies-13413539

 

Edited August 18 by Fruithunter

[Mr H]

 

 

 

[Grumpy Owl]

21 hours ago, Mr H said:

WTF is this?

 

 

It's reminiscent of what Aldous Huxley wrote about in "Brave New World", only he described how babies were 'grown in bottles'.