What’s pissed you off today?

[Samoan]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-50883161

Tesco has suspended production at a factory in China following allegations forced prison labour was used to pack charity Christmas cards.

It comes after the Sunday Times reported a six-year-old girl from south London found a message from Shanghai prisoners hidden in a box of cards.

"Please help us and notify human rights organisation," the message said.

According to the Sunday Times, Florence Widdicombe opened a £1.50 box of Tesco cards to find that one of them - featuring a kitten with a Santa hat - had already been written in.

In block capitals, it said: "We are foreign prisoners in Shanghai Qingpu prison China. Forced to work against our will. Please help us and notify human rights organisation."



"I'm pretty sure this was written as a collective message. Obviously one single hand produced this capital letters' handwriting and I think I know who it was, but I will never disclose that name."

He said the cell block of foreign prisoners has about 250 people in it, who are living a "very bleak daily life" with 12 prisoners per cell.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/23/inside-chinese-qingpu-prison-forced-labour-claims-tesco-christmas-card
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[Minnie the Minx]

I rarely cycle in traffic precisely because it is dangerous. Anecdotes like this certainly gave me ‘pause’. Don’t want to die.

Well, I don't want to go out like that either, and I'm lucky in a way because in Texas the roads are pretty wide and because everyone is obsessed with getting from A to B in a car (mainly because it's too hot to walk) the pavements are always empty. This is useful if I think the road looks hairy, and I can go onto the pavement for a bit -which I couldn't do in many other cities without getting punched.

I think I'm a hyper vigilant cyclist and take every step possible to keep myself safe. But, as you know as you also cycle, unlike being a car driver, almost everything can be dangerous to a cyclist. I used to do a 18 mile round trip cycle every day to work sometimes starting at 5am in the pouring rain and dark in narrow Lancashire streets and I feared for my life less there than pootling round places in sunlight with people opening car doors in front of me, dogs running out. My two big accidents happened from a car door being opened and avoiding a broken beer bottle. Cycling has danger written into it but I have never thought about not doing it, because it's really great fun, good for my health and for the planet. I can't accept that the way to look at these situations is to think "I'll think carefully about this/be careful" - which is what I understand "give pause" to mean - as I already am careful.

I also think that in this specific instance, nobody knows for certain what happened and we could just as easily be saying that bus drivers who don't give a wide enough berth or try and pass unnecessarily should have pause.

I didn't want to be disrespectful to Steve's acquaintance by going on about this anyway, so hopefully I won't tempted to come back and continue to pick at this issue. RIP doc.

[Fonz]

I don’t think it’s disrespectful to talk about it. No one’s judging; it’s just a tragic accident.

[Samoan]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-50883161

Tesco has suspended production at a factory in China following allegations forced prison labour was used to pack charity Christmas cards.

It comes after the Sunday Times reported a six-year-old girl from south London found a message from Shanghai prisoners hidden in a box of cards.

"Please help us and notify human rights organisation," the message said.

According to the Sunday Times, Florence Widdicombe opened a £1.50 box of Tesco cards to find that one of them - featuring a kitten with a Santa hat - had already been written in.

In block capitals, it said: "We are foreign prisoners in Shanghai Qingpu prison China. Forced to work against our will. Please help us and notify human rights organisation."



"I'm pretty sure this was written as a collective message. Obviously one single hand produced this capital letters' handwriting and I think I know who it was, but I will never disclose that name."

He said the cell block of foreign prisoners has about 250 people in it, who are living a "very bleak daily life" with 12 prisoners per cell.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/23/inside-chinese-qingpu-prison-forced-labour-claims-tesco-christmas-card

[Flower]

I can't find vanillekipferl cookies anywhere!

*They are Austrian crescent shaped Austrian shortbread cookies.

[Flower]

I went to two supermarkets looking for multigrain rye bread and both were out. Nothing major but a bit annoying.

[Flower]

Nothing so far this year but the day/year is young ...

[Flower]

Trump! But that is every day ...

[Flower]

Laughing much more than anything pissing me off ....

[Flower]

The New Orleans Saints losing yesterday .. and snow this morning.

[harvey k-tel]

A tomato

[Six String]

My annoying dry cough that kept me up all night as I was coughing every thirty seconds. I'm grateful that I don't have anything else and I don't feel bad but this cough won't stop and it's starting to piss me off.

[Geezee]

I rarely cycle in traffic precisely because it is dangerous. Anecdotes like this certainly gave me ‘pause’. Don’t want to die.

Well, I don't want to go out like that either, and I'm lucky in a way because in Texas the roads are pretty wide and because everyone is obsessed with getting from A to B in a car (mainly because it's too hot to walk) the pavements are always empty. This is useful if I think the road looks hairy, and I can go onto the pavement for a bit -which I couldn't do in many other cities without getting punched.

I think I'm a hyper vigilant cyclist and take every step possible to keep myself safe.

was it you who I had a discussion with about cycling and helmets years back? (I'm curious - this discussion just made me think of it)

[Jimbo]

I rarely cycle in traffic precisely because it is dangerous. Anecdotes like this certainly gave me ‘pause’. Don’t want to die.

Well, I don't want to go out like that either, and I'm lucky in a way because in Texas the roads are pretty wide and because everyone is obsessed with getting from A to B in a car (mainly because it's too hot to walk) the pavements are always empty. This is useful if I think the road looks hairy, and I can go onto the pavement for a bit -which I couldn't do in many other cities without getting punched.

I think I'm a hyper vigilant cyclist and take every step possible to keep myself safe.

was it you who I had a discussion with about cycling and helmets years back? (I'm curious - this discussion just made me think of it)

Probably me. I'm the guy with no helmet, earphones and riding a girls bike. Also the guy who, after a fall, was hospitalized for four months after smashing my pelvis to bits. Now my left leg don't pedal so good anymore.

[Flower]

Some a-hole going through our recycling bin.

[Jimbo]

My weight's been about 81 to 81.5 my goal being 80 but when I weighed myself today it was 82.5. All through the holiday season my weight's been holding steady but somehow in one post-holiday day I gained a kilo. This pisses me off.

[Jimbly]

My local branch of HMV is closing again. Third time. Think its finally finished, negotiating over rents and couldn't come to an agreement. I'm sure another empty store in the shopping centre will look fantastic.

[Flower]

I was 90 percent finished, typing out a long post and then my finger touched the "wrong" key and it was wiped out ...

[Flower]

The Weather forecast.

[Jimbo]

My weight's been about 81 to 81.5 my goal being 80 but when I weighed myself today it was 82.5. All through the holiday season my weight's been holding steady but somehow in one post-holiday day I gained a kilo. This pisses me off.

Somehow having got my weight down to 80.9 my wife comes into the kitchen and pokes my tummy.