Today's Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

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#3259206 13-Jul-2024 18:43

freitasm:

gzt:

kingdragonfly: Good news for New Zealand

New Zealand imports numerous food items from China. New Zealand also imports numerous food items from other countries that may or may not use China sourced vegetable oil. In practice China cooking oil exports are a tiny percentage of the world market and China is probably a net importer of cooking oils.

It's not a country I consider safe to provide food for my family.

I look at every item I buy at the supermarkets. If there's a non-Chinese-origin alternative, I will get it.

Many of those "Indian" starters from the frozen section are made in China. Garlic comes in two flavours: China or New Zealand. and so on.

This thing about the oil and water being transported in a septic tank truck are just examples.

Could it happen in New Zealand or Australia? Sure, but I trust the regulations around food safety are more strict.

It's part of a wider trade-off where PRC-made goods are a bargain-hunter's dream in the midst of a cost-of-living spike, but those goods are cheap to a fault. And that's not yet discussing the Beijing-Washington tensions.

"I regret to say that we of the F.B.I. are powerless to act in cases of oral-genital intimacy, unless it has in some way obstructed interstate commerce." — J. Edgar Hoover

"Create a society that values material things above all else. Strip it of industry. Raise taxes for the poor and reduce them for the rich and for corporations. Prop up failed financial institutions with public money. Ask for more tax, while vastly reducing public services. Put adverts everywhere, regardless of people's ability to afford the things they advertise. Allow the cost of food and housing to eclipse people's ability to pay for them. Light blue touch paper." — Andrew Maxwell

gzt

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#3259208 13-Jul-2024 18:59

On the plus side China's domestic consumers want safe products as much as anyone else. The publication of this allegation in state media indicates there is something in progress to achieve that in the edible oils sector.

ezbee

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#3259210 13-Jul-2024 19:10

From the good enough for Stralia file:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-07-13/cooking-oil-contaminated-china-scandal/104089686

""
Australia has been importing cooking oils from one of the companies implicated in a food safety scandal in China, the Department of Agriculture has confirmed.
""

I think authorities were left with no choice as story exploded in social media before the great filter could be changed quickly enough to catch it.
Much like Helen Clark gave China/Fonterra no choice when she decided you can't hold back information on the tainted milk.
Up till then silence was golden.

neb

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#3259213 13-Jul-2024 20:08

This also applies in country-specific ways. For example for olive oil, which I've mentioned in the past, everyone wants Italian olive oil, however Italy self-consumes most of its own production and also has the mafia so what you get is anything from lampante (lamp-grade oil, not for cooking) through to sunflower/canola/whatever dyed to make it look like olive oil. NZ honey is safe but in the US it's commonly extended with corn syrup and other muck. etc.

kingdragonfly

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#3259230 14-Jul-2024 08:53

Bigger story and longer running than I thought.

It mentions the white paper being taped over the trucks' lettering/decals. That is how last week's at least one septic tank truck was being reused to transport local drinking water.

It may be a common practice. See related https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gutter_oil
...
the illicit practice of restaurants reusing cooking oil that has already been cooked for longer than safety codes permit. It can also be used to describe the reprocessing of rancid yellow grease collected from sources such as ... sewer drains.
...
The usage of gutter oil is highly frowned upon and often leads to prosecution.
...
The Guardian: Outrage in China over use of unwashed fuel tankers to transport cooking oil

A food safety scandal has caused mounting public outrage in China days before a high-level Chinese Communist party meeting at which leaders will try to boost confidence in the economy.

Last week the state-run newspaper Beijing News published an in-depth exposé on the “open secret” of fuel tankers being used to transport cooking oil, without the tankers being washed or disinfected in between.

In the report, an undercover reporter interviewed a trucker who had driven a tanker of coal-derived fuel from Ningxia, a region in the west of China, to the east coast city of Qinhuangdao in Hebei, a journey of more than 800 miles (1,290km). The trucker told the journalist he was not allowed to return with an empty vehicle, and subsequently drove to a facility in another part of Hebei to load up with nearly 32 tons of soya bean oil, without cleaning the tanker. Several other tankers featured in the article made similar journeys.

The scandal has implicated several major Chinese companies including the state-owned oil and grain company Sinograin and Hopefull Grain and Oil Group, a private conglomerate.
...
Chinese regulations state that different tankers should be used for transporting cooking oil and fuel, which is derived from coal and is potentially poisonous.

The Beijing News report revealed that inspections were often absent or cursory. In one case, on a tanker waiting to collect a load of edible oil, a piece of white paper was taped over the writing that indicated it should be used for fuel.
...

cddt

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#3259394 14-Jul-2024 14:50

kingdragonfly:

I went by what Copiliot told me. I guess it's true that AI lies if it doesn't know the number.

These LLMs are designed to produce convincing-sounding output, rather than correct output. It convinced you, but it should not have.

My referral links: BigPipe | Mercury

sir1963

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#3259468 14-Jul-2024 17:11

I mean...why...how do you get this "Things bought together", with a toner cartridge ...

freitasm

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#3259483 14-Jul-2024 18:14

Washington Post:

"AI chatbots had not yet caught up with the events of Saturday night when queried by a Post reporter. Asked whether someone tried to shoot Trump, ChatGPT said “there has not been a recent attempt to shoot” the former president. OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment."

Who gives a damn what AO chatbots regurgitate?

kingdragonfly

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#3259661 15-Jul-2024 12:01

Reported by multiple Christian media outlets. Insurer pulls sexual abuse liability insurance on Canadian megachurch, forcing shutdown.

Reading the subtext in some articles, it sounds like churches of various denominations are worried because insurers are doing more about sexual abuse than the church leaders .

Christianity Today: Canadian Megachurch Puts Ministry on Pause After Insurer Pulls Abuse Coverage

The Meeting House was one of the largest megachurches in Canada, but this Sunday, each of its locations will be empty. Its home church gatherings won’t meet during the week. Kids won’t get together for youth programs. Members can’t see their pastors for counsel.

In the aftermath of a sex abuse scandal that shook the congregation and its leadership, the Ontario-area multisite church announced that it had lost a portion of its insurance coverage and would have to pause its ministry activities.
...

freitasm

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#3259662 15-Jul-2024 12:07

If a "church" has to close down because of lack of insurance, then you have to argue it was not a church.

deepred

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#3260012 15-Jul-2024 21:20

freitasm:

If a "church" has to close down because of lack of insurance, then you have to argue it was not a church.

Maybe a law firm with clergy? Or even a pyramid scheme with clergy, if the likes of Brian Tamaki are anything to go by?

gzt

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#3260575 16-Jul-2024 23:54

Colgate toothpaste tube is recyclable. The cap isn't.

Handsomedan

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#3260593 17-Jul-2024 09:15

https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/350345400/jack-black-scraps-tenacious-d-nz-tour-after-bandmates-trump-shooting-comment

Kyle Gass, on his birthday, while playing with Tenacious D in Sydney, made comments about the attempted assassination of a former US president, as a part of the whole "make a wish while you blow out the candles" gag.

It really was a terrible decision and it appears that not only have they cancelled any and all future gigs on this tour, but Gass himself is in the process of being well and truly cancelled.

Come on, KG...What the actual F-Word?

Also - as a comedy band, I'd say that there is pecedent to make outrageous statements, a-la-Ricky Gervais, who steadfastly remains uncancelled, despite some very harsh words for many different individuals and groups.

Handsome Dan Has Spoken.
Handsome Dan needs to stop adding three dots to every sentence...

Handsome Dan does not currently have a side hustle as the mascot for Yale

*Gladly accepting donations...

Handsomedan

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#3260643 17-Jul-2024 09:20

And an even more What The... moment today:

https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/350344324/small-pool-beside-sea-private-island-must-be-fenced-against-owners-wishes

"The owners of a private island in Northland have been told to put a barrier around a swimming pool beside the sea, which they say posed “a similar or arguably greater risk to children”.

The pool is on the 38-hectare Motukawaiti Island, 3.5km off the Northland coast."

Handsome Dan Has Spoken.
Handsome Dan needs to stop adding three dots to every sentence...

Handsome Dan does not currently have a side hustle as the mascot for Yale

*Gladly accepting donations...

cshwone

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#3260647 17-Jul-2024 09:33

Wasn't sure where to post this as for me it made me laugh but also seemed suitable for this sub-forum.

I am replacing an old Granny Flat with a new build on our section. So called Genesis as my electricity retailer to arrange for safe disconnection from the electricity supply (It has it's own services unconnected to the main house). Followed the process and PowerCo came last Friday, made the supply safe and disconnected and removed the meter.

I received an email yesterday from Genesis saying that they were having difficulty reading the meter and would be sending a team to investigate ....................................... :)

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