Interesting Links for 07-01-2017

[andrewducker]

I signed the petition to put everyone in Scotland on the organ donor register unless they opt-out (tags: petition organs scotland ) 26 British Food Quirks That Brits Don't Realise Are Weird (tags: uk food ) Did Media Literacy Backfire? (tags: media Education ) TV anchor says live on-air 'Alexa, order me a dollhouse' - guess what happens next (

Comments

[fanf]

Serious doubt about that British food quirks item - they clearly haven't heard of poutine!

[andrewducker]

Surely a Canadian food quirk?

Our do you mean it's equivalent to chips and curry sauce?

[fanf]

I mean, putting gloopy flavoursome sauces on chips is popular in lots of places, so it's hardly a quirk.

On the other hand, having read some foreign reactions to poutine, maybe it is quirky :-)

[notlosers]

It is very quirky. People here (CA) look at poutine like it's some kind of devil-food.

[bart_calendar]

Hmmm... do you have no Roma in Scotland?

Because many Roma are very, very against having their organs donated and might not keep up with the news that the government has automatically made them sign up for it unless they opt out. (And many distrust filling out government forms which would create another barrier.)

[andrewducker]

Family still get a say under the Welsh system (if you didn't specifically opt-in), and I'd be happy with that as a check in the system:
https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/society/2016/sep/04/wales-deemed-consent-organ-donation-system-promising-results

[bart_calendar]

Gotcha. Was just curious because the opt out system is being debated in france as well and the left are freaking out because they are arguing "oh, you'll let them in because you want to harvest their organs."

[bart_calendar]

And, yeah. UK rail travel seems insanely expensive.

When people tell me how much they pay when they are back home it astounds me.

I live 750 kilometers from paris. I can get a train ticket there in first class for about 40 euros if I book in advance.

I've had people tell me that would be at least 150 pounds for that distance in the UK.

[bart_calendar]

And the travel conditions seem to suck in the UK as well. People who come here from the UK seem amazed that it's possible to ask for a quiet child free car

[a_pawson]

We have quiet coaches on trains, but that just means you aren't supposed to use a mobile phone. The idea of having child free coaches has been mooted, but dismissed as the "how dare you not like children" argument is too vocal.

[brixtonbrood]

It's not so much the "how dare you not like children?" It's more that a) the current booking system doesn't enable you to specify "seat not in a quiet carriage" and b) it's conceivable (though unlikely) that the only free seats on a train might be in a quiet carriage, and you'd end up with a knackered mum with a baby and two toddlers having to stand up for four hours because they were not allowed to use the seats available.

[bart_calendar]

Curly fries have been an American thing since I was a child. Heck people come to New Jersey in summer specifically to get curly fries.

And, yeah, that other thing just looks like Poutine.

[ext_2864067]

Red Leicester is deeply underrated there. Author must be using the worst possible brand.

I actually prefer it (grated) to Parmesan as a garnish on Spaghetti Bolognese - the tangy carrot taste complements the flavours far better.