16 votes

Offbeat Fridays – The thread where offbeat headlines become front page news

Posted by mycketforvirrad
Tags: ask.discussion, recurring.weekly, offbeat fridays, offbeat

Tildes is a very serious site, where we discuss very serious matters like tariffs, electoral college and elder scrolls.oblivion. Tags culled from the highest voted topics from the last seven days, if anyone was researching.

But one of my favourite tags happens to be offbeat! Taking its original inspiration from Sir Nils Olav III, this thread is looking for any far-fetched offbeat stories lurking in the newspapers. It may not deserve its own post, but it deserves a wider audience!

17 comments

  1. [3]
    patience_limited
    Link
    Poop statue appears on the National Mall to ‘honor’ Jan. 6 rioters With appropriately snarky plaque: “This memorial honors the brave men and women who broke into the United States Capitol on...

    Poop statue appears on the National Mall to ‘honor’ Jan. 6 rioters

    With appropriately snarky plaque:

    “This memorial honors the brave men and women who broke into the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021 to loot, urinate and defecate throughout those hallowed halls in order to overturn an election. President Trump celebrates these heroes of January 6th as ‘unbelievable patriots’ and ‘warriors.’ This monument stands as a testament to their daring sacrifice and lasting legacy.”

    15 votes
    1. smoontjes
      Link Parent
      The title here was even better: “unauthorized shit-memorial appears near American congress”

      The title here was even better: “unauthorized shit-memorial appears near American congress”

      5 votes
  2. [11]
    mycketforvirrad
    Link
    Paddington Bear given UK passport by Home Office Euronews – David Mouriquand – 22nd October 2024

    Paddington Bear given UK passport by Home Office

    Paddington gets his official travel documents... But the bear-y nice gesture from the Home Office is not to everyone's liking.

    Silva told the Radio Times: “We wrote to the Home Office, asking if we could get a replica, and they actually issued Paddington with an official passport – there’s only one.”

    William Yarwood, media campaign manager at the TaxPayers’ Alliance told the tabloid that taxpayers “will be bewildered that a fictional bear received a passport.”

    “While Home Office mandarins might find this amusing, ordinary Brits who are suffering under the department’s inability to control immigration or bring down crime won’t. Civil servants need to be snapped back into reality.”

    Euronews – David Mouriquand – 22nd October 2024

    10 votes
    1. [10]
      paris
      Link Parent
      I had to look up mandarin in this sense: Wow, that’s quite the term to be throwing about so casually! Does it not read as entirely racist????

      I had to look up mandarin in this sense:

      a powerful official or senior bureaucrat, especially one perceived as reactionary and secretive

      Wow, that’s quite the term to be throwing about so casually! Does it not read as entirely racist????

      4 votes
      1. [6]
        mycketforvirrad
        Link Parent
        He was speaking to the tabloid newspaper The Sun, and on seeing that phrase in his quote I presumed the newspaper had fed it to them. It's a very on-brand turn of phrase for their editorial style.

        He was speaking to the tabloid newspaper The Sun, and on seeing that phrase in his quote I presumed the newspaper had fed it to them. It's a very on-brand turn of phrase for their editorial style.

        4 votes
        1. [5]
          paris
          Link Parent
          Oh, lovely. Thanks for the context!

          Oh, lovely. Thanks for the context!

          1 vote
          1. [4]
            mycketforvirrad
            Link Parent
            From the newspaper that refers to scientists as 'boffins' and people in positions of power as 'big wigs'. 🙄

            From the newspaper that refers to scientists as 'boffins' and people in positions of power as 'big wigs'. 🙄

            3 votes
            1. [3]
              DefinitelyNotAFae
              Link Parent
              Is there like a good UK newspaper or two to follow from abroad? I feel like I only see tabloid news.

              Is there like a good UK newspaper or two to follow from abroad? I feel like I only see tabloid news.

              1 vote
              1. [2]
                mycketforvirrad
                Link Parent
                I'm left-leaning and have been reading The Guardian for a very long time now. I'll occasionally dip into The Independent, and read regional papers like the The Standard (for London-centric news)...

                I'm left-leaning and have been reading The Guardian for a very long time now. I'll occasionally dip into The Independent, and read regional papers like the The Standard (for London-centric news) to catch headlines and bylines. The BBC is still reasonably good for facts but no flavour.

                3 votes
                1. DefinitelyNotAFae
                  Link Parent
                  Thanks, i've read the Guardian and I think The Independent too. Wasn't sure if there was a big city paper that did decently so I'll check The Standard. I do listen to BBC's newscast (and RTE 1 and...

                  Thanks, i've read the Guardian and I think The Independent too. Wasn't sure if there was a big city paper that did decently so I'll check The Standard. I do listen to BBC's newscast (and RTE 1 and RNZ among others) in my news podcasts so I just like varying my sources.

                  1 vote
      2. [3]
        aphoenix
        Link Parent
        I only just woke, but I think that this is potentially a case of cart before the horse. I believe that this usage of "Mandarin" predates it's usage as a descriptor of a Chinese language. The usage...

        I only just woke, but I think that this is potentially a case of cart before the horse. I believe that this usage of "Mandarin" predates it's usage as a descriptor of a Chinese language. The usage of the term Mandarin over something like "Putonghua" is probably where the racism really started.

        That's not to say that this usage isn't intended to be inflammatory or offensive. But it's a perfectly cromulent word in this context.

        1 vote
        1. boxer_dogs_dance
          Link Parent
          wiki says that the Portuguese originated the term mandarin for Chinese officials and the language they spoke.

          wiki says that the Portuguese originated the term mandarin for Chinese officials and the language they spoke.

          2 votes
        2. DefinitelyNotAFae
          Link Parent
          I do think the Mandarin language was the language of the mandarins though I'm not sure how far apart in time that was. But I haven't seen someone use it to describe anything but citrus in a very...

          I do think the Mandarin language was the language of the mandarins though I'm not sure how far apart in time that was. But I haven't seen someone use it to describe anything but citrus in a very long time, maybe in an old SF book where they also use satrap or something?

          1 vote
  3. [3]
    PuddleOfKittens
    Link
    The PineNote is finally nearly ready for preorder! https://pine64.org/2024/10/02/september_2024/ The PineNote is an open e-ink stylus tablet, and much like every other Pine64 device it's quite...

    The PineNote is finally nearly ready for preorder! https://pine64.org/2024/10/02/september_2024/

    The PineNote is an open e-ink stylus tablet, and much like every other Pine64 device it's quite open and runs community Linux distros, but it's up to the community to write/support the drivers. The first PineNote batch was released in (IIRC) 2021, just for kernel/driver devs, but didn't get much community effort (it doesn't help that not a lot of people understand electrophoretic displays well), and Pine64 weren't willing to ship a second batch until they had a (community-made) fully-ish functioning stable system image to flash onto the device before shipping.

    So, what does this mean: If you want a Linux e-ink tablet that you can actually note-take on, that's finally available. It's weirdly hard to find any Linux tablet with stylus support at all (no Android is not Linux, not in the ways that count), the best non-PineNote option is currently the Starlite Tablet, an x86 LCD Linux tablet which supports MPP styluses, and costs $1000+. The PineNote is going to cost less than half of that, won't require batteries for the stylus, and is half the weight (because it's not an entire frickin laptop sans the keyboard), plus realistically will have a longer battery life once all the kernel stuff is ironed out (because it's ARM).

    7 votes
    1. [2]
      mycketforvirrad
      Link Parent
      Wrong thread?

      Wrong thread?

      3 votes
      1. PuddleOfKittens
        Link Parent
        This is for news that doesn't deserve its own post, right? I mean cmon, "finally nearly ready for preorder"?

        This is for news that doesn't deserve its own post, right? I mean cmon, "finally nearly ready for preorder"?

        5 votes