Lightly Seared on the Reality Grill
Random geekery from the Low Countries
With the ongoing pandemic affecting pretty much everywhere, we are seeing the extent to which authoritarian regimes have more leeway to impose draconian measures than free countries. This can lead to some… surprisingly out of the box thinking.
And so to Turkmenistan, which has just banned the word “coronavirus”.
So that’s that sorted then.
Most of Europe is in lockdown to a greater or lesser extent but, as Politico notes, there is still some confusion as to what exactly is and isn’t allowed.
And so to Spain which has some of the strictest quarantine measures in Europe. People are expected to stay in unless they need food or medicine, to walk the dog or go to work if absolutely necessary.
Notably, going outside for some exercise is not allowed, which brings us to today’s absurdity:
In the Basque Country, police threatened to fine a man for cycling to the factory where he works, on the basis that exercise is forbidden and therefore he should take public transport.
Because, obviously, social distancing is much easier if you’re on a bus.
This is brilliant.
Belgium and The Netherlands have taken different approaches to the coronavirus, with Belgium ordering all non-essential shops to close and the Dutch allowing the shops to stay open as long as they take measures to enforce social distancing.
The towns of Baarle-Nassau and Baarle-Hertog are, in fact, a single town that straddles the border between Belgium and The Netherlands. Inevitably enough, someone built a shop across the border.
So what do you do when you have conflicting rules as to whether you can open or not?
You open half a shop:
I guess Cummings is interested in behavioural science in the way I’m interested in Olympic figure skating. Which is to say, I like it, but I’m unbelievably, lethally shit at it.
Do get your head round the fact that we live in a country where in the midst of our various shitshows, the prime minister was performing for coins mere feet from some guy who once offered to bring up one of his spare kids. Even if The Jeremy Kyle Show hadn’t been axed, this would be a scenario simply too trashy to air.
The genre being stupid people discover their actions have consequences:
An outraged Brexiteer has been ridiculed on social media for complaining about a queue at an airport in Amsterdam.
Colin Browning, who has been widely described by British media as one of the 17.4 million people who voted for Brexit, took to Twitter on Thursday to complain that about passport check wait times at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol.
The tweet reads:
Absolutely disgusting service at Schiphol airport. 55 minutes we have been stood in the immigration queue. This isn’t the Brexit I voted for.
… and it’s worth clicking through because some of the responses are very funny indeed. But the bit that made me laugh was Colin’s claim that:
This isn’t the Brexit I voted for.
Yes it is.
Today’s headline of the day comes from Wales Online, which also notes that the horse boarded the bus to the University Hospital of Wales.
Today’s headline of the day comes from Canada by way of CBC News.
Thanks to The Brussels Times for today’s headline of the day.
