The Off Topic Topic

[Valmy]

We had donut+father's day at my kids school. Fortunately I got to leave the boys there.

[The Brain]

Sweden is distributing a pamphlet to homes on what to do if war comes. Similar pamphlets were distributed in WW2 and the early Cold War, and was part of the phone book in later Cold War years. Since phone books don't exist anymore a new pamphlet was decided on since it has recently been discovered that eternal peace isn't at hand.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/may/21/sweden-distributes-be-prepared-for-war-cyber-terror-attack-leaflet-to-every-home

Sweden distributes 'be prepared for war' leaflet to all 4.8m homes

Defence pamphlet shows how population can prepare in event of attack and contribute to country's 'total defence'

The Swedish government has begun sending all 4.8m of the country's households a public information leaflet telling the population, for the first time in more than half a century, what to do in the event of a war.

Om krisen eller kriget kommer (If crisis or war comes) explains how people can secure basic needs such as food, water and heat, what warning signals mean, where to find bomb shelters and how to contribute to Sweden's "total defence".

The 20-page pamphlet, illustrated with pictures of sirens, warplanes and families fleeing their homes, also prepares the population for dangers such as cyber and terror attacks and climate change, and includes a page on identifying fake news.

"Although Sweden is safer than many other countries, there are still threats to our security and independence," the brochure says. "If you are prepared, you are contributing to improving the ability of the country to cope with a major strain."

Similar leaflets were first distributed in neutral Sweden in 1943, at the height of the second world war. Updates were issued regularly to the general public until 1961, and then to local and national government officials until 1991.

"Society is vulnerable, so we need to prepare ourselves as individuals," said Dan Eliasson of the Swedish civil contingencies agency, which is in charge of the project. "There's also an information deficit in terms of concrete advice, which we aim to provide."

The publication comes as the debate on security – and the possibility of joining Nato – has intensified in Sweden in the wake of Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014 and recent incursions into Swedish airspace and territorial waters by Russian planes and submarines.

The country has begun reversing military spending cuts and last year staged its biggest military exercises in nearly a quarter of a century, as well as voting to reintroduce conscription and unveiling joint plans with Denmark to counter Russian cyber-attacks and disinformation.

The leaflet advises people to think about how to cope if there was no heating, food became difficult to buy, prepare and store, there was no water in the taps or toilet, and cash machines, mobile phones and the internet stopped working.

It advises checking the source of all information, warning that "states and organisations are already trying to influence our values and how we act ... and reduce reduce our resilience and willingness to defend ourselves".

A detailed page of "home preparedness tips" advises the population to stock up on water bottles, warm clothing and sleeping bags, and "non-perishable food that can be prepared quickly, requires little water or can be eaten without preparation".

In the event of armed conflict, it says, "everyone is obliged to contribute and everyone is needed" for Sweden's "total defence": anyone between 16 and 70 "can be called to assist in the event of the threat of war and war".

Sweden has not been at war with another country for more than 200 years. If it is attacked, the leaflet says, "we will never give up. All information to the effect that resistance is to cease is false."

I got mine recently! Woohoo!

[derspiess]

We had donut+father's day at my kids school. Fortunately I got to leave the boys there.

My mom came and picked up my daughter to take her to a movie, and my son went off to the batting cages with his friend.  Enjoying the momentary quiet. 

My daughter will be in a summer camp for a good part of the summer, and my son is usually pretty quiet when he's here by himself (not that he won't have his share of sports camps to go to).  So it shouldn't be too difficult working from home this summer.

[garbon]

I had to pay for my groceries in cash.

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2018/jun/01/visa-card-network-crashes-and-sparks-payment-chaos

Visa network crashes and sparks card payment chaos

Millions of people have been left unable to pay for goods and services in shops, petrol stations and railway stations across Britain and Europe after an unprecedented crash in Visa's payment system.

Shoppers and travellers were unable to use their debit and credit cards when the meltdown began at around 2.30pm on Friday across Europe.

Visa issued a statement saying it was experiencing "a service disruption", without identifying the cause.

"This incident is preventing some Visa transactions in Europe from being processed. We are investigating the cause and working as quickly as possible to resolve the situation," Visa said.

Major retailers confirmed that card purchases were failing, as queues built up at petrol stations, with frustrated drivers unable to pay after filling up.

Marks & Spencer said: "We are unable to accept Visa card payments currently. No retailers are able to accept Visa cards."

A Sainsbury's spokesperson added: "We are aware that Visa are currently experiencing problems. We are doing our best to help our customers and apologise for any inconvenience." However, some customers were simply dumping their shopping at the tills.

Mastercard and cash machine transactions continued as usual but for bank customers with Visa cards only there was deep frustration.

Lisa Eagleton-Muir, 44, had come to London to audition for the Great British Sewing Bee but could not buy any food at King's Cross station for the train back to Newcastle.

"I've only got two cards and they're both Visa. I tried to buy my tea in M&S and a cafe but they were both rejected. I don't know what I'm going to do. It's a long journey home with no food." Luckily she was able to withdraw money from the a cash machine.

Paperchase in the station was among many retailers that said it had stopped taking card payments following repeated cancellations.

Others tweeted to vent their anger.

A spokesman for the supermarket chain Asda said problems with payments had been happening in stores across the country sporadically from 3pm on Friday. Some payments were going through but some were not, he said. Customers were told that cash was the best way to pay.

"When you try to pay something, it sends a message to Visa and then Visa have to send a message back to the chip and pin machine to say this is OK and then the banks are in between at some point. The message that is coming back to the chip and pin, that is where the fault is," the spokesman said.

"We are advising customers that cash is the best way to buy your shopping because you can still get cash out with [a] debit card," he said. It is not clear how many shoppers have been affected.

The train operator GWR said its ticket booths and vending machines were not able to accept Visa cards. A spokesman said that onboard train staff were aware of the problem and it was possible for passengers to buy tickets on the train with cash.

However, as the meltdown continued, he said: "We encourage passengers to use cash to buy tickets at ticket offices or the machines before they travel. We are taking steps to make ticket buying as easy as possible for passengers at this time."

It is understood the Bank of England immediately contacted Visa to find out when its system would be back up and running. One banking industry source said: "There is never a good time for the payments system to go down but a Friday afternoon, when there is a flood of people leaving work, must be among the worst."

In Spain, the Guardia Civil sent a . Beneath a picture of Johnny Depp as a shocked Captain Jack Sparrow, the force said: "Stay calm. If you can't pay it's not because you've been robbed or hacked. Visa is suffering a service crash in Europe that's stopping payments going through in its cards."

Bank customers in the UK were still able to obtain cash from ATMs but with workers heading home for the weekend queues began to build up at cash machines.

A spokesperson for Royal Bank of Scotland said: "We are aware that some customers are experiencing issues using their debit cards. We apologise to customers for the inconvenience and we are working with our suppliers to resolve the issue as soon as possible. Customers are still able to access cash through the ATM network."

Paymentsense, which provides merchant services to more than 60,000 independent businesses across the UK and Ireland, tweeted: "Visa has advised us that they are having issues with its authorisation service since 14:36pm which may cause intermittent authorisation call failures & time outs."

[PDH]

I had to pay for my groceries in cash.

This morning the lady at the front of the line paid with a check.  Admittedly, she was old (though she was also buying 12 bottles of wine so I forgave that), but a check?  I know how to end the housing crisis, kill all the old people who aren't related to me. (ok, maybe I haven't forgiven her for being old and slow)

[katmai]

kill all the old people who aren't related to me. (ok, maybe I haven't forgiven her for being old and slow)

You aren't that far off from being one of them pal.

[derspiess]

Had some Euro industry counterpart telling me how superior their payment systems are to ours. TAKE THAT ADRIEN!

#USAUSAUSA

[PDH]

kill all the old people who aren't related to me. (ok, maybe I haven't forgiven her for being old and slow)

You aren't that far off from being one of them pal.

Luckily, I am related to me.

[Josquius]

Languish is deader than ever.

[dps]

Luckily, I am related to me.

Sounds incestuous.

[grumbler]

Luckily, I am related to me.

Are you sure?  You could be adopted, and just not know it.

[celedhring]

Just noticed the first Five Guys here in Barcelona, apparently they opened a month ago.

It used to be one of my favorite junk food joints back when I lived in the US, in the odd occasion I fancied one.

[derspiess]

I used to go there every chance I got when traveling.  Then a couple years ago they built one about 4 miles from my house & I still haven't been to that location

[Josquius]

Someday I'll get that bank loan needed to eat there.

[Habbaku]

Someday I'll get that bank loan needed to eat there.