• Welcome to the Off-Topic/Schweb's Lounge

    In addition to the Mac-Forums Community Guidelines, there are a few things you should pay attention to while in The Lounge.

    Lounge Rules
    • If your post belongs in a different forum, please post it there.
    • While this area is for off-topic conversations, that doesn't mean that every conversation will be permitted. The moderators will, at their sole discretion, close or delete any threads which do not serve a beneficial purpose to the community.

    Understand that while The Lounge is here as a place to relax and discuss random topics, that doesn't mean we will allow any topic. Topics which are inflammatory, hurtful, or otherwise clash with our Mac-Forums Community Guidelines will be removed.

I wonder what George Orwell would think of this (if it's really true).

Joined
Jan 5, 2007
Messages
1,480
Reaction score
124
Points
63
Location
Where the old Baker farm used to be.
Your Mac's Specs
Apple Black MacBook 2 GB RAM, 2.0 GHZ Intel Core 2 Duo Proecessor, 120 GB HD. 30 GB Black iPod Video
I just found this story while browsing Google. I don't know how true it is, but it is frightening if it is. Belgium wants to impose a tax on grilling to help combat global warming. Global warming is a problem, but the means they're going to use to enforce this tax is by flying over homes in helicopters with thermal cameras attached. That sounds strikingly similar to 1984. Here is the link.
 
Joined
Oct 10, 2004
Messages
10,345
Reaction score
597
Points
113
Location
Margaritaville
Your Mac's Specs
3.4 Ghz i7 MacBook Pro (2015), iPad Pro (2014), iPhone Xs Max. Apple TV 4K
It's things like this that make me happy I don't live in the EU...
 
Joined
Nov 18, 2006
Messages
4,934
Reaction score
207
Points
63
Location
Anytown, USA
Your Mac's Specs
27" iMac 2.7GHz Core i5, iPhone 6, iPad Air 2, 4th gen Apple TV
Sounds like a headline from "The Onion" to me.

Either that or they do quite a bit of grilling, because flying a helicopter around to monitor isn't going to be cheap, and creates a bit of greenhouse gasses on it's own!
 
OP
TheCustomer99
Joined
Jan 5, 2007
Messages
1,480
Reaction score
124
Points
63
Location
Where the old Baker farm used to be.
Your Mac's Specs
Apple Black MacBook 2 GB RAM, 2.0 GHZ Intel Core 2 Duo Proecessor, 120 GB HD. 30 GB Black iPod Video
Good point. I highly doubt that it's true since I could only find it from that one Russian newspaper.
 
Joined
Oct 10, 2004
Messages
10,345
Reaction score
597
Points
113
Location
Margaritaville
Your Mac's Specs
3.4 Ghz i7 MacBook Pro (2015), iPad Pro (2014), iPhone Xs Max. Apple TV 4K
Google doesn't turn up anything from a major news site, just small sites and blogs that reference the same article.
 
Joined
Mar 11, 2004
Messages
1,964
Reaction score
174
Points
63
You beat me to it, baggss, but I spent so much time on this I'll post my results anyway.

I searched on Google for Wallonia illegal barbecue OR barbeque OR grilling.

The only places that story turns up are in bad blogs or bad "weird news" blogs — and on Rush Limbaugh's site.

Each blog that includes a link to the originator goes to the same Russian web page. The story appears nowhere else.

I searched for Wallonia as far back as 1998 at The New York Times, the Washington Post, the Toronto Star, the Boston Globe, the Guardian, the Independent, the BBC, the CBC and CTV. Then I searched The Associated Press, Reuters and UPI.

The same stories keep appearing in all of them, and in the Google and Yahoo searches, the same ads. One is for Wallonia camping grounds where the amenities include swimming pools and barbecues. Another, in French, flogs home barbecues.
 
OP
TheCustomer99
Joined
Jan 5, 2007
Messages
1,480
Reaction score
124
Points
63
Location
Where the old Baker farm used to be.
Your Mac's Specs
Apple Black MacBook 2 GB RAM, 2.0 GHZ Intel Core 2 Duo Proecessor, 120 GB HD. 30 GB Black iPod Video
Sounds more like an urban legend. It's kind of like that blondes going extinct article that gets regurgitated every so often. Michael Crichton mentions it in his latest book and then explains how it isn't true. I guess I was fooled by it.
 
Joined
Oct 10, 2004
Messages
10,345
Reaction score
597
Points
113
Location
Margaritaville
Your Mac's Specs
3.4 Ghz i7 MacBook Pro (2015), iPad Pro (2014), iPhone Xs Max. Apple TV 4K
If they live in Belgium, they are screwed....
 
Joined
Jul 18, 2006
Messages
2,180
Reaction score
92
Points
48
Location
Florida
If it is not true it is getting good mileage because I have heard it on four major newscasts. Socialism creeps along. Wonder how the majority of affected people in Europe feel about this.
 
OP
TheCustomer99
Joined
Jan 5, 2007
Messages
1,480
Reaction score
124
Points
63
Location
Where the old Baker farm used to be.
Your Mac's Specs
Apple Black MacBook 2 GB RAM, 2.0 GHZ Intel Core 2 Duo Proecessor, 120 GB HD. 30 GB Black iPod Video
Joined
Nov 18, 2006
Messages
4,934
Reaction score
207
Points
63
Location
Anytown, USA
Your Mac's Specs
27" iMac 2.7GHz Core i5, iPhone 6, iPad Air 2, 4th gen Apple TV
Maybe it was a spill-over story from April 1st a russian paper took seriously. Again, the fact that helicopters cost thousands of dollars an hour to operate, constant surveillance is just ridiculous. I know there are some here who think of socialism the way PC users think of Macs, but people just aren't that crazy!
 
Joined
Mar 11, 2004
Messages
1,964
Reaction score
174
Points
63
I checked English-language Belgian papers and the International Herald Tribune. Not a word.
 
OP
TheCustomer99
Joined
Jan 5, 2007
Messages
1,480
Reaction score
124
Points
63
Location
Where the old Baker farm used to be.
Your Mac's Specs
Apple Black MacBook 2 GB RAM, 2.0 GHZ Intel Core 2 Duo Proecessor, 120 GB HD. 30 GB Black iPod Video
I think that it's safe to say that the story is a myth. It is way too Orwellian to be true. We could always call the Mythbusters to make sure though.
 

Shop Amazon


Shop for your Apple, Mac, iPhone and other computer products on Amazon.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
Top