Sideswipe: January 14: Creative hedge trimming

Expressions you never hear

8. Precedented times
7. Chartered territory
6. A non-innocent bystander
5. A non-eager beaver
4. Incompletely surrounded
3. A brunette bombshell
2. A charm defensive
1. A single whammy
Adam Sharp @AdamCSharp

Evading stay-at-home rules

Quebec police issued 750 tickets recently as an 8pm curfew went into effect. Two of the tickets went to a couple who got creative in trying to get around the new coronavirus restriction. As residents are allowed to be out on the streets after 8pm to walk their dogs provided they stay close to home, police say a 24-year-old woman claimed she was doing just that. She even had a leash. But that leash was not attached to a dog. Instead, it was hooked to the woman’s 40-year-old partner. The woman “said she was taking her dog, pointing to her partner, out on a walk, as allowed under the exceptions,” the Gazette reported. The man and woman, described as uncooperative, were each fined about $1,200.

Strange illnesses of 2020

So-called hot tub lung is a rare condition caused by bacteria that can thrive in warm water. But it’s not always linked to hot tubs, as a teen in Australia found when he contracted the disease from his indoor swimming pool. The teen developed severe breathing difficulties that sent him to the emergency room. Prior to his hospitalisation, the teen had been recovering from ankle surgery and spent most of his time in his home’s media room, which was next to their indoor swimming pool. He was diagnosed with hot tub lung, a disease that can occur when people inhale bacteria that belong to the genus Mycobacterium, including Mycobacterium avium. An analysis of the pool water from the teen’s home found that it was contaminated with this bacteria. The family said that they had recently switched the sanitiser they used for their pool, from chlorine to a non-chlorine alternative, and this allowed the bacteria to grow.

Gluten for punishment

The QAnon activist Jacob Chansley, also known as Jake Angeli – the “Q Shaman” – who faces charges related to the US Capitol riot, hasn’t eaten in jail “the detention facility won’t feed him all organic food.”Filmmaker Mike Dorsey observed, “This dude sounds super ready for the hardships of a protracted civil war.” His mum said he gets very sick if he doesn’t eat organic. Judge Deborah Fine said fasting was “deeply concerning” and ordered the prison to find a way to accommodate Chansley’s demands. Wardens say they will abide by the judge’s order.

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